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#I cannot wait to do a binge re-watch when it's done
dribs-and-drabbles · 7 months
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It's that first tear falling onto Chenyi's face.
It's Ai Di wearing a rainbow sweater with the word 'BEST' on it - because Chenyi is the best for him and he wants to be the best for Chenyi.
It's Zongyi's sister and father piling food into his bowl, and him offering it to them too, feeding their love to each other.
It's Zongyi's father asking if he's tried any alcohol yet and suggesting they have a beer together (this is where I actually lost it).
It's the way Zerui can't remember Zongyi, whereas Ai Di just wants to forget Chenyi.
And Zongyi, with diminished short term memory, is waiting for Zerui to come to him to remember their history, whereas Chenyi, with only partial memories of the past, is chasing down Ai Di to remember theirs.
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futurewriter2000 · 3 years
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Rocks and Dust
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A/N: I don't know why Remus gave me such Heath Ledger vibes when I was writing this but he did and I am honestly so fucking proud of it. Now, I really want to make myself some rice and chicken... or just rice. I hope you like it <3
REQUESTED BY @cloudywitchh: Hiiii, Im not sure if your requests are open, but if they are i have one. :)) Before I request, I want you to know that I love your oneshots and series! ive been binge reading. Could you possibly do a Gryffindor reader that has both james and remus that like her. oneshot or series. if you choose to write it, thank you, if not i understand
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Souls meet when eyes do and it hasn't been much easy to hold yourself back when such mesmerising hazel eyes had done nothing but watch you seductively.
At first you couldn't feel it but after a while, something in the back of your mind told you to look a certain direction. When you did, your eyes met his and a certain colour started to appear on your cheeks.
You watched him, he watched you. "Yes, Potter?" you asked with a smirk forming on the corner of your lips.
He smiled, tilting his head a bit to the side before speaking. "Had you done something new with your hair?" he asked, glancing up at your hair as you let out a laugh.
"Not really."
"Well, no matter of it." he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "You look absolutely stunning."
You felt your heart flutter in your chest but you were not about to let him know that. "Thank you. When don't I look absolutely stunning." you joked and he rolled his eyes.
"Hey, mate." Remus came into the common room and tapped James' shoulder as he passed him by, sitting next to him.
James smile faded a bit. He was a tad disappointed in his friend's presence. Everything had seemed to go so well between you and him. If the two of you continued to be alone, he would have had more confidence to ask you out on a date. Knowing that Remus took fancy in you too, it was a bit challenging to do so.
"What's up, Moony?" James looked at him, clearly not in a friendliest tone Remus was used to.
Remus' lips twirled upwards and he felt amused by his friends' frustration. He looked at you and smiled wonderfully. "Hi." he said and you smiled cheerfully, oblivious to the competition in front of you.
"Hi, Remus."
You seemed to be a tad disappointed as well. You loved to flirt with James because it seemed so easy and fun to do yet sometimes you couldn't understand whether he truly likes you or if he's doing it just out of fun. But you live by your mother's words; If a man truly likes you, he will do absolutely everything to let you know and pursue you.
That was why you were always so laid back. You didn't overthink anything when it came to boy. They seemed to think more simply than girls and whatever they did, they did because they wanted to, not because there was a whole scheme behind their actions.
You could see a bit discomfort in James. You couldn't really figure out why but he started to pout, which had made you a bit more uncomfortable around both of them.
Remus, however, loved to talk to you. He was open and honest but sometimes you felt as if he held too many secrets inside of him. To you, he was a bit harder to get to know, no matter how much he could tell you.
"You're going to love this, (y/n)!" he started to sound more excited. "I had found the oldest yet most interesting place a few nights ago-" he hear- both of you heard James scoff to that. "And I know your curious spirit cannot wait to explore it."
"Where?!" you threw all your books away and jumped forward. Old ruins and historic backgrounds always made you overly excited. You must have gotten it from your dad's side of the family. Everybody seemed to be more of history freaks and you were no different.
"I can show you. What do you think James?" Remus turned to James, who only laughed.
"No, thank you." he stood up and stretched his arms over his body. "Rocks and dust? Not my cup of tea. If I wanted to take a girl I fancy-" he looked at you with a grin and a soft chuckle. "I'd take her somewhere more romantic." he walked to you and winked. "A lovely restaurant or a walk among the trees under the moonlight." he was leaning down to you, close and observing the flush in your cheeks.
Your eyes were meeting and it lit a fiery spark between the two of you but as you didn't want to give him the pleasure of it, you rolled your eyes and moved away. "That's a bit of a cliche, isn't it, Potter?" you stood up and stretched your back as well. "I don't do romance." you turned from James to Remus and smiled excitedly. "Shall we go and explore!?"
"Yes we shall."
---
Remus hasn't felt you this excited over some 'rocks and dust' in all the years he had known you but he had felt his heart fill with joy and love when he could see how a person can live for the small things in life. You didn't care about wealth or power, neither if a person was physically beautiful and attractive. You neither cared if person had its flaws, you still loved anybody for who they were; good or evil. You always tried to look the best in people and your gift was, that you always seemed to bring out just that out of everybody and especially out of him.
As the two of you had walked, he had realised that he wants to tell you something important to him. It wasn't a secret to his friends and family but it was a shameful secret to him and to everybody else.
"Can I tell you something?" he asked as the two of you were climbing up the hill.
"Yeah." you stopped, gasping for air and putting your hands on your hips. "I think we need to rest too." you smiled and he laughed.
"It's not that far. We're almost close."
"My heart is almost close to stopping too."
He laughed again and sat on the rock, finding the moon shining on him as if it was leaving its fullness from a few days ago. "I just have the need to tell you this... and I'm serious."
You looked up at him and found the moon perfectly cut out the colour of his green eyes. "Your eyes look so pretty in the moonlight." you said without any filter but sat down next to him.
"Thank you."
You smiled and looked up at the moon before taking a look of his worried expression. "What is it?" you shoved him a little as he smiled. "You can tell me your deepest darkest secret." you joked but it was no joke to him.
"Well... I'm... I'm a werewOlf." he stuttered out, trying to sound casually as he said so but unsuccessful.
You only stared in silence, clearly processing the information as he was impatient to wait for your reaction. Your eyes only narrowed at him and you nodded. "I knew it."
"You knew it?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I mean, I didn't know it. I just know there was something to you that I couldn't put my finger on but I kind of knew it. It did cross my mind once but I brushed it off quickly. I didn't believe it but apparently my intuition was on to something." you laughed and stood up, offering him your hand. "Shall we continue?"
"You don't seem a tad phased by it." he took your hand gently and stood up.
"Oh, I am but I really don't mind people being people. You know?" you started to talk fast. "I don't judge people by their flaws, more by their actions and I don't seem why your werewolfness would bother me when there are far worse withces, wizards and Muggles in this world, who are far more worse than any werewolf I had encounter. Which, you're the first but still. You don't seem the one to eat children and howl at the moon."
He let out a loud laugh. "I don't eat children but I do the latter."
---
The two of you walked up the hill hand in hand, him trying to pull you up as his steps were much larger than yours. He was more of muscles than you, faster and careful as for you seemed to trip over a branch or two.
He had opened up as the two of you made your way to the top and started to walk on the flatlands. It stretched far away from the castle but you could see the ruins so clearly from the distance. The light of he moon made the subject far more pleasing to the eye and at that moment when Remus was talking to you and your eyes seemed to wander on the view- everything seemed to be perfect and you imprinted that moment into your memory so that you can look back and re-live it all over again.
As he talked, he seemed more lose and excited. He hadn't held back on anything. He had told you about Animagnus forms of his friends and how he isn't the only one who howls at the moon. Sirius apparently loves to do it just as well in his other form. He had constantly made you laugh by his full moon stories and how he accepted the awful fact of his life-long destiny of sharing his body with a beast.
He was glowing, literally glowing when he was telling you all the things he was hiding from you and for the first time, you were the one to listen and he was the one constantly talking.
"We're here!" he pointed at the ruins of an old castle. It wasn't big or notorious as Camelot or Hogwarts or any other historically known castle. It was small and poor in it's built but it was still a castle, just not the traditional kind.
He let go of your hand and it gave you a sort of an electrical shock as he did. You seemed to be so comfortable and in love of holding hands that you completely forgot what it was like without his fingers intertwined with yours.
It wasn't for long though. He had opened the old wooden door for you and offered you his hand to lead you inside. "After you, m'lady." he bowed as a gentleman should and you hurried up inside, taking him by the hand and leading him behind you.
Your wands needn't to be lit as the moonlight made it's own natural light through the large gaps between the rocks. Nature made it's own charm by growing vines around the walls, flowers and grass among the cracks. It truly did feel more magical than the magic itself.
"Oh, Remus look!" you ran to one of the walls and saw names carved in. "Ibzan." you smiled back at him.
"Old biblical name." Remus followed and saw many other names written around it. "Arthur." he laughed. "Wouldn't be an English castle without an Arthur in it."
"Tatiana." you looked at it. "Like a princess." you looked at him but he seemed to be very close to you, staring forward. His chest was against your back and his head leaning over your shoulder. You didn't have to look back. You could only move your eyes to the side and see him there.
He seemed to be so focused on the rocks in front of you that he hasn't even noticed you marvelling at him. All you could see, for the first time noticing his sharp, nicely structured side profile. His cheek bones were finely defined, his lips sharp and plump and his eyebrows nicely arched.
He truly was a beautiful boy and you hadn't noticed it till now. His palm was placed against the rock as he was supporting himself but when he had noticed you looking at him, he slyly looked back. A corner of his mouth quirked up and he said: "A girl doesn't need to be a princess to have a beautiful name." he spoke low and quietly.
The spark that James lit before was over-flamed by the passion Remus arroused in you. Before you knew it, he was leaning down and kissed you softly. One short kiss and it was enough to tempt you for more. You put your hand around his neck and pulled him down for me, smiling into it as you had felt him smile as well. As heavy as they felt, they seemed light as well because no kisses seemed to be as perfect as his; soft, teasing yet deep and passionate.
When he placed his hand on your cheek you could feel the dust set on your skin. You let out a giggle and he pulled away. "What?" he smiled but then just noticed how dark your cheek was. "Oh, my-" he let out a laugh, then looked back on the wall his palm was pressed on before. "I am terribly sorry."
You laughed as well. "Don't worry." you continued to laugh and wipe it away. "It'll probably wash away."
"Probably." he tilted his head a bit and gave you a peck. "And we should probably head back."
Putting your arms around his neck, you made a big stretch and looked up at the sky. "Ugh..." you looked back into his green eyes, burning your soul into sparks and bitses. "But it's so beautiful here." you let out a small whine and he chuckled.
"Well, (y/n)(y/l/n). I didn't think you did romance." he teased.
"I don't. I let the man do all the romance for me." you stepped on your tiptoes and brushed your nose against his.
"That's a bit unfair."
"I wouldn't worry if I were you, Lupin. I have time to make it fair."
"Glad to hear it."
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kcrabb88 · 3 years
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Queer Movies/Books/TV Shows for Pride Month!
Happy Pride everyone!! For your viewing/reading pleasure I have made a (non-exhaustive) list of queer media that I have enjoyed! 
Movies/Documentaries
Pride (2014): An old tried and true favorite, which meets at the intersection of queer and workers’ rights. A group of queer activists support the 1985 miners’ strike in Wales (complete with a sing-through of Bread and Roses + Power in a Union)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire: On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman (or, two young lesbians fall in love by the sea, and you cry)
God’s Own Country: Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path (Seriously this movie is GREAT and doesn’t get enough love, watch it! It’s rough but ends happily)
The Half of It:  When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, she doesn't expect to become his friend - or fall for his crush (as in she falls for his crush who is another girl. This movie was so good, and really friendship focused!) 
Saving Face:  A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations (this is an oldie and a goodie, with a happy ending!)
Moonlight:  A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood (featuring gay men of color!)
Carol:  An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York (everyone’s seen this I think, but I couldn’t not have it here)
Milk: The story of Harvey Milk and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official (the speech at the end of this made me cry. Warning, of course, for death, if you don’t know about Harvey Milk)
Pride (Hulu Documentary):  A six-part documentary series chronicling the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America (they go by decade from the 50s-2000s, and there is a lot of great trans inclusion in this)
Paris is Burning (Documentary): A 1990s documentary about the African American and Latinx ballroom scene. Available on Youtube!
A New York Christmas Wedding:  As her Christmas Eve wedding draws near, Jennifer is visited by an angel and shown what could have been if she hadn't denied her true feelings for her childhood best friend (this movie is SO CUTE. It’s really only nominally a Christmas movie and easily watched anytime. Features an interracial sapphic couple!) 
TV Shows 
Love, Victor: Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation (this is a spin-off of Love, Simon, and it’s very sweet and well done! Featuring a young gay man of color)
Sex Education:  A teenage boy with a sex therapist mother teams up with a high school classmate to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school (this has multiple queer characters, including a featured young Black gay man and also in season 2 there is a side ace character!) 
Black Sails: I mean, do I even need to put a summary here? If you follow me you know that Black Sails is full of queer pirates, just queers everywhere.
Gentleman Jack:  A dramatization of the life of LGBTQ+ trailblazer, voracious learner and cryptic diarist Anne Lister, who returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall (Period drama lesbians!!! A title sequence  that will make you gay just by watching!) 
Tales of the City (2019):  A middle-aged Mary Ann returns to San Francisco and reunites with the eccentric friends she left behind. "Tales of the City" focuses primarily on the people who live in a boardinghouse turned apartment complex owned by Anna Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane, all of whom quickly become part of what Maupin coined a "logical family". It's no longer a secret that Mrs. Madrigal is transgender. Instead, she is haunted by something from her past that has long been too painful to share (this is based on a book series and it’s got lots of great inter-generational queer relationships!) 
