#like ? there is mild pacing issues but i really think that has a lot to do with the fact we got the xianzhous story over time

[prettyboykatsuki]

am i the only one who doesnt think the hsr main story has been dissatisfying at all fdjhsdkj

[ofswordsandpens]

what do you think could’ve been done better regarding camp half-blood besides spending more time there/pacing? i’d love to hear your thoughts!

!! okay I know you're specifically asking for things that could have been done better beyond spending more time at CHB, but straight up that one issue is really the crux of everything. -- The time we spend at CHB before the quest in the show is half the time we do in the book. (And for a different frame of reference, the book is aprox. 40% over by the time the trio is leaving camp borders.)

And since the show runners halved the pre-quest chb runtime, as a result we lose quite a bit of content that helped to establish context, tone, foreshadowing, character dynamics etc.

Because we have to prioritize Percy and Luke's relationship in the show, it forces the rest of the relationships that were established in CHB in the book into the background, (or simply makes them none existent):

We have pretty much only ever been told verbally about Luke and Annabeth's bond by this point (episode 5). They have a two second interaction at camp that's not particularly noteworthy and that's that. Imo that's not particularly compelling story telling lol. We'll likely (hopefully) get something from episodes 6-8, but I maintain we still should've gotten something more substantial between Luke and Annabeth at camp. I've said before, at bare minimum the show should have had Luke see them off at Thalia's tree like he did in the book.

I've mentioned this before but Annabeth and Percy's dynamic had a much greater establishment in chb in the book because she's the one that's his guide at camp and she actively seeks him out more. In the show, we have to give this role to Luke and while I can give this change between book to screen more leeway because, yes, we have the entire quest to build Percy and Annabeth's dynamic, I still didn't like that it pretty much forced Annabeth into the periphery in the show. As a result, it made her seem a lot more distant and aloof than she ever was in the book. (Shoutout to Leah's armor strap improv, she's doing more for Annabeth than the show runners are).

2. We don't really get see the effects of Percy being claimed as Big Three Kid at camp:

Yeah, Percy moves into the new cabin in the show but then almost immediately after he's off on his quest. Meanwhile in the book, Percy's claimed as a big three kid... and then we see how it ostracizes him.

He misses being in the Hermes' cabin. Campers avoid him. He sleeps and eats alone now. He has to have solo lessons with Luke because the others are scared. He's miserable! And none of those experiences were translated to screen.

Again, they told us that big three kids are taboo, but have not shown that impact.

Like the difference in reaction during the claiming scene between the book and the show pretty much sums up this discrepancy.

3. General loss of foreshadowing and tone:

Because we don't get as much Annabeth, we lose how in the book, she had been aware that something was wrong with the gods and surmised that something was stolen long before the quest. She shared this with Percy. It was a great showcase of her intelligence. It helped set the tone that something was wrong before the quest even stared. And all of it just, didn't really make the cut.

The hellhound attack also didn't make it and its just another loss of foreshadowing. Luke was straight up trying to kill this kid from day one. Percy was not safe even at camp. Things weren't okay ever.

The weather! Yes the boundary keeps the weather mild at camp but in the book Percy remarks on the huge storms that surround them at one point. Before he leaves there's a storm so bad approaching that the campers are nervous. Even before he got to CHB there were "inexplicable" storms all the time. I wish this had been maintained in the show even beyond the camp. The gods, Zeus, they aren't happy.

Also, I tried rewatching the episodes to find this convo but I couldn't so please let me know if it's there somewhere but I don't think Luke conveyed anywhere in the show that his quest "messed things up" for anyone? Like, sure, they could include this at the end, but I think it's more impactful when we see more hints of his bitterness early on.

4. Minor Nitpicks + More things I miss:

Annabeth should have gotten soaked by Percy's Supreme Lord Bathroom moment like she did in the book. Percy had flooded the entire bathroom and she wasn't speared. In fact, Percy was the only person who wasn't wet.

The self-filling goblets in the book + the blue Coke moment.

I wish the show had Percy like, white knuckling his minotaur horn refusing to let it go. In the book he saw it as the last souvenir of his mother, refused to let anyone else hold, and was afraid it would be taken.

Rip Argus :(

[akystaracer22]

Distrust Fall:

A leap of faith gone wrong, an eternal promise kept eternally. No matter how long it has been some things never truly change.

Notes

How to fail a trust fall: Step one

Vaggie's relationship with Adam is very complicated, but at the moment there is a lot of animosity and it shows.

Adam is of the opinion that Sorry doesn’t mean jack shit if you make the mistake again, so he just doesn’t apologise because he thinks he’ll just fuck up again so there’s no point.

The hotel needs a licensed therapist at this point dear lord.

Alastor still isn’t over the whole “Radio is fucking dead” thing.

If there is one thing that Adam knows off by heart, it’s the names of animals scientific or otherwise. That was the guys job once upon a time and assuming he doesn’t know that stuff is the true quickest way to piss him off. He’s also really good with animals which pisses off Anthony because Fat Nuggets *likes* Adam and it drives the sinner up a wall.

Alastor and Lucifer are on the ground. Angel, Husk, Charlie, Vaggie, and Adam are on the roof.

Alastor was going to let him get a cm from the ground before catching him dw.

Lucifer used to be friends with Adam in the garden because I live for that sweet sweet friends to enemies tragedy.

Adam really does not like people staring at his face, it’s a mild form of scopophobia caused by his time in heaven with people always giving him shit for how he looked, particularly his facial features (Yes I drew on everyone calling him ugly and average on twitter and shit). He used the mask to get around it, that way people couldn’t actually see what he looked like.

This was originally 1260 but then I got an idea that blew this out by 500 words lol.

The graveyard with be elaborated on in a future connected one shot.

This is officially a fully fledged AU

Regarding Adam's claws, they're gold to combat the greyness of his palette, but also as a nod to Midas, the arrogant king who's touched turned everything to gold. Angelic blood is also gold so if you want you can interpret it as having blood on his hands.

Fingerless gloves because I thing they're neat.

I based Lucifer's wings off of duck wings!

Also Lucifer's angelic appearance was based on space. I heard Sera call Charlie "Daughter of the Morning Star" and I went feral.

He has a full shifting night sky in his wings, clothes, and hat.

Angels have white pupils now I don't make the rules.

References saved my life.

Word count: 1725

(Comic and fic under the cut! Click for better quality)

@irregular-child

Adam leaned away from the edge as the wind drifted through his wings, keenly aware of the fact that his wings wouldn’t break his fall and he did not in fact trust jack shit in hell to break it except the ground.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?”

“I’m with princess perfect this is a fucking death sentence,” Adam agreed, a little reluctantly because it was still the princess of hell, “You’re trying to fucking kill me.”

Vaggie smirked, because of course she did because she was trying to kill him, he wasn’t that dense, and just shrugged, “I mean, worked for me didn’t it?”

“That wasn’t even a fucking trust fall that was to get you to fucking fly and you know it! Fucking bitch,” The first man scowled and tried to step away from the edge, the crack whore of an arachnid immediately shoving him back up, “Would you fuck off?!”

“Would you stop being a dick?”

“Would you stop sucking them?”

The white jumping spider stared at him for a long moment and Vaggie stepped away from him for once, great! Cool! One person was leaving him alone and soon a second one will!

Great! About fucking time they got the message-

-------]

Lucifer paced nervously around Dazzle’s statue; this was a terrible idea. Having Adam go through a trust fall this early was going to end in disaster one way or another.

The main issue being nobody liked Adam and wouldn’t care if he fell. Hell, Charlies girlfriend has already tried to kill Adam off for good multiple times since he got here!

This was going to be a mess; Alastor was supposed to be catching Adam but he was just standing there looking completely unprepared and-

“Are you going to get ready or not.” Lucifer snapped at the radio demon, wings flicking out behind him in agitation.

“Oh, I have no intention of catching him.”

Lucifer froze, his tail stilling before lashing behind him as he turned on the deer-eared sinner, “What.”

“You heard me.”

“Oh, I heard you alright, and I think you should try that again.”

“And why are you getting so worked up, hm?” The sinner hummed, sneering down at the king, “Last I checked, the first man was your enemy after he tried to kill your own daughter.”

“I-” Lucifer paused, then scowled because Alastor was right. Why was he getting so worked up over this. This was Adam they were talking about. Adam who was crass and rude and cold to everyone. Adam, who would rather sit in his room all day than even look at any of them. Adam who was…

“…Luci, do they all hate me?”

…

“I can see why they left me for you.”

…

“It is good to see you again my friend! Come, much has changed since your last visit!”

… Adam who was so much more than who he was now. Who was probably the only person left in hell that remembered Eden.

Damnit.

“That’s none of your business you son of a bitch,” The fallen angel snapped at the cannibal, eliciting nothing more than a growing grin from the bastard.

Not a day went by in hell where Lucifer wished that this wasn’t his circus and that the sinners weren’t his monkeys.

Someone screamed above him.

The seraphim whipped his head up, eyes widening as he registered Adam twisting the air as he was shoved off the roof by Angel Dust.

Fear struck his heart like an exorcists blade when the first man tried to use his wings to glide, only for a single wing beat to send him into a spiral hurtling towards the ground.

He caught Adams eye for a single moment before it was obscured by his good wing, the man was terrified. He didn’t know sinners reformed after death and despite it all. Lucifer would never wish someone to experience falling from their death after quite literally falling from heaven.

Not even on Adam.

Something in his heart spurred the king into action, kicking off the ground as his wings snapped open to catch the air. A single beat of his wings and he was already well off the ground.

