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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Godzilla Singular Point: The Weird History of Jet Jaguar

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The latest take on Toho’s iconic, building-crushing lizard comes in the form of Godzilla Singular Point, an anime series now available in dubbed form on Netflix. Taking place in the not-too-distant future, this reimagining of the King of Monsters involves a group of human characters becoming aware – through rather bizarre ways – of a coming apocalyptic event. Now the only thing that can save them is a behemoth out to punch monsters and look out for the little guy.

No, not Godzilla. He’s actually the apocalyptic event. No, our hero is none other than Jet Jaguar.

Yes, it’s finally time for Jet Jaguar to get his due.

A concept nearly 50 years old at this point, Jet Jaguar is one of those characters who was initially doomed to fail, but lives on due to nostalgia and the golden notion of, “I realize most people hated that thing from my childhood, but I bet I could make it good!” At best, he was a rad addition to the Godzilla mythos. At worst, he was a dumb idea from a dumb movie. For the most part, he’s remembered as something goofy that gets laughed at, despite having some genuine earnestness.

Jet Jaguar was created from both a fan contest and a corporate game of telephone. Back in 1972, to jump on the bandwagon of tokusatsu giant superhero/robot shows, Toho asked fans to design their own superhero design. The winner was a half-man/half-bird robot with a lengthy neck resembling a stack of rings named Red Alone. The concept was turned into a full-on rubber costume, but they changed the color scheme, which upset the young winner. They later decided to just scrap the whole thing, keep the color scheme, and make their own new design. And so, Jet Jaguar was born.

The superhero made an entire one movie appearance in 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon. As the urban legend goes, this was initially intended to be a standalone Jet Jaguar movie that the studio just didn’t have faith in towards the end and they hastily threw in Godzilla and recurring Godzilla villain Gigan. While the claim is dubious and unproven, it certainly is easy to understand where the allegations come from.

Everything about the movie feels rushed. As the last-minute replacement for another Godzilla film that didn’t pan out, filming took several weeks and production was a mere six months. Even the Godzilla costume was whipped up in record time. As for the story, outside of the intro, the preexisting elements (Godzilla and Gigan) aren’t thrown in until about 2/3 into the movie. Up until that point, it feels like a Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon movie with the production team hitting the panic button.

The plot of Godzilla vs. Megalon is that a scientist Goro Ibuki is working on a robot called Jet Jaguar, along with his little brother Rokuro and his best friend Hiroshi. They get wrapped up in a plot involving a group of beings from Atlantis-But-Not-Really, who are annoyed at all the nuclear bomb tests going on in their neck of the woods. They steal Jet Jaguar and use him to guide their insect god Megalon to different cities for the sake of smashing them up and punishing humanity.

Goro and friends get their hands on Jet Jaguar’s controls and use him to lead Godzilla to where Megalon is. Then the Seatopians call some alien friends for a solid and have them send in Gigan. Jet Jaguar is able to break away from all control and becomes fully sentient, as well as revealing the ability to turn into a giant. It becomes a big tag team battle, mostly remembered for Godzilla doing the silliest dropkick you’ve ever seen, followed by a second one for good measure.

The villains escape, Jet Jaguar and Godzilla shake hands, they go their separate ways, and Jet Jaguar reunites with the humans heroes after shrinking back down. He gets his own snazzy theme song to close things out.

In Japan, the movie wasn’t all that successful. As the thirteenth title in the Godzilla series, it brought in the worst returns yet. Between public burnout and the movie’s lack of quality, it just wasn’t grabbing people. That said, it came out at just the right time in the United States. Released in 1976, it came out months before the anticipated King Kong remake. The American movie poster for the movie even bit on the King Kong poster by featuring Godzilla and Megalon duking it out while each standing on a different Twin Tower, even though the movie at no point took place in the States.

A year later, the movie would be cut down into 48 minutes so they could broadcast it on NBC in prime time, across an hour with commercials. The only reason I mention this at all is because it was hosted by John Belushi wearing a Godzilla costume, which is sadly somewhere in the abyss of golden lost media.

Getting back to Jet Jaguar – the topic of this article – I feel the need to bring up Germany’s handling of the movie’s translation. Rather than call him “Jet Jaguar,” they referred to him as “King Kong.” I mean…sure, why not. Even weirder, when the next two movies introduced fellow giant robot MechaGodzilla, Germany once again referred to the robot as “King Kong.” Guys, I know what you’re going for here, but it doesn’t work that way.

Anyway, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla and Terror of MechaGodzilla followed Godzilla vs. Megalon and closed off the classic Showa Era of Godzilla movies. Not only did Japan need to rest Godzilla as a concept for nearly a decade, but this also meant that whenever Godzilla would come back, it was going to be some kind of reboot or new “only the first movie counts” installment. Jet Jaguar was never high on the list to be brought back, especially since MechaGodzilla completely overshadowed him.

He would at least get a little more exposure in 1991 when Godzilla vs. Megalon was featured in the second season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. While much of the episode is spent making fun of one of the Seatopians for looking like Oscar Wilde, they toss plenty of jokes at Jet Jaguar. Most memorably, they “translate” Jet Jaguar’s ending theme, which notes that his mother never loved him and he looks a lot like Jack Nicholson.

Due to rights issues, Godzilla vs. Megalon is one of the few MST3K episodes that is no longer legally available for viewing. This does make the original MST3K Collection Volume 10 box set (which included Godzilla vs. Megalon as one of the four movies) a collector’s item, as it was later discontinued and rereleased with The Giant Gila Monster taking its spot.

A stranger use of Jet Jaguar comes in the form of Certain Distant Suns’ music video for “Bitter” in 1995. While there’s not much of a narrative outside of the band playing, footage of Godzilla vs. Megalon being shown, and a few shots of guys walking around in Megalon and Jet Jaguar costumes, I really insist you give the video a look due to the ending. It certainly goes in a direction I wasn’t expecting.

In 1997, Jet Jaguar made his next official appearance in another frankly bizarre spectacle. In Japan, a series called Godzilla Island appeared on TV in three-minute increments. While it only lasted a year, there were a whopping 256 episodes, meaning almost 13 hours of footage. If you’ve never heard of Godzilla Island, you might be thinking, “Wow, almost 13 hours of Godzilla stuff? Why isn’t this more well known?”

Well, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that instead of using guys in rubber suits, the kaiju action was done with action figures. Yikes.

Not only did Jet Jaguar show up during these adventures, but they gave him the 90s superhero action figure treatment. Much like how they released as many figures of Batman as possible for different crime-fighting scenarios, Godzilla Island gave us Silver Jet Jaguar, Medical Jet Jaguar, and even Fireman Jet Jaguar. Collect them all!

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Godzilla vs. Kong Writer Talks About Spending 8 Years in the MonsterVerse

By Don Kaye

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Godzilla vs. Kong Director and Writer Talk Future of The MonsterVerse

By Don Kaye

In the early 2000s, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was released for the GameCube and Xbox under the Atari brand. It was a fighting game featuring various characters from Godzilla lore and though Atari wanted to include Jet Jaguar, Toho refused. Still, at least Megalon was included in the game. There would be two sequels in the form of Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed. FINALLY, Jet Jaguar was playable, because if there’s anything you can count on, it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel when you’re working on multiple installments of a nostalgic who’s who project.

He’d also return in 2014’s Godzilla game for PlayStation 3 and 4. The producer of the game didn’t even plan on putting him in there, but he saw that the programmers already were working on him and just shrugged it off. There was a special trick to summoning Jet Jaguar as a boss character. By ending up in three different Godzilla vs. Jet Jaguar scenarios and winning all three times, you would then unlock a special cutscene of the two shaking hands while a confused military woman would wonder about their history.

Around the mid-2010s, IDW Publishing was all about releasing a bunch of comics with the Godzilla license. Their mainline series was Godzilla: Rulers of the Earth, which went on for 25 issues. Early on, Jet Jaguar appeared out of nowhere during a fight between Godzilla and the team of Gigan and Orga. In human size, Jet Jaguar flew into Orga’s mouth, then expanded into giant size, causing the beast to explode. Especially awesome was that it came with the cliffhanger text, “Next: PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!” a reference to Jet Jaguar’s theme song from the movie.

Jet Jaguar showed up regularly in the series, coming off as Godzilla’s designated driver friend and handler. What I mean is that he seemed to be out to protect Godzilla, but that meant having to keep his violent ally on task (ie. pointing out that Gigan was nearby to stop Godzilla from attacking Jet Jaguar) and throwing punches when the situation absolutely called for it.

This continuity played up Jet Jaguar as more enigmatic than anything, as although he was mechanical, the only human character who knew his origins was killed off before it could be explained. Even one of the invading alien villains saw him on a screen and basically went, “Oh crap. It’s THIS guy!” Regardless, he still came off as a total badass, winning fights against Godzilla, Gigan (the chainsaw-hand version), and Destroyah.

Then again, at one point he needed to be saved by the 1998 American Godzilla, which at least proved as a reminder to the robot hero that there are Toho characters far more hated than him.

Toho started using Jet Jaguar again, albeit in sillier ways. In 2019, as an April Fool’s Day prank, they put up a teaser on YouTube for a Jet Jaguar movie. They also had him appear a few times on Godziban, a Godzilla web series for kids that, once again, used dolls and action figures to tell its stories.

Now Jet Jaguar is a major part of Godzilla Singular Point. To get into specifics on the plot would be like explaining advanced calculus, but to keep on-topic, Jet Jaguar is the creation of Goro Otaki as both a way to ward off monstrous threats and as a company mascot. Considering King Kong’s role in King Kong vs. Godzilla was “kidnapped to be a company mascot,” maybe the Germans were onto something with the rename.

Anyway, this version of Jet Jaguar is more mechanical in appearance instead of having to rely on making him look like a human in a costume. Jet Jaguar is there to protect the heroes from the endless supply of monsters, usually taking some extensive damage. Still, the robot gets rebuilt stronger and stronger and becomes advanced enough to become self-aware and speak in…well, the voice of a teenage girl.

I don’t know, I guess I just figured he’d sound like Astro Guy from King of the Monsters.

There’s a big hard-to-explain twist, but the main thing to know is that Jet Jaguar becomes a full-on badass by the end of the series, turns out to be a huge key to the plot, and has a completely kickass showdown with Godzilla. In a way, Jet Jaguar’s journey in Singular Point is a lot like in real life, going from a lame idea that appealed to kids and gradually being understood as a respected part of the Godzilla mythos. Something initially representative of the worst of the franchise, proven to be something genuinely cool in the right hands.

Now it’s time for America to return the favor. Once again, timing is on Jet Jaguar’s side. The Monsterverse was on its way to the graveyard after the box office intake of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but Godzilla vs. Kong came out at just the right time in the tail end of the pandemic to be a big success and keep the series going a little bit longer. There aren’t too many names in the toybox left to pull out, but at this point, Gigan and Jet Jaguar have to be high on the list.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Make it happen, Hollywood!

Godzilla Singular Point is available to stream on Netflix now.

The post Godzilla Singular Point: The Weird History of Jet Jaguar appeared first on Den of Geek.

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steebharringt0n · 4 years

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dream a little dream of me

as if navigating through pits and perils of high school is bad enough, your life gets thrown in a whirlwind when the universe chooses the last person you’d ever thought to be your soulmate - the red power ranger

pairing: jason scott x reader

warning: like a couple of curse words?

a/n: @mattysheelies and I cranked out some of our favorite AUs the other day and we fell in love with this concept. this is my first time writing Jason so I hope I did him justice. comments are super appreciated! also i went WAY overboard with this so sorry to the mobile readers!

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You can remember the exact night they began to happen. It was a warm spring night in Angel Grove, your bedroom window was slightly cracked open letting in a cool breeze to combat the growing heat that was starting to take over the small town. You were wearing your favorite pair of green cotton shorts and your oversized Angel Grove High sweatshirt.

You remember texting Trini right as your eyes started to become heavy, a conversation surrounding how gross Mr. Lawson from History class is. The last thing yours eyes saw before they found comfort in the darkness of your eyelids was your clock, large red numbers that flashed 10:32

There are four stages of sleep, you had quickly surpassed the first stage and took a nose dive into the second stage where it would become harder to wake one up. The third stage of sleep is commonly known as deep-sleep, where one would sleep through a thunderstorm, an alarm clock, or other environmental stimuli.

But the fourth stage, the dream stage, is where things started to get interesting.

You lived in a society where one was destined to a soulmate - like a red string tied to someone else, you were meant to be with someone for the rest of your life. It was a comfort knowing that there was someone out there just for you, like a missing puzzle piece. The only way one could know anything about their soulmate was through dreaming - their memories became your dreams and vice versa.

When you entered the dreaming stage of sleep you found yourself suddenly thrown into what felt like a never-ending action movie.

You couldn’t move, just watch from your soulmates eyes - as if you were behind them. You were kicking, punching, fighting the familiar monsters that appeared on the television news station a couple days ago. Your heart sped up during this time, you twitched in your sleep with every hit your soulmate would receive.

The one thing that struck you however, was his red armor. He briefly glanced down at his hands when you caught a glimpse of it. Then came his nickname.

“Red! Let’s go!”

Through his eyes you saw the pink Power Ranger speaking to him. He was suddenly then surrounded by the rest of the Power Rangers, all of them in a fighting stance, standing firmly by his side as they prepared to battle whatever monsters came next.

