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firstdegreefangirl · 3 months

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January 2024 Reading Wrap-Up!

New year, same love of books, slightly different structure for things around here. I'm keeping the monthly tracker and the mini-reviews, but skipping the prompt-based challenges because I couldn't find any that looked like they'd suit my reading tastes.

Instead, I've invented a game of my own, to focus on reading down the hundreds of books I already own: Bookcase Roulette! The rules are simple: three bookcases, five shelves each, roughly 25 books per shelf. I'm using random number generators to pick at least two books a month, and reading whatever the bookcase gods pick for me. So those will be marked in the reviews, along with whether or not I enjoyed the book enough to justify keeping it.

Beyond that, you know the drill. Monthly stats incoming, reviews under the cut!

Total books read: 5

Total pages read: 1,722

Days read: 31/31

Average star rating: 4.2

Bookcase Roulette Books: 2

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green ⭐⭐⭐⭐(½) I knocked this out in a day, on New Year’s Day, much to either the astonishment or frustration of housekeeping bestie ((I was reading at work most of the day, then a few hours later we saw each other outside of work and I mentioned that I’d finished the book. I ... don’t think he believed me?)) It was the first round of Bookcase Roulette for 2024, but something like 2/3 of the way through, I realized that I’ve read it before. It’s great, I loved it, but it wasn’t familiar, until I turned the page and was face-to-face with a scene I remembered so clearly. So I have no memory of the first read, but I’m completely positive that there was one at some point.

That said, all of that is about me and my experience, and none of it is about the book. John Green’s books are always so captivating to me, and this was no exception. The MC’s OCD and anxiety are so intensely palpable; I could feel myself stressing out with her as much as I wanted to give her a big hug. This is a book you should check in with yourself before reading; I maybe should have kept a closer eye on my own illness anxiety as I read along, but sometimes I live on the edge?

Never Wager With a Wallflower by Virginia Heath ⭐⭐⭐(¼) Here’s the thing: historical romance isn’t usually for me. But, as happened so often last year, it was in my library experience bag and I was curious. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but all of the things that usually pull me away from the genre were true here too. As for the story itself, and the characters, I loved most of that. Parts of it were laugh out loud funny, parts made my heart ache for the characters and everything they’d been through. The characters were compelling, and I wanted to be rooting for them. I did deduct a full star for the phrase “wedding vegetables,” which has haunted me every day since I first saw it, as it completely pulled me out of the story and ruined my experience of what was otherwise an excellent scene. If you like historical romance, you’ll probably like this, but I'm in no way compelled to read it again or to finish the series.

Play With Me by Claire Wilder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you’ve been here for a while, you know this series has read me through three different trips now (Denver, Houston, and now Orlando). They’re consistently knock-outs for me, but this was far and above better than the rest. I’d been SO excited to read Jude’s story, and Nora felt so relatable for me. Claire Wilder does such an incredible job balancing the romance stories with Eleanor Cleary’s murder, and that really ramped up in this book. The mysterious intrigue blended so well with the friends-to-lovers romance, and Cap is just the best little dude. I laughed out loud on an airplane, I cried in a botanical garden (because of the book; not just because the flowers were so pretty), but there’s not much I can else I can say without breaking down the full context of the entire series (which, trust me, I am HAPPY to do, if anyone is interested. That’s just ... not this).

Mess With Me by Claire Wilder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ... And I finished out that Florida trip with the next/sort of last book in the Quince Valley series (there’s a future-set shorter story after this, but this was the last of the Kelly siblings). Griffin, the elusive “only shows up when he absolutely must” sibling, got his love story! I was really looking forward to this one because it felt like no one knows anything about Griff, and I was so eager to find out what/why. Especially after the truth he half-dropped on Jude in Play With Me, I knew this would be a good one. It picked up with the tail end of Eli’s story from Sing For Me, elaborated on Jude/Nora, and touched back with Cass and Chelsea too, so we heard from the whole Kelly clan. AND we got all the backstory on Griffin’s job and the mysterious love he told his brother he’d lost. THEN he fell in love again. Truly, the only down point was Chester, the old man who lives next door. I saw it coming, it served the plot well, I still cried. (Bonus points to the author for already announcing that her NEXT series is going to build off of where this one ended, which took a little bit of the sting away from the end of Quince Valley.)

Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger ⭐⭐⭐(¼) This month’s second round of Bookcase Roulette! As I started reading, I realized it’s by the same author as The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash, which I LOVED when I read it. It also seems to be a companion piece, judging by namedropped characters and events, but I haven’t read B&B recently enough to say 100 percent. The plot was sweet – I like YA books that recognize that young adults can and do experience real-world, life-altering events. This is a book about grief, about young people grieving, about big and heavy topics. Too much YA is after-school clubs and kissing boys in the hallway, and while those stories can be great too, young people are capable of experiencing and comprehending so much more; this is truly a book for anyone who’s ever lost someone, regardless of age. Parts of the plot felt disjointed, especially early in the story, and especially with the voicemails and emails dividing Naima’s sections. I was usually able to figure out where things fit together, but it took more effort than I’d have liked and pulled me out of the story. There were some really powerful moments and quotes, and even though I don’t think I’m keeping it, I’m glad I finally picked this one up.

#katie reads #kr24 #bookblr

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taleslations · 4 years

Video

dailymotion

Drama CD Tales Ring Xillia C86

Track #3: The Chimeriad and the Hot Springs Inn (3)

The party enjoy their stay while the Chimeriad work hard.

Script under read more.

Rowen: These hot springs live up to the rumors. I am in heaven. Alvin: Wouldn't you be happier if they were mixed baths, Jude? Jude: Stop teasing me. Rowen: I must say I was surprised to run into the Chimeriad in a place we visited to rest. Jude: They seem to be on some mission, but I wonder what it is. They didn't seem dangerous. Alvin: Isn't that because you always try to see the good in people? Jude: That's not it! Anyway, it didn't seem like they were here to cause trouble. Rowen: Maybe they actually came here to rest as well. Alvin: In that case, they would have come as customers. Rowen: I don't think they would have chosen their current lifestyle if they could just do that on a whim. Alvin: Poor them. Jude: Are you done? Alvin: No, I'm just gonna check out the open-air bath. You two can just relax here. Jude: I didn't know Alvin liked hot springs so much. Rowen: Or maybe he has a reason he wants to be alone.

Alvin: Excuse me. Presa: How can I help you? Alvin: There's something I'd like to ask. Presa: I won't answer. Alvin: Hey now, I'm the customer here. You should hear me out. Presa: Stop joking. Alvin: I'm not. We're just passing guests and inn staff, remember? Let's be friends, like the old man said. Presa: What do you want? Alvin: How can I get to the open-air bath? Presa: Go down this hallway and take the last door to the left. Alvin: Thanks. By the way, this yukata is a bit small... Don't you have a bigger one? Presa: Understood, I will bring a larger one to the changing area. Alvin: Please do, oh rumored pretty waitress. Presa: As you wish.

Alvin: That was nice. Open-air baths are fun to use from time to time. Oh, Presa did bring me a new yukata. EHH!? What the heck is that?

Agria: Why are they here? Milla: Agria! Do you have a moment? Agria: What? If it isn't old granny Maxwell! Milla: Aren't we supposed to be employees and customers? Agria: Lady Maxwell... Do you need something? Milla: Yes. I see many intriguing objects in this room. I don't understand what they are for. I'd like you to tell me what this thing is. Agria: You don't even know that? Milla: Alvin told me he was going to teach me fun things to do here, so I was waiting for him, but... I saw him run off wearing a floral yukata. Agria: What the heck? Milla: He looked very angry. Well, he is a man with many secrets; he must have his reasons. I was thinking of going back to my room, but will you teach me instead? Agria: No way. Who would... No, wait. Okay, I'll teach you. Milla: Really? Thank you. Agria: This is a game you play with this ball and paddle. Milla: Oh? So all I have to do is hit the ball back, right? Agria: Yes. If you can. *serves ball* Milla: Wind Blade! Agria: AAAAAH!!! What the heck are you doing? Milla: I just hit the ball back... was that wrong? Agria: I told you to use the paddle! Were you listening? Milla: Oh, right. I forgot. Let's try again. *serves ball, which hits Agria's forehead* So we have to defeat the opponent with the ball, right? Agria: Of course not. Why did you aim it straight at me? You're supposed to make it bounce on the other side of the net. Milla: I see. I didn't know about that rule. Humans come up with the most interesting things. All right. Like this? Agria: You're slow on the uptake!

Jude: Hey, Rowen... Rowen: What is it, Jude? Jude: Look at Milla and Agria... Rowen: Oh my, that's quite the match. Jiao: Oh, you two. Good timing! Jude: Jiao? Jiao: We offer cold milk to guests who come out of the baths. Would you like some? It's refreshing when drunk in one go with a hand on your hip. Jude: Thank you. Jiao: We also have coffee milk and fruits milk. Rowen: Milk is the best after a hot bath. Thank you very much. Jiao: Put your hand on your hip and gulp it on one go. Here. Jude: It's like Jiao is really an employee of this inn. Rowen: Let's drink, Jude. Milk has a special taste after a bath.

Milla: Is that all? Agria: Damn it! One more! I won't let you run!

Elize: Leia, eavesdropping is bad. Leia: I know, but Agria and the others are probably planning something. I'm worried. Teepo: Leia's the most worrisome here. Elize: Teepo! Leia: Okay, this is the room. Juuust a bit.

Agria: I'm beat. Why did I have to play with Maxwell? Presa: Don't complain. That's part of your job. Jiao: By the way, I saw Alvin running around wearing a woman's yukata. He has strange hobbies... Presa: Don't worry about him. He's like that when he goes to hot springs. Jiao: Really? Wingul: Let's begin the meeting. The new menu Jiao came up with when he joined the kitchen staff is very popular. Presa: That's true. A lot of women have been ordering it. Wingul: Even the regulars are excited about it. Jiao: I'm glad. Wingul: And sales for the sweets menu Agria proposed are steadily increasing. Agria: Naturally. Presa: That was a good idea. Besides, the names you chose are very cute. Jiao: Agria's good at picking up cute names. Agria: Shut up, twit. Presa: I've been wondering, wouldn't it be possible to give people who don't spend the night access to the hot springs? If they enjoy it, they might book a room next time. Jiao: I see. In that case, how about offering an option with lunch? Agria: Like just a footbath? Wingul: Good idea. I will submit a new plan to the owner.

