#how do pll even come up with these LIKE HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN WORKS

[blacknidstang]

Oh class traitor sammy my beloved

[bixqueen]

so thanks to hboMAX my pretty little liars obsession has started up again and when i watched pll the first time all the way thru (yes sadly it’s been more than once i have a life but also don’t) my favorite character was alison. as i’ve watched it more it changed (emily or spencer is prob my fav now) but going through tumblr, instagram, and even pinterest, i feel alison gets too much shit/hate from the fandom. so here i am, making a justification for her. if you really don’t want to see my side or pov then just keep scrolling because i don’t really want to see negativity in the comments (unless you’ll actually say something, a rebuttal?)

so let’s start off with alison being a small child and her household/family. we know how her parents would manipulate her and tell her lying is better than telling the truth. she’s had these really bad influences on her at such a young age (with secrets overflowing her house) and when you continue to have these influences on you as you’re mind is maturing, of course you’re going to eventually go through with them. now yes i know the other girls also had lying parents but were any of them as bad as alisons? i mean some things spencer’s parents kept and arias but they were also older at that point (middle of high school and up). i’m not saying it’s okay but they knew at that point in their life what’s wrong and right and for the most part they had been raised to not lie. alison wasn’t. eventually her lies caught up to her as well so even though she learned the hard way to tell the truth, she eventually did.

now we’re getting into the high school stage where there were MANY points as to why she would’ve ran away. if the writers wanted a better redemption arc for her i feel they would’ve shown her a little more broken in some scenes and such but anyways. freshman year isn’t absolute hell but it’s not fun either. having the mindset of making sure you’re not the one who will get hurt obviously forces you to have this wall and makes you a lot more mean than you really are. (i really feel this was a wasted potential by the writers not going more in depth about her mental pain but shit they didn’t do it with anyone tbh). her whole life kinda had build ups to her being so secretive and closed away (again if the writers went into more depth on this we would’ve seen maybe some trauma that causes her to be closed off and push everyone away. not wanting to show weaknesses) from everyone so it definitely wasn’t hard for her to find that bitchier side and let it off on everyone, not that it’s right, it just made her feel safe and protected. a main factor of this was probably being closeted. i myself am a bisexual girl so i know how it feels to question yourself the way she most likely did. it’s scary. really fucking scary. because you don’t know if there’s something wrong with you at first or if it’s just a stage and you’ll most likely pass it. it’s why i believe her relationship with emily was why she had no big deal leaving rosewood. yes we know she was being tormented by A before the girls were and she wanted to leave so she could be safe. but even with that there would need to be some other factors that kicked in to her actually leaving. A in the beginning for JUST alison was kinda like a bully right? i mean a little more extreme than that but it wasn’t as bad as it was when it started hitting with the other 4 girls. so if alison THE alison dilaurentis was being bullied by someone too scared to show who they really are, wouldn’t she just laugh some of it off? alison WANTED to leave before mona gave her the option. she was scared. and not just of A, but of who she was. and who she loves.

if we’re looking at what alison does for emily versus the other girls while they’re being tormented by A, you can tell she cares for her more. she saved emily more than anyone else. she said leaving emily was the hardest part of it all. because alison was in love with emily, just like emily was in love with her back. obviously running away and faking your death isn’t the best option for having internal panics, some people just don’t know how to manage it. especially being the bold person everyone sees and talks about. imagine seeing her walk out of some therapy session teary-eyed. she’d feel so weak in that moment, so vulnerable. isn’t that one of her biggest fears? people seeing she’s not as strong as she comes off to be and they can use that against her. her fear for being vulnerable also brings me to her being SO scared coming back to school after faking her death. ali, the queen bee, is terrified. this kinda brings to me childhood pain (personally this is why i thought of it lol rip). maybe her family thought showing emotions was weakness you know? and when you open up they kinda laugh at you and they’re like “you think you’re life is hard?? you’re a kid.” (i’m sure i’m not the only person who’s heard this mf bullshit bedore). where i’m going with that though, is it could’ve been placed in her head at a very young age (also this is so dehumanizing and traumatic damn but it makes sense) that you have to shut out all feelings and emotions. it really makes people numb and being emotionally numb as a child and teen is dangerous for brain growth and development. makes sense why it took her forever to feel safe and okay opening up to emily about her feelings and showing emotions around the girls. when you’re seen as this “bitch” who doesn’t make down from a fight, it forces you to turn emotionless.

so the way she acted out the night she went missing and her freshman year wasn’t ideal and it really wasn’t okay. but the audience never saw what she was going through mentally, hell even after that. we see it a little when she comes back and talks about the night she went missing. imagine your own mother burrying you alive. god the trauma that must STILL have on her. being under pounds of dirts, unable to move or talk. your own mother doing this to you to save someone else. i’m not trying to put it as she’s only been through things and no one else has cus of course that’s not the case. i just think people often dismiss her pain and trauma and just say “she’s a bad person and deserves the shit she’s been through.”

i’d also like to add her type of crowd she was around wasn’t the best sort of people. imagining being a freshman and hanging out with college kids who would throw some girl down a flight of stairs. i feel like that also had an impact on her mental health and what she believed was okay to an extent because i mean verbally bullying isn’t okay but at least sis never pushed someone down the stairs 😭 (worst thing she did is definitely blinding jenna. i really don’t know how to defend her actions for that one. you could say she didn’t know anyone was in there? or that she didn’t know she had- it was a firework right?)

last point i can think of: paige vs alison. of course i have to add this lol but my main point with this is both girls were mean to each other. did alison start it by calling her names and such? most definitely. do i think paige should’ve retaliated? to an extent. but she went as far as teaming up with others to have alison go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit. their revival wasn’t just one sided and again i think people often forget that. they’re continuously like going against each other at every chance they got. it was funny but also got annoying. ali would shit talk to paiges face then paige would go whine and cry about it to emily to turn emily on her side. i mean did we forget paige manipulated emily against alison? (yes ik alison was the manipulation queen when she was younger). really what i’m going with this is that they’re more alike than they’ll admit to an extent. me personally, i like alison and emison more. i never really liked paily but paige grew less annoying in later seasons. but when comparing them, i believe paige had more damage on emily than alison did. even when alison was ‘dead’ she still saved emily’s life at times (including the other 3 girls) and did things to protect them. i don’t remember paige saving emily just trying drowning her because she was a little jealous. another thing i know someone will try to bring up about them is how “alison was never happy for emily” well shit bro neither was paige 😭 i’m on season 7 right now and there were some times paige took a liking into stalking emily while she was dating that girl who worked in the cafe (sorry i can’t remember her name rn). and when emily talked about being with that girl she was kinda like 😐 k. alison is the type to speak or show her mind while paige seems to keep to herself then shit talk others behind their back. both qualities aren’t exactly the best so both ‘sides’ can go against each other for years on this. they’re just more alike than people realize.

anyways, there’s that. if you have any opinions (WHERE YOU’LL ACTUALLY ARGUE SOMETHING AND NOT JUST SHIT TALK ME!!) feel free to leave a reply. and if i left out something you want me to add in i will :) have a good day <3

[gothpanda]

A Little Bit of Attitude Ch. 7: Of Course I Remember

WORD COUNT: 4.8K

A/N: Sammi just so happens to look like Lucy Hale. If you watched PLL growing up, you could freely think of Amanda and Britney as Alison and Hanna. Because that lowkey fits if you’ve ever seen the show. Enjoy! 

WARNINGS: Drug mention

Previous/Next

Read it on Ao3

September 26th

The sound of giant bus engines echoed in the spacious gravel bus parking lot in the middle of Los Angeles. Athena and Sammi walked past empty parked buses, mesmerized at how pretty they looked from the outside alone. Each bus was a different color, some even having the outline residue of previous band stickers on the sides. Amazement struck Sammi, making it more real on the idea of Tommy being a rockstar. It didn’t take long before the girls found the four men standing by two dark buses being packed with everything needed. Athena and Sammi ran fast towards their brother, “Tommy!” the sisters screamed at the top of their lungs. 

Three of the men turned around, smiling at the sisters dashing towards them with smiles. Tommy grew a bittersweet smile hugging both of his sisters at the same time. He was happy to be experiencing something he’s wanted since he was 16 but hadn’t accepted being away from his family just yet. He already said goodbye to his parents the night before, having his mother cry in a mix of worry and excitement. Mr. Bass was proud of their son becoming something that he knew Tommy wanted to be. Of course, it wasn’t what they were used to, but that’s what life was like raising Tommy. 

“Hey glad you guys came early enough,” Tommy said spinning Athena in a hug. “We wanted to show the inside of our bus!” 

The group climbed into the bus hearing gasps coming from the Bass sisters as soon as they reached the final step. It was almost like a home on wheels to the girls. A small kitchen with carpet on the floor and comfy looking sofa chairs in the front. Even the small bunk beds looked comfortable to them. They weren’t tiny bunks like they expected. “Oh my god I hope you guys don’t fuck this place up like your apartment,” said Sammi, walking towards the bunks. “It’d suck to see a bus this nice look like shit. 

“I, Vince, solemnly do not swear to keep this place the same way we found it,” Vince said putting one hand over his heart and the other raised by his face. Sammi giggled rolling her eyes at Vince’s joke. “Well can you at least keep your bunk clean?” Sammi asked continuing to walk before being stopped by a door at the end of the row. “Still no promises, Sammi.” Sammi turned the doorknob to see a whole small bedroom perfect for anyone who didn’t want to be in a bunk. It had a full-size bed on the right side and a giant window looking out on the left. 

