#not underwhelmed even. just whelmed

[antichrist-demoncore]

Gone Too See The River Man really has me whelmed.

[bidokja]

Hello, idk where to ask but maybe if you know?

Where did joonghyuk ever describe kim dokja eyes? Face? Did i miss something? I plan to reread but i don't think yoo joonghyuk ever said about dokja's starry eyes or long eyelashes or white cheeks? All of those were said by the party member minus yjh tho, he is unconsious at that moment?

As far as I know, that is correct! The only people who have ever described Kim Dokja's facial features are the other KimCom members, and this only happens in small moments when they are able to observe individual features rather than his whole face.

If I remember correctly, most of these instances occur when they are getting him ready to give a speech to all those who gathered at the Industrial Complex. This takes place some time after the 73rd Demon Realm arc, after the Industrial Complex has been transferred to our realm (Earth). KimCom is trying to make Dokja look presentable and are giving him a small makeover or something, and since they are so close and paying attention due to the nature of makeovers, they start noticing some of his features. However, Yoo Joonghyuk is not unconscious during this time, as he is also about to give a speech.

I can't think of a time where Yoo Joonghyuk has described Kim Dokja's facial features himself. The only time I can think of where this might have happened is when KimCom enters the subway and meets The Oldest Dream, finally seeing him for what/who he is. However, while Kim Dokja notes a few things about the kid's appearance, I don't think anyone else says anything about his appearance other than noting that The Oldest Dream is just a kid.

[hana-no-seiiki]

hhhh first proper meeting between cv! reader and timmy boi being the cadmus project maybe?? i won’t go in depth with descriptive writing and will just assume you guys have watched the first episode of young justice.

reader was also investigating the scene, mostly interested in the biotech the lab had for their own use (a menace as always) but also cause it could be used to resurrect jason from the dead. they’re most likely still high on their yan era.

“rob? the hell are you gawking around for?”wally questioned tim as the latter stood still in the middle of the elevator door.

“they’re . . .here. . .” he stared at the icon of your face in shock. he hadn’t met you outside of the occasional fight, and even then your mind seemed elsewhere.

he’d heard and seen the fights you’ve had with other robins, stories of dick saying the adrenaline rush was like no other, and he had expected you to show at least some enthusiasm when fighting him.

and just like how freeze reacted to him, he was a tad underwhelmed.

it’s safe to say that he was irked when you treated him like that while you acted all buddy buddy with the rest of the sidekicks

“kaldur, wally and . . . tim.”

“kitty!” wally practically tackled you to the ground.

“[cat villain name], to what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” kaldur smiled. you used to be one of the few villains that intimidated him at times purely cause of your influence and seniority; but you were harmless in the end and reminded of his king at times despite your knack of attacking the ‘fish guy’ with bites everytime you meet.

“i should be the one asking you guys that. i’m the villain: i’m just here to mess up the place or learn how to mess up other places better.” you crossed your arms, your faux leather tail swaying from side to side. “you guys should be careful. it isn’t safe here.”

“is it just me or do i feel some sort of tension between those two?” wally whispered to kaldur as they watched you and tim

“it’s . . .” kaldur stared at you in particular, blushing as you looked back at him with a wink. “just you.”

ofc you’re not immune to alien brainwashing so eventually you end up fighting the trio.

tim ends up confessing his frustrations

“now this is the perfect amount of whelmed. i’m so sick and tired of you not taking me seriously. it’s a shame that it had to be this way”

[orionsgirl7lovegoodravenclaw]

“You know what I want to know? Why can you be overwhelmed, and underwhelmed but you can’t be just whelmed?” James asks.

“Huh. What would whelmed even mean?”

“Probably in the middle. Like not super hyped about something, but not bummed either.”

“Maybe we should start using whelmed for when we feel neutral about things?” Sirius asks.

“I think we could start it.”

“I believe in us.”

The Long Game by @lackadaisicallizard

[horriblegoosefest]

I Think You Can in Europe

By: @gallifrey1sburningsburning Pairing(s): Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Rating: T Word Count: 17, 864 Warnings/Content: No Archive Warnings Apply Goose: @timothysboxers

Tags:

Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Angst with a happy ending, humour, or so the author hopes, charity functions, volunteer work, quidditch, burnout - freeform, emotional meltdown, self-care, or the severe lack thereof, self-esteem issues, i swear it's not as heavy as it sounds, overworked Harry, Ron Weasley is a good friend, Hermione runs a school with a silly acronym, Harry can't say no to a challenge, Draco is perfectly happy to exploit that fact, getting together, drinking, healthy boundaries

Summary:

”I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?” “I think you can in Europe.” - Ten Things I Hate About You Harry has too many things to do and too little time to do them. He hardly has time to eat or sleep, he almost never sees his friends, his flat is a disaster, and he can’t remember the last time he cooked something that wasn’t a boxed meal—but when someone needs his help, how is he supposed to say ‘no’? Everything comes to a head when former-nemesis turned mutually-antagonistic-acquaintance Draco Malfoy finds him hiding under his invisibility cloak to avoid taking on yet another project and issues him a challenge: cancel one single obligatory event and take an evening to himself. Easy, right? As it turns out, not so much. Luckily, Harry’s now got Malfoy there to bully him into taking care of himself, whether he wants to or not.

A honk of appreciation from goose Timothysboxers:

I am so happy to have the opportunity to yell about this work! It explores some (potentially) challenging themes around mental health, burn-out, and your own self-view. While some of these topics are sensitive for me, I have zero regrets taking this wonderful journey with GB [the Author]. Their world building, character exploration, and relationship development is a treat to read—peppered with comedy, sneaky punches to the feels, and rewarding realisations from some unexpected sources. Sometimes, it's okay to say 'no', and reach for what you actually need.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 145 thoughts!

what even was this chapter, y'all. i'm getting a migraine.

While it certainly wasn't actively bad, it basically hits on enough of the issues I've been having with the Movie Arc that if you've been reading my chapter reviews lately, you could probably write this one yourself. Weird pacing, skipping over interesting parts of the movie, continued framing of AQRB as a shallow gag and failing to follow on any of the implied development from or literally any referenced fallout of the kiss in 143? It's all here, babes. It would ultimately just be boring and redundant for me to go over all that at length again, so I won't.

I will however say that I'm pretty disappointed we're blasting through what had the potential to be some really interesting bits of postmortem characterization for Ai, even filtered through 15YL. I don't mind the manga breezing past scenes we saw firsthand but like… how did Ai react when she realized she was pregnant? How did she feel, especially given that Spica once again emphasized her longing for a family of her own? IDK. The way the story is suddenly jolting forwards in these last few chapters and skipping such huge chunks of Ai's life ultimately feels very strange and I don't know what to make of it yet.