Elize: They're all talking about their job seriously. Teepo: They work better than Leia. Leia: It's frustrating, but I can't argue. Elize: Maybe they could even work at your inn. Teepo: It'd be like a dream competition. Leia: All right! But I won't lose! Teepo: She's serious about it. Elize: That would be really nice.

#tales of xillia #the chimeriad #presa #agria #wingul #jiao #xillia drama #credit: yumexhanabi

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florafey · 5 years

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Thoughts on TWK

I started reading The Wicked King on 24 Jan. 2019, and finished about half an hour ago on 27 Jan. 2019. I decided to make an all-inclusive list of my thoughts/theories as I read. Here they all are.

Spoilers, of course, are under the cut.

- When did the prologue take place? I was thinking it was directly after the happenings of The Cruel Prince, and it caught my neck when it wasn’t.

- “His most ostentatious decoration, however, is his soft, sullen mouth.” Lmaoo Jude, girl you in lOOovEE hehehe

- Jude is probably right to not trust Grimsen because I don’t either, but it’s too bad CARDAN doesn’t LISTEN

- Jude seems to have fallen into authority really naturally, giving orders to Faeries as though she isn’t viewed as lesser. She’s turning into a protagonist you have a love/hate relationship with and Black is writing that extremely well in my opinion

- I think the Roach teaching Cardan how to steal is amazing and it will certainly come in handy later on it did, believe me

- Jude burning her stuffed animals is so DramaticTM but go ahead, girl

- I don’t like Locke, I don’t like Locke, I don’t like Locke at all

- “Kiss me again. Kiss me until I am sick of it.” SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE IT DAMMIT JUDE

- Jude seems to always tell Cardan before she commands him which is super respectful for someone she’s supposed to loath

- “The last room Cardan occupied caught fire....let me rephrase, it caught fire because he lit it on fire.” I’m sorry, I was rolling, that was hysterical

- Jude and the Bomb lying on the High King’s bed together to “see if its safe” and teasing each other about crushes only for the Bomb to actually open up to Jude and trust her ??? Wow okay wasn’t ready for those feels

- I don’t like Locke, I don’t like Locke, I don’t like Locke at all

- Cardan really stole Jude’s ruby ring I’m DEAD that was kinda petty

- When Locke tried to humiliate Jude at the Hunter’s Moon, only for her to take the attention and OWN it...a bitch was shook. That was such a power move on Jude’s part. I have one (1) Queen and her name is Duarte

- I was on page 173 where I had known about Cardan’s mother being imprisoned for approximately .27 seconds and I already couldn’t wait to see what unfolded with her

- Eva’s child was destined to be a greater weapon than even Justin could forge......mmmmmmm that child is for sure Jude

- “He survived on cat milk?” that was a little sad and a lot funny, sorry sorry

- BAPHEN SEES A NEW MONARCH COMIIIIIIIING (IS IT JUDE HERSELF OR IS JUDE PREGNAAAAANT????)

- Cardan sitting sideways in his throne with his leg thrown over the armrest is a Big Mood and I expected nothing less

- I absolutely detest Locke and how he treats Taryn, but I love seeing Jude snap at him and assert herself over him like a straight QWEEN

- I also feel so, so bad for Taryn because it seems like she truly loves Locke and is willing to overlook how he treats her- including how he’s cheating on her with countless Faeries- just to have him near her. She’s growing dependent on him but she doesn’t have anyone to help pull her out of that situation and I feel awful for her

- hell YEAH my Jurdan slept together best BELIEVE

- Jude kicking Locke’s chair out from under him is simply another reason on an already lengthy list of why she’s literally my hero also the way she stepped on Locke’s chest and threatened him

- “Once you’re wed, if you want to take other lovers, she better be with you, and she better be into it. If it’s not fun for everyone, it’s not happening.” A great way to put it, but also made me giggle a lil bit

- Jude not knowing what pepper jack cheese is

- Oof I hated the way Vivi handled the whole deal with telling Heather about Faerie.....telling her at the last possible minute was not a great plan in my opinion

- “It seems I have a singular taste for women who threaten me.” Cardan, I-

- I DON”T LIKE LOCKE ONE FUCKING BIT NUH UH

- Okay, Queen of Nothing just got that much better because I know Jude won’t let Locke almost kill her and get away with it....she’s coming for him hehehe

- Jude’s brain really told her, ‘Kill him before he makes you love him’ like...babey that’s so DramaticTM

- I pieced together the Ghost’s betrayal only, like, four seconds before it actually happened but that didn’t make it hurt aNY LESS. I’m interested in hearing motives for that because very few were offered

- “Now kiss me as though I were Cardan.” BITCH, I-

- And Jude actually kissed Balekin differently, because that bitch is in loooove

- So you really expect me to sit here and read about how Cardan ALLOWED the Undersea to attack his people without retaliation just to get Jude back and not think he’s in love with her???? yeah okay

- Cardan’s first reaction to seeing Jude on top of him in his bed is to pull her closer to him and roll her in his sheets...I’m weak send help

- Cardan canonically sleeps naked. Thank you, @hollyblack for giving us that gem

- The sheer vulnerability that Cardan has with Jude in his bed is touching and heart-wrenching and I need more, more, so much more

- You know what really killed me? Like, absolutely decimated me? This quote: “’Yes, my sweet villain, my darling god. I will be as sober as a stone carving, just as soon as I can.’ And with that, he kisses me on the mouth.”

- Balekin’s dusty ass really tried to frame Jude for the murder of the High King and then his wig got snATCHED when he realized she wasn’t actually glamoured

- I need more Jude taking care of a sick/drunk Cardan, comforting him and telling him he’ll be okay

- Balekin’s dusty ass also tried to surrender the moment he realized Jude was beating him in their duel and his wig got snatched again when she still killed him hell yeeeaaahhhh

- The only good part of the scene where Jude finds out Taryn betrayed her is when Caradan admits he trusted her wholeheartedly and she didn’t have to command him to do anything

- I also need motives for Taryn doing this because ???? it isn’t adding up

- So I’d like to think that Cardan had been planning on marrying Jude since the beginning of the book when he initially stole her ring, because he gave it back to her as a wedding ring

- “Beneath every bit of your sea is land. Seething, volcanic land. Go against me, and I will show you what this will do, my lady.” OKAY NOW I HAVE ONE (1) KING AND HIS NAME IS GREENBRIAR

- I loved it when Jude was like “during my month in the Undersea, Cardan changed.” like lol yeah babey, he’s your slut and he’s in love with you

- Okay okay okay alright alright we were getting somewhere with Jude and Cardan trusting each other but I fell like this exile might have put a damper on that. Maybe could have taken us a few steps back.

- I, for one, do not having debilitating trust issues so I’m sticking my neck out for Cardan and saying that he has a plan and a good reason for exiling Jude. It was in response for her killing Balekin and it was in front of Orlagh, who was demanding retribution for his death, soooooo idk seems like he was playing his cards wisely if he had a plan

- Is Jude....watching....Yuri! On Ice....?? Because same

- Honestly this book gave me crippling trust issues and anxiety and I need the third book like, instantly. It was amazing, I wanted to cry through the whole thing

- If you made it this far, congrats, you witnessed my emotional roller coasters and I appreciate that

#the wicked king #the cruel prince #folk of the air #my thoughts #wicked king spoilers

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kimnamjooonz · 5 years

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London Calling - Chapter 4

Hey Bucky

Introducing in this chapter:

This man:

And this one:

Songs used in this chapter:

Hey Jude - The Beatles

London, December 2016

Another day in the office. The only good thing of that day was that it was Friday. However, Celine wasn’t in her best mood. Work was monotonous, to say the least and she was frustrated with her investigation: she seemed to be going nowhere. It was a week before Christmas holidays which was a relief. Even though Celine had never celebrated Christmas, and this year was not going to be an exception, she was looking forward for the free days even if they involved Matilde decorating the house in a manner that Celine found distasteful. Everything Christmassy was awful to her. She was mumbling one of those pop songs that Matilde listened to and Celine didn’t know the name while finally leaving the office. She just wanted to sleep through all the weekend. ‘’Hey, hey hey’’ she heard Matilde’s voice calling her. She had the biggest smile on her face. ‘’I have the best news to tell you. I’ll tell you on the way’’ she pulled Celine by her sleeve. ‘’The way to were?’’ Celine asked, not understanding a thing of what Matilde wanted to tell her. ‘’Let me tell you the story first’’ she followed Matilde wherever she wanted to go. ‘’Do you remember my aunt Francisca?’’ ‘’How can I forget her. She lives right next our door’’ Matilde’s aunt had quite an interesting love life that the girls couldn’t fail to see. She and her Georgie were quite the couple. ‘’Well, she made up her mind. She’s leaving to Chicago next week with his super rich boyfriend. Georgie, of course. Hell, he’s like twenty years younger than her’’ even though the gossip was fun, Celine didn’t know where the story involved her. ‘’And…?’’ ‘’Well…’’ Matilde’s smile grew bigger. ‘’She asked me if you’re still interested in acquiring a house in London because she’s selling hers. If she contacts a real estate agency the process will take a lot of time but if she sells it to you, you’ll have a house by next week.’’ Celine stopped to think. That was too good to be true. ‘’You’ll get a house for a quarter of the normal price. My aunt just wants to sell it quickly. In common circumstances, a nice house in Chelsea is unaffordable.’’ Celine knew all about that. She had been looking for affordable places to live that weren’t the size of a shoe box and she had not been lucky. Until now, that she was about to get a pretty house in Chelsea for less than half the price. She wanted to send flowers to Georgie and Francisca. ‘’Tell me we’re on the way to meet her right now’’ Celine was literally jumping with excitement. ‘’Of course, miss’’

Two hours later they were at the Pig Ear, Matilde’s favourite pub, celebrating. Celine was so happy that she was in the mood for a pint of beer even if she knew she’d have to deal with the drunkness afterwards. Damn the alcohol intolerance. There was a band playing covers of The Beatles and Celine was singing in a low voice while she finished with the beer. Matilde was already drinking her fourth pint. ‘’You’ll miss my Chris Evans picture’’ ‘’Yeah, I feel the heartbreak already’’ Celine said with sarcasm. As much as she loved Matilde, she was happy to get her own place, at last. She wanted to have a cat, something she couldn’t do with Matilde who was allergic. And not having to look at that Evans guy picture every day was a bonus. When Celine realised that she was singing louder than before knew that it was time to go. She didn’t want to end up singing on the tables, like one embarrassing time in Cambridge. ‘’I thought you were never going to finish’’ she had drank five pints and was really tipsy. On the way back was doing a weird sort of dance while singing a very out of tune version of Hey Jude. ‘’Hey Jude… don’t make it bad… take a sad song and make it better REMEMBER to let her into your heart… then you can start to make it better’’ Some verses later both of them were shouting the lyrics. ‘’… REMEMBER TO LET HER UNDER YOUR SKIN THEN YOU CAN START TO MAKE IT BETTER, BETTER, BETTER, AGGHH NANANANANANA HEY JUDE’’ They were attracting glances from the people on the street but for once Celine didn’t care. She was too happy. Stumbling, both of them got into the house. ‘’I think I’m drunk’’ said Matilde crashed on the couch and turned on the TV ‘’Celine, look, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is on’’. Celine glanced at the screen where there was a guy with blue eyes and long hair who was apparently being under some sort of torture. Celine was seeing double so she didn’t look at the screen for so long. ‘’That’s Bucky Barnes played by the brilliant Sebastian Stan. Very handsome as you can see. I’d sell my soul just for a taste of him’’ Celine laughed. Not even drunk she would think things like that about a fictional character. ‘’I leave you in his company. I’m going to bed before I can’t climb the stairs’’ She laughed again when she saw Matilde hugging the air, probably imagining it was that Becky guy. Or Bucky or whatever his godforsaken name was. Laughing, she crashed in her bad and fell asleep.

