#sorry for being cringe and cheesy on main this is on purpose

[kittysquire]

Happy birthday Aira!! 💛✨🫶

… and there you have the origin to me drawing Aira with heartshaped earrings! 🤍

Aira is super important to me, for some reason he just instantly became my son when I saw him as I started playing enstars 🥹 He deserves the world, I wanna see him loved and pampered by his loved ones, and so I made it happen 🔥 oh yeah; and hiiai if you squint with your eyes wide open!

-

Whew, im gonna be honest, i’m not super happy with the result, i’ve been working on this pretty much non stop this entire day, and i feel i ran out of juice near the end.. but I really wanted to finish it in time for his Bday, and so I delivered. Happy birthday once more, to both Aira and everyone having their birthday today! 🫶 Have a good week!

[incesthemes]

one more thing actually. the whole concept of the apocalypse world is both cheesy beyond belief AND ahistorical and revisionist to an insulting degree. "sam and dean were never born so the apocalypse destroyed the world" have you by chance forgotten that sam and dean were (1) the ones to cause the apocalypse in the first place, and (2) the true vessels through which the apocalypse could even happen.

sam and dean are literally the conduits for the apocalypse. they were born specifically and exclusively so the apocalypse could happen. without them, michael and lucifer have no vessels sturdy enough to hold them (they could theoretically in john and mary but john's been dead 20 years so that's a bust too). who came up with this idea???? it makes no damn sense.

also after the moral lessons sam and dean learned across seasons 8 to 11 be "the winchesters are destructive by nature and will end the world over and over again to save their brother because they're insane and fundamentally bad for the world so they need to die," having "this wretched place is the world where you were never born" is just so cringe. i'm sorry. like they really fucked this one up. it contradicts not only the entire original kripke era but also every single other season made in the worst ways. when the point of your show is that your main characters destroy everything they touch (to the extent that MULTIPLE supernatural beings try to kill them for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of keeping the world alive and not destroyed) and lie to themselves about the good they put into the world, taking that lie at face value and then making a whole alternate universe based on it is just. so cringe. terrible writing that's so out of place in an otherwise pretty good season finale (especially combined with its penultimate episode).

[valwrite]

hide & seek; daveed diggs

masterlist

summary: Y/N L/N can´t keep a promise. (sequel to leap frog & hopscotch)

warnings: cushion violence.

fic style: drabble.

word count: 1807

author’s note: this is the third and final drabble from the leap frog series. sorry that it’s kind of short and not really as good as the other two, i’ve got a bit of writer’s block right now. like, i have tons of ideas of what i would like to write but, when i try to write, my brain forgets the whole english dictionary and is just like “qué?”.

It was official. Rafael Casal was going to kill Daveed Diggs and Y/N L/N.

The sun had barely risen an hour ago; the air was still crisp with the chill of the night; some people were just making their way home, exhaustion and last night's makeup painting their face, and there Rafa was stood, phone pressed to his ear whilst his fist banged against the oak door repeatedly. He'd spent fifteen minutes in the very same predicament, alternating between calling Daveed and Y/N. Neither of the two were picking up despite the fact he was sure he could hear their phones ringing from indoors.

It was typical, honestly, for the two to pull such a stunt on him. The poor man was juggling having to worry about his friends whereabouts and his own health, which was progressively slipping away from him as his stress levels grew from having both their close relatives breathing down the back of his neck and questioning him on where exactly the two could have disappeared to.

When they both had first agreed to spending the night apart, Rafa was quick to laugh in their faces and tell them they'd find themselves crawling back to the other by the end of the night. Hell, the two barely survived nights apart brought on by work- Rafa had once walked in to Daveed's hotel room and found him asleep whilst Y/N slept on his propped up phone screen, nothing but FaceTime to unite them during their time apart- so how in the name of Hell would they willingly choose to sleep without one another? The satisfaction of his impending "I told you so" was the only thing keeping Rafa going.

“Screw this." He muttered, shoving his phone back into his pocket. Crouching, Rafa picked up a few of the plant pots that decorated the front porch until he found the hidden key.

Quietly, and carefully, he turned the key in the lock. When the door opened, he pushed through slowly and held his breath, awaiting for it to squeak. A squeak never came, meaning two things: Daveed must have fixed the door and Rafa was safe to continue venturing into the home. Of course, he had to continue with the slowed movements and the careful breathing. The last thing he needed was to wake up the couple's four legged friend, that would only lead to an influx of tail wagging and puppy kisses being branded all over him. No, Rafa had to treat this like the most serious game of hide and seek he'd ever taken part in, on the off chance that Daveed was actually alone. The man was never a morning person, so being the person to wake him up, whether by accident or on purpose, was practically a suicide mission. Add that in with a reminder of the fact he'd (possibly) slept alone, Daveed was not going to be a happy bunny.

Rafa made his way through the living room where his eyes couldn't help but focus on the picture frames scattered along their television unit. They held so many stories, most of which he'd been present for and some he'd just been told about by the couple.

