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amandaklwrites · 3 years

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TV Series Review: Miss Scarlet and the Duke (2019)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Murder Mystery/British Period Drama

Rating: 10/10

TV Show Review:

I. LOVE. THIS SHOW.

Pretty much this review will be me talking about everything I love this series, just a warning. I hope you love it too, so you can enjoy my blabbering and gushing!

I will do this review a bit differently, since it’s still relatively new, especially here in the US. I’ll talk about my general thoughts, and then I’ll do a “keep reading” when it goes down into spoilers for each episode.

So, here, for the spoiler-free part of my review:

Let me start out by saying that these characters make the whole damn show. Yes, the mysteries are great and all, but it’s the characters in this series, for me, that drives the whole thing. Eliza Scarlet is a masterful main character, and I love everything about her—from her determination, her willingness to fight the crowd to be what she wants, how she’s willing to admit some issues, that she still relies so heavily on her father after he passed away. Her humor is so incredible, and I think she’s just someone I wish I could be. Her feistiness is so wonderful. And then our Inspector Detective William “the Duke” Wellington is… one of my favorite leading men, fictional of course. I like that he’s overprotective of her (sometimes, to funny extents), that he does his job well and follows a lot of the right paths, that he doesn’t seem surprised by much of anything, and that he’s willing to fight even when he’s falling apart at the seams. And their relationship! They are so clearly in love with each other (probably have since that “chaste kiss” when they were teens…), they bicker like a married couple, and though they annoy the living hell out of each other, they would die for one another. I like that their relationship isn’t perfect and they take note of that in the show, but it feels real. It’s one of the most real relationships I have ever seen.

Moses and Rupert are such important characters and I LOVE their relationship with Eliza, their friendships that seem so different, but they just fit. I can’t go much into detail about either of them, or it will spoil entire plotlines of mysteries, but I will say that I love what the story does with their characters, how it gives them breaths of their own, that they become some of the most dynamic characters in the show with so much to them and that take a life of their own. That they feel real and important and interesting, and I love the representation. That’s all I’ll say about them in the spoiler-free review.

Now, the mysteries, were incredible. They kept me guessing through every episode, and I would have some feelings about things/people, but I wasn’t sure how it would get there. At times, I thought of the truth, but figured that they were going to trick me with it (my grandpa always told me that I have a brain for a detective, if I had some training, so that’s fun!). But still, they were so innovative and different from other mysteries that I had experienced. And I liked that each episode felt a bit different—we had a taste of ghost story feeling, even an intense thriller. They were really, really good mysteries, to me at least. And I do love me some mysteries.

Okay, so the costumes, sets and music. MY GOD. It was all SO BEAUTIFUL! Eliza’s clothes were magnificent and they had POCKETS!!! William was way too sexy in those clothes (can we bring those back??? We can leave out the discrimination that came with the time period, but let’s bring back the clothes at least!). Everyone had gorgeous clothes. And the sets were beautiful—those dirty, Victorian, coal covered streets… I loved it! (My mom says she’s not sure why I’m so in love with the dark atmosphere of the Victorian era, but I am!). The MUSIC. Can they just upload a damn soundtrack already? I need to listen to this music all the time! It sounds different and cool and I’m just so in love with it.

THE HUMOR! My god, I had never seen a murder mystery show set in another time that does humor so well. I love how they travel between scenes to make it funnier, the lines they say to one another. It makes me feel like these actors absolutely had a blast filming this show. They were so on point, and some of the funny scenes made me laugh harder than any comedy movie I’ve seen.

As you can see, I’m obsessed with this show altogether. I love it, and I want to watch it over and over. The vibe, the love stories, the characters, every. single. thing. is my jam. I know they’re planning a second season and I cannot wait for it. Ugh. My god. It’s wonderful.

So here ends my spoiler-free review. After this, I’m going to talk spoilers. So if you have seen the show and/or want to read the spoiler-y thoughts, please click on the “keep reading.” If not, see you around after your watch the show! It’s well worth it!

Let me start out by explaining more of my thoughts on the relationship between William and Eliza, because I worried that some of what I had said would give away possibly too much. So here’s that part:

The (hilarious) way that William mutters “oh jesus” whenever he finds Eliza waiting in his office, or the fact that Eliza calls herself his wife (or in one instance, something worse, but to save herself) to get what she wants also feels like a sly to personally agitate him. How that he would toss her into jail/into court when she went against things he said she shouldn’t do (though he released her/got her out at some point) never got old and even funnier to me each time. I told my mom, she was like a toddler—he couldn’t keep her in sight, so he had to lock her out. But I liked that she still argued with him despite it. Their back and forth was perfect.

I will say here, that I have seen people’s comments online how they wish that William was more on board with Eliza’s detective dreams and support her 100% much earlier on. And I get that, that he can seem like an ass at times. But honestly, I think he feels more realistic that he’s a little harder about it in the beginning. Trust me, I love this show and the way they play with characters and storylines, and that they are so forward (I mean, Eliza is so forward-thinking and modern, it’s amazing), but to me, if they made EVERYONE, i.e. William especially, it wouldn’t ground me into the time very well. I like that it was more gradual for him, to fully support her. And actually, I think for a man in the Victorian Era, with his position, he supported her as much as he could. Though he fought her on it at times, he eventually gave up trying to stop her. And I do think, in some respect, he was trying to protect her, because he does care for her. He was a man of his time, in his position, and he is changing. Can we at least give him that? Because, in all throughout history, it took a while for things to change. And it was men like William that started to understand, that started to recognize that, that helped make it happen. Plus, Eliza didn’t let him pull shit all the time, and she did fight him on it.

Now, I’m going to comment on each individual episode with my thoughts. I’ve never done this before so yay! Here it goes!

EPISODE ONE: Inheritance

I knew the weird uncle wasn’t the girl’s uncle. I didn’t expect that it was her husband (I should’ve!! We knew he was a cheat and a conartist!!), but I knew it wasn’t her rich uncle. I knew from the moment he came on screen—I remember thinking, this guy looks too young around his eyes. His beard and mustache look fake. So, I was right to an extent.

I can’t be the only one who was horrified to discover what the police did to women who worked as prostitutes or in dance halls—they could be arrested and searched for venereal disease? Seriously??? For men who were so obsessed with wanting their wives to “stay safe” and “be protected,” they sure were fine with flipping the case when it came to women that they would also gladly pay to sleep with? Why don’t they check the male clients who are PAYING for this industry. It was appalling and horrendous, and it made my skin literally crawl as they tried tying Eliza down to the chair.

On the note of that scene, Eliza calling herself William’s favorite whore to save herself is literally one of the funniest (though, darkly) things—especially in the next scene, when you see the two of them sitting in his office in silence and William is mortified, annoyed, and I think amused at the same time.

I loved how Eliza tricked that bastard husband—she set him up, AND she gave him laudanum to make him pass out? This woman knows what’s up!

Instantly from this first episode, I knew I loved this show and these characters. Eliza shows her charm and wit and humor and smarts. She’s skilled and I love her personality so much. Though I can see how she could be aggravating to others. William absolutely adores her. Rupert annoyed me a bit at the beginning, but by the end—when he asked Eliza to not marry him, I knew I would like him. And Moses! A Jamaican man brings in the race question of this dark, old world, but I love that he likes Eliza and finds her interesting. He’s terrifying, but I think he’s a good, decent man, he’s only trapped in this world because no one will let him be anything else. But he’s such a rich, interesting character.

EPISODE TWO: The Woman in Red

This episode brings in the reality of homosexuality in this world. That it has always been there (damn those bastards who think otherwise), but it has been hidden away. That men and women have to fear for their lives, and also marry people they do not want because they want to not be noticed. I loved finding out Rupert was gay—my mom called that one!—and the friendship he develops with Eliza. That he trusts her to tell a secret that could literally have him killed and ruined. And that Eliza doesn’t even blink, that she’s willing to keep his secret to the grave, and I cried when she basically told him that. It’s quite beautiful that Eliza even seemed to be grateful that he trusted her enough to give her that secret.

Which was used in interesting juxtaposition to the gay man, accused of murdering his lover, and his wife. I understand the woman’s hurt, that she loved this man and it turned out he didn’t love her in the same way. But that didn’t mean her willingness to let him die for a crime he didn’t commit was at all good or called for. With Eliza talking her down, to prove that the woman’s husband was innocent, I think proved that though she was hurt beyond reason, she did love that man who was her husband and didn’t want to see her die. It’s really a hard situation, especially during that time, when people were constantly shoved down their throats that homosexuality was bad. Not that I’m giving her a “it’s okay,” but I can understand the pain and confusion she went through. Especially because she pulled through.

Through this whole episode, we thought it was the wife that had murdered the lover (the other man). I was surprised to find out that he had killed himself, cut his own throat (which I had heard wasn’t possible to do—but my grandpa, who had worked as a detective, told me that is a myth people talk about, that it’s really easy to cut your own throat). That was a shock, and it made me so sad. That he was dying because he was unhappy, because he hated what he was, because of damn society telling him so. I actually started crying, because as someone who is bisexual, I would be condemned in this time during for openly being with men and women, though I couldn’t even compare to people who are gay or lesbian, because the situation is not the same. But I could connect, I could understand. And I hated knowing the pain all those people were in, that a man had killed himself because of what he was, and that another man had to live with that. It truly breaks your heart.

William’s response to finding out the dead man was gay was interesting. I thought his comment “in my line of work, nothing surprises you” funny, but also telling. He didn’t act disgusted, he didn’t mistreat the husband when they questioned him afterward. The show didn’t directly say his thoughts on homosexuality, but I got the vibe that he was “whatever” about it. Like he knew it was there, and he wasn’t condemning it publicly. That gives him credit, in my book.

Another great episode that got deep and beautiful.

EPISODE THREE: Deeds Not Words

Is this show just obsessed with getting right down to modern issues that were also faced in this time, but not as strongly discussed? Because I’m all for it! This episode was all about the suffrage movement. But I liked the take they did on it.

Yes, they spoke out about the treatment of women. That men, white men, controlled this whole world. But I also thought it was interesting that they made this main suffragette not the greatest person. It made everything complicated. Like, everything she said to Eliza made sense, and I found myself cheering with her. But she shot a man in cold blood, she was willing to bomb a whole building of men—even though it seems justified because of what their club represents.

I think this episode was discussing the balance. That there can be change, but when you attack the people who you are trying to change, it may not work in your favor. At least, that was the vibe I got. Not to stoop to their levels, to become just as horrible as them. Her ideas and words were great, but her actions were a bit… skeptical.

Eliza and William’s response were interesting as well. Eliza felt a passion for the cause, William thought it a bit extreme. But, to me, by the end of the episode, they had a common understanding, they had reached a comfortable middle. I think, this show was showing that was how change came. People seeing eye to eye, and then it spreading from there. Of course, William has faults, but I think he’s truly trying. Especially with each episode. And the more Eliza and he grow.

EPISODE FOUR: Memento Mori

We got our ghost episode! I wasn’t even expecting it, it was incredible! A ghostly image of a dead wife that had killed herself reappearing in photos? How wild and cool is that idea!

I didn’t know that the Victorians had a thing where they took photos of their dead loved ones, looking like they were alive (y’all, the Victorians were obsessed with death…), but it’s an interesting concept. Maybe even sweet. I get what they were trying to do, even if it did seem morbid. How I feel about it is, if it brings you peace, then go for it (as long as it’s nothing disturbing or harming anyone).

The twist was one I had a hint of but hadn’t expected the whole thing. I knew the daughter had something to do with it (how disturbed is this poor girl??), but I hadn’t expected that the mother had planned this before she killed herself because she knew the woman and her husband were already having an affair. It was interesting and a creepy twist, but I was all for it.

Still, I loved how we had moments of eeriness and the haunting feeling in the house when Eliza stayed over. I felt scared and freaked, and most people that know me know that I do not like horror. But this was the perfect eeriness, which I do love.

That scene from this episode where William screams at the poor telegram young man to give them the message or he’ll break everyone bone in his body and then being like “are you crying?” was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I mean, it’s terrible, but the way it was done was hilarious and amazing.

EPISODE FIVE: Cell 99

This episode was… dark. I liked that it was set in an abandoned prison, and my god, was it creepy as hell. I loved all the shots of William walking through gave me the chills.

This one felt like a thriller to me. How it was filmed, set up, how everything went down. Except for the hilarious scene when they are both so annoyed with each other (Eliza and William, that is) that they both scream in frustration is brilliant. But otherwise, it took a dark tone that made me feel like something was watching my back. Especially as that big, scary guy came walking down the stairs when William and Eliza were trapped, ready to kill them both. I was nearly screaming at the tv in utter horror.

My mom had called it—and I had a feeling—that Eliza’s father had been murdered, not just drinking himself to death and found in the gutter. And there’s a gang now? How interesting!

The masked man was strange, as well as the forger locked away. But he was shot and killed, and it confused me.

I have a strange confession to make: that whole time with William in his dress shirt (without the coat), with his arm covered in blood, was weirdly…. Hot? Please don’t ask me explain. I have weird things to me. But I think it was also hot that though he was hurt and bleeding, he was gearing up to fight that big, scary man to protect himself and Eliza. I like that kind of shit, so much.

This episode was twisted, and it left me with more questions than anything.

EPISODE SIX: The Case of Henry Scarlet

My mom knew William’s boss was in with the gang! I liked that they actually explored the reality of corruptness in the police force (my grandpa had personal experiences himself, and that was why he left), and they laid it all bare. Despite the things that we are learning in this present day, it’s always been there. Which is horrifying and disturbing. That these police who are supposed to protect us are willing to delve into the corrupt world to bring themselves more power and money. Because that’s what it boils down to, doesn’t it? Powerful men wanting more and more.

I liked that William was okay with the truth unfolding, and not fighting it, trying to prove innocence for his boss. To me, it made me feel like that he knew something was up with that man (just beyond not liking him). For his character, it made me think that he was one of those people that was actually good and good at his job, trying to do the right thing. Even if he got distracted and didn’t give Eliza credit where it was due, and fought some things, he was trying to do what he thought was right. He didn’t kill anyone, he didn’t go after anyone specifically. Though him and Moses had some standoffs because he wasn’t sure about the other man, he gave him some thanks and shook his hand. Which is huge for that time period.

I did suspect William’s buddy. I always felt like something was happening with him, and that he would be the perfect bad guy because he knew what was going on at all times. And it was proven right! Though it wasn’t any less terrible, William having to realize that his close friend at Scotland Yard as the bad, bad guy who killed their boss when things were turning ugly.

But Moses to the rescue! I loved that he swooped in, teaming up with Eliza, and taking the guy out! I love Moses so much, he’s one of my other favorites.

And their ending, with a promise of dinner, of love on the horizon was exactly what I needed.

Lasting thoughts:

Besides all the amazing storylines and characters they brought in, besides Eliza and William’s chemistry and relationship, to me, this felt like a story about a daughter and her father. We see flashbacks of Eliza as a child with her father, how he taught her his detective work, when that wasn’t something men did typically in that time, and how she would still talk to him after he had died. That though she had chosen this profession for herself, it was also some way to connect to her father. Something they had shared when she was motherless and only had him, and he gave her these skills and talents, helped her hone in on them. And once he had passed, she fought like hell to keep it, but make it her own. I liked that their relationship wasn’t perfect, but they loved the hell out of each other. She was a grown woman, who believed in herself, but she still turned to him—a ghost, a memory, or whatnot—when she felt at the bottom.

This series is incredible, perfect and just all around so masterful in so many different ways. I knew from the moment I heard about it that I would love it. And it turns out I was right, but even more than I had expected.

Now, I think it’s time for a rewatch.

#miss scarlet and the duke #eliza scarlet #william wellington #i love this damn show #tv series review

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petri808 · 3 years

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TW: kidnapped, psychological angst

When Lucy finally comes to, her head ached, and the room spun. It took her several minutes to gain her bearings and register the last thing she could remember. Touka had attacked from behind and held a sweet-smelling rag over her mouth as she fought to get away. How long had it taken? If her memory was accurate, several minutes had passed by as her consciousness faded to black. Whatever the substance was, knocked her out cold and now she had no idea where she was.

Lucy slowly peeked open one eye cautiously, knowing Touka could be watching her at that very moment. The layout in her limited vision resembled a small, non-descript living room, perhaps an apartment with a couch and window right above it. The light outside signified it was still nighttime, but unfortunately there were no clocks within her sight line. Lucy herself was lying on her side on the floor, hands and feet bound, with her backpack tossed a few feet away. She could hear movement coming from somewhere around and behind her as if someone, assumedly Touka, was rummaging through a drawer. Lucy dared not move a muscle and give away the fact she’d woken up, but she knew she needed to assess her situation as best she could, looking for a way to escape if the opportunity presented itself.

But before she could do that, her eyes focused in on the wall opposite the couch... covered, literally covered with photos of Natsu. In her limited extent, Lucy could see herself in some and spied friends of theirs scattered through others, all likely taken as the woman stalked him through the years. She zeroed in on something odd. A few of the photos looked much older than the rest and pictured Natsu in a high school uniform. Had Touka known him, stalked him for longer than he’d realized, or had she stolen them from his social media? And who was the blonde girl in a couple of the photos? Another stalked victim like Lucy and Lisanna? This young girl was a little heavy set, with a short, bobbed type hairstyle and wore thick framed eyeglasses. She was also in a high school uniform, and in both photos in close proximity to Natsu.

If Touka really had been obsessed since high school, it may explain why her behaviors escalated so quickly. Imagine pining for years and years only to watch the man you love in the arms of other women, eventually a person might go crazy. But it still didn’t excuse Touka’s behavior. Lucy’s had her share of crappy relationships or guys she crushed on who weren’t interested. It was a part of life and life wasn’t always fair. You move on. You certainly don’t kidnap your rival!

Footstep patterns changed behind her, so Lucy closed her eyes quickly, listening to its movements. She could hear it coming closer, almost felt the other persons energy above her. Was Touka checking on her? Her breathing grew shallow in anticipation. What did this woman have planned for her?

“Oi! Wakey, wakey! You’ve been out for long enough!”

It takes Lucy by surprise, when a hard kick lands square in her back. She cries out once, just as a second hit to her stomach doubled her over in pain. Her arms instinctively tried to cover the area from another blow, but it was made difficult by the fact her hands were bound tightly in front of her. So, Lucy curls her body into a fetal position, fighting an urge to scream out in pain and give the woman any satisfaction.

“Get up you bitch!” Touka uses her foot to try and push Lucy onto her back, but Lucy fights to stay curled up. So, she kicks Lucy again in the back, but lower near her kidneys, causing her to scream and unfurl in excruciating pain. “That’s right you slut. Feel the pain you put me through because it ends tonight!”

“Leave me alone!” Lucy screamed back as she scrambled to a sitting position. “Hurting me won’t make Natsu love you!”

“Pfft, I’ve figured that out. But now I don’t care, because I’ve decided if I can’t be his girlfriend,” her eyes narrow in on Lucy, “then neither will you. You’ll be dead and Natsu will learn what it’s like to lose someone they love forever.” Touka shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “It’s as simple as that.”

The level of malice dripping from Touka’s words sent Lucy’s heart sinking with the realization this woman had truly gone over the edge. She was calm like a deranged psychopath who talked as if murder was as easy as going out for a cup of coffee. As much as she wanted to panic, she knew she needed to stay focused. ‘Think, Lucy think! I need to buy some time,’ because surely Natsu and her friends were already looking for her.

“But if you do this, you know your life will be ruined, you’ll go to jail, do you really wanna go to jail? There must be someone that you care about and loves you too... parents, siblings, friends who wouldn’t want you to throw your life away for some guy.”

“Not everyone has had a perfect little life like you. Yeah, I know enough, rich daddy, sure your mom died when you were a kid, but you’re smart and beautiful, that’s why guys like Natsu fall head over heels for girls like you while the rest of us are left in the gutter. I watch you around school and every—one just loves you.”

“What are you talking about? From the first time I met you I thought you’re a pretty girl and very intelligent. And you’re wrong, when I thought guys liked me it always ended up because of money or my body, they never cared if I was smart. I was just a piece of eye candy they could strap to their arm and parade around. Pretty girls never know if we’re loved for who we are.”

“Pfft, well even so, I still rather have had some guys give me a chance, but they never did. I wasn’t always like this you know. LASIK surgery allowed me to ditch the glasses, changed my hair, and plastic surgery to fix my body. It took me years and a lot of money to look like this! But it was too late. Nothing I did would get Natsu’s attention, nothing! And just when I thought I’d gotten into his circle you showed up and ruined everything!”

“Touka, there are lots of great guys out there who’ll love the new you. Why not embrace it and move on?”

“Because I don’t want to! I’ve loved Natsu since high school, and that’s not something you can just throw away.”

Lucy’s eyes widened, the photos! Her head turned to the wall, “that’s you, isn’t it, in the photos,” she lifted her hands and pointed.

“Yeah, that’s me bitch, and as you’re no doubt figuring out, Natsu doesn’t even realize who I am. Back then I was too shy, the class geek, the chubby weird girl who sat alone at lunch, and picked last in gym class while he was in the popular group. Him and Gray, and all their other buddies. All I could do was cry myself to sleep night after night, praying that one day I’ll get my chance.” Touka takes a step forward towards Lucy. “And that chance is now!”

“Y-You won’t get away with this Touka, please think about your future!” Lucy puts her bound hands up, trying to shuffle backwards but the binding on her ankles are making it almost impossible. “Killing me will only make your life worse, you don’t really want that. H-How about we start over, we can be friends, I’ll introduce you to even better guys than Natsu, r-rich guys who’ll buy you whatever you want!”

Touka grabs Lucy by the wrists and yanks her forward, spinning her around. “Stupid slut, I don’t care about money.” She put her arm around Lucy’s throat in an attempted choke lock and whispered right next to her ear. “What I want… is revenge.”

#nalu #nalu fan fiction #nalu fanfic #nalu fan fic #Natsu dragneel #Lucy heartfilia #nalu au #Natsu x lucy #fairytail #strangers on a train #ch 18 #angst

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theparanormalperiodical · 4 years

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The 13 Scariest Paranormal Investigation TV Show Episodes You Need To Watch - And The Links To Watch Them For Free!

As a paranormal blogger, I’m used to fangirling with other occult-obsessives about anything that’s spooky.

It could be a scary movie. It could be a ghost they’ve seen first hand. It could even be an urban legend that frightened them to their very core! Either way, they always have a turning point in their life that pushed them towards the paranormal.

My epiphany was different.

Sure, I’ve always had this constant connection with otherworldly spirits - but it was developed by one thing: paranormal documentary TV shows.

Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, Celebrity Ghost Stories…

Each and every one made me want to be there with them!

I wanted to wander ‘round castles for a living. I wanted to read ghost stories everyday and explore the history behind them. I wanted to connect the dots and explore a new, hidden world.

It’s for that reason that I’ve decided to share my love for these shows with you, dear reader.

