#but also freaking love how you wrote out her inner monologue

[kingwuko]

7, 11, 13, 27, 43, 50, 79 for the fanfic asks!

YAY of course!!! I'll put them under a cut

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

“Guess not. But if the swamp showed you a vision of her…,” Korra said carefully. “The swamp is strange. It sort of shows you what you need to see. The visions aren’t always right, but whatever the swamp showed you probably has some deeper meaning…” Korra wasn’t sure what the Earth Queen might have done or said to Wu, but whatever it was, it had really rattled him. Of course, that wasn't saying much. Wu wasn’t exactly the most cool and collected person she had ever met. Still, Korra got the sense that whatever Wu had seen was intense. “What I need to see…” Wu said thoughtfully. “I… I don’t know. The things she-I mean, the things the vision said to me…” “What did she say in the vision?” Wu’s posture became uneasy and his eyes darted away for a moment. He was being cagey, which wasn’t like Wu at all. Normally he was over eager to share. The vision must have really freaked him out, if he didn’t want to talk about it.

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

OOOhh good question. I actually try to write in order! There is a fic author from a different fandom who posts (amateur) fic writing tutorials. She's got a great track record with longfics and wrote a tutorial explaining her methods. One important point she made was that she always writes in order, because it helps her get through the not-fun parts if she has the fun parts waiting for her; just like it's enjoyable as a reader to experience a build-up to the big moments, it's enjoyable as a writer too! I followed this advice and I think it worked REALLY well for me. I managed to finish Secret and Windswept is coming along really nicely. That's not to say I've never written anything out of order, but if I have a scene in my head that's further down the line and I don't want to forget something I've thought of, I put it in my outline rather than directly into a document. Tricks my brain into thinking that I haven't really written it yet, because it's just part of the outline.

13. Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

I do! Well I try to, anyway. If I'm sitting down to write after the kids are in bed, you betcha. But I also do a lot of little micro writing throughout the day as ideas come to me or I have a few moments to myself. in that case I don't listen to anything. I have playlists for my fic and I like to listen on my work commute which is some of my daydream time where I think of fic ideas. Here's my playlist for Windswept:

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

oh boy you're going to make me compliment myself??? I have imposter syndrome big time this is difficult 🤣 I think I'm pretty strong in the sort of inner-monologue-stream-of-consciousness area. I really love getting into the character's heads and portraying their inner thoughts, and capturing their inner voices throughout it. And I think I do a pretty good job!

43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

I REALLY want to write something about Wuko from Bolin's perspective. Every time I write Bolin I have SOOO much fun I really want to get in that guy's head!!!

50. How would you describe your writing style?

Maybe introspective? I try to keep the story moving but every time something happens, I always make the POV character think about it. I really like writing what's going on in the characters heads.

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

Get a beta reader for your fanfics!!! Seriously. If your beta reader is just someone you send your completed drafts to and they provide suggestions and edits, that already will elevate your writing miles above what you started with. If it's someone who can also be there to help bounce ideas off of, outline, brainstorm, keep you on track with writing by encouraging you etc. Even better! Also. Don't be embarrassed about writing smut. Whatever. It's just sex. If you're writing it, you probably like reading it. Just write it and don't feel weird about sending it to a beta reader (as long as they've agreed beforehand that they're okay with smut!), don't feel weird about posting it. Lets unlearn shame together and all that. If you're writing outside your experience, try to get the perspective of someone from that experience. If you can't actually talk to someone about it, google and try to find info. For example I'm writing m/m when I don't ID as a man. I so I talk to men (especially mlm) and read accounts from men about certain things, so there's less chance that I'm being offensive or disrespectful or just plain wrong about something.

#answered ask #wuko #prince wu #king wu #korra #fanfiction #ask game #anonymous

[monsieur-guimauve]

Theory on how human Vanitas’s ending will turn out or be a result of

Spoilers ahead ! (Theories are of my opinion and not fact)

I love MochiJun’s work and there’s no telling how things will turn out when she writes a chapter. Therefore, I wanted to see what the fandom thinks about how Noe will ‘kill’ human Vanitas, as I personally don’t think it will be as straightforward as how Noe makes it out to be.

Firstly, there was an interview MochiJun did before the release of the VnC anime. One question she was asked was whether she wrote VnC based on her current inspirations, vs. if she had the whole plot thought out already. She responded that when she writes, she has a goal/destination in the storyline in mind, but how she gets there along with other things, seems to be something she does on the go.

This led some others in the fandom to believe that the dreaded scene described in Memoire 1 could be happen anytime in the storyline rather than the end, however, I personally think this could happen close to the end because Noe’s mentioned in Memoire 1 that ‘how at the END of that journey, I would kill him with my own two hands’.

As an Archiviste, it’s fitting that Noe is recording down the memory/understanding of his journey with Vanitas (including of all we gained and lost) through his perspective and how the memories of others have effected him too. The final record of this journey is the manga we know as ‘The Case Study of Vanitas’. (MochiJun you genius magnificent b********) Therefore, human Vanitas’s death towards the end makes more sense.

Now onto why human Vanitas will die because of Noe is one of the following theories:

1) Salvation for human Vanitas may be death, and he asks Noe to kill him.

I thought of this theory (though I don’t think this is very likely) because there have been hints on what salvation means to different characters. In the scene after Vanitas grants death to Catherine (little girl turned curse bearer), Noe freaks out because Vanitas couldn’t save her. Noe learns that his understanding of salvation isn’t possible or the same for others, but has a difficult time coping with it.

Salvation is brought up by Noe again after Laurent helps him and human Vanitas escape the Catacombs. As Vanitas is resting behind him, he wonders if the one who’s always saving others (Vampires) without fail, is the one who wishes to be saved the most, which is human Vanitas himself. (Something along those lines)

And after Chloe is saved from being a curse bearer, Vanitas has an inner monologue about using Blue Moon Luna’s power:’ the more you call on its power, the more you will be re-written yourself’

^We don’t know what it means to be re-written in terms of VnC. Does it mean death in general? That human Vanitas and Mikhail will be ‘reborn’ as vampires? Cease to exist or remember as you were or something worst than death? What kind of salvation does human Vanitas need to ‘remain’ human until the very end? What can Noe do to grant that to human Vanitas is something I suspect to be the cause of the scene where human Vanitas ponders about being re-written.

Also, there is a chance that Noe doesn’t owe human Vanitas in this sort of scenario, but I highly suspect he will as his guilt for not granting Louis his last wish has been glooming over him in this series. (Vanitas and Louis do share some uncanny resemblance too.)

2) Vanitas ‘dies’ in the border between the Human World and Altus

Since Vampires are the result of the Babel incident, only Vampires can cross the border into Altus. Should a human enter without physical contact of a Vampire, they risk getting lost forever between both dimensions, or that no one will know what happens to him.

We are told by Noe as he scolds human Vanitas for the risk he took, but Vanitas says there’s nothing to worry about because Noe grabbed his hand. The story continues into the Bal Masque Arc from there without much thought.

But this is significant because there are additional two instances in the story which relate to this. One is Noe’s recollection on the day he failed to grab human Vanitas’s hand. The second is back to the first Memoire when Noe’s talking about killing human Vanitas, there is a voice over of human Vanitas saying ‘Don’t worry Noe, even if I’m not here, I won’t ‘die’’. This is pretty vague, but we aren’t told exactly if getting lost between borders means actual death for a human, or whatever human Vanitas will become due to the likelihood of being ‘rewritten’ when using the Blue Moon’s power. We also need to remember that Noe, being a moralistic character with defined values, may be a bit bias when he describes intangible things like love, salvation, loss and death to the audience. (Kind of like how the OP theme song Sora to Usturo lyrics reflects the themes of human emotion, but it’s not clear if it’s in Noe’s perspective or Vanitas’)

If we stick to the theory that human Vanitas dies towards the end in relation to getting lost in the border, I suspect this may have to do with something related to Altus or the story is located in Altus around this time. Will Vampires be returned their humanity? Will there be some form of the Babel incident being re-written again? How will that effect human Vanitas, who is an artificial kin of the Blue Moon?

3) Ruthven’s curse on Noe plays a role in Vanitas’ death

I don’t think this will be a direct cause, because Ruthven’s initial intention is to use the curse to make Noe a pawn against his Teacher. Vanitas is a human who is cunning and vague motives in his eyes, but he is young and has extremely limited resources to do anything on his own. Compared to Noe’s teacher, who is probably one of the oldest vampires, he’s seen everything and probably knows and has the power to do anything against anyone, but he chooses not to, but instead, puts a huge curious responsibility on the last surviving member of a clan that’s died out to that job (Noe). That position of choice seems to unnerve other vampires like Ruthven. He has gotten some news of Vanitas’ inconsistent character from Noe, but I think at most Ruthven sees the both of them like minor nuisances, and his target is Noe’s Teacher. If Vanitas dies because of Noe’s curse, it’s likely to be indirect cause.

By this time or around Retrace 59 in Pandora Hearts, we were revealed many details and it was a huge turning point of the storyline. There’s still too much we don’t know about either protagonist's past, their future goals or those of the Vampire Senate. And the relationships between all the characters will be a key focus of the storyline too. 

Is there more to human Vanitas’s backstory? What about ‘that night’ human Vanitas killed Luna? What is Ruthven’s goal? What’s the relation between Faustina and Luna Blue Moon? Who’s No. 70? Why is Noe the last survivor? What’s Jeanne’s curse? What do we need to know more about astermite? All of these questions, I’m very very interested in learning more in the near future.

I hope that VnC will be longer than PH, as I enjoy reading things from an earnest perspective of a character like Noe.

#vanitas-no-carte #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #vanitas #blue moon #noe archiviste #dominique de sade #vanitas no shuki #les memoires de vanitas #mochizuki jun #mochijun #ramble post #delete later #I need to know what the hell is happening in this series asap #theories #vnc noé #vnc noe #vnc vanitas #*weeps into hands*

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to ROCKETEAR!

It's a long post, but when are these ever really short? xD Seeing Carapace first made me so excited. I've been sad we haven't had much of him in the show. And then I saw that it seemed like Ladynoir was doing pretty good as they only had Carapace helping them this time. More S2 & S3 like. So I was like cool, cool, this is great. But what the heck scientist WHY ARE YOU BRINGING TYRANNOSAURUS REX'S BACK! Obviously she's going to be something big later on, she's too nicely animated not to be back. Not to mention Bob Roth's plans. Anyone else both intrigued but also scared at what that could do later? Big upcoming plot point, I think.

I screamed awwww because this is everything. I've wanted a LB/Carapace and Marinette/Nino friendship bond in this show since season 1. This scene made me incredibly happy! I'm a huge Nino fan, for those that don't know, so you can imagine how much I love this episode. Even though sad Nino.

"Alya, everyone has to believe that you will never use the Miraculous again!" End of episode: So anyway... So what I'm seeing here is, Alya's not fond of the idea of being just a spy, not being in on the action. Even though it's Ladybug's plan. Chat Noir isn't fond of what's going on right now either, where he thinks what's going on is all Ladybug's plans. Alya makes the decision to not do what Ladybug wants and tells Nino she's still Rena Rouge. So what's Chat Noir going to do to go against her? Because that's coming up on the horizon. Despite everything being easier for Marinette since everything's not just on her shoulders now, she's still been unable to play video games with her dad, and we know how much she loves doing that. :c That's really sad she doesn't even have time for her family anymore. DJWifi over here being all adorable. "You don't love me anymore!" Me: *Chat Blanc flashbacks* Alya suggests her new content could be Chat Noir edits and Marinette's like YES DO THOSE. Then those edits helped push Nino into thinking she was into Chat. Big oops. Not gonna lie, the rewind freaked me out for a moment. Last time I saw that was Chat Blanc so I thought something big was up. But nope, it's just like that scene in Puppeteer 2. Ugh poor Nino! He knows something's bothering Alya, but she won't say what it is and her behavior's too off from how she normally is. Poor guy. x.x Grumpy Nino that Carapace doesn't get attention and then they wrote his girlfriend with Chat Noir. I remember when Alya was grumpy for a bit about Rena Rouge not getting a party to celebrate her. Movie Ladybug telling Movie Chat Noir that he's better with Movie Rena Rouge. Is this a reference to the episode in Avatar, The Ember Island Players? Getting strong vibes when Play Aang and Play Katara were like, we're just friends nothing more and it's great! Play Katara was extremely into Play Zuko. I can see why Ladybug dismissed the movie (or was it the previous one since it's been awhile? Maybe?) because Rena Rouge and Chat Noir???? The writers (of the movie) just wanted to be different because everyone can see Ladynoir, unless they're blind. Alya and Nino are Andre's favorite couple. YES THANK YOU. I mean they're not my favorite because Love Square. BUT they're my second favorite next to them. Those kids are super adorable but definitely that kid playing Chat wasn't doing Nino any favors. First picture Alya shows. Chat with a heart tail. Yeah that's not doing her any favors lol. Nino: UGH CHAT NOIR'S COMING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND. I KNOW, I'LL CALL MY BEST FRIEND TO VENT TO ABOUT IT. Best Friend Chat Noir: Best Friend Chat Noir: Welp maybe I should see what's up. Maybe I went a little to hard on the cat charm and she's fallen in love with me. Me: Oh oof here we go. Also can I ask, if anyone knows, who animated this episode? The fluidity is great and it looks really pretty. But it doesn't quite look like SAMG's work either. Whoever did it, I love it. S2 Chat Noir: You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you? :c S4 Nino: Who would want a reckless turtle as a partner? BOYS STOP. But yeah this whole scene had me laughing so hard XD Very dramatic and I love it. Nino's hilarious even when he's worried and sad! I would've absolutely loved to have heard this in English with the old English voice of Nino, but the new one worries me on whether or not he'll do a good job sounding like Nino and less high-pitched and whiny. :/ New York Nino was great but S4 Nino....x.x THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE AND SPEAKING REGULARLY AGAIN 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant! It doesn't really feel like Miraculous Ladybug this episode, and I love it. Not that I don't love the show as usual but wow this is great. Okay, I want to point out that Chat Noir

probably was more worried about it than he would've been otherwise because of what happened with Marinette in Weredad. It probably made him more cautious about this sort of thing.

LOL Chat's sulking because Alya's laughing at the idea of being interested in him. 😂😂 I know that's a blow to one's ego and all, and he's dealt with this kind of thing a lot so I do feel bad for him, but that is his best friend's girlfriend and he definitely doesn't want her to like him. Alya: With him it's not just ❤️it's *makes massive hand gesture indicating she loves him deeply* SO SO SO CUTE OKAY ALL THIS DJWIFI 😭 Alya: And I don't even know your secret identity! I would never fall in love with someone I don't know. Chat Noir, literally fell in love with Ladybug, whose identity he doesn't know. Well Alya, I wonder if you saying that matters for later somehow.... o.O Nino running away crying is honestly one of the things that hurts me most in the entire show. Ugh. Adrien over here being all, I'm having a good day. I'm happy and smiling and it's great. And then it wasn't. Adrien, if Nino let him and didn't interrupt, would've told him about how Alya really doesn't love Chat Noir, and that would've seriously led up to his identity being exposed since Nino was watching and filmed them. o.o Did you notice how he was going to tell him about it? S4, the basement is where it's at. Adrien: Uhh, when did you arrange all this? Nino: *pounds fist on desk* I ASK THE QUESTIONS! 😂 So like. Why is Nino interrogating Adrien when he's after Chat Noir? He doesn't know they're the same person. XD He's looking at him like Adrien has info he's keeping or something omg.