Everyone reacting to Crow Girl's acting was pretty funny though I'm kind of exhausted with Ruby's Gaga-For-Oniichansensei Gag Character flanderization. IDK if my tolerance for it is just decreasing or if it really is amping up, but at least in the 125-137 stretch I at least got the sense that they could be in the same room and have a normal conversation but ever since 139, it feels that bit more relentless. I imagine this would be less irritating if we knew how the aftermath of 143 had played out but it really seems like the manga is going to drag this out until we're all old and grey.

THAT SAID, this chapter does confirm that Aqua's hoshigan stayed white after that chapter and… eh. Who even knows what that means lol. It does at least imply that his talk with Ruby has brought him back to Baseline Aqua but Baseline Aqua is still a guy with every single mental illness on planet earth so I don't know if that's the world's biggest W quite yet. It certainly implies an improvement over double black hoshigan but… again, with Aqua being so totally cut off from the readers this whole arc and no idea of what happened in the aftermath of 143, it's impossible to make a meaningful guess as to wtf is going on with Aqua right now.

Oh yeah, uh. This chapter also I guess constitutes the reveal of how the AQRB reincarnation happened. I guess LMAO. Honestly, I don't have much to say about it other than it feels like a bit of an anticlimax for me? The idea works fine, the execution just left me… idk. Whelmed at best, underwhelmed at most. I feel like this backstory and the implied deep fondness for GRSR -> AQRB it implies doesn't really like up with the personality she displays in the Private arc but like, I kind of feel like she was tossed into the story without Akasaka having a clear idea as to what her role was even going to turn into so maybe that's not a surprise LOL

I will say I'm glad this seems to quash the theory that Aqua and Ruby were secretly capital-G Gods, instead framing it as a Tsuru no Ongaeshi type return of kindness to two otherwise mundane people. There was some fun fan theorizing around the idea, but for me personally, Oshi no Ko is most interesting when it focuses on that aspect of the story Akasaka highlighted in an interview recently, of human relationships being warped by the entertainment industry and I think an explosion of the emotional stakes to the cosmic scale of AQRB (or tbh any of the characters) being Secretly Gods All Along would be a bit of a shark jump for me and would really shift away from what I like about the series most.

That's kind of it for this one…! Not really a lot to say about this chapter, which is why most of this review was me explaining why I didn't have a lot to say about it.

[poppletonink]

The Best Quotes From '10 Things I Hate About You'

"You don't always have to be who they want you to be, you know."

"I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time."

"Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want. Just go for it."

"Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action."

"Ooh, see that, there. Who needs affection when I have blind hatred?"

"You're not as vile as I thought you were."

"Hello Katarina, make anyone cry today?" "Sadly, no. But it's only 4:30."

"But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close. Not even a little bit. Not even at all."

"Am I that transparent? I want you, I need you. Oh, baby. Oh, baby."

"Mr Stratford its just a party." "And hell is just a sauna."

"Just 'cos you're beautiful doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter."

"My insurance does not cover PMS!" "Well then, tell them I had a seizure."

"I know you can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" "I think you can in Europe."

[dear--charlie]

Dear Charlie,

i saw another letter mentioning that they don't want to tell people they're happy because they aren't quite sure if they really are happy and if they are they don't want to ruin what good thing they have going by oversharing... well, that really resonated with me.

i think that i am in the same place. i have these days where i feel okay? good enough, maybe? I'm not smiling, the world doesn't seem brighter or better, i'm still stressed, depressed, anxious, overlooked, under-loved, etc etc but i feel in those moments that it doesn't matter? like i'm experiencing a life and that is nice?? i'm not underwhelmed or overwhelmed, i'm just-- whelmed. i experience things with a feeling of new-ness and excitement. i put myself in uncomfortable positions to further my growth and make connections. i feel pride in the hard work I put in when I do succeed in something, even if it's only in the tiny details.

but then i have days like today where I realize that every part of 24-year-old me is still made of everything that 9-year-old me was made of and one argument with my mother has me locking myself in my bathroom to dry heave and sob while thinking about how I just want to run away.

is this happiness? is this all life is meant to be? just a series of days, followed by more days where in each you realize that this is as good as it gets.

I'm supposed to want to fight for this? the hope that has kept me alive this long, was it all for nothing more than the idea of daily neutrality?

and of course, i understand that "life is what you make it" and "without bad days there could never be any good days" and whatever other sayings and quotes I didn't list that all just say you should stick around because things COULD POSSIBLY be fun and really nice SOMETIMES

but i'm starting to believe that i'll never understand it enough for it to make the bad seem worth it.

i never want to be 9 years old ever again, but it turns out that no matter how fast i run, I'll never be faster than the past.

Charlie, i'm sorry if this didn't make any sense at all, but when you said you were both happy and sad, i'd hate to think that this is what you actually meant...

i'm going to get high and listen to Mitski until I feel normal... whatever that means.

Love always,

fat girl

[astro-kitty-launch]

Chances Not Taken

[Wally West x Reader x Dick Grayson]

Chapter 2: False Trust

Chapter Summary: Trust the core of every solid relationship. It can either break or make all the difference in a relationship. Is there trust true or is it false? What can the breaking or making of trust create? For Wally trust is everything. For Sianna, trust is a luxury. For Dick you're nothing without it.

------------------------

KID FLASH’S P.O.V.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

July 4, 14:00 EDT

This was a moment Wally could have only ever dreamed about since he was just a child. When his dreams, hopes, and aspirations, were all he had to his name. Never had he imagined them coming into reality with The Flash, his idol as his sidekick. Though he wasn’t just a sidekick, he and Flash were family. 

The rush pounded through Wally’s veins drowning out the sounds around him like the first time he broke the sound barrier. His vision narrowed as they all headed towards The Hall of Justice, drawing in the attention of a small group of tourists. Pausing for a moment his eyes soaked up the sight of every centimeter, every detail, and every sound were all being carved into his mind. A moment he’d remember for the rest of his life.

A warm hand pressed into the small of his back, snapping his head in the direction to see Flash’s affectionate smile, “ Hey Kiddo, I promise if you blink it’ll still be there.”

“Yeah, I promise I’ll make you proud.” Kid Flash's lips curled into an earnest smile, slipping past his brash outer layer. He’d prove that by joining the league and doing the good Barry always did every time he put on the mask. 

Before speeding up to catch up with the rest of the group that was a few feet away. Drawing in the normal attention that came with the territory of being a superhero. The excited chatter was followed by the clicks and flashes of cameras as they walked along. Ranging from kids to adults, they were all dressed in some form to show the symbols of their favorite heroes.

Excitement buzzed around them, even if no one got his hero alias right, it didn’t matter to him. In the corner of his eye, he spotted Rowena tucked close into Robin’s side, his plush lips pursed. Each step was slow as if one false move was made a trap door would open. He’d go as far as to say that he were hesitant, but why?