You awake with a jolt, gasping for air as your eyes frantically scanned your bedroom. You placed a hand on your chest, trying to calm your beating heart. You whipped your head towards your clock, it blinked 3:23 AM.

You run your fingers through your hair, your mind racing as it tried to gather bits and pieces of the vivid dream you just had. You stayed up the rest of the night, restless and anxious from the memories that ran through your head. In the end, before you succumbed back to sleep, there were two undeniable truths,

One, your soulmate lived in Angel Grove, and two, he was a fucking Power Ranger.

You awoke 3 hours later for school. Your head still reeling from the night before. You felt like a balloon, holding in air that was about to burst - you had to tell someone about this, someone that the person you were meant to be with for the rest of your life was a super-fucking-hero.

You dashed your way to Angel Grove High, weaving in and out of traffic. As you stepped into the halls you spotted Trini by her locker. Trini had always been a good friend to you through your middle school years, and you were thankful that the both of you kept the friendship strong throughout the years. You quickly walked over to her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into a hidden corner. She looks at you perplexed by your alarmed behavior.

You wait for a couple of students to pass by you before you could tell her the news. You turn to face her, grabbing her by the shoulders,

“Trini, it happened”

She shakes her head, her face is twisted in concern, “What?! What happened?!”

A grin spreads on your lips like a cheshire cat, “The dreams, they’ve begun”

She thinks for a moment before she continues to talk. The dreams happen to everyone, just at different stages. For some they begin earlier, for some they may not begin until their late twenties. But you? Right in the thick of junior year. You can see the cogs working in her head, until it's as if a light bulb goes off. Her brown eyes slowly widen, and her mouth gapes open.

“Oh my god! No way!”

You squeal in confirmation, nodding your head furiously at her. But suddenly, you grow quiet. You pull her in closer, as if what you’re about to tell her could potentially end the world. It’s quite possibly your biggest kept secret, one that you’re about to entrust her with. Her face once again transforms back into one of concern as she watches your demeanor change.

You then lean down towards her ear, whispering the undeniable truth to her,

“Trini, he’s the red power ranger”

Trini has been punched, beat up, kicked down many, many times. But this? This completely blows the wind out of her like no punch before. Her fingers find your bicep, gripping them tightly, trying to hold herself steady as the realization sinks into her.

Jason, her soulmate is Jason.

She knows she has to play it cool, she’s the yellow ranger for christ sake. You completely miss the way her face freezes in shock, and not in a good way. Instead she decides to play along. When you pull back to watch her reaction, she has a soft smile on her face, her eyebrows raised in complete surprise.

“Oh wow! Y/N! That’s so exciting!”

What more can she say? She has to be a supportive friend.

Right as you’re about to continue the celebration with her, Jason appears out of the corner. He stands at a tall 5’7, built sturdy with his signature blonde curl that hangs over his forehead. He has blue eyes that could give the pacific ocean a run for its money and a smile that could melt the coldest hearts. You glance up to meet the tall figure that cast a shadow over you and Trini, and instantly your heart starts to race.

It wasn’t like you had a crush on Jason Lee Scott for practically your whole life. Jason was untouchable, he was like some mythical god in your eyes. But you both ran in different cliques, different hierarchies. Your relationship with Jason purely consisted of stolen glances - and his name doodled all over your notebook.

However, you soon came to realize a couple months ago that he only hung around 4 people, Trini, Kimberly, Billy and Zach.

This group of people perplexed you, they all ran in different cliques and yet they spent lunch together, spent study hour together, and you’re pretty sure you’ve caught them at movies together as well. The dynamic didn’t make sense to you, but then again, not a lot of things in life tend to make sense.

Jason gives you a smile, one where he bares his teeth to you, “Hey Y/N, Hey Trini, can I talk to you for a sec, I just had a question about the homework in Mr. Gibson’s class”

Homework in Mr. Gibson’s class is code for, we need to go over what we did right, and what we did wrong in our last mission. It was a rule he implemented after Rita’s demise and Jason takes his role as the leader of the Power Rangers very seriously.

Trini quickly catches wind of what he means, stepping out of the corner and standing by his side. “Yeah sure, I’ll walk with you to the library”

Trini is currently battling with herself in her head. Should she tell Jason that his soulmate is literally inches away from him? Or should she keep this a secret? Either way, the big reveal should ultimately come from Jason - not from her.

Trini turns her attention back to you, not forgetting that you were still standing there. “Y/N, we can talk later in Mr. Lawson’s okay?”

With a soft smile donned on your lips, you nod at her, “Yeah, of course. I’ll catch you there later.” you pause, not forgetting that Jason was still there. Your heart speeds up as you make eye contact with him - you feel like a blushing school-girl (which you actually are) “I’ll see you around Jason”

He smiles warmly at you, “I’ll see you around Y/N”

You watch as the both of them disappear down the hall, a sense of wistfulness enters you - wishing that you could so desperately switch places with Trini. With a low sigh and your eyes cast down, you turn your attention back to finding your way to your locker, not looking forward to starting the school day.

When Trini and Jason arrive in the library, they quickly go to the back study room that’s always reserved under Jason’s name. It’s the only place where they can discuss their plans in private with the rest of the group without anyone interrupting them. Always under the guise of ‘we have a large semester project to work on’ the librarians don’t bat an eye when Kimberly, Billy and Zach arrive not even a minute later.

Trini shuts the door, her anxiety is starting to gnaw at her and her teammates can tell - it’s a ranger thing.

Jason waits for Trini to take a seat around the square table so he can begin his long awaited speech on how they should have cornered those monsters far away from the public, so that for next time innocent people don’t get caught in the mess, but when he catches wind of Trini’s face and how she’s gone from all smiley to something is terribly wrong, he takes a seat instead.

Kimberly’s eyes scan the rest of the group, wondering if they know what’s going on with her. But they all share the same blank stare.

“Okay Trini, what’s wrong, you’re freaking us all out here”

She paces back and forth, her eyes not meeting her teammates. She fumbles with her fingers, it’s a nervous tick that helps her keep calm during disastrous moments. When she doesn’t answer Kimberly, Jason takes charge.

“Trini, seriously what’s wrong? Is everything okay? Do you - “

She stops her pacing and turns to face them, all of them eager yet somewhat anxious to reveal whatever has been eating away at her for the past couple of minutes.

“Y/N’s soulmate is red Power Ranger - it’s you Jason, you’re her soulmate.”

The sentence slips out of her mouth like word vomit. Everyone tends to have the same reaction, Kimberly looks absolutely flabbergasted, Billy’s eyes just widened, Zach lets out an incredulous laugh, and Jason, well Jason just stays quiet, Trini’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“Uhm, okay, wow … that is big news” Kimberly is the first to speak, but the tension in the room still hasn’t left.

Zach reaches over to Jason from across the table and gives him a pat on his back, “Nice man! She’s a cute one”

But Jason is stunned, frozen - his eyes are glued to the floor.

He knows that this means - he’s seen Spider-Man a million times. It’s the same reason why Peter Parker keeps Mary-Jane in the dark, to protect her, because he knows his enemies will come straight to her.

Logically he can’t tell her, he refuses to tell her. Once his enemies catch wind of who his soulmate is, Y/N will forever be a target, and if in the future they were to have a family? His family will be targeted and that’s a risk he refuses to take.

Realistically, he knows he has to tell her. The dreams have already started a week ago for him but he’s kept them to himself because he couldn’t quite figure out who the mysterious girl was. He lets out a small chuckle at his previous dreams - they’ve all been memories of him through her. He knows that Y/N has a crush on him, most of his dreams involved her staring at him from afar, doodling his name in her notebook, peeking at him through corners. It’s almost endearing at how much of a love-struck fool she is for him.

In the beginning he couldn’t make sense of who it was, it was just brief memories of a girl staring longingly at him but now that Trini has revealed who is soulmate is, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together and it’s all making sense.

“Jason, are you going to tell her? You can’t tell her, with great power comes great - “ Billy begins to ramble to him. Billy is a known comic book expert and he too knows what great dangers comes with telling loved ones their secret.

“Yes, I know Billy” Jason cuts him off, his tone turns irritable and he hates that he doesn’t have a solution for this.

Billy’s shoulders sink, and Jason takes notice. He turns back to his friend, a thin smile on his lips as he regrets his sharp tone with him. “I’m sorry Billy, I’m just …

“Scared?” Kimberly offers. Jason nods at her - she knows that the inevitable will happen to her too, to all of them but this is uncharted territory and their number one mission as being Power Rangers is to keep humanity safe - especially their loved ones.

“But you have to tell her man, she’s going to find out sooner or later, why not just rip the band-aid off now?” Zach is always the optimist of the group, so Jason is not surprised when Zach tells him to go for it.

Jason stands up and faces his team, his blue eyes scan each one of them. He’s scared, no terrified of what’s to come next. The last thing he ever wants to do is to put anyone in danger, especially his soulmate. He lets out a deep exhale through his nose and he plasters on a smile for the sake of his team.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ll figure it out”

They can read his false smile from miles away, but he is their leader and they trust him - like they have all this time and Jason never fails his team.

The rest of the day goes by smoothly and it’s finally last period - the only class Jason shares with you.

He likes to get to class early to make sure he’s caught up on all the homework, but this time he’s here early for a different reason; to sit right next to you.

You walk into class and almost stumble on your way to your desk when you realize that Jason Scott is sitting in the seat where Nicole Hardy typically sits. Your body language becomes timid, you slowly walk to your seat, eyes gazed down to the floor. Jason notices it an instant and holds back the chuckle that is bubbling in his throat - your crush on him is so obvious.

You take a seat and stare straight ahead. Usually Nicole would make small talk with you but she’s moved to a seat behind (which she was not too happy about) and now you’re stuck sitting there in silence, not sure what to talk about with the blue-eyed blonde sitting next to you. There’s still a good 5 minutes before class starts so you just open your notebook and pretend to catch up on homework (and pray that Jason doesn’t see his name doodled with hearts all over the next page)

Jason turns his attention to you, he notices how your (Y/H/C) hair frames the delicate shape of your face, and how your teeth find purchase on your bottom lip when you’re deep in concentration. He finds it cute, charming almost. You could feel his eyes burning holes in you, but you pretend not to notice him staring. It isn’t until he speaks to you that you turn to face him,

“Last nights assignment sucked huh?”

You bark out a laugh and you want to mentally kick yourself for borderline sounding like a seal. He watches as you fidget in your seat, pulling back a strand of hair behind your ear. “Yeah! Those poetry terms weren’t too fun”

“Iambic pentameter? Like how am I going to use that in the future?” he jokes.

You laugh, “Tell me about it, I am never going to use blank verse, or enjambment in my life. Those terms kill me”

His laughter joins you and the joyful laughter catches the attention of Mrs. Gerald, an older, wirey, short lady whose thick glasses perch comfortably on her nose. She scowls at the both of you,

“Mr. Scott and Miss. Y/L/N, since you both seem to be having such a grand time together why don’t you two work together for next weeks project”

She stands up and walks over to the both of you, handing you both the assignment. “It’s due next Friday. Keep the laughter down or I’ll ask you both to hand in a thousand word paper on how poetry is essential in the modern world” she snaps at the both of you.

The smiles from both of your faces is instantly wiped away as she walks back to her desk. The assignment is in your hand but your head is elsewhere - you’ve been assigned to partner up with Jason Scott and you feel like screaming with joy. Jason offers you a sympathetic smile and you return it as Mrs. Gerald starts her lesson.

The rest of the period goes by smoothly, Jason can’t help but to stare at you every now and then. He starts to pick up on your little idiosyncrasies, like how your foot taps against the desk, how you would frown when you wouldn’t understand something, or the way you tapped your pencil 3 times against your notebook, stop and think, then continue to write.

As the final bell rings, Jason stands from his desk, pulling his backpack over his shoulder, “Hey we can meet at my house this Saturday to work on this?” he asks, waving the assignment in his hand.

You fumble around with your notebook, trying to play it cool and calmly putting your stuff away, “Yeah, sure”

“Here, let me give you my number”

He rips off a piece of paper from the notebook in his other hand and quickly scribbles down 10 numbers. He hands it over to your shaky hands (your palms are sweating and you hope he doesn’t notice)

“Text me whenever I'm free all day Saturday”

He hopes he is, he hopes that no weird outer space monsters or creatures disrupts this time with you.

You nod at his statement, and he gives you a final smile and wave and you watch him walk out of the classroom. You let out a large exhale, one that you’d be holding in practically all class. You completely forget about the fact that your destiny is tied to the red ranger and become completely enveloped in the fact that you’re actually going to be hanging out with Jason Scott this weekend.

You curiously wonder if the universe has ever made any mistakes, because there is no way that the red ranger could ever make you feel the way Jason Scott does.

The rest of the week Jason is found sitting right next to you in English class and he’s more than eager to always strike up a conversation when the opportunity arises. The two of you joke about how Mrs. Gerald looks like a chicken if you squint your eyes and angled your head to the right. You exchange notes that hold in hefty discussions about music, movies and the latest happenings around Angel Grove.

You can hardly believe that Jason is actually interested in talking to you. You’re not sure what weird spell you’ve put on him but you’re actually looking forward to the end of the school day now just to hold your little conversations together.

