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time-eatingnoodle · 8 months

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Ao no Summer - Prompts 8 - 15

8 - Trendy

“Soooo… Why are we here again?”

“Because it’s new, everyone is talking about it, and Nii-san cannot resist flashy colours, or the prospect of a sugar rush.”

“Hey!” Rin whipped around to glare at the two of them, pointing them with a would-be threatening finger if his tail wasn’t wagging like an excited puppy. “You said you were down to try it out! If anyone here’s in need of a sugar rush, it’s you guys!”

“I never said I was against it, I was just asking!” Ryuji retorted, looking up at the large, colourful candy store before them, and its towering, oddly terrifying depictions of Mephisto as a bubblegum character looming and grinning down at them. “Just feels like a weird place to start off a double date, is all.”

“I think it’s a great place to start!” Shiemi exclaimed, promptly latching onto her boyfriend’s arm and making him wag his tail some more. “Nori told me about it, I’ve been curious too! She said they had products from all over the world! It’s exciting!”

“All right! C’mon Shiemi, we’re ditching those boring losers!” Rin giggled as he pulled his laughing girlfriend along through the revolving doors, but not before Ryuji could call out:

“You’re not ditching anybody, you moron!”

The two soon disappeared inside the store amongst the crowd of students and children, leaving Ryuji and Yukio behind. With a sigh, Ryuji turned to his friend, and found him looking more amused than he thought he would be. His lips stretched in the lightest of smiles, in a way he knew he was trying to hold still, and when Yukio turned toward him, it grew, like he was trying not to laugh, or to hide his own excitement.

“Shall we?”

Ryuji felt his fingers brush against his hand, promptly making his heart skip a beat. He grinned back, and threw his arm around Yukio’s neck, pulling him in close as he guided him toward the candy store.

“Sure thing! Let’s see what it’s all about.”

Together, the two walked in through the doors, and found themselves delving into a dream world of bubblegum and rainbows. Every single square inch of this store was covered in a sea of sugary goodness, from the floor up to the ceiling, even to the second story and filling the aisles to the brim. Ryuji didn’t think there would be a place that could hold what was possibly every single kind of candy on earth, but here he was, trying to understand how they could fit all of it in one single place. It was a cavern full of treasures! …for those who liked candy, that is. Ryuji had never been big on sugar, but walking around, just to look, still made for a fascinating experience. Besides… The candies weren’t why he agreed to come here.

Ryuji wandered through the store, listening to Rin and Shiemi’s excited giggles from somewhere nearby, glancing at every flash of colour and never letting his eyes stop for a second too long on anything of remote interest… until he spotted Yukio again. It made him stop, and look. He could find his shape between a million others, so effortlessly, and no matter how distracting the rest of the world was. Yukio stood in a quiet corner, behind rows of giant lollipops and stacks of colourful popcorn, and faced a wall that was absolutely full of various jars of round, multicoloured marbles. He looked up and down at the jars, up and down again, as though trying to identify every single marble inside them, and Ryuji could see, from where he stood, hidden behind a cover of hanging bags of cotton candy, that he was smiling. It was something small, yet so true, so radiant, so simple. Ryuji could not help but stare, and admire, and imprint that smile in his memories, as well as the wonder that shone so brightly in his friend’s eyes at that moment.

Ryuji decided that if he wasn’t getting anything for himself… he’d at least get something for Yukio.

~~~

9 - Shopping

The farmer’s market was thriving. The vendors called out to them, showcasing their kioskes chock full of all kinds of local produce, with their rich and lively colours and shapes. Vegetables, fruits, cheese, eggs, drinks and sauces, everything was there, and Rin had already picked up quite a few in preparation for their dinner date that night, but now he was distracted. As he paid the vendor in front of him for a freshly-picked batch of carrots, he turned, and saw that Shiemi had wandered a bit ahead, and he found himself unable to move.

She wasn’t doing anything particularly amazing or mind-blowing; she was just walking along the stands, looking down at all the rows of veggies before her, her step slow, almost pensive. What could she be thinking about, he wondered. Was she wondering whether she should get something? Or perhaps… she was thinking about the things they’d discussed in secrecy? Her mind had been wandering aimlessly as of late, and he could see it, in her step, in her stance, in the distance of her gaze…

Rin stashed the carrots into the plastic bag dangling on his arm, prepared to step up to go talk to her, but then a sudden meow called for his attention, and he turned.

“Rin! There you guys are!”

Kuro was dashing toward him across the market, with Yukio and Suguro further away sending arm waves toward him, and Rin smiled, before holding his hand out toward his familiar.

“And where have you been?” he asked as Kuro jumped up his arm and up to perch on his shoulder, purring happily. “We were about to leave without you!”

“Secret cat things!” Kuro replied, making one final jump to flop down on top of his head. “I can’t tell you!”

“Ah, secrets eh? Guess we all have those lately…”

He raised his head back toward Shiemi, and found her staring down almost intensely at a stack of tomatoes, as though the perfect one would float up to present itself to her. With a little smile, Rin made up his mind, and walked over to her. He only had to briefly look over the tomatoes once before reaching out and grabbing one. He weighed it first, turned it around to inspect it, and presented it to his girlfriend, who seemingly jumped out of her thoughts at the present. He felt the words come to him so easily…

“Imagine,” he said softly, “how great it’ll be when we grow our own stuff ourselves. I bet we can make even bigger tomatoes! What do you think?”

Though she appeared genuinely shocked at first, it didn’t take long for Shiemi to reward him with the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, and for the lights in her eyes to shine once again for him. At that moment, when she reached out and grabbed the tomato, and said, in a warm, relieved tone:

“Yes! I’m sure we can!”

…Rin had never been more certain of his decision than now.

~~~

10 - Thief

It was a hot summer day - and what was the best thing to do when it was hot in summer? Stopping for ice cream, of course! Yukio wasn’t here to complain; he’d been feeling so dizzy since Ryuji surprised him with gifts at the candy store because he’d been overthinking things again, so a nice popsicle was just what he needed.

The breeze was nice and pleasant by the overlook they’d taken a break at, with a perfect view of the town stretching all around them down below the hill, and Yukio could just close his eyes, for a moment, and think about how he’d gotten to this point. Again, he wasn’t here to complain. A double date had seemed like a silly idea at first, but now that he was here…

He supposed he’d imagined it to be completely different than a simple pleasant stroll through town. Of course it was kept simple; Rin didn’t like complicated things, and he’d arranged the whole thing himself. Now, if only Yukio could find a way to give back to Ryuji for earlier…

“Oh, Rin, you’ve got ice cream all over your face… Hold on.”

“Huh? How’d it- mmph!”

Shiemi had taken a handkerchief from her bag on the ground and was already washing Rin’s face with it, and his brother let her do it, and even seemed to enjoy the act, as he was leaning in, closer into her touch. Those were the kinds of interactions that puzzled Yukio greatly; he knew it was a normal thing that couples did, they were just looking out for each other, but… How did they do it so naturally? Without overthinking it? Maybe it was overthinking just trying to pin a reason on the why of everything, when it could just be simple, and still he kept spinning in circles in utter confusion…

At least his popsicle wasn’t all over his face, like his twin’s ice cream. Although… Mmmh… If he somehow got some of it on his cheeks, would Ryuji-

“Uh… babe?”

Yukio looked away from his thoughts and back toward Ryuji, but was surprised to find him looking alarmed as he stared at him.

“Mh? What is it?”

“Uh, you’ve got, uh…”

Ryuji pointed, and Yukio just now saw it - from just outside his peripheral, a stretched out, sneaky paw, with all claws extended, was reaching out for his popsicle.