Also again this animation is so nice. Adrien, feeling uncomfortable and so turns the music off. Nino, wanting his dramatic music on while he interrogates Adrien, turns it back on. Adrien, feeling even more irritated and uncomfortable, wants the music OFF and turns it off. Nino, turns the music back on. This may be a reference to something, I don't know, but lolol it's so funny. This episode is both super hilarious and super angsty! Honestly they've done such a good job in my opinion. Nino: I'm talking about something that I shouldn't tell you! ...but I'm going to tell you anyway! Alya's Rena Rouge and I'm Carapace! Okay but the way Adrien went from shock to utter anger, knocked his chair back and grabbed Nino's shoulders like "Tell me the truth. You two know about each other?" Aw man, my poor sunshine boy. A lot of the stuff bothering Adrien is all circumstantial, none of it is to purposefully keep him in the dark. And yet from his perspective, that's how it looks. "I thought secret identities must be protected at all times! If that was the truth, you would never tell me this!" Alright so three things. If he's referring to him saying that Nino and Alya know about each other, that was situational and important info for him to know now that this is out. It wasn't important to know before this. The time it happened was dire and was really no time to get around it. If he's talking about Nino telling him the secrets, well yeah that's not supposed to happen and Nino broke that trust. But also, I get the feeling pretty strongly at this point Adrien's going to be breaking some rules too and one of which is he's going to tell Nino who he is. Adrien's being too emotional in this scene to not be involved in it all, I'm wondering if that's going to be questioned later by Nino. He's acting like he knows too much to be a random viewer of the heroes like the rest of Paris. Also Adrien's best friend just totally dissed Chat Noir and went off about how he throws himself at Ladybug whenever he sees her with roses and love confessions. 😂😂😂 This is just too funny! "But he's always rejected because Ladybug finds him annoying! And she's completely right!" Omg Nino, that's not the reason anymore, shush! "And then Rena Rouge appears and he goes *tickles under Adrien's chin* hey pretty lady! You look elegant and you have great perfume." OMG does Chat Noir actually say and do stuff like that to Rena Rouge or is he just exaggerating here XD "If I could I would shut his mouth forever!" Yeah Nino, say what you really think about your best friend in the entire world. Yikes poor Adrien though. I never imagined he'd hear all these bad things about himself from his best friend directly like that. :/ That's a major misunderstanding of him. Which kind of pushes me more towards the "he's going to tell Nino" theory. Sad Adrien transformation DDDX Alya: *explained everything about why Chat Noir went over to her house in the middle of the night* Marinette *facepalm* Ugh that Chat Noir... Well at least there will be no misunderstandings there! xD "Chat Noir, you stole Alya from me! I will steal your life from you." Good lord man calm down. You can't just kill a man! Fanon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Marinette. Canon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Alya. Time to go back to the basement! lol Nino's music's still playing xD And the video is left with it paused on Chat Noir hugging Alya. Marinette looked a bit sad, but it was probably more about the situation being a mess rather than being sad he'd hug her. Meanwhile, Chat Noir's fighting Nino and would rather get beaten up by him than fight. x.x "I can't believe that I doubted you." "I can't believe I chose to do anything but be with you!" She wiped away akumatized Nino's tear just like how Ladybug wiped away akumatized Chat Noir's. ALL THE PARALLELS 😭😭😭 But that hug is so sweet!! Nino broke off the akumatization just like Alya did :o Dang, I wonder if that means something later too. "Love and secrets do not go well together, Ladybug. And I'm sure you have a lot of

them!" Secrets = from Chat Noir. Love = for Chat Noir. Yeah even Shadow Moth knows at this point. xP Thanks for that foreshadowing. Nino's charm is my favorite charm so far! It's my favorite shade of blue. Chat Noir: Everybody has doubts sometimes...even me." Ladybug: Is everything okay, Chat Noir? Chat: Oh yes...pound it!

So um. The placemet of Adrien's poster in between Chat Noir, Ladybug, and just with this entire situation feels very strange. Very intentional. But no clue exactly what that could mean..... Nino and Alya are happy over there watching those two, like they're waiting for them to figure things out or something. But really, Adrien should've talked to Ladybug when he could still do so calmly and be reasonable. I doubt that's going to be the case later on. And honestly Ladybug doesn't even know what's going on. Every episode we've seen really either has them working together or she's unable to be Ladybug when he's unable to be Chat Noir most of the time. I've said it before but these two really need to communicate. Nino and Alya are like a less adorably romantic version of what they'd be. "But they're a couple and they know their secret identities, so why does that rule exist for us but they can know?" Very simple. Because they were temporary holders and the Miraculous they had, Hawk Moth hasn't made it his life's mission to obtain, unlike them, who are permanent holders and Hawk Moth's been after them fiercely to make a Wish that could destroy everything. But. The fact he's asking this, and Marinette's Chat Blanc nightmare, really points in the direction that he's going to eventually find out that while she's thought about telling him all along, Chat Blanc's kept her from doing so.

Okay, so while it looks like he's staring up at the moon, if you notice, it really is just one of the pink bubbles.

Now, they could be making it seem like it's the moon though to give it a double meaning. But poor Kitty, he's feeling so awful right now over in that dark corner Dx Nino felt bad for only two episodes? and it got resolved, so hopefully this all won't last too much longer for him! Marinette had a few shaky episodes so hopefully he'll have a few before it gets resolved. But somehow I think that may be wishful thinking. This episode was so amazing, honestly. Wonderful writing, made me laugh a lot, aw a lot, and hurt a lot. It focused on the core 4 characters which I've wanted more of for a long time. The animation was beautiful. And it just felt so different in such a good way. Chat Noir's having a hard time right now, and I know there's a lot of anger and hate about it going around. But please, think of this as him hitting a rough spot in the road to a much better and brighter future. He's going to end up okay, he'll understand it all someday. And that day's honestly not that far for him if you think about it.

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #ml season 4 spoilers #chat blanc #rocketear spoilers #ml spoilers season 4 #toujoursmiraculous thoughts and reaction #ladybug #chat noir #carapace #rena rouge #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir

[deepdarkdelights]

Content Tag Game!

Thank you @yoongsisbae for tagging me! I love Handshakes of a Lifetime, by the way, it feeds my need for OT7 wonderfully 😫💜

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

Oh boy, okay: Twilight, Black Butler, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Teen Wolf, Young Justice, Batman Arkham Knight (video game), Marvel, Once Upon A Time, Narnia, Doctor Who, Rise of The Guardians, HTTYD, Fable (video game series), Percy Jackson

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

BTS 💜

3. how long have you been writing?

Okay, this is kind of weird, I wrote my first fanfiction when I was nine but never published it, when I was twelve I began posting to Quotev and Wattpad so I would say...eight years? I refuse to look back at either accounts because my writing was horrendous...I was a child.

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?

At this point in time, Tumblr and ao3.

5. what is your favorite genre to write?

Dark / Yandere / Horror. Anything that would make you freaked out I guess 😅

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

Uh, a bit of both? I usually have an idea of what I want to happen in a story so I have a vague outline, but as I am writing I tend to add more things and branch out from the plan. When I first started writing and posting to Tumblr, I used automatic writing and was a full-fledged pantser.

7. one-shot or multi-chapter?

If I had to choose, one shot. I feel less tied down and not as pressured to write when it comes to a one-shot. I would like to make a multi-chapter story one day though!

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

I like usually something longer, so anywhere from 6-10k is good for me.

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?

Actually, 10 Seconds is my longest story because it has multiple chapters. At this point in time, it is 38,250k.

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

Hmmmmm, probably Predator. It was my first fic after the end of The Bouquet Series and I got to flex more of my creativity and relax with it. It was fun to play with more classic horror tropes as well.

11. favorite request you’ve written and why?

I don't really take requests, I did ask for help in writing Tae's fic for The Bouquet Series and I had two asks that suggested an actor element and that was how Cut was made! So, that 😂

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories?

Hm, the concept of time is rather prevalent in a lot of my fics now that I think about it. Weather and location are reoccurring, I like to write scenes in forests or scenes with rain. I think another common theme is not to trust grandmothers as funny as that is, in two fics we have had grandmas with bad intentions! Also, references to good and evil, Hades and Persephone, Adam and Eve, temptation, as well as predator and prey dynamics.

13. current number of wips?

Three! One is currently being written, and the other two are in the planning phases.

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing?

(1) It's fucking long 😂. I always go in with a plan to write something shorter, 8k max, and I always end with a fucking monster of a story. I also tend to overexplain, I think. (2) A lot of my writing is describing an action, facial expressions, scenes, and inner monologue. I think that is my way of trying to immerse readers or make them see my exact vision. But it can be pretty tedious and probably boring to read. I need more dialogue too, I feel like I spend too much time showing instead of telling. (3) Sometimes I think I sound like a high and mighty asshole like I am trying too hard to be profound or something so I try to dial it back a bit.

15. a quote you like from a published story.

"He could tell she had injured her head as well, scarlet drops of blood had streamed down the contours of her face and a pool of blood had formed beneath her sprawled tresses. She looked like she had a crimson halo beneath her head, carving its way into the soft, white snow under her. She was ethereal, like an angel that he had found just after they had been dropped from heaven. Forever resting, forever beautiful, and forever young." (The Stranger)

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

"Loving you has been the one pain I always want to endure. Being with you sets my heart on fire, it makes my muscles ache, it makes my lungs burn, and everything so much more complicated. But it’s the best brand of pain I could ask for.”

17. a space for you to say something to your readers.

Hi! I hope you enjoyed learning more about me and my writing if you stopped by and read this! I have been having a tough time writing as of late, but doing little things like this has made me very happy and has made me want to write more often! I am still working on my next fic, progress is going a little slower though. School starts soon too and I am going to be working two jobs and hopefully going back to cheerleading. So let's spend as much time together as we can before I get busy again! I am still aiming to write during the school year so wish me luck! Thank you for reading 💜

I tag: @chummywchimmy @chimchimsauce @chaoticpuff17 @sinning-on-a-sunday @celestial-moonlight @unfurlingtwinklingstarx @scribblemetaetwo

#tag game #content tag game #get to know me #get to know the author

[certifiedceraunophile]

Hi! A fan of your writing here. I just love the way you write Caroline. An Avoidable Heart is my comfort fic and I am constantly in awe with the way you write and craft the dynamics in that story. Caroline's inner monologue is just priceless and God! I just love that intro scene where Caroline is walking into the Mikaelson compound with vampires and hybrids in the surrounding ready to pounce on her.

I would love to hear how you would have visualized Caroline crossing over into TO or not? Like in what season and why? How it would have likely gone?

Thank you!

First of all lovely anon gimme a moment to breathe, asdfghjkl why are people so lovely 😭😭🥺✨ It means sooo much to me that you’d take the time to jump into my inbox and send these kind words, like please I’m not worthyyyyy, But you make me smile and feel really freaking warm so *handcuffs your hand to mine* you aint leaving 💖✨💞🙃

But OK ALSO oh my god dude THAT CAROLINE WALTZS INTO THE COMPOUND AND TAKES ON A COUPLE HUNDRED VAMPIRES BY HERSELF SCENE???? Ughhhhh I’m sorry but I have SUCH a boner for Caroline in that, like my badass -I admit kinda op- QUEEN IS HERE and she’s fucking shit up, I’m sorry but I love that scene so much it’s so dear to me I was killing myself over how self-indulgent and grossly Over powered Caroline is but like idgaf man it’s such a hot scene and Caroline is practically invincible and we just love to see that, so seriously lovely anon, you telling me you LOVE that scene??? Puts the biggest smile on my face and reassures me a LOT bc I was whining and cribbing over how absolutely unbalanced that scene is to literally everyone BUT LIKE YOU JUMPING OUT OF NOWHERE and pointing that exact scene UGHH…...meant to fucking be the both of us 💖💞✨

And ALSO Caroline’s monologue is quite honestly the easiest inner monologue out of the three voices I wrote for that work, Klaus’s is the real pain in the ass tbvh like it is NOT easy writing pretentious besotted losers with a Kardashian complex especially when you need to make them sound cool when they’re the lamest OP dude bros to ever exist - and no I don’t hate Klaus although I seem to try my darndest to convince ppl I do- I just personally believe that a feral fucker like that with a thousand years of existence under his belt can grow a pair and graduate from his kindergarten level of emotional maturity to adult sometime soon, But then on the flipside he’s so grossly adorkably smitten and feral for Caroline plus hella horny for her all the time that its usually easy to write the trashed and devoted idiot he is into something pretentious and powerful and potent when relating to his unflappable arrogance and his narcissism, but sometimes I also need him to be *deep* and ffs profound for the sake of the plot and jfc my muse just wont work with me on that, she’s like I’m sorry I’m not about to bust my ass to make this mongrel intelligible like no sir all I wanna do is make him uncomfortably horny for Caroline and leave him like that.

So smh yeah the struggle is real….but lmao Caroline is just so precious and fiercely protective and just so achingly lonely in that story, so desperate for connection and trust and intimacy yet so guarded and impervious to everyone like it hurts me to write her like that but it really challenges me as an author to balance out her inherent light with the “void” I create in her and through her, so yeah it’s a very fulfilling task and I wouldnt change it one bit, and also I had to balance out her physical op-ness w half a millennium of the ugliest emotional trauma lol so I guess that figures, but the point being….once again I am overjoyed knowing that you liked a facet of the story that I tried so hard to make as authentically Caroline and achingly real and moving as I can and I cannot possibly feel more accomplished than rn for it so ty ty ty ty for reaching out to me and telling me *tackle hugs* It makes me GIDDY knowing that you enjoyed that particular part of the story like ugh stab me please you're too sweet.

And ok NOW, coming to The Originals part of the ask, (also please note that when I say TO headcanon; Hope does not exist, Hayley is a dead in a ditch and ofc Klaus will stop being that lil bitch they tried to pawn off as Klaus in TO) 

HEADCANON 1

Honestly my biggest headcanon when it comes to TO crossovers somehow always include non-humanity!Caroline like it’s just so perfect to me?? The opportunity to make shit BLOW UP b/w them like imagine the DEBAUCHERY, the heat, the SEXUAL TENSION, the repression of one Klaus Mikaelson, the EXPLORATIONS, and omg the role reversal when Klaus has to be the voice of moral reason between them and not bc he believes Caroline would not be able to stand herself if she does something heinous and monstrous but bc he wants her to be completely and utterly herself, and yk *aware*, when she DECIMATES ppl to the ground and is in full-on predator mode, like he wants her monster to come out and play with him when no part of Caroline is locked away or suppressed, so obviously when she is w/o her humanity KLAUS exercises restraint on her behalf, like can you imagine that, Klaus restraining himself and being the vague, extremely broken and just largely inaccurate moral compass between the two of them for ALL the wrong reasons- and the entirety of NOLA just standing there watching him herd this baby vampire who seems to be intent on riling him up and angering him when all she is doing is giving him a massive hybrid hard on, like IMAGINE THE GOODNESS of non-humanity Caroline wrecking NOLA and Klaus letting her wreck it bc he is helpless in the face of Caroline Forbes and also bc he is quite honestly *enjoying* the debauchery himself so why put a damper on the festivities.

