Frothing at the mouth thinking about Cosmo Backstory that ISNT CANON but OUGH it's giving me feelings and I WANT!! I WANT IT CANON!!! It won't be canon because I am not the DM and I do not control the canon but OHHH OH I WANT IT

Heat vs Steele Pt 3

Masterpost

Logan doesn’t see the other prince until later in the morning when he’s found marveling over the extensive library that Logan’s ancestors had built years before he was even conceived. 

“Your father said I might find you here, Logan. I wasn’t expecting it to be the other way around” The tanned boy sends a bright smile over to him, which Logan promptly ignores. Instead, he goes over to a shelf to examine the books for a suitable title. 

Roman pouts at the lack of reaction and comes up behind him, leaning over his shoulder a bit to peek at the book’s title. Logan turns and jumps back against the shelf in surprise, eyes wide and locked on Roman, his book clutched to his chest. 

“Sorry! Sorry, I was just curious about what you chose!” Roman puts his hands up and backs off. Strange… 

Logan merely retreats to the couch and sits down, opening his book to start reading. He can hear Roman sit next to him and try engaging him in conversation numerous times, but his only response are one word or quick answers. He manages to get to the rising action before Roman stops talking altogether. It isn’t long until a sly hand slides up his chest to his chin and gently  tilts his head to face endearing, brown eyes, Roman’s free hand sneaking a bookmark in and snatching his book. 

“Roman, I would appreciate if you gave that back.” 

“But then I wouldn’t have these lovely star-filled galaxies looking at me,” Logan feels his heart skip a beat, but hides any indication. 

“Won’t you forgive the intrusion this morning? I’m only here to make you happy!” Roman smiles softly and Logan finds himself wanting to freeze time for a moment longer before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

“Mi amour, you’ve entranced my heart with your whole being. Tell me, what can I do to prove myself worthy of your affections?” Roman leans closer to him, barely taking Logan’s hand as the one on his chin moves to his cheek. 

“You can leave me alone!” Logan shoves him off and flees to his room, scratching at the itch on his covered arms. Servants dodge out of his way when they see his expression and the guards don’t try to stop him, despite their orders to keep the two together. He locks the door behind him and shouts for Virgil as he rips his shirt off as fast as he could, scratching at the scales growing on his shoulders and back. He’s soon relieved by a cold, wet cloth gently rubbing at them and he lowers his arms.

“Something got you riled up. Was it that prince? I bet it was.” He can practically hear the grin Virgil was surely portraying as he rolls his eyes.

“He attempted to kiss me.” 

“Already? He should know that courting law states that PDA is forbidden.”

“We were alone, Virgil. In the library.” 

“Oo! He’s got taste!” “Sir Virgil!” Logan tries to twist and look at him but the cloth pressing against his neck prevents any harsh words. 

“I knighted you, and I can take it back!” he shivers, despite his words as the cloth trails down his back.

“But you won’t~” Virgil sing-songs and rubs at the newer scales,” you’ve mentioned that you don’t want anyone else hearing about your ailment and it definitely helps that I was there when it was inflicted, so just relax and let me help you.” 

Logan grumbles but allows Virgil to continue rubbing his dead skin off of his -no, the- scales so it was less uncomfortable on the prince. He sighs in relief and Virgil chuckles,” do you want me to redo your chest and upper arms?”

“If you don’t mind. I believe some dust might have gotten under one and it’s quite noticeable.”

“Yeah, okay, Dictionary. I gotcha.” Logan rolls his eyes at Virgil’s nickname and turns around so he can work on Logan’s chest. They sit in silence as Virgil works, watching pieces of dead skin fall off the deep blue scales. 

“Look, Lo, I know you aren’t having the best of times dealing with this, but at least they’re a pretty color, right?”

“Yes, they’re aesthetically pleasing, I suppose.” He sighs and looks away towards the window. He could see the forest spread out over his father’s land, past the rolling hills of farmland and pastures. The sun was high above the treeline, causing the deep green to brighten in the light. Shadows fled from the light of day and Logan finds himself understanding the tactical retreat.

‘Opposites, such a strange concept’, thought Logan,’ one can’t exist without the other, yet they’re constantly at ends with the other. What makes them opposites? What dictated that light and darkness could not coexist? Why must one always be smaller than the other? Candles and shadows, so different yet so similar at the same time.’

He looks out at the light and imagines what it must be like for the shadows suddenly pinned to objects and people. He imagines what his own shadow thinks, the dismay it must feel when the sun peeks over the horizon and it must return to his side to survive the day.  Does the light feel the same? Was it leashed to candles and torches during the night? Clinging to humanity for dear life as without the fire, it would die? He felt his mind start itching for answers that he would never receive. 

“Lo, you’re doing the thing again. Kinda weird dude.” Logan blinks and suddenly he’s back in his room, back with Virgil, and back in that insufferable situation with Roman. 

“You alright?”

“Yes, Virgil, I am adequate. Would you retrieve the corset from the wardrobe?” Logan pulls his shirt back on and buttons it up. 

“You’re going to dress up?!”

“I’m going to attempt to divert his affections. If it does not work, I will be mildly uncomfortable at worst. If it does, he will leave by tomorrow morning.” The prince watches as his personal guard comes back and starts tying the laces with expert fingers

“Alright, Lo. I trust you.” Logan’s breath is stolen as the corset suddenly tightens around his stomach,” though I fail to see how thinning your waist is going to remedy the problem.”

What if it only made Roman try harder? 

Logan’s silent for a moment,” I’m not sure. All I know is that he touched my waist when we were alone and I did not enjoy his burning touch.”

“Logan, he’s human, not a fire elemental.”

“I know, Virgil. It doesn’t make sense for his touch to have been that warm nor for my skin to tingle after I retreated-“

“Ran away.”

“Retreated. It was a tactical retreat.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Lover Boy. Get out there and annoy that pesky prince,” Virgil chuckles and steps back to allow Logan to move once more. 

“I assure you, Virgil, I have no interest-“ the guard interrupts him by shoving him out of the room and locking the door behind them.

“It doesn’t matter if you do or not. He clearly holds something for you and I’m going to make sure his pretty little fingers stay off of my crown prince.”

“Logan, my darling!”

Both males groan inwardly and look at each other at the sound of the foreign prince. 

“I have aquired flowers to apologize for my actions in the library. I hope you accept these as a token of my affections and deepest apologies.” Bluebells were lifted above Roman’s head as the prince kneels at Logan’s feet,” I noticed you seem to like blue, so I went to find the bluest flowers I could pick for you!”

“Roman, -Virgil stop growling at him- I accept your apology, however I ask that you give these to maidens in the town as I am mildly allergic to their pollen.” Logan gently pushes down the flowers and watches Roman lift his head, locking eyes with him. 

The prince grins and nods eagerly,” of course! I will return to your side as quickly as I can, mi amour!” 

Logan nods,” then you are free to go.”

Roman races off with the flowers, practically skipping, and Logan chuckles in light amusement. 

“You never told me you were allergic to bluebells.” Virgil looks up at him suspiciously and Logan shrugs. 

“I must have developed it rather recently then.”

Virgil laughs and shakes his head,” if you wanted him gone, you could’ve just said so. No need to get his hopes up with this.”

“Now, I never said that I wanted him to leave quite yet. I’m rather starting to enjoy this game of chess he’s started. He’s not entirely bad at it either, quite the opponent.” 

“Logan, was that your way of saying you’re interested?” Virgil stifles a chuckle as the prince sputters in indignation. 

“Absolutely not! What ever gave you that idea?!” 

“Okay, Logan, calm down. I was just teasing! Let’s go see your father, I believe he’s looking for you.”

Logan’s fire calms down and he leads Virgil away to the throne room, his guard jabbing at the metaphorical buttons that he knew Logan would react to. The guards allowed them through the doors and Logan kneels at the King’s feet,” yes, father, what did you need me for?”

“Logan, I can see that this is taking much too long. Tell me, how much do you know about Prince Roman?” 

Logan narrows his eyes suspiciously,” not much, admittedly, except that he’s a major flirt.” 

‘And a massive thorn in my side’

“Ah, so I was correct. We will need to speed this courting up so I will be hosting a kingdom-wide ball for you two. The nobles and fellow royalty will be attending so you’ll be attending to their children.” 

“Must I, father? You know how I hate their ideas of small talk.” 

“Yes, Logan, and you will be wearing the suit that the tailor makes. I’m thinking red on white with a black embellishment.” He looks Logan over and holds his hand up to silence his protests,” I’ve been lenient enough with you, this ball is a chance for you to build relations with the other kingdoms despite your current hold over them all. Yes, they currently owe Elmaria a debt from the winter, but that could change with a flip of Fate’s coin. Your best bet is to build strong relations with other countries so you have aid if the kingdom needs it.” No 

“I understand, but as you know, I am inadequate when it comes to social situations. I am severely behind the others when it comes to the social aspect of ruling.” Logan stands and brushes himself off. 

“That’s why I allowed Roman to court you. For where you are weak, he is strong. He is incredible at social events and loves the spotlight whereas you tend to be more of a background, technical character. The matchup is perfect!” 

