#sophie watches psych

[newx-menfan]

NYX #4 Review

*Spoilers!* 

First…can we just appreciate how great Hellion looks on the cover….? Model contract dropping any minute, if villainy doesn’t pan out…lol 😂🤣

The issue starts with David narrating his lecture notes while tagging the side of a building in secret, while his boyfriend is asleep back at the apartment.

The statement “Generations of mutants stuck in this binary. Integrate or dominate” is especially poignant….as is the statement about mutants now being on the streets homeless, with no where to go…

The allegory definitely, I would say IS affectively used in the writing, when you look at the current displacement of refugees from certain war torn countries… Idk if the writers meant it to be seen that way…but it can definitely be read that way and I was rather impressed by this subtle statement.

We cut to David sneaking back to the apartment and then talking on the phone to the dean about mutants in NY and the possibility of mutant housing…

Alleyne is interrupted by Kamala FINALLY figuring out the identity of the Krakoan (literally EVERYONE else GUESSED this by now, Kamala, lol) and has basically zero reaction to the news… (Look how cute the Hellions HS group photo is though 🥺!)

“Telekinetic. Green energy signature, same build. Psych profile all over the place” should definitely be on a teeshirt guys… (I am 100% using it for a meme lol)

David DEFENDING Julian is kind of sweet- I definitely THINK the writers could have gone with “David is still bitter over their NXM days” and I am glad they didn’t and instead showed that David and Julian have grown up and developed a weird respect and understanding for one another… (or IS THERE ANOTHER REASON??)

Kamala keeps pressing, saying that Julian might possibly be committing small assassinations, while using the theatrics as a distraction…(Don’t know how I feel about making Hellion a killer…but DAMN, Emma would be so proud! 🥹)

Kamala figured out he’s running on a timer, and with Sophie and the Morlocks help, figured out that Julian is going to hit time square (I am not sure that’s much of a loss lol…)

Kamala thinks Julian is obsessed with her… (OH SWEETIE. 😬😂🤣) and wants her to know what he’s planning…

David has the same reaction I DO (totally making a meme of that TOO!🤣🤣)

Kamala tries to convince David to try talking with Hellion before it gets ugly, and David reminds her of his delicate position at the school (I mean…come ON David…we ALREADY know you’re going to do it 🤣🤣)

Kamala then goes and bitches about Prodigy to Sophie (oh if only Elixir was here 🤣🤣), before taking off to stop Krakellion…

Ms. Marvel runs into Krakellion chewing the scenery… (I really can’t tell if Empath is controlling him…or he’s just being this dramatic now 🤣)

Kamala figures out Sophie is working with Empath because she had a yearbook from the year after she died…(kind of wish they had done more WITH this, since it actually makes sense Sophie would want to know what she “missed out” on… but I do also wonder if it’s to hint that Manuel is controlling Kamala AS well…)

While they’re having a “heart to heart”, the Hive reminds Sophie why they’re doing this and Sophie betrays Kamala’s friendship by alerting journalists of the mutant brawl in Times Square.

Ms Marvel tries to appeal to Julian, but Julin  just calls her a “mutant traitor” and ties her up with Telekinesis- humiliating her on the news. (So pretty much how EVERY conversation goes when someone tells Julian to do anything… 😂🤣)

Krakellion ends the fight, knocking Kamala out with a telekinetic fist…which is REALLY cool! (I mean…Sophie kind of already gut punched Kamala EMOTIONALLY Julian…)

(Poor Kamala…Sophie was like the first person besides Bruno and Nakia, who truly seemed to want to be her pal 🥺)

We go back to David’s field notes, while Prodigy has decided to SPRING into action after watching Ms Marvel’s beat down on the news! (Sorry Kamala- David’s taking back his arch-nemesis!) 

David shuts down the Cuckoos with a trick he learned at Xavier’s and plans to brawl it out with Julian… (is Julian actually an Omega level? Or is he just BS-ing right now lol??) 

Prodigy knocks off Julian’s helmet in like one sweep and basically beats the shit out of Julian… (😂🤣🤣) 

The effect of the arrest is positive- Krakellion goes to prison (BOO!) and Prodigy is hailed as a mutant HERO!

Meanwhile, Sophie has taken off and Manuel is PISSED….

Review:

Obviously- this was the issue EVERYONE was waiting for! And it did NOT disappoint!

I have no criticisms. No complaints. (I mean… I always have complaints, but at least not MAJOR ones lol!) 

This really IS AN ISSUE that allows Prodigy to shine!! I was really impressed with how they handled David; it’s definitely on PAR with KYOST and DeFilippis and Weir! It’s really great to see David being an ACTUAL character and THREAT. 

I know people aren’t going to agree, but it’s also nice to see him in a story NOT revolving solely around his sexuality or getting killed- I know representation is important, but it’s nice to see writer remember there is MORE TO this character than just being brutally murdered all the time….

It was really hard to choose art scans from this issue- they were all pretty great!! 

Almost EVERY line in this book was great and hysterical! It REALLY reminded me of the old NXM days 🥹! These guys really did KNOCK this issue out of the PARK! Congrats Jackson and Collin!! 🎉🎉

I really can’t think of a time recently that I have been THIS HAPPY with a comic book…let ALONE an X-book. All I can say is- the X-office should really hold on to Kelly and Lanzing!… And thank you Tom Breevort! 

If you’re not currently reading it and an NXM fan- I would 100% recommend you try it!

Theories: 

Hellion HAS to be working with Prodigy- I LOVE David… but Hellion went down WAY TOO easy…they GOT to be cahooting!

Basically this book is now just a series of questions…..

Is Empath controlling Hellion?? Is Empath controlling Kamala or Kamala’s cousin?? Is Mojo controlling Empath?? Is Empath controlling Synch?? (Check out future solicits!)… 

How will Krakellion survive in prison without his moisturizer and hair gel and his cool guy helmet?? 🥺🥺💚

Does Hellion still love Laura? (Probably…) Will Laura at least visit him in Prison?? 

Did Kamala burn the friendship collage and bracelet she was most likely making for Sophie…? (Again, probably…)

Is anyone gonna use that yearbook to call out Anole for lying about being a Hellion?? 

Yet none of these questions will even actually matter… because I have a feeling next issue will be all about the Mojoverse!! 

[sailforvalinor]

I was recommended the book Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley at the beginning of the year by @novelmonger as a part of her yearly book exchange, and I’ve just finished it! Here are my thoughts:

Additional thoughts:

• I found it absolutely fascinating that while the House in Echo North is extremely claustrophobic, the castle in Rose Daughter is very agoraphobic—despite how much time we spend in the castle, you get the sense that you’ve only actually seen a fraction of it. The space seems to swallow you a bit, especially given that its layout doesn’t make sense (a similarity it shares with Echo North) and is impossible to navigate by logical means, and I absolutely love it. This book really clued me into the fact that Beauty and the Beast stories (as well as Eros and Psyche, for that matter) seem fixated on the house, and architecture in general. I suppose it serves really well to set up the dichotomy of domesticity vs. wildness.

• I have to admit, I found the third act a little bit rushed as compared to the first two—you could almost feel the author realizing how much plot she needed to cram in there in very little time. It wasn’t horrible by any means, but it was pretty noticeable when contrasted with the extremely slow pace of the book up until that point.

• I found it really interesting that the Beast’s transformation was more a result of hubris than meanness or lack of hospitality—and I kind of liked how the story implied that maybe it wasn’t even hubris, it was just a result of touching the divine. His transformation not being a punishment, but him viewing it that way regardless, was a really interesting take.

• I have conflicting feelings about Beauty’s choice at the end—the story seemed to frame it primarily as being about whether she wanted to live in the castle and inherit all of its riches, or go back and live humbly at Rose Cottage. This choice kind of bothered me, because it didn’t seem like a very difficult one for Beauty—despite all the work she put into the castle (or its grounds, at any rate), she never really liked the castle all that much, and she loved her cottage and its roses. That’s not a terribly difficult choice for her! But the second part of the choice was, of course, whether to transform the Beast back into a man, or to let him remain as he is, which was the far more interesting point, but the story almost seemed to treat it as secondary. I don’t know, maybe I missed something, but it seemed very oddly communicated to me.

• I did like that the Beast remained a Beast though, because of how much he had learned to like it. Very intriguing.

• Beauty running out and yelling at the strange, beastly powers that be brandishing a scrap of the Beast’s shirt and a heart pendant and making them flee instantly was giving Sophie Hatter in the best way possible.

• Because I was watching season 3 of Kimi Ni Todoke, I kept accidentally picturing Lionheart and Jeweltongue as Chizu and Ayane—but to be honest, the comparison kind of…works?

Despite my quibbles, I DID really like this book—thanks so much for the rec!

Oh, and here’s my dog being very perplexed as to why I was still up at 3 am when I finished the book last night:

[hamliet]

Are you enjoying Bridgerton? Can I ask some of your fav live action series, Hamliet?

