#WAIT. did we get rachel backstory or did I make that up

[neurotypical-sonic]

jojo, who's mum was so deeply hurt by people she trusted she is scared to love again, to let anyone in, and is overprotective of jojo and maddie, her only loved ones left, to the point where it causes problems. jojo, who's aunt is a vet and cares so deeply for animals and those who cant protect themselves, who is gentle and passionate, who gives everything to help others but seemingly goes unrecognised

its jojo is what I'm saying jojo shouldve had more of a part in the movie jojo couldve connected everything nicely

[hi18364]

Secrets of the pitch

A bit of backstory first 

Me and Lucy have known each other since she played for Sunderland and I played for Watford. We met when she was 19 and I was 17 we didn't get to gather until I was 20 and she was 22 by that time, she was playing for Liverpool and I was playing for Manchester City. We have been together since then, and now we are playing at Barcelona. That's all the back story. 

 

20 August 2023 

 

We were in a World Cup final for the first time ever. We were on the bus on our way to the stadium. It's 9:00 a.m. and kick-off is at 11:00 a.m. I'm sitting next to Lucy she was watching some TV show. One of the Barc girls recommended I have my head laid on her shoulder, her head on top of mine, and we stayed like that for the rest of the ride. Most of the girls were too nervous to make jokes or sing, so the bus is pretty quiet which isn't normal. 

 

The bus stops. We all get off, go to the changing room, and look around for a bit. It's time to find out who is in the starting 11. We all sit in our cubicles and wait for her to tell us who is in. The starting 11 

 

She opens a folded piece of paper and starts to say the names "Mary, Millie, Alex, Rachel, Kira, Georgia, Y/N, Lauren, Alessia, Lucy, and Jess. We will be playing in a 3-4-1-2 format, and everyone else is on the bench. Good luck, girls. You have about an hour before warm-ups, so do what you want. 

 

Skip an hour 

 

We got changed into our training kits and went to warm up. There are people in the stadium already. I look around for a second and go and stretch. After we are done I jog in and get changed. After the ones on the bench go out and sit in their seats, we line up at 10:45. We are just waiting. Now I rub my knee because it started to hurt. The Spanish team comes out and lines up. I look at the players as they walk past. 

I noticed a few faces I recognize from Barca. At 10:55, we went out and did our national anthems and got ready for the whistle at 11:02.

 

Commentator 

 

SAVE! A long bronze throw-in causes some issues inside the Spain area, with a loose ball falling for Hemp. The England striker drills a low left-footed strike towards the bottom-right corner, where Coll saves the first chance of the game with ease.

 

The goalkeeper passes the ball to Banmati. We run, and Lucy gets the ball. She's trapped by Spanish plays. One gets the ball from her and passes to Olga Carmona. Garcia she runs it's like slow motion. She pulls her foot back and drives it in to the ball. Mary was too late the net ripples. 

 

Half time comes quick. Spain 1 England 0 

 

Me Alessia Rachel out, Lauren James Chloe Kelly and Ella Toon in 

 

Nothing more happens other than Lauren Hemp getting a yellow, a penalty to Spain, which Mary saves, and another yellow given out to a Spanish player at 12:59. 

 

1 minute left, there was no possible way to win we had lost the World Cup

————————————————————————————

Right this is only part 1 part 2 will be out sometime in the next 2 weeks

[nobodysdaydreams]

If Pryce and Cutter hate the youths so much, then why don't they move across the universe to get the marriage counseling they clearly need and stop making their BS everyone else's problem?

(Or my reaction to Episodes 59-60 of Wolf359).

I said I would have self control. I said I wouldn’t listen to or react to anymore Wolf359 this whole weekend. But guess what dear readers? As usual, I lied, to you and myself. Sadly, I am weak. Now, with my confession out of the way, let’s get into it!

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom @lovelyladylavie

Episode 59: Crash and Burn

"Oh how fun. Come on kids, scream if you want to go faster." It's trippy that when I hear Pryce talk for a moment I'm like "Hera?" and then I realize. Also she and Cutter really do act like criticizing and mean disappointed parents.

"But just a small fire, and look it's out now!" good point Doug.

"This time you finally killed us" Congrats Doug!

"It's a fire on a spaceship, you shouldn't need explicit instruction to know it's a bad idea" "You don't know the first thing about commanding Douglas F. Eiffel" LET HIM KNOW DOUG!

"Cyborg De Vil" Eiffel really does have the best nicknames.

"I'm just a poor little old lady" Oh, I've met old ladies like you Pryce. Terribly entertaining, but awful all the same. Hated their own children too. At this point, I'm just waiting for your sad little backstory.

"Nobody says "thank you" anymore. Kids these days..." Pryce, maybe when you do something worthy of thanks, then you will be thanked.

"If it seems like I'm wrong, you don't have all the data" Well geez, I hope that pride doesn't kill you.

"Why are you asking us to read the values for you?" OH GET HER MINKOWSKI.

Okay, Pryce, in fairness to Doug, I think we've well established that most characters in this show are "metaphorically blind" in one way or another.

"Blinded by my own survival manual" it's fitting to be honest. The next edition? No, we don't need another edition Miranda.

"Well this should be easy!" Doug...Doug when is it ever easy?

Well gang, it looks like the gang's not getting out of this one this time. I will miss you all. Minkowski and Doug most of all. Kepler and Pryce less so.

Calling Pryce's husband is unfortunately the only plan. Let's see how he feels about wifey being in danger. This is either gonna go one of...potentially a few ways, and I'm very interested to see his reaction.

Will he leave her to die in space? Will he feel bad about that? Will he give up an advantage for her?

Wait. Is this Hera? Oh it's Marcus and Hera. I love the juxtaposition between Doug and Pryce and Marcus and Hera. I guess they both have a common interest. Nothing brings people together quite like it.

Oh gross Rachel's here too.

Skin alive whoever designed the flight's pod system? But this is so arbitrary...if all their enemies had been the ones to get blasted off, Cutter would give the man a promotion. For a guy who only promotes "the best" a lot of this is really just luck.

Wait. GUESTS???

Oh they got Lovelace and Jacobi. Oh dear. At least they can't kill or control Lovelace.

"I can't do much without her" I see. So she is the brain's behind Cutter's little happy murder business operation.

"Part of my signature look" Jacobi's sarcasm is growing on me the more he uses it against the right people.

"Pretty please with sugar on top" OH SO CUTTER DID HEAR JACOBI SAY THAT AND THREATEN TO SHOOT KEPLER. I think those were the exactly words he used too.

And speaking of that episode, we're back to singing about beer! 🍻Jacobi really is (formerly)evil Doug. 😂 They even sing the same song.

Is Pryce threatening to...EAT Doug? Well this is creepy.

Pryce, shut it. If you're so much of a grownup, stop acting like a pouty child.

Geez all Pryce knows how to do is complain. I guess Cutter is into that. For some weird reason. "Do I have to do everything around here." All you do is make trouble.

"You can't afford to take a chance on this" CALL HIM OUT JACOBI! I love his arc, I love his arc so much, it took way too long, but I'm so happy he's gotten here.

Oh dear. Is Jacobi in the right headspace for this? "Prettiest pumpkin princess at the ball?" Well good for Jacobi. Also very similar to the line Pryce gave to Hera. It's scary how much they sound and speak alike.

That is true. It might need to be a self-sacrifice mission. If Jacobi misses, Cutter kills him, and Eiffel and Minkowski don't survive. It's a tough situation, especially because we're not even sure how many lives are at stake here. But Jacobi, the whole point of self-sacrifice is that the people making the sacrifice agree to it, or there's literally no other way.

Yeah, Doug, Pryce is not gonna be reassuring. That's not in her generation's vocabulary.

Uh oh. Jacobi, I hope you know what you're doing.

Oh dear. Marcus seems testy.

And how much longer do we have with Rachel and Reimann? (Yes, I was corrected on the spelling).

"Just get it right this time Marcus" wow she is demanding.

Ah...there it is.

...or not...

...Jacobi?

...DUCK BOY?

Well they got them. But what happens now?

Oh great Marcus' slow clapping. And let me guess, he kills him anyway?

Business to catch up on? Pryce doesn't sound too happy.

And yeah Minkowski, hold her at gunpoint! (Though in my experience, people like her don't fear death, rather they complain it's not coming fast enough), but whatever gives you the upper hand.

Episode 60: Terms and Conditions

What's with the beeping?

"You are alright?" Strange that Rachel asks that. I guess she'd be the one to notice he's quiet.

Ah. The sunset. Very fitting.

Westerns. Cutter probably saw some of them down at the old timey picture show when he was a wee lad.

Yes, yes, "the bigger picture". But what if there is a bigger picture to even your story, Cutter? One that you're not in control over?

Cutter knows what's about to happen. He knows it's time to choose. Work wifey or scary evil plan? What's it gonna be old man?

"Who is it?" 😂 I love Doug. I love him so much.

"We could have a cup of tea" oh gosh Cutter really is every old person stereotype.

"Reflect on the working conditions. Are you fostering a supportive company culture? One that values the contributions of its employees?" Doug is the best. Doug is the best.

"If you ever want to see your worst half ever again" 👏 Tell him. TELL HIM.

So now Cutter has to a choice. He can go Legend of Korra and kick Pryce to the curb, or he can drop his tragic backstory and try to come to an understanding.

"Can you guarantee the safe recover of Dr. Pryce?" "96%" Hm. Cutter doesn't seem happy with those numbers.

Special Projects? "Similar to you while still not you. You will see what you miss and say what you don't want to" interesting. So that's why Cutter keeps Rachel around.

"How possible would it be to complete the mission without Dr. Pryce?"

DANNGGGGGGG... Rachel asking the real questions.

"I don't know what your partnership with Dr. Pryce means" Interesting...so Cutter kept that even closer to his chest.

"Before I decide, I want the information" Cutter is unraveling.

See this is why you shouldn't talk when Cutter can hear them.

"Handle this personally?" Did he just crack his knuckles? Is he going to try to fight them? 😂

Neat idea? Is Cutter gonna make his own radio show?

Kepler and Lovelace are speaking for them? This is weird. And unnecessary unless some other mischief is a foot.

