#i fully expected her to see denny

[oddeyes588]

gOD I'm eating so well today... we're finally getting some good characterization for Ruri and Rin... hell, it's incredible that we're getting some characterization for them AT ALL. I'm gonna ramble about it.

Ruri. Oh Ruri... it's genuinely so funny seeing her complete contrast with Yuto and Shun, who have all the dark and broodiness that comes with being characters who've been sharpened by the harsh edges of war. Yuto is in a bit of a middle-ground compared to Shun, but Ruri sits on the complete opposite end of the spectrum to her brother.

She's very chill and sweet, in stark contrast to Shun's tendency for rage and violence. Hell, she's the only one of the Xyz Trio who ISN'T glaring constant daggers at Dennis. She's sympathetic, and this goes in line with what we already knew about her. Having received the same teachings from Yusho as Yuya, she's pacifistic and hates the violent dueling that destroyed her home, as it's not what dueling is meant to be.

While Yuto and Shun get understandably hardened in order to do what is necessary to survive, Ruri doesn't want to lose what she loved about her home, and as such tries to maintain it. It's not like she let everything that happened slide off her back, she still has fear for Academia, but she's readily sympathetic, and it's honestly very sweet to see. While Yuto and Shun are still trying to adjust into the process of healing, Ruri is ready to dive in headfirst, because that's exactly what she was waiting for the whole time.

Basically, for having seen the Horrors of War, Ruri is handling herself remarkably well.

And at last... Rin. Rin is hilarious in a few ways, but to start with a more serious note...

It truly does speak to how good of a place Heartland was versus how shit of a place the City was from the get-go, because out of the two, Rin is somehow the more traumatized one? Not that anyone can blame her, since she grew up in a Capitalist Dystopia where you can be arrested and sent to a "correctional facility" indefinitely for the crime of, uh, trespassing on the property of the rich. Oh, and at the age of 14, too! Rin is often scared and fully ready to choose violence over it. Honestly, the idea that Rin's automatic reaction to somebody lunging out at her is to drive her knee into their stomach makes way too much sense... and it really speaks as to how little brain cells Yugo has that he doesn't learn his lesson, and keeps trying to hug her out of nowhere.

But with that said... god I love Rin, actually. Despite Yugo's inability to learn why you don't suddenly glomp somebody, she's got exactly the amount of "he's an idiot, but he's MY idiot" energy that we expected... by which I mean she has an ABSURD amount of that energy. She cares about Yugo just as much as he cares about her, though she shows it via the very hilarious method of affectionately dragging him at every opportunity.

And it's actually so great. I love her. Anyways! It's also neat to see how her overall focus is actually on a much smaller scale compared to everyone else. Yuzu has—or rather, had—obviously she asks about her home, asks how the Synchro Dimension is doing... and she's happy to hear that it's finally on the right track. But while the other three girls are somewhat vested in the fate of the universe(s), the state of their home, etc... Rin seems to focus a lot harder on the fact that she missed the Friendship Cup on account of being kidnapped at the time.

And while yes, there's a hint of tragedy to that considering that the losers of that particular tournament are all sent to an underground work facility to be worked until they die...

...her being lowkey SUPER competitive is a delight.

[sortasirius]

"Ghost of a Second Chance" and the Haunting of Eddie Diaz

Okay I finally have some semblance of cohesive thoughts on this episode, so here goes.

Long ass post below:

First of all, the stalker/kidnapping situation was, in fact, harrowing. 911 always knows how to pull off a good twist, I had no inkling that she HADN'T been kidnapped by her husband until Athena figured it out.

The theme of this whole post is, essentially, that I love the way 911 handles past trauma. It's messy and difficult and often not a linear path to healing. We see that with Maddie and with Eddie in this episode in particular, with foreshadowing for Bobby as well.

Sorry I just love seeing them work a call, like these are my emotional support firefighters <3

I'm also loving this arc with Hen and Karen, they're such good parents and are fighting so hard for Mara. And to have Denny be the one she talks to first? To have him be the one that she opens up to? They've raised him so so so well.

Chris is the best and I love him.

And so...Eddie.

"Not too late. We can turn around and leave her now."

Yeah alright, throwaway line meant to be a joke. Sure. But we really don't know Marisol like that. We haven't spent enough time with her to know that he doesn't actually feel this way. Hell, the last time we had a scene with her he was asking her to move out and grinning from ear to ear when she agreed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that...he's just not that into her.

And here we are, with Chris and Marisol walking ahead of him, and Eddie looking into a store to see Shannon's literal doppleganger folding some shirts.

Immediately, we get scenes of them together. Laughing, kissing, looking at one another, but there are a few things that I find interesting here, first and foremost how these shots are colored.

They're washed out, not fully black and white, but sort of greyscale. I saw someone else talk about how they're colored this way because Eddie doesn't remember them clearly anymore, and I have latched onto this, it makes perfect sense.

I do think part of him is terrified of losing these memories, clinging to them in a way, and seeing this woman in the store sort of brought them all to the surface, giving him something to almost cling to.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Yeah haha, just saw the double of my dead wife in the store, no biggie.

I have to laugh.

When Maddie realizes that Catherine never told her that she was with her husband, you can really tell that this call is dragging up a lot for her, which goes back to my point on how well this show portrays non-linear healing. Even though she left Doug in the woods and moved on with her life, even though she has Jee and fought her PPD and won, even though she's married to Chimney, a part of her will always look over her shoulder expecting to see him there. She's come such a long way, but trauma like that doesn't just go away, it's something that she'll battle forever.

I'm also loving the look into the broken foster system for Hen and Karen. They want to do right by Mara, but how can they when they're not given all the information, when they weren't told about Tyson because Deirdre wasn't allowed to tell them?

I loved Amir's scene with Maddie and I'm DEPRESSED that he's going to try and kill the love of my life Bobby.

Eddie just LURKING outside this store to see mirror Shannon...boy...

Sorry but the "do you trust me?" YOU'RE SELLING HIM A CANDLE GIRL HE DOESN'T KNOW YOU.

"Well then you have no reason not to trust me." Spoken like a true serial killer lmfao.

Unfortunately Eddie Diaz is in the depths of delusion and this corny line worked on him.

You have to admit it is so fucking funny that he's on the brink of cheating with a sales associate trying to sell him an ugly ass keychain who looks like his dead wife who asked him for a divorce approximately 37 seconds before she died. Like that is peak comedy and I won't pretend otherwise.

"It's me, your husband?" Chim I know you say this to Maddie 400 times a day and I love you for it.

"Tell me about the woman in the passenger seat of that car."

He's so open with her, so unafraid to see her as she is, the good and the scary, and he loves her anyway, just as she loves him. Sorry I'm just emo about them.

I genuinely could not tell the difference between blonde Shannon and bangs Shannon. I had a meltdown through that entire scene thinking that he was fucking Kim. But it's fine because he was just fantasizing about fucking his dead wife while carrying a conversation with his girlfriend.

Eddie Diaz let me study you.

I find this idea so fascinating, the way he’s clearly looking at their relationship with rose colored glasses, how he remembers the positives only, not the fights, not the arguments, not the fact that he ran away from her twice when he enlisted in the army. He only remembers the good sex, the smiles, the laughter, even though that was a tiny part of their relationship, nearly negligible at times.

This isn’t the first time Eddie’s done this either, he’s talked before about how their relationship was “magic” when it definitely wasn’t.

Overall, I find this a really interesting look into grief, into how we remember the best parts of people we loved, how we can be so willing to forget the things that didn’t work, the anger and the fights.

Eddie has never really dealt with Shannon's death, he’s pushed it to the side for Chris, keeps going even when he feels like he’s going to break apart. And now it seems like it's finally caught up with him, like meeting Kim tore it all open again, and he's haunted by Shannon again, by his guilt for how it ended and what he wished he had done differently.

OBSESSED with Buck tackling this guy like yes himbo king use those football skills.

AND Dad reflexes Chim I truly am living.

I feel like Vincent has no idea that she brought Tyson to see Mara, and I feel like that will come back into play later.

Domestic Buddie and Chris scene <3

Look not to be a total shill for Buddie (who am I kidding we all know what I am) but there's something so...weirdly intimate about Eddie just knowing their pizza order. And it's their order, not just Buck's, like Eddie would be joining them if he wasn't meeting "Marisol."

They are seriously family shaped and I love them.

Jee and Chim and Maddie GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Now, for the elephant in the room: Kim and Eddie going on a date behind Marisol (and Buck’s) back. Look, I know I’m in the vast, vast minority here, but I don’t hate a cheating arc in fiction. It happens in life, more often than most people want to think about, and it makes for an interesting storyline. But at this point, Eddie hasn’t really cheated (even thought I was CONVINCED he had with that flashback lmao). He’s toeing a dangerous line, yeah, but having dinner with Kim isn’t inherently cheating, even though he is lying to Buck and his real actual girlfriend.

It’s fascinating to see him be okay with this but his “catholic guilt” stands in the way of him having sex with his girlfriend because she was a nun once. I think him seeing Kim like this really hammers home the point that he doesn’t even really like Marisol. He’s certainly not committed to her in any meaningful way, or he wouldn’t be entertaining Kim.

And let’s not forget, he’s lying to Kim too! He told her he was single and he’s not!

Kim isn’t Shannon, she will never be able to fill that void that Eddie is still desperately searching to fill, because no one can fill that void, not even Shannon.

The theme of the episode is, in its way, stalking. The overall plotline of Kyle stalking and kidnapping women, Eddie sort of following Kim around, even Karen making that offhanded comment that she felt like a stalker. But it feels like Eddie's guilt and unprocessed grief over his relationship with Shannon is stalking him in a way. He believes that their relationship was perfect, that if he could just find the right woman, everything would be fixed, he wouldn't have to grieve her anymore. But that's just not how things work, and I don't believe that there is any woman, not even Shannon herself, that could fit on the pedestal that Eddie has created for her.

The way that Shannon has kind of haunted Eddie's narrative from the moment she died, how she looms over every relationship he has... he's always chasing her memory, but not her true memory, he's chasing the memory that he's creating for himself. The beautiful one where they never fought, he never ran, she never left. But that memory doesn't exist, and it never has.

Eddie is looking for something that he’ll never be able to find. He’s looking for a woman that can be the mother that Shannon was to Chris, but with a partnership that doesn’t make him want to run away…or panic…or cheat.

Where is he going to find that? I think we all know he’s already found it, just not with a woman.

I’ll be so interested to see what this turns into. I love the idea that Buck or one of the others meets Kim and she looks nothing like Shannon to them, because it would be so unsettling for everyone to basically be like “what are you seeing in this random woman that makes you think of your dead wife?” What’s the fallout going to be? Eddie is obviously not well, he’s spiraling and will likely hide it from everyone, just like he tried to hide his struggles with PTSD from everyone as well.

He’s such a fascinating character, and I think the way the writers are bringing up this catholic guilt storyline now could be really compelling if it leads to a larger realization. Marisol is a red herring, we don’t even care enough about her to learn her last name, but she’s a catalyst for Eddie’s guilt at being with someone that brings up his feelings about religion, about what’s “right” and “wrong." And I feel like this could lead to a larger realization.

Maybe even about the man who is more of his partner and parent to his son than any of his girlfriends have been.