Mine are : Merlin BBC, The Mentalist, Downton Abbey, Law and Order SVU and Hannibal....(Have you watched either of my fav?)

I did enjoy Bridgerton! Mixed feelings on that plot change, but overall excited for it regardless. I watch Bridgerton for the vibes and enjoyment, not deep analysis, so I'm looking forward to the future stories. (And, I, contrary to most opinions I see, would like them to genderbend Sophie.)

Other shows I like (most of which aren't presently airing):

High&Low,

Bridgerton,

Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

the 2004 version of Queer as Folk (my favorite show),

Scrubs,

The Big Bang Theory,

Brooklyn 99,

Abbott Elementary

Psych

Derry Girls (recently watched and loved; want to write a review when life slows down)

Never Have I Ever

Once upon a time I loved Game of Thrones, and I still love ASOIAF, but we don't talk about the show anymore. I will die angry.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Refuge (2023)

The best thing I can say about Refuge is that it has its heart in the right place. Though the evil in this horror film comes from Afghanistan, writer Ben Sztajnkrycer and director Renny Harlin really want to make it clear that not all Middle Easterners are terrorists and that the Afghan immigrants living in the United States are our friends. That’s admirable but it doesn’t make up for a lack of scares or a story you’ve seen so many times it’s more likely to put you to sleep than give you nightmares.

After a tour in Afghanistan, Sergeant Rick Pedroni (Aston McAuley) returns home after a strange incident. His wife, Kate (Sophie Simnett) hardly recognizes the quiet, cheerless man before her now. After sudden fits of violence, nightmares and events that can only be described as "supernatural", Kate reaches out to Ibrahim (Raza Jaffrey), an Imam at a nearby temple, for help.

Some trivia I read claims producer Gary Lucchesi was inspired by the 2017 National Geographic Article “Behind the Mask: Revealing the Trauma of War”, detailing a type of art therapy that has veterans use masks to express the way they feel on the inside. I was stunned to learn this because while watching, you’ll swear the mask therapy stuff is all made up. Every person we see at the clinic wears something that would be at home in one of the “Purge” movies, except for Rick, whose mask looks like a paper bag soaked in dirty water. The evil spirit possessing him eventually spreads to the clinic's other patients, making the guys already wearing creepy masks act creepy. I was going to criticize the film for doing the obvious thing… but the masks in the article are creepier than they aren’t, so it’s merely taking advantage of a real-life unsettling visual. If anything, that's a strength.

Continuing down this line, we can see why this film was made. We know soldiers come back from armed conflict with PTSD. Rick’s father, Sebastian (Jason Flemyng), still has nightmares and it’s been decades since he saw combat. The idea of your loved one returning as a different person is scary enough. What if what everyone assumes is PTSD is something even more serious? Something… satanic? That’s a good idea but unfortunately, the creativity stopped there. Everything in this film you’ve seen before and better. The demonic possession scenes aren’t shocking or frightening, they don’t showcase any new visuals, say anything interesting about the human psyche or reveal anything about what war does to people. The “exorcism” performed is pretty standard, with the key to defeating the wicked spirit being the kind of thing that makes you go “I guess that’s clever… but it also seems way too easy”.

I mentioned the film’s good intentions earlier. These are showcased primarily in the scenes with Ibrahim, his wife Rasha (Mila Lyutskanova) and their teenage son, Farid (Shervin Alenabi). There’s tension between the men because Farid has been getting into trouble. The police officer who keeps bringing him back home hasn’t been too subtle about his racist views. Farid is fed up with the hate he encounters. When Kate comes to them for help, Farid sees her as just another white woman who didn’t care about them until she needed their help. He thinks the evil spirit isn't their problem. Ibrahim wants to help and his wife is like “Well, is helping these people you don’t know really worth it?” For the wife of an Imam, she’s not very sympathetic, particularly this isn't some charity handout she's asking for, it's an exorcism. The best thing I can say about those scenes is that their heart is in the right place. It doesn’t make them any less clichéd.

The performances in Refuge are not strong but in the actors’ defense, the material they’ve working with is forgettable. Writer Ben Sztajnkrycer doesn’t have a lot of credits to his name but he's been working on feature-length films since 2006. As for directory Renny Harlin, it's time to accept he’s not the same director who made Die Hard 2 anymore. Among its many flaws, Refuge isn’t scary and even when it’s genuine, it feels phony. (October 2, 2024)

[ojcobsessed]

Helming Jamie Childs' new crime-thriller, the actor talks tuning into a character, writing out their history and embracing the spontaneity of his own.

BY SOPHIE WANG

In early January 2022, as the rest of us added layer upon layer, watching the temperatures drop to zero, Oliver Jackson-Cohen travelled north of his London home and jumped bravely into the North Sea. “I’m really proud of the whole movie, but I’m quite proud that we all made it out alive, really,” he tells me nine months later, home safe with rays of morning sun separating us from the realities of his time filming, Jackdaw.

The debut feature from TV writer and director Jamie Childs (The Sandman, His Dark Materials), Jackdaw tells the story of Jackson-Cohen’s Jack Dawson, a former motocross champion and army veteran who, in an effort to support his younger brother, agrees to pick up a mysterious package in the North Sea, only to find himself tricked and his brother kidnapped. Subsequently, Jackdaw — as he’s better known — embarks on a one-night, breakneck journey through Northern England’s rust belt on his bike, reconnecting with his past as the subtleties in his complex backstory and familial history slowly unravel against a backdrop of nail-biting action.

The nuanced portrayal of such a character could possibly only be achieved by Jackson-Cohen, who seamlessly masters the art of tuning into his character’s psyche. Since a childhood trip to see Home Alone in the cinema, the 36-year-old has been fascinated by the possibility of disappearing into someone else’s world and delving into their stories. Subsequently booking his first job at 15 years old, the London native has spent the past decade and a half immersed in alternate worlds, from the horrors of 2018’s The Haunting of Hill House and 2020’s The Invisible Man to the post-WWII reality of Man in an Orange Shirt and the 19th-century Yorkshire of last year’s Emma Mackie-led, Emily. He mentions twice in our chat that at this point in his journey, he feels “like 150 years old”, and it’s hard to be surprised. Between time-travelling, fronting countless stories and embodying dozens of different people, he’s lived many lives.   “I always think it's quite funny that this passion was born as a kid and here I am as an adult doing it,” he laughs. “I do sometimes think: ‘Is that the smartest fucking thing?’ Because when you're a kid, you have all of these ideas and they're not the smartest ones.”

Though some of his childhood plays (written and directed by him and his friends) may have had “zero plot”, as Jackson-Cohen tells me, and it took him a bit of time in his early twenties to figure out the projects that would resonate with him, it is safe to say that his childhood dream was definitely not a bad idea. “I think with any passion that stems from childhood, the drive is so insane. I think with anything creative, you have to have this insane determination, regardless of where it stems from. It's just this weird drive forward that you kind of can't stop.” He pauses. “I feel like I've had many iterations of a career. I look back at the stuff I was doing in my early twenties and it was very much what I was told to be doing. I think it takes time to make mistakes and learn from those to actually find out what it is that resonates with you. Ultimately, I think it probably has something to do with exploring something that I'm not looking at in myself and being able to unlock that, to explore that with a character.”

Hearing this, it is easy to see why the Jackdaw lead would be a perfect fit for the role. However, he didn’t originally believe the part should be his. “I'd met Jamie Childs on a job I was on before and we got to know each other genuinely,” he explains. “He started to talk to me about this idea, this script that he was writing and when he was finished, he called me up and asked if I’d read it. Then he went, ‘Will you play Jackdaw?’ And I immediately said, ‘Jamie, I don't think I'm the right person for that. Do you know who you should hire? You should hire this person.’ And he was like, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘No, do you know what? You should hire this person...’ And I kept throwing ideas at him.” Eventually, perhaps after exhausting every other option for Childs, the actor agreed and dove headfirst into the lead, making it implausible that his alternative suggestion could have embodied it so definitively.

“I feel like all of us jumped in because of our belief in Jamie,” he says. “And I think to have your protagonist be someone that is flawed and vulnerable and not your [stereotypical] sort of action hero was such a clever move on his end. It just felt like nothing I'd ever been a part of before. And there was something in that script about someone feeling like there isn't a place where they belong and being thrown into a position of having to care for someone and the tragedy that's gone on with their mum… all of that became a really interesting thing to play around with.”

Building out a character’s story is one of the most exciting parts of the job for Jackson-Cohen. With Jackdaw, this meant lots of meetings and discussions with Childs and co-star Jenna Coleman, who plays his love interest, Bo. “We sat down and hashed out when they were together and how long they were together and what happened and when the last time they saw each other was,” he says. “I think what’s so clever with Jamie is that he doesn't really over-explain, but he drops these pebbles as you go. And I think they're quite effective. It’s like, you know Jack's been away in the army. You don't really know why, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. So it was trying to figure out, 'okay, what was it?' And I don't think you necessarily see it on screen, but for me, my favourite part of it is trying to write out a life for them.”

