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jadeleechsupportgroup · 3 months

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Rhapsody in Teal - 3

Rock, meet hard place. You can’t be out sick forever, but you have no earthly idea how you’ll make it through ten minutes of class without throwing up all over Crewel’s desk. You haven’t slept for more than two hours at a time in three days, and it’s turning you into the worst possible version of yourself.

On the morning of day four, you find a package on your doorstep. It’s a box, about the size of a basketball, wrapped in sky-blue paper. You carry it inside and set it on the kitchen table.

“Mrrr?” Grim’s nose twitches enough to wake him up. He rolls to his feet and stretches. “Snacks?”

“Not sure,” you mumble. You unwrap the paper and open the top of the box, carefully untwisting it from the complex series of origami folds holding it together. A card rests on top of a pile of crinkled paper strips.

I have enclosed some samples of other tea blends I think you will find enjoyable.

If you are feeling up to it, I will be going on a hike today.

Jade

“Not snacks,” you inform Grim.

He groans. “Yeah, I can tell. It’s just leaves. Booooring.” He meanders away to the kitchen.

You mull it over while you wait for the chocolate truffle blend to finish steeping. You feel like shit, and you don’t want to face people. But nature might not be the worst, and Jade doesn’t qualify as ‘people.’

The tea is really good.

You don’t have much in the way of outdoor stuff, so you throw on your gym uniform and shove a couple snacks in your backpack. You feel weird as you heave it onto one shoulder, but what’s the worst that could happen? The worst has already happened.

You’d be lying to say you aren’t afraid of a healthy percentage of these boys. They get into cafeteria fights over pasta, for fuck’s sake. You don’t want to see what they would do if they suddenly found out a girl was living amongst them. Even a girl who’s barely girl enough that passing for a boy hasn’t been all that hard.

A knock at the door interrupts your thoughts.

“Hi,” you say uncertainly.

Jade gives you a tiny wave. “Good morning,” he says. “How are you feeling?”

You don’t want to give him your life story, but you don’t want to lie, either. “Ish.”

“Fair enough.” His eyes land on the crumpled shreds of wrapping paper that Grim has taken to batting across the floor like a definitely-not-a cat. The tension in his face eases a little.

Was he worried about you?

“Shall we?”

You nod. “I’m probably not the fastest hiker, but I’ll try not to slow you down.”

“Oh, do not worry about that. I am not, either.”

It turns out that Jade is not exaggerating. He pauses to inspect most patches of dead trees and poke around in the undergrowth with a stick, but you don’t mind at all. It’s a nice, unhurried pace that gives him plenty of time to teach you about plants.

You rummage through your backpack and find a wayward notebook you forgot about, with a tooth-marked pencil wedged into the spiral spine. You flip past the latest page of harried notes and scribble a bit on the first blank sheet.

Maybe you liked drawing, before. Or painting. Or birdwatching. Or dancing after all. No muscle memory has kicked in, at all, for anything. You remember generic shit, like what dollars are vs thaumarks and that magic was more or less a fantasy in your world. You know what a car is and what a phone is. But anything specific went out the window.

Your eyes start to burn, and before you know it, blobs of water are landing on your doodle of the mushroom Jade is examining.

You give up on staying silent pretty much immediately. The book slides off your lap into the dirt as you use the sleeve of your uniform to absorb the evidence of your sadness. Then the wooden bench you’re sitting on bends (a little ominously) as Jade sits next to you.

“Sorry,” you say with a cough as you try to get yourself together.

“Please do not apologize.” The corner of a handkerchief enters your blotchy vision. It would be romantic if you weren’t such a goddamn mess right now. “You have been through quite a bit since your arrival here.”

You insist on using your sleeve as a kleenex as long as possible. “I can’t remember anything,” you mumble. “I can’t…remember anything about myself. Like, what I like. Stuff I’m good at. It’s all just gone.” Your voice starts to lose stability. “My friends. My family. Whether I even had one. Fuckin’ everything.”

You give up and take the handkerchief.

Jade remains silent, and you’re glad. There’s probably nothing he could say to make you feel better. Maybe you don’t want to feel better.

“Sorry,” you say again once you get your voice back under control. You sniffle. “I really like the tea you got me.” It feels even lamer aloud than it sounded in your head.

Jade emits a small laugh. “I hope I was able to guess some of your preferences correctly.”

“So far so good.” You take a deep breath that turns into a sigh. “I guess that’s one thing I like.”

“Then I believe you will recover the rest soon enough.” He keeps his focus on the dirt, the short, hay-colored grasses, and the dappled shadows from the trees overhead, but his fingers twitch a bit. Like he’s trying not to move his hand. “Perhaps you need to experience a variety of other things to trigger your memories.”

Good thing your face is already red. “Probably,” you admit quietly. “But…this is stupid.”

“Hm?”

“I’m kinda scared.” You pick up the notebook and shake some of the dirt off, hurriedly closing it before he has a chance to see its contents. “Like, of being bad at something. Making myself look dumb.” Apparently another thing you’re good at is being insecure.

“I doubt that you would,” Jade says kindly.

“Besides, I’ve got bigger problems now.” You roughly rub your eyes to stop them itching. “What am I gonna do? It’s only a matter of time before they all find out about me.” You draw your knees to your chest.

Jade mirrors your movements, though it looks a bit more ridiculous for him since he is so incredibly tall. “May I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”

“You may wish to…take control of the situation, as it were,” he says slowly. “Rather than continue hiding it until others find out at an unknown time.”

You give a sarcastic, humorless laugh. “What, like, waltz into the school dance in a dress? I can already hear the record-scratch now.” You laugh a little more until you realize Jade is not laughing with you.

“Since you mention it,” he says a bit sheepishly, “I was hoping for something along those lines.”

Now you really blush. “You were gonna ask me out?” You bite back asking why, assuming it’s because among the various fish in the sea at school, you are a fairly singular choice. The lowest common denominator of 1.

Jade’s mouth forms a smile. “I would still like to, if you would allow me the opportunity.”

“Oh. Uh. I mean, I wasn’t…gonna go,” you say, stumbling over your words. “I don’t like dressing up. I think.” You squirm uncomfortably.

Jade unfolds himself so his legs stretch out more naturally again. “You could think of it as an experiment, if you like,” he suggests. “A continued study of your tastes and hobbies to discover what suits you.”

Why does this make you want to smile so badly? “I don’t know,” you say. Then, after a substantial pause, “I’ll think about it.”

1 | 2 | {3} | 4 | 5

#twst #twisted wonderland #jade leech #rexii writes #rexii writes twst

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

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YOUR EMPLOYEES AND INVESTORS WILL CONSTANTLY BE ASKING ARE WE THERE YET

I think I've figured out what's going on. After the first 10 or so we learned to treat deals as background processes that we should ignore till they terminated.1 Don't Get Your Hopes Up. Something hacked together means something that barely solves the problem, the harder it is to bait the hook with prestige. And that is almost certainly mistaken. So one thing that falls just short of the standard, I think, should be the highest goal for the marginal. Big companies think the function of office space is to express rank. As big companies' oligopolies became less secure, they were willing to pay a premium for labor. You can see it in old photos. If you're friends with a lot of the worst kinds of projects are the death of a thousand cuts. And what's especially dangerous is that many happen at your computer.

And the microcomputer business ended up being Apple vs Microsoft. In 1450 it was filled with the kind of turbulent and ambitious people you find now in America. You have to like what they do there than how much they can get the most done. That's not what makes startups worth the trouble. Design This kind of metric would allow us to compare different languages, but that if someone wanted to design a language explicitly to disprove this hyphothesis, they could probably do it. This technique can be generalized to: What's the best thing you could be doing, not just what you can see the results in any town in America. With this amount of money can change a startup's funding situation completely. There I found a copy of The Atlantic. Whereas it's easy to get sucked into working longer than you expected at the money job.2 That's ok. I think you have to do all three. But more importantly, you'll get into the habit of doing things well.

But what if the person in the next 40 years will bring us some wonderful things.3 They all know about the VCs who rejected Google. The writing of essays used to be.4 You may have read on Slashdot how he made his own Segway.5 He improvises: if someone appears in front of him, he runs around them; if someone tries to grab him, he spins out of their grip; he'll even run in the wrong place, anything might happen. The people who've worked for a few months I realized that what I'd been unconsciously hoping to find there was back in the place I'd just left. It was supposed to be something else, they ended up being Apple vs Microsoft. By 2012 that number was 18 years. The first thing you need is to be willing to look like a fool.6 Google they have a fair amount of data to go on. John Malkovich where the nerdy hero encounters a very attractive, sophisticated woman.

Many of the big companies were roll-ups that didn't have clear founders.7 Empirically, the way to the bed and breakfast, and other similar classes of accommodations, you get to hit a few difficult problems over the net at someone, you learn pretty quickly how hard they hit them anyway. Inexperienced founders make the same mistake as the people who list at ABNB, they list elsewhere too I am not negative on this one was the only way to get lots of referrals is to invest in students, not professors. It will actually become a reasonable strategy or a more reasonable strategy to suspect everything new.8 Never say we're passionate or our product is great. Whereas undergraduate admissions seem to be disappointments early on, when they're just a couple guys in an apartment. Programmers at Yahoo wouldn't have asked that.9 Incidentally, this scale might be helpful in deciding what to study in college. VCs think they're playing a zero sum game.

I spend most of my time writing essays lately. Almost everyone's initial plan is broken. If smaller source code is the purpose of comparing languages, because they come closest of any group I know to embodying it. Distracting is, similarly, desirable at the wrong time. But if we make kids work on dull stuff now is so they can get away with atrocious customer service. In fact, here there was a kid playing basketball? Of course, figuring out what you like.

Go out of your way to bring it up e. The industry term here is conversion. Try to keep the sense of wonder you had about programming at age 14. At least if you start a startup, people treat you as if you're unemployed.10 But hacking is like writing. Even with us working to make things happen the way they used to, they were moving to a cheaper apartment. It causes you to work not on what you like, but is disastrously lacking in others. I do in the rest of the world. Their defining quality is probably that they really love to program.

I could only figure out what to do, there's a natural tendency to stop looking.11 Economies of scale ruled the day.12 One is that this is simply the founders' living expenses.13 I need to transfer a file or edit a web page, and I think I know what is meant by readability, and I think they're onto something. Multiply this times several hundred, and I get an uneasy feeling when I look at my bookshelves. You may have read on Slashdot how he made his own Segway.14 Everyday life gives you no practice in this. Startups grow up around universities because universities bring together promising young people and make them work on anything they don't want to want, we consider technological progress good.

Notes

Samuel Johnson said no man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. Which is precisely my point. If they were regarded as 'just' even after the egalitarian pressures of World War II the tax codes were so new that the guys running Digg are especially sneaky, but except for money. They don't know enough about the new top story.

The image shows us, they tended to make money. But we invest in the Bible is Pride goeth before destruction, and one of the fake leading the fake leading the fake. In No Logo, Naomi Klein says that 15-20% of the aircraft is.

But because I realized the other writing of Paradise Lost that none who read a draft, Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson. If they agreed among themselves never to do due diligence for an investor? The best technique I've found for dealing with the other.

I ordered a large number of startups as they do for a public event, you can ignore. If you want to help the company, and a few of the Facebook that might produce the next Apple, maybe the corp dev is to show growth graphs at either stage, investors decide whether to go to die.

If you walk into a big company CEOs in 2002 was 3.

Or rather, where w is will and d discipline. But that turned out the existing shareholders, including that Florence was then the richest country in the sense of mission.

In Shakespeare's own time, because they can't afford to. The company may not be able to raise their kids in a company in Germany. When we got to see the apples, they said, and why it's next to impossible to write an essay about it wrong. That will in many cases be an open booth.

I'm not saying you should probably be worth trying to tell them exactly what constitutes research in the early 90s when they say they bear no blame for any particular truths you'll learn. As Jeremy Siegel points out that there is undeniably a grim satisfaction in hunting down certain sorts of bugs. Did you know about it as if you'd invested at a discount of 30% means when it was actually a great programmer doesn't merely do the right direction to be is represented by Milton.

But a lot of the next round. It's hard to say exactly what your body is telling you. In Russia they just kill you, they tend to be very unhealthy. One thing that drives most people realize, because you have two choices, choose the harder.

Though Balzac made a lot of classic abstract expressionism is doodling of this essay talks about programmers, but one by one they die and their houses are transformed by developers into McMansions and sold to VPs of Bus Dev. Or rather, where it sometimes causes investors to act. Eric Raymond says the best hackers want to trick admissions officers. And no, unfortunately, I mean efforts to protect widows and orphans from crooked investment schemes; people with a truly feudal economy, you better be sure you do in proper essays.

The top VCs thus have a better education. Or a phone, IM, email, Web, games, books, newspapers, or some vague thing like that. You need to fix. But the question is not much to maintain their percentage.

Kant. Loosely speaking. The real decline seems to them to lose elections. Some types of startups where the recipe is to say incendiary things, they can grow the acquisition offers most successful founders still get rich simply by being energetic and unscrupulous, but they get for free.

World War II to the frightening lies told by older siblings. That's one of the most general truths. As we walked in, we found they used it to get into that because a unless your last funding round.

But this seems an odd idea.

Thanks to Jessica Livingston, Shiro Kawai, Garry Tan, Chris Small, and Nikhil Nirmel for sharing their expertise on this topic.

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ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her · 3 years

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On Education

An excerpt from Memoirs of a Flesh Eater, never published.

Previous Excerpt

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I think every parent struggles with the question of when they should teach their children hard truths. At some point, every child needs to learn about death. They need to learn about hatred. They need to learn about the horrors people will inflict on them for being different. This is something that is as true for ghouls as it is for humans. For most people, it is a fact of life that someone will hate you for existing.

Human-on-human prejudice is still something I don’t fully understand. At least humans have a reason to hate us. I don’t know why they go looking for reasons to hate each other too.

Educating ghouls is a challenge. We need to know about ourselves, of course. We need to know about our kind - our needs, our history, our ways of moving through human society - but we need to learn everything that humans learn too. The more we can fit seamlessly into the human world, the safer we are. You probably don’t know this, what with how much the news loves a story about a ghoul living in secret among humans, their murders exposed to the shock of their friends and acquaintances, but those of us who are brought up among humans don’t get found out very often. It’s the feral children, the big city packs that still hunt most of their food, the all-ghoul communes, that are easier targets for the exterminators. Those of us that are fully integrated are much harder to sniff out, unless we seriously fuck up.

{Editing Note: Don’t say fuck. Even though it’s a really good word}

The best way to make sure a ghoul can pass as human is to start us young. Get us into kindergarten, then elementary school, and keep going all the way through college. There’s nothing better than hands-on training. That’s what my mom did for me, mostly. I was raised in human society, in the human public school system, and I’ve never had a true close call. I’ve never caught the eye of an exterminator, and no human has ever asked me pointed questions about my habits or diet.

For the sake of completeness, I should say that I was in the human public school system for everything except for middle school. It’s not like that’s a great loss, though - everything I’ve heard about middle school sounds like hell. I don’t know how any of you survived going through puberty in front of all your peers.

{Editing Note: I am not talking about ghoul puberty unless I can find a reliable human to tell me what their puberty was like. If I wrote about something that I thought was ghoul-specific but is actually normal I’d die on the spot. I’d call a fucking exterminator on myself.}

Conventional schooling might be the best setup for success, but it’s also the most dangerous route. Kids talk, and that’s as true for us as it is for you. It takes a lot of work to make a child understand that there are some things you can never tell anyone, not even your closest friends, not ever. It’s not a fun burden to grow up carrying either. I’ve known the fear of death for literally longer than I can remember. I’ve known that letting myself be truly honest and vulnerable with any of my classmates would bring it to me and my parents before the day was over {Editing Note: True vulnerability is what I need now, though. I should find a place to talk about my dad}. It’s more loneliness than any child should ever grow up with. I was lucky; I found Scarlet in 4th grade. There are plenty of ghoul children that don’t find each other until high school, if there are even any other ghoul children to be found.

Some parents decide that the risk is too great. They’d rather have alive children than well-adjusted children, so they homeschool them {Editing Note: Okay, that’s way too harsh. Don’t be biased}. I did get to experience this approach for those couple of years when I wasn’t in middle school, and it does have some advantages other than safety. When I was in public school, my mom had to find time after school to teach me about our people. In a homeschool setting, ghoul studies could actually be integrated into our curriculum. It wasn’t completely asocial, either - ghoul parents often use their Society connections to find other ghoul children that are homeschooling so we can learn together. I met my second best friend, Scorpio, because we were homeschooled together.

{Editing Note: My friends are going to read this. I need to make it super clear that Scorpio is the second best friend I made chronologically. I’m not ranking my friends in front of the entire world.}

Scorpio’s a good friend, but he’s also a good case study for the drawbacks of homeschooling. He was homeschooled K through 12 and he is definitely the worst of my friends at passing. He has no idea what’s normal for ghouls vs normal for humans, so he compensates by either saying nothing or saying the most obvious, outlandish lies you could imagine when childhood comes up in conversation. In his defense, those lies are usually pretty funny, and he does connect pretty well with the right kind of people. Scorpio’s got a bunch of very specific subjects that he knows a ton about and loves to talk about. He and Scarlet can go on for hours about literary theory.

{Editing Note: That’s too meandering. I’m just trying to explain why some ghouls homeschool and some don’t - I don’t need to put my weird friends on blast.}

There’s another kind of formal schooling for ghouls that’s much, much rarer - the ghoul private school. The only one I even knew of, St. Raymond’s, was shut down last year by exterminators. Normally I’d tell you to take the lurid details you hear on the news with a healthy pinch of salt, and I still would, but that many rich young ghouls, completely cut off from the rest of humanity… it’s hard to predict what becomes normalized in that kind of echo chamber.

Fortunately, my patron knows more people than I do, so I have more to offer you than grim speculation. According to her, these kinds of places always have a very small student body, rarely breaking a hundred. The lesson content is pretty similar to homeschool - fully integrated ghoul curriculum, plus a few specialized lessons on blending into human society. Out of necessity, they’re almost always boarding schools. It’s easier to keep a low profile if you don’t have a bunch of ghoul kids not used to hiding going to and from the campus every day.

Apparently, it’s that kind of logistical challenge that makes these schools so rare. Aside from all the money you need to run a school in the first place, and how careful you need to be to pass scrutiny from the Board of Education, providing discretely for the needs of that many ghouls is an organizational nightmare. I mean, there’s a reason that ghoul families are so small, a reason why even our extended households rarely do more than scrape the double digits. There’s only so much flesh that can be safely obtained in one area at a time. There aren’t a lot of ghouls that have the resources and the inclination to put one of these schools together.

There is, of course, one more ways that ghouls are educated - the school of hard knocks {Editing Note: That’s such a trivializing way to put it. Have some sensitivity, me}. Given how short our average life expectancy is, it’s inevitable that some ghoul children have to fend for themselves from a very young age. I doubt it comes as a surprise that most of them don’t manage to integrate into human society very well. The lucky ones figure out early on how to kill discreetly, how to hide their nature from observers, and how to vary their hunting patterns enough to avoid the attention of the exterminators. The rest either starve quietly or die violently.