“Ready to see the inner sanctum?” GA's voice cut through, snapping him out of his monetary focus on Rowena.

“Born that way,” Speedy stated, the archer’s voice oozed with utter certainty. 

“I am glad we are all here.” Aqualad breathed out each word sincerely.  

“ Have all 5 sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?” Kid Flash emitted aloud. 

Though in the back of his mind he wished Kyle, one of the Green Lanterns of earth, wasn't off-world with Hal, another Green Lantern of Earth. It felt wrong not having one of their fellow sidekicks among them for such a momentous day. Even more so that they couldn’t share this moment together.

“ Don’t call us sidekicks! Not after today.” Speedy snapped harshly, causing him to blink at the sheer force in his friend’s voice.

“Sorry. First time at the hall. I’m a little overwhelmed.” The speedster shrugged it off, knowing just how much this day meant to Speedy. 

“You’re overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed?” Robin heaved a sigh of exasperation, picking up his pace to get across the threshold and into the Hall.

 “ Oh, maybe that’s why.” The Boy Wonder mused allowed at the sight of the colossal-sized statues of the founding members of the league. Starting from the right with Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash, and Aquaman. 

Kid Flash found his gaze wandering back to their silent companion dressed in a kimono top with bandages wrapped halfway up his lower arm down to his slim wrist. Preventing the sleeves from hanging out loosely to be grabbed at. 

Creating a puffed effect hiding the dimension of the arms beneath. Around his neck was a leather choker with a dazzling ultramarine crystal carved into the shape of ankh except there was an eye in the center of the loop. 

With black pants twin ultramarine blue lines on the sides. Sandwiched between the lines was the symbol of ankh. To have the same puffed effect as the top, the pants were tucked into a pair of combat boots. Hiding almost every inch of Rowena’s body minus half of their face. He always wondered why he was dressed so modestly.

Maybe he’d get an answer to that one day when they finally bridged this distance between them. 

“ Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Rowena, Welcome.” A deep baritone voice echoed; standing on the threshold of the metal door were Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

“ You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library.” Leading them into the rectangular room that was filled with books on either side. 

In the far back were a cluster of arm chairs grouped around a few coffee tables. Drilled into the wall was a large computer and next to it was a door that read: Justice League Members Only. Him, Aqualad, and Robin took up the armchairs as Rowena perched himself on the arm of Robin’s chair.

“Make yourselves at home.” Flash gestured in his typical laid-back manner, but it seemed stiffer than usual to Kid Flash. Maybe these were one of those moments his mom mentioned where Barry was overcome with emotions. Then again, it wasn’t every day his nephew /sidekick was one step closer to becoming a full member of The League. 

Soon Batman, Flash, and the other leaguers faced one another until Gotham's hero spoke, “Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day.”Batman paused and then stated to the five of them; “ We shouldn’t be long.”  before turning as the Zeta Beam scanner began scanning.

“Recognize: Batman, 0-2; Aquaman, 0-6; Flash, 0-4; Green Arrow, 0-8; Martian Manhunter, 0-7; Red Tornado, 1-6.” The automated voice of the scanner announced.

Kid Flash paused, was that it? Was this the tour of the Justice League HQ, or was it going to pick up once their mentors were finished with their private conversation? Then in record time, Speedy exploded; each word and exchange with Aquaman and Green Arrow left him perplexed. What did he mean by a real look? 

They were getting a real look, maybe Speedy expected something more?

A small voice in the back of his head agreed he had expected there was more to what was The Justice League HeadQuarters. Kid Flash felt as though he had just turned on a show mid-episode and missed out on key points from the beginning. Now he was completely lost trying to piece together the what and why. 

Why did Roy need to be patient?

“What I need is respect. They’re treating us like kids. Worse- like sidekicks! We deserve better than this!” Speedy whirled to face them, yanking him back into his body and out of this bizarre out-body experience.

“You’re kidding, right? You’re playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be the day, step one in becoming full-fledged members of the league.” Speedy fumed, thrusting his hand down, rage seemed to flow off the archer. 

Kid Flash glanced at Robin, who seemed almost unreadable if you looked closely at the way his mask creased, you could tell the Boy Wonder was shell-shocked. Aqualad's eyes seemed to grow darker, similar to how the sky grew darker when it was about to storm. Rowena was impossibly still to the point Kid Flash could have mistaken him for a statue if it weren’t for how tightly he gripped his sleeves.

“Well, sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ.” Kid Flash inquired tentatively, his face having gone blank as his brain whirled hectically in confusion. What was wrong? Did he and everyone else miss some kind of memo? Glancing at The Flash, hoping to see an answer in the scarlet clad hero, Kid Flash discovered Barry wouldn’t meet his gaze. 

“ Except the Hall isn't the league's real HQ. I bet they never told you it’s just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta beam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower.” Speedy seethed, delivering one of the most massive bombshells in the history of Kid Flash’s life.

His mouth gaped, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he replayed Speedy’s words over and over. Opening and closing his mouth, words failed him as he was thrusted unceremoniously into a tailspin. 

Why…why hadn’t Barry said anything? They were partners, they were family, weren’t they? Again he tried to catch the man’s gaze only to see a resigned expression. How could he have gone along with this charade? Why even bother lying or doing all of this? Why?

“Or what? You’ll send me to my room? And I am not your son! I’m not even his. I thought I was his partner, but not anymore.” More deafening than any of Speedy’s rage-filled words was the resounding sound of his hat hitting the floor. 

“ Guess they’re right about you four. You’re not ready.” Speed spat out with so much venom Kid Flash was utterly floored. 

He, Aqualad, and Robin sprung up to their feet while Rowena’s hands shook. The world felt impossibly slow as their friend stormed out of the fake Hall of Justice. His mouth was so dry it burned with such intensity he nearly choked. Details blurred together none of this happened like how he dreamed it would. Acid burned through his veins, consuming both his mind and body. Glancing at The Flash, unable to hide the heartbreak. 

There had to be a reason.

Barry, wouldn’t purposely hurt him or his friends like this, right?  

Soon the huge monitor blared as the screen materialized a video call from the man of Steel himself. “ Superman to Justice League. There’s been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It’s on fire.” Superman reported. Soon the room dissolved into a conversation about Cadums being on fire and Batman having suspicions that something was up.

Until another message blared through, it was the Leagues on sorcerer Zatara. “Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the amulet of Attan to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response.” The European man reported another far more serious emergency, one that could harm every living thing. After all ,the sun was one of the four key necessities for life.

With no further deliberation, Batman had decided to pursue the blotting out the sun mission. Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad surged forward; they weren’t about to be shoved out of a mission like this. A mission where they could show them all they were capable and not some children who needed constant supervision. 

“We’re coming,” Kid Flash stated rapidly, honing all his senses on Flash. 

