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writing-in-april · 4 years ago

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Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde (1/?)

Part One: The introduction

Spencer Reid x Female Reader

Summary: Reader meets a mysterious stranger at the library during a book club meeting.

Part Two, Part Three

Series Masterlist

A/N: Hey Heyyy! This is my first Dom!Spencer fic in so long!!! My last one was also funnily enough for a fic swap as is this one! I had @aperrywilliams for the fic swap organized by @imagining-in-the-margins. I had so much fun writing this one- it’s based on a prompt that I got from @andiebeaword and @spencers-dria helped me by guiding me with the book club idea- with a little twist! I am considering making this a series, if y’all are interested PLEASE let me know- I really want to because I had so much fun writing this. Thanks to all y’all for reading and requests are open!!

Warnings: 18+, Dom Spencer, Public Sex (is anyone that surprised??), Impact Play, Post Prison Spencer, Use of the nickname Doctor during sex, Spencer is a brat tamer, Spencer is morally ambiguous but doesn’t do anything explicitly immoral

Main Masterlist Word Count: 3.0k

As soon as you walked in through the large wooden doors it felt like history hit you over the head with a book. Even though it was on the small side for a library it still probably held more books than a normal public library, almost every wall was adorned with built-in shelves stacked from bottom to top with old books. They ranged in every subject you could think imaginable, from every point in history imaginable, and from every point of view that was imaginable. When you had first discovered this place it had felt like you had been transported to another world. You were surprised that more people didn’t know about this old library nestled in the corners of D.C, it was just sitting there idly watching as history passed by day by day, while it sat writing down all its secrets.

A meeting of the classics was scrawled on the standing white board you saw right when you walked into the library. A meeting of the classics from 7pm to 11:30 in reading room C were the exact words, you didn’t even really need to read them as you had been looking forward to this event for weeks.

You made your way down to the reading room that was specified, only encountering a few stragglers similar to yourself on the way down. You were somewhat new to the events that this library ran, only coming to the past four months. It was quickly becoming your favorite thing to do every month.

There was always a theme to each of the parties, ranging from different eras of history, specific novels, and including things that were open to interpretation. Tonight’s theme was as stated on the white board, a meeting of the classics, which had been described as “Pick your favorite literary icon from a classic novel and dress up as them.”

You had decided to not pick a character from a classic novel, but rather an author, Mary Shelly. You based your entire look on the iconic writer of Frankenstein (with a twist of course) because it had been your favorite novel as a child, it still was your favorite novel.

Once you had made it into the large reading room you took in the full room like you did every week. People were dressed as many outlandish characters, with some being more difficult to decipher than others. As you walked around the reading room you could feel the eyes of another on you.

You could feel his stare following you intently as you walked around mingling with the others that you had met before. The eyes belonged to a man you hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, a man dressed as someone instantly recognizable, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What other iconic character would be split down the middle, half innocent doctor and half evil alter ego.

Even behind the costume you could tell how attractive the man was. He was extremely tall and lanky, with deep brown eyes and the fluffiest brown hair you had ever seen.

“Who’s that?” You asked the married lady and gentlemen dressed up as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Maybe it was shameful that you didn’t know their actual names, but you guess that’s what some people want when they come to an event like this

“That’s Dr. Spencer Reid, he hasn’t been here for a while and he sometimes misses things because of work. You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard he got in trouble with the law, that’s why he hasn’t been here for almost six months.” Her gossipy voice was drenched in fake sugar that made you gag on the inside. You still did appreciate her information as it gained you the name of the man who couldn’t stop staring at you like he was trying to figure you out.

“Must not have been that bad if he’s already out now, or maybe he’s innocent.” Ms. Bennet shrugged her shoulders at that. You may have even been naive to not heed her warning, but the idea of getting to know the mysterious fluffy haired man that had been staring at you all night was too intriguing for you to ignore.

“Who are you?” The mysterious man asked when he finally decided to approach you instead of staring at you from across the room.

Trying to maintain the same level of mystery as the man had you dodging his question with a simple redirect, “Who’s asking?”

“I thought it was quite obvious who I was.” He was right it was obvious, but why would you let him know that despite the fact that you knew what character he was you could tell the man underneath was the real mystery of it all.

“You’re the one who is not obvious.” The back and forth you had already picked up with him was thrilling, you sensed the fact that in most conversations you would have with him it would be a kind of battle that you would have to win.

“If you must know, kind sir, I am dressed as Mary Shelly, author of Frankenstein, with a bit of a modern twist.” You made sure to call him sir instead of his earned honorific this time, to see if it would poke any buttons.

“I am not a sir since my name is Dr. Spencer Reid. I can see now who you are dressed as, but I would still argue that it is not what the intentions were when they set this up.” You could tell that he was only teasing you with the way the inflections of his voice sounded, you were glad your teasing had been a moderate success.

You did also provide him your name before deciding to poke his buttons once more,“But, isn’t she a classic, Dr. Reid?”

“But, you have not made her a classic anymore by putting as you say a ‘modern twist on things’ though I must say it does look well made.” You would’ve been offended if you could not tell that it was all in jest, though you still got the sense that you still were not seeing what all this man was about.

“Thank you, Doctor I made it myself. However, you still haven’t answered my question yet, Dr. Reid.” You asked the next question hoping he would get what you were implying, “Who are you?”

“I suspect you may already know, but I am dressed half as Dr. Jekyll and half as Mr. Hyde.” At least he started to somewhat catch on to the hidden meaning in your words, though you still had not dug up the real answer you were looking for. He was too intriguing to persuade you to stop digging, you wanted to find who the doctor really was, not the partial mask he was still using.

“Yes, I suspected as much, but aren’t you breaking the rules by dressing up as technically two characters?”

“Were there rules that said I couldn’t dress up as two characters?” He fell nicely into the small trap you had set for him, retorting quickly without thinking. Which you found odd for a man that was clearly intelligent.

“No, but were there rules that said I couldn’t dress up as a classic author with my own twist?” The look on his face had let you know you had won the debate. You smirked with triumph as you glanced over the man, taking note of each of his handsome features in case you would never see him again.

You decided to pivot the conversation to another question that was on the forefront of your mind,“Do you have a dark side, Dr. Reid?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” He was deflecting, but he didn’t seem agitated by your question, simply amused by your dogged curiosity.

“I am curious though, what are you exactly underneath it all Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?” Your coy smile was most definitely not lost on him, he could see right through your facade. He could see right through Mary Shelly to find the true you underneath. You only wished you could figure him out as well, you wondered how he got so good at being able to read people in an instant.

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Well, at least you got the answer to what you were looking for, even if the answer wasn’t as straightforward as you may have been expecting. But, you were realizing that Dr. Spencer Reid was probably anything but straightforward.

Your heart was pumping fast, his words had a bigger effect on you than he had probably expected, your panties hidden underneath your long dress were dampening quickly. Though as you saw the smirk on his face grow as you fidgeted in your chair you realized that maybe this was intention all along.

You excused yourself for a moment with a veiled excuse of going to the bathroom. You hoped he’d follow right behind you, to see that you were going to one of the empty reading rooms. If you had read his intentions correctly the heavy doors on each of the rooms should significantly squash any noises he or you would make.

Sure enough after an appropriate amount of time had passed so as to not raise suspicion, the good doctor (that may or may not be good at all) entered the empty room.

He brought you into a dominating kiss that made you want to cower at the same time as be completely defiant. You fought with valor as he tried to consume you entirely with the kiss, not letting his tongue slip into your mouth for as long as you could hold off. In the end you still lost the fight when he lifted you up onto one of the large wooden desks in the room, causing a gasp to fall from your lips that finally gave him full access to your hot wet mouth. He suddenly pulled away to pinch your cheeks together with his hand to make you look at him which made you whimper pathetically at first, but you appreciated his next question immensely.

“Do you want this?” You nodded as vigorously as you could with his hand pinching your cheeks.

He however was not satisfied with my eager nod and prompted you to confirm once more with an even harsher tone, “Speak up when you’re talking.”

“Yes, Doctor.” You replied with his honorific instinctually and you were pleasantly surprised with the eager groan that came from his lips in response. Plus, you were slightly rewarded with being able to feel his lips on your collarbone, sending even more shivers down your spine.

“Let me know immediately if that changes.” The contrast of his sweet meaning words with his hand gripping your jaw was jarring, but you couldn’t deny that you enjoyed it. It just made you want to be as bratty as possible because even if he was harsh there was still the underlying care in everything he did, you felt safe.

“Maybe I should just call you Mister instead, since that’s clearly your dominant side.”He growled into your neck that was quickly getting covered in hickies, next thing you knew he flipped you around to face the desk closest to you with your back to his chest.

“Bend over.” He commanded, to which in response you opened your mouth to retort. Instead of letting you run your mouth as you had done before he wound his hands through your hair and pushed you down to take the position he wanted. He then pulled up your dress to uncover the panties you had soaked through. You thought maybe he was going to give me some relief of the ache in my core, but you were given a harsh slap on your ass instead.

A whimper involuntarily came out from your lips from the harshness of the slap that you assumed was revenge for not following his commands. He then spoke with deadly conviction, “I want you to say thank you, doctor after every time I spank you.”

You only agreed because you were afraid that if you did not comply now he may not give you what you wanted. So, as soon as the next stinging slap came down on the same spot as before the phrase fell from your lips, “Thank you, Doctor!”

He continued his repeated hits onto your ass and you made sure to never miss thanking him with a cry. Once he was satisfied with how much you were punished for your sassy remark he rubbed over the inflamed skin of your ass with his large, unbelieving hands. He moved your panties to the side to dip his deft fingers to run through your folds, collecting some of your wetness. You whined loudly and perhaps pathetically in response to him only lighting touching you instead of obliging the heat you felt everywhere.

“Be patient, you’ll get what you want since you decided to start listening to me.” He snapped which caused your knees to buckle again.

“I can be patient, Doctor.” He definitely appreciated the continued use of his honorific in this scandalous situation as he let out a groan almost every time you said it. Instead of answering you he started to undo the pants of his outfit, a pair of slacks that were also equally as split as the rest of his costume. You didn’t look back to see his cock because you did not want to be punished by him twice in one night. But, you certainly felt it.

You could tell just as he was running the head of his cock through your folds and pulling your panties to the side again that he would be the biggest you had ever been with. What should have worried you slightly only ended up sending a shock through your core instead. He was at least somewhat gentle when he finally started to enter you, letting you get somewhat adjusted before sinking in all the way to the hilt.

As soon as he sensed that you had adjusted he started a rough brutal pace, not that you were complaining as he hit all of your most sensitive spots as his cock dragged through your walls.

He made no effort to stifle the loud moans that were coming from your mouth, maybe he thought the thick wooden doors would stifle the noises. But, there was no way no one would be able to hear the unintelligible wails that were coming from you.

“You like bringing out this side of me don’t you?” He rasped out after he pushed your torso back down to flat on the desk once you started to lift yourself up on your elbows. When you only answered with a noise that was not understandable he prompted you to speak up with another slap on your ass and said, “I said earlier to speak up when you’re trying to talk to someone.”

“Yes, Doctor!” You finally were able to cry out with a few more slaps to your ass from him.

Each time you kept getting close to the edge he’d pull away from you slightly dashing your orgasm away from you cruelly. Each time you decided to whine out loud to voice your displeasure even if it was involuntarily he would just prolong edging you for even longer. You were babbling incoherently when he pulled you by the hair so your back was pressed into his chest and after a few more moments of hearing you beg nonsensically with tears in your eyes he finally gave you the command,

“You can cum.”

“Thank you, Doctor!” You wailed as your orgasm washed over you in devastating waves, you were sure no other man had made you finish so hard in your life. You kept repeating, “Thank you, Doctor!”over and over until you had completely come down from what was arguably the best orgasm of your life. Your own orgasm helped propel his forward, and you made sure to confirm out loud that you were ok with him cumming inside you. The warmth that filled you as he pumped into you a few more times caused one last groan to come from you that was weirdly harmonious with the groan from the doctor.

Normal aftercare wasn’t really applicable in this type of situation, you hardly knew him and the added fact that you were in an old library with a party down the hall didn’t help either. He still cleaned you up with a softness you had yet to see from him during your short encounter. Aloe probably would’ve been the best option to soothe your raw bottom, but he did massage you for a few minutes after he cleaned the rest of you. He had even made sure your clothes that were not period accurate, as he had pointed out earlier, were neat before you both left. There were no cuddles and soft loving words exchanged, but you still felt immensely cared for by a man who claims he might not be a good man. He was a strange case.

“You still never answered my question, Doctor.” You stated as you stood on the steps of the library after you two had slipped out to leave.

“That’s because I still don’t have an answer.” And, with that you parted ways into the cool air of D.C. You hoped he had the same feelings as you when you had both parted ways, you wanted to see him again. There was another meeting next month, maybe then you would get your chance again.

The thrill that ran through your veins whenever you interacted with him, whether he was fucking you or having a rousing conversation about classic literature made you want him no matter whether he was Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. You’d take them both.

Part Two, Part Three| Series Masterlist

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Tag list (message me if you want to be added):

All works:

@shotarosleftpinky @90spumkin @kyra-morningstar

Spencer Reid/CM:

@calm-and-doctor @destiny-tsukino @safertokiss @slutforthegubes

Dom Spencer (new tag list):

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds #mgg #mgg x reader #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler smut #spencer reid fanfiction #matthew gray gubler

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buildinggsr · 3 years ago

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What did you think about the CSI finale? How would you rank the seasons? Who do you ship?

Hi @vladimirputinskremlinqueenmary27 thanks for your question. I'll (try to) answer point by point.

1. What did you think about the CSI finale? I once wrote my take on the CSI finale here. In this other post I described it this way, "all f*ing angst for like 80 minutes and 10 minutes of sailing off into the sunset together."

Maybe - maybe - it would have been good as a regular episode, but not as a series finale. I also found it a bit disrespectful to the fans who had followed the series for so many years. I had been very annoyed by the lack of references to any of the events that had happened over the previous 15 years or to the characters that had been part of the series. (By comparison, there were many, many more in the recent reboot!) The finale was supposed to conclude a series that changed the history of TV series and instead it felt like a collection of post-it notes stuck to each other, with no real logical sense. 2. How would you rank the seasons? I have watched and re-watched several times only the seasons up to when Grissom left, the ninth, while I have watched only once, maybe twice, the following ones - apart from the episodes that involved Grissom and Sara to some extent.

Taking this into account, for me each season has its own peculiarities and beauties, maybe in one I find the stories more engaging, in another the character development is what interests me most, in yet another I like the aesthetic side, the lights, the visual effect.

From a general point of view, I can certainly say that the seventh season is the one I prefer: the story of the miniature killer is fantastic from all points of view and is very compelling and all the stories in the middle are great. I think the seventh season constitutes the pinnacle of the entire series. The development of the episodes had been a crescendo up to that season, and after that everything got a bit lost.

Recently I had started a re-watch (again) of the series from the first season and I have to say that it's not surprising that it had such a great success, because, in my opinion, from the very first episodes it had a great intensity of both the stories and the characters. Already from the very first episode the actors show to have a great feeling between them – even though at the time they didn't know what the hell they were doing. Everything seems very very natural and engaging. For this reason, apart from the seventh season, I think my favorite seasons are the first ones, I would say the first three, when the members of the team were outlined episode after episode, the bonds between them grew and the stories were very real, the creativity of the authors probably feverish. And then there were also a lot of funny scenes. If I had to choose to watch an episode at random - not for GSR reasons - I'd probably watch one from among those seasons.

One thing I also like about those episodes is recognizing traits in the team members' personalities that would later become their hallmarks over the years. It's kind of like looking at a family album, starting when the kids are little, and flipping through the pages to see them grow up, and remember the highlights of their lives.

Aside from the seasons up to the ninth, I have to say that the Dr. Jekyll arc hadn't been bad - although I never liked how they had made Ray Langstone the leader of the team with the minimal knowledge of the job he had. Conversely, I really liked DB, but not enough to go back and watch his seasons.

As for my favorite seasons from the GSR point of view, they are the sixth and the seventh.

3. Who do you ship? If we understand the term "ship" as referring to a love story, as you can easily guess from my blog, my ship is GSR. It's amazing the depth of Grissom and Sara's characters and how over time they, driven by the propulsive force of love, have undergone a radical change to be able to stay together. It's great that in the last scene of the reboot we see them, they're on a roller coaster, because there's nothing that better exemplifies what their relationship has been. And everything they've been through, ups and downs, steep climbs and maddening descents, has brought them electrified at the end of the ride. Electrified because what they went through to get to the end was electrifying: every event that characterized their love story was non-random, intense, provocative (in the sense that it provokes an intense emotion). And electrified they still appear now, in the recently aired reboot: with their looks, their simple, normal intimacy, the way they have of confessing their flaws to each other. Everything is pure energy.

I think I'm the only person on the face of the earth who dares to say that even the period of their divorce, as much as I wish it hadn't been there, was functional to the complete serenity of their relationship that we saw in the reboot. All the mistakes that could have been made have been made and, okay there's no limit to the worst, but at this point there's nothing that can sour their relationship anymore. They are now fused together, forever. Pure Lonsdaleite, the hardest mineral in the world.

Other than GSR, I don't have any other ship, but if we understand that term in a broader sense, including friendships as well, then:

- I liked Catherine and Warrick's relationship, it would have been nice to see something blossom between the two of them. I think they would have been maybe as good as Griss and Sara. - I loved Warrick's relationship with Sara, the most intense characters of the show, in my opinion. Both of them with difficult childhoods, they worked their way up in some part through shoulder pushes and in some part through their intelligence and the great work they did on themselves. They earned and deserved every accomplishment they achieved. I happened to rewatch Goodbye and Good Luck and even Forget Me Not, but I have never, ever, ever rewatched the last two episodes of Warrick and never will. I think that's all. Thanks again for your question. Stay safe and take care of yourself. L

#ask #csi #gsr

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linkspooky · 5 years ago

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Toga Himiko’s Normal Life

Himiko looks like the most straight forward case of what pop culutre considers to be a classical sociopath / psychopath in My Hero Acadmia. Shigaraki, Dabi, Hawks were all groomed to become the way they were, but Himiko possessed a natural inclination towards blood and violence from the start. She seesm to be a natural born cold blooded killer, however in this meta I’ll argue that while Toga seems like the flip-side of a normal, good person like Uraraka, she’s actually just a normal girl herself.

