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#also olivia is such a great character i love her so so much
forestofmemories · 1 year
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something something the lessons they’ve learned up until now thanks to everything they’ve experienced, the special connection with nature (with the tapus, with alola itself), and the bond they (people and pokemon) all share bc they’re always working together and helping one another shaped satoshi in a way no other *region* did
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homielander · 1 year
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I hate that they made aegon a rapist (but in some episodes, they tried to give him depth and show how he suffers from his position). it's already not easy being team green, and we still have to pass as apologists, when that shit didn't even happen in the books and no one in that book it's a nice person. it literally is such a gratuitous scene.
me too🥲
aegon was said to get handsy with maidservants in the book but that was the extent of it (as long as we're discounting mushroom, whom i believe should almost always be discounted). i guess i can see why they would put it in there based on that, but they made the adaptational choice to whitewash pretty much every character except aegon, which would be baffling if it weren't very clear what their intention was. i think aegon may actually be the only character who is better in the book than the show. and he actually had one of the more interesting arcs in the book so it's depressing all around
if they were going to make aegon a worse guy than in the book, then they should have at least made rhaenyra book accurate, because making one of them a fundamentally better person than the other undermines the futility of the dance. but i do respect that they wanted to make rhaenyra more likable (though i would say this stretched too far with the erasure of every canonical flaw she had in 1.10 and the white hart) so the easy solution to preserve that theme was to not have aegon casually commit atrocities that are so cartoonish they're not even shown on screen. obviously then they wouldn't have been able to market a proto daenerys to audiences but maybe we'd have an interesting story idk
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yerimoonlight · 11 months
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Siri...Play Traitor on repeat because The Legacy of Yangchen is coming out in July and I still have not forgiven Kavik.
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cartierre · 7 months
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BRUTAL OUT HERE | op81
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SOCIAL MEDIA!AU oscar piastri x fem!singer!reader (fc: olivia rodrigo)
side note: the way i used to dislike oscar and now i'm so immensely proud of what he's achieved is crazy. what a character arc of me.
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♡ liked by conangray, oscarpiastri, sabrinacarpenter and 238,495 others
yourusername i am beyond the moon happy and proud to announce that my debut album is out now in store and on all music platforms! having worked on this for so long, it feels like seeing my little child grow up 🫶🏻 my team and i invested a lot of time and effort into this and i'm insanely excited for you to experience it. let me hear your thoughts and opinion on this! 💜
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user1 JUST LISTENED TO IT AND I AM NOT OKAY
user2 the way this captures the spirit of being a teenage girl so well ⤷ user3 she literally took my feelings and put it into words it's incredible
conangray i'm so proud of my babygirl comment liked by yourusername ⤷ yourusername ah stop! you helped me so much in the process, huge huge thank you for supporting me 🫶🏻😭 ⤷ user4 i love y/n's and conan's friendship so so much!
oscarpiastri 💜🖤 ⤷ user5 OSCAR?
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♡ liked by conangray, landonorris, oscarpiastri and 201,394 others
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yourusername the last few weeks have been absolutely crazy! i've recieved so much love and positive feedback for 'SOUR' ... i can't even describe how loved and appreciated i feel. i love you guys so much!
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user6 you deserve this so much!! your music makes me feel so many emotions, it's incredible
user7 can't believe how far you've come! been listening to your solos for so long and now you have a whole album aaahh ⤷ user8 remember when she used to upload covers on youtube?
oscarpiastri insanely proud! comment liked by yourusername
user9 oscar is being a bit suspicious these days i don't trust him ⤷ user10 lando is also liking sooo something is brewing in the paddock for sure
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yourusername my first performance here in melbourne (my hometown) felt so fucking special i'm in tears from how amazing you guys were! my official tour dates are coming soon!
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user11 is it true that you and oscar are childhood friends ⤷ user12 what if they're dating ⤷ user13 what if sour is actually about him?
conangray ahhh i'm so proud of my bestie! comment liked by yourusername ⤷ yourusername couldn't have done it without your pep talk
user14 someone said sour is about oscar and y/n's former relationship? ⤷ user15 is this confirmed?
oscarpiastri what an amazing show 💜 comment liked by yourusername
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♡ liked by landonorris, oscarpiastri, sabrinacarpenter and 328,283 others
tagged: oscarpiastri, landonorris
yourusername cat's out of the bag thanks to this dingus
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user16 no because it's kinda sweet they revealed their relationship during oscar's homerace (even if it was accidental) ⤷ user17 and her having had her first concert a week ago in melbourne as well (which he attended) like since when is melbourne so romantic like that
oscarpiastri i already told you i'm really really sorry ⤷ yourusername save your apology and gimme a kiss
landonorris great so now i see your annoying asses in real life AND on social media ⤷ yourusername haters gonna hate
user18 but... i wanna know who the album is about then ⤷ user19 real like babes let us knoooowwww
user20 i love childhood friends to lovers aaahh comment liked by yourusername
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bestanimatedmovie · 1 year
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Choose your favorite!
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Vote in the other polls!
What fans say:
The Lorax:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:
It had a very big impact on meme culture. And a really catchy soundtrack. Plus it has the silly sexy green man. What more could you want from a film.*
The Once-ler and the let it die song. This movie is glorious.
It is legit the mother of all great animated movies nowadays. From Mitchells vs the machines to the new mutant mayhem movie! The plot is so good and you can really see character development from almost all of the characters, plus the designs are BANGER.
THE MUSIC?? TOP FUCKING TIER. THE CASUAL DIVERSITY? IT ALSO HAS LITERALLY THE BEST SHOT IN CINEMATIC HISTORY (Miles rising after taking his leap of faith)
BRO THE ANIMATION IS SO SICK. The amount of sheer effort put into this movie is insane. The character growth was so amazing to watch and such a great movie to analyze. Best scenes are obviously the leap of faith. Actually gorgeous. And also the scene where aunt May sees Peter b after her Peter died. Her “you look tired, Peter” is just so heartfelt
Where the hell do I even start. The visuals are incredible and the plot is engaging. Every scene is perfect.
This film has EVERYTHING. Humor, action, inspirational scenes, kickass music, absolutely killer animation, an art style that is an homage to comic books, loveable characters, a talking pig, DR OLIVIA OCTAVIUS, I could go on
This is the best superhero movie ever made, the leap of faith is one of the best movie scenes of ever
The animation style is better than all the others, and makes the movie funnier too! The representation is also good, and the romantic storyline isn't too prevalent in the movie. Probably the best animation Marvel has made. My favorite scene is when the villains show up to Aunt May's house -- its my favorite fight scene!
I’m sure this movie’s been submitted already because it’s arguably the greatest animated film of all time. I have a personal connection to it because I saw it in theaters on opening night with my late father, and we both loved it and I still do. The animation is revolutionary and it’s one of the only 3 movies that make me cry.
gsksvbsvsbsvs I love everything about it, I love the animations, the story, the soundtrack also the style of animation AAAAAA its so beautiful its art it belongs in a museum i get goosebumps everytime I rewatch it
It’s just so good. All the characters are amazing and I love Miles dad. It’s hilarious and sparked my love for spider-man. It’s such a sweet movie about finding yourslef and has such a powerful message. I totally recommend it so I’m not adding spoilers, but like. Ohhhh, it’s so good.
Interesting villains, well-developed character arcs, a fresh take on Spider-Man, unique use of animation, funny, good use of multiverse that adds to the nature of the story being told, complicated character dynamics
It's the best animated movie because A: it takes one of the most well known comic characters of all time, kills him off in the first few minutes, and then shows you every cooler version of him. B: Has a large amount of representation in its main cast, considering that they're all versions of Spiderman, and that requires a white guy by default. C: everything in it is so well done I can't pick a favorite scene, but the most iconic is the jump off the skyscraper window.
The animation is incredible, the movie has so much story and heart, and there’s a perfect balance between humor and seriousness. And the soundtrack slaps
This is probably the best animated film I've ever seen. The animation is definitely the highlight, the way they blend comic book art styles and 3D animation is an absolute joy to look at and is so overwhelmingly creative, every frame of this movie is gorgeous. The impact this had on the industry is undeniable, as we start to see more and more movies getting more creative with their animation styles. It's not just the animation though. All of the characters are entertaining, all of the jokes land and the story is really well done. It leaves me blown away every time I watch it.
This movie kind of changed the western animation industry from the ground up. Apart from being expertly written, funny, and heartfelt, it is also stellarly animated, with a unique visual style that takes direct inspiration from the comic books it adapts and mixes 2d- and 3d-animation in a way and to a degree that hadn't really been seen before in western mainstream. Its critical and monetary success paved the way for mainstream 3d animation to open up to new and excitingly stylised movies that were like a breath of fresh air between the generic Pixar-style animation that had been the largely unchanged norm in the industry since Toy Story circa twenty years earlier**. ITSV divides the screen like panels on a comic page, it uses dots and lines for shading and gradients, doesn't shy away from lowering framerates for stylisation, and makes liberal use of onomatopoeia, both to comedic and dramatic impact. Impact frames and SFX are often hand-drawn and stunningly colourful, and even the simple dialogue scenes astonish with an expressiveness and realism in their depiction of emotions that makes me rewatch a two-second scene of Miles laughing fifteen times in a row. My favourite scene has to be the What's Up Danger scene, the emotional climax of the movie. Set to an absolute banger of a song, it is the moment the entire film has been building up to. I won't spoil anything plot-wise in case you somehow haven't seen this movie, but both from an emotional and a visual standpoint it is Fucking Dope. Conclusion: Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse is my favourite movie of all time and I could talk about it for hours. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. Thank you.
Have you SEEN the Whats Up Danger/rising and falling scene? it's a work of art that makes me fall in love with storytelling all over again whenever I see it. Also the impact that it's had on animated film is absolutely being felt at current, if incrementally. Incredible film.
It has an amazing art style based on comics and mixed up due to genre differences. It's really fun and the characters are great, even the side ones. The story line is great and I love Miles and his family.
*Mod note: errr, quite a lot more than memes and music actually
**Mod note: amen
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flanaganfilm · 1 year
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hi mike, saw someone say your ask box was open and i came running! have you ever had any ideas as to how the crain family would be getting on now a few years later/what they're doing? it's always in the back of my mind wondering if creators also wonder about those sort of things themselves once their project has ended. thanks so much & hope you have a great day!
I do think about that. Quite a lot, actually.
The Crains took on lives of their own for me. I'd never written long form before, so it was the first time I lived with the same characters for that long, and for such extended arcs. Here's where I think they are, a few years later:
Shirley: I think that Shirley and her husband overcame her disclosure of infidelity. She'd been closed off for so long, after the series ended I think she found some peace in her life and opened herself up to her marriage. I think she also began to find kindness again. They ran the funeral home together, but Shirley found purpose in helping people handle grief and loss with empathy and kindness. Her oldest would be just about ready to start college now, and I think that would have her looking back and realizing that she always remembered her childhood as seemingly endless... but now she sees just how fast it truly goes by.
Luke: Luke stayed sober. He's six years into it now, and it's gone so well that he's also become a sponsor. That doesn't mean he's immune to the struggle, far from it. He still walks up to that edge sometimes. Oddly, it's in those moments that the "Twin Thing" kicks in... and he feels an inexplicable and complete sense of love. He knows that's Nell's, and that always pulls him back from the brink. He never did find Joey, or find out what happened to her. And sometimes he still wakes up with nightmares that he's on the floor of the Red Room, or that Joey visits him with her runny-egg eyes. But no matter how hard it gets, he feels what Nell feels for him... and that always pulls him through.
Theo: Theo and Trish got married, and moved far away from New England. They currently live in Portland. She still works with children, but enjoys a much smaller patient pool. She specializes in the kids who are hardest to reach, and she's sought after for her unique and uncanny ability to connect with them. She doesn't wear gloves anymore, but she still avoids the very crowded places. She and Trish take long hikes, grow their own pot, and travel frequently and spontaneously. They're considering a surrogate... and if it's a girl, they're going to name her Eleanor.
Steven: Steve and Leigh have two kids, and are thinking they might stop there. He never wrote about what happened at Hill House, but he still writes. Science fiction. Leigh recommended the genre as a way for him to focus on the future, not the past. He likes it a lot. It's pulpy, but it's earnest. He maintains Hill House, as it is his responsibility, but he doesn't enter the property beyond the gates. He has a rotating collection of people service the property itself, always during the day, and only for a few hours at a time.
Hill House stands quietly and silently in the hills. There is something different about it. Still the same energy, but without the malice. Steve assumes this is because of Hugh, Nellie and Olivia, who maybe curb the most malicious energies of the house from within. While shadows still walk in the windows at night, there are no living souls there to see them. Mostly, Steven imagines the spirits inside spend most of their days sleeping. And if they cannot sleep, he imagines Mrs. Dudley singing softly to them on the wind.
There is grief, for all of them. There are nightmares. Horrible dreams of moldy rooms and phantom hands. They meet twice a year, usually without spouses, to catch up and raise a glass to Nell, and their parents. There is a lot of healing still to do, a lot of therapy, a lot of introspection. But there is peace, too. There is love. There is forgiveness.
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kazz-brekker · 2 years
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hotd episode 5 thoughts
rip rhea royce, you seemed cool so even though i knew your death was coming i’m a bit sad about it. at least you got to bully daemon before the end.
loved that we got to see larys strong do a bit of scheming and i am quite excited to see where his character will go.
house velaryon and driftmark seem extremely cool, hope we do end up getting a spin-off about them someday.
corlys i am TRYING to stan you but trying to marry off your daughter at 12 and saying your gay son “will grow out of it” is not great behavior.
i do love that rhaenys and corlys are a total power couple who clearly respect and love each other a lot.
i liked the the scene of rhaenyra and laenor walking on the beach and forming their alliance/friendship very much since i’ve always interpreted them as being friends.
i’m glad we got to see some of the relationship between laenor and joffrey before things went south, they seemed really good together and i do wish they had gotten their life of a king consort and his sworn bodyguard.
of the different rumors surrounding rhaenyra and criston cole’s falling-out i have always thought the one where he suggested they run away together and she turned him down made the most sense so i’m glad they went with that one.
i also appreciated that his bitterness towards her is not just “criston’s crush doesn’t like him as much as he likes her” but also his sense of ruined honor.
i Do Not Trust grand maester mellos, something is up with that man. please stop with the leeches i swear to god.
the velaryons entering the wedding was ICONIC, they are legends, they are the moment, i love them.
it was nice seeing seasmoke and meleys but where! is! vhagar!
lyonel strong remains the only person on this show with common sense.
daemon showing up to rhaenyra’s wedding feast despite being in exile was legendary, i expected no less.
also rhaenyra being mean to him when they were dancing and throwing his words back at him was excellent.
alicent entering the feast in her green dress and calling rhaenyra “stepdaughter” was such a power move i literally cannot wait for her villain era.
that wedding was So Fucking Stressful even though i knew going in roughly what was going to happen i was on the edge of my seat.
oh joffrey, if only you were not so good at sussing out who is sleeping together and criston could be normal about his break-up things might have had a much happier ending :(
was hoping we would get more than the few harwin strong crumbs that we did buuuut it seems like he’ll be important in episode 6.
i’m going to miss milly alcock and emily carey but i cannot WAIT to see emma d’arcy and olivia cooke, they are going to absolutely kill it
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nipuni · 2 months
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Some various lighthearted life updates 🏃‍♀️
It's been a very busy last few months! in a good way mostly. We had a friend visiting us from overseas so we showed him around the city and took him to all our favourite places. We also met new people and were invited to a bunch of events so it's been very fun! We are all out of social battery tho so now we are slowing down a bit and getting back to work. Nicolas is on a short work trip to Berlin and I'm back to painting. We also started running! aaand we are also back to watching a bunch of shows and to me talking about it here to like five people 😌
Under the cut cause it's a lot as usual!
