#i'm having trouble on who to grail next

[happyhauntt]

— april fic recs, brought to you by happyhauntt.

it's that time again! a wee fic rec post for a few of the fics i read in april that altered my brain chemistry!! i've put a lil comment next to each rec because honestly writers don't get praised enough for their work these days and i wanted to show my appreciation for these talented souls!!

criminal minds.

➡ spencer reid.

in every other life by @irndad. notes: adorableness incarnate honestly.

trouble almost all my life series by @januaryembrs. notes: might honestly have to put this on every masterlist til the end of time.

forgiven by @reiding-writing. notes: um HOW DARE YOU i sobbed my way through this

grishaverse.

➡ kaz brekker.

breakfast by @sophierequests. notes: look i'm a simple human i see badass characters and i fall in love

➡ jesper fahey.

i'm your gal by @atlabeth. notes: NOT ENOUGH JESPER FICS and this one is GLORIOUS

star wars.

➡ poe dameron.

the f-word by @the-little-ewok. notes: i reread this constantly pls it's so good

moon knight.

➡ marc spector.

i should've been there by @januaryembrs. notes: not em out here ruining my life and making me sob AGAIN you simply never miss

9-1-1.

➡ evan buckley.

take my hand by @redocity. notes: cute cute cute cute cute

emergency room by redocity. notes: the ANGST i feel well-fed

won't say i'm falling by @borntobewondering. notes: this was DELICIOUS

➡ buck / eddie.

a bleeding sun on a silver screen by @hoediaz / rarakiplin on ao3. notes: i was fully choking back sobs while reading this. i binged this fic in less than 24 hours and it has changed something fundamental inside me. i will never be the same person again. i'm billing you for my therapy.

good luck, babe by @hattalove. notes: i cackled my way through this, potentially the funniest shit ever.

hate to say i spent it all on masquerades by hattalove. notes: i sobbed and sobbed and sobbed while reading this. this fic is everything to me, it should be required reading for all my friends who want to understand me, it is beautiful and magical and i want it tattooed on my face.

don't wanna let you love somebody else but me by @shitouttabuck / fleetinghearts on ao3. notes: sheer adorableness i will well recover from this!!!!

tried and true blue by shitouttabuck / fleetinghearts on ao3. notes: SCREAMING I'M SCREAMING I MAY NEVER STOP SCREAMING

like a dog with a bird at your door by shitouttabuck / fleeting hearts on ao3. notes: iconic. truly iconic. quite possibly one of my fav fics ever written.

let the world have its way with you by shitouttabuck / fleeting hearts on ao3. notes: you don't understand how hard it was not to include every single one of shitouttabuck's fics on this list and there will almost certainly be more in future but i just want them tattooed on my forehead i feel insane

i have dreams where i kiss you and it's pink by shitouttabuck / fleeting hearts on ao3. notes: the cutest and i mean THE CUTEST shit ever

all my shattered oaths by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: i sobbed. i sobbed so hard i think i burst something honestly. everything from this author is immaculate but THIS is the holy fuckin grail and i will truly never be the same again.

let my ink stain your pages by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: castle au CASTLE AU i'm a sucker for a castle au and this is EVERYTHING

even in winter there is eranthis by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: i think about this fic daily.

your love is an oil slick by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: this is everything this is EVERYTHING to me i will reread this weekly for the rest of my life

even the darkest night by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: stardust au STARDUST AU aka my favourite movie and my favourite ship combined into a fuckin masterpiece

curl up in my heart and let me keep you by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels on ao3. notes: soft sweet my brain is mushy and i adore this

hoping it gets to you by @bucktommys / hammersmiths on ao3. notes: cute adorable stunning MAGNIFICENT

you're my whole house by @/bucktommys / hammersmiths on ao3. notes: THIS FIC OUT HERE MAKIN ME SQUEAL AND KICK MY LEGS

left unsaid by c_m2 on ao3. notes: this is mcfuckin adorable i'm crying buck deserves everything in the world

say yes to heaven by dylaesthetics on ao3. notes: okay full disclosure this made me cry so much i threw up. also it hit some pretty intense trauma for me. still so glad i read it because it was also kinda healing. and i want everyone else to suffer like i have because fuck i suffered.

if i need to rearrange my particles, i will for you by dylaesthetics on ao3. notes: author you will always be famous bc you're knocking my emotional stability OUTTA THE PARK

honestly, truly, completely by dylaesthetics on ao3. notes: simply fuckin adorable

feels like magic by 42hrb on ao3. notes: there's nothing i adore more than an urban fantasy au and this one is EXQUISITE

fallin' into your ocean eyes by princessfbi on ao3. notes: okay every part of this au is absolutely fuckin perfection i am so deeply in love with it

until now by tearsthissideofheaven on ao3. notes: a reincarnation au??? it's like you know how to ruin my life

if i never hear your voice again by @actualalligator. notes: disability rep!!!! brilliant writing!!!!

life sure can try to put love through it by @capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: ahahaha ruin my life why don't you

sometimes its hard to see what the future holds by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: olympics buddie au??? didn't know i wanted it but now i can't live without it

all good things come to an end (but it's not the end) by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: i will, in fact, devour every buddie!fwb au ever written but this one is especially great

you smiled and it was the most beautiful thing that I'd ever seen by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: coffee shop!buddie have become everything to me wdym

it's funny 'cause i've always dreamed of me and you by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: yes i did sob my heart out reading this and i'll do it again

'cause darling, you're the one by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: icymi i think this author is the best author to ever exist and i want to devour everything they write forever

i don't think that we should have friendly sex, anymore by @/capseycartwright / wafflesofdoom on ao3. notes: !!!!!!! that's it that's the note. brain: faye you can't put this many fics by the same author on one masterlist. faye: bET-

still i call it magic (when i'm next to you) by @clusterbuck / lecornergirl on ao3. notes: urban fantasy is, in fact, my shit.

(this kiss is) something i can't resist by @/clusterbuck / lecornergirl on ao3. notes: NO BC THIS HAD ME CACKLING AND ALSO IT'S BRILLIANT

give me five more minutes, baby (i'm not finished loving you) by @/clusterbuck / lecornergirl on ao3. notes: fake dating or immaculate writing??? both

cuffing season by @/clusterbuck / lecornergirl on ao3. notes: i am still laughing at this and i may never stop

[tgrailwar-zero]

Choosing to leave the city, you found yourself on the outskirts rejoined by MUSASHI and NERO.

The first to report was MUSASHI.