[moreespressoformydepresso]

TBOSAS fantasy creatures AU where the district people are all different kinds of magical beings (with human forms) whose powers are being heavily suppressed by the Capitol. Instead of the first interviews in the academy he mentors have to get their assigned tribute to talk to them (with Gaul’s scientist team making miniature environments the tributes can be their magical self in to make it more interesting) in a public, broadcasted setting with a crowd to witness this. Nobody knows how Highbottom got this plan pushed through but he did, hoping the public will see these kids as growing human beings instead of as vile beasts.

The start is… rocky. The mentors go in order of assigned district, girl then boy, and everyone gets one chance to start with. Everything afterwards is optional. So Livia goes first, fully expecting to get worshipped for the name Cardew or be attacked viciously by some monster, but she instead spends half an hour screaming into the void for Facet to show himself with no response. She doesn’t notice the shadow gliding around her, hidden in the dark crevices of the cracked walls of his environment. Livia doesn’t even know shadow elves are a thing, let alone what they can do. All she’s ever been taught is that elves are a monolith, and it’s coming to bite her here. Maybe if she’d been more respectful she would’ve gotten a chance.

Palmyra doesn’t have much more success, though she gets more reaction. While no words are spoken, she occasionally catches a glimpse of glowing red eyes peering out at her from the dense foliage. Once, she even catches sight of fur as a catlike creature starts to inch into sight, but as soon as the camera behind her is visible the girl disappears again. Velvereen doesn’t respond to anything after that.

After that, things get a little easier. Not great but not as bad. Sejanus and Marcus get a little reunion, though only when Sejanus uses his changeling abilities to escape the cameras and they’re completely in private, with enough proof for Marcus to believe Sejanus really does still see himself as district. Florus… is not so lucky. Sabyn (harpy) only lets out one screech and isn’t seen any further. Circ (fae) nerds out with his mentor Io and Teslee (Sphinx but instead of cannibalism she can briefly mind-control) rambles to Urban, but only Circ really gets to know his mentor. Urban just has weird vibes at the start which stunted the bonding. Persephone’s the first fully Capitol person with any success. The fairy plays a few harmless tricks on her before finally revealing himself and introducing himself as Mizzen. Persephone… immediately starts planning how to get him out of the games. This kid is too precious, she cannot and will not let him die. But she can’t say that out loud (yet) so her scheming remains purely mental for now. Festus is a massive slide back as he fucks up his first interaction the second Coral gives him a chance and the valkyrie refuses to show her face again.

Hy (a kelpie) and Dennis get on pretty well, and while Iphigenia takes a little to warm up to Sol (firebird) they get along in the end too. Perhaps even better… (I ship them due to An Old Style Of Escape don’t @ me) Otto (Gahe) and Ginnee (gryphon) become friends with the Ring twins too, though Otto starts off a little distrustful and disgusted by everything Capitol while Ginnee is a little put off by the jewelry and expensive clothing. Lamina (phoenix) is a little hesitant about Pup as they sit in the carefully crafted oasis environment, especially because he’s kinda judgemental and rude at first, but he quickly softens up to her and they become a little closer. She ends up crying about having to kill one of her closest friends since birth and how sick she feels at the thought of having to watch 23 people die and it fundamentally shifts something in the Capitol, who have slowly started to kind of pity these kids. Now they’re thrown into a crisis. This sweet girl was forced to be here, none of these kids have a choice, and they can’t avoid that fact anymore. All the other tributes were unique and kind, and it all worked to open them up to the reality check Lamina unknowingly gave them.

Then it’s Vipsania’s turn, and her landscape is a large pool of water made to look like a real lake, with different kinds of colorful foliage and even ruins of an altar at the bottom. At first, she and the crowd surrounding the large pool fully believe it’s empty, a belief only disproven by the occasional rustling, the shadow shooting through the water, and the soft, melodious laugh occasionally floating through the air with an echoey sound that isn’t entirely natural. She catches a glimpse of ink-black eyes and tries to call out, but falls in the icy cold water and can’t keep herself above water as her muscles freeze up. Her flailing only stops when a beautiful voice causes her to feel fully tranquil and hazy. For a second people fear Treech is using his siren’s song to drown her, but he pulls her out of the water and checks up on her until she calls his name, which scares him off and he dives back under the water with a yelp. She finally manages to coax him into talking to her and he ends up getting out of the water, tail and ink black eyes replaced by legs and brown human eyes. Occasionally she can hear his siren’s song slipping into his speech, but it becomes clear pretty quickly he does it on accident when he feels Big Feelings.

Hilarius is not a dick to Wovey in this! She’s a pixie and Hilarius gives her a makeover and does her hair because she asked him to and how does one say no to Wovey while claiming to have a heart? Bobbin is a little mean to his mentor at first but he gets around to her, using his wind spirit magic to make clouds for them to chill on. Sheaf (shapeshifter) and Panlo have a rough start with their mentors, with Panlo (forest elf) giving Gaius a proper dressing down in regards to how shitty his jokes are, but after the initial hurdle they get along swimmingly. Brandy (wit wief) Does Not like Arachne, and lets it be known by smacking her in the face with mist, but once Arachne lets go of the snobbish attitude they… find a middle ground? More like agree on a truce but yeah. Tanner and Domitia are the complete opposite, immediately befriending one another. He excitedly tells her about centaur biology and lets her ride on his back. Reaper (Basilisk) is very silent, occasionally flashing snake-eyes at Clemensia, but he’s not necessarily hostile. By which I mean she hasn’t been turned to stone yet. Dill (wood nymph) hides from Felix for a long while until she finally decides to give him a chance and he immediately starts plotting how to get her medicine. They get a nice sibling bond because Felix is nice and Dill is the sweetest, they deserve nice things.

Jessup (Faun) and Lysistrata get their bonding in too, of course, growing incredibly fond of one another very quickly. Lucy Gray (banshee) originally falls for Coriolanus’ charms, but his attitude towards the other tributes slips through a little and she loses all interest because she can see he doesn’t hold the values his behavior made her believe he had. His charming persona made her feel like he actually cared about the tributes, but she comes to realize he’s making every excuse he can to only care about her and make her ‘not district’. Now, Lucy Gray isn’t district. She’s Covey. However, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t care about the people in the districts. They’re not her people because those she considers her actual people have been massacred, but they’re still people. A lot of them are good, humanity is inherently good, and Coryo’s insistence to see the districts as less worthy of life rubs Lucy Gray the wrong way. If he can convince himself to be okay with 23 children dying just because they’re “lesser” by being born different, what else can he convince himself of? How far will he be able to go as long as it benefits him?

At the end of the day, the Capitol’s heart has been softened and they refuse to let the games happen. In the zoo, they bring anything they can think of to help these kids feel more at home, from food to environmental trinkets that make the zoo enclosure feel less like a zoo enclosure. It’s not a lot but it’ll do while they sort out the whole hunger games stuff. Of course the games get cancelled, and the Capitol learns a lot of new things about the districts that bridges the gap between normal humans and supernatural beings.

PS I kinda wanted to make Lucy Gray a siren and Treech a banshee but banshees are all women so that was the dealbreaker :p (and also siren Lucy Gray means making SnowBaird happen and this felt like a better ending for her)

[liveslivedinthemind]

It’s called Freefall Chapter 3

Summary: When you're born, the Universe has already decided who will be your soulmate by marking their first touch on your skin. Some of those soul marks are just a small fingerprint on their shoulder, or maybe a hand mark from a handshake. Some even have multiple, and it is never sure what kind of a bond you're destined to have with your soulmate. Alexandra Turner is a special case however, as her whole body is covered in marks. 24 to be exact. What she doesn't know that there's someone else out there with 24 marks who's waiting for her to bump into them.

Pairing: Original Female Character x Kevin Wendell Crumb/Dennis/Barry/the whole system

Fandom: Split

Word count: 1.4k

Masterlist

Author’s note: Please feel free to let me know if I have messed something up or if you have any advice on how I can improve my writing. I hope you enjoy!

If you wish to be added to the taglist for this fic, let me know :)

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Barry couldn’t stop smiling to himself as he led Alex through the masses of people that were leaving their workplaces. He had met his soulmate, he had actually met her and he had been the first one as well out of everyone. He knew that they were all on the same team, that being Kevin’s, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit special since he had found the one destined for them. 

But no matter how happy he was, Barry still felt a bit of sadness because even he could see that there was something hurting Alex, something that was stopping her from feeling the same joy he had in his heart. He had always known that he’d have to be prepared to be rejected by their soulmate purely because of his condition, but he never expected to be met with sadness before he had even had the chance to introduce himself. He wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but he knew that, if she allowed him to, he’d want to make sure that sadness would be replaced with a smile. 

Alex found herself in front of a small café that was only a five minute walk away from the therapist’s office. It looked quite quiet inside, despite the busy traffic outside, which she was very grateful for. Nodding a thank you to Barry for holding the door open for her, she stepped in and looked around - there were only a few patrons there and plenty of empty tables were free for them to have what she suspected was going to be one of the most difficult conversations in her life. 

“What do you want to drink, Alex?”

She heard Barry ask and she immediately looked up at the chalkboard menu on the wall, her head swimming with options. She tried to open her mouth and  reply with anything, but no voice came out. She was still unable to fully speak and her cheeks flushed, ashamed of her own anxiety getting the best of her. 

But Barry just smiled reassuringly and gently placed his hands on her shoulder, right on top of his mark. He may not know or understand what’s going on in her mind, but he could tell that at that very moment, he needed to just offer that extra bit of support so he looked up at the menu and offered,

“How about we just get a teapot to share? Is Earl Grey okay?”

Alex was shocked to hear him speaking up with a choice, taking a lot of pressure off her shoulders. She nodded, this option was fine with her and the smile she received in return made her feel a bit more at ease as well. 

After Barry had ordered and picked up their teapot from the barista, he led her to one of the more secluded areas to sit down. She had picked up the cups for the both of them before following him, happy that he had chosen a private space for them. She may not fully know what was to come but she had a gut feeling that it would not be a simple ‘how’s the weather today’ type of a conversation. There was a silence between them as they settled in at the table for two, neither of them wanting to scare the other off it seemed. Once sat and both of their breathing had calmed, Barry finally looked at her properly and spoke up with his voice being gentle and soft, something that didn’t fully suit his massive frame.

“So, as I mentioned before, I do have a couple of marks on me. Now… before I continue, I just want you to know that I won’t force anything that you don’t want, Doll, so please just speak your mind on what I’m about to explain to you.”

He paused for a moment and looked across the table at Alex, the fear of just outright rejection slowly building up in his chest. She remained as silent as she had been, there wasn’t any indication that she would bolt again so he continued,

“There’s no smooth way to say this because I can’t really sugarcoat any part of it too much so here goes nothing… The reason why I visit doctor Fletcher is because I have DID.”

“DID?”

“Dissociative identity disorder. Have you heard of it maybe?”

Barry was praying to whoever was listening that she wouldn’t run, and that she would have heard at least something about his condition. He really didn’t want to explain the details of what it is and how it came to be, it wasn’t really a conversation to have over tea in his opinion. Luckily Alex nodded and whispered softly,

“I read about it a little when I looked Doctor Fletcher up.”