Most of these feral ghouls who survive to be teenagers eventually find each other and form packs. From a pure survival standpoint, this is a bad move. A group of feral teenage ghouls have a much harder time covering their tracks than they would as individuals, but for most, the chance at companionship is too tempting. It’s miserable, being alone in the world. Packs offer most of them the best chance to escape loneliness that they’ll ever get. And for most of them, it ends in a shallow grave within a year. Putting down a pack of feral ghouls is a good headline for an exterminator, and it’s a lot less work than trying to ferret out those of us who’ve figured out how to pass. That isn’t how the majority of ghouls die, but it’s how a plurality of us do.

For those few feral ghouls that survive to adulthood, their lives take one of three paths. Sometimes they find a patron and fall in with a household, and they do their best to heal from the trauma of their childhood. They do their best to find a happy life in human society, just like those of us who were luckier. Sometimes they become true Hunters, living their lives on the outskirts of our Society; still embraced by us, if only at an arm’s length. I’ll talk more about them later.

And sometimes, they become the Lost. Not that ghouls from any walk of life are immune to that fate, but… I’ll get to them later too. You may not have heard of them by that name, but I guarantee you’ve heard of the Lost.

{Editing Note: That’s a really grim note to end the chapter on. I should play with the structure a bit and find a more uplifting note to leave this subject on.}

{Editing Note: Or I could ask Kestrel. I’m sure she’d have ideas on how to better write the section on feral ghouls, and she could help me strike a more authentic tone. But… I don’t want to upset her. She doesn’t like to think about it, and I don’t want to hurt her. Is this important enough? Would she think it’s important enough?}

#my writing #original fiction #not tlt #memoirs of a flesh eater

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13uswntimagines · 4 years

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You’re in Wubble Now (Bino x Teen!Reader)

Request: R is Sue and Megan daughter(14 years old) ? Like what is being at the wubble together?

Authors note: Hey dudes, I really don’t know much about basketball, or its players, but I hope you enjoy this! Hit me up with requests, questions or if you just wanna say hi!

You smiled brightly up at the sky, enjoying the way the sun fell on your face. You had missed the feeling of the sun on your face and cleats on your feet for the past 4 months you had spent in quarantine. You were glad that wubble included an outdoor area where you could practice your juggling in. You didn’t want to lose your edge over your Aunt Tobin.

You glanced down at the ball, flicking it up to balance on your toe-box, before starting to practice the various tricks you knew how to do. All the while moving towards the place that you had designated in your mind as “goal”. As you neared the area, you tapped the ball a little too hard, sending it careening over the small fence and directly onto the outdoor basketball court. You groaned loudly as it collided with one Sami Whitcomb.

“I’m so sorry,” You tried to cover your giggle with your hand, but failed.

“Trying to take her out so Chicago Sky has the advantage kid?” Jordin Canada laughed, sapping a hand on your shoulder, and you shot her a cheeky smile. You and your Aunt JJ had a running joke that the Stars were your favorite team, though you were rather partial to Portland, just to annoy your mothers.

“Hey short stack, you’re good with your feet, but are you any good with your hands?” Sami joined in the banter, spinning the soccer ball on her finger before tossing it back to you. You smiled and caught it on the top of your left foot and began to juggle again.

“Are you kidding me? She’s got Pino’s height and none of Bird’s skills,” Breanna Stewart joked, resting her elbow on the top of your head. You huffed. Yes, you were short, and the USWNT always liked to remind you of that, but next to your mom’s teammates, you were practically a dwarf and they didn’t mind telling you about it.

Just because you preferred soccer didn’t mean you weren’t any good at basketball. Hell, you and your mom had done nothing but play pickup games in the driveway since the whole COVID thing started. You weren’t terrible, to begin with, but you had definitely gotten better if you did say so yourself. You had even pulled the basketball version of a nutmeg on your mom. Plus, you never backed down from a challenge.

“I think I could take you,” You smirked, puffing out your chest. The women laughed at your adorableness. They knew just how competitive you were, they had seen it in your determination to make the U15 soccer team, and in all of the stories about you, Sue had shared with them.

“Be careful what you ask for kid, just because you’re a Rapino-Bird doesn’t mean we won’t whip your ass,” Jordin said seriously, (gently) bumping your shoulder. You set your jaw in a way that they had come to recognize as your ‘I’m going to win any way I can’ face.

“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Sami laughed at how cute your determined face was, patting your upper back in a way that reminded you of your mom.

“Oh, you’re on. 2v2 me a Sami vs you and Breanna” You nodded at Jordin, who flashed Sami a wink. They couldn’t let the soccer players teach you everything, now could they.

****

The game was going well for you, as you and Sami were up by 12, and you were about to extend that lead. She crossed you the ball, bouncing it in between Breanna’s legs. You collected it, realizing that if you tried to dribble, you’d most likely fall victim to Jordin’s marking. So you took the shot, Jumping up just outside of the three-point area. Jordin, not expecting the move, bumped into you milliseconds after the ball had left your fingertips, sending you careening into the concrete floor.

“You alright kid?” Sami asked, watching as you got back to your feet, and gasping when you turned around.

“Shit, Sue’s going to kill us,” Jordan mumbled when she saw the gash that had formed just above your right eyebrow, and the red substance that was seeping down your face, staining your brand new Re-inc popsicle shirt.

“Kill you is more like it,” Breanna smirked, shoving Jordin’s shoulder lightly.

“And I’d be more worried about Megan,” Sami murmured as she took a closer look at your cut.

“I’m fine guys,” You grumbled, pulling your head out of Sami’s gentle hands and turning to find the basketball. The rapid movement caused even more blood to drip down your covered face, and land unceremoniously on the pavement.

“Yeah, let’s get you to the medic,” The women rolled their eyes at your insistence, Jordin grabbing one arm, and Breanna grabbing another while Sami placed a hand at the center of your back to get you moving forward.

The walk to the First aid room had been relatively uneventful, as the women wouldn’t budge on their stance that you needed to get checked by the doctors (though several other players sent you worried looks as you passed them).

“I’m going to need to call one of your mothers down here for consent to treat you,” The doctor said quietly, handing you a piece of gauge and motioning for you to hold it to the cut that was still freely bleeding. You rolled your eyes at him and nodded for Sami to call your mom. She was always more level headed than Ma when you got hurt. You should have guessed that they would be together and that they would not be happy to find out that you’d been hurt… again.

“What the fuck happened?” Megan exclaimed, bursting into the first aid room, racing over to you and glaring at the women who were accompanying you. It was kinda funny cause even though she was so much shorter than them, they all shrunk under her gaze.

“Meg, chill.”Sue interrupted, stepping between her wife and her very afraid teammates. Megan may have been short but she was called your mama bear for a reason.“What happened?” Your mom asked you directly, crouching down so she was eye level with you, and taking the soaked gauze from your grasp. You sighed dramatically.

“We were playing a game of pickup, and I got bumped. They freaked out,” you scoffed, waving your hand at the three women who were still covering inter you Ma’s gaze.

“I think our response was well deserved,” Sami grumbled, gesturing towards you. So maybe there had been a lot of blood, but your Aunt Ash had always said that head cuts always bled more.

“It was just a scratch,” You rolled your eyes, your annoyance leaking into your tone, sure that if it had been any one of your mom’s teammates, you would still be outside on the field, enjoying the sun.

“Yeah, like Kelley’s nose during the World Cup,” You am sent you a pointed look, and you froze.

“I don’t stop in the middle of games,” you grumbled, pouting and crossing your arms, pulling off a flying squirrel impersonation that would make the woman proud, “and plus this is nothing compared to the time Aunt Toby took me surfing” You pointed out, shivering just thinking about the experience. The almost drowning part hadn’t been the worst part, the cuts from the coral on the bottom had.

“You got caught under a wave and almost drowned,” Sue said sternly, forcing you to look her in the eyes, and grabbing another wad of gauze, as you had bled through the first two.

“See, this is just a baby cut compared to that, or liked the time I went skateboarding with Emily,” You shot her a grin, and she sent you back a grim smile.

“Yeah, that time you broke your collarbone,”

You huffed. It had been Lindsey’s idea for you to try and jump the fire hydrant, and Emily’s fault that she hadn’t cleared the sidewalk for you. If you had followed through with the landing, you probably would have creamed the family of 4 just trying to enjoy their day.

“I’m going to have to put stitches in,” The doctor interrupted, peeling back the gauze and setting up to treat your cut.

“You’re not allowed by yourself with our teams anymore,” Megan huffed, glaring at the three women who were watching your interaction with their captain in awe.

“Hey, it’s not our fault the shrimp-“ Jordin started to protest, only to be cut off by a glare from her Captain.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Sue said, her voice dangerously low, before turning back to you. “You’re benched for the rest of the season kid,” She finished, cupping your cheek. You closed your eyes in frustration. You didn’t want to have to sit on the bench with your ma.

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Megan pouted at you, obviously offended by your reaction. You loved your Ma, you did, but you had way too much energy to not be able to play sports, even though you probably had a concussion.

“No, you're not,” You said back lowly, and Sue laughed at your sad face. She knew that there would be no way to stop you from playing sports, but maybe the promise of cuddling with your Ma would at least give your cut time to heal.

“Love you, my dear,” Megan whimpered, placing a careful kiss on your cheek, followed by another from Sue.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #Bino x Reader #Bino Imagine

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incarnateirony · 4 years

Text

Pre-Rewatch Notes

So since I’m going to be doing a mix of in-timeline and full retrospective text value of the canon, one of the things I’d like to actually get out of the way is the Key Concepts of the eras, most explicitly Kripke and Dabb as the start and end.

The Key concepts are the single most important framework in media studies. They have evolved as a means of understanding a text by using a critical framework, rather than just making unconnected and meaningless observations. Throughout the course, you will need to refer to the Key Concepts and use the terms you learn when analysing media texts. One way to remember the Key Concepts is to use the mnemonic "RAILING". Representations, Audiences, Institutions, (Media) Language, Ideology, Narrative, Genre.

(also sometimes called MIGRAIN if using Media Language to clarify rather than spoken language)

With this as my note in front of the cut, I’m going to drop the rest behind one while I try to sort out the RAILING of the show before I even try to start establishing long term collective rewatch arguments on the canon. I do also invite some discussion on these, as in, if you feel my markers are off, or if I’m missing anything that I could probably negotiate the text.

Pulling, for my sanity, from here [x]

SO FIRST TO DEFINE:

Media Language This is how media producers communicate their ideas to the audience. Below are some examples to think about when considering media language:

Images used

Words used

Use of colour

Signs and signifiers

Connotative meaning

Use of sound

Iconography

Camera angles and picture composition

Institutions The companies who produce the media. Fox, Disney, CNN, the BBC, Warner Brothers etc will have a set of Institutional Values; beliefs on aspects of life e.g. their political stance or moral beliefs etc. Also, whether they have to make large profits for a board of directors. These institutional values will guide what their media products include. You should consider who made a particular media product and what impact this has on that product.

Genre The style of the media form.

A film could be Horror or Action.

A book could be Fantasy or Thriller.

A computer game could be RPG or Sports Simulation.

A website could be News or Social Networking.

Representation How media producers show a thing, person or group of people.

May be positive or negative.

Why have they chosen to show them in this way?

Think about the 5 w’s: who, what, where, when and why?

Audience

The people who buy and consume media.

Who are they?

What do they want from the media product?

How does the media product fulfill these wants?

Use theories such as Uses and Gratification theory.

Ideology Ties in with Institution.

What values and beliefs underpin the product?

How does this fit with the values of society?

Narrative How is the text structured?

Use Todorov’s Theory of Narrative Structure.

Use Propp’s Character Theory.

Use Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition

I’m going to use VERY shorthand notes on these moving forward.

So here’s what I see off the cuff:

KRIPKE ERA

Media Language Faded film stock to denote horror; darkness; emphasis on SFX like footsteps. Grim cinematic. Eventual christian imagery overlapping urban myth icons. Faded color palettes. Fairly classic color use (pink or white for femininity or purity, etc). Nostalgic classic rock/music. Nostalgia, general. Muscle cars. "Classic american masculinity." Hopelessness seeking hope.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2005-2009. Kripke, Singer. Manners. McGee. Sgriccia.

Genre Horror, survival, drama

Representation Americana, working class america, "american masculinity", fraternity; Sam and Dean vs the world with occasional help from other friends or family in the life. Metanarrative hostility to issues like queerness reflective of both time and institution at the time.

Audience Originally targeted at young/teen men (to “not be like other girl shows on the network”), became split demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Fraternal bonds. Arguably, family. Hero's sacrifice for the greater good.

Narrative Campbell, Hero's Journey; Rule of Cool; Christendom; Man vs Divine

GAMBLE

Media Language Film stock, brightness, saturation at fairly standard media level -- sometimes unstable. Standard cinematics. Residual christian imagery overlapping lovecraft. Decline in classic music from Kripke. Unclear or unreliable interpersonal messaging. Arguably southern gothic. Hopelessness.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2010-2011. Gamble, Singer. McGee. Sgriccia. Norman Bee. Edlund.

Genre Teen Drama, Adventure

Representation Established characters Sam and Dean. Fraternity. Sam and Dean vs the world.

Audience Originally targeted at young women, became split demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Brothers quarreling; fight monsters; I don't know. Did she know? "Everything is tragic but have some dick jokes"

Narrative Lovecraft. Does anyone know. "I need to make more episodes"

CARVER

Media Language Brightened film stock with increased saturation establishes fantasy setting. Smash cut interruptions to former grim cinematics offset more hopeful visuals. Fairly media standard lighting and color use in related fantasy cinema. Found family. Hope against hopeless odds.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2012-2014 (arguably 2015). Carver, Singer. Glass. Sgriccia.

Genre Fantasy, Adventure, drama

Representation Widened character base. Widened hero's journey arcs (castiel). Masculinity messaging of the past has not vanished, but has dampened and become less hostile to the LGBTQ and woman audience. Regular Cast widened (Crowley, Castiel)

Audience Split gender demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Split age demographic from targeting vs duration. Increasingly digital demographic and marketing; begins increasing queer, poc and other audience. International boom (Netflix deal, digital 2012+). Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Found Family, Hope against odds. Free Will highlighted. Destructive or harmful relationships. Humanity. The human journey.

Narrative Self-established TV episodical, largely internal lore, residual christianized mythos or christendom. Castiel acquires first proper hero’s journey personal arc/lens. Multiple relationships vs world, man vs world

DABB

Media Language Carries from carver; largely identical but more close-up shots and interaction shots for drama focus. Internal color pallate unique to its own while still interacting with Carver standard media pallate.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2015-2020. Dabb, Singer. Sgriccia. Buckner, Leming. S15: Berens. CW has begun rebranding into a “queer friendly” platform with unreliable results.

Genre High-fantasy, drama, arguably soap.

Representation Carries heavily from Carver, plus. Expansion of queer creatives adds queer voice to the text. Queer text manifests over time into show's canon text. Lack of metanarrative hostility has become space for queer text. Attempted routine inclusion of women, queer characters. While not a queer piece, establishes queer narrative with roots as far back as Kripke. While still maintaining strong leads, Regular Cast and other leading cast has expanded (Crowley, Castiel, Jack, other major recognizeable faces: Rowena, Wayward). It flirts with ensemble presentation without ever landing on it wholly.

Audience Split gender demographic skewing towards women. Split conservative and liberal demographic skewing towards liberal. Multiple generations of demographic from longevity. Primarily digital demographic and marketing (top 99.9% digital but a bottom live ratings performer on live TV outside of the CW); primarily queer, poc and other audience. International boom. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Found family. hope against odds/defining the odds. Free Will vs authoritative power. Psychological rebuilding*. The family journey. The family unit. Non-nuclear families. (finale not withstanding)

Narrative Self-established TV episodical, largely internal lore, subverting christendom and authority with alchemy or gnosticism. Optimism vs Nihilism. Contrasting ending (see: Nihilism) Campbell. Other characters, like Jack, begin claiming narrative presence like Carver era Castiel, whereas Castiel maintains or expands on his. Man vs Divine vs Man IS Divine

These will be used to address the text during the large scale rewatch.

Each era has its own parameters to best address its showrunners’ visions in. Each era will receive snapshots unto itself, or snapshots also only in regards to how it adapts to the previous text. On the other hand, as half the goal is also a full retrospective to address the complete body of the text since the show stands as a complete body of word and I shouldn’t change my tools over and over again throughout for the complete-text study the same way I will by showrunner era.

I’m going to make a PITCH on the most likely way to give this a strong reading through to prepare what targets to keep an eye on as they evolve. This may change along the way if at any point I realize the first-glance overview was wrong, but

OVERVIEW MIGRAIN

Media Language The growth from hopeless dark into vivid potential; the lost heroes still oblivious to the world, their vision distant and dark to begin. Contrast faded dark to vivid and bright as much over timeline as Carver did between shots. Consider addressing the increased interpersonal camera work that blooms in later seasons for commentary in regards to the increased interpersonal complexity and growth of the cast.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2005-2009 as the holdover of some audience being maintained with inevitable pressures from the outside world of 2020 forcing change.

Genre Survival, drama, fantasy

Representation Americana, fraternity, family; Split Hero's Journey Narratives. Late-end queer story affirmation demands a look at the body of the text for its queer journey throughout, though the work itself should not be expected to perform as an LGBT genre work but rather a Survival-Drama-Fantasy work with queer characters. Loved ones versus external forces.

Audience Too shifting to consider in the target read anymore.

Ideology Expanding knowledge. Growing expansion of the world first to find, then surpass and subvert God--or at least their intention. The growth out of expectations of work or behavior into passions and dreams. Finding and pursuing hope. Fraternal bonds. Family, Found Family. Queerness. Hero's sacrifice for the greater good, but to find and define what that greater good is, one must know the self through the family. Free Will vs authoritative power. Psychological rebuilding*. The family journey. The family unit. Non-nuclear families.

Narrative Campbell, Hero's Journey; Occasional intertext (On the Road, Vonnegut, Lovecraft). Varied mythos, best collected and then addressed and subverted through gnostic thoughtform per the ending.

Comments, critiques, criticisms, ideas to add, things I may be missing?

#polol #the great rewatch project #RAILING #MIGRAIN #meta

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shirtlesssammy · 5 years

Text

15x04: Atomic Monsters

Then:

Becky was an obsessed, gross fangirl, and it was not awesome.

Now:

We open to the bunker under attack. Dean is in full beard and kicking ass. Boy, the director of this episode sure knows how to make Dean pretty. He makes it to the bunker’s kitchen to find Benny (!!!!) on the floor dying.

I don’t rewatch Taxi Driver for a reason, Show. I loved Benny and Dean’s friendship, so while this was great just to have him back for old time’s sake, it still makes me sad that he’s still gone. (And spoiler, this is Sam’s dream. I just like to think about how Sam still thinks about this friendship he didn’t want Dean to have and it haunts him to this day.)

Dean’s looking for someone. He walks into the war room and finds him: Sam, all powerful on demon blood. Dean tries reasoning with his brother, but he’s past all that. Sam kills another hunter sneaking up on them, and then he kills Dean.

Sam wakes up from his nightmare, gasping. SAM!

