this is their dynamic

My Headcannons About The Despair Time Cast Playing Super Smash Bros. Together

I randomly got this idea and decided I needed to post about it.

Xander has accidentally broken three controllers. He gets really into the game and forgets how strong he is. MonoTV bans him from the console for a few weeks every time, yet he never learns his lesson. He doesn’t know any of the characters’ names, but he does know he always plays as ‘the really cool sword guy!!’ (Link).

Nico always plays as the animal characters (If you count Pokémon as animals), and sometimes Kirby because they like how cute and gender neutral the character looks.

The cast thought David would play as a cute animal crossing character or something, but no. Ridley. Ridley every single round, and he has to fight the urge to laugh in the loser’s face every time he wins. Unless someone else wants to be Ridley, then he will grumpily gladly choose a different character.

Arei will not hesitate to laugh in your face when she wins. She plays as any cute character, because she thinks it’s hilarious when the buff, sword-carrying dudes lose to tiny, pink fluff balls. She will, without a doubt, resort to foul play if she starts losing and will knock the controller out of her opponent’s hand to win.

J refuses to play as any girly-looking character. It’s always some super buff guy, like Snake. Or at least she always played as a buff guy until she learned Samus was a girl who dressed up in a cool armor suit to beat up aliens, and started playing as her from that point onward. She will also laugh in the loser’s face when she wins.

Ace is pretty good, but only if he plays as a Princess character. Otherwise he sucks. And he’s too prideful to pick a Princess character most of the time, so he almost always sucks. The rest of the class didn’t know this until Arei made fun of him for being terrible at the game and challenged him to a one-on-one round. Princess Peach never looked more ferocious…Until Arei stole Ace’s remote and wouldn’t give it back until she’d killed his character ten times.

Levi doesn’t play most of the time, but when he does, he lets whoever’s closest to him pick his character. It usually doesn’t matter who he’s playing as, because he’ll probably end up accidentally running off the stage repeatedly or get the jump and punch button confused with each other (He doesn’t play video games a lot).

Teruko plays as Bayonetta, for no reason other than Bayonetta being cool and badass. She’ll usually get really close to winning, only for her controller to run out of batteries at the last second, even if they’d charged it five minutes prior. Or worse, the console overheats and completely shuts down (once it caught on fire). So she, like Levi, also usually just watches.

Eden sometimes plays as Ness, who seems small and cute and innocent until suddenly he’s shouting ‘EAT FIRE!!!!’ in your face over and over again and forever trapping you in his eternal flames. But despite her prowess as Ness, Eden usually chooses whatever characters no one else will pick, because she feels like those characters must feel left out and sad that no one plays as them. But she’ll make them feel better!!! Even if it means losing.

Veronika loves to play as the monster characters, especially Ridley, because Ridley is the scariest. She often will narrate her attacks and give extremely gruesome details about how many bones her opponents have broken and how many organs they’ll have to replace after the fight.

Arturo is often forced to play when Veronika does, and he will play as any hot, pretty character. If he loses, it’s not the beautiful, amazing character’s fault, it’s his. He’ll never understand why Veronika likes playing as the ugly monsters.

Rose likes to play as Jigglypuff, because Jigglypuff always makes characters fall asleep without warning, and looks like a fluffy pillow Rose would like to snuggle. She likes to jokingly blame her terrible sleep schedule on an invisible Jigglypuff that follows her around everywhere.

Min claims video games are a distraction from her studies, but eventually the class persuaded her to play. Before she did, however, she did a fair amount of research on which character would be best for her to choose, and eventually settled on Zelda because she read Zelda had a cool teleporting power.

Whit plays as whatever character he can think of the most puns for. For example, if he were to sneeze right before he picks? “Well, I guess this is a sign that I should pick Pik-achoo!! Get it? Because ‘achoo’ is the sound effect for sneezes in comics and stuff?” “Yes, Whit, now please pick your character already.”

Charles always plays as Dr. Mario, because the character has a respectable profession and therefore, must be the most talented. Charles isn’t very good, since he never played video games as a kid, but Whit calling him various doctor-related, punny nicknames makes up for it (Even if he’d never admit that).

Hu is often the supervisor, trying to make sure no one angrily throws a remote across the room or turns off the console when they’re losing (*cough* Arei *cough*). But when she decides to join a round, she plays as an Animal Crossing villager, because they carry butterfly-catching nets, and she really likes butterflies.

I got to watch the Phantom & Ghost playthrough (thanks to @pain-in-the-butler d(^-^)), and I've been dreaming of Phantom & Ghost getting a remaster with HD graphics and a expanded story line, so here's how I would've liked it:

a coherent narrative

I think it would've benefited the story to just stick to one POV for the entire game, and you'll have to complete both Sebastian and Ciel's routes to get the final ending. Similar to other visual games games that have multiple endings depending who and how you play, that give you a true ending after completing the game.

like wow, the game is kinda nonsensical to follow? not only can you switch between the two different POVs while playing, but you can do it after nearly every scene? So all the clues and reveals feel all over the place and referenced in ways that don't make sense.

general appeal

alright lets be honest, the game's main appeal is its characters. getting to play all these scenarios with the servants and Lizzy is what's fun. sadly, the minor characters weren't as interesting to bounce off of, so it would be nice to lean into their eccentricities (when you got a guy named Patrick the Grey wizard).

Add more scenarios, more character combinations, more dialogue options. Can't tell you how disappointed I was that Stella's pov barely showed anything, esp since the moments between Lizzy and Stella were really good. Like, let's play with all these different povs! Stella's route could have flashbacks and much needed backstory to solve the mysteries. Lets see Lorraine, Patrick, and Stella's parents in the past, since so much of the story revolves around them And having all these expanded character options really build the replayability of the game.

tonal dissonance

This game was disorienting to me because how light the story remained. Kuro is a dark story! It has a lot of morbid humor and something disturbing happening in the background. This game really was just some average errand for Ciel and Sebastian and it falls flat. So I had ideas to bring in out more of those darker tones kuro has, described in the next section.

the villain

I understand why Lorraine was made into the villain as a "surpise twist", but I truly dislike that she was the bad guy after dealing with suggested abuse and getting jealous over a child (without even the backstory to back it up??). There's ways to give misdirection over the villain without resorting to the cheap maid plot twist, that is frankly tired now. (also I thought count ridley would be the villain? what was he around then for lol)

There's still a mysterious air around Stella's father, right? maybe, instead of villainizing an abused maid for the nth time, we can have a more in depth exploration of the maid's abuse and the father's character. maybe we find out the father was quite a vile person. Stella's route could imply the abuse happening in the background and how disturbing it is.

perhaps after the first half of the game, Lorraine is pined as the murderer, but Stella insists that she's innocent and we to find the true culprit. the player is mislead here a bit, because Lorraine's attitude does take a turn and she acts very bitter and erratic (which we find out later her signs of abuse).

eventually Lorraine is found innocent and her father is blamed for the murder, and Lorraine gets with Patrick to take care of Stella at the mansion, a perfect happy ending.

However in the true ending, we find out that Lorraine did kill the father, but it was to protect herself and Stella from his abuse. We don't know how the mother died exactly, but let's implied that he was the one to kill her (mad father vibes). Ciel doesn't reveal this, since the case with the ghost and embezzlement is solved, but Lorraine gets away with the murder. Sebastian could suggest that Lorraine only did it for her benefit, because now she's acting as head of the manor, through Stella (or whatever edgelord nonsense he'll say).

The games ends on the note we, the audience, will never know Lorraine's true motives, all while Stella remains naive, still thinking the best of her parents and Lorraine. All we can hope for, is that they'll take care of each other now, though who knows what the future holds.

So there's plenty of dark aspects to this story while having a rather positive ending for our main characters! let me know what yall think! any other ideas for an ending or story route?

(anyway here's a drawing of Stella and Lorraine to convince yall: x)

JUNIPER RIDLEY LIÀO — ABRIDGED.

welcome to marina, JUNIPER RIDLEY LIAO ( genderqueer, she/they ) ! they are a TWENTY SEVEN year old who has lived over on LOCKE ROW for THEIR ENTIRE LIFE and works as a MECHANIC/ANY ODD JOB. everyone says they look a lot like CHASE SUI WONDERS. what do you think? — JAMES, 24, THEY/THEM, EST.

MENTIONS OF PARENTAL DEATH, ALCOHOLISM, AND CHILD NEGLECT.

profile.

full name: juniper ridley liào.

birthday: april 9th, 1996.

astrology: aries sun, taurus moon, aquarius ascending.

sexuality: bisexual.

currently listening to: you're a germ by wolf alice.

last known location: [[[cannot be found]]]

PINTEREST.

brief history.

parental death; the last of the liao children due to her mother passing during childbirth, something that's always been held against her.

alcoholism / child neglect; their father spiraled shortly after, passing out in his recliner in front of their shitty tv every night, beer cans littered at his feet. they learned the meaning of survival of the fittest, of every man for himself fairly quickly.

they live in a tiny mobile home by a beach kept more unkempt, deep in locke's row. juniper was playground bully, and a general hazard to be around. grew up starting fights and riding in the back of police cars.

older she got, the more her criminal record grew. mostly just petty crime, misdemeanors. no felonies yet.

dropped out of high school because they thought it was pointless, they were barely attending anyways and like, nobody cared if she was in school or not. friends few and far between.

tim took him up at his autobody shop and she's been there after being fired from her last like 5 jobs. surprisingly good mechanic.

takes up odd jobs on the side, which is basically just paid favors. a casual con artist, usually seen with a deck of tarot cards. anything to make rent.

moved out of the liao family trailer after dropping out of high school, is occasionally couch-surfing but managed to snag a run-down, larger than most, home in locke row that's surrounded by overgrown shrubbery and trash. she has 8 roommates, only counting the ones who bother to pay rent. the others come and go. it's not ideal, but june's too stubborn to take anyone's roommate offers.

