#can we take a moment to appreciate matt’s humour at the end

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

utterly obsessed with alex’s description of longing and how it’s captured in fireside

#i love how half the time in interviews he’s stuttering or sitting silently behind his sunglasses #and then other times he comes out with actual poetry like this #there is no middle ground #which honestly #relatable #also #can we take a moment to appreciate matt’s humour at the end #god i love that man #also his earmuffs comment just makes me think of the silly little earmuff comment in my new fic 😭 #arctic monkeys #alex turner #matt helders #am era #am vid #lulu posts

[lilxberry]

The Glitch: Chapter Three

Synopsis;

Wanda certainly had attracted the newest Avenger. Y/N’s usual overconfident façade seems to easily drop when around the Sokovian witch.

Warnings: Language. Mention of memory loss.

Words: 939

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader, Avengers x Reader 

< CHAPTER 2  CHAPTER 4 >

_______________

It had been a week since Y/N joined the team, 6 days since she moved into the tower and roughly 24 hours since she met a certain Sokovian brunette who had been away on a mission during Y/N’s initial arrival at the tower. She was made aware of the not-so-present Avenger after the team had officially welcomed her and exchanged introductions.

Their first encounter happened as Peter and Y/N were training together, the duo conversing as they sparred.

--- flashback ---

“C’mon kid, you gotta tell me about this girl ya like.” Y/N grunted out as she threw a punch towards the teen.

“I’ll tell you after you tell me how you know how to fight like you do. I mean, you weren’t an Avenger when the bank had been hit. Where’d you learn?” Peter had swiftly dodged her hit and continued to dance around the matt. Y/N and Peter had quickly bonded over the week, already forming a sibling-like relationship with each other.

The older girl huffed as she quickly ducked under his leg before replying. “’Kay, that’s fair. But we’re taking a break. You people train to damn fuckin’ much.” She exhaled shakily as she broke her fighting stance and proceed to lie on the matt, closed eyes pointed towards the ceiling. 

“I’m not really sure how I know how to fight. I don’t really remember much from before two years ago. I think I might have taken self defence classes when I was a kid, I dunno.” She peeked an eye open to glance at the boy and noticed that he had sat down next to laying form to listen to her speak.

She continued before she could be given a response on the topic of her not remembering much. ‘I was in an accident or something surely? Right? I’d know if I could FUCKING REMEMBER.’ She quickly contemplated in her mind.

“Anyways, it would be more concerning if I DIDN’T know how to fight considering I’m a young, hot woman who lived on her own.” She smirked as Peter laughed at her attempt at making the conversation more humour-ess.

Peter calmed down significantly with a shake of his head. He stood up and brushed his hands down the front of his joggers. “Water?”

“Please.”

As he walked off to collect a drink for both of them, Y/N decided to sit herself up and cross her legs over each other at the ankles, leaning back on the flat palms of her hands. She had heard the door open and assumed that the kid had returned with refreshments, not giving it much thought. Although, the sweet, strong accent that spoke in place of Peter’s caused her to turn to look at the door and find the owner.

“I’m assuming you’re the new girl Steve told me about while we were debriefing.” The what could only be described as the most beautiful woman in all of existence had voiced, her hand on her popped out hip, her weight on one foot.

As Y/N finally landed her eyes upon her, her mind had been placed into overdrive. ‘HOLY FUCK, SHE’S HOT!’

Wanda had shifted her weight slightly as her face had flushed a dangerous shade of red. What Y/N didn’t know was that the girl who stood in the entrance of the training room opposite her sitting form could peer into the minds of others, though she hadn’t needed to pry as her thoughts had been too loud to simply ignore.

Y/N cleared her throat and quickly scrambled to stand, tripping over herself slightly. “Y-Yeah, hey, hi, I’m Y/N.” After a moment of thinking, she quickly surged forward with her arm stretched out in front of her body, flushed and glistening with a thin coating of sweat. 

“Wanda.” Wanda had sent her a kind smile, shaking her hand, giggling softly at the girl before her. 

‘God, she’s even prettier up close.’ Y/N had lost herself within her thoughts, which Wanda had yet again overseen, as she not-so-subtly gawked at her, continuing to hold on to Wanda’s hand. 

Wanda had become flustered yet again, quickly pulling her hand back and looking away, which seemed to have snapped Y/N out of her trance. “Sorry.” Y/N spoke bashfully, placing her own hand on the back of her neck, running her hand across the skin as she smiled sheepishly at her, her eyes crinkling up at the edges.

“It’s uhm-it’s okay. I’ll uh-see you l-later.” It was Wanda’s turn to fumble over her words as she hastily exited the room, making sure to keep her head down to hide the blush that was so prominently evident across her face.

“Uh-yeah. SEE YA!” Y/N shouted towards the girl who, quite literally, ran from her, leaving her confused by her sudden departure yet dazed by her beauty. “What the fuck was that...” She mumbled quietly as flashes of the Avengers’ face. 

At that point, Peter had returned with 4 bottles of water, surely over estimating how thirsty the two really were, which he dropped instantly as Y/N had exclaimed loudly towards him. 

“PETER! TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT WANDA!” 

“WHAT THE FUCK, Y/N!”

--- end of flashback ---

Y/N lounged around in her room, remembering the, simply put, weird encounter, groaning loudly. ‘Of course she can read minds.’ Closing her eyes for a moment, Y/N continued to lie there atop her bed in silence before a loud monstrous growl emitted from her abdomen. 

She huffed as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. ‘I can hide shamefully after getting something to eat.’

“Now, which snacks am I in the mood for?”

_______________

@a-really-bi-girl​ @melancholymaz​

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So, I’ve finally started to get the romance going with Wanda lmao

I’m honestly in love with Wanda so I’m kinda glad I started writing this as a Wanda x Reader

I know this chapter was shorter than usual but I have plans for the story so it’s all good (next chapter is gonna be in Wanda’s POV)

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, let me know

I hope you enjoy this. Please like if you do as it will help me reach more people

As always, constructive criticism and requests are welcomed and greatly appreciated :D

#wanda #wanda maximoff #wanda x #wanda x reader #x reader #x female reader #x fem reader #the avengers #avengers x #avengers x reader #peter parker #peter parker x #peter parker x reader #platonic #romance #scarlet witch #spiderman #scarlet witch x reader #marvel #marvel fic #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic series #marvel fandom #mcu #the glitch series

[anika-ann]

Let’s Do Something Different Tonight (Or Not)

Type: One-shot, Reader Insert               Word count: 1840

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Reader

Characters: Matt Murdock, Reader, few others mentioned

Summary: It’s been two years since the day you married Matt and tonight, you’re going out to celebrate, like normal couples do. --Yeah, about that...

Warnings: blood and injury, mention of alcohol, attempt at humour (bordering on crack-ish)

A/N: A post Valentine’s day fic for everyone who has deals with loveable idiots. It’s hard to with them sometimes. Often, it’s even harder without them. Enjoy!

Matt was almost on time. You had your reservation for eight and it was five after eight when he finally showed up at his – and for a while now, also yours – apartment, so you would be able to make it to the restaurant only a little late.

Key word? ‘Would’. That would be if he hadn’t used the rooftop access instead of the front door and hadn’t been clutching his side when he stumbled in with his hair being a perfect mess with a smear of blood in it.

You stood in the middle of the living room, staring at him as he walked down the stairs with an apologizing expression.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he said out, hissing as he stepped down the last stair with not so much grace. You just kept staring, this time incredulously. “I got mugged,” he explained, his lips turning into a reversed U. Also, blood was now soaking though his suit under his fingers.

You shook your head to snap yourself from your trance, reaching for the hem of your dress only to pull it over your head. When you tossed them over one of the armchairs and turned to Matt to give him the attention he deserved and needed, he looked utterly taken aback.

“What are you doing?” he asked, perfectly baffled.

“I’m not playing doctor with you in this dress. It’s new. I don’t want blood on it.”

It was expensive. You had chosen it carefully – just like the rest of your new clothes ever since you had gotten together with Matt –, paying extra attention to the material, anxious about the fabric feeling good under Matt’s fingers. Shopping had kinda become a nightmare since you had to pick clothes which not only looked good, but mainly felt good; however, with the way Matt appreciated it, it was totally worth it.

“The material sounded really soft. You looked beautiful in it.”

You scratched your forehead, abashed, as you walked to the bathroom to get the first aid kit, returning to Matt who seated himself on the couch, stripping his jacket to reveal a huge bloodstain on his shirt.

“Jesus, Matt.”

The man in question honest to god pouted. “You’ll wear that dress again, right?”

“Of course I will,” you reassured him tiredly as he took off the shirt as well. “That was the whole point of stripping it – keep it clean of bloodstains so I can wear it again…. for our like, thirtieth anniversary when you won’t be coming home bleeding anymore.”

“I had to let them cut me. I didn’t even call the police to make it home faster. I was trying-“

“I’m sorry, you what?” you asked incredulously, unable to believe what you were hearing.

“I was trying?” he repeated hesitantly, well-aware that it wasn’t the part that caught your… ear, so to speak.

“No, no, did you just say you let them cut you, didn’t call the police, so you could be home faster? Are you insane?”

“I didn’t want you to wait. We rarely get out for a dinner or something else. I didn’t want to disappoint you. Though I did come after the guys to chase down my wallet because that would mean a whole new set of time-demanding problems. But don’t worry, I crashed the lights before I went down on them,” he added hastily as if it would made the whole situation better.

You wordlessly let the gloves smack against your skin louder than necessary. Matt winced.

“Matt Murdock, I love you, I love what you’re willing to do for me and the world, but I swear to God, sometimes you’re just being utterly, utterly stupid. Priorities, Matt. Now show me.”

It turned out that Matt hadn’t let them cut him once, but twice. And by ‘cut’ he meant what could almost be called a stab wound. You silently worked your way through it, reminding yourself to buy Claire another fruit basket. A year supply of chocolate. Spa weekend, maybe. She had not only taught you the basics of the first aid to reckless loveable idiots, but also had shared her tips and tricks that she had discovered during the years of working on ER, making your life easier.

Matt was wisely silent while you were stitched him up – whether it was because he was controlling himself not to let out a single sound of distress or because he didn’t want to piss you off by saying something to make you snap, you didn’t know.

“Do you really think I prefer you getting home earlier so we wouldn’t miss our reservation coming with the price of you being injured to actually showing up healthy?” you asked as you finished your work of art.

His pout grew bigger, providing you the answer.

“Christ, Matt.”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly fight them off, at least not completely. Identity and stuff,” Matt defended his actions. You couldn’t shake off the feeling of something being a little strange about him. Like… stranger than usual. The way he talked…

“Well, you still didn’t need to get cut or— or at least you could have deflect it partly, this is awfully deep. Was. All done now.” Truth to your words, you stripped the gloves, rolling them up and placing them on the coffee table. You looked at his face, running your hand through his sweaty hair. He leaned into it slightly, like always. “Oh Matt… what do I do with a man like you?”

“Kiss the pain better?” he offered shyly, the corners of his lips twitching. You rolled your eyes at this ridiculous man.

“Ha! You’re hilarious!” His expression changed, transferring into- “Oh crap, not the puppy eyes. Come on, Matt, don’t-”

You sighed, leaning in, kissing him lightly on the lips. You were never able to resist the huge imploring eyes of his.

“I hate you,” you murmured as you withdrew – or wanted to, his lips following yours instead, sinking into them, caressing gently, testing your will when nibbling on your lower lip.

Oh, he always knew what to do to keep your fingers tingling, to have your heart fluttering – the feeling might have faded a little with the years, but it was still here. You opened your mouth for him, a clear invitation for his tongue. He didn’t hesitate.

“And I love you,” he breathed into your mouth, his hand rising.

“Don’t touch the bra-“ you warned him, curling your fingers around his wrist to stop him. You withdrew so it didn’t temp him. The bra wasn’t nearly as expensive as the dress, but it wasn’t cheap either.

“But it’s laced and they always feel so, so nice-“ he whimpered and you blinked. Okay, that was new. Seriously, where had his brain (possibly lower brain)-mouth filter left to?

“Maybe, but it’s also skin-toned. Not blood-toned. You smear it with blood and I’m not wearing it again.”

“But you said we were playing doctor,” he noted, looking honestly confused. You had really said that? And what the hell was it with him…?

You gaped at him when the realization finally hit you.

“Oh my god. Are you drunk?”

Matt was silent for a short moment; the kind of an answer that spoke volumes. Matt Murdock was drunk.

“…the client insisted on two glasses of scotch…,” Matt admitted with hesitation and you sensed some sort of a ‘but’ coming. “And then said the third time was a charm.”

Three glasses of scotch?!

“So you’re not only late for our anniversary dinner, you’ve not only gotten yourself half-stabbed, but you’re also drunk. Wow. I want a divorce,” you stated resolutely, only joking of course. Still, you couldn’t believe him. It should have been your night out. Together as a couple. To celebrate the two years you had been together as husband and wife. And he… wow. You probably should be mad, anyone else would be, but… you were kinda used to dealing with Matt’s bullshit (to be fair, Matt also had to deal with yours) and it was usually more scary and life-threatening. This was actually kinda funny. The drunk part anyway. “You think Foggy will charge me a fortune if I hire him?”

Matt frowned. “You don’t mean that. And if you did, do you honestly think he would represent you?”

You raised your eyebrow, waiting for him to realize what he had just said. Of course Foggy would represent you. You were plotting against Matt together oh so often… he would take your side. Matt probably came to same conclusion, because he grimaced.

“Yeah, he probably would. Well, would want to and then Marci would bully him so she could take your side instead of him.”

“I barely know Marci,” you noted, confused.

“Yeah, but she’s up to a challenge and she always claimed me and Foggy will get married one day and  was actually jealous of me. She would take any opportunity to take our duo down in one strike.”

“I thought Foggy was friends with her.”

“They are somewhere between friends and frenemies. I guess that happens when you end the whole friends with benefits thing.”

Huh. Marci was still bitter about that? Who would think Mrs. No Strings Attached had feelings? To be fair, Foggy was insanely likeable, so you could really blame her-

…why were you thinking about Marci?

“After all this time… you still manage to distract me perfectly,” you complained, actually ashamed. Damn you, Murdock. And Murdock.

Matt tilted his head slightly, challenging. “I know a whole lot more ways of distracting you. If I wash my hands, can I touch the bra? I mean, we’re already too late for the dinner, aren’t we?”

You watched him incredulously for a minute; his messy hair which was the result of him rushing home, his absolutely not kissable lips inconspicuously pursed, his hopeful eyes with a spark of mischievousness somehow seeing you even after losing sight. Your gaze flickered to the fine suit he had prepared for the dinner. It was too late to go to the restaurant, wasn’t it?

When you looked back at him, you could tell he knew he had won, because a tiny smile appeared on his face, a careful elevation of the corners of his lips.

You sighed. You were so weak. “Go wash your bloody hands, you overgrown child. We’re going to bed.”

“Love you,” he chipped happily and kissed your cheek, rushing to the bathroom. You rolled your eyes at him fondly.

“I’m on top, you’re injured!” you shouted after him, closing the box with medical supplies and walking to the fridge to get Matt a glass of juice. He needed liquids and sugar dammit.

“Whatever you say, honey!”

You blinked, taken aback. ‘Honey?’ Matt had never called you that – mostly he stuck to your name or a nickname, occasionally calling you ‘love’ if he was being particularly tender. Endearments weren’t his thing.

Oh boy, he really was so royally drunk, wasn’t he?

You smiled for yourself at the idea. This should be fun.

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Thank you for reading! 

If you enjoy Matt fics, I’ll be posting a few more RI, but mostly I’ve written for Matt x OFC. 

If interested, check out my M.M. masterlist ;)

#marvel #mcu #marvel fanfiction #matt murdock #matt murdock x reader #daredevil #daredevil x reader #matt murdock imagine #daredevil imagine #matt murdock fanfic #daredevil fanfic #daredevil fanfiction #reader insert #imagine #marvel imagine

[malereader-inserts]

Things I Can’t Change

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries / The Original Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson & Son!Reader Summary: Sometimes a father and a son relation can be hard to maintain, however, Elijah and you make it work, it’s been strong for a good couple centuries now. Word Count:  1,208 Request: @will-grammer​ “May I ask for Elijah Mikaelson & Son reader where he is getting ready to go on a date with his boyfriend and wants to look good, so he asks Elijah to help him find a nice suit? Maybe Elijah being all excited when he sees his son dressed in a suit, resembling him? Proud? Would that be okay, basically an enormous pile of positive masculinity and a healthy father\son relationship where Elijah is very accepting of his son being gay?“ A/n: I TRIED ALEX, I REALLY DID, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT

Elijah wonders what magical powers you have.

Because you were nowhere to be found but as he was leaving the room you come sliding around the corner with no trace of where you have been before. He smiles upon your appearance, glowing - a shining smile and gleaming eyes. Almost the same look Kol or Klaus do before getting in some kind of hell rising activity.

Then again, over the centuries, you had the great refusal of growing up. To him and the rest of the family, you were still that little Viking kid wearing a helmet that was far too big for your head and wielding a wooden sword trying to impress the family. You were the baby of the family and rightfully so, shielded away from the monstrosity the family conduct - you weren’t like that. 

“Hey dad,” You greeted, a deep breath exhaled by you as Elijah smiles, “I need a favour.”

Elijah frowns, “Oh, god, who did you kill?”

You scoffed and looked offended, shaking your head before a smile returning upon your face, “What, no!” Elijah gives you a pointed look before sighing, “If I did, would I really go to you for advice about that? No offence but that’s sort of Uncle Nik’s forte.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Elijah says loudly, waving his son off to continue in this favour you wanted to ask him.

“I need a suit,” You blurted out as your father looked at you confused, tilted head and knitted eyebrows, “I may have asked my boyfriend out today and I want to impress him so he is joining us in the Mikaelsons’ Ball.”

“You know I still haven’t met this boy yet,” Elijah commented, almost a snidey tone to his voice as you rolled your eyes, “It’s not Matt or Tyler, is it?”

“What-?” You were taken aback, “No!”

“Damon or Stefan?”

“No, dad, why would I possibly ask them out when I know they have something against our family?” You questioned as Elijah sighs and nods, before the smile returning to his face, “So, will you help?”

Elijah pats you on the shoulder, “I know I really good tailor...”

“I don’t know dad,” You called out in the dressing room as Elijah looks up from his phone.