1. Character Origins

Volume sixteen of My Hero Academia had an official illustration included as an extra that shows the characters Twice and Himiko drawn together in an illusion to a famous Joker and Harley Quinn illustration.

Now, I’m not going so far as to claim Himiko was based off of Harley Quinn, but one the league of villains and characters like Twice (and ReDestro) have made similiar references to the Joker before that especially with the quote “All it takes is one bad day”. There’s also enough similarities betweeen the two characters, they’re both the only female members of a crime syndicate that is mostly men, and dominated by men. Their backstories mirror each other, they were both relatively sane, normal, girls, until suddenly they cracked one day and became a total inversion of their previous presonality. There are enough similarities that I could use Harley as an example to explain a few of the important ideas present in Toga’s character.

They are also both female characters who are written with love as the central concept of their characters. Harley’s origin as originally depicted in the comic and episode for the Batman the Animated Series “Mad Love” goes as follows: Harleen Quinzell was a psychiatrist working at Arkham. Eventualy she came to sympathize with one of her patients which triggered a transformation in her from well meaning doctor, to love-sick sycophant of the joker who broke him out of prison.

A lot of Batman Villains have origins like this. The most comparable one is Harvey Dent. Proescutors, Doctors, we are told the people who hold these jobs are good and righteous people. Even Harley herself started out as someone who just sympathized with a patient too much. However, somehow they become flipped into the exact opposite versions of themselves. They go mad for lack of a better words. Harvey Dent who was once a symbol of justice, becomes nothing more than a murderer, and Harley Quinn goes from healer to the sidekick of a mad clown willing to destroy everything in the name of love.

The question, asked in both Himiko and Harley’s stories is how can good people flip like this?

Most people have a black and white view of these issues: good people are only capable of good actions, and bad people are capable of bad actions. It’s hard to swallow the fact that any normal person has the capacity to cause so much harm inside of them.

We see similiar remarks in the background of Himiko’s story. Himiko comes from a good upper class family, she went to what was most likely a good school, she was always smiling and surrounded by friends. Everyone who comments on her sudden transformation reacts in a similiar way. “She was aways so cheerful and well-behaved, I still find it hard to believe.” She was always such a good girl, and good people don’t do those things.

Normal people, good people, don’t have the capacity to do bad. That’s what makes the transformations so shocking. Therapists/Doctors are supposed to heal, Prosecutors are supposed to be just. And now we return to our old friend Jung.

The story of Harleen Quinzell and Harley Quinn. The story of Himiko Toga the happy middle school girl and Himiko Toga the serial killer is a tale told over and over again, it’s just usually told with male protagonists instead of female ones. It’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) is a late-Victorian variation on ideas first raised in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). Stevenson’s monster, however, is not artificially created from stitched-together body parts, but rather emerges fully formed from the dark side of the human personality. In the story Dr Jekyll, an admired member of the professional Victorian middle-classes, conducts a series of scientific experiments which unleash from his own psyche the ‘bestial’ and ‘ape-like’ Mr Hyde (ch. 10). Gothic fiction had examined the idea of the sinister alter ego or double before on many occasions but Stevenson’s genius with Jekyll and Hyde was to show the dual nature not only of one man but also of society in general.

“Man is not one, but truly two.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Both cases are tales are transformation, of the monster coming from within. Himiko transforms from middle school girl into serial killer. Harleen Quinzell transforms into Harley Quinn. Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. We witness a transformation into a monster that seems the antithesis of everything that person was boefre, but was inside of them all along this works because of the jungian idea of the shadow.

The shadow is the unconscious side of personality. The shadow is what exists but what we do not acknowledge. If our behavior during everyday life, choosing to smile, choosing to talk to people, choosing to use our manners is a mask then the shadow is the face beyond the mask. The conscious personality conceals, the shadow reveals. It’s the difference betewen who we are and who we choose to be. The shadow isn’t necessarily negative however. The shadow is just the repressed side of our personalities, it’s what we try to hide.

The shadow plays a role in Harleen’s transformation. While it’s present in Mad Love as well, a recent miniseries ‘Harleen’ really dives into the Jungian symbolism. There’s even several similarities in common with Himiko’s story, for example there’s a scene where Harleen is shown watching the bat man beat up joker and notice how everyone is cheering despite the fact that it’s violent.

Himiko’s interest in a boy is sparked by watching him get into a fight while everybody else is cheering for him.

The cover page depicts the change between Quinn and Quinnzel as a crumbling mask, which is the exact same imagery used for Himiko.

When she enters Arkham she chooses to depict Harley Quinn’s silhouette in Harleen’s shadow. Once again implying that the transformation is not so sudden and jarring as it seems, that Harley Quinn has always been there and is a part of her psychology the same way Mr. Hyde is inside Dr. Jekyll.

The comic even points it out. Harleen, and also by extension Harvey Dent are people who claim to be “good, righteous people’ and yet both of them end up transforming into murderers. Two-face’s name is literally two-face.

There’s also one particularly Jungian sequence in the middle of the conflict. She dreams (dreams are unconscious and therefore the realm of the shadow in Jung’s theories) about the city of gotham as a place inhabited with citizens who are monsters wearing the faces of human beings.

The idea is consistent throughout that Harleen is not really a ‘good person’ she’s merely repressed. She has had this capacity to be violent inside of her, this selfishness, all of these dark desires carried with her all along but rather than deal with them in any healthy way she repressed them until repressing them is no longer an option. Harvey Dent’s face gets half burned off, Harley’s skinn gets bleached by chemicals, the monsterous features inside of them are now worn on their faces and they have to wear their ugliness on the outside rather than the inside. They are now expressing every single thing they have repressed. However, the suggestion in both stories is that these are not special cases, that Gotham is such a repressed society that everyone is repressing the things they don’t like about themselves in that way. Harley fell in mad love sure, but love was just the reason, just the trigger, the truth is those feelings always lurked inside of her and she had no healthy way of dealing with them before that point.

That is the shadow, it’s everything you repress but it never disappears. If you ignore it, it takes on a life of its own. In some cases, like Harley’s you basically become your own shadow. Harley is the flipped upside down version of Harleen Quinzel, now her inner demons are what are expressed on the surface (desperation to be loved, violence, etc.) while her ‘normal’ self is hidden under a mask of insanity. That’s in fact how she ends the comic, Harley qalking around while Harley is trapped on the other side of the mirror because they have basically traded places. Now Mr. Hyde is walking around, while Dr. Jekyll is hidden personality. But it’s important to remember it’s not something like a split personality, Harleen Quinzell and Harley Quinn were always two sides of the same person. Even when she starts expressing her ‘bad’ traits, the good traits don’t go away. They’re just hidden underneath the surface the way the repressed bad traits used to be. Because you’re not good or bad, you’re not one side or the other. You’re both at the same time. Man is not one, but truly two.

So the complexity in Himiko comes from understanding that she’s BOTH a normal girl, and also a blood crazy yandere psycho.

2. A Normal Girl - Uraraka Ochaco

Uraraka is a pretty standard shonen heroine. She’s a cheerful girl. She’s a supportive friend. She’s the embodiment of what you’d call a good, kind, person and doesn’t seem to be any more complex than that. She lacks say the drive to be a hero that Midoriya does, the superiority complex that Bakugo has, the emotional issues that Todoroki has. She seems to always be agreeable and in a cheerful mood.

If you look just a little bit closer though she always seems to be walking on eggshells when she’s around others. She doesn’t want to join Deku and the others to try to save Bakugo from the heroes because, it might hurt Bakugo’s feelings.

When she loses in the hero tournament, she apologizes to her parents crying not because she feels bad that she lost, but she feels like she failed them. Like it was her job to win and bring money home. However, when Deku comes to check on her in the room she’s already completely hidden her tears.

Going into her backstory we learn that Uraraka is walking on eggshells around everybody due to her own parents, that she’s spent her life trying to be as small of a burden on them as possible because she could see the tired looks on their faces. She’s a child who felt guilty that her parents had to take care of her.

So, for Uraraka her entire life is devoted to making herself seem as small and inconsequential as possible. Other people’s needs will always trump hers. Other people will always have more noble motivations for becoming a hero than she has. Other people’s emotions will always be louder and take priority over hers. Uraraka sees her own emotions and needs as mere trifles that get in the way, and so she always shuts them down. We see Uraraka as a version of Himiko, a high school girl who always appears to be cheerful and well-behaved but is merely repressed.

Uraraka repeats the same unhealthy behavior as Himiko once did. Which is why Uraraka’s first meeting with Himiko goes with Himiko getting such a cold read on her.

It’s helpful to view Himiko as the flipped version of Uraraka. Uraraka hides everything that’s pleasant about her on the inside, and on the outside appears like a perfectly selfless girl. Himiko is someone who hides her good qualities and instead wears the mask of a bloodthirsty psycho on the outside. While Uraraka lives by denying her selfish desires, Himiko always chases after them and is true to them.

Traits that are repressed in Uraraka, are expressed in Himiko. Especially traits that society sees as bad in girls, like selfishness, being emotional, etc..

The way Himiko acts is especially jarring because she seems convinced she’s a normal person. She’s in her own little world, making friends, getting along with other people, it’s just her friendship just happens to involve stabbing.

Himiko appears to be a girl psychotically obsessed with blood and nothing else. A girl who only cares about killing other people and chopping them up to bits. When she expresses the feelings deep inside of herself, literally no one can make heads or tails of what she’s saying, she doesn’t sound like a girl just a bloodthirsty monster.

While Uraraka seems like she has nothing in common with what is essentially a weird serial killer, we learn that the exact behavior that Uraraka’s creation is what led to Himiko’s current state of mind.

The difference between them is not that Uraraka is a person of higher moral character, or a better person, but rather of circumstances between the two of them. It’s not the choices they made but rather things they were born into and couldn’t control. Uraraka has parents that accept her even when she fails and encourage her.

Toga had parents that abused their daughter, and then abandoned her.

Uraraka chose to repress herself, while Toga was forced to become repressed by her parents. While we don’t know for sure if it was physical abuse it’s at least emotional abuse, and it had to be to an extreme extent to make Himiko snap that hard. The same unhealthy behavior but push to extremes gets extreme results.

3. Normal Girl - Himiko Toga

Himiko did not become the way she is because she was lacking empathy or born with uncontrollable urges for bloodlust, but because of the environment around her that always forced her to repress herself. From the knowledge that her parents would never love her for who she really was. Himiko wasn’t born that way she was a response of what was done to her.

People who don’t really know Himiko always judge her this way, that she’s incapable of understanding other people, that she has no empathy for others. She’s almost literally labelled and dismissed as a one dimmensional yandere trope by the people surrounding her.

However, Himiko is in fact always doing the opposite. She’s constantly trying to empathize with others. Her maddened way of talking to both Tsuyu and Uraraka in her character introduction is exactly that, her trying to feel that kind of connection.

Himiko’s fascination for Uraraka is a desire for empathy and understanding. One that you could say even surpasses some characters on the hero’s side, because she’s willing to try to understand the world’s of people who are nothing like her. Himiko’s next most significant action in the manga is to take Camie’s place and go after the kids. While she does fight against them she’s not overly violent, just curious. Deku even reaffirms some of Himiko’s primary traits.

Himiko is always talking a lot and trying to explain her way of thinking to other people, because she wants them to understand her. However, because she’s bad at communicating this tends to come off as babble and a lot of people completely dismiss what she says and don’t attempt to listen.

She expresses two things one a desire to know Deku on a deeper level, immediately asking him very personal, and sometimes very downright invasive question and two she also notices the closeness that Deku and Uraraka have for one another.

Once again this is a repeating theme for the league. Himiko repeats the same desire that Twice has, to become a person who is trusted in the same way.

Once again it’s important to remember that Himiko is just the flipped version of a normal girl. If most people hide their bloodlust and show their good sides, Himiko hides her desire to be trusted and to empathize with other people underneath her bloodthirsty urges she shows on the surface. She positions herself as a femme fatalle, but she’s actually just a girl who’s trying to understand why other people are different then her, and why Deku and Uraraka can have a relationship mutually founded on trust when she can’t.

Himiko’s past was so repressed she never formed real relationships with people. Not only that she assumes that nobody will want the real her, because the moment she flipped and the real her was exposed everybody in her life abandoned her and she had to run away.

After her brush with Deku and Uraraka we see Himiko start to be trusted by her comrades and a marked transformation takes place in her.

We see shades of the old Himiko. A selfish girl who only exists to fulfill her whims. However, we’re shown Himiko is capable of empathizing because not only do Shigaraki’s words get through to her.

Himiko is also for the first time able to reach the emotions of another person. Remember when Himiko tries to explain how she’s feeling, she babbles, and babbles and nobody listens. However that changes and for the first time, not only does Himiko pick up exactly on what’s troubling Twice, she also comforts him the way he needs to be comforted. She tells him that yes it might be his fault that Magne died, but she sees that he’s doing his best to make up for it and she gently encourages him.

Remember how important this is for Twice. The world has never forgiven Jin for his mistakes. He hit the wrong guy on accident, while obeying the law, and lost both his job and his home. He started stealing to make ends meet, and as a result he lost his mind. When he makes a mistake it always blows up in his face but this time, Himiko notices that she’s panicking and comforts him telling him it’s okay he’s made this mistake and he can still work hard to fix it.

Not only that but she notices what the problem was with Jin, she was able to notice the symptoms of his psychotic breakdown and rather than dismiss it as just Twice being crazy was able to help him in real tangible ways by wrapping her hanky around him and covering him up like he asked. Uraraka has a very surface level kindness, she’s kind but only by walking around on eggshells with everyone. Himiko is able to see through people, but uses that to comfort people on a deeper level.

The “Himiko just can’t control herself because of her quirk” narrative is something that Himiko rejects herself. Because that’s not what Himiko wants. Himiko doesn’t want to be special or different from other people.

Himiko sees herself as normal, and what she desires to be understand and be understood by other people. She doesn’t like Curious’ narrative for her because it made her out to be a freak or someone special when Himiko is trying her best to get others to understand her as a normal girl. Himiko can’t repress herself anymore, she can’t become normal the way her parents taught her too so not permanently broken, and forced to always express herself she’s trying some other way.

What she wants isn’t to hurt other people, not really though. Those thoughts just turn violence, because Himiko is herself a person who’s endured a lot of violence. Himiko is basically a child that’s been on her own living on the streets and surviving for years, with all the dangers that entails, and also people who can shoot lasers and punch things really hard chasing after her.

The more she’s isolated and on the run, the more violence she endures, the more violent and unhinged her thoughts become. The more she’s exposed to people who accept her for who she is, the more she’s trusted by those people, the more empathic and sensitive Himiko becomes instead. Himiko’s desire isn’t violence, when she’s pushed to her utter limit she says what she wants is to become a girl like Uraraka who is just loved and trusted by others for who she is.

And I genuinely believe at the core of Himiko’s character this empathic girl exists. Himiko becoming violent and unrepressed doesn’t mean her empathy disappears. The complexity from Himiko is that she’s both the knife wielding psycho and the normal girl who just wants to have friends at the same time. If behind every normal person there’s a monster lurking is true then the opposite is true as well, behind every monster there’s a normal person.

This is an idea expressed by Twice again. One of the villains that Hawks dismissed as a bad person, was capable of showing him compassion and gentleness even when he screwed up. Toga was capable of empathy for Twice besides the use he had for others. Toga herself is shown to be capable of more empathy than Hawks, who is one of the most selfless characters in the series, and who is convinced his actions are always done in order to save others.

However we see their treatment of Twice is so drastically different. Hawks treats Twice in a selfish way refusing to listen to what Twice wants, and only ever used Twice as a tool to exploit. Twice himself thinks that now that he’s no longer useful, Himiko won’t be kind to him anymore however we see the opposite.

Twice admits to Toga that he’s the reason that everyone is in danger right now and he completely failed, and he’s not going to come save them. He admits that he’s useless and Twice himself said Toga wouldn’t be kind to him anymore. However in that moment, Himiko ignores the fact that her life is literally in danger and everything is going to hell around her to comfort Twice one final time and tell him the words he needs to hear.

It’s literally the single most empathic moment of the manga, and it’s in direct contrast to Hawks’ behavior. A hero as devoted to saving other people as Hawks, who genuinely likes Twice as a friend doesn’t show him any empathy at all and even stabs him as the back. A psycho like Toga puts her own feelings aside and notices Twice’s feelings, and gives him comfort and thanks him in his final moment because to her Twice has value as a person beyond what his use is. That Himiko is capable of this kindness, but equally capable of her monstrous actions earlier in the series is what makes her human. Her kindness doesn’t make her any less mosntrous, and her monstrous qualities don’t make her kindness go away she’s both at once, rather than either or. That’s where the complexity comes in.

Toga is a very human character precisely because we see her at her most monstrous, and we see that girl slowly relearn how to express the kindness that’s always been inside of her in healthier non-stabby way. A normal girl who learned how to be a monster to protect herself. A monster who is slowly relearning to be a normal girl.

#himiko toga #jin bubaigawara #league of villains #league of villains meta #league of villains friendship #mha meta #my hero academia #my hero academia meta #my hero academia villains

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semper-legens · 5 years ago

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7. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Owned?: Yes My summary: In 1950s America, Atticus Turner is a black man who loves sci-fi and pulp fiction. So when his estranged father sends him a letter from Arkham, Atticus can’t quite believe it. With his uncle George and friend Letitia, Atticus embarks on a journey to find his father...and exactly what the deal is with the man holding him, one Mr Braithwaite. My rating: 3.5/5 My commentary:

So first off, that cover is cool. Really loving that 1950s pulp novel vibe.

I enjoyed this one! Picked it up entirely on a whim one day, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect going into it. Lovecraft? Countries? Who knows! Not Jamie. I didn’t even google it beforehand, I just saw it on my shelf and was like ‘eh I’m not really up to a bigger book, why not.’