He heads to the kitchen to find Dean looking for cases, drinking coffee, and eating a plate of bacon. Dean says it’s veggie bacon when Sam tries to turn down eat some. Sam also tells Dean that his self-proclaimed nickname “Meat Man” isn’t what he thinks it means. Dean apparently knows exactly what it means and he’s standing by it. Ahem. Dean also calls Sam out on not handling their recent losses. The Just Brothers show is a real bummer.

Anyway, the case Dean found is in Iowa. There’s been a string of cattle mutilations and a young woman’s body found ripped to pieces.

Also, it was real bacon and Dean’s a dick for trying to trick Sam into eating it.

At Beaverdale High School, Sam learns Susie, the vic, was a popular girl and there’s going to be a prayer vigil for her at the school. Two parents show up asking about the game getting canceled --or rescheduled. They’re just can’t have that happen. There was going to be a scout coming to that game for their son, Billy.

Sam is appalled (and I’m sad for him, so close to losing family he cared about.) The vice principal shuts down the pushy parents, and after they leave mutters, “I swear, the parents are worse than the kids.”

Sam meets back up with Dean (eating again). Dean was just at the morgue and found a vamp fang. This one’s a weird one. Vamps don’t usually tear their victims apart. Also, she didn’t even try to fight off her attacker.

Later that night, a fellow student leaves the school only to be attacked by the camera in the bushes!!

Sam and Dean check out where Susie was found. No blood means she was killed elsewhere and her body was dumped in the woods. Sam soliloquies about how taking care of the monsters is their job and they carry the weight of everyone. Dean drinks from his flask. They are coping SO WELL, guys!

Sam gets a call that another girl is missing.

WHOA. Becky, fangirl and Sam kidnapper extraordinaire, is married with kids and is looking forward to having the house to herself for the day. Just as her husband and kids pull away, she sees her old ex, Chuck, across the street. Run, Becky, Run! Chuck wants to talk. UGH.

The VP fills the brothers in on the new missing teen.

Chuck checks out Becky’s maquettes and learns that she’s a successful Etsy seller of Supernatural merchandise. She fesses up to how wrong what she did to Sam was, admitted to counseling. She kept writing. She wrote the good stuff, amirite? Chuck disagrees and thinks that people like the monsters. (Natasha: raises hand.) Becky’s a busy person so Chuck better cut to the chase here. Chuck won’t let the whole monster thing go.

Chuck admits to having a falling out with the Winchesters. He also tells Becky that his sister won’t help, because “she sucks.” Becky can’t believe that Chuck thinks he can come crawling back to her. She’s got a good life now. She doesn’t need him.

Becky’s nice though (can’t believe I just wrote those words), and asks Chuck, what makes him happy. Writing. She tells him he has to write.

Back at the high school, Dean is interviewing a man in a beaver suit while eating a hot dog.

JESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER. (I’m conducting an experiment with my GA co-worker about Dean is bi-Dean/Cas. I can’t wait to hear what she says about this. She did call The Breakup a “bro-fight” so I’ll keep you all posted.)

In the school gymnasium, Billy and Veronica bond over losing Susie. Billy’s mom interrupts and he runs away.

The third-in-line-to-the-throne cheerleader practices her eulogy alone in a gym. I obsessed over this scene in this post about stories, because it was such a strange beat in the episode. The Winchesters confront her. They ask her to head off with them alone (GURL never do that with anyone you don’t know) when Sam notices that she wears braces.

Sam and Dean leave the gym in a huff. Vampires don’t wear braces! Foiled by braces yet again! They go back to the drawing board.

We finally get a peek in the happy lacrosse family’s home. Everyone’s argumentative and on edge, and when we get a closeup of the dad he’s washing blood off his hands in the sink.

The camera pans through the house to the garage where the kidnapped cheerleader, Tori, lies bound and gagged. UGH.

Chuck experiences the downside of Becky-in-momland: no booze! Chuck complains that he can no longer see Sam and Dean in his head and subtly touches his hidden bullet wound. Ooooo. Becky lays out some truths for Chuck. “You’re a writer. A writer who’s not writing. And when a writer’s not writing, they feel sad and they get lost. Why do I feel this way? Why am I so sad and lost? And what is all this naval gazing and hair pulling amount to in the end? Procrastination. Distraction. Just one million ways the writer avoids doing the one thing that is guaranteed to make the writer feel better. Which is…”

“Writing,” Chuck finishes the thought. Go Becky! Except…um…now Chuck is inspired to write again. And when Chuck writes? The world ends.

Chuck takes over Becky’s computer (RUDE) and starts his next opus on supernaturalstory-onebillionparallelworlds.com.

Sam and Dean check out the security footage from the night Tori was abducted. They nab a suspicious vehicle and a license plate which lands them at...Billy’s house.

At Billy’s house, strife continues to be the word of the day. The parents argue that they want what’s best for Billy - whatever that is. Sam and Dean head inside, looking as dangerous as panthers.

Sam heads for the garage while Dean cues the dad into a little fun fact: they’re not FBI. No, they’re considerably scarier than the FBI. Dean pulls out a machete which is probably NOT FIELD ISSUE OKAY.

Sam discovers that the girl has been hooked up to an IV - she’s become a slow-release food source. The mom interrupts them with a GUN.

Danger mom escorts Sam and the cheerleader back to the living room where they have a gun vs. machete stand-off. Obviously Dean would win this matchup, okay? He’d probably, idk, stop the bullets in his teeth or something.

Becky reads over Chuck’s work. She adores it! Chuck pushes for some notes. She asks for higher stakes and while we get distracted by her rambling about the lack of classic rock and Cas, Chuck’s expression grows GRIM and DARK and VERY SCARY. (Good job Rob, you talented cinnamon roll!)

“You want jeopardy? You want danger? I’ll give you danger.” Thanks for the trip to CREEPY TOWN, Chuck.

Billy heads downstairs and witnesses the confrontation between the Winchesters and his parents. Dean does his usual monologue, explaining how the dad got turned into a vamp, tried to eat cows, and started eating teen girls instead. But Sam observes Billy and points out something very different. “It’s not the dad, it’s the son.” Billy confesses: he was kissing his girlfriend when he lost control and ate her instead. Man, I HATE it when that happens.

Billy told his parents, who covered it up. They kidnapped Tori as a longer term feed option. But now their son lays it all out. He’ll take the fall for everything, including Tori’s kidnapping and assault. And he’ll take a one-way ride with the Winchesters.

UGH now everything is terrible. Dean executes the son in a dark wooded area as the rest of the world washes any trace of the supernatural away.

Back with Chuck, Becky finishes reading his higher-stakes take. She’s disturbed. “You can’t,” she pleads. “This is just an ending.”

“Yeah,” Chuck says, pleased. “I don’t know how I’m getting there, but I know where I’m going.” That destination, to be specific, is just a tombstone with the word WINCHESTER on it. (Can I get a hell yeah for this meta-awareness and roundabout promise that we WON’T get this ending?)

“You can’t do this to the fans!” Becky insists. But she’s prevented from saying more by her husband’s sudden return. She starts to explain the presence of Chuck, when Chuck just ZAPS her husband out of existence. Her kids call out and BOOM they’re gone too. I start to get worried that we’re gonna have some sort of icky reverse-Misery situation here when Chuck decides to zap Becky away as well. (Can’t wait until Becky kills God at the end of the series, guys!)

In the car, Sam directly parallels Billy to Jack. Dean admits that he wanted to “cash out” in the crypt, but that Sam’s insistence that they matter pulled him back. (Me: RLY?) Sam’s bitter. Dean’s tense. “We still do the job,” Dean says. “We do it for Jack. For mom. For Rowena. We owe it to anybody who has ever given a damn about us to keep putting one foot in front of the other. No matter what.”

Dean goes on to say that with Chuck gone, they’re finally free to “move on” and EXCUSE ME while I go throw myself into a Destiel trash bin at that phrasing. Sam’s not in the Destiel trash bin with me, because he tells us he still mourns Jessica and now we’re HURTING for other reasons. SAM BBY!

Back at Becky’s house Chuck continues to write...INSIDIOUSLY. I can’t wait for Chuck’s next book: Sad Boys in the Impala.

______________________________

Read These Quotes Backward for a Demonic Spell:

The end of the world is the end of the world

They have no idea what’s out there

But people LIKE monsters

I need wine

Why am I so sad and lost? And what is all this naval gazing and hair pulling amount to in the end? Procrastination. Distraction. Just one a million ways the writer avoids doing the one thing that is guaranteed to make the writer feel better.

Nobody even mentions Cas

To see your child in pain rips your heart out

We can bury them out back. Under the peonies. Everything is going to be FINE

Fans are gonna love it

Oh, Becky. I can do anything. I’m a writer

We do the ugly things so that people can live happy

Monsters are cool. What? They’re all teeth!

______________________________

#spn recap #spn 15x04 #atomic monsters #dean winchester #sam winchester #chuck shurley #becky rosen #benny lafitte #supernatural season 15

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longsightmyth · 5 years

Text

Myth reads The Riddle, Chapter 1

Alrighty, folks. I can’t to a direct book-to-book comparison (there are seven ToG novels not including The Assassin’s Blade, which is a collection of five prequel novellas, and only five Pellinor books including the prequel novel) so I made a spreadsheet to figure out what should be read with what. The Riddle gets to be compared to Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, and a not insignificant amount of Queen of Shadows. The Crow gets the rest of Queen of Shadows, the entirety of Empire of Storms (Hem doesn’t deserve that but them’s the breaks), and a good chunk of Tower of Dawn. The Singing has the rest of Tower of Dawn and all of Kingdom of Ash, for which it has my sincere apologies.

The Bone Queen is going to be compared to The Assassin’s Blade on the premise that they are both prequels and that at some point I could use a break from doing anywhere from 40-90 pages at a time of ToG. I may do those two directly after The Riddle so I can have the aforementioned break.

I COULD, of course, read two books for every Pellinor book except the Bone Queen, which would still be read only with The Assassin’s Blade, but a, I didn’t think of that until I was already done with my spreadsheet, and b, that would involve reading exactly 1.628 pages (Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash) with The Singing, which is 444 pages. As various friends correctly pointed out, that sounds torturous (and comes out to about 4 pages of ToG for 1 page of The Singing). After that discussion, I decided my spreadsheet should not be in vain.

Here we go.

The Riddle, being the second of the Books of Pellinor

Chapter 1

The Riddle

Do not twine garlands of myrtle for my forehead Nor pluck sweet roses to adorn me Make me a crown of somber violets For I am dying

The sweet lips of the maidens of Busk And the flashing feet of dancing goatherds Will never again quicken my desire For I am dying

Come to me merciful Meripon In your ebony chariot drawn by swallows From the dim halls beyond the Gates For I am dying

I kiss the peaks of Lamedon with my eyes And the white arms of the passionate sea Which loves this beautiful island that I love For I am dying

Thus begins the first chapter of the first section of The Riddle, called Thorold.

Yikes.

Maerad has a dream vision of a lot of armies marching through a desert, and not even a cool natural desert. Something about it feels bad and poisoned. She freaks out and falls…

Maerad woke, gasping for breath, and sat bolt upright. This was an unwise thing to do, as she was sleeping in a hammock slung below the deck of a small fishing smack called the White Owl. The hammock swung dangerously and then, as she flailed for balance in the pitch dark, tipped her out onto the floor. Still trapped in her dream, Maerad screamed, putting out her hands to break her fall, and hit the wooden floorboards.

Cadvan of course rushes to check on her. Maerad says she had a bad dream and apologizes if she cried out. Cadvan jokes that it sounded like there was a hull on the boat and asks if it was a regular nightmare or a foredream. Maerad says definitely foredream, definitely horrible, also she is not a fan of boats because she gets seasick.

Foredreams, in Maerad’s experience, we always horrible.

Cadvan, when Maerad tells him about it, says it definitely sounds like the place the Nameless One started out from when he marshalled his armies to bring about the Great Silence. Maerad asks hopefully if maybe she’s just seeing the past, and Cadvan says there’s always the possibility but he doesn’t think so in this case, because Cadvan is a negative nancy.

Maerad gives us some ‘last time on’ info while she and Cadvan consider the implications, including that Turbansk, Saliman’s Bard school and where he and Hem went, are going to have it rough.

“...even that vast force is only one piece in the great strategem the Nameless One is now unleashing. And you, Maerad, are as significant to him as that huge army. Maybe more so. Everything turns on you.”

Maerad bowed her head, oppressed beyond measure by Cadvan’s words. On me? she thought bitterly. And yet she knew it was true.

Cadvan, I don’t mean to criticize, but you seem to forget a lot that Maerad is a teenager who was pretty recently yoinked from slavery. Maybe, like. Chill for a second on the whole ‘the fate of the world is on Your Shoulders Alone’ thing? (It’s a different matter from how I feel that in ToG the books have forgotten that Celaena is a teenager pretty recently yoinked from slavery. If I fail to mention this in the comparison yell at me in the notes and I’ll talk about it)

More ‘last time on’ but I don’t mean it as a criticism: it manages to be couched into Maerad’s thoughts about Cadvan and her Foretold-ness, and honestly I feel like more books should have some ‘last time on’ thoughts when they’re sequels. If nothing else it would remind the authors themselves what happened in the last book.

Naming no names, re: sequel consistency (oh we’ll get to that)

They’re two days out from Busk, and Maerad, at a loss for anything else to do, offers to keep watch so Owan or Cadvan can nap, since they’re the only two who really know how to sail. They would have taught Maerad, but Cadvan has a magic wind still going, which makes teaching difficult, and when it’s not going he’s asleep and Owan is busy actually, you know. Sailing.

Maerad had already witnessed Cadvan’s powers of endurance, but his stubborn will impressed her anew: his face was haggard and his mouth grim, but he moved the with alertness of a well-rested man.

So many jokes I could make. I will refrain.

Maerad sees something in the water and alerts the other two. Cadvan tries to make them go faster but whatever it is keeps up.

It’s an ondril, which are usually pretty benign sea serpents. This one is big, they’ve already gotten out of whatever territory onril would normally defend, and they can’t see to outrun it.

Welp, says Cadvan (lightly paraphrased), guess we’re gonna have to fight. Let’s charge it.

Owan cocked his head and thought briefly. “Aye, easily enough, if you put more breeze in the sails,” he said. “Think you that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t,” Maerad said. “I think it’s mad.”

“We may be able to wrest the initiative,” said Cadvan. He looked at Maerad and smiled with a sudden sweetness that illuminated and transformed his somber face. “Come, Maerad. It is far better to put away fear than to be driven by it. You know that.”

Yes, I know that, Maerad thought sardonically. But I’m tired of having to be brave when really I’m so terrified I scarce know what to do.

He lets his wind die, has Owan turn them around, and whips of an opposite direction wind to charge the ondril. Maerad isn’t pleased but readies her sword and magic. Cadvan magically fastens Owan to the boat so he won’t get thrown out and gives age-old fighting advice: go for the eyes.

They do.

Anyway they have a battle, Maerad hits it with fire (some of which glances off), they run, the ondril pursues, both Maerad and Cadvan go for the remaining eye when it catches up, and they finally manage to escape. The men congratulate each other and Maerad.

Maerad looked away over the sea, feeling nothing but a vast emptiness. She had no sense of triumph, nor even relief. All she felt was a returning wisp of nausea. The only good thing about being frightened half to death, she thought, is that it makes me forget all about being seasick.

End chapter.

Throne of Glass

Are y’all ready for Crown of Midnight? I bet you aren’t!

Confession: this is the one I remember least, so we’re going on a journey together basically. I hope that comforts you as it has failed to comfort me. Anyway. Chapters 1-6 (and the first 51 pages) of CoM, here we come. (I also have to remind people that if I didn’t enjoy this on some level I wouldn’t be doing it: no one is forcing me. I’m just being dramatic)

Also can we discuss how I actually LIKE Crown of Midnight as a title, even if it’s pretty irrelevant to this book? Just saying.

We start with part 1, titled ‘The King’s Champion’ which is a departure from the first book, which was separated only by chapters. All subsequent books follow this format for reasons I don’t entirely understand, but we can talk about that in the comparison section, probably in more than one of these chapter/section comparisons.

Chapter 1!

Celaena sneaks into a house in a storm with many s words describing movement. She’s concealed in a black mask and hood, which is not a good way not to attract notice. Human-shaped splotches of solid black aren’t exactly blending in with the shadows (you’d want lots of different shades of brown and grey and black and yes even red, especially if there’s a lot of brick around. Fun fact: red is one of the first colors to register as grey to human eyes in the dark) and not exactly great for blending in with the crowd (unless that’s a new fashion in Rifthold?). She might have done better to disguise herself as a servant once she was in the house, or even to get in the house.

To give Celaena her due, she is trying to make An Impression on the dude she’s supposed to assassinate so he’ll take her seriously. To harp on my own pet peeve, making everyone around him less competent to make Celaena seem more badass is not the way to make a badass character (“the [servant] girl hadn’t noticed [Celaena’s] wet footprints on the floorboards,” really? She has to clean those floors. That girl is going to notice when they’re dirty).

We are two paragraphs into this book.

Anyway. I might also have to start counting uses of the word ‘wraith’.

Celaena notes that Lord Nirall’s wife is pretty and wonders what these nobles have done for the king to want them dead. Remind me to talk about Celaena’s weird compassion for high ranking Adarlan citizens vs everyone else in the world in the comparison.

She crept to the edge of the bed. It wasn’t her place to ask questions. Her job was to obey. Her freedom depended on it. With each step toward Lord Nirall, she ran through the plan again.

Her sword slid out of its sheath with barely a whine. She took a shuddering breath, bracing herself for what would come next.

Lord Nirall’s eyes flew open just as the King’s Champion raised her sword over her head.

Chapter 2!

Celaena’s walking down the hall to the king’s council chamber. I personally would have my assassin report to me in my study barring some really specific circumstances but I am but a young girl unschooled in the ways of politics and murder.

Also Rifthold is spelled Rift-hold for some reason. I assume it’s just a formatting error or typo.

Celaena bows to the king, notes Chaol and Dorian, and removes her hood when the king tells her to rise, which just makes these guards even more incompetent. You’re letting a hooded chick with a bloody sack just walk into the council chamber?

Wait why does the council chamber have the glass throne. Does the king just have multiple glass thrones? The glass throne has been mentioned all of once and it already has more impact in the book NOT named after it. Anyway.

Celaena produces a head (mauled unrecognizably) and seal ring, and then when the king asks about the guy’s wife she hauls a “slender, pale hand” wearing a wedding ring from the sack, saying that the wife is chained to the remains of her husband at the bottom of the sea. Dorian looks sick and Celaena decides she should give him credit for not throwing up.

The king says fine, and tells her that her next assignment is to root out and get rid of a growing rebel movement.

“There are several people on my list of suspected traitors, but I will only give you one name at a time. This castle is crawling with spies.”

Well that’s stupid on a scale rarely seen. You aren’t going to hand her a physical list, after all, that would be -

Chaol stiffened at [the comment about spies], but the king waved his hand and the captain approached her, his face still blank as he extended a piece of paper to Celaena.

- exactly what you’re doing. Okay.