“No, you’re not, Kid,” Flash told him firmly with the same amount of speed.

“You don’t trust us!” Kid Flash accused the words flew out without a second thought.

“This whole time y-you…” His voice shakes as everything that had happened sunk in. 

“Wally! Enough.” Flash ordered, his usual laid back demeanor had completely evaporated. 

“Flash! KF! Slow down, none of us understand super speed.” Robin cut through before Kid Flash could retort. 

Glancing at his best friend, he saw concern and worry in his eyes. It was only then Kid Flash realized that they had been speaking so fast that no one had been able to make out what had been said.

“ Stay put,” Batman ordered, his voice brokered no room for further argument that normally they would not dare question.

“ What! Why?” Robin cried out, just as taken aback by his mentor.

“This is a league mission. “ Aquaman calmly stated.

“ You’re not trained,” Flash added.

“ Since when?” Kid Flash yelled, they’ve trained themselves, they fought side by side since he was fourteen. Each answer was a stab to his heart, but none went as deep as Flash's short and to-the-point blows.

“I meant you’re not trained to work as part of this team.” Flash clarified as if that made sense, yet to Kid Flash it translated to: We don’t trust you.

“There will be other missions when you're ready,” Aquaman added diplomatically as if that made it any better.

“ But for now, stay put.” Batman finished with his signature bat glare soon all the members except them had left the Fake Hall of Justice. 

“ When we’re ready!? How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like…like sidekicks?” Kid Flash huffed, pacing while gesturing wildly with his arms.

“My mentor, my king, I thought he trusted me,” Aqualad said softly, appearing crestfallen, not that he could blame the guy. To have been told they were trusted only to find out they weren’t trusted cut deep.

“Trust? They don’t even trust us with the basics! They’ve got a secret HQ in Space!” Kid Flash thrusted his arms into the air. 

“Ro, you’ve been pretty quiet, in fact, you’ve barely reacted? You didn’t even say anything. Did you know about Zatara?” Robin questioned, tilted his head meeting the gaze of the cat-masked hero.

Kid Flash froze, glancing over at the silent stare-down Robin was currently having with Rowena. Speeding over to the two, he winched, seeing how the male flinched at his fast approach. He had noticed it too, the stillness or how Rowena didn’t add to the conversation. 

A big part of him wanted to reach out to physically squeeze or offer a comforting touch. Except he knew that wouldn’t be well received coming from him, at least not yet. Rowena may have been stubborn, but Kid Flash was bullheaded, he’d befriend the guy one way or another.

“Why bother? What would it have changed, Rob? No, I only knew he was busy with a case he thought was too dangerous for me to be a part of.” Rowena signed, acting as though these events were inevitable as his shoulders slumped in defeat. 

“Yeah, but you haven’t been even a smidge bit surprised or even angry?” Robin pointed out to keep his voice even.

“ Cause I had a feeling something like this would happen.” The cat-masked hero shrugged, arms crossed, glancing away. Wait, what did he mean that he had a feeling this would happen? Was he like Roy, who already knew about the Watchtower?

“What? So you were in on this?!” Kid Flash's voice rose, feeling as though his heart was about to drop to the floor.

“What!? No! I just had some pessimistic theories of what was happening. I didn’t think I was right. That they’d do this.” Rowena objected, immediately taking a step closer to Robin, who shot him a scolding look that almost rivaled Batman’s.

“What do you mean, Rowena? You can tell us.” Aqualad stepped up, his shoulders remained relaxed and untensed, unlike Kid Flash, who was completely rigided. 

Silence soon fell as Rowena shifted from foot to foot as he chewed heavily on his lower lip. Kid Flash caught how despite how their gaze was lowered down they subtly glanced at each of them. 

He tried relaxing, except he wanted the guy to hurry up, every cell in his body screamed for him to move in some way. To get out some of this momentary frustration to distract his mind from all the theories forming in his head. 

“I do want to join the league just like you guys. Though when it was first brought up, I found it odd. I mean sure, we all got a few years of experience and all. But I never imagined it would be brought up until we were legal adults. It felt too good to be true.” Rowena's voice came out small and soft, quivering at a few points.

“Why did it feel too good to be true? What’s your reasoning Rowena?” Kid Flash blurted out without hesitation. 

“Because we’re all underage except for Roy. Don’t you remember the social backlash for ‘taking children on as sidekicks’. If they made us members of the league now you think there wouldn’t be an uproar? Everyone generalizes, it’s natural and the first thing people will see is our ages. It’s social suicide.” Rowena waved his hands up in the air causing the speedster pause at the reasoning.

Breathing in deeply, the male superhero continued, “Plus, I haven’t done anything extremely note-worthy to earn the league’s recognition. I’ve never saved the world from the sun being blotted out. I didn’t feel as though I was ready, deserved to be a member, or even earned it.” Each word was raw and vulnerable, striking a cord deep inside the speedster.

 Hearing him give voice to his deepest fears thinking back to the group chat; Rowena’s response made much more sense now. It astounded him as he always thought of Rowena as a closed book. Only to throw his perception of how Rowena was out the window to find he had to go back to the drawing board.

“Hell, I wasn’t going to even come today. If Robin and Kent hadn’t conspired to kidnap me here. I wondered why they were doing this. Now we know they played with our hopes.” Rowena huffed, raising his face up to focus on the Boy Wonder, who smirked conspiratorially. 

“ Well, then let’s prove them wrong. Let’s do something noteworthy.” Kid Flash proposed, his eyes sparked with the new idea. That was it. They had to show the League they were too quick to jump to conclusions about what they can and can not do.

“ For the record, Rowena, I think you are a worthy hero,” Robin murmured softly, squeezing their companions shoulders.

“Agreed. Let’s start with this. What else aren’t they telling us?” Aqualad voiced.

“I have a better question. Why didn’t we leave with Speedy?” Robin sighed.

“Because unlike Speedy, we value and care about our mentors. That isn’t a bad thing. Being a hero doesn’t mean we must do everything by ourselves, Robin.” Rowena blurted out, flailing his arms into the air before placing either of them on his hips.

“Right you are, Ro.” Robin chuckled.

“What is Project Cadmus?” Aqualad mused allowed.

Kid Flash wondered about that as well as what exactly was going on in this Project that had the Dark Knight of Gotham trying to suss out. In seconds after a single failure, his best friend managed to hack into the Justice League computer as though he was simply unlocking a baby gate.

Project Cadmus, according to the file, was a genetics lab located in D.C.. The file itself only provided morsels of information and nothing on what was supposedly happening behind the scenes that had the best detective suspicious. 

“Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice.” Aqualad murmured, a spark flashed in his eyes.

 “Hey, they are all about justice.” Robin grinned mischievously.

