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athingthatwantsvirginia · 4 years

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Really, Marcia?

PART THRTY-FIVE OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: mentions of parent death, mentions of anxiety, plentiful pop culture references, lack of dialogue because this is exposition and foreshadowing for the next chapter just hang in there with me friends

Word Count: 4.6K

Summary: Jess and Ella return to Stars Hollow once again during graduation season.

Dropping the bags again in the apartment above Luke’s almost made Ella want to laugh out loud. Maybe she shouldn’t have made such a big deal of leaving the diner to move to Philadelphia; she felt like she almost couldn’t escape Connecticut. The trip, this time, was planned in advance, however. Both Adam and Rory were graduating, and Jess’s new sister had been born only a week earlier. Much was to be done, many people to visit. It made Ella feel slightly overwhelmed, the prescribed familial nonsense. Going back to Stars Hollow was easier when she could just casually pop into Luke’s or her home, and then drive away in the Station Wagon with Jess in the passenger seat and Liz Phair on the radio whenever she felt compelled. But the graduation had a scheduled time, Rory’s graduation party had a scheduled time. There was no getting out of it.

For a moment, she had thought about staying back in her old room in the little blue house. She felt as though they were taking advantage of Luke staying over at his place as often as they did. But then it occurred to her that she had no real idea what her room looked like anymore. The few times she’d been over in recent years, she hadn’t even ventured past the threshold of the small hallway, her door the second on the right. She felt maybe it was better to leave the room the way it had been in her memory. She was not in the business of reopening old wounds for no reason other than curiosity.

There was also the issue of her father. Fiona had been cagey at best about Jake on the phone. Would he even show up to the graduation? Surely he would. Even Noah had traveled back home, for the first time in years, though without his fiancé. She was a nurse, and hadn’t been able to get away from the midnight shifts. He was a paralegal, though, and had been able to swing a Saturday afternoon graduation. But, still, there was a gnawing feeling in her stomach. A fear he would simply not show. He had been at her high school graduation, with his robotic hugs and teary eyes and the usual detached way about him. It hadn’t been warm and fuzzy, but he had been there for her. He had clapped as she crossed the stage. And, as far as Ella was concerned, Adam deserved more than she ever got from Jake. Adam called often, and seemed to get along rather well with Fiona, but remained flighty about their father. She could count on him changing the subject every time Jake was brought up.

“Hey! Eleanor,” Jess said, breaking her from her reverie.

She blinked harshly and jumped at the sound of his voice. Slowly, she turned her gaze away from the view of the window above Luke’s kitchen sink. Town square was decorated with florals, and the troubadour stood playing an upbeat, folksy tune on one of the corners. And, as she thought about her family, it had all struck her as a bit plastic. It seemed impossible for so much heartache to happen to her while living in a place like Stars Hollow, but it had. In spite of the sunshiney smiles and the constant offerings for help. Probably why she got along with Jess so well, who understood more than anyone she had ever met what it was to feel a pain she could truly recognize. Luke, too. She wondered at how many people milling down on the sidewalk were concealing all of their hurt for the sake of maintaining a positive, cheerful facade. The farther away the years took her from her upbringing, the more reasons she felt she was better off somewhere other than her hometown. She had never quite been able to polish her outward mold, could never keep it all under wraps. Instead, she ended up cursing out kids who tried to steal random shit from the diner or punishing herself through constant schoolwork and lack of sleep, all to keep her problems from making it from her mind to her mouth. And, most of the time, she had slipped up eventually. Once more, her father came to her mind. He hadn’t been able to wear a convincing mask, either.

“...yeah?” she asked, then looked down to realize the glass she had been filling with cold water from the tap was overflowing onto her hand.

Quickly, she shut off the sink and sipped carefully at the drink, until it was back down to a manageable level. She switched it to the other hand and shook off the wetness, though it hadn’t felt unwelcome after having just come in from the May heat. Jess smirked quizzically at her, from where he stood at the fridge. They were meant to have a late lunch and then go over to Liz’s house and meet the baby, Doula. Despite how much Luke was making fun of it, Ella couldn’t say she hated the name.

“Jeez, Stevens. Where’d you go?” Jess’s voice was lilted and smug as he pulled some leftover sandwiches from the fridge. Luke had instructed them to finish off whatever diner cast-offs they could find. It reminded Jess of his teen years, tense dinners with Luke at the small kitchen table, eating stale food which had been prepped but never actually ordered. And he felt an odd, surprising jolt of nostalgia. But his face didn’t show it.

She shook her head at herself, placing her glass down on the table and grabbing the cutlery as Jess put the leftovers out on the table buffet-style. It reminded her of the way he arranged a meal on her kitchen table the night they’d watched the prom scene of Carrie together, when he’d brought her a care package because she had a migraine and then refused to admit to it later. And, for the most fleeting of moments, she was in the past and they were the people they had once been. A fond smirk tugged at her lips as she sat down, plates and forks in hand.

“Nowhere,” she replied finally, her voice a sigh. Before Jess could ask anything further, she gave him a pointed glance as she piled some cold mashed potatoes onto her plate and continued. “You sure you’re okay going to Liz’s house today? We could always wait until tomorrow morning, then we could have an excuse to leave and go get ready for the graduation.”

He seemed to consider the idea of a moment as he took his first bite of meatloaf, then shook his head. “No. Let’s just rip the bandaid off.”

“That’s the spirit when you’re going to see a new baby,” she quipped.

“I can guarantee the baby will be easier to handle than Liz and TJ, no matter how much she cries,” Jess grumbled, looking down at his food.

Ella bit the inside of her cheek and leveled him with her eyes. Each time they returned to Stars Hollow, he seemed to get more anxious about it. At first, it was because the entire town had hated him as a teen. But it got much worse when Liz moved there. She thought it strange how much everyone seemed to discount how Jess felt about this, how much Luke complained about her. How much they expected Jess to get over what he was feeling and play dutiful son. It reminded her of the way she felt she needed to treat her own father after her mother died. Though the sexist bullshit about her being the ‘woman of the house’ had also played a part. She knew how Luke felt about family, how he would always show up for family regardless of circumstance. Maybe Jess was the same way, loyal to a fault. But maybe it was only for his chosen family. Maybe the rest of it was more because of all the outward pressure he faced.

She reached over and ran a hand through his hand, smoothing it out. For a moment, she thought of saying something, but decided it wasn’t the right time to start a conversation about Jess’s childhood, or the lingering effects he still wouldn’t acknowledge. Not right before seeing his mother. She was trying hard lately to be patient, despite the way his eyes became guarded at the mention of his new sister or his mother, or the increased frequency of his nightmares. It was getting worse before her eyes and she didn’t know why. But Jess was Jess. And he wasn’t going to see it until he was ready to. It almost physically pained her, the effort of swallowing down the words, but she bit her tongue nonetheless.

He offered her a lazy, lopsided smile in return.

. . .

His grip on her hand was tight as they made their way into Liz and TJ’s house, just as gaudy and eclectic as Ella remembered from the baby shower. She might’ve even found it charming if it weren’t for the screaming color of the decor. The place smelled of burnt toast and sour milk, and Ella was instantly glad she and Jess had chosen to eat beforehand, just in case Liz asked them to stay for dinner. The scent was overpowered only by the strong perfume Liz was wearing, which Ella couldn’t ignore as Liz pulled her in for a big hug of greeting.

“Come in, come in,” Liz said in her high, sing-song voice as she led them down the front hall and into the living room. “She’s just waking up from nap!”

The room was littered with toys, empty bottles, blankets, story books Doula wouldn’t be able to read for years. But it was sweet. Ella could see how much they’d been preparing, planning. For a second, she was relieved about it, but then the feeling mixed with a distasteful sadness. Jess had never specifically addressed his bedtime routine as a child, but Ella was fairly positive Liz had never read him Goodnight Moon. She gave his hand a final squeeze before disentangling their fingers and sitting down on the paisley patterned couch. Liz lifted Doula up from the bassinet in the corner by the rocking chair. Ella could barely see the baby beneath the patchwork quilt she was swaddled in. Doula fussed for a moment, and Liz smiled at the two of them apologetically.

“She needs a change. I’ll be right back!” she said, retreating back into the bedroom. “Make yourselves comfortable!”

“Okay. Thanks,” Ella replied cordially. She looked back at Jess as his mother exited the room. “You okay?”

He shrugged, his eyes surveying the clutter. “I guess so. It’s just weird still. All of this.”

Ella hummed, nodding.

“And I’m not really used to the whole baby thing yet. I’ve never even held one before,” Jess said, slightly sheepish and slightly curious. He crossed his arms over the Metallica logo on his worn t-shirt. He’d taken a half day working at Truncheon before they left for Connecticut, and was always happy to change into less professional attire after his shifts.

“I know, but it’ll be easy. Unless TJ pops out and sings that song the frog does in Looney Tunes. Then is the only instance when you’d be even slightly at risk of dropping her,” Ella assured him, leaning back into the overstuffed couch.

She’d gleaned from their conversation the night before that his inexperience with children was also not helping his nerves. The only time she’d ever recalled Jess interacting with kids for any real length of time was the one Thanksgiving she’d brought him to meet her family. But even then, she’d been surprised how easily he’d wowed Erin with his card tricks, and played along with her jokes. Not something she’d exactly expected from the boy who wore a battered leather jacket and a constant scowl and a scarred heart on his sleeve.

“Why do you always worry he’s gonna do that?” Jess asked, cracking a smile for the first time since they’d walked in.

“I told you! He sang it to me one time when I was working and he was hanging out at the diner. He was trying to figure out what song to serenade your mom with,” she explained, eyes wide and utterly serious. “I was just wiping down the counter, minding my own business, and he just appeared, like, right over my shoulder.”

Jess rolled his eyes at the story, remembering when Ella had first told him about it over one of their phone calls, back when they were hundreds of miles apart. “Well, it doesn’t seem like he’s here right now.”

“I didn’t think he was in the diner when it happened,” Ella countered, her voice jokingly grave.

Jess chuckled but didn’t have a chance to respond as Liz reentered the room. A large smile stood out on her face, the baby dressed in a soft punk onesie in her arms. Doula squirmed around a little and cooed, but didn’t seem altogether unhappy.