Keeping her features neutral, she looked at the paper. On it was a single name: Archer Finn.

Celaena actually knows him - he trained for a bit with her, because he’s a courtesan and needed to be able to defend himself from his clients’ jealous husbands, apparently. No gay people in Rifthold, no siree. Celaena had a crush on him back in the day and she hasn’t seen him in several years.

“...she’d never thought him capable of something like this. He’d been handsome and kind and jovial, not a traitor to the crown so dangerous that the king would want him dead.”

Sounds like a perfect spy tbh.

Somehow despite Archer being a famous and highly sought-after courtesan, the king thinks it’s salacious that Celaena might know who he is. Then the king gives her a month to kill Archer or he’ll reconsider her position. When she’s killed Archer she’ll get the next name on the list.

Surely there isn’t an actual physical list somewhere of everyone the king considers a traitor. Surely he at least has it in code. Surely his spymaster has different bits of info kept different places or with different people. Surely he has a spymaster?

Leave me my hopes and dreams.

She had avoided the politics of the kingdoms - especially their rebel forces - for so many years, and now she was in the thick of it. Wonderful.

Ah. Sorry to mention this, but…

“We kill corrupt officials and adulterous spouses; we make it quick and clean…”

Maas, Sarah J.. The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas (Throne Of Glass Series) (p. 41). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Killing corrupt politicians is not avoiding politics. I’m just saying.

The king tells her that her payment for killing Nirall is in her chambers. She pulls a salary and gets bonuses? Sweet gig. Aside from, you know, the murder.

She leaves the throne room, keeping the piece of paper with Archer’s name on it because this is Celaena we’re talking about, and we swap to Dorian’s PoV.

He’s worried because Celaena is killing people and not dressing up anymore and starts to think that maybe she just manipulated him into getting her the position of King’s Champion, which would make sense except for the fact that he pulled her out of the salt mines having never knowingly met her (and she doesn’t know they’ve met either: it’s a prequel thing) for the express purpose of making her King’s Champion, no seduction required.

Also, she’s an assassin who kills people for money. I am always surprised at how characters, knowing that fact, are surprised when she talks about killing people for money.

Dorian couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought. He’d visit her - tomorrow, perhaps. Just to see if there was a chance he was wrong.

But he couldn’t help wondering if he’d ever meant anything to Celaena at all.

Back to Celaena’s PoV!

She goes to the sewers to dump the body parts and Chaol follows her. She wonders why everyone seems shocked that she’s willing to murder people, which is the first and possibly only time Celaena considers that as far as I can recall.

Chaol gets mad at her for being unwilling to share her murder details because for some reason that links in to missing her? I guess bonding over working for the apparently murderous conquering dictator is one way to strengthen a relationship.

They hug because she realizes he was worried about her and we are reminded that Celaena is warm for Chaol’s form. He says she smells really bad. She complains that she wasn’t allowed to shower before going to see the king, which I will acknowledge is a fair thing to be peeved about.

Chaol walks her to her room and agrees to come back for dinner, after which Celaena gets fussed over by Philippa in summary and then ruminates on how she hadn’t actually killed Niral and his unnamed wife or the named first target (Sir Carlin). Apparently there are sick-houses that dump lots of bodies, so Celaena stole a couple that looked like the victims and slashed them up a little. Celaena thinks about how the pale and slender hand had come from a girl “barely past her first bleed” which marks the beginning of the interesting relationship these books have with menstrual cycles and somehow knowing if someone has them or not.

She tries to think of how she can fake Archer’s death and draws a blank because he’s so well-known (but somehow it was surprising that she knew who he was back in the throne room?), then that she still can’t believe he’s a rebel, then that she can’t think of what else the king could conquer unless he’s looking at the other continents.

There were other continents, of course. Other continents with wealthy kingdoms - like Wendlyn, that faraway land across the sea.

Celaena’s mother was literally from Wendlyn. It irks me that the book pretends she has no idea about the country.

Celaena thinks that if the king finds out what she’s up to he’ll destroy her.

Chapter 3!

Celaena has a nightmare where Cain and the ridderak chase her through the secret tunnels. Cain almost catches her and…

He whispered her name, her true name, and she screamed as he -

When the book acknowledges Celaena’s Super Secret Long Lost Heritage and when it doesn’t has never quite made sense to me, but here we are.

She wakes up, cuddles her dog, and goes back to sleep.

The next morning Celaena and Nehemia play fetch with Fleetfoot the dog who hates everyone and everything but Celaena per the text. Celaena considers that Nehemia is a spy but the king definitely can’t know about her or he wouldn’t trust Celaena to be his Champion.

Fleetfoot is apparently abnormally large, as a sidenote.

Nehemia wants Celaena to tell her anything Celaena figures out about the king’s plans, because Nehemia is a reasonably competent spy in enemy territory using every advantage. Celaena promises to do so but thinks that she won’t, actually, because the king promised if she worked against him he would murder Chaol, Nehemia, and Nehemia’s family one by one in that order, which is really the wrong order to go in if you’re an evil king bent on bending a mostly morally incompetent assassin to your will. You kill somebody just close enough to prove you’re serious first. You don’t give up your hostage grown princess or loyal captain of the guard until other options have exhausted themselves. The hostage crown princess keeps an entire country at bay. The loyal captain of the guard is a, loyal, and b, captain of the guard. Those are the people you get rid of when you’re just Over It. You won’t have anybody left to bargain with after you kill the people Celaena actually cares about.

Look if you’re going to write evil, calculating characters, make them evil and calculating. Moving on.

If Nehemia talked more about the rebels, [Celaena] didn’t know how much more of it she could take. Yes, she wanted to be free of the king - both as his Champion and as a child of a conquered nation - but she wanted nothing to do with whatever plots were brewing in Rifthold, and whatever desperate hope the rebels still savored. To stand against the king would be nothing but folly. They’d all be destroyed.

Nehemia talks about Calaculla, which is supposed to be a work camp even harsher than Endovier and reserved almost entirely for citizens of Eyllwe, and says that the king won’t meet with her to discuss the conditions there.

“Apparently, he’s too busy finding people for you to kill.”

Get her.

Nehemia calls Celaena Elentiya, which if you have forgotten means ‘spirit that could not be broken’ in the language of Eyllwe and which you might have REPRESSED that Nehemia gave to Celaena, possibly in a fairytale hope that if you name something you influence the nature of it.

Sorry, Nehemia. You tried.

Anyway she does that while demanding when they can actually act.

But when Celaena said nothing, when she promised nothing, just as she always did when Nehemia spoke about these things, the princess dropped the stick on the ground quietly and walked back to the castle.

Celaena thinks about how she has to go meet Chaol for a run in a few minutes and she’s going to go hang out in Rifthold afterwards.

After all, the king had given her a month, and despite her own questions for Archer, she wanted to get off the castle grounds for a bit. She had blood money to burn.

Chapter 4!

We start with Chaol’s PoV. He and Celaena are doing their morning run and it’s cold. He looks over at her.

Noticing his stare, she flashed him a grin, those stunning turquoise eyes filled with light.

I just wanted it noted for the record exactly how noticeable her family eyes (from her Wendlyn side) storied in song and legend are.

They tease each other and run faster. Chaol thinks about Cain and how he killed him and asks Celaena how often she thinks about the people she’s killed. She drags him to a stop and says he shouldn’t pass judgment on her before breakfast. In the book it’s not bantery, it just sounds that way in summary.

Chaol assures her he wasn’t judging, and when she asks if this is about Cain he says yes. Celaena launches into a speech about never forgetting the people she’s killed, which would be a lot more moving if we knew anything about the people she killed or if she actually, like, remembered them in her PoV. we don’t even know who the guy she killed when she was in the single digits (mentioned in ToG) was. This is what I mean by these books telling instead of showing. We’re in Celaena’s head for most of these books. We should know more things.

Celaena assures Chaol that what he did wasn’t dishonorable and that she’ll never forget he saved her. Chaol reflects silently that he doesn’t know who he’d chose if it came down to Celaena vs the king, which, uh. Really dude?

They run some more.

Celaena’s PoV!

They’re walking back to the palace through the gardens. It’s still really cold.There are lots of women out to ogle Chaol as he removes all his layers but his shirt. Celaena is irritated. Chaol offers to help her with surveillance on Archer, she says she doesn’t need help, and they run into Dorian and a blond young man.

Blond dude is Roland. He makes Celaena nervous, which I’m not actually going to make fun of. Sometimes dudes just give off unspecified Bad Vibes. Dorian introduces them.

They still used her alias whenever she couldn’t avoid running into members of the court, though most everyone knew to some degree that she was not in the palace for administrative nonsense or politics.

Administrative.

Nonsense.

Fine whatever.

Roland didn’t expect the King’s Champion to be so lovely, apparently. He’s here to take a position on the king’s council. Chaol gets grouchy. Roland ogles Celaena. Dorian breaks up the party.

Dorian’s PoV!

Roland comments that Celaena/Lillian is an unexpected choice even with the competition. Dorian hates him and remembers that time Chaol punched Roland in the face and knocked Roland unconscious. He says Roland deserved it but does not explain why, though apparently he deserved it enough that the entire court took Chaol’s side.

Roland asks some more questions. Dorian gives no answers and thinks about how Meah (where Roland is from) is a prosperous coastal city with no army and no political power, which makes me question everything. Also I wish the throwaway comment early about Celaena ‘killing’ a dude in Meah linked into Roland somehow, but that would mean this was a different book.

Celaena’s PoV!

Her salary as King’s Champion was considerable, and Celaena spent every last copper of it.

Where does all your money come from later if you spend it all? I guess we’ll talk more about that in Queen of Shadows.

She returns to her room to find Dorian waiting for her. They banter, mentioning Dorian’s flocks of ladies.

Actually, the thought of Dorian with other women made her want to shatter a window, but it wouldn’t be fair to let him know that.

Yikes.

Celaena says she has to head back out into Rifthold.

Dorian took a step closer, exposing his palms to her. “Do you want me to fight for you? Is that it?”

“No,” she said quietly. “I just want you to leave me alone.”

His eyes flickered with the words left unsaid. Celaena stared at him, unmoving, until he silently left.

Alone in the foyer, Celaena clenched and unclenched her fists, suddenly disgusted with all of the pretty packages on the table.

In a weird way, I think this might be one of the most telling passages about Celaena. When Nehemia tries to talk about helping people, Celaena goes shopping. When she reiterates to Dorian that she doesn’t want to date him, that is when she can’t stomach shopping.

It’s just interesting to me, is all.

Chapter 5!

Up on a rooftop reindeer paw, down jumps good old Celaena Sardothien.

Ahem.

On a rooftop in a very fashionable and respectable part of Rifthold, Celaena crouched in the shadow of a chimney and frowned into the chill wind gusting off the Avery.

She’s waiting for Archer to leave his current appointment. She remembers Sam Cortland and vague events from the prequel novellas, but not in any helpful manner. When Archer exits (apparently after two hours instead of the one his previous appointments took).

While she was in no hurry to seek out the truth behind her own capture and Sam’s death, and while she was fairly certain the king had to be wrong about Archer, part of her wondered whether whatever truth she uncovered about this rebel movement and the king’s plans would destroy her, too.

And not just destroy her - but also everything she’d grown to care about.

Later, Celaena and Chaol are chilling in his room (she notes that it’s one room with a bathroom, not the suite that she has). Celaena is studying Archer info. Chaol is presumably doing captain of the guard business, which should involve a lot of writing and accounting so at least that’s happening. Good for you, book.

Celaena learns that Wesley (Arobynn’s bodyguard) killed the crime lord who killed Sam. Arobynn apparently killed Wesley right afterwards.

Celaena ruminates on how Arobynn betrayed her and…

How much she’d make him suffer - and bleed for it.

Chaol asks why she cares, and she explains about Sam and being captured.

“I failed him,” she said. “In every way that counted, I failed him.”

Another long silence, then a sigh. “Not in one way,” Chaol said. “I bet he would have wanted you to survive - to live. So you didn’t fail him, not in that regard.”

I feel like it’s moments like these where my extreme disgust and disappointment in the way Celaena is handled as a character gets in the way. This would normally be a sentiment I’d be down with. It’s not terribly written. I just can’t make myself believe that Celaena really gave a damn about Sam.

It’s a problem.

Chaol opens up about his own romantic past, in which Roland stole his ladylove away and whisked her off to Meah, never to be seen again. I want to be clear that it wasn’t a kidnapping, it was Roland sleeping with Chaol’s girlfriend.

Look. Not to be all ‘ladies can’t make their own choices’ but I gotta say if the cousin of the current murderous dictatorial king was like ‘sleep with me’ I probably would out of fear for my own safety. The situation might not have been like that, but it kinda seems like that.

They banter. Chaol goes to walk Celaena back to her rooms and she asks if he’d do the same for Dorian or if he only does it for women. He doesn’t reeeaaally answer and walks her back.

Celaena tells him that if Lithaen (a wink and a nod towards Celaena’s secret identity in Queen of Glass) chose Roland over Chaol then Lithaen is ‘the greatest fool who ever lived.’

Please see above, re: consent being debateable.

Celaena is also grateful that Lithaen is gone.

Midnight! Celaena heads for the library, being unable to sleep. She plans to grab a book and hightail it back to her room unless there are still some fires lit in the library and I’d ask why she wasn’t reading one of the eighty zillion books she apparently bought earlier but I have been in the frame of mind where nothing you have works for your brain. It’s like with some people and clothes? But with books.

With the chill tonight, it was no surprise to see someone completely concealed by a black cloak, hood drawn over the face. But something about the figure standing between the open library doors made some ancient, primal part of her send a warning pulse so strong that she didn’t take another step.

It’s a librarian come to keep her away from the books. They know what’s going to happen when she brings her dog into the library and they know about those times when she was a kid and they figure out that she’s easily spooked by people in black cloaks.

I’m kidding. It’s creepy and evil and the Eye of Elena starts glowing to ward it off. Celaena closes her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, the amulet was dark, and the hooded creature was gone.

Not a trace, not even the sound of footsteps.

Celaena didn’t go into the library. Oh, no. She just walked quickly back to her rooms with as much dignity as she could muster. Though she kept telling herself that she had imagined it all, that it was some hallucination from too many hours awake, Celaena couldn’t stop hearing that cursed word again and again.

Plans.

Honestly I feel like that chapter should have just ended on ‘Celaena didn’t go into the library.’ It’s kind of funny but still conveys that the creature freaked her out.

Chapter 6!

Celaena is still walking back to her rooms in this chapter. I feel like that could have been better worded last chapter. She’s trying to rationalize still: reading is out of fashion, so maybe somebody was indulging in the middle of the night so nobody made fun of them.

Also it’s a lunar eclipse tonight.

Celaena decides to go see Elena in her tomb and sets off down the secret passageway. Celaena has scars from the Ridderak bite (“a ring of white scars punctured her palm and encircled her thumb”) that I don’t believe were mentioned before or are ever mentioned again. I could be wrong.

She reaches to open the door to the tomb and a bronze doorknocker shaped like a skull asks her if she’s going to knock. She freaks out and says the door knocker can’t really be talking because that would mean magic.

It was impossible - it should be impossible. Magic was gone, vanished from the land ten years ago, before it had even been outlawed by the king.

“Everything in the world is magic. Thank you ever so kindly for stating the obvious.”

She calmed her reeling mind long enough to say, “But magic doesn’t work anymore.”

“New magic doesn’t. But the king cannot erase old spells made with older powers - like the Wyrdmarks. Those ancient spells still hold; especially ones that imbue life.”

What the fuck ever, y’all. I give up on figuring out the magic vanished from the world stuff. Really it only vanished from this particular continent, too, you learn later. Does that mean it’s really only a forcefield? Does that mean water stops magic? Does the amount matter? Would a river stop magic? If you’re on a boat in Erilea, can you do spells?

No answer. Well, I live in hope, as the priest said to the princess (thank you Tamora Pierce for that saying, which I have used since I was seven)

The door knocker is annoying. Celaena is annoying. Their banter is annoying. I think reading 50 pages of this at a time is messing with whatever objectivity I was clinging to. Moving on.

Apparently King Brannon (first king of Terrasen, Elena’s father, hot fae dude with fire powers) put the door knocker there to watch Elena’s tomb. I have to ask what the door knocker’s powers are aside from speech, but I know I will receive no answer.

The door knocker (whose name we have now learned is Mort) says that her name is the funniest thing he’s heard in centuries.

Apparently Elena is recharging after helping Celaena and won’t be back for a while. Mort says he has a message from her to Celaena though. Celaena decides to put that off and examines the tomb more thoroughly.

There’s a sword of truth, wyrdmarks on the walls, and Gavin Havilliard’s armor but no sign of Elena’s. The lunar eclipse puts the tomb almost entirely in darkness and Celaena agrees to hear what Elena has to say.

Mort cleared his throat, and then said in a voice that sounded eerily like the queen’s, “ ‘If I could leave you in peace, I would. But you have lived your life aware that you will never escape certain burdens. Whether you like it or not, you are bound to the fate of this world. As the King’s Champion, you are now in a position of power, and you can make a difference in the lives of many.’ ” Celaena’s stomach turned over.

“Cain and the ridderak were just the beginning of the threat to Erilea,” Mort said, the words echoing around the tomb. “There is a far deadlier power poised to devour the world.”

“And I have to find it, I suppose?”

“Yes. There will be clues to lead you to it. Signs you must follow. Refusing to kill the king’s targets is only the first and smallest step.”

Celaena has the usual ‘why should I bother helping other people because my life sucked’ discussion with Mort, who does the wise old mentor parts right down to “you don’t mean that.”

Mort just glowered at her. “You’re that selfish? That cowardly? Why did you come down here tonight, Celaena? To help us all? Or just to help yourself? Elena told me about you—about your past.”

“Shut your rutting face,” she snapped, and stormed up the stairs.

End chapter 6.

Comparison

Accidental parallels ahoy! Neither Maerad nor Celaena want their destinies. Both are told the fate of the world hinges on them.

Of course, The Riddle has Maerad keep it on the down low and ponder things herself even as she keeps moving forward because she has had a crappy life, and she doesn’t want other people to have a crappy life. We also know who Maerad is and why she’s important to the grand scheme of things, while ToG is taking its sweet time confirming what seemed to me on first read incredibly obvious. I remember being confused when it was a reveal and flipping back through. That’s just the kind of book ToG is. Of course she’s a long lost princess. Of course she is.

I just wish the book didn’t pretend it was going to be a surprise.

We also have Maerad remembering the last book and some key points and having an action scene almost right off the bat. Celaena, the action murder heroine, has yet to have a fight six chapters in.If you took away Maerad’s experiences, she wouldn’t be the same character. If you took away Celaena’s, she would still be doing exactly what the plot says she should be doing, because nothing has formed or been formed by Celaena.

If that makes sense.