“But they said stay put.” Aqualad reminded them of their mentor's orders.

“ For the blotting out the sun mission, not this.” Robin reasoned, unafraid to bend the rules for their own purposes.

“Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Because if you’re going, I’m going.” Kid Flash flashed an award-winning smile placing his hands on his hips. 

“ Just like that, we’re a team on a mission?” Aqualad raised a brow.

“ We didn’t come for a playdate.” Robin snorted.

“ I don’t know about this, guys. Go on without me. I don’t want to break their trust or disappoint them.” Rowena fretted, clenching and unclenching his hands, resembling the flapping wings of a butterfly. 

“ Well, if they find out, we’ll just say we roped you into this and are completely innocent, Rowena. Come on, take a chance with us.” Kid Flash assured his body acting before his brain could process the consequences. 

As he gently gripped the shorter male's hands, silently communicating that he’d never abandon a friend. Rowena goes rigid before yanking his arms away, taking a few steps away. A tight lump formed in his throat, why did Rowena only react this way with him?

“ Plus, if we pull it off, they’ll be proud, not disappointed. After all, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Robin reasoned his voice didn't contain an ounce of worry. 

“We all have one another's backs, yours included.” Aqualad promised solemnly though it sounded more like had just taken a blood oath.

“Then, I’ll have all three of yours no matter what. Promise.” Rowena tentatively met all their gazes before quickly averting his gaze from his as the first smile of today crossed the guy's lips.

--------------------

SIANNA’S P.O.V.

Exhaling deeply, Rowena centered her mind on their mission on her role as a hero. She, along with the rest of the sidekicks, arrived at the scene of the Cadmus Lab fire. The firemen were already there attempting to subdue the flames while two workers cried out for help. 

Seeming relatively mild, nothing crazy like a huge lava villain launching an attack in the name of vengeance. Until a loud boom went off. Sending the scientists out the window quicker than any of them could react, Kid Flash clumsily came to their rescue. For a moment, she thought he’d need to be rescued himself. 

“ Geeze, does he ever think before he acts?” Rowena released an exasperated sigh, caught between wanting to cease Kid Flash and shake him or sinking to the floor in relief. Though she did neither, now wasn’t the time to let her annoyance or loss of nerves show.

“ So smooth. It’ll be fine. Kid Klutz managed.” Robin snickered before whispering the last part in her ears, giving her a gentle pinch. Understanding, she nodded before drawing on her well of magical energy. Causing the hairs on her arm to stand as she chanted a spell under her breath. She then backed into a portal arriving inside the room Robin was pulling Kid Flash into. 

Without a pause, Robin began hacking the computer as Kid Flash began poking around the area at super speed. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, reaching out with her senses. Opening her eyes when she found nothing, she licked her lips unconsciously. Blanching when she realized she was nose to nose with Kid Flash.

Higher Beings, did he have any concept of personal space? And Robin wanted them to try to be friends, how preposterous. Not after what had happened a few months before it was in that moment she realized it was impossible.

“ So is there any ‘magic’ involved?” Kid Flash probbed, creating air quotes with his fingers.

“No, the fire was made non-magically, Kid Flash,” Rowena replied, creating some distance between them.

“But something about this place is definitely strange. I just…” She trailed off softly, stalking further into the building.

“Did your ‘magic’ tell you that?” Kid Flash inquired mockingly, his voice pitched when he empathized with the word ‘magic’.

‘No, my gut did, or is listening to your gut not scientific enough for you?’ Is what Rowena wished to say, except she rained in her urge to snap back. She knew he was baiting her now wasn’t the time to hash things out. Higher Beings, what was his issue?

“No, my gut.” She muttered before walking over to Aqualad, who just arrived.

“Appreciate the help.” Aqualad drawled, sarcastically as he started to take in the room.

“You had it covered. Besides, we're here to uncover what’s going on here. Poetic justice….” Rowena elbowed Robin, sending him a look before turning to Aqualad.

“What he means to say is it was divide and conquer; it doesn’t take the whole group to save them.” She added as Robin pouted at her, kneading his sides.

“I should have never taught you that,” Robin muttered sulkily, drawing a small snicker out of her.

“ Agreed, it doesn’t require everyone. I’ll take a look around.” Aqualad nodded as Rowena fell into step beside him.

“I’ll join you. We should use the buddy system. Not that you’re not capable Aqua-” Aqualad raised his hand to silence her as his gaze softened.

 “It is fine. We are in an unknown environment, it would be prudent not to act too carelessly. Thank you.” His response soothing her as she was far too used to two certain individuals being fussy with how they received assistance.

Glancing around nothing felt too out of place, except the more normal the surroundings appeared, the more the tighter her stomach clenched. After all, Batman had been suspicious about Cadmus. Except a small voice in the back of her head screamed that they shouldn’t be doing this. She yearned for it just to be a fire and nothing more than that.

What if things got out of hand?

What if they were the kind of scientists that did unethical experiments?

A sharp beep shattered the oddly quiet building, snapping her head over and catching a glimpse of something inhuman; a shriek whelled up in her throat. Staggering back, glancing back at Aqualad, whose eyes widened, “There was something in the-” 

“What? Elevators should automatically seal off in fires.” Kid Flash cut in, joining them in the hall, with Robin appearing a few seconds later. 

“ This is wrong,” Robin muttered as he began rapidly tapping at his holographic wrist device. 

“Yeah, dude, we got the elevator that shouldn't be working.” Kid Flash reiterated his comment from before.

“ Ha, thought so. This type of high-speed express elevator doesn’t belong in a two-story building like this.” Robin explained as Kid Flash nodded in understanding. 

“Neither is what we saw.” Aqualad breathed out, sending a silent message to the three of them: Get Ready. 

“Woah! And that’s why they need an express elevator.” Robin stated before using a grappling gun to go down.

Rowena paused, staring into the dark elevator shaft biting her lip as her stomach sank. This wasn’t creepy at all. Not like they didn’t discover an opening to a potentially evil lab. How often were there secret laboratories for good. She was hesitant about jumping carelessly into a most likely dangerous situation.

Of course, Robin and Aqualad didn’t hesitate to dive in, headlong into peril, it’s what heroes do. Rowena wished she was able to shut off the part of her brain that seemed to delight in picturing all the worst cases. But she wanted to be recognized by the league to show what they could do. The magic user also vowed to have their backs, which she couldn’t do if she didn’t go down.

“Hey, Kitty-cat, don’t turn into a Scardy-cat, man up and go down.” Kid Flash taunted, causing her to frown at him as her brow twitched behind her mask. Biting back the urge to say she was a girl, unfortunately that would break the glamor. A glamor she vowed to keep when she became Zatara’s sidekick. 

 Counting from one to ten backwards, she watched as the Ginger grabbed onto the rope. His emerald gaze burned into her daring her to jump down as he lowered himself down.