For Jackson-Cohen, with any story he portrays, getting into character isn’t necessarily about becoming someone else. Rather, it’s about tapping into what’s already within him. “It’s like when you're in a music studio,” he says. “You've got all those dials and it's about turning something up that exists within you that you don't necessarily tap into and turning certain other things down. It's all coming from you.”

“In real life, I rarely get emotional, and I think it's because I have this outlet,” he continues. “There's this space where you can go and it's safe to experience and feel all of this stuff. It’s this weird, playful safety bubble that you get to go off to and play around where, ultimately, it’s real in the moment, but it's not real in your life.”

However, sometimes his body doesn’t register the difference between his own experiences and those of his character. “I played a character in the past who was a heroin addict and that was really hard [to get out of] because you are left with this inherent heaviness of all the stuff that you've created and felt in your head,” he explains. “Or earlier this year, I did a film set around the beginning of the Holocaust. And so you’d come home at the end of the day and you’d know it's not real, but your body can't really tell the difference. So you get these weird sort of hangovers if it's incredibly heavy and emotional. You know it's not real, but your body's playing catch up.”

“The older I get, the more embarrassed I get to say that this is my job because it's such a fucking stupid job. But also, I absolutely love it.” He laughs. “I feel so unbelievably grateful that I get to do this as a job. I always eye-roll when actors say things like, ‘Oh, it's such a privilege,’ but I do feel incredibly grateful because I get to go off and explore these parts of humanity that I would never otherwise.”

While he might endeavour to plot out the history of his characters, Jackson-Cohen’s very much letting his own future write itself. “Part of the exciting thing about being an actor is that you don't really know what's going to come in or what you're going to read that's going to excite you. I want to be surprised. I'd love to work here, in small filmmaking, with first-time directors, telling stories that people may love or hate, anything that's trying to say something a little different.” He pauses. “But until I read it, I won't know.”

Jackdaw is out in UK cinemas now and Wilderness is available to watch on Prime Video!

[loveandthings11]

How Deep My Love Goes, Chapter 9

Read on AO3 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8

You'll See

Kendall looks up at Sophie from the Lego-covered floor on Saturday morning. Iverson is entrenched in building a spaceship and Rava’s reading on a barstool nearby. After the experience at Austerlitz, he’s turned the penthouse into a sort of energetic hideout, alternating between hanging out with the kids, sitting in Rava’s office while she works on her big case, and calling everyone he knows to try to figure out a way to get back into Waystar. He’s taken a couple of calls from Roman to plan teaming up to talk to Sandy about his mysterious plan, and he’s learned to leave the room to avoid Rava’s looks of uncertainty when they start talking about taking over the company again.

“You want to build something here, Soph?” He asks.

Sophie shrugs and spins around in her ballet skirt.

“No, I’m tired of Star Wars. I want to watch the Kardashians.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s allowed.”

Sophie giggles and sits down on the chair by him.

“One of them’s named Kendall.”

“Uh huh. I had it first, though.” He’s focusing on finding the right piece on the floor.

“You’re both on magazines.” She smiles at him again, endlessly amused. “Maybe you should be friends.”

He calls over to Rava.

“Rav, what do you think? Should I be friends with Kendall Jenner?”

She raises her eyebrows and smiles serenely.

“No.” She returns to the page and he shrugs at Sophie.

“There you go,” he says.

“Maybe you’ll be on Vogue next!” Sophie giggles again.

“Okay. Go read a book or something.”

“Should I read Forbes?” She asks, trying everything to get a reaction.

He finally laughs.

“Yeah, go read Forbes. Let me know what changes you think I should make to our investment portfolio.”

“I don’t know how to do that!”

“Oh, not yet? Maybe you’ll learn if you read it. Or maybe you should do your homework, that sounds fun.”

“No!!!” She shrieks and runs down the hall into her room. He chuckles.

Iverson looks up.

“Mom says Sophie’s funny like you.”

“Oh yeah?” He grins over at Rava.

“Yeah.” He smiles at his dad for a second and keeps building.

Kendall gets up and walks across the room for another cup of coffee, kissing Rava’s head before sitting next to her at the counter. She looks up from her book and takes a sip from her mug as she looks at him expectantly. She can see the wheels are turning in his mind about something as he taps his fingers on the marble.

“So, uh, I guess I have to go to Tom’s party this weekend,” he says a bit hesitantly. She looks apprehensive.

“Really?” She says slowly.

“Well- I mean, I have to do something. I can’t just let this Dad shit stand. Sandy is probably my best bet, and apparently he’s going to be there. I have to act fast.”

She looks dubious.

“I just- is this whole thing the best way to move forward? What about the art thing, with Frank?”

“Well, sure, I mean, me and Frank can team up on anything, though. I’m taking him with me to the top. Obviously. I mean, and maybe I do both, you know? Take it supersonic. CEO and art expert.” He chuckles. “Just watch me next year talking about who-the-fuck-ever at the Met Gala.” He flashes her a look of real excitement and she watches him pump himself up with her chin in her hand and a weakly happy expression. She loves him like this too much to disappoint him, but the party is scaring her.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to stop you from taking it supersonic,” she says wryly. He really is cute when he gets psyched about an idea. She missed his major enthusiasm.

He puts his face right in front of hers.

“You’ll see.” He gives her a kiss and turns to walk away.

.........................

The next Friday, Kendall walks into Rava’s office at 1:45 in the afternoon looking for something. Anything. She knows he’s already worked out, eaten lunch, read a chapter of his book, checked on the markets, called Roman to argue about including Stewy in their plan, talked to Frank, and helped Iverson finish the spaceship before he even left for school. It’s endearing that he’s still buzzing with energy. She can practically feel the need for action emanating from him and she knows he’s going crazy without a job.

“Hey. No lunch break today?” He asks, trying a little too hard to sound relaxed.

She smiles at his hint at missing out on today’s afternoon delight.

“Sorry, baby. I have so much to do here.”

“Right,” he nods, glancing at the tall stacks of paper on her desk. He feels a little useless.

“Uh… can I help?” He asks.

“You want to put my assistant out of a job?”

“How long does she take to file these?” He gestures at a tall stack of papers.

“I don’t know, four hours?” Rava smiles.

“I bet I’ll be done in half that.”

She shakes her head and chuckles.

“Okay. They’d better be in the right order.”

He gestures to himself and smirks.

“Taking over a multi-billion dollar empire.”

“Sure,” she nods with a smile. “Okay. File away.”

She looks back at her screen and continues reading, and in her absorption it seems like it’s only been minutes when he comes back in with everything done.

“All right,” he says. How long was that?”

She glances at the clock and smiles as she looks up at him from the desk.

“Two and a half hours.”

“That’s pretty good, yeah?”

“Yeah!” She nods in an overly-encouraging way. He gives her an annoyed smile and nods along to her good-natured condescension.

“Okay. Yeah.” They both laugh a little. She turns back to her laptop and lets out a big sigh.

“What?” He asks.

“I don’t know if-“ She glances at him. “Well, there’s some stuff in here that I’ve never dealt with before. It’s, um, sort of business-related, but- bad. I don’t know, we have a consultant but I…” she trails off and looks back at his face.

“You…”

“I kind of need some advice from someone who’s worked with this stuff before a lot.”

“Fuckin’ bad business stuff?”

“Uh… yeah, you could say that. It’s a bit dark. So I guess, someone who has maybe seen some questionable business tactics at work?” She looks at him and he furrows his brow.

“Me?” His eyes widen in surprise for a moment. “Questionable business tactics.” A flicker of amusement crosses his face. “Sure. I might have seen those. But, uh, what about your whole ‘good rule-following lawyer’ thing?”

“I think I’m in over my head,” she says quietly.

“Okay, I’m all yours.” He looks at her like she might be losing her mind. “But, you know that’s illegal, right?” He sort of smiles at her completely out-of-character request. He’s practically kicked out whenever she takes a client phone call. She gives him a really worried look and he sees the seriousness. “Okay, let’s hear it.” She takes a breath.

“Well, you know my client Tony Trume?”

“The- yeah, the one I got the judge-“

She squeezes her eyes shut in guilt as she cuts him off.

“-Yeah.” She sighs. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve dealt with this specifically, but he worked at a resort. And his low-level bosses would gather up the employees at the end of their shifts and collect ‘taxes,’ which, obviously…”

“…were not taxes,” he finishes.

