#when he was younger his brother read him a book about this lovely young heroine! she was a little silly and loved to make jokes

[silverselfshippingchaos]

you ever seen those like. Reverse selfship things where s/i is the fictional one and your F/O f/os you? I've always had an AU like that for F.elix hehe!

[princesssarisa]

The hiatus is over: I've finally restarted my read-through of Heidi Anne Heiner's Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales from Around the World. Having finished all the Sleeping Beauty tales, I'm ready to start on the different versions of Snow White.

*Of course the place to start is with the classic German tale of Snow White (Schneewittchen) by the Brothers Grimm. I won't summarize that tale, because I think we all know it very well. But Heiner includes not only the familiar tale in her book, but the Grimms' notes on other German variants that they collected. There are also some notable differences between the version found in the original 1812 edition of the Grimms' Children's and Household Tales and the "standard" version from the final 1857 edition of their collection.

**In the Grimms' first edition of 1812, the wicked queen is Snow White's own mother. She's the queen who wishes for a child as white as snow, red as blood, and black as ebony at the beginning, only to bitterly regret her wish when Snow White grows to be more beautiful than she is. Only in later editions, to make the story more "moral" and more family-friendly, did the Grimms change the beginning so that Snow White's real mother dies and the wicked queen is a stepmother. Critics have sometimes argued that this change robs the story of its power; that at heart, the tale is about motherhood, and the envy that all mothers feel as their daughters blossom into young womanhood while they themselves age. I don't necessarily agree, however. As the Grimms noted themselves, there are other versions of the tale that predate theirs where the villainess is a stepmother, or where she has some other connection to the heroine. I'd say that the tale is more inherently about competition between women in general, and especially between older women and younger women, than it is between mothers and daughters, per se.

**Another difference between the first edition and later ones is how the piece of poisoned apple is dislodged from Snow White's throat. The 1812 edition has the prince take Snow White's glass coffin back to his castle and insist on having it near him always. One of the servants forced to carry it finally becomes so annoyed by the task that he opens the coffin and hits Snow White on the back: this is what shakes loose the piece of apple and revives her. In later editions, of course, this is softened to the servants accidentally stumbling as they start to carry the coffin away from the mountainside.

**In some oral versions, instead of sewing and pricking her finger with the needle, Snow White's mother peels an apple at the beginning and cuts her finger with the knife, like the mother in The Juniper Tree. This would be an interesting foreshadowing of Snow White's near-doom by apple later in the story.

**In another variant, a count and countess are riding in their carriage in winter, when they see three piles of snow, three pits of blood, and three ravens. The count wishes for "a girl" (it's not clear if he means a daughter or a lover) with skin white as snow, cheeks red as blood, and hair black as a raven. Soon afterward, they come across a young homeless girl who fits this description. The count takes her in and loves her (again, it's not clear if he loves her as an adopted daughter or a mistress), but his wife is jealous and resolves to be rid of her. From there, the story continues more-or-less like the Grimms' tale.

**In several oral versions, including the one above, there is no huntsman character. Instead, the queen or countess takes Snow White riding into the forest, makes an excuse for Snow White to get out of the carriage (e.g. to fetch a dropped glove or to pick flowers), then drives away, abandoning her.

**In one version, the dwarfs don't place the "dead" Snow White in a glass coffin, but are about to cremate her on a pyre when the prince fortunately happens along.

**In another version, the queen is Snow White's stepmother, has three daughters of her own, and hates Snow White for their sake. So she sends Snow White to a cave where, unbeknownst to the girl, there live seven woman-hating dwarfs who kill every maiden who comes across them. But when the dwarfs see Snow White, her entrancing beauty makes them not only spare her life, but take her in. Also in this version, the queen's magical source of information isn't a mirror, but a talking dog named Mirror. Nor does she disguise herself in her three attempts to kill Snow White, but comes to the dwarfs' cave as herself, lying that her own daughters were kidnapped by robbers and that she now wants to embrace Snow White as her child. Each time, Snow White is moved by her pleas to trust her.

*After the Grimms' overview of all the oral German variants they found, Heiner shares a German literary version of the tale that predates the Grimms' collection: Richilda by Johann Karl August Musäus, which was published in 1782.

**Richilda is the wicked queen figure, although she's not a queen, but the Countess of Brabant. Despite her villainy, she's presented as the story's protagonist: the story begins with her birth, which occurs after her mother's barrenness is cured by advice from Saint Albertus Magnus (a real medieval German bishop, scientist, and philosopher who was canonized by the Catholic Church). St. Albertus uses his mystical and scientific skills to create a magic mirror as a gift for the baby, which when she grows up will show her visions of anything she requests to see. Of course the primary thing the mirror shows her is that she is the most beautiful maiden in all of Brabant.

**Countless suitors compete and die for Richilda's hand, until finally her governess convinces her to choose a husband. Richilda consults the magic mirror and discovers the handsomest knight in Brabant... who unfortunately, is already married. But Richilda lies that she had a dream telling her that this man has been chosen by heaven as her husband, and this, combined with her renowned beauty, drives him to divorce his pregnant wife and marry her. Soon afterward, his ex-wife dies giving birth to a daughter, Blanca, whom he has raised by a governess and dwarf servants in another castle. (Presumably, Musäus took the forest-dwelling dwarfs from the oral Snow White tales and reimagined them as court dwarfs for his more "realistic" courtly version.)

*Fifteen years later, Richilda's husband dies and Richilda is eager to have suitors again. But when she consults her magic mirror to see if she's still the fairest in the land, she of course learns that she isn't: Blanca is now the fairest. She then commands her court physician, a Jew named Sambul, to make a poisoned pomegranate for her to give to Blanca. The plan apparently succeeds and Blanca dies: the grieving court dwarfs entomb her in a chapel vault, with a glass window in her coffin so they can still see her face when they visit her. But a few days later, miraculously, Blanca revives.

*At the news of this, Richilda has Sambul create poisoned soap to send to Blanca. But again, the same thing happens: she "dies," the dwarfs entomb her, but a few days later she revives again. This time – after having Sambul's beard plucked out and his ears cut off for failing her – Richilda has Sambul send Blanca a poisoned letter.

*Now we learn that Sambul isn't really the villainous antisemitic caricature he seemed to be. He's a righteous man, and though he gave into Richilda's demands out of fear (and desire for money – his portrayal isn't entirely free of antisemitism), he secretly used a temporary death-simulating potion, like those seen in certain Shakespeare plays, instead of real poison.

*Blanca doesn't revive as soon after the poisoned letter as she did the first two times, because Sambul strengthened the drug's dose. So her servants (and Richilda) think she's truly dead. But one day, a young knight named Godfrey of Ardenne stops at the castle while on a pilgrimage. He has with him a splinter from the staff of Elisha, which will allegedly break any enchantment. He places the splinter on Blanca's heart, and whether as a result or by coincidence, she instantly revives.

*Godfrey secretly takes Blanca home to his castle, letting no one else except her dwarfs know that she's alive. Then he visits Richilda, who becomes infatuated with him and makes every effort to seduce him. Godfrey pretends to give in and takes her home with him, allegedly to be his bride. But then he claims that twelve maidens and their lovers were to be married along with them, but one of the maidens has been murdered by her mother. In a twist that evokes The Goose Girl, he asks Richilda what should be done with the mother, and Richilda says she should be forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes. Thus she pronounces her own doom... although unlike the Grimms' wicked queen, she isn't forced to dance to death, but just until she's in extreme pain, and then is condemned to the dungeon. Blanca and Godfrey are married, live happily ever after, and richly reward Sambul, whose heroism in protecting Blanca (the narrator claims) is the reason why God has let the Jewish people survive against all odds.

Next come the versions of the tale from France and Italy...

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland

[saltwaterandstars]

I've just finished listening to the audiobook of These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer. I'm not very familiar with historical romance as a genre - I've only ever read one Georgette Heyer before and I can't remember anything about it, so I'm pretty much new to this kind of book - and I have thoughts!

First of all, I enjoyed it. It's absolutely ridiculous - lots of over-the-top villainy and young fops shouting things like, "Ye gads! Turf and thunder!" Also, the narrator of the audiobook employed some wild French accents the likes of which haven't been heard since the tv show 'Allo 'Allo. So, a fun, silly romp.

But there are key aspects of the plot that, if the book was well known on tumblr, would cause uproar! In a universe where media can either be problematic or wholesome with no other options, we just wouldn't know what to do with it. Below the cut I chew over the issues for my own fun, really, but this involves major spoilers, so if you haven't read it and think you might want to, don't read on!

So, in the tumblr approval corner: interestingly, for a book published in 1926, issues of gender identity and presentation are front and centre in These Old Shades. When we first meet the protagonist, he's a 19 year old French boy (I say boy rather than young man - more of that later) called Léon. However, we then come to learn that Léon is in fact Léonie, a girl who has been passing as a boy for several years for practical reasons. But when circumstances change and it becomes necessary for Léonie to present as a girl again in society, she is at first reluctant to do this, and really misses aspects of being a boy. In fact, she insists on wearing her old breeches at times and also insists on being taught to fight with a sword - boy things! Ultimately, Léonie comes to enjoy many things about being a girl and seems quite happy to be one, but near the end of the book she tells her friends that she is both Léon and Léonie. To me, it felt as if Heyer was inspired by those Shakespearian comedies where female characters disguise themselves as men - and that's good inspiration! In an afterword to the book, there's a quote from a letter Heyer sent to a friend in which she says I’ve made my heroine masquerade as a boy for the first few chapters. This, I find, always attracts people. I mean, you're not wrong, Georgette!

But, in the tumblr cancel corner: there's a humdinger of an age and power difference in what becomes a romantic relationship. So, Léon/Léonie is a nineteen year old peasant at the start of the book, but Heyer codes her as even younger than that. She's repeatedly referred to as a child, and Justin "Satanas" Alastair, Duke of Avon, Léonie's employer and eventual husband, typically calls her my infant. He, by the way, is a forty year old duke with huge wealth and power and life experience, and he buys Léonie from her brother! So, not so wholesome then! It would be easy just to say well, it was written and set in times with very different attitudes to these kinds of issues, and to some extent that's true, but actually, Heyer was sufficiently aware that the situation she had set up might be seen as a bit dodgy even in 1926, that she has the characters directly address it in the book. She has the Duke of Avon tell his friends and then Léonie herself that he loves her but can't possibly do anything about that because he's far too old for her and she should have a husband her own age. Heyer then has the friends reassure him, saying that Léonie obviously adores him and he should get over himself. Then Léonie tells him if she can't marry him, she'll never marry anyone. Heyer also does other things in the plot so that by the time they form a romantic relationship, Léonie's no long a peasant. But, whichever way you look at it, a wealthy middle-aged man buys a teenager, employs her as his page for a while, and then marries her. So yeah, if Georgette isn't careful she's going to get very cancelled!

What kept popping into my mind when i was reading it was that meme that goes not now, kitten, Daddy's . . . Basically, the Duke of Avon is written as a man with a wicked past who loves to have power and control over people, but who, for the first time, feels protective and loving (if still very controlling). Their relationship has a vibe of not now, my infant, Daddy's plotting the downfall of a French aristocrat.

I guess I should say that none of this bothers me at all. It's just a book, a rather silly, entertaining book. It's not telling anyone how they should actually live their lives - it's just a work of fiction, and fiction is where we get to try on and explore and play with all kinds of possibilities. And hey, there are plenty of people who might really like being bought and kept by a rich, powerful, handsome duke - and who am I to judge them?!

[mermaidsirennikita]

fave age gap romances?

GOOD QUESTION

So for references, I will categorize an age gap romance as a romance with a 10+ year gap. The gap feels more significant, however, when we're 15+ years in. And like, I feel there are books that FEEL like an age gap, and books that adhere to this rule and don't feel like it. I believe Ash is about 10-11 years older than Greer in New Camelot (and Embry is one year younger than Ash, so he's 9-10 years older than Greer) but that series deeply doesn't feel like an age gap series to me. But Mark's 14 year gap with Isolde in the Lyonesse series (he's only like 7 years older than Tristan, who's then around 7 years older than Isolde, I think?) feels like a gap.

So. ANYWAY!

Contemporary:

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield. Obvi! This is the one where the heroine accidentally hooks up with her boss (it was dark, he thought she knew it was him, she thought he was someone else) AND realizes they both have a massive daddy kink. It's both super sexy and really pretty emotional? I love the third act breakup in this book. It feels really real in a lot of ways. She's 25, he's 45, I believe.

Mercy by Sara Cate. A lot of Sara Cate books have age gaps, and Praise is good, and I recommend Praise, but I think Mercy is better so I'd like to give it more kudos. This is a smaller gap (12 years) but the heroine is older than the hero, she's friends with his dad (not in a weird way) and she's his domme. I love a good femdom romance, and this one has a bratty hero. We love to see it.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time by Kylie Scott. This is the one where the heroine had a huge crush on her dad's friend and business partner, basically like, jumped him against his will on her eighteenth birthday, the dad walked in, the friendship was almost ruined, and she was more or less banished for years. She's back at 25 (I believe the hero is 15 years older) for her dad's wedding, the hero resents what she did, and... Yeah... It's messy. But I find the drama delicious.

Dark Romance:

Mila Finelli's Mafia Mistress and Mafia Darling duet—great books, definitely BIIIIG on the age gap (she's 18 and he's 38, daddy kink is very much their thing) and OTT mafia ridiculousness. The heroine is a mafia princess in Canada, and her dad, who's a lower-ranking guy, agrees to pay off a debt by giving her as a bride to an actual Italian don's son. Said don kidnaps her, she's engaged to the son, she's a BRAT and is like "fuck you", and he's like "... never mind she's gonna be my mistress instead of my son's wife". It's campy, it's hot, it's fun.

BUT EVEN MORE SO I would recommend the third book in the series (a standalone, but best read after the first two) Mafia Madman. The age gap is less focused on in that book, but it's still big lol. She's 20 and he's 38, he's kidnapped her to get revenge against the guy in the first book (who is this heroine's brother in law now; she's the little sister of the first heroine) and he's CRAZY. They're one of my favorite romance couples ever. Every time he tries to get one over on her, she's fucking ready. Every time she does something insane to escape or seduce him into compliance, he's iNTO IT. And then there's a followup scene where she dresses up in her old school uniform so he can punish her. We all win.

(For those historical romance readers not in the loop: Mila Finelli is Joanna Shupe's mafia romance pen name, and I recommend everything she writes.)

The Lyonesse trilogy by Sierra Simone. Again, Mark is 14 years older than Isolde, and they kick off the series in Salt in the Wound with their kinky arranged marriage/fake relationship shit. Isolde is... very young in that novella and she wants to be a nun, so she's quite innocent in some ways. and jaded in others. But because things initially end the way they do for those two, you get a very DON'T CALL ME KID DON'T CALL ME BABY vibe that adds to the age gap vibe when they reunite.

Again, this is an MMF romance, and Tristan is literally right in the middle of their ages lol, but tbh he's very naive in a lot of ways and he and Mark feel like an age gap situation. And then his dynamic with Isolde is just... really hot....

Historical:

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. Classic, the hero is a jaded duke (39) who wants to ruin an innocent debutante (20) in revenge for her brother cuckolding him lol. But she immediately figures it out and decides to use him to make this guy she likes jealous. JAL books are so funny yet emotional. After Dark with the Duke is also great, wherein a stern war hero (42) ends up having to give a scandalous opera singer he disapproves of (25) Italian lessons to make up for humiliating her. And then they become friends. And then....