every other month june does something stupid that results in her having an ankle monitor but it's like. what are you going to do? keep her from leaving the island? she's stuck here anyways.

facts & temperaments.

always addressed by both first and middle name at home. june keeps telling them it feels cultish but it's just a scolding.

known problem child. it's rare for june to not have a problem with someone, for one reason or another. sometimes makes up reasons, just because.

was a biter as a kid. may still be a biter. once again, a childhood bully.

very defensive and quick to anger. gets into fights easily, whether verbal or physical. honestly just moody. tries to be nice sometimes but it always comes out wrong.

brutally honest. does not beat around the bush. other times is a fucking liar. doesn't like to give people the satisfaction of a compliment.

honestly a bit. prudish? weird about intimacy and has a bit of a touch avoidance problem. it's rare for them to enter a relationship, and they've never hooked up with anyone. has barely even kissed anyone except for a few mistakes, drunken or not. being flirted with pisses her off because she thinks its a joke.

like. they're just insecure<3

doesn't think before doing, or speaking, or anything. only regrets shit afterwards. honestly she embarrasses herself but doesn't know how to stop being. her.

perceptive and cares more than she lets on but would rather die than use that for anything but like "evil".

thrifting icon. liege of hand-me-downs. master of the 5 finger discount. rarely buys clothes, mostly just inherits one way or another.

will easily take a bribe. can gain loyalty through this. whether it's cash or food or some kind of favor. keeping her fed equals more success with interactions.

does not have a motorcycle license but they drive around this shitty motorized scooter everywhere bc they do not have a driver's license either.

❀♡❀ about me ❀♡❀

❀ hiii my name is meghan, but you can call me meg or moog!! i am the grandma friend (and aunt friend) of my friend group, both irl and online ❀

♡ i'm sapphic aroace and nonbinary, but I also identify as either orchidromantic or cupioromantic (still unsure which) ♡

❀ i use she/her, they/them, neopronouns, and sometimes he/him ❀

♡ i'm in a queerplatonic relationship (qpr) with my beloved person (they don't use tumblr but i'll probably make random qpr and qpp posts or memes anyways) ♡

❀ my qpp and i use partner/zucchini/(my) person/companion/(my) squish/favorite person interchangeably with each other (as well as wife/spouse in a minecraft sense) ❀

♡ i'm an autistic adult (19), use tone tags, and very likely have adhd as well ♡

❀ i'm indigenous (white passing) and mixed, i belong to the Bitterroot Séliš, Pend d'Oreille, and Nez Perce tribes/nations. as well as being part Cajun French and Irish ❀

♡ i have severe chronic migraines so if i disappear for like a week at a time, please don't be alarmed ♡

❀ my special interests include anything by jim henson (fraggle rock and the muppets ESPECIALLY), raggedy ann & andy, psychology, plants, mushrooms, rocks and crystals, bugs, a lot of marine animals, and several other things i can't remember rn :> ❀

♡ i am not new to tumblr, this is my most recent account since i forget the login info for my old ones, and i've been using this app since about 2015!! ♡

❀ fair warning: i'm severely multifandom and reblog literally anything that catches my interest, and as a result my blog is bound to be very cluttered!!! ❀

♡ i'm friendly so feel free to interact, but please be aware when interacting sometimes my social anxiety gets too overwhelming so i likely won't say much ♡

❀ dr boris habit and tate frost's wife (REAL),,, I have so many f/os and fictional spouses I lost count BUT MOSTLY THOSE TWO ❀

♡ my kinlist I will likely update later on (might make a separate post eventually): mokey fraggle (fraggle rock), boober (fraggle rock), raggedy ann (raggedy ann & andy: a musical adventure), snufkin (moomin), moomin (moomin), joxter (moomin), mymble (moomin), lilith clawthorne (TOH), eda clawthorne (TOH), raine whispers (TOH), wirt (OTGW), reagan ridley (inside job), red guy & yellow guy (DHMIS), enoch (OTGW), karnak (RTC), jane doe (RTC), constance (RTC), velma dinkley (every vers. except for the velma series), my sweet piano (sanrio), pearl (steven universe), garnet (steven universe), entrapta (she-ra) ♡

⦻ DNI: racist, homophobic, transphobic, aphobic (arophobic or acephobic), TERF, transmeds, exclusionist, proship, pedo/MAP, ableist, xenophobic/islamophobic, antisemetic, sexist/misogynistic ⦻

15 Questions 15 People

I got tagged in this ask game by @icarusfrommars, thank you!

1: Are you name after anyone? My great grandmother on my mother’s side and also a town in Arizona, USA.

2: When was the last time you cried? I think it was watching a Pixar movie.

3: Do you have kids? Nope!

4: Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes but specifically to be funny.

5: What's the first thing you notice about people? Shirt color, which isn’t helpful for remembering people.

6: What's your eye color? Full on Maximum-Ride-chocolate-brown.

7: Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings as default. Scary movies and tragedies are usually better when I’m aware something’s coming.

8: Any special talents? I played the bassoon in high school?

9: Where were you born? In the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

10: What are your hobbies? Video games, reading, showing people pictures of cute dogs.

11: Do you have any pets? I’ve got a tabby cat, Ridley.

12: What sports do you play/have you played? Does marching band count? Also i did soccer in middle school.

13: How tall are you? Last I checked taller than a person who claimed to be 5′9″, shorter than a person who claimed to be 5′11″.

14: Favorite subject in school? English and history.

15: Dream Job: Museum archive caretaker

I am incapaable of tagging 15 people, but I will tag @dorkousloris @pearl-kite @topenby @thatsushichick and @sjokoladekjeksen, if y’all would like

Life (2017)

Science-fiction and horror are two genres that often go hand-in-hand. Some may even say that the best of either one contains elements of the other. From The Blob to The Thing to Jurassic Park, there have been many sci-fi/horror films that would be considered classics today. One newer film that I believe will become a classic is 2017’s Life. Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Morbius) and written by Rhett Reese (Zombieland) and Paul Wernick (Deadpool), Life is a thrilling adventure in the vein of Ridley Scott’s Alien. When the six crew members aboard the international space station intercept a returning research probe from Mars, they discover the first evidence of extraterrestrial life. Naming the organism Calvin, the crew is astonished by how quickly it grows and adapts. But wonder soon turns to horror as Calvin is revealed to be an intelligent and violent creature, that begins to dispatch the crew one by one.  

Life had me on edge almost the entire time. The action starts very quickly, and once it begins it doesn’t let up. It features Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Ferguson (Doctor Sleep), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine), and Ryan Reynolds (Free Guy), but really the star of the film is Calvin. The design for the alien is so simplistic, but in its simplicity it is an unstoppable force. No matter what anyone does Calvin is either immune or one step ahead. Its silent relentlessness, coupled with a tense, unnerving score, makes for some of the most anxiety-inducing cinema ever made.

 Word Count: 250

Cheats for ‘Alien Isolation’ (PS3) - Notes Read

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Search the indicated locations to find all 50 ID Tags. You can view which ID Tags you have collected under the map menu. Each ID Tag has its own name, which allows you to easily keep track of which ones are missing. The ID Tags are saved automatically when you collect them up. Thus, you do not need to collect them again if you die. Use the mission selection to obtain any missed collectibles. Search the indicated locations to find all 10 Nostromo Logs. Collect all 10 Nostromo Logs to get the "Archivist" achievement. You can view which Nostromo Logs you have collected under the map menu. Each Nostromo Log has its own name, which allows you to easily keep track of which ones are missing. The Nostromo Logs are saved automatically when you collect them up. Simply load Mission 16, and ignore the main objective. The reason for doing it this way is that you need all of the tools that are unlocked later in the game. You get the level 3 access tuner in Mission You can only get all Nostromo Log after this point. Certain tools are required to open doors. You can travel between these areas using the train station there is a red sign above each station that says where the train is going. Each of these areas have elevators that take you to the other side areas, such as Seegson Synthetics. When you scroll over an elevator on your map and zoom in, you can see where it will take you. In Mission 2, after checking in with the android at Sevastopol Station, explore the station to find origami foil unicorns in various locations. This is a reference to another Ridley Scott film, Bladerunner , where Harrison Ford finds one at the end of the movie. The part where the "Hide. This is your main objective and unmissable. The Alien will then drop from the vents above. You cannot ever run or it will hear you. Only walk and crouch. Also, use your motion tracker to see the current location of the Alien. All you need to do is grab Morley's keycard from the corpse in Room A, then exit the area. The entire encounter will take around three minutes. You will get the "Hide. Note: If the Alien does see you, or is about to kill you, then quickly restart from the checkpoint. During Mission 4: Seegson Communications, you must not attack any of the androids the robots that look like humans or be grabbed, punched, or kicked by one. It is fine if they see you, as long as they do not make physical contact with you. If they do touch you, then start from the last saved game. You can run through most sections, but in some areas it is safer to sneak past the enemies especially at the end. Pay attention to which points in the video you should run and when you should walk or crouch. Try to copy that as closely as possible to avoid any issues. It also does not matter if the Alien from the vents kills you. Using the stun baton on human target counts as a kill; avoid using that weapon when trying to get the "Mercy Or Prudence? The objective is to overcharge the Alpha Core and Beta Core. As soon as you have completed that objective, return to the elevator to exit the area. The game will automatically create a new save when you enter the Reactor Maintenance. In case you die, you can copy back your saved game file, and try it again without having to replay the entire mission. If you are quick enough, you can also restart the last checkpoint when you are about to die. However, there are some spiders in this area that will instantly kill you with one hit, and they are very hard to see because they are very small and move quickly. This is why it is recommended to back up your saved game. There are also some normal Aliens. Grab the flamethrower at the beginning of the Reactor Maintenance to easily kill the spiders and Aliens. Also, burn the Spider Pods before any enemy comes out of them. At the start of Mission 4: Seegson Communications, as you go through the long hallway, you will see a friendly android robot that looks like a human. Attack him a couple of times with the maintenance jack from behind. This will put the android in combat mode, and he will counter all frontal attacks. Run away and hide until the android goes back to his post. Then, sneak up to him again, and perform some strikes from behind. Keep repeating this until he is dead to get the "My Turn Now" achievement. Play the game on the Novice difficulty. Quickly open the menu before you dying in order to continue. If you actually end up dying, do not load the current saved game. Instead, use the second option to load the previous save. Although this will resume the game further back, it prevents the death from counting. To stun androids, you need to throw an EMP mine at them. The blueprints for this mine can be found in Chapter 4: Seegson Communications, in a sideroom of the area where you contact your team you have to access a computer in the area and will see a cutscene. Craft the item through your weapon wheel, and throw it at one of the androids in this area. If you do not have the crafting materials at this point, there will still be many other encounters with androids. Just build an EMP mine when you have enough materials, and keep it in your inventory until you see an android again. Alternatively, you can also do this against humans by throwing a flashbang at them. The flashbang blueprints can be found in Chapter 3, in the area where you retrieve the new Data Cell. The hardest difficulty available was added through a post-release patch, and is not required to get the "Survivor" achievement. Instead, successfully complete the game on the Hard difficulty to get the "Survivor" achievement. Alien: Isolation. PS5 Backward Compatibility. Has Facebook Screwed the Pooch with Oculus? The Life and Death of Motion Controls. The Best Games of Top 7 Badass Comic Stars. Top 10 Good Games. The 7 Fantabulous Faces of Harley Quinn. More Special Features Around The Web. No Cyberpunk? No Problem! Can Gamers Really Trust Facebook? Let's Face It Super Mario is Perfect! Do you like video games more now or sometime in the past? I enjoyed video games much more in the past. Games are the best they've ever been! View Poll History. Follow cheatcc. Top Stories. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