-I might wanna add that I favour this headcanon a lot bc I genuinely do not even remotely *like* the idea of NOLA as Klaus's chosen place to set his roots so like I would love Caroline going to NOLA and destroying everything there just bc I detest NOLA and the storyline behind it in TO. (yes is it petty? Obvi, but like I am a petty soul and I make no apologies ma’am)

HEADCANON 2

So yeah that’s my main TO headcanon, but my other one being, one I talk about very frequently, scream about in tag rants to an obsessive level, and like this is a cracky one but still very valid, where Caroline rolls up to NOLA humanity intact and all, finds Hayley preggo and is just laughing her fucking ass off bc anybody ANYBODY, with half a brain and a two minute convo w klaus would know how UTTERLY stupid the entire baby shit is especially when it’s with an immemorable one night stand, and Caroline’s just losing her shit about how like an entire city is obssessed w this baby and she just straight up tells Klaus he’d SUCK as a dad (which he really does tho like he was a shitty fucking dad canonically too) and Klaus is just like *sigh* girl tell me about it. I mean basically he’s finally relieved that someone is on his side about the whole baby thing and how he definitely does not want his entire millennium of life to finally sum up to this one squalling leaking stinky infant/unicorn Hayley is apparently baking in her oven, and I say this headcanon is cracky bc klaus would never have put up w this mess long enough for Caroline to come in and sort it out, there’s this preferred method of disposal of his called heart ripping that would've been employed quite early on and honestly saved us all a lot of brain cells and minused years of life, bc let’s be real any Klaus who’s NOT a lil snivelling bitch wearing a Klaus skinsuit would’ve yeeted the baby and the mama first chance he got, and that’s just how I see it.

Lmao I really hope I didnt scare you away w my *strong* opinions Ik they can be a bit much but I enjoy having them so theyre not going anywhere, anyways this ask answer got WAYYYY too long but I’m hoping I answered your question well with this or atleast left you slightly confused and bemused over my feral screaming....either ways I’m really really really happy to have got your ask and the chance to rant so much bs, Twas cathartic and honestly I had nothing to do today so I was more than happy to dish this baby out for you. Thank you so much sweet anon for putting a smile on my face today I am absolutely HONOURED by your words you’sa cutie 💖💞✨🗣🗣

#first of all #LONG POST #second #I did rant a LOTTTT more than what was prolly expected but lmao am I sorry? #no #anyway so those are my general drivel-tastic thoughts straight from glitter graveyard brain #hope you enjo navigating through so much bs anon #and I hope someone puts a smile on your face that's as large and bright as the one you've put on mine today #anon asks #ask certified ceraunophile #anti the orginals #tvd headcanons #tvd #klaroline #anon youre the sweetest #shakes hand cuffed hand #you stuck w me lovely #💞💞

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

gallifrey pacific rim au? 👀👀

thank you i love you this is probably gonna be way longer than 5 hcs because i have so many thoughts about it

ok so actually i have this note in my phone that's like "gally pacrim au variations" because i've come up with a ton of different versions of this but for almost all of them, the basic framework is that Leela and Andred were copilots, Andred died, and Leela ends up kinda just haunting the shatterdome for a good while until things start like... happening lol

there's this one Gally pacrim au on AO3 where the author has Leela and Romana as drift partners, which is a really good concept (and even tho the fic seems abandoned it's really really good) but also... honestly idk if they would actually be drift compatible? just because like, they've got probably the most tense and fraught relationship in the canon series and i just dunno how they would do with that level of intimacy and openness

so it's either gonna be:

L/N, which would be hysterical bc they hate each other at first despite being compatible (Narvin has never had problems with honesty, even to Leela -- it's core to his personality tbh) and that would also open up the opportunity to stick Braxmana in a jaeger together (also hilarious bc Brax is a heckin simp, you cannot tell me he doesn't do the exact heart eyes at Romana that Raleigh does at Mako)

(watch me being way too deep in a secondhand fandom)

or i can go ahead and be very self-idulgent and admit that my favorite pairings for this au are Leela and Brax, and Narvin and Romana

so like, i actually wrote out a draft that's basically the pacrim au version of that scene from Weapon of Choice (no i will never shut up about it i'm sorry), at this point in the main variation of my mental au, Romana is in charge of the shatterdome and that gives basically the same general power dynamic as in early Gallifrey. but anyway you know i'm obsessed with Leela and Brax's dynamic and i definitely think they would be drift compatible bc they're very *themselves* with each other already, moreso than with most people

the TW version is essentially that things are Very Desperate, Brax and Ace are gone (idk what their jaeger's name would be but the kaiju that took them down would probs be called Obscura because i can't pass up that opportunity), Leela is missing -- so basically how it happens in canon but in a different setting -- and Narvin and Romana finally take up the mantle and become copilots. i haven't fleshed this out as much as i could have but basically i'm just thinking... in canon TW audios they're so close and open with each other and they would be SO drift compatible tbh. also the imagery i always use for them in fics is all that ocean/sea ice meta so it doubly works lol

i'm keeping the idea to write an actual fic about this stored away in the back of my head, the only reason i haven't done it yet is bc everything i know about PR is secondhand but... it's gonna happen someday

BONUS: i have a bennybrax version where it's Brax post-Soldier Obscura who's just lost his copilot Ace and Dellah!Benny with less trauma than you'd expect and her inner monologue is basically a fairly exasperated "of freaking course i'm drift compatible with my very aggravating and possibly somewhat sinister best friend. of course" and thinking about that one makes me laugh (i also have a Legion-era version OOPS this au setting took over my brain)

#ask meme #Lu writes #Lu rambles #pacrim au #gallifey ot4 #bennybrax

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 23: Final Showdown (part 1)

Just as a warning everyone this chapter, and the next one, both have quite a bit of violence. Bones will break. people(and Puppets) will bleed, and somebody may or may not be dead by the end of this. So don't say I didn't warn y'all.

Also chapter 24 should be up next week, cause I wrote out both parts of this as one whole thing before splitting it. It just needs to be edited now, but that can be done tomorrow after work. Also we’re pretty much at the end now. But more on that later, for now enjoy the Final Showdown.

Stacy stayed limp, even as she was tied up by her wrists. Her eyes remained closed, as Mortimer grabbed her face and turned it this way and that to check for consciousness. As she suspected, he refused to even try anything until he knew she was awake to experience it. Even after she'd been feigning sleep for hours.

'You freaks are all the same...' She thought as she swung gently against the wall, listening as Mortimer stalked around the room, muttering under his breath. 'Oh wow, I think he's practicing his villain speech. Loser.'

Her inner monologue of mocking Mortimer did little to keep her fear down. It was only old habits from her childhood that helped her facade stay up in the face of Mortimer suddenly slamming something. The sounds of pages being flipped, and more muttering, this time about Riley. Or maybe about Owen, it was difficult to tell.

Listening to him walk back and forth, muttering and turning pages in a book, Stacy found herself in a tense boredom. It wasn't the first time, and wouldn't be the last, but it made it difficult to keep up her facade. Briefly, quietly, she wished something would happen to get this show on the road.

Unknown to her, however, the door to the Sound Stage had slowly been pushed open, two humans peering around the edge. "Looks pretty safe." Will muttered as he eased the door open wider. "Remember, just grab and go."

"Right." Scout whispered back as she crept into the room. It seemed empty enough, though there were runes and magic symbols scribbled all over the walls. And, hanging in front of one that seemed to be drawn in blood, was her Puppet body. Biting the back the cry of her Host's name, she made her way over to her.

Trembling hands reached up to try and fight the knots around the fabric wrists, but stopped at the sound of heavy footsteps behind her. Turning, she saw the slow, lumbering approach of a Sock Puppet, one that was quickly speeding up.

"Shit!" She hissed out as she dodged around it, noticing Will coming inside and drawing his gun. He didn't get a chance to use it when the sound of wood hitting wood came, and the Sock Puppet relaxed, stepping to one side to reveal Mortimer.

"I can't say this is much of a surprise to see." He started as he walked his Host forward. "I knew that you would make your way to me. Why don't you join me now for some tea?" He stepped aside and gestured to a small, round table set up for tea. He turned to go take his spot at the "head" of the table, and Will raised his gun to aim at his head. Scout grabbed his arm and forced it down, looking pointedly at the Sock Puppet. He stuck it in his pocket and they went over to the table, followed by the Sock.

They stood next to each other, across the table from Mortimer and very aware of the Sock behind them. Neither of them touched their cups, though Mortimer himself did take a long drink from his.

"So you've made it this far in, and all for little Scout." He started after finishing. "Tell me now, how were you planning on getting back out?"

Will held up his gun in response, and it was almost immediately taken by the Sock Puppet. He glared after it as it stared down the barrel, but didn't try and get it back.

"Ah well, a model attempt at the very least, but guns are not allowed. Far too messy, annoying, and loud." A poor rhyme, in Scout's opinion, but Mortimer did seem pretty distracted. She didn't miss the way his eyes kept darting to Stacy.

"Has she woken up yet?" She asked, blatantly turning her head to look. In the corner of her eye she saw him follow her gaze.

"Sadly, not quite yet. I feel there are conditions still not met. Perhaps you know why she remains still unconscious. I feel like I've missed something quite... obvious." His eyes roamed over her, and she avoided meeting them, suddenly scared he could see right through her.

"Well, I have no fucking clue what you're talking about." Will replied nonchalantly. "But if you give back that Puppet, I promise my friends and I will leave, quickly and quietly and with no more harm done."

"Somehow, I don't believe you." Mortimer took another sip of his tea, staring unblinking at the man. "How do I know that what you say is true? No, better to take care of this problem now, and put all of you down."

"Put us down?" Scout repeated quietly.

"Of course! Can't have defective hosts running around. You'll ruin all of our carefully laid plans, before we can take a final bow." He explained, drawing himself up and gesturing grandly. "No, it's better to deal with you now."

Grabbed from behind, Will almost gagged on the necrotic smell coming from the Sock Puppet Hosts. Scout seemed unaffected, probably used to it even now. He kicked back, catching the groin and yanking out of the one handed hold. Leaping over the table, he grabbed the pot of hot tea and flung it, catching both Mortimer and his Host in the face.

The howls of pain distracted the Socks, allowing Scout to escape and run over to Stacy, who by now was watching with wide eyes. Puling on the knots with trembling, clumsy fingers, she couldn't get them loose before being pulled away and thrown.

"Scout!" It was weird hearing her own voice from the outside, as she scrambled to get up. She pushed that thought from her mind, more worried about how Stacy had just blown their cover.

Luckily, Mortimer seemed too preoccupied with Will, who was throwing the tea set at him one piece at a time. He hadn't gotten him with anymore tea, but it certainly distracted him. Noting the Sock lumbering towards her, she dodged around it, grabbing the dropped axe as she went.

'No time to try those knots again! Aim properly, and don't fucking hit her or I'll never hear the end of it!' She ran straight for Stacy, chopping the rope with it as she went by. It was a little high, but she heard the soft thump of the Puppet hitting the floor as she led the Sock around.

Turning a tight corner, she intended to grab her swapped Host on a second pass, but almost stopped when she couldn't find her.

'Oh no!' Mortimer and Will were still fighting each other, and the Sock certainly hadn't grabbed her, so where was she? 'Fuck I am so dead!'

-----

Sammy sat next to the bag, surrounded by small, evil Puppets. Canon was in his lap while Bit was on his head, and the other two were sat next to him watching as their Hosts paced in the narrow hallway. They had some makeshift clubs, and Mason had rigged up a quick trap, but other than that they were pretty defenseless.

"We're gonna die." Bonzai muttered. "They're gonna come for us and all we have is three Hosts to defend us. Not even any vents to escape into."

"Quiet you!" Bit snapped. "They're so much bigger than Riley and Nick, and they took out Daisy!"

"They're not bigger than Rosco, however. To him, they would surely fail to come out better." Stitch said quietly. It was hard to tell what that one was thinking, in Sammy's opinion, but he thought she seemed rather sad about that.

"Ooh, Stitchy, bad rhyme. Do better next time." The red haired one told her sister mockingly. She got a glare in reply, but the yellow and orange Puppet said nothing more.

"Or just stop. They're gonna kill us all anyways, so why even bother." Bonzai piped up.

"Nobody's gonna kill you. Don't be so negative." Sammy told him, only to receive his own glare. "Look, once they get back we're all gonna leave and burn this place down, and we'll bring you guys with us. It'll be fine."

"Also we kinda don't have a choice in the matter anymore." Lisa added, pausing in her step and leaning against the pipe she'd found. "Pretty sure if you guys die, then so do we."

"Which is so, so creepy!" Mason muttered with a full body shudder. "Ugh..."

"Oh quit your whining. Scout's gonna love that we rescued her siblings!" Lisa said, and both Sammy and Mason just gave her blank looks.

"I don't think so. She's never even mentioned them." Mason pointed out. The blonde just shrugged, unending optimism still in her voice.

"Maybe she just didn't want Stacy to worry? You ever think about that?"

Sammy just rubbed his temples as the two devolved into arguing. "I really need a joint." He muttered. The Puppets stared at him in confusion, and Bonzai started counting his actual joints to make sure he had them all.

Anymore arguing or questions were stopped, however, by the sound of heavy, slow footsteps approaching. In the distance was a soft glow, slowly growing larger and brighter. And closer.

Lisa and Mason brought their weapons up, and Sammy stood and forced the Puppets behind him. He had a broken broom, while Mason had another pipe, but none of the weapons felt like they'd be enough as they saw the giant, mutilated dog Puppet.

"Oh." Lisa swallowed thickly, voice small and quiet. "That must be Rosco."

-----

Will had never fought anything like this before. Even the most violent and aggressive of haunted dolls had been just that, dolls. But Mortimer had a full grown, if severely malnourished, adult man attached to him which made it very difficult to get the upper hand on him. And he was all out of things to throw.

'Gotta get that gun back.' He kicked the Host and knocked him away, before turning towards where Scout was trying to deal with the Sock Puppet. She was definitely making use of the prosthetic, however clumsily. But, he could still see the gun held in it's free hand, even as it tried to grab her with it.

"Hey! I need that gun!" He called out, dodging another attempt at being grabbed. Whether Scout even heard him he couldn't tell, but a few seconds later the gun went whizzing by his face, hitting the far wall before he could even register it. Thankfully, it didn't go off, but he and Mortimer did take a second to stare before they went back to fighting.

"Thanks for the fucking warning!" He called out sarcastically, trying to find an opening. At least now he had a chance to get it, if Mortimer would let him.

"Fuck off!" Was Scout's reply as she repeatedly smashed her fist into the side of the Sock's Host. It seemed to be working, as it was starting to go down, or at least act disoriented, and it was giving Will ideas.

