#telescope thieves

[stairset]

A decade ago Dustin Bates said can you tell me what is real cause I've lost my way again can you tell me how to feel cause I don't feel anything now that I'm down here again you're the sun you're the day the light that guides me through never run run away I will save you who are you to change this world silly boy no one needs to hear your words let it go carnivore carnivore won't you come digest me take away everything I am far from the sun where no one knows I've watched you from my telescope I will travel the distance in your eyes interstellar lightyears from you where the lost are the heroes and the thieves are left to drown everyone knows by now fairy tales are not found they're written in the walls take me over the walls below fly forever don't let me go I need a savior to heal my pain when I become my worst enemy above the clouds above the storm above the Earth I am transformed the energy will set me free and pull me through the galaxy you're the cause the antidote the sinking ship that I could not let go you led my way then disappeared how could you just walk away and leave me here I'd make you look I'd make you lie I'd take the coldness from your eyes but you told me if you love me let it die I'm falling through a dark sunrise I will escape the entropy and find a way to leave this time I will bring you back to me pouring the fuel fanning the flames breaking the habit and melting the chains embracing the fear chasing the fight the glownof the fire will light up the night you push my back against the wall when I attack I'm taking all taking it all rise and fall. And he was so real for that.

[hermajestytak]

You know, there's nothing better than finding songs that fit your ship, so I'll start making a note here when I find a song that fits a ship

Starting a thread on ZaSR my beloved

Songs will be added to this playlist as I build it up:

[Feel free to add/suggest your own]

Today, we're starting with all the STARSET songs that fit them!

Note that these songs have their own meanings and narratives, this is just a ship specific reading of them. Think of it like a jukebox musical cherry-picking lyrics to fit the story: a ZaSR Mama Mia of sorts

[1] It Has Begun

[Either POV]

This one's relatively simple: since Zim and Skoodge are the same age, they've been training to be soldiers alongside each other since smeethood. Despite their difference is, a major connection they have is that they're both invaders; their mutual goal is to bring planets to their knees.

This one can be an anthem for numerous experiences and milestones they've had:

Their attempted escape together from the underground and Zim seeing the surface for the first time

Their graduation from the underground and their first true emergence

Their stages of training on their way to becoming invaders (their elite soldier training, invader training, the Devastis test, etc)

The start of Operation Impending Doom II when they both get their major missions and go their separate ways again

The conquering of Blorch and

The eventual conquering of Earth

Even a well lit place, can hide salvation A map to a one man maze that never sees the sun Where the lost are the heroes And the thieves are left to drown But everyone knows by now Fairy-tales are not found They are written in the walls As we walk in a straight line Down in the dirt with a landslide approaching But nothing could ever stop us From stealing our own place in the sun We will face the odds against us And run into the fear we run from (ah, ah) It has begun Into the dark below Evading shadows Blind in a rabbit's hole We fall beneath the earth And watch the shell come unraveled As the seed begins to rise Embracing a starlit fate as we wait in the night It's written in the walls ... It has begun (ah, ah) It has begun (ah, ah) It has begun (ah, ah) It has begun (ah, ah) It has begun

[2] Telescope

[Skoodge's POV]

This one's inspired by how Skoodge traveled countless miles from the Irken Empire's territory all the way to Earth just to live with Zim.

You’re out there I hear you calling from behind The star fields I feel you Radiating energy like Eternal northern lights Far from the sun Where no one knows I’ve watched you from My telescope I will travel The distance in your eyes Interstellar Light years from you Supernova We’ll fuse when we collide Awaking in the light Of all the stars aligned ... I will find you I will find you I will find you! I will find you!

[3] Die For You

[Skoodge's POV]

A bit more of a serious sounding pick, this one's just a promise from Skoodge to Zim that no matter how many times they're separated and how many times Zim screws up, he'll still be his lifelong companion from their smeethood up to the day that Zim finally conquers the Earth. Skoodge has a very strong kindness and loyalty in his character (uhhh rat extermination aside), so I love associating this song with him.

I will run alone tonight Without you by my side I guess you had a place you had to get to I know your eyes, I know inside The walls you hide behind And I saw the truth inside the real you Because I know you're lost when you run away Into the same black holes and black mistakes Taking all my will just to run alone When are you coming home? Even if the sky does fall Even if they take it all There's no pain that I won't go through Even if I have to die for you And when all the fires burn When everything is overturning There's no thing that I won’t go through Even if I have to die for you ... One day the Earth will open wide And I’ll follow you inside 'Cause the only hell I know is without you Some day when galaxies collide We'll be lost on different skies I will send my rocket ship to find you ... And if the sun grows cold for you along the way And if the stars don’t line to light the way And when you fall away and crash back down below I’ll search the skies for you and I’ll follow I'll be in your afterglow And I’ll bring you home

Fun Fact: I made an animation going for my favorite part of this song!

[4] PERFECT MACHINE

[Zim's POV]

Our first song that I pin onto Zim!

TBH, not all of the lyrics fit that well (unless you subscribe to the "Zim's ego is all an act" reading). The main reason it's here is because at first, I can't imagine Zim seeing a romantic relationship or partnership as anything but a transaction: I do what you want and in return, I get validation and praise from you. After all, this is his relationship with authority figures like the Almighty Tallest.

However, in this romantic scenario, he truly does love Skoodge; the problem is Zim can't honestly admit it. He wants to hide it to be the perfect Irken soldier, but it slips. He'll deny that it slips, but it slips anyway. Unfortunately for him, Skoodge knows him too well to be convinced by him lying about it.

Oh yeah and Zim can't fathom the idea of somebody loving him unconditionally because 1. that's not really a concept in the Irken empire, 2. he's been rejected and brushed aside so many times, and 3. he's an evil little shit, why the HELL would someone genuinely love him?!

Show me your insides, show me your secrets Show  me what you desire - I can fake it Show  what you wanted, so I can be it And if I bend just right, I can make it I didn't want you I  wanna watch you change from a butterfly and into chains Lay  your heart into my perfect machine I will show you what you wanted to see Just  a mirror till I get what I need The reverie was not of me You never saw nothing Never saw nothing I'm  just a liar without deceiving I'm just a broken clown make-believing I should've let you know, you should've ran for cover I'm just a parlor trick, a two-bit counterfeit ... Even you know, even you know This was all for nothing Just a sad show, just an ego I suppose though, as far as I know We were both pretending I suppose so But what do I know? Even you know, even you know This was all for nothing Just a sad show, just an ego I suppose though, as far as I know We were both pretending I suppose so But what do I know?

[5] LEAVING THIS WORLD BEHIND

[Mixed POV]

Finally, we have the current closer of the playlist: LEAVING THIS WORLD BEHIND

This one comes from my headcanon that the reason Skoodge offers his help to Zim after conquering Blorch is so that they can both retire as invaders and live together for the rest of their days somewhere far, far away.

Ironically, if Zim becomes Earth's ruler, he inevitably leaves it. An official Nick Magazine comic shows a timeline where Zim finally rules Earth only to quickly grow frustrated with humanity and ditch it to drink soda and ride space bunnies with Dib. In the Oni comics timeline, Emperor Zim willingly delivers Earth to the Tallest so they can cut it in half and use it as a snack bowl. My headcanon for Skoodge's plan and this song's inclusion are based upon futures like those.

Beautiful, new frontier High above the rain in the atmosphere What wonders I have discovered My soul is everclear Never felt the way I do with you here I hope there's never another So sing tonight, we're everbright Burning through space, I see your face I could beat kryptonite We're so alive, forever high Hold on, my dear, there'll be no fear Leaving this world behind (This world behind) Far away, above the earth We'll soar through the curvature Away from all our dark matters And escape the barriers That we’ve manufactured Going into the hereafter And I'll wait if you take forever long I'll listen for your song Leaving this world behind (Leaving this world behind) All good things Must come to pass Now is your time

[salemsdog]

faut faire danser les femmes.

My story begins in the end. With the sun beginning to char my porcelain, riding red and violet over miles of atomic mass. By the end of the road, my shoes were worn with broken nature. But before my death, I rode a mountainous sea away from a barrel-chested man, namely put as my husband. The rock first came to me in a nightmare while aboard the SS. Mary. I had traveled overseas before, and it was a quirk of fact that the ship, no matter how goldy, always cradled like a misrun carriage, bumping over unpolished granite. So shook the landscape in my nightmare as well. There was a mincer in front of me. It was placed beside a rock. In the dream, the widescape was covered in thin sheets of sand. The trees were wild and howled like wolves strewn into the raging sky. Careful she crept; she was not me because the I in my dream had no feet. Simply an eye of the mind that granted a view of myself from whatever window looked down onto this horacescape. I directed her to walk closer to the mincer. It was then that the rock started to bellow out in simple waves of anguish. It was yelling to be set free against its ugly titanium restraints. She almost pitied it. The woman would take the mincer with a static, almost illuminary hand but stare at the rock with an unmoving notion. Salt wavered into the air as her limbs began to feel spent; she could feel the boat pulling her back to the shores of minimal consciousness closer every nanosecond, grappling her away from the original deed. The rock was lying dead like a cold fox, claiming its early spot in hell. Waiting for the final gut of termination. She could crush the rock, but what then?

It didn’t make her a predator.

I would have vowed to never harm my husband once I had awoken in my saddened condition and out of that harsh story. For it would bring me lower than the man himself. I knew I was now truly running, running away from the midwave heat that bit close to my clothes and flamed the cage that once housed my books, my telescopes that let me talk to the stars late in the evening when my husband singed tableside decks with his less than pleasant cigars. That did not stop the wafting from following up to my attic window desk of cinnamon and sage. My hand would soon slip during a Sunday night preparation. Sending the iron stove into flames. I had no children and no cathel. Only the prophetic nightmares that came with sniffing the dark herb that crawled its way around our lowly manor of the Greylands. This city chewed with iron teeth and ordered around symmetry like no other grandiloquent beast of the nile. My husband’s old trophies of gunfire gave proof to that undeniable fact of discord that harbored no matter what section of the earth you journeyed forth. They sit stacked mildly rusted under his mantleplace, topped with fleets of dust and mice shit. Before settling, I knew no bounds to fiction. I was as free as a clipped animal could ever get. But once trapped inside a new hellish biome, those old newspapers and telegraphs of the world above became my primary resource as another additive to my perpetual escape. Meconium, isocyanate, the air of another hellnever roadside three thousand miles from ours. All futile in my grand ruse of escape. So I ran, caught to the nearest station west of that long country road. Farther and farther till the SS. Mary was no longer a dream on a yellow postcard lost among the plethora of letters sent in from faraway ports of the world. A secret subscription I had along with the many other secrets I kept from my man.

It rose above anything I had ever seen in my life and took me far, far away.

There was a shortage of oil on our land being stolen by a neighboring townscape just north of the rolling hills. The red men they were called. Their thieves would hound every plant that drenched oil from the underearth. Weaning in heinesy and destruction caused an uproar in an already fatale patriarchy. Our people were starting to see straight through tradition and into welfare. It took the turn of a thousand tides—the crease in the economy—to fully shelter this idea of severity. Our foundation was losing itself. Soon there were no more ports to transfer goods, no more fleets to deliver those postcards I so greatly admired per month. So there I sat, perched between litters of luggage and briefcases of fine men and women boarding the middle-class section of Mary’s idiom. Watching as the moon followed our ship to the enemy lands. Waiting for the sky to shift into a new sun, waging a war blessed foul. A great woman once said sweat is the tears from God shedding down a lubricant for the wind. It took running from my husband to fully furnish the belief and inspire a devil within me to work this war like it was my bitch. Down a winding road and past crowds of townsfolk once I had reached beyond the Pillsbury pines and down crossroads over the next.

Once I had pitted rest, I could breathe into an air of freedom. Though this was the land of thieves, I had never felt such liberation. It had been shrouded by a hand of doubt along the journey, but once I set food on that port, the sky seemed to smile, though it was dark. Lines of people stretched beyond the dock. I bristled my way through the red men and women, most likely refugees from our gray land, returning with the upcoming tension. For it was better to die in your homeland than in a foreign region of gray.

My first pit stop arrived at a little colosseum of wine and scum. A harlet house off the ends of the coast, needing but a small stroll to reach. There I thought more about the rock in the dream, furrowed the lace fabric between the tips of my fingers and composed a conversation with a stranger. I introduced myself to the other woman by the name of Aerodromea. She returned with Venetia Lamauth. Venetia wore the dress of service, a reminder of another blast upon destiny the more she spoke of her life in a mellow, rustic voice, strands of blonde curtaining her cresed forehead. Though she’d chuckle and promised matters of satisfaction with her life, there were patches of fur on her coat. Her Greek nose tinted pink and a swooping tail tucked under the bench. This she could not see. She would speak of hellhounds and endless labor while I poured additional liters into her glass cup, eyeing her hawk-eyed husband all the while. Locals seemed to take my untimely visit rather cautiously. For good reason, of course. By the time dawn was heaving shots of navy into the dark skies, I had visited more women than postcards had ever visited the steps of my manor in those five years of unbearable habitance. Their tails were always tied messily, some with oozing blisters and painful-looking creases where the fold had been tied. Their noses were sometimes swollen or greased with expensive lotions in an attempt to mask the protruding fact, etching closer and closer to the surface of realism.

In the dark hours, they’d complain of an instrumental burden. God, it was loud they’d say, leeching my hands as if I had been the only acknowledgement of liability in centuries. The screeching strings blended against the howls of wind in a sorrowful juxtaposition. Waning restless nights for them all.

The first I took was Venetia. I instructed her to leave her coat and wreath of restlessness. She brought forth her finest Jane shoes and let down her honey lemon hair. We plowed hand in hand through the forest. I begged God to keep this opportunity close in hand as we followed those breathing strings through shrubs and dry logs left for dust in the dark. The first glimpse of the violin-wielding beast appeared behind the shade of a red willow. For it had been my first time seeing the thing face to face as well. My grip only tightened in Venetia’s hand as she held still, her breath shallow. For I had but a dream to go off of; this was a foreign sight to Venetia’s eyes I had to remember. Soon the plains were not reliant on the two of us. Both the houses were empty and scarce of life. The grasslands are blooming with thin-nosed critters. The beast’s violin became rushed and ridgid throughout the nights to come. Weaving in knowledge to me that we were improving and changing as a people. The hunt persisted and, in turn, the absence as well. Left for catharsis in the wind and rid us of this ancient rigorous distraction on the forest floor. Pooling like thick oil.

“Who am I if not misunderstood?” her gayety was sweet as jewels.

Venetia murmured in a hushed tone as she clasped my hand in hers, her gaze lingering over the carcass. We welded the night together as air raids rang out, shaking the dirt around our feet. Every limb of the beast was strewn in a puddle of rubicund. By dawn, Venetia’s eyes were glassy and her fingers blistered and bruised in destined work. A morning croaked, and a chorus of silence followed. Charing my skin and lacing back the cradle of the Mary. Both lands were quiet now; not even the rock under us spit a tune.

[anarkissm]

MASS EFFECT. 

claudette was contacted and recruited by a benefactor for the andromeda initiative because of her research and patents on cryogenic biotechnology, inspired by the resilience of arctic fungi. her work was vital in developing cryostasis pods for the andromeda initiative founded in 2176, collaborating with geneticists and medical engineers that were commissioned to work on this massive confidential project. in spite of her reservations with the initiative’s mission, claudette agreed to offer her expertise in exchange for ensuring that her family were provided with free, safe passage to the andromeda galaxy. as a scientist, claudette refused to ignore the evidence of the looming reaper threat, and chose to do what was necessary to protect her loved ones... and as many more people as she could.

the program mandates a strict NDA. no one is meant to know that she was involved with the andromeda initiative. unfortunately, this consequently results in months of secrets slowly bleeding into her personal life.

claudette has worked with various alien species for the andromeda initiative, primarily volunteers for control groups to help accommodate all species’ unique physiology for cryogenic freezing. the majority of her time is spent collaborating with quarians on flotilla ships, as their weak immune systems required special care and attention in order to prepare them for cryostatis. because the initiative obtained promising data from quarian explorers who claimed to have found a geth array on the fringes of the perseus veil (supposedly built from three mass relays using sensors in the combined relay corridor as a form of FTL "telescope" to observe dark space beyond the galactic rim), claudette is privy to the research conducted by these pioneering quarian explorers and scientists.

to integrate herself into quarian society and protect them from alien pathogens and viruses, claudette wears a customized quarian enviro-suit, including the full-visor helmet and traditional sashes. at first glance, she could easily be mistaken for a quarian. but looking at her five-fingered hands give away that she is actually human.

the andromeda initiative’s attracted a series of corporate espionage. she often finds herself investigated by professional thieves, shady interplanetary organizations, galactic governments... and the geth.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh thank you for liking my American wizards ideas

And about guns, okay modern trick a lot of writers use that magic is often uncomfortable with modern technology.

