#theme: lola's trial

[blogger360ncislarules]

Fresh off the heels of a massively successful first two seasons on CTV network in Canada, Sullivan’s Crossing finally returns for a second season on October 2nd on the CW network.  

The show’s enormous success can be attributed to several things. The series boasts an all-star cast featuring Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson, who are fan favourites from their iconic roles on “One Tree Hill" and “Gilmore Girls" respectively. Canadian sweetheart, Morgan Kohan, brings a local feel to the production. This beloved trio helps bring to life a heartwarming drama that is a breath of fresh air in today’s television landscape. Sullivan’s Crossing captivates viewers with its deep exploration of redemption and reconciliation. It thoughtfully addresses the relatable themes of trauma and hardship, guiding its characters - and its viewers - through the process of overcoming obstacles, uncovering truths and forging paths toward forgiveness. 

Where We Left Off...

In season 1, neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan, portrayed by Kohan, returns to Sullivan’s Crossing following a medical malpractice lawsuit. The Crossing, owned by her father Sully - played by Patterson - is a scenic campground nestled in the stunning landscapes of Nova Scotia, Canada. Sullivan’s Crossing is steeped in Maggie’s personal history, filled with both cherished and painful memories. Her father’s battle with alcoholism led to his separation from Maggie’s mother, Phoebe, portrayed by Lynda Boyd, when Maggie was just a child. The last image Maggie holds from that time is of her mother pulling her away from her heartbroken father, as they left for a fresh start in Boston. Now, as an adult, Maggie has a successful career and is in a relationship with fellow doctor Andrew, played by Canadian actor Allan Hawco. Maggie’s life in Boston appears picture perfect, but it quickly becomes clear that she isn’t genuinely happy. Her life has largely been dictated by her mother and step-father, and although Andrew is the ideal mate according to her mother, Maggie isn’t truly in love with him. 

During her time at Sullivan’s Crossing, Maggie encounters Cal Jones, portrayed by the enigmatic Murray. Cal is a charismatic, empathetic nomad seeking solace after his wife’s death. Maggie feels an immediate pull towards Cal, which stirs internal conflict as she grapples with her emerging feelings for him and her commitment to Andrew. Despite her heart’s desires, Maggie remains bound by what she believes others expect of her, and hesitates to veer off course. Communication is a struggle between Maggie and her estranged father, Sully, an issue that was weaved throughout the season. Maggie harbors unresolved feelings of abandonment and resentment towards him and Sully can never seem to find the right words to make up for the fact that he was absent for most of Maggie’s life. Adding to Maggie’s frustration, is having to witness the close bond between Sully and Lola, portrayed by Amalia Williamson- a relationship that Maggie always desired to have with her father. To make matters worse, Lola appears to have it out for Maggie, and takes pleasure in flaunting her connection with Sully in Maggie’s face. Meanwhile, Sully faced his own crisis as financial troubles threatened to close Sullivan’s Crossing, driving him back to alcohol despite being sober for several years. 

As Maggie and Cal’s connection deepened, a hostile visit from Andrew finally forced Maggie’s hand and she ended things with him. The break-up drew Maggie to Cal even further and their burgeoning feelings finally culminated in a kiss. Before the two could discuss things, Maggie returned to Boston to confront her trial, which was eventually dismissed. Cal left the Crossing to scatter his wife’s ashes, leaving behind a note for Maggie, which Lola intercepted, misleading Maggie into thinking Cal left without saying goodbye. In the season finale, emotions peaked as Maggie confronted Sully, accusing him of abandoning her. She also discovered that she is pregnant with Andrew’s baby. In a poignant flashback, Sully recalled the day Maggie left for Boston. In his drunken state, he accidentally struck Lola who was on a bicycle with his car, leading to her lengthy rehabilitation. This revelation added a layer of tragic complexity to the already tumultuous relationships. 

Another highlight of the show is the dynamic ensemble cast, with each character bringing their own unique charm and depth. Frank and Edna, played by Tom Jackson and Andrea Menard, help run the Crossing alongside Sully. Their beautiful relationship is a pure example of true love and their wisdom and their innate wisdom and kindness provides the perfect balance to keep Sully grounded and to help guide Maggie towards true happiness. The sibling duo of Rob and Sydney, portrayed by Reid Price and Lindura, exemplifies a supportive and caring brother-sister relationship. Rob, as a single parent running a business, has very little time to devote to his son, and Sydney steps up significantly to be there for him, all while harboring a secret about her own troubled past that remains unknown by viewers to this point. By season’s end, Sydney, feeling she may have overstayed her welcome, moved out of Rob’s house and in with firefighter Rafe, played by Dakota Taylor, who has feelings for her, but she has yet to fully let him in. Adding to the cast are Connie, Tom and their son, Jackson, who find themselves tangled in the emotional challenges of a divorce, with Jackson feeling caught in the middle and pressured to meet his father’s expectations. 

What can Viewers Expect in Season 2? 

In a recent interview with Bell Media, showrunner Roma Roth, assured fans that season 2 of the series would be packed with even more emotion, drama and cliffhangers. The season opens mere hours after Maggie discovers that her father suffered a stroke. Racked with guilt over their last encounter with each other, Maggie resolves to remain at the Crossing to care for Sully. Concern deepens as Sully’s doctor suspects his symptoms might indicate a more serious condition and orders additional tests. Meanwhile, Sully struggles with a nagging sense that he has forgotten something important - clearly he has forgotten what he did to Lola and it will be intriguing to see if, upon remembering, he decides to continue concealing the secret or if he will choose to confront and accept the repercussion of his actions.

Unable to escape to Boston and leave her troubles behind, Maggie is forced to confront her mixed feelings about her father and address her deepening feelings for Cal. The season kicks off with Maggie feeling betrayed by Cal’s abrupt departure without a goodbye, prompting her to keep her distance. One of the pictures for the episode portrays Cal appearing to be pleading with Maggie. Hopefully the two are able to have an honest conversation of what occurred, and Cal can reveal what he wrote in his letter to her, in person. However, there is still a major roadblock for these two- Maggie’s pregnancy. She initially chooses to keep it a secret while planning to return to Boston once her father recovers. How will she reveal the news to Cal? Will she do what her head is telling her is right- get back together with Andrew and raise their child together? Or will she finally follow her heart and choose to be with Cal, should he choose to accept her child? 

Finally, Maggie’s plans to return to Boston are delayed when she learns that the Crossing is up for auction. She is determined to help save her father’s legacy and in doing so, will she begin to prioritize what really matters to her? Or will she continue down the path of living the life that she feels is expected of her?