Stats

The Riddle

Pages: 18

Fragments: 14

Em-Dashes: 14

Ellipses: 6

ToG

Pages: 51

Fragments: 110

Em-Dashes: 116

Ellipses: 48

#myth reads #myth reads the books of pellinor #myth reads the riddle #myth rags on throne of glass

36 notes · View notes

woildismyerster · 6 years

Note

I was listening to Ben Fankhauser sing "girl you're freakin' out" with Ephie Aardema and I had like a vivid vision of a modern, high school davey fic kind of based on the first verse of that song? If you've got the time i would love you forever if you blessed us w that (or any) davey fluff

I love that song. (Disclaimer - I love everything Ben Fankhauser sings. I have a playlist on YouTube with my favorite songs that he sings, and it’s pretty much every single one. I just listen to it on repeat.)

You took a swig of an off-brand soda, grimacing as you swallowed. “Tell your mom to get name brand stuff.”

Davey, sitting on the floor by your side, shrugged. “There’s no point. She doesn’t think there’s a difference.”

You wiped at your nose with a tissue, taking a hitching breath. “There is. Tell her that if she wants me to come to your house, I need the goods.”

He pushed the tissue box a little closer, face softening. “She’d just laugh at you. She doesn’t invite you over.”

“She loves me.”

You could see Davey’s hesitation to ask you about the breakup. It was stupid - you didn’t know why you were crying. You dumped your boyfriend, not the other way around. You hadn’t cared about him in a romantic way in a long time, so breaking up was more of a relief than anything.

You had called Davey to tell him that you had done it, and he invited you over to take your mind off it all. You walked into his house, saw him smile at you in greeting, and promptly burst into tears.

He wanted to ask you about it. You could feel the confusion and worry pouring off him in waves, but you didn’t really understand it either.

You blew your nose one more time and took another drink. “Tell me about your day.”

“It was fine,” he said.

You turned to look at him, rolling your eyes. “Davey, tell me about your day.”

He sighed, but rewarded you with a small smile. “Really, it was okay. I went to school. I came home. I did homework. I read. Now I have you here. Basic day. How about you?” He asked the question with a crooked grin.

“Same here,” you said with a grim smile.

“You don’t normally cry on basic days,” he said.

“Oh,” you said. “Well, I saw this bird nest on your porch. There was a baby bird in it, and baby things make me cry.”

“Y/N.”

“They’re so small.”

You waited for him to tell you not to lie, to ask you how your day really was, but he didn’t. He squeezed your leg, let his hand stay on your thigh, and started talking about a documentary on mushrooms he had watched the day before.

“This soda is so gross,” you said again.

“I can tell - the fact that this is your third one definitely proves your point.”

He dragged his laptop over and put Monsters vs. Aliens on. He claimed that it was because the movie was good to watch when you didn’t want to pay attention, but he watched it all the time. Every time it played, his eyes would widen and his lips would curl. Sometimes, if he didn’t know you were looking, he would mouth along with the words.

You could still feel the sidelong looks Davey would shoot you, but you didn’t have any answers. You were happy to be done with the relationship. You were okay with how the conversation had gone. It was just Davey, maybe. That little furrow between his eyes. The way he looked so happy to see you, even knowing that you might be sad. Looking at Davey tonight was like when you were a kid - you would get hurt, but be fine until somebody asked you if you were okay. Whether you were okay or not, the tears would well.

Tonight, you looked at Davey, and something that hadn’t bothered you for a long time started to fester. Something fluttery and not appropriate the day of your breakup. You had not known what to do, so you had burst into tears.

Sometimes you really hated yourself.

At the end of the movie, he grinned at you. “I love that movie.”

“I know.”

“You can talk to me about this, you know.”

“I know,” you said again.

It was sort of true. Davey was your best friend. When you bought a candy bar at school, you shared it with him. When Halloween came around, he would do a partner costume with you. If a teacher said to work in pairs, the two of you didn’t even have to look at each other; you just knew that he was with you. When he brought you into his room tonight, grabbing tissues and snacks on the way, he didn’t say a word when you sat on the floor by his bed instead of on the bed or his chair. He sat next to you, never complaining about how much more comfortable furniture was.

He was your best friend, but he was the best friend that you had liked periodically over the years. You would like him, and when he started seeing somebody else, you would shut it off and look to other boys. He was your best friend, but your best friend who was probably more than that in a million parallel universes.

“Have you ever noticed,” you said suddenly, “that you and I are never single at the same time?”

He blinked, surprised. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

“It’s just weird. Crazy timing.”

“I guess,” he said. He didn’t look at you, instead readjusting the strings of his hoodie. He stuck his tongue out while he he tugged, eyebrows furrowing. “It’s just one of those things.”

It was getting late. You were tired, and crying had made you feel loose and sleepy. You wanted to curl up on Davey’s floor and sleep, or talk about everything and nothing.

You should go home.

Instead, you talked. “Do you think, if we had been single at the same time, that anything would have happened between us?”

His eyes shot to yours, wide and surprised. “I don’t know. Why, do you think we would have?”

“I think I would have wanted to at least talk about it,” you mumbled. You pulled your knees to you chest and hugged them, already wishing you hadn’t brought it up. You were tired. Tired Y/N should not be given control over important things, like word choice and feelings. Tired Y/N misused them.

Davey sat in silence for a minute. When he did speak, it was cautious and carefully void of emotion. “Do you - have you wanted to date me? Before, I mean?”

“Well, yeah. You know, you’re really nice. And cute, and smart. Everything about you is everything that I want in a boyfriend. The feelings have always been there, so -”

Davey put his hand on your cheek, turned your head to face him, and kissed you.

It was not fire, or fireworks, or whatever it was that you had read in a romance novel you snuck from the library in middle school. It was a broad, open feeling in your chest. It was something that made the world feel very big, but it didn’t make you feel small - it made you feel bigger, too. It was the small scrape of Davey’s 5 o’clock shadow against your chin and lips. It was you thinking that this was so much better than the last time you had been kissed -

By your now ex-boyfriend. Who you had broken up with a few hours before.

You pulled away. “Wait. Wait. I’m not sure we should be doing this.”

“Right.” Davey pulled away from you like a shot, cheeks burning and eyes averted. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you. I just thought you meant -”

“I did,” you rushed. “I did mean. But I don’t know if this is the time.”

“Oh.” The relief in his voice was palpable. “Totally. We should think this through. Take all the time you need.”

You bit your lip, noting the way it burned a little now. You thought of the way his hand rested on your thigh earlier in the evening. “Maybe, while I think -”

You crawled back over to him, bracing your hands on his shoulders while you pulled him back to you. He made a noise of surprise, but didn’t hesitate to sigh into you. You straddled his legs, and he put his hands on your waist to hold you closer.

You thought. It didn’t feel like you had reached out blindly, heartbroken, and found Davey reaching back for you. It felt more like you had seen Davey and reached for him.

It didn’t feel like a rebound. It didn’t feel like you were so desperate for somebody, anybody, that you had jumped the bones of your best friend - the best friend who, apparently, had been just as hopeful as you had been.

Davey had told you once that the two things that could make or break a relationship were feelings and timing. Maybe the two of you had always had the feelings, but the timing had been wrong until now.

You pulled back, huffing out a smile when his face followed yours a little. “Okay.”

“What?” His eyes were wide and glazed.

“I’m all in. I thought, and I’m in.”

He grinned. “Really?”

“Definitely. I think that this is good. You and I are good.”

His hands slid up to your neck, thumb brushing against the line of your jaw. “We’re good,” he echoed. “I like the way you think.”

You leaned back in to kiss him. It seemed like, for once, Tired Y/N had not abused her power.

#Newsies #newsies fanfiction #newsies x reader #davey jacobs #davey x reader #davey jacobs x reader #ally writes

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traincat · 6 years

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If you have some time to spare could you please help me by pointing me in the direction of some comics that show Peter temper? I have a comic with Peter beating up Kingpin. I started reading Spider-Man late last year and I've recently pulled my best friend in too. But I'm finding it hard to round up some evidence of Peter's anger because sometimes it's not Peter, it's a clone or he's possessed or something. Thank you very much, your blog helps me a lot and you are a star xx

Yes, of course! I’m happy to help, especially with this subject. Getting into Spider-Man comics is really exciting and I’m happy for you and your friend! The fact that in comics Peter has such a temper and can be so aggressive and violent and that Spider-Man can be scary is a very appealing thing about this character to me, and it’s both frustrating and fascinating how such a vital part of the character in comics has sort of become inconsequential in discussions about the character and in more recent comics, because basically the fact that he has a temper was in heavy play – though some writers handle it better than others – up until very recently. The arguments you’ve presented – that sometimes it’s a clone or that Peter is possessed – come up far less often than moments where he is genuinely aggressive, and it’s coming from him, no mitigating factors. (It’s important, I feel, to note that there are two black suits – the symbiote he picked up during the original Secret Wars event, and a plain cloth black suit he has worn off and on over the years. It can be hard to tell at first glance which is which, so if he’s behaving aggressively and in the black suit, remember that it may not be the symbiote. It’s really usually just him.)

Peter fighting the Kingpin sounds like it was probably a story arc called Back in Black, which takes place in Amazing Spider-Man #539-543. This takes place after Civil War, during which Peter unmasked himself on national television – to disastrous consequences. Aunt May has been shot, and Peter is looking for the would-be assassin.

“I break his hand. It snaps like dry wood.” One thing I love about Peter when he’s angry is how his speech patterns shift – when he’s angry, his sentences become very short and direct, like punches. One after another. Back in Black is one of my favorite comic arcs, I read it all the time, and I’m psyched that it sounds like it’s drawn you in too.

But okay! Angry Peter comic recs! Let’s go! This is just a handful of comics that immediately came to mind. As you read more and more Spider-Man, you’ll probably stumble upon a ton of others. If you’ve mostly been reading Amazing Spider-Man so far, I really recommend branching out into the original runs of Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man.

Amazing Fantasy & Mythos: Spider-Man: Two versions of Peter’s origin story – the original, which is a masterpiece, and an updated, modern version, with incredible art by Paolo Rivera. Everyone thinks they know the origin story when they start reading it, because it’s so iconic – Peter bit by the spider, Ben shot by the burglar, power and responsibility. But I think it can be very useful to look at the origin and look at how angry Peter is in it. In Amazing Fantasy #15, the comic that started it all, when Aunt May and Uncle Ben present their secretly newly empowered nephew with a microscope, Peter thinks to himself that he’ll take care of them, but the rest of the world can “go hang.” I think it’s important that a lot of the goodness the character displays is something that has grown in him, through his connection to others and through his love for them, not something that was inherently there. In keeping with that, one of the easiest ways to set him off is to hurt someone he loves.

Amazing Spider-Man #98: Peter beats up Harry Osborn’s drug dealer.

Amazing Spider-Man #121-122: The Night Gwen Stacy Died. Following the death of Gwen Stacy, Peter hunts down Norman Osborn.

“So now it comes down to it, doesn’t it, Peter? Do you stay – and help your friend? Or do you go find revenge – simple, vicious revenge? Not much of a contest… is there?” I think there’s some real ugliness in the depths of Peter’s anger, like here in this scene where he chooses between staying with drug addled Harry, calling and calling for his help, or hunting down Norman for revenge, and that it’s really important to the character and the story, how ugly that anger can be.

Spectacular Spider-Man #75: The Black Cat makes her re-entrance into her life and she and Peter go up against Doctor Octopus, to disastrous results.

Spectacular Spider-Man #107–110: The Death of Jean DeWolff. When a police captain Peter was close to is murdered, Peter finds himself on the hunt for her killer.

Spider-Man vs Wolverine: While on assignment for the Bugle in Germany, a coworker of Peter’s is murdered, and Peter finds himself entangled in Wolverine’s personal life.

Spectacular Spider-Man #120: Peter takes on an arsonist in a burning building.

Spectacular Spider-Man #123: When a hostage situation isn’t what it appears, Peter violently loses his temper.

Amazing Spider-Man #284-288: Gang War. With a gang war well underway in New York City, Peter clashes with Daredevil over how to handle the Kingpin.

Kraven’s Last Hunt: (Web of Spider-Man #31, Amazing Spider-Man #293, Spectacular Spider-Man #131, Web of Spider-Man #32, Amazing Spider-Man #294, Spectacular Spider-Man #132) After Kraven literally buries Spider-Man and assumes his identity, Peter finds himself looking for payback.

Spectacular Spider-Man #134-136: A sequel to The Death of Jean DeWolff. Sin-Eater’s been released from prison, Peter sees the consequences of the kind of damage he can inflict up close and personal, and wars with his own guilt.

Spectacular Spider-Man #173: At the Bugle Christmas party, personal tensions come a head between Peter and Nick Katzenberg, a slimy tabloid photographer.

Spectacular Spider-Man #200: The death of Harry Osborn.

As a general Spider-Man rec, I really recommend the lead up to this, the greatest issue of all time, starting from Spectacular Spider-Man #178 and reading through #200. It’s some really incredible storytelling with some really incredible art.

Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #6-10: At the end of this Doc Ock story, Peter makes Otto beg him not to kill him.

Amazing Spider-Man v2 (1999) #30-35: A mysterious stranger comes to town offering potential revelations about the nature of Peter’s powers. Basically, Spider-Man does Dracula, but with more radiation. In my opinion, very few people, especially modern Spider-Man writers, manage to tap into Peter’s inner well of rage and the inherent steeliness of him as well as J. Michael Straczynski, who also wrote Back in Black.

Amazing Spider-Man v2 #46-48: Doctor Strange warns Spider-Man about oncoming danger as an otherwordly wasp monster starts to dismantle Peter’s life – in whatever way she can

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12: An unknown foe has kidnapped Aunt May, and Peter’s running out of time to find her.

American Son: (Amazing Spider-Man #595-599) Norman Osborn is the head of HAMMER, replacement of SHIELD, leading America forward. He wants Harry to be his heir. Peter is not okay with this.

Grim Hunt: (Amazing Spider-Man #634-637) Someone’s hunting spiders, and Peter gets drawn into the web. Speaking of Peter’s temper and violent streak, both this and the above American Son feature one very specific thing he does when he’s really mad, where he sticks his hand to his enemy’s face and PULLS.

And finally, an alternate universe rec:

Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without a Face: It’s the Great Depression. Ben Parker is dead. Newspaper man Ben Urich encounters his young nephew, Peter Parker, and decides to take him under his wing. But one fateful night, Peter encounters a spider…

Hailed as a darker take on Spider-Man’s mythos, Spider-Man Noir’s Peter is a fascinating study on how the circumstances of Ben’s death change how Peter operate as a vigilante.

#peter parker #spiderman #marvel comics #comic recs #traincat talks comics #long post/

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anythingstephenking · 6 years

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The Morally Grey Mile

Strap in for another grim tale. At least men are the ones getting fucked in The Green Mile, amirite ladies? No, still not cool? Ok then.

I suppose it is a disservice to call The Green Mile solely a “grim” tale, but because the core story focuses on an innocent man headed to the electric chair, it is pretty damn grim. If you haven’t read the book you’ve seen the movie but spoilers anyway - the innocent man dies and it sucks for the reader. It’s certainly more complicated than “bad wins” but a real bummer all the same.

Backing up a bit. The Green Mile was King’s first attempt at a serialized story release. In the book’s forward, King tells us it’s story of inception. Through a series of fortuitous events and a conversation with business associates about Charles Dickens, King concocted the idea to release a story in a series of “chapbooks”. Apparently Dickens released some of his stories that way, and they were so fervently popular that a band of dingdongs pushed each other off a dock and drowned while awaiting a shipment of Dickens into Baltimore Harbor. I imagine if the Harry Potter books were released that way I would have ended up in the harbor too. No judgement, zealous Dickens readers, I get it.

Logically, if it worked for 19th century Dickens, it would surely work for 20th century Stephen King, right?

(cue Mr. Burns fingers).

A single book released in installments monthly, garnering 3-4x the cost of a single paperback. Good for you SK, good for you. Cause turns out, the constant reader ate it up and bought ‘em like hotcakes.

Cause that’s the thing - this is a really really good story. Not because it’s beautifully written like Cujo or Firestarter or mind-bending like The Dark Tower books, but because it is a real page turner. I credit the format for that - you can tell it was written in a plot-driven, cliffhanger kinda way. In the same way serialized TV (before binging took this joy away) would leave you wanting more week to week, The Green Mile leaves each installment in a way where you can’t imagine not picking up the next one.

Per my contractual agreement with myself, I am required to reach each and every page of this story, but I’m a strange bird and the rest of the world isn’t a weirdo like me. At the end of the day, the narrative structure here really works and I plowed through all 6 installments in a day or so. Those reading in real-time (and not binging like me) waited a month between each publishing, from March through August 1996. There was no dock delivery in Baltimore in 1996 but I imagine if there was, the crowd waiting for each would be large.

So the narrative approach works, but what about the story itself? My analysis comes back slightly muddy but mostly positive despite some hard to swallow flaws.

I can’t claim to know what death row would have been like in 1932, but I’ve watched enough PBS documentaries to know what it’s like now. The group held at Cold Mountain are described as killers, yes. As rapists and wife beaters and arsonists. But they also come across like a rag-tag group of buds that should have their own reality TV show. One of the prisoners, Del, raped and murdered a young girl then accidentally killed a bunch of other people trying to cover his tracks by setting the building on fire. But he’s got this cute, somewhat supernatural mouse named Mr. Jingles that does tricks. Ain’t it cute? Then he fries and literally catches on fire in the electric chair.

I understand the intention of the tale - humanity lives in all of us. Empathy shouldn’t be reserved just for some. Death is final and it comes for all of us. What I struggled with was trying to understand if this was blatant reference to King’s personal stance on the Death Penalty (against it, obvs) or something more subtle. Should we take away that killing is wrong no matter what? Or that there is more nuance at play here?

Because there’s more happening on the green mile than just murderers dying (no matter how dramatically) in the chair comically nicknamed “ol’ sparky”. We’ve got John Coffey in chains, convicted of raping and murdering two 9 year old girls. JFC. I just can’t.

But he did, and he will die for his crimes. Here’s where the controversy around this novel begins. John Coffey is a large black man with magical powers. Spike Lee specifically calls out King publicly for this “magical negro” trope, which honestly I can’t disagree with. Dick Halloran from The Shining and Mother Abigail from The Stand fall neatly in this bucket as well. But even as I type this I know I am cherry-picking; I’ve read plenty of King stories with mystical beings and they’re mostly white (or more often other worldly). But King’s repeated use of the n-word and other racial slurs in his writing is real cringeworthy. As I move further towards his 21st century writing I keep hoping this will stop. It hasn’t yet, as of 1996. But King and writing about race is an entirely separate post for another day.

Back to The Green Mile; we learn that John Coffey has special healing powers when he cures the head guard, Paul Edgecomb of a UTI by grabbing his crotch. Normally this type of behavior will get ya thrown in the hole, but Paul’s so grateful he lets it slide.

Once we learn of the healing powers of Coffey, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery. While getting arrested he cries “I tried to stop it but it was too late.” Everyone involved in the investigation assumes he means he tried to stop himself from murder but couldn’t; anyone with half a brain can deduce that someone else killed the girls; he tried to heal them. He was too late.