I’ve brought together the best episodes from Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Lockdown, Celebrity Ghost Stories, Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Witness, explained the ghost stories that are the centre of the episodes, and have even provided links (and the terrifying timestamps) to the episodes.

All you’ve got to do is press play!

Oh, and leave a comment on which one traumatised you the most…

Now, let’s get spooky.

#1 - The Dorothy Puente Murder House - Ghost Adventures (S12, E3)

Ghosts give me the heebeejeebies. Demons make me want to hide under my quilt and cry to a Sigrid song. But it’s stories of entrapment that really fuck me up.

This is one of those stories.

Dorothy Puente was a landlady who ran a boarding house in California for elderly and mentally disabled residents. Don’t be fooled by her charitable exterior, though - what was happening inside the boarding house was a very different story.

Puente was a serial killer who committed 9 murders - a number which is still disputed to this day - throughout the 1980s, and then cashed their social security checks.

Whilst there are a number of details to this case, I thought I’d leave that to be discovered during the episode.

Nevertheless, I thought I’d wet your appetite with some seriously traumatising tales:

In 1985, she hired someone to do wood panelling in her apartment. Not only did she give him an old pickup truck that I assume contained traces of evidence of her crimes, she asked him to build a 6-by-3-by-2 foot box. In non-maths terms, that’s the dimensions of a coffin.

Claiming it was full of books and other small items for disposal, she journeyed with him to a local dump to dispose of these, uh, books, and stopped him before they reached the local area to dump the waste.

She directed him to instead drop it into a river cause that’s not suspicious at all.

But suspicions were roused when she began repeatedly hiring a local homeless man to do certain tasks like digging the basement and removing soil from it, or putting concrete in the garage. It was when he disappeared that the pieces began to connect together.

Given the dark details behind the case, when Zak Bagans and his squad rocked up, they were on the receiving end some of the most striking paranormal activity they had ever witnessed:

Featuring EVPs crammed full of aggressive growls and demands for them to “Get out!”, or Ovilus Voices spewing words eerily similar to the murders and how the bodies were disposed of, this investigation stays true to what happened there.

But outside of the equipment used, the physical effects on the investigators was incredible!

One medium felt a choking sensation believed to channel the feelings of victims being force fed sleeping pills and then left to die in the Death Room. And the other? She drew a picture uncomfortably similar to a spirit seen by a tenant of the house - the spirit of Dorothy Puente.

The other physical contact experienced includes pain felt in Zak’s lower back, as well as Zak entering this trance like state from which he fell off the bed!

Here’s the episode:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x55gpad

Want to seem some spooks, like, right now?

09.10 - an EVP with Peggy, the resident who sees Puente’s spirit frequently.

13.10 - a medium begins to sense spirits and experiences some shocking effects.

17.30 - a medium produces pictures of the spirit she senses.

25.20 - EVPs in the backyard - where the bodies were buried - answer some of the questions that still go unanswered.

30.20 - Zak Bagans begins to exhibit extremely peculiar behaviour.

#2 - Idaho State Tuberculosis Hospital - Ghost Adventures (S18, E10)

Whispers, children and angry old men.

No, it’s not the title of Fall Out Boy’s latest album - it’s just a few of the current inhabitants of The Gooding Inn.

Once a TB hospital that was shut down in 1976, this building has witnessed its patients literally choke and drown in their own blood as their lungs fill up.

But what’s seriously scary about this episode is the effects on the most recent residents of the inn:

Not only was the housekeeper clearly upset about her encounter with an angry male ghost, she clearly feels the negative energy such spirits embody.

But it's when the current resident is interviewed that the reality of this location is realised. Two of her children had died whilst living in the former hospital, forging a strange link that is explored in the episode.

Yet before I spoil the whole show, here’s a taste of what’s to come:

A playful child spirit and a woman with a child make their own appearances, as well as the strange tale - and even stranger spirit - of Anton Beaver.

Ready to watch?

Here’s the episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdCxNtshvhg

Looking for a quick fear fix?

These are the timestamps of note:

05.25 - Zak Bagans starts the show with the housekeeper’s own tale of the hauntings she’s witnessed.

10.00 - One woman recounts the potential impact of the hauntings on her family.

12.15 - a paranormal investigator brings his own footage and experience of activity in a passage from which gurneys and wheelchairs would bring in the patients

16.00 - Zak Bagans researches those who died there - and creates a sudden shockwave of paranormal activity across the building.

21.50 - a weird non-human noise is heard when a dark shadow appears.

32.00 - pranks set by a spirit of a former child patient begin to haunt the team.

#3 - 30 East Drive - Most Haunted (S18, E1 Halloween Special)

Take a look around my blog - no, seriously, look at what I write about: old manors, haunted abbeys, demonic forests… They all seem to stand out. And I think that’s what makes this tale - and this episode - quite so scary.

Welcome to 30 East Drive, a council house nestled in Yorkshire, England.

It started in 1966. The Prichtard family had just moved into a new home when they started to notice rather peculiar occurrences:

A fine layer of dust fell on everything in the house, puddles would appear from nowhere, even if one was cleaned up, the tea dispenser would go off randomly, and items would levitate!

Given the evident paranormal resident, clergymen were called to exorcise the house.

They were not successful. Holy water would leak out of the walls, ghostly hands would appear and ‘conduct’ the hymns being said to remove him, faces were slapped and people were pushed. Despite the rather playful poltergeist at first, this spirit slowly became more aggressive:

The daughter, Diane, began to find scrapes and bruises appear on her body, and was even dragged up the stairs by her hair! It was eventually deduced that this could be the spirit of a Monk whose body was discarded down the well that the house now sits on. Why was he thrown down a well?

Because he - or perhaps his twin brother - raped and murdered a young girl.

And as he is often seen wearing black robes, the house was given labelled the Black Monk House. Fancy a watch? You’ll be spoiled for choice then - Paranormal Lockdown also had a stay in the house.

Here’s the Most Haunted Episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO3EeYBGNuo

“But, spookyllama, where are the timestamps?”

I couldn’t find any timestamps of note because the activity in this episode is constant!

Within the first 1 and a half minutes, a marble is thrown, echoing one of the most common hauntings in this house. Knives were also found sticking out of sofas, as was a crucifix jumping off the bed.

#4 - The Wentworth Woodhouse - Most Haunted (S17, E6)

Our next episode also features a ghostly monk, but this time we see activity beyond marbles being chucked at cameramen. Indeed, this episode is just as iconic as the former - this is due to the controversy surrounding the evidence captured in this video.

One of the most famous hauntings of the Wentworth Woodhouse is the first earl of the house walking down the main stairs of the house. Only he’s headless. And they claimed to capture this footage:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/most-haunted-team-finally-catch-12417869

This footage only taps into one component of the paranormal activity seen in this house, however.

This house has seen centuries worth of aristocratic family feuds, deaths and drama which still roam its halls. Whether its footsteps, ghostly laughter or opera singing, it seems all past residents never actually left.

Yet aside from the earl taking a nightly stroll, the scariest spirit has to be a ghost that stands still during his hauntings, leading many people to think he’s a statue.

Specifically, the most haunted locations - aside from the library - are the George VI quarters. With shadows tracing the walls and dark figures standing in the doorways, the Most Haunted team were certainly not alone.

You can see the episode here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdTnJC4cO54

Want a speedy scare?

28.00 - a door rattles and sounds as if its being opened, only its not - it’s locked and there’s no handle.

30.00 - The team hears a whistle, so they whistle back. What happens next is mind-blowing…

50.00 - The crew hears a couple of footsteps follow them around a part of the house.

#5 - The Washoe Club - Ghost Adventures (S16, E7)

The Ghost Adventures team might have investigated this wild-west location 3 times, but it gets no less spooky as time goes on. The oldest saloon there, The Millionaires’ Club, is the centre of the activity as a former exclusive saloon for rich businessmen.

Upon Zak Bagans and his team’s final return, they are reduced to tears by the activity witnessed.

This activity includes the spirit of a prostitute who committed suicide in room 77, a full-bodied apparition in the ballroom, a brick thrown in the basement and a women, Lena, haunting the staircase.

The episodes in particular have also captured EVPs saying their names: “Zak, look out”, and "Nick, Zak, coming..., they're scaring me".

Ready for a trip to the Wild West?

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqhyh6

#6 - Hinsdale House - Paranormal Lockdown (S1, E5)

If you thought these buildings were scary, wait ‘til you hear about the Hinsdale House. Question is, what separates it from the other contenders?

This is a demonic haunting.

Considered this generation’s Amityville, the whole property exhibits signs of activity an exorcism couldn't rid it of: mysterious phone calls, chanting from nearby woods, animal hybrids and full bodied apparitions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this house.

Lucky for us, the Paranormal Lockdown team spent 72 hours here, investigating the hauntings both during the day and night.

Within the first 7 minutes of filming, an abundance of flies fills the house, not unlike horror films that trace the stories behind houses just like this. The following emotional impact on Nick further forges a link to the supernatural.

Featuring choking, consistent EVP’s saying Nick’s name and even Lorraine Warren on the blower telling them to get out of the house, negative energy is an understatement for this house.

You can watch it here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6tujvf

Head to 25.00 if you want to see their investigation of the forest - including the Gregorian chanting that is claimed to still echo on this former Native American burial ground.

28.00 - when Katrina asks spirits to go to Nick and show their presence when he’s in a different room, the spirits follow orders.

Unfortunately, the spooks don’t end when the credits roll:

Nick claims spirits from this house followed him home and told him to go to a little house tucked away in England.

And that house was 30 East Drive.

#7 - 30 East Drive - Paranormal Lockdown (S2, Halloween Special)

So, we know Most Haunted’s verdict of the Black Monk House - what about Nick and Katrina’s?

Having spent 100 hours there - one of the longest amounts of time they’ve been in lockdown for - they witness apparitions, marbles flying across the house, a scar appears on Katrina’s stomach, and even a murder attempt by the spirit.

That’s right - a Grandfather clock is pushed over, nearly killing Nick!

You can watch that happen here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6azzx0

#8 - The St. Augustine Lighthouse - Ghost Adventures (S2, E19)

Haunted locations aren’t just famed for paranormal fanatics like me rocking up.

It’s the history which matters.

And this haunted lighthouse is celebrated for its history with its own museum denoting the things it was witnessed as a part of America’s Oldest Port. And with multiple people living and dying on the property, the subsequent variety of activity is what sets this lighthouse apart from, well, non-haunted lighthouses!

But it's that history repeating itself that makes this one of the scariest episodes included on this list: a woman in white roams both the nearby forest and the top levels of the lighthouse, a man walking in uniform wanders round the basement, and spirits make use of the famous staircase that fills this building.

Have I piqued your interest? You can satisfy your supernatural needs here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHsNtvT8uHU

Check out the walk through of the lighthouse and description of the main activity at 05.30.

19.45 - you can hear the chattering of multiple spirits on the staircase - and you might even see someone - or something - walking down it, too.

24.00 - this is the most incredible evidence they’ve ever captured - trust me.

#9 - The Stanley Hotel - Ghost Hunters (S2, E22)

Famous for inspiring the Stephen King classic, The Shining, this hotel is infamous for its real life haunted history. First opened in 1909, the 420 rooms - including an underground cave system - hold many ghosts who still make regular appearances.

Room 217 for example, once belonged to a housekeeper. Often visitors to this room notice their luggage is unpacked, items moving, or the lights flickering. Oh, and she’s not a fan of couples sleeping together in the same room, either!

After that, why not visit the Concert Hall? Haunted by a spirit who was once believed to be an usher, you may hear a voice telling you to leave, a nudge, or even see flashes of light of his torch.

You might even hear the giggle of a child echoing down from the attic, a former nursery.

Question is, why is it quite so haunted? There’s 2 claims behind this: the crystals in the cave system below the hotel channel the energy, and the staircase is a vortex for ghosts, allowing them to come and go as they please.

Ready to see what happened?

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ekji3

#10 - The Rain Man - Paranormal Witness (S1, E6)

Ghosts and spirits, demons and death; all the episodes mentioned in this post stick to relatively confined notions of the spiritualistic and pagan religions. However, this episode takes us further than I ever expected.

Paranormal Witness is a show - a bit like Celebrity Ghost Stories - where paranormal stories get retold and acted out.

And this episode follows a young man, Don, who becomes possessed by his abusive grandfather. Having displayed the typical signs of possession, he then began to have strange encounters with water.

Water began to seep from the walls, and then from the ceiling. But this wasn’t water - when someone touched it, it felt sticky.

It was only when Don was stuck in a trance, that water began to go upwards, towards the ceiling, and pots and pan began to rattle.

When religious rituals were used to cleanse Don, the water was directed towards the bible and person performing the cleansing.

This was only the start of Don’s new powers. And they were to intensify during his final stint in prison.

Hungry for more? Check out the full episode here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hvjvg

#11 - The Haunted Highway - Paranormal Witness (S1, E2)

Like I said: Paranormal Witness doesn’t stick to the typical hauntings we see. And this episode involves a UFO.

This story - without spoiling the episode - revolves around a mother and son who go missing in the desert. With a relative’s strange dreams pointing her to where they might be and a medical mystery twisting the tale, all that is left is one question:

What really happened in the desert?

You can watch this episode on Amazon for £1.89.

#12 - Celebrity Ghost Stories (S1, E9)

This episode featuring Morgan Fairchild, Lili Taylor, John Salley and Vincent Curatol is considered one of the scariest episodes of this popular episodes from which paranormal experience are acted out.

Here’s the synopsis to tickle your tastebuds of terror:

“A young Morgan Fairchild is abused by a spirit when she moves into her new husband's family home; an unidentifiable stranger comes to John Salley's aid during a nightclub shooting; Lili Taylor hears unexplained noises when she goes on retreat.”

You can watch this episode on Amazon for £1.89.

#13 - Pendle Hill - Most Haunted (S6, Halloween Special)

Pendle Hill might feature as a hiking opportunity in the Pennines, but it actually has a history - and a haunting - to boot.

Back in the early 17th century, a family of peasants were believed to possess a variety of paranormal powers. And the effigies they made of human hair and teeth didn’t make them appear any less suspicious, either!

The Pendle Witches, as they were known, were arrested, tried and then hung on Pendle Hill.

The witches never left the hill, however.

Not only did the neighbours of the Pendle Witches experience and die from mysterious illnesses, to this day supernatural activity has stuck close to this location.

Teeth have dropped onto tables during seances, and unnaturally frequent rainfall on the hill is a common occurrence.

So, what did the Most Haunted team see when they visited the site?

Acorah was apparently possessed by a witch, and a table and a glass smashed during the seance. Oh, and the whole cast and crew felt as if they were being strangled at certain points during filming.

Were they experiencing the final moments of the Pendle Witches as they were executed for their crimes?

You can check that episode out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu7yRqoLxLc

Or, you can have a speedy spook, instead!

30.00 - the equipment batteries drain, a classic indicator of paranormal presences.

32.00 - Acorah begins his readings of the area, and clearly becomes quite emotional and intense when describing the spirits he sees and hears.

45.00 - Acorah exhibits strange behaviour, and is on the receiving end of harmful spirits.

59.40 - Acorah sees a spirit - or perhaps an otherworldly being.

01.48.00 - the team perform the seance.

Now it’s time to hear what you think.

Which episode are you watching tonight?

And did I miss any seriously-spooktastic episodes out?

417 notes · View notes

galahadwilder · 4 years

Note

Hey! I'm following you for ML stuff, but I finally figured out you were into Batman as well, took me awhile. Do you have any advice on where to start for people who want to get into it? I just want to know which Robin is which when I read fanfiction hahaha. Thank youu

So the first thing to know is that there is no single Batman comic that will explain the entire Batfamily, because there are so many of them that the Manor must be running out of bedrooms by now. The second thing is that I’m not great at figuring out a starting place—a lot of comics are sort of aggressively mediocre and I can’t exactly tell the standout ones from the bad. Anyone who has any suggestions for anon, feel free to comment with them!

(In terms of fanfic recs: read literally anything by @unpretty. They are a wizard. Their fanfic is so good it has literally won awards.)

Now, a brief introduction to every member of the Batfamily that I can currently remember—save Alfred and Batman, who I am assuming you already know.

The Robins

Dick Grayson (Robin I, Nightwing II, and Batman IV). Richard John Grayson was a former child acrobat, member of the flying Graysons, and the first child adopted by Bruce Wayne. He is a human disaster of a Hufflepuff who makes terrible life choices, leaves his Nightwing costume on the floor of his apartment where literally anyone can see it, and doesn’t know how to cook anything but cereal. Despite his terrible lack of self-sufficiency, actually gives amazing life advice and is the heart and soul of the Batclan. There are villains who are willing to kill to protect him.

Jason Todd (Robin II, The Red Hood II, Red Robin I, Batman III). Jason Todd is the ballsiest Robin, having met Batman while attempting to steal the tire from the Batmobile, and, upon being confronted by the Goddamn Batman, decided the best course of action was to attack him with a tire iron. Jason is passionate and impulsive, but also extremely studious and intelligent. Well-liked despite his abrasiveness. He is the first Robin to die in the line of duty; when he came back, he and Bruce had a falling out over not killing the Joker, and now their relationship is rather shaky. Jason uses guns and has moonlighted as a crime boss in order to better control Gotham’s criminal element from the inside, which works mostly because he has nerves of steel and the ability to spin stunningly convincing bullshit at the drop of a hat.

Carrie Kelley (Robin II.5): See “Elseworlds and Future.”

Tim Drake (Robin III, Red Robin II, Drake I, Batman Beyond II): Tim has the greatest intellect of the Batclan; however, unlike Barbara (see “Batgirls”), Tim’s wisdom score is through the bloody floor. He figured out Batman and Robin’s identities on his own, and after Jason died he walked up to Bruce and basically told him “I know who you are and I’m Robin now,” which... worked. Tim is the least physically gifted of the Robins, but he makes up for it in detective skills and tactical intelligence. He was the only Robin to still have living parents outside of the Batfamily, though they were murdered soon into his career. He dropped out of high school and was acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises for a time. He has crippling depression and is implied to be suicidal.

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler I, Robin IV, Batgirl III): see under “Batgirls.”

Damian Wayne (Robin V): Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, and was raised—unbeknownst to his father—by his mother and grandfather to be an assassin, as well as to be the best at literally everything (for context: despite being a young teenager, he technically holds multiple unaccredited PHDs). However, this stunted his social development, so he is rude and abrasive almost constantly, though he has been getting better and his closest friends and family can see that he’s covering for a superiority/inferiority complex a mile deep. Damian has a constant need to prove himself and has taken up his father’s adoption habit, though he prefers animals. Animals are better than people.

Duke Thomas (Robin ??, The Signal): Duke Thomas was the first metahuman Bruce allowed into the Batfamily. Originally decided to take on The Riddler by himself at the age of... seven or so? Eventually joined a collective called “We Are Robin” and fought crime, unsanctioned. After his parents were driven mad by Joker Venom, Bruce took him in. He now fights crime in the daytime, unlike the rest of the Batfamily, using his nebulously-defined extrasensory abilities to augment his Batfamily training.

The Batgirls

Barbara Gordon (Batgirl I, Oracle I): while Tim may be the most intelligent member of the Batclan, Babs is the all-around smartest. Her intellect is damned high, and unlike most of the Batfamily, Barbara is actually capable of making good decisions. She just... decides not to, most of the time. Barbara is the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon and was the first Batgirl; she lost the use of her legs when Joker shot her in the spine, but refused to take a backseat in the Batclan’s war on crime and became Oracle, hacker extraordinaire who directs the activities of every single vigilante in Gotham from her clocktower lair. She has since regained the use of her legs and reclaimed the Batgirl mantle, turning Oracle into a living AI.

Helena Wayne (Batgirl I.5, Huntress I): see “Elseworlds and Future.”

Cassandra Cain/Wayne (Batgirl II, Black Bat I, Orphan I): Cassandra is the daughter of assassins Lady Shiva and David Cain, and had what is hands-down the worst childhood of the entire Batfamily (her father would shoot her in the leg, and if she flinched, he’d shoot her again). She was raised without spoken words, and as a result the language centers of her brain are more adapted for body language than words. This gives her a kind of combat clairvoyance where it’s nearly impossible for a human combatant to surprise her. After her first murder, she swore to never again take a life, and joined the Batclan to atone. I personally believe that she is Bruce’s favorite child and the true heir to the mantle of the Bat.

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler I, Robin IV, Batgirl III): the daughter of Arthur Brown, a criminal known as Cluemaster, Stephanie became a vigilante specifically to oppose her father and then just had a bunch of mission creep. She is brash, sarcastic, and reckless, but has oodles of passion and natural talent. DC editors hate her, so she ends up screwing up or getting pushed aside a lot, but she is much more competent than she appears and is extremely good at getting people to underestimate her.

Others

Kate Kane (Batwoman I): Kate Kane is Bruce’s cousin, dishonorably discharged from the military under “dont ask don’t tell,” though this has likely been retconned thanks to DC’s sliding timescale. She is actually specifically not connected to the Batfamily, being more of an auxiliary member by her own choice—as a military woman, she dislikes their methods and considers them sloppy. She uses guns, has her own rogues’ gallery unconnected to her cousin’s, and is extremely competent.

Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael I, Batman II): Jean-Paul believed himself to be an ordinary college student, but was in fact a genetically modified super-soldier created to punish the wicked through the use of magic and advanced technology. He eventually broke his conditioning thanks to Batman and joined the family, even taking over for Batman briefly after Bane broke his back. (This proved to be a terrible decision.) He fights using powered armor and enchanted medieval weaponry.

Harper Row (Bluebird I): I know very little about Harper except that she is openly bisexual and uses hilariously oversized sci-fi guns.

Claire Clover (Gotham Girl I): a metahuman with Superman-like abilities; however, the more she uses them, the faster her lifespan burns away. Last I checked, she was working with Bane for some reason to do bad things to Batman. Don’t know why. She’s odd.

Lonnie Machin (Anarky I, Moneyspider I): may or may not be the son of The Joker. Lonnie is a genius Anarchist, but not of the “bomb-throwing” variety—in fact, he detests bombers. Briefly acted as Tim’s Oracle, since, thanks to extensive neurological self-modification, he’s one of the few people in Gotham who is actually more intelligent than Tim is.

Helena Bertinelli (Huntress II, Batgirl briefly I think?): daughter of a crime family that got wiped out by a rival crime family. However, she didn’t know her family was mafia, and as a vigilante in Gotham ended up trying to operate under Batman’s rules. Wasn’t very good at that—she’s a bit too vicious and brutal, despite her attempts to rein herself in. Uses crossbows primarily.

Elseworlds & Future

Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond I): the definitive future Batman. Thanks to Amanda Waller and superscience shenanigans, Terry is the biological son of Bruce Wayne. He wears a highly advanced batsuit that is closer to powered armor than a costume, which gives Iron Man a run for his money. Unlike Bruce’s obsessive preparedness, Terry’s skillset lies in improvisation.

Carrie Kelley (Robin II.5): the Robin of the dystopian timeline of The Dark Knight Returns. It’s been a while since I read DKR, so I don’t remember much about her.