The Snubbing of Jodie Comer.

Any hopes that Jodie Comer's incandescent performance in Ridley Scott's epic, The Last Duel might garner some serious award consideration died yesterday. Those hopes were first dashed by the announcement of the 2022 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations, where Comer's Killing Eve partner's name, Sandra Oh for The Chair, was called, but hers was not. The Hollywood Reporter included Comer as one of the surprise omissions for best actress in a drama and then delivered this ominous declaration. "...in the 27 years in which the SAG Awards have preceded the Oscars, no performance which wasn’t even nominated for a SAG Award went on to win a best actress Oscar." While it's possible the Academy Awards could go their own way and still select Comer, the odds are stacked against that happening without so much as even a nomination from the SAG Awards as well as the disgraced Golden Globes. That was bad, but things got worse for Comer when the BAFTAs announced their 2022 longlist of the 15 best performances by an actress that will be considered for the final cut, and shockingly, Comer didn't make that list either. It's almost as though The Last Duel never happened at all. Maybe it didn't. It lost money at the box office and it was in-and-out of some theaters so quickly audiences had to move fast to see it at all. I went to Rotten Tomatoes and read a bunch of reviews for The Last Duel to answer one question: Was Jodie Comer the best thing about the movie? It's not a consensus, but it's pretty damn close.

Comer is incandescent as our persecuted hero, fighting to survive in a world that treats women as literal property, and the film springs to life whenever she's on-screen. --- Radio Times

The standout is Jodie Comer. One of the central figures in the TV series Killing Eve (she was also in this year’s Free Guy), she has full command of Marguerite and makes her the moral and narrative focal point. --- Reel Views.net

Comer, who’s best known for her virtuoso assassin on the BBC series “Killing Eve,” had her own movie earlier this summer, “Free Guy.” It’s a tribute to her range that Lady Marguerite is so different from those three characters (three since in “Free Guy” she plays two). Comer doesn’t really look like anyone else in movies right now: the deep-set eyes and big cheeks, that oval face and, milky complexion. Certainly, no one can match her stare. By necessity, the third chapter, Lady Marguerite’s story, gets even more talky and expository than the first two, and that’s saying a lot. But at its heart is that stare, and that counts for a great deal. The concluding duel goes on — and on — and on. It’s also extremely violent. Yet all the sword thrusting and ax swinging and horse galloping put together are less forceful than Comer’s stare. --- The Boston Globe

…then there's Comer, a talented actress on the rise who navigates her character through an era where misogyny was ingrained in society and issues with women were "matters of property." Comer brings a quiet strength and resiliency to Marguerite, and while not every scene in her chapter rings true, the performance always does. --- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

…Marguerite transforms from a girlish bride to a savvy seductress, to a far more complicated figure, rich with aches and awareness. Comer, who has transformed over and over in her hit TV show, makes these moves with the ease of a master ballerina, holding her own against actors who’ve got much more acclaim and many more movies under their belt. --- Mashable.com

Comer gets to stretch out as an intelligent person flailing against time-forged chains. If the film had been a little more warmly received on its premiere, she would surely be guaranteed an Oscar nomination. --- The Irish Times

…rather than get lost between three big performances, Comer proves her small-screen success was no fluke, offering perhaps the most naturalistic and impactful performance in the final film. --- Austin Chronicle

Comer is the obvious star of the show, cementing herself as a true contender among her peers in bringing Marguerite's story to life. --- Looper

The key to the movie, though, is Comer, who became famous as a jaunty psychopath on AMC’s “Killing Eve” and who here plays a woman made tragically aware of how constricted life is for even the literate, high-born wife of a knight — of how Marguerite is not seen, never heard, but merely owned. (The only witness to her version of events is us.) In Comer’s subtly measured performance, what could be a didactic fable becomes flesh. --- Ty Burr’s Watch List

Comer brings nuance and complexity to a character who has a bitter fight for justice on her hands. This is a time when rape was not a crime against a woman — as she was a man’s property, it was a crime against him — and as her mother-in-law (Harriet Walter) tells her, you’re raped, you put up with it, you shut up, happened to me, happens to us all. That women have no power in this world is, perhaps, spelled out too much — can’t believe I just said that — but Comer is sensational. Her Marguerite is vulnerable yet strong, frightened but won’t be quietened. (‘I will not be silent.’) --- The Spectator

The film is set up for Comer to steal: alternately frisky, watchful and luminous, hers is the most internalised performance, and the one that most draws you in. -- Sunday Times (UK)

Comer’s performance is piercing and selfless, a crucial counterpoint to the gross self-importance of the male ensemble. Her motivation in the brutal feudal society that Scott depicts is little more than survival; even in her landed position, her freedom is limited and Jacques’ rape is viewed as a crime only because it’s considered an assault on Jean’s property. But Comer still manages to imbue Marguerite with wit and a little sauciness, making her much more than a mute victim; only when the events in question are seen through her eyes does the full weight of the story become clear. --- The Atlantic

Comer is next-level great in the film’s home stretch, with her meek exterior melting away to showcase a fiery independence and an iron-willed refusal to be silenced by the patriarchy. While Damon and Driver modulate their performances throughout the film to reflect the viewpoint of different narrators, Comer’s characterization of Marguerite is largely consistent, with each new chapter introducing additional layers and complexity. It’s truly exceptional stuff, and among the most captivating work I’ve seen this year — Damon and Driver are great, but they can’t hold a candle to Comer…despite the thrilling climax, the Rashomon-inspired storytelling and a career-best performance from Comer prove to be far more enthralling than the events that play out on the battlefield. --- The Lamplight

…the movie wouldn't be what it is without Comer: the Emmy-winning Killing Eve actress takes what could have been a bland damsel role and makes her furiously, incandescently real. Rape back then, tellingly, was considered not a sexual offense against the victim but a property crime done to her husband. "There is no right," one character admonishes early on, "only the power of men." Duel is a sprawling, lavish testament to that, and all the things done in the name of ego, king, and country. But it's a woman who brings it home. --- Entertainment Weekly

Jodie Comer makes her mark, holding the screen with a calm fire. --- Variety

The disgusting and horrific nature of the film’s rape scene is deeply affecting and will leave one incredibly disturbed way beyond the film’s end credits. This is a testament to Jodie Comer’s extraordinarily sensitive performance; she brings her all and she deserves recognition for it. For Comer, it’s all in her eyes. She says so much without even uttering a word, but when she talks, Marguerite comes across as primarily kind and smart with some added fierceness when going against the archetypal norms of medieval society. It’s undoubtedly through Comer’s performance that the film comes across as this emotionally affecting. After all, it is Marguerite’s story…Comer is the true standout. --- Movie Marker (UK)

This was a performance unworthy of award consideration? Somebody else will have to make that argument. Mine has already been made. Jodie Comer was snubbed.

amazing how much of other m got spoiled for me by smash 4 trophies

perhaps more amazing is the fact that i remembered those spoilers after 7 years, when i was only slightly into metroid at the time and not even sure if i would play this game (just casually reading the descriptions like i did for every other trophy)

when i first saw that little bird im immediately like “oh yeah isnt this thing ridley?”

when the blonde woman introduced herself as madeline bergman im like “huh i seem to remember her trophy having darker hair... i dont think i trust this lady i think she’s lying about who she is”

also, as soon as the name melissa came up i’m like “OH... yeah that sounds familiar” (this is one that i clearly didnt remember early enough to spoil myself though)

i also kind of expected adam to die (looking back it says he does in the trophy) but i vaguely remember getting the impression that he was dead in fusion (i dont remember a lot of that game which is why i’m going to revisit it before dread) so i suppose that might not count either

WIP Wednesday: Whumptober Previews, Take 2

I still have a few more to go, but I am in the final stretch for writing my @whumptober2020​ pieces! I already posted one preview of what I have so far (you can see Days 1-12 here), so here are previews for the rest of what I have written - and sneak peeks at what’s planned out but not written yet! 

Whumptober starts tomorrow - we’ll see how you feel about my work this go-round! Last year, Whumptober Day 1 introduced Daniel Michaelson. This year... it starts with Danny, too.

Day 13:

“Vanni, they thought he was you.”