We finished watching S13 of Doctor Who! (we still have the specials to go but after that we are all caught up!) I haven't updated in ages so here are lot of opinions!
We really did not enjoy S11 😞 I was aware it wasn't very popular but we were hoping it was for all the wrong reasons, sadly we found many to be valid. Some of the episodes were baffling, Rosa? Kerblam?! the writing of the whole season in general felt like a rushed school assignment. The first part of Spyfall was a strong start for the next season but that ending in the second part was really not it. We did love Sacha Dhawan's Master tho!! and we really love Jodie too, 13th is adorable and reminded us of Ten at times! Jodie is such a fantastic actress that it makes the quality of the writing and everything else around her even more frustrating 😫 S12 was an improvement in general. In the last few episodes It felt like the writing team suddenly remembered the companions could have a personality and agency lmao. Highlights for us were Spyfall one, Fugitive of the Judoon and Haunting of villa Diodati, tho we did also enjoy most other episodes of the season despite their issues.
The timeless child plot reveal felt a bit underwhelming? The idea on itself has potential but it felt mishandled (and it had a bit of a Moffat flavour to it? and not in a good way). I think it was meant to add more depth to the Doctor's lore but in a way it ends up having the opposite effect. Then the flux was just a complete mess. It read like a Marvel sort of plot, very comic book like which is alright I suppose if that is something you enjoy but it felt out of place. But mostly it was just way too much, it got out of hand. Anyway we still have the specials to watch! and I think the Master is in them so we are looking forward to it 🥰
We also watched Broadchurch!! and we LOVED it. We ended up binging all three seasons. Chibnall's writing on this is surprisingly great and Jodie's acting is spectacular she really shines here. Olivia and David are always brilliant!! honestly everyone's acting was amazing. This series had us both tearing up every five scenes. The direction and the music are outstanding. I could watch Hardy and Miller solve crimes forever I really love their chemistry and dynamic. We went into it expecting the usual detective fiction but it ended up being a whole study on grief with such a focus on family and community and trauma and a ton of touching interconnected character arcs, just really really good!!
Then we also watched Taking over the Asylum!! MAN we were not expecting to have our hearts wrung out like laundry by this!! We thought it was a lighthearted show!! GOD we are still not over it, what the fuck!! It was so good we loved it!! but we were not prepared lmao what do you mean 'the end'?? we'll be thinking of this for months, I was expecting an extra scene after the credits or something. Excellent characters, refreshing depictions of mental illness and trauma and so crushingly realistic. Every character is so loveable I really wish this was longer 😭
And our quest to watch everything with David Tennant on it continues. We watched Decoy Bride on Valentines day too and it was terrible but such a hilarious fever dream kind of bad that it was fun, it has David on it and he never disappoints. I feel so lucky that Nicolas and I are both in love with him, get yourself a man who shares your celebrity crushes lmao it's so fun!! We feel like teens again chatting about him and drawing little hearts next to his pictures haha 🥰 We watched the BAFTAs just for him and speaking of the baftas!! I was not expecting that last drawing of his outfits to get that much attention oh my god 😭 thank you!! you are all insane and I appreciate it so much!! and thank you for all the support in general, about my art and photos and just everything. I feel very lucky and grateful 😭 anyway I'll end this before I get sappy, that is all for now! I hope this week is kind to you all, I'll be sharing some more art soon 😊
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My thoughts on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie
I don’t know if I liked it as much as the original films (maybe Mockingjay 1 & 2 as they are pretty emotionally draining), but I still enjoyed it.
I think where it fell a little flat for me is 1. The beginning was a bit slow (tbh I only really started getting interested when Lucy Gray stuck that snake down that girl’s dress & even then I enjoyed the story more when the setting changed from the Capitol to the district) 2. I knew Snow would survive 3. I’d already been spoiled online for a lot of stuff that happens & 4. while I know the director did his best to make Snow as “likeable” as he could for as long as possible, even before he started getting “a little too comfortable” with killing & snitching I didn’t find him as sympathetic as Katniss or Peeta (but that is probably again down to the fact that I know what he goes onto do & there’s no real way around that), this made engaging with him difficult for me.
The world is fascinating. Getting to see all the new locations we never had access to before as well as old locations now in a totally different light (for example district 12 which, while still clearly suffering, seemed like such a bustling industrial town compared to how it is in Katniss’s time). It might have a much more retro aesthetic but there's also just a more vibrant, natural, wild & lawless atmosphere to this movie compared to the others in the franchise. The whole scope of the film just felt more cinematic then I remember the others being yet also weirdly intimate. Maybe because it was one contained story & we knew the main character’s fate from the start. I also loved the title cards signifying the start of each section of the story like from the books & wished they'd done something similar for the other films. It just added a certain flair to the whole thing. Almost gave it the vibe of a tragic play.
The costuming was great. The bright red of the academy uniforms.  Flickerman’s snazzy suits. Snow’s dapper black & white outfit. Both peace keeper uniforms (despite one of them giving very ‘1930’s Germany’ vibes) looked great. Grandma might have been a bigot, but at least she was well dressed. Everything Dr Gaul wore (except the top that looked like a used tampon, lol) was exquisite. The main ladies of fashion, Tigris & Lucy Gray slayed. Our Future Capitol stylist looked like some regal yet exotic bird & Miss Survivor was giving Bohemian, country girl realness the entire time she was on screen. Even the extras were serving (like that random couple Snow walked past on his way to the reaping ceremony).
The music was amazing. Every song that played was fantastic (shout out to Olivia for her end credit contribution). The lyrics & instrumentation were beautiful & my god does Rachel Zegler have pipes! Anyone who says the singing scenes are cringy is just stupid like I’m sorry you can’t appreciate art. Also, the words ‘ballad’ & ‘songbirds’ are literally in the title. Plus, Lucy Gray is from the poorest district, so what exactly do those people want her to do in her free time? She can’t exactly hop on an X-box for a few hours. Not too mention that (as the offspring of someone who’s musically inclined) I can tell you, it’s completely realistic for a musician to use their craft to help them deal with trauma & Lucy Gray clearly had more than her fair share of that.
The Grandma'am helped to paint a sadly very realistic background for Snow. As who among us hasn’t met at least one delusional old person who thinks that their/their group’s suffering (regardless of the severity of it or the reason behind their former/newer status in society) means that no one else are deserving of even the tiniest shred of humanity & there are some people who are unlucky enough to not only be related to these people but be raised by them.
Hunter schafer as Tigris is clearly the superior Snow when it comes to things like empathy & overall mental stability but I do kind of wish they’d been more for her to do. Credit where credit is due though her & Tom did actually look like they could be related & I did buy their familial bond (which makes her appearance in Mockingjay so much sadder in hindsight).
Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom was a bit of a mix for me just due to his purpose as a character & the limit of film as a form of media. Like sure the audience know that Snow’s going to become an irredeemable monster in the end but without a window into his mind it really does just seem like the Dean is just out to get him & even when we find out why it seems kind of unfair. Like sure his dad sucked but haven’t the Games shown that blaming children for violence caused by others is unjust (& like ok he hates Coriolanus & probably the grandma but Tigris hadn’t done anything to deserve living in poverty, as she can’t control who she’s related to)? Plus, it felt like he could have at least tried taking Snow under his wing at some point to try to hinder Dr Gual’s influence. Saying all of that, though, Peter Dinklage is great at playing an addict with depression & the idea that some drunken rambling could lead to such long-lasting suffering is terrifying. Also its pretty realistic that living with that kind of guilt & in such a cruel environment for that long would make most people jaded & bitter, even if they did have good intentions.
Omg we finally get a Mayor family on screen & they’re assholes! Madge would be so disappointed 😭. It was interesting to see how harsh & overall “boot licky” the mayor & his family seemed compared to decades later, which makes sense as the war wasn’t that long ago for them so the dad probably felt more incentive to align himself with the Capitol as well as not feeling very connected to the district people as 12’s decline probably didn’t fully set in until they really started running low on coal & Snow became president (oh I just know he wanted to blow that district off the map 😆). I also wouldn’t put it past Billy to come up with some sob story of how he really does love Mayfair but wicked Lucy Gray is somehow preventing them from being together. Still no excuse to try to send her to her death twice in one week, though. Definitely not a girl’s girl.
Ok, so a liar. Cheat. Drunk & someone who hits women. Is there anything good about Billy Taupe? Also, trying to get your ex back, while your current girlfriend is literally standing right next to you? Dude, have some god damn back bone! You made a choice, now stick to it. Also, fumbling Lucy Gray, for a girl like that? What’s it like having no brains or taste? Well, too bad, coz you’re stuck with her forever now, lol.
Viola Davies, the actress that you are. What else is there to say? Dr Gaul is almost comic book levels of insane. Like she is how the Right see women in STEM, on crack! I don’t know what she did to get into character, but whatever it was, it worked.
Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius Flickerman is a very interesting addition to the story despite playing such a small & seemingly insignificant role. He is strange in how unthreatening he is while also extremely blasé about the abhorrent violence he witnesses that it’s as funny as it is disturbing. Making him come across as  more human yet harsher than his son, who at least pretends to care about the tributes (in a very Capitol way, obviously but still). There’s also a polish & confidence to Tucci’s performance that I think Schwartzman did a great job of avoiding copying (despite knowing what audiences were probably expecting) because not only are their characters in entirely different stages of their careers but the whole ethos of the Hunger Games is different in Snow’s youth than it is in Katniss’s. Caesar is a well established presenter & during his time, the games have always been a success (minus the year with the tundra) that the entire Capitol is invested in & seemingly in support of. On the other hand Lucretius had the unique task of not only coming into a job like this with zero experience (I mean imagine going from announcing the weather to presenting the fucking hunger games) but also there were no vibes to try to emulate let alone guidelines to follow because he truly was the first person to do this. On top of that, the "event" his presenting has been panned for years as both boring & unethical. Schwartzman brought a slightly awkward, experimental, yet try hard vibe (like a comedian who's desperate to get a laugh) that I think worked wonderfully for the character.
Tom Blyth's performance was great & he was visually perfect for a young Snow (the power of a good wig! Who knew lol). Even having the cool, analytical stare of Donald Sutherland, down pat. While his appearance was very Eminem during his peacekeeping days, his realisation in the cabin and subsequent breakdown in the woods were crazy. There was so much tension between him & Rachel in that scene that for a second, it literally felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. I could almost hear the record scratch for both of them, & all that building paranoia finally coming to a sudden crescendo in the way that it did? Pure cinema!
Josh Rivera, as Sejanus, was honestly a mix for me. Obviously, I agree with his morals, but his way of going about it did seem a little dumb. However I do think it’s pretty realistic that a teenager, especially a rich one, would be rather naive. Also I’ve heard that he’s smarter in the book & I think at times my frustration with him is more just down to the fact that I’m seeing him from Snow’s point of view. Meaning scenes that would be portrayed as noble in any other film instead come across as almost painfully inconvenient because the focus is always on how they affect Snow rather than the actual victims of the situation. Lastly, sorry, Snowjanus shippers, I just don’t see it (especially on Snow’s end), but whatever floats your boat.
Rachel Zegler played Lucy Gray with the perfect mix of natural charm & emotional vulnerability with clear pride in her culture & a refusal to let the world around her change who she is. Yet there was also an air of mystery & a subtle resilience to her that makes her potentially surviving out in the woods for years without being detected actually believable (though I don’t buy the theory that she went on to become president Coin). Definitely the highlight of the movie for me.
PS. I'd love to know what you think of my review in the comments/tags & am open to criticism (as long as it's respectful) just remember that I'm only talking about the movie so please don't reference anything spersific to the book.
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tame-a-messenger · 16 days
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Man, Damien is really complimentary of Angela, even more so than with the rest of his castmates (except Shayne.)
On the other hand, I remember seeing you say that Angela is also trying to impress Damien, but I guess I just don't see it. I only saw her being bored/weirded out/put off by him.
Damien does a great job complimenting most people at Smosh, Angela included (he's done it quite often)
Interesting that you think she's weirded out/put off by him? That's not how I see it at all.
She is a little careful(?) around him maybe? But she's by no means put off by him. I think she really enjoys him! (she wouldn't make fun of him as much as she does if she didn't find him fun) I think what you're picking up on is them trying to find their footing with each other.
They haven't known each other very long, and Angela is a BIG personality, (Damien has the label of 'sensitive' it seems, with Olivia joking about him not liking loud noises and such at his Funeral (neurodivergence anyone?) and with Angela being a bit of a loud person I get why she seems a little different compared to when she's with some of the other cast members. I think she's trying to be conscious of being 'too much' to him. (if you think about it, it's actually very sweet of her)
Angela is more obvious to me about how much she likes Damien actually! I feel very similar to her so maybe I can see her way of caring about him better? Personally, if I feel very fond/close to someone I have the need to ruthlessly make fun of them. I can't help it, and I don't think she can either. (he makes fun of her too, which would only make me want to make fun of him more lol)(i.e. why I say they are cat & mouse)
That's how I see their relationship. It's in how often she brings him up and how often she dresses up as him that really let me know she thinks he's cool. She's a theater kid, she loves dressing up! She does it so often as Damien because she really thinks he's interesting!! (he's quite the character in her mind)
Also they literally said they loved each other in their Reddit Stories lol, I don't know how you could think she was 'put off' by him.
(a couple examples of Angela being nice and caring to Damien-> the Christmas Event™ (you don't tell someone how much you love and appreciate them like that just because you are drunk lol), The Don't Win Charity Live (1:37:20) where she apologizes for being rude and tugs on his ear(???) -are a couple off the top of my head)
(but to you're point, she doesn't really try to impress him, more so just tries to rile him up and get his attention lol)
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markantonys · 1 month
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thinking more about the garden scene, rereading it has just made me want even more for the show to do a "rand and egwene trespassing in the caemlyn palace and meeting gawyn, galad, morgase, and elaida" version of it in early s3! because gawyn is adorable in the book version, but mostly exists as an extension of elayne and a helpful infodumper to explain to rand and the reader what's going on while the other 4 caemlyn characters are carrying the scene.
so in a version of the scene where elayne is not there (as i'd imagine she'd go straight from falme to tanchico, which is pretty nearby, while the rest of the gang could pass through caemlyn in their longer travels), that automatically brings gawyn more into the spotlight and makes him an independent and more noticeable character during that whole sequence. now gawyn alone is defending rand (and egwene) from galad, morgase, and elaida, which would be a strong and memorable first introduction to him as a character. (it would also be a great meetcute for gawene <3 and i'd love to keep the book vibe of gawyn being so kind and friendly to rand and having a huge crush on him when they first meet bc it makes the forthcoming events all the more angsty.)
and in general, the book version of course has elayne as the focal point of the caemlyn sequence, so in the show where the audience already knows and loves elayne from other scenes, an elayne-less caemlyn sequence would be a great opportunity to let the other 4 caemlyn characters shine more. seeing gawyn, galad, morgase, and elaida argue over what to do with these trespassers, without elayne present, would do a lot to shed light on all 4 of them as characters and on the various relationship dynamics between them, which would be really good because the gawyn-elaida dynamic will be key to understanding his role in the coup later in the season (maybe we see him being willing to stand up to galad for the trespassers, but then being kinda cowed and backing down once elaida gets involved), and both gawyn's and galad's relationships with morgase are very central to their individual storylines and motivate a lot of their behavior down the road (more so than elayne, who ofc loves morgase and mourns her death, but doesn't really have those feelings as a main motivator for her behavior).
also, i've gone back to reread the wotseries articles about the shohreh aghdashloo (elaida) and olivia williams (morgase) casting leaks, and uncovered a couple interesting tidbits about the caemlyn filming!
both actresses were spotted on a set that is almost certainly the caemlyn palace (filmed inside a real-life castle with andor's banner hanging up)
wotseries believes that since this set is a location shoot 200 km away from jordan studios, not too much time will be spent there in s3 as frequent shoots there would be inconvenient
this filming occurred in late may 2023 and was for sometime in the first 2 episodes of the season
this all supports my theory of a one-time caemlyn trespassing sequence in approx 3x02! however, wotseries didn't report anything about josha or madeleine being spotted on this set, or about galad's actor or any potential gawyn actors being spotted. but that definitely doesn't mean none of them were there, maybe some or all were but just weren't leaked. on the other hand, i could also imagine maybe there's just one brief caemlyn-set scene of morgase telling elaida to go to the white tower and ask about elayne, and then G&G are introduced later when tagging along on elaida's trip and none of them meet our main characters during this season (or even just gawyn tags along with elaida while galad is instead introduced as a whitecloak in perrin's storyline, though personally i think it's important to galad's story for him to NOT be a whitecloak at first and then become radicalized out of worry for elayne). or it could be that there are multiple scenes in the caemlyn palace but some were filmed on a studio set and this location shoot was only used for a particularly grand room like the throne room or something. many possibilities and such little concrete info to go off of yet!
anyway, overall, i think that first introducing the rest of the caemlyn crew to the audience via their interactions with main characters we already know could potentially be more interesting than introducing them in a vacuum as a totally separate storyline (and indeed, most of the new characters in s2 were introduced via preexisting characters meeting them, iirc). and i think that it would be really great for rand and egwene to get a chance to meet the caemlyn crew before they get tied up in other storylines for the foreseeable future, since elaida and gawyn, in particular, are quite important to both rand and egwene later on (or rather, rand is important to gawyn but not vice versa djkfjg poor gawyn). but only time will tell if i'm onto something here or if i'm way off base!