Helena Wayne (Batgirl I.5, Huntress I): Bruce and Selina’s daughter from another dimension.

432 notes · View notes

mermaidsirennikita · 4 years

Text

books (in the time of corona)

PART I: ADULT EDITION

Let’s get real--we’re all going fucking insane.

Therefore, I’m recommending some books with which you can kill time. I’m breaking them into categories--the romance category including several subgenres but by and large covering books that focus more heavily on the romance than anything else. These will all be adult books; I’m doing a separate page for YA recommendations.

I’ll be adding to this list as I finish books that I feel belong here.

ROMANCE

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux. A young woman is abandoned by her scoundrel of a boyfriend, only to find a literal medieval knight in shining armor. Pure 80′s cheese, a classic in the time travel subgenre long before Outlander ever happened.

The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts. Six sexy people, three men and three women in Roberts fashion, travel across time and parallel dimensions to fight an evil vampire and her undead army. Come for three fun romances, stay in particular for the “virgin bookworm queen captures the heart of the formerly evil 1,000 Irish vampire” ship.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Rival coworkers who’ve always hated each other compete for the same job--until maybe? They start? Hooking up?

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata. A down on her luck singles figure skater pairs up with the pairs champion she’s always despised... Unless they in fact, in a STUNNING TWIST, do not hate each other?

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa. A BIT ON THE NOSE RIGHT NOW, but I promise that this tale of a hot virgin Horseman of the Apocalypse spreading his plague and the one woman brave enough to fuck him is WORTH IT. As is the sequel, War.

My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran. A literal choose your own adventure novel, but the adventures bodice ripping Regency romance plots!!!

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. A sweet and smart woman on the autism spectrum hires a male escort to teach her to be good at sex. Shit goes DOWN from there.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. She works days; he works nights. She needs a cheap place to stay, and he needs a roommate. So they share a flat and even a bed (sleeping on opposite sides and never at the same time) only communicating through post-it notes throughout the apartment. What could go wrong?

Marriage for One by Ella Maise. She can only get her inheritance if she’s married. Good thing a glacial attorney has offered to marry her out of nowhere, only for paper purposes. What could go wrong???

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa. Lina is a wedding planner who was left at the altar. Max is the younger brother of the man who left her, and apparently convinced him to do the leaving. What happens when they work together?

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. Chloe suffers from a chronic illness, which means that she’s never had a life--and so she compiles a list that will help her get one. On the list? Meaningless sex. Which she won’t have with her building’s superintendent, even though he’s really down to help her cross off all the other items, riiiight?

HISTORICAL FICTION

Passion by Jude Morgan. The dramatic and intense height of Romantic England, told from the perspectives of Caroline Lamb, mistress of Lord Byron; August Leigh, his sister and lover; Mary Shelley; and Fanny Brawne, fiancee of John Keats.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Impoverished Griet becomes a maid in the household of the painter Vermeer, becoming his muse after he realizes that she has a natural eye--much to the dismay of his wife.

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See. In nineteenth century China, best friends Lily and Snow Flower follow each other through emotional and cultural revolutions, communicating through the secret language of fans.

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George. Cleopatra recounts her life story, from her earliest memory, through her affairs with Caesar and Antony, and her end.

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. In Domitian’s Rome, a Jewish girl rises from the position of lady’s slave to the emperor’s mistress through wiles and scheming.

The Tiger Queens by Stephanie Thornton. The rise and fall of Genghis Khan’s empire, as told through the women of his family--from his favorite wife to a clever daughter-in-law.

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen. A socialite follows her incompetent to Scotland as he struggles to find the Loch Ness Monster and redeem his ancestor’s name--finding herself and questioning her life in the process.

A Year of Ravens. A collection of short stories by different authors, all centering on Boudica’s rebellion through the eyes of her countrymen and her enemies.

Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King. A slave becomes a chef in the treacherous household of a social climber struggling to gain the favor or Caesar August.

Fatal Throne. Six authors tell the stories of Henry VIII’s wives, all from their differing perspectives.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The rise and fall of a 1970s rock band is charted through the recollections of its members--as they recall what drove them apart, and in particular the intense relationship between the leader singers.

THRILLERS

The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre. A woman with murderous impulses locks herself in her apartment to keep the public safe, making a living as a camgirl. She’s left torn between morals and impulse when she begins to suspect that one of her “fans” is dangerous.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint. In 1960s America, a single mother finds her personal life and image called into question when she’s accused of murdering her two young children.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. A nurse covers up her beautiful sister’s murders, only to be caught between loyalties when the doctor she loves falls for said sister.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine. A plain “nobody” transforms herself in order to steal a high society housewife’s husband, only to deal with more than she bargained for.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. A woman obsesses over her ex-husband’s new fiancee, leading her to disturbing lengths.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. After meeting her ideal man, a woman must contend with his possessive mother, who will do anything to maintain her hold over him.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. A couple on their dream honeymoon find something in the water that will change the course of their life together.

The Au Pair by Emma Rous. The day Seraphine and her twin brother were born, their mother flung herself off a cliff and their nanny disappeared. Decades later, Seraphine discovers a photo taken of her parents just before her mother’s death--with only one baby. The only person who holds the key to the mystery? The au pair.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. A couple keeps the spark alive through murder.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. A young woman takes a job apartment-sitting in a high-end Manhattan building. Shortly after she befriends another sitter, the girl goes missing--with everyone else acting like nothing is amiss.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. Thursday is one of her husband’s three wives, though she’s never met the other two. When she finally does meet the third wife, she discovers a woman far different from what she expected--and covered in bruises.

FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/HORROR

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Sorcha is the youngest of seven children in medieval Ireland. When her stepmother curses her six older brothers to live as swans, Sorcha agrees to weave them shirts of painful thistles, all the while remaining silent, to break the spell.

Black Pearls by Louise Hawes. A collection of dark fairy tale retellings.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker. A man receives letters from an anonymous source, detailing his supposed past lives throughout historical China.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust. A dark Snow White retelling, with a stepmother whose goals extend far beyond the princess.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Alex Stern is discovered as the sole survivor of a brutal multiple murder, and is promptly scooped up by a group charged with monitoring the occult societies at Yale. Now disguised as a university student, Alex must figure out who’s been murdering locals, while also hiding what happened the night she lived.

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell. A young widow in Victorian England is sent to her husband’s country estate to wait out her pregnancy, and is not alarmed to discover a “silent companion” (a painted wooden figure) in the house. But when the figure’s eyes begin following her, she is sucked into a history beyond her imagination.

Circe by Madeline Miller. The story of the woman who would seduce Odysseus, from her beginnings as a plain witch born of Helios and a mother who couldn’t care less. A classic rise to power story.

CONTEMPORARY LIT

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. Down on her luck Nikki takes up a job as a creative writing class instructor for the Punjabi widows in her West London neighborhood. It turns out that the widows thought she was there to teach them to write in English--which leads to the class becoming a place for them to share their stories orally instead. And it turns out that they’re a bit... erotic.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. Upwardly mobile newlyweds Celestina and Roy have their lives upended when Roy is falsely accused of a terrible crime and sent to prison for twelve years. When he’s released early after five, he returns home to find that Celestina has changed completely, and their marriage is entirely unknown.

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo. A young Nigerian couple has always been against polygamy; but after the wife fails to get pregnant, her in-laws show up on their doorstep with a second wife.

NON-FICTION/MEMOIR

Harem: The World Behind The Veil by Alev Lytle Croutier. An examination of the Ottoman Empire’s harem culture, focusing on the women within.

Love For Sale: A World History of Prostitution by Nils Johan Ringal. Not really a GLOBAL history of prostitution, but a good introduction starting with ancient times and going into the cases of more recent madams in America, with a strong case for legalization worldwide.

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. A readable biography of the famously scandalous and tragic duchess, to be read while you kill time rewatching “The Duchess” starring Keira Knightley.

Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy by Sarah Bradford. A fair but none-too-precious assessment of one of Renaissance Italy’s most controversial women, and an analysis of her relationships with her father and brother.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives. While you’re quarantining, you might as well read the definitive Anne Boleyn biography, yes? This one is responsible for much of the modern attitude on Anne.

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber. A fascinating analysis of Marie Antoinette’s political life through her clothes.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. An analysis of the infamous, unsolved “Monster of Florence” case. One of the most gruesome serial killers in Italy’s history, the monster’s crimes were pinned on several different men, and even investigated by the prosecutor who botched the Amanda Knox case.

The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick. An examination of the case of Han van Meegeren, a painter who forged and sold many Dutch master fakes, and the pretentious art world that let him get away with it for years.

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford. A study of the women in Genghis Khan’s family, and in particular those that kept his empire from falling to ruin after his death. A good companion read with Stephanie Thornton’s fiction novel Tiger Queens mentioned above.

Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum by Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino. How did the Getty Museum end up with so many stolen artifacts? This book aims to find out.

The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo. A different kind of Anne Boleyn book, studying her portrayal in culture and fiction--complete with input from Natalie Dormer following her portrayal of Anne Boleyn on The Tudors.

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood. An examination of the women of the houses of Lancaster and York during their famous, long-running conflict--and how these women had an impact on battles and politics alike.

The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish by Emily Voigt. The author delves into why people are so obsessed with the arowana, a rare and exotic fish, to the point that they’ll commit murder--and becomes wrapped up in the fascination herself.

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy. Over the course of a month, Ariel Levy watches everything she held true in her life--her financial security, her career, her marriage, and her pregnancy--fall apart. Levy must confront what it means to live an “unconventional” and “free” life, only for that to become meaningless, and pick up the pieces.

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to find The Good Death by Caitlin Doughty. Doughty recounts her global travels to observe and study different funerary and death rituals, recounting and analyzing her experiences with respect and personality.

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer. A collection of female serial killers, analyzing why they did what they did and the cultural legacy they left behind.

Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson. A history of decapitated human heads, and what different cultures have done with them.

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke. Tembi Locke was never truly accepted by her husband’s Sicilian family, as a black American woman. But when Saro dies young of cancer, she finds herself more deeply entwined her in-laws, as she works to pick up the pieces. (Warning: one of the most achingly romantic books I’ve ever read; but it will destroy you.)

#books #book recommendations #book recs #self reblog for new addition

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demonsdarling · 4 years

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folklore first listen thoughts

the 1: CATCHY from the start. HIT THE GROUND RUNNING sweeter than fiction rights. very sweet heartbreak song. “in my defense i have none” NEVER LEAVING WELL ENOUGH ALONE. i like it a lot, so much metaphor and imagery. i definitely wanna feel this

cardigan: catchy, very much the type of song that would sound good loud in the car at night. “a friend to all is a friend to none, chase two girls lose the one”. i really can’t wait to figure out what this one means. so far this feels very heartbreak heavy, even though i’m only two songs in. “tried to change the ending, peter losing wendy”. obviously young love WHY DO I WANNA FEEL THESE SO BAD. someone better take one for the team and break my heart while i’m still a teenager. someone to make me feel better about myself and then to look back on losing that. wow

the last great american dynasty: rebecca as a character being introduced, i really like the idea here. like gossiping at a wedding like that. “maddest woman this town has ever seen”. i feel like rebecca is a character taylor relates to and put herself into her. TAYLOR BOUGHT THE HOUSE WOW. so it’s about the woman who lived there before her i love that. if i hadn’t lived in my house for my whole life, i’d totally romanticize the people who lived here before.

exile: off the bat reminds me of the last time. i like the film/story/ending theme that continues throughout the album. it really connects it all and i feel very immersed into it. lyrically this song is very beautiful and it just sounds so very good. sounds very red & speak now which i obviously LOVE. also i love that it’s so long. “you’re not my homeland anymore” WOW WOW. so beautiful ily this song

my tears ricochet: sounds very haunting right off the bat. weeping in a sunlit room hurts me so much i just know this will be the best crying song. loveD till my dying day?? is this from the perspective of a dead person STOP that’s heartbreaking. i have chills what the fuck. it’s so BEAUTIFUL “you wear the same jewels i have you to bury me” i said wow out loud like. i have nothing else to say but wow. stolen lullaby <3

mirrorball: sounds very young and sweet. reminds me of starlight for some reason, which i love so much. it sounds like a really sweet first love and learning about the other person and yourself and falling into that and learning from the experience. i might be obsessed with the idea of first love lately, so that’s perfect for me. this is a favorite i love it so much.

SEVEN!: so i claimed this song earlier because i say seven as a response to everything and thought it was funny. but this is a missing childhood anthem, which is so fearless. childhood best friends, this is everything to me. i was worried i wouldn’t love it this much. “just like a folk song, our love will be passed on” PLEASE PICTURE ME IN THE WEEDS BEFORE I LEARN CIVILITY. i’m literally crying. growing up was always my biggest fear, i always want to go back to being little and this wraps it up so well. “passed on like folk songs, our love lasts so long”

august: back to a love song! young love! OH ITS SO SWEET AND HAPPY SOUNDING. kind of an imaginary love, taylor at my age, and i’m inserting myself here because it feels so right. i had a trio of songs on fearless at age 7 and these three songs feels like that again. yeah i’m gonna need a summer romance like i’ve been dreaming of since i was 15. this sounds like every daydream i have about the people i have crushes on and i love that so much. i love relating to taylor so much.

this is me trying: this is so beautiful wow. it has the energy of a sweet and soft version of hygtg but this time taylor is chasing? i think this is one those songs everyone can adapt to their story. “so i got wasted like all my potential”. this one feels so real to me. i really am relating to this one and i might fall apart to this song. second cry of the album.

illicit affairs: I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA UPBEAT AND LOVER-ESQUE but it’s a beautiful sweet secret love story. this love here seems crushing and painful. it reminds me a little of 1989 in the vocals i think? which is so cool. i really love the bridge on this one. this love story is so obviously so unique and all-consuming and yet it’s secret at the same time. i fucking love it.

invisible string: of course she says 16 again!!!!! why does she romanticize 16 so much? for me it’s 17. but i’m 19 now. i would dance barefoot in the grass to this one. something pulling two people together like an invisible string no matter how far apart they get. SOULMATE SONG!!!! wow!!! all along we were destined. IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY. the dive bar! something pulled her to him! i love that so much.

mad woman: SHE REALLY DID SAY FUCK YOU FOREVER WHAAT. i went OOH! but this is very ~the man~ and reputation vibes but SOFT and so it feels very taylor, lyrically and emotionally, like this feels like a side of her we’ve seen before but painted in a different light. “women like hunting witches too” “every time you call me crazy i get more crazy” WHY ARE PEOPLE MEAN TO HER I WILL BEAT UP EVERYONE WHO IS MEAN TO HER. there’s no need to tear people down to get to the top.

epiphany: another super long song!! i’m being told betty is incredible and i’m itching to listen to it but this sounds so beautiful. take a shot whenever i say beautiful or wow! this feels like another soulmate song but i hate to be wrong so if i am wrong, don’t mention it. this sounds so very classical and fresh for taylor but also it has such a taste of taylor. something new she’s doing here but her flavor is always there and i love that. only 20 minutes to sleep but you dream of some epiphany 💜💜💜💜

betty: i have high expectations. oh harmonica very folksy sounds very like the beginning. hehe she said fuck again THE SUMMER THING hi august! i suppose this is from the perspective of the other person? i like this very much, i love the idea of young stupid love and first loves. james. james and betty i love them very much. this is like when i make a playlist and say someone should send me these songs. “i’m only 17 i don’t know anything” i just wanna be seventeen again BITCH. SHE SAID CARDIGAN CAR AGAIN i love thattt.

peace: “our coming of age is coming and going” OKAY HIT ME I GUESS? this one is making me feel things. if i could sing, i’d never stop singing this. her fears within her relationship and the chaos her life brings to his. it’s very showing of her love and worries within what seems like a solid relationship.

hoax: what i want to do right now is drive to a literal cliff / scenic overlook and sit in the car and cry to this song. “i am ash to your fire” did she not say that in another song? i don’t remember which. but i hear the struggles she went through in herself and how hard it was to get through, not just on her own but with someone else. i hope taylor is happy and safe in her relationship. in any relationship she enters into, its all i want.

this album was beautiful and lovely and everything i needed and wanted i only cried three? four? times. it’s so stunning and beautiful and i’ve said beautiful way too many times but there’s no other words. it’s incredible. i haven’t felt this much in so long. and if i’m wrong about anything here, never mention it again <3.

i love you, taylor.

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steve0discusses · 4 years

Text

Yugioh S4 Ep8: Magic Mai

So fun fact, I was out of town around this Thanksgiving and I grabbed a laptop from my Dad’s stack of machinery he’s sort of collected over the years and lo and behold--he put Linux on it.

Like I dunno if you all can relate to this problem, but everything he touches turns into Linux and he’s trying to live this Windows free/Mac free lifestyle, and I get it, I’m friends with so many vegetarians, but like I hate this laptop. I'm using Gimp to make these screenshots...So I can re-do them later in Photoshop because...it just doesn’t feel right to put Papyrus on this computer. It already has Linux. This poor machine has suffered enough. Long story short, this’ll be a small update because right clicking on linux is ass.

Also, because I was on a laptop and realized how small my blog is for the first time--I don’t have control over the size of pictures in text posts, tumblr does, and in this particular theme it’s not allowing me to change the size, and so do me a favor. Click ctrl and + at the same time a couple times (I’m assuming most of you are on firefox). There. the pictures are the right size now. If you hated that, you can click ctrl and - but like lets be real, my font is occasionally...tiny.

Anyway, we start discussing this episode on the confusing legs of the last one, where Mai is evil now, and it’s really not entirely clear if she’s possessed or if she’s just always been this way, or if she just FEELS like it.

And that’s all this episode is about, start to finish--is this Mai’s choice or was this not Mai’s choice? The answer is the same as it would be for a normal person: it’s complicated. Maybe it’s everybody’s choice. Maybe it was because no one did anything that Mai went completely haywire? Maybe it was because Mai hid how she was feeling so no one had any idea she needed help? Or, overall, maybe Mai is kind of a toxic person and wanted to be this way? Especially while she’s on children’s cartoon card drugs?

(read more under the cut)

So to start off, a weird thing happened at the beginning of this episode. After about 4 seasons, someone finally mentioned this:

How many seasons has Yugi been talking to himself? Like, out loud. In front of everyone and Kaiba? This whole time, right? Like Valon just dashed my headcanon where I figured Yugi was smart enough to think his thoughts instead of speak his thoughts. He’s just not that smart, unfortunately.

Meanwhile, Mai has managed to attract this other (teenager?) guy and like...to go worse than Joey so quickly is kind of shocking. Mai just seems embarrassed by the amount of very young boys in love with her. And she’s not even a cougar about it, she doesn’t really seem to want this to happen but it keeps on happening.

And although he is essentially the card form of a drug pusher, Valon has this soft spot for a girl I guess to give him some sort of redeemable flaw. However, she only wears tube tops and minis and spends like hundreds of dollars on her hair, so it doesn’t really make him seem any less shallow, tbh.

PS I’m surprised, that unlike all the other characters on Yugioh, I can’t just type in Valon’s name into Google and get his age and weight. No idea what his age is, and if you know, feel free to tell me but he just seems...exactly the same age as Joey. He seems very 17. Maybe it’s the obsession with motorcycles and children’s playing cards? Maybe it’s his big ol childlike eyes? He just seems young and niave like how a teenager who just fell in love with a very angry older woman would.

Joey tries to remind everyone, multiple times, that this game is the worst idea ever since it requires one of them to super die, but Mai is on card drugs so I don't know why they bothered. Also, why is Joey still surprised by this after 4 seasons of this?

Yo it’s S4 and Mai witnesses magic non-stop but still has basically no idea how it works. She really did say “I have no soul” and it was like...I’m 90% certain she literally thinks she has no soul right now. Which I guess, statistically speaking, is rare to actually have a still intact soul after hanging out with the main villain, with the way this show typically goes.

Meanwhile, last episode it really sounded like Duke Devlin was driving to Pegasus’ company building. It really sounded like he would have gone directly there, since Weevil and Rex told him that Yugi was going to Pegasus.

Remember that Duke Devlin works for Pegasus and probably has his own parking spot.

So where did he go instead?

You know how there’s only one gas station in the entirety of America?

I can’t believe it blew up.

Y’all what is the red splotch in the middle of the pile ps? That is legitimately a pile of blood, right? I didn’t shop that in. There’s just a red puddle in this kid’s show.

Y’all what is that? Like was there a scene with a red handkerchief that I missed? Is that a red handkerchief?

But to move past the mysterious pool of blood that confirms those bikers are so hella dead, I have no idea why Duke was here, I have no idea how he got the tip off that Yugi visited this place, but then he turned around and went back to SF so like...I guess he’ll arrive 3 days from now because again, they are in Arizona. They keep telling me this is right outside SF but like--Mesas. There’s Mesas.

And then this happened.

That one guy on the writing staff who just stans Seto Kaiba so hard got into the drawing room, I see.

PS someone had to pose for this shot for them to draw this shot from this angle.

Meanwhile, lets see why Mai turned evil. Ah, because it is Yugioh, the biggest reason is that she has no friends (probably because she’s got the most acidic personality known to man) and isn’t card popular enough and got super bitter and jealous.

Speaking as an artist who is online, I can understand the frustration here. Sometimes (99% of the time) you work really hard and no one cares and you get like 2 notes. And honestly, why should they? Like, why do you do it in the first place?

Mai echoes a lot of the issues of Seto last season, where she wants so badly to be the absolute best to prove herself to the ghosts of her past who really don’t care any more.

But, since Mai was in a coma when Seto got through all of that, I guess she never got the memo and still seems stuck on just wanting to be the best with no other reason than “to be the best” which again, sounds so much like art school problems. This is everyone who has ever had an interest in animation. We all go through that phase.

Generally we don’t take peoples souls as a reaction to that type of discouragement, but then Mai made sure to mention in almost a foot note that she did spend like an entire season and a half trapped in Marik's shadow realm. And that kind of effed her up in a really big way.

Thanks, Marik.

Really feels like Marik should be dealing with this problem--really feels like maybe Marik is the only person that we can actually point to and say “Oh yeah, that guy is to blame for Mai right now” And he is the only person that Mai does not actively go out and try to kill.

And I’ll have you know I just deleted like a 15 K word rant about the difference between character assassination and your character just--evolving into a jackass, and how it’s OK to have your character change into a jackass, especially after trauma. I felt this need to really have to defend this ancient writing technique that people have been using since about as long as stories have been around.

Then I remembered “Oh yeah, I’m just making this point because a few number of very loud idiots on the internet want to have very lukewarm hot-takes about popular characters solely because they enjoy baiting people on twitter into getting into week-long arguments that don’t go anywhere.” and I just...let it go. I let it just...go into the ether. Ah. The peace that comes when you already know you’re right.

But anyway, back to Yugioh, which thankfully doesn’t take a stance on this nuanced subject, and only presents this very serious problem without actually offering a solution (because there isn’t a one fit’s all solution to falling off the deep end and getting into drugs and murder), Mai decides to just go and blame this decision she made on anyone else. Because, why take responsibility for your actions, when you can pin it on people who were on the other side of the freakin planet when it happened?