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas actually has a fabulous secondary romance in which the hero is a jaded alcoholic businessman and the heroine is this much younger woman who's seen some shit but wants to have an affair with him and then like... believes in him... The primary romance is between childhood friends to enemies to lovers who are only a year apart, but both love stories are SO GOOD.

Grace Callaway has a lot of good "mild gap" romances (10-12 years) for those uncertain about dipping their toes in the water—Olivia and The Masked Duke (dad's friend, daddy vibes, brat vibes), Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl (marriage of convenience, both of them have secret identities), and Glory and The Master of Shadows (mentor/mentee, wuxia vibes) come to mind. I'd also recommend Regarding the Duke and The Duke Who Knew Too Much for this, plus The Gentleman Who Loved Me.

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale uggggh dude. This is a 10-12 year gap I believe, but yeah... It's a villain romance, and he's crazy, and he forces her to marry him for political purposes (first encounter is noncon, to be clear) but then it's like... Oh. She's BRILLIANT. And he's a masochist, while she enjoys dominating him. And she's like... the only person who gets him and wants to learn from him... And she has her own agenda... One of my all-time favorites.

In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti. Such a cute romance! The hero is rumored to be a Villain (he's not) the heroine has drawn erotic artwork of him and it left her hands so they end up on the road together... There's some light kink... Really fun.

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette. I recommend this a lot, check triggers, but it's so great and another rare book in which the heroine is the older one. Joss is around 27 and Alicia is 38-39. He's her footman/bodyguard and a secret former gigolo, she's looking for a lover, he realizes she needs to be DOMMED.... It's supposed to be sex and turns into waaaay more. GOD. GOD. This is also the book in which she touches herself while wearing his gloves, so.

Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette. I forget how big the gap is here—I think Hyacinth is around 23 while Sylvester is late 30s or early 40s. Anyway, she's in disguise as a man while playing cards to save her family from destitution, he initially has NOOOO idea she's a girl until his valet tips him off, and they begin this like... buddy relationship that also consists of them absolutely demolishing each other in bed... JUST FOR FUN NO EMOTION... Hyacinth is neurodivergent and open about her kinks and desires, and her mom made her feel like a monster for it so she's convinced she can't love. It's actually both super hot and super beautiful and I recommend it to everyone. Selinan also has an age gap, in this case with an innocent virginal heroine who in a series of crazy circumstances becomes the housekeeper to a former rake who recently lost his sight and is a total dick to everyone. It's great. Aurelia, Phoebe, The Postilion, and His Valet also have age gaps, I believe. All good.

Princess is another recent favorite of mine. I believe the age gap is around... 14 years? The heroine is 20 and the hero is 34, she's a princess, he's the palace bodyguard/assassin/spy you know how it is... He was taken in by her parents and has known her... since birth... I'm gonna ignore it........... BUT YEAH. He's been avoiding her since she's clearly in love with him and he can't deal, and she's determined to fuck him before she has to marry this asshole for political purposes. So when she's sent to this safe house after a kidnapping attempt... Welp! Darius must go with her! To protect her!

The virgin lactation book.

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

Their fake relationship comes with a side of serious temptations... Shallow Submission by Golden Angel releases October 24th! Universal Preorder: 

https://geni.us/ShallowSubmission There's only one rule: keep your hands and heart to yourself.

Master Asad is a perennial playboy with a serious problem. Years of no-strings-attached fun has left him without a suitable date for his younger brother's wedding. Since going alone would put him in his meddling mother's crosshairs for an entire week, he needs somebody -- literally anybody -- by his side.

Enter Morgan. She's gorgeous, fun, and not interested in anything serious. In fact, Asad can't wait to get his hands on her again. And though she's grateful to her newfound friends for rescuing her from years of abuse, she's beginning to bristle at all the rules they want her to follow. Eager to escape the overprotective Marquis Doms, she jumps at the chance to get away from it all and play Asad's fake girlfriend for the week.

The catch? The other Masters want Asad to keep his hands to himself. For the entire trip.

But Morgan has her own plans and Master Asad has never been one to play by the rules. After all, who will know?

#teaser #teasershare #teasertuesday #bookteaser #sneakpeek #bookpreorder #comingsoon #preorder #shallowsubmission #mastersofmarquis #bdsmromance #kinkromance #eroticromance #steamyreads #kissingbooks #romancenovels #romancebooks #romanceseries #readmoreromance #readers #booklovers #reading #bookbuzz #booknews #bookish #books

About the Author:

Golden Angel is a USA Today best-selling author and self-described bibliophile with a "kinky" bent who loves to write stories for the characters in her head. If she didn't get them out, she's pretty sure she'd go just a little crazy.

She is happily married, old enough to know better but still too young to care, and a big fan of happily-ever-afters, strong heroes and heroines, and sizzling chemistry.

When she's not writing, she can often be found on the couch reading, in front of her sewing machine making a new cosplay, hanging out with her friends, or wandering the Maryland Renaissance Fair.

Find Her Online! Amazon: http://amzn.to/2DplX3X BookBub: http://bit.ly/2G68e3O Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Ds7c0e Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2rt4rdL Instagram: http://bit.ly/2CkqiqZTikTok: 

https://bit.ly/3sJhOod Twitter: https://bit.ly/37RSd1B Website: http://www.goldenangelromance.com

[triviareads]

I'm happy people are still reading Harlequin and Mills & Boon. I read my mom's old paperbacks when I was younger and they get a bad rep. Or maybe I thought they were good because they were spicy and I was young. Do you have any newer M&B Harlequin suggestions?

I love that! I think Harlequins were probably the first adult romances I read back in the day and honestly, the dream would be to write something for them someday (it has been... a slow work in progress). So from my understanding Mills & Boon is the British romance imprint of Harlequin so idk how much overlap there is for the books I'm gonna recommend. I've sorted them by author mostly, and they all fall under Harlequin Dare (super hot, now defunct 😔), Harlequin Presents (the fun international ones inevitably with some kinda billionaire/prince/sheikh), or Harlequin Desire (mostly rich Americans):

Caitlin Crews: Here is a list of my absolute favorites by Caitlin, and to add to that, The Secret That Can't Be Hidden (ft. my favorite insta-sex scene during which he basically beckons her forward and fingers her on the spot... no conversation necessary), Crowning His Lost Princess (warlord touches down in a field in.... Kansas? and tells a farm girl she's a lost princess and he's gonna marry her), and Her Deal with the Greek Devil (he has hella beef with the heroine who's his stepsister so he makes her go around his house naked— don't ask me how he gets to that point but it makes for some great tension).

Jackie Ashenden: On the Harlequin Dare front I'd recommend, King's Ransom (ft. the world's biggest kidnap girlie who also has sex for the first time after she's caught sniffing her kidnapper's clothes), Dirty Devil (A heist story that takes a delightful "can I seduce him into letting me free?" turn), Sexy Beast (the only kind of friends-to-lovers I condone, namely the kind that begins with her taking him up on his offer to give her an orgasm) and In the Dark (brother's best friend except she's filling in for her escort friend and he's the client). On the Presents side, I really like Promoted to His Princess (he's a playboy prince and she's the elite soldier meant to guard him).

Naima Simone: Naima writes diverse romances with really hot sex scenes. My favorites include Black Tie Billionaire (they have anonymous sex during a blackout and it turns out he wants to ruin her brother... by getting fake engaged to her), Secrets of a One Night Stand (another anonymous encounter, and it turns out he's her boss, and she's pregnant), and Vows in Name Only (they're both blackmailed by her dad into marrying each other and the hero is suuuuuper resentful of her... until he isn't). Honestly, I'd recommend everything Naima has ever written, even outside Harlequin.

Tara Pammi: Tara writes great Indian-forward Harlequin Presents. I'd recommend Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella and The Secret She Kept in Bollywood. This post has a more in-depth description of both.

Lauren Hawkeye: Lauren wrote a modern series based on Little Women under the Harlequin Dare imprint. They're all pretty good but my favorites are Beth's book, Playing Dirty (she's a mechanic, he's a rich man who's *ashamed* of his bedroom proclivities) and Meg's book, Sweet Temptation.

Jadesola James: She writes lovely Harlequin Presents set in Africa; Here is me gushing about The Royal Baby He Must Claim, and that heroine's sister has her own book in The Princess He Must Marry (ft. marriage of convenience... until they actually need to be together).

Miscellaneous:

The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess by Chantelle Shaw: She's a princess but she's so "frumpy" he thinks she's waitstaff, but then he sees her skinny-dipping and they have sex in a cave on the beach.... and the next time he sees her, surprise! she's a princess.... and she's pregnant. This one was basically my Harlequin awakening.

The Prince's Forbidden Virgin by Robyn Donald: The first vineyard-based book I ever read; he's the king of a small Mediterranean country and she's his cousin (at least they think.... until the near-end) who's back to rescue the vines from blight.

The Cost of the Forbidden by Carol Marinelli: The first Russian hero to really do it for me; she's his PA and she's given her notice (because she's too attracted to him) so now he basically thinks she's fair game. What a smooth man.

Hold Me by Anne Marsh: The greatest and most seamless roleplaying I've read (until very recently). Here's a hint at what it includes.

Pure Satisfaction by Rebecca Hunter: I'm a sucker for a shame-boner because "she's too young for me" and this book really delivers (especially when she makes him say "you're too young for me" while she's in his lap with her top off lolol).

[pollyssecretlibrary]

“‎The Second Lady Silverwood”, by Emma Orchard

I read this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review RELEASE DATE - Apr20, 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Seven years ago, when she was only 18 and on her first season, Kate fell in love with the younger brother of Lord Silverwood, a young soldier named Benedict. They danced together at several soirées but as soon as he set eyes on the diamond of the season, Vanessa Ansell, he lost his heart to her and forgot about Kate completely.

Now, Ben is returning from fighting Napoleon in Spain and France. His mother is of fragile health and his old governess should have retired ages ago, it isn’t fair for the two women that they’d have to look after his daughter Lucy, a child of 6 who lost her mother when she was very little. But Benedict not only lost Vanessa, around the same time, his older brother died with his wife and son in a carriage accident, leaving Ben with the responsibility of being the new Lord Silverwood, baronet and magistrate.

There is a vicar in the village nearby who lives in reduced circumstances and who is so old and is so ill that he could die any day now. He lives with the sole company of his daughter’s daughter, a woman of 25 who has been in love with Ben for seven years. That woman, of course, is Kate. When her grandfather dies she would have to decide what to do with her life, she could seek employ as a governess or she could go to her late father’s mother, an Italian noblewoman who now lives in Parma. For the time being she teaches little Lucy the language and and has become friends with Ben’s mother. The old woman has guessed Kate’s feelings for her son and is set on seeing them married, for the young woman already loves Lucy and thinks that she will be a good mother to her, but also she will be able to bear him an heir. Of course she manages to convince Benedict who doesn’t really remember having met Kate all those years ago, but is attracted to her and he proposes. Kate knows he won’t love her, but she will have the love of Lucy and the children they might have together, and she says yes.

I was, at first, surprised by the style of writing chosen by Emma Orchard. It follows the path of writers like Georgette Heyer who used to imitate, but not quite, the style of writing of the past. The vocabulary, the expressions and turns of phrase, it all reminds me of Jane Austen, the Brontës and all of the classics. It is rather unusual to find such language nowadays as even the historical romances are usually written in a modern style, even if the characters have a 19th century speech. It took me a few pages to find my footing but once I did, I focused my attention on the story so much that I could not stop reading. In that regard, the book is a page turner.

Ben’s and Kate’s story is delightfully slow paced. Most of the book is actually a collection of sitting room and tea set scenes and above all, family scenes, for this is a very important aspect of the story and particularly of both the hero and the heroine, they are very much attached to their respective families and on amicable terms with each other’s at the same time. As a result, we get a very cosy, very heartwarming and charming Cinderella-ish tale set in the English countryside.

But do not be mistaken, despite what the writing choices may lead you to think, this is a very steamy book. Benedict is powerfully attracted to Kate, and she is so in love with him. They barely can take their hands off of each other. The intimacy between them is one of learning and exploration of their wants, their desires and their own body responses. But they never speak of love and Kate is afraid of telling him her feelings in case she scares him away. And, in a manner of speaking, the spirit of Vanessa still lingers.

[siriuslyreads]

Alanna Quartet by Tamora Pierce: A Review

Title: Alanna Quartet

Series: The Song of the Lioness

Author: Tamora Pierce

Genre: YA Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Release Date: September 1, 1983 (For the first one)

Format: E-Books (though I own them all)

Synopsis: (This is the synopsis for the first book, but my review will be for all 4)

From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight.

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page.

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's first adventure begins - one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land.

Review (Here there be spoilers):

I read these books for the first time when I was in middle of high school and all of Pierce’s Tortall books have been comfort reads for me since then. Alanna is the beginning of a decent sized world. In total there are currently 18 books in the entire Tortall universe (3 quartets, 1 duology, 1 trilogy, and a series in progress with the first available now).  These books are small, easy reads but that does not change how wonderful they are. All the books in the Tortall universe follow strong heroines (save for the ongoing series), who will fight with whatever they have in order to protect those they care about. There are strong veins of found family in the books as well. I am currently doing a re-read of all the Tortall books, but for now, I will focus on the Alanna series.

Alanna and her twin Thom are not content with their lots in life. Thom as a first son is expected to become a knight while Alanna is expected to become a lady. However, neither of them wishes for those lives. This is the first hint in the books of Alanna’s strong will and her refusal to accept life as something that just happens to her. Throughout the entire quartet, Alanna (sometimes as Alan the page and squire) is expected to follow the rules of knighthood, and she understands that even though those rules are strict, there is a reason why; and there is a time in which to buck those rules and do what is right regardless.

When Alanna arrives at the palace, she meets the boys who will be her fellow pages, squires, and eventually knights. This includes Prince Jonathan, Raoul, Gary and Alex. These boys she has to lie to and hide herself from as she cannot show that she is a girl and must take the moniker Alan in order to proceed with getting her shield. Throughout their time as pages and eventually squires, the boys get closer and end up making a family unto themselves. They are strong individually, but they show time and again that they will do anything for each other and that they are strong together.

We also meet George the thief. George is a special kind of character. Throughout the quartet, Alanna has 3 lovers: Jonathan, Liam the Shang, and George. Of these lovers, Jonathan has expectations of him to be king and his future wife to be queen. For Alanna this would mean giving up her shield (at least metaphorically) and doing all the lady things she did not wish to do. With Liam, there was love, but never enduring love because there were parts of her that he could not come to love. George loved and accepted her for who she was, and honestly there is nothing more that anyone could ask for in life. George sees who she is, accepts it, and supports her even if it means she does not choose him. He gives her time to make the decision and does not attempt to make that decision for her. I adore George and even though there is not much romance between the two of them in this series, it is still plain to see that the two of them are meant to be.

There are plenty of other characters that live in this world and honestly, I could talk for days about these characters, but that might get kind of boring. Instead, lets talk about the world in which they inhabit. Tortall is a land in which magic exists and is used for many parts of life. We see broad swathes of Tortall through Alanna and her adventures; from the deserts of the Bazhir to the Roof of the World. All Alanna wants to do is being an adventuring knight, going on grand adventures to help her realm and she is able to achieve this and, in the process, she is able to secure alliances with the Bazhir that will be paramount for Prince Jonathan, and she even finds Jonathan a queen while also seeking a magical artifact. This world is so vast and honestly not enough of it is covered in these books. I appreciate that in the future series’ we get to see more of the world and its people.