Elijah was trying to make sure his idiotic siblings weren’t busy tearing up Mystic Falls whilst he had a good afternoon out with his son. He and the rest of the family had a tailor and various other activities coming over to the manor before the ball was happening that night. So, Elijah took advantage of the situation.

“Is this flap at the end of this suit suppose to look like this?” You called out, confusion in your tone as Elijah chuckled, “I feel and look like a penguin, dad.”

“Well, come out and let me see,” Elijah beckons you out as he hears you heavily sigh before dramatically opening the curtains.

Almost stumbling over the shoes as well to stand in front of your dad, the tailor waves his hands to stand on the pedestal in the middle of the room. You sighed and hopped up, staring at yourself in the mirror.

“No offence dad, but I look like a right tit,” You complained as you stare at yourself in the mirror as Elijah sighs. 

“You look good, son,” He complimented as he motions the tailor to stand back for a moment whilst Elijah comes up from behind, “What you need is to see yourself in full look.”

“It’s a ball dad, not a bloody wedding,” You say as he rolls his eyes, standing before you as he starts to tie a bowtie on you.

Next, after pressing down the bow tie into place, he starts to fix your hair. You scoffed and rolled your eyes - not liking how he was messing with your hair as a general rule of thumb you just prefer the only person to touch your hair is yourself. And lastly, your dad buttons up one button on the suit jacket before sidestepping and allowing you to look at yourself in the mirror.

He stands behind you, as you paused and admired yourself in the mirror. The curves of your lips turning upwards.

“You look good,” Elijah compliments you, staring at you through the mirror. 

You stood up straight and looked at your dad, a proud gleam in your eyes and smile so bright that Elijah remembers how innocent you are compared to the whole family, despite you being an original like them - you had a sense of childlike humour, childlike composure.

Perhaps, you wanted to be like that, you didn’t mind being treated like a child every so often as long as you got to live freely. You were a boy, but right in front of you and your dad, you had accepted that maybe it’s time to grow up after years, centuries of refusals.

“I look like you dad,” You let out, laughing softly, looking down briefly before looking up again, “God, Uncle Nik and Kol won’t appreciate that would they?”

“Well, you know what your uncles are like,” Elijah rolling his eyes, “Idiots is what they are.”

You chuckled, biting your lip softly, “Well, I guess we’re getting this for the ball.”

“Hold on,” Elijah stops you as you looked at him. You turn to face him, as he smiles, hands on your shoulders, “I’m proud of you son, I really am, proud of what you have become and who you are.”

“Even liking boys?” You asked, “When never really had this type of conversation before.”

“And it’s not needed, is it?” Elijah questioned, knitted eyebrows, “I’d love you if you like boys or girl or the in-between, even if it’s Stefan Salvatore that stole your heart - which I really hope it isn’t.” 

“Thanks, dad...” You say with sincerity, eyes soft as you let out a shaky breath, “And don’t worry, it’s not Stefan, it’ll never be Stefan.”

“You’re a good man, don’t let anyone take that away from you,” Elijah continues, “And remember, the family is always there, no matter how much we fight, we’ve got your back. But that doesn’t mean you can pull a Kol and start randomly killing innocents, but even then, I’d still love you and be proud of you.”

You looked taken aback and spoke with a sarcastic tone, “Thanks dad, feeling real reassured.”

“Well, I just have to remind you, I don’t say it often enough,” Elijah shrugs his shoulders, despite him being a family man he does struggle with his own emotions.

“You don’t have to tell me, dad, I already know.”

Elijah sees you smile properly at him, reassuring and comforting as he placed s hand behind your neck and rest his forehead against yours. Both of you smiling as you embraced each other in a tight loving hug.

“So, this boyfriend of yours - is he....? What does he look like? Got family morals? What are his grades like?”

“Oh god,” You muttered under your breath, but forced a bright smile to him, “Don’t worry, you’ll like him.”

“It’s not me you should be worried about, it’s your Uncle Niklaus and Aunt Rebekah you should be concerned about.”

“Oh, bloody hell.”

#elijah mikaelson #elijah mikaelson imagine #elijah mikaelson x male!reader #x male reader #the vampire diaries #the vampire diaries imagine #the vampire diaries x male reader #platonic

[manuscripts-dontburn]

North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

First published: 1855

Pages: 544

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 5 days

I suppose my expectations were just way too high and so this did not make it among my favourite books, but I enjoyed it as long as it lasted (except for few chapters which were frankly wearing me out) and I was not a particular fan of the simplicity of the plot (it just took too long). Still, I am glad I have read it.

The Arrival

Author: Shaun Tan

First published: 2007

Pages: 132

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 30 minutes

There are no words written in this book, but the story it tells is extremely rich, poignant and powerful. The drawings are magnificent, capturing a wild fantasy of the author as well as emotions like confusion, oppressive fear, flickering hope and eventually unbridled joy. Beautiful piece of art.

The Return of the King

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

First published: 1955

Pages: 436

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 5 days

M-A-G-N-I-F-I-C-E-N-T.

Tilly and the Map of Stories

Author: Anna James

First published: 2020

Pages: 448

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 4 days

What a wonderful ending to a wonderful story. Definitely a book for any child to read, to love and grow with.

The World That We Knew

Author: Alice Hoffman

First published: 2019

Pages: 400

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 3 days

Just like a beautiful tree, this books seems a little sapling that grows and grows until it becomes intricate, touching, honest and emotionally raw, yet curiously quiet in its mood, web of stories that all look at what it mean to live like a human being. Too many stories set during WW2 rely on shock-value, on clichés and the more you have read the less impact they tend to have. Alice Hoffman, however, manages to bring something new and rather than on horror focuses on what little beauty and wonder the people living back then could perhaps find around them, even at those worst of times. It is bittersweet and moving and at no point does it feel like emotional blackmail of the reader. Thinking about it, this book gave me everything The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah failed to give.

Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France

Author: Leonie Frieda

First published: 2002

Pages: 464

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 28 days

Fascinating woman for whom I still have little sympathy, even after understanding her childhood traumas, her personal humiliation and dedication to her children. This book is well-researched, but sometimes the mess of the 16th century France gets simply too much to read. I had to take long breaks to get through some of the chapters.

Egg and Spoon

Author: Gregory Macquire

First published: 2014

Pages: 496

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 5 days

This book was a surprise to me. I picked it up because I am a sucker for anything Russian history and folklore related and even though the beginning seemed a little too slow and (as I mistakenly thought) headed into a very simplistic direction, however, the pace took up speed and it all became a wild whirlwind of imagination, humour and delight. Perhaps this could be classified as one of those rare "middle-grade books for adults" because I believe a reader of any age might find enough to engage with in it. I enjoyed this immensely.

The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

First published: 2020

Pages: 288

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 2 days

This is a very nice book that I could relate to in many ways and so some of its points and statements hit really, really close to home. It is one of those books that you can simply pick up and its uncomplicated narrative can relax your mind and make you appreciate your life - or at least parts of it. It felt warm and cosy and I enjoyed my reading experience. Why not 5 stars then? The writing style is too simplistic for my taste and there is something about contemporary novels which simply does not interest me. So anything in contemporary setting neds to be super exceptional in all of the other ways. This was not exceptional. But it was nice all the same. P.S. I finally feel the desire to read Walden after this.

All My Friends Are Still Dead

Author: Avery Monsen

First published: 2012

Pages: 108

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 5 minutes

Do you have absolutely nothing to do? Why not thumb through this one? It may make you smile a little.

The Crystal Bible: A Definitive Guide to Crystals

Author: Judy Hall

First published: 2003

Pages: 400

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: x

I have not read this book from start to finish - I don´t even think that is how it should be read - but I have looked up pretty much every crystal I own. It is a lovely volume and I think that even if you do not believe in crystals as a means of healing, you can appreciate it simply for what the stones can symbolize.

Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories

Edited by: Anthony Trollope

First published: 1882

Pages: 207

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 3 days

While the first story in this small collection is mildly amusing, the rest, unfortunately, seemed completely pointless. I failed to see any humour or wit in them, and what more: there was nothing that would evoke Christmas atmosphere in them. It was just... so boring.

The Toymakers

Author: Robert Dinsdale

First published: 2018

Pages: 468

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 23 days

I picked up this book thinking it would put me into a Christmas mood and instead it gave me depression. It is also, way too long, often times I felt like it would never end. That said the imagination of the author is wonderful, his writing sensitive and his choice of topics very interesting. Expect a lot of SLOW family tragedy rather than something uplifting (though it has its moments). Man... I just feel tired now....|

#booklr #wrap up #December 2020

[janephillipsblog]

My Diary of One Yellow Rabbit’s 34th Annual High Performance Rodeo - January 8 - 26, 2020

Last year I had the opportunity to volunteer for One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo and had such a fantastic time that I decided to do it again this year. The High Performance Rodeo Volunteer Program is proudly sponsored by East Village. There were some differences this year as due to my own theatrical commitments I was not able to attend the volunteer orientation session in November and was also not able to attend as many shows as I would have liked. Even so, I still managed to take in 11 shows and kept a diary a follows:

January 10, 2020

My first show was “bliss (the birthday party play)”, presented by Verb Theatre in The Studio at The Grand, was directed by Karen Hines and performed by Jamie Dunsdon. This was a raw and intimate investigation of ignorance, bliss, self and all the things that we wish we could un-know. The space was set up like a birthday party and the audience were all guests which was very different. I found that Jamie’s performance was thought-provoking and powerful as she took us on a winding road of a journey as she turned back the clock on her life. I very much enjoyed the journey I was taken on, particularly as I had no idea of the destination. I am very much a fan of one-person shows in general and this one did not disappoint.    

January 11, 2020

“It’s The End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fucked)” was written and performed by The Rude Pundit, a.k.a, Lee Papa, in Motel Theatre, Arts Commons. It was directed by Mike Creter. This was a journey, through the eyes of the Rude Pundit, through Trump’s America. It was exactly what I expected and I enjoyed his diatribe and anger and a Canadian audience can relate when comparing it to what Jason Kenney and people like him want to do.

January 16, 2020

“The Land, The Animals”, took place in the Big Secret Theatre, Arts Commons and was presented by the One Yellow Rabbit ensemble. Written and directed by Blake Brooker, this piece was performed by Denise Clarke, Christopher Hunt and Andy Curtis. This show was first presented in 1991, however it was new to me. I liked that it was based on a true event experienced by Blake and Denise in 1989, which changed the direction the play was going as Blake was writing it at the time. I felt that it was very timeless. It took me to the downtown working world of Calgary, a world which I had been a part of for many years as an employee, especially as I was a lunchtime runner, as was one of the characters in the play. I also enjoyed the original score written and performed by David Rhymer.

January 17, 2020

“Revolution or Slumber���, presented at and by Western Canada High School, was a special show as it was the first time that a high school production has been in the Rodeo. An original piece, it was written and created by students, directed by Caitlin Gallichan-Lowe. I enjoyed it and thought it was well done. The show was set during a slumber party, where the teens presented their anger, worry and despair at the state of the world, whilst in the world of the usual teenage dramas, love, smoking pot, drinking and eating chips (which set off my craving for chips!) It took me back to when I was the same age and I found I related to it in that regard. Perhaps the generations are not so far apart after all. I also really liked that they had screen printed the play’s logo onto second-hand t-shirts and were selling them.  

January 18, 2020

“Footnote Number 12” was presented in The Studio at The Grand by Spreafico Eckly & Theatre Replacement. It was directed by Andrea Spreafico and performed by James Long and Nancy Tam. This was a bizarre, challenging, but interesting piece set around a 2006 magazine article, that questioned what that writer had to say through today’s social context. Interesting use of sound and the modulation of the voice.

January 23, 2020

“Queer Blind Date”, was presented by Spontaneous Theatre at The Studio, Vertigo Theatre. Through improvisation and clowning, the play explores human romance, and in this version, queer courtship. As it is a re-imagined version of Rebecca’s Northan’s “Blind Date”, I could easily see how this would work for every kind of human relationship, whether straight, same sex, trans or gender-queer. The performance I saw featured the saucy but adorable female clown, “Mimi”, played by Julie Orton (there were also performances with the clown “Mathieu” played by David Benjamin Tomlinson which I will unfortunately did not get to see). The performance starts with the actors mingling in the lobby to pick Mimi’s blind date and on this particular evening she picked a young woman, with her consent of course and she was such a good sport! The play starts with their first blind date and progresses through their relationship from there and is often quite naughty, particularly with the use of puppets. I loved it, I felt it was really refreshing and well done and a show you could enjoy several times due to it being different every time.

January 24, 2020

“How To Fail As A Popstar”, A Canadian Stage Production, was presented at the Engineered Air Theatre at Arts Commons. Directed by Brendan Healy, in this piece Vivek Shraya (writer and composer) shares her journey and quest to become a popstar. I found Vivek’s performance to be raw and authentic and incredibly relatable due to the world we live in which often focuses on the destination of complete success, rather than for a person to enjoy and appreciate the journey regardless of where they end up. This was one of my top three shows this year.  

“Premium Content”, by David Gagnon Walker, directed by Geoffrey Simon Brown, was presented by The Major Matt Mason Collective in The Studio at The Grand. This is the story of five friends, one of whom makes videos. It explores the relationships between these friends and issues of consent in our internet-fueled voyeuristic world. I loved the use of multi-media and though I only got to see one performance, I also loved the idea that each performance was different and would have different relationship dynamics because the actors rotated roles (each actor learnt three roles).

January 25, 2020

“Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life”, was presented by Quivering Dendrites, at Lunchbox Theatre. In this piece, creator and performer Keith Alessi, under the direction of Erika Conway, shares his inspirational true story from a rocky childhood, through corporate success to a battle with cancer, during which his passion for the banjo becomes an integral part of saving his life. This was a very authentic piece and I related to it on many levels. I suspect many other people also do, as for many of us, arts unfortunately sometimes end up on the back-burner as we focus on making a living. Keith bought his first banjo as a teenager and collected many throughout the years winding up with 52 of them in a closet! The cancer diagnosis forced him to finally start to really learn to play the banjo and he started jamming with other musicians. The cancer was cured and this piece created which ultimately led to a Broadway debut. I spoke to him after the show as I have guitars and a violin in my closet – well they were until just before Christmas as I have started playing them again! The advice: get out and play regardless of your expertise. The takeaway from this show for anyone is don’t delay your passion, whatever it may be. This was my favourite show this year.

“Gemini”, presented by Defiance Theatre, took place at The Legion. The play was written by Louise Casemore and directed by Mitchell Cushman. Performed by Louise Casemore and Vern Thiessen, the play is set in a bar and was made more real in this presentation by being performed in the Legion’s second floor pub. It explores the relationship between a young, female bartender and a middle-aged, male regular, who ultimately, perhaps in part due to male entitlement, crosses the line by reading more into the relationship than he should have. This was one of my top three shows at this year’s Rodeo as I found I related to it as I was once that bartender. Both characters had a sadness to them, stuck in their situations. It also raised questions about the treatment of workers in the hospitality industry. Bartenders have so much responsibility due to the liability that they take on from serving alcohol and yet the profession is not respected, with workers making most of their income from tips, a practice, that if you think about it, is rather questionable, because it has trickled down from the class system.

“Certified” by Squid Thinks was presented in the Motel Theatre at Arts Commons. In this show, creator and performer JD Derbyshire takes us on a roller coaster of a ride as we accompany her on her journey through the mental health system. This piece was fast-paced and humourous, though with moment of heart-ache, leaving the audience with questions about the definition of insanity.

For the volunteers, the Rodeo wrapped up with a volunteer party a week later, hosted by the Village Brewery Taproom. This year we were treated to a private talk back with artists Blake Brooker, Denise Clarke and Kris Demeanor. I unfortunately did not get to see Kris’ show “Russell: Straight Up” but he gave us a quick taste and I will definitely see it when it is presented again.

The 34th Annual High Performance Rodeo was fantastic and I wish I could have seen more shows, however the ones that I did attend were enjoyable and intriguing, with many that I would happily see again. As a performer and writer I also garnered a lot of inspiration from the work I experienced. Art is truly limitless! 

#calgary #hprodeo #theatre

[heather1815]

My little test subject: Chapter 15

Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12, chapter 13, and chapter 14

Angsty Tomtord fic with slight Paultryk on the side.

Warning! This fic contains: Foul language, scenes of torture, use of medical tools, drug use, self-harm, suicidal tendencies, violence, self-neglect, blood, and a little bit of stockholm syndrome and force feeding. Viewer discretion is advised.

A cold bitter wind swept over the town like an icy wave. Patches of snow covered the streets and sidewalks, glittering under the sunlight. Cars roared up and down the roads spewing fumes into the air; visible by the contrast in temperatures.

Exiting the department store, Eduardo breathed out an exasperated sigh; releasing a puff of steam into the air.

He absolutely hates to be away from work for long periods of time, but Mark had insisted they go out shopping together today. Eduardo didn't mind too much at first, seeing as how he is running low on basic goods and needs to replenish his stock.

Loud chattering following close behind him elicited a tired groan from Eduardo, and he kept on moving.

"Wowie! I can't believe I never considered getting a membership here – this store has absolutely everything! And for such a cheap price too!" Matt exclaimed joyfully as he walked out of the store alongside Mark, carrying shopping bags on both hands.

Eduardo rolled his eyes and frowned. He couldn't understand Mark's logic of inviting the ginger doofus to tag along with them. Hadn't they agreed to only make peace with their neighbours? Why is Mark being so friendly towards the airhead?

If Eduardo had to make a hunch; he'd suspect Mark was just happy to find someone with shared interests to hang out and go shopping with. Now that they are no longer rivals, it seems that the two narcissists have found each other like in those lame soul mate romance novels and saw how much they got in common.

Of course, if Mark wants to go ahead and be pals with their neighbour, he is more than free to do so. Especially since Eduardo doesn't have to allow or forbid anything in his life. But does Mark have to try and involve him on it constantly?

He tuned out their voices as they continued on their way home.

Matt jovially laughed at their shenanigans. He'd been spending more time with the duo over the past week. Ever since they made peace, Matt looked forward to their next "self-care" session. Eduardo is still pretty terrifying and he doesn't stick around for very long for Matt to really interact with him; but Mark just naturally clicks with him. It's nice to have someone who understands you.

"Anyways, how is Edd doing?" Mark inquired Matt after their laughter died down. "I don't believe I've seen you two together once since we moved in."

At the question, Matt's stomach tightened and he avoided the blond's gaze; searching for something to say. "Edd is... fine, I guess." He mumbled. "He's been pretty busy lately, so I haven't seen him as much as I used to."