[aftgficrec]

hi! do you guys know any manic!neil? I've read lots of manic andrew (I mean medicated andrew was canon) but haven't seen much for neil. just any fics that have neil manically laughing/smiling bc of trauma,, or something like that (doesn't have to be medicated btw - thank you : )

Hi!  Here are a few fics where Neil lets out his father’s smile or hysterical laughter due to stress or fear. - S

You might also like this post:

a dark Neil here

Acting is the Greatest Lie by deadinside_canyoutell [Not Rated, 2632 words, complete, 2019]

The Foxes have been walking on eggshells around Neil as Lola's trial looms near. But Neil doesn't break. He smiles.

tw: torture, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: animal harm/abuse

Cracked but not smashed by CrownofAloe [Not Rated, 5057 words, incomplete, last updated Jan 2018]

"Neil is always fine. He's just tired."

 OR

After his 'reunion' with Lola, Neil hasn't been sleeping well, but for the past couple of days, he hasn't slept at all... not a wink. And so when his Foxes ask if he's ok, Neil becomes slightly unhinged in the face of it all, and his manic grin brings up a few memories he'd rather bury…

tw: violence, tw: torture, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: dissociation

Be Born in Your Father's Smile by Claudia_Lilith [Rated M, 1374 words, incomplete, last updated April 2019]

Neil snaps over Christmas break

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: canonical character death, tw: blood/gore

Hold Each Other by exactly13percent [Rated T/E, collection, complete, 2018]

Chapter 5: The Gun Still Rattles

AU: Riko makes a fatal mistake after Christmas. Neil takes advantage, but it comes at a cost.

tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: violence

Two Birds with One Stone by stuntinf8 [Not Rated, 20283 words, incomplete, last updated Jan 2021]

(Chapter 5)

On the night that Nathaniel first met Andrew Minyard, he had not been coherent.

(OR Neil and Andrew are Ravens and Riko is a jerk)

tw: violence, tw: physical abuse, tw: emotional abuse

[1460alt]

Trial and Error

Summary: Yakko is used to being the problem child. He's got experience, in that regard, in spades. He's used to being disregarded, and talked over, and granted no respect because he's an absolute handful of a child. He's got no reason to think his current guardians will be any different, but Lola might have something to say about that.

Rating: G

Yakko-centric

dealing with themes of healthy communication and anxiety

non-specific mentions of neurodivergence

implied past child neglect/abuse

adoptive/found family

AO3 Link

[afraidofchange]

REPOST DONT REBLOG

FULL NAME.   Alice Joan Shepard NICKNAME.   Shepard, Shepard- Commander, ‘Lola’ GENDER.  cis female HEIGHT.   5′11.5″ AGE.   in the ME trilogy: between 28-32; in modern or other verses, Shepard is older, between 36-39. SPOKEN LANGUAGES.   English, some Russian. everything else is translated via her omni tool. 

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

HAIR COLOR.    dark brown EYE COLOR.  bright light/icy blue SKIN TONE.    pale BODY TYPE.   athletic, muscular, tall.  VOICE.   mid to low in tone; powerful; little raspy at times DOMINANT HAND.   left.  POSTURE.   stands tall, confident, shoulders back - very remnant from her early bootcamp days that have carried on throughout her life as an N7 marine. SCARS.  Entire left body fused with red tinged scars from cheek to ankle from the fight with Saren; they are branch-like and split at many ends. Also has an old acid burn wound on her lower back from the thresher maw on Akuze. It has healed, but her skin tone is different over her lower back / tailbone area. TATTOOS.    N7 tattoo on her chest, right side; has a half sleeve (yet to be re-designed oop) BIRTHMARKS.    none. MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S).  bright blue eyes, prominent nose/profile, musculature, especially when in plain clothes and not armor.

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 !

PLACE OF BIRTH.     a farming colony on the planet Mindoir HOMETOWN.   Mindoir SIBLINGS.   Amelia Shepard (deceased). PARENTS.   Matthew Shepard (deceased) and Anya Kovalenko (deceased). 

𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 !

OCCUPATION.   Commanding officer of the SSV-Normandy SR-2; Council Spectre. (In modern verse: a former US Marine commander).  CURRENT RESIDENCE.   on the SSV-Normandy SR-2; also, Anderson’s apartment on the Citadel.  CLOSE FRIENDS.  Ashley Williams, Miranda Lawson, James Vega, Dr. Liara T’Soni.  RELATIONSHIP STATUS.   with Ashley Williams in canon; verse dependent for other ships.  FINANCIAL STATUS.   mid to upper class but Shepard doesn’t often keep her funds for herself, giving to causes or spending to help the crew/ship in the war. DRIVER’S LICENSE.   yes. CRIMINAL RECORD.   While it never went to trial due to the reaper attack, Shepard was about to be court martialled for the destruction of the Alpha Relay and killing the batarians. VICES.    Alcoholism, smoking, neglecting to seek help. 

𝐬𝐞𝐱 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION.    butch lesbian PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE.   submissive | dominant | switch (uh... she’s emotionally engaged, idk how to denote that as sub/dom/switch LOL).  PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE.  submissive | dominant | switch   LIBIDO.    high TURN ON’S.     strength (emotional and physical, to a degree); mutual interest; kindness; individuality. TURN OFF’S.    men. co-dependence/neediness. lack of a distinct personality.  LOVE LANGUAGE.   physicality RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES.  committed once established; previously would not seek long term relationships but with age has started to find them more preferable, but still open to casual dating/sex. 

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG. Hero of War by Rise Against  HOBBIES TO PASS TIME.   working out. collecting ships. browsing the extranet.  LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED.   more left brained with battle strategies and forging allegiances politically.  PHOBIAS.    dying; suffocation; losing those closest to her; surviving alone.  SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL.   high.  VULNERABILITIES.   prone to addiction and bad habits regarding addictive substances; suffers from PTSD and related mental health issues. 

tagged by :  stolen from @tornhumanity heh

tagging :   do the thing. 

[jessica-writes22]

OC Song Tags

Thanks to @dontjudgemeimawriter for the idea. Go check out their post here

Rules: Pick an OC and list some songs that suit them

I'm doing my OC Lyssa from my wip: Trials of Avaidia

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush

DARKSIDE by Neoni

Partners in Crime by Set It Off

Hit and Run by Lolo

Angry too by Lola Blanc

Let me know if you want to do any other character or if you want more songs for her :)

Tagging... Open tag but please take it up, I'd love to check out more music & this makes a good theme

[aion-rsa]

What is The 100 Cast Working on Next?

https://ift.tt/3l2LK7B

It’s always difficult to bid farewell to a beloved television ensemble, but especially so for the cast of The CW’s The 100. Many viewers have literally grown up alongside these characters, who started as juvenile delinquents and ended as adults who had lived several lifetimes. Even for older viewers, the characters and the actors behind them have become much beloved.