“Father, he is also quite annoying. He has not left my side since last night and is most likely waiting outside this room for me.” 

“So you feel because of him?” The king smirks and Logan quickly corrects himself.

“I never said that. He merely makes it difficult to accomplish my allotted duties and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Alright, whatever you say, son. You’re dismissed.” 

Logan bows once more and walks back before leaving the room, the oaken doors closing behind him. The king smiles softly and shakes his head,” that boy…”

Logan sighs softly once the doors shut behind him and looks up at the prince standing there waiting for him,” Roman, I see you’ve returned.”

“I could not keep myself from your side for much longer, my dear. Come, allow me to make up for the loss of time.” He takes Logan’s hand and barely manages to press a kiss to the back of it before it’s ripped from his grasp. Logan holds it behind his back and sighs through his nose,” I suppose we should make it seem like we tolerate each other’s presence. Where would you like to go? We have the gardens, the castle, the forest, plains, and-”

“Mi amour, I only wish to stay by your side.” Roman smiles tenderly at him and Logan rolls his eyes.

”Alright, I get it,” Roman chuckles,” how about we go horseback riding in the forest? Perhaps we will stumble upon an adventure and fall in love along the journey!” 

“The likelihood of that occurring is too low to consider, but fine. We will go horseback riding and plan something else for this afternoon.” Logan walks with Roman back to the guest’s suite and bids him farewell for the moment before returning to his chambers. 

“How’d it go with princey?” 

Logan jumps at the voice behind him before relaxing,” Virgil, why do you insist on scaring me every time I enter this room? Anyway, it went alright. He apologized and insisted we go horseback riding in the forest. You-” 

“Will be coming along,” Virgil gives him a look of respected hostility and Logan chuckles a breathy laugh.

“Of course, I would not be able to attend without you at my side.” He stands still as Virgil unties the ribbons and removes his corset to allow Logan to breathe. His servant rushes around to gather his riding clothes as Logan undresses himself and lays out his previous outfit on the bed. Virgil returns to his side and helps dress the prince for his ride in a white tunic, tan riding pants, a blue vest and a generic brown cloak. Logan sits and starts tying his boots as Virgil switches his own outfit out for a dark aesthetic and a black mask that covers his lower face. 

“Virgil, I don’t really think this is necessary. You’ll overheat and we’ll have to return early.” 

The guard thinks for a moment and takes off his dark coat. 

“I assume that’s the best answer I’ll receive. Come, let’s collect Roman.” Logan leads Virgil out the door and down the hall a bit to the guest suites where Roman was waiting for them outside his room with Patton by his side. They exchange cordial greetings and Roman kisses Logan’s hand again before the (barely) taller of the two leads them all to the stables, his answers to Roman’s prodding statements quick and to the point. 

“My dear, where are we going?” 

“Simply down a path my family enjoys taking when we need a moment to think. It’s nothing special, really. Why do you ask?” 

“I was wondering if it was necessary for our servants to come along. I was originally going to have Patton remain behind but asked him to come along when I saw yours coming.” Logan notices his eyes flick nervously to Virgil, who’s listening to Patton, but clearly keeping an eye on the two royals. 

“Virgil’s presence is always required when I leave the castle, however Patton’s is not if you wish to allow him to remain behind.” 

Roman looks back at the servant and quietly asks what he’d like to do. Virgil and Roman switch places unintentionally and the guard looks up at his charge,” what’s our pathing for this ride?” 

“Just a quick trot down the normal path -you should know it well enough by now- and we’ll turn around before we reach the old castle. The first one that the royal family built after staking their claim on the land.” 

Virgil nods and is silent for a moment,” you aren’t afraid he’ll find, you know, your place?” 

“Virgil, how likely is it that you’re going to allow us anywhere near those old ruins? We’ll be perfectly safe and he won’t see anything of importance. Besides, it's in the tower and he’ll clearly see that it’s unsafe to proceed across the drawbridge.” 

“Drawbridge? My love, are we going to see your country’s first castle?!” Roman beams and looks at Logan with hopeful, bright eyes. 

“Yes, you know of it?” He looks over at the other in curiosity,” I was not aware others knew of it.” 

“Of course I know of it! I studied your country’s history so I could have something to discuss with you if we needed a topic. Besides, it’s such a rich, passionate history, it was more like reading a fairytale! The castle was known as the world’s most impenetrable fortress as every attack was absorbed and returned tenfold by the ballistas and archers hidden behind the trapdoors that protected them from any incoming fire. The moat used to be filled with seawater and your ancestors made a pact with the merpeople that allowed them to swim in the moat to defend against any foot soldiers in exchange for land materials they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. It’s said that one day the child of the Lightheart family will return and bring forth a power hidden inside its walls so powerful, it can raze an entire country!” 

Logan and Virgil share a worried glance before turning their attention back to Roman,” I see you’ve done your research. Yes, we are visiting that very castle, however we will not be able to cross the moat. The drawbridge is raised and it isn’t safe to cross the waters after the merpeople went back to the sea.” 

“I see, then we must at least explore the surrounding land! Perhaps there are secret passageways leading to the interior that were never discovered!” Roman tugs Logan along down the hall faster and their servants had to run to keep up. 

Logan’s hand went to his circlet to ensure it remained where it was and trips over his own feet trying to keep up with the enthusiastic prince. They slow down once they reach the stables and a stable hand brings the two horses out to the princes while another brings two others for Virgil and Patton. Logan’s was black and had a crescent moon between her eyes while Roman’s was pure white. Virgil’s dapple grey mare nips at Patton’s creme steed. Each rider takes the reins of their mount and swings up into the saddle. Roman practically bouncing in the saddle at the prospect of their destination. Logan ensures everyone is situated before clicking his tongue and riding out the gates with his small group behind him.

Reaper of Souls by Rena Barron

Summary: After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. Now the last surviving witchdoctor, she’s been left to pick up the shattered pieces of a family that betrayed her, a kingdom in shambles, and long-buried secrets about who she is. 

Desperate not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, Arrah must return to the tribal lands to search for help from the remnants of her parents’ people. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible—if it’s something she can bring herself to do at all.

Set in a richly imagined world inspired by spine-tingling tales of voodoo and folk magic, Kingdom of Souls was lauded as “masterful” by the School Library Journal in a starred review. This explosively epic sequel will have readers racing to the can’t-miss conclusion. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings:  

 → Geena:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: A messy sequel to an amazing series, we get to see the after effects of the fall out of Arrah vs. Efiya from KOS… and when we tell you it is MESS!!!

~Spoiler-Full Review Below~

The Good: 

→ Arrah and Dimma

Geena: One of my favourite things about Reaper was the sprinkle of Dimma’s POVs throughout the story. We got an insight into Dimma’s life before she was Arrah, and how her relationship with the other Orisha and Daho developed. It also really helped build up the suspense near the end and set up plot twists that clocked us near the end. Dimma aside, let’s talk about Arrah. Rena Barron said brooding boys are out, brooding girls are IN! And you know what, we love to read it. The story starts off with Arrah trying to save Sukkar after she snapped all his bones while trying to save him, and she does save him :) Or so she thinks but that’s besides the point. Over the length of the book we follow Arrah’s inner turmoil of suddenly having the power of 10 tribal chieftains and being insecure about whether or not she even deserves it.

I loved Arrah, even when she was holding herself up to a terribly high bar and beating herself up about everything she did. Arrah helped bring her Auntie back from the dead and was like “Damn I suck :/” and thought shattering a girl’s glass (who was flirting with Rudjek) put her on the same level as her mom and Efiya. I was sitting there like NO GIRL YOU’RE PERFECT, YOU, YOUR MISSING TOOTH AND YOUR PETTY NATURE!! 

Kae: YAAAAAAAAAS! Geena summed Arrah and Dimma up perfectly. 

But I would like to add how much I love Arrah and how selfless she is. She’s always thinking about her friends and their safety, the safety of the tribal people, and of course the kingdom. She’s a worry woman, but for all the right reasons. And she also cares about herself; so much even that like Geena said, she beats herself up for the smallest of things. She’s so worried about being evil like her mother and her sister, that she calculates every single move that she makes, debating if it’s really worth it to use strong magic or not. 

As for Dimma, I loved her POV’S. She is a complex character who has been demonized since book 1. We were taught to believe, through the POV of some of the Gods, that Dimma was a horrible Goddess who wrought nothing but chaos. They erased her name from history, LITERALLY. And Dimma became known as the Unnamed Orisha. While reading her POV, we learn that Dimma was quite selfless, much like Arrah (since they are technically the same person). Dimma was full of love and loved even harder. She went out of her way to give Daho immortality as well as his people, because she loved them so much. She defied the rules of the universe for her love, and it only came to bite her in the ass in the end. Like her siblings told her, “A God’s love is a dangerous thing.” And it was, but not exactly for the reasons one might think.