First of all, let me address the elephant in this particular room. This book is very much about race, and very much about the treatment of black people in America in the 1950s. The book opens with Atticus being racially profiled by a policeman. Atticus’ uncle is the author of the Safe Negro Travel Guide, a guide for black people to not get murdered while travelling. This existed in real life, though it had a different name, I believe.

That Lovecraft was a massive racist is pointed out early, and really well! Atticus loves pulp novels and horror/sci-fi, and reads Lovecraft as a young man. His father, who is a lot more of an activist than Atticus, points out that the shoggoths are dark-skinned, and later gives Atticus an essay written by Lovecraft about black people. It’s less than complimentary! And when the real supernatural events start happening (because of course there’s real cults in this novel) the perpetrators are white men who seek to use the black protagonists for various things, not really caring about their lives or safety.

It’s also an ensemble piece! Yeah, this book is hard to summarise in this regard. It’s not really about Atticus as much as it’s about the community he lives in, and their interactions with the supernatural. Each chapter is a different short story that sheds light on an element of the cult and the supernatural story, but is from the point of view of a different character - first Atticus, then Letitia, then George, George’s wife Hippolyta, etc. And this world progresses so well. All of the characters are so believable, it feels like a glimpse into a real, living, breathing world.

If I have a particular criticism of this book, it’s the prose. I don’t know why, but it just didn’t click for me. I think because it was too...beige? Not too detailed, bit perfunctory, which showed up in the action scenes more than anything. It felt like a lot of ‘he grabs the thing and hits the guy’. The prose shone in the conversations or slow horror scenes, but action was not its best quality.

But I loved the characters and the world they inhabited. Not only was the supernatural element interesting, but also just the mundane lives of the people this story follows. I was just as caught up in Ruby’s job dilemma or Letitia’s shrewd saleswomanship as I was her Jekyll and Hyde routine or chatting to a ghost. I don’t really have a lot to say about this book, I think? Maybe it’s just late, idk. tl;dr, surprisingly complex, worth a read, the conclusion is so satisfying.

#Lovecraft Country #Matt Ruff #bookblr #bookblogger #Book blogger #3.5

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comicteaparty · 6 years ago

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February 7th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on February 7th, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on MK’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Marika Kapogeorgakis (or MK_Wizard).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing MK’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Marika Kapogeorgakis (or MK_Wizard)~! (http://mksjekyllandhyde.thecomicseries.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Archangel

I'd have to say the first real heart-to-heart that Hyde had with Lucy.

MK_Wizard

For me (the writer), my favourite scene was when Jekyll finally stood up for his niece Emily.

khkddn

that was one of my favorites too

MK_Wizard

PS, thanks to everyone who came. You all rock!

khkddn

it was so sad when he didn't stand up for her at first

MK_Wizard

@lomcia (princess_lom) Please don't do that.

lomcia (princess_lom)

so you want me to discrabe which one i like?

MK_Wizard

Yes please.

RebelVampire

for the record images, whether emotes or w/e, dont get archived anyway. so text and links are always better

lomcia (princess_lom)

So. I like when he said that he won't have glasses on his face. World NEVER ihere is making me laugh

MK_Wizard

Yes, but... I don't feel comfortable when people take "snaps" of my pictures and show them elsewhere. It's something I was taught not to do to others.

If you must share, please share through a link.

lomcia (princess_lom)

Act 2 page 21 when they look into a mirror xD he look so happy in first panel and then when he realised that its not him xD i love it

MK_Wizard

That was fun for me to do that part.

lomcia (princess_lom)

Act 3 page 7! When he sees our lovely Lucy

that first panel!

Archangel

I must admit to having a bit of a crush on Lucy myself.

lomcia (princess_lom)

It was perfect

MK_Wizard

I have to admit that Lucy is one of the characters I proudest of. I worked very hard on her to not only make her progressive, but also deep. I wanted to give her a reason for being as she is.

Archangel

More historically plausible in our world than you may realize, too

lomcia (princess_lom)

I prefer as a female Hyde

Archangel

lol

Actually, have we seen any lady trolls?

Can't recall

MK_Wizard

Not yet.

lomcia (princess_lom)

not yet so there will be xD

MK_Wizard

Maybe, maybe not.

lomcia (princess_lom)

I hope Albert Ode will find nice woman

RebelVampire

for me, my favorite scene is probably the one where jekyll is in the mirror having given hyde full control and resigning himself to be gone forever. and then hyde comes back and tells him nah dude well work this out. i really just loved the subtle build-up looks where hyde is looking at things like the letter jekyll was leaving and such. it was also very touching and really showed hyde's heart through all the huffing and puffing

lomcia (princess_lom)

I like him i hope he never change

Rebel that was so sad scene , so emotional!

I really enjoy as I said Albert Ode, I hope to see him more offten, hes charming

Archangel

I think somebody has her own crush.

lomcia (princess_lom)

yeah, on all trolls Albert and Hyde

MK_Wizard

I felt is was high time the world got a version of Hyde who was good and still "Hyde" enough. In every adaptation I've seen, Hyde is always bad. And the very concept Robert Louis Stevenson had on good and evil was deep at the time, but now, we know that it's not true. What I did was bold and maybe "wrong" to some people, but it's the truth.

Archangel

I like how both Doc and Hyde have a plausible and sensible mix of good and bad personal qualities. Their interplay is more akin to 'The Odd Couple" than the usual metaphors of id vs superego or drug addiction that I see in other adaptations of the story.

MK_Wizard

Ha! Well, I like to think that by troll standards, Hyde doe faced.

I did that purpose too. If we did what was expected and made Jekyll completely submit to Hyde, that would be expected and dull.

No offence to webcomic writers who take that route.

Archangel

Well, tropes can either be used to a good purpose, subverted to a good purpose, or just blindly followed.

khkddn

Robert Louis Stevenson's take wasn't true?

MK_Wizard

If anything, I can tell you all this: between the two of them, Hyde is more dependent on Jekyll than Jekyll is on Hyde.

lomcia (princess_lom)

MK I really enjoy your story, and I would love to chat more but my eyes don't listen to me :< I wish you all the best, meaby when I'll wake up I will answer for questions which people left as a feedback for you

MK_Wizard

It was true for the psychological view of human nature at the time. So he was just as right as everyone else. But now, we have come a long way with psychology.

So yes and no @khkddn

Thanks @lomcia (princess_lom)

Archangel

It's been a long time since I read the original, but I seem to recall interpreting Jeckyl as the superego and Hyde as the id

Which could be considered good and evil, respectively, in a Victorian mind? Maybe? Not really my period of history, so I don't feel comfortable being definite.

khkddn

I interpreted it as subverting what people of the time thought the "professional gentlemanly man" was supposed to be

Archangel

Hmm. I see that.

MK_Wizard

It could be interpreted many ways. That's the beauty of the original tale.

khkddn

the victorian professional gentleman was supposed to be all good and proper, but here we have this guy turning into an evil man at night

but that's pretty far removed from mk's version

MK_Wizard

Jekyll and Hyde had a lot of complex themes when it came to duality don't forget such as having dark secrets one would be very ashamed of for the Victorian age especially.

khkddn

it's a happier story for one thing. i like how your writing isn't mean-spirited mk.

like there are mean people who do terrible things, but it's never framed as a funny thing or as just something that happens in life that we can't change

RebelVampire

yes i agree, i like this is a more upbeat version. not to say sad things dont happen, but i dont get the impression that its trying to be dark and edgy just to be dark and edgy. sad things happen right when they should

MK_Wizard

I'm not into meanness. I find at one point in the media, being mean got passed off as cool. I don't like that.

mathtans

Little one is asleep in crib (again). ^^ Happening place tonight! I got as far as end of Act 5.

RebelVampire

hi math~!

MK_Wizard

Hello!

mathtans

Fave bit of what I've read was probably at the ball, when we get the extra whammy of who Emma was with. I hadn't expected that. Then when Jekyll is trying to shrug it off, Emily interjects, that was awesome. I really like Emily.

MK_Wizard

Nice to see an Emily fan. I feared people overlooked her.

Archangel

She's a keeper, for sure

I had actually forgotten about her since we haven't seen her in a while. If it's any consolation, I do that to real people too.

RebelVampire

oh really? i 100% expected emma to be with him cause the world was really intent on kicking jekyll down. what i did enjoy was her trying to put all the blame on jekyll tho. cause that is something real ppl do when they get caught as such.

mathtans

Emily is the kick in the pants that Jekyll needs sometimes. I also like Lucy for similar reasons, actually (standing up for herself, whereas with Emily it's for her uncle).

MK_Wizard

@RebelVampire Definitely. I see it happen all to often with cheaters.

mathtans

Rebel: I guess I hadn't anticipated that plot point to still be dangling. Really felt bad for Jekyll at the start on account of kicking him when he was down though, like ouch. Also, agree, it was true to form.

Archangel

The hardest thing to blame is one's self, after all

RebelVampire

i appreciated that emily didnt forgive jekyll for the tennis thing and for not standing up for her. cause that was a point where i was glad she was gonna stop being an enabler of jekyll's flaws in a more slap in the face wake up call kind of way

mathtans

Like, talking could still be a thing. I know that sometimes people avoid, but when you're proposed to, I think that's the time to talk.

MK_Wizard

In Emily's defence, what Jekyll did was cowardly and hurtful.

Archangel

Def

mathtans

Rebel: Yeah, I'm kind of in the middle of that now, but that hurt. Since she was always standing up for him.

MK_Wizard

And don't forget. Emily's a teenager. She will have teen moments.

Archangel

He did correct his mistake and learn from it. Credit where it's due.

mathtans

Oooh, spoilers. (j/k)

Archangel

Oh right, sorry

hehe

mathtans

Heh, it's cool, talk about all the stuff. I do this every week, and never manage to clear the archive half the time.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. Two major themes of the comic are what it means to be a better person in the face of personal flaws and how one might learn to be better. Insofar, what has been your favorite moment of growth for any of the characters showcased in the comic? What about this moment struck you as particularly strong? In the larger picture, do you think Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde really will continue to help each other to grow? Further, in what ways do you think the two characters can grow further as people? Alternatively, might the two reach a limit where they are no longer able to help each other in this manner? What flaws might both still continue to deal with long term? Overall, how do you think these changes will affect how both characters deal with life, and what can we personally learn from it as readers?

MK_Wizard

I'm afraid there's no way I can answer this without giving things away

Archangel

Good God, where to start. Give me a minute.

mathtans

It's kind of interesting, because Hyde never even had a memory before the transformation. So in some sense, he's a blank slate, and thus everything is growth.

In the beginning, Hyde was doing it for himself, but he inadvertantly helped people. Some part of him must have liked that, because now he does it to help and fight against the system.

Archangel

Okay, so obviously each of our protagonists has a massive, salient character flaw that comes out fairly early on. Jeckyl is too afraid of confrontation, and would rather get shafted than make a scene. Meanwhile Hyde, as @mathtans noted, is very self-centered--in rather a childish way, which makes sense in the context that Mat noted.

Each is well-placed to advise the other and point out that he's being a tool and why.

And -- very importantly -- they can't ignore each other

While each man is far from perfect, we're already seeing them improve in the face of the other's prodding, and finding themselves happier for it

mathtans

They have much to "reflect" on.

Archangel

/facedesk

Bravo, sir

Now I have to wipe soda off my monitor

MK_Wizard

I don't deny that there are tons of metaphors and symbolism in my story.

khkddn

there were earlier times when jekyll became more of a courageous person but i liked in act 8 when lanyon showed up at his door pretending to be friendly and jekyll is not having ANY of it

RebelVampire

be careful with that soda cause math is here to be the pun master

Archangel

Noted

Anyway, to @khkddn 's point, I wonder if it's because it was just the two of them? Maybe J's problem is more social anxiety? Interesting thought.

RebelVampire

yeah seeing jekyll just being like nope was a really satisfying in that moment. like seeing your little boy suddenly grow up.

MK_Wizard

It's a lot of things and it's complex which will be explained more and more as the story goes on.

RebelVampire

my favorite moment of growth is actually when hyde apologizes to lucy. because apologies are legit one of the hardest things to do i think for ppl. because thats a lot of stabbing for the personal ego, and the more prideful, the harder it is. so heres hyde, probably one of the most prideful ppl in the comic, admitting that he said some messed up shit and screwed up. that was a beautiful moment cause taking that many stabs to his ego was a showcase of how far hed come that hed go through such a grand gesture and damage his pride.

mathtans

Hyde also really has no filter when he's talking, while Jekyll has like, massive overthinking of everything before he speaks. It's a live-in-the-moment attitude versus thinking about the future. So if there is a "limit" where they can't help each other, I imagine Jekyll would see it coming.

MK_Wizard

They are opposites @mathtans

mathtans

True. I guess I'm saying that's conveyed well.

Archangel

@RebelVampire it also shows just how deeply Hyde cares for Lucy, that he's willing to basically abase himself like that.

khkddn

i agree w @RebelVampire about that scene, it shows that even if hyde is an opposite to jekyll personality wise, he isn't morally opposite and can be a good person who admits mistakes

mathtans

Speaking of opposites, here's a fun thing I realized. Jekyll loses his job, and his girl, and we feel badly for him. That thug guy Tom ALSO loses his "job" and his "girl" (if shaking down stores can be a job), but because he's on the wrong side of the law (and a jerk), we don't feel badly for him.

Archangel

Well, neither of their flaws are really things that need to be completely removed. They just need to be moderated. Hyde needs to learn a bit of impulse control, and Jeckyl needs to learn to loosen up a bit.

mathtans

Yeah, "Tom" might be the moral opposite.

Archangel

But neither of their attitudes towards life are bad per se, so long as they're not taken to extremes... as they have been doing

Huh, interesting

Or perhaps "there but for the grace of God go I" type of thing?

MK_Wizard

@mathtans Tom is a bad person. Do you all remember how he hit Lucy? Imagine how much worse it would have been if Hyde wasn't there.

RebelVampire

yeah im really interested to see if jekyll's biggest challenge in growing is moderation. cause i didnt entirely disagree with him in certain contexts. like at the party, i was kind of on his side that sometimes just letting things go is better and that theres a time and place for certain...coversations as it were.

Archangel

I'm amazed Lucy doesn't carry a knife or something. Most prostitutes in cities carry something for self-defense (if they're smart), and the habit would likely carry over into working at a bar. Plus Victorian ladies' clothes are REALLY good for concealing weapons. You have to see it to believe it

mathtans

Yeah, jerk as I indicated. Just, similar stuff happened to him. Just thought it was interesting. He's more evil than Hyde is, for sure.

Archangel

Oh absolutely

khkddn

tom doesnt have a cool top hat like hyde and that's why i'll never root for him even if he weren't a bad person(edited)

MK_Wizard

@Archangel Lucy does own a knife, but she knows Tom would have overpowered her.

Archangel

If she'd given him a chance. But I see your point.

The hardest part of hurting or killing someone is actually deciding to do so.

Damaging somebody is terrifyingly easy... if you can bring yourself to do it.

Anyway. off topic.

MK_Wizard

There's a reason she has scars. Like Lucy said, her getting slapped wasn't the worst assault a man had ever done on her. She is brave and tough, but she's not super strong. Lots of men can overpower her and have, but she's not prostitute. She's a waitress, but she is poor so that still makes her an easy target.

Archangel

She started out as a sex worker, though, right? Or am I misremembering.

mathtans

Again, to be clear, I don't think anyone should root for Tom. Just, he had similar stuff happen and approached things in a way that neither Jekyll nor Hyde would. (Very wrongly.)

khkddn

lucy would also need an exit strategy if she used the knife on tom. she would probably have to run away and lay low, which could be more dangerous than staying with him.

mathtans

Lucy is kickass. I liked her remark of an apology shouldn't have a "but".

MK_Wizard

She was a showgirl and eventually had to sort of become a prostitute, but she isn't one anymore.

Archangel

Very true, hadn't thought that through

Seebee

is here to show support

Woo, go MK

Archangel

lol

MK_Wizard

Hey Seebee!

Seebee

Yoooo~

MK_Wizard

Glad you could join us.

You rock!

Seebee

GASP, I'MMA ROCK?!

looks at self

no wonder I got craters on my skiiiin

Archangel

Hope you're a pet rock. Then you get a nice box with straw and everything

MK_Wizard

Just because Lucy is no muscle woman doesn't mean she's a pushover. And now that she doesn't have to submit to people to make a living, she sure as heck never does.

RebelVampire

yeah i think that was a great line, @mathtans cause its really such a simplistic but smart way of weeding a good apology from a bad apology

MK_Wizard

Her having her body belong to herself again is something that is very precious to her.

Archangel

Understandably

Not many people could have gone through as much bad as Lucy has and come out walking erect, as the saying goes. I think that's why admire her so much. I don't think I could ever be that strong.

mathtans

(I'm continuing my read in the background, btw. The April Fools strip with the green hair is a riot. Speaking of bodies belonging to other people.)

khkddn

yeah lucy is one of my favorite characters, she's cool

MK_Wizard

She had to be. No one else was there for her. Back in the day, being of mixed ethnicity was a taboo.

That was the reason she had it rough. It's not right, but... it was not uncommon.

khkddn

if a random person during the time saw lucy would they assume she is mixed? or does she pass as not being mixed?

i'm wondering if this would change how she is treated

Archangel

Speaking for the USA, it depended entirely on the place and the person's specific appearance

But rarely would it be ignored

MK_Wizard

Ha. Well.... she's a cartoon, but if she were real, yes. You would tell because her skin is a bit too dark, she has the eyes and lips, as well as the physique.

mathtans

Just an aside on the topic of cartoons, I feel like it takes a while to draw the hairdos. ^^

MK_Wizard

She can't pass off not being mixed. She's one of those very obvious cases.

Oh ho ho ho. Jekyll's hair IS tedious to draw, but it's worth it because it makes him stand out.

Archangel

Also, her hair isn't right. One of the more dominant traits of African heritage is the way hair behaves--very bristly and stand-outy (I don't know the right word). To get it to flow like Lucy's does, one needs a good deal of product every morning. Or so a friend told me once.

mathtans

Well done, MK. Also for having Emily's be similar, what with the family resemblance.