“Ready to meet your little sister, Jess?” Liz asked, coming over and preparing to put Doula in Jess’s arms before he even had a chance to answer.

“Guess so,” he muttered hastily, eyes widening.

“Just be careful with her head,” Ella offered, watching as Liz hovered over her son, placing her daughter’s head in the crook of his arm.

Jess was surprised at how naturally his other arm moved to cradle her. She felt so light, it was as though he was holding nothing at all. Her skin was slightly flushed from the warmth of the quilt she’d been napping in, and he could feel the heat against his arms and his chest, through his t-shirt. His heart fluttered around anxiously in his chest, and he couldn’t help the slight trembling in his hands, but he was pretty sure he had a good grip on her. Liz straightened up again, looking down at the two of them. Jess almost couldn’t take his eyes off the baby, embarrassed at how awestruck he was. Ella’s nieces were the youngest kids he had ever been in contact with. He had never met someone when they were only a week old before.

“Isn’t she something?” Liz said, hands on her hips. “She looked a lot like Danny Devito when she first came out, but I think she’s finally getting past that early ugly baby phase.”

Jess hummed in absent acknowledgement, but said nothing. Doula had thin wisps of blonde hair, and pudgy, rosy cheeks. Her fingers were curled into small fists, her legs scrunched up. He wondered vaguely if she was going to fall back asleep, since it seemed she couldn’t keep her eyes open for very long. She smelled like rash cream, but he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed at it.

“Yeah, she’s beautiful, Liz,” Ella answered, though her gaze went back and forth between the baby and Jess. She couldn’t think of a time when she’d seen his eyes so clear and full of wonder before. She’d been too young to hold a newborn when Adam arrived, but she remembered the feeling of holding Erin as a baby, in the hospital just hours after Julie had given birth to her. It was certainly a unique feeling, and she felt her heart swell at the thought of Jess getting to experience it.

Glancing back at the kitchen for a moment, Liz once again gained a frantic tone in her voice. But, after having known her for so long, Ella knew it wasn’t unusual. Liz was the kind of person who put her coffee cup on the top of her car while unlocking the door, and then drove away without remembering it, the mug shattering and coffee splattering on the road behind her.

“Damn, I was just makin’ a bottle when you guys got here. TJ usually does that stuff, but dinner got a little burned. He had to go get some Plan B takeout. Let me finish with the formula,” Liz said, making her way back towards the opening into the kitchen. “You guys okay with her for a second?”

“Yeah. Fine,” Jess answered, surprising Ella.

Just as Liz left again, Doula opened her eyes once more. But instead of letting them shut, she kept them open. She stared up at Jess, her large brown eyes meeting his and doing their best to focus on his face.

“She’s got a withering stare,” he murmured.

“Isn’t so hard, is it?” Ella shifted a little closer to him, leaning over his shoulder to see Doula. “You didn’t have to be nervous.”

“Yeah, maybe not,” Jess said quietly, a small smile on his face as he glanced over at Ella.

. . .

Back when she graduated high school, there had been rain. The day before, they’d had to move the ceremony preparation into the small auditorium. People were squished inside, standing up in the aisles once the seats ran out. Ella’s valedictorian speech had been a bit more than daunting with a bunch of irritated family and friends facing her, those who had traveled miles to Stars Hollow only to be packed into the smelly room like sardines. She supposed having graduation outside in the gazebo was better. The class size was small at Stars Hollow High, but it was best when everyone still had personal space. The one downside was the heat. Connecticut was not usually up near ninety degrees in late May, but a pocket of dry air was currently sitting atop the state, moving at a glacial pace.

Ella and Jess had sat sweating on some lawn chairs. While Julie and her husband Michael, who still lived in the same small house in New Britain, were on Ella’s other side, trying to get their girls to sit through the ceremony to moderate success. Annie’s wild curls were blowing in the scorching wind as she sat on her father’s lap, reading the small storybook she’d brought with her. Erin, on the other hand, just about to cross over into adolescence and middle school, had folded her arms sullenly over her chest and rolled her eyes at nearly every name called up to receive a diploma. Ella didn’t imagine she would’ve reacted much better at that age, being forced to sit out in the heat for hours only to watch Adam be handed a piece of paper. Noah had been on the far side of their row of seats, in his plain clothes, looking stoic as usual. He would be leaving just after the fanfare ended. He’d stayed at a motel the night before, with perhaps even less desire to stay in the little blue house than Ella had.

The valedictorian speeches were actually pretty good, but long. Adam would’ve been giving one if he hadn’t stopped trying in every one of his classes except for those involving science during his senior year. Ella respected the decision though. She had never found any application for calculus in adult life, no matter how hard she had worked at it in high school.

Fiona and Jake had shown up, together for some reason, ten minutes late. No seats were left near Ella, or anyone else in the family. Instead, they were relegated to the far back row. Her brows furrowed at their entrance, but they didn’t get close enough to Ella for her to say anything. Jess had brought her arm around her shoulder as she watched them pass her without so much as a look, and took to whispering jokes about their old principal in her ear. It didn’t work as well to distract her as he had hoped, but it had still earned him a laugh or two, which was far from nothing.

As they all stood around afterwards, under the shade of some trees behind the old gazebo, congratulating Adam, Ella couldn’t shake the thoughts of her parents from her mind. She wondered how different the day would be if her mother had lived. Would her parents still be together? Probably. Despite the problems they hid, the ones Ella had become more aware of the older she got, they did love each other. No matter how much her mother laid down and took Jake’s outbursts and his alcoholism, and no matter how much her father ignored Sophia’s distracted nature and inability to decide on anything in life, they loved each other. And, the thought struck her suddenly, that maybe everything would have been easier to swallow if they hadn’t loved each other so much. It would have been easier to accept how quickly everything fell apart, and how quickly her father had found someone new to fill the hole in his heart.

“You okay?” Jess asked, close to her ear as they lingered amongst the group, pictures having been taken and pleasantries having been exchanged.

“Just peachy,” she replied, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice.

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said, pressing a kiss to the crown on her head and giving her hand another squeeze. It hadn’t taken him long to gather how angry seeing her father again had made Ella. He wondered when the last time had been.

“I could do without the Brady Bunch performance,” she whispered back to him, gesturing to the members of her family as they continued with fabricated niceties.

“Really, Marcia? But you’re the oldest sister! That means you would’ve been prom queen!” Jess teased.

She rolled her eyes and snorted a laugh. “Whatever, Wally Logan.”

Approaching the two of them with narrowed eyes, Erin still had her arms crossed over her frilly dress. She had more than one bandaid on each knee, and she had already pulled the french braid out of her red hair. Speaking mostly to Ella, she sized Jess up.

“I remember him,” Erin said suspiciously.

A confused, bemused grin crossed Ella’s face. “Yeah. At Thanksgiving. You were like five. You remember that?”

“I have a really good memory,” Erin said, shrugging, confident and casual.

Ella chuckled at the flippant ten-year-old.

“Photographic, huh?” Jess asked, eyebrows raised.

“Pretty close,” Erin replied, then focused her eyes back on Ella. “Did you ever figure out his middle name?”

“Sure did,” Ella answered, smirk growing. “You wanna hear it?”

“Of course,” Erin said. “I know for a fact it’s not Santa Claus.”

Jess rolled his eyes.

Ella leaned down and whispered in Erin’s ear. Straightening up again, Ella watched Erin’s gaze roam over to Jess doubtfully.

“What kind of a name is Cosmo?” Erin asked.

“Listen, my mom’s into crystals and-” Jess began, but Michael called Erin over for something.

“Gotta go,” Erin said, and skipped off towards her father without another word.

“C’mon, Elle,” Jess groaned, a blush creeping up his neck and warming the tips of his ears.

She chuckled, nudging him with her shoulder. “Sorry, Cosmo.”

Before Jess was able to retort, Fiona and Jake approached them. Considering they were split up, the peculiarity of the two of them arriving together wasn’t lost on anyone, not that it would ever be mentioned. At a closer proximity, Ella was surprised to see how different Jake looked. His hair was greyer, he was skinnier, there were dark circles under his eyes. Whatever has been going on in Maryland didn’t seem to be conducive to health. She had to bite back her sigh at the sight of him. Fiona was more or less the same, though Ella had visited her more or less recently. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laid eyes on her father. The shadow of the man he had been when she was a child was almost completely gone. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest.

“Hey, kids,” Fiona said, giving Ella a quick hug.

“Oh, hi,” Ella chirped, surprised at her instant warmth.

She also hugged Jess, shocking everyone involved.

“So good to see you guys! How are things in Philly? Adam tells me you just got a new apartment?” Fiona asked, buzzing and bubbly. Her black hair was cropped close to her head. Ella remembered how she used to let apprentices at the beauty salon experiment on her locks during breaks.

“Yeah, we’ve been there about a month,” Ella said. “It’s only a few blocks over from school. I can walk there.”

“How nice,” Fiona smiled.

“It is,” Jess agreed.

Shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot, Jake finally interjected. “Hi, Ellie.”

“Hey, dad,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek.

“Young man,” Jake greeted Jess coldly, nodding.

Jess gave a curt nod and a thin-lipped smile in response.

There was a long pause before anyone spoke again, filled with distant, amiable chatter of other families and shrieks of congratulations. Out of the corner of her eye, Ella could see Adam was already off with his friends. Soon, they would be headed to dinner and Project Graduation. Part of Ella was glad Adam didn’t want a big day of family celebration. No one would’ve survived any extended period of false positivity.

“I see you’ve got tattoos now, Ellie,” Jake said, looking down at the tulip on her arm, exposed in her spaghetti strap dress. “Your mother would’ve called that sinful, you know.”

The corners of Ella’s lips tugged up into a resentful smile, the words dripping with venom as they left her mouth before she could stop them. “Well, it’s a good thing she’s dead then, isn’t it?”

Both Fiona and Jake’s jaws dropped and it seemed all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air around them. Ella’s stomach dropped and she brought her hand over her mouth just after she said it. Her hazel eyes grew to the size of saucers. Immediately, Jess took her by the shoulders and began leading her in the direction of the diner, blurting out excuses.

