#not enough to partner with her in that one plot event i forgot the importance of cuz i went with braixen Sorry

[jazz-kity]

i love reina so much

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: june 2024

before I get started on June, I have to issue a correction from May: I forgot to include a book!

last year I backed Iron Circus Comics' erotic anthology My Monster Girlfriend, edited by Andrea Purcell and Amanda Lafrenais, and it finally arrived just ahead of pride. My Monster Girlfriend contains 15 stories by all by different artists, and features protagonists who get it on with everything from the classic ghosts, werewolves, and vampires to a reality-warping angel (?) who contains infinite dimensions, a sleep paralysis demon, and an all-consuming flesh monster hivemind.

while I would have liked to see a little more variety in the freakishness of the actual sex, the anthology is a lot of fun and shows off a great diversity of art styles and scenarios in which one might get down to clown with a monster girlfriend. my personal favorites were Feather by Kanesha C. Bryant, in which an intrepid pervert boldly attempts to locate their girlfriend's genitalia; MonsterHER Under the Bed by Bont and Wes Brooke, which puts a cute, sexy little spin on the monster under the bed; Forest Wedding by Otava Heikkilä, which reads like an old timey fable except it ends in a giant forest woman getting crazy fisted by her new trans husband; and Girl Fiend by InnKeeperWorm, which is infinitely jackoffable even though, frankly, the hellhound should have stayed in her more monstrous canine form to fuck.

okay, now onto the June reading! I found myself reaching the end of the month surprised that I had added so few books to my 2024 spreadsheet, and then I realized: it's fucking PRIDE MONTH and I'm a career queer. I spent most of June either busting ass working various events or in a coma recovering from said events; no wonder I didn't read as much as I thought I would. I also gave up on one novel after sinking close to 200 pages in it, which means the list is even shorter, but trust me: the DNF was the right decision.

so, who made the cut for pride?

The Monsters We Defy (Leslye Penelope, 2022) - this book was a romp! it's fun! it's a hoot, dare I say! this is a historical urban fantasy that takes place in the Black society of 1920s Washington, DC. protagonist Clara and her band of ragtag magical misfits have a heist to pull off against one of the most powerful Black women in DC, with their own curses and powers at stake. it's a fun story with a neat magic system and lots of words that are capitalized so you know they're Magical and Important, and it's a read that goes down real easy. strong recommendation if you find yourself in a slump!

Just for the Cameras (Viano Oniomoh, 2023) - my first foray into independently published romance! and it was... fine. the plot's a little patchy, sure, but it's definitely not the worst romance I've ever read, and at least a throuple made for a nice change of pace. AND nobody's seething with jealousy or insecurity about multiple partners? you love to see it. this book was apparently originally intended to be a novelette and it definitely could have stayed that way, but if bisexual Black hotties sucking and fucking is what you seek then you're going to have a great time. TW: 2/3 main characters are British.

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs (Ina Park, 2021) - to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, this is one of my very favorite nonfiction reads of the year so far. I cannot emphasize this enough: if you like the way that I talk about STIs and sex ed on this blog then I think you'll really like this book, because having read this book I desperately want to be her friend. she brings so much passion and energy to her work that it bursts right off the page and is - pardon this awful pun - absolutely infectious.

Survivor (Octavia E. Butler, 1978) - for those you not in the know, this book is kind of a get. it's the only book of Butler's that was never reprinted, so now you can only read it if you get ahold of a super expensive original edition OR if you, hypothetically, find a PDF online and print off the entire thing on your work printer. and I'm so glad I did the latter, because holy shit this book whips ass. the book was apparently disavowed for its lack of connection to the rest of the Patternist series, which is true but oh my god, the story is SOOOO cool anyway. we've got a human woman named Alanna who grew up feral on Earth only to be adopted by a Christian cult who are GOING INTO SPACE to preserve the human race, but it turns out there are already intelligent people on the new planet and they have Feelings about what the future of these human missionaries is going to be. it's on Alanna to navigate the clashing cultures and tension between the humans and two warring groups of aliens, and it is fucking URGENT. I don't say this lightly but I think this has ascended to be in my top three Butler novels.

No Name in the Street (James Baldwin, 1972) - ooooooh my god you guys!! oh my god!!! I've never read any of Baldwin's long form nonfiction, but within pages I knew that this was going to pretty permanently change my brain. this memoir-ish book delves into, among other things, Baldwin's witnessing of the American civil rights movement, including the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. woven around that is the alienating experience of being a Black man with exactly enough cultural cache and social clout to sometimes isolate him from the people he grew up with but not nearly enough to buy acceptance or safety in a white society, emphasized by Baldwin's unfinished struggle to free a friend from prison after a wrongful murder charge. and somehow that's barely doing the book justice! it's so vast and incisive and weary and impassioned and it did, truly, have me jotting down the names of everything Baldwin ever wrote to make sure I can read it all. as much as I bemoan my habit of impulse reserving books from the library, I really am indebted to the Stacks podcast for getting this on my radar.

[gavvaiins]

thoughts on s2 ✨spoilers ahead✨

lol I binged it in one day, which I never wanted but I just couldn’t stop myself :’)

never was a huge fan of the main plot of s1 and wasn’t really invested in either Daphne or Simon. But they lead me to reading the books and oh book two. Love it. Love Kathony, the plot ... and yeah well, they changed some things for the better and ... the worst but I was very excited an not dissapointed.

the story telling felt more linear and less cluttered than in s1

there were so many things stuffed into one episode, I thought some scenes happened in ep 6 or so but were in ep2

bridgerton family time - it was lovely and nice to see more of the little ones

except Francesca, it feels like they forgot and left her at Aubrey Hall

the start of the season/ep1, loved the cute family moments and the parallel to Daphne’s

loved every ball scene of Eloise, they were hilarious

the Sharmas, all of them - event though they got butchered

Kate and Anthony having more things in common

the way Kate got introduced

the Sharmas staying at Lady Danbury’s was quite a smart move

Netwon, but we didn’t get enough of him >:(

Ascot, Aubrey Hall, Hyde Park

Sir Phillip & Colin ranting about Greece

✨ Kathony  ✨

Anthony getting jealous and falling into the pond with his extra flimsy, thin shirt on, no one knows why he owns it or has chosen to wear it that day

Edwina’s emancipation or setting herself free or however one says it in english

really loved that, even though she loves her sister and family, she decides that she wants to decide for herself and gets to know herself better

the situation in which Colin says, he doesn’t see Pen as a love interest ever! hurt :) but it was nicely set up

I’m glad they left out some problematic scenes from the book, like the carriage scene. But they really butchered the library scene and overall I’m a bit dissapointed, that Violet never makes her son dances with wallflowers aka. Pen like in the book. Seeing Anthony escorting Pen in Aubrey Hall was also a moment for Kate.

Pen is one of my favourites & I get she’s an important side character, but it feels like her role is too important in s2?

yeah ik sounds stupid but I think she had too much screen time & focus 

Edwina falling for Anthony

hated that the most. In the book she isn’t intersted in him and is the biggest Kathony shipper! 

Was really hoping, begging for a plottwist that Edwina knew the conditions all along and only wanted to marry him for her family, and not out of love

but noooo! they had to turn it into a ridiculous love triangle between 2 loving and supporting sisters, and a man

half-sister hurt, stung like a bee

htf are the two supposed to get over it, when they broke apart over a man??? 

they kinda make up over a death experience

I liked Lady Danbury’s involvement, however Mary should’ve played a bigger part in supporting her daughters and finding love for Edwina

No sharmas in the epilogue family scene :))) I get it, it’s the Bridgerton. Kate is a Brigerton now but ... family is so important to her. Why isn’t her family with her??? (do hope we get to hear more of them in the future & that Edwina isn’t just lost)

Pen fucking things up again with Lady Whistledown

She’s a young adult, teen whatever, people make mistakes. She’s in a difficult position with Lady Whistledown. But when your friend is in a difficult, dangerous position you should talk to her and not listen to your partner who claims you’ve to drag her through the mud :))

Featherington drama/plot could’ve toned down a little

Colin believing for a second that he has to free Marina from her unhappy life ... whatever that was

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Max and Eugene in Peril on the High Seas

So we have another obligatory animal focused episode. This one fairs much better than Max’s Enemy and King Pascal; but it’s still ultimately useless filler. 

Summary: Rapunzel and the group are finally leaving Tirapai Island when the cargo ferry arrives, but Eugene and Maximus get into an argument, resulting in them falling overboard. They manage to save themselves on a passing ship, but discover it to be a prison ship where all the criminals, including the Stabbington Brothers, Lady Caine and Axel have escaped and taken control. Eugene and Maximus attempt to escape, but discover the villains' plot to ambush the cargo ferry and set out to stop them. Meanwhile, Rapunzel and the group discover Eugene and Maximus are missing and set out to rescue them.

There’s No Ticking Clock In Season Two and That’s to the Series’s Detriment 

So we’re finally leaving the island and this bit of dialogue tells us that they were on said island for at least six weeks. Which matters not in the slightest in the grand scheme of things; which is the problem. 

In addition to there being no outside threat forcing Rapunzel on this journey, there’s also nothing that’s forcing her to hurry up. So we’re doubly lacking in tension. There are no stakes in season two so things feel over long, and arcs that have the heroes stay in one place for more than two episodes at time stop the momentum of the series dead; leading to tedium for the viewers. 

We Didn’t Need King Pascal Just to Set Up the Firefly

The firefly is one of the few elements in the show that has proper set up and resolve. It’s established as the threat in one episode and then used as the solution in this episode. However both episodes are utterly useless in the over all arc so, while clever, it’s a wasted idea. It’s also unneeded since this intro exposition re-explains what the firefly is and what it’s deal is in case people missed out on King Pascal anyways. 

The Reason Why this Max Focus Episode Works, but Not Max’s Enemy, is Because It’s a Double Act

The problem with the mandated animal themed episodes every season is that Max and Pascal aren’t strong enough characters to work by themselves. They’re sidekicks; they’re designed to play off other characters. The writers seemed to clue in on this by making this episode and Max’s episode in season three, team up episodes. So now today’s episode becomes a Eugene focused episode too. Which in turn allows for their character dynamic to be fleshed out more. 

We needed more interesting combinations of the mains in episodes like this one in order for the group to feel like a group. We also desperately needed to do something similar for Pascal instead of just rehashing the same plot for him over and over again. 

This Plot Point Makes No Sense

When I first saw this episode, I thought it was foreshadowing later developments for season three, seeing how it’s one of the few episodes in season two that connects back to season one. However, once you know the events of season three, this episode no longer makes logical sense within the greater narrative. 

For you see, Andrew and Varian have teamed up to take over Corona at the beginning of season three. Yet that begs the question of why didn’t Frederic ship them away on the prison barge as well. Varian you might could excuse being missing here given his age, but Andrew? There’s no reason to keep Andrew around; none that is given on screen anyways. 

Also this mutiny couldn’t have taken place after the Saporian take over either. For starters all the guards retreated from Corona entirely when it became evident that the Saporians were in charge. That’s a stated plot point in Rapunzel’s Return to explain why Cap is missing. There wouldn’t have been a need for a mutiny if Andrew just let all the criminals go and there’d be no reason why Andrew would send them away using his own guards. The Saporians are small in numbers and that would be a waste of manpower. 

Also, because the Saporians are outnumbered, it doesn’t make sense to send away potential allies. Lady Caine has more logical motivation to join Andrew in his take over than Varian does. She just wants revenge on Frederic and riches. She cares nothing about ruling a kingdom and holds no qualms about hurting others; so she’d be the perfect partner for Andrew’s plans. Add in the fact that she has a whole gang/small army of criminals under her command, and she could have brought along some much needed manpower. 

Lady Caine is Wasted!!!

Speaking of Lady Caine, this is her final appearance in the show. Introduced in the pilot as an important character, yet given only three episodes and shoved out of the picture before the final season. And they didn’t even bother to bring up her original motivations or goals in any of her return appearances. 

Chris mentioned in interviews about how he wanted to ‘defy audience perception’ and so pulled a bunch of bait and switches in the writing; but this isn’t that. This is just straight up lazy writing. There’s nothing clever about introducing a character as being important and then not using them. It’s a frustrating waste of time and a waste of a concept; not a surprising ‘gotcha’ for the audience. 

Proper set up and resolve exists in storytelling in order to get your audience invested in what is happening and then give them a satisfying pay out for their continued involvement. Modern television writers have gotten so caught up in ‘shocking’ twists that they forgot the importance of giving satisfying endings to their audience. Because if the audience isn’t satisfied they will walk away. Hooks alone are not enough to keep them around as evidenced by the series ratings drop. 

Also, Why is Weasel Here?

I once suggested that this episode would make more sense if Max’s Enemy came before One Angry Princess in season one. Implying that Caine and the gang were sent away before Andrew’s arrest. This idea flies out the window with Anthony the Weasel here. He was last seen running away at the end of The Return of Quaid. How the hell did he wind up here? 

He had to have been arrested, put on trial, and then shipped away with the other criminals in between TRoQ and PotHS. Which just raises a whole bunch of other questions.   

How much time has passed between then and now?

What did Weasel do to get caught in Corona?

Why did it take so long to ship Caine and her gang out when it was just a matter of days for Attila to be banished? 

Why wasn’t she put on that same barge Attila was going to be put on?

If there was enough time to ship Attila and the Weasel out then there was plenty of time to ship Andrew and Varian, so why are they still in Corona?

Why is there even a prison barge to begin with? Are they just that stripped for room and man power in Corona’s dungeons?

Where does the prison barge actually go to? Does Corona own a prison island or do they have a deal with another kingdom? What is the world building behind this plot point? 

Also where the heck did Dwayne go? 

You Need Villains 

In the end it doesn’t matter. This is just a lame excuse to get rid of all of the season one villians besides the Stabbingtons. Which only stick around because they’re movie originals and need to reappear and be redeemed before the wedding short; otherwise they’d be gone too. 

Which is the dumbest idea ever! Season two and even the first half of season three is devoid of any main antagonists so why are we getting rid of anyone who could potentially fulfill that role? Who’s stupid idea was this? What were they smoking? This goes against basic writing 101. There’s no story if there’s no conflict! 

Eugene Has a Point

Like there are reasons why law enforcement aren’t on call 24/7 and there are also reasons why different territories have different jurisdictions. Not complying to that undermines law and order, not upholds it.

If a police officer from the US could arrest people while on vacation in Spain, it’d be a political nightmare. Even extrication of wanted criminals who seek refuge in other countries requires permission and cooperation from those countries governments or you’d be violating international law; which potentially could be seen as an act of war. 

Also you would still send in people who are actually on duty. Right now there are protests in my country regarding the lack of accountability police officers have. Plenty of cops break the law both on and off duty because they know they can get away with because of the nepotism within the force.  Max pulling out a guide book that essentially gives Corona’s guards permission to ‘enact justice as they see fit’ while even off duty is clear case of an abuse of power, and futhers the narrative that Corona is a dictatorship/police state that persecutes it’s most vulnerable citizens. 