Barry gave her a kind smile and his heart was breaking just a little at how delicate she sounded. He didn’t know if it was the soul bond between the two of them but he felt an immense drive to make sure that nothing would spook Alex. He just had to make sure that none of her words would get lost between them, he’d always make sure her voice was heard at least by him. He was also relieved that she had some knowledge on his condition since this would save him from explaining everything from scratch. 

Barry poured some tea for the both of them and started to explain a bit more in the meantime,

“Now this is all speculation from doc’s side but she seems to be under the impression that there is a possibility that all of us in Kevin’s body might actually share a soulmate. We all seem to have a mark correlated to us, however it is just statistically unlikely that we haven’t even met a single one of our soulmates yet so… She seems to think it’s actually just one person. In our little situation, she thinks it’s you who’s the soulmate to all of us. Now-”

“How many?”

Alex had cut him off before he could continue and he looked at her for a moment, unsure if he should answer truthfully, scared it might frighten her too much. Barry sighed, knowing it would cause more harm to lie so he replied,

“24 in total. Kevin is the host, the OG so to speak. The others, me included, came later on and so did the extra marks.”

There was a moment of silence, tense of the unknown. Alex’s mind was going a thousand miles per hour as she tried to grasp the situation at hand. She had met one of her soulmates but it then turned out that it is most likely all of them. She thought that she would be happy but it was all so overwhelming for her to even fully accept. She took a deep breath before she spoke her mind,

“There are 24 marks on me as well, Barry. So I think that Doctor Fletcher might be right. It’s a lot to take in though, I honestly do not know what to say or do or if I should be happy or sad or…”

Her words got caught in her throat and she clamped up once again, unable to verbalize her trail of thoughts fully. Her eyes started darting from Barry to the outside to her mug and to her hands, not sure if she should run or stay. There were so many thoughts and images flashing through her brain that it all just blurred together in a consistent state of movement and screaming. 

Without thinking too much about it, Alex pulled out a piece of paper from her bag along with a pen and jolted down her name and phone number before she grabbed everything and bolted out of the door without uttering a single syllable. She needed to get out, away from the man who would be responsible for every single one of her marks over time. She just couldn’t look at him because deep down, without her even fully realizing it, her heart was slowly starting to beat only for them.

Back at the coffee shop, Barry was dumbfounded, still sitting at the table. This had been the second time that day his soulmate had fled from him but he knew it would cause a lot of harm if he were to go after her this time. He picked up the piece of paper and very carefully put it in his wallet to make sure he wouldn’t lose it. He finished his cup and looked out of the window, trying to soothe the ache in his chest from the very slight rejection he was feeling from the escape of his soulmate. His efforts were in vain however because from somewhere, he could hear Hedwig innocently asking,

“Is she scared of me et cetera?”

< Chapter 2                                                       Chapter 4 Coming soon >

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Taglist: @royaltysuite

[kay-elle-cee]

@jilytoberfest 31 Prompts: Day 5 || 696 Words || Read on Ao3 —

James.

That’s what the hastily-filled out nametag on the newcomer’s chest says as he sinks himself into the chair across from her. He’s fit—undeniably so—with his mess of dark curls, his playful hazel eyes more contained than hidden behind square-framed glasses. Those eyes briefly travel from her face down her body in that quick first-glance way everyone at this bloody event tries to hide, and unlike the four suitors before, this one sends her blood sizzling.

Lily clears her throat, drawing his eyes back up to her face and she recognizes something in his smile. It’s the same kind of smug amusement her last boyfriend had worn anytime she’d try to argue a point. And while James hadn’t yet spoken a word, the memories of Dennis turn her mood from pleasantly intrigued to wary and confrontational.

(No matter how fit he is).

Lily raises her chin and surveys him with disinterest as she breaks the ice. “Why are you here?” 

Her tone, at least, has the effect of catching him off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean my friends tricked me into coming,” she explains with the raise of an eyebrow. “I don’t…do this. So why are you here?”

There’s a flaw. There has to be a flaw. Playboy. Sniffs out desperation. Trust issues. Commitment issues.

James’ brows furrow in confusion and he leans back from the table a bit, clearly put-off by her line of questioning. “Went through a bad breakup a couple of months ago, thought this was a low-stakes way to get back out there”

She glances at the hourglass timer between them skeptically. ‘Speed dating’ and ‘low-stakes’ seemed to be totally opposing concepts.

“Who was at fault?”

Lily hears the edge in her voice and truly she holds no ill will towards this man, it’s just Dennis, again, getting under her skin.

James’ shoulders go rigid and his head cocks to the side, the muscles in his neck catching her gaze. “I don’t see how that’s your business.” His words aren’t as cutting as she expected for such a personal question, and that fact throws her a bit off-kilter.

Determined to keep up this slightly-antagonistic atmosphere, she folds her arms in a mirror of him. “We’re supposed to be asking questions, right? Checking for compatibility?”

“I mean I suppose, but you’re asking all the questions and it’s beginning to feel like an interrogation.” He breathes a bewildered laugh. “I mean, whatever happened to ‘what do you like to do in your spare time’?”

Heat climbs her neck and settles into her cheeks, and she’s fully aware that she’s been acting like a petulant child only to be called out by the best-looking guy she’d been matched with all night. Unfolding her arms, she leans forward as if preparing to tell him a secret. “Well maybe I think this whole thing’s ridiculous?”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

James is silent for a moment, studying her before leaning forward. “Then why are you here?”

“I already told you—”

“You said your friends tricked you,” he interrupts, shrugging. “You could’ve walked away when you saw what it was.”

She’s quiet, and doesn’t like the winning smirk on his face. Taking a deep breath, she subtly tilts her head to the side and takes a sip of water, relishing how his attention unconsciously drifts to her lips as she pulls the glass away.

“I think this whole concept is a farce, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see if anyone clicks enough for a nice shag, now, does it?”

She has the satisfaction of shocking him speechless right as the sand runs out of the hourglass between them and a call rings out from the front of the pub. “Time! Please rotate your tables.”

“Nice meeting you, James,” she dismisses, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair as her words—sultry, teasing, out of reach—cause his breath to catch. He stands, dumbstruck, and moves to the next table as he runs a hand through tousled black curls.

Lily would be lying if she said the way his eyes—curious, hazel, thoughtful—wander back to her throughout the evening don’t send a jolt of electricity coursing through her veins.

[rebeccalouisaferguson]

During a recent interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub while promoting the season finale of Silo, Rebecca Ferguson spoke about what audiences can expect from Dune: Part Two:

"I’m smiling so much right now. It's so fucking good. I get emotional talking about it because I love Denny [Villeneuve] and I love Greig [Fraser] and I love the team. But dude, number one is phenomenal and big and grandiose, and then you go close-ups and the imagery and the acting. Yeah, it's all great. It's fucking nothing compared to number two. Number two, it's like a fucking gut punch. It's unreal."

She went on to say, "I haven't seen the film. I've read the script. I've seen the footage. I've come onto set when I'm not filming, which by the way I don't do because I'm too busy, tired, and I don't really care. I'm done. I wanted to see the setups. I wanted to see Austin Butler do what he was doing. It's unbelievable. There are no words. The costumes, [Jacqueline West’s] costumes, what Austin's bringing to that character, what Christopher Walken does. I mean, it's unreal."

...

Ferguson also spoke about her experience while getting to work with the new talent joining the franchise:

"Their characters are huge and important, and they are emperors, and they are princesses, and they are brutal killers, and they are gory. They are fully and utterly needed to make the spectacle that it is, and it's the crème de la fucking crème of actors. That's what it brings."

Dune: Part Two will continue the journey of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a young warrior who is considered to be the protagonist of a prophecy by the Fremen. After losing his home during the last installment, Paul is determined to improve his abilities in order to defeat the Emperor and bring freedom to the worlds that need it the most. In the meantime, he has to figure out why he's closely connected to Chani (Zendaya), given how he constantly saw her in his dreams before they even met. Mysteries will be revealed and the fate of Arrakis will be decided when the sequel lands on the big screen this fall.

[gumnut-logic]

Discovered this in my fic folder. Had forgotten I had written it. Should probably check to see if I archived it.

Have yet another outside POV.

-o-o-o-

It had been one of those days.

It had started with a headache and it looked like it was going to end with a worse one.

She hated the stick. She really did. But the alternative was one of those damned walker things that had her bent over like an ancient witch mowing her lawn, or one of those terrifying scooter things that literally mowed every pedestrian down.

There was a definite lawn cutting theme in the old age mobility stakes.

She wasn’t old anyway, damn it. Only ninety-five, alive and still kicking and fully capable of whacking annoying upstarts with that walking stick of hers.

After all, it could be weaponised much easier than a lawn mower.

But there were days. And today was one of them.

Food shopping was a necessity for any age and despite her determination to support herself, Darcy was really missing her beloved Denny right now.

Fate had taken her husband long before his time, leaving her to fend for herself.

So fend she did.

The supermarket wasn’t far from her home and she counted the steps it took her to get there and back pulling her wheeled trolley as her daily exercise. It helped keep her alive and out of the house. She wasn’t allowed to drive anymore so it kept her sane and her heart beating.

But today everything was aching and she was feeling every one of those years, months and days.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have reached up so high. It really pissed her off that reaching up high was a thing. Didn’t used to be. But so many other things weren’t things before either.

But whatever it was, one second she was reaching for her favourite canned soup, the next the world was spinning and she was falling.

It was frightening. She had just enough time to realise her day was about to get horribly worse and probably involve a trip to emergency – damned placed stunk and was horribly noisy – and there would likely be a serious lack of soup in her future – hospital food wasn’t great.

But all of it was replaced with surprise as a pair of very strong arms wrapped around her and caught her before she could become far too intimate with the linoleum.

Her mind blanked as those arms, so obviously male and scented with…with hard work? And a very nice cologne. Flannel? Soft, strong…

“Ma’am? Are you hurt?”

She was suddenly under the intense scrutiny of a pair dark brown, frowning eyes. Young, worried…handsome…

Embarrassment climbed up her neck and lit her hair on fire.

Her voice was a little higher pitched than she expected. “I’m fine thank you.”

Of course, the young man noticed, and while the frown didn’t quite disappear, his generous lips curled into the smallest of smiles.

Which only made it all entirely so much worse.

What followed was a mess of her trying to get up, his worry that she had hurt herself, and a bucket of embarrassment. But eventually, he helped her to her feet, picked up her walking stick, and handed it to her.

The frown was definitely dominating over the smile. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She placed a hand on his arm…it was a very large arm – what the hell did the boy do for a day job to get that? “I’m totally fine. Please believe me. Thank you for your assistance.”

He was still eyeing her and there was obviously a great deal of brain activity going on behind those brown irises.

“Virg, we need some emergency TP again. Grandma, just commed me. You forgot it on the last supply run for the umpteenth time.” Another young man, this one blond but with eyes almost as brown as her saviour, barrelled into the aisle. His sandshoes squeaked on the linoleum as he came to an abrupt halt. “Ooh, who’s your new friend?” He doffed a hat he wasn’t wearing and bowed a little. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am, as soon as my brother introduces you to me.”

It was at that point she realised that those strong hands hadn’t quite let her go yet, even if they were reduced to one hand on her arm.