Now my Americans wizards gun magic is that they use mainly colonial muskets, revolvers, and recent advancements allow WW1-2 guns to be used.

Also like for the modern AK-47 and desert eagles, okay gamifying a bit. But american wizards enchantments get slow to change the type of bullets the guns use, ie a enchantment take make the bullets releasing posion gas after hitting the target and such

Actually I notice something I notice in post hp fantasy settings and especially after Rings of Power. A lot of modern creators try to put modern or globalized characters into middle age inspired settings

Like the push for black rep in fantasy…the problem is that the type of fantasy people that could resembled modern black people is if the fantasy setting take place in colonial or industrial eras.

But I think a lot of black activists in these progressive circles never realize or took the hard pill that the average black American and the modern Yoruba people are strangers to each other. We have no pagan cultural roots to Africa

Yeah it’s sucks…but it sure as hell will help you in the long wrong

And as you know I’m a Midwestern. This tweet made me realize my fantasy ideas is so different

https://x.com/oliverjia1014/status/1770085801113849979?s=46

It was a fun read

Now my Americans wizards gun magic is that they use mainly colonial muskets, revolvers, and recent advancements allow WW1-2 guns to be used.

You were talking about a steampunk type visual, you'll see a lot of old flintlock, wheel lock, and cap and ball type with the people that do steampunk, it's Victorian era so basically if it existed prior to to 1901 you're good.

Actually I notice something I notice in post hp fantasy settings and especially after Rings of Power. A lot of modern creators try to put modern or globalized characters into middle age inspired settings

Ya it's getting old, fantasy setting is not bad that and how they explained Morgan Freeman's character in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves worked great.

Moorish man that Robin had befriended instead of killed while out on the Crusade, came back to see England with Robin. It had a few 'magic negro' moments but not really magic other than the magic of his voice.

Just a inspirational speech, telescope thing too iirc been a while not really magic but a great vehicle for inserting someone who would not appear normally in that area at that time into a story.

But I think a lot of black activists in these progressive circles never realize or took the hard pill that the average black American and the modern Yoruba people are strangers to each other. We have no pagan cultural roots to Africa

Some are acutely aware of it

It's the 'they took our jobs' that everyone says it racist when you're talking about immigrants, but this is slots in college admissions and not racist at all if you ask them.

Xenophobic would be closer.

And as you know I’m a Midwestern. This tweet made me realize my fantasy ideas is so different

Guy moves to farm country and find out that farmers aren't actually the racist hicks he thought they were, many such cases.

There's a imageset from a post from FB or twitter or something, black woman breaks down in the middle of farm country on her way somewhere and her worst nightmare comes true when a white dude with confederate flag and maga stickers pulls up.

Guy was friendly and polite, helped to get her car functional and showed her where was a good place close by where a more permanent fix could happen.

There's a few, variations on who was driving and one I'm thinking of their bumper came loose, others with flat tires and what not.

They all end the same way, preconceived notions wind up being shown to be incredibly wrong.

[willowser]

NOOO UR MAKING ME SO SAD one day he doesn’t come back and so u decide to move on and then he comes back literally YEARS later and sees u w a new man and his heart is BROKEN im so sad omfg

OMG. CRYING.

you run into him on the street, just as you did the first time.

you've married a decently wealthy man, one with enough money that you're free to pour all your time into painting and you do quite well, are able to sell them and host them in small museums and general markets during the week. you've moved, to be with your new husband, so you're no longer in your small village of drunks and thieves, and you're quite happy with the life you've built around you.

it's full of art and curiosity: your husband buys you a brand new telescope from a different country, top of the line. it's bigger than your old one and it takes you longer to figure out the dials and knobs, but when you do — the views you get are breathtaking. you paint what you find, all the shapes you discover in the constellations. very rarely is the sea your muse, these days; all those works became sad and unfinished, dark portraits of a ship far out in the distance that never sailed any closer, no many how many times you painted it.

the necklace lies at the bottom of your first jewelry box, chain broken from when you'd ripped it off and tried to throw it into a tide just as furious as you had been — but it never left your clenched fist.

it's not your painting he comes across, but someone else's star-map. for sale, at the local market, and you've stopped to enjoy the work the artist has done, chatting with them about what you've found when another customer wanders up beside you and says,

"'sea goddess', hmm," a hand reaches around you, too close for your liking, to pick up a reimagined constellation on display. "heard the woman it's named for is more beautiful than all the seven seas in the middle of a hurricane."

the artist frowns, because it's his piece, but indulges the customer anyway. "and what woman would that be?"

and your blood runs cold at the sound of your name, slowly turning to peer around you shoulder, to take in the figure that's uttered it. bigger than you remember, and darker, hair tied back in a tidier bun than usual. in his grip in his weathered hat, torn and nearly destroyed; a testament to the voyage he's had, maybe. and when he raises one hand in a soft wave, the flat of his palm is exposed, the pendant from your necklace in fading ink at its center.

kirishima is older now, as are you, with more scars along his nose and under his jaw, a jagged one across his neck that has tears stinging your eyes. but despite his edges — the smile on his face is soft, sad, and the light in his vibrant eyes hardly flickers as he takes in you and all your changes. as if he's been extinguished for quite some time, and only just now burning again.

"i never stopped lookin'," he murmurs suddenly, uncaring of the merchant as he dares to edge closer to you. his skin smells sharp and clean like aftershave, though the shadows on his face linger. "took a long time for me to find you."

and you feel like his violent sea, his crashing waves; despite the tears that track your cheeks, you remain stone-faced, trying to tide back the rage — the hurricane you want to be. "me?" you whisper, incensed. "to find me?"

his face falls and his eyes slip to the floor, ashamed, but he still tries, stepping further into you when he speaks again. "i know, didn't mean it like that. but i—" one hand gently rests on your elbow, while the other finds your own and you jump, startled and angry at how forward thinks he can be after all this time and yet — you let his rough fingers brush over yours, over the short silk gloves covering your skin. "i did search for you, i wanted to come home. i was always gonna come home—"

"don't—" you hiss, but he doesn't let you go far, following through the step you take back from him. on purpose, you think he pushes his palm into your fingers, as if wants you to feel the mark he still wears for you. "home? how dare you—"

"i know, 'm sorry," he whispers, so close that you can see the freckles on the bridge of his nose and the golden stars in his eyes and the desperation in the lines of his face. "i'm sorry, i'll always be—"

"darling?"

you pull away from him in no time, wiping a gloved hand over your cheeks before turning to face your husband who stands only feet from you, holding a new lens for your telescope. his eyes jump back and forth between you and kirishima, but you give him no longer to consider what he sees.

"yes, excuse me. let's go." you slip out of range when kirishima backs up a step, started probably, at the title and the arm your loop through your husband's. only once does he try to turn back to the figure, as still as a dead man, but you tighten your grip on him and don't look back.

[death-and-other-myths]

The Dream Thieves Deadass Book Review

By Maggie Stiefvater

Blue and the gang are back in another thrilling installment of teenagers taking on way more than they should!

This is an unhinged book review/recap of this BEAUTIFUL STORY I LOVE IT!!

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

We kick things off with a cool prologue about Ronan Lynch and his enigmatic father, who apparently dissapeared for months at a time and returned with ridiculous amounts of money and treasure. It’s also heavily implied that Niall Lynch also had the ability to manifest objects from his dreams. He says weird shit like “Ronan on the day you were born, blue rose petals rained from the sky and all the cows started crying blood.” And Ronan says “Thanks Dad, a birthday card will suffice.” (Jk) But there are instances where Niall wakes up with blood and blue rose petals on his face and is like “Oh Ronan, I was just dreaming about the day you were born.”

Wow this family! (To recap, Nial was murdered with a tire iron and Ronan found him)

Was… was Ronan not birthed, but dreamed?? Did his father dream him into existence? I’m not sure. 

Well everyone is in the know because the kids meet up in the countryside with a telescope — still on their quest to chart the leylines and locate Glendower… who the trees confirmed exists, so that makes all this crazy magic even more real. Ronan demonstrates flying a toy plane that he dreamed into reality, which can miraculously fly without batteries. His raven, Chainsaw chases it and it’s adorable. 

It’s so fun to see the gang back together. Ronan can dream things into existence and we’re all okay with that. Adam is some kind of magic we don’t understand yet. Noah is dead. Gansey’s super power is loving his friends to the point of being annoying. And being obsessed with Glendower. Their new plan is to keep exploring the enchanted forest and hunt for the king. Blue continues to be adorable and poke fun at Gansey, who calls her Jane and likes to say shit to get a rise out of her. 

THEN we meet some dude who is described as the Gray Man. He has quite a pit of personality for someone who only wears grayscale shit. He walks into Declan’s dormitory at Aglionby and proceeds to BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM. Poor kid. He’s demanding to know where the Greywarren is?? And Declan is like “I have no idea what that is please stop hitting me.” And Gray Man says “You better find it for me or I’ll kill you and your whole family, kay bye.” Then he checks in to a bed and breakfast. 

I kind of remember Ronan saying Greywarren in the first book. It was something the trees called him in Latin and he was confused and said he didn’t understand. 

Anyway, both Gansey and Ronan have insomnia. So one night, Ronan wakes up with a puzzle box/decoder he manifested out of his dreams and takes it out to Gansey, who is also awake at 3am working on his scale model of Henrietta on the floor. They have a neat conversation about Ronan’s dream powers and the strange contraption he made that night. You type a word in English on one side and wooden letters rearrange in Latin, Greek, and some other language they can’t figure out. Gansey is very fascinated with how Ronan accomplishes this magic feat. Then he says “God I’m tired.” — “Then sleep.” — glare from Gansey, who would if he could. — “Wanna get orange juice?” … they get orange juice. 

The next day, Blue goes to work at the pizza place and the guys come. There’s a cute part where Adam touches her wrist. There’s an even cuter part earlier in the book, when Blue is thinking about the tree visions and her fate to kiss and kill her first love. She says to “fate”, if I’m destined to kill Gansey, I don’t want that to happen. If I’m destined to love him, I don’t want that either. It’s Adam I want. Eeeeee!!

While they’re chatting, the local douchebag Kavinsky shows up and exchanges some witty banter. Like genuinely witty. This kid is a dick, but he’s really funny. He gives Ronan some leather bands, just like the ones he’s already wearing and chewing on all the time… and this must have some significance but we don’t get it yet. So anyway, he leaves. And the boys are trying to figure out what the mystery language is on the dream box. Blue says “I bet Ronan knows what it is. Somewhere in there.” And Ronan snaps back “You don’t know shit.” And everyone at the table freezes. Gansey says in a threatening way to the table, “You are not to speak to Blue like that ever again, you hear me?” And Blue is like “BISH I don’t need you standing up for me! Fuck you rich boy and fuck you Ronan I will end you.”

The Gray Man is driving around town in a shitty rental car talking to the locals. Apparently there have been power outages and surges lately. He’s using instruments given to him by his boss… Greensomething. GREENMANTLE. And following the energy to a crazy rose bush and a creepy well. When he takes the lid off the well, the energy readings stop. 

Adam has been living in the musty little space above St. Agnes’ church paying rent to the nuns for a few months now. When he gets home from his mechanic job, Blue is there. This is such a BEAUTIFULLY written chapter (8) and Adam continues to be a beautifully written character. There is so much going on in this scene. From Adam pining over all the things he wants in life… to the anxiety of knowing he made a bargain with a magical forest that is hanging over his head because he has no idea what that fucking even means…. To his incredible attraction to Blue and deep desire to kiss her.

They have a sweet moment where they hug, and he’s getting signals, so he goes in for a kiss and she FREAKS OUT and steps back. This wounds him deeply, since it’s been weeks now, and he knows he should respect a girl when she says “no” but also just why?? I WISH BLUE WOULD JUST TELL THIS POOR BABY IF SHE KISSES HIM HE MIGHT DIE but I also see how that could be a difficult conversation, so she just keeps it vague like “I don’t want to move too fast.” — Adam takes a shower to exit from this awful interaction, and while he’s in there he catches sight of himself in the mirror and thinks he looks different. Like a little more gaunt than usual. And then he has this strange moment of scratching his skin. And the water feels like it’s falling in slow-motion. And then he gets this weird flash of water falling off leaves. 

So Adam steps out of the shower like “Wow. That’s weird.” And finds Blue talking to a Nun. The Nun explains that some weird tax thing happened and his rent has been lowered by $200. Adam is super relieved, and after she leaves, he opens a letter from Aglionby that he’s been ignoring… and that letter says that tuition has been raised by $200. He’s immediately like…… Gansey. He puts two and two together and is just livid. And he takes it out on Blue, so they get into a huge fight. And she storms out. And Adam feels like a fucking monster and more trapped than ever. And the chapter ends with him getting a flash of another image in his head. I THINK HE’S STARTING TO BECOME MAGICAL. But also, sweet baby. I hate that he carries all this pain. But god damn if he is not a fascinating character. They all are. I love them.

Gansey, Noah, and Ronan are dicking around a Dollar Tree when Adam calls. 

I love the idea of these 2 rich idiots and their dead friend just messing with chinsie toys and bullshit at the dollar tree. They went there for batteries but are standing around just being teenaged boys. Also the raven is with them. Adam tells Gansey he just saw a ghost woman in his apartment and it freaked him out. Noah finds a snow globe that he loves that is full of glitter, and Ronan and Chainsaw are being adorable and in an unusually good mood. Then Noah like, BLINKS OUT for a minute then comes back. The boys hypothesize that the leyline’s power is fluctuating. And it probably has something to do with Adam. 

Adam and Gansey get into a brief argument on the phone about the tuition… where it’s revealed to us the reader (but not the boys) that it was RONAN who adjusted Adam’s rent. There’s a great line like “The good thing about being Ronan is that no one ever expects you to be nice.”

Ronan has a dream about being in the forest and hanging out with a little blonde girl. He’s seen her before. And like everything there, she speaks in Latin and is super skiddish and afraid. She asks if he’ll take her with him before he wakes up. 

The next day, Adam calls Gansey again and Gansey invites him to one of his fancy rich people parties. He says there might be internship opportunities. Adam hates offers like this, because of that damn pride of his! But he actually considers accepting and pretty much says yes. Then he asks Gansey for some relationship advice about Blue… which makes Gansey deeply uncomfortable. 

Blue told him about her prophecy/curse when they were exploring the woods that one day. The same day he told her about the day he died of hornets. Again… it is driving me crazy… how none of these kids will just out and say this. But I appreciate the tension hahaha. Poor ADAM!! He asks Gansey if he’ll talk to Blue for him… maybe find out why she’s so skiddish about kissing in particular. Or if there’s something wrong with him. Gansey reluctantly says yes. 

Then there’s a cute bit with Ronan and Noah being boys and throwing shit out the factory window. Then Noah stomps back in all upset because Ronan threw HIM out the window. OH BOYS.

On Sunday, Ronan goes to church. He very much believes in God and the Devil… because he saw the devil once?? He saw his Dad talking to this goat-headed beast in the barn. And then Nial shot Satan 13 times in the head. And Satan flashed his dick at Niall and dissapeared. I AM NOT FUCKING WITH YOU. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. I’m just like… okay, Maggie. 