MK_Wizard

Thanks

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. In the current story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have become aware of a mysterious alchemist causing trouble. Who exactly is this mysterious alchemist? Why is this alchemist helping Governor Carew? Exactly what do you think this project is that the board of governors is looking to fund by using the alchemist’s talents? Do you think Mr. Hyde’s previous actions will put the board on extra alert for their investigations? How might this affect Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll’s success in stopping Carew’s villainy, if so? Alternatively, how might the various things the alchemist is able to do (like create gold) change the characters’ views on how the world works? All in all, how do you feel this arc of cases will wind up be solved (or go unsolved)?

Archangel

I do know that one of the standard "tests" of somebody's background back in the bad old days was to look at their hair, precisely because this trait is so dominant.

mathtans

Well, I'm obviously not there yet, but I feel like this was set up very well with the mercury poisoning stuff happening in the background of what I have read.

Archangel

Well, creating gold is always a bad idea when the economy is based on gold. Every mage's guild I've ever seen in any universe has a big fat rule against it

MK_Wizard

In Lucy's case, it's her skin, eyes and lips. Plus, her body type as she got older. Don't forget, coloured people go far beyond the hair and skin.

But back to the subject, it was explicitly stated that making your own gold is 100% illegal.

Archangel

So they have to be either utterly stupid or they don't care about devaluing the currency. Not something for men of means (and thus knowledge of at least some finance and economics) to take lightly

My bad, but my second point stands re: their scheme with the unfortunate chickens

RebelVampire

youre making a huge assumption they understand how the economy works. XD i dont get the impression most of the men of means care, as long as they get theirs and get to have their fancy stuff.

MK_Wizard

Plus, the board of governors have a lot of influence.

mathtans

What about making gold for someone else?

Archangel

I'd like to argue with you, RV, but I can't.

Presumably charged as an accessory, @mathtans

MK_Wizard

@Seebee, you got anything to add to this?

Archangel

Given that we're talking chemistry, though, the other classic thing that comes up aside from gold is some sort of immortality potion. I don't recall any hints to that effect, though.

mathtans

"You made a gold chain for my locket?" "Yes, now it's an accessory."

Seebee

Hmmm... not at the moment

I will be honest, I am ded inside from being out all day))

mathtans

I'm reminded of how Jekyll's first attempts at his formula involved trying almost all elements on the periodic table. He must have certain resources that might be helpful for going after an alchemist.

MK_Wizard

That and Jekyll has the most valuable resource of all: his own genius

Archangel

Mmm. He can certainly analyze any samples or whatnot that Hyde acquires.

RebelVampire

maybe thatll be the next arc, where theyre trying to find an immortality potion.

khkddn

i imagine the alchemist is helping governor carew because he's deeply involved w the plan somehow. it'd be weird if he were just a hired alchemist, because, what're they gonna pay him in? gold?? couldn't he just make the gold himself

Archangel

Perhaps the deal is that they'll put him beyond the law

So he can actually get away with it

No point to crime if you can't enjoy the result

MK_Wizard

It's definitely something big and it also shows how heinous the board of governors really are.

RebelVampire

i kind of think the previous arc has made it more difficult though. cause if i was on the board, i would def be on high alert. all it takes is one guy saying "hey i saw hyde snooping around stopping our gold operation"

MK_Wizard

Actually, nobody can say or do anything.

The alchemist burnt the evidence and place to the ground.

mathtans

Everything probably points back to Carew. That guy is shady as anything. (Incidentally, good job emphasizing his character with that statue debacle near the start. Not a nice man.)

RebelVampire

i can only think the alchemist is in it for the secret project. cause i agree with khkddn, its not like the alchemist needs gold

Archangel

I don't think we've seen any bent cops to this point, which means that the Governors either need enough evidence to fool honest cops (not so easy to fake), or to keep mum

MK_Wizard

It's a bit of both. Not enough evidence and some cops are crooked much to Sgt. Drumwell's dismay.

Archangel

There's always a few, and they always get promoted. >_<

Kei Esteban

Hello! Sorry I'm Late!

MK_Wizard

It's cool!

Archangel

*Hi ho

khkddn

heya

Kei Esteban

Thanks

RebelVampire

tbf its not like these are modern csi times. so theres only so many ways they can analyze evidence in the first place

MK_Wizard

Exactly

khkddn

do they even have fingerprint technology at this point?

Archangel

The techniques were fully established by that point, but not so widely accepted

MK_Wizard

They do have a way of detecting fingerprints, but fire destroys everything.

mathtans

Gotta make themselves a time machine.

Archangel

Wiki "Henry Classification System" sometime for an interesting insight into pre-fingerprint policing

khkddn

ah well to get anything out of ashes i think they would need chemical analysis that doesn't exist yet. it'd prolly be faster to build a time machine yep

Archangel

The problem with fire is that it alters the chemical composition of everything

MK_Wizard

Exactly. The alchemist knew precisely what he was doing.

Archangel

So unless you have research data, it's pretty much impossible to ID the source substances.

khkddn

they need chemical analysis that doesn't even exist in OUR time yet

Archangel

Well, the good guys do have a genius (al)chemist on their side...

Speaking of, @MK_Wizard , is there an actual technical distinction between chemistry and alchemy, or is it just po-tay-to/po-tah-to?

mathtans

Maybe someone will Hyde the evidence.

MK_Wizard

Yes and no.

khkddn

if only the chickens could speak english. then the truth would be out there

MK_Wizard

To explain, alchemy has some spirituality and magical properties behind it. Basically, it was the stepping stone to chemistry. People discovered that magic did have a science behind it and upon further research, people discovered that magic had a direct link to nature.

khkddn

i have to work on a school project and this is distracting me way too much so i'm gonna go. it's been fun chatting!

Archangel

glhf

MK_Wizard

With that, human beings who have no magic invented a way to "use magic" without having any themselves. Alchemy. They would use ways of manipulating nature in supernatural ways and through that, they discovered how to make chemicals and made other marvels through science.

@khkddn thanks for joining us

Of course, it wasn't just humans who used magic. Other races did too.

Kei Esteban

Ah, Other than Trolls and Humans, do you have any interest in having other Races show up?

mathtans

Interesting bringing that up, what with trolls being a thing common enough to be known with police. I wondered too.(edited)

MK_Wizard

Definitely. In fact, you already saw two and didn't know it.

Remember the short guy Biggs? He's a gnome.

Archangel

Oh cool

Kei Esteban

Ah Neat ^_^

Archangel

I still say he needs a buddy named Wedge

Kei Esteban

RebelVampire

thats interesting. cause i was curious why everyone was like shrugging to the presence of trolls

MK_Wizard

The other one is Tyler the redhead, but what HE is... you're going to see

mathtans

Now I'm picturing Biggs renting himself out to stand in gardens during the day.

Archangel

"If I parked a tank outside your office, after a week it would be just another car." --one of my vet buddies

Kei Esteban

I look forward to finding out ^_^

Archangel

(as in my buddy who's a vet. I was never in the Service)

Also, London in our world is one of the most metropolitan environments on earth. I bet it's the same in the story.

MK_Wizard

Most definitely,

mathtans

I now kind of wonder about interracial breeding.

MK_Wizard

It's like the "New York" of Europe in my comic. You'll find anyone there.

Archangel

Just like in real life

MK_Wizard

You've seen it already. Sgt. Drumwell is half troll and half human.

mathtans

Like, troll and human must be a thing given how Hyde and Lucy.... oh, yeah? Hummmm.

MK_Wizard

Hence his human appearance, but he has yellow fangs and his eyes.

Kei Esteban

Settings like that are always nice too see

MK_Wizard

It's also why he's compassionate. He was lucky because his parents were very wealthy so their money protected them. Plus, he passes off as a human mostly, but his eyes, teeth and height give him away.

Archangel

Well, it's for MK to say for sure, but one of the definitions of separate species is the inability to interbreed. There are exceptions, but that's the general rule. It would be interesting to see Hyde and Lucy have little ones, though. In due course.

Kei Esteban

indeed

RebelVampire

are laws applied equally or is there inequality as far as different species go? like is there special laws that only exist for trolls, etc.?

mathtans

Actually, Sgt Drumwell is their child. Eventually Jekyll perfects the time machine and sends him back.

MK_Wizard

lol no

Archangel

lmao

MK_Wizard

Here's how it works. It's generally a taboo socially, but if you're very rich, you can get away with a lot. You just won't be respected for it.

For example... there's another non-human you saw without knowing it. Utterson's redheaded wife Camilla. She's a wizard.

AND he married her without making her convert to his faith/human lifestyle. He allows her to continue living openly as a wizard and practicing her culture.

Archangel

Fascinating. And again, makes sense that people would regard sentient species the way they regarded other races at the time.

Kei Esteban

Well he is a Great guy, so that's not too surprising he would be respectful of her completely

MK_Wizard

Her hair was also an Easter Egg to her race. In old lore, red heads were often thought to be witches.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. Despite working together, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll still argue quite often and risk their own safety a lot. How might their shared injury and pain help or hurt their ability to function in their own daily lives in the future? Do you believe that at some point the two’s shared identity of sorts will be revealed? If so, how do you envision this coming about? Given the growing relationship between Mr. Hyde and Lucy, will Mr. Hyde be compelled to tell her at some point? What about Dr. Jekyll with his niece and nephew? Do you think the two’s shared arrangement with the body will work long term, or will they at some point need to make alterations to their living situation? Ultimately, how do you feel their living arrangement will affect their future adventures, whatever you think those future adventures might be?

Kei Esteban

@MK_Wizard Oh no! They are on too me! (I'm a Red head XD)(edited)

MK_Wizard

Ok, for this... I leave entirely up to all of you. So... bring on the fan theories!

Archangel

Let's see. Well, Lucy absolutely has a right to know. How she'll react, I have no idea.

As to Emily & Will... I think Emily should be briefed in, if only so she won't freak out if Hyde has to come get them to prevent a kidnapping or something by the opposition.

MK_Wizard

Keep in mind. Nobody knows yet.

Nobody except Louis and he's not talking.

Archangel

Right. I think Lucy can keep a secret. Emily... honestly don't know her well enough to say.

RebelVampire

yeah i think as far as a long term arrangement, its not gonna work. because assuming hyde wants to marry lucy at some point, thatd be problematic. even worse, what if jekyll meets somebody. they are fooling themselves if they think this can work out indefinitely. so jekyll is gonna need to put that genius to work.

Kei Esteban

I think it would be best in the long run for those closest to them to know. Lucy and Emily would be a great start indeed

Archangel

Knowledge of the situation would be all that Carew & Lanyon need to discredit anything Jeckyl says, ever, so it certainly can't become public knowledge.

MK_Wizard

Lanyon is out of the picture for good. It's the one thing I can confirm. He's defeated for good.

Archangel

Yay!

He was a good bad guy, though

Kei Esteban

I love how he effectively defeated himself! XD

MK_Wizard

That was the point. And it was also karma. Lanyon got successful by riding on Jekyll's tail and taking everything that was his.

In the end, doing this was his undoing.

Sure he didn't have Jekyll's money to do stuff, but it didn't make being a skunk ok especially because Jekyll really did see him as a friend and would have hlped him.

Kei Esteban

It was such a Creative way to end the conflict ^_^

Archangel

I don't think he'd believe you if you'd told him that to his face. People like that seem to get that way because they assume that everybody's out to get everybody. At least in my (blessedly limited) contact with the species.

Kei Esteban

That's an unfortunate way to look at the world. By that i mean the "everybody out to get everybody" bit.(edited)

MK_Wizard

I wanted to show that there are good and bad people from every social standing.

Basically, different kinds of good and bad people.

mathtans

Back. (Had to see to the little one briefly.)

MK_Wizard

Aww

mathtans

In terms of people knowing, would they believe without seeing the transformation?

Archangel

Good question

MK_Wizard

Would you? I don't think so.

mathtans

It's not like people have iPhones to video record it.

Archangel

That might help them keep the secret

mathtans

I mean, there's the argument of they haven't been in the same room together.

RebelVampire

nah i highly doubt it. in fact, far more likely the person claiming this is a thing that happened would get sent to an asylum

MK_Wizard

Yeah, but... who would believe the two share a body that transforms without seeing it?

mathtans

Though I agree with Rebel that they'll need to figure something out so that relationship things don't become an issue.

Someone with MPD?

MK_Wizard

Not talking (teasing)

I will share one tidbit... At the end of the true end of the story, there will be no loose ends.

For anything. And that is all.

mathtans

Just got to the bit with Lanyon, btw, that you were referencing earlier. That was very clever, coming full circle, and good final shot of him in the mirror.

RebelVampire

actually ya know tbf, didnt louis take some of the potion. you could use louis to show its a real thing

in the sense of the transformation

mathtans

Crazy theory time: Jekyll figures out how to shift Hyde to share a body with someone else instead. Hyde and Lucy decide to become "one", and ride off into the sunset.

MK_Wizard

I will say this now... no.

That sounds romantic on paper, but that would actually be bad.

Because how would they be a couple?

mathtans

Kissing mirrors.

Archangel

That'd make it like that one movie where the knight and the lady each shapeshift, but they alternate states at dawn and can never be together. That was one weird movie.

Good curse, though

MK_Wizard

That sounds like the worst kind of hell for two people deeply in love. To be so close, yet completely separate.

Kei Esteban

@MK_Wizard like Garnet, from Steven Universe? XD

Archangel

Actually, what Mat describes would be a truly horrible curse for a couple. I might use that someday.

MK_Wizard

Garnet is not Ruby and Sapphie per se. She is the embodiment of their love.

mathtans

Yeah, you're not wrong. Okay, so Hyde and Poole...?

Archangel

Poole's not getting any younger

What happens when one half dies?

MK_Wizard

They both die.

Kei Esteban

@MK_Wizard Very True (I guess we can't use Gem logic here)(edited)

mathtans

Yeah, I think that was stated. When they hurt, the other hurts too.

RebelVampire

yeah i feel the fact they share pain and death is gonna be weaponized against them. cause if i needed to get rid of hyde, id go for jekyll if i knew that fact. cause whats jekyll gonna do? slap me a little?

Kei Esteban

then how about Hyde and Carew? (Hyde just takes over full time)

MK_Wizard

You all really hit the nail on the head that them sharing a body, but not lives and such is going to become a challenge.

Archangel

Good point. Though you'd have to bump Jeckyl right away rather than keeping him around. Come sunset...

mathtans

Just to talk about Emily again (because she's cool), I feel like she'd understand, if the truth came out. Though I wonder if she'd be hurt that Jekyll didn't say anything sooner.

Archangel

Ooo, I like Kei's idea. Not sure it works that way, though.

MK_Wizard

And I will disprove the theory now.... Hyde and Jekyll cannot suddenly be shifted to another person. Neither soul is a "disease" you can hand onto someone else.

Archangel

@mathtans I agree. My concern would be whether she can keep a secret. She is a teenage girl, after all.

MK_Wizard

They are a person.

Archangel

And keeping a cool secret is hard at any age

MK_Wizard

They are two people.

Kei Esteban

indeed

mathtans

Archangel: She's pretty mature for her age though. Granted, she's also pretty outspoken. I don't think she'd say anything intentionally, but it might come out in the heart of the moment or something. (Which is maybe why she could accept not having been told.)

RebelVampire

i think emily could keep a secret. now will on the otherhand

MK_Wizard

So all theories of them being put onto someone else will not come to pass because that's impossible.

RebelVampire

will i would believe couldnt keep a secret cause hes even younger(edited)

Archangel

Perhaps with the materials to 'construct' a new body, and the proper spellwork, each can be embodied separately? Sort of a siamese twin operation?

Will is right out at his age.

Kei Esteban

Will being a kid, might even think it's cool (Which he would be right)(edited)

mathtans

So maybe one of them decides to sacrifice themselves for the good of the two of them. Jekyll already tried that once.

MK_Wizard

I won't say much about who can keep a secret, but in my experience, it goes with personality not age.

Archangel

I will say that almost nobody under the age of 10 can keep a secret in my experience. But aside from that, agreed.

mathtans

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Nellie couldn't keep a secret.

MK_Wizard

You've also seen that Hyde would never have that. He's not an active killer. And he loves Jekyll as a brother. He wouldn't kill him if he asked him to.

And taking over essentially does that.

Archangel

I'm not sure Nellie's bright enough to grasp the core concept XD

Kei Esteban

Archangel

Here's a really trippy question, MK: do J&D have separate souls, or do they share one?

mathtans

(And I had to go to the cast page to look up the name, and now I see how "half troll" is right there in Drumwell's bio, nice.)

MK_Wizard

They have separate souls.

Archangel

Obviously their minds are separate, but I'm questioning their spiritual state in the technical sense

Okay, so it's reasonable to theorize that they could be separated and embodied separately. It would certainly take high magic, though.

MK_Wizard

The Hyde Formula has magical properties. For example, did you know that in reincarnation, the soul splits? Hence why some people who get reincarnated can be reincarnated as multiple people.

Archangel

I've never heard that.

mathtans

Well, if the original intention was a sort of "Disney" Jekyll and Hyde, maybe there will be a Disney ending? Somehow?

Archangel

Pillars of Eternity has this whole thing about souls fragmenting, but that's more like chips off a rock over time.

MK_Wizard

In the case of Jekyll and Hyde, Hyde came from a piece of Jekyll's own soul, but it became its own unique being.

Yes, You got it!

Archangel

Makes sense.

MK_Wizard

Keep in mind, even Disney endings aren't always perfect.

RebelVampire

the disney ending will be hyde and lucy riding off in a carriage with the just got married sign and jekyll will come to cause they decided to just make it a threesome

although that joke aside i wonder if jekyll and lucy will ever interact

MK_Wizard

Uh, no lol

Lucy is not Jekyll's type and Hyde would not share his woman with anyone.

Nor would Jekyll do that.

Jekyll is as monogamous as they come lol.

mathtans

Hmmm, and is it too late to ship Lucy and Emma?