Geena:  Kae’s summary of Dimma and Arrah is AMAZING, you know my ability to connect dots when reading is kinda shit so reading Kae’s summary gave me realization…  Arrah tries so hard to separate herself from Dimma, because she refuses to believe that a part of her is in love with Daho because she herself is in love with Rudjek… but it’s like girl… you have travelled to the ends of the earth to fight and bring back the people you love (the tribespeople) just like Dimma searched the ends of the universe for immortality to give to Daho. It’d be much easier to reconcile your feelings if you just accepted that “Okay, I may have been Dimma but now I am Arrah”

Also another thing I love about Arrah is how she had…. For a time… three dudes in love with her… or at least what she thought was three dudes. Real hot girl shit. 

→ Rudjek and Daho

Geena: You know the character archetype that’s like a snarky boy who knows he’s hot shit and acts accordingly, but when it comes to the person he’s in love with he’s just a bowl of mush. That’s Rudjek, and only Rudjek can pull it off. In KOS, he was slated to be the next vizier because of his father, in Reaper he’s known as a prince because his dad snaked his way into becoming the monarch. So, now he’s the snarky prince…. And the only snarky prince with rights! His POVs were actually so fun to read, like following the politics of the Kingdom and him dealing with his new craven powers…. Which also had him being able to smell pheromones when people were doing the dirty around him 😭

I really liked that Rena gave him a POV, because now we get to see how he develops given the fact that him and Arrah are dangerous to one another, because he saps her magic with a single touch and could kill her. The whole time Arrah is stressing like “Damn, what if he doesn’t like me anymore because we can’t touch” meanwhile Rudjek is like “I’ll fight the Gods if I have to, to keep her by my side” and it’s like 🥺Also, who let a teenager be in control of a whole army… I thought the vizier was a sly and smart man but I digress… Another thing I liked about Rudjek in this book was that he didn’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations with Arrah, regarding the fact that he confused Efiya for Arrah when they did the unspeakable in the clearing in KOS. Like, that was very mature of them and I’m glad they could deal with that misunderstanding… But… hands down… my favourite scene… During the climax of the book Rudjek gets a demon soul shoved down his body, and immediately assumes it’s the demon king…. And his only command to his friends is to not let him near Arrah😭😭😭 I was like PEAK ROMANCE, SOFTEST SHIT, SACRIFICIAL LOVER!!!!! 

Kae: SO GEENA SUMMED UP RUDJEK SO DAMN WELL. LIKE DUDE OMG? Correct. He is perfect. I really don’t have much to add but I just genuinely loved him as a character. He is caring for both Arrah and his friends. He is also one of the few male characters I’ve read that actively tries to go against their father. Most dudes in books are like “Fine puhpa, I shall do your evil bidding.” But Rudjek is like “Sike bitch, I’ll let you think that but I’m doing what I WAAAANT!” 

But okay, let’s talk about Daho. So first off, I love him??? Am I a villain sympathizer now? Tbh, I don’t really see him as a villain. Man’s didn’t commit a genocide or try to scheme Arrah out of her pants. AND HE VERY MUCH HAD THE CHANCE TO and he was like “nah.” And I appreciate that. Because there are a few certain villainous men who I shan’t name, that be on that scant shit. And Daho is just like… genuinely trying to avenge his wife’s death (Dimma) and try to get Arrah to remember that she is Dimma. 

YES, I know he got Arti to bring him back. BUUUUUT, he didn’t tell her to kill a bunch of kids and shit to do it. Arti did all that evil shit on her own and Daho was like “look, i don’t condone that shit. But it’s over and I’m sorry it happened but I can’t change it.” And I’m like… okay, mood. I get it. Daho is sweet and caring. He looked out for Arrah in *redacted’s* body because we didn’t know *redacted* was dead the whole time. And even then, Daho was still like “My bad… But he wasn’t using his body??? So I took it???” Why let it go to waste, amiright? 

Geena: STOOOOP FOR REAL HE WAS LIKE “It was empty, I didn’t think you’d mind” 

Kae: LMAOOO OKAY BUT DEADASS. And like, idk man. He just seriously isn’t a bad person. He was trapped because after the God’s killed Dimma, he was like “BET IMMA JUST KILL THEM” and they lowkey were shook so they trapped his ass in a box for a millenia or whatever. He wasn’t even out to kill all humanity or anything. The God’s were just being some haters and now he’s suddenly the bad guy. Anyway, we stan Daho in this house. 

Geena: Daho is how you write a sympathetic villain. He owns up to his own mistakes even while his demons run free terrorizing people. Kae said it best that he just wants justice for his wife and unfortunately history is written by the victors so the Orisha painted him out to be a bad guy… My dude was just chugging that respecting my wife juice and they killed her… and he also thinks they killed his son… Guess me and Kae are just villain sympathizers now 

The Bad:   

→ The Ending 

Kae: Okay, let’s get it. And I also just want to clarify that when we say “the bad”, we don’t mean we hate it. This is just something that was like “oh fuck, this is BAAAAD! THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GO DOOOWN.” 

But like, good Lord. The ending? That shit was crazy. First of all, we find out that *redacted* aka, SUKKAR. OUR SWEET, PLAYFUL, SARCASTIC SUKKAR. IS DEAD. HE HAS BEEN DEAD THIS WHOLE TIME!? Excuse me while I *SCREEEEEEEEEEEAM*. Like, what an unforeseen twist. This mf kicked the bucket back in KOS when Arrah tried to save him. Turns out… She maybe… Totally… possibly… Absolutely killed my guy on accident. He dead-dead. And this is how we find out that Daho took over his body, once Sukkar’s spirit ascended. It was a really sad reveal and my heart kind of hurt reading it. I straight up wasn’t expecting that to happen. THEEEEEN. GOTDAMN EFIYA. IS BROUGHT BACK. 

Geena: No joke, the ending of Reaper was just one sucker punch followed by another… At first you think Tyrek (the prince from KOS who joins Arrah and her crew on a journey to save the tribespeople) is the demon king, then you think it’s Rudjek because he’s getting possessed, and then you learn it’s Sukkar… The final punch to the gut was Daho bringing back Efiya because his close general asked for her… because she’s his daughter. We were like, DAHO ARE YOU SERIOUS YOU SAW THE DAMAGE SHE DID TO THE HUMANS!!! Like Efiya may have grown quickly in a few months but her brain isn’t fully developed, like that girl is UNHINGED!!! I thought we were done with the Efiya chapter but here we are, and I’m scared to see what role she’ll play in the final instalment of the series. I guess this is the case of bringing back an old villain that can work out really well…  I trusted Rena with the messy Arrah/Daho/Rudjek love triangle, so I trust her with this too 

The Ugly:  

→ Tyrek 

Geena: Remember how I said Rudjek is the only valid snarky prince… Yea, Tyrek can CHOKE!! In KOS he sides with Efiya and she wreaks havoc in the Kingdom, and in Reaper he’s brought to his knees. Rudjek’s dad wants to execute him for his crimes, but Arrah sympathizes with him because she knows how Efiya’s mind control worked. As you read, you get a sense of “Okay, maybe he isn’t bad, he’s helping Arrah and them” but then you get to the climax and you’re like okay nvm this boy was insane… Imagine travelling to a whole other dimension and making deals with demons, because you’re in a fucked up sort of romance with a half-demon girl. He managed to lie to Arrah that he was being controlled by Efiyah, when he was really with Efiya the whole way…. Even when she told him to murder his whole family… this man was vile!! He’s also one of our first fake outs, when he pretends to be the demon king I was kinda disappointed… I was like no this ruins the messy love triangle I’ve been waiting for! But it was just a fake out, Tyrek was just trying to scare Arrah into freeing Efiya, whose soul was in the demon dagger that Arrah used to kill her in KOS. Overall, 1/10 for this man… the 1 point is for when he figured out “Sukkar” had a crush on Arrah before Arrah even knew.  

Conclusion 

Kae: So, I don't have much to add to Tyrek’s snake ass. He really was ugly in the end. I’m glad he’s dead. 

But to conclude, this was such an amazing, refreshing read. Reaper of Souls was a wonderful sequel to Kingdom of Souls. Rena writes so beautifully and she didn’t hesitate to have us readers shaking in our boots. Getting more background information on Dimma, the Gods, and their old ass war, was really fun and insightful! IT added to the story in a way I hadn’t even thought about until I was consuming it all! 

Arrah and Rudjek are perfect angels and I can’t wait to see where book three leads them. I also want to give a shout out to Essnai and Majka for being such good friends to Arrah and Rudjek. Same to Kira and the Cravens. This is a really close knit group of friends who will go to the ends of the Earth (and literally new dimensions) for each other. THAT’S LOVE, BITCH. And we LOVE to see it. 

Geena: For real! Rena Barron set up such an amazing cast of characters, and she really emphasizes the power of friendship in her series and it’s one of my favourite things to read. With Reaper, from the very start, she sets up the story in such a way you’re literally screaming by the end… I think it requires a special kind of skill to be able to set up a story so well that while you do make predictions about what’s going to happen, it still shocks you when you realize you’re right. Cannot wait to see the absolute mess that will be the final book, with Rudjek/Arrah vs. Daho… and the drama it will bring now that the Orishas realize that Arrah is Dimma’s reincarnation.  