Ronan notices Declan all beat up and is happy to see it. But it’s weird. Normally the only people who can beat up Lynch brothers are other Lynch brothers. He says it was a robbery though. We meet Matthew, the most adorable of the brothers, who is kind of a clean-cut jock as opposed to being a brooding punk or a pompous future-senator. It’s worth mentioning that Noah joins Ronan at church, but no one acknowledges him. 

Ronan has a street race with that Kavinsky guy (who calls him a f**. REAL NICE.) — And before they race, Ronan throws a pair of sunglasses into Kavinsky’s car? They’re identical to the pair he’s wearing on his face, and he seemed kind of surprised by it. He asks how the hell he found a pair. Ronan doesn’t answer. And we all know we dreamed them. So that happens and it’s over. 

Is Kavinsky a dreamer too???

Meanwhile, Gansey and Adam are hanging out at Blue’s house. Gansey is in the kitchen with Blue and Adam is out in the reading room. Their fearless leader is talking with Maura and basically saying in much more fancy Gansey speak, “I think we’re going to have to go back to Cabeswater eventually. I can’t guarantee it’ll be safe, but I can say we’ll be as cautious as possible?” — Maura is like FINE. Then when they have a free moment, Gansey asks Blue if she’s talked to Adam about the whole “If I kiss you, it might kill you.” Thing. Blue gets flustered and is like “Of course not and it’s none of your business!” — Well he tried. Blue has a gentle chat with Adam who has laid out a deck of tarot cards and is just staring at them. He seems to be in a much better mood now, but things are still awkward between them. Gansey is adorable with his water bottle, which he pokes Blue with and is like “Fair Trade!” Like he deserves a prize for being more environmentally conscious. 

One day, the Gray man comes into the Blue House. He’s extremely charming. Says he’s there researching a book, but it comes out pretty quickly that he’s a hitman. The ladies aren’t really that afraid of him though. And he even plays little psychic card games with them before leaving. Persephone and Calla ask Maura why she allowed all that to go down, and she’s like… best to keep an eye on those types. 

So the gang is in the camaro on their way to Cabeswater, and things are still a little weird between Adam and Blue. He keeps getting visions and seeing figures (dead people?) and he’s worried that Cabeswater is going to like… take him.

Well they pull up to where Cabeswater is supposed to be and it’s just fucking gone. The whole forest… up and left like it never existed. And to make things worse, the camaro breaks down on the way home and they’re pretty far from civilization. Ronan is stomping around in frustration and Blue make some kind of comment like “Yeah let’s just throw rocks and be violent and do something manly like yell. That’ll really help.” and even though she says it to Ronan, Adam knows he was the one that was supposed to hear it (because he scared her by exploding in the apartment earlier). To make matters worse, Gansey and Blue formulate a plan together over the GPS and just seeing their hair touching is enough to make Adam feel real awful. He just presses his head against the seat back and groans. 

They ask Declan to bring a battery. Ronan pretends to be asleep, which pisses off his brother. It also pisses him off that Ronan’s leg is draped over Adam’s. He tells him to keep his fucking head down and out of trouble, drops the battery, and leaves. 

That night, Ronan has a truly AWFUL nightmare. He’s standing in Adam’s apartment, and there’s this mask on his wall that belonged to his father, but only in his dreams (??) and the little girl is there eating fried chicken lol. Well eventually, dream Adam shows up and puts on the mask, and the second it does it turns him into a MONSTER. Adam is both trying to get the mask off and posessed by some evil force attacking Ronan. Ronan manages to pull the mask off him easily, but when he does it takes Adam’s fucking face with it — so then he’s dying in the corner. And Ronan wakes up with the mask in hand. He has sleep paralysis so Noah talks him through it until he can move. This chapter ends with a weird clicking noise in the corner and I am very scared.

OH GOD IT GETS WORSE. Gansey is out sitting in his Camero in a thunderstorm because it’s 4:45am and he has insomnia. He’s feeling a bit sorry for himself at Cabeswater disappearing. I love this bit:

“…then instead gave himself over to feeling sorry for himself, that he should have so many friends and yet feel so very alone. He felt it fell to him to comfort them, but never the other way around. As it should be, he thought, abruptly angry with himself. You’ve had it the easiest. What good is all your privilege, you soft, spoiled thing, if you can’t stand on your own legs?”

I love Gansey so much. 

Noah comes out and flags him down, then leads him to the massive main room on the 1st floor that has no lighting and is full of dust and Ronan is just standing in the middle of it like a creeper while there is a storm outside. Chainsaw is there for levity… rolling in the dirt. So Ronan asks Gansey about the promise he made last year… after they found him in a pool of blood with slit wrists. He said he didn’t actually try to kill himself. He had a nightmare and brought the wounds back with him, but his father made him promise never to tell anyone about his dream powers, so he just let everyone think he was suicidal. And there’s still something banging and dragging around upstairs and I will fucking SHIT myself if it is Adam without a face.

Okay no it’s not that. But it’s still pretty fucking scary. Ronan grabs a crowbar. He gives Gansey a box cutter. And together they open the door to Ronan’s room to fucking fight some kind of… Raven person beast monster. It’s all claws and has red eyes and a huge beak but kind of a human body and totally fucks them up, but they fuck it up better. During the fight, Gansey notices Ronan has old scars on his arms beneath new ones from the claws. He asks Ronan if that’s how he got those injuries and he says “One got away”. So um… WOW. Like Gansey says, no wonder Ronan won’t sleep. That’s ten kinds of awful.

The next chapter starts with Gansey and Ronan fetching Blue with the dead, stinky bird man in the trunk. Then we get this phenomenal snippet:

“She wore a dress Ronan thought looked like a lampshade. Whatever sort of lamp it belonged on, Gansey clearly wished he had one. Ronan wasn’t a fan of lamps.”

Fucking beautiful. This is chapter 18 by the way. I love this whole exchange at the beginning. Blue is struck by Gansey wearing blue jeans and a tshirt. It makes him look his age and not like a senator, like he usually does. The plan is to pick up Adam next and then go bury the body in Ronan’s farm (which he’s not legally allowed to enter for some reason). Also Noah dissapeared when all the shit went down and hasn’t come back yet. I do not blame him. 

They drive out to Ronan’s forbidden home which is like gorgeous fairy farmland. They have to go find a shovel in one of the many barns and discover that all of the livestock is sleeping with their eyes open. So… creepy? Even the little barn birds are doing it. Oddly enough the only animals not in this state are some baby mice. And there’s an adorable scene where Ronan says the only way to feel their little heartbeats it to hold them against your cheek, and everyone does it and can’t help but smile. It’s so freaking cute. 

Great prelude to burning a horrifying bird creature. But once that’s done, they decide to go to Ninos. Adam, throughout this whole trip, is getting spacier and spacier. He did smile at the baby mice though lol. But otherwise he’s just staring off into the sky. Before they leave, Ronan asks if he can go see his mom (who apparently had a meltdown after his Dad died and stopped talking). 

Ronan’s house is COOL!!! It is not rich bougie opulent like Gansey’s. It’s a proper farmhouse, cluttered and warm and packed with dream things. Like a lot of appliances that don’t require electricity. And some blue lilies sitting in a vase with no water. And the fucking MASK!! Ronan nearly tackles Adam to stop him from touching it, then that becomes the last straw. Ronan loves his home and misses it like crazy. And it’s killing him that he’s legally forbidden to be there. He doesn’t know how to process emotions, so he just starts punching the wall and destroying stuff. Adam stands there numbly, letting him. So Gansey thunders over, catches his fist, and tells him to cut it out. 

Ronan goes to see his mother in a sitting room filled with still more magical shit, and she’s asleep just like the livestock. In a coma and surrounded by medical stuff (nurses come and check on her periodically). Basically by the end of this chapter, Ronan realizes that many of the things in his home were dreamed by his father, and that’s why they’re in this holding pattern/coma-like state….Including his MOM!!! DUN DUN DUN!!!

The next day or hours later (sometimes it’s hard to tell time in these books lol) - Blue tells Ronan “You need to go talk to my aunts about this dream stuff. Manifesting objects from dreams is crazy enough, but manifesting PEOPLE?!” — And here’s the funny thing about Ronan. He’s a total punk, but he’s also pretty religious. So they get in a fight about “Is spiritualism the devil” until Gansey breaks it up and makes Ronan go.

So they go talk to Calla, the sassiest of the psychics, who talks to Ronan while doing aerial yoga lol because reasons. She tells him that Cabeswater is a dream. And Ronan thinks his mom might be in there. I’m confused by this, but I think we’re supposed to be… Like, did Ronan’s father DREAM Cabeswater? She also tells him to get rid of that mask “It’s a bit of bad work”. I’m really glad Adam didn’t touch it now!!

Matthew and Ronan have lunch. This chapter is interspersed with excerpts from Nial Lynch’s will, which explains each brother gets 3 million dollars when they turn 18 ON THE CONDITION that they stay off the property. (And I guess Declan is real pissed because Ronan did just that. But I guess maybe it was okay since no one saw?). The will also leaves Ronan with the farm, which he can’t set foot on…. So thanks Dad. Mathew mentions that Declan is taking sleeping pills, knows about Ronan and Nial’s dream powers, and has a gun in his car. Ronan says he has a plan to get Mom back. 

The Gray man is an interesting character. He is there on orders from a man named Greenmantle… looking for the Greywarren (all very strange names). The only thing he is afraid of is his brother, who he keeps dodging calls from. He has depression/gray days where he just stays in bed all day. He has a few of those before he realizes he left his wallet at the psychic house. So he’s going to go get that…AFTER HE GOES TO MONMOUTH MANUFACTURING slash base camp slash where our sweet heroes live and oh my god I will fucking die if he hurts anyone. 

Gansey has been depressed since Cabeswater dissapeared. It’s really messing with him. So he goes on a spending spree and buys some things for the factory (a leather chair, pool table, and some air conditioners) — and asks Blue’s cousin Orla to help because they need someone who is 21 years or older to rent a trailer lol. Orla shows up to the factory in bell bottoms and an orange bikini, and Gansey and Adam exchange looks. RONAN DOES NOT BECAUSE HE DOESN’T LIKE LAMPS. Seeing them blush drives Blue nuts, since she and Orla don’t get along. 

Then we get this beautiful line of thought from Gansey:

“She wore two shredded tank tops and a pair of bleached cargo pants. In some parallel universe, there was a Gansey who could tell Blue that he found the ten inches of her bare calves far more tantalizing than the thirteen cubic feet of bare skin Orla sported. But in this universe, that was Adam’s job.”

So not only did he rent a trailer, but he rented a boat. And as the Gray man pulls up on the factory, he sees all this and also sees a white Mitsubishi idling on the road (Kavinsky!!). Gansey and the gang head out with their trailers and boat. Then the Gray man waits for Kavinsky to pull in, drop off whatever he’s dropping off, and leave. When the Gray man approaches, he sees that Kavinsky has dropped off a stack of REALLY CONVINCING looking drivers licenses with Ronan’s picture and a birthdate that would make him 70 lol. I think Kavinsky is a dreamer!!!! While the Gray man breaks into the factory and pokes around, he calls Maura and flirts with her about getting his wallet back.

But while he’s there, two MORE people break into the factory and are ALSO looking through things, but being assholes about it and wrecking stuff. They’re about to stomp on Gansey’s model of Henrietta, which the Gray Man can’t stand, so he steps out and fucks them up. Murders one of them right off the bat. Asks the other one who sent them, and the guy says they were hired by someone with a French Accent to find the Greywarren, which they think is probably a box. This is new info for the Gray Man, who didn’t know if the Greywarren was a person, place, or thing. So he says thanks and then kills the guy.

Okay so the kids are on a boat and it’s hot as hell. Gansey has purchased a sonar machine that Ronan is beating into activation and Orla is stretched out tanning. They drive around looking for something to pop up on the sonar, and it finally does! So while Gansey is thinking about how to strip down and dive with all these girls present, Blue takes off one of her tank top layers and is like “I’m going in. BRB.” — Orla stands up and is like “No you don’t. I’m the only one actually wearing swimwear. I’ll get it.” And she strips down into her sexy orange bikini. The boy's reaction to his is PRICELESS.

I LOVE this bit with Gansey:

“A tiny part of Gansey’s brain said: You have been staring for too long. The larger part of his brain said: ORANGE. “Oh, for the love of God,” Blue said, and jumped out of the boat.”

Ronan laughs hysterically because, again, he doesn’t like lamps. 

Orla swims around for a while and gives up. But Blue manages to dive and find 2 objects. A metal plate thing called a boss that used to be part of an ancient shield adorned with raven stuff (Glendower is all about ravens!) and a camaro tire that looks like it’s hundreds of years old. So that’s creepy. (It’s also funny when she comes back on the boat, she spits lake water on Gansey’s shoes and says “There! Now they’re actually boat shoes.” — and Gansey is like: [indignant rich people noises!])

More Gansey thinking Blue is hot:

“Gansey still felt he ought to avert his eyes. Everything was wet and clinging in ways that seemed more titillating than he’d come to expect from Blue’s wardrobe.”

They head back to land and Orla is getting in Ronan’s BMW when Blue asks, “Seen enough of Orla?”

And Gansey blurts out “What care of it is yours whether I’ve seen enough.” (And quickly regrets it because this sounds like a dare. Or flirting. Which he desperately doesn’t want to do because it will compromise his friendship with Adam.)

Blue replies, “Not at all.” And he knows she’s lying. So we get this neat bit:

“Blue Sargent cared whether or not he was interested in Orla. She cared a lot. As she whirled toward the truck with a dismissive shake of her head, he felt a dirty sort of thrill.”

Ganssseeeyyyy!!! Has so got the hots for Blue. Oh god, Adam though. I don’t want this poor baby to get hurt. I mean he’s already been through so much and the magic invisible forest is scrambling his brain… please just be happy. 

When Blue comes home (soaking wet) she finds Noah doing ghost shit on her front lawn. I’m sorry, that’s way too blunt. I just thought it would be funny to write it. But he is doing something she’s seen him do maybe 4 or 5 times before… which is re-enacting the moment of his death. We see him get hit by the invisible skateboard and shiver and shake on the ground for like 11 minutes making horrific noises. Then he just blips and is standing next to Blue like “Hey Buddy!! What’s up! Did you go swimming today? NEAT!” And she’s like “Heyyyy Noah. What’s going through your head when you do that?” And he simply replies that he wasn’t there. Like he wasn’t conscious of doing that. WOW BEING A GHOST IS WEIRD. Also I love how no one noticed their roommate was a ghost in the first book. Was he doing this while he lived with them and they were like “Noah, cut it out!”?

Mister Gray buries the two dudes he murdered at the factory, all while asking Maura out on a date. Later, he shows up to her house to get his wallet and has a terse conversation with Blue — who senses that he is smart, and not to be underestimated. Blue is a smart cookie. She notices the way Mr. Gray tries NOT to care when Maura comes in and says Gansey is on the phone because his place got broken into. Blue is like okay this guy is something…

The night before Gansey and Adam go out of town, Gansey is in a fucking mood. He and Ronan drive out to Kavinsky’s substance party (his words, not mine) in an abandoned fairgrounds where a bunch of rich kids are getting high and destroying their cars. When they arrive, Kavinsky has this great line where he goes “Hey lady. To join this party you gotta bring drugs.” And then Ronan punches him… lol Kavinsky is either too high or too charismatic to care. But I thought it was so funny when he said “Hey lady.”

He says it wasn’t him that wrecked the place, which tips G & R off that the same person who beat up Declan might be looking for them too. Kavinsky is like “Hey before you go, wanna blow stuff up?” And Gansey is in just crazy enough of a mood to do it. So they throw some Molotov cocktails at cars — and it’s all very cinematic and poetic. I love angry/scary Gansey. He’s not unhinged angry. He’s just as intelligent and confident as he always is. But he’s a certain shade of lethal. Freaking love it. Kavinsky asks Ronan if he’s coming to the 4th of July party and he says maybe. This chapter ends with Ronan admitting to himself that he’s bummed Gansey and Adam are leaving town without him.