In this case, we can happily say until we meet again, as many cast members have already lined up new projects. Some are jumping immediately into new TV series, while others are exploring film franchises. At least one actor who got the chance to try her hand at directing on The 100 is honing that craft in future projects. 

Read on for the next steps for all of your favorites.

Eliza Taylor (Clarke Griffin)

Eliza Taylor has not yet announced her next project but is currently continuing her philanthropy work as an Ambassador and Honorary Board Member for Little Hearts Learning, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to breaking the poverty cycle in communities.

Bob Morley (Bellamy Blake)

Bob Morley doesn’t have any new projects currently announced, but he’ll be a guest as part of New York Comic-Con’s online Metaverse convention, which runs  Oct. 8 to 11. Like Taylor, Morley is an Ambassador and Honorary Board Member for LHL.

Marie Avgeropoulos (Octavia Blake)

Marie Avgeropoulos has begun pre-production on two film projects, one a standalone biopic and the other a potential new franchise. Butterfly in the Typewriter will dramatize author John Kennedy Toole’s (François Arnaud) struggle to get his novel A Confederacy of Dunces to print. Avgeropoulos has a supporting role as Jean Ann Jollett, assistant to editor Robert Gottlieb and a fan of Toole’s then-unpublished manuscript.

Jiu Jitsu is based on director Dimitri Logothetis and Jim McGrath’s comic book of the same name and is self-described as a “sci-fi martial arts franchise.” Nicolas Cage will star alongside Avgeropoulos and Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Purge: Anarchy).

Lindsey Morgan (Raven Reyes)

If you’re already missing Lindsey Raven’s badassness, Morgan will be playing another tough-as-nails sci-fi heroine: Captain Rose Corley, mercenary and star of the action-adventure film Skylin3s. A sequel to 2010’s Skyline, it’s set in a future in which humans and alien hybrids co-exist… until a virus threatens to turn the Earth-dwelling aliens against their weaker counterparts. You know, not thematically relevant to Morgan’s time on The 100 at all.

But in terms of more long-running roles, Morgan will remain within the CW family for now: She’s taking on the co-lead role in the network’s Walker, Texas Ranger reboot. Simply titled Walker, it stars Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki in the Chuck Norris role, then gives the series a contemporary twist by having Morgan play Micki, one of the rare female Rangers.

Morgan told Collider that the role feels deeply personal because it represents to her the path not taken, which would have been staying in Texas (where she’s from) and joining the Armed Forces as a Latinx woman. “It scared me a bit because sometimes it’s tough to play things that are very close to home,” she said, “but I also think I’m ready for that challenge. I wanna bring the heart that I have to her, for this project.” Fingers crossed for roundhouse kicks in her future…

Richard Harmon (John Murphy)

Channeling John Murphy’s sense of self-preservation (in a much purer way), the actor has been working on a couple of standalone projects over the past few years while wrapping up The 100. Aside from a recurring role on Van Helsing last season, he also starred in two forthcoming movies. In The Return, he’s a brilliant college student who returns home following his father’s death, only to confront childhood horrors. And in Darkness Falls, he and Gary Cole are a father/son serial killer team.

Luisa d’Oliveira (Emori)

No upcoming projects for d’Oliveira, but if you miss Emori, you can check her out as meta-human assassin on Supergirl, as well as eerier turns on The Twilight Zone and Channel Zero.

Jessica Harmon (Niylah)

Lindsey Morgan and Jessica Harmon both directed episodes of The 100 season 7. Harmon will continue to develop her directorial skills with the upcoming Hallmark TV movie, My Best Friend’s Bouquet, about a single woman who accidentally catches the bouquet and then credits it with bringing an eligible bachelor into her life. No upcoming acting gigs, but you can catch up with her work on V-Wars and iZombie.

Lola Flanery (Madi Griffin)

No new projects for Flanery, though the last few years she’s been busy juggling The 100 with other roles in Shadowhunters and Mary Kills People.

Adina Porter (Indra)

An alum of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology series since 2016, Adina Porter will join the eerie fun for a fourth season in 2021. Murphy has not yet revealed the theme of the tenth season, but with Porter having already appeared in the AHS installments of Roanoke, Cult, and Apocalypse, it’s anyone’s guess as to what horrific reality she’ll be inhabiting next.

Tati Gabrielle (Gaia)

Look for Tati Gabrielle to reprise her role as the witch Prudence Night on the fourth and final season of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She’s also got a recurring role on the animated fantasy series The Owl House. But her next big project is Uncharted, the film adaptation of the popular video game. Tom Holland will play adventurer Nathan Drake, with Gabrielle as the female lead (listed on IMDb as Braoddock).

Sachin Sahel (Dr. Eric Jackson)

No upcoming projects for Sachin Sahel, but his live-tweeting of The 100 finale, shouting out everyone from costar Richard Harmon to book author Kass Morgan, is adorable.

Jarod Joseph (Nathan Miller)

No upcoming projects for Jarod Joseph.

Shelby Flannery (Hope Diyoza)

The 100 was her first major acting job, and Shelby Flannery has not yet announced her next project. But the experience clearly had an impact on her, as she told TV Fanatic: “I really got to see how a crew and a cast can work well together. That might sound simple, but it’s pretty huge for someone’s first job. To see how trials and in hard times can really propel an environment to do better and to come together to make something really beautiful. That is such a valuable lesson that I can take to the rest of my life. Just to be a team player and to not put myself before everyone else, because that only gets in the way of the process and the end results.”

Read more

TV

The 100 Season 7 Episode 16 Review: The Last War

By Delia Harrington

TV

The 100 Series Finale: What is Transcendence?

By Delia Harrington

In the meantime, you can check out her videos singing and playing guitar on her Instagram.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

JR Bourne (Russell Lightbourne / Sheidheda)

Arguably one of the show’s most recent breakout stars, and the one having the most fun in season 7, Bourne doesn’t seem to have anything currently announced. If you miss Sheidheda, you can catch up with Bourne’s work on MTV’s Teen Wolf.

The post What is The 100 Cast Working on Next? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2HPnsQb

[lola-just-lola]

Ok, Lola, give us your best predictions about TS6. Also, we missed you during the trial! We were all so proud of Taylor standing up to that ass hat's gross lawyer. Did you keep up with everything that was happening?

i was out of town during the trial but i did keep up with everything, i’m so proud of my child!! 

and for the first time i don’t have any predictions about TS6, i’m lost, i just think we will get something tomorrow, not a song but like a hint or a date or something but as of genre of the album or theme or style or something for the first time i think we all are so far from guessing lol like we don’t even know the length of her hair! NADA!