The Haunting of Bly Manor:  After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (sweet, tender, wonderful lesbians. A bittersweet ending but this show is so so wonderful)
Sense8: A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world's order (queers just EVERYWHERE in this show, of all kinds)
Books
Loveless by Alice Oseman:  Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance (don’t be turned off by this title, it’s tongue-in-cheek. This is a book about an aroace college girl discovering herself and centers the importance and power of platonic relationships! I have it on my TBR and have heard great things)
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel (again, don’t be thrown off by the title, it too, is tongue-in-cheek. This book was GREAT, and written by a trans women with a queer-and especially trans--audience in mind)
A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein: A gay Christopher Marlowe, at Cambridge and trying to become England’s best new playwright, finds himself wrapped up in royal espionage schemes while also falling in love (this book is by a Twitter friend of mine, and it is a wonderful historical thriller with a gay man at the center).
Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer: a very very queer remix of The Picture of Dorian Gray (which was already quite queer), featuring amazing female characters, a gay Basil, and a much happier ending than the original. 
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: The gay prince of England and the bisexual, biracial first son of the president fall in love (think an AU of 2016 where a woman becomes president). Featuring a fantastic discovery of bisexuality, ruminations on grief, and just a truly astonishing book. One of my favorites!
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston:  For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train (This is Casey McQuiston’s brand new novel featuring time-travel, queer women, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to read it)
The Heiress by Molly Greely: Set in the Pride and Prejudice universe, this takes on Anne de Bourg (Lady Catherine’s daughter), and makes her queer! 
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters:  Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins (Sarah Waters is the queen of historical lesbians. All of her books are good, and they’re all gay! The Paying Guests is another great one)
(On a side note re: queer books, there are MANY, these are just ones I’ve read more recently. Also there are a lot of indie/self-published writers doing great work writing queer books, so definitely support your local indie authors!) 
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Here are my thoughts and opinions on the first season of Loki.
First of all, if you have not re-watched this season I highly recommend it. It’s only 6hrs, pick a day, get some snacks, binge the whole thing especially if you weren’t a big fan of it the first time around because re-watching it I noticed some things that I hadn’t before but I also found myself liking some things that I hadn’t the first time around. Which is why I recommend re-watching it, cause maybe it’ll be the same for y’all and you’ll find some new things to love, and end up enjoying some things you hadn’t before. It’s really a different experience to watch the whole thing together than when you watch week to week which makes sense cause MCU shows are meant to be movie-esque.
Now, I’ve spoken pretty positively about this show almost on the daily so let’s switch it up and start with the negatives aka the things that I personally didn’t like because while I enjoyed a lot of this show there are things I wasn’t a fan of and things that did irk me a lot; the first thing is very much a pet peeve: the title sequence, I’ve mentioned it before in passing but it reminds me too much of Gravity Falls and Bill Cipher, I gave it 6 episodes, 12 if you count the re-watches, and I just don’t like it at all, I get what they were going for but I don’t think it fits the show and I’m hoping they change it for s2.
But that’s a small thing, I can deal with that, the two (technically three) big things I didn’t like - and I think this is why episode 1 is my least favorite and to me the weakest of the season - is the way the show completely ignores Odin’s abuse and the effect that had on Loki, and the way he’s written in the first three episodes. I will go into detail.
I have no shame in admitting that I am pretty forgiving when it comes to this show and its flaws but the one thing I cannot forgive is how it not only ignores Odin’s abusive behavior but tries to paint him as a loving father and like Loki was the one in the wrong using the most insulting way possible which is that scene in Ragnarok where Odin tells his sons he loves them as if an ‘I love you’ undid years of abuse and bad parenting; it shouldn’t surprise me that they did this because the mcu does have a history and a pattern of being abuse apologists like portraying Thanos killing Gamora to get the soul stone as him loving her, or completely ignoring the horrible father that Howard Stark was. But it still really pisses me off that this show in which a big theme is exploring Loki psychologically and emotionally doesn’t even make mention of what a horrible father Odin was! And it tries to make it seem that just because Loki heard his father say a version of him that he loves him, that Loki suddenly thinks of him as a loving parent (referring to that line in episode 5 where he’s talking to Sylvie and says he has betrayed everyone who has loved him and mentions his asshole of a father instead of his mother!). I didn’t need them to go into details about this, but I did want them to call abuse abuse, and acknowledge Odin was a bad father. To me this is the biggest sin so far of this series. It doesn’t surprise me but it does disappoint me.
Connected to this, and in episode 1 we stay, is the “psychological exploration” of this character. I know after episode 1 a lot of fans were all “omg Loki finally got some therapy 😭” and then there’s me in the corner, shaking my head and saying no he didn’t, not at all, not even close. There was no therapy. And there was zero character exploration. I like Mobius but he is no Linda Martin.
All that happened was Loki being shown the consequences of his actions and being directly asked multiple times if he likes hurting people which of course he doesn’t, that’s not therapy at no point did Loki’s trauma get addressed, at no point did Loki get walked through that stuff or asked why he is how he is or what happened to change him from someone who was just mischievous to someone who caused harm.
Sorry to burst y’alls bubble but Loki did not get therapy in episode 1. Change Mobius lines about how Loki is just meant to cause pain and suffering and death for “imagined slights” and you’d have pretty much the same as every other MCU movie. At most what he got was an intervention to help him realize he didn’t want to be a bad person. Intervention and therapy are not the same thing.
And again, not surprised. If the mcu doesn’t properly explore their main, multiple movie having characters trauma and issues why were we expecting them to do it with Loki? Gotta keep those expectations in check. And in part I understand that the writers had a limited amount of time and they wanted to jump right into things but if they were gonna have only one episode with an emphasis on this they could have done a much better job while still jumping into the main story and moving on to character growth. To me this is the second biggest sin. And why episode 1 is ultimately my least favorite.
Last but not least, and something I can be more lenient and forgiving about but I still don’t like is the way Loki was written in the first three episodes. The way he was written was more comical to the point of borderline clown-ish sometimes which doesn’t match his personality at all, and don’t get me wrong there are times when it works but for the most part it just comes across as weird, like the writers were trying too hard to be funny and lighthearted at some points and it just doesn’t work, it ends up with him being a joke.
I’ll use a scene that I absolutely adore as a small example: Loki singing in episode 3. It’s one of my favorite scenes of the season, absolutely live for it, it lives in my head rent free in the VIP section but it’s a very flawed scene because Loki would never. Getting drunk on a mission is what Thor would do, not Loki, that is Thor through and through so as much as I love that scene, it is a flawed, ooc Loki scene.
The good thing is the show does improve in how it writes him in the last three eps, they stop trying so hard with the comedy, he’s more serious, more badass, he still has funny moments for example his reaction to Alligator Loki was hilarious but it’s more natural and fitting. So hopefully, in season 2 it will be the same writing team, and there will be more consistency and he’ll be written less comically and more badass.
Moving on to the positives, there are a lot of things I thoroughly enjoyed, starting with having Loki back on my screen and the center of attention- my baby, my darling, my love 💚 I’m so glad that he (and Tom!) is finally getting the attention, and love, and praise, and recognition that he has been deserving of all these years!
It gave me some of my favorite Loki scenes like I mentioned Loki singing it may be a flawed scene but I loved it nonetheless, it had some really cool fight scenes especially towards the end, it gave Loki a friend! A real friend! My baby is all grown up! 😭💚
The cinematography was beautiful, like you can say a lot about this show but you cannot deny that visually it is stunning and the directing was amazing. The soundtrack was pretty good too, I mean c’mon, ‘I need a Hero’? Iconic.
This show gave us Alligator Loki! How can one not love that! It kick started what looks to be the coolest aspect of Phase 4, it gave us bi, genderfluid Loki (which also brought out some of the ugliest sides of this fandom but this ain’t the time or place for that conversation 🙃), it gave me a new favorite character in Sylvie absolutely love her 💛
It gave me hope that the sun will shine again on Thor and Loki! That they’ll cross paths once again at some point and be reunited! And when they are, we better get that hug!
It gave me my new OTP in the form of Loki x Sylvie, they have great chemistry, and they’re super cute together, and they’re so good for one another and I just love them so much; I know it’s a “controversial” ship but I hope they stick to it and we get more of them in s2 because they are the best couple Marvel has ever given us they are passionate and cute and angsty, and they have the foundation for the most epic love story.
In conclusion, was Loki season 1 perfect? Was it everything I wanted? Nope. But ultimately, it gave me more that I enjoyed than not- also, I can tell this was something that was done with a lot of love and joy and effort put into it which as someone who has loved a show where the writer’s room noticeably didn’t give a rat’s ass, I can appreciate a lot.
Overall I’m very happy with the first season; I love this show, flaws and all, and I can’t wait for s2!
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xseildnasterces · 3 years
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do or die.
As always, it’s Friday, and I’m exhausted. It’s been a long week and I am so unbelievably glad to have been off today. One thing I do really love at work is the option of flexible working hours. Essentially, we have a work arrangement that if we work 8 hours overtime in a two-week period, we can take a day off to recoup the hours. That is what I did today.
Cleary, I started writing yesterday and didn’t get very far. It’s now Saturday. I spent the whole of yesterday cleaning and tidying so that I didn’t need to do it over the weekend, which was certainly a good idea as now I feel so much more relaxed and don’t feel like I should be doing something that I am not.
Last night I decided to watch the first episode of ‘It’s a Sin’. I have been wanting to watch it since the minute it was released, but due to problems with my VPN and it not yet being available in the US I had been unable to do so. I had been so excited about it since it’s release, yet being fully aware that it was going to be heart wrenching and that I would end up in floods of tears. I watched the first episode and was hooked from the first few minutes. It was SO WELL done. Like incredibly well done, so gripping, emotional, and genuinely one of the best things that I have watched in so long. I had been told by several people that it was not something you should binge because it’s very hard going… but what did I do? I watched all five episodes one after the other last night and my god. I was a mess. My whole face was wet from tears and I was balling my eyes out for a good while before I could actually go to sleep. Regardless, it’s incredible. I urge anyone who has not seen it to watch it. It is SO good. I also hope it also makes people more aware of what actually happened in the 80s as I feel like it is something that a lot of people overlook and do not really understand. It’s important to understand, and it’s important to know – especially for our community. I have seen so many things making correlations with covid and HIV/AIDs during this whole pandemic, yet I feel like it is really important to mention and be aware that it cannot be compared in the same way for a number of reason, but mainly because right now we know how covid is passed and we know how to protect ourselves. At the time, no one even know anything about HIV/AIDs and they most certainly didn’t have any real understanding of how it spread or how to protect themselves at first. I think ‘It’s a Sin’ is something I would re-watch at some point. I am not really a re-watcher of anything, but this is something I certainly would. Watch it.
I have finally come to realise why I have been recently living in a phase of nostalgia and walking down memory lane. It seems ridiculous that I didn’t even realise this earlier. It’s all because of a memory app on my phone. Seven years ago, around this time there was a lot going on and I was really struggling with something. During that time, I posted a LOT of my feelings in Tweets and currently they are all coming back to haunt me. I don’t think memory apps that relate to your old social media posts are a great idea to be honest, but at the same time there is some kind of morbid curiosity to look at them. It is the same morbid curiosity that comes with looking up people on social media that you ‘used to know’ and miss greatly. The period in question I was incredibly depressed, and what was happening and how I was being made to feel (regardless of the circumstances that I was unaware of), was causing me a lot of anxiety and self-hate. My self-worth was probably at an all time low (up until that point) and I was struggling. After what had already happened the year before my weight was not what it should be and I was struggling with sleep, not eating and also collapsing (at one point knocking myself out in the shower – something that my app oh so kindly reminded me of last week). At the time it felt like I was going from one disaster to another and my mental health was certainly not coping. It was rough and re-reading the things I wrote and thinking about how I felt is certainly not nice reading. Regardless, a lot of this brought up a lot of things for me and R and I have been discussing a lot of these things recently. Friends, relationships, people that come and go from your life and my own fears and concerns with abandonment. R is lucky. She is one of these people who can just accept people leaving her life. She agrees that it is incredibly hard and that sometimes she misses people, but she believes that it is also a good thing. She is very much of the opinion and belief that if someone leaves your life you should just let them go because they clearly they are no longer a real friend and you should not waste your time trying to be their friend anymore. They have made the choice to leave and you should not run after them or cry tears for them when they have made that decision. She also thinks that people leaving also means they are making room for other people to come in – better people. I’m not so sure I agree, nor am I sure that I can change my way of thinking to this, although granted she suffers less because of it and doesn’t spend far too much time thinking about how much she misses people or wants them back in her life. I wonder if perhaps I only really create connections with people on a super deep level before calling them a friend, so when that relationship ends I am heartbroken, whereas some people have lots of friends on a surface level but not completely deep relationships. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s not. Maybe I am doing it wrong. Who knows? Talking to R on a daily basis really has been wonderful, and honestly the best thing to come out of this pandemic for me. I have no doubt in my mind that our friendship really is forever. Some of the things we have shared recently about our own relationship and how we feel about one another has been so reassuring. I love that girl so very much and do not believe I will ever meet someone who does not judge me for whatever I do and any mistakes that I make. She really is one in a million and I feel so incredibly lucky to have her.
Talking about mistakes I have been recently evaluating some of the things I have done in my life and I think I have quite a few regrets that I did not consider to be regrets before. I know everyone says you should not have regrets because at the time whatever you did or didn’t do is exactly what you wanted in that moment, but I’m not completely sure I agree. I mean, I do somewhat, but I also think it is normal to have regrets. I think there are some things that I have done in my life that I would now do differently should I have had the opportunity to do them again. As always, hindsight is a wonderful thing. There are actually a great number of things I think I would have done differently – some small, and some huge. Some things that would make a huge impact on where I am in my life right now, and some that wouldn’t change very much in my current day to day life but would ease my overthinking and my constant anxiety. I think this is one of the things I love so much about R. She said to me the other day, that she will never pass judgement on anything in my life because everyone makes mistakes. At the end of the day we are all human and there is not one person on this earth that can say they have never made a mistake or done something that they are not proud of. I resonated with this a lot, and as they say, "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones". Life is a series of decisions that we make, some of which are good and some of which are bad, and although you may go through life with some regrets I guess the idea is to not dwell on them, to move past them and continue to be better. I think this is something I struggle with. I do dwell on them, and I struggle to move past them – but I guess that is something to work on.