The conversations don’t stop at school however. With his number now recorded in your phone the two of you start to text non stop - even if it’s about the most trivial things. You find yourself texting Jason instead of Trini at night now

Your red ranger dreams still don’t stop though. They’re all mostly a mesh of the same thing, lots of fighting and lots of chaos but you start to learn a little bit about the red ranger the longer your dreams are.

He’s a selfless leader, one who protects others before him. He makes sure every single person who gets caught in the crossfires is safe. You wish you had half the courage he possesses, you most admire that about your soulmate. You often wonder what he looks like behind the mask. Does he have kind eyes or a cute lopsided smile? Is he a blonde? Brunette? Or even a red-head?

Whatever he looks like, you’re certain that you’re instantly going to fall in love with him the moment your eyes land on him.

Jason finds himself in front of Zordon later in the week. He tells him about his soulmate, and how she’s this cute little thing, bashful and likable - but ponders how in the world can he keep her protected when he’s out fighting intergalactic creatures. He paces back and forth in front of his mentor, his hands shoved in his pocket and his eyes are anxiously attached to his shoes.

“I - I don’t know what to do Zordon, if I tell her then I’m just putting her in danger - she knows her soulmate is the red ranger and if one of our enemies were to find out she’s my soulmate … she’s doomed” he stops his pacing and faces Zordon. He shrugs his shoulders, slapping his hands down his side, feeling completely defeated.

Zordon stays quiet as he observes the young man. It’s been almost a year since their battle with Rita, and Zordon has seen Jason transform from a troubled, insecure boy to a fearless leader who guides his team with confidence.

“Jason, I don’t know too much about love and how it works here with humans … “ Zordon begins, “But I trust that whatever decision you make, will be the best decision for the both of you. You have guided your team in battle and have always come out successful. I trust you’ll do the same for your heart”

Jason always took Zordon’s words seriously, he had helped mentor him through his toughest times, and was a good person to seek wisdom and advice from. He felt a new found confidence within himself and felt entrusted that whatever decision he would end up making would be the right one.

Jason spent the rest of the evening gathering intel on their new nemesis - Lord Zedd. He had been sending threatening messages to the Rangers for the last couple of weeks, sending in his minions to cause chaos within Angel Grove. He knew that Lord Zedd would strike again soon, him and his team were fully prepared to take on whatever it threw at them next.

He just didn’t expect you to be caught in the middle of it all.

You found yourself walking back home from the movie theater, you and your friend Gina had plans to catch the latest chick-flick that were both dying to see. You didn’t live too far from the shopping center where the movie theater was housed, and since the days were becoming warmer, walking seemed more of a viable option for you. After the movie had finished you and Gina bid your farewells and you started the trek back to your house, cutting through a dark alleyway to save yourself some time.

You had walked through this alleyway millions of time, so you didn’t ever think that you would find yourself being cornered by strange looking creatures that seemingly appeared from the shadows.

You glanced back behind you, hoping that there would be an escape but more of them just kept appearing, growling menacingly at you.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit” you muttered to yourself as they started to draw in closer. Fear pooled in your stomach as you started to realize how close you were to your demise. They started to circle you in, like a lion hunting it’s gazelle, you closed your eyes and expected some sort of impact, but a loud voice suddenly broke their concentration off of you.

“Hey assholes! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size”

You shoot your eyes open and almost out of thin air the red Power Ranger appeared. He was perched comfortably up on the roof - waiting for the right time to intervene. Coming up from behind appeared the blue, pink, yellow and black ranger, all ready to kick some monster ass.

The monsters soon turned their attention to the rangers, completely ignoring you as you watched, with your eyes wide and full of awe, the rangers take them down.

Jason watched as his team easily defeated monster after monster. He then turned his attention to you. This was by far the worst case scenario, if Zordon hadn’t sensed Lord Zedds minions, who knows what could have happened to you.

You gazed up at the red ranger as he stood in front of you, his arms came up and he placed them on your shoulders, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked.

You shook your head, “N-No, I’m fine …”

Jason nodded at you, but before he could turn back to help out his teammates, he felt you grab his arm, “Wait! Red!”

You had to tell him, you had to let him know you were his soulmate. Jason whipped his head back towards you, and he watched as you took a shaky inhale, trying to calm your nerves, “I need to tell you red … that you’re my - “

“Soulmate, I know”

You frown at him, “You know? B-but how?”

His armored hand comes up and rests on your cheek. It feels cold but the gesture sends a warm sensation to your stomach, “I can’t tell you yet … give me time. Do you trust me?”

You nod at him. Jason gives your cheek a soft sweep with his thumb before he returns back to his teammates, finishing up whatever was left of those monsters.

You quickly take the opportunity to rush back home - but not before Jason watched you from afar, making sure that nothing else attacked you that night.

You dreamt of the red ranger again and this time it was his memories of encountering you. You awake with a smile on your face but your heart starts to feel conflicted - you were eager to spend time with Jason, but the more you dreamt about the red ranger, the more you felt like you were starting to fall for him.

Saturday shows up quicker than expected and you find yourself standing in front of Jason’s front door, your knuckle hesitantly knocks on the wood.

Jason runs to the door, opening it up and greets you with a large smile. He gestures for you to come in. You poke your head inside his house, your eyes scanning his foyer before he takes you over to his bedroom - posers decorate most of his bedroom walls, clothing strewn haphazardly around his floor, his bed messily unmade - it was a typical teenage boys bedroom.

The both of you find yourselves sitting on his bedroom floor, legs crossed, english books wide open and notebook paper lined with messy handwriting. Soft music plays in the background to combat any awkward silence the two of you might encounter, but you’re both purely concentrated on the assignment at hand.

Instinctively your hand reaches over to the pencil that’s laying between you and Jason, but instead of feeling the hard, cold wood of the pencil, you’re met with a soft, warm hand. You glance up, (Y/E/C) meets his blue and you let out an awkward laugh, pulling your hand away from his as if you’ve been caught in the cookie jar.

“M’sorry” you shyly tell him as the color red takes over your cheeks.

“No, no, it’s your pencil, you take it” he tells you, grabbing the pencil and handing it over to you. You offer him a half smile as you take the pencil from him, jotting down notes from your English book. Jason watches you as chew the end of the writing utensil, forehead puckered, lips turned into a frown. You then perform his favorite quirk, you tap the pencil three times against the piece of paper, pause, think, then continue to write.

You glance up and catch wind of Jason’s smirk on his face, amused by your little actions. You freeze up, eyes widened in fear, “Do I have something on my face?” you question him, panic laced in your tone.

He shakes his head, amused by your sense of urgency. “No, no, you just do this thing - “

“Thing?”

“Yeah,” he pauses, licking his lips before he continues, “You uh, do this cute thing where you tap your pencil 3 times, stop and think before you start to write again”

Your eyebrow quirks up at the sound of the word cute, then a smile starts to spread on your lips, “Cute huh?”

It’s Jason’s turn to become flustered, and it makes your heart swell at how bashful the blonde suddenly becomes, trying to backtrack but stumbles over his words, “Not cute! I mean, not that I think you’re not cute because you are cute, but cute in like a quirky kind of cute”

Your smile evolves into a grin, “You think I’m cute?”

Jason is internally kicking himself in the head, but he’s been caught red handed, “Ah, yeah” he lets out a laugh, shaking his head at his choice of words, “I’ve been caught”

Bravery isn’t one of your best qualities, you almost passed out once when you were forced to play a tree during one of your elementary school’s plays. You swear it’s the adrenaline that’s coursing through your blood that prompts you to do what you’re about to do next. You reach over and place your hand over his, squeezing it gently.

With fluttering eyelashes and bashful eyes you gaze up at him, “For what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty cute too” you tell him.

Jason lets out a nervous laugh, he’s surprised at himself because he rarely ever gets nervous around a girl - but you’re his soulmate for christ sake; you both are tied together by destiny, the universe specifically made you for him, and him for you.

He brushes his nerves away and he surprises you by leaning forward, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. His knuckles brush against the apple of your cheek and your breath hitches, heart starts to pound a little harder, as he scoots closer towards you.

“Is this okay?” his voice comes out like a whisper.

With a swift nod, you consent to his next move. His tongue sweeps towards his bottom lip and the next thing you know, his lips are gently brushing against yours. Jason isn’t too skilled in the kissing department, hell neither are you, but the way your mouths move together is like a perfect choreographed dance. He places his hand on your cheek, moving you closer to him. Tongues are then introduced and Jason quickly takes dominance - he tastes like mints and cinnamon and he savors the faint taste of your vanilla chapstick.

Your eyes slowly start to open when you realize you’ve been kissing Jason Scott for the past 2 minutes.

Panic suddenly shakes your core and you come back down to reality. You push him away, panting heavily as you avoid his confused gaze.

“I - I’m sorry, was that too much?” he stammers.

You quickly start to gather your things, shoving all of your books and notebooks into your backpack. “I’m sorry Jason, I can’t do this.”

He shakes his head, feeling completely confused, “Can’t do what? Kiss me?”

You swing your backpack over your shoulder and promptly stand up, towering over the frowning boy. Your shoulders slump, feeling defeated. Kissing Jason Scott was once a dream of yours, but your effort is completely fruitless because you know you’re not meant to be with him. Jason Scott isn’t your soulmate, you both are tied to completely different people so kissing him just feels … wrong.

“Jason, you’re not my soulmate. You’re meant to be with someone else” you sadly explain.

Jason’s face turns stoic, he bites his tongue back. He wants so badly to tell you that yes! You’re his soulmate, and yes! He’s the red ranger, but he hasn’t decided how to tell you yet. He’s yet to cross that bridge.

“I’m sorry Jason, I really am, but my dreams have begun and I - I just can’t do that to him” you weakly tell him.

Him, her soulmate.

Jason’s lips turn into a thin line, “No, no, I understand …”

“I’m sorry Jason, I really am” your voices falters in pitch, trying to keep your emotions at bay. But it’s useless when he gives you this look that absolutely breaks your heart. His eyes become wide and you can tell, hell you know, he’s hurt.

You can’t stand to watch him any longer so you swiftly turn your back towards him and make a bee-line to the front door.

Jason is left alone in his bedroom, his music still quietly playing in the background. His thoughts are racing a million miles a minute. He now knows he has to tell you, he needs to tell you because he’s certain that he’s falling in love with you and he can’t hold back his feelings any longer.

You head home with your heart broken, your feelings conflicted and your mind reeling. You spend the rest of your Saturday moping around the house, your body planted on the living room couch and the remote control attached to your hand. You’re casually flipping through channels, but nothing seems to pique your interest. It isn’t until the rerun of The Office you were watching suddenly cuts off to a breaking news alert, a live feed of downtown Angel Grove. Another hoard of monsters have invaded Angel Grove and they’re advising people to stay inside while the Power Rangers take care of them.

You jump off the couch, moving closer to the screen as if it’ll help bridge the distance between you two. Your eyes are glued to the TV, making sure to try to follow the Red Rangers every move. The dedicated news reporter stays a safe distance away from the tumultuous scene, but it feels as if you’re actually there. It was then your heart suddenly drops to your feet and you let out a horrified gasp.

You can clearly see a sharp object pierce through the red Rangers armor. You watch as he stumbles around, trying to regain his composure. His hands dart over to his side where his armor becomes stained with blood. The other rangers run over to the wounded man, Blue and Black throw his arms over their shoulders while Yellow and Pink finish off the last hoard.

You feel utterly helpless. You want to scream at the television screen but instead frustrated, angry tears leak from your eyes. Sleeping that night becomes impossible for you, tossing and turning all night long. Your mind is hyper-focused on his well being, but how could you even help him when you don’t know who he is?

Arriving at school the next day feels like a large burden. You’re listless, tired, and hurt. You don’t even interact with your usual friends, and you’re absolutely dreading the final period. The last person you want to see right now is Jason.

You trudge through the halls when you catch Trini, Billy, Zach and Kimberly huddled together, looks of concerns etched all over their face as they speak in hushed whispers. Trini catches a glimpse of you and perks up, the rest of the group follows - their gaze towards you is oddly sympathetic and you can’t pinpoint why. You give Trini a wave followed by a thin smile, she returns it back to you.

You enter 7th period and frown. Jason is nowhere to be seen, in fact, now that you think about it, you haven’t seen him all day. You feel relieved yet concerned - maybe he’s sick you conclude to yourself. With Jason not sitting beside you, 7th period English feels like much more of a chore, no one to talk to or to distract you from Mrs. Gerald’s monotonous lecture.

The rest of the day passes by without any incident, and you’re more than ready to tumble back into your comforter and pass out, hopefully catch a glimpse of your red ranger. Something in your gut tells you that he’s okay, but you can’t be too sure. You pop a couple of sleeping pills to help speed up the process and by 9 PM you’re completely passed out, drool leaking from the corner of your lips as light snores exit through your mouth.

The dream begins and it feels like you’re having an out of body experience. The first thing you notice is hands - actual human hands. They’re jotting notes down on a piece of paper, his legs crossed on the floor. It all looks vaguely familiar but your mind can’t seem to pinpoint it yet. This is completely different from the rest of the dreams you’ve been having. You can sense that he’s at peace now that he’s not cracking skulls and kicking ass.

The red Power Ranger is a teenager is the first thought you have.

He then reaches across the floor, aiming to grab a pencil when you see another set of hands.