“Hey, nice to see you folks, but we have to get to Rory’s graduation party tonight and it’d be pretty rude if we were late so…” he trailed off, stopping once they were far enough away, leaving Fiona and Jake flabbergasted and speechless.

“Oh my god,” Ella muttered, chewing at her thumbnail for the first time in what felt like forever. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I was gonna try to be nice if he came, because...at least he showed up, right? Fuck. Oh my god. Jess. Oh my god.”

“It’s okay, Daria. Just try to relax,” Jess breathed, steering her towards the diner as she instantly began melting down.

“I can’t relax, Jess! Don’t fucking tell me to relax! Did you hear that?! Did you hear what I just said?!” she muttered hastily. “Fuck me! Fuck! Every time I see him, my fucking mouth-”

“Hey, language!” Luke scolded her as they entered the diner, the bell jingling jovially above the door. There were only a few customers scattered around, the mid-afternoon lull.

“God, Luke, I thought age was supposed to negatively affect your hearing!” Ella snapped as Jess directed her to a stool and sat her down, hopping up on the seat next to her.

“Joe Pesci here is having a bad day,” Jess explained shortly as Luke shot Ella a bewildered stare.

“What happened?” Luke asked, arching a brow.

Ella heaved a great sigh and placed her head in her hands, elbows on the counter. “Bigmouth has struck again. And apparently she has even less of a filter now than she did in high school!”

“Right,” Luke said, increasingly confused.

Running a hand up and down over Ella’s back as she continued fuming, Jess gave Luke a dejected glance. “Green tea?”

A shadow of realization passed over Luke’s face. “Comin’ right up.”

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speckledbears · 4 years

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Thoughts on “Far From Home”

SPOILERS FOR “Spider-Man: Far From Home”!!!!

this is for you anon

ok so basically i thought that it would have been good if it wasn’t a Spider-Man (“children’s”) movie.

Like, I think Quentin (Jake G) was such an interesting character, and an amazing villain but, I hated that his entire reason was because he wanted to be the New Iron Man. It bugs me to NO END that THATS the reason. Tony stole the projector tech he made, made fun of him (even if the audience didn’t know), and fired him. I think that’s a much better reason than wanting to be the next Annoying, Mean, Rich Rich Rich So Fucking Rich Metal Guy. The tech was so fucking cool? Like, projectors that seemed so lifelike,,, that’s so cool (also i kinda feel like you could relate it to how disney is only using GCI now but the russos are dumbasses). And like, the story Quentin and his team put together for Mysterio, and all the planning and the production value (if you can call it that lol) was so interesting and I was so intrigued. If there was a movie for him, and he didn’t fucking suck, I would pay to see it. His issue is that he’s so hellbent on killing Peter, MJ and Ned that I was put-off from like, half the movie. It’s kinda terrifying that someone can say, “I’ll just have to kill the kids myself,” and NO ONE IS CONCERNED??? And the fact that he was willing to kill innocent civilians just to make headlines, that’s fucked (and modern). Also, I think the directors missed out on a big opportunity for Peter to have a new father figure. Peter looked up to Quentin, trusted him, seeked him out for advice, like he would a father. I don’t remember him ever doing that with Tony. Peter was always too worried he was bothering him, and Tony seemed to brush him off a lot. Sure, Tony picked him and placed so much faith in him but, in the end? I feel Peter became more of a toy for the Avengers than an actual team member. If Quentin had been a good guy, doing this shit for the “right reasons” (idk like, taking the burden of becoming Iron Man off Peter, and maybe mentoring him) he could’ve been AMAZING. I still love him (except his dumb reasons) but, y’all missed out!!!!

Next: The whole deal with Peter being chosen by Tony to be the next Iron Man. Fucking hate that shit!!!!! Peter is a CHILD, he’s 16, and obviously he’s not ready for that responsibility!!!! In the movie, he’s manipulated by Quentin (which i lowkey also hate and explained above) and he just!!! gave EDITH to him!!!!! He’s a good kid, but not mature or responsible enough to handle having access to that kind of tech. I mean, dude almost killed a classmate?? Literally called a drone strike on the kid, couldn’t figure out how to cancel it, and destroyed the drone himself. Let’s not forget that this responsibility was FORCED ON HIM BY TONY???? Like, there was this scene where Peter literally told Quentin that he didn’t want EDITH!!! He didn’t want that kind of responsibility that came with being Iron Man!!! All he wanted for the summer was to hang out with his friends and kiss the girl he likes!!! Peter just wanted to be a normal child for one summer and, apparently, that was too much to ask for. Also, in the scene where Happy and Peter are in the jet talking about Tony, Peter says that he doesn’t know if he can be the new Iron Man. Happy doesn’t even hesitate when he says, “No, you can’t. No one can replace him.” Like hello!!!! And then they immediately forget that little nugget of wisdom, and Peter starts playing with Tony’s tech and literally everyone with eyes can draw the parallels between Peter and Tony. It’s frustrating. I hated how Tony was treated after his death. I completely understand mourning a character, especially one as important as Tony Stark, but it didn’t feel like mourning. It felt like worshipping. Tony had become a martyr, and he fucking knew it (EDITH = Even Dead, I’m The Hero 🙄) and people are still licking his boots. It’s just so weird that, even though he’s supposed to be dead, he’s still a main character and RDJ isn’t even in the movie!!!!!!!! When a character dies, that’s it, they can’t directly influence the story anymore, and yet Tony is still the reason for everything Peter does? He doesn’t have his own initiative. He lived and breathed in Tony’s shadow, and he’ll live in it forever. He’s being forced to become the next Iron Man. And believe me, I love Tony. I grew up watching the “Iron Man” movies with my parents and brother, and I remember watching one in the theatre and laughing till I cried. Guys! He’s dead! He’s done more than enough! It’s Spider-Man’s turn now.

I really hated Nick Fury in this movie. I grew up watching the OG Marvel movies and I loved Nick, but holy fuck. This dude hounded Peter, a CHILD, for help against those Elementals when he could’ve literally asked anyone else (side note: he shot Ned with a tranquilizer dart like? dude he’s a child calm down-). He gave a shit ton of excuses for why he couldn’t get in contact with the other Avengers but, I call bullshit. This dude is like, one of the most powerful men in the world (Quentin’s words, but it’s also been proven in other movies). He managed to track down Peter, how is it THAT HARD for him to find an adult??? Then he hijacked the school trip so that Peter would be in Prague, and he KNEW that once Peter was there he would help. It’s manipulation. Never mind the scene like, 5 mins later where Peter says he’s worried about his friends getting hurt (and having EDITH but not really understanding her), and Nick exploded on him. LIKE DUDE??? he’s a child. I’m also super pissed off at the fact that Nick manipulated Peter using his Avenger status. OOOOHHHH you whore!!! Literally everyone knows that Peter loved Tony (🙄🙄) and he used him against Peter! ASK AN ADULT FOR HELP YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE TEAM OF THEM????? Oh also, the bitch KNEW Quentin was evil. There’s a scene that proves it. It’s right after their first meeting where Peter says no, and leaves. Nick and Maria (the brunette lady hes always with, im surprised i remembered her name) share a knowing glance. They fucking KNOW. And yet?? They let Quentin do whatever the hell he wants?? He literally tried to kill 3 teenagers, and planned to kill hundreds of civilians in London (and i’m not sure if anyone did get hurt or died but, i wouldn’t be surprised). But the most powerful man in the world can’t stop him, apparently. He wants a 16-year-old CHILD to do it for him. It’s ridiculous!

The romance was also a bit hit-or-miss for me. Like, Ned and Betty?? It felt so forced and contrived? It literally only existed so that MJ could take Ned’s place. Y’all notice that Ned basically ditched his best friend for the entire movie for some girl he barely knows? Also, the fact that they “fell in love” on an eight hour flight. Hate that. It’s such a trope and it’s ugly. The romance with Happy and May was kinda weird, too? I mean, I don’t know their past together. I didn’t watch “Infinty War” or “Endgame” but, it also felt forced. Especially at the end, when Peter asked if they were dating!! May said no and Happy said yes!! I’m assuming that’s supposed to be comedy?? ig??? Anyway, I didn’t really like the romantic rivalry between Brad and Peter? (btw no shit i almost called peter “tony” i’m telling y’all they’re synonymous now). Like, Brad’s logic in using the photo of Peter stripping to “expose the truth” about Peter to MJ was so weird and awkward? The entire scene felt forced and I was so uncomfortable watching it. Also, MJ would’ve stuck up for Peter anyway, so it didn’t even matter, and the rivalry was dropped so easily after the opera in Prague. I did actually like the romance between Peter and MJ, even though I wasn’t expecting to. It’s a bit weird how quickly he got over Liz, but whatever; he’s a teenager. (I was going to comment on the necklace thing but, that’s actually kind of in character for him so, y’all get ONE (1) pass). I thought their hug and kiss at the end of the battle with Quentin was super fucking sweet and innocent, and it was refreshing compared to most teen romance movies where they act like adults instead. I was in LOVE with that scene, and it was one of the only scenes I honestly loved.

Ok, I wanna go back to Quentin for a bit. This dude absolutely destroyed the Peter Parker we were given in HOCO, and at the beginning of the movie. Yeah, Tony already had him as a puppet, but Quentin took his innocence. Y’all saw how easily Peter trusted people before him!! Like?? When he found out Quentin manipulated him, he lost almost all his faith in other people, except for MJ and Ned. For example, the scene where Peter calls Happy to pick him up because he’s in a holding cell in the Netherlands? Love that scene BUT! As he’s limping over to Happy, so obviously fucked up and hurting, he makes Happy prove it’s really him. THAT FUCKING HURT LMAO!!!!! I hated that. And that last battle with Quentin on the bridge? He maneuvered so easily through the drones, it was impressive, and he’d only fought against them once before (seems impossible but whatever). And watching the projections dissolve away into just pixels and a scared little bitch in a fish bowl helmet? Classic Theatre. But, he was traumatized by previous experiences fighting Quentin. Peter’s growth made the movie good but, his loss of innocence really made this movie kinda suck. Sure, his innocence still there—the scenes later with MJ prove that—but he’s still lost his easy trust in other people. It hurt to see. And, like, I’m not saying he can’t be more mature but, he didn’t even trust Happy!! He’s so paranoid that he’ll find his loved ones replaced by Quentin’s illusions!! It sucks!!!! Peter isn’t Peter without that sense of childlike wonder, curiosity, and helpless faith in others.