An obvious theme to talk about in this book is Alanna’s ‘trickery’ with pretending to be a boy and getting her shield. For the first two books in the series very few people know who she truly is, and the ones who do would protect her fiercely. There are also portions when she does not know who she is. When she begins her monthly cycles, she panics because no one ever told her what to do. And when as she is approaching her teens, she decides she wants to start wearing women’s clothes in secret, she struggles with figuring out how she can be a knight and a woman. Once she is outed as a woman in men’s clothing, some in the court shun her and some even call for her shield saying that she witched the Chamber of the Ordeal which is what gives the Ordeal of knighthood. She is consistently having to prove her worth, more than her male counterparts. But she achieves what many women wish to achieve. She finds her place in a man’s world and refuses to budge.

Honestly, this is a wonderful series. For any girls who are wanting to find their way in life and refuse to sit still and let life happen to them, this is their series. Alanna opens us up to a whole world that is filled with wondrous sights and people. Alanna consistently stands up for what is right, even at the cost of harm to herself. I did not even mention the villain in this series because honestly, he is irrelevant. This book is about so much more than fighting an individual evil. Instead it is about fighting prejudice and refusing to back down even when its difficult. Regardless of your age, read this series. Read it to your daughters, your sons, your non-binary youths. Read it and fall in love.

Here is the complete series titles: (1) Alanna: The First Adventure (2) In the Hand of the Goddess (3) The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (4) Lioness Rampant

[turquoisebooks]

I’ve been a fan of The Seven Ravens/The Six Swans fairy tale. I've always loved the bravery of the main protagonist and the bond with her brothers. Well, this book gave me that too, and more.

Shiori is a likeable (at least as the story progresses) heroine who has to overcome herself to save her six brothers. She has magic in her veins, ends up cursed not to utter a single word, otherwise her brothers will die one by one, and finds herself banished from the royal city. She is alone, voiceless, with a walnut bowl fixed to her, and in the part of the country where she never wanted to go.... up in the north, close to her betrothed's home. She needs to take care of herself, find her brothers and a way how to break the unspeakable cursed and save her brothers from turning into cranes each sundown. I loved her journey, by which I mean the characters' development. In the beginning, you are introduced to a rather spoiled and very impulsive princess who has everything she can imagine. As she has to overcome hardships of the curse and life as nobody, that is a mute girl with a weird bowl about whom other people say that she consorts with demons and who has to do hard manual labor, she matures. She starts to think about her actions and consequences of them. In the end, you really see her grow into an inspiring young woman. She is no longer a reckless princess.

I also loved the romantic plot of the story. I really enjoyed their moments together, When Shiori meets Takkan, he cannot see her face properly, he cannot even look her in the eyes because of the bowl, and she does not even know that it's the man she secretly wishes dead because she hates the idea of marrying some northern barbarian. She is hell-bent on avoiding this marriage. Takkan really grew on me. He is kind, loves telling stories and singing and wants to find love and happiness. He is VERY sweet. Plus, he has an amazing younger sister who was a breath of fresh air. She is funny and very mischievous, I would say. Her love for persimmons and persimmon cakes made me want to try this fruit in the future (yeah, there is a lot of food in the story). I felt really invested in Shiori, her brothers, Takkan and his sister.

Importantly, let me tell you how much I loved how the author dealt with the fact that Shiori cannot speak for most of the book. She communicated with her origami bird Kiki, which Shiori enchanted and made her alive at the start of the story. I loved Kiki very much. It is fairy-tale like, whimsical, adorable and fun aspect of the story. Talking about romance and Shiori´s silence, it is important to mention that Takkan understood Shiori even without words :-). It is even mentioned by another characters who does not understand how Takkan knows what Shiori wants to say. Plus, Shiori clearly started to care for Takkan, and I think she did not have to tell him for him to know, I think her actions spoke for her. I feel like it made their connection even deeper.

And let's not forget the shape-shifting water dragons. Seryuu, a dragon prince  with green hair and ruby eyes., was a great addition to the story. He brought a fresh into this retelling as well as Kiki. I am excited to learn more about this version of dragons in the future since I think the second book will center around them, taking us to the Undersea. I can't wait to explore the new underwater setting and meet the Dragon King and his court.

The only thing that was kind of confusing was the bowl curse. The bowl cover's Shiori´s eyes, nevertheless, she can see through it and nobody questions that. Nobody express concerns how can she see her surroundings. Well, there is magic in this world, but it is still rare, so I would expect some more explanation. Especially since Shiori at least once covers her head and hence the bowl with a scarf not to attract attention.

Overall, it was really unputdownable and well thought fairy tale retelling. It's heartwarming and I really recommend you to read it. You do not have to know the original story to fully enjoy this gem. If you don't, It's going to be more unpredictable for you and if you do, you can be pleasantly surprised of the author's take on it. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 12 BEAUTIES (FROM BEAUTY AND THE BEAST)

@princesssarisa @sunlit-music @mademoiselle-princesse @the-blue-fairie

@amalthea9 @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @astrangechoiceoffavourites @metropolitan-mutant-of-ark @superkingofpriderock @draculashaxanbride @lioness--hart @anne-white-star @gravedangerahead @grafedelweiss @lord-antihero​

Growing up, Beauty and The Beast has always been one of the fairy tales wich i have a deep emotional connection. I love how it combines elements of adventure, mystery, horror, comedy, drama and romance to form a beautifull narrative about external versus internal beauty, coming of age, self-discovery, familial love, friendship, building of a romantic love and redemption. And connecting me to this emotional rollercoaster of a story, is the heroine, the curious and sensitive Beauty, who faces her fear of the unknown to save the life of her father, and trough this act of sacrifice discovers eternal happiness in the most unlikely of places.

And tonight, i make this humble ranking in tribute to her.

12º Mitsuko Horie as Maria in Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics (1989)

In this anime episode based on the german variant The Summer and Winter Garden, we are presented to Maria, a simple and hardworking peasant girl who is kidnapped by the Beast away from her family home. Maria lives a long period of silent sadness in the Beasts palace, until he starts to show a more sensitive and considered side, and she forgives him. When he lets her go visiting her family, Maria has to say goodbye to her father, who dies, and due to her grief, forgets for a moment of Beast’s castle. And after finally remembering, she rushes in despair hoping to save Beasts’s life...

Maria is the most vulnerable encarnation of Beauty, and one cannot help but constantly want to hug her in protection.

11º Léa Seydoux as Belle in Christophe Gans’s La Belle et La Bête (2014)

A young woman who tries to act always calm and serious, but inside herself hides deep sadness and melancholy, born from the feeling that she is considered guilty for the death of her mother at her childbirth. So she treats her journey to the Beast’s castle as a way to make amends, because she feels that if her father went to die at the Beast’s hands for picking a rose that she asked for, it would be another death that would be her guilt. And in the castle, exploring the mirrors that reveal the Beast’s past, she learns that someone shares her desire of becoming cleaned from any feeling of guilt, and take its right to happiness.

10º Trish Van Devere as Belle Beaumont in Beauty and The Beast (1976)

An older, more grounded and no nonsense, but still sensitive portrayal. Coming from a family formed by a well-intentioned but misguided father, two materialistic and mean spirited older sisters, a vulnerable younger brother and a cruel brother-in-law,  Van Devere’s Belle has great pressure over her shoulders to be the voice of reason to people around her, wich makes us empathize with the state of tiredness she gets in. She is always tough and honest when necessary, and kind and gentle when she also needs to be.

09º Nina Krachkovskaya/Amy Irving as Anastasia/Nastenka in Soyuzmultifilm’s Alenkiy Tsvetochek (1952)

In this animated short adaptation of the russian variant The Scarlet/Crimson Flower, writen by Sergey Aksakov, our Beauty is Nastenka, the youngest daughter of a brave captain of a merchant ship. Nastenka is a dreamer, shy, and prone to philosophical melancholy, even tough she doesn’t necessarily knows the reason of her sadness, what makes her self-discovery all the more relatable to audiences, specially young ones.

08º Marina Ilichyova as Aljona in Irina Povolotskaya’s Alenkiy Tsvetochek (1977)

Besides also sharing the shiness, sadness and melancholy of her animated counterpart, the peasant-girl-next-door Aljona is also a deeply frightened young woman, whose narrative arc involves learning to let herself loose a bit more, and not let her fears dominate her. This arc is highlighted in the moments where she gives a subtle smile when she talks to and plays along the Beast of the Forest.

07º Joyce Taylor as Lady Althea in Edward L. Kahn’s Beauty and The Beast (1962)

An elegant and confident noble lady, Lady Althea is the fiancée of the wise, brave and humble Duke Eduardo. She arrives at the dukedom excited with the wedding, but makes a discovery: since assuming power as a ruler, Eduardo is under a curse that turns him into a Beast every night. Now Althea has to deal with the dillema of staying to support her fiancée with her love, or leaving, in fear of his Beast side, and Joyce Taylor’s performance in the role engages us into this dilema till the end.

06º Dima Bawab as Zémire in Zémire et Azor (2014)

This comic ópera composed by the belgian André Grétry transports the story to a fairy tale land combination between France and Persia, presenting us to the adorable Zémire, a merry, romantic and idealistic young lady, who enjoys letting herself get loose in a world of dreams, reading books of fantastical stories. She also is curious and inquisitive, insistently questioning the servant Ali until he thells what concers so much her father, so she gets to take the journey to the palace of Azor, the Prince turned into a Beast. There, at first she is scared, but then, showing a sense of wonder, starts playing with the wolves that guard the palace and have merry conversations with Azor, with whom she eventually falls in love.

05º Josette Day as Belle in Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et La Bête (1946)

At the same time a relatable audience surrogate, and an individual character in her own right. Day’s Belle starts as a mysteryous woman, with a stoic, resilient face, and elegant, if rigid, gait. As the film rolls, we slowly get to piece her passions, her vulnerabilities and her fears. Specially her fear of leaving the comfort of her family home life, adventuring to the unknown, and falling in love.

04º Vanessa Williams as Beauty in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child (1995)

The sister of a tall and strong, tough lazy man, named Tree, and a pretty, tough vain lady, named Precious, William’s Beauty is brave, truthfull, altruístic, and also has a light hearted sense of humour and an introspective sensibility. The highlight of this encarnation is when she is at her home room’s window, she sings a song pondering her doubts between staying at her family home, or returning to the Beast’s palace.

03º Beauty from Megan Kearney’s Beauty and The Beast Webcomic (2012-17)

Made as a tribute to other Beauties that camed previously, while being her own version. An emotionally repressed young woman, who lost her mother at childbirth, and suffered bullying during childhood, being called ‘ugly duckling’ by other kids, Kearney’s Beauty grows burying her emotions in the hard work on her family’s farm, and is in search of an identity and a place in the world. One day she asks for a rose that grows in winter that appeared in her dreams, and this is the exciting incident that catapults her journey to the Beast’s enchanted castle, where she blossoms into a lady who is brave, witty and confident. 

02º Paige O’Hara as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast (1991)

The first encarnation i ever saw when i was a child. The young lady who newly arrived at a small village, with an introspective bookworm behaviour that is the target of her neighbours. She doesn’t pay attention to the gossip, but laments her loneliness, and longs for a friend who understands her sensitivity and shares her desire for adventure in the great wild somewhere. When she first meets the Beast, she resists coming closer to him,  who provokes fear and anger in her. But after the Beast saves her from wolves, Belle’s reaction, while still energic, becomes of compassion, empathy and zeal. As she spends more time with the Beast, learning to see him as her friend, Belle finally notices that her beautfiull discontentment was rewarded, because she finally found someone to understand her.

And now the moment that everyone was whaiting: My Number One Beauty is...

01º Zdena Studenková as Julie in Juraj Herz’s Panna a Netvor (1978)

Julie is the youngest of the merchant’s three daughters, and also the daughter born of his second wife and greatest love. This makes her the merchant’s favorite daughter, while in turn that favoritism makes her life very sheltered, since her father fears loosing her like he lost her mother. When she takes her father’s place and rides a horse to the ruins that the Beast calls his palace, you get the feel that is not only out of filial duty, but also a desire for freedom that motivates her decision. Arriving at her destiny, she is fascinated by the ruins and the magic that they contain, and gets even more fascinated by the voice of the mysteryous Beast, who unbknowns to Julie, is containing a violent desire to devour her. Slowly, Julie learns that it wasn’t just out of curiosity that she inquired and playfully talked to her host: even without seeing the Beast, Julie is falling in love with Beast, and must decide wheter she accepts this feeling or rejects it and returns to the safety of her family home.

Starting out as passive, but slowly revealing herself to be braver than she ever expected, showing strenght in her vulnerability when learning to find the sublime in the grotesque, Zdena Studenková’s Julie is both an easy to follow audience surrogate and a unique individual character, beautifull in her complexities, and that is why she is my Number One portrayal of Beauty.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Susan Sarandon as Beauty in Faerie Tale Theatre (1984)

[oh-take-this-longing]

Prompt 1: Foster

Koriah hadn’t ever seemed a part of the family. Not really. She seemed more mythical creature than Elezen noble to Adelaide. Even the circumstances of her birth, which Adelaide vaguely recalled her parents gossiping about when she was 3 years old, was outside the norm for the family and more like a supernatural gift,  like a fairy child being bestowed upon the family rather  than  the product of nature or love. Her parents would speak all the time about how imminent it was that her aunt and uncle would soon be the first Azmeriens to sever their ‘eternal bond’ and that they hadn’t so much as opened a door for one another or said a word in kindness to each other in the 2 years since they’d been wed.

Then one day her aunt and uncle showed up at her parents’ door holding hands. Holding -ungloved hands-. Holding ungloved hands with their skin touching for everyone to see. And they were smiling. And they were laughing. And they said such scandalous and, frankly, uncomfortable things as “I love you” right in front of everyone! That wasn’t a phrase Adelaide heard all that often outside of children’s tales. It wasn’t something her family ever said. Not in public, not in private, not even in jest, not ever. 

And then they did it. They kissed. Still in full view of the whole family! And this was not the usual polite kiss on the cheek or kiss on the back of (gloved!) hands for which Adelaide was so familiar. They kissed each other on the lips. They tilted their heads, smiling, and then put their lips together and 3 year old Adelaide saw it and -frankly- it was weird and she didn’t understand it at all. What was the point of that? She thought maybe it looked kind of gross. When she looked around at the rest of her immediate family with their jaws dropped and their eyes quickly darting away to look at something, anything!, else, her 3 year old thoughts were confirmed. That was definitely weird and gross. If it wasn’t her family wouldn’t react that way. Right?

And it was after that kiss that the announcement had been made. Her aunt was pregnant! And she and Adelaide’s uncle were -happy- about it. Oh, there was plenty of gossip about how the kid must have belonged to another man because she’d been having an affair and the whole lovey-dovey thing was just a public display to squash exactly the rumors that the lovey-dovey display had actually instigated instead. There were teams of couples who’d come over for weekly card, chess, or mahjong nights who would spend the evenings drinking expensive brandy with her parents and betting on who the actual father was. But to everyone’s great astonishment, when Koriah was born she already had a crop of bright red hair the exact same color as her father’s. As she grew up she shared the same striking green eyes as her father as well. Of course, by that point all the gossip had moved on to other couples and their possible infidelities and short-comings and the shock of Koriah’s arrival and the affection between her parents had completely been disregarded.