"Well, sounds an awful lot like a certain someone that I know." Mark shot a pointed glare at Eduardo, who walked a pace ahead of them and merely huffed in response to the comment.

Worry jabbed Matt's chest as he reflected back on his current predicament with Edd. His first and brief meeting with Reagan haunted him. He can't shake the notion that there is something deeper going on. He gave a lot of thought to this situation to find the best way to go about this without upsetting Edd, and in the end, Matt decided he'll talk to the brunet as soon as he can.

Doubt gnawed away at him. I just need to play it cool – act natural! Matt reasoned nervously the closer to home he got. Edd won't suspect anything if I'm laid back.

His thoughts came to a crashing stop when his feet suddenly slipped on the icy ground as they were crossing the street, and Matt fell forward. Letting out a startled yelp, he instinctively raised his arms out in front of his face as the ground neared. "Ah! Not the face!" However, a hard tug on the back of his coat quickly put an end to his fall.

Matt looked up wide-eyed as he was hauled back to his feet, and realized that it was Eduardo who saved him from a nasty fall.

"Watch your step, dumbass!" The burly brunet scolded.

Gratitude flooded through Matt and he nodded fervently. "Y-yes! Thank you, Eduardo!" He squeaked, shrinking back a little out of fear. Please don't punch me! He closed his eyes and begged silently.

But Eduardo simply released his hold on him and walked away. Matt blinked in surprise. He's amazed that he hadn't received a punch yet, not even once since he started hanging with the duo. Eduardo hasn't so much as raised a fist at him so far. That gave Matt comfort, though he's still pretty weary of him.

He continued to chat with Mark for the reminder of their journey home, talking about more beauty tips and things they could do together.

"I guess I should start getting dinner ready, huh?" Mark spoke up, looking down at his watch as they climbed the steps to the hallway of their home. "Since it's pretty cold today, how about we have a good ol' beef stew?" He suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Eduardo agreed. Being so busy with his work and having no culinary skill whatsoever, it's times like this he really appreciates his companion's wonderful cooking ability.

"You are invited to join us if you want, Matt." Mark continued, turning to address the ginger next to him. Eduardo resisted the temptation to roll his eyes and groan in frustration.

"Oh! Thank you!" Matt sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I'll just… I think I will check on Edd first, and see how he is doing."

Mark nodded in understanding. "No problem. It will be a while before dinner is ready, but I'll leave my door unlocked for you!"

"Good! Guess I can take this chance to get back to work while we wait-"

Eduardo was about to stalk off to his own apartment when his ear was grabbed and pulled back abruptly by none other than Mark.

"Oh no you don't!" The blond man admonished. "You're not getting away so easily this time, Eduardo! I already let you off the hook last time and I had to set everything up by myself. But today you're going to help me prepare dinner!"

"Ow! Are you mad?" Eduardo exclaimed indignantly, trying to pull away. "Do you want me to set the food on fire?"

Mark huffed as he dragged the protesting brunet by the ear to his apartment. "Don't be so dramatic! It's high time you learned how to cook anyway."

Matt giggled as he watched the pair argue. They seem angry at each other, but he knew this quarrel was entirely good-natured. Mark and Eduardo have the tendency to get into a lot of arguments with each other for the littlest things; but they never escalate to dangerous levels.

When they had gone, Matt quickly put away his shopping bags aside, and padded up to Edd's apartment door. "Edd?" He called out and knocked. "Are you there? I'd like to talk to you." He pressed his ear against the door.

"Come in!"

Hearing the muffled cheery greeting through the door gave Matt hope. He must be in a good mood today!

At the invitation, Matt walked right in. The room was bright, the curtains drawn back to let sunlight filter through. Seated in the dining table, Edd leisurely sipped a mug of coffee with a steaming plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him. Ringo weaved her way around the chair, tail held high as she rubbed against her owner's leg.

"Hey Matt!" Edd smiled and waved tiredly.

Mirroring her owner's voice, Ringo meowed a particularly loud greeting as well; melting Matt's heart. But he did not gush over her for long, as his gaze settled on the contents on the table.

"Hey! Uh, are you… having breakfast right now?" Matt couldn't help but ask, confusion evident in his voice. It's nearly four in the afternoon, for crying out loud!

Edd chuckled. "Yeah. I woke up a little while ago." He broke off into a yawn. "I came home later than usual last night."

The brunet seems so upbeat as he scarfed down his meal. Matt can't recall another moment as of late where Edd behaved like his old self. This was how he used to look, back when there were three of them; for a while, after Tom's death, Matt had been afraid that this Edd had vanished forever.

Upon closer look though, Matt realized there were dark bags under Edd's eyes. Sensing his stare, Edd blinked back at him. "What is it?" He asked, words muffled by a mouthful of food.

"Were you out with Reagan last night by any chance?" Matt asked.

"Yup!"

"But I thought you only went out with Reagan on Wednesdays and Saturdays?" Matt inquired, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He is pretty sure yesterday was a Tuesday.

"I do. But apparently a client of Reagan's or something cancelled their plans together, and he invited me to hang out instead." Edd explained calmly, taking another bite out of his meal.

Pulling out a chair for himself, Matt sat down next to him; remembering his own advice of playing it cool. Since they're on the topic of Reagan, he might as well just go with the flow from here. Matt took a deep breath. "So… who exactly is this Reagan fellow anyway?"

He looked down at his hands nervously, bracing himself for Edd's humour to drop – thinking perhaps he overstepped his boundaries in asking. But when Matt looked up again, there was nothing in his friend's eyes except for intense interest.

"Reagan… well, he's an… interesting guy." Edd began coolly. "To be honest, I am not entirely sure what he does. But he is staying in town for a little while." He paused to take a sip of his coffee. "He doesn't know his way around the place, so he asked if I could be his guide during this period, and I said yes."

Matt thought over his words carefully. "Oh so… this isn't a permanent thing then?"

"Haha no." Then Edd's expression darkened as realization dawned on him. He had been having so much fun going out with Reagan, he hadn't considered that the Irishman isn't going to stick around town forever. What will he do when the time comes to say goodbye? "No I… I guess not." He muttered dejectedly, his posture sagging.

Sensing his sudden shift in humour, Matt panicked; desperately searching for a new topic to change to before things go downhill. But his mind was running so fast he couldn't think of anything appropriate to say or do. What do I do?

"Mrrrow!"

Coming to his rescue, Ringo hopped onto her owner's lap and peered at the food intently. Edd laughed, running his hands through her soft tabby fur. "Why you cheeky little thief! You've been eyeing my breakfast this whole time, haven't you?" He teased, blocking the food out of Ringo's sight. She mewed indignantly and tried pawing his hand aside. "Don't be so edgy! I just filled your food bowl. It's over there if you're hungry."

Matt laughed as the brunet placed the cat back on the ground. Thank you, Ringo!

"Anyway, what have you been up to?" Edd asked casually.

"Oh, nothing much honestly." Matt confessed, leaning back on his chair. "I haven't added anything new to my collection of trinkets in quite a while now. I've been hanging around Mark and Eduardo a lot lately. And there isn't anything new to watch on Webflick either-"

"Wait, what?"

Matt went rigid with alarm. Had he been too laidback? "What?" He echoed in confusion.

"You've been hanging with Mark and… Eduardo?" Edd spoke the last name with a mixture of venom and disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah?" Matt still wasn't sure what the big deal is. "I already told you they don't plan to bother us anymore."

Edd frowned. "And you believed them? I thought you knew better than that by now, Matt." His words caused a twinge of hurt within the orange-haired man, making him wince. "I mean, I can kinda understand you and Mark getting close; being vain and all that. But Eduardo? Really?"

Matt felt as if something massive got lodged in his throat. This wasn't how he had intended their talk to go. "They're not so bad." He began defensively, shifting around in his seat with clear discomfort. "I don't get to interact with Eduardo all that much, I will admit. But he hasn't done anything so far, and Mark is actually a really smart guy! They even invited me to have dinner with them – why don't you come join us for once? I think if you just try and give them a chance, you might find yourself warming up to them too."

But Edd wasn't so easily convinced. "Are you kidding? Eduardo and I in the same room? That's just asking for trouble!"

"It really isn't!" Matt insisted, frustration welling up inside of him. He so desperately wanted this arrangement to work. Maybe then Edd wouldn't need to keep going out with Reagan. "Eduardo won't even so much as glance at you; he's far too busy worrying about his mysterious job to say or do anything."

Sighing in defeat, Edd closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair. For a couple heartbeats, neither of them spoke. Then Edd turned to face him again. "Fine. I will... consider what you said."

Matt smiled, his heart fluttering with hope.

"But as for today, I think I will have to decline the invitation."

"What? Why?"

Edd stretched his arms. "I just woke up! I want to get some commissions done before I go out tonight."

"You mean… you're heading out with Reagan again?" Matt stared at him, huge eyed with dismay.

"Yup!" His friend drank the reminder of his coffee, none the wiser to the ginger's concerns. "I mean, I can't just say no now - Reagan is expecting me to meet him today. We'll probably eat junk food somewhere and get drunk-"

"I think you're making a big mistake, Edd!"

A voice suddenly exclaimed, and Matt realized with horror that it had been him. He slapped a hand over his mouth. His concern must have driven out all thoughts of being tactful, or of not upsetting Edd in the process. But it's too late to take it back now.

Edd stiffened and stared back at him through narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Matt took a deep breath. "About Reagan." He confessed, ducking his head nervously.

"And what makes you say that?" Edd sounded as calm as ever.

Gulping, Matt hesitated and shifted on his seat. It seemed clear that blurting out his suspicions the way he did hadn't been exactly the most sensible way to go about it. But I can't stop now. I have to tell him what I think!

Edd waited in silence. Matt couldn't tell what was running through his mind. "I am not… entirely sure. But when I met him I just didn't feel right about him." He went on, nervously aware that it was too late now to change his mind. He really regrets not having rehearsed this conversation prior this talk now. "There's something undeniably off about him – I can't exactly put a finger on it."

"So I'm supposed to take your word for it just because you have a bad feeling about him?" Edd asked, his voice still deceptively calm, contrasted with his rigid posture and glaring eyes. "No offence, Matt, but you only met Reagan for a total of two minutes. It's not exactly enough to judge a person's whole character off of."

"I know, I know! But I can't shake this impression that Reagan might be up to no good; and that you might have some part to play in it somehow." Matt continued. "Don't you think it's a tad strange to spend so much time around someone you hardly know? You don't even know what he does for a living! For all we know, he could be dangerous and involved in some shady business."

As he spoke, Edd began to look troubled, narrowing his eyes so that only the faintest sliver of brown showed in his eyes. He let out a long sigh. "I can see how in your point of view Reagan could be seen as suspicious." He murmured. "We haven't gone in any adventures for a while. Heck, I believe this might be the first time we've actually sat down and talked to one another. But there's no need for you to be jealous."

"Jealous?" Matt parroted incredulously.

"I see now that I have been ignoring you for a while, and I'm very sorry for that. I promise I'll make it up to you soon." Edd went on as if he'd never spoken. "But you don't need to hold it out against Reagan. He's a real swell guy!"

Matt blinked, incapable of believing what he was hearing. Could it be true his suspicions had been only conjured up by his envy towards Reagan? He literally has nothing else going against the Irishman but his first impression of him. Aside from that one time, he knows nothing about him. Who is he to judge? It is true that Matt misses spending time with Edd just like they used to. He supposed Edd did have a good reason to think he is jealous.

A twinge of apprehension flickered in Matt's belly as he remembered the look in Reagan's eyes when he and Edd had walked out the door. Those vibrant green eyes had glowed with mirth and something akin to triumph, Matt is sure of it. His gut was telling him that the Irishman should not be trusted, and he must somehow convince Edd of that, for the sake of his safety.

"You've… changed, Edd. I feel as if you're not the same person anymore. Truth be told, I'm having a hard time confiding you with anything because… I- I'm- I am always afraid of how you're going to react." He ventured. "We've only just started getting over our grief and get back on our feet when this guy shows up out of nowhere. Don't you think that's even a little bit odd?"

Edd looked up at that; his eyes trained forward with interest. For a heartbeat Matt hesitated to continue sharing his concerns about Reagan, but his determination to keep his friend safe gave him the courage to go on.

"I know I may not be the most reliable person you can count on. I forget things quite often, I'm clumsy, I mess up a lot – believe me, I get it. But we've been friends for a really long time now; so much so that we are practically family at this point." Matt didn't dare mention how short their already small family has become, and simply moved on. "We've been through adventures and hardships together, travelled through thick and thin and to hell and back again – literally! We trust, confide, and look out for each other no matter what! I don't have any definitive proof, but I just know for a fact there is something suspicious about Reagan. I… I don't want to lose you too! Please trust me, Edd; I really think you should stop seeing him. I sense something bad is going to happen if you don't." He gazed at him imploringly.

For a few heartbeats he thought Edd had not heard him, he was so still. Then he pushed his chair back and rose from his seat, staring at him with a stone cold expression. "And you fully expect me to stop meeting Reagan altogether just on the assumption that you have bad vibes about him?"

Matt blinked. "I just thought—"

"This isn't what I expect from you, Matt!" Edd growled. His usually warm eyes glittered like ice. "You would do better to mind your own business than to come here telling tales about Reagan." He studied him for a long moment. "Don't you trust me to take care of myself?"

"I—I'm sorry!" Matt stammered. "But I thought I should tell you the truth."

Edd let out a long breath. All the interest he had shown before had vanished, leaving his expression cold and remote. "Go." He ordered. "I'll talk to you later. And never—never— mention this to me again. Do you understand?"

Matt stood up wearily and began backing out of the room. "But what about Reagan? He—"

"Just go away!" Edd spat the command.

Wincing, Matt's feet scrambled against the wooden floor in his haste to obey. Once out of the apartment and closing the door behind him, Matt came to rest when he had put a good distance between himself and Edd. He felt utterly bewildered. At first Edd had seemed prepared to listen to him, but as soon as he suggested he should stop seeing Reagan, he had refused to hear any more.

A sudden chill swept through Matt. For a short time, Matt had let himself hope that he could make Edd understand how dangerous the Irishman could be.

God damn it! He thought. Now he won't hear another word against Reagan. I blew it!

Confused and unhappy, Matt made for Mark's apartment, almost unconsciously. Like the blond man had promised, he kept the door unlocked for him, and Matt walked in dejectedly. While Mark worked on the stove, Eduardo was busy cutting vegetables. There were several ingredients gathered in front of him.

"See how easy it is? I told you could manage!" Mark nudged his partner encouragingly, eying Eduardo's progress with approval as the brunet handed him a portion of sliced carrots to add to the stew. Mark wore a frilly white apron as he cooked. "Honestly, you were so stiff at first it was like you were genuinely expecting the vegetables to spontaneously combust or something!"

Eduardo grumbled under his breath and obediently continued slicing more vegetables.

Matt numbly stood there and watched them for a moment without speaking. He felt sad, drained after the quarrel with Edd. He couldn't help wishing it were Edd and Tom here cooking together instead of Mark and Eduardo.

Choking down his anguish, Matt offered to set up the table; hoping to take his mind off things and move on with his day.

(Meanwhile…)

Soft snores echoed faintly throughout the room as Tom peacefully dozed off, a book sprawled over his chest, Tomee bear clutched close in one arm, and a dribble of drool trickled from the corner of his mouth. The door to his quarters slides open with a hiss, and a shadow falls over Tom's unconscious form.

Nearing the bed where his test subject laid, Tord paused to study him. Look at this lazy ass motherf#cker. He snickered quietly, watching the steady rise and fall of Tom's chest. He'd come to escort Tom to his soldier training, only to find the eyeless man in the middle of a nap instead.

Any other day, Tord wouldn't think twice about jolting Tom awake to get on with their schedule for the day. Tord is a busy man, after all. However, looking down at Tom's relaxed expression as he slept, Tord's features softened and he couldn't bring himself to do it. He's so… cute!

Tord shook his head to clear away the intrusive thoughts. What am I saying? I am the Red Leader for goodness sake! I can't think like this.

Deciding to get this over and done with before his thoughts can betray him once more; Tord hastily adjusted the settings on his mechanical arm. The repulsor on the palm of his hand switched to a speaker, and Tord chose the 'air horn' setting.

Lifting his hand close to Tom's unsuspecting face, Tord grinned. Just like old times.

He braced himself and blasted the obnoxiously loud air horn noise through the speakers in his hand. Tom instantly shot up from his bed in alarm, falling off the side of the bed with wide eyes as he whipped his head around wildly.

"Wha- what?! What's happening?!" He asks panickedly, still bleary from sleep.

Tord couldn't help but burst into laughter at the Brit's dazed reaction. Tom's gaze finally fell on him, and putting the pieces together he glared at the Norsk.

"Rise and shine, soldier!" Tord grinned.

"What the f#ck, Commie?" Tom scrambled to his feet, clearly irritated by his rude awakening. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, especially not without the Dreamcatcher device, but this was still a pretty awful way to wake up to.

The Norsk stared at him in amusement and chuckled. "Somebody's cranky."

"And somebody needs to shut f#ck up." Tom fumed.

"Oh come now, Thomas; don't be so offended." Tord soothed, programing his arm back to the repulsor. "It if makes you feel any better, I play this exact same trick on Paul and Pat when they think they can sleep in!" Before they moved in to the same quarters, that is. "Now come, we have training to do."

Tom caught up with Tord as he headed for the long corridor and fell in step behind him. "Will Paul and Pat be joining us?"

Tord replied without looking back. "I've ordered them to help ensure that everything is top notch with the rest of the base. It's going to be just you and me."

Tom's heartbeat quickened and he gulped at the notion of being left alone with Tord. If something were to go wiry between them – and it very well could, given their relationship – there won't be anyone to help Tom if Tord decides he's had enough. Tom will just have to tread carefully from here on out. In theory, Tord won't hurt him unless he is provoked; so as long as Tom reframes from doing stupid sh#t he should be safe.

"What do you mean? Isn't that our end goal? ~" The voice pointed out with a scornful hiss, trailing a set of sharp fingertips teasingly along the side of his throat. Tom winced. "So what if it comes sooner? I say you mock him to your heart's content and just spill out everything you ever wanted to tell him right to his face before he pulls the trigger. ~"

Right, because that's not f#cking suspicious at all. Tom retorted dryly despite the fact that the voice's nails were digging into the flesh of his neck; drawing blood. He could feel the warm liquid tickling down onto his shirt but Tom elected to ignore it. This won't be the first time today that the voice will shed his blood. Even it isn't real. I have to play it cool. One wrong move and Tord could very well decide that any threat over my life won't be enough for my cooperation. Besides, not even Tord's anger management issues will be enough for him to lose all reason and kill me.