And the thought only briefly slid by him that he could let Kuro swipe at it, to see what Ryuji would do if it fell on his shirt. But only briefly.

~~~

11 - Mysterious

Shiemi was so very happy, and there was no way she was letting her grim thoughts take over that joy, not anymore. She did feel somewhat ashamed that she’d let her doubts put a shade on what should have been a most delightful day, however brief that dark cloud had been, but now that Rin had talked to her about it, she felt like she’d landed back in her sandals. She couldn’t quite explain it, but now that he’d made his decision, she couldn’t look at him without bursting into a wide grin. She supposed she just wanted him to know how grateful she was, and did so the only way she knew how; by peppering him with kisses and hugs.

Not that he looked against any of it by any means. In fact, she dared say that he was worse than her.

And of course, as the day moved on and their double date took them across multiple locations and the delight followed the arc of the sun across the sky, their date companions did notice that they were supposedly acting different, because one time they were being giggling little messes with each other in the middle of the street, Ryuji eventually commented:

“Are you guys okay?”

Shiemi and Rin both looked at him inquisitively, and she replied:

“Huh? Of course we are! Why?”

Ryuji narrowed his eyes on them, crossing his arms as he looked them over almost suspiciously.

“I dunno, something feels weird. Call it my Lightning sense tingling. Are you guys hiding something?”

Yukio hummed, pensively.

“I didn’t want to say it, but… You two have been acting strange all day.”

“For real?” Rin laughed out loud, and waved his hand nonchalantly. “You worry for nothing! What, I can’t laugh with my girlfriend now?”

“Nii-san, I’m just saying, you’re acting mysterious, and it freaks me out when you do that. Please stop.”

“Mysterious?” Shiemi inquired, but Rin didn’t let any of them elaborate and laughed again, a bit too loudly, and Shiemi thought she understood what Yukio was talking about. Rin was just a terrible liar - not that she was any better.

“Well, that sounds like a you problem! I like this being a mystery, so it’s gonna stay that way.”

Shiemi giggled at his declaration - she didn’t think he’d want to keep it for themselves so bad - and reached out to grab and latch onto his arm to try and calm him down, but to no avail. Ryuji scoffed out a laugh.

“Oh, what’d you call it again? Mr. Mistake, right?”

“That’s right!” Rin pointed a thumb toward himself, sending the two of them a silly little wink and a fanged grin. “That’s me! Mr. Mistake! So you’re not getting any of our juicy secrets!” He leaned a bit more into Shiemi’s touch, and urged her to keep walking, as they were close to their last destination. “Now c’mon, I’m starving! I gotta cook all this stuff!”

“You know you suck at lying, Okumura!” Ryuji called with a knowing grin. “We’re gonna find out one way or another!”

And Mr. Mistake looked back, and pulled his tongue at the other. Yeah, Shiemi told herself, that secret wasn’t going to last.

~~~

12 - Heat

Yukio stepped outside the old dorms, for a bit of a breather. Rin wasn’t going to let him touch any of the food until it was ready for fear that he’d somehow cut his fingers and bleed all over the place, which was a warranted fear he had to admit, and so Yukio accepted his fate, and went out to the nearest balcony. The sun was setting and painting beautiful fiery strokes across the heavens, but its warmth did not waver, and so he closed his eyes, for a moment, and enjoyed the wind, in his hair, on his face, and the rays, tickling his skin. And he found it easy to just breathe.

He was tired after a long day out, and yet he felt not a weight, not a single burden on his shoulders - even Rin and Shiemi’s secret wasn’t bothering him too much right at this moment. It felt almost… foreign, to be this calm. It was so very strange, yet he wouldn’t turn back, and so decided to savour this instant of peace…

Until another warmth, a pair of arms, came to wrap themselves around him from behind, making him open his eyes suddenly. Before he could turn his head to confirm who it was, warm lips landed on his cheek, resulting in a rapid drumming of his heart beats to echo up to his head. Without a word, Ryuji left a number of little kisses on that same cheek, all slow, warm and affectionate, without a hurry in the world, all leaving behind a poignant tenderness that left Yukio speechless. And without really knowing, he leaned into it, closed his eyes again, and felt each and every single one of those kisses, and the way Ryuji’s hands went to grab his own, the way he squeezed him, and the way he immediately found an anchor in his gentle hold. Ryuji was like a tree wrapping around him, his arms roots, securing him in place and keeping him standing when he thought he couldn’t, and Yukio wondered, quietly, when he would be able to be the same for him.

Ryuji’s lips lowered from his cheek to his jaw, where he trailed and touched along up to his ear, and down onto his neck. His touches were so gentle, a little caress that spoke a million words and made Yukio feel things that were still foreign… and then he was moving away, rather abruptly. It left Yukio slightly dizzy, and left his heart drumming away up to his throat, but still he smiled at him as Ryuji moved beside him and smiled back. He reached out and grabbed Yukio’s hand, still on the railing before them, and didn’t look away from him as he said, softly, yet in an amused tone:

“Sorry, but you taste like a watermelon. Couldn’t help myself.”

Yukio tried in vain to stifle a laugh.

“A watermelon?”

“Yeah!” Ryuji laughed again, and scratched at his chin as he added almost sheepishly: “I was just going to give you a peck, but then I thought ‘Mmh, this actually tastes good’, so, uh… yeah. Sorry. I think the candies I ate earlier are acting up.”

Yukio sent him a surprised raised of the eyebrows, but then smirked, knowingly.

“Are you saying that ingesting sugar makes you want to eat me?”

He almost immediately regretted saying those words, and it took everything in him not to throw himself over the railing in shame, but it only made Ryuji laugh some more, and step closer to him, so their shoulders touched.

“Wellll…! You’re not wrong there!”

He exhaled, deeply, and looked him directly in the eyes, with that piercing gaze he’s always had, yet with a tenderness that only shone when he was gazing at him, and him alone. The weight of that gaze made a strike of heat rise to envelop his whole face… and then Ryuji decided to land a fatal blow, because he said, in a soft whisper…

“This date idea was a good one, but I gotta say… I’ve been waiting all day for us to be alone.”

His hand squeezed itself around his, in a subtly needy manner, and Yukio smiled back at him.

“The day’s not quite over yet… We still have dinner.”

Ryuji drew closer, and like a magnet, Yukio did too. Their faces were inches apart, and it felt like the heat of the setting sun had only grown in warmth at that very moment.

“All right. I’ll keep you for dessert then.”

Yukio could hardly even be phased anymore; Ryuji was being weirdly smooth tonight, and he wondered if the candies had anything to do with it. They were from a Mephisto-owned shop, so maybe there was something weird about them, but for once, he wasn’t going to complain, because it worked out in his favour. He didn’t trust Mephisto one bit, but he did trust Ryuji… So he decided to be bold.

“You could… haveatasterightnow.”

Ryuji somehow understood what he said through that indecipherable mumble, because he promptly closed the gap between them, with close to no hesitation, and Yukio was ready to meet him halfway, and their breaths mingled, their lips came so close to touching-

“SHURA!! WHAT’D YOU DO TO ALL MY STUFF?!”

“HUH? WHAT’D YOU SAY?”

“I SAID, WHERE ARE MY KITCHEN TOOLS?!”

~~~

13 - Blade

“THEY’RE GONE!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE GONE?!! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“ON THE ROOF! FORGET YOUR UTENSILS, KIDDO!”

“WHAT?!”

“I SAID-”

Ryuji was mad. Well, not really, now he was just confused, but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rin’s voice echoed out of the balcony doors, somehow reverberating all the way upward, from where Shura’s voice echoed back, seemingly from the building’s roof, and they went back and forth, arguing about what happened to the utensils and somehow still not explaining what had gone wrong with them. He and Yukio shared a look, and they both quietly agreed to go back inside and check it out, and it was almost painful to have to let go this suddenly, but the call of the utensils was somehow stronger.

“DAMNIT SHURA, I GOTTA COOK THIS STUFF! I GOT A FISH TO CUT OPEN, WHAT AM I GONNA USE, MY NAILS?!”

“BE CREATIVE!! I’M TOO BUSY TO GO HELP YOU!”

“I CAN TELL!! Goddamnit!”

As they drew closer to the open kitchen doors of the dorms, lovingly renamed Rin’s Domain, they could hear Shiemi speak softly to him and say:

“I’m sure there’s something we can use… Like, uhm… No, that doesn’t cut, uhm… How about-”

“Tch! Be creative, she says… Oh! Wait, I do have a knife!”

“Huh? What- Oh. Rin, no. Rin, don’t! Not with that!”

Yukio and Ryuji walked inside the kitchen just in time to watch Rin, standing at his counter, in front of a fish staring in blank horror as he drew the Koma Sword from its sheath and erupted in bright blue flames. The three of them were left helpless as he aimed the sword down at the fish, saying in a casual happy tone:

“Okay, I’m doing it!”

And immediately the only thought that latched onto Ryuji’s mind at that moment, was how just the other day he watched Rin gut open a demon with that very same sword- And so he was the first to dash forward to stop him.

“NO YOU’RE NOT, YOU ABSOLUTE LUNATIC!”

~~~

14 - Ice

It took a bit of doing, but they managed to find some replacements - and Yukio had to go up to the roof to see what Shura was up to, and came back hopeless anyway - and dinner was eventually on its way. Rin had planned a whole buffet for the four of them, and while Shiemi could not cook to save her life, she did her best to assist him. While the fish was grilling in the oven, Rin started preparing some cold desserts for all of them, including some shaved ice, and while she was helping out with preparing the syrup, she saw him turn his head, and scowl at the other two sitting in the back.