Those hands look way too familiar now, you recognize that bracelet, and the black hair-tie, they currently rest on your right wrist. You can feel your heart starts to pound in your chest. His head lifts up to view the person who owns those hands and you swear, you swear it was like an electric current sent a shock through your system.

His eyes warmly gaze up towards you.

It’s you, you’re in the red Power Rangers dream.

Jason Scott is your soulmate.

You shoot your eyes open, all of your sleep gone down the drain. Your breathing becomes erratic as your mind tries to quickly piece all of the missing pieces together.

And suddenly everything just makes sense - everything in this world, in life, makes sense.

The painful realization then hits you like a load of bricks - Jason was the one who got stabbed the other night, it’s why he wasn’t at school.

You jump out of bed, stumbling to throw on a pair of sneakers as you hop around your bedroom. You toss on your Angel Grove High sweatshirt and open up your bedroom window, hopping from ledge and onto your lawns freshly mowed grass. You pull your hair up in a messy ponytail before running towards your garage and jumping into your little brothers bike - the last thing you want is your wake up your parents by starting up your car.

Your calves burn as you pedal through the town of Angel Grove, cutting through homes and alleyways, all for the boy who’d been keeping this burning secret from you this whole time.

You finally reach the white house that looks over the ocean, dropping your bike on his lawn. You make your way towards his bedroom, the only one with the large window that looks out over the coast. You peer inside the large glass and see the blonde boy laying on his bed, his eyes shut, bruises littering his cheeks where his freckles are specked around.

Your heart clenches at the sight of him looking so broken. Your fingers carefully, and quietly pull back the window, opening it enough for you to sneak in without stumbling over your feet. You land in with a quiet thud and pause for a second. When silence continues to welcome you, you start to move towards Jason’s bed, your eyes scanning him more carefully.

You sit down beside him, feeling the bed shift in weight, but he doesn’t wake up. Your emotions have been a mess lately, your heart has been tugging you in two different places, but now that everything has been pieced together, you can finally breathe. You can finally accept what the universe has been trying to tell you since you’ve started these dreams.

That Jason had been your soulmate this whole time.

With shaky fingers, you reach towards his face. You brush away his curl that dangles from his head. He feels warm compared to your cold hands, but just knowing that he’s okay, that he’s alive gives you a sense of peace. You let out a deep exhale as you softly touch his bruises, making sure not to touch them too hard.

Jason slowly stirs in his sleep, cracking his eye open. He frowns, then jumps away from your touch, startlingly you as you dart your hand away.

“W-what? Y/N? What are you doing here?” he sleepily questions you.

You give him a watery smile as your emotions start creep their way up, “Jason … it’s you, it’s been you this whole time”

Jason is still half asleep, and the words don’t quite register in his head when you tell him this. He has completely forgotten that he has a massive stab wound on his side - The rest of the Power Rangers were able to convince his parents and everyone else that he was caught in a horrific car accident. Zordon has him on bed rest for a week - he knows that’s all it’ll take to fully heal Jason and his deep physical wounds.

Jason slowly, and carefully sits up, wincing as he leans up against his headboard.

“Jason, don’t move, take it easy” you say.

He shakes his head, “No, no I’m okay, it’s not as bad, I’m healing up”

As he positions himself in a more comfortable position he starts to wake up, and it’s then he fully registers why you’re in his bedroom at 2:18 in the morning. His memories have finally lead you to him. He gives you a half smile, before he continues to talk.

“Caught me huh?”

You let out a half laugh at his lame attempt to joke about the situation, “Why didn’t you tell me Jason? Why didn’t you tell me you were my soulmate?”

There’s a hint of anger in your voice, and he understands, completely understands why you’re angry at him.

He moves his hand and places it over yours, squeezing it gently. “I couldn’t tell you. I needed to keep you safe as long as I could before I figured out how to tell you, but I guess my memories caught up with you”

You sigh heavily, “Jason, nothing is going to happen to me - “

“You don’t know that!” he angrily exclaims, “The other day you were cornered by those creatures!” he pauses before he continues, letting out a shaky exhale, “What if I can’t keep you safe?”

Your eyes desperately try to search for his blue ones, but they’re avoiding your gaze. His face is hard, but his emotions are starting to trickle out with each word he utters. Negativity invade his head space, blocking out any rational thoughts.

“Jason, that’s never going to happen and you know that.” you borderline scold him, your eyes darken with anger, the fact that that idea is instilled in his head makes you frustrated. Jason throws his hands down his side, feeling exasperated.

“Enemies will come looking for you” he begins to counter.

“So? I’ll learn to fight or something”

“What if you’re cornered like that again?”

“I’ll bring pepper spray big deal”

“What if you get kidnapped?!”

You roll your eyes, heaving out a large breath. “Jesus Jason, just stop, stop fighting what the universe has been trying to tell us for the last week.”

He throws his head back, eyes cast up on the ceiling. He knows you’re right, he just hates to admit it.

“Jason, look at me, please” you beg.

His hand is still gently placed on top of yours, so in an effort to show him that you’re in this for the long haul you place your other hand on top of his. He then slowly brings his head back down, his large blue eyes filled with emotion as they bore into yours.

“Jason Lee Scott, I love you and I am willing to fight by your side, do whatever it takes to make your job easier in protecting me, in protecting us, all of us” you gesture outside to the general public because you know that at the end of the day, his priority is to keep everyone safe - not just you.

His hard face softens as the 3 letter word leaves your mouth. His heart swells up three times the size as it beats wildly in his chest.

“You love me?”

His voice becomes childlike at the question. Almost as if he can’t believe that he can be loved by someone else besides his family.

You let out a dry laugh, tears brimming your eyes as a watery smile takes over your lips. You remove the hand that was on top of his and you bring it to his cheek, gently brushing over the bruises that decorate his face.

“Yeah you big doof, you think I’d be up at 2:30 AM for just anyone?” your tone is much more playful with him and the tension in the room slowly starts to slip away.

He lets out a laugh, leaning into your soft touch. You both share a moment of tenderness as he then leans forward and rests his forehead on yours. The two of you shut your eyes and just completely live in the moment. Forgetting what tomorrow may bring, forgetting what happened in the past, and just living in right now.

“For what it’s worth,” Jason says, a smirk slowly creeping on his lips, “I love you too

A laugh leaves your lips as he mimics the same words you told him 2 days ago. Jason then instinctively leans in closer and presses his lips against yours. He pours all his pent back emotion into the kiss, his hands promptly then cupping your face. Tongues are meshed and lips are smashed in a passionate expression of love.

“I can’t believe it was you, it was you this whole time” you breathly speak as he starts to move his lips down south, peppering small chaste kisses down your neck.

“Surprised?” he pulls away briefly, his lips are all red and swollen.

You shake your head, “Honestly, I’m way more surprised that you were my soulmate - not that you’re a Power Ranger”

Jason cocks his head and you return him a smile before you continue to explain.

“You’re a good guy Jason, you’re not the typical asshole jock at the school. I’ve seen how you’ve defended Billy, how you’ve just become this better person - everything the leader of the Power Rangers should be. I just never thought that the boy I’d been crushing on for all these years would end up being with … well with someone like me”

Jason frowns as your voice turns undeniably sad at the end. He can’t find the right words to convey his thoughts, so instead he just sweeps you into his arms. You let out a joyful squeal as he pulls you towards his side and bringing you down to lay with him. Your head nestles into his chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling you. You close your eyes and melt into his body, making sure to be mindful of the giant wound on his side.

His arm wraps around your waist as he presses his face into your hair, taking a deep inhale of the strawberry shampoo that scents your hair.

“Someone like you? Someone incredibly cute, funny, smart, loving, compassionate, kind, oh and did I mention very, very cute?”

Your giggles echos his bedroom as he starts to place kisses all over your head, “Okay, okay Scott, you can stop buttering me up”

“Just one question,” you ask, lifting your head up and propping yourself on your elbow. He looks at you amusingly, his eyebrow quirked. “How did you know I was your soulmate?”

He can’t reveal the identity of Trini, nor the rest of the rangers. It’s not his decision to make at the end of the day and he fully respects that. His mind then wanders back to his dreams, smirking at you before he speaks,

“Mmm, well your memories didn’t really do a good job of hiding your feelings towards me … subtlety isn’t really your strong suit” he says to you. Your mouth gapes, feigning hurt, and you gently jab his arm. He winces mockingly, rubbing his arm,

“Ooh ouch, you sure you’re not a Power Ranger? You hiding something from me?”

You roll your eyes, “Haha, very funny.”

Silence then nestles between the two of you. Crickets chirp in the background, the wind gently howls. The stillness of the night starts to lull you both back to sleep as you find yourself back laying in his arms. Jason’s eyes are slowly drifting shut when he hears you speak,

“Hey since I’m dating a Power Ranger does this mean I can hitch a ride in your zoid?”

His chest rumbles in laughter. “Ha - in your dreams sweetheart, in your dreams”

It was that same night as you slept in your soulmates’ arms that you decided to never question the universe again.

#jason scott #jason scott x reader #jason scott x you #jason scott fanfiction #jason scott fanfic #power rangers 2017 #dacre montgomery #i feel weirdly nervous about this but then again i'm always hard on myself SO

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theastrophilearchitect · 3 years

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Recent reads #1.

In February, I formatted my wrap-up actually as a wrap-up, but I didn't really enjoy making myself write about every movie and every show and every audiobook, so I've decided to cut the movies and tv shows unless I specifically want to review one, and just do recent reads every ten books I want to talk about, ignoring rereads I have literally nothing to talk about, and not filling two of my weekly post slots per month first with a tbr, then with a wrap-up. I have other things to talk about.

So, here's ten books I read recently.

1. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Hoo. So I finally read this, and, ultimately, I did enjoy it, but it was about two hundred pages too long. I'm sure if the first three/four hundred were condensed, the characters wouldn't feel so developed, but I think it would be worth it to increase the pace. If the pace of this book were on a graph, it would be flat until the last fifty pages, at which point it would increase exponentially.

Anyway, to this book is set in a (technically dystopian) sci-fi future, in which humanity is living on a planet called Detritus, where the crew of a ship called the Defiant crashed during a battle with the alien race of the Krell. This was several generations ago, and for several decades, the original crew split into groups, because when in groups of over a hundred, the Krell could sense, attack and kill them. Fast forward several decades, after a huge battle, humanity now lives together again, partially on the surface. Skyward follows Spensa Nightshade, daughter of a coward from the Battle of Alta, when humanity came back to the surface. Spensa wants to be a pilot, to battle the Krell, defend humanity, and eventually escape past the debris field surrounding Detritus. Then she finds a ship. A ship, broken and run-down, but more advanced than anything humanity has, and fixable. And it talks.

I'm going to keep this one brief because I have a lot to say about this book, and am planning to make a full review, but for now: I was so bored throughout the first three hundred pages. I didn't particularly care about the characters--of whom I felt there were too many--and found Spensa irritating, which bothered me particularly because this book is written in first person. Then, events, action, character arcs, and I left this book absolutely desperate for the next. I think my main issue with this was just the amount of set-up required for the clearly epic saga Sanderson is planning

On the plus side, its sequel Starsight came out in November, so, if all goes to plan, that should be around the third or fourth book on this list.

Rating: um. Last hundred or so pages I feel deserve full five stars, but I think the first few hundred drag this down to about 3.73 stars, specifically.

2. Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link, and Robin Wasserman

Honestly, I wasn’t going to read this Shadowhunters novella bind-up. I haven’t read any of the other bind-ups. I only actually decided to read it because I was running out of audiobooks I wanted to listen to, and this was the only Shadowhunters bind-up on Audible. But I’m so glad I did.

So this novella bind-up is set in the world of the Shadowhunters and basically follows Jem Carstairs from the end of the Infernal Devices, up to its epilogue and then beyond. It was released after the Mortal Instruments, the Infernal Devices and the Dark Artifices, but before the Last Hours, the Eldest Curses and the Wicked Powers (obviously, because the Wicked Powers doesn’t even have a title for book one yet). The earlier novellas set up the Last Hours, the later ones the Wicked Powers, and probably the Eldest Curses, too, but I don’t really remember.

I didn’t enjoy the Mortal Instruments, and after reading City of Bones, I listened to the rest as audiobooks so I could read the other series, which I did love (even if I felt the Dark Artifices was unnecessarily long). Chain of Gold, the first book in the Last Hours has been out for just over a year now, and has definitely been the most hyped Shadowhunters book in the recent years, so I can’t wait to get to it, and am so glad I read this and got to know a little about the characters, though I don’t think you need to have read this to read Chain of Gold.

Rating: 4.3 stars. (Yes, apparently I’m doing decimals other than .5 now).

3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I finished this audiobook on March 19th, which says something about how my reading’s going this month. Actually, this is the fourth book I read in March 2021, because I also listened to the Mockingjay audiobook this month in my preparation to read this, but I didn’t think it was necessary to include it in this list because I’ve read it so many times before. Four books in twenty days isn’t bad--it’s more than most people read, but still. Especially when three of the four are audiobooks.

So, this book follows Coriolanus Snow, Panem’s president in the original series, as he acts as a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games. These Games are very different to the 74th we see in The Hunger Games, and every character in this book (minus the one character under the age of ten) was alive during the war. Since there have obviously only been nine Games before now, the tributes obviously couldn’t have victors from their districts as mentors the way Katniss and Peeta do, and this is the first year they have any form of mentoring. There’s no training, watching isn’t mandatory, this is the first Games in which they have sponsorships etc. Coriolanus is assigned the female tribute from district 12, and finds himself questioning his morality.