There was the cheesy one of them under some mistletoe on their first Christmas together, where Daveed had accidentally tripped over his own two feet and landed chest first into the cake she'd spent the whole day baking. There was the picture from a Warriors match they'd gone to, where Y/N spent most the night near drooling over the players and Daveed had silently prayed he still had a girlfriend by the end of the game. A candid photo of the both of them at some music festival, arms around each other and heads resting on shoulders. A collage section, filled with each cringe worthy matching Halloween costumes they'd worn. A picture of Daveed in a hospital bed, cast around his arm and Y/N sat at his side, their hairs still tousled from the kiss Rafa had walked in on before capturing the moment in a photo. At the time, they'd told him to delete it but the man was adamant they'd thank him one day when they were getting married and they realized that, without his meddling, the two of them would have never ended up on that date, in that hospital room.

With one of those things nearly down, Rafa was just counting down the hours till they came to the epiphany of his involvement in their love blossoming.

As he made his way out of the living room, the sound of a squeaky toy invaded his senses. Confused, Rafa looked down to see he'd stood on one of the dog's toys. All movement froze. He waited a couple heartbeats, to see if the pup had awakened. When no fur-ball came running his way, he assumed it was safe to move again.

The kitchen was up next. Rafa held back a laugh at the matching Mr & Mrs aprons which were hung up, mentally storing the reminder to mock them about it in his speech later on. A cupboard was slowly pulled open, a large bowl- in which countless of his favorite goodies were made by top baker Y/N- was lowered out of it and the tap was switched on, water trickling out of it and directly into the dish he was holding up.

Rafa now had to move more carefully than ever, his eyes flicking back and forth between the floor in front of him and the sloshing water in the bowl. But he had made his way safely up the stairs, down the hall and, now, he was finally rounding the corner to their shared bedroom. He could see the door had been left half open and, like the most tense scene in a thriller, Rafa took one step, two steps, three steps before he stumbled upon the exact image he'd been awaiting.

There they lay in bed, all shamelessly tangled up in silk sheets and limbs. His head on her pillow, her face buried in his neck. Casual sleepwear adorned them both- much to Rafa's own relief - whilst their outfits from the night before were strewn across the whole room. Each of their chests rose and fell in sync with one another, their breathing more peaceful than that of a monk. They so perfectly detailed what it meant to wholeheartedly be in love with someone, with no real effort whatsoever. It was such a shame Rafa was about to ruin their whole picture perfect sleep.

Eyeing the dog bed, Rafa affirmed that the pup was peacefully off in dreamland, with no sign of waking up and ruining his little surprise. He tiptoed from there onward, making his way around the king sized bed, stepping over abandoned cushions and swerving between articles of clothing. Panic coursed through him as Daveed let out a groan, rolling over where he lay. When the man's eyes remained shut, Rafa continued his careful journey to his best friend's bedside. After snapping a few pictures of the sleeping, unsuspecting fools, he lifted the bowl of water, carefully balancing it over them with his hands.

The first few drops fell onto the pillow, but the rest? They completely soaked Daveed and Y/N (mostly Daveed, he was Rafa's main target after all) and sent them both flying out of bed, eyes still half shut and wet hair dripping water all over the place. The first thing they noticed was Rafa, bent over at the waist, hand clutching his sides as laughter shook through his rib-cage.

“What the fuck, dude?” Y/N was the first one to speak, as she picked up and threw one of the cushions at Rafa, who smoothly ducked from her aim.

“What time is it?” Daveed had sat back on the bed at this point, shoulders hunched as he tried to find his phone.

“It's eight am.” Rafa passed him his phone. “And don't you what the fuck? me." He put on a high pitched voice as he addressed Y/N, dodging another one of her cushion attacks.

“I do not sound like that.”

“You do in my head.” Another cushion, this time it actually whacked him on the thigh. “I told you guys you wouldn't sleep apart and you two agreed to the bet, the forfeit being I get to dump a bowl of water over you both.”

“Hey, this isn't my fault.” Daveed stood up again, reaching for a pair of sweatpants off the floor. The bundle of fur had woken up by then, barking at Y/N's feet until she reached down to pick him up. “I was here alone last night, ready to sleep alone when she showed up at the door. She forced me to lose.”

“Oh, please!” Rafa was glad to see Y/N redirect her flying cushions at Daveed. “You practically dragged me into bed last night. I didn't force anything on you.”

“It wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to turn away a tired woman at my door.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.”

“I brought it back just for you, babe.”

The buzzing of his phone in his pocket reminded Rafa of the fact that this was no ordinary day, where the two idiots in front of him had the entire morning to have meaningless arguments. Today, they were all on a strict schedule and Rafa was half responsible for making sure it all went well.

“As fun as this is,” He paused, redirecting his complete attention to Y/N. “you have a car waiting for you outside, to take you back to your parents home to get ready. So, with all due respect, fuck off and let me get D ready for you.”