I recently finished reading ‘Three Women’ by Lisa Taddeo, a book that I devoured in only a few days because it was so good and so hard to put down. I told R to read it because I think she would enjoy it, and she told me she had a book recommendation for me. We had been talking about anxiety and fear, and she told me to read ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’. Now I am not a reader of self-help books, nor am I really a fan of that sort of thing, but neither is she and I do trust in her recommendations so I’m going to give it a go. She told me that it has helped her with making some very big decisions and doing things she was initially scared to do, so I think it may be good for me. I will report back. I’ve been doing so well on my reading challenge so far this year. January started with reading ‘You’ by R. Yep, my best friend self-published a book and it is awesome! I am so proud of her and I love it so much. It’s poetry and I am really not a poetry fan, but this is so real. It reminds me a lot of Rupi Kaur’s work, and perhaps I am a little biased considering R is my best friend, but I found a lot of it much more relatable. February saw me read ‘Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese’ by Dita Von Teese. It’s a huge coffee table book with beautiful photographs and a deep dive into vintage clothing, corsets, and of course burlesque and fetish. I loved it. Most recently I finished ‘Three Women’ which as mentioned had my glued. I’m unsure of what to start next, although I think I may wait until the book R recommended arrives and I will start on that. I don’t want to jump the gun, but I really hope I can read 12 books this year. I have wanted to complete the reading challenge of one book a month for the last few years and failed every single time. It’s frustrating as when I was younger, I could read 12 books in a month, never mind a year – but I guess adulthood has changed the time I have to read, but 2021 will be the year. I am hopeful and optimistic.
Next year R and I both turn 30. Yeah, I know. What the hell? Much conversation recently has revolved around how exactly we got here and how neither of us feel like 30-year-old women. Regardless of that we have decided to do something to celebrate together. We are not yet sure what we will do, but it will involve travel, possibly somewhere in either the US or the Caribbean. To be decided, but I am very excited about this. It has been quite a long time since R and I have travelled together – I think the last time was Australia! So, it will be nice to go somewhere to just chill and hang out without any pressure to be busy and constantly be on the go.
I am on a major ‘women in metal’ hype right now and I am absolutely LOVING it. It’s been a while but I am appreciating it greatly.
In other news, I tried to get a vaccine appointment yesterday, once again it was like the Hunger Games and I didn’t manage to get one.  This week DC are changing the system to a pre-register system which I hope will be much better. At least that way there will not be a weekly fight to get tickets (wait, I mean an appointment…) and instead you will just be contacted when an appointment is available to you. I hope it work, and I hope I can get some sometime soon. Having to go into work every single day just makes me feel uneasy, especially as more people want to start coming to the office. My immune system is not ready to mix with people.
Small side note, I REALLY miss the sea.
[Blog title: Do or Die - Amaranthe ft. Angela Gossow].
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untapanimedraw · 3 years
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Ok, lets talk the Winter 2021 anime season
Dear god, there are so many shows airing. A ton of sequels, and a decent amount of new shows. I think I’ll actually break down what I’m interested in watching into two parts, sequels and new. Lets get started. 
Watching:
Sequels 
Jujutsu Kaisen - This is technically a continuation rather than a sequel, but the spirit is the same. This was my choice for favorite anime of the season fall 2020 so this continuation has me pretty hyped. 
Black Clover - Still continuing. The manga had a 6 month time skip and the anime did some anime only stories with the author’s direction to cover that time period and now it’s caught up to that time skip. Shit is about to go down and I am stoked. 
Attack On Titan: Final Season - So this started airing in December which makes for a strange airing schedule, but it’s technically continuing from the fall season into the winter season. Anyway, it is fucking fantastic and this week’s episode left us on a major cliff-hanger for 2 weeks. 
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S2P1 - Ok, so first... HOLY FUCK I’M SO EXCITED FOR THIS SEASON, IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING. Second, yes this is part 1. Thanks to covid there are some longer running seasons that are being split up to accommodate the production schedule. So this part 1 is airing in winter, then in the spring the 4-koma comedy re-telling is airing, and then in summer part 2 of this season 2 will air. it’s annoying, but 3 continuous season of slime is a welcome thing. 
Re:Zero S2P2 - Alright, so this is the second half of summer 2020′s season 2 part 1. I have high expectations considering what we’ve already been given. 
Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (S2) - HOLY FUCK I’M SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR THIS SHOW, I LOVED THE FIRST SEASON AND AM READING THE MANGA AND OMG I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE.
The Promised Neverland S2 - More of the promised neverland. I’ve heard that this season will go even harder than the first season and Emma will prove even more why she’s best girl, so bring it on. 
The Quintessential Quintuplets S2 - A second season of a decent harem show? Bring it on. 
Log Horizon S3 - So I didn’t watch this when the first 2 seasons aired years ago, 6 I think actually. That said it’s always been on my PTW list and when I heard season 3 was going to air I decided that now was the time to catch up; and wow am I glad I did. I binged the first 2 seasons over the last 3 weeks and I am so fucking invested now. I cannot wait for this next season. 
Higurashi GOU - this is continuing from last season and I’ll keep watching it, though I’m still not quite sure how to evaluate it. 
Yuru Camp S2 - WOOHOO!!!!! This was the chillest of chill shows that aired winter 2018 and I absolutely loved it. I’m so excited for this next season for more camping and adorable girls being chill. 
World Trigger S2 - So I was under the impression that there were already 2 seasons of this show, I watched most of it I think but it’s been so long I don’t really remember much. But this is being called season 2... so either this is retconning the previous season 2 or that was really just 1 big season despite the notation on some websites. Also a S3 has already been announced so I need to hurry up and rewatch this before the new season airs. But with 73 episodes that might take a bit of time. 
Armor Shop for Ladies and Gentlemen S2 - This is a sequel to the short anime of the same name. If you like it, you like it. 
New
Cells at Work S2 - Ok, technically this is a sequel, but I’m including it here because of something cool that’s happening with the next title. 
Cells at Work: Black - Why yes, this is a different Cells at Work title. This is based on the spin-off manga of the same title that gender swaps the cells from the main series and covers their work inside an extremely unhealthy body. This is going to be a grittier, bloodier, and bleaker show than the main one and in a fun airing scheduling event, they will be airing back to back. I’m quite excited for the both of these. 
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS GETTING AN ADAPTATION! SADLY IT’S A SPLIT COUR SO THIS IS THE FIRST HALF OF SEASON 1 AND THE SECOND HALF WILL AIR LATER PROBABLY IN THE SUMMER. BUT THAT’S OK BECAUSE EVERYTHING I HAVE SEEN ABOUT THIS SO FAR TELLS ME THIS WILL BE A PRETTY DAMN FAITHFUL ADAPTATION AND IT IS GOING TO BE FANTASTIC. 
Horimiya - I’ve heard many good things about this romance show and am looking forward to it. 
Redo of Healer - Ok, here we go. This is going to be the outrage anime of the season. That is, if it is actually watched by people. It’s also getting 3 different levels of censoring so uh, I’ll have to check for the proper versions when it airs. 
So I’m a Spider, So What? - Ok, so funny story. I’d been hearing about this manga for a while so I decided to dive into it a few months back. As I read it, I thought it was pretty funny but I wondered if the anime adaptation would be great for a comedy manga about a reincarnated girl into a spider’s body. Then about 3 weeks ago, I realized I was reading the comedy spin-off instead of the main story. That said I’m still quite excited to see this adapted and I’ll get the manga after then anime is done. 
The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter - Hella ecchi, actually pretty fun manga. I’m looking forward to this adaptation. 
Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a started town - Hopefully this will be as fun as the manga was. Here’s a better synopsis than the Livechart one - Lloyd is the weakest person in his remote village but his dream is to become a soldier in the big city. So he moves to the city and strives to make his dream come true. However in a twist, it turns out that the remote village Lloyd came from is the retirement town for all the world’s strongest heroes and they are all massively overpowered, so when he gets to the city he’s stupidly OP but it doesn’t quite click for him. Shenanigans ensue. It’s fun and I’m looking forward to this adaptation. 
Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki - This is supposed to be not quite as good a romance as Horimiya this season, but still decent. If that is the comedy romance this is the drama romance show and hopefully it’ll be good. 
Kemono Jihen - Mystery, supernatural, Yokai. I’m intrigued in this show and hope it’s decent. 
Otherside Picnic - Shoujo Ai, Sci-Fi, I’m sold. 
Hortensia SAGA - This is based on a game, but I’ve heard that the story and scope are actually quite good and the PV actually looks quite good so I’m definitely gonna check this one out. 
SK8 the Infinity - Ok, so my first impression of this was nah, I’ll pass. But then I saw the PV and saw it was being animated by BONES and my impression changed to Ok I have to at least give it a couple episodes. 
2.43 Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team - So this is supposed to be Haikyuu except lots more drama and less gameplay. It will really have to pull me in in order to get me to not think boring Haikyuu when I watch it. I’ll give it a couple episodes. 
Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- - Doctor heals people from Yokai or something like that. The tags look interesting as do the character designs. I’ll check it out.
Back Arrow - Fantasy setting but BOOM... Mecha! That premise at least demands a couple episodes of my attention. 
Heaven’s Design Team - Here’s my chill comedy SOL show of the season. The premise is Heaven has a design team that creates/created all the animals. I’m very excited to see the shenanigans. 
Gekidol - Idols and stage acting. After watching the new Love Live last season I’m in the mood for some idol stuff. But most interesting to me is the next show on this list. 
Alice in Deadly School - It’s not currently known whether this will be a full series or an OVA or some other thing, but this is an anime of the stage play that is being put on in Gekidol. The same VAs in Gekidol that play the characters in this play are voicing the characters for this anime production. And I just think this whole setup is neat and am very interested to see it play out (pun fully intended). 
Idoly Pride - This seems to be a more straight-forward idol show which I’m going to check out. 
Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san - Girl doesn’t quite cut it to do the thing she and her friend came to do, but she found that she can cook so uses her cooking for support her friends. SOL, lets go. 
Wave!! Surfing Yappe!! - Surfing show, the animation will make or break this show so we will see how it turns out. 
Wow, that is a lot of shows, lets add them up. 
13 sequels and continuations
22 new shows
35 total. I kinda hope some of these suck cause HOT DAMN, that’s a lot of shows. 
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AUGUST PICKS!
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And we’re back with another month wrap up! August involved a lot of TV watching (as per usual), but I feel like I watched a lot of things I’ve already talked about before (ex: The 100, Violetta). So it was a little bit harder to feature some new titles. I felt accomplished this month because I finished quite a few series. So, without further ado...let’s do this!
Spoilers!! But you knew that already :) 
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So I know I’ve spoken about some of these shows A LOT recently, but I still had to include them in this wrap up because they were a good amount of the month. (Even if they feel like they were so long ago.) 
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CURSED
This book to screen adaptation on Netflix following Nimue (AKA the Lady of the Lake) re-invents the King Arthur myth. It was an entertaining and enjoyable watch that makes me hope there’s a second season. There were certain parts that bothered me and I wish some characters had more time on screen, but as someone who likes King Arthur and fantasy TV I’d recommend it. 3/5 for me. 
For more on my thoughts regarding the show check out my earlier post: **Spoilers** Featuring Cursed
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DC’S STARGIRL
A show that I’ve often been documenting my reviews/feelings after watching each episode. (That’s how you can tell IT’S THAT GOOD.) While it was a bit slow in the beginning (mainly because of it having the quality of being on a streaming service-ending on a cliffhanger for you to binge the next episode immediately kind of feel), it picked up and has easily become one of my favorites for the year. (YEAH...I KNOW. I SAID YEAR.) You can check out my page for more specific reactions in my posts, but here are some of the moments that stick out to me the most when I think about season 1.  
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I can’t wait for season 2!!
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AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER
June doesn’t feel like that long ago, but because I started season 1 two months ago (and because of the world of quarantine) it feels like a long time ago. Especially when this show is only 18-20 episodes that are each about 20/25 minutes. For me, I enjoyed season 1, but not as much as seasons 2 and 3. I definitely watched the first season slower because of this. Once the Ba Sing Se plot happened I was very invested. I enjoyed most of Book 2 in the Earth Kingdom before this, but Ba Sing Se was definitely the best. I was so impressed that they put that into a kid show. Then again, there’s so much in this show that is well done and brings up such relevant issues to a younger audience. I loved following Aang, Katara and Sakka and enjoyed Toph’s addition to Team Avatar. Overall I think Uncle Iroh is my favorite character in the show. I loved all the wisdom he had and how he saw the best in Zuko the entire time. Their team up was great and I am so happy he got his tea shop in the end. His escape from prison was amazing. I love a good redemption arc and from the start was excited to see Prince Zuko’s (it’s one of the ‘spoilers’ I knew going in). I think it was really well done and I liked how they showed him struggling with it. The last agni kai between Zuko and Azula was such a beautiful scene and the music score behind it was so chilling. I love how they chose a slow, instrumental song to play in the background. It’s not what I was expecting and it was such an awesome choice. Overall, I really liked the music and have added it to my writing playlist. I’m really glad I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender. 
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From one binged show starting in June to another....
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VIOLETTA SEASON 2
It’s crazy; you don’t think 80 episodes would go by that fast, but they do. Once you hit episode 50, I just zip by the rest in the season. So many of the plots get SO GOOD, you can’t help but watch so many episodes back to back (to back). For season 2, episode 75 was one of my favorites for the whole season. I love how some of the cast actually got to go to Madrid. (Even the intro music changed when they were there.) Diego really grew on me. I loved the added plot of discovering who his dad is! Feels very telenovela. Gregorio’s reaction was priceless-such great acting-and I loved how much it has changed his character so far. I’m excited to see where he is headed for season 3. 
Leonetta forever! The reason they weren’t together was a bit weak, but I get they needed the love triangle. Overall the Leon/Violetta/Diego love triangle was a lot stronger than season 1′s (in my opinion). It felt better developed. I enjoyed a lot of the couples this season. Frederico and Ludi are a pair I didn’t know I wanted till it happened. Olga and Ramallo actually got a kiss!!! I loved hearing Ramallo talk about how Olga is the only woman in his life. So rare to see such emotions from him. Fran and Leon’s friendship was adorable. I loved their moments in Madrid. She was their #1 shipper. I know in the beginning I said there wasn’t a lot of music and performances, but as the season progressed we definitely got a lot of new songs (which I cannot stop singing). I miss my time at the Studio and hope the third season will be streaming on Disney Plus soon. I heard it could be September 18th so fingers crossed!! 