Anyway, I wanna talk about that Netherlands scene again because, holy shit, I loved it. After Peter was hit by that train (i actually screamed but the cinematography inside the train? *kiss*), he wakes up in some holding cell in the Netherlands with a band of friendly locals, and the guard, who’s talking on the phone with his pregnant wife. I don’t know why but, that scene was one of the first to make me smile? Like, it was so sweet how the other men were so happy for the guard and his wife, how they gave Peter a spare shirt because he looked cold, how Peter just broke the lock and left? How the guard was wearing Peter’s mask???? I’m in love. The next scene I liked was literally right after, of Peter limping through the tulip field, and Happy landing the jet nearby. Without dialogue, that scene is so pretty?? The petals stirring in the wave the jet left as it landed?? The HUG???? UGH! I fell in love. Another scene I loved was the scene when Peter went to Berlin to meet with Nick Fury and Quentin manipulated it with the projection technology. Even though I knew it was fake, I was worried about what was going on outside the projection (he got hit by a fucking train so,,,,,, iwas right to be worried-). Watching Peter so helpless and trying to stay vigilant was so heartbreaking, yet I was lowkey impressed. Like? How many other mean ass men could pull that off? None, next question. I can’t even think about how to explain it. I watched that scene at least 3 times, and was amazed every time, my only thoughts anxiety for Peter.

Okay, lastly, I wanna talk about the tech. I thought it was so interesting and unique. Like, I’ve played with the idea of projection in stories, or with characters as magic but, never considered applying it through technology, especially tech as capable as it is. And every scene where the projections were being used were amazing. I mean, obviously it’s CGI, but in the context of the MCU, it’s so interesting and cool to see tech like that used in a very public way. And no one knew!!! The whole system (along with Quentin and his team) was so good at camouflaging that I was fooled at the beginning of the movie. I seriously believed in the Elementals and Mysterio’s ruined Earth. It’s part of the reason I really enjoyed his character. And, like I said earlier, Peter was fooled by it too; everyone was. He learned it, eventually. But not before Quentin could manipulate the situation one last time and claim Peter called the drone attacks on London, and revealed his identity.

All in all, I didn’t have fun watching “Far From Home,” and it’s mainly because it didn’t feel like a Spider-Man movie. I enjoyed “Homecoming,” so much more. The villain was far more relatable (even though you could see it as demonizing the poor), Ned and Peter’s friendship was so wholesome and sweet, the entire cast was fun, and it was more enjoyable than watching some angry rich white man trying to kill children so he can get richer.

#long post #spiderman #spiderman: ffh #peter parker #mysterio #mj spiderman #ned spiderman #im angry haha

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glassprism · 6 years

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Love Never Dies US Tour Review - 4/29/2018

As stated in my previous post, I’m going to attempt to write a more in-depth review while the show is fresh in my mind and while I am still able to decipher my notes (which were done in the dark and are pretty illegible). I’m not going to review every song, and where I do review it, I might just stick to differences from the Australian DVD or any other things I noticed. Because really, we all know how this show goes.

My cast for this show was:

Phantom - Bronson Norris Murphy (alt.)

Christine - Rachel Anne Moore (alt.)

Raoul - Sean Thompson

Meg - Alyssa McAnany (u/s)

Madame Giry - Karen Mason

Gustave - Jake Heston Miller

‘Til I Hear You Sing’: Unfortunately, the first song of the show was somewhat spoiled by the curtain, which featured this sun-like cut-out whose spikes ended up obscuring most of Christine’s portrait (so I never saw if it moved) and part of the Phantom.

Bronson Norris Murphy (BNM from here on out) had a fine voice. He immediately came off as a very tormented figure, hunched over on his chair and throwing himself around (”an emotional ball of angst” is how I thought of him and it pretty much stuck throughout the show). He was very theatrical in his gestures at times, which sometimes worked for me and sometimes didn’t. I also noticed, and enjoyed, how the show used a spotlight to show what is presumably daylight coming through, and how BNM sang to it as well as the portrait. Insert some meta here on symbolism about light and music and acceptance.

‘Coney Island Waltz’/‘Only For You’/’Ten Long Years’ - There’s not a lot for me to say here, except that the disappearance of that curtain with the sun cut-out vastly increased my enjoyment of the show, and I also noticed a quick appearance of a Monkey Girl, because why not throw in some visual shout-outs to the original as well?

As noted in my thoughts, Alyssa McAnany’s Meg was somewhere in a middle ground between Sharon Millerchip’s chirpier but more broken interpretation and Mary Michael Patterson and Summer Strallen’s angry, embittered version. Also, I have never shipped Christine/Meg harder than in LND, because I have friends I haven’t seen in two years, let alone ten, and I don’t talk about them the way Meg does. Karen Mason, as noted, was a bit of a weak point. Her Madame Giry was harsher with Meg than Maria Mercedes in the Australian DVD, and lacked the mystery (what remains of it in LND) of Liz Robertson’s Giry in London.

‘Christine Disembarks’ - My main notes in here are “I hope they cut out the yodeling reporter” (they didn’t, but he was less obnoxious) and wondering why everyone else was affected by the rain except for Christine and Gustave, who showed no reaction at all, as if the Phantom was having a Thor effect where he creates a rainless circle around the people he likes. I did note that Jake Heston Miller’s Gustave had a very lovely voice.

‘What a Dreadful Town’/’Look With Your Heart’ - As stated in my quick thoughts, Sean Thompson’s Raoul was a bit all over the place in how sympathetic he was. On the one hand, he seemed more aggressive in this scene than Simon Gleeson or Austria’s Julian Looman (my favorite LND Raoul, because he was just so sweet). However, the show added in a touching moment here between Raoul and Gustave, where they both play with the music box, perhaps the one father-son bit between the two. He also has a loving embrace with Rachel Anne Moore’s (RAM from here on about) Christine, holding her close to him for several seconds. So it evens out, I suppose.

Nothing much to say about ‘Look With Your Heart’. I did think Anna O’Byrne played the mother-son moments a bit better, as she acted bit more mature in those scenes, but RAM did fine here as well. I might mention here that I adored RAM’s voice - fuller and richer than O’Byrne’s and clearer than Sierra Boggess’s. She doesn’t quite beat out Louise Fribo (my favorite Christine vocally, because she was luminous), but she came very close.

‘Beneath a Moonless Sky’/’Once Upon Another Time’/’Ten Long Years of Yearning’ - Probably one of the biggest differences I noted between the Lewis/O’Byrne pairing and the Murphy/Moore pairing was the emotion the latter poured into it. I think I wrote down something like, “BAMS is still stupid but at least they’re passionate about it.”

BNM did a lot with his physicality, hunching over, gesturing wildly with his hands or clutching desperately onto Christine. He could also be quite volatile emotionally, often shouting or weeping during his scenes. I did wonder if his constant crouching walk was an attempt to make his Phantom look older, but if so, it wasn’t quite successful - he raved and ran around too much to really look like an older man. RAM was quicker to panic, such as when the Phantom lifted Gustave, her voice breaking in barely restrained crying during other scenes, and at one point slamming her hands on the piano and screaming, “Who are you?!” at the Phantom. I think the pair were basically feeding off each other’s energy, which was interesting to watch, if sometimes overwhelming in just how much they SHOUTED at each other.

I also noted what looked like two almost-kisses, one in BAMS and one in OUAT. There also seemed to be a lyric change: after the Phantom says, “I had to, we both knew why!”, Christine says “I don’t know why” instead of repeating “We both knew why”. It was probably done to give the show a little more sense - Christine really didn’t know why the Phantom up and ditched her, though she probably guessed at the reason in the last ten years. Towards the end of the song, the Phantom described Gustave as, “Full of life.. full of you... my Christine”, to which I just wrote, “okay WTF Phantom.”

‘Dear Old Friend’ - I actually have very little to write here. Raoul’s concern for Gustave when the latter took off at the beginning of the song added some more sympathy points to him. Christine and Meg were bit too little-girlish during the song, holding hands and swinging them rather wildly. The crowd of loudly squealing fans around Christine, while Meg is ignored, was amusing. It was also here that I noticed how energetic my audience was, as they laughed at Madame Giry and Raoul’s lines: “It’s him.” “Him? (laughter) You work for him?” “Now so do you.” (more laughter)

Sean Thompson slightly flubbed a line, accidentally addressing Christine as “Madame Giry” (he’s only supposed to say “Madame”) when he tells her he’ll see her at the concert.

‘Beautiful’/’Beauty Underneath’/’Phantom Confronts Christine’ - I’ve always found Gustave singing Christine’s vocalization to be a tad creepy, and seeing it live has only reinforced this opinion. Watching the Phantom do the exact same hand movements he used for Christine in the original show on his son, and seeing Gustave breathe and arch his body in the same way as Christine, was... weird. BNM’s acting didn’t alleviate the creepiness in this scene at all, if anything increasing it by clinging onto Gustave’s shoulders and stroking his face. I think he was trying to convey how desperate the Phantom was for companionship and understanding, but didn’t quite make it work, at least for me. There was also a funny moment to me where it looked he shoved Gustave at a mirror so hard Gustave kind of face-planted into it.

The audience laughed when Gustave shoved the Phantom away in horror, which I thought was rather cruel.

BNM did an interesting thing during his confrontation with Christine, initially flinching away from her comforting hand, then accepting it and gripping it tightly. (”BNM is a walking ball of angst,” I wrote.) RAM was more emotional during this scene, sounding conflicted and pitying, but tore herself away from the Phantom forcefully at the end.

And we had Karen Mason’s Madame Giry finish off the song, and Act 1, with demonic-sounding scream, which basically described my feelings on the show so far.

Intermission - I spent my time writing down audience comments. Highlights: “This is terrible... I don’t like this at all” and “I think I need a refresher course... I don’t remember some of this in the first one...”

‘Why Does She Love Me’/’Devil Take the Hindmost’ - Not too much to say about the first song - I noted that Sean Thompson’s Raoul had a good voice, but also that I was too busy watching for the change from the bartender to the Phantom. His appearance got a good laugh from the audience.