[gynandromorph]

page 98 played into a lot of themes 

trial-by-jury style guilt 

“just trying to help”

“nothing”

blame-shifting guilt onto gender, surrendering judgment to lola

“walk away”

and then the blood and the ambiguous lines and the bilingual thing and the fact that the last scene angel was mentioned in lola said sugar should end it and crash the car, etc etc i’m bored now

[stylevitae]

As the world yearns for more African related content, the Nigerian creative industry has taken a huge chunk of the spotlight. While authors like Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, led a crossover movement for Nigerian literature with their work gaining critical acclaim, and being translated into over 50 non-Nigerian languages, a new crop of Nigerian authors seem to be taking it a step further with big and small screen adaptations of their work.

With the recent announcement that Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi was being developed into a series by FX (American Horror Story, Atlanta), the author joins a prestigious list of Nigerian authors, which include; Tomi Adeyemi, whose book, Children of Blood and Bone is currently being adapted into a HBO series by Game of Thrones scribe, George R.R. Martin, and Chimamanda Adichie, whose book, Americannah is being adapted by Black Panther pair, Lupita Nyong’O and Danai Gurrai.

This had us thinking about which books we’d love to see, move from paperback, to the screens of our TV or cinema. Take a look at some of the special work we’re suggesting:

Stay with Me – Ayobami Adebayo

Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Terms of Endearment, what do all these films have in common? The ability to prick at your emotions and turn you into a weeping baby by the time the end credits roll. Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me will probably do the same.

A nuanced look at the dynamics between men and women in Nigeria when it comes to marriage, coupled with the heartbreaking Abiku storyline, Yejide and Akin’s story can serve as a subsitute to the over the top romcoms being churned out by Nollywood on the daily.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives – Lola Shoneyin

Lola Soneyin’s debut novel has already been adapted into a critically acclaimed play with runs in London and Nigeria, where legendary actress Bimbo Akintola, and Uzor Asimkpa were a part it. However, going on stage isn’t enough for us, we want a TV series of feature length movie based on this gripping story.

The book follows the lives of the eponymous Baba Segi, his three wives, and the drama that unfolds when he brings in his fourth wife, Bolanle, an educated and exposed younger woman. Taking an intricate look at polygamy, the book examines the lives of this women and their rivalry over a man who by the description in the book, is a dead ringer for the average overweight, self absorbed Nigerian man.

My Sister, The Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite

While a majority of the Nigerian books adapted so far have been done by foreigners, we can only hope Nollywood fully takes charge of the Nigerian story soon. A perfect start will be Oyinkan Braithwaite’s modern soon-to-be cult classic, My Sister, The Serial Killer.

Nollywood hasn’t mastered the thriller genre yet, as the winning formula of romantic family comedies featuring a merger of the old school and the new school, seems to be the go-to of every producer. This book with looks at the relationship between the protagonist and her sister, who is infact a serial killer, will be a thrilling adventure if done right.

The Joys of Motherhood – Buchi Emecheta

This is probably the most popular book on the list. First published in 1979, Emecheta’s book has become a compulsory read for Nigerian secondary school students. Which makes us wonder, why hasn’t this tearjerker been adapted yet?

A heartbreaking look at the glorified suffering most Nigerian women go through under the guise of being “mothers”, TJOM follows it’s protagonist, Nnu-Ego and the trials she encounters in marriage and motherhood. It also addresses the age old Nigerian tradition of valuing women based on their marital status and their child bearing or rearing abilities.

Under the Udala Tree – Chinelo Okparanta

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

As Nigerians, our list of taboo topics are somewhat endless. One thing on the top of that list, is same sex relationships. Often reduced to just the sexual act and not the emotions attached to it, a 14 year jail term has been attached to individuals caught in the act. While this prejudice is doused in religious beliefs imposed on us by the missionaries (who seem to have changed their mind on the issue by the way), a full conversation on this will be shelved until later.

Okparanta’s book follows her protagonist, Ijeoma, who explores a relationship with a refugee girl, and the consequences of this forbidden love set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s civil war. Even though the theme of te book is quite controversial, which means it would probably be adapted by foreigners, it is still a brilliant work of fiction that needs to be brought to life.

5 Nigerian Books We’d Love To See On The Big Screen As the world yearns for more African related content, the Nigerian creative industry has taken a huge chunk of the spotlight.

[heroesvillains15-blog]

Oscar Wao II

The next chapters of this book further develop Diaz’s magical realism. They dive back into the family’s Dominican past and synthesize the fantastic elements of their suffering with social commentary on the Trujillo era. One surprising element of this book is Oscar’s absence. He, his quest, and his voice (in a way) are always present, but the narrative usually focuses on other characters—Lola, Beli, Yunior, and Abelard. Only the first chapter follows Oscar primarily. Chapter four only references his quest in passing. What is the function of this choice? It emphasizes the impact of the contexts in which he lives in shaping his life. It establishes his quest (for truth, to discover his family’s past?) as the focus of the book, not his story itself. This is a unique construction within the quest genre. Most stories with such a narrative structure are relatively transparent—the main character is called, they follow the call through trials and travails, and, in the end, obtain the thing they were questing for all along (which virtually always is the self-knowledge they gained on the way). Oscar Wao is somewhat different. We are almost done with the book, and we still do not know what he is doing. Oblique references to his investigations in the Dominican Republic are our only hints. How will he put the Fukú to rest? Clearly, one of this novel’s fundamental themes is that of family, and the (possibly supernatural) connections within it. Also, what role does Yunior play? (Prediction: he’ll end up with Lola). Why did Diaz choose the semi-unreliable narrator who imperfectly reflects Oscar’s nerdy voice while roasting him? How will he contribute to the conclusion and what commentary will he provide? I look forward to reading the final stage of Oscar’s quest, and the inversions of the traditional achievement of self-knowledge that Diaz will deliver.

Another thing that I will pay attention to in the final chapter is the theme of falling. At multiple junctures, Diaz refers to “the Fall”, both Oscar’s and his ancestors’. The image on the cover is that of Oscar with wings on his head. That just might be a hint to pay attention. Perhaps Diaz will engage with biblical themes of the original Fall. O shit wait is Oscar a Christlike figure? I guess that’s a topic for another post/essay.

-Patrick

[wavenetinfo]

SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead, “100.”

Having scenes in different languages with subtitles is becoming more commonplace on television — but they are usually just that: individual scenes. However, for Sunday night’s “100” episode of Fear the Walking Dead, AMC went even further, airing an almost completely Spanish-language episode.