Mr. Gray and Maura have their date and it’s actually pretty cute. He opens up about his brother, who sounds like a complete fucking psychopath (torturing him and small animals as a kid). Their flirting is kind of adorable, and they even kiss! When he gets back to the Bed and Breakfast, he learns that his room has been turned upside down and ransacked. Also, Maura stole his phone and replaced it with his tarot card in his pocket (The something of swords… I forget haha)

Persephone wakes Blue up in the middle of the night to help break into the Gray Man’s phone. These psychic ladies straight up do not give a fuck. They get Blue to show them his emails and phone calls and they figure out (through a mix of that and psychic ability) that he is there looking for the Greywarren. His problem, they say, is that he thinks he’s looking for an object when he should be looking for Ronan. So that’s interesting that the psychics know Ronan is a/the Greywarren! They know that word?? The Gray Man calls and isn’t even mad about the phone. He just flirts with Maura some more. 

That night, Ronan has a dream about his tattoo. He hasn’t really looked at it since he got it, but he can see it clearly in this dream. It’s made up of all the stuff he dreams about. Ravens and claws and the road to the Barns and other scary and beautiful things. In the dream, ADAM IS BEHIND HIM, TRACING HIS FINGERS DOWN HIS BACK on the road to his home. Then Adam turns into Kavinsky. And that tattoo shrinks into the size of a wafer and he eats it… and Ronan wakes up in a cold sweat feeling shame and adrenaline. Poor sweet religious baby, I think we all know what he is struggling with. And it’s not lamps.

IT’S THE WEEKEND OF THE BIG FANCY RICH PEOPLE PARTY and Helen returns with her helicopter to fly Gansey and Adam to Northern Virginia. I’m really excited for this party???? Poor Adam is just terrified though. Nervous and anxious. When they land, Helen runs into a Whole Foods so Gansey asks Adam how he’s doing. Adam just lays down in the back of the car and asks to talk about anything else. For a minute, Gansey thinks, Blue, but tells himself don’t you fucking dare. So he calls his British friend Malory who is at a PIGEON SHOW and is all in a tizzy describing the birds, and there’s this adorable scene with the boys trying to hold in their laughter while he’s describing the pigeons. At one point he describes “Pigmy somethings” and are “very feisty” and Gansey mouths to Adam “Blue!” And Adam actually cracks up and laughs out loud. Then he’s back to looking like his old self, which makes Gansey extraordinarily happy. This scene is so cute. I love it so much. 

When Adam and Gansey left in the helicopter, Ronan watched them from the hood of his car. He even blew a sarcastic kiss to Gansey before he was out of view. So this first thing he does now that he’s alone is test the set of dream keys to the Camaro lol. They miraculously work, though he dare not drive the car. Gansey LOVES that car. Then he gets a text from Kavinsky that says “You gotta check out my new wheels. See you tonight at 11”. I feel like Ronan is the teenager left home alone while Mom and Dad are out of town lol.

Noah lets Blue into Monmouth Manufacturing to have a snoop fest because everyone is out. I love these paragraphs where the author describes them just doing teenager shit. Raiding the fridge. Playing pool. PLaying with the telescope. Putting on a record. I mean, they totally go through Gansey’s stuff hahaha like go through all he draws in his desk and everything. Then they even LAY DOWN IN HIS BED and we get this phenomenal bit of literature:

Only inches away, Noah blinked sleepily at her. Blue crumpled the edge of the sheet against her nose. It smelled like mint and wheatgrass, which was to say, like Gansey. 

As they baked in the sunlight, she let herself think it: I have a crush on Richard Gansey. 

In a way, it was easier than pretending otherwise. She couldn’t do anything about it, of course, but letting herself think it was like popping a blister. Of course, the opposite truth also seemed self-evident. I don’t have a crush on Adam Parrish. She sighed.

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! And also awww Adaaammm but also AWWWW BECAUSE I LOVE GANSEY AND BLUE. But omg I love Adam. IF ANYTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS TO ANY OF THESE KIDS I WILL NOT BE OKAY.

Okay so then Noah says he heard Blue won’t kiss Adam. And she tells him about the psychic prophecy, and confesses that Adam isn’t her true love, anyway. And she just has to go through life not kissing anyone for fear of killing them.  Then Noah has an idea: Well, you could kiss me. Oh my gosh I love this because the author completely unlocked a memory for me of how a first kiss feels. They are generally not great hahaha

His mouth mashed her lips until it met teeth. The entire thing was at once slimy and ticklish and hilarious. They both gasped an embarrassed laugh.

Oh my GOD this scene is so fucking cute. They sit up and keep trying, and the next kiss apparently feels like “kissing a dish washer” hahaha. “It’s hard because it’s you!” They say to each other, because they have what I think is firmly a friendship. When it comes to hanging out and being comfortable around each other, Blue is definitely closest to Noah… which I think is so adorable. He is so adorable. 

“Is it me?” She asks, because these kisses are terrible. And he’s like YEAH lol you’re too tense. Think of how they kiss in the movies and try to imitate that. 

I AM COPYING AND PASTING THIS WHOLE SECTION BECAUSE IT IS SO CUTE. 

She sighed and sifted through her memories until she found one that would do. It wasn’t a movie kiss, however. It was the kiss the dreaming tree had showed her in Cabeswater. Her first and only kiss with Gansey, right before he died. She thought about his nice mouth when he smiled. About his pleasant eyes when he laughed. She closed her eyes. Placing an elbow on the other side of her head, Noah leaned close and kissed her once more. 

This time, it was more of a thought than a feeling, a soft heat that began at her mouth and unfurled through the rest of her. One of his cold hands slid behind her neck and he kissed her again, lips parted. It was not just a touch, an action. It was a simplification of both of them: They were no longer Noah Czerny and Blue Sargent. They were now just him and her. Not even that. They were only the time that they held between them. 

Oh, thought Blue. So this is what I can’t have. Not being able to kiss whoever she fell in love with didn’t feel so different from not having a cell phone when everyone else at school did. It didn’t feel very different from knowing she wasn’t going to be studying ecology abroad for college, or going abroad period. It didn’t feel very different from knowing that Cabeswater was going to be the only extraordinary thing about her life. Which was to say that it was unbearable, but she had to bear it anyway. Because there was nothing terrible about kissing Noah Czerny, apart from him being cold. 

She let him kiss her, and kissed him back until he pulled back on an elbow and clumsily wiped away some of her tears with the heel of his fist. His smudge had gotten very dark, and he was cold enough that she shivered. Blue gave him a watery smile. “That was super nice.” He shrugged, eyes doleful, shoulders curled in on themselves. He was fading. It wasn’t that she could see through him. It was that it was hard to remember what he looked like, even while she was looking at him. When he turned his head, she saw him swallow. He mumbled, “I’d ask you out, if I was alive.” Nothing was fair. 

“I’d say okay,” she replied. She only had time to see him smile faintly. And then he was gone. She rolled onto her back in the middle of the suddenly empty bed. Above her, the rafters glowed with the summer sun. Blue touched her mouth. It felt the same as it always did. Not at all like she had just gotten her first and last kiss.

I CAN’T. I CAN’T. I CAN’T. I CAN’T — THIS FUCKING BOOK. I AM GOING TO THROW IT ACROSS THE ROOM and then retrieve it and sob all over it and read it some more. That was the cutest fucking scene… Noah is so cute. Blue is so sweet. Poor baby having to go through life not kissing anyone except for her ghost friend who she also kind of likes I guess but it’s a non-starter with him being dead and all. GAWD. AUGH. And on Gansey’s bed?? Fuck. 

Alright onto the next chapter. 

Ronan picks up Matthew from school and says “Get in the car bitch, we’re going to the house.” (He does not say that. But that’s what they do). While they’re poking around their house, which they are very much not allowed to do, Ronan finds his father’s will and tries to translate a line from it with the puzzle box. It doesn’t turn up with any interesting results. THEN THE OTHER FUCKING BIRD MONSTER IS IN THE HOUSE. There is a truly terrifying scene with the brothers bracing a heavy chest against the door to keep it out of the room with their mother. Then the Bird Person just leaves… because MR. GRAY shows up and is poking a round the room while they hide. He steals the puzzle box (probably thinking it’s the Greywarren) and leaves. So do the boys. 

OKAY PARTY TIME. I’M A BALL OF NERVES.

The Gansey mansion is of course, gorgeous. And so are the boys in their tailored suits. Gansey is a GOOD FRIEND. When some rich whose-a-what’s it claps his hand on the back of Adam’s neck, and he notices Adam having PTSD flashbacks of his father throwing him down flights of stairs, he rescues him and gets the man off him with a charming smile and introduction. Adam is collecting business cards left and right. (Yay!) but he’s also kind of losing it a little. He catches glimpses of himself in the mirror that don’t look right and a spirit touches his elbow. Painted branches in paintings look like they’re moving. 

There’s this one interesting part where a lady is talking to Gansey and trying to guess his age — and pauses because he has a tendency to look both old and young at the same time. This comes up a good bit so I wonder what’s up with that. Gansey hates this party, by the way, but he’s good at playing the part. And he’s being crazy protective of Adam, knowing this is uncomfortable.

There’s this one really strange moment where the lights go out, and Adam is hallucinating seeing ghosts all around him. And he and Gansey hear the singing of a choir of women, chanting in Latin “Make way for the Raven King.” — then the lights come back on. Turns out Adam is not completely crazy, because everyone saw the lights go out. They heard the choir too, but dismiss it as the musicians being musicians lol. I like that these rich people are like “Oh a ghost choir, how quaint. Har har har”. Gansey meets Adam’s eyes from across the room. THE LEYLINE IS BEING WEIRD, YOU GUYS.

Meanwhile, back in Henrietta, RONAN IS OUT IN THE DAMN CAMARO WAITING FOR KAVINSKY. Ronan noooooooo!!! Noah appears in the passenger’s seat and tells him he doesn’t want to watch him die. He’ll tattle on him. He’ll do it. Ronan’s response:

“Noah,” Ronan said tenderly, placing his palm on top of Noah’s cold, seven-years-dead hand, “you’re starting to piss me off.”

Well they race. And Ronan loses. And just as Noah is saying “Are you happy now?” THE FUCKING NIGHT HORROR LANDS ON THE HOOD OF THE CAR AND BREAKS THE WINDSHIELD. Again I say Noooooooo!!! Noah is a cutie and helps out despite being terrified. He wrestles the bird man on the hood, and manages to take one out. But there’s another one? EIther way, Noah crashes the car into a telephone pole. And then Kavinsky shows up and TAKES OUT A GUN and shoots the night horror, saving Ronan’s life. They stand by the side of the road for a while, and Ronan is freaking out because Gansey is going to kill him, and Kavinsky is like oh my god chill out and come with me. So he does.

Back at the party, Adam and Gansey take a break to go stand upstairs in the hallway outside of Gansey’s old room. They’re drunk— because this whole time, Adam thought he was being handed ginger ale, but somewhere along the way it became champagne. And they talk about their feelings and inevitably get into a fight. I think because they realize they’re on separate paths. Gansey hates this world and never wants to return to it. He loves Henrietta. But Adam hates Henrietta and sees this glittering rich people life as his old way out. They talk about Adam stealing the Camaro to wake the leyline and get into a huge fight where Adam finally lets it out that he hates feeling like he’s always taking orders from Gansey, and if he wants his help finding Glendower, he has to let him search the way he wants to search. Then he ends with this venomous line:

“I don’t need your wisdom, Gansey,” he said. “I don’t need you to babysit me. I got into Aglionby without you. I got Blue without you. I woke the ley line without you. I won’t take your pity.”

AUGH. And breaks some fancy shit on a table. And then they part ways. BABIES NOOOOO!!! Also Adam is just straight up seeing dead people all around him now. Like random men in bowler hats and this chapter closes with a random woman screaming but making no sound. 

Alright so Kavinsky… is a character lol. He’s so aloof and crazy, he’s hard to get a read on. But he drives Ronan out to his fairgrounds hideout and reveals a parking lot full of white Mitsubishi cars. All with an identical spoiler and knife graphic on the side. Some have 2 doors. Some have no doors. Some have 4 doors. So Ronan realizes that Kavinsky is a dreamer too, and evidently a better one than he is because he can manifest a whole ass car. So I think these two are in some kind of plan to dream up a new Camaro. 

Sad Gansey is sad. With the party still raging, he goes out to a fountain in the garden and calls Blue, and doesn’t tell her anything, just asks her to describe what’s going on in her house. What is everyone doing? And he lays down on the fountain and listens to her talk. And that’s it. That’s the whole chapter. So fucking cute.

The next chapter is all about the Gray man going about his day… snooping around the Kavinsky household. Talking to his Mom?? Who is slumped over a toilet maybe high?? Then we move on. He snoops around Ronan’s BMW and sees that the VIN number is Nial Lynch’s birthday. He waxes poetic about Maura and how much he loves her while he beats up a priest at St. Agnes asking if the Lynch brothers had ever confessed anything weird. It’s violent and adorable at the same time. 

The next morning, Gansey is barely holding it together through his mother’s fussy book club luncheon, entertaining 50 year old women and drinking tea. Helen saves him though, noticing he looks miserable. So once he’s in the kitchen, he gets a second to check his texts and Ronan tells him he wrecked the Camaro, but it’s going to be okay and say hi to his Mom. Gansey is like… slowly unraveling at this point lol. He calls Ronan’s phone, but Kavinsky picks up, which is unnerving, and Kavinsky is impossible to talk to. It’s all jokes and quippy quips. He asks to talk to Ronan and Kavinsky goes, “Hey Ronan. WAKE UP FUCK-WEASEL, IT’S YOUR GIRLFIREND. Now he’s pissed. Can I take a message?” And Gansey eventually hangs up on him because Ronan won’t take the phone. 

Ronan wakes up in Kavinsky’s bougie home movie theater after a crazy alcohol bender. They talk a little about being Greywarens and Kavinsky reveals that he saw Ronan’s “suicide attempt” last year. His window was nearby or something. So he saw Ronan wake up and the scars appear and he’s known what Ronan was ever since. 

When Gansey finally plucks up the courage to talk to Adam, he realizes he’s GONE. He looks all over the place, then gets Helen involved. Then gets his family involved. Then gets the police involved. It’s a full-on Adam man-hunt until Gansey finally gets a phone call from him on some Virginia number he doesn’t recognize. Apparently Adam was found on the side of the highway fifteen miles away and can’t remember how he got there. It took him a while to remember Gansey’s number so he could call. When they pick him up, he looks AWFUL and barely talks. He talks to the family doctor on the phone and passes out on the couch soon after, so the Gansey family goes upstairs to talk.

I kind of love them. They’re rich, but they’re not complete assholes. Helen explains that the doctor said this sounded like a case of… Transient global amnesia. Which is kind of like a mental breakdown where people have spells of wandering off then kind of snapping out of it and not knowing where they are. It’s stress-induced, so the family asks Gansey why Adam might be stressed, and he spills the beans about Adam coming from an abusive household and refusing to live with him. They hatch a plan to try to give Adam a car, but make it sound like he’s taking Helen’s “shitty college car” off her hands….. when they’re actually going to just go buy like a 10 year old Honda lol. That’s cute. But OH GOD POOR ADAM!! He’s losing his marbles!!