Those fingers hesitantly fell away as he straightened a little. “My apologies, ma’am. I’m Virgil and this is my brother Gordon. We’re…” He sighed a little and shot a look at his brother. “…not from around here.”

All manners and rescuing damsels…okay, she was closer to old hag if she was honest, but daydreams existed for a reason. She tilted her head a little. “No apologies needed, certainly not. You have my thanks. I’m Darcy. Very pleased to meet the both of you.” She offered him a hesitant smile. It was annoying to not be on the beat and up to snuff. She had to admit the fall had shaken her.

That frown was back.

Damnit. “Would one of you be kind enough to grab that can of soup for me? I have no idea why they make these supermarket shelves so high. You’d think they were built for giants.”

He blinked, casually reaching up to take her favourite can of soup off the shelf and offer it to her.

She smiled. “Thank you, kind sir.” She didn’t quite curtsy, that was risking more than she felt capable of right now, but she did turn the smile into a grin.

Her confidence was making its creeping way back.

“You are very welcome.” And again he was smiling.

His brother’s face split into a full-on grin. “Earth to Virg.”

The golden-haired man elbowed his brother in the ribs and the moment broke. She took the opportunity to grab her shopping trolley and make an exit before she managed to embarrass herself further.

Neither of them protested her leaving, but she was ever so conscious of those eyes following her down the aisle.

She wasn’t surprised to find the two men in the next aisle as she looped around for dog food for her little Samuel. The brothers were arguing about dog biscuits and someone named Alan.

Those brown eyes followed her as she hobbled past.

They weren’t in the next aisle – obviously their discussion lasted a while – but they were in the following aisle. Alan the dog had scored a packet of the expensive kind apparently as Gordon was holding it under one arm.

She smiled as she stepped past them. Virgil lugged one of the largest almost pallet-sized packets of toilet paper onto one shoulder.

Was he showing off?

Gordon seemed to think so.

She did smile to herself.

She didn’t see them again until she finally made it to the checkout with her small stash of things. The two brothers just happened to be in the queue next to her.

She probably should have been creeped out as they seemed to be following her, but there was something in that brown gaze that was far more concern than anything else.

If that boy had a wife, Darcy guessed she would be one of the most cherished and looked-after women in the world.

Blondie’s wife was probably the most patient.

Darcy snorted quietly to herself.

Through the checkout with all her shopping stashed in her faithful trolley, she smiled and waved at the two brothers as she left and started her slow walk home.

Halfway there she nearly dropped her walking stick as something big and green flew far too close overhead. She got a glimpse of a giant number two and then the profile of a big fat plane tore off into the distance.

She stared after it, recognising it for what it was and marvelling at her good fortune to have seen it.

A breath sighed out through her teeth.

Okay, perhaps it hasn’t been that bad a day after all.

-o-o-o-

[crmsnmth]

September Sky Chapter One, Part 11

"Yep, the absolute slowest suicide ever. Really, what's not going to kill me these days?" I said, letting the cigarette barely dangle from my lips.

"Very true," she replied reaching over and plucking the cigarette from my lips. I expected her to toss it into the street or snuff it out. Instead, she took a couple drags from it, and placed it right back between my lips. Her fingers barely grazed them, but it felt as a whole new galaxy of stars had just formed right below my skin. I could smell her skin and it smelt like watermelon candies. It was enticing.

It seemed to take us less time to walk back to her truck then it did to walk away. But isn't that how it usually works? Time, I mean. It always goes faster when it's headed towards something you dread. And, in a way, I was dreading her driving off. It had been such a long time that I'd done anything like this, and I really had fun with her.

"Thanks for the drinks," she said, opening the door and climbing up into her seat. I shut the door for her and hung onto the window as she rolled it down.

"Any time," I said with a smile. She held up a finger and turned to dig in her bag. I couldn't see what she was searching and had no idea as to what it could be either.

"A-ha!" She exclaimed loudly, and pulled out a black Sharpie marker. She motioned me to give her my hand and I tentatively held it out through the window. When she took it, electricity shot through my hand. She scribbled something on my buzzing skin. When I finally was able to see what she was writing, I couldn't figure it out. Not at first. She had written ten numbers on the top of my hand. Her phone number. I stared at it, wondering how long I could go without washing that hand.

"This was a lot of fun. Call me?" Addison started up her truck. She had turned the music down before we got out earlier, but I was just barely able to catch Blitzkid's 'The Howling' before it was lost to the street sounds.

"Yeah, it really was. For sure, I will," I didn't want to seem too eager. I always heard that turned people off. So I acted nonchalant and sort of careless. But I couldn't fully hide my eagerness. It was there, in full frontal nudity, dancing on my lips.

"See you," she gave me a small wave. I waved back and watched her drive off to wherever she was going next. I waited until I couldn't see her anymore, before I started the short walk home. I felt light. Lighter than I had in a long time. I kept looking down at my hand, staring at the ten digits. I was on clouds.

Nobody was at the apartment when I got there. At least, there was no simulated gunfire coming from Dennis's room, and Tom's room was dark. There was no light under his door. I couldn't tell you what either of them was off doing. 100% separate lives. If it hadn't been for this apartment, I would never have even existed to these two. And they would've never existed to me. It goes both ways I guess.

I headed into my tiny room, threw an Against Me! record on and flopped down onto my bed. I grabbed my laptop and logged onto Facebook right away. I could see Chad was online.

CHRIS: Yo.

CHAD: What's up?

CHRIS: Not much. Just got home and I'm already bored. Want to load up Dead Island for a while?

CHAD: Give me like an hour or so, than yea, sounds good.

CHRIS: Alright, cool.

I went back to scrolling Facebook, looking at people I couldn't care less about share their lives. Seeing tons of just ranting and whining about every little issue possible. Everybody is a narcissist when they get their own platform to whine from. The soap box officially known as social media had already taken hold of the world.

[delurkr]

Hey sorry for sending in another ask so soon but I was wondering what your headcanons for the Clarke Family where Personality wise?

And what ages do you think the kids were adopted?

I'm getting vibes that Anthony and Megan were adopted old enough to remember being adopted but that Tanya and Dennis were too young to remember when they were, if that makes sense.

No problem with another ask! If I ever need to let them sit and marinate for a while I will 😄

So ok about their personalities, some of these opinions might be less obvious than others but I try to base this kind of thing on all the doubles in each set (this will not be brief lol).

Now to get this out of the way, James was drunk in his scenes and that's not a great determiner of someone's true personality. That said all the J's are pretty angry in general so he certainly has a temper. We know he's social, spending time with "the guys" and apparently being "well loved at work" like the game says, and he has a ton of anxiety, very much a worrier. Definitely extroverted as well as expressive (whatever he's feeling, good or bad, everyone else will hear about it). Relatedly I feel like he can be pretty demonstrative with his affection for family and friends when he isn't coming unglued from stress. Protective (read also: possessive), impatient, and intense, literally not a shred of chill whatsoever.

Anne is tired ya'll 😅 She can be nosy and critical quite like Angela can and has no time for mushy stuff but clearly it stems from a lot of concern for her family. She cared enough to appeal to Rev Carson for help in handling Megan, but unless she's desperate I definitely see her as the self-sufficient, suck-it-up-and-don't-air-our-dirty-laundry type (she's totally down to hear about other people's dirty laundry tho). Also very exacting, self-assured, and tells it to you straight (without being asked) and expects you to do the same; she's fully convinced that she can fix the entire world if everyone would just do what she says (tbf she's usually right). Probably too stressed out to be seen as much fun these days but she can be super funny when she wants to (her wit isn't always at the expense of other people).

Somehow I don't have a ton to say about Tanya atm but there's a lot to go on based on her scenes and the other T's. She has her flirty ways and a lot of the time likes to keep things lighthearted and casual, and, like Taylor, canonically makes jokes to lighten the mood when things are intense (but only when she isn't the one causing the drama). Unlike Taylor though, she keeps her insubordination on the down low in public, so older people who aren't her parents love her (not that her parents don't love her 😂). Hardworking and cooler than like, everybody; popular and effortlessly good at whatever she cares to do. Also secretive to the point of being deceptive but she keeps secrets to keep things easy, she doesn't purposely cause harm but she's too sensitive to bare her soul often.

Dennis be angy and suspicious 😁 He isn't likely to go looking for a fight but he defends his territory like a bulldog when it's threatened (his territory could be anything from the bathroom at 9 o'clock on Saturday mornings to a box of cheerios on top of the fridge but he'll usually let you know what's his as soon as he claims it). Routined and doesn't like new things unless it was his idea. Tries very hard to be cool. Literally though he'd go to the ends of the earth for people he loves (and he'd do it like, on a unicycle and wearing a clown nose if Megan requested it). 1000% a mama's boy too, you cannot change my mind. Anne will swear up and down that she doesn't play favorites but there was only one kid who got to lick the cake batter spoons without having to ask and his name did not start with T, A, or M. Picked her flowers all the time when he was little too (he's in between stages now but he'll be back around to giving her flowers in a few years or so).

Anthony is just so utterly inoffensive lol, and he manages to be that way even while being his snarky little self. Tends to be oblivious to what's going on, like sure he'll notice changes in people's attitudes or in his environment if you point it out but he won't understand what it means until it doesn't matter anymore (or, thinking of the situation with Megan, sometimes not until it's too late). I say it's partly where his anxiety comes from, the awareness that things can crack and fall apart before he's caught up on there even being a problem. Daddy's boy for sure, he and James are almost exact opposites and, like Abraham with Joseph and Andrew with John, they just click. Introverted, clearly very compassionate but doesn't trust his own instincts with so many more dominant personalities around. Definitely the mediator in dumb sibling squabbles (it's a coin toss whether or not they listen to him) but on the rare occasions he musters the courage to insert himself into any more consequential situations he just might surprise folks into taking him seriously. Chronic baby brother, having to snip at people's heels or wear them down with his big eyes like a puppy to get them to pay attention. A little bitter about it too lol but he does what he has to.

Now I already had a post about the M's personality lurking in my drafts and it gets the job done, so time for a little copy paste:

~

Mary and Megan speak quite assertively in a lot of their scenes, I'm thinking for example Mary's "Liar!" line to some of the most powerful and well-respected adults in her community and the way Megan gets down to brass tacks in confronting Anne about her parent's conversation or the way she boldly tries to get Dennis's attention, even though I'm sure it's nothing new for her to get brushed off most of the time. I'll point out that M has fearful and withdrawn moments too but it's almost always triggered by Carver/Carson, with the contemporary little girl being the exception: she is entirely that way after all that happened to the other M's (I know she's more of a device than a character but the little girl's shyness is a big contrast to how outgoing Mary was to Andrew and Angela in the first flashback). So yeah I love the assertiveness we're shown and I wanted to point it out, because I see her boldness and outspokenness as more her real, healthy self and I very much appreciate that side of her because there isn't just one type of person that gets manipulated or whose needs get disregarded.