I started thinking of DTTH as “the song of the fallen chairs”, because wow, barstools were everywhere on the ground. BNM started it off by twirling a stool out of his way and onto the floor, and Sean Thompson amped it up by tripping over three chairs at once as he stumbled around. I wrote down in my notes that he was really good at looking like a shambling drunk, but thinking over it now, I’m starting to wonder if he didn’t actually trip and fall and just covered it up well. He also played up Raoul’s distraught state at the Phantom’s revelations - less angry and more horrified, like everything he knew had fallen apart. It was a good take and I enjoyed it.

‘Bathing Beauty’ - The big change I noticed here from the Aussie DVD was that the Madame Giry + Meg confrontation did not have a set; instead the pair just spoke in front of the curtains off to the right. It was pretty minimalistic. Meg also appeared carrying her umbrella, and hurled it offstage when she shrieked “NO!” This presumably is how she shatters her (unseen) mirror, which the freaks note in the finale.

‘Before the Performance’/’Devil Take the Hindmost Reprise’ - I noted that, like in previous songs, RAM’s motherly take was a bit more girlish and light-hearted; while Anna O’Byrne was very much a grown woman and an idolized figure to Gustave, RAM was more of a playmate and companion, though still caring. Sean Thompson was, again, kind of aggressive, slamming his hand on Christine’s table at “this hell-spawned demon”. As in other scenes, RAM felt more fragile, a little more breakable, quickly descending into indecision and near-panic at the change in plans.

The Phantom’s appearance in Christine’s dressing room as also a scene that I felt looked far better on the Aussie DVD. The use of camera angles to obscure his appearance and catch Christine’s reaction, the slow pan to reveal the ominously wafting curtain and the Phantom appearing behind it, was very well done. Onstage, the Phantom just sort of... stepped through the window when Christine’s back was turned.

One really interesting thing was just how hypnotized RAM looked. Her gaze was blank and aimed straight ahead and her movements almost mechanical - after the Phantom dropped her earrings in her hand, her arm stayed upright for quite a while. It’s an interesting take and a clear callback to the entrancing qualities of the Phantom’s voice in the original, but it does no favors for giving Christine any agency, so... eeehhh. BNM got a round of applause at his last lines in this scene though, because they were pretty epic.

One last thing was that in the DTTH Reprise, Meg appeared on a railing far above the stage to sing the last line, rather than leading Gustave away as seen in the Aussie DVD.

‘Love Never Dies’ - This song is really not my favorite. Not bad, but not very interesting either. Only thing I thought was a change was that Raoul left when Christine was turned towards audience, so she ended up looking for him and just finding him... gone. This was different from the Aussie DVD, where Christine actually saw him leave, and I missed seeing Christine’s distressed reaction to that; here Christine just looked confused. Still, RAM gave it her all and she was quite the glimmering figure onstage. She got the longest ovation of the show for this song, and it was well-deserved.

Finale - BNM had some nice moments during ‘Ah Christine’, his hand lingering after Christine’s when she moved to read Raoul’s letter, and showing a great deal of concern, in voice and body language, when Christine began to panic. Doesn’t make up for, you know, the stalking and manipulation and possessiveness, but he made an attempt at trying to make the Phantom seem like an actually viable romantic option, I’ll give him that.

The reprise of ‘Beauty Underneath’ was pretty awesome, and I really hope Jake Heston Miller had fun on top of that spinning walkway (which looked like it was moving really fast, I was impressed). McAnany’s Meg was, as before, more accusatory towards the Phantom, rather than Millerchip’s completely broken, crazed Meg. The gunshots brought quite a few gasps from the audience. RAM did a pretty good job at sounding like she was dying, gasping and singing in short breaths (though still very prettily, of course). I also enjoyed BNM’s reaction to her death, which was less of a big “NO” and more of a series of “Oh no, no God-” before transitioning into the “NO”.

I’m actually not a fan of how the ‘Love Never Dies Reprise’ at the end (Gustave accepting the Phantom while a refrain of ‘Beautiful’ plays is kind of heavy-handed, but I preferred its quieter ending), but as before, BNM played it off nicely, clinging onto Gustave’s coat when he sang. His reaction to Gustave removing his mask was quite good, his hunched over position giving me the sense of resignation and defeat, which turned to slow awe when Gustave touched the deformity.

Ending thoughts - Show got some pretty good applause (someone literally yelled “BEAUTIFUL!” right as the lights went down), and a standing ovation for RAM. Sean Thompson’s Raoul got some boos - why does Raoul hate still exist, le sigh, especially when Madame Giry came off as more villainous? The cast started singing ‘Love Never Dies’ together as RAM and BNM appeared, and there was a BCEFA speech from Karen Mason which got some good laughs. And then I was out of there. I bought a program and had hoped to do some stagedooring, but the cast was taking donations and selfies for BCEFA, so I decided to just head home (though I did snag a shot of BNM and RAM, just without me in the photo). Overall, a quick summary:

Bronson Norris Murphy - Pretty good for an LND Phantom. Sometimes overdid the theatricality of his movements, and was a bit too creepy in some scenes, but played up the Phantom’s instability and desperation while doing his best to add in some more sympathetic moments.

Rachel Anne Moore - Incredibly good voice, Christine felt a little younger and more fragile than some of the others I’ve seen, with some intense passion and love for singing. She and Bronson Norris Murphy had good chemistry together, and played off each other’s emotions very well.

Sean Thompson - Decent Raoul, had a couple of nicer moments, particularly with Gustave and in DTTH.

Alyssa McAnany - Good, strikes a midway point between broken and angry but which is not quite memorable.

Karen Mason - Sharp-ish voice and very harsh towards everyone around her, but I guess she’s playing up the villainous aspect and in that, she succeeds.

Overall, the story is still predictable (my mom guess the entire plotline in the car back home and she’s watched the original maybe once) and the characterizations and continuation of the themes and development of the original are shoddy, but the cast is strong, the music is gorgeous, and the sets and costume design are a lavish riot of color and spectacle, so if you can shut your brain off for 2.5 hours and are willing to spend a couple hundred dollars, you might enjoy it, as I found myself doing so.

#GP reviews #Love Never Dies

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Why Are Republicans Scared Of Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-are-republicans-scared-of-trump/

Why Are Republicans Scared Of Trump

Donald Trump Hasn’t Cowed Republicans He’s Freed Them To Pursue Their Long

Why Are Republicans Still So Afraid Of Trump? | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Donald Trump getting the “O-K” from Joseph McCarthy and Mitch McConnell

On the eve of the impeachment vote in the House of Representatives , things are looking mighty bleak for anyone who hoped Republicans might turn over a new leaf. For the last several months, there has been plaintive hope that GOP lawmakers might be moved by the overwhelming evidence that Donald Trump is guilty of running an extortion scheme against Ukraine’s leaders to help him win re-election in 2020.

Right now, it looks like there’s no chance of any Republican defections in the House away from the GOP line that Trump did nothing wrong. The one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who admitted out loud that Trump deserved to be impeached, was duly ejected from the party. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been openly bragging that he intends to rig the Senate trial in Trump’s favor. Even supposedly Trump-skeptical Republican senators, such as Utah’s Mitt Romney or Maine’s Susan Collins, have been avoiding questions about whether the Senate should call witnesses for the trial.

“But this presidents actions are possible only with the craven acquiescence of congressional Republicans,” they write. “They have done no less than abdicate their Article I responsibilities.”

No, Republicans clearly feel empowered by Trump. He frees them to reveal their darkest desire which is to end democracy as we know it, and to cut any corners or break any laws necessary to get the job done.

Why Republicans Are Afraid To Challenge Trump

Juan Williams

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The Memphis Flyer is Memphis alternative newsweekly, serving the metro Memphis area of nearly a million residents. The Flyer was started in 1989 by Contemporary Media, Inc., the locally owned publishers of Memphis magazine. For over 30 years, The Memphis Flyer has hit the streets every Wednesday morning with a blend of serious hard news and Memphis best entertainment coverage.

Republicans Now Bragging About Being Trump Big Lie Pushers

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To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories.

In taking a shot at CNNs Jake Tapper, Republicans are openly boasting that theyre responsible for spreading democracy-defying conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.

The CNN anchor recently took a stand against inviting election deniers on his programs, saying last week that lawmakers who support former President Donald Trumps Big Liereferring to the false claim that the election was stolenare not welcome on his weekday and weekend shows. Its not a policy but a philosophy, Tapper said, noting he hasnt booked such Republicans since the election. Pro-Trump Republicans have since come forward with emails from CNN bookers requesting their presence on Tappers shows. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New Yorkwhom the GOP last month voted to replace Liz Cheney as the partys conference chairtweeted screenshots, telling Tapper to read and weep:

Twitter content

Responding to these apparent gotcha attempts, Tapper said he cant account for every email from my excellent bookers whose job it is to present me with as many options as possible. He also pointed to the absurdity of Republicans rushing to prove they are, in fact, election deniers. Kind of stunning to see her proudly identify as a conspiracy theorist, he said of Stefanik.

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More Great Stories FromVanity Fair

Read Also: What Is Trump’s Approval Rating Among Republicans

Republicans Still Scared To Death Of Trump

Which is pretty much the equivalent of “I support Trump, but I really don’t like the tweeting” that we heard from so many of them over the last five or six years.

The Actual Reason Why Republicans And Their Media Are Discouraging People From Getting Vaccinated

Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN last Sunday, “I don’t have a really good reason why this is happening.”

But even if he can’t think of a reason why Republicans would trash talk vaccination and people would believe them, it’s definitely there.

Which is why it’s important to ask a couple of simple questions that all point to the actual reason why Republicans and their media are discouraging people from getting vaccinated:

1. Why did Trump get vaccinated in secret after Joe Biden won the election and his January 6th coup attempt failed?

2. Why are Fox “News” personalities discouraging people from getting vaccinated while refusing to say if they and the people they work with have been protected by vaccination?

4. Why are Republican legislators in states around the country pushing laws that would “ban” private businesses from asking to see proof of vaccination status ?

Death is their electoral strategy.

Is there any other possible explanation?

So, what’s left?