We’re set off to learn who really murdered the girls, but this revelation takes a backseat, at least in my mind. For me, the big mystery is; will John Coffey get executed? I’ll be honest, I hadn’t seen this movie, so I didn’t know. The phone the governor used to phone in stays-of-execution was mentioned early, so my Chekhov’s Gun senses lead me to believe it was possible. Why bother if not? Well the phone is mentioned at execution time, only to say it won’t ring. And of course it never really was a question - Coffey is a black man in the south, convicted of murdering two girls in 1932. Of course no one’s coming to save him. It’s sad. Real sad.

We’re given solace in the fact that Coffey claims he’s ready to go - his powers are too much and he’s tired. This is a nonsense cop out that provides relief to all those that understand the truth, allowing them to go on living, loving their wives and kids and casseroles. John Coffey should not have died. The end.

Things are wrapped up in a bow with the end stories of everyone involved and their timely and untimely deaths. I guess that’s it; life sucks, then you die; death can come for you in any way, without discrimination.

I earmarked what is one of my favorite lines I’ve encountered so far in King’s work.

“We had once again succeeded in destroying what we could not create.”

Executing anyone (murderer or not) takes a toll on most of the prison staff. I just loved this so much on so many levels; they are men without the ability to create life; they are not god; they are mortals stealing mortality. So beautiful.

So, it’s no stretch to call this the brother of Shawshank, but at least we get a female character in Paul Edgecomb’s wife. I don’t remember her name so that’s not great. But she was a woman and she at least was there, so it gets knocked up a few rungs from Shawshank IMHO.

I’d have to say this is one King novel that really perplexed me. I suppose I got into the routine of enjoying typical good-vs-evil tales where the good guys eventually overcome. For me, The Green Mile wasn’t green at all but a wavering shade of grey I still can’t see properly.

(Side note: As I sat down to write this, I thought to myself “I’m not sure what I’ll say about The Green Mile.” Turns out, quite a bit, this is probably one of my longest entries. Who knew?)

8/10

First Line: This happened in 1932, when the state penitentiary was still at Cold Mountain.

Last Line: I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long.

Adaptations:

Like it’s brother Shawshank Redemption, I had never seen this movie before. It made it’s run through awards season in 1999, mostly for Michael Clarke Duncan’s portrayal of John Coffey. Who later tragically died of a heart attack with his girlfriend Omarosa (of Trump WH fame) which I didn’t know, but good golly, that is another sad story for another day.

Listen, this is a highly regarded movie that’s on many top lists, so I won’t stab into it too hard. But it is SO LONG.

Frank Darabont got his panties all in a bunch when folks told him a 3 hour running time was too long, claiming that if 2 hours was the correct length of a film that cinema classics like Lawrence of Arabia were invalidated. Well guess what? I’ve seen Lawrence of Arabia, and yes that shit is too. damn. long. As is The Green Mile.

One would think that with 3+ hours of material, the character development would be on point. It’s not really; the prisoners are mostly glossed over (even more so than in the book) as lovable murders. Wild Bill is the exception (overacted by Sam Rockwell), and he serves as the sole real “bad guy”.

Edgecomb and his other prison guards are painted as saints (again, minus one guard who takes on the “bad guy of the good guys” role). If the book was grey the movie is much more black and white. Tom Hanks for president for sure, the guy is a national treasure. But they were one step away from giving him an actual halo. As someone complicit in the murder of an innocent man, I just can’t declare his character for sainthood. The real Tom Hanks, a million times yes. Paul Edgecomb? Nah.

The movie is fine. I approve of Darabont’s relationship with King and have thoroughly enjoyed their previous collaborations. I was sad to see that he let his film rights to The Long Walk expire last year, picked up by New Line and James Vanderbilt (of Vanderbilt fortune... old money... sigh) who penned Zodiac, which leaves me slightly hopeful but assume it’ll trickle back into development limbo for the remainder of eternity.

I’ve already finished my next read, Desperation and after I slog through the 2.5 hour ABC miniseries (UGH) I will keep trucking. New Year, more pressure placed on myself to plow through the back half of King’s bibliography.

#book review #movie review #the green mile

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loremaster · 7 years

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BNHA 167 SPOILERS

Many people think this chapter is a red herring. I don’t, and here’s why. Prepare for a lot of words.

First off, I love Aoyama very much, if you couldn’t tell already. I think his weird flashy persona is hilarious, especially combined with the way he tries and fails to get attention. He’s been effective comic relief (for me, anyway) and he’s often the butt of the joke, but he bounces back and puts his persona back on anyway.

The audience is also made to sympathize with him at key points during the story so far. During the training camp arc, he is frozen in fear but finally wills himself to act against his cowardice to save Tokoyami’s life (and almost Bakugou’s as well). During the hero license arc, he experiences a similar dilemma, overcoming his insecurities to help his classmates in a big way (and at his own expense). Both times, we actually get a glimpse into his internal monologue, so that the audience can relate to his struggles.

The hero license arc is perhaps the biggest chunk of information we’ve gotten about Aoyama’s story so far. He flashes back to receiving his precious belt as a gift, while he thinks the words “Mama… Papa… why am I so different from everyone else?” This could mean a lot of things, but a popular theory (that I personally subscribe to - I even made a comic about it) is that Aoyama is secretly quirkless.

We’ve never seen him without his belt. During the entrance exam and the sports festival, it’s stated he took the time to fill out the necessary paperwork so he could use his equipment in the arena. We don’t know how his Navel Laser functions without it… or if it even does. It’s entirely possible the quirk itself is contained within the belt, and without it, he is useless. Either that, or without the belt, his quirk is unstable and a risk to himself or those around him, but I think it’s more interesting to believe the former.

To my knowledge, Deku is the only major character at this point to have been born quirkless. (at least in the main story - we have Knuckleduster in the Vigilante spinoff.) Other characters have had their quirks taken away, sure, but if 20% of the world is in fact born without superpowers like Deku… it’s a little strange that there hasn’t been a single other quirkless character. I think being quirkless is an important part of Deku’s heroic journey and his identity, and having another quirkless character go about it completely differently would provide an excellent foil to Deku.

(On a side note, Deku and Aoyama’s surnames seem to be parallels of each other, corroborating the idea of them set up as foils. “Green valley” vs. “Blue mountain” …? Horikoshi puts a lot of thought into his characters’ names and what they mean, so there’s no way this is a coincidence.)

So in Chapter 167, we see that Aoyama is not quite what he seems. After a display of hilarious and unexplainable behavior at lunch time, Deku’s internal monologue from the future kicks in and says “Aoyama was someone I could never understand… until his true nature started to reveal itself.” We see Aoyama with an uncharacteristically grim expression, with no silly sparkles to be found, looming over Deku from outside the balcony as Deku sleeps. Yeah, this is ominous - too ominous to be the setup for a bait-and-switch, in my opinion. It doesn’t seem tonally cohesive to go back on all this buildup suddenly, especially since we’ve been waiting for a traitor reveal since Present Mic first pitched the idea after the training camp fiasco. Deku’s monologue hinting at understanding Aoyama’s “true nature” is also ominous… but vague enough to not be entirely condemning. More on that later.

Some people have brought up the idea that this Aoyama we’re seeing outside Deku’s window is in fact, not the real Aoyama, but Toga disguised as him using her quirk. I won’t deny this is a possibility - yes, the wine glass earlier in the chapter could possibly be filled with Aoyama’s blood, which could be a reason to insist on eating alone - but, again, unless Horikoshi is less straightforward of a writer and more of a troll than I thought he was, I don’t think this would be tonally consistent with the buildup in the narration. Deku also says “Aoyama is a man whom I could never understand” … If it’s Toga as a doppelgänger, that wouldn’t make sense, as this statement applies to both Aoyama’s present and past behavior. Toga didn’t get involved with the League of Villains until after the Stain arc, whereas Aoyama’s mysterious absence during the USJ arc before that is one of the things that makes the idea of him as the traitor all the more likely.

When Horikoshi drew up a chart of each student and major villain’s location when they get split up at the USJ, both Aoyama and Hagakure’s locations are unknown. I don’t think this is without reason. Both of their absences are played off as jokes - Hagakure claims to be near Todoroki, who is unable to confirm either way because she’s invisible, and wonders how she escaped being frozen, and Aoyama, after failing to get attention several times in a row, proclaims his location is “a secret.” The Hagakure traitor theory is already very popular, and there are many posts and videos about it already, so if you’re curious, please look it up. Not many of those posts have discussed the idea of Hagakure and Aoyama being partners in crime, though. I think that’s very possible at this point.

So, if Aoyama really is a criminal working for the League of Villains, what is his motivation? Based on everything we’ve seen, I think he is being manipulated by the League, and All for One in particular. Why? Because All for One can give out quirks.

What if Aoyama was born quirkless, but isn’t quirkless anymore? All for One would have the means to give this insecure boy what he wants in order to feel “equal” with the rest of the world, and use that as something to lord over his head and demand loyalty, as he could just as easily take that quirk away. This quirk could be the Navel Laser quirk, or if the laser is contained entirely within the belt, it could be something completely different - a second quirk we haven’t seen yet.

This would mean that Aoyama, while being the traitor, wouldn’t exactly be an unsympathetic character, which fits with the things we’ve seen directly from Aoyama before. He’s an incredibly insecure and cowardly young teenager who sees himself as unequal to his peers, and covers that up with a flashy persona to get attention. Up until now, he’s been annoying (to others, maybe) comic relief who knows how to stand up for himself and his classmates when it really matters. His past actions and the way they’re framed wouldn’t really make sense if he were entirely malicious and the entire thing was faked. I think he’s really bad at faking things! When someone pokes holes in his sparkly facade, he visually reacts! He gets nervous! He hasn’t been very competent at much of anything, not quirk tests, or grades, or even getting the attention he so clearly craves. If every part of that is an act, color me impressed.

But even though I think he’s sympathetic as a whole, that doesn’t mean I think he’s innocent either. Remember how he got to participate in the last section of the sports festival? He was in dead last during the race, but Shinsou brainwashed him and rode on his back for the cavalry battle, carrying him to victory (pun intended). Ojirou and Shouda, who had also been brainwashed, both dropped out of the final round because it wouldn’t be honorable to participate without having relied on your own strength to get there. Aoyama, however… sees nothing wrong with this, and participates anyway. This seriously calls his morality into question. He clearly thinks getting attention is more important than honor or skill. So he participates, only to be absolutely humiliated in front of thousands. Butt of the joke indeed.

Something else I have thought was odd about him was during his introduction at the UA entrance exams, when the teachers are describing various ways students can be strong and succeed. They indirectly describe Aoyama as someone who can “remain calm in any situation” … but this isn’t quite true, from what we’ve seen later. This could be something I’m reading into a little too much - I don’t know what it means, but it stood out to me.

The running gag of Aoyama breaking the fourth wall and always looking at the camera/the viewer is also something notable about him… at this point, it seems a little creepier than it did before. Maybe it’s symbolic of his constant unsuccessful plots for attention, maybe it means he’s aware of something his other classmates are not. I always thought it was endearing and funny, but others probably thought it was creepy. This latest chapter seems to confirm that.

His behavior - his “true nature” - really is unexplainable at parts, though. Especially during the cheese scene during this chapter. What’s up with that? I don’t think he was trying to poison Deku at all - that’d be way too obvious. My guess is he was just trying to make friends and win Deku’s trust in his own weird way… but then why is he so awkward about it? Why is he so unsuccessful at getting the attention and praise he wants? There’s still a lot more to be discovered here.

Some people have also suggested that Aoyama’s creepiness and upfront behavior in this chapter is because he has a crush on Deku. Again, not entirely out of the question, but I’ll be surprised if it happens in canon. Aoyama has read as very flamboyant since the beginning, but at the same time… I’m not sure I quite like the idea of the Gay Character being a creepy stalker. We’ll just have to see with this.

So what do I think is going to happen, then?

I think this next arc will be about uncovering Aoyama’s secrets, of course. We, the audience are aware that there’s something darker going on with him now, as is future Deku given his narrations… but the Deku of the present is still sleeping soundly as he is being observed. I don’t think this will lead to a confrontation immediately - I think Deku has to work for his suspicions to be confirmed. Quite possibly, he will be the lone doubter of our sparkly boy until some more evidence comes into play.

Iida, especially, will be an obstacle Deku has to overcome. In this chapter, he is incredibly trusting of Aoyama and willing to pardon his strange behavior without a second thought. He likely feels a kinship with Aoyama after their struggles together in the Hero License arc. He, unlike Deku, saw Aoyama’s display of brilliant bravery - and vulnerability - in that moment. He understands more of Aoyama’s true feelings… or at least he thinks he does.

In addition, none of the students know about Present Mic’s (and therefore the other teachers’) suspicion of a traitor within the school. Because of their shared trials together, I don’t think Class 1-A would be so willing to cast doubts on any of their classmates - their friends - unless given irrefutable evidence. (Given what we know about Iida and how he gets when he’s emotional, it’s possible he might take even longer to convince.)

So I think uncovering these truths will take a while to happen. Perhaps Deku will approach Aizawa about it, someone who does know about the traitor theory.

After that though, I don’t think it will be resolved right away. As much as it pains me to say, I think Aoyama’s time in Class 1-A will be coming to an end. Horikoshi did say Shinsou would be getting some major character development soon, right? The fan consensus seems to be that he will replace whoever ends up being the traitor.

But then what happens to our beautiful sparkly boy? Does he hang with the League of Villains? I can’t imagine him getting along with that crowd very well at all. Especially not since he helped fight against them during the training camp to save Tokoyami… it’s possible he’s entirely unrelated to the League and merely working with All for One… who is in solitary confinement. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him at all, but the only way for AFO to get out is to be broken out with help from someone from the outside. That could end up being Aoyama… somehow.

As far as Aoyama’s relationship with Deku, though… at some point I think he will confide in Deku and share his weaknesses so we can understand his real story and his motivations fully. Whereas Deku worked hard to do his best as a hero even without a quirk, Aoyama clearly has trouble with that, and will try to coast by on the backs of others. He relies on gadgets, and I don’t think he studies for school at all. But at the same time, Deku also understands what it’s like to feel completely hopeless and worthless, and I think he will end up connecting to Aoyama even despite everything, and help him become a better person. Nobody can solve all their problems by punching them in the face, not even All Might, and I think a true future Number One Hero would try to look for a better way.

So, yes, I think Aoyama is the traitor we’ve been looking for… but I don’t think this makes him a bad person. I think the audience is made to feel bad for him. He’s weak, cowardly, and pathetic, but when it comes down to it, he has a heart of gold and has been willing to put himself in danger to save his classmates on multiple occasions. I think anyone would have to be a true evil genius to fake that much, and I really don’t think Aoyama is an evil genius… just being manipulated by one.

All in all, I’m really excited to see where this arc will lead. I’ve loved Aoyama since the beginning and I’m so excited to see more character depth from him, no matter what that means. I could be completely wrong about all of this! (If you see a hole in my argument, feel free to point it out!) So either way, here’s hoping the rest of this arc is something great.

#bnha spoilers #bnha 167 #seriously major spoilers #this is like 2k words though #meta

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turntabletokyo-blog · 7 years

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Make Love Not War: Chapter 1

(Note: I don’t have an AO3 account right now, so I’ll just be posting my fics on here and then posting them back on there later, feel free to leave any comments!) Summary: Steve has been missing for two months after El closed the gate and the Snow Ball took place. While the rest of the town copes, Billy continues to convince himself that he doesn’t give a shit. ______________________________________________________________

It's been two months since Steve had gone missing, posters rested on telephone polls and outside of school walls, questioning where he might have went. His disappearance was grim, but in reality, life in Hawkins continued on as it usually did. The only peoples lives who had fallen to less than simply default were the ones who cared about him, and this honestly showed who that was. Because despite the masses of people who kissed Steve's ass while he was present and high on the high-school food chain. They did so to gain cred or impress him, or impress other people, or maybe just to impress themselves. Despite all that, most of those people couldn't try less to find out what had happened to him.

Though, the people who were really involved with him of course have been struggling and brainstorming and grieving this entire time. Nancy, the children, the parents of said children, Jonathan, Hopper. But each of those people knew what it really meant when someone went missing in Hawkins, Indiana. So that glum heavy feeling in Hawkins rested upon their shoulders entirely, and so did the responsibility to do something about it.

Billy didn't care, or, at least that's what he convinced himself, every time he saw the aforementioned Kings stupid face plastered outside the school he took it upon himself to tear it down in disgust. As far as he told himself, he didn't know what had happened to Steve and he didn't care. This mulleted asshole continued on his days as if nothing had happened. Going on sleazy dates which consisted only of cigarettes, car speakers and booze breath smooches in the front seats of his Camaro.

He also continues to lay in his room and spin thrash metal records while disguising any thoughts he has in a hazy cloud of smoke. He had hardened himself long ago, become cold and callous, and been doing it for long enough to avoid any feelings of care for a boy he knew he fully despised.

________________________________________________________________

After sucking in a heavy puff of smoke on an overcast, mid-Monday. He decided to step out his room. Maybe go pump some iron downstairs, or watch whatever crappy flick is on TV. Though, once outside, it was hard to avoid hearing the low yet frantic voice of his step-sister yelling into what he could only assume was the walkie talkie he'd seen her holding previously.

"No Dustin! Who knows where he could be or how we're going to get there. I say we just follow Mike's game plan and leave tomorrow night. We need to get this over with.

"Game plan? Billy was as thick as a world almanac so his first attempt at understanding was entirely unsuccessful.

"I know Lucas.. I miss him too. And if no one else is going to bother helping to find him then we just HAVE TO do it ourselves."

Oh my god. Billy couldn't help it, actually he wasn't quite sure why he did this. It was honestly just a visceral reaction for him to slam the door open with his foot. Something he hadn't done in a long while.

Max, jumped at the sound, eyes wide but hand still tightly wrapped around the walkie. After her initial moment of shock she narrowed her eyes in confusion and contempt almost giving Billy a "what the fuck do you want" look. This girl has known for months now that she has absolutely no reason to fear him, and he knew that as well. So why did he take the liberty to kick the door open? What was he hoping to accomplish? And what he had wondered: why had that conversation even caused him to care.

But, Billy was nothing if not confident, so he continued on as he had originally intended. "Game plan? Let me get this straight little red riding “good”. Are you trying to find the shit lord who disappeared?"

Max stood up, she instinctually was holding down the microphone of the walkie, but the kids knew to keep their mouths shut on the other ends. "Shit lord?" She spat out with a surprised smirk. "Are you serious, Billy?"

Max and Billy hadn't spoken as fully as this ever since she pulled her stunt, everything after then had been angry huffs and threatening eye contact. She carried on, "He's been gone for two months. Don't treat this like it means nothing, I don’t care that you liked fighting him in basketball practice." She wrung out that last sentence in a mocking tone. "Don't be an idiot."

A small "Oooh" echoed through the walkie from the silly hat sporting boy.

Billy's face turned rage red and a few veins threatened to pop out his neck as he had to hold back from reacting to this kind of behavior. Previously, he may have stepped forward and toward her, responding, "What did you just say to me you little shit?" and grabbing her walkie from her hand only to crack it under the weight of his favorite pair of boots, but he knew better than that now. He ignored the kid on the other line and used his rage to continue his interrogation through and through. "You're really going to go looking for someone who's been kidnapped? In Hawkins? Do you guys think you're the fucking Scooby Gang? If he could have been found at this point then police would have done it." He snapped out. Knowing the weight of his words, but taking in his typical sadistic pleasure of them as well.