“Fine, whatever, I'm going.” He could tell she wasn't really as bothered as she tried to seem, especially from the way her shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. “Be warned, Rafa, if you try take credit for our relationship in your speech, I will not hesitate to deck you in front of my whole family. Capiche?”

“You know, it's not too late to change your mind, Y/N. There's still a chance to rekindle our old flame and reenact that kiss we shared years ago.”

“Hey, watch your mouth!” Daveed made his way over to Y/N's side and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. “That's my wife you're speaking to.”

“Not yet, Diggs.” Rafa grabbed at the other man's arm, stripping him away from Y/N as the two tried to share a kiss. “Save that for the altar, you two.”

The couple collectively let out a frustrated sigh as Rafa guided her out of the house, both aware of the fact that the next time they locked eyes, they'd be swearing eternal fidelity and love to one another and, as much as neither would admit it out loud, they owed it all to Rafa and his gossiping ways.

[tobeornottotc]

The hidden rules of TKEM and why understanding it will help you understand the show.

The rules of TKEM and why understanding it will help you get the show. 

Being in the TKEM is so reminiscent of the first time I realised how deep shows could be and how cunning their creators are when forming a whole new universe/rabbit hole to fall into. My first ever show to do this for me was the Disney show in America called Girl meets world. I remembered how much we hated at first the first season, how we cringed at the plot lines, the quotes and the whole meta aspect of the show. I remember the first time I noticed the gateway, a couple which was so secretly hidden in subtext that kept jumping at me and in my need to understand why I felt this way I went and researched other people’s thoughts on this. To my surprise other people felt the same way I did. In the next season we had the full plot twist, this couple had been in love with each other for at least 2 years, and no one knew. But once we understood the rules of this show, going back to season 1 felt like a slap in the face, it was there all along, the reason for why everything was confusing was done on purpose. Sorry for going of tangent, but that’s also what happened with me with TKEM episode 1-6. This was the show I waited for all year, I am obsessed with Kim Eun Sook, not even because of her deep writing but because of all the love stories I have been addicted to because of her. She knew how to make me be obsessed with a new world and she made Korea look so amazing. So, I waited and by the end of episode 6 I was devastated I couldn’t understand certain choices in this drama and it made me very depressed honestly. Until I finally noticed a gate way, I mistakenly stumbled like I always do into knowing one of the rules and then I fought to get to the bottom of it. And just like I was heavily tricked by GMW, TKEM did the same and I am so grateful I didn’t stop watching it. So, for all of you confused about the show, here are some things that could help you understand this show even more. I call them the rules that the show seems to be following. Everything is done on purpose. Let’s begin:

Why TKEM is so confusing 

1.      The confusing storytelling and jarring world building and Taeul’s polarising character.

 This was hard for me during episode 1-4. I remember sitting there wondering why on earth everything was so confusing, nonlinear, and why it felt rushed. I understood that KES stories can sometime feel like this, no plot at first before she hits you with the reveal. But this story felt odd and didn’t pick up the plot until episode 6. I also why watching things in Gon’s POV was so confusing, why did he know so much and yet so little? Why did we not understand why he was acting the way he did. Until I finally got the first rule, the story isn’t in Gon’s POV. The story is narrated by our Present Taeul who’s reminiscing about the story whilst she interrogates Lee Lim. This is the first scene we are introduced to in episode 1. That’s because we’re in a flash back being narrated by Taeul. As Taeul in our current episode figures out more about the two worlds, the mythology and the plans Lee Lim has we get more information then. Remember in the first episode she is really confused by Gon, she refuses to believe in the world, and everything feels to bizarre. It’s the same way we feel about the show from those episodes, we feel frustrated she doesn’t believe Gon but at the same time we also find him so ridiculous. 

I have another post about this but TKEM uses Alice in the wonderland as a base (GMW did this as well), it uses both books Alice in wonderland and through the looking glass. I had previously thought that because Gon is our main character, and he goes into the parallel world, he is our Alice. I was wrong. Taeul is our Alice in Wonderland. She also states it to Gon when she enters Corea the first time. When Alice first enters wonderland, she is confused by the bizarreness of Wonderland.  Just like again for the first 5 episodes we are, everything makes no sense, Gon speaks gibberish most of the time using mathematics and science, he’s also very annoying. This is because Taeul is flat earther, she believes in things that she can see, so the first introduction to Gon and other’s is simply crazy to her, she is adamant that its not true. So, we wait until she goes to Corea and finds out that everything is right. Once she explores Corea we finally start to see a linear storyline, we slowly start to understand more about other things like Lim’s goals, her real feelings for Gon, we finally get to start to notice that the show is withholding a lot of information and its slowly coming together. This is also because Taeul is trying to solve the murder mysteries connected to Lee Lim, as she learns more we also start to see more about his goals. She’s our source of information, she’s privy to some parts of the soul but only when she takes part in it. That’s why we don’t understand why Gon chased after the white rabbit it was so odd, because that’s all she knows he did. She also doesn’t know how time travel plays into this, so as Gon figures out about this, its because she’s also starting to recognise it too. 