The fact that the narrative then rewards this line of thought by placing Max in the right on this is just another check off in the long list of promoting authoritarian beliefs that this series teaches. People with power are held to different standards then those without. That’s just a fact of life. Having Eugene or Max acknowledge that this does break the law but is still right thing to do would be far better message and give the characters more complexity. 

Who gets to decide what is ‘bad’ here? What is this ‘something’ they are meant to do? This rule is a gateway for corruption because it’s not clearly defined and relies too heavily on the idea that guards are naturally ‘honorable’ and good and not, you know, people. 

There’s a saying in law school. Nothing is simple and fair. If it’s simple then it’s not fair; and if it's fair then its not simple. 

Laws are complex because life is complex, people are complex, and not everything applies the same way because situations are different. That’s why we have courts. And yes, sometimes there’s too much discrepancy in sentences, leading to some people being harshly over punished while others get away with little more than a slap on the hand; but having things the other way around would still cause such discrepancy as not everyone’s experiences are equal to begin with. 

And before you say I’m reading too much into a kids show, this is a conflict that the episode itself has decided to introduce. If you wanted a simple message about doing the right thing than ‘the law’ should not have been brought up at all. Because laws are not simple, they are not universal, and they are not infallible. If the writers thought this idea too complex for their audience then they shouldn’t have introduced the idea. 

It's better to not bring up deeper subject matter at all than to introduce it and then not address it properly.  

Oh, and We Get Confirmation that Corona Speaks English, for Some Reason... 

This was also hinted at this in the supplement book, My First Year As A Princess; which was suppose to replica of Rapunzel’s Diary in the show, though it’s sverealy been paired down from the original concept. 

Anyways, it’s pretty much canon that everyone is indeed speaking English on screen, even though there’s no logical reason for this. Chalk it up to yet more lazy world building. 

Corona is never hinted to being a replacement for England itself. The few hints we get to it’s placement on the world map suggests it’s on the main continent of Europe and is a peninsula. Other real world languages like, French, Italian, and German are confirmed to exist, with Italy at least being a real location in this world. 

Also we spend this whole season traveling to other kingdoms. So why would everyone speak English? This is before British and American imperialism, and before the internet, so English wouldn’t be a default secondary language for the many countries that it is today. So how does this work? 

Once again, if traveling the world is a big plot point of your story then you need to determinate where and how your main protagonist fits into that world. If they’re a princess of a kingdom then we need to know where that kingdom is in relation to the surrounding places we visit or discuss.  

Axel is Still Useless

Max didn’t need a rival. This character adds nothing to the over all story and is one villain/character too many in an already overstuffed series. I don’t mind the idea of pairing down some of the minions and other background characters. I just take issue with getting rid of all of the villains. Particularly interesting ones that could have done more, like Weasel or Lady Caine. 

The Very Existence of Lady Caine Undermines Both Rapunzel’s and Cassandra’s Arcs

So the series wants to present this idea that Rapunzel is compassionate and is all about giving second chances, yet Caine, one of the most sympathetic villains in the show next to Varian, is given zero chance at all. The show is too busy trying to make Rapunzel look ‘bad ass’ by easily taking down an seemingly equal badass female villain, that doesn’t stop to think about the implications of this conflict. 

The series fails because the only people Rapunzel redeems are people that she needs something from. She needs Styalan to gain the Eye of Pincosta. She needs Varian to help defeat the Saporians and ease her bruised ego. She needs Cassandra because she’s her best friend and it hurts her personally for them to no longer be friends. None of the redemptions in the show are actually about the characters who are redeeming themselves, it’s about their effect on Rapunzel’s personal life. 

But placing Rapunzel’s personal feelings above what other characters actually need is the opposite of compassion. It’s selfishness. It doesn’t make Rapunzel the focus of the story it just makes her look like an ass. 

Moreover Lady Caine’s arc is directly tied to Corona’s corrupt legal system. Rapunzel can’t be this purveyor of change if she and the show never acknowledges why the system must change to begin with. 

Last off, Cassandra’s arc is then diminished by the existence of more sympathetic villains like Caine and Varian. They have more reason to do the things they do, and their actions connect back to their goals. Cass doing worst things for less reason, and then getting away with less punishment than them, is a slap in the face to the viewers. It turns her from a likeable character to an unbearable twat, and makes her later redemption a product of nepotism rather than act of agency on her part. 

Everyone is ill served by writing Caine out and not giving her a conclusion to her personal conflict. Rapunzel, Cassandra, Frederic, and Lady Caine herself are all denied a chance to grow as characters and that’s infuriating to watch. 

Also Yes, This Episode was a Big Missed Opportunity to Add Urgency to the Plot

As previously mentioned, season two needed an ongoing external conflict. Anyone of the villains on the ship could have been the main antagonist of the second half of the season. Just have the person in question escape in the confusion, or overthrow the new crew of the ship a second time. Then have them show up later looking for a fight. 

My money is on Lady Caine, but the Stabbingtons or Weasel could have done just a well. Caine wants revenge on Rapunzel. The Stabbingtons are after Eugene. Weasel wants power and riches, so capturing the princess and holding her for ransom could have been a goal. Then have them learn about this hidden power then voila you gotta a set up for a race to the end of the quest.  

You also could just picked an underling at random and then elevated them to main villain by giving them a good goal and a backstory. 

Also finally, Andrew and/or Varian, we’re options that they could have added in here. Varian more so than anybody else as he already has reason to go after the moonstone because his father. 

Heck, you still could have added Varian and not made him the villain if you didn’t want to. This could have been the start of his redemption arc instead, and one of the previously mentioned villains,a Brotherhood member, or one of Zhan Tiri’s Disciples could have still served as the main antagonist. 

In short, most of the problems with Tangled’s story are really easy fixes and the writers had multiple options at their disposal that they didn’t take. Which is just further evidence to last minute rewrites and Chris and Ben’s missamangment. 

Conclusion    

I enjoy this episode because it’s one of the few to tie back into season one, but it’s is a missed opportunity and it is a shame that it went nowhere. 

[carrottuan93]

Haven’t met you yet | Mark

Masterlist (3/4) | part1 - part2 - part4

Starring: MK x You

Tags: Mark Tuan, Fluff, Destiny, Waiting, Christmas, Bookworm, Nerd, Love, Fate

Total WC: 2194

You nearly puked your guts out to the sight of Jackson sticking to Eunhee and hugging her like forever has been robbed from them. You failed to confide to your best friend about what happened to you in the last 24 hours. So as not to spoil their couple time together, you chose to not disturb them and just mingle with all the kids in the sweet treats section. You love kids so much you play Santa and distributed macarons to each one of them. As expected, most of your close friends and guests brought their own boyfriends, if not, their own husbands and it was a nice show to witness, with sarcasm aside. Thanks to Jackson’s little cousins, they keep you entertained with their bubbly personality.

 “One with the kids, sure you’re missing the party in the adult section, no?” The sight of a guy clad in a formal white dress shirt, tucked in a black denim pants partnered with a classic chuck taylor, and a gray winter coat, welcomed your eyes. Guys who dress fashionably is such a head turner for you.

“Actually, they keep me company so I’m having fun to be honest.” You replied, feeling all the weird sensation cascading across your spine. You feel a bit nauseous whenever guys approach you. You don’t know if you even want to be with a guy right now, after your embarrassing experience last night.

 “My cousins here are a bunch of nuisance, you’ll get tired of them soon.” He picked one matcha macaron from the aisle and took a bite of it. You observed his expression. A smile crept up to his face and you caught sight of Eunhee in a distant, gossiping to Jackson that you’re having a moment with his cousin. You certainly know that they’re mentally pairing you up already and you are growing nervous about the plans that they are possibly plotting behind your back.

 “You like it? I bought them all the way from a café near my workplace that sells classic macarons just like the original ones from Paris.” He nodded in approval as you watch him took another piece, this time it’s strawberry. That’s your favorite flavor among the rest and you can really tell that the sweet tooth runs on Jackson’s bloodline by how his cousins, from the little chubby ones and the grown up beside you, munch on your favorite treat.

 “I never really eat macarons, but you introduced me into it. You deserve a recognition, uhm?” He lifted his hand for a handshake. He doesn’t know your name yet so you took his hand and introduced yourself right away.

 “It’s Y/n, Eunhee’s best friend. Thank you for the recognition by the way. Well, you come here with a date?” You’re mentally tiptoeing above the thin ice. It’s better to assume that this cute guy over here is already taken, I mean with his looks, he's totally a charmer, you thought to yourself.

 “I didn’t bring anyone with me, so I assume you also come along on your own, no?” Green light. Okay, you need to calm down. This isn’t like any of your past blind dates but first meetups are usually nerve wracking and scary so you played the innocent heroine that you are and chose to just go with the flow seeing how Eunhee and Jackson are staring at you maliciously from Mark’s back, you know they were able to receive the death notes you are sending them via telepathy.

 “That explains it.” It’s not that you had a thing with cute guys, but maybe you just discovered it right now. You can tell he’s a decent one, a cool and random Asian-American import from the west and maybe if you’re an ice cream, you already turned into liquid by the way he stares at you.

 “I don’t know anything about you yet, but would you trust a complete stranger to celebrate your Christmas eve with? If you’re up for it, we’ll leave this party right away because I can tell that you’re going to get sick from all these couples outnumbering us.” Have you been a good girl this year? You didn’t include this guy on your Christmas list but Santa rewarded you without even asking for it.

 “I’m putting my trust on you knowing that Jackson is a good guy so does his cousin. I'll sue him and he’ll answer for the damages and fines in case you failed to bring me back in good shape.” You both let out a hefty chuckle earning glares from your best friend and her boyfriend. You’ve decided to pursue your spontaneous trip with Mark and the next thing you know you’re already closing the front door upon your exit even before the two of them could react to your great and grand escape.

  ----

  He took you on a ride away from the busy and bustling streets of Seoul. You're thrilled to find out that he actually brought you to Namsan Tower, the highest peak in the city. You're awed expression cannot suffice the picturesque panoramic scenery of Seoul unfolding in front of your very eyes when you entered the observatory on the top most floor. You were unable to talk all of a sudden and your heart is brimming with unexplained strings of emotion as you kept on taking pictures and videos of the breathtaking place that sent your eyes into a food coma.

 "I only went to N tower once, or maybe twice but that was during the day and I have no idea that this is how it looks at night. It's a miss, nobody will be able to witness this scene on a Christmas eve the way we're seeing it right now." You forgot about your shameful episodes of last night's happenings and your worries disappeared in just an instant.

 "I kind of paid for tonight's reservation when I arrived here in Korea a week ago, with the hopes of spending Christmas only to myself. Consider yourself lucky, you've managed to join me on this one-time event. Heck, the price I paid for is totally worth it. Come here and try this." He urged you to look on the telescope, and to your surprise, you're taking in every aspect of the city in a bird's eye perspective. Everything you look at is really stunning. Like you never really imagined that perfection exists for real until tonight and you're experiencing it with a random guy whom you've only met an hour ago. Your eyes met his and you wished you aren't redder than a rotten tomato for looking like a lost deer caught on a headlight.

 "The view here is really pretty.” He gave you a smile, too charming for your own consumption.

“It really is.” He’s even prettier than the view. You can only sense your guy-o-meter raising for Mark. Good lord, is this a sign? Your mind is now ready to tick the ideal guy boxes on your list.

 “We shouldn't keep this New York style pizza from waiting while it is hot.” He chuckled, like the cute kid that he is. There is something with his unique laugh that you really don’t mind hearing at all. Is he older than me? Please, I don’t want to date someone younger than me.

 “Okay, sure kid.” You followed him as he sat on the ground in a dimly lit room radiating a romantic atmosphere under the starry and chilly skies of Seoul. This is not a date, but a friendly escape out of boredom planned by two single hearts on a Christmas eve. As if you’re two partners in crime, sitting on one of the highest skyscrapers in town, while sharing a box of pizza. It’s just that you aren’t Bonnie and neither he is your Clyde but you're loving the idea of him as someone whom you can rely on.

 “I’m older than you, silly.” The sight of a wine bottle behind him caught your attention and wondered where it came from. He noticed you eyeing the prize so he did the honor and poured you a glass of wine while you’re devouring your slice of pizza. You never imagined that eating pizza is too romantic and one for the books.

 “Any proof that you’re actually above 25? Cause you really look young. With that face, you can qualify for a student discount on public transports and still save money for your commute.” You want to make sure that he’s at least 5 years older than you. You prefer dating someone older than you because they always say that a guy's maturity is a year delayed for his age.

 “Trust me, I just know. I’m old enough to buy a house and enter into casinos, I guess.” He gave you a wink and you felt a gush of strong wind blew your senses away. He’s totally a Romeo and you took a swig of wine while observing him secretly.

 “So you’re a gambler? I might have been spending my time with some kind of a mafia leader and still have no clue about it.” He’s laughing at it again. I might have a talent with making cute guys laugh and that’s an asset I only discovered right now.

 “What, no! But my dad is a big spender in casinos. My duty is to look out for him and take him home before he could even bet our fortune with his leisure. I could always hear him say ‘It has gotta be all or nothing’. He’s born for taking risks and maybe I got that gene from him that’s why.” He stretched his legs and sat like he’s on a photoshoot. He’s not a model but he can beat the professional ones even without the need for screening.

 “What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your life so far?” You folded your legs as you watch him wonder with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He poured a glass for himself and you noticed that he used the same glass that you drink on.

 “I believe we’re taking risks everyday in our lives. The only difference is the distance of our leap towards taking or not taking chances at all. Like when you’re playing a game, everything starts with equal opportunities. It’s a race to the witch mountain. The first one to gamble takes it all. You gotta be the predator of every tournament and you gotta be the last one standing in a survival of the fittest. If you’re brave enough to take the earliest start, you can use that advantage to ace your end game. It’s all about timing and investing. Win or lose streak. There is no such thing as a grey area when it comes to taking risks. You don’t get to tie with anybody. Either you’ll win or lose. You just have to trust your instincts and roll your dice like everyday is your last day on earth. If I go for something, I go all in. No half-baked decisions. Because my father taught me that risks equates to rewards and I’m all up for the extremes of both worlds. That’s the one thing I’m best at. I know how to play the game nice and fair because I know how to measure the corners of a square and even the distance around the circle which is not visible to the naked eye. After all, he considers me as his lucky charm. That explains my presence to his endless casino nights. And he hardly ever loses if I’m with him. Sure, Pops are probably waiting for me at our doorstep in LA right now. Too bad, his son is on the other side of the world, taking his own risk of a lifetime.” You left with no words to say. He’s too deep, a food for the soul. Guys like him are the ones that can be displayed in museums. He’s a delicate art and nobody should be allowed to touch him but the curator. And you’d want to take that role.

 “What if you lose? If you go all in and you lose everything all at once? Have you experienced it already?” you asked, admiring the tiny mole sitting under his left eye. You decided to take your second glass of wine.