Archangel

RV is right insofar as it would be interesting to see how Jeckyl and Lucy get along socially. I imagine that after some initial sounding out, they'll manage well enough. After all, Lucy is a lady and Jeckyl is a gentleman. That goes a long way.

lmao

Kei Esteban

It would be nice to see Jekyll meet someone new, that is actually good for him

Archangel

MK_Wizard

@mathtans That ship is solely wish fulfilment and a fan fantasy.

RebelVampire

i more wonder the social interaction cause that could make hyde jealous. if jekyll and lucy got along even if it was totally platonic

Archangel

Actually, someone like Emily would be very good for Jeckyl... in the sense of personality, not age.

mathtans

(I always ship the ladies... ) And actually, the thought that it's a fan fantasy already amuses me.

Archangel

Cue the "I ship it, I don't care" song

MK_Wizard

I made this comic knowing people would do ships if the comic caught on. All I say is that, as long as you accept that it is not the official storyline.

mathtans

Maybe Jekyll can be the best man at the Hyde/Lucy wedding?

Archangel

Only if Poole is the Father of the Bride

Otherwise J would slide down to second place IMO

mathtans

What's official is definitely up to the author. All the best with it! It's an interesting take.

MK_Wizard

Thanks

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Marika Kapogeorgakis (or MK_Wizard), as well, for making MK’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Marika Kapogeorgakis (or MK_Wizard)’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://mksjekyllandhyde.thecomicseries.com/

Marika’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MK_Wizard

Marika’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/mkwizard

Marika’s Storenvy: https://mkomics.storenvy.com/

Marika’s Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/MK_Wizard

Marika’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKJekyllAndHyde

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #mk's the strange case of dr. jekyll & mr. hyde #mk's dr. jekyll & mr. hyde #marika kapogeorgakis #mk_wizard

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madamlaydebug · 7 years ago

Photo

Emotionally Intense New Moon On June 13th, there will be an extremely powerful and potent new supermoon in Gemini, bringing with it an energetic emotional storm that is set to stay for the next two months. The reason for this is that this supermoon is the first in a series of three new moon supermoons, with the the second on July 13th—and the third, which will be the completion of this intense energy portal, taking place on August 11th, 2018. Cosmically, everything happens in sequences, and we have just stepped into one of these sequences—known as a supermoon triad, which happens when there are three supermoons in a row. Unlike regular new moons—in which the energy lasts for a few days—the highly charged, intense, life-altering energy of this trio will be felt consistently throughout this two-month period. Those who are highly sensitive to energy will have been sensing the intensity in the atmosphere since the beginning of June and feeling the highly charged energy developing—because although there have been high and low periods, generally the intensity has remained at a peak. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth, resulting in the moon being approximately 14 percent closer than normal. The moon is known to wreak havoc with Mother Nature, resulting in landslides, higher tides, and earthquakes. When we think about how the moon’s gravity affects the tides, it is easy to see how it also interacts with living creatures. All zodiac signs will be affected by this lunar energy, but in particular those born with Gemini in their chart will feel impacted. Gemini is ruled by the planet Mercury; therefore, Mercury’s characteristics will also be highlighted and intensified during this new moon. Geminis are renowned for being talkative and argumentative, and Mercury is known for communication, therefore conversations may have misunderstandings and quickly and easily become heated. Mercury is associated with agreements, contracts, listening, learning, negotiating, purchasing, selling, speaking, travel plans, and vehicles. Therefore, when the moon is in Gemini, we can expect any or all of these things to be impacted. Gemini has both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personalities and can be volatile, so we may feel one emotion vividly one minute and an entirely different one the next. New moons represent the end of one 28-day cycle and the start of a new one, and this lunar event is also the last of an intense and energetic half year. It is a turning point for clearing out old energy from the past six months and is a catalyst for beginning the second half of the year focused on creating space for high-vibrational, positive energy to enter. New moons can cause us to feel introverted and introspective; however, our need to escape from the manic external world does not necessarily mean we want to be alone, but instead that we do not want to be surrounded by those whose energy feels tense, negative, and who bring us down. We will notice we have the desire to remove ourselves from dynamics that cause friction—and instead, we’ll find we are gravitating toward those with whom we feel peaceful and calm. In short, during this new moon, we will be drawn to those who feel like “home.” We have gone through many drastic energy shifts lately, which have taken us through personal transformation and caused us to vibrate on an entirely different frequency. This new supermoon brings another major awakening, in which we will see everything around us as though we are viewing and perceiving it all for the first time. This can feel terrifying, as we may suddenly question how we have managed to maintain certain relationships or continue in certain jobs or living arrangements for so long. Gemini’s moon is giving us the courage to speak our truth, loudly and clearly, and we will intuitively know what we want and where we are heading. We will be looking back over the past six months and understanding why we have been through certain challenges, what they have taught us, and how they have led us to where we are now. As we go through this deep inner reflection, we will receive a clear vision of where we want the journey through the second half of the year to take us. This could mean that we will need to commit to a dramatic detox of our lives, so that anything that is not aligned with where we want to be when the year ends has to be released. This is most certainly the time to get rid of any habits, patterns, thoughts, obsessions, commitments, dynamics, or material items that have been weighing us down and keeping us stuck in a reality that it neither healthy or serving us. Anything that no longer resonates with who we are and how we want to be living will start to dissipate before our eyes. We will be cutting ourselves free from the low-frequency entities that we have become attached to and burning through old paradigms, as well as setting alight a crumbling bridge or two in the process. This leaves a gateway for those who reflect the same passion and desire to exist free from chaos, harm, and destruction—and for kindred souls who share a similar passion for co-existing harmoniously and lovingly on this planet to enter our lives. During this period, we will have low tolerance for people who are only around to create dysfunction—or to continuously take, with no effort to mutually maintain and build the relationship. Those whose energy radiates with authenticity, integrity, and sincerity are the ones we will feel magnetically pulled toward, and we will discover that as we refuse to settle for less, people with pure intentions will flow our way. The next part of this year is intensely powerful for manifesting exactly what it is we want, where we want to be, and who we hope will surround us. It is up to us to put the effort in now, so that we can end the year celebrating with people we love and appreciate and who feel the same way bout us in return—and at a stage where we can look around with pride at what we have achieved and close 2018 on the highest note. Everything in the universe occurs in cycles, and yearly cycles are ones where we are able to look back at how far we’ve traveled, how much soul growth has taken place, and also where we can learn from anything or anyone that has disrupted our path in some way. It all happens for a divine reason—but at the same time, we are also creators of our own destiny, so the faster we transcend lessons and patterns, the quicker we will attract magnificent possibilities and magical happenings will enter our lives. Gemini is so divinely placed as this six-month chapter comes to an end, as it is the “twin” energy and shows us how it is our individual choice as to whether we focus on darkness or light, our Jekyll or Hyde personalities, and that whichever one we put our time, energy, and attention into is the one that will ultimately win out. It is the ideal time to move closer to integrating both our dark and light sides, so that we accept that everything exists—good, bad, pretty, ugly, dark, light, and all in between. We can then try to fully accept ourselves (and those around us) on an entirely different level. We all have darkness and light—however, we don’t all make the same choices, and we don’t all behave in the same way. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions depend on which side we decide to give power to, so if we want to live a highly vibrational, beautiful life, it is vital that we choose wisely. A supermoon triad is a supercharged energy portal in which masses of luminous energy is believed to infiltrate Earth’s atmosphere. Absorbing it can be overstimulating, which might make us feel emotional, drained, and fatigued, and we may also notice the following occurring: >> People from our past reappear, so we have the chance to finally learn a valuable lesson, to make amends, or to forgive and release the past once and for all. >> Physiological symptoms may manifest, such as flu-like symptoms, ear ringing, or aches and pains. >> Frequent anxiety or feeling panicky without clear reason. >> We might “know” things without logical explanation and find it difficult to explain the source of our information. >> Irrational bouts of fear of the future. >> Temporary loss of memories, forgetting things, misplacing items. >> Time appearing to go extremely slow or fast. >> Taking more responsibility for behaviour and actions. >> Disrupted sleep, insomnia, waking between the hours of 2:00 to 5:00 a.m. >> Vivid dreams that help us find resolution with past emotional issues. >> Seeing and feeling energy such as orbs, sparks, or flashes of light; noticing energy warming the palms of hands. >> Irritable, triggered easily, mood swings, frustration, sadness, bouts of anger. >> Sensitive to noise, light, tastes, touch. >> Feeling as though something huge is about to happen. >> Awakening to past mistakes and no longer allowing ourselves to repeat them. >> Chronic fatigue and being around other people feels draining. >> Feeling zoned, spaced out, or ungrounded. >> Appreciation that all life is sacred. >> High intuition, sudden insights, heightened awareness, enhanced compassion and empathy, seeing things with clarity, and receiving answers or resolutions to ongoing issues. >> Releasing, healing, letting go of the past. >> Overthinking and obsessing over tiny details. >> Emotional, bursting into tears for no apparent reason. >> Noticing synchronicities—for instance, certain number patterns reappearing. >> More consciously aware of other people’s energy fields and highly sensitive to negativity. >> Sensitive to certain noises, particularly tones of voices. >> Becoming aware of things we have been conditioned to believe. >> Growing discomfort around certain family members, friends, or work colleagues. >> Wanting to spend time alone, introspection. Overall, we are receiving an empowering opportunity for major personal transformation, to remove blockages and old patterns, to realise and manifest our purpose, and to expand our conscious awareness. If we are willing to actively attune and integrate this cosmic energy, instead of fearfully resisting it, and if we are able to remain positive and open so that we adapt at a fast pace to the constant changes taking place, we can take full advantage of this rare energy portal. As the supermoon portal closes toward the end of August, anything we have been struggling with since the beginning of June will also come to a close and offer us heightened understanding of the challenges we have been through. During intensive energy shifts such as this supermoon triad, it is highly recommended to regularly cleanse our energy field at the beginning and end of each day by drinking plenty of water, taking salt water baths, meditating, or spending time outdoors in nature, and taking time out alone to reconnect with oneself and to release any negative energy that may have accumulated. ~Alex Myles https://www.elephantjournal.com/…/emotionally-intense-new-…/ JOIN HERE In Universal Service▲ Keeper of The Diamond Light Codes

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wazafam · 4 years ago

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2021 is shaping up to be a momentous year, and that includes celebrating the 50th anniversary of these notable horror films released in 1971. Time waits for no man, but time does sometimes seem to wait for movies. Some movies take decades to catch on with audiences, whether that be in the form of being elevated to the status of revered classic, or simply becoming a cult item with a devoted, if small, fanbase. Of course, there are also the instant hits, which standout for their greatness now just as they did back then.

At this point, the 1970s seems like a long time ago, but in the grand scheme of things, it's really not. Compared to the totality of human endeavor, 50 years ago is a mere drop in the bucket, even though in that time millions of new films have been produced, both inside of the horror genre and outside of it. Still, the big 5-0 remains a major milestone to reach, both for people and the art they create, including motion pictures.

Related: Every Horror Movie That Turns 40 Years Old In 2021

The 1970s is often considered one of the greatest decades for horror ever, playing host to such iconic classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and Halloween. While none of those released in 1971, a lot of good horror options did, and here are the most notable.

When it comes to iconic horror actors, few are more synonymous with the genre than Vincent Price. The Abominable Dr. Phibes gave Price one of his greatest roles, as a vengeful husband who holds the doctors attending to his wife when she died during surgery responsible for her demise. This leads Phibes to enact horrible vengeance upon them. The film was well-received, and received a sequel in 1972, Dr. Phibes Rises Again.

When most people think of slasher progenitors, films like Halloween and Psycho come to mind, but one shouldn't underestimate the influence of Italian giallo films on the sub-genre, such as director Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood. Featuring a string of graphic murders and a mystery surrounding the killer, and even directly inspiring kills in Friday the 13th Part 2, A Bay of Blood is essential viewing for slasher fans.

A film of Belgian origin, Daughters of Darkness is a vampire film that manages to be extremely classy in style and tone, while also bursting with sex appeal. The story sees a newlywed couple check into a luxury hotel, only to be preyed on and corrupted by a vampire countess named Elizabeth Bathory, a descendant of the famous one. It's one of many erotic vampire movies to come out of the 1970s.

Related: Interview With The Vampire: What Happened To Lestat After The Movie

An extremely controversial piece of religious horror from director Ken Russell, The Devils is actually loosely based on the real life downfall of a 17th-century Catholic priest named Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), who's accused of witchcraft thanks to the word of a nun (Vanessa Redgrave) who's obsessed with him. The Devils is far from traditional horror, but it's definitely horrifying at times, and downright shockingly graphic at others. The film was heavily censored or banned in multiple countries for decades.

Without Duel, all of Steven Spielberg's amazing films wouldn't exist, as it was his first feature as a director, and got him his first taste of widespread acclaim. Originally aired as a TV movie, Duel is a white-knuckle horror/thriller about a traveling salesman who's targeted and menaced by the driver of a semi-truck for seemingly no real reason. It's a very tense film, and shows that Spielberg's talent was there even in his earliest projects.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death, directed by John Hancock, centers on the titular woman, recently released from a mental hospital. Jessica, her husband, and their friend, head to a remote farmhouse, only to find a young woman named Emily already staying there. They become friends, but before long, Jessica begins to suspect Emily might be a vampire. The problem is, no one wants to believe her, due to her mental illness. Though not a hit upon release, the film has developed a loyal cult following.

Rosemary Baby's Mia Farrow stars in See No Evil, not to be confused with the later WWE Studios horror film starring Kane. Farrow's Sarah has recently been rendered blind, and while staying at her family's secluded estate, is targeted by a psychotic killer. See No Evil is another that wasn't a big success upon release, but has gone on to gain a cult following.

Related: See No Evil: Why WWE's Slasher Movie Franchise Is Underrated

Directed by the great Sam Peckinpah, Straw Dogs is another film that's been met with much controversy over the years, despite enjoying a generally stellar critical reception. Dustin Hoffman and Susan George star as a married couple who moves to a house in the English countryside, only to be harassed by local thugs, with things progressing to absolutely horrifying degrees, including graphic sexual assault. Before long, the couple is forced to defend their home against their enemies.

Tombs of the Blind Dead is a Spanish/Portuguese horror film, and the first in director Amando de Ossorio's Blind Dead franchise. It focuses on a group of college kids who end up preyed upon by undead Templars, a group of malevolent knights that terrorized the 13th century, leaving death and mayhem in their wake. The title comes from the fact that post-execution for their crimes, birds pecked out their eyes.

Unlike several of the other horror films turning 50 this year, Willard was an immediate hit, and was actually the 12th-highest grossing movie of 1971. Bruce Davison stars as the titular character, a social outcast whose only friends are rats. One day, Willard grows fed up with the abuse he receives from various tormentors, and uses his little rodent friends to exact revenge. Willard got a sequel named Ben, which holds the odd distinction of being a horror film with a theme song by Michael Jackson. Willard was also remade in 2003, starring Crispin Glover.

Also turning 50 in 2021 is The Mephisto Waltz, in which a dying Satanist looks to put his soul into the body of a much younger concert pianist. Then there's the creatively titled demonic possession flick The Blood on Satan's Claw, Dario Argento giallo The Cat o' Nine Tales, Hammer's gender-bending Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Amicus anthology The House That Dripped Blood, and another creatively titled film, giallo The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave. Those charmed by Daughters of Darkness also shouldn't overlook the sexually-charged Vampyros Lesbos.

More: The Best Decade for Horror Movies: 1970s vs 1980s

Every Horror Movie That Turns 50 Years Old In 2021 | Screen Rant from https://ift.tt/3cfkbqy

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amplesalty · 5 years ago

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Halloween 2020 - Day 17 - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME FOR?!

Though the classic run of Frankenstein movies can be said to have ended with 1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein, this is the last film included in the Frankenstein legacy collection boxset I have so I might as well watch it just for the sake of completeness. It’s also included in the Dracula and Wolf Man collections as well so I now own three copies of this movie.

It’s something of a finale as well for that golden age of Universal Monsters with the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and Wolf Man appearing together and they pretty much pulled out all the big guns with Lon Chaney Jr returning as Larry Talbot and Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. Lugosi was often typecast into these vampire type roles but this was the only other time he played Dracula on the big screen so it’s neat to see him make the comeback with lots of the Lugosi stare thrown in. It’s a shame they couldn’t convince KARLOFF to come back for a similar swan song as the monster but they did have a returning Glenn Strange so it still has some pedigree.

But there’s some other names on the marquee there beside Frankenstein, namely Abbott and Costello which means this is more of a comedy rather than a horror movie. They’re not a duo I’m overly familiar with outside the whole ‘Who’s on first?’ routine so it’s neat to see them for something other than that.

There’s a very typical double act dynamic going on between the two, with Abott being the traditional straight man and Costello the comic foil. The comedy comes from their antics and reactions to stumbling across these supernatural phenomons rather than poking fun at the monsters so it’s nice that they’re still treated with respect especially given it is one of the last big outings for them. The closest you really get is Wolf Man ineffectually trying to grab Costello or something reminiscent of a Scooby Doo cartoon where Shaggy and Scoob will inadvertently bump into a ghoul before running away. Still, it’s not like they’re dressing up the Monster in a silly hat or anything.

The pair play Chick Young (Abbott) ad Wilbur Grey (Costello), baggage clerks at a railway station that find themselves in charge of delivering a couple of big boxes to a local wax museum called McDougal’s House of Horrors. Only, these boxes are said to contain the fabled remains of Dracula and the Frankenstein monster. Talbot has been tracking the pair across Europe and phones the station to warn them not to deliver the crates, only he turns into the Wolf Man mid conversation and Grey thinks the guy has put his dog on the phone. It’s a fairly bog standard plot but it’s a relief to have Talbot doing something other than whine about his curse.

The biggest source of amusement is probably the unlikely love triangle that Grey finds himself in, with two women fluttering around him but holding ulterior motives; one working for an insurance broker trying to investigate the bodies of Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster that went missing when Young and Grey were delivering them. The other only wants Grey for his brains, or lackthereof, for she plans to put his feeble mind inside the Monster so that it wont have the same level of freewill that the original did when it ran amok. Forget all Dracula and friends, clearly women are the real monsters here! But Grey is blissfully unaware of all this and thinks he’s just suddenly God’s gift to women so it’s funny to see him bigging himself up in the mirror or bragging to his friend.