“Oh, dudes! Look at the bed back here!” Vince shouted dropping himself on the white and red bed. “I fucking call it!” Tommy said running and jumping on the small space next to Vince. “How about we switch days to sleep here?” Nikki said looking over Sammi’s shoulder as she leaned against the doorframe. She could feel a rough hand snake it's way from her back to her hip. Sammi avoided turning around, hoping nobody would notice a thing. “Yeah like when you said we’d switch bedrooms at the apartment?” Vince said sitting at the edge. “Why don’t you let Mick have it? He is the oldest,” Athena said looking back at Mick behind her. “That would be nice for you guys to give him the bed,” Sammi said looking at the three boys with a smile. 

“Don’t worry about me, ladies. I’m perfectly fine getting this bunk that’s closer to the ground,” said Mick, patting Athena on the back with the smallest smile imaginable. “It is nice of girls to think of me though.” Athena and Sammi smiled at Mick moving to the front. 

“It’s so cool how you guys don’t even have to lift a finger over here. Look at all these dudes just packing everything for you!” Athena said walking out of the bus to see the tour roadies do their job. “It is nice to be treated like kings,” said Vince smirking at everyone resting his back against the bus. 

“Cool it, King Vince. You still have to work remember?” Sammi said smacking the blonde in the arm. “If I’m king does that mean I should find a queen to be by my side?” asked Vince smiling down at Sammi. Sammi felt her cheeks flush looking away from Vince’s gaze. “Yeah, and her name’s Beth remember?” Sammi said looking down as she proceeded to hug Tommy. She wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling Athena do the same. 

“Don’t go! We need our dumbass leader to get us through the day!” Athena yelped in a mocking tone of desperation. “Whatever will we do without you and the other dumbasses?! Mick is not included because he actually has a brain and uses it.” Sammi said pretending to cry dramatically. “You girls will be fine,” Tommy said hugging his sister. “I know I’ve taught you well to be dumbasses.”

Sammi pulled away from her brother, looking at him with a sad pout before turning to the other guys. Sammi’s attention was quick to notice an absent Nikki from the group. She looked around for a moment before catching him through one of the bus windows. She was able to tell he began biting his nails and scratching his head, unsure of what to do with a back and forth pace. He looked out the window, catching Sammi staring at him. He could only give Sammi a smirk before disappearing. 

Sammi pondered for a moment until she walked over to Mick, giving him a generous hug and a smile. “Can I ask for one thing, Mick?” Mick scrunched his eyebrows. “Can you please just somewhat look after Tommy? I know he’s gonna be 21, but I still don’t want him to get in trouble.” Mick gave Sammi a lopsided smile before nodding. “I’ll try my best, little girl.” Sammi smiled happily giving Mick one last hug. 

“Bye, Vince! Try not to get kicked out of clubs while you’re out there!” Athena said hugging Vince in a quick embrace. Vince chuckled at Athena, “Again no promises I won’t do that shit!”

 As Athena moved away from Vince, Sammi walked in front looking up at him slightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck standing on her tippy-toes to reach, burying her head in his neck. Vince hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go but also not wanting for Tommy to begin asking questions. “I’m gonna miss you, Sunny” Vince whispered in Sammi’s ear before pulling away from her. “I’m gonna miss you too, Vince,” said Sammi, giving a sad smile back. “Um listen, I know you have school and shit, but I was thinking maybe you could come to one of our shows. We have one on the 8th. It’s a Friday.” Vince said pressed his lips together nervously as shoved his hands in the blue jean jack he always wore.

 “You do know that’s on my birthday, right?” Sammi smiled questionably at the singer. Vince nodded smiling back at Sammi. “Of course I remember your birthday. It’ll be an awesome way to spend your birthday, and it’ll be in San Francisco to make it better.” Sammi thought about it for a moment, turning to Athena who could hear the whole conversation. “I think it’s a great idea! Of course, we’ll go together and then have a chance to celebrate Tommy’s birthday! A bit late but still counts!” Athena said wrapping her arms around Sammi’s necking with a giant smile. “Dude yes! You two have to come! It’ll be sick!” Tommy said lightly jumping on his toes. “Okay let’s do it! We’ll go to San Fran for my birthday!” Sammi smiled at everyone felling Vince pull her in for another hug. “It’s going to be great.”

“Motley Crue? It’s time to start heading out.” a crew member yelled from the distance. Everyone said their last goodbye. Vince gave Sammi a wink as he walked to the bus. Sammi smiled back walking with Athena to the car parked far from the buses. “Your birthday is gonna be so fucking cool,” Athena said putting her arm around her little sisters' shoulders. Sammi's smile grew with happiness. 

“Quick question, did I hear wrong or did Vince call you Sunny?” Sammi looked at Athena in a pretended shock, thinking for a moment. “Yeah, he did. I just let it slide.” Athena nodded slowly examining Sammi’s facial expression. 

 September 30th

“I still can’t get over you finally moving out of mom and dads,” Athena said taking down the multiple polaroid photos from Sammi’s wall. She placed them on the desk to then wrap a rubber band around the photos. Sammi walked into the room with three empty boxes tossing them on her unmade bed. She grabbed the college textbooks on her desks smiling down at the polaroids her sister got. Sammi grabbed the photo of her, Athena, and Vince sat on the floor of the open back doors of the old van with wholesome smiles. Sammi looked about 13 and still had her dark brown hair in two pigtail braids. Vince had both his arms around the sisters, while he looked like a boy in a surfer movie with darker blonde hair. He still could pass for a surfer dude if he didn’t dress like Nikki and Tommy. “It’s funny how we somehow managed to keep Vince around,” Athena says looking over Sammi's shoulder. “I mean I did make sure his ass didn’t catch a cold when he slept in the van,” said Sammi smiling at Athena. “I have a feeling he likes being around us again. We hadn’t seen him after Tommy dropped out.” 

Athena looks at her sister with raised eyebrows and a smile before going back to packing the few things left in Sammi’s room. “So are you going to tell Amanda and Britney about San Francisco?” asked Athena sitting on the floor in front of Sammi’s closet. Sammi took the framed photo of her friends from high school biting her lip. “I don’t know if I should. It’s not like Amanda had a great time last time we went to their show.” Sammi said looking at Athena. Athena rolled her eyes away from Sammi. “It’s your life. You shouldn’t be hesitant about telling your friends about your decisions.” 

“I know, but I still haven’t told her about Tommy,” Sammi said sitting down next to Athena. “I’m scared she’s going to flip out when I tell I blacked out with the guys and woke up next to Vince,” Sammi said to her sister with a frown. Athena wrinkled her nose and scowled at Sammi not quite understanding. “Oh god, did Tommy not tell you?” Athena slowly shook her head having a smile slowly growing on her face. “What exactly do you mean by ‘woke up next to Vince’?” Athena asked with a mischievous smile. Sammi groaned, rolling her eyes and hiding her face between her knees. Sammi got up, closing her bedroom door to make sure their mother hasn’t overheard anything girls were talking about. “Okay I’m going to make this quick,” Sammi said sitting right in front of Athena. 

“So Britney was the one who told me to talk to Tommy since he’s my family and I listened! But I went to talk to Nikki first to get him to apologize and we had a bite to eat. When we went back to the apartment to talk to Tommy, a bunch of people were already having a party. I stayed and talked to Vince in the bathroom-” 

“Did anything happen?” Athena interrupted. Sammi rolled her eyes, remembering her conversation with Britney. “No! Nikki came in to get a baggie and I snorted…” Sammi said seeing Athena jaw drop to the floor. “Sammi what the fuck?! Then you rat on us for snorting!” Athena said with a giggle. “I wanted to see why you all freaking like it!” Sammi whispered shouted. “So how the hell did you and Vince end up in bed together?” Athena asked with a smirk. “He said I was falling asleep so he took me to his bed. Then he went to sleep too so no one would bother me.” Sammi said smiling looking away from Athena. Athena noticed the smile her sister had but decided not to push it. Athena herself could see the little sparkle in her sister's eyes. “Well that was really nice of Vince to do that, but going back to the topic of Amanda. You shouldn’t be scared to tell your friends stuff that happens in your life.” Athena said resting against the bedpost. “A good friend is supposed to hear out your mistakes and give you advice with kindness.”

Sammi huffs looking back at her sister. “Amanda is a good friend. She just has a different way of showing it as your friends.” Athena raises her eyebrows at Sammi. “Really like how?” 

“Amanda is a tough-love type of person. If she thinks something isn’t good, she’ll say it honestly even if it might hurt. She just doesn’t want Britney and me to get tangled up with bad guys. She knows things.” said Sammi. Athena rolled her eyes again making sure Sammi saw her reaction. “So does that mean you have to get approval by Amanda for everything you do including boys?” Athena asked smiling sarcastically. Sammi frowned at Athena ignoring her comment completely. “You know Athena, I can handle packing the rest myself,” said Sammi as she gathered up the rest of the things on her desk. “Sammi I’m sorry but-”

“I said I can pack by myself without you,” said Sammi with a stern voice. Athena rolled her eyes getting up from the floor to leave Sammi alone as requested. Athena was about to grab her car keys before she heard the wall phone ring. “Hello?” Athena asked putting the phone up to her ear. “Oh, shit hey Athena! I thought Sammi would answer!” Tommy said in a payphone booth in the middle of a Nevada truck stop. “Hey, Toms. No Sammi’s too busy being fucking stubborn.” Athena whispered looking behind her to see if the coast was clear. 

“You guys fighting already? I’ve only been gone for like three days!” said Tommy with a giggle. “It’s actually been four. We weren’t fighting, she just got mad I wasn’t being a member of Team Amanda.” Athena leaned against the wall beginning to play with the telephone cord. “I don’t think anyone but Sammi is Team Amanda. I still have no idea how they even ended up friends. What was the problem anyway?” 