There weren't any chairs, and he was out of tea sets, but there had to be something else he could use for a weapon. Some half-rotted cardboard set pieces, the table, but nothing really useful. So he punched Mortimer in the face, hearing a snap as he broke the Puppet's nose.

A howl of pain, as a thick, red sap leaked out. "You horrible, defective Host!" He snarled out, nose snapped and bent.

"Ha! Oh shit..." He turned and ran as Mortimer chased him down. "Shit! I fucked up!"

Scout watched this with the dying Sock Puppet. "Hell yeah you did." She punched it again as it tried to stand back up, and it sank to the floor. She then grabbed the axe and yanked it out of the wall. She went to go help Will, but stopped when she saw more Sock Puppets coming out of the doors.

"Oh fuck me..." She whispered, as half the group went straight for her.

-----

Lisa was screaming. She was aware she was screaming, but could not stop screaming even as she repeatedly whacked Rosco on the head with her pipe. She had no clue what she was screaming, but Mason would tell her later that it was a mash of swears in both English and French.

Mason, on the other hand, was struggling against two out of three Puppets by himself. Yes, three, as Riley had managed to grab the bag and reattach Daisy's head, and also put her eyeballs back. Luckily she was still without a real Host, so it was fairly easy to kick her away when she got too close, but it was annoying and a distraction. And Riley only had one arm, oddly enough, though it didn't seem to stop her from putting her all into her attacks, with him barely able to hold her back at times.

Nick hung back and gave mockingly encouraging words to the other two, but didn't do a lot to help otherwise. He only joined the fight when Sammy managed to sneak up behind him and stab his Host with the broken end of his broom.

"You ass!" Was the artist's response, already feeling his Host begin to bleed out. He stumbled after the stoner, who managed to keep just out of reach while smacking his head, the sound of wood against wood echoing in the small space.

"Diediedie why won't you die?!" He sang out as he drummed against the Puppet's head, disorienting him enough he couldn't fight back, even after Daisy switched her attention to Sammy. Clawing her way up his body, he had to quickly start smacking her until she finally let go and dropped off. He then stomped on her until Nick managed to come to and grab him, pulling him by the back of his shirt and choking him.

Mason saw this and brought his pipe down hard on the arm holding Nick, feeling more than hearing the bones snap under the metal. He howled in pain, letting go of Sammy as he flopped down, other hand flailing trying to catch himself.

Mason grabbed Sammy and started pulling him back towards the door, taking Riley out with a well-timed head-shot as they passed. Which, conveniently, distracted Rosco and gave Lisa an opening to escape.

As she joined them in their attempt at fleeing, pausing only to grab up their Hand Puppets, Sammy and Mason kept their weapons up. The Handeemen were starting to recover, and they had inadvertently trapped themselves.

Backs to the Sound Stage, where Will and Stacy were possibly fighting Mortimer, and in front of them were three royally pissed off Puppets and a dog-monster. Lisa wasn't sure if they should push forward, or try and fall back, but looking at what was ahead of them made her blood rush from fear.

Survival was not looking good.

#hello puppets #fanfiction #outside #mortimer handee #scout #riley ruckus #rosco #nick nack #daisy danger #bonzai #bit #stitch #canon #sammy davis #stacy stein #will carson #lisa montgomery #mason kamiya #violence #bleeding but not human blood

[thattimdrakeguy]

ROBIN 80TH ANNIVERSARY - REVIEW!! - The GREAT, the okay, the meh, the wait what, and the freaking awful

None of the stories I’d consider bad in this besides the Super Sons one.

They have flaws, some don’t have any but aren’t that great, and just weird choices, with some disappointments.

I’m just gonna be honest about each story because that’s all I can do.

--

DICK GRAYSON’S FIRST STORY: Really freaking good.

My favorite story is probably the first one:

Like the art is the best in the whole issue, and the only real flaw is how mean they made Bruce through-out it.

It’s yet again another story of how and why Dick quit (I guess he didn’t get fired this time) being Robin, but it’s just nice. Nice pacing, timing, dialogue, good art, and because the people working on it are 80s writers and artists, it keeps it feeling classic.

Which is great for a little showing of the 80s world, and I’m no big 80s DC guy at all, but it’s a really nice flashback for that.

One thing that was disappointing but I won’t count as a flaw (since it’s really not, just a wasted opportunity) is that this kid didn’t end up being Tim:

It looks like a young Tim, it’s drawn by the first artist on Tim’s Robin ongoing, written by his creator, it’s about the history of Robin, and he’s an overeager Robin fanboy-- like why wasn’t this kid Tim? He even has that dorky bowlcut Tim had when he was little, just less 80s styled.

A missed opportunity honestly.

The story though shows Dick’s compassion, talent, frustrations as he became his own man, his views on Robin, some of his sense of humor even. So his characterization is pretty great, but it is written by the man that grew Dick his own unique character to begin with, and it’s great to see this story keeps it up. (Prolly gonna find out this is an old script, but hey, it’s a good one.)

A weird retcon story, but it’s a nice callback to the 80s, and I think it’s really well-done beyond Bruce being a controlling grumpy prick to the point it feels like parody.

--

DICK GRAYSON’S SECOND STORY: It’s just alright.

Where the first story is a flashback to the 80s, this is a direct flashback to he 90s, with the writer and artist that started his ongoing solo.

And it’s good. Like I had a lot of fun reading it, good heroics, feels of it’s era, but like the last story that’s the fun.

There’s nothing really to say about it besides it’s good. There isn’t anything too standout about it.

--

DICK GRAYSON’S THIRD STORY: It’s forgettable.

I forgot this was a thing in this, and it just feels like a waste of page.

It’s in no way bad that I seen, but it’s so very bland and one note. Titans fight and Dick acts as leader. Very generic.

The art’s really good though.

--

DICK GRAYSON’S FOURTH STORY: It’s better than that last one at least.

Unlike the last one, this feels like it at least has a point to be here, and it actually feels like it makes sense to be in he 80th anniversary as well.

I’m not a personal fan of the “Grayson” series, it just sexualized Dick too much honestly, made him cheesier again a bit, and the writing was a little on the off-side in a way that just made it all feel empty besides a few moments, but I never read the whole series to be a great judge on it.

But also because of that, I have no idea who these people are for this story to be grand. What makes it feel like it’s worthy of being here though is trying it back to the history of Robin like the first story with these little bits.

Without these moments though, you wouldn’t have a clue why this is there.

Also Dick just suddenly wears this:

Which is super duper off-putting. But Oh-ho gotta have sexy Dick in there somewhere I guess. Just-- wow, was that super sudden.

--

JASON TODD’S STORY: It’s good but this kid doesn’t look right.

The story is very simple and sweet, and I think it works a lot given Jason and Bruce’s complicated relationship.

It’s even written by Judd Winnick who did Under the Red Hood, which is awesome.

But who is this kid they keep calling Jason exactly? It irrationally bugs me, because all the art has been super spot on till this story. They even write him well, but it just genuinely doesn’t look like post-crisis Robin Jason.

Like to show what I mean--

You read it and this is how the kid speaks.

Super snarky,

a bit of a rude edge to it,

practical sounding but rough teen-ish still

yet still mature enough to feel like he can handle himself.

So you might place this around when Jason was 15 given he’s Robin, and when he was 15 and when they gave him a unique design finally away from a generic silver age Robin, he looked like a young body builder--

Like this is what Jason Todd looked like when they settled his look away from a Dick clone:

A young body builder type, strong jaw, working out, mature features for his age

So who the heck is this?

Like this isn’t what Jason looked like besides pre-crisis, but this is post-crisis Jason. They already settled what he looked like during that 80s run, and this isn’t it. He’s not supposed to look like a generic silver age Robin anymore.

Even beyond it not looking like what Jason’s supposed to, it doesn’t fit the dialogue. He’s written as a practical, snarky, yet in his own way still mature teen. Soooooo why’s he look 5?

It’s so off-putting and it bugs me.

However, beyond that, I really like the story, and at least the artist was good at drawing adult Jason.

Them representing Bruce’s and Jason’s complicate relationship of distant but still caring is something I really enjoy. It’s so much more true to character rather than acting like Jason is just a part of the family like nothing ever happened.

More of that dynamic for them, please.

--

TIM DRAKE’S FIRST STORY: It’s pretty good, but it’s missing something.

Not the highest praise ever, but I do like this story. I enjoy it’s setting at Tim’s school. High school was a constant setting for Tim’s comics in Robin, and they rarely ever treat it like that so I enjoy this story bringing it back.

I really enjoyed the connection  between extracurricular activities and what he does as Robin. It’s that blend of relatability and heroics that really made Tim work as a character. So that’s also great they brought back.

One of my favorite things that they bring up is Tim being into eSports, cuz it reminds me of how much Tim was into video games. It’s a very modern version of him being into the arcades in the 90s. Which is great.

However a downside is that it doesn’t really focus on Tim as a character like the other stories did with the other Robins.

Nothing about his never give up attitude, his insecurities, his underdog likability, how hard he is on himself, or things like that.

In-general this story says nothing about his personality besides a mention that he’s geeky. Which is a pretty big let-down because it keeps it from being any better, despite it already being good.

Freddie William’s art is also very hit or miss. It’s so crude sometimes, and Tim seems so buff compared to before in his actual Robin run. It’s very displeasing given that his early Tim work was top 5 Tim art material. However I still enjoyed that they brought him back even if he can’t draw Tim as well anymore. Tim’s still good in the babyface in most panels at least.

BUT-- this is still a pretty good Tim story. It’s just lacking.

Like it just should’ve been more about Tim as a character since it’s a Tim Drake story.

--

TIM DRAKE’S SECOND STORY: It’s honestly just pretentious.

Tim doesn’t talk like this. Tynion has a melodramatic tone to his characters that works great for characters like Batman, I’ve actually quite liked his Batman run so far partially because of that, but it doesn’t work for Tim.

This is not what Tim talks like. It’s so very unnatural sounding for a kid. Yet Tim talks in this incredibly dramatic tone except for a few light hearted spots, when I feel like it should be the opposite.

It’s also trying hard to be a character study, but again it’s so unnatural. It sounds like a fan describing their view of the characters, not the characters themselves. Like since have these guys became each others therapists?

And then he has Dick say these things that makes Tim seem like a Gary Stu and the greatest most talented guy ever.

Also having Tim hang out with Jason when Jason’s using guns even though Tim’s insanely against that sort of thing.

They even have Damian talk like a typical fan person who dislikes Tim based off of superficial things for a bit.

The fact it treats that Detective Comics Rebirth part of Tim’s character history as uber important is also a bit pretentious of the writer given he wrote that too. Despite Tim only being in that run for like three arcs and wasn’t even in-character for most of it.

Best part of it, is the vague acknowledgement that Tim didn’t want to be anything else but Robin to me.

Otherwise it just reeks of awkwardly written fan fiction.

Honorable mentions of quality though, is Dick and Tim being brothers train riding, and Damian’s mini-adult coming out. I’m so sick of them making Damian a generic kid sometimes that I actually liked this part even if it’s through a snarky filter.

--

STEPHANIE BROWN’S STORY: Better than expected, it’s actually pretty good.

I actually really liked this story. Overall I think Steph’s actual Robin run sucked, this is still a good story if I can get past the era it’s set in.

Unlike Tim’s stories, this actually uses her character.

How reckless she can be without it being super exaggerated, her attitude, love that they brought back the diary format for her inner-monologue too. 

There’s not much to say besides I’d actually consider this one of the best stories in the thing, except for the fact Steph clearly disobeys Batman and she was said to get fired for that. That’s a decent plot holes for me.

I super love the detail of Tim being so small that Steph can’t fit in his uniform. That cheered me up.

Them bringing back her Robin era artist was also great. Unlike Freddie Williams, their art actually really improved.

DAMIAN WAYNE’S FIRST STORY: The genuine worst story in it.

It’s so-- baaad.

Fan service can work if it’s in good quality. Like being in-character, or a nice homage. The train riding in Tynion’s story was that.

This isn’t that.

Damian and Jon didn’t get along right away, not even soon enough for this “mostly” part to feel right as a joke, because they obviously didn’t get along mostly right away. They fought a lot. They even show it on the full page them fighting, but they downplay how long they did fight just for fanservice. It took a long time, and even when they did it was still contrived.

Then they have Damian and Jon in the same class, when they aren’t the same age for that to make sense..

They even have Jon help Damian on his tests when it’s constantly shown that Damian is a brainiac who wouldn’t need that.

It’s literally even in the history summary at the end that he’s highly intelligent. So he probably wouldn’t even ever need a study partner considering he’s even said to have actual PHDs anyway. Which makes the study partner thing just plain out of character.

There’s also panels that straight up feels like oddly specific deviantart fetish art, which is so nasty. Especially considering that I know damn well that’s there’s pedophiles who make this same kind of oddly specific fetish art on there. So much so I had to stop using the site cuz of the anxiety it gave me.

And they downplay how mean Damian can be too Jon so much that it irks me.

This is the worst story in the whole comic, genuinely. Nothing good is in it, besides some decent enough art.

It’s certainly pandering to it’s fandom, but to certain parts it really shouldn’t be.

(This sort of stuff was still happening in their miniseries. Jon really shouldn’t want this as a brother. That’s stockholm syndrome.

--

DAMIAN WAYNE’S SECOND STORY: It’s better than the last one, but somethings missing still.

Unlike the last one avoiding talking about Damian’s actual character besides to play it down. This one actually uses it.

It’s just so quick, and empty feeling at the same time that it’s missing something. A bit like an inverse of Tim’s first story. Tim’s story had the setting and interesting story format, but no real character, while this has a lot of usage of the character but no interesting setting or story.

A lot of Damian’s character is that he’s not a natural Robin as far as attitude goes. He isn’t a typical Robin, and I enjoy how they play into that rather than be afraid of that. It’s what makes this actually work for me.

Although it makes you question why he’s still Robin, I consider that a good thing, because YOU SHOULD. You want the character’s to actually acknowledge things as if they’re real and not just ignoring things.

He’s not typical, he’s unique for better or worse. That’s Damian, and that’s what you should show of him.

This goes into why Damian’s the exact opposite of what a Robin normally is. That’s great.

But it’s missing anything memorable about it. However I think that’s cuz it leads into a future issue of Teen Titans which gives it a reasonable excuse.

I’m really hoping it leads into something.

Although i have a feeling they sadly might do the same thing as typical and ignore Damian’s actions more. Avoiding any genuine feelings.

--

OVERALL

It’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Only two stories I’d actually call bad, which is a lot less than I thought With just occasionally sloppy art, not even what I’d call back, but just crude or not drawing the character accurately which will annoy some more than others.

When I heard of this book I got so worried, but only two stories is actually almost relieving how little that is given the potential ego-driven things they could’ve done, which only those two stories then.

To me, I say it’s worth a pick-up, just rip out a story or two to keep it friendlier to revisit

Mostly was just really missing that extra heart in a lot of the stories.