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THE INBESTIGATORS
Filling the void that was left by Little Lunch (and produced by the same studio) is the InBESTigators! A show that follows 4 elementary students who live in Australia and solve mysteries. One of the things I really loved about Little Lunch was how serious they made really trivial, kid-like things sound. I have often described it as an Office-like children’s show, where they talk about their problems directly to the camera and give several ‘Jim’ stares and glances to the camera. With the InBESTigators it’s a similar set up where our four sleuths, Ezra, Maudie, Ava and Kyle, relay a mystery they solved directly to us the viewer, while we watch in flashback. All of the mysteries are typical things that could happen in school or home; from overwatering a neighbor’s prize-winning flowers, packages getting stolen, a lost notebook or catching a cheater during a test. All of the kids are entertaining and funny. They each have a different dynamic that brings something to the team. Currently two of the seasons are on Netflix, and there will be a third season (but who knows when it will be filmed-I’m just happy it will eventually happen). 
If you’re looking for a fun/light-hearted watch look no further. You’ll have a good time. 
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UNITED WE FALL
This ABC sitcom fits well on the network and like it would be on Friday nights, but has a stronger day in airing thanks to the pandemic. I hadn’t really heard much about the show and then BAM it was advertised. It felt like the network had it in its back pocket. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying it. The actors have a nice dynamic and it is very funny and relatable. I like how it represents a family with two different cultural backgrounds, but doesn’t make that the main focus of the show. Instead it is discussed naturally. Overall, I don’t know how many people know about it, so I wanted to share it as one of my picks for the month and suggest you watch it if you are looking for something both funny and optimistic. 
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DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS
I LOVE this family! As TLC is a network with predictable choices in TV shows, one about a family with multiples does not seem shocking. However, this is not your average family with multiples. At the start of the show, Karen and Deon have a total of 11 children (with only two of them being what they called ‘singletons’). They have twins, quints, and another set of twins (that would have been triplets). Her last three pregnancies were multiples and then she becomes pregnant with triplets. AGAIN! This family is considered a miracle because she had no IVF or anything like that for her conceptions. I love watching them because they seem like a great group to be apart of. They are what the epitome of family should be like. There is so much love. I know when my family watches the show we are all so impressed by how well behaved all of the kids are. People with half the amount of kids often have trouble teaching them to behave. I highly suggest giving the Derricos a watch. New episodes are now airing on TLC. 
SOME LAST MINUTE ADDS....
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I know Ben Platt’s concert has been available on Netflix for a while now, but I just got the chance to watch it this month. It was SOOO GOOD and I was upset when it was over. It felt so fast! I had already added a lot of his songs to my playlists, and after watching added the last few I had missed. Now I’ve been listening non-stop. I loved how his concert welcomed us so much into his personal life. The added stories in-between songs helped to see why he created that specific one. Watching the concert was a fun time and something you should consider if you are feeling down during quarantine. 
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Every Saturday night we try to watch a movie while we eat dinner. It’s become a new tradition since quarantine began and we were unable to go out to eat or to the movies. This week Jojo Rabbit was the pick. Going into the film, I didn’t know much expect, but that it was a comedy and I assumed a satire. What I didn’t expect was how dark of a turn it would take. It’s amazing how a film can have you laughing uncontrollably at the start and then have you crying at the end. This is definitely a film I could see analyzing in a film studies class. There was so much foreshadowing and moments where so much more was going on then what was shown on the surface. I think it did a great job making the viewer think not only about the time in which it was supposed to take place, but also our current world. I know it’s a good movie when it still has me thinking about it days later. I even did some research into it after watching. Definitely can understand the hype about it and will watch it again in the future. 
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When I was putting this list together I was just starting to watch Umbrella Academy. I know, I’m late to the party, but with the newest season coming out this summer I knew it was now or never. (I just had to finish some of the other stuff I was watching first.) Currently, I only have 1 episode left in the first season and am really enjoying it. I was pretty good about spoilers going into it, so a lot of it was new to me. I made some theories on who I thought would be the cause of the apocalypse and so far I am right. I am very interested to see how this season ends and get into the next one because I heard that the majority of people liked that one more. I’ll have a more detailed review in my September Picks, I’m sure of it!  
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butterflydm · 3 years
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2020 (what a weird year)
I did not get very much done this year at all. The business I work for got us all classified as essential workers which... tbh, I did not agree with as a categorization. It’s meant that hours per week stayed the same, but my anxiety levels at work skyrocketed. And most of the time, after getting home, I basically had enough energy to check some stuff online but I mostly needed to decompress by doing something familiar, which I’ve been doing by replaying FFX and FFX2, and my brain mostly hasn’t had room for anything new. Which is a shame for all the plans I had to watch tons of new media! I had a long list of things I wanted to check out and I haven’t really watched any of it.
I did get a chance to watch a few new things (as always, tbh, any recs of mine are basically ‘you will like this thing, if this is the kind of thing you like’):
The Old Guard: Really enjoyed this movie. It’s been out for a while now, but if you haven’t had a chance to watch it, it was a fun, easy watch that also made me think some interesting philosophical questions about life. A good time! It’s honestly the only movie I watched during the 2020 pandemic period, unless I get around to watching anything else in the next couple of days.
MXTX’s Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: I love love this story. I’ve watched the donghua (looking forward to S2!) and read the translation by BC Novels, and the story just has so many things that make my heart go ‘yes!’: it’s funny, with a charming PoV character who both doesn’t take himself too seriously and also seriously misunderstands himself in a lot of ways -- very relatable. It’s dramatic AF, with romantic lead Luo Binghe at the heart of a lot of that drama. It’s clever and I love the way the premise is used for both humor and pathos.
Tone-wise, it reminds me of works like Galaxy Quest or Northanger Abbey. Honestly, that light tone helps in some of the later chapters, which have content that is actually very dark and very heartbreaking if taken seriously, but because of the momentum of the story and the tone of the narrative, I didn’t feel like I got lost or bogged down in the darkness.
And I love the relationship between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe a whole heck of a lot. I think the way it’s structured is clever and sweet and sad and makes for an interesting story. There is an element of an unintentional romantic obsession that SQQ created by the way he flipped between kind and cruel (against his will, which is what makes it forgivable for the audience, imo, because SQQ wanted to always be kind, though not always for the most selfless of reasons) and how LBH had to try to mentally justify/rationalize how the same man could act in such completely opposing ways. And the narrative symmetry between how SQQ thinks of LBH as the center of the universe because he’s the OP Protagonist (!) but LBH thinks of SQQ as the one that everything revolves around and how that’s narratively true because, of course, in the story that we’re reading, SQQ is the protagonist and LBH is his love interest.
I also actually really appreciated the bad sex near the end of the novel -- sex-to-save-the-world is a trope that can easily get romanticized but here it’s (literally) painful and ugly instead, as all of LBH’s trauma pairs with the influence of Xin Mo on his mind. Even through the translation, it definitely feels like bad sex written well, rather than badly-written sex that is supposed to be good, if you know what I mean. Sex can be an important narrative tool in stories and I feel like MXTX uses it very effectively here.
I think I burnt through the entire translation in just a few days. I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic afterwards and I think my favorite so far is I Wish You Were My Husband by Feynite. It’s an AU but it keeps the same kind of vibe as the original story.
Bridgerton: Goodness, so enjoyable! Julia Quinn is not My Most Favorite of the various romance writers that I read but she was one of the first writers that really got me back into reading romance and it was delightful to see her world on screen. I don’t picture people when I’m reading novels; I have to have a visual first and then I can carry that into the reading, so it was nice to be able to assign faces to some of these characters that I’m already very fond of. Simon and Daphne had a nice amount of chemistry and I loved the Bridgerton family relationships.
I hope they get to cover all the romances in the series and continue to do some updating as well -- I generally liked the changes they made to Simon and Daphne’s romance (a few I wasn’t as into but could see why they’d done it -- mostly For The Drama). And I really loved what they did with Simon and Lady Danbury’s relationship. It took me some time to tell the three older Bridgerton brothers apart but that’s pretty much canon, lol. Anyway, I was invested enough in it all that I stayed up all night on Christmas eve to watch it all and I had no regrets afterward.
I started watching S2 of TharnType but then my work schedule changed and I was working on Fridays and (see above) I just didn’t have the energy to watch anything after work. I might wait and binge the rest of the series once it’s all out, now that it’s gone this long without me being caught up.
I do think I’ll take a break from Critical Role for a while, after it comes back. I’ve just come to an unfortunate place where the show literally cannot win with me re: the romances, as I’m annoyed when they happen but also, perversely, annoyed when they get ignored because my brain goes “they gutted beaujester for this limited amount of inferior romance? At least commit to giving an adequate amount of the romances that I dislike!”. And so it becomes a vicious circle. Good sign that it’s time to take a break. My unhappiness with one part of the show is overshadowing everything else and maybe some time away will change that. Or maybe I just need to pick it up again with campaign 3. I guess I’ll see how it goes. I also admit that I’d hate to pick up the show again only to have Lucien get killed off in a few episodes.
I want to try to watch some more shows in 2021, and maybe I’ll have time, if I’m freeing up several hours every Thursday.
I want to watch Heaven Official’s Blessing and I’ve had a translation of the novel on my phone for the entire year and I really do want to read it as well. I’d like to watch Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo’s new shows (The Wolf & The Legend of Fei) as the gifsets I’ve seen have been interesting and enjoyable, and there are a bunch of shows that I’d gotten recommendations about after watching TharnType that I still want to check out too. Plus, I have the new Stormlight Archives book and I want to read that as well. So, there’s quite a list.
It’s still probably gonna be quite stressful at work for a while, at least until I’ve had a chance to get the vaccine, but at least I am going back to Thursdays & Fridays as my days off at the start of the year, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m also hoping to get back to my detailed rewatch of The Untamed, because that was so much fun but I did not have enough brain this year to do any more of it.
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appleasing · 4 years
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Light Observations as an Art Student in Quar
It’s strange being interested in art right now. With a great deal of the world (rightfully) panicked that they will be getting a potentially-deadly disease, it feels selfish to be wondering, “but what will happen to Art?” However, as it has it I’m an art student who was removed from her studio due to school closings, who wants to work in the field upon graduation, and I can’t help but be curious. 
While art schools were closing and galleries were postponing events, there was speculation that corona would be great for creation. Quarantine was supposed to stimulate artists, with no shortage of uncertainty fueling creation. 
Since quarantine has started, I have had little to do besides observe what has happened to the art world, and think on what all of this means for the status quo. 
Observation 1: No one was ready for this, and inconsequentially so, especially not my college.
Back in March when higher education began to close, art students were deeply concerned about rounding out their semesters. There was a hesitation in the air, with students and faculty being left in the dark over plans for studio and equipment access.
Sub-observation 1: Art professors are notoriously bad with technology, and hate answering emails (Deeply challenging in an online course).
While online classes are a valiant effort by professors trying to salvage their curriculum, there is little to be said for the value of online art learning. Students were left without the equipment they are promised when enrolling in an art program. 
Sub-observation 2: I am tired of people telling me it is exciting for me to be making work in this way, right now. Art is not making me feel excited, it is making me feel useless. 
Imagine you’re a carpenter. You have all your necessary tools in front of you, and you are told to build a box. Suddenly, someone comes in and tells you it is not safe to stay in your woodshop. You may not re-enter the shop until we can guarantee it is safe, and we have absolutely no clue as to when that will be. You have some tools, but one of them breaks. You cannot go to the store, and the Amazon employees are striking. You do not cross the picket line. You decide not to search for tools. 
Now, everyone is very excited for the carpenter. “Aren’t you so excited to make the box? No one has ever made a box under these conditions! We are in completely unprecedented times, you should be excited to make this box.”
The carpenter is not excited, they do not learn to make a box in these new circumstances, the carpenter instead spends the next two months learning to make sourdough. 
Observation 2: Cancelling everything and creating a world where I have no schedule doesn’t make me want to fill my time with making art, it makes me want to binge Saw movies. 
The halting of opportunity surrounding corona is not exactly the inspiration we were all waiting for. This void of creation is not as freeing to the artist as we hoped. In fact, according to some galleries, artists are having trouble making art at all. 
With the world being separated by circumstance, there is a disconnect that has formed in the arts community. In the contemporary, collaboration between artists is huge. Artists inspire each other to make art, and become invigorated by each other to make new work. 
Quarantine is the antithesis of community. With no one to tangibly share work with, there is little motivation to create. Art is inherently developed to be shared, and this sharing has been completely stunted. 
Observation 3: I have no idea how bad anything is, still.
At times during quarantine it is hard to figure out exactly how dire things. Turns out, mass isolation is a big deal, life-altering really,and we are having a much harder time recovering from it than certain other emergencies of yore. 
In an Art Basel panel discussion, Lisa Spellman, founder of 303 gallery in New York, describes the difference between how COVID-19 is affecting art versus previous tragedies. She describes the aftermath of 9/11, and how art communities responded in its wake. She described how public officials were begging galleries to continue to host events, to retain some sense of normalcy in the city. The thing that healed New York was the sense of togetherness which brought communities back together.
In this new type of tragedy, the arts are in the fourth and final phase of New York’s reopening plan. This choice makes sense, with art being low on the list of priorities for keeping anyone healthy. However, it does mean much longer of a wait time for our communities to be able to experience that same sense of togetherness.
Observation 4: I don’t like quarantine art.
Two months into the nationwide calls for self-quarantine, there have been a slew of works being made about staying at home. Some artists are photographing themselves bored in their living rooms; some are documenting empty streets, and storefronts with signs that say “closed due to COVID-19”. Honestly? I think it’s mostly boring.
Back in 2016, when Donald Trump was first elected to office, there was a light consensus that Trump would spur a quality increase in political satire. In a matter of months, there were men painting themselves orange and adorning blonde wigs on television screens across the world. A few months after that, seeing even the bonafide Trump face on television felt like a tired, cruel joke. 