Arc1, book 2: Chapter: 11

It had been a moon since the last gathering but things seemed..okay for the most part.

Cloudkit, Bearkit, Violetkit, and Flamekit were in Shadowclan for the time being. His nerves were going crazy, Bluestar honestly had to make sure he didn't try to storm over there. It made him even more determined to take care of his remaining kits, easy to keep Shrikekit and Sunnykit pleased and just mostly making sure Fuzzypelt got to see his grandkits, mainly Rosekit and not giving to shits what Robinwing and Chestnutclaw thought, it seemed to apply to Cherrycloud's litter as well.

He honestly stuck around Tiger-roar and Nightshade because he didn't want them to suspect anything. It was less about his own safety and more about what would happen to his kits, didn't help when Raveneye was avoiding him most of the time, only really being around him at night. He wanted to find hard evidence to bring to Bluestar but he only had his word against Tiger-roar and Nightshade's. He tried to bring it up to Bluestar but her glare was enough to know that wouldn't work, she almost kicked him out of the den when their kits were sleeping.

To give them credit, they covered their tracks very well where it would only be word vs word.

Since Redtail's death, Sandstorm has been running herself ragged. Working hard with hunting and training Marigoldpaw harshly, Icefire could tell she wasn't taking breaks. Dustpelt isn't any better, Icefire knew him and Redtail were close, he also saw the bruises Pouncepaw got from training. Honestly he dragged them away and to camp more often than not to save their apprentices from passing out before they made it back to camp.

He took times to help train with all the other apprentices at this point since his own had been chasing rabbits til they returned. It was hilarious to fight with Fogtail and not get in trouble for it.

Marshstar's idea did work, they found the rouges and sent them backing into Twolegplace.

As much as he trued not to he drifted back to his conversation with Nettlemist yesterday:

-Flashback-

Icefire had just finished hunting with a newly named Cinderfreeze and Brackenfur. They wanted to get started early on the new-leaf hunting. Took him a few tries but he caught his kits favorite, Magpie.

"I'm surprised you wanted to name yourself after me"

"Some cats said it was fitting for me, Harekit liked it" Cinderfreeze replied "I guess you rubbed off on me but you also helped me be a warrior Icefire, you trained me and convinced me to train under Deadfoot so I could still be useful to my clan"

"You were always gonna be useful Cinderfreeze" Brackenfur mewed, rubbing himself against his adopted sibling.

"You say that but..." Cinderfreeze trailed off and Icefire knew what they meant.

"I say screw the mouse-brains" Icefire purred

Cinderfreeze and Brackenfang chuckled through the prey. The chuckling stopped when they heard small sobs. Icefire dropped his prey and went to check it out.

"Head back to camp" he mewed

"But Icefire-" Icefire cut Brackenfur off

"I'll be fine, I'll tell you two later but go"

He had jumped on a log, looking around. He then lowered himself then looked inside the log to see Nettlemist crying. The nursery tom had a paw over his eyes and his fluffy dark gray tail over his head.

"Nettlemist?"

The pointed gray tom looked up and screeched when he saw Icefire.

"W..what are you doing here?" Nettlemist said, trying to wipe his tears with his paw

"I could say the same thing with you crying in a log"

Nettlemist padded out of the log, his eyes puffy and red from crying. "Don't worry about it"

Icefire jumped from the log "You're my friend Nettlemist and I care deeply about you, of course I'll worry"

"I'm fine" the pointed tom snapped

"The more you say it the more I don't believe you" Icefire retorted, he lifted Nettlemist's chin with his paw "What's wrong Nettlemist?"

Nettlemist sat down with a thump, he covered his leg stump with his tail.

"Nettle, please" Icefire pleaded

Tears seemed to form in Nettlemist's blue eyes. "I feel useless" he whispered

Icefire looked shocked "How?"

"Icefire you know I'm not a good fighter or hunter, I'm very useless in a fight and I usually depend on others for food" Nettlemist looked away "I've always been interested in nursery life but after my injury, I felt like I had to be a nursery tom to be useful"

"You were always going to be useful to Thunderclan"

Nettlemist whipped his head around to face him "Don't say that fox-dung Icefire you know just as well that Thunderclan would pile all the disabled cats and let us rot if they could" tears ran down his face "I'm the son of two great and respected warriors and over-seers, I know others say I'm a disgrace to what they worked for"

Icefire knew Nettlemist spoke truth.

"They only reason the clan doesn't treat Frostbite and Featherears worse is because of Bluestar and don't get me started on what I heard Robinwing said about Cinderfreeze"

Icefire couldn't respond to that, he felt all the comments about his issues and his outsider blood. He did his best to bury his feelings but he was starting to feel them spilling out.

'Don't cry Don't cry you weak son of a bitch' he yelled at himself. He felt a flashback of training and Nightshade scolding him for crying when he hurt his paw during training. Even now he was taking her advise "Crying is for the weak" the dark molly had said "Warriors know how to hold their pain"

He held Nettlemist close, letting the other tom cry and rant.

-Flashback ends-

Icefire hated every time he remembered that. He tried not to be he too felt useless sometimes. Tiger-roar could call him a kittypet all he wanted but the great warrior knew he was far from useless from the way he trained him. He knew he would have to put all of what Tiger-roar taught him to bring him down.

He felt a nudge on his shoulder and glanced at his companion "Hey Ice, you okay?" Graystripe asked, her yellow eyes filled with concern

"Yeah I'm fine just thinking" Icefire replied

"Bout how Voletail's a mouse-brain"

"He's your former apprentice Graystripe"

"He's acting like he's Starclan's gift, I didn't expect he'd be a warrior so soon"

"It's not Brokentail soon and he's been growing alot since before and after he came back, he was old enough" Icefire muttered "Over-seers did say he was doing well"

"Not sure why Leopardstorm or Miststrike had to admit it" Graystripe looked away "I'm worried for Riverclan"

"Me too"

Icefire knew Riverclan was having troubles. He saw all the oil and the dark, rotting fish. He wanted to do something or at least check up on them.

When they reached the edge of the trees Icefire realized that the water had risen even farther. The Sunningrocks were almost submerged now, and the current swirled around them in tight circles. "We'll never make it across there" he mewed

"Let's head downstream" Graystripe suggested "We might be able to use the stepping stones"

"We can try" Icefire mewed uncertainly. He was about to follow his lover when he thought he heard something a thin, wailing sound, above the wind and the rushing of the torrent. He didn't know if it was real of his ears acting up. "Wait," he called "Did you hear that?"

Graystripe looked back, both cats stood, ears pricked, straining to catch the sound. Then Icefire heard it again the panic-stricken mewing of kits in distress.

"Where are they?" he mewed, looking around and up into the trees. "I can't see them"

"There" Graystripe flicked her tail in the direction of the Sunningrocks "Icefire, they'll drown!"

Icefire saw that the current had driven a mat of twigs and debris up against the Sunningrocks. Two kits balanced precariously on it, their tiny mouths stretched wide as they wailed for help. Even as Icefire watched, the current tugged at the mat, threatening to sweep it away. "Come on," he yowled to Graystripe "We've got to reach them somehow"

Taking a deep breath, he waded into the flood. The water soaked into his fur at once, and paralyzing, icy chill crept up his legs. The tug of the current made it harder to stay on his paws with every step he took.

Graystripe splashed in behind him, but when the water reached her belly fur she stopped. "Icefire..." she choked out.

Icefire twisted around to give her a comforting nod. He could understand how the river might terrify Graystripe, after he nearly dragged her into a water grave moons ago. "Stay there" he mewed "I'll try to push the mat over to you"

Graystripe nodded, trembling too trembling too violently to speak. Icefire waded forward a few more paces, then launched himself into t he current and began to swim, thrashing his legs instinctively to push himself through the disgusting black water. They were upstream of the Sunningrocks; if Starclan was kind, he should be carried down toward the kits.

For a moment he lost sight of them in the wind-ruffled waves, though he could still hear their terrified cries. Then the smooth gray bulk of a Sunningrocks loomed up beside him. He kicked out strongly, fearing for one panic-stricken heartbeat that he would be swept right past.

The current swirled; Icefire's paws worked furiously, and the river tossed him against the rock, driving the breath out of his body. He saw the outline of the tortie that was around Bluestar, her wounds didn't look healed, her amber eyes eyes were filled with worry. She flicked her tail in the direction. He thought the kits were. He scrabbled at the rough surface, bracing himself against the rushing water, and found himself face-to-face with the two kits.

They were both very small, still suckling from their dam, Icefire guessed. One was a dark gray tom with dark mottled markings that reminded him of Goosefeather and the other was a black tom, their fur plastered against their tiny bodies, their brilliant blue eyes wide with terror. They were crouched on a tangled mat twigs, leaves, and human rubbish, but when they saw Icefire they started to scramble toward him. The mat lurched and their wails grew louder as river water sloshed over them.

"Save them!" The tortie's voice rang in his ears.