#Tim Drake #Robin #Dick Grayson #Nightwing #Jason Todd #Red Hood #Stephanie Brown #The Spoiler #Bruce Wayne #Batman #DC Comics #Bat-Family #Batfamily #Bat-fam #Batfam #Teen Titans #Young Justice #Young Just Us

[utterlyinevitable]

Make Believe ♡

Hmmm my initial thought was Ethan calling Becca in the Vet fantasy buuuut this one makes me feel the most things: 

This was Rebecca, his Rebecca, she’d always weasel her way into his affairs in any timeline; of that Ethan was certain. 

This is the first time Ethan ever really entertains the idea of soulmates or a higher power - some sort of force that brought her to him. Destiny was really the only thing to describe their meeting and coupling. Her personality and her body just fit with his a little too perfectly. 

Honorable mentions below the cut because this long fic has many juicy moments!

flashback friday: send me the title or chapter of a fic i wrote and i’ll choose my favorite line and why i wrote it

With immediate certainty and a calm voice, Ethan finished the fantasy, “I’d call you the second you walked away.”  

How sexy is this image of Ethan being so fucking forward an calling her the second he got her number? He’s so sure about Becca that he believes if they met any other time he’d know she’s the one from that moment on. He’s always going to be intrigued by her and in this timeline he allows himself to do something about it. 

What’s kept her awake every single night since that lustful goodbye after her ethics hearing, has been the profound wish that he was simply a colleague and not her boss with the weight of the hospital resting on his pedestal.

Oop the idea of Ethan perched on the pedestal he and the medical community holds himself on. I just wanted to callback to his ethics and morals and how they’ve affected her. Because he’s not that idolized doctor on that pedestal anymore, to her he’s just Ethan. The man she’s fallen for. 

With his hand cupping her cheek and thumb rubbing the warm flesh, he uttered his next words as if they were a prayer he devoutly committed to every evening, “Soon, I promise.” 

Writing this line I wanted to show how they’re both hurting and wanting to be together. How they’re both longing for ‘soon’ of their first date. 

Sitting here with her lover, stuck in a freak blizzard cloaking the fancy chalet in snow a short time after surviving an assassination attempt, the impossible and impractical never seemed more normal. 

Basically, anything is possible. Life doesn’t have a map to follow, you can veer off the pavement at any moment. 

Everything about this mystery woman had Ethan intrigued; he was a man after all.

I mean - Ethan is a man and it needed to be pointed out that he has his weak moments. Even the Great Ethan Ramsey isn’t immune to carnal attraction. 

Becca’s eyes were distracted by the dancing orange and red’s across from them, yet all Ethan had eye’s for was her.

After the incident all she really wanted to find was comfort. Looking at the fire she was comforted by its warmth, but also fire is dangerous. It’s another danger she’s locked in a room with that could go rampant at any moment. Ethan couldn’t notice anything but her - how she’s alive and in his arms. 

“Am I just a hobby to you?”

This is painful. It’s all of Ethan’s uncertainties bottled up in one sentence. He’s afraid that what they have is fragile and she’s distracting herself from the pain by being with him. This is also the first time he really tries to define their relationship. 

If they were complicated, then their falling in love was inevitable; Staying together was the test of time.

Ain’t this the truth. They’re two complicated people attracted to puzzles and cheap thrills. They were always going to mean something to one another. Trying to maintain the balance of their relationship would be the greatest challenge of all. 

Not privy to her inner monologue, Ethan noted her large, dilated browns. “Did you hit your head?”

I find this one funny now. It was written to tell how News Reporter Becca was instantly attracted to Ethan which is why her pupils dilated, but Ethan was too thick to notice and asked if she had a concussion 😂

Swirling around in the blues of his eyes were clouds of resentment, self-loathing, cowardice and all their missed chances. Becca could name every single one of his floating regrets. She didn’t want him to suffer on account of her anymore.

I don’t know what I was getting at with this other than the intimacy between them. 

Naturally, like she was always meant to be there, she perched herself onto the barstool at the right corner beside the sandalwood smelling stranger. 

In fantasy and in canon, she always belongs right at his side. 

#fbf #make believe #open heart #ethan x mc #terrm9 #asked

[drmedicsgamesurgery]

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 Part 7 (Summary)

Sorry for the short summary after 2 weeks, i have been very busy and this part required a lot of hard reading and research to translate. Good news is I will be much more free soon, so if you are lucky you might get 2 summaries a week.

Thanks to @enoshima-pyon @shockersalvage​ @jinjojess​ @hopeymchope​ for helping out!

One more thing:

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ KIRIGIRI SOU, DO SO NOW OR YOU WILL BE SUPER CONFUSED AS TO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. LINK HERE.

5.

This feeling. 

Why, why is it that when I learn more about the K2K system in this place, I feel completely confused? 

This may all be fake. Maybe, I already knew that things would be like this? From the time when Borges’ anomalies became more and more obvious, I had begun to have already noticed it within my own heart.

My own story. 

Originally, I was just an item belonging to Byakuya. 

However, I also had my own story and I was destined to confront it at some point. 

And that is now.

I drank cold coffee and K did the same. The old man just talked about the tragedy of Don Quixote. [1] He said that the scene in which all the main characters had arrived into an inn had become unreadable due to the language. He said even Kafka and Sōseki [2] still resisted like this.

Speaking of which, there are also very exaggerated incidents in the books of authors like Banana Yoshimoto [3] and Haruki Murakami. [4] People feel like these can be too coincidental or contrived. Is that also a kind of resistance? Or is it that an exaggerated incident is an indispensable element for an interesting story?

Anyway, the old man who was drinking coffee in front of me, by pure chance was also something of a long shot. I just so happened to meet him and just so happened to listen to him. He just so happened to be an alumnus of Hope Peak Academy. He just so happened to be related to the Bible Plan. He just so happened to have participated in the development of Borges. It's almost like just one big joke.

I don't know if K knows my inner monologue. He has been talking in the calmest tone since then.

"It was not long after the end of the 'The Worst Incident in the History of the Togami Family. A person who claimed to be an insider of the Togami Family found me. Presumably, the superiors had already learned of the 'Bible Plan' to some extent. The insider was begging me: 'Can you write a dictionary for us?' What a charming invention!’ Still, I wanted to find a safe place to hide Borges. The Togami’s wanted to learn the techniques behind the 'Bible Plan'. Although I don't like the phrase very much, it was a win-win relationship for both parties."

Shinobu, naturally, has grown quite distrustful from these explanations but K assures her that he only provided the dictionary aspects of Borges, and points out that while any ‘missing pages’ were on the publishers fault, it was on the ‘reader’ in how they used the dictionary. When K was called on by the Togami’s, Borges hardware was already complete and he had installed the K2K system in it. However, complications arose because instead of using Borges as just a dictionary Shinobu used it as a way that K describes best as someone “watching the Raiders [5] while playing the game at the same time.”

That was a very modern metaphor, but thanks to it, things have become easier to understand. Indeed, I have always been obsessed with “Journey Under The Midnight Sun". Writing "Journey Under The Midnight Sun" is my only value in life.

Since Shinobu kept using Borges to search things related to Byakuya in order to write his biography, the K2K System inside it became specialized in Byakuya. And just like it led a person into committing murder by showing him a particular book, it started showing to Shinobu a book recommended to her. It started showing only the reality she wanted to see.

Shinobu responds that she had no chance to learn about the Hasegawa Research Institute or the Ketouin Conglomerate but K compares it to that of the ‘Anna Karenina’ [6] translations and how Nabokov [7] commented on how many times the word ‘home’ appeared throughout them all compared to the original text. Eight in the English version, once in French and no more than twice in the Czech version. He ponders how many times the word appears in the Japanese iteration before saying that reading those translations can be touching, but there will always be an inability to grasp what the original was. This causes Shinobu to think about her conversation with Hiroyuki on the talk of translations and he encouraged her to read the original.

It’s like singing karaoke without seeing the lyrics. It should be alright, but it seems that there is something wrong with it, which makes people feel uneasy and fearful.

K sums it up with this: “In a nutshell, no matter how many correct explanations I make, your dictionary will not translate them accurately to you.”

Shinobu demands to be told what the actual names of the Ketouin Conglomerate and the Hasegawa Institute...only to become exasperated when she thinks K is joking when he says they are the SkinSkin Conglomerate and Clark Kent Research Institute. K points out as long she had Borges, what she said and hears really can’t be guaranteed. It has mostly to do with the dictionary installed in it. Because the multiple editors are different, the content is different as well. Like how the concept of love varies between definition and cultures and philosophy.

“Just like an analogy. In addition, because of their different levels of knowledge, their understanding ability is different. After reviewing the dictionary, different users will have a considerable degree of understanding of the meaning of a word. The dictionary thinks that it understands 'A', but it may be misunderstood to understand 'B', and when it is described in language, it is 'C', and this may happen."

Shinbu comments she doesn’t want to misunderstand the world, though K points out people are misunderstanding everything throughout their lifetime, like how someone made Gulas by following a curry recipe or how people have turned to terrorism because of watching “Island of the Evil Spirits”[8]. Shinobu, horrified, wonders how she has been talking to people. However, K explains it that as long as people get the gist of her actions, communicating with others should be fine. Even though her reality is twisted in distorted, her unreality is still set within the bounds of reality.

Yet, even still...

"I just want to see the real thing."

"This feeling is actually normal, but it’s impossible. Borges is like a mother who overprotects her child, hides everything that is not good for you, and only provides you with what you want to see."

"I don't have Borges in my right eye, so why is it impossible? Haven't I gotten rid of its influence?"

"Even if the child is independent, it is impossible to get rid of the influence of the parents immediately. A person who has necrosis of the right side of the brain due to cerebral infarction will replace the right side with the function that has been lost. The same is true for you as well. Now all the organs in your body are running at full speed, instead of Borges continuing its work."

"How hopelessly despairing."

"Don't say that. If it lets you see the truth all at once, you will certainly collapse. It’s because this work is still in progress. It’s so you can still see the world you want to see.”

The world I want to see?

Shinobu soaks this in and starts to lose it, repeating her belief that Byakuya Togami is God. K tries to snap her back to reality by reminding her that Byakuya is human and is destined to grow old and die. Shinobu, however, still continues her silent freak out as she comes to grip with this information.

With or without Borges. I am still myself. 

This is irrelevant! Byakuya is God! It’s not that I put a sparkling aura on him or anything, but he is just is so shining! He was born to be the North Star! That old man doesn't really know what he is talking about when it comes to such a God! Byakuya is unbeaten, and Byakuya is invincible! 

At this time, he still plays the world in the palm of his hand. Since then, the world has always belonged to Byakuya. This fact will not change, even if the sun expands and swallows the Earth. The universe is coming to an end, yet Byakuya is still God! I wrote "Journey Under The Midnight Sun" to let this truth pass on to the future, and wrote a completely true biography with Borges... 

Ah, but Borges has been full of lies...hey? The reason why Borges lies is because I want to see such a world, right!? What I want to see is Byakuya as the world's God? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! 

I need to drink Bufferin.

I seem to be in a mess and I can prove that this is why K that was so eloquent before. However, he did not say a word, but was quietly watching me. I don't know if what he is thinking is either "this would be the crash after a person knows the truth" or "it’s hard to keep faith now". Regardless of the case, all this really teaches people how to be angry... 

No, actually, I’m not. This feeling...this is not how I actually feel! Honestly, I would like to use Borges to search for vocabulary related to feelings.

In fact, I want to let Borges manage me, just like before!  Ah, no, that’s not right! Because I have neither hope nor despair. Since Otsuki was present as my brother. Since Kazuya became my younger brother. Since the day I was born into the house of the Togami family.

That’s when that moment started. 

Hope won't make me feel splendid. 

Despair won't make me depressed. 

I don't need to use these things to spur myself!  

Yes, I will get the approval of Byakuya Togami and I will get to work on writing the biography given by him!

...But if these memories are also just illusions that Borges have been showing me...things are going to get quite confusing.

6.

"The picture."

After a while, K whispered. I stared at the painting hanging on the wall with my left eye, the weird creature that stood on the ground with a big nose.

"It's scientific name is the “Hopsorrhinus aureus”. This creature uses a jointed nose to jump like a kangaroo," K explained. "In 1941, this creature was found on the island of Hy-yi-yi in the South Pacific. This is a special sub-type of mammalian animal called the Rhinogradentia. [9] So far, 14 subjects have been discovered.”

K lists off the types of Rhinogradentia that have been discovered, including the species that has tentacles coming out of its nose that they use to walk with.

"How is it possible for there to be such creatures?”

“BAU UND LEBEN DER RHINOGRADENTIA was published in 1961 by Professor Harald Stümpke. [10]”

“Is there a book about them?”

“Yes, and it was translated to all over the world, causing there is a huge response. There should also be a Japanese version. You can check it out after you return to Japan."

"Then, what kind of book is it? Is it like a fake book?"

"The Foreword and Afterword are actually written by a real and famous zoologist. A review of this book was even published in scientific journals, and there are many related books too. How would you doubt an academic book on all the issues that modern zoology deals with from Morphology, anatomy, ontogeny, physiology, actions, diets, and phylogenetic evolution? With such an academically sound book, do you think you are qualified to doubt it?"

"There is no more direct evidence than images."

"I don’t have any."

"Why?"

"This creature is extinct."

"Extinction?"

"In 1957, due to a nuclear test conducted nearby, the islands where the Rhinogradentia flourished sank."

“It's a super-perfunctory ending.”

"Don't say what the ending is."

"So there are no photos? Since it was in the 1950s, there should be photos, right?"

"All the information sank with the island."

"I’m really speechless. There are no photos, anymore? If you can't investigate on the spot, there is no way to prove that this creature actually exists. This is really not credible."

"Do you know the Dodo?"

"A bird that is already extinct?"

"Because of that, do you think ‘Did this bird really exist?’"

"Of course it did."

"How can you be so convinced? The Dodo did not have any photos survive. The Dodo had once thrived on the island of Mauritius. This is only the testimony of the sailors at the time that can be proved without any other reliable information. Dodo, like the Rhinogradentia, are impossible to verify what kind of creature it was and what kind of life it lived."

"I remember seeing specimens..."

"There is a sample of a Dodo stored in a monastery in the Czech Republic. However, there is no evidence to prove that the terrible thing that is covered with charcoal is the real thing.”

“Therefore, the Dodo is a bird like a dove and a seagull, but the creature walking on the nose is looking for it. There is no such thing in the world, that is to say, common sense can prove that it is contrary to common sense, is false, can be judged by common sense."

"No, believe that the Dodo is real, but doubt the authenticity of the Rhinogradentia. This is not based on common sense judgment made, simply because you lack the logic to accept the existence of a real Rhinograde.

“You mean to say my lack of knowledge?"

"Reality and unreality are indistinguishable from the experiencer. I believe that a real person can see the existence of the Rhinogradentia it even if it is fantasy, and will also write an article to prove its existence. If a third party believes in the article, then the fantasy will be shared by them and become their common fantasy. By the way, when the book was published, most readers completely believed that the Rhinogradentia existed."

Shinobu cant laugh even if she thinks its too stupid. These people at the time had no real way of knowing the Rhinogrades were made up. Shinobu thinks about the Kudan, and thinks to herself that the Kudan definitely exists, like the Dodo. 

People who don't believe that the "Kudan" exists makes me laugh.