Lucifer reached a hand up for Adam as the fallen angel reached out to him in kind, panic written across both their faces at the idea of a horrible accident.

Lucifer’s wings moved the air one more time and-

“And… you will catch me?”

Lucifer laughed softly, a gentle chiming sound from where he stood behind Gods first man. He was trying to show him a game Lucifer and his kin would play from time to time amongst the spires of heaven.

The game was simple, one angel was to stand up high with their wings folded and fall. Then the other angel was to catch them. It was supposed to build trust, not to mention it was a delight in and of itself.

Standing amongst the grasses of Eden, Lucifer saw no reason not to share this game with Adam. He’s already grown fond of the way that Gods creation would go out of his way to show the angel what he’d been up to since his last visit.

“Be not afraid my friend!” Lucifer’s wings spread quietly to punctuate his point, divine magic threading his words, The Voice ensuring that the first man would hear and believe him.

“No matter how far you fall, I shall always be there to catch you.”

Lucifer wrapped his arms securely around the fallen angel as his wings curled around wing and man alike, bracing himself as the added weight as they both fell together.

It’s funny, it reminded him of when Adam first fell, a fiery ball that could have almost been mistaken as a shooting star had Lucifer not known better.

They hid the ground with a slam and the fallen seraphim had to bite back a shriek as his wings took the brunt of the force. They’d be left aching for a while.

Lucifer grunted as he pushed Adam off of him, sitting up and folding his wings in, allowing them to slip out of existence while they healed, he definitely didn’t want to do that again.

He slowly got to his feet while the first man got his bearings, dusting himself off and rubbing his shoulders to try and alleviate the pain.

“Why the fuck did you save me?”

Lucifer jerked and looked down at Adam from where he was glaring up at him, a note of confusion held carefully in his gaze before it dropped.

“I-”

“Well, isn’t this quite a surprise!”

Lucifer’s expression shot into a scowl as he rounded on the radio demon very blatantly interrupting the moment. The bastard just grinned and stared down at the both of them.

From the corner of his eyes Lucifer noted Adam’s good wing hitching up instinctively to cover his face from the demons gaze before dropping.

Lucifer turned his attention back to the radio demon with a glare that could melt steel, “You were going to let him fall,”

“I was going to do no such thing,”

“You just said-!”

“I said nothing you just assumed I was going to do nothing at all!”

“Listen here you!” Lucifer was just off again by the main doors opening and the other’s all barrelling out at the commotion.

Lost in the sudden onslaught of attention and having to field Alastor’s snarky comments, Anthony’s suggestive remarks, and Charlie’s concern, he didn’t see Adam flee the scene.

It wasn’t until much later that he was able to recognize the first man’s absence, searching the hotel to see if Adam was okay.

He found him at the graveyard, sitting among the many tombstones for the exorcists slain in the battle that caused Adam to fall.

Lucifer paused at the entrance to the burial ground, watching Adam sit there facing away from him for what felt like an eternity.

Despite the dead being gone, the king of hell still felt like the exorcists weapons were pointed at him, a warning that if he made one wrong move they would rise from their graves to protect their leader, to avenge him, to strike Lucifer down in an instant.

The once-angel of the morning star carefully stepped away from the cemetery, making sure he didn’t break the silence. Even if Adam wanted to be disturbed, he wasn’t the right person to do it, not in this place.

Besides, he still had his own thoughts to sort through, like why in the name of the divine he saved Adam when he would have survived regardless. He would have been fine even if he did hit the ground unimpeded so why-

Lucifer grimaced as the answer stuck to him like a parasite, he knew damn well why he saved him. It was the same stupid reason he preened Adams wings for him, the same reason he treats the first man’s wing rot and the exact same reason he made that deal with Adam after he fell.

He was attached.

Stupids horribly foolishly, Lucifer still cared for Adam even after everything.

By the stars he beat Adam within an inch of his life! Adam tried to kill his daughter!

But emotions were hardly logical. They weren’t logical when he fell for Lilith in the garden and taught her and Adam both The Voice, they weren’t logical when he freed Eve, and they weren’t logical now.

Lucifer cared for Adam, even if by all logic he should hate the man.

“Dad?”

Lucifer looked up to meet his daughters eyes, a small smile letting her know he was okay, “Hey there Duckie.”

Charlie’s expression softened at the nickname even if he still looked concerned, “Dad… are you sure you’re okay?”

“If I’m not now, I will be, so stop worrying about little old me Char-char,” Lucifer chuckled, “However… Adams in the graveyard if you want to talk to him, he seems like he needs some company right now.”

He made his exit quickly after that, he knew what Charlie would do, it was in her nature to help people, it was what made her so special.

But Lucifer, he helped people once, and now… he had a new person he could help again.

And he might just know where to start.

[tossawary]

A handful of random thoughts about the "Ultraman: Rising", with some vague, marked spoilers here and there:

I like the fact that they didn't explain kaijus or where Ultraman came from. After so many superhero origin stories where we have to be slowly introduced to the existence of the supernatural, it's refreshing to get dropped in the middle of a "second-gen" (unclear how many generations of Ultramen exist in this universe so far) superhero's story. The movie isn't apologizing for its genre or its premise. It just goes, "Yeah, you know what a superhero is and what a kaiju is, so let's go already. No, we're not even really going to explain how Ultraman's powers work. That's not what this is about!!! It it about our protagonist's daddy issues!!! Keep up!!!"

If I think about the world building, I do have some questions, like who built the protagonist's fancy tech house that's also a superhero base, but it's not too important. I assume his dad built it and then moved out to give his kid space? OR: "Why do the kaijus seem to attack this place specifically?" This movie works mostly because it's like "this is classic superhero stuff and we're just not dwelling on the logistical setup too much"! It leaves you to fill in some blanks on your own or just suspend your disbelief, which works.

The pacing was a little weird in places and the movie does get a little ridiculous in parts, I'm never quite sure of what the capabilities of these characters are, but it's a superhero vs. kaiju animated movie and that's to be expected. I still enjoyed myself well enough.

A few of the character designs didn't super work for me, like the big-headed kid characters. The kaiju baby is maybe a little too cutesy, but she was very cute and I've forgiven them because they didn't shy away from babies being gross. (There is... A LOT of baby kaiju vomitting.)

I did really like some of the other character designs. I liked the protagonist's big nose and pierced ears and bangs falling in front of his sharp face; he looks like such a dirtbag pretty boy. I like the lean in the industry right now towards more stylized and geometric 3D character designs in general, because I think that the shapes are fun and they'll age better this way.

Dirtbag guy to single dad is a winning story formula, huh.

They did a lot of 2D-style effects in this movie that I thought looked fun. I dig that trend in the industry right now as well. Some of the scenes were a little clean, almost bare, in terms of environmental design, but the colors generally looked great. Some of the scenes were really bright and vibrant and pretty.

(Mild vague spoiler?) There's no romance in this movie, which was surprising when they definitely set up a female journalist in the position for a love interest. No, it's a "strangers to friendly acquaintances" relationship for them. The female journalist is also a single mother, which was interesting, because you don't get a whole lot of career-minded single mother love interests in animated movies.

(Unimportant spoiler:) She told the protagonist to his face that she thinks he has daddy issues. Not stated quite like that, of course, but it was pretty funny. She was also right about that.

The emotional focus in this film was instead about the protagonist, Kenji, repairing his relationship with his father and also taking care of the kaiju baby. Kenji's only friend and co-parent for a chunk of the movie is an AI assistant (Mina) his parents made.

(Unimportant spoiler:) Stumped by an issue, Kenji makes a frustrated comment about how maybe he should ask Siri instead. Shortly after, in response to a different statement, the AI assistant Mina makes a passive-aggressive comment about how maybe he should ask Siri instead. I found that pretty funny.

(Mild spoiler:) Ultraman in this universe is a known and popular superhero and has been for decades. At one point, the baby kaiju gets out into the city, and Kenji has to go get her before she gets hurt or hurts someone else, and he publicly tells her to "Come to Daddy." And this is overheard by a bunch of nearby civilians, who gasp loudly. It is quite funny. It doesn't really come up again, but even if that wasn't recorded, you just KNOW that the news and the internet went wild over that revelation. "Ultraman had a baby with Gigantron???!!!"

(Another mild spoiler:) At one point, Kenji asks the female journalist for some parenting advice, and she IMMEDIATELY asks him if he has a secret love child. (No one is quite sure why this baseball star suddenly came back to Japan from the U.S., as they don't know he's Ultraman.) Kenji denies it, but I'm pretty sure that she must still think that he does.

(Continuing:) Kenji's baby kaiju parenting struggles (along with his ego) are fucking up his baseball career, due to stress and lack of sleep and conflicting commitments. We aren't shown a lot of interactions with his team, but I desperately hope that he also asked a couple of his teammates for parenting advice or something, so that his team could also immediately assume that he has a secret love child.

Like, "Yeah, yeah, Kenji Sato's secret love child, we all know about it. The poor kid is really bad at hiding it. We're trying to keep it hidden from journalists for him, but the whole team knows he's a new dad, for sure." (They do not know that Kenji is Ultraman and the baby is a kaiju.)

All in all: this movie was fun! Very silly, but cute! I think that I might try to pick some other "Ultraman" shows or films out of the dozens that exist, and try some of those ones out. The property seems to exist in a similar vein as "Transformers" where Rule of Cool rules world building and canon is whatever the newest iteration wants it to be.