Back in Henrietta, Kavinsky is trying to teach Ronan how he brings back such elaborate things from dreams. They’re practicing, basically. Kavinsky is super cavalier about dream stuff. He says to get in and get out before your dream place catches on to you. Take your stuff and leave. They pop green pills that Kavinsky probably dreamed, and it knocks you out immediately (and I think kills you briefly?? Like they stop breathing for a second, then wake up)

When Ronan wakes up, he’s paralyzed for a few seconds. This doesn’t happen to Kavinsky. When Ronan goes to the dream forest, Orphan Girl screams at him to leave (I think she might know his heart is stopping. Or it also might be hurting the leyline energy to manifest stuff from dreams). Ronan and Kavinsky spend basically 2 days doing this… sleeping in the dang car and surviving solely off drugs and Twizlers (Well, Kav does drugs. Ronan just sticks to the dream pills). He tries to bring the Pig (the Camaro) back and ALMOST does it successfully, only it has no engine lol. So Kavinsky gives him a RED pill this time, and we get this weird scene:

Ronan was a stranger in his own body. The sunset cut into his gaze, slantwise and insistent. As his muscles twitched, he lowered himself onto his chest and then rested his cheek against the hood, the heat of the metal not quite painful enough to be unbearable. He closed his eyes. This wasn’t the hurtling-to-sleep pill of before. This was a liquid fatality. He could feel his brain shutting down. After a moment, he heard the hood groan as Kavinsky leaned over him. Then he felt the ridged callus of a finger drag slowly over the skin on his back. A slow arc between his shoulder blades, drawing the pattern of his tattoo. Then sliding down his spine, tensing every muscle it moved over.

Then he passes out and is able to come back with the ACTUAL Camaro. The Orphan girl seems sad — asking him why he’s stealing from them. When Ronan is like “Okay thanks for the pills and the dream training. Bye.” Kavinsky freaks out and is like “You’re running back to HIM? I thought it was going to be you and me! If you’re not with me, you’re against me.”

I think Kavinsky likes Ronan. In other news, NOW THE PIG IS BACK! 

And now Adam has a car. Helen’s plan pulled off perfectly. They found a truly shitty car and pretended like the towing company failed to pick it up so it would be doing her a favor and saving her money if he just took it. The Gansey family is so cute. They all leave him little gifts. Adam laments about ruining their Saturday, but also can’t get over the fact that he doesn’t even remember Saturday. Adam is like… hanging by a thread. He keeps disassociating and seeing spirits and trees and has to snap himself back to reality. Even though they haven’t 100% made up yet, he’s touched by the fact that it’s taking every shred of Gansey’s will power to not ask “Are you okay? Do you need anything? You’re my best friend and I love you please be okay.” — So they head back to Henrietta.

The Gray Man comes to 300 Fox Way and I’ve decided I love him. He’s so cute and in love with Maura. He makes her a flower crown. They talk about the Greywaren and how he’s finally figured out it’s a person, not a box. And he can’t go through with kidnapping (Killing he’s fine with but not kidnapping minors lol). With Maura there, Gray calls Greenmantle and tells him, “Hey, the Greywarren isn’t here. I looked everywhere. I think the fault lines are causing the weird energy flow. We gotta keep looking.” And Greenmantle is like… “Okay fucker, you found it didn’t you? I’m on to you. I’m going to call your brother and tell him where you are so he can come fuck your shit up.” (Seriously, his brother sounds awful). So now THAT’S a thing! Greenmantle is coming for everybody. Also Gray Man’s name is Dean.

The next chapter opens with “Gansey only had a few seconds of warning before the Camaro hit him” hahaha. He is like.. LIVID with Ronan. They pull over and Ronan reveals the new Pig Dream car (that has an engine this time.. and is somehow INVINCIBLE. Like you hit it and the metal just pops back into place.) Gansey is struck by Ronan offering a sincere apology for stealing his car. It’s also kind of adorable how proud Ronan is of this creation (as he should be). Gansey is so relieved to see Ronan’s old smile and genuine laugh that he drops his anger easily. Ronan also thinks he knows why Cabeswater dissapeared. They have to stop Kavinsky because that idiot is draining all the magic with his 100 Mitsubishi cars.

Blue makes Calla look at the Camaro wheel and the Shield thingy and this is what she has to say:

Camaro wheel: “He’s not alone when he leaves the car behind.”

Sheild: “They were dragging him at this point. The horses had died. The men were weak. It wouldn’t stop raining. They meant to bury the shield with him, but it was heavy so they left it behind.”

I swear to god. If Gansey ends up dying in this book, I will not be okay. If there’s some kind of tie-in to him and Glendower.. like eventually the gang is going to have to DRAG HIS BODY and try to bury it with the Camaro I will lose my shit. 

When they get home Adam is on the front door step. 

He comes up to Blue’s room and they get into a fight. She finally tells him about the prophecy, and then she has to be honest and say that even if the prophecy didn’t exist… she realized she doesn’t love Adam. She really wanted to, but she just doesn’t. Blue can also be a little too testy for her own good sometimes. She gets easily offended by the slightest hint of misogyny… which is why Gansey makes fun of her for it all the time. Seriously, she kind of says some mean shit. Which is not great because Adam is losing his grip on reality. And now he just feels alone and unloved and so distant from everyone he thought were his friends. 

Persephone catches him on his way down the stairs, which is great because he is full on hallucinating, and she pulls him into the reading room. She says Blue can come if he wants her to be there. And he says no. He wants to do this alone. Persephone explains that he’s out of balance. And she gives him pie lol. And they do this scrying ritual where he looks into a pool of black water to finally confront himself and come to terms with what’s been going on. So he sacrificed his eyes and hands to Cabeswater, but he didn’t sacrifice his mind. So Persephone tells him to quit giving that up. Next, she explains that he hasn’t been listening to Cabeswater. It’s been trying to get his attention with all the ghosts and stuff, but he’s been too wound up in his own pain to listen. So he basically has a psychic acid trip and puts himself back in balance. When he comes out of the vision, he can FEEL tarot cards. Like a heartbeat.

He pulls the Magician which is like… his symbolic card. ADAM IS PSYCHIC NOW and will hopefully feel less crazy from here on out. 

He literally passes out on the couch and Persephone says he’ll probably be out for a while. Like a whole day, and when he wakes up he might feel sick. Something huge shifted in him and I can’t wait to see what happens next to this sweetheart. 

Blue is majorly depressed about the fight they had. “Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with Adam?” She thinks. She also thinks Adam is so attractive and she could have even kissed him without worrying about killing him. But she’s Blue. And she doesn’t do dishonest stuff like that. Also she’s got the hots for Gansey like whoa. 

SO SHE CALLS HIM. And asks him to take her somewhere. 

So he shows up with his dream car. And in her favorite kind of outfit — the casual kind with his wire framed glasses (not the done-up preppy Gansey). He asks what happened and she says that she and Adam had a fight. But doesn’t want to talk about it. Instead, like she did for him by the fountain earlier, Gansey tells her about everything going on in his life. About the party and Ronan’s powers and Pigeons etc etc. Blue is finally ready to hear about Adam, so he tells her about how he blacked out and wandered off after they had an argument. 

I’m going to copy and paste most of this chapter. DEAL WITH IT!!!!

“Oh, Jane,” he said suddenly. “If you’d been there when we got the call about him walking on the interstate, you would’ve …” He trailed off before she found out what she would’ve done. And then, all of a sudden, he pulled himself together. “Ha! Adam’s communing with trees and Noah keeps reenacting being murdered and Ronan’s wrecking and then making me new cars. What’s new with you? Something terrible, I trust?” 

“You know me,” Blue said. “Ever sensible.”

They have a great conversation about how they both come from families with a lot of love. And Adam never experienced that. So of course he reacts differently to things in life. Gansey talks about how much he hates Adam’s parents. The bruises he’d come to school with. It broke his heart. 

They drive up to a sort of “Lookout point” and park overlooking the glittering city. He says he’s been all over the world, but Henrietta is the only place that feels like home. He feels like he belongs here. But if he belongs here, why does it hurt so much?

SHUT UP AND READ THIS CUTE PART:

“Jane, in this light,” he started, “you … Jesus. Jesus. I’ve got to get my head straight.” He suddenly threw open the door and got out, seizing the roof to pull himself out faster. He slammed the door and then walked around the back of the car; one hand scrubbed through his hair. 

The car was utterly quiet. She heard the buzzing of night insects and singing of frogs and slow chirps of birds who should have known better. Every so often, the cooling engine let out a little sigh like a breath. Gansey didn’t return.

Fumbling in the dark, she pushed open her door. She found him leaning against the back of the car, arms crossed over his chest. “I’m sorry,” Gansey said, not looking at her as she leaned on the car beside him. “That was very rude.” 

Blue thought of a few things to reply, but couldn’t say any of them out loud. She felt like one of the night birds had gotten inside her. It tumbled and fumbled every time she breathed. He’s going to die; this is going to hurt — But she touched his neck, right where his hair was cut evenly above the collar of his shirt. 

He was very still. His skin was hot, and she could very, very faintly feel his pulse beneath her thumb. It wasn’t like when she was with Adam. She didn’t have to guess what to do with her hands. They knew. This was what it should have felt like with Adam. Less like playacting and more like a foregone conclusion. 

He closed his eyes and leaned, just a little, so that her palm was flat on his neck, fingers sprawled from his ear to his shoulder. Everything in Blue was charged. Say something. Say something. 

Gansey lifted her hand gently from his skin, holding it as formally as a dance. He put it against his mouth. Blue froze. Absolutely still. Her heart didn’t beat. She didn’t blink. She couldn’t say don’t kiss me. She couldn’t even form don’t. He just leaned his cheek and the edge of his mouth against her knuckles and then set her hand back. “I know,” he said. “I wouldn’t.” 

Her skin burned with the memory of his mouth. The thrashing bird of her heart shivered and shivered again. “Thanks for remembering.” He looked back over the valley. 

“Oh, Jane.” 

“Oh, Jane, what?” 

“I can’t — we can’t do this to him.” It was jagged inside her. 

“I’m not a thing. To have.” 

“No. Jesus. Of course you’re not. But you know what I mean.” She did. And he was right. They couldn’t do this to him. She shouldn’t do it to herself, anyway. But how it made a disaster of her chest and her mouth and her head. 

“I wish you could be kissed, Jane,” he said. “Because I would beg just one off you. Under all this.” He flailed an arm toward the stars. “And then we’d never say anything about it again.” 

That could’ve been the end of it. I want something more. She said, “We can pretend. Just once. And then we’ll never say anything about it again.” What a strange, shifting person he was. 

The Gansey who turned to her now was a world away from the lofty boy she’d first met. Without any hesitation, she stretched her arms around his neck. Who was this Blue? She felt bigger than her body. High as the stars. 

He leaned toward her — her heart spun again — and pressed his cheek against hers. His lips didn’t touch her skin, but she felt his breath, hot and uneven, on her face. His fingers splayed on either side of her spine. Her lips were so close to his jaw that she felt his hint of stubble at the end of them. It was mint and memories and the past and the future and she felt as if she’d done this before and already she longed to do it again. 

Oh, help, she thought. Help, help, help. He pulled away. 

He said, “And now we never speak of it again.”

THIS FUCKING BOOK I SWEAR TO GOD. I read this last night on my phone at like 1am and had to take periodic breaks to breathe and look at the ceiling. This is so fucking sweet. AUGH!!!

Ronan is trying to enjoy watching his Raven hide a cheezeit from him when Kavinsky keeps texting him incoherent shit. Some of it is threatening. Some of it is flirting. They also had a conversation about Kavinsky’s father trying to kill him, so I think this kid is not okay lol. So Ronan falls asleep without the help of the pills and dreams up his FATHER! His father explains that the will has a loophole. “This Will stands as a fact unless a newer document is created” ….. and I instantly feel stupid for not thinking of this sooner. It’s okay. Ronan feels stupid too. It’s like a fun little trick his father played that could have cost the brothers their entire future. THANKS DAD!!

Blue is trying to sleep when her Mom crawls into bed with her and there’s this cute scene where they both realize they’re crying. Blue because she realized she’s in love with Gansey and he’s going to die. Maura because she likes Mr. Gray and she’s worried this Greenmantle dude is going to kill him. 

Mr. Gray gets a call from Greenmantle saying he has 2 days to deliver the Greywaren or he’s going to come get him. Or sic is brother on him. Both are bad.

Adam ends up sleeping for 21 HOURS. When he gets up, Henrietta is preparing for the 4th of July. It’s also his birthday! Either the 4th or the 3rd when he was conked out. The author hurls a bunch of rapid fire information at us here. Like Calla’s office was broken into (wherever she works). A white Mitsubishi with keys in the ignition shows up at Monmouth Manufacturing with a note that says “This one’s for you. Just the way you like it. Fast and anonymous.”

And Gansey goes “I think he needs to come to terms with his sexuality.” LOL

When Adam leaves the psychic house, Persephone leaves shortly after in a taxi in the same direction. I guess we will figure out what that means later. 

Ronan texts Kavinsky and says “Would you stop bringing back dream shit if you knew it was destroying the world?” And Kavinsky goes, “GOD THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.” — so Ronan and Gansey think “Welp. Now we gotta kill him.” (Just kidding, they don’t say that)

Maura, Calla, and Blue show up in their Ford to pick up Ronan and Gansey. The amount of times people climb into cars in this book not knowing why or where they’re going is pretty funny. The boys are like “What is happening??” - the psychics say “Get in bitch. We’re going to the bed and breakfast Gray is staying at!” Just kidding they don’t actually say anything, because the next chapter starts with the boys standing around like “WHY ARE WE HERE?”

There’s a cute bit where Ronan notices Gansey and Blue are staying far away from each other, so they must have had a fight hahaha

I also love this line: 

He [Gansey] was clearly discomfited by what Maura had told him about Adam on the ride over. Ganseys were creatures of habit, and he wanted Adam here, and he wanted Noah here, and he wanted everyone to like him, and he wanted to be in charge.

I love this kid so much. I probably relate to him a little too much.

FINALLY Maura answers everyone’s questions as to why they’re standing in a bed and breakfast room. She says when Mr. Gray comes here, Ronan has to look him in the eye and convince him not to kidnap him. Ronan is like….. “So hit him?” 

“No, not hit him.”

“I punch?”

“No punch. You’re the Greywaren and he was sent here to bring you to some rich evil person. And he’s not the only one. There are people crawling all over this city looking for you.” (I’m paraphrasing all this dialogue, by the way)

“Why don’t we just let him take Kavinsky?” - Blue says.

“If they take that other boy, they’ll be back for the snake.” - says Calla.

Also Kavinsky is too stupid to know he’s hurting the leyline. — Ronan

Then the Gray Man arrives.

And explains that if he doesn’t turn in the Greywaren to this eccentric millionaire collector of magical things, his brother is going to hunt him down and torture and murder him. He reveals to Ronan that it was HE who killed his father (sent by Greenman to send a message to Declan, who he thought knew where the Greywaren was). Ronan, who had been pretty cool up until his point, launches at Gray and they get into a scuffle. Even cute little Chainsaw helps lol. It’s chaos up in this bed and breakfast and when Calla says “You, pretty one! Do something!” Gansey is like “Nah I think this is justified.” — Eventually they’re just panting on the floor. And Gray says that on the 4th of July, he’s going to call his boss and say that he found the Greywaren, but he’s keeping it for himself. And then he’s going to run. 

MEANWHILE. Adam is having a gay old time in the woods. Okay I don’t mean to make light of this. Actually, it’s REALLY NICE to see him so at peace and finally feeling okay with himself, and the world, and detached from the pain he’s been carrying his entire life. I mean a side effect is kind of…. Also being detached from his friends. Which sucks. But everyone knows you need to love yourself before you can love others, so I like this.

Can I also insert a note that NO ONE HAS SEEN NOAH SINCE HE TACKLED THE NIGHT TERROR??? Um guuyysss??????

Alright so Persephone comes out to help, and together they figure out that the leyline is like a frayed wire. So they drive around all afternoon beneath a big dramatic thunderstorm sensing out rocks. Adam can FEEL the leyline and Cabeswater and knows exactly where all of the special rocks are haha they rearrange them in certain ways, or in some cases, take them and put them in the car. 