“People are only willing to see the reality they want to see,” K said calmly "No matter how convincing a certain argument is, as long as people are unwilling to accept it, they can't understand the meaning of it. This pathology is similar to the story in Don Quixote.”

K then gives another example similar to the previous one before continuing.

“No matter how much we experience, how much knowledge we learn, it is impossible to have the same sense of reading as the readers at the time. That is absolute.”

“Absolute...” murmurs Shinobu.

K says as long as Shinobu believes that Byakuya Togami is a God, Borges would do everything it could to strengthen that position, even if what is happening is different. To sum it up, “The sacredness of Byakuya Togami, if you couldn’t find it, you would make it.”

What?

I...understand.

Now I understand. If Byakuya Togami is not God, then my world will end.

The only purpose of my existence is to write "Journey Under The Midnight Sun", and I couldn’t let that weakness and fragility of Byakuya be exposed to my eyes.

So I made up and fabricated the storyline.

I built the story I wanted to see for myself. Not on purpose, but because of Borges's interference. In order to make Byakuya Togami become God, I have created a lot of lies so far. I made people who didn't exist, created a group organization that didn't exist, and looking back I think I even falsified the past. 

I now understood all of this and was mentally prepared. Although I can't say that I was awake...I have accepted the uncertainty of my brain.

I have accepted the fact that life has only just begun today.

With this realization, Shinobu stares at the painting and asks for the name of this animal and finds them cute. The Snout Leaper is what it’s called. Shinobu says that it would be nice if the Snout Leaper really existed, but believing in something and it actually being true are two different things. K says that belief is just enough.

“I still want to hear the truth, I want to know the truth."

"Although I don't know if I can't do it, it's worth a try."

"I didn't expect you to say that too."

"I didn't mean to tease you," K said shrugging. "At present, there is no Borges in your right eye. Then you have to look at the real things with your own eyes and update your reality. Although the information falsified by Borges will not disappear easily, but since you have found a path that convinced you, no matter how difficult it is, you should follow that path."

"I think so too."

"Then I’ll tell you something, maybe it can help you. Although it's just a hypothesis, the Despair Disease is more than likely a lie made up by Borges” he begins...only to be cut off by a piercing sound.

Just then, countless bullets penetrated the window and the kettle in the kitchen was riddled with holes.

 Translation Notes: (I highly recommend reading these this time if you don’t normally.)

[1] Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. A founding work of Western literature, it is often labeled "the first modern novel" and is sometimes considered the best literary work ever written.

[2] Natsume Sōseki was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note. In Japan, he is often considered the greatest writer in modern Japanese history. He has had a profound effect on almost all important Japanese writers since. 

[3] Banana Yoshimoto is the pen name of Japanese writer Mahoko Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto says that her two main themes are “the exhaustion of young Japanese in contemporary Japan” and “the way in which terrible experiences shape a person’s life”. Her works describe the problems faced by youth, urban existentialism, and teenagers trapped between imagination and reality. Her works are targeted not only to the young and rebellious, but also to grown-ups who are still young at heart. Yoshimoto's characters, settings, and titles have a modern and American approach, but the core is Japanese. She addresses readers in a personal and friendly way, with warmth and outright innocence, writing about the simple things such as the squeaking of wooden floors or the pleasant smell of food. Food and dreams are recurring themes in her work which are often associated with memories and emotions. Yoshimoto admits that most of her artistic inspiration derives from her own dreams and that she’d like to always be sleeping and living a life full of dreams.

[4] Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country. His work has received numerous awards, including the World Fantasy Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Franz Kafka Prize (yes really), and the Jerusalem Prize. Another notable feature of Murakami's stories are the comments that come from the main characters as to how strange the story presents itself. Murakami explains that his characters experience what he experiences as he writes, which could be compared to a movie set where the walls and props are all fake.

[5] The Raiders can refer to either The Los Angeles Raiders or the Canberra Raiders. Both are sports teams.

[6] Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Many writers consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger.

[7] Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator and entomologist. His first nine novels were written in Russian (1926–38), but he achieved international prominence after he began writing English prose. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945. It should be noted that a novel of his titled “Despair” (Novel), is about a man who meets a homeless man in the city of Prague, whom he believes is his doppelgänger. You can't make this stuff up, I’m serious.

[8] Island of the Evil Spirits is a film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. I honestly can’t find much about it.

[9] Yep, you Kirigiri Sou fans should be very blissful now. Interesting how K explains the non-canon routes of Kirigiri Sou to be based in “unreality”.

[10] Gerolf Steiner was a German zoologist. Steiner is best known for a 1961 book authored pseudonymously as Harald Stümpke on the anatomy and habits of the rhinogradentia, a fictitious order of extinct mammals whose nose evolved in unusual ways.

To Be Continued

https://drmedicsgamesurgery.tumblr.com/GameSurgeryDRTranslations

#Danganronpa #Danganronpa:Togami #danganronpa togami #DRT3 Summary #Danganronpa: Togami #Kirigiri Sou #Part 7

[clumsybookworm18]

I really like your blog and I was wondering what your favourite books are or if you had any book recommendations? ♥️

Awww you’re too nice! Thank you ☺️💕

You made my night! Asking for book recs while letting me gush over my favorite books at the same time? Hell yes!!!

Ok ok so my absolute favorites are:

A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J Mass

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.

Anyone who’s been following me for a while knows how much I love this series, especially the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury. The first book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (one of my favorite tropes) and surprisingly I found it so boring that I almost didn’t finish it BUT after getting to the second half I was completely hooked. Getting through ACOTAR was so worth it because I got to read ACOMAF, which had more of a Hades and Persephone vibe (++A). ACOMAF is my ultimate comfort book, I love it so much that I own it physically, on my kindle and on audiobook. It may be cliche and the writing can be ridiculously funny sometimes but I still love it!

The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

They were never meant to be together. As a general's daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can't help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other. Set in a new world, The Winner's Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

These books hold a special place in my heart. They got me out of a HUGE reading slump and reminded me why I fell in love with books in the first place! This trilogy has everything- beautiful writing, fantastic world building, clever plot twists, forbidden romance, and most importantly, ANGST. The main female character, Kestrel, is one of my favorite heroines ever; she is a badass and doesn’t need a sword or fists to fight given that her greatest weapon is her mind (unlike most YA heroines nowadays).

Hope and Red (Empire of Storms series) by Jon Skovron

Hope's old life ended the night her entire village was massacred by the emperor's forces. Now, trained in secret by a master warrior, her new life is centered on only one goal: vengeance.

Red lives by the skin of his teeth and sharpness of his wit. An expert thief and a brilliant con artist, he cares for only one thing: a good time. But when the empire's soldiers start to encroach on his territory, taking down his friends with it, he may have to re-prioritize.

Together, they will take down an empire.

A fantasy trilogy that is so UNDERRATED. It’s has amazing characters, diversity, action, wit, PIRATES! It has a unique storyline, the characters and dialogue are so funny, and the female characters are amazingly badass. I stumbled upon this book so randomly while I was at Cotsco and it looked interesting so I bought it (mostly because I thought the cover was cool 😂) but never gave it much thought. One day boredom got the best of me so I started reading it. Next thing I knew it was 3am and I was freaking the fuck out cause I had read this amazing book in one sitting that ended with a cliffhanger and I needed more pronto! Much to my delight, I discovered there were 2 more books and ordered them immediately.

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith.A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

A team formed of 6 very different but compelling characters that go on a heist. *chef’s kiss* Also Squad Goals. Needless to say I REALLY enjoyed these books.

Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

Pixie and Levi haven't spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward. All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.

I don’t like NA a lot so I went into this thinking it was gonna be another NA cliché read so believe me when I say I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I fell in love with Pixie and Levi’s relationship. I loved their banter, their complicated history, the angst, the love-hate and UST. The author’s writing style is so good and quirky, and the inner monologues are hilarious. She does a great job managing humor and drama! The side characters are great too. She wrote 2 more books with some of the side characters (which sadly I haven’t got the chance to read yet) but this could also be read as a stand-alone. I listened to the whole audiobook on YouTube (100% recommend!).

Honorary Mentions:

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

#book recs #book asks #books #ya books #acotar #acomaf #sarah j maas #the winner's trilogy #marie rutkoski #six of crows #crooked kingdom #leigh bardugo #jon skovron #sally thorne #brandon sanderson #best kind of broken #truthwitch #warm bodies #to kill a kingdom #romance books #the gilded wolves #sara wolf #bookworm #reading #booklr

[bookaholic1012]

An Unexpected Muse - Feysand

Summary: Based on prompt from @sjmaasandallthesass : Feysand in a modern AU where Feyre and Rhysand always see each other in this cafe they like but never speak to each other, and he likes to sit and read or write while she loves to draw little sketches here and there. One day, she goes to the bathroom or whatever and he sees her sketchbook as he’s passing by and sees she’s been drawing him. You can choose the ending.

A/N: Hello, everyone! This prompt & fic is from when I reached 100 followers. Apologies for the long wait and if my writing isn’t up to par. (I wrote when I had writer’s block for something else, so my writing was kind of suffering I need my opinion.) Something to know: This fic is told in alternating point of views both in 1st person.

Word Count: 1,636

Writing Masterlist

I saw her frequently at The Sidra. The first time I spotted her, I nearly dropped my coffee. She was beautiful. I knew nothing about her but was instantly captivated. I figured she was an artist; the young woman was always drawing something in a sketchbook. She had golden-brown hair, blue-gray eyes, pale skin, and I even glimpsed a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

Gorgeous.

I would love nothing more than to take her on a date, but that would be strange. We have never spoken and all I do from the moment she enters the café to when she leaves is covertly look at her whenever I can. Occasionally I caught her looking at me, so I have hope that something will happen between us.

Every night I wish to the stars for my dream to be answered so I can properly meet this stunning angel.

He’s easily the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. Black hair, soft brown skin, gorgeous violet eyes. He’s always at the café, sitting at the table tucked away in the corner. Always reading. Sometimes  looking at me.

When I first caught him looking at me, I couldn’t help the deep blush that bloomed. I promptly glared at him, turning back to my sketch, fighting the tug of my lips, fighting the smile. I was flattered, of course. He could be an Abercrombie model. And the perfect subject for my next drawing.

My grip tightened around the pencil I was holding. I hadn’t thought of anything new to draw in ages; usually I redrew old pieces of art, making them better using the skills I’d obtained through the years.

I glanced once more at the stranger but averted my gaze when I noticed he was still looking at me.

What did he see in me? What did he see that made him gaze at me with interest? As if I were his savior?

Weeks passed by with us continuing to dance around each other. It was obvious by now that she had an interest in me, and it was painfully obvious that I had an interest in her. So I decided to ask her out.

But I chickened out the first time I planned to.

Now I was going to try again.

The beautiful creature had gotten up to go to the restroom, and, due to my stalling, I wound up being late to meet Cassian and Azriel at the movies.

Tomorrow, I promised myself. If she is here tomorrow, then I will ask her out.

As I was leaving, I made sure to walk by her table in hopes of glimpsing whatever it is she was working on in her sketchbook before leaving the table. I knew I should ask first, but I was curious.

What I saw made stop dead in my tracks. She had been sketching a familiar young man. She did not need to add color to her art in order for me to recognize him; his features I knew so well were a giveaway.

She drew me.

I was so shocked by the realization that the breathtaking woman had paid enough attention to me for her sketch to be done so accurately that I hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps.

“Crap, this is mortifying.”

I spun around, coming face to face with the angel of my dreams.

“Uh, hi.” Immediately I scolded myself. Out of all the words in the English language I could have used, I chose ‘uh, hi’ ?

“Hey,” Her face was bright red, making her cute freckles stand out. “You probably think I’m some creep. I am so sorry. I should have asked if I could sketch you first. I mean I don’t even know you, it’s just that you are incredibly handsome and a perfect model! I just had this urge, y’know? Like, if I couldn’t capture you in my sketchbook, then what will I do? Aaaand I just realized that is even creepier, so I’ll just go, and —”

“No!” The word burst out of me, cutting off her ramble. “I mean, I don’t want you to go. I, uh, have actually been meaning to… get to know you. You’re interesting to me. Does that sound strange? Shit, it does, doesn’t it? I just mean that I felt a… connection — now that’s sappy and double weird. We aren’t in some Hollywood movie. But, I, um, was wondering if we could — and this probably seems bizarre to you — go on a date? Maybe. I don’t know why you would agree, but I would like to. So, uh, yeah.”

I looked down at my shoes, hoping she wouldn’t see the blush creeping up my cheeks to my ears. When the silence went on for much longer than I would’ve liked, I started praying for the floor to swallow me whole. There was no doubt in my mind that she was going to turn me down. I know I would if was in her position.

“Are you always this articulate? I got the impression you were some suave man.” I looked up to see her lips had curled into an amused smirk. “But… I suppose I could be persuaded into a date.” Then she laughed. And I would do anything — anything — to hear it for the rest of my laugh.

God, I have the inner monologue of a cliché romance!

“Trust me, I usually am suave. Just not around you apparently. Oh, I’m Rhysand by the way. My friends call me Rhys.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Rhys,” she held out her hand. “I’m Feyre.”

Cauldron, her hand is soft.

Shut up, Rhys.

“So, how can I persuade you to go out with me?”

Feyre laughed again, a full-bellied laugh. “I was kidding, Rhys! I’ve also been wanting to ask you out, and I totally got what you meant about the Hollywood movie connection feeling. Does Friday work? At… eight?”

“Yeah, that’s fine by me.” In all honesty, I would have said tonight, but that would be pushing it. I mean, I have no idea how much I already freaked Feyre out.

“Great! I need to leave, so can I get your number now?”

“Of course,” Hearing she had a place to be reminded me of my own plans. We swapped phones and put in our contact info.

“Sorry for keeping you from the… movies, I think? You have tons of texts from someone named Cassian.” Feyre added when I looked confused. I had completely ignored the buzzing in my pocket and the fact that I was extremely late.

“It’s alright. I much prefer your company over Cassian’s.”

“Well, it seems Cassian is desperate for your company, and I really do need to be going. See you Friday, Rhys!”

“Bye, Feyre.”

When I got to the movies, I tuned out Cassian’s questions — “Why the hell are you late?” and “What’s got you grinning like an idiot, Rhysie?” being the two constants —as well as the movie.

I couldn’t get Feyre out of my head.

“Feyre! I was wondering when you’d come!” Alis said.

“Sorry! I got held up! Where’s Lucien?” I looked around for my other close friend, but he was nowhere to be found in the park.

“He texted saying he was held up by something. He’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

“Do you think he and Andras are having sex?” Lucien and Andras had moved in together recently, and they constantly took advantage of their newfound privacy.

“There’s no doubt in my mind!” Alis laughed. “But seriously, girl, what happened? I was ready to start searching for you when you weren’t at our table; you’re the most punctual person I know!”

“I have a good reason, I promise! You remember that handsome guy I mentioned a few times? The one frequently at the Sidra?”

“‘Mentioned a few times’? Fey, you gush about him for hours!”

“I don’t!” I protested. “Anyway, I’ve been sketching him and he saw it.” Alis gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. “I know! It was beyond mortifying! I started rambling like I always do when I get nervous, but then he cut me off, asking me on a date!”