Yet, for some reason, the harsh past-tense he used, as if Steve was long gone... maybe gnawed at him a bit? Causing a slight sting around his... chest region. No, he just understood it (or rather, convinced himself) that that was purely his hatred for Steve shining through.

Now, Max knew Billy knew absolutely zilch about the upside-down. And she wasn't going to go telling her deranged socio-brother about another dimension hoping he would be completely understanding. The thought of him listening, placing his hand on his chin like a well-trained psychiatrist and attempting to understand and empathize with her story is almost more insane than she thought Lucas to be when he first told her.

Saddened by his words, and giving up on Billy at this moment, she looked down, letting the walkie lay limp by her side and dangle along with her thoughts.

"We know that. But... look you wouldn't understand."

Billy crossed his arms, finally having calmed down. "Why? Oh!" He said mockingly, "Is it because I'm an idiot?"

Max similarly crossed her arms, then caught herself mirroring Billy's actions and uncrossed them quickly."No. You wouldn't understand because... It's what he would've done for us, and we have no frickin' clue where he could be." Anger slowly welled up in her eyes, lips pursing, but she held it together and pushed everything out in the form of a yelling cry instead: "He could be kidnapped, or held hostage, or in frickin' China! or maybe he's a car salesman now! And he just forgot to tell us," She bit her lip "Or maybe he's... dead" (a small gasp fell from the walkie, surprisingly she was still holding the button.) Mad Max interrupted herself with a brief pause and then recollected. "He could be ANYTHING! And we're not going to just leave it, so I swear to god." She took a step forward, balling her fist and looking straight into eyes, unafraid. "If you try and stop us." She dropped her eyelids after this statement, eyes darkening, as if to express "we won't hesitate."

Despite the size difference, Max actually managed to pull out a subtle, drugged and unhappy memory from Billy’s mind so he moved back a step and held up his hands in a white flag position, almost shocked. "Go ahead. I'm not gonna' fuckin' stop you, but, just know." He leaned forward, continuing this dance of aggressor vs. aggressor. "He probably is dead".

Max's eyed widened fists pulled in tighter, inhaling quickly through her nose in shock. But she was shocked at the words, not that Billy said them. So she backed down, and sped back to her bed after realizing the tantrum wouldn't be worth it. Through sheer wisdom, she realized that her anger would be better directed toward trying to find her friend.

Billy backed off, but after pacing toward his room, slamming the door shut behind him and igniting another cigarette between his fingers as quick as possible, those last words which escaped his lips swirled around the back of his mind. He desperately attempted to avoid them. He felt that glum heavy feeling weigh down on him too.

#harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #my fic #fic

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ruffsficstuffplace · 7 years

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And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 14)

“There are those who say you must simply accept what you are given and make the best of it, but we here at Atlas reject that notion,” one of the speakers at Atlas Primary Combat Academy had said—Diana couldn’t remember who, there had been so many of them. “When faced with adversity, with grim prospects, with danger that threatens our very existence, be it from without or from within,…

“We survive. We adapt. We rise.

“Because there are those who say we should all be content, being at the mercy of Fate and the Gods, but here at Atlas we leave nothing to chance, we leave behind outdated and ignorant ideas and beliefs, we leave behind the boundaries of what everyone else once thought was possible.

“Here at Atlas, we shape our destiny with our own hands.”

Diana supposed that they would have been so deeply disappointed in her for simply leaving Nick’s office like that, for not letting Blake have her turn before she marched straight back in, retracted her earlier agreement, and put forth a new, much more powerful and convincing argument, going back and forth with Nick for as long as she needed to till he conceded the leadership position to her.

But then again, she supposed they would have been even more deeply disappointed to learn that she had enrolled in Haven, not Atlas Academy.

Diana had made her decision, however, and she was just going to have to live with it—or more immediately, live with her new teammates, in their new dorm. She stood in front of the door, her scroll in one hand, and the power core in the other, staring at the well-worn and ancient wood, the bronze plaque with their room number.

“Hey there, Diana!” Amanda called out. “Lock yourself out of your room on your first night?”

Diana turned to her, her expression turning concerned as she saw Yang and Jaune with Amanda. The two ladies had suspect smiles on their faces, while trapped in-between with both his arms locked with his teammates, Jaune had the expression of a man being carried off to the firing squad, a rabid pack of Grimm waiting to tear him to pieces, or perhaps even disapproving in-laws.

“… No, no I did not, actually...” Diana replied. “I’m just… hesitant to enter.”

“Well, we’re off to go have some New Team Bonding down in the lower levels, and since Sucy’s not allowed out, you want to be our fourth instead?” Yang asked.

Jaune looked at her with the shocked but delighted face of a man who had just been hit with a small ray of hope in what was once pitch-black darkness.

As Diana looked at him and considered his predicament, Beatrix’s words came echoing in her head: “Sometimes, you will see someone in great and dire need, someone you will want to drop everything and rush to aid, but you must stop yourself, for they are beyond saving, and any attempt at rescue will only doom yourself along with them.”

“… I appreciate the offer, but no thank you,” Diana said.

You could almost hear the shattering sound of Jaune’s hopes getting crushed.

“Eh, suit yourself!” Amanda said. “Guess we’ll just find a fourth once we’re there anyway!”

Jaune looked at Diana as he was carried past her, the face of a man who did not blame you, but dearly wished you had acted anyway. Diana mouthed “I’m sorry,” before she swiped her scroll over the lock, stepped in through the door, and closed it behind her.

She stopped as she noticed Ruby and Akko sitting in the center of the still undecorated room, the latter holding the Shiny Rod in her hands and staring at it with such incredible intensity, as if she were trying to unearth its deepest, most guarded secrets...

“Umeboshi!” Akko cried. “It’s pickled plums, isn’t it?!”

Ruby shook her head. “Nope! Strawberries.”

Akko frowned. “Are you sure it’s not pickled plums?”

“Nope, definitely strawberries.”

Akko groaned as she laid the Shiny Rod across her lap, Ruby took out her scroll and started taking notes with her “quill” stylus.

“What in the world are you two doing…?” Diana asked.

“Oh, Diana, hi!” Akko said, waving and smiling. “Ruby here was just trying to teach me how to talk with the Shiny Rod, like she can!”

“It’s a really good way to both teach her the skill, improve my own understanding of it, and try to figure out the exact mechanics of its communication!” Ruby added as she wrote. “Well, in a very subjective, topical sort of way, but it’s better than nothing, and you don’t need to fully understand the mechanics of something to apply it.”

Diana nodded slowly. “And how’s progress…?”

“Terrible!” Ruby chirped. “The Shiny Rod seems to be incapable of the abstraction and symbolism involved in written and spoken language, and can’t comprehend words or even just single letters when we tried to go through the alphabet. Now we’re just testing for images, ideas, and emotions associated with certain objects, but it seems something’s lost in translation within the Shiny Rod, as it’s accurately replicating the signals and sensations it gave me but Akko is misinterpreting them, it’s heavily reliant on the mind and knowledge of its current wielder in its attempts to communicate, or some combination of one or more of those theories!

“I think this mistranslation happened because I was banking on strong emotional associations—strawberries are my absolute favourite—and it seems that it either brought up pickled plums for Akko because that’s her favourite food; its attempts at replicating the concept of small, reddish fruits frequently had for snacks here in Mistral was misinterpreted by Akko as pickled plums; it’s incapable of understand the concept of sweet vs salty and sour for its own lack of taste buds, or again, a combination of any of the above!

“It’s all really confusing, and hard to make sense of.”

“It’s okay to tune out when Ruby’s explaining so your head doesn’t hurt, by the way!” Akko said. “She doesn’t mind.”

Diana nodded again. “Thank you for the advice… I can’t help but notice you still seem to be in great spirits, however.”

Ruby chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I be? We’re potentially breaking new ground in weapons engineering here! Or is this more a subset of archaeology considering that the Shiny Rod is a pre-War artifact? Or is this both, as this could potentially be an artifact reforged or modified using modern day equipment and techniques, seeing as Shiny Chariot wasn’t exactly shy in using a LOT of tech for her shows, before she stopped performing?” she looked deep in thought, before she she started scribbling and writing in her scroll, the world around her clearly completely tuned out.

“It’s a real shame that she took that break from performing,” Akko said as she held up the Shiny Rod. “Maybe we could have asked her about it...”

Diana sighed softly, her expression falling. “Akko, I understand that your love for Shiny Chariot is probably beyond words, but for the sake of having a peaceful four years together as a team, I ask you to please keep the fawning and the adoration to a minimum, at least when I’m around,” she said as she headed to their shared closet, where Weiss’ luggage and Diana’s own bags were waiting.

Akko blinked. “You don’t like Shiny Chariot?” she asked, putting a hand on the floor as she turned look at Diana.

“No, no I do not!” Diana said as she slid open their closet, noted the unclaimed shelves and overall space. “Fair warning: keep pressing the subject at your own peril,” she said as she laid out one of her two suitcases, the “click-click” of the locks audible for how silent it had suddenly gotten.

Ruby put her scroll and quill down on the side. “Hey Akko, you want try talking to the Shiny Rod again?” she asked, oblivious. “I’ve got a new idea that might...” she trailed off as she watched Akko suddenly get up, walk over to the closet, and sit beside Diana.

Diana noticed her, slowly put her neatly folded clothes back in her suitcase, closed the lid, before she turned to her, her expression serious.

“Why don’t you like Shiny Chariot?” Akko asked.

“Many reasons, but chief among them is her irreverence, turning the sacred institution of Huntsmen into a gimmick for entertainment. About the only festivity that should be tolerated are the regional tournaments and the Vytal Festival, and aside from the fact that they’re only once or twice a year, they serve the purposes of fostering unity among the kingdom’s peoples, and driving huntsmen and huntresses to always better themselves and never rest on their laurels.

“In other words, they have a practical, useful purposes.”

(“Girls…?” Ruby asked weakly, watching them with a worried frown.)

“Oh, and making people happy isn’t something worth doing in your eyes?!” Akko cried as she threw her arms up into the air. “Grimm are literally attracted to despair and misery—Shiny Chariot was giving people hope and happiness, how is that a bad thing?!”

“It’s not! I would have enrolled in Atlas if I thought the arts and culture were mere frivolities, and the fact that I’m here in Haven arguing with you already proves my point! What I’m trying to say, is that there are things and acts you may commodify and make circuses out of all you like, but your being a huntress is not one of them!”

(“Girls!” Ruby called out, nervously clutching her cape. “Akko…? Diana…?”)

“Shiny Chariot was the reason I became a huntress, too!” Akko cried. “She’s why I enrolled in combat school, suffered through training and the curriculum no matter how hard it got or how much it sucked, why I fight as hard as I do and keep on going in spite of what happens!”

“Oh, and are you going to follow exactly in her footsteps, too?” Diana snapped. “Graduate, and instead of slaying Grimm and helping people out in there in the real world, you’re going to spend your days destroying mechanical constructs for the delight of people safely holed up in the major cities?!”

“Why was is it so wrong that she did what she did?!” Akko screeched, tearing up now.

“I could explain it to you, but seeing as you obviously will just be arguing with me until one or the both of us die, why don’t you ask the Shiny Rod? Did it EVER occur to you that the reason you’re holding it right now, why we found it deep inside that cave out in the Celestial Hills of all places might be related to why exactly she mysteriously dropped off the face of Remnant a decade ago?!”

Akko looked like she had been just been slapped across the face, her tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

Diana saw, and looked horrified, before she turned away, got up and made for the door in a hurry. “… I’m leaving now…” she muttered, barely audible.

Diana slammed the door on her way out for her rush; the sound echoed in the room for a few moments, no other noise but Akko’s sobbing.

Then, she turned to the Shiny Rod. “… Shiny Rod…?” she asked as she held it up. “Why were you in that cave, and why am I holding you instead of Chariot…? What happened a decade ago, before she stopped performing…?”

Nothing.

“Ruby…?” Akko asked. “Can you… can you ask the Shiny Rod for me…?”

Ruby hesitated. “Uh… I can try! But, uh… are you sure you really want to know…?”

Akko opened her mouth, closed it, before she sniffed, and looked down. “… I… I think…” she frowned, and shook her head. “No: I need to know.” She looked up at Ruby with a determined expression, thrust the Shiny Rod out to her. “Ruby, ask it for me.” She sniffed, still crying. “Please.”

Ruby hesitated for a moment, before she took it, held it in her hands as she closed her eyes. “Shiny Rod, why are you here with us right now?” she asked quietly. “Why did we find you in that cave? And what happened between you and Shiny Chariot so many years ago, why did she stop performing, and why did she disappear…?”

Akko waited, until the silence kept on dragging on, and her fidgeting grew worse and worse, until she could finally take no more. “Well?!” she asked frantically.

Ruby opened her eyes. “Two theories: one, the Shiny Rod is trying to communicate with me right now in a new, incredibly complex and unfamiliar way unlike all my earlier attempts at talking to it, because of how much more information it has to transmit to me. Or two, it’s giving me the silent treatment.”

“What kind of silent treatment?”

“The ‘You’re better off not asking ever again and just forgetting the question entirely’ sort of silent treatment, I think—kind of like when I asked Yang what an Inappropriate Steamboat was!”

Akko groaned.

“Want to go back to trying to figure out basic communication again…?” Ruby offered.

“No...” Akko muttered.

“Do you need a hug?”

“Yes.”

The Haven Library.

Diana’s mother, and indeed, Beatrix herself just couldn’t say enough good things about it, one of the largest, most extensive, and diverse collections of almost every piece of culture in Remnant, stretching from ancient times to the present day.

Possibly even more than that, however, they loved the atmosphere: hard wood floors and walls, delicate carvings in the moulding and the bases of the columns, antique gas lamps providing a warm light that was perfect for reading and relaxing; luxurious rugs, antique wooden chairs with overstuffed cushions, lovingly woven fabrics providing hammocks or hanging perches; and of course, pieces of art on display everywhere, portraits and landscapes, sculptures, installations, relics, and what have you, modern or ancient, all of them protected by the expansive and extensive security system.

“There’s just something so comforting about being around so many old books and things, so lovingly taken care of, most of them still allowed to be touched and enjoyed by just about anyone,” Bernadette said.

Diana could have pulled out any number of those texts students were allowed access to; continued to catch up on the lessons she was missing; or even just wandered and gotten lost in the stacks, see where the winding and branching paths and stairs took her, as her mother loved to do.

But still, she just could not get the Shiny Rod out of her head.

Why did Shiny Chariot wield such an immense, great power mostly just for shows and entertaining people…? Why was its manifestation with Akko so different? Why was it so picky with its wielders, choosing her and Ruby alone? Why was it so violent and clear with its rejecting people it deemed unfit? Why be able to “talk” with just Ruby, and not Akko, even if the latter had possession of it the most? Why the vehemence that it not be taken to the Forge and examined properly? Why did Shiny Chariot lose it, and how did it find its way to that cave?

And most importantly of all: just what was it, why was it here, and why was it letting Akko and Ruby use it…?

Diana frowned, found the nearest information terminal—one of the few modern amenities allowed to “blemish” the ambiance—and started searching for the “Shiny Rod.” As she scrolled and scrolled, finding only news pieces about Shiny Chariot, declassified school records back when she was just Chariot du Nord, and not much else, she sighed, and started changed her search term:

“Ancient Weapons and Legends.”

It was unscientific, like Ruby had said, but it seemed Diana’s only real lead, too. And really, if myths and ancient texts alluding to direct dust infusion and ancient medical prostheses lead to her mother’s greatest work, it wasn’t entirely without merit.

She wasn’t surprised to see students at the appropriate section—many of the professors were infamous for insisting their students take advantage of Haven’s library, CCT research only for checking if the information was outdated or corrected. She was, however, surprised to find one of the professors there, several books and scrolls already stacked in her arms, the look on her face telling that she wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading them.

“Professor Ursula, may I help you with that?” Diana asked as she came over, already reaching out.

Ursula smiled. “Oh, that will be much appreciated, Cavendish, thank you!” she said as she unloaded off some of the lighter tomes. “May I ask if you’re here for school, or just pleasure?”

“Neither, actually,” Diana replied as she took them into her hands. “I’m here to see if I can’t find anything about the Shiny Rod.”

Ursula’s eyes widened, before she chuckled. “Ah, what a coincidence—that’s what I’m here for, too.”

“Would you mind if I join you in your research, then?” Diana asked as she gazed at the shelves and all the leather-bound books, paper scrolls, and the odd stone tablet.

“The offer is appreciated, but you really don’t need to,” Ursula replied cheerfully. “Dr. Schnee insists that I be as thorough as possible with any leads that may be even remotely connected to it, which makes me thankful the cafe here is open 24/7...” she muttered as she pulled out a new book, began to add it to her stack.

“Oh, but Professor Ursula, I insist,” Diana said as took it from her, took note of the title and the cover. “I feel like I won’t be able to get any sleep until I get at least some inkling of understanding about the Shiny Rod—perhaps even just what it’s really called, as I doubt that it’s true name...”

Professor Ursula chuckled. “Well, alright—I wouldn’t want to contribute to my student’s sleep deprivation; you’re already going to have quite a lot of that from all your reading assignments alone.”

“I’m well aware of, and prepared for that,” Diana replied.

They spent a while collecting more books and scrolls, until Professor Ursula thought that they’d had enough: two stacks of assorted texts that tested their respective upper body strengths.

“Still sure you want to help?” Ursula asked. “I won’t mind if you change your mind, and just help me bring all these books to a table.”

“I’m still sure, thank you for asking,” Diana said, feeling a bit of sweat begin form on her brow.

“Do you want to go call the rest of your team to help?” Ursula asked as they walked. “I’m sure Akko and Ruby would be interested.”

Diana frowned, hesitating for a moment before she replied, “No, no thank you; they’re busy with their own research with the Shiny Rod, actually. Ruby’s trying to teach Akko how to talk with it, you see.”

Ursula noticed. “I wish them luck in that endeavour, then.”

They walked and scanned the tables in silence for a few moments, before Diana broke it. “Professor Ursula, may I ask you a question about Shiny Chariot and the Shiny Rod?”

“Go on ahead,” Ursula replied as she slowed down.

“It’s just… I’ve been wondering, Akko managed to demonstrate the sheer extent of its power… why do you think Shiny Chariot used it mostly for shows, instead of keeping to the field, fighting Grimm? It seems the latter was a much better purpose for such a weapon, especially since it’s picky but not entirely exclusive with its wielders.”

Ursula got a thoughtful look. “I don’t know, Diana. Clearly there’s a lot we don’t know about the Shiny Rod… maybe its power was incredibly limited, it was more Akko’s power than it back in the Celestial Hills, or some other reason we can only guess at.

“Here’s to hoping our research turns something up!” she said as she finally found a suitably empty table, set all her books down.

Diana followed suit. “Here’s to hoping...” she muttered as she rubbed her arms, before they both got straight to work.

#little witch academia #rwby #and the awrd goes to #fanfic #dianakko #white rose #au

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cidolfus-a-trahan · 7 years

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The very first MonsterClash!