In a similar way to the Trump comedians of 2017, COVID-19 art has the potential to quickly grow stale. The work is simply too surface level to be sustainable. Though potentially therapeutic to view for a moment, the audience quickly moves on as they are unable to dig deeper into work that is only observational, with no punchline.
Plus, we all know what is going on, and a dozen photographs of empty streets aren’t going to make us feel any better about it. 
Observation 5: I like Instagram more than I thought I did. 
It has been a delight to watch everyone try to figure out how to transform their physical presence into shareable online content. Some have done great, others are struggling a bit, but I have enjoyed the growing pains. Something is nice about seeing formal institutions being forced to figure out Instagram live. 
In order to not be left behind, online programs and workshops have been developed en masse by galleries across the US. Due to this, programs that used to be sheltered in galleries are now on view through Instagram stories. In a strange way, galleries are now creating more accessible content than ever.
This forced accessibility is the most groundbreaking thing the art sphere has managed in quarantine. One thing art spaces have always failed to grasp at is how to get the everyday person into their galleries. Art has simply never been commonplace in the mind of the working class, and is dismissed as high society nonsense. Which, honestly, holds true in the old way of doing things. 
Suddenly, since no one can access anything, everyone can. Anyone is able to click through a digital gallery, with institutions as big as the MOMA putting their exhibitions online for free. It makes art attainable, with no cost or intense time investment, and no need to leave the house. Maybe now it is about putting it in front of the right (new) people, but it is certainly an improvement.
This shift in attainability is game changing, and should cause museums to think long and hard about returning to their old practices. Just because quarantine is lifting, does not mean everyone has the same ability to participate in art spaces. Accessibility to a general public is something artists and galleries have been striving for for years. We are now, in a bizarre way, the closest we have ever been to that goal, and it would be a shame to see galleries reopening be the thing that shuts people out.
Closing Observation: I am not sure if the novel coronavirus will be good or bad for art but I am not even certain if that matters if we all perish. 
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davidmann95 · 5 years
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Velvet's battle is a great choice, though I'll always have a special place in my heart for the fight against the Grimm Deathstalker and the Nevermore in Episode 8. That said, what do you think of the individual members of Team RWBY?
I decided to wait on this until I caught up on the series thus far, which I just finished doing the night before last in pretty much the only time in my life I’ve ever really properly binged anything other than comics, and…wow. I knew RWBY was a thing just as a matter of course from being on this site and Youtube, and from watching Death Battle, so I picked up some major beats by osmosis. But my main impression was that it was a charming pseudo-anime online thing of decent quality that unsurprisingly got heavier as it went along as such things tend to do, with extremely rad fights and music along the way; figured it’d be more than serviceable to watch while I was on the treadmill as a disposable distraction from the agony of propelling my wheezing, sweating, loathsome meat-scaffolding forward.
I did *not* expect it to eventually end up after growing pains a - while far from flawless - intensely engrossing story of all-consuming personal and generational pain and people who choose to love and do the right thing in defiance of that trauma and loss and hopelessness, where also occasionally a corgi gets fastball specialed at mechas. Though once it became clear that’s what it is, it pretty clearly sat at an intersection of a hell of a lot of my favorite things, especially when characters copped in-universe in both the main series and spinoff material that this is basically a superhero thing. My initial impressions re: the fights and music were on-point though.
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I actually have quite a few thoughts on pretty much all the protagonists of note at this point (other than I suppose Oscar and Maria. Like them both though, and I do hope that nice boy’s brain somehow doesn’t dissolve into the blender of Ozpin’s subconscious), but I’ll just stick with the core four here as requested for now unless someone asks otherwise. Weiss is the simplest to get at the core of, I’d say: her arc is learning that fuck rich people, actually. She’s a seriously difficult character to get onboard for at first - especially if you’re watching those first episodes for the first time in 2019 - as the mean unconsciously racist rich girl who learns to be less mean and racist but still kinda mean. But after you’ve extensively seen the hideously toxic environment she grew up in, and fully understand her efforts to grow past the empty values it inculcated in her in favor of everything she was raised to think of herself as above, she becomes a hell of a figure to root for. Assuming RWBY is gonna go, say, a respectable 10 seasons given it was just renewed through 9, I could easily see the upcoming 7th be the climax of her arc with her return to Atlas and likely further reckoning with the consequences of her families’ actions beyond how they’ve hurt her personally.
Yang is also, in a certain abstract narrative sense, simple, in that she’s built around the very oldest trick in the book for characters whose main deal is ‘can punch better than absolutely anyone’: give them problems that cannot be solved by punching. Except in her case it’s less a material “well, this person is invulnerable to punching!” or “well, actually this other person can punch most best of all” issue blocking her path than “punching cannot solve depression, abandonment issues, questioning whether what she considers her purpose in life is one she’s truly pursuing for noble reasons or if she even has the resolve for it anymore after what’s happened to her, or PTSD”. Yet, while it may not be the kind that manifests in the form of punching people with a smirk and a bad pun anymore (much as she still definitely does that all the time) what ultimately drives her and defines her is still her strength: to move forward, to forgive, to let go, to do the right thing in spite of the risks. Which could easily come off as some unpleasant “you just have to get over your moping!” dismissal - there’s a bit with her dad that means it saddles riiiiight up to the edge of that - but there’s a weight to how her traumas remain a consistent factor in her life and have shaped her outlook even as her circumstances and day-to-day disposition improve that makes it feel thematically like it’s coming from a place of acknowledgment and endurance rather than denial, even if it’s not handled perfectly. Great to see her apparently recapturing some more of her joie de vivre based on the trailer for Volume 7, and how that’ll interact with how she’s grown should be interesting.
Blake is…tough, because you fundamentally cannot talk about Blake without getting into the Faunus, which is maybe the biggest aspect of RWBY that leaves it in the realm of Problematic Fave. It really, really wants to have something substantial to say about the proper response to racism, and every now and then it pumps out a “capitalism greases the wheels of systemic oppression and vice-versa” or “it’s perfectly reasonable for the oppressed to seek to fight back directly against their oppressors, and even the pacifist in the room can recognize that’s a defensible approach that deserves its place”. But then Abusive Boyfriend Magneto literally murders nuance in Vol. 5 episode 2, and it descends into some borderline “but what about black on black violence” respectability politics shit. It’s the classic X-Men setup - this persecuted race of often superpowered folks torn between pacifism and efforts to prove themselves to their oppressors, and those who think they should rise up and annihilate the flatscans - with most of the same pitfalls, but also we haven’t had over 50 years to get used to that just being how it works here, and it doesn’t have the excuse of having to expand as best it can on a metaphor that was originally devised before most of the people currently handling it were born. All of which would be rough enough, but given I watched this right as Jonathan Hickman’s been completely refining the entire X-Men paradigm outside that outdated binary, it especially grates. I’d love to be directed to any solid counterarguments - I’ve heard it might actually be an analogue, and a well-done one, for The Troubles, which I am one million percent unqualified to evaluate - especially since apparently one of the writers grew up in a mixed-race household, and at the end of the day I’m a white guy who may well be talking completely out his ass. But it sure comes off at a glance as some well-intentioned dudes stumbling through stuff that’s not their business, and that’s inextricable from Blake’s character when so much of her story is her navigating through that metaphor. Hopefully with new writers coming onboard this is something that can be navigated more insightfully in the future.
On a purely personal basis however, Blake’s a standout in terms of relatability when her story comes down to a pretty universal shared horror: how to climb back from having fucked up. She tried really hard to do the right thing, was taken advantage of and led into doing things she eventually realized were wrong, was so shaken that she couldn’t tell who to trust, and then the situation spiraled out of control on every possible front just as things finally seemed to be stabilizing. The way a single mistake - enabled and exacerbated by an abusive past relationship in her case - expands into a self-loathing far beyond the bounds of anything she could possibly be responsible for is brutal and completely understandable, and seeing her start put her self-esteem back together with the help of those closest to her and the power of her original convictions is arguably the single strongest, most clearly conveyed individual character arc in the series. I’m very curious where it goes from here: Adam’s finish represents a logical climax and the setup for a happily-ever-after with Yang (or Sun if they end up going that way after all) for her to coast through the remainder of the series on, but the way emotional consequences have played out in the series thus far I doubt her demons are going to be put to bed that simply.
Finally there’s Ruby, and I am contractually obligated to note up front: she is clearly not a Superman analogue. There is precisely zero percent chance that she was conceived as such or was ever deliberately executed in such a way that mirroring him was kept in mind. Though she IS a super-powered idealist raised in the middle of nowhere with a significant deceased parent who wears a red cape, flies, gives inspiring rallying speeches, has black-ish but primary color-tinted hair, and has a mysterious birthright that involves being able to shoot lasers from her eyes, plus she has a dog who also essentially has superpowers, plus she tells someone they’re stronger than they think they are, plus Yang basically quotes a bit from Kingdom Come regarding her in Rest and Resolutions. But it probably goes a ways in explaining why she works so well for me.
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There’s more to it than that of course, though it does bring up the closest way in which she relates to the superhero paradigm: she doesn’t go through an arc in quite the same way as the others, instead being an already solidly-defined character who is simply illustrated by how she interacts with the people and situations around her. She learns and grows and matures, but her most basic motivations and goals and outlook haven’t really changed since the day she enrolled at Beacon. She’s a good, caring person, a leader archetype who still has more than enough personality to spare to keep from falling into the genericism that can often plague that role. A big part of the key I believe is that she’s the audience surrogate in a profound way beyond the obvious touchstones of her frequent awkwardness and self-doubt: the reason she does this is because she was inspired by stories. She’s a fan, ultimately, but one who learned all the right lessons, whether recognizing from day one the way reality falls short of the tales she was raised on but still believing in the ideals they represent, or openly holding up Qrow as a role model while being willing to call him on his shit when push comes to shove. It’s a romantic, hopeful perspective that stands out sharply from even our other heroes even as it mirrors their struggles, but as of yet there’s little to suggest it comes from a place of naivete so much as a belief that it’s the only way to bear the pain of the world and continue to believe in it. Bit by bit it’s clear she’s heading for a breaking point, but all signs point to that being a matter of her ability to withstand what she’s been through, rather than any doubt that it’s necessary, and should that time come she’s inspired plenty who’ll be able to help her back onto her feet the way she has for so many others. So while I understand her speeches apparently grate on some, as far as I’m concerned keep them coming, they’re the beating caring heart of the series and often the sole respite in the eye in the storm.
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amwritingmeta · 5 years
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21 Supernatural Questions
I was tagged by @deletingpoint - thanks for the kind words, girl!! Made my day! You rock the block! And yes don’t mind if I do join in, this looks fun. :P
1. When did you start watching Supernatural?
I’d seen stray episodes before - I’ve absolutely no clue which ones - but then I binged S1-6 in 2013 while being ill with the flu and I was hooked before it came up, because I loved S1-3 and the brother dynamic and thought it was a really awesomely well-written piece of television, but when they introduced the will-they-won’t-they-make-this-uber-masculine-guy-be-into-guys-and-specifically-the-guy-with-wings I was pretty much gone for. So I caught up on the show and watched it until a few episodes into S9 (don’t judge me, I was surface watching and couldn’t get with the program at the time because why wasn’t Dean gay already??) and then I quit watching for a few years because I couldn’t stand the grey area and the uncertainty. I also wasn’t invested enough to stand it, tbh, and felt, naw, I’ll get back to this if it ever seems like they’re actually gonna do anything with this thing they’re hinting so strongly at. Picked it back up while S12 was airing and here we now are.
2. Who is your favorite in TFW?
But the other two might get jealous!
(okay, it’s Cas)
3. Who is your least favorite in TFW?
They’re the holy trinity and none of their character progression works without all of them taking up their allotted space in the narrative and how can you not love them all what is wrong with this question why am I hyperventilating why aren’t they beloved equally gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh
(but Cas is my favourite)
4. Tag your top 5 Supernatural blogs!
I sincerely can’t, but I can tag a few people whom I very much appreciate and whose answers to this questionnaire I would be intrigued to see: @godshipsit​ @charlie-minion​ @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs​ @waywardliliana​ @natmoose​ @purgatory-jar​ @myed89​ @inacatastrophicmind​ @rustling-pages​ @angelneedshunter​ @nerdylittleshit​ @obsessionisaperfume​ @assbuttboyfriends​ @misskittyspuffy​ @starsinursa​ @postmodernmulticoloredcloak​ @casismybestfriend​ @mittensmorgul​ @elizabethrobertajones​  - you’re all like bursts of colour and glitter glue and I’m happy you’re around! :) (btw I always find it awkward to tag specific peeps because there are so many of you lovelies that I would honestly tag so just know that this most likely includes you) (yeah that’s right) (YOU) <3
5. Who is your favorite character (not including TFW)?
Jack
6. Who is your favorite woman in Supernatural?
Rowena
7. John or Mary?
Mary
8. What were your first opinions of Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack?
Sam: my first impression of him was very coloured by my impression of Jared as Dean on Gilmore Girls, so to hear someone call Jared Sam and then this Sam call someone else Dean was a bit jarring while watching the pilot. My earliest opinion of Sam was that he was kind, good with people, skilled, independent and, yes, haunted by past choices.
Dean: Immediate impression was oh, he’s one of those guys, and then almost straight away that first impression was blown to bits and everyone knows that he’s very, very easy to fall in love with quickly, so my love for him grew strong within a few episodes, for sure. First opinion formed holds until this day: someone who’s lost and who’s searching for a way home. In every sense of that sentence. 
Cas: Holy shitballs, who’s this now?? was pretty much my first reaction to Cas’ entrance. It blew me away. It was an absolute game changer. It made me sit up. It made my brain go... are they... are they going to make Dean Winchester... is Dean Winchester into men?? And because on my first watch I’d not seen the little hints of this that now are so damn glaringly obvious, the chemistry between Dean and Cas literally made a lot of shit click into place for me regarding what I was potentially actually watching, and raised my emotional investment sky high considering the possible social commentary baked into the overall message of family and identity, and yeah, that still holds true to this day.