“I know, Ridley!” Rossi never snapped at Ridley, but here it was, and Connor forced in a hitching, shaky inhale around the tremendous, inescapable weight pressing down on him, determined to keep breathing long enough to understand. “I know they did.”

“And they fucking poisoned him and then dumped him to fucking die-”

“I know!” The two men went silent for a second, Ridley staring with shock at Rossi and Rossi glaring furious towards the window without looking back. Connor’s breath, rattling in his struggling lungs, was the only sound in the room.

Day 14:

Peter glanced over his shoulder, back towards the house. The thermometer had climbed a little more, reading 98.5 degrees Farenheit now, and Peter blinked as he shivered again, swallowing without any saliva. His mouth felt dry, and strange. Why was he shivering - how did he have goosebumps - if it was almost one hundred degrees?

As if he’d heard Peter’s thoughts, the side door opened and Micheal came out, wearing his weekend outfit of slim black slacks and a pale heathered gray t-shirt, what Madam allowed him to wear. He was carrying a glass of water with ice and a little striped straw stuck in the top. The black shock collar he was never allowed to remove - not yet, Madam said, not until Micheal learned how to be silent without needing encouragement, to her satisfaction - cut a wide band across his neck, the black box small and nearly perfectly blended in at the back. 

“Peter,” He said in a low voice - not quite a whisper, but just as quiet. “I brought you a drink, I-” He looked up, squinting towards the sky. “It’s hot. Should you be out here?”

Day 15:

He drops back to the ground, groaning, eyes fluttering open and shut, before he reaches out to grip onto Ora’s arm again. He turns to look at them, and his eyes are glowing so brightly he can see the reflected light on Ora’s face, the flicker of yellow against their irises. There are things that move beneath the light in Ryan Michaelson’s eyes, and he no longer feels them pushed back under the surface of his skin. 

“I’m so fucking hungry,” He whispers, and his fingernails dig into Ora’s arm until they begin to bleed and whimper, but they don’t - can’t - pull away. Not until he lets them.

They will be lost in his eyes until he decides to let them go.

Day 16:

Count to ten, Tris! One… two...

Her voice is so loud he jumps, but when he looks to the left, nothing’s there. Just the white walls, plain and featureless, white tiles that were smooth under his fingertips back when he was allowed to touch them. 

Everything is cold, and the boy has been shivering for so long that his muscles ache from the constant tense-and-release, tense-and-release, struggling to keep him warm.

Day 17:

She giggles a little, then glances over her shoulder, mouths something at the cameraman. Oliver can guess what. Edit that out.

Kelly Donahue doesn’t want the episode to be aired with her giggling like a schoolgirl at a bit of idle flattery. Well. Everyone has their things they like to hide, don’t they?

She has her giggle. Oliver has a teenage boy locked in his bedroom.

Day 18:

“Your mother,” Patrick interrupted, with gentle violence, “believes that you are squandering an opportunity.”

“An-... a what-”

“We respect your decision - and your brother’s - to refuse interviews, especially at his early date.” Patrick sounded like he’d rehearsed this answer, delivered with the same smooth cadence he had during his speeches before the Board of Directors. “But, considering the effort it took us to find you-”

“The effort it took Nate to find us,” Ryan corrected, ice growing along his veins at the same time it took over his voice. “Nate. It was Nate who watched the videos, it was Nate who talked Abraham into showing him the yard, it was Nate who spent fucking night after fucking night trolling fucking satellite photos to try and find us. Don’t act like the effort came from you. It came from my brother’s goddamn fiance.”

Day 19:

“If this is a trap, I’m going to owe Gavin fifty bucks.” Vera checked and rechecked her handgun, as though it would suddenly be less loaded than it was just a few minutes before. Her jaw was set in a grim line, eyes flashing a kind of damped-down fire, embers ready to spark. Her thick black hair, showing growing hints of gray, was pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore a pair of black pants and a tucked-in t-shirt, ready for the fight she was definitely expecting. “I don’t want to owe Gavin money, Isaac.”

“It’s not a trap,” Isaac replied, making his own nervous check and recheck of the table and chairs. “I don’t think it is, anyway. My instincts are saying it isn’t.”

“Your instincts-”

“My instincts have been spot-on for a decade, Vera. Just trust me on this. She let us pick the day, the time, the location… she let us give her the location with less than four hours’ notice, even. If this is a trap, she’s piss-poor at setting it.”

Day 20:

He’d been flying, and the fall had been worse than the arrow, at first.

The sudden burst of white-hot pain had stunned him, caught him mid-spin enjoying an early-morning chill, and sent him tumbling to the ground below.

He’d heard his own frantic keens of panic and fear as if from a distance, and then they’d been drowned out when he slammed into the trees, feathers flying all around him as they were ripped free by the branches he smacked into one after another on the way down.

Day 21:

"Mmhmmm. Christopher. Stanton." Nat listens for a long time, then says quietly, "No known health problems. Autistic."

Jake looks up, and Nat calmly looks back at him, while speaking into the phone. "Yes. Yes, I'm confident. He is sensitive to fluorescent lights, scared of needles, and terrified of sedation. Yeah, I realize that I just described the exact environment we’re sending him into.” Chris whimpered, and Nat’s voice went ragged, her eyes closed tightly against the sight of his face pale, sweaty, twisted with pain. “Listen. Just-... just put on the fucking papers that Christopher Stanton is fucking autistic, because that's what my goddamn rescue is - I'll sell someone else's firstborn to fucking Satan if he isn't, mark my fucking words - and we're wasting time while he gets worse!"

Day 22:

Rossi picks the glass up and just as he tilts it up to his lips, Connor rears back and up on his knees and swings one of his hands, the black leather ‘paw’ smacking into the rim of the glass and spilling it in an arc across Rossi’s suit, onto the table, soaking his cards and hitting the next person at the table right in the eyes.

“Connor, what the fuck?!” Rossi’s voice isn’t furious, not yet - he’s too shocked to get beyond the simple surprise.

Day 23:

The drugs in his system weigh him down, he is too exhausted to understand what’s happening or how to begin to fight it. His eyes keep trying to close and stay closed, and he whimpers, forcing them back open.

“Pozhaluysta…” He groans, collapsing forward against the heavy solidity of the man, the soft tailored fabric of his expensive suitjacket, the scent of clove cigarettes that clings to him like a woman’s fingers clutching tightly. “Pozhaluysta, otpusti menya…”

Day 24:

“My name is Melody,” The girl said, nearly extending her hand, but then she realized the creature’s right hand was nothing but wickedly sharp talons, and it was bound in front of him to his left. “Oh, I’m sorry. What’s your name?”

The creature blinked once, twice. Watched her, tense and maybe suspicious, and then shook his head. “No… no name.” He spoke slowly, as though words came only with difficulty but a soft little trill sounded under one voice, layered it with another. “Pet.”

Day 25:

“Wh, where, where, where-where, where am, am I-”

“Sssshhhh.” The person in the dark blue uniform presses a plastic-gloved hand to his shoulder as he tries to sit up, pushing him back down. “Hey no, you gotta stay steady, there. Don’t move.”

“Please-... please, sir, h-hurts-”

“Not sir,” The person says, gently, a bit of auburn hair falling over their forehead. “Can you see?”

“K-Kind... kind of... hurts-”

“Sssshhhh. I know. I know it does. Just hang on. Tori’s going to help me get you some paperwork going. Don’t worry, kiddo.” The person pats him, lightly, and then looks up, brown eyes scanning the hallway outside. “You’re not the first we’ve pulled through this.”

Day 26:

Calon Nie hummed to himself, tapping talons on the floor, watching the boy sit so still, as though stillness could protect him from the dangers of the world. “Good. Failed, you, to keep new eyes. Costs a life, to give something new. Killan Josta, human boy, he fail Calon Nie. He fail the life given, when eyes don’t work. Did not respect sacrifice.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” The boy said hoarsely, curling in on himself even more, his wings instinctively curling protectively around him. “I… I don’t want anyone to d-die for me. I didn’t mean to-... I didn’t mean to fail. I, I tried to p-pray for them, to stars, to-”

“Paugh! Mysteries do not hear you.”

Day 27:

Jake answers, and on the other side of the door, the old woman stands holding a large cardboard box in her arms, her grandson present, as nearly always, at her side. He holds a large box, too - so big, in fact, that only the top half of his face is visible.

“They’re sayin’ it could be a week before we get power back,” Ruth says, with a world-weary sigh. “A full-on week. We figured we’d bring you some supplies.” 

Day 28:

Ora Collins is hungry.

Day 29:

Jake is a tall man, but the emergency room always made him feel so small. Even now, part of him rehearses the scripted stories. I fell while climbing a tree. I crashed my bike. I tripped going down the stairs.

He has lies to tell today, just like he always has, but today the lies are for Chris, not himself.

He’s my brother. No, different dads, that’s all. His mom lives a few states away, I handle all his medical stuff. 

Day 30:

(AKA Possession, Part 2)

Ryan and Nate take down Abraham Denner.

Day 31:

Danny is left for dead.

Got a 2020 Superman State of the Union assessment?

Not the most overtly monumental of years for big blue - a lot of the biggest news for Superman this year was about stuff we’ll see next year, which I’ll get into further below - but on the whole definitely a net positive!

Really, the only things I’d say counted ‘against’ this year were the back half of Rucka and Perkins’ Lois Lane and how badly that went off the rails - which for my money was more than counterbalanced by the conclusion to Fraction and Lieber’s Jimmy Olsen - and Romita Jr. turning in shoddy work on Action Comics. Otherwise? Bendis played out the consequences of Truth in fun ways and closed out his tenure on the main titles with a pair of artful final issues, we got Waid’s return to the character alongside Francis Manapul for a great short story, the last issue of the instantly iconic Superman Smashes The Klan, and several excellent installments in DC’s digital Man of Tomorrow series, while Commanders in Crisis introduced the Superman analogue to beat for the 2020s in Prizefighter. And in mass-media Routh’s Superman got a nice fly-by sendoff at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, there were two animated features in Red Son and Man of Tomorrow (the former of which I haven’t seen but the latter of which is probably the best official Superman movie, even if that says more about other Superman movies than anything else), and we naaaaarowly avoided the Superman logo being codified as fascist iconography for a generation. Oh and the comics industry did not in fact end due to Covid. So all-in-all a win.