Somewhere in New York, at the same exact time.

‘’Sebastian, darling, you auditioned for this role, which is very big and now you don’t want to take it’’. Sebastian was in a reunion with his agent who was trying to convince him to take a role he had auditioned for a couple of months ago. It was the lead role for an important production. ‘’I told you before’’ he complained ‘’I don’t want to go abroad for eight months, it’s crazy’’ this was only one of the reasons for his reluctance. ‘’It’s just six months. Take this chance. It’ll boost your career’’. ‘’I don’t know anyone there. And I don’t want to live in a hotel for eight months. Think about that, Emily, it’s crazy’’. ‘’Six months, Sebastian. And you don’t have to live in a hotel. I know that some of your Marvel buddies live there so you can stay with them’’. Sebastian was horrified with imagining living six months with someone like Tom Holland. He wouldn’t last a week. ‘’But I don’t know anything about the background history of the movie’’ he was desperately trying to find some reasons. ‘’There are books about it, I know you like to read. If not, the Wikipedia is always there’’. Sebastian was frustrated. Emily always had a solution to everything. It was literally impossible to win an argument against her. ‘’What if I need to see my therapist or my personal trainer?’’ Emily was doing her best to remain patient. Sebastian could be difficult sometimes. ‘’There are therapists, personal trainers, restaurants, parks, fire fighters, doctors, politicians… everything you want, Sebastian’’. He was running out of reasons and to be honest, he didn’t know why he was saying no. It was a big chance and he had left home for long periods of time before. It wasn’t as if he had someone to tie him to New York, apart from his mother. He didn’t even have a girlfriend as his last one had left him many months ago. No, the real reason was that he was insecure about the role being too big for him. ‘’Sebastian’’ Emily was looking at him with a serious but kind expression ‘’You know I want the best for you. And this role is. Take this chance, you won’t regret it’’. She was right, he had to admit it. And he had been chosen for this role for a reason. If he did it well, he’d career would take a boost. If he did it bad, well, he still had a nine movie contract with Marvel so he won’t be unemployed. ‘’Suppose that I’m doing this, when do I leave?’’ ‘’Next year. From March to September’’. Being serious, the idea wasn’t so bad. He’ll meet new people, at least. Who knew what would happen. ‘’Okay I’ll do it’’ Emily smiled, relieved, and gave him the contract. Without thinking it twice, he stamped his signature on the contract.

Chelsea, London.

Celine suddenly woke up after a weird dream. There was a wolf in it. Damn alcohol, she always had weird dreams whenever she drank. Once she had dreamed that she was a mermaid. She didn’t even like mermaids in the first place. ‘’I need tea’’ she mumbled to the empty room. Downstairs, Matilde had fallen asleep on the couch hugging a pillow. Celine tried not to laugh. The Captain America film was still playing. Celine could tell that because she recognised the long haired guy from before. It was either a really long film or it had a sequel. In silence she drank a cup of herbal tea while watching the TV. There were a lot of people with weird costumes fighting each other in an airport. Celine had no idea what was this about. She had got lost with the scene even though she had no idea what was going on. When her eyelids started to drop she started her way back to bed again ‘’I knew that deep inside you liked these films’’ Matilde spoke from behind her back. ‘’Yes, I was mesmerised by Becky’’ Celine said with sarcasm. ‘’It’s Bucky’’ she tried to stand up for the couch but ended up on the floor. Celine helped her to stand up not before laughing at loud. Not saying a single word Matilde fell asleep on the couch. Taking all the time in world she went back to her room. She couldn’t fall asleep again because she had the strange feeling that something was going to change by some reason she was unaware of. She related these thoughts with the alcohol consumption or maybe with the fact that she was going to get a permanent place to live. And a good one. Tomorrow is going to be a good day, she thought. There was nothing to worry about.

Manhattan, New York.

When Anthony arrived to his friend Sebastian’s place he found him next to the big window in his living room, in a phone conversation with someone and listening to Celine Dion at full volume. Anthony had no idea what was on Sebastian’s mind. Maybe this was a weird technique to get into character for his next role. Or he was being his usual melodramatic self. It was a challenge not to laugh, he looked ready to be in an Adele music video. ‘’…I’ll miss you to but I’m not leaving yet, I leave the second week of March of next year’’ he was saying. Anthony wondered where he was leaving. ‘’Mom, I’m sorry but I can’t go to spend Christmas with you, I’ll be in Atlanta… no, mom, I promise I’ll see you before I leave… bye… love you’’ He hung up and finally focused on Anthony. ‘’What on earth is happening to you?’’ Anthony asked him. ‘’What’s wrong?’’ Sebastian looked around, trying to find something out of normality. ‘’You look like you’ve made the worst mistake of your life and you’re listening to Celine Dion like a dramatic fool!’’ ‘’What’s wrong?’’ he asked again. ‘’I like Celine. But you’re right, I think I’ve made a mistake’’. He looked quite thoughtful. Anthony just wanted to hear the whole story. After a while he started talking. ‘’Look, I got the lead role for a huge movie that I think it’s too big for me. Apart from that I have to go abroad for like eight months and if that wasn’t enough I have to do a lot of research that I’m seriously planning to leave for the last minute’’. Anthony waited until Sebastian finished his rant to ask all the questions he had in his mind. ‘’When you say ‘abroad’ where are you exactly going? You sound as if they’re sending you to Siberia’’. ‘’Just London’’ Anthony couldn’t believe it. All of this drama because he was going to London. Not the Sahara desert or the North Pole or the Amazonia. Just London. ‘’What’s wrong with London? You’ll have to pull a perfect accent?’’ Sebastian just nodded. ‘’Good luck with that’’ he tried again not to laugh. ‘’You can talk and talk to Hiddleston. Sooner or later you’ll end up talking like him’’. Sebastian shot him a death glare. ‘’Don’t get mad, man, you were casted for a reason now go there and do your job. They’ll pay you pretty well so stop complaining. Who knows what’s expecting you in London’’. Sebastian had to admit that Anthony was right. Not that he was doing this for the money, he just loved acting but he was just scared, like any normal person. ‘’Why don’t we go out?’’ Anthony proposed. ‘’To a pub or somewhere else. Maybe you can meet someone’’. ‘’Not in the mood, sorry’’ Sebastian was still looking at the roof with an unreadable expression. Anthony’s patience was running out. He wanted to shake Sebastian by the shoulders and shout at him to pull himself together, that he was good enough for the role. ‘’You’re never in the mood. Haven’t you been alone too long?’’ ‘’Just some months and I’m perfectly fine with it’’ he was being totally honest. ‘’And in three months I’m leaving to Britain and I don’t want to leave anyone behind, I feel guilty enough of leaving my mom already’’ ‘’Do me a favour, Sebastian’’ Anthony was looking at him with a serious expression ‘’When you’re in London don’t isolate yourself. Go and talk to someone. A nice girl in coffee shop, someone that’s sitting beside you on the tube, an old woman in a park, I mean, anyone, whoever you want to. Who knows who you’ll end up meeting’’ ‘’The love of my freaking life’’ Sebastian said with all the sarcasm he could muster. Anthony just couldn’t stand him anymore.

P.S I relate to Celine. The girl got a house. In THIS economy.

And I spent all day laughing at Rami Malek falling at the Oscars. I know I shouldn’t have but it was just too good.

And finally Sebastian made his entrance in this story.

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captainpikeachu · 5 years

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my crimes of grindelwald review

so some time back, people were asking me about my feels regarding this movie, i didn’t put out a review then because i was still thinking things through and rewatching the movie and re-reading the screenplay

but now that it’s been some time since the movie opened, i feel like i’m at a good place to be sure of my feelings about the film

to put it simply:

am i going to watch it a million times and scream about my feels? YES.

do i think that it is a good film? NO.