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keeneschoices · 11 months
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I'm gonna miss one of my classes because I stayed up late to watch the finale of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and couldn't sleep afterwards... WELP, ANYWAY.
what a fucking good episode.
SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10 AHEAD!
I've seen people saying they didn't like it that much because it was more relosution of past problems than anything else, but I did love it. The race didn't get to me nearly as much as I thought it would because after being presented with Cynthia and Lydia's situation, and the whole Olivia marrying that predator, I honestly had more things to worry about than any of that, but it was sort of fun.
Anyway, the whole song in the beginning of the girls telling Olivia not to marry that creep ("he's literally just a guy, hit him with your car" vibes) was just amazing. Everyone's vocals were great but holy fucking shit, ARI?? ARE YOU FOR REAL? THE TALENT.
We got a little more of backstory for Lydia and got some sort of hint regarding Cynthia's mom (my theory is she left them when Cynthia was young and sometimes she calls If she's in need of something). I'm loving to get to know these characters better, honestly.
The whole coming out scene between Nancy and Cynthia broke me. Like, literally had me crying and pausing the episode because I couldn't see anything behind the tears! I'm so goddamn glad Nancy talked to Cynthia and accepted them as they are (not that I ever thought she wouldn't), and seeing Cynthia cry, no, sob like that in Nancy's lap was so heartbreaking because their friend accepted them but it's still the fucking 50s and it's scary as hell.
AND THE MIRROR HOUSE SCENE?? WITH CYNTHIA SEARCHING THROUGH FOR LYDIA AND BEING VERY CLOSE BUT THEN AGAIN VERY FAR, UNTIL THEY CONNECTED AT THE END AND FINALLY GET THE RESOLUTION WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!! MY HEART MELTED. THEY'RE ALL IN, LYDIA!
God, I just love love love the mirror house song and scene, it was so well done (I SCREAMED OKAY?? THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THING). And Nancy not only preparing Cynthia to go in but encouraging her and even entering the house to make sure Lydia knew Cynthia was serious about their feelings? AMAZING. NANCYCYNTHIA BESTIES, YES.
I also sort of liked that Hazel is now a Pink Lady and sort of didn'? like, I love the message and I totally think If anyone else deserves a chance to be a Pink Lady, it's her... but like, the other four are so connected already because of everything that's happened between them. I'm not saying Hazel couldn't fit into that, but with a bond like theirs it's normal that she'll probably feel left out at least a little bit and that's not what I want.
OHH, AND THE LITTLE NODS TO GREASE AND GREASE 2 WERE SO GOOD. Potato's "speech" to keep things intereseting with Nancy mirroring Sandy's to Danny from the first movie made me cackle and I just looooveeee that they included the Pink Ladies' Pledge, not only the pledge in on itself but also that little part of the song from Grease 2. I loved it!!
The only thing that really bothered me from the episode was the cliffhanger in the end. Because I was expecting like, a cliffhanger and we got, well, name dropped. Which is not bad I guess, I just don't give a shit about whoever this Zuko is and what his relation to Danny is so I'm sort of hanging here for season 2 because If this is the main plot, I'm gonna be tuning in mostly for my favorite characters. Not saying the plot won't be good (because these writers are fenomenal), but it's not as interesting as of now for me personally.
WELL ANYWAY, I'M GONNA GO TO SLEEP NOW BUT I STILL WANT A SEASON 2, YOU HEAR ME PARAMOUNT?? LET'S GO.
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no1valgraceshipper · 1 month
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Percy Jackson Characters as Songs
Percy Jackson
prison for life - Olivia Rodrigo
Even though it’s unreleased it just fits Percy so much!
Another contender would be The Great War by Taylor Swift
Annabeth Chase
The Man - Taylor Swift
I feel like it just embodies how Annabeth has always been underestimated because she is a girl when really she’s one of the most strongest demigods!
Piper McLean
Mastermind - Taylor Swift
It just perfectly lines up with her charms peak! And I just love that song and felt like Piper would love it too
Also Taking Whats Not Yours by TV Girl? That fits Piper so well as well.
Jason Grace
Superman - Taylor Swift /j
Long Live - Taylor Swift/j
Okay done with the jokes time for the real one
Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince - Taylor Swift
Jason just is this song because he has always been expected to be perfect because he is a son of Jupiter! When in reality he can’t be perfect because it is impossible to be perfect!!
Leo Valdez
runner up - Bailey Spinn
The only other contender was Happy Face by Jagwar Twin because both those songs are just Leo’s songs.
Hazel Levesque
Willow - Taylor Swift
Honestly it fits her and her magic so well.
Frank Zhang
The Archer - Taylor Swift
I don’t have anything to say. Just listen to the song and you’ll see why.
Nico Di Angelo
Timeless - Taylor Swift /j
Slipping through my fingers - ABBA
Nico would totally like ABBA!
Will Solace
When Emma Falls In Love - Taylor Swift
It just fits Will sm!
The other two ones were The Archer and Mastermind but those were taken.
Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano
You’re On Your Own Kid - Taylor Swift
I not need to say anything, it just fits reyna sm.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare
because i liked a boy - Sabrina Carpenter
Grover Underwood
Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift
My boy just wants nature to be safe and sound.
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alonetimelover · 1 year
Text
Action! - part 4 - Social Media
Pairings: ex!Harry Styles x Director!Reader x Joseph Quinn
Warnings: swearing, drug mention (in harry's song)
Summary: A walk through aftermath of Harry and YN's break up, new woman, new man, some drama, new albums, lots of love.
ynupdates
part 1 part 2 part 3 series masterlist
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liked by hArrysbutterfly, stupdates and 4 716 others
ynupdates For the first time in months(!!!) we have an update! YN with Taylor Swift in YN's cabin. They're celebrating evermore release! | credit: florencepugh
ps. please don't jump to conclusions because you see a man next to yn, we don't know who he is, so let's not assume
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hArrysbutterfly finally! I was so worried about her! I understand she needs space after everything *cough* WB *cough* but it's so nice to see her being with people she loves
ynmymama i hope she's happy and staying healthy
ynsmybestie we know the man, at least UK fans know him
⤷ ynshands tell me!!!!
⤷ynsmybestie he's Joseph Quinn he played in Dickensian, Miserables or Catherine The Great (some BBC shows that UK folks know well) he's rumoured to be in stranger things also
taylors22 guys please tell me I'm not delusional and few songs are about yn and harry
⤷ynupdates i hear it too! I didn't want to make a post about it (because people are just cruel) but I hear it!
⤷ynsmybestie im not the biggest fan of taylor but im going to listen to this (tell me which songs, please)
⤷taylors22 well, the whole album is a masterpiece but! I think that gold rush, 'tis the damn season, tolerate it or (maybe) evermore are about yn and harry
⤷taylors22 those are just my assumptions after little deep down into harry and yn's update accounts. im not saying it's 100% about them, just to be clear
⤷ynsmybestie of course!! i've listened to a few and man... gold rush is about them 100% I mean, internet loves this guy
harryupdates so good to see her again!
harrysmylife i miss yn and harry so so much:(((
⤷ ynsmybestie well, sad to burst you bubnle but they weren't very happy together
⤷ harrysmylife and how do you know that??
⤷ ynsmybestie they (celebrityupdates) have a whole article about it, apparently someone close to yn and harry spilled the beans and said too much about our babies
⤷ hArrysbutterfly bestie!!! spill the tea please
⤷ ynsmybestie basically harry fell out of love, at the end only yn cared about their relationship and he didn't have the balls to end it earlier. all in all he moved on while still being in a relationship with yn
⤷ harrysupdates well, let's not believe everything that person said, we don't know if that was someone actually close to yn or harry. we need to accept their decision of ending the relationship. however it happened shouldn't be our concern.
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2021
yourinstagram
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liked by harryupdates, ynsmymama, joekeery, mayahawke, gatenm123, noahschnapp and 5 917 061 others
yourinstagram hi, hey, hello! we're halfway through the script of st4, so I thought ill give you guys some insight (i hope Duffer brothers won't sue me). it's not some insight, im literally giving you shirtless Joe Keery, please appreciate it.
ps. we are here without masks but we are staying safe. we're vaccinated and we're tested every day. please stay safe wherever you are in the world!
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ynsmybestie Joe???? 🤤 you're spoiling as bestie!
⤷yourinstagram i try, i try
⤷ynsmybestie jskdbsjis OMFGSIS
joekeery you're making my DM's blow up
⤷yourinstagram sorry! i really am!
⤷mayahawke youre not, are you?
⤷ yourinstagram shhh!
noahschnapp BYLER 👨‍❤️‍👨
ynshands doing god's work, yn! thank you!
ynupdates Joe Quinn as the new character??? I love it. why no one talks about him?
⤷ yourinstagram im wondering the same
⤷ ynsmybestie we will talk about him, bestie. we will.
harrysmoustache posting at the same time as THE photos
⤷ ynshands what photos????
⤷ harrysmoustache harry and olivia w went to jeff's wedding together (hand in hand and all that!!)
⤷ynshands so after months of those secret photos its finally confirmed? jesus
⤷ harryskiwi yeah, they first were photographed like day or two after yn and harry's break up?? its been a while
⤷ harrysmoustache about six months, WILD (pun intended)
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liked by harryupdates, ynsmymama and 9 617 others
ynupdates YN with Joseph Quinn out in Atlanta celebrating the end of shooting season 4 of Stranger Things. Joe Keery and his girlfriend were seen joining them.
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ynsmybestie OMFG!!!! they look so good! 🤤
ynsmymama yn wearing Jo's jacket in those two pics? so cute
harryskiwi she looks so good! that silk dress?? damn, yn 🔥
ynshands sir? your hand? 😳 all those British, curly men falling for yn, i understand you
⤷ ynsmybestie also him feeding her? jesus...
hater55 moving on so quickly?
hater71 new guy again?
hater03 another one?
ynshands okay, why do y'all hate on her? moving on so quickly? a year after ending her last relationship is quickly? what was then Harry's doings with moving on days after breaking up? you people really love to hate on a woman just because she's happy with a new man
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2022
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liked by florencepugh, tchalamet, annetwist, gemmastyles, taylorswift, harrystyles and 7 617 817 others
yourinstagram with this year coming to the end, small photo dump with my favourite moments from 2021. this year was the one when i had my saddest and happiest moments. i hope 2022 will be our year.
one - i think it was during the last week of shooting st4, im a simple girl - i see a beautiful sky, i take a photo
two - you guys know the masterpiece that dirty dancing is? we did it.
three - ❤
four - find yourself a man that reads your recomendations. seven husbands of evelyn hugo finished, mans search for meaning next
five - yes he does the cooking, yes he does the cleaning 🍕
six - ❤️
seven - florence's birthday!!!! can you see how gorgeous she looks?? my, my, my, im drooling 🤤
eight - R.I.P. Dom Pérignon
nine - ❤️
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florencepugh my birthday one of the highlights of your year??? i love you so much, beautiful. see you at the party!
⤷yourinstagram see you, beauty!
tchalamet chérie! when you're happy, i'm happy
⤷yourinstagram stop flirting, Timothée
⤷tchalamet joe, give yn her phone
⤷yourinstagram who?
⤷tchalamet yn calls me timmy, joe. you gave yourself up, mate. give her the phone
⤷yourinstagram no. ❤️
⤷ynsmybestie they're the funniest
annetwist happy new year, darling! ❤️
⤷yourinstagram thank you, annie! the happiest for you
taylorswift can i write an album about you?
⤷yourinstagram i thought you already had one??🍂
⤷ynsmybestie bestie are you confirming evermore being about you????
gemmastyles we need to meet up, yn!
⤷yourinstagram text me the date and im all yours, babe
ynsmymama her still being close to anne and gemma? while having a whole new man? also harry lurking, we see you👀
ynsmysoulmate can we talk about how she started posting more about herself and her life after dumping Jeff's ass and getting new manager??? im so here for it. Ronnie Coleman im your number1 fan
⤷ ynsmymama so true! i feel like she really wants to share her happy memories with us and jeff didn't let her, Ronnie is like her bestie and let's her decide whatever she thinks is best for her
⤷ haarrysmoustache jeff was doing with yn what he does with harry, minimal social media + public spottings
⤷ harrysbtch buuut, harry said himself that he doesn't like social media and tries to avoid it as much as possible (he's now all over it with olivia but who am I to judge???)
⤷ ynsmymama oh, that might be it. yn said in one of her interviews that she didn't mind social media because she learnt how to deal with it (and that interview was in 2019, while still being managed by Jeff)
harrysbtch photos of Joseph???? recreating THE ICONIC scene from one of her favourite films?? she has her own jonny castle
⤷ ynsmysoulmate and he reads her recommendations? cooks and cleans? man, when i tell you i feel weak in the knees, im not lying. 🥵
⤷ynsmybestie she just needs joseph to dress up as him or danny zuko for halloween and she's probably done for 😭
taylor22 Dom Pérignon ???? champagne problems??
⤷ ynsmybestie if champagne problems is about yn and harry im dead 💔
harrysbtch also, harry are you sure you wanted to like this post???
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harrystyles Harry's House. May 20th.
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oliviawilde ❤️
harryupdates the king is back!
annetwist cannot wait, my boy! x
ynsmybestie okay, so how many songs about yn, hmm?
ynsmymama i hope you're not going to bring more drama between you and yn after this album is released
⤷harryskiwi imo id love for him to have a song about her. we only got a few in fine line
⤷ynsmymama maybe, i just dont want it to affect yn and joe
harrystyles ALSO my new song As It Was - out on April 1st, H
⤷haarrysmoustache the promotion! so true💀
⤷harryupdates harry, please make a post about it
⤷harrysheadphones well, it's few days later and he didn't, he really doesn't care 😭
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liked by yourinstagram, joekeery, mayahawke, sadiesink, noahschnapp, milliebobbybrown, harrystyles, tchalamet and 2 716 615 others
josephquinn Stranger Things Season 4. Thank you for a warm welcome in this beautiful family. It's an absolute honor to join you. Season 4 on Netflix on May 27th. See you then.
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yourinstagram look 👏 at 👏 you! what a dream. what a man.
⤷ josephquinn dream man?
⤷yourinstagram you're damn right
joekeery look at him, all dressed up. where's your denim vest?