Anonymous said: It’s almost New Year’s, what’s your predictions for Superman in 2021? (I guess you can do Batman too if you want)

So here’s what we do know officially for Superman in 2021:

* Superman & Lois will debut on the CW, the first Superman TV show (without substantial qualifiers) in 20+ years.

* Future State will feature Jon Kent taking on the mantle in Superman of Metropolis, Justice League, and Superman/Wonder Woman, while a now spacefaring Clark is in Worlds of War, Imperious Lex, Batman/Superman, and House of El. Meanwhile Kara graduates from Supergirl to Superwoman in her own two-parter as well as featuring in Superman of Metropolis, and Conner Kent appears to be acting as some kind of Superman in Suicide Squad.

* Phillip Kennedy Johnson takes over Action Comics and Superman in March, beginning with a two-part crossover The Golden Age illustrated by Phil Hester. After that Action Comics will be drawn by Daniel Sampere through around September, at which point Mikel Janin will be illustrating an event-scale arc for the book. Meanwhile Scott Godlewski will be the artist on Superman, but around the time of Janin’s arc on Action an entirely new, as yet unknown creative team will take over Superman while PKJ remains on Action. Both books will also have backup features spotlighting various Superman/Metropolis-adjacent characters as there’s little space for them in the cosmic direction the main story will be tilting towards for the time being.

* Superman: Red & Blue will debut in March as a counterpart to the various Batman: Black & White series over the years.

* Outside the main Superman books, Clark will star in Brian Bendis and David Marquez’s Justice League, as well as Gene Yang and Ivan Reis’s incredibly rad-looking dimension-hopping new take on Batman/Superman. Bendis is indicating we’ll be seeing the long-delayed Event Leviathan: Checkmate this year as well, which features Lois as one of the main characters.

* Not strictly Superman news, but apparently we’ll be seeing Netflix’s adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s Jupiter’s Legacy next year, which centers around the multi-generational drama of the family of Superman analogue Utopian.

* Zack Snyder’s Justice League, its hour come round at last, slouches towards HBO Max to be born.

As for predictions? Well for starters, pretty much everyone takes as a given that Mark Waid is putting together some long-form Superman project now that he’s working with DC again, and I expect to see something come of that next year; Tom King has also soft-announced he’s working on a Superman project since he’s done with scripting his three current DC minis, but I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing directly came of that until 2022. I’d also speculate that Scott Snyder has something in mind: he’s repeatedly said he’s planning on a major out-of-continuity project, and he’s made clear he’s done with Batman for the time being, I imagine he’s done whatever he wanted to for Wonder Woman with Death Metal, and anything he did with the JSA right now would be extremely in-continuity; I doubt he’s playing with anything less than the icons anytime soon and he definitely seems more engaged with Superman now than he was when he wrote Unchained (hell, the end of Last Knight on Earth can basically only be read as ‘I wanna write Superman now’). Again though, dunno that I’d put money on that being next year. 

Outside the theoretical prestige stuff, everything we’re hearing about Future State, Infinite Frontier, and PKJ’s barely-veiled discussion of his run seems to suggest Jon will end up sharing the Superman name in the present and probably taking over that book alongside the new creative team. If Batman: Urban Legends takes off then I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a Superman anthology given DC’s apparent current priorities of consolidating, testing a new publishing model, and putting the biggest names first. And maybe something will finally come of the back-and-forth over whether or not Cavill’s sticking around in the movies - if he is my first guess would be an appearance in DuVernay and King’s New Gods (which is still in progress per DuVernay as of this month) - but we can all I think be pretty sure he’s still not getting a video game anytime soon.

As for what we know for certain of Batman’s 2021:

* Future State has a whole slate of Batman-related books, but Tim Fox takes over the cape and cowl to fight the police state that’s taken over Gotham in John Ridley and Nick Derington/Laura Braga’s The Next Batman, while a resourceless Bruce on the run stars in Mariko Takaki and Dan Mora’s Dark Detective.

* James Tynion and Jorge Jimenez are solidified as the creative team on the now-monthly Batman, while Tamaki and Mora take Detective Comics, with a Damian backup by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov running through the first issues of each and apparently leading to something, probably a Robin book. Elsewhere Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo take over Nightwing, Chip Zdarsky and Eddy Barrows spearhead the new anthology title Batman: Urban Legends, and Tynion and Gullem March launch a Joker ongoing, while Bruce also stars in the aforementioned Justice League and Batman/Superman.

* The Gotham Knights game is scheduled to drop next year.

Aside from the Infinite Frontier cover suggesting Tim Fox will take on a role in the present before long as (a) Batman same as Jon Kent as Superman, hopefully with Ridley and Derington coming back, it doesn’t feel like there’s a ton of big Batman stuff to speculate on? Aside from the inevitable unannounced Black Label stuff - including probably Scott Snyder’s Nightwing book - we know the basic shape of things. The Batman is inching closer, Tynion/Jimenez are probably on Batman through at least the end of the year, Mora I don’t think stays on Detective because he’s committed to Once & Future but Tamaki presumably does, Taylor/Redondo Nightwing is immediately going to be a fandom favorite, and Gotham Knights is probably gonna suck because boy that doesn’t look very good. We know the broad strokes of where he’s headed for the time being across all media. If I had to take a whack at a big guess, I’d say I’m a touch skeptical about that HBO GCPD show or the Batmobile cartoon reaching fruition, the former because that’s an incredibly charged premise that has to act perfectly in sync with another mass-media project in another medium AND we know there’s already been behind-the-scenes drama, and the latter because that sounds incredibly stupid.

EDIT: Forgot, Bendis said in 2019 he was working on a Black Label Batman book, so wouldn’t be surprised to see that too this year.

Cheers - SU Soft Jock Fic

Summary: Steven’s first impression of the OTA’s cheerleading group.

Created by @borkthemork.

—–

“Mr. Universe, we’d like to advise you not to touch the trinkets; your coach will meet you shortly.” Steven looked up. His fingers were still tapping the office desk’s waterbird decoration, keeping its plastic head bobbing into its tiny cup of water. The lady behind the desk was polite, but the strain in her words reminded him of his manners—that he was in an institution that didn’t allow him to fumble about to his heart’s delight. “And I’d like to keep my workplace clean if you understand that.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” He said, pulling his hand away, giving an abashed shrug. “I’ll just wait at the chairs then?”

“That would be good.” The woman looked relieved from this. Steven strode over to the active lobby, plopping onto a seat, his backpack finding a home between his legs.

The main office was a pale expanse of architecture. There were flags stretching to the high contours—spiraling into a rainbow of colors—and the walls were spotted with pictures of interesting people with their interesting faces. It wasn’t like Homeworld’s offices, but the similarities hit him when he examined more in his boredom. Especially with the idle atmosphere of it all.

This was where he would be, he thought; the start of a song humming in his throat. He had the decision to enroll himself and he took it, and now it will be the start of a new period in his life, where he can improve as a leader and meet new people he never had the time to get close with until now.

“Steven Universe.” He perked up. Behind the desk was a woman, her eyes surveying the lobby’s denizens with an unreadable expression. “Is there a Steven Universe in the crowd?”

“I’m here!”

She spotted him, lips curling into a pleasing look. She pointed to him. “Okay, so, you’re Steven Universe?”

He nodded, grabbing his backpack. “Sure am.”

“What a name ya’ got there. Pack your things, we’re going to get you up to speed.” The woman motioned him over. Steven, in his enthusiasm, shot up from his seat. He grabbed his bag, strode over to the office desk’s quick in-and-out door, and followed her like a newly exploring puppy.

When asking for her name, the only thing she could respond with was her last name: Diane. She was a middle-aged woman, reminding him of Vidalia and a few others back home. Hairs fraying into streaks of grey in a bob cut, eyes warm like pools of chocolate, it was a surprise to see that she still had affordable muscle as they walked, watching her do back-and-forths with an athlete who kept throwing her a basketball until one of them broke the chain. To be fair, he always met strong women in his life that were older than the average young adult—he should be used to it by now.

“It’s nice to have another male cheerleader,” she told him, waving her student away for the last time. She kept fidgeting, her tone starting to grow high strung. “We haven’t had one ever since three years ago. It’s a real shame too since the boy was really nice.”

“Well, I hope I get to make a good impression.” Impressions always need to be the best. If you had to welcome someone new, you needed to make sure they’re welcome and open to novel possibilities, else they’ll be hiding in your bathroom for weeks over a world so foreign and daunting.

“Trust me, you definitely will.” She reassured him with a smile. “The girls are always wanting new members for their troup and they’re very nice, I promise that.”

“Any faces I should know?” He leaned forward, both hands clasped onto his backpack’s straps with a skip in his step like he was ready to take on the world. “Tips? Anything to help a new student out? I’m all for it.”

“You’re a nice man, you wouldn’t have much trouble.” The coach nodded. Steven noticed the fields they passed: clean and crisp, a few athletes already playing on the football field, the dew of the trees glistening overhead like makeshift stars peeking out in morning light. “Just remember that, if you ever have any trouble with the group or you need anything specific, just tell me. I’ll handle it from there.”

He nodded. Both of them stopped at a huge building, looking similar to the gym he noticed out near the front of the academy.

“So, here we are!” She said, motioning towards it with a smile. “This is where we practice. Usually, other schedules for differing programs leads us to move the cheerleading mats to substitute places, but this is where we’ll take part.”

“Does it have a place for me to change, too?” Steven looked up, trying to find the very top of the building.

“In the backs. But I want you to meet the girls first before we can get you geared up.” Opening the door, Steven followed her inside.