And another thing, unfortunate as it is, is that it reinforces the response the other characters (and the player) have to the M's acting out, just like we see in the game. They don't see her behavior as something new that signals a problem since they can fall back on "she's always been a troublemaker but she's even worse now." (For the most part. Joseph has his moment of "nah Mary wouldn't do that" and Tabitha and maybe David can't wrap their heads around her intentionally accusing them, but it's important that even while Abraham and Anthony try to keep her from harsh punishment they of all people don't put it past her to have done whatever she's accused of.) Also it makes me even madder at Carson and Carver because I can see her being such a delightfully spunky little force of nature if they could just, you know, not exist to torture her.

~

I don't think it all got my point across very well, but on to the adoption thing. There's different ideas in the fandom that I like but this post I wrote forever ago is kind of my baseline and my reasoning hasn't changed.

Um, the end 😅 Round of applause if you got this far 👏👏👏

[thevindicativevordan]

Any thoughts about the recent Dawn of DC announcements ?

Let's see if the new DC is the same as the old DC.

DC's official press release says that 20 new books are coming, and they only revealed 10 (one of which was last year's Round Robin winner), so 10 more books are coming that have yet to be revealed. Let's take a roll call:

Unstoppable Doom Patrol by Dennis Culver and Chris Burnham - Burnham has me excited, Culver has me skeptical. All of Culver's DC work thus far has been lousy. His Justice League Incarnate book with Williamson was the weakest of the Infinite Frontier trilogy, his Future State Gotham book was really bad, and Doom Patrol is a great team that demands unorthodox writing. Rooting for Culver to surprise me here because God would I love to have a good Doom Patrol book with Way never coming back at this point. Can't believe it took DC this long given the success of the DP HBO Max series. Jane having a new alter that places her in the role of the Chief is a cool idea at least.

Superboy: Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay - I voted for this, I'm glad it won, I've enjoyed DC Mech, I expect I will enjoy this. I'm praying Lindsay gives Conner a new costume, it's time to ditch the 90s look for something new. No more looking back for Conner, that terrible Fitzmartin YJ mini was right about one thing: we can't live in the past. He needs a new modern costume, and a story that reestablishes who he is in a post Jon Kent world. This and PKJ Action are seemingly going to accomplish that, both in terms of who Conner is on his own, and who he is in the Superfamily. Given the long wait between when this series was announced as the winner and when it is finally coming out, there shouldn't be any delays at least.

Green Lantern: Hal Jordan by Mariko Tamaki (Artist TBA) - Tamaki is mostly good with a few misses, her Tec, Supergirl: Being Super, and (apparently I haven't read it) Crush & Lobo books were good, her Wonder Woman run not so much. In fairness that was blatant movie synergy and didn't leave her much freedom to work with. I liked her Tec run and this appears to be aiming for something similar. Hal back in Coast City on Earth, rebuilding his life here is exactly the kind of thing they should have done after the Johns era's nonstop cosmic epic. Give me revamps of old Hal Earth villains beyond Hector Hammond that we haven't seen in a while, Hal struggling to make friends with the neighbors the way Tamaki had Bruce do in her Tec run, and put Hal and Carol back together again, and I'll be happy.

Green Lantern John Stewart by PKJ (Artist TBA) - Now this has my attention. Giving PKJ another book means they trust him, giving him a John Stewart book - who may end up being the main DCU Lantern if that HBO Max GL series actually gets made - means they view him as one of their up and comers. He's expressed a lot of love for and desire to work in GL before, he's set up plot threads for GL such as the Revenant Queen threat that would give John his own Rogues which John desperately needs, and I obviously am a huge fan of the cosmic storytelling over in Action which I fully expect will be repeated here. DC Cosmic has been crying out for a worldbuilder to flesh it out more for ages, this is an exciting choice. My hunch is that John will be dealing with another Aspect of Olgrun, since there are six more out there unaccounted for. Inject some of that Warworld Saga storytelling into Green Lantern, let's get John a love interest, and maybe Stewart will finally get that equivalent to Johns run on GL with Hal which his fans have been begging for. Sampere is a huge GL fan who has history with PKJ before, I would say he's a natural choice for this book, but he likes Hal more so I could see him ending up on Tamaki's book instead.

Cyborg (Creative Team TBA) - Wish I could be more excited for this, but I have to know the team and the pitch before being interested. Too many Cyborg stories rehash the same "am I a man or a machine?" crap for me to pull this sight unseen.

Batman: The Brave & The Bold by Tom King and Various Artists - King got robbed of his 100 issue Batman run so I guess he's going to make up for it by doing secondary Batman books forever. Does Batman really need another team-up book given World's Finest already has him teaming up with Superman and the rest of the DCU? I'll be reading this so I guess I'm part of the problem, but I really wish King would take on another of the A-Listers. All he does is Batman books, C-Listers, and the occasional dabble in the Superman sphere. I want to see him tackle another Justice Leaguer's ongoing, give him an Aquaman or Martian Manhunter book since everyone else seems to be claimed. Apparently he's shifting back towards the mainline DCU ongoings after spending a couple years doing minis of dubious canonicity. Looks like creative teams will rotate and since Rob Williams is here and he's a writer not an artist, guess he's next up after King.

Green Arrow by Josh Williamson and Sean Izaakse - Williamson has been building up to this since the start of Infinite Frontier, cool that he's finally announcing the book. I'll admit I'm annoyed it's opening with a "we have to find Ollie who is lost out in the Multiverse!" arc, I'm sick of the Multiverse and I'm tired of DC "building up" to doing what everyone is asking them to. Just write a damn Green Arrow back where he's in Star City/Seattle interacting with the Arrow Family! Maybe Williamson doing a Multiverse story with a smaller cast will be more palatable, I did enjoy his Flash run after all.

Shazam! by Mark Waid and Dan Mora - Other than Superman proper this is probably the book Waid has been dying to write the most. He, Morrison, and Gail Simone pitched to take over the Marvel Family way back when, I bet he's got loads of ideas on how to revamp the character, and his ideas will probably be better received than Johns' revamp was. Solicit sounds great, Mora on art (and apparently still doing art for World's Finest, dude is a machine) is perfect, and Waid's handling of the Fab Five over in WF has shown he can handle younger characters still. Should be fun in the same way WF is.

The Penguin by Tom King and Stefano Gaudiano - Hah that's a pretty great team for a synergy book. King's Penguin in his Batman run was... well he seemed to be teasing that Penguin had sex with actual penguins, so clearly his take on Penguin is untraditional to say the least. Pitch seems interesting enough, Penguin back in crime because the government forced him back in as their agent is intriguing.

Steelworks (Creative Team TBA) - On one hand hell yes a new Steel book! Tell me Greg Pak is writing this and I am there day one. If it's not Pak however then I have qualms. The brief description in the press release makes it seem like John Henry is giving up on being Steel and handing over the role entirely to Natasha, and I've got no interest in that. S&L make me into a Nat fan but I love John Henry more, and I am not going to be happy if DC's idea of celebrating his 30th is him handing over the role to his niece. He better be the main protagonist and he better get to suit up and be Steel. Glad that DC has enough faith in PKJ to start spinning new series out of what he's doing.

Only two Bat books so fuck it, let's call it a win. Satisfied overall with the creative teams announced, for those that were actually announced, DC is playing it safe but after Infinite Frontier took risks and bombed that's exactly what I expected to happen. I guess the next event is going to be called Knighttime and will be another Batman event. Ugh. Also is that red circle with a bird supposed to represent Penguin, because it sure looks a lot like Hawkman’s symbol. Maybe a new Hawk book will be announced as part of the second wave? For the second wave I want books for Zatanna, Aquaman, Vixen, Justice League Dark (use the Shadowpact name if we're keeping the JL on ice for a while), Suicide Squad, and Legion of Superheroes, but as an opening lineup? I'm pretty happy with this!

[the-irrelevant-trumpeter]

okay so a little bit ago i was asking for people's ideas on the cornley character's birth order positions (thank you to those who contributed). i'm still wildly unsure of quite a few, and because of that, i'm going to talk through my thinking processes for each right now, because that helps me out.

chris: probably one of the hardest because i can see him as an oldest, youngest OR only child. like all of them make sense to me. the oldest/only child vibe of trying to live up to parents expectations vs the youngest child always in the older siblings shadow vibe. i cannot make up my mind. if he's the youngest, then it's an older brother for sure, if he's the oldest i have no idea.

robert: youngest or middle, i see him with two siblings. one's definitely a sister (the one chris was with in accgw — she's the one who could be older or younger than him) but i'm not decided on the other one (lucy's parent). logically given that lucy's last name is grove, it would make sense for it to be robert's brother (given that's usually how names work in our society), but it's not impossible for it to be a sister, and that has a specific vibe that could relate to family stuff for robert (feeling like he has to "be a man" from his father etc)

max: almost fully certain on him being an only child, but i keep on getting the urge to give him a little sister, just because i think it'd be cute.

sandra: definitely the youngest. i also imagine her having at least three siblings (maybe more). i am stuck between her having all older sisters (that desire to prove herself and outshine her perfect sisters) or all older brothers ("mummy's little princess" vibes, a little bit spoiled).

dennis: stuck between middle, youngest and only. i could see him as the middle child who's always forgotten/undervalued because he's not the special oldest or the cute youngest, but i also see him as having an older sibling (or siblings?) who he's constantly compared to and told "why aren't you more like them?". BUT i also see him being the only child and his parents just being disappointed in him. if he's the middle, i see him having a brother on either side. if he's the youngest, i see either one sibling (brother or sister) or two (either two brothers or one brother one sister).

annie: middle child with quite a few siblings vibes to me. probably on the older end (eg one older sibling and like three younger). this one i've always been pretty solid on, but i'm willing to reconsider this. unsure about the genders of her siblings.

jonathan: pretty solid on him too, due to headcanons i have about his family i headcanon him as an only child. i know quite a few give him a younger sister (the fanfic influence) but those roles people put on her i usually just translate to his daughter. not much else to say.

vanessa: i am the type of person who goes "identical twins" when i see two people played by the same person in a universe, so she's got a twin sister to me (bryony's receptionist in accgw). i also think she has a younger half brother.

trevor: a group of us on the mischief discord kinda came up with a solid family for trevor, and i think it fits so i'm sticking to it! second youngest out of four, two older sisters — tanya, who trevor is heard speaking to on the phone at the beginning of ppgw stage version, and tessa, who is usually just the girl version of trevor in the shows but who we have developed into her own character — and a younger brother dale, who is from trevor's twitter account.

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

A Community Post from YouTuber and Professional Horse Trainer Shelby Dennis

(Posted here with her permission -- Source: https://www.youtube.com/c/ShelbyDennis/community)

[Preamble from me: I have a couple of low-key “campaigns” for this blog: 1) posting/sharing content to get people over their fear of my personal favorite animals, including spiders and horses, and 2) trying to shift the focus of anti-bullying campaigns from the behavior of children among their peers to the responsibility of adults who teach those children.

I found Shelby Dennis’s channel when looking for horsey things to post. Then, the other day, she posted this message about how bullying horses is considered normal by a lot of horse trainers and riding instructors. And how she was taught to become a bully by the adults in her life. And how she’s trying to unlearn all of that.

So this fits two goals for my blog at once. And that’s why I asked her if I could share this here.]

I started riding at just 4 years of age.

At the same age, I started watching role models and adults openly mistreat horses in the name of teaching them how to “safely behave” around people.

I had loved horses since before I could even speak and initially was deeply uncomfortable with what I witnessed.