MUSASHI: "I learned pretty nasty news. Apparently, after the Red Faction occupied the Hamlet and the Coast, a bunch more Attack Programs started showing up on the borders. Also… rumor has it that there was a massive fight between Saber and Caster on the border of Sunbeam Row and the Gossamer Coast that even the Priestess Aria needed to get involved in. The Red Team is in the middle of a schism, and the Blue Team has been scattered to the winds and-slash-or killed… I'm guessing that the Grail War is over, and something else is bubbling to the surface. We should stay vigilant. Maybe question any Servants we run into."

MUSASHI: "Oh, and I got materials for camp. I'll start setting up everything while Nero hands over her doohickey."

You saw that she seemed to be limping a bit. She probably got a bit hurt while she was out gathering information…

Regardless, she wandered off and NERO put her hands on her hips, scoffing before pulling out what seemed to be twin, attached flutes.

NERO: "It's not a 'doohickey', it's an Aulos. Blow into it, and it will restore some of the magic of a Servant. It's power is rather limited. It needs time to recharge, but it can be recharged quickly once with an exceptional display of artistic talent!"

[ You received: Mana-Granting Aulos! ]

And with that, she also went to join MUSASHI in setting up the camp. Or at least, watching everyone else do the heavy lifting.

After a while, it seemed like everything got set up without a hitch, and your Servants seemed to make themselves comfortable for the night.

The furthest from the camp in comparison to your other was AVENGER, having joined at some point between now and when the camp was first established, who simply seemed to be staring up at the moon, his brow furrowed in what looked like deep, yet troubled, thought. Then, he pulled out his blade and tapped it like a conductors baton, before spreading his arms wide.

Ghostly forms seemed to appear before and around him, swirling in a slow waltz as the deep sound of music and song slowly began reverberating from the hallowed spirits.

Beautiful, sweeping orchestral music filled the air. A slow, careful hymn that held such deep emotion, carried through by the ghostly wraiths that had been summoned earlier in the day to do battle. Chillingly beautiful chants caused the already chilled air to grow colder. You weren't sure if this was a spell, a curse, or simply music infused with whatever magic was naturally tied to the arts.

For a moment, all of your Servants had stopped what they were doing to see where the music had come from. Their attention grabbed, enraptured for a moment as the ghostly performance continued. It was short, only lasting a few minutes as the camp sat and listened before it ended and the sounds of the night slowly crept back in. And as night slipped in, you saw that your Servants seemed to fall back into their own routines.

AVENGER, finished with his performance, seemed a bit dissatisfied. He sat, sighing wearily as the ghostly apparitions faded into darkness and he stared out into nothingness.

Standing a few paces away was CONSTANTINE, who had been the most enraptured by the performance, arms crossed a bit awkwardly as he seemed to be in the middle of wanting to approach and not wanting to disturb... ultimately settling on the later as he turned back and walked into one of the tents. -

A dreamlike haze... the transition from one day to the next...

-

When you regroup, you'll be able to spend extra time with Servants in camp before you decide where to go next. Use this time to chat with Servants, go over information, or just take a breather!

Talking with Servants around camp is just conversational, and doesn't require any polls (as long as they're available). Send in asks and messages as usual! However, your choice on what to do with your extra time during the camp period is defined with a week-long poll, and may net extra items, skills, or just bring you closer to one of your Servants. Remember- There's no 'right answer' to spending some extra time with your Servants!

Once the week-long poll is over, then you will continue forth on your journey!

-

[300iqprower]

Some random non rankup-specific mechanic ideas i've had for FGO:

Staggered: Lower-grade immobilize debuff, like a weaker stun. Reduces an enemy's per-turn-actions by 1 for as long as they have it. If inflicted on a allied servant, one of their command cards dealt that turn will be unusable

Turmoil: Chance to inflict NP Seal every turn.

Despair: Chance to inflict NP Seal and Skill Seal every turn.

Enrapture: Chance to charm each turn (Dispels early if the unit that inflicted it leaves the field)

Make lethal damage qualify for activating "if Instant Kill is successful" effects

Unique Imperial Privilege: All servants with imperial privilege have core and unique effects to make up for the per-chance nature. They will always have the Attack-Defense-Heal at somewhere between 60-80% chance to activate, but after that have a huge variety of effects with chances as low as 20% that have effects specific to what kind of ruler they were in life.

--- Also just ffs if you're gonna have random chance activation dont make it so the effects have absurdly high scaling make it so there's just a fckton of them that's like the basics of balancing RNG in RPGs, through quantity over quality.

Stop being so coy about NP Damage Resist the cat's outta the bag you idiots we all saw you give it to KP, now make better use of it because enemy NP damage has only become more bullshit as time has gone on.

Delay-until-use buffs: Like instead of having a set number of evade charges, you gain evade for 1 turn the next time you are hit before damage. Basically the opposite end of things, where you have the flexibility of using it early but you don't have the ability to also to spread it out over multiple turns.

NP Transformation: Under certain conditions such as being afflicted with a specific debuff(s) or having a certain level of overcharge, a servant's NP becomes a completely different one, not just a different color. EX: if Cu is solo with overcharge, his NP switches from Gae Bolg to Riastrad

And on that note, just Skills that different/additional effects when solo in general. You don't even normally have multiple servants in a grail war give us more tools to have awesome solo situations, they shouldnt exist purely because of massive oversights in how certain skills like guts work or how certain servants' overall kits ended up.

Special Target Focus: Trait-specific target focus, much like Special ATK and DEF skills.

Make Instant Death Resist affect the damage dealt by Instant-Kill NPs as well since it literally cannot proc on bosses

"Apply to Master": Buffs that are not reliant on any one unit continuing to be on the field. So long as you the player are there it remains active for its intended duration. Would be unusable during special story fights where Ritsuka (and any possible substitute such as a crypter) is not present in canon.

Put in more class advantage manipulation. This isn't a specific idea i'm just fcking tired of having to so heavily group servants by class. Why is Roland the only Paladin who's realistically a good teammate for Charlie. If not this, then at least you could add the next thing

Pair Up/Mounts: We have at least a couple dozen "best friends/lovers" pairs of servants, 2 centaurs, multiple dogs one of which straight up has a rider infused with it, and what is literally the horse of an already existing servant. You would think there'd be some sort of inherent bonus for fielding relevant duos together but no, you can field Red Hare and their master together and there's no synergy whatsoever. Bullshit. Give us an inherent Riding mechanic or make certain automatic buffs based on fielded units standard. You can save the game-changing stuff for things like Jason having a dedicated kit for it (even though he actually doesnt and that one skill isn't enough on its own but that's a whole other matter) but ffs I should not have trouble using Red Hare and Lu Bu together, or have to rely on the summer variant of Akuta to get her to work well with Xiang Yu

Just let us pick our turn 1 cards already or at least add a fcking shuffle option instead of making people burn AP and sit through the same fcking intros and loading screens over and over for CQs and major boss fights over pure RNG.