He heard the voice tsk in distaste. "Excuses, excuses… you'll run out of them sooner or later, but it will be far too late for you then. When that happens…I will be there to remind you of your place. ~" Tom could sense the voice grin against the back of his neck right before a set of claws scored down his back in a quick motion; from the base of his neck all the way down to his waist. Tom whimpered and the voice disappeared, its foreboding warning still ringing inside his head.

Returning to reality, Tom and Tord walked together along the large hallways of the lab level. Tom's mind raced as he shot quick glances in Tord's direction. This will be the second training session he's having with Tord; and if things weren't awkward enough before, they are definitely so now after their chat in the test room. What does he have in store for me this time? By the time they reached the training room, Tom's nerves were skyrocketing but he succeeded in maintaining his expression nulled.

They made their way across the immense gym toward the fighting ring that stood elevated just a meter above the ground. Tom followed Tord as he climbed the small steps leading into the ring and jumped over the railing into the cushioned arena.

"Now Tom, as a soldier it is important for you to be prepared for anything. Everything counts in the battlefield and you must be ready to face it." Tord explained as he strolled to the centre. "You can't be expected to rely solely on anything else aside from your own wits." He went on, turning to face him. "Depend too much on your gun, and when you find yourself without it you'll be done for. Like I said; anything can happen. Run out of ammo, get disarmed, captured, yatta yatta you get the idea." Tord raved on, twirling the fingers of his robotic hand in a dismissive gesture. "And sure, you'll be fighting alongside the rest of my army, but that's still no excuse to slack off. Teamwork may be key, but don't be surprised when you have to fend for yourself at some point."

Tom began to tune Tord out as his vision darkened once more. He whined as the all too familiar sensation of sharp digits grabbing hold of his shoulders made itself known to him.

"You hear that? Don't depend on anyone else. ~" The voice cooed mockingly into his head. "You are on your own. If you can't do things by yourself, don't bother asking help from others. You'll merely burden them more. ~"

"I want to concentrate on your fighting skills, and I want you to concentrate on them too—which means no distractions." Tord continued, pacing back and forth in front of Tom, emitting an air of authority to him.

"No one cares about you other than what you possess. ~" Whispered the voice, another set of phantom hands wrapping around Tom's waist while one sharp digit trailed his jawline and another pierced the flesh of his cheek. "If it weren't for the valuable serum currently running through your veins, believe me, people would not bat an eye if you were gone. As they should! ~"

Sudden movement flashed right in front of him. A blur of blue and red whirled past his nose, and Tom fell backwards as his feet were knocked lightly from underneath him. He landed flat on his back over the cushioned mats of the ring. Before Tom could get a chance to properly recover from the blow, the wind was knocked out of him by a heavy boot pinning him down over his ribcage. Gritting his teeth in irritation, Tom glared upwards to see Tord towering calmly over him. "Do I have your attention now?" He growled, although his one visible eye sparked with mirth.

Blinking, Tom realized what had just occurred and composed himself. "Yeah, you got me. Now let me up!"

Tord pursed his lips, as if genuinely considering the idea. "I'll let you up, if you address me properly." He smirked.

Rolling his non-existent eyes, Tom grumbled. Tord leaned downwards while simultaneously increasing the pressure of his boot over Tom's ribs. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Mind speaking up a little bit more?"

Clenching his eyes shut, Tom hissed at the building pain in his lower abdomen. At least the Commie managed to shut the voice up. He acknowledged, before sighing in defeat. "Sorry, Sir! It won't happen again, sir!" Tom growled hastily, glaring into his gray eye.

Satisfied with his answer, Tord lifted his boot off and stepped back. "That's better." The Norsk murmured, watching Tom stagger to his feet. "As I was saying; Thomas, you have been with us for many months now. Although you were never directly involved with any of the army's activities, you are no stranger to this type of environment." He commented, referring to their little adventure in the army countless years ago. Ah, the fond memories! "You have had some fighting experience; you are familiar with guns and… other weapons." Tord's voice slightly lowered, and Tom did not need to be a genius to know what he was implying with that remark. "Not to mention that you are quite clever and agile… when you want to be, that is."

Tom crossed his arms and stared at him deadpanned. "Are you going to keep on babbling or are you getting somewhere with all of this?"

He received a cuff to the back of his head for his snarky comment. It didn't really hurt, since Tord used his organic hand – it's more of a reminder to keep quiet and listen when the leader is talking. But Tom found himself rubbing the sore spot with a frown regardless.

Shaking his head, Tord tutted. "Patience is a virtue, Thomas. A virtue you unfortunately do not possess an abundance of." He went back to pacing. "Where was I? Oh yes! You are quite the formidable opponent when put in the right circumstances. But one day you will meet an opponent who is all of these things as well, and perhaps so much more – quick, fierce and clever." Tord noted, his voice lowered to an intense hiss. "And it is my duty as your leader and mentor to prepare you for that day."

Tom nodded, surprised to find himself so caught up on the Norsk's words. It's not in any way normal to hear Tord compliment him; and gathering from past experiences, Tom knows this doesn't usually end well for him. Tom's senses were fully alert, and on guard.

"Show me how well you fight." Tord ordered. "Attack me. Try to pin me down."

Tom blinked. Usually he would be static at the chance of punching Tord's stupid smirk and face in, just to payback for all the sh#t he pulled. But Tom couldn't help but hesitate, his fingers curling into fists in a repeating motion. There's something undeniably suspicious about this.

"Really? Just like that?" Tom raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"What else is there to it? A kiss on the cheek for good luck?" Tord argues, shrugging with indifference. He then smirks. "I didn't realize you would be so scared of going up against a half blind amputee, Thomas."

"Shouldn't you begin by teaching me some basic moves? Jumping straight to fighting seems really out of left field!" Tom tries to reason.

"I'm sorry, which one of us runs an army?" Tord remarked with a chuckle. "We both know you are not defenceless, Thomas. Before I can start teaching you I would like to see what level your skills are right now, so that I may pick up from there. No point wasting time teaching you things you already know." He explained coolly.

Seeing no other way out of this, Tom scoffed and rolled his non-existent eyes. He decided not to give Tord the benefit of seeing him flustered and just get this training session over with as soon as possible.

Narrowing his eyes and getting into focus, Tom analysed Tord's form, sizing him up and wondering the best way to go about this. Tord wasn't much bigger than himself; but what the Norsk lacks in height he makes up for it in muscle, surely. Nearly ten years leading an army – Tord can't possibly be weak.

Tom's mind flashed back to the incident when in a fit of rage he'd ripped out Tord's eye patch and invoked the Norsk's wrath. Perhaps because at the time Tom had been so weak and malnourished, but Tord definitely isn't someone he ought to mess with.

With that in mind, it would be a waste of effort to begin with mere punches and wrestling. The next best thing Tom could think of would be to aim for one side. But which one? Tord may be blind on his right side, but Tom isn't foolish enough to think that the Norwegian man would let himself be open to attacks with such a weak spot being exposed. Not to mention that his right has the deadly, metallic hand; currently flexing his fingers with anticipation and making faint whirring sounds.

"Today if possible, Thomas." Tord teased, taking notice of the Brit's clear discomfort and frustration as he could practically read his every move.

Grumbling a low growl, Tom shifted his attention to the Norsk's left side. Looks simple enough, aside from the aforementioned muscle strength. But here's the thing; would Tom rather be hit with a very probable painful punch to his face from a hand made out of flesh and bones, or from a robotic fist made out of hard metal and steel?

"What's this? ~" The voice returned to haunt him. "Afraid of a little pain? ~" Tom could practically feel it grin right up against his ear, and he suppressed a shudder.

Ignoring the voice's sharp claw-like nails grazing over his injured back, Tom focused his attention back to training. Perhaps if he could trick Tord into going a certain direction, while aiming for the other one, Tom could go behind his back and unbalance him with a powerful enough blow.

With a plan set in mind, Tom braced himself. Disturbingly enough, Tord hasn't taken his silver-gray eye off him for even an instant. Tom stared back at him and dashed forward.

He pretended to aim for Tord's right, and when the Norsk tries to block his blow, Tom would divert to his left on the last minute to land a punch on his side.

But Tord was more than ready for him.

Rather than blocking Tom's feint attack, like he had been hoping for, Tord lashed out with his robotic hand and tried to punch him square in the face.

"What the-?!"

Tom abruptly halted, blinking in confusion and barely managing to dodge the strike. He tried to retract his steps and go the other way around, still going along with his plan, only for Tord to block his path and grab a hold of him; easily flinging him away. Tom felt he had been knocked away like a bothersome brat. He hit the cushioned floor hard and lay winded for a moment, catching his breath, before scrambling to his feet.

"What the hell?!"

"Interesting strategy." Tord commented slyly. "But you'll have to try a lot harder than that. Again!"

Getting over his initial shock, this time Tom looked at his shoulders but aimed for his legs. When Tord attacks, Tom would knock the legs from underneath him as he ducks. Tom felt a surge of satisfaction as he charged, but it turned into confusion as Tord unexpectedly sidestepped out of the way and let him skid his leg into nothing where he had stood just a heartbeat before. Tord timed it perfectly – and before Tom could catch his bearings and formulate another plan of attack, Tord landed a kick with painful precision on Tom's stomach; knocking the wind out of him.

Panting, Tom staggered backwards with a wild look in his eyes. He spotted Tord coming his way, and in his haze, succeeded in blocking a couple of punches until Tord head-butted him, and pushed him backwards. Stunned, Tom fell on his back as Tord pinned him down, squashing the breath out of him.

"Now how about you try something I won't expect, hm?" Tord hissed into his ear, climbing off him and backing away with a challenging gleam in his one gray eye.

Tom scrambled up, panting, and shook himself crossly. He hissed and charged again. Tom was determined to win no matter at what cost. But Tord is just as equally determined to not go easy on him, or let him win at all.

Tord remained absolutely still, not moving a muscle as he watched Tom get nearer. Fuming, the test subject tackled him head on and tried to use his own weight to bring the Norsk down with him. However, Tord had endured the force of the impact with his legs digging into the floor. He watched with blatant amusement, as the other man tried in vain to overpower him. He is slowly, but surely succumbing to frustration. Tord mused. He almost felt bad for Tom at this point, seriously considering going a tad bit easier on him.

Well… Almost.

Keeping one of his legs tightly secured in the ground to keep his balance, Tord twisted his other one around Tom's, and used his hands to shove him away. Tom staggered backwards, tripping over Tord's leg in the process. He tried to regain his balance last minute, to stand up and keep fighting, but Tord kneed him in the gut and he flopped heavily onto his back.

"Thomas."

Above the roaring rush of blood pulsating in his ears, Tom barely managed to hear Tord's soft voice above him. Blinking his eyes, Tom saw the Norsk extend his robotic hand out to him. Knowing he didn't have the strength to get up by himself at this point, Tom accepted the offer without complaint. Once the Brit's hand was in his mechanical one, Tord hauled him up until he was back on his legs. Still stunned and dizzy, Tom nearly fell again until Tord grasped his shoulders to keep him steady.

A hand gently grasped Tom's chin, and raised his head to make eye contact with the Red Leader. "Tom, listen to me. You're strong and quick, but you must learn to keep control of your speed and body weight so that it's not so easy for me to unbalance you."

Tom batted the hand holding his chin aside pathetically. "Isn't all this a bit too much?" He complained, still panting. "I mean, what are the chances we fight other soldiers like this? In a real war, everyone is going to be equipped with guns; at least I sincerely hope so. Also, even if we're unarmed, the other troops will surely have guns and they'll kill us way before we get the chance to get near them and do something. So, I don't know, this all seems kind of pointless to me."

Tord chuckled. "Trust me, you'll be plenty thankful to have this set of skills on you if the occasion ever arises." He continued. "It may sound silly and improbable at first, I know, but it is a training requirement for any army and I cannot just overlook it." Once he was sure Tom wasn't going to topple down if he lets go of him, Tord walked away to stand on the opposite side of the ring. "Whenever you are ready, try again."

Tom backed away; hot, sweaty, and out of breath, until he found himself leaning against the elastic ropes of the arena. Groaning in exasperation, frustration raged through him. He just wants to get this stupid training session over with, so he can go take a shower and return to his quarters for a quick nap before his dinner arrives. Now more than ever, Tom is determined to get the better of the Commie.

He took his time in recovering and made another quick observation of his opponent, searching for any weaknesses he could exploit to his advantage. Standing all the way over to the opposite side of the fighting ring, Tord was stretching his limbs, popping some of his joints in the process. Tom watched him with something akin to fascination. The Norsk looks so at ease, and confident in his abilities. Was there even a bead of sweat on his face? The long, cobalt blue coat really made Tord's overall form and shape stand out. It gave an empowering and dominating air to him, but also graceful and elegant too. Sure, Pat and Paul wear them too, but for an unknown reason Tom thought it looked a lot more appealing on Tord.

Feeling reinvigorated now, Tom snapped his mind back on track. "I'm ready now."

Tord shot him a brief glance. "Well? What you're waiting for, Thomas? An invitation?"

Narrowing his eyes at Tord's teasing comments, Tom rushed at him. The Red Leader smirked and positioned himself into a defensive stance. Once he was within proximity, Tom raised one fist and swung it towards the Norsk's left cheek. Tord ducked to avoid his strike and raised his robotic hand, ready to swipe down right onto Tom's head. Thinking quickly, Tom fell back to the ground to avoid the blow, and in one fast movement, struck his legs forward to kick Tord straight on the gut. Taken by surprise, Tord hissed as he felt all air be knocked out of him. He doubled over and staggered backwards. Tom took his chance now that the Norsk is momentarily winded, and he swiped his leg against Tord's own.

Tord was knocked down and fell back onto the cushioned floor with a grunt.

Tom flipped himself over and leaped to his feet. He felt jubilant. He observed Tord's form, lying down completely still with the exception of the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in heavily. Tom approached him, his movements sluggish from fatigue, and yet for the first time in a long while he actually felt proud of himself.

Towering over him, Tom found Tord's one visible eye glinting proudly back at him.

"That... was much better." The Norsk puffed, out of breath. Tom smirked just a tiny bit, and lends him a hand, to which Tord gratefully took. Tom heaved him up, helping Tord to his feet as he adjusted his uniform and hair. "But you forgot to pin me down. That was a mistake."

Smirk wiped away instantly, Tom got no time to react as Tord pulled him forward hard, knocking him to the ground, then retreated and let Tom pick himself up before rushing at him again. Tom braced himself for impact, but Tord bowled over him easily.

"Look at my size, Thomas! Don't try to stand up against my attack. Use your wits!" Tord instructed, pinning him down with his boot. "If you are fast enough to avoid me, then avoid me!" He stepped off.

Tom scrambled to his feet again, preparing for Tord's next attack. This time he didn't dig his heels into the cushioned floor, but stood lightly, keeping his weight on his toes. As Tord advanced toward him, he hopped neatly out of his path, and struck out a punch against the side of Tord's face, sending him spiralling onward past him.

Tord regained his footing and whirled around to face him. A sly grin on his face as he rubbed his sore cheek. "Excellent! You learn quickly." He praised with glinting gaze. "But that was an easy move. Let's see how well you deal with this one!"

Tord sprang at him, slamming into Tom's side and knocking him off his feet. Tom writhed as he was firmly pinned down by the Norwegian man. Tord's silver-gray eye stared back at him when a mischievous expression crossed his features.

No harm in teasing him a little bit, right?

"Say, does this remind you of something?" Tord purred with mock contemplation. Tom stopped struggling to look up at him in confusion.

"No? Not really?-"

He cut off abruptly when Tord deeply inhaled, his nose scrunching up and his throat rumbling. Tom froze, his eyes widening. He knows exactly what the Commie has in mind. The snicker-snag!

Back when they were teens and started living together, it was common for Tom and Tord to get into lots of petty arguments and fights to breakout between them for the littlest things. Tord especially liked to tease Tom by pinning him down and subject him to a snicker-snag; a disgusting move where he would dangle a thread of saliva over his face until it eventually falls, and slobbers him. At the time, Edd would usually come to his rescue before such fate could happen. But Edd isn't here to save him now.

With that in mind, Tom's panic kicked-in and he started to trash around wildly, trying to escape but to no avail. His struggles only escalated when Tord began to droop the bead of drool, inching closer and closer to his face. "No! No! No!" Tom screeched, shaking his head frantically as his mind went haywire the closer the strand got until he couldn't take it anymore, and simply turned his head away. Eyes clenched shut as he waited for the humiliating defeat with one last desperate scream.

But it never came.

Tord slurped the thread back before it could reach Tom, and stared down at him as he laughed. "Jesus, Tom!" He wheezed. "With the way you're screaming it sounds like I'm subjecting you to some painful torture! Not a snicker-snag!"

Tom opened one of his eyes and gazed back up at him, annoyed that he's being made fun of, but at the same time relieved Tord wasn't going to go through with it. Or so he thought, before Tord's laughter died down and he let his saliva hang from his mouth once more.

"Oh c'mon!" Tom renewed his struggles, writhing beneath Tord from side to side to try and slip away. "Since when are snicker-snags included in soldier training, for f#cks sake?!" He hoped Tord would pull the disgusting slob back up again to give some witty remark, but unfortunately Tord merely chuckled and continued his insistent teasing.

In a last desperate effort to escape this awful humiliation, Tom thrust his legs up hard into Tord's belly, successfully throwing the Norsk off of him. He miraculously managed to dodge the droplet of spit at the last second, twisted and jumped to his feet before Tord could catch him off guard.

They continued training for hours in that gym. Without even feeling the presence of time pass between the two of them, they kept sparring for the reminder of the day. They laughed and bantered through the many punches and kicks being thrown at each other, but there was no sign of animosity between them. Only competitive playfulness.

All previous thoughts of suspicion, defiance and disdain have disappeared. There is only now; Tord and him, facing each other.

"That's enough for today." Tord stopped and gathered to his feet.

Tom couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. He's completely spent after today's workout. Though he would personally never admit it out loud, he enjoyed the training session with Tord. Mostly because it was the only chance he got to pummel his fist in Tord's face without any repercussions after holding in his anger this whole time. But there was also this underlined pleasant sensation Tom couldn't possibly ignore that manifested sometime during training.

It felt weird.

He followed Tord out of the ring. The Norsk seemed a little tired; stiff and with a slight limp but he still walked with grace. Tom fell in step next to him, panting heavily and still a little exhilarated from their training.