The whole thing wafted of drywall. Amid it, with banners plastered in different partitions, floor smooth with lacquer, he watched a group of women in the middle of blue mats—which covered much of the central establishment. They were huddling in small groups, attempting to lift one girl out of each troup into the air by the use of their adjoined hands. All of it looked coordinated, albeit sluggish.

The coach’s whistle sounded. The girls, placing their companions back onto the ground, looked over at the both of them like a curious band of cats. “Girls, come here for a sec!”

Being the center of attention was normal with Steven. He had pairs of eyes on him ever since he was born in a blare of light, but there was some hint of disquiet at the sight of them surrounding him in silence. No reaction, no clear voice piping up or asking questions about who he was. Just mute observation.

“Girls, I’d like you to meet Steven Universe.” Coach patted his back, making him sound off with a minuscule grunt. “He’ll be your newest member of the team, so I’d expect good behavior from all of you.”

One of them stepped out from the crowd, giving a nod with her hazel-crowned hair. There was poise, an elegance that Steven wondered was normal for cheerleaders to have. “I’ll make sure the team accepts him fully, Coach. You have my word.”

The coach’s eyes softened. It was like a burden was lifted off her chest, that the idea that he was in good hands removed some piece of anxiety from her mind. “Okay, okay, thank you, Natalie. Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll introduce each of you, so keep still.”

She beckoned the girls to straighten up in a messy line, leaving Steven to wander his eyes from left to right, trying to spot a few distinctions within each line-up: Georgie, a blonde rife with dyed-red streaks through her hair; Ophelia, a dark-skinned muscle whom nodded her head to a silent beat; Riley, thin and looming with a curled smile; Fiona, one pupil lazying about while staring at him in concentration; Jacky, feet tapping and pinky pressing to her thigh in nonchalant rhythm; Carly, black bob framing bang-covered curved eyes; Amanda with the cleft-lipped and crooked nose; Pamella in her leaning, threatening-to-topple stance; and then Natalie. Too many to count, but noticeable to point out.

At the end of the introductions, the coach fished out a ringing phone from her pocket. Giving a quick nod, she placed it back inside.

“All right, well.” She clapped once. “I have to go talk to Coach Ridley about something, so I hope all of you behave until I get back.”

“We won’t,” Natalie reassured her once again. With the pleasantries over, there was an implicit tension that Steven couldn’t put his finger on. Like he was about to be bombarded by something, but he didn’t know what.

With it, the coach laughed heartedly, giving a wave at the group. She closed the door behind her.

He turned back at the girls, watching them continue to stare at him with shifting expressions. “Uhm, hi?”

The next few seconds were a blur of voices.

“Steven, hello!”

“Another boy!? Hallelujah!”

“We’re adopting him, right?”

"Oh my god, it’s so nice to meet you!”

“We need to check schedules!”

“You look so cute!”

“I love your hair!”

“Hold on!” The group stopped at the rise of Natalie’s voice. A casual smile on her, she took her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Steven. Don’t mind them, they’re usually like this.”

“‘Usually’? Natalie, don’t be lying to him in the first second!”

“Georgie, shush!” Natalie looked back at him. He finally reciprocated her handshake, easing into the atmosphere. She was the makeshift leader of them, no doubt about it—it made him relax more than he expected. “But, before we allow you into our ranks, I need to ask you something.”

His smile morphed into a frown. “Is there something wrong?”

“Nope, just a quick question.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Are you bi?”

The inquiry made him blink—expression morphed in contemplation. That question came out of nowhere, but with the way it was told, it was more so out of curiosity than anything else. He was happy to oblige, a growing giddiness in his stomach. “Pan.”

“I KNEW IT!” The outburst lead him to jump back and laugh at the girl’s aggressive shout, which diffused to the rest of the girls in a wave of calamity. “I’M NOT THE ONLY GAY IN THIS DAMN GROUP!”

One cheerleader shoved her out of the way. “You’re hogging the attention, Nat! All of us want to welcome him too!”

“You can get all this attention out of my cold bare hands, Amanda!” Natalie shouted back.

“My knuckles are happy to oblige!”

Fiona butted in. “Guys, we’re not doing this again!”

With the sight of the girls going into fake fighting stances, his amusement shone through; Steven had no clue what was happening, but he might as well go along with it.

He was going to be cheerleading with them for the entirety of his college years. He welcomed the chaos.

If you're still taking prompts maybe college Peter who has a newborn (up to you how that happened) no one but his close friends know about and one day he has to take him to class for some reason and the baby won't stop crying and Flash is being a dick and people are getting annoyed but professor Tony just asks if he can hold him for him and does so for the rest of the lecture and the baby chills out (an extra if you're into more peter whump maybe he's very much struggling to deal on his own?)

do the thing - send in all the prompts. 

I really liked this one - I saw the original video of this idea and it was real heart warming. 

warnings: underage drinking, minor character death

word count: ~3k

Peter never imagined a singular night of stupidity would change his life forever. Right before winter break of his senior year, Peter had the sudden epiphany that girls were not for him. He and Ned were looking at a The Rise of Skywalker magazine – a typical Saturday night for the two of them. Ned went on and on about how hot Daisy Ridley was, how her badass temperament made her even sexier – but Peter couldn’t take his eyes off the shots of Ben Skywalker. It wasn’t until Ned shoved his shoulder into his side that Peter noticed his own radio silence.

Though he pretended to shake it off for Ned’s sake, his mind kept playing on that fact over and over again. A part of him always wondered why he never got that excited about the dirty magazines the guys would pass around the locker room – or why dates with girls never ended up working out quite right. Some of his best friends were girls that he thought might make the perfect girlfriend, when in fact, they were the perfect friend, instead. It didn’t bother him so much as surprise him – the thought never crossed his mind before, but now – it was the only thing he could think about.

When Ned brought up a party MJ mentioned at lunch earlier, Peter jumped on the chance – it seemed like the perfect place to test out his new theory. Maybe if he just gave himself a chance to like a girl – it would all work out. 

That was his first mistake. 

The next occurred when he let Ned put cup after cup of whatever he found on the drink table in his hand. The last time Peter attempted to drink, he passed out with his pants down in the middle of MJ’s bathroom – upon reflection, he hoped that would have kept him from repeating the same disastrous action.

It seemed he had not had enough punishment for his stupidity – only this time, the result was not incriminating pictures and laughed away stories.

Waking up the next morning, Peter groaned as the world spun around him when he sat up. Blurry eyes took in the room around him and immediately felt panic. The soft violet on the walls was not the normal drab white of Ned’s bedroom, and the comforter pulled over his hips was certainly not the Batman one that his best friend kept spread across his bed. And the person next to him most certain was not Ned. In fact, he couldn’t even remember who the hell it actually was.

He slipped out of bed as quietly as he could, his head still spinning slightly. His naked body clued him in on what exactly went down last night, though no memories of it were able to surface. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the whirlwind of clothes on the floor and the odd soreness in the small of his back to understand what took place. Stepping into his clothes, Peter pulled out the little notebook he kept in his jeans pocket and tore out a page – his half-drunk brain barely able to translate a legible note.

In leaving his number, he never assumed the girl would actually get back to him. He couldn’t even remember her name – he still didn’t recall what happened that night. That’s why it was a total shock when she called, her voice a little shaky as she read his own note to him – each word one he remembered putting down on the paper. He clenched his jaw a little and stayed on the phone, the girl he now knew as Stacy had something to tell him. And man did he regret not hanging up the damn phone.

All of his plans to leave and head to MIT were put on hold the second he found out he was going to be a father. He felt May’s heart break across the room later that night when he told her the news. She wanted him to get out of here and do bigger and better things just as much as Peter did – probably even more so, if he thought a little bit about it. 

The hug she gave him felt a little bittersweet. They cried together and then stood back up and made a plan. There were a lot of things that needed to happen before a new little person could take up residence in their small apartment.

It turned out that Stacy was a couple of years older than him and trying to navigate her way through NYU classes. She was a nice person and wouldn’t be too bad of a person to raise a child with. Peter told her up front that their time together was a mistake – that even after finding out about their soon-to-be son, he still didn’t think there’d be a chance for them. 

It felt good to jump that hurdle before things got too complicated when the kid did actually come around. She seemed perfectly happy to share the parenting duties – it didn’t hurt that she fit in pretty nicely with May, either; the girls were always whispering about this thing or that whenever he and Stacy got together to go to appointments.

Seeing his baby’s face on the monitor every time they went in for a check up kept things in perspective for him. When May had to check him out of classes to make appointments, his stomach rolled a little – there were so many opportunities he was missing, and the kid wasn’t even there yet. 

The heartbeat and promise of little hands that would wrap around his made it all worth it, though. He never thought about being a dad, there wasn’t time in a 17-year-old’s life for that. With it now on his doorstep, Peter’s brain wouldn’t shut down and think about anything else.

There was so much anxiety built up around whether he could be a good dad with very little resources and a singular aunt that would support him through anything, but had a life of her own to live, too. His deferment of his MIT acceptance chipped at the resolve he tried to build each day the arrival of his son got more and more near. Peter let himself be happy with the fact that he could still go to college at all. NYU was better than nothing.

When Atlas came around, it was with a mixture of joy and sadness. Right after holding him for the first time, Stacy simply dropped back against the hospital bed, her eyes shutting uselessly. Peter looked around with the newborn baby still in his arms, the beeping of machines and rush of people in the room making the boy wail – the stimulus almost too much for Peter himself. It never occurred to him that one moment would be the last time he or Atlas saw her. In one fell swoop, Peter became a father and sole provider to the tiniest human he’d ever seen.

The transition wasn’t very easy, either. There weren’t romantic feelings between him and Stacy, but she was the mother to his child, the person he’d come to know pretty well over the past 9 months. An aneurism seemed silly in a 19-year-old girl – yet, it took her all the same. One of Atlas’s first days outside of the hospital was spent in the small cemetery her estranged uncle picked to bury her in. He declined Peter’s invitation to hold Atlas and got in his car the second the ceremony was over.