 “The best thing about losing is that you’ve tried. I don’t take failures as an excuse for not trying again and taking another risk the next day. If I lose, so what? That only means you’re brave because you grow stronger with every fall that you take. Like a bamboo tree, it only bends but it doesn’t break. Life is all about swimming against the current of uncertainties and finding yourself floating on top of your insecurities.” As if he’s summarizing all the lessons in life, you’d always want to go for the front seat. He’s a walking self-help book, and maybe Mark Manson’s book of ‘the subtle art of not giving a fuck’ would have to sit longer in my shelf for the meantime. I got a risk-taker author Mark, right here and I got nothing to worry about.

[lgcmanager]

BAND MISSION 002

SCHEDULE TYPE: TRIMESTER SCHEDULE RESTRICTIONS: Cannot be paired with another trimester schedule, unless stated otherwise

in the early morning of JULY 6TH, BAE MIHI has called a meeting with all of the TRAINEES OF THE BAND MAIN CAREER PATH. despite the early hour, mihi is perky as ever, the excitement in her expression fully obvious as she claps her hands together. “i’m so happy to see you all! and we have a new face with us here; bae jc! welcome!” her voice gets higher and a little louder over time. “as the others know already, i am the head manager of LGC MUSIC. while we might be a little newer than the other groups, i can assure you that we are in tip-top shape!” she explains. “anyway, let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first! the lot of you will share one manager for now unless more decide to join us! we will await and see if that time ever comes but for now, this shall be the arrangement.”

DORMS

“JC, you will be moving in your new dorm as soon as possible! you’ll see, they are less crowded and more comfortable!”

SNS

a smile rests on her face as she continues on. “now, SNS ACCOUNTS. gosh, all these rules!” she giggles, “the rules still haven’t changed on that front; you will still be using the sns company accounts for the time being. this may change in the future, but for now, this is the protocol.”

DEBUT CONTRACT

“we’re almost done with the legalities just bear with me here,” she looks back down on her sheet to make sure that she’s covered everything. “JC, your band debut is quickly approaching which means that there are new legal grounds we need to cover. everyone here will receive a NEW CONTRACT that will need to be signed and returned as soon as possible. please get to them as soon as you can if you are very serious about debuting!”

BAND MISSION PART 001: BAND NAME + SHOW SETLIST

“before i get into the specifics, i would like to announce to all of you that starting from OCTOBER, you will be performing shows in multiple small venues. we want to help you make a name for yourself in the indie scene before you make your official debut later on. all the details about the dates and locations will be given in due time. for now, we must prepare! isn’t it exciting?” she laughs. “the first thing i need is for you six to come up with a SETLIST OF 12 SONG COVERS that you think would align with the concept you envision as a band. you must work as a group, listen to everyone’s suggestions and try to come up with something you’re all proud of. i will need the full setlist by AUGUST 15, which should give enough time for us to review it. we ask that at least EIGHT of these songs are in KOREAN, since the korean market will be your primary source of income. however, you can choose to perform a maximum of FOUR songs in either ENGLISH, MANDARIN or JAPANESE should you wish to explore a little! what i’m trying to say here is that, we want to give you guys almost complete freedom this time around. if you prove to me that you can earn my trust, i will have a lot less concerns about you being more hands on with your music once you prepare for a real debut. of course, as artists of LGC ENTERTAINMENT, there will be a team of professionals to help and guide you on this journey. you are not completely on your own and not allowed to do everything you please either, as you will always represent the company. ” she suddenly gasps. “i almost forgot the most amazing part! along with the setlist, we ask that you submit to us FIVE BAND NAME OPTIONS! since we want it to represent you well, we thought it would be best if you come up with ideas yourselves. i would ask that you provide a short explanation along with each name. why you chose it, what it means or represents, etc. be creative, but also appropriate! no vulgar name allowed.”

BAND MISSION PART 002: SHOW PREPARATION

“of course, while you’re working on your setlist, you will also start preparing for the shows! again, i’m telling you that this time around, we want you to live the experience of a real indie band starting out. this means that you will have freedom for almost everything, with a team of LGC MUSIC professionals and managers to help you put it in place. you will be able to give your input on lighting, graphics, stage decor, line distribution should there be more than one vocalist, who plays which instrument, even costumes. but don’t get me wrong: this isn’t the time for you to mess around and just do whatever you want. i expect you to remain professional at all times and be very serious about this process. we’re talking about your future here. this is not to take lightly, and this is very much a test for all of you. if you fail to pass it, we might have to take over and you won’t be able to enjoy as much freedom in your own work as you will for the time being.” she stares at each of them. “this will take up most of your time. we expect you to follow the same overall schedule as regular trainees would, except you will be working on your own project instead.”

BAND MISSION PART 003: INTER-COMPANY COMPETITION

“while doing all of this, we thought it would be fun for you to participate in a very special competition that we are setting up in partnership with JYPe, YGe and Big Hit. you will be going against other trainee bands for a special performance on AUGUST 28. i ask that you select one song from your setlist to perform and be on your best behavior to represent the company on that day. this isn’t going to be filmed or broadcasted, by the way, but it doesn’t mean you don’t need to impress!”

for full information about the inter-company competition, please refer to the TRAINEE MISSION 004 schedule.

IMPORTANT: we know that this whole process will require a lot of plotting between muns OOC, so if you wish to refer to admods for anything if you’re unsure or if you hit any obstacle, please feel free to message us at any time. we’re basically testing the waters right now to see if you will work well with each other and allow us to give more freedom to you as muns but also ic for your muses. if we feel like it’s creating too much conflict, we might reassess this for the future. please be respectful of everyone’s opinions.

SETLIST AND BAND NAME SUBMISSION

as stated above, you will need to submit a setlist of 12 songs as well as 5 band name options by AUGUST 15, 11:59 EDT. ONLY ONE MUSE should submit to the lgcmanager blog by this deadline. the submission should include the song title, the original artist (or NPC artist from legacy if you use one of their songs) as well as a link to the song we can listen to. for the band names, we want a short explanation about what the name means and why you think it would represent the band well.

**EDIT: ooc, all songs must be from before 2018 unless they are already part of the LGC universe

REQUIREMENTS

make sure to use the  hashtag lgc:bandmission for everything related to this event. you have until OCT 2 to complete the following written requirement.

SETLIST AND BAND NAME: write a 300+ words solo or a 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) thread with a partner about the selection process for the setlist and band name for +8 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE  

SHOW PREPARATION:  write a 300+ words solo or a 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) thread with  a partner that takes place during any part of the preparation for the fall season shows for +8 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE    

INTER-COMPANY COMPETITION:  write a 300+ words solo or a 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) thread with a partner that takes place during the inter-company competition ( either the performance, or watching other trainees perform )  for +8 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE and +3 notoriety

to validate your skill points and collect your notoriety points, please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog before OCT 3, 11:59 EDT.

TITLE: MUSE NAME ∙ BAND MISSION 002

- SETLIST AND BAND NAME: +8 ( skill points distribution ) [ LINK ] - SHOW PREPARATION: +8 ( skill points distribution ) [ LINK ] - INTER-COMPANY COMPETITION: +8 ( skill points distribution ), +3 notoriety [ LINK ]  

[ziracona]

What has been your favorite ilm chapter to write? Your least favorite? Do you have any interesting fun facts that were in cut pieces? I love this fic and the research put in is astounding. You put so much love into this. I'm glad to have been a reader :)

Thank you so much for asking this, and I’m really happy you have liked it! : ) Researching all kinds of wild stuff has been one of the most fun parts. (I’m holding the start of the answer to each question you asked, bc I talked about the first one for a while lol).

I do have a favourite chapter! I think to read, it would be a lot harder question, and there’d be a bunch of chapters tied, but as an author, my favourite chapter is most definitely Speak for the Dead. I have a lot of favourite moments and chapters, but that’s the one I’m most proud of. There’s a really rare thing in writing I call “script perfection,” which is not like, a perfect script in comparison to other scripts, it just means the version of the script that got shot/published was the best version of that particular script there ever could have been. It’s incredibly rare, and very hard to do. Even with films and shows I love, usually there will be seconds, sometimes minutes, off and on, that are the best version of those seconds there could have ever been. And the rest of it is great! It’s maybe the second or third or eighth-best it could have been, and that’s still super impressive--like man--eigth-best is still so close to 1st, eigth best is freaking phenomenal. It’s something to be really proud of. But that’s as high as it almost ever gets. For anything. Only extremely rarely is an entire script at 96% or above on script perfection. (I would say for reference that Galaxy Quest and The Incredibles are two such films).

It isn’t the most important part of a script or a story at all. Not by a huge amount. The quality of the story itself is. I have plenty of films that never hit 90% or above script perfection that I still prefer over films that did (like, Galaxy Quest is an amazing film, and I’m in awe that it hit that level of refinement, but I still like The Two Towers, which definitely did not, better. Because Sam’s speech at the end of it is enough to power me for a whole year). But it’s still such a rare thing. And god, it’s hard. Any kind of media is done on some kind of budget (be it financial or energy or both), and time constraint, and also it’s just not easy to do. Again, true-final-draft achievement (which is probably a better name for this bc it’s less confusing) is far from the most important or valuable aspect of a film, or play, or book, and it’s not necessary to make a story amazing. But it’s still always /so/ cool to see. It’s cool to see a nine minute continuous stretch of it even, on screen. And out of all the chapters I’ve written, the only one I think hit true-final-draft at least 96% or above, was Speak for the Dead. And that’s not embarrassing or anything. It’s wild. And I’m super proud of that. I’m proud I got even one. Because a lot of even my favourite books don’t. They just have perfected scenes, and a lot of them, but are not the best draft they could have been. Which does absolutely nothing to negate their worth as phenomenal books, but. I’m really, really proud of Speak for the Dead, and very happy with myself for having been able to do that at least once. I kind of treasure that.

It’s also a special chapter to me, because I had it only very loosely outlined/planned for at all, and it kind of came together on its own, and everything just came together and fell into place just right, and this chapter I had been really unsure of before starting turned into my favourite one in the entire fic. I like what I write, and I enjoy reading it myself, but there’s a line in Speak for the Dead where Tapp is trying to explain everything to Meg, about himself and his past and his family, and he’s been going through this like, awful mass of confusion and trauma and guilt and regret that’s all come to a head in this one day, and he’s found out who Amanda is and can’t deal with that and the person he knew, and the way Sing died, the choices she went on to make, and there’s so much even he doesn’t understand about how the world is falling apart around him, but somehow he figures it out enough to say it to Meg. And he has a line: “You’re supposed to stay late and work the extra eight hours overnight to catch the killer so somebody doesn’t die; you’re not supposed to go home to your family and give your kid a hug. It’s not as important, in an equation. It was my responsibility. And I didn’t get that the other job had its own set of rules. That the cop’s supposed to let the bus with his partner fall, but the dad’s supposed to let the fifteen people go and save his kid—he’s supposed to go running through crowded subway tunnels chased by gunmen, consequences be damned, to get them away from where his kid’s hiding. I didn’t get it. I don’t know why. I loved him right, but I didn’t act like it, because I thought I was doing the right thing. But if everybody’s just numbers, you lose anything that matters, no matter how high the numbers go up. And you don’t realize until it’s way too late that you do just as much good really helping one person you signed on to protect as you could have ever done bouncing off the lives of a hundred people who go on to be the next Jigsaw.”

And like. I fucking love that line. God. It’s such a hard thing to articulate, what he’s going through in that moment, and I try, but I think I often don’t do as good a job. But every time I read that last line it’s like a gut punch. And I really love it. How the fuck could you possibly feel after going through the experience he’s just had? It’s such a specific, indescribable kind of big, whole-world-view devestating.

There’s also a lot of really sweet moments with Meg, and Adam drugged and injured but trying really hard to help, and it’s a super understated chapter in a lot of the moments? Tapp’s one of my favourites to write, because of the way he thinks. He tries so hard to be lawful good in a world where there’s just no law at all anymore. And he’s older by far than anyone else, and thinks about the world that way. Honestly, it’s one of the most serious chapters. It’s less graphic than say Proven or The End of the Line, but it deals with some very not remotely fantastic and not pretty themes. It’s heavy. But I like the way it tells itself. I enjoy working in references when they make things fun, or better, or more meaningful, and I got to do that a lot. Plus, it gave Ace and Tapp a bunch of one-on-one time they didn’t really get on-screen as much in any of the rest of the fic, but I really loved it. The way they try to look after the people they care for, and how they understand each other. I just really fucking loved that chapter. Also, Tapp beat someone to death with a reverse bear trap that was still attached to his head so he could save Meg from dying in a way that would be super lastingly traumatic, and if that’s not the most metal thing I’ve ever heard? I really love Tapp. And I love that he sticks to the things he does. Meg never learns what Amanda was going to do to her, not in fic, not after. And Tapp does change how he does things are talking to Meg at the end of that chapter. Tapp’s the one who immediately says they can’t go public with any information on Rin until she’s passed on, even though it could really help them prove their case and hypothetically better protect the world, because he’s not willing to see a kid forced to revert to being violent and feral against her will in self-defense, or locked up in a government black site to get that. He did good. Life has not been kind to this poor man, but thankfully, Meg Thomas has.

Least favourite? Way harder. Hmmm. Always whichever one I wrote most recently 😂

In complete seriousness, I don’t think I have one? I have like 6 I consider “slightly-less-interesting” than the rest, but I don’t have one I hate period, or just dislike a lot. Uhhhh. If I had to pick one right now, I’d say Core Essentials, because I haven’t read it in over a year and don’t remember it as well as many others, and of the small number of chapters in the “Damn, been a hot minute, huh?” group, it’s the one I remember the least. This rating may change next time I actually read it, lol.

Hmmm. Interesting fun facts in cut segments. In the original draft for Shrouded, Claudette went into Philip’s basement and got a really good look at the other side of the wall, through one of the cracks, and saw the Entity and almost gave herself a panic attack. The other side of the basement wall was described as looking like the sun, like just looking at light, but only at first, and then there was movement like a snake coiling or some huge creatuer deep underwater sliding across your vision, too big to see, but alive in there in the middle of the light, and moving around, and it horrified her. It was extremely creepy but pretty cool.

The original draft for The Wraith included Philip experiencing fragmented audio memories from Signifying Nothing/his time with Vigo & co. while he was mostly unconscious. It was really cool and I forgot because I haven’t read it in forever, but it hinted at /way/ more of the plot to those past events. I really liked the draft, but ended up changing it into what was published because I’d never done anything with his memories before, and I didn’t want to disorient the reader too much (probably a good call, but it was still a neat scene in the OG form).