“She’s scared to tell Amanda about Vince inviting her to San Fran. for her birthday and about blacking out at your guys' place, which by the way you did not tell me about.” Tommy pursed his lips out, listening to Athena. “Then she tried to explain it but I just gave her a sarcastic response.” Athena huffed. “Well, I agree with you! I hope to God Sammi doesn’t turn around and ditch us again after they move in together,” said Tommy. “No, I don’t think she will. That Britney girl seems to have an actual brain for being so bubbly. She was the one that told Sammi to talk to you guys again” 

“I do have one question for you though.” Tommy scrunched his eyebrows together ready to hear what Athena had to say. “Do you think Vince could possibly like Sammi?” Tommy’s eyes went wide, hitting the payphone with excitement. “You see it too?! He called her by her nickname when we left! Only fucking dad calls her Sunny!” Tommy yelled out. Athena laughed softly at Tommy’s reaction not expecting it. “Yeah, I noticed. He did also go to Amanda’s house after the Starwood show which in itself gives it away after some thought,” Athena giggled. “Sammi told me how he put her to bed after the party. The idea of Vince choosing sleep rather than continuing to party definitely speaks volumes.” 

“He also didn’t want her to snort the last line of coke. Nikki was the one that encouraged it. Then for some reason, he kept asking Vince questions about Sammi.” said Tommy looking out to see the devil walk over to the phone booth. “Hey A, I gotta get going but I’ll call your place when we get to our hotel. Love you.” Tommy said hanging up before Athena could say anything. Tommy got out of the phone booth just as Nikki got to it. “Hey T-Bone come on we gotta hit the road!” Nikki said smacking Tommy on the back. “Cool. Hey random question, but do you think Vince would ever stop cheating if he got a good girlfriend? And I mean a really good girlfriend, one who is the nicest person in the world.” Nikki chuckled dryly shaking his head. “That guy could have a princess that treats him like a king and still fuck randoms.” Tommy bit his lip looking at the ground beneath his feet. “Why do you ask?” Tommy looked at Nikki and shook his head. “Just thought about it since we’re on tour. He doesn’t really care about Beth so he just does it.” Nikki nodded seeing the blonde from a distance put out his cigarette.  

October 2nd 

A loud drop of a heavy box fell onto a coffee table in the middle of a living room. Amanda, Britney, and Sammi had been bringing stuff into their new condo all day, carrying in box after box filled with personal belongings. The place was perfect for the three college girls. Two stories with 3 equal-sized rooms, a nice kitchen as you walked further into the condo with space for a dining table, and a decent-sized living room in the front. They even had a pool for the little area of condos to share with other tenets. “That’s the last box in my car,” Sammi said closing the door with her foot, setting the box on the bottom stair. 

“Yay! Soon we’ll have this place looking so nice and pretty!” Britney said cheerfully taking out the collection of records all the girls had combined. Amanda sat on the floor, putting books in the dark wooden bookshelf her parents gifted her. “So Sam, you excite for your birthday next week?” Amanda asks. 

“Yeah…” said Sammi taking out picture frames avoiding to carry anything. Britney looked at Sammi, seeing something in the way her face read. “Do you have any ideas on what you want or do you want us to plan something?” Britney asks studying Sammi’s reaction

“There’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Sammi said looking at her friends, slightly tugging on her earlobe. “I was thinking about visiting Tommy in San Francisco. They have a show on my birthday.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow giving Sammi a smile that made her not comfortable. “And since when have you spoken to Tommy again? You haven’t mentioned it.” Britney looked at Sammi waiting to see if she needed to interrupt for Sammi’s sake.

Sammi could only shrug her shoulders giving a weak smile. “Recently. I just thought I should since he was gonna be gone for four months.”

“Well have you spoken to Vince or Nikki?” 

“No… I haven’t. I swear.”

“In that case, if you’re going to be going to San Francisco, you should only have Tommy in mind. You don’t want to deal with those two creeps. All Vince cares about is fucking random girls while Nikki cares about his drugs.” 

“Yeah you’re right, I’ve totally seen that.”

Amanda went back to putting the books on the shelves, giving her back to her roommates. Britney looked at Sammi with eyes that understood her best friend without saying a word. Sammi could only give Britney a quick somber smile, going back to unpacking their new place together. 

The sun soon disappearing bringing the moon out, having Amanda clock out for the day as Britney and Sammi hid in the nearly empty bedroom that belonged to Sammi. The girls sat on the full-sized bed against the wall, mimicking the way Sammi’s room was at her parents' house. She didn’t have a desk or her photos on the wall yet, but it would soon be exactly what Sammi would want. Britney skimmed through all the polaroids Sammi had saved over the years on the bed, giggling whenever she saw one from before she met her. Sammi threw a plastic bag onto her bed next to Britney, ripping her attention away. “What’s this?” asked Britney. 

“I’m going to dye my hair back to brown, well almost black basically,” Sammi said jumping onto the bed, pulling out the box of hair dye with everything needed. “Why exactly?” 

Sammi shrugged, read the instructions on the side. “I just wanna go back to being me. The red was cool but so over it. Besides, I keep looking at those old photos that make me miss it.” Britney nodded with understanding pulling out the van photo. “Like this one with Vince when you’re like 12?” Sammi smiled, taking the photo from Britney and pining it near her bed. “13 too be exact and yes exactly.” 

Britney bit the inside of her cheek remembering the conversation from earlier. Amanda wasn’t around making Sammi be able to talk freely about the boys. “So are you really gonna go to San Francisco for your birthday?” Sammi put down the hair dye, giving Britney a small nod. 

“I agreed when Vince asked me, plus Tommy got excited so I’d be an ass not to go.” 

“Vince was the one that invited you?” Britney smirks at making Sammi flip her off as a joke. “Yes, he did. Again it means nothing. He was just being nice for my birthday.”

“Sam, you say he’s nice for different reasons but it’s mainly because he likes you even if you don’t see it yet. I do think it’s a good thing for you to visit and see their lifestyle. Honestly, it sounds way more fun than being stuck here and working on your birthday.” Britney said with a pout as she laid down on the bed. Sammi stayed quiet for a moment, playing with the loose thread on her childhood blanket. “Whatcha thinkin about, Sammi?” 

“Do you think Amanda is controlling us?” Britney frowned, thinking long and hard about the question. She sat up against the headboard, scratching her head for a moment. “I mean, sometimes I feel like she can be controlling. Why you’re thinking of what Amanda said about Vince and Nikki?” 

Sammi laid down next to Britney, hugging a pillow tightly. “Not just that. Athena and I were talking the other day about the party and San Francisco, and she was being sarcastic about us having to get approval from Amanda on what we wanted to do. I just didn’t want her to flip out about me blacking out.”

“Well, I can see where Athena could think that. Amanda can be judgemental on the both of us from time to time.” 

“But it’s because she gives out tough love on us.” 

Britney rolls her and smiles down at Sammi. “ And I get it, I really do. There’s still a difference though.” Sammi frowned at Britney looking away from her. “How about we get started on this hair dye situation! I think you’re going to look awesome with black hair.” Britney jumped off and bed grabbing Sammi by the hand pulling her up on her feet. Sammi smiled happily taking the box of hair dye to the restroom 

October 7th

 Athena walked up to the burgundy wooden door knocking onto it three times. She could quiet footsteps approach the door, immediately regretting picking up Sammi from her condo. Amanda opened the door with confusion until realizing it was Athena. She faked a somewhat nice smile as she slowly left the front door ajar. She left only enough for Athena to see the sofa and a wall of the living room. 

“Hi Athena, how can I help you?” Amanda asked ‘happily’ still keeping the smile. 

“I’m here to pick up Sammi for the airport. I don’t know if she told you that we’re going to San Francisco,” said Athena as she began playing with the ends of her hair. 

Amanda thought for a moment before widening the door to let Athena into her condo. “Sammi isn’t here right now. She left a while ago for the bank. Something about depositing her check.” Athena nodded looking around the furnished condo. The girls worked fast to get everything in order. The living room had a beautiful white coffee table in front of a fluffy black long sofa. They even had a tv unlike Athena’s apartment, where her roommates trashed everything quickly. “You guys did well with the place.” 

“Thanks. You know I was surprised when Sammi told me she wanted to see Tommy, but now that I see you here well I get it now.” Amanda said smirking at Athena as she sat on the single chair. Athena tilted her head to one side, narrowing her eyes at the blonde girl. “What exactly does that mean?” 

“Don’t you think it’s a little responsible to drag Sammi to a drug-infested club with your brother and his skeezy friends?” 

Athena chuckled dryly as she ran her hands through her hair. “You think I told Sammi to talk to Tommy?” Amanda nodded crossing her arms and legs. “Look Sammi’s old enough to make her own decisions. I didn’t tell her shit about talking to Nikki or Tommy. She’s the one that wanted to go talk to them at their place. ” 

Amanda frowned hearing Nikki’s name come out of Athena’s mouth. “And another thing, you shouldn’t make Sammi feel bad for what she wants to do. That’s not a fucking friend. Tommy is her brother that she loves.” 

Suddenly, the front door opened to Sammi walking in surprise to see Athena in the middle of her living room. “Hey, Athena! You’re early! Let me go get my duffle bag from my room.” Sammi said making her way upstairs.

“Sammi when the hell were you gonna tell me you went over to talk to Nikki? You told me you didn’t” Sammi stared at Amanda then Athena walking down to the last step. “Sorry” Athena mouthed looking guilty with no intent on causing a problem. Amanda got up from her seat stepping closer to the Bass sisters. ���I was going to tell but it wasn’t going to be soon. It’s family stuff and you don’t need to know that quickly.” 