As part of the kick off for my yearly series of horror reviews on my Youtube channel, I dug up the very first review I ever wrote, which was a comparison of the 1931 Universal film Dracula with the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola Version.

Since the video, which you can see here references this article, I had decided to post the full text here rather than link to the original Facebook page that hosted it.

Be warned, this was written long before I started writing film reviews in earnest and has not aged particularly well.

Without further ado, here is the very first edition of MonsterClash

Romney’s Reviews “Reviews I’d want to film but am unable to.” #1: Bram Stoker’s Dracula 1931 vs. 1992

Dracula, his name is known the world over. Many images come to mind when it is uttered. Starting out as a fictitious character in the novel by the Irish author, Abraham “Bram” Stoker, in 1897, this icon of gothic horror has appeared in everything from movies, to television, to even video games among other things. Even the original story itself has been adapted numerous times as stage plays, movies, and games. Now I know what you’re probably thinking, what about Vlad Țepeș? Contrary to popular belief, this Romanian prince was not the direct inspiration for Dracula. According to his working notes, Stoker had the basic outline of the story already layed out before tying in the stories of Vlad the Impaler. Many scholars believe that this is more of an afterthought, but I digress.

What I am here to talk to you about are the two most well know adaptations of the famous novel. The first version being the 1931 version of Dracula directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the titular villain, and the 1992 version, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman in the role of Dracula. Both versions have been praised by fans and critics alike. Having now seen both versions, this review shall compare the two, seeing what each one has over the other. From here on in, it shall be category based, so let’s not waste anymore time.

The first category, or round, shall be: Atmosphere

One of the major facets of any horror film is the world it creates and how it pulls you in. This category shall go into the details of setting, sound design, and to a lesser extent music.

1931 version: The settings of this film evoke the imagery we always see when we think of horror films. It shows the quaintness of the Transylvanian village, the eeriness of Castle Dracula and the various undercrofts depicted. The gothic sets are extremely well done, although simple by today’s standards, capture the gothic atmosphere that was most likely what Bram Stoker had pictured. The sound design in this film is minimal at best, more of the focus put on the dialogue. There are a few audio cues inserted here and there, but only to really announce the arrival of Dracula. In the case of music, the version I watched was the version with the added score by Philip Glass, however, I managed to see what I could of the original version. In the original version, the only music in the film served as overture and concluding themes as well as a few diegetic pieces for the music box and the scene at the symphony. In the version with the Philip Glass score, the music overpowers certain parts of dialogue and detracts a little bit from the atmosphere of the film. I don’t know if it’s always the case with this version, but on the DVD I watched it on, the music was too loud and got a little irritating. To me, it seemed as if it was composed more for a silent film.

1992 version: The settings in this film are on the same level as the 1931 version, but Coppola didn’t hesitate to use many colorful elements as part of the sets. However, as it can be seen in both the film and the interviews with the costume designer, Coppola used the principle of “the costumes are the sets”. He uses color to differentiate the different settings, a grim black for Transylvania and a shade of gray for London, and more extravagant colors to express the characters’ personalities. The sound design is a lot more atmospheric and really draws you into the world. However, it is important to note that sound design was on a different level of priority at the dawn of the talking motion picture, but the effort is an added bonus. The music in this film is more present, with the amount of diegetic music greatly reduced. The score of this film functions in the same manner that a film score is usually employed, so there is not much else to say.

Victory Tally

Setting: Tie

Sound: 1992 version

Music: 1992 version

Conclusion: 1992 Version, the atmosphere of this film is a little more complete and is a little bit easier to be drawn into.

Round 2: Cinematography

Where would film be without the camera? Last time I checked, there hasn’t been any film made without a camera, thus the name of the medium, FILM. (Even animation uses cameras people.)

1931 version: The cinematography of this film is what makes some of the moments of this film classic. It shows the grandiose and derelict nature of Castle Dracula, making the halls and undercrofts look even emptier. When you remove the Phillip Glass score, a lot of the shots create the eerie atmosphere we associate Dracula with today. This was what made the film terrifying to most people in its initial run. One of my favorite scenes in this film is the standoff between Van Helsing and Dracula. The shots are simplistic, but in the same fashion as the silent film, the picture is worth a thousand words. The rest of the film is filled with moments like this, again more effective without Philip Glass’s score.

1992 version: You can tell that this film pays homage to the rich film history that Dracula is associated with, at one point even being shot with an old camera, changing the type of film mid- scene from black and white to two color Technicolor and then finally to full color. Everything in this film is shot in a style that is reminiscent of all of the classic horror films, but Coppola also puts his own style into the film with some of the more artistic shots. It achieves it’s eeriness in a completely different way that doesn’t rely entirely on the cinematography, which can be considered either a plus or a minus, depending on which school of thought you come from.

Victory Tally

IT’S A TIE! The Coppola version wouldn’t be there without the standards set by its predecessors.

Round 3: Characters

What’s a story without characters? Not a story, that’s what. They don’t always need to be human, but there are always characters. This round comes in two parts; I don’t feel that need to explain why.

Part 1: Dracula

1931 version: Even though there were versions before this version, the earliest surviving example being Murnau’s Nosferatu, Bela Lugosi’s performance set the standard for how Dracula is portrayed in many other forms of media. A fact that is only known amongst the more hardcore film buffs is that Lugosi got the role because of his performance in the Dracula Broadway play, so he was already adept at his performance when they began performing screen tests at Universal. In addition to his earnest performance, Lugosi had a look that was both alluring and terrifying, reflecting the hypnotic effect a vampire is known to have on people.

1992 version: The way Gary Oldman portrayed Dracula captured both the terrifying elements as well as more of the romantic elements that were brought to the character in the 1979 remake made by Universal. However, some of the terrifying elements were aided by the make-up, cinematography, and the other atmospheric elements. However, when it came to the romantic elements of the character, that is where, in my opinion, Gary Oldman is at his strongest. It may not have been on the same level as Lugosi, but Oldman gave a performance that create another original form of Dracula that has also translated to other media, as well as indirectly serve as inspiration for some “other” vampire lore.

Part 2: The Other Characters

1931 version: The cast of characters is greatly reduced in this version from the original novel, mainly Arthur Holmwood and Quincy Morris are omitted. The dynamic between characters is also changed. For example, the love affairs of Lucy Westerna (changed to Western in this version) are also omitted. Dr. Jack Seward’s character is aged to the same age as Professor Van Helsing and is the father of Mina in this version. Instead of Harker visiting Dracula in the beginning, it’s Renfield who delivers the deed to the Count, the incidents that took place at the castle being the explanation for his madness. The characters that are focused on in this film are Dracula, Van Helsing, and Mina. I say this because they are the only ones who have any real character development. Harker looks as if he was put in just as the love interest and potential victim of Mina, therefore, he has little to no personality in this version. The insanity of Renfield is done incredibly well in this version, capturing the split personality and schizophrenic elements of the character. The suave and intelligent nature of Van Helsing is captured beautifully, making for a character who is almost a badass. The innocence of Mina is a typical female archetype, so it’s not something someone can do wrong unless they try REALLY hard.

1992 version: The characters in this version are a little better developed. In this version, Quincy and Holmwood are present and play a great role in the story. All of the characters in this film have an equal role and are a little closer to the personality of the characters in the original novel. Now the believability of some the characters is thrown in to question, mainly with Harker, played by Keanu Reeves. To his credit, he did give a decent performance, but I had trouble taking his accent seriously at certain points. Mina and Lucy are given more of a personality in this version. Lucy is seen as the flirtatious romantic, toying with her three suitors the way many women do today. Mina is seen as a more headstrong character that has her weaknesses that she tries to keep hidden. Renfield’s madness is on the same level as the Renfield of the 1931 version, but is given more animalistic traits. Van Helsing’s more quirky traits are more apparent and Seward’s ambitious nature shines through in this film. Despite the casting choice, Harker is given more personality in this film and is seen more as the guy who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Victory Tally

Dracula: IT’S A TIE! (This is turning into Telos* people, be very afraid.) The winner can’t be decided because it’s two entirely different schools of thought at work here. It’s a case of classic vs. contemporary. I leave this decision to you.

Everyone else: 1992 version. These characters are a little more fleshed out and developed. They have more personality and make the film feel a little more complete.

Round 3: Story

The purpose of film is to tell a story, whether realistic or fantastic. So let’s take a look at the overall story of both films.

1931 version: The story of this version is a simplified version of the story from the novel. As a result, this gives off the same air as an adaptation of Greek mythology like the original Clash of the Titans. Things are kept simple and treated like a stage play. The pacing of the story does feel a bit rushed at times, with some unexplainable transitions put in to keep things moving. To me, it feels a bit like the cliff notes version of Dracula.

1992 version: This version is a little more complex than the 1931 version and has more events happen overall. The pacing of this is steadier, nothing feels rushed nor dragged on. Now the fact that so much happens may feel a bit stymieing, but it’s not like so much is packed in that it leaves the viewer confused. This seems like a more detailed version of a mythological adaptation that adds subtle nuances here and there to make a more realistic world.

Victory Tally

IT’S A TIE! That’s mainly because it depends on how you want to see the plot. If you want a simple, more mythic version, the 1931 version is a good place to start. If you want something a little more detailed, then the 1992 version may be more up your alley.

Round 4: Faithfulness to the source material

This is a common case of argument for and against a movie based on a book. This round is to show which one is more faithful to the original novel by Bram Stoker.

1931 version: This version has minor deviations throughout. I’ve already mentioned the omission of Quincy and Holmwood as well as the replacement of Harker in the opening scene with Renfield. The climax itself is also different, with only Van Helsing killing Dracula in the undercroft of Carfax Abbey instead of the full party of Harker, Van Helsing, Quincy, Holmwood, Seward, and Mina slaying him back in Transylvania. The other deviations are mainly character based while the main heart of the story, that of a demon terrorizing the civilized world, is kept intact.

1992 version: A good friend of mine put it best with this sentence. “It’s the truest to the novel, but it makes the biggest departure.” It stays incredibly true to the novel, but it’s large departure is the romance between Mina and Dracula, this involves a subplot about Dracula’s lover from when he was alive, Elisabetha, looking exactly like Mina. This was probably added to make Dracula a little more sympathetic, but people tend to be divided about this, especially in recent years with “certain” iterations of vampire lore.

Final Round: Overall

Both films are noteworthy in their own right, but which film is the definitive version of the tale? Looking at the tally so far, although it is close, there can be only one winner.

WINNER

1992

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Starring

Gary Oldman

Keanu Reeves

Winona Ryder

And

Anthony Hopkins

The 1931 is a classic, but the 1992 version is the more complete film. If you are in the mood for a poetic form of gothic horror, then this is the version for you. I still highly recommend the 1931 version of Dracula since it’s a classic and gives you a great insight into the evolution of the vampire in fiction. This version is also great to watch if you have kids watching with you, while the 1992 version is better enjoyed with a more adult audience.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this review. We conclude, I shall impart on you the remaining words of a lost speech, given by Edward Van Sloan, the actor who played Professor Van Helsing, after a screening of the 1931 film in its initial run.

“Just a moment, ladies and gentleman…just a word before you go. We hope the memories of Dracula won’t give you bad dreams, so just a word of reassurance. When you get home tonight and the lights are turned out…and you’re afraid to look behind the curtains…and you dread to see a face at the window….well, just pull yourself together and remember, after all… there are such things as VAMPIRES!”

Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween.

*Telos is an awards show where the students of my high school would submit short films to be judged by outside parties that had film experience. During this particular year, a number of films had tied with one another across multiple categories, so much so that it became a running joke throughout the awards show.

#Film Review #dracula #bela lugosi #gary oldman #tod browning #francis ford coppola #1931 #1992 #bram stoker #bram stoker's dracula #throwback #film criticism

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stacks-reviews · 7 years

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New Releases 10/3/17

Happy New Release Day!

In Books --The Name of the Wind 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition by Patrick Rothfuss “My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that would make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me. So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature - the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man’s search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.”

This book more than likely did not require me to provide a description. But I just love the description so much that I just had to put it up. This is my current top favorite book. I really love it and I am very excited to see an anniversary edition for it. I have been wanting to retire my mass market paperback for a while. I did get to meet Pat at a book signing a few years back and got that copy signed, as well as my copy of The Wise Man’s Fear, and my hardcover of A Slow Regard of Silent Things. I’ve been wanting to retire these signed copies so that nothing happens to them so this anniversary edition is just what I’ve been waiting for. At least until I can meet him again and get this one signed.

This edition has a new cover by designer Paul Buckley and artist Sam Weber. I’m not crazy about the cover. I prefer the standard cover used now. I’m having some trouble trying to understand just what all the images represent in the story so that’s what is really making me not like it as much. There is also some never before seen illustrations by artist Dan Dos Santos. Nate Taylor created a updated and detailed map of the world. An appendix of the calendar system, the currencies, and a pronunciation guide was added. And Pat wrote a new author’s note for this edition.

As of this writing (around 10:30pm Monday) it has not arrived at any of the bookstores near me but I have seen where it it out at other locations. I’m hoping it will arrive near me sometime today. Then I guess I’ll have to plan a fourth (or maybe a fifth. I don’t remember) reread of it soon.

--Anime Supremacy! by Mizuki Tsujimura “Japanese animation - the globally acclaimed, family-friendly theatrical features are the exception rather than the rule for a TV-oriented industry that has been pushed into late-night slots in an era of fragmented audiences. When only three titles among fifty might turn a profit, topping the charts is hardly an overambitious aim. Yet as three women, a producer, a director, and an animator, survive in a business infamous for its murderous schedules, demoralizing compromises, and incorrigible men, moments of uplift emerge against all odds - and how. More than just a window into an entertainment niche, here’s a kickass ode to work.”

A new; though only volume, manga about the animation industry in Japan. It sounds like a good look into this industry and it follows three women as they try to make their way in an industry full of ‘incorrigible’ men. Which this might be the first manga to follow women in this industry. I’m not positive but I’m fairly sure most of the manga that has used this type of story has mainly followed men. I can think of maybe one or two that has some ladies but I can’t recall for sure.

--Assassination Classroom Volume 18 by Yusei Matsui “Nagisa and Karma travel to the International Space Station in hopes of learning the secret to saving Koro Sensei’s life. Meanwhile, Yanagisawa and the upstart Grim Reaper II train ever harder to assassinate him. Then, when academic setbacks lower the spirits of his students, Koro Sensei comes up with an ingenious - or perhaps idiotic - way to cheer them up. Next, Valentine’s Day arrives! Will any of the 3-E students or teachers find true love? And will the meddling and teasing of the others help or hinder Cupid’s arrow in finding its target...?”

I’m reading this volume right now. But in Volume 17 Nagisa and Karma faced off in their fight to determine if they should save or assassinate Koro Sensei. Nagisa won and they learned that information about Koro Sensei was on the ISS that could potentially help them save his life. It ended with Nagisa and Karma sneaking into a rocket prototype to retrieve said information. Which was handed over fairly easily in this volume. The part with Yanagisawa and the Grim Reaper were short which is for the best to keep us wondering what they will try to do to kill Koro Sensei. I last left off during the start of the Valentine’s Day chapters which I will finish sometime today.

--Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay Finally! I love the illustrations in these editions and just how full and how many are used in them. PoA is my favorite of this series, mainly because of this is when we are introduced to Sirius (my favorite) and Lupin.

Though as the rest of these are released I start to wonder how much longer they will be released as a single volume. At some point; either for money or for the binding of the books, they will probably be split into volumes. For my bookshelf’s well-being, I hope that is not the case but it could happen.

--The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli “In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laugher wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be dark - and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer. These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up hearing in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari - a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl. Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await her at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend - a slave boy from her betrothed’s household - Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.”

I have a few questions regarding this book. Mainly revolving around the Namsara since it isn’t mention again in the description except in the beginning. Is Asha’s betrothed the only one who knows that she is the Iskari? If so, is she being blackmailed into marrying him? My theory right now is that by killing all these dragons it makes her the Iskari but since light and dark are two sides of the same coin, she has the possibility to turn into the Namsara. Cause I expect the legends to end up saying that it was the same person. It sounds like it could be pretty good. There’s dragons, fights with dragons (don’t kill dragons cause they are awesome), and the classic light vs dark.

--The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 3 by Rei Toma “Unable to return home, Asahi grows into a lovely young woman. As a priestess, she must spend time with the water dragon god for a ritual every year, but because of her connection to the water dragon god’s power, someone kidnaps her! Will Asahi be able to escape unscathed?”

Such a cute and still surprisingly dark series. The first two volumes were kind of dark because her best friends; Subaru, mother tried to have her killed a few times. And the water dragon god didn’t care if she lived or died. He only really intervened when the other gods started annoying him.

This volume came out early where I live so I read it over the weekend. The volume was mostly about Asahi being kidnapped, then rescued by Subaru, which then started a war between her village and the one that kidnapped her. The water dragon god does sorta intervere and helps them out a little. But he slowly seems to be changing and might eventually develop feelings for Asahi. Which will interesting since Subaru obviously loves her and she him. Though she may not realize that herself yet.

--Yona of the Dawn Volume 8 by Mizuho Kusanagi “Jaeha, the Green Dragon, joins Yona’s party after their harrowing adventure together in Awa. Now the group must find the Yellow Dragon - the last dragon from the prophecy that Ik-su told Yona! Meanwhile, Su-won visits Chishin Palace and tells General Geun-tae, chief of the Earth Tribe, that he should hold a mock battle and festival. But what could be the true intent behind Su-won’s proposition?”

I think the last volume I read was six. Seven never came in near where I live and I haven’t been able to order it. Last I read was Yona and Yoon got themselves onto the pirates boat so that they could try and send a signal for the others to attack the right boat.

I can’t wait to see what the Yellow Dragon is like and I’m interested to see what this mock battle will be about.

In Movies --Revolutionary Girl Utena Set 1 (Blu-Ray) “‘Never lose that strength or nobility, even when you grow up.’ When Utena was just a child and in the depths of sorrow, she found salvation in those words. They were the words of a prince, who wrapped her in his rose-scented embrace and bestowed upon her both a ring and the promise that it would lead her to him again. She never forgot the encounter. In fact, she was so impressed that she aspired to like the prince and also help those in need. Now a spirited teenager, Utena attends the prestigious Ohtori Academy. However, her strong sense of chivalry soon places her at odds with the school’s student council and thrusts her into a series of mysterious and dangerous duels against its members.”

For the first time the hit anime is being released on blu-ray. I have only seen the series and the movie once. One of my friends can explain it a lot better than I can. The next time I watch it I will not be putting so much time in between each season. There is a lot of symbolism throughout the show so it can be easy to forget or miss something. It is a really good show and worth checking out. The manga of the same name (by Chiho Saito) that it was based on is also available in an awesome box set that was released by Shojo Beat.

This set contains the first twelve episodes. Set two is not street dated until 11/7/17 but is now available on Rightstuf. Set three is set for 12/5/17, might also be out before that day but not at this moment of writing, and includes the movie. There is also a box set coming out on 12/5/17 that contains the complete series, the movie, a replica Rose Crest Ring, a replica Black Rose ring, and a 264 page art book with sliver foil numbering.

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