⤷josephquinn give it back, robber
mayahawke im sorry, who did you play? i don't think i know you from set
⤷yourinstagram maya, eddie cut his hair
⤷mayahawke oh! right, those puppy eyes seem familiar
sadiesink 🎸
yourinstagram okay, guys. let's stop bullying joe. he's pouting on the couch
⤷ josephquinn i'm not pouting!
⤷ ynsmybestie well, yn's story is telling something different
ynupdates he's so fine
ynsmymama what a pretty man you are, mr quinn
ynshands can we talk about how they were constantly looking at each other while being on teh carpet??? the winks? smirks? they're so in love
⤷harryupdates im so anxious because we said the same about h
⤷ynshands well, let's not talk about him. joe's the man now
⤷ harryupdates well, he just liked this post...
⤷ ynshands WHAT?!
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twitter
yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 5h
okay, so... harry's house is out and i have some thoughts. im no youtuber so i didn't make a video (my phone has a broken camera, soo) but i cannot keep it to myself. i found some nice connections and im doing a thread of it here, enjoy babes (1)
10k comments 💬 67k shares 🔃 126k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 5h
music for a sushi restaurant: soo, yns hot enough to cook an egg on her, that's for sure. she loves bubblegum, especially blue! they were seen together numerous times at the sushi restaurants (2)
2k comments 💬 65k shares 🔃 125k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 5h
late night talking: yn said she broke her camera one awful day. harry posted a story of broken lenses and a box of chocolates (yns favourites!) also late night talking was yns caption to her IG story containing a screenshot from her facetime with harry (3)
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 5h
grapejuice: so yn was so perfect for him, he said that in one of the interviews after releasing fine line. they spent a lot of time in Italy, drank wine, harry was seen buying yn flowers EVERY DAY, but now he just drinks wine - its all that is left. and he is NOT drinking dom perignon but the wine from 1982 which is the one yn was drinking with joe (her new year ig post) (4)
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 4h
as it was: well, let's face it. it's not about yn. it's olivias song. that's it babes (maybe its a stunt song or whatever, dont know.) the promotion for this song says it all. he didnteven make a post about it, just a comment. (5)
3k comments 💬 62k shares 🔃 122k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 4h
daylight: so I don't think yn was doing cocaine but maybeee. i know for sure that bluebird is yn's favourite poem by charles bukowski (harrys fav writer). they were seen doing a race on bicycles. and there is a reference to adore you: ANTIDOTE that we know is about yn. its a love song, definitely. (6)
3,2k comments 💬 65,2k shares 🔃 124,9k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 4h
little freak: harry spilled beer on timothee during one of the little women cast parties, and definitely wasn't sorry (jealous son of a bitch). yn loves yoga, and has a body of a goddess! side note: i think its a beautiful song of what harry WANTS to think but definitely IS NOT doing (liking all her and Joe's pictures, stalking fanaccounts, and so on) and a statement that even though he's in a new relationship he still thinks of the old one, of yn :((( (7)
5,2k comments 💬 66,9k shares 🔃 126,2k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 4h
matilda: yn put that film on her 'ten films I cannot live without' list, saying it describes what she went through during her childhood (poor baby😞) and harry used her experience to write a song without telling her - he admitted that during his latest interview (8)
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 3h
cinema: I mean???? you can argue all you want, but yn is THE director and olivia is actress/director. the song just suits yn better in my opinion. just pure filth is this song, pure filth. dirty man. (9)
11k comments 💬 61,9k shares 🔃 132,7k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 3h
daydreaming: there is no hard proof. yn apparently said 'baby, loving you is a real thing' during her speech at the oscars after party. (10)
1,8k comments 💬 58k shares 🔃 123k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 3h
keep driving: song about basically: should we still be together? connections? black and white film camera was harry's present for yn on their first anniversary. yellow sunglasses - yns iconic look in italy. the breakfast order - yns go to order while eating breakfast out of home. riot America- the attended multiple protests across america. kiss her and don't tells - they hid their relationship for months. choke her with a sea view - that one story from the yacht 🔥 (11)
16,5k comments 💬 65,9k shares 🔃 131,8k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 3h
satellite: song after the breakup. yns got a new life with joe. Hard to explain but it just a song about harry bothering yn while she's being - in harrys opinion - sAd in her relationship with joe, he's waiting for her move. i beg someone to do a BIG break down of this song, it's just a heartbreak anthem. (12)
8,6k comments 💬 66,8k shares 🔃 132,6k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 3h
boyfriends: what can I say? harrys just calling himself out. he was seen out at the pubs drunk. just a perfect song for saying 'hi, im the problem. its me, im the problem' (13)
3,2k comments 💬 61,5k shares 🔃 124,3k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 2h
love of my life: jonny is one of yn's best friends from university, yn and harry spent a week in his house to get out of all the news that had been spread about them. he admits to not knowing yn enough - it was present in the interviews he did (not knowing her favourite films or composers) (14)
4,3k comments 💬 57k shares 🔃 130,3k likes❤️
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yn and joe r my parents @ianornotbabe 2h
didn't know it was going to blow up like it did. im glad you guys liked this piece of veery shallow breakdown. its a beautiful album, grammies are waiting for this man. and i hope we'll get some answers in the future. byeeee x
4,7k comments 💬 23k shares 🔃 109k likes❤️
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harrysbtch @iheartharryandyn
bestie, this thread is a masterpiece. all the connections you've made?? couldn't do it better
788 comments 💬 2,8k shares 🔃 15k likes❤️
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harryupdates @dailydoseofharryy
i really don't know what to think about this album. there's so many songs about yn. it's cool to see him putting it out, his thoughts and feelings. but also with yn being in a relationship and having these much written about her??? i don't know if i would feel comfortable
5,1k comments 💬 13kshares 🔃 37k likes❤️
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ynupdates @dailydoseofyn
@harryupdatess harry's an artist so it was predictable that he would wrote about the experience during and after his relationship with yn. i hope it won't disturb yn an joe's relationship, they look so happy together
345 comments 💬 4,3k shares 🔃 21k likes❤️
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joeandynfann @dailydoseofjoeandyn
and here we got yn and joe being unbothered queen and king, ignoring trending on twitter and being the cause of breaking IG and twitter for some time - yn's IG story
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54k comments 💬 127k shares 🔃 316k likes❤️
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instagram
celebrityupdates and enews
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♥️ 💬 ➤
liked by harrysmoustache, oliviashat and 173 098 others
celebrityupdates Harry Styles (28) and Joseph Quinn (29) are YN YSN's (25) respectfully past and present boyfriend. From what we know the breakup was rather ugly but now? It doesn't seem like it. On the photos you can see Harry and Joe wearing the suits from Harry's newest Gucci line HA HA HA. Is that the promotion? Or it's just another stunt relationship in the industry? Or perhaps Harry Lambert (Styles' designer and friend, as well as YN's friend) found a way to promote the fashion line he's a part of? Read more in our newest article, link in our bio.
view all 81 018 comments
enews pinned! 'Harry in his latest interview let people know that one of his favourite books is Mans Search For Meaning by Victor E. Frankl. Book that YN was recommending to Joe Quinn.'
enews pinned! 'Joe Quinn played Eddie Munson in one of the Netflix hit shows, Stranger Things. In the last episode he was playing Master Of Puppets by Metallica. The said song was taught to him by Styles' friend and bandmate, Mitch Rowland. Our source said that it caused an argument between Harry, Mitch and YN. Harry apparently was furious that his friend was still in contact with his ex girlfriend and her new best friend (at that time YN and Joe weren't together yet).'
ynupdates the suits situation is messy. i can't imagine joseph being super excited about wearing his girlfriend ex's design. it's just weird...
⤷ harryupdates expecially that Joe was super happy about wearing Gucci, and the patch on Joe's sleeve doesn't have the HA HA HA logo. maybe it's just a similar design?
⤷thejoequinnupdates joe was wearing the suit before the clothes from HA HA HA collection were being sent to their ambassadors. imo it's an early lambert's design for HA HA HA. and because yn is his friend as well he did the suit for Joe. then Harry used it for the HA HA HA. promo at its best. HA HA HA is trending and the online store has no products available. Harry played it well.
⤷ ynupdates if that's true then i feel sorry for yn, really sorry. her ex is using her current boyfriend for promo which is sick and twisted. man just move on.
ynshands we thought harry moved on while still being in a relationship with yn but we were wrong. that bitch is still in love with her...
⤷ ynsmybestie can you blame him?
⤷ ynshands bestie, im so in love with her that it's unhealthy, something close to what harry's doing tbh 💀
hArrysbtch hes a simp 😭 woah
user618 those celebrities will do anything for fame smh
user917 that's ... toxic
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text messages between YN and Harry Lambert
hrr lmbrt
hiii! i have some new suits for you and joe to try before your new movie premiere. when are you two free??
yn🐐
when did you plan to tell me you're going to dress him in the same thing as joe?
hrr lmbrt
it's not exactly the same suit, yn. joe had the cotton one and harry had a cotton+silk one. the print is also different.
yn🐐
people on the internet don't know that, lamby. they are sure joe is somehow connected to your new clothing line. they're making a lot off buzz around it.
hrry lmbrt
yn, you know how it works...
yn🐐
was he the one to propose it or was it jeff?
hrr lmbrt
i don't know, babe. got the information from above.
yn🐐
don't bullshit me, harry. you said you want to stay friends despite all the things that happened between him and I. act like a friend then, please.
hrr lmbrt
jeff's idea but harry wasn't really opposed to it
but please don't do anything you'll regret.
yn🐐
i already lost one relationship because of him. I'm not going to lose another one. I won't let him destroy my happiness again. I truly care about joe, lamby
hrr lmbrt
maybe go a little easy on harry. he's not doing well.
yn🐐
it was nice catching up, lamby. if the suits aren't or won't be part of that collections then we're free on friday.
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text messages between YN and Jeff
yn ysn
next time you plan to get under my skin use me or my name, stay away from people I love, Jeff. your way of promoting him is getting out of hand.
jeffrey
hello yn, nice hearing from you. I see you saw the suit Harry was wearing. such a nice piece of clothing, wasn't it?
yn ysn
this is the last time you're hearing from me jeff. next time it's going to be Ronnie and eventually my lawyers. your ways are too invasive for my liking. you used my name and my relationship for years, i think that's enough. stay away from Joseph, he has nothing to do with you or him.
jeffrey
I don't understand why are you so dramatic about it? it's just a suit. it's not like only we got benefit from it. your and your boy's things got promotion as well.
yn ysn
it's not just a suit. you control him well, we both know that. you can prevent him from doing what he's doing. it's unhealthy.
also, i don't need promotion like that, never did. you just think that ploting behind people's backs is the best solution. it's not.
goodbye, Jeff. like I said next time you're invading my or my partner's life you'll hear from our lawyers.
jeffrey
can't wait, yn.
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text messages between YN and Joe
yn🫀
hi, baby. i contacted lamby and jeffrey. i hope it will do the job, if not Ronnie is ready to contact them himself.
joe🎸
hello, lovie. how are you feeling?
yn🫀
to be completely honest? bad. i hate confronting people but they crossed the line. they could use my name all they want but they decided to use you and you have nothing to do with it, nothing.
joe🎸
well, im your boyfriend, that's probably enough.
yn🫀
it shouldn't be, we talked about it.
at least lamby said it was jeff's idea, just like i had thought.
enough of that, where are you coming home? i made pasta
joe🎸
im like 15 minutes away, lovie. i love you and see you soon, we'll talk about it more after the nice bath, what do you think, hmm?
yn🫀
i love you! im getting the bath bombs ready 🛀
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yourinstagram
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♥️ 💬 ➤
liked by josephquinn, tchalmet, florencepugh, harrystyles, taylorswift, ronniecoleman and 18 917 716 others
yourinstagram it was an honour to direct and star in a film like 'bones and all' is. it was also a challenge, I never thought I would take, and here i am in the film with one of the best actor out here. thank you to our whole team working on this film. thank you tchalamet, my best friend. thank you josephquinn, my love for all the tips and support and love and patience. see you in theatres, i'll be there 🦴
ps. don't ask me the colour of anything
view all 471 819 comments
tchalamet the best director and the best actress out there! what you did with and in this film is extraordinary, yn! you are the true artist. it's an honour working with you. ❤️
⤷ yourinstagram you're making me cry, timmy 🤧
florencepugh ACTRESS AND DIRECTOR many tried, just a few succeeded. yourinstagram did. such a beautiful film, such a beautiful performance by timmy and yn. love you both so so so much 💗
yourinstagram, tchalemet and 176 918 others liked this comment
josephquinn that's my girlfriend! and her sidekick ☠️
⤷ ynshands how is joe so effortlessly funny?
⤷ ynsmybestie right? jealous but funny and hot 🔥
taylorswift i already bought tickets. so proud of you all!
annetwist ❤️
ynupdates yn acting????? im so confused. i bet its a masterpiece if she had so much do do with this film
hArrysbtch timothee's shade on harry, olivia and all of that? he's fucking the best
ynsmybestie timothee finally got to kiss yn, he must be delighted
tchalemet and 41 716 others liked this comment
⤷ ynshands he's so happy 😭
⤷ joemyman joe is probably fuming 💀
⤷ harrysmoustache im sorry, WHAT?
⤷ ynsmybestie check twitter, its all over it. someone videoed a scene during the first screening of the film. they are kissing kissing 👅
harryupdates congratulations you two! its going to be oscar worthy for sure
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yourinstagram
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♥️ 💬 ➤
liked by josephquinn, tchalamet, taylorswift, florencepugh, sadiesink, annetwist and 20 172 617 others
yourinstagram three years of knowing you. one year of loving you. thank you for being with me in my lowest and my highest moments. you are my person. ❤️
view all 716 929 comments
josephquinn thank you for loving me, sweetness. i love you.
florencepugh shootout to the best couple i know
tchalamet the most beautiful couple out there
taylorswift i am writing a song about you two, there's no way
annetwist happy anniversary! ❤️
sadiesink it really is your year, eddie - i mean joseph 🎸
ynupdates sleeping on a highway tonight, thanks a lot
joemyman what a sweet, sweet couple. happy anniversary!
ynshands you beauties
harrysmoustache well, harry didn't like this one
⤷ harryupdates he did but unliked it after a few minutes
hArrysbtch i love love love
446 notes · View notes
I read Clementine Book Two so that you didn't have to: an in-depth review from a fan of the Telltale games.
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Rating: 2.5/5
Spoiler free review: While better than Book One, it’s still not great.
“When is it safe to fall in love? After another brush with death, Clementine and her new friends are rescued by an island community led by an enigmatic doctor named Miss Morro. But, just as Clementine’s scars are finally beginning to heal, the safety of the island is called into question and Olivia reveals a shocking secret. With her world falling apart, Clementine must choose—keep running… or dig in and fight?”
Some things are improved with Book Two, and some things are worse.
The art style looks nicer, particularly with the establishing shots and environments. It’s cleaner without losing the grunge that comes with a post-apocalypse. The characters look better, even though they still sometimes have potato heads. Once again I wish this was done in color because I know how great Tillie Walden is with her coloring, but this is the walking dead and color would be too hopeful, I guess.
The pacing is better, but still not good. I had an issue with pacing in Book One where it dragged, then it gave me whiplash in the last few chapters. It was all over the place. This feels smoother, yet it’s the same issue as before: chapter seven feels like whiplash as everything spirals, then we go into a slower ending.
The dialogue is still awkward in a lot of areas; sometimes it tries to be whimsical, which is something prominent in Tillie Walden’s other works where it lands, but here in this setting it feels cheesy and unnatural.
There are a lot of flaws with Clementine’s writing, though, but that’s a given when you’ve played the games. If you haven’t and you don’t have context for her established character there, then I think this will feel like a natural progression from Book One.
The new cast is likable, but I have a few issues with Miss Morro’s role in the story. Olivia gets some much-needed development, but not all of it necessarily for the best.