“Right. And some of them were not exactly legally allowed to be working in the country, so they couldn’t do anything about it without being deported.” Kendall sighs. He can see where this is going. “So, I guess one of the guys stood up to the boss one night and refused to give him the money and said he would call the police if he did it again tomorrow. Um, but the next day that guy was gone. And Tony has a work visa so he wanted to do something. So this is- well…” She takes a nervous breath. “…Maybe they killed someone, you know?” She looks freaked out. “And it’s on me to help. I mean, maybe they didn’t kill him. Maybe he’s stuck somewhere, maybe…”

“Fuck,” Kendall says, rubbing his temple.

“Yeah. So, any suggestions? On dealing with resorts, or hospitality, or, you know, kidnapping, murder?”

“Uh… wow. Well, you know, Waystar hasn’t had resorts for like, ten years or something, but there was always some fucked-up shit happening at cruises, so I mean, I can tell you they probably all have NDAs, but if there’s a domino effect the company probably won’t go after everyone. But as for that guy- probably just deported him. Killing him would be kind of hard to cover up.”

A flicker of shock flames in her eyes as she looks at him for a second before she extinguishes it. He doesn’t miss it.

“I- I mean, I haven’t seen that, obviously. But who knows what Mo and those fuckin’ creeps did?”

“You don’t?”

“No!” He scoffs. “Come on, I don’t, we were in college when all that was happening. I didn’t even work there yet.” He’s taken aback by the assumption. “I’m just saying it’s probably good news for Tony’s coworker. He’s probably fine.” She backs off as she realizes the timeline is accurate.

“Yeah. You’re right, okay. Then why hasn’t he called?”

“I mean- would you call if you were him?” He shrugs. “He probably wants nothing to do with them ever again.”

“Yeah.”

“Just, uh, look into NDAs and talk to immigration first. I bet you’ll find him. And he can talk and you’ll get what you need. You’re gonna kill this. You got it. If you need anything, you know, I’m like, five feet away at all times,” he laughs a little. She nods and smiles and reaches for his hand for a minute.

“Thank you.”

He loves the feeling of her wanting his advice. It feels like the old days. He turns to head out of the office, but he wants to clear up the earlier weirdness. He reluctantly turns back around before he gets to the door.

“You know, when it’s me in the top job, I won’t cover for them. If our new plan works, you know, things are going to change at the firm.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” She gives him a bit of a forced smile and he doesn’t like it much. But she’ll see. He dreads the idea of going back into the living room to do nothing and decides to charm his way back into his favorite distraction.

“So you’re making me your new consultant now, right?” He looks at her intensely with only a flicker of humor.

She looks up and gives him a smile.

“Oh, sure, welcome to the exciting world of thousand-page documents!”

“I destroy thousand-page documents.”

“Of course you do,” she nods.

“You gonna be my boss?” He asks, eyebrows raised. She laughs at the floor. His efforts to lure her into a new game are beyond charming.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She asks, meeting his eyes again.

He shakes his head.

“Absolutely not. I can be your boss, though. I’d like to see you in my office, actually.”

“Well, we’re in my office right now,” she returns smoothly and gestures to the papers. “And I think you could have filed these faster.” She makes a jokingly doubtful face. “You’re supposed to take over a media company or something?”

“That’s it,” he says, striding over to her and scooping her up from the chair by her waist. “You’re in so much trouble,” he whispers in her ear.

“No! I remember it now. Something ‘star.’” She pretends to try to get away as he nods sarcastically. “I don’t know, I was distracted by my hot new consultant.”

“Oh, right. Well, your hot new consultant is about to make moves.” He kisses her until she starts grabbing at him and then pulls back and walks out the door. She gasps playfully.

“What are you doing??” She asks. He smiles.

“Getting dressed for the party. Wait til you see what Jess got me yesterday.” Her stomach drops a bit at the reality that he’s really going to a party that will inevitably be filled with everything he shouldn’t be near. It makes her want to stick close to him. She follows him into their room and sits on the bed while he puts on his new outfit. He opens his arms to show off.

She looks amused at his t-shirt and blazer.

“That’s what you’re wearing?”

“Oh, what- you’re judging?” He smiles to cover the slight insecurity. “This is fucking awesome.”

She tries not to laugh.

“Is it?”

“Yeah.” He shakes his head and chuckles a little. “You know, not all of us want to wear cardigans all the time.”

“Wow, I like my cardigans.”

“Oh, I know,” he teases. “At night I just think about unbuttoning all those sexy sweaters you have.” His glances down her body and thinks that sounds good right now. The only good thing about their time apart was the fanning of the flame between them.

“Okay, BYE. You can leave now,” she laughs and his mind wanders.

“Remember that little green thing you wore to the club in Prague that one time that we-“

“Almost got arrested?” She crosses her arms and can’t help smiling a little bit. “Yes, I do.”

“Do you still have it?”

“Bye, Ken!”

She playfully pushes him out the bedroom door and she walks back inside.

“Will you wear it when I get home?” She hears through the door.

She sticks her head out the door.

“Maybe.”

.........................

The creepy dark and wet entryway is enough to make him want to turn around again. It makes him uneasy and he doesn’t even know why. It just feels wrong. Everything does here. He walks slowly with Roman into the party, but once he’s in, he only glances around for a second before searching for Sandy with a tunnel vision he’s been planning. He doesn’t even want to see the endless variety of what’s in everyone’s pockets here.

“Ken.” He turns around with dread at hearing Stewy’s voice behind him. Sandy stands talking to a few people nearby. Kendall keeps it cold when he speaks.

“I’m not here to talk to you.”

“Ohh, who told you not to, your therapist?” Kendall crosses his arms. “Tell her I say hi,” Stewy smiles. “Is she hot? I bet you got the hottest therapist in the city.”

Kendall scoffs.

“Fuck off, man, seriously. I have my life together and things cooking, despite your best efforts.”

Stewy looks slightly pained.

“Come on. I don’t want it to be like that. I told you in my many messages, I had-“

“-to follow the money,” they say in unison. Kendall rolls his eyes.

“Well, I hope it was worth it,” he says bitterly.

“Ken. Come on, talk to me about this. The vote’s in the past. And yes, I should have told you about Sandy. But maybe there’s an opportunity here. Ro Ro tell you what we have on the table?”

“Sure. Except I can’t trust you.”

“Okay. That’s fair.” Kendall’s done with this and shakes his head, starting to turn away. “And what if I told you there’s a shape for this bear hug in which you end up where you want to be?”

Kendall furrows his brow and gives him an uncertain look.

“As in…”

Stewy tilts his head and savors the words he says.

“C-E-O.”

He can feel Kendall’s surge of energy from the possibility those three syllables have.

“Yeah, well, that’s- that’s not real. If the market doesn’t think-“

Stewy shrugs casually.

“We’ll sell it. It’ll work.”

He looks at Stewy suspiciously but Stewy knows there’s no way he’s walking away now.

“Well, obviously that’s bullshit. That’s not what you said last month. I want to hear it from Sandy.”

Stewy rolls his eyes.

“Sandy!” He calls. He lowers his voice. “He’s not going to appreciate you interrupting his freak time, Ken.” Kendall doesn’t smile. Sandy walks over and shakes Kendall’s hand.

“Our new business partner,” Sandy greets him. That slightly phony smile never changes, Kendall thinks.

“Sandy, good to see you.”

“I see Stewy must have been filling you in. We all have our hands full tonight, so I’ll just get to the point. We’d like to have you in charge.” Stewy gives Kendall a look.

“Uh huh. And, uh, if I can ask, why this sudden decision?”

“Well,” Sandy smiles wider. “I think we all have at least one common goal here.”

He doesn’t need to say it for Kendall to realize that his father’s biggest rival would love nothing more than simply to make Logan fly off the handle. Kendall looks away for a second. Of course that’s why they want him to lead. It was supposed to make his dad proud to see him take over. He forces a smile and tries to focus on the memory of the morning last month when he walked in the office before everyone else as interim CEO. Just for a moment, he’d felt like he was right where he was supposed to be.

“Yes, we do have one thing in common.”

“Good, good. Glad that’s settled.”

“Sure, but you should know that I know this shit inside out. I’m not looking to be a figurehead.”

“No, no, of course not. And as a non-figurehead, you do understand, then, that there may or may not be a place for your brother.”

Kendall freezes for a moment.

“Well- right, but, uh, we’ll find him something.” Sandy raises his eyebrows and it’s not beyond Kendall that this is a test. “I mean- someone must need an assistant, right?” He fake-smiles and Sandy gives him a long look of assessment.

“Right. Or not, we’ll see. Nice to see you, Kendall. Enjoy the night.” Sandy gives a conspiratorial nod and heads back toward his group.

Stewy looks at Kendall and waits for him to say something. Kendall crosses his arms again.

“So, what, I’m supposed to be happy to be a pawn in Sandy’s fucking revenge plot against my dad?”

“Don’t think of it like that. Think of it like, I get fuckin’ rich, Sandy gets his revenge, and you get the title you want so much.” Stewy says it with just enough sarcasm not to sell it.