[tigger8900]

The Deep Sky, by Yume Kitasei

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In a future where all climate measures have failed, the nations of Earth have banded together to launch an intergalactic mission, one last hope to carry the best of humanity away from its mistakes and into the stars. In the lead-up to launch, children train and compete against one another for the honor of representing their country in the mission. But in the future, a bomb has exploded on board The Phoenix, throwing the entire mission into jeopardy. And Asuka, who only stepped in at the last moment as a replacement crew member, might be the only person on board who can discover the true identity of the saboteur.

This was an incredible debut! I loved the dual plotlines, switching back and forth between Asuka's childhood spent at the training school and the increasingly-dire situation on the ship. There was no real suspense in the former — we knew who made in on board the ship and who didn't — but where the flashbacks truly shone was in getting to know the characters, leaving our attention free to tackle the mystery plot.

Of course, as a science fiction novel, this book has themes, ranging from difficult mother-daughter relationships to musings over multi-racial identity, the struggle of trying to collaborate when every person resides in their own reality, and even the heavy question of whether it's better to invest in a moonshot or save those precious resources to try to salvage what we can on planet Earth. I will warn prospective readers that it's heavy on questions and light on answers. The main character isn't going to explain it to you. Rather, you're given the ideas, and left to mull them over on your own.

Something I thought this book did phenomenally was how the generation part of the ship was handled. I was delighted to realize that Kitasei had taken something that could easily have been super TERF-y and made it inclusive. The idea was that the ship was crewed only by people who could give birth, so as to maximize the genetic diversity while minimizing the number of bodies. Obviously, the ability to get pregnant has great importance in the narrative. But the crew consists not only of cis women, but also nonbinary AFAB people and trans men. Even so there are some troubling elements with this, but Kitasei seems aware of them, spending a not-insignificant portion of the narrative pondering the value of a crew member who's struggling with unexpected infertility.

The author has a second book out next year, The Stardust Grail. I'm certainly going to be keeping an eye out for it!

[sakuraswordly]

Punch: Miss Maria....I....

Marie: Go save your boyfriend....don't worry about me. I'm sure that if you don't save the person you love, who will be beside you? Just like a baby needs a family to take care of.

.

Pierre: Don't let her alone even though she's not the same like as but she had the will to keep moving forward like my wife did.

Peter: Thank you so much....Mr Pierre....I really am a stupid one, aren't I?

.

Syaoran: Peter-san. Punch betrayed us but I never got mad at her. Not because Sonic told me or because he looks like her. Because I believe she's still her. She's doing this for us. She burdens herself.

Peter: Even Punch will turn against us one day, I'll fight until the end. I have no wish but I want to protect others like always, like a King...no...a hero. And I won't betray her.

Danny: I see. That is understandable. Then I shall swear again. I will be your sword for as long as you are worthy. As long as you remain yourself, I will never betray your trust

Excalibur, symbol of protection and weapon of the fairies

The weapon wounds and kills in fair combat in the service of the king, his master; the scabbard protects him and keeps him alive. Even higher is the spiritual dimension that can be seen in the complementarity of Excalibur and the Grail.

Enkidu: "I was a weapon. As a weapon, I would be changed depending on the weapons of the next era. I am nothing more than a treasure that people will use. I'm nothing more than one of your countless treasures. In the future, you will encounter treasures more valuable than me"

Danny: I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I know how much you have been through Sonic. I just can't see you responsible and hurt yourself. I understand how much you three hurt...even Enkidu...

Everything I put into Tsubasa of Phantasia was tied to the Truth.

[doomxdriven]

❛  my assistance may not be welcome, but it is most definitely required.  ❜ from semi to tanba 🥺

the blacklist sentence starters | selectively accepting | @chaieos

Did Tanba hear that right just now? Tanba, who had his back faced to Semiramis at this point instantly whips his whole body around to look at her. "But is it really required?" Tanba questioned, cheerful and smiling widely despite momentous task before him; claiming the Holy Grail from a plethora of legendary and divine opponents. "You're powerful, Sem, there's no doubt about that, I've seen what you can do-- I'm literally standing in some of your best work right now." Tanba says, gesturing to the Hanging Garden's they were both currently within; this place was a display of power and status like no other, a marvel that bordered on being a true miracle. "Your power might not be as straightforward as some other servants in this war, but I'll be the first to tell you, after me, you're the best there is."

Tanba points to himself rather enthusiastically, "I'm the best, though-- I don't need any help. Legendary knights, monsters, gods, demigods, some of them might be tricky targets but when push comes to shove, they're NOTHING compared to me." It might be incredibly arrogant of Tanba to say such things, especially when he's had his fair share of trouble with some of those aforementioned servants, but he speaks with the utmost confidence in what he says. The notion that Tanba required any help? Ludicrous to him.

Tanba wasn't about to write off Semiramis and her offer, however.

"All that said, I don't want to sound ungrateful. I like you Sem, I respect you." Tanba vanishes into a cloud of black feathers from his position at the foot of Semiramis throne and then suddenly reappears next to her in the same fashion seated on one of that throne's arms. There, Tanba looks down at Semiramis with a cheery smile and a roguish curiosity in his eyes, "Even if its not 'required', if you're offering me assistance, maybe I should be more welcome to it, mm?"

Ultimately, Tanba knew that his goals would be a lot easier to achieve if he had the active assistance of someone like Semiramis, and he liked to think the two of them already got along well enough as it was. Perhaps there was a matter of trust to be considered, but at the same time, Tanba didn't really care if this was some ploy and Semiramis tried to stab him in the back later on-- while that would make things more challenging, it would also make things more exciting for him. "You'll have to tell me more about what you have in mind, buuuuut I think you and me working together more closely might be a great idea after all."

[iturbide]

I dont use my grails much, so i wish there was a trade feature so i could let you have them. I honestly barely use them

I have wanted trade features forever though part of that is because I would love to trade Heroes and help people get characters they might have missed.  

What I would really love is if Heroes instituted some kind of currency exchange system, where we could throw our excess currency in and get out something that’s severely limited -- like chucking some of my 65k Arena Medals in for Refining Stones or Sacred Coins, or my maxed out Universal Crystals for Hero Feathers, or even my hundreds of thousands of badges/great badges for Heroic Grails.  There could be a steep trade rate, sure, but honestly I would love to get some of this stuff out of my inventory because there are several currencies I literally cannot hold more of and yet they keep giving them to me. 