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the good:

the visuals of course are amazing, these FB films have a sense of confidence in its visual flair and that’s not shocking given that most of the people working on these films have been doing films in this world for like over a decade

the performances are great, whenever the cast is allowed to have their little interactions, they nail it and make the most of what they are given

the beasts are frankly the best parts of anything, they’re cute and adorable and amazing and i wish this whole film series actually was focused on the beasts

Newt and Theseus’ relationship thankfully was not one of jerky older brother bullying younger brother, no, Theseus is actually a great and caring older brother and their hugs are everything

Jacob is a joy to watch always

Newt and Tina's salamander eyes moment LOL

Jude Law is a great young Dumbledore

the bad:

this screenplay of JKR’s unfortunately exposes the weakness of her ability as a screenwriter, it is not focused, and three million things are happening at the same time as we jump from location to location to location - this all works well in novel format, as we are able to more space to explore more things, but in a script, it doesn’t work, there is no space - this in turn ends up with backstories that could be useful but is never explained, things that would actually flesh out character reasons and actions that are left on the cutting room floor

as I said once to a friend of mine about this movie, it’s like JKR made this huge great amazingly rich feast with so many delicious dishes but every time you take a bite or two from a dish, it’s then snatched away from you - so you get a tiny taste of everything but never the actual rich meal - and yes, I am fully aware that COG is only part two of a story, but the lack of focus and some very thin characters makes the film on its own, just not well done - a part two in a series should also be a complete story on its own

for example, while I am grateful that there wasn’t much Leta/Theseus/Newt drama, JKR not focusing on any of that just then makes me wonder what is even the point of saying Leta is engaged to Theseus? We get the tiniest glimpse of Leta and Theseus as a couple and then she just dies in this film - this was what I mean when I say thin characters or the feeling of a meal being snatched away - we are never explained how Theseus and Leta met, why did they choose to get married, or does Theseus know that Newt had feelings for Leta? A backstory of Leta and Theseus’ relationship would have done wonders to elevate both Theseus and Leta as supporting characters. This film focuses on Leta and Newt having a bond, even going back as showing their years at Hogwarts together, and that’s all great and all, but then why did Leta chose to marry Theseus? This movie is trying to tell me they have a great bond, yet Leta wants to marry Newt’s brother? Why? But that’s the issue, Theseus and Leta’s relationship is just there and never explained. So then what is the point of all this supposed love triangle if it is left up so ambiguous with one side of the relationship just never explained or shown? The fact that they fridged Leta in the end....*shakes head*

another example is Nagini and Credence - Credence’s whole plot in the movie is just leave the circus, find information about his family, go to the tombs, and then join Grindelwald, and Nagini is literally just a tag along with no discerning plot of her own - it’s like they just tagged her in because Credence couldn’t very well be moody and talk to himself so he needed a person to do exposition to - we are not shown how Credence came back, we are not shown how he and Nagini met and why did they become friends enough to escape together - we are simply just told that they know each other and just accept it - but then, Credence pretty much just dumps her for Grindelwald and leaves, again a female character is all but given nothing to do

and then there’s the Queenie and Jacob thing - *sighs* - I adored that relationship in the first film but Queenie’s actions in this film crosses a line that I honestly don’t know if there is redemption for - while everyone might shrug off the love potion thing because “well Jacob loves her” - but let’s think about how that scene would look if a man put a love potion on a woman to keep her wanting to marry him, no, we wouldn’t think very kindly on that, so the fact that it’s a woman doing it to a man shouldn’t make it any less a disgusting act, and saying that Queenie did it for love really doesn’t make it any better, it in fact paints her character as a selfish and manipulative person who doesn’t care about people’s consent, that she just does whatever she wants or thinks is best for her - case in point, she literally joins a man whom 9 months ago SENTENCED HER SISTER TO DEATH AND ALMOST KILLED HER - maybe this is just me, but if someone did that to my only family, I would never listen to anything that someone had to say - and the implications of a Jewish woman siding with Wizard Hitler? Yeah....no thanks....

Tina is another character whom suffers in this film’s problem with treatment of its female characters, she is literally given no plot of her own, again, like Nagini, it’s like she’s just tagged onto Newt’s story, and while they have a cute adorable moment that I love, she is not given a center stage spotlight to shine

and here leads to the other issue - there are way too many characters in this movie that JKR does not how to juggle and balance in a screenplay - it’d be one thing if this was a novel, but in a three act screenplay, she ends up having to sacrifice so many characters’ depth - this movie feels like three different movies are happening at the same time but each other is given little focus - this problem wasn’t a prevalent issue in the first FB movie because we had the core four characters that our story focused and followed - but in COG, that’s not the case anymore, we are no longer following the core four, it’s more like core 10 but they’re all over the place in their own little movies - the only time this movie had a focus was the last 30 min with everyone going to the tombs for the rally, the plot meanders until we reach that point

and then I have to touch upon the issues of canon - now this doesn’t make or break a movie, I’m not so attached to canon that a whole movie is ruined, but this break in canon does present a problem - is JKR just retconning her own stories now? I like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but certain decisions in her storytelling lately have made me iffy on that - the whole Aurelius Dumbledore thing doesn’t really matter to me, I think that one can be explained away eventually and I’m sure JKR has an explanation so I can wait on that, my only problem with the reveal is how it was presented, out of the blue with no set up - this wasn’t a little clues laid down and AHA! moment, but it literally comes out of nowhere as a shock moment only because there is no canonical ground laid for it - we never see Grindelwald even bringing anything up about something like that even in the first FB film, in fact, Grindelwald spent most of that movie convinced that Credence was just a squib. It’s a big twist sure, but a twist that nobody could have predicted because no one knowing canon would have even thought about that? And then there’s the whole McGonagall thing, my brain hurts thinking about it and the only explanation is that time turners are involved, as much as I hate bringing up time travel again in HP, it’s the only explanation. I want to think that JKR isn’t that bad at keeping track of her own canon. Like I said, I want to give her the benefit of the doubt.

other things:

Grindelwald still looks like a bleached pineapple

#JusticeForAntonio and for the family and that baby Grindelwald also murdered

#WhereIsTheRealPercivalGraves - seriously, HOW IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS OR GIVING ME ANY ANSWERS? IS HE ALIVE? IS HE ON VACATION? IS HE HIDING IN A CIRCUS WITH A FLYING ELEPHANT CALLED DUMBO?????

that opening escape thing was great to watch but logistically makes no sense, what was the point of going back to get Abernathy when you could just escape already.........unless Grindelwald just did it to be extra, which I guess he would

Yusuf and Leta and the whole thing with their mother...eh...I think people more of an expert in the problematic racial tropes have spoke better on this issue than i ever could

i really wished they just stuck to a series about beasts instead of dragging in the Grindelwald and Dumbledore drama/war - why not just let that be its own series where then you get a good focus

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look, fact is, you give me a wizarding world movie, i’m gonna watch it and be happy and watch it a million more times because I love this world so much, i have all the books, the merch, been to the wizarding world like more than a few dozen times, this world is life

but as someone who has a degree in screenwriting...this script was just...not good at all, and it further shows that JKR is a great novelist but not necessarily a great screenwriter - I can only hope that maybe she will get another screenwriter to help her with the focus, maybe get Steve Kloves back since they have worked together - it’s great in a novel to have so many characters in a story, but there is a reason on screen even in the HP movies, they chose to move and combine certain characters into one because you didn’t want so many characters to eat up the screentime and focus - this is JKR’s main problem right now, and the fact that her female characters in this film were not treated well

i hope that the next few films improve, but either way i’m still gonna watch them of course

#fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald #newt scamander #theseus scamander #leta lestrange #tina goldstein #Albus Dumbledore #gellert grindelwald #credence barebone #nagini #queenie goldstein #jacob kowalski #percival graves #yusuf kama

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olliethealright · 3 years

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Three Steps From Home - Novel Update #2

Hey everyone! Today, I’m going to do my second update on Three Steps From Home. This should be the last update with more than 1-2 chapters, after this I’ll be pretty much caught up to what I’m writing now. This update will cover chapters 5-8, and together, these chapters add up to 4361 words. Warning, this is going to be long because I like these chapters, sorry lol.

Disclaimer: These are all my original thoughts and words, please do not steal them.

Trigger warning: Mental illness, mentions of suicide and self harm, homophobia, conversion therapy

chapter five - rest stop monsters - 1571 words

theme song - the village - warbel

This chapter is maybe the most chaotic in the book. We get the first taste of Jude being a bit unhinged and unreliable as a narrator.

summary: Jude’s mother threatens to send him to conversion therapy, which causes a massive fight between the two. Jude packs a backpack and hits the road, making it a few miles on foot before he breaks down and calls Aaron from a rest stop.

Excerpts:

Jude’s mother trying to send him to conversion therapy:

Mother clicked the TV off so hard, the rubber button got stuck in the plastic base. Her knuckles crackled as she shifted, turning the hard, unblinking stare of concentration usually reserved for priests on me. The reverence she used when looking at someone who spun God’s words like steel ribbons was gone, replaced by the look of someone who has found a dead thing in their house

“Father John and I have been talking,” she said, choosing her words carefully. Nothing good ever started with that phrase. “We’ve been talking, and we think you’re beyond our help. Beyond… normal help.”

No shit. I had been ‘beyond help’ since I was a kid, it was a miracle it had taken her so long to come to the same conclusion I had. “Okay… so what now?”

I knew the answer before I formed the words, but I wanted to hear her say it anyway. I wanted it to sting, I wanted a reason to blow up in her face. She fed my fire, she would watch as it burned me.

Jude having a breakdown at a rest stop:

I brought my knees in closer to myself and shivered, my chest collapsed in on itself and my lungs emptied. The rest stop monsters closed in; I didn’t look at them. The minutes I spent waiting for you felt like hours.

By the time you pulled into the parking lot in your used blue pickup, I was half asleep, the start of a nasty cold already coursing through my blood. You parked next to me and got out, silhouetted against your headlights so you looked like someone else.

chapter six - Duo of Trespassers - 1266 words

theme song - mars - YUNGBLUD

Chapter five is definitely kind of a downer, but don’t worry, this book likes to play with your emotions so chapter six is weirdly... upbeat? This one is kind of hard to me to describe because the mood is very back and forth. It takes place the morning after chapter five.

Summary: Jude wakes up at Aaron’s apartment, and they are now on a mission to break into Jude’s mother’s house and steal his stuff.

excerpts:

Aaron talking about his past and then changing his mind and saying nothing:

“Good idea. When I moved out, my folks…” you trailed off, but it was enough to make me turn around. You had talked about your family just enough for me to know that you had one, and you probably weren’t adopted, although even that was foggy for me. Whenever I asked about them, you clammed up, changed the subject, complimented my eyes or the new sticker I had put on my laptop. I had stopped asking.

You waved me off like it was no big deal, but something about you had shifted already. You moved like a sparrow, ready to take flight at any second. You had paled a shade, your hands wouldn’t stop moving; adjusting the string at the waist of your shorts, then to your hood, putting it up, back down again, raking your fingers through your hair as if you were trying to pull it out by the chunk.

“It doesn’t matter,” you lied to my raised eyebrows. “Today’s about your bullshit, not mine. Now let’s get moving before we lose our nerve.”

“Aaron…” I should have stopped thinking about myself then, should have told you to go to work while I sorted my shit out, should have grabbed your hands and demanded you tell me something real about your life before I met you, but I didn’t. My tunnel vision didn’t include your distress, it barely included mine.