But, those I trusted as experts were doing it, so it must be okay, right? After all, adults were all knowing and knowledgeable.

A knee to the belly when a horse bloated for the girth being done up.

Reefing on the mouth of a horse who dares pull back a little or spooks sideways as you lead them to the arena.

A punch to the nose of a horse who is merely just trying to explore and interact with the world using his mouth, as his species is supposed to.

I saw all of this and more on a regular basis for the first several years of my riding career and it changed me from being the happy go lucky horse loving kid I was to being a child who still loved horses but was taught to take my frustration out on them.

In the process, I developed incredibly poor emotional control and was encouraged in using horses as a means for anger management, that I was justified when I disciplined my horses because they were being bad. I needed to show them who was boss, because that’s what I was told.

It may have been more damaging to me, as a child with undiagnosed ADHD as controlling difficult emotions was already hard for me, so this quite possibly was one of the worst lessons I could’ve learned in terms of where to direct my anger.

Breaking free from what encouraged me to not only elevate my level of anger but to redirect it onto the innocent beings that are horses has been a lot of work.

When you’re in fight or flight mode, you’re not thinking properly as is. It’s incredibly easy to sink into lifelong habits, so undoing what I was taught to do from such a young age took a lot of self reflection and accountability. It took a lot of mistakes, too.

And, I felt a lot of guilt during it. I made myself angrier by adding in the addition of anger towards myself, something I’d initially not been taught to feel because I was encouraged to feel righteous in my discipline of horses.

It’s been a lengthy journey of self reflection and really trying to sit with the gravity of what I was put through at a young age.

A child cannot be expected to fully understand how wrong the lessons they’re being taught are because they often trust the adults in their life implicitly. I was no different.

Even adults, when new to horses, are at the mercy of their first teachers, they may just be slightly more likely to see through the charade than a kid.

So, when you look at your faults as a horse person and start to feel guilty and beat yourself up, try to also sit with that discomfort and understand that you were misled by people much more experience than yourself.

That the true wrong is the fact that so many of these types of role models are readily available in the industry, not being held accountable and continued to be encouraged in teaching these ways. It makes it hard for us to avoid these types of teachers because they’re allowed to teach the way they do and there’s very little pressure, even still, for them to self reflect to the extent they need to.

New riders deserve access to better teachers. Teachers who won’t wrong them or their horses. Teachers who set good examples for them instead of setting them on a path of a lifetime of correcting mistakes and bad habits they picked up at the very beginning.

All of this starts with us persistently pointing out these issues and demanding the world we want to see. After all, we were the ones keeping such trainers in business. If the demands of those paying changes, so does the content we are being taught.

Horse show organizations also need to be pressured to help along with the process. If horse abuse no longer affords people ribbons and attention and instead impacts their livelihoods, they will no longer be as quick to engage in these methods at the expense of their horse because it no longer serves them.

Change is possible but it starts with the masses recognizing where it’s needed, even if it means being honest with your faults and where they started.

Check out her other links:

Website: http://milestoneequestrian.ca

Patreon: http://Patreon.com/sdequus

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/milestoneequestri...

[tvobsessed96]

2022 TV Recap

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I wanted to bring back something I used to quite enjoy doing! Reviewing and ranking the best TV I watched in a given year, that is. I kept track of all the new TV I watched last year on Twitter with the intention of picking a top 10 or top 5 episodes at the end. But after giving it some thought, I want to try something a little different. Since the pool is actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be and I don’t particularly have the motivation to rank all the episodes anyway, I’ve decided it might be better if I simply recap and review the shows I watched last year and list a few standout episodes at the end! With that explanation out of the way, let’s get into it. 

The Shows

This Is Us (Season 6)- One of the most talked about (and cried about) shows of the past decade came to an end in 2022, and I can honestly say it was pretty spectacular! The main focus of this season was how the Pearson family handled Rebecca’s declining health, and it was pretty effective. The performances all around were incredible, but I was especially stunned that Mandy Moore didn’t get her long overdue Emmy win or even a nomination! She’s long deserved it, and it’s a shame the show has ended without her getting that recognition. I know some fans said this season (particularly the finale) lacked some of the flashiness one might expect, especially considering how long they’d been planning this ending. But honestly, I can’t imagine a more perfect way to end this cozy, emotional family drama than what we got. Was it the best season of This Is Us overall? Maybe not. But it was certainly a very good one, and immensely satisfying in a number of different ways.

Ghosts (US) (Seasons 1B and 2A)- I decided to tune into Ghosts when it premiered in the fall of 2021 because it looked like a lot of fun and I’m a big fan of Rose McIver. Having never seen the British version, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I’m so glad I tuned in! The beginning of season 1 is a little bit rough around the edges. But as the show has grown into itself and found its own voice, it’s become a true delight! Throughout the second half of season 1 and first half of season 2, the show just kept getting funnier and sweeter! I love all the ghosts, I love Sam and Jay, and I’m excited to see what fun stories the writers come up with now that the B&B has been fully operational for a bit. If you like charming, hilarious stories about a group of people who love each other having wacky adventures, this show might be for you!

Good Trouble (Season 4)- Good Trouble continues to be one of the best shows not enough people are talking about. I know a lot of fans were nervous going into this season when it was announced that Maia Mitchell would be leaving, but I think the writers handled it very well. The Coterie crew still feels like the Coterie crew! One thing that stood out to me the most was the character growth. Everyone feels so grown up and mature compared to when we first met them 4 years ago! Alice standing up for herself and regaining her confidence as a performer! Malika figuring herself out and making smart career moves while also not losing the passion for social justice that makes her who she is! Davia standing up to her mom, setting boundaries in her relationships, and finally having the courage to stop beating around the bush with Dennis! Gael becoming a father!! There’s a lot to look forward to in season 5, including the resolution of that insane cliffhanger, and I can’t wait!

Raven’s Home (Season 5)- I’m actually...not fully caught up on Raven’s Home. Oops! But I have watched enough of the season to be able to say that I’ve really enjoyed it! I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel given the huge changes that were made and the absence of some beloved characters. I’m happy to say the show still brings a huge smile to my face! Ivy, Neil, and Alice are my children and they must be protected at all costs! And bringing Alana back as the principal was a brilliant choice!

So You Think You Can Dance (Season 17)- I enjoyed this season of SYTYCD. I did! I really liked the cast and there were some really great routines! Unfortunately, there were some things that disappointed me as well. For one, it was way too short. They’d been doing shorter seasons with smaller casts for a few years, but something about this season felt extra rushed and condensed. It felt like we barely had time to get to know the dancers before we were down to the final few. Additionally, as much as I tried to put a positive spin on it when it was first announced, limiting the voting to just the studio audience was not a great choice. If Fox can’t give SYTYCD the time and freedom it needs to truly live up to the potential of the format, maybe they shouldn’t have brought it back at all. That’s not to say I won’t be tuning in for season 18, which I assume is happening. Let’s hope the network hears the fans out!

Only Murders in the Building (Season 2)- I absolutely LOVED the first season of OMITB, and season 2 was also excellent! Funny, an acceptable amount of suspense, some great twists, and excellent character work! I’m not sure the mystery was quite as well crafted as the first season, but that didn’t make it any less engaging to watch. Really looking forward to season 3!

Reboot (Season 1)- As a TV nerd and a sitcom nerd specifically, there’s pretty much no way I wasn’t going to check this one out! It’s about the cast of a fictional sitcom from the 2000s coming back together to do a reboot. I expected it to be a silly good time, but it’s also surprisingly deep. It’s very funny, that’s for sure, but there’s also some great character work and satire going on, too. I recommend checking it out!

The Standout Episodes

“Kiss Me and Smile for Me” (Good Trouble 4x02)- How do you properly say goodbye to a character that’s been a huge part of your life for the better part of a decade? As a writer, as an actor, or as a fan? That was the task Good Trouble was presented with when Maia Mitchell decided she would be departing the role of Callie Adams Foster, and I think the writers did a very admirable job! The episode did a good job of closing this chapter of Callie’s life while making it clear that she has a very bright future ahead of her. From the goodbyes Callie got to have with each member of the Coterie crew, to the sometimes complicated but always heartwarming bond between the Adams Foster sisters, to the callback to Callie and Mariana’s first party at the Coterie, it was a truly lovely episode from start to finish! Callie Adams Foster will always be a very special character to me and watching her growth from the terrified teenager who didn’t believe she was worthy of love or a family to the confident woman who got on that plane to DC was incredible. I hope we get to see some more guest appearances before the show eventually ends!

“Miguel” and “The Train” (This Is Us 6x15 and 6x17)- Death and grief have always been themes that This Is Us has been pretty skilled at handling, but these two episodes took that to another level. First, we got “Miguel,” an immensely moving portrait of a character that never got the love he deserved from the fandom. I honestly believe Jack would be thrilled that his two best friends eventually ended up together. Miguel was there for Rebecca when she needed him the most and he was there was for her until his final days. And then there’s “The Train.” The fact that the show wasn’t nominated in multiple Emmy categories for this episode alone baffles me. Visually stunning, incredibly well written, and impeccably performed. Truly the sendoff Rebecca Pearson so richly deserved.

“Flipping the Pieces” (Only Murders in the Building 2x07)- It’s kind of hard to pick a favorite episode from OMITB season 2, but I think this one fits the bill. Mabel and Theo make a great duo, both comedically and dramatically! And I absolutely loved the metaphor of the puzzle pieces as it relates the repression of traumatic memories. The one thing I may have changed is the way Mabel kept talking at Theo even after he specifically told her he couldn’t pick up much of what she was saying just by reading her lips. But I get why the writers probably thought it was necessary and seeing her learn a little bit of ASL along the way was very sweet!

There you have it! Looking forward to another year of great TV!

[asirensrage]

Unfinished Crossover - It's Always Sunny in the Crossfire?

So I was talking to @purpleyearning about It's Always Sunny In Philidelphia and mentioned having an unfinished scene/oneshot of my spn ocs meeting the gang of It's Always Sunny. I couldn't figure out a good way to share it with how long it is (aside from putting it in a google doc) so here we are.

My spn OCs Michelle and Kelly from Caught in the Crossfire heading to Paddy's Pub. It takes place years after the events of Crossfire. It's in Michelle's POV.

Warnings: everything you expect from It's Always Sunny and Supernatural, technically a bit of violence. also it's unfinished.

I stared at the place. “Are you sure this is it? The sign isn’t even fully lit.”

“You can’t judge a place just because of the sign,” Kelly said. “You know how much neon signs cost?”

“Not as much as you’re acting like they do. Why are we here again?”

“Dean saw the sign on the way in. We watched Boondock Saints last night.”

“And he wants an Irish bar…” I said, drawing the conclusion. 

“Yup.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Did they say how long this was going to take?” 

“I think it’s just a haunting. Come on, let’s just go in. How bad can it be?”

Famous last words. 

“And you think I’m the jinx,” I muttered. The place was just about empty. There was a small group of people at the bar, talking to the bartender. They all looked up as we entered. “Can we go home?”

“No.” Kelly put a hand on my back and pushed me forward. I glanced around, looking at the couple of booths and trying to place where the doors were. Kelly led the way to the bar. I trusted her to keep an eye on the people in front of her while I watched her back. 