I really wasn’t sure what the point of this book was. It showed more inequality within the Capitol than what the trilogy exposed us to, but it didn’t seem to contain the same message as the Hunger Games, partly because Coriolanus essentially had a negative character arc, so as to become the tyrant, and partly because we knew how it would end. (Spoiler: Coriolanus falls in love with his tribute, but we knew it couldn’t work out because he couldn’t and wouldn’t marry someone from the districts, but he had a wife and daughter in the trilogy.) I don’t understand why Collins is trying to get us to sympathise with this villain--I love sympathetic villains, and anti-heroes, morally grey characters etc., but Snow just isn’t that in the trilogy, so it has little impact.

Granted, I did find the insight to his mind interesting, and the book was very entertaining--and had an excellent narrator--but I just didn’t see the point. I think this had the potential to garner five stars from me, but it just adds so little to the original story, I can’t do it.

(Leena Norms on YouTube made an excellent spoiler review on this book that goes much more in-depth about symbolism, themes etc. You can find it here)

Rating: 4 stars.

4. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

I read this in three days. I’m not a huge contemporary person, but hell yes. This book? Mwah.

We follow Eliza Mirk, your typical teenage outsider. She hates high school, and is just waiting for graduation. Online, however, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the hugely popular web comic Monstrous Sea. Then she meets Wallace Warland, a Monstrous Sea fan who Eliza soon discovers is actually RainMaker, the most popular Monstrous Sea fanfiction writer. We have romance, we have geeky stuff, we have relatable hatred of school.

I listened to the audiobook (a running theme of audiobooks here, because I was currently very slowly reading House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas, which is 800 pages. If your book’s going to be more than 600 pages, make it two books. Please.), which was a little disappointing because I later found out the book has Monstrous Sea comic strips in it, which are in the audiobook, you just don’t get the visuals. Regardless, the narrators were excellent, and I loved this as my intro to the contemporary genre.

Rating: 4 stars.

5. Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

This was the last book on my audiobook list before I gained a ton more, and though it wasn’t mind-blowing, it was enjoyable, and I do want to read the sequel. Or rather, listen to it.

This book takes place before the game of the Little Mermaid, and follows a young woman who will become the Sea Witch. One day, a girl drowns as her friends fail to save her. Three years later, a girl with nearly the same name arrives in her friends’ lives, though no-one but Evie recognises her, and Evie must help her get the prince to give her true love’s kiss to save her.

The plot wasn’t especially exciting and the characters weren’t especially interesting; the plot was rather predictable, but the writing was excellent and it was enjoyable nonetheless.

I’m curious as to where the sequel will go, because this book’s epilogue is set 50 years after the climax, but I assume it’ll be the retelling of the actual Little Mermaid story.

Rating: 3 stars.

6. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

I didn’t want to love this book as much as bookstagram does. In fact, over time, my love for Maas’s Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses has faded, especially earlier this year when I listened to the Throne of Glass audiobooks (my second read through), and was struggling by the end, because it took itself way too seriously, and it felt like it was just continuing for the sake of it (I stand that the entire eight-book series could have been four or five books at most, and that’s including the prequel). In contrast, this just didn’t drag. I was intiially overwhelmed by the 800 pages, but, God, it was worth it.

The Crescent City series is set in a modern-day fantasy, with modern technology, but where humans, angels, shifters, fae, and a thousand other kinds of supernatural creatures, live side by side. Bryce Quinlan is half-fae, a party girl, living like tomorrow doesn’t exist, until her best friend, and her best friend’s wolf pack, are murdered. Two years later, a similar string of murders starts up again, though the supposed killer remains imprisoned, and Bryce is recruited by the city government to investigate, with the help of Hunt Athalar, an enslaved fallen angel, who Bryce is incredibly thirsty for.

I made notes while reading this. I had many thoughts, throughout 800 pages.

Maas just really wants to write kind-of-fae protagonists: every one of her books (bar Catwoman: Soulstealer) has a protagonist who isn’t always entirely human, and who isn’t always entirely fae.

It felt like this was only classed as adult instead of young adult so she could use the word ‘fuck’ three times per page--her previous books being young adult didn’t stop her writing graphic smut scenes.

In the first three hundred pages, the main cast walked into the road and halted traffic so many times (being like twice)--Jesus, can we just let the poor drivers be?

This book never really explains the Gods in this world. There’s so much lore, and worldbuilding, but the Gods are never really explained.

Lehabah’s character reminded me so much of Iko from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and I am so here for it.

‘...Bryce mused, toying with her toes. They were painted a deep ruby. Ridiculous, he told himself. Not the alternative. The one that had him imagining tasting each and every one of those toes before slowly working his way up those sleek, bare legs of hers.’ Right, so the Umbra Mortis has a foot fetish.

Looking back through my notes, I made this one--’I get that it’s more fun to write attractive characters, but not every no-name needs to be drop dead gorgeous’--which is hilarious to look back on because the character I was specifically referencing turned out to be a very big name, but still.

I did enjoy every second of this book, but I still think it could have been condensed. God only knows how many words were in the first draft of this book.

A lot of the words for things in this--Midgard for Earth/the mortal world; Vanir for the supernatural creatures--are from Norse mythology, and I’m so here for it.

By the time the actual truth of the mystery came out, I’d already been given so many assumptions and alternatives as to what happened, that, having finished the book, I can barely remember the actual truth. We were given at least four versions of the story.

Finally, Bryce and Hunt spend literally this entire book lusting after each other, and we hear about their fantasies about each other at least twenty times, but they literally never have actual, penetrative sex. There are explicit scenes, sure, but the most action for himself Hunt gets is alone in the shower.

Anyway, I loved this. It was 1000% better than previous books by Maas, and I want book two immediately. (Maybe not immediately; I’d like to read other books, but still.) I finished it on March 31st, and it was my 30th read of the year, actually completing my Goodreads goal for the year--it was intentionally low because I only read 23 books last year, but in the shortest quarter of this year, I already met my goal. I’m leaving the Goodreads official goal at 30, because I don’t want to push myself too far, but I have a silent goal of 100--if I keep up this pace, I can read about 122 books, but we’re going to keep quiet, because I sincerely doubt I’ll manage that.

Rating: 5 stars.

7. Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

God, this surpassed Skyward. I think part of that is because I already knew a lot of the characters, and Spensa is significantly less annoying in this one. It follows an incredibly different storyline to the first, but still has the same vibes, and was, frankly, a fantastic sequel.

I will say this series reads very young, and it’s very difficult for me to imagine the characters as adults.

Also, called the romance, and they kiss in this one, and it’s actually very anticlimactic. The two characters are in completely different places for most of this book, so there’s not much development, but my God.

This book, this world... ahhhhh. If you don’t like science fiction, you won’t like this series, but otherwise, just read it. You won’t regret it.

Rating: 4 stars.

8. Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

First off, I love the US cover for this, but the UK one is so much better, and you can fight me on that.

This is the first book in the Dreamer Trilogy, a sequel series to The Raven Cycle, centred on the wonderful Ronan Lynch. The existence of this book was actually why I decided to reread The Raven Cycle--I listened to the audiobooks in, I think, 2018, and didn’t pay a huge amount of attention, which was, in retrospect, a horrible idea, given how complicated the storyline is, but I wanted to read this series, so a reread was required. And, as we know, I’m so glad I did, because I absolutely fell in love.

I do wish this book had more of the other Raven Cycle characters--you’ve obviously got Ronan and his brothers, and Opal, but there was so little Blue, Gansey and Adam. Adam was actually in quite a few scenes, but he’s my least favourite of the main four; Gansey had some texts and Blue had a single phone call, except that chapter was from Declan’s perspective, so we only got Ronan’s end.

Regardless, Stiefvater, as usual, introduced some amazing new characters, more worldbuilding, and I love the way she gives the antagonists’ perspective, too. There’s about a month, as of today, before the sequel comes out, and, fair to say, I can’t wait.

Rating: 4.2 stars.

9. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas

I hate this cover change. Utterly inferior to the original covers.

In all honesty, my love for SJM has faded over the last few months--though I do now think House of Earth and Blood may have revived it--but I did still enjoy this. So now let’s go through the notes I made as I went!

First off, though, this is the fourth book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, focusing on Nesta and Cassian, but I’m not saying anything else so as to avoid spoiling the first three.

The opening reads like fanfiction. The introductions, the inciting incident--I’ve never been a huge fanfic reader, but this reads like fanfic setup.

SJM’s apparently going on a Norse mythology surge, what with Vanir in Crescent City and Valkyries here, but I’m really, really here for it

Elain Archeron feels irrelevant. She has imapct on Feyre and Nesta, sure, but she has no agency of her own. People ship her with Azriel, solely because she’s the unmated Archeron sister; he’s the unmated bat boy, but I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I sincerely hope we get more context as to Amren’s origins. There was a little in this, but not enough to satisfy me.

SJM has an obsession with masculinity. Little to a fault, honestly--every one of her male characters in described in some way, shape or form as the epitome of masculinity and ‘male arrogance’, and it irritates me to no end. Honestly, her books all feel like vessels for a sub/dom kink. Just saying.

‘As if she’d been freed from a cage she hasn’t realised she’d been in.’ I didn’t make note of it, but she this was the second time Sarah tried to test whether or not we’d notice this blatant manipulation of the ‘breath they didn’t realise they were holding’ cliche.

Stop capitalising the word ‘Made.’ It’s really not that difficult, and it’s ugly.

And as for the 70% of this book that is purely smut: hate that Nesta’s scent was disguised because Cassian’s ‘essence’ was all over her. What does that mean and why does even her scent submit to him??

Literally all of her female characters fall into the minority of women capable of orgasm from purely penetrative sex: it’s unrealistic, and I’m not entirely convinced SJM understands how the female body works. Also, in both this and Crescent City, she kept saying ‘her breasts pebbled’, and I still have no idea what that means.

I did, however, really enjoy seeing the Winter Solstice celebrations again.

I enjoy the smutty scenes as much as the next reader, but the latter fifth of this book, when they finally stopped shagging and got on with the plot, were so much better than the earlier ones.

Regardless, I did really enjoy this book, and come out with a hugely positive opinion, mostly because I enjoyed the last hundred pages so much.

Rating: 4.1 stars.

10. The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch

I cannot get Robbie Couch’s name right. I keep thinking it’s Crouch, and I don’t know why. Anyway.

This was the Booksplosion book of the month for April, and is very much not my typical thing. I am, however, trying to branch out my reading from purely fantasy and sci-fi, so here we are.

This book follows Sky Baker, an openly gay high school senior in Michigan, who is planning a promposal for his crush. Who may or may not be straight. Then, his promposal plans are exposed to the school in a homophobic, racist email-blast. That’s basically it, which doesn’t seem to me like a lot, but then most books I read aren’t 300-page standalones.

The narrative is a little cliche. We get an appearance-by-mirror on page four, which didn’t exactly give me much faith. There were, of course, also the times Couch pretended he wasn’t using the let-out-a-breath-they-didn’t-realise-they-were-holding cliche: ‘took a burden off my shoulders I hadn’t even realised was weighing me down.;’ ‘a million pounds I hadn’t even realised had been weighing me down for days.’ A nice metaphor, but cliche nonetheless.

It contains so many pop culture references, which are really entertaining in 2021, but will probably really date this in a few years.

Also, minor spoiler: we didn’t even get to see the actual prom. There was the whole build-up to it, the month before, the weeks before, the day before, and we never even got satisfaction.

Regardless, this was an easy, wholesome read, and I think it’ll be a good part of my entry to the world of contemporary.

Rating: 4.1 stars.

And those are my recent reads.

#blog #blogging #blog post #blogpost #blogger #bookblogger #bookblr #reading #ya #reader #ya books #young adult #wrap up #tbr #reading wrap up #writer #writing #writerblr

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screenandcinema · 5 years

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Coming Attractions - May 2019

Five years ago today, here on the S&C, we presented for the first time a list of the movies what would be hitting your local cinemas that month. That initial list included The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Chef, Godzilla, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Every month since then over the course of five years we have done the same rundown of movies coming soon and you have been there to read them all along the way. Thank you for that. We thought this was a special day to reflect on in the history of the S&C.

With that said, here are what movies are coming out this month:

May 3rd

Long Shot - Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron star as an odd-couple in this upcoming comedy, him an unemployed journalist and her a candidate for President of the United States. Long Shot premiered to great reviews at South by Southwest in March and I for one can’t wait to see it.

UglyDolls - Quick! Is UglyDolls an original film or one based on existing IP? Do you know the answer? I don’t. (Well I do now, cause I looked it up, but I didn’t know when I asked it.)

The Intruder - Meagan Good and Michael Ealy star in this thriller as a couple who buys a house from Dennis Quaid’s character, and he refuses to let go off his long-term home. The film hails from the same screenwriter as 2009′s Obsessed and 2008′s Lakeview Terrance, so audiences should know what they are getting into with The Intruder.

Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile - If you are keeping score at home, it is now Ted Bundy: 1, Oxford Comma: 0. Zac Efron stars as the notorious serial killer in this new film coming to Netflix this month. Reviews of the film have been fairly solid since its premiere at Sundance earlier this year.