This is also why time is so nonlinear to us. The flashbacks make no sense, some of the stuff like Fate (yoyo boy) are to cryptic for us to get. Taeul doesn’t yet know their part in this. I think its also why we don’t see a lot on Prime minister Koo either, because all Taeul probably knows about her at this point is the girl who wants to marry Gon for his throne and the girl who she admires for being in power. This also happened in GMW, the audience in the first season saw things through a 12-year-old girl’s perspective so everything felt cheesy, cringy, and nonsensical. It’s done on purpose, we the audience just like Taeul feel like Alice in wonderland, the more she gets to understand why the rabbit is running and is going to be late, the closer she gets to that trial at the end of the book, the more she grows up, the more the story starts to make sense. Taeul’s earth is no longer flat, things are now being pieced together so we also get to know more about that. Be Patient. The directing is done to make you think things are being overlooked, because Taeul is also overlooking important hints.

 2.      The directing is wacky. There are too many characters that are pointless. 

This is another thing that really annoyed me the first 6 episodes, the way the director uses the nonlinear timeline. Especially when we don’t have any information for why we should feel a certain way. An example of this is Taeul running into Gon’s arms when the whole episode she’s been hating and fighting with him or when she breaks down in episode 10 when he appears and kisses her before leaving. What we know is that this doesn’t make sense, we don’t understand what’s making her do this because we normally find out in a flashback of the first 25 minutes of the next episode. Because the next episode is always a week away. We the audience feel cheated and simply confused. 

Funny thing about this is once you understand this show is about time travel. The director’s choices start to make sense, we have so many timelines already showing up, Gon can travel back in time, and forward, just like we the audience also end up doing. The normal ending of the even episodes is us in the future of Taeul’s narration before we are flung back into the past in the next episode to get what happened. It’s done-on purpose. 

 Another confusing thing about the show is the way the director shows us the two different worlds. This show is chucked with so many side characters, it’s like Goblin whenever he goes to help someone, or the grim reaper goes to take someone’s life. Unfortunately, while it worked for Goblin in a linear narrative, this show has the rule of two, there twice the same amount of characters we know, they have another parallel self in a different world. With the directing its hard to know when these worlds differ, we are always confused by the characters we don’t know where they belong to. But that’s because Taeul doesn’t know at that moment about Lee Lim’s plan to replace the dopple gangers, just as the two world are bleeding into each other (remember Eun Sup feeling the heat of the hot chocolate of Yeong on his iced tea), we get even more confused as to where everyone is from. That’s what Lee Lim is doing replacing everyone in a different world and making them become part of that world. The director does this by withholding information about the side characters so we just as Gon and Taeul are confused by who they are and why they are important in certain worlds. The director is doing this on purpose. Its meant to be confusing.

3.      The powers of the flute is so confusing. Lim’s plans make no sense and for the first 6 episodes he hides doing nothing but being ominous in the background. 

The title: The King Eternal Monarch

Points to consider:

·  The word eternity is defined as something that keeps on going on and on and doesn’t have an end. This is the biggest rule of the show, Gon is stuck in a cycle/loop where he must keep on ruling and fighting for the throne. This is what the show is about, that’s why the flute is so important, and unbreakable sword his father has gifted him. They are artefacts representing Gon’s plight to keep trying to control his reign. He’s the noble blood that’s fated to keep doing this repeatedly. So the question is how? We know this, it’s time travel. The first 6 episodes is about Gon learning about the powers of the flute, he recognises time is important, he recognises that the person who saves his life comes from the future, he knows that person is connected to Taeul because of her id card. He understands this because he understands science and maths, that’s why he speaks in scientific and mathematical terms at the beginning to Taeul. He was explaining what this show is, it’s a sci fi, its going to focus on sci fi themes such as time travel and parallel dimensions. From the beginning the show has explained using Gon’s lexicon that this is all about time travel, its about the character getting to the point where he must save himself again. Taeul is the reason why he’s doing this. That’s why she’s the person he searches for, for 25 years. 

We have two people fighting for the throne to be king. Monarch is to do with the royal family and the control over a government. The fight for the throne is the whole plot of this show, just like in through the looking glass, Alice ends up mistakenly in a battle between the two queens, it’s the same thing. This is a battle for the monarchy, with two different people who have different reasons why they want the throne. Gon however is the king we know; this story is about him through Taeul’s eyes.