Just like that, Peter had a three-day-old and the impending start of college classes. He assumed sometime in the near future he needed to get a job, too – but he could only handle a couple of big things at a time. Getting the baby settled and into a routine seemed like the most important thing, so he focused on that. May helped the first couple of days – her chill nature a little frayed now that a screaming child kept them both awake at night.

Atlas was just shy of a week old when Peter started classes at NYU. 3 of the 4 he signed up to take were cookie cutter prerequisites and general education classes. The pick of the loot as a freshman was not very rich. He did manage to snag a Biophysics class, though – his AP credit getting him something a least.

The professor was a gorgeous man with a neat goatee and the softest eyes. He spoke with authority and the distinctness that came from being extremely knowledgeable about the thing he talked about frequently. Peter spent a lot of his time in Professor Tony’s class alternating between drooling over how stunning he was and daydreaming about how much fun they could have together – if the older man would appreciate being called daddy the same way Peter wanted so much to say it.

The most standout piece of Mr. Stark came from the kindness he treated all of his students with. Peter absentmindedly forgot to turn in the week’s homework and wrote an embarrassingly long and blathering message about this and that as an excuse – and if he could please, for the love of god, turn the damn thing in. Tony’s response was swift and gentle, the man allowing him a couple more days to get it in without deducting any points. When it happened again the second week, he pushed the deadline back for Peter and the rest of the class. In all the unluckiness, Peter was surprised to find such a caring person in the most unlikely of places.

The next week, Peter was shaken awake by May, a distraught look on her face. “I know that you have class today, but I can’t keep the baby. I got called into work. I’m sorry, Pete,” May said softly, her eyes trying to stay soft, to stay under control the same way she’d always been. Blinking, Peter sat up a little – the sleep clung to him tightly, the crustiness in the corner of his eye making it hard to keep his eyes open. Atlas still wasn’t sleeping very well and there’d been many hours of rocking the night before.

“Okay. I got him. Thanks, May,” Peter replied blearily, his hand moving up to brush at his eyes. It took another minute or two to come around, then Peter was out of bed and moving into the kitchen – his body putting together a bottle and some things into a bag on autopilot. 

He could probably change the baby’s diaper with his eyes closed now, too. Taking care of Atlas was all he’d done for weeks now, his classes the only thing that gave him sanctuary. Now, he didn’t even get to have that. Blowing out a breath, Peter got into the shower and got clean before Atlas was up and crankily crying out for him.

The idea of staying home didn’t hit him until about ten minutes into class when Atlas would not stop crying. The decision to take him came when he noticed that they were just a couple class periods away from the exam – he wasn’t sure how Tony tested and didn’t want to miss anything. 

Atlas didn’t make a peep their entire walk over and when he sat down, he figured that trend would continue. After twenty minutes of it and Flash Thompson turning around three times to tell him to shut his kid up, Peter started to get out of his seat. It’d been a stupid idea in the first place.

All of the sudden, Professor Stark was in his row, his hands out in front of him. “I’ll take him. Do you have a bottle? I can feed him and talk at the same time,” Tony said, his face split with a soft grin. The man stepped a little closer and crouched down, his fingers wiggling in front of Atlas’s face. “What’s his name, Pete?”

Not knowing what else to do and suddenly so very grateful for the man, Peter turned the boy’s carrier and happily handed Tony his son – the older man cradled him carefully and stood up. He looked good with a baby in his arms. Peter reached out to give him a bottle and their fingers touched – a delicate zing that Peter couldn’t ever remember feeling before shot up his arm and settled in his chest. “Come talk to me later.” He flashed Peter a smile and started back down the stairs to the front of the lecture hall.

He tried to pay attention, he really did – but it was hard to focus when Tony was holding Atlas so delicately and swaying back and forth to mock a rocking motion. True to his word, the man continued to lecture – the normal talking with his hands transferred to his face, instead. His eyebrows hiked up his forehead and quirked to run a severe line between them while he spoke – the entire experience of it a little bit overwhelming. 

Atlas finished the bottle a little bit into the more intense parts of the lecture – Tony simply put him against his chest and started to burp him while he described the math problem they were currently looking at on the projector.

The whole thing was too much and not nearly enough all at one time. It felt like a tease, seeing just how good the gorgeous man could be with someone so precious to him. The part of Peter that yearned for help like that made him want to cry – his eyes watering a few times throughout the rest of the lecture. 

Flash looked back once when Peter was wiping at his eye and called him a pussy – the word not having nearly as much bite as it would have before Atlas came around. He was a father with a lot of shit on his plate – and far from the type of person that would run away from his problems.

For the rest of the lecture, Peter kept his eyes on the sleeping baby in Tony’s arms – of course he would be quiet for a complete stranger. Though, Peter understood the ability to be comfortable in the older man’s presence, he felt that way himself. Getting up when Tony dismissed everyone, Peter climbed down the stairs and put the carrier by his feet, a hesitant smile on his face. “Professor Stark, you have no idea how sorry I am,” Peter started, his words immediately cut off by Tony’s hand raising.

“Don’t apologize. You needed some help, so I gave it to you. Besides, Atlas and I are pals. He didn’t throw up on me,” Tony remarked, his eyes pinching at the corners as a stunning smile slipped across his face. “He can’t be too old. How are you coping with classes and a newborn?”

Without really knowing what was happening, Peter started to cry – the question making all of the thoughts he’d been holding back crash down over his head. He wasn’t coping – he did his best to survive and that was it. 

Peter loved the hell out of Atlas, but parenting was not for young people. There was a deeply engrained need to make sure other people did not make the same mistake he did – having a child was absolutely no fucking joke.

Peter felt an arm wrap around him, the smell of cedar wood and something he couldn’t quite place invading his senses. Atlas was still fast asleep in Tony’s arms – the baby’s feet pressing into him a little when the other pulled him close. There wasn’t enough energy in him to feel embarrassed – it felt good to be held, so he leaned into the comfort of Tony’s arms.

“It’s alright, Pete. Let me help you.” Tony muttered the words softly, his tone of voice just as much for Peter as it was for the small baby in his arms. “I can take care of the both of you.”

OC QUESTIONS — Ridley

BASICS

What’s their full name? — Riley Angel Albright

What does their name mean? Why were they named that? — Riley means ‘valiant’ and his mothers wanted to incorporate some of his culture into his name, so his middle name is Angel.

Do they have any nicknames? — IRL: Riles IN GAME: Ridley

How old are they? — 21.

When’s their birthday? — March 31st.

What’s their zodiac sign/element/birthstone/etc.? Do they believe that holds any significance? — Aries, Fire Element, Diamond. He doesn’t think they matter at all.

What’s their species/subspecies? Do they have any special/magical abilities? — Human and he has no magical abilities.

What “class” do they belong to (for fantasy characters)? If none, what weapon do they favor? — Rogue. He favors a bow and arrows.

APPEARANCE

What do they look like? — Medium brown hair, olive-toned skin, slightly muscular, and is 5′9.

Do they have a face claim? — Benjamin Wadsworth.

What’s their style like? Clothes, hair, makeup? — IN GAME: All black including a scarf he pulls over half his face whenever he’s working, minus a cherub-shaped white pendant he hides in his tunic. IRL: Skater aesthetic, wears Thrasher tees, cuffed jeans, Vans, and oversized hoodies.

How do they carry themselves? What’s their default expression? — IN GAME: Stoic in and out. IRL: Always looks bored, always is bored.

Do they have any physical ailments or disabilities? — None.

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment? — True Neutral.

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into? — INTJ: The Architect.

What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)? — IN GAME: He enjoys scaling things, i.e. buildings and tall trees. IRL: His favorite food is deer steak and his favorite books/movies are the Lord of the Rings.

What are they bad at? — Describing his emotions eloquently.

What kind of things do they dislike/hate? — IN GAME: Clients who skim on details or go into too much detail, those rats in level 1. IRL: His hometown and his job.

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses? — He’s an ex-opioid addict.

What are their goals and motivations? — IN GAME: Reach level 50 and settle in the upper levels with plenty of gold to last him a while. IRL: Finish school and run for office someday.

What are their manners like? Any habits? — IN GAME: He’s very curt and doesn’t like long interactions, he tends to count his arrows multiple times on long journeys and is always looking over his shoulder. IRL: Mostly just bored and disinterested in conversation unless it’s with a cute girl, chews on his nails and smokes pot.

What are they most afraid of? — IN GAME: Nothing. IRL: Relapsing.

BACKGROUND

Where were they born? What was their childhood like? — Monterrey, Mexico. It was fairly average with very little turmoil, apart from the insensitive questions other kids would ask about his mothers.

What’s their family like? — Deirdre Albright is an interior designer with a dry sense of humor that Riley takes after, her wife Imogen Albright is a social worker who taught their son everything about being a man. He adores them both for putting up with him.

What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold? — He is a part of no organization and only holds the title of bounty hunter.

How do they fit into their “story”? — He causes enough trouble to stay relevant in the eyes of the city guard, otherwise he blends in perfectly.

Where do they currently live? What’s their place like? — IN GAME: Whatever inn will take him. IRL: His childhood home in Kansas City.

How do they eventually die? — IN GAME: He’d eventually be caught in a soul gem by an outranking enemy. IRL: Overdose.

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend? — IN GAME: He has no friends, let alone any person he would allow himself to get close enough to consider a best friend. IRL: His friends are all at college and he had to cut them out for his sobriety’s sake.

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it? — IRL: His old friend group partied every weekend and influenced him to do a litany of substances, he was once a willing and eager participant, now he’s known as a dejected loner.

What’s their love life like? Do they have any kids? — He doesn’t have one nor wishes for one, thinking himself lucky if he makes it to 25, let alone to an age where he’d be comfortable having children.

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust? — IN GAME: No one. IRL: He looks up to his mothers and his NA sponsor who has gotten him through extremely rough times and even recommended Nacene to him.