It’s not in the fic, but canonically, after leaving the survivors camp at the end of The Wraith, Philip came up with his plan to leave himself a message in the bell, and then called the Entity. Trying to talk his way out immediately failed, and it was shitty to him and pissed him off, and Philip had considered what might work on something like the Entity before calling it, and knew he was dead either way, so he tried to fight it. More to see if it would work than anything. He knew he would forget it even if he did, but sometimes impulses lingered, and it was possible if it worked, it would help him think of it again. He used his blood and drew a protective symbol against demons on his palm without it noticing, then rushed it, and it wasn’t scared of him so it didn’t give a fuck, but he smacked it with the charm and that actually succeeded in burning its talon (very little, but enough to cause it actual pain) and it flipped out and got extremely angry, and immediately stabbed him through the skull, which is why he returned with that chunk of his mask gone and has a scar on his forehead now. Originally, I was considering writing some of the events between The Wraith and Dawn from Philip’s POV, but decided it was much better sticking with the survivors and their uncertainty completely. Got to live in the anxiety baybeeee.

I’m sure there’s more but you activated my trap card asking about Speak for the Dead - a special interest- and I already made this long, so I should stop for now. Thank you again so much for asking! I hope my answers made sense are we’re at least kinda enjoyable to read. 💙💙💙

[venus-says]

Aikatsu Friends! Episodes 52-57

The best of both worlds. Or is it?

⚠ ⚠ Warning! Very long post ahead, be prepared. ⚠ ⚠

I have a lot of things to say about this batch of episodes so I’ll skip an intro and go right away to it. Also because of the sheer amount of stuff I wanted to say I wrote this as a review instead of my reactions like I usually do with Aikatsu posts here on the blog. Anyway, let’s go.

Episode 52 starts promising, the stone appearing on Mio's bed is strange but that doesn't bothers me. The scene with everyone struggling at the 0 gravity room is fun and until this point the episode had me with a smile on my face. Even Aine's joke about the stone being cursed was good. But then it comes my first problem. Hibiki's back story doesn't add up with what we learned before from Mirai and Karen. From last season what's implied is that LMT went against Hibiki and Alicia in the zone and that was what made them "stop" aikatsu, this was the reason why LMT was so concerned about Mio being in the zone and the reason why Karen was afraid of doing it again. But from Hibiki's story the split up occurred before their turn on the DFC, and yes that could be a possibility - Alicia got the news, they went shaken to the stage, they lost, Alicia went back to her country and it would seem to everyone that the loss was the reason for the break up. But if that was the case we would be ignoring the fact that even though Hibiki and Mirai are rivals they're seem to be in very good terms with each other so she could tell her "No, it's not because of you guys, this happened so we're on hiatus" or something. And you can say "yeah but Alicia didn't want to go back and this and that", but Hibiki says she went to Alicia and the response she got was that she's not worthy of being her partner which means that in this scenario, for the people involved the problem would be on Hibiki, not Alicia, so once again Mirai would be able to openly go to her and talk things out. This seems like a small thing and it could be just a retcon, but if this is what they're considering the truth than this invalidates the entirety of the drama around the Aikatsu Zone from last season. And then we come to my other problem with this episode. First Mio gets selfish again, if you're a team you should strive to shine brighter with your partner. If you shine more than Aine things get uneven and Pure Palette goes anywhere, so this speech being part of the thing that triggers the jewel DOESN'T WORK. Second all of sudden they come up with "omg mio has a live today" and this is very unnatural, but this is a flaw of the format because for some reason they think they need to have a CG live every episode -which they don't need-  and this creates situations like this, this live is completely non related to everything else we've saw in this episode alone. Which brings me to my next point, Mio getting her JLR in THE SECOND EPISODE OF THE SEASON. I'm sorry but to me is hard to believe this rock would acknowledge? Mio's radiance just from being with her for a single day, and a day where she didn't do ANYTHING. "We wanna showcase her new song" okay, you can do that, just don't make her JLR appear in the first time. This takes off the value of these coords and make them feel not special. And honestly this isn't something that difficult to write. You can leave everything as it is till the moment Mio is alone in the chamber, when she have that moment in space make her just feel something weird on the rock. On the live make she feel that same thing again. She can try to figure out what that rock is trying to say to her in the next episode, then in episode she does the live again and the change happens. This would have been SO MUCH BETTER. Yes is a quick resolve, but at least it would make us feel something. I don't feel nothing but rage after seeing how they made it happen in this episode, it doesn't feel worth of anything, just feels like protagonist plot armor. But hey, at least Sekai was Mawaru is a bop, I guess that's something good.

Episode 53 does a complete 180º turn and is basically perfect. Hibiki's prank show was amazing. It works perfectly as both comedy and drama. We can laugh hard at the extremely weird situations Hibiki comes up with and still feel how strong the bonds between each unit are. It's a great starting point for Hibiki's character to grow and is the first glimpse of hope we have for her relation with Alicia, and this pays off a little later on the episode with Alicia starting to reply back Hibiki's texts as she shows signs of wanting more of her than just being an unit on stage, and eventually picking up her call in the end. That's really good pay off. Even Pure Palette's live going on here makes sense, is to show Alicia what  they can become once they come back again. The impact would be more impressive if PP performed Soko no Shikainai Mono in their diamond dresses, but oh well, this isn't enough to turn the episode bad.

One thing that is sad though is that PP new aura is so bland :/ not that I liked their old aura, but at least it was unique, this is just generic. But most importantly this episode gave us great reactions from Kaguya...

... and Mio being a freaking furry again.

Just perfect. XD

Episode 54 starts promising, is kinda of a call back (in a very smaller scale) to that episode where Aoi became Mizuki's manager for a day. Also getting to finally know Wakaba seems very exciting. But right before the opening we already have a red flag. Another magic rock is here. And judging by how Mio's episode went my excitement went all the way down to the underground. The episode pick itself up though. We have and amazing first half with Aine trying to be mature to impress Wakaba and being very weird at it. And I like how this plays out with the jewel disappearing since Aine's not acting as her true self and trying to be something that she's not. There's a good message on this.

Also Hibiki is having a Vegas residency outside Vegas and is just great to see. I also like Hibiki's speech about labels being bs and that you should thrive to be your natural self on situations, I think is very important to have a kids show putting these things out living on a world that seems to care more for appearances and how you fake yourself out to cause a good impression to others more and more each day. But then we hit a wall again. The rock being back makes sense, the rock turning into a jewel does not. There's no pay off here, and once again they make the jeweling dresses seem not special at all. And this, at least to me, makes an episode that was great become bad/medium. We're only 4 episodes in and all of the jeweling dresses introduced in the first part of the game are already here. And none of them feel special, not even Hibiki's. I can't say about Hibiki since she got her jewel before the season started, but Aine and Mio didn't work at all to receive these coords that are supposed to be worn just by idols who prove themselves worth of it. Disappointing. And is sad because Aine's JLR is my favorite of the 3 and I wish it had something more special going for it. Oh well.

Also wtf was that shady moment of Hibiki at the end asking who would get the next jewel? Did they forgot that she's not Elza, they just share the same VA? Like that was so random, we don't need this, stop.

Side note: Wakaba is adorable!!!

Episode 55 got me really excited. By the preview it was what I've always wanted for Friends and with my favorite characters, how couldn't I love this??? And well I loved it. Though I have a few points I dislike that would like to discuss. To start off, I don't like how they were so keen on showing that the shuffle wasn't a good thing. The impression it gives is that the show is saying you can have friends but only one person can be your best friend, and I think that's such bullshit. I was watching that I was like "uhhhhhh no". I understand Tamaki not being that happy because in a business stand point yes it is an anuisance but still if the girls get along, let them be. The second point I didn't like is how rushed everything was, yeah I get that this is a one episode only thing and they can't drag things for a long time, but it felt so uneven and so rushed the way they portrait the units. Which brings me to the next point of I don't really think that rock was necessary. I do believe they could come to all of those decisions on their own and the time spent with them going to the shrine could be used to show us more moments of the girls together to make the experience more meaningful to us.

And to my last bad point, the stages on this episode were just disappointing. First Mio's live at the beginning was completely unnecessary, if they needed something to use as starting point they could've shown HC watching the live on a tv or something and having that discussion somewhere else. Second I would like to see the shuffle units performing together, if not for a full live show us just the chorus. Heck I would be happy if it was just a png moving around of the girls performing each other's songs. But we got nothing of that, instead we got a recycled live of HC, which to me doesn't make any sense since RM was also a part of the shuffle and they could hold this event together and have both perform, and to make things interesting finally giving them their miracle auras, I bet everyone would like this more than just the DFC stage being recycled. Such a missed opportunity. But despite all of that, I still love this episode. Seeing my favorite idols interact in such a good and fun way was amazing, and even though I had those bad thoughts crossing my mind, I truly enjoyed watching this episode. I was so happy I didn't even took notes while watching, all I did was press the auto screenshot key all the time because I would start fanboying everything happening on screen. ALSO THANK YOU AIKATSU FRIENDS! FOR GETTING MY TWO KIDS TOGETHER. AT LEAST THIS YALL GOT IT RIGHT.

I don't have a lot to say about Episode 56. I'm glad they touched the subject I was complaining about on episode 52, but that still doesn't make things right. Hibiki could and should have talked about the matter with Mirai before. I like Karen confrontation with Hibiki, it was necessary. What I don't like is how after giving all that speech to Hibiki LMT just let's things to PP to resolve, and they do it in a very dumb way. I honestly don't know how that audition was supposed to help Hibiki. Oh well we could see space Mirai and space Karen who had outfits 10000x better than PP so. All flashbacks in this episode were kinda good, but honestly what a horrible name "I Believe" is for an unit??? Ang I guess that's all I have to comment on this episode. They made that mistake on Hibiki's card showing Garnet instead of Ruby but honestly I don't really mind it. Alicia was way too mean in the end imo, but I also don't really care. This episode got me really bored after that scene in the boat, I just can't be bothered too write more on this, sorry. XD

If I already had few things to say about 56, I have even less to say about 57. Specially considering that not a lot has happened here.

This episode seemed to be about Aine messing up her preparations before the trip and I think I'd have enjoyed if they went that route, it'd be funny to see Aine running around trying to get her passport. But instead they just threw all responsibility to Tamaki, which to be fair would be the right thing to do since she's an adult and their manager, but by doing that they take away everything that could make this episode interesting, specially because nothing else happened.

We had a press conference -that was unnecessary-, then the next few scenes are of Aine and the girls just sitting down, when was the time for conflict to finally start they just ignore it, then Aine magically has her passport and is in her home packing, then she has a live and they're on the plane. Nothing interesting happened.

We had a few cute scenes with Hibiki, I specially like her moment with Reflect Moon, but that's all this episode has going for it.

I also have a question. If Alicia really vetting the girls on her country, like she said last episode, couldn't she just deny their visa? This could make for a way more interesting conflict. Imagine PP and Hibiki having to think of ways to get inside the principality and the final decision they make is to go in as spies in the best Charlie's Angels fashion? Yes, is not realistic, but if they can have magical rocks who follow idols around they can make this.

And that’s it. Kagayaki no Jewel started very promising at first but there’s just SO MANY BAD DECISIONS. Is just sad. I’m very against the idea of it being a season of just 26 episodes instead of the full year but honestly if they keep doing this may it is for the best to be a shorter season.

Anyway, thanks for sticking by. See yall later.

[seenashwrite]

do we know anything about john winchester's parents, besides Henry? Do you have any speculation as to why the boys were named after Mary's parents? We learn from Henry that he hadn't abandoned young John. Thanks to Abaddon. But I need more!

Ah, an autopsy. Everybody gown up. Grab the rib spreader. This is gonna be a good one. Characters like Millie are my most favorite when it comes to writing in the vein of ���based on…” and “adapted by…” because we have little information on them, meaning we can fill in those cracks ourselves, but at the same time? In this case, at least? The little bit we’ve got on Millie holds a lot.

Brief disclaimer: I am of the opinion that the writers (excepting Kripke, who was playing the long game with a five-year plan) aren’t doing as much foreshadowing and employing other sneaky-tricksy, deep-seated literary gambits as I’ve noted more than a few viewers assert; it seems to me that the writers backtrack and use past plot points (broadly, that is - evidence has shown us that, on the whole, they aren’t precise canon adherents) to bolster present/immediate-future arcs. However, it gives us the opportunity to expound upon the more minute things/characters they’ve forgotten about and/or left to languish.

Let’s do a list of knowns vs. unknowns about The Mysterious Mrs. Winchester, because the former’s more important than the latter when getting our brains on task for an adaptation/based-upon piece, a.k.a. fanfiction. I have used her as a pivotal player (in the backstory) for my big story, so minus some specific lines I just pulled from a script, the following is coming from my (canon-based) notes. You have come to the right person #humbly #not really #Millie’s my jam 

Check this out.

Millie has only come up twice in the show, most recently on Lady Antonia “Brain-Diddle” Bevell’s grossly incomplete mood board, then in a flashback during a conversation between Henry and Josie. Watch your step for that turd of exposition dump up top:

Catch that? 

Item #1: Millie is aware of Henry’s job / The MoLs

Perhaps she’s even met Josie - decent speculation, Josie is her husband’s partner, at least for now, in the context of their novice/initiate status, and Josie felt comfortable referring to Millie by name to Henry, vs. saying “Your wife is lucky to have you.”

To what degree is Millie in-the-know? Specifically, is she aware of the paranormal bend of it all? That’s a crack we can fill. She could very well be under the impression this is some sort of niche government division.

I vote “no”. I think Henry would’ve said, “Except she doesn’t know, Josie. She doesn’t know what we deal with, how dangerous the work can be. All she’d know is that she’s become a widow….”

A little sidebar to bolster my claims of her being in the know - whether Henry had, in the past, started tip-toeing down the road of cluing in John on his work is unknown, but he sure as shit was starting to edge there based on the whole “What’s that pin mean” - “You’ll find out” exchange. Now, Henry’s smart, and smart people know that telling your offspring to keep things secret from the other parent is a dumbass move, from beans to beanstalks, and particularly when they’re in mouthy toddler beansprout stage, that crew can’t keep anything secret, it ain’t how they’re wired.

So Millie knows, and I think Millie knows about the bumps in the night. I think she knows Henry’s father and grandfather were members. And she knows that means John’s on deck. And she knows that’s bad news. Here’s why.

Item #2: Millie & John move from Illinois

Henry went missing in ‘58, we’ve no idea when when she moved. Was she from Illinois? Did she move alone? Did she have family somewhere? Did she go there first? Did she go straight to Kansas? Why did she end up in Kansas? Nobody knows. We’ve zero knowledge of anything in this area. Plot away.

But we do have the knowledge she got herself and her son the hell outta Dodge. She left friends. Took John away from his friends. Left the house she shared with her husband. Again: did she lose the house? Did she not have a skill set that would’ve = decent employment? Do the MoLs not have some sort of killed-in-the-line-of-duty spousal/family payout? Was it a crappy one? Got me.

Point is, single motherhood is tough now, much less the further back in time you go. It’s possible she did just fine on her own.

But let’s talk probable.

Item #3: Millie remarried & put down roots in Kansas

When we meet adult John, a random in town tells him “Say hello to your old man for me.” 