"Good work, Tom. You did great today." Tord began as they walked into the hallway.

Tom glanced at him and scoffed. "Yeah right! I couldn't even manage to pin you down!"

Tord chuckled. "To be fair, no one can. Maybe Paul can, but he hasn't so far. When I set the challenge for you I knew you wouldn't succeed, but I wanted to see how you would try to anyway; and just as I expected, you did not disappoint." He went on. "You get frustrated very easily and that tends to cloud your judgment when it matters, but you are a quick learner and that'll be essential for the rest of your training."

Only half-listening at this point, Tom realized something strange. He wasn't feeling the least bit tired; in fact, Tom felt quite the opposite. He feels as if he could run laps around the track all day, his feet skimming the ground as the exhilaration of speed coursed through him, and Tom had a feeling he could stand up to anything. This sensation was new and refreshing to say the least. Tom wanted more.

"Hey Tord." Tom spoke up after a few brief minutes of silence. "Am I allowed to use the gym whenever I want?"

Tord glanced back at him questioningly and hummed. "I suppose."

"Then if it's all the same to you," Tom stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder. "I think I'll head back and train a little more by myself."

Tord stared at him in surprise, and then Tom glimpsed a flicker of disappointment in the Norsk's eyes before he settled for a calm demeanour and a lazy grin. "As you wish. But don't be surprised if you get a scolding from Patrick later for overworking yourself. I practically have to put up with it every day!"

Tom forced himself to chuckle casually before whirling around and going back the way he came. Something about Tord just then unsettled him. Why did he appear disappointed so suddenly? Tord had that exact same expression at the end of their talk in the test room. It had been brief, but it was still there.

Is Tord expecting something from me? Tom couldn't help but wonder. If so, what?

(Meanwhile…)

Reagan whistled a happy little tune as he led Edd toward their destination for the night. He couldn't stop thinking back to the ginger-haired man he encountered a few days ago. It was hilarious how awfully easy it was to unsettle him, and he can't wait to play more games with him in the future. Will he be brave enough to even try? Or will he stand back and watch as I steal his friend away? Reagan snickered quietly to himself. He surely can't wait to see.

"Hey Reagan, are you sure you know where we're going?" Edd's voice cut through his musings and he glanced back at him over his shoulder. "I must admit I've never been to this part of the town before, so I am kinda blind here."

Reagan clasped a hand on his shoulder dismissively. "Don't worry. I've been to this place a bunch of times over the past few weeks – I practically know this area like the back of my hand at this point."

Edd blinked in surprise. "Really? Why?"

The Irishman hummed pensively, grinning as he fished his pocket for a cigar. "Work related stuff, mostly."

They continued walking through the suspicious looking neighbourhood. Despite Reagan's reassurance, Edd remained on high alert; his brown eyes flicking all over the place.

The buildings they passed by were old and rundown, their windows cracked or barred with wooden planks. The streets they tread in were narrow and dark with barely any light posts to illuminate the way. The farther they went the fewer cars seem to drive by the area, leaving them in an eerie silence with nothing to take its place.

It was only when a bottle shattered ominously close by their location, startling Edd so badly he visibly jumped, did he finally voice his increasing worries.

"Reagan? Are you absolutely sure this place is safe? Because I got a really bad feeling…"

Expecting to hear another reassurance to calm his nerves, Edd was completely unprepared for Reagan's response.

"Well… I said that I know this place – didn't say anything about being safe."

"What?!" Edd exclaimed only to slap a hand over his own mouth in fear of attracting unwanted attention. He grabbed Reagan by the shoulders and started shaking him in desperation. "You mean to tell me we are currently walking through a danger zone and you are okay with this? Are you mad?"

Reagan stared at him wide eyed before smirking. "This is the fastest shortcut that I know of. Plus I thought you trusted me, Eddie. I would never lead you into danger on purpose unless we didn't have any other choice. But I promise you, as long as you stick close to me, we are safe." He brushed Edd's hands off his shoulders. "Trust me."

Edd stepped back hesitantly, still unnerved by the reality of the situation. "I do trust you, Reagan. It's your judgment that worries me a little." They resumed walking. "I mean, what if we get jumped on by a mugger? Or surrounded by a gang of bandits? Or worse?"

"Calm your tits, Eddie. I'm sure we'll get through this just fine."

"You know, there's been a lot of rumours and sightings of a beast wandering the area. Well, it's been a while since the last report, but in any case, I think we should be careful-"

"Beast? Seriously?" Reagan interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Where the f#ck are we? The eighteen-hundreds? Sh#t Eddie, I forgot my pitchfork and torch at home – guess we're f#cked!"

"I'm serious! People got killed by whatever it is, and it was a huge deal a while back. It kinda became this town's version of the Mothman or Bigfoot; everyone knows about it."

"As fascinating as it sounds, I'm still confident we got nothing to worry about." Reagan eyed him curiously. "You seem to know a great deal about this case though."

"It was all over the news when it first started occurring; it's kinda hard to not pay any attention to it when it's everywhere! Besides, it's quite an interesting case." Edd half-lied.

True, he had watched the news back when everything first happened, but Edd had never given the situation much thought. He was concerned for Tom and Matt's wellbeing at the time and often cautioned them to be careful. Then there were no more news about it and Edd thought everything was all good again.

Until Tom died that is.

When Edd finally snapped out of his denial, there was a stage in his period of grief where he tried to find the culprit behind his friend's murder. During his search, Edd had stumbled upon many articles surrounding the mysterious cryptid but Edd instantly brushed it off. Not that he doesn't believe in the supernatural in any way – his adventures have more than proven their existence. But it's highly unlikely this creature had anything to do with the situation, since Tom's death did not match the description of any of the other victims. Still, didn't stop Edd from doing his research on the matter.

"But I don't think we got to worry about anything. No one's going to jump us, and if they do, I'll make them regret it." Reagan's voice cut through his thoughts, jerking him back to reality.

"How can you be so sure?" Edd prompted.

Reagan gave a low chuckle. "I got… briefed before arriving in this town. Let's just say I know exactly what I am dealing with." He then paused, his tone taking a serious turn. "But I can't guarantee your safety if you decide to come here on your own for whatever reason. So I advise you to stay clear from this area when I'm not with you, or you're going to get beaten to pulp with an inch of your life left."

Before long they finally reached the end of the dreadful alley and left the horrid neighbourhood behind them. Edd released a sigh of relief when Reagan nudged him, prompting him to look up.

Their destination turned out to be a bowling alley. Reagan thought it would be fun if they played a few rounds and ate Chinese takeout together. Edd squinted as he took in his surroundings. The dim lighting combined with the harsh neon lights that bordered each one of the bowling tracks and walls hurt his eyes, and the obnoxiously loud pop music that blasted from the speakers didn't help matters. It genuinely feels as if they're on a rave rather than a bowling alley.

They sat in a booth on the far side, closer to the lanes and away from the other players in the establishment. While Edd busied himself on setting all their food down, Reagan went ahead and got the game started.

"And… strike!"

The blond flicked his hand forward and released the ball, flinging it across the smooth lane with such strength it thundered loudly above the blasting music. However, contrary to the Irishman's wishes, the ball dashed straight to the gutter and harmlessly passed by the pins.

Reagan frowned. "Boo! Game's rigged!"

"Tough luck." Edd chuckled, opening the last of the food wrappings.

"It's your turn now." Reagan turned to him, holding a bowling ball out for Edd to take. The brunet swallowed.

"I, uh, why don't you go ahead and play my round as well? I'm sure you can make a strike this time!" Edd suggested nervously.

The Irishman raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "That's not how this game works, Eddie." He shoved the ball into the Brit's hands. "C'mon! I'm the one paying for all this; the least you could do is try and enjoy yourself!"

Shoved closer to the lane, Edd staggered forward and approached wearily. He had never gone bowling before – In the past, Tom would forbid Edd and Matt from ever stepping foot into one of these establishments. It's not like he's here to complain now. Edd thought uneasily as he crouched into the address stance. Still feels wrong to be here playing though.

Pushing his nagging anxiety aside Edd held the ball up to his face, preparing to throw. However, as he peered at the dark holes of the ball, it appeared to shift – morphing into a face with empty eyes and spiky hair, glaring back at Edd as if scrutinizing his actions and a pang of guilt scorched through the brunet. Edd leaned closer to the apparition, yearning for the real thing to manifest out of it and change his reality from what it currently is.

"Hey Eddie, are you gonna throw the ball any time soon or are you planning on frenching it first?"

Reagan's teasing jab cut through Edd's thoughts, effectively erasing the illusion and jerking him back to reality. Blinking rapidly, Edd hastily threw the ball and watched as it went straight for the gutter.

"Yeah, sorry… I'm not very good at this game." Edd laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he tried to brush off his embarrassment. "I think I will just... sit down and eat instead. I'm really hungry. Maybe you should take a break too?"

Reagan stared at him intently for a couple of heartbeats before shrugging. "Whatevs, Eddie. I am gonna keep playing, if you don't mind."

However, not a minute later and Reagan called it quits when the ball went to the gutter again. They sat down on the booth and began to chow down their food and talk.

"So Reagan, what did you do before coming to this town?" Edd asked through a mouthful of food.

Reagan tsked. "You know I'm not allowed to answer that."

"Oh not work – I mean, like, life in general?" His earlier argument with Matt caused a bit of unease within Edd. He knows Reagan better than Matt does, that's for sure, but the Irishman is still as enigmatic as the day he first met him. The weight in his conscience would lessen considerably if Reagan were to shed some light into his background.

Humming deep in thought, Reagan tapped his chin repeatedly. "Not much, honestly." He took another forkful of his meal. "Just hopping from one place to another, looking for new thrills, hang around for a while before eventually moving on to the next best thing. Guess I was kind of a wanderer before settling for my job."

Edd contemplated his words. "Sounds nice, but also a bit lonely though." He stirred his food with one fork. "Don't you have a family to get back to? Or a home, or something?"

"What? And be tied down to only one place and having to depend on others all the time? Pass!" He scoffed, raising his chin. "I can't think of anything worse than being held back by others when you can accomplish so much more out of your life. I like to be free, thank you very much! I met a lot of people in my travels, and I can tell you, no one sticks around forever – and hey! Life is short! Can't afford to settle for a handful when there's a whole world ripe for the taking." He finished his speech with a wide grin on his face. "Why despair when there's a bar in every corner of the world?"

Edd opened his mouth to protest, but stopped short when Reagan reached for one of the fortune cookies. Rather than cracking one open to take the fortune from within, like you're supposed to, he simply tossed the full thing in his mouth and started chewing without a care in the world. Edd stared at him wide eyed.

"Reagan… you do know that's not how you eat fortune cookies, right?"

The Irishman stopped chewing, staring back at Edd in confusion. "What you mean?"

Flabbergasted he was actually going to have to teach such a basic concept to someone who claims to be so independent, Edd took the remaining fortune cookie and cracked it open; taking the slip of paper to demonstrate.

"Oh!" Reagan deadpanned in understanding. He stuffed his fingers inside his own mouth, poking around the mush of food inside. Edd nearly gagged in disgust and had to look away. Reagan finally pulled out the wet slip of paper from his mouth. "Blimey! You mean to tell me all these years I've been eating fortune cookies wrong? Well, this is embarrassing."

Edd chuckled half-heartedly, brushing the incident off. "So what does it say?"

Reagan unfolded his fortune to read, flicking away the bits of food clinging to it. "The greatest danger could be your stupidity." He deadpanned, earning a chortle out of Edd. "Aiight, sounds sensible enough. What about yours, Eddie?"

The brunet unwrapped the slip of paper eagerly. "All things are difficult before they are easy." His smile fell as he read the words out loud, the phrase resonating within him. It seems things are always difficult. He thought frustratedly. The image of a ginger-haired Brit smiling brightly back at him flashed in his mind, and Edd shifted in his seat uncomfortably. I shouldn't be here.

"I think I'm gonna head back home now." Edd stood up from his seat, ready to leave.

Reagan's head snapped up to look at him before he'd even finished his sentence, giving him a look; one that says he'd mistepped. Instantly, Reagan's hand shot up to grab Edd's elbow to stop him. "Whoa whoa whoa! Not so fast, Eddie." He spoke coolly. "Are you forgetting that I'm the one paying all expenses here tonight? After all the trouble of booking a place for us, you mean to tell me my money is going down the drain cuz you can't put up staying out a little bit later?

Silence descended between them like a thick fog, and stayed for a full minute as Edd contemplated his words.

"C'mon, Eddie!" Reagan grinned, tipping his head lazily to one side. "Where's your sense of adventure? Live a little!"

Edd bit his lip. He squirmed uncomfortably under that smile; it made him feel like a dull-witted child who still needs parents' permission to stay out late with his friends, and a tight knot of anxiety congealed in his stomach. Giving in with a small sigh, Edd shrank back into his seat and dropped his gaze, sipping his cola from time to time to relax.

"You know Eddie, I gotta be honest with you man, from one friend to another; but I think you might be just a little bit too uptight."

"Huh?"

"I mean, just look at your lifestyle!" Reagan motioned to the Brit's entire being. "You are an artist, hoping to strike big someday, and maybe even find yourself a fancy lady to court – or dude; I don't judge! – And you are really open with people." The blond narrowed his eyes. "And that's dangerous."

Edd stared at him, perplexed by the Irishman's way of thinking. "What do you mean?"

"Well, how many other people out there do you reckon have the same goals as you do? It's gonna be a competition, regardless if you think you got talent. Someone out there could be even better, and what will you do then?" Reagan kept going, acting composed and laid back as he delivered some harsh truths to really knock some sense into Edd's reality. "Put it this way, Eddie; you keep letting people in, you are just asking to get yourself hurt. I speak from personal experience that they will leave you in the end – one way or another."

Contemplating his ominous words, Edd couldn't help but tilt his head to one side. "Why are you telling me this?" His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, watching Reagan tip back his head and take a massive gulp of his beer.

"Because we're friends! I thought that was obvious enough by now. I care about your wellbeing, especially since you lost a friend not too long ago, and I don't want to see you get hurt." Reagan responded as he slammed the tankard on the table, oozing confidence to back up his words. His tongue swiped around his lips briefly to clean away the foam the tasty beverage had left behind. "Those rose-tinted glasses you have on can only take you so far before it becomes too much for you to handle, so I advise you to start building some walls."

Edd drank his cola, unsure of how to respond and just letting Reagan's advice replay in his head. "Kinda bleak way of viewing the world, don't you think?" He speaks at last, a small faint smile on his face as he tries lightening the mood. "The world is pretty harsh, and life can be tough on us; but it's not all bad! There's so much more to it."

"Sometimes people die, sometimes they live, and sometimes they break apart." Reagan murmured coolly, slowly churning the beer in his glass. "In my line of work, you know, you learn the worst of humanity, and you sure don't see a lot of best to balance it out."

His sombre tone convinced Edd that he was speaking from personal experience. He felt a sharp prick of curiosity, wondering for the life of him what could Reagan's mysterious job be, but Reagan said no more, and Edd didn't feel that he could ask him about it.

Last time I asked you all on your update preference: long pause followed by weekly updates, or irregular updates like I've been doing so far. I read each and every one of your comments, but in the end the majority of you have decided on weekly updates. So after this chapter, I will take a long break and write up to 5 or 6 chapters and then start updating the story again at a later time. I will announce the return date in the next chapter! So please don't think this story is dead, cuz it's definitely not, k?

And with that, I ask you this; how much of what Reagan is saying do you believe is true? 

#Tomtord #eddsworld #ew tom #ew tord #MLTS #angst #my little test subject

[timetravelingheart]

My Side of the Fence Part Two: A.M. Imagine

Thank you so much for all of the love on the first part of this! I honestly wasn’t expecting anything and was just hoping for the best. I realized I didn’t do disclaimers on the first one, but I don’t know if this series will need any. I haven’t decided how comfortable I am writing smut yet, but if I choose to go down that road, I will definitely put a warning! Thank you again for reading. And as always, feedback and asks are always appreciated! 

Auston now knew that Savannah had two older brothers and one older sister, two nieces and two nephews, a 10-year-old Cocker Spaniel named Lola, and that she was extremely close with both of her parents. Her father was a civil engineer and her mother was an elementary teacher for children with special needs. He learned that she spoke fluent French, could understand Spanish but couldn’t speak it, and that she had a fairly strong grasp on Japanese from all of her travels there for competitions and summer performances. Of her favourite places she has visited, Japan and Amsterdam are at the top of her list. He also learned that she had never been to Arizona so he took it upon himself to share his love of his home state, and specifically his hometown. He apologized for droning on and on, but he saw the genuine interest in her eyes and believed the sincere smile she offered him when he saw it reach her eyes (and when she reached over to touch his arm and effectively sent shockwaves through his entire system, but he had tried to push that to the back of his mind for now). 

In the past two hours, he learned that she freckled in the sun and now had a light dusting across her nose and cheeks. He learned that she had a few different smiles; one that seemed to be specifically reserved for Steph in which it seemed like they were always sharing a secret or an inside joke with just their eyes; one that was more of a smirk when she was being sassy or sarcastic and calling people out on their shit (Mitch seemed to be the main recipient of that one so far); one that was her biggest, with a wide open mouth and her eyes closed as she threw her head back and laughed when something was really funny; and one that caused her whole face to light up but still look so serene and sincere, with her smile reaching her eyes and creating little crinkles around them (this was by far his favourite and it did things to his insides that he had yet to find a name for). 

He learned that she had a dry sense of humour that perfectly matched his own, that she was obviously competitive but more specifically with herself and not others, that she was passionate about human rights for all people, that she dreamt of going on mission trips once she was finished competing, and that she wanted to give back to the figure skating world by fighting for body positivity in a sport in which it was severely lacking and become a mentor for the up and coming generations of skaters. 

He learned that she was brilliant and beautiful and brave - and that he was utterly entranced by everything about her. God, was he ever in deep.

“All right ladies and gents,” Mo stood up from his place on the beach blanket and stretched his arms out high above his head, a little bit of his stomach peeking out from his black hoodie, “I think it’s time we reel it in for the night.”

As everyone rose from their comfortable positions and began collecting all of their things, Auston had a moment of panic when he realized that he was heading back to Arizona for a week and he wouldn’t get to see Savannah. Should he ask for her number? She seemed hesitant at first, but definitely warmed up to him by the end. But maybe he was misreading everything and she was just being friendly? Steph did say she wanted her to meet everyone and join the group, so maybe that’s all it had been for her, just making another friend in Toronto. She had talked to everyone in the group tonight, but none of them as much as him. Was that just because he desperately wanted her attention or because he was sitting right next to her? Fuck, he thought, I must be in deep if I’m this self-conscious over a girl. Before he could say anything else, Mitch turned to him and Savannah. 