Jude and Aaron breaking into Jude’s old house:

My mother’s car was thankfully absent from the driveway when we pulled up. I slouched down in my seat and scoured the street for snoopy neighbors, determining after nearly five minutes that there weren’t any.

You boosted me through the same window I had used to leave the night before, left wide open, as if she had wanted me to return so she could trap me inside. Your fingers were freezing as I pulled you in after me, a duo of trespassers in a room that was still mine.

seven - high on nothing - 1011 words

theme song - peanut butter waffles - ryan caraveo

Summary: This chapter takes place three weeks after the events of the previous chapter. Jude gets a call from his mother for the first time since they fought and he moved out, and agrees to take Aaron to meet her over brunch. Aaron spends the rest of the chapter assuring Jude that he isn’t afraid of Jude’s mother, and he does want to meet her. Essentially, the whole chapter is Jude having an emo moment and Aaron eating his spaghetti and begging Jude not to worry.

Beginning paragraph:

It was three weeks before my mother finally called me. Three weeks of being high with glee when I remembered she wasn’t waiting for me when I got home, ready to tear into me like a bear tears into its prey. Three weeks of feeling like I was looking into the chasm where her anger bubbled just under out of sight, ready to swallow me whole if I got too close to the edge.

Jude speaking with his mother on the phone:

“Jude?” she finally said, her pronunciation just a little off. My mother didn’t speak the language of apologies, but she stumbled through one that night. Her voice was hard as a brick wall, she was going against her better judgement, some part of her probably regretting it already. I let her talk.

She didn’t ask me to move back in, she didn’t ask me to change, she didn’t even ask me to go to church with her, which must have been a first. Instead, through gritted teeth, she said the words I never expected to hear from her. “Will you at least bring… him around the house? If you’re going to be dating, I deserve to meet him, at the very least.”

More of Jude being afraid of his mother...

I rolled my eyes and tried not to think about what my mother would say when she met you, how she would probably go after how you dressed first, and then the slight crookedness to your nose that I always thought made you more beautiful. Next, it would be: ‘does he even speak Spanish?’ And after that would come the obligatory: ‘I loved a white boy once, and do you know what it got me? An ungrateful son like you and a high mortgage.’ Then, she would pick you apart by the personality trait, by the star sign; tear you up and leave you in a heap on the floor.

Jude explaining to Aaron why he’s afraid to see his mother

“My mother is… well you’ve heard the stories. My mother isn’t nice, she’s kind of a nightmare, actually. She doesn’t have a kind bone in her body, and she hates sinners more than anything. And she’ll probably insult everything about you. She’ll definitely try to shame me into marrying a Guatemalan girl from the next town over and having ten Christian kids and sending them to church school and having a dysfunctional family that looks perfect from the outside and then dying sad and alone.”

chapter eight - black and white - 505 words

theme song - untitled - EDEN (yes I've used this song before, but it’s one of the theme songs of the whole book and also its so pretty lol)

This is the shortest chapter in the book, and it’s definitely way underwritten, so I’ll be coming back to it.

Summary: Aaron takes Jude to a drive in movie the night before their brunch with Jude’s mother to cheer him up. Aaron falls asleep, Jude drives home and reflects on his life.

Jude and Aaron being cute on the way to the movie:

You taught me words of the french you had learned in school as you drove, laughing when my pronunciation sounded more like ‘sad Spanish’. Eventually, I crossed my arms and spent the next ten minutes speaking only my mother tongue, which came back to me faster than I would have imagined after avoiding the language for years.

“Not bad, not bad,” you admitted when I finally got bored and switched back to english. “I mean, it doesn’t beat my secondary school French, but you’re getting there.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. I had learned Spanish and English at the same time, and until elementary school, I mixed them like they were one. I was smart enough to know the difference as the words rolled off my tongue, but not smart enough to understand that not everyone spoke that way. It took my kindergarten teacher kneeling in front of me on the second day of school and explaining that his classroom was for english only for me to realize that I was different.

Aaron falling asleep at the end: (I had a picture for this one but it got corrupted so RIP)

I’m not sure exactly when you fell asleep, it was somewhere between the last (and only) good jump scare, when you swore like a sailor and then laughed until there were tears in your eyes, and the end of the movie.

Half the cars had already packed up and left before I slid your head onto one of the pillows and pulled a blanket to your chin. You shifted in your sleep, but didn’t wake. I shoved all the blankets into the passenger seat and then shook you just enough so one bleary blue eye opened. You were stretched out in the backseat, asleep before I could say anything.

Okay, there it is! I hope you enjoyed this update, because I had a really good time making it! As always, feel free to message me if you have any questions! Thank you for reading if you made it this far.

-ollie

#threestepsfromhome #writblr #nanowrimo #nanowrimo2020 #writing #writer #author #book #novel #story #shortstory #chapter #update #fun

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sherl-watson-holmes · 7 years

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Welcome to London (Sherlock x reader) Chapter 8

Helloo Chipmunks, this story is finally back from the dead. Sorry for the long wait, I had a lot of stuff going on in my life. I'm so sorry if this chapter isn't that good, but I really wanted to get another chapter out this weekend, but I've been having a bit of writer's block for this story. I'm gonna try to make this chapter a longer one since I haven't written for this book in such a long time. Read on!

My Wattpad: -kavacado- You and Sherlock crept into John and Mary's room and tiptoed to the bed. You put three fingers up and mouthed at Sherlock 'Three. Two. One.' You both jumped onto the bed and you started yelling at them, loud enough for them to wake up, but not loud enough for your family to hear. "Get up. Get up. Get up!" You started shaking the both of them. John shot up and ended up head butting with Sherlock. Sherlock tumbled off the bed while John and Mary groaned. "Ow, What the hell?" He looked around with his eyes still half closed. Sherlock got up, rubbing his head "God, John, what the hell was that?" You started laughing "As much as I'm enjoying this, we have to go! Dance party time!" You got up and took off running to Jim's room. You threw the door open and jumped on top of Jim's sleeping form, earning a yelp from him. He pulled the covers off his head "(y/n)? What do you need?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I need you to get your butt up, we're having a dance party in my room." You smiled at him. You moved to get up when he took your wrist, effectively holding you in place. "(Y/n)? You alright?" He looked at you, speaking softly. You gave him a small smile and took his face in your hands, kissing his forehead. "I'm fine now, Jim. I wasn't, but I feel better now. We can talk about it sometime, but right now," you paused, your smile widening "we're having a dance party!" You jumped off the bed and took off running, leaving Jim to chuckle to himself and throw off his covers, starting towards your room. You went to Molly's room and pulled her off the bed, dragging her to your room. You pushed everyone in and went to your speakers, putting on your playlist. 'Still into you' began to play and you all started dancing around your room, screaming the lyrics out while jumping on and off the bed. "CAN'T COUNT THE YEARS ON ONE HAND THAT WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER" you and Jim scream-sang. John and Mary replied "I NEED THE OTHER ONE TO HOLD YOU, MAKE YOU FEEL, MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER" Molly joined in as all of you sang together "IT'S NOT A WALK IN THE PARK TO LOVE EACH OTHER" Sherlock watched you from the side, smiling at your clumsy dancing. "BUT WHEN OUR FINGERS INTERLOCK, I CAN'T DENY, CAN'T DENY, YOU'RE WORTH IT. CAUSE AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I'M STILL INTO YOU" you all sang until your voices were hoarse, your playlist going from 'Still into you' to 'Welcome to the Black Parade' to 'Sugar We're Going Down' to 'Thinking Out Loud'. Around 6 in the morning, everyone went back to their respective rooms to get some rest before you were going to go out to show them around the city, as you decided after about half an hour of singing. You saw Sherlock lying against your headboard and went to sit down next to him, your music still playing. You turned it down to a lower volume, for once thanking the size of your house, for it stopped your family from hearing you. You sat down next to Sherlock, resting your head on his shoulder, when 'Hey Jude' started playing. You smiled and started singing along. "Hey Jude" you sang softly "don't make it bad" You looked at Sherlock when he started singing softly with you "just take a sad song, and make it better" you snuggled into his side "remember, to let her into your heart, then you can start, to make it better" You fell asleep singing along and Sherlock pulled the covers over you both, wrapping his arms around your form before letting himself drift off to sleep. You woke up to see Sherlock already up, in his mind palace, next to you. You tried sitting up and groaned in pain, bringing Sherlock back to reality. He looked over to you, concern evident on his face. "Are your ribs hurting?" He reached for for the pills on your night stand, taking two out and handing them to you. You took them gratefully, popping them into your mouth and swallowing them dry. "Yup." You scrunched up your face, both due to the taste of the medicine and due to the pain. Sherlock lightly chuckled "I told you not to strain yourself yesterday." You rolled your eyes "Shut up, Sherl." You squeezed your eyes shut as you felt the soreness of your throat from yesterday. You stretched a bit, wincing as it you felt pain in your side before sleepily looking at Sherlock "C'mon, we need to get up. I promised everyone that I'd show them around the city today."

You began to get up, but Sherlock held you firmly in place "We don't have to. Everyone's probably tired and you really should be getting more rest than you have been getting."

You squinted at Sherlock's raised eyebrows when your door flew open, revealing Jim in dark jeans, a white undershirt, and a brown jacket. He ran and jumped onto your bed, carefully not to hurt you. "City time!" He ruffled you hair as you laughed.

"Give me an hour to get ready, we can go take a walk around central park later." You yawned, rubbing your eyes.

Jim smirked "I'll give you 45 minutes. No more, no less. We're leaving tomorrow night, no time to waste.

You shot out of bed "Tomorrow?! I thought we weren't leaving until after Christmas, tomorrow's Christmas eve."

Jim chuckled before replying "Yeah, remember, this flight was almost 400 quid cheaper than the other one, we weren't exactly thinking about Christmas at the time."

You sighed "What time do we leave?"

Jim got off the bed and adjusted his jacket "Nine, tomorrow night. We have a four hour layover in Whales and then we go to home sweet home."

You frowned "That means we'll ��be spending a majority of Christmas in an airport."

Jim turned you around and began pushing you towards the bathroom "It'll be fun! Just go get your lazy butt ready, I'll make Sherlock get ready." He leaned in towards your ear and playfully whispered "and we are so talking about him being in your bed, later."You rolled your eyes and went to get ready.

You put on black skinny jeans, a burgundy tank top, and a black faux leather jacket. You finished off your makeup with a deep red, more burgundy lip and slipped on your black heeled ankle boots. You fixed your already straightened hair in your mirror and left your room to meet everyone in the living room.