  Should she go or stay?

‘Don’t hesitate, just go for it' Her grandfather's words resonated in her mind.

Sucking in a deep breath, she made her choice.

-------------------

This cross posted on Ao3

Chances Not Taken

<<<<< Chapter 1 Chapter 3 >>>>>

[maridiayachtclub]

i went to a con this past weekend. didn't go to any panels or anything, just wanted to browse the vendors and artist alley. which i did, with two primary goals:

the first was to find some comics and books by little indie outfits i have never heard of. and there were several of those, and i picked up a couple of books from local (or quasi-local. two states over counts as "nearby" when it's Montana) authors, but i guess i was hoping to see more? there weren't as many comics as i was expecting at The Comic Con. like, it's been a good number of years since i've been to one of these, but much more than the last time i went, it felt like the crowd consisted of (and the vendors catered to) people whose engagement with geek culture is mostly Star Wars and D&D by way of Stranger Things. like a very big presence hinged on big corporate-owned media, compared to indie and creator-controlled stuff. merchwise, there were far fewer handmade tchotchkes than there were kinda samey looking things made with 3D printers and CNC routers. i'm not trying to be snooty about it, but there was something alienating about the whole thing that i'm trying to figure out.

the artist alley was at least closer to what i was expecting, though i didn't find much that i actually wanted to spend money on. this was the other thing i was looking out for: FFXIV-related art. and there were like, two artists (of like 50 or so booths, plus however many more scattered throughout the vendor hall) that had anything FFXIV-themed at all, as far as i could tell. one artist had a bunch of prints of rather lovely watercolor-esque portraits of major characters (plus a landscape of the Crystal Tower, which I bought a print of), and someone else had acrylic charms of the standard set of fan-favorite characters in a cuter anime style that had different appearances on either side. but overall, the FFXIViness levels were disappointing, both in quantity and in selection.

overall the experience was very... whelming. i was kinda underwhelmed, but not so much i am officially disappointed. i would summarize my trip as "an unusual way to spend a saturday afternoon." it was a thing that happened.

the local anime con is happening in a month or two and i was kinda thinking of going to that. being in a nerd crowd, at least, was nice, and i kinda want more of that. but if i'm out of touch with nerd culture, i'm double plus out of touch with Anime culture. i'd probably be saving some trouble if i didn't go. like if i wanna see a buncha Genshin Impact art that i don't care about i can already go to twitter, right now, and do exactly that. don't even need to buy a ticket or anything

admittedly the whole experience was colored by attending the con with someone who was in a shitty mood, didn't like the crowd and was constantly trying to avoid it. maybe i woulda had more fun if i wasn't spending 40% of my mental energy worrying about that, or feeling like i had to keep offering excuses and apologies every time i wanted to stop and look at something, or trying not to get caught showing an untoward amount of interest in something that's too cute or feminine or pink. performative gender clown act BS. nah yeah now that i think about it, that was really biting into how much fun i was having

anyway, regardless, it still sucks that in today's economy you can reliably get pictures of one of ffxiv's numerous government-issued boyfriends but not a single wee doodle of Ysayle....

[ottosbigtop]

Thank you for being one of the people who convinced me to finally play Tangle Tower off my Steam Library. What did you think of the ending?

YEAHHH awesome! I’m glad to hear even a couple people might be playing it now! spoiler talk under the cut

I read a comment under a review of the game that said something along the line of “I’ve never been more whelmed by a reveal before. Not over or underwhelmed. Just whelmed.” And. Yea. Literally.

it’s an interesting thing! Like, I think it’s an absolutely fascinating reveal in regards to Penelope’s character (she’s probably one of my favorites) but narratively I feel like it really just. Halts all the momentum of the game. The last like 10-20 minutes of gameplay just being Penelope monologuing at you about her big plan and her backstory? Genuinely saved only by the voice acting, otherwise I would’ve been so clocked out of that in seconds.

I feel like even if we had gotten some art . Like a slideshow or something . To go along with Penelope’s explanations, it would’ve helped. Give us some visual appeal and suspense, even if all we’re doing is sitting and listening.

and it’s also a matter of like. Come on. Did you really have any other suspicions? It’s not a whodunnit if it doesn’t feel like any character has any motive. Never in this story did I think that any member of tangle tower would’ve had any reason to kill Freya, so I wasn’t exactly anticipating the reveal. Penelope was definitely a well-crafted character with a good reason for doing what she did, and I can’t say it was a cheap reveal, it just… wasn’t as impactful when you don’t have any other possible suspicions that you’d be relieved/surprised to know weren’t the killer.

I will say, i probably would’ve found the Hawkshaw reveal pretty surprising but I had already been spoiled somewhat on That reality before I started u_u

so like. Love Penelope, love the emotional introspection of the ending, love the characters in this game. Hell, even the reveal of how the murder went down was really cool (that fucking bird jumpscared me TWICE in that end scene) But the end definitely fell short of being a satisfying conclusion to the “Whodunnit” question, if that makes sense.

cannot emphasize how much the game was still an absolute fuckin delight though. I’ll take the one moment of “huh. Okay.” with the phenomenal experience I had with everything else

[onlygenxhere]

Jatp/10 Things I Hate About You AU

In honor of the third anniversary of the premier of Julie and the Phantoms here is the 10 Things I Hate about You AU I will never write.

I’m not going to explain a whole lot about 10 Things. If you’ve seen the movie this should make sense, If not I highly recommend.  

Luke is Patrick – With his sleeveless tees and his doesn’t give a crap about school attitude. Think more brooding musician Luke, less excited puppy. He gets sent to the office all the time for skipping class to write music.

“You’re not afraid of me are you?”

Julie is Kat – Angry at the world. Her mother died three years ago and she’s moved on from grief to anger. The only scene I have an idea about is changing the dancing drunk on a table scene to singing karaoke drunk on a table. Cause I’d still want her to hit her head and have Luke catch her and take her outside and worry she’s got a concussion.

That whole scene on the swing set, need it.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you you may have a concussion.”

“You don’t care if I never wake up.”

“Sure I do.”

“Why?”

“Because then I’d have to start taking out girls that actually like me.”

“Like you could find one.”

“Oh, See, that, there. Who needs affection when I have blind hatred.”

“Ugh, just let me sit.”

“So why’d you let him get to you?”

“Who?”

“Bobby?”

“I hate him.”

“Well you’ve chosen the perfect revenge, mainlining tequila.”

“Well you know what they say?”

“Nope, what do they say?”

Julie passes out.

“No, no, no, no, Julie wake up look at me! Listen to me Julie open your eyes!”

Julie opens her eyes to see Luke hovering over her.

“Hey, what color even are you eyes? Every time I look at you they’re different.”

He smiles at her.

She throws up.  