Also Check: When Did The Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

Top Republicans Are Running Scared And Relinquishing The Gop To The Monster They Helped Create

“In Washington, normally chatty senators scramble to skirt the question,” writes TheWashington Post.

Republicans Fear Trump Will Lead To A Lost Generation Of Talent

The 45th president has brought new voices and voters to the party, but hes driven them out too. Insiders fear the repercussions.

06/01/2021 04:30 AM EDT

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As Donald Trump ponders another presidential bid, top Republicans have grown fearful about what theyre calling the partys lost generation.

Filed Under:

You May Like: Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Names

Mcfeely: Why Are Republicans Afraid Of Everything

FARGO Republicans are afraid.

Afraid of Black people. Afraid of brown people. Afraid of red people. Afraid of yellow people. Afraid of women. Afraid of young people.

Afraid of young people voting. Afraid of people of color voting. Afraid of voting rights. Afraid of democracy.

Afraid of science. Afraid of medicine. Afraid of knowledge. Afraid of public education. Afraid of universities. Afraid of professors. Afraid of teachers.

Afraid of experts. Afraid of doctors. Afraid of Anthony Fauci. Afraid of masks. Afraid of vaccines. Afraid of vaccine passports. Afraid of vaccine chips. Afraid of things that don’t exist.

Afraid of history. Afraid of the truth. Afraid of those who tell the truth.

Afraid of books. Afraid of newspapers. Afraid of objectivity. Afraid of facts.

Afraid of wind towers. Afraid of solar power. Afraid of environmentalists. Afraid of the Green New Deal. Afraid of Greta Thunberg. Afraid of change.

Afraid of the media. Afraid of The New York Times. Afraid of The Washington Post. Afraid of MSNBC. Afraid of CNN.

Afraid of Twitter. Afraid of Facebook. Afraid of Google. Afraid of big tech. Afraid of the government. Afraid of the establishment.

Afraid of Democrats. Afraid of Black Lives Matter. Afraid of antifa. Afraid of Democratic Socialists.

Opinion: Stop Saying Republicans Are Cowards Who Fear Trump The Truth Is Far Worse

âRepublicans Are Afraid Of Donald Trumpâ Despite Election Loss, Kasie Hunt Says | TODAY

As a broad description of our current moment, this is profoundly insufficient. It risks misleading people about the true nature of the threat posed by the GOPs ongoing radicalization.

Meanwhile, now that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik to replace Cheney in the House GOP leadership, Democrats are pounding McCarthy for cowardice.

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Olivia: I feel like Im taking a multiple-choice test Im gonna have to go with B on this one.

Ben: I was taught that C was the most common correct answer. Not sure this holds true anymore.

Voxs German Lopez is here to guide you through the Biden administrations burst of policymaking. .

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Donald Trump And The Politics Of Fear

Trumps candidacy relies on the power of fear. It could be the only way for him to win.

People are scared, Donald Trump said recently, and he was not wrong.

Senior Republicans Should Recoil In Horror At Trump But Too Many Still Fear Him

The fate of the United States now rests on the stark choice the divided party faces: Trumps way or democracy

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John Kasich Says Republicans Are ‘afraid’ Of Trump

EmbedEmbed

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks with NPR’s Leila Fadel about the GOP’s unwillingness to stand up to President Trump, who still refuses to accept the results of the presidential election.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Governor Kasich, welcome.

JOHN KASICH: Thanks, Leila. Glad to be with you.

FADEL: So you endorsed President-elect Joe Biden. He won this election. What do you make of President Trump’s attempts to overturn the results?

FADEL: That was the former Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich.

Governor Kasich, thanks for speaking with us.

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By Jamelle Bouie

Opinion Columnist

There was a time, in recent memory, when the Republican Party both believed it could win a national majority and actively worked to build one.

Why Dont Republicans Stand Up To Trump Heres The Answer

Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of Lev Parnas? | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC

Rep. Mark Sanford

I stand by every word.

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source https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-are-republicans-scared-of-trump/

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81scorp · 4 years

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Constructive criticism: 5 MCU movies (and Venom)

Originally posted on Deviantart Sep 21, 2019)

Let`s be honest, MCU is doing better than DCEU. But let`s be honest, the MCU has also stumbled a few times. Just like bad things can have something good in them something good can also be a little flawed. And since I want to be fair and balanced (The REAL version of "fair and balanced" not the FOX news kind.) I thought I`d revisit the MCU and do a little nitpicking. I squeezed all of these MCU movies (and Venom) into one CC because I didn`t have that much to say about them individually. So... if I had a Pym particle powered Time machine that could take me back in time... what would I have changed? SPOILERS for Thor Ragnarok, Spider-Man Homecoming and Captain Marvel Dr Strange

Some of the bathos What is bathos? In a litrerary work bathos is an effect of anticlimax created by a lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculus. MCU has a tendency to put bathos in their movies to understandably lighten the mood but also undercut the drama of the situation. In Dr Stange the biggest offender is this scene: Kaecilius: How long have you been at Kamar-Taj, Mister... Dr Strange: Doctor! Kaecilius: Mr. Doctor? Dr Strange: It's Strange. Kaecilius: Maybe. Who am I to judge? I`m not against comedy (far from it, some of my favourite movies are comedies) but a few seconds before this scene Dr Strange, a medical doctor, had just seen a man get killed right in front of him. It`s too much of a mood shift and quite unnecessary. I`d lose this bit of dialogue. Maybe replace it with something more like Dr Strange: You just killed that man! Kaecilius: I take it this kind of thing is new to you? Maybe you`ll be more cooperative than he was. Just throwing out some ideas. Thor Ragnarok

Thor having the power to see through Heimdall`s eyes When was it established that Thor can see through Heimdall`s eyes when he wants to? Do we need a scene where Thor and Heimdall communicates? After rewatching the movie it turns out that, yes we do. How else was he gonna know which wormhole to take? But it`s better if Thor and Heimdall`s communication is not that easy to achieve. How about this instead: Heimdall seeks the help of the three Norns (like Thor did in my CC of Avengers: AoU). He gets help from Verdandi who creates a mental link between him and Thor, allowing Thor to see what he sees and get the info he needs. The death of Warriors three At first I didn`t like that they killed them off at all. Then I was OK with it but felt that it could have been done in a different way. How about: When Hela first arrives at Asgard she only meets Skurge who is willing to cooperate. Then in the scene where she fights Hogun (and many Asgardians soldiers) she also fights Fandral and Volstagg. They fight valiantly and die Boromir-like deaths. Bruce hitting the bridge before turning into Hulk Let`s say that I can suspend my disbelief enough to buy that Bruce did not break his neck when he hit the bridge trying to trigger his transformation. The movie has enough humor as it is, just let Bruce land behind the wolf in full Hulk-mode. Korg`s "As long as the foundations are still strong" speech The problem with this scene is that it is a funny line directly followed by the reaction of the Asgardians watching their home being destroyed with great sorrow. Lose this speech. It`s not like Korg doesn`t have any funny lines in this movie. Spider-Man Homecoming

Ned and Betty in Highschool This is more of a comicbook purist nitpicking but in the comics Ned Leeds and Betty Brant are reporters working on the Bugle, not kids in Highschool. How about: make Betty some other character from the comics... like Deborah Whitman, and change Ned`s name (maybe to Jake, David, Zach or Todd, just throwing out some names). "Come on Spider-Man" The scene where Peter lifts tons of debris from himself would have worked better without dialogue

MJ`s name Why change her name? They kept Flash`s and Liz`s name. Don`t change her name. Have them call her "Jane" during most of the movie and then reveal in the end that she prefers to be called MJ. Leaving us, the audience to assume that the M must stand for "Mary". Captain Marvel

I´m just a girl fight-scene Using No Doubt`s "I`m just a girl" for a fight scene feels a little on the nose. How about:

A: Use some score made specifically for this scene instead of an already existing song. Or...

B: Use an already existing song but make "Barracuda" by Heart or some similar song."But `Barracuda` wasn`t made in the nineties" you say. Correct. But it`s a cool song. How Fury lost his eye

Really? Fury lost his eye to a flerkin`cat? It just feels a little weak. How about: He doesn`t lose his eye in this movie. Save it for another movie or keep it a mystery. Avengers: Infinity War

Heimdall teleporting Hulk When was it established that Heimdall can teleport people without the aid of the sword and the Bifrost thingy? How about: Thanos uses the space stone to teleport Hulk to earth. He does so to test the stone`s power and to get rid of (what in his eyes is) a nuisance.

Venom

I`m one of the people who thinks that Sony should let the rights revert back to Marvel. (Yes I`ve heard about the Sony-Disney deal so I know that what I`m writing here will be horribly dated as soon as it is published, but then again, that happens to everything that I write. Better late than never.) Venom works better as a supporting character that later gets his own spin off rather than a character that gets his own movie from the start. Where should it come out in the MCU movie order? Maybe after Black Widow but before the Eternals? What should it be called? Maybe... Spider-Man: Monsters? Spider-Man: Enemies? Spider-Man: Something something far from Homecoming? This is different from other CCs because this time I haven`t actually seen the movie.

Plot: It begins with Spider-Man doing what he usually does: catching badguys. He beats and webs a ski mask wearing terrorist who calls himself Sin-Eater who was planning to blow up an important building. Opening credits roll. Petey finds out that there`s a Spider-man imitator in San Fransisco who is very cruel against the criminals they catch. They even kill some of them. Pete goes to investigate and meets the imitator: Venom. Venom was Eddie Brock, a journalist who could have won the Pulitzer prize for a series of phone interviews he made with a dangerous terrorist called Sin-Eater, but then it turned out that the man he interviewed was just a mentally ill man pretending to be Sin-Eater. Eddie was fired, a few days later the great Snap happened. Eddie lost all his friends. Distraught and lost he went to a church for guidance and met the symbiote. He decided to leave N.Y. and return to his birthplace: San Fransisco and, in his own words: "fight crime in a better way than Spidey ever could". Venom and Spidey fight a little then it turns out that Sin-Eater is alive and is back to his old habit of blowing up important buildings. To make things worse: he has help from henchmen and he`s using advanced weapons made by the Tinkerer (or maybe the Leader?) and he`s injected himself with a version of the supersoldier serum. Spidey and Venom have to join forces and beat Sin-Eater. S-E dies in an explosion, Venom disappears, is pressumed dead but no body is found. Fury shows up to tell Spidey that the black goo was someting that S.H.I.E.L.D. had held in custody for a few years. They had found it in a portable metal container onboard a Kree ship. He suspects that an infiltrator must have stolen it shortly after "the big snap". (Maybe the Chameleon? I like the Chameleon.) He wonders if they`ll ever see Venom again.Epilogue: a guy in a hoodie goes into a convenience store to buy... I dunno, a yogurt (we don`t see his face). Another guy comes in to rob the place. The guy in a hoodie turns out to be Eddie who turns into Venom and gives us the "turd in the wind" speech before he kills the robber. Then he pays for his yogurt and leaves.