“You guys okay? You’re the ones being weird now.”

“Don’t even ask,” Ryuji replied sternly. “You know damn well what you did.”

“Huh?! What’d I do?!”

“Ryu…”

It only took Yukio to say his name once, and Ryuji huffed, and when Shiemi turned her head briefly, she saw he had crossed his arms and looked to be… pouting?

“Nothing!” Ryuji replied, while Yukio patted him on the head almost jokingly. “Except you almost poisoned all of us with your stupidity-”

“Oh, fuck off with that! My sword is super clean, I wash it every day! I’ve cooked stuff with it before, actually, and Yukio never even noticed.”

“Wait, what-”

“It gives a nice crispy finish that I can’t get otherwise, it’s actually great!”

Shiemi’s eyes widened, and she realized just then that she’d need to sit down with Rin and settle a few rules for when they launched their plans. She wasn’t really sold out on cooking with a demon heart-sword otherwise used for killing other demons. Not totally, anyway. She trusted Rin more than anything, but-

“You actually fed me that stuff?! I can’t believe you!”

“And did I ever give you food poisoning? No? Then there! Now you all can stop whining- and here, taste this!”

As soon as the first cup of shaved ice was done, Rin picked it up from the counter, and practically shoved it in his brother’s hands, taking him by surprise. He threw a tiny spoon at him, and Yukio almost dropped it, but he sat up straight, and though he hesitated, he did give the treat a little taste. As soon as it entered his mouth, he perked up, much to Shiemi’s joy, and seemed to completely forget about Rin’s odd cooking tools.

“Mmh~!” he hummed, delighted, reaching in to take another spoonful. “Ish good. But don’t think I’ll let that whole thing slide-”

“You’ll forget by tomorrow, I bet. Nyuk-nyuk!”

“Nuh-huh! Not that!”

…and Shiemi couldn’t help but stare at Ryuji while the two argued, because he was just sitting there, dreadfully quiet, and was almost glaring at Yukio. She didn’t say anything about it, but he did look like he wanted to punch him, for some reason she couldn’t quite figure out…