"Keep still!" Icefire gasped, paddling against the current. Briefly he wondered if he could climb onto the rock and haul the kits up with him but he saw the tortie look at him and shake her head as if she could hear his thoughts. He shook that though away and went with the better plan which was to push the mat over to Graystripe. Looking back, he saw his friend had already moved downstream, into a good position to catch the mat as it swept toward him.

"Here we go" Icefire muttered "Starclan help us!" He pushed himself off the rock, thrusting at the mat with his muzzle to guide it into the current. The two kits whimpered and flattened themselves against the twigs.

Icefire put every last scrap of energy into pushing the mat ahead of them with nose and paws. He could feel exhaustion draining the strength from his limbs. His fur was soaked, and he was so cold he cold hardly breathe. Raising their head and blinking water out of his eyes, he realized with horror that he had lost sight of Graystripe and the bank. It seemed as if there was nothing in the world but the churning water, the fragile mat of twigs, and the two terrified kits.

Then he heard Graystripe's voice, sounding close by "Icefire! Icefire, here!"

Icefire thrust again at the mat, trying to propel it toward the voice. It spun away from him, and his head went under. Coughing and choking, he clawed his way back to the surface, to see Graystripe pacing on dry land just a few tail lengths away.

For a heartbeat Icefire felt relief that he was nearly there. Then he focused his blurred eyes on the kits again, and again fear pulsed through him. The mat was beginning to break up.

Icefire watched helplessly as the twigs underneath the gray kit gave way and the tiny creature was plunged into the torrent.

"No!" Graystripe yowled, launching herself after the drowning kit.

Icefire had lost sight of them because of his fucked up vision. He heard the kit left on the mat squealing desperately, the kit was trying to cling to the twigs, he felt the mat starting to split apart by the current. With the last of his strength Icefire drove himself forward, sank his teeth into the little creature's scruff, and kicked out for dry ground.

Within moments he felt stones as he rolled onto them, keeping the kit close during the process and managed to stand. Stone-limbed with weariness, he staggered out and dropped the gray kit on the grass edge of the flood. Its eyes were closed; he was not sure if the kit was still alive.

Glancing downstream and narrowing his eyes, he saw Graystripe splashing out of the shallows, with the black kit gripped firmly in her teeth. He padded up to Icefire and set it gently on the ground.

Icefire nosed both kits. They were lying very still, but when Icefire looked closer he could see the faint rise and fall of their flanks as they breathed. "Thank Starclan" he muttered. He began to lick the black kit like he did kits in the nursery, Graystripe followed his example.

Soon the black kit twitched and coughed up a mouthful of river water. It took longer for the gray kit to respond, but at last it too coughed up water and opened its eyes.

"I'm so glad they're alive" Graystripe exclaimed, her voice filled with relief

"Yes, but they won't survive long without their dam" Icefire pointed out. He sniffed the black kit carefully. The river water had washed off much of the clan scent, but he could detect a faint trace. "Riverclan, Mistyfoot's kits" he mewed, unsurprised "We'll have to take them home"

He had almost drowned rescuing the kits, and he felt exhausted. His limbs were cold and stiff, and his fur was soaked to the bone. He may look bulky but it's mostly fluff. He honestly wanted nothing more than to creep into his nest and sleep for a moon.

Graystripe, still crouched over the gray kit, looked as if she felt the same. Her thick gray fur was flattened against her body, and her yellow eyes were wide with anxiety. "Do you think we can cross?" she mewed

"We've got to Gray, or the kits will die" Forcing himself to his paws, Icefire picked up the black kit and headed downstream. "Let's see if we can cross the stepping-stones, like you said" Graystripe padded after him, carrying the gray kit through the wet grass at the edge of the floodwater.

When the river was at its usual level, the stepping-stones were an easy route across for Riverclan cats. The longest leap from rock to rock was mo more than a tail-length, and Riverclan controlled the territory here on both sides of the river.

Now floodwater completely covered the stones. But where they had once broken the surface, a dead tree, its bark stripped away, lay across the river. Icefire guessed that some of its branches had been caught on the submerged stepping-stones.

"Thank Starclan!" he exclaimed. "We can use the tree to cross" He adjusted his grip on the kit and waded out into the flood toward the splintered end of the tree trunk. The kit, seeing the churning water barley a mouse-length below its nose, began to mewl and struggle feebly.

"Keep still, both of you" Graystripe growled gently, as she set down the gray kit to adjust her grip. "We're going to find your dam"

Icefire wasn't sure if his terrified kit was even old enough to understand, but at least it went limp again so it was easier to carry. he had lift his head high to keep the tiny creature clear of the water as he floundered toward the tree. He reached it without needing to swim and sprung upward, clawing for a grip on the soft, rotting wood.

Once he had pulled himself up, his main concern was keeping a pawhold on the smooth, slippery trunk. Gingerly placing each of his paws in straight line, Icefire padded toward the opposite bank with river churning beneath him, sucking at the tree as if it wanted to sweep it, and its burden of cats, away downstream. Icefire glanced back to see Graystripe following with the gray kit, his face creased with determination.

At the far end trunk divided into a tangle of broken branches. Icefire ducked down to squeeze through them, being careful not to let the kit's fur catch the splinters. It was harder to find a pawhold as the branches tapered, and he ran out of anything that might bear his weight when there was still a gap of a couple of fox-lengths separating him from the far side of the river.

Icefire took a deep breath, flexed his hindlegs, and leaped. his front paws his bank while his hind paws kicked madly in the rushing current. As water splashed up, the kit started to struggle again. Icefire kept his teeth clenched in its neck fur as he sank his front claws into soft earth and scrabbled upward until he stood safely on the bank. He lurched forward a few paces and set the kit down gently.

Glancing around, he saw Graystripe pulling himself out of the water a little way downstream. He lowered the gray kit to the ground and shook herself. "The river water tastes like mouse-dung" she spat

"Have you tried fox-dung? cause you would need to know what that tastes like to make a comparison" Icefire smirked

"Icefire!" Graystripe whined

Icefire couldn't help but chuckle. "Look on the bright side" Icefire suggested.

"What's the bright side?"

"It could've been fox-dung"

"That's it you little-" Graystripe broke off as three cats crashed out of the bushes just beyond her. Icefire braced himself as he recognized Leopardclaw, Blackclaw, and Stonefur. Forcing his tired legs to move, he picked up the gray kit and padded along the bank to stand beside Graystripe. The gray warrior hauled herself to her paws, and the two cats set down their burdens and faced their enemies together.

Icefire hoped that the patrol wouldn't attack them. He knew that he and Graystripe were too exhausted to stand up to a patrol of strong, fresh warriors, and his head spun as he tried to summon enough energy for a fight into his frozen paws. But to his relief, the Riverclan cats halted a few tail-length away.

"What's this?" Leopardclaw growled. Her golden-spotted fur bristled, and her ears were flattened against her head.

Beside her, Blackclaw stood with his lips drawn back in a snarl. "Why are you-" he was cut off by Stonefur rushing over to them "They found them, Pikekit Perchkit, they found Misty's kits" the scarred warrior mewed with relief. Graystripe rested the black kit down and Stonefur nuzzled it.

Leopardclaw's eyes widen with realization, she stepped forward but Blackclaw stepped infront of her. His amber eyes blazing with mistrust. "How do we know you didn't try to steal them?"

Icefire stared at the black tom. After risking their lives in the floodwater, he couldn't believe that they were actually being accused of stealing the kits. "Don't be such a mouse-brain!" he spat "No cat from Thunderclan tried to steal your kits when we could walk across the river on the ice. Why do you think we'd try it now? We nearly drowned! Do you think we're Brokentail?"

Leopardclaw looked thoughtful and seemed pleased with that response, but Blackclaw stalked up and thrust his head aggressively into Icefire's face.

Stonefur turned his head "Blackclaw don't-"

But Blackclaw did. He struck Icefire, he felt claws split open his nose. Icefire stumbled a little and Blackclaw advanced, pinning him down.

"Blackclaw!" Leopardclaw mewed sharply "Back off! We'll let these cats explain themselves to Stormstar, and see if he believes them"

"I say we deal with them now" Blackclaw snarled back, spitting in Icefire's face

Icefire struck Blackclaw with an uppercut on the bottom of his right cheek. He kicked off the older warrior, his teeth bared. "I'd say listen to your clanmate"

"Why you-"

Stonefur shoved Blackclaw to the ground, the black warrior pinned on his back with Stonefur digging his claws in. "Enough Blackclaw" he gazed at Icefire's wound "Doesn't look like it'll scar"

"Let's go" Leopardclaw ordered

The Riverclan deputy led the way along the bank, Blackclaw tried to take Pikekit from Icefire who he'd been carrying but Stonefur shoved him away once again while carrying the Perchkit.

When they reached the island where the Riverclan cat shad their camp, Icefire saw a wide channel of racing water separated it from the ridge of dry ground, wrenching at the overhanging boughs of the willows trees. No cats were visible through the reeds, and Icefire could see silver water lapping among the bushes that concealed the camp.

Leopardclaw paused, her eyes widening with alarm. "The water has risen since we left camp" she mewed

As she spoke, a yowl came from behind at the top of the slope, "Leopardclaw! Up here!"