With the exception of one scene between Daniel Salazar and Victor Strand, the rest of the episode — which told the backstory of what happened to Daniel after he set fire to the Mexican compound back in season 2 — was entirely in Spanish. We asked Fear showrunner Dave Erickson about that decision, as well as mapping out Daniel’s backstory and his moment-of-truth choice at the very end.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We haven’t seen Daniel since the season 2 midseason finale, so it’s been a while. When did you come up with his story in terms of what had happened to him? Did you know all the way back when he set the compound on fire, or did it come together later? DAVE ERICKSON: There are a lot of circumstances creatively and practically that went into the decision for this supposed death back in episode 207, and then here’s Daniel’s resurrection. But the story itself in terms of how he got out and where he was going didn’t really manifest until we got to the [writers’ room] this season. Since we hadn’t seen him for so long, we wanted to make sure that we had a good, surprising return for him, which I think we got at the end of last week.

But then we really wanted to afford Daniel a full episode just to sort of catch up with where he was at, what his headspace was, how he had recovered from the fire and from that chapter of madness, and then sort of put him back on track. I knew he was coming back, and we started talking about that last season. It was really just a question of when we wanted to drop him in and how we wanted to integrate him into the story again.

Then as far as the actual escape, there were a number of different options. There was a shoot that we included, which would have been a grave shoot back in the day, and that was one possible version of escape. There was also a point where he did walk in with the key. He did actually unlock it. He knows how to get in and out, but that didn’t seem terribly dramatic, so we landed on this sort of quality about Daniel that’s interesting — and it’s actually something that carries out through the season — is this sense that he’s death-proof. This sense that for a man who has committed such atrocities and killed so many people, his burden and what he suffers for is he does not seem able to die. I mean, he’ll be up against a number of things going into this season as well that will test him. It’s really sort of a… it’s almost the trials of Job for this guy over the course of season 3.

The thing that really struck me about the episode is that almost the entire episode is in Spanish with subtitles, which is no small thing. We’ve seen a lot of shows have sections and scenes in different languages, yet this is a 95 percent non-English episode. Tell me about that decision and any discussions you guys had along those lines about doing that. I wanted to do it. One of the great upsides of the show last season and this season is because we are in Mexico, it has become something of a bilingual show, which I like. I knew I wanted Daniel to have his own episode, and since that episode took place in Mexico and obviously he was coming into contact with Mexican characters, there was no reason for him to speak English.

I hope that people don’t get frustrated by the subtitles, but creatively, it just made sense. That was not something that I was concerned with and it’s not something that the network ever expressed any worry over either, so it’s just what it is. I mean, if you’re telling a story that’s set in Mexico and the characters are all Spanish-speaking characters, there’s no reason to play it in English. If we had thrown in a character who was English-speaking just to make sure we had some balance between the languages, that would have felt a little bit cheesy, a little bit forced.

Here’s the thing: Daniel is an important character and I just love the way Ruben plays him, and I do think with all the trauma and drama from his death last season it was important just to give him a very soulful, spiritual episode where he sort of reconnects with himself and you also get a sense of what his great burden now is as he articulates it to Efrain. He doesn’t know if he killed his own daughter. Je’s a very haunted man, but I think the survival and the question, which I know a lot of people have, which is, where is Ofelia? It’s something that really clarifies for him. It clarifies him emotionally and mentally. Which has nothing to do with the Spanish. [Laughs]

Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

It seems Daniel is just trying to limit the damage as much as possible during the episode. He does bad things for Dante in the hopes that it will ward off worse things. But he’s faced with that choice there at the end to throw Lola off the dam and he doesn’t. Is that just because he found a line he would not cross, or because he saw an opportunity to use the weapon to take out Dante and his men, or a little bit of both? Alan Page wrote the episode and I thought he did a brilliant job. This is a man who’s worried and suspecting that he might have been responsible for his own daughter’s death. He seeks forgiveness and he doesn’t get it. He tries to find some salvation, and he gets into the lightening zombie scene. He’s prepared to die. He’s ready to cash in, and when he survives for him, he finds himself in this new scenario.

I think it’s two things. There’s a moment in the episode, a stretch of time where he’s kind of saying, “F— it. I am who I am.” He does his best to protect them. There’s still a moral direction as he tries to cover for Efrain and then he tries to cover for Lola, but he puts himself in something of an unwinnable position because he says essentially when he’s torturing Efrain, “If you confess, they’re going to kill you both, and if you don’t confess, I’m going to kill you.” He’s in a position where he has the skill set, which Dante has recognized. He has the tools that he needs to do this, and it’s pushing him to the point where he’s forced to confront Lola. It is final.

I think that’s the straw that will break the camel’s back and he can’t go there because there’s something about Lola that reminds him of Ofelia, and she saved his life. She has this sort of saintly quality and in her he sees a surrogate, which is a theme we’ve played a number of times. I mean, it’s when you’re doing a show that centers around a blended family. That was really Travis’ big goal in the beginning of the season: I’ve lost my son, how do I protect the surrogate? I think Daniel’s in that same boat right now where he’s lacking any idea of whether Ofelia is dead or alive, wondering if he’s responsible.

What he latches on to at the very end is the promise and the innocence of this woman and this refusal to become the man that he used to be, and he sort of walks that fine line up until the very end. Then after he turns on Dante and after he saves Lola and Strand, he seeks from her what he’s been seeking the entire episode, which is her forgiveness. In that moment, he gets a modicum of absolution. The fact that she doesn’t reject him is enough for him in that moment. He doesn’t quite have her forgiveness but that’s something he continues to work towards as we go forward.

I was wondering whether he wanted to live at that point still too. He gets down on his knees, gives her the gun. He doesn’t know if Ofelia is alive or not. Does he want her to sort of put him out of his misery? Does he think for a minute, I don’t deserve to live? What’s going on there? I think he’s giving himself to her. He’s offering himself up. He wants her to forgive him of his sins and he wants her to accept him. I think the only thing he has left in him, and we’ll see this as it moves forward at least for the time being, is the possibility of serving this woman and in some respects if she accepts him. And ultimately, he becomes her soldier and that is going to be one of our big themes this season when it comes to violence and its use and at what point does it corrupt you morally. That’s something that’ll be sort of a tug of war between Daniel and Lola as we continue.

But I think he wants absolution. At that point the guy is just exhausted. He’s had a very intense several days and he commits a violent act which he knows will not be his last but he does it in a righteous cause. What he wants from Lola is recognition of that and that’s the lesson he asks for. He wants her forgiveness. So he’s not asking to be put out of his misery. He’s asking for some connection and some understanding. That’s the only thing, really, that gives him any hope.

