#and then we get a cliffhanger and we don't find out what happened until next season

[setmeatopthepyre]

I'm convinced Bobby Nash has to die. Now hear me out!! Cause I don't think he has to stay dead. In fact, it fits better if he doesn't. Here's the thing: Bobby believes he should have died in the fire that killed his family and all those people. It really seems there is absolutely no way for him to feel any closure on that, except, maybe, dying in/as a result of/in the vicinity of a fire after saving his family, aka Athena. A fire that burned down his now-family's home.

In Bobby Begins Again, Bobby is told You want to be punished? Your punishment is that you lived. Now make it worth a damn. And all this 'putting his affairs in order' stuff is kind of him double-checking that he really did make it worth a damn. For other people. Not for himself. He still doesn't believe he deserves any sort of happy ending. So, him dying and then living, just like Buck, would be another perfect little joke from his God, a sort of, You want to die for your sins? Fine. Now you have. Now live and be free of them.

Dying for your sins sound familiar? A little Jesus-y? Yeah, it fits right into all the religious symbolism we got in Step 9, aka the very Bobby-centric episode we just had! @exhuastedpigeon made a really good post about it.

In the previous episode, we saw that Bobby had his addiction practically passed down to him by his father, like an original sin. He wandered the desert, he carried his cross. In this episode, he had his last meal and though he didn't quite literally pray with his family, he did give Eddie a book of catholic prayers...

So if we're following that theme, if Bobby is to get the closure he has been wishing for ever since that fire happened, he might just have to die. But we all know Jesus didn't exactly stay dead either.

[flowerandblood]

Writing the Long Series

How I manage to do this for @troublesomesnitch

I often get questions about how I write and how I structure my work. If you are a perfectionist and like to have everything organized and tidy, this guide is not for you, because most of my work is chaos. However, I know that there are people like me who are tired of having to make lists, think about beta-readers, etc., so for all those who don't like to plan, here's how I write long series.

1. Never assume that your series will be long

When I write a oneshot or the first chapter of my story, I never assume how many chapters it will have − I do this very rarely when I have a specific plot in mind for a mini-series, but I often change my mind anyway, adding or shortening the series as I see fit. It's usually only when I've written the first two chapters that I have a sense of whether or not the story itself for me is asking to be longer.

With The Impossible Choice I thought I would close it in 20 chapters, and ended up with 55 chapters and 3 Alternate Universes. I had no idea when I wrote the first chapter that this would happen. Putting the pressure on yourself "okay, this is my moment, it's time for a long series, I want to make it 30 chapters" will make you shy away from writing at the thought of how much work lies ahead. Don't think about it, just write.

2. You don't have to have an ending

In none of my long series I knew what the ending would be. I usually know what's going to happen a maximum of 2/3 chapters in advance. I believe, but this is just my personal opinion, that writers pay too much attention to the ending, and if we are not writing a crime story, or the ending itself is not supposed to be a big breakthrough, it doesn't really matter. Even whether everything ends well or badly. Sometimes what's more important is the journey and what's in between.

I come up with the ending at the very end, when I have all the chapters. Then I know exactly what happened and what ending to the story will make sense in the context of what has happened so far. What's the point of coming up with a super-thought-out ending if it doesn't seem to fit the whole? This is starting from the wrong side. We are supposed to feel emotions throughout the story, not just at the end.

3. Don't predetermine how each chapter will end

This is suicide. Because what if you have a couple of scenes at the beginning, an end scene and a blank of what to write in between? It makes no sense!

When I write a chapter, I just go scene by scene and look at the number of words. Once it's over 2'500, I'm already thinking about slowly closing the chapter and I usually end it with some kind of breakthrough sentence or a character's thought. That's enough.

You don't always have to come up with a cliffhanger at the end. It's more important that the story reads smoothly and with breath, not to have someone gasp in surprise at the end but feel that what they were reading was just a bunch of scenes that weren't necessary.

4. Accept the fact that you won't use all the scenes you've imagined

I know we often think we have fantastic ideas, that this and that could happen, but sometimes we find that when we write, they just don't fit anywhere. There's no need to get upset then. If it's not a key scene for the whole story, it should be omitted or modified completely. Having said that, I'm against planning scenes ahead, except for the ones that matter most and push everything forward. It then makes such a pattern with holes that aren't there when you write everything in sequence.

Some people say − don't know how to do it? Leave it, move on to the next scene! I say no here! Don't keep writing until you know which way you want to go! And even if you do know, if you can't make it happen with a scene or dialogue, ask yourself if that way is good. Maybe just because you came up with it doesn't mean it makes sense in the context of the whole story you've created so far?

Maybe it's worth taking a different course, surprising yourself, choosing a different solution? Don't be a prisoner of your own decisions, let the creation of the story be fluid and changeable according to what you feel will be most viable for the development of your character!

5. Write other stories between chapters

Write oneshots or other mini-series in between chapters of your big project. Allow yourself to take a breather and not think about it all the time. I always intersperse my long series with my other work and it has helped me a lot. Sometimes, you just lose the verve for that concritical story and feel like writing something else − you should do exactly that. Don't think 'oh no, I'm starting a new story and I haven't finished that one'.

Even if you don't finish that one, nothing will happen. By controlling yourself in this way you are killing the fun you should be having with it. When you feel like it, read your long series again, or at least the last chapters to get the mood and then try to sit down to write a new chapter. I've found that when I take breaks and come back to stories like this after a few days, good new ideas come to me which keep me engaged in creating this story.

6. Play with characters, not scenes

Sometimes we come up with a scene that doesn't resonate at all as well in the story as it did in our mind when we wrote it. The reason I knock such scenes out is usually because they don't fit the character I'm writing about.

In my series The Fall from The Heavens originally when Lady Strong and Aemond are sitting in the library years later and Aemond tells her about having his first intimate experience with a whore, I wanted him to have tears in his eyes, get up from the table and walk over to the bookcase, Lady Strong was going to approach him and try to draw out of him what had happened.

However, as I wrote this, I felt somewhere in the back of my mind that something was wrong. I realised that while the scene itself was interesting and poignant, it didn't fit completely with my Aemond in this series. He would never allow himself to show weakness in this aspect, he would never have tears in his eyes at the thought, at most he would feel disgust, discomfort and anger.

I thought I would change this to a scene where her question reminds him of what happened and he tries to put it out of his mind and pretend he was content, drawing sastifaction from her jealousy. This, in my opinion, was definitely better suited to his spiteful, sullen character.

7. Do not ignore the thoughts of the protagonists

Some authors forget that only they know what is in the characters' heads − readers do not. Putting everything in dialogues makes no sense, because ordinary people don't say everything they think about.

Each of us thinks about something constantly, even when we just look at someone, when we sit alone or when we don't say anything. The characters' thoughts, so often overlooked, are a gateway to entering various scenes and events without the need for dialogue or additional events.

In The Knight & The Judge, readers would hate my Aemond if it weren't for the fact that they know his thoughts, how he regrets his actions, what he goes through, why he does certain things. Events do not happen by themselves, but are the result of what is happening in his head, even if he does not say much to other characters.

8. Don't be afraid to use side characters to show your couple's perspective

I often swap perspectives, once showing the perspective of a female character and once of a male character, but I also often use the eyes of side characters like Aegon, Daemon or Alys to show what their relationship looks like from the side.

Although some people dread this (like being afraid to write a chapter without smut because no one will read it because there won't be spicy scenes − that's nonsense) such a pov often gives a much wider view of how our characters are perceived from the side, what others think of their behaviour, what their decisions lead to, how they affect other characters.

If these side characters are an important part of our story, we can use such an extra chapter to build up what they will do in the future, engaging with our couple's story.

9. Confrontation does not always mean violence

I notice that often when there is a conversation between the main characters, many authors do their best to make both characters as sassy as possible, throwing fanciful insults at each other, threatening each other, considering it a good prelude to sexual tension. Of course, in one or two scenes this will work, even more so when, in fact, the two parties are very much at odds and practically hate each other.

However, it can't be that even though the characters are getting closer, they act as if they haven't gone through any development, haven't had any thoughts. It amazes me when someone writes an elaboration on the appearance of a gown or a room, on how someone raises a hand or performs an action, but does not lean into the fact that their character's behaviour is unnatural.

People say unpleasant things to each other in anger, but usually, forced to be in each other's company, they also have calmer discussions. Sometimes one word or sentence can make someone's perspective change, make them understand something that was unclear to them and new feelings emerge that can push the plot further − compassion, grief, longing or even understanding.

Creating templates out of our characters who have specific characteristics and always behave identically makes the whole story unbelievable.

10. Be kind to yourself

At the moment, there are no series from my first months of writing here written by me that I would consider good and I edit most of them, or I just left them as is and will never come back to them. I just know they are bad. But that's the way it is, in order to develop we have to make mistakes and not always be satisfied with ourselves (although at that moment I thought I had created my life's work).

Be understanding and kind to yourself. I managed to create so much work, not always good, mainly because I did it with passion and joy. I am very proud of many of my stories now and I like them even when I come back to them after a long time, I feel my progress and I know that it was worth it. Give yourself a chance and don't block yourself.

[genericpuff]

I've come to the stunning realization-

-that Lore Olympus is basically to the webtoons industry what Youtube Kids is to Youtube.

And I'm not talking about the general "Youtube Kids" label, I'm talking about those videos - Elsagate, Johny Johny, Cocomelon, Mickey Mouse tattooing Spongebob or whatever other weird example you can think of - which are explicitly designed to game the algorithm, turn views into money, and most of all, gain and keep the attention of the one demographic that won't question what they're consuming - children.

!!!!THIS POST HAS FAST PASS SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I mean, this is undoubtedly just a tinfoil hat theory, but think about it:

Bright oversaturated colors that are attention-grabbing.

Meme faces and 'lol rAnDoM' humor even when it doesn't suit the situation at all.

Art that's all around ugly and cheap on a technical level but still stands out due to its color design and prioritized advertising.

Vapid surface level scene-to-scene writing that doesn't connect or have any meaning in any coherent way.

One-dimensional projection characters who are easy to manipulate and sway for audience sympathy or anger even if those opinions change on a dime based on actions in the moment.

Cliffhangers that are less like true cliffhangers and more like clickbait. Episodes nowadays tend to be filled with drawn out plotlines, vague hints that can be applied to just about any school of thought, and non-sequitur memes to fill the time until they can hook the reader with another cliffhanger to keep them coming back next week.

Coin prices have gone up but episode length, substance, and quality have noticeably gone down. Even if they reach the same panel count they usually have, dialogue is minimal and pacing is brutally inconsistent to the point that plot progression is often non-existent.

Banner ads that run constantly, often in the first or second (or both) slots, with push notifications and pop-up ads also becoming more frequent whether you're subscribed to the comic or not.