“No way!” Alis squealed, her horror morphing into joy.

“Yes way! And Rhysand — that’s his name — was so cute while asking; he was blushing and fumbling his words. You know how I find that endearing!”

“Nothing is more swoon worthy than a guy who gets all flustered!” Alis agreed.

“Right! Anyway, I agreed — obviously — so Friday night, guess who’s got a hot date?”

“That’s my girl!” Alis cheered. “I can’t wait to meet Rhys! Then, you guys will be engaged, have a lovely wedding where I will be the maid of honor, have kids, and grow old together!”

I smacked Alis’s arm. “Jeez, Alis, slow down! We haven’t even gone on our first date yet!” Though I had to admit that I wouldn’t mind if what she said came true.

“Alis! Feyre!” Lucien called out, jogging towards us. “Hey, guys!”

“Hello, Lucien. I’m surprised you are up and running. Andras didn’t tire you out?” Alis teased.

Lucien’s smirk was downright wicked. “He will when I go back home. I didn’t want to abandon you and Feyre.”

“Alis and I were having a grand time without you, Luc.” I said.

“Oh I see how it is. You two are cutting me out of the group.” He wiped away fake tears. “I’ll just leave now, I suppose. Since you two don’t want me. It’s alright, I’m used to it.”

We all laughed before Alis told Lucien how Rhys and I were going on a date, causing me to retell the story, this time with Alis’s input.

I left Velaris Park with a huge smile on my face, eager for my date with Rhys.

Thank you for reading! x

Tagging: @sjmaasandallthesass @the-annabethchase @sugarcoated44 @ourbooksuniverse @ame233 @tyblckthrn

Send me an ask if:

- you want to be added/removed to/from the list

- I accidentally left you off

#acotar fanfic #modern au #feysand #rhysand #feyre archeron #rhysand x feyre #a court of thorns and roses #Prompt writing #My writing

[emmygraceee]

Dear Evan Hansen Novel- My Opinion

This morning (after scrolling through the DEH hashtag on Instagram), I found out that they released the prologue and the first chapter of the DEH novel they wrote. Here is my honest opinion on the entire chapter.

Totally not expecting the prologue to be from Connor’s point of view

I thought it was really cool to see Connor’s side of things, in the play it really didn’t tell us much of the reason of why Connor committed suicide (for the reason it was all in Evan’s point of view, nor did he leave an actual note).

The last paragraph shook me. 

Overall, love it so far hah.

Now the thing that everyone's freaking out about (and I have no clue why):

Evans name is Mark. (I pretty much got this spoiled looking at a post on Instagram).

I see no problem with this, there’s a lot of people in this world that go by their middle name- why is this any different? We never really heard much about Evan’s dad in the play, other than the fact he left, lives in Colorado, and has little to no contact with Evan because of how busy he is. In the play, we didn’t NEED to know Evan’s actual name is Mark because it wasn't a big plot point (you can only fit so much into a musical). Some people in the post I read stated something like “Why would the author change his name, who knows what else they changed”- when they don't even realize that the novel was written by the writers of the play. Clearly, this is all canon to the story. I might be missing something, but it seems like everyone is only put off by the fact his name is actually Mark? (message me if I'm missing something- I really don't understand this). If I’m being completely honest, I really like how his names actually Mark and I have no clue why hah. It might just be the fact it adds more to his character. 

The whole paragraph about his initials made me laugh for some reason- Meh and Eh. I approve

Heidi being obsessed with horoscopes- more about her character, its small things like that, for some reason I really like.

I love how there are quite a few of the lines are from the play, and I also really like how a lot of them are different. 

“csxldmrr xsmit ssdegv”

“Damn you, fake Evan Hansen. You really are exhausting”

The whole thing about talking to the delivery person in the play is all internal than external in the book, rather than telling Heidi his opinion on that he just says sorry- don't know why I found it interesting

“Just because I chose to skip dinner one night? I should have just pocketed the money so she wouldn’t have known, but that would be like stealing from her and karma’s a bitch.” I noticed Evan’s inner-monologue is a lot colder than what he actually says.

I thought the map and pins were a really cool detail. The fact that he took all the pins down right after his suicide attempt, besides Colorado just really makes me wonder. 

I reaaaallllly want to know more about Evan’s dad and more detail on why he actually left. 

“I’m trying. It’s not like I’m not trying.”

“So, let’s just keep lying to each other.”

Loved the way it ended

Okay, Overall opinion:

IM SO HYPED.

I guess I’m just so excited because it adds so much more detail to the overall story. I always wanted to know more in-depth about all the characters, why Connor committed suicide, Evan’s dad, how the conversations/arguments went without all the singing, all the relationships- just everything basically. I just think its so neat having it all in Evan’s point of view to see how he’s actually feeling because all we really saw in the musical was all the lies he made (the only time it really showed his true feeling was if he was talking to “Connor” or through song, even then we didn’t know fully what he was thinking. I cannot wait for October 9th now, and I think people should stop being hung up on the fact that his real name is Mark xD  

#dear evan hansen #dear evan hansen novel #deh #deh novel #evan hansen #mark evan hansen #meh #eh #heidi hansen #musical #novel #opinion #dear even hansen the musical #broadway #connor murphy #mark hansen

[rachelillustrates]

A stream-of-counciousness-ish, overanalytical observation of Karolina Dean/Julie Power, from the perspective of a Xavin fangirl.

Follow up to two other overanalytical posts about Karolina and Xavin, which I highly recommend reading first.

First post here

Second post here.

(And a third mini-commentary here.)

Spoilers for the recent “Runaways” series abound, of course. 

As they established/discussed in “Avengers Academy” 27, Karolina and Julie DID feel an attraction to each other from their first encounter – waaaaaaaaaaay back in the early Runaways stuff, before Xavin even showed up. Regardless of team affiliations.

But in terms of this re-introduction to each other - it is a note of betrayal that Julie still fights back even when her team is trying to break up Karolina’s FAMILY. Yes, all sides stop fighting once they start actually talking it over, but Julie is NOT the one to initiate that. She assumes her leaders know what’s best first, and tries to understand second.

As for the “Understand” spell Nico casts in issue 28 – I am assuming that there’s a reason they show certain individuals sharing certain memories with specific other individuals. Like how Nico sees Tigra losing a love she was “supposed to have a whole life with” (doesn’t THAT open up a can of worms, wow), and Chase seeing two lovers who choose not to be together due to future memories (extra poignant considering what’s going on with him and Gert in recent issues).

And dammit, Karolina and Julie seeing what they see of each other – especially Julie seeing the breakdown Karolina had with Nico, which I wrote about in the second aforementioned post.

The fact that she sees THAT is important (and again, better writing than I expected - I am such an angry Xavin fangirl). So even though Karolina said she was only “sorta” engaged *ahem. Still bullshit* Julie herself must SEE the seriousness of that Love and the loss in Karolina’s heart.

Karolina saying “Oh my god, you are so awesome” to Julie right after the spell is also pretty telling – she saw a vision of Julie’s supportiveness to another queer comrade, a supportiveness and solidarity she herself has never experienced. Nobody else on her team has professed themselves to be anything like her, in that sense, so she’s never had that kind of support from anyone, nor been able to GIVE that kind of support. So she probably sees in Julie a validation of her own identity, and feeling of not-being-alone that must feel amazing in the face of her new loneliness.

It still bothers me that Kar speaks so flippantly about her relationship with Xavin. Maybe that’s a defense mechanism, whatever. But the knowledge Julie gains from this spell is indeed important - and what she says right after really shows that she understands the pain Karolina’s been through, and I HOPE means that she will be a solid, reassuring force in Karolina’s life. The fact that she is super gentle about asking Karolina out later in the issue is also heartening.

….I may not approve, but I do understand the emotional trauma Kar must feel, and I do want her to feel safe.

What we see of them together in issue 39 is reassuring, too, in terms of that sense of safety – it’s only a moment, of course, but they appear happy together.

When we see Karolina in college at the beginning of the new “Runaways” series (issue 3), they still seem pretty solid – in her inner-monologue-narration….thing, she describes Julie as “the kindest, most beautiful, BEST girlfriend.”

And she, herself, is trying very hard to move on from EVERYTHING – not just Xavin, but her entire old life and the family she built with the other Runaways. Everything she says in that monologue thing about her therapist’s advice, about her right to be happy, is beautiful and valid.

Buuuuuuut.

Wtf?

Is this the same Karolina that always fought so hard to keep everyone together, really?

(I DO love the fact that Gert calls her out on that, btw. “…my Karolina would never leave Molly behind!” TRUE.)

It does seem like the pain of everything – what her parents did, what happened to her people as a result, everything what happened during her time with her new family (not even just the Xavin stuff, they have all seen some weirdness) – MUST have hit her even deeper than she let on in the previous series…es. We just didn’t get to see that, as readers. Even the cover of the issue seems to imply that, with all those different hands reaching out as if to grab her (and sadly I can’t tell if Xavin is one of those hands - if anyone caught that, please let me know!).

Or maybe she herself didn’t even see it until that family broke up, and she was on her own, for real. 

Which means Julie is probably an even more stabilizing force in her life, being a constant source of love and support that is OUTSIDE of all that pain.

And I imagine that’s going to be very hard for Karolina to face, or leave – I mean, if (WHEN!!!) Xavin returns. It’s hard enough that she’s chosen to return to her family at all. They show her breaking down intensely about it in that same issue, when everyone shows up at her door and she tries to NOT go with them: First, she absolutely trashes the memory of what they all had together – “We weren’t anything real. We were just….together. We were just a bunch of scared kids who didn’t have anyone else.”

Absolute bullshit, btw, and I do not for a second think she really believes that – again, defense mechanism, probably – but OUCH.

All that therapy, all that self-autonomy and college and whatever, seems to actually be making her into a WORSE person. She seems to have been on a HUGE downward slide in that manner since Xavin left. But I digress.

And then she has a real, pillow-hugging darkness-crying breakdown when Nico leaves the room after calling her on THAT bullshit. And that mantra…. “I am a good person. I am my own person. My parents’ decisions don’t define me. I forgive myself for the mistakes I made when I was too young to know any better. I am allowed to be happy.”

I wonder how often she has to say that to herself. And I think that the difference is – when she’s with the Runaways (her FAMILY, goddammit), she is actively DOING something to address that guilt and pain inside of her. Instead of just trying to “move on” and “be happy.”

I know from personal experience that in order to be happy, you have to FACE that guilt inside yourself. Own it. And I don’t think this Karolina is doing that AT ALL.

That is, until we see her again in issue 5. She seeks out Nico on her own (with Julie’s help – more on that later), and seems resigned to being back with them. But when Nico tells her that their reunion has fallen apart, she DOES seem genuinely disappointed (and at the end of issue 6, she does say “let’s go home,” so she does seem to move from resigned to happily-accepting pretty well).

As for Julie, when Nico tries to kiss Karolina, she adamantly (as in freak-out-ishly) defends herself, almost shouting that she “has a girlfriend.” I mentioned before that that specific defense bothers me – after all, Kar “has a fiancée” still for all she freakin’ knows – but the word choice is interesting, too. She declares her relationship status, not that she doesn’t want Nico, but that she’s already taken by someone else.

(Though to be fair, it seems like Karolina is ALWAYS going to want Nico. First love and all.)

In my mind, that reinforces the space that Julie must fill for Karolina – a stable, safe space. Somewhere to belong after all the drama and trauma she’s been through with other people. God, the fact that she seems to need – and WANT – that, a shining safe happy rainbow place with no issues, makes me worry that she’s too bright and innocent for Xavin, even after all they’ve been through together. Noooooo bad thoughts.

I know this whole investigation is coming off very Karolina-negative. And I’m sorry, but I can’t help it. Even in this reread it looks like she’s been spiraling since Xavin left – and while I WANT to believe that’s a sign of how important Xavin was to her, it just reads awful (not in bad writing, I mean I’m just sad for her, and I question a lot about her with what she’s chosen to do in their time apart).

And I probably shouldn’t blame her for wanting that. We all deserve to be safe and happy. I just feel like she’s not really facing her demons and she can be- and HAS been – SO MUCH BETTER and so much MORE.

In terms of Karolina-positivity, though, she does kick ass in the fight against Molly’s grandma, and stays true to the beliefs we do know and love about her – Molly tells them not to hurt her grandma, then the cats, then her ‘mom,’ and Karolina sticks loyally to that demand (until the threat is too much, of course). THAT’S the Karolina I know and love.

Back to her connection to Julie – as I pointed out before, she does call on Julie for help, first to find Nico, then she suggests calling her when they need to contact the Avengers about Molly’s grandma. She clearly relies on her a lot, and it seems like it’s a solid situation for her. She knows she can rely on this person, and that must have been proven again and again in ways we haven’t even seen.

That shows really clearly, too, from the way Julie reacts when she can’t get a hold of Karolina in issue 7. When she doesn’t hear from her for a whole day, Julie freaks, and calls out the point that she’s allowed to freak – considering Karolina’s history and the danger she could be in at any second. I do actually find that admirable. At this point, it does seem like Karolina wants someone who will be that overprotective.

But I think if she really wants to grow, she needs someone who can and will respect that she can handle herself.

And I STILL believe Xavin is that person. They have been, for her, in the past – yes, a little overprotective in moments, but VERY aware of her own power and capabilities (I’m thinking specifically of the moment in “Dead End Kids,” in 1907, when she goes out exploring on her own and Xavin just says “Have fun. And then stop having fun and come back.”). An maybe Julie will grow into that, I don’t know, but I want my space lesbians to reunite thankyouverymuch so I AM going to be rooting for their reunion and reconciliation no matter what.

No matter how frustrated I am with Karolina’s behavior, even.

As for issue 7, again, we do get to see Karolina making a compromise with herself. She’s there, and showing up for her family, but she hasn’t given up her desires in terms of still going to school and still being with Julie. The fact that she’s skipped some classes, and will have to skip more to pick up Julie, doesn’t exactly bode well.... but for now, it seems like its working. And she does talk to Nico about HOW back she is – when Nico turns down her offer of money (also, DAMN, about her being so financially set), saying “we have to figure out how to do this on our own eventually,” Karolina immediately says “I’m part of ‘we.’ I’m part of ‘our own.’” I know I complained a lot about her fractured loyalty in her first appearance here, but I am truly glad that her need to be with her family again, REALLY be there, seems to be resolved. Even if it sounds like she still plans on living on campus, not at the Hostel.

It really does seem like a lot for her to have to figure out, and so suddenly :/

And as for that phone call, again, it is nice to see that Julie is so supportive of the fact that her family is back and THAT implies that the off-screen conversations they’ve had about it show that Kar is much more on board than it seemed at first, when her past literally came back to haunt her.

So I guess in closing, I am glad that Karolina has support and love. I am.

But I still think Xavin is better for her, especially if they’ve done the growing I hope they’ve done (as I talked about in my last post). 

If you just jump back into the new series without rereading the old runs, it seems like nothing happened with Xavin at all – all that’s been swept under the rug, and only mentioned in passing if you lump them and their love in with the comments that the monologue-thing includes about Karolina’s people and her parents’ actions. That’s not fair, and that’s not enough. I want closure, at least.