4.      The pointless conversations with characters and confusing scenes. 

Literature is used as devices used to help us understand what’s going

 I already have posts on this, but each story mentioned, each book helps us understand and foreshadow this whole show. It also makes us understand more about the show. There are so many stories mentioned, the myth of the manchipasseok and the dragon king, (the flute), the wonderland series, King Arthur, the book about flowers (the book Lady Noh reads), the poem Gon reads  (Invoking the name of the dead), Greek mythology on the fates (the yo yo boy). Kim Eun Sook does this in all her fantasy stories, in secret Garden it was little mermaid but the man as the mermaid, in Goblin it was the mythology of the grim reaper and Goblin, the poem about first love etc… She does this to help the audience not feel cheated by the ending of the show, she already has told you what’s going to happen. This is exactly why the directing choices are the way they are, the plot is told the way it is. Each of our characters are connected to a tale. If you need to know more look at my posts about Things to know about TKEM to know where its going.

 5.      Their relationship is rushed and confusing. 

This is solved by knowing how the subtext and the mathematical references explains their relationship and why it’s so fast.

 These are also used to tell you about the rules of the show. The maths theories are not my strengths, but these are so important. Gon has mentioned Taeul’s role in the story by telling her she represents the number zero when he confesses to her. He’s again reiterating that this story is happening because of her, she’s the most important factor in this whole show.  There’s so many mathematical references that I can’t analyse but if you’re able to do so, you’ll crack more about each of the characters especially why Taeul and Gon act the way they do.

There’s also subtext which everyone has been missing out on. I believe in the theory that our current timeline is not the first time Gon and Taeul have interacted. This is the reason why Taeul easily falls for him once he shows her evidence of his world. She already felt those feelings before, and she recognises it but she can’t explain why. Therefore, Gon instantly chases after Luna as the white rabbit without any explanation, something is making him do this, he’s used to doing this. I’ve spoken so much about Lady Noh and Buyeong also knowing about this too, they know Gon and Taeul have done this too many times, and they remember, why they do I don’t know. There’s also the red balloons I mentioned in the land of frozen time (the pink sky land that has no sun or rain) I think they represent how many times we’ve been through this loop before. If Gon and Taeul have known each other longer than centuries, it would explain why all he wants to do is find her, and why she easily accepts her fate to love him and be with him. The way they act shows you that subtext is important in understanding the show, why she moves away from his hug when he first approaches her like she’s expecting it, why she can’t stop thinking of him, why she talks about her tragic fate and then rapidly tells him she loves him so they speed up their relationship, why easily runs to him after he goes back to Corea. She loved him also from the beginning. 

The songs and osts are also important to understand the subtext. There are many songs portraying Taeul’s thoughts when she first met Gon. I have posts on this. There are so many songs foreshadowing the ending of the show, and the whole eternal loop of the show. Gon’s main purpose is to find Taeul he does this by always opening the gates. Taeul’s main purpose is to wait for him because it’s her promise to him.  (Listen to please don’t cry and dream, maze  and orbit read the English lyrics). Therefore, Taeul and Gon don’t build their relationship slowly, they’ve already passed that stage in their previous meetings, that’s why he proposes to her in episode 2. He knows this. 

Sorry for the lengthy post. I didn’t even go into details about the fight for justice and Fate and destiny as a rule as well of this show. But my other posts talk about these two. 

[cyberfairyblog]

Arguments (Jason Whittaker x OC)

Vanessa finds out about Erika Clark's incident in the Room of Consequence, which rubs her the wrong way. AKA neither Jason & Vanessa are entirely right nor entirely wrong and have conflict like any normal adult has.

The radio blared a chipper little pop tune as Vanessa cleaned the glasses to be used for the next patron. She noticed one of her mother's students, Ericka Clark, sitting at the counter looking very forlorn.

"Hn? What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," said Erika. "It's just that I'm missing out on my favorite show, well used to be favorite."

"And what show would that be?"

"Medical Center of Love, Mr. Whittaker told me it was trashy and that I shouldn't watch it."

"Did he now?" Who did that man think he was? Telling someone what they should and shouldn't watch! The audacity!

"He even took me to the ROC to show me how awful it truly is!" She began recounting her trip, how the characters came to life. How it started off as a total dream before the cheating and lying warped it into a nightmare. Vanessa listened intently getting more and more disturbed. She had to talk to Jason about this.

"I see," she said as Erika finished with her sorry. She get problematic media, heck she wrote problematic stuff. But for Jason to react by using the ROC just to teach a lesson rubbed her the wrong way.

"I have a question for you, have you stolen anything?

"No."

"Have you broke promises to a friend or flirt with every boy you see?"

"No."

"Well then if you're not practicing that stuff then I say it's okay!"

Erika perked up. "Walt really?"

"Hey as long as you know it's fiction," said Vanessa. "Just be a bit mindful."

"And how do I do that?" Erika hoped this wouldn't lead to another trip to the Room of Consequence. Vanessa grinned. "Just go with your gut."

Erika looked at her stomach. "Go with my gut?"

The next day Jason was managing the dining hall when he overheard Erika talking to one of her school friends. He heard her mention the soap opera and decided to cut in.