CUTTER IS MAKING HER DO THE "MM-HM" 😂😂😂

Kepler reading out Eiffel's words too 😂

Cutter's promises are stupid. And taking the collar off Hera doesn't mean that Pryce can't do something else terrible.

"Those are big promises" That's basic human decency.

"That's one thing. I'm giving you three. What else?"

Kepler and Pryce are two people. I love how it clearly shows Cutter views Kepler, who he's having Lovelace talk to, a disposable.

"You wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone if you didn't need them for something." CALL HIM OUT. CALL HIM OUT. 👏👏👏

"With all due respect to you Warren, that Dr. Pryce's return is worth two of your demands" wow, Cutter just went there didn't he?

"We won't annoy you" "I'm not sure you can promise that" "First off this is...this is your boy, Douggie Fresh at the mic" 😂 I knew it was Doug when he said the "won't annoy you" thing, but having him use Kepler like this is amazing. "Gumming up the works" I love Eiffel. I love his whole speech.

Is Cutter making her slow clap? Cutter and Eiffel really are a theatrical duo.

Reject your terms? Taking advantage of you guys? You should be asking for way more. That's very true. They should ask for way more. They really should. But um...what is Cutter doing???

Ugh. It's like Cutter is still trying to teach them a lesson. Like an evil twisted mentorship figure.

I have a bad feeling about it too.

"You two crazy kids still there?" Shut up Cutter (no offense Isabel).

Cutter is gonna destroy the sol when it leaves. He has a plan to do so.

"No catch" THERE IS ALWAYS A CATCH.

"Talk to us baby" Aw, I'm so happy Hera loves it. 💕🥰

"Tell us who you are and what you're doing up here?"

YES! THE TRUTH AT LAST.

Ah, Doug has figured it out. Cutter is just ecstatic.

"Super old, look like you're 28, no need to sleep or eat, know everything, obsessed with aliens..." Oh Doug thinks they are aliens.

Not a bad theory Doug, but I feel like you're not correct.

I feel like they're about to say something like "no silly Doug. We're not aliens. Don't be an idiot. That would be over the top and ridiculous. We're obviously cyborgs from the past and future who have travels here to enslave all of humanity and rewrite the course of human history. Which is SO much more reasonable."

Also given that Lovelace WAS an alien, it's not that crazy of a guess. They're being a little unfairly mean to him right now.

Modified???? Wait, no, no deal, what does modified mean? Explain that first please, explain it now.

Send Kepler first. Cutter doesn't care about him.

"You want to stay with us" "No Boy" oh dear. Looks like they're in the middle of a little marriage spat. "You'll never be rid of me 214" I knew it, Pryce has a thing for keeping Hera under control.

Yeah, what did Jacobi do? Hopefully that alien blood works quick.

OH WHAT IS THE TEA THE BOOMERS ARE FIGHTINGGGGG!!!!

"Better to be lucky than good" something tells me you won't be for long, Miranda.

Rachel is going with them? Um. It doesn't sound like either of them like that. "Fill you in on the details" that's obviously code for something. I don't like how fast Rachel agreed to that.

Oh dear. Trouble in paradise it would seem. Worried about wifey, Marcus? "Be quiet. I was worried." "For me?" "I was." "You're not immortal" "yet" "of course, I was worried for you."

"Your only task is to back my play" wow. They really ARE a toxic married couple from the early 1900s. I guess Cutter couldn't stand the thought of losing his precious cold detached mean evil science early 1900's house/work wife.

"Friends?" "Partners." Hm.

This relationship fascinates me. Miranda shows him hardly any respect or gratitude. Yet Cutter seems to care about her in a...weirdly toxic way. Though I do wonder if Miranda feels the same.

Very true something has to be wrong here. Cutter wouldn't let them leave unless...

Wait. Unless it was irrelevant to his plans. Unless them getting back to Earth didn't matter.

"That's not why you're not gonna leave" ...um Rachel. What are you talking about? Please fill us in on the plan.

Oh Kepler's here too.

THE END OF THE WORLD?????

Wait...oh my gosh...

So...there will be no Earth to return to? And all the people on it?

ARE PRYCE AND CUTTER TRYING TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE ALIENS???

Well I did say in a private discord chat that it was odd that they mentioned Minkowski’s husband and Doug’s daughter only to never bring up threatening their lives again. I guess they really saved that one in their back pockets for the grand finale.

Kepler, how much longer are you going to go along with this? If they destroy the Earth, everything on it goes too, including your beloved Whiskey.

Rachel, idk how much longer you think Cutter is gonna keep you around, but he clearly only cares about his evil science arm candy, and that's not you or Reimann. He'll toss you both under the bus when he's done.

Cutter, wifey seems a bit unstable, and Pryce, your man seems to not be valuing you as an equal, and as much as I dislike you, I'm still not cool with that on principle. Perhaps the two of you ought to see to some marriage counseling, somewhere...oh I don't know...far far far far far away on the other side of the universe? Where you two can finally stop having to deal with those pesky youths you claim to hate so much?

Well at least the thing about Cutter naming the AI and putting on a charming appearance and Pryce hating it and acting so cold towards them makes so much sense now. Cutter wants to play house. House where he casts himself in the role of a toxic, stereotypical, controlling, abusive, and terrible father, with a flimsy "I care so deeply" facade and horrible taste in women, but house all the same. I guess it makes sense given when he was born. Pryce views the AI and their employees as things, Cutter views them as their children or rather their "creations" but at the end of the day, their views amount to the same thing: tools from which they demand unquestioning obedience that they can cast aside if and when they chose to do so. Absolutely disgusting.

Wait. 2 hours?

THE LAST EPISODE IS TWO FULL HOURS.

And Volte Face is one hour. But then...when will I have the time to...

oh boy. Stay tuned everyone. Hopefully I'll get my answers soon. Thanks for reading!

[nightglider124]

Just finished new episode of Titans…

Oooooo things be getting interesting 👀

This episode seemed to pick things up a little bit more than last week. Last week defo felt very filler-ish.

Some points:

Omg the whole zombie bit was fucking hilarious 😂 Jinx’s commentary about it was funny and then Gar and Tim being all like yay when Connor decapitated Deathstroke and then being like naaaay when he got back up?? 😂😂 that whole scene was funny af.

I do not enjoy the foreshadowing of Kory having a role in all this. Like im bypassing the fact its central to Rachel and Sebastian too cos like Kory is my girl. The fairytale book and the fact her powers were not working in the zombie bit. Also, the fact MM or Gina was like ‘I don’t think the tamaranean will like her part’ like excuse the fuck me pls do not touch her thanks. I know they said like Kory gets hurt but like i am v much not looking forward to that at all. Like, how hurt we talking? Coma? I also really don’t wanna be Kory-less for half an episode of smth when she gets hurt unless the whole time Dick is gonna be foaming at the mouth in rage, ya feel me?

I do not understand Jinx’s powers at all like since when can she morph into other people?? I genuinely don’t know her abilities- i only ever knew of her character from the 2003 cartoon which was purely ‘bad luck’. But in Titans, I am assuming she’s just witch all round…

Interesting that they did flashbacks, showing us the story of Sebastian and MM and how she became the villain like she was clearly cracked anyway since she was straight into that cult w/o a second thought. It was a good choice, I think. She was a character who I didn’t mind finding out the backstory unlike the needless eps in previous seasons where we really didn’t need them.

Connor, whatcha doin there buddy?? You good?! I think i’d be a bit freaked if i puked up blood and a snake but something tells me he be getting controlled. Again interesting since in the comics, Dick is the one who ends up getting brainwashed by CoB so I am curious if they are swapping Dick for Connor in the show or if Dick will be brainwashed at some later stage or something.

Again, y’all I am v scared for Kory… like I know she doesn’t die but I also do not want her hurt like I will feel as feral as the team.

I know they gave Jinx the past romance etc but she really does scream snarky annoying lil sister vibes? 😂

I like that they’ve come full circle from s1 or at least I like the fact they have made them link. It feels less like they were making it up as they went along, even if they were.

I am extremely rolling my eyes at Dick for brushing off Kory’s visions like bitch your misses defo has a point here?? I get Dick doesn’t believe in visions and destinies etc whereas Kory wholeheartedly does but that makes it worse for when Kory gets hurt and we BEST get a scene of Dick being like fuck i shoulda listened to her about that.

I am greedy I know but I really want more romance realisation for Dick and Kory like the waiting is putting me on edge. I have a feeling Kory will get hurt in the latter part of the season. I was on insta looking back at when they were filming and when they were filming the vision of Mar’i, there was word of it being the second to last episode and we are all assuming she has the vision of them when she is hurt? I’m like I swear to God, we best not be getting dickkory in literally the last two eps (i am aware of the date scene so yay) cos at this rate, they won’t actually have any romance til s5 which is looking unlikely to be renewed for…

However, I did like the fact that Dick still spent majority of the time with Kory. She is literally always beside him as well as whenever they split or team up, Dick seems to always have Kory with him. Tis cute. I also liked when they were barricading themselves, Dick was like yeah me and kory will take the doors and its like bro was that just cos she is sick in hand to hand combat cos like you saw her powers doing fuck all so whats the thought process behind that??

I think that’s all my thoughts on the episode this week. It was good; better story wise than last week, imo. I’m excited/scared for next weeks ep since they were like yeah dickkory fans are gonna be screaming… good screaming like they get it on at a motel since we defo saw bts of a motel? Or bad screaming like Kory is gonna get messed up by CoB? WHICH IS IT??

I defo don’t think its next weeks ep that we will be seeing Kory’s vision of Mar’i and Dick tho 🤔

[blackwell-academys-airdrop]

For the ask game 6,8 and 25

6. which ship fans are the most annoying? uh. No offense intended whatsoever, but I simply do not vibe with Grahamscott (the gay one). I mean, I guess I see the appeal? But it just kinda rubs me the wrong way a little. I think it's cuz it's a very popular (I might even call it overrated) mlm ship in a very wlw-oriented game and fandom. It's like, there's 5 times more mlm on AO3 as opposed to wlw last I checked. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with mlm; it's just not for me, and it's something that gets hyped up a LOT in fandom spaces, often to the detriment of wlw, het, and other ships.