I’m worried they won’t give it to us. I guess we’ll see, with how they very Julie/Karolina-focused next issue goes. 

And I’m sure I’ll have words about that, too.

#meta #more meta #xavin #runaways #karolina dean #karolina x xavin #karolinaxavin

[hazel2468]

A Movie Review: Annihilation

(Hey y’all, I wrote a movie review of this thing that came out like a month ago and it was fun so have this and I will do more- probs Thor and Black Panther coming up next cuz those have been my faves)

WARNING: SPOILERS

Alright. So, let me start of with a slight disclaimer: I have read the entire Southern Reach Trilogy. The reason I begin with the fact that I am a fan of the books is because I feel that reading Annihilation has very much informed how I feel about the film Annihilation. Although I went into the movie knowing that it was going to be very different from the book, I still couldn’t help but compare, and I was a bit disappointed. So, when you are reading this review, keep that in mind. This is not going to be a spoiler-free review: THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE. If you have not seen the movie, and are here to find out if you should go or not: Go and see it. If you have read the books, go and see it. If you have not read the books, still go and see it. I think Annihilation is worth the watch for anyone who enjoys science fiction, and it is for SURE something that needs to be experienced. Me telling you about the film won’t be the same, not by a long shot.

I don’t usually do movie reviews. In fact, this is my first one. So, let’s try out a little formula, which i will then immediately break because I need to review Annihilation a little differently. I’m going to look at it in terms of a few things. 1) How did I personally enjoy the film? Did I like the characters/ setting/ mood/ story, etc.? 2) Did the movie do what it set out to do? So, in the case of Annihilation, did it make me feel really freaking weird? And 3) Would I recommend this film, yes or no, and then an explanation of why. More in depth than my recommendation at the top, obvs.

Okay, here we go!

1) How did I personally enjoy Annihilation?

I’ll start off by saying that Annihilation is NOT a masterpiece, at least not to me. I’ve seen quite a few reviews saying that it is, but it didn’t quite get there for me. Now, that’s not to say that it was bad. On the contrary, I think it was good, and after taking about a month to incubate, re-read the book, and think in depth about the film, I will say that it is even a little bit more than good (I do need to re-watch it when it comes out on Netflix for sure). It was a solid sci-fi film with some excellent elements- for example, the visuals were AMAZING and really fit the overall tone, but with enough problems that took away from the overall experience. If I had to give it a rating, let’s say out of ten, I would say this is a solid seven or seven and a half. Now, I will instantly temper that by reminding you all that I am a HUGE fan of the book, and that has 100% colored both my enjoyment and interpretation of the film. Let’s talk a little bit about why (and here is where I diverge from the template I developed five minutes ago for myself).

The novel is narrated by the main character, known only as The Biologist. We get not just her words, but her inner monologue, her thoughts, feelings, experiences, all described to us very intimately, as if she were telling us herself. She is also an unreliable narrator- we know as little as she does, and her recollection is influenced by her own perspectives and biases. The movie is NOT narrated by the Biologist, who is named Lena in the film, though it is told from her perspective. We get a glimpse into her life, her thoughts, her feelings, as she is the lens through which we enter this world, but it is nowhere near as intimate and in-depth as the novel. They changed her character drastically and, while I think I would have very much liked Lena in another film, the fact that she was supposed to be The Biologist kind of ruined her for me. The Biologist is what made Annihilation the book so entrancing and hypnotic for me. We went on a journey with her, we learned things, and then we left her behind to go into the other books. She was our guide- this is not so much the case in the film. And that detracts something.

However, stepping away from The Biologist (Lena), the other characters were great. I think that all of them were colorful, bright, and simultaneously dark and twisted in just the right ways. I connected to them all, they felt real. And they all did a superb job in their roles. The actresses were very well cast- even Natalie Portman, who played Lena, did an excellent and evocative job. She did succeed in moving me and making me feel things, and I know I would have enjoyed her character a lit more had I not read the novel.

My feelings about the overall story are similar to those I have for the character of Lena. I think it was very well done, well executed (except for the end but a bit more on that in a second), but knowing the books took away my enjoyment. The story also was seriously lacking, in my novel-ridden opinion, especially in the end. Lena’s “defeat” of Area X seemed very, very lackluster to me: one of the best aspects of Area X in the novels was that it was a thing that could not be stopped, it was a thing to accept rather than fight. And in the novel, The Biologist does just that. But the film goes a totally different direction, and the “destruction” of Area X, while it is perhaps an artful metaphor for self-destruction (a running theme in the movie), really left me feeling, well, bleah. They do manage to save it right at the very end, with Lena meeting up with the “other version” of her husband and both of them revealing that they are not, in fact, themselves. It brings back that feeling of “Area X is here and we cannot stop it”, but it was seriously lacking when compared to the path of the novels, and my expectations. Despite the obvious flaws, the plot was exciting enough to keep me on my toes and keep me interested all the way through- something that not all movies I have seen recently can do.

Something that Annihilation got right, at least, was the mood. The atmosphere. The movie takes us into Area X, and the sights and sounds were right in line with what I expected. A beautiful, twisted, alien-yet-familiar world that both awed and terrified me. Perfect. The movie also added in creatures, monsters, something not in the book which I very, VERY much enjoyed. I would like to take a moment to give a shout-out to the bear- a monster that I am pretty sure was a representation of the Moaning Creature from the novel. It didn’t have a jumpscare, it wasn’t even loud- most of its scene was quiet. But it unnerved and disturbed me in a way that a movie monster has not in a very long time- namely because it had a human voice. A decaying bear, skull visible, with human eyes, a human tongue, and a roar that sounds like the dying screams of its last victim? Pure nightmare fuel, at least for me. I loved it. I was apprehensive about there being actual monsters in the movie, given that the unseen horror aspect of the novels was a huge part of their overall feel, but the bear/Moaning Creature was perfect for this film and I need to acknowledge that.

2) Did the movie do what it set out to do?

I would say so. It’s very rare for me to walk out of a theatre and not know how I feel about what I just watched, but that sensation is what I had expected from Annihilation. I went through cycles of loving the movie, hating it, being grossed out by it, being unnerved by it, all in the span of a few hours. So yes, the movie achieved its goal in making me feel something. I also know that the film did not set out to be a replica of the book, rather a take on it, so I cannot fault the movie for not being a carbon-copy of the novel. And it was a good take. But it didn’t leave me with the same feeling that I had when I read the novel. Horrified? Oh yes. Awed? Sure. Creeped out by that fucking zombie-bear? Hell yeah. But there was something missing. Alex Garland captured the surreal familiarity of an alien world on earth, and he did it well, and I almost wish I hadn’t read the books because then maybe I would have enjoyed this film a LOT more than I did.

But there was something missing. I remember my first experience reading Annihilation- I devoured it in a little more than two hours and sat in shock on my now-girlfriend’s bed trying to digest what I had just consumed. There was the horror and the awe, yes. But there was something else, and that something came from the tone of acceptance and resignation- which was oddly… I wouldn’t call it cheerful, but it wasn’t sad or angry. It just was..? And it was that feeling of ..? that defined my experience with the novel, and with the two after it (though Authority was a bit more defined by a feeling of “wow this is SLOW”).

I cannot say that the movie didn’t get where it wanted to go, because it did. It was a solid sci-fi movie with some disturbing imagery and elements and it was a good take on the novel. It just didn’t get me where I wanted to go, and that is wholly the fault of my viewing it through the lens of the novel.

3) Would I recommend this film?

Yes, I would. Whether you have read the book(s) or not, I think this one is worth the watch. Based on the reviews, and based on my own viewing, I will say that this isn’t a movie for everyone. It is super trippy- if you have epilepsy or some other condition triggered by bright, flashing lights or colors, I would suggest that you stay away from this one, as there are a few sequences near the end that get really bright and flashy- and will leave you with a LOT more questions than it answers, so if you are alright with that, go and see it. The reviews seem very polarized. People either loved it or hated it, and there doesn’t seem to be too much in-between (like me). But with all films, and especially a film like Annihilation, I would say that you need to see it for yourself to figure out how you feel about it.

Final Recommendation: Annihilation is a trippy, beautiful sci-fi film that carries itself pretty well despite it’s flaws. A big part of how I judge movies is if it is strong enough to get past its problems, and Annihilation fits the bill, I think. Go and give it a watch: I’m not sure when it is coming out on Netflix, but with visuals like this, maybe seeing it on the big screen would be worth your while.

#movie review #annihilation #i was bored and this happened #and I really liked it #so there will be more #read it or don't!

[shanie-the-toyaddict]

SOOOOoooo...

Just got home from In the Heights, and I’m SO HAPPY! Honestly after years, no, DECADES of getting burned by adaptations like RENT and Les Mis (and we aren’t even getting into Cats...) to finally have someone make a Broadway-film adaptation that WORKS is a long fn time coming.

That said, I have some thoughts about the show (good and otherwise) which I want to discuss with yinz.

Put below a cut and tagged for spoilers

I thought I was going to hate the change in show placement for when Abuela Claudia dies. I did not. Far from it, having it happen when it did almost seemed better than Broadway because it came off as far more emotional than simply killing her off-screen/stage. I know it sounds like I’m shitting on the musical. I’m not. But, for me, having Usnavi find her and watching him freak out was much more emotional than just hearing an announcement from Kevin over the dispatch.

That said, I managed not to cry over her death. Have no idea how I pulled that off, but I did. Can’t say the same for the rest of the theater though, you could just hear the entire theater losing it.

Having “You’ll Be Back” as the hold music made me snort with ugly choked laughter. I’m pretty sure there was only one other person in the theater who got the reference though because they were the only other person laughing and then they had to explain it to their date. (There were only about 10 other people in the theater with me, I live in a small town, and this was a matinée.)

I have... thoughts over the difference in time/dates between the Broadway and Movie versions. First off, one of the biggest things that always bugged me about the Broadway version was that time was TOO compressed. In Broadway, it’s made to seem like the entire show happens over 3 days – far FAR too fast for Abuela to collect her lotto winnings in cash and for Usnavi to arrange passage back to DR. The movie fixes this by changing the entire lotto storyline (more on that in a moment) and extending the timeline drastically. Now, while I agree with the timeline switch 100%, the problem is that the lyrics to the Broadway version are written from the POV of it all happening in a few days. Changing the timeline to last months or, in the case of the ending, years later leads to several awkward points where the unchanged Broadway lyrics don’t match up with the movie version. A good example of this is how it’s written that, in “When You’re Gone”, Nina and Benny have to “Pretend” the blackout is still ongoing, a month later, for the lyrics of the song to fit. There’s a line in the finale that’s an even more glaring example of this but I am leaving that out here in case some of you don’t know about it. Look, as I said, I’m all for changing the timeline. It’s a great change. But Chu’s dedication to change as little of the original lyrics/songs as possible is a bit of a detriment here because, as I said, it leads to awkward moments that, IMHO, makes you double take and pulls you out of the moment.

On a related note: Leaving the line in about Nina and Benny having sex during the blackout but never once acknowledging this in the shown storyline? Yeaaah, no.

Re: That Point – Between that and “Champagne” I really think there’s stuff that got cut because Vanessa states that Daniela tells her what Usnavi did – something shown in the musical – but in the movie, there is no scene present where Dani spills the beans. You just hear from Vanessa that she was told. Again, this is a bit problematic and causes a double take that draws away from the scene and, again, I feel like there was stuff that got cut from the finished product that would fill in some of these gaps.

I love the beachfront framing method. Great stuff as, for someone who doesn’t know the musical, you really do spend the whole movie thinking he left.

On one hand, the DACA storyline is one that needed told. On the other hand, it seemed out of place. Either way, the framing point of “Not all dreams come true” and not seeing Sonny in the finale (he might have been there, and I missed him) makes me think that his story didn’t have a happy ending. Or it did, and he was at college. Who knows?

I cannot tell you how happy I am that they got rid of the racism storyline as it dealt with Kevin and Benny.

I am even happier that they left racism in as a plot point and made it about Nina instead. Awesome change and, again, it’s a story that needed told.

The Lotto Ticket. Hooo boy. Look, to anyone with prior knowledge of the show, hiding the fact that Abuela won the lotto seems forced. From my point of view, there’s this ginormous showstopping number in 96,000, and then it isn’t mentioned again until the very end of the movie. I don’t know if I like it or not. I can’t judge this one at all from an objective point of view because I’m too attached to the original “Abuela Wins the Lotto” storyline to say if it’s good or bad. Regardless, I honestly wonder if not revealing the lotto ticket as a change came first, or if it was in reaction to all the other changes made to the storyline. For example, big BIG change in the movie is the store doesn’t get trashed in the Blackout. With Usnavi not getting the lotto winnings it means that he wouldn’t have it to fix up the store when he stays. Did they leave the store intact and then realize he wouldn’t need the money, or did they change the lotto storyline and then realize he couldn’t save the store without it? Or, if the change for the store came first, is that why they wrote the DACA storyline, as a way to take the winning ticket away from him?  I’m honestly curious about the writing process for this show and how the various changes were decided upon.

Lin as the Piragua Guy is the purest thing about this entire show. Lin also steals every scene he is in so it’s a good thing that they removed most of the character’s role in the story.

Nina seeing visions of her younger self throughout the show was a close second (for purest thing).

I love Christopher Jackson. But Mr. Softee is an asshole and I’m glad his truck died.

Look, I’m not from NYC and I’ve only spent a few days there over the course of a couple high school band trips. But really, HOW LONG IS VANESSA’S LUNCH BREAK!?!?!? Seems to me you’d need a hell of a lot longer than just a lunch break to head home, change clothes, take a subway downtown, visit a landlord about an apartment, get rejected for said apartment, take the subway BACK to Washington Heights, stop by the bodega and schedule a date with Usnavi, and THEN head back to the salon. There is the chance that there is time-wonkery happening here because the ending of her song is shown to be a dream but if the entire thing happened at other times, it wouldn’t really fit the timeline that exists within the story. So, again, how long is her lunch break???

While my favorite thing overall to see cut from the Broadway version is the Kevin vs Benny plotline, my second favorite thing was changing “The Club” and “Blackout” to get TF rid of Benny’s drunken antics. Benny comes off as a MUCH kinder and more respectable character than in the Broadway version where he always, to me, seemed a bit like an asshole who didn’t deserve Nina. It’s funny how changing a couple small plot points can completely re-work a character but in the Movie, Benny is 100% likable and, at times, downright heroic. In this version you can really tell how much he loves Nina, and you just know that, even when she leaves for college, they’re going to end up working out... which makes it even more odd when you realize that, in this universe, he’s already had a failed relationship with Nina ONCE.

Sonny is a far more fleshed out character in the movie and, my hesitations about the DACA storyline aside, it’s wonderful to see him get some love as a character.

Paciencia Y Fe is a cinematic masterpiece of a segment. For a song that’s, in essence, an extended inner monologue, this was handled amazingly, especially knowing that it’s Abuela’s swan song.

Look, this has already gotten way too long, and I could go on for days about things I liked or didn’t like. Just know that this is a hell of a movie and I want to go back and see it again tomorrow. (But, alas, half price tickets are only on Mondays.)

#In The Heights #In The Heights Spoilers