[karouvas]

I had a lot I mean A LOT to say about the Blue and Adam ninos fight (and what I’ve written here does not even cover all my thoughts) so be forewarned:

“But I saw you guys trying to hide it. The crazy thing is — like, I’m right here. I’m with you guys every day. Do you think I didn’t see it? He’s my best friend. You think I don’t know him?” “Then why aren’t you having this conversation with him? He’s half of this, you know.”

Have spoken about this before but really I think Adam’s approaching Blue and only Blue about it comes from several different factors. I think one is that they got into a mild conflict in the last book when she and Noah went with him to help with Cabeswater and they were able to resolve it pretty easily and the world did not end, so maybe part of it is that has made Adam a bit more at ease with fighting with Blue being part of their dynamic, but doesn’t feel he has gotten there with Gansey yet. Then certainly Gansey’s looming death is a factor, their fights tend to be so explosive and to have one when he knows there’s a good chance he’ll lose Gansey is too big of a risk for Adam to take, and then combine that with his fear that he will kill Gansey or that any negative emotion he feels towards Gansey can become detrimentally hurtful and of course he wants to avoid that confrontation at all costs, meanwhile Blue is not destined to die and while he has some degree of fear of his anger/negative emotions in every relationship he doesn’t feel that with her in the specific heightened way he does with Gansey so he has freedom to have the fight with her as a stand in for both of them, even though that’s unfair to her as she correctly points out. Then there’s his revelation about Blue’s curse applying to Gansey. I’ve been attempting to track the dynamic of when/how Adam perceives Bluesey and I really think he is at least subconsciously/partially aware of it since late TRB but kind of is partly in denial about it or partly cautious about whether or not he’s wrong for a while, and kind of sets up some tests or opportunities for them (mostly for Gansey, specifically thinking of him asking Gansey to talk to Blue about why she won’t kiss him in tdt then being in a position to observe them together + the beginning of BLLB where he casually suggests to Gansey to take Blue to the next Gansey family function, there’s another instance in BLLB I think that I’m forgetting specifically) to prove this to him + tell him about it, and then when he asks Persephone how he can keep from killing Gansey and she replies with “why do you think your the one who kills him?” or something along those lines it fully clicks / he fully knows about them and the curse falls into place. So that was like a week ago (which by the way this book only being a week after BLLB is crazy pacing wise I have a lot of issues with it that’s for another post), and it’s still fresh. So this all has him connecting the guilt and self loathing and fear he’s been harboring for months about the possibility of killing Gansey, something that has fueled many of his actions (although like. really it’s what the vision represents that fuels all this not the vision itself which is a manifestation of those fears so you could get really theoretical debating that but putting a pin in that for a separate post also) and choices related to Gansey since the vision, to a tangible person who is destined to do what he fears, so he’s seeing what he fears in himself that potential to kill or hurt Gansey and also loving Gansey the two are linked, reflected in Blue who also is in love with Gansey and fears killing/hurting him since she knows it’s likely. So imo he’s projecting a lot of those pent up feelings he has about himself towards Blue. 

-And then specifically him taking her to task for being irresponsible enough to go on the date with Gansey and accusing her of being selfish and not caring about him enough if she’d put him in harms way like this… many things to unpack there first of all Blue would be well within her rights to slap him for that it’s really such an impressive display in self control that she does not, especially after their why-won’t-you-kiss-me conflict and how it played out. Secondly, it feels so true to Adam’s understanding of his own loving and fearing that he will hurt/kill Gansey dilemma, to him the answer is to compartmentalize the love and the hurt in the relationship and be super careful and avoidant to ensure he can’t accidentally hurt Gansey even if it makes him feel lonely and terrible and that when he’s hurt by something Gansey says or does he needs to bottle it up forever because the alternative is to be a monster, and seeing himself as fundamentally not worthy of Gansey, so Blue not treating her relationship with Gansey the way he does throws those compartmentalizations out of order and he sees it as a *wrong* way to feel / act on love for Gansey.

Also it’s sooo funny how he’s like. “Have you considered all the ways you two could potentially kiss in different places in different situations I can’t believe you two have left it to Me to do the math and imagine every possible scenario that could lead to you falling on Gansey’s lips and kissing him, I am of course only doing this on my own time because I am a good friend and a scientist therefore I need imagine Blue and Gansey making out, I must fall on this sword myself. Blue is nicer than me I would have forced him to explain in detail exactly what he meant by that

[readreactrant]

"Love, or Something Ignites" might just be the best goyuu fic ever!!! let me explain!!! (Thoughts and Review)

Some quick context but cuz this review was already going to be pretty long without my flashback sequence so pls scroll down to the red text if you don't want to hear my history of opinions with JJK and its ships.

I've been deep in the goyuu tag since the beginning of the year, which I found kind of strange at first since I watched S1 way back in 2022 and did not give much of af about the whole show.

I kicked my feet a bit at SukuFushi,  tried to like it more, and even searched out a couple of fics but they just weren't giving AT ALL.

At the start of 2023 I watched jjk 0 and I was kinda hyped to get back into the show, but my shipping heart still ached for something to latch onto so I went on AO3 and picked up the first fic I found. Surprise, surprise, it was a goyuu fic featuring role reversal. I wouldn't say I liked it but it did tickle something in my brain I would have explored if I wasn't neck deep in my bakudeku era at the time.

Then S2 happened and it all just sorta clicked for me. Before then I'd mainly been a SukuIta believer, I didn't frequent their fics but I DID gobble up their twincest doujins like I was starved when I had the time. 2nd cour of S2 coming out practically sealed Goyuu for me, I'd always felt there was a bit of something I saw between them but Yuuji screaming out for Gojo in that last frame...just...*chef's kiss*

I didn't go back to rewatch S1 where a majority of their reactions were like some diehard fans would but the clips and screencaps I've come across now and again are enough to solidify for me that yes! They are made for each other!! (Hope the wrong stsg fans don't find this ◉‿◉)

I'd really love to go on and on about their dynamic but this was supposed to be about my February fic of the month, "Love, or Something Ignites" by lainebee.

Like I said, I've been deep in the tags and the only others I think that come close to this one are "No Sanctuary" by eddie01 and both world's sequels.

Now I'm not saying there aren't other good ones, like I'm just halfway through the hundred and something AO3 pages of their ship tag, so there's a lot I've yet to see. Still, this is a sorta subjective review and I just hope to spread the word of this masterpiece and maybe meet others who've read it so we can fan together in the comments.

(Now that's all out of the way, there will be mild spoilers and also warnings for; omegaverse, mpreg, and voyeurism so let's hop to it (✿^‿^)

The fic is set in a historical Japan au where Yuuji and Sukuna are brothers, with Sukuna being much older and ruling over a kingdom in the south. Thing is, he's constantly at war with the Gojo clan cuz these two mfs are just built like that in every verse. Shit happens and they come to a truce and as a sign of goodwill Sukuna offers Yuuji, his recently presented omega brother, as a gift (I honestly thought Yuuji was like 16 or 17 but he's 19 so like whatever idc (╥﹏╥)

"So what's the problem?" you might ask, well aside from the obvious marriage of convenience plot, Gojo doesn't give a fuck, he's still hung up on Geto (kinda tho, it's complicated but they aren't in love) and he's pretty much intended to go through it for show.

But that's not the end; not only do our boys have no feelings for each other and have never even met, but THING IS... Sukuna has demanded a public consummation cuz he's a bastard like that and we love him for it. Worry not there's no fucking on a stage for everyone to watch...just fucking in a 'room' for a handful of witnesses to watch from behind those dresser screen things (vocab not working lol).

The fic is definitely kinda long and tho there are some slow-burn vibes a lot of it essentially takes place in ONE FUCKING DAY. My first assumptions going into this were, "pacing issues???" and "oh the author is going to either insta love them, make them fuck and spend the rest of the fic doing fluff, or they will fuck with some angst then spend the rest falling in love."

Color me surprised when yeah, they did fuck but that was one or two chapters from the last of about nine.

You expect this kind of shit to feel rushed as fuck but the writing is so fucking divine that you never feel like putting it down. There's always so much going on but time is never wasted dwelling on one subject for too long, it's fast, it's funny, and the characters and setting are constantly giving the energy you know and love from the original show but probably two times better.

One of the things I noticed a few GoYuu writers struggle with is accurately reflecting Gojo cuz he's actually an enigma and arguably one of the most complex characters in the show with a broad range of emotions. He doesn't particularly fit one kind of vibe whereas for everyone else you can pick one or something close to it. Gojo on the other hand goes from one end of the spectrum to the other pretty quickly and that's super hard to capture and explore, especially when it comes to the shorter smutty fics (Not complaining too much tho, I live for the E rating.)

I love the direction the author chose to go with him, and it feels so true to his character, his immature but his teasing doesn't feel over the top or come off as exaggerated. His status as the strongest is just told but shown to us with the way he behaves and I like that we get instances of him getting work done despite knowing he's a rebel. It reminds us that yeah, he's working to make the clan the way he wants but he's just going along with what he has to in true Gojo fashion.

Yuuji, is totally something else, it's implied that he actually killed people...and I don't think we got a paragraph of him feeling guilt over it but that's somewhere toward the end so forget it. Yuuji is the absolute sweetest here and I adore every scene he's in along with how bratty he tends to be with Gojo. It's not frequent and most of the time he's pretty respectful but when he's not...Yeah. His inner thoughts and his conversations with most of the other characters really bring life to the story and you literally feel you're right there with him through it all.

Then there's the smut...oh. my. fucking. GOD. It's absolutely delicious. If you were iffy about it being omegaverse, I beg you to actually consider it cuz all probably more than four thousand words of it are fucking precious.