How odd. They had looked so cute together earlier…

~~~

15 - Fireflies

Rin was quite proud of himself. Dinner went perfectly; everything was ready in a timely manner despite a few hiccups, and they were all able to sit together on the roof - after Shura had cleaned up whatever she’d been doing up here all day - and just enjoy each other’s company over a delicious meal. At the end of the day, they had all agreed to do this whole double date thing again sometime, and already they were putting out ideas and planning ahead of time, which made him very happy, as it’d been his own idea to do this in the first place.

The sky was clear that night, the air fresh yet pleasant. They all sat together by the edge of the roof, looking over the horizon, and the whole rest of the world spreading at their dangling feet, and for once, neither of them worried about the future, however far it waited. Rin was happy to just sit here, in the growing dark blue of night, with his friends, and just… let tomorrow come when it came. For now, the world was quiet, and Shiemi was leaning against him, and her body was warm and sought his own. He only needed to look down at her, at her smile and her eyes, and see the entire world, and he worried not, because he knew where he was going. Either way… he’d be with her.

“We could go to the beach next time,” Ryuji proposed, in a soft voice, as though he didn’t want to disturb the night air, and Yukio hummed.

“It’d be nice… I don’t get to go very often.”

“And when we do,” Rin snickered, “you hide in the shade anyway.”

“I just don’t want to burn. You know I don’t tan, you’ve got the same issue.”

“And I don’t hide from the sun.”

“And you end up burning anyway.”

Ryuji hummed, wrapping an arm around Yukio’s shoulders and drawing him close to him, in a way that made Rin smile just looking at them.

“I could cover you from head to toe in sunscreen. You’d be a bit slippery, but…”

Shiemi giggled at the image.

“I’m sure it’d help with buoyancy! He could float better in the water.”

“True! We should test it out!”

“Well, uh! Uh… I mean, sure.”

Rin raised his brows at his brother, surprised.

“You actually agree?” he asked, and Yukio’s face promptly turned red. “Who are you and what have you done with my shy little baby brother?”

“Listen,” Yukio started, shooting him a knowing glare, “you know I’m trying-”

“I’m just pulling your leg,” Rin laughed back, reaching over to slap him on the back. “If we get to try out the buttery-”

“Buoyancy.”

“-buoyamshy, then maybe you’ll finally let me bury you in sand!”

“Don’t push your luck, Nii-san.”

“You’re the one who’s gonna get buried,” Ryuji retorted, and they all shared a laugh at the image, and Rin felt good, and light.

And then… out of nowhere… they were surrounded by lights. Small dancing lights, flashing in and out of existence, all descending from somewhere above them, like little stars coming to greet them and light up their world. As they all stared in awe, Rin quickly realized what they were. Fireflies.

And as the little glowing insects surrounded them as a cloud, landed on their arms and shirts and made Shiemi laugh and awe, they all sat back, in silence, and watched the spectacle unfold, under a veil of peace. Shiemi glanced up at him, and it seemed to Rin that her eyes were full of fireflies as well, glowing just for him. The sight alone made him lean down and kiss her, a chaste yet telling kiss that said everything he wasn’t saying to her. She giggled, as she always did when he kissed her that way, and laid her head against him, and he sat back on his palm, holding her close…

“Nii-san.” He turned to look at Yukio. His brother was holding Ryuji’s hand, in a tight grip, but was looking at him, and whispered just for him to hear. “Will you tell me what you and Shiemi-san are hiding? You’ve worried me all day with this.”

Rin grinned back at his brother. He nodded.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, how ‘bout that? Let’s just enjoy the moment…”

#aoex #blue exorcist #ao no exorcist #aonosummer2023 #fanart #fanfiction #fanfic #rinshi #yukibon #rin x shiemi #yukio x ryuji #rin okumura #shiemi moriyama #yukio okumura #ryuji suguro #writing #illustrated fic #you're never gonna find out what they're hiding btw #it's a secret for you too

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bookaddict24-7 · 6 months

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

180. Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I knew I wanted to read HOTLINE from the moment I saw the cover and read the synopsis months ago. It offered everything I love in literary fiction: Immigration, a character growing through their experiences, and an interesting point of view that differs from my own when it comes to the immigration experience.

Reading HOTLINE was like seeing a story from the perspective of my immigrant parents. Much like the son in Nasrallah's novel, I came to Canada at a young age. My parents fought tooth and nail to make ends meet and to make sure I had a better future than the life they left behind. Our country wasn't war-torn, but it was going through a special period where food was incredibly scarce and the police handed out jail sentences for too many things. Many people had "one foot at home and one foot in jail" because of all the side hustles they had to do in a country that frowned upon that.

So, seeing a mother striving to do what she could with what little resources she had was incredibly eye-opening. Making the incredibly hard decision of leaving a child alone so you can provide for them was another relatable instance. HOTLINE was such a captivating exploration of how parents sacrifice and compromise in the present for a hopefully better future. It is a complicated story of grief for both someone lost and a dream destroyed by the stereotypes and biases that live in a new country.

It was also jarring to see how life might have been like in the 80s in comparison to today's society, much like the differences between the 90s (when we immigrated) and today. The hustle was real, but (in this case) it paid off in the end--which was a welcome surprise, even if it wasn't entirely a roses and rainbows story. I liked the reality of how messy life can be and how even though a job we never thought we'd have is the only thing keeping you in a less-than-perfect home.

HOTLINE also had a unique level of community that I loved to see. It proves that a village-full of support makes a massive difference. While there were moments of the MC's self-doubt and fear, there were many moments where the reader is reminded that hope can exist even in the darkest moments.

I felt like I was catching a glimpse into a real home and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Beautifully written! I highly recommend this, especially for those who are constantly seeking out immigration stories.

___

181. Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the first book in this series (duology?), so I was so incredibly delighted to see that there was a sequel!

I think one of the huge benefits that the first book had was that I knew absolutely nothing about it. I wasn't expecting it to be a YA fictional version of MINDHUNTER, which was an incredibly intriguing nonfiction text about how Forensic Profiling came to be and the process behind it. Seeing a fictional story from a teen POV was interesting and darkly fun.

In this sequel, we don't get as much of that exploration that we did with book one, instead we're mainly focusing on catching the one big bad person and while there are cameos and many, many twists and turns, it wasn't as great of a read as the first one.

This isn't to say that I didn't still enjoy this book! I remember thinking, "Wow, I really do enjoy this author's writing." I was hooked and I really wanted to see where the story would take these characters. It was also kind of sad seeing where trauma can take a person and how far they are willing to go to run from said trauma.

There was a certain level of madness to this book and the evil mastermind behind some of the characters. My mind is doing a bunch of twists and turns just trying to write this review.

I highly recommend the first book in this series, especially with the Fall season upon us. Spook yourself with a YA crime thriller. I think knowing that this is YA makes it all that much more creepier.

___

182. The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig--⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I've been eyeing THE BOOK OF ACCIDENTS ever since it came out. I wanted to read it, but I won't lie: the size of it intimidated the hell out of me. I finally bit the bullet when another book I was reading recommended it and I thought, "Why not? It's the perfect season for it."

I'm glad I finally read it, if not for the creepy atmosphere of it, but for the writing itself and how reminiscent it was of Stephen King. I love a good spooky King novel and this one delivered!

Some of the twists in this book were a bit wild, but they all worked together in the end. By the conclusion of the book, the length made sense because we needed to get a well-rounded story. However, during the reading of the story, I did start wondering when it would end. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, but I kept thinking, "Okay, what's next? Why do I still have five hours left in this audiobook?"

I DO think the concept of THE BOOK OF ACCIDENTS was really intriguing, especially when we start to consider the potential meanings behind the book. Wendig's novel explores boyhood and the consequences of actions and generational trauma. The What-if's of THE BOOK OF ACCIDENTS is probably, to me, the best part because we get to meet a cast of characters that give us a bigger picture of what could have been.

By the end, I did have some questions that were left unanswered, but for the most part, it was a pretty satisfying conclusion. I didn't like the mom and how her mentality worked at times--but it also shows how imperfect we can be as humans. I think that's one of the things I love the most about Horror. Too often we look for the shock and awe in the genre, but forget how complex the exploration of humanity can be in Horror.

Anyway, I'd recommend it if you're a fan of Stephen King. While Wendig isn't exactly as verbose as King, his ability to set a mood and a setting was very reminiscent of the Horror master. If you don't mind the length, then definitely add this one to your TBR list!

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183. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed Killjoy's novella and how it creeped me out while reading it in the middle of the night. Although short, it felt heavy enough that I couldn't read this in just one sitting. Which is both a good and eh thing.

The heaviness of the novella is a good thing because it means that I felt like the pages held a lot of meaning. THE LAMB WILL SLAUGHTER THE LION explored grief, the power of love (as cliche as that sounds), family, society and its downsides, and of course, the topic of Power. What does it mean to have power? What do the different kinds of power look like?

The heaviness of the novella can be a bad thing because it sometimes lost my interest. I felt like even though it was short, it lagged in some parts. I wanted answers, but the writing sometimes felt cluttered enough that the answers were always on the next page and, sigh, I was already worn out from reading what I had just read. This is most definitely a me problem, but having just come off two novellas that didn't give me this issue, I found it noticeable enough to note in this review.

I AM super excited for the sequel, though. The way things were left at the end of this book had me genuinely excited to see where Killjoy takes the story!

The characters were all interesting and occasionally morally grey (as can so often happen when magic is involved alongside the concerns we may have for modern-day society), and the topics explored were timely and interesting. If you're looking for an entertaining Queer horror novella with a beautiful cover, then this one is for you!

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184. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw--⭐️⭐️