Icefire turned to see Stormstar, emerging from the shelter of the bushes. His gray tabby coat was soaked, fur sticking out in all directions, and his twisted jaw made him look as if he were mocking the patrol and their prisoners.

"What happened?" Leopardclaw demanded as she reached her leader.

"The camp is flooded" Stormstar replied. His voice was flat with defeat. "We've had to move up here"

As he spoke, Silverstream, Morningriver, and Poolpaw emerged cautiously from the bushes.

"And what have you brought us?" Stormstar went on.

"They found the kits" Leopardclaw told him, nodding to Stonefur and Icefire to bring the kits forward. Blackclaw tried to take Pikekit again but Icefire shoved him away with a paw as he set the kit down, he heard Stonefur chuckle. "They claim they pulled them out of the river"

"I don't believe a word of it!" Blackclaw spat "You can't trust a Thunderclan cat"

At the mention of the kits, Silverstream had turned and disappeared rapidly under the bushes again. Stormstar padded forward and sniffed the pathetic bundles. By now they had began to recover from their ordeal and were trying to sit up, though they still looked completely waterlogged.

"Mistyfoot's kits went missing in the flood, we didn't know if they survived" The gray tabby leader lifted his head, his eyes didn't seem hostile just with pure exhaustion.

At that moment Mistyfoot broke out of the bushes and came racing over to them. "My kits! Where are my kits?" They crouched over the tiny scraps of fur, staring wildly around as if they thought the other cats would try to take them away from her. Then they began licking them furiously, trying to comfort both of them at once. Stonefur and Mudbelly pressed up close on either side of them and mewed comfortingly into their ear. Skyeyes and Leopardclaw also went to comfort the frantic cat.

Silvertream, Willowheart, and Minnowpool followed slowly more slowly and stood beside their father, eyeing the Thunderclan cats.

More cats emerged after them and gathered curiously around. Some seemed at little calmer when they saw him, they were already used to his presence. He spotted Condorpaw, he flashed him a small smile as did Lakepaw. He saw Mudfur, crouching near Mistyfoot to examine the kits.

All of the Riverclan cats were wet through, and the fur clinging to their bodies showed they were skinnier than ever.

The Weekend Warrior 4/16/21: IN THE EARTH, JAKOB’S WIFE, GUNDA and LINCOLN CENTER REOPENS

This is hopefully gonna be a relatively lighter and more streamlined column, because I have so much going on over at Below the Line, including a full weekend of awards this weekend past and another even busier one coming up. Because of this, I wasn’t really able to watch nearly as much stuff as I would have liked and have written fewer than normal reviews. (I know you’ve heard this tune before, but unfortunately, this state will continue for at least the next week, but once Oscars are done and past, I can get back to this column.

The big news this week is that New York’s Film at Lincoln Center has reopened with a retrospective celebrating the 50th Anniversary of FilmLinc’s long-running collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, New Directors/New Films, which will begin on April 28. You can see the full line-up of the 2021 New Directors/New Films here, though I’m not sure how much I’ll be covering this year. (see above) It will take place in the virtual cinemas of FilmLinc and MOMA for people across the country and for those in New York City at the reopened FilmLinc theaters.

Leading up to that date, there will be a two-week retrospective called New Directors/New Films at 50, which will screen at the FilmLinc theaters as well as on Virtual Cinema, and that line up is:

Duvidha dir. Mani Kaul

Following dir. Christopher Nolan

The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick dir. Wim Wenders

The Living End dir. Gregg Araki

Lucía dir. Humberto Solás

My Brother’s Wedding dir. Charles Burnett

Peppermint Candy dir. Lee Chang-dong

Playing Away dir. Horace Ové

Les Rendez-vous d’Anna dir. Chantal Akerman

Sleepwalk dir. Sara Driver

Twenty Years Later dir. Eduardo Coutinho

Speaking of festivals, apparently there is a Brazilian genre fest going on right now called Fantaspoa 2021 that takes place on the Brazilian streaming horror service Dark Flix.

I have family in Brazil including a filmmaking cousin so I wonder if they know about this, but they seem to have a lot of cool and interesting films to share… and someday I hope to watch some of them. :)

Let’s get into some of the theatrical releases, shouldn’t we?

Filmmaker Ben Wheatley (High-Rise, Free Fire) is back with his eco-thriller IN THE EARTH (Neon), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It stars Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia as Dr. Martin Lowery and Alma, two park rangers sent into the woods in search of missing researchers only to encounter an odd and eccentric hermit woodsman named Zach (Reece Shearsmith), who has lots of crazy ideas about nature and its effects on humans, so he proceeds to capture and torture the two rangers.

This is another one of Wheatley’s stranger films, one that he completely filmed and completed during the pandemic, and I’m not even sure what I can completely explain in the second half of the movie, not just due to spoilers but also because it just goes into some fairly out there places. But no mistake that this is true horror, especially when you see how the two main characters have to deal with the situation they found themselves in.

What’s interesting is that the story takes place during a pandemic but not necessarily the one we’re currently in, but as Martin and Alma get deeper into the woods, horrible things start happening. They’re attacked in their tents while sleeping and their shoes are stolen and then Martin gets a nasty cut on his foot that gets infected with something almost plant-like, which leads to a fairly tense and horrifying scene later on.

The movie shifts pretty drastically in the second half as the duo encounter another researcher named Olivia (Hayley Squires), who happens to be Zach’s wife AND Martin’s ex-girlfriend. Yeah, it’s that kind of movie, but it’s also one where it’s never really more than the two or three characters at a time. The movie can be slow at times but it always maintains the viewer’s interest in what is happening and what might happen next. And then it just gets so strange in that last act, really trippy and surreal and crazy with lots of fast-cut images and loud noises that really puts the viewer even further on edge. OH, and as you can see from the picture, Zach has an axe, which takes the film into places more akin to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and away from the more cerebral stuff.

Where In the Earth really transcends is that it’s just such a great looking movie, and when you have a composer like Clint Mansell providing the score, as he did with Wheatley’s High-Rise, then you end up with a movie that works quite well for what it’s trying to do, which is to astound, disorient and puzzle the viewer but in a way that makes them want to watch it again and try to figure out more with each viewing.

As weird as the movie is, I could see there being an audience for the movie, particularly when you consider how movies like The Witch and Hereditary and Midsommar and The Lighthouse have found a niche audience or auteur lovers. Oddly, all four of those movies were released by A24, offering further proof that NEON is trying to get in on their turn.

I’m not quite sure how many theaters NEON is putting In the Earth into, but Wheatley’s latest eco-thriller maybe a harder sell with no known stars, and it’s definitely gonna be looking to bring in cinephile and auteur-huggers more than the normal Joe or Jill off the street. I expect NEON will try to get the movie into at least 1,000 theaters with many screens and reopened movie houses looking for content, but I’m not sure I’d expect this to do that much better than last week’s Voyagers, but maybe $3 million or so. It just doesn’t have much chance against a mainstream movie like Godzilla vs. Kong.

Anyway, check it out. I’ll have an interview with Ben Wheatley over at Below the Line probably early next week.

Another movie I highly recommend for horror fans is Travis Stevens’ JAKOB’S WIFE (RLJEfilms/Shudder), which stars the terrific Barbara Crampton and equally great Larry Fessenden as Ann Fedder, a woman married to the local small town pastor (aka Jakob), who feels that she hasn’t been able to live her full life while married to him for 30 years. When she has an encounter with a mysterious figure known as “The Master,” she finds herself gaining powers that allow her to live a new life but it has dark effects on her and everyone else in the town.

One thing I probably should mention is that I’ve known Larry Fessenden for a long time -- a friend of mine co-starred in his early movie Habit -- and I’m just a huge fan of Barbara Crampton from her classic horror films and more recent ones like my pal Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here, which starred both of the actors.. And was produced by director Travis Stevens. See, how it all comes together?

This is another movie I don’t want to say too much about, as to not spoil your enjoyment of watching the various elements coming into place. Fessenden and Crampton are great as always, but I particularly like how Stevens has made a fairly contemporary horror movie that throws back to classic tropes like Cronenberg body horror and straight-out giallo blood flying everywhere.

I will say that the story involves a bit of a twist on the vampire movie, but more in vein of the weirdness from that 1988 Nicholas Cage movie, Vampire’s Kiss, versus anything like a studio Dracula movie, but it gives the two actors (especially Crampton) a chance to shine and really show different aspects of their abilities. Oh, also there’s lots of rats… lots and lots of rats...

Jakob’s Wife is a pretty fine independent horror film that certainly will deal a number of shrieks and squeals, and though it’s opening in theaters, On Demand and digital, much like most of RLJEfilms/Shudder’s offerings, I wish there were more of the local genre movie houses in which to watch it with a crowd cause even the SXSW Premiere probably wasn’t the same without an audience. Sigh, when will this fucking pandemic be over?!?

Oh, and by the way, I have an interview with Stevens over at Below the Line, so check that out to learn more.