Like, I just want to remind y’all that she was in ATLANTIS.

I wonder how good the cell reception is in ATLANTIS.

I just...Mai is like in her mid twenties maybe thirty’s. She’s so arbitrarily old that she plays Yugi’s Mom in the video game spinoff where they’re reincarnations of medieval times. That’s how old she is.

Imagine if you made some epically BAD decisions because you were jealous of some teenager’s success and didn’t want to be weak anymore, and then you confronted those teens, and said “This is all your fault.”

Imagine looking someone as dysfunctional as Joey Wheeler and telling him “You made me like this” because lollllllll

And I present this as a joke but like basically this happens all freakin time. We’ve all had a friend like Mai. Past tense of course, because it’s really hard to keep a friend like Mai for very long. (One of my friend’s who went Mai destroyed my apartment one summer and then literally blamed it on me for going to California for 2 months and leaving her unattended.) But like...don’t let Mai’s do it to you. They can get better, but only if it’s their choice, really. You can’t force them to save themselves.

But, as Mai was finally ready to give up cards and probably improve her quality of life by a huge degree, unfortunately, she got sucked right back into the trap.

Bro note: being a serial murderer cultist is basically working at McDonald's in this universe so maybe this wasn’t even that weird?

But that aside, this is alllllmost like a dark version of “Mai got into an abusive relationship to fill the void in her heart” except she’s not even really dating this guy? Like she hates this guy? He’s just kinda there?

Y’all I really can’t tell if Valon is in an abusive relationship with Mai who is using him for power or if she’s in an abusive relationship with him because he only wants her pretty face and wants to kill Joey because Joey liked her once--and maybe it’s both? Maybe both of these people are just...really bad for each other?

Overall Joey is kind of tossed into this not-a-love-triangle and I’m like

“Hey show? show? Am I supposed to....were any these people ever dating? Is there supposed to be an implied history? Am I supposed to get attached to this?” because I mean...the only character who was able to get some actual physical romance on this show was Pegasus when he macked the ghost of his dead wife because, again, Pegasus is the freakin king of this entire show. Of course HE can do it.

But have this show clarify what the hell is happening between Valon and Mai? I’m gonna take a bet that we will never get to see it beyond Valon being like “Ain’t she a beaut!” Like Steve Irwin talking to an alligator, and Mai just pretending he doesn’t exist. Yugioh romances are so completely one way every single time. If something more than that happens, I’ll be

shook.

Anyway, as all the children on the show keep repeating over and over again, they haven’t had any contact with Mai since she left the freakin country and they went back to High School.

And so someone threatens to kill himself, as is Yugioh tradition, and someone else barks at him to NOT kill himself, as is also tradition, and they decide to play real cards next episode.

This whole entire episode, PS, Joey went out of his way to just...not play cards. that was this whole episode. Way to draw out a card game over three episodes, I guess.

Anyway if you want to read these from the start you can do so by clicking the link here

#yugioh #ygo #episode recap #photo recap #Yugi muto #mai valentine #Valon #joey wheeler #Tristan Taylor #Tea Gardner #That moustache sideburns guy? I think his name is Raphael or something?#S4 #Ep 8 #PS I just noticed my episodes were numbered wrong #so that's nice #I may also decide to do some tagging shenanigans so you can have a link to read which season you would like to go to instead of just from S1 #but that will be when I get bored over christmas I have some client stuff to wrap up right now

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azdoine · 5 years

Text

So let’s talk about them fairies.

In Homestuck, magic is broadly a cipher for queerness. This connection is first introduced when John gets his magic tricks from a book about a homoerotic relationship between two men:

"It's really amazing how hard it is to find a sausage-sized piece of a guy on the floor of a room that dark and smoky."

"I wanted to ask if he was sure about this, performing in broad daylight. He was used to working in dark rooms. It was usually the first thing out of his mouth when he would queer a trick."

The motif continues -- Roxy, who “loves wizards”, is attracted to John, the closeted amateur magician who retcons events, making them unhappen in the manner of a wizard, and she falls in love with Dirk, a gay man, as well as Calliope, the transgender wizard of Oz. And so on and so forth.

Naturally, more complex relationships with magic signify more complex relationships with queerness. Rose hates her mother’s apparently-performative obsession with wizards, but she also keeps and writes personal slash fiction tales about them, and she performs her own sorceries as a lesbian. Eridan, who orbits around magic without accepting it openly, is basically a misogynistic incel, but he also canonically dresses in feminine clothing in death. The continual deconstruction of magic as something unreal or conceptually incoherent, even as it clings to a tangible presence within the text, replicates and signifies the marginalization, recuperation, and erasure of queerness by homophobia and transphobia.

One magical figure in Homestuck that I want to talk about is the fairy; as a particular magical identity, and thus as a symbol for a particular queer identity, I believe it casts an important light on several character and story arcs.

Andrew Hussie is at least plausibly aware of historical marginalizations and oppressions, as evinced by the deliberate use of e.g. ‘octoroon’ terminology in Sassacre’s texts. With that in mind, how might the specific historical use of ‘fairy’ terminology inform the various fairies we see in Homestuck?

In Gay New York, George Chauncey characterizes the historical fairy as follows, placing them in the context of male homosexuality:

The determinative criterion in the identification of men as fairies was not the extent of their same-sex desire or activity (their "sexuality"). but rather the gender persona and status they assumed. It was only the men who assumed the sexual and other cultural roles ascribed to women who identified themselves -- and were identified by others -- as fairies. The fairies' sexual desire for men was not regarded as the singular characteristic that distinguished them from other men, as is generally the case for gay men today. That desire was seen as simply one aspect of a much more comprehensive gender role inversion (or reversal), which they were also expected to manifest through the adoption of effeminate dress and mannerisms; they were thus often called inverts (who had "inverted" their gender) rather than homosexuals in technical language.

With reference to Chauncey and others, Emma Heaney likewise characterizes the fairy as such in The New Woman, placing them in the context of trans femininity:

Trans feminine genders were legible and understood in the period. Fairies and girl-boys were not only viewed as “crossing” from man and woman, but as trans feminine people, whose conditions of life were set by their association with cis women... Fairies were viewed as interchangeable with cis women in sexual and domestic pairings, and their femininity established the contrasting “normalness” of their masculine partners...

This non-determining relation between genitals and sex did not lead to the breakdown of the categories “man” and “woman” or the evacuation of meaning from these terms. Rather, fairies simply occupied the social role of women during this time. This operation extended to a popular recognition of the way trans femininity conditioned the interpretation and thus the experience of cis women.

The historical fairy, then, and the conventional fairy by extension, serves as a signifier for homosexuality, gender non-conformity, crossdressing, transgender ‘gender inversion’, and/or queerness in general -- particularly in those assigned male at birth, but again, also in general.

Who are the fairies we see in Homestuck, and where do we see them?

Well, the primary fairies we see in Homestuck are the trolls, of course. In folklore, troll mythology emerged from a different culture, but trolls inhabit a similar order of mythology to the fair folk, as nature spirits and as friends or foes to humanity. In Homestuck, the trolls who achieve god tier status also obtain fairy wings; for trolls, godhood is inextricably entangled with butterfly and fairy symbolism.

Metamorphosis is clearly a significant part of troll biology, and therefore ingrained in their mythology. They've got cocoons everywhere, and are often likened to insects through biological terms. The wings have nothing (we know of) to do with troll adulthood. But have a lot to do with their perception of what ascension should be, which is the culmination of a pupation process. Which is why some may look to fairies as an ideal, or rule them out as fiction on account of the ideal they represent. Ascended trolls in this game are essentially magical fairies.

The confluence between troll feyhood and divinity, as a kind of godlike expression of metamorphosis, takes us back to the queer concept of the fairy as sexually fluid and transformed, as well as the sexual fluidity of the trolls. Through SBURB, the trolls are enabled to ascend to a distinctly queer godhood, coming to embody the same divine androgyny as the cherubs do; in particular, through an epic coming-of-age, the trolls are given the opportunity to “grow sideways” instead of growing up, quite literally developing laterally and stepping outside of the normal process of physical maturation for their species.

As Kathryn Stockton says in The Queer Child, with reference to Edelman’s No Future:

...the figure of the child as the emblem of parents’ (impossible) continuity spawns delusional visions. These are visions of the seamless reproduction of oneself, whose future is always represented by (one’s) children. Thus “the future” and “our children” are always bound together in a kind of frightening (and hermetically sealed) “reproductive futurism”: a “social consensus” that... has been made “impossible to refuse”... If in any context there is “no baby” and thus “no future,” “then the blame must fall on the fatal lure of sterile, narcissistic enjoyments understood as inherently destructive of meaning”—enjoyments dramatically laid at the door of homosexuals.

I coin the term “sideways growth” to refer to... something that locates energy, pleasure, vitality, and (e)motion in the back-and-forth of connections and extensions that are not reproductive.

Reading fairy tiering as a kind of queer apotheosis -- and thus, as a kind of deviation from the reproduction of the future -- is difficult precisely because it serves as a mechanic in a game about the reproduction of the cosmos, but I would argue that the reading is less counter-intuitive than it seems. The trolls are intrinsically queer by the human standards that center the comic: even as the trolls reproduce, their form of reproduction itself negates the reproduction of a conventional and heterosexual human future, and and it destroys the nuclear family unit.

To be clear, on Beforus and Alternia, the trolls are still entwined and bound within a kind of reproductive social matrix, and SBURB reifies this matrix, abusing childhood itself as the site of the production of the future. But god tiering -- and fairy tiering in particular -- is an entirely superfluous mechanic. It is not necessary for the completion of the game, nor does it exist as a linear extension of the echeladder that is much closer to the core of SBURB’s gameplay. It allows all ascended children to personally perpetuate their own existences beyond their inevitable deaths, rather than perpetuating the existence of the cosmos at large.

God tiering is thus a form of sideways or nonlinear character advancement that exists apart from the demands placed upon children by the game: it is a form of sideways or nonlinear growth and self-actualization that exists apart from the reproductive demands placed upon the young by society. Fairy tiering simply literalizes this metaphor, allowing the queer troll children both to grow sideways and to come to embody hyperreal symbols of queerness.

All of this is particularly evident in practice. Fairy symbolism surrounds many of the trolls, particularly insofar as they serve as “fairy godmothers” to the beta kids, but our primary and most explicit fairies are Vriska and Aradia, simply because they’re the only beta trolls to god tier in the alpha timeline:

Aradia herself is surrounded by death at all times, but her morbid obsession is shaped by her embodiment and her state of being. As a ghost, deceased herself, she is imprisoned wholly by the teleology of reproductive futurism, and thus she is hollowed out into a manifestation of SBURB’s inevitability:

Aradia’s ultimate resurrection as a fairy -- after she has already fulfilled her cosmogenic role and helped her team to complete their session -- thus constitutes her transcendence of her role in the perpetuation of existence. Her metamorphosis allows her to transcend her old role as a temporal lynchpin in SBURB’s reproductive futurism, and having so ascended, she leaves for a sempiternity in the dream bubbles; she rejects the future in favor of the alternatives of the dreaming and the dead, growing sideways on multiple levels.

Vriska likewise has a complicated relationship with SBURB, one inextricably influenced and foreshadowed by her history as an experienced FLARPer and augmented reality gamer. For Vriska, who was recruited by her caretaker and mother figure to prey upon other children, FLARP was nothing less than a way for her to fulfill those demands:

The narratives of FLARP thus constitute a fantastic representation and allegory for the more fundamental social realities of Vriska’s hellish life -- and the lives of others -- given form through augmented reality, as video games are wont to be in Homestuck. But at the same time, through FLARP, Vriska is able to attempt to recuperate some noble identity for herself:

Vriska is able to shuck off the reality of her situation as a victim and a cog in an overwhelming cycle of abuse, becoming the person she wants to be: strong, powerful, and in control of herself and her life as an adult and a glorious scoundrel. The equally-overwhelming fakeness attribute of this persona is irrelevant, because Vriska has made this persona real enough for herself, seizing strength, power, and control on every front.

It’s only natural that she also sees SBURB as another meaningless game to exploit...

...because to her, it is. It’s just another reality for her to navigate, and thus another site for her to attempt to extract something for herself. Where every other god tier we see is murdered through the will of another, and then god tiers almost incidentally or accidentally, Vriska deliberately fairy tiers with full knowledge and awareness, in an ultimate act of excess as a power gamer, abusing and mastering the system around her for her own benefit. Her fairy tiering is inextricable from her disrespect, exploitation, and subversion of the cosmogenic order for her own pleasure.

And naturally, like Aradia, Vriska dies and is laterally exiled to the dream bubbles. In the dream bubbles, we see the alpha trolls who god tiered in the alpha timeline -- Meenah, the Thief of Life who only has vitality in taking it from others, manipulating Life without really creating it anew, and Aranea in particular. Aranea is not only Vriska’s ancestor, who informs her aspirations and character; she’s also her ectodoppelganger from across the Scratch, and a true fairy archetype:

As a god tier Sylph, Aranea is an explicit fairy on multiple levels, and she aspires to ‘heal’ the timeline she occupies. Her power as a fairy is that which empowers her to divert the timeline; her fairy status is that which subverts the reproductive futurism of SBURB and the teleology of the alpha timeline, allowing the sideways growth of an offshoot to supercede the inevitable forward growth of the alpha. Aranea’s sideways development is so absolute that when she and her plans falter, a literal plot hole -- with all of the story-breaking power it allows -- is required to bring the alpha timeline back into a forward order.

Fairy tiering is implicated in sideways growth on every level, but I think I’ve said enough about that in particular -- there’s a lot more to be said, and much more interesting things to say, about fairies and queer subtext in Homestuck.

Let’s go back to the revenge cycle among the beta trolls, with an eye upon the fairy as a queer figure.

The beta revenge cycle begins with various sessions of FLARP between Aradia, Vriska, Tavros, and Terezi; at some point in these games, Vriska uses mind control to force Tavros to jump off of a cliff.

On the literal level, this is just Vriska being pissy and needlessly cruel to Tavros -- both as the descendant of the man who loved and killed Vriska’s own ancestor, and as the boy who is too pathetic sensitive for Vriska’s playstyle. But Vriska’s cruelty is preceded by a particularly interesting monologue:

Rather than simply punishing Tavros or otherwise getting on with his torment, Vriska verbally solicits fairy behavior from him. Tavros dresses like Pupa Pan -- the child in arrested development, the proto-gay child, the fairy-child, the fairy-touched child -- and Vriska compliments him on the cuteness and appeal of his fairy presentation. She asserts, or assumes, or realizes that Tavros wants to be Pupa Pan, just like she wants to be Spinneret Mindfang, and she asks him to try flying with her; she asks him to try acting like the fairy child that (she thinks) he wants to be.

On the symbolic level, Vriska is pushing Tavros to join her in flight among the fairies, and thus, to come out of the closet as some kind of queer figure, or at least, to try queer behavior with her. She hurts him in the process -- perhaps because he isn’t queer, despite the fairy symbolism he surrounds himself with and aspires to, but the question of Tavros’ implied queerness is almost incidental to the reality of his pain at Vriska’s hands. If Tavros was ever going to grow wings and fly like Rufioh and Pupa Pan, it wasn’t going to be because he jumped off of a cliff, nor was he ever going to come out of the closet just because Vriska kicked the door down and pushed herself upon him.

Not that Tavros was ever going to get overwhelming sympathy for his victimization. The fairy subtext of Vriska’s violence against him was only reiterated when he first reached out for help, and he was turned away not simply because he was unsympathetic as a male victim of (sexualized) violence at the hands of a woman, but because he was a boy who had deliberately chosen to participate in femininity:

Tavros played a stupid game with an aggressive girls, and he won a stupid prize when she victimized him, but the equally fundamental victim-blaming at play is that in ‘playing a game for girls’ -- in attempting to take flight as a fairy child, and in attempting to enter the realm of the feminine and/or queer -- he got exactly what he was asking for.

After Tavros, we come to Vriska, and she doesn’t find her place in the beta revenge cycle any more fulfilling. Aradia takes vengeance upon Vriska for her brutality towards Tavros, and Aradia does so by confronting her with the ghosts of her victims:

On the literal level, this is also a straightforward act of revenge against Vriska: Vriska is tormented by the various trolls she has killed, subjecting her to a truly ironic and karmic comeuppance (and subjecting her in equal measure to a vicious retraumatization as a fellow victim of spidermom).

But Aradia’s revenge also has a unique meaning with relation to the fairy symbolism that surrounds these characters; Aradia is forcefully reminding Vriska that she’s not the Tinkerbell to Tavros’ Pupa Pan; in fact, she’s his Captain Hook.

Aradia confronts Vriska with the apparent bleak reality of her situation: that she’s a murderer and a pirate, a not a lost boy or fairy-child. It’s only natural that she destroyed Tavros instead of straightforwardly acting as his fairy guide, because she was never actually his fairy.

It’s hard to understate how emotionally devastating this is in a queer reading -- Aradia has contextualized Vriska solely as a child predator instead of the queer child that she is, and she has symbolically misgendered Vriska by stripping her of her fairy narratives. Vriska can cling to her pirate narratives, as she does quite a lot of going forward, but she still circles her fairy fantasies with Tavros, as she does when she meets Tavros in the game:

Vriska senselessly acts her fairy fantasies out no matter how impossible it seems for her to fulfill them, and no matter how unfulfilling they’ll be as a consequence.

She tries to unite Tavros with his shadow, (her perception of) his repressed true self, but she’s basically using him as a doll, and she knows it. It’s aggressive and masturbatory, and that’s exactly what she hates about her affection, at least on some level. She’s a trans girl who has been confronted with the reality that she’s being a creepy fucking chaser and acting like a stereotypical straight guy.

This desolation, the psychic amputation of Vriska’s fairy fantasies, is what Aradia has really done to Vriska. Aradia has denied Vriska’s right to be a queer figure in Tavros’ life, let alone anyone’s life, and she has reminded Vriska of just how shitty a queer role model she would be -- Aradia has told Vriska that she’s actually just a predator, just like her spider lusus, and she has psychologically and symbolically amputated Vriska of her claims to queerness.

This is something that Vriska really can’t forgive.

Vriska’s act of revenge against Aradia is -- yet again -- straighforward enough on the literal level. Encouraged by Doc Scratch -- as a man who gives voice to Vriska’s worst desires, or as a predator who manipulates her -- she takes a sliver of control of Sollux and pushes him to inebriate himself, before having him kill Aradia.

However, this is contextualized not only as violence within a relationship...

...but also as violence through Gemini.

Aradia has been assaulted by her partner, as contrived by Vriska, and she has also been assaulted by the duality of Gemini, which stands for the duality of like mirror images before it stands for the duality of opposites; it is the male twins in conjunction with one another, not the reconciliation of opposed principles in unity, as within the divine androgyne.

More explicitly stated, Aradia has been murdered or otherwise brutalized by Sollux, who serves as the lingering specter of intimate partner violence against fairies (i.e. trans femmes) and misogynistic masc4masc bullshit in general.

And having been so brutalized, Aradia is reduced to a shell of herself; in her vulnerability, she is first co-opted by the reproductive futurism of SBURB and then preyed upon by Equius.

The deeply autoerotic quality of Equius’ fixations -- as a man who dominates but wants to be dominated; as a man attracted to a robotic body who only finds fulfillment as an AI; as a man who tries to make the target of his affections akin to his corporeal blueblooded self, before finding fulfillment as a red sprite like her -- reveals the fundamental likeness between him and Aradia, as the target of his fixations, or at least, it suggests that he sees some kind of likeness between him and her, on some level.

The transmisogynistic images that inform Equius’ mythology -- the cybernetic male-mother, the hulking brute, the autoerotic autocastrator, etc -- also thus reinforce the notion that Aradia is subject to transmisogyny as a fairy, and Equius’ literal construction of her body for his pleasure positions him as one who abuses and exploits the transgender body, holding it to the constructed mold that pleases him.

Having destroyed Aradia even more thoroughly than Tavros, the revenge cycle turns yet again against Vriska, and Terezi punishes Vriska by proxy... by telling Doc Scratch, abuser of women and children, that Vriska is in the possession of his cue ball.

Doc Scratch detonates his cue ball, but in doing so he quite deliberately ends Vriska’s prospects as a fairy, rather than simply killing her. He continues Vriska’s amputation by literally taking her eye and arm, scarring her body and reifying her life story as the Captain Hook to Tavros’ Pupa Pan. He deliberately posits her as the symbolic antithesis to the fairy, he does so through the permanent destruction of her body so as to tell her that she will always be that antithesis, and he constructs her body so as to keep her from fulfilling the fairy ideal.

That Vriska is still able to recuperate her identity and make something truly fantastic of herself as a punk pirate is incidental to the reality of her pain at Doc Scratch’s hands. That Vriska crafts her pirate persona in the splitting image of Mindfang in particular, who is herself Aranea the fairy, reveals the bleak reality that Vriska is, in fact, still approaching the fairy archetype on some level, as closely as she realistically can, in spite of being shunted into another role. Vriska is far from femme, and she’s hardly heterosexual, but she’s still a fairy girl (i.e. a trans woman) on the symbolic level.

Most of all, Vriska serves as one of many middlemen in the equation, but both Aradia and Vriska are subject to bodily destruction at Doc Scratch’s abusive will, and both of them have their bodies reconstructed through cybernetics by Equius, leaving them open to his abuse, before ultimately finding bodily integrity and greater wholeness as god tier fairies.

(Speaking of which, remember when Tavros wasn’t able to bring himself to kill Vriska in order to god tier her?

This isn’t just Tavros’ failure to give Vriska a divine power-up, and it’s not just his refusal to reciprocate some kind of black romance fling with Vriska, sexual or otherwise -- it constitutes his ultimate failure or refusal to validate Vriska as a fairy! No wonder she’s so butthurt.)

To sum it all up, the beta cycle of revenge is almost entirely about maladjusted fairies -- maladjusted trans femmes and AMAB queers -- acting out and abusing each other in a conflict that spills over to hurt others, all under the direction and oversight of Doc Scratch’s predatory inclinations. Terezi might really be in it for something like justice, to avenge her friend, but Vriska, Aradia, and Tavros are also entangled in something even more intimate, violent, and personal.

TL;DR: trolls are gay, trans Vriska needs therapy

#homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #effortpost #vriska #aradia #trans vriska #trans aradia #vriskourse #cw slurs #I guess

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constantlyirksome · 5 years

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With Lucifer’s Fourth Season, The Devils in the Lack of Detail, (Spoiler Review.)

As a diehard DeckerStar fan, the end of Lucifer season three was as devastating to me as anybody, and the thought of never knowing if Chloe would ever accept Lucifer with his devil face hounded me. Did she run away in fear? Did she go in for a make-out on his crispy face? When the news hit that Lucifer was coming to Netflix I like all the other fans let out a sigh of relief. After episode one, I immediately take that relieved sigh back!