And underneath ALL of that, we've got blatant objectifying and sexualization of female characters regardless of context, misogyny that claims to be progressive, racist undertones, borderline fetish content that constantly toes the Terms of Services line, normalization of problematic/toxic relationship dynamics, a creator who's more interested in 'getting back' at critics than writing an actual story, and underlying messaging both from the characters' and the creator's behavior that encourage witch-hunting, rejection of accountability, and blind devotion.

All this is essentially why I've given up consuming LO entirely, beyond just on a critical level as of late. There was a time long ago when I stuck around in the hopes it was going to get better, that maybe it was just going through a "rough patch" as some stories do. After that I stuck around because I wanted to see how it could possibly pull off its ending. And then after that, I simply stuck around for the laughs and community banter. But now I don't even find it funny anymore, the punchline of how bad it is has gotten incredibly old. And at this rate, as much as we'd like to believe it's going to end in its third season as it's been mentioned in the past, we also were told it was going to end between 100-200 episodes prior to that - the way it's going, I can't even stick around "for the ending" because LO is going to be around for as long as WT tries to milk it, despite it no longer having a heartbeat.

As much as I've loved talking shit about this comic and it's undoubtedly the main reason so many of you followed me here in the first place, I'm not going to lock myself in some kind of purgatory hell just to be proven what I already know is going to happen - either the comic continues on forever, doomed to be a lifeless mascot for the zombie corporation that is WT, or RS eats shit while trying to stick the landing with a plane that has no functional parts.

There's a quote from Caddicarus that I couldn't help but think of as I typed this up, from his nearly-decade-old review of Dalmations 3 (oh god, it's nearly been a decade since that video came out what the actual fuck-)

"And this is where I officially lost all fucking care. I realized it wasn't going to end anytime soon. It's one of those rare instances where the novelty of how awful everything is actually gets really tiresome and unfunny." - Caddicarus

[sakuracoloring]

Cami's Commentary! #3 - LuluzinhaTeen

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 0% █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 10% ██▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 20% ███▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 30% ████▒▒▒▒▒▒ 40% █████▒▒▒▒▒ 50% ██████▒▒▒▒ 60% ███████▒▒▒ 70% ████████▒▒ 80% █████████▒ 90% ██████████ 100%

「ようこそ！」　。。。

With the success of mangas and animes here in the west in the 2000s, the famous brazilian comic series Turma da Monica decided to release their own manga edition, aging up the characters to focus more on the teen demographic. A year later, in 2009, Labareda Design and Ediouro (publisher) got together to see if they could make money off this whole ''teen manga'' thing, giving birth to Luluzinha Teen, a teen manga adaptation of the famous american comics of Little Lulu. Unfortunately, because of financial problems, the series started getting published every two months (instead of being a monthly series), until it ended at its 65th volume, in 2015.

This ''manga'' series, although it was not as good as it could've been, holds a big place in my heart. I still remember being in 4th grade, looking in the comic section of my school's library with a friend of mine, when one day we saw the 43rd volume: LuluzinhaTeen Amor & rock'n'roll, which was a collab with the rock band CW7. We had never heard of this series before, and the band? Who even were these people? So we searched them up, tried finding more info on the series and that was pretty much it. Then the pandemic came up, she moved and changed schools, and we pretty much forgot about the comic... (we kinda became fans of the band though, although the fandom was pretty much dead, so that wasn't forgotten lol)

Honestly, I don't even remember why I remembered this comic earlier this year, but thank God I did lol, since I was able to find some scans online of this series I'd been wanting to read for such a long time. I still haven't finished it though, and most likely never will, since 4(?) volumes are technically lost media: 62, 63, 64 and 65. There have been yet no signs of scans of them, but they do exist (I've seen 62 and 65, separately, being sold in comic lots online). It's sad how they're SO hard to find, and especially 65, since it is literally what ends this long series.

Still on the topic of lost media, it's really sad how both luluzinhateen.com and bandaloki.com, websites made to promote and interact with fans, while also holding contests like ''send us your oc and we might add them to one of our stories'', and containing interviews with several celebrities like Pitty, CW7, Banda Cine, and others, will forever be lost. There is no sign of the websites anywhere, not even on the Wayback Machine, and the only actual proof it exists is them being promoted in the series itself.

...

Anyways, back onto not so depressing pieces of info, this series started out pretty well. Each volume was an episode in a season, and each season had 4 episodes. Each season focused on a different main problem going on, introducing us to several characters and interesting plot points, until suddenly, season 4 was over. It was really weird, since it kinda ended on a cliffhanger, and then the next volume, 17, completely ignored that. They did kinda explain to us later what had happened, but dude??? It kinda sucked. From 17 on, they started doing individual stories for each volume, which honestly wasn't really good for character development, but it got worse in the (thankfully very few) volumes where they tried squeezing TWO stories in one comic. That absolutely sucked ass. Thankfully, it went back to normal, and they occasionally released volumes that had two parts, which made the stories a bit more fleshed out and interesting.

As I mentioned earlier, they started having some financial issues, which most likely explains how in some volumes the artstyle suddenly changes mid story, and also explains why it became a bimonthly comic. We also can't ignore its sudden end, and how most of us in this dead fandom probably never got to actually see it (though from what I've heard, it's pretty much Lulu deciding to travel the world with her grandma and saying goodbye to her friends because of that). Good things don't last that long, and with the company struggling, it was pretty obvious it was going to end soon. R.I.P. LuluzinhaTeen and R.I.P. The fandom...

Literally, when I searched up ''Luluzinha Teen'' here on Tumblr, I found two posts from OVER 10 YEARS AGO. Like wtf??? I also love how one of them still uses(d) the Pitty illustration from the first volume as her profile picture. Like, slay <3

Also, slay <3 to whoever uploaded all* the scans to the blogspot website. I hope both sides of their pillow remain cold during the night <3

It's almost midnight by the time I'm writing this and I really need to get some sleep, so tomorrow I'll talk more about the characters (and their changes in comparison to the original material). Stay tuned, folks ☆

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time! ☆

-Cami

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

On Yearning

Any blank spaces are not meant to be there, I will fix them as soon as they show up so please just check again a little later if that happens to you.

Mayans MC Masterlist

Part four of a A Gentle Kind of Love

Contains: Fluff, mutual pining, angst (violence, endless longing, a cliffhanger, possible major character death) slow burn.

6.2K words

Comment if you want to be tagged/removed or follow #a gentle kind of love.

Yearning - A deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness. Alternately an instance of such longing.

Temple was full when Marcus started talking, "I just spoke to Jax, they're going to deal with it on their end. What do we know about these Hidden Order fucks?"

Coco sighed, "not much, other than a single tattoo, they don't validate and they don't make noise, they've been linked to multiple crimes but their made cash source is meth and counterfeiting."

"That's it?" Bishop didn't sound happy.

Coco nodded, "Juice is going to tell us the second he knows something new, until then we need to be on the lookout."

Manny rubbed his face, his tone angry, "and y/n, how long is she going to be at risk."

Bishop waved his hand, "we're not going to let anything happen to her and it's not like you two hate each other, you'll be fine at her place for a few days."

"And if it lasts longer than that?" Part of Manny was hoping it would.

Angel huffed, "like that matters."

Bishop slammed his hand on the desk, "enough, y/n will be fine, we need to find these Nazi fucks before someone gets hurt."

They made you wait at the bar until they were done, it took a while but they all filed out of the Temple and Manny shot you a smile as he walked up to you, "I need to go by my place and pack a bag, then I'll be all yours."

You smiled, "I'll put some fresh sheets on my bed."

His eyes went wide, "I thought you had a pull out?"

You nodded, "I do, you can have the bed and I'll take the couch."

He went to respond but you cut him off, "please, don't fight me on this. You're already putting yourself out by staying with me for God knows how long, the least you can do is take the bed."

He sighed, "fine but I'm cooking half the food."

"Alright, I'll take that."

He smiled, "great, I'll get Coco to take you home, I'll rush so we can get some sleep tonight."

You sighed, "you don't need to do that. Tomorrow is the weekend, it's not like I need to be well rested for work."

He shook his head, "nope, I can't have you all sleepy, we're going to hang out all day and have so much fun."

You giggled, "oh I'm sure. My cats are never going to leave you alone, have fun showering with three cats staring at you."

He chuckled, "I thought Mr Butts was the only perv."

You smiled, "all cats are pervs, Mr Butts just takes it to the next level."

He returned your smile and reached his hand out, landing it on your upper arm, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you and if we have fun in the meantime well that's a bonus."

He headed off and you waited for Coco but to your annoyance, Angel was the one that wandered over to you with a smile, "ready to head home?"

You sighed, "if you say one word about me and Manny I swear to God I will…"

He raised his hand, "I ain't going to give you shit."

You could tell by his grin he was lying.

Angel rode beside you while you drove home, pulling up next to you on your driveway as you walked inside, "what?"

He smiled, "nothing, I bet you're happy to have Manny all to yourself this weekend?"

You sighed, "say what you want to say Angel."

"I know you love him."

You rolled your eyes, "what makes you say that?"

He smirked, "because of the way you smile at him, I mean, it's cute."

You shook your head, "you are delusional and I suggest you get help. Now I need to set up the sofa bed, you can help or you can wait outside for Manny to arrive."

Angel gave you a look, "am I, or are you just scared that you're going to get hurt. Because I can tell you that you might be surprised."

You huffed, "what does it matter Angel? Yes, I love him, can you fucking drop it now?"

Angel smiled, "alright, I'll drop it. Are you going to let Manny sleep out in your lounge room all on his lonesome?"

You shook your head, "no, I'm a good host. He's going to take my bed and I'm taking the sofa."

You walked off to get the sheets, returning and directing Angel to help you, "that's so nice of you, letting him sleep in your bed."

You glared at him, "I need to get him fresh sheets in there next, now help me or fuck off."

Angel helped, smiling all the while. He glanced around your bedroom and you could see the wheels in his head turning, "what now man?"

He shrugged, "nothing, I just think Manny will get lonely here without you, your bed is pretty big."

You huffed, "he'll have the cats to keep him company." Mercifully, the doorbell rang before Angel could reply, the camera showing Manny had arrived, "oh thank God, you can go now Angel."

Angel shook his head, "call me if you need anything." You opened the door and Manny walked in, Angel looking back one last time before walking away, "use protection kids."

Your eyes went wide and Manny shook his head, "don't encourage him y/n."

You smiled as Angel's bike pulled away, "at least he's not coming back to watch us through the window like a perv."

Mr Butts jumped into Manny's arms, Manny smiling as the cat rubbed up against his face, "I'll show you to the bedroom, I've set it all up for you, there's water and extra pillows so you can chose, I even left out the humidifier in case you don't like dry air, no oils though, they aren't safe for kitties."

Manny smiled, "wow, gold star service. You sure you're alright with sleeping on the pull out?"

"Yep, I'm armed and the alarm is set. I'm going to have a shower in the spare bathroom then head to bed. Wake me up of you need anything."

Manny nodded with yawn, "yeah, it's late. Goodnight y/n."