I had no idea I'd be into sex with some commentary when I began reading but the conversation from the characters picked was spot on and even added to the spicyness.

My favorite part is when Yuuji moans like a fucking pornstar and the zenin guy (forgot his disgusting ass name) goes "The boy is a whore."

Like boohoo bitch just say you wish you were getting all that, I wish I was (╥﹏╥)

If you're still iffy about the Omegaverse trust me it's not that big of a deal, the focus is mainly on Gojo and Yuuji trying to find some mutual ground to get on so the consummation isn't fucking awkward but by talking, joking, and getting to know each other something even more starts to blossom.

There are definitely traces of insta love but I personally see it as a weird mixture of attraction and possessiveness but this book is just like the prelude to the main course which is the second part in the series which I'm not done with yet but fucking hell...all the intrigue and tension that you will find in Love, or Something Ignites, gets doubled with more angst and mystery in the second fic, along with goyuu being stupid as well as stupidly in love.

So give it a try, and if you have, let me know what you think. I'd usually say where the tiny flaws are but for this book there are none...unless you count Yuta being Maki's mate instead of Rika's but that's my personal hill to die on. Let me know if there's a fic you want me to write about and I'll maybe get to it

Well, that's all from me today, it's 3 am and I'm fucking exhausted.

[in-halingstardust]

Hsr male matchup plz

Mild-medium is good

Gender: cis female

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: heterosexual ally

Zodiac: Capricorn

Appearance: 5’2 African American hourglass body (although I’m more top heavy if you know what i mean) black curly wavy hair blackish brown eyes chubby cheeks wears glasses sometimes (im far sighted so it’s usually when driving in class or at the theater)

Mbti: infj

Enneagram: 2w1

Personality: kind smart funny motherly responsible empathetic anxious emotional moody perfectionist helpful people pleaser caring compassionate nerdy curious protective polite respectful indecisive fearful nervous introvert shy awkward clumsy low self esteem low confidence (more pertaining to my talents or personality then my looks) sassy sarcastic (I’m mainly these things with people i feel comfortable with like friends or family) soft spoken cute (my friends think im cute because i can be pretty innocent plus I’m small physically)

Likes: animals books reading writing fantasy magic sci fi anime music video games friends alone time learning personality quizzes sweets and bread helping being a part of something bigger than myself

Dislikes: spiders loud sounds people who harm others people who don’t take others into consideration (like make insensitive jokes or don’t consider the comfort of others or are mean just cause they can) people i care about not caring for themselves (im a hypocrite on this i take care of everyone else but not me) not being listened to weird holes and patterns math and tests (I’m being tested for a math disability and i have test anxiety)

Love language:

Giving: acts of service gift giving and physical affection (if they’re ok with it)

Receiving: words of affirmation and physical affection (although i can be shy about it)

Extra: i pace a lot i sing when im alone i talk to myself im a picky eater (mainly with textures) i have a cat i have minor ehlers danalos (a hyper mobility disorder) but it doesn’t hurt me like it does my sisters i get abdominal migraines which is basically like a migraine but instead of headaches it’s nausea

Thank you

I ALSO FORGOT TO QUE I am so sorry. I did not forget about you!

Also ehler danalos sucks, I'm so sorry that you sister gets migranes also, my family also has chronic issues that make it difficult to go through life normally!

Anyway! I'm going to paire you with Argenti!

You both are in pursuit of something greater than itself. A distraction from the world maybe, but a principle connects both in this relationship 

It’s not complicated. Really. The first thing that attracted Argenti to you was your voice, especially when you sing. He loves it when you sing. Though never ask him to duet, music is one subject he is quite terrible at. 

Your relationship with him is basically him courting you until you feel comfortable enough. He brings you different types of flowers, not only roses, and explains each individual meaning. Oh, this week's bouquet means longevity, happiness and heart. I thought it fit well with the theme of summer, he says snipping off the roots before placing them in a vase. 

Lots of long talks over the phone. Lots of enjoying each other's company. Nothing too hardcore, maybe a nice performance that Argenti would find and no one else. For real, I feel he find the most strangest, yet professionally good, orchestra concerts known to man.

Surprisingly, not that much PDA. Everything he has for you is shown within the privacy of your own enviroment. Soft, chaste kisses, the way he fiddles with the end of your hair and a comforting hand against your arm.

A little spicy -> He likes tugging on your lips in between kisses. Really enjoys how red they turn and the way you look flustered.

[ratuszarsenal]

here's my spoiler-free review of The Sudbury Devil:

the more I think about it, the more I like it - the film just keeps growing on me! it's definitely not for everyone, seeing how it contains a lot of sex and body horror - I am not in the crowd that would normally enjoy a pulpy horror film and certain scenes were difficult for me to get through, but I suspect that people who like this kind of stuff would love it.

there are issues with pacing, especially in the film's middle, but are more than made-up for by a very strong 1st and 3rd act. the budget, although visibly small, is used very effectively for the most part (I was not a fan of some of the cgi, but it wasn't jarring).

now, the best things about this movie: the acting was phenomenal, from everyone involved, and it worked in tandem with the excellent, precise dialogue to create some really gripping moments (mild spoiler: my favourite of these has to be fletcher's confession by the campfire, I had chills). the music was perfect, although I wish there was more of it.

most importantly though, it's going to be my go-to example of a truly historical film, on par with classics like Master & Commander. the writer and director, Andrew Rakich said on his youtube channel that making a film on an indie budget made him realise just how lazy big-studio productions are when it comes to telling history. well, I can say that watching his indie film made me realise just how low my standards had been for historical cinema.

I am cautious about recommending TSD to just anyone, but I cannot quite articulate how much I appreciate the work and thought and love that went into its creation. (Mr Rakich, if you're reading this, hats fucking off)

[busyfish]

so...

as an autistic person i am very goal oriented and high motivated when i have a plan.

an issue with this though is i apply this to literally everything in my life so i tend to accidentally like put this kind of oversight onto my dealings with people

and i have slowly begun to put together that you cannot do relationships and people that way? (i think???)

so i get way ahead of myself but also i tend to frustrate myself because i want to do everything in some sort of order and then want to see results and then analysis and then be like "okay this is how we proceed and we are on task"

another thing about this that is frustrating (this is a mild frustration, i'm not upset) is this is like unfamiliar territory for me

so i often feel like i don't know what i'm doing and that is demotivating.

i am now used to being bad at things i want to do.

living in constant states of familiarity to keep myself centred has sort of put me in this odd space of being hesitant to move into the unknown.

so preamble out of the way,

i want to like try moving way out of my comfort zone.

i think i want to like try harder to like make a relationship for myself???

and well there's two things.

i don't have a lot of experience with someone actually liking me openly and confessing to me in a meaningful manner.

on here i've had people be like "oh big crush on you" and then they ghost me so that absolutely does not count.

so i have this idea in my head that i feel like i have to go down this list and be like "are you sure???" even though i haven't actually had to go through this.

but it's like hi i have a pretty difficult developmental disorder, i have dyspraxia, mild dyslexia, despite speech therapy i mess up alot, i'm a bit rigid and i show affection and interest in non-typical sort of fashion and then "are you sure???"

but also i feel like i have to sell myself but also honestly so it's like "i'm sorry it looks like i such but i do have a lot of strengths and i like you so uh would you want to hang out??"

i have zero idea what i'm doing and i don't know how to pace myself or even be like uh, direct without being direct.

i tend to feel like if i show people affections it's not really uh, outright in the way someone would just pick up on that i'm interested in them and i think i just end of up with missed opportunities because i don't know what i'm doing.

anyway.

yeah i'm writing all this down to like settle my brain because i have this extreme hyper focus right now and it's like in desperate need of sorting

[the-ghost-king]

I really love your thoughts on tsats so much because I feel kind of similar. I can’t say that I hated the book because I would definitely read it again, but I didn’t love it because I finished it feeling a bit unsatisfied? Disappointed? Yet I still had a smile on my face and it wasn’t a struggle at all for me to get through. I don’t know. My expectations weren’t met at all but I don’t regret buying it. There was a lot I didn’t like and I don’t really understand what happened, especially since Rick and Mark seem so proud of what they created, and Mark has even talked about Nico as one of their favorite characters. So then how did we get here and end up with this? I guess I’ve read a lot of really excellent Solangelo fics and I hoped that as a story written by Rick and Mark, tsats would be as good as them or even nearly but it truly does not even compare. I think I see it as just another fic in my mind. A really popular fic. But despite all that I still can’t say I hated it, and I know it’s not all around terrible because I’ve seen a generally positive reception on other platforms other than tumblr lmao. But anyway yeah, here’s to some really really mixed feelings 😵‍💫

Oh I understand completely... According to some other posts I've seen Oshiro has straight up stated they didn't understand Will at all the entire writing process... I... I don't know if it's possible to effectively write a main character you don't understand?? I think maybe this could have been better if Rick wrote Will's POV and Mark did Nico's POV... It's very obvious to me how absolutely hands off Rick was in the writing process because this book reads like a lot of Oshiro's other work to me... Also, I think that's such a big part of why people are saying it feels like fanfiction- because it is! It's literally canon endorsed by the author fanfic- it's the PJO fandom's "The Cursed Child" (sorry to bring up Rowling) - but literally it's just an author handing their body of work off and giving it the stamp of approval.