Spoil

The opening, Lucifer doing Radiohead’s Creep, alone in his nightclub every night for months, getting more and more disheveled with time was a brilliant way to lay out Lucifers angst on the table, along with some context on how long Chloe fled the country from, which is what she did. Now as an avid fan and a shipper this might seem like madness, but Linda went practically catatonic when she saw the Devil Face, Chloe earned some thinking time, she had the devils tongue in her mouth that’s cause for retrospection. We got no solid relief the whole episode as she avoided Luci’s prodding gaze and questions, insisting she was fine. But she wasn’t, and the end of episode’s twist, that she was plotting Lucifer’s descent back to hell with a priest hit like a semi-trailer to the stomach.

How dare she! I cried, but again, context is important, she had just figured out she knew the devil, she has a kid she needs to protect but it was still a dick move. After this, however not a lot interesting happens for a while. Now arguably on a streaming platform where people are likely to devour the whole season in a weekend, which I did, so not every episode needs a huge climax like a regular weekly serial. However, the points between this betrayal, Lucifer finding out and swiftly dealing with the problem, and the arrival of Eve are muddied. The murder of the week format has lost some of its charms, even with zany crimes and scenes, like the set of a survivor type reality show, do little to jazz up some very uninteresting murders. I found throughout the ten episodes I was able to follow and enjoy maybe three of the cases, the other’s were either convoluted or very dull. The nudist colony murder was a very good opportunity to get a close look on the peach fuzz on Tom Eliss’ butt. The cases that bring Lucifer’s fall (second fall) from grace, where he begins to punish and beat the murderers he catches for a while serve only as plot devices and little else.

So ultimately there was very little connecting the major plot points, the priest goes to jail randomly, Eve shows up with little investigation into how she escaped heaven, Lucifer is into two women, then the priest shows back up but he’s a demon now.

Now a lot of these individual pieces of narrative worked on their own. Lucifer’s obsession with self hatred and punishment, visually represented by his ever-changing devil form, was thematically sound, torn between the man he was in the garden of Eden, to who he is now solving crimes.

All of this comes to a head when he comes to the cheery realization, “I hate myself!” He’s skirted around his self-hatred, his guilt and resentment as his identity is wrapped up in everyone else’s sins, with Linda in therapy and it’s an incredibly interesting plot line to tug at, that Tom Ellis has risen to really well. What could be considered over the top at the shows conception now works in his favor.

The two women in his life, Chloe and Eve, basically revolve around him and do little else which is a shame, because they are both incredible women. Chloe’s character has been built up in the past, a strong intelligent single mother with some compelling backstory. She prided herself on her ability to rationalize, to do the right thing, but her story is so woven into Lucifer’s now that their romantic intentions are clearer now. She spends a lot of time being a badass, solving crime but she also spends a lot of time crying about Lucifer, the literal devil.

Eve is similarly linked to Luci in totally different ways. She is a thrilling character, imbued with the personality and backstory of the first sinner, but also the first human woman, filled with compassion, spirit, and curiosity. Actress Inbar Lavi brings so much zeal and childlike innocence it’s impossible not to love her. She does bring out the worst in Lucifer, loving him as the tempter from the garden, strong and unyielding in his punishment of evil. So despite her bubbly innocence her biggest character developments either revolve around pleasing and keeping Lucifer in her life, or trying to rebel against her husband, Adam. I truly hope, if there is a season five, she comes back; maybe we can get some more backstory or footage from Eden.

All the other supporting players actually had a lot to do, and a lot of growing to do as well. Barring Dan. I don’t remember fully why he is so salty, it’s linked to Charlotte’s death in season three, but he does nothing but mope. Ella, also affected heavily by Charlotte’s passing, questions her faith, but there is no evidence of that journey, no real work is done before she moves back to her faith, apart from a totally random, gratuitous tonsil hockey session with Dan. Seriously where did that come from, and why the creators thought it was necessary.

Linda, Mazikeen and Amenadiel had the most complete, satisfying arcs throughout the season’s length. Linda becomes pregnant with Amenadiel’s baby, which is a fascinating turn of events. What will the baby be like? Would it have wings, or be celestial, or have laser vision. It also begs the question, if Amenadiel could impregnate a woman on his first try, how is there not a little baby Lucifer anti-Christ running around? Their struggle in coming to grips with what it will mean to be parents. Amenadiel's newfound love and respect for humanity has him excited to raise a baby away from heaven. Leading to one of the most impressive pieces of plot, when he tries out being a father figure to a young black man who’s had a rough relationship with the law. He learns both how hard it is being there for a son, but also about real-world politics, in this case police brutality against black people in America. It was a surprisingly insightful moment for a typically camp show. Would it be better to raise their son, Charlie, on earth, or in the silver city?

Side note, Lucifer and Amenadiel's sister coming down to steal the baby when the plan was to raise him on Earth, only to give up after moderate resistance, was another wasted opportunity, though it did plant the seed in Amenadiel's head to take the baby.

Mazikeen slowly becomes more human this season (ironic considering her initial stance on Lucifer hanging out with Chloe), through her friendship with Linda (the best relationship/dynamic on the show next to Maze/Trixie) and her job as a bounty hunter. With Lucifer Linda and Trixie, she built a sort of pseudo-family, but she still lacked a romantic connection, which has her unfulfilled apparently. I didn’t like this either. Her last minute fling with Eve wasn’t thought out, and it was just a ploy by Eve to win back a man who didn’t care so it sort of felt like a big screw you to Maze, who like a lot of the others had little else to do this year.

Although Lucifer’s character arc was tight, was a step towards real growth, and a realistic way to delay gratification for his and Chloe’s relationship it came at the expense of any larger story arc or side plots for some of the other characters who deserved a little more after coming back from cancelation. The end shots, Lucifer sitting on a madly impractical throne does lead to the exciting possibility of exploring more of hell, and baby Charlie brings with him the opportunity to explore the silver city. However, after being canceled once already having as big a cliffhanger as last season seems risky, and if the show doesn’t get a season five fans might go mad thinking about it, even if the fourth season was a little messy.

#reviews #lucifer #lucifer morningstar #chloe decker #mazikeen #linda martin #amenadiel #season 4

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crazypercheron · 5 years

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The Haunted Manse

The Haunted Manse Part 1: The Ordinary Home

Chapter 3

Of course, to Wren's luck, she was unable to test her theory that a murderous captain pirate was haunting Floral Estates. Instead, as soon as she had arrived, Dale informed her of the new plan to assign her to watching the parking lot. He let it slip that it was really more of like Jeff telling Dale to 'let the newbie work the new job' or something along that vein. Either way, she sat in her van, her arms crossed as she sulked. Right outside her windshield, she watched the small crowd, mainly park employees and their invited friends, start to gather for the ghost tour.

"You know what, fine," she started after a long moment of silence. Foxy, who sat hunched over in the back, turned to look at her. "Let Jeff get chased by the bloody ghost. I don't care. In fact, it would serve him right for mocking me like he did yesterday."

Suddenly, she heard a tap on her window. Wern turned to look, expecting to see Dale's broomstick mustache and aviator glasses. Instead she was met with an angry, skeletal-like visage, startling Wren so bad, she jumped in her seat. "Holy shh-! You!" she took a pause to roll the window down and continued, "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking the same. Pardon me, but pray tell, what is the meaning of-of this?" Eugene gestured to the people. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No sir, it's a ghost tour," Wren replied, raising an eyebrow, "Perhaps you're familiar with them?”

The butler looked slightly appalled. "Here? In a cemetery? Pardon me for speaking out of turn, but that seems to be quite sacrilegious to the souls resting here."

"Ah-ha! so you do admit that there's ghosts haunting here?" Wren cheekily countered, leaning out of the van window to swoop her fist up. The man huffed and pulled down his newsboy hat down to shadow his eyes.

"I've already told you, young miss, that there is no such thing as ghosts. I see this as unnecessary disrespect for the families that do not wish to see their loved ones used as a cheap . . . tour spectacle."

Wren nodded nonchalantly as she propped her cheek up with her hand. "Uh-huh. . . Then you're going to tell me that pirates looking for treasure at your mansion don't exist either, aren't you?" There was an uncomfortably long silence from the butler. "H-hey now, I'm just joking, man-" she lied, trying to change the subject. "Look, I'm just here to watch these cars and make sure everyone behaves while they are on the tour. If you want to issue a complaint, you're going to have to do that when the office opens tomorrow."

"It's Davis, young miss. Not 'man', not 'dude', and most certainly not 'bro'," he enunciated. "In any case, we both are aware that this company is selfish so it does not matter what words I give to them. They will continue this blasphemy until it no longer becomes popular."

"Which may be like a year or so. I wouldn't worry too much, Mr Davis," Wren tried to assure him.

He could only frown in return. "I . . . do hope you are correct. . . I know I've been inconveniencing you, so I want to thank you for taking the time to listen and answer my questions."

"Not a problem, sir." Glancing at the crowd, the security guard suggested, "If you're not too busy, maybe you could join in and see what nonsense stories they tell about Canson Cemetery?"

"I'm afraid it is not possible, after all I still have that sudden increase in trespassers going onto the lawn to try to record our home for their . . . 'ViewUs' videos."

"Uh. . . . it's actually 'UView'," she corrected.

Davis didn't look amused. "Whatever it is," he hissed through his teeth, his annoyance though more directed at the concept of UView than Wren, "It's becoming a thorn to our side. . . Young miss-" he leaned a little closer to her, taking a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the other guests were not trying to come over to eavesdrop on what he had to say," -I implore you. Stay away from the mansion. I don't know what you are trying to accomplish in doing so, but the mansion is no place for a young woman like you to be getting into. You look like a respectable lady and I would . . . hate if something ill befell on you."

Before Wren could speak, the butler quickly turned away from the van, grabbing the loose end of his fluttering scarf and tossed it over his shoulder. "Have a good evening, young miss." And he walked out of view into the darkening street.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asides the random visit by that butler, the rest of the night remained uneventful. Wren made sure to open and then close the gate once the tour was over and the visitors left. Dale drove by to check on her and before she knew it, it was starting to become dawn. However, the words that the butler told her still plagued her mind.

What did he mean by 'something ill would befell on her'? Was he actually making a threat that he himself would try to hurt her if she dared learn too much? That couldn't be, Dale even said that although he does chase the unruly boys out of the mansion's lawn with a shovel, Mr. Davis hadn't quite made the news yet with actually assaulting anybody. Unless, if the pirate story is true, then maybe he meant it as a genuine warning to stay away from the danger?

After that close encounter with the literal killer robots at the pizzeria, she could see why he would be concern. Foxy had barely helped her and Mike escape by fighting off the animatronics at the cost of his old body being torn apart. Nobody believed in the killer animatronics, why would they believe in a killer pirate ghost?

The security guard yawned loudly as she got out of the van and stretched. "Well, Foxy-Loxy," she yawned, "I don't know about you, but I think we're getting too awfully close to figuring out this nonsense to the mansion. Not that you care about it, of course."

The pirate fox looked over tilting his head to the side as if he wasn't so sure how to answer that question. Truthfully, he too was curious about why that butler was extremely overprotective of that manor, but at the same time he had a bad feeling radiating in his soul that perhaps they should give up the obsession with the strange house.

"I mean, we are going to be working here for a while, so I don't think it's too bad of an idea to know what exactly it is we are dealing with. Especially if a ghost from there decides to suddenly show up in the parking lot," she tried to reasoned while assisting Foxy out of the van and into her car. "I mean, Hell, if we could be friends with the ghost, that would be even better."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock!

She wasn't sure how long she was asleep for, but it mustn't have been for that long because the morning sunlight still shone through the slits of her curtains. Wren groaned and rolled over as she heard Foxy knocking loudly on her nightstand for her to wake up. "Foxy, let me sleep 10 more minutes," she mumbled, "I didn't even sleep that well yesterday." Foxy huffed as his brows furrowed. He knocked even louder on the wooden nightstand, making sure his steel knuckles contacted the table.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Foxy, I showed you how to open the door for Skye, now get lost!"

The animatronic frowned severely, pulling his ears down and his tail flopped on the floor as he thought for a moment. He stalked over to the window curtains and hooked one side of the blinds. He then closed his eye and almost violently ripped the plastic curtains to the side, allowing an ungodly amount of bright sunlight into the room. It practically drowned Wren in a torrent of light as she flinched.

"Foxy!" she groaned, grabbing a pillow and pulling it over her face in an attempt to shield her eyes from the sunlight. Foxy facepalmed seeing that his second attempt at getting her out of bed failed. Finally he turned away and retreated back into the living room. Hearing his servos fade down the hallway, Wren eased her tensed body, believing that he gave up the battle to wake her up.

Yet, just as she was about to fall back to sleep, the sound of her TV in the living room dramatically increased in volume.

The stupid fox had found the remote again.

"Danggit, Foxy!" Wren yelled. She yanked the pillow off of her eyes and hurled it on the ground, squinting in the bright light as she reached over to get her eyeglasses from the nightstand. Wren continued yelling over the volume while rolling out of her bed, "I'm trying to get some sleep! Stupid fox!"

First she made her way to the window and then snapped the curtains back over the glass before she stomped her way over to the bedroom door. Just as she grabbed hold of the door, the voice originating from the TV caught her attention. Wren stopped and continued to listening to the woman's voice on the TV.

"If you're just tuning in, we are here live on scene at Newport Beach Harbor. Earlier this morning that crane you see had snapped in half and dumped its cargo onto the road. I've been told that they were moving these beams for the construction of the upcoming Maritime and Space Museum-" Wren was now in the living room, staring at the TV along with Foxy.

The reporter continued, "-Luckily, no one was hurt by the falling debris, but as you can see behind me, the roads are closed off as crews try to move the several tons of metal off the road that leads towards the harbor. City officials say it will remain close for several hours so the street can be inspected for any structural and integral damages. Also closed is the Newport Beach Historical Cemetery. Unfortunately, some graves have been damaged by the falling steel beams."

The live shot then switched over to some "B roll" footage that the cameraman took earlier. It showed a very old and decrepit graveyard that sat on a small plot of land, no bigger than a city block. Headstones, crypts, and stone crosses were tightly intertwined between each other. The delicate yet rusting fence that surrounded the graveyard was horribly folded underneath a steel beam, unable to handle that much weight. Also laid strewn in the path of destruction was several huge chunks of weathered stone, some even laid to rest beyond the lines of yellow "caution" tape that the city workers wrapped around the cemetery.

Wren gasped loudly as the next footage lingered on one badly damaged crypt. Although the carved name was barely legible and cracked in half, Wren recognized the name on it; Bartholomew Bloodmere.

"Once the debris has been cleared, the Historical Monument Committee will look into if it will be possible to restore these historical headstones of notable sailors and pirates that have been laid to rest here. If not, they will be looking to replace the headstones with new ones and display the broken ones inside the museum-"

The animatronic finally aimed the TV remote at the television and lowered the volume back down to a respectable hearing level as the reporter had begun to wrap up the end of her story. He gazed up at Wren who was still standing beside him and staring at the TV in thought. "I'm telling you Foxy, I'm a damn jinx. This is all too much to be a coincidence to happen," she mumbled, "And on top of that, it's another pirate! No offense, Foxy."

Foxy lifted his hand up to convey that he found no 'offense' to her statement.

"But now I'm convinced that this Captain Bloodmere dude has something to do with the sudden activities at the Cemetery. . ." She thought for a moment, rubbing her chin before she looked up at Foxy. "Wait, Eugene. . . Foxy, do you think he knows?"

The red fox animatronic rolled his eyes as he let out a huff. He then slouched his shoulders heavily as he stared at Wren with a look of annoyance, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't give me that look, I was only wondering! But yeah, you're right, maybe he does know, but I don't think that it hurts to ask him anyways." She took the remote controller from the surprised Foxy's hand and turned the TV off, power walking away to get changed into her work clothes. "But we got work today Foxy, so I can stop by on the way to ask him."

Nearby in the corner of the living room, a large doberman pinscher slept despite the obscenely loud volume from the TV. She was lying on her back, contorted like a pretzel and her tongue sticking slightly out from her open jaw. And she probably would have continued to sleep had she not heard Wren starting to unlock the front door. Her ear twitched and then Skye woke up, spotting her owner and Foxy trying to leave the home.

Then in a flash, the dobbie bounded up to Wren, nearly making her escape into the yard when the security opened the front gate. Yet she was faster and slammed the gate shut before Skye had the chance to run out. "No, Skye! Sit! Sit! Stay, dammit!" she commanded, trying to nudge the dog away from the door with her leg. However, the doberman pinscher firmly planted herself right by the doorframe. Skye just stared up at Wren's face with a wide grin.

Checking the time on her watch, the security guard threw her hands up in defeat and went to fetch the dog's harness and leash. As much as Wren wasn't looking forward to bringing her energetic dobbie for the ride, she had to admit, it was probably a good idea to bring at least someone along to speak to the butler. That house honestly still gives her the chills.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Driving down Esplanade Road, Wren pulled her car over to the shoulder of the road right where Dale had parked his truck at the day before. "Foxy, you wait here," she told the animatronic crammed in the back of her car. Honestly, while the car is a perfect size for Wren and Skye, it was a mere clown car to Foxy. She should honestly invest in getting a van, but right now, he didn't look too bothered by the tight space. If anything, the pirate fox gave her a pout upon being ordered what to do.

True, it's broad daylight and he despised being exposed to such bright lights, yet at the same time, he wasn't so sure if he should allow Wren to go by herself. OK-well, she had Skye, but she was a dog, so...

Getting out of the car, Wren made her way to the passenger side and allowed Skye to hop out of the car. Wren kept a firm grip on the dog's leash as Skye tugged on it to sniff the ground. If something vile was going on at the Mansion, Skye should have been freaking out by now, Wren observed as they both drew near the entrance.

Wren frowned as she noticed that the butler was not there hiding in the shadow of the gate. However, she still cautiously approached the fence more, craning her head to see if she could view the manse now that the Sun was out and there was no ominous servant guarding the gate. On impulse, she reached out her hand towards one of the slightly corroding bars.

"I thought I told you to not come back here."

She jumped, yanking her hand back and glanced over to the left this time. There was Eugene, scowling at her from the otherside of the fence. Immediately, Wren noticed that he was holding something in his gloved hands; in one hand, he held a pair of gardening shears and in the other -and much to Wren's surprise- a beautiful rose in full bloom. The deep rouge petals strangely complimented the forest green suit he wore.

Wren quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, sir. I was just trying to look for you."

"Strange, I thought you were a security guard, not a telegram messenger," Eugene replied, still looking down at her.

Wren squited back at him. "Hey, easy now Mr. Davis, I'm still a security guard! I came here to tell you something-" Suddenly, upon realization of what she was saying, Wren paused. Well, shit she did became a messenger girl. She swore she saw the corner of Eugene's frown curl up slightly in a smirk.

"Go on, you can tell me what it was you were going to say, young miss. Are you here to inform me that Floral Estates finally cancelled that late night rendezvous?"

"No," she bitterly replied, " I'm here to tell you that something had happened at Newport Beach Harbor. This large crane that I guess was carrying steel beams for that museum broke right over a cemetery. I think you can guess where the debris landed." Normally, Wren would have been satisfied with delivering bad news just for the reaction on people's faces', but the look on Eugene's made her wonder if she is now starting to meddle too far into this mystery.

He tried to keep a straight face of indifference on, but he couldn't help but frown and look off to the side in thought. He said softly, "So they foolishly went on to start their project. . . I advised against it, but it should have been expected. . ." After a moment, his focus turned back to Wren. "Young miss, why are you still looking into the house? I have kindly asked you to not inquire further about it."

"Look, now I'mma going to be straight with you; I drove by the house originally as a joke because I just barely got assigned to work at Floral Estates. You know, to help keep trespassers out?" She started to get animated, swinging her arms in emphasis. "It's not even been a week and ever since I almost crashed here, which I don't know how you saw that unless the old man told you otherwise-"

"Crump," he suddenly spoke up, "His name is Mr Crump."

The woman sighed loudly at being interrupted, but continued on. "Yeah, him. Anyways, I'm trying to work a normal job and it's really hard you know to do so when you have a ghost turning off the lights and basically mocking you from afar. And all of your coworkers look at you like you're going insane because clearly none of this stuff has happened to them! So I'm trying really hard to figure out if I had done something wrong to mess with a spirit and most of my pitiful research has pointed me to this house right there!" She stuck out an accusatory hand at the mansion sitting atop the hill.

After a slight pause, Eugene simply replied, "Have you considered pursuing other career options?"

"Mr Davis!" she cried in exasperation, unable to believe what he said, "I'm being serious here!"

"And so am I. Perhaps a career in fictional writing or acting would be a start," he countered.

"There's something in there, Mr. Davis! And I have a good feeling you're hiding something since you have not allowed anyone or anything for that matter on the property!"

"I believe it's called 'Trespassing on private property', or as the misfits call it, 'mind your business', young lady,” he sharply retorted. Eugene slightly leaned back as he continued, “Now, suppose I do allow access, do you truly believe that entering the house would solve your problems, young miss?" challenged the butler.

She furrowed her brows, "I-I don't know, would it?"

"No, it would not." he answered, glancing at the dog at Wren's side, then back up again at Wren. "If you really believe that something lurks inside the house, which I assure you there's not, then I believe it is more sensible to not enter the premises and attract more unwanted attention. Young miss, if I were you, I would leave this place and go elsewhere."

For a while, Wren stared at the butler, as if leering at him would make him change his mind. "That's fine," she finally huffed, "After all, I just came here battling through that stupid traffic because I was concern. But I see that you can handle yourself just fine against. . ." she rolled her wrist at the house, "-Whatever it is you got in there. I'll be next door obviously if you change your mind, sir."

"Hopefully that won't be the case."

"You never know, come on Skye, let's get you to the dog park." Hesitantly, the doberman wanted to get closer to the gate to sniff Eugene, but after getting her harness tugged again, Skye followed behind Wren. The security guarded was fuming so deep in thought, she failed to notice the ears on Skye perk up as the dog looked up at one of the branches that hung over the brick and iron fence from the property.

A raven with beady red eyes watched them back.

Skye quickly picked up the pace after Wren and obediently jumped into the car. Waiting until the heavily tinted car fully pulled away and onto the street, Eugene didn't even bothered to look up at the raven he knew was perched in the tree. "It was you who was messing with that poor girl, wasn't it?"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," the raven cooly replied, also watching the silver car leave.

"I've seen you leave the manor a few times before, sir. Do not think that I didn't know that it was you."

"I got bored."

"That's a bit ineloquent of you, you're supposed to be here hosting our guests, not. . . Scaring the wits out of some poor girl like a common specter," Eugene argued. "Besides, if it is true what she said-"

"Which it unfortunately is."

"-Fine, if that . . . Pirate finds out what he's capable of, I don't want her to get involved. She's a simple mortal, what could she know about the manor?"

The air around the raven gave off the impression that he was grinning mischievously. "You're right. But Eugene, be honest, do you not feel. . . A draw towards her? Like a radiating vibration?"