[glances around] 

Cool.

Now, the writers - when they had to do the whole MoL thing in order to get us to the bunker so there was a stable set piece for consistency or budget or whatever - absolutely forgot this one-off comment that was made in the infancy of the show, guaranteed, hundred percent, no way I’m wrong. Same goes for the one-off “comes from a family of mechanics” line that some fans glom onto. 

These are canon misfires that piddled into the ocean, never tore through the hull of another ship, and are No Big Deal. [yes I know the difference between cannon and canon, I’m being cheeky, nobody “@” me] Upshot is, we get to stick it into the Millie file. Make stepdad a mechanic. Boom. Done.

In any event, I use the phrase “puts down roots” because this is where John returned to when he left the service, got a job as a mechanic, ultimately started dating this chick named Mary, so this was home. We can reasonably assume, then, that he’d lived there for most of his life, given how young he was when he signed up for the service*.

[* Note: I state vs. suggest because I have extensive character autopsies done on both John and Mary; I’ve covered a bit of my Mary diagnoses elsewhere; just letting y'all know it’s why I tend to state things about them vs. quantify it with “My impression is…”, etc., because I’ve got a decently robust pile of evidence to support my statements; J & M aren’t the topic here, though]

I actually like the misfire line about mechanics, and I like saying that stepdad is a mechanic, because it tracks with items #1-4 above, and gives us…

Item #5: Millie didn’t want John to be in the Men of Letters and made critical life choices to prevent such

Two points for this item:

—> She went from being the wife of an academic professional involved with covert ops to being the wife of a mechanic

This isn’t impossible or strange or noteworthy in-and-of itself. I’m not saying it is, not shitting on blue collar workers or persons who specialize in a trade vs. those on a scholarly track. I don’t mean to infer that Millie - as a single mom in the early ‘60s - lowered her standards or something, that she was desperate for a husband and took what she could get; on the contrary, based on how important knowledge and order was to Henry, how he looked down his nose at what he found to be the pedestrian lifestyle/life choices of hunters, I’d assert that Millie was quite intelligent and perhaps even “upper-crust”.

But that sharp turn, regardless of the impetus, does go to our Millie profile. It’s just interesting, that flip of her switch, especially when you combine it with the move from her established life with a young child.

—> She never told John the truth about Henry’s disappearance

Why? Why would you do that to your kid? Why would you allow him to have the impression - and the heartache from - believing he was abandoned?

Because - what trumps everything (or should) for a parent?

Protecting your kid.

The Namesake Question

Real answer: the characters didn’t exist at the time the show’s skeleton was being assembled.

Moving on to the answer(s) we can divine based on canon…

First obvious answer, on the Millie front, is they had two boys. Yeah, yeah, could’ve been “Miller” or her maiden name or something, and we don’t know their middle names, etc. Knock it out, throw it in as a plot point. And true, it’s not like they went with, say, Henry and Sam. The Dean character could’ve pulled off the nickname “Hank”, admittedly difficult as it is to imagine from our current vantage point. So, you’re right - it’s a thing. 

Again, I’ve long had autopsies done on John and Mary, adding to them over seasons 11-13 (when I started watching in real time), and those are lengthy, winding roads that do branch off of the Millie highway, but aren’t the topic here. Just a reminder that all the things I’m presenting below in a factual tone, I’ve got evidence to back it up.

Based on John and Mary’s behavior, their choices, their parenting styles, we can paint a pretty clear picture in our minds of their childhoods. For John, we’ve covered the broad sweeps of his to the extent we can by way of examining Millie. For Mary, we have more, and have seen her parents and their behavior, their choices, their parenting style. I don’t see the Campbells as putting family first above all (they put the mission first - sound like anyone else we know?), whereas Henry has been shown to love his wife and son more than anything, so had John been exposed to him? Wow. We probably wouldn’t recognize him.

But as it stands, John doesn’t have an instinctual reaction to put family above everything else. Neither does Mary, as we’ve since learned. Dean does, vehemently, and as Sam matured, his instinct has changed to be this way, as well. It happens - some of us, either purposefully or unintentionally, end up replicating our childhoods for our children; others, like Dean and Sam, strive to do the opposite. Even siblings growing up in the same environment can go different directions - it’s a crap shoot to a degree, whether when, upon leaving the house, you go out the front door or the back.

So while I don’t see that Mary was particularly close to Deanna and Samuel, I do find there’s enough to support that John wasn’t close at all to Millie. Absence of evidence does not = proof, true, so the lack of him talking about his mother alone doesn’t exactly make a solid case. Having said that, there’s multiple reasons (again-again, that’s for another time) based on solid evidence (i/e, John’s actions/decisions), which have me leaning towards he and his mother being anywhere from distant to estranged, not covering that list, but one that’s germane to our current topic is this:

When John got busy investigating Mary’s death - or letting folks assume he was working through his grief by ditching his business and checking out on being a father - he left Dean and Sam with Mike and Kate Guenther while he was off drinking and researching, perhaps others (and yes, Bobby later, but I’m talking about initially, in their hometown) if the Guenthers were unable, and who knows who all if he left for days at a time.

So why did John and Dean and Sam not ever stay with Millie? Why were Dean and Sam not left with their grandmother? She was right there.

Well, the answer is that the writers didn’t think of Henry (and by extension, Millie) til seasons later, but for us, it’s a crack that could be filled, a nice deep one, too. 

Three possibilities:

(1) Millie had died prior(2) Millie and John were not close, possibly estranged(3) Millie did help watch after Dean and Sam

Numbers 1 and 2 are plausible, and it actually could be both. Could also spin it to where Millie was dead, stepfather was alive (we have evidence of that, see above, RE: rando dude’s “Say hi to your old man for me”) and John wasn’t comfortable leaving Dean and Sam with him, or there was some reason the stepdad was unable to take care of them, or maybe John loved stepdad dearly and would have stayed with him/left the kids with him, but stepdad had died or remarried or moved away before Dean was born. Fill in that blank yourself.

I don’t find number 3 very probable, as it’s not mentioned in John’s journal. He specifically mentions Mike and Kate several times. He even mentions Missouri meeting Dean and Sam, how they really took to her immediately. He would’ve mentioned Millie.

I say all that to say, the lack of naming one of the boys after Henry is of note, but not mysterious for me because John was under the impression that his father ditched him and his mother. And, um...

.

INT. DINER – DAY

We see a close-up of a black-and-white photograph of HENRY holding a baseball with his arm around a young boy holding a bat. HENRY is sitting at a table holding the photograph. DEAN and SAM are standing at the counter.

SAM Driver's license says he's Henry Winchester from Normal, Illinois. He knows Dad's birthday, the exact place where he was born. Dude, that's our grandfather.

DEAN I'm just saying before we break out the warm and toasties, let's not forget that, uh, H.G. Wells over there left Dad high and dry when he was a kid.

SAM But maybe he didn't run out on Dad – I mean, not on purpose. Maybe he time-traveled here and, I don't know, got stuck.

DEAN Yeah, well, either way, Dad hated the son of a bitch.

.

So name-wise for the Winchester side? Miller, Mills, a maiden name - I can see something as a namesake for Millie still being plausible as one of their middle names; a Henry namesake never had a chance in hell. 

And despite neither John nor Mary behaving as if they truly buy into the whole FAMILY IS EVERYTHING stance, Samuel and Deanna died a horrible death, and not far away - it happened when both John and Mary were in the mix, Mary specifically. I don’t see her having to push very hard to get John on board with naming their kids after her parents following a shared traumatic experience.

Alrighty, then.

We can send some samples off to the lab, I hear the Stynes run a really thorough one not too far from here, but I’m pretty satisfied - pass me the sutures, time to tag and bag.

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That was gross, I’m so apologizing. 

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[whispers] I’m totes not. 😏

Hello, person who has read this far! See HERE for how to make an appointment with Dr. Nash.

[ethxndolan]

Grayson Dolan Must Die (G.D.) Part 9

Summary: Grayson Dolan is known as the schools womanizer. His ability to make a girl fall in love with him, and drop her within a week is legendary. When a series of events peaks Grayson’s interest in Y/N, she is recruited by three of his exes to break his heart in a very public way and exact revenge for all the pain he has caused. However, nothing goes according to plan… and Y/N may be in way over her head navigating the whit and charm that is Grayson Dolan.

A/N: lol i leid i think theres gonna be 11 parts 

Word Count: 1,889

MASTERLIST

Grayson and I spent nearly the entire weekend together plotting and scheming. He took it upon himself to name us the Grayson Dolan Must Not Die Duo, also known as operation GDMNDD. He thought it was funny.

I told the GDMD girls that our date Friday night had gone extremely well, that Gray was an amazing kisser - a detail he insisted on adding or “they would know I was lying”. They were eager to move the plan along so they were totally cool and supportive of me hanging out with him all weekend. Especially when I provided details like he couldn’t stay away from me, he said I was the greatest girl he’d ever met, and that he had made me a playlist full of love songs - a detail which I insisted was important, but Grayson disagreed.

Monday morning I was standing at my locker grabbing my books for the day, when Gray walked up to me, wrapped an arm around my neck and kissed me on the cheek. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” I replied. We had decided to make it seem like we were dating so the GDMD girls didn’t suspect anything. So while I knew this interaction was fake, the stupid grin that was plastered on my face as I looked up at him wasn’t. And that worried me a little.

He leaned in and pressed his lips close to my ear as he whispered, “So you remember what you have to do right?”

It took me a second to sort through my thoughts and not the raging waves of heat that were rolling through my body. “Yeah, totally. I’m more worried about you.”

He put his hand against his chest and playfully looked offended. “I’ve got this, don’t worry, partner,” he said. “I’ll text you when it’s done.” He winked at me before placing a kiss on my forehead and walking away. My heart was beating erratically from nerves, from feelings I was unsure about, and general dread of what I had to do later today.

Grayson’s POV

I pushed open the doors of the front office and sauntered in. “Hey Mrs. G,” I said walking up to her desk and leaning against it. I gave her my best smolder, I had been told it was excellent in the past and I wasn’t afraid to use it to my advantage.

The school secretary looked up at me fondly. “Grayson, how are you?”

“I’m good,” I responded. “But, more importantly, how are you? Is your cat doing any better?” I hated small talk like this, but I knew asking about her cat was the best way to schmooze her. She was one of those crazy cat ladies who talked about them like they were her children.

She looked over at the picture of her cat and caressed the frame. “He’s doing much better, thank you.” Her eyes went back to me as a wide grin spread across her face. “You’re so sweet for remembering.”

“Can’t forget anything about you,” I said and gave her a quick wink. “Speaking of forgetting things, I completely forgot what period Rachel Gates has gym. I have her, uh, inhaler and I need to make sure she gets it.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Since when does Rachel have asthma?”

“It’s an, um, new development. It was really dramatic she found out last week when she got too excited over getting asked to homecoming. It was really bad, she couldn’t breathe, she turned all red … not a good situation. So you see, I really needs to make sure she gets it before gym,” I said. I didn’t even know how asthma worked, I was straight up lying through my teeth and I was hoping Mrs. G couldn’t see through it. Everything was riding on this. If I couldn’t pull this off Y/N and I were fucked.

She sighed heavily, “Grayson, you know I’m not supposed to give out that kind of information…”

I gave her my best smile and made sure to look directly in her eyes. “Come on Mrs. G, you know this stays between us. Our little secret,” I said huskily.

She blushed in response and shifted in her seat as she sought about it for a second. “Okay, fine.”

—

I found out Rachel had gym fourth period. So as soon as the bell rang to dismiss third period I darted to her locker to wait for her. When she finally came I could see she was trying to look annoyed by my presence, but it was easy to see how fake it was. She loved when people paid attention to her. “Hey, Rach,” I said.

“Grayson,” she muttered. I watched carefully as she put her combo into her locker. Luckily it was still early enough in the school year that she wasn’t a complete whiz at it, and put it in slowly enough that I could catch it. “What can I do for you?” she asked, side eyeing me.

“Well, actually I need a favor.”

She raised an eyebrow as if she was surprised, but her tone said she wasn’t. “Oh?”

“Can I use your phone real quick? Mine’s dead and I desperately need to text Ethan real quick.” I knew a simple smile and light flirting wasn’t going to do the trick with Rachel, so I had to try a different tactic.

“Why wouldn’t you ask somebody, who I don’t know, likes you? I really couldn't give a shit if you’re able to text your dumb brother or not,” she said. They way her voice rose told me she was lying, she definitely still liked me.

Letting the comment about my brother roll off my back, which was not easy to do, I leaned in close to her and said, “Come on, Rach, don’t be like that. I really think you and I should reconnect, you really did me a solid when you told me all about Y/N’s plan. That means a lot to me.” I reached up and pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. That did the trick.

Her eyes practically melted as I could see her resolve quickly disappear. “I heard you still went out with her this weekend.”

I shrugged. “Don’t worry, she’ll get what she deserves.” And I could honestly say I wasn’t lying. I would do anything to make sure this video of Y/N never got out, it was literally the only thing that mattered to me.

“Fine, but be quick I don’t want to be late to gym,” she said.

“You got it.” I watched her type in her passcode and then hand her phone to me. I typed some bullshit message to Ethan about football practice changing times. I handed it back to her, “Thanks.”

“Yeah, so about reconnecting-“

“Oh was that the bell? I have to go to class. See ya!” I dipped out of there so fast, not wanting to have that conversation. I walked down the next hall and waited till the bell actually rang and the halls cleared out.

I walked back to Rachel’s locker, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then put in her combo and opened it up. We weren’t allowed to take our backpacks or cellphones with us to gym class. So just as I had assumed, I saw her shiny black phone sitting on the shelf in her locker. I grabbed it, put in her code and did what I needed to do.

Y/Ns POV

Grayson had texted me and told me his part of the plan had been successful. That eased my anxiety only a little bit, because now it was my turn. I had texted the GDMD girls and called for an emergency meeting after school in the library.

I was the last one to show up, and they were not happy about it. “Y/N, what the fuck? Where have you been?” Megan asked. She looked so out of place in the library, I might have laughed if the situation was different.

“Sorry,” I muttered nervously.

Rachel was on her phone and didn’t even look up as she said, “Well? What is it? Some of us have actual lives.” It was fascinating that she thought that was an insult, considering her life seemed to revolve entirely around Grayson. I wondered if she ever truly meant to go through with the plan of ruining his reputation, or if she was always planning to turn around and tell Gray all about it in an attempt to get back in his good graces.

“Well, um,” I started. I could hear the nerves in my voice and I was actually glad for them for once. “I kind of… I can’t do this anymore. I won’t do this to Gray.” I fidgeted with my fingers and refused to look up at them.  

“What?!” They all shrieked. I could feel three pairs of eyes burning holes into me.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Sabrina spat.

“I just… I really like him, like maybe more than like… and I can’t hurt him like this.” I was doing my best to only say the truth because I knew I was a terrible liar.