“I want the actual role, Stewy.”

“You’ll have it!”

Kendall searches his eyes to see if it’s true. Unreadable.

Stewy’s face softens for a moment.

"Come on, you and me, bro. Let’s do this. Finally.” He opens his arms.

Kendall’s half-reluctant as he gives in and lets Stewy give him a big hug. He stares across the room and wonders if he should have told him to fuck off again instead. Stewy’s relieved and pats Kendall’s back as he lets go. He checks his phone and smiles.

“Okay. Good. So we’re set. And I have to go, I’m in high demand tonight. But hey. We’re doing this.”

“Right.”

“Like we always planned!” Stewy calls as he points at Kendall and walks into the throng of people.

Kendall walks away from Stewy and sighs. He hates that he always forgives everyone so easily. He grimaces at the idea of Roman and Stewy plotting how to puppet-master him together. Are they high-fiving now? How does he know that they aren’t planning to oust him after using him to make the deal with Sandy? The whole ousting-Roman thing could have been fake, conceived by Roman himself. He can’t believe he let them back in like it was nothing and gets angry at himself for always doing that. This is why he gets stepped on, he thinks, it’s why Rava knew he’d stick around for three years. Everyone takes advantage. Roman voted against him, Stewy’s only supporting him for the potential payout, Rava knew he’d come back whenever she wanted. Even Dad is probably just waiting for him to come crawling back. It makes him want to throw something at the wall. He just wants to stop feeling like this and he looks around for something, anything, to get him out of his head.

But the minute he comes back to his senses, he wishes he hadn’t.

The drinks are everywhere. Lines on the table, smoke in the air, pills in every palm. He can’t look in any direction without seeing something he would have grabbed and ingested just a few years ago. Emotional crisis or not, he needs to hear her voice, needs her to tell him what he knows he should do.

Rava picks up on the first ring. She stayed awake just in case. She always has.

“Hey. You okay? How’s everything?” She’s trying not to sound stressed. She hates the loud music in the background. It reminds of her of past phone calls she’d rather not remember.

“Hey. Everything’s fine, I just, uh, this probably isn’t the best place for me.”

She puts her book down and sits up taller in bed. She knew the bachelor party was a bad idea.

“Okay. Yeah, Ken, you should walk out of there, okay? Even if no one comes with you.”

“Yeah.”

She’s leaning onto her hand with her eyes closed.

“Okay, are you walking out?”

Tom walks by with a tall blonde carrying drinks. Kendall’s eyes follow the ice cubes.

“Ken.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m walking out.”

She’s desperate to hear the music stop. Her entire life depends on hearing it stop.

“Okay, like, now? You’re leaving now?”

“Uh huh. I’m… yeah. I’m gonna leave. But I don’t know, I should talk to Sandy again maybe. Yeah? I kind of think he and Stewy might be planning-“

He looks at the bar and wonders if they have any non-alcoholic beer. Her heart is pounding.

“No. No, you shouldn’t talk to Sandy again, you can call him tomorrow. Just, you have to just walk out the door and everything will be fine. Are you walking?”

He’s standing.

He’s not answering.

“Hey. You’re actually really scaring me right now, what are you doing?”

He watches Tom laughing at Greg over a powder-covered table.

He wants to clean off the entire thing himself.

“I- nothing, I’m leaving. Yeah.” He turns away from it slowly. He’s so tired of being so tightly wound all the time. Tired of being taken advantage of. He just wants to erase it all.

“I fucking forgot what it looked like to relax,” he says to her. She might have a heart attack imagining what he’s looking at.

“That is not relaxing. That is hell.” She’s thinking of texting Roman to get him out of there and trying to keep her voice even. “Is Roman with you?”

“He’s somewhere… yeah. Following me around. He’s always like that. Can’t come up with anything himself, it’s like we’re fifteen.”

“Can you go to him?” She asks, the tension killing her.

“I don’t know.. yeah. Why, you think my kid brother needs to babysit me?” She doesn’t like the edge in his voice. “He can’t be trusted. This whole thing could be a test.”

“Come on, it’s not me. You called me to tell me you shouldn’t be there. You’re right. Come home. I’m here, the kids are here… Call the driver there and come home.”

He sighs and puts serious effort into focusing on the image of the kids on the couch in the family room and Rava in his sweater in their favorite armchair.

“Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” He tries to remember the coping skills he learned in rehab, but all he feels is a desperate need for every substance around him even as it’s all threatening to destroy his life. He pictures sitting on the floor alone in his old place, sees her tears in his mind, hears her broken voice telling him to go because she can’t do this anymore and neither can the kids. His worst memories combined with his worst fears. He closes his eyes and tries as hard as he possibly can to take steps toward the door. “I’m going.”

He looks at the exit sign and focuses all his energy on taking one step at a time toward it. He sends a text to the local driver as he gets closer. He’s almost starting to feel like he’s going to make it out when Roman runs up behind him.

“Uh- hold on, Roman’s here,” he says to Rava. Her nails are digging into her skin.

“Are you leaving?” Roman asks.

“Yeah. I can’t be here.”

“Good for you.. I mean, yeah, just wanted to make sure you’re all, like, good and shit.”

He pats his little brother on the back. At least he can tell this is real.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Okay, good, so… we’ll talk more about this deal, right? Because I kind of think Sandy might be forgetting about me-”

“Yeah.” Kendall turns to go. He just has to get out of here, he’ll deal with Roman later.

“Hey, who are you talking to?” Roman asks suspiciously.

“Rava.”

“Are you really talking to Rava, or are you maybe talking to Nick the candy man?”

“You want to talk to her?” Kendall glares at him and hands the phone over. He’s not in the mood to argue and just wants to leave. Roman feels bad but he takes the phone anyway.

“Rava?”

“Yes. Hi. Can you make sure he actually walks out the door?”

Roman tries to turn away from Kendall but he hears his reply anyway.

“Yeah, I will. Just wanted to make sure it was actually-“

“I know. I appreciate it.”

“Okay. I’m gonna give you back to that idiot you married. I still think you’re too good for him, by the way.”

Kendall grabs the phone out of his hand.

“Fuck off. I’m leaving.”

“Bye, asshole. Call me,” Roman says.

Kendall rolls his eyes as Roman turns to walk back into the party.

“Okay,” he says back into the phone. “I’m going.” He finally walks through the door and the frantic rhythm of the music finally fades along with the thumping of her heart.

“Oh, my god,” she whispers with a sigh. "Wow, I really want to see you right now,” she says softly.

“Me too.”

"I wish you were home. I’m already in bed… you must be so tired.”

He glances at his watch. 2:25 AM.

“Yeah, I’m kind of.. dying, actually. Wish I was already getting in bed with you.”

She wraps her arms around her pillow.

“Me too.”

He leans against the car door in exhaustion.

"I'll be there soon.”

“How many hours?” She asks. He smiles.

“One. I love you.”

“I love you so much.” She’s relieved and missing him like crazy. “I’ll see you soon.”

The call ends and she scoots down to tuck herself into bed. It seems too big and empty tonight. She closes her eyes and counts the minutes til she can fall asleep to the sound of him breathing next to her.

An hour later, she’s sleeping but restless. Even after all that time apart, she still finds that she doesn’t really get any good sleep when he isn’t there. The sound of the elevator door opening wakes her and she’s never been so pleased to hear it. She listens to his footsteps across the marble floor. He opens the door just a crack and slips into the dark room, looking at the bed to try to see if he woke her up and whether she’s actually going to be happy to see him.

“Hey,” she whispers. The relief at actually having him in the room after that phone call is coming in waves. “I’m so glad you’re home. Come here.” She wants him to feel good about calling for support. He should know there are no punishments for that.

He wonders if he smells like booze and smoke from the party as he shrugs his jacket off and pulls off his new sneakers and jeans, walking over to kiss her. She reaches up and tugs him down toward her.

“You, uh, don’t think I should wash the party off me first?”

“No, I don’t care,” she says softly as he leans over her. “Come here, I need you to be here.”

He feels the weight lifted off his shoulders as he lets her pull him into her arms and under the covers.

She cuddles up to him as she breathes him in and smiles.

“You smell like college,” she says. He chuckles as she pulls off his t-shirt and he pulls the blanket up.

“I told you,” he whispers.

The scent brings a memory right back.

“It smells like the time you left that huge party after your finals and you came over late at night because I was so stressed about my tests the next day. You gave me a massage and told me everything would be okay even though you had just been at Sig Chi’s end-of-the-year party.”

He blinks.

“You remember that?”

“Mmhmm, you came over just to be there.” She runs her fingers through his hair.

“Kind of thought I was the only one who thinks about that stuff,” he says. “It was such a long time ago.” She shakes her head.