[revchainsaw]

The Crow (1994)

Alright Cult of Cult. Do I really need to introduce this one? Let's get all 90s and gothy and maybe brace ourselves for a bit of cringe, but like in a fun way. It's the Holy Grail of Hot Topic, 1994's the Crow Starring Brandon Lee.

Sermon

Apparently before the auto industry totally crashed Detroit was already a total fucked to death pile of burning shit, or at least that's what the crow would have you believe. Sorry Bruce Campbell, and other people from Detroit, but mostly Bruce Campbell. According to the Crow the city of Detroit is the kind of place where gangs of warlock anarchist arsonists will bomb buildings, and murder and rape whoever they feel like and then walk around bragging about it the next day with absolutely zero consequences. Funny then that if Detroit was so bad they had to go to film this movie in Wilmington North Carolina which is definitely a fucked to death pile of burning shit. I can say that, I'm from there and I got the fuck out. My brother is going to kill me if he ever reads this. (It's okay, these are all jokes people). Did you know they also filmed the Super Mario Bros movie there ... also cuz they needed a really shitty looking distopia. Moving on ...

The ludicrous criminality of the Crow's Detroit is particularly on display on Halloween. In Detroit (apparently) Halloween is known as Devils Night and it's legitimately just a night of pure lawlessness and chaos and kids aren't even safe to get candy, except later when we do see trick or treaters. Eric Draven, hunky goth rocker who sort of looks like he could be Bruce Lee's Kid and his fiance are murdered by a gang of vicious criminals. One year hence, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow (that is actually a Raven), to exact his revenge on the gang that murdered him.

He paints his face like sad Alice Cooper and refuses to listen to Joy Division, just covers. He murders Tin Tin (a knife guy) just for his long gothy duster, he murders Fun Boy and forcibly ejects heroine from her arms and tells her "Go be a good mom now" which actually works. (have I told you about our Lord and Savior Sting? He gave me the strength to get off drugs), he blows T Bird up dick first, and then comes for Skab? Scraap? Scooby? in a meeting of all of Detroits villains and just about kills them all.

He is supported by the most 90s little girl to have ever graced the screen, and I am here for it, and Officer Albrecht, who's played by Ernie Hudson but I like to call him Zeddemore: The Most Underrated Ghostbuster. The leader of the bad guys, who I cannot beleive wasn't played by Brad Dourif or Tom Waits, is pretty interested in the occult. He keeps his witchy girlfriend around and she makes him fun dishes like smoked eyeballs, and her main use is that she knows that the Crow is the Crows weakness. They set Tony Fucking Todd on the bird, and I guess you just have to hurt the bird and not kill it, and Eric loses his healing factor and other macabre undead powers.

The Crow, Jimmy the Raven, pecks out Dr. Girlfriends eyeballs, I honestly forget how Tony Todd gets offed, and Top Dollar gets Gargoyled (that is impaled on a gargoyle). Funnily enough that is more Gargoyle related impaling on screen then in the actual movie Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness where a Gargoyle is supposed to have impaled a guy.

The Benediction

Best Feature: Injustice League

In the Crow we have not only a set of super memorable villains but they are played by the bad guy all stars. John Polito as the most lowly of the bad guys as a kind of sleazy pawn shop owner who buys ill gotten gains. Tony Todd, who's size is really on display here, the freaking Candy Man is in this movie. T Bird is the head of Top Dollars goons and is played by David Patrick Kelly, you might know as the "Warriors Come Out and Play!!" bottle guy from the Warriors, or as Jimmy Horne from Twin Peaks, and of course Top Dollar himself is played by Michael Wincott. Wincott is not a particularly celebrated actor but has played villains effectively in Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Dead Man.

Best Set Piece: Detroit Style Hot Dogs

The Set design of the Crow is perhaps one of it's most fantastic features. It's very moody and ethereal. It's just real enough to not take you out of the film, but fantastic enough to set mood and theme above realism. From Eric Draven's apartment, to the church where the final battle occurs they are all fantastic. I think that's why I really wanted to shine the spot light on a very minor set piece that would get nary a mention but just as effectively represents the qualities I was just talking about and that is the Maxi Doggs Hot Dog Stand, where a lot of the films exposition for audience surrogates takes place.

Worst Effect: Freeze Frame

At a few points in the movie the film makers made a strange decision to do these freeze frame transitions. I only noticed it twice in the movie where it was particularly stupid. I'm sure the film makers at the time thought it was a moody and atmospheric choice that highlighted the suffering that Eric Draven was going through, but it didn't age well. If you don't have the sensibilities of a goth girl from 1994 then it's very very hard not to laugh at just how self involved the movie is about it's super sadness.

Worst Feature: Tragic Accident

Solely based on the film itself, it is that very gothic and dated sensibility that hurts the Crow. The little sarcastic dance he does when he flees the police, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, and bowing to Albrecht. These affected behaviors that I'm sure seemed snarky and right on to the target audience only serve to make Eric Draven seem like an unbearable neck beard edgelord and not the troubled dark soul he's supposed to be. I'm sure at the time it seemed unique and gothy but that shit went out of style for good reason, people could see through it. It's a shame that the Crow himself was some of the cringiest parts of this movie now that I'm seeing it as an adult and not a 13 year old middle class boy with no real problems.

This however is not the low point of the movie. It's not news now and if you're reading some dudes review of The Crow on Tumblr then you probably already know the story. The worst thing about The Crow is that Brandon Lee was horrifically killed on set while filming this movie due to some negligible prop malfunctions. A series of unfortunate events that lead to the actor spending 6 hours in surgery fighting for his life before eventually passing. It was not a quick or painless death and it's really impossible to watch the movie without an appreciation for the fact that this kind of fun dark adventure was going to be a vehicle for Brandon Lee's career wound up taking his life. He was 28. I really wish I could have just bitched about the goofy goth stuff and moved on, but that's not the world we live in.

Best Effect: The Gargoyling

Maybe I should have called this best kill. But I'm not sure which it is. The slaying of Top Dollar at the Climax of the film was just super effective. The pointed wings impaling his chest and that horn coming out of his mouth, it was morbid and excellent and just fit the tone of the movie perfectly. I mean how many other movies can you say Cause of Death: Impaled on a Gargoyle.