"I'm not interested sir, besides, my loyalty lies with the manor."

The raven laughed. "Oh no-no-no, Eugene, not like that. What I meant was, there's a peculiar air around Miss Songbird, almost like she has seen a ghost before as well."

The butler stayed silent for a while longer with a troubled frown on his face. "It's foolish to get her involved. Don't do anything rash."

"I won't."

Eugene could hear the insincerity tone in the corvid's voice and he scowled. "I mean it, you may be the majordomo of the home, but I have the final say on the mortals."

Unfazed by his threat, the raven merely chuckled as he flew off his perch.

#The Haunted Manse #Jen's Fanfiction #HM FanFiction #Part 1

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lethesomething · 6 years

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The definitely not definitive otome guide

I sincerely doubt the world needs this, but that sort of thing has never stopped me before. Have an extremely biased guide of several dating sim games, organised by some arbitrary metrics.

Word of warning: this will be long (4k words), because I've played an embarrassingly large amount of otomes.

As a disclaimer: obviously this is a personal opinion. If you (as a lot of people do) enjoy the more forceful bad boy type in your dating sim, I’m not going to judge you. I, however, don’t, so this list is very specifically going to call out games for how they treat the protag.

Featured here: Amnesia: Memories, Blood in Roses, Cutie Demon Crashers, Destined to Love, Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend, Hustle Cat, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Sengoku, Lost Alice, Midnight Cinderella, Monster Prom, Mystic Messenger

A note on play styles.

These games come in a few flavours, which is important to know if you're gonna try them.

The vast majority of the mobile games here follow a basic visual novel structure. You pick a guy and read through the different chapters, and depending on your answers you'll be leaning toward one of two or three endngs. Since these are free to play mobiles, there's a bunch of challenges you will need to log in daily to pass.

Mystic Messenger is the main outlier, since it's a chat simulator that plays in real time.

The pc games tend to be more complex, with interlocking routes and more endings, generally. You'll need a number of skill points to meet character A for instance, or you'll need to do a series of actions to reach ending B.

Great games

Ikemen Sengoku

Hands down one of the best mobile otomes out there right now. I found this when searching for pics of Masamune Date (from a different game) and I've sort of been obsessed with otomes since.

Platform: Android (free to play, pay for premiums) Story: MC gets sucked into a wormhole and finds herself 500 years back in time, in Sengoku era Japan. She drops in on the exact moment where Nobunaga Oda, the Demon King, would be assassinated at Honno-ji. She stops the murder, disrupts the timeline and now there's a bunch of hot warlords vying for her attention. Protagonist’s spine: Reinforced steel. This is one of my favourite protags, because she is Super Sassy and doesn't take shit, unless she's literally being threatened with a sword. The protags where I feel like I understand their actions are few and far between, but this is one of them. Except when she goes far beyond mere bravery to get her man, and decides to forgo tampons and, like, wifi, to live 500 years in the god damn past. Squick factor: Low. This game is made by Cybird, a company that appears very big on consent. The guys generally treat MC with respect, probably more than could be reasonably asked of a Sengoku warlord. The only worrying stuff happens in the Obvious Yandere route, but you kinda know what you're getting yourself into with that one.

The Good: I friggin love the writing for this game. The guys feel like real characters, there's a ton of interaction between them and I need to give this game extra points for the story events, which are almost invariably gold. This is where the makers stop giving a shit about realism and just go for what they want to write. There's ones where all the guys are suddenly idols, there's a Christmas episode, there's one where they battle through cooking and cleaning. It doesn't take itself serious, is what i mean, and it's Hilarious. The Bad: This is one where the in-game art (aside from the CG's) is actually not that great. Hideyoshi's smile is kinda weird looking and the models feel a little outdated at this point. Best Warlord: This is very difficult, because a lot of them are dreamy, but let's just say that I need a Mitsuhide route so very badly.

Ikemen Revolution

The newest Cybird game and my current fave.

Story: MC falls down the rabbit hole when she tries to give a rushed White Rabbit man something he dropped. She ends up in Cradle/Wonderland, where war is about to break out between the Red and Black army, the Hearts and the Spades. Everyone is hot dudes and MC is considered Alice the Second (after the one from Through the Looking Glass). Squick factor: Low. Again: Cybird game. This means there is steamy situations and sex scenes, but they're blatantly consensual. The routes I've played so far keep well within the bounds of what I would consider romantic. Protagonist’s spine: Varnished wood. In general MC is self-propelling with occasional bouts of bravery. You can tell why she's doing the things she's doing and how she reacts to situations feels sort of logical. She's hard-working and caring and a little naïve, but the fact that she's canonically a woman from early 19th Century London does put a lot of her actions in perspective (like the amount of bullshit she puts up with).

The Good: The writing is fun. There's a good mix of angst and just… general comedy. The characters interact with each other a lot, and it feels like they're a big loud family, especially in the Black Army, which is more like a frat than anything else. The art is also decent. The backgrounds are utterly gorgeous and most of the guys are very good looking. When I first started the game I was weirded out by the blinking animation, but I have since gotten used to that. The Bad: I found some of the plot rushed. Like you spend so long slow burn growing toward each other, and then suddenly stuff has to happen action movie style because we're running out of chapters. The final chapters of Fenrir's route were just plain dumb. Like could that BE more of an obvious trap. Come on MC, I expected better of you. Also, since this is a very new game, not that many routes are out (four at the time of writing). Best boy: Hooo man. Of the routes that are out, Ray is very… oooof. But my fave chars are probably 'so done' Sirius (the fact that he's voiced by Suwabe has nothing to do with this, surely) and 'also quite done' Kyle, who is both a doctor and an alcoholic wreck of a human being.

Mystic Messenger

You know Mystic Messenger, it's like one of the biggest otome's of the past few years.

Platform: Android, iOS (free to play, pay for extra saves and stuff) The Story: MC follows a text message to a weirdly high tech apartment and this somehow puts her in the position of party planner for a secretive group of weird people. It only gets more complicated from there. The game plays out in real time, via chat conversations and the occasional story segment. Squick factor: Um. I personally wasn't weirded out, but I also decided very specifically not to play Jumin's route. This girl did her research. The routes in Another Story are also very over the top and would probably bug me. While I love the Saeran character, I don't think I'd be able to handle that route. So: highly dependent on chosen route. Protagonist’s spine: Adderall. It takes a specific kind of person to download a chat app and follow the instructions given by a random stranger therein. It takes a much stranger person to sit in an apartment with a bomb and just keep inviting people to a party. MC is on a different level from us mortals.

The Good: I loved the game mechanic, because it felt very real. The player is following a chatroom, just like the character is. Besides that, the story is completely bonkers and I appreciate that. The Bad: Did I mention it plays in real time? Because it plays in real time, meaning you get chat conversations at two in the morning. I was very sleep deprived when I played this. Best boy: 707. Dude is funny and deep and hot and relatable and smart and I want to give him all the hugs.

Dream Daddy

One of the few decidedly mlm games I've played so far. You've probably heard of it since it was the subject of much hype and much controversy. Markiplier played it. Friggin Buzzfeed has video's on it.

Platform: PC and Mac (it's on Steam) The Story: MC is a Dad who moves into a neighbourhood with a lot of other single(-ish) dads. Time to work it. Squick factor: Low. This is primarily a humour game: there's a ton of dad jokes and silly mini games, and a distinct lack of kabe don's. The canon routes are all very thoughtful. Protagonist’s spine: Barbecued sausage. Player Dad just goes for it. He’s flexible and caring enough to handle the more sensitive subjects, and self aware enough to deal with random crime and weird drunks.

The Good: I remember opening this game and, in the character creation screen, telling a trans friend of mine 'omg you can wear binders', and the sheer Glee of his reaction. That's the kinda stuff this game was, partly, made for and it is appreciated. I really liked the tongue-in-cheek writing, most of the jokes landed and the whole thing is just a lot of fun. The Bad: Some of the minigames are annoying. Why the hell are you making me play Bejeweled with fish? I also had a hard time sympathizing with some of the kids. I mean… Lucien straight up tries to murder someone? Ernest is 'rebellious' but he's also an ass. Best dad: Damien has the best route, but have you Seen Mat? Holy moly.

Not worth it games

Amnesia: Memories

This game should come with a friggin warning, so I'm giving it here. Its popularity and star rating is a terrible indicator for how much you may enjoy this game. It presents itself as a cute dating sim with gorgeous art, but it devolves into straight up horror, and not in the good way. This feels like a guidebook written in the 1800's to tell young women their place. Not even mortified intrigue could make me finish this.

Platform: PC (Steam or Google Play) and PlayStation Vita Story: MC wakes up with amnesia. Someone hurt her and she doesn't know who to trust. You'll need to figure out what happened. Squick factor: Super high. Like… so high. Everyone treats MC like shit and she just lets it happen, even developing all kinds of Stockholm Syndrome as she falls in love with these asshats. MC's childhood friend supposedly loves her but is such a tsun and just… doesn't communicate while also treating her like a small child. One of the other characters is so popular he has a fucking harem but MC is just supposed to wait for him to actually fall in love with her. And don't even get me started on that friggin yandere. *shudders* Even the secret route 'true love' character is a million types of wrong. Protagonist’s spine: Undercooked custard. MC has the self preservation skills of a wet sponge and whoever is playing this is supposed to get turned on by high concept ideas of S&M that are just written out so badly everything feels like an abusive relationship.

The Good: *sigh* The art. The art is very pretty (I'm upset at the art since it sucked me into the horror). Also, as a visual novel, this one is complex as all hell. There's a ton of endings (most of them deadly) depending your actions as a player. It's vast, is what I'm saying. Also, I hear the clover route isn't as bad as some of the others, but I was too weirded out to try. The Bad: See rant. This is one of those games that really seems to glorify the whole possessive, abusive boyfriend shtick, but it's ok because he loves you, really. Ugh. Just… ugh. Best boy: Kent? I guess? He doesn't appear to be actively abusing MC at least.

Shall we date: Lost Alice

I wondered if I should include this because I literally played like ten chapters and then deleted it, but that in itself should give some indication.

Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premium purchases) Story: MC wakes up in the forest with amnesia (I see a trend). Turns out she's in Wonderland and everyone thinks she's Alice. Most of Wonderland's characters are, predictably, hot men. Squick factor: Unavailable. I didn't play far enough to see but some of the men are quite pushy and also it's a Shall we date app, so… tread carefully. Protagonist’s spine: Cement. This is an MC that puts up a fight, which I respect. Sadly she does so in that 'needlessly aggressive' way that anime characters sometimes have. I didn't find her particularly sympathetic.

The Good: The art. It's always the art that gets me. The Bad: The UI annoyed the shit out of me. This is a free to play, pay for premiums game, so some level of mindless clicking is expected if you try to play for free. This one had just too much. There was friend greeting and picture rating and princess lessons and got knows what else, all taking a ton of time. Trying to get to the home page popped up at least four different 'now on sale' screens every single time. The writing wasn't good enough for me to deal with that. Best boy: Well there’s a cat. So.

Decent games

Hustle cat

This game is set in a cat café, that was all the encouragement I needed to buy it.

Platform: PC (Steam) Story: MC is invited to take a job at a cat café. Turns out everyone in the café is cursed, and also they're into you. Squick factor: Almost non-existant. This is a very tumblr friendly game in the sense that your love interests are both male and female, and none of them are particularly pushy. The relationships feel pretty natural and mostly consist of MC helping their love interest with some subquest. Protagonist’s spine: Cucumber. MC is actually pretty cool. The game does that 'modern western game' thing where you get to pick a gender and a skin colour for your protag and the general atmosphere is 'tongue in cheek'. MC doesn't let people walk over them, but they're generally helpful.

The Good: CATS. The premise of this game is pretty neat. The Bad: According to Steam I played this five months ago, and I pretty much forgot about it. Fun game but not particularly memorable. Best cat: Landry. Tall, gentle giants are a particular weakness.

Shall we date: Blood in Roses

This is me giving Shall we Date another shot, because the amount of hot mildly medieval boys was intriguing.

Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premiums) Story: There's two, because this app has been around for a while and now has two 'seasons'. The Witch stumbles upon a supposedly abandoned castle and gets imprisoned there by a bunch of vampires. The Hunter, meanwhile, seeks out the castle because she wants to stop an attack on her village. Both come to realize that the castle is now a hotel for monsters, and that its denizens are both not what they imagined, and also hot. Squick factor: Highly dependent on route. The Witch literally starts in a jail cell, so you can imagine the Stockholm Syndrome shit that goes down. Also, this is a personal preference, but I'm really weirded out by a lot of blood play stuff so most of the vampire routes are gonna be… problematic. Shall we Date games don't shy away from sex scenes and I like that, but coupling them with drinking blood 'to get in the mood' is a rather specific niche. The game does offer a number of other options for you to court, from werewolves to wizards and… grim reapers? It's a mixed batch. If you're not into pushed boundaries I can offer one tip: stay away from the vampires. Protagonist’s spine: Sand cookie. She has one, but it's brittle. I've mostly played Hunter routes and it's like… she tries, and she can take care of herself but she also tolerates more bullshit than necessary, ya know.

The Good: The art is good, and some of the storylines are intriguing despite my reservations. I'm still playing it (mostly in a quest to find a good ending where MC doesn't die to become a weird immortal creature). The UI, while annoying, isn't as bad as Lost Alice's, or so it seems. The Bad: The writing is very hit or miss. There's routes where the guy just sort of lowkey stalks MC, until she suddenly decides she's incredibly in love with him. There's others that make even less sense, and then there's ones that feel more natural. In general, MC's actions don't seem to have a lot of thought put into them. Best boy: So far: Gordon. He's cute and sensible and tortured and not incredibly antagonistic.

Midnight Cinderella

You'll notice a friggin ton of Cybird games on here.

Platform: Android (free to play, premium purchases) Story: MC gets, mostly by accident, chosen to be the Princess of Wysteria. As such she must prepare to govern the country when the king dies, and choose a consort from a number of suitors. Squick factor: Low. Not only are these men respectful of her, they're rather literally treating her like royalty. Having said that, there is a lot of the typical hurtful tsun stuff going in several routes. Protagonist’s spine: Lightly done steak. There's something weird going on with the protag in this game. When it comes to governing, she's tough as nails. She's thrown into a situation she wasn't ready for, and while this stresses her out 24/7, she performs admirably. On the other hand, her main reaction to literally anything when it comes to love is 'Oh'. She cries a lot, at times she feels like a wet rag. There's a bunch of situations she could have just solved by going 'Yeah I'm into you'. She's complex, I guess.

The Good: The writing, while melodramatic, is nice. The art is good as well. The Bad: This is an old game and it doesn't perform that well on my current-gen smartphone. Expect to push certain buttons several times before the game realizes what you're trying to do. Also the loading takes ages. Best boy: For me, Sid, because he reminds me of Aomine Daiki and I'm weak for that type of personality. As far as routes go, Leo's probably had the most impact on me.

Destined to Love

I'll be honest, I started this because of an event in Ikemen Sengoku that would give me cross game storage. Don't judge me.

The Story: MC gets flung back in time (this is also a trend, it seems) to the 1800's, a few weeks before the Ikedaya incident will make the Shinsen-gumi a historic Legend. She meets, and chrams, a whole bunch of historical figures. Protagonist’s spine: Cured leather. As a modern woman sent back in time, MC is probably fairly sassy by the standards of the time, but she remains mostly polite. She's tough, considering the circumstances, but quite pliable in that 'we'll see where this goes and make the best of it' way. Squick factor: Low. There's one character that just screams 'red flag' but I have yet to try his route. Since this is a Cybird game, most of the guys are pretty respectful.

The Good: I really like the premise? As the title suggests, MC's love is part of a higher destiny, one that transcends time, and it's one of the reasons she has to go to friggin 1800's Japan. She has a hand in making history. This amuses me. Also, the guys are pretty good looking. The Bad: This is a fairly old mobile game and you can kinda tell. On a technical level it's not as bad as Midnight Cinderella, but again the touch buttons aren't always responsive. Besides that, some of the writing is rather clunkily translated and a bunch of the art is low res. Best Boy: I haven't played all the routes here, but Katsura is a god damn sweetheart, and Kyo and Yamazaki seem adorable AF.

The weird: the special ones

Hatoful Boyfriend

The reason I know otome's exist. This one shot to meme status a few years back.

Platform: PC (it's on Steam) Story: MC is one of the last remaining humans after sentient birds took over the world. She gets enrolled into an elite school for pigeons. Squick factor: Medium to high. The major thing to understand about Hatoful is that on the surface it looks like a particularly silly dating sim with pigeons, but dig deeper and it is Also a full blown apocalyptic horror story. And it follows the genre where a wrong move gets MC horrifically killed. Having said that, several of the routes, including the god damn serial killer one, didn't bother me as much as something like Amnesia, because they were not sold as romantic. Maybe it's the whole pigeon thing, maybe it's the general weirdness of the plot, or maybe it is because said serial killer actually goes 'Surely you knew this would happen', before he guts you. Protagonist’s spine: Gummy bear. MC is highly forgettable, but therefore also like… not annoying. The main focus here is on uncovering the many layered plot and the player character doesn't really have a scripted personality, she just embodies the player's actions.

The Good: This whole game is so out there. There's a reason it became so popular. It's an Experience. The plot is over the top and intricate and Weird, and that makes it intriguing. There's a ton of routes and endings, some more secret than others. The 'human' version of some of these birds is kinda hot (sadly that includes the serial killer). The Bad: the plot is so weird and meandering that it's kinda hard to follow at times. I'm fairly certain it takes several guides to unlock all the endings. Best Birb: It's been a while, but I remember liking Yuuya's route quite a lot.

Monster Prom

The new hype.

Platform: PC (Steam!) Story: MC is a student at Monster High, and is trying to get a date for Monster Prom with one of the hot people. Squick factor: None. I mean, nothing that happens here is in accordance to health and safety norms, but that's kinda the point. It's a parody game, making fun of all the hoops teenagers are willing to jump through to become popular. Protagonist's spine: Coagulated blood. MC is willing to make deals with demons, wear corpses as a hat, anything really. The question is very openly: what could I do to make them like me.

The Good: It's a funny game. I like the characters, who embody everything from the Mean Girl to the Hipster Nerd and the Needlessly Aggressive Jock. The art is simple, cartoon style, but pretty neat. The Bad: Everything is very tongue in cheek, which leaves it a little… light for my tastes. I don't feel like any of the routes matter in the grand scheme of things, MC hasn't truly touched anyone's heart. The whole thing is a joke game, so it's funny, but a bit shallow. Best monster: Polly, the permanently stoned party girl.

Cute Demon Crashers

Technically a sex game? But a really very special one.

Platform: PC (free! Here!) Story: A portal opens in MC's house and four Incubi/Succubi drop through. To apologize for the inconvenience, while they wait for a portal back, they offer to teach MC about sex. Squick factor: I've written about this game before and the best thing, the very best thing about it is how incredibly consent-minded it is. Like, even if you're already in bed, getting it on, there's always an option to turn back and leave it at that. The demons are really just there to help MC find out what gives her pleasure. Protagonist’s spine: Rock. Obviously, MC is mildly upset about four random demons showing up. As mentioned before, what happens next is mostly up to the player.

The Good: It's free and the art is pretty and I love the premise. The Bad: Kinda short, but again: free. Cutest Demon Crasher: *cough* Orias *cough*

#otome game #mystic messenger #ikemen revolution #ikemen sengoku #amnesia memories #and a bunch more #shall we date #lethey writes #long post

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inkyardpress · 6 years

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10 YA Reads That Have Us Loving the Skin We’re In

There are so many diverse and empowering new reads out there totally flooding our TBR that we couldn’t pick just one of our current obsessions to share—so here’s a list of ten we can’t stop talking about. From kick-ass queer anthologies to MC’s who totally get what it’s like living with anxiety, from the body-positive heroes we deserve to the everyday teens showing us how to be true to who we are inside, these books have us feeling ourselves and celebrating our individuality.

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now by Dana L. Davis

For sixteen-year-old Tiffany Sly, life hasn't been safe or normal for a while. Losing her mom to cancer has her a little bit traumatized, and now she has to leave her hometown of Chicago to live with the biological dad she's never known.

Anthony Stone is a rich man with four other daughters—and rules for every second of the day. Tiffany tries to make the best of things, but she doesn't fit into her new luxurious, but super-strict, home—or get along with her standoffish sister London. The only thing that makes her new life even remotely bearable is the strange boy across the street. Marcus McKinney has had his own experiences with death, and the unexpected friendship that blossoms between them is the only thing that makes her feel grounded.

But Tiffany has a secret. Another man claims he's Tiffany's real dad—and she has only seven days before he shows up to demand a paternity test and the truth comes out. With her life about to fall apart all over again, Tiffany finds herself discovering unexpected truths about her father, her mother and herself, and realizing that maybe family is in the bonds you make—and that life means sometimes taking risks.

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Puddin’ by Julie Murphy

Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream of being a newscaster—and to kiss the boy she’s crushing on.

Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend.

When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

Puddin’ is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly DeVos

FAT.

High school senior Cookie Vonn’s postgraduation dreams include getting out of Phoenix, attending Parsons and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert. Thanks to her job at a fashion blog, Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her portfolio and appeal for a scholarship, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. Forced to turn to her BFF for cash, Cookie buys a second seat on the plane. She arrives in the city to find that she’s been replaced by the boss’s daughter, a girl who’s everything she’s not—ultrathin and superrich. Bowing to society’s pressure, she vows to lose weight, get out of the friend zone with her crush and put her life on track.

SKINNY.

Cookie expected sunshine and rainbows, but nothing about her new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.

Will she realize that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?

Fat Girl on a Plane is out June 5th. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.

Undead Girl Gang is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell

Take a journey through time and genres and discover a past where queer figures live, love and shape the world around them. Seventeen of the best young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens.

From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier, to two girls falling in love while mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, forbidden love in a sixteenth-century Spanish convent or an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, All Out tells a diverse range of stories across cultures, time periods and identities, shedding light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.

All Out is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler

When magic returned to the world, it could have saved humanity, but greed and thirst for power caused mankind's downfall instead. Now once-human monsters called Howls prowl abandoned streets, their hunger guided by corrupt necromancers and the all-powerful Kin. Only Hunters have the power to fight back in the unending war, using the same magic that ended civilization in the first place.

But they are losing.

Tenn is a Hunter, resigned to fight even though hope is nearly lost. When he is singled out by a seductive Kin named Tomás and the enigmatic Hunter Jarrett, Tenn realizes he’s become a pawn in a bigger game. One that could turn the tides of war. But if his mutinous magic and wayward heart get in the way, his power might not be used in favor of mankind.

If Tenn fails to play his part, it could cost him his friends, his life…and the entire world.

Runebinder is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings. These are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries.

Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate.

A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

The Diminished by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole…yet some face the world alone.

A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. Though he has been chosen to succeed his great-aunt, Queen Runa, as the leader of the Alskad Empire, Bo has never felt equal to the grand future before him.