The End

And thats how I would do it. Feel free to disagree.

#81scorp #editorial #constructive #criticism #marvel #mcu

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fictionxlover · 7 years

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GH Theories

Here are a few theories I have about this whole Jasoning situation. I honestly feel like I am watching D & D game of thrones and I am coming up with theories to try to make sense of it all and really in canon it's not gonna be any of these theories and will make 0 fucking sense.

1) Steve is Jason and they are giving the audience red herrings to throw them off. Now I have seen people who say Steve could be Nik. I can see why some think this: patient 6 reacted weirdly to Ava saying “Nik”, Valentin blood fell on Nik’s name. First, I just got say Steve coming back to play Nik makes no goddamn sense. I can see Steve being a different character but Nik? Nik having Steve’s face? What? Does this mean Sam and other characters would feel semi-attractive to Nik cuz he had Steve’s face? I am being dead serious too, Y'all. People think people would be mad if Steve is Jason (which from what I have seen only Killy Nujasam fans r mad @ that) but if Steve is Nik...soap twitter gonna be on fire. Also, someone mentioned how Mo said Kelly is working with Billy AND Steve a lot...so idk why she would work with Steve a lot if he is Nik. Except they gonna try to do some incestuous shit but this is not HBO.

Going back to red herrings. The Nik stuff seems most likely like red herrings imo. Valentin blood drops on Nik’s name. Well...that could be symbolic? You know the themes with Cassadines are curses. What if by murdering Nik then after trying to be victim Valentin is cursed? Nik’s death will always haunt him and will get in the way with what he wants which is having a happy life with Nina and Charlotte. Then we have patient 6 reacting weirdly to name Nik Cassadine. Well, you can say its Nik, he knew Ava! But you also have to think well...Jason knew Nik...he was Emily’s love...also...Cassadines have had patient 6 all this time...then there is, of course, this tells this patient that Ava is from PC...so he could use her or work with her in the future.

Lastly, for this theory is that patient 6 acts like Jason and we can not ignore the mentions we get from other characters about old vs new Jason. Patient 6 is very quiet but you know he is listening. He moves his hands a bit to communicate as well. Also, he looks outside a lot, showing that he wants to escape this prison. One hint that this patient could be Jason is that once Ava says she wouldn’t want to be a vegetable and stuck in this prison, he curls up his hand in a ball. Which shows anger and frustration. Before this scene, Carly was just talking about old Jason and how he would want the plug pulled and would hate being like this (which we all know is true). Then the biggest one from the recent episode was Carly talking about how she lost Jason and their connection. That even tho she had formed this connection with this new Jason that it's not the same and she still grieves the friendship she had with Jason before he “died” then next scene is Steve slowly taking off his glasses and we see his blue eyes.

Listen, you could argue that what I am saying is wrong and they are tricking us but I am sorry I can’t ignore them saying over 5x a week how Jason is SO DIFFERENT FROM WHO HE WAS. Why say that? We already know that. The audience already knows that Billy!Jason is very different from old Jason so why are we rehashing this? Are they preparing us to see Jason be more different and live a different life with Sam? I can’t even trust that cuz they failed us before. We could have been seeing Jason with Curtis and other characters on the canvas but instead, they decided to do the Sonny/Jason/Sam/Carly squad everyone is sick of seeing. I also don’t get why they keep mentioning Sam’s connection with Jason. Recently, she has had this dream about Jason but she can not see his face??? That is fucking odd. You can say Billy was on vaca but still super weird??? You don’t have to agree with this theory but this is my top one so far.

This theory might make some mad but I just have to say this...do you really think the writers care if they do twin thing and mess up what Jasam has built for 3 years? Look what they have done to our characters? The choices they have made. Do you think they have been consistent with GH history? No. I know a lot like the nujasam ship but if they don’t care about old gh history and our multidimensional fav characters...why would they care about ruining what nujasam built for 3 years?

2) Steve is Jason’s twin brother So, basically, they are fucking with us and Steve is really Jason’s twin brother but also is connected to Franco. It could also be he is very dangerous and Helena/Cassadine's fucked him up somehow.

3) Steve is Franco’s twin brother.

Again, they are fucking with us. We have to think about Franco’s obsession and why he got obsessed with Jason. What if Steve is really Franco’s twin brother but he is just like a Jason 2.0? However, he is more dangerous or a character who is morally gray or even evil. They could do that to us. I do wonder why Sam would have a lot of scenes with Franco twin brother tho...but if you think about this, this man has her husbands old face. It will spark a lot of old memories. It's possible Sam and other characters can’t help to gravitate toward Steve character cuz he has OG Jason face. I got say IF this theory is true, kinda feel bad for Franco. His twin brother pops up and has Jason’s old face. You know how Liz is and omg what if he gets a redemption arc y’all. XD

4) A host on Afterbuzz tv GH said this. What if Franco, Jason, Billy!Jason are triplets. Honestly, I would lmao, however, I would not care that much. I do not want Franco to be a Quartermaine but...I can’t lose the Jason/Alan connection so if we got do it...just do it...I guess...I will take Jason and Billy being Q’s even tho I have to deal with Franco being a Quartermaine and prob coming in randomly like he use to do and trying to be like I want what I was supposed to have along and blah.

5) Steve is Jason but he is brainwashed to think he is Nik.

This is actually an interesting one someone on twitter came up with. If he and Billy are twins and Helena is behind this (WHICH COME ON Y’ALL WE KNOW SHE IS! SHE CURSED SAM! SHE WOULD DO THIS TO SAM) she would actually do to real Jason what she did to Jake Doe. She brainwashed him to do her dirty work then was like your Jake Doe but I guess also put Jason Morgan memories in him. Deceiving him again. Making him think he is this other man. I know people will be like this makes 0 sense but you got to remember that Jason didn’t delve deep in what he remembered. Yeah, he shared some memories with Sam, Carly, Sonny, Michael...but those are known memories...memories people prob know about Jason...like...it sounds crazy and like a conspiracy theory but...you never know.

So, going back to if Steve is Jason this means he is super fucked up and thinks he is Nik. That is why he reacted to Ava. He will prob go back to PC and be like I am Nik and everyone will be like WTF HE HAS JASON’S FACE. Which now could make sense why Kelly is having a lot of scenes with Billy and Steve. Sam will totally be on this case and Billy will be on the case too with Curtis trying to see what the fuck is going on but what they find out will change everything most likely…

Also, this means that Steve might make a connection with Ava and other characters IF he believes that he is Nik. Could Steve and Ava hook up? Probably.

6) Someone said that Frank said that no one has guessed this SL right yet...which means this shit is going to go past Steve is just Jason or they twins bs. It's gonna be some crazy messy SL.

That is what I have so far. If someone has anything different, share with me. I am also just throwing ideas out there too cuz I feel like I have an idea and my brain is going towards 1) but I don’t trust these writers...

#general hospital #jasoning #steve burton #gh theories #jason morgan

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patheticphallacy · 5 years

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It was a busy bee month for me!

While I took a semi-break from blogging- which means I limited myself to only 1 or 2 posts a week, instead of my usual 3 or 4- I took that time to plan out future blog posts (June, specifically) and read a lot.

#PanelAThon happened, which was the absolute best time. I smashed my TBR, in my opinion. Comic-heavy read-a-thons seem to suit me best, so I know how to sort my TBR for future read-a-thons now!

I also started up a brand new Bookstagram which I’m very proud of, even if my sister is helping me with most of the pictures due to her better camera quality. It’s like a project for us both, really: I provide the books and the good cat content, and she helps me position the shots and take pretty pictures!

Towards the end of the month I went to a gig that my best friend’s boyfriend was doing with his band, which was a great time. I also moved my things out of my Uni house! Next year, I’m living in a flat by myself, which is very expensive but will hopefully be worth it.

In June, I’ll be predominantly reading LGBT+ books, which I talked about more in my Pride Month TBR post! I can’t guarantee I’ll finish everything, though, as my twentieth birthday is on the 18th June and I’ll be spending the last two weeks of the month basically with only friends and family for the entire time, which I’m really looking forward to.

Also, last off: all my posts this month are twenty themed. So it’s all lists of twenty things, catered around my birthday and also my general life. I really hope you’ll check the posts out as they come out, I spent a lot of time making the lists and formatting everything for maximum good content.

READING WRAP UP

This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers– this was a very human look at the way teenagers would cope in the apocalypse, extremely dark and very upsetting, from the point of view of a suicidal girl. It did let me down in that I wasn’t fully immersed in the story, but it definitely picked up towards the end.

NENENE by Shizuko Totono– while I really wanted to love this, the massive age gap between the two characters really ruined it for me. It tries to make up for the age gap by saying the characters will wait till the main girl is 20, but that honestly makes me quite sick thinking that the only reason they haven’t done anything is because the rest of society are telling them it’s nasty, not because they have any understanding of the massive imbalance of power in that relationship.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin– I’ll be honest, I read this because of BTS’s Spring Day music video, but I’m glad I did. It’s a very dark look into a utopian-esque society that only thrives based on the suffering of a child. I really love the distant narrative voice in this piece.

It Only Happens In the Movies by Holly Bourne– this is one of the most disappointing reads of all time for me. I did a long review of this on my Goodreads breaking down issues I had with the characters and the narrative that really ruined the whole experience. I know I don’t drop star ratings anymore, but this was a definite 1 star.