Megan laughed so hard she started to tear up. “You can’t be serious?” When I didn’t say anything she stopped laughing. “Y/N, if he wasn’t into me, I can tell you he’s not into you. Look at you,” she said, and pointed to me up and down. “You’re pathetic, literally the only reason he’s even looking at you right now is because we helped you. And you just going to turn  around and stab us in the back like this?”

“You’re delusional,” Sabrina said, “You’re just like the rest of us, as soon as he gets what he wants he’s going to break your heart.”

I shook my head. “No, he won’t you don’t understand. What we have is real and-“

Rachel cut me off. “Oh, honey. What you have isn’t real, not when we’ve made you. He wouldn’t like the real you, the nerd who hooks up with losers like Connor, who spends her weekends at home. He may be interested in the you we’ve invented, but do you really think he’s going to stick around as soon as we stop helping you? Helping you with what to say, what to wear, what to do… You’re nothing without us.” Her words cut deep because I knew there was a strong possibility they could be true. “Besides, if you back out now, I will release the video. I will make sure the whole school sees your sex tape.”

Genuine tears started falling out of my eyes. Even though it hurt, it was good that they’re words were having an impact on me, because I was no actress. “Please don’t….I can’t do this… I … I love him,” I muttered. I wiped the tears off my cheeks, but more just replaced them.

Rachel picked up her purse and glared at me. “You stupid bitch. I’m going to ruin your life.” Her shoulder slammed into me as she walked by. Sabrina and Megan did the same thing as they left me standing in the library.

The damage was done. I just had to hope Grayson and I’s planned played out like we expected.

[wolf-with-a-pen]

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Part 3

TW: Swearing, Death Mentions, Unreality

Previous, Masterpost, Next

Please tell me if I have missed a trigger, or if you would like me to tag this with something it isn't already tagged with.

Enjoy Part 3!

Word Count: 3572

ISI had woken up pretty quickly, clearly shaken enough it couldn't sleep for long at all. It had a nightmare- an extremely uncommon occurrence in heaven, so it almost surprised it. Only problem was it looked like it was in the future. It hoped that wouldn't happen. It had no clue who they were, but it could tell that they were important to them, and if the dream was right it would lose them. Something it couldn't bear to think about, so it didn't. Gradually, it sat up, bringing Vanny's head onto its lap, like she used to do to it, a long time ago. Gently it ran its fingers through her hair, watching her stir slightly then lean into its touch gently. Instantly it started screaming internally from how much it missed this. Just looking at her face, pale and round, playing with her light brown hair, currently a mess from lack of caring about it, gently teasing out the knots. "God she is adorable when she's asleep, " it thought, "she looks so peaceful."

It was half an hour later that Vanny woke up and nearly cried from relief. "So, it wasn't a dream."

"No, I'm really here."

"But how, I thought you died. I watched you die."

"And that is a long story that you probably won't enjoy. "

"I don't mind sitting for it. I have nothing better to do."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

It was half an hour later that it finished. It took that long to overview the entire 5 years, leaving out half of it (mainly as many dangerous parts as possible that didn't matter to the story). It recounted how it had entered heaven, how it had gained its role in the hierarchy, and all of the major events that happened during that. Meeting Edward and Ansel, how it found out the place was corrupt and how they fought their way out. The entire time, Vanny was absorbed in the story, but on edge knowing that all of it happened to her partner- and that it had been in danger. When it reached the end, it could finally take a breath. “Any questions?”

"So, you're telling me that you went to heaven, gained an authority position, realised said authority was corrupt when your now-friend’s brother was killed for a small misdemeanour, so you and said friend got caught plotting to escape heaven, managed to escape and came here. And that all happened in the space of 3 months. What the fuck? I believe you ‘cause you wouldn't come up with something this big, but still, what the fuck? "

"Yeah, saying it out loud it is a bit crazy isn't it."

"A bit?! That's like saying a massive cake is just a cupcake. At least you are safe now. I'm guessing you and your friend need a place to stay."

"Yeah, just for now. Eventually we will go back to heaven, hopefully this time with an army."

"Wait, what? You're going back?"

"Not yet, but it's a case of we can't leave heaven in the state it is. From what Edward overheard, they're planning on destroying everyone."

"OK, I understand. I can't stop you from doing this, but it doesn't mean I approve. I might tag along if I'm able to, just to make sure you don't get hurt again."

"Depends on if you can see me when I take off this necklace."

"Why?"

"The necklace gives me a physical form, if I take it off you'll either see my spirit and be able to go, or not see me and have to stay behind."

"At this point I'm not surprised by anything."

"Oh, shoot, I forgot I left Edward at Dick's. I said I'd meet them back there, with you. You willing to come with me?"

"Yeah, sure, I could do with getting out of the house. Give me a chance to change first, I'm still in my pyjamas."

Isi looked down to find it was true.

"Sure."

20 minutes later and Vanny came out of her bedroom, now wearing a white long sleeve shirt, a hastily tied lilac tie (that Isi recognised as one of its) with a red short sleeved jacket. She had cuffed burgundy shorts with white boots on, half way up her calves. Her light brown hair was half tied up in a red scrunchy, and she had thrown on a red and white flower crown that Isi recognised as the one her sister gave her. "OK, I'm ready."

Isi itself had changed. Now, it was wearing a black blouse, with one of its lilac ties (the twin of the one Vanny was wearing) and black boots in the same style as Vanny's. For a change it was wearing black jeans instead of trousers-they were more practical for everyday activity. " Let's go then." Isi replied, heading towards Vanny, and gently fixing her tie. As they headed towards the door, she snaked an arm around Isi’s waist, and once they were out of the door, it did the same. Tentatively, she leaned her head on its shoulder and they ambled down the path towards the pub.

Edward meanwhile, was back at work- it was an hour after the lunch break, and thankfully there wasn't as big of a rush. Most of the people were now just sat at the bar so they could try to talk to the customers, but did not get the hang of it. The highlight was when they said "enjoy the rest of your life, however long that may be" to an unsuspecting customer, who looked scared the second they realised what they said. Edward realised what they had done a few minutes later and started panicking, but they had to pretend not to be. When they saw a familiar face walk through the door, they asked Dick for some time off. He agreed, knowing that they were going to meet up with Isi anyway, even if he didn't let them. Making their way to the back room, they speculated what Vanny would be like, planning ideas of what they would say in their head. It never worked, as shown by the entire morning of greeting customers really awkwardly, and accidentally inserting memes into the conversation. Grabbing their bags, they re-emerged from the room, to see Mast and Dick in conversation with Vanny and Isi.

Meanwhile, Isi and Vanny made their way over to the bar, Vanny remembering what the place was like and letting it sink in that she hadn't been there for at least a year. "How did I manage it?" she thought to herself. "It feels so much like home. I missed this place."

"Vanny! How are you?" Dick exclaimed upon seeing her, "I haven't seen you in at least a year!"

"I'm OK now, Isi's death hit me too hard, I rarely get out of bed anymore."

"It's good to hear that you're feeling better now."

"Well, it's all thanks to Isi's return. If it didn't come back..."

For a few moments, Dick was silent- a rare occurrence- and he nodded gently.

"I understand. But you're here now. That's all that matters."

"Thank you."

"Did I hear Vanny?" Mast shouted from out in the staff room.

"Yes, she's here."

At this Mast ran out, surprised that she was there and excited to see how she was. "Hey Vanny, how are you? Wait, Isi?!"

"Hey Mast," both of them replied in unison, surprised for a second, then bursting into laughter. "God, I missed you."

"I missed you too Vans, I missed you too."

"But aren't you dead?"

"Yes, but no. It's too long to explain again. I'm dead but here."

"Ok, I won’t ask. It's good to see you again. I think I talk for everyone when I say we missed your presence here."

"Thank you."

At this point, Mast and Dick got back to work, with Edward emerging from the staff room with all their stuff.

"Hey Isi, and this must be Vanessa, I've heard so much about you."

"Please, call me Vanny, everyone else does. And so, you must be Edward."

"Yeah, that's me."

"Cool, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

“So, I guess you’re living with us now.”

“As long as that’s fine with you, I’ll move out as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry about it, I am fine with it. You are Isi’s friend so stay as long as you want. I am not one to refuse a friend help.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, we’d better get going so you can set up the spare room and then maybe we could have a movie night and play a board game or do something like that to get to actually know each other, since we’ll be living together.”

“Sure, I’ll get my stuff from the back.” Edward responded, turning round and heading back into the back room.

“They aren’t how I expected them to be.”

“Why? What did you think they’d be like?”

“Honestly, I thought they’d be one of those bubbly types you seem to be a magnet for, or at least an extrovert.”

“Yeah, no, they are the opposite of that. But we get on and spent a lot of time watching Earth. After their brother died, they were lonely, so I made friends with them, hoping it would cheer them up. And it did a bit. Now we are close friends, and they aren’t as lonely as they could have been.”

“What was I expecting? I guessed it would be something like that, you enjoy spending time with them?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? They are kind and quite creative, despite coming off to most people as socially awkward, it seems to only be around people they don’t know, since they are fine with me.”

“Cool. From the sounds of it, they are an OK person, I trust you on this, I will try to get to know them.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you, darling.” Vanny flirtatiously teased, eliciting a large amount of blushing from Isi, forcing it to look down at its feet, before looking up to see her eyes glinting with mischief. It was then that Edward emerged from the other room, saving Isi from more. Vanny instantly snapped her head up to look at them, turning back to Isi, before whispering in its ear “They saved you this time, next time you might not be as lucky.” Turning back to Edward, she questioned if they were ready. Once she had confirmation, they all turned and left, saying goodbye to Dick and Mast before leaving.

It was half an hour later that they arrived home, mainly due to them all getting distracted by a smart cat on the way home. A pretty little thing- burnt orange with a black tabby pattern along their back, and bright yellow eyes. Little did they know they were the only ones who saw them. For this was a special cat- one that had crossed the border between life and death. And it just so happened it was owned by a particular group of friends. One from the opposite direction to Isi and Edward- hell spawn as the Guardians called them. Most just called them “demons”.

Riley, Sprite and Salami were sat in a bar, somewhere in the centre of town, but at the same time, nowhere near the angels or their cat, Spooky, who was almost like a familiar at this point. All had a drink in hand, and were conversing. Some more than others, in particular, Riley. He had spent most of the night toying with the barman, flirting near incessantly, and succeeding, from the look on the barman’s face, obviously blushing, desperately attempting to hide it. “When were we leaving again?” Sal questioned, giving the barman a break, “Cause I’m pretty sure it was 5 minutes ago.”

At this all of them looked at the clock over the bar. “Awww, I wanted to stay with this cutie longer.” Riley protested. “I mean, were only 5 minutes late, and didn’t we allow for this?”

“Mainly, because last time we were late, we had to stay in hell for a week. If you, like him that much, get his number, then we can go.”

“Fine. So, hotstuff, am I allowed to have your number?”

“Sure,” the barman replied without thinking, writing it on a napkin and sliding it over to Riley.

“Thanks cutie. Talk to you later. That’s a promise.” He teased, strutting out the door, Sprite and Sal following.

“Why are you late?”

“We got held up.” Riley confidently replied.

“He was fliting again wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” replied Sal.

“Of course,” Sprite answered as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“Thought so. I’ll let you off this time, but only this once, and even then it is only because of the mission I am about to give you. However next time you are late, I will punish you harder than you could believe possible. Follow me, we’re going back to hell, Satan wants to be there when I tell you the task.”

All were puzzled, but quickly realised how big a mission it must be if Satan himself wanted to see them. Riley was not worried at all. He never really was- he was good at missions, and he knew it. As far as he was concerned, why wouldn’t Satan go to him for a big mission? And that had always been one of his downfalls, but as of yet it hadn’t really mattered or made a difference. Before they knew it, they were back in Hell. It was kind of similar to Earth, but with a slight red tint that eventually became almost unnoticeable. Most of the demons lived in small civilisations, free to do whatever they wanted with no repercussions, with a few of the worst being in the fire pits to at least get to a manageable level of chaos. Not that it was hard- as long as you didn’t go around constantly annoying the elders, you could do whatever. However, there was one place off limits, and even if it wasn’t everyone would avoid it- the tall dark red spire in the centre of hell, that could be seen from almost anywhere, also known as Satan’s castle. Everyone feared him. Generally, because he was one of the few that could vaporise everyone with one wave of his hand. However, this time, the trio were allowed in.

The inside was as intimidating as the outside, dark red, and massive, as well as full of candles for some reason, that illuminated it just enough, but left it spooky. Unfortunately, Satan’s place was never updated with a lift. Satan’s meeting room, was on the top floor. The staircase was a floating one with massive gaps between each step. It was torture for most people, trying to get all the way to the top, while at the same time avoiding all of the gaps you could fall through. It was a painful 10 minutes, but they made it eventually, to Satan’s lair. Cosy wasn’t the word you’d think of when thinking of where Satan would live, but it was just that. Spacious, cosy and pretty comfortable looking to live in. Satan was sat at the end of a long table to the right, and upon seeing the three exclaimed “Welcome, please do sit down, then we can start the meeting. It is nice to finally meet all of you, after all this time of sending you on quests. It is especially nice to meet you Sprite, considering you are only one of 10 hybrids.”

“Thank you, Sir,” they all replied. Knowing it was best to do what he said, all of them sat down, Sprite and Salami on one side, and Riley on the other.

“So, what do you know about the angels?” Satan inquired.

“Corrupt and evil?”

“Yes, but no. We call them that so you distrust all angels in case any of them are Guardians, because it is the guardians that are corrupt, mainly due to being trapped as part of a hive mind, with no soul and no choice but to do what the elder says. The rest of the citizens are just victims of their ideologies and beliefs. Most are scared into believing what they say.”

“What about god? Aren’t they in control?”

“No. God disappeared long ago, leaving an elders in charge of heaven. Unfortunately, said elder had mind control powers and managed to convince people to allow them to be in control. What they didn’t know is that when they control you, you lose your soul. This created the Guardians, who are a terror, and threaten the balance of control.”

“May I ask why we need to know this?”

“It is for your mission. Recently I have heard about 2 angels who have fled heaven to Earth. We do not know where they are. One has apparently been plotting treason, and the other is their accomplice, for escaping and their plans. The accomplice was one of the border guards, not a guardian, but in a position of power and likely brainwashed into believing it was doing good. Both have been outlawed, and will be made either guardians or fallens if the guardians find them. If they are made Guardians, it is game over. I might be able to convince the Elder to make them fallens, that way they don’t have to stay in heaven, but we need to make sure they are not found by the angels, and that we can recruit them to us. That is why I have called you here. I would like you to find and monitor them, make sure they stay safe, and convince them to come to see me. I would like to meet them and see if we can help them or they can help us. Your mission starts today. There is no time limit on this one, but the quicker you find them, the better.”

“Ok Sir,” they all replied.

“Also, don’t make contact until you have found them and told me, unless you need to in order to confirm it is them. I have photos and equipment in the back room, I’ll go get it quickly.” At this Satan got up and left through a door somewhere off to the right.