“And Nikki’s your family?”

“Yes. Nikki, Vince, and Mick are in a band with Tommy, making them part of the family. Now I’m going to get my shit because I have a flight to catch.” Sammi said walking back upstairs ignoring Amanda’s glares. 

  Sammi put her duffle bag in the overhead bin along with Athena’s backpack. She sat down on the two seated airplane seat, buckling up. The girls had a quiet car ride to the airport with Athena not knowing what to say, being scared to piss Sammi off. She looked at Sammi just stare at the seat in front of her. Athena nudged Sammi with her elbow. Doing it again until Sammi rolled her eyes and faced Athena. “Yes?”

 “I like the hair, glad to see you back to being natural again.” Athena smiled with hope Sammi would crack. Sammi luckily did give her sister a genuine smile. “Thanks. I wanted to go back to being me.” Athena nodded biting her lip in anticipation of what to say next. 

 “Look Sammi I’m sorry I ratted on you. I didn’t tell Amanda anything besides you talking to Nikki again.” 

 “It’s okay, Athena. It was gonna come out any way that I spoke to him. Let’s just relax and have fun. It is my birthday after all.” The girls smiled giving each other a quick hug before hearing the pilot signal for taking off.

 “Oh, dude I see them! Get the paper up!” Tommy said hitting Vince in the back, getting excited to see his sisters in the distance. The girls got closer quickly finding the boys each holding a sign with their names on it. Tommy held Athena with chicken scratch handwriting while Vince held Samantha in surprising cursive. The Bass sisters ran up to the boys, giving them tight hugs from missing them so much. “Sammi your hair! It’s back to normal!” Tommy said touching locks of his sister's dark hair. Sammi giggled pushing Tommy’s hand away, fixing the piece of hair. “I like it. For sure reminds me of when I first met you.” Vince said petting Sammi’s hair for a brief moment. 

“Thanks, I just wanted a change back to before,” Sammi said smiling at the boys. “Well let's get going to the hotel! It’s barely 2 so we can do stuff!” Tommy said getting Athena’s bag while Vince carried Sammi’s. 

He gave Sammi a wink making her flush for a moment as the foursome walked out of the airport together. 

“This is going to be one hell of a birthday, isn’t it?”

[missfaber]

author interview

I was tagged by @orangeflavoryawp, thank you so much! 

I already know I’m going to enjoy this way too much, writing is such a lonely endeavor and I just love talking about it, sooo... I apologize in advance for rambling. 

name: Madeline/Maddie 

fandoms: this is complicated because there’s fandoms I very much consider myself a part of because they’re just a huge part of my life, even though I don’t contribute content to them, and then there’s fandoms I do create content for. So idk where the line is drawn! 

fandoms I contribute/ have contributed to: Avatar the Last Airbender, Game of Thrones, Merlin BBC, Once Upon a Time, Legend of Korra

fandoms I haven’t contributed to but are so dear to me: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings (my two favorite things ironically lol), and lots more 

where you post: AO3, used to be ff.net and livejournal too

most popular one shot: by kudos, it’s as if death itself was undone (zutara, atla: katara wakes up to azula in their house and wants to find out a) why she is welcome b) why zuko is acting so weird) 

most popular multichapter: by kudos, it’s soldier, go bravely on (jonsa + gendrya, got, complete, rewrite of the last episode of got with sweetness and angst and action, and may i say some common sense?)

favorite story you wrote: fuck omg this is difficult lol! because I both criticize and love all my stories in equal measure, I honestly don’t write anything that i don’t love, that doesn’t give me butterflies / actual chest pain (from angst). I feel like I’m being asked to choose a favorite child lol. so I’ll try to justify these picks somehow... 

closest to my heart: soldier, go bravely on (also mentioned above). this is the fic that brought me back to writing fic, and to tumblr even! I was on hiatus (that I didn’t know was a hiatus because I had no intention of coming back) for six years before writing this fic. I wrote it so quickly after the got finale, it was such a passionate and fevered few days and it just sucked me back in to everything I used to love as a teenager. It was also a nice stretch out of my comfort zone, because of the dialogue (which was so tightly planned it’s ridiculous, I wrote the whole fic as a screenplay type thing first to make sure there wasn’t a single dialogue word not needed) and tv-episode style. It’s also such a wish-fulfillment fic that I can’t read certain parts without getting a bit teary. for all those reasons and more, this fic will always be so special to me. 

most proud of: wolf, circle north (jonsa, got, alternate season 7 & 8). this is the longest fic I’ve ever attempted and the number I’ve hours I’ve sunk into it is astounding and i should be ashamed.  It’s going to be obscenely long (my outline is 70+ chapters) and when I pull it off, best believe it’s going into a bound book so I can look at how thicc it is and be like, “I did that!” lol. The range of POVs is one of the most challenging but most rewarding part of this fic, and why I’m so proud of it. This is another wish-fulfillment fic for me, not just because it’s another fix-it fic but because I have been writing bits and pieces of this fic for about three years. I kept thinking of jonsa scenarios and little scenes I would have loved to see after season 6 and writing them in a little secret doc, just for me, as I never thought I’d write fic again. After writing “soldier” i had already broken my hiatus and I realized this fic was an actual possibility, so I put it out into the world. I couldn’t be more happy that I did that. Not only did it give me the chance to be in such an excellent, lovely fandom, but the feedback I get is so validating after having this be my secret little project for so long.  

most formative: Coffee & Cigarettes, (merthur, merlin bbc) I’m ashamed to list this and the merthurs reading this 100% want to kill me for having the audacity because it’s incomplete and hasn’t been updated since 2013 when there’s only one chapter left so what’s my excuse?  I call this the most formative for me because until I published this I didn’t really have a fic that people followed and liked, eagerly awaited updates for, and commented regularly on. I was writing a lot of one-shots and atla stuff on tumblr (I used to RP lmao I was like 15 ok?) This was the first time I experienced so many fic-life things, like being excited to get AO3 emails, etc. This was the first time I started to really focus on character which is so important to me now, my writing is completely character driven. Not to mention Merlin and Arthur’s dumbassery and sheer attraction and denial is just... *chef’s kiss* 

guiltiest pleasure: my recent foray into nedsei, who am I??? one more word and you won’t survive, just international hate sex

story you were most nervous to post: ummm idk I’m usually excited not nervous, since for me fic writing is just fun, I write things I’d enjoy reading and that I’m proud of. I read my own fics more than anyone else does, I guarantee it. am I a narcissist? who knows I guess I’ll say “soldier” again because I hadn’t posted fic in six years.

how you choose your titles: wow the hardest part of fic writing for me!!!!! thanks!!!!! lol. Okay so for my work titles, which are always terrible and I literally regret them immediately after posting, it’s usually just some words I play around with and string together that are somewhat thematic and related to the work... they’re always terrible lmao, I hate making titles. I mean, look at “soldier, go bravely on” and “wolf, circle north” for god’s sake, I hate them lmao. But I have to pick a title to post, so!!! For chapter titles and one-shots I’ll usually go with a song lyric, and especially for my chapter titles I spend so long seeking out the perfect one that reflects some thematic or emotional content of the chapter somehow. I’m very proud of my chapter titles for wolf, circle north. I have a doc on my scrivener just for chapter titles that I created in the very early stages of writing it, where I just dumped HUNDREDS of song lyrics that I thought I might use. Then by them I wrote some scenarios where they could work. here’s a screenshot:

It’s so helpful now. Sometimes posting an update will take an hour more than necessary because of me going through that doc, finding the perfect lyric. 

do you outline: OH, DO I OUTLINE... Hell Yeah, I outline. I couldn’t live without outlining. I love outlining. My outlines have outlines. I’m a planner centric, calendar centric, bullet-journal bitch so of course I love outlining. In all seriousness though: I write out of chronological order. I feel my writing is best when I write the scene I’m in the mood to write- unfortunately this scene could be ten chapters down the line from the chapter I’m gonna post next. This is the biggest reason outlining is necessary for me. If I didn’t have an outline, my story would be a non-post-able mess. 

I wasn’t kidding when I said my outlines have outlines. For wolf, circle north I have, um, a few. Character/location centric outlines where I bullet every scene that needs to happen for that plot to happen cohesively (these were all more or less completed before I even started writing the fic), then a “loose” outline that I copy everything from the other outlines into for some semblance of chronological order, then a Polished Final Outline that I write from. I know that sounds psychotic. It’s how my brain works. Some photo evidence/explanation:

And here’s a screengrab of my Final Outline, this is pretty much how it is all the way down- The POV character is italicized in the front, I talk to myself a lot in there, let myself get carried away, will sometimes write out whole segments of the scene if they come to me while outlining. Spoilers for chapters 1-3 of w,cn I guess!!!

Then, because scrivener is awesome, I get to see this outline in the corkboard view (I input every scene as a card) and so I get to see every part of my outline as a Synopsis on the right hand side of the doc where I’m writing the scene:

The POV and status tags (which are completely customizable) on the lower right are helpful too. This post is just a scrivener ad. 

complete: 9 works 

in progress: 4 works

coming soon / not yet started: I have so many fics in the works, I’m an indulgent person so if an idea comes to me I usually go with it for a time. I’ve had a very not-serious Jonsa PLL AU I’ve been writing on and off since summer. I have three different fairytale AUs (also jonsas) I’ve been working on and one time travel AU for @sunbeamsandmoonrays. I can’t say when or if any of these will see the light of day, because my priority is my WIPs and my original writing. But the most prevalent are my Halloween fics (one jonsa, one gendrya, one merthur) which I really want to be able to put out this month, but only if I meet some other goals. I’m trying to rein in my indulgent ass, ya’ll. 

do you accept prompts: no. sorry! but I do workshop ideas with friends, for example the nedsei fic happened that way by talking with @flibbertigiblet. But I don’t take writing prompts in my inbox. 

upcoming story you are most excited to write: my halloween merthur fic. it’s witchy, sassy, and I’m so excited to get back into the heads of these characters.