As we move forward, he doesn’t know what happened to Ofelia. He suspects. I think he’s horrified by the possibility of what could have happened and that he might have been responsible for it but that gives him a need even more so as the season progresses to atone. It gives him more reason to do right by Lola and then ultimately he’s also always keeping an eye out for the possibility that she might be alive. We go into that a bit deeper when we get into the next episode, obviously, because Strand has made some suggestions, made some claims as to her whereabouts, and Strand’s working a con to a certain degree and is trying to get himself out of jail and protect his own interests, but that’s something we continue to hit as we move into episode 5.

For more Fear the Walking Dead intel, follow Dalton on Twitter @DaltonRoss.

19 June 2017 | 2:01 am

Dalton Ross

Source : Entertainment Weekly

>>>Click Here To View Original Press Release>>>

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); June 19, 2017 at 08:31AM

[aftgficrec]

Hello 👋,

Any lolas trial fics, or fics where the foxes find a little bit about about Neils life when he was younger, before he went on the run?

Thank you so much for your effort!!!

Here you go!  Definitely check out the previous recs because those have most of the fics that apply here.  -F

Lola’s trial:

Previous ask with Lola’s trial fics here and here

The Sam Diaries by Obsessedwithfanfiction [Rated T, 50244 words, complete, 2018]

Meet Sam, a sweet confused unfit demisexual, as he encounters his celebrity crush Andrew Minyard time and time again despite, or perhaps because of the fact that he doesn't actually like Exy all that much. (That or because his girlfriend owns the ice-cream place Andrew's obsessed with. One or the other.)

(tw: stabbing, tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: vomit)

Neil & the Foxes go to court for Lola's trial prompt fill by @thekillerheels [Tumblr Fic, 2016]

Lola is on trial and there is no way in hell she doesn’t go to jail if Neil testifies so he agrees but, god, he is scared. He steps into that court room and for the first time in a long time he feels like running but Wymack is in front of him, Andrew is beside him the rest of the foxes are behind him and all of them are there to support Neil because that’s what a family does

(tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: blood/gore, tw: canonical character death, tw: panic attack)

“Can you just hold my hand?” prompt fill by @adamslynches​ [Tumblr Fic, 2018]

The courtroom was stuffier than Andrew had expected it to be, much stuffier than it had been for Aaron’s trial. Although, he supposed, there were a lot more people here for this trial, reporters and the FBI and such. Here to witness the downfall of the remainders of Nathan Wesninski’s circle.

(tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: blood)

Neil’s Childhood:

Previous ask for Neil’s childhood fics here

Fever Dreams by starlonging [Rated T, 513 words, Complete 2018]

A tiny drabble about Neil's time spent in Baltimore as child.

Neil is sad and Andrew is so so soft.

(tw: implied/referenced abuse)

Art:

nathan and lola art by @aymmidumps

nathan, neil, mary, lola art by @rabus

[bellabooks]

Writer/director Deb Shoval on the journey of her powerful film “AWOL”

*Contains some spoilers for the film, AWOL From critically acclaimed short film to stunning feature, Deb Shoval’s AWOL is finally here. AWOL tells the story of Joey (Lola Kirke), an Army-bound young woman whose world is turned upside down when she meets the enigmatic mother of two, Rayna (Breeda Wool). Writer/director Deb Shoval was kind enough to share her thoughts with us on the film’s journey, what inspired the story, and AWOL tackles more than just star-crossed love. BellaBooks: AWOL started out as a critically acclaimed short film. What made you decide to expand it into a feature? Deb Shoval: AWOL the short film was a very small project shot in 2010 over three days during a January blizzard in and around my hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  Since Sept 11, I’ve always been curious about who joins the military in a country like ours, where military service is not mandatory.  Are motivations purely financial? Patriotic? And along these lines… who leaves the Army, and why? I became fascinated by the story of a young lesbian-identified woman named Skyler James, who had become a sort of a poster child for American soldiers seeking asylum in Canada.  I was curious whether Skyler had come to have a critique of militarism that made her morally incapable of completing her service, or whether her life-altering decision was more personal than political.    During my series of Skype calls with Skyler, what moved me most was how young she seemed, how impetuously she both joined and deserted the Army, in contrast to how consequential the decisions actually were on the entire trajectory of her life.  I had so much respect for her, this young woman who so boldly wore her heart on her sleeve. The questions I explored in AWOL the short didn’t begin or end with Skyler James’ story; AWOL’s Joey is a work of fiction. But I very much credit Ms. James for helping me to start exploring questions about the opportunities that young people in this country have – and don’t have – and the choices that get made as a result.    To me, AWOL the short feels very much like a condensed Act 2 and Act 3 of a feature.  It lends itself to questions about an Act 1 – How did Joey and Rayna’s ill-fated love story begin?  Why did Joey sign up for the Army? – as well as questions that would inform a more robust Act 2 and Act 3. Who are the people that influence Joey’s decisions? Rayna’s? What does their mutual version of utopia look like? What if they really do this? When I got the call from Kim Yutani informing me that AWOL the short would be premiering at Sundance, I was thrilled, in part because I knew that that kind of recognition would open space for me to continue to explore the themes and characters in AWOL in feature format. I decided to collaborate with novelist Karolina Waclawiak on a screenplay for AWOL the feature. Writer/director Deb Shoval at work (via Facebook) BB: The film has been on the festival circuit for some time, which is pretty standard for an indie film. It also can be frustrating for audiences who really want to support a film but have to often wait a year or more to get their eyeballs on it. As a filmmaker, can you talk about the importance of film fests for small, intimate films like AWOL? DS: We premiered at Tribeca in April 2016. Our sales rep ICM shopped the film around for a couple months, and encouraged us to say yes to an offer from The Orchard in August ’16. The Orchard’s strategy always involved a release of the film in late May 2017, so we have continued to play festivals for an entire year now.  The Film Collaborative is a non-profit that has organized our festival run, and we’ve played at over 100 festivals worldwide, winning nearly a dozen awards. The sale to The Orchard allowed us to retain our festival rights, which is great, because it is really lovely for people to see a film on the big screen. AWOL’s festival run will start to slow down soon, but we are open to continuing to play at festivals on occasion.    BB: I have to admit, it felt like my heart was in a vice the whole time I watched AWOL. It really affected me. The claustrophobia of this small town and these limited life options. It’s not something we get to see often in stories about queer people. What sort of response have you gotten personally from the film from queer women in particular? DS: What’s exciting to me is that in our Q&A’s after the film, people are talking a lot about class.  AWOL has been called “a splendid meditation on the boundless possibilities of first love constricted by the trials of poverty.”  It has been called “a story of star-crossed female lovers whose obstacles have less to do with societal norms than with the economic realities of Pennsylvania coal country.” My point is, AWOL is a love story on the surface, but the task of the film is to exist on multiple levels.  Layered underneath the romance, I wanted to open a conversation about class and opportunity.  I wanted to talk about the parts of this country that have been left behind, and the choices that young people make as a result.   Breeda Wool and Lola Kirke BB: AWOL is your first major feature film as a writer and director. What has it meant to you to have it received so positively? DS: I hope it will mean I can continue to keep telling stories.  I love everything about directing. I love casting; I love directing actors; I love the artistic collaborations with the DP, Costume Designer, Production Designer and Editor.  There are so many more stories I want to tell. BB: The film is so perfectly cast. Breeda Wool and Lola Kirke have a wonderful chemistry and they also have the vulnerability to nail these very real feeling characters. The desperation in both these characters is palpable, but for very different reasons. I walked away with this question above all: Why is Joey, a woman who has been given an opportunity to escape the cycle of poverty and frustration, willing to risk it all for Rayna? DS: Isn’t that what first love is so often about?   BB: I know you recently had a baby, so mazel tov to you and Tala (Manassah). Are you working on anything new at the moment, and any collaborations with your wife in the future? DS: Thank you!  For the moment, I’d say our baby is our collaboration, the most joy-filled one of my life.  I am working on a tv series, and I am thrilled about it.  More on that in a couple months! AWOL is now available on numerous on demand platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Vudu. http://dlvr.it/PFQS22