“Uh, who are you?” I looked over to see the man behind the bar leaning towards us. “Haven’t seen you around before.” He was smiling at both of us.

“Yeah,” one of the other men from the group that had been talking when they walked in slid up next to Kelly. “I’m Mac.”

“I’m Dennis,” the one behind the bar said. “Gotta say you two are...beautiful.” 

“Yeah,” Mac agreed.

“Definitely not the usual type we get around here.” 

“Hey!” I heard the girl down the bar exclaim. Clearly, she heard him. 

“So who are you?” Mac asked. 

“Customers?” Kelly offered. “We’re just passing through town. We’re meeting our boys here.”

“Your...boys?” The two men looked between each other. The one behind the bar made a face. “Like kids?”

“No,” I said, looking at them. “My husband and her fiance.” 

“Oh,” Dennis pulled back slightly. 

“Can I get a beer and…” Kelly asked. She glanced at me. “You want a coke?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I muttered. This place was more of a dive than usual. 

“A coke? You mean a rum and coke?”

I turned at that and faced Dennis. “No. A regular coke. I don’t drink.” 

He stared at me for a moment like I was an alien. “Hey, guys! This girl doesn’t drink!” 

“What?” A chorus of voices echoed back. 

I tried not to sigh. I got this reaction a lot when people found out. Especially since I was a bartender. Kelly and I were quickly surrounded. 

“What type of person doesn’t drink?” The woman of the group asked. 

“One who knows herself,” Kelly said. “She doesn’t need to explain.” 

I shifted slightly, keeping an eye on the people around us. “It’s fine,” I said. 

“What’s the reason? You pregnant?” the girl asked, eyes glancing down at me. 

“No,” I said. Not that I didn’t suspect Sam wanted me to be. “I don’t like drinking because I like to be in control if I need to fight.”

“Woah ho ho!” The girl leaned back and said. She was oddly defensive. “If you needed to fight?”

“Do you fight?” One other guy asked, popping out from around her. He was shorter than the others from what I could tell. He looked closer to my height. 

“How many of there are you?” Kelly asked. 

“Oh! I’m Charlie!” the shorter man asked. “That’s Dee.” He motioned to the girl in front of me. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kelly, this is Michelle,” Kelly introduced us. We still hadn’t been given the drinks. 

“What do you mean fight?” Mac asked, moving around the others to come up to my side. He looked like he was trying to flex. “Cause, you know, I know Karate.” He punched the air in front of him. I leaned back slightly, making sure Kelly and I were both out of the way. 

“Trust me,” Kels said. “You don’t want to fight her.” 

They all laughed. 

“I wouldn’t fight her,” Mac said. “You’re a girl. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Drinks?” I asked, ignoring the taunt. Dennis opened a beer and handed it over. I watched as he poured the coke. I muttered thanks before taking it. I tried not to look too closely at how clean the glass was. 

“More like she doesn’t want to hurt you,” Kelly said. 

“Hurt me?” 

The man behind the bar laughed. “You’re not going to hurt Mac.” 

“No way,” Charlie said. “Mac’s like...super awesome at fighting.” The man in question started flexing again. 

Kelly looked at them. “Mish runs security at our bar.”

“No shit,” Mac said. “That’s what I do.”

“Wait,” Dee cut in. “You guys run a bar?” 

“Is that what this is?” Dennis asked. “You trying to scope out the competition?”

“We own a bar,” Kelly said. “Back in South Dakota.”

“South Dakota?” Charlie asked. “Where is that?” 

I glanced over at Kelly. “Below North Dakota?” I offered. I reached for my phone, trying to figure out what time it was. God, let the guys get here quickly. My phone...was not in my pocket. “Damn it.”

“What?” Kelly asked. 

“I think I left my phone in the car.”

She did not look impressed. “Of course you did.” 

I shrugged. I needed to find a way to keep it on me. At least so I stopped getting lectured about it. I was pretty sure Sam gave up on me already. 

“Must not be a busy place if you run security,” Dee laughed. 

“Yeah,” Mac agreed. “What is it? A bar for ladies?” He stopped as if he realized what he just said. “Wait, where’s this bar?” 

“Is it a bar for women?” Dennis asked, leaning closer between us. I shifted back slightly, unnerved by the intrusion. They really had no qualms about personal space. “You two need some men to spice the place up?” 

“No,” I deadpanned. 

“What she means,” Kelly translated, “is that it’s a bar for anyone. There are enough men there, but thanks.” She made me sound much nicer than I felt. 

“So why you here?” Charlie asked. “You come to Philly for the sights? Are there sights in Philly?” 

“We’re just passing through,” Kelly said. “We’re on our way home from New York.” 

“Oh, oh! New York?” They all looked at each other. “What, uh, whatcha doing in New York?” Dennis asked. 

“Sightseeing. This one wanted to go to a musical,” Kelly pointed at me. 

“Rowena gave me box seats. Why would I not go?” I shrugged.

“Because you can afford them yourself,” Kelly quipped back. 

“Box seats?” Dee asked. “What musical was it? Broadway? Off-broadway?” She started moving closer to me as if trying to physically intimidate me into telling her. The woman looked like I could break her if I knocked her down. 

I stood up straight, facing her. “Yeah.” I knew they didn’t mean anything really malicious, but I didn’t like people, more so strangers, in my personal space. 

“Woah,” Kelly moved in between us. “Let’s not get blood on the floor, okay? I don’t want to pay anyone’s hospital bills.” 

Dee backed up. “I wasn’t going to jump her.”

“More worried about you,” Kels admitted to her. “You don’t want to get into a fight with Michelle. Trust me.” 

“Really?” Charlie asked. He looked me over. “You don’t look like you fight.” 

“Looks can be deceiving,” I drawled. I gave him a slight smile. So far, he seemed to be the less obnoxious of the group.

“Well, uh, alright,” Dennis spoke up. “I have an idea.” 

I glanced at Kelly, unsure about what was coming next. There was something about these guys that was kind of familiar. Reminded me of some of the people I knew when I was a kid. I tried not to think about that.  

“Let’s see who’s the better fighter? Mac or...this girl,” Dennis waved towards me. 

“I’m not going to fight a girl!” Mac called out. 

“I’d rather not,” I said. 

“Come on,” Dennis prompted. “You win, you and your friends drink for free. You said you were meeting people, right?” 

“And if she loses?” Kelly asked, interest already piqued. 

“I get a kiss,” Dennis said with a grin.

“Hey!” Mac called out. 

“Fine,” Dennis rolled his eyes. “We both do.” 

Kelly looked like she was trying not to grin. She turned towards me. “What do you say, Mish? Wanna drink for free?”

“I don’t drink,” I said. “But I already know I’m not getting out of it.”

“Don’t worry, Sam will make it worth your while,” she grinned. “Try not to break anything though, okay?” 

“I’ll do my best.” I glanced around the bar. “Over there has the most space.”

“Woah!” Mac called out. “Is no one going to ask me if I want to do this?” There was a chorus of “no”s. “I’m not going to hit a girl!” 

“You won’t,” I said. “If it makes you feel better, we’ll go for being pinned, okay? No blood.” He looked to be considering it. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have hit me regardless. The technique he showed earlier, or lack of any, didn’t make me worry. 

“Well, okay!” He seemed much more enthused now. “I have to warn you though, I’m a master at karate!” He moved towards the open space by the pool table, arms flailing. “Don’t be alarmed if I move too fast!” 

“I have a rule,” I called out. “If I incapacitate you, without actually hurting you, you have to accept it, okay?” 

“I’d accept if I were you,” Kelly called out. They all followed, including Dennis coming out from behind the bar, beer in hand. 

“Yeah, okay,” Mac said. It was clear he didn’t believe it. Oh well. He would. 

"Woah woah woah! What's going on here?” 

We all turned at the new voice. An older man was coming towards us. He looked to be about Kelly’s height. Might have been shorter, actually. That was weird to see. 

“Mac’s gonna fight a girl!” Charlie called out. 

“He’s going to get beaten by a girl,” Kelly said. 

“No shit,” the newcomer said. “Are we betting? Who’s putting money on this?” 

“I will,” Kelly grinned. “How much you willing to bet?”

“What’re you good for?” he asked, leering at her. 

“A hundred?” Kelly offered. It was a high bet, but she knew me well. 

“A hundred!” The man’s eyes widened and then I saw him grin. “Well, hold on. Let me look at the fighters.” He looked over Mac and then at me. I tried not to roll my eyes as he took his time. He looked back at Kels. “Who you betting for?”

“Obviously that she’ll win,” Kelly said. 

“Alright, a hundred on Mac. Any of you losers want in?” He looked around. 

“We, uh, we already have a bet,” Dennis said. 

“Oh yeah?” 

“These idiots bet them that if she loses, they get a kiss,” Dee said. She was leaning against the bar, looking only half interested. 

“And free drinks for us and the boys who are meeting us here when she wins,” Kelly said. 

“When?” the man asked. “I want to change my bet. A hundred on the girl.”

Kelly burst out laughing. “Doesn’t work if no one’s betting on him,” she motioned to Mac.

“Hey!” He looked affronted. “Come on, Frank. I can take her.” 

“You sure?” The so-called Frank walked up to Mac. 

“It’s not first blood,” I said. “It’s whoever pins the other first.” 

“Oh!” Frank turned back to Kelly. “I changed my mind. I pick Mac.” 

Kelly just raised her beer at me, silently toasting. “So who’s the judge?”

“I am!” Charlie jumped forwards. 

I glanced around, taking note of the space around us. There wasn’t too much but I didn’t think I’d need a lot. 

“Okay!” Charlie was suddenly standing between us. “Rules are to pin the other first. First one who can’t move, loses!” He raised his arms and dropped them. “Fight!” 

Mac fell back into a stance that was way too wide. I felt like Jane, knowing that all it would take was a quick tap between his legs and he’d be down. 

“I hope you’re ready,” Mac said, waving his arms again, “for this!” 

I moved to the side as he lunged forward. He stumbled past me. I turned to face him. 

He looked surprised that he hadn’t grabbed me. “Woah, you’re fast.” 

“I warned you,” I said lightly. 

“Come on, Mac!” I heard someone call out. “Get her!” 

He ran forwards again and I twisted, moving out of the way. 

“Okay, okay,” Mac said, shaking it off. 

“Stop playing, Mish!” Kelly called out. 

“Fine,” I said. I adjusted my stance into one that was more steady. “Come on, one more time.” 

He straightened. “What does that mean?” He looked over at his friends. “One more time?”

“I don’t know, Mac. Why don’t you try to actually knock her down?” Dennis drawled.

“Yeah, take that bitch out!” Dee called out. Kelly shot her a sharp look. 

Mac stepped forward again, arms waving. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to actually hit me, but he had no form. I darted forwards, ducking under and grabbing his arm, pulling him backwards. I aimed a kick at the back of his knee, knocking him down. I yanked up his arm, twisting slightly as I pulled it back. 

Mac screamed, more in fear than anything. I hadn’t pulled it that hard. 

“Oh my god!” 

“He’s fine,” I called out. “Do you yield?” I asked. 

“Yeah!”

“Let go of him!” 

I dropped his arm. “I win.” I turned to the others. “Free drinks, right?” 