But not by Adelaide who carried that with her as one of her first memories and would continue to reflect on it as she grew older.

And as her cousin Koriah did not.

The sudden announcement of Koriah’s death when Adelaide was 25 and Koriah was 22 came as much as a surprise as the announcement of her arrival had.

Maybe it shouldn’t have. Koriah Azmerien had always been warm and sunny in personality (or what her detractors would call: ‘frivolous in demeanor’). She didn’t take anything too seriously. She wore what she wanted to. She went wherever she felt. And she genuinely did not care at all about what people said to or about her. When Adelaide would be stuck with insecurity regarding what she should say to someone (or -not- say to someone) at public events, Koriah never understood. She’d say, “If you introduce yourself and  they are unimpressed, they are the problem not you. So why worry about it?”

Well, Adelaide worried about it because her mother worried about it. And her sister worried about it. And two of her brothers worried about it. And she’d heard plenty of gossip that told her that she should worry about it. Why didn’t Koriah worry about it!? She’d one day be heading her family’s estate as well, shouldn’t she want to make the right impressions to the right people? Wasn’t she as stuck in this stifling, rules heavy society as Adelaide was?

That answer cleared itself up fairly quickly. At 19 Koriah said she was going off to see the world outside of Ishgard to learn what she could about other places. She longed to see other venues, other people, to taste other foods.

What she really wanted to do was see the Limsan ocean. She’d stared longingly at painted pictures of the ocean since she’d been so small she teetered and fell down more than she actually walked. The bubbly child would get quiet and listen with rapt attention to any story that featured dashing rogues and pirates by the seaside or that told tale of giant sea monsters or seductive sirens. Koriah’s parents eventually tired of buying their daughter stories about the ocean, perhaps wanting her to focus more on Coerthan tales of might and adventure instead, but the ocean had Koriah’s heart. So when her aunt and uncle stopped providing the books… Adelaide found a way to sneak books to her young cousin about high sea adventures instead.

And as Koriah grew older, her taste for the seafaring stories grew as well. Moving past the usual children’s tales, her book collection became… rather more ‘adult’ in nature-- much to Adelaide’s sheltered embarrassment who until her cousin had showed her the collection of erotic and romantic Limsan pirate and rogue stories had not even thought such a thing had existed. By that age, late teens, Adelaide had, of course, known that kissing was a thing. That touching was a thing. That the common folk would sometimes disappear into dark alleys and do… things. But she’d been raised by a very strict mother who had made it clear that such things were ‘crass’ and ‘unladylike’ and that as the future head of the Azmerien household, the future of the Azmerien name, she had best not ever think of such things.

Being told not to think of such things and then being shown books that wrote -exactly- of such things of course meant that Adelaide would rebel. She thought about ‘such things’ frequently. But she’d never -buy- such a book. She’d just borrow them. Where did Koriah even find those? Wasn’t she embarrassed to be seen with them?

No. The answer was no. She said someone had taken the time to write those things so someone might as well take the time to read them. She didn’t make it a point to read them in public and she hid them in her room so they weren’t immediately on display-- but she did not hide that she purchased them herself. “And if someone were to take time to read them, that someone ought to purchase them herself rather than sending out a servant to do it for her.”

So when Koriah said she was ‘off to see the world’, Adelaide knew that she was ‘off to see the ocean.’ And when she imagined Koriah out in Limsa Lominsa she imagined her capturing hearts and scandalous kisses the same way the heroines in her books did. She only wondered if it’d be a pirate or a rogue that she’d end up running away with in the end.

It was a rogue, apparently. Letters from Koriah came back regularly… until they didn’t. Koriah’s parents and younger brother received the boring letters that spoke of Limsan gossip and fashion. Adelaide received the letters that spoke of the things her cousin actually cared about. 

And the things she loved. 

And the boy she loved.

And that boy’s goofy little brother.

The boy was named Lysander Winsome and he was a key figure in some sort of thieving gang based in Limsa, but it wasn’t the life he wanted anymore. He wanted out. He wanted to save enough to buy a ship-- his dream was an airship because his heart belonged to the sky as much as Koriah’s belonged to the ocean-- and he wanted to get away with only what mattered most to him: his brother and Koriah. She thought it’d be easier to buy a ship they could sail on the ocean. That’d be a dream easier and quicker to reach and while they worked on the ship they could have adventures and save enough for the airship. But what if-- what if one day they had a ship that functioned as both? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Would Adelaide want to come to visit on a vessel that could both sail and fly?

Adelaide wrote that of course she would. But honestly, it was all a little hard to believe. Koriah’s letters sounded as much fiction as any of the books she’d left hidden in her bedroom. Maybe these letters were just fantasy. Maybe they were meant as fun reads when her reality was really just the boring letters about Limsan gossip, sales prices, and fashion that she sent to her immediate family. And she continued to think this until the letters became more sporadic and then stopped all together.

And until she met the goofy little brother.

Adelaide had assumed that ‘Winsome’ was a made up last name. No one was named that. That was an adjective, not a name. But when the 12 (or was it 13?) year old boy with chestnut colored hair, the oversized @dumb-hat swallowing up most of his face so that she could hardly see his amber eyes, looked up at her and then grinned so wide that what she saw of his eyes lit up, and told her that was his real last name… Adelaide knew that it was both an accurate adjective and a real last name.

Koriah’s last correspondence to her family was a letter that Evander clutched in his hands, written in her hand, beseeching them to care for him if he arrived without her and making clear that she gave him all rights to her property-- including her inheritance-- and that her final wish was that he be treated as the family that he was. She had married the boy’s brother in secret and in the absence of her and Lysander-- Evander Winsome was all that was left of her and should be treated with the same love and courtesy that she had been treated when she was there.

She never said ‘alive’ or ‘dead’ in the letter. But everyone knew what it meant.

What Evander did not know and would not ever know, was that a week before he arrived to Ishgard without her cousin, Koriah had written Adelaide a letter too. That letter contained two notarized copies of a will that made legally official and binding that Evander was her heir and was to receive all her property and inheritance. It was sent to Adelaide to ensure that the one person in the family that Koriah trusted as much as herself would have it and could speak up for the young boy in the unfortunate possibility that Koriah’s family would pretend they had never received a letter of their own and tried to wash their hands of Evander. 

The letter also read:

“Adelaide,

The storms in Limsa have made the ocean more alive than ever. It thrashes and dances with such exuberance that it makes me want to dance as well. The white sea foam reminds me of the lace hems on the dresses you and I loved so much as children: the ones that would twirl when we’d spin. I wish you could see it.

Lysander and I plan to make our escape soon. I never told you before because I didn’t want to worry you, but the gang did not take it well when Lysander made it clear that he wanted to strike out on his own. In fact, while we don’t speak of it because we don’t want Evander to overhear it, we’re fairly certain they plan to retaliate. As of now we plan to board a trading vessel that will take us out of Limsa Lominsa-- maybe even out of La Noscea entirely. We’ll head somewhere new and see the ocean there. Lysander wants to try his hand at opening a jewelry shop. He thinks he’d like to be a goldsmith. But his dreams and ambitions change as much as the sea does- so when we get to the new place he might decide to do something else entirely! I look forward to it. We both do. 

But on the off-chance that we never see that dream come true and that the Limsan ocean is the last one we see, I will pay for Evander’s trip aboard another vessel with a few people I trust and see that  he gets to Ishgard. Please welcome him. I don’t know how long he’ll choose to stay-- but I hope he gets a chance to foster new relationships, experiences and a new family while there. 

And on the off-chance I never see you again: I love you. I know that’s not a thing the family says. But sometimes it has to be said.

The books belong to Evander now. But you let him know I said that you can keep borrowing them.

Koriah.”

Thank you to @dumb-hat​ for letting me use his character and his backstory NPCs here! This timeline is certainly not 100% correct, but rather than stressing myself out trying to work out the exact ages and whens and whats-- I’m reminding myself that this is just about getting some writing out there and that I can fix the details later!

[popculturebuffet]

Scottrospective: Scott Pilgrim Vs the Universe or So Sad So Very Very Sad

Hello all you happy Scottaholics! And welcome back to Scottrospective, my 8 part look at Scott Pilgrim: all 6 volumes of the comic as well as the game and movie just in time for their respective 10th Anniversaries. If your just joining us or needa  quick refresher, here are links to the other four parts, in order: Precious Little Life, Vs The World (Comic), Infinite Sadness, and last month’s look at my favorite volume Gets It Together. And if that’s not enough to fill your belly with Scotty Goodness, hop over to my patreon, patreon.com/popculturebuffet.  There you’ll find reviews of all the content I didn’t have time for in the retrospective proper: Free Scott Pilgrim, The Wonderful World of Kim Pine, Monica Beetle, Style, and the bonus comic strips. It’s only a dollar to get access to the bonus reviews, and every bit you can give not only helps me make these reviews int he first place, but gets me closer to my stretch goals, the 25 and 30 dollar ones including looks at O’Malley’s Other Works: Lost At Sea and Seconds for the former and Snotgirl for the latter. 

But more than plugging my past and paid works, there’s something else far more important I need to get to before I get into this one: Thank You. No Seriously thank all of you who have been reading these, liking them. My Precious Little Life Review is easily one of the most liked things i’ve ever had on this blog, getting more viewers every day, and last month’s look at Gets it Together is STILL racking up likes. Given most of my non-duck reviews, paid for and on my own time, tend to be ignored half the time, this just warms my heart. It shows me two great things: that even after a decade Scott Pilgrim still has a huge following and given how young this platform tends to skew that it’s gaining more fans every day, and that people care about what I have to say about htis wonderful comic. It really touches me to both know my voice matters and that something I truly loved as a teen and still do now is STILL picking up more and more fans. What i’m saying is you guys are the best and I wouldn’t be doing these reviews without your support of my very hard work. These are some of the hardest reviews i’ve done at times, but seeing you all enjoy them makes it all worth it. 

As for the Volume itself there’s something I just gotta get off my chest right away: I HATED this volume when it came out. To understand why you have to consider my mental state: I was a teenager at the time, in my junior year of high school. Scott Pilgrim was my goddamn world: while I was picking up comics monthly at the time this was honestly the first north american comic I loved and obessed over and Scott and friends were like family to me. To an awkward teen who couldn’t talk to girls, struggled to keep the video game club a friend founded together in a way that in hindsight was wholly unecessary, and getting messed with due to my anger issues by friend, foe and frenemy alike, Scott was my port in the storm. A sunny version of Tornoto where I could retreat to to feel at peace.

So yeah this shattered the fuck out of that peace and was essentially one long slow motion kick to the balls to a younger me: Hollie gets derailed and horribly betrays Kim, runing my faviorite characters life and leading to her LEAVING, Scott and Ramona’s relationship crumbles, the band breaks up , and the volume ends with Gideon still gunning for our hero because life hadn’t punched him in the face enough for one month. I was livid, not stopping the series, obviously, but upset that everything i’d grown to care about was basically gone in a flash and couldn’t understand WHY O’Malley would fucking do this to me. This volume was also what kept me from re-reading the books for as long as I did as while the rest had fond memories all the ones I had of this one were pure misery.

But by the time i re-read it in december of last year I had two important things in my hands that helped me truly enjoy this one: The first was Volume 6 itself: knowing things would work out, that most of the bad stuff would be undone and in a truly awesome and satisfying way helped.

The other thing was the perspective that came with growing older: For one as an adult while I still like Scott as a character and find him intresting I no longer look up to him, nor put stock in his hapiness for his own. Sure I still care about characters and relate to some, but Bojack Horseman taught me the hard way you CAN’T put all your hopes in a character’s fate or them getting better for you to get better. 

The other is that while this volume again is pretty bleak after a while.. it’s also NECESSARY. Part of the series charm is i’ts realisim and a sad part of real life is people can drift apart from you, and things can change seemingly all at once. And things moving the way they do is necessary for the ending: every step and move here puts things where they need to be for the final chapter.  The pain our heroes go through is necessary so they can all grow.. except Stephen and Wallace. Stephen sucks and Wallace dosen’t need to change. He does need his own spinoff. But for Scott, Ramona and Kim the trials to come are necessary to make them into their best selves by series end. 

So join me under the cut as we get sad so very very sad, this is Scott Pilgrim vs the Universe. 

Precious Little Life:  We open with Scott’s Birthday! Hit it MC Chris!

But yes it’s septmeber and Scott is now 24 years old. Also Julie is there because presumibly Stephen dredged her out of her swamp for the evening despite Julie likely not wanting to be there and Scott sure a shell not wanting her there.  He vows that he will be the best 24 year old ever...... yeah let’s take a brief look into the future to see how that pans out

But we have a full volume and more metaphorical rakes to whack Scott in the face before that paticular one. 

A MONTH AND A FEW DAYS LATER

It’s the day of the dead, whoa ho way down in Tornoto. It’s hosted by Satan Herself, who dosen’t realize the holiday for hags was yesterday. This is for remembering the dead and rising out of the grave to go resuce your young wards by ramming a bunch of guys in butterfly costumes with your car or stealing your children’s kidneys.  This is Rat Girl’s new place, a fancy loft she and 3 other girls went on to throw the best parties beaause of course. She’s also a bitch to our hero and heroine because of course. 

But Scott soon has more important things to worry about: Ramona spots his next two opponents.. the twins hinted at last time, Kyle and Ken Kataynagi, Perfect Jerk and Handsome Asshat respectively.

Kyle and Ken are easily the least intresting of the 7 exes. With the other 4 so far having been a loveable ham, a stoic movie star whose suprisingly nice and dies via skateboard, a gloriously douchey and dumb psychic evil version of our much more loverable dumb douche with personal connections to both him and Ramona, and Roxy who was genuinely sympathetic, held back by her own selfishness and anger.. we get.. two smug assholes who use robots. Their not UNINTRESTING, the robots have cool designs and the fight with them is genuinely exciting.. but they just don’t have the charisma or personal factor. Their jsut two assholes ramona dated at the same time who happen to know more about her well guarded past than the other exes and are more liable to bring it up.. and even then it’s not anything new as Envy pulled similar tactics far more intrestingly in volume 3. THey don’t ruin the volume or anything, thier fine, but I just wish O’Malley had done more. Especially since he clealry had more intresting ideas with them: the sound battle we saw in the movie was an early draft of this and one early draft had Scott’s previously unseen brother Laurence working with them. I don’t knowWHY he scrapped that as it raises the stakes and makes this far more personal for Scott. Which at this point is what the exes SHOULD be: Todd and Roxy BOTH were more personal threats, Todd being his ex’s boyfriend and first love and Roxy being a genuine competior for Ramona. These guys again are just two douchers who show up because we need 7 douchers to complete the doucher circle. 

So the twins declare their not going to fight scott.. and instead send a tiny robot to fight him. Awww. But for this fight O”Malley does something really intresting and creative.. he dosen’t focus on it. No really Ken and Kyle are dicks to Ramona so Kim wisely gets her out of there, and the two have a casual talk on the balcony while Ramona smokes. It’s some fun banter between the two that both shows why their shipped to all hell. The two just play off each other really damn well. Though we also get Craphole asking people if they want to come watch Scott get beat up because the worst. 