Best Bird: The Raven

I tried very hard to look up the name of the bird that primarily performed in this movie and could not find anything. There was a Raven once upon a time called Jimmy the Raven, but that was in the 50s and I don't think birds live that long. There was a team of Ravens performing as the crow, they were chosen over crows for their larger size, and more imposing silhouettes. I just think it's so wonderful to see these often maligned birds get a chance to show off their talents. Corvids of all kinds are incredibly intelligent creatures. Im a sucker for animals, if you haven't already figured that out. I really liked seeing the ravens hit their marks, particularly the one whos job it was to drop the wedding ring into Sarah's hand at the end of the film. You can see that greedy little bastard do his trick and then look of camera at his trainer like "treat please!". It's very cute.

Best Actor: Top Dollar Performance

I'd love to take this opportunity to just put praise upon Brandon Lee, he truly gave everything for this role, but unfortunately with what was put to film we actually have very few character moments with Eric Draven. Stuff happens to him, and he does killings and fights. There's definitely some personality, but I felt like I walked away knowing almost nothing about who Eric Draven was. He was clearly a good dude but that and a few hobbies and a relationship and you don't really have a character yet. He's unfortunately not given a lot of acting to do, instead just relegated to stunts and action sequences. That were notably cool.

The bad guys in the Crow have a lot more character and among this who's who of character actors, Michael Wincott takes the cake. Hell he was standing next to Candyman himself, Tony Todd and still stealing the scenes.

Best Character: A Few Good Apples

Is the best character in The Crow really going to be the cop? The commissioner Gordon stand in? yeah, it is. Not to be political, but I don't like cops, but I guess in a world with magical birds and eyeball smoking I can suspend my disbelief and let Ernie Hudson be #1 cop dad. His character is really the heart of the film, since all Eric can do is brood and fight, we have to care about someone in this movie.

Best Sequence: Halloween Party

The best sequence of the movie is of course the scene where Eric Draven busts in on the Devil's Night party planning commission. I think Top Dollar brought Scrappy Doo there just so he could lure out the crow, knowing the baddest assholes in all of Detroit would be gathered it was likely that somebody was going to kill the beast, or if they couldn't at least Top Dollar could get a feel for his enemy. It's a bullet flying action sequence with a ton of weight. I can't put my finger on this all to common weightless third act problem that big budget super hero and action flicks have nowadays, but whatever that issue is, the Crow does not have that issue. From this point on the Climax feels earned and I am invested. For that reason, The Crow is honestly better in spite of its awkwardness, than many of the super hero movies out today.

Worst Sequence: My Guitar Gently Weeps

Speaking of brooding or fighting. The best sequence was fighting, the worst is brooding. I get that Eric was in a band or something, but didn't he have shit to do. It seemed like it was a cool idea for a shot, but for like a whole seen, watching somebody play an 80s guitar solo, that stood out so brazenly from the choices of music in the rest of the movie was extra corny. It felt like someone's( dad trying to relate to their kid. Oh you like Music. The Dresden Dolls eh? Oh man, then you're going to love Slash's Snake Pit!

Summary

The Crow is dated. It is iconic but I wonder how many of the people that hang that poster on the wall have watched that movie since they were kids. It's interesting how what i've liked and disliked about this film have changed so much sense I was a kid. It's a cheeseball fiesta. If you have matured at all beyond thinking that being sad is the same as being deep then you're going to like it a little less than you did when you were younger, but it is still solid. There's not much to hate on. I'd watch it over and over again. I was really afraid it would not hold up at all, but returning to The Crow was a completely positive experience.

Overall Grade: B

[nikosasaki]

"I've never seen you smiling so big" + leo

"I've never seen you smiling so big"

leo clarke + jj maybank

warnings for drug use (as always with these two)

It had been a long time - far too long, if you were to ask JJ - since the Pogues had gotten some time to themselves. Luckily they had managed to find a pocket of time to relax on a particularly sunny afternoon. They had taken Leo's old boat out on the water, along with a cooler of beer and and enough food to last them until next week.

The six of them - JJ, Pope, Kie, Leo, John B, and Sarah - were spread out across the boat. Leo and Sarah were lounging out on the nose, equal parts sunbathing and watching their friends goof off. JJ and John B were daring each other to a backflip contest, and Pope and Kie were sharing a bag of chips and betting on which of the two boys would be the first to break their necks.

It was a good afternoon - a peaceful one. They hadn't realized it in that moment, but it had been months since all six of the teenagers hadn't felt hunted, scared, or threatened in some way or another. They hadn't gotten a break in so long, it was a miracle that they hadn't forgotten how to relax.

"Do you guys dare me to chug this beer?" JJ asked, staring at his friends.

"No," Pope responded.

"Not even a little," Leo agreed.

"Well," JJ shrugged. "I'm going to,"

He proceeded to dig a hole in the can, chugging down the entire thing in one go, and proudly looking from Pope to Leo as he finished. The other teens looked with various pained expressions, Kie simply shaking her head with a heavy sigh.

"Proud?" She asked JJ, taking careful note that he did not ditch the empty can in the water below.

"Very - bleugh!" he stopped himself mid-sentence to let out the loudest burp ever. It was a disgusting, loud, awful noise. It echoes across the water, and it sounded like it had rattled JJ's insides.

"Dude!"

"JJ! You're a pig!"

"Gross, man!"

It wasn't long after that the Pogues had decided to call it quits. It was well past dark, and Leo had promised them they could all sleep over at her place. Ever since the trouble they went through last years the five of them had a hard time being separated, so sleepovers had become something of a regular occurrence.

Once it was long past midnight, and their friends had fallen asleep in the living room, Leo found JJ sitting on her porch, thoughtfully staring at the black ocean ahead of him.

"Hey, J?"

The boy perked up at the sound of Leo's voice, smiling and making space on the wooden bench for her to sit down.

"Hey princess," he greeted, taking the opportunity to wrap an arm around her right when she sat down. "can't sleep?"

"Kinda. Why are you out here?"

"Kinda can't sleep either,"

Leo let herself be pulled against JJ, settling against his chest as she pulled up her knees. It was comfortable that way, a closeness that largely went unspoken.

"What's on your mind?"

JJ hummed out something of a laugh in response, shaking his head.

"I dunno. It's weird, right? Sitting here again, being all normal. Hell, don't you have work tomorrow?"

Leo agreed with a nod, unfurling herself from JJ's hold to face him.

"I just can't really wrap my head around everything that happened to us, I guess, or the fact that we just - we just went back to living our lives," JJ took a deep breath. "we just continued with our lives like nothing ever happened,"

"But they did," Leo responded in agreement. She was watching JJ attentively, almost afraid that he would be upset. He didn't, though, only nodding and turning his head to face Leo.

"Growing up is weird, huh," JJ mused. "one day you're smoking weed and stealing gold, and the next you're just... waiting tables and writing college essays,"

Leo laughed softly, moving to dig around in the pocket of her shorts. "J, who ever told you that you can't do both?" and out came the largest blunt JJ thought he'd ever seen.