The romance between Clementine and Ricca progresses, taking up more of the spotlight than it did in Book One. I went into Book Two with an open mind about clemricca. I can set aside my bias for clouis, I can tuck violentine, gabentine, and any other Clementine ship away to give clemricca a chance to show me it’s a good relationship. Except I don’t think it is. I have a lot of problems with it.
As for the actual plot, I enjoyed the island setting and the community, but it feels like a massively missed opportunity. The ending is… a lot.
My full detailed review is below. I give a quick recap of Book One and spoil everything for Book Two.
A Quick Recap of Book One
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You can read my full review of Book One here, but to summarize:
Clementine left Ericson because she was unhappy. She felt like a liability to the group, so she’s traveling on her own when she comes across a group of Amish survivors. While there, a doctor treats her leg and gives her a new prosthetic, as well as some other supplies. Out on the road again, she meets Amos, an Amish boy set out on his Rumspringa to help build houses in the mountain in exchange for a ride in a plane.
Clementine and Amos become buddies by the time they make it to the mountain. There they encounter the twins, Georgia and Olivia, and Ricca, another survivor looking to help with this building project. Clementine decides to stay and help, too, since she’s untrusting of the twins and wants to look after Amos. They build in terrible, snowy conditions. Clementine, Amos, and Ricca form a little friend group all while Amos and Olivia grow close… apparently, it’s barely a thing but it’s important to know.
Clementine and Ricca also grow pretty close. Ricca confides in Clementine that her vision is worsening, and she fears she may not find another pair of glasses that work for her. She has some past trauma with her sight given her brother broke her glasses so that she had no choice but to rely on him, and once she found a new pair, abandoned him to set off on her own.
When Ricca falls into a pit on a trip to get a generator, Clementine reveals that she named her new leg Kenny. Ricca climbs up out of the pit and promises to look for help, but Clementine decides to explore and gets surrounded by walkers. Luckily, she’s saved by a man named Tim, who gets bitten. Tim gives her some encouragement about building a better world, and she leaves before he can turn.
Georgia and Olivia get into a fight, but everything else seems well and good: they got the lift working with the generator, and Olivia tells Clementine that she plans to leave with Amos. But then Georgia pushes Amos off a cliff, and then tries to kill Clementine and Ricca.
From there, everything goes to shit and they manage to overpower Georgia. With her and Amos gone, that leaves Clementine, Ricca, and Olivia as the survivors. They go back to Olivia’s place and it’s revealed that her mom was actually a walker this entire time and building the houses was pretty pointless. Good thing Olivia knows how to fly a plane, though—the three escape via plane. That leads us into Book Two.
The Plot: I'm on an island of grief, surrounded by an ocean of disappointment
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Before I dive into individual characters, the romance, and other thoughts, I want to go over everything that actually happens in this book.
We pick up only weeks after the events of Book One; Clementine, Ricca, Olivia, and their cat, Dr Barnwell, survive crashing the plane they took... somehow. From what I can tell, there were no injuries due to that so props to Olivia for not only knowing how to fly a plane, but crash land it good enough to not die.
They've landed somewhere in Canada, which is where Ricca's originally from. The three girls and their cat are on what looks to be a roof, talking about how they need to get to the coast since Clementine feels they're getting closer to something. Then we get the first inklings of romance in the air with Clementine being a little optimistic, and Olivia telling Ricca it's because of her.
This leads into the section of pages that was teased prior to release. They're going over their multiplications when they see a rabbit. Ricca chases after it because of course you want to send the person with the worst eyesight to catch dinner, but I suppose if she didn't go, then Clementine and Olivia couldn't talk about how not okay Olivia is.
Which makes sense; her twin sister, Georgia, murdered Amos, her... boyfriend? Honestly I don't know if we can even call him that, the Amos and Olivia "relationship" in Book One was underdeveloped and practically non-existent... yet it has great consequences that we'll get into... oh boy, will we get into it, ugh.
But Olivia's feeling like the screw up of the group; she's worried that she'll ruin Clementine's plans; "I'm bad luck. I'll... just hold you two back." / "Georgia and Amos are dead. I keep waiting for them to be next to me when I wake up, but every morning they're not there. There's no place in the world that will make that feel okay."
Clementine has no time to comfort her as Ricca's lost the rabbit to a herd of walkers that chases them into this little shack. They grab a walker and begin smearing its guts all over themselves.
The manage to escape. It's raining as they try surviving off dandelions and acorns, and they're out of willow bark, which is the stuff Rabby gave Clementine in Book One to help with pain. "Kenny" has felt so uncomfortable since the plane ride, and I've been uncomfortable ever since Clementine decided to name her prosthetic after Kenny, of all people.
But never mind that, it's time for Clementine and Ricca to share a moment in the rain. On top of her leg hurting and Olivia struggling, Ricca's eyesight is getting worse.
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And then Olivia gets grabbed by a couple of men. They demand that Clementine and Ricca drop their weapons, and Olivia asks them to not hand over the hatchet since it belonged to Tim... this is the last mention we ever get of Tim.
And they get away from them super easily.
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These men never come back and have zero impact on the story.
Our three protagonists take refuge in an abandoned home where we see them bandaging their wounds. And this is where cheesy dialogue that might sound better in another work sounds less great here:
Ricca: Why is every day so hard? Clementine: It won't be like this forever. Ricca: The world might not give us a choice, Clem. Clementine: Then I'll change the world.
...Right. Also, take note that Clementine and Ricca's hands are touching. The build up of the romance isn't terrible, honestly... I just wish the actual couple wasn't Clementine and Ricca, but I'll get more into that later.
They're getting closer to the ocean when they hear other survivors above them... and just like that, Clementine's feverish. She can't get up from the ground, her leg looks terrible, and she starts blacking out. It's jarring how out of nowhere she's suddenly in terrible condition. I think we're to assume that the lack of rest, being stuck in the rain, and being covered in walker guts made her condition decline, but when you realize just how bad it is... it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Ricca and Olivia do their best to carry her. Ricca begins singing a Jewish song about angels, and they make it to the beach. There's a boat in the distance that they have to flag down if there's any hope in Clementine surviving.
This is very dumb on their part. Olivia just runs into the ocean screaming, Ricca goes to help, and they leave Clementine on the beach with the cat... bad idea.
And we get our first dream sequence.
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When I said I wanted Amos back, I meant that I wanted a big reveal that he survived the fall and was back for revenge, but nope! In Book One, we had Lee showing up in these bits, but he doesn't make any appearance in this book. Neither does AJ.
My extreme disappointment aside, Ricca and Olivia scream at the boat for help. But the waves are strong, and Clementine ends up swept into the ocean... dreadful sorry, Clementine. Who could've seen this coming?
Don't fear, though, she gets grabbed and pulled into the boat... and we fast forward to a month later. Yes, really.
Clementine wakes up in a new room, a comfortable bed, with a lovely view of the cliffside and ocean. She's been in a coma for a month... a month! Olivia's been feeding her and changing her bedsheets the entire time which... I don't think that's how that works?? You can't just spoon feed someone who is in a coma? You need feeding tubes? Which she wasn't connected to any! And with the way Morro explains her condition later, by all accounts, Clementine should be dead!
But why did she black out and fall into a coma, you ask? Her leg had a massive infection. I guess she wasn't cleaning it properly.
Whatever, Clementine still maintains her protagonist powers, so she's awake and well. Suspension of disbelief, y'know.
They're in this place that isn't actually given a name. It's made up of five little islands that almost connect, but they only use one. They farm, compost, build; every week there's a list of chores that everyone signs up for, they all have their own little houses and areas. They don't have to worry about walkers too much, other than when they wash up on shore from the water. It's a pretty damn nice set up... sure hope nothing bad happens to it.
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Olivia's happy to see Clementine when she wakes, but they can't get Kenny back on. Clementine's rolled out of the house in a wheelchair to go to a birthday party. At this party, Clementine and Ricca reunite with a hug, and we're introduced to our new group of eight survivors:
Emi - She picked Clementine, Ricca, and Olivia up in her boat as she's the only one not afraid to go out on the water and fish. John - Morro's son. He does a lot of work on the island, like building walls and taking care of the cow. Amir - A young boy who lost his arm when he was bitten by a dog and his father didn't believe him. Shu-Fen - but they mostly call her Fen. She's quiet and keeps to herself. Ginette and Giles - a old, married couple who only speak French. Mercy - a young girl that Ginette and Giles take care of. Morro - she's not at the party, but at this point we learn she's in charge of things around here. Also, she's a doctor.
It's a lot of characters thrown at you all at once, but they're fairly easy to pick apart and remember. Definitely easier than trying to keep track of Georgia and Olivia in Book One.
So, what's the deal with this birthday party? Not everyone in this group could remember their real birthdays, so they decided to make one new birthday for everyone. There's cake, games, little party hats, all around good time.
But Clementine's not convinced. She's uncomfortable, she's asking a lot of questions, and this is where we start to see some tension between her and Ricca.
Y'see, Ricca really likes this place, and wants to settle here. Remember, while Clementine was in her coma, she and Olivia have lived here; they've already settled in nicely. They live in the house that's on the highest cliff and is deemed quite safe.
But Clementine is naturally suspicious of everything and is looking for something to be wrong, like that there's only one boat- one escape. This is an ongoing thing where Ricca wants to act like everything is fine, everything is safe, this is what they were looking for to begin with... and Clementine doesn't want to ignore any possible red flags; "Everything is fine until it isn't."
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Clementine can't sleep and takes her wheel chair outside for some fresh air, and there she meets Miss Anne Morro. It's actually a well done interaction where we see these two poke and prod at each other the way two strong, leader-like personalities would butt heads. It's also just a little... unsettling. Morro's got that vibe, y'know?
We learn that Morro used to be a pathologist who performed autopsies, but she knows enough to help the living. She says she surprised that Clementine survived given she was nearly septic and she didn't have much in meds... if Clementine was nearly septic and in a coma, she should be dead but it's fine. She just really wanted to survive, I guess. That's what Morro believes it was; "You must've really wanted to stick around." / "You held on like some one with unfinished work."
Morro asks Clementine if she's going to stay as a lot of resources went into keeping her alive, and Clementine points out that was Morro's choice; "Don't pin your regrets on me."
Morro tells her that, while trustworthy, Ricca and Olivia are depressed, and insinuates that Clementine probably is, as well.
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Morro smirks, and tell Clementine she'll be expected to work, and that work is everything before leaving Clementine to watch the sunrise alone.
We then get another time skip. Amir shows up on his bike to tell the girls that walkers breached the wall at Borgot. The three of them agree to go help, but they've all got issues; Clementine's been off her feet for weeks and Kenny's not fitting right, Ricca's vision isn't great and it being so gray and rainy doesn't help, and Olivia's been throwing up all week. But it's fine.
They get down there and meet up with Fen, who is surprised Clementine's there to help. Clementine snaps at her that she's been dealing with this shit just as long as she has and can handle a few walkers. She's just gotta get her sock that Ginette's knitted for her first. Ginette also gives her a new hat, the one we see her wearing on the cover of this book.
There are a lot of walkers by the time Clementine gets there. Ricca can't see anything, so Clementine tells her to go to safety... and I want you to really keep in mind how much this book tries to hammer in that Ricca can't see, okay?
Once the walkers are dealt with, we learn from Emi that all of the walker bodies are dragged to Morro so she can "deal with them." Emi thinks it's a waste of time given she's the one who provides the food for everyone, I'm sure it's annoying for her to know what Morro does. John and Fen are too busy helping Morro to help gut fish, so Clementine volunteers Olivia to help with that.
Clementine goes to find Ricca in this little shed where she's working on a project. Clementine tries to comfort her, but Ricca says she just needs to wallow for a little bit and clear her head while she works. She won't let Clementine see what she's working on.
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Clementine asks Ricca to meet her on the docks at sundown, and I'm forced to roll my eyes because the miscommunication is exactly what you think it is; Ricca assumes this is a date, but really, Clementine wants to check out Morro's place to see what she does with the dead.
We get Amir's backstory behind his amputated arm: He got bit by a dog, but his father thought it was a walker bite and he was too little to stop him. His father drowned right before this boat crashed on the island. He and Clementine has some cute banter about how she grew taller and waited for her stump to grow, too.
Then we get to know Fen a little bit more- She's originally from Taiwan, but her family was on vacation here with the apocalypse hit, and she's been trying to piece together a world map so she can make it back home. Emi's helping her build a boat but she's still unsure. The map's... well, it's inaccurate.
That night, Ricca and Clementine meet up. Ricca's clearly cleaned up for a date and expresses her disappointment when it's an investigation instead... Clementine's oblivious to this. Truthfully, I feel sorry for Ricca here. I mean, it always sucks when you're excited for something, like a date, only to show up and oh... it's not what you wanted.
Emi comes to pick them up in her boat, and Ricca asks Clementine what it's going to take to convince her that they could be okay here.
But here's Clementine's concern- She's liking the island, but not enough to settle yet. Ricca's eyesight is bad, her prosthetic isn't great. Olivia's depressed. What if there's more out there for them, like an eye doctor or schools? Something even safer?
Ricca isn't satisfied with that answer. In fact, she's kind of hurt with the way Clementine said, "I don't want us to miss out, make the wrong choice."
They go to Morro's place, who is annoyed at being interrupted and tells Clementine her suspicion is tiresome. Turns out Morro's just doing autopsies on the dead. Doesn't matter how degraded they are, she examines each one, takes note of defining details, items on their person, etc. They're assigned a number and buried. It's a lot of work that Clementine questions.
Clementine: Why? Why spend all this energy on them? Morro: They are people. They deserve to be remembered. Clementine: They deserve to be thrown back in the sea. Each of these "people" has maimed and killed who knows how many others... Morro: And? Clementine: And!? In case you hadn't noticed, that corpse and ALL the others are the reason our parents are dead and the world is a pile of garbage. Morro: On this young man I found a medical bracelet. He was allergic to penicillin. I also found a ring in his pocket. Older style. Perhaps it belongs to his mother. His first death was a bad one. Burns, from what I can tell. Anywhere else, he'd decompose and disappear. But instead he washed up here. Kind of like you and your friends.
...okay, we're doing this, I guess. I don't think I need to say that TFS did it better with James and his viewpoint on walkers; how it was deep rooted in his trauma from time with the whisperers, and was meant to make the player think about what actually happens when you become a walker... Are you truly gone? or is there still a piece of you inside that walker? And it showed how far James was willing to go for his fucked up vision of "peace," but it made sense with his character.
This is meant to show how Morro is older, doing autopsies used to be her job, and so she has a different view on the dead. Clementine, however, was raised in this world and has no other view outside of "they're monsters."
But here's the deal, I don't believe Morro's intentions are purely about doing what's "right" for these people. It's about ignoring the real problems on the island and trying to make herself feel like a better person... which I don't think she is. I mean, did'ja see that final jab at Clem? Morro's kind of a passive aggressive ass, and believe me, it's going to get worse.
But Emi shoos them out, and they meet up with John, who is also working this late at night. Ricca steps away from the group and asks Clementine what's out there since everything's fuzzy. It's the graves where all the walkers are buried. Ricca admits there's something off about Morro, and that maybe she's missing something about this place. Maybe it's not safe, but she's scared to start over again, scared of waiting for Clementine to figure out what's wrong and they'll have to leave.
Then Clementine tells her they can stay.
...what?
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When I say that I think Clementine's a little fickle with Ricca, this is what I mean. She's watching everything on this island like a hawk, looking for something to be wrong, worried that there might be something better out there... and then she does a 180 like "Okay, we can stay. Didn't realize this was wearing on you."
But that stance isn't going to stay the same! She goes back and forth on things, then we get this:
Ricca: You can still surprise me, Clem. Clementine: I'm sorry that it took me a while. That I made you wait. Ricca: Oh, come on. You know I'll wait for you. Clementine: I know you will.