“Not so long.” She revels in how warm he feels and how grateful she is that he’s okay after tonight. Her voice comes out just above a whisper. “You’re still the same, you know. You’ve always been so good.”

He’s almost overwhelmed. He’s so glad he came home. He smiles and looks down for a second.

“Those are some really nice words to say to a guy who just left a pretty disgusting bachelor party.”

“Yeah. You left,” she smiles, looking up at him in the dark. He gazes back at her.

“I had a pretty amazing reason to get home.”

She gives him a little kiss. She missed his romantic moments and wants him to say more cute things.

“I did leave,” he says, more to himself than to her, and she can’t remember the last time she saw him look this genuinely proud of himself. “I hope- I didn’t mean to scare you tonight.”

“No, you didn’t… I mean, a little, but I always want you to call.” She kisses him again and he keeps it going as he tries to think of anything to say that expresses how he feels hearing that even after all they’ve been through. There’s a moment of quiet.

“So,” she starts apprehensively. She takes a breath. “Look, after all of this,  I just don’t know that you should go back into Waystar.”

“What? I have to.” The answer is immediate.

“Do you?"

“What do you- I mean, this is what I’m doing. It’s- it’s CEO. This is what I’ve been waiting for.” He looks almost confused at her lack of reaction. “And… look, tonight was hard. I don’t have to tell you because you know, but like- If I don’t have this, I just-“ There’s a pause full of history and dread. “I need it.”

“Well, I do get that. I do. I know.” She wishes she could make it easy for him, that he didn’t have to struggle so hard just to stay afloat and be himself.

She knows she’s right about one thing. Waystar might be the thing to keep him on the right path, but Logan isn’t.

“Well, if you do this, really- you have to take out your dad. We both want you to stay in this good place.” He nods, but he’s getting tired of feeling like a project. “And Logan has proven he isn’t going to help with that. So, if you do this…” She takes another breath. “I can only get behind it if you honestly think this is going to work and he’s going to be out. Is this going to work?”

“Yeah. He’s going out. We’re winning this. It’s my time.” He tries to get though to her so she’ll feel the excitement he’s been feeling all week at the prospect of getting it all back somehow. He’s trying not to let it drop just because he feels like Sandy and Stewy are using him. “I mean, come on, this is- this is the plan. I-” He pauses and realizes she really might not be behind his life plan at all. “I want this.”

He tries to stay levitated and lifts his head, looking at her expectantly. She takes too long to exhale.

“Yeah. Okay. Good. If it’s going to work, then good. Sure,” she says. He looks so disappointed and breaks eye contact as he blinks down and lays his head back down slowly. It makes her sad to feel his positive energy dissolve. She’d almost forgotten how sensitive he is when he tells her about a big idea and she worries about the assumptions he’s probably making.

“Hey, I do believe in you.” She waits for him to look back at her but he keeps his eyes down. She tilts her head to look at him more closely and playfully jostles him. “Come back. I only want what’s going to make you happy.”

“Well, I’m doing this- this is the plan,” he tells her half-heartedly. He tries to focus on imagining everyone’s impressed faces when he’s killing it. “You, Stewy, Sandy, Roman, you’ll see when it works.”

“Ouch. I am not grouped with them!” She says as lightly as she can. He shrugs.

“I mean-“ he gestures at her. She used to joke about them being Waystar royalty someday. He remembers the time she put a paper crown on his head in his home office and called him “your highness” all afternoon. He’d laughed and shaken his head, but he hadn’t taken it off. He wants that back. He mentally adds getting her faith back to his to-do list.

“No- I know you can do this,” she assures him. “I do. As long as you can- handle it all, and it’s really what you want.”

“I can. And it is.” She takes it in for a second and silently sighs.

“Okay. Then I’m with you.”

He looks at her and she nods, holding his gaze for a moment so he’ll know she means it. And so she can look a little longer.

She brushes her hand over the stubble on his cheek and he feels a bit better.

“You know, this is sexy,” she says as she moves him down so she can feel it brushing her neck. He smiles a little into her skin.

“Yeah? You like the unemployed look?”

She laughs.

“Never working, that’s always been your problem.”

“Uh huh.”

“Hey, you know what you can do when you don’t have to go to work?”

He thinks.

“Honestly, no. What?”

“Spend the whole… day… in bed.”

“Mmm,” she feels him smile again and he pulls her closer against him.

“The kids have playdates tomorrow, and you might be glad to know I found that green thing, so…”

He pulls back just to look at her and she sees his eyes flash in the dark.

“Seriously?”

He’s so easy to rile up.

“Yeah. I’m not as boring as you think.” He chuckles.

“You could never be boring. It’s actually good you don’t wear stuff like that around the house or I’d never go to work. Or- uh, out. But to be clear, you’re definitely wearing it tomorrow, right?”

She gives him a flirty smile.

“Yes.” She puts her forehead on his and sees the little spark coming back into his eyes.

He moves back down to his usual sleeping spot and kisses her shoulder. She’s so glad he’s coming back to being himself this week. The energy has returned. He has a mission. She hopes he knows he has support.

“I missed you. I’m glad you’re back,” she says as she hugs him.

“Me too.”

Chapter 10 💗

[empress-of-snark]

Top 100 Ladies of TV

A challenge issued by @televinita that ended up being a lot harder than I expected?? For someone who watches as much TV as I do, this should’ve been a cakewalk but I was struggling.

Disclaimer: yeah, a few of these characters are technically from books that then got adapted into TV shows, which may be a bit of a cheat, but this is an arbitrary list that is completely meaningless to anyone who isn’t me, so I’ve decided that it’s not against the rules.

(sorted alphabetically by show title, in an additional level of organization that I couldn’t resist)

Janine Teagues (Abbott Elementary)

Barbara Howard (Abbott Elementary)

Melissa Schemmenti (Abbott Elementary)

Ava Coleman (Abbott Elementary)

Winifred ‘Fred’ Burkle (Angel the Series)

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Korra (Avatar: The Legend of Korra)

Asami Sato (Avatar: The Legend of Korra)

Lin Beifong (Avatar: The Legend of Korra)

Tina Belcher (Bob’s Burgers)

Louise Belcher (Bob’s Burgers)

Linda Belcher (Bob’s Burgers)

Amy Santiago (Brooklyn 99)

Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn 99)

Gina Linetti (Brooklyn 99)

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series)

Kate Beckett (Castle)

Alexis Castle (Castle)

Martha Rogers (Castle)

Robin Ellacott (CB Strike)

Annie Edison (Community)

Brittany Perry (Community)

Shirley Bennett (Community)

Erin Quinn (Derry Girls)

Michelle Mallon (Derry Girls)

Orla McCool (Derry Girls)

Clare Devlin (Derry Girls)

Sister Michael (Derry Girls)

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)

Martha Jones (Doctor Who)

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Zoe Washburne (Firefly)

Kaylee Frye (Firefly)

Inara Serra (Firefly)

River Tam (Firefly)

Daphne Moon (Frasier)

Roz Doyle (Frasier)

Phoebe Buffay (Friends)

Monica Gellar (Friends)

Rachel Green (Friends)

Dorothy Zbornak (Golden Girls)

Rose Nylund (Golden Girls)

Blanche Devereaux (Golden Girls)

Sophia Petrillo (Golden Girls)

Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Wendy Corduroy (Gravity Falls)

Pacifica Northwest (Gravity Falls)

Kim Possible

Parker (Leverage)

Sophie Devereaux (Leverage)

Judy Robinson (Lost in Space 2018)

Penny Robinson (Lost in Space 2018)

Maureen Robinson (Lost in Space 2018)

Dr. Smith/June Harris (Lost in Space 2018)

Guinevere (Merlin)

Morgana Pendragon (Merlin)

Ziva David (NCIS)

Abby Sciuto (NCIS)

Cecelia ‘Cece’ Parekh (New Girl)

Pam Beesly (The Office)

Mabel Mora (Only Murders in the Building)

Beatrice (Over the Garden Wall)

Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation)

Ann Perkins (Parks and Recreation)

April Ludgate (Parks and Recreation)

Abby Maitland (Primeval)

Sarah Page (Primeval)

Jess Parker (Primeval)

Dani Powell (Prodigal Son)

Edrisa Tanaka (Prodigal Son)

Juliet O’Hara (Psych)

Karen Vick (Psych)

Charlotte ‘Chuck’ Charles (Pushing Daisies)

Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)

Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)

Inej Ghafa (Shadow and Bone)

Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone)

Nina Zenik (Shadow and Bone)

Molly Hooper (Sherlock)

Mary Watson (Sherlock)

Nancy Wheeler (Stranger Things)

Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper (Stranger Things)

Max Mayfield (Stranger Things)

Robin Buckley (Stranger Things)

Chrissy Cunningham (Stranger Things)

Rebecca Welton (Ted Lasso)

Keeley Jones (Ted Lasso)

Allison Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy)

Lila Pitts (The Umbrella Academy)

The Handler (The Umbrella Academy)

Natasha Rostova (War and Peace 2016)

Myka Bering (Warehouse 13)

Claudia Donovan (Warehouse 13)

Jamie Campbell (Zoo)

Chloe Tousignaunt (Zoo)

Dariela Marzan (Zoo)

[redridcr]

quick merc verse lissy things b4 i forget

personable and authentic like Red. Jokes but not as vulgar as him. Less cursing.

specific to merc verse: Lin Beifong's supposed secretary. That agreeable British accent everyone needs. Sets up appointments and psych evaluations ( ? tbd) . Maternal and stern in a sisterly way whenever it is needed but not as strict as Beifong. Not afraid of touch and never overstates ; light pats on an arm or holding hands in a poise, paternal manner when the moment calls for it.