So Kavinsky’s big 4th of July drug and explosion extravaganza starts. But not before he sends Ronan and threatening text because he has KIDNAPPED MATTHEW. Like an ACTUAL VILLAINOUS ASSHAT. I thought he was just like… Ronan’s rebellious, party hardy friend. Turns out he’s fucking crazy and real mad that Ronan “Didn’t choose him”. 

They show up and see Kavinsky arrive with 10 identical Mitsubishis driven by his friends. Matthew is in one of them. And Kavinsky won’t listen to reason. He pops a green pill and promptly passes out against the car. Blue and Gansey are like ummmmm….okay? But Ronan is like shit shit shit he’s going to Cabeswater. He’s going to bring back something awful. You guys find Matthew. I’ll be right back. And he pops and green pill too. 

I just imagine Gansey and Blue standing there like “UMMMMM????”

Of course through all of this, killing Kavinsky would be a simple solution, but none of our boys are murdererers so…

In the dream world (aka Cabeswater), Ronan finds Kavinsky getting the shit beaten out of him by the trees. They are sick and tired of these punks coming and stealing their magic. 

We get this exchange:

“You don’t have to do this,” Ronan said. 

“There isn’t anything else, man.” 

“There’s reality.” 

Kavinsky laughed the word. “Reality! Reality’s what other people dream for you.” 

“Reality’s where other people are,” Ronan replied. He stretched out his arms. “What’s here, K? Nothing! No one!” 

“Just us.” 

There was a heavy understanding in that statement, amplified by the dream. I know what you are, Kavinsky had said. 

“That’s not enough,” Ronan replied. 

“Don’t say Dick Gansey, man. Do not say it. He is never going to be with you. And don’t tell me you don’t swing that way, man. I’m in your head.” 

“That’s not what Gansey is to me,” Ronan said. 

“You didn’t say you don’t swing that way.” 

Ronan was silent. 

Thunder growled under his feet. “No, I didn’t.”

I love the way homosexuality is handled in this book. There’s not one ounce of cliche.

Kavinsky is strong though, and creates a DRAGON MADE OF FIRE, totally tapping Cabeswater and promptly disappearing back to the real world. Ronan is left alone with the Orphan Girl, who explains to him that “He is the only one”. There may be others in this world that have dream powers, but there’s only one Greywaren. I don’t know what that means. Probably just that he has a special connection with the leyline. 

Kavinsky has totally dried up the leyline magic. Adam can sense it. So using his newfound badass intuition, he arranges the rocks he’s been collecting, POINTS AT THE SKY LIKE A LITERAL MAGICIAN, and gets a lightning bolt to strike in the middle of it. Don’t think too hard about how this happens. Adam is magic now. That’s all we need to know. Ronan, in the dream, in Cabeswater, can SEE ADAM doing this in the real world, and they have an amazing moment of recognition where Adam says “I know it was you who arranged the rent. I figured it out.” But he’s not mad. He’s calm. (Maybe… appreciative?) — and then Adam is like “Now Ronan. Go.”

And with the leyline charged up from the lightning strike (thanks magic Adam!) Ronan tries to think of something to defeat Kavinsky’s dragon. But at the worst possible moment, all he hears is the sound of a night horror. He’s like um, no trees. Bad trees. This is not helpful. 

But the trees reply something to the effect of: A sword is only dangerous in the hands of someone… like… looking to hurt people with it. Or something. DO not fear your night horrors, Ronan. (But in pretty Latin tree speak)

A giant fucking two-headed albino raven manifests.

“Why do you hate you?” (The Orphan girl asks)

Ronan thought about it. The albino night horror swept in, talons opening. 

Ronan stood up, stretching out his arm like he would to Chainsaw. “I don’t,” he said. 

And he woke up.

Love it. Love this metaphor for Ronan coming to terms with himself. (Our religious boi… has a lot going on)

So back in the real world there’s an epic kaiju battle between a fire dragon and a lightning raven and everyone is too drunk and high to notice. They’re all cheering like “WHOA!! Kavinsky’s fireworks are always so crazy!”. Meanwhile Blue and Gansey are running around checking all of the Mitsubishis for Matthew. 

There’s fire everywhere. Everything is on fire and it’s getting worse by the second while Kavinsky stands on the hood of the car losing his god damned mind. He reminds Ronan that he killed his own father. AND EVEN HIS BEST FRIEND Propopenko. Then he just dreamed them back into existence — clever duplicates. This kid is actually insane. 

Finally, they find Matthew in the trunk of one of the cars. They get him out and hit the ground just before the fire dragon careens down toward them. Kavinsky won’t get off the car. And he utters “Life is a nightmare.” Before his own creation kills him. DUDE this kid is messed up. Once he’s dead, all of the dream things go into their coma state. Propopenko’s car crashes because he’s asleep at the wheel. 

Alright so the last knot to tie up is the Gray man. He’s in the dream Mitsubishi. He’s driving down the highway drawing out all the other hit men AND his homicidal brother. This goes on for a while and the author does a great job of building up the tension. They drive and drive and drive. He pulls into a gas station and has a lovely chat with some henchmen, convincing them to give up and go away. 

Then, the moment of truth. 

He has to face his brother, who has tortured him in the past and will surely torture him again. We’re all just dreading this. Like oh my god what’s he gonna do? WHat kind of epic battle are they gonna have in this parking lot? What are we going to have to endure reading as Gray’s brother ties him up and tortures him. 

Welp.

They pull up in their cars, side by side. And Gray’s brother is like “Hellooo brother.” And Gray just…. Reaches for a gun in the passenger's seat and shoots him. Twice. 

He’s dead now. 

All that build up and the guy gets shot and Gray drives off. I laughed out loud at this. Like literally, this is like Whelk dying by getting trampled by random dream beasts. Like… OKAY, WE’LL TAKE IT!!!

In the epilogue, Cabeswater is back. The leyline has been restored and balanced. Ronan and Mathew go get their comatose mother and take her to the forest. The second they arrive, she wakes up. Noah is back!! Ronan dreams a new will that allows him and his brothers to set foot at the Barns whenever they want. But they can’t live there until they’re 18. 

Ronan stares at Adam for an absurd amount of time, noticing how different he looks (now that he’s not depressed or crazy). Noticing how attractive he is. There’s this beautiful line about secrets. And how “Adam Parrish was Ronan’s second secret.” — AWWWWW

Adam shows the gang how the pool in Cabeswater dried up, and now it has revealed a black-rock cave leading deep underground. Gansey is immediately like “Do we go in it? Do we go in now? Glendower down there. I find Glendower.” And Adam is like “I don’t think it’s safe.” — and everyone trusts the boy with a mental link to the magic forest.

This book ends with everyone clamoring back to 300 Fox Way (I think they got a phone call) and they find a tipped over skrying bowl, and a sloppy note from Maura that says “Glendower is underground and so am I.”

DUN DUN DUNNNN THE END!!!!

Well, I just loved this book and I am ecstatic that I am halfway through this series. This world is weird. I love the writing voice. I love these CHARACTERS SO MUCH and I love how much they love each other. They just care about each other SO MUCH. I’m trying to avoid spoilers like crazy while I look at fan art. I am not okay about Gansey being fated to die. I am not okay about him and Blue being so in love and not able to kiss. This series is wrecking me. 

I can’t wait to read the next book and learn how the next villain gets killed anticlimactically lol. I do feel sorry for Kavinsky. He was very troubled. Poor boy had too much money and power and not enough love. And I like that the Gray man is part of the gang now. BUT NOW WE HAVE TO FIND MAURA!!!

Deadass Rating: 8.5/10

Unofficial theme song: “Trying to Sleep” byWolfie’s Just Fine

[yay855]

Rouge was only 18 years old when she was first hired on by GUN. Well, "hired" wasn't the right word for it- they paid her, sure, but she didn't have any choice, it was that or go to jail. Never mind that Rouge was a petty thief, never mind that she was an orphan who had been kicked out of the system for the crime of not wanting to be hungry, she was a criminal in their eyes and must be punished.

She suspected they never really expected her to return from her mission. Doctor Ivo Robotnik was not a pleasant man, and rarely trusted other people; there was a reason why he lived alone with no company but robots he himself built.

She had just never expected to have her opinion of GUN drop.

The Space Colony ARK was a well-known conspiracy theory- everyone could see it with a telescope if they bothered to look, and everyone "knew" that it had still been under construction when the project manager went crazy and tried to blow up the planet, killing most of its inhabitants in the process. But that was a coverup; in reality, GUN killed all its inhabitants and pinned the blame on the head scientist, who was grieving the loss of his entire family at the hands of an organization he thought he could trust. Rouge knew this, because Shadow had told her, and Shadow was a survivor of the incident, kept on ice for fifty years because GUN were hoping to use him as a bioweapon eventually.

And then Shadow had seemingly died, and Rouge had to mourn the fifteen-year-old child who had been raised as a son and brother, and who still saw himself as a weapon.

Rouge was still "working" for GUN when she discovered Shadow, not as dead as he had seemed, and accompanied by a too-smart Eggman robot who was out for revenge against the fat man himself.

That was the moment that she decided that she could not let those bastards get their hands on two traumatized children who believed they were weapons.

After that incident, Rouge had gone to ground. Part of her training as a spy and secret agent, not to mention her experience as a thief, meant she knew how to hide from people, even in plain sight. And best of all, GUN refused to officially acknowledge her existence or that of Shadow's, something Rouge could use to her advantage. She pulled all of her funds out of her bank account and set up a private one, using the money to purchase a building in downtown Station Square, the land there still quite cheap after Chaos's attack, and set it up with as many top-of-the-line security systems as she could; she did, after all, know which ones were actually worth the price.

Club Rouge became an overnight success, especially since Rouge had been preparing for this for quite a while. It was, essentially, the most unscrupulous gay nightclub in the country, and many of Rouge's old contacts in the thieving business knew it was neutral ground. That was another layer of security.

But most importantly, it also had a soundproofed basement fully furnished for three people to live in, plus room to expand if necessary. It was her safe haven from the world and the government- and a great place to help two traumatized kids recover and find themselves.

[turtlethon]

“Cyber-Turtles”

Season 8, Episode 3 First US Airdate: October 29, 1994

The Turtles don advanced battle suits to combat an alien invasion.

“Cyber-Turtles” is the penultimate episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season eight, despite being intended to be the third to make it to air. Series regular David Wise is the writer of this adventure.

The Turtles prevent an attempted robbery, tying up the thieves and leaving them for the police to deal with. April films this as part of her continued efforts to counter the negative coverage the team have been receiving from Channel 6. Burne calls her to advise of a second break-in, this time at the National Space Exploration Center, and she leaves with the Turtles in her car to investigate. (As mentioned in a previous entry, in broadcast order this will be the last time Burne appears in the series.)

Our heroes watch from a concealed location as a scientist at the Space Center reveals what has been stolen to the police: the “Astro-Viewer”, an invention capable of examining any corner of the universe using radio frequencies. Outside, the Turtles and April find unusual tracks in the ground, and figure that they’ll lead back to whoever stole the telescope.

At the Hall of Science, Bebop and Rocksteady mount the Astro-Viewer on the roof. Krang explains to Shredder that he intends to modify the stolen device, turning it into a makeshift dimensional portal. While testing the equipment, they spot an incoming spaceship from which they receive a transmission. At the helm is Commander Korak from the Glaxxon Federation.  His team, we learn, have recently defeated their enemies after a prolonged war, and taken possession of an item called the Firestar, which will make his people “the undisputed masters of the universe”. 

Krang explains to Shredder that the Firestar is a legendary crystalline fragment as old as the universe, which supposedly contains “the power of a thousand suns”. Naturally the alien brain wants this Macguffin for himself, and uses equipment installed within the Hall of Science (possibly by Drakus) to shoot the ship down.

The Turtles spot the ship descending and rush to the scene of the crash landing, but Shredder gets there first, arriving with Rocksteady and Bebop. Shreds using a paralysing device to freeze the Glaxxons, and wastes little time in escaping with the Firestar. Time passes as the Turtles, accompanied by April, arrive on the scene to find the same tell-tale tracks from the Space Center raid near the ship. They make their way inside just as the crew snap out of their paralysis, and the Glaxxons, determining that the Firestar has been stolen, naturally assume the Turtles are responsible.

Act two opens with the aliens opening fire upon the Turtles. Our heroes are soon captured and plead their innocence, pointing out that not only do they not have the Firestar, they were only examining the ship to make sure no-one was hurt. Korak informs the Turtles that the Glaxxons are a war-like people who don’t make friends, and heads off with his men to recover their stolen property. Watching the visitors leave their ship, April figures the Turtles are in trouble, and leaves to get help.

Krang explains his new Scheme of the Day to Shredder: rather than just opening a portal to Dimension X as he had originally intended, with the use of the Firestar he can destroy the barrier between Earth and his home world entirely. Shreds points out that the Glaxxons will surely come looking for the stolen item, but Krang has thought of that too, implementing a cloaking device left behind by Berserko / Drakus to stop the Firestar from being tracked. This works as intended, with the next scene showing Korak frustrated at being unable to locate the device. Vowing to destroy the whole world if he must to get it back, he orders his men to retrieve the equipment they need to carry out such a task: the Cyber Suits.

April continues to watch these events unfold from afar, and is soon joined by the help she required as Casey Jones returns to the show, last seen in season seven’s “Night of the Rogues”. The vigilante is eager to confront the aliens head-on but April explains they need to retrieve the Firestar to put an end to the conflict.

From their jail cell within the ship, the Turtles look outside and see the Glaxxons don their Cyber Suits, which transform them into outlandish cyborgs that tower over the city. Seeing the threat the aliens pose, our heroes look for a means of escaping. Donatello uses his “D” belt buckle as a reflective device to knock out the energy beams restraining them. Finding a set of spare Cyber Suits nearby, Leonardo orders the rest of the team to join him in donning the armour.

As the Glaxxons flatten cars and destroy buildings in their search for the Firestar, the Turtles themselves are transformed into brightly-coloured cyber warriors, each with their initial emblazoned across their midsections for reasons of viewer identification (and also because these are pre-existing action figure designs, but we’ll come back to that). Each member of the team remains their normal size within their respective suit, piloting it by flailing their arms and legs around as it they were playing a Kinect game. After figuring out how to move around, the Turtles track down the alien invaders and a battle begins. With Krang about to begin the process of merging Earth with Dimension X, the green teens take a beating at the hands of the more experienced Glaxxons as act two concludes.

Emerging from a pile of rubble, the Turtles remark among themselves that they remained unhurt thanks to the Cyber Suits. Meanwhile April and Casey arrive outside the Hall of Science to witness Krang beginning to meld Earth with his home dimension. Learning via Turtlecom of what’s transpiring, the Turtles split up, with Leo and Mikey leaving to stop Krang while Donnie and Raph tackle the Glaxxons.

While April and Casey sneak into the Hall of Science, Raphael and Donatello do battle with the alien warriors. They remain at a disadvantage throughout, with Donnie trying frantically to figure out how to activate the weapons systems installed within the Cyber Suits.

Krang makes contact with his army of Rock Warriors – for some reason, since “Shredder Triumphant!” last season they’ve been renamed and are no longer referred to as Rock Soldiers – but soon learns intruders are present on the roof. It’s April and Casey, who have used a makeshift zipline from the dilapidated sphere left behind from the World’s Fair to land on the roof of the Hall of Science. Shredder soon arrives to confront them, accompanied by Rocksteady and Bebop. Suddenly the vigilante and Shreds are going at it in a sword fight: by now we’re used to Shredder pulling a sword out of nowhere but since when did Casey carry one?

Michaelangelo and Leonardo arrive to turn the tide of battle, with Mikey clutching the three villains in his hand while Leo pushes the fleet of Rock Sol—uh, Warriors back through the dimensional rift. This provides April and Casey with an opportunity to sneak downstairs into the Hall of Science.