Something important character stuff comes up though: As was shown last time at her rightful rage that Stephen HAD an opportunity to book a gig and kept refusing it for his fecking album, Kim is still fairly salty about the whole recording an album bullshit. The biggest part of it..

It’s something you really DON’T expect to here coming out of kim: that she really LIKED the band. But beneath the pillar of salt she puts out daily... these were her friends, this was getting to do something creative and passionate, and it was a break from the daily grind. Even if her job isn’t TERRIBLE, getting to watch movies and hang out with her best friend Clerks style.. it’s still a retail job and those still weigh on you.. though frankly i’d take one of those over food service but sadly tha’ts what i get most of the time. This was fun.. and Stephen ripped that away from her for his own selfish reasons. No one else in the band really cared about making an album.. if Stephen REALLY wanted to find a more professional band.. then he should’ve just told them so Scott and Kim could find someone else to do guitars for them. Instead he forced them into doing something they don’t want to do and refuses to actually play shows, which COULD help both perfect songs for the album version and get them new fans for said upcoming album and provide them recurring venues to SELL said album,  because he really just wants to be with Joseph and fuck anyone else. Stephen is really just an inhernetly selfish git and i’ll get more into that in a bit. But first Wallace has a text for Scott. 

Now I COULD have just skipped over this.. but I didn’t want to. Plus we dont’ se Wallace for a while in this story so i’m taking what I can get. 

So back to Stephen being a repugnant ass. I’ve been waiting for this scene for the entire retrospective. I”ve hinted at it, and largely blamed it for why I hate him so damn much. The time is nigh to explain WHY. 

Stephen is with Knives, as the two are close friends and such. Stephen expalins Sex Bomb-Omb isn’t playing because he and the personfication of bitchiness broke up. Which knives points out is for...

But it’s clear from context this was the LAST time. Why he still got invited I dunno, plot convience. So far so normal.. until Stephen picks up that Knives is STILL hung up on Scott. Which is understandable crushes can last a while but i’ts equally understandable that Stephen is utterly baffled by it. Which I get,  I didn’t make an entire tom lucitor retropsecitve because I liked that his relationship with Star ended with him stepping aside due to what the show thought was “true wuv” but what comes off instead as his self loathing casuing him to blame himself for a realtionship that’s crumbling for reasons that aren’t his fault. 

And his actions here are incredibly well meant: He bluntly gives Knives the wake up call she DOES need: Scott cheated on her, he dated her because she was easy to date, strung her along for a bit while seeing someone else, then dumped her with not one care for her well being. That is stuff she NEEDS to get into her head so she can move on. She needs to see him for what he IS and not for what she’s built him up as in her head. And while yeah his rant DOSNE’T take into account the fact Scott geninely tried to make up for his actions in volume 3, Stephen wasn’t there for that and Knives probbably didn’t tell him about it.  So from his point of view scott broke her heart and did nothing.. and evne IF he knew that, Scott still hasn’t tried to do anything since despite Knives still being obessed with him nor come clean to her or Ramona at any point. Scott deserves this call out and the consequences that come with it. 

So your probably wondering WHY I hate Stephen because of this scene when he’s you know, RIGHT. Well it’s simple: being right dosen’t save you from being a MASSIVE hypcorite. He’s railing on Scott for cheating and hurting someone.. when he cheated on Julie and would’ve hurt her if she had the capacity for human emotion, empathy, or self awarness. The ending of the last volume and how bad, even for them, their relationship was implied the hell out of it, with him nervous when she brings up being paranoid over knives.. as if he WAS cheating. on One Face just not with a teenage girl but a grown ass man who hates everyone as much as BLARARARGAGAG does. 

Not only that.. but he was with Julie for the SAME DAMN reasons Scott was with Knives: it was easy. Now I WILL grant Stephen some sympathy: he’s a queer man and as one myself, bi for the record, I GET how fucking hard it is to come to terms with that, that what you thought you were isn’t ENITRELY true or, if Stephen is gay and not bi or pan, ENIRELY FALSE. So I do have some care that it was hard for him to sort all this out. I do and that Jospeh could’ve seduced him or what not. We don’t have all the context here. But he STILL cheated at the end of the day instead of telling her he was queer until MONTHS later.  And why yes the fact I have to feel bad for JULIE does make it that much worse. And yes their relationsihp COULD simply be that toxic or she could’ve gaslit him, but it seemed more like their relationship was messy breakups and getting back together over and over. While Julie IS vile, she’s not a domestic abuser mental or physical as far as I can tell. She’s a bitch and their relatioship is unehlathy but there was no indication their relationship involved gaslighting or evne phsyical violence: it was just fucked from minute one. So yeah he stayed in an awful relationship beacuse it was easier than coming out, when he should’ve broken it off as soon as it was clear he and Joseph were actually going somewhere. Waiting while he figured out who he was is one thing, tha’ts fiar, but cheating on someone just because you don’t have the nerve to break it off with them when their genuinely awful to you and your only hurting them as much as they can be hurt by dragging this out... yeah that just makes you an ass. 

Another point of contention is that he NEVER called Scott out on this. Never. Not even after this scene. Never encouraged him to tell Ramona or apologize to Knives, again he didn’t know Scott already had tried that. Never gets on him.. he just ignores Scott’s shitty behavior like eveyrone else and unlike Kim, whose still got unresolved feelings and is at the very least clearly bothered by his shitty behavior, and Neil, whose young and thus like me likely looked up to Scott at the time, he dosen’t have an excuse other than “Well I don’t want to ruin our friendship by actually calling him out when he does something objectivionally awful.” Especially since Wallace DID actually take action: he didn’t break up the relationship or say anythign to Ramona, which is wrong... but he did tell scott flat out after his first date with Ramona to break up with Knives. And when Scott chickned out of that, Wallace gave him the ultimatium, may it live in empathy, to do so or he WOULD tell Ramona. And at least Wallace has a motive for not telling Ramona other than “I don’t want to risk my friendship with a guy I really don’t care about and think is shitty”. He wanted to see Scott recover from Envy, something Stephen never gave ONE. SHIT. ABOUT. He saw Ramona was good for him and knew telling her, while the RIGHT thing to do, would severely harm Scott, and by volume 4 leave him homeless. Plus Wallace frankly enabled him for some time anyway, letting him live at their place rent free and paying for all his food and frequently letting Scott steal his credit card. WIth Wallace at least while it’s not the RIGHT move, it’s understandable and complicated vs Stephen who really dosen’t seem to like or get along with Scott after volume 1, suddenly cares what happens to his relationship. 

And what proves this... is this little exchange that ends the conversation. 

Knives despite her issues, despite blinding herself to how Scott treated her, despite everything... thinks Ramona should know. And she’s right. And Stephen KNOWS THIS. He knows it was the right thing to do and just.. takes a swig instead of admitting he’s a fucking hypocrite or explaining himself in any way.  He NEVER cared about Ramona’s feelings or how this would effect her or saw her as important in any way shape or form. Kim at least clearly feels guilty. Wallace clearly is only doing so because it’s better for both her and Scott that their together and is a flawed human being. Stephen.. just dosen’t do so out of some masculine bullshit code of not ratting out your friend and his own cowardace. He clearly COULD go walk up to Ramona right now and tell her, but he won’t. And again I don’t buy he honeslty cares enough about Scott for their friendship to TRULY be enough of a factor to stop that. Fuck. Stephen. Stills. 

So Scott wins naturally, but is bummed there’s no reward.. but Stephen points out there’s tons of free food over yonder so he noms before he and Ramona leave. 

We get some cute domestic bits with Scott and ramona: Scott playing games on her phone all day, the two cooking dinner, and Scott admititng he hasn’t thought of envy at all. “I have you now”. Though through it there are some signs of unease: Scott finds a letter to Gideon, and Ramona asks about her hair and stares out into the window. Nice little hints that even before the big bomb abotu to drop she’s not at ease.. she loves Scott.. but it’s hard for her to let herself BE happy. It’s easy to wager she wasn’t for most of her life. 

Can’t Face Up

So next we find Sex Bomb-Omb working on the album. Or rather Stephen and Joseph are. Scott and Kim are praying for death but death won’t come and Kim wonders why the fuck this isn’t finished. Joseph wants her out of his house... forgetting that Kim lives in said house. 

Still his expressoin implies he’s going to do a murder on her if she stays in the room and since Drummers are hard to come by Stephen spirits them to kim’s room for a band meeting. Turns out they do have a gig but naturally Rosemary’s Baby booked it... and they haven’t practiced in months because Stephen’s a moron. He theorizes it’s Freddy’s Revenge, which is admitely probably valid though Kim can TELL something worse happened Stephen won’t cop to because he’s a piece of shit. I spent several paragraph’s establishing that. They try blaying and two sucktacular minutes i’ts clear their fucked sunday. 

So after a scene of Knives trying HARD to justify Scott’s actions and blame htem on Ramona, to no success, we get one of my faviorite parts of this book: Scott rambling on for god knows how long about the x-men while Ramona gets dressed and is presumibly barely listneing. 

I relate so hard to this it hurts. While not this era I wll GLADLY go on and on about X-Men and anything X-Adjacent at any goddamn opportunity and anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis and you know this. I need to tlak more x-men outside of my slowly failing New X-Men retrospective (Which is on the back burner because no one seeems to genuinely care after chapter one). If I did have a signifgant other, they would probably end up in a situation like this quite a lot and i’d have no shame about it. 

I also love this scene even more as while I DID love x-men at the time, I wasn’t quite the mega fan I was, nor as familiar with Claremont’s long, epic and often fucking weird in the special wonderful way only comics can run. Given I OWN over half his run at this point, that has changed. Though oddly not this part. So not only do I get Scott’s talking about x-men I Know what SPECIFICALLY. 

And for the unitatied, a quick explination of what the fuck Scott’s going on and on about: In the late 80′s, the x-men fought a reality warping malevolent trickster god named the Adversary. IN order to beat him their friend forget had to perform a cermony to lock his ass away that required willingly given life forces. The X-Men did REALLY fucking die.. but the Goddess Roma, daughter of Merlin and enemy of the advesary brought them back to life. With their deaths having been broadcast on live tv, and with tons of dangerous enemies at their heels, the X-Men choose to let the world continue to think they were dead so they could hit said enemies where it hurt.

SO this is where Scott’s story comes in:The X-Men’s first mission was clearing out the reavers, a bunch of racist cyborgs, from a ghost town which they took over as their base. As Scotty said they traveled all over the world, fought aliens, more racists, and then went to New York as it literally went ot hell. it’s a LOT and I haven’t read most of that era. I just know about it. I have read that last part though: the x-men were ambushed while wolveirne was away by said racist cyborgs so Psylocke shoved them through the siege perilous, a gate thingy romana gave them that would give them a new life and amnesia and such, leaving wolveirne to get crucified till Jubilee, who’d been hiding in their base gary busey style, freed him. The two would travel the world, find psylocke body swapped which is why she was asian for several decades, and get into general stuff for a few years real time till the X-Men slowly reunited. And you probbaly dind’t need to hear all of that but your life is better for knowing it. 

As you can tell Ramona’s discontent is mounting. And probably not because of Scott rambling about x-men. Last night he told her about the time Magneto beat them all because they stupidly rushed him one at a time then forced them into high tech chairs while a robotic nanny babbied them and then esecaped because shut up before fighting magneto, getting surrounded by lava and having beast ASSUME they were dead because fuck actually coming back and searching just in case like a rational human being because magma or no the x-men have surivived worse, including the depths of space, and restoring all of reality from scratch.  I may of just read those issues tonight. 

She procedes to make things worse for our hero as when he asks fo rher advice.. she reveals she dosen’t like his band.. and while she means nothing BY that, she’s nice about it, telling him his band sucks days before a sudden show where you guys eat a lot isn’t something you do. Wallace is naturally even less helpful and maybe his not liking the band is why we barely see him interact. Maybe he just figured Stepheen was on the fence sexuality wise but wasn’t willing to put up with Julie to test that. I dunno. 

So at the restraunt Stephen’s a dick, refusing to help Scott with his problems. WHich for once are legitamte as he worries abotu Ramona keeping secrets. He just wants to talk about hte band.. but 48 or something hours after this he has no real plan. 

Scott mopes to Kim about Ramona and she has some sage advice for him...

Also thing one and thing two are at the bar with a remote. This cannot end well... granted givne our heroes are not at all prepared and are playing two diffrent songs, this was never going to end well. 

And things only get worse for Scott in the bathroom.. he’s not there.. but his girlfriend and his ex are. Knives tries to work it out.. but Ramona being a bit short with her, which is fair given Knives tried to stab her a bunch a few months back and never apologized, leading to a quick fight.. but with Knives heart not in it this time and Ramona pissed and this time NOT confsued as to what the hell ihs going on, it ends with Ramona slamming knives into a wall... and Knives sadly revealing the truth to Ramona...

The scene hits like a truck with both devistated.. Ramona not having realized Scott with this shitty.. and Knives FINALLY accepting that he is. Finally letting her obession with him drop and realize what he was and what he did and let the full impact hit. The last part also hits hard “No One Else Would’ve Told You’.  It’s a sad hard truth and it’s CLEARLY something that hits both women hard.  For Knives it’s realizing Kim and Stephen, who she’s increidbly close to at this point, both don’t have the stomach to do the right thing, and thus hid this from her and Ramona. Stephen DID tell her.. but he still didn’t have the guts to tell RAMONA nor the actual care. It’s the realization the people she looked up to truly let her down and that she had to do what they couldn’t, even if it tore her apart to do it. For Ramona it’s realizing her closest friends outside of Scott could’ve told her and never did. No matter how close she’s gotten to Kim and Wallace, neither gave a fuck about her rights or her need to know. 

So Ramona is rattled and barely speaks while Scott has been fighting anothe rrobot and ends the gig accidnetly smashing his bass. Stephen is pissy with him and blames hi mfor runing the gig, which turned out to be a trap anyway complete with fliers. 

Ramona decides to gently throw him out as he forgot his keys while his other friends won’t house him leaving him with the one friend he has who dosen’t hate him right now. WALLACE!

The Glow:

So at Casa De Welles, Wallace has some buddy time, not making any bones about the fact Ramona clearly threw Scott out for the night and wearing a neat robe. Scott mopes about the fact he hasn’t met mobile whose apparenlty on the astral plane. I wonder if he has any buisness with Emma.. I mean the x-men did live in san fran sicsio but given decimation didn’t have many psychics. Might’ve been tryign to get another one. THey didn’t have a whole island that walks like a man yet.  And while Wallace wasn’t in much of a coaching mood last time he is willing to help. He couldn’t get bupkiss on the twins since Scott can’t even remember their names, but he did pull off a miracle. Despite their being a million Gideons in New York.. Wallace found THE Gideon. Granted all he got was his full name, Gideon Gordon Graves, and a few burry photos, one with Ramona confirming this is our douche, but given he had only a first name and an ex to work with this is some damn fine work. Wallace asks scott about his future with Ramona but he just.. has no earthly idea because of course he dosen’t. He hasn’t REALLY thought about what comes after beating the exes because he never thinks anything through. Interesting stuff The next day Scott meets up with Kim at No Account Video and we get our first, and I mean literally first, indiciation things are falling apart with her and Hollie. Scott wants to say hi, Kim refuses him and gives a smart ass comment when he asks if them being roomates isn’t working out. He wasn’t even being a dick it’s just clear SOMETHING bad’s going on she won’t talk about because she puts up walls around hrself on a GOOD day and this clearly isn’t one.