"Not to be rude but I thought you said you weren't going to watch that anymore," he wondered.

"Well I'm not watching it now," said Erika. "Miss Marbles told me as long as I was mindful of it being fake it was okay. I know I don't steal or lie or cheat on my friends so I guess I'm in the clear!"

Jason gaped. How dare she try to intervened in his educational moment?! When he found her he was going to have words with her! He remained silent sparing Erika a warning glance or two like a scolding father....

Or Jack Allen....oh no he was getting OLD!

🍀🍀🍀

That evening, Vanessa was at the empty manor cleaning up one of the open rooms when a still-upset Jason found her.

"YOU!" He called out.

Vanessa stopped sweeping and cringed. Crap! Somehow he heard about her little convo with Erika. A small rational side of her mocked her - you deserved it - but this time she was going to stand her ground.

"She's back watching that garbage because of you!"

The novelist shrugged. "It's just a show. I'm confident she knows the difference between what's real and what's fake."

"Yeah but for how long?" Jason asked cross. "You know that stuff is bad so why encourage it?"

"Let me get this straight: a trashy soap opera is bad but yet you can bring video games that defeats the purpose of this place?" She had nothing against video games but she knew Whit never allowed modern technology to be used in the main room. Even the Imagination Station was kept locked up for safety reasons keeping her father Regis away from it.

"Christian video games," he emphasized. "There's a difference. I'm keeping up with the theming at least!"

The novelist sighed in defeat and lowered her head. "I guess women can't do anything after all, everything we do is poison to a man." She smirked as she heard Jason sputter.

"What! That's not even the point nor was it the intention!"

"Well what was your intention?"

"I was trying to teach Erika that shouldn't life imitate art." It was true! Sure it may be harmless at first glance but, he had seen a lot of friendships and relationships shattered because one or both parties thought it was cool to mess with each other's feelings. It was better to nip it in the bud before it escalated.

"Look all that does is show kids that stuff is okay to do in real life when it's not," he countered.

"And how many times a kid thought they nearly died because of the realistic scenarios in the Room of Consequence?" Vanessa pointed out.

"There's more chances being shot by a jilted lover than becoming a lion's meal! I just don't want Erika to get hurt!" Why wasn't she getting it? That soap only glamorizes that awful behavior. He did not want to see Erika get hurt or hurt herself by thinking that stuff would be okay in real life.

"Should I point out the time I got chased by Roman soldiers? That's way more traumatizing than anything a cheesy soap opera may show!"

"Vanessa it's a holograph, Holographs do not and will not harm anyone in real. Life!" He finally lost it. "Gosh you are so thick!"

Now Vanessa was about to lose her temper. "Oh I'm thick? At least I can call myself a good role model by not lecturing kids on what to watch."

"I don't know what kind of role model are you, but when I was growing up we had good clean wholesome fun"

"And when I was growing up we didn't control fun!"

Oh ho - she thought he was controlling huh? That sounded like a challenge and like any Whittaker, he LOVED a good challenge! "Ok sweetheart since you wanna be like that how about a bet? Who can be the best role model at Whit's End?"

"Challenge accepted," Vanessa said coolly. "Better get the tissues ready for when you lose."

"It's on!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

And with childish pouts the two employees stormed off in opposite directions, both determined to prove the other that they were the best voice of reason for the kids.

Finally some good frickin conflict! 😁😁😁 The road to love never was smooth; that couldn't be more true for Jason & Vanessa! Now neither of them are particularly wrong or right. At the same time it just shows how passionate they can be when it comes to the wellbeing of others even if they end up being immature about it. Besides I want their eventual courtship arc to feel a lot more earned so of course there's going to be obstacles for them to overcome! All in all both need to learn to be more considerate of the other's position, and to let people think for themselves (the lack of such is why I find the Nu!Odyssey to be trash). I tried to make the dialogue not come off as meanspirited or lame.

[iroryren]

#1

20200614

--

So, I decide to write this after quite sometimes.

Apparently this is something that I hope will be some kind of notes to myself about what actually happen in between my life after this. I am not the kind of person that like to make a notes or writes a diary since elementary school, but I also that one person who likes to write what happen in my dream last night. 

Anyway, this is something that I will frequently write I guess, under some tags that will be hinted what am I actually talking about. My English isn’t that good, but since I write this in this platform, I decide to use English instead. 

So, this is about the day when I celebrate my birthday, this year, the year that really change my life. Like seriously it change so much things. I don´t even know what will happen in years ahead, but still, this year really give me so many lesson to learned and yes, I am still learning until this moment and later on. 

1. My Brother was dead.

Yes, my brother was dead this year, and yes that´s it. I´m not gonna talked about it too much, because well, yeah, it´s still kind hard to this day, but hey, life must go on, so yeah.

2. I meet kind people, new people.

Yes, this is something that really change me like, I realize that there’s so much good people in this world and they´re surround me. I am sorry sometimes I’m not good at explaining thing, but hey, I really grateful for those beautiful human being in my life, they have very beautiful souls within.