Jack: I was ready to fight tooth and nail for him after 12x19. That episode is still one of the best 42 or so minutes of television I’ve ever seen. The plant of Jack as a needed push for Cas’ progression hit me in the heart, and once it clicked that Jack represented the holy trinity of Heaven, Hell, Humanity, and how he might narratively prove a knitting point for TFW, something for them all to rally around, well, I was pretty much done for.
9. What’s your favorite season?
This is a really hard question because watching a season from start to finish means taking all of it in, and all of them - when start-to-finished - I feel are rather outstanding, but twist my arm and I’ll say: S1 or S4 or S5 or S8 or S9 or S11 or S13 (I can’t narrow it down to just one season alright?) and S14 and looking at what we have so far with this unfinished season I’d name S15, definitively.
10. What’s your least favorite season?
Oh, man. Make a girl sweat. So, here’s the thing, I genuinely see each season as adding something valuable to the whole, you know? I suppose S6 drags a bit, but I really like the tone and the noir sensibility of it, so I wouldn’t really call it my least favourite, but if I were to choose one season to binge over a weekend, S6 wouldn’t necessarily be first pick.  
11. Opinions on Destiel?
Ah, yes, the obligatory essay question. Please see attachment. *points to blog*
12. Do you believe Supernatural queerbaits?
Look, to my mind, the reason Dean and Cas aren’t together yet is character related. They need to get their fucking ducks in a row. (and then those ducks will hopefully be fucking all over the place) (okay that’s graphic bird sex but you know what I mean) (not literally Dean and Cas dressed up as ducks and fucking) (but like... good stuff for the eyes will be happening that isn’t necessarily fucking feather related) (wait) (oh ffs brain!!) (you HAD to go there didn’t you??) (moving on) (or rather answering the question) --> I don’t believe they queerbait, no. 
13. Seasons 1-7 or 8-14?
8-15x03
14. Favorite villain (plot wise)?
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*chills are multiplying* 
I love Chuck as the Big Bad, sincerely, but oh mannnn Michael.
15. Do you think they should end the Lucifer plot line?
Yeah, this questionnaire has been in drafts for a while now so um... I mean, the Lucifer plot line as it pertains to SAM should reach a satisfactory conclusion, but as it pertains to Lucifer’s play for Jack and breaking God’s toys etc. yeah, no, done.
16. Who do you think has gone through more trauma (Sam, Dean, or Cas)?
That’s too relative to their highly linked, and yet wholly individual relationship with their past and lingering sense of trauma. I think @deletingpoints reply was something along the lines of: Can you measure trauma? And I agree. They’ve all been deeply traumatised at different stages of their life and they’ve all dealt with their individual trauma in different ways. 
17. What’s your favorite Supernatural episode?
I’m sorry, what? I thought you just asked me to pick one favourite episode out of 3678916236363487236783 times infinity. This is mathematically impossible and since I’m sadly not fluent in math and have absolutely no access to any type of calculator or abacus or, I don’t know, a neighbour who happens to make amazing fucking latte and dresses in knits and is attractive in a non-conventional way and also happens to be a math genius, I must reject the question outright and plead the 105th. (i.e. I cannot possibly)
18. Do you like case episodes?
Where’s that gif of Dean going Dude Yes?
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^^^
19. Who do you relate most to in TFW?
Darling Cas. Socially awkward and lost but growing into his own skin Castiel. My God, I love him so dearly. There are not words for how much I relate to him, or for what he’s done for my personal self-reflection, or how much I’m now re-relating to his need to push himself out of his comfort zone and dare. I owe him. *hugs into oblivion*
20. Why do you like Supernatural?
Ohhhhh, goody, one of those multi-choice questions. Is it:
a) because of the absolutely stunning character journeys 
b) because of the absolutely smashing world and all its mythology 
c) because of the underlying social commentary and the intricate use of subtext to effectively, though subtly, bring ideas linked to the conscious/unconscious sides to us into not only the use of already mentioned mythology, influencing the world building, but also wholly guiding, impacting and giving momentum to the already mentioned stunning character journeys
d) all of the above
e) all of the above, and a little bit more that would take an actual book to relay
E. It’s E. All the way the answer is E. 
21. If you could bring back one character and kill off another who would they be?
I’d bring back Eileen and holy moly Shoshanna is coming our way. And I don’t have a character to kill off tbh. Let them live, I say. :)
I genuinely tag EVERYONE. Go on, everyone, you know you wanna!  :) xx
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mothmansfriend · 5 years
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when i’m sad oh god i’m sad (pt. 2)
link to pt. 1
follows a very similar timeline to @tearxofink‘s fic Rules for a Functioning Alcoholic but will prob have differences (such as no established relationships) and takes place in @illogicallyinclined‘s hockey au after the mention of Remus possibly having undiagnosed bipolar disorder
update: i think its important to acknowledge roughly where this takes place in the big timeline bc D doesn’t really drink past freshman yr in this AU because of self preservation and trauma, alcoholism was more an issue before then in high school (when remus and d were Rowdy Boys) but the stress of Logan’s concussion lead to some heavy drinking that was caught quickly by Virgil because Remus Cannot Keep Secrets.
summary: Remus has undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder and is dealing with a severe depressive episode in the aftermath of realizing that binge drinking with D wasn’t just his own search to Feel Something, but was also D’s relapse into alcoholism. Remus comes to the realization of lost time during manic episodes and refuses help.
tw: graphic descriptions of a depressive episode, self harm (burning),  suicidal thoughts, and suicidal intent (but not attempt). unhealthy coping mechanisms, alcohol abuse, mentioned alcoholism, undiagnosed mental illness, miscommunications on shared trauma, ask to tag if i missed any.
There are a number of places that are simply uncomfortable to sleep. Barely sitting up and using the chairs provided by the previous tenants as a pillow is certainly one of them. It takes Remus a moment to identify what woke him up as there's another round of knocking on his door and he doesn’t want to respond. It’s bright out,the sun is blocked from his figure by the curtains covering most of the windows. He hears Roman’s muffled voice as the locked doorknob jiggles, “See? I told you he’s not here, Virge. There’s nothing to be worried about, if he doesn’t show up by tomorrow I’ll go look for him. You know how he is”.
Their footsteps move away and Virgil speaks, “Can you text him? I’m just worried, Thomas said that-” his voice fades as they enter the kitchen.
Remus can barely pick himself off the floor before his phone lit up with a notification.
the shittier twin: You good? LMK when you’re coming home, Virgil is lowkey freaking out  (received: 10:14)
He stares at the words willing his brain to focus as he decides, maybe he should reply.
He sends a photo of a fat pigeon he took outside a club him and D got kicked out of a few weeks ago. It would be clear that the picture was taken at a different time, but does get message of ‘I’m alive’ across. Which is about as much as Remus is willing to communicate to people that haven’t even tried to contact him before now. How sad is it that his twin brother didn’t even check on him until six days later. Or maybe he should be asking if it’s sad that after four days Roman still hasn’t noticed that he’s home, or that it took Roman six to even ask? Remus spends all this time in the theatre and in the arts studio, and still Roman was the only one to ask, though at the request of someone who wants to get mad at him. He considers if maybe that he is a bad person, and that isn’t something he normally would care about, but if he weren’t then people might have checked on him. He usually hangs out with D almost everyday and he swears he’s never been gone more than maybe four days. But no one else seems concerned at all.
He considers reasons why this might be and gets stuck on Roman’s comment that he hasn’t been gone that long, and the implications then of him being gone longer. Things that don’t really make sense, but he knows losing your train of thought and getting distracted is a part of ADHD, but maybe, this is much more concerning. How does he know that he’s only ever been gone so long, maybe those lapses are more than a few minutes of zoning out. Which leads to, does Remus know who he is during these lapses? The contrast between the two prince twins have always been clear in their behaviour, Roman who follows every word their parents whisper in his ear. The boy grew up to be an actor after years of who takes any command without thought at that chance to be on top, and revelled in praise. It’s the cowards way of survival, are you really living if you’re not you? He knows Roman wasn’t quite loving that, but he still complied. Remus has always known exactly who he is and who he always will be. But the uncertainty of who he is in those spaces that seem to be taking up more and more space, maybe he;s been following someones script too?
He’s constantly changing his mind and forgetting where he is, are his feelings his? If everything the thought he knew about himself is slipping through his fingers like sand in an hourglass than how does he make it stop?
Virgil slides into the recently empty chair next to Roman the second Patton gets up to ask the waitress for another round of coffee, he steals one of Roman’s sausages and speaks, “By the way, I’m catching a ride to your place with you and D”.
Roman squawks at the sausage thief, “Why? I already told you Remus isn’t home!”
Virgil rolls his eyes, “Yeah I know, just humour me. I went to talk to Joan before we left and Thomas said Remus texted to apologize for missing practice, he’s never done that before! I just wanna come check, you can make fun of me later or whatever.”
“Fine, whatever, I know you’d just show up anyway. I don’t think him texting Thomas means anything though, even if it is weird.”
“Well we can agree to disagree then.”
The entry to the apartment the Prince twins share with D was just as full of banter as expected. D and Roman irritating Virgil without effort but Virgil matching that with his own comebacks and determination to check on Remus. “Alright, Emo Knightmare, let’s go knock on his cave door so I can know you again, that he isn’t home” Roman drops his bag next to the couch and heads down the shared hallway of D, Remus, and the storage closet. D walks past him with comments of a essay due tomorrow and disappears. Roman walks down and knocks on the door sternly once maintaining eye contact with Virgil knowing there will not be a response. Virgil follows him and he knocks again after a moment and jiggles the knocked door handle. “See? I told you he’s not here, Virge. There’s nothing to be worried about, if he doesn’t show up by tomorrow I’ll go look for him. You know how he is.” Roman turns and leads them back out into the living room towards the kitchen.
Virgil pauses for a moment watching the door before he follows, “Can you text him? I’m just worried, Thomas said that he actually texted to apologize for not showing up today. You know when Remus is out he never remembers to charge his phone, it just seems weird.”
Roman exhales and wordlessly pulls out his phone shooting off a text to his twin before pulling some leftovers out of the fridge to offer to Virgil despite the fact they had eaten not long ago. Virgil accepts and he puts it on two plates for the microwave. Roman’s phone vibrates on the counter with a text. The emo leans over to read and snorts, “Wait, is Remus’s name actually ‘the shittier twin’ in your phone? He just send a picture of  what appears to be an obese pigeon, that doesn’t answer my question at all!”
Roman shrugs, “Of course it is, and yeah that sounds about right, it’s like he’s trying to communicate through hieroglyphics, he’s just telling us he’s fine.”
Virgil’s dark eyes examine Roman’s face for any reflection that he’s just trying to make him stop bothering him with his concern, but when he sees nothing he drops his defensiveness, “Yeah, okay, he’s your brother, he’s kind of like a cat I guess. He always comes home right?”
The microwave beeps and Roman slides the extra plate in front of Virgil, “Exactly, he’s just like this, I’ll text you when he comes back. You don’t need to worry about it, Virge.”
Virgil shoots him a small smile before taking his plate to the couch closely followed by the oldest Prince twin as they settle down with Netflix until they need to leave for their respective classes.
Roman blearily wipes his eyes as he wakes up in his dark room and rolls over to check the time. 2:34am wake up and bathroom break time. He briefly considers just rolling over and waiting four or five hours until he needs to get up for class, but decides there’s just a higher chance of getting a restless sleep the rest of the night. The hockey captain rolls out of bed standing in his room shirtless and only wearing a random pair of soft sleep pants and stumbles out of his room, crossing the living room and entry way he’s about to try the handle of the dark bathroom door when it opens to reveal a tall dark figure.
Roman jumps back with an admittedly embarrassing squawk before recognizing the dark figure to be a freshly showered, exhausted, and almost weak looking Remus. The two stood in silence for a moment, Remus not even reacting to the sight of his brother. Roman awkwardly laughed for a moment, “Holy shit, Remus! I didn't even realize you were home.”
Remus stares emptily, moving to walk away without replying, Roman stops him with a hand on his shoulder, “Are you like, uh, okay? You kind of look like shit”
That was clearly the wrong thing to say as suddenly Remus’s face hardens into a snarl, “Oh fuck you, Roman.” His voice cracks halfway through but it doesn’t do anything to diminish the venom in his voice, “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Christ! If you’re going to be an asshole then nevermind, I just wanted to check up on you. You know, like a concerned brother just might do?” Roman fires back suddenly feeling defensive. The tone of voice Remus uses almost sounds scared to him but he doesn’t have the energy to pry at Remus in the hallway less than 6 feet from D’s door at 2:30am.
“You don’t get to play any kind of concerned brother role right now! You don’t just get to decide to be concerned one day, it’s all about appearances with you, I dont fuck with that!” Remus’s voice raises as he gets more and more riled up, his voice sounds like shit as if he hasn’t used it in days, “Tell me when you think I got home, Princey, huh? You don't know shit about me and it’s time you stopped asking like you do.” He steps towards Roman edging back down the hallway to the living room.
“Why am I supposed to know when you got home?” Roman fires back, “You’re an adult! You’ve taken care of yourself fine for years, I’m not your parent I don’t need to know where you are twenty-four-fucking-seven!”
Vaguely, Roman hears D’s bedroom door open and feels brief regret that was smashed by Remus shoving him backwards. “You don’t need to know! But, did you ever think to wonder? Did you ever once care enough to ask? No! I don’t remember ever being gone more than three or four days.”
Roman recoils for a second in confusion but counters standing his ground, “What does that fucking mean? You own a calendar, a phone, you should know your average in the last year has been like five to seven days, you can’t blame me that you decide to go on a bender every 6 months or less. Can’t you ever grow up?”
“It means I don’t know where I was for two to four of those days at least! You self absorbed prick! Fuck!” Remus crumples for a second, his facial expression looks so, lost. He violently grabs and tugs on his still damp hair. He stands back up face guarded once again. “I know I never go out without a plan, I have paid some fucking terrible prices for that that you never need to know about. But, you’re telling me that I was out there and I don’t remember it? And no one thought to mention anything to me? And you’re asking if I’m ‘okay’? Fuck that, fuck you. I’m going back to my room, and ideally I’ll fucking rot and die before I have to look at you again,” Remus seethes before turning and slamming his door without waiting for a response.