Before we get to the rest of the new movies, let’s check out what’s going on at a few of my local digs, the Metrograph and Film Forum. Metrograph is just wrapping up another Aaron Sorkin retrospective, just three movies this time that wrapped with The Trial of the Chicago 7 (again) last night. On Friday, you can catch Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-nominated Another Round, starring Mads Mikkelsen, running as part of its digital Live Screenings series… I keep saying and will keep saying until you list. It’s $5 a month to join and watch a ton of cool movies!

Michael and Christian Blackwood’s Monk in Europe runs until next Monday and then there’s a few others also running through the weekend. Just click on that link above and join already!

At the Film Forum, Hitchcock’s great Rear Window is just wrapping up today, and I’m bummed I didn’t get a chance to see it on the big screen again. Starting Friday is Alec Guinness and Kind Hearts and Coronets, which had a pretty successful run at Film Forum in the before-times. The doc Gunda (right below) is also starting there in its reopened theaters as is the Norwegian Oscar entry Hope, starring the always great Stellan Skarsgard.

Victor (Aquarela) Kossakovsky’s acclaimed documentary GUNDA (NEON), which played most of the festivals last year is finally getting a bonafide theatrical release. It’s a black and white cinema verité that follows the lives of a number of farm animals, a mother pig, some chickens and a herd of cows. As a fan of The Biggest Little Farm, this is a movie that I’m apt to enjoy since I love nature docs, but it also involves staring at a screen (mostly my TV set) watching animals, which I really have to be in the right mood for, and it’s really been tough to get into that mood in the past year.

Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough star in Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s MONDAY (IFC Films) as Americans living in Athens who meet and have a whirlwind weekend one hot summer. Gough plays Chloe, whose time in Greece is coming to an end, but she has to decide whether to pass up a big job back home to see if the weekend she had with Stan’s Mickey is worth exploring and turning into something more serious. I do hope to get to this one eventually, but who knows when?

Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen’s FOR THE SAKE OF VICIOUS (Dread) stars Lora Burke as Romina (Lora Burke), single mother and nurse, who returns home after a late shift on Halloween night to find a maniac hiding in her home with a beat-up hostage. When a mob of intruders invade Romina’s home, the three have to work together to survive. The movie will hit theaters on Friday, be available via On Demand on Tuesday and then hit Blu-ray on May 4, so you’ll have lots of options to see it.

Barry Pepper stars in Brad (“24,” “Homeland”) Turner’s TRIGGER POINT (Screen Media), which will hit theaters this Friday and be On Demand on April 23. In it, he plays retired U.S. special operative Nicolas Brazer, who worked as a shadow assassin for the government but disappeared into a life of solitude after being accused of killing his team. Two years later, he’s drawn back into the world to clear his name and maybe turn a new leaf.

I don’t have a ton to say about this film, especially cause we just saw it in a much better version of this movie called Nobody. Pepper’s a great actor and that’s probably what saves Trigger Point from being a total loss, but it’s a fairly dry by-the-books crime thriller with a fairly generic plot that we’ve seen plenty of times before and often quite a bit better.

Also out this week is Christo Brock’s craft beer documentary BREWMANCE (Giant Pictures), which looks at… you guessed it… the history and obsession that a number of brewers have with craft beer. This is a fine doc, but like Gunda, I have to be in the right mood for it, and I’m just so busy that I never was able to just sit down and just concentrate on watching this.

Alan Yuen, the screenwriter of New Police Storyand director of Firestorm return with THE ROOKIES (Shout! Studios!), starring Alu Wang and Milla Jovovich. Wang plays daredevil and extreme sports lover Zhao Feng, who gets caught up in an illegal trade scheme when he crosses paths with Jovovich’s Special Agent Bruce and she recruits him for the Order of the Phantom Knighthood. The group is dedicated to fighting evil in all its incarnations, and it’s a ragtag outfit of four rookies with different skills. This sounds like my kind of jam, and at any other time, I would have had more time to watch and review it. Two weeks before the Oscars is not that time.

Devereux Millburn’s HONEYDEW (Dark Star Pictures/Bloody Disgusting) stars Sawyer Spielberg and Malin Barr as a young couple forced to seek shelter in the home of an aging farmer (Barbara Kingsley from “Jessica Jones”) and her odd son until they start having strange hallucinations and cravings. It’s a little odd that two horror sites, Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting, have movies out this week as they venture in distribution. But I just didn’t have time to see either movie. Sorry, guys!

And then the other movies I wasn’t able to get to this week include:

BEAST BEAST (Vanishing Angle)

VANQUISH (Lionsgate)

NIGHT OF THE SICARIO (Saban Films)

BILL TRAYLOR: CHASING GHOSTS (Kino Lorber)

OUR TOWNS (HBO/HBO Max)

GOODBYE BUTTERFLY (Gravitas Ventures)

That’s it for this week. Next week is actually the release of the new Mortal Kombat from Warner Bros. although I’m expecting a very busy weekend with awards over at Below the Line, so we’ll see how far I get. Wish me luck!

Godzilla vs. Kong Celý Film Česky CZ Zdarma (2021)

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Legendy se střetnou ve filmu Godzilla vs. Kong, kde se tito mýtičtí protivníci setkávají ve velkolepé bitvě věků a osud světa tak visí na vlásku. Kong a jeho ochránci podniknou nebezpečnou cestu, aby našli svůj skutečný domov, a spolu s nimi je Jia, mladá osiřelá dívka, s níž si Kong vytvořil jedinečné a silné pouto. Neočekávaně se ocitli na cestě rozzuřené Godzilly, která postupně ničí celou planetu. Epický střet mezi dvěma titány - vyvolaný neviditelnými silami - je pouze začátkem tajemství, které leží hluboko v jádru Země.

Žánry: Akční, Dobrodružný, Sci-fi, Thriller, Blockbuster, Film s monstry, Série/Franchise Obsah: Gigantický Kong se utká s nezastavitelnou Godzillou. Svět sleduje jejich souboj se zatajeným dechem. Režie: Adam Wingard Scénář: Eric Pearson Max Borenstein Terry Rossio Michael Dougherty Zach Shields Herci: Alexander Skarsgård Millie Bobby Brown Rebecca Hall Brian Tyree Henry Shun Oguri ...