The ending remains very true to both the idea of this film itself and the wider Universal tropes as these ‘showdown’ movies always feel a little lacklustre when it comes to any final battle. This is kinda the same, with the Wolf Man and Dracula facing off but it mostly happens out of view as we instead focus on Young and Grey trying to get away from the Frankenstein monster and periodically the two groups will cross paths.

This was pretty fun and cool to see a slightly different approach to using the classic monsters. It’s something they dipped into further with follow up movies featuring The Invisible Man, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the Mummy so I could always have a look at those at some point.

#Halloween 2020 #Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein #Universal Monsters

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lynyrdwrites · 8 years ago

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In the Stacks

I was in a Nessian mood and remembered that @accidental-rambler had sent me a prompt of Highschool/college au + “how do we finish this joint assignment without killing each other” + “oh how come you love the same books as me, damn, now you’ve just become annoyingly attracttive”. I don’t really state HS or college, so choose your poison. Hope you enjoy!

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The sun was being blocked.

Cassian had stayed up late the previous night playing video games with Azriel and Rhys, and he was regretting it now. He had a free class, and figured he’d use it to catch some sleep on the bleachers by the track field. But now his sun was being blocked and he liked the sun.

It made him feel warm and cozy.

He let one eye drift open lazily, and the other quickly followed when he saw who it was.

Nesta Archeron, with her slim frame and high cheekbones, always deserved his full attention. Even if she always seemed to scowl whenever he gave it to her. He knew she was capable of smiling, he had seen it before – an elusive quirking of her lips, one he sighted when she was with her sisters.

“We need to work on our English assignment,” she said shortly. Cassian levered himself up and pushed to his feet while Nesta took a quick step away from him. Nesta was tall, but Cassian was even taller, and he often found himself thinking that it would be so easy to tilt her chin up and kiss her tempting, full lips.

He had done it once, when he had found her amongst the stacks of the library. She had made a comment about him reading, and Cassian had found her impossible to resist, with that glint of fire in her eyes.

Her lips had been soft beneath his, and she had tasted like the chocolate mints he knew she loved, because Cassian knew far more about Nesta than he would ever admit.

“Nervous, Sweetheart?” Cassian asked, a smirk quirking her lips. “Remembering the last time we were in the library? I am.”

“You’re a prick,” Nesta murmured, reminding Cassian of her sister, Feyre, for a moment. She looked away from him, red flushing high on her cheekbones. “As for…previous meetings in the library – they’re irrelevant.”

Cassian narrowed his eyes on Nesta as she primly turned her back on him, carefully making her way down the bleachers. Nesta favored long, flowing sundresses that were quick to catch the wind and show off the shape of her legs. It did so now, and Cassian was distracted, but not so much that he failed to react when her sandal caught on her dress and sent her tilting.

She let out an exhale of air that blew into his face when he caught her, his arm around her lower back. It was ridiculously easy – almost natural, really – to stretch his other arm beneath her legs and heft her up. She was warm against his chest, and the hand she braced against him, her fingers grazing the skin bared around his neck by his tank top, made goosebumps rise along his arms.

“Put me down, you barbarian!” Nesta snapped, her nails digging into his skin slightly as he began to carry her down the bleachers. Her other hand grasped his shoulder, turning her body into his. Cassian was very, very aware of her, as her breasts pressed into his chest.

“No, I’m good,” Cassian replied cheerfully. He reached the ground and headed in the direction of the library, his grin widening when Nesta slapped her palm against his shoulder.

“Cassian, I swear if you don’t be down I’ll-”

Cassian raised a brow at her as Nesta cut herself off. She wrinkled nose in frustration, and Cassian wasn’t sure he had ever seen a more adorable sight. Nesta was usually so very cool – when he gave a set down, the burn was from ice, not fire – but right now she was… flustered.

He liked her flustered.

“You know, you’d probably be more comfortable if you wrapped your arms around my neck. Go on, give it a try.”

Nesta’s expression was anything but impressed, and when she dug her fingernails into his skin again, it was on purpose and made him yelp and nearly drop her.

In response, her arms went around his neck, her body tense.

“Well,” he mused, unable to scowl at her over the pain when it had gotten him exactly what he had wanted. “I think you just played yourself, Miss Archeron.”

“I hate you.”

Succinct. No one would accuse Nesta of speaking too much.

They reached the library, and Cassian set her down, missing the warm weight of her as she quickly put what she viewed as an acceptable distance between them, her hands smoothing down the front of her dress.

“After that, if you even try to suggest something lame for our project, I’ll punch you.”

“Oh? Do you even know how to throw a punch, Miss Archeron?”

“Stop calling me that,” she replied, and it was almost a disappointment, that the ice was back in her voice, in the stiff way she held herself, turned away from him as though she couldn’t be bothered to look at him, now that he no longer held her. But then he caught the quirk of her lips, before she made sure he was unable to see any of her face. “I’d get Feyre to punch you for me.”

Cassian watched her retreat into the library, his eyes narrowed on her back. Had Nesta Archeron made a joke?

He was pretty sure she’d made a joke.

It made his heart soar.

“What does lame mean, in the literary world of Miss Nesta Archeron?”

“Anything by a man,” Nesta replied promptly, moving through the stacks in a way that said she knew this building. She stroked a hand along the spines of the books, her expression softening into a look he’d only ever really seen her wear around Elain. It vanished when she looked up at him and realized exactly how close he was, that faint flush coloring her cheeks again. “And stop calling me Miss. You make it sound dirty.”

“It could be,” Cassian replied thoughtfully. “I’ve always had this fantasy where you’re wearing gla – oomph!”

Air escaped him as she shoved a book into his chest. He looked down at it, and then looked at her again.

“Now, I may not have your love of books, Sweetheart” – she scowled, but if he couldn’t call her Miss Archeron, then she’d have to put up with it – “but I’m pretty sure Bram Stoker is a man.”

“He is, but if we’re going to do a comparison of horror novels of the 19th century, then sadly men have to be involved.”

“Horror novels?” while Cassian had been delighted to be assigned to be Nesta’s partner, he truly hadn’t anticipated actually enjoying their literature project. Not when he’d already heard other students talking about The Great Gatsby or Moby Dick –both favorites of their asshole teacher, Beron.

Beron hated anything he viewed as “frivolous” – which meant anything involving magic or science outside the realm of belief.

“Beron will hate it,” Cassian pointed out. He loved the idea, of course, but he also knew Nesta had, and was proud of, a flawless GPA.

“If I cared what Beron liked, I would be doing a project on how Jonathan Franzen is truly the voice of our generation.” Her scathing tone said exactly what she thought of that notion, and Cassian reached past her, his grin genuine.

“Well, we can’t talk horror without The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He placed the book on top of Dracula while Nesta blinked in surprise.

“Well… no, we can’t. We’ll need Frankenstein, of course. And Carmilla.”

“Lesbian vampire, why Miss Archeron, are you trying to give Beron a heart attack.”

Nesta held the book in question to her chest, her knuckles clinging so tightly they turned white. She looked at Cassian as though she’d never seen him before, and he began to feel a little self-conscious.

“I mean-”

“You’ve read Carmilla?” she asked, cutting him off. Cassian rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly, because no one outside the Inner Circle – his tight group of friends – knew about his little horror novel addiction, and he wasn’t sure if the way Nesta was looking at him was good or not.

“Yeah. Just once. I mean, I liked it, but it wasn’t quite Jekyll and Hyde for me.”

“What about The Witch of Ravensworth?”

“Sure. Rhys and Az didn’t get the humor of it, but they’re weird like that.”

Again, he wasn’t sure if Nesta’s expression was good… but she did take a step closer.

“Wagner the Werewolf?”

“Yes. Look, Nesta, if it’s horror written by someone who’s dead now, I’ve probably-”

“Clermont?” Cassian didn’t understand it, but there was something almost desperate in her voice as she took another step closer.

“That’s technically 18th century, but yes, I ha-”

He suddenly found his arms full of Nesta, the books scattering to the floor. She buried her hands in the hair just above his ears, not caring that it loosened the bun he’d pulled it into, and pulled his lips down to hers.

She tasted like mint and chocolate again, and if Cassian could get her a lifetime supply of the stuff, he would. Those flavors would always scream Nesta to him, and this kiss was even better than the last, because this time he knew she was every bit as desperate as he was.

He walked her back into the stack behind them, and one of her hands released him to cling to a shelf above her. The other remained buried in his hair, kept his lips firmly attached to hers. Not that Cassian needed her help to keep kissing her. He could kiss her forever, if she’d let him.

She felt so good, her body pressed against his, his hands holding her hips. He would have never pulled back, except that he was desperate for air and starting to get light-headed.

They both breathed hard as they pulled apart, and it was incredibly difficult, not to admire Nesta’s chest as she breathed deeply.

“I’ve read Bungay Castle, too,” he offered when his breathing calmed somewhat.

“You fight dirty,” she informed him, and pulled him in for another kiss. Cassian tilted his head, Took her bottom lip between his and nipped it lightly with his teeth. She tugged on his hair in return, which made Cassian run his hands up her sides, so he could wrap her in his arms, and lift her slightly, so she was on her tiptoes. Her hands came to land on his shoulders for support, and when her nails dug in this time it just made him purr into her mouth.

There was a coughing – light, and just to their right.

Nesta ran her tongue along his bottom lips, and then changed the angle of her head so their kiss became somehow, impossibly, even deeper.

”Ahem!”

They stopped kissing, but didn’t break apart. Instead, Cassian continued to hold Nesta while they both looked to the left, where Rhys was leaning against the stacks, his expression amused, while Feyre stood in front of them, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“What are you doing here?” Nesta asked, her voice somewhat dazed. “You don’t even like reading.”

“I’m dyslexic and suck at it,” Feyre corrected dryly. “There’s a difference. It’s not quite…. Carmilla? But it’s progress.”

She held up a book, some generic paperback romance, even as she bent down to pick up one of their discarded books.

“We were really coming here for the same reason as you,” Rhys offered brightly. “But you distracted us.”

Feyre elbowed him sharply in the ribs, while Nesta stepped quickly away from Cassian, as she realized how they’d been found. She tried to smooth back her hair, and Cassian realized that, at some point, he must have ran his fingers through it, because her usually immaculate braid crown was tumbling loose.

“We were discussing our literature topic,” she said primly. “It turns out we have similar tastes.”

Feyre stared at her sister, and Nesta just stared back, raising a brow. It was the silent communication that came from a lifetime of knowing someone. Cas could do the same with Az, Rhys, and Mor, and sometimes even Amren, when she wasn’t being difficult. Whatever Feyre was seeing from Nesta had her shaking her head.

“You have the same taste in books. Of course. I shouldn’t even be surprised.”

“Go away,” Nesta responded.

“Now,” Rhys interrupted. “That’s not very-”

“Nesta’s right,” Cassian agreed. “Go away.”

It was their turn for that silent communication, and Rhys’ chuckle was pure amusement as he turned away.

“Fine. We’re going.”

“Good – stay gone!” Cassian called after them, and then sighed heavily, because of course they would have to ruin this.

“We should start on the project,” Nesta stated, not looking at him as she gathered the books. Cassian sighed again, and bent down to help. Their fingers grazed as she handed Jekyll and Hyde to him while they straightened, and it sent a shiver of awareness through them both. Nesta stilled, her fingers still on his hand, and their gazes met.

She didn’t move away.

“Th-there” – there was a tremor in her voice, and she cleared her throat, looking away briefly, before meeting his eyes once more in that direct, Nesta way – “there are web series about some of these. Have you ever watched them?”

“No,” Cassian replied. “Are they good?”

“I like them.” She bit her lip thoughtfully, as though in an internal battle. She probably was – this was Nesta. Frustrating, cold as ice, stubborn, contradictory Nesta. “Would you like to watch them? With me?”

“For the class?” Cassian asked. Because as much as he liked to tease Nesta, he would be damn sure of what she was asking him right now. Nesta rolled her eyes at the question.

“No, obviously not for the class. I want to make out with you again, you idiot. And I’d rather not do where my sister or, God forbid, your other friends, can come observe us.”

“Oh,” Cassian hadn’t expected her to be quite that blunt, which did make him an idiot, because he should have. “Okay… yeah. But I do also want to watch the episodes.”

Nesta tapped her lip thoughtfully.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said at last. Then she turned her back and headed for a table. When Cassian just stayed in place, staring after her, she turned around with a scowl. “Well, get moving. We need to get this project outlined.”

Cassian chuckled to himself and got moving.

#Nessian #accidental-rambler #Nessian fic #highschool/college au

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sshbpodcast · 5 years ago

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A Generally Positive Second Season of DS9

by Ames

Updated 2020-05-14!!

Deep Space Nine continues to roll out some generally positive episodes of Trek, with fewer real clunkers per season than we've seen so far from both TOS and TNG. Also, this season really starts to embrace the "O'Brien must suffer" goldmine, and that gives us more joy than it probably should. Credit to Colm Meaney; he's just so good at suffering!

As usual, A Star to Steer Her By has compiled our personal top and bottom three episodes of the season, so you don't have to! Read on below and/or listen to the season wrap episode here (relevant discussion starts at 1:14:20).

Bottom Three Episodes

We had a good amount of agreement of where the baddies of this season were. We've probably seen worse overall, but this bottoms list is basically a bunch of ideas that didn't live up to their potential:

“The Alternate”: Chris Our first wasted opportunity is introducing Odo's science daddy (oh that sounds wrong), Dr. Mora Pol, but then getting kind of lost in this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde plot that just seems to have wasted our time.

“Paradise”: Caitlin Edited! In our wrap-up episode, Caitlin got “Paradise” and “Sanctuary” confused and adjusted this later because the luddites in Alixus’s anti-tech colony are just so insufferable! And racist? Probably racist too.

“Armageddon Game”: Ames, Jake What could have been a perfectly decent episode gets entirely undone by a really stupid conclusion. It was going so well! O'Brien was suffering! Why did we need the government conspiracy mucking it up?!

“Playing God”: Ames, Caitlin, Chris, Jake This episode makes the mistake of shoving the interesting plot entirely under the rug to focus on some more convoluted Trill baloney. Let the protouniverse breathe, dammit! It had so much potential!

“Rivals”: Ames, Caitlin, Chris, Jake Did the writers think for a moment if the improbability device Martus was using makes any sense? Bad luck is a consequence of improbability... unless you're O'Brien? Didn't they know he must suffer? Points off.

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Top Three Episodes

A lot less agreement on what the good stuff was this season than last, but that could be because there was a lot that was in the green and yet they were all so different, so they appealed to each of us in new, exciting, and diabolical ways:

“Whispers”: Ames You're going to see the pattern that Ames just loves watching O'Brien getting whomped, but also this episode's structure allowed for very interesting storytelling, points of view, and a really slick twist at the end! Whomp!

“Tribunal”: Ames More sad O'Brien, more sad Keiko, and another slick ending? Add to that all the Cardassian dystopian world building, and this episode is tailor-made (Garak reference not intended) for Ames. I flatter you, episode! I flatter you!

“Shadowplay”: Jake Great sci-fi idea for an episode in this one, and Odo is just a sweetheart throughout. Would you accept it as well as these people if you learned you were a holoprogram? Who cares; it was fascinating to watch!

“Necessary Evil”: Jake Looking for more noir in your sci-fi? Let detective Odo track that down for you! He's on the case in this very cinematic episode that blends the past and the present simply beautifully. Just one more thing...

“Profit and Loss”: Caitlin Armin Shimerman shines on his own, but when you really give him the spotlight, you've got a winner. The romance with his Cardassian hunny absolutely pops, and Garak gets to do some murdering, as is his way.

“Rules of Acquisition”: Chris, Jake Hey, I hear you like Ferengi episodes. Well here's a good'un that's genuinely fun, has roughly two million comic bits, and somehow also still tackles feminist themes with everyone's favorite small-lobed friend Pel!

“Blood Oath”: Caitlin, Chris Finally. FINALLY a good episode for Jadzia, and it is that much more exhilarating to see her really being a character for a change! Three badass Klingons from the past are just what she needs to develop!

“The Wire”: Ames, Caitlin, Chris This episode is just chock full of stunning character work from Andrew Robinson, as he throws everything and the kitchen replicator into Garak without making it overdramatic. And that's no lie. No really.

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Life on the edge of the wormhole is getting more exciting in season three, so stay with us while the Dabo wheel's still spinning. Keep your eyes here, catch new episodes on SoundCloud, follow A Star to Steer Her By on Facebook and Twitter, and make O'Brien suffer!

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quilna · 4 years ago

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A very long time ago I suggested a MBaV au then later took it down because I didn’t think that many people watched the show so not many people probably knew what I was talking about. I’ve decided to bring it back.

I had art to go with this (Which I might have posted earlier so my apologies if this is the second time you’ve seen this au) but people didn’t seem particuarly fond of it and I was worried that the art would be offputting from the actual concept.

Anyway, MBaV stands for My Babysitter’s a Vampire and it was this cheesy supernatural show I watched when I was a kid. This au has a few differences from the show, either because the time frame doesn’t fit (MBaV is set in the modern day, TGS is Victorian London so some things don’t match up), because I don’t properly remember the episode (It’s been a long time, not everything will match up. There are some episodes that I didn’t see at all.), or just because the change seemed better fitting for the au.

Dr Jekyll is a powerful spellcaster who, after a mishap with a spell years ago, accidentally split himself into two. While Jekyll is known for being one of the older and more skilled spellcasters in London, Edward has a bad habit of messing up spells, either by not reading through the consequences before using them or reading them backwards. He’s technically still powerful but it’s difficult for people to tell when so many of his spells go sideways.

The pair can hide memories from each other and both use it to screw with the other.