Jim looked over to you with his eyebrows raised "Hot damn, (y/n), I'd be all over you right now if I wan't gay." You giggled, thanking Jim.

You looked to Sherlock who you noticed was going red. "Sherl, are you okay? You're as red as a tomato." You asked him, concerned.

He cleared his throat "Yes, I just, uh, Let's get some fresh air."

You furrowed your brow at him "Okay then. Let's go."

Sherlock followed you towards the door, cringing at himself. 'Why does she have to look so hot right now?' he thought to himself, trying to focus his attention on anything but you.

Just as you were about to walk through the door, John's voice stopped you "(y/n), shouldn't you put your coat on? That's hardly gonna keep you warm." You started walking out the door backwards, addressing John "No way, dude, it'll mess up the look." You motioned towards your outfit. Mary chuckled and grabbed everyone's coats, handing them out. Molly chuckled "God, Mary, you're like our mother." You smiled "She's the fairy squad mother." Jim snorted at your comment "What?" You looked down embarrassed "Sorry, it's a joke." Jim laughed, lightly clapping your back "Okay, (y/n), whatever you say." You all took the train to Central Park and began walking around. Sherlock sat on a bench and entered his mind palace, Molly sat under a tree to read and Mary and John sat by the pond to see watch the ducks. You saw Jim walking and smiling at his phone. You jogged up to him and started walking at his pace. "Whatcha smiling at?" You nudged him playfully. He bit his bottom lip, trying to contain his smile "Greg." You gasped "You started talking to him?! Why didn't you tell me?!" You smacked his arm lightly. "Ow" he clutched his arm, pretending to be in pain. "I got his number the day we left to come here, I never got time to tell you with everything." He smiled. "Oh" you looked away sheepishly "sorry about that." Jim pushed you playfully "Oh, shut up. You know it wasn't your fault. But, guess what?" You flailed your arms exaggeratedly "What?" "He. Is. Gay. I actually have a chance, (y/n)!" You could tell he was trying to contain his excitement in public. You gave him a genuine smile "Aw, Jim, I'm so happy for you, I'm sure he'll want to go out with you if you ask, and I'm sure you two would make the cutest couple." Jim looked down with a red face before giving you... a look. "Speaking of relationships, (y/n), why was Sherl in your bed this morning." He waggled his eyebrows at you suggestively. You scoffed at him "You" you pointed your finger at him "are changing the topic, mister." "Oh, you are not getting away with this, (y/n), we are so talking about it." "It's nothing, he's just making sure nothing happens to me health wise at night." You frowned. Jim spoke softly "But you want it to be something." You sighed in frustration "Maybe, I don't know." Jim started laughing and you looked at him hurt evident in your eyes. "Not funny, Jim, I can't believe you would make fun of my feelings." You sped up to walk ahead of him, trying to keep your tears at bay. Jim jogged up to you and stepped in front of you, stopping you with his hands on both of your shoulders. "Hey, listen to me." He looked down at you. He lifted your chin so that you were looking at him as well "Listen, I'm not laughing at the fact that you like Sherlock. I'm laughing at the fact that you don't see that he likes you too." Your eyes widened at his statement "What did you just say?" Jim chuckled "I said, he likes you too. I know Sherlock, he doesn't do this stuff for anyone, maybe sometimes John, but this is big. He really cares for you, and judging by the way he looks at you when you aren't looking, he's in bloody love with you, (y/n)." You shook your head "No, Jim. There is no way he likes me. He's bloody perfect and I'm... um, me." You pointed towards yourself. Jim slapped your hand away "Shut up, (y/n), you aren't 'just you', you're... you" he finished smiling. You rolled your eyes at him and the both of you continued to walk in silence for a while until you realized you were way too far from the group. You were walking back when Jim asked you to hold his phone while he tied his shoe. His phone buzzed in your hand and you were about to tell him when you saw a message from Greg. Knowing his password, you took the liberty of opening your best friend's phone to see the message. 'Hey, I don't know if I'm being too forward, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to take you out for tea when you're back in London. -GL' You gasped, slapping Jim's back repeatedly as he got up after tying his shoe. "What, what, who's dying?" He asked you chuckling. Without looking up from his phone you replied "Greg just asked you out! Oh my god, I'm replying." You began to type something when Jim tried to snatch the phone away. You started running so that he couldn't take it and he ran after you laughing. "Let me get some action, (y/n)!" He yelled from behind you, laughing. You eventually reached where all the others were sitting and stood on the rocks next to John and Mary, holding the phone out over the water. "One step and your phone takes a dive, Moriarty." You smirked at him. He stood far from you contemplating what he should do, before he started running towards you with a mischievous smile on his face. You turned quickly to run in the other direction, but ended up slipping on the rocks and falling straight into the water, making the ducks fly away from the area. "(Y/N)!" Everyone yelled in unison. Jim ran the rest of the way towards you and pulled you out of the water with the help of John. You were completely soaked from the neck down and you began to shiver as the cold air hit you. Everyone pulled you away from the rocks and Jim began to take off his jacket. He draped it over your shoulders and you immediately shrugged it off, putting it back on him. "Keep it on, Jim, you've only got an undershirt on, you'll freeze." Jim opened his mouth to argue and you spoke before he could "I'll be fine, we aren't that far from home and-" you were cut off by another coat placed on your shoulders. You turned to see Sherlock putting his coat around you. "You can take mine, (y/n), I'll be fine, I have a suit jacket underneath." He rubbed your arms to warm you up. You nodded, grateful for the extra warmth. After you insisted relentlessly, you all stopped by MacDougal street, taking food to go so you could get home and change. You all reached home, already having finished the food on the way home due to your hunger from the day's activities. Everyone went to their rooms and you went to change into dry clothes. You walked out of your bathroom, the king your wet clothes in the hamper, to find Sherlock already lying down in your bed. You switched the lights off and lied down next to him, resting your head on his arm. "Sherl." You whispered. "Yes, (y/n)." "Jim said something today." You bit your lip. You heard Sherlock sigh "What did the weirdo say now?" You smacked his chest, chuckling along with him "Hey, Jim's my best friend." "Doesn't mean he isn't weird." Sherlock kept laughing. "So, what did he tell you?" Your heart beat sped up, you were suddenly very nervous. "Um, he told me that" you took a deep breath, thankful that Sherlock was patiently waiting for you to finish. "He told me that you liked me." You spoke as fast as possible. Sherlock chuckled "Am I that obvious?" You looked up at him "So you do?" He sighed "I guess I do. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, I've never felt like this before, I don't feel these emotions, but you've made me feel them." You cupped his face with your hand "Hey, that's okay. I'm not too good with this either, and I like you too." Sherlock pulled you closer to him and rubbed your arm. "Good, now go to sleep, (y/n), it's been a long day for you, we can talk about how bad we are at relationships tomorrow morning." You smiled, melting into his arms, letting sleep overcome you with the happy thought of Sherlock liking you on your mind.

#bbc #bbc sherlock #Sherlock #sherlock x reader #reader insert #greg lestrade #Molly Hooper #mary morstan #Jim Moriarty #john watson #jimstrade #welcome to london

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irisbleufic · 7 years

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You've discussed over time on this blog the two Hamlet productions you saw in 2005, and both sound like they were mind-blowing on the Hamlet/Horatio front. Would you be able to list ALL the Hamlet productions you've seen over time so that I can look up reviews? I'm curious if they all influenced the way you write Hamlet fic, or if it was just those two slashy ones?

Hello, anon! I’d be more than happy to do that, absolutely.

Here’s the run-down of productions (minus the four or five very minor amateur or community ones I’ve seen at Ren faires and local theater festivals) I’ve seen, and I’ll try to include a brief commentary on what I found most striking (and most useful, at least from the perspective of writing What You Don’t See / At This Chance ‘Verse) in each one:

1) Boston Shakespeare On the Common, July/August 2005 (Jeffrey Donovan as Hamlet; Pedro Pascal as Horatio)

This is the first live production of Hamlet I ever saw. It was rendered as a modern police-state setting with a ‘90s feel. I got to see it twice before the run ended; the reason I went back a second time was, honestly, because it reflected back at me the exact thing I saw in the text when I first read it as an eleventh-grader (short version of that story: I read the ending of the play during a free-reading period of English class and ended up sobbing into my book by the time I hit “and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”; Mrs. Piper was very, very shocked, but she brought me the box of tissues from her desk, and this is why I always make sure to offer virtual tissues to readers who tell me in their comments that they’re crying). Whether the decision to have Hamlet and Horatio constantly touching and clinging to each other in crucial moments of high emotion was down to Donovan and Pascal or to the director, I am not sure, but these actors had such stunning chemistry in the way they spun the subtext that the effect on me was about the same as reading that ending for the first time. This was one of the few productions I’ve ever seen that had Hamlet's “tables” as a literal Moleskine notebook he carried around perpetually in his inner jacket pocket, and it tore me apart to see Horatio attempt to bodily prevent him from dueling Laertes. In that moment, Hamlet removed his jacket and shoved his tables at Horatio even as Horatio had him by the shoulders, shoved them against his chest, over his heart, this is my story; it is yours, it is ours. This production used “our philosophy,” and I was still an undergraduate at the time. I didn’t know that textual variant existed, because every printed edition I had ever read had featured “your philosophy,“ and I had not yet made a study of the various surviving early versions of the plays. Pascal’s Horatio is still the most heartbroken (and heartbreaking) I have ever seen during the death scene. So close they could have kissed, looked like maybe the tension was meant to convey the significance of its absence; gut-wrenching tears, lips pressed to Hamlet’s forehead. My inner eleventh-grader was relieved to know such a reading was valid enough to stage, because she was at the time still quite deep in the closet. This production also had one of the two most canny, strong-willed Ophelias I have ever seen. She drowned upstage in an actual pool, and there was one scene between set-switches, after someone pulled her body from the water, where she walked across the stage with slow, eerie dripping-wet majesty. This is where my ghost!Ophelia comes from.