May 10th

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu - Though I have never been a fan of Pokémon in the least, Detective Pikachu looks to me like the film I wanted The Happytime Murders to be, a noir-ish fantasy mystery made in the same vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And while I have no interest in the film, I do have an 8-year nephew who does.

The Hustle - Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson take the lead in this comedy film that is a remake of 1988′s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, which is itself a remake of 1964′s Bedtime Story starring Marlon Brando and David Niven. Still one remake shy of a full A Star is Born.

Poms - In this comedy, Diane Keaton starts a cheerleading squad at her retirement community and her friends played by Jacki Weaver, Pam Grier, and Rhea Perlman, join up!

Tolkien - Nicholas Hoult is J.R.R. Tolkien in this biography of the famous author. Like similar more recent works Finding Neverland, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Becoming Jane, and half of Saving Mr. Banks, audiences will surely seeing Tolkien’s future works come alive in his life experiences through his time as school and World War I.

May 17th

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - John Wick is back for installment number 3. The John Wick film series has been a surprising revelation and it is always good to see Keanu Reeves back on the big screen. Prepare for war.

A Dog’s Journey - This is a sequel to 2017′s A Dog’s Purpose. Did you see that one? Oh, you didn’t. Then my job is done.

The Sun is Also A Star - It is a race against time for two young students hoping to fall in love before one of them is forced to leave with her family forever. My prediction? She is an alien.

May 24th

Aladdin - Disney’s 1992 beloved animated classic is back with a live action version directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Will Smith as the Genie. As a kid, I remember seeing Aladdin in theaters five times and it was a personal favorite. Unlike some of the recent and forthcoming Disney remakes, Aladdin doesn’t appear to be a scene-for-scene rehash of the original, which is extremely refreshing.

Brightburn - James Gunn produces this superhero horror film written by his cousins Mark and Brian Gunn. “Superhero horror” might be the best genre name imaginable. Essentially, Brightburn is a twist on the familiar Superman story - what if a child gave from space with amazing abilities and instead of trying to save us all, he tried to kill us all. Count me in!

Booksmart - Olivia Wilde makes her feature film directorial debut with the coming-of-age comedy in Booksmart. In the film, two smart good girls try to make four years worth bad dumb decisions over the course of the night before high school graduation. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March to fantastic reviews.

May 31st

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - On the surface, it is hard to tell how much of King of the Monsters is a sequel to 2014′s Godzilla and how much of it is set-up for 2020′s Godzilla vs. Kong as Legendary Entertainment continues to build their MonsterVerse. As much as I enjoyed Godzilla and 2017′s Kong: Skull Island, nothing about King of the Monsters is really exciting me at this point, which in itself is disappointing.

Rocketman - The music biopic craze continues with Rocketman starring Taron Egerton as Elton John. The film is directed by Dexter Fletcher, who you may or may not know as the guy who came in and finished directing Bohemian Rhapsody after Brian Singer was fired. Rocketman looks to be everything Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t, including an actor who sings throughout the movie and a historically accurate portrayal of the musician's life and times. Fans of music who were disappointed by Bohemian Rhapsody should be eager to take a ride with Rocketman.

Ma - Octavia Spencer stars a lonely woman who befriends a group of mischievous teenagers only to viciously turn on them in this upcoming thriller from Blumhouse. Watch this one with the lights on.

Now for a quick look ahead to June, my top picks for next month are Dark Phoenix, Men in Black: International, and Toy Story 4.

-MB-

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stacks-reviews · 7 years

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New Releases 7/18/17

Happy New Release Day! There’s a lot going on in books, a few things in movies, and a certain beta I’ve been waiting on.

In Books –The Betrayal Knows My Name volume 7 by Hotaru Odagiri Yuki is an orphan with a strange ability to feel others emotions when he touches them. One day a beautiful stranger named Zess appears and saves Yuki before he can be hit by a car. Yuki feels like he knows this stranger from somewhere

I have been waiting for this for FOUR YEARS. I checked yesterday and volume 6 came out in September of 2013. After volume 6 I would check every now and then like I do for the series I follow monthly but I never heard a word about it. After about a year I just finally came to terms that it had been canceled. Then they announced its return earlier this year. It has been on hiatus for Hotaru Odagiri’s health. I’m just glad it’s finally back. I really enjoyed it the series when it first came out except for the fact that I had trouble telling some of the characters apart. I will soon be rereading the whole series because I can’t remember what happened at the end of volume 6. There should be at least one more volume to go. Not long after they announced it’s return, they also announced that it would be ending soon. There is also a twenty-four episode anime based off the series that was released in sub titles only by Funimation earlier this year.

–Blood Mirror (The Lightbringer #4) by Brent Weeks (in paperback) This will contain spoilers if you have not read book 3 The Broken Eye of the Lightbringer series. At the end of The Broken Eye Gavin Guile is powerless and is locked in the prison he made for his brother. Kip has fled the Chromeria with the help of his grandfather to try and slow the advance of the White Kings army. Karris is taking over as her duties of The White and will try to keep the empire from falling apart. Teia will go deeper into the spy organization she is infiltrating while also reporting on their actions to Karris. Ironfist has shown his true colors and has also left the Chromeria to continue his work for his true master.

I love this series. I had so many theories destroyed in this book but it also created a lot of new ones. I’m still numb from the realization in The Broken Eye that Andross might actually be the good guy here instead of the villain I’ve always seen him as. And where could I even start about Gavin. Then there’s Kip and what happened in this book.

It’s a really great series. I love the ocular powers in this series. Just how it is set up, how each color has it’s own properties, and the consequences of using it too much. There are so many twists and turns. I really recommend this series if you haven’t read it yet.

–Dept. H volume 2 by Matt Kindt, water colorist Sharlene Kindt, and letterer Marie Enger Mia is a special investigator sent to research the murder of her father in a deep-sea research station. Everyone in the station is a suspect, including her own brother.

Mind MGMT was my first experience with Matt Kindt’s work and I was blown away. The story is fantastic (I’m about to start volume 3 out of 6). The illustrations are amazing water colors. I had to read more of his work. And Dept. H did not disappoint.

After waiting months for another copy of volume 1 to arrive at my work, I finally got to read it last week. It also has a great story with wonderful water colors. There was a moment where my jaw dropped open because chaos happened and it came out of nowhere. Not everything has been revealed yet. For example Mia has talked about her mother a few times and how she died from some kind of infection of which there is no cure. Although not expressly stated, it would appear that those in the station are trying to find a cure but even the fish they are examining might also be infected. Volume 1 was amazing and I can’t wait to read volume 2.

–Kakegurui Compulsive Gambler volume 1 by Homura Kawamoto Hyakkaou Private Academy is an institution for the sons and daughters of the wealthy. here it’s learning how to read your opponent, the art of the deal that keeps you ahead. To hone those skills Hyakkaou Private Academy has a rigorous curriculum of gambling. Here the winners live like kings and the losers are put through the wringer.

I’m interested in this series because it reminds me of Liar Game by Shinobu Kaitani but with less murder. Maybe. There might be murder. I would like to give it a try because I love mind game series. Watching as L and Light played mind games with each other is a big part of the reason I enjoyed Death Note as much as I did.

–Liselotte and Witch’s Forest volume 5 by Natsuki Takaya “They say that in a place far, far away; in the east, of the east, of the east…there is a forest where witches dwell. They are said to bestow blessings or inflict curses, brew potions in steaming cauldrons, practice their magic…and fly their brooms into the night sky. This is where Liselotte has decided to live after she was banished from her home by her brother.

The final volume of this cute series by the creator of Fruits Basket. It is still on hiatus while Natsuki Takaya looks after her health.

It is a cute series that follows Liselotte as she and two attendants live in the forest. One day she is saved by a stranger who looks a lot like a boy she was in love with who had died. Volume 4 never came to a bookseller near me and I haven’t had time to order it yet.

–Monstress volume 2 (B&N exclusive edition) by Marjorie M. Liu, artist Sana Takeda, and letterer/designer Rus Wooton “Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900′s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, Monstress tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.”

The Cumea are a race of sorcerers who experiment and kill a race called Arcanics, magical creatures with human characteristics. Maika; who is suffering from some memory loss, is an Arcanic who’s mother was killed by a Cumea. Desiring answers Maika infiltrates a sorcerers home and chaos ensues because of the ancient god who is living inside of Maika.

It’s been a while since I read the first volume and a friend is currently borrowing it so I don’t have much to fall back on for more details. I enjoyed the first volume. It was dark, violent, beautifully illustrated, and has a very rich world building. The series; at least from what I’ve heard cause I haven’t seen many cats (talking cats, what’s not to love about that) in the graphic novels I’ve read lately, has some of the best cats in graphic novels right now.

I actually saw where the B&N exclusive edition arrived last week to my local B&N but I also wanted to mention it on it’s official street date in case other B&N go it late for some reason.

–Princess Jellyfish volume 5 by Akiko Higashimura In the bustling city of Tokyo there resides a place called Amamizukan, a safe haven for girl geeks (otakus of trains, jellyfish, Japanese dolls, and more) who are terrified of ‘stylish’ people. One such girl is Tsukimi who loves jellyfish. One night she meets a stylish lady who helps her save the life of a jellyfish at a pet shop. This chance encounter will result in an odd friendship (at first anyway) between the two and the rest of the residents at Amamizukan. But this stylish girl is actually a boy.

It’s super cute shojo series that was made into an anime a while back. As well as a live-action film that according to one of my friends is very well done.

–Twinkle Star volume 3 by Natsuki Takaya Sakuya lives with her cousin Kanade. In times of pain, she looks up at the stars. On her birthday a strange boy shows up at her house with a present and then leaves. At school she finds out his name is Chihiro and he just transferred there. He treats her coldly until an incident at the club information session. Will it bring them closer or will they forever remain in the dark?

Another cute series by Natsuki Takaya. I have the first volume but haven’t finished it yet. It is a completed series. There should be two more volumes after this one.

–Waiting for Spring volume 1 by Anashin Mizuki is a shy girl who is about to enter high school. She vowed to open herself up to new friendships but the four stars of the boys basketball team is not who she had in mind. Soon she’s targeted by jealous girls and forced into the spotlight.

This just sounds like a really cute shojo series.

In Video Games –Destiny 2 Beta The beta of Destiny 2 opens to all preordered PS4 versions of the game today. I’m really excited for it.

In DVD/BLU-RAY –Adventure Time complete season 7 Finn, Jake, and the whole gang return. This season contains the miniseries Stakes starring Marceline and that creepy but good episode where we find out BMO’s imaginary friend Football is real and lives inside that mirror.

–K: Return of Kings The second season of the series K that takes place after the movies K: Missing Kings. It has been a while since I watched K and although I own the movie, I haven’t had time to watch it yet. K was really good and the animation was fantastic. It was gorgeous to watch. Return of Kings follows the events after Missing Kings.

–Record of Lodoss War (DVD/BLU-RAY combo pack) “In a land torn by war, young Parn and a ragtag team of adventurers set out to restore peace to the island of Lodoss. While an evil sorcerer seeks the destructive power of an ancient goddess, the Grey Witch presides over all with a cold-hearted bent for neutrality. The ensuing battles cost many lives before a brave new generation of heroes rises to face the sinister enemies once and for all.”

This combo pack contains episodes 1-13 of the OVA series Record of Lodoss War and episodes 1-27 of Chronicles of a Heroic Knight. I’ve never seen the series before but I’ve heard of it several different times. I have one friend who loved the series when he first saw it years ago and was excited to hear that it was getting this release by Funimation. I really want to give it a try sometime. I looked up the trailer and it looks pretty good. The dub to it doesn’t sound that great because some of the characters in the trailer didn’t sound like they tried very hard. I’m hoping that it will improve in later episodes. As a general rule if an anime I purchase has a dub, I have to watch the dub first. Unless the dub is really bad then I may switch to subbed. Second watches I watch it subbed.

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sheepydraws · 7 years

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And So They Lived (6/6)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Ulrich pretty much just dropped into bed by the time they got back to their room, but after his mid-freak out nap earlier and the late dinner that Jeremie had squirreled away for him Odd was too wired for sleep. He sat down at his desk and rummaged around for his favorite pen and a fresh notebook. It was spiral bound with a flimsy cardboard cover. Odd dicked around for a few minutes, scratching his name into the purple cover and then the eye of XANA under it, but he was stalling. He knew where he had to begin.

I brought my dog to school with me because I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any friends here. I have plenty now, but only because I brought Kiwi and Ulrich had the balls to dognap him.

Odd wrote all night. He kept expecting to reach a stopping point, but the words kept coming. Perhaps it was because he didn’t just include XANA attacks. He wrote what the world thought really happened, too. He wrote about Sissi, and the shitty things she did to them, and the shitty things they did to her. He spent more ink than he would care to admit on Yumi and Ulrich’s ‘let’s fight-let’s fuck’ relationship. He wrote about William and his betrayal. He wrote right through Lyoko’s final summer as they took everything apart piece by piece.

Something strange happened. A narrative emerged. Events took on a shape. Days didn’t just end, arcs did. Things didn’t just change, they grew. When he stopped to explain what he thought were simple things to someone who might not understand, stuff he had never stopped to think about finally made sense to him. He knew it all sounded crazy, but as a story it was a pretty cool one. He remembered that it had been an adventure.