They were all staring at me in shock. Except Kelly. She was grinning as she drank her beer. 

“Woah!” Charlie yelled. “How’d you do that?” 

I shrugged. “He was flailing so much it wasn’t hard to grab an arm, let him move past me and use that force against him.” 

Dee started laughing. “Ah ha!” she pointed at Mac. “You got beaten by a girl!”

Dennis’s face lit up. “He did! You did!” 

I walked over to Kelly and took my drink back from her, ignoring how the group had started to tease Mac about losing. The man was getting agitated about it. 

“Let’s sit,” Kelly said. She looked around before heading for the bar. “Come on. Gotta waste time while we wait for the boys. Might as well be entertained by…whatever this is.” she motioned to the group. “Besides, you just won us free drinks.” 

Despite the look of the place when they first arrived, it wasn’t completely empty as night fell. I got wrapped up in showing Charlie and Dee how to throw a proper punch. Now, I was listening as the guy Dennis was trying to convince Kelly that sleeping with him wouldn’t be cheating because she wasn’t married. She had it handled. 

“I’m telling you,” Frank said. I tried to ignore him. He shifted a bit closer. “You go in, lose a couple rounds and then win the last one. We’ll make tons!”

“I’m not entering a fight club,” I said. 

“Isn’t the rule not to talk about Fight Club?” I turned at the familiar voice, holding up a hand for a high five. Dean gave it before he wrapped an arm around Kels and kissed her cheek. I looked around, spotting Sam as he walked in. His eyes found mine and he raised his eyebrows in question. I nodded slightly, admitting that yes, we really were here. 

He moved towards us, glancing around. 

“Well hello,” Dee practically slid in front of him. “Who are you?” 

“Excuse me,” Sam said as he moved around her. I caught the incredulous look on her face before he got close. He leaned down to kiss me. I stretched up slightly to meet his lips. “Hey, baby.”

“Hi, handsome,” I said with a smile. “How’d it go?”

“She was a bitch,” Dean chimed in. 

“It was fine,” Sam said. “The usual.” 

“So. You’re the boys,” Dennis said as he slid in place in front of us. “You, uh, left these beautiful women all alone today. Do that often?” 

Dean and Sam shared a look and I tried not to roll my eyes. 

“They can handle themselves,” Dean said.

[justinsentertainmentcorner]

Alex Zaragoza at HuffPost:

Maria Ramirez was disappointed. The 55-year old from Southern California had traveled to Istanbul, excited to live for a little while as the characters in all of her favorite Turkish dramas do. She was particularly inspired by scenes filled with delicious Turkish meals, in particular breakfast spreads that consist of feta, olives, sliced cucumbers, eggs, spreads, jams, tomatoes and bread. “Every time I watch the telenovelas, I see them take out their cheeses, their olives, and so I go to the refrigerator and I do the same.” Ramirez says. “I make my plate and a glass of wine and I eat with them.”

But when she woke up in her hotel and headed down to finally experience the flavors herself, she was offered a standard American or British breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages and potatoes. “I said ‘Aww! I was hoping for the Turkish breakfast!’” she recalls. “I didn’t get to have it until later.” It’s not a shock that Ramirez would get a breakfast that would be more at home on a Denny’s menu. Hotels often cater to British or American tourists who may fear the foreign and for some reason travel across countries to places foreign to then only eat exactly what’s available down their street. But that may be changing in the country as Turkish dramas, known as dizi, continue their ascendance in popularity globally, with demand only growing, leading travelers to seek out a more authentic Turkish experience. This is particularly true for Latinx people, who have become one of the biggest audiences of Turkish dizi since 2014 when the drama “Binbir Gece” (“1001 Nights”) became a massive hit in Chile.

In Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and other Latin American countries as well as among Latines in the U.S., Turkish dramas have become appointment viewing. Major Spanish-language networks like Univision and Telemundo air dubbed versions nightly; streamers such as Netflix, Peacock, VIX and FuboTV offer a wide library of both dubbed and subtitled series; and video platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion, and Turkish123.com keep a large supply as well. To call dizi a soap opera or telenovela would be incredibly reductive — no disrespect to both televised art forms that have gifted the culture secret twins and bouts of amnesia. These expansive dramas are 40+ episodes long and go for multiple seasons, with each episode holding a running time of two hours or even more. They feature storylines that delve into the hardships, heartaches and triumphs of the human experience, but don’t expect a fairy tale ending: Dizi often have bittersweet, melancholic endings, like in the popular drama “Kara Sevda” (“Endless Love” or “Amor Eterno”), which concluded with the gut-wrenching death of a main character.

That’s all to say, audiences get deeply invested and have a never-ending supply of dramas to fill their nights. It’s easy to become fully engulfed, obsessed and entertained, as I saw with my mom, who, on a recent visit, wouldn’t put her phone down as she watched hours of Turkish dizi on YouTube. The only thing that briefly pried her from her “novelas Turcas” was a trip to TJ Maxx. “As consumers, the U.S. Hispanic audiences seek more than mere entertainment; they yearn for representation, affirmation and connectivity,” says Barbara Musa Ruiz, vice president of programming strategy at TelevisaUnivision, reflecting on the success of dizi with Latinx audiences over the past few years. “They strive to see themselves mirrored in the stories they consume — and Turkish dramas have adeptly tapped into this longing.” With dizi filmed mostly in Istanbul and other nearby locales, viewers also see parts of the world they may have never been exposed to. And now, via their phone and TV screens, they’re transported to the country’s picturesque coast, vicariously experiencing a new rich and vibrant culture. It’s only natural that some of them now want to see the real thing.

“I wanted to experience something different,” Ramirez says about choosing to travel to Turkey. “And it was something I’d already seen in the telenovelas. It was so beautiful.” According to a 2023 report by the market research company Euromonitor International, Istanbul tops the list of cities around the globe with the most international arrivals, followed by London. Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported in 2022 that about 377,000 Americans traveled to Turkey in the first half of the year, an influx of just over 77% from the first half of 2019.

And since 2018, travel from Latin America has increased exponentially, with Argentina and Brazil bringing the most LATAM tourists to Turkey. That those two countries are some of the biggest consumers of Turkish dizi doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Rates of travel have skyrocketed: Mexico’s rates alone increased by 103% per Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry; and Chile and Venezuela’s rates rose just over 66% and 40%, respectively. While medical tourism has made Turkey a major plastic surgery destination, with thousands dipping in for a fresh set of teeth, a head of thicker hair and a snatched waist, more and more people are being inspired by Turkish dizi to experience the romance. Before Ramirez visited Turkey in August, she joked that she hoped “to see if one of the heartthrobs over there would be interested in me! They’re very attractive, but to my bad luck, I didn’t find one.”

[...] While it may seem insignificant, there is power in bringing to screen the lives and stories of Turkish people to Latinx audiences, who perhaps see their struggles and similar traditions reflected to them. But it’s also as simple as Latinx audiences being compelled by great storytelling, regardless of where it’s from. While there can be a level of exotification and fetishization from viewers who become tourists, dizi has still been instrumental in showing many people outside of the culture what life in Turkey is like, and encourages them to travel there, join a tour and then “understand us.” “We experience our emotions and disappointments very deeply,” Yildirim says. “We are appreciated because we reflect these emotions in our series.” This travel trend is more than just a fascinating link between the romantic and emotional values of two different cultures. It reveals the void in our programming in the U.S. Hollywood continues to ignore Latinx audiences, despite the fact that as a demographic they’re responsible for 24% of both box office sales and streaming subscriptions.

Türkiye (Turkey) is the new destination for telenovela fans to make a pilgrimage to where Turkish dramas (aka dizis) are filmed for worldwide consumption.

[theloniousbach]

COUCH TOUR: JAZZ IN JULY ALL-STAR FINALE, 92NY, 27 JULY 2023

BILL CHARLAP with Jeremy Pelt, Nicole Glover, Steve Wilson, Ken Peplowski, John Pizzarelli, Renee Rosnes, David Wong, and Dennis Mackrell

I signed up for this wrap up to the 92NY series which BILL CHARLAP curated evidently for the last time. I swapped out last Thursday’s piano extravaganza for the Veronica Swift/Caleb Teicher set which wasn’t technically part of the program. I forewent the multiple piano set for the same reason that my expectations were muted for this show—lots of folks to shepherd across the stage, juxtapositions that would be more curious interesting than successful interesting. Last year Charlap had tenor favorites Chris Potter and NICOLE GLOVER together with guitarist Mike Stern and that was, er, interesting. There were some moments like that, but it worked.

‘S Wonderful was the opener and everyone got solo space. Ken Peplowski’s clarinet was, here, kind of clunky and old fashioned and John Pizzarelli’s vocals were charming but thin though his chordal guitar solos was fine. I am very fond of Jeremy Pelt’s smooth tone and improvisational ideas and Glover’s overall edge. It has been good to see her in Artemis, with Allison Miller, and in these settings with Charlap where she exhibits that she sure can play standards.

But the revelation was Steve Wilson whose alto work was lyrical and fresh. I didn’t hear much Charlie Parker in him, but also not Lee Konitz nor Paul Desmond. I have to then guess that he perhaps draws on Johnny Hodges. In any case, Charlap said that no one sings with the horn like Steve Wilson. He always captures something about his bandmates in his always generous comments, but they do sometimes seem over the top. Still, in this case, yes, Steve Wilson sings—on that opener, A Time for Love, a blues, and the closer.

Pizarelli sang the opener, It Had To Be You with Jeremy Pelt as his foil, and Three Little Words with Ken Peplowski’s clarinet beginning to grow on me. I was fully in his camp as he took up Rosnes’ Life Does Not Wait with Glover. It was a very different tune with each horn, including how the composer comped for them, and that widened my ears.

Rosnes and Charlap reprised Lyle Mays’ Chorino from their Double Portrait album with projected camera shots of each keyboard above the stage to help sort things out. Piano duets are risky but one was worthwhile. Rosnes has brought Mays’ Slink into the Artemis book so I have to think she’s the one with the appreciation of him and so it is for her that I will do my homework on him. It was she not her husband who had the piano seat for the A Time For Love with Steve Wilson and the It Had To Be You.

But it was Charlap who was on the bandstand for Kenny Dorham’s Windmill, a Sweet Georgia Brown contrafact, perfectly suited to Pelt and Glover. As with the John Scofield gig on Tuesday, Charlap, of course, knows and can play jazz compositions. That was a fun one, in part because I enjoyed seeing Glover on a bigger stage.

Charlap offered extensive appreciative comments for any and all concerned in the production of the series, including the stage crew, but also his family, including Rosnes, he reflected on inheriting this series from Dick Hyman and in turn that Aaron Diehl will do just fine (and he will, but he’s not as special to me as Charlap). But then he, David Wong, and Dennis Mackrell played a whisper quiet, simply exquisite Some Other Time which I last heard from Tony Bennet and Bill Evans on a 1976 Canadian television program.

The rollicking closer was inevitable and just fine, well played all around. But it was a reminder of how crowded the stage can get particularly when there’s magic like the Dorham or the two sides of Rosnes’ tune or especially that magical Some Other Time.

I’ll see Bill Charlap next season at Jazz St Louis, maybe twice. He’s worth it as he proved over these two weeks with 92NY.