A lot of people are acting like people saying it's just fanfic are dissing fanfic, but I don't think that's exactly it, I think people are just having to realize Rick absolutely did not have a hand it writing this at all predominantly- maybe he had mild say in the plot or threw in a joke or two but literally this seems like a friend handed him a fanfic and he published it for them. "This reads like a fanfic" to me literally feels like I could have opened any tab on Ao3 or FFN in the past few months in preparation for this book and read this exact body of work by some other author... The problem I'm having, is that I know I could have had a better book done by a better author- in fact I have read significantly better pieces by better authors, yet this is the one that is endorsed and made cannon? This is the one that will earn thousands of dollars? I don't know how I feel about that...

I've seen many saying they're struggling to get through it and I can't say I understand because I was able to move quickly through it, but on the other hand I do understand because I did struggle to make it through other works of Oshiro's... They have a horrible pacing issue in my opinion and I don't think they have the proper editors fixing it... Even when you're writing non poetic works there is a certain tempo or meter a work should flow at and Oshiro imo has consistently failed at this in their works... I think I didn't struggle to move through it because I have experience getting through their work but also because I am absolutely the person who will read a 200k fic I don't really care for in a day..

I agree with you as well though, I'm not upset to have purchased it, I will say I don't think it's worth the dollar amount on the price tag however and I will say people trying to argue "it's not badly written because it's not to your tastes" are quite wrong because I've managed to shove my fingers into so many plot holes and loose ends this book has.

I wouldn't say I like this book, I definitely wouldn't say I loved it, I also didn't hate it, and I don't think I would say I didn't like it either. It was a book, I read it, I endured it, and I didn't hate it. There is something in those pages that despite everything I despise calls me in and beckons me to keep returning to it and I cannot figure out what, I'm going to try and get through it for another round here and see if I can uncover anything else but mostly I just stand behind my first two paragraphs here... I think your "my expectations weren't met at all but I don't regret buying it" is incredibly accurate to my feelings as well, I think it's the worst book in the pjo/hoo/toa series but I don't regret buying it or reading it... so, yeah.

[onefleshonepod]

Hi! My wife is looking for some new books and I was trying to remember one that was mentioned briefly on the podcast- something about lesbians who can’t touch each other? And then they brush pinkies at some point? What was that book? (Also, your analysis is brilliant and we both love the podcast soooo much!!)

hi! 🖤 thank you so much for the kind words!!

i’m very sorry to say that the book in question is not about lesbians – it’s six of crows, a young adult novel by leigh bardugo (in the same universe as the grisha books, which were recently adapted as a tv show on netflix).

the couple we love brush pinkies for two microseconds in the sequel which completes the duology, crooked kingdom (mild spoilers for the first book in the plot summary on goodreads).

i (baily) love these two books so much (as does kabriya). all the characters are delightful and well fleshed-out, the books are very funny, and there’s an exciting and twisty plot which tests all of the characters and slowly reveals their backstories.

some more book recommendations, for you/your wife and for other people who may be interested:

sticking to leigh bardugo’s work to start, i also love this book of short fairy tales from the same grisha universe (my review on goodreads). kind of hate linking my own goodreads review here in a self-indulgent way, but i hate the idea of rewriting reviews and summaries i've already written more, so there you go.

i honestly find leigh bardugo very inspirational because she substantially improved as a writer between her first series, the grisha trilogy (which relies heavily on ya cliches like the mean girl, the most specialest chosen girl ever, and the love triangle with normal guy next door and hot but morally questionable guy) and the crows duology.

if you’re looking for things to read that are like the locked tomb:

more work by tamsyn herself:

her novella “the deepwater bride,” which is not available online but can be purchased for a reasonable price here.

“the magician’s apprentice,” which is available in full here, is an early exploration of some of the themes that arise in john’s relationships with alecto and harrow in the locked tomb

“chew,” a short story about cannibalism set during wwii

"the woman in the hill" (have not read)

“the house that made the sixteen loops of time” (have not read)

wlw sff books i have enjoyed, in no particular order:

a memory called empire by arkady martine: an anti-imperialist epic, written with a historian’s love for the byzantine and aztec empires. intricate worldbuilding with spectacular little diegetic poems and excerpts that i personally really enjoy. also uses the 70s science fiction conceit of overthinking social encounters to the point where one conversation can take up to fifteen pages (think dune and early dragonriders of pern) – i love this but i know some people who grew up reading today’s snappy ya fiction really don’t. contains a memory device that i suspect tamsyn was inspired by for aim/the messenger. a debut novel with some pacing issues – it read a bit like an exponential growth graph, leaving barely enough time to explain what was happening before the book was over. i haven’t read the sequels (i have a hardcover copy of the second book sitting on my desk literally right now) but hopefully they are better paced.

the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson: i’ve ragged on this series for its heavy-handed writing, telling and not showing, and thinly-sketched time skips, but despite all that it’s an enjoyable read. a very dark anti-imperialist tragedy set in a homophobic empire loosely based on late victorian britain. lots of economic intrigue. has similar psychological and medical horror to harrow the ninth beginning in the second book, if that’s something you enjoyed.

the unspoken name by a.k. larkwood: the story is thrilling, the world is interesting, the characters are lovable, the names are luxurious, the romance is cute, and i plan to read the sequel. the science fantasy vibe is very similar to tlt. however, this book is trying to cram three books into one. the time skips are frustrating because it robs you of organically coming to know and like these characters. loved it but be warned!

she who became the sun by shelley parker-chan: speculative historical fiction about a chinese emperor (do not google this emperor like i did bc you will be spoiled for some elements of the story!!), with minor fantasy elements. parker-chan does interesting things with gender if you’re interested in that aspect of the locked tomb series. however, it is definitely set in quasi-fantasy ancient china, not a homophobia- and sexism-free future. this was my favourite of the three major adult fantasy novels with central f/f relationships released in 2021 that were often lumped together on social media, lol.

speaking of those novels, i also enjoyed the unbroken by c.l. clark. it has a similar anti-imperialist storyline to the locked tomb, inspired by the real-world history of morocco and france. definitely has some debut novel issues (the pacing was very uneven), but i loved the characters.

foundryside by robert jackson bennett: a unique magic system called 'scriving' that allows you to essentially speak to objects, interesting plot, and a sweet but honestly kind of understated and forgettable romance. slow to start but has a satisfying and wild ending that sets up the next book in the series.

the ruthless lady’s guide to wizardry by c.m. waggoner: a light but delightful and hilarious fantasy romance. not at all similar to the locked tomb in terms of atmosphere – this has oddball victorian steampunk vibes.

the long way to a small, angry planet by becky chambers: in many ways, this series not at all like the locked tomb – it’s very cosy and sweet and low-stakes. in one way, though, it is like tlt – imo the locked tomb is fundamentally a warm-hearted book series full of love for humanity, even though there is a lot of horror and loss and grief. you can’t take loved away, etc etc. becky chambers writes from the same point of view on life and love, but without the horrors. these books always have interesting and inventive worldbuilding. sometimes the voice of the author peeks through in a clumsy way when detailing the leftist policies of her invented worlds but since i generally agree with the author politically it doesn’t bother me. the excellent sequels are linked stories, not a direct continuation of the same plot.

sisters of the vast black by lina rather: hey, nuns in space!! some of them are gay. i gave this four stars right after reading but i can't remember anything about it, so take from that what you will.

the raven and the reindeer by t. kingfisher: wlw retelling of the snow queen!

daughter of mystery by heather rose jones: alternate history fantasy romance / fantasy of manners set in a made-up european country. enjoyable lady and bodyguard dynamic.

monstrous regiment by terry pratchett: fantasy comedy about a fictional war in discworld. the fact that i'm putting this in wlw is a bit of a spoiler; i'm sorry, try to forget that.

some wlw sff books i thought were “okay” to “fine” but you might like better:

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon: i feel obliged to recommend this because we’ve mentioned it so much on the pod. a solid three stars. interesting enough, just not mindblowing in any way. here's a good although mildly spoilery review if you're interested in a more articulate encapsulation of some of my issues with this book.

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone: it’s fine. too flowery for my taste. would have preferred to read unrelated poems from these authors and read this story written by other people.

starless by jacqueline carey: standalone fantasy with a very promising start, great central relationship, and well-sketched setting, but the plot slots into a prophecy that’s already 90% complete and the world is saved all within the last 50 pages. as long as you’re not expecting anything else, you’ll probably enjoy it! i like jacqueline carey's other work as well. i read her book santa olivia like a decade and change ago; iirc it's a wlw romance between a boxer and a werewolf in a post-apocalyptic future, but i barely remember it so can't really rec it.

bone shard daughter by andrea stewart: it’s decent. an anti-imperialist story set in a society reminiscent of ancient china. there are lesbians. interesting magic system built on draining life from unwilling subjects of the empire to create magical constructs with, essentially, computer code written on shards of these subjects’ bones.

the jasmine throne by tasha suri: another book that is fine. also anti-imperialist, with interesting magic based on spirits from hindu mythology. i loved the worldbuilding inspired by indian history. there were definitely pacing issues in this book though – the central relationship lurched from place to place without any super natural development in between, and it seemed like the book was trying to end about seven times before it actually did.

non wlw sff i love:

a natural history of dragons by marie brennan: a personal favourite of mine. the beginning of a series following essentially a female charles darwin in an alternate history england. really is nothing at all like the locked tomb but i love it so much. here's my non-spoilery review of the fifth book.

provenance by ann leckie: my review on goodreads. i personally got really pissed off at the ancillary justice series for doing a hard left turn away from the universe-spanning objectives and alien horror i expected based on book one, but i love the author’s other work, including this book.