I'm either too dumb to understand this book, or I'm one of the few who fell through the cracks with this one and just didn't enjoy it. Some of my friends have read this and they've all enjoyed it thoroughly. Me? I read this and as I'm writing this review, I still have no idea what this book was about.

I know the...general gist of it. But for the most part, this was a blur and I'm lowkey disappointed because I really enjoyed Khaw's haunted previous book.

I'm glad others were able to enjoy this so thoroughly, but it was truly not for me.

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185. Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman--⭐️

THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER, at its core, had an interesting story premise. Did it have creepy moments? Yes, it certainly did. There were some scenes that were downright gruesome and I'm sure will serve as someone's nightmare fuel. The pacing was great and the twists were entertaining, if a bit predictable. So, why am I giving this a one star rating? Well...

As a historical fiction Horror novel, I expected some of the language in this book. Having read some of Stephen King's older books, I'm no stranger to derogatory language in the Horror genre--especially when they're historical fiction novel. This book, however, was published in 2011 and used racial slurs with such relish that I started to flinch at the words (not that I normally don't--I do, but it was so prominent in this book that it started to overshadow some of the Horror of the book.)

I've also never commented on the descriptions of women in older Horror books because well...given the time they were written in, it was expected. I don't condone it, but some of these books are truly a product of their time. But a book published in 2011 referring to a woman as a dog during sex and then just...treating her as both a sexual and plot device in this book was...a lot. And the irony is how strong she is as a character in her own right. This strength could have been further explored if she had been given a chance by Buehlman. Instead, she is first the property of one man at a young age and then the property of another man, who dehumanizes her during sex.

"Dayla, the book is set in the 1930's!" That's fine, but you can write a woman set in that time without dehumanizing her like you're writing her character in a 70's-80's era of Horror.

So, while the horror of the book is creepy and the twists were great, there were some jarring moments of discomfort in this book that were too much for even me, a King fan. (And that's saying a lot, because those who've read older King know how messed up his writing can be.)

ALSO: Super creepy how there is a scene where a FOURTEEN year old girl catches the male main character's attention. And he actively has to remind himself that SHE IS FOURTEEN. I had finished writing my review and had to come back to add this because I had blocked it out of my head. She is described as "simple", I believe, and while he catches himself "flirting" with her, his wife mentions that she's a little jealous. Like, wtf. LMAO.

Anyway, read this if you'd like, but be prepared. I don't know if I'll read more stuff by this author. We shall see!

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186. I Survived the Joplin Tornado by Lauren Tarshis--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I knew close to nothing about this tornado, but it was definitely fascinating to read about it, especially from the perspective of a child!

I think one of the things that makes these books a bit of a challenge for an adult to read (me, I am this adult) is the suspension of disbelief. I'm glad these characters always have hopeful endings full of miracles, especially because the readers these are targeted for are super impressionable. But...the more I read of these, the harder it is for me to believe all the happy endings. I'm definitely happy that characters like the mc in this one are able to walk away from this disaster, but it's just something I've been noticing.

Maybe I'm growing a little jaded from these books LOL.

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187. Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh this book was FUN. Yes, the context is dark and murderous, but this one definitely had a lot more going on in it (action-wise) than the first book. I didn't know what to expect with this one because while I enjoyed the first book, I definitely thought it was more of a slow burn horror. This one dived right into the horror!

If you've ever watched the SCREAM movies from the very first one, then you are familiar with Sidney's progression as a character. We see her go through so many stages of PTSD and during all of that, she becomes the ultimate Final Girl. We see the same thing with Jade, the MC of THE INDIAN LAKE trilogy. Her denial, PTSD, and disassociation with her past self was unexpected but also realistic. She's the one who cried wolf once, wasn't believed, and now is watched again to see if she will cry wolf again. She has the pressure of being a survivor and she tries over and over again to pass on that legacy to someone else who could potentially be another Final Girl.

Jones's novel takes place during the holidays, which means that we are in a blizzard of snow and blood. Imagine if all of the killing in the first book were spread out throughout a whole novel and you'll have a better understanding of just how wicked this book was. It felt like I was reading a cursed sequel of a horror classic that was actually...really, really good? It was campy, heartfelt, had many twists, and some pretty intriguing Indigenous touches that made this all the more unique.

I so highly recommend DON'T FEAR THE REAPER. It was such a great read for the Autumn season (any season really), and lived up to my expectations. Will definitely be picking up the final book in the trilogy when it comes out!

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Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

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Happy reading!

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brianhanes · 1 year

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Why Star Wars Attack of the Clones Wasn’t That Bad

A lot of times Attack of the Clones get slack from Star Wars (especially Original Trilogy fans) but it honestly was a decent film even if it wasn’t great for Star Wars standards.

1. The Prequels faced a very high standard

As previously mentioned, the Original Trilogy is one of the best trilogies of all time. Many consider it to be the best trilogy in cinema history. They were known for having great acting, stunning graphics, and a compelling story. This means people expected to see all the same from the Prequels and anything it fell short on caused people to ignore it’s strengths.

I’d honestly argue Attack of the Clones had better pacing than A New Hope. I’m not saying it was a better movie but for me, many of the scenes that took place in the middle of the film (in the Death Star) were dull. We also need to keep in mind the Vader vs Ben Kenobi duel was poor and the movie made stromtroopers look like a joke with them constantly missing. But nostalgia can fix many things. Don’t get me wrong, the start of the ANH was very strong and the end of it (trench run and celebration scene) brought about some of the best moments in cinema history.

2. It reduced the sting of Jar Jar

The main reason and many viewers enjoy Attack of the Clones more than the Phantom Menace is because of Jar Jar Binks. That character had constant, over-the-top comedic scenes that just weren’t funny. Many thought he killed the movie and Attack of the Clones was at least watchable in most scenes. More so, it made such an annoying character become a mature senator. He ended up being more mature than Anakin!

3. People Took it Too Seriously

This honestly is the biggest reason people didn’t enjoy the film as much as they could have. Attack of the Clones is easily one of the funniest if not the funniest Star Wars movie of all time. I watched it as a kid, so I was able to see this, and I watched it again as an adult and enjoyed it even more. It isn’t a Rogue One type of story and shouldn’t be treated that way.

4. We get to see Anakin simp as soon as it starts

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When I rewatch, this scene always has me cracking up. Perhaps some people had gotten so old that they forgot what it was like to be young. If you understand what it’s like to be a teenager and young adult, then much of what Anakin does should make you laugh. I’ve known so many Anakins in my life and honestly don’t know what we’d do without them bringing flavor in this world.

Anakin loses it with Obi Wan all because he’s flipping out about some girl. But it’s not just about that, he’s a young man who wants to prove who he is. Like many recent high school grads in the work force and college graduates. Anakin at this time was 19, still a teenager who wants to rush too quickly which gets him into trouble. I myself have had to learn this lesson so many times, to slow down.

Every time I hear Anakin impulsively say, “WHY??!!” I bust out. Even Jar Jar gulps in fear when he witnesses Anakin’s outburst. And pay close attention, you’ll notice Anakin is still staring at Padme when everyone else has moved on. Lucas knew exactly what he was doing lmao.

5. Anakin is so realistic

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People like to make fun of prequel dialogue even if they believed Anakin was a decent or good actor, but I have another argument, the dialogue wasn’t even that bad. At least not as bad as many people were making it out to be. For me, realistic acting is never bad acting because the point of acting is to mimic reality.

Let us think about Anakin’s past shall we. In the last movie he was a slave. Taken away to join a group of detached monks for ten years. For all his highschool age and younger years he never learned how to deal with women he liked. He never kissed a girl, probably had no idea what flirting was, and wasn’t trained on dating etiquette. Whether people would like to admit it or not most of us wouldn’t figure out and many of us still haven’t in better circumstances found out how to talk to people we are attracted to.

I knew awkward adults in college and high school when it came to women. Why then is it strange for Anakin to be awkward when they who at least had more opportunities to learn about dating approaches were just as awkward?

PADME!!!

6.The first conflict was fun

I did not watch Attack of the Clones in theaters, it was a bit before my time. The first Star Wars movie I watched in theaters was Revenge of the Sith, but I was still quite young then. I don’t know how people initially reacted when the saw the movie. but it had a strong start. There was a conflict, we knew a bounty hunter wanted to hunt down Padme. Anakin had simp tension, and an epic chase ensued throughout the Corsucant streets.

7. Anakin killing the Tuskens was also realistic

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Remember when I said Anakin was only 19? There are soldiers who at 19 snapped and wiped out villages. Killing men, women, and children. More so, Anakin himself is a former child soldier. Who was recruited at 9. Jedi in the Clone Wars TV series fight at 14. Anakin in a legends comic killed someone at 10 years old. Perhaps that could have been more fleshed out, but when you are fighting at such a young age your mind is at risk.

Not to mention they just killed his mother in cold blood. I also loved the scene itself. Seeing Anakin rage and slash up Tuskens was great. I thought his acting was amazing. He was clearly ticked off and people often blame others when big incidents happen (like how he blamed Kenobi). Some people criticize Padme for staying with Anakin knowing he slaughtered tuskens of all ages. But Padme’s reaction was realistic.

I recommend people watch a movie called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” about Tina Turner. It’s incredibly underrated. Women stay with abusive men all the time. In this case, she had a clear way to justify it because they killed his mother and Tuskens had terrorized the local villages for years. The Tuskens themselves have probably cleaned out households, so while Anakin’s actions weren’t justifiable they are not surprising and remember Anakin is from Tatooine.