Anyway. Very popular ship for what I would go so far as to call a crack pairing. (The inherent homoeroticism of, uh... beating a guy up so hard he has to go to the hospital?) Want proof? Here are the most popular relationships (platonic inclusive) in the Life Is Strange fandom on AO3 as of the time of writing:

There are more Grahamscott fics than there are Marshfield fics (admittedly not by a lot), and that's a travesty.

FANDOM-WIDE CHALLENGE: Write >17 Marshfield fics so we can knock Grahamscott out of 4th place!

I reiterate: I do not hate Grahamscott, nor do I hate those who ship them. It's got a lot of (non-uwu softboy, mind you) potential. It simply isn't for me.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about Bae or Bay Before the Storm is not a bad game. Actually no wait I'll save that one for 25.

Hm.

How bout this: William was NOT a perfect dad. He was a good one, for sure, but remember: our idea of his character is rose-tinted with Chloe's and Max's overwhelmingly positive memories of him. "That's one thing he left us: wonderful memories." (I paraphrase) I'd like to see his flaws explored a bit more.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing I've said it already and I'll say it again: Before the Storm is not a bad game. It's not a great game, and it definitely doesn't live up to the original, but it's a good game.

High points of the game (keep in mind I haven't watched/played the game in about 4 years):

Steph

Interesting take on a young Nathan

CUNSn

The SMASH scene (brought me close to tears. The controllable helplessness of it all, God)

Steph and Mikey

Skip

EN FUEGO UTERO

I LOVE what they did with Samuel actually

The take on Rachel was really interesting, especially the whole backstory thing and the actress mindset

FIRE POWERS FIRE POWERS

I'm intrigued by the drawing of an older Max hanging from a noose in a tree in Chloe's journal. WHAT does that IMPLY, WHAT does that MEAN

Steph

Barb the Barbarian (I named one of my DnD characters that and made her a She-Ra expy)

Chloe's dream sequences and general sleepiness (reminiscent of depression)

PUTTING AN ENTIRE CAR BATTERY INTO HER PANTS POCKET

The snitch straight-up admitting to Damon that he snitched was not at all realistic but it was very funny

The play scene, especially if you get all the lines right

Victoria drinking the drugged tea

Farewell, especially the little choose-your-own squirrel story ^w^

Low points:

"tHe StArS aRe DeAd" THAT IS NOT ASTRONOMICALLY CORRECT (I have ranted about this before)

Damon. Everything about Damon. His character, his impact on the plot, everything.

The whole James and Sera backstory was really hackneyed

I am ambivalent about the Backtalk mechanic

The whole third episode was just such a letdown. So much wasted potential

Much like LIS, there are a lot of different subplots, but LIS wove them together well while BTS didn't.

I've reblogged a rant about this before, but Chloe has so very little agency while Max has loads of it! Admittedly, the game is a prequel so some things have to happen no matter what, and Chloe's lack of agency (and unwillingness to acquire it) is a big point of her character, but it does not make for a fun video game protagonist. There are way too many But Thou Must! moments in the story.

The friggin' end scene with Frank fighting off Damon

do NOT retcon that Pompidou was a gift from Damon. do NOT

I'm also ambivalent on the whole Max and Chloe text exchanges retcon. Like, I think Chloe miiiight have reached out to her, but Max would not have responded. The anxiety is simply Too Great.

I am also ambivalent about the Sam & Nathan thing. I wish she'd gotten more characterization than just "sweet kind girl who loves books".

Megan Weaver didn't show up. I wish she had, cuz she was evidently important to Chloe for at least a little while, and we know so little about her

I know there was a strike going on or something but I am sad we didn't have the original VAs :( (but they came back for Farewell, so rejoice!)

Chloe's VA's performance was kinda lackluster

Okay THAT got longer than I anticipated. Sorry. Anyway. There are a lot of good points to BTS. There are a lot of bad ones, too. But hey. Canon is a construct.

[hedge-rambles]

Ok so I finished Wolf 359 and I have thoughts

First off: It is very good, quality podcast, 10/10. And then, in no particular order:

Ok so obviously I love Hera, she's my best special girl. I love many of the characters but Hera is a darling. I love how she goes from pushing the limits and loopholes of her code to see if she can just, y'know, murder the crew to genuinely bonding with them and loving them as they love her back. I want to rip Miranda Pryce limb from limb for what she did with the sneaky subvocal restraint.

I adore the thematic naming of the AIs in the show. Hera - Greek goddess of protection for mothers and marriage but known for her jealous and vindictive streak which is just, so Hera.

Her precursor on the Hephaestus was Rhea, the older Greek goddess of motherhood, the mother of the gods (inc. Hera) fitting with her role as mother program and an earlier iteration of the line.

The testing AI being called Eris, as in, the goddess of discord, both the horrible and the testing kind - not a goddess worshipped with temples (stations as temples, is that a thing?) but more a personification of Shit Going Wrong.

The airplane AI being called Enlil, Sumerian god of wind, air, earth and storms, what could be more fitting for a plane's autopilot?

Other characters though are also great, everyone loves Jacobi, even if he's a total bitch at times. Maxwell, forever in our hearts you wee monster. Cutter is amazing, I love how unnecessarily creepy his Chirpy Chipper Attitude is at all times.

Rachel Young is the scariest motherfucker in the entire show tbh. She just strolled in and near enough out-Cuttered Cutter and walked away with a job.

I love how Hilbert is an amoral nutbag except we get these little snippets of his backstory and the way he says things that make it clear he's...well ethically horrendous and unforgivable but he actually does care. He really is doing all that for the greater good (and if it worked it would be good), he really is trying to stop people dying, he just thinks that the net good means that, while he tries to avoid it, some deaths are a worthy price. His "greater good" isn't the "it's good if we get to control everyone like puppets" of Cutter and Pryce, it's legit a world where people can be cured of illnesses and radiation sickness, and live longer, healthier lives. It's fucked up but the man genuinely was trying to improve human health and wellbeing because of the trauma he experienced as a child.

I love how so many things were left hanging and then eventually tied up, like Minkowski's time skips, and Doug's Mystery Box, but at the same time we never really do get any real closure on like, what was in the walls of the original Hephaestus? Or why Hilbert started referring to the plant monster like he was being enthralled by it???

As an aside, one thing that I do find feels odd is Minkowski's name. She is Polish, she moved to the US when she was 11 years old, and she's Very Fucking Clear about her surname being said in the Polish way because fuck she's still Polish even if she hid her accent and Americanised herself. Which means her surname should be Minkowska, because Polish surnames are usually gendered. Her dad would have been Minkowski but her mother and her would take the surname Minkowska. But maybe the whole thing about the importance of her surname was a later addition to the character and long after it was established that she was called Minkowski.

As an aside, I loved Minkowski laying into Hilbert and just dropping a wee сука in there, like, yeah you tell him Renée!

And just so many moments through the whole thing are amazing. Jacobi dropping that he likes men, crashing Lovelace's train of thought "-wait, seriously?", and the later possible implication that he's having to deal with horror of seeing people who've been turned into techno-zombies and also one is possibly an ex-boyfriend. Also Jacobi being like "I have an idea!", and the idea is always explosions.

There's so much more I could say but it's just, so much.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

103. The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin--⭐️⭐️

I'm going to do something I rarely do with books I'm meh about: I'm not going to unhaul this book because the naked cover is GORGEOUS. There are three things I liked about this book--The LGBTQ+ rep, the concept and the cover design. Everything else was lacklustre and the romance made me cringe. I listened to the audiobook alongside my physical copy and I kept wondering when it would end. I found it interesting and kind of comical how fast the MC fell for this guy. The angsty nature of it and the flowery descriptions of his eyes made me roll my own eyes a few times. The concept of magic being connected to the seasons was really cool and could have been super intriguing, but it was over taken by the fast romance. Also, I love that the MC is immediately the chosen one. LOL at least we didn't pretend she wasn't. I also want to make note of something I felt while reading: This was YA? This did not feel like a YA. There wasn't any descriptive sex or anything, but I feel like if the author had tweaked this book a bit, it would have fit even better in general Fantasy. I am a HUGE fan of YA, but the vibe of this book felt like those movies where a thirty-seven year-old actor plays a fifteen year-old teenager. It was just...off. Finally, I would have liked a bit more of a backstory into how the MC got to that school and just more world building. Everything was so limited to the campus and the immediate area around it--I really wish it had been expanded a little more. I know there's another book coming out, but I will probably not be picking it up. Anyway, sorry if I'm in the minority here, but I was bored and am just very happy that I have a beautiful cover and that the story is over.

___

104. The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so surprised by this one! It has been sitting on my shelves for YEARS and I figured it was about time I read it. I was wary because it looked intimidating and I didn't know if I would be bored (just being honest), but I was pleasantly surprised. The writing pulled me in and it was genuinely creepy. I remember stopping every so often to put the book down because I was creeped out. I'm glad I had this gem on my shelf. I've never read anything by this author, but now I kind of want to explore more of his work. I'm definitely going to be starting the sequel to this during April! There was ONE instance where I wanted to yell at a character for his stupidity. But other than that, I also appreciated the omniscient feel of this book. I can see why it was made into a tv show (one that I now have to watch). I'd recommend this to fans of Vampires and who want something a little different. It was spooky and had some really good backstory and set up so you can learn more about the characters and their reasons for why they're the focus of the book series.

___

105. The Bright Lands by John Fram--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Off the bat, I'm going to say that I was not expecting the Brightlands (place not book) to be THAT. I was shocked and super entertained by that. While this is at times a slower read, I was intrigued throughout the whole book. I can definitely see the connection to IT because the moment the MC enters the town, something just feels off. There is this level of discomfort from the homophobia and racism that plagues the town--plus, of course, the mysterious disappearances. I was so invested in this story and wanted to get some answers. The climax of the story was definitely worth the wait and the bloody nature of it definitely showed me one of the reasons why this was moved from fantasy to horror (back when it was first released, it lived in Fantasy in my store). One of the things I really enjoyed about this book too was the different perspectives. I wasn't expecting it and it definitely added to the story because I think that stories like this one benefit from a more omniscient narrative style. I'd recommend this for fans of murder mysteries with a spooky twist, and for fans of Stephen King. This has that slow and steady feel of King's writing with that extra dose of discomfort.