all systems red and the rest of the murderbot series by martha wells: nothing but hilarious romps with murderbot. i can never remember anything that happened after i finish reading but i always enjoy the experience. here's my review. i love martha wells’ other work as well, like this standalone fantasy novel and this portal fantasy series. there’s an author-approved free download of her debut novel available here.

the curse of chalion and the sequel, paladin of souls, by lois mcmaster bujold: very warm and happy and above all thoughtful reads. my review of paladin of souls is here. the penric and desdemona series is set in the same world; it's a gentle and feel-good novella series which only gets better as it goes on. lois mcmaster bujold is best known for the vorkosigan saga, which is extremely good – don’t START with my favourite, komarr, but please read enough so that you love miles and then read komarr (my review here).

the goblin emperor by katherine addison: god this is so good. SO good. i can't put it better than i did in my review.

velocity weapon by megan e. o'keefe: a somewhat complicated but mostly straightforward scifi adventure – the complexity comes from the timeline and structure of the book, something i enjoy picking apart in the locked tomb.

spinning silver by naomi novik: i love naomi novik’s writing and plotting. imo, her plots unfold in the same inexorable way as tamsyn muir’s, where the characters are established and placed in situations such that they move into and resolve conflict in a way that is shocking and thrilling at first read but perfectly fitting and inevitable in hindsight.

natasha pulley’s slow but thrilling novels, particularly the watchmaker of filigree street (my review) and the bedlam stacks (my review).

sixteen ways to defend a walled city by k.j. parker: a whip-smart fantasy based on the byzantine empire (or the late western roman empire). anti-imperialist story from the perspective of someone within the empire itself. uses the very weak device of just swapping skin colours and doing Fantasy Racism against the white people, which you just kind of have to laugh at. the narrator is very misogynistic but imo funny enough to get away with it – you can tell the author is making fun of his character as much as the character is bitterly taking witty jabs at the world around him. there are 3 books in this series now, all excellent.

the wee free men by terry pratchett: speaking of monstrous regiment and terry pratchett, nona pov reminded me a lot of tiffany aching, beloved of younger me.

rivers of london and the rest of series by ben aaronovitch: my review here of the first book. the subsequent books are all better than the first, tbh, but the first isn't bad by any means, just kind of weird. the series has a charming protagonist with a very gideon-like outlook on the world (for a straight dude lol).

infomocracy by malka older: thought-provoking near-future scifi.

powers by ursula k. leguin: showcases ursula k. leguin's always-excellent worldbuilding. profoundly human and full of love. my review here.

winter’s orbit by everina maxwell: m/m scifi romance. i have to be honest, i read this first when it was published as original fiction on ao3 and i haven’t read the published version, but i don’t think it’s changed too much except to add more political intrigue. very sweet. contains a memorable scene with scifi skiing.

sunshine by robin mckinley: my favourite ever vampire story. robin mckinley has also has done a lot of excellent fairy tale retellings.

sff short reads:

this list is already way too long, so i'm just going to recommend two short story authors i love:

rich larson, story 1 that i love (my review), story 2 that i love (my review).

sarah pinsker, story 1 that i love, story 2 that i love

non-fiction (specifically about space):

the end of everything by katie mack: my review.

packing for mars by mary roach: i love mary roach so much. a laugh-out-loud read.

poetry for locked tomb fans:

incarnadine by mary szybist: strong gothic catholic vibes. i described this collection on gr as “numinous and gruesome.”

poems by denise levertov, who converted to catholicism in 1984. i prefer her poems about nature, but there's a lot of stuff there for the religion enjoyers.

horror:

i'm absolutely not a horror connoisseur, but the horror book that i think gideon the ninth fans are most likely to enjoy is we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson. there's a fucked-up sibling relationship, a horrible antagonist who's just some guy, wild twists and turns, and a big old crumbling house.

i also loved the bloody chamber by andrea carter, particularly the bluebeard retelling.

the merry spinster by danny lavery: more dark fairy tale retellings. my review here.

[imalloutofgin]

Gin and Talking Pictures | Bullet Train (2022)

***SOME MILD SPOILERS***

What a ride! I actually loved this movie. Things just kept escalating in the best possible way, and it even caused me to tear up a little bit toward the end.

This film feels like it started as an improv game. Someone said, "okay, our protagonist is going to be a *spins wheel* snatch and grab guy filling in for an assassin who is on sick leave, and our guy is going to *spins another wheel* be working on his mental health/psychological issues and is in the obnoxious phase of trying to fix or diagnose everyone he meets"... And then the writers room just fucking /rolled with that/. The characters consist of, of course, the above: and then, the twins, who are different races, one of whom is unhealthily obsessed with 'Thomas the Tank Engine'; the guy they are supposed to be protecting who is a right little shit; a spoiled brat of a girl who is actually trying to take out a mob boss but has set up a plan to get assistance to do it; and various other briefly on screen characters who all feel like they drew their character traits out a hat. And I love it.

The film is just stupid fun from start to finish. It's quippy but not /too/ full of pop culture references, and the pacing is pretty solid throughout (maybe lagged a bit getting into the third act, being how fast paced everything else is, but I do think it needed to take it's foot off the accelerator at some point). I wish we had more of the Japanese covers of western music cause that was really cool, but I liked those songs where they were used. I also really liked the colour palette (specifically the pink and blue train car was really neat).

The main thing I didn't like was the parts that were just so off the wall that they were not in any way, shape, or form, possible. I'm sorry, but you can't jump onto the outside of a bullet train and hold on. You can't break a window to get in with your bare hands. You can't do, well, anything that happens on the outside of the train, really. Often, these were CGI moments as well, and the CGI wasn't the best. I am willing to suspend my disbelief for some things (the gun thats rigged up, or one of the very hurt people surviving when they should probably be dead, or even a snake getting out of a cage by accident) but these parts where I found that I *couldn't* suspend my disbelief really took me out of the moment. But then I was sucked right back in as the next whacky thing happened. I will say that the combat was, in my uneducated opinion, pretty good, especially for something like this where they could get a little weird with it and maybe make it more unbelievable... It felt pretty grounded till they started needing to use CGI a lot.

I loved the acting because the whole film is really dumb, everyone had really good comedic timing, and I thought Brad Pitt was a perfect choice to play the lead. I feel like some people might have an issue with this movie... It might be too weird for some, or maybe they won't be expecting something so playful, but I can only give my honest opinion and I really liked it. This film, to me, is a great deconstruction of the tropes of the genre, and they do it with well timed comedy and exciting action scenes.

I found the film really fun and funny, and I recommend watching it with a group of people if you can so you can share in the chaos. :)

4/5 stars.

[cdevroe]

The first rebuilding blocks

Korczak Ziolkowski wakes up early on a bitter cold winter’s morning – the same way he has for several decades – after breakfasting and a few mugs of the hottest coffee his palette can stand, he shoulders his tool belt and trods his way in knee-high snow to the eastern wall of the Crazy Horse Memorial… his lifelong unfinished masterpiece.

I like to think that working on one’s own personal website is a lot like Korczak Ziolkowski’s pursuit of progress on the ambitious mountain-sized memorial he started in the late-1940s. He knew he’d never complete the work in his lifetime. He knew that each day’s progress would be measured in inches and pounds and that, only after a generation’s worth of effort, would he be able to look back and see that what he had begun to make was worth it.

In late-November 2023, I changed jobs from VP of Marketing to Senior Product Manager (and lead developer) of Hubbub. When I was working in marketing I needed technical side projects to scratch that particular itch I’ve always had. But now that I spend some amount of time every workday programming – I don’t need to be working on side projects as often. And I certainly don’t need to be building my own static site generator anymore. But I do need a better playground to test and improve Hubbub. So I’ve switched back to WordPress to power my blog.

If you were following along on my journey to build Tuff, the static site generator that powered my site for well over a year, you might be wondering whether I’m upset that I’m replacing it. Wasn’t it a waste of my time? I think it was a valuable project for me to work on.

Martiijn Doolaard, a web designer, musician, cyclist, and now successful YouTuber rebuilding stone animal structures in the alps (who I watch every Sunday with Eliza) recently had a similar reaction to one of his projects. Doolaard had spent a great deal of time building a crane to move large heavy stones on the roofs of his buildings. He spent several weeks honing the tool to work for his needs – only to set it aside when the day came to use it. He answered some questions about whether or not he felt that was wasted time and he said (I’m summarizing) that it wasn’t a waste of time because he enjoyed building the crane.

I enjoyed building Tuff. And that should be enough to consider it time well spent. Tuff is still currently powering a few of my other websites (though, I plan to move them all to WordPress over the course of this year). Imagine building something from scratch that you were able to use for more than a year on multiple websites? That isn’t wasted time. I learned a bunch, used my brain, and honed some of my skills that I use everyday.

In order to improve a software product, I need to be one of its most active users. We acquired Hubbub in December 2023 and for the last few months we’ve had a roadmap of low hanging fruit updates. We’ve fixed some bugs, patched some potential (albeit mild) security vulnerabilities, and added some new features. But our best work is definitely ahead of us. We’re now up-to-speed on the codebase, the issues, the customers, etc. and we’re in the phase where I’m using the product everyday. I’m beginning to have ideas of how the product can be much better, more capable, and more valuable for customers. It is also more likely that I will run into an issue by using the product daily so that I can fix the issue before customers even notice it.

My website is a child theme of the Twenty Twenty Four theme. When I set out to begin this rebuild my goal was to use WordPress’ full site editor (FSE) to complete my entire site with writing as little code as possible. I thought it would be a worthy exercise to help me understand the state of this part of the WordPress ecosystem.