2) English Touring Theatre, November 2005 (Ed Stoppard as Hamlet; Sam Hazeldine as Horatio)

I was in my first term of graduate school in York, UK when the production came to town. Still high on the Boston Common production, which I’d seen only a few months before, I snagged the first student-price ticket I could get my hands on. It was staged in spare blackbox style with only a few tables, chairs, and other items as props, but the costuming was firmly 16th-century. Before the production, the director spoke to us about their decision to speed up line-delivery to as close to normal day-to-day conversational speech as possible, and he also spoke of how they felt that, at its core, Hamlet is really a story of two families (Gertrude, Old Hamlet / Claudius, Hamlet; Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia), their relationships to each other over time, and a series of stunning failures of communication between them. I was excited about this, as I have a lot to say on the subject of Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes growing up together in a context where they might as well have been siblings (and how Gertrude’s and the King’s expectations regarding Hamlet and Ophelia would surely have pushed him to court her even if his heart wasn’t in it, which it clearly isn’t; I maintain that most of Hamlet’s actions surrounding Ophelia are driven by the perceptions and expectations of others, and I truly hate that, because Ophelia deserved so much better). When “our philosophy” passed Stoppard’s lips instead of “your philosophy,” it’s pretty much a wonder I didn’t choke right there in the theater. Stoppard’s Hamlet and Hazeldine’s Horatio had a level of intimacy and easy physical contact that, if not matched, certainly came close to the one I’d seen between Donovan and Pascal in Boston. Stoppard’s Hamlet is the closest I’ve ever seen to the Hamlet in my head, in both physical appearance and mannerisms (dark hair, very pale eyes, a kind of self-deprecating, wry cleverness that lacked the disturbing, aggressive flashes of temper I’ve seen in a number of other interpretations of the role). Hazeldine’s appearance and mannerisms as Horatio, therefore, fell neatly in line; this is why I tend to portray Horatio as a ginger. The death scene, too, was just about on par with what I’d seen in the Boston production. As you can imagine, I went back to see this one a second time, too. The period aesthetic of this one, as well as the physical appearance and mannerisms of the actors, spliced neatly with the elements of the Boston production I’d already adopted. When I write about these characters, the SOTC and ETS productions have had the most significant influence. I even discuss this in the header notes on AO3, because when I run Google searches on these two productions? It turns out that WYS/ATC ‘Verse is one of the top three search results!

3) Wyndham’s Theatre, June 2009 (Jude Law as Hamlet; Matt Ryan as Horatio)

While this production had the most beautiful sets and overall production values I’ve ever seen in a single rendering, Law’s Hamlet was too aggressive (read: borderline physically abusive) for my taste, and Ryan’s Horatio was a bit flat and uninteresting (although he had long hair and was costumed more or less as a bad-ass biker dude with a dagger on his belt; he was eye candy, if nothing else). Sadly, these two had zero chemistry. The two highlights of the production were, without a doubt, Law’s delivery of “To be, or not to be” while trudging barefoot into the castle from a snowstorm (seriously, it was one of the most visually arresting pieces of effect and staging I have ever seen) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s electrifying Ophelia (seriously, she’s the best Ophelia I’ve ever seen; she was as canny in her madness as the Boston Ophelia, and I appreciated that to no end). Otherwise, this production has little bearing on the way I write about these characters and the world they inhabit.

4) National Theatre, October 2010 (Rory Kinnear as Hamlet; Giles Terera as Horatio)

This production was rather terrible, and I would like to forget most of it. The performances by and large felt phoned-in, Hamlet and Horatio had almost zero chemistry (I was lucky I could even read them as friends, let alone dear ones), and the whole Hamlet-spraypainting-smiley-faces-all-over-everything really got on my nerves. That is not how you use ubiquitous graffiti, my friend. This Hamlet had some fascinating manic moments, but there was a whiff of the aforementioned (needless, IMHO) violence from which I instinctively shy.

5) National Theatre, August 2015 (Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet; Leo Bill as Horatio)

This production had sets and staging choices to rival the Wyndham’s production; I especially loved the convincing quality of Elsinore’s great hall being partially reduced to bleak rubble by the end. I enjoyed Cumberbatch’s portrayal, but not as much as you would think; when all was said and done, he didn’t hold a candle to Donovan or Stoppard. He delivered the role with a tenderness and whimsy in some moments that I feel many actors miss, but that doesn’t surprise me. He wasn’t a violent Hamlet, and I appreciated that. What really, really shone for me here was Horatio. Leo Bill might be my second favorite Horatio as far as delivery; Pedro Pascal comes in first, and Sam Hazeldine comes in third. My heart was on high alert during this production because he reached and reached and reached out to his friend, but Hamlet was too fraught to see or understand what was being offered. It’s the first time I ever saw an edge of unrequited love between these two characters, and it led to me giving @neverwhere and incredibly gesture-filled and emotional account back at our con hotel room later that night. Hats off to you, Mr. Bill!

#hamlet #hamlet x horatio #horatio x hamlet #hamratio #shakespeare

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ryroappreciation · 7 years

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@grayjedigerard submitted: Hi I wrote this lil thing to my friend who doesn’t know much about Panic expect for Brendon and I need someone to appreciate this really cute fluffy and pure thing I wrote about Ryan and Brendon having a baby together and being engaged. You’re welcome.

Brendon step up his phone. Which was lying against a stack of books on the coffee table in their living room. He looked decent while Ryan was still in bed sleeping. Which was fine, since he was the one up all night with Jude. Brendon opened up the Instagram app and got started. “Hello hello is this thing on?” Brendon looked at how many people were watching him. “Okay 7k people are watching. I can be playing a concert right now if we were in an area.” “So any questions guys?” Brendon looked through the comments, choosing the best comments. “How’s the wedding planning? Asked Emma” “uh it’s actually going good. I thought it was going to be super stressful, but if you did it right then it’s not that bad. We each get the things we are doing and then things we’re choosing together. It’s nice actually.” Ryan proposed to Brendon almost a year ago. in June where Brendon was just in Kinky Boots for a little while. It was one night where a bunch of famous people were in the audience and Ryan was right in the front, but he managed to go to back and go to the side stage at the end. When they gave their final bows Ryan came up on the stage and got on one knee and preposed to Brendon. Now they have a kid and getting married in three months. “How’s Jude? Asked Ally. Uh Jude is good. He’s three months and will be six months at the wedding which is just crazy.” They adopted Jude at the start of the year. “Shouldn’t you adopt a child after the wedding? Asked Megan. Well Megan sometimes you do things backwards and it all works out, so if it works out then we don’t really worry.” At first Brendon didn’t really to adopt a kid so soon, but Ryan made him come around and couldn’t be happier. “Let me guess did Ryan name him? Asked Laken. And yes he named him. I know I’m marrying a nerd. Should I leave now when I have a chance?” Brendon laughed. Ryan got the first name and Brendon got the second name. Jude mercury. A badass name Brendon thought. “I can’t believe you named your kid after Freddie Mercury said Kaitlin. Wouldn’t you expect anything else from me though? I would have named him after frank sintera but Ryan vetoed that.” “Speaking of the devil, look who just work up.” Brendon moved his phone where Ryan is. Walking towards the kitchen, holding Jude. “And look he’s holding a baby! Let’s just give a collective awww at that.” Ryan laughed at him. “If I knew I was going to be filmed I would fix my hair.” Ryan said. “Nah you’re fine babe. Go feed the baby now.” Brendon moved the phone back was facing him. “Jude looks like a mini Brendon says Addie. Well, he has my hair and nose, but everything else is Ryan. If he got Ryan’s hair it would be a mini Ryan Ross. Which we do need in the world.” “I heard that! And that’s not true.” Ryan shouted from the kitchen. “Yes it is babe! Everyone is agreeing with me.” “We need more Ryan rosses in the world says Harmony. I agree with that statement.” Ryan was finished making Jude’s bottle so he came out of the kitchen and into the living room, sitting next to Brendon on the couch. Holding Jude and feeding him. “Awww look guys it’s Jude!” “I would show his face but he really likes to eat at the moment.” Ryan replied. “Everyone is saying hey Jude and I can’t tell if they’re actually saying hi or making a pun.” Ryan said. “I think both.” Said Brendon. “Hey you named him says Emily.” “Yeah you’re right so I guess I brought this up myself.” Ryan laughed. “Everyone is asking baby questions now.” Ryan noted. “Does Jude like panic? Asks Zoe. Actually, so I was playing some iheart station and nine in the afternoon came on and Jude got up from the floor and tried to dance. So I think he just like pretty odd.” Says Brendon. “Which is a shame.” He adds. “Hey that’s a good album! I personally think our child has a good taste in his parents music.” Ryan said. “Yeah that’s because you loved that album.” “That’s true.” “Already an old couple fighting says Taylor. Well technically we have been together since… we were 17? Is that safe to say Ryan?” “Uh, yeah it’s safe to say. We just toke an 8 year long break from the relationship and we’re fine now.” “Yeah, we’re fine. Nothing wrong now.” Says Brendon, nervously. He hates talking about that time in their relationship. “So any more questions? This little one is asking for attention.” Brendon moved the phone so everyone could see Jude. He was sitting in Ryan’s lap, trying to reach for Brendon’s leather jacket. Trying to play with it. “Leather jackets aren’t supposed to be played with Jude, just to let you know.” Brendon laughed. His jacket was Jude’s favorite thing to play with. “Want to hold him? I think he wants you.” Says Ryan. He hands Brendon Jude, who’s now safe in Brendons arms. Smiling wildly. “see better now?” Brendon asks Jude. “Jude is all of us. Wanting to be with Brendon all the time says Mary. Haha. Well too bad for you guys cause I have two people who take up most of my time.” “Someone asked me if I ever will get back with Panic. Well… technically I have since it’s just this guy now… but I don’t think so musically. Maybe I’ll help with making the album since he does that at home in his studio, but I don’t think I’ll ever like tour with them or anything. I like being home with the baby.” “Awwww. Says everyone watching.” “Are we even getting a new panic album? Asked jay um actually I would say something but I don’t want to get fired from my job. But I will say, a lot of it is about this guy.” He points to Ryan. “Haven’t all the panic songs been about Ryan asked mike. Uh you’re not wrong. It’s just more obvious and it’s happy songs now so it’s better.” Says Brendon. “Lots of love songs and stuff. It’s my in love and happy and finally got my stuff together album.” “You almost swore in front of the child. Yeah he did! Don’t worry guys I’ll punish him later for it.” Ryan says, winking. Brendon rolled his eyes at his future husband. “Okay guys one more question and then I’ll spend some time with these two weirdos.” “Well Jude and Ryan come with you on tour? Asked Ashley. Uh maybe? It depends how old Jude is and if we could do it. I know some artists who are married together and can do it, so hopefully. I like having this guy on the side while I’m playing.” Brendon says. “I think Jude might be old enough to be on a tour bus, so I say it’s likely.” Ryan replied. “Okay guys that’s the last of the questions. I am going to snuggle my child and finance to death now.” “The actual death of a bachelor. Ha true. Don’t worry I won’t try to kill this guy before the wedding. I love him way too much.” Ryan stares at him after that. They never really say they love each other in public, so when it slips his eyes and heart get wide. Brendon was about to close the app when Ryan got up and kissed behind his neck. Jude in the middle of the two. “Woah! What was that for?” “I love you too, by the way.” Ryan laughed. “That’s good cause I’m not sure who I would be marrying in July if you didn’t.” “I feel like you would be fine marrying yourself actually.” Ryan replied. He grabbed Brendon’s phone and was ending the live stream. Putting the phone down on the coffee table. “That was actually fun. I missed talking to the fans.” Ryan said while he was lying down on the couch, taking up all the room so his fiancé and child can cuddle up to him. “Yeah I liked it to. I’m glad we get to have this now.” Brendon put Jude on Ryan’s stomach so he was comfortable and he snuggled into Ryan’s side. Ryan having a hold on both of them. “He’s going to be so old when the wedding comes. Do you think he could be the ring bear?” Ryan asked. “Uh maybe? I’m not sure if there’s an age limit or anything. He kinda needs to learn to walk first.” Brendon says. Running his fingers up and down Jude’s back. “Yeah true. I think I know someone who will let me steal their kid for the day.” “Let me guess, Spencer?” “Hmm yes. I’ll ask him soon.” “That sounds good.” Brendon looks up to Ryan. He can’t imagine how this is his life now. If you told 24 year old him that he was going to get all of this, he wouldn’t believe in you at all. “Hey, Ryan?” “Hmmm yes?” “I’m glad I finally get to have this with you.” “Me too. I’m glad we could work this out.” Ryan kisses his forehead. Getting a laugh from Jude. “What are you laughing at? Do you think your dads are being too domestic?” Ryan asks him and laughs back. Yeah, they may have not been together for a while. And Ryan’s name might have felt like poison in his mouth. But they’re okay now. They’re going to be fine.