Reggie is Cameron – New kid in school. Completely smitten by Flynn the first time he sees her just like Cameron is with Bianca.

“I burn, I pine, I parish…”

Alex is Michael – He’s a band geek instead of future MBA (Masters Business Administration) like Michael was. He knows all the gossip about everyone. He’s the one showing Reggie around campus when Reggie sees Flynn for the first time. He could also be the one that sets up the apology song (Can’t keep my eyes off of you) for Luke to sing to Julie with the band chiming in.

Flynn is Bianca – Kat’s/ Julie’s sister. I’m going to go with Flynn being adopted a couple years after Julie was born.

“Can you for one night forget that you are completely retched and be my sister… please.”

So they wouldn’t be the same age like in jatp but a couple years apart like in 10 things. So everyone but Flynn and Carrie are seniors.

Willie is Mandella – Kat’s best friend who Alex has a crush on. No weird Shakespeare thing needed. Maybe Alex just leaves a regular old note in their locker asking them to prom? Maybe it’s not a “regular” note but one on the back of a postcard of a famous painting by Willie’s favorite artist.

Carrie is Chastity – Flynn’s best friend.

“I know you can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed but can you ever just be whelmed?”

“I think you can in Europe.”

Bobby is Joey – It’s definitely believable that that character could be an idiot jackass and I think I can believe he’s a model if he was prepped up some (less grunge more styled). The only weird would be that he’d end up taking Carrie to the prom and most of us write them as related. I was thinking they don’t HAVE to be related but then again maybe it’d be even funnier if they were cousins and she was his only option after Flynn ditched him for Reggie.

Bobby punches Reggie.

Flynn punches Bobby.

“Shit Flynn! I’m shooting a nose spray add tomorrow!”

“That’s for making my date bleed!”

Punches him again.

“That’s for my sister!”

Knees him in the groin.

“And that’s for me!”

She helps Reggie up off the floor.

“Are you ok?”

He smiles, “Never been better.”

KISSES!

Nick is Bogey Lowenstein – Rich band nerd not cool jock. It works well enough.

“You guys please, take it outside!” Fighting boys crash through the window. “Thank you!”

Ray is Mr. Stratford – Kat and Flynn’s dad. I know on jatp he’d a photographer but he’d just have to be a gynecologist in this because all his panic about the girls dating is way too funny to skip and with the pregnancy belly he makes Bianca put on at one point.

“I know who you want to bend the rules for it’s that hotrod Bobby.”

Caleb is Ms. Perky –The principle. Who doesn’t want to see Caleb spending time writing a romance novel instead of disciplining the children? I can just see him trying to think of new words for “throbbing member” and Luke or Julie giving him an answer he’s pleased with.  

“The point is Julie. People perceive you as somewhat…”

“Tempestuous”

“Heinous bitch is the term used most often.”

Julie grins.

“You might want to work on that… Thank you.”

“As always thank you for your excellent guidance Mr. Covington. I’ll let you get back to Christopher’s quivering member.”

“Quivering member, hum, I like that.”

Mrs. Harrison is Mr. Morgan - The English teacher, no stretch here.

Carlos and Victoria could still be there just in much more minor rolls. They would be pretty much how they are on jatp.

[atopvisenyashill]

are there any performances in HOTD that you find to be overrated or underrated?

i think we all know my feelings about rhys ifans lmao. i’ve certainly seen him in roles i liked him in but the man has no rizz and i do not buy that he managed to snow viserys that hard and that’s vital to the dynamic. the first scene where daemon smack talks otto’s wife is really good but every other scene is lacking in the SEXUAL TENSION where is the rivalry so intense it looks like they’re about to fuck or murder on the small council table. matt is putting in his best here rhys and you are slipping!!

i’m assuming i’ll be hunted for sport for saying this altho i’m hoping some people agree but i am very underwhelmed by ewan mitchell. for one thing, why does he look 30 while tom looks like 12. i wish they were less unserious about the ages of the younger characters. second of all i’m just. idk he’s fine?? i was ROCKING AND ROLLING with leo and ty and i was so whelmed by ewan’s switch up. he’s got good chemistry w phia and olivia & there are a few scenes i felt a bit struck by - mainly the street of silk scene & the lil slap fight when he finds aegon - but idg what everyone is screaming for. he’s not bad but come on. i feel like i’m being punked or something with how often people wax poetic about him aksjsj

underrated is paddy considine hands down. the fact that he didn’t win a single award and a few of those annoying golden glove people were like “i didn’t even watch the show” WELL YOU MISSED SOME AMAZING WORK YOU PRETENTIOUS FANTASY HATER. i think the fandom at large appreciates him enough but man the awards were so disrespectful to him. anyways.

i wouldn’t say anyone else is super underrated. i think everyone agrees the acting is a STEP UP from the last few seasons of got, so even tho there’s some insane fan behavior bc people can’t be normal to actors who play complex characters, i feel like everyone generally agrees they were all good? just my experience anyway!!

i will say i think some of the more minor actors are doing a good job at giving you a whole character in 2 second snippets - Phoebe Campbell, Jefferson Hall, Ryan Corr, Graham MacTavish, Phia Saban stand out to me - and the girl who played Dyana was amazinggggg. I also have seen some people say that Milly is a better actor than Emma, and like, idk about that lmao i love Milly she was great, i’m not trying to debate and say Emma is better I think that comes down to taste but I feel like some people got soooo attached to young Rhaenyra and then Emma didn’t really look the way they wanted and they got mad. Sucks to suck tho Emma is divine and also amazingly talented.

[soviet-sin-corner]

All the light we cannot see (Movie review)

quick note: when I say 'genre' I mean WW2 movies, this is wholly just my very much fallible opinion, I literally just watched the movie this is in no way wholly comprehensive and thought through AND I have not read the book. Oh and spoilers

I just finished 'All The Light We cannot Sea' not that anyone asked for my opinion, but it was a really cute story! I love the connection between Marie and Werner through the Professor though in terms of the romance aspect... I feel like they sort of threw away Marie's character for the sake of it. Werner being head over heels fully make sense even if it is not logical seeing as for him she is the embodiment of 13.10 and therefore all the hope, care and love that it represents. That aside, love the fact that reference was made to the elite schools. Since it's been something I'd been itching to see depicted more often in second world war era movies ever since I watched 'Napola; Before The Fall', though it is validly and naturally not referred to/depicted that often seeing as there are more interesting/important stories to tell.

Either way I do wish that the season was a bit longer there was a lot of potential in terms of building tension and suspense with Werner and the curly haired liar and there would have been more time to potentially flesh out Marie and Werner's dynamic, but then again this is probably just due to the fact that I'm comparing this to the pacing of other war series (e.g Das Boot 2018) which really take their time lathering on suspense and have a much longer run time. So, the shorter run time of this series taken into account, the pacing was simply fine. Though I liked the series over all it was in a sense (for me) truly mediocre.