Krang uses the same roof-mounted laser that took out the Glaxxon spaceship earlier to knock Michaelangelo off the roof, de-activating his Cyber Suit in the process. Meanwhile Donnie and Raph are cornered, still with no means of fighting back, until they overhear one of the invaders mention “triangle fire”. Pressing a red triangle on the Cyber Suits, the two Turtles use the advanced weaponry previously concealed within the armour to fight back. Soon the Glaxxons are relieved of their suits, defeated in battle.

Leonardo continues struggling to hold Krang’s army back as Casey and April defeat the alien brain, retrieving the Firestar. As they attempt to escape they’re again confronted by Shredder, but Leo uses his Cyber Suit to fish them out of danger, the dimensional rift now closed.

The Turtles take the Glaxxons back to their ship, where a humbled Korak concedes that they lost in battle, adding that “by the ancient laws of war you may dispatch us as you see fit”. Our heroes, of course, have no intention of hurting the visitors, and explain all of this was merely a misunderstanding, but the Firestar needs to be destroyed for the safety of the universe. Korak declares this can only be done by taking it to the core of the galaxy, where it can be “incinerated in the heat of a million suns”. He vows to do so with his men as a means of making up for all the trouble they’ve caused through the years; the Turtles agree to help fix the Glaxxon spaceship so they can begin their journey.

Later, in the Lair, the Turtles view a transmission from Korak where he thanks the team as he says goodbye. To the bafflement of our heroes Master Splinter remains worried, because this is the Red Sky era and we can’t end on a happy note anymore. He tells his students that “since time began, war-like people have sought ultimate power,” adding that any number of alien races could try and take the Firestar for themselves before it can be destroyed, and if that turns out to the case, the Turtles may encounter the Glaxxons again in the future.  

After three episodes devoted to proving anything the X-Men could do, the Turtles could too, “Cyber-Turtles” sees attention turn to combatting the threat posed by the nascent Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (see the Turtlethon entry for “Get Shredder!” for an analysis of TMNT’s newfound inferiority complex upon finding itself in MMPR’s shadow). Little attempt is made to hide what’s going on here, as the Turtles pilot giant mecha-like suits, stomping around and taking out entire buildings during battle in a blatant mimicking of the Megazord sequences so prominent in the competing series. All of this was part of a multi-pronged effort to promote the Cyber Samurai line of Turtles action figures produced by Playmates Toys, but given that 1994 and 1995 saw a glut of toys from similar competing properties flood the market – including Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, a line sold in the US by Playmates themselves – it's hard to imagine any of this did much to help revitalise the image of the Turtles.

These considerations weigh heavily upon this episode, which more than most Turtles adventures openly acts as an advertisement for toys while also giving over a significant amount of screen time to the fight sequences which showcase them. In doing so, it leans into season eight’s tendency to prioritise action above everything else, something that’s fun for a while but ultimately becomes tiring, especially if you’re an adult watching these adventures back to back. Beyond a certain point, it all becomes an endless parade of fight scenes, and I’m concerned that the show is more interested now in putting up a tough front as a means of winning back viewers than it is in telling compelling stories.

Casey Jones, a prominent figure in many other incarnations of TMNT, never really got a fair shake from the 1987 series, doomed to be a one-dimensional angry vigilante character in a show where so often the need for the Turtles to take centre stage all the time has a tendency to rob the supporting players of any opportunity to develop. He debuted mid-way through season three in his spotlight episode, “Casey Jones – Outlaw Hero”, and was fortunate enough to get a follow-up showing – something not typically afforded to guest characters  – in “Corporate Raiders from Dimension X” a few episodes later. Two further appearances followed, in season five’s “Leonardo Cuts Loose” and season seven’s “Night of the Rogues”, but by then there was a definite sense of the Law of Diminishing Returns taking effect. Like the Rat King, each of the later Casey cameos has felt less exciting than the one that preceded it, so perhaps it’s for the best that this marks the point where we wish him a fond farewell.

NEXT TIME: Season eight reaches its grand finale as we explore “Turtle Trek”.

[idv-news-boi]

-> {COA Act 1} The Jasper & The Unknown Pen Pal🌌

Characters// (OCs) Connor Morozov & Angel Drew, (Canons) Emma Woods, Leo Beck, Kreacher Pierson, Freddy Riley, Emily Dyer, Martha Behamfil

Warning// Some suggestive stuff here and there, dark themes because is Call of the Abyss we’re talking about- OCs from others will be included from this story!!! Ships will be included too ;)

Dark... Stones... Caves.

Deeper into the darkness, there's a thin layer of gold beneath all layers in the abyss… It’s mysteriously lack of gold and rich, but they shall take it nonetheless if there’s something much more valuable… Though, not all treasures are always provided in huge rewards.

Deeper into the dark cave, a shiny jasper has been laid on a pedestal among all that is gold and luxury.

But slowly, a gloved hand is carefully reaching out for it- before snatching the gem and replacing its position with a stone.

"Spot it! Haha!"

A Pirate Spotter(Kreacher) laughs as he raises up the gem into the reflecting light to examine it with the eye that does have the telescope.

"Mr. Pierson, we can't just go recklessly take that artifact...!”

The Pirate Shipwright(Emma) suggested with a worried look as she saw the crewmate's actions. He did test the waters, but it's quite uncalled for if he suddenly does it without the others prepared for any sudden impacts that may happen.

"Right, papa?" Emma turns to the ship captain for approval, who results to be also her father.

"Mn.!" The Captain response in agreement, there's the stern scolding tone as a man of few words.

"Aw, geez,,," The sneaky Pirate Spotter sighs in frustration as he tries to stick his single eye from the gem to look at the captain and the shipwright with a fake, sad look.

“Don't worry, Ms. Woods. This place got ditched for 500 years,,,- Who else would they come with us and steal it before us???"

The Pirate Doctor(Emily) sighs as she helps the crew take all the gold and jewels into the ship. The Pirate Navigator(Freddy) have to stay outside to guard the ship in case. As the Pirate Gunner(Martha) is accompanying the searching crew to provide them protection for any sabotages.

According to the crew’s Navigator, the ancient Jasper has the power to manipulate the sea and the fire from colliding together. Many called it the Phoenix… If anyone possesses such gem, the bearer will become fire-proof and harder to get drowned. Though, they all made an agreement that is taken for selling to the queen and the king of England, yet Kreacher can’t help but become infatuated by such shiny objects.

However, it seems the pirate crew are definitely not alone. And not with someone who plays games.

Just as Kreacher turns back to his- I mean, the crew's precious ancient jasper, it's already gone from his hands.

"HUH?!" The Thief just got thieved it seems- He looks around the floor if he have dropped it without realizing. But then, he hears a raspy, cold voice echo from the ceiling.

"Up here, loser."

Getting ticked off by such callout, Kreacher fumes before looking up to see the fella of such audacity. The rest of the crew stopped as they realize the person's presence, now hearing the click of a musket the mysterious silhouette made.

Slowly, the man walks up from on a rock he was standing on. Which was pretty much too high to reach, though it seems he have used some hanging rope to navigate around the cave rather than climbing on it- The little light from the hole of the ceiling allows the crew to reveal one of their deadliest rivals in the seven seas; the Pirate Sniper.

Also known as one of our typical, beloved bastards... Connor Morozov.

"I got this place before you. So see you no more...."

The marksman pirate says as he flicks the gem in his gloved fingers before catching it swiftly as if provoking one’s wrath. He then starts running towards the rope that leads him away from the crew. The opposite pirates started shouting as they quickly take out their guns and run towards him.

“HRRR!!!” The Captain sternly commands to catch the enemy, making the Pirate Gunner and the Pirate Spotter to go ahead without hesitation with Pirate Doctor following them for assistance.

Solo Pirate Connor is however able to run away from their grasp, with at least most of the treasure already packed along with the Phoenix gem that actually belongs to him-

The treasure sit used to be one of his ancestor’s will, but it seems it is no longer a secret to be safely kept- some idiot must have leaked the map to them… mn.

Despite everything, he’s half relieved that the gem is still in his grasp. Nothing will stop him, now.

___

*Ding!*

“Thank you, have a great winter.”

The Banker gently says as he calmly take a portion of the cold to be kept safely. He is just very sure he cannot mess with someone that is unhesitatingly to put a pistol on your temple.

Connor arrived at Steam city, where snow and ice are some of the closest things you can describe on. The eternal winter the city has as its specialty reminds him of his mother land.

The pirate ignores the masked Banker as he keeps the other portion of gold with him at the ship, just in case. The pirate is not too greedy, but he isn’t dumb either when it comes to keeping the riches “obtained”. Inside the bank brings a lot of fancily caged candles and bringing a cozy vintage feeling that differs from the outside. It’s entrance sign’s letters can be barely be seen by the pile of snow covering on the roof. The little building is just empty with classic furnitures and gears moving can be heard. Only the Banker and Connor are present, so letting out a tiny voice can be clearly be heard through echoing.

Noticing that his suit is now half dirty from the previous events along with the snow melting on his coat, Connor curses frustratedly under his breath in Russian before making his next departure to a tailor shop for new clothes.

He’s too lazy to change back at his boat, so why not visit an old friend to bother him…?

___

“Good Evening… What can I help you in this fine day~?”

Bells gently collided together as the door is opened. A gentle, surprisingly warm voice asks with such hint of charm. The pirate almost though he just heard an angel of haven in such never ending winter at a city.

Yep, it was just a bit worth to come 4 hours here by foot to hear such welcome-

“Oh- it’s you…”

The jolly tone of the voice faltered a bit as a young man with a Spanish hat sighs from seeing the half-dirt stained pirate. He approaches him to softly trace the fabric of Connor’s coat with an unsurprised look.

“…You stained the attire once again…-“

“I have the money, Angel.”

The pirate cuts the Tailor with an assuring statement. Making the Tailor, known as Angel, go back to smiling softly before nodding.

“Right on time, then~”

The tailorshop worker is also a whaler hunter. He specializes in making dresses and attires out of fine fabrics, even out of whale leather… Connor just find it beneficial to have such eccentric Spaniard tailor as his friend.

“Stay comfy… There’s coffee already served at the table.”

Angel instructs few minutes later as he helps Connor take out the coat to use. Now both hands washed up, Connor nodded lightly before crossing his legs on the stylish sofa he sits on. He takes a couple of chocolate chip cookies and rip them all apart before dumping it into his black coffee. The first items he picks up afterwards are the nearest newspaper he manages to grab from the nightstand that is next to him and the coffee.

While drinking the coffee, he takes a quick glance at the newspaper to see what’s up with the boring land news going on. Intending to kill some time as he lets Angel work on his coat.

‘The Nether’s Masterpiece… The Big Race… and another Metropolis Apreciation Event- boring….’ Connor thinks as he briefly reads the captions, already knowing what’s going on.

Land dwellers are strange.

“Anything eventful happened to you…?” Connor asked in a stoic manner, tilting his pirate hat to cover his eyes as he takes sip from his black coffee. Attempting to relax from all the moving around.

“Well…” The angelic voice starts as he brushes the dirt from the attired with a brush poured in soaped water, “A telegram somehow went through my inbox…. Not from a regular this time.”

“Mn…?”

“As I responded to the telegram with a low budget letter to return the mistakenly sent telegram, the sender strangely also started to send me more telegrams after the accident- He wanted to learn more about me… it seems I made a new pen pal.”

“His name?”

“Never stated his name… Only talked about his job and shared me a picture of him-“

Angel let’s Connor take a glance at the tiny picture, aman with glasses in a fancy suit and headset used as a microphone for radio casts. Smiling so widely on the photo black and white photo. All he learned from the sender is that the pen pal works in radios and telecommunications, shared a picture of himself that turns out to them being an actual man. Yet, he never stated his name.

“Mmm…” Connor only takes a blank glance before looking away in boredom. “Not my problem then.”

“To be honest,,, I would like for you to help who this strange, cheerful looking man is-“

“Just don’t trust him, ignore him. That picture might be someone else’s if he spills so much about him so confidently.”

“The telegrams started getting sent to me like few months ago… I think it may not be too soon of an advance but I just find it suspicious… And I’m getting concerned by such amount of money spent on such fancy papers- How to stop him while ignoring them…?”

Angel finishes brushing off the dirt from the coat before hanging it to dry. He slowly goes around the counter to sit on the left armchair of where Connor sits…. He traces his gentle fingers on the pirate’s slightly bare chest in a strangely teasing manner.

“I can do more than just mending and cleaning your coat, mi querido pirata…. Do me a favor for me and I can just give it you in return~” The elegant Spaniard seductively requests as he then brushes his fingers on the pirate’s chin.

The Pirate Sniper, however, is not looking impressed by the offer. Yet, he blinks a bit before closing his eyes. Then turning around to stare at the other’s squishy face with an unreadable.

“You’ll have to join me on my ship and leave this shop, if that’s the case.”

Connor states straightforwardly. The Whaler blinks before sighing. That’s the 30th time the pirate offer him to ditch Stream City to travel with him- Isn’t that dangerous though? He also has friends here unlike Connor-

“… You know I can’t- is there anything else I can do?”

“That’s the only thing I’m desiring.” Connor responds with lack of shame, making Angel pout at such quick statement.

“Fine… I’ll travel with you, just temporarily to promote my brand a bit- I can’t just leave my baby here forever…-“

Angel gives in as he nervously grins, mentioning his precious business establishment as his ‘baby’.

Little did he expect, he sees Connor giving him a look. He isn’t smiling but his eyes are shining with excitement for some reason. Which is rare-

The pirate holds up a hand for an handshake to seal the deal. The Spaniard merely shakes his hand back gently.

“Nice having business with you, pocket Tailor.”

“…Igualmente, pirata~”

[autistic-crypt1d]

Season 1 SG-1 Live Blogging:

It's been a while since I've watched this but I've also seen it over 20 times at this point so I doubt there will be any surprises. Who knows! Plus I finally have refreshed context with the movie.

Updates:

- Children of the Gods pt 1&2

- ahh the black side bars

- I still dont know why the tarp would be moving before the gate even starts dialing, once it starts and everything starts shaking and the tarp goes flying yeah

- AHHHH THE FIRST LOCK OF THE SHOW

- AHHH THE CLASSIC GOA'ULD MUSIC

- the suits are so silly and top heavy I love it

- TEAL'C

- how are these trained military personnel only managing to hit the center base playe of their armour lmao, some real stormtrooper shooting right there

- god damn the acting of the dude who was screaming and shooting was very bad and the effects were so off

- THE BLOOD PFFFFT

- I'm sorry but the gold lipstick they put on Apophis is so goofy

- I forgot how agonizingly slow and boring the original intro is compared to the music

- JACK!!!!

- PFFFFT. THE TELESCOPE SHOT

- I know I've done pretty much nothing but make fun of the show so far but that's because the first season is rough ok, I do love it though

- ah General Hammond, little does he know he's about to recruit one of the 4 biggest pains in the ass of his life

- if the gate was buried, how does Daniel get the tissue box?

- I wonder what they've been doing at the SGC this whole time anyway, I mean until this stuff happens they'd believed the gate only went one place and theh believed it to be destroyed soooo

- also I literally just watched the movie, but I don't remember seeing a DHD over there so I'm assuming that also just wasn't figured out yet

- ah fug Carter's cringy intro. I love her so much but this is awful and the actress herself said so too (thank god she did and fought for her to not do that shit again)

- you can see him fall head over heels for her like right there and then though

- I do find it pretty interesting how the gate travel sequence animation changes eventuallly

- also, what's with the fact they still get all frosty and shit initially but soon it becomes a thing they do no problem, step through the other side skipping and shit

- DANIEL!!!

- the entrance is in like a crater now, funky

- "Captain Doctor you're gonna love this" PFFFFT

- see I know everyone loves Sam & Jack, but everytime I see Sam and Daniel nerding out together they look like they're about to literally makeout

- oop here come the snake lads

- BRO GET YOUR FINGERS OUT OF HER MOUTH YOU THIEVING ASSHAT

- why is her name spelled Sha're here but Sha'uri in the movie?