"Lee," JJ gasped, hand slowly reaching out like he was about to be handed the holy grail. A smile spread across his face, reaching the corners of his eyes and creasing every muscle. "you beautiful woman, this is amazing,"

"I was saving her for a special occasion," Leo said with a chuckle. It was mostly true - it was an 'in case of emergency' blunt, and a contemplative JJ was enough of an emergency to her.

"This is going to kill us," JJ was breathless just at the idea. "it'll be worth it,"

Leo watched as JJ took the joint out of the capsule, still smiling incredulously as he lit it. He took a deep, deep breath, all but coughing up a lung as he breathed out - though the smile never left him.

"I've never seen you smiling this big," Leo told him, patting JJ on the back as he gathered himself for another drag. He looked up and leaned forward, kissing Leo on the cheek with a loud smack.

"You fix everything, princess,"

It wasn't exactly the love confession she had been waiting for, but for now Leo was content. JJ was happy, and that's all she really wanted anyway.

wanna send me a prompt from this list?

[htonl]

I really wish I could understand gender but I can’t. I’ve never even met anyone who gets it either- it’s always just “something you feel.” Literally gender is made up so you cannot feel it anyways, that’s like saying you feel like an american citizen on the inside. It’s a social construct. I don’t wanna be a terf but I legit can never understand this even tho I try to read everything I can on this stuff. The only thing I can do is be nice, and pretend like I get it

hiya, anon! welcome back to the Gender Discussion Zone!

i get where you're coming from, and i do relate - as i've mentioned, i don't have a gender at all, so i'm fumbling in the dark in terms of defining what gender is or feels like. but - if i may be blunt - i honestly don't think it's all that important to understand gender!

hear me out here - i know that might seem like a casual dismissal of something that it sounds like you're really struggling with. but think of it like this: the world is full of things you'll never understand. it's full of things i'll never understand, and it's full of things the entirety of humanity will never understand. but i don't have to understand why it's raining to know that i like the sound. i don't have to understand where information goes when a black hole pulls matter in to know that space is cool as hell. i don't have to understand biology to know that there are people with phds who do, and i don't have to understand poetry to know that many people find beauty and comfort in it.

and i don't have to understand gender to know that it's important to many people and not to me!

gender is made up, yes, but it still does have a very real impact on people's lives. you're having a lot of trouble with it, which seems to me like it's having a big impact on your life! just like money - which modern society has largely reduced to numbers on computers - impacts people's lives, and arbitrarily drawn country borders impact people's lives, and the concept of a 24-hour day impacts people's lives. lots of things are made up, but those things still have power because we give them power, individually or as a society.

some things don't stop having power just because you stop caring about them. i'm still an american citizen, even though i despise the vast majority of our history and current world actions. that's going to affect how i interact with the world, and how the world interacts with me. but gender is a thing that can stop having power just because you stop caring about it! or at least, it can in this case, when the power it has seems largely like the power to make you think in circles forever. let me tell you a secret: if you stop chasing the holy grail of What Is Gender, the question will also stop chasing you!

the trick, of course, is that gender doesn't stop mattering to other people just because you've decided to stop giving a crap. for which point, i actually think you're already halfway there! my solution to this is the same as my solution for most of life: be nice, understand that your viewpoint is gonna be different from the viewpoint of the person next to you, and be respectful of that. what matters to me doesn't have to matter to you, and vice versa. you can completely stop thinking about gender, if you want, and the genderfluid person in the next room is never going to stop thinking about gender, and all you really have to do about it is respect that gender IS important to them, and treat them accordingly.

i don't think you have to pretend like you get it! i'm autistic, and i spent the entirety of my early life pretending like i understood a great many things about the world around me that i simply didn't. and, in many cases, still don't! but i've found that people don't actually tend to care whether you understand things, as long as you respect their understanding. of course, there are times when understanding is important - when you're trying to enter a reciprocal relationship, for example - but i don't think gender is one of those times.

a note about not being a terf - i'm not particularly familiar with terf rhetoric, but i think you're already heading in the right direction, which is to say: away from that. my understanding is that terfs are all about gender essentialism (men are born with penises and women are born with uteruses and That's That). you're at the point where you understand that gender is an inherently subjective experience, and you're educating yourself! that's important, and a wonderful thing! i don't think you're in any danger. :)

[koorinohebi]

@nobuverse said:

For quite a while there - she’d had the warlord completely fooled. Having grown up in a time and place where death and executions were so regularly handled in equal parts mundane and over-romanticized ways, asking a relative or close one to kill her in a time of great shame would have been the morally acceptable thing to do in the Sengoku Era.  It was not uncommon for a brother to kill their sibling in a form of ritual suicide. The time old tradition of the ‘honorable death’ was not one she had necessarily subscribed to in life, but it had seemed as good a situation as any to apply it here.

Kiomi’s smile even brought a sense of peace to her troubled mind - and Nobunaga couldn’t help but find herself completely dumbfounded as her Master’s expression changed so suddenly.

“Wha-? Hey! What are you doing-?!”

Her voice was serval octaves than she usually let it be, practically giving out a squeak of surprise as the other woman pinched and pulled at her cheeks. Ugh! Damnit, not that voice again! Focus! Nobody was going to respect her if she still sounded like a teenage girl!

“What are you talking about?! Did you forget who’s the servant here?! I’m supposed to be protecting you-!”

She made a grab at Kiomi’s wrists, holding them away from her face as she could feel her face redden in embarrassment. She didn’t exactly put much force behind the gesture, though - almost like she’s handling a porcelain doll (It’s not an act of pity, more out of fear of her own strength in this avenger form).

Ugggggh! What a stubborn girl-! Didn’t she know that wasn’t how this contract was supposed to work?!

She released her own grip as Kiomi’s stare became more serious, flustered by the onslaught of psychical contact she was receiving. She was frozen as her master put her hands on her shoulder, not certain how she was supposed to react to words of such undying loyalty, nor the unshakable courage of the magus forcing her to look at the both of them as equals both worthy of life.

…..What a strange one.  There’s that urge to protect again overcoming her, placing her hand over Kiomi’s trembling fingers. Something she’s not felt in a very long time. Among a life and after-life that’d been filled with treachery after treachery that’d been committed towards her,  her Master stood in stark contrast to all those distasteful characters. Not a coward who’d run at the first sight of inconvenience, but someone willing to face their worst fears to give her a second chance.

“You know….” she starts, then stops - feeling that she was getting a bit too close to saying something sentimental for her own comfort.