___

106. They’ll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman--⭐️⭐️⭐️

Honestly, this book was just okay. It was slow and I found that it took too long to get to the murder mystery aspect of the story. I do understand that the story was building a backstory for the missing girl and why her disappearance affects the MCs and the students around them. But I'll admit that I was a little confused as to when the mystery aspect of this book would come into play. I did like the exploration of the relationship between the sisters and how sometimes sisterly love doesn't look like the idealized version that media and society has glorified. They're messy and complex and sometimes a place where envy and jealousy thrives. But I do think that the older sister was definitely treated in a way that made me want to go mama bear. I felt so bad for her, but I think it was an excellent example of how women who are successful and work hard for their goals are villainized by the people around them--which is an important topic discussed in this book. I won't lie...guessing the killer was a little easy with this one LOL. I wasn't expecting this to be a hard guess but it was...a little too easy. Anyway, this wasn't an awful thriller/mystery, but I think there are better ones out there. 🤷🏽‍♀️

___

107. Mine by Delilah S. Dawson--⭐️⭐️

This was a very spooky read that I think will be perfect for readers looking for a nice ghost story in middle grade! That being said, I think that beyond this being a ghost story, one of the scariest aspects of this book is the dad and his verbal abuse. He was AWFUL and her mom wasn't much better. I think this book is a great read, but the disregard and careless treatment of the MC by her parents made me think that this poor child needs more than an exorcist. The frustration and anger I felt on her behalf felt so overwhelming. And the explanation for why her father is such a tool towards her near the end of the book? Nah, because that's a man-child acting as a father (who's a drama queen now, a$$hole?). Imagine your kid is someone who loves acting and because of an ACCIDENT she is labelled a drama queen and bullied by her father throughout the whole book. The MC even comments that he is bullying her and that she is afraid of him when he raises his voice. When you comment to your child that you're seeing a positive change in them because they're more quiet and more calm and the internal monologue that the reader sees is something along the lines of "I'm not being dramatic, I'm just scared and anxious", does that not make you sad af? The ghost story was both scary and sad when you learn the backstory. The home is creepy and atmospheric, but I just wanted to hug this child. Seeing the conclusion of this book (the MC's relationship with her dad and the compromise), and even seeing the synopsis label her as a drama queen (kind of normalizing her father's bullying) makes me a little wary of what an impressionable mind might get from this book. My wariness of that aside, I did enjoy the ghost aspect of this and the determination the MC finds to solve her paranormal problem. But I won't lie, that parental situation leaves a really, really bad taste in my mouth.

___

108. Heart & Seoul by Jen Frederick--⭐️⭐️⭐️

First of all, that ending made me sad and seeing the reviews for book two, I know I won't be picking it up. In my heart, this had an HEA, original text be damned. I really liked the exploration of some of the Korean culture in this. I love stories that take place in Asian countries because they've always been high up on my travel bucket list. I related to the MC in the sense of feeling that disconnect between where you were raised and where you were born. It reminded me of this one time, a friend in University fought me when I said I wasn't just Canadian (as if we can't have more than one citizenship.) The story in general was entertaining and I did enjoy it for the most part! But I can completely see why that ending upset so many readers. If you want to read a book that takes place in Korea and has some great reflections on family and the occasionally dramatic moments, then you might enjoy this. But keep in mind that that ending will be...eh.

___

Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them?

___

Happy reading!

[glassamphibians]

what's your giant bucket list for the potential nico book? like plot, backstories, tropes, all that good stuff. also becky riordan said that people have to read house of hades if "rick does a nico book in the future"

this is kind of all over the place and very long so uhh sorry in advance

omg yeah wait ur right becky did say the house of hades thing. it scares me bc i don’t know if she was just being like “you find out nico’s gay in this one and that bob still exists so uhh thats important i guess now buy my husband’s book 🔪🔪” and it doesn’t actually mean anything, or if it means something huge like “remember eros? yeah nico kills him in the solo book >:)” she could have meant anything im and terrified.

what i do know is that i want both nico and will narrating in first person pov. i’ve talked about why i want both of them here. normally i dislike first person pov’s in books but riordan is a weird anomaly where his first person narration is actually better than his third person narration? like, if you pulled random pieces of text from percy, apollo, and carter’s povs, i would be able to tell who was narrating bc they all have very distinct voices. in heroes of olympus the only pov that felt distinct was leo and thats one out of nine characters :/ nico and will both have really interesting personalities and i want to have that come through in the narration.

for the plot all i know is that i dont want it to be going to tartarus to save bob, thats too straightforward and honestly its kind of a cheap move. i think the whole bob thing should just be the hook and then as the story progresses we realize its something else entirely.

maybe its someone else trying to get rid of nico bc they view him as a threat, maybe its related to the pantheon meeting chiron was at, idk!! but theres a lot going on and i think this is bigger than bob

like, remember when luke gave percy the cursed shoes? i think it could be like that. imagine them getting so close, being just about to dive into tartarus, and then realizing they were tricked and that something bigger is happening. then the real plot picks up.

bc on a more thematic level what i really want this book to be about is a continuation of toa’s “breaking abusive cycles” theme. it should be about nico putting his past behind him instead of falling back into it.

then once the real plot starts i think it should be formatted like the pjo quests!! a big fun cross country road trip where you get almost killed, make some friends, make some enemies, and all in all have a horrible great time!!

im gonna trash on heroes of olympus one more time im so sorry. Son of Neptune is the strongest book in that series and what does it have? the cross country quest format!! once we expanded into moa and they were just on a fancy boat for the rest of the series it stopped being fun. literally like look at blood of olympus. no one cares about what the fancy boat people did in that book. what we did care about was the three person quest where they had no clue what was going on and had to make hedge do interpretive dance so that they could pay for breakfast.

so yeah i think for it both to be a strong stand alone as well as fit into the rest of the rrverse it needs to have that “some goddess just showed up and told us to go to kentucky but did not tell us how to get to kentucky. will won’t let me shadow travel so now we’re on a bus. the stranger sitting next to me fell asleep on my shoulder and i dont want to be rude and move them. why does god hate me.” kinda vibe.

the cross country think is also great bc that mean’s we’d get to see all our old friends!! maybe they stop at the waystation and see reyna & the hunt!! maybe they end up in texas and see will’s mom!! maybe they end up in california see hazel & everyone else over there!! maybe they go to paris and visit rachel!!!

the trogs must be involved. idk how but they must play a major role. maybe screech-bling is the third person in their quest and they can wear hats the whole time.

i really, really want will to finally get cannon complexity. he has a such strong foundation as a character and i’m still upset we didn’t get much real depth added to it during tower of nero. i feel like each book Rick gives us ten Will related puzzle pieces and leaves us to make the rest of them ourselves?? just make the whole puzzle rick it is literally your job.

the idea of Will, someone who has been a background character for 15 books suddenly being pushed into the protagonist position is such an interesting concept that i would love to see explored in the solo book. i think that contrast him and nico, who has been a Big Deal since before will was even born, would be really fun to read.

also i want him to snap. stop being composed will go apeshit!!! throw a scalpel at someone with your amazing apollo aim!! have plague powers and kill some people!! no one is gonna tell on you Will we all want this

going back to nico, he has no idea who he is rn. i mean seriously he’s never had a home like this, he’s never had people who care about him like this, he’s never been safe. remember what percy said in house of hades?

percy’s talking about how he personally doesn’t know nico, but i think it could be applied to this situation too. he’s changed so much in the past like 15 books and i want to see nico figuring out who he is now that his life isn’t being dominated by pain and sadness. i want to see who nico becomes now that he’s finally able to take up hobbies and just be a teenager!! he know’s who he is as a son of hades, as one of the most powerful demigods alive, but he still has to figure out who he is as a person.

so maybe we get to see what cabin 13 looks like now that he’s changed it!! maybe we get to see what his favorite modern movies & musicians are!! maybe we get to see jules albert finally driving nico and his friends to the mall like hades had intended :)

the should summon jason’s ghost at least once

hades should also properly apologize for threatening to kill him that one time lol

i want hazel, reyna, and rachel to play a major role and if i they don’t i’ll steal riordan’s dog.

is this too long? it feels like its too long even tho i have no clue what i said uhh anyway i hope you had fun reading this love you all xoxo

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

(sees another fandom that I can ask you about and cheers) Orphan Black! Thoughts? I don't know Dr Who but Tatiana is one of my favorite actors period.

Anon you are so sweet! I'm always happy to chat about fandoms and characters and whatnot, and I will never not appreciate the majesty of Tatiana's acting. That is one of the greatest parts of the show hands down.

Orphan Black, to me, is a show that had incredible potential, but didn't really live up to the excitement it created. (Loooong post ahead.)

The thing is, Orphan Black builds a chilling mystery and background, the world it gradually creates as it goes for about the first two seasons, got be very invested and made me wonder a lot about where it was going to go and what the answers were. The setup is brilliant, right from the start with that iconic cold open of Beth's suicide. The unknown is what really helped this show get as thrilling as it was, because the actual answers behind the unknown were kind of hit and miss, and it seemed like far too often, the show just wasn't interested in telling it's story. Hijinks where the clones impersonate each other in slice of life events? That's fun at first and it really works well as they're still getting to know each other. But after a while, it gets tedious, and it seems like the show would rather fuck around and have dance parties (seriously, that scene was such a #BigLippedAlligatorMoment) than focus on the story and the threat that the sisters are facing. Virtually all of Allison's plotlines are like this, they feel like they belong in a different show, and for some reason the writers insisted on giving her one of these storylines like, every season. After Allison passively murders her own friend out of suspecting that she's spying on her, I just don't feel like an arc about her running for some PTA office position even matters. It doesn't feel right.