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its somewhat ironic that a movie about time travel can’t be reviewed properly until your future self rewatches the movie. It’s bold of Nolan to make such a thoroughly dense blockbuster. He assumes people will actually want to see ~Tenet more than once so they can understand it properly, which some may not. This movie makes the chronology of Inception look as simplistic as tic-tac-toe. Ergo, it’s hard for me to give an accurate rating, without having seen it twice, as I’m still trying to figure out whether everything does indeed make sense. If it does, this movie is easily a 9 or 10. If it doesn’t, it’s a 6. It’s further not helped by the fact that the dialogue in the first 15 minutes of the movie is painfully hard to understand / hear. Either they were behind masks; they were practically mumbling; the sound effects were too loud; or all of the above. The exposition scenes are also waayyy too brief for something this complex — a problem also shared with Interstellar actually. (Interstellar had this minimalist exposition problem explaining Blight, where if you weren’t careful, you’d miss this one sentence / scene in the entire movie explaining that Blight was a viral bacteria: “Earth’s atmosphere is 80% nitrogen, we don’t even breathe nitrogen. Blight does, and as it thrives, our air gets less and less oxygen”). I guess it’s a Nolan quirk. Hopefully, a revision of the film audio sorts the sound mixing out. I do like the soundtrack, but it’s too loud initially. I liked all the actors. You think John Washington can’t act at first, but he can, and he grows on you as the film progresses. And Pattinson is his usual charming self. Elizabeth is a surprise treat. And so on. Its worth a watch either way. See it with subtitles if you can. And definitely don’t expect to fully understand whats going on the first time around. Its one hell of a complicated film. It will be very hard for an average viewer to gather all the information provided by this movie at the first watch. But the more you watch it, more hidden elements will come to light. And when you are able to put these hidden elements together. You will realize that this movie is just a “masterpiece” which takes the legacy of Christopher Nolan Forward If I talk about acting, Then I have to say that Robert Pattinson has really proved himself as a very good actor in these recent years. And I am sure his acting skills will increase with time. His performance is charming and very smooth. Whenever he is on the camera, he steals the focus John David Washington is also fantastic in this movie. His performance is electrifying, I hope to see more from him in the future. Other characters such as Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy have also done quite well. And I dont think there is a need to talk about Michael Caine Talking about Music, its awesome. I dont think you will miss Hans Zimmer’s score. Ludwig has done a sufficient job. There is no lack of good score in the movie Gotta love the editing and post production which has been put into this movie. I think its fair to say this Nolan film has focused more in its post production. The main problem in the movie is the sound mixing. Plot is already complex and some dialogues are very soft due to the high music score. It makes it harder to realize what is going on in the movie. Other Nolan movies had loud BGM too. But Audio and dialogues weren’t a problem My humble request to everyone is to please let the movie sink in your thoughts. Let your mind grasp all the elements of this movie. I am sure more people will find it better. Even those who think they got the plot. I can bet they are wrong. ~Tenet is the long awaited new movie from Christopher Nolan. The movie that’s set to reboot the multiplexes post-Covid. It’s a manic, extremely loud, extremely baffling sci-fi cum spy rollercoaster that will please a lot of Nolan fan-boys but which left me with very mixed views. John David Washington (Denzel’s lad) plays “The Protagonist” — a crack-CIA field operative who is an unstoppable one-man army in the style of Hobbs or Shaw. Recruited into an even more shadowy organisation, he’s on the trail of an international arms dealer, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh in full villain mode). Sator is bullying his estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) over custody of their son (and the film unusually has a BBFC warning about “Domestic Abuse”). Our hero jets the world to try to prevent a very particular kind of Armageddon while also keeping the vulnerable and attractive Kat alive. This is cinema at its biggest and boldest. Nolan has taken a cinema ‘splurge’ gun, filled it with money, set it on rapid fire, removed the safety and let rip at the screen. Given that Nolan is famous for doing all of his ‘effects’ for real and ‘in camera’, some of what you see performed is almost unbelievable. You thought crashing a train through rush-hour traffic in “Inception” was crazy? You ain’t seen nothing yet with the airport scene! And for lovers of Chinooks (I must admit I am one and rush out of the house to see one if I hear it coming!) there is positively Chinook-p*rn on offer in the film’s ridiculously huge finale. The ‘inversion’ aspects of the story also lends itself to some fight scenes — one in particular in an airport ‘freeport’ — which are both bizarre to watch and, I imagine, technically extremely challenging to pull off. In this regard John David Washington is an acrobatic and talented stunt performer in his own right, and must have trained for months for this role. Nolan’s crew also certainly racked up their air miles pre-lockdown, since the locations range far and wide across the world. The locations encompassed Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is lush in introducing these, especially the beautiful Italian coast scenes. Although I did miss the David Arnold strings that would typically introduce these in a Bond movie: it felt like that was missing. The ‘timey-wimey’ aspects of the plot are also intriguing and very cleverly done. There are numerous points at which you think “Oh, that’s a sloppy continuity error” or “Shame the production design team missed that cracked wing mirror”. Then later in the movie, you get at least a dozen “Aha!” moments. Some of them (no spoilers) are jaw-droppingly spectacular. Perhaps the best twist is hidden in the final line of the movie. I only processed it on the way home. And so to the first of my significant gripes with ~Tenet. The sound mix in the movie is all over the place. I’d go stronger than that… it’s truly awful (expletive deleted)! Nolan often implements Shakespeare’s trick of having characters in the play provide exposition of the plot to aid comprehension. But unfortunately, all of this exposition dialogue was largely incomprehensible. This was due to: the ear-splitting volume of the sound: 2020 movie audiences are going to be suffering from ‘~Tenetis’! (LOL); the dialogue is poorly mixed with the thumping music by Ludwig Göransson (Wot? No Hans Zimmer?); a large proportion of the dialogue was through masks of varying description (#covid-appropriate). Aaron Taylor-Johnson was particularly unintelligible to my ears. Overall, watching this with subtitles at a special showing might be advisable! OK, so I only have a PhD in Physics… but at times I was completely lost as to the intricacies of the plot. It made “Inception” look like “The Tiger Who Came to Tea”. There was an obvious ‘McGuffin’ in “Inception” — — (“These ‘dream levels’… how exactly are they architected??”…. “Don’t worry… they’ll never notice”. And we didn’t!) In “~Tenet” there are McGuffins nested in McGuffins. So much of this is casually waved away as “future stuff… you’re not qualified” that it feels vaguely condescending to the audience. At one point Sator says to Kat “You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” and she shakes her head blankly. We’re right with you there luv! There are also gaps in the storyline that jar. The word “~Tenet”? What does it mean. Is it just a password? I’m none the wiser. The manic pace of ~Tenet and the constant din means that the movie gallops along like a series of disconnected (albeit brilliant) action set pieces. For me, it has none of the emotional heart of the Cobb’s marriage problems from “Inception” or the father/daughter separation of “Interstellar”. In fact, you barely care for anyone in the movie, perhaps with the exception of Kat. It’s a talented cast. As mentioned above, John David Washington is muscular and athletic in the role. It’s a big load for the actor to carry in such a tent-pole movie, given his only significant starring role before was in the excellent BlacKkKlansman. But he carries it off well. A worthy successor to Gerard Butler and Jason Statham for action roles in the next 10 years. This is also a great performance by Robert Pattinson, in his most high-profile film in a long time, playing the vaguely alcoholic and Carré-esque support guy. Pattinson’s Potter co-star Clemence Poésy also pops up — rather more un-glam that usual — as the scientist plot-expositor early in the movie. Nolan’s regular Michael Caine also pops up. although the 87-year old legend is starting to show his age: His speech was obviously affected at the time of filming (though nice try Mr Nolan in trying to disguise that with a mouth full of food!). But in my book, any amount of Caine in a movie is a plus. He also gets to deliver the best killer line in the film about snobbery! However, it’s Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki that really stand out. They were both fabulous, especially when they were bouncing off each other in their marital battle royale. So, given this was my most anticipated movie of the year, it’s a bit of a curate’s egg for me. A mixture of being awe-struck at times and slightly disappointed at others. It’s a movie which needs a second watch, so I’m heading back today to give my ear drums another bashing! And this is one where I reserve the right to revisit my rating after that second watch… it’s not likely to go down… but it might go up. (For the full graphical review, check out One Mann’s Movies on t’interweb and Facebook. Thanks.) As this will be non-spoiler, I can’t say too much about the story. However, what I can is this: ~Tenet’s story is quite dynamic in the sense that you won’t understand it till it wants you to. So, for the first half, your brain is fighting for hints and pieces to puzzle together the story. It isn’t until halfway through the movie that ~Tenet invites you to the fantastic storytelling by Christopher Nolan. Acting is beyond phenomenal, and I’d be genuinely surprised if neither Robert Pattinson nor John David Washington doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for best actor. It’s also hard not to mention how good Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Johnson both are. All around, great acting, and the dialogue amps up the quality of the movie. The idea of this movie is damn fascinating, and while there are films that explore time-travelling, there’s never been anything quite like this. It has such a beautiful charm and for the most part, explains everything thoroughly. It feels so much more complex than any form of time-travelling we’ve seen, and no less could’ve been expected from Nolan. Oh my lord, the score for this film fits so perfectly. Every scene that’s meant to feel intense was amped by a hundred because of how good the score was. Let me just say though, none of them will be found iconic, but they fit the story and scenes so well. In the end, I walked out, feeling very satisfied. Nevertheless, I do have issues with the film that I cannot really express without spoiling bits of the story. There are definitely little inconsistencies that I found myself uncovering as the story progressed. However, I only had one issue that I found impacted my enjoyment. That issue was understanding some of the dialogue. No, not in the sense that the movie is too complicated, but more that it was hard to make out was being said at times. It felt like the movie required subtitles, but that probably was because, at a time in the film, there was far too much exposition. Nevertheless, I loved this film, I’ll be watching it at least two more times, and I think most of you in this group will enjoy it. I definitely suggest watching it in theatres if possible, just so you can get that excitement. (4/5) & (8.5/10) for those that care about number scores. At first, I want to ask Christopher Nolan one question, HOW THE HELL YOU DID THIS? Seriously I want to have an answer, How did he write such as this masterpiece! How did he get this complicated, fabulous and creative idea? What is going on in his mind? The story is written and directed perfectly, the narration style was absolutely unique. I have no idea how can anyone direct such as this story, that was a huge challenge, and as usual Nolan gave us a masterpiece that we’ll put beside (Memento), (Inception) and (Interstellar) The movie is so fast-paced in a good way, there was no boring moment. The chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was great and funny and both of their performance was really good. Elizabeth Debicki performance was the best in the movie because she had the chance to show her acting abilities and she cached up that chance and showed us an A level acting. The music wasn’t unique and distinct as the music of Interstellar for example and I think this movie needed the touch of Hans Zimmer, I’m not saying that Ludwig Göransson failed but Hans Zimmer in another level. If there was something I’d say that I didn’t like it in the movie would it be that Nolan discarded any set up or characters backgrounds except Elizabeth Debicki dramatic story but it wasn’t that bad for me, I didn’t care about that, the exciting story didn’t give me the chance to focus on it. But the actual problem was the third act, it was really complicated and I got lost and I convinced myself to discard the questions that were in my head and enjoy the well-made action sequences and Elizabeth Debicki performance. I think this kind of movie that gets better with a second and third watch. I honestly don’t quite know where to begin with ~Tenet. I love Christopher Nolan’s work but I have never seen a more complicated film (and I understood Memento). ~After nearly three hours, I came away from ~Tenet not knowing myself, my mind reduced to nothing more than piles of ash. Was there time travel involved? Hmm, there was definitely something about time inversion. I mean, does Nolan even understand what he wrote? Look, I give credit to the director because he’s one of the few directors left who knows how to create a compelling and intelligent blockbuster. ~Tenet is full of Nolan trademarks — the gratuitous Michael Caine cameo, a loud, really loud score, complete with stunning cinematography and slickly