The full site editor in WordPress has really improved a lot and at a fairly rapid pace. While I wasn’t able to complete my entire site without any code, it may not be long before I’ll be able to do so. I’ve seen a lot of complaints in the community about the direction that WordPress is taking with Gutenberg and the FSE. Alternative forks are being worked on. My opinion is that the FSE is the right direction to go, especially to enable non-technical users to build their own websites. I have a lot more to say about this but overall I’m bullish on the FSE.

My site uses a child theme so that I can enable custom post types, add custom styles, a Query Loop Block variation that adds custom taxonomies as filters, adds a template part for my new logo, enables some meta boxes for the metadata on portfolio items, adds support for the aside Post Format, and manipulates the guid in the database. A few of these features could have been done another way (perhaps by someone with more experience than me). I’m hoping that future versions of WordPress will allow me to remove code rather than add it.

Based on my experience rebuilding my website, I may write a separate post about some features that WordPress should have out-of-the-box that it currently does not. Maybe some of them are already underway.

My personal website is not as ambitious a project as Ziolkowski’s memorial of the Lokatan war leader, but I’m fairly certain that my website will never be truly finished. I’m glad that I spent the time to get to where it is today. There is a lot of work yet to be done (especially on mobile and the archive) but I’m excited to be publishing new stuff again. Recently I published a new portfolio piece, a podcast appearance, a new open source plugin, and some photos into my new snaps area.

Much more to come. Stay subscribed.

[illegiblewords]

Quick heads up! Read through Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation donghua recently, going to share a brief burst of art for it before resuming normal activity.

Summary is that Wei Wuxian is the founder of a sect of necromantic practices. He briefly held a position of great reverence during wartime for turning the tide in favor of his allies, but soon lost favor with them and was subsequently killed. He has an extremely sinister reputation and is looked at with fear and hatred even thirteen years after his passing. Then one day a desperate and unhappy man sacrifices his soul so that his body can become a vessel for Wuxian instead--all in exchange for revenge on those who tormented him. Revived and unrecognized, Wuxian is soon dragged back into the political machinations of various magical sects alongside his former rival Lan Wangji.

Pairing is canonically M/M. The donghua wasn’t sexually graphic or anything fwiw. Mild horror.

Some reviewing under the cut. Heads up like, I mention critique.

It’s quality stuff imo, but I might want to check the anime. My understanding is OG form is a novel, then donghua, plus an anime and live-action adaptation. I went through the donghua because very pretty art. My experience there was that a few of the places I was reading had issues with getting all pages in one place, in order, without ads being overwhelming to the point of distraction. Like I’d close pop-ups in the middle of the page at the start of a chapter and a few seconds later they’d re-open but all the pages were there/in-order, or I might have massive chunks missing that impacted ability to follow the action. There was also a section where translation temporarily turned into mashed potatoes, which seemed to exist across sites.

In terms of narrative, Wuxian’s story and the political intrigue are like crack for me lol. Psychological and pretty kickass. The criticisms I have rn are:

- I do actually want to see more of the darkness Wuxian fell into, how scary he got, and more traces of that in him post-resurrection. I think translation probably makes it even harder, but I feel like there’s a specific vibe that happens when you get an older character in a younger body (the term ‘patriarch’ in particular made me think that would have been there) where just from how they talk or posture you can kind of feel there’s more experience. It’s not at the expense of personality or individual variation, just the weight of experience. I think it came through a little sometimes, and it’s complicated by Wuxian having died young too. But the darker bits and sense of having seen shit were less tangible to me in the manhua.

- Wangji felt like his character flattened a lot/his personality was heavily simplified post-resurrection in the donghua, which imo is a shame. I think there could have been a really incredible arc with him getting increasingly upset and frustrated with Wuxian’s behavior given the circumstances before finally snapping, but also feeling like he can’t risk snapping because what if he loses him again? Also like... Wangji having seen the mental state Wuxian was in before he died, but also being aware of HOW he died and possibly having seen his corpse. That’s incredibly heavy, and Wuxian never quite gets confronted with the full extent of that in the donghua. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the way alcohol got used for him, because it felt kind of like a gimmicky exposition cheat in a way.

- Pacing at the climax was spaghetti. Character interactions around the climax felt really confusing and I didn’t really believe them, especially with the ages and positions of various characters involved. I do think a moment of villain feeling awkward and being like ‘yo wtf’ when the romance was mentioned in conversation works as a funny detail, but in the donghua it felt like that got overused to the point that it took me out of the story a bit.

- There was a measure of ‘HOLY SHIT JUST KILL ‘EM’ at a certain point in the climax to the degree that I not only couldn’t understand the leadership not taking that course (at least to protect civvies who were suffering from machinations), but I also was really confused by other characters present not moving to kill the antagonist. Additionally I don’t understand what the antagonist planned to do with so many witnesses at that point and am confused that murder wasn’t happening to weed the number down, plus like... witnesses are a big deal. I also don’t think quite as many characters were needed in the climax under the circumstances and it didn’t really make sense to me. There are five characters total that felt needed right there specifically and there were like... 9ish? It had a similar feeling to when I was trying to write group scenes as a teenager and would have a character do something dramatic then go through a list trying to give every cast member dialogue or actions when they’re basically watching with popcorn.

Because the story got adapted across multiple versions, and because I know my going through the direct novel translation is extreme hard mode because of how picky I am about style/dialogue/description, I want to see if the anime addressed this stuff basically. My sense is live action reduces romance to some extent, which I’d rather avoid.

I think I’d give 7.5 or 8 out of ten? The parts that work are AMAZING. It’s not that the critique I’ve got isn’t there/isn’t important, but the rest is so good that I’m not willing to take off more than that. Particular shout-out for exploring mob violence conceptually and exploring multiple perspectives in-depth.

[demon-bfoty]

watched a tonne more movies since my last post, so here are some of my quick notes! note that this will have some spoilers for all the movies below so yknow

Nightmare on Elm Street

good story, good writing. much more of a story it felt than the others I watched. Or maybe i mean more content that is plot than just running and dying. cool kinda sins of the father thing. nancy was p cool in that last part. great visuals and effects. freddy got clowned on

Mandy

extrmely good stuff. throughout there were such amazing visuals and shots. the use of colour and lighting was phenominal. the build up to the instigating event was so well paced, and then the secquence of nic cage essentially becoming the slasher and all the action was unreal. great job from all and great acting. nic plays an entirely broken man extremely well. the mild otherworldly aspect was great esp when it turns out to all just be drugs. and how they used the sound!!! all the effects and distortions and reverbs and god knows what else theyre all called but they were fantastic

Scream

fun movie! liked how self aware it was of the slasher genre, makes sense being Wes Craven. the slasher himself was real entertaining and the characters were well written. all the teen like issues and emotional stress. good effects on the kills, still practical which i like. amazing how simple yet iconic the killer outfit is. deffo felt like a good evolution of the slashers that came before it, fun and a bit campy but still serious about it being a horror while having fun with it. while the killer identity wasnt too surprising, and the fact there were 2, i wasnt expecting lillard to be the other! was real good surprise

The Ring

like the amount of focus on the chars and the like history/mystery of it all. the horror elements were cool and well done, lot less of it than the previous ones i have here but strong when used. lot more time given to tension and fear the chars are facing. very green movie.

Mad God

i loved that but idk if i got it lmao. but what a visual masterpiece. an absolute grotesque nightmare with so many questions never to be answered. aesthetic and auditory thrill ride. I do not even know what I can write about this one, I think it just has to be experienced. The way it made me feel, the things I got to experience - I wont be forgetting this for a long time. (ty @zenshousewife for the rec!)

The Omen

yea that p good! well done story and well acted. i can see why at the time this would be freaky to people. the premise for how they came to adopt damien was a bit fricked but sure, american politician. deffo liked the insidious evil vibes. good musicThe Babadook

that was extremely good. EXTREMELY GOOD. taking the time to really build the stress and have us relate to her, while slowly creeping in the horror bits, building to that final act, and that final learning to live with and control your monsters. both the literal and metaphorical stories going on were so good. the design of the babadook itself was simple but effective. the sound design was sick, as was the cinematograhpy. the use of the glitchy visual and frame skipping or lagging almost really worked for me for heightening her stress levels and the fear

The Terminator

very good! deffo see why it was considered horror, even if it was not too horrory. arnie played the robot killer well, though still a bit goofy. when it turns into an actual robot skeleton i think it is way more effective as a scary thing, especially that last part in the factory when it is chasing them, and then chasing her after being blown up. being constantly stalked by this undying killing machine, and sarah's fear feels very real. the fake arnie head was a bit goofy, but the robot skeleton effects were so good. extremely sick. ALSO THE SYNTHS!!!!!

Annihilation

like fuckin hell. if ever i wished i had an insane audio setup it's right now. that was a fucking lesson in audio and visuals. every sound, every noise was just perfect. and every shot was freaking beautiful. the COLOURS! the LIGHTING! it perfectly portrayed what the story was doing. amazing movie. the exhale i had at the end

The Medium

what a movie. absolutely loved the presentation style, it worked so well for this story and heightened it. the acting was suburb, cold feel every emotion. everyone did so damn well. such a tense movie, and so much to stress. extreme recommendation. mink's performance was amazing. the thai culture being presented here, while foreign to me, was shown so well that i could see the importance and the history of it. truly an amazing experience

[tommyspeakycap]

request for jack grealish one where he’s really upset over something and you’re there with him to comfort him, lots of physical contact being his love language and you being the only person he likes touching his hair ?