Speaking of that, here's another example: Donnie. Why did the end of the first season suggest that he was this secret mastermind working for Leekie? The whole idea just deflates in Season 2 and doesn't really go anywhere. He just goes back to being the bumbling sweetheart he was before. Why even have him be the spy? Maybe it should have been Ainsley. Do you want to know the exact moment that I think Orphan Black went wrong? Like, the specific scene? When Leekie was killed off. The character who had thus far been the Big Bad, gets taken out in the stupidest possible way, a literal accident on Donnie's part, and it's even played for laughs. After that point, the show really struggled to regain it's footing, though I don't think it completely went off the rails until about Season 4, and it was still generally hit or miss. Like, some stuff was really good. The introduction of the Castor clones, the development of Rachel's character (I'll get to her, trust me.) and the reveal of Kendall Malone. But it seemed like so much else was just forgotten or otherwise not resolved. Whatever happened to Cal? Sure, the show wanted to focus on the sisters...but Kira deserves to know her father if she wants to. That's just one example. It's a crying shame because this show is sometimes incredible. The metaphor that I always use for situations like this, is a card game. The show has all the right cards in its hand, they're just not being played.

The two strongest characters, at least to me, were Rachel and Helena. One of these characters was superbly written and went through a devastating arc. The other was Helena. We need to talk about her. In Season 1, she really cemented herself as a memorable presence with her trademark accent, her scars, her whole damn personality (again, hats off to Tatiana) and of course, that iconic screechy theme music that accompanied her. Which at first made us jump, but eventually made us cheer. I adored Helena, and I loved the development of her relationship with Sarah. Who went from shooting her in Season 1, to being deadset on rescuring her in Season 3, being furious with Siobhan for betraying her. (This is unrelated but Siobhan has the same " twist villain fakeout" at the end of Season 1 that Donnie does, and it's quite frustrating.) And yet, I swear, the writers just didn't know what to do with Helena half the time. They put her on a bus for long stretches, including one point where she just up and leaves Allison's house in Season 4, for no given reason. And the characters just kind of...don't care. The same thing happens when she gets arrested. No one cares to try and find Helena, even though she's unstable and often a danger to those around her. Even though she's by herself with no real ability to function in society. Even though she's pregnant. There is no excuse for this, and no Sarah, that "I'm sorry, I avoided you" scene in Season 5 is not going to cut it. It's such an afterthought.

I'm being rather critical, but I hope you can tell that this is from a point of passion. I genuinely enjoyed this show and getting to watch it. Just that sometimes it didn't feel like the show cared that I was watching. However, this was not true whenever Rachel was onscreen. Look, I'm a Merula Snyde stan, so you can probably already guess how I feel about Rachel. Despite her crimes, despite her constant slipping back the dark side, I felt so bad for Rachel at the end of it all. That scene with Kira really sums it up. "Who hurt you?" "All of them." And no scene is more intense than when she stabs out the eye cam. Like, I'm sorry, I pitied Rachel pretty much from Season 2 on. Her parents were horrible to her, and I'm supposed to think Ethan is the good guy here? He kills himself in front of his own daughter, telling her that she doesn't deserve him. And then Sarah shoots a pencil through her eye, causing brain damage and requiring a long recovery. I'm not saying that Sarah was wrong to do what she did, just that if I were in her shoes, I'd still feel a degree of guilt for Rachel's condition. In the end, I'm devastated that she was barred from Clone Club, when she made the right decision at the point it mattered. But there's just too much history there, and Sarah won't ever forgive her. (Though again, I do feel as though there's blame to share.) Rachel is my favorite character and I never expected her to be. But she's just so complex. Side note: "Enjoy your oophorectomy" is so damn quotable. I don't know why but I love that line.

So, Rachel's my favorite. Who's my least favorite? It might surprise you. It's Delphine. I'm sorry, but I just...I couldn't get on board with C*phine. Not after Season 3. I was waiting for the point that the show would push to finally redeem Delphine for her turncoat role, for all of the hell that she put Cosima through. By Season 5 though? I realized that as far as the writers were concerned? She already was redeemed. Even though she did nothing to earn it, except be presumed dead by Cosima. The way she treats Cosima in Season 3 is actually disgusting. Her reasoning for breaking up with Cosima is circular. She has to love "all the clones" in order to be with Cosima, and the way to do that is to take over Rachel's job, which means they can't date anymore? I'm not the only one who thought that didn't make sense, right? Oh and let's talk about how she stalks Cosima's date, breaks into her house, and threatens her life. Red. Flags. Cosima even says the line, "If you're not going to be with me, just let me go." I'm sorry, that should not be something she has to beg for. Delphine's behavior made me want her to stay far, far away from Cosima. Who is, incidentally, a sweetie and I absolutely adore her. I legit have trouble remembering that Tatiana's playing her because she just looks and acts so different. That said, even though I immensely disliked Delphine, I am so very glad that they made one of the clones gay. Just like I'm glad that they made one of them trans. (Though...Tony wasn't handled especially well.)

In general, I do think the earlier seasons were stronger. The Brightborn arc, while interesting, didn't really contribute much to the overarching narrative. We got the backstory on Beth's suicide and finally learned the truth about her, I suppose. Still, even though Beth is one of my favorite of the clones, and I never expected her to be either...I feel like the actual reason given for why she took her own life was rather illogical. She apparently did it because the investigation was putting the clones in danger of another Helsinki. Okay, but just because Evie Cho says you should off yourself, doesn't mean you have to. You could just, like...stop investigating. And if you die under mysterious circumstances without explaining anything to the sisters, they're not going to be put off from the investigation. They're going to look into this even more, because they don't know why they're not supposed to. The reveal that she and Art fell in love toward the end adds an extra gut punch, but it also doesn't make sense because wouldn't Art have referenced it during the period that he thought Sarah was Beth? On the other hand, Season 4 also introduced MK. And I have such a soft spot for her. I adore that sheep-masked sweetie. Everyone always asks "Which clone would you date" (because fandoms can think of nothing else I guess) and I never see anyone give any love to MK. Her death absolutely tore me apart. I am glad Siobhan avenged her even if she went down at the same time. Side note, her last word being the affectionate "Chickens..." Broke me.

Season 5 was a strange beast. In general, it seemed like we were finally getting some answers to the questions that were hanging over us. Exploring the deep mythos. But then they kind of turned it around and made it just be a Wizard of Oz style fraud twist. Westmoreland isn't really inhumanly old, he's a charlatan. I don't know why that was necessary in a science fictional show. I've seen the interviews and I get what they were going for, it just feels like it would have been cooler and far creepier if he was actually that old. The puppet master pulling the strings the whole time. We also finally get some answers for Kira's superhuman healing abilities (though we never learn how she's telepathically connected to the clones) and I'm loving it, but the trouble is, it's inconsistent. Ethan "Why is this guy so popular, he's an asshole" Duncan told Rachel specifically that Sarah being able to have children was a fluke, that the clones were "barren by design." I don't know, the whole concept of Revival and of the "magical island" was really foreboding and tied in with the earlier references to The Island of Doctor Moreau. Especially that song about "Revival's Children" just...the shudders, man. But just having it be a regular old scam is...a letdown. I know it may be more realistic, but I don't always need realism in my scifi. The finale is interesting, in that it's mostly an epilogue. I'm glad the clones (sans Rachel) got to live happily ever after, but there are two gut punches right at the end that are total nitpicks but they bother me. Helena naming her kids after Art and Donnie? And writing a memoir that she names "Orphan Black?" Those two tropes can go die in a hole. They can enjoy an oophorectomy, because I'm so sick of them.

The potential of Orphan Black was practically infinite. The results of Orphan Black fell frustratingly short.

[am-artist]

the wilds s2 e5 discussion (tw SA from previous ep)

i really did not need for josh to go through this man

seth being the inside man sure is a choice. now i wonder what kind of fucked in the head he is to have agreed to the role and done what he did to josh, since it clearly was not part of some scheme.

also, this makes 2/4 operatives who have siblings in their control groups, which feels wild considering you’d think they get found out instantly. luckily for gretchen both sibling pairs have massive underlying tension ig!

still do not care about gretchen can we cut back faster

rachel getting to a place where nora’s funeral being suggested while we’re still stuck with 0 body is making me think that she is not in fact dead.

is shelby losing her faith? is that what we’re getting here?

kirin may yet be the #true leader of the group, which is kind of annoying considering what a macho chad type he’s been presented as thus far. stil glad the others are making an effort re josh despite how annoying he is (esp w the tryhard lib backfire racism).

so far gretchen’s inside agents have 1) died 2) ‘died’ 3) purposefully sabotaged the whole operation after assaulting another candidate and 4) been her shitty son, so that’s another point for the “gretchen is a total flop” argument. absolutely incompetent.

45 days in is ig a time to discuss what people back home think about their missing daughters. fun times.

gretchen name-drop! woopsie! (everyone immediately looking at leah after this reveal is so funny)

kirin at least believes josh. future besties set up ig.

again narratively i just do not enjoy the way the SA is inevitably going to destroy any authentic dynamics that could have arisen between the group esp re leadership. the tensions that breed just of the clashes of personalities and approaches are so much more compelling to me than the constant gross tension coming from this shared secret.

henry holding out on the #establishment is very in-character. and him just saying the lyrics to black parade…… is so funny to me. im sorry.

bad skin on the girlies, applause again for the MUAs

shelby’s internal drama is… painful. not painful enough to make me forget she put out that fire two eps ago tho!

oh wait shes going there too. oh fuck.

wow okay toni is so accepting. i do not think i would have been the bigger person so easily. but then again yes the likelihood of the boat spotting their tiny campfire is low.

oh the guys are having this confrontation NOW already?? i was not mentally prepared to have to sit through this debacle.

the boys are all acting exactly as i would have expected which makes the whole thing even more mystifying to me. so they deal with this within the space of one episode, and now that’s just lying there between them hanging over everything else they do. it really doesn’t feel like this served any greater purpose than being a twist villain reveal, at the cost of more natural character evolutions. & from an audience pov anyone interacting w seth now makes me like skin-crawly uncomfortable which is def intentional but doesn’t make me want to watch a lot of the guys’ segments. now hes been banished i assume he has to go into straight villain mode, but having an explicit antagonist to bond against makes the guys have a less interesting island life. and flattens seth out too obv but fuck his character.

random note i feel for henry bc seth *is* family but also it feels like their backstory may involve some badness by the way he reacts to this whole situation.

kirin did come thru tho thank u kirin.

as for josh i hope hes going to do well after this display of solidarity even tho he is very understandably traumatised & not happy abt the way this affects the group’s relationship to him (i will say this for this storyline i do think from josh pov it handles male SA sympathetically and realistically). & it makes sense that no one says anything abt this now, even for as reluctant to discuss it i would assume them all to be about it anyways.

future josh makes me not super confident he evolves positively from here tho.