When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. Raised by the anchorites of the temple after her family cast her off, Vi has spent her whole life scheming for a way to escape and live out what’s left of her life in peace.

As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.

The Diminished is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

Emergency Contact is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz

Olivia "Liv" Blakely knows how important it is to look good. Her father is running for governor, and Liv will be making public appearances with her family. Liv has an image to uphold—to her maybe boyfriend, to the new friends who suddenly welcome her into their circle and to the public, who love to find fault on social media.

Liv's sunny, charming facade hides a dark inner voice that will settle for nothing less than perfection. No matter who she has to give up to get there. No matter what she has to lose to do it. Liv is working for the day when what she sees in the mirror is worthy…worthy of confidence. Worthy of success. Worthy of love. But as the high price of perfection takes a toll, placing her body and soul at risk, Liv herself has to realize what she has to live for.

Someone to Love is out now. Add it to your Goodreads shelf!

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#YA Books #YA Reads #self esteem #bookworm #Harlequin Teen

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theclaravoyant · 6 years

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Any thoughts on the implications behind AIDA being a female-shaped android who is portrayed as an evil, rapey, unstable person while Enoch, the male-shaped android is portrayed as a "beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world" who sacrifices himself for the team?

Do I have thoughts? Oh, so many thoughts…..

I know this ask is leaning toward gender politics & representation but you know what? I was actually thinking about this while watching the finale and I had to stop and rage for a second because you know what? You know what I can’t help thinking about why this happened?

FITZAND FITZSIMMONS DRAMAAND MAKING FITZ LOOK BAD AND WEAK AND MAKING HIM FUCK UP

and also gender politics bc that shit is inescapable

so SOME THOUGHTS

first of all, pronouns. Enoch insists that they have no gender (*I don’t remember their feelings re: pronouns). Aida couldn’t have done that, because according to the (sarcastic) big book of When It’s Appropriate To Be Nonbinary, you can’t humanise something without pronouns (other than they because that’s obviously not a real pronoun, no The Literal Dictionary, kiss TBBWATBN’s ass) and to do the story they did with her, you have to humanise. If you want to humanise, just make up a gender!

As long as, where a man is creating the inanimate object, that gender is female and if humanoid, the object is attractive or at least has boobs. (see the sarcastic big book of When It’s Appropriate to ID as Female). You can’t have a man obsessively crafting the naked form of another man or masculine shape, especially not an older, not-particularly-sexual one! That would be creepy! Especially if in their introductory scene they were naked, and apparently had anatomically correct genitalia! Gross!

Taking a deep breath and chilling out with the sarcasm now, you also couldn’t pull the sometimes character-threatening hype they did on Fitz. Idk how much the promo team stoked the fire or not, but the fandom was losing their shit with thoughts of “Fitz is going to cheat on Jemma with Aida”, some even advocating for it. (Same with Elena before she came in too). They ended up going for a ‘lol it’s cute that you would think I was cheating’ storyline, which was better, but still would have been ZERO question with Enoch.

Thank fork they didn’t do a full-on Born Sexy Yesterday with Aida. oh my GOD. but still I don’t think they would have got as much of a kick out of Fitz having to hide her with Enoch either. Sure, he was technically hiding her because of protocols, but come on. I’m also really, really annoyed they had Fitz lie to Jemma about this whole thing, it was bullshit for unnecessary drama but I’ll try not to get side tracked.

Would Fitz have been as keen to save Enoch and advocate for him as he was Aida? Possibly. We by and large loved Enoch by the end and Fitz did talk to him like a person and sort of friend, so it’s possible.

Would we have got the “oh no Fitz is in love with it” thing before, during, or after the Framework? Heteronormativity says NO FORKING WAY SON. and in FACT a LARGE part of the Framework story as a whole would fall apart!!!

Why?

Because it wouldn’t be about Jemma anymore.

Through a combination of heteronormativity and amatonormativity I don’t believe Enoch could have taken Jemma’s place in Fitz’s life as Aida could have. Therefore they’d have to restructure the entire Framework and the aftermath from it. How could Enoch have got what he wanted from Fitz? Been his father, threatened him? Been his father, gently coaxed him into an adulthood where he would do something bad? I’m giving myself feels about that one actually oops. Idk. It might not have been that bad. It might have actually been better and less non-conny for Fitz. Maybe they wouldn’t even need the Framework. Or maybe Enoch would be asking for help to make a (female, obviously, bc duh) companion or something and because Fitz believes in love he would do it, or something. It depends what they would have done with the FW if they couldn’t embed Fitz’s romantic relationship with Jemma so deeply into it. But moving on.

When Fitz got out Jemma would probably have looked better actually, because she wouldn’t have gone straight to ‘what if he’s in love with somebody else’. With Aida, we couldn’t trust Fitz’s feelings, he’s a man and will fall in love and/or sleep with anything appropriately female that moves, and that would get in the way of FitzSimmons, which is why we would care about that. We probably wouldn’t get Jemma “standing up for her man” so much as Fitz taking revenge because heaven forbid he show mercy to man that couldn’t make people freak out about him still being in love with her / it. While I want to believe better of the situation, they never did anything with his hesitation other than that, so that’s what I’m stuck with in this train of thought.

MEANWHILE I wonder if they’d ever make an old timeless genderless robot in a woman’s figure, let alone a young-looking, attractive-looking woman like Mallory. I wonder if they’d do it without sex jokes. I WONDER if we would have made it 74 years in cryofreeze with this chick standing guard and no fears of Fitz sleeping with someone else in the intervening years (*laughs forever because we got that anyway even without an attractive mentor-slash-partner-robot on the scene*) or Jemma, not being able to hear and thus fully comprehend a situation, assuming that the robot is Fitz’s new love that he found in the time apart and Angst. Because obviously, no man and woman can hang out for that long and not at the very least Comfort Sex each other. (*eyes a certain other storyline we know*)

I got through all that and I haven’t even TOUCHED the sexualisation of evil, femme fatale seductresses, the allure of “Madam Hydra”, or any of that. Oh, so many thoughts. Thanks for the ask, this was really interesting (and actually, surprisingly fun, if in a slightly bitter way) to reflect upon!

#unlessimwrongwhichyouknowimnot #aos meta #aos wank #aos s5 #aos spoilers #aida #enoch #transphobia #heteronormativity #amatonormativity #the framework #fraida #rape mention #abuse mention #anti-fraida

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dwsecretsanta · 6 years

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Of Stars and Wolves

Alright, so this is for the Doctor Who Secret Santa over on tumblr. @darklordpthalo, this is for you.

I don’t own Doctor Who or anything really. @darklordpthalo wanted a soulmate AU, a shapeshifter AU, or a kiss under the stars so the idea for this fic goes to them. I just ran with it. I hope they enjoy this.

Words: 6,625 Author: @magewriter

Shapeshifters always had soulmates. It was a universal fact. Admittedly, said soulmate was not always a shifter. Non-shifters had soulmates, but theirs were nowhere near as vitally important to their overall wellbeing as it was for shifters. Humans were seemingly perfectly happy to settle, even as obsessed as they were with soulmates. For them, it was only a matter of a completed image on their skin as a ‘soulmate’ for a normal human was not always a romantic mate. A shifter’s soulmate always was. There could be no other for them, not in that way.

That, however, was not a problem Rose Tyler ever thought she would have to worry about. Her entire family, from both parents as far back as anyone could remember, had always been shifters. It wasn’t an uncommon trait. About a third of the world’s population was of some Shapeshifter lineage. Probably more, but who was or wasn’t a shifter was not always apparent and it was considered rude to ask.

She was musing over those thoughts as she watched the man she thought might just be her soulmate. Rose had come across him nearly two months ago, but had not managed to gather the courage to approach him. Instead, she used her free time in the afternoon to watch him in the park (when he showed up, he didn’t always) and try to understand why else she might be drawn to him if he wasn’t her soulmate.

“Moping again?” Mickey said, sitting beside her on the bench Rose had taken possession of in the small park near the university. He called it ‘moping’ because otherwise he’d have to term it ‘stalking’, and that could very well end up in a fight.

“I’m not moping,” Rose protested. “And aren’t you supposed to be meeting Martha?”

“How’d you think I found you?” He pointed to the nearest tree where a Barn Own sat, glaring at Rose.

Rose waved at the owl. “Couldn’t use your own nose to find me?”

“And nearly get dragged to the pound again?” Mickey shivered in distaste. To get out of that, he’d had to transform, naked, in the tiny little cell the dog catchers had shoved him into.

“Wouldn’t happen if you wore the collar like your Gran said to.” Rose said, getting up. “Give me her clothes so she can shift back.” She snatched the bag he’d been carrying even as he protested the thought of wearing a collar.

A few moments later, both young women returned to the bench. Martha was finger combing her hair back into a pony tail.

“Next time,” she told her boyfriend, “it’s your turn to track her down. I can’t skip hours at the hospital like I can skip out of class.”

“Martha, you didn’t need to do that.” Rose told her. “It isn’t like I was lost or anything. Mickey could have just called my phone.” She held up said object. “Fully charged and everything.”

Mickey blushed. “I forgot mine at home.” He admitted. “And it’s not like you would’ve answered. You’ve been ignoring your phone for the past two weeks, always around now.”

“He has a point,” Martha agreed, perching herself on the back of the bench as she spoke. Rose might have been the gymnast, but she was the one who was part bird. Martha’s whole family could shift into avian form, including her siblings’ mates. Hers was the only owl though, just as Mickey was the only non-avian.

“Yeah, and we’re concerned.”

“Curious ya mean,” Rose corrected him with a role of her eyes.

She adored her friends. She thought they were wonderful for each other. Martha didn’t look down on them for coming from a Council Estate or their lack of higher education. She had been jealous of Rose at first, thinking that she was going to be competition for Mickey’s attention. Rose had solved that quickly, happily shoving her oldest friend into the other woman’s arms with a ‘he is house broken; just don’t leave out any tennis balls’ before she scarpered off to her mother’s for the weekend.

It did not mean that she was going to indulge their curiosity. Not when they had taken it upon themselves to try and help her find her soulmate.

“Can you blame us?” Martha questioned her. “It’s not your usual style Rose, especially when not even Jack can find out where you disappeared off to and he always knows.”

“No, Ianto always knows and just tells him,” Rose corrected, almost absently.

There was a thought. Jack was the one shifter she knew personally that had a soulmate who wasn’t also a shifter. Jack was a literal alley cat; at least he had been until falling into Ianto’s lap. Again, literally as he’d been out roaming when Jackie had scared him off the railing of Rose and Mickey’s shared apartment (another reason Martha had thought she needed to be jealous) and Ianto had caught him.

However, Jack was also her boss along with being her friend so that made it a little awkward. He would also be an even worse meddler than Mickey and Martha. Gods, he’d also be the one to mention it to her mother and then Jackie Tyler would be prowling around the park to sniff out the potential soulmate of her only child.

Rose didn’t need or want that. She wasn’t even sure why she was being so hesitant in approaching the man, other than the fact he was occasionally accompanied by several different women. She also had no desire to be so very wrong about another man ever again, the first one had been more than enough.

“Oh, hey, that’s John!” Martha stood, precariously balanced on the back of the bench now, to wave the man over.

“You mean the bloke who managed to blow up the table in your chemistry class?” Mickey asked, moving just enough so that she was balancing more on his shoulders than the bench.

“The one and only,” she replied with a grin.

Neither one of them noticed that Rose’s faced had paled a little, or that her normal smile had tightened. Then again, it would be her luck that the mystery guy she’d been eyeing for weeks now would be known to her friend.

“Who’s that with him?” Mickey asked as the man bounced over to them, leaving his female companion to trail behind him.

“Oi! Spaceman!” The very loud ginger yelled, “wait up you over-eager puppy!”

“But Donna! It’s Martha!” John answered cheerily. “Hi Martha! Who are your friends?”

Martha grinned. She had had a very brief crush on John Noble when she had first met him, before realizing that he was absolutely insane and she much preferred someone more down to Earth. His sister Donna was fun and understood just how insane and overwhelming her brother could be.

“This is my boyfriend Mickey Smith and our friend Rose Tyler. Hi Donna, what’s he dragged you into this time?”

“He thinks an absolutely enormous wolf has moved into the park. He dragged me along for a second witness.” Donna answered, hugging Martha briefly. They had met before, several times as it was Donna’s ‘job’ to sign her brother out of the infirmary. They had taken to exchanging stories about his antics, as Martha had (during her crush phase) allowed John to drag her around London and occasionally the nearby counties on ‘adventures’.

“An enormous wolf, huh?” Mickey asked, eyeing his oldest friend. The only reason Rose wouldn’t be picked up the dog catchers would be because they’d call out the wild life rescue instead. He really did not want to have to explain to Jackie that they needed to go pick Rose up from whatever sanctuary or woodland animal control dragged her to.

“Yep,” John nodded, grin still plastered to his face. “I’ve only seen it twice so far, so I wonder if it’s more nocturnal or a shifter out for a run, but still!”

Martha looked between the two. John, for all he was talking to them, was looking at Rose as if she was the only person there to speak to. Rose was being quiet, but Martha was certain her friend had just the slightest of blushes beginning to cover her cheeks.

“It is lunch hour, so maybe the shifter idea isn’t so far off.” Martha agreed. So, Rose had been wondering around the park in wolf form, had she? Interesting…as Rose typically didn’t transform within city limits unless she was inside the apartment or at The Playground.

“Lunch! Right! We were supposed to get lunch today!” John looked at his sister, just now remembering why Donna had come to drag him out of his privet lab.

“Now you remember,” Donna rolled her eyes again. She looked at her watch. “Almost too late now.”

“Chips,” Rose suggested, speaking for the first time. “There’s a chippy nearby, we could go there.”

“Great!” John nodded, attention now back on the pretty blonde he’d been seeing for several weeks now. He’d been curious about her ever since he had first seen her, but had never gotten up the courage to actually speak to her.

She had shown up just after the first time he had seen the wolf. He thought it an odd coincidence, but it wasn’t as if he could just ask. That would be rude. He knew he was rude, very rude and very not ginger (no, Donna had all the luck there), but he’d only made that mistake once. He wasn’t that oblivious to make the same mistake twice. Plus, what if he was wrong? Then it would be doubly rude.

“Great,” Rose smiled at him, relaxing a little.

Mickey rolled his eyes this time. “Come on then, Jake’s waiting for me to get back to the shop and Martha’s got to get back to class.”

“Right, and my lunch break’s nearly over. Get a move on it Spaceman.”

“Going Earth Girl,” John retorted, dodging the slap his sister aimed for the back of his head. “Sisters! Really!”

Rose giggled at their antics. “Come on then, I’ll show you the way.”

Almost as if they’d planned it, the other three watched as they clasped hands. Rose tugged, beginning to lead John towards the chippy she’d told them of.

“Ten pounds says they figure it by the weekend,” Mickey said.

Donna snorted. “You’re on, twenty on it taking at least my brother a month before he figures it out.”

Martha shook her head at them. “Two weeks,” she entered her bet. “And I’m not telling Jackie or Jack.”

“I’m not telling them!” Mickey protested. “That’s Rose’s job.”

“Think they noticed if we went elsewhere for lunch?” Donna asked them.

“Nope,” Mickey shrugged. “Babe, you wanna go to that sushi place you keep mentioning?”

“Sure, coming Donna?”

“Might as well, although I think I’ll pass on the sushi. There’s a burger place right next to it.” Donna headed off, the pair following behind her.

XXXXXX

“Um…” John looked sheepishly at his turned out pockets. “I think I left my wallet in my lab.” So much for him buying lunch…or being a gentleman and paying for Rose’s as well.

Rose had to duck her head to keep from laughing at his face. He looked so cute like that!

“I’ll buy, but next time it’s your turn.” She said, handing over the money to the cashier.

“Ok!” John agreed, smile back on his face. “So…Miss Tyler, what do you do all day besides sit in the park?”

“I work,” she commented, grinning.

“What kind of work?”

“Detective work mostly,” she admitted, “My friend Jack, he’s a PI. I help out him and his partner Ianto doing odd bits.”

“Oh, what kind of odd bits?” John took the basket of fish and chips Rose held out for him, following her to a nearby table.

“Sketches, photos, occasionally climbing into dumpsters or over fences,” or following scent trails or chasing down a culprit or a myriad of other things that her wolf form was useful for, not that she was going to tell him that the first time they spoke. “Occasionally I play Girl Friday to his James Bond, Ianto’s a bit too proper for that role although he does look good in a suit.”

John frowned…that sounded…oh! “You wouldn’t happen to mean Jack Harkness would you?”

“I do, you know him?” Rose was curious now. First Martha, now Jack?

John nodded. “We were friends growing up; he flirted a lot with both me and Donna. Had Donna going spare for a bit, leaving black cat hair everywhere and occasionally showing up naked.”

Rose snorted. “Yea, he still does that. Ianto’s got lint rollers hid all over the office, along with spare clothing. First time my Mum met him, she threated to neuter him if he didn’t learn some proper manners. She also scared him off mine and Mickey’s balcony once, landed him right in Ianto’s lap.”

“You live with Mickey?” John was a little confused. Martha had introduced the young man as her boyfriend. Why would he be living with Rose?

“Yeah, we’ve been friends forever and when he was offered an apprenticeship for mechanic at a shop here I came with him to be closer to where I worked at the time. That and he needed a roommate he could trust. Martha lives with us too, now.” Rose explained. “Our apartment is closer to the university than the one she was renting or her mum’s house.”

John nodded, relived although he wasn’t altogether certain why. It made sense, after all. That was why he and Donna had shared an apartment when they had first left Chiswick.

“So what do you do then?” Rose said, changing the subject.

“Oh, I’m a doctor!” He replied. “Not the kind of doctor Martha’s going to be, but astrophysics and astronomy and regular physics and a little bit of chemistry and biology and some other stuff.”

“Wow,” Rose wasn’t really certain how to respond to that. She didn’t even have any A-Levels, never mind a university degree. “I like the stars,” she managed to get out, “couldn’t see them very well on the estate, but that never stopped me from looking up. Drove Mum mad, sneaking up to the roof.”

John’s eyes brightened and he began to babble about his own misadventures of climbing roofs and sending his mother into hysterics. Rose took up the unspoken challenge and responded in kind until it was very clear that they had to be making things up.

“Okay, I give!” Rose finally said with a laugh. “I’ve never set anything on fire, accident or otherwise.”

“Occupational hazard with me,” John told her, basking in the sound of her laughter and enjoying the fact that he had brought it out. “I’m still banned from the kitchen, every kitchen, on campus. The only reason I’m still allowed into the labs is because I’m good with introductory chemistry classes. Teaching them, at least, and I’ve got my own lab.”

“You think you’re so impressive!” Rose said, smiling the tongue touched smile that she was well known for.

“I am so impressive I’ll have you know Rose Tyler!” John said, matching her smile with one of his own.

“Course you are,” she agreed before giggling.

John would have said something, but at that moment he caught sight of the nearest clock. “Blimy, it’s gotten late.”

Rose looked at her watch, blanching. “I was supposed to be back at work hours ago.” She looked at her phone, seeing that she had several missed calls from pretty much everyone in her small social circle.

“Ah, I could walk you back?” It wasn’t as if he had anything pressing at the lab. He was his own boss, aside from when he had classes to teach.

Rose shook her head. As nice as the thought was, it wasn’t needed.

“No, Jack’s already texted me to have fun.” Rose showed him her phone, where Jack had sent a message to that affect. “Besides, they’ve already closed up for the day. It’s date night for them.”

Jack would just grill her tomorrow about this. Rose was both dreading it and looking forward to it. If she was wrong, it would be just another heartbreak. If she were right though…it could still end in heart break. Donna might have been his sister, but what of the other women she had seen him with? Surely one of them was his girlfriend?

John nodded. “Well then Miss Tyler, what would you like to do?” He paused. Well, that was presumptuous of him, wasn’t it? “I mean, unless you want to leave? Or, uh, you’d rather not…” he was terribly bad at this.

“Let’s go Doctor,” Rose stood and took his hand, feeling brave at the moment. “I’ll walk you back to your lab.”

“Ok,” as if he was going to say no to spending more time with her!

XXXXXXXX

Once she arrived back at her apartment, Rose locked herself in her room. Throwing herself on the bed, she hugged one of the pillows to her chest. Of all the blokes in the world, she would find the oddest of the bunch.

John had kept up an ongoing commentary on their walk back to his lab. He could babble like no one she had ever met, and it had been fascinating for all that there were times what he said flew over her head. She was pretty certain he had invited her to go stargazing out in the country, something about shooting stars and how the city had terrible views for anything cosmic.

Rose was just as certain that she had said she would join him amidst her amusement at his energy. She hadn’t been out of the city in over a year. It would be nice to really have the chance to stretch her legs. The Playground and various parks throughout the city were well and good, but were honestly better suited for the more domesticated Shifters like Mickey and her mother.

That brought up an entirely different set of concerns. How would John feel when he found out? She had to tell him, obviously. There wasn’t a thing wrong with being a Shifter or not, and despite what some people would say there was absolutely nothing wrong with being part of a mixed couple.

It wasn’t as if it was some kind of secret thing. It was rude to announce it or ask outright, but there was nothing secret about it.

Rose gave a long sigh, getting up to strip so she could shift. Once in wolf form, she curled back up onto the bed. With a little bit of maneuvering, she had fully covered herself with her blanket and created a nest of pillows. Warm and comfortable, she turned her thoughts to the real reason why she was so reluctant.

Jimmy Stone.

Fifteen years old, she had been an idiot. He had been older, sure of himself, and able to convince her that they were a perfect match. His mark had never been a match for hers, but even though he was also a Shifter he had sounded so certain that it didn’t actually matter. He had made her head spin with dreams of travel and running free in different parts of the world.

As humans, he had been bigger than her. She had been convinced she was in love with him so had until the very end never thought of turning her beast side upon him. The one and only outright beating he had given her (instead of the usual sharp words and occasional slap or kick) had changed that. Jimmy was a canine shifter, but he was nothing more than a yappy mongrel compared to her Red Wolf.

It was after that incident (she hoped he still bore the scars from her claws across his face) that she had made the decision to never enter another committed relationship unless it was her soulmate. Her actual soulmate, the one who bore the mark that matched hers. Rose was never going to let another pretty face and sweet words convince her otherwise.

Now that she had potentially found him, it scared her. Humans didn’t have the same draw and ingrained loyalty to their soulmates that Shifters did. John could leave her and it wouldn’t harm him in the same way it would her.

Rose had seen it before. Her father died when she was a baby and her mother had never completely gotten over it. She had had boyfriends and lovers, but none that had ever stuck around. Other shifters might not mind a lover, but once they inevitable found their other half then they would be gone. Humans just didn’t understand, not really.

Martha’s dad, for instance, wasn’t a Shifter and had left her mother for a time. Aside from when her frustration reached a breaking point, Martha didn’t like to talk about it. Rose always knew when it was bad because those would be the days that the only one Martha wanted to be around was Mickey. There had been a whole week once where she had remained in owl form because she was tired of being in the middle of the fighting. Mickey had carried her around on his shoulder the entire time, curling up in dog form at night to sleep.