The story line with Marie and her father, Etienne Leblanc's whole shebang and Werner's back story were all very interesting, but (and again this is purely and wholly my own opinion, I literally just finished the season and decided to write this no deeper thought or analysis has been put into this) the individual aspects merge, however cohesively, only to still outshine the overarching plot or rather perhaps more correctly, the present of the story. It is much more about characters going through a plotline set in a war than a war movie... If that makes any sense? The focus is very much on the past and the characters individually, much more than the current events and actions and though they are in no way unimportant or underplayed, they definitely play second fiddle in my opinion. This is more prominent in the 2nd episode onwards.

This isn't a bad thing by any means, but if you're going into this with your focus on the war aspect of the film then you won't be disappointed and not really underwhelmed but simply... well, whelmed, I suppose. I wouldn't say to go into this expecting a love story either, because it is... at least to me, not. Rather this movie is more a 'connection two people (unknowingly) share and their development and life up until they meet, oh and also its set in a war' type movie. There's a lot of focus on the softer human aspect (which we love to see) and the before/leading up to aspect, but without building a lot suspense which one may expect from a war movie (not that there wasn't suspense just not that much again in comparison to other war series like Das Boot 2018).

Somethings I really loved about this movie though was Etienne and his whole deal (simply because it's something I know and enjoy encountering in this genre), Marie and her father, like fr fr that whole storyline was actually perfect beginning to end and lastly Marie's blindness was perhaps the best most new and most refreshing and truly and addition to this genre on a whole. I'm not saying that the experience of being blind was well portrayed, seeing as I myself am not and have never been blind, but in a genre that is allergic to diversity it's always nice to see the portrayal of experiences that deviate from the 'norm'. ESPECIALLY, representation of people with disabilities and not just a oh look at this poor soldier who just got shot will never walk again we're just going to push him off screen, pretend he doesn't exist and get back to the boy with guns. I'd love to see more representation of disabled people being people and not just something to be pitied in this genre.

My biggest problem with this film is it all being in English. I love it when the respective characters speak their respective languages. But also it made some part a little unclear as to who could understand what and what language was actually currently being spoken. But that's really just me being nitpicky its fine as is just not what I prefer, lol.

Anyways all in all the series was a solid 7.5/10 and again I was beyond stoked to see more Elite school depiction and the story truly was very cute (Also if you really liked the suspense and war aspect of this series then watch Das Boot 2018 you'll love it, season 1 was prime television)

[nerdynatreads]

☆☆YouTube | Tumblr | Instagram | Storygraph ☆☆

book review || Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

video review || Raid My Shelves 6: Reading Vlog — BOTM Books

Okay, starting with the positives:

I think the thing I’m liking about this book most is the way the author has slid in different side characters with the same names or similar roles to characters in the original Peter Pan, but I wish this element had been explored a little more. The idea has me very invested, I wanted to see what would come of an evil Peter Pan in the real world. The plot itself had me plenty intrigued and once we were introduced to the Hook character, I automatically wanted to see more of him. The flow of the writing does feel reminiscent to a fairy tale.

However, so much of this book just feels… whelming? It’s not overwhelming or underwhelming, it’s just… there. While there are high stakes to the mystery, given that a child in a coma has been kidnapped, the actions of our main character Holly just feel like they don’t have much drive behind them. She’s sort of just running around, hoping to stumble upon an answer. This also makes pacing all over the place. It stayed that way for much of the book and only felt like it shifted into a fast pace at 75%. This did take some twists I wasn’t expecting from the beginning layout, which I appreciated, but they still weren’t insanely shocking. What really frustrated me though, is we don’t even see the climax of all the events we’ve seen build up. Instead, Holly hears about it through other characters, which just felt like a cop-out.

When Holly finally starts looking to others for help, she half-asses all answers, so they really can’t help all that much or don’t understand the real ramifications. Very similar to how the author half-asses telling us about the real background for as long as possible. She attempts to build suspense with this, but it just frustrated me.  This was just so frustrating and made it more and more difficult to sympathize with Holly because she wasn’t doing herself any favors. Not to mention, when she was finally called out on her harmful actions and lies, she would either victimize herself or become angry. By the end of the book, I just couldn’t stand Holly.

As far as characters go, we’re in Holly’s mind and she’s the most fleshed out, as an accomplished scientist, a devoted mother, and a solid paycheck for a therapist. Her son is a typical teenager, her mother is a dragon lady. I’m liking our Hook character, Christopher, but I want more of him. The romance between him and Holly felt underdone and I wasn’t convinced by their feelings for one another. Once we met Peter, he felt cartoonishly evil and underutilized, particularly given his presence has been felt throughout the rest of the book. Christopher and Peter are also the only characters who are really described on page, which was a little odd.

Content Warnings for on-page rape, which was quite startling and also felt strangely glossed over, with no real discussion of the event. It finally was at least acknowledged as rape toward the end of the book but was moved past pretty quickly.

3 / 5 stars

[kiefbowl]

kief, if you don’t mind me asking, what were the best things you got out of your 20’s? feeling a bit underwhelmed by this decade i’m experiencing :/

Hmm, interesting question. I would say my sense of self, hard to describe what it feels like to actually grow into yourself but it feels a bit like realizing you're doing things instead of having things happen to you. I also made a lot of mistakes, but I don't regret them, even the really horrible stuff. Glad to have made them young, dumb, and full of...weed, so I can say NO THANKS to the same mistakes in my 30s. However, I'm sure this decade will come with it's own set of weird mistakes you can't predict, but at least I'm even more cognizant of my mortality and retirement funds in a way that actually matters.

My 20s had a lot of bad shit in them. I watch my younger cousins now in their 20s get to go on cool adventures I didn't have the opportunity to do, and it just reminds me that your age isn't really defined by a set of innate life events even if we pretend it is. Some people will reminisce about the energy and unattachments they had when they were 20 because they were lucky enough to seek our their wonderlust, and some people will reminisce about the energy and unattachments they had at the same age cause it allowed them to work the double overnight shifts at whatever shitty establishment that allowed them to scrimp and save to a better life. I belonged more to the latter...I would have to steal food from work to eat, but I could also stay out to four AM with friends eating cheap wings and drinking cheap beer and not wanting much more. We had no furniture, but we bought a bong. I didn't have much to do, so I did what I wanted. But I also found my path forward in a career I stumbled into ass backwards, and now that's lead to job that drives me crazy but has given me financial freedom to finally pursue some of my wants I felt "denied" during my 20s. Except now...I can make those decisions with a little more maturity.

In time, you'll find what it is you appreciate about your life so far. And if it was an under-whelming decade for you, so be it. Over-whelm yourself in the next one.