+ sidenote i do enjoy kirin and ivan acting as opposite energy team parents despite josh not particularly appreciating either approach in the moment.

love the amount of rachel introspection this season but wish it wasnt all about her presumed dead sister. the character has so much inner conflict.

fatin going leah mode (more successfully than leah) is good stuff

welp called it. nora girl i get it but WOW have you done a lot that i would not forgive you for putting me through if i was your sister. hoping this was not your choice

[rickriordanfandam]

opinions on riordanverse ; my edition

a lot of people have been doing this so i decided why not right. probably gna lose some followers or smth but anyways. pls respect my opinions! if u disagree, thats fine, but please be polite. unless any of my opinions strikes u as morally wrong then pls point it out to me respectfully. thanks!

- i actually liked drew. im so sorry to everyone who hates her but full offence, why. think about it this way ok, first of all drew became hc because silena died. silena was the traitor, the one who betrayed chb, yet after she died campers celebrated her as a hero? and then drew suddenly has to replace her and live up to idk that legacy she left behind,, when all of a sudden this girl named piper swoops in and takes her place. idk abt u but i wld be salty abt that too. not only that, but as an asian, the chances of drew having faced racism/bullying as a child is pretty high (she studies at brooklyn academy). which means that when she finds out shes a demigod, and arrives at chb where most of the campers are white (this is an assumption btw), she’d obviously be scared of being bullied for her skin color right?? so the first thing she wld do before the campers get to bully her is to bully them before they can do so. (sentence structure here is wack i apologize) ofc this might not even have happened, drew could have had a perfect childhood && was a b1tch for no reason, BUT EVEN THEN HER ROLE AS A BULLY WAS PRETTY VITAL BECAUSE THAT FURTHER SHOWED THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HER AND PIPER,, HIGHLIGHTING PIPER AS A HERO//GOOD CHARACTER,, AND THEREFORE MAKING READERS LIKE PIPER MORE. anyway stop hating on drew please. ALSO WHY IS THIS SO LONGA SDFJHG

- jason isnt bland, the fandom just kinda erased his backstory (thanks to @pjohoo-memes for the phrasing lol)

- reynabeth wouldnt have lasted/would have broken up several times. idk i just see them as two extremely powerful characters who have firm opinions and will definitely clash at some point. in a platonic relationship,, i can see them as really good friends but as lovers? idk i just think theyll break up

- PIPABETH

- i dont really like jercy,, i see them as better friends than lovers. also idt jason and percy were that close..?

- the dam and not my type jokes are srsly cringey and were never funny. ik that seems hypocritical since my username literally makes use of the dam joke but honestly i dont actually like the joke. its not funny to me and has never been funny

- the seven were not best friends. they definitely argued,, and honestly probably werent as close as the fandom makes them seem. like ure dumped with 6 other people, out of which u only know a few. my introverted ass would have jumped off the argo 2 quicker than leo valdez could bomb camp jupiter up. also leo was a dick to frank. so what if frank is bigger sized?? thats not a valid reason to tease him

- the fandom needs to stop hating on octavian while worshipping luke. if u hate luke and u say u hate octavian too, then okay. but if u tell me ure a luke stan but u despise octavian?? imma disagree w u. luke was worse than octavian im sorry. first of all, octavian being a dick was kinda justified. hes been after the praetor position for so long, and everyone keeps saying to “wait for jason” when suddenly this dude, whos a son of NEPTUNE (neptune wasnt liked much by romans), and the camp decides to make him praetor?? dude i would be pissed off big time. and then afterwards, he finds out that greek demigods are real and the dude they made praetor is greek. AND THEN GREEK DEMIGODS COME TO CJ AND ONE OF THEM BOMB IT UP?? octavian has been told all his life that greeks are scum and this dude called leo valdez attacks cj. sure it was an accident, but did octavian know that? no. so it was honestly justified that he was such a salty prick im just saying. also some of yall be hating on octavian for cutting a teddy bear open and thats the funniest shit ive ever heard i swear 

- luke didnt go to elysium

- travis and connor stoll r way too underrated. the two have been head counselors of the hermes cabin since luke was revealed as a traitor, can u imagine the stress? luke, the person they probably looked up to as a brother, betrayed them. and they didnt even have time to process this when they were  thrown the roles of being hcs. that would have been so stressful and i would probably have broken down if i were them. the stoll brothers taking turns to wake up at ungodly hours because a new camper is crying and homesick and terrified, the stoll brothers having to comfort and take care of new campers, having to deal with the amount of people in that cramped space because not enough campers are being claimed fast enough. having to resolve issues between campers in the hermes cabin all the time. the stolls arent just comedic relief, and we need to stop treating them as such

- tratie shldve been canon idc idc

- demigods of the demeter cabin arent talked about enough and i love the fact that meg was demeters kid. like she isnt the child of one of the big three yet shes so powerful.

- we need to hype clarisse up more her character arc was phucking amazing 

- rachel is overhated. sis found out greek gods exist and regularly come down to earth to fuck around and went “ok cool”. queen shit behavior methinks

- the floor 19 crew of mcga is srsly underrated. like do u even remember halfborn gunderson, mallory keen, tj, etc??? bc i feel like we only remember samirah, magnus, alex, and sometimes blitz and hearthstone

- sadie (tkc) was kinda annoying at first. i like her more now tho but i rmb not liking her for a phat while

- tkc and mcga need more love

- carter kane and jason grace arent boring. theyre just really sweet boys who are too good for this world and yes yes yes 

- hazel and frank (especially frank) need to be hyped up more. i hardly ever see anything about them. also yall seem to forget that frank was literally made praetor and that even hecate admired hazel and was willing to fight beside her because of how powerful she was

- frazels age gap is kinda sketch but i still think theyre really cute

- nico definitely had trauma from going to tartarus on his own

- GROVER IS PERCYS BEST FRIEND

- annabeth isnt smarter than leo but neither is leo smarter than annabeth. ive seen a lot of discussions about who is smarter and heres my hot take on it: neither. theyre equally smart, just in different ways. leos a genius mathematically speaking. he has no issues solving math problems meant for people much, much older than him. annabeth on the otherhand, is great at strategies etc. she can make an army of 1000 more powerful than the enemy, even if theyre outnumbered. so in my opinion, both are equally as smart//u cant compare their intelligence, because their talents lie in two different areas.

- while i do agree rick riordan isnt a god and that hes bound to make mistakes,, AND that hes given us a lot of representation,, if the representation offends the people its sposed to represent, then theres a problem. im talking about piper as a poc and wearing feathers in her hair. im not a poc, so i cant speak for them on whether or not its wrong, because i dont know either. HOWEVER, i have seen multiple posts BY pocs talking about how they didnt really like rick’s representation of piper, and thats an issue. pocs have been and are still oppressed and discriminated against by many. as a white cis man, we cant really blame him for not knowing (tho he could have done a research,, asked some pocs,, idk), but by representing pocs in that manner, hes influencing impressionable kids/teens into thinking “oh pocs wear feathers in their hair all the time” etc, which isnt true. the pjo/hoo series is extremely successful, and kids who read the books will probably start forming inaccurate opinions on pocs. the amount of fan art that depicts piper with feathers in her hair dont help either. “but rick said so in the books, so its canon” yeah well rick isnt a god and he can get some things wrong at times. im not saying we should cancel him, im saying we should start educating ourselves and not spread false info like pocs wearing feathers in their hair all the time. also that snake song shit where she sang Summertime was just- yeah. bc heres the thing you can be racist, and still include minorities, but portray them in a racist way. And even then, ignorance isn't a thing to admire. Getting those facts wrong still has a major impact. It continues to perpetuate racist stereotypes.

“ With the feather thing, I looked it up myself; it takes less than five minutes to figure out that Cherokees don't braid feathers into their hair. I didn't grow up in the country where my parents are from. I have many other first/second generation American friends who have also been through that, with a bit of a disconnect from their culture. But something that most of us have in common is that when we didn't know something, and when our parents weren't that big of a help, we looked it up. We sought out resources online and through other people from our culture to be able to connect more with where we came from. Some of that took a Google search. So I find it hard to believe that Piper, a girl who Rick's trying to portray as someone who is attempting to connect with her culture and is totally against racist stereotypes, wouldn't know that eagle feathers aren't supposed to be braided into your hair casually. She may be disconnected from her culture, but she's also shown to want to connect back to it. Piper wouldn't be casually braiding feathers into her hair while also telling off people for being racist. It makes no sense.” - reddit thread (down below) 

for those of yall who wanna know more please please read this, it has a lot of things i wanna add in here : https://www.reddit.com/r/camphalfblood/comments/gy3gl2/piper_mcleans_portrayal_is_innacurate/ 

as well as https://finding-my-culture.tumblr.com/post/189422373260/maxie-ratties-and-cattie-finding-my-culture 

i will be posting screenshots of these in future posts so if ure viewing this on ig and u dont have tumblr,, dont worry 

- the fact that most of the strong female characters in the series refuse to be “girly”, and ngl i dont really like that. just because ure girly doesnt mean u cant be strong. 

- piper would have been a great way for him to start making the strong characters act girlier, but instead he went with the “I’m not like other girls” trope which is quite obnoxious to hear constantly, and I don’t think it’s necessarily great for younger girls to read that idea growing up.  the closest we've ever had to a strong female character who was also into "girly" things was Silena. when I was younger I admired Piper's "I'm not like other girls" thing, but then I got older and realized that the whole mentality of "not like other girls" is super obnoxious, and a little bit toxic

i have a heck load more that i cant rmb rn but yeah feel free to add more 

[booasaur]

I think I watch too much wlw tv cos as soon as I saw Shelby and Toni going at it I was like ... lesbians

Heh, I actually really like that we can now see and recognize actual buildup and tension in f/f storylines, this used to be an area in which we’d just be considered delusional for seeing any kind of subtext. And I also like that more and more, there actually is some buildup and not the writers rushing it and going there in a first ep.