"Goodnight Emmanuel."

You were already getting breakfast together when Many came into the kitchen, his lean, muscled chest bare and all his tattoos on full display. "Morning, did you sleep well?"

He nodded, "yeah, your bed is really nice."

You smiled, "well you have it for the next however long until this is over. Do you have to go the the Clubhouse today?"

He shook his head, "nope, I spoke to Bishop, we have the whole weekend to ourselves."

You smiled, "I'm not that much fun, you should go out an enjoy yourself."

Manny's eyes wrinkled, "what do you mean you're not that much fun? We have fun together."

You shook your head, "yeah, when we're out and I'm trying, I'm a different person when I'm at home, I'm either going to be in the garden, hanging out with my cats or doing something online."

Manny shook his head, "that sounds fun to me, there's plenty we can do. You've got an Xbox and a TV, we can play some video games. Coco told me you love horror movies, I do too. We can go for a walk or a drive. Really, I like your company."

You smiled, "I don't have many co-op games but I'm sure we can work something out. You really mean that you're alright with just vegging around the house? "He nodded, "alright then, I have to water my plants while breakfast cooks, would you like to help?"

Manny smiled, "hell yeah, can the kitties come?" You shook your head, "they can watch from the sunroom, I'm beginning to think you like my cats more than you like me."

Manny chuckled, "honestly, it's an even split."

"We need to go to the store."

Manny nodded, "alright, what do you need?"

You looked in the fridge, "just food, you got anything in mind?"

Manny smiled, "that salt chicken you keep talking about."

You sighed, "I knew you'd say that. I'll drive."

Manny made a face, "what, you got a problem being in the passenger seat. Do you have control issues Emmanuel?"

Manny had the urge to call you a brat, his brain wandering to other places, "nope, I'm basically your bodyguard, the bodyguard always drives.

You huffed, "well not this time." You got ready and grabbed your keys, waiting for Manny to follow while Lady Midnight sat at the table at the door.

You bent down and pressed a kiss between her fluffy ears, Manny shaking his head, "what a princess."

You laughed, "if you say so."

You waited until he walked by her, her little paw coming out to grab his shirt, "meow."

You smiled, "pay the toll or she won't let you leave."

Manny shook his head, "really?"

You nodded, "yep, you got to kiss her little head or she will climb on your until you do."

Manny pecked her forehead then looked at you, "good enough?"

You nodded, "for now."

Manny got into the passenger seat and looked at you, "I have no room for my legs, and it's broken, I can't move it back."

You sighed, "I can see that, you can drive but no bragging." You tossed him your keys, getting out to swap seats then Manny was turning the car on and heading towards the town centre.

"You really don't need to follow me everywhere, I can look after myself."

Manny huffed, "I'm not talking about this with you anymore. You put yourself at risk for the Club, I got to pay that back and keep you safe."

You shook your head, "your life isn't worth any less than mine, it's insane that you have to put yourself on the line when I can look after myself."

He pulled the car over and turned towards you, "stop, I don't want to hear it anymore. If I didn't want to look after you, I wouldn't be here and I would have said no to Bishop if I didn't like spending time with you. I'm not a child, if I don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it, there were plenty of guys there so it's not like I have to be here."

You shook your head, "Angel.."

He cut you off, "I don't give a shit what Angel did. Now stop it, we're going to have issues if you don't."

"I'm sorry, I'm not really used to having people around for days at a time."

Manny smiled sadly, "no need to apologise Tesoro, I keep saying I like your company so I'm just going to have to hang around until you figure it out, you're a smart woman, I'm sure you'll get there before you get sick of me."

"I don't think I could get sick of you."

Manny smiled, "oh shut up Emmanuel."

He shook his head, "now you're getting it." He started the car up again and you had a sudden flash of thoughts, you knew why you weren't going to get sick of him, did he feel the same way?

"Why are you putting it on now? It's only three."

You smiled, "one, I can't take you seriously while you're squishing a cat belly and two, it takes three hours to cook then it has to rest, I don't know about you but I want to eat at a reasonable time."

Manny chuckled and turned to Sir Fluffernutter, "did you hear that little guy, she can't take you seriously."

"Stop groping my cat and come and help me, we need to coat the chicken in the salt mixture."

Manny squished his fluffy belly one last time before placing him on the floor and washing his hands, "ok, what can I do?"

You pointed to the bowl, "use those big hands of yours and coat the chicken in the crust, while you were playing with the cats I was already seasoning the chicken with lemon and garlic."

"Alright, you gonna help me."

You sighed, "this is fast becoming a bad porno, what's next, our hands touch over the chicken breast then we fuck on the bench?"

Manny pressed his lips together, "something tells me you'd have an issue with the food safety of that situation."

You giggled, "yeah, the kitchen is for cooking, not bonking."

Manny laughed, "bonking? So inappropriate."

You snorted, "oh please, just help with dinner."

Manny smiled, "of course gorgeous, I can't have you going hungry."

You stood there, curst pilled in your hand and shook your head, "you're not being very helpful right now."

Manny bumped you with his hip and showed you his mess covered hands, "I am helping."

You bumped him back, "tell that to the half coated chicken."

He slapped the mixture on the bird, "not anymore."

You pointed to the pile, "that's not covered."

There was a pause and you both collapsed into laughter, "we really need to get this in the oven."

Manny smiled, his face wrinkling with affection, "ok, I'll help."

With the chicken in the oven, you and Manny sat down for some video games while you waited for it to cook, "ok, so I have Stardew Valley and Subnautica with a co-op mod, Terraria and Mario."

Manny smiled, "Stardew Valley all the way."

You were surprised, "wow, I never took you for someone who would be interested in something like that."

Manny gave you a look that you couldn't decipher, "it's nice to have some silliness."

"You ready?" You handed Manny the hammer who looked at the brown shell with glee.

"How hard do I need to hit it?"

You smiled, "it takes me three or four goes with full strength but be careful, if you puncture the skin you'll ruin it."

Manny nodded, "ok, ready?" You nodded, bracing for the bang.

"AH." The shell cracked, "holy shit, that was good, maybe one more in the corner." Manny brought the hammer down and the shell cracked open, a wonderful smell filling the air.

Manny dropped the hammer, smiling while making eye contact and dipped his fingers in the juices, "oh my God that's better than sex."

You cover your face, feeling your body get hot, "what kind of shit sex are you having?"

Manny shook his head, "hey, I'm great in bed, it's just that good."

You sighed, "wait until you taste the actual chicken."

Manny went to grab a knife, "let it rest you heathen, you're worse than the cats."

Right on cue, the meowing started, "speaking of, they need their dinner."

You went to the containers on the bench and dumped them into their bowls, "that's for the cats, I thought it was for us?"

You shook your head, "you want raw fish and beef in a little bowl?"

He shook his head, "I mean, I thought you were going to cook it for us."

You smiled, "no, I take it out of the fridge so it's room temp, it's meant to be as close to their natural diet and I don't think fresh prey is fridge cold."

He laughed as their meows got louder, Mr Butts trying to climb up your pants so he could get to the food. "Excuse me kitty, this is unacceptable."

Manny's laugh grew, "you want help?"

You nodded and pointed to the bowls, "can you please potion out the food, one container per bowl, please. Put one on the bench for Lady Midnight, one under my dining chair for Sir Fluff and one next to the oven is for Mr Butts." Manny rushed off and Mr Butterscotch detached from you to follow him.

"Why do you put them in different places?" The cats started to eat the moment the food was put down.

"So they don't steal each other's food, Lady Midnight is very sweet and she won't fight back so she gets it up high where no one else can get to her. Tomorrow I'm going to show you to teach them how to sit, which they normally do before they eat."

Manny smiled, "you taught them how to sit before you feed them?"

"Yep, they tend to eat slower when they do. Now would you like to start on our dinner?"

"Fuck yeah."

"You ate half a chicken Emmanuel, you're going to get a tummy ache." He wiped his face, seemly ready to fall asleep.

"It was a small chicken and I've never eaten something more delicious." You shook your head and took his plate from him and went to wash it up at the sink.

"I gotta cook tomorrow to thank you, what do you want?"

You thought for a moment, "surprise me." He shook his head with a smile.

"How am I going to do that when I have to go with you everywhere? You'll guess before I even start." It was said with affection, like he was upset that he couldn't surprise you.

"I have free grocery delivery, just use that." He smiled and stood up, walking over to the kitchen to help you clean up.

"Alright, what are you in the mood for then? You have to give me some idea."

You looked him dead in the eye, doing your best not to laugh, "surprise me."

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows, "you are such a brat."

"You know it Emmanuel."

"Ok, so you bought pork, Chinese cabbage, prawns, and green onions and from the supply here you have flour, ginger and garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Are you making me pot stickers with homemade wrappers?"

"I shouldn't have let you in the kitchen, you've spoilt the surprise. Also prawns, are you secretly an Australian?

You giggled, "nah, I would have known when I smelt them cooking, they are some of my favourites you know. And no, I'm not secretly an Australian, these have claws and therefore are prawns. Shrimp don't have claws."

"I can't belive you know that, you're a little weird." You smiled and bumped him with your shoulder.

"I'd rather be weird than boring." He gasped in fake offence.

"Are you calling me boring?"

"Hell no, you and a whole bunch of other men ride around on motorbikes wearing matching vests, that's kinda interesting."

He shoved you playfully, his face breaking out into a grin, "for that you're helping me wrap the things."

You sighed, "you are so mean to me, do you know how much time that takes?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm getting you to help me."

The days droned on, Manny seemed most worried when you were at work, sitting outside in a car with one of the others, watching the street like a hawk waiting for the bad guys to show up and storm your office.

"These guys aren't going to hit here, their whole MO is flying under the radar. Hitting a therapist that works will hurt little kids is the opposite." Manny didn't seem to even hear Coco.

"I don't care, I would never forgive myself if something happened to her." his leg bounced as he waited for you to finish your day, smiling as you came out and walked over to them.

"I'm done, and I'm heading home, you really don't need to follow me." Manny gave you a look and you sighed, "just get into the car with me dude and let Coco go home."

He shook his head, "we'll follow you, three heads are better than two." You sighed and walked off, getting into your car in a huff before yelling out your window.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me, you're all being worry warts." The last thing you saw before you sped off was Coco's middle finger at the window.

You were both lying on the pullout, blankets covering your legs with Manny's arm slung over the back on the couch. "What's on the billing tonight?"

"I think we should watch The Conjuring series, I wanna see how long you can last."

He chuckled, "me? I don't scare that easily but I'll protect you from the scary demons."

You snorted, "what are you going got do, wave your arms at them until they run away?"

He gasped in fake offence, "you're asking for trouble now."

You shook your head, "maybe, as I said, I don't find you all that intimidating."

He tilted his head, "you don't do you?"

"Nope, now I'm going to play the movie, unless you want to hide under the covers with the cats?"