Roman sags at his brothers exiting remarks, making tentative eye contact with D who waits in the dark hallway. “I don’t know what to do,” Roman says quietly.
D moves towards him moving them to the couch offering a comforting touch to the remaining twin, “Roman, I cannot tell you that I have any idea about what just happened. But, it seems like he just wants you to be there for him, in his own weird displays of affection he does love you and I think maybe he’s scared sometimes that you don’t care for him, and he lashes out. But right now, you need to go back to sleep so you can go to your boring nine am lecture, and I’ll try to spend time with him tomorrow. Sound good?”
Roman examines D, letting himself feel vulnerable for a moment but trusts that D knows what to do. He’s known the twins since high school, if anyone knew it would be him. “Thank you, D” Roman whispers, leaning into the little affection for a moment before he stands up and moves them back down the hallway.
Roman goes to the bathroom as originally planned but thinks about the things his younger brother had said. How much is he missing? What does it mean for Remus to simply not remember days at a time? Is it because of drinking too much or something else?
As Roman tucks himself back into bed, preparing himself for the restless sleep he had been trying to avoid. His mind wanders, and he can’t help but think that maybe he should be questioning blood stains on Remus’s carpet a little more.
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kinktae · 4 years
Note
no idea if anyone has said this yet but i feel like kiri only told jk she wanted him to spite y/n and that she has no desire to get back together w him 🤭
bitchin 8 asks because i suck
spring2787 said: Pls tell me my son didn't do that to her in bitchin 8.... Ahhh.. Jeon Jungkook.. You dumb brat... 🥺
Anonymous said: You’re such an amazing writer, like damn you have SO MANY PEOPLE invested in your stories that you now have 1247294 people ganging up on jungkook and forming protection squads for y/n 🤣🤣 I’m so excited for what’s to come !!!!
Anonymous said: Ummmm.... I just binge read all of bitchin and let me tell you that it WAS LITERALLY THE BEST THING IVE EVER READ! I LOVE THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS BETWEEN YN AND JUNGKOOK AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE YARAS PERSONALITY
cheeky-kookie said: Hey bb just me dropping in to give my opinion on the Bitchin' Chapter because I havent done it yet & you know how whipped I am. JK did a big uh-oh and fucked up. Hes confused. Kiri came and it's what he wanted forever. My theory is that it probably didnt feel like what he wanted after the fact and that's why he met up with MC. ALSO, the MC is upset (understandably) but she cant blame him bc she has given him no hint that there could be something there. Overall, good chapter :) Still whipped.
Anonymous said: I "kombucha girl"-ed to y/n telling jk she would never fall for him but I've decided it's what she (bitchin!jk) deserves 😤😤
unknowntalesx said: oh my god that anon went off 😂😂 nd the other anon has a good point! he might be very confused and wanted to see if y/n had feelings but alas the dirty dickin was still dirtyyy, oh meathead, i lovE bitchin
yourdelights said: watching everyone freak out over bitchin makes me very glad that i decided to wait and read it all after it's finished. i'll still end up suffering, i'm sure, but i'll get all the suffering done in one shot. like ripping off a bandaid after wetting it first.
Anonymous said: Lmaooo I'm over here sipping on my tea, waiting for Yara to wear her black latex suit and give little Jungkook a visit.. Honey, you've got a big storm comin 🍵🍵
Anonymous said: I feel like Kiri is going to cheat on him again and THEN he'll finally have the big revelation that oc was the right girl for him all along
Anonymous said: the real question is: is kiri going to use what happened and jk “cheating” on y/n with her to hurt y/n 😶👀
yourdelights said: watching everyone freak out over bitchin makes me very glad that i decided to wait and read it all after it's finished. i'll still end up suffering, i'm sure, but i'll get all the suffering done in one shot. like ripping off a bandaid after wetting it first.
Anonymous said: Lmaooo I'm over here sipping on my tea, waiting for Yara to wear her black latex suit and give little Jungkook a visit.. Honey, you've got a big storm comin 🍵🍵
Anonymous said: I feel like Kiri is going to cheat on him again and THEN he'll finally have the big revelation that oc was the right girl for him all along
Anonymous said: the real question is: is kiri going to use what happened and jk “cheating” on y/n with her to hurt y/n 😶👀
Anonymous said: rose i really hope u know that we want to y/n to have an least a moment with taehyung in this goddamn fic called bitchin
Anonymous said: thank god we just ship y/n with tae in this house right
Anonymous said: we are going to beat jk’s ass after all that shit he did with y/n 😤 meanwhile i wanna say a very important thing: taehyung WOULD NEVER do that lmao bye
Anonymous said: Me after reading about what Jungkook did to OC in bitchin08: I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, I don’t know who this man is. I mean, he could be walking down the street for little bitches who don’t know how to process their feeling and need to get their shit together before a pissed off best friend come to chop their dicks off because he couldn’t keep it in his pants, and I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man
anonbebe97me said: Please, for the love of God, update Bitchin’ soon. I literally felt it so bad when he admitted what he did. My entire heart collapsed. I cannot even. Your writing is so good- I genuinely laughed during so many moments in this series and you might be my favorite writer. Seriously, I love you
Anonymous said: bitchin’ is legit the best thing ive ever read
Anonymous said: Same anon who has a (metaphorical) hole in her chest now...This fic is written so beautifully and I feel like I didn’t express that in the previous ask... it’s too good and damn why I did I have to get emotionally attached to these characters because now I’m genuinely Devo 😪 but still looking forward to what comes next (whenever it comes :))
Anonymous said: Damn chapter 8. Of bitchin’...BROUGHT ME TO TEARS. But I know your a great author so I BEG IT WORKS OUT AND THEY GET BACK TOGETHER BECAUSE I AM TOO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED AND THERE IS A HOLE IN MY CHEST FROM THE ANGST OH MY
Anonymous said: So I was putting off Bitchin 8 for a little bit because I didn’t know if I could handle it. I don’t know why a fictional story has me so effed up, but it does. So tonight I read it and OMG now I’m all angsty and upset! Why do you do that to us? Suchhhhh a good fic and amazing writing, but whyyyyyyy must you make us feel this way. This boy needs to get his shit together and just love her already. My heart can’t take it. 🤦🏻‍♀️❤️
madjammil said: I am waiting with bated breath for part 9 of Bitchin'! Part 8 had me all distraught 😭
Anonymous said: Will Y/n fight Jungkook? 🤧😂
cuteipat said: Should I prepare tissues or not?
toomuchdaegu said: art 9 dropping on my birthday, that is very much adequate
sydney--chan said: Your new mobile theme looks really good babie 🥺🥺 I cant wait to get my heart stomped on again during bitchin' 9!!! You're the only person I'll allow to do that to me HEHE hope ur doing well luv u ❤❤❤
wallbitjch said: Bijj stop teasing us 😤😭 huuhu but thankyousomuch ok 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘💕 bitchin foreva
Anonymous said: fanservice is gonna be yara x tae i KNOW IT
Anonymous said: Fuck Jungkook. Stan Yara.
Anonymous said: YOU MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH BITCHIN' KOOKIE OMG until chap 8. 🤡 You nice keep going.
Anonymous said: so, either taeyara shit happens or y/ntae shit happens... bro lowkey kinda wanna have y/ntae just to piss jk the fuck off man like fuck u jungkook
Anonymous said: I can’t wait for this Bitchin update. You better heal my heart. After last time, I shouldn’t trust you, but I’m placing my heart in your hands once again. Don’t hurt me. Jk you’re the best. I love you.
Anonymous said: When I say I'm not ready for pt. 9 of bitchin' I mean, FUCKKKKKKKKK NO I DON'T WANNA CRY STILL CRYING OVER PT. 8 😫
Anonymous said: It's a shame to do this while i'm drunk but i just want you to know that i love you and i will probably Fall asleep when you Will post pt 9 of bitchin' but i really really love the way your posts and your writing make me smile, giggle and dmkdldldldldlldldldldl scream when theres no Word to descrinw how i feel. I love you, please, have a great night know that you maks my heart boom boom 🥺🥺🥺💜💜💜
cheeky-kookie said: I re read Bitchin' 8 and almost cried because Jungkooks heart was breaking slowly I just- Hes an idiot but he cares for MC
Anonymous said: if kiri doesn’t drop dead in this chapter imma take matters into my own hands 😡 also chop off jungkook’s dick, he doesn’t deserve it
paolaa9700 said: Don’t gonna lie, I hate you for making me wait for the new chapter of Bitching until 4am (in my country). But you think I’m gonna stay awake until that hour just for that? Well you are right cause I’m gonna freaking wait. I’m already so nervous oh my god, oh my god! I can’t put in words how nervous and happy Im 😂
Anonymous said: mskjxjsmksksdkdjndlskxjbfbjc i just read pt.8 of bitchin and eye- fuck why did you do that to me? 😭 (also i think i’m new here, but i just want to say i’ve been reading your work for almost an entire year and it never ceases to amaze me! 💗)
tinievmin said: YOUR NEW THEME IS SO CUTE OMG!!! Also, I’m so excited for bitchin’ pt 9 but I’m terRIFIED THAT ILL STILL BE MAD AT JK ))):
rebekahoofblog said: im READY for pt 9, got my reminder SET. bitchin makes me wanna draw jungkook until i pass out boutta make more fanart i love ur writing the most 💞💞have an amazing day
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The ‘Lost In Space’ Cast Takes Us on a Journey About The Reimagined Classic
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Looking for your next binge-worthy series? Look no further than Netflix’s original series,Lost in Space. The show is a re-imagining of the classic 1960s TV series, updated for today’s audiences.
Lost in Space follows the Robinson family, space colonists who crash land on a distant planet. At the end of the first season, they somehow survive their ordeal but find themselves in a precarious position, yet again. I chatted with the cast members of the show: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Max Jenkins (Will Robinson), and Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson). We discussed their characters and their experience on the series.
How did you become part of the project? What drew you to the role, and were you a fan of the original series?
Molly Parker: I did not grow up watching the original series. I didn’t have that much TV in my house when I was little. I remember seeing bits of it. When my agent first called me about it, I thought, “I don’t know if that’s what I need to be doing.” Then, I read the script and I got on the phone with the creator. It was exciting that this character on the show was inverted from the kind of archetypal gender roles of the mom and dad. She’s a hero. She’s coming from this kind of really scientific, engineering, logical brain, and every problem has a solution. She’s not particularly emotionally intelligent, which is not the place that a lot of female characters are written from. Yet lots of women come exactly from that place. I just love that she’s quick to action. My first questions [in playing Maureen] were really like, “What’s wrong with her?” She’s a brilliant scientist and she’s this great mother, but she does all these things. What’s her problem? What makes her interesting? That was exciting about doing it. Certainly, I think people can see her as the sort of American hero, which makes me laugh, but then I’m always trying to scrape out the corners of those places and find where she’s wrong and where she’s flawed and where she’s screwing up. There’s lots of opportunities for that, because basically, for all her good intentions, she is the one that wants to go to space. She’s the one that puts her family in a situation where they’re constantly almost dying. [Laughs.]
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Toby Stephens: I wasn’t really a fan of the original series. I didn’t really watch [the show]. I saw a couple of episodes when I was a kid. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, I just didn’t really know it. I was much more of a Star Trek person when I was a kid. That was my meat and potatoes in terms of sci-fi. I watched Space 1999, which we used to have in the UK, and Doctor Who, but I didn’t really watch Lost in Space. Then when this came along, I was dubious only because I had that distant recollection of what it was. I remember the film remake being a bit of a disaster. So, I thought, Is this something that’s going to be worth doing? I read it and then I thought, “This is great. I love this. I love this take on it.” I like that it was very believable, somehow. I believed in this family. What’s great is that it’s a family that is not some sort of perfect apple pie family. It’s this kind of slightly dysfunctional, very real family with real problems that just happens to be in this context of being lost in space. l like the fact that its sci-fi — it’s not a space opera. It’s couched in some kind of scientific reality. I actually found that really interesting. Then I knew Neil Marshall, who was directing the first few episodes and was one of the original creators, spoke to me about it. Then I spoke to Zach [Estrin, showrunner], who talked me into doing it. He told me the story arc of John and Maureen, particularly. I really liked the idea of him being this archetypal character. The strong father, but he wasn’t a very good father. He was learning to be a better father. That really appealed to me. I think what I liked about it was that a lot of parents who are watching it with their kids can really identify with those characters. Most parents are good people struggling to do the right thing for their family, and at times feel like they’re failing. You’re doing this tough job, being a parent and not getting it right.
Ignacio Serricchio: Yes, I was obsessed with the original series because Guy Williams, after he finished Zorro, I wanted to know what else he had done after Zorro. I noticed he did Lost in Space. I wasn’t a fan of space and science fiction, but what caught my eye with this show was that it was so family oriented. My family is absolutely everything in my life. I could relate to that. When I was a little kid, I watched the reruns. I loved the family dynamic. On top of that, there’s a robot and a chimp. Chimps are one of my favorite animals. I think I’m a chimp. I actually think I’m devolving as we speak. I find more hair on my shoulders; I’m walking with my legs open more. It’s a weird transformation. [Laughs.] The project caught my eye, and I got the audition. Immediately, I got super giddy, but at the same time, I told myself to control myself. I said, “You’re probably not going to get it. They’re going to go with a white person. I don’t know why my mind was thinking this way. I thought, Don’t get too excited, because it’s going to be heartbreaking. So, I went into the audition very relaxed, just going to do whatever I wanted to do to entertain myself. I least will get out of it a fun experience. Then, they called when I was in Vancouver shooting Girlfriends Guide to Divorce. My manager called me saying, “They want to fly you down to meet you and read for the part,” and I said, “Do they fly everyone down because they have a lot of money? Or is it like on a special thing?” These are all questions that are going through my head. Then, it turned out good.