And another anon:

I just finished the episode where Shelby and Toni kiss and as much as I knew it was coming/saw the build up, for me, the couple of the show should have been Rachel and Leah. Their chemistry those first few episodes was so good and even the tension I liked. It was an enjoyable season though. I did wish Fatin was the lead, she just super layered and hilarious. Also I just like how that actress played it!

Oh, I didn’t even think of that, I guess I was already waiting for Toni/Shelby, I didn’t think we’d get another pair, not even...heh, MY other pair, Dot/Fantin. I really did love Fantin, in all her laziness and unapologeticness and basic decency and kindness. The actress played her SO well, just making these dry observations, she was a joy to watch.

And another anon:

Was there a bet in the writing room of the wilds on how to make the lesbian characters more off putting? Pee, anger, dentures, shaved head. The only part of the show that i didn't enjoy was these two, i prefer Toni with her first girlfriend they were cute and had more chemistry.

This is so uncharitable, anon. :x 

They ALL looked messes by the end, and I’ll grant you the pee thing, lol, but anger? Especially for her background and these circumstances? Lots of them had their moments of anger, whole episodes, and by the end she was so chill. And dentures? People, even when young, can sometimes need them. There’s no need to make them even more self-conscious. And the shaved head was like, in a few scenes off the island and is just a style choice...

I feel like these are some very subjective biases you have, anon, and are stating them as general and factual. As with other recent discussions, you don’t have to like them or be attracted to them, you just have to buy that other people, including these two characters on a deserted island, would.

I did like the previous girlfriend, though! But the relationship was specifically written that way to be like, a one-ep backstory. If it was going to be a main thing, it would be written differently.

[nolanhollogay]

you’ve unlocked nate’s tragic backstory congrats!! @juliesdahlias @richitozier @witchofinterest

cw: talk of sex in the beginning (nothing explicit and nothing happens but u know i dont want anyone to be uncomfy), talk of and descriptions of child abuse, blood and stabbing

-

"No," Dick grumbled, glaring down at him. He was sitting on Nate's thighs, his legs tucked underneath himself as he frowned in playful displeasure.

Nate whined. "Why not?" he asked, walking his fingers up the inseam of Dick's jeans. His nails were painted a pretty purple color at Rachel's request and they looked exceptionally lovely against the dark blue denim.

Dick grabbed his hand to stop it's wandering. His palm was warm around Nate’s cold fingers. "It's 3pm." 

"Time isn't real. It's a man made construct," Nate countered, tangling their fingers together. He didn't even really care all that much about having sex anymore, he just liked to argue.

"That doesn't mean we don't have to follow it," Dick said, rolling his eyes. 

"So what? We can only have sex after 8pm? We're not straight people, Richard."

Dick laughed, face lighting up in surprise and Nate's heart sang.

"No, we’re not, but like, calm down. Wait a bit. You're like a rabbit," he said, kissing Nate's forehead. Nate smiled and pulled him into a kiss with a hand on the back of his neck.

"I have a pair of bunny ears, if you're into the kind of thing," he joked against his mouth, just to hear him laugh again. 

Dick tried to keep the kiss calm and sweet but Nate didn't really have the patience for that. He slid his tongue between Dick's teeth, pulling him closer by his hair. Dick, for all of his protesting before, didn't seem too upset about it.

-

Nate had just gotten Dick's shirt off, throwing it to the floor, when his bedroom door opened.

He let out a loud annoyed groan at being interrupted. He couldn't handle any more robbers or people who wanted to beat him up. He really needed to invest in a better lock

He looked over Dick's shoulder and groaned again when he saw his father standing there. He was wearing a god awful trench-coat that was the color of olives and an unimpressed look. He looked older then when Nate had seen him last, around ten months ago over a Skype call. His hair was more gray than black and there were more wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. 

What was he even doing here?

Nate pushed Dick out of his lap causing him to grunt in surprise. "Hi Dad," he said, forcing a smile. It probably looked as fake as it felt.

"I guess I know why you weren't answering my text messages," Nate's father said with a hint of a smile. Dick went pink in the face and grabbed his shirt from the ground, pulling it back on.

Nate shrugged. He'd been ignoring his father's texts for months for a variety of reasons. He'd seen the texts about him visiting that morning but assumed it meant some time in the near future, not that day.

Nate's father cleared his throat, looking between him and Dick with a raised eyebrow. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Nate made a noise of annoyance in the back of his throat. He didn't want to introduce them. He wanted them to stay so far away from each other that they didn't know the other existed.

"Dick, this is my father. Dad, this is my boyfriend, Dick," he said, gesturing between them with his hand.

Dick smiled, charming but nervous and Nate’s heart turned into liquid despite his growing anger.

"Uh, nice to meet you sir," he said, reaching out to shake his hand. Nate's dad took it, looking less than enthusiastic. When they dropped hands, he looked Dick up and down, taking in his muscle and his messed up hair.

"I don't like him," he said in Mandarin, sending Nate a disapproving look.

Nate rolled his eyes. "I didn't think you would," he replied in English, just to piss him off.

"You could have at least told me you were seeing someone, Minjun," he said, once again in Mandarin.

Nate let out a humorless laugh. There was something dark and sad crawling inside his chest. He felt twitchy and ready to snap, like a caged animal. "Yeah, but then you would have gotten mad at me," he all but growled.

"Why would I be mad at you for dating someone?" his father asked, looking genuinely puzzled. Nate watched the realization hit him and he was given a look so pitying that it made rage dance under his skin. He wanted to bite someone.

"Minjun, I'm not your mother. I'm not going to hurt you or be mad at you for every little thing. You're an adult who's free to make his own decisions," he said. Then he quickly added, "Within reason." Nate scoffed. Of course he decided to switch back to English to say that. 

Nate rolled his eyes but didn't argue. Dick sent him a confused looked, mouth twisted down in a frown.

"Is there anything you needed?" Nate asked, trying not to curl his fists at his sides. Or did he just come over to ruin Nate's day and unearth his trauma for no reason?

His dad shook his head. "No, not right now. But we'll make dinner together tomorrow and talk. I'll call you."

"Okay," Nate replied briskly.

Nate watched him go, seething silently. Dick watched him, eyes locked on the clench of his jaw.

"What just happened?" he asked, voice flooded with concern.

Nate didn’t want to talk about it. "That was my dad," he said vaguely.

Dick rolled his eyes, but there was no heat behind it. "I gathered that, yeah. What was he saying? That stuff about your mom.. And what was he calling you?"

"Minjun. It's my name. My other name. And I don't want to talk about it. Not right now," Nate explained. He still felt caged. He was hit with the urge to break something, like the lamp on his desk.

"Okay. Fine with me," Dick said with a nod and a small smile. Then he asked, "Can I give you a hug?"

Nate laughed despite his rage. "Why are you asking? Freak."

Dick made an annoyed noise. "Because you're all tense. I don't want to touch you if it don't want to be touched."

"You're so soft. It's disgusting,” Nate said, sending him a smile. “Give me a stupid hug."

Dick wrapped his arms around his Nate’s waist, pulling him close. Nate buried his face in his neck, sighing. This was the one place he felt truly comfortable, wrapped in Dick’s strong arms.

-

It wasn’t until much later that Nate brought up his family again. They were lying in his bed, with Nate turned away from Dick, looking out of his window. The moon was full and bright, and he locked his stare onto it to give himself something to focus on as he told Dick his story.

"My mom is shitty,” Nate explained, unprompted. He knew Dick wouldn’t have brought it up again because he said he didn’t want to talk about it, but he needed to get it off his chest. it had been eating at him all day, like a parasite in his stomach. “She used to hit me and burn me with her cigarettes and she hated me. She's the reason I have the scar on my back." 

Dick ran his fingers over it, the raised pink skin that interrupted the smooth expanse of his back. It was a line that was just off center and it would have been perfectly straight if not for the jagged curve at the end.

"What happened?" Dick asked, voice soft. Something cracked in Nate’s chest, but he ignored it.

Nate cleared his throat as the vivid memories hit him. He just had to focus on the moon and ignore the phantom pains. Ignore the feeling of blood trickling down his back and the blade under his skin.

"She, uh, got mad at me for something. I don't remember what, but she pinned me to the kitchen floor and tried to kill me. Said she was gonna rip my heart out from the back so I didn't have to see it,” he said. He remembered the sweetness in her voice as she said. He’d never heard it before that moment and he didn’t like it all. ”She would've gotten farther than she did if my dad hadn't come home from work early. That's why it's crooked at the bottom. Because he yanked her away from me from the side."

Dick mumbled, "Jesus Christ," which made him laugh.

"After that he shipped me out here to the States to live with my uncle when I was like sixteen. To get me away from her and so he didn't have to deal with all my bullshit and trauma. It's why he was trying to be nice earlier. He feels guilty."

Dick kissed his shoulder, wrapping his arm around his waist. "That's so terrible. I'm sorry you had to live through that."

Nate shrugged. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. It doesn't really matter."

"Of course it matters," Dick argued. "That's something that you have to carry with you every day." 

Nate turned around to face him and Dick saw something on his face that made him kiss him, gentle and slow.

“Don’t get all soft on me,” Nate grumbled. “I’m not broken or something. I’m just traumatized and that’s my burden to live with.”

Dick’s eyebrows wrinkled as he thought of how to reply. Nate smoothed the lines out with his pointer finger.

“I love you,” he settled on. “I know we’re both weird about saying it cause we’re our own kinds of emotionally fucked up, but I do. Not just cause you told me about your family or cause you’re a good kisser. And I want you to know that someone loves you unconditionally.”

Nate’s face twisted as his eyes filled with tears. He huffed in anger and embarrassment at his body’s reaction. He wasn’t going to cry over this.

He buried his face in Dick’s chest as he tried to collect himself. “I hate you. You gross me out,” he croaked out.

Dick laughed, Nate feeling it from where his face was pressed against his bare skin. Dick ran his fingers through his hair making him sigh.

“Love you too,” he finally replied as he felt himself starting to drift into sleep.