Manny lifted Lady Midnight from between you and onto his lap, "nah, I think Mr Butts is all licked out."

You giggled, "don't jinx yourself, he'll be in your face before you can take it back." You clicked on the movie, then stood up, "I'm going to go get us some popcorn, I'll be back in a bit."

He listened as you got out the pot and put the kernels on the stove, "you want me to pause this?"

"Nah, I've seen it before, I'll be back in before it gets good." Sure enough, you return before anything serious happened and handed the bowl to Manny, "this kittens can't have any, butter isn't good for them.

"More for me then." He took a handful and ate them in one go.

"Dude slow down."

He shrugged, "what, this is the best popcorn I"ve ever had."

You shook your head, "it's made with the same flavour they use at the movies, it's not the best for you but it's the only way to get that taste."

"Good to know, are you sure the cats can't have any because Sir Fluff is drooling on my leg." You lifted the blankets and looked at the cat.

"That's because he's asleep, sorry about that."

Manny shook his head, "nah it's alright, he's just happy."

"You say that now but he's not going to move until you make him and your leg is going to fall asleep."

"It's no big deal, I like the little guy. Now can we watch the movie? I wanna see what happens."

"Yeah, we can watch the movie."

As the night went on you and Manny got closer, by the time the second movie wound down, you pressed against him while his hand rubbed up and down your upper arm warmly.

You blinked and rubbed your eyes, "I'm going to brush my teeth, I'll be back." It was almost like he didn't want to let you go.

"We can call it a night if you want?"

You shook your head, "nah, just pause this, I don't want to miss anything, then we can put on the third one, it's not that late." He clicked the movie into pause and you got up, returning a few minutes later before resuming your previous position, Manny not think twice about putting his hand back on your arm.

"We should go somewhere tomorrow."

You smiled, "why, are you getting board of me?"

He shook his head, "no, I just don't want you to feel trapped in the house because I'm here, Coco told me you usually go to the gardens on the weekend and you missed out last week."

You smiled, "I'd like that, I've been enough that I get can get us both a free lunch."

That seemed to make him happy, "I can't wait, what there's anyway?"

You sighed, "it's a mix, the stuff outside is all from around here but it's the flowering season which means it's all really pretty and they have a heap of rare stuff inside. I think you'll like it. The best thing is there's no one there right now because they haven't gotten anything new in a while."

"Sounds fun, I just realised that even though I've been here for almost a year I haven't really seen the sights."

You reached across him and stroked one of the cats on the head, "well, I think I"m going to have plenty of time to show you. It has been a week, if nothing's happened by now, it's not going to happen but we both know the Club won't let you leave me alone until it's sorted."

"I'm alright with that. Plus I've gotten used to the company."

You smiled, "yeah, it's nice to have someone over for more than just a meal." You yawned and shifted and Manny lifted his hand from you but you raised your hand in protest.

"I can head to bed if you want?"

You shook your head, "you don't need to go unless you want to, I'm not going to fall asleep no matter how comfortable you are."

He chuckled "alright then." He smiled softly to himself and you pulled the blanket up to your chest. Before too long, he noticed you weren't paying much attention to the TV, your eyes staying closed longer each time you blinked. Manny thought about getting up and heading to his own bed but that would mean moving and he didn't have the heart to wake you up and if he was being honest with himself, he didn't want to move either.

By the time his own eyes started to get heavy, getting up and sleeping in his own bed was the last thing on his mind.

Manny felt a weight on his chest when he woke up that didn't really feel like the cats. When he lifted his hand off his stomach and reached out, his fingers met your skin and his eyes shot open, he had fallen asleep on the pullout with you next to you.

One of the first things he noticed was how much his back hurt and he felt a pang of guilt that you had been sleeping here for a week just for his comfort but before he could think more you lifted your hand and rubbed your face with a groan.

"Morning."

He smiled, "morning y/n."

You blinked the sleep out of your eyes and sat up "morning, sorry if I trapped you here last night."

He shook his head, "nah, I didn't want to wake the cats up so I slept here, this thing is very uncomfortable."

You swung your legs over the bed and stood up, stretching with a grumble, "it's not that bad."

He huffed, "yes it is, and I'm pretty pissed that you're sleeping on it when this is your house and I'm imposing on you."

You shook your head, "it's fine really. What do you want for breakfast?"

He pushed the cat off his chest and got up, "you're not going to do anything, I'm making us waffles."

You realised there was no point in protesting so you got up to start the day while Manny headed to the kitchen. It didn't take you long to get dressed, coming out the Manny mixing the batter with one hand while the cats demanded he pat them with the other.

"I need to feed them, are you right to keep cooking?"

He nodded, "yeah, when I said I was going to make us breakfast, I meant it. Plus if you don't feed them I think they are going to eat us."

You fed the cats while Manny finished the waffle, a big smile on his face as he put the plate down in front of you, "I put some chocolate sauce in the middle of yours."

"Thank you Manny, did you put anything in yours?"

He nodded, "yep, you had that fancy jam and I thought it would be nice."

"The tomato and onion one? How about we got halves because that sounds good too?"

He smiled and cut his in half before taking the plate from you and doing the same to yours, "I was hoping you'd ask me for that."

You shook your head, "you could have just made a few mini one, I wouldn't have judged you."

He huffed, "why would I do that when I know you were going to share with me."

"Well Manny, you better eat up because we are going to have a blast today and you're going to want to have a full belly.

"This is a Palo verde tree which is a fascinating tree because it photosynthesis through its bark as well as its leaves and because of its branch layout, it's great if you need shade in a pinch."

Manny smiled, "that's so cool, what about this one?" He pointed to one with tall with flowers and flat spikey leaves.

"That's a Yucca, their whole lives rely on the Yucca moth, the moths pollinate the flower and the moth's egg incubates in the blossoms. without one the other would go extinct."

"That's so fucking cool. I want to go inside, you have so much more to show me." You walked inside, your hand brushing Manny's as you walked. As much as you wanted to link your hand in his but there was something telling you that it wouldn't go over well. Manny walked right to the first plant he saw, "it says there are only forty of these in the wild."

You nodded, "yep, the Parsley Fern, they have to fly in the soil for the volcano where they grow."

He leaned in and had a good look before something caught his eye on the other side of the room, before he could think he grabbed your wrist to take you there and you followed him as his feet traced towards it.

"This looks like a fuzzy animal." You didn't let go of his hand as you pointed to the sign.

"It's called a Vegetable Sheep, also very rare. Can I have my hand back please?" His eyes went wide and he dropped your wrist.

"Sorry."

You shook your head, "it's alright. Honestly it's kind of cute, you were excited."

He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the edges, "you're really cool you know that?"

You held back on hiding your face from embarrassment, "you're pretty cool too. I mean, most people would think this kind of thing is super boring."

He shook his head, "nope, not me."

You walked around the building until you saw everything there was to see, Manny taking photos when he saw something he really liked. You rushed through lunch so you could get the most out of your day, finishing just as the sun set.

You walked outside and were hit with the cool air, taking a deep breath as you made your way back to the car. "Did you have fun today?"

He nodded, "hell yeah, I'm wondering what we're going to do tomorrow?"

You thought for a minute, "we could go see these flowers out in the wild?"

His smile grew, "that would be great, can we go camping too?"

You shook your head, "over my dead body, we can look at the stars and come home a bit late if that's what you want but there's no way I'm sleep in a tent."

He chuckled, "done, a hike and then stargazing. Someone should have threatened your life months ago, I've had more fun in the last week than I have in months."

"You really mean that, I mean, even when we haven't been doing anything much?"

"Yep." Something had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, you were about two minutes from the car and you suddenly felt the need to get moving.

Manny seemed to noticed that something was wrong, "I think we're being followed."

"Me too, we need to get back to the car now." You pulled your phone out, switched the find my phone on and texted Coco, "I'm going to call you, we're being followed, don't talk, just stay on the line." You waited a few moments, dialled, breathing out as he picked up then slid the phone into your pocket.

Looking behind you only served to prove your theory, there was a black van behind you, following you up the road. Your hand moved to your hip, hovering over your gun while Manny's hand wrapped around your upper arm, "we need to go now." In a flash Manny was pulling you along, his long legs causing you to run as he tried to close the distance to your car.

The gunshot had you jumping and it was clear that there was no way you were going to make it to your car. Manny pulled you down the street as the van stopped and they got out.

"There." You pointed to an alleyway where you could hide and Manny's leg went without question. You got there and you both ducked behind a dumpster.

You took a few seconds to catch your breath, "I say we take that street there and go around the block, I think there were only three of them, if we play our cards right, they should miss us." You pulled your gun out and waited, looking to Manny for his ok.

He nodded towards you and you took a deep breath, the opening to the street was only a few feet away, it would take less than a minute to get there. Manny nodded at you and you shot up but it was too late and you heard a click behind you, "hello little bird, we found you."

Your hand tighten around your gun, you only hoped the others were on their way. "Don't you dare, take his too." You dropped the gun and reach over to Manny, taking his from his hand.

"Get up." The gun in your face made it clear that you didn't have a choice. The other two got Manny under control while you stared down the man with the gun.

You stood up slowly, Manny following suit, "you're gonna die right here on the street. Maybe your friends will find you before the stray dogs get to you."

You could see the rage on Manny's face, but you shook your head ever so slightly when you saw he was going to do something, "what will it take for you to let us live? I know all about the Club, I'll tell you everything if you let us go."

The man smiled, "I'll get you live, not him."

Manny looked at you, you were planning something and he could tell.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

He smiled, "when's is the Clubhouse most vulnerable?"

You blinked, "Saturday mornings, everyone's drunk and fucked out, no one is paying attention."

Manny tried to stop himself from smiling, you were lying. Sure there were people hungover everywhere but a full Clubhouse was anything but vulnerable, "where do they keep the guns?"

You paused for effect, "in one of the back rooms, if you use the back entrance they'll never get to them especially if they're the temple where there are no guns at all."

You did your best not to flinch as one of them stuck Manny, "how many men stand guard?"

You swallowed, "only one, by the door, most of the front gate is left unprotected and the roof isn't high enough for people to be able to see over it."

The leader smiled, "well, I'm a man of my word. You can go now."

You shook your head, "please, let us both go. He never did anything to you, please."

Manny was taken aback at the desperation in your voice. He looked over at you one last time and realised that you were slowly lowering one finger at a time on your right hand. One of the men standing behind Manny brought the butt of the gun down on his back, "any last words shithead?"

Manny swallowed, "yeah." He turned to you fully, his eyes watching as you dropped a fourth finger. His face was hard, he was ready to die knowing that you would get away, he only hoped that the other Mayans were close enough that they would be able to keep you safe if these men changed their minds, "I just want you to know, that I l……"

BANG

"Guys we have to do now." Coco was filled with fear as he ran over to Bishop. 

"What is it man?" 

Coco held the phone up and put a single finger to his mouth, they could hear you talking to Manny, "they went to the gardens today, didn't they?" 