The Case For Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro– This had probably the weakest beginning in the series, with it not picking up until the 160 or so page mark as it relied a lot on info-dumping about Charlotte’s life and didn’t really have much happen. However, the last 150 made up for the weak start, and I really ended up enjoying this and I cannot wait for the final book!

The Unbreakable Code by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman– I really didn’t enjoy this and I am sad. I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘me’ thing, for the narrative, but I will say that there’s a lot of telling instead of showing, which really does lessen my enjoyment as we don’t see characters have any major realisations bar a few.

By Night #7-#10 by John Allison– this series has flown by! There’s only two issues left now, and I’ll be very sad to see it go, but I definitely think it’s coming to its end.

Labyrinth Coronation #12 by Simon Spurrier– I AM DISTRAUGHT that this series has ended. So so upset. I’m not completely content with this conclusion because a character does something that seems very OOC for them, after their development throughout the series, but I don’t really know how I could have been 100% satisfied with a beloved series coming to a close.

Why Photographers Commit Suicide by Mary McCray– this is a poetry collection I’ve had for literal years, a lot based on space and Mars. I was disappointed with this one and didn’t really connect with it overall or gleam anything valuable from it, although there were a few decent poems in there.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden– I love this! Very atmospheric and creepy middle grade horror about some kids, terrifying scarecrows, and a long history of mysterious deaths and disappearances.

Nuclear Winter Volume 1 by Caroline Breault– Nuclear Winter is a fun story about a Montreal full of mutants that is in its ninth Winter after a power plant exploded. I love Flavie, the main character, and the art style is perfect for a slice-of-life adventure full of mutants, partying and bagels!

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell– God, I’m still scared of this book. It’s basically like the terror of the weeping angels, combined with commentary on female hysteria, and is one of the most Gothic settings I’ve ever read. It’s honestly a masterpiece.

Haikyuu!! Volumes 1- by Haruichi Furudate– This is a GOD TIER sports manga, and probably my favourite, volleyball is just great. I absolutely adore these characters and their dynamics, the competitions, the illustrations– it’s all amazing. I have watched the first season of the anime, which means I was already familiar with most of these volumes, but I honestly do prefer the manga over the anime and highly recommend it.

The Walking Dead Volume 2 by Robert Kirkman– OK writing although it’s nothing special, but the art style change was very evident and I highly dislike it. Has a terrible case of ‘tiny font’ that really ruins any reading experience for my short sighted ass, so I don’t know if I’ll carry on. I just don’t think I carry about the characters enough.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James– this completely blindsided me. It goes from a sci-fi romance to a sci-fi horror survival story, and I think it’s great. Definitely my favourite Lauren James, she truly is the queen of UKYA sci-fi stories. Apparently her next one is a soft-apocalypse novel, which, YES.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson– really disliked this. I think I’ve grown out of the picture perfect beautiful YA characters. Clark never leaves the house and never exercises but apparently has perfect abs and the most chiselled of jaws. It’s just unrealistic, fellas! It doesn’t appeal to me at all. Also suffers from a case of ‘long-book-itis’ and is at least 200 pages of unneeded scenes too long, and is very predictable.

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smithe– this is a very pretty adaptation of the abduction of Persephone myth. The art gets better the further you get in, and I really do love the personalities of these Gods and other miscellaneous mythological creatures personified (EXCEPT FOR APOLLO APOLLO SUCKS). Content warning for rape and victim blaming, as well as a character being roofied (unrelated to the rape, though).

Uzumaki by Junji Ito– very strong first two thirds, but a very dissatisfying conclusion. However it is suitably creepy and has stunning art, and Kirie and Shuichi have a great relationship that I loved seeing develop throughout the story.

Welcome To Wanderland #1-3 by Jackie Ball– such a lovely series! It’s about fantasy realms and theme parks, magic and rebel princesses, and is very great. Unfortunately #4 won’t be out for a while as the illustrator had to leave for health reasons, but I’m hoping the new illustrator will be able to give this series a good end when it eventually comes out!

Go For It, Nakamura! by Syundei– a very cute manga about gay sixteen year old Nakamura and his pursuit of Hirose, a boy in his class. While this doesn’t end with a romance, it’s still a soft read seeing these characters become friends, and I can only hope another volume will one day be released.

Coady and the Creepies by Liz Prince– not one of my favourites, but it was enjoyable to read. This follows triplets on the road with their punk rock band collecting pins from all the biggest punk venues in the country, and also has ghosts. Probably my favourite part was commentary on punk rock being inclusive and how so many dudebros have lost sight that the movement was built going against a a discriminatory regime, not upholding it!

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino– this manga literally knocked me TF out for absolutely no reason at all other than wanting to purposefully break my heart. The last 100 pages made this one of my favourite manga of all time just for how slyly it managed to make me care about these characters.

When I Arrived At the Castle by Emily Carroll– an erotic, Gothic graphic novel from a literal master of her craft. I love everything Carroll puts out, although I don’t think this ranks above Through the Woods. It’s very unnerving and has wonderful art, although I’m still just a tad confused by it.

Nuclear Winter Volume 2 by Caroline Berault– I’m not putting this with volume 1 just because I didn’t like this one as much. It moved way too quickly and I wasn’t as invested in the storyline. However, I do enjoy seeing older-younger sister dynamics, and Flavie and her younger sister Elsie really reminded me of how I am with my younger sister.

Teen Dog by Jake Lawrence– an incredible, quirky coming-of-age comic with anthropomorphic animals, best friends, chess, prom, and a dope pug called Thug Pug! I really loved this, it’s one of my new favourite all-time reads.

Honey So Sweet Volume 1 by Amu Megura– this was OK; not my favourite shoujo manga, and I’m not a big fan of this kind of art style, but it was fun to read and I like the softness of the main boy!

Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito– SO TRUE TO LIVING WITH CATS. Cannot express how much I could relate to this, I giggled so much. Ito and his wife do have a little bit at the back talking about Yon’s passing, however, so prepare yourself for that, I ended up crying.

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 9 by Hiromu Arakawa– I don’t want to talk about it. I’m heartbroken this series is over. I loved this ending, but I’m heartbroken. I cried so many tears of joy, especially at the ending it gives Hohenheim.

Smooth Criminals Volume 1 by Kiwi Smith– another OK read! It wasn’t really stand out in comparison to a lot of the other comics I picked up this month, but it’s a quick read, and it has sapphic spies and hackers, if that’s your jam!

Turf Wars Volume 2 and 3 by Michael Dante DiMartino– Finally picked these two volumes up after procrastinating for months! It’s a really cheesy and much deserved conclusion to this graphic novel series, and I’m very much looking forward to the next series coming out. I’m keeping my hopes out for Wu to return, I miss him.

Bungo Stray Dogs Volume 1 by Kafka Asagiri– Very funny detective agency manga where all the characters are inspired by famous literary authors, each possessing powers that aids them investigations. It quickly gets into the main arc and villains. My main issue is that it has that creepy manga trope of having that sibling relationship that’s a bit too close, just for laughs, and it’s something I absolutely despise, so it kind of ruined how much I was loving it for an issue.

My Hero Academia Volume 16 by Kohei Horikoshi– it’s the start of the Overhaul arc, properly! Some decent character development in here, especially for Tamaki, Kirishima and Fatgum, who are the ultimate team, to be honest.

The Avant-Guards #1 to #5 by Carly Usdin– Carly Usdin genuinely writes some of the best diverse comic series currently. I love this as a sports comic, although I wish there were more issues to develop the characters and their relationships gradually as it does come across as quite rushed at points!

No.6 Volume 1 and 2 by Atsuko Asano– I really love the anime, so I figured it was about time to read the manga! It’s really fast moving, with great characters and a wonderful breakdown of the Utopia/Dystopia dynamic, and I really enjoy it. Shion is genuinely one of the best characters in manga in my opinion.

Faithless #1 by Brian Azzarello– A very dark new series about a woman who experiments in magic and accidentally summons something very dark. It’s strange and unsettling, and I really loved this first issue!

Slam Volume 1 by Pamela Ribon– This wasn’t that great, to be honest. It’s told in a very third person voice that stopped me from ever connecting with the characters, and although I love the roller derby parts and enjoyed the art, it’s not really a standout comic.

And finally, I read the Save Me Webtoon! Pardon my French, but this was so fucking good, and it’s really reminding me why I love both friendship-focused stories and time loop narratives. I think the art is great and I love the story, but I would not recommend this if you’re unfamiliar with the BTS cinematic universe and basic theories. Not all theories- I only knew basics so I could form an opinion on timelines, conclusions, etc.- but just the basics on the time loop theory. I talk more about all this later on in this post, though!

And my June TBR Jar pick is…. HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL by Carrie Brownstein!

ESSAYS/ARTICLES

I read this article analysing BTS’s Spring Day, one of my favourite music videos of all time, and it really hit me hard. BTS in general have stunning music videos, so I highly recommend them for anyone who wants interesting visuals and/or a brand new narrative to invest themselves in with the BTS ‘cinematic’ universe.

TV SHOWS/MOVIES/VIDEOS

BTS’s Spring Day music video. Are any of you surprised?

THIS AMAZING CYPHER PT.3 ANIMATION. There are so many little easter eggs! Fans are amazing.

Another BTS video: their Go Go dance practice video is amazing. They all dress up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Literally my whole month was spent watching BTS videos. Their whole cinematic universe with their music videos? INCREDIBLE. It starts with the uncut version of I Need U (content warnings for most of the videos discussing suicide, abuse and has a lot of violence), and I realised later on once I’d watched them that the Japanese versions of some of the songs are part of the series! You can find playlists and lists online to help you navigate which videos to watch first. I look at Spring Day as being the conclusion to the cinematic universe with Jin finally saving them all by helping them save themselves, as dramatic as it all sounds.

MUSIC I’VE ENJOYED

I basically spent all month listening to BTS. Particular favourites include Silver Spoon/Baepsae, Answer: Love Myself, Mikrokosmos, Cypher Pt.4, and GoGo!

Nightmare by Halsey is top notch, I got really into Halsey’s hopeless fountain kingdom again this month literally a day before Nightmare came out, so I recommend her! Obviously Boy With Luv is great too, I decided to get into BTS just because the Boy With Luv MV was so great and now look at me!