There was a smile in Dick’s voice as he responded, “I know you do.”

[rememberrymainblog]

Another Long Tower of God Reaction (Episode 3)

-First can I just say that, when I first the opening to this anime I wasn’t really a big fan of it but now it has become quite a bop 

-Also what a way to start off an episode! Khun backstory time

-It’s weird they’ve put the whole backstory segment at the beginning, because to me, in the comic it made sense that during the test we would get a sort of exposition for Khun, but overall I don’t mind this change too much -Since my memory is pretty rusty sometimes, but were the lines of “Maria using Khun” an addition? (also “My Aguero” huh)

-Why does Khun’s mother (I think she is called Agnis) still look like a clipped texture 

-”Don’t trust anyone” I guess psychological manipulation is a running theme in the Tower

-Bam was so excited about the sky, god I love him

-This episode Rake was both funny and annoying at times. I feel like they are pushing his whole “comic relief” character a bit too much, compared to his webtoon counterpart

-Hmmm why indeed

-Khun’s “Khun senses” are already tingling about Rachel

-HERE HE IS! The most feminine guy in anime! His voice is really nice. I think it fits him rather well

-Rak used as a bench is adorable

-when me and my friend saw this guy the first thing that came to our mind was “stranger-danger”

-Khun getting angry at Bam for asking for help from this...thing is understandable. I wouldn’t trust this guy either

-”fluorescent plastic bag”

-Is Khun’s current family problem the hottest gossip in the Tower now or how the hell does this guy know about it? And so many others too

-Khun lashing out is new. I don’t know if it was necessary or good for his character to be honest. Because in the manwha he was much more cool about what happened back then and didn’t really show any emotions regarding his “betrayal”. That’s one of the points about Khun that makes him seem more cold in the first place: seeming to have no morals whatsoever. Though I guess emotional Khun can be interesting as well, but we’ll see how much he is different from his webtoon counterpart

-Rak thumbing in anger and Bam losing his balance from it was really cute

-Khun having a sort of mental breakdown, but in a different way than the comic huh

-also can I just say that I’m sort of relieved that it is canon now that Khun and Maria are half-siblings and even if they had a relationship people would have found it disturbing, like thank you 

-but now I’m even more curious what kind of relationship they had then?

-INSTINCT

-Ha that seems gay

-Shibisu having a moment of pure genius is everything. I sometimes forget he can be pretty smart as well

-Khun emotionally cockblocking himself is mood

-THIS WHOLE SCENE OMG MY H E A R T

-man the production team really went out there way to make it gayer huh

-QUANT

-liked his voice actor too! Can’t wait to see more of him

-don’t we all

-that small moment with Bam and Shibisu was cute. Also why is everything banana flavored

-ah that’s why

-the crown game!! You want tension, action and sweet, sweet drama? Well then buckle up boys, because shit’s about to hit the fan

-These chibis are so damn cute I could CRY

-Anaak really be out there destroying dreams and being badass

-Also Black March is being anti-women again

-Aaah cliffhangers gonna kill me!

Overall I liked this chapter! While I do think that the changes they did to Khun aresomewhat weird and sort of clashes with his webtoon one, but even then he is still, well, Khun. I felt that the pacing of this particular episode was somewhat better than the last two so I can only hope it will be just as great in the following episodes.  But that’s all for now! 

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

24. The One - Nora Roberts - 4.5 Stars

“Major, monumental crises bring out the best or the worst in us—sometimes both. And sometimes those major, monumental crises have no effect on certain types. Which means, no matter what the circumstances, assholes remain assholes.”

I am almost shocked at how much I enjoyed this book, from the minute I started it I was drawn in. I just couldn’t wait to keep reading it, I even considered calling in sick from work, so it only took me about 2 days to read! I have already purchased the other two books in the trilogy as I have to find out what happens next!

With one drop of blood, the world is plunged into chaos. The Doom, a deadly and unprecedented pandemic, spreads quickly through the world. Billions become sick and die, and those who are immune now have to navigate a terrifying new world. As the use of science and technology stops, Magick rises in its place. Some of it beautiful and good, used to help those in need, while some of it is unimaginably evil, lurking anywhere and in anyone. As the remaining authorities start trying to round up anybody who is immune or has started showing signs of Magick, those who are smart flee in search of a safe haven. The old world has come to an end, and Year One has begun.

The story follows the paths of a number of people, Lana Bingham and her partner, Max Fallon; journalist Arlys Reid and her delightful intern Fred; paramedic Jonah Vorhies, Dr. Rachel Hopman and Katie, a mother of twins, along with many others as they all try to make their way to some sort of safety. This is one of those beautiful stories where individual paths weave together until all the characters come together at their final destination. I was really happy with the way it all came about, none of it felt forced or convoluted. It really did feel like fate was slowly drawing our characters together. The story itself, the end of the known world via a pandemic and the consequences for the people left behind, was not exactly new but the twist of including Magick made it feel like it was new. In other reviews people have commented that some of the dialogue felt a bit clumsy and that they couldn’t always tell who was talking, and I can agree with that. There were a few passages that I had to read over again to make sure I understood what was going on but overall, I was very happy with the way it was written. I will say that this felt almost like a prequal as, from what I have read, the next book is set about 13ish years later and will be centred on a different character, that seems to be the real hero of the trilogy. Though I haven’t come across many series that start like this I really liked it, having the backstory without having to wait for a prequal or for flashbacks is really cool.

As with a lot of “end of the world” style books, the author heavily focuses on human nature and how twisted humans can become in awful situations. There are references/occurrences of murder, rape, torture, and gore. Plus, those with Magick are often referred to as demons etc., but not because they actually are but because those that fear them don’t know what else to call them.

I was really happy with our characters, none of them felt like cookie cutters and they were all very individual. What may frustrate some readers is that because there are so many characters, we don’t get to see too deeply within them, they can come across as bit surface level. I personally didn’t mind too much, I think I got enough out of each character to care about them, but I never felt too attached which, to me, is a good thing because this book is full of death and twists. Also, I have a feeling that the characters in this book may not all transfer to the next, so becoming to attached may not be a good idea anyway.

This book is absolutely about the end of the world as we know it and the darkness that can grow there but its also about what can be created from the ashes. It’s full of love and joy, grief and loss, community and hard work. It has beautiful depictions of family, both blood and found. It’s about fighting for what is right no matter what the odds are and no matter what is stacked against you. It is mostly about the light overcoming the dark and that can be a really uplifting thing to read, especially when the world is kind of dealing with similar problems right now.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone; it was just brilliant.

“Don’t let the fear and suspicion of the brutal and ignorant make you doubt yourself.”

[sincerelyreidburke]

Just...picturing their first Christmas with the kiddos 😭

Rachel... :’) I’m not crying, you’re crying! Because you raised the point, I will now dive into this. Soft content incoming.

I’ve written Quindo’s kids I think one actual time, and it was here, in this ficlet about one of Nando’s sisters getting married. The focus of that ficlet was more Nando’s relationship with Rosa than it was introducing the kiddos, but I did use it as an ‘excuse’ to show you what Quinn and Nando’s far-future looks like. I don’t even think Mia, their adopted daughter, gets any screen time in that ficlet, which is sad. Here, I will tell you more solidly what it looks like for them to build their family:

First, they ‘inherit’ Quinn’s niece, Violet. This is kind of sad by default. I’m working on changing things a little so that maybe Quinn never even knew he had a sister? Stay tuned. Some minor details of the Kiersey-verse are under construction, and one of those minor details is Quinn’s Tragic Backstory(TM). No matter how it happens, they will in their mid-twenties unexpectedly and suddenly inherit Quinn’s small niece and adopt her as their daughter.

So when we talk about their first holiday with kids, I imagine it’s when Violet is very little, and the holiday season first rolls around after they’ve adopted her, and it’s just........... they want to make it good for her. She’s still young, maybe three or four, and she hasn’t had a very stable life thus far, so it’s a lot about family and making sure she feels loved and just keeping her in that welcoming environment. Maria Hernandez, as a grandmother for the first time, is especially attentive that she make this a good holiday for this small child.

Also, a note on holidays in general: Quinn doesn’t know what a real family holiday looks like until he first goes home with Nando for winter break (that’s junior year). He never knew that it could be so welcoming and loving, and also so lively. The extended Hernandez family knows how to host a good family gathering. And honestly, remind me to write about that one time.

But as we know, Quinn and Nando’s parenthood doesn’t end with adopting Violet. Mia and Max are related to each other biologically, and they’re bouncing around in the foster care system when Quinn and Nando take them in. This is at least a handful of years after they adopt Violet, so Violet is maybe 10 or 11 when their family grows? (The reason they wait is Quinn’s residency.)

Quinn and Nando building a home is a lot about giving their kids the love and care that a.) Nando knew so well in his nuclear family growing up, and b.) Quinn did not receive at all until he was welcomed in as a member of Nando’s family. They want to give their kids the world, and they succeed in doing so. There’s nothing more important to them than those three small children.

I realize I haven’t said much about Christmas itself. I’m a Northeast person, and therefore, Christmas for me is almost inseparable from the stereotypical wintry aesthetic you see in all the movies and media and holiday consumerism. Quinn and Nando, obviously, live in Arizona. I still think they have a tree. It’s a fake tree, because obviously you’re not going to get a real tree in the desert. But maybe they put lights up out in their backyard, where Quinn’s little succulent garden is? Yes. I think they do that.

They do Christmas Eve with the extended family, a big party at somebody’s house, and then they go to church at midnight. Yes, I’m serious. I have no idea how they keep the children awake that long, but they do. On Christmas morning, they’re at home by themselves, and they let the kids sleep in, and do gifts et cetera, and no, I am not crying, you are crying.

You guys haven’t seen me in Christmas mode yet, so just you wait. When the holiday season rolls around, I like to write ‘Christmas specials,’ and you can bet your ass that you’re getting a Quindo Christmas special this year. You’re probably also going to get a Ben & Cole Hanukkah special. And maybe some more. Who knows? Anything can happen. It’s the holidays. But we haven’t even reached Halloween yet, so I should chill.

Anyway. Thank you for the ask!!!! And sorry for my senseless rambling.