Coco nodded, "yep and her phone says they're still there, if they don't take it off her we might be able to find them. If we go now you might get there in time." 

They all raced off, dodging the cars as they broke the speed limit. They arrived at the gardens far soon than they thought, jumping off their bikes as Coco rechecked his phone. He could hear talking, your voice calm but laced with fear, "back rooms, if you use the back entrance they'll never."

They spread out and moved slowly, hoping that you and Manny were still nearby, "the GPS says y/n's phone is close." Gilly pointed to an alleyway and they all converged, moving to form a line as Coco pointed them onward. 

They could hear voices now and they knew with a few more steps, they would be on top of them. Angel's breath stopped as he caught the sight of you and Manny on your knees, the man behind Manny cracking the butt of his gun into Manny's back.  

"Any last words shithead?"

Angel looked to his side as the other men came closer, their plan forming silently as Manny turned to you "I just want you to know, that I l......"

BANG

Part 5

Hearts and blank reblogs with no tags will be worth one point each.

Comments and reblogs with comments/tags will be worth two points each.

That means a maximum 5 points per person.

Chapter five will be released after 20 points.

[blogger360ncislarules]

After years of buildup, Nancy Drew's big romantic moment between Nancy (Kennedy McMann) and Ace (Alex Saxon) in the series finale was well-earned. And as satisfying as it was to see these two star-crossed lovers finally break the death curse and — after learning the damage to their souls meant they'll never reincarnate again — choose to spend their last life together, it turns out the actors actually shot more in that scene than what fans saw on TV.

Amanda Row, who directed the series finale, and Larry Teng, who directed 16 episodes including the pilot, tell EW that a lot of that crucial scene was left on the cutting room floor. "The Ace and Nancy scene, which I made as long as I possibly could because I loved it, we couldn't fit it all into the episode," Row says. "Otherwise it would be an hour-and-a-half long."

As for what didn't make the final cut? "Lots of joy," Row says. "Ace dips Nancy in a little dance thing — not a full dance but it's very cute and cheeky and it was very much just about the two of them finally being able to enjoy each other without the stakes and the stress of the world ending around them. I just wanted to keep it simple and just be about the giddiness of being in love and having your love requited. In my cut, I definitely was like, 'Well, I'm just going to do the longest version possible because I love it.'"

Below, Row and Teng break down that series finale ending, where Nancy and the rest of the Drew Crew say goodbye to Horseshoe Bay to go onto various new adventures.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was this always the plan for how Nancy Drew was going to end?

LARRY TENG: We didn't get the official word until we were filming episode 10 or right before that. There were a lot of ideas that were in place already but we had to figure out how to fit them into the existing season 4 storyline in the remaining episodes we had left. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and the writers did a tremendous job making it all work.

AMANDA ROW: When we were shooting the finale I had a lot of chats with the cast, especially with Kennedy, about this. As much as we were shoehorned into wrapping all of this up in a couple episodes, in the end, I believe that the conclusion was actually what [it] was intended to be. Nancy Drew is a detective, she's always looking for answers and the next mystery, and ultimately she's trying to find herself. As cliche as it is, it's about the journey and not the conclusion, and we end the series being at peace with that idea, that we're never going to be done. That's what our amazing writers have been doing since the beginning. 

Before you had to pivot to make it a series finale, was the original plan for season 4 to end on a cliffhanger instead of this resolution?

ROW: I wish the writers and the actors could speak to this point because I don't know for sure. I'm sure they had a million ideas but what they ended up with was ultimately pretty awesome for the circumstances they were dealt. 

TENG: We definitely felt like there were more episodes that we could have done that we wanted to do.

ROW: Like the musical episode! [Laughs] Which [showrunner] Melinda [Hsu Taylor] never wanted to do, but I really wanted it to happen.

TENG: There were a lot more stories we wanted to tell that unfortunately we won't get to but we're really happy with how this all turned out.

What was it like directing the big moment where Nancy and Ace realize they broke the death curse and finally get to kiss?

ROW: When it happened, every single person on set was very aware of how special a moment it was. It was very bittersweet and magical. Everyone was crying. It was really wonderful. It was a cathartic experience for everyone involved. It was such a big special moment for the crew and Kennedy and Alex, and the whole story and how their story has built since season 1. It was very satisfying and all about joy.

What was the last scene you shot before the series wrapped?

ROW: We scheduled it so that the very last scene we shot is actually the last shot in the series finale, when you see them all say goodbye and the camera goes under the table and you see all their initials. I called cut on that scene and that was a series wrap on Nancy Drew. We wanted to make sure the whole cast was there, so Riley and Scott were in the scene prior so they could be there as well. It wasn't until the moment I called cut that everyone realized it's over. But it was very special. It was hard for me. I was like, "Can we do another take?" I didn't want to call cut because it felt like a massive responsibility to call cut on this amazing series for everybody involved. Larry is the one who set the precedent from the beginning and it was such an honor for me to be able to take that home. 

Who was the first person to shed some tears?

ROW: [Laughs] Kennedy. 100 percent.

What was it like choosing what went into the time capsule on the bar? 

ROW: That was a really fun experience. There were so many details in that [you don't see]. My favorite thing is Nancy puts her name tag in between two polaroids, one of which has me wearing lobster claws, and the other is Larry and our associate producer Dee LeBlanc who have been there since the beginning. That was a nice shout-out to our whole crew who are on the ground making it.

Did you take anything from the set?

ROW: [Laughs] Yeah. I have the top half of the wraith from season 2, I have a soul splitter —

TENG: You have a soul splitter? That's sweet.

ROW: Yeah! I also have this background prop that they never highlighted that Tom made that's a book from the historical society that's a human hand encased in amber. It's so awesome. 

TENG: I have one thing: I have Nancy's flashlight. That was the one thing I wanted. That was an iconic, special piece for me. I remember the first time when we did the camera test with Kennedy holding that flashlight and we all started crying, like, "It's real!" So that's the one thing I took.

[faemytho]

man ykwhat, i didn't wanna say it but i was thinking about it earlier and swan being released so soon after abyss monarch, after something like three years of no new legendaries (not counting the dragons here), it feels like devsis was riding the high of releasing a good legendary with an interesting story and worldbuilding. feels like they were trying to cash grab what they got from the success of abyss monarch by quickly releasing swan so soon after. like, come on, i dont even think there were two events between abyss monarch and the sugar swan's releases, and those are two LEGENDARIES. bam bam. we had like zero room to breathe between them

also like, come on. they released swan from NPC hell after SEVEN YEARS and her whole event is unsatisfying because she wasn't even in the event for like 90% of it. i like the worldbuilding they did for the dessert paradise and i love blue slushy, but it really didn't feel like a new legendary release event.

if you ask me, sugar swan shouldnt have released at all during that event, ESPECIALLY because of that teaser cliffhanger at the end of the story! if they had used the dessert guardian test event to build up to the sugar swan's legendary release at a later date, that ending cliffhander would've given devsis room to make a future event to release her! they could've given swan the same proper build-up they gave abyss monarch. did you guys SEE how in-depth the designers went with "The Making of Wandercrab"??? why did swan get SHAFTED so hard

swan is an extremely indifferent character and i like the angle they're going for with her but. their execution of her story and the timing of her release and everything...??? it just felt SUPER flat. like they went all in building wandercrab for abyss monarch and shafted swan SO bad bc they wanted money. swan doesnt get an intricately built story and setting the way abyss monarch does with the tower of frozen waves leading into sugarteara leading into wandercrab, and it KILLS me bc swan's release could have actually been REALLY cool if they'd just teased her in the dessert guardian test event and then waited to release her in a future event.

like, hear me out. what if it had gone like, blue slushy, epic cookie, first release, they introduce the spring and summer sections of the dessert paradise. red panna cotta cookie, epic cookie, second release, they introduce fall and winter sections of the dessert paradise. everything goes as is, but the swan isnt released, she's just touched on in the story and is a little cameo at the end! like wow, she CAN turn into a cookie that's pretty cool. and its this big payoff for blue slushy's character arc and it gives some closure to red panna cotta's conflict with blue slushy too, all without dropping the sugar swan too much in there because the story wasn't really ABOUT her as a character, just her as an IDEAL.

and then, there's the ending cliffhanger with the black sugar duck, which gives them a perfect opportunity to springboard from that into a future event where swan is released!

and remember how in the event they said if the swan doesn't return, winter will come? well, what if in this hypothetical future event, something does happen to the swan, and it's the black sugar duck's fault, and winter DOES come.

i think it'd be an interesting spin to add elements of the demeter persephone hades story too, where persephone spends three months in the underworld with her husband and demeter is so upset at being away from her daughter that persephone's absence causes winter

black sugar duck does something to the swan, winter comes. the dessert paradise guardian birds have to go find and free/save the swan to stop winter! MAN THIS COULD'VE BEEN THEIR WINTER TO SPRING EVENT NEXT YEAR TOO

idk. maybe also the black sugar duck becomes a cookie because of whatever they did to the swan and is the first release cookie, but we don't KNOW it's them. we can only guess until halfway through the event where we find out they're purposefully leading the dessert guardians astray from finding the sugar swan because they want to continue being beautiful and its a huge conflict! and then swan releases as the second cookie in the event, and we get some characterization for her that's beyond just "she's an indifferent goddess, neither malevolent or benevolent". maybe she willingly GAVE some of her power to the black sugar duck. maybe she's the persephone to the black sugar duck's hades. maybe she's the indifference to the black sugar duck's extreme passion and they balance each other out.

meh idk. i just feel like the sugar swan's release event could have been better thought out instead of being a transparent cash grab. also red panna cotta SHOULD have been playable.

[itsclydebitches]



I know the season isn't even out yet but just looking I'm already breaking out in hives. It feels like its overcompensating: "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen we got talking animals, magical cats, a land of candy and absolutely no concern for the main plot! Is this distracting enough for you? Do you like all these bright colours and shiny new things? You've heard of a filler episode, right? Well, get ready for a filler season! Welcome to the next season of rwby, everyone!"

For me personally, the frustrating thing is that I like all these ideas on their own, but I don’t think they’re working for RWBY, especially right now. You want to do an Alice in Wonderland inspired arc? It should be bright and colorful and weird! But that all severely undermines the horror of our previous Volume, so maybe don't do that after the Everything of last season. You want your characters to have the time and opportunity to develop, focusing on introspective questions instead of the action-packed main plot? Sure, go for it, but maybe not at the height of the series' conflict, nine years into the story. I want to shove a basic plot diagram at the writers and point out that they’re interrupting a steady climb towards the climax with... this. There’s a reason why they’re filler episodes, singular, separated events that provide a needed break from the action without derailing it completely. A whole season---especially one that’s shorter than is now average and coming late---is a serious problem for RWBY's pacing and, frankly, makes it look like the writers are stalling while they figure out how the heroes can win when the story has done nothing to prepare them for that monumental challenge. Either that, or we're stretching RT's flagship story out as long as possible. Insert the plea not to pirate here.