“Well, this is intriguing, it should be easy to find them. From what I remember, they aren’t allowed to leave heaven after they have got there, so they won’t be used to being out in public and keeping their identities secret. Let’s start in Coventry and work through England, before going to other countries.” Riley announced, taking charge.

“Sure, I know the south of Coventry well, so I’ll look there.”

“I’ll check the North.”

“So, that leaves me the centre of town. I’ll look around there and all of the bars and pubs.”

All of them knew he would try to pick up everyone possible, and spend almost all of his time in the pubs.

“So that’s settled.”

At this point, Satan strode back in, carrying three backpacks. “Glad to know you have a plan. Each of you take a bag. They all contain spirit detectors and all sorts of different locators you can try. Also, there is a special collar for Spooky with a small camera that is set off when it senses any dead, I recommend you use it because they can cover a lot of ground. In the pocket on the front, there is the photos.” Satan explained, handing out the bags, and watching as they pulled out the photos. Pointing to Isi’s picture he continued, “This one is called Isi Danes, it died at 21 and has a girlfriend, called Vanessa Williams, who lives in Coventry. That’s why I chose you, I know that they were likely to go there in order to have a place to live and people they knew around them, and you know the area better than all of the other demons thanks to the large amount of time you have spent there over the years.” He moved his finger to hover over Edward’s image. “This is Edward. As far as I am aware they have no known living associates, with their brother being converted to a Guardian for crossing the border for a few seconds, and most of the rest of their family disowning them. The only one we know that they know, and could be with is Isi and Vanessa, so if you find one, you will find both.

“Isn’t it a bit cruel to punish someone for just a few seconds over the border?”

“Yes, that is due to them being corrupt. It is essentially a dictatorship- if anyone even slightly steps out of line then they lose their soul. Probably why they escaped from it. Now then, go and find them for me. Use the communicator in the pocket the photos were in to communicate with me without coming to hell every time.”

“Thank you Sir.” They all said, packing everything up and leaving the way they entered. Before they left, Riley hung back a second. “We will find them for you,” He promised, before turning and leaving. On the way downstairs, he spent ages talking constantly about how Edward didn’t look all that bad and how he would take them for himself. The others just sighed, used to it.

[douxreviews]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - Part 2 Review

“Not today, Satan.”

While Part 1 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina focused on the pull of the titular teen witch’s calling vs. the love and familiarity of her mortal life, Part 2 pivots to a wider focus, as Sabrina’s actions begin to pull her down a “dark path.” This is no longer a tale of witches against mortals, but good against evil. Though it’s often weighed down by the need to satisfy some long worn out tropes, Part 2 continues to highlight the altogether different and exciting world of magic and offbeat characters that drew us in during Part 1, while also pulling viewers down the same “dark path” that Sabrina has suddenly found herself barreling down.

The decision to embrace the moral code at the centre of this magical world is an ambitious one, but isn’t necessarily the most original in execution. Often times it feels like the series is about to go through with something really fantastic, but it drops the ball more than once, never truly embracing the sinister side of the darkness that has enveloped Sabrina. On the flip side, the crazier turns of events are sometimes without merit, feeling more like twists built out of a desire to shock rather than natural and exciting progressions. That being said, these nine episodes hit the mark more often than they miss, though it feels like the show is running at 75% power most of the time.

At the close of Part 1, Sabrina finally signed her name in the Book of the Beast, and accepted her witchly fate. Amongst other things, this choice meant that she had finally let go of her mortal life and embraced her inner witch. The final moments of Chapter 10 hinted at a changed Sabrina, one that was ready to let magic into her life, and become a more active member of the Church of Night. This does feel like the case most of the time, though Sabrina herself isn’t as changed as her new platinum wig would suggest she is. She does, however, become far more powerful than she was before.

Her magical abilities don’t bloom immediately, as she spends a lot of the early Chapters in Part 2 with the same novice approach that she did early on. In standout episode ‘The Missionaries,’ she finally taps into a whole new level of power; power that essentially manifests itself out of nothing, with very little build up or explanation. It’s a lot of fun to watch her rise from the dead and burn two aggressive witch hunters to a crisp, but given she was casting the flimsiest spells and organizing the shittiest plans not only a few episodes before, it doesn’t feel completely right to see her rise to this level so quickly.

Though it’s born out of lazy plotting, the events that unfold after Sabrina’s resurrection give this “Part” a whole new level of momentum, as Satan’s plans to use her as his right hand finally come to fruition. After he rises from hell in his “true” form – it turns out he’s actually the incredibly good looking fallen angel Lucifer, who knew – he begins to plan for Sabrina’s ascension to the throne. Thanks to a burned Lilith, they manage to stop Lucifer from going through with the ceremony, though poor Nick Scratch and his dashing eyebrows take the fall.

Harvey is still someone Sabrina truly cares about, and his power over her actions is still palpable, but Nick’s pull is quite evident as well, even more so for me since he doesn’t make me want to watch paint dry. I like what each of these guys represent for Sabrina in theory, though I found my eyes rolling at the constant need to pit them against each other, as if a teen drama can’t survive without a standard love triangle playing out at all times.

In the end, Nick becomes more of a tragic character than I would have expected. He sacrifices himself to save the world from Lucifer and, as he’s escorted through the gates of hell by the newly crowned Queen of Hell, Lilith, I felt for Sabrina. The show doesn’t let this loss settle for long, though, as Part 2 ends with Sabrina already pledging to rescue Nick from Hell. It’s obvious he isn’t gone for good, but letting the dust settle might do the series some good. With Harvey paired up with Roz, we could watch Sabrina pave a path for herself that’s devoid of any need for a love interest to guide the way.

Perhaps she could help her Aunt Zelda who has taken up the reins of High Priestess following Father Blackwood’s fall from grace. With most of the members of the Church of Night dead after Father Blackwood’s mass poisoning of the congregation, there’s a lot of work to be done. Prudence and the other weird sisters were naturally amongst the survivors, and it looks like Prudence will be doing her utmost to make up for siding with her clearly unstable father when the Spellmans were in desperate need of inside help.

My main issue with Part 1 was that it failed to maintain a focused narrative between the surreal events at the Academy and the Spellman home, and the more mundane lives of the mortal characters. This became less of an issue as the episodes wore on, as the magical and mortal characters’ worlds collided a lot more often. It’s an element that thankfully continued into Part 2, with all the main mortals fully knowledgeable of the magical world, giving them more purpose than before. It didn’t, however, make them any less boring.

Sabrina is often dragged back into her mortal life when the magical world demands it, meaning that her absence is never truly felt either way; a fact that doesn’t stop the mortals from throwing unfounded aggression Sabrina’s way when they don’t inform her of major things that have happened and expect her to know what they are without any fore warning. So Sabrina is supposed to intuitively know that Roz is blind while she faces the aggression of Father Blackwood’s reign at the Academy? It makes Harvey, Roz and Theo seem unnecessarily mean just because the plot demands that Sabrina feel guilt over the extra time she’s dedicating to the Academy and, more importantly, her new relationship with Nick Scratch.

It gets to the point that I honestly forgot Harvey, Roz and Theo existed a couple of times in episodes they didn’t appear in. I’d say the series should do away with them completely, but they’re such an integral part of what makes Sabrina so great. I just wish Harvey and Roz didn’t bore me to tears. Theo, formerly Susie, doesn’t have the same problem because of the really important role he plays in terms of representation. I really liked how the series dealt with his on-going transition, even if it feels tacked on the series’ primary narrative most of the time.

Potions and Notions

I loved the scene of Sabrina changing outfits in Chapter One. It was a cute nod to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

The Christmas episode definitely feels even weirder as Zelda’s rescue of Leticia is abandoned for her pursuit of power as Father Blackwood’s new bride. The orphan child is brought back into the fold after a while, though the bond Zelda formed with Leticia doesn’t feel like it ever happened.

Michelle Gomez still kills it as Lilith, and I loved Alexis Denisof's turn as Mrs Wardwell's partner. His final and unfortunate appearance as the main course on Lilith's dinner table was one of those disgusting yet fantastic examples of how weird and dark this show can be when it just goes with it.

Ambrose is a bit of a dud in some of Part 2’s initial episodes, siding with the male patriarchy and failing to support Sabrina’s run for Head Boy. He makes up for it later on, though. And he deserves some bit of sympathy after he’s framed for murdering the Anti-Pope by Father Blackwood.

This is still an undoubtedly fun series, though it’s one that’s still treading water rather than completely submerging itself in the dark and murky depths of Greendale and the Church of Night. I’m not certain it ever will reach its full potential but until that day comes, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is still exciting enough to satisfy my teen fantasy cravings.

7 out of 10 evil turnips.

Panda

[chocolatequeennk]

An Ever-fixed Mark, 1/2

This is part of A Slight Deviation in Timelines, following Voicemail from the Future. Ten x Rose, proposal and bonding fic. 

It’s an apology to @lastbluetardis for plotting angst that will make her cry. It’s also a prompt fill for @doctorroseprompts art prompt and the Life in the TARDIS prompt. And it fills the proposal square on my Fluffuary card for @legendslikestardust.

The Doctor had had plans, once. Plans that had been derailed in a barren room in Canary Wharf. But Time has plans of her own, and has brought Rose home. Now, after the slightest deviation from the timelines, it’s time for the Doctor to carry out his plans.

AO3 | FF.NET | TSP | Ch 2

The Doctor pressed a kiss to Rose’s temple, then eased himself out of bed. When she huffed softly in protest and rolled towards him in her sleep, his hearts tripped into a gallop. It was a rhythm he’d been familiar with once, before he’d lost her to a parallel universe. It felt strange after two years without her, but he knew he’d get used to it again.

He brushed her hair back from her face, and she sighed and turned into his caress. Sleep, love. Rose wrapped an arm around his pillow and hugged it close, almost like she’d heard his telepathic encouragement. Maybe someday…

The TARDIS hummed in the back of the Doctor’s mind when he wavered. The faster he saw to whatever she wanted him to take care of, the faster he could climb back into bed with Rose for a few more hours. He sighed, then put on his dressing gown and jogged to the front of the ship.

“All right, what did you need that you had to pull me out of bed for?” he grumbled when he reached the console room. The navigation panel flashed, and he leaned over to examine it.

He stopped breathing for a moment when he recognised the coordinates. He’d planned to bring Rose here, once… after they visited Jackie.

“Are you sure?” His voice was hoarse. “Rose has only been home for a week. Shouldn’t I wait?”

The lights flashed, and the time rotor started moving on its own. As they flew through time and space, the TARDIS reminded him of all the times Rose had told him she loved him in the last week, with her words and her actions.

The Doctor raked a hand through his hair, then nodded once as the ship landed softly on Velliam. She was right, of course, he acknowledged as he walked back to the room he shared with Rose. After he’d lost her, he’d sworn that if he ever got a second chance, he wouldn’t waste time. It was time to make good on that promise.

Rose was lying entirely on his side of the bed when he entered the room, and his hearts stuttered again. He stared at her for a moment, still hardly able to believe that she’d found a way back to him.

The TARDIS chimed softly, and he patted the wall in thanks. If she hadn’t routed Rose’s phone call to his past self, who knew how long it would have taken Rose to work her way back to him? Glimmers of the aborted timeline and an interrupted reunion had flickered on the edge of his time senses all week, but he’d refused to focus long enough to see what would have happened. It didn’t matter anymore. Time had deviated from that course, and he couldn’t be happier.

He put his hand on Rose’s shoulder and shook gently. She grunted, and he chuckled—still just as difficult to wake up as ever. “Come on, love,” he encouraged. “There’s something I want to show you.”

One eye cracked open, and she peered up at him. “Hmmm?”

“We’ve landed, and I want to show you something,” he repeated. “A special, midnight stop.”

Rose rolled onto her back and looked up at the Doctor. On most days, she’d tell him to come back when she was awake, but there was a nervous energy radiating from him that suggested she might want to go with him now.

She pushed herself upright and brushed the hair out of her face. “Yeah, all righ’,” she mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep.

He beamed at her, then bounced back on his toes. “You’ll want to dress warmly. It’s cold out there,” he informed her as he buttoned his oxford.

As soon as she was dressed and bundled up in a warm coat, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the console room. Rose laughed helplessly as she trailed behind him, completely awake now and very curious as to their surprise destination.

A cold wind blew a flurry of snowflakes into the TARDIS when the Doctor opened the door. “Ready, love?” he asked, nodding to the outside world.

Rose squeezed his hand. “I’m always ready to go anywhere with you.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened, then the corners crinkled up when he smiled. “Well then, Rose Tyler. Allons-y.”

They stepped out of the TARDIS together, and Rose sucked in a breath at the magical beauty of the planet. “Where are we?” She stared up at the stars scattered across the deep violet sky. A swath of light stretched across the purple expanse, illuminating the snowy landscape with a lavender glow.

The Doctor started walking, and Rose fell in step beside him. “This is Velliam,” he said in a hushed voice. “It isn’t the centre of the galaxy, but it’s the closest you can get anymore.”

Snowflakes fluttered down around them, and Rose tipped her head back to catch one on her tongue. “Is that the Milky Way, then?”

“Yes. Or Mutter’s Spiral, as we called it.”

It took Rose a moment to catch the significance of his words. The closest you can get anymore. As we called it.

She stopped and looked up at the Doctor. “Are we… is this…”

In the pale light, she could see his Adam’s apple bob. “Yes. This is the closest you can get to Gallifrey.” He pointed up at a dark spot in the sky above them. “That’s where it would have been.”

Rose let go of the Doctor’s hand and wrapped her arm around his waist instead. He draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, and a moment later, she felt him press cold lips to her temple.

The Doctor sighed. Touching Rose’s temples always gave him the haziest sense of what she was feeling, and tonight, he was buoyed by her love and sympathy. He felt the weight of the ring box in his coat pocket, but he didn’t reach for it yet.

“Rose.” She looked up at him, and dipped his head down to kiss her. For the first time, he didn’t feel empty when he thought about his lost planet. How could he, when he held Rose in his arms?

It was easy to get lost in Rose’s embrace, but today, he eased out of the kiss before he could forget why he’d brought her here. “I brought you here so I could tell you something, and ask you something.”

Rose slid her hands over his chest and looked at him expectantly. A dusting of snowflakes coated her hair, catching the light and making her sparkle. “I’ll listen to anything you want to tell me,” she promised, “but don’t feel like you have to share if it’s too painful.”

The Doctor had to kiss her again for that, just a quick brush of his lips against hers to express his gratitude. “I love you,” he whispered when he pulled back. “But I really do want to share this with you.”

Looking down at her, standing in the circle of his arms, it suddenly occurred to him that if he explained telepathy before he proposed, she might feel pressured to say yes to a bond when she wasn’t fully comfortable with it. As much as he wanted a bond with Rose, it was more important to him to be married to her, in whatever way she would accept.