[nadbooks]

Most Disappointing Books of 2016

Hello again! Today I am here with my most disappointing books of 2016. I actually really enjoy posts about books that people dislike because I think they are more informative in letting me know whether a person has the same taste in books as me, as compared to their favorite books. These books were not necessarily awful (although some of them are), but it’s more that I really expected them to be great but they just turned out to be kinda meh. I gave these books either 2 or 3 stars on Goodreads. Oh, and of course, these are ranked from the least worst to the worst worst. Also, the disclaimer that these are just my opinions and if I don’t like your favorite book, it doesn’t mean you’re wrong for liking them. To each their own, ya know!

9. The Explanation for Everything by Lauren Grodstein

This book is about a biology professor and a hardcore evolutionist who is working on a paper with a student who is an evangelist and is trying to prove the existence of an intelligent creator. Sounds real technical, I know. At the time I was reading this, I was taking a class on Evolutionary Psychology which kinda blew my mind and I thought this book was going to be an interesting discussion/debate about evolution and faith and how we can believe in both. In the end, the book was just about a student-teacher affair, a professor going through his tenure review, and the promised discussion on evolution and faith was basically nonexistent. It wasn’t really that bad of a book I suppose, it had interesting insights into life as a professor and I did take away the message that it is okay to believe in something that you don’t completely understand, especially in times of grief and devastation, whether it is scientific or not. Sometimes we just need a little bit of faith. So it was not the worst book ever, but I did expect something more from it. 

8. Sea by Heidi R. Kling

This one was again my fault because I expected too much from it even though I should have had no reason to. This is a YA book set in Indonesia which I just thought was super interesting because I never read a YA book set in my home country before! It’s about a girl who accompanies her dad on a trip to Indonesia to help tsunami orphans deal with their PTSD. She is also dealing with the death of her mother so her dad thinks that this would be a good experience for her. Ultimately, the book is not about dealing with PTSD so much as it is about two teenagers falling in love. I didn’t really appreciate the romance because the main character only seemed to find the love interest interesting because he was foreign and exotic. She made some really stupid decisions and got kind of annoying and whiny towards the end. Still, the backdrop of the tsunami relief efforts was interesting and enlightening and I’m glad the author touched at least a bit on some of those themes. But ultimately, it’s really just another average YA book.

7. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Okay here is where we start to get a little controversial. This is a best-selling adult literary fiction about a group of four friends and it kinda just follows them throughout their lives from their 20s to their 50s. One of them, Jude, has an incredibly dark past though and we see his and his friends’ struggles as he tries to move beyond his traumatic past. I was told that this book would make me cry. I can see how it would I suppose but mostly, I was just disgusted by all the awful things that happened to Jude when he was a child. It was very jarring, shocking and graphic, the descriptions of what happened to him, and maybe that’s a good thing, when a book can make you feel that way. However, after a while, I just found everything kind of gratuitous because it seemed that every bad thing that could happen, happened to Jude. It didn’t seem very realistic as we uncovered more and more of his dark past. I thought his present-day struggles with his trauma were a bit more realistic, if a tad depressing. The book also seemed to be incredibly long and I really didn’t think it was necessary. I think a good third of the book could have been cut out. If I had to summarize my experience reading this book, it would be boredom (during the third where nothing was really happening) and then disgust and soul-sucking emptiness (as we learn more and more about Jude’s past), which I don’t think the author was really going for. Needless to say, this book comes with trigger warnings for abuse, rape and self-harm.

6. This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

This is a mystery novel. A group of five friends goes into the forest to go hunting but only four come out alive. Our main character is a girl who is an intern at the district attorney’s office and she investigates this mystery with her aging boss who relies on her to see all the details that he might miss. Interesting premise but the plot itself is very cliche and formulaic of many mysteries. I think I’ve read too many mystery novels and watched too many crime procedural TV shows that the plots become too predictable after a while. This is a basic crime storyline and there was nothing impressive about it at all. The big reveal at the end was no plot twist and it was also unrealistic how our main character, a high school intern, can be taken seriously when she just barges into court during a trial. Don’t even get me started on the romance in this story which was totally unnecessary, annoying, interfered with the plot, and made our main character do stupid things. Four pet peeves I have about romances in books. Overall, a disappointing mystery and nothing to rave about really.

5. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Aha another mystery on the list. This one is crazy hyped up though and I think the hype is what makes this one more disappointing than This is Our Story. I have the same complaints about this one. It is a cliche mystery plot that is not unique and the big reveal in the end was kind of disappointing and not very plot twisty. Seemed like a regular plotline of a procedural TV show, and not even a good one. Our main character also makes all sorts of stupid decisions and I am just not here for that kind of protagonist. The movie starring Emily Blunt does look interesting though so perhaps it translates better to the screen. But the book itself is definitely not worth all the hype.

4. 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

This book is about three teenagers who are sent to the moon by NASA in an effort to rebuild interest in the space program. But when they get to the moon, things are not all they seem to be. This is a horror novel set in space and honestly, that description alone is enough to make me pee my pants. I cannot read horror novels because I’m a coward and I also have a fear of outer space. All that vast nothingness where no one can hear you scream and where you can’t even rely on the basic laws of physics? No thank you. Given all that, you would think this book would terrify me to pieces. Nope. It was pretty boring and the writing was so GOD AWFUL. The sentences were so jarring and they didn’t flow smoothly at all that it really hindered my enjoyment of the story. Oh but the story itself was not very enjoyable either. The scary things that were happening were just glossed over that we didn’t really get to comprehend just how scary it was, and the characters were little shits too. They were not likeable and they were incredibly one-dimensional. Not an enjoyable read and it didn’t scare me at all, even though “horror novel set in space” is the easiest way to frighten me. And I’m easily frightened.