Tagging! @uchihabat @anniebibananie @noqueenbutthequeeninthenorth @sailorshadzter @vivilove-jonsa and any other lovely writer soul who wants to do this!

[cmeliabones]

                                      i used to be broken.     i used to be shards of iron and ice,                         a whirlwind of broken glass,     until I learned to be more.

DILAN DENIZ? No, that’s actually AMELIA BONES from the MARAUDERS ERA. You know, the child of ENDER BONES and IRMAK BONES NÉÉ KUNDAKÇI ? Only 25 years old, this SLYTHERIN alumni works as a LEGAL ADVISOR AT THE WIZENGAMOT and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. SHE identifies as A CIS WOMAN and is a PUREBLOOD who is known to be SECRETIVE, CYNICAL and SELF-NEGLECTFUL but also JUST, AMBITIOUS and LEVELHEADED.

LINKS – pinboard, stats. CHARACTER PARALLELS – laurel castillo (htgawm), peggy carter (mcu), spencer hastings (pll), rebecca bunch (crazy ex-girlfriend), raquel murillo (la casa de papel) AESTHETIC – a blood red lipstick mark on a drained cup of coffee, knuckles bruised from collapsing against a wall, smoking through the crack of your window in the middle of the night, striped blouses, chipped black nailpolish, downing vodka without wincing, wiping sweat off your eyebrow while laughing, sinking down in the shower and not getting up for half an hour, eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man, a longing for something without quite knowing what it is, a sense for justice that burns you up (and hopefully takes the whole world with it one day), something weighing down on your shoulder at all times, the inability to sleep if the world is too quiet HEADS UP – there are some triggers in this intro (specifically: burn out, anxiety, alcohol, smoking, self destructiveness, death and grief). all are trigger warned in front of the bulletpoints theyre mentioned in!

backstory ( 1955 - 1973 )

amelia bones grows up happy. with two older brothers & a set of loving parents, there was such room to grow. her parents are openminded and supportive and allow her fire and mind to expand and grow. she grows up valuing family and empathy and acceptance and fairness, and will always fall back on these values.

a bit of background on her parents: 

her father comes from the bones family, which has been a prominent magical family in eurasia for centuries (mostly for their influence in politics & international cooperation, and their progressiveness). after the global wizarding war, her father’s grandfather and his wife migrated to england after he was offered a position at the ministry, which he got offered due to his efforts during the war. word of their (good & wonderful!) reputation then spread in the UK, too, and they soon became a respected pureblood family (not that they cared about blood status, not at all, and i think plenty of purebloods didn’t care much for the bones --- too progressive and idealistic and proactive).

amelia’s father followed in his own father’s footsteps and joined the department of international cooperation, through which he met irmak, a turkish witch who worked for an international ngo advocating for worldwide women’s rights. they started as coworkers, and soon fell for one another and soon marriage followed, and then their three kids

amelia loves her family. they’re her entire world.

she was the last of her siblings to go to hogwarts, which just made her all the more excited, i think. amelia envied her brothers for getting to go before her, though, very much so. either way ---- amelia was a hatstall, stuck between hufflepuff and slytherin, stuck between her deep sense of justice and her cunning ambition. in the end, she was sorted in slytherin, but she would have thrived in either house, really. 

she walked towards that green-and-silver table with such pride in her face and back, proving that she’d fit right in

i think she was sorted in slytherin in the end as her ambition allows her to do more with her sense of justice. it’s the road towards her goals, her goals being reaching justice and righteousness and her ideals.

anxiety / panic attacks / alcohol & smoking / self destructiveness / burn out tw || amelia put immense pressure on herself all through hogwarts, not only wanting the best grades, but also wanting to be a helpful and put together individual. in her fourth year, she burns herself out --- there’s no energy left in her body. she started having more panic attacks, her anxiety growing with the pile of assignments she was unable to finish, and amelia -- for a while -- lost sight of herself, unsure how she was ever able to be so productive, to do so much. 

amelia starts smoking. she starts drinking. she yells at the whomping willow. she finds release in anything that will quiet her brain and she loses control, for a while --- detentions grow, as do her absences in class, and her grades drop. after a few months, she steps to slughorn, telling him that she’s not okay, that she needs help. (i imagine he was a bit startled, not by the news (as there had probably been reports of the change in amelia’s behaviour), but by the way she approached him, so maturely.)

admitting she wasn’t okay was the main step she needed and soon amelia was learning where her weaknesses lied, and how she could cope with stress, and how she should dose her work so she wouldnt end up this way again. and slowly but surely, amelia rebuilt her good grades, and prepared herself for those looming OWLs. end of tws

her last three years at hogwarts are spent studying, hard. amelia also became prefect & eventually head girl ( this is not definitive! just. putting it down in case ), and spent the rest of her time preparing for a career at the ministry --- that was where her ambition lied, after all. especially with the turmoil and unrest growing in the wizarding world, amelia’s sense for justice GREW, and she wanted to do something about it badly: the ministry was a flawed system, that much she knew, but she also knew that there were good people there (her dad, her grandfather, etc.) and that there was always room for change and growth

amelia cares SO MUCH about justice, it’s just something she’s always done. she has a very deep sense of justice herself, is very just in judging and approaching people. she’s also open about this & will call you out on her shit ( i imagine she did a fair amount of this in the slytherin common room ) but in a calm and collected way

ended up graduating with seven NEWTs, all with either E’s or O’s. we stan an overachieving icon. 

post graduation ( 1973 - 1980 )

anxiety tw | amelia started working as an administrative assistant at the wizengamot, interning under a member at the same time, slowly climbing the ranks and preparing for a successful career. it’s stressful, and sometimes anxiety inducing, but amelia sticks to her coping mechanisms that she’s developed over the years (both good and bad) and mostly thrives. end of tw

(parental) death, murder, grief tw | when she’s twenty, her parents are murdered. at that point, amelia had still been living at home, but she’d been at work when it all happened --- returning to a dark mark above the place she grew up in. her parents had been murdered for not meeting the vision of what purebloods were supposed to be, another pair of victims of a cruel war ( and the start of the bones’ downfall :( )

self destructiveness tw | amelia fell back in old patterns for a while, forgetting to take care of herself, raging against a world that wouldn’t listen. she took the time she had gotten off work to grief and drowned herself in distractions and things that only seemed to make things worse, in the long run end of tw

and then she returned to work and was done. done, with feeling like she’d drown in her grief, and so she turned cold. it wasn’t hard -- amelia had always been quite levelheaded, able to look at situations with emotional distance and objectivity, and now she did the same with her life. she joined the order as well, even though she had previously doubted them ( she thought them unorganised, chaotic rebels, and she had to eat her words, partly, after she joined ). amelia grew bitter and secretive and cynical, but she worked harder than she had ever before, wanting to see a better world as soon as possible --- for her brothers and their families, for all the families still whole, for fucking everyone, to be honest.

death of children tw | re: her brothers and their families, she thinks that theyre both stupid for having kids in this time. look at what happens every day! look at what happened to their parents! why would you risk orphaning your children?!

not that she voices those opinions. they’re dark and mean and she swallows them and keeps them locked up. 

of course, she was kind of right. edgar and his kids did die. lmao. when she found out, though, she didn’t think “told you so”, she just hated herself a bit more. end of all tws

right now, amelia is a legal advisor at the wizengamot, assisting with cases, working on arguments and compiling evidence, always bristling at how useless aurors are at paperwork. she hates the ministry, partly, but wants to fix it from within. her dream is to get a seat at the wizengamot, and eventually grow further, too. her ambitions run deep, as does her idealism, and together those will get her far.

she’s also more closed off than she was before. i think that amelia was a lot warmer as a teen, and definitely a lot more spontaneous. now, though, she is focused deeply on the tasks at hand and cynical, scared of loving more people than she already does. there’s more to lose when you have more people you love, and all that stuff --- but still, amelia is kind and approachable, but there’s always a hint of distance and coolness. 

does Not take good care of herself. amelia sleeps too little, drinks too much coffee, does not eat enough fruits & veggies and constantly abandons her needs when there’s other, more important things. and there are always more important things ( especially considering she seeks for them )

death & murder tw | the timestamp kind of sent amelia into a state of despair, for a hot second. learning that her brother and his family were killed in the war chilled her to her bones. learning that she was murdered in the far but near future confused her, and scared her. she took a moment to recenter herself, to take in all this new information, and then got to work. i imagine that amelia just stormed into the ministry/the dmle and started working to fix this, using her future position as an argument to have a proper role in the developments. ( merlin knows that the ministry can use a good set of brains, after all, and she has a more than good set. ) she also stuck with the order, of course.

amelia also took it upon herself to research a LOT about the future fates of people she suspected of death eater activity, to know who to trust and who not to. read a lot of archived newspapers and such over the past month. too many. end of tw

personality & details

career woman. fuck the glass ceiling, she’ll break it with her high heels and kiss the shards with her red lipstick and grin while doing it. amelia is successful and will be even more successful and nothing but death can stop her from reaching her goals

in the end, that’s why she was killed --- bc she was unstoppable. if it wasnt for voldemort, she WOULD HAVE become minister for magic, mark my words

caffeine dependent as fuck

kickboxes to let go off some steam and cropped up Stress. she has been doing it ever since her the summer after her fourth year and has a mean right hook and can break your nose if she wants to, but chooses not to. (would rather fight you with words, anyway.)

a levelheaded, realistic queen. 

workaholic, pls tell her to take a break!!!!

she has a deerhound doggo called jimmy and she loves him SO MUCH. dogs are Everything to amelia. she loves dogs so much. 