For all we know, he may have heard bad stories about them for years even while he was gone away as a Jedi. He might have been anxious about his mother well before the movie.

8, Jango Fett vs Obi Wan

This fight was epic and Jango gave us everything Boba didn’t in ROTJ, an amazing fight! Jango was the first to really show us that you don’t have to be a Jedi in Star Wars to take them on.

9. Jango vs Obi Wan in Space

Ok honestly, this was one of the best dogfights in Sci-Fi history. There I said it. It was phenomenal 10/10 the entire time. And it even did things to make it stand out as a showdown such as...

10. Seismic Charges

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Jango’s use of a homing rocket was also a nice addition to the space showdown.

11. No Dull Moments

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How anyone can watch Anakin riding that animal until he gets bucked off without laughing is beyond me. It’s gold and the CGI only makes it more comical.

12. The sand joke

Big deal, Anakin said sand is rough, course, and irritating. Is that not true? Sand really has all of those qualities. Is it more irritating that he said everything is smooth on Naboo, perhaps but is it that big of a deal. I’ve heard plenty of people make weird statements before and remember this is a monk who was not able to party, date, or do anything wild.

If you live a socially deprived like you might make lame statements too. All we can reasonably expect Anakin to do well is fight well and he did that. Outside of that, we could somewhat expect him to conduct himself professionally, but there is always an immature person out there. Like many young people, rock stars, class clowns, and others. There is always that person, why can’t it be Anakin.

13. The Droid Factory

This was a visually stunning scene with great action. We also got a good humor bit with R2 and 3P0. They are always 100 percent on character. Their argument about leaving the ship was noteworthy as well.

Also mentioning humor, when Obi Wan said he wanted to be left alone and Anakin literally wanted to ditch him after he was captured, I was in stitches. Seriously felt like a comedy skit. Padme of course does the mature thing and emphasizes that they need to rescue Obi Wan and lets Anakin know that she’ll be looking for Obi Wan. Anakin then has no choice but to also look for his master.

Maybe he was seriously, lol. Perhaps he had been nagged one too many times. Perhaps he was yanking her tail and knew Padme would insist. I guess Kenobi would have to hope that was the case.

14. The Arena creatures

A great nod to Star Wars in general. Creatures have always been an essential part of Star Wars and Anakin never missed his mark. Especially when Anakin took command of one of them. That was iconic.

15. The Arena Battle

Here Lucas did something really novel. In other depictions, we always only saw one or two Jedi around. Lucas gave us a scene with 200 Jedi fighting together as a group against a massive droid army. Like the Battle of Hoth, speeder chase, Mustafar duel, Phantom Menace duel, and Battle over Coruscant this was a staple moment in Star Wars.

Though the scene itself might not have been cinema gold, the idea was. it really deserves to get remade more in Star Wars video games. I hope to see more scraps like this in Tales of the Jedi’s next seasons.

17. C3PO switched out

Hilarious, who’d ever imagine fighting him? Him nearly blasting Gunray made it even better.

18. The Clone Troopers

One of the most beloved aspects of Star Wars. What later became a staple of the Clone Wars 2003 miniseries and 2008 Clone Wars series. It all started here and there was something special about the early clones. While the second phase of clones was my favorite (episode 3 timeline), I really enjoyed the uniform, professional, and mysterious vibes we got form the early clone troopers.

19. Count Dooku

One of the most iconic, beloved, elegant, and unique Sith Lords of all time emerged. Dooku is a staple Star Wars character (like Maul, Vader, Grievous, Jango Fett, Luke, Obi Wan) who is listed in many fans top 10 Star Wars characters. Not only is he an amazing villain but he makes for a great anti-hero or anti-villain in the Tales of the Jedi tv series. And they picked someone who was 80 years old yet still seemed powerful at all moments and someone who they can still make a lot more content about in a new show.

20. Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a classic prequel character. He has been shown in countless tv shows, comics, and novels. He is known for his dogmatic nature, being a mighty force user, and exceptional duelist. Mace really shows us what it’s like to look at an intimidating Jedi Master. His showing against Jango Fett further displays his dominance.

Dude is just OP!

21. Yoda in action

I’ve heard that people reacted by cheering in the theaters while watching Yoda’s first lightsaber duel. I remember watching the documentary and seeing how the Prequel devs created a unique acrobatic fighting style for the legendary Jedi master. He dueled in a way that made him seem terrifying and inspiring despite his size.

He showed he had the force feats and saber skills to easily match a lethal Sith Lord who just beat two top tier duelists. This was another groundbreaking moment in Star Wars much like Obi Wan’s duel with Grievous and the fight in the Phantom Menace with a double bladed lightsaber user.

22. Geonosians

Star Wars has many fascinating cultures and races such as the Wookiees, Ewoks, Mandalorians, and Twileks but what makes Geonosians particularly inspiring is their insect like appearance. More so, most of them seem to have an ability to fly and they have unique weapons that make them lethal warriors. The vicious nature of Geonosian warriors was further explore in the Star Wars Republic Commando video game which came two years after the release of Attack of the Clones.

23. Kamino

I don’t know how I skipped this but I skipped it. Kamino was an awesome water world. Similar to how Mustafar was an awesome fire planet and Naboo was stunning. Bespin was a gorgeous land in the clouds and Hoth was a nice arctic tundra. Kamino is another fine addition to Star Wars’s collection of intriguing locations.

24. It builds up beautifully with Revenge of the Sith

Especially the scene where Anakin has his vision and his mother dies. It really explains the peril he feels when Padme is also at risk. Anakin didn’t have a lot of people that he loved that weren’t involved in the Jedi Order. And that really matters because all the Jedi that he knew (even the ones he liked) constantly reminded him (whether intentionally or not) of the rules and obligations he desperately wanted a break from.

The scene where Anakin vows to never again let someone he loves die and how he reacts to his mother’s passing is huge. It really lays out why he isn’t willing to risk Padme’s death in Episode 3 and how his biggest issue is an inability to accept that some things are beyond his control. Furthermore, it laid out the foundation for the story of Darth Plageius the Wise.

My rating of ATOC is 7 out of 10 stars but I honestly enjoy it more than that rating.

25. Obi Wan’s sass

Ok how did I miss this? Anakin doesn’t get to hog all of the comedic points. Kenobi definitely deserves to join in on this fun. If you didn’t notice his blatant sarcasm during the “rescue attempt” I really don’t know what to tell you.

26. The Fireplace Scene

One of my friends mainly agrees with me, he tells me most of the scenes in this movie are decent. Some were a bit cringey but they made sense (like how Anakin acted around Padme) but the fireplace scene was just atrocious. I’m going to argue with him. I’m going to argue it was delicious. But seriously, this is an all or nothing scene.

Either you love it or hate it and I love it to pieces! Perhaps not so much if you care about Anakin’s dignity, I mean he really went way to far here. Like I said, the sand quote wasn’t embarrassing, it wasn’t an odd thing to think though uncommon to express. But the I CAN’T BREATH, you’re in MY SOUL TOURMENTING ME! That would get a man ghosted very quickly.

Still, fighting in the battlefield and almost getting killed alongside each other might change things. I mean, maybe Padme was intending to ghost and friend zone until that happened. Being a hero, slashing droids in half, that definitely can win a woman over.

And to be fair, if a woman meets with you in a nice gown and you’re supposed to “protect her” I’m not quite sure what her real motives are.

27. Deathsticks

Brilliant, brilliant, absolutely BRILLIANT! Seriously, drugs in Star Wars were makes it feel much more real. But what’s even better about this is Kenobi himself uses his trademark jedi mindtrick to convince a man to clean himself up, stop selling drugs, and change his life. That’s inspiring, Lucas was dropping golden nuggets and making people laugh in a Star Wars movie.

28. Little Boba

This was honestly a nice touch. Boba at this point in the story a goofy little kid, it added personality to his dry yet cool persona we saw in the OT. Which was appropriate for the Original Trilogy, but it is important to know that people are people, there is a reason they act however they do.

Boba Fett yelling, “Get him dad. Get HIM. FIRA.” It wasn’t that bad and hey he was a kid, just rooting for his father. Boba also showed maturity by doing as Jango ordered without hesitation and being able to operate the Slave 1 on his own even managing to use it to hurt Obi Wan.

The most important scene here was him witnessing his father’s death, it completely explain how he became such a ruthless and cold bounty hunter later. But like his father Boba had some values, unfortunately AOTC didn’t do a good job showing the values Jango had or how he passed them down to his son.

29. Dexter’s Diner

It was a nice dive into a more casual aspect of the Star Wars universe. I felt the same way about the glimpses we got into Coruscant, the Jedi Temple, Naboo, and the public transport in the film. The nice thing about Star Wars is getting different themes and narratives each movie. it can’t be all doom and gloom like Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and you get it.

30. Look at what it led to

I pretty much wrapped it up but I want to add this. I’m not focusing on projects that came out Revenge of the Sith, which in my opinion was the best movie lore-wise (not in general) in Star Wars history. Attack of the Clones and the Phantom Meance may not be the best Star Wars movies by any means, but they were decent (well TPM is decent without Jar Jar) but lore-wise I think the Prequels as a whole are on another level to anything else Star Wars.

Star Wars Republic Commando (2004)

One of the best video game series of all time. It was outright phenomenal and delved more deeply into the mysterious, sci-fi, war, and clone aspects of the Clone Wars that Attack of the Clones introduced us to.

Star Wars Clone Wars (2003) Volume 1

This series was epic and action packed. It really showed us the huge battles, vast frontiers, mysterious worlds, great array of vehicles, and different climates that were shown in Clone Wars battles. This is a distinct vibe from the later Clone Wars which has more of an episode 3 vibe. The biggest difference is by then both the CIS and Republic are much more developed and begin to fight in more populated and crowded worlds.

The 2008 Clone Wars series initially gave us a blend of both feels that were in Episode II and III but eventually (post season 3) became more centered on the Episode III tone of war. The same was true with the second volume of the Clone Wars (which makes perfect sense) but the first volume is largely regarded as the favorite. And what really made it special was that peculiar vibe the era had, you never knew what you were going to encounter.

When invisible droids engaged Yoda on Illum or when Ventress dueled Anakin something about it was so new and fresh that isn’t easily implemented in other eras. And for good resaon, they all have something special about them.