3. I am loved and in love and it feels so good.

 Have you ever feel that feeling, that one when you wake up in the morning and the first thing that you see when you open your eyes and look at your phone is, you get a nice lovely and lively greeting from someone tho love you? Yes, I know that feeling. 

I know it sounds cheesy and all, or maybe kinda cringe for some people, but for someone like me, who never really shows much affection towards someone, it feels really nice, and I learn so many things from this person too. Like I decide not to hold back any feeling anymore. This person is so kindhearted and seriously, after all these years I know him, I just feel so happy that everything happened on the right time, and the right place, with the right people.

And it’s him.

4. I am not gonna hold back any feeling anymore.

Like I said before, ever since my brother died, I decide I won’t stop myself to say what am I actually feels toward someone. Like if I like someone I’m gonna say it. If I hate something I’m gonna tell about it. If I want something, I’m gonna try to get it, something like that.

Because losing my brother makes me realize how short our life in this world are. And I don’t want to stop myself to becoming happy and makes people whom I care the most also happy. 

So yeah, that’s it for now, I think this is enough, like, whoah. I am not that good at expressing my feeling, but the main purposes I write this is, for a reminder for myself. also, I think, this will be some kind of a present, for the one who I really adoring, with his kind smile later on when his birthday’s coming. So I am just gonna shows him, so he could understand my feeling better, I guess, I dunno tho. but yeah.

Anyway, thank you for staying alive, for myself.

I’ve been working so hard to survive this life until now.

Happy Birthday.

Love x,

-I

[steffi-fiction]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

keywords: fantasy, con artists, medieval Mediterrain-esque, gangs, revenge 

plot: Con artist Locke Lamora and his Gentlemen Bastards were in the middle of a fine con when a figure named the Grey King appeared. Said figure rapidly takes control of the criminal underground in Camorr, but the Gentlemen Bastard refuse to yield - especially when it gets personal. 

review: This book really consists of a whole bunch of favorites for me. First of all, I love stories about criminals, especially con artists and thieves. That's why I knew I had to check it out when I first came across the Gentleman Bastard series. And what can I say after finishing the first book? Unsurprisingly, I'm intrigued. I'm not going to prematurely declare my undying love because it's a series after all. I will probably see after reading the second book, Red Seas under Red Skies, if I'm in love. Still, as I was saying, I'm intrigued, in fact, enough so that I bought the second book only after being half way through the first one. It's an impressive debut novel! Nonetheless, I did have a few issues with the book. But let's start on a positive note. 

First, I want to point out how incredibly well-written the start of the entire thing is. I was hooked within a few pages. In fact, I hadn't even read half of the second page when I needed to know how that boy, how Locke had messed up, to get into that situation. I was sold when Locke was basically introduced as the boy who stole too much and became a problem for the Thiefmaker. 

And I loved, loved, loved the dialogues – can't stress this enough. The constant humor, even in dire situations, was absolutely to my liking. I found myself grinning at the witty remarks and the characters' antics. 

Generally speaking, I liked Lynch's writing style and I really admire him for coming up or choosing all these amazing terms and names. Now I don't know if he struggled like many other fantasy writers, but his efforts paid off. Personally, I think that's noteworthy. Nothing sounded weird or misplaced for me. I remember reading stories that used terms which made me cringe, I myself tried to come up with terms and made myself cringe.

What also contributed positively to the world building and character building were the different interludes. They either gave a glimpse into the past, the backstory of the characters, or presented another story to provide further insight. I guess, the latter were occasionally not unlike info-dumping, but the way it was done was just like reading a chapter of non-fiction on different topics, so I think Lynch wove them into the flow of the story nicely. And, to be honest, during a portion of The Lies of Locke Lamora, I found the interludes dealing with Locke's childhood much more engaging than the actual plot of the present. By all means, that doesn't mean the main plot was boring. It just took a bit of time to pick up pace, but when it did, damn was it great. 

I don’t feel like saying too much about the characters because it really is a bit too early to judge them, but most of the introductions were great. Locke, Jean and Father Chains stood out the most for me, and I can definitely say that I like them. Overall, I’m eager to see more of the characters. 

Furthermore, the setting Lynch created still stands out among the majority of fantasy novels as far as I know. He clearly was inspired by medieval Venice. Instead of kingdoms, we deal with city states now - I don’t know how the rest of the world looks yet though. For the most part, Lynch was also great at creating atmosphere. 

Although, here I would like to point out the weaknesses I felt the novel had. Personally, I spotted three weaknesses. They could be seen as rather subjective though. 

One was the setting's description. As I mentioned in my review about Thorn, I'm not exactly fond of too much description and I sort of encountered it here. Once I got a picture in mind, I often skipped or just scanned over further description. I felt it was too excessive on a lot of occasions. However, I know for sure there are people who will feel differently about it. 