Put a pin in that exchange; it's important and makes me upsetti spagetti.
Speaking of upset, by now we're at Chapter Four... this chapter makes me unhappy for so many reasons.
The group is waiting for dinner, and we see Clementine's learned how to knit. Amir comes in and tells everyone that the boat is at the beach but Emi and Olivia are no where to be found. He looked everywhere for them but it's so foggy that he couldn't find them. Something's wrong, but Morro is weirdly against sending out a search party... and we see the way she treats her son.
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Uhm, first of all, rude. Second, it's gonna get worse.
The group goes searching. Clementine and John talk about Morro, and he says that she's only a jerk to him. She wasn't always that way, but after his sister's bite, she changed.
His sister, Sarah, snuck out one night and came back with a tiny bite. This was back when they didn't know what that meant, so Morro bandaged it up and they went to bed... only for her to turn and eat nearly everyone: his dad, his other sister, Fen's parents... but Morro was able to save him and Fen. And even though all of that happened, they still live in the inn because Morro told them they need to face it.
How funny given Morro doesn't want to face certain things later.
Then Clementine guesses why she does autopsies on the walkers: if Morro looks at each one, then she'll never miss another bite.
That makes no sense.
They're already dead. It doesn't matter if they're bitten. Pi and I were talking about this the other night; wouldn't it make more sense for Morro to be obsessed with checking the living for bites? Every night, they're to report to her office so she can examine them for any bite before they're allowed to go? Who gives a shit if a walker has a bite? What's that going to do for you? Everyone else on the island wants to burn the dead and not waste that much time, but Morro just doesn't listen.
Again, this is why I don't believe her intentions with it are pure. Morro made a mistake that wasn't even her fault, and she lost most of her family because of it. That's traumatic, and this is probably her way of working through that, of "atoning," but she's neglecting the living because of it.
Also, she treats her only living son like shit, so honestly? Fuck her. John doesn't deserve it. I'm team John, he's chill.
He then goes on to explain the backlog of walkers behind the graveyard.
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...an entire community of walkers backlogged, you say? And Morro keeps putting them off? I'm sure that won't be the downfall of this group, Anne.
John and Clementine eventually find Emi and Olivia in the lighthouse. They go there to chill after fishing, and Olivia's upstairs getting some air. Clementine rushes up there and we get the first big twist. Are you ready? I bet you're not.
Olivia tells Clementine she got bit.
Except she didn't.
Olivia: I got bit. It's over. Clementine: What? You- show me, Olivia! Where? I'll cut it out! Olivia: I don't know what happened! Clementine: Where!? We have to hurry! Olivia: You can't cut it out, it's inside! I'm starting to turn already, I feel it! Clementine: It's... inside? Olivia: Something moved in me, it's the start of it. I'm becoming one of them. You know, I really liked being alive. Clementine: Olivia, show me where it moved. Olivia, clutching her stomach: Here. Clementine, sobbing and hugging Olivia: Okay, okay, don't worry... it's not a bite.
I... have so many feelings about this.
Just in case you don't get it, Olivia's pregnant. With a baby. And she thought it was a bite.
Remember how I said Amos and Olivia's "relationship" was important? Apparently they had sex in Book One and now she's pregnant. With a baby.
But... why?
I will tear into this more in Olivia's section, but know that I am unhappy. And so is Clementine. She goes off by herself, climbs a hill to overlook the backlog of walkers and just starts screaming at them.
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....she says as if this is a new concept to her?
And y'know... given she already raised a baby- you remember Alvin Junior, yes? AJ? Yeah, the kid she left at Ericson? That one, she raised him from when he was a baby, so you'd think she'd bring that up in all this anguish.... but she doesn't. Which is bizarre. This paired with the fact that there are no mentions of Lee makes me think we're moving farther and farther away from the games, trying to establish this as its own thing. Which is fine for those who haven't played the games, but it's a glaring issue for those who have.
Anyway... dream sequence. This time Clementine and Ricca are on a boat that has a bed. It's snowing, Ricca tells her to come sleep, but there's a walker in the bed. It's so... honestly, the only way I can describe the imagery is it's so Tillie Walden, and that's a positive thing, that's a compliment.
The next morning, Olivia doesn't want to talk about her pregnancy. She's going down the "la la la I'm not ignoring this except I totally am la la la I'm going fishing" route, and storms out. Clementine tells Ricca about it, we learn Ricca tracks their periods, and Clementine asks if you don't have a period when you're pregnant... I think Kate must've missed that bit of info when she was giving her the talk in ANF.
Clementine mentions she saw a baby born but blocked it out because it was so scary... either she's talking about Christa, or Rebecca. Christa's the only one we know she was there for since for Rebecca's, she could either help Kenny or help the group, but she wasn't actually there for the birthing process... she was likely watching Sarah get eaten alive, assuming she lived that long.
But that's not important because Ricca's upset again.
Ricca: Do you regret all this? Staying? Clementine: No! No. We'd have problems like this anywhere. It's more that... I've been distracted. I know we've been, like, um... and I want to do stuff, but I need to make it safe first. Once everything is safe, then we can, um... Does that...? Ricca: Oh. Clementine: Ric? Ricca: I think Olivia had the right idea. I'm gonna go. Clementine: Ricca, I didn't mean- Ricca: You did mean it. Go fight your battles. They'll keep you company. Clementine: I- [interrupted by Ricca slamming the door]
What the fuck, Ricca?
I'll be honest, the first time I read this, I had to reread it, like, ten times because I didn't understand why Ricca was so pissed. But just wait, we'll get it to. I keep saying that, but I need you to trust me on this.
So Ricca storms out because reasons, and Clementine goes to talk to Morro about the backlog of walkers. Morro doesn't want to deal with the walkers right now, even though she knows they have to be dealt with eventually. She believes there are more important things that need done first; "Summer is precious here. There's grain to harvest, fish to cure, wood to store. If this isn't done, winter will end us. On top of that, we're behind on herb collection. We're behind on the sea walls. We're behind on laundry."
Gee, I bet y'all wouldn't be so behind if you spent less time on autopsies and more time helping out, Anne.
But Clementine's not having any of it, nor should she.
She knows there's no secure way to hold walkers, and can't wrap her head around how adults can read, write, and know so much that she doesn't and yet still not grasp the way this world works now. So, she'll take care of it.
What could possibly go wrong?
Clementine recruits John and Fen to help her build a tunnel with a door that'll let them control how many walks come out, that way they can deal with them slowly but surely. John's pumped about getting to help so that he can show his mom that he's not a screw up. Some time passes, they build the tunnel, and Morro tells Clementine to be careful that she doesn't lose herself in her work.
This book's definitely making Clementine and Morro character foils, which I like.
On the beach, Clementine and Olivia show just how much they know about pregnancy and their bodies... as in very little. Morro told her "some wild stuff" about the cervix and uterus, and then Olivia's like "she kept asking me about my last period, and I was like, um, why?" She doesn't even know why her period is important! This sweet summer child! How did she and Amos even figure out how sex worked!?
It really showcases how young Olivia is, though. Apparently the baby will be here in about four or five months. It's so... casual? I don't think the whole group knows, but Morro and Emi do and no one is like... "hey, there's gonna be a baby, we should probably prepare for that."
I guess we don't have time for that, though, because we have more clemricca drama to deal with.
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Deep breath... okay. It's raining. Clementine's in her wheelchair. She goes to the little shed Ricca's used for her secret project. She won't let her in, by the way, even though it's pouring and they're both getting drenched. This is the conversation:
Clementine: I, um... Ricca: What? Clementine: I don't want you to think that anything is more important to me than you. Ricca: That's kind of how you made it sound. Clementine: What I meant to say was that I want this island safe for us. We can't do anything if we're dead. Ricca: What do you mean "do?" Kiss? Date? Talk about how we actually feel? The dead decide when that can happen!? Clementine: ... Ricca: I love you. And I'm pretty sure you love me, too. But you're not making me feel loved. You're making me feel like you just want to protect me or... Clementine: But I do want to protect you. It's all I think about. Every minute of every day. Ricca: I don't need saving, Clem. I need you to love me. And I need it to be always. It can't start and stop. Clementine: ... I... Ricca: Oh my god, maybe this has all been in my head-- Clementine: Ricca-- Ricca: I get it, okay? Clementine: If I let... if I let myself... Ricca: Forget this. Clementine: You said you would wait for me! Ricca: That's not fair. You want me to wait for the impossible!? Clementine: No, I-- Ricca: I'm done, Clem. Clementine: Ricca, don't go in yet, please, we can talk more-- Ricca, going back inside: What else is there to say? [slams door]
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I..... hate this.
Again. We will dive into it in the Ricca/clemricca section, just know that I hate this so much... but wait, there's more coming!
So Clementine's left in the rain, crying, and I'm trying to keep my composure over all of this. Then we cut to her sitting on the beach, presumably the next day, where Giles and Ginette find her and Clementine breaks down crying in Ginette's lap.
We've made it to chapter six; they have the walker tunnel built, they're stabbing the walkers through it, and they're taking the bodies to Morro because of course she's still doing her autopsies. Fen tries to talk to Clementine about Ricca but she's not having it.
Morro's grumpy about this whole situation. When John offers to help her, she's just an asshole to him. She's going off about how this and that needs to be done, and Clementine stands up for John.
It doesn't go well.
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And Clementine snaps at her with, "Your daughter getting bit really didn't convince you how dangerous walkers are? But I guess you didn't take that situation seriously, either."
Not gonna lie, I applaud Clementine with that one. But Morro's not going to just take that sitting down. She tells everyone to get out, and poor John is gripping his head, wide eyed, crying...
But Morro, suddenly calm, adds, "Oh, Clementine, I'm sorry to hear about the little break-up. My marriage didn't work out. My only regret is not leaving him sooner. I suspect you might be like me. We're just not suited for love. Better to realize that while you're young. Some things about yourself, well... you just can't change."
Ma'am, you are an asshole.
John is literally right that, and you just casually drop that you wish you'd left his father sooner even though he was eaten by walkers, eaten BY YOUR DAUGHTER who turned, and that you're not suited for love like??? Is that why you treat your son like shit??
Oh, but you're suuuuuuuch a good person for doing these autopsies and burying the dead, right?
Also, this is the second time someone's questioned Clementine's ability to love in this series. The first was Georgia before she was killed: "You've never loved anyone, Clementine, I can see it. You have no idea... how far I'll go... what I'll do..."
Hey, speaking of Book One- hard cut to a dream sequence with Amos and it makes little sense. Clementine's asking him how he and Olivia made their relationship work, they made it look easy and never seemed scared but like..... what relationship?? I have read Book One 10+ times! The relationship was practically nonexistent! He made a comment about her bright eyes and she invited him behind the curtain with her! Then suddenly she wants to go away with him back to his town!
But in this dream sequence, Clementine asks if she's too broken for this romance with Ricca, asking why she's so scared and shit, and just-
Clementine: Am I too broken for this? Amos: You think Ricca isn't broken, too? The only difference is that she isn't ashamed of her scars. She wants to face her fears with you. Not for you. Clementine: She deserves more... so much more than me. Amos, holding a baby??: She deserves the world. And that's you, Clementine.
I'm at a loss for words, I am so tired...
Ricca and Olivia find Clementine passed out in front of Ricca's shack. Fen told them what Morro said and apparently Ricca threw a plate at her head. Finally, she does something I approve of.
Ricca finally lets them in her shack to see the big project she's been working on- a synagogue; "It's like a church, but for Jews."
It's actually a really nice set up she's made, and it feels like Ricca's the only one who has the baby in mind since she's still trying to figure out a crib. She made groves in the floor so that she can move around even when she can't see. She talks about how this is a place for all of them where they can celebrate holidays, rest, pray, sing', etc. She's hoping to have a bat mitzvah one day, so the girls suggest they have one right now for the three of them.
So they gather together, light a bunch of candles, wrap themselves in blankets and put flowers in their hair. Ricca starts by reciting what she can remember from the Torah, and translates what she can for them; "Some of it is peace and God and stuff, then rest I really don't know. I just know that saying the words makes the ground feel... deeper. And it makes the sky seem so much higher up. I guess what I've learned is that I'm actually really lucky. To be here, right now. To have found you guys, this island. The mountain."
Now this is some development with Ricca I like. We've gotten snippets of Jewish culture with her character throughout these two books but this is the first time we've actually explored it and what it means to her.
Olivia goes next; "'It's not gonna be easy, it's gonna be really hard.' It's from a book we read in Vermont. Oh, and my favorite word from the dictionary. Speckle. It means 'a small part of something.'" She shares that she's thought about how everyone starts out as a baby and someone kept them alive without them even asking, and she's thought about them being super little when they had nothing to worry about... I'm sure this is all coming from the fact that she's soon to have a baby.
Now it's Clementine's turn to talk, and she asks to see what Ricca wrote down. It's a paper of words and phrases, symbols, and such that she could remember, and Clementine focuses on, "May there be abundant peace."
And this makes her realize that she does love Ricca.
....wait, what?
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My head hurts. Breathe, CJ, breeeeathe.... It's fine, it's only Clementine apologizing even though she did nothing wrong. It's only us ignoring the fact that Ricca was out here pulling the, "I guess you never really loved me" guilt-trip because Clementine wasn't moving at her pace, it's fiiiiiiiiiine.... I'm not upset, I swear.
So... Clementine and Ricca confess they love each other and are officially girlfriends now, and we get more cheese from Clem; "Making it right between us... it feels like the whole world's been saved."
Oh boy. The girls talk about how they feel more adult after their bat mitzvah.
From here, we get into chapter seven where shit hits the fan. The problem I had with Book One had to do with pacing where it had this slow beginning and middle, and then crazy shit happened all at once toward the end... while the pacing for this book is a little better, this is where we just into that whiplash, "what the fuck, how did this happen??"
The girls fell asleep and now it's night. Everything seems chill as they deal with a stray walker and talk about Morro, and we get this line from Ricca, "Anyone who is mean to Clem is dead to me." which I find hilarious since that's literally the attitude the twdg fandom has. But the irony of that aside, shit's going down because they're surrounded by walkers.
The backlog of walkers got out.
There's hundreds of them.
Dr Barnwell, the cat, is back at the house so Ricca offers to go get him while Clementine and Olivia go to Morro's place where they assume everyone's held up... Remember that- Ricca, the one who can't see in the dark, is the one to go get the cat. They plan to meet at the docks.
Ginette, Giles, and Mercy are dead, being eaten by walkers outside of Morro's place. John's also dead inside, having been bitten. That's FOUR off-screen deaths, and lemme tell you, I'm pissed that John's dead. Morro's just standing there while while Emi watches the door and Fen holds a sobbing Amir.
Morro's still an asshole even when her son's dead, she's like, "My sweet, dumb boy." Lady, you were awful to him this entire book!
It turns out John was so upset last time we saw him that he convinced himself he could take all those walkers on, so he made the tunnel bigger for more to come through. He got overwhelmed and couldn't shut it down, got bit, panicked, and ran to his mother. Then he died on the floor. Just like that.
I..... am so upset about John, y'all.
The group plans to take Emi's boat and get outta there, but guess what? Morro's not going; "I'm not leaving my son."
She knows he's going to turn and doesn't care, AND this action of hers indirectly gets Amir killed. I'm serious. She's staying, so Amir starts throwing a fit that he wants to stay with John, too.
Before they go, Morro tells them to get to PEI, since years ago she traded with an herbalist named Saa who could potentially help them.
They leave, and a crying Morro goes to John while walkers break through the windows. She's dead.
Can't say I feel bad about that one, Anne, got gonna lie...
But then Amir gets killed when he continues to scream about going back to John. He gets away from Emi, goes back to the house and opens the door to find John as a walker. Walker John attacks Amir, killing him.
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Characters are just dropping at this point, and we're not done!