Both of a pair being Shifters didn’t always mean happiness and stability either. Again, her mother was a case in point. Rose had lost count of the number of times she had heard someone say that except for Rose, Jackie may very well have pined herself to death after Pete died. Jackie (who took the form of a Scottish Terrier) had always told Rose that losing a soulmate was one of the most difficult things one could go thru, but (and this was a very big ‘but’) it was not the end of all things. Jackie had never been one to simply give up and she had raised Rose to be the same way.

Mickey’s parents had been soulmates, but they hadn’t remained together. Mickey’s gran had taken him in, lambasting both her son and daughter-in-law for being fools. To this day Mickey didn’t speak to his father, and his mother had died when he was a teenager. Probably (as Jackie and Mickey’s gran were certain) of a broken heart, as uselessly romantic as that was (again, according to the two main adult figures in hers and Mickey’s lives).

So with all of that, Rose was apprehensive. She had not given up on finding her soulmate, just as she had never given up her dreams to travel. She was just a little more realistic about it now at nineteen then she had been at fifteen and sixteen.

Even so, she had had a good time today. Holding his hand as they walked, chatting about random topics and simply listening to him babble about whatever caught his fancy. He could talk for England, he could! Still, as long as he did it while holding her hand she was perfectly happy listening to him.

His hand had felt warm in hers. The few times he had dropped her hand in order to use both of his in his excitement over one topic of another her hand had felt cold, almost as if it would never be warm again. She had to imagine how it would feel to have his hands buried in her ruff or scratching her ears.

Rose startled, falling off the bed as it struck her. They had held hands! Skin to skin! Her mark!

Scrambling to her feet, Rose huffed in annoyance as her blanket den tightened around her. Shifting, she managed to escape with an impatient huff.

“Rose?” Martha called thru the door. They had heard her come in, but when she hadn’t said anything to them they had decided to leave it alone. With the noise now coming from the blonde’s room, however, they were concerned.

“Damn mirror!” Rose cursed. “I’m fine!”

Martha heard her muttering about where her mark was and a giggle escaped her. Hers and Mickey’s marks were on their forearms, easily seen. Rose’s, on the other hand, was in the middle of her right shoulder blade and took effort to see.

“Do you want some help?”

Mickey turned around just as Rose opened her door. He yelped and covered his eyes.

“Quite acting as if you’ve never seen me naked before,” Rose scolded at him, yanking a giggling Martha into her room.

“Still doesn’t mean I want to see it!” Mickey called back. They had learned to control their shifting together and had been closer than some siblings growing up. He waited a beat. “So? Is it any different?”

Martha came out of Rose’s room. She had a wide grin on her face.

“Verdict?” Mickey said, lacing his fingers through hers.

“Wolf paw within this spiral of dots,” Martha explained.

“Dots are new, any shape or just the spiral?” Mickey was glad his was so obvious, a wrench. He had always been good with his hands, and it had pleased him that his mark described him so well. It had gotten slightly more complicated when Martha’s quill had joined it, making it appear as if the quill were drawing the wrench.

His mate was a classy lady. He could easily imagine her dressed to the nines in some Victorian get up, writing with the owl feather quill pen in her neat cursive. Or Ravenclaw robes, which was even easier as they had all dressed up as Hogwarts students for Jack’s Halloween party the year before.

Martha shook her head. “No, but then I’ve never studied astronomy.” There was another thump from Rose’s room. “Think we’ll see her anytime tonight?”

“When her stomach reminds her that she needs to eat, or she wants coffee.” Mickey said. “Gonna call Donna?” He’d liked the ginger they’d eaten lunch with. “And does this mean I won the bet?”

XXXXXXX

“Donna! Donna you need to come see this!”

Donna groaned as she rolled over, yanking a pillow over her head to block out her brother’s voice. Maybe if she ignored him, he would give up. Not that that ever worked, but she could hope.

“Donna!” He whined. “This is important!”

“It’s always important with you Spaceman,” she said, sitting up to glare at him. “What time is it? And why are you naked in my doorway?” There were times she regretted agree to share an apartment with him.

“I’m in a towel,” he protested, tightening said towel around his waist. “I was getting out of the shower when I saw it and I –”

She cut him off. “If this is over another stupid spider I am going to hang your skinny arse from the balcony.” She told him as she got out of bed.

“One time Donna, that was one time!” He said, frowning. He dodged out of her way as she headed towards the bathroom.

“A cricket then? A mouse? I swear, if you’ve gone and ‘rescued’ the lab rats again I’m moving back to Mum’s.” Donna looked around the bathroom, not seeing anything out of place.

“I did that in secondary, and I was twelve.” He defended himself. “No, my mark Donna! Look at my mark!”

“Turn on a light then Spaceman,” she blinked in the sudden brightness. The things she did for her brother. “Well, turn around!”

John did, arching his neck as if he could bend it enough to look at his shoulder blade without the aid of a mirror or two. Donna had often teased him for the spiral of dots there with the big empty space in the center. He had always protested that they were stars in the form of a nebula if a person just knew how to look at it.

Now, the empty space was filed with a clawed paw print. It didn’t look like it was from a dog and it was much too large to be a cat. Donna frowned.

It struck her, then, that it had to be from a wolf. That was what her brother had been looking for in the park after all, and that park was a safe spot for Shifters to run around in while transformed. John probably hadn’t even realized it, but he’d been talking about the blonde girl he had seen almost as often as he’d spoken of the wolf. It was not a stretch, to Donna at least, to think they were one and the same.

“Do you see it?” John was beginning to bounce in place.

“I see it, and yes it really is there.” Donna assured him.

John blinked at her. “But I don’t…and usually I…”

Donna grinned at him. “No gloves Thursday, ran off without them when you were dragging me to the park.”

His eyes kept getting bigger as his brain put the pieces together. Damn it, but this meant that Mickey had won the bet. Donna had been certain her brother (who mostly ignored his mark and steadfastly kept himself covered in layers) would take weeks to notice the change.

“But…but Rose!” It had to be her. She had grabbed his hand and he had grabbed hers. Not just grabbed it, but they had held hands for ages Thursday.

“Unless you’ve been getting handsy with anyone else, yes Rose.” Donna told him.

John went between shaking his head and nodding it. How was he supposed to do this? Just walk up and ask her? Ask to see her mark? Didn’t that count as an innuendo in some circles? He knew it was rude, and while he was rude and not ginger (that was Donna) there were some mistakes he only made once…sometimes.

Donna rolled her eyes. “Get dressed Spaceman, we’ll go check the park and see if she’s there.” After coffee…lots and lots of coffee.

XXXXXXXXX

Rose shoved Jack off her desk, scowling at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not showing you. And you’ve got cat hair over my sketches.”

She quickly turned around as he shifted. “Ianto, come and get your cat before I skin him!”

Ianto sighed, finishing the tea as he ignored the antics of his boyfriend and their co-worker. Ever since Mickey had mentioned Rose’s changed mark, Jack had been poking at her to see it. It had been a week now and they were all getting sick of it.

Rose had been steadfastly avoiding the park she’d been frequenting and the man who may or may not even be there. There had been astronomy books littering her desk for that time, along with several pamphlets discussing ‘how to explain being a shifter to a non-shifter’. Those alone had Jack curious, but Rose wasn’t talking.

“Come on Rosie, I’m just curious!” Jack was trying to get her to settle down. He knew from experience that procrastinating talking to your soulmate was hard on a shifter.

“Curiosity killed the cat Jack, do you really want to risk it?” Rose was getting very irritated at him.

A case, any kind of case, would help. It would at least keep him distracted from bothering her. It might also take her mind off John, but she doubted that.

“And satisfaction brought it back,” Jack sing-songed at her. “Besides, even if it did, I have nine lives.”

“Five,” Ianto set a cup of coffee in front of Jack and Rose’s tea in front of her, “and I’m still waiting for the report from the last case.”

“That dog missed, so I have to have at least six left.” Jack teased back, a long running joke between the three of them.

“If you insist,” Ianto replied, going to fix another cup of tea.

They didn’t ask why. Ianto almost always knew when they would be getting someone in with a case. Rose took that as her cue to get some fresh supplies out to take notes with. Jack, deciding to leave it for now, returned to his desk to get out his own things.

The bell above the door chimed, alerting them all that they had a guest. Looking up, Rose squeaked before ducking back down.

“John! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” Jack got up to greet his longtime friend with a hug. “And where is that spitfire of a sister of yours?”

“Donna’s on a date with Lee,” John replied, eyes zeroing in on Rose. His face reddened.

Jack looked between them, confused for a moment before it dawned on him. Rose groaned as she recognized the look that crossed his face.

“So John, what brings you by?” Jack was grinning, which should have been his first warning.

“Oh! Yes!” John jumped, turning his wide gaze to Jack. “I’ve been trying to track a wolf I saw in a park near the campus.” He absently took the tea Ianto handed him. “I was hoping you could help me.”

“Of course we can! Rose is great at tracking.”

Rose was going to kill him. She was certain of that.

John turned back to her. “Really? Um…would you…uh…could you…” he floundered, taking a gulp of tea to give his mouth something to do that wasn’t talking.

“I can meet you at the park in an hour, if that works for you?” Rose was glaring at Jack as she spoke, but he was just grinning back at her.

“Actually,” John coughed, the tea was hot! “Actually, I was thinking about going later tonight, after dark. I haven’t seen it again in the daytime and the first time I saw it was nearly midnight so I thought maybe it was nocturnal and…”

Rose began to smile as he continued to babble. It was cute, especially as he’d put down the tea and was now running his hands thru his hair. It was making it stick up and her hands itched to sooth it back down.

Maybe she wouldn’t kill Jack. She did need to speak to John anyway.

“I’ll meet you at the entrance of the park, yeah?” She got in when he took a pause for breath. “About seven?”

John nodded his head. “Yeah, yeah, that sounds like an idea Rose Tyler.”

Rose shivered. She liked how her name sounded coming from his mouth. “See you then Doctor.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sky was just beginning to darken when Rose arrived at the entrance to the park. She had her kit with her, just in case. She doubted she would need it, but if working with Jack had taught her anything it was that it was far better to be over prepared than be caught unawares.

John was already waiting for her. She stopped to watch him for a moment, her hearing catching his muttering.

“Hey Doctor, been waiting long?”

John jumped. “Rose! You’re here! I mean, obviously, where else would you be? I mean-”

Rose laughed. “I know what you mean Doctor. Shall we?” She motioned towards the open park gate.

John smiled. “I like when you call me Doctor.” He rolled the name around in his mind. “I might just start using it. Sounds like the name of an adventurer.”

“Is that what we’re doing, going on an adventure?” Rose teased him, barely registering that they had clasped hands.

“We’re looking for a wolf that may or may not be wild. I’d call that an adventure, wouldn’t you?” John asked her. Her hand felt right in his; as if it were the piece he’d been missing his entire life without knowing it.

“I would,” she bit her lip. “Doctor, I was-”

A low growling cut her off. Instinctively, Rose tried to push John behind her. That wasn’t a friendly growl.

“Rose,” John said slowly, “That’s not the wolf I’ve been looking for.”

“I know John.” Rose shifted her stance, readying herself for whatever she would need to do.

The wolf stalking them from the shadows was a deep black. It wasn’t someone she knew, and most of the canines in the area knew each other. It was considered common curtesy for a new shifter to make oneself known to the local community.

A wild wolf wouldn’t be hunting them like this one was. Rose knew what a hunting wolf looked like, what the air felt like during a hunt. This was a hunt and they were the prey.

“Maybe we should-” John started to say but Rose cut him off.

“Stay absolutely still,” she thrust her kit at him. “Don’t make any sudden movements and stay quiet.”

“Okay,” he whispered, eyes on the other wolf and not on her.

The wolf leapt for them. When it did, Rose sprang into action.

John gaped as his companion, the young woman he was fairly certain was his soulmate, turned into a large reddish-brown wolf. The very same wolf he’d been seeing around the park.

She had done it mid leap, slamming into the other wolf in a tangle of ripped clothing and scrambling paws. All he could do was stare as Rose took on the other wolf in a fight unlike any he’d ever seen. John struggled to remain frozen, wanting to help Rose but not knowing how to.

Teeth snapped, sometimes drawing yelps and growls from the one being bitten. Claws flashed, leaving streaks of blood behind when they connected. Often, they were little more than a tumble of fur.

Finally, Rose emerged victorious. She held the other (much larger, John noted absently) wolf down by the throat. The wolf whimpered, splaying out as much as it could in a display of submission. With a final growl, Rose released him. She cuffed him with a paw, bearing her fangs at him.

He scrambled away from them as fast as his legs could carry him.

Rose gave the impression of snorting in dismissal before approaching John and nudging him. Almost on reflex, he began to stroke her head.

“You know,” he finally said, “it’s highly unfair that even you have more ginger than I do.”

Rose collapsed in laughter, shifting as she did so. “T-t-th-that-that’s th-the b-best y-y-ya g-got?” She managed to say through her laughter.

“No, you’re a wolf! The wolf! And you’re naked!” He spun around.

Rose calmed down. “Yes, unless it’s very skin tight clothing doesn’t shift with you. My bag.”

“What?”

“My bag, I’ve got a spare set in it.”

“oh…oh! Right.” He turned around to hand it to her, blushing as he took her in.

Rose took the chance and turned around, baring her back to him. It was now or never, either their marks matched now or they didn’t.

By his intake of breath, they did.

“You’re my soulmate…and you’re a shifter…”

“That a bad thing?” She tried to keep it light, but then this was her fears made manifest. She didn’t know what she would do if he rejected her.

John shook his head, realized she couldn’t see him with her back turned, and spoke. “No, no it’s not.” He paused. “This is so cool! You can turn into a wolf! A really big wolf, and a ginger one, but a wolf!”

She turned, now fully dressed, to face him. He was bouncing in place, hands flexing as if he wanted to touch her.

“Yeah,” Rose had no idea what to say.

“Do you want to go stargazing with me?” John burst out.

“What?” Now she was confused.

“Stargazing…that’s what I normally do in this park. It’s not the best, but there’s a clearing where the trees block out most of the light and we can talk or not talk or whatever really-”

Rose gave in and kissed him to shut him up. “Sounds lovely,” now she was blushing as red as he was, “lead the way.”

“Right,” he took her hand. “Ready Rose Tyler?”

“Always,” she responded.

“Run.”

And they never stopped.

XXXXXXXX

The end!

Happy Holidays @darklordpthalo, hope this makes you smile!

#magewriter #darklordpthalo #doctor who #fanfic #doctor #ten #rose tyler #mickey smith #martha jones #jack harkness #ianto jones #donna noble #doctor x rose #ten x rose #martha x mickey #ianto x jack #submission

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peacefulwriter88 · 7 years

Text

Space in Between - Part 2

A/N: Remember this old gem? Sorry it’s been a while – because I work for a school district work comes in tides and waves. Things have slowed down a wee bit that I can dedicate my luv to this sweet little space nerd. Also I might post part 3 after the 2:00 NFL games....

Warnings: None yet :)

Tag List: @sleepretreat @lancetucker @xxhuffelpuff-girlxx

Day 1

It was wearing on him. He looked down at the neat, signed papers resting on his desk, looked at the perfect penmanship of his wife – correction his ex-wife – signature and re-read the words staring up at him from the page.

He didn’t know how it had ended like this.

He had wanted to make her happy, make his son proud. But she couldn’t handle his obsession of space, still constantly needed to unveil all of its mysteries with their family. Didn’t want to deal with the disappointment anymore. Even after she moved back North, he had followed her. Tried to work their marriage life. Tried to lead a normal life.

But it hadn’t worked. He had found the whole situation dull and she knew it. It wasn’t like him. He wanted to continue to push the continuum, not settle down and read about it.

So, a year and a half ago they separated. Three months later, he was delivered divorce papers.

He tried therapy. Tried reconnecting with her. But her mind was made – divorce. Not only was the process shamefully painful, but it was also a prolonged son of a bitch.

These were the last papers after the meetings with lawyers, after hundreds of emails and even more calls. After strained smiles and moving out. After rebuilding his life alone. He had his son, of course, but only twice a weekend and one Wednesday. Elijah was still only two, still too young to understand the consequences of their decisions and he wanted to maintain some normalcy around that.

He looks back down at the papers, sighing deeply before picking up his pen and signing his name on the crisp line. He pushed the paper back into the envelope before licking it closed, the dark letters of the law firm peering back at him.

The past three years of his life was disappearing in the form of ink and paper.

Life was a son of a bitch.

Day 7

It was only a week, but as he sat in his apartment, a cold beer in his hands as he looked down at the book in his hands he knew there was a problem.

Beth didn’t have a problem bouncing back. According to Alex and his fiancé, she was doing just fine. Barely made eye contact with him when he picked Elijah up, barely acknowledged him when he dropped Elijah off. Her hair was different. Cut short, framing the fine features of her face. She had color back in her cheeks and smiled more.

She was probably seeing someone.

That was what had caused this distraction. He wanted to move on and couldn’t.

Day 17

Autumn was coming. You could smell it in the air, feel it when you walked from building to building on the large campus. His senses were coming back again. Food wasn’t bland anymore. Was chilled when the east coast air flew in. His brain started applying things he saw in real life to how they could function in space. He laughed at dumb jokes Alex, or Mark or Rick called.

He was starting to feel like him.

Day 25

It was too soon. It was a month into the semester, a month into his inherited role as professor of Environmental Sciences. He had adjusted to his role on campus – half professor, half infamous astronaut that had been one of the few who had gone to Mars. He shielded away from his celebratory status, trying to deny talking at any events or going to any special dinners. Trying to keep to himself as he tried to figure out what the hell he wanted to do next.

And then you had happened.

It had been in late September, a few weeks before homecoming. He hadn’t forgotten about you, hadn’t forgotten about the way you had shed light to his celebrity.

But now you were different.

You were attentive. You came to class over-prepared, your laptop at the ready as your eyes followed him throughout the classroom. You pushed back on theories that he synopsized about, providing new solutions. You questioned everything, wanted to know everything.

At first, he had thought it was a child’s crush. A lot of the women (and men) had made it obvious they were attracted to him. Alex even teased you about it, also working on campus on a few science projects.

“Every woman on this campus, student and faculty alike, are curious about Dr. Chris Beck.” He would coo, resulting in a soft punch or a chuckle.

It was flattering but it was the last thing on his mind.

Until there was you.

You weren’t asking dumb questions, like everyone else would after class. You would dig to the root, genuinely curious as you shuffled through your piles of paper, presenting them to him as he tried to pack up. When you showed up to his office hours, it was with articles on articles that ran parallel to lessons he was teaching in application to what it would look like in space.

And that was what drew him in.

You were just as obsessed about it as him. You would bite your bottom lip as you shuffled through papers, looking at your laptop trying to spot differences as your free hand would write out equations. Your eyes would furrow together, your hair falling in your face as you absently pushed it aside. The way your face would light up, jumping in enthusiasm as you would point out something to him.

It had him excited. Had his blood pumping to do just as much research – wanted to gauge your response when he brought up something new to you.

Had him looking forward to class. And he knew that was a problem.

Perhaps he needed a hobby. Or get laid.

He probably just needed to get laid.

Day 31

You were wearing mustard. It was a color he didn’t have any opinion on before until he saw it on you. Mustard patterned dress that accentuated your breast and stopped a little above your knees. Intricate designed tights that stuck to your skin like it was a part of them. High brown boots that moved past your calf. Your hair was thrown up in a bun as you laughed alongside the two friends you always came to class with, finding your seat as he brushed through the pages.

He cursed himself again.

Freshly divorced and barely halfway through his first month teaching and he was in full heat over you – a student.

He had tried dating. Tried to have casual sex. It was useless because he already knew that he belonged to you.

“Who’s the girl?” Alex had asked, bringing a beer to his lips as Rick quirked up an eyebrow.

“Girl? There’s a girl in newly single Beck’s life?”

Rick had flown in the night before and they had decided to quickly catch up for dinner after work. He had rolled his eyes, falling back in his seat as he shook his head.

“There is no girl. I have no idea what Alex is referring to.”

Rick, always happy to instigate, turns back to Alex who’s shaking his head chuckling.

“You’re full of shit and you know it. Lisa’s been trying to set this guy up with everyone she knows. Every woman so far, who have literally thrown themselves at his feet, haven’t been called back for a second date. Haven’t been invited to his home. So either Beth made you a eunuch or there’s someone else preoccupying your mind”

He had tried to brush it aside, taking a swing of his drink as Rick exclaims,

“You have females throwing themselves at you, newly free and ready to party and you’ve been throwing that away.”

“Listen,” he finally says, their eyes watching him carefully. “I’m not trying to jump back into another relationship. Not trying to just mess around with a woman. Did that enough in my twenties.”

“Now you’re in your mid-thirties and got all the time in the world.” Rick continues and he scoffs.

“I’m just trying to enjoy being with me.”

They had watched him, rolling their eyes before jumping into another conversation. He was grateful, grateful for the distraction as he tried to remind himself of the same thing.

But now you were in his classroom, wearing that damn dress that hit your curves just right, and he was stuck questioning if he was full of shit. He tried to ignore you as you leaned into your friend Mara, turning his attention to the white board. He only gets through half of what he needs to write before he hears your exclaim,

“What!?”

He turns back to the group, sighing before clearing his throat. Perhaps he could feel you out. Maybe you were also just as into him as he was you. He thinks back to the conversation he had earlier with Alex,

“Listen, I wasn’t trying to call you out in front of Rick last night.”

He had shrugged it off, scrolling through his phone while they waited at the coffee cart and Alex sighed.

“Come on – we’re going to dinner this weekend. Will probably go out dancing after. You should come and have a good time. Lisa has this friend ...”

“No more Lisa dates.” He cuts Alex off and Alex chuckles, slapping him on his back.

“Well you gotta get out since you’re a newly single man. Beth’s dating – don’t see why you don’t.”

They take another step forward and he groans, shaking his head.

“Beth’s been dating for months. Good for her. I’m just not sure I’m ready.”

Alex snorts, shaking his head before pointing to his phone. “Please. Let me guess – you were answering a text from that woman you’ve been talking to.” Chris gives a blank stare as Alex continues, “Listen, I know you haven’t blatantly said it out loud but I know there’s another girl because of the signs. You always bring up this mystery woman that you’ve been meeting for coffee to discuss environmental science theories because that’s a thing. You always are checking your phone to see if she’s sending you messages and when she does, you smile. Don’t play dumb with me Beck, I know a crush when I see one.”

He had tried to mask the smile that was inevitably spreading on his face as Alex finishes,

“Just invite her or whatever. Do it for all of us – her included. Sure she’s tired of you leading her on.”

It couldn’t hurt to see. He did like you. And if you weren’t into him, then he could go back to feeling miserable for himself like had been for the past year and focus on his future.

#chris beck x reader #chris beck #Sebastian Stan

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