“men ain’t shit” -- amelia bones, thrice a day, at least

listen she’s just a Queen, that’s all ive got

[bookishreviewsblog]

Karen McManus: One of Us Is Lying  (One of U Is Lying #1) | Lara

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of the suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. 

“Things'll get worse before they get better.” 

Okay, it’s time to talk about how this book completely blew up my two remaining brain cells and left me drooling and aggressively shipping Nate and Bronwyn. I love it so much when I don’t expect much from the book but then it proves me wrong and makes me feel like an asshole I am for doubting its wonderful existence :,) I always love a book that moves me and I feel like every good book should tend to do so for its reader. One of Us Is Lying did that to me. Not only did it cause waves, no, TSUNAMIS, of emotion but also a sense of fulfillment and nostalgia after I finished it. The struggle of keeping a secret is real, especially if you have to keep it from your loved ones. But how can you keep your secrets safe if your life is constantly monitored for a set-up murder? This book did damn interesting and intriguing that I don’t even know where to start. At first, I kind of thought it will be one of those classic amateur detective mystery novels, but right after the things got in motion, I knew there was something else going on there xd. McManus definitely knows how to attract her audience with a promising story idea and even better realization, and writing that makes it impossible to stay out of this high-school drama and mystery swirl. Amazing plot, cool characters, and murder investigation make it similar to Pretty Little Liars (only this is actually mind blowing and not debilitating, sorry PLL) So, Bayview High is almost as any other high-school, except there, any mistake you make could ruin you. Namely, Simon Kelleher is a weird kid with no friends and eternal wish to belong who started an app called About That where he posts gossip and spills secret about everything he finds out – and he finds out a lot. One Monday, five students enter detention from which Simon doesn’t come out alive. What initially seemed like an accident, turned out to be a well-planned murder. A few days after that a post appears on a Tumblr blog, written in name of Simon’s murderer, causing a series of questions for police, and all students who are blamed for his death. How does a person writing a blog know all those things? Who planted the phones to Nate, Cooper, Bronwyn, and Addy so they ended up in detention? And most importantly, who left peanut oil in the cup Simon was going to drink from and caused the allergic reaction that killed him? The problem is, most of the kids in school really, really hated Simon. This book doesn’t cover just unraveling a crime, but also a process of four teenagers, all obviously different and everyone with something to hide, getting together and trying to find what is missing in among the suspicious circumstances of Simon’s death. I always love reading about American high schools and the way things work there, but this one hit me pretty hard, especially because it covered different types of students from different classes and with various “positions” in high school life. Not only their fellow students, but the whole media community has come upon them for something they might have or might have not done, and turned their lives into a stressful nightmare for public entertainment. It’s funny how a single mistake can dictate how the rest of your life might go. The story is told from the perspective of four characters, and every single one of them is amazing. I don’t feel like McManus went into depths of each character, but that didn’t stop her from developing them not only for the purpose of the plot but also as four lovable characters. Bronwyn is ambitious and adorable grade A student, trying hard to live up to her parents’ expectations and doing everything to protect her sister. Nate’s a local criminal and drug dealer with a soft spot for Bronwyn. His father is drunk and useless and his mother with bipolar disorder left him when he was fourteen, so he kind of learned how to take care of himself. “I want to kiss her more than I want air.” uwu Cooper’s a perfect son and a perfect jock with his perfect girlfriend and perfect friends, but when his big secret comes out, his world becomes way more harder to live in. And there’s Addy, but I didn’t like her as much and hove literally nothing to write about her xd “Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.”

[rewolfaekilerom]

ginny & georgia is good.

//NOTE: This was originally posted to Wordpress on 05.01.2021//

Let me start by saying that I tried to think of a clever title for this post, but all I could think of was the simple fact that I really like Ginny & Georgia. Excuse my lack of cleverness this week. I’m not sure if it’s my body responding to the first vaccine dose or if it’s the fog of seasonal allergies, but my brain is mush; my sense of smell is also not right. Also, Bug scratched the hair off of one of her ears (I’m pretty sure that’s seasonal allergies, poor thing) and I’ve spent a cumulative 15 hours this past week rendering, exporting, and uploading one single video onto YouTube for work (lost story short: I’m back at the rendering stage after I realized the audio got unsynced in the second half of the video. Ugh). It’s been a WEEK.

Excuses, excuses.

So, while I wait for my laundry and as I take a break from New Pokemon Snap (omg, it’s so good), I thought I’d brain-vomit my thoughts about Ginny & Georgia. Proving true to the portrait I gave of myself in my last post, I’m happy (or embarrassed?) to say that I watched Ginny & Georgia (henceforth G&G) twice this week. I finished episode 10 and immediately started rewatching episode 1, and it’s taking everything in me to not start rewatching for a third time. But depending on what you consider a week, I might be on week two now? ANYWAY.

I’ll start this brain-dump by saying, again, I really like this show. I described it to friends as a cross between Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars or Outer Banks–maybe with a touch of Dexter. I don’t think it’s just that, but I think that’s a good way to summarize how it feels to watch the show, and those are good things in my book. GG and Dexter are probably in my top 5 favorite TV shows, and OB is up there too. I’ve watched OB through twice, and it definitely quenched my mid-winter thirst for the beach and my perpetual desire for a solid mystery/intrigue. I grew up watching the Travel Channel, so any show set in an even moderately interesting locale is immediately catching my interest. Oh, and I watched the entire PLL series with my mom while I was a teenager and even after I went away to college; it was “our show”–our way of sharing cultural ground even when I was away from home for the first time. We watched each episode together when it aired on TV, and we’d be the first to admit that the show was–at best–illogical, comically dramatic, and unrealistic to the umpth degree. But sometimes it’s fun to watch a show and laugh at its absurdity.

G&G doesn’t fall into the same traps that a lot of those types of teen shows do. It has drama and intrigue; it has sex and “teen problems” (which are really just person problems). But it also has real conversations about race and sexuality and parent-child relationships that go beyond the CW/Freeform problem-for-problem’s-sake model (hi, PLL)) or the WB squeaky-clean-problems approach (I’m talking to you, Seventh Heaven). It takes a Skins approach to issues young people face–well, if Skins was made for a puritanical US audience, but not THAT US Skins reboot. We’ll never talk about that. Shhh. Look away.

I’m not going to rehearse the plot of G&G, so look it up for yourself right now. I’ll wait.

Just kidding. I’m not waiting. Go look it up on your own time.

The similarities between G&G and GG are glaring (hell, Georgia even calls herself and Ginny the Gilmores with bigger boobs). In both, you have a young, single mom who had her daughter at 15/16 and then ran away from home. The mom is plucky, charismatic, and doesn’t always navigate the world by making the most, er, ethical choices. The daughter initially seems a bit more reserved and like she wants to play by the rules, but deep down is just a younger version of the mother, and that comes out of the course of the series. The two relate to one another as friends, but it’s complicated by the fact that they’re parent and child and that there is an inherent power imbalance there. The daughter is a little too mature for her own good and the mother is a little too immature for her own good. They butt heads, usually over the mother’s past and present choices (particularly regarding men) and the daughter’s present and future choices (also often regarding men). Their fights and falling outs are truly spectacular–they fight like only a mother and daughter could, but they also love one another–though they can’t express that love in the most logical or legible ways. They’re dysfunctional in every way you could imagine, and they really should be in family counseling.

But that’s not all. If that were it, I’d say, “oh, boohoo, they have similar types of characters. As if this is novel? Hasn’t this been done before? Get off your high horse.” NO. The parallels between these two shows go WAY deeper than that. Georgia is Lorelei and Ginny is Rory–hell, their naming practices are even similar. Georgia named herself after the state she was in the first time she had to come up with a pseudonym; this initiated a naming practice wherein she names her children after the cities/states they’re born in–hence Ginny, for Virginia. Rory is a nickname for Lorelei. (Side note: Lorelei is a hard name to type.)

Fine, fine. But we also have the tripartite relationship dynamics. Lorelei’s Big Three are Christopher, Max, and Luke; Georgia’s are Zion (Ginny’s dad and Georgia’s “penguin”–still not positive what that means, except that they can’t let go of one another?), Paul (the mayor, a white collar, public-facing profession), and Joe (the cafe/restaurant owner). If teenaged Rory has Dean and Jess, Ginny has Hunter and Marcus, respectively; Rory and Ginny obviously belong with the “bad boy”–they have infinitely better chemistry and get one another–but struggle with how good they “look” with the good guy, who’s actually kind of a judgmental jerk (as the bad guy points out).

Stars Hollow looks a whole lot like Wellsbury–hell, they’re both in New England. Wellsbury IS the most New England town name ever. Period. I love me some picturesque New England town bullshit.

Oh, and the side characters. Ellen and Sookie fill the same niche, and it’s a good one. They’re easily the most likable characters in both shows, and their husbands are genuinely funny characters in their own rights. GG has the sexually ambiguous (until he’s not) but oh-so-sarcastic Michel while G&G has Nick. Arguably, you could lump Kirk in with Michel to get Nick, but Nick isn’t as bumbling as Kirk, so maybe that point doesn’t stand. Hell, for friends Rory has the angel and devil on her shoulders in the form of Lane and Paris; Ginny has Max and Abby. And if Stars Hollow has Taylor Doose, Wellsbury has Cynthia Fuller. The list goes on.