He finished the dismantling of the supercomputer and the scanners sometime around one in the morning. Then he kept going. He wrote about school, and Elizabeth, and trying to live without Lyoko, and how it should have been easy. He got a bit disgusting and sappy, and may have made some terrible metaphors about Elizabeth’s eyes and the night sky, and he might have cried a bit about how it was never going to be the same between him and his best friends, but they were always going to be his best friends, whether anyone else remembered all they had done for him or not.

Ulrich woke him at seven. He was hunched over his desk, drooling on his own hand.

“I have to give this to Elizabeth.” He said before he had even sat up, although it probably came out more like, “I hafta givisss t’Lizze.”

“What?” Ulrich said as his head popped out the neck of the sweater he was pulling on.

“I said, ‘I love you’.”

Ulrich had just kicked off his pajama pants and stood there in his boxers for a minute, staring at Odd. Then he smiled. “Yeah. I love you, too.”

In the cafeteria Odd wolfed down two bowls of cereal and a hot chocolate before Elizabeth arrived. He got up and caught her before she had even gotten in the food line.

“Here.” He said, and he placed the notebook in her hands. “It’s everything.”

She idly flipped through the first few pages and then kept flipping. “Whoa.” She said. “It-“ She stopped on a certain page. “Am I in this?”

“Of course.” Odd said.

She closed the notebook and clasped it to her chest for a minute. She had this little smile that Odd though was going to turn into a laugh, but it became a kiss instead. Not a long kiss, not when Elizabeth was blocking the cafeteria door, and Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita needed to be kept from cardiac arrest, but a good one.

“Is that why you’ve been so crazy?” Ulrich said the second Odd was sitting down again. “You’ve been falling for Sissi?”

Odd gave him a mysterious smile. Then, because he hated that kind of bullshit, he said, “It’s why I wasn’t in our room last night.”

Ulrich’s eyes bugged out while Jeremie and Aelita laughed.

“You realize,” Jeremie said, “That once Yumi gets here, you’re going to have to tell us everything.”

“Yeah. I think I can manage that.”

It is impossible to separate this movie from the chaos caused by its trailers. Last year instead of the laughably bad slew of christmas movies everyone seemed to be talking about a trailer that had premiered along side “To The Top” (a movie whose only discerning feature is having ten percent on rotten tomatoes). It was rather tricky to discuss, though, since the trailer did not reveal a plot, title, or release date. It seemed like an advertisement for a boarding school, complete with bored student volunteers, bad lighting, and bland pop songs. The camera recording this waste of tuition runs low on battery and is shuffled around before being plugged in, at which point the screen slowly goes white and a symbol flickers across it before disappearing. Aside from a slide with the words ‘coming soon’ that was the trailer in it’s entirety.

People started talking, but thanks to hefty non-disclosure agreements, no one came forward to explain what was going on. The second and third trailers appeared almost simultaneously a month later, and caused even more confusion. One looked like a sci-fi thriller, the other a young adult romance. However, they shared the same title, Code Lyoko, and the setting and symbol from the first trailer.

Finally, writer and director Odd Della Robbia casually mentioned that he was behind the project while doing an interview with Teen Vouge. The director is best known for his work on Buried in Stars the sleeper hit of the summer movie season two years ago, best described as the surrealist, most vividly technicolor rom-com to ever grace the big screen. When the interviewer asked about the discrepancy between all three trailers, as well as the secrecy that surrounded filming, Della Robbia responded with,

“When I pitched Code Lyoko the first thing they said was, ‘How are we gonna market this? Is it a heartwarming coming of age story or a YA sci-fi thriller?’ and I said, ‘If I can’t convince you it’s both by the end of this, then we might as well scrap the whole project.’ I guess audacity still counts for something.”

‘Genre defying’ is a greatly overused compliment, and in my opinion, it dismisses the importance of genre. There’s something to be said for going into a horror movie and getting a horror. Of course playing too tightly to a genre’s guidelines without shaking something up can be dull, but so can a movie that tries too hard to include many different elements without properly following through on any of them. Code Lyoko, however, does manage to step outside genre lines without over-burdening itself trying to be three stories at once.

Della Robbia deftly mixes over the top action and teenage drama with the keen eyes of someone who has been there before. Though the movie follows several different threads, the core of the story is the small group of friends it follows, and Della Robbia never forgets that. Unlike Della Robbia’s work so far the style is simple and sharp, the colors muted and the lighting high contrast. Even the virtual world of Lyoko, which is a bit brighter and more cartoony, has graphics simplified to the point where they are almost cubist in feel.

This serves the plot well. The main conflict at the beginning of the movie is that Walter (played by John Beck) finds an abandoned computer, which contains a virtual world and Gemma (Gina Pedroza), a young girl who claims that she is a real person who is unable to devirtualize. Walter makes it his mission to fix this, and accidentally begins recruiting people to help his cause. Unfortunately, keeping the computer on so that Walter can attempt to understand the code that will free Gemma allows another program in the computer known as ZENAT to wreak havoc on the outside world. While this could be a movie all on it’s own, the group’s interactions with each other, as well as their parents and other students, along with several satisfying twists, completely fill out the story and make it unforgettable.

Interestingly, the technology examined in Code Lyoko bears a striking resemblance to advances in virtual reality being proposed by Nintendo that are currently being developed in a team with Aelita Schiffer and Jeremie Belpois [Article Here], and though the technology isn’t the showcase here, it is rather shocking to think that this film could theoretically happen in five years time. Although that is not the only element that lends Code Lyoko uncanny realism.

The mixture of high school drama and thwarting an evil invasion shouldn’t work this well outside of an after school cartoon, and it’s not just the depth that Della Robbia gives all the story lines, as well as the fantastic acting, which allows these seemingly dissonant themes to gel. In a subsequent interview with The New Yorker after the film’s release Della Robbia said, “I remember when I first asked my wife to read a draft of the story. As soon as I gave it to her I started to overthink. She told me she liked it, but I said, ‘There’s kids fighting giant robots!…Are you sure I shouldn’t take it out? Or make it a metaphor for standardized testing or something?’ and she said, ‘When I think about high school I don’t think about taking standardized tests, I think about fighting monsters.’ so she saved the monsters.”

By injecting it with sci-fi terror Della Robbia has stripped the fantasy from teenage coming of age stories, allowing it to resonate long after you leave the theater. Five stars.

#code lyoko #multi-chapter #FINAL CHAPTER!!!!!#If you read all of this thank you so much #i'll be so grateful if this makes even one or two people happy #I spent a lot of time on it and I really love it #odd della robbia #oh god there were so many movies in this #sissi delmas #oddXsissi #fanfiction #and so they lived #6/6

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beneaththetangles · 4 years

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Q&A with Our New Staff: Josh, sleepminusminus, Joseph, and Paris!

Over the last couple of months, we’ve brought in four new staff members to join our ministry. A couple of them have been running our social media accounts for weeks now, so you may have been reading their work without even noticing a change, while the remaining two are brand, brand new!

With this being our 10th anniversary year, it felt very appropriate to throw back, as we’ve done all year, and introduce you to them in the way we once did: through a Q&A! So here we go—introducing Paris, who will be covering conventions and doing cosplay content for us; sleepminusminus, one of our writers, who just dropped a guest post for us last week (like I said, brand new); Josh, who helps run our Twitter account and also contributes to the blog; and Joseph, our Instagram admin and the podcast team’s video editor.

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Question 1: How did you become associated with Beneath the Tangles?

Paris: Funny enough, Charles found me on my personal Instagram—not my cosplay Instagram! He saw that I went to Dallas Theological Seminary and wanted to recruit me onto the team, but at the time I was still in school and an active member of of another group, so I didn’t have time to make any commitments. Now I’m graduated and excited to be a part of the team!

sleepminusminus: It’s been so long… I must have looked something up about Christianity and anime and found BTT in the results. I’ve kept up with the blog on and off ever since.

Josh: Charles and I were `both members of the Christian Anime Alliance forums. Years later, when I started up my own blog, Charles was so welcoming and so encouraging. A true inspiration. Fast-forward a couple months and I’m coming off a really, REALLY stressful time due to a blog article I wrote that was not received well by some. Charles helped me out of that dark time and when all was said and done and my brain was no longer a quivering mass of goo, he asked if I would like to join BTT. I had to think and pray about it for a while before I said yes and, well, here I am.

Joseph: I met Charles in college and we went to the same church for some time. I always thought it was cool how he used something as secular as anime to evangelize, but it didn’t cross my mind that I could do the same thing until I saw some of my classmates working for BTT too. Then after I graduated, I asked if I could join and here I am.

Question 2: How did you become an anime fan?

Paris: I guess I was kind of born into becoming an anime fan—being half Asian. On my birthday each year, my uncles would take my brother and I to this anime store back when VHS was still a thing, and we could rent as many anime VHS tapes as we wanted! Some of my first anime included Ranma ½, Kodocha, and Yu Yu Hakusho (we weren’t censored as children). I related so much to Sana Kurata that I literally wanted to change my name to Sana, haha! (I think I still do relate to her lol)

sleepminusminus: At first, Youtube clips of visual novels served as the gateway drug into a deeper obsession with anime. After some personal struggles with pornography, I took a break from anime for around a year. When that year ended, some close friends started watching Nagi no Asukara and invited me to watch along. I’ve been riding the slice-of-life train ever since.

Josh: Okay, first of all, Paris is awesome because I have heard very few people talk about Kodocha and the fact that was one of his first is amazing. Second, SleepMinusMinus is awesome because…well…Nagi no Asukara is awesome, and I also am a happy passenger on the Slice-of-Life train. But I digress. My anime switches were flipped one night in around 2002-2003. I was up late and I was channel surfing. I came across this show that ended up being Yu Yu Hakusho. It was so cool as I had never seen anything like it before! Then…then Cowboy Bebop came along and that’s when I realized there was this whole bigger, wider world of those funny Japanese cartoons than Digimon, Pokemon and Monster Rancher. I came back the following Saturday, and the Saturday after that. Before I knew it, I was writing fanfics and joining online forums. Then I was buying DVD’s and Newtype USA magazines. Next thing I knew I was going to cons and meeting other fans. My ascendance into the world of anime has been quick and amazing.

Joseph: I grew up watching all of the classic kid’s shows like Pokemon and Yugioh with my brother. At night, I remember we would always be excited to watch Inuyasha because of how much more actiony it was compared to American cartoons. I don’t think I realized that I was watching anime until in middle school though, when one of my friends asked me if I watch anime, citing Inuyasha as an example. Then he recommended I watch Code Geass and after I watched that, I realized that there was more to anime than just really cool fight scenes and have been watching since.

YYH is an important starting anime for Paris and Josh (art by つゆ / reprinted w/permission)

Question 3: How would you describe your place in the fandom?

Paris: I think my place in the fandom would be a cosplay enthusiast and entertainer. I love Instagram and Tik Tok right now but I’m also hoping to start doing Visual Novel walk throughs on Twitch.

sleepminusminus: In public, I’ve mastered the art of the lurker, only peeking out to mark my completed shows on AniList. Most of the time, though, I watch anime with IRL friends and make fun of bad CG. I also spend excessive hours on rhythm games while procrastinating work.

Josh: I think my place in the anime fandom right now is as a mature anime consumer who has just enough writing talent to put his opinions, thoughts and ideas to a word document or in a 240 character tweet and have it make some kind of sense.

Joseph: I don’t really take part in online discussions, but I know most of what they talk about and the references usually (even the memes). I also try to keep up with the actual industry itself too, like what studios are up to or what the directors are doing. Fandom wise, if anyone mentions the Monogatari series, be ready to listen to me rant for an hour on how it’s a masterpiece.

Question 4: What anime or manga are you excited about these days?

Paris: Right now I’m most obsessed with Re: Zero and My Hero Academia.

sleepminusminus: Kyoto Animation has been consistently good recently. I just finished the Haruhi series and I’m thinking about picking up Lucky Star (but only for the Haruhi references). Beyond that, I’m hoping the new Higurashi remake is better than the original. Oh, and the new Made in Abyss movie had better not disappoint.

Josh: Of course, I’m beyond excited to see where Digimon Adventure (2020) is going to go. It’s been a fascinating watch so far. Seeing these characters who I know but don’t know has been a real prodigious experience. It does feel like we’re moving pretty fast though. Sticking with Digimon, I’m also excited to FINALLY get to see Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna. I grew up with the Adventure ‘99 crew, and knowing this is their final curtain call is bittersweet, but I’m interested to see how this whole thing plays out. Getting away from Digimon, I’m really excited to see the Stone Wars arc of Dr. Stone. I’m completely caught up with the manga so I know what’s to come, but I still want to see it play out in anime form.

Joseph: I’m really excited for the new Maeda Jun original next season: The Day I Became a God. Re:Zero has got me on edge every week and probably will until next year. The Violet Evergarden movie was just released in Japan and hopefully it finds its way here soon. Oh and Haruhi is back in print with the next light novel coming out soon, so that’s been a long time coming.

Season two of Re:ZERO has us all excited (art by 茕榕 / reprinted w/permission)

Question 5: QUICK FIVE

Best live action anime adaptation?

Paris: Ghost in the Shell sleepminusminus: I’ve only watched Detective Pikachu… Josh: Death Note (2006). Chairman Kaga is Light’s Daddy. Joseph: Alita: Battle Angel

Digimon or Pokémon?