And I know, I know, the Volume isn’t out yet and trailers can be misleading, but I’m honestly concerned that there’s nothing here about the main conflict. I have no doubt that the characters will come out of this experience having #LearnedSomething (whether we end up agreeing with their development is another matter entirely), but the trailer makes it seem like it will be a generic confidence boost (Ruby reasserts her desire to help people as the hero), rather than a concrete step towards defeating Salem. There’s no mention of the Relics, the Gods, magic they can use as a weapon, no hint that she’ll improve her silver eyes, or that what’s happening in Vacuo will be anything more than a pre-Volume 10 cliffhanger. What questions does the trailer/the events of Volume 8 imply that Volume 9 will tackle?

Will Ruby regain her confidence after this tragedy?

Will they find Jaune?

Will they regain/reforge their lost weapons?

Will they make it home?

What does all this equal? A reset. The trailer presents this as a Volume where the girls work to get back to exactly where they were at the end of Volume 8: back in Remnant, back with their weapons, back together, back fighting Salem, back to their confident selves. If the only goal is to get home, then yeah, this is literally filler. This entire Volume may exist not to forward the story proper, but to provide a lot of fluff content (like the humor) until what little plot there is gets them back to where they were 2+ years ago. Now, the writer in me DOES expect them to come away with something that will forward the plot, simply because I can’t imagine crafting a whole Volume that doesn’t, but the lack of insight into what that might be---do they meet the Gods? Get new powers? Learn a secret about Salem??---is one of the reasons why I think this is a badly constructed trailer.

And as I mentioned in a separate post, I really do find the lack of action to be odd. Someone responded that RWBY is more than its action sequences and yes, of course, but RWBY is, first and foremost, a combat show. I already laid out the ways previous trailers highlighted the girls’ battles that Volume (even if it’s only those in the first few episodes) and if you look at ANY ‘Best Of’ list, you’ll find nothing but the fights. When you think "RWBY" do you really picture the silly humor in between the fights...or do you think Nevermore, Apathy, Qrow vs. Tyrian, RWBY vs. Paladin, Ironwood vs. Watts, the White Fang, the Hound, etc. Beyond the combat being the most memorable of all RWBY's content, RWBY simply doesn’t exist without its fights. I don’t mean that in a “Monty originally created it to choreograph cool battles, but it’s grown so much since then” way, I mean it in a plot-focused “Our story is about a group of girls going to school to learn how to fight, and they fight grimm, and they fight an extremist group, and then they fight an immortal witch, and they fight her goons, and sometimes they fight each other, and the strongest fighters fight with magic, and when they’re not fighting they’re doing adjacent fighting things like training, taking care of weapons, traveling to the next fight, engaging in politics avoid fights but oops, that failed so now they're fighting again” way. Remove the combat from RWBY and all you’ve got is a disconnected collection of domestic moments/jokes more suitable to a drabble collection than a professional story. RWBY might have a non-combat framework that helps hold it together, but that doesn't mean that combat isn't still 99% of the story's focus and the draw for the audience.

All of which is just to emphasize that if our trailer is a) not giving us any conflict beyond “Get back to where we were in Volume 8” and b) not highlighting the combat that RWBY is built on, then it really does feel like filler in a literal sense. I know we made jokes about this a year back, but right now Volume 9 feels like RWBY’s beach episode. No, not because of Jaune landing on an island with a bunch of girls, but because, like the classic beach episode, our trailer presents this as an interlude where the primary plot remains fairly static and the characters engage in activities that contrast their normal routine. Here’s Haruhi and her friends leaving the host club behind to hang in a water park until they go home. Here’s Team RWBY leaving Remnant to explore a Wonderland until they go home. I know we need to wait to see what the tone of the whole Volume actually is, but even the humor of the trailer feels filler-y to me. In that---as you say, anon---it seeks to distract the audience all on its own, rather than occurring naturally among more plot-focused moments. (Like, for example, Weiss bemoaning the fact that she's never going to sleep again while they try to figure out how to help Mantle). Filler episodes often ignore the plot (and its accompanying worries) to make space for the lighthearted character interactions. Now here come the butt jokes, arm tug-of-wars, and purple raccoons.

Clearly the Volume will at least be tackling Ruby’s doubts---something I SO want to go well---but if the tone skews too lighthearted... yeah. Filler. Honestly, if the Volume does fail to sufficiently engage with Volume 8’s tragedies, I fully expect the fandom to start talking about how the girls deserved a fun, wacky Wonderland trip after everything they've been through, the same way we got a strong cry that they needed to rest in the mansion with tea while the rest of the Kingdom was falling to grimm. Potential filler will likely be seen as something earned by the protagonists (as if they were real people with real needs), rather than a writing mistake.

[mayisgoingnuts]

You might hate me after this/pos🫶🫶

When Elaine woke up the next morning Rai was gone, only a note she left. Saying she had to leave early. Elaine sighed and started getting ready for the day, wondering why she had to leave. She already missed her, but she didn't know why. A few hours pass and Elaine called Rai like they normally do. They would talk for hours on the phone until one fell asleep, then they'd make fun of the other. “What? Sorry if it sounds bad- I'm busy doing stuff-” Rai mumbled as she answered. She sounded distant from the phone. “Oh, fine with me. It was just time to call, y'know.” Elaine sighed as she laid on her bed. “Time to call?” Rai asked, “Have you been keeping track?” She laughed. Elaine became incredibly embarrassed, “WHAT?! No! Why would I?” She tore off a paper that had a very specific time on it. All that was written was 5:47, the exact time they called. The two would end up talking for hours together. This time, Elaine has fallen asleep first. “Hello? You still there..?” Rai asked, only to be met with silence. “That..that's alright, I'm gonna stay on the phone for a while.” She didn't care that she was talking to herself. She talked to no one for a while, “I..I'm gonna go. I love you Ei, goodnight.” Then she hung up, Elaine has no clue she said it. Little did they know, they were both telling each other every night.

The next day the two met up at the park in-between their houses. Rai was extremely exhausted, she leaned against a tree. “Elaine- i-i need my water-” Elaine stopped and groaned before handing over the water. “Girl come on! We've been walking.” “No we haven't! I've been chasing after you!” The two argued, but Raibegan to cough. Elaine laughed for a second, thinking it was because of her water. But when Rai continued to cough she became worried. She grabbed her shoulders and looked her up and down. Trying to figure out what exactly was wrong. She quickly realized what happened when she saw how pale Rai was. “Did you eat?! You know you can't just not eat then go out and walk!” She scolded, slowly lifting her up. “I thought it'd be fine! I felt like throwing up anyways..” “it's because you didn't eat!” Rai flinched when Elaine yelled, but she didn't say anything after. Elaine ended up taking her home. She forced her to sit down, she then went off to quickly find something to eat. After a few minutes she came back with a bowl of noodles for Rai. She begrudgingly took the bowl and ate slowly. Listening to Elaine scold her for not eating. After a minute she sighed, “I worry for you. A lot. You…you need to take better care of yourself. I mean it.” Elaine sat down next to her, placing hand on Rai's knee. Rai went red and looked away. Elaine looked over, wondering if she'd look at her. And eventually Rai did look back, “I..I have something to admit..” Elaine mumbled, her face now red as well. Rai just stared, waiting for the next part. “I like you..a lot. I love you. If you don't like me back, that's fine. I just- I need an answer.” Rai took a breath,

CLIFFHANGER‼️‼️HAHAHSJSKAS

-⚡

"Oh haha confession this is getting n- CLIFFHANGER??%

MY PATOOTIES NOO/J

[libertyreads]

August 2024 TBR--

The month of August has some HIGH expectations with three of my most anticipated new releases making their way into my home during the month. I'm also keeping my streak of at least one hockey romance read per month. I'm excited to do a couple of rereads as well. Let's get to the books.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard (reread)-- This is going to be my third read of this novel and it's all in preparation for the final book which comes out later this month. Hemlock Falls has a forest that fills with monsters every night when the sun sets and the mists rise. Which is why the town is full of hunters. But Winnie and her family are outsiders due to her father being outed as a witch and a traitor ten years ago. Until she creates a plan to be welcomed back with open arms.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (reread)-- This is my other reread for the month. I'm planning on reading all of the books in the series this year. We follow Katniss and Peeta as they complete the district tour following their win of the games. But then they're forced to go back into the arena when the Quarter Quell is announced.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren-- Starving artist Anna and Stanford professor Liam pair up so Liam can complete a clause in his grandfather's will and finally get his share of the inheritance. Liam worries that Anna won't survive his cut throat toxic family in this world of wealth.

The Play by Elle Kennedy (Kindle)-- My hockey romance of the month. I've read quite a few Elle Kennedy hockey romance novels so when I was looking for one to read in the month of August, her name came to mind. This is book 3 in the Briar U series. In this one we follow Hunter who is the new team captain and who has a new rule for himself: school and hockey now, girls later. After a horrible season the previous year, he's determined to get the team back on track. But when Hunter's friend Demi's relationship ends and she's looking for a rebound just three months into the school year? Hunter's going to find it hard to resist her. I'm hoping for angst here because that's what I've discovered is my jam in romances.

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (New Release)-- This is a spin off series from the Inheritance Games so I'm excited to see where this goes. The Grandest Game is an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four Hawthorne brothers. It is designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune. This year there are seven golden tickets. Some players are in it for the money, some are in it for power, and every single one of them have secrets.

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (New Release)-- This is a new stand alone from one of my favorite authors. I've tried to avoid knowing too much about this one so I'll just include a small section from the GoodReads synopsis: "With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlow a new summer job, and that's how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It's easy enough giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition. Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?"

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (New Release)-- I have such high hopes for this one following the ending of book one. (It gave me "Don't Blame Me" by Taylor Swift vibes.) In book one, we follow Evie Sage who is the assistant to The Villain in a campy Fantasy novel. The first book leaves it on such a huge cliffhanger and I just want to know what happens next. The synopsis on GoodReads doesn't help at all. The first book was so fun and I know book two will be as well.

August has got a lot to live up to with these new releases and the rereads. I'm so excited.

[destinyc1020]

Sorry in advance for the long ask

Do you think the rumor about SM4 being released in the summer of 2025 is fake? We've been hearing that for the past 2 years but I'm under the impression he hasn't sign up for anything yet and I think he should at least do other movies before coming back as Peter Parker (same for Z as 'MJ') it seemed like something he was planning to do anyway so I really don't get why so many tomdayas here are so apprehensive about him filming a 4th movie so soon. Is that because they don't care much about his acting career outside of Marvel or because they're too greedy for more "tomdaya" content? 🤔 Sorry to bring this to your blog I just find REALLY hard to discuss this topic with them because anyone ends up being called an anti if you don't agree with their opinions.

And as for Z, I don't get why the same group of fans want her to be back as well, but don't like the idea of her shooting Euphoria S3 so soon (you know, the show that gave her TWO Emmys).