“Sav, how did you get here today?” 

“I caught a ride with Brian. I completely forgot I didn’t have my car here!”

“Well you can ride with Steph and I. We have to drop Matts off too.”

“Perfect. Thanks Mitchy!” she leaned over and gave his side a light squeeze, picking up the chair and cooler that were still on the ground. 

“So you think you want to join us fools, Sav?” Morgan ruffled her hair a bit as they all walked towards the parking lots. “We’re probably the easiest of the entire group, so you might want to prepare yourself.”

“YOU’RE the easiest? God, do you play with a bunch of animals or something?” Sav joked, that sassy smirk stretching across her soft features. 

“Hey! We were told to be on our best behaviour tonight so we didn’t scare you away and cause Steph to dismember us and I think we did okay,” William laughed and Steph unlatched herself from Mitch’s side and shoved him, causing him to stumble a couple of steps in his flip flops. “Besides, you spent most of the night talking to Matts so if your impression is that we’re awful, we’re just going to blame him.”

Heat that rose to both Auston and Savannah’s faces at being called out for their slight separation from the group, but Savannah continued on as if nothing had happened. 

“Don’t worry, I think I can handle it,” Sav laughed lightly. 

“Well it was nice meeting you, Savannah! You’ll have to make it to our home opener,” Kasperi offered, as he reached over to give her a goodbye hug. 

“If I don’t have a competition or anything work-related going on, I will definitely consider it.” 

As they said their goodbyes to Kasperi, William, and Morgan, the rest of them climbed into Mitch’s car with Steph sitting in the passenger seat, and Savannah and Auston both sitting in the window seats in the back, with the empty seat between them holding their bags. 

“Matts, when do you get back?” Mitch asked, as he turned the radio down slightly, and got onto the highway. 

Savannah tried not to look too interested in the answer. Of course he would be leaving, he has the summer off and would want to go home. She tried to push away the disappointment she felt at knowing he wouldn’t be around for a bit. No, she thought. This is for the best. Space is for the best. The last thing Savannah needed was to fall for someone right now. No relationships during this quad. That was her rule. 

“I’m only going for a week,” he began, rubbing a large hand over his tired face, “Babs and Duby want me here to go over things with Johnny.”

“Do you think they’re going to make him captain?” Steph inquired. 

“Probably. I mean, he has the most experience, he’s going to be the number one centre, so why not? I think he’s the best for the job, if they don’t end up picking Mo.” 

Savannah had heard a little bit about all of this from Steph, who heard from Mitch, that despite all of the reports stating otherwise, Auston was really excited to have Tavares join the team and didn’t care at all about being named captain. He thought they could be the next two-headed monster(which was the funniest description of two hockey players she thought she had ever heard) like Crosby and Malkin. His role was to still be a leader on and off the ice regardless of the letter he wore or didn’t wear, and she was really impressed by the lack of ego.

“Savvy, are you here for the rest of the month or are you off jet-setting somewhere?” Steph turned a bit to face the back of the car. 

Now it was Auston’s turn to pretend like he wasn’t overly interested in the answer. Where was she going? She just got here! 

“I’m not sure yet,” Sav yawned mid-sentence (and when Auston thought it was the most adorable thing, he once again thought about how deep he was in this). “I will be here for this week, but I have a lot of meetings with Skate Canada about this upcoming season and what is expected of me. They want me to be more of a face of the figure skating world now that I’ve won gold and that Tessa and Scott are likely retiring. I am going to be traveling a little bit at the end of the month and in September to guest at their Thank You, Canada tour and I also have two more Stars on Ice shows to do, one here and one in Ottawa.”

“We should totally go to one of your shows!” Steph clapped her hands excitedly, speaking way too loudly for how late at night it was. 

“Well I think Connor is going to be coming to the Toronto one when he visits home before heading back to Edmonton for the season. His mom was really excited when we gave her tickets, and I think she said she was dragging him along.”

“Davo’s coming home!” Mitch hollered from the front. “That fucker is supposed to take me for a round of golf before the season starts so I can at least kick his ass at one sport.”

Rolling her eyes, Sav continued. “Sure, whatever you say Mitchy. All right, this is me,” she started collecting her things as they pulled up to her apartment complex. 

“This is Brownie’s building,” Auston pointed out, recognizing the colouring of the building and the surrounding area. 

“Brownie?” Sav’s nose scrunched. “Ohh! Connor Brown is Brownie? I don’t know why I forgot that he would be here!”

“You know him?” Auston turned to her for the first time since they got in the car. 

“Yeah, he used to play in Erie with Connor so we hung out whenever Connor and I did. Thanks for tonight, guys. I really had a lot of fun.” Sav began to get out of the car, but as she was rolling up the sleeves on her long hoodie, she realized what she was still wearing. “Oh! Auston, thank you so much for lending me this. Even if it is absolutely a sin that I wore it.” She reached the ends of the hoodie and pulled it up over her head, her tank top rising with it and revealing the undersides of her purple bikini. Auston felt all of the blood rush to his head, and other body parts that he was trying to ignore, as his eyes scanned the tanned and toned expanse of her stomach, his mind immediately wondering what it would feel like to run his hands and mouth along her soft skin. 

Distracted, Auston didn’t notice that everyone in the car was now staring at him expectantly; Sav confused and wondering if he had heard her; Steph and Mitch amused with Steph fighting to hold back her grin and Mitch making no such effort, loving that his best friend was such a fool for someone as amazing as Savannah. Auston didn’t move or react until Sav cleared her throat, heat rising to his cheeks for what felt like the millionth time that day. God, who knew he could be such a loser with girls when he was genuinely interested in them. 

“Oh, thanks,” he coughed lightly and trying to recover with wit he added, “maybe next time you wear something of mine it will be with my name on the back.”

Savannah’s eyes squinted slightly. “I’m pretty sure my body will spontaneously burst into flames if I put on one of those jerseys, Auston. But thanks anyway!” she laughed and sent him what she thought was an innocent wink. “All right, thanks again Mitchy. Steph, I’ll call you tomorrow. Mani/pedis? My treat?”

“You have yourself a date! I’ll buy lunch. Love you!” she blew an air kiss at her person. 

“Love you too, munchkin. Bye guys.” 

After they were sure she was safely inside the building, Mitch pulled out of the parking lot and continued towards Auston’s complex. Everyone was silent for the majority of the ride, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, feeling like he was going to bust a gut if he didn’t say something, Mitch spoke up. 

“Maybe next time you wear something of mine it will have my name on the back,” he mocked, trying to mimic Auston’s deeper voice, laughing even louder when Steph started laugh and Auston groaned and let his head fall back onto the seat behind him. And now he knew that not only was he a complete goner, but everyone else seemed to know as well. This was going to make for interesting locker room chats. Great. Just great. 

“Shut up and drive, Mitchy. Just shut up and drive.”

#auston matthews #auston matthews imagine #auston matthews fan fiction #nhl imagine #nhl fan fiction #hockey imagines #hockey fan fiction #toronto maple leafs

[theinquisitivej]

‘Secret Rooms’ Definitive Edition – A New Century Review

Available on Kindle on Amazon.

Available as an audio series on Bandcamp.

When I first reviewed the original edition of Secret Rooms back in early 2017, I thought it was a solid instalment in this alternate history series of fictional stories. I enjoyed the mix of genres, the variety of conflicts the characters found themselves in, and the balance of humour and more intimate moments where characters went into their experiences with grief. At the time, I saw it as an enjoyable story that is somewhat overshadowed by some of the later instalments in the series which were getting better and better with each book. Having said that, my review for Secret Rooms is still full of the many positives I found in the original edition of the book which make it a great read and/or listen. I stand by everything I said back then, and you can read all of it here.

         But things sure have changed since that review. New Century has had two new entries with The Christmas Thieves and Let Them Go, and Secret Rooms has been bolstered with a brand-new Definitive Edition. This new edition adds extra chapters, some re-recorded lines, and just more content that helps this early story in the series stand up with the rest of the impressive entries in New Century. It’s not a radical transformation, but this expansion on the original story makes the narrative feel more complete, more thematically resonant, and just as polished as the other standouts of New Century like Arlington, Tiger’s Eye, and Let Them Go. If you’ve been following me, you’ll know that I’ve been writing up each of the new chapters of this edition which have been collected into a new short-storyline called Weirwood. You can read my detailed thoughts on these chapters here, here, here, and here. What I aim to do with this review is to lay down a string of observations that I noticed while listening to this Definitive Edition and re-experiencing the story of Secret Rooms. If you want a spoiler-free review of the story, the original review absolutely has you covered. If the story sounds like your cup of tea, check out the Definitive Edition, and once you’ve enjoyed it, and you will enjoy it, come back here and we can sit down and talk about the book together.

         As I’ve mentioned before, there are moments in this story which seem to take influence from Mass Effect. Encounters are self-contained and varied, making the world of the Reunified States of America feel more alive and unpredictable. There’s also a sense with each of them that, whatever our protagonists decide to do, there are half a dozen other possible outcomes that might have occurred if they had gone left instead of right. Characters discuss their options, and the different suggestions will rarely be unreasonable or entirely without merit. There’s no clear answer to how each of the problems they’re confronted with ought to be resolved, so the story of Secret Rooms is very much about a group of people trying their best to do the right thing and help as many people as possible. A lot of the time, that means making choices that aren’t guaranteed to lead to the best outcome. A lot of the time, they simply have to take a leap of faith and hope that it will be for the best.

         Speaking of Mass Effect, you could summarise parts of Secret Rooms as a charismatic badass female leader recruiting a number of striking personalities in order to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. Yes, I am comparing Annie Oakley in New Century to FemShep, and I find her sentiment that the world isn’t going to get any better unless we step outside and make it better inspiring. In contrast to how Arlington pitches Annie against unpredictable and overwhelming forces that render her practically powerless, Secret Rooms shows Annie in her most impressive light. What makes the story of this book as compelling as it is then is that, after Annie is established to be the ideal image of a Cartographer, she passes the responsibility of decision-making to Abigail for the duration of their excursion together which makes up a good portion of the narrative. At first, this is done to give Abigail a taste of what it’s like to be confronted with a difficult situation so that she can appreciate what is required of being a Cartographer. Once they arrive at the House of Versteckt, however, Annie is forced to leave James and Abigail to fend for themselves as she rides to gather reinforcements. This is James and Abigail’s greatest test, and after making it through, they’re changed forever. Secret Rooms is the story of these two capable yet inexperienced characters and their journey to find their own way as they set out from their familiar home and are cast into completely uncharted territory. Having Annie play an important supporting role as this accomplished Cartographer supervising these two new recruits provides a safety blanket for the first part of the story, but once we enter the final act and the two are left alone, our protagonists seem unbearably vulnerable.

         I’ve already discussed the accomplishments of the additional chapters as an emotionally affecting story-thread within this new edition of the book, but it must be stressed that these chapters aren’t just a tacked-on short story. The new chapters are integrated into the existing structure of Secret Rooms seamlessly, and they even reinforce some of the key story-beats and themes of the original text. After we’ve seen half of the people of New Athens leave for dangerous lands in spite of Abigail’s best efforts to convince them against this course of action, we transition back to the story of James and Abigail’s past at Weirwood. The first part of this section has James relate a memory he had had of Nathan telling him that the best way to convince a wondering chicken to come to you was to pretend you weren’t interested in it and didn’t want it. By placing this immediately after the chapter where we see that Abigail couldn’t get these wandering civilians to come with them, the audience is invited to form a connection between the two moments separated by time. Is it possible that Abigail would have found more success if she had not made it clear that she really wanted the people of New Athens to come with them, as Nathan suggests you avoid coming on too strongly with the chickens? Or could it just be that there really is no way to convince something out of your control to be tamed when their mind is set against it, so all you can do is steer into it and act like you never even wanted it in the first place? Either way, I appreciate how the added chapters reinforce moments from the original story in little ways like this.

         One theme in particular that becomes much more pronounced in this newer edition is the concept of human relationships between a group of three people who love each other. Abigail and James both share a personal connection with Lucy and with each other. For a time, they are content as this group of three that has somehow found a happy balance. Even when things get messy and complicated, the individual pairings we see, first with James and Lucy, then Lucy and Abigail, is presented as something sweet and beautiful, even if it does lead to the third member of the group feeling hurt in each case. It’s compelling drama that takes this situation seriously – you certainly couldn’t accuse this plot thread of being a clichéd love triangle, as it’s much too well-observed for that. It taps into a very human experience, and while part of you wants to blame someone when things go wrong, the writing ensures that you understand why things happen as they do, making it an intensely bittersweet story, even before the tragic ending reveals itself. As I listened through the Definitive Edition and reached Part Four, I realised some of the parallels that can be drawn between these three and the story of Krieger, Greta, and Charlotte. The Definitive Edition presents us with two groups of three, each of them being made up of two female members and one male member, and each group is made up of people who share a romantic love for one another. All of these people are in love with not just one person, but two people. And, sadly, the two groups are also alike in that they have each lost one of its members, and each group mourns the loss of the sensitive soul that they so dearly miss.

         It could be that these similarities are there to make us notice the connection and then ask what makes the two trios different from one another. While Lucy, James, and Abigail were young, practically children when they felt this love for multiple people and were struggling to process these feelings, we see evidence that Krieger, Charlotte, and Gretta managed to maintain a polyamorous relationship for an extended time as adults. This makes me wonder what might have been if Lucy was still alive; could the three of them have worked things out and still be close? Is there one reality where Lucy is still alive and the three of them enjoy a long-term polyamorous relationship with one another? Then again, the trio from the House of Versteckt certainly isn’t a wholly perfect example of a healthy polyamorous relationship, at least in respect to the awful thing that Krieger does to Charlotte. The final chapter does a brilliant job at getting you to be sympathetic towards Krieger even as he discusses the process of killing one of the women he loves and his reasoning for doing so. His logic for why it’s too dangerous for Charlotte to continue as she is does seem sound, and you can tell from the words and Matt Wardle’s emotional performance that this is killing Krieger. Even so, in comparison with Abigail and James allowing Lucy to be free and go out into the open world as they let go of her, Krieger sealing Charlotte away and making the decision for her that her life needed to end is a horrifying violation. If you’re looking for evidence that Krieger’s actions have had lasting negative consequences that Charlotte herself did not want, look no further than the fact she appears to Abigail as a ghost, her spirit being trapped by what Krieger did. The dynamic and interconnecting relationships of each trio is touching, heartbreaking, and fascinating to see unfold as the narrative progresses, and the Definitive Edition makes this one of my favourite aspects of Secret Rooms.

         There’s also a point of connection between Lucy and Krieger due to them both having conversations with the main characters about the cosmological and their place in the wider universe. When Krieger delivers his lecture about Pandora’s Box and the theory of multiple realities, I couldn’t help but think of Lucy and James sitting together looking at the stars all those years ago at Weirwood. A crucial difference, however, is that while Krieger sees the scope of reality and the potential Lovecraftian horrors out there and thinks of the fearful implications of that (despite his insistence that he would still open many boxes and explore many realities), when Lucy considers her small stature in the scale of the infinitely greater universe, she sees the hopeful side of things. If nothing matters, then everything matters, as she says. I appreciate having these two moments of introspection from different characters and seeing their different conclusions on, more-or-less, the same subject. It opens things up, and makes me even more contemplative than the original edition had already made me.

         On a similar topic, the starry eyes, both those that Gretta is revealed to have and those that Abigail and James acquire after touching the orb, made me think of Lucy and her stars, especially as James describes looking into Gretta’s eyes like looking up into the starry sky at night. Perhaps this would be the only way to describe such a concept, but it nevertheless felt like a deliberate connection between the eyes and this important memory of Lucy. My interpretation is that this connection is there to make what Abigail and James see when Krieger and Gretta leave through the Wind Door and Gretta’s eyes are revealed feel even more like something beyond their world. This memory of Lucy and the stars is like an ethereal moment which is forever out of reach for James, so the connection between this moment and seeing Gretta’s eyes makes it feel like we’ve stepped beyond what we can understand or touch in the physical world that we know.

         Listening to Secret Rooms this time around, I realised how much of a blow it is for James to lose one of his eyes. The original draft already did an effective job at conveying how much the loss of their eyes will affect James and Abigail through the writing. But because we get that added time with the two of them at the start of the Definitive Edition that shows us these characters from an early age, I feel the magnitude of how much of what James relies on to get by will be irreversibly affected by what he’s lost. We know how much he needs his powers of observation to get by in his day-to-day interactions with people and his duties as a doctor. So much of his identity has been built around his sharp eye and his close attention to detail. Now that his sight is less than what it was, these parts of his identity are affected considerably, and you can imagine how that would make James feel unsure of who he is now that he’s no longer that version of himself.

         The Definitive Edition of Secret Rooms is a terrific success. I enjoyed this story before, but with the added content that this new edition brings, there’s more time with the characters which makes the later sections of the story more meaningful, and the themes are bolstered by the story thread with Lucy which invites us to draw parallels between what happened in the past and what we see in the present. On top of that, the story of Lucy and Weirwood is just a really emotionally affecting story about past regrets, achingly beautiful memories, and the deep connections between three people who loved each other. Maya Santandrea is a wonderful Katherine Holloway and I’m sure there are dozens of little audio adjustments and small technical edits throughout the audiobook which make the whole thing even more polished than it already was. Tiger’s Eye and Arlington are still at the top of my list of New Century stories, but through a combination of coming to appreciate it even more on a second listen and some really well-implemented additions to the text, Secret Rooms has climbed up high to be yet another of the really close favourites that the series has in spades. Depending on my mood, I could very well see myself saying that Let Them Go, The Princess Thieves, or yes, Secret Rooms is my favourite New Century story.

Final Ranking: Gold.

Striking an impressive balance between a fun spirit, nail-biting tension, and emotional drama, Secret Rooms takes you through a remarkable number of different genres and tones, and it makes all of them work. This was already a good story. Now it’s even better.

Join me in the new year as we dive into all-new territory with New Century’s most ambitious story yet, SteamHeart.