cute!!!

#submissions #grayjedigerard #this is v cute aw #ryden #submission

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nadbooks · 7 years

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Most Disappointing Books of 2016

Hello again! Today I am here with my most disappointing books of 2016. I actually really enjoy posts about books that people dislike because I think they are more informative in letting me know whether a person has the same taste in books as me, as compared to their favorite books. These books were not necessarily awful (although some of them are), but it’s more that I really expected them to be great but they just turned out to be kinda meh. I gave these books either 2 or 3 stars on Goodreads. Oh, and of course, these are ranked from the least worst to the worst worst. Also, the disclaimer that these are just my opinions and if I don’t like your favorite book, it doesn’t mean you’re wrong for liking them. To each their own, ya know!

9. The Explanation for Everything by Lauren Grodstein

This book is about a biology professor and a hardcore evolutionist who is working on a paper with a student who is an evangelist and is trying to prove the existence of an intelligent creator. Sounds real technical, I know. At the time I was reading this, I was taking a class on Evolutionary Psychology which kinda blew my mind and I thought this book was going to be an interesting discussion/debate about evolution and faith and how we can believe in both. In the end, the book was just about a student-teacher affair, a professor going through his tenure review, and the promised discussion on evolution and faith was basically nonexistent. It wasn’t really that bad of a book I suppose, it had interesting insights into life as a professor and I did take away the message that it is okay to believe in something that you don’t completely understand, especially in times of grief and devastation, whether it is scientific or not. Sometimes we just need a little bit of faith. So it was not the worst book ever, but I did expect something more from it.

8. Sea by Heidi R. Kling

This one was again my fault because I expected too much from it even though I should have had no reason to. This is a YA book set in Indonesia which I just thought was super interesting because I never read a YA book set in my home country before! It’s about a girl who accompanies her dad on a trip to Indonesia to help tsunami orphans deal with their PTSD. She is also dealing with the death of her mother so her dad thinks that this would be a good experience for her. Ultimately, the book is not about dealing with PTSD so much as it is about two teenagers falling in love. I didn’t really appreciate the romance because the main character only seemed to find the love interest interesting because he was foreign and exotic. She made some really stupid decisions and got kind of annoying and whiny towards the end. Still, the backdrop of the tsunami relief efforts was interesting and enlightening and I’m glad the author touched at least a bit on some of those themes. But ultimately, it’s really just another average YA book.

7. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Okay here is where we start to get a little controversial. This is a best-selling adult literary fiction about a group of four friends and it kinda just follows them throughout their lives from their 20s to their 50s. One of them, Jude, has an incredibly dark past though and we see his and his friends’ struggles as he tries to move beyond his traumatic past. I was told that this book would make me cry. I can see how it would I suppose but mostly, I was just disgusted by all the awful things that happened to Jude when he was a child. It was very jarring, shocking and graphic, the descriptions of what happened to him, and maybe that’s a good thing, when a book can make you feel that way. However, after a while, I just found everything kind of gratuitous because it seemed that every bad thing that could happen, happened to Jude. It didn’t seem very realistic as we uncovered more and more of his dark past. I thought his present-day struggles with his trauma were a bit more realistic, if a tad depressing. The book also seemed to be incredibly long and I really didn’t think it was necessary. I think a good third of the book could have been cut out. If I had to summarize my experience reading this book, it would be boredom (during the third where nothing was really happening) and then disgust and soul-sucking emptiness (as we learn more and more about Jude’s past), which I don’t think the author was really going for. Needless to say, this book comes with trigger warnings for abuse, rape and self-harm.

6. This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

This is a mystery novel. A group of five friends goes into the forest to go hunting but only four come out alive. Our main character is a girl who is an intern at the district attorney’s office and she investigates this mystery with her aging boss who relies on her to see all the details that he might miss. Interesting premise but the plot itself is very cliche and formulaic of many mysteries. I think I’ve read too many mystery novels and watched too many crime procedural TV shows that the plots become too predictable after a while. This is a basic crime storyline and there was nothing impressive about it at all. The big reveal at the end was no plot twist and it was also unrealistic how our main character, a high school intern, can be taken seriously when she just barges into court during a trial. Don’t even get me started on the romance in this story which was totally unnecessary, annoying, interfered with the plot, and made our main character do stupid things. Four pet peeves I have about romances in books. Overall, a disappointing mystery and nothing to rave about really.

5. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Aha another mystery on the list. This one is crazy hyped up though and I think the hype is what makes this one more disappointing than This is Our Story. I have the same complaints about this one. It is a cliche mystery plot that is not unique and the big reveal in the end was kind of disappointing and not very plot twisty. Seemed like a regular plotline of a procedural TV show, and not even a good one. Our main character also makes all sorts of stupid decisions and I am just not here for that kind of protagonist. The movie starring Emily Blunt does look interesting though so perhaps it translates better to the screen. But the book itself is definitely not worth all the hype.

4. 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

This book is about three teenagers who are sent to the moon by NASA in an effort to rebuild interest in the space program. But when they get to the moon, things are not all they seem to be. This is a horror novel set in space and honestly, that description alone is enough to make me pee my pants. I cannot read horror novels because I’m a coward and I also have a fear of outer space. All that vast nothingness where no one can hear you scream and where you can’t even rely on the basic laws of physics? No thank you. Given all that, you would think this book would terrify me to pieces. Nope. It was pretty boring and the writing was so GOD AWFUL. The sentences were so jarring and they didn’t flow smoothly at all that it really hindered my enjoyment of the story. Oh but the story itself was not very enjoyable either. The scary things that were happening were just glossed over that we didn’t really get to comprehend just how scary it was, and the characters were little shits too. They were not likeable and they were incredibly one-dimensional. Not an enjoyable read and it didn’t scare me at all, even though “horror novel set in space” is the easiest way to frighten me. And I’m easily frightened.

3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Continuing the trend of shitting on popular books. This one is a classic so getting super controversial here. This book is about a woman working temporarily in New York and we sort of follow her downward spiral into... depression? I’m really not sure. We then see the kind of treatment she is getting and it’s not so great to say the least, because psychologists back then had no code of ethics. Interesting premise for me because I like reading about mental health and also, psychologist in training over here. Unfortunately, this was so incredibly boring. Nothing was happening and I honestly didn’t get the point of this story at all. Maybe I’m too stupid to understand classics or something but man, I was bored out of my mind. I just couldn’t understand how this became a classic. Maybe it was the writing but I wasn’t too impressed with that either. Overall, I kinda felt like it was a waste of my time.

2. Unteachable by Leah Raeder

So we’ve kinda reached the end of my disappointing books. The books I talked about above I didn’t actively hate but I just expected more from. I gave them all 3 stars. Now we are getting down to my 2 star reads, which I actively hate. Unteachable is about a student-teacher relationship and I’ll admit, I only read this because I just wanted something trashy to read. Still, I have standards for my trash. The relationship was fun and steamy in the beginning but then it dragged on and on and on and got so dramatic and I was just sick and tired of both of them in the end. I wanted to drown them honestly. I just wanted something fun and light to read and this took a turn for the dark and dramatic and veered into 50 Shades of Grey territory which I did not appreciate. It was really just an unhealthy relationship. This book is trash, and not the good kind.

1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Speaking of unhealthy relationships and trash. This book was definitely my worst read of 2016. I actually enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, which are the other novels in this companion trilogy. Isla is the last one and by far the worst one. Unlike the other two, the romance in this one was insta-lovey and underdeveloped and holy shit, the characters did some really stupid things. Isla refused to accept the consequences of their stupid decisions and just became a whiny brat. I really couldn’t stand Isla. I also cannot stand high school romances where they think that this is it, that if they get through the high school drama, they will live happily ever after (that goddamn title). How about college hmm? How about work? These characters think they know so much about the world and that “love will conquer all” even though they’re only in high school. Life is hard and high school is not even the worst part so I can’t stand it when books set in high school end with the idea that the couple is going to stay together forever. That is just not how it works. Wow, I think I’m really getting too old for YA.

So there we go, we have learnt that I’m a bitter old lady and that maybe I just can’t read pure YA romances anymore. I also can’t stand it when main characters make stupid decisions. I should also really not let the hype get to me and get my expectations up too high because that’s how I end up being disappointed. Oh well, it’s still fun to look back at disappointing reads and I don’t mind having them. It just means that the good ones stand out more!

Cheers and happy reading!

#most disappointing books of 2016

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