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies? — IN GAME: He’s a public enemy because of the nature of his job, which he couldn’t care less about. 

Do they have any pets? — IRL: He has a pet hamster named Gimli he forces himself to look after.

Are they good with kids? Animals? — IN GAME: He tends to avoid both. IRL: He’s good with animals but adores children and is an amazing babysitter whenever given the opportunity.

FUN FACTS

Which tropes do they fit? Which archetypes? — His main archetype is the Outlaw.

Do they play any instruments? Sports? — IRL: He used to play soccer up until his sophomore year of high school.

What are some items they always carry? — IN GAME: His bow and arrows and a dagger. IRL: A lighter.

Do they collect anything? — IN GAME: He keeps any small possession his victims may have that he can carry lightly; i.e. rings, lightweight necklaces, knives, potion bottles. IRL: Comic books.

What position do they sleep in? — IN GAME: Upright, mostly in branches and up against the tree trunk. IRL: Cocooned in his blankets with a window open.

Which emoji would they use the most? — Eye-rolling emoji.

What languages do they speak? — English.

What’s their favorite expletive? — Goddamn.

What’s their favorite candle scent? — Fresh linen.

What songs remind you of them? — Kismet by XIX, 4 Morant by Doja Cat, Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi.

Which animal would you say represents them? — Raven.

What stereotypical high school clique would they fit into? — The stoners.

What would their favorite ride at an amusement park be? — The one you’re spun around in until you’re about to puke.

Do they believe in aliens? Ghosts? Reincarnation or something else? — IN GAME: He doesn’t believe in ghosts since he’s never encountered one and he doesn’t think there’s anything after death. IRL: He believes in aliens but not ghosts and believes in reincarnation.

Do they follow any religions/gods? Do they celebrate holidays? — IN GAME: He’s non-religious and doesn’t celebrate any holiday. IRL: His mothers wanted to give him a well-rounded world view, so he celebrates almost every known holiday.

Which Deadly Sin do they most correspond to? Which Heavenly Virtue? — Greed and Justice.

If you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, which would it be? — The Tower.

Hawk Annotations

It’s been some days since Hawk came out so I figured I’d post my stupid annotations on here. Putting it all under a cut because, obviously, there are so many spoilers, and I had a lot to say.

Started reading: 7/6/20

The 10th Maximum Ride book

It just came out today and I just got it in the mail so let’s see what this dumpster fire is all about.

2 – well! the world building is already bad

3 – I do sorta like the narrative voice though

8 – there’s so much swearing. wonder whether she’s allowed to say fuck though

she says “feck”???

11 – how is there an even remotely functional government like 15-20 years post-apocalypse

13 – why’d she wait the extra half hour?

15 – “my kids” I’m going to assume this is more of a flock situation than a teen mom situation?

19 – so much exposition :/

23 – I’m really not invested in any of this. Ugh, and I have 400 pages to go… [well, okay, it was more like 375. My hardcover copy was long.]

26 – for someone who doesn’t care about her parents, Hawk sure does bring them up a lot

37 – oh, that’s probably Fang, isn’t it

39 – is that a fucking smiley face? [It actually had J in the narration. What??]

40 – “Anytime I heard the word ‘experiment,’ my ears perked right up” okay just call me out like that I guess

43 – that would make sense

46 – black lab coat? [the future of lab fashion?]

67 – hmm this is weird, I don’t like it

69 – she didn’t really seem like she was into that

72 – …but apparently she was?

77 – I WAS RIGHT

78 – well that escalated quickly

82 – I don’t know how to feel about this

84 – WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED???

85 – has Max been in solitary for 10 years? What the fuck?? [It wasn’t solitary confinement, actually, just regular prison.]

87 – none of this world building makes any sense

101 – this is incredibly poorly written. Barely even follows the rules of reality

102 – It’s also very dark, edgy, “Life sucks deal with it” flavored and I’m not a fan

General note: this is reminding me of Witch & Wizard in all the worst ways. Especially page 105. [It’s been brought to my attention that Gabrielle Charbonnet also co-authored at least one book in that series, so that’s probably why.]

106 – Why does McCallum sound exactly like Trump? [The most shocking part of reading this book was finding out that Jimmy Patterson apparently disapproves of Trump.]

108 – so we’re not ignoring the “he was like a brother to me” thing?

109 – JP has torn this series apart so thoroughly. I hate him.

116 – Fuck this. You killed her after giving her maybe 2 minutes of page time. There’s nothing meaningful about that!! Nothing!!

119 – oH SHIT OKAY

121 – that didn’t make it any better, actually

Everything feels so pointless here

I don’t even want to read this but it’ll bug me if I don’t :/

127 – At least this book is better about describing characters

129 – HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY TELL?? Isn’t Ridley enough to prove it?

Side note: will we ever find out who Rose is?

130 – multiple sets of what now?

133 – HOW DO THEY FOLD TWICE???? [Their wings! Fold twice! How the FUCK does that work??]

138 – I’m sorry what

141 – Okay yeah McCallum is definitely a Trump stand in

145 – that’s not gonna happen

147 – I know Jeb is dead but I would be totally unsurprised if McCallum turned out to be Jeb. [Spoiler alert: he isn’t. Evidently Jeb’s still dead. Good for him.]

148 – Okay that line was actually good [the line was: “I’m Maximum Ride, you son of a bitch!”]

149 – Max ALMOST said fuck. Very nearly.

[God just let her say fuck, she deserves it the most]

153 – well this is fucked

154 – you’re not allowed to judge anyone’s names, you named yourself Hawk

160 – It doesn’t even really feel like the flock is older. Except Nudge, probably b/c she keeps calling Hawk “sweetie”

163 – why is Freak capitalized?

164 – “We try to keep the body count low. Part of our personal growth.” I’M SCREAMING NUDGE IS SO FUNNY

173 – OH SHIT

181 – Crismins? Did they change the word for Christmas?

183 – As usual, Nudge is the only one here who I respect

190 – Nudge would be an amazing mom

I’m actually so happy about Nudge’s characterization so far, I love her. Nudge stan for life.

[In the original series: Nudge who? I don’t know her.

In Hawk: Nudge is everyone’s favorite person.]

193 – “You want a wing! Find yourself a goddamn brain first!” that’s so fucking good actually

203 – Are you fucking kidding me

205 – OH GOD DAMMIT

209 – savage

215 – this just in: horses aren’t real

Hey also where the fuck’s Angel? Did she finally start a cult or something?

221 – “he’d put his dad wings on” that’s… quite a phrase

When did Fang become such a hardass? [Edit: actually he was focused on rescuing Max so I guess that’s justified.]

225 – “eyeless Rain” are we doing the blind mentioning thing again? Really? [JP has a bad habit of traumatically removing characters’ vision and then always bringing up that they’re blind as though that’s their only character trait, and I for one think he should be banned from writing for that alone.]

234 – well that escalated quickly

237 – way to avoid describing Gazzy or Iggy’s wings lol

246 – seeing Max call Fang “my love” is very uncomfortable

247 – Okay, that’s cute. [Cutest scene in the whole book, actually.]

257 – Nudge does have curly hair!!! See!!! [@ Narae Lee: take some fucking notes.]

259 – Gazzy’s environmentally friendly bombs. He should make a business.

269 – “forking”? Excuse me sir this is [definitely] not the Good Place I’m sure you can just say fuck

271 – Oh god I don’t want to think about how old the flock is now

HAWK HAS TATTOOS??

272 – These Ride girls are really prone to fainting I guess. Real convenient for transitions between scenes.

278 – I’m still so pissed that the flock was separated for ten years. Not even in a heartbreaking way—it just feels like there was no point to it

Also: how did they find out what happened to Rose? [Also: why use a random character you just made up instead of characters we already know? Hello? Wasn’t Fang’s gang still around post-apocalypse? Weren’t they all friends by then?]

283 – Oh god, is it Angel?

284 – YEP! And holy shit did Total have a kid or something?

285 – Okay so I was this close with the cult leader thing

287 – TOTAL’S ALIVE??? and remarried?? where is he? [I still want some fucking answers, James.]

295 – what the fuck is with the spelling here? Did Angel really just say “staaaahp”?? [As in “stop” but the 2010 internet way of saying it.]

Did she just say “LOL” out loud??

301 – this feels like when you’re in the car with a friend while they’re having an argument with their parents…

This all feels so pointless. The whole first series was about building a better world, and things somehow only got worse.

306 – wow it really doesn’t take much to set Hawk off

307 – you know what, Max is right

The fact that it’s been 10+ years and the flock still has to save the world is really dissatisfying. [It’s passed off as a “it’s what we do” sort of thing, but that shouldn’t be their fucking lifelong job.]

315 – Breaking news: Hawk is introduced to the concept of daddy issues

320 – wait when did Ridley get here??

323 – why are there so many mentions of wearing ponchos to hide their wings? [There have to be better ways]

333 – this was the only major spoiler I got but even though I had warning I’m still mad about it

355 – “Could that could be sky?” has to be the worst mistype I’ve seen in here

365 – Okay this is super uncomfortable

370 – “200 km per hour” I don’t know the metric system but I’m guessing that’s not accurate [it’s 125-ish mph so… I don’t know enough about flying speeds for this, okay, that’s the author’s job]

375 – How would Hawk know what a geocache is?

378 – so she’s just leaving him to die?

381 – okay, zero foreshadowing on that one

396 – so Pietro lived

397 – so actually everyone lived except for Clete :/

399 – “More Epilogue”??

Finished: 7/7/20

I… have no idea what to say about this one. It was a lot. Some parts were decent, others were boring, and it didn’t really feel like a “new generation” book, just an excuse to show the old flock as adults.

I was pleasantly surprised with Nudge’s characterization, and I really liked the “drop the Phoenix” scene, but that’s pretty much all I liked.

[Additional note: the book had no plot. Zero. Like… there was an attempt, but it didn’t really come together.]