Comfort

You knew from the very second he walked through the door that annoyed would be an incredibly generous word to describe the emotions running through the Brummie boys head. You grimace to yourself, shoulder raising closer to your ears at the sound of the brand new front door slamming heavily behind him with a curse at the fact he couldn't get his shoes kicked off just right the first time he attempted it in the foyer.

The first game was a loss and just about all he'd gotten for the past few days was hate, stress, hate and some more fucking stress. He was exhausted. From Mykonos to Birmingham to get a bag full of clothes so he could meet Villa in London before eventually travelling to Manchester, his sleep schedule has been completely messed up and even when he did have bursts of time where he should have been sleeping, he had been laying awake scrolling through countless tweets criticising his every single move. Add to that the fact his body was exhausted from international duty and that he had wanted nothing more than to curl up by your side and let his worries melt away like he had last gotten to do nearly three whole months ago.

He doesn't know you're here. To the very best of Jack's knowledge, you were still home in Birmingham and he would probably have to broach the conversation of whether or not you'll be joining him up anytime soon, if ever. He lets out a frustrated grunt, but you know Jack better than anyone else and there's the thick sheen of his heart aching tears existing beneath his frustration.

"Hey baby."

His head snaps around to land his eyes on you the second your sweet voice meets his buzzing ears. The echos of Etihad still burn a bit of his hearing away for now, but he knows it'll return to normal by the end of the night. The tears that had previously been kept on his lash line, pushed back by his will not to breakdown for fear he might not be able to stop if he starts are now past the last line of defence, streaming over his cheeks as he crossed the floor at a pace that would send his fife rating into surefire question.

Your body makes an involuntary 'oof' as he crashes against you, his arms so tight around your body as he stops you from stumbling back with the force of his incoming hug. You don't think he's ever actually held you that tightly before, never with such dire necessity, with such urgency for you to be as close to him as he could get you.

The hair that's been allowed to fall loose from the band he'd earlier had it tied back in tickles the back of your neck as it dangles over the exposed skin. He mumbles something almost incoherent about how much he's missed you into your neck, pepping chaste kisses where his lips have landed against you in this hug. You wished you could enjoy that, but the dampening that has begun to occur over the shoulder that his head is above reminds you of the pain he must be in.

Leaving your childhood club is one thing, but leaving it when everybody else seems to think he's a monster for it is a whole different kind of agony. There were just too many emotions for people to see the kind of things Jack had given for the club and the huge opportunity he had left them with his legacy and with the money they copped for his record breaking sale.

"It's okay, Jacky." You coo, tightening your arms around you as he attempts one tighter squeeze to force the tears back into him. It's a futile attempt, his arms loosening but never dropping away from you as he squeezes his eyes shut and lets those sobs shake his body. "I got you, baby. I've got you."

There was such a mix of emotions running through him that made him feel like the world had just pushed him to the ground and taken the perfect opportunity to give his body a good kicking. First final for England in 55 years, then they lost in a penalty shootout he didn't even get to be a part of after a game he barely got to play in. Then a holiday he couldn't take with you because of work commitments and a sudden coworker needed sooner maternity leave meaning your holiday was completely eliminated. As if those things didn't dampen his spirit, all that transfer business had gone down and it was finally all hitting him.

His exhaustion had caught up, an inevitable burn out that could be messed only by the presence of you in his life. Some of this tears that stream down his cheeks and pool on the grey material of your t-shirt are ones of joy and relief for finally having you back in his arms again for the first time in far too long of a time. Jack vows he will never ever spend that amount of time without you again. Never will he let so much time pass before he gets to hold you, kiss you and tell you face to face how much he truly loves every single thing about you.

"You're my rockstar, you know." You announce, seemingly out of the blue ones his body wracking sobs had died to smaller sniffled and period tears streaking down onto you. "I've literally never been prouder of anyone in my life ever. Not only did you fucking smash the euros, but then you stayed so sweet and so amicable during such a difficult process. You handled everything so well, J. I'm so proud or you and I'm so, so happy for you." You promise, pushing him back so you can take his blotchy, tear streaked face in your head. The expanse of that face is coved in your kisses, pecked all over the surface until he's giggling like the Jack that you know so well, his laugh the most contagious sound you've ever been lucky enough to get to hear on a daily basis. "And I'm so lucky that you let me share this journey with you." You finish, landing your lips softly and perfectly onto his with a warmth and love he had been desperately missing out on for those last vital few weeks of his break.

"S' our journey," Jack mumbles in response against your lips, pulling back every so slightly so he can get a proper good look at the face he had missed so much in person. Your cute quirked eyebrows and confusion tainted eyes make him smile before he elaborates. "Not my journey, it's our journey together. All of this, just the two of us."

His words make your heart sore, flying up onto the space above you in pure glee. You had to admit there was a mild element of fear wondering if he would want you here or if he'd maybe be wanting fresh start, but that was certainly not the case for Jack.

"I love you," he says as you feel him tuck you right back into his chest with a content hum. "I love you too, but you need a wash."

Jack's laughter bellows loudly from his chest beneath your ear at your lightly playful and yet very truthful statement.

"I ran you a bubble bath for you. Bathroom's huuuuge." Your eyes are full of wonder like he thought they might be when he would get the opportunity to bring you out to his temporary Manchester abode. This is you would both stay until he could find a house to place some money down on so he can truly start to settle out the fact he's going to have the next six years of his life here in this area with this club. It makes him more than happy, being here. But something that tickles him in thought as he follows you up the stairs is that he'll get to experience all of this newness with you. You’ll get to explore the new area together, find nee places, making it home together. You had both known Soulihull like the back of your hand, now you could find new places to just be together. He can go house hunting with you. He'll let you drag him through the houses he probably wouldn't otherwise look so much into, talking about what room could be which and silly little things he wouldn't even have noticed.

He could pick a house with you that would have enough room to start a family in together within the next year or so, like you had been hoping to do depending on what the club and transfer season had brought. This brought stability, a team that would function well without a reliance on him if there were some things he had to sit out in order to build this family.

It had been, unbeknownst to you, such a pivotal part of discussions with the Manchester City agents. Jack made it clear he was looking for stability and trophies. He had done so much for Villa and now it was time for him to invest energy in bigger fights with bigger clubs that don't face relegation so constantly. He made it clear to the managers also that the was looking to be in the business of starting a family sometime soon. He was welcomed with open arms still. A club who wanted him desperately and would probably have caved to many more demands from him, not having a fraction of an issue with negotiated paternity pay and leave.

He couldn't wait to find a house and settle down here with you for the foreseeable future, even if things didn't look exactly as he thought they might've looked when you first got together as merely young adults.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours, eh?" You ask softly, running your fingers gently through his tangled and sweaty hair as he stands there in the middle of the large bathroom. Jack shrugs. There's so much in there today, not really like usual where he could sort through those thoughts and keep his head clear for every day and every game he faces.

"Just stressed," he huffs, allowing you to help him out of the brand new away strip he had been given at the beginning of the day today for his first first game with the new team.

His muscles are achy and tight, body still stiff from the cold that the rain had battered into his limbs as you easily hook off his boxers and tug them down his legs so he can step over the bathtub into the perfect temperature bubble filled water that makes him heave out a heavy sigh of relief the second it meets his skin.

"Talk to me, baby?"

And talk to you he did after he sat down in that bath with you.

He leaned back against you, allowing you to lather shampoo into the hair he trusted very few people with multiple times to massage the ache out of his skull from the previous days tension headaches. He talks about all those messages from so many unhappy people, some even City fans who didn't even want to entertain the idea of him being there. He talks about his worry of sitting on the bench season after season, telling you he was hoping to god those tweets wouldn't be further from the truth. He confided in you some of his greatest pains; the concept that he'd let his Villa teammates down and maybe even made his family unhappy despite the fact they had given him nothing but their full support and unsurprising pride just like everybody else in his immediate circle.

You massage muscle relaxing soap into all of the muscles in his body as he just talks, letting the weight of the world off of his shoulders to dissipate like the steam in the air from the bath. Only once he has everything off his chest and the waters gone cold do you both leave the bathroom, wrapped in towels then into pyjamas where he wraps you up in his arms like he's been desperate to do since the moment he touched off for International duty months ago, and he talks again.

This time, he talks to you instead of just talking out every worry and fear he's ever had.

Jack uses probably the most amount of words he's ever used in such sensible succession in order to paint you a perfect mental picture of a house just outside the city with a huge garden, fenced in for dogs and kids with a pool and enough room for all three of those future kids to have their own room, even though they'll share at first just for fun. He paints a picture of you at his games with two sons and a daughter, his name on each shirt along your back. The kids will call Foden uncle Phil and they’ll love him just like you both do. They'll get to play with the teams kids on the pitch after the games no matter how tired the guys are even if they've been thrashed in a loss. He depicts the kind of life you had both wanted for so long, somehow always deterred by something until right this moment, the time feeling like it had rolled perfectly into place for both of you.

And Jack tells you about how you'll poke fun at him when he starts to get those salt and pepper strands of hair and he'll love you no matter how you look. Your kids will learn what love is from their parents, they'll pick it up and they'll emulate it in their own lives sometime in the future. They'll stamp out hate with the hearts full of love that you will both allow those kids to grow into.

You both fall asleep together that night, wrapped in each others arms drifting off into dreams of kids that don't exist yet in a house you haven't even looked for with a future that each of you wants nothing more than to grab onto with both hands.

Jack's heart hurts for the changes he's made this week. He doubts the pain will ever fully leave him and he hopes that one day his club will welcome him back to end his career on a high note with them. However, until then the pain will be dulled by the prospect of his new future here.

One he can't wait to get stuck right into.