All I want to say is, another trilogy demands a huge commitment and if he wants more freedom in his career choices... well he knows the sacrifices.

IMO We don't need another trilogy (let alone 2 more lol) and I think Tomdayas need to calm down and stop being so greedy for content to the point they starting to see these two (especially Tom) not as humans with plenty of other choices, IYKWIM.

I love T/Z acting together, but they're not machines. Some of these fans are too damn greedy (I hate to repeat that, but it's true)

Hey Anon! 👋🏾😃 No worries about the long ask. Long asks don't scare me lol.

Now to unpack all of this.....

Do you think the rumor about SM4 being released in the summer of 2025 is fake? We've been hearing that for the past 2 years but I'm under the impression he hasn't sign up for anything yet

I mean...Rumors are just rumors. Films get rumors all the time. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Right now, all we've been getting are possible projected time frames that they might want to release SM4. But of course, things can change all the time.

Honestly? At THIS point, I wouldn't even worry too much about release years until the film has actually been filmed. Let's first work on seeing the film being filmed FIRST, and THEN we can worry about the release date/year. Sound good? 😊

I think he should at least do other movies before coming back as Peter Parker (same for Z as 'MJ')

Well, that's exactly what he's going to be doing?? He has to film Astaire the biopic. He also filmed TCR. To me, Tom HAS been filming other things before coming back as Peter Parker. We also don't know what he might have after the FA biopic either.

Zendaya too has filmed other things herself after playing MJ. She filmed "Challengers", and "Dune: Part 2". She will also have S3 of Euphoria to film as well. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I really don't get why so many tomdayas here are so apprehensive about him filming a 4th movie so soon. Is that because they don't care much about his acting career outside of Marvel or because they're too greedy for more "tomdaya" content? 🤔

Who's been "apprehensive" about Tom filming SM4 "so soon"?? 🥴 I haven't seen people being apprehensive about it. I just think fans in general (NOT just "Tomdayas" 😒) are anxiously awaiting a new Spider-Man franchise film after the last film came out in late 2021.

Let's face it, we're almost into 2024, and we STILL haven't received any firm news, dates, or casting announcements for SM4 yet, and the last movie came out in 2021. Can you blame people for wanting to see what happens in the next installment?? Especially after THAT cliffhanger??

And who's being "Greedy" about Tomdaya Content? 🥴 We already get a TON of Tomdaya content (especially THIS year, my goodness lol 😅🤣) without Tom and Zendaya even filming a SINGLE, SOLITARY THING! Let alone, needing to film SM4 for any "content". 🙄 Last I checked, we didn't get hardly ANY Tomdaya content while they were over in Atlanta filming NWH. That set was LOCKED TIGHT! Certainly not like what we've been getting now that they've been free from work. So, Idk what you're talking about Anon.

Sorry to bring this to your blog I just find REALLY hard to discuss this topic with them because anyone ends up being called an anti if you don't agree with their opinions.

"Them"...... "Their"..... 😏

You all always show yourselves in some form or fashion one way or another smh... 🤦🏾‍♀️

So, I take it Anon that YOU aren't a Tomdaya.... 😏 Look, if people are calling you an "Anti", it's probably because that's EXACTLY what you are. Anon, people aren't dumb. They can usually pick up on bs a mile away.

And as for Z, I don't get why the same group of fans want her to be back as well, but don't like the idea of her shooting Euphoria S3 so soon (you know, the show that gave her TWO Emmys).

Maybe those people just don't care for the show?? Maybe they just don't like Sam? Maybe they don't like the writing? Maybe they feel like after 2 or 3 seasons, it's best for Z to move on? Who knows?? Look, I LOVE the fact that my girl got 2 Emmys out of the show (and she might even get a 3rd!), and she has been amazing in it! It's been a growth experience for her in acting for SURE. But not everyone has to LOVE every single project their fave does. Just because that person is your fave, it doesn't mean that as a fan you HAVE to watch every single project, or even enjoy every single project your fave does. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I don't see the big deal?

All I want to say is, another trilogy demands a huge commitment and if he wants more freedom in his career choices... well he knows the sacrifices.

Whewww chiiiile....Let's just see about film #1 first. We don't know what Tom has signed on to yet.

And he's been obviously doing other work aside from SM. IDk what the problem is?

YES, SM is a huge commitment, but it's not like we've been there in the room with Tom and knowing what they've been discussing. For all we know, they could decide to film Parts 1 and 2 of SM in one whole filming phase like they did with the final Twilight movies. We don't know what they have in store honestly.

IMO We don't need another trilogy (let alone 2 more lol)

After THAT cliffhanger in NWH?? Chiiiiile...get REAL. 😒🙄

It's obvious they always intended to film another 2nd phase of the franchise/trilogy. Now, whether it will actually happen is still left to be seen, but saying "we don't need another trilogy" is dumb imo. That was what was always originally intended. If you don't like that, take it up with Marvel/Disney. 😒🙄

and I think Tomdayas need to calm down and stop being so greedy for content to the point they starting to see these two (especially Tom) not as humans with plenty of other choices, IYKWIM.

I find it so interesting how you think that it's ONLY "Tomdayas" who are wanting a SM4 film to come out. As if, Marvel fans, MCU fans, and other comic book fans (or even just regular movie-goers period) aren't interested in a second franchise. Get REAL. 🙄

Also, your assumption that Tomdaya fans only want a SM4 film JUST because we are "greedy" and want "Tomdaya Content" is really stupid if you ask me. We already get PLENTY of Tomdaya content, and we got a plethora of it during NWH press. We don't need another SM movie to come out in order to have "Tomdaya Content". 🙄

I love T/Z acting together, but they're not machines. Some of these fans are too damn greedy (I hate to repeat that, but it's true)

You've already shown what your REAL issue is Anon.... It sounds like YOU have a problem with Tomdaya Content. Oh well, sucks for you!

I don't need to say anything further. I've said more than enough.

[thevelarhysarchives]

November Read # 3: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #2)

First of all, I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Second of all, I enjoyed Iron Flame. It is a bit of a more tecnhnical read from its predecessor. Iron Flame was very fast paced but still packed with the same emotions as reading Fourth Wing— with a few more hair raising revelations and character redemptions.

"The problem with mankind is we too often find our souls to be a fair price for power".

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

Heavy Spoiler Rant below:

Okay, what the fuck was that ending? Haha. We've waited months only to get another cliffhanger.

So a few of the tiktok theories did pan out, one that Xaden does have a second signet and an intinssic. Will his powers vanish after becoming Venin? Is he no longer bonded with Saegyl? What does his mom play? What if his mom knew what the future would hold for him and is looking for a cure? I'm just pattern matching what happens in another books.

Tairn is still tairn, with more affection for Violet. I definitely felt his pain when Violet was about to sacrifice herself to mend the stone and put up the wards back to Basgiath. When he said that Violet is his last rider and if she dies, he falls with her.

Andarna being a whole breed of her own and waited for Violet before hatching. She's purple, isn't she? There's a part in the book that when her scales shine, it almost seemed purple. Or is she something else? I honestly though at the last battle when Sawyer was badly injured, she would manifest her second signet. But I guess that is another revelation in the next book. I also appreciate her new found sense of being a sassy dragon and would go head-to-head with Tairn.

Edit: I re-read some parts with a clearer mind. Andarna might not be purple but silver? Hng

Xaden and Violet's relationship is off to a bumpy start and I don't think their path is going smooth, even after the success of the battle as Xaden has become a Venin.

I was a bit put off with Cat as a character but I'm glad she also had her redemption after Violet saved her. Dain got his redemption too, but not without sparing Liam and Soleil's life of course.

Might edit as I plan to re-read again, just to get my thoughts in order. I devoured this within a day. Time for slow re-read.

Going back to my dramoine hole for now.

Until my next read,

A✨

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

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

___

164. The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This series continues to be addicting. Even though I had a gazillion other library books to read, I was always thinking about this one and how much I wanted to read it. With the title of the next book being an obvious revenge story, I knew this one was going to punch me right in the feels.

I was right and oh man, my heart.

I knew something was off with this one and its characters. Some things were just too coincidental for them to not lead up to a wild twist and cliffhanger, and just like the past books, this delivered. I would say this one is the most emotional one of the lot (for now) and the most complex one. We're starting to deal with the even greater consequences of the war these kids are fighting and how dirty war itself can be. I foresee this book and its heartbreaking ending being the story that will tip this series into overdrive. I absolutely can't wait to read the next book.

One star off because I have read about the dirty origins of this series.

___

165. I Survived the Japanese Tsunami by Lauren Tarshis--⭐️⭐️⭐️

While I still think these books are amazing for younger readers, I find that some of them are a lot simpler than others. I don't know why this one felt like one of those stories that just flew by and I didn't really catalogue what I was reading.

I remember seeing the news stories about the tsunami as it hit and the aftereffects of the tragedy as the days, weeks, and months passed. I don't know what I was expected from this, but I kind of wanted more? It felt like I blinked and the book was done, aha.

But with that being said, I AM glad this was written! I think kids should be reading these books, if not for the adventures of these fictional kids growing up, but to learn more empathy for these young survivors!

___

166. The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chaos. Absolute chaos.

This book was unputdownable from the moment I started it to the moment it ended. This was the book I was waiting to get to in this series because it was the eventual meet-up of everything that had happened in books one and two. All of those little clues, red herrings, and cliffhangers led to this book and I was 100% here for it.

I can't say too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but I loved the twists in this and surprises. I never expected that person to be the 23 killer and it was perfectly executed.

If Barclay ever writes in this town again, I will devour it. I read book four first and I'm kind of glad I did because it felt like a wholly new series. If you love a good mystery that spans three books, but also a series that always has something going on until the very end, then you might like this one!

One of the things I love about Barclay's writing is that he introduces all of these characters and situations and when they all meet at the end, you never would have guessed how those characters connected. I can't wait to read more books like this from him.

___

167. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A solid conclusion to the initial trilogy arc!

Such a smart conclusion and I can totally understand the hype behind this now. We learned a lot more about the characters in this one and what makes them click. We also get to see the MC come fully into her own to the point where anyone might mistake her for a Hawthorne.

I'm glad I got to read these with the next one out already because I'm so curious about what the MC proposes in the epilogue!

___

168. How Can I Help You by Laura Sims--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was unsure about this book from the beginning. To the point where I read the mixed reviews to see whether I should DNF the book or not. While I don't regret not DNFing, I also feel meh about it all.

I think it was interesting reading the story from the perspective of someone who was clearly a murderer but saw herself as more of an angel of death-type (like the kind who think they're doing a kindness in killing their patients). I also enjoyed watching her mental collapse as she became more and more paranoid if the new staff member.

A staff member that I, to be honest, was a bit confused by. Only because she was so enthralled by this killer, but I guess there ARE those out there who are heavily intrigued by the dark deeds of others, especially if those histories tend to help that person's personal goals.