- everyone huddling up hugging Daniel makes me wanna cry 😭

- it's just occurring to me how weird it is that the Apophis has set up shop in what looks to be a European style castle of all places

- this whole thing with the women being chosen as Apophis's bride is horrifying and I hate it and the nudity was entirely unnecessary. We did not need to be shown women being assaulted and violated and exposed to understand how horrible he is. We really didn't

- pffft you tell him Kawalski

- ugh I fucking hate the scene where Sha'uri is chosen

- wait did they cut out her being fully exposed? Thank god dude, nothing against her I'm just really uncomfortable with nudity

- poor Daniel, he just wants to tell people about the cool stuff

- aaaaaand now everything is greek?

- Apophis is just copying everyone's shit

- PFFFT that was the most ungrateful exit ever

- oop, one of the snake helmets lights are out

- y'all Jack having to lose Skaara after already losing Charlie is just so OUCHYYYYY

- they really just let that helmet be lights out

- "you are the first I believe can do it" AHHHHHHHHHH

- pffft Daniel and his crooked ass glasses

- "I have nowhere to go" "for this, you can stay at my place" god I love them so much I wanna scream

- it's so weird hearing Sam call him "Dr. Jackson" and him call her Captain

- Y'ALL THE MUZZLE FLARE IS SO BADDDD

- after watching the movie, the look Daniel gives Jack after he tells him to go is so much more intense

- ah hell Kawalsky getting infected is a big ouchy

- Daniel and Sam in sync AHHHHH

- Teal'c handing over his weapon to Sam no questions asked 😭

- HELL YEAH JACK, YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR BOO

- The Enemy Within

- pfffft the little exchange of looks between Jack and Kawalsky in the control room

- if matter can't reintegrate, what's the slamming sound? always wondered about that

- Jack's turtleneck shirt thing is so cute

- YOU STAND UP FOR OUR BOY JACK, YOU TELL EM

- this episode hurts my heart so much

- Daniel is so pretty in the og outfit tho, so baby girl

- Teal'c finding out that he's found the Tau'ri is so emotional y'all

- "then you are their greatest hope, and mine." I'M NOT TEARING UP YOU ARE

- everyone is such babies here it makes me wanna cry

- I'm sorry but the way he just tosses Carter is hilarious

- Charlie's in this show are cursed, first Jack's kid, then Kawalsky

- YOU TELL HIM GENERAL

- Teal'c is such a trooper man, he's just letting them use his symbiote (the thing that keeps him alive) to test anesthetics to save Kawalsky

- the way Jack is so soft with his men arms my heart, this military man without hesitation holds Kawalsky's hand and I love him for it

- they've really got zero lights in half these sugery shots

- ah hell, the false hope here HURTSSSS

- I hate Kennedy so much, LEAVE

- poor Teal'c, he thinks he's made a friends and gets attacked instead :(

- Walter buddy, you tried and I'm proud of you

- YES TEAL'C, YOU STAND YOUR GROUND YOU WONDERFUL BADASS

- "I need two ranking officers to override" never gets old

- Jack having to give the order that kills his friend is AHHHHHHH

- "he was your friend." "My friend died on the table." HELP

- I'm gonna cry, the team together on the ramp for the first time ahhhhhhhhhh

- Emancipation

- I HATE this episode

- poor Carter y'all, she's put through the damn wringer in this

- Daniel I adore you but shut tf up you're not the one being asked to shut up and cover up under penalty of violence or death

- DANIEL, SHUSH

- Jack you aren't helping

- JACK. DANIEL SHUT UP. PLEASE.

- the fact that this is the first mission they go on as a team is ASS. Yes they do good shit at the end but still.

- you know what, no one is making me watch this and I don't want to soooo SKIP

- The Broca Divide

- this is episode 4???? Damn I remembered this beingf a bit later for some reason, but I feel like that with most episodes tbh

- it gets a bonus for introducing Dr. Frasier

- Daniel is the only one with self preservation rn, who tf goes through to an alien planet that is so dark the malp couldn't see a damn thing

- good point, why tf doesn't the malp have a night vision mode

- pfffft Daniel's little wave of submission

- ugh god I love the intro music so much, 10 seasons over a dozen times and I still love it

- DANIEL, SHUT IT. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THAT'S HOW STUFF USED TO GO, IT'S NOT HAPPENING NOW

- pfffft Daniel's stuttering

- Teal'c catching that punch like a BADASS "general I would prefer to not hurt this man" AHHHH

- DANIEL AND THE TURTLENECK SHIRT THING

- SG-1 is just so pretty

- uh oh locker room scene

- "why? I mean no"

- Dr. Frasier!!!!!

- poor Daniel :(

- Janet calling Teal'c "Mr. Teal'c" is so cute

- ahhhh Daniel is so sassy I love it

- I'm sorry but Daniel helping to restrain Jack is hilarious considering how easily Jack absolutely MANHANDLES him in this show

- "I am not Lucy" XD

- ah yes, one of the many episodes where Daniel is carried around like he weighs 2 lbs

- the first person he calls for is Jack 😭

- The First Commandment

- this episode is pretty wild honestly, plus like, Sam lore???

- Connor immediately collapsing once he knew he was safe with SG-1 is just so AHHHH

- "this tastes like chicken" "what's wrong with it?" "It's macaroni and cheese"

- "I guess I've always had a soft spot for the lunatic fringe"

- I love how Daniel and Sam are always yappin together

- "we should have stopped her" "we would have failed" pfffft

- YEAH SAM GET HIS ASS

- just shoot him in the leg Sam!!!!

- every single time they try and show people that Teal'c is friendly is cracks me tf up

- Teal'c reaction to his drawing being complimented is so cute help

- wooo! Revolting against false gods!!

- Cold Lazarus

- first planet we've seen that looks different than Earth which is cool

- the blue of the sky with the yellow ass sand hurts my eyes

- Pffft Daniel not knowing if he's using the radio right cracks me up

- I wonder why Jack keeps all that stuff in his locker, like having some photos at work yeah, but the wedding ring and notes? Why not at home?

- I'm sorry Jack/Sam shippers, but every time I see Sam and Daniel working together being all nerdy and completely ignoring the concept of personal space, AHHHH

- oof this episode is so awkward and painful

- pffft the random side plot of Teal'c learning about Earth through the tv is so funny to me

- SAM AND DANIEL ARE SO CUTE HELP, the way they sprint into Teal'c room together all excited, AHHH

- Sara's dad is so sweet about what he thinks is Jack and what he's going through

- y'all, entity Jack holding Charlie's things and rocking, OUCHIE

- god Sam and Daniel are so chaotic together, such mutual enablers

- PFFFT everyone's faces when the real Jack comes through the gate XD

- the fact that literally none of this is ever brought up again is really annoying

- The Nox

- I love the Nox

- Daniel trying to get information from the Nox and failing terribly is so funny

- Apophis sucks

- the costume design for the Nox is so good

- I can't tell if the green in the fire is a chemical thing they did or a greenscreen being behind it

- Daniel covering Sam up 😭

- PFFFT TEAL'C WITH A DAMN LOG

- Brief Candle

- I hate this episode honestly

- the fact is O'Neill gets drugged and raped and no one talks about it

- skipping

- Thor's Hammer

- Jack diving to try and save Teal'c 😭 I love those two so much

- I love Gairwyn, she's fantastic

- the fake thor looks so goofy 😭

- ahhhh I love the Unas lore so much

- I love Jack and Teal'c so much y'all, the way that they stand side by side through anything, the ultimate duo

- The Torment of Tantalus

- ahhhh this episode is so good!!!!

- them realizing that they weren't the first to go through and someone actually got stranded out there??? CHILLS

- CARSON!!!!

- I've always wondered wtf this man ate while he was there all this time

- y'all that conversation between Earnest and Catharine, AHHH

- BRO, THE WAY SAM AND DANIEL ARE SITTING??? No personal space with each other

- "this is a true universal language!" Ahhhh!!! I love Daniel nerding out

- Sam with rolled up sleeves AH!!

- Bloodlines

- where tf did they get the priest gear??

- ahhhh Bra-tac, love that guy

- Alison fron Eurekaaaaa

- Fire and Water

- this episode makes me so sad noooo 😭

- Sam crying over Daniel AHHH

- I NEVER REALIZED TEAL'C WAS IN SHORTS

- seeing Teal'c participate in this human ritual of mourning makes me so emotional ahhhhhhh

- ah yes the first of many times Daniel gets kidnapped and tries to communicate with a captor he cannot understand

- General Hammond is the best for letting it slide that Jack obliterates his car window

- I wish we saw more alien races like this fish guy, things that are further from human

- frustrated Daniel is so funny

- Teal'c's expression XD

- I wonder why Nem never went to Earth to search for his mate, or why he didn't go with her

- Hathor

- ugh this episode. Hathor irks me so bad

- "sex, drugs, and rock and roll?" "In a manner of speaking yeah" pffffft

- why tf does Jack do air quotes like that

- see now Daniel is literally getting raped in this episode too and no one comments on this. This is what I hate about this show. Just because it's not violent doesn't mean it's not.

- man the reverse shot is so bad

- the Goa'uld larvae look like ground beef in that tub

- wtf even set the tub on fire

- why tf is the only response to Daniel's trauma "ew" :(

- Singularity

- oh god the Cassie episode 😭

- the way Sam and Jack are with kids in this show is so wholesome

- AHHHHH this Sam and Daniel moment is so good

- the way he looks at her and talks to her BROOO

- if they're so platonic why does Daniel always stand a centimeter from her hm???

- "who said that?" THE WAY HE'S LOOKING AT HER????

- Jack running in that damn hazmat suit is so funny

- the way Janet and Sam cover Cassie AHHH best moms ever

- SHE STILL HAS HER TAG ON BROOOO

- Daniel's little happy slaps XD

- Cor-ai

- ouchy episode

- everyone trying to gently tell Jack they don't believe he's a good choice to be the voice is so funny

- Teal’c’s trembling lip AHHHH

- Daniel’s speech, Y’ALLLLL

- the relationship and dynamic Teal’c and Daniel even after what happened to Sha’re is something else

- “What’re they doing?” “Preparing me for my death.” “Oh”

- Enigma

- oh wow the set and effects on this one is ROUGH

- I just remembered that the Tollen dude, Narim that has a thing for Sam is the same actor who plays Simon, Elizabeth Weir's husband

- Shrodinger!!!

- ugh Mayborne

- YOU TELL HIM GENERAL!!!

- "whoops"

- ah yes, the first of many iconic times they use Daniel as a way to avoid court marshaling XD

- Lya!!! Yay!!!

- the Nox are so cool, I wish we got more of them

- Solitudes

- oh boy this episode

- I feel like this had to be the beginning of the Sam/Jack ship right?

- "why didn't you say something?" "I was afraid you'd try to put a splint on it" I love his sass so much

- AHHHHH I LOVE DANIEL SAVING THE DAY BY BEING A NERD

- I don't understand why she wouldn't think "maybe there's something wrong with the Earth gate after what happened, let me try another world"

- LET'S GO DANIEL!!!

- "what happens when you try to dial your own phone number? Wrong person to ask." PFFFFT

- I think it's kinda hilarious she just assumes it's an ice planet because that's all she can see XD

- the fact that she goes back to him so they can be together at the end AHHHHH

- Tin Man

- I hate this episode, it irritates me and I'm skipping it

- There But for the Grace of God

- ahhhh this episode stresses me outtttt

- why must you always touch everything Daniel

- "oh I hate it when this happens" how many times has Daniel been left behind on a planet????

- his face when he comes through and people are aiming guns at him XD

- Politics

- god I hate Kinsey

- honestly, not a fan of flashback episodes

- "Because what is right is not measured by strength" DAMN RIGHT TEAL'C!!!

- god I still can't get over that scene of Teal'c standing on the gate ramp, blocking Kowalski's path

- Within the Serpent's Grasp

- something I'm just now really thinking about is, why is Apophis the only Goa'uld that did the whole wife and kid thing? No other Goa'uld that we've seen does that

- bro the way Daniel is looking at Sam when they're discussing the C-4 timer and rescuing Jack and Teal'c???

Season 2

[mal-2d-platformer]

character animations

I thought about different thing my character can do for his idle animation that will fit with the character overall design so I thought about what thieves do and then I relies he could be using a telescope to be looking around as it fits the idea that he is a vigilant agile person and for the walking and jumping I thought that he would use mostly his front leg to be more life like and so it looks less unnatural and additionally for the death animation I was going to make an explosion for when he dies but I found that it was to claustrophobic and unnatural for the design so I made him slowly dissipate using the same red as his eyes to keep up with the color scheme

[mswbookclubtags]

Topics: Actor/Actress, Air Steward, Alligator, Art, Baseball, Beach, Book Signing, Broadway, Cat, Cell Phone, Cessna, Charles Dickens, Chef, Cigar, City Council, Computer/Internet, Condo, Cooking, Court Trial, Court TV, Crime Museum, Domestic Abuse, Fashion, Fashion Model, Fatty Arbuckle, FDA, Fidel Castro, Filmmaking, Fire, Fireworks, Fishing, Fishpond, Flashback, Food, Funeral, Gambling, Gold, Golden Gate Bridge, Health, Horseback Riding, Hypnosis, Ice Skating, Jack the Ripper, Jail, Jewels, Jewel Thieves, Jury, Lagoon, Larry King, Law, Library, Lightning, Literacy Program, Lobstermen, Loretta's Beauty Parlor, Makeup, Manuscript, Mara’s Luncheonette, Medication/Supplements, Missing Sister, Music, Mysterious Letters, Nobility, Online Dating, Parade, Paranormal, Pilot, Pizza, Politics, POTUS/First Lady, R&R, Retirement, Royalties, Santa Claus, School, Slave Trade, Smoking, Spa, Stolen Gems, Telescope, Television Commercial, Theater, The Sopranos, Truffle, Witness Protection Program, Will Reading, Wine, Writers' Conference, Women's Prison, Yacht

Other: Audiobook, Hardback, John Land, Terrie Farley Moran, Learn Something New, Skull on Cover (paperback only)

Return to previous TAGS post or return to the Murder, She Wrote Book Club web site!

[abominationvault]

Session 15 LIVE! Sat 28 Oct 2023

We are live and IRL this week! Not much gets done because we’re all busy drinking and catching up and eating pizza. :)

We visit the blacksmith and Nadia borrows his forge to attach runes to Joto’s armour and Luna’s bow. As we leave, a creature sidles up to Skabb…

Skabb is offered a bargain - trade spell for spell? She wants to know how to trade for four spells. Well… The creature likes mayhem, how about some of that? Skabb enthusiastically agrees when she finds out that the creature wants her to burn a library. But he also wants her to cause other types of mayhem. There’s a wizard; will she find his diary and spread his private business all over town? Absolutely!

Luna agrees to stealing even before she knows what or why, and the rest of us also like to cause a ruckus so we’re all in. Sprocket toddles in and Fascinates one of the bookshop owners (not the diary owner, but his husband) while Hartvig chases him around, and Joto finds the wizard himself and distracts him by doing acrobatics and flirting at him. Luna and Skabb sneak in among the chaos, unnoticed. Nadia watches from outside, and will intervene if it looks like someone has spotted the thieves.

Skabb and Luna sneak through the shop and into the kitchen, then upstairs; they find the diary tucked into a telescope. Skabb has Grabby Cat fling the book out of the window to the waiting Nadia, and we all retreat. We debate what to do with the diary in order to have maximum impact, and decide to give it to the logger workers down by the docks; they are all men, and love to gossip.

[foggypainterstudentfpgame]

First Person Game #7 (Sea Of Thieves)

Sea of thieves is a unique game as it is one of the only decent pirate games other than Assassins Creed Black flag and of course the best LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is a unique game as there are not many pirate games out there. It is also unique as you can captain a boat with a crew or yourself and you can walk around on it completely open. The customization is cool for example the sails on your boat. Also when you die you go to a ghost ship and stay on his boat until you respawn which is a cool death scene. Its really cool when you use a cannon or go to look through the telescope as its first person it immerses you like your on the boat.

[canuckdoorsystems]

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