#The Inquisitive J #review #critic #narrative #narrative analysis #fiction #audiobook #audio drama #fictional podcast #books #alternate universe #alternate history #alternate history fiction #new century #new century multiverse #the new century multiverse #secret rooms #secret rooms definitive edition #the inquisitive j reviews

[artswaps]

Voltron Survey Meme

I was tagged by @justheretobreakthings, thank you!! :0

How did you discover the show?

I’d seen a few stray posts about it on my dashboard, but didn’t really know what it was or take any notice. I’m laughing sm because the person who tagged me here had p much the same story, but eventually I stumbled across this video with Bob’s Burgers audio and for some reason it was what finally pushed me to go and find out what the show was. That was a month or so after season 2 had just dropped and here we are!!

Oddly enough, I’d actually binged all of Voltron Force quite a few years back when I was younger, but it wasn’t until a good while after I’d caught up on VLD and started dabbling in the fandom that I remembered that show and made the connection that it was the same franchise.

Was it love at first sight or did it take you a while to get into the show?

It was “Intrigued enough by certain elements that I’m willing to keep watching, but not totally hooked on the story,” at first sight. I really did love the characters from the get-go, and it was that and the humour + snappy dialogue that kept me around to give it a chance. 

As far as the story went and the fact that it was about giant transforming robots, it wasn’t really my thing. It was when it started getting into Pidge’s character arc- Fall of the Castle of Lions, with the flashbacks to her at the Garrison and meeting Lance and Hunk- that I became truly invested. 

Do you have a favorite Paladin?

Keeeeith!!! My son. 

Do you have a favorite Lion? (If it’s different from your fav paladin, why?)

Not really? I guess Blue, because she’s the first one they found and the one that knocked off the entire adventure. Green and Red are pretty cool, too.

Do you have a favorite Villain?

Haggar! Wonderfully creepy and sinister, and the added depth they’ve been giving her in the past few seasons- what with the OG Paladin backstory and her rediscovering her memories of being Honerva etc. etc.- have just made her so much more interesting. I’m excited to see where they take her character!!

Do you have a favorite Alien Race? (recurring and/or minor)

I actually wanna know so much about the Galra, I’m curious! The Balmerans were pretty cool guys, too.

Favorite side / other character(s)- Rebels, General, Blade of Mamora, Garrison, etc?

Kolivan is awesome and I’m sad he wasn’t in s6 and I want to know everything about his past. I also love Shay a lot!! And Matt, of course. Gotta love Matt. 

How/Why did you join the fandom?

I wish I’d known beforehand about the absolute chaos that is the VLD fandom because it’s just an automatic thing for me to seek out fandom content after I decide I like something lol. Still- I’m hyperfixated now so there’s no going back. I’m here already, so I ain’t going anywhere >8)

It’s also pretty much a given that if I’m fixated enough on something and love the characters as much as I do VLD’s, then I’m gonna end up making stuff. Gotta have people to share it with when I do, right?

Care to share a favorite headcanon?

Aro-spec Keith, hell yeah!! Unfortunately for me, his character tends to end up the centre of a lot of shipping content as we all know- so it’s an unpopular hc :(

I also really like bi Keith so I’m just great at picking all the unpopular ones I guess lmao 

What do you think is the best part of the show?

The characters, hands-down. They’re just so charming, they gel together so well. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t even be watching this show- it was when Pidge’s character arc came into focus that I became invested, and all of the character-driven moments are the ones I look forward to the most and remember more fondly. 

Also the humour. It’s snappy, witty, and charming when they do it right. A lot of that is once again down to how lovable the characters are and the chemistry they all share.  

Any hopes and wishes for future episodes / seasons?

As much as I’ve enjoyed the past 2 seasons and all that delicious drama/intense battle scenes, I really do miss the more easygoing atmosphere a lot of the first 2 seasons had. The kinds of scenes where the gang can just... stand around and argue over what a laser gun sounds like. I’ve loved what the show has given us, but I need a damn breather now lol. 

I really hope the gang gets a chance to regroup in the next season; just go back to a more casual feel, just for a bit, just a few scenes sprinkled between the plot. A chance for them to relearn how they all fit together, now everyone’s in one place again. A change of pace would be good for the show, I think.

Tying into that, I’ve seen a few people make this point already, but I would really, really love to see them start pushing that “found family” vibe the showrunners keep trying to sell. Things have been hectic with how fast the plot’s been moving, and I’m not at all unhappy with what the show’s given us, but I really do just want to see everyone.... being friends, getting to know each other, growing closer, being the family that they keep claiming they are. Maybe I’m feeling a bit salty because Keith has been left out of the mix for so long- I don’t wanna see him jump back into play, only for them to go back to their old dynamic where it was Keith & Shiro vs Everyone Else. There was always a distance there that I wanna see bridged, now that they’ve all grown a little. 

The massive Keith stan in me also just wants everyone to love and appreciate Keith for the incredible person he is and make it clear to him on no uncertain terms that they all care about him. The massive Allura stan in me just wants her to stop being so hard on herself and take a damn break. 

The part of me that’s falling more and more in love with Shiro is feeling strangely at peace after s6...... but please for the love of god let him dye his grandpa hair back to black dsfjgkhjhkhd

Do you think you’ll stick it out until the end of the show?

Well I’m kinda hyperfixated on it and that’s no easy thing to shake, so yeah. Besides, I love the characters too much to just pack it in halfway. Keith is just too special to me.

Tag your friends or someone you want to get to know better

uuh sorry if any of y’all have done this already

@sebayard, @fractalabomination, @kcgane, @starryeyedkeith, @haleykim84, @princessstaryknight, @a-sp4ce-g4y, @turtleduckfantasy

#post #vld s6 #i don't remember if i mentioned any spoilers but jic #voltron

[thevampirecat]

Hello, you have been identified as An Awesome Writer™! Congrats, you rock! So that all of your readers can shower you with some extra love today, please tell us your favourite five (or as many as you want) stories of yours and why you like them and then send this to another five fic authors you think deserve this title!

Oh wow, thank you!

This does feel a bit like choosing between children though, so I will give it a shot.

1. What we find in the shadowsI only wrote this one for the Kastle Christmas exchange recently but it has a special place in my heart just because of how raw and truthful it feels. It also felt very personal, specifically the bit about having to put a beloved pet to sleep as this happened to me twice this year. Also it allowed me to really stretch my skills and see how far into depressing I could take something and if I could still pull it back. And I think I did. Furthermore it taught me a lot about balance as the whole story is very melancholy which meant the moments of light and humour had to shine brighter and I think I got that right somehow… Also it feels more like a meta character study than a fic in places and I love that. My favourite bit from that is when Karen says she called their child Abigail because it means “father’s joy”. I think I might have broken my own heart a little and I don’t even care if that sounds self-indulgent.

2. Ballads for a dead man seriesOkay this one feels like my magnum opus for the Kastle fandom. It has taken so much dedication and love and a lot of blood, sweat and tears and it means so much to me. Delving into Karen’s head and her struggles with loving Frank, showing Frank in his gentleness, his strange romanticism and overall his acceptance of how he loves Karen and in order for that to happen he can’t just rush headlong into danger all the time. One of the most important lines in the story for me was when Elektra said to Karen “he said he had too much to lose” because that was a direct reference to him realising his value to Karen. Furthermore I have adored - and I mean adored - spending time writing Foggy and Ellison. I have loved writing Elektra because it has given me such an appreciation for her that I didn’t have before and I have really enjoyed writing Matt and watching him struggle and sometimes succeed, sometimes not.

3. The bullet you never saw comingThis was the first thing I completed for the Kastle fandom. It has a super special place in my heart because it was the first time I wrote Kastle smut and because it introduced me to the music of Noah Gundersen. And I am just gonna tag @goddamnitkastle because I can. I think one of things I enjoyed about this was that to a large degree it left Frank to sort his shit out alone without Karen being too much of a sounding board for him. Not that I don’t love the idea of her helping him through his grief (I mean that is basically all Ballads is about) but it was a nice change on the standard trope. My favourite bit of that I think was the scene in Karen’s bathroom where she’s cleaning him up and then they hold each other and he kisses her goodbye thinking it’s forever.

4. Black out the sun and Speak now child and chill my heartOkay going out of Kastle fandom for a while and into Homeland. I am naming these two because they are really important to me because of how pissed I am was about Peter Quinn’s death in Homeland. Because you know what would have been cooler than killing him stupidly? Can you guess? Yes, letting him live and work through his PTSD and his disabilities. I mean wow, what a concept. Anyway, I have named these two because they really are companion pieces and I wanted to explore his relationship with Franny, which they hinted at in the beginning of the series but never got back to. I wanted to look at what it might be like for him to bond with a child, considering his limited contact with his own. I wanted to look inside his head and imagine what it was like dealing with the trauma of what happened to him and how he might find a way forward.

5. The world was on fireAlso outside Kastle fandom. This was a Bethyl story I wrote in about two hours on the bus one day. It was a format I had never ever used before - i.e. it was written in the second person and it was basically a fairytale based meta/commentary on what should have happened, rather than the crap that did. I wanted to look at mythological/fantastical themes, subversion of tropes and I wanted to give Beth an independent happy ending. 

Then, there are a few runner ups as well. I have to mention how much I love writing Losing Sleep Tonight, because I love playing with the whole idea of Karen and Frank trying to “go back” after they’ve already given into their feelings and finding it’s a bell you can’t unring.

Scar Tissue was also super important to me with dealing with the aftermath of Beth’s death and how it sent Daryl on a dangerous downward spiral.

Derailed was really fun to write because it was so silly and I have never really tried humour before (and yet it was still angsty).

Anyway, enough blowing my own trumpet.

Thanks for the ask! This was fun.

#Anonymous

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 11 September 2017

Just one favourite this week: Ninjak #0 by Matt Kindt and Francis Portela (with MJ Kim, Khari Evans, Roberto de la Torre, Sija Hong, and Juan José Ryp). Published by Valiant.

Ninjak #0 provides a capstone to Matt Kindt’s run with the character, giving both an encapsulation of Ninjak’s history to date and one final mission to propel the series further into a more in-depth exploration into the Ninja Programme and legacy, before handing the character off to Christos Gage and Tomás Giorello for their new Ninja-K series.

I very much like how Kindt plays with time in this story. After firing an arrow on the first page in the present, the book’s pages are bisected by that arrow’s path, with the top telling of the events immediately leading up to that first page--illustrated by Francis Portela--and the bottom offering snippet’s of Ninjak’s history--illustrated by MJ Kim, Khari Evans, Roberto de la Torre, Sija Hong, and Juan José Ryp. (You can see an example above). It’s an interesting and effective way of delivering a lot of simultaneous information and narrative at once and I was particularly impressed by everyone involved.

As time on the top converges with the arrow, the structure reverts to a standard one timeframe narrative as it leads into a teaser for the new Ninja-K series from Gage and Giorello.

Like with the previous recent zero issue offerings for Bloodshot Reborn and Divinity, this serves as an excellent primer for people interested in the character and in jumping into the Valiant Universe.

Quick Bits:

All New Wolverine #24 wraps up the “Hive” arc guest-starring the Guardians of the Galaxy and Leonard Kirk’s tenure as artist on the series. This arc was fun, with Tom Taylor delivering some very nice and heartfelt interactions between Laura and Gabby, as well as continuing to present some strong characterization with Rocket and Groot.

| Published by Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #32 is a single issue story of Norman Osborn trying to reclaim his Green Goblin persona. It’s an interesting look into Osborn’s drive and potential, with some absolutely beautiful artwork form Greg Smallwood & Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by Marvel

Birthright #26 provides a jumping on point as it begins a new story-arc. It’s fairly exposition heavy, but Joshua Williamson still makes it feel interesting, even to old readers since there’s a bit of a shift since the last issue. As always Andrei Bressan’s art is beautiful.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Deadpool #36 is a transitional issue from Deadpool working for “Stevil” Hydra Cap and the forthcoming Despicable Deadpool, closing out some old plot threads and sending off the remaining supporting characters, while setting up Wade’s new status quo of reluctantly working for Stryfe. As usual Gerry Duggan mixes in humour while ultimately making Deadpool a tragic figure. 

| Published by Marvel 

Doctor Strange & The Sorcerers Supreme #12 is a fitting send-off to a series that still feels gone to soon. From Javier Rodriguez to this issue’s Nathan Stockman, the series has been great artistically, and this issue’s sideways widescreen format is well appreciated. Robbie Thompson also brings it back full circle to how this excursion started in last year’s Doctor Strange Annual by closing on the “Not So” Ancient One’s journey.

| Published by Marvel

Grass Kings #7 is still an inscrutable beauty. Part crime drama, part mystery, part family drama, part treatise on loyalty and community in an extremely independent society, Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins have something special here. This issue adds another layer to the problems that they’ve been having with Cargill, while more explicitly breaking open the mystery of a potential serial killer and giving us some more details on what happened in Bruce’s past that led him to coming home to the Grass Kingdom.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Gwenpool, The Unbelievable #20 is going to mess with your head. In a good way.

| Published by Marvel

Hulk #10 brings Mariko Tamaki’s second story-arc to a conclusion. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as I did the first, but there have still been some entertaining moments. The character interaction between Jen and Patsy being particularly strong. 

Also, like the previous issue, the art shift part way through detracts. Both artists, Julian Lopez and Francesco Gaston, are good, but their styles kind of clash. Lopez uses a thick line and somewhat realistic style similar to Jesus Saiz, whereas Gaston has a thinner line and a bit more angular, stylized character composition--much like Georges Duarte, who started this arc. 

| Published by Marvel

Kill or Be Killed #12 pushes Dylan further into darkness, even without his little demon friends whispering not-so-sweet nothings into his ears. As always, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are creating a compelling, nuanced story month in and month out. There’s also some good development in Dylan and Kira’s relationship, but, as per the original dissolution, I’m expecting the other shoe to drop sometime soon. 

| Published by Image

Mech Cadet Yu #2 brings Yu and his adopted Robo back to the Sky Academy, where he’s officially accepted as one of the cadets. The story beats are pretty standard coming of age, living through adversity by being a fish out of water, ruffling the feathers of the establishment-type thing, but Greg Pak never allows it to feel old. Yu and his Robo are just too likeable characters to not enjoy seeing their advancement and acceptance. It also helps that Takeshi Miyazawa’s artwork is wonderful. 

Despite not being published under one of their more all-ages imprints like Boom! Box or kaboom!, this series remains something that I think that kids would get a lot of enjoyment out of as well.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Old Man Logan #28 is a work of art. I don’t know who made a pact with the devil in order to consistently get this level of artwork out of Mike Deodato Jr., but whatever they did since at least the Jeff Lemire Thanos series, Deodato has been producing some of the most beautiful, thoughtful, and compelling work of his career. He’s been a great artist for more than twenty-five years in the industry, but his work lately has been absolutely next level. His shading, page layouts, character designs & staging, and panel transitions are practically a masterclass on the art form.

| Published by Marvel

Pestilence #4 unveils some secrets as we head towards the conclusion. This has been a fairly bloody and brutal tale of knights vs. zombies from Frank Tieri and Oleg Okenev and it’s not letting up. It delivers a nice satisfying crunch.

| Published by Aftershock

Redlands #2 jumps the series ahead to modern day, fleshing out the sisters’ characters and the world that they live in, having pretty much taken over Redlands, Florida following the bloodbath back in ‘77. We’re still left a lot of details out, but we’re given a better look at some of the things going on, as a game of murderous cat and mouse between the sisters and an unknown potential blackmailer unfolds. Jordie Bellaire and Vanessa Del Rey are creating something interesting here and I’m definitely hooked to see what happens next.

| Published by Image

Retcon #1 is...something, I’m not really sure what. Interesting, though, certainly, and something I’ll continue to read for a bit. Ostensibly this is about a team of supernatural beings working for the government, but the interview in the back and the title suggest something else. If anything, the artwork from Toby Cypress is worth the price of admission alone. Still not sure what to think of the story.

| Published by Image

Sacred Creatures #3 again challenges me to decide whether or not I like Pablo Raimondi’s mix of traditional comics art with photography. I’m leaning towards yes.

| Published by Image

Secret Warriors #6 kicks off a two-part arc with the members of the Warriors back on their own. The bulk of the issue is devoted to Daisy tracking down who murdered Coulson and it leads to some humorous exchanges. Who would have known that life model decoys are anatomically correct?

| Published by Marvel

Spy Seal #2 feels even more like a European funny animal book than the first issue. To me it feels like Rich Tommaso is doing a take on something like Tin Tin, but with an anthropomorphic seal, and it’s just wonderful.

| Published by Image

Transformers: Lost Light #9 gives a kind of closure, or at least a transition, to the Natuica/Velocity/Skids character and story arcs. It’s kind of bittersweet when you consider the implications and I expect that James Roberts will undoubtedly revisit this somewhere in the future. Also, the reveal of who the “Grand Architect” is at the end of this issue is pretty epic.

| Published by IDW

Uncanny Avengers #27 is a pretty straight-forward conclusion to the team’s confrontation with Graviton. It’s mostly action, but there are some character moments cementing that this team can still work together fairly effectively. The artwork from Sean Izaakse again is very nice.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Babyteeth #4, Black Science #31, Clue #4, Curse Words #8, The Damned: Ill-Gotten #4, Defenders #5, Dread Gods #2, First Strike #3, Genius: Cartel #2, Ghost Station Zero #2, Harrow County #25, Hellboy & BPRD - 1955: Occult Intelligence #1, InSEXts #13, Jane, Lumberjanes #42, Mage: The Hero Denied #2, The Realm #1, Riverdale #6, Rocket #5, Rose #6, Runaways #1, The Shadow #2, Shadows on the Grave #8, Slam!: Next Jam #1, The Sovereigns #5, The Spirit: The Corpse Makers #4, Star Wars #36, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #12, TMNT Universe #14, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #24, Venomverse #2, War for the Planet of the Apes #3, Weapon X #8, Winnebago Graveyard #4, X-Men Blue #11

Recommended Collections: Britannia - Vol. 2: We Who Are About to Die, Elektra: Always Bet on Red, Kingpin: Born Against, Saucer Country, TMNT - Vol. 17: Desperate Measures

d. emerson eddy believes that uptown funk is going to give it to you. Don’t believe him? Just watch.

#This Week in Comics #Ninjak 0 #Matt Kindt #Francis Portela

[ghezalplusmovies]

For roughly the entire month of August, my brother and I traveled all around Japan seeing the sights and scarfing down on some incredible food. While staying in Okinawa for a few days, we decided to venture to the local theatre to see what was cooking. Unfortunately, the two films I would be into rewatching, Wonder Woman and War For The Dawning Of The Rise For The Planet Of The Apes, weren’t out yet so we had a choice between The Mummy or the latest Pirates movie… We chose The Mummy and quite honestly, any bit of enjoyment I felt for it was due to the fact that I was vacationing in a foreign country.