It gets worse when they stop by Stephen’s place only to find Neil whose both taken up a combination of smoking and moping in a dark room. Never a good sign. Nor is Stephen apparenlty being at band practice.. meaning either he lied to Neil about where he went.. or he already started the band we’ll see him with next volume and is already stabbing his friends in the back. There wasn’t much to like about the guy to BEGIN with, but his behavior just gets worse with every volume and it’s reached it’s apex here. The speech was shitty enough, I spent several paragraphs explaning why, but the rest of his behavior isn’t much better. He abandoned two people who were, for god knows what reason loyal to him and abandoned the band because of some bearded asshole probably encouraging him to. 

We also get some telling behavior on Kim’s part. Whlie she’s usually morose around Scott in the face of this both just hang out, it’s plesant. She even smiles when she asks if it’s going to be a regular occurance when he stays with her that night. Granted she brings back her frown soon after, but as has been clear her feelings for him never really went away entirely, and this is the closest the two have been in volumes, just enjoying each others company. It’s also telling that Scott trusts kim with a favor.

We see the favor the next page: Kim hangs out with Ramona.. and Scott marchs in completely on purpose soon after. Granted Kim probably didn’t know THIS was part of the plan, and it’s mildly stupid.. but it DOES show progress for Scott. Keep in mind his usual tactic is “avoid the fuck out of it and hope it goes away’ So ACTUALLY wanting to talk about things and find her again, and not doing it in a creepy way but simply drawing her out with a friend, shows SOME maturlity. It’s still not the most mature.. but with Ramona clearly not wanting him at their place, her work not having a set location as she just picks stuff up and drops it off (And even if she’s picking up packages at the post office we don’t know which one or if there’s multiple and even if we did scott sure as hel l does not), he was out of options. It also WORKS, with Ramona breaking her mopeynesss to laugh and Kim stunned it didn’t just piss her off further. 

So we find out what happened with Hollie when Scott brings up jason. She points out they were dating but... welllllllll

Yeah... as you could probably tell I do not like this plot point at all. For one thing we never really got to KNOW Jason, and with him and Hollie getting a little too cozy at the end of the last volume...

It’s clear his ONLY roll in the story was to be there so Hollie could betray Kim in some way. And look I get a LOT in this series happens while we’re not looking, ti’s part of it’s charm. Things not pausing for the side cast is a trope I enjoy: it allows some things to progress faster and allows for some intresting stories when the main cast catches up. Steven Unvierse and Ducktales both used this well as does Scott Pilgrim but all three weren’t immune to someitnes goofing up and taking it too far. 

This whole situation is that: Hollie is a character I got attached to: She had a great report with kim, they were really close and she offered her a place to stay when it was clear she was miserable with the four horseman of the bitchpocalypse she lived with. So while having her suddenly heel turn is realistic... it just feels thorughly unsatisfying. We do not see Hollie again after she’s sudeenly derailed, so we never get to see what she’s apparenlty REALLY like or get any explination why this happened. Suddenly Kim’s best friend is a douchebag even though it makes no sense for her character. Just because in real life people can turn out to be really shitty on a dime dosen’t mean it’s a neat thing to READ in a story and it feels like a waste of what was one of the series best side characters. And granted i’ve been through FAR worse treatment of side characters, trust me but this one still blows to this day and if there is a netflix adaptation this either needs to not happen or have actual depth. Seriously Netflix your adapting everything else, get on the bus already. 

Scott is GENUINELY apologetic, we’ve rarely seen him this nice but he genuinely feels bad for her.. and unlike Stephen’s thing it’s okay to feel shitty someone got cheated on even if you were a cheater in the past. As I said Stephen wasn’t wrong about how Scott treeted knives.. he just also was trying to take moral high ground which Knives proved he absolutely did not have in seconds.

This triggers Ramona’s glow, the squggly line thing that shows up over her head ocasoinally.. and while Ramona grills Scott... Kim just finally asks what the hells up with her head. Scott’s reaction is “OH good you guys see it too”. Kim does try to show it to ramona but it’s gone by then and she drops it for now and outside encourages her to come to Julie’s latest shitty party.. I mean their miserable but at least it gives thems omething to do

So we get another instalment of “Scott rambles about the X-Men” or New Mutants in this case as we’re talking about Magik, Aka Illyana Rasputin 

So for the long version: The X-Men were staying at a creepy temple that Magneto had been working out of beause the mansion was being repaired. Colossus, everyone’s favorite Russian and Deadpool co-star, had his kid sister Illyana with him as Arcade, a ginger maniac assasian whose gimmick is creating elaborate murder theme parks, kidnapped her in a plot to get the x-men to fight Dr. Doom for him. Given this was during the Cold War they coudln’t exactly take her back, so she stayed with the X-Men and her beloved big brother. 

So naturlaly the spooky temple decorated in Cthulu’s had a portal to hell in it and  an evil and genirc looking fucker named Belasco kidnapped her to a hell dimension known as Limbo>  the X-Men went after her as you’d expect and things got WEIRD as due to some complicated and weird time dialition stuff I sitll don’t quite understand there ended up being two copies of the x-men: ours who came in right after, and a second batch who stayed there for about 7-8 years and got warped by Bellsaco’s magic as he killed or changed most of them. As a result Storm became a sorcerer to fight back, Kitty Pryde became some sort of cat creature and Kurt became a creepy evil version of himself. Illyana stayed htere, learned magics from both storm and asshole, learned to fight from cat kitty, and eventually escaped after a lot of horrible bullshit, hardnered and with her soul scarred from it, now a teenager. She joined the New Mutants, the training class of x-men in the comics, soon after. She’s a member agian in present day, one of the great captains of Krakoa, and one of the two co-leaders of Krakoa’s younger mutants, i.e. 20 something to teens and kids. 

This is the best of the two scenes as the narrative , or at least Scott’s versions parallels Ramona’s own; Getting taken in by an evil man and feeling tainted by that. 

So at the party Ramona runs into Neil whose a dick about it and with some girl. She WAS going to be fleshed out more in the original draft but Brian ended up scrapping it for time, but does regret it. It’s here we get Neil’s face punchingly dickish comment that’s also a massive hint as to Stephen’s sexuality. 

Yeah even if Stephen’s been an UTTERLY shitty friend to him.. this was uncalled for even for the late 2000′s. What a prick. I do like the arc of Neil slowly falling apart though getting more and more bitter as his old friends abandoned him casually, especailly Stephen. While his comment was still HORRIBLY unwarranted even with Stephen being a dipshit. 

Speaking of assholes we get our last major with Julie who berates Scott for grabbing some booze and brings in the twist. I’m.. i’m not even bothering to give her an insluting and weird nickname. She’s still a HORRIBLE piece of shit, as she brought Scott’s enemies there to try and beat him to death for her own amusment and berated him for getting booze at a party she CLEARLY expected him to come to, but she’s ALMOST gone. Seriously after this she’s GONE for the volume and barely in the rest of the series. So i’d rather celebrate FINALLY having earned my freedom over worrying about her any more than i have to. Cue the music!

So with that Kyle.. or is it Ken. 

But the blonde one needles ramona, giving her her faviorite booze and telling her “this is all just temproary”

So Ramona gets all glowy.. and Kim gets her phone out....

The Universe Fights Back So in a random bedroom Ramona gives up the ghost: SHe DOES know what that is she just can’t tell Kim. Kim accepts it and they share some drinks. Scott, after beheading the douche bros latest science project, joins them and we get a lovely scene of the three drinking and bonding and geneuinely just having a good time. Though Kim DOES mention that she wants to go back to school.. This will naturally be very important. 

What’s more important is this scene is ENITRELY while I poly ship these three dum dums. I mean while part of thier hapiness here is their blasted out of hteir heads, it’s also just Kim’s wall sbeing down. She tells the two she loves them, and I think MEANS IT. Not to mention this...

Okay maybe it’s just the two of them but they also love Scott. And again I get htier VERY obviously drunk.. but given Kim and Ramona are clearly actively supressing any bi parts of themselves most of hte time this is telling. The fact Ramona asks kim to sleep in THIER bed, likely with them, is ALSO very telling and Kim only dosen’t because their using sub space. No really that’s the only reason this volume didn’t end VERY diffrently with the three of htem having a three way before the argument coming up.. and possibly fixing said argument by having kim to mediate. I mean I get Scott’s not a big part of this so if you don’t want to ship him with them and just leave them alone that’s fine, ut I like the idea of them as a throuple: they ballance each other out.. and frakly with Scott’s irresponsblity and Ramona’s emotoinal issues they need someone to call them b oth out in the relationship, while these two are two of the only three people in the work i’ve seen Kim take her walls down for. Not even Jason got that, but Jason was also a carboard cutout. 

Things take a turn from Kim.. from an almost threesome where she CLEARLY would be getting most of the attention... to two assholes kidnapping her. Now while I don’t like the twins that much their plan for the final act IS actually clever: their the first ones to think to actually use the people Scott cares about.. or anything resembling strategy really. Matt just charged int here, Lucas coudln’t give less of a fuck, Todd just used brute strength like a teletkentic juggernaught, and Roxy DID use some but it was less to actually fight scott and more to get into ramona’s pants again. The twins see Kim clearly still loves Scott, and that while he acts aloff to her sometimes she really is one of his best friends. No really, think about it. Wallace is his BEST friend.. but Kim sticks by him even when he’s shitty, calls him out when needed, and despite her grumpiness is the one who has the most faith in him out of ANYONE. It’s a large point of the volume: she dosen’t bother watching the fights.. because she belivies he’ll win simply because he’s Scott. That’s love right there. The kind of love that gets you kidnapped as part of an elaborate scheme but love nonetheless. 

So we then get the scene that’s been coming for five volumes... after having sex, Ramona confronts Scott. While Scott admits he didn’t cheat on her with knvies, the other way around, that’s not better. He admits he’s been trying to forget about it.. and she calls him a bad person. And that. .hits him hard. While he DESERVES scorn for what he did... as he puts it next he’s been trying to change for her. To BE better. And all she sees, and outright confirms is another evil ex in waiting with Scott DESPERATE to prove her wrong and wrongly thinking beating the next three exes will fix this. It’s a VERY hard sceen to watch as while Scott does deserve this.. it’s also hard not to feel bad for him too. It really sums up the character: He is a dick.. but he’s TRYING to be better. He WANTS to be, he just dosen’t know how. And MAN can I relate to that.  It dosen’t help that Ramona is clearly projecting her own insecurties about this lasting, about actually being happy and about this really being her life onto him, using this as an easy out after having a month of doubt. Yes Scott did something unbelivibely shitty.. but both are trying to take the easy way out of it instead of genuinely discussing why it’s shitty, what he did was wrong and geniuinely unpacking if this is the end. Ramona clearly wants to bail, and Scott clearly just wants to punch a few guys to make it better. Neither thing will work. They need to work thorugh their issues to work... but neither is capable of that right now. They both want to run from the problem. 

This volume is in part about Ramona herself.. and showcasing her OWN flaws.. and like Scott her biggest is that she runs. She wants to escape her past too and both assumed the other would be an easy fix, that by having a good partner they’d be better.. when really their both mildly shitty people who need to make peace with their past and repair the bridges they’ve burnt and flip off the ones not worht reparing instead of running from it all the time. But sadly before both can.. their just gonna run again. Because sometimes fixing yourself is just not that easy. 

So the next morning Scott’s heart stops fo ra second when Ramona is seemingly gone.. only for her to instead be in teh shower. But Scott gets a text telling him the twins have Kim and TRIES to tell Ramona.. but she’s in the shower. As a result she’s worried he just ran off... and makes a decision , her hair cut back down after growing it out this volume, a sign of her hapiness.. now gone. 

The Glow Part 2 So at an abandoned wherehouse the fight is on. The twins have the advantage in part because Scott is hung over.. something they take offense to.. even though they were THERE last night. He was at a party. They don’t know he teatotles. What state did they THINK he’d be in this morning?

We also find out their origin: as Scott correctly guessed at the end of last volume, Ramona dated them both at the same time and pit them against each other. They found out and vowed to always fight as one.. which means Scott is not only fighting two equally powerful opponents at once, but two who work as a perfct team and double hurricane kick him. They also mentally break him down, pointing out her previous job and how she’s a runner and she’s here to run from her past working for Gideon.

They aren’t but I already went into that so let’s get onto more pressing issues: Scott is not only hung over but now doubting himself and his dumbass plan to beat gideon and magically fix things, while Kim is naturally not happy about being stuck in a cage all night. And while at first she’s genuinely just grumpy as always as it becomes clear Scott has lost hope and the twins are going to win this one her expression is heartbreaking...

After EVERYTHING she still loves him and can’t bear to see him in so much pain... and can’t loose him.. so she gets desperate and claims Ramona texted him to give him hope. 

This is one of Kim’s definting moments, the other coming next month. When faced with the person she loves possibly dying.. she lies to him.. so he can surivive. So he can have hope and make it through this.. despite how much it’s CLEARLY KILLING HER to not only tell him someone else loves him but to clealry lie that person loves him, knowing it’ll hurt him more.. but knowing if she DOSEN’T he’ll die. It’s one of the most painful, heartbreaking and beautiful moments in the entire series. It’s why I said earlier while I don’t like the brothers their climactic fight his excellent.. because it is. Their verbal breaking down of Scott is hearbreaking and Kim’s sacrifice equally so. 

And before stomping them into coins SCott shows further growth.. by showing he CAN give off a good one liner now...

So Scott beats them and gets Kim out of the cage, worried about her.. but despite having a chance, Kim lets him get on his way to ramona and morsoely wlaks off... while ominously the sign points out this will soon be the Chaos Theater. There’s still one left to go. 

But.. it’s sadly not enough. While Scott gives her a heartfelt speech... even if he quotes the song as long as you love me... he dosen’t care who she is.. but Ramona does.. calling herself a bad person.. as she vanishes.... and I cry my eyes out again. God two really heartbreaking scenes in a row sweet jesus this volume will be the death of me.. and not just because i’ts taken so damn long to write this review. And on top of tha the looses the cat and ends up locked out. 

World of Ruin:

So yeah if you thought those bits weren’t easy.. it only gets roughter as we see Scott in the aftermath of the breakup. His dream world is now desolate and he’s alone. Now to his creidt as much shit as i’ve given him Stephen didn’t ENTIRELY abandon Scott: he put him up fo rth enight (though he kicks him out after work) and offers to take him to after work drinks. We also see a nice side of Scott’s intimdating boss as she offers her symaptheties at him crying... while he says it’s the onions... he’s transparenlty lying. 

Next up is Kim. Though she dosen’t have a couch because Hollie sold it.. which as dickish as she suddenly is it IS her couch as Kim points out.. so yeah Kim and Scott end up sleeping awkardly in the same bed facing away from each other.. and to add another emotional guttpunch at the worst possible time: She’s going back home. 

Stacey is even lesss helpful as SCott continues to ask about cats and is unsypantethic about her leaving despite you know,  him REALLY not being at the shit talking her stage yet bud. At least we do get to see Stacey in this one I genuinely forgot she was in it. 

So at Wallace’s he’s no help either pointing out she might be with someone else because he’s wallace and we meet a guy with Glases.. and in his bad state Scott assumes i’ts gideon. it’s not though. WE finally meet Mobile!

He’s exactly what wallace needs.. a fellow sarcastic asshole. 