Both characters were incredibly unreliable and unlikeable. The conclusion, while fitting, I found to be a bit too quick. One moment one thing was happening and then the next, all things fell down. I do wish there was more to it. One of the things I did like about this book was the cat and mouse type of mood this book set and I found that was squashed at the end.

Read this if you love librarian settings in books that feature morally grey characters with a penchant for death. Overall, though, be aware that (for me) this was a bit of a meh read.

___

169. I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967 by Lauren Tarshis--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this one!

I had no idea about the events of 1967 and I'm glad that I got to learn more about it. I also liked the focus on the dangers of polluting and leaving the forest the way you left it--without any of your garbage left behind.

Much like many of the other books in this series, the MC is dealing with the grief of losing a parent. This storyline is weaved into the tale of the strangely behaving bears. In a way, it was an extra layer of distress that the young mc had to overcome. So, while the reader can learn a bit about history, the importance of taking care of the environment, and the internal turmoil that can come when grieving the lost of someone important to you. For that latter bit alone, I wish these were around when I was a kid.

Highly recommend this one, it's probably one of my favourites of this series.

___

170. The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene--⭐️⭐️⭐️

This isn't my first NANCY DREW book, so I kind of knew what to expect. It was a simple and fun mystery, but I was also a little bored? Maybe I need to read more of the books in this series. Especially since I know that this is just the beginning.

I DID love the sass that Nancy experienced and how she fought back against it. The conclusion to this book was also satisfying, especially after all of the strife the characters experienced.

Also, in a weird way, this was an interesting view into the time of when this book was published. Will definitely read more.

___

171. The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy from the publisher for an interview with the publisher on Indigo's Instagram. This did not affect my rating in any way.

I really enjoyed the initial trilogy of this series and was surprised to read that this one was from the perspective of two of the brothers, rather than still from Avery's POV. I really enjoyed the change because it allowed me to see the world through their eyes. It also, to me, made the storyline feel more complete, now that we have a more rounded insight into how the boys think when faced with puzzles and riddles.

I loved meeting some of the new characters in this one and how they played into the overarching story. Some added humour to the story, and other just showcased how they were truly related to one of the boys. I also really enjoyed being able to see the relationship between Avery and the brother she chooses, I think it'll be a great exploration of her choice for those who might have not agreed by the end of THE FINAL GAMBIT.

I'm excited to see how this all plays out, since this appears to be a new arc for these characters!

___

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

___

Happy reading!

[genericpuff]

ULO user here! I recently went back and found several old comments I'd made on LO while I was a huge fan of it in 2019.. so embarassing looking back lol. You mentioned that you used to send a bunch of "fangirl" messages back in the day- would love to see your old thoughts/opinions back when you loved LO to compare as a fun(if a bit melancholic) journey, if you'd be willing to share a few? Your thoughts/analysis are always amazing, but I'm super curious as to how you felt back before you realized what a shitshow it was

Haha yeah, I was a fangirl in the sense of like... always being on time for new updates, even if I was out doing other things, messaging my real life friend who got me into the comic to talk about it. Back then Saturday was the height of my week, sometimes the cliffhangers would get me so excited I'd spend the entire week thinking about what could happen next. I suppose I do still look forward to Saturdays now, but for much different reasons.

It's a lil' shameful looking back but I did used to be one of those "don't like it don't read it" dickheads LOL I also used to "not see the issue" with the age gap thing, not because I was okay with age gaps, but as someone who tends to write about immortal beings, I followed the same line of thinking that "they're gods, it shouldn't matter", until I realize just how silly it was that if that were the case, the comic wouldn't be constantly calling out the age difference and drawing Persephone to look as young as possible. I had to really sit on LO for a long time before I started seeing the issues with it. Ironically what opened my eyes to it was lurking in the #antiloreolympus hashtag every now and then, I'd be reading the opinions like "these opinions suck! they don't get it! they're just being nitpicky/mean/etc.!" and yet I duped myself by doing just that because it exposed me to other points of view which became more and more relevant as the comic declined in quality. I think it was around the trial arc that I started to notice the holes (one of the big tells for me that maaaybe LO didn't know what it was doing was when Persephone chose Hades to be her lawyer despite him being one of the judges and someone she was romantically involved with, like hello?) and then when the series returned from its mid-season hiatus and skipped right over Persephone's time in the Mortal Realm, that was when I realized the criticisms weren't coming from nowhere and I got off the high horse and started to read their points with more of an open mind.

Of course, I can safely say I wasn't as shitty as some of the stans can be, most of my opinions were just in the weekly discussion threads in the LO sub, but I was still giving my opinions on LO as if it was a Canvas comic, failing to recognize that 1.) just because webcomics are a budding industry doesn't mean they should be exempt from criticism, and 2.) LO isn't anywhere near the same level as Canvas, it's a #1 NYT best selling book with a creator who's won awards, so it absolutely should be subject to criticism and analyzing as LO is representing that same budding industry in a lot of ways.

I'm trying to find stuff from my pre-ULO days but unfortunately nothing from my main profile is loading past the last 9 months LMAO But if I do find any specific examples I'll definitely post them so we can roast past me together (*≧︶≦))(￣▽￣* )ゞI definitely remember back when ULO was created, it came at a perfect time I think LOL

[emsee22]

Some interesting Gimple interviews

Q: So many main characters died in season 3. Was there a conscious decision on your guys’ part as you mapped out season 4 that you wanted to lessen the kill count a bit?

A: ...So it’s just in telling the stories and seeing where the stories go. You can do that in any episode and even in its least incarnation it has a great deal of power, but you shouldn’t lean on that power. And just in the stories we were telling this season, it really didn’t seem like our stories with these characters were leaning that way. They often do and there are plenty coming up. And I don’t even mean season 5, I mean season 6 and season 7.

Q: Scott, your first season as showrunner is in the books. What was the most valuable lesson you learned?

A: You can do irrefutably impossible things with the right amount of planning and support from intelligent and hardworking people and pizza.

Q: Season four explored the things people do to stay alive. What’s the theme of season five?

A: Are we too far gone to be people anymore, to actually be human beings, to be able to relate to one another on an emotional level, to be able to live a real humanistic and emotional life — are we too far gone? Next season really is who do we become after that? Once that question is answered for ourselves, who are these people? That idea will be explored a few different ways. Commentary from me: I think we will see Georgie again once Rick and crew prove that they are NOT too far gone. This was the same question Heath was talking about with Tara before the PPP card. I don't think we will learn what PPP is until that question is answered.

Q: This season was a remix of the comics. Will you continue with that approach in mind?

A: Absolutely. As we said during our first conversation, in “Pretty Much Dead Already” when Sophia comes out of the barn, that’s a remix. If we use verbatim from the comic, that’s awesome. And if we have to change it, that’s an opportunity to tie character and theme to it in different ways. There are ways we even chose to remix it, like with Lizzie and Mika, to find ways to take things that Robert did. He long played that [with Ben and his brother, Billy] in the comic, and we can do the same thing even a bit longer than he did it just because I liked the way he did it in the comic and I wanted to turn it up that much more.

Commentary from me: He says they can take a comic book storyline and really stretch it out and do it a whole lot longer than the comic dead. Ringing any bells? Issue 44 anyone?

Q: Of the ones that I've seen recently, including "Daryl" and "The Ones Who Live," they've been driven less by a sense of survival than a sense of hope. And this seems to be the case, particularly after the pandemic. I'm wondering if this notion influenced the shape that this show and "Daryl" have taken.

A: That's interesting. I feel that hope has been integral to the show all along. Granted, it was sort of, "We can find a safe place; we can actually live. We can do more than survive; we can live." But then you get pulled down by the things you have to do to survive.

Commentary from me: This just makes me think to Beth's diary entry monologue in Inmates.

Robert Kirkman on if the Walking Dead will ever have a cure ^^

And this more recent article contradicts Kirkman.

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (22/10/23)

next week is gonna have another big catch up, I was actually gonna do it the week after I did jujutsu but then realized next week it'd be the 200 chap for this series so decided to postpone it until then just cause it's a cool big round number, tho today's chap 199 woulda been fitting too since it was the colour page for the serie's 4th anni but anyhoo also starting from now the stuff I talk about will be bolded as seen below, yeah I shoulda done this from the start cause it's way more readable and stuff but the other thing I did made more sense at the time I started it, but this is better overall now

Anime

Hoshikuzu Telepath Ep2

nice epiosde mostly just introducing the 3rd member of our main group, next ep is gonna be aoki shiki's chara so that should be good

Frieren Ep7

very good ep like usual, the demon story in the middle was pretty obvious but it was still good. very excited for the next episode considering the cliffhanger and the title for it, hoping for some more sakuga 🙏

Undead Unluck Ep3

great episode all around, loved hearing my queen yuuki as gina, too bad we won't see much more of her til cour 4 or 5 (depending on how fast adaptation goes) but it'll be worth the wait. also, since I read all of UU from start to just some months ago, in just a couple days I had things very fresh on my mind so I noticed it easily, but it's really crazy to see how early tozuka set up seeds for future payoffs, I won't mention what exactly cause spoilers but there were 3 ones in this episode and it really is great writing and storytelling to be able to pull that off

Pokemon Horizons Ep25

nice and action packed episode, fit for being the end of this initial cour/arc, which we only found out about earlier this week. should be getting a new op along with the new subtitle and stuff but we'll see. we also got some lore like the full team of the ancient adventurer and that the evil organization was related to him in some way. the goal now is to find the rest of the team so that should last for 25 more eps probably but we'll see, there should still be gym stuff along the way and all that

Adult Precure Ep3

nice ep, lots of karen x kurumi moments which this artist I follow on twitter was certainly going hog wild for. saki and mai from splash star showed up at the end of this episode, and next one is gonna be about them, so that's cool since I didn't think they'd show up until the yes 5 girls had all gotten their transformations back

Imas Million Live Ep3

good ep as you'd expect, really enjoyed how much yuriko there was since she's one of my favs from ML (mikku 🙏), next episode is gonna have at least a crumb of rio so looking forward to that too they said the teather will take 2 months to finish building, I hope that it'll be finished after next episode just so we can move on to other stuff. not having this following the structure of the og anime/U149 makes it harder to predict what'll be happening

Manga

Ice-Head Gill Ch17

as expected it's ending soon, and as part of the U19 club as well, hopefully ichinose ends on the same week too, but I'll give more thoughts when it actually ends

Jujutsu Kaisen 239

I was looking forward to see how yuji and co were going to take on juiced up sukuna but we're taking a detour to have kenjaku fight, but with the twist that it's one of the most (unknowingly) op charas fighting him. I really like how goofy his power is so looking forward to this fight. tho I don't think there's any way he'll win

Undead Unluck Ch180

I could see this coming cause of fuuko saying all that earlier in the chap but it's still EXTREMELY POGGIES to have andy back after all this time, even if just temporarily, looking forward to them having a crumb of time together next chap