Of course, a staple of GG is Emily and Richard Gilmore, but we glimpse that in G&G’s flashbacks to Zion’s parents, who help Georgia and Zion when the two first have Ginny. They’re similarly exasperated with their child’s choices and come off as a little overbearing but nonetheless have good intentions. They don’t have nearly as much screen time as Emily and Richard, which is a shame, but they serve a similar function.

Oh! And the flashbacks. They’re one of the charming parts of GG–they give us really important backstory on Lorelei’s life and life choices prior to the series’ start (and Rory’s birth, frankly). They’re less charming in G&G because Georgia’s background is far darker than GG ever could or would have conjured.

This gets me to why G&G isn’t just a GG rip-off. G&G isn’t just a woke GG. It isn’t just GG with people of color, in the LGBTQIA+ community, of varied socioeconomic classes, or from outside New England. If you like GG, you might like G&G, but you also might not. G&G addresses real life challenges teenagers, women, people of colorm hell, most Americans face in 2021. It depicts the US in its multiple angles, some of which are very, very ugly. Some might say that it’s GG for 2021, and maybe it is, but if that’s true, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. I’m just not sure it’s totally true.

I’m going to cool it on the GG-G&G comparisons for a moment and just talk about G&G because I think you get my point. Before I cool it completely, though, and as a point of departure, I’ll say that if we do go with the idea that G&G is GG for 2021, then we need to recognize what G&G does differently: it gives us glimpses into how a whole range of people experience the US, and it doesn’t look away from ugly, unflattering, hateful truths that reside just below the surface of sparkly, shiny, pretty, picture-perfect towns. It doesn’t shy away from reality, even if that reality is uncomfortable for white, middle-class, cis, het viewers.

The important things about G&G that I haven’t yet mentioned in specifics are a’plenty.

Ginny (and Hunter) is mixed-race, a subject that comes up on a number of occasions in the form of explicit conversations about how being mixed-race doesn’t necessarily mean belonging to two communities but can instead mean feeling out of place in both. It also comes up in a very hard-to-watch argument between Ginny and Hunter where the two trade insults about one another’s lack of belonging; the argument escalates into a screaming match in which the two effectively diminish not only one another’s claims to their Black (in Ginny’s case) and Taiwanese (in Hunter’s case) identities but also the prejudices they experience at the hands of a hegemonic white society that systematically denies opportunities or a sense of belonging (among other things) for those who don’t fit into readily identifiable “boxes.”

Georgia ran away from her childhood home in rural, impoverished Arkansas because she was being sexually abused by her stepfather, who then went on to sexually abuse her half-sister.

Georgia has killed people, often for “legitimate” (???) reasons, including posing threats to Ginny.

Georgia used to be in a biker gang and still has connections with at least one member, a lawyer she has on retainer to help her “disappear” her misdeeds, including said murders.

Marcus and Ginny have struggled (or are currently struggling) with self-harm and suicide ideation.

Literally every single one of the teenagers in this show is under immense pressure to over-engage in extracurricular activities that will make them competitive candidates at top universities.

Parents’ unhealthy relationships with one another, divorce, and everything else in that realm also shape the teenaged characters’ lives.

Abby struggles with an eating disorder that’s fueled in part by comments her male peers (notably, an asshole named Press) about her body. Male characters make sexist, stereotyping comments to Ginny about her body, too.

I’ll stop there, but I do so with full knowledge that I’m likely leaving something out. Hell, as I type this I remember that Austin (Ginny’s younger half-brother) literally stabs a kid in the hand and there’s a private detective trying to figure out Georgia’s past, including if/how she murdered her previous husband (the impetus for the family’s move). Like I said, there’s so much more to this show than just its similarities with GG. But I’ve also seen articles online decrying viewers who make the connection, and I don’t think that’s quite the right approach. The show clearly isn’t copying GG. Even if G&G did take inspiration from GG, it takes that inspiration in a fresh direction.

I wonder, though, about how we, the viewers, are supposed to respond to certain aspects of the show.

For instance, the show pits the US South as the source of obvious Bad Stuff ™–child abuse, incest, poverty, etc.– and the US Northeast as a place where the Bad Stuff ™ is hidden beneath a picture-perfect veneer. I get what the show’s creators are going for. They’re attempting to give us a multidimensional perspective on the US in all its prettiness and ugliness, but I wonder if associating the South with only the Bad Stuff ™ is doing a disservice to a region that has a rich cultural past and present–a past and present that’s certainly included problems like poverty, racism, and abuse but cannot be defined by those things alone because those things are not all that’s there. To tie those things primarily to just one region because those are stereotypes that are often perpetuated about that region seems a bit . . . overly simplistic? Troublesome? Dare I use the old grad-student favorite–problematic? It’s too easy–it’s lazy, in fact–to pit South against Northeast as the source of the US’s outright ugliness. It’s the rhetoric surrounding the 2016 presidential election all over again, and, frankly, we could all use a break.

The other thing that regional competition does is it makes it possible for the show to gloss over the fact that those Bad Things ™ exist in the Northeast, too. I feel silly saying that because it seems so obvious, but the simplistic portrait the show paints of the US means that it sacrifices accurate representation and complexity for the sake of–well, actually, I’m not sure what it’s for the sake of. Maybe straightforward storytelling? That might make sense if the show didn’t dwell in other complexities and commit itself to attempting to represent other identities and aspects of American life with some degree of accuracy, so I don’t know.

I can’t speak to whether the show accurately represents the experiences of mixed-race people, LGBTQIA+ people, or people with disabilities. I suspect that it represents the experiences of some people accurately but, of course, not all people because that would be impossible. I’m also not sure if I think the show’s commitment to representing a variety of experiences of US life borders on tokenism. I can’t speak for how someone who occupies one of those subject positions experiences the show because I do not occupy that subject position. My gut reaction is that the show does seem to make an effort to go beyond the whole “look at us, we cast all sorts of people in our show” by attempting to humanize all of its characters as real humans with rich, complex lives. It weaves the characters’ lives into a tight web, making clear that a character like Max and Marcus’s dad isn’t noteworthy just because he’s deaf. You don’t look at Clint and think “oh, that’s the deaf character.” You think, oh, that’s Clint; he’s Ellen’s husband, Max and Marcus’s dad, he’s deaf, he makes pithy remarks about his over-the-top daughter and slacker son, and he performs strip-teases for his wife. He’s noteworthy because he’s an engaged (and absolutely hilarious) husband and father whose deafness is one of many identities of his that influences his children’s lives as any other cultural identity would influence a family’s dynamic. The entire family is (at least) bilingual, communicating in sign language and spoken English while also teaching their sign language skills to friends and significant others. His deafness is one identity among many that the show invests him with, and he’s not in all that many scenes.

I could be wrong, but that was my experience while watching the show and thinking about it a bit afterward and while writing this post.

The show depicts mixed-race identity in a complex way, too, but it dwells on it a bit longer and with a bit more detail. I mentioned that Ginny and Hunter are both of mixed-race parentage and that their mixed-race identities become a subject of a relationship-ending argument. To back up a bit, though, the show attempts to paint a vivid portrait of the challenges Ginny in particular faces as a she navigates middle-class, white suburbia as the daughter of a Black father and a white mother. We see how she reacts when a police office walks toward her at a gas station while she pumps gas in her mother’s BMW, when a teacher tells her she’s being “aggressive” (while her classmates, who display similar behaviors, are unremarked upon), when her hair frizzes out after her friends pressure her to let another student’s white mom brush her curls into a ponytail using a boar-bristle brush, when a male friend (multiple male friends?) tells her that she doesn’t look like a stereotypical Black girl, and, among other things, when another student asks her “what are you?” in an attempt to pinpoint her racial/ethnic identities. Each instance is painful to watch because the actress who plays Ginny plays her well; the camera stays trained on her face as she responds to each of these interactions, allowing the viewer to observe the range of emotions she feels as she repeatedly navigates a community of peers and adults who can’t get their shit together and respect her existence. These interactions aren’t quirky neighbors asking silly questions about why she hangs her laundry a certain way or informing her that she needs to only mow her lawn on Thursdays. These are interactions that repeatedly undermine her sense of belonging, that tell her she’s somehow different, and that question her very right to exist. It’s heartbreaking, but I think it’s important that it’s depicted because that’s reality for many, many people.

The scene with Hunter is interesting because it shows the two turning something that was common-ground into a source of conflict for them. I’m not entirely sure how to read this scene. It’s difficult to watch because it rapidly descends into a “who is the most disenfranchised?” competition rather than a respectful conversation about each partner’s different experiences with prejudice. I wondered if the subtext here was some commentary on how members of one racial community pit themselves against members of other racial communities. (I’m not being clear here, and I’m struggling to clarify even as I go back to edit this post. I guess what I mean is that, when I initially watched this scene, I worried that this was a negative commentary on the Black community in particular and how it engages with other racial communities. I hope that makes sense.) Frankly, I’m still not sure if that’s not what’s happening there or if that’s not what was intended. What I’m fairly certain of, though, is that the scene makes clear that we, the viewer, are being told pretty explicitly that we can’t identify the two as “good partners” on the sole basis that they have mixed-race parentage in common. In other words, the scene undermines the idea that experience of racial prejudice is the only (or even the most important) factor that brings two people together and makes them good partners for one another. It also undermines the belief that experiencing prejudice doesn’t mean a person is automatically awakened to the prejudices other people also experience.