So next up is Kim’s goodbye.. which once again is really emotinal..a nd not just because  my faviorite character is leaving and again, younger me didn’t know this wasn’t forever.. or that she’d be back for a rather huge role next time. But still it’s a damn good scene that shows how far Scott’s come...

While the first part is standard... the second is Scott realizing that she still had feelings for him, clearly given her actions during the fight, and he’d been a right dick this whole time never dealing with it or apolgoizing for his past. Granted he still has a way to go to REALLY apologize for it... but he’s trying and means it. And with her possibly never seeing again.. she needed that. Also her coat is damn cool. I’d say I want one like that btu i’d really prefer one like Scotts complete with x-men patch. Pax Krakoa bitches. 

We get a really nice scene after where we meet Scott’s parents! Their also really kind helping him get a new place and move on... and runs into another glasses guy. But this time it’s Laurence! Who he drop kicks.. and then gives a broken bass back to. Eh... i’ve seen worse relationship with siblings honestly. He didn’t murder scott’s friend or plunge a whole galaxy into war or try and murder his daughter. Other Scott’s weren’t so lucky. 

So after that awkardness SCott finds the note to gideon which is a break up letter... she never sent. However there’s something more pressing as he gets a call... and you can probably guess given his luck lately who that’s from. 

Eh it’s not that murderoius creep but another one. 

The end.. is in a few weeks.

Final Thoughts: 

As I said I hated Vs the Universe on first read but re-reading it with hindsight and maturity.. it’s damn good. It’s depressing as hell.. but the things it does need to happen to push scott into a bad enough place for the next volume to work, and are natural: Ramona and Kim leaving, The band  breaking up, Scott kicking his brother in the face.. all natural things. It hurts, this was a HARD one to write and I only feel the next one will be harder because it’s way longer with less slice of lifey stuff to skim through in my recapping. 

But it’s a damn good one, with fantastic art, really gripping scenes, x-men refrenes and a spotlight shone on my girl kim. Even it’s weak spots dont’ hurt it: the twins are only weak by comparison, and still work well enough for the story, pushing ramona into the bad mental place she needs to be for the story to work. Hollie’s thing DID Need to be written way fucking better... but it does push kim into leaving which is CRITICAL for next time. So they aren’t GREAT elements, but they work. The only real other problem I have is knives just.. vanishes after her scene outside of one bit with Stephen, but that I can understand as the book is pretty tightly packed and she gets a fitting sendoff next time anyway. All in all another amazing entry and the perfect warm up for one of the best endings in comics history

Next Time: I said it and I meant it: one of the best endings in comics history as Scott hits on some exes, fights himself and betters himself as he prepares for his finest hour! Will Ramona Come back? Will Kim? Will Julie?... to answer your questions yes yes, and god dammit. Thank you all for reading, see you at the next rainbow. 

[love-little-lotte]

Ranking the Bridgerton Books

I know I should write this in my book blog, but frankly, I have no idea how to make another section for it, and I'm too lazy to research. So, I'm writing here. Please bear with me.

Recently, I read the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn. You might be familiar with the first book since it was adapted into a popular Netflix series by Shonda Rhimes. I binge-watched it back in December, and I have to say... not a fan. I guess I just find it too cheesy and annoying. Plus, the actors who portrayed Daphne and Simon had no romantic chemistry whatsoever.

But I'm not here to talk about the TV show. I'm here to talk about the novels! This is actually not my first time reading the books. Well, not exactly. I've read six out of the eight novels when I was in high school, I believe. I found the books when I was in high school as it was in the library (please don't ask me why my high school library has smutty novels in it, I have no idea who's in charge - they had Fifty Shades of Grey for a week but they eventually removed it from the catalog when they learned what's it about, but I digress). As a fifteen-year-old girl, the series hooked me.

If you're not familiar with the books or the Netflix series, here's a short synopsis: Set in the Regency era, the Bridgertons are one of the most influential families of the ton. The books follow the love stories of the eight Bridgerton siblings, alphabetically named Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth.

I didn't read it in chronological order back then, though. I just borrowed any available Bridgerton book in the library if there's one. You might think I was too young to read a romantic novel like that, but I guess I was mature enough to understand it.

Rereading it now that I'm twenty-two (cue Taylor Swift!), my heart's not in the same place. I was more skeptical with the writing, the story, and, most especially, the characters. But, really, I'm not that heartless, so I will cut the author some slack. Quinn wrote this at a different time for a different audience. It's not that long ago, but you'd be surprised how fast things change.

However, even though I have major criticisms, I cannot stop reading them. There's something about the novels that put me in a chokehold. Despite everything, I was able to enjoy it overall. This series is the definition of "guilty pleasure."

Anyway, here's my ranking of the Bridgerton books! I only read the eight main ones, which means I didn't include novellas of any kind. Also, as a fair warning, I might discuss spoilers and whatnot, so please beware. And do keep in mind that I'm writing my opinion, so if you don't agree, well... tough. I'd like to hear your comments, though, if you have any.

#8 - An Offer From A Gentleman (Book 3)

Honestly, this was probably one of my favorite Bridgerton books when I was younger. A Cinderella retelling? Come on! As someone who loves fairytales and forbidden romances, this was supposed to be heaven. However... it was not.

Benedict may be my least favorite Bridgerton brother. No, scratch that - he is my least favorite Bridgerton out of all of them. He's whiny and creepy and I was plainly annoyed with how he keeps asking Sophie to be his mistress in the novel. This was not the gentleman I imagined when I was younger. I might have liked him more in the first few parts, but as the story progressed, he became too childish and obsessive. Sophie, on the other hand, was all right. She's definitely one of my favorite Bridgerton heroines. She was tough but kind in her own way. I wish she had a better partner than Benedict, but I guess they suit each other in the end.

I just detest the climax and the ending of this book. It was too comical - and not in a hilarious way. I guess the same could be said for the entire novel. This was so, so different from the rest, to be honest.

Overall Rating: 3/10

#7 - On The Way To The Wedding (Book 8)

Fun fact: this is the first Bridgerton novel I read. And even then, I wasn't a huge fan of it. Just like An Offer From A Gentleman, the climax was a bit silly but more in a soap opera level than comical.

The biggest factor why I didn't like this was the characters. They were all so bland. Especially our hero and heroine. Gregory is the least featured Bridgerton in the novel, so I don't really know what to make of him at the beginning of the novel. In his book, I learned that he was a good guy - and that's all. Maybe he's too young and naive when it comes to romance (which is endearing, I have to admit), but he has no interesting personality whatsoever. Lucy, the heroine in this novel, was the same. She was described as pragmatic and sensible, which perfectly sums her up. Also, she's a great friend to Hermione (whose last name is Watson, by the way, and you can't tell me otherwise that this isn't a Harry Potter reference - Hermione Granger and Emma Watson? If that's not a reference, well, that's a very crazy coincidence, but I digress again). Gregory and Lucy's story was average - not bad, not good, just so incredibly dull.

The fun parts started way too early. It was difficult to find intrigue in the middle and end bits. The second main conflict, which happened near the end of the book, was truthfully not that good and was just obviously a ploy to keep things longer. You'd think that the Bridgerton novels would end the series with a bang. Alas, it did not.

Overall Rating: 4/10

#6 - To Sir Phillip, With Love (Book 5)

Eloise finally gets her turn in her own love story. She used to be one of my favorite Bridgertons, but when she got her own story, she was reduced into a plain girl. Gone was the feisty and outspoken Eloise we knew from the previous books.

Maybe it's because she's paired up with one of the most insufferable Bridgerton heroes, Sir Phillip. Just an inch away from Benedict, Sir Phillip maybe my next least favorite character. And it annoys me so much that Eloise gets to fall in love with someone like him.

It actually started pretty well. Before the events in the book started, Eloise and Phillip had already been corresponding for a year through letters. Phillip was on the lookout for - not a wife - but a mother for his two unruly children, and he thought Eloise was perfect for the role. He's a terrible father, but the book tries to convince us that it's not his fault because he had a bad upbringing by his own father (a recurring theme in the Bridgerton books - four heroes are plagued with different daddy issues). Eloise tried her best to turn things around, and of course, she eventually did, but I just really hate Phillip's initial intentions for seeking out a wife. He gets better in the end, sure, but I still really don't like him. At least the book wasn't short of excitement, else it would've been rated a bit lower.

Obviously, my favorite part in this book was when the Bridgerton brothers stormed into Phillip's house. He got what he deserved, truly.

Overall Rating: 4/10

#5 - The Duke and I (Book 1)

Now, this is the most well-known story in the Bridgerton literary universe, thanks to the Netflix series. I know I've said that I wasn't a fan of the series, but really, the Netflix writers and producers deserve all the gold in the world because they managed to transform this novel into something exciting.

Daphne and Simon had their moments, that's for sure, but as a couple, they were just so... meh. I liked their relationship at the start when they were still pretending to be courting. But as soon as they got married, everything interesting about the two of them sizzled out. And please don't get me started with how Daphne "took advantage" of drunk Simon. Thank God the show fixed that.

Despite my mixed feelings, this was a decent start to the Bridgerton books. There's really nothing majorly wrong about this novel (except for the aforementioned "taking advantage.") It laid out the future characters well. Lady Whistledown was also great. Thinking about her made me miss her because she wasn't featured in the later novels (you'll soon find out why).

Overall Rating: 5/10

#4 - It's In His Kiss (Book 7)

Since Eloise was stripped away from her feistiness when she got her own love story, I was obviously worried for Hyacinth. Thankfully, she didn't change! She was still the same tactless girl in the previous books. And for that, she gets to be my champion as my favorite Bridgerton.

This is the first time I've read this book, and oh, I'm surprised with how exciting it was. Hyacinth's hero, Gareth, perfectly suited her. Gareth was able to tame her impulsiveness, while also proving to be a good romantic partner for her. I loved that he could match her intellectually, too. It was never a bore whenever they have one of their silly banters. Lady Danbury was also featured more in this novel. She's one of my favorite side characters. As Gareth's grandmother, she was determined to bring him and Hyacinth together.

Maybe the only criticism I have in this novel is Gareth's issues with his father. I find it really weird that most of the heroes' problems are with their fathers. It just seemed lazy writing, in my opinion. But oh well, Gareth was interesting in his own way and that's perfectly fine.

Overall Rating: 6/10

#3 - Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Book 4)

I have a feeling that this is Quinn's favorite Bridgerton book. In this book, it's Colin's turn to find love. Colin is featured in several of his siblings' stories - in fact, in almost all of the books, he had an important role to play.

I love Colin and Penelope's story. Long before this book, they already knew each other. Penelope was Eloise's best friend, and she's almost always in the Bridgerton household. Colin has been forced by his mother for God knows how long to dance with Penelope every time there's a party. But it was only now that they became closer. Unbeknownst to Colin, Penelope had been in love with him for half her life, even though he didn't particularly care for her. Penelope speaks for all of us who know about unrequited love all too well.

Furthermore, this is the novel where they finally reveal who was behind the Lady Whistledown column. Yes, viewers of the Netflix series who are not familiar with the books. This is the part - and not in the first book! I'm so mad that they revealed Penelope as Lady Whistledown in the first season of the series, when in fact it's much later than that.

However, that's also one of the lowest points of this novel for me. Lady Whistledown's identity reveal was a bit anti-climactic. A little bit laughable, even. Also, also, also: I hated Colin's reaction to Penelope's secret. He didn't have to be angry and jealous of her, but ah well, whatever makes for conflict. Nevertheless, I love both Colin and Penelope because they had so much character and depth. Quinn was certainly biased when she wrote this.

Overall Rating: 8/10

#2 - The Viscount Who Loved Me (Book 2)

Remember earlier when I said that I cannot stop reading the books because even though I knew it wasn't that good, it was still highly enjoyable? Well, I'm really talking more about this book, to be specific. I think I've read it in less than 24 hours because of how much I love it. And yes, Anthony and Kate had their obvious flaws, but oh God, they were so perfect together. I can't help but imagine Jonathan Bailey from the Netflix series as Anthony when I was reading it. I swoon, all the time.

This used to be my favorite Bridgerton novel, but that's only because I haven't read my new favorite until recently. Anthony and Kate's story was just oh-so good and intimate and romantic. Kate's also my favorite heroine in the entire Bridgerton literary universe. She was headstrong and loving. She's unafraid to put the happiness of her family first.

In so many ways, Anthony was the same. He assumed the role of Viscount Bridgerton when he was only eighteen when his father unexpectedly died. Since then, he overlooks the family's estates and well-being. Yes, this is one of those "daddy issues" stories I mentioned earlier, but this one was kind of done tastefully. He didn't wish to fall in love but everything changed when he encountered Kate. He didn't mean to be attracted to her, but here we are.

Anthony and Kate had so much understanding between them. I agree Anthony was a bit of a dick when Kate asked if they could have one week to get to know each other before consummating the marriage (worse things have been said by Benedict and Phillip, though), but in the end, I can't deny that I truly love them together.

Overall Rating: 8/10

#1 - When He Was Wicked (Book 6)

*blushing furiously* So what if I put the smuttiest and steamiest novel as my top choice?! What about it? Oh, but really, though, I can't stop reading this. Francesca is one of the least known Bridgertons in the books, just like Gregory. I didn't know anything about her, except that she's quieter than most of her siblings. It was also first mentioned in Romancing Mister Bridgerton that she had already married but was sadly widowed after two years.

Michael was Francesca's late husband's cousin and best friend, which makes him her best friend, too. He has been secretly in love with Francesca since the first moment he laid eyes on her but was unable to pursue her because she's with his cousin John. In addition, I'd like to say that Michael is my favorite hero in the Bridgerton books. He's very charming and wicked, and really, my knees buckle at the thought of him.

Long after John passed away, Francesca and Michael reunited. Francesca was looking for a new husband because she desperately wants a family, while Michael... well, Michael was still in love with her. There was undeniable passion and intimacy between them, and it was hard to stay away from each other. I seriously have a thing for men secretly pining over women they love. That's got to be one of my favorite tropes.

However, the book itself was a bit longer than necessary. While I understand Francesca's hesitations in marrying Michael, it could've been shortened because it felt draggy by the end. Her constant changing of minds was a bit annoying, and yeah, it was probably a ploy to lengthen the novel.

Additionally, I was a bit skeptical at first of how they're going to treat their relationship, especially since Francesca was truly in love with her first husband. But it was done so nicely. Francesca and Michael never forget about John, even in the end. I loved what John's mother said to Michael in a letter at the end, "Thank you, Michael, for letting my son love her first."

I guess I love their story more than the other couples because both were already mature and experienced. Just like everyone else in this romantic series, Francesca and Michael belonged together. The entirety of Chapter 19 is proof of that.

Overall Rating: 9/10

***

Overall, the Bridgerton books are quite entertaining, despite being a cheesy and sappy series. I admit that I feel quite lonely and bored now that I've finished all eight of them. Ah well, there's always the possibility of rereading them!

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi! First I want to say that I love reading your blog/reviews, you always help me find something new to read. I was wondering if you can recommend me some books with a specific trope I usually enjoy and been craving to read lately. I don't know if you've read ''Just Imagine'' by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but I really loved how the heroine was poor in the beginning and was kind of unrefined and an ''ugly swan'', but then grew up to be elegant and beautiful and smarter. Any similar recs?

Oh, thank you so much! That is extremely flattering. I try my best!