3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Continuing the trend of shitting on popular books. This one is a classic so getting super controversial here. This book is about a woman working temporarily in New York and we sort of follow her downward spiral into... depression? I’m really not sure. We then see the kind of treatment she is getting and it’s not so great to say the least, because psychologists back then had no code of ethics. Interesting premise for me because I like reading about mental health and also, psychologist in training over here. Unfortunately, this was so incredibly boring. Nothing was happening and I honestly didn’t get the point of this story at all. Maybe I’m too stupid to understand classics or something but man, I was bored out of my mind. I just couldn’t understand how this became a classic. Maybe it was the writing but I wasn’t too impressed with that either. Overall, I kinda felt like it was a waste of my time. 

2. Unteachable by Leah Raeder

So we’ve kinda reached the end of my disappointing books. The books I talked about above I didn’t actively hate but I just expected more from. I gave them all 3 stars. Now we are getting down to my 2 star reads, which I actively hate. Unteachable is about a student-teacher relationship and I’ll admit, I only read this because I just wanted something trashy to read. Still, I have standards for my trash. The relationship was fun and steamy in the beginning but then it dragged on and on and on and got so dramatic and I was just sick and tired of both of them in the end. I wanted to drown them honestly. I just wanted something fun and light to read and this took a turn for the dark and dramatic and veered into 50 Shades of Grey territory which I did not appreciate. It was really just an unhealthy relationship. This book is trash, and not the good kind.

1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins 

Speaking of unhealthy relationships and trash. This book was definitely my worst read of 2016. I actually enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, which are the other novels in this companion trilogy. Isla is the last one and by far the worst one. Unlike the other two, the romance in this one was insta-lovey and underdeveloped and holy shit, the characters did some really stupid things. Isla refused to accept the consequences of their stupid decisions and just became a whiny brat. I really couldn’t stand Isla. I also cannot stand high school romances where they think that this is it, that if they get through the high school drama, they will live happily ever after (that goddamn title). How about college hmm? How about work? These characters think they know so much about the world and that “love will conquer all” even though they’re only in high school. Life is hard and high school is not even the worst part so I can’t stand it when books set in high school end with the idea that the couple is going to stay together forever. That is just not how it works. Wow, I think I’m really getting too old for YA.

So there we go, we have learnt that I’m a bitter old lady and that maybe I just can’t read pure YA romances anymore. I also can’t stand it when main characters make stupid decisions. I should also really not let the hype get to me and get my expectations up too high because that’s how I end up being disappointed. Oh well, it’s still fun to look back at disappointing reads and I don’t mind having them. It just means that the good ones stand out more!

Cheers and happy reading!

[aftgficrec]

Hey! Recently, I asked you for help in finding a fiction with Lola's trial, I found it! This is not a separate fic, but a specific chapter. What if someone wants to read it too, it's The Sam Diaries by Obsessedwithfanfiction, Chapter 15: Sam and three phonecalls. Could you suggest any random new fictions, preferably completed or regularly updated? Thanks!

We are so glad you found the fic you were looking for in this ask!  -F

The Sam Diaries by Obsessedwithfanfiction [Rated T, 50244 words, complete, 2018]

Meet Sam, a sweet confused unfit demisexual, as he encounters his celebrity crush Andrew Minyard time and time again despite, or perhaps because of the fact that he doesn't actually like Exy all that much. (That or because his girlfriend owns the ice-cream place Andrew's obsessed with. One or the other.)

(tw: stabbing, tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: vomiting)

And here is a random rec for you!

eat the rich by bazookajo94 [Rated T, 11421 words, Complete 2020]

A group of amateur thieves kidnap a senator’s son to ransom him for money. The senator’s son doesn’t want to go back.

*

“Are these padded cuffs?” Neil asked, his voice raspy, his throat dry. He tugged on his wrists and winced when they chafed against his recent wounds from Lola.

“They’re Nicky’s,” someone answered him—a woman.

“Fox Seven! Use the code names!”

“Sorry. I’ve never kidnapped someone and ransomed them for money before.”

“I’ve been kidnapped?” Neil asked.

“What did you think was happening?”

(tw: torture, tw: blood, tw: violence)

[aftgficrec]

a little while ago someone said they’ve read and loved fics where the foxes see videos of neil’s life on the run or find out abt details of it in other ways but that they wanted ones like that for jean. i haven’t seen a ton like that for neil though so i was wondering if you could recommend ones like what that anon must have been referencing? thank you!

We’ve got you covered!  The first one is the one we tend to think of when we talk about this particular theme, but there are several others that involve bits and pieces of videos of Neil’s life.  (We also threw in some fantastic art of younger Neil because everyone needs some fantastic art of younger Neil.)  -F

One Day We’ll Be Free (But Today is Not That Day) by KatherineF [Rated: Not Rated, 3481 words, Complete 2019]

A unwanted gift arrives in the mail for Neil and the Foxes nearly a year after Baltimore, bringing back bad memories.

Or: Neil is given a flashdrive of videos of him while he was on the run. The Foxes all see.

(tw: panic attacks, tw: violence)

Baltimore Memories by Wolvesandwerewolves [Not Rated, 3422 words, Complete 2018]

Idk what this is. I was bored, its not my best, I apologize.

Lola recorded some of the Baltimore kidnapping. The videos surface after years.

Aaron and Katelyn visit New York City to see the ball drop. Aaron can't miss the opportunity to see his brother while he's in town.

(tw: violence)

Acting is the Greatest Lie by deadinside_canyoutell [Not Rated, 2632 words, complete, 2019]

The Foxes have been walking on eggshells around Neil as Lola's trial looms near. But Neil doesn't break. He smiles.

(tw: torture, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: animal harm/abuse)

never let me go. bypaleromantic [Rated T, 1511 words, complete, 2018]

tumblr prompt: can you just hold my hand? for Andreil

Lola's trial is happening, and Neil isn't okay.

(tw: torture, tw: panic attacks)

Leave the Past in the Past by IvyCoveredWalls [Rated T, 507 words, Complete 2019]

Ichirou sends something that drudges up some memories as a twisted farewell after Neil does a job for him.

(tw: violence, tw: knives)

Art

some doodles of a younger Neil art by @aymmidumps

Abram and Mary art by @aymmidumps