This is also one of the scenes where Ginny truly is unlikeable. Hunter is, too, but he’s unlikeable in a number of scenes throughout the show. He’s the Good Guy™ character in a nutshell–says all the right things, does all the right things, is all the right things, but maybe isn’t all those things for all the right reasons. In this scene, Ginny enacts the prejudicial treatment she’s suffered at the hands of her peers against Hunter; she questions the validity of his identity and the veracity of his experiences of prejudice at the hands of his peers. This scene is the breaking-point where the two have to come to terms with the fact that they’re not compatible even though, on some surface and by some set of metrics, they might appear to be.

Hunter sucks, but so does Marcus–for different reasons, though. Marcus is detached, withdrawn, sarcastic, unmotivated, disrespectful, and dishonest. He’s unaware–and doesn’t attempt to improve at all on this–of how his actions impact other people. He just doesn’t care about anyone but himself–until he does, a little bit. Some part of me has sympathy for Marcus and genuinely likes him; I’ll blame the show for that. Another part of me–the part that’s 30 years old and has known plenty of Marcuses–doesn’t have time for his shit. I’m conflicted, but the majority of me wants Marcus and Ginny to end up together because the things they have in common and the things that bring them together are the things that most people look for in a relationship. Marcus is a lazy shit most of the time, but he makes a genuine effort to understand Ginny. By the end of the season, we see that he also respects her and accepts her as she is–warts and all. He seems to genuinely want the best for her, which is a nice development in character from our first introduction to him, tumbling out of his mother’s minivan after having been caught smoking weed on a street corner. Again, though, he wasn’t always so respectful. His past behaviors make it hard to trust him, so it makes sense when Ginny doesn’t bring him along at the end of the season. It does, though, make you hope that he’s back in season 2 and that we get to see more of their relationship.

Speaking of which, I hope that season 2 also explores Georgia and Joe’s relationship a bit more. It seems like they’re headed in the Lorelei-Luke direction, which will make me happier than words could express, but I could also see the show’s creators flipping the script on us and setting Joe up with his own gloomy backstory–something to do with the ethically ambiguous labor situation he’s got going on at his farm and in his cafe, perhaps? Still, I think that might make him and Georgia even better suited for one another than they already are. After all, he’s one of the first people who showed Georgia true, genuine kindness after she ran away as a teenager.

And of course I want more of Ellen in season 2. The actress who plays her is hilarious and her character is just . . . really likable.

On a somewhat lighter note, one little thing I noticed while watching the show is that the characters slap their thighs a lot. This, again, might by my seasonal allergies brain, but the “[slaps thighs]” notation on closed captioning came up an infinite number of times over the course of this show. It came up so often that I started thinking you could catch the entire plot of the show if someone just spliced together every instance where a character sighs and slaps their thighs. I’d watch that video.

After all that, I still think the parallels to GG are there, but I still defend that G&G is also more than those parallels. And the “more” it offers is good. It’s intrigue; it’s gloomy realities and often-ignored truths that don’t offer viewers a sunny break from reality. But I think that’s good. I don’t like the argument that TV should be a “break from reality” or that a show is good on the sole basis that it offers us a “break from reality.” I think that argument is an excuse used to defend media that is too lazy to do the responsible thing and convey storylines that are inclusive and meaningful.

Well, my laundry is done, so I have to go deal with that. Happy Saturday, and happy initial inoculation!

XOXO, you know.

[thecharlesdilaurentis-blog]

7x19: FArewell my lovely

*WARNING SPOILERS*

"Hanna monas AD." GIRL U ARE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH YALL GOTTA STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS SO QUICK EVEN WE COULD SMELL THAT RED HERRING FROM A MILE AWAY

"I'll convince her" ok yea Caleb cause y'all are secret agent friends we all know it just admit it already    

Ezra talking like he knows AD personally or something, like he's been the one getting texts or something. I see u Ezra u can't fool me.

But he was right about everyone in the room making mistakes & the look on everyone's face when he said it HA I loved it

Ooooo looks like AD stole the game back "time for pie"??? Is that not screaming EzrA to anyone??? especially the crows.

Mary really does seem like she's the nice twin but I can't help but think she's still more involved than we think

"It took me so long to finally get here w/ you, I'm not gonna loose it now." MY EMISON HEART UGH EMILY YOU DESERVE THE WORLD ALI BETTER GIVE IT TO YOU

 AD PUT A GAS LEAK (But nothing ended up happening so i’m confused wtf marlene)

Did anyone else notice how when the video of ali kept playing on a loop she wanted emily to quickly turn it off, almost like she didnt want anymore questions raised about ‘That night’

"I'm not interested in you doing anymore sacrifices for your friends" BOYYYYYY IF U DONT GTFOH WITH ALL THAT THE ONLY SACRIFICES SHES MADE SO FAR ARE FOR YOUUUUUU OMG I AM DEAD I HATE EZRA I LOVE IAN HARDING BUT I HATE EZRA 

YEAH OF COURSE MONA LOOKS NERVOUS SHE STOLE ADs GAME AND THAT ASSHOLE KNEW & STOLE IT BACK I WOULD BE NERVOUS TOO SHE ONLY GOT INVOLVED IN THIS CRAZY SHIT AGAIN B/C HER POOR LIL HEART STILL WANTS TO BE ACCEPTED BY YALL UGH IM SO MAD

Hanna the only one who ever gives Mona the benefit of the doubt now that's a somewhat real friend lmao

"You two are fighting like a married couple.." AWKWARD we are. Spaleb who??

Lmao Caleb annoys me a lot now but I am not gonna lie dude has BALLS idk if that's a good or bad thing tho.

But like I said before him and Mona are too comfortable around each other. Look how easy she's talking to him and how calm he is with her. They have to be working together they just have to be!! (Not like as AD but idk as investigators to track AD or something, they know each other tea choices THERE AIN’T NO COINCIDENCES IN ROSEWOOD)

"There's always been someone watching, manipulating." Girl yes I been saying this since day one!!! Bethany young, twincer, wren, ezrA you may make your appearance now.

Lol I knew that waiter left a note from AD, like u said Mona, they be watching

 By the looks of Mona running they had to have said meet me in the back or something, Mona READY to see who keeps jacking her games lol

ANOTHER SECRET PASSAGE WAY GAH DAMN ROSEWOOD PROBABLY GOT THE WHOLE DAMN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD UNDER THERE

YES ARIA TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS I LOVE IT AT LEAST SOMEONE IS 

Come on though I knew that body was gone the minute I realized they left it in the car

I'm not mad that they reshot the classroom scene or that it ended up being a dream but I would've much rather the dream be Ali's than Emily's dream the "emma thornwald" name would be a lot more relevant b/c how in the fucking world would emily know that. & why put that scene as the cliffhanger?? That's so anticlimactic! They could've put the liars burying Rollins but not showing who it was, or charlotte clutching the rose, or fuck even the fucking girls sipping mimosas w/ Mona would've been more climatic than that shit. 

"AD doesn't get notes they give them." Finally someone has a clue, go Caleb I get points. 

Btw idk if I really enjoyed that spaleb moment or if I just really love Troian & her amazing acting, her whole part in that scene was just perfect!

Was it a little weird to anyone else that Alison was the one who apologized to aria first?? I think it's because she knows she still has her own secrets/mistakes that haven't come to light. 

Ooooo I bet this tunnel that spaleb is in is going to lead to the church and radley. 

So Mona must have a split personality disorder or something cause the way she's telling on herself to Hanna and how she's dressed just give off a total old school Mona vibe like radley Mona vibe. Hanna really fucked up by letting her fuck with that game she should've just killed charlotte and GOT GONE GIRL. lol Ali 2.0 forreal this time.

I also figured she had some altercation w/ charlotte that was the only person I could see her saying "am I supposed to be scared of you?" Too lol I love ceces sass.

I love how Mona knew everything & I also think it's funny but slightly choosy how charlotte said "you always were the smart one Mona, not spencer."

I think this charlotte flashback is the FUCKING BEST THING EVER

Ceces such a bitch it almost doesn't seem like she's the charles she explained in her story. Like literally she’s not charles.

So I guess Mona does have a personality disorder and she's even convinced one said that the liars are actually her friends wow I'm sad. I love her :(

& I think it's now clear cece was planning to start the game right back up again but this time bigger and better it seems "not only did u lose the game you lost the story, its mine, everything's mine... god I hate this town I guess I'm supposed to do something about that too."

Fuck janels performance is EVERYTHING I am loving this flashback!!!!!

But did anyone else notice how we never actually SAW mona push the body off and fake the suicide. She could’ve ran and someone else came and covered it up. Like mona said to hanna she didnt mean to mess it up but what exactly did she mess up?? she didnt cover up the murder someone else did.

I think Hanna spoke for everyone when she said "not really an answer"

I told y'all Mary was gonna take the fall

Wow andrea Parker did so well at playing both Mary & Jessica

In the end im still confused and my brain hurts

OKAY SO, obvi alot of my predictions were a miss but I did get a few, I knew mary was gonna take the fall, I did see a few ali clues not a ton though maybe ill find more in the rewatch, I was right about mona getting into a fight with charlotte and somehow being involved in her murder & the episode did feel like a lame finale so I guess thats pretty good! This episode was amazing from start to finish they really kicked it into high gear for these last few episodes i’m finally seeing a picture in this crazy ass puzzle we call PLL. I’m trying not to expect alot from the finale but I just really hope it is as satisfying as all the cast say it’s going to be.

After this i’m really starting to hop on board with twincer, ezrA, or even Toby after seeing the finale promo. I’m going out of town for the next week so tomorrow i’ll post my finale PLL theory & then ill be off til the finale! It’s been real guys and although i’m ready for closure i’m also going to miss reading everyones amazing theories and all the possibilities this show could have gone with.

Tell me all you last minute theories!!! I wanna know what everyones thinking before the finale and how we all see this shit tying together!