Star Wars The Clone Wars (2002)

It was a phenomenal vehicle based video game that existed in a Star Wars setting. It had a compelling story, epic battles, unique vehicles, and diverse multiplayer modes. This game just showed how much potential the AOTC era had.

Star Wars Republic (2002-2004 content)

While Republic initially came after The Phantom Menace and many of it’s great comics were inspired by the character Quinlan Vos, much of it’s content that came after 2002 was influenced by Attack of the Clones. But likewise Attack of the Clones was influenced by the comic series.

Many people though Aayla Secura was created in Attack of the Clones, but she actually first appeared in Star Wars Republic back in 1998. Still, the Clone Wars timeline brought many interesting storylines to this series.

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findingnemosworld · 8 months

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𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐞 - 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧

• related to my wattpad story ( @taznimali if you wish to follow )

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It shouldn’t be this nerve wrecking, she had gone on dates before, Yes, some were blind dates set up by her aunt in hopes of her moving forward in life which were quite the disaster and yet in that moment she stands in front of her mirror, debating on which dress she’d chose, eventually she opts for the red dress or as her aunt liked to call it, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.

She finally manages to tie up the strings then she smoothed out the front of the dress to make it seem more presentable at least, " Ok, relax " Luna says to no one in particular, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. " Relax, it’s just a date "

Except, it wasn’t just a date.

Months of back and forth, of battling the obvious tension that developed between them at work or even spending time together had accumulated to this moment where they finally gave in to what they both have been feeling all along.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing followed by two knocks.

She swallows the lump in her throat, then checks her reflection in the mirror once again before a smile formed on her lips which were coated with a beautiful shade of rosé, her makeup was simple, the dress looked perfect, her hair cascaded in beautiful waves across her back and the heels were comfortable. “ Ok I think it’s good " she mutters before sauntering out of the bedroom to make her way towards the front door.

He was in a limbo state of emotions, in the sense of feeling both nervous and excited all at once, the fact that it’s finally happening was beyond anything he could have ever dreamed of yet he was thankful nonetheless, they’d gone past the blurry lines and unanswered questions to finally get to this very moment.

Falling in love with your best friend seemed like a ludicrous idea back then, he never believed that the girl who stuck by his side and had been there for him when he needed could ever be anything more than that yet it seemed that fate had other plans that seemed to kick in when she first returned a year ago.

And it all lead to 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 very moment.

The door flies open and he could have sworn that if his heart possessed limbs, then it would have ran straight for her. She looked incredibly beautiful, she’d always been and yet tonight, there seemed to be a different air about 𝐡𝐞𝐫, about them in particular.

" Hi " She breathes out the greeting, with a soft yet captivating smile.

" Hi " He muttered, his gaze raked over every inch of her; feeling the blood rushing in a million different direction, an embarrassed cough erupts from his lips as he shakily hands her the bouquet of red roses. " These are for you " he smiles.

" Oh wow " She giggles, taking a whiff of the roses, " Thank you Jord " she said before stepping to the side, " Erm … come in. I’ll put them in a jar before we leave "

He walks in, standing near the doorway as she walked into the kitchen to fill up the empty vase, then she placed the roses in. " All done " she said loudly before grabbing her purse to join him, " shall we head out? "

He blinks twice, and smiles. " Ah yes, yes we shall "

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“ Hey Lulu " He breaks the silence as they drive towards their destination for the night.

" Hm … " She hums in response, she’d grown accustomed to the nickname despite hating it at first. " What’s up? "

" I didn’t tell you this earlier! " He began with a soft tone, " But you look … " he pauses before a soft chuckle erupts from his lips, " You look incredible " he whispers.

Luna casts her gaze away, silently grateful that there were no lights to show how her cheeks reddened from the compliment she heard, " Thank you Jordan, you don’t look so bad yourself "

He grins, " I’m glad you think so, because I thought I might hear a comment about my hair " he adds teasingly.

" Oh ha ha! " She rolls her eyes before laughing, " We both know you deserved them, someone had to knock some sense into you about using that hair gel, please give your poor hair a rest "

" If you say so " He said, " I can’t say no to you "

" Lucky me " She giggles.

They reach the restaurant and were lead to a private booth before being given the menus, the first few minutes were spent in silence as Luna looked over the selection of meals, " I don’t know what to choose " she states, " Do you go here? "

" Yeah, I’ll order us the special " He said.

Once they had their orders down, they spent the rest of the night chatting about everything and nothing over a glass of wine.

" I’m glad we are taking the leap " He said with a smile, " It’s been quite the wild ride for us "

" It has been " She nods in agreement before she looks at him. " Jordan, I’ve always - erm - I’ve always loved you but a part of me believes that you were better off with someone else so I settled for being the 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 "

" I’m sorry I never paid attention to your feelings Lu " He said with an apologetic tone. " I was reckless and didn’t know better, but now I do know what I want "

" And what is that? " She smiles.

" I want to spend a lifetime with you, cuddling every morning, watching our girls grow up and become closer than we are " He starts with a smile before adding, " I want us to have our own nights after matches where I can just hold you close to me, we don’t have to say anything, just be there for one another with no words spoken. I want to be able to celebrate every win and cry after every loss with hope that we can survive it all together, I just want … " he exhales a breath, " I want you "

Blinking away the tears, she looks at him. " You " she chuckles, " Jordan Henderson have a way with words "

" That’s cause you " He chuckles, " Luna Cortes, manage to bring it out of me "

After having dinner, the pair decide to drive to a beautiful and secluded area, he stops the car, and they sit out on top of the hood of the car in comfortable silence once again, looking up at the stars.

He looks at her from the corner of his eye, noting how she shivered. " Lu, you’re freezing " he states, taking off his jacket to place it around her. " There we go " he smiles.

She looks up at him, then carefully moves closer. resting her head on his shoulder, she said. " No matter what happens, I want you to promise me that even on the worst of days, we will never be apart " she whispers.

With his free hand, he hooks his thumb to her chin to lift her head up and in turn, press a soft and featherlike kiss to her lips before muttering. " I promise "

#football player imagine #footballer imagine #jordan henderson #liverpoolfc #lfc #hendo #jordan henderson imagine

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psicostyles · 2 years

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LOVING ME TAKES PATIENCE

This is OC! x single dad! Harry.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Comments are always welcome. Enjoy

1k598 words.

PART ONE

For now, you need to pay attention to this equation. There is this theory that says - mathematically speaking - positive added with positive, it's equal to positive. This means that, if you have positive action in your life and you add some more, the result shall be positive as well, isn't it? You see, Harry started to work very early in his life to help his mom take care of their home. Late in school, he also had a part-time job so he could save some money for college, he was very into numbers so he was planning to go to Computer Engineering in college just after he finished school.

But not everything is just the way we want right? Harry was dating this beautiful girl since his first year of high school. Started with a friendship, when both noticed that what they felt was more than just friendship, so it was given a shot, and since then they got together. Add this sequence to your equation: Two young people in love, plus, hormones burning in their skin after some shots of tequila, multiply to an empty bathroom. What do we have? Yes, an unplanned pregnancy. They were both sitting in Karen's bathroom when the test result showed two lines, just proving their theory. Karen told him about two weeks ago she didn't get her period yet, he said "Don't worry, everything is gonna fine, yeah? You told me that things like that can happen" He for the first time, wasn't right. Harry was always right about things. Karen was pregnant and devasted. Sure she wanted to be a mother someday, but that doesn't mean it needed to happen right now when there was so much ahead. Both did. They were devastated, and so were their parents, actually they are disappointed. The four of them were. But still decided to keep their baby angel.

And thank God they did it.

She was their little jar of happiness and joy. Wasn't easy to get where they are right now. So much was left behind for this moment. Both worked hard so it was possible to buy every necessary little thing for their little Cassie - short for Cassandra, Karen's gramma. Double shifts and sleepless nights for Harry while trying to get everything settled, Karen working on her projects as well to open her little boutique. From nursery to studies sessions online to keep on track. It was a nightmare for both, until this exact moment when they held their little chubby-haired princess in their arms. She was such a pretty girl, a perfect mixture of his pale skin with the exact amount of melanin of her mother. Just perfect.

They got married when Cassie just began to walk. It wasn't a big ceremony, just signing some papers, and Cassie who was only 10 months old when walked down the aisle where they stan while waiting for her looking like two goofy. Cassie was holding a little box with the rings, and that was it. A perfect little wedding, for a perfect little family.

Until they weren't anymore.

Cassie was 3 years old when her parent got divorced. It was decided that Harry and Karen would have shared custody, for Cassie's sake. Weekdays for Harry, weekends for Karen. It was a decision for the three of them. Nothing bad happened with the couple for such a thing as divorce. Their wedding things didn't ring as right as one day did. That adolescent flame got colder, so it was the best solution. Harry was very hurt when they sat down to talk about it and got to terms and decided what was the best. After all, he loved Karen and what they had. After a while, he noticed what he loved was his idea of the perfect relationship they had. Nothing is always that perfect but in his head all they built, their home, their belongings, all the little things, and details...All of this was part of their history, but it was also a story that will never be erased. So the "happy ever after" they promised is still valid, they will be happy even if they are not together anymore. Their bond was forever, they ended on good terms, so everything was fine.