“You’re pretty sexy when you’re mad, you know~?”

She gives a laugh to release the tension in her body, hoping the crude statement would help her avoid the conversation that was getting far too personal for the way she usually played things.

…Well, not that it was a complete lie….

"Yeah, well joke's on you, Avenger. I practically lived my life serving others, so I'm technically a different kind of servant, but a servant nonetheless."

Because Kiomi will never accept it; this horrible notion that servants simply existed to protect masters or be used by them-- even one that was like her. Sure, obtaining a grail now had more value than simply granting wishes... but she believed that servants summoned were free to live the way they want. In fact, they should-- with these command seals used only to power them up, not leash them to her or anyone else like some kind of dog.

She wasn't going to hide how odd it may be. She could be called weird, or a non-conformist, but she was going to live her life as a magus the way that she wanted to. She was one of the last master's of Chaldea, if she continued her old way of life-- decided to be influenced by those magi whom had used her prior... then she would rather change. The girl didn't know just how long they'll continue winning over these Singularites and Lostbelts, so doing things without regrets. She wanted to grasp that.

Just like how she grasped Nobu's cheeks whilst the other continued to pry them away.

She wasn't going to let anyone die needlessly. Not this time. Not anymore. Now that Kiomi had the ability to save someone, she'll do it-- even if that someone was her own servant who she knew didn't need any protecting. Even if Nobu, was in fact, the stronger of them both.

Her thoughts would be interrupted when she felt the Warlord's hand over hers, that smile of hers coming into view.

"..." However, it was the next of her words that dealt a blow. What did she say just now? Was she really hearing something like THAT right now? Slowly, she felt her cheeks burn, a splash of crimson literally washing over her face.

T-tha audacity of this Daimyo!

"T-this mouth! This mouth! Spouting so much nonsense!" Nobunaga was close enough for her to hook her arm over the neck, pulling her down with fists being applied atop her head for a noogie from her very very flustered master.

[whatissleepeven]

Okay, but -

I stan Caster Cú with the Alter Archer from Singularity F in Fate/Grand Order. I stan a lot of things, actually, but this one...

THIS ONE...

JUST -

HEAR ME OUT -

Caster! Cú: *Watching the other Servants interact at Chaldea*

Caster! Cú: *Zeroing in on Lancer! Cú and EMIYA's conversations*

Caster! Cú: ...Some things never change, do they?

He misses his own boi, his own version of Archer, and feels isolated from everyone else as a result. Then again, he's a more mature version of Cú, so he's also a reserved person. This is where he differs to his Lancer counterpart, who symbolizes Cú's battle-filled and glory days with Gaé Bolg by his side. Caster! Cú is very much a realist, but he has no trouble setting aside his own values if that's what it takes to help someone grow as a person. Likewise, if he feels that someone's out of line, he would lay down the cold truth before attempting to comfort them in his own way. Going back to the chat above, Caster would be jealous of Lancer's and Archer's dynamics because he doesn't have his Archer to do anything with. They understood each other on a deeper level than he thought was possible, and they were (to an extent) comrades.

(All in all, Caster just misses his boi)

Moving on -

Gudako: Hey, Caster, I noticed that you've been a little distant lately, so I went ahead and -

Caster! Cú, sighing: What did you do this time, Master?

Gudako, nervous: I, uh -

Alter! EMIYA: ... *Steps around the corner and sees Caster, eyes widening*

Caster! Cú, whispering with his eyes wide in shock: ...Archer...?

What if Caster blamed himself for not doing enough for EMIYA during the Grail War, and wasn't as unbothered as he seemed? In any timeline, Cú and EMIYA are rivals, but they have such a great dynamic that it's hard NOT to ship them together. The Singularity Version could leave them both with lingering regrets, which would push their rivalry to develop into something...more. And with Gudako acting as a wingwoman, Caster finally gets to see his Archer again and is...

So...

SOFT

LIKE -

Caster now just...lights up whenever he sees Alter! EMIYA because he's someone who went through the same terrible Grail War with him, traded blows with him, maybe even fought a common foe together before Archer became corrupted. Archer, in turn, is just...so relieved to see that Caster's alright, and that he didn't get corrupted, because while he himself is and has some disturbing thoughts he still has some humanity left, some semblance of his last self before becoming corrupted. Since they come from the same Holy Grail War, it was only natural for him to stick close to Caster.

And here's another head canon!

Caster! Cú: Is there anywhere particular in Chaldea you want to see, Archer?

Alter! EMIYA: ...Anywhere's fine. Be there, too.

Caster! Cú:

So my next head canon is that Alter! EMIYA has been learning how to use his vocal chords again with Fate/Stay Night UBW! EMIYA just so he could talk to Caster again. Granted, he can't talk for long yet, but the first time he does to Caster the other is just...so...floored that he kinda forgets how to speak himself. All Alter really wants is to spend time with Caster, so he's fine going anywhere with him. (He doesn't realize this is love yet until much, much later, when Fate/Stay Night UBW! EMIYA has to point it out to him.)

And their outings...oh my god -

They're at quiet places. Caster does most of the talking, which is a little unusual for him but he's fine with that, because he knows that Alter! EMIYA is listening. He's always listening to his thoughts, his ideas, and even to his offhanded comments.

And when Caster falls silent...

The serenity of the quiet surrounding them isn't even overpowering. Nothing is awkward about it, either; it's gentle and supportive, amicable. It's common for other Servants to almost (key word almost) walk in on their quiet moments, but they quickly turn in the other direction to let them have their peace.

There's no bickering between them, no insults, no fights...

Just quiet acknowledgement and understanding.

Caster! Cú: Say, Archer...Thanks for this.

Alter! EMIYA: ...Same for you.

- And this is where I end this before it gets to be too long, but I hope you guys enjoyed my head canon(s)! Sorry about the formatting, too...

If you want to discuss this more, I'm open to talk at any time!

[faejilly]

I've never participated in Yuletide before, and I must say I'm curious - if you don't mind, could you explain to me what these nominations are for?

Oh, I adore Yuletide, I could talk about it forever. (It’s the Holy Grail of fic exchanges, imo.) For reference: FAQ on AO3

The idea behind Yuletide is it’s for rare/small fandoms, it’s a way to get fic for whatever favorites you have that don’t get updates regularly, or possibly to entice people to try fic for a fandom they haven’t considered before. It works as well as it does (there are usually over 2k fics in the main collection every year, and several hundred as treats that are answers to prompts throughout the next year), largely because of the tagset. 