Jekyll runs a society for the supernatural, trying to keep the supernatural side of London from messing around with the normal side too much. However, the society has a cover of being a society for the sciences so it attracts a mixture of regular humans and the supernatural meaning that:

A. The supernatural side of the society has to be hidden from some of the society’s members

B. They’re not actually sure how many are human and how many are supernatural, leading to some more malicious monsters slipping in.

Lanyon, meanwhile, is a seer. By touching people or certain objects he can receive visions of the future or the past but they’re not always clear.

Throughout his life, these abilities have allowed him to learn a lot of things he didn’t want to know about - he always knew when other people were just trying to use him, he always knew when something bad was going to happen to someone, and it left him rather cynical and detatched. He does his best to avoid contact with people to avoid getting these visions.

However, he starts to get particularly bad visions from Dr Jekyll, hinting that Edward Hyde will eventually start being a danger to Jekyll. As a result, he’s doing his best to figure out what the deal with Edward is before it’s too late or, at least, get rid of Edward before things can come to pass.

Rachel and Henry don’t seem to take him seriously about Edward (Rachel doesn’t want to believe that Edward could hurt Jekyll and, therefore, reasons that Lanyon’s visions aren’t telling him everything and Jekyll, obviously, already knows everything and wants Lanyon to stay out of it before he learns the truth.)

Rachel is a fledgling vampire, bitten and turned by Moreau, the leader of a vampiric cult. She hasn’t drunk human blood yet which means she’s weaker than most vampires, hoping that, if she remains a fledgling (continues to not drink from people) she might one day be cured.

Jekyll helps make a blood substitute for her so she never has to drink from a human.

The Elephants are an all female all vampire group so Lucy and Elsie are very supportive of Rachel’s vampirism and often give her advice on the matter. (Although they don’t really get her aversion from drinking human blood.) Lucy is a very old and powerful vampire.

Eli was killed by Moreau when he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Frankenstein is a necromancer who came to London looking for the powerful spellcaster she had heard so much about, wanting his help to cure vampirism entirely. However, the moment she arrived she ended up in an altercation with Moreau, leaving her injured. To her annoyance, she had to pick up the cover of being a scientist looking for a cure for her son’s terrible condition (The son being Creature.) and was taken in by the society while she searches for the spellcaster in her spare time. To her extra annoyance, every time she slips away and starts trying to track the spellcaster, it always somehow seems to lead her directly into the path of “the naive human” Dr Jekyll leading to her being put back to bed every time.

In all fairness, Jekyll has perfected the ignorant human act.

Things become trickier however when her spell finally leads her to Edward Hyde instead, leading her to believe that he’s the spellcaster. Edward doesn’t correct her or even let Jekyll know about this, wanting to prove himself as powerful as Jekyll.

Eventually, he starts searching for a powerful magical artifact which could help them. A magical artifact with absolutely no corrupting properties at all. Ever. It’s perfectly safe and will not at all ever send Hyde, already the personification of evil, towards trying to eliminate his good half and take over London. Of course not.

Jekyll knows that something bad is afoot but, with Hyde blocking his memories from him, he doesn’t know exactly what. Neither does Frankenstein realize her mistake until it’s too late.

---

The lodgers:

Helsby is a mermaid. When he’s touched by water, he turns into his mermaid form and his singing voice can send everyone around him into a rage. After he causes a lot of chaos around the society, Lanyon, Rachel, and Hyde set out to try to defeat him in a music contest. If he loses, he has to stop. This plan goes sideways when Hyde marches in with a trumpet cursed to make the most horrible noise possible and basically forces Helsby into submission instead. And destroys Lanyon and Rachel’s eardrums in the process.

Jasper is a werewolf as always. He came directly to the society, looking for help with his condition, fearing the danger of his werewolf half. Werewolves and vampires have a natural rivalry but Rachel just decided that the taboo of it was just more romantic and fell for him. When the full moon came, though, everyone found out that Jasper just turns into a harmless dog. Rachel was a little disappointed but still loved him anyway.

Cantilupe is an ancient god who slipped in with the intent of collecting followers in the society to bring about the apocalypse, pretending to be a zoologist. However, she then met Lavender, a newer human zoologist who viewed her as her senior and constantly looked for Cantilupe’s help with her work. Cantilupe decided she was fond of this tiny human and stopped trying to end the world. Lavender still isn’t aware that her senior is a literal god.

Maijabi is a spirit that can inhabit mirrors. His cursed mirror was accidentally taken in by the society where he began to manipulate people who looked into his mirror into harming people around them to get revenge for his death after dying in a prank gone wrong. As it turned out, though, Lanyon could see him for what he was thanks to his powers. After stopping him, Jekyll used his magic to make him visible to other people so he can sort of live again. He still can’t touch people without passing through them.

Sinnett is human but, at one point, a sentient tree ends up getting into the society and taking control of all of the automatons, technology, and clockwork in there, including Sinnett’s arm. He helps arm the trio with flamethrowers to fight the tree but they couldn’t get the last bit of tree of out Sinnett’s prosthetic arm. Now he has to deal with an evil tree in his arm which occasionally tries to convince him to destroy the world. He tunes it out.

Tweedy is also human but he’s a “paranormal investigator” who came to the society looking for ghosts. Most of his equipment suspiciously goes off around Rachel (She is undead and all) and everyone has to keep trying to hide the numerous ghosts and zombies in the society.

Bryson is the ghost of a once famous aeronaut looking to regain his lost fame. He tries to force Lanyon as the only person who can see him into helping him with this but Lanyon knows absolutely nothing about aeronautics.

---

Other things:

Once, as a lesson to try to teach Robert, Rachel, and Edward to work together, Henry secretly used a spell to send each one of them into their own pocket dimension based off of each of their fears. Initially it was supposed to have safeguards in place to keep the exercise safe and keep the fears mild.

Hyde was given the fear of being alone (A world completely devoid of people)

Rachel was given a fear of losing herself to her vampirism (A more powerful and evil version of herself)

Robert was given the villain from a play he watched recently which frightened him. (An automaton dentist gone rogue.)

However, either by Hyde messing around with magic to try to free them all or by some malicious outside intervention (Because it would be mean for Jekyll to do this himself but I can’t miss out the angst of a proper worst fear episode.) the safeguards got removed and the worlds started to twist themselves to everyone’s deepest darkest fears.

Hyde ended up chased by his own friends, turning on him after they discovered his secret.

Rachel was chased by the ghost of Eli, blaming her for his death.

Robert got a monstrous version of Hyde from his visions, the version of Hyde he knew was someday destined to kill Jekyll. (Hyde was very flattered when he found out.)

All of them try to hide their fears from the others and the worlds continue feeding off their fear and becoming more monsterous and twisted as time goes on.

They all only just escape.

Jekyll and Hyde have been seen in the same place before which doesn’t help anyone figure out that they’re the same person. Thanks to messing around with an old cursed camera from Jekyll’s collection, Hyde accidentally makes an evil clone of himself. Everyone kind of notices that Hyde’s acting a little worse than usual but Jekyll’s the only one who knows that something wrong’s going on here (Because that’s himself just standing there mocking him.) and Jekyll has to try to stop the evil Hyde alone, unable to tell anyone why he knows that isn’t the real Hyde.

Jekyll once accidentally hired a carriage haunted by the ghost of a dead vampire and everyone had to work together to stake it because it wouldn’t stop running people over.

They don’t talk about it.

The horses came out fine.

Hyde once tried to resurrect an old pet of Lucy’s to attempt to impress her (Pets don’t live awfully long when you’re immortal after all.) but ended up bringing to life every dead animal in the area. Every last one of them turned out violent. After getting rid of most of the animals, they found one little zombie dog that somehow didn’t become violent. Jekyll took it in and named it Zosi.

#the glass scientists #tgs au

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galaxiesandplanets · 8 years ago

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jack as mr. hyde to ralph’s dr. jekyll

after an analysis, I’ve reached the conclusion that jack can be viewed as a dark version of ralph.

you can see in the beginning that they appear to be very similar, almost having the same conduct - both of them are confident boys who have inclination towards leadership, both have similar personality traits - they are outgoing, jokesters to an extent, extroverted, charismatic, almost as if they are the same person shared by two physical forms.

but this is where the differences come in, differences manifested in almost opposite traits: while ralph is beautiful and manages to attract attention through his good looks, jack is ugly and manages to attract attention through his intimidating, even frightening appearance; similar to how mr. hyde looks terrifying and much more spiteful than jekyll and inspires fear in people around.

ralph has inclination towards bad humor to an extent, but eventually grows out of it, while jack goes deeper into it: while ralph eventually realizes that it’s not alright to make fun of other people, jack gets more and more power from it. jack loves stepping on people, humiliating them, he loves dark humor to the point where he thinks it’s amusing to bully and beat people and joke about murder. it’s as if jack was ralph’s initial dark side that separated itself from ralph and just grew stronger as the story progressed, similar to how dr. jekyll’s dark side grows and becomes an entity on its own in the form of mr. hyde.

while ralph tries to keep things at bay, organize the group and establish some order among the boys, jack tries to instill as much chaos as possible: he convinces the group to follow him in every violent activity, he convinces the boys to kill and paint themselves like wildlings and dance around fires, feeding his spirit from the growing disorder. this is similar to how jekyll is a quite just man who doesn’t step out of line, while mr. hyde destroys everything in his way.

while ralph is a decent boy who just wants to go home to his family and leads especially for this purpose, jack is particularly perverted and cunning for his age and seeks to remain on the island in order to grow as the absolute power. which is another great parallel to how jekyll is a normal man who tries to keep up with his life, while mr. hyde only seeks to commit atrocities and perversions.

ralph mostly shuts himself off from the group when jack takes over - when jack speaks up or holds his speeches, ralph mostly remains quiet, when jack gives orders and convinces the group to follow him, ralph doesn’t want to blow the conch anymore in fear that the rest of the boys wouldn’t instantly return and he would lose what has remained of his power. this is by far the strongest similarity: the fact that jack eventually takes over ralph’s leadership. and not only over ralph’s leadership, but also over ralph, to the point where he leaves ralph with nothing. no followers, no friends, no identity, no spirit.

jack also influences ralph and drags him into the dark side on occasions: in the fire scene, when jack beats piggy then makes fun of his misery, ralph knows it’s not alright to laugh at this, but he gives in and smiles against his will. he is also dragged into simon’s hunt by jack, just like the rest of the group. it’s as if jack is ralph’s personal devil that makes him commit wrong. a very powerful jekyll-hyde similarity.

in the end, ralph ends up being hunted and almost murdered, taken over completely by jack, just like how hyde ends up completely taking over jekyll. ralph’s innocence is murdered mostly by everything jack has caused, just like jekyll is murdered by hyde’s spirit and madness.

#lotf #lord of the flies #lotf ralph #lotf jack #william golding #jalph #I suppose #dr. jekyll and mr. hyde #analysis

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thornswithroses · 8 years ago

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2016 Books I’ve Read

I had been hoping to read more books last year, but I am relieved to have made it halfway to my reading goals. It is a lot better than it was back in 2015.

Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden, book #1) by Charlaine Harris

I actually enjoy Harris’ other mysteries more than I do the Sookie Stackhouse series. And I’m glad I only bothered with one of the Stackhouse books, considering that I hear how disappointing the last book ended. It does not help that the True Blood series left a bad taste my mouth after how they end Tara. The Harper Connelly books are actually my favorites, but the Teagarden ones may soon prove to be my second. I like Aurora Teagarden, I like how as ridiculous and delightfully flowery of a name she has, she is a grounded person.

Harris likes to describe the clothing her protagonists wear or want, and while I usually enjoy that aspect of writing, it is rather amusing when Harris does it. Namely, because the clothes she describes sound rather dated and probably would be more suited to someone in their sixties rather than their late twenties.

The writing is sparse but absorbing, and Harris has a flair for a comfortable Agatha Christie likability in most of her works. This is no exception that.

Would recommend: a cozy but gripping reading to relax at night with.

Ash by Malinda Lo

I found myself so frustrated for sweet Ash. I never really appreciated how much the original Cinderella had to overcome until reading this book. Even her beloved father talked over the healing women of their original village, including Ash’s mother. Isobel is one of my most hated characters this year, for how she abuses Ash. And how much of pain Ash goes through could have been avoided if she had been listened to.

I am usually leery of love triangles where the queer girl has to choose between a man or a woman. I’m bisexual, and I am very much aware that a queer woman is not less queer for wanting to be with a man. However, we cannot argue that heterosexual relationships are prioritized over homosexual ones. We cannot claim that bisexuality is not often dismissed as a curiosity by writers, most especially by male ones. It is 2017, and this shit still occurs. We cannot argue that female sexuality and relationships with women, be they romantic or platonic, are often dismissed in media.

That said, I knew Malinda Lo was not going to fail me with how she handled Ash’s bisexuality. I used to follow Malinda Lo’s writings on AfterEllen in my Baby Feminist Years, and I do not regret that. She is a phenomenal writer, whether she writes in fiction or nonfiction.

Ash’s relationships to Sidhean and Kaisa are different but special in her life. With Kaisa, their relationship has the delectability of apples, a tenderness and subtle warmth that is not written enough for gay relationships. With Sidhean, there is a tension for forbidden lust and the gradual trust they grow for one another.

The ending is satisfying, but that is all I will give to you. I urge you to read this book, especially as it comes from an author that actually actively works with diversifying young adult literature to the best she can.

Would recommend: a thoughtful, lyrical novel about a girl that overcomes obstacles to find love and her own independence.

Mary Reilly by Valerie Marin

This is the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as seen through the eyes of Mary Reilly, a loyal, hardworking house-maid for the doctor. The book is written as if it were from Mary’s own journaling.

I like the protagonist. Usually, when the perspectives of fringe characters are written about how they view a famed character, they simplify too many matters.

With Mary, yes, she is enamored but misguided by Dr. Jekyll’s supposed virtues, but as the novella goes on, as palpable as the sexual tension gets between them, she is not shy about pointing out the classism he and the world have on her, at least to herself.

The book also has her deal with the abuses she undergone as a child from her father’s hands. I will not give spoilers away, but it is rather satisfying how she comes to terms with her abuse after attending a funeral (and, no, it’s not her abuser’s funeral.)

I like the different relationships she has with her fellow servants and how we see the grit of her daily duties. As I said before, the sexual tension between Mary and Dr. Jekyll is deliciously intense. It also helps that they are both shown to genuinely care about each other, adding a certain sweetness to the star-crossed quality of their relationship.

And when the book wants to be chilling, it does indeed do that.

Would recommend: for all your fun, gothy indulgences!

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

An underrated epic fantasy that seems to understand that the quiet moments of a person’s life is just as important as the high-paced ones. The narration written uniquely, there’s a story-within-a-story with yet another one hidden somewhere under there.

I enjoy reading older, isolated, world-weary Kvothe and how that contrasts with him telling his story of a younger, bright-eyed him that wants to learn and wants to avenge his loved ones.

The book is a big one, and it is filled to the brim of so many conflicts and adventures. The humor is vibrant as red, the constant worry of poverty always hitting close to home for me, and his friendships and rivalries with everyone makes one feel invigorating. Oh, believe me, there is plenty of darker aspects to this story, and plenty of moments where I had to take a break from reading because it hurt too much at times. But Rothfuss seems to have the instinctual sense of when enough is enough, unlike the likes of George R.R. Martin and Joss Whedon.

Sometimes I got annoyed with how it felt like the author’s own feelings spilled somewhere. I thought the book could get too dismissive of the beliefs of the rural villages, and, believe me, I hate the concept of a sweet, harmless small town, especially when it mostly features white people. I’m no Stars Hollow fangirl, but my issue is rather it does not look at it through a nuanced lens.

All in all, what issues I have are little compared to so many factors that had me enjoy this book.

Would recommend: for people looking for a rich narrative that carves out many emotions from you, especially if you’re looking for an elaborate fantasy.

Decreation by Anne Carson

I am going to be real with you.

There are a lot of elements to this book that have flown over my head.

Decreation holds so many references and vocabulary that had me searching all sorts of sources to understand.

I have been interested in reading Anne Carson since seeing so many snippets of her words around. It's possibly odd to say that being confused by the book and having to do research to know it makes me enjoy "Decreation" very much. I like books that force me to think. I like books that have the sort of lines that ring well together like a series of synchronizing bells. Anne Carson has an enthralling mind, and I look forward to reading more of her work. If you want to read a challenging book with prose and poetry that is clean and shining like knives, this is the book for you

Would recommend: for people looking for something that makes them want to ponder and to be lulled by the beauty of how words are arranged.