(For those interested in my Japan adventures, scroll down to the end of this review!)

The eye thing was cool | Universal Pictures

[63]

The Mummy strove to kick start Universal’s Dark Monster Universe by featuring Tom Cruise doing all the things that make Tom Cruise Tom Cruise. The end product results in Super Cruise teaming up with Jane Seymour after they’ve had sex once (and apparently fallen madly in love following it) and fighting an ancient force who I kept referring to as “Imhotep.” The film also stars Jake Johnson and Russell Crowe doing his best Dr. Strangelove impression. It is directed by Alex Kurtzman (People Like Us)

So I have certainly seen worse things in my life. Universal’s attempt at getting into the modern cinematic universe game unfortunately falls flat which is truly a shame because the premise of The Mummy is actually pretty interesting. I’m obviously aware that the iconically classic 1999 Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz-led film of the same name bares no cinematic connection with this one, however if there was some way to harness even half the fun & heart featured in The Mummy (1990) and shove it down the throat of 2017’s, I would’ve enjoyed it much more.

The Mummy | Universal Pictures

As I mentioned, 2017’s The Mummy is not the worst thing in the world to spend an afternoon watching. I can certainly tell the $125 million budget went toward the action set pieces and Tom Cruise’s attempt at being a roguish lovable scoundrel. These set pieces were visually pleasing and featured occasional bouts of humour which caused some nice sharp air being blown out of my nose. Sofia Boutella is easily the strongest aspect to the film, her performance as the mummy Ahmanet contained a (somewhat) clear motivation and during the sequences which asked for more out of her emotionally, she definitely went there. Virtually every other aspect, however, was a jumbled, cringey mess with an overabundance of expository flashbacks and so many goddamn jump scares the Paranormal Activity franchise probably sued.

I understand why Tom Cruise is cast in this, but for the love of Gods, I hate that he is cast in this.

We are beaten over the head with the idea that he is a character type I despise: the roguish and brazen wacky rascal who throws the rule book out of the window because RULES ARE FOR NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS. Listen, if you’re in an ancient cave thing where you’re unsure what anything is or how valuable it has the potential to be, why not just take your weapon out and shoot at something… We don’t have time for being safe, damn it! Just shrug your shoulders and whip it out! While I love Cruise’s early works and actually enjoy the Ethan Hunt character in the Mission: Impossible films, The Mummy becomes unbearable at parts because of Tom Cruise. I get the foreign market appeal he brings and honestly, the film performed as well as it did because of Cruise’s name so I do not place any blame on the studio for making that creative decision… I can rightfully hate them for that decision but hey, studios gotta eat. 

The secondary characters are serviceable but are really not that great either. Jake Johnston’s comical sidekick character from American Werewolf In London became mind-numbingly annoying as the film progressed and Russell Crowe who actually isn’t a terrible Jekyll/Hyde – He just kind of sleep walks his way through until the moment where SPOILER Hyde comes out and his constant need to beat himself out of it reminded me of a shitty impression of Peter Sellers’ legendary portrayal of Dr. Strangelove. END SPOILER

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb | Columbia Pictures

Annabelle Wallis… Man. She was given absolutely nothing to work with. I actually love her performance as Henry VIII’s third and most beloved wife, Jane Seymour in the Showtime series The Tudors. It wasn’t the most arduous of roles to prep for, however the chemistry she shared with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and most importantly, the sheer elegance she brought to that role still sticks with me even years after her character… departed (history spoiler: he didn’t behead Jane). Ever since then, I’ve been waiting for her to nab a role that showcases and challenges what she’s made of and this role as Dr. Damsel In Distress is simply not it. I don’t need every female character in an action movie to remind us that she’s an independent woman who don’t need any assistance because regardless how sharp your skills are, you may eventually need some form of help whenever a difficult situation arises. What I do need is for her to be treated like a human being whose hair and makeup become just a tad disarrayed when they’re in a car rolling down a hill.

If you take her character out of the film completely, virtually no form of story progression would occur because she’s used as that classic damsel who gets into trouble and oh look! Thank God our trusty handsome rogue is here to save her and progress the story! The entire final act comes slumping along because she consistently finds herself in need of assistance from Tom Cruise. You know, I do appreciate that her character was seemingly not having any of Tom’s shit during the beginning of the film, it stunned me when she actually stood up for herself when this dork of a man was running his mouth rather than her finding it endearing. Here I go, bringing up 1999 again but Rachel Weisz’s character of Evie in that film served a purpose beyond being O’Connell’s love interest. Their bond gradually developed as the film progressed, her intelligence was as vital a part to her as her beauty was and holy hell, was that beauty beautimous. 

Side note: If you’re familiar with the Roanoke season of American Horror Story, you’ll know that one of the common complaints to come out of that season was virtually every scene where Queen Sarah Paulson‘s character would scream out “MATT! MAAAAAAAAAAATT!” Since her character was seemingly in danger at every turn. We’d constantly be hit with a screaming “MATT!” which eventually turned into a meme itself. The Mummy does a great job in containing its own MATT with Wallis’ character screaming out “NICK! NIIIIIIIIIICK!” at every single turn. 

Alright let me wrap this up here, there were moments when I had to plug my ears a bit because the fast paced music suddenly slowed down and I knew a jump scare was imminent. I don’t want shitty jump scares in my action movies. I don’t want shitty jump scares in my horror movies. I think every film should be allotted one shitty jump scare and then it tries to find a way of making the movie scary without thrusting its erect audio into my ear drums. There are also some logical inconsistencies toward the final battle I couldn’t shake and if the Dark Universe is going full steam ahead with their already planned slate (STOP DOING THAT, MOVIE STUDIOS. STOP PLANNING YOUR 10 MOVIES WHEN THE FIRST ONE HASN’T EVEN GONE INTO PRODUCTION) they must try to do as much revamping as they can to avoid another gorgeously empty shell of a picture. 

[Credit: Universal Pictures]

If you’re looking for a film with a great performance by Sofia Boutella and want to roll your eyes while watching CG porn, check out The Mummy (2017).

The Mummy receives 2/5 Matt Damon heads.

featured image credit: Universal Pictures

Japan 2017

As mentioned, my brother and I visited the amazingly stupendous country of Japan for about 29 days. The cities we visited included Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa Island, Nara, Kyoto, Kobe and I’m pretty sure that’s all. Major highlights ranged from feeding deer at Nara Park to feeding our faces with some of the finest cuisine I have ever had in my life.

The quick slideshow below shows a few pictures taken throughout our visit. Among the captivating places we visited, we journeyed to where Bob whispered a final goodbye to Charlotte at the Shibuya Crossing and also endured a sweltering day at Universal Studios Japan. If you have the means and are interested in stepping into a world of pure inebriation, make your next vacation be Japan. 

6/5 Damon heads.

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The Mummy (2017): Brendan Fraser Deserves Better Than This (Review… In Japan!) For roughly the entire month of August, my brother and I traveled all around Japan seeing the sights and scarfing down on some incredible food.

#Brendan Fraser #movie reviews #Movies #Rachel Weisz #tom cruise

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Best YouTube Car Channels - Help me finish the list via /r/cars

Best YouTube Car Channels - Help me finish the list

I'm making a giant list of The best car channels with descriptions.. any help is much appreciated

MOTOR TREND CHANNEL Where to begin, these guys are one of the powerhouses of the youtube car world. With 3.6 million subs and nearly a billion views on their 25,000 videos there’s no shortage of bored stopping tire shredding content. These guys cover several different segments of the autosphere. First off they’re the geniuses behind ROADKILL and you don’t even have to be into cars to watch Freiburger and Finnegan work their magic. Roadkill is about two guys going on journeys with a wide variety of cars that either should or shouldn’t but are on the roads and it’s nothing short of brilliant. From the general mayhem to the crusher camaro and even the draguar you’ll be left very entertained by every video they produce. oh and be sure to check out this video of them swapping the LS engine out of the muscle truck and into an old bonneville jet boat. The Second show they produce in a similar manner to RoadKill is Dirt every day. One man, one vision and one name, Fred Williams. Fred is an enigma, to understand Fred you must dive into his world of awesome old and new school offroaders oh and giant motor home go karts… but you’ll have to go to his playlist to understand that one. Dirt everyday, much like roadkill is well worth watching on entertainment value alone, but being into trucks and cars makes it just that bit more awesome. Definitely worth your time. The third show they produce is one called head 2 head. Hosted by a few different people and all of them good in various ways, head2head is a show that takes cars, normally 2 and pits them against each other in a number of measured outcomes, such as g forces, acceleration and braking. But it goes into much more depth about how the cars feel to drive and really shows off the capabilities of the cars, especially when randy pobst get behind the wheel for some timed laps. This show is really entertaining and informative about the high end cars for sale today and well worth watching even if you’re not buying. The final thing worth noting for motortrend are the events that they run every year, this includes SEMA week which shows everyone what’s going on at sema as well as a bunch of competitions between the hosts after each episode, Best driver’s car which takes the best new cars of the year and pits them against each other in one epic show down, The diesel power challenge; a week of the biggest baddest street trucks putting out huge power going tow to tow, Hot rod drag week which is the same thing but for hot rods, ultimate adventure week which is some awesome 4wd rigs going on a trip to some of the best 4wd spot in america and finally Top Truck Challenge which rounds up the most hard core massive off road rigs you’ve seen and pits them against each other in some epic challenges.

MIGHTY CAR MODS The next channel in the list is the one and only Mighty Car Mods, Marty and Moog have been delivering huge entertainment value for going on 7 years now. There videos have developed over the years from performing simple mods in there parents driveways to full blown builds on some legendary cars, more recently featuring the likes of super gramps, ms daisy and moogs supercharged classic jdm mini which are all worth watching. Marty and moog can also be seen taking some maad trips overseas in special feature episodes to places like New Zealand, Dubai and Japan where they often buy a car, give it a MCM treatment and then show us all the maad time they have with it.

PETROLICIOUS Petrolicious, these guys are one of my personal favorites for relaxing and watching awesome cars that have awesome stories. The filmmakers don’t actually make an appearance but it’s done instead like a feature film where it’s all about the car and its owner. Whether it’s a story about a family that hid bugattis during the war from the Germans, the son of a ferrari racing legend and his late dads 250 gto racecar or even just a humble bmw 2002 there is no shortage of awesome films with spectacular cinematography to kick back and watch.

JAY LENO’S GARAGE Here’s a man who need no introduction to the car world. Jay is on a mission to the the car world the wonders of some of the rarest and most bizarre cars around. Jay’s love of cars is what makes this worth watching, well that and the awesome cars you get to learn about.

HARRY’S GARAGE Harry is probably only familiar to those who have watched evo before. He has a few great videos there but has more recently started his own channel dedicated to showing off some really unique and cool cars he’s obtained. The best part about the show is infact Harry himself, his knowledge of cars is immense and the stories he knows about them are fascinating, he also mostly reviews cars the he himself owns which means you get the real in depth tour and some great shots of him taking the cars to the limit. Some of his best work is; the time he drove a Lamborghini Countach from Sant’agata to the UK. a ferrari testarossa from the UK to the sahara and even a veyron vitesse on the Mille Miglia. The channel only puts out about a video a month at the moment because Harry is naturally a man in demand.

DOUG DEMURO If you haven’t heard about Doug Demuro’s R32 GTR Skyline then you have indeed been under a rock. Doug is a man who has a need to inform you, the people about the cars you want to buy. This has briefly been misunderstood by the car community as just mere bragging by dear mr doug demuro, however I am pleased to inform you that it is not and that Doug actually asks you, the people what car you think he should buy and then goes and buys that car. For example he’s just bought the car you guys suggested, the polls showed that you all wanted him to buy a dodge viper and so he went out… Read more

EVO Evo is kind of like the British version of Motor Trend but with a touch of Chris Harris and Harry’s Garage Whom both actually make appearances. The run a series of similar events and shows too, such as EVO deadly rivals which is a comparison of two similar cars, EVO diaries which is typically a review of one particularly interesting car, EVO review which is kind of similar to EVO Diaries and of course Car of the Year which is a massive shakedown of the best drivers cars going around.

FASTLANE DAILY CEASED. FastLane Daily was your one stop shop for a fast dose of what’s going on in the car world however since purchased by another company the show has ceased being produced and at great cost to the car community. I recommend following Dereck D’s person channel as a result of this.

XCAR FILMS/CARFECTION Xcar Films/Carfection is another british youtube channel which releases a mixture of review videos feature films on cool cars & general top X number of things about this car videos, there content is always of a high standard and they feature some awesome rides.

THE SMOKING TIRE The Smoking Tire, who can go past Matt Farah and an awesome ride to fill some time in the evening? Matt Farah all round good guy and no bullshit reviewer features tonnes of awesome cars on his channel brought to him largely by viewers. The content is always worth watching because it’s never just another review of a stock mustang or another stock lamborghini but instead it’s often someone’s actual ride and one they’ve spent time and money on, which gives us an insight into what mods do what for different cars. Every now and again we get to see a video of his personal project, a fox body mustang too. Matts videos are largely ‘one take’ style which means largely unrefined and unedited but this has its own charms and if you really want to see him in a highly edited and glossy video you can jump onto the /Drive network which we’ll get to shortly.

SHMEE150 Shmee150 is arguably the king of spotting exotic cars. He follows around all of the coolest events and delivers the footage straight to your screen. Shmee uploads a huge amount of content from all kinds of places that we wish we could go, he also hangs out with some of the coolest people to chat about the cars. oh and he’s got some pretty cool cars of his own that you get to check out too!

REGULARCARS Regularcars is a unique experience is an experience you need to have. The man manages to capture the pure distilled stereotype of each and every car like no one else. He takes us on a ride along in all those everyday cars that most of us reside in and delivers some fantastic songs and humour. Summed up this channel is car owner comedy.

/DRIVE & /DRIVE /Drive & /Drive+ (UPDATE: RECENTLY ACQUIRED BY Time Inc’ WHO JUST AXED THE FAST LANE DAILY, UNSURE OF FUTURE OF THIS CHANNEL) Until /Drive became paid i’d argue the guys at drive made the best free videos about cars on the internet and to be fair free was too cheap for the quality of video they make. They have had all of our favorite youtube characters like Matt farah, Chris Harris and the big Mike Musto. In a similar vein to that of Motor Trend they have a number of various shows such as: Tuned with Matt Farah which is about some of the coolest tuned cars on the internet, /Big Muscle with Mike Musto which is all about that big muscle car scene, AfterDrive with Mike Spinelli which is hosted with guests who discuss all about those questions you have about the cars we love and a range of other special series. Overall /Drive is a great channel and there old content is worth trawling through fro hours of great watching.

VEHICLE VIRGINS Vehicle Virgins is hosted by Parker Nirenstein who started Vehicle Virgins back in 2012. The videos are a mix of reviews and vlogging style videos. The more recent content has been a mix of “x number of things you’ll like or hate about this” and more general reviews of cars.

CARTHROTTLE Carthrottle is kind of like the car community hub on youtube, there content is great for a laugh and presenters Alex and Ethan are extraordinarily entertaining to watch. The content is really regular and varies in style and quality, it features the x number of things about this thing to do with cars, reviews of peoples crazy builds and the stories behind them, reviews of some absolute classics and much much more. Carthrottle also has a great online community on there website and awesome social media accounts.

SAABKYLE Saabkyle is a man who knows more about your car than you do, if you’re thinking of buying a car or just generally interested in the most in depth reviews of cars Kyle will walk you through the whole 9 yards. The man’s passion is limitless and getting to really see all the coolest features of every and any car is great because it’s so often glossed over by powerslides and the numbers.

CARBUYER Carbuyer this channel is less car culture and more consumer reviews, its for the mums and dads and people looking for the best cars in the class for the dollar value. Still interesting though.

CAR & DRIVER MAGAZINE Car & Driver Magazine Like Motor Trend these guys are on of the largest car magazines in the world. These guys do a mixture of informative reviews, quick run downs of new cars and more recently some feature pieces on car culture cars. The production value is high and the videos are somewhat few and far between but the passion is there so it gets a recommendation from us.

JALOPNIK One of the biggest and best blogs on automotive content has recently started producing some great car content on youtube. There new series Jason Drives which is about some extremely weird cars is absolutely hilarious. It's part of Gawker media so ah be prepared for that

THATDUDEINBLUE ThatDudeinBlue or David Patterson is a youtube personality all round massive car guy. The guy is out living the life we all want to and takes us along with him in a largely vlog kind of way. Some of his features are driving bonkers tuned cars like 1000hp supras and mental EVOS, He’s also doing some awesome builds such as full on resto mod 240sx build and modding his mustang along the way.

SALOMANDRIN Salomandrin is a bit of a rich kid who has some pretty epic super and hyper cars. Its a mix of look at me im rich and some pretty cool comparison videos. check out the Hyper 5 series..

MCMTV2 Mighty Car Mods second channel. i recommend the double unicorn series about a a nissan stagea they modify. They post podcasts and other little tit bits

MOTOMANTV MotomanTV is a guy who just loves indepth vidoes of reviews, maybe one for the more matue crowd. Interesting and good.

FINNEGANS GARAGE Roadkills own Finnegan has started his own personal youtube channel where you get to see him work on some of his own awesome projects, need I say more than a twin turbo v8 jet boat? He posts videos around once a fortnight, sometimes more.

ROADS UNTRAVELLED Arguably one of the best of the youtube channels that produces car content and also one of the most under subscribed. The videos are of stunning film quality, the cars are beyond amazing and Marcus is the most humble of hosts who gives you a real insight into the car world and car he’s driving. This is a guy who was born to drive and review cars, this will undoubtedly be one of the biggest car channels in the near future. Hosted by Marcus Vandenberg, Roads Untraveled brings you inside car culture like you’ve never seen it before with fast-paced video features, reviews, written articles, as well as our weekly podcast. Whether you’re into the latest JDM and tuner trends, big displacement muscle, or just want to know what it feels like to take a ride in a supercar, we’ve got you covered. We love car culture just as much as you do, which is why we want to share the experience.

EVERYDAYDRIVER These guys do a mixture of informative reviews, quick run downs of new cars and more recently some feature pieces on car culture cars. The production value is high and the videos are somewhat few and far between but the passion is there so it gets a recommendation from us. The content is a mature nature and is friendly for all audiences.

#reddit #autonews #auto #cars