Emi's crying out in distress, Clementine has to hold her back, and they all gotta make a run for it. They make it to the docks and Ricca's not there. Clementine refuses to leave her behind, and they get overwhelmed... and Emi saves Olivia, but gets bitten. Emi grabs a bunch of the walkers and drags them all down into the water with her... and she's gone.
I need to stress this... everyone except Fen from this new group is dead now, all killed in a SINGLE CHAPTER. This isn't like S2 where everyone from the cabin group eventually dies; that happened over the course of the season with each death hurting more and more until it all ended with Luke's death on the lake, and by then you're so numbed by the loss... this is just boom boom boom, DEAD.
And guess who shows up. They try to fake us out by making us think Ricca's a walker, but no. She's fine, and she has the cat.
Tell me... how the fuck did Ricca navigate the island in the dark to grab Dr Barnwell and make it to the docks in time when she can't fucking see anything??? HOW??? This book has hammered home that Ricca can't see. She can't see in the dark, she can't see in bad weather, she can barely see in the light! You expect me to believe she did all of this without getting chomped? That she made it back in time? UGH.
John's dead. Emi died to save Olivia. Amir's dead. Giles, Ginette, and little baby Mercy are dead....... but somehow, somewhat, Ricca managed to survive, I'm.......... I'm not saying I want her dead, I'm saying I'm upset laughing right now.
Anyway... that bullshit's over. Chapter eight, three weeks later, they're in this community looking for Saa. Their boat got stolen, they're living off rotten potatoes, and they still haven't found Saa. Clementine and Fen wander around until someone can point them in her direction, and they find Saa and Derrick.
Saa's a woman in a wheelchair, both legs amputated from before the outbreak, and Derrick seems to be her right-hand man.
Saa has Derrick get them a supply bag and lets them on her boat. She's planning to leave town and shows Clementine and Fenn her world map. Remember how Fen was trying to piece together her own map? Yeah, she gets overwhelmed when she realizes just how off her map was. Taiwan's farther than she expected, so she leaves believing she'll never make it home.
By the way, I am happy Fen survived. I think she's a neat character and I'm interested where Book Three takes her character.
Saa's quite likable for a character introduced so late in the book. She talks with Clementine about how amputees existed before the dead rose, and Derrick comes back with a box of supplies. We learn that Saa wants to go to Greenland since she got a letter from a friend who went there, and Clementine's surprised that letters are a thing.
Also, Saa's crew might be dead. She doesn't believe they are, but Derrick does. This gives Clementine a lightbulb moment, and she offers her group to be Saa's new crew.
Saa: Woah, woah, we need five experienced hands, not two kids. Clementine: Olivia is experienced! She knows boats! Saa: Are there five of you? Clementine: Yes! Saa: Are you lying to me? Derrick: Definitely. Clementine: No! No, it's just... Only four of us can help. One isn't born yet. Derrick: Oh my. Saa: No. No.
But don't worry, Clementine sells the group well enough that Saa reluctantly agrees. I guess we're going to Greenland in Book Three.
They camp, and in the morning Clementine drags Ricca and Olivia to this person who takes polaroid photos... because there'ssomeone who just does that, I guess. Then they head to the boat. They set sail, it's a grand ol' time.
Then Clementine and Ricca have their first kiss.. and we head into chapter nine.
I think everyone's heard of chapter nine by now, but whether you've heard of it accurately is another story. Do you know how many comments I've read on reddit about this chapter that are just... false?? Spreading misinformation?? It's ridiculous.
Clementine and Ricca have sex this chapter, but there's no sex scene. It doesn't even show any kissing. It's literally a fade to black. It's not explicit, and no, reddit, it's not like 50 Shades of Grey, you dumbasses.
They're laying together in what I assume is their room on the ship, talking about scars, and this is how conversation progresses:
Clementine: Back in Vermont when we’d bump into each other in that tiny cabin… my whole face would feel hot. Ricca: I remember. You were hard to reach, then. Clementine: I remember. Ricca? Ricca: Hmm? Clementine: Have you had sex before? Ricca: Yeah, have you? Clementine: No… I’m still not totally clear on what it is… Ricca: A lot of it is instinctual. Clementine: Bullshit, maybe for you. Ricca: I’m serious! You and the other person respond to each other. Clementine: Stabbing walkers in the head when they’re trying to kill you is instinctual. This… this is… so overwhelming. Ricca: Doing anything for the first time is… Think about the first time you shot a gun, or started a fire. Clementine: I remember my first walker… I was so scared that day. That year. Ricca: You were alone? Clementine: I was. But I’m not now. I don’t have to figure this out myself. You’ll show me everything? Step by step? Ricca: Of course. We can take our time. Clementine: Doesn’t it feel like… like we have to hurry? Do everything we can as soon as we can? Ricca: Why would we need to? I’m not going anywhere. And we are in the middle of the ocean. Clementine: I know, I know, it’s not that, it’s… Whenever I feel happy, when it’s peaceful like this, it always seems to get cut off. I want to make this feeling… this night… last. How do I do that? Ricca: You mean… How do we stop time? Clementine: Yeah. Can you teach me that, too? Ricca: Hmm… Clementine: I’m not asking for much, just for tonight to last a little longer. As soon as the sun comes up, there’ll be so much to do. Ricca: For you, Clementine. I’ll have a word with the sun… and ask for a little more time.
Clementine wakes up the next morning to the sunlight pouring in through the window with tears in her eyes.
The end; to be continued in Book Three.
That's the whole plot. That's everything that happened.
It's a lot. Book Two's longer than Book One, but I found myself enjoying it a little more... but with that comes even more disappointment than before. I can see a good, solid story here but it wasted a lot of opportunities. I hate that it introduced a new cast of characters just so it could kill all but one of them off in a single chapter, that hurt. The romantic subplot is bad because, in my opinion, the couple involved shouldn't be together. There's stuff to like, hence why I've given it a higher rating than Book One, but it's bogged down by some major flaws.
But let's get into the character's now.
Dreadful Sorry, Clementine...
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The best way I can describe Clementine is she's incredibly inconsistent with the game's depiction of her, but she's consistent between both books. Ignoring the games, this feels like a natural-ish progression of her character from Book One.
I believe I mentioned this in my review of Book One, and if not there I've said it before, but this Clementine is like if we skipped TFS. Book One felt like we picked up right after ANF, except Clementine decided not to go after AJ and instead went off on her own, that's how angsty she was... even though that doesn't make sense because we know she was at Ericson and AJ was the one to cut off her leg. It's a regression you won't notice if you haven't played the games, but most of us have. That's why people call her Tangerine. We're backtracking to tell the same character arc in a different, less compelling way.
There were more points in this one where I feel the real Clementine peaking through, though, usually when she's sassing Morro. But the rest of the time it's just a shell of who she once was.
I will say that I find the approach to Clementine's knowledge... interesting? She's definitely dumbed down a little, but it feels like a situation where the book needs the reader to know something and uses Clementine to get that information across, resulting in her looking dumb. Remember when she didn't know she needed to wash her leg in Book One and everyone threw a fit? It's like when you're watching a movie and a character pulls the, "As you know," out; if the character already knows, why are you telling them? You're not, really, you're telling the audience. It's the same vibe; we need to know she needs to clean her leg.
But here we get to also look at Clementine's lacking in educational knowledge. I've already read some people being grumpy that she struggles with reading and writing her name, and fair enough... but remember that Clementine's education stopped at first grade. I think these books are trying to tell the story of someone who grew up in this world... as in Clementine's not exactly practicing her reading and writing every day the same way an average student does in the modern world. She's going to struggle. That's something the games just ignore and make her read super well, and they did the same thing with AJ. No five-year-old can read that well, especially if taught by another less educated person, c'mon now.
Also, y'all crack jokes about how Clementine has a first grade education and can't do math and shit but then the comic presents that in a more realistic way than the games and suddenly you have a problem? Mmhmmmm.
I like that Clementine airs that frustration with Morro about how adults know how to read and write and they know all these things she doesn't understand, but she has the knowledge of how to survive in this world better than any adult because she grew up in it and has little knowledge prior to this life.
She's also paranoid for a lot of the time on the island, which makes sense. She's witnessed enough community failures to be wary of things seeming too good to be true. Plus, she was in a coma. She has every right to wake up unsure about everything, and it's annoying that Ricca and Olivia never stop to consider that they've had a month to settle in and get comfortable, Clementine hasn't. She's trying to catch up. Ricca especially gets annoyed that she won't just hurry and feel safe already and that's a whole can of worms I'll get to.
This book hones in on Clementine becoming an adult after growing up in this world...whatever that means. By now I think we're to assume she's 18, and it gives us two growth scenarios where Clementine has a birthday and a bat mitzvah, which I think is supposed to show a "new chapter" in her life, so to speak.
This book also tackles her falling in love like it's the first time... which I guess means we're dealing with a single Clementine from TFS. I mean, if we have to do this, I'd prefer that. So y'know... anyone acting like this series made Clementine a "cheater," that's inaccurate and you know it, you're just trying to make everything worse than it really is.
I just wish Clementine fell for someone who didn't twist things to be her fault or guilt her into moving at a pace she clearly wasn't comfortable with. Then the book acts like Clementine had to have an epiphany that she does really love Ricca as if that's growth like.... stop. Stop trying to tell Clementine she's incapable of love as if romantic love is the only valid love that everyone has to learn to have. Clementine did love. She loved Ricca and Olivia as friends in this shitty world; she loved Dr Barnwell; she loved Amos enough to dream about him in order to seek his comfort, like... this Clementine is capable of love.
She apparently didn't love anyone at the school enough to stay but ahem not the point-
I can tell that Tillie Walden's not as comfortable writing for a character that's already established versus her original characters. It's so easy for everyone to throw around "this is just fanfiction!" like it's an insult [how ironic given the fandom tends to thrive on fanfiction but sure lets use it as an insult when convenient] but let's be serious about that for a moment.
There's a certain skillset in writing what's considered "good" fanfiction; I believe anyone can write fanfic, but tastes will always be subjective as not everyone will agree what's in character or not, and not everyone finds the same prose enjoyable. There's always room to improve when you're writing fanfiction, but not everyone will like your stuff.
I've read a lot of what I'd consider bad fanfiction in my time; clunky and awkward prose, unnatural dialogue, unappealing storylines and decisions, characters behaving in ways they never would in the source material. We all know how the thought of "They wouldn't say that," can take you right out of the fic you're reading.
When writing, the source material is a helpful tool that I encourage all fanfiction writers to take advantage of. The characters already have an established voice that you have to mimic, mannerisms and facts of their life to consider, and there's a lot of interpretation at play. Based on what you know of them, how would they react in this situation, or that one? If you're familiar enough with the source material and have the dedication, you can create some amazing stories.
I don't think Tillie has the right "toolbox," if you will, for fanfiction. She's skilled in writing her own characters and stories, something that's impressive as not everyone can do that, but she clearly struggles with Clementine. She's played the games [yes, I believe her when she says she played them, keep your snark in your lip] but she hasn't played them the way fans and fanfiction writers have. She's not using the source material the most effective way, and that might be on purpose, honestly. She only uses enough to remind us that this Clementine's originally from the games, but not enough to make her convincing.
All in all, Clementine's the most developed character in these books, obviously, but she's not as great as she could be. She's definitely more tolerable in Book Two than Book One.
Oh, Miss Morro, how you've disappointed me...
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I don't like her.
I got beef with Anne.
I so desperately hoped she was conducting science experiments on the walkers. I wanted her to sew body parts onto walkers to see if they functioned; to see her create monstrosities for the sake of science or whatever other bullshit.
But no, she's just an asshole doing autopsies on walkers to make herself feel better while ignoring the big problem that eventually lead to their downfall. She mistreats her son even though he does most of the work around the island.
And she knows there's a lot of work to be done but spends that precious time doing these autopsies despite everyone knowing it's a waste of time... then she has the gall to lecture Clementine about not wasting time. She's passive aggressive, aloof, and just... unpleasant? Even when she's being nice, you get the sense it's fake.
While she's a better "antagonist" [if you can call her that] than Georgia was in Book One, she's just another disappointment. Why not go ham with it? We're on an island that seems too good to be true, you've got this old woman who leads the group but goes off to her little shack at night to work with the dead, you've established there's only one way of escape and that's Emi's boat... make her fucking crazy!
I get we're trying to be deep and psychological with her trauma over losing her family after she disregarded a bite, but it falls flat. You can't just make her an asshole the entire time and then her son dies and she's suddenly like, "ah, my poor, dumb son... I'm gonna stay here and be eaten by walkers now, I don't want to go on."
Imagine this, m'kay? Remember how I said she should be more concerned over checking the living for bites? Say she's obsessed with doing that and everyone sees her point since they don't want a repeat of what happened... then one of them does get bitten, either by a walker or something else, and they gotta deal with it... and then it's revealed that Morro used them in her experiments when Clementine finds them as a walker with parts sewn onto them and shit. Have John be in denial that his mother's doing anything fucked until he has to face it head on! Have everyone turn on Morro! Make her dangerous!
She's not a compelling character, she's just a bitch and I don't like her... and that's the wasted potential of this book right there.
Ricca upsets me
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Okay, listen... I don't like Ricca.
I don't think anyone does, but I don't think any of you understand, y'know? She isn't a bad character just because she isn't Louis or Violet, or because you're pissy about the comics existence.
There are layers to why I don't like her. This is a "you don't understand her like I do" situation, except most people use that phrase when they're up their own ass and wholeheartedly believe their interpretation of their favorite is the only correct one, but me? I'm up my own ass about this character I don't even like!
Most of y'all haven't read the comics like I have. That's why you're here. Either you've read through them once or twice, you've only read other peoples reviews and formed your opinions based on them, or you've watched a video of someone reading the comic and they've influenced your judgement.... but me? I've studied these comics! I've read them critically, analytically! I went into this with an open mind about Ricca; I gave her a chance! I gave clemricca a chance! Which is more than I can say for most of you!
And all I've gotten in return is a headache!
Let me get the good out of the way, because there are things about her character that I do like. If you'll recall in Book One, Ricca mentions that she thinks she's the last Sephardic Jew left, and in this book we see her singing Jewish songs, she builds her own synagogue, and we get the big bat mitzvah. I really like that it wasn't just a throwaway detail that Ricca's Jewish, and that we get some exploration into that side of her.
Her worsening eyesight was interesting for me as someone who also has terrible sight and needs glasses to function, but it kind of gets ruined when we've built it up for so long only to toss it out the window in the end. She's supposedly blind at night, yet she made it through a herd of walkers back to their house, grabbed the cat, and made it back to the docks in just in time leave with everyone?
Absolutely not. The only way I could see that working is if she had a way of knowing where she was at all times without her sight, like what she did in her shed with the floor. It's unclear if she's covered herself in walker guts, but that's another way she could've made it without getting bitten... but that still doesn't help that she cannot see and doesn't have a means of seeing without her eyes.
Sorry, this is supposed to be what I liked... I do like the glasses stuff, just not when it's inconsistent. Ricca also has some funny lines here and there, she's definitely a little snarky and sarcastic at times. She's hardworking, and picks up the slack when Olivia's too depressed to do anything, which I appreciate, but... that's it. There isn't a whole lot else I enjoy about this character.
Everything I dislike stems from her relationship with Clementine.
First of all, they have little to no chemistry when it comes to romantic banter. It's bizarre, though, because I believe the trio's friendship more than I believe Clementine and Ricca have some sort of deeper connection. Without Olivia there, it's awkward.
Clementine's focused on the island, determining if it's safe, looking for something to be wrong or dangerous. Ricca wants to turn a blind eye to any potential danger as she wants this island to be their safe place to settle, and gets irritated with Clementine's paranoia.
And just... it pisses me off that Ricca tells Clementine that she'll wait for her. At this point, it's pretty obvious that they have romantic feelings for one another, for some reason. But, Clementine's rather fickle about it due to fear. Ricca telling her that is meant to be this romantic notion that she loves her enough to wait until Clementine's ready for a relationship... except no! When things don't go the way she wants it, Ricca throws it back in Clementine's face and it's so shitty!