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black

When it comes to short story collections, let's face it, there are going to be stories that you adored, stories you're indifferent to, and stories you just really, really, really hate. For most of the stories in this collection, I enjoyed them immensely. I remember when I read Holly Black's first novel, Tithe, I was absorbed by the lush prose. I can only describe it as like a spiderweb, how it shimmered and ensnared. I am crestfallen that she has simplified that style over the years, I wish YA authors can trust their readers, especially the teenage ones, into appreciating descriptive prose. One of the reasons why I moved from YA literature to adult fiction by the time I was sixteen was because I got tired of the simple style of writing. I wanted to challenge myself more, and I wanted to appreciate the art of language. I still do. Holly Black's style is still not how it was in her Tithe days, but the stories are still written in an eye-catching way. Maybe not like a spiderweb, but surely as the sheen of water. My favorites were: "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" is about vampire towns, need I say more? "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" had an interesting take of becoming a wolf where it is a flower instead of a bloody chomp that turns you. I will admit I have always had a soft spot for beautiful things that cause horror. "The Night Market" was a delightful romance with a Filipino girl with a port stain birthmark on her face that has an elf in a tree enamored with her, much to her surprise and frustration. It was entertaining to see their dynamic of challenging and outwitting one another, especially over the girl's sister's safety. "The Dog King" was with wolves in a castle, literally and metaphorically. "The Coat of Stars" was about a gay man rescuing his lost love, with the bonus of costume porn. "The Land of Heart's Desire" had me the excellent opportunity of reuniting with beloved characters from Black's Modern Faerie Tales series. The last story, "The Poison Eaters," I love the unique narration, the way the girl that was a weapon became a strategist for revenge. The stories I disliked were few and far. "A Reversal of Fortune" had an endearing pit bull dog, but that's all the positivity I can give it. The story's concept sounded good--a girl challenges the Devil to save her pet's life--but written in such a weak and juvenile way that was also, to put it bluntly, gross. "Virgin" also had an interesting concept but I feel this had the potential to have been expanded more, whether novel-length or just a longer short story. "In Vodka Veritas" went too far into the silly route for me, especially for an interesting concept as having a Bacchanal in a high school prom. The narrator was also annoying as fuck. "Paper Cuts Scissors" should have expanded the characters more, it was a shallow little story. "Going Ironside" was hard to follow and it had a good concept but a lukewarm execution.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Goblin Emperor is a political fantasy that is loving and hopeful and does not move through violence necessarily so much as surviving the eyes and gossip of a land that does not always see half-Goblins like Maia in high regards. I like my prickly books; I appreciate the blood and the lust and the anger, and all the other juicy bits of a harrowing plot. Believe me, I do. However, I honestly find the politics here and in the Kushiel's Legacy far more engrossing than in famous works such as Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Maia is proof that having a genuinely sweet personality does not make one a dull protagonist. He is an underdog and coming from an abusive home life will certainly have readers already feeling protective of him. The biggest charm out of Maia however, is how Maia uses his goodness and need for survival to be calculating as Maia moves into the Emperor role. He's calculating how good his ruling should be. That is striking to me. He holds similar characteristics to one of my favorite fantasy characters, Sansa Stark. The characters surrounding him, all differing arrays of morals, are also striking. His bodyguards that are quite the sun-and-moon pair in demeanor and strength, his loyal assistant, his fiance, a passionate warrior girl. All in all, this was a satisfying read and one that I will enjoy rereading again and again.

Would recommend: if you love character-driven stories set in a lush, intricately-woven setting with one of the most likable protagonists around.

Carpathia by Cecilia Woloch

Woloch writes of moving, of grief, of love, all with great aplomb. There is a birdlike quality to her words as she talks about her father, his death, love, of moving across so many landscapes. Her poems have the serenity of the color blue. I cannot wait to see read more from her.

Would recommend: if you want to be lulled by beautiful wording and imagery.

The Divinity Student by Michael Cisco

This book is like reading one long hallucination. The surrealism is everywhere, the horror underlying everything. The imagery is haunting in the best of ways, it feels like smoke clinging to your clothes. There is no logic to this story. You just cannot make sense of it. There is a reason why Cisco is often compared to Franz Kafka.

Would recommend: if you want to pore over surrealism and odd imagery rather than a particular plot.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

One of the most satisfying fantasies I have read the past few years. Novik knows how to make twists and she knows how to make those twists flow right. While I could feel old-school sort of fantasy as a backbone to this story, it still stands all on its own. The characters were vivid in their personalities.

Sometimes I had frustrations with Agnieszka, with how much she fussed over dealing with fancy indulgences. There is nothing wrong with her for preferring a rural, simpler life, but it felt tacked-on too often. At least it is not as bad as Hunger Games, where the bad guys in that story enjoyed to opulent, feminine indulgences that had something of a homophobic coding too.

I do adore how Agnieszka’s clumsiness is not made to be endearing, but a human flaw. I wish to have seen more of her friendship with Kasia and see her relationship with the Dragon get developed more but all in all, it was enjoyable.

The magic system was also beautifully envisioned and executed.

Would recommend: character-driven, brilliant world-building, and unique storytelling.

Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone

I hate the new 52. I hate most of it. I'm probably not going to read most titles from DC for a while. I am still not forgiving them for that hot topic nightmare that is Harley Quinn's makeover. I also have a small confession to make.

As a child, I was not that interested in Batgirl. I liked her enough on the Adam West show. I thought it was fantastic that she was a librarian. I thought Yvonne Craig was lovely. Other than that depiction, I barely gave thought to Barbara Gordon.

With DC animation, my holy trinity of favorite female characters was Huntress (Bertinelli), Wonder Woman, and Catwoman. In recent years, especially with the passing of Craig, I've come to appreciate her more, value her character, her relationships with others, her strong will, her kindness, her flaws, her mistakes. Gail Simone actually made her a whole person to me when she was Oracle. And while I am still pissed that she is not that anymore, Simone's writing had me cheer for Barbara in getting back out onto the streets. This volume shows the ups and downs of her friendships to people she has known for a long time, the tentative friendship with her roommate that has the potential to expand a lot deeper, and above all, her relationship with both her parents. It always annoyed me when superhero stories got with the Disney Parent Problem, where there was only one parent active in the protagonist's life and how that was most often the father. Here, we see Barbara's mother and how their relationship is broken, and you feel for both of them. You want to be angry with Barbara's mom for leaving the family, but you also empathize her efforts into healing that rift, especially how they're not quite satisfied; no doubt there is a deeper story about why exactly she left. You understand Barbara's hurt but you also know she's not one to deal with emotions, including bitterness, well, and she is not above pettiness and evasiveness. I really look forward to where this goes in the next volumes.

Would recommend: for long-time Batgirl fans and for those interested in getting to know her more.

Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

Kamala Khan has to be one of the sweetest characters I ever had the fortune of reading. She’s awkward, silly, earnest, and good-intentioned.

Some of the dialogue does feel stilted. I am guessing because Wilson is still trying to balance showing real-life issues while telling a story. I know people had issues with how static her family feels at the moment, although from what I’ve seen, they do develop well as the series goes on.

Would recommend: a fun, charismatic read that personally makes me think back to watching favorite Saturday morning cartoons.

#thorn's personal #thorn's book recommendations

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mixtapekings · 5 years ago

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Listen Review of Future’s ‘High Off Life’ by djbooth.net

Future’s ‘High Off Life’ is a familiar journey through a terrain of toxic lust, sleepless paranoia, wealthy boasts, and deep-seated trauma.

Hip-hop recognizes Future, born Nayvadius Wilburn, as a multi-Platinum, GRAMMY-winning trendsetter who doesn’t follow anyone’s rules but his own. Instead of working inside the industry, Future works around it, doing as he pleases from a mountain top built upon his tireless work ethic. Consistency, as much as talent, made him into a superstar.

So it should come as no surprise that Future decided to release his eighth studio album, High Off Life, during a pandemic. While some of his peers are waiting until the storm passes, Future moves forward, releasing new music as if unphased by the world’s tragic predicament. With features from Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Drake, DaBaby, and more, High Off Life is the biggest release of the week, but will it be the best?

In usual 1-Listen album review fashion, the rules are the same: no skipping, no fast-forwarding, no rewinding, and no stopping. Each song will receive my gut reaction from start to finish.

1. “Trapped In The Sun”

The atmosphere feels like the beginning of an epic tale of a man turned monster. “That yellow Lambo outside.” Boss talk. Future makes trap music sound like Greek mythology. The bounce is infectious. The production could score a remake of Scarface. Brags on top of brags. Future is a super-villain, and he does not hide it. Future is in his mixtape bag. He has mastered “Former drug dealer who made it out of that life” lyricism, but I heard this story before. Strong start. Will revisit.

2. “HiTek Tek”

Let’s see where he goes. Banger! ATL Jacob tag! The bass would devour a weaker rapper. Future is like a toxic Energizer Bunny who loves any beat that makes him sound like he’s in the center of chaos. “I started off po, but not no mo.” He’s flexing like the rich rapper that he is. A lot of tricks. Future still finds the fun in rap. ATL Jacob is a beast. This song is full of sound effects. I laughed at him bragging about having the Glock on him while sitting courtside. Why sir? Why do you have that on you? The production reminds me of What A Time To Be Alive. This one is good.

3. “Touch The Sky”

Southside production. This is good. “Off the top rope, Andre the Giant.” Future is full of wealthy stunts. Is he one of the best braggers in rap? [Editor’s Note: Yes.] I’m loving this. “I can tell she got a man by the way she text me, nigga.” This man is a monster. “I perform with my drum” is a robust double entendre. Yeah, we have a keeper. I’m a sucker for Future and Southside collabs. These two are mad scientists wreaking havoc. Doctor Robotnik meets Shadow the Hedgehog. Future is the Shadow of hip-hop, and Drake is his Sonic.

4. “Solitaries” feat. Travis Scott

How many collabs does Future have with Travis? Wheezy tag! Shouts to Lil Wayne, lol. Future sounds lively. This man just said, “Coronavirus diamonds you can catch the flu.” Future is his name, outlandish is his language. Travis is getting to it. Not mad, but not in love either. I would have loved it on Travis’ Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. Skip.

5. “Ridin Strikes”

Every Future album is a reminder that he’s richer than you. “Ridin Strikes” sounds like you should play it in a tank. He’s getting some bars off. My only issue with Future is, the subject matter starts to get stale. He overstuffs his album to the point where I crave a change. Can he hear my thoughts? The beat just switched. A news clip. Oh, this is something. I would watch Future in a bank robber movie. Give him a role like T.I in Takers. Alright, I’ll keep this one.

6. “One of My”

A simple build-up. He’s taking his time with this one. Yep! His vocal texture is the perfect tone for a ghost story. “One of my niggas ain’t got no soul.” YEP! We have the one. Future hangs out with some terrible guys. I wish we had a way of seeing a person’s karma. If Future lives his raps, I know his karma is in dangerous reds. I wish this were the intro. Imagine a Future styled GKMC; that was probably Monster. “One of my niggas ain’t got no soul” is the spookiest lyric of 2020.

7. “Posted With My Demons”

This beat sounds like a bottomless pit of despair. This is not what Tory Lanez meant by Demon Time. Future jumps on haunted beats and tells you about the monsters underneath your bed. High Off Life has been mostly about his past trails and his present riches. “All this dope I sold.” There’s a lot of darkness in this man’s heart. He looks like such a wholesome man. “If the streets don’t kill you first, it will make you strong.” Future makes trap music; real trap music; music that represents the inescapable cycle of darkness that will corrupt saints and cause angels to fall from heaven. Keeper.

8. “Hard To Choose One”

If you like trap Future, this album is for you. Future’s delivery sounds slower than usual. I wonder if that’s because Lil Baby raps so fast. The two have similar perspectives, except Lil Baby has a good heart. He’s practically the Little Mermaid compared to Future’s Ursula. Don’t mind me; I have animation on the brain. Love his flow here. “Load up my rifle; I don’t go to bed.” Future is haunted by something, and no one can convince me otherwise. The last three songs have all been killer.

9. “Trillionaire” feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again

Jeff Bezos is going to make this song his ringtone. Youngboy is taking advantage of all the attention he’s garnished over the last year or so. Future aligns himself with young rappers who compliment him. Future is singing his heart out. I kind of missed him singing. Youngboy is singing, too. This is a started from the bottom rap ballad. “Trillionaire” might be the breakout record. YouTube views are going to be crazy.

10. “Harlem Shake” feat. Young Thug

I have a good feeling about this one. “Choppa make them do the Harlem Shake.” Future loves to rap over beats that sound like they would play in a strip club with a low health score. Just filthy. Thugger! I wish the tempo were a few BPM faster. Thug was cool. He didn’t explode as I expected him. That was mild. A cherry bomb, not an atomic one. Eh, not in love. Feels lazy. Skip.

11. “Up The River”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the house, but High Off Life sounds like an outside album, not a quarantine album. Future didn’t make this album for a world socially distancing. Okay! We got some heartfelt reflection. The super-villain dropped the act. Nevermind. “Got no room for mistakes.” Can someone please put Future in the studio with Mir Fontane. Those two would make something crazy. I hope the second half leans into this direction.

12. “Pray For A Key”

Out of all the things Future could pray for, he prays for a “key.” Super-villain. There’s some premium trauma on this album, word to my boy Michael Penn II. “I been dying to go berserk.” Not a bad record. I like the production. The synth in the background is a nice touch. “Used to pray for a key.” This is… Cool.

13. “Too Comfortable”

“Bitch, don’t get too comfortable.” Sheesh, that’s how you feel, man? I wish we could get a For The Love of Future reality show. That would be premium television. We got something here. I like the production; I also like the tone, flow, and energy. Future is such a subtle talker. No matter what he says, it never sounds as malicious as the words are. Who made this beat? It’s gorgeous. [Editor’s Note: Southside.] Oh, he just mentioned his son. He’s opening up. Dang, that was short-lived. What is Future’s real-life like? He’s a mystery. It’s part of the allure. “Better not get too comfortable.” I’ll keep this one—the most personal song on the album. Well, besides the one about his friends with no souls.

14. “All Bad” feat. Lil Uzi Vert

I love how shameless Future is. He doesn’t care if you judge him; his life is his life. Uzi brought a change in sound. All his beats sound like they belong in video games. Gotta love the colorfulness. “I’m from a whole different world.” I believe it, sir. “My nickname is Yung Spendit.” That’s a solid nickname haha. This one is a trampoline. I love that Uzi is back to releasing music. He’s a walking cartoon. “I am way smarter than you.” Baby Pluto and Pluto Sr. are a good combo. “If I hang up, don’t call back at all.” Future is a rap star who doesn’t dim his light for no one. I wonder when was the last time he apologized to someone. Probably never. You don’t become a superstar apologizing.

15. “Outer Space Bih”

The keys are gorgeous. Future has a solid beat selection. They’re distinctive, but only a handful stand out. This one does. “I’m a driving drug store.” I see “Outer Space Bih” being a favorite. “I got two G Wagons in my ears.” Future stunts are becoming more impressive. I see why he and Drake get along. They like to make us all feel poor. Keeper.

16. “Accepting My Flaws”

This title sounds like an outro. Who is that? Dang, someone is ranting. I wonder how Future would acknowledge his flaws? 808 Mafia tag. Yes! Man, this sounds like driving a hellcat in hell. Feels like a Future classic. HE’S GETTING TO IT. “Drink my blood, baby, we going digital.” I hope we never find out what Future does in his private life. I know it’s nothing good. Two minutes in and I’m ready to run it back. He’s on a roller-coaster. “Fuck them all, we don’t show them sympathy.” So far, not one mention of his flaws. I love it. “Lord forgive me I been on a rampage.” He has been fighting his demons; he’s been fighting the cup. Oh man, this is good. Easily the best record on the album.

17. “Life Is Good” feat. Drake

I like this record. It’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in rap form. “Baby got an ego twice the size of the crib.” Can’t imagine a woman with an ego bigger than Drake’s mansion. I can’t believe these two dropped this song in January, and life immediately got bad. How Future catches the beat switch is something serious. Lyrically, he sounds so alive. “Life Is Good” is one of his best rap performances on the album. He gets into a completely different zone when Drake is featured. Rap would sound completely different without Future. “Life Is Good” is a keeper, but this album doesn’t need to continue.

18. “Last Name” feat. Lil Durk

“I take care of families.” Oh, wait, we have something. This is sweet. Melodic Future bleeding it out. “I can’t go to sleep, I’m too paranoid.” I guess that’s why he wants a Draco in London. Being that famous can’t be fun. Lil Durk sounds great. Pray that all rappers get the healing they deserve. So many great songs inspired by deep sorrow. “Laughing to the bank got me running wild.” Future and Durk tag-teaming the last verse was sweet.

19. “Tycoon”

One day, Future will realize that we don’t need 21 songs. “Took that Draco on a PJ, I ain’t playing.” Man, this album is a paranoia parade. As much as I like confessional Future, I feel like he told us everything we needed to know about his life in the streets on “Sorry.” “Tycoon” is a good song, but this deep into the album, it’s not hitting as hard as it should. Bloated albums do a disservice to the deeper cuts. Admittedly, bloated albums are terrible for 1 Listens. It’s like being held hostage in a studio. [Editor’s Note: I apologize.] Okay, that was a little dramatic. Good record, though.

20. “100 Shooters” feat. Meek Mill & Doe Boy

Tay Keith tag! Okay! These hi-hats just woke me up. A nice Nas/Belly reference. Meek! I haven’t played any Meek lately. Hearing his voice is refreshing. I could use a new Meek project. [Editor’s Note: He’s working on one.] Man, Future does not care about these ladies’ broken hearts. I’m sure he breaks up with women just to rap about it. This is a good record. I would’ve liked this song earlier in the album. Doe Boy! This is a solid performance. I would like on a gym playlist. Nothing says leg day like having 100 shooters outside.

21. “Life Is Good [Remix]” feat. Drake, DaBaby & Lil Baby

This album is longer than the wait at Red Lobster on Mother’s Day. “Help me fight my demons.” At what age should you be expected to deal with your demons alone? I didn’t mean that. We all deserve a shoulder to lean on, no matter your age. I can’t wait until Future drops a gospel redemption album. It’s going to be glorious. “Halloween gang in this bitch.” Why is Drake credited on this? My man did not come back as a guest star. The beat switch is meaner than a classroom of toddlers on silent lunch. DaBaby! Such a great rap voice. He found a good pocket. He delivered a strong guest verse. “You a throwaway, baby, it’s okay.” Man, rappers can be so savage. Lil Baby! The pure-hearted gangster. His flow is something else—a rapping roadrunner. I hope Lil Baby will always rap like the cops are about to raid the studio, and he has to finish the verse before they kick the door in.

Final (First Listen) Thoughts on Future’s High Off Life

Future’s High Off Life is a journey through a terrain of toxic lust, sleepless paranoia, wealthy boasts, and deep-seated trauma. Mostly, it’s another chapter from the book of Nayvadius. We have a familiar gospel on our hands.

High Off Life features Future giving the people what they expect. We have a hopeless romantic who relishes the ghosts of his past and refuses to look away from the prosperity of his present. The 36-year-old rap innovator delivers another long-winded recollection of guns, glory, girls, drugs, and demons with suave flows and hypnotic cadences over hard-hitting production from the usual suspects.

To his credit, Future understands that he is a roller-coaster. The kind of artist who follows a designated path of loops, twists, and turns without losing the rush that makes each ride thrilling. High Off Life adds 21 new attractions to his dark, twisted theme park. It’s just that, we’ve all been here before.

Listen to Future on Audiomack.

from Listen Review of Future’s ‘High Off Life’ by djbooth.net

#Albums #News #DJ Booth #future #High Off Life #Yoh Phillips

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