Paris: Pokémon sleepminusminus: Pokémon Josh: Digimon Joseph: Pokemon

My first cosplay was…

Paris: Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul! I was really into Facepaint and FX makeup in High School so I literally just painted the mask onto my face. sleepminusminus: Lurkers don’t cosplay Josh: My first cosplay was supposed to be Izzy from Digmon at MechaCon this year, but COVID happened and… Joseph: Kagamine Len from Vocaloid. I like make easy and not hot outfits to wear at cons.

If I could meet one person in the anime industry, it would be…

Paris: Laura Bailey! She’s my favorite voice actress. sleepminusminus: Honobu Yonezawa, the author of the Hyouka novels Josh: Amanda Winn-Lee. I’ve interacted a lot with her on Twitter and she’s so nice. Joseph: Yamada Naoko, director for A Silent Voice and K-On! The Movie.

This anime character would be my best friend:

Paris: Tomo Takino from Azumanga Daioh sleepminusminus: Kyon from Haruhi, for his continual complaints and stream of grandiose allusions Josh: Mimi from Digimon Adventure. She’s an awesome character that needs a good friend to tell her to “hush” whenever she goes ditzy. Joseph: Chitanda Eru from Hyouka because she always wants to do something

Our staff is curious—at least sleepminusminus and Joseph are! (art by ちゅんころもち / reprinted w/permission)

All-time anime crush?

Paris: Kyo from Fruits Basket. For some reason, I always end up loving the angry boys… sleepminusminus: Mayaka Ibara, our tsundere queen from Hyouka Josh: Hinata from Naruto. How can you NOT like that lavender-eyed cutie? Joseph: Holo from Spice and Wolf because of course she is.

Favorite food to eat while watching anime:

Paris: Pho Tai w/ an order of eggrolls and Thai Tea sleepminusminus: Instant ramen (no crumbs!) Josh: Nice cold Muscadine grapes. Joseph: Fruit Basket (Preferably strawberries)

An anime that more people need to watch:

Paris: Kodocha; the manga is good too! sleepminusminus: Hyouka (notice a theme yet?) Josh: Planetes. It’s a great space slice-of-life show that gets little to no love. Joseph: A Place Further than the Universe. Very well rated but I don’t think enough people watch it because of its silly premise.

An anime that is way overrated:

Paris: DANGANRONPA. It’s horrible. Change my mind. Other than the Fate series, I haven’t had much luck with Visual Novel anime adaptations— (let’s not talk about School Days) sleepminusminus: Madoka Magica: watch Steins;Gate instead Josh: My Hero Academia. Come on guys, it’s the same old comic book superhero “I wanna be the strongest ______ ever!” shounen show we’ve seen over and over again. Joseph: One Punch Man. The title tells you what the show is going to be about you guys.

Poor Madoka… (art by 薯子Imoko / artist allows reprints)

Do you like gore / dark anime?

Paris: yes. It’s my favorite. sleepminusminus: Sure Josh: Depends on my mood, but not really. Joseph: Gore for the sake of gore (Another), not really. But everything else I can enjoy!

Shonen or slice of life?

Paris: Shonen sleepminusminus: Slice-of-life Josh: Slice-Of-Life all day everyday. Joseph: Slice of life

Best Ghibli movie:

Paris: Spirited Away sleepminusminus: None yet… recommendations please Josh: Ponyo. It’s just so freaking adorable. Joseph: Princess Mononoke

Ever been to Japan?

Paris: I was supposed to go this Summer, but Covid… sleepminusminus: No Josh: HAHAHAHAHA…on my salary? Heck no! Joseph: Yes two times now!

Question 6: Where can our readers find you other than here on the blog?

Paris: Instagram / Tik Tok / Twitch / Facebook / YouTube: Pariscosplays (in progress) / Email sleepminusminus: You can find me on Twitter. If you’re fortunate, you might catch a tweet once a year. Josh: Blog / Twitter – Heads up on my Twitter, I tend to get very political and I sometimes go off on tangents. I give fair warning for both. But overall, I’m pretty chill! I do have an Instagram but I don’t update it too often, and I do have a Facebook, but I keep it on lockdown. Sorry! Joseph: I don’t really use any other social media actively

#Anime #Interviews #Manga #Beneath the Tangles #Visual Novels #Video Games #Articles #Author: TWWK #Author: Pariscosplays #Author: The Cajun Samurai #Author: sleepminusminus #Author: Joseph

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theonemusicmaniac · 6 years

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Yo,yo,yo, tell us some of your fave musicians/bands? : o

Oh my gosh, of course I’d love to talk about that!!!!!!!

I’m gonna preface first & foremost by saying that I AM a music major & have been exposed to all kinds of music, so you’re probably gonna get a LOT of answers from me!! I’m also gonna put this under a read more cuz I am a crazy child who can’t shut up!!! Anyways, here we go!!

So as a musician, I actually started off playing the Alto Saxophone. That being said, my biggest jazz inspirations are probably Charlie Parker (my MOST fave saxophonist tbh I studied all his music!!), Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, & Herbie Hancock!! And my favorite thing about Herbie Hancock (other than the fact that he’s still alive & bumpin’) is that he is one of the biggest successful names who also practices the same sect of Buddhism I’m involved with, & that’s Nichiren Buddhism. Hancock is evidence of our buddhist practice because he chants Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo (loosely translates to “devotion to the Mystic Law of cause & effect thru sound”). So why is that important? We believe that if you chant NMRK & also put your thoughts into action, then you will receive immense benefit. The point of our practice is that we believe anyone can become happy thru chanting, & our goal is that if we can make everyone know happiness, then the world will know peace. ANYWAYS, back to music, that’s just my jazz answer!!

I’ve also had to study a lot of classical music growing up, & I must say that I’m most fond of Romantic Era & 20th century classical music. Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahms, & Liszt are some of my faves from Romantic Era. Stravinsky, Schoenburg, Copland, & Ives are some pretty incredible 20th century classical composers as well.

GROWING UP, I started off as a lil bop/top hits child because, yknow, parents will only make you listen to what they deem appropriate, but as I became exposed & learned more, I actually became a lil rocker child like my dad!! Dad exposed me to Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Kiss, all the classic rock shit. This was also around the time that the one Jack Black movie came out (School of Rock I think it’s called). So I eventually began exploring rock music within my own generation (which there are TOO many bands that I like to even list off).

My biggest inspirations from middle school (and still to-date) are Alkaline Trio & 65daysofstatic. These two band saved my life when I thought I was down at my worst back when I was suicidal.

Going into high school, I was still the rocker child, but I think 65daysofstatic exposed me to start listening to more electronic stuff. Not necessarily dubstep bc dubstep didn’t become really big until just about when I graduated high school, but like. Stuff like Armin Van Buuren. Trance stuff. I thought it was super cool. And honestly, my favorite thing about seeing dubstep thriving into fruition was that I felt like a saw new generation of music being born. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is this what it was like when rock was born? Was this what it was like when jazz rose within America?” It was SO cool!! Even though I’m still a lil rock child, I have so much love, appreciation, & respect for electronic music, & would definitely incorporate it into my own compositions (but since I don’t have a band rn, as you can see, electronic is all I make for now).

I would say my top 4 biggest inspirations to-date are In This Moment, Motionless In White, New Years Day, & William Control. & I can break this down easily:

1) In This Moment

In This Moment is SOOOOOOO important to me!!!! Gosh I almost don’t know where to start!!!!! I remember the first time I heard them was actually on MTV back when Headbangers Ball was big, & “Beautiful Tragedy” was like, their new biggest hit! I DIED when Maria Brink collaborated with Chris Motionless to make the music video for “Whore!” But most importantly, “The Fighter” was my motherfucking anthem after my ex & I broke up last year, & ESPECIALLY when I was sexually assaulted five days after. “I will not hide my face, I will not fall from grace, I’ll walk into the fire baby. All my life I was afraid to die, but now I come alive inside these flames.” The other thing is that Maria inspires me SO MUCH from a lyrical/compositional aspect cuz like (& I know I said I’m Buddhist from a philosphical standpoint), I also consider myself a witch, & Maria has a very enchanting witch aesthetic, & ALL of her music is written to have these really heavy messages with grand morals & such, so I see bits of both my buddhism & my witchcraft thru their music! I’m gonna be seeing them live for the first time in April and ASDIFHAOIJGPOWJGE I am so excited!!!!

2) Motionless In White

WowowowowowowoWOW where do I begin again!! I know people make fun of old MIW since it was basically only screamo/edgelord stuff, but I used to LOVE that shit once upon a time, and tbh, I think MIW is the only band of its original genre to actually become successful in obtaining that Halloween/goth/nu-goth aesthetic (which is exactly why I LOVE IT), I admire Chris for his “idgaf” attitude & for the depth in which he writes his music. MIW is obviously a very political & socially aware band, but they also take time to write very personal music too. I think the Graveyard Shift album was VERY personal, given that 570 & Hourglass were their favorite songs to make & they had such deep messages about their own journey as musicians. I’ve had the pleasure to meet this band twice, & the second time I think I left a good impression! I gave everyone in the band & their girlfriends (bc I’m such a barista) Starbucks gift cards, & they were all very nice & thankful!! I think Chris also remembers me as the one who asks really heavy music-related questions at VIPs cuz like, the first time I met them I was like, “What advice do you have for musicians like me who want to do what you do??” & the 2nd time I met them, I had a question regarding composing music. Nicest band, 10/10, & if you’re going to the final Vans Warped Tour show, you should definitely go support them because they’re on the lineup!!! (Not important info, but they also featured Maria Brink in their song “Contemptress” off the Reincarnate album, & I think that’s amazing that they team up so well)

3) New Years Day

MY BABYGIRL ASH IS SO GOOD SHE JUST GOT ENGAGED OMG I AM SO HAPPY FOR HER!!! Anyways, NYD is another REALLY nice band, & much like ITM & MIW, they carry both the witchy aesthetic (since Ash is an open witch), & they also have a bit of a Halloweenish vibe to them in their own sense (but not in the same way MIW does). I think, if you’re not big on the heavy music ITM & MIW make, NYD is a PERFECT recommendation because it’s still dark-themed music, but especially vocally speaking, it’s much “easier” on the ears (I love all of this kind of music, but this is also what people in my close circle also tell me cuz not all my friends like my music). I’ve only met this band once, but I’ve also had SO many incredible interactions with them! I met them for the first time at Vans Warped Tour last year, & it was exactly one month after I was assaulted. I didn’t feel all that great that day (partly cuz I was going to VWT by myself & I hate going alone to concerts), but Ash Costello called me beautiful when I felt my ugliest. And that’s when I realized, “Fuck if my idols can see my own worth & beauty when I can’t, the who the fuck am I!?!?” I also got to experience music lessons with both Nikki Misery & Jeremy Valentyne (just before Jeremy left the band) & they’re both very cool people! I’ve also supported Ash’s now-fiance as a musician by donating to his GoFundMe when he was doing presales on his very first EP (I think I was one of his top highest donators??) & I also made a purchase off of Ash’s DEPOP once, & she actually sent me Christmas/New Years thank you letter & some polaroid photos of herself and I???? Cried??? New Years Day is one of the few bands that I actually genuinely actively see interacting with their fanbase & loving their fans as much they do, they’re so GREAT. If you get into them & interact with their social media or go see them live, they’ll love you up to bits & pieces, they’re so sweet. I want to be as humble as them if I ever make it big.

4) William Control

A god amongst kings... My love & appreciation for this man runs so deep & knows no boundaries. I grew up on Aiden in both middle & high school, but when I learned about how the industry fucked with Aiden as a band, not only did I support Will’s transition from the punk/goth Aiden to his now electro-synth Control morally speaking, but I was actually surprised to find that I actually genuinely really LIKED his electro stuff more than his rock stuff! You can almost tell he’s going forcibly high in Aiden, like he’s straining his voice so much to get that right tone (even though he KILLS IT cuz he’s a MONSTER). But Will’s openly said before that the transition to William Control has helped him vocally because now he sings in a much more comfortable range. He also exudes an aesthetic that I wish I could obtain within the music industry?? Like, his music is sexually themed, but he’s not inadvertently SEXUALIZED. That’s how I WANT to be. I want to make music that can have sexual themes, but without actually sexualizing MYSELF. He’s also really open about being in the BDSM community, & most of his merch is based off of BDSM like his “Fuck Christian Grey” t-shirts (I think he even has his own branded butt plugs?? bless him). He has been able to transform his life so much that he went from “broke-but-famous” Aiden, to “I own my own record studio now & I’m the boss now” William Control. He actually technically retired as a musician (he’s stated that he hates touring & knowing that his son could grow up without him, so he wants to take time to focus on his family), but he’s still the manager of his very own Control Records. Because I don’t see myself forming a band anytime soon, it’s actually one of my goals to apply for Control Records as an electronic musician.

As for what I’m listening to right now (I don’t condone smoking, but if you do smoke, smoke weed), I sometimes listen to stoner shit cuz I do get high with my friends recreationally, & I do genuinely need weed to help me cope with my anxiety & depression, & my IRL friend @spectra-indica recommended CloZee to me & I can’t stop listening to it!! It’s both organic & electronic in it’s own fascinating way, & one point I got so high & connected so deeply with CloZee’s music that I almost started crying.

And yeah, those are my top faves by far!!! I wish I could list more, but then it’ll get too long aaaaaah ;A;

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