You probably hear her voice over the most over Lin's radio or on the voicemails in the office. Pleasant, precise, to the point, with just enough horseplay.

Shorter than Red and taller then Lin. Her weight is in between theirs.

Has three children and isn't afraid to mention them. May have poisoned the governess that pulled them away from her and the frivolous high society life Lissy was married into. Lissy still won't give up the name of who taught her how to collect those ingredients and make such a concoction. ( Sophie de Clermont ).

Not afraid of a good game night and some under-the-rug gambling. She is one of the ones you invite to keep the conversation moving through the late hours. Watch out - - - she cheats.

Does work well under pressure when feeding someone information when they are undercover. Calm and collected and like a comforting friend, even if her voice is coming from an earpiece.

[yinx1]

Have you watched leverage redemption? I got into leverage through your blog and I've been trying to watch redemption but I feel like it's just not as thrilling as the original.

Yes I have watched all of it. I agree it’s not as trilling as the original. It lacks a je ne sais quoi as Sophie would say. I watched more for the characters than I did for plot. Which with the original I’d watch for both. The lack of Hardison made it loose its touch with me. He really is the glue that held the show together. Without Elliot and his banter and Parker and his playfulness it’s just not the same. I believe if Aldis didn’t have scheduling conflicts with Black Adam the show would have been more popular. It was shown in the original that the characters don’t always need Nate but the show isn’t the same without Hardison.

I’m glad I got you into the show. I’m thinking of doing a rewatch after my rewatch of Psych. 🤗

[themovieblogonline]

Sometimes I Think About Dying Review: An Insight Into Quiet Loneliness

Sometimes I Think About Dying is an introspective exploration into the quiet recesses of loneliness and the unexpected, fragile connections that bring color into a monochromatic life. Directed by Rachel Lambert, the film is a thoughtful adaptation of the 2013 play Killers by Kevin Armento and draws inspiration from a similarly titled 2019 short film co-written and directed by Stefanie Abel Horowitz. This romantic comedy-drama, crafted with a unique blend of poignant melancholy and subtle humor, strikes a delicate balance that aims to capture the essence of human isolation and the understated power of companionship. Daisy Ridley stars as Fran, embodying the character's introverted nature with a performance that radiates depth and vulnerability, albeit inconsistently across the film’s duration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wVBg7Ta1yw The premise of the film is quietly compelling, with Fran leading a life marked by an overwhelming sense of solitude and a peculiar preoccupation with thoughts of death. Ridley's portrayal of Fran's interior world is nuanced, drawing viewers into her solitary existence with an earnestness that feels both profound and relatable. However, where the film falters is in its pacing and occasional predictability, treading familiar ground without offering substantial new insight into the theme of loneliness in the modern world. The arrival of Robert played with a gentle awkwardness by Dave Merheje, serves as the catalyst for the narrative’s exploration of human connection. The chemistry between Ridley and Merheje is notable, although their interactions at times feel constrained by a script that struggles to fully flesh out their characters beyond the surface level. Despite this, there are moments of genuine warmth and tenderness between Fran and Robert that highlight the potential for deep connection even amongst the most isolated of souls. Supporting performances by Parvesh Cheena, Meg Stalter, and Brittany O’Grady add vibrancy to the film. They offer a counterbalance to Fran’s introspection. Cheena's Garrett and Stalter’s Isobel, in particular, bring a necessary levity to the narrative. O’Grady's Sophie offers a nuanced reflection on the various ways people navigate their insecurities and desires for intimacy. The film’s cinematography and use of visual metaphors deserve commendation. Scenes are often bathed in a muted palette, reflecting Fran's internal state. On the other hand,  bursts of color signify moments of emotional awakening. These visual choices enhance the narrative, creating a sensory representation of Fran’s journey that resonates on a visceral level. However, the screenplay, penned by Kevin Armento, Stefanie Abel Horowitz, and Katy Wright-Mead, occasionally meanders. It leaves some emotional beats feeling unearned. The dialogue aims for authenticity, capturing the awkwardness of real-life interactions. But at times veers into territory that feels slightly contrived. Despite this, the script succeeds in delivering moments of poignant reflection on the nature of existence. It threads dark humor throughout in a way that feels both refreshing and deeply human. Where Sometimes I Think About Dying shines is in its quieter moments. Scenes where little is said but much is conveyed. Lambert's direction emphasizes the unspoken, allowing actors to convey depth through gestures and glances. The film's restraint is commendable, but it sometimes fails to fully engage the viewer. The film's exploration of themes such as mortality, the mundane, and the fear of intimacy is ambitious. It explores the protagonist's psyche, showing her common fears and desires in a personal and universal way. However, the film doesn’t always manage to sustain this delicate balance. It occasionally veers into overly introspective territory that detracts from its emotional impact. In its essence, Sometimes I Think About Dying is a film about the beauty of life’s small moments. It also shows the significance of human connection. Everyday life has the potential for transformation through small interactions. The film struggles with coherence but is still commendable. Sometimes I Think About Dying is a film with heart and ambition. Despite its shortcomings, it provides a contemplative look at the lives we lead in quiet desperation. Also, the fleeting moments that can imbue those lives with meaning. Ridley’s performance as Fran anchors the film. She offers a window into the soul of a character whose journey reflects our collective yearning for connection. It may not resonate with all, but for some, it offers a poignant reflection on the human condition. Read the full article

[whileiamdying]

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami

by Brian Orndorf, August 13, 2018

Grace Jones has been a recording artist and general pop culture figure for over 40 years, but those who've stood outside her fame would probably find it difficult to identify what makes the icon tick. "Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami" isn't a career overview or a very in-depth biographical investigation, but director Sophie Fiennes makes it a priority to deliver a seldom seen side of the artist as she approaches the age of 70, following her as she records a new album, dominates the stage, does the promotional rounds, and pays a visit to her family in Jamaica. "Bloodlight and Bami" offers outstanding concert sequences to refresh appreciation for Jones's talents and blazing sense of style, but it's also an intimate study of temperament and trauma, with the subject unafraid to showcase her impatience with world as she quests to realize her art.

Fiennes doesn't really direct "Bloodlight and Bami." I'm not sure anyone can truly direct Grace Jones, forcing the helmer to sneak around in observational mode with commercial-grade equipment, often shooting the subject from afar, which adds to the voyeuristic ambiance of the documentary. The good news is that Jones is an open book, unafraid to share her schedule with Fiennes and the audience, and "Bloodlight and Bami" cuts between Jones's day job as a singer and performer and her trip to Jamaica to reunite with family and friends. It's a restorative journey she apparently hasn't made in quite some time, returning to her former home, reconnecting with the people who shaped her life, also taking a sensorial odyssey as she gulps down coconut milk, reenters familiar homes, revisits church, and even encounters an old set of jacks, immediately hunkering down to give the metal and rubber another round of play. Fiennes absorbs the atmosphere, with conversations among family members a major part of the film, studying Jones as she processes old memories, including her time as a child under her abusive grandfather, known as "Mas P." The violence of this time remains embedded in Jones's psyche, and she discusses the nightmare at length with those in the know.

The Jamaican visit represents a third of "Bloodlight and Bami," but it's a necessary mission for Jones, who's continually working on her issues, using the trip as a way to strengthen herself during a strange time in her life. Another section of the picture tracks the development of a new album, her first without the support of a record company. It's here where the viewer is introduced to Jones's famous anger, which she describes as her inner "panther," showing little patience for those who fail to follow through on promises or mess with her schedule. Rage is periodically detailed in "Bloodlight and Bami," watching Jones deal with musicians trying to switch recording dates after studio time is booked, and there's a visit to a television variety show, where producers decide to surround Jones with scantily clad dancers, challenging the focus of the performance. Fiennes draws a connection between the "Mas P" years and Jones's current psychological unrest, but "Bloodlight and Bami" doesn't paint a portrait of a curdled woman, just one who has standards and fears, refusing to let others walk all over her. It's empowering in a way, but also highlights a compelling vulnerability.