Even being ungraduated, Harry is working in computer engineering in a little building in the city, it wasn't as he planned but, at least he gets the money he needs. Cassie is 4 now, she is a kindergarten and a very smart and energetic little girl. Sometimes Harry is still astonished by how much energy she has. That was Karen's side, because he loved calm and silence, on the contrary of his girls. Karen wasn't his for a while now, but she is the mother of his child so, somehow she was still his girl in a non-possessive way.

This particular Tuesday, the requirements and schedules were calmer than normal. His supervisor, Jonah, sent an email to his team informing them, that they had a meeting in the afternoon with a potentially important client. Turns out this client wasn't from the UK or any other English speaker country, but a Spanish company, and to be honest the Spanish company called La Computacion, wasn't interested in a full English-only meeting. Not every single person in the entire build knew a second language which was a shame. Jonah found a last-minute translator so they could help them as soon as possible.

The meeting was at 3 pm, at 1:30 pm the translator was already there. Some co-workers weren't very comfortable with the foreign company, and many of them whispered ''Doesn't make sense, why they didn't get an English translator?" Harry was beside this particular worker and said

"Well Conan, it's not their fault if you decided not to study another language"

"Oh, you did study then?"

"I haven't" he confessed "But you didn't see me complain, did you?"

"You're such a little thing, Styles. That's why no one likes you"

Harry just rolled his eyes and left the cafeteria straight to the conference room where the meeting was about to happen. When he got into his seat, he looked around the room seeing some familiar faces, sometimes nodding in a silent 'hello'. He kept looking around when he saw it, right there in the right corner, sitting facing the marble table while reading what seemed to be noted, a tall golden skin with a wavy hair, looking attractive as hell just by existing. He was enchanted.

Jonah entered to room, went straight to the table where the lady was, and opened his computer typing something fast, suddenly the white screen plugged in to light up, and three unknown faces showed up. The lady that until then was sat in the corner, stud up beside Jonah.

"Good afternoon everyone," everybody responded and he continued "This is Rebeca Rojas our translator. Miss Rojas works with Mr. Sabino for a long time now, while I was panicking to adjust this meeting Mr. Sabino indicated to me, Miss Rojas. Believe me, when I say she is a life savior" he said laughing, the room joined him, so he continued, "Please Miss Rojas, introduce yourself"

Rebeca started to speak, she explained she was a translator, teacher, and interpreter in her free time. She works for a publishing company as a translator of Latin languages. Just after her presentation, Mr. Sabino started to speak, and so did Rebeca. As Sabino speak, Rebeca translated right away. He could swear, he was in love with her voice. She sounded so smooth, she was so quick and so interactive. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a new platform they were trying to create for another company. And Sabino's company would sponsor their project. It would take some time since what they were proposing, would take a lot of work, and when I said a lot, I mean it. It was a big project, with interactive pages, online consultors and the options go on and on. The meeting lasted at least 1 hour and a half. In the meantime, Miss Rojas spoke non-stop, I mean just a few times to sip water. Harry keeps thinking he could never last the way she did.

Everybody was leaving the room, Harry waited so he could introduce himself, he had to admit it, he was feeling kinda shy. It was a hard-working woman who speaks more than one language, more than he could be someday as a human being. Was he exaggerating? Yeah, I think so.

"Hello," he said giving his hand for her to shake "My name is Harry, it's a pleasure"

She smiles and shakes his hand "It's a pleasure Harry. You're good?"

"I'm great, what about you?" she nodded saying she was fine "The conference was just incredible. I'm glad I could join...So I wanted to ask you, you mentioned you're a teacher right? You only teach Spanish?" she nodded.

She smiled brightly and answered:

"Well, yes I'm a teacher and all my work involves the romantic languages, and English, and a bit of German, I'm not that good, but I'm trying" she laughed.

Harry could barely contain himself, her laugh sounded like Christmas bells, he was just so impressed and being this beautiful...Got him right in the stomach.

"So, like..." he said but it was interrupted by her

"Harry I'd love to talk to you, but I kinda need to go. You know...paperwork" she said rolling her eyes.

He nodded "Oh, sure. Let me walk you out?" he said offering his arm, which she gladly embraced.

After that, he went back to his duties. But his mind was far away.

If you got until here, let me know what you think? that would be very nice. Also, tell me if you want part two, I promise there is so much more dad! harry coming for you. Lots of hugs see ya! maybe(? its up to you tbh)

read part two

#harry fic #harry blurb #harry x oc #harry imagine #harry styles blurb #harry fluff #harry styles fic #single dad! harry #dadrry #single parent! harry #psicostyles #harry x reader #friends to lovers #slowburn harry #daddy harry #writings

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zerogate · 1 year

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On premonitions of death

In the early sixties, a French historian, Philippe Ariès, who had already written a radical book about childhood, became deeply occupied with the manner of our dying. Ariès never held a university position. For thirty-five years, he ran the document department of a research institute devoted to tropical fruits. Occasionally, he was mocked by more credentialed academics as “the banana seller.” He read Latin on the train to work. Ariès wondered whether France’s funerary customs—the pious walk to the graveyard; the veneration of tombs—were age-old or more recently invented. He investigated the digging of Paris’s great modern cemeteries, in the late eighteenth century. During his research, Ariès glimpsed an earlier, tantalizing world of reused graves and mingled bones, where men and women responded differently to the end of their lives.

Once he began studying old rites and the verses of medieval danses macabres, Ariès found that he could not stop. With his wife, Primerose, he began to visit the national archives, where they spent three years of weekends reading old wills, from the nineteenth century back to the sixteenth. He gave himself to the story of death. “There was no turning back!” Ariès recalled. “I had lost all freedom; from now on I was totally caught up in a search that constantly expanded.”

Ariès came to the conclusion that, over the course of a thousand years, death had become increasingly private, to the point of invisibility. In the process, it had grown wild. In the early Middle Ages, death had been more commonplace, a simpler and more collective act. “We all die.” It was the sign of a good life to know that the end was at hand. A bell would ring by itself. A man would hear three knocks on the floor of his room. An inscription from 1151, in Toulouse, told how the sacristan of Saint-Paul-de-Norbonne “saw death standing beside him,” made his will, prayed and died. In Arthurian legend, King Ban watched his castle burn, fell off his horse and looked up to the sky, beseeching, “Oh Lord God . . . help me, for I see and I know that my end has come.” I see and I know. Ariès italicized the words. Gawain, Arthur’s nephew, is asked: “Ah, good lord, think you then so soon to die?” He replies: “Yes. I tell you that I shall not live two days.”

[...]

Ariès was fascinated whenever a fragment of the old ways survived. In 1959, almost twenty years before Ariès published The Hour of Our Death, a retired shoeshine named Malete Hanzakos began to prepare for the end of his life in Bucyrus, in northern Ohio. Hanzakos, who was known as Mike, migrated from Sparta, in Greece, to New York City after the First World War. He settled in Bucyrus in the thirties, where he cleaned shoes, grew vegetables and drove his paneled truck through red lights, stopping when they turned green. He never married or spoke much English. At the age of seventy-seven he suffered no more than the usual aches and pains. In the last year of his life, Hanzakos chose a cemetery plot, had a headstone engraved (except the final date), tended his grave, ordered flowers for his funeral (tied in a ribbon of white and blue, the national colors of Greece) and wrote an obituary for the local newspaper, which refused to print it while he was still alive. He could have been reading from The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying, written by Jeremy Taylor, an Anglican vicar, in 1651: “Death hath come so near to you as to fetch a portion of your very heart; and now you cannot choose but dig your own grave, and place your coffin in your eye.”

On Boxing Day, Hanzakos asked his sister, Constance, and her son and his family to drive down from Michigan to see him. They ate burgers at the LK Restaurant in town, inspected his grave, which he was proud of and which upset them, and then all crammed into Hanzakos’s one-room apartment under a machine shop. The shoeshine handed out some jars of vegetables that he had canned and a few envelopes of cash. When his nephew tried to refuse the gift of his old shoe brushes, Hanzakos said, “No, boy, I don’t need anything any more,” took a step toward the kitchen table and fell to the floor. He was dead before the doctor arrived.

“The Man Who Died on Time,” the story of Hanzakos’s foreseen death, was published by Life magazine in early 1960. A few years later, it caught the eye of George Engel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester, in upstate New York, who collected such stories. Like Barker, Engel was gripped by cases of people who appeared to have dropped dead because of some surfeit of emotion or certainty about their fate...

In the sixties, Engel collected 170 cases of sudden or eerie deaths, which he mostly found in press reports. He organized them into eight categories, including “on loss of status or self-esteem,” “during acute grief” and “after the danger is over” (a handful of people often die this way after earthquakes). Like Barker, Engel wanted to expand the frontiers of psychiatry and to pay more attention to the physiological impact of our emotions. In 1980, he wrote a landmark paper advocating a new “biopsychosocial model” for medicine that would take into account not just the bodies of patients, but also their minds and the societies in which they lived. He was a man with time for the nocebo effect.

And, like Barker, Engel was also compelled by forces that weren’t entirely rational. On July 11, 1963, Engel’s twin brother, Frank, who was also a distinguished doctor, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of forty-nine. The two men had been exceptionally close: indistinguishable as boys; rivals and, more recently, collaborators as they pursued their medical careers. They called each other “Oth,” as in “Other.”

After his brother died, Engel became convinced that his life was also running out. He saw death standing next to him. Then a magical notion took hold: that if he could survive the calendar year after his twin’s passing, then he would live out a normal life. “I was fully aware of the irrational nature of this idea, but nonetheless found it impossible to dispel,” Engel recalled. On the afternoon of June 9, 1964, just short of eleven months after his brother’s death, and a few hours ahead of an awkward meeting which, like John Hunter, he was in no mood to attend, Engel suffered the heart attack that he had been waiting for. He was in his office in Rochester. It was not fear that he felt. “My reaction to the attack was one of great relief. I not only escaped the unpleasant meeting, I no longer had to anticipate the heart attack; the other shoe had fallen, so to speak,” the psychiatrist wrote, in an extraordinary paper, in 1975. “I felt serene and tranquil. The waiting was finally over.” I see and I know.

-- Sam Knight, The Premonitions Bureau

#quotes

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