When you sign up there are separate requests vs offers (which is something I wish all exchanges were more clear about, because I can do things I don’t necessarily want someone else to do for me, and I’d like stuff I can’t do well, iykwim?) and they are limited to available tags. You specify the fandom you want, and the characters. After that you can talk about what sort of fic you want, but the matching is done via those tags. This means it’s largely automated and it is impossible you’re going to get matched to someone who actually hates your favorite character and is going to have trouble with your fic. 

(A lot of people also include a link to a letter with more specifics re: favorite tropes, clear Do-Not-Wants, details on what they like about the specific fandoms they requested, etc. but that’s not required. My generic exchange letter is here, I don’t usually have specifics for my fandoms beyond what fits on the sign-up form. I haven’t updated it in a while, I should probably do that soon.)

This matching is only possible because, when signing up, you can only choose from the fandoms that were nominated. Firstly, this gives a chance to confirm that any fandom nominated is actually rare enough to need the boost, and secondly it organizes the options so the choices are limited enough that people actually do match. 

But that means nominations are really important, and if you don’t nominate your favorite tiny fandom because you thought someone else would (because maybe usually someone else does?) it might not be there for you to ask for when sign-ups happen. 

Hopefully that made sense? If not, do let me know and I’ll try again. 

[erijonarexhepis-blog]

LET’S GET TO SCOOPING

SEASON ONE, EPISODE FOUR ////// PART ONE

Part two, Part three

Masterlist

April is standing over Sam’s dead body, the trophy is by her feet, and she's trying to figure out what to do. Michaela is freaking out, and Wes is comforting Rebecca— they're handling the situation differently.

Connor walks in, and he observes the scene in front of him. "Michaela, stand up. We need to leave. Do you understand?" He punches the bookshelf. "Michaela!"

"Connor, stop!" Laurel goes to Michaela and tries to comfort her.

"We're screwed," Connor says. "She's gonna ruin this for us."

"She'll be fine," April tells Connor, calmly.

"She's not fine. Are you blind?" Connor asks April. "Her little, perfect brain doesn't know how to handle any of this."

/// TWO MONTHS EARLIER ///

After Annalise made the decision to take Rebecca as her new client, April told her professor that she knows their new client and that they're friends. This caused Annalise to kick her off the case but gave her an assignment first; get Rebecca to reveal why she confessed to murder.

"This sucks," Rebecca stammers. She looks tired.

"I know," April replies.

Rebecca has her eyes fixated on the table. "Do you think I killed her?"

April shakes her head, "no." Rebecca looks up and meets April's eyes; she seems surprised. "You're not a killer. That's why we need you to tell me why you confessed, so that way Annalise can help you."

Rebecca pauses. "I just wanted to go home."

April sighs. "I get it."

"Wes was right."

"About what?" April frowns.

"Griffin was gonna pin it on me."

"You understand that I have to tell Annalise this, right?"

Rebecca nods. "Yeah, I understand."

April takes Rebecca's hand in comfort. "I know that it doesn't seem like it, but you're going to be fine."

There's a knock on the door. April turns and sees her professor on the other side of the glass. "You have to go," Rebecca states. "Don't want to keep her waiting."

April exits the interrogation room. "What did she say?"

"She didn't kill Lila. She only told them that because she was fatigued and she wanted to go home. Plus, they convinced her that Griffin told them everything, which Wes warned her about."

"Wes did what?"

April frowns slightly. "You didn't know."

They're back to Annalise's house— sitting in the living room. "Oh, it looks like the trophy's gonna be in play," Asher says, referring to the fact that Wes and Annalise are talking in her office— he might be in some trouble. April was asked to join the others at the house to get an assignment.

April looks at Asher from her spot on the couch. "Is that all you care about? The trophy?" She looks annoyed.

"Isn't that all you care about?" Asher asks her with a grin.

"No. I care about our client, as does Wes."

Laurel nods, agreeing. "We should all care that much."

Connor spins his chair to face Laurel. "You ever throw up in your mouth when you say stuff like that?" Laurel gives him a sarcastic smile and nods.

"Is that a Tillman outline?" Michaela asks as she walks up to Laurel.

"What?" Laurel looks at Michaela.

"Ward Tillman. He won the Kepley Diploma all three years at Middleton," Michaela explains. "His outlines are the holy grail." She sits next to Laurel.

"This is one of Kan's old outlines," Laurel says.

"Oh, your boyfriend's giving you his outlines now?" Asher asks. "What's next? Herpes?"

"How about we trade?" Michaela asks— a smile on her face. "I'll give you everything from my property study group."

Laurel smiles. "No."

"Laurel, the exam is in three days."

"And that's probably the first time you've actually gotten my name right."

"That's what you get for being rude," April tells Michaela, who sends her a glare.

"Look who's talking."

April pauses for a moment. "I am. Obviously."

"I hate you."

"I'm sure you do."

"Sounds like it's shooting star time," Frank announces— to Bonnie.

"Who's your pick?" Bonnie asks him as they stand in front of the young students.

"What's a shooting star?" Michaela asks, clearly confused.

"It's a small, rapidly moving meteor burning up on entering the earth's atmosphere," April answers. Michaela turns to glare at her. "It's also a North American plant with white, pink, or purple hanging flowers with backward-curving petals. The flowers are carried above the leaves on slender stems and turn to face up following fertilization."

"That's not what I meant," Michaela snaps at April, who doesn't seem bothered.

"Hair gel's got ice in his veins," Frank says, referring to Connor. "Doucheface is too dumb to care."

"Wallflower's pretty sensitive," Bonnie adds.

"School President's tough," Frank refers to April, who finds her name accurate, considering she was school president. "My bet's on Prom Queen. She's wound way too tight."

Michaela scoffs. "What the hell's a shooting star?" Annalise and Wes exit her office.

"We need a copy of Rebecca's confession tape and detainment logs," Annalise tells Bonnie. "Otherwise, there's no getting her out on bail. Be creative."

Annalise turns to the students. "Mr. Gibbins is off the Rebecca Sutter case. As is Dr. Coleman." Some of them seem to be surprised with April not being on the case. "They won't be speaking or even looking at her unless I specifically ask them." Annalise gives April a file, which she first now notices. "You have a week to finish this."

April frowns. "I don't understand."

"That's a first," Michaela mumbles.

"What is it that you don't understand?" Annalise asks. "It's pretty clear to me."

"You have a new client, so it seems rather bizarre that I'm getting this assignment. Am I getting suspended from all the cases?"

"No." Annalise shakes her head. "I just want you to do the assignment. There's nothing else behind it. You don't believe me?"

"No, but I'll get on it." April puts the file in her bag before walking out of the house.

///