The highlights of "Bloodlight and Bami" showcase Jones in her element: on stage, dressed in ornate costumes, and thrilling an audience with sheer artful force. Performing hits such as "Slave to the Rhythm" and "Warm Leatherette," Jones showcases her wonderful costumes and impressive voice, aiming to generate an eye-popping set where she stalks carefully designed and lit stages, highlighting her interest in abstract images that best emphasize her unique ideas on self-expression and entertainment. The performances are also shot more professionally than the rest of the documentary, giving "Bloodlight and Bami" much needed beauty to properly reinforce Jones's musical contributions and full-body commitment to the art of showmanship.

The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation is balancing two distinct cinematographic approaches to "Bloodlight and Bami." Tour footage is captured with lower resolution equipment, giving the feature a video-esque immediacy, which is smeary but inherently so. Concert footage is richly cinematic, with filmic grain and stronger detail, giving viewers a chance to study Jones's theatricality and her extraordinary costuming. Colors come alive on stage, with bold primaries and brighter lighting effects. Skintones are mostly natural here. Delineation is better in concert than on the road.

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix carries outstanding presence with Jones onstage, delivering sharp, deep instrumentation, including tight bass and crisp percussion, while vocals are distinct, detailing skill and in-the-moment passion. Studio recording scenes also carry precision. Tour excursions are less defined, but again, this is the way the feature was created, preserving a raw sense of moment to Jones's life. Surrounds do well with expanding music, but wisely downplay crowd response to support vocal power. Low-end is appealing, maintaining funky rhythm.

"Bloodlight and Bami" doesn't supply a career overview or file through biographical details with tight structure. It's loose and fresh, understanding Jones's special personality by collecting fragments of behavior, getting to know the artist from a unique point of view. Obviously, it doesn't take much to make the subject interesting (Jones is a real character), but Fiennes assembles a raw look at a performer who remains in motion, continuing to produce art and experience life, only now such expressions of self include more introspective energy, with Jones reaching out to connect with the woman she once was to contribute to the continually evolving icon she's become.

[thewickedharlot]

Its only been a month or two out since the Dollhouse finale, but fans are already speculating and debating on the ideal cast of season thirteen.

Here's our ideal lineup:

dallia park - Dallia has already proven that she can be outspoken, so we thought she'd be the perfect person to hop into Dollhouse next season. With her sister having been the winner of Season 12, she better try to honor the legacy.

natasha reynolds - Who better than Natasha Reynolds? Every season needs an alcoholic. Dax had us covered this season, but what about next? Renata had to punch someone to get a bottle of tequila.. I bet Natasha would set someone on fire to get one.

venus colby - C'mon. You guys had to know this one was coming. It is frequently debated why Venus Colby has never been on Dollhouse. Is she declining, is she failing the psych exam? Either way, we'd love to see her.

sophie selwyn - We'd love to see someone wide eyed and a little stupid to be confused as to why everyone isn't getting along. Someones gotta balance out the aggression.

noah chang - Will Cipher ever go on the show? Probably not, but alas we can hope. We'd love to see what secrets would get revealed during the lie detector challenge.

thomas doyle - Someones gotta be the stick in the mud! Every season needs a Sadie.

bonnie walker - A girl can dream, can't she? With Fletcher and Poppy having been on this season, we can only hope to have Bonnie on next season to force some tears out as they make her watch the Fletcher-Poppy scenes on repeat.

andrea jansen - We need to talk about Goosh, Andrea!

emery rappaport - We haven't really had too many old guys on the show. It'd be hysterical, in my humble opinion, to watch Emery try to keep the peace with Sophie while everyone rips each others arms off.

rai shio - While we don't know much about Rai, someone will have to fill the Logan-shaped hole in our heart. Someones gotta be the streamer that doesn't shower.

[ask-the-foxfire-high-students]

alright guys, what show(s) have you been binge-watching in quarantine?

SOPHIE: Criminal minds, Psych, iZombie, Lucifer, House…

KEEFE: basically if it’s on netflix she’s into it

FITZ: And we are by extension.

BIANA: Watching New Girl for the hundredth time!

DEX: doin my best to make them all watch atla

TAM: i’ll watch house and criminal minds with sophie

BIANA: Tam is like Zuko!!

TAM: shut up.

[strunmah-mah]

#if you have a women you are obsessed with let me know

Ask and ye shall receive.

Lemme tell you about my girl Venus.

When I was a kid we had a VHS for for TMNT: The Next Mutation. It was live action and I thought it was a sequel to the 90's movies. And in it was introduced Venus De Milo. A turtle who was mutated the same time as the boys, but she got found by a man named Chung I who brought her to China and raised her secretly in a temple. She knew how to fight and cast magic, and she fought dragons and I thought she was the coolest thing ever.

And then in highschool I found The Next Mutation on Netflix and got excited. It was an entire show and not just a single movie like I remembered it being. I was psyched for more adventures with Venus. I sat down t binge it and discovered . . . it was bad. The show was so incredibly horribly written, I couldn't stand watching it past what I had already seen as a kid. It did not hold up to my childhood memories.

But I did some poking around online about the show and discovered that other people also thought it was bad. But most of them thought it was bad because Venus existed and girl turtle bad and annoying. And this was an extremely common opinion. Like even Peter Laid, one of the co-creators of the TMNT, hated her so much he band any and all female turtles from getting made as long as long as he owned the rights because apparently the whole concept was irremediably flawed.

Thankfully for Venus, he sold his rights. And when Sophie Campbell was made the lead writer of IDW's TMNT comics she made the push to reintroduce Venus to TMNT canon. And for that One Reason I started reading those comics.

There is a trend in the TMNT fandom when people are designing female turtles to be a sister the boys, whether is be in fan continuities or trying to fit her into one of the cartoons, to just create a character and slap Venus's name on it without any regard to what Venus was actually like and it annoys me so much. If it's a girl, it must be Venus.

Sophie didn't do that. Sophie actually gave me my girl back. There's some differences to be sure. Instead of being raised by a monk, she's now Frankenstein's monster. But the core of Venus? The girl who's inexperienced and naive, but strong willed and ready to find her place in the world? She was back and I could not be more hyped.

i NEED to be more insane about women

[time-is-restored]

Psych, Shawn Spencer Meta

and now, to complete the dump of my psych thoughts, i thought i'd collate some various discord thoughts and put them all side by side into a post. that way, i can see all my analyses along side one another and easily see how they changed throughout the show's seasons. that being said, here are my thoughts on shawn spencer's psychology, as of season 6 episode 6, 'Shawn Interrupted':

quick disclaimer: the type of analysis I'm doing here is very rudimentary (ie: 'hmm i bet having an absent mother and a controlling father would have An Impact™ on a child', and, 'hey maybe this character who has issues with concentration could have adhd'), and i want to stress that i am very much not an expert, or even really anything more than a lay-man on issues of psychology, trauma, and abuse. truly, i am just chilling, attempting to connect some dots. that being said, here are The Thoughts:

and now, a brief interlude to talk about how i think shawn feels about gus, as of the finale of season 6:

since i don't go much into any evidence in this screenshot - the person im talking to hasn't seen the show, so i didn't want to get bogged down in details that would ultimately mean nothing to them - here's a brief elaboration on what i mean:

the core tenant of the shawn + gus relationship is that they like each other. and yes, that's a very obvious thing to say, but its kind of necessary to establish - especially considering the habit of sitcoms + serial shows like this to accidentally write main characters that seemingly despise each other, and only seem to stick around each other bc of the demands of the genre.

so, shawn and gus like each other. they find each other funny, they enjoy each others company, they are very invested in each others success + happiness, etc. they spend a lot of time 'fighting' (ie: 'i hate you, shawn' + shawn calling gus some variant of lame), but the more of the show you watch the more obvious it becomes that this is very superficial bit that they do, and doesn't reflect their actual, big picture feelings abt the other party. even when they are actually for real fighting, the show makes a point to establish that the relationship itself is never in any real jeopardy (ie: that time shawn stormed out, only to come back in and ask gus for fashion advice. also, that time gus said to shawn's Face that it was highly unlikely that shawn could ever do something to fully, 100% drive him away).

now we're not going into hero worship territory here - the facts of the matter are that shawn and gus are both, genuinely, quite lame. they are nerds. dorks. idiots. etc. they fully recognise this in each other (if usually not themselves), and still think of each other as their favourite person!

so, yes, the scene in the polarising express where shawn imagines gus as a helpless slave to a woman who seemingly only loves his money, is more than a little bit of a joke at gus' expense. but shawn's reaction to the scene is very genuine - he is upset, first and foremost, that gus isn't being appreciated. because gus deserves appreciation! he really is just the 'specialest' boy in shawn's eyes, and shawn believes that he thus deserves an appropriate amount of recognition (ie: literally everything about the high school reunion episode, omg).

tl;dr: best friends who roast each other together, but still 100% believe that the other party deserves the world, stay together :)