Clementine wants to protect her and Ricca acts like that's a bad thing? You don't feel loved because Clementine wants you to be safe? You don't need saving?? Girl, you DO need saving because you can't fucking see! We've spent this entire book establishing that you need help because of it! And then you use that to tell Clementine that you need her to love you always!
Ricca's so awful in this moment. Then she accuses Clementine's feelings of not being real just because she's not responding the way she's "supposed to," and that's cruel.
"I'll wait for you," is a lovely lie, isn't it? Pretty, but hollow. You don't get to say that and then when Clementine calls you out on it, throw a fit that she's in the wrong for making you wait for the impossible, as if you're a victim in all this!
Ricca, Clementine doesn't owe you shit. She doesn't owe you a relationship just because you supposedly love her. Hell, if you did love her, you wouldn't be acting like this! If Clementine isn't ready to kiss, or say she loves you, then she isn't ready and pressuring her is bullshit.
"Oh we should talk about how we actually feeeeel~!" Fuck off, Ricca, she told you why she's scared of having a relationship right now and why she wants to island to be safe.
Can you imagine if Louis and Violet behaved like this? Imagine ep2, Clementine tells them, "Hey, I like you but I want to make the school safe, we need to deal with the raiders first before we focus on us," and they were like, "I'll wait for you, Clem." Only for ep3 to come around and they're like, "That's not fair, you want me to wait for the impossible! I? I'm done, Clementine, your feelings for me weren't real!"
But Louis and Violet never did that because they respected Clementine as a person with autonomy! If she rejected them romantically, neither blew a gasket. Neither accused her of toying with their feelings. The only time something like that comes up is if Clementine romances Violet and then lets her get taken by raiders, but in Violet's defense, I think she has a good enough reason to throw that around, y'know?
Ricca's just being mean. She's intentionally trying to hurt Clementine's feelings because she's sour that the relationship isn't progressing exactly as she wants it and she's tired of waiting.
But the worst part? The book presents this as Ricca being right. At the bat mitzvah, Clementine realizes she loves Ricca and that she was wrong and I'm furious. Not a single mention of Ricca's shitty behavior, no apologies for the guilt-tripping or being vindictive, nothing! Clementine was wrong to prioritize the island's safety over her feelings for Ricca! What a lesson she's learned, folks!
How.... dare you, frankly. I hate it so much. It's acting like it's this deep relationship that's exploring conflicted feelings and handing all these emotions with care but... all I see is Clementine having valid reasons for not wanting a relationship right now and Ricca guilting her until she changes her mind. Clementine shouldn't be the one apologizing here.
I guess we gotta talk about chapter nine now.
I don't want to say all of you have blown it out of proportion, but most of you have. Clementine and Ricca have sex. It's not explicit. Nothing is shown. There isn't even any kissing. There's cheesy dialogue. It's a fade to black. I don't think it could've been done any more tastefully than that.
If it wasn't Clementine involved, not a single one of you would've batted an eye. But because y'all are white knights who put Clementine on a pedestal, her fictional honor is apparently at stake and here we are.
Look, I'm no prude, okay? I read and write Dragon Age fanfiction, and sex can be a big part of those games, for better or worse. I've read my fair share of fics with smut in them, and I'm writing a Dragon Age fic with sexual content in later chapters. I'm not here to clutch any pearls or act like exploring sexual topics is a bad thing, because it's not.
I don't love that this is in a book rated ages 14+. I don't think it was necessary, but I understand why it's here in the context of "Clementine's stepping into adulthood in a world where death forever lurks." I just wish the target audience for these books was older, like... if you're going to include sex and a teen pregnancy, your audience shouldn't be middle grade.
The reason it feels icky to me is I don't like the couple or how they got together. This isn't a good relationship. It's not built on a foundation of trust. The sex is consensual, which is good, but I can't help feeling like Clementine deserved someone who respected her more than Ricca does.
So yeah... Ricca's not a bad character just because she's not Louis or Violet. She bad because she's selfish to her core, but the books portray her as selfless and right.
And to everyone screaming "but Clementine's not 18 yet is she???!?!? UNDER AGE SEX!?!?!?!" I argue that you don't actually give a shit about ages. Y'know why? Because not one of you, not a single goddamn one of you, has had the same energy about Olivia's pregnancy. Amos was 16 when he and Olivia had sex in Book One, and I have feeling she's also around that age.
Y'all really glossed over that, didn't you? So no, you don't care about whether or not a character's old enough for sex. If you did care, you would've been just as alarmed, if not more, about Olivia and Amos... but you're not because you don't care about Olivia, she's not you're precious widdle Clemmy.
Olivia's pregnancy bothers me way more than Clementine and Ricca having consensual sex... which is a great segway into--
Olivia is my new child and that's why I'm mad that she's probably going to die in Book Three
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I like Olivia a lot, actually. I'm adopting her. She's my child now, and her baby is my grandchild.
But I'm pretty sure she's going to die. It's predictable, y'know? So predictable that I hope Book Three subverts expectations and this isn't the case, but... my prediction is Olivia will die giving birth to her baby, leaving Clementine and Ricca to raise the baby.
Insert Amos Junior [AJ 2.0] joke here.
Olivia gets some much needed character development in this book. She's showing signs of depression; it's hard to get her to do anything in the beginning and Ricca has to pick up her chores. It's understandable, given her twin sister murdered Amos and then died, too. Her mother's a walker, she's lost everything.
It isn't until she and Emi go fishing together more that she comes out of her shell. I wish we got to see more of her and Emi's friendship, actually. Especially since Emi gave her life and boat to save her. She's kind and naive, a lot like Amos was but in a different way. Olivia's more aware of how shitty the world is than Amos was.
The pregnancy is bullshit. I hate it. Why are we doing this again? And with a teen pregnancy? Why are we bringing in another baby after we jumped through hoops to make Clementine leave the first baby behind? It's not going to end well. Either Olivia's going to die, or that baby is. These comics, and TWD in general, aren't above killing off kids or babies. What are the odds that both Olivia and the baby survive? That would be too happy for our nearing conclusion.
And with how little Olivia knows about sex, periods, and babies, and that Amos came from an Amish community, it's amazing that they even figured out how sex worked to begin with.
Thinking back on it, is THAT why Georgia pushed him off the mountain? Not only did she feel he was trying to take Olivia away, but he slept with her? That actually makes a little more sense! Too bad Georgia never bothered giving us that reason, huh?
It's just... this pregnancy is such a heavy thing for Book Three. Poor Olivia's doomed, and she's the only likable one of the trio.
I don't blame Tillie for this, or for anything else in this comic, since she's not the only one making these books happen. Skybound approved this, her editors approved this, everyone involved thought, "yeah, pregnant Olivia, good idea, that'll bring some tragedy." and I'm just sitting here with my head in my hands like, "noooooooooooooooo...."
These books already took my son away, wasn't that enough?
Speaking of-
Until I see a body, Amos ain't dead in my heart
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We have one more book left, just let me hold out hope that Amos survived the fall and will come back as twist antagonist in Book Three, okay? Mark my words, if he comes back, Book Three will get an immediate 5/5 stars, regardless of the other bullshit.
Amos is just a vision in Clementine's dreams this time around. I miss my boy, he didn't deserve this treatment.
And now watch, the book will be cheeky like "You want Amos back? Here's AJ 2.0, that still counts!" Not what I meant!
This review's long, let's lightning round the rest of the characters since I don't have that much to say about them that I haven't already said
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--I'm happy Fen survived and look forward to seeing what Book Three does with her, assuming it doesn't just kill her off or some other bullshit.
--I'm pissed John died. If we're going to kill everyone else off anyway, why couldn't Fen AND John survive? He worked his ass off on that island and his mother treated him like shit. To kill him off-screen's bullshit. Would've been way more compelling to have him survive and face the guilt of losing his mother even after the way she treated him.
--Emi's another great character that hurt to see go, but it's fitting that she saved Olivia and gave her the boat before taking the walkers down with her.
--Amir's great. Also pissed he died. Shitty way to go. Did we really need to see walker John eat him?
--Ginette, Giles, and Mercy are just kinda there. They're not too important, but it's still sad to see they got eaten alive by a herd of walkers... especially Mercy.
--I'm actually excited for Saa and Derrick. I hope they play a big role in Book Three and this isn't a Christa and Omid situation; as in they're around for five minutes and then die/separate from the group. They seem really chill and I look forward to hearing more of their backstories.
In conclusion, it's not great but it's better
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Even though the clemricca romance legitimately pisses me off, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I definitely had a different attitude going into it versus how I went into Book One which I think helped me have a better time. There are things to like about it if you'll give it a chance, but I understand why people aren't.
It has issues with pacing, character development/progression, and the romance. I hate that everyone but Fen from the new group got killed off. I hate that we have a pregnancy plot now. I'm disappointed with Morro as a character and antagonist.
But the art's improved greatly. Olivia's a better character now. The new cast is quite fun and likable prior to dying. There are themes and elements that are explored and done well.
The hate Tillie gets for these is absurdly gross. They're just comics. No, shut up, they're just comics. The games still exist. Tillie didn't ruin them, and in my opinion, if you truly believe she did ruin the games, that's a you problem. That's you letting these books ruin the games for you. No one's out here making you read them. No one made me read them, I chose to do that just as I chose to see them as not canon. Sending hate and threats to her and Skybound does nothing but prove what a piece of shit you are. By all means, hate the comics all you want, that's your right, but leave real life people out of it.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Clementine isn't real. I get that she's important to you, but she's a fictional character. She's not going to come to life and reward you for your twentieth comment on Tillie's instagram calling her vile names or threatening to find her for what she did. Clementine isn't going to like your video of you screaming into your mic about what an injustice these comics are, and she's not going to sign your petition to get the comics cancelled.... because she's not real. Go outside. Touch grass. Remember that you're only alive for a short time and try to do something of worth with that knowledge.
We only have one more book in this trilogy left, but do y'all really think it'll end there? Do you think Skybound will give a shit that fans hated the comics and will respectively leave Clementine alone? No, that's not how money's made.
I hope once Tillie's done with this series, she continues to have a great career. It's strange, like... I'm of two minds where I want Book Three to be super good in hopes that fans will just leave her alone... but then there's a little gremlin inside me that also kind of hopes she gets a final fuck you in aimed at the fandom. I'm sorry, the fandom's been embarrassingly terrible to her and they deserve it.
I hope she kills Clementine off... yeah, I said it. She won't because Skybound definitely won't let her, but it would be so good. I say kill Clementine off, turn her into a walker, let her eat AJ 2.0! No happy ending for anyone, just a middle finger!
Literally everyone else would be fuming and frothing at the mouth with shit posts on reddit about how Tillie "rUInEd" TWDG and then killed Clementine off and I would be in my corner just cackling and applauding her.
"How can you say that, CJ?? you fake fan???"
Look, my Clementine's still at Ericson, vibin' with AJ and Louis. Willy made her a new leg, she didn't name it Kenny, she named it Legolas [she still doesn't know who that is even after Aasim and Louis explained Lord of the Rings to her]. She and Violet play competitive cheater's uno every Thursday. She's living her best life.
Comic Clem's another Clementine to me entirely. If she lives, great! If she dies, oh no! Anyway-
To wrap this up... Clementine Book Two has issues, there are missed opportunities, and I think the romance is bad. But there's enough good here that made it enjoyable enough. I don't feel right about giving it a 2/5 stars, but 3/5 feels too high, so 2.5/5 feels right.
I also encourage people to actually read it for themselves. Don't just take my word for it, or reddit's, or whatever. Read it yourself and form your own opinions instead of parroting someone else. It'll make for better discussion rather than a cesspool for hate.
When Book Three comes out, I'll read and review that one, too. As of right now, we haven't heard anything about it, but I'll be sure to keep an ear out and share the news with y'all.
Now I'd like to hear from you; did you read Book Two? What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with any of my takes? Feel free to send in asks or leave comments below.
Thanks for reading! 💚
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alicentsswornshield · 8 months
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@wolfie-1221 posted a list of their fav rhaenicent fics 🤌 10/10 recommendations
I've been inspired to share my own list since I've been spending probably too much time on ao3 - hopefully it will be helpful for anyone looking to start reading rhaenicent (note that few are already mentioned in the above mentioned post)
My top 5 (in no particular order):
(WIP) Seven (by @comicxgrl)
The story follows two alternating timelines and you're equally invested in both. It's so so well written, you fall in love with the characters immediately, the pacing of the story line is incredible and with only 5 chapters published, I think story is slowly set up for the main arc. The author is an architect and you can feel the thought process and clear intention behind every line and action.
(WIP) Out of sun (by @lumyart )
Rhaenyra and Alicent share a complicated past. Skip 10yrs later, Alicent is an excellent surgeon, has three kids and a husband. Their paths cross again when Targaryen Enterprises start being involved with Alicent's hospital.
Tags for this story are #bdsm #makingkinkemotional #emotionalslowburn - I think that's all you need to know?
I feel like it's really hard to write about bdsm w/o making it feel gratuitous. That's not the case here. @lumyart involves it as one of the main plot points of the story. It explores the emotional/psychological reason/need behind kinks and how those relationships differ etc. The push and pull in their relationship is dizzying, as the story progresses we get snippets of their past and what went wrong between them and how did they get where they are now. It almost feels like you're uncovering a mystery. There's many layers to the story and each chapter gifts you one piece of the puzzle.
See also: Blame it on Fate (morning show au we deserved) | silver sparks (wish this was the s02 hod script)
Love is complicated (by @molter-writes)
Absolute favourite of molter's fics and that's really hard to decide on.
This story made me want to start a campaign to get @molter-writes to actually write a rhaenicent Notting Hill AU.
Don't even read the summary. Just read everything and anything by @molter-writes , it will always deliver strong writing, a compelling storyline and characters that you can't help but fall in love with. See also: (WIP) leaf and blade | (Completed) grey ridge (ríl liatroma) | (Completed) ride the dragon (and do it quickly) | (WIP) song of the exposition
(WIP) Lying (in the hollows of your heart)  (by @wakesirens) 
I usually read only modern AUs (because of the misogyny in Westeros, I have enough of that irl thanks) but this fic is amazing nonetheless. Keeping Baelon alive and him being king gives us an alternate version of Rhaenyra's life. One where she's his most trusted advisor and representative of the Crown but she's not bound to the throne/realm in same way as the heir. This allows her to still attain power and freedom usually not afforded to women. Oh and Alicent works in a brothel.
(WIP) What you wanted (by mrdcai)
Berlin, spies, complicated past, angst
Again it's just excellent writing! This one only has 1/3 chapters out but I'm already convinced that it deserves to be among top five fics. Only downside is that the story will only have three chapters, though a part of me is hoping that the author will change their mind and make it a longer story.
Side note, I keep imagining Alicent as Olivia Cooke's character from Slow Horses... great spy/thriller show btw
See also: Desire (I want to turn into you)
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Some other fics I loved:
(WIP) Honey, make this easy (by nerdsofdeath)
Alicent is a history professor at university and Rhaenyra is her new TA. It's a slow burn and v angsty 😭
(Completed) Midnights Like This (by pure_black_wings)
College AU, they're two idiots in love that don't know how to cope.
(WIP) War of Hearts (by Silanahfire)
Rhaenyra Targaryen is barren and the realm needs an heir. The King and Grand Maester Mellos found a solution in the scripts of Old Valyria. Alicent Hightower will carry her child, even if the estrangement between the two seemed impossible to end. An arranged marriage waits both.
(WIP) You Broke Me (by skullgamerscy)
Angst 😭
The Silver Queen and the Lady in Green (by Wandering Fan)
This is AU in every sense of the word. The author built a whole different world with its own lore. Very very slow burn
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