First off, if you haven't watched Sabrina (both the one with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn AND the one with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond, if I'm being real) you absolutely should, because those movies are EXACTLY that and pure romances. Heroine is the shy butler/driver guy's daughter who of course is not noticed despite being played both times by stunners, and she's in love with this cold, grumpy tycoon's playboy younger brother. She forlornly goes to Paris for a while and returns super chic and sophisticated. She immediately catches the attention of the guy she believes she's in love with, but he's engaged to this woman and his marriage would be strategically important for the company, so the older brother decides to distract Sabrina from him... and of course... falls in love for real.

When the Duke was Wicked by Lorraine Heath might hit for this! The main reason why the hero didn't notice the heroine is that she's a good bit younger than him (nine years) buuuut she was infatuated with him from a young age. Her father is a duke and her mother is formerly lower class, and she was brought up around a gambling hell, so she was seen as like... kind of a semi-tomboy card shark who spent a lot of time with her brothers. She asks the hero to help her find a good husband, and he's immediately like "well shit, she sure has grown up... a lot hotter". An all time favorite of mine--so romantic and passionate.

I hate to recommend this, because I don't... dislike it, but I have a lot of issues with it. But you might want to check out Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. Penelope is seen as gauche, largely due to her mother, but begins getting noticed (mostly by Colin) later. A thing I do dislike about this is that like... a part of this is that she lost weight. Lol, I often describe When the Duke Was Wicked as "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton if it didn't suck" so idk, proceed with caution.

Ever Yours, Annabelle by Elisa Braden. Heroine was this a tomboyish type who followed her brother and his best friend around, totally infatuated with the best friend. Then tragedy strikes and they're separated for yeeears. She and the hero meet up again, and he's like "oh. She's DIFFERENT".

I JUST finished Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare, and it's so good. The heroine's parents died when she was young, and she was basically raised by her older brother, who's like, not super responsible and a really hands-off guardian. So she always tagged along with him and his friends and become this hellion known for riding horseback and running around barefoot and being a total tomboy. When her brother's rake friend is about to get engaged, she goes to his other friend and asks for his help in breaking up the relationship, because she's in love with the rake. Supposedly. The friend she asks for help is super exasperated, but begins realizing... Oh damn...... she's like.... super alluring now. It's very hilarious, because she still is super rebellious. She's not very elegant, but she is everything else.

Olivia and the Masked Duke by Grace Callaway may give this to you. The heroine is kind of a childish hoyden type, and the hero is a good bit (11-12 years) older than her and is a widower. When she's like, 18-20 she catches him..... disciplining.... a woman... very consensually. And she becomes determined to have him. Of course, she is all grown up now, so he finds it more difficult that expected to have him.

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean. The heroine was this kind of wildish girl, who was best friend with the neighbor boy until he disappeared after losing everything while gambling. Years later, he finds her again and she's now this like... spinster, but elegant and very respected. He forces her to marry him for Plot Reasons and they kind of need to reconcile with their feelings. Bonus: this Penelope is plump and stays plump, and Bourne cannot get enough of her. One of those "they have sex and he lays there and has an existential crisis" books.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling has elements of this! The hero and heroine first meet briefly when they're in college, and he's from this locally famous family and is sort of refined, whereas she has purple hair and is kind of a mess. They don't see each other again for about ten years, during which she becomes this very flirty, admired girl in town (if a bit of a wildchild). Not very elegant, but like--he doesn't even remember her as she was lol.

Some of these aren't exact matches, but I do recommend checking them out because they may hit the vibe!

[akimmito]

I’ll still be with you

Previous | AO3 | Next

Master List

Chapter 2: The blue of the sky

Maybe, I can never see this sky again...

The raindrops fall in silent lament, drowning out the noise of the city that is prey to its tears. He just watches the clouds above him, ignoring the water and allowing himself to soak, the white uniform shirt sticks to him defining the muscles he hides underneath, the hair almost covering his eyes as it drips following the rhythm imposed by the sky.

"From here, I can't tell if you're crying or not."

Damian looks away from the dark sky and meets his best friend's vibrant blue, a brilliant color among all the gray that surrounds him. Since that fateful night everything has lost its meaning, didn't he want to make his father proud? Didn't he want to show that he could do great things? Didn't he want to find his own way?

"You're going to get sick, let's go to class."

"No, I'll stay here..."

"Shall I call Alfred or Dick? You don't look good. ”He keeps staring at the blue, sees it blur with the boy's conflicting emotions. Jon is still three years younger than him, it doesn't matter that he's already nearing puberty. His features are still childish, he still lights up as if he were his own sun without needing the star that revitalize him.

"I'll be fine, I just need time..."

Why do I feel this way?

Jon just watches him before nodding, doesn't say anything else, and walks away. He gives him little glances the further he walks back to the classroom, for several days he has been that way, sad. And as if the skies of Gotham felt it, the same amount of time it has been raining, shedding the tears that the teenager is not able to let go.

Damian looks back at the clouds, feeling his eyes sting. In an attempt to contain the sensation, he closes his eyes and just lets himself be felt, the drops soaking him even more, knowing that Alfred won't be happy when he sees him dripping so much water that he could give a whole neighborhood drink. But the rain stops falling on him and he opens his eyes again, a black umbrella protects him.

"I extended a permit to your teacher, come with me."

Damian feels the return of the rain abruptly on him and sees Drake walking towards the main entrance, unlike him, his brother is so neat that he doesn't seem to be walking in the rain. He looks at him for just one more moment before walking behind him.

Before, when he first arrived, he saw Drake as someone inferior, as a piece to be eliminated from the board in order to achieve his objectives, he earned his contempt and a cold shoulder that prevailed until now. Drake is the hardest to read, always hidden behind a sympathetic image, easy to ignore, easy to underestimate and forget that, of all the Wayne family members, he's the most dangerous. He runs Wayne Enterprise better than Bruce, everyone says, the efficiency of the company grew as soon as he got the full job a year ago. Drake is nineteen years old and it's already everything Bruce never asked for, but is proud to have.

If I were like him would my father be proud? Would he love me more?

They move silently through the damp streets of the city, Damian has his eyes fixed on the drops that crash against the glass of the window. There was no comment, Drake just handed him his jacket and now it's just as wet as the rest of him.

He don't want to keep thinking, he just want your mind to push all the thoughts that drown him and let he breathe easy. He feels tormented by not being able to fulfill his father's expectations, by the quiet years in the company of Richard and that were broken by the abrupt return of Bruce, by the time it left and will never return, by the lost happiness, for the torn illusions and for the dreams that are impossible to reach on a horizon that recedes with each step he takes.

"I'm Sorry."

Damian turns to Drake immediately, he's suddenly with the blue of the sky that is dimmed by sadness.

"Why?"

"It's my fault, I brought Bruce back."

He doesn't say anything, maybe that's enough, because his brother returns all his attention to the streets.

The sound of the rain envelops them and the cold is almost welcoming. Damian closes his eyes and leans against the glass, he doesn't care about the destination as long as it's as far as possible from the mansion, the school and everything that haunts him. Because he failed.

I just have to resist… it's the only thing I can do.

I'll not change my father's mind.

I'll not change overnight...

The lack of movement brings him back to reality, the noise of the drops hitting the car is not heard either. They are under cover.

"Where we are?"

"My home."

Sure, Drake lives in the city. Like Todd, he follows the patrol routes imposed by Batman, but no longer lives in the mansion. It's just Bruce, Alfred and him...

A sense of tranquility floods him, it's not the mansion. It's a place without shadows, but neither with a light that he doesn't deserve. Follow Drake up to the tall silver, barely noticing the details of the apartment, though it0s more of a complete building. He vaguely remembers that it's the old theater near the alley where his grandparents died, it was not important and still is not, it is almost surprising how detached he feels to the whole thing, when that event was the first and great event that he brought to life to Batman. He could say, without shame, that he feels closer to the death of Richard's parents, because he always spoke to him about them and made him part of those moments, he made them his family.

"Why are we here, Drake?"

He sees him wandering aimlessly until he stops in front of a door, gives him a glance before entering the new environment. Damian follows him, assuming the answer to his question is there.

A room so small that it could be a matchbox, at odds with the large space enjoyed in the previous room. Stacked books and scattered papers are the main decorations, but the most important are the two computers. Drake works in that little 4x4 space? The place is visibly uncomfortable.

"Drake."

"Bruce is being unfair to you." Damian frowns, his brother doesn't face him, he can only see him in profile while he turns on one of the two computers. The light illuminates his face, making his dull expression better to see. "I was also unfair to you six years ago and I remained so for a long time, I was stuck in your version of ten years. I'm sorry for that too, you deserved more. We're family."

It was never a secret that Drake held a grudge against him and to receive such a sincere apology, admitting that it wasn't just Damian who made mistakes, it's a new and unfamiliar feeling. It's not exactly unpleasant, although it does cause him some discomfort.

"I know it was an accident. I can't judge you for that, I've been close to passing that line… ”He falls silent and begins typing, opening files and an email. Damian begins to suspect that those computers are not for work, he looks for the switch and when the whole room is properly lit, he can see everything in greater detail.

Stacked books are magic, since when has Drake been interested in magic? It's no secret that he feels rejection towards it, so it's strange. The scattered papers, for some that he can read, are bank accounts and other documents related to a certain Gabriel Agreste. On the far wall are a couple of photographs, guarded as if they were a secret. Red Robin and a spotted heroine, Drake and a young girl with bright blue eyes and a kind smile. He can only assume that it's the same woman.

"What is all this?"

"The memories of my trip."

Damian doesn't make sense in his words, but doesn't push. He's tired of pushing.

Just hold on... this place is at least much better than the mansion.

"I'll go."

"Hm?"

"I'll leave Gotham and I'll not return." Only until then does he look at the screen, there is another photo of that same woman, but in the design of a French Marie Lenoir passport, he's sure that this is not her real Name. Next to it's also one of him, Timothée Rothchild. That just confirms it's not her real name. "There is something I must do and it will take me a lifetime."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Do you want to come?"

Damian just watches him open another document and this time, it's his photo with a blank passport.

I wanna go?

Maybe that's the time to go back and find my way...

---------

I don't know if I managed to express well the feeling of melancholy and of being... lost, yes. I hope I have made it.

What did you think?

[l2fmpnathan]

Jean Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat (French: December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent.

Basquiat first achieved fame as part of SAMO, a graffiti duo who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1970s, where rap, punk, and street art coalesced into early hip-hop music culture.

By the early 1980s, his neo-expressionist paintings were being exhibited in galleries and museums internationally.

At 21, Basquiat became the youngest artist to ever take part in document in Kassel.

At 22, he was the youngest to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York. The Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of his art in 1992.

Basquiat's art focused on dichotomies such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience.

He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique.

Basquiat used social commentary in his paintings as a tool for introspection and for identifying with his experiences in the black community of his time, as well as attacks on power structures and systems of racism.

Basquiat's visual poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle.

Since his death at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose in 1988, his work has steadily increased in value.

At a Sotheby's auction in May 2017, Untitled, a 1982 painting by Basquiat depicting a black skull with red and yellow rivulets, sold for $110.5 million, becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever purchased.

It also set a new record high for an American artist at auction.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960, shortly after the death of his older brother, Max. He was the second of four children of Matilde Basquiat (née Andrade’s) (July 28, 1934 – November 17, 2008) and Gérard Basquiat (1930 – July 7, 2013).

He had two younger sisters: Liane, born in 1964, and Jeanine, born in 1967.

His father, Gérard Basquiat, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and his mother, Matilde Basquiat, who was of Puerto Rican descent, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Matilde instilled a love for art in her young son by taking him to art museums in Manhattan and enrolling him as a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Basquiat was a precocious child who learned how to read and write by the age of four and was a gifted artist.

His teachers, including artist José Machado, noticed his artistic abilities, and his mother encouraged her son's artistic talent.

In 1967, Basquiat started attending Saint Ann's School, an arts-oriented exclusive private school.

There he met his friend Marc Prezzo; together they created a children's book, written by Basquiat at the age of seven, and illustrated by Prezzo.

At the age of seven in 1968, Basquiat was hit by a car while playing in the street.

His arm was broken and he suffered several internal injuries; he eventually underwent a splenectomy.

While he was recuperating from his injuries, his mother brought him a copy of Gray's Anatomy to keep him occupied.

This book would prove to be influential in his future artistic outlook.

His parents separated that year and he and his sisters were raised by their father.

His mother had been committed to a mental institution when he was 10 and thereafter spent her life in and out of institutions.

By the age of 11, Basquiat was fully fluent in French, Spanish and English, and an avid reader of all three languages.

His family resided in Bodrum Hill, Brooklyn, for five years, then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974, where Basquiat studied at Saint John's School in Cond ado.

After two years, they returned to New York City.

Due to his mother's instability and family unrest, Basquiat ran away from home at 15. 

He slept on park benches in Washington Square Park, and was arrested then returned to the care of his father within a week.

Basquiat left Edward R. Murrow High School in the 10th grade and then attended City-As-School, an alternative high school in Manhattan, home to many artistic students who failed at conventional schooling.

In May 1978, Basquiat and his schoolmate Al Diaz began spray painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Manhattan, working under the pseudonym SAMO (same old shit).

They inscribed poetic and satirical advertising slogans such as "SAMO© AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO GOD."

In June 1978, Basquiat was expelled from City-As-School for pieing the principal. 

At the age of 17, his father kicked him out of the house after he decided to drop out of school.

Basquiat worked for the Unique Clothing Warehouse at 718 Broadway in NoHo while continuing to write graffiti at night.

On December 11, 1978, The Village Voice published an article about the SAMO graffiti.

SAMO Xerox poster (1979)

In 1979, Basquiat appeared on the live public-access television show TV Party hosted by Glenn O'Brien, and the two started a friendship.

He made regular appearances on the show over the next few years.

In April 1979, Basquiat met Michael Holman at the Canal Zone Party and they formed the noise rock band Test Pattern, which was later renamed Gray.

Other members of Gray included Shannon Dawson, Nick Taylor, Wayne Clifford and Vincent Gallo.

The band performed at nightclubs, such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Hurrah, and the Mudd Club.

Around this time, Basquiat lived in the East Village with his friend Alexis Adler, a Barnard biology graduate.

He often copied diagrams of chemical compounds borrowed from Adler's science textbooks.

She documented Basquiat's creative explorations as he transformed the floors, walls, doors and furniture into his artworks.

He also made postcards with his friend Jennifer Stein.

While selling postcards in SoHo, Basquiat spotted Andy Warhol at W.P.A. restaurant with art critic Henry Geldzahler.

He sold Warhol a postcard titled Stupid Games, Bad Ideas.

In October 1979, at Arleen Schloss's open space called A's, Basquiat showed his SAMO montages using colour Xerox copies of his works.

Schloss also allowed Basquiat to use the space to create his "MAN MADE" clothing, which were upcycled garments he painted on.

In November 1979, costume designer Patricia Field carried his clothing line in her upscale boutique on 8th street in the East Village.

Field also displayed his sculptures in the store window.

After Basquiat and Diaz ended their friendship, the SAMO project ended with the epitaph "SAMO IS DEAD," inscribed on the walls of SoHo buildings in early 1980.

When they separated, a mock wave started for SAMO.

Later that year, Basquiat began filming Glenn O'Brien's independent film Downtown 81 (2000), originally titled New York Beat. 

The film featured some of Gray's recordings on its soundtrack.