Another problem were a lot of the characters who died. Some paled quite a lot in comparison with Locke and Jean who were arguably the focus of the story. When they died, I couldn't fully empathize with them. My heart wasn't torn to shreds by their deaths. Of course, I thought what happened to them was horrendous, but my heart wasn't affected all that much. If anything, I felt sorry for Locke and Jean, but that isn't enough, is it? Since Lynch uses interludes to delve into the past, I hope we get to see some of them again in the other novels. However, in a sense, it would still be kind of too late in my eyes. I might start to feel sad that they are no longer an active part of the present, but it doesn't change the fact that I hardly felt a thing when their actual death occurred. I just wasn't invested enough to grieve. 

Also, another weakness was the death scene of one of those characters. I can't really imagine that Lynch would do it on purpose, considering the effect the death had on the further plot and the characters, but it felt somewhat cheesy. Probably, I'm going to revisit that particular scene and see if I feel the same way. I don't remember cringing at it, but it was a bit awkward and definitely not the appropriate tone.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book. It’s, in my opinion, a debut novel one can only hope for. 

edition: English

trigger warning: violence, I suppose, although I’ve read worse. 

[silentspaces]

So I have a lot of thoughts on the movie and I apologize that I can't put it all under a cut because I don't know how to do that on mobile.

I thought it was pretty entertaining! Like, romance is definitely not the kind of thing I ever watch (my sister does, though, and I think she's watched every single romance movie on Netflix and Hallmark, including this one), but unlike 80% of the time a (cheesy) romance movie starts up, I didn't cringe, and I was able to get into it. I enjoyed the lack of drama--even her boss in the end apologized the next day and was like, "Sorry for being a dick, " and there was none of that miscommunication trope that I detest (I guess minus the bit where Daniel didn't want to find out more about his wife and brother? But they didn't linger on that too much and it didn't seem too out of character for Daniel, because he is clearly a Drama Queen), and it just focused on trying to solve a supernatural mystery while falling in love in the process. Definitely sweet. I'd watch a short mini-series version of this movie. I'd want a nice slow burn. I think the movie could have used a montage showing the two main characters interacting and growing closer--maybe while decorating or something. They kind of did it with the Christmas tree scene, but...

The weakest part of the movie for me was probably the acting of the guy who played Daniel. Like...he just seemed kind of stiff or wooden sometimes? Like, I would have loved some more subtle smoldering glances or small body gestures that showed a more gradual growing interest in...er, forgot the main woman's name. Kate! That was it.

I love that Daniel is just constantly eating. He's like, "I only have 12 days a year on this physical plane, and I am going to spend all of it eating or reading" so clearly he's got his priorities straight (no sarcasm). And maybe you could read into it that--he loves eating and it brings him such pleasure and that's why he cooks for Kate and Walter--he doesn't know if he'll ever break free of being trapped at the inn, or even if he'll see them the next year, but he wants to spend the time he has sharing something that he loves with two people he's clearly come to care for.

Also, I definitely laughed at the property brothers comment. I didn't see it until you said it. That being said, this dude is definitely handsome.

I love characters like Daniel, though? Being all protective (while clearly letting Kate handle herself if she says she can)...if there was a ghost showdown (before he knew who the ghost was), and a scene with Daniel moving himself in front of Kate, leveling his eyes at the darkness at the end of a hall where they could sense a malicious presence, and saying something like, "You are not welcome in this house. Be gone at once, or I shall make you leave," oh man, that would be awesome.

They didn't really show why people thought Daniel was reckless or irresponsible before? Some characters just kind of mentioned it, but you don't really get to see it. Also, when Lily said "I married you for the inn" to me it sounded kind of like she slipped in her phrasing and she was actually maybe a gold digger or something? Like, something about her acting didn't make it sound like playful banter, to me it sounded like the villain dropping some foreshadowing. But maybe they did it on purpose as a red herring to make you believe she married the brother for money? But if so, they didn't play it right and didn't fully set you up to believe it.

I did think Kate was a good character! Definitely better than a lot of other romance movie characters I've seen. It was more like seeing someone yet again go, "I can't love, so I must be broken, something is wrong with me" which is something I've never jived with, being Ace and all.

Walter was great and I thought he was the perfect side character and his was the best love story

Live blogging thoughts:

-Who the heck leaves all of the Christmas lights and lamps on in a house overnight, what a waste of electricity

-Get it, Walter

-For once I would love an aro/ace character, or at least portraying someone who “hasn’t /can’t find love” as broken or incomplete. It’s okay if you haven’t found love in the traditional sense! But I am watching a traditional romance movie, so what did I expect

-they knew EXACTLY what they were doing when nearly every scene with Daniel featured Daniel with a vest and his sleeves rolled up to his forearms. (They must have seen that Tumblr post)

-GET IT GIRL

-That is some really awkward dancing, so stiff

-kinda wish there has been some exuberant hugging /leaping into the other’s arms at the end