He swallowed hard; he’d been counting on having the time it would take to explain bonding to get past the nerves. Even as he thought that, he scoffed at himself—he was going to be a wreck, no matter how much time he had to prepare himself.

A furrow appeared on Rose’s brow, and the Doctor realised he’d been silent for over a minute as he’d tried to decide on the appropriate order of events.

“Doctor?”

He reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the box. “Well… maybe a question, and then something to tell you,” he amended.

Rose put a hand to her mouth when he pulled out his hand and revealed what he held. Her gasp of surprise encouraged him, and he flipped the box open.

“Rose Tyler, you have been the very best part of my life since the moment I took your hand. You’ve been my partner, standing up for me, and standing up to me. When we were separated, I thought we’d never see each other again—but as always, you were stronger than me.”

Tears were streaming down Rose’s face, and the Doctor brushed them away with his thumb before finishing his proposal. “I love you so much, Rose. Will you marry me?”  

She threw her arms around his neck, laughing through her tears. “Yes! Oh, my God, Doctor! Of course I’ll marry you.”

The Doctor picked her up and swung her from side to side as he pressed kisses to her face. “I love you,” he whispered, over and over.

Finally, Rose slid back to the ground and gave him a smile that shone like the sun. “I love you, too. Now, can I see this ring?”

She held her hand out, and the Doctor pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. Beneath the light of the Milky Way, the deep blue sapphire twinkled at them. Rose tilted her hand, examining the way the two thin bands of the ring twined around a series of diamonds.

“It’s gorgeous,” she breathed.

The Doctor took her hand and turned it gently until the light caught the soft pink metal. “The band is rose gold.” He traced his finger over it. “Pink and gold for you, and TARDIS blue for me.”

Her breath hitched on a sob, and the Doctor cupped her face between his hands. She turned her head and nuzzled into his palm, and he leaned down to kiss her.

As her arms twined around his neck, he was dimly aware that he hadn’t mentioned bonding yet. Then Rose caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged, and he forgot everything but the taste and touch of his fiancée.

Chapter 2

[fromthedeskofelizabeththird]

Oh you're working on a novel?!? Can u give us a quick lil plot summary? When did u start writing? I'd love to read some of your original work. Sorry about all the questions haha

I’m working on more than one, actually. The first one is about celebrity culture and the consequences of paparazzi creating false rumours and the other is about inter dimensionary travelling and grim reapers and gets even more complicated every time I look at it, honestly.

My Mum says I asked to go to school when I was little because I wanted to learn to read and write and she’s not interested in my writing At All, so I don’t think she’s lying. I do know that basically for all of my school career I was top of the class and used to hide the fact that I finished early I was also very lazy by writing stories or drawing in the back of my book.

I honestly...don’t...remember a time when I wasn’t writing or inventing a story in some form. Even before I was particularly literate, I used to draw characters and invent back stories for them in the back of my mum’s notebooks.

Anyway, if you want to read my original stuff, here’s a bit from the celebrity culture/paparazzi one. It needs editing though so I’m sorry if it’s awful! I wrote it in about 20 minutes on a bus last year.

Ophelia Dupont's mother played the cello. A simple detail, perhaps, but important nonetheless. Although the later events of her life were the topic of much debate, no other detail crossed paths with quite as many theories as that one.

When Ophelia's bloated body was fished out of her Los Angeles bath tub, with bath salts and cocaine intermixed with her absurdly red hair, it was difficult to ignore the electric record player playing a cello version of Ave Maria in the next room.

After her body was lifted, dripping, from the tub and discreetly escorted from the premises, Detective James Hammerton stood inside the little gap between bathroom and bedroom. He glanced over at the empty bath, illuminated by candles and casting shadows against the walls. In the half light, the moving shadows gave the illusion that there was still something in the water.

To his wife years later, as she turned the page of her romance novel, he admitted to staring at the record player for far longer than he meant to, listening closely to each note as he mentally examined the contents of the room.

A high note struck as he stepped towards the Egyptian cotton bed sheets and something softly brushed against his scalp, the same soft way his wife stroked her fingers through his hair, but with none of the warmth of her touch.

For the first time in his career, Detective Hammerton was convinced beyond all measure of a doubt that the victim of his murder case was standing behind him and reaching out to stroke her dead, mottled fingers against his skin. If he managed to calm his frenzied heartbeat enough to close his eyes, he could almost see her reflected in the full length mirror to his left, naked as the day she was born and dripping bathwater all over the carpet.

The music played on. The dead girl opened her mouth to sing and water spilled everywhere.

He took a deep breath before opening his eyes and glancing skywards.

When his partner arrived on the scene a few minutes later, he was still standing there, staring at his reflection in the mirror that covered the entirety of the bedroom ceiling. In the centre, there was a chandelier, with the silk tie of a night gown adorning its branches, hanging low towards the floor and brushing the heads of anyone who stepped beneath it. Somebody had drawn a pair of enormous eyes on the mirror with lipstick and Hammerton was not sure which followed him more: the vacant eyes of his own reflection or the garish drawing.

He switched off the record player, put out the candles and returned to his family in the early hours of the morning after a long night's work. He kissed his wife and hugged his daughter and, even though he eventually forgot about Ophelia, he never forgot the way the cello had sounded on the record player as if in preparation for a funeral chorus, nor the image of dead fingers crawling across the strings and a naked girl unable to sing the words through water.

[drink-n-watch]

Genre :  Fantasy, drama, yaoi, catboys, almostmullets

Length: 30-50 years

Studio: Nitro+ Chiral  

It seems the Ribika (a race that evolved from cats) have just about reached the end of their rope. Not only has a terrible epidemic killed most of their females, bringing their species to the brink of extinction, but some type of terrible calamity is making their world itself reject them. Little by little, the world is being taken over by the Void, making great swaths of territory lethal to the Ribika and cutting off their resources. In these bleak times, the best a cat can hope for is to lead a quiet life and die a painless death. And that’s exactly what Konoe was planning to do but it seems he’s at the center of something bigger than he could ever imagine. As he finds himself swept away by an adventure full of danger, demons and ancient magic, can he find the strength within himself to save the world. Luckily, a lot of pretty pretty catboys are happy to help.

It says something about me that my autocorrect doesn’t even pick up the word “catboy” anymore. Something along the lines: Irina is awesome, you should be her friend!

How you doin’

I actually have quite a history with Lamento. I had been a fan of Nitro+ for a while. Their 5pb studio has produced some of my favorite Visual Novels in general, the main studio is responsible for such titles as the flawed but still worthwhile Saya no Uta and Hanachirasu, and of course they collaborated with Type-Moon on the massively popular Fate franchise. Point is, Nitroplus knows how to craft a Visual Novel. It’s no surprise that eventually I got curious about their BL imprint Nitro+Chiral.

My very first encounter with Yaoi in general was the Visual Novel Dramatical Murders. An experience I found so amusing that I quickly decided to try something else from the studio. True Blood looked a little too standard and while Sweet Pool seemed to be a bottomless pit of wtf, I couldn’t find a version I could play. This left Lamento which wasn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, the cover art and description were exactly suited to my tastes and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

oh no…I forgot to move my mouse…

What followed was a study in ambivalence. Right off the bat I really liked Lamento. I loved the high fantasy setting and deep lore. This being a Nitro+ game of course, the production was irreproachable, with a large fully voiced cast, even extras get their own actors, and all of them are very good. The music plays an important role in the story and has obviously been given a lot of special attention. The art is beautiful, and a huge collection of sprites and transition effects, give the impression of animation.

crowds can get loud

Even by today’s standards, this is a high quality visual novel. There aren’t too many choices to make and most are obvious, but some are still rather intriguing, and I did feel some interactivity. The way the story branches out and then intertwines in the various routes, makes second playthroughs much more engaging than in some other titles.

Nad for all that, I couldn’t finish it. Not even a single route. I played for a bit then sort of abandoned it for close to a year. By the time I decided to pick it up again, I had forgotten most of it and started over. I played for a few weeks and didn’t catch up to my first playthrough. You see, that 30-50 years length time isn’t a typo. This game is soooooo long.

painfully long

It feels as if an excellent team of writers put it together, but they had no money left over for editors. It’s full of description and little side events that, while well written, bring nothing to the story overall. I think that you could have taken out about half the script without really affecting the substance in any way. The pacing is just terrible.

And because of this, it takes a while to truly get into it. You have to read through hours of exposition and establishing text, remember dozens of characters, before you get any meaningful development that would cause you to empathize with anyone. Except Bardo – Bardo is the best from minute one but of course he only shows many hours into the game and you’ll need a few more before you can get on his route and actually get to know the character at all.

the best I tell you!

Of course, once you’ve finished one route, you can skip previously read text in subsequent playthroughs but, as this is an older game, you don’t have an autoskip button. You have to hold down the shift key (at least on my version). There are a few around this, like playing in window mode, holding down shift then bringing a different window in front (like Youtube for instance), then you can let go of shift and it will go on skipping (which is really just fastforwading) on it’s on. It’s still a bit of a hassle. Without exaggeration, I believe my second playthrough consisted of at least 30 minutes of skipping. That should give you an idea of the gargantuan size of this thing.

bigger isn’t always better

So time and time again, despite liking every single element of Lamento, I ended up getting discouraged and dropping it before it truly got the chance to start. For some reason, after finishing a few VNs and Otomes in a row, I decided to give it another go a few weeks ago. I figured I would control my completionist tendencies and skip over bits I remembered and concentrate only on scenes I had zero recollection of. This helped a bit. It still took a while but, possibly having gained patience with age (Ha!) I stuck it out, and boy am I glad I did.

Nitro+ knows how to put together a visual novel. A few days in, I had caught up to my first playthrough and was firmly on adorably idiot Asato’s route. It took me another week to finish the game mind you, I know, cause I didn’t sleep for 5 days… Catboys…

who’s the cute kitty

The story is classic fantasy stuff, a few routes seem to have some plot holes and you will need to play everything to get the whole picture but it’s decent. I would like to see an anime version of this. I enjoyed how fleshed out and interesting all the supporting characters were, even minor ones. The dramatic aspect of the story is undercut by frequent humorous interactions and the devils are always good for a laugh.

Although explicit consent is a little iffy, there no actual rape scenes (except two of the very bad endings) and at most suitors will pester Konoe into romantic situations but never force him. Probably one of the most respectful BL games I’ve played in that regard.

there was a lot more trust building than snuggling…

The power dynamics are excellent as well, and different in every route but consistent with the characters’ personalities. As for the sexy times, they are pretty sexy indeed. Just ridiculous enough.

As an aside, there’s frequent touches of cat behavior – i.e. grooming, purring, playing with grass blades or chasing mice, that are just adorkably hilarious.

unfortunately I have no screencaps of those – so you get a hug

I’m not going to put a full playthrough here, but if you’re interested in that I refer you to domshiki’s fantastic, marvelous, I wish they would start posting again but that’s probably not happening blog. Warning, very NSFW and spoilers (duh).

I will however give you a taste of those fine catboys that have made my local coffee shop a fortune:

Konoe

That’s me! Nice huh. It could be you too! Konoe is a BL game protagonist. He’s pleasant and down to earth. Usually the straight man…um, well, you know what I mean…. He was however a bit more tsundere and prone to lashing out that the average, a trait majorly brought out in Bardo’s route. Konoe is in way over his head but he’s pretty rational and doesn’t play the damsel in distress much. In every route the characters sort of take turns helping each other out and I really like this. I enjoyed being Konoe quite a bit.

Rai

I think he’s the main route. His is the longest in any case and has the most CGs. (And they were almost all naughty, that’s why you guys get these…) I remember hating this guy the first times I played. Again, I’m not sure what happened in the last few months, but I really didn’t mind him this time around, at least at first.

He’s the stoic, super arrogant, cold type and it takes him forever to warm up but when he does, it’s pretty gaaahhhh. He’s not abusive though, just very distant. Oddly, I found him more annoying towards the end of the route when his arrogance seemed to go up yet one more level. It was already too high.

Konoe is the closest to a stereotypical MC in this route. Strong headed but still generally submissive and hopelessly devoted to his partner. This said, he does put Rai back in his place a few times and make fun of him, so not entirely hopeless. At the start of the game (for the first 2871443825t86 hours) I thought this would be the one route I have to drag myself through for the sake of completion, but I did end up enjoying quite a bit of it. Not just the CGs… I mean they didn’t hurt…

Asato

Asato is a big ol puppy dog in kitty form. He has some serious trauma in his past which I suspect involves getting dropped on his head a lot. He’s a little slow but brimming with good will and madly in love with Konoe. His voice actor does a tremendous job really bringing out both the slow and the love.

Since he’s nothing but a big ball of adorableness, Konoe can’t help but to get a bit protective of him in this route and you end up taking a more dominant, leading role. For some time, Asato is obviously much more interested but Konoe eventually starts sharing the affection and the natural development of their relationship is really very sweet.

Both characters go through a huge amount of growth and this would be my favorite route except..

Bardo

I loves me a troll. Always have.

Bardo is the dirty ol man with the big mouth. He’s super easygoing and endlessly teases, well pretty much everybody, but Konoe in particular. As the older more experienced one he tends to take the lead in situations and seems to relish in embarrassing Konoe as much as possible. Which makes the younger kitten lash out every two seconds.

This is by far the funniest route for the most part but of course we eventually get a strong dose of dark and troubled past! This is sort of the opposite of Rai, as Bardo seems to have fallen deeply for Konoe while the latter tends to ignore and push him away for the most of the run. However, it’s also the only time we get any hint of jealousy out of Konoe which was fun.

Bardo mixes all the playfulness with a good amount of comforting and he is by far the most reliable partner for Konoe. In quieter scenes, when his voice actor went for a tired or worried tone, he was so delightfully attentive, it actually comforted ME.

As I said there are a ton of fantastic side characters, antagonists and demons, all of which are really just a delightful.

See even my post for this game went on FOREVER.

TL:DR Lamento is a very good game with very bad pacing. If it weren’t for the length, it would probably be one of my favorite Visual Novels. I miss my catboys already.

Favorite character: Firi (I didn’t even get to talk about Firi…) and Bardo

What this VN taught me: PATIENCE

Suggested drink: a Devil’s Cat

Every time Konoe gets snappy – take a sip

Every time Asato says Konoe – take a sip

Every time a Devil makes an appearance – take a sip

Every time kuims are mentioned – get a snack

Every time Rai tchs – get some water

Every time Froud or Verg laugh – take a sip

Every time Firi makes an appearance – raise your glass

Every time Leaks is mentioned – take a sip

Every time we see the poet – take a sip

Every sexy time– put the glass down, you don’t wanna spill

And here are all the screencaps I couldn’t even fit in this monster post!

Lamento Beyond the Void or How to Ruin Your Sleep Schedule with Catboys Genre :  Fantasy, drama, yaoi, catboys, almostmullets Length: 30-50 years Studio: Nitro+ Chiral   It seems the Ribika (a race that evolved from cats) have just about reached the end of their rope.