Max Jenkins: What got me involved in the project, actually is a funny story. I came home from school one day, doing my normal thing as a sixth grader. I go upstairs and I see this copy of a script on a table. I start reading through it. Then, I asked my mom, “Hey, mom, what’s this Lost in Space?” And she goes, “Yeah, that’s the script but we’ll pass on it because it takes you away from home too long.” And I said, “It has a robot, and I get to be in space. I get to wear spacesuits. I really want to do this.” One thing led to another, and now I am Will Robinson. I watched the original series, and our director for Season 1 recommended a few movies: Black Stallion, ET, and my favorite, of course, The Iron Giant. I also got to become friends with the original Will Robinson, Bill Mumy. That really helped me form my character. We became great friends. We bonded over music, and we bonded over Will Robinson, our love of sci-fi, and comic books. He’s a big Bucky fan, and I’m a big Captain America fan.
Mina Sundwall: I auditioned for the role of Penny. I got a call from my agent that they were doing a remake of Lost in Space and that they were looking for a Penny Robinson. I met with the showrunner, Zack Estrin, and some of our producers and our writers. I was drawn to Penny immediately because I see a lot of myself in her. She can be very sassy and very quippy. She thinks more than she says a lot of the time, in the sense that she is one step ahead of a lot of people, even if they don’t know it, which I was really drawn to immediately. She’s very smart. She’s very generous. I admire her and I respect her a lot, especially after now having been with her in my head for two seasons. I’ve seen her grow a little bit. Immediately, I was drawn to those qualities about her. I did see the original series, and I thought that it was very funny. I love it a lot. It’s definitely different from our version of the show. Yes, it is. It has its own charm that I love a lot.
What can you tell us about Season 2?
Toby Stephens: The next season picks up where we left off, and it just expands everything. What I love about an American TV series is generally if it’s successful, they want to make it even more successful. They want to take all the way, and they’re constantly improving things. That doesn’t necessarily mean you just spend more money and throw more money at it. It’s more about how can we take this and make it better, more entertaining, more fun for the audience, and just make the story more satisfying? It’s really a continuation of where we were, but expanded. Who were the robots? Where did they come from? What is the mythology behind them? What is the science behind them? Who made them? Where is Will’s robot? Are we ever going to see him again? We know all of that stuff. What is Smith going to do next? They’re stuck with Smith; she’s stuck with them. How far is she willing to go to survive? How does this family dynamic develop as the kids grow older? We watch them grow older, and we watched the parents grow. How does that change the dynamic? It just seems to get bigger and bigger.
Ignacio Serricchio: I can tell you that it’s going to be incredibly mind-blowing. Honestly, just from me being on set, I knew that it’s going to be gigantic. I cannot even wait as a fan to watch it when it comes out. I’m a fan of our editors, and I’m a fan of our effects department. Those are things that I have to wait to see until it comes out so I can watch it with everyone else. There’s so much of it that we don’t get to see in the final product. I know it’s going to just blow everyone away. I’m going to react the same way people who were not in the show are going to react. That’s what I can tell you. I’m really, really excited as a fan, not just as an actor.
Max Jenkins: The second season is going to be humongous. It is going to be out of this world, no pun intended. We have an amazing new director. He’s our producing director, and he really led us through this journey. His name is Alex Graves. He directed for Game of Thrones and Homeland. He took us to Iceland, which was really amazing. We spent about a week or so in Iceland, filming from glaciers to waterfalls to black sand beaches. That was really amazing. We went to Drumheller, Alberta, where you see a bunch of dinosaur bones lying on the side of the road. He really helped me build a new Will Robinson, which was amazing. He really helped me age Will Robinson up a little bit. He made him older, a bit stronger, a bit wiser, but he didn’t change who Will Robinson was.
Mina Sundwall: For the family in general, I have to say, look forward to bigger, more scarier, more answers, more questions — exploring much more space, more robots, more creatures. For Penny, as far as growth goes, it’s a lot about finding her position and what she can contribute to the family, given that she isn’t the science one. Towards the end of Season 1, she felt quite lost and a little useless. In Season 2, you see her begin to find what she can contribute and use that to help the situation. I don’t think that her growth is done whatsoever. I think that it’s only started.
The Robinson Family and company will return for a second season. Netflix has not dropped a release date yet but rest assured another season will be on its way. In the meantime, you can stream Season 1 of Lost in Space on Netflix. The complete first season is also available on Blu-Ray and DVD. The Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack features extras and behind the scenes you won’t see anywhere else. Here’s hoping we’ll see the Robinsons soon.
credits to BlackGirlNerd (x)
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paperclipninja · 5 years
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Younger post-ep recap 6x06
Due to a rather unfortunate run in between my laptop and a glass of water I lost my original ramble for this week’s Younger (as well as the actual laptop so R.I.P Lappy, you were actually pretty terrible but we had a good run). So instead of my usual review I thought I’d do more of a recap and refresher of the last episode to get us prepped, primed and pumped (aka the 3 P's) for the next installment (ep7).
Episode 6 of Younger was in many ways so bonkers that it shouldn’t have worked, but somehow all the pieces came together and it did .Oh boy did it ever! I outright belly laughed a number of times throughout and I think my dog was mildly concerned for my well-being because there were actual tears coming out my eyes at a couple of points. I’m a sucker for a pun so ‘Merger, She Wrote’ had me at hello (you could say my hopes for the ep were high...yes I did and #notsorry). What I wouldn’t have given to be in the room to see the reactions to a script with ‘Liza goes to talk to the nurse who is actually a plant’ in it. So yes there were LOLs galore but most importantly, by the end of the ep order had been restored following the upheaval of the past 6 episodes (which is about the limit viewers can take sitting in the discomfort of an unfamiliar detour from the norm IMO: think the Bryce Reiger arc in season 3 and the Charles finding out the lie in season 5...it’s almost as though Darren and co. have done this before...), Finally the fam is back together at Millennial (or is it Mercennial now?)
Straight off the bat I was very distracted for most of the opening scene by Liza’s dress and look in general because it was AMAZING.  I am loving all the Maggie/Liza in the morning scenes we’re getting this season and Maggie in a blue coverall embarking on a DIY rope harness ceiling painting project...what could possibly go wrong? I felt mildly uncomfortable at how relatable Maggie’s not being served for 10 mins in a bar and sneaking out to the fridge in the night were, but was also mildly mesmerized by Liza’s coffee mug that looked like some kind of old-timey wash basin (turns out this was not relevant to the story but noted nonetheless). Maggie also offers the very straight forward solution of merging the two companies to alleviate the tension that’s putting Liza and Charles in ‘not a good place’ and I love that her ‘bing, bang, boom’ is echoed by Liza when she floats the idea with Charles later in the ep. 
The' Microdosing' book pitch provided us with the set up for the retreat and my fave thing about this scene was how IN character all the characters reactions were to it all; Diana is flat out appalled by the whole thing, Liza is Captain Cautious but trying to play it cool and Kelsey looks like she’s seeing colour for the first time and would 100% pledge her devotion to Travis in any kind of cult situation.
What might have seemed out of character, but actually ended up so perfectly capturing the way she always does everything with absolute gusto, was Diana's foray into boomer erotica narration (as Liza so eloquently put it, 'I think we just found our Seasoned Slut'. These lines, I swear *rofl emoji* )  I think I laughed through the entire scene of Diana in the recording studio, I mean, Miriam Shor's delivery of every line just kills me, but the highlight was undoubtedly when she suggested she could hit nipple a little harder and affirmed  'throbbing nipple' to herself as she walked back to the booth. Zane and creepy af Audrey Colbert waiting allowed for Diana to unsubtly hot foot it out of there, which was a great throwback to her refusal to be in the same room as Audrey in ep 3.
It was a also great opportunity to bring Zane and Kelsey back together and who doesn't love an awks 'accidentally had the mic open and didn't realize' moment when you're talking about how your author is definitely a murderer? I feel like Audrey may go and find another publisher now (just a hunch) but I would really like to see more of her because this character is a type of unhinged that we haven't seen on this show and I think that could be a lot of fun to see play out. I have to say that Kelsey Peters is NOT someone I picked as a boop-er of noses, yet there she was at the bar, booping Zane's nose and this was my favourite interaction of theirs in the series. I was totally digging the dynamic this ep and it will be very interesting to see what that will look like with the new work arrangements. Also, where was Zane when that was all going down btw? I assume Charles filled him in on the bringing the companies together plan before it happened?
Liza's excitement when she told Charles the idea of merging the two companies was endearing and I am unabashedly a big fan of Charles, but his attempt at convincing Liza to join him at Mercury after she tells him that she won't leave Millennial and Kelsey, by saying he left his company to be with her, was super shitty. But it was also super necessary. Because at some point this needed to be said and most importantly, Liza needed to call him out on it and let him know that he cannot use it as a bargaining chip. One of the things I love most about the Charles/Liza dynamic (aside from all the things, but that's another essay) is that Liza is her own advocate in this relationship, she will stand her ground when something is important to her and does not compromise herself to appease Charles. He is equally as stubborn but they are able to have the hard conversations that need to be had but this doesn’t lead them to question whether they want to be together (I very much appreciated the kiss on the cheek Liza gave Charles before she left for this very reason).
So of course being on a psychedelics retreat together when they've hit a roadblock in the relationship was definitely a very good idea...Well it was for us as viewers at least, because pretty much from the moment they arrive and Liza and Charles start talking straight to camera as the literal doctor (my god that whole line just cracked me up) informs them they'll be taking not-LSD, we know we're not in Kansas anymore Toto. Enter Josh for *insert drama here* purposes (and I do think he should franchise Inkburg coz why not?) and we have, ladies and gentlefolk, a recipe for some next level hilarity. But not before Josh and Liza share a lingering look as they take their dose of illicit substance to ensure that Lizs's trip includes one down memory lane.
I have made my feelings about love triangles known many times (quick recap: hard dislike. Tricky to pull off without one or more characters looking bad. Very tiring as a viewer and quite frankly I am pretty lazy and tired most of the time irl so just don't want it on my screen), however I will say that I did not see this ep as re-stoking the love triangle, I saw it as simply reminding us that it is there and can be reignited by the writers at any stage. Within the context of everything that was happening, Liza hallucinating Josh at her door actually made sense and I have no doubt that various factions of Younger fans had meltdowns at that moment for very different reasons.. Sutton Foster's physical comedy throughout this whole ep was second to none, starting at her realization that it was, in fact, Charles who had come to her room and continuing the next morning at breakfast.
Speaking of which, there was something about seeing Liza and Charles in the breakfast room together that made my sappy heart swell, it had such a vacay feel and I'm sure if you muted your volume you could pretend they were just listening to the activities for the day before going off to spend some quality time together...I mean, maybe that would be a thing, I wouldn't know....where was I? Oh yes, the unfolding of a series of comedy golden McNuggets™ that I am still laughing about. We learn that Liza is a supertaster (for those like me who pretended they understood what that meant but then realized they did not, I googled it and it means that she is sensitive to the drugs and basically the microdose affects her like a full dose, you're welcome) and I am chuckling even now when I think about Josh's, 'hey guys' in Charles' voice as he joins the table.
This is another one of those concepts that I feel like could've not worked at all but sweet lawd, the Charles and Josh voice swap scene was next level and I could watch this and the scene that follows over and over and never not laugh. I again LOVE the decision to have the guys talk to camera because it absolutely emphasizes the whole situation and Liza sidestepping away to visit the nurse just rounded off the whole crazy caper.
I have no words to describe how much I love the flat out ridiculous perfection of the visit to Nurse Maureen. Yes Liza has the epiphany that Josh and Charles bring out different things in her (though hot sex seems to be at the core of both so ya know, sounds like a win in the past and present and good for her on both accounts) and again, the unlikely scenario that her ex and current boyfriends are in the same place at the same time (while she is taking mind altering substance) has just played out so it also makes sense in this context. Quite frankly I'm shipping her and Maureen pretty hard at this point because a) it is not easy to pull off eyeshadow that green and b) everyone deserves someone in their life who has the kind of belief in Liza that Maureen does when she tells her 'I bet you can' dance just like me. I don't even know how to explain whatever that dance is but I just know that I want someone/something in my life that will windmill their/it's arms at me with such fervor that I find myself dancing with two attractive men in tuxedos on a galaxy stage.
I cannot express the joy I felt watching the entire dance scene, it was all just so. much. fun. But my absolute hands down favourite moment was when it cut back to the retreat and we, along with Charles and Josh, discover that Liza is in fact dancing with 'Maureen' the plant and seriously, this is up there with my highlights of the entire series. That and the reveal that the selfies Liza was taking were sent to Diana (Diana speaking to Liza in her 'sexy' voice, asking 'where is my plant?', Liza's, 'Maureen', I just cannot with every part of this glorious tie in at the end of the ep. I am sending Ashley Skidmore a houseplant to express my gratitude for gifting us with these moments*). Seeing Josh and Charles together was great but it was clear a scene was missing and I am SO glad that Younger released the deleted conversation between the two of them coz it was both necessary because YES and also because it suddenly made Charles' entire conversation and reason for his decision to sell Mercury make sense (ie. was pretty pivotal).
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I big A adored Charles and Liza's conversation (and outfits and aesthetic overall) as they're leaving the retreat, the shift in Charles is palpable and it's just such a credit to the writing and acting to be able to convey so much in such a brief scene. Maggie of course experienced quite the shift herself, from ceiling to floor, with a sufficient amount of dangling as her helpful neighbourly pervert got himself off as she got herself down. But most importantly, Maggie got her mojo back (though is she not currently dating Beth? In which case location of missing mojo: unclear).
Now I gotta tell you, the final scene of this week's ep up and got me. Big time. Kelsey's earlier comment, that she really hates competing with Charles, certainly added weight to the resolution we've all been waiting for this season. Charles' honesty about his realisation that he is hurting his family, not to mention him confirming that he means Kelsey, Diana and Liza and that he wants to come home, ugh, my insides are gooey just writing these words, leads to his offer to Kesley and honestly, the interactions between all of them in this scene was wonderful. I loved that Kelsey held the room, that Charles was putting the offer to her from one businessperson to another (though thank goodness Diana was there to point out the difference between $1 and $1000000 eek! Also, I get that it would never occur to anyone that the price would be $1 so I'll cut Kels some slack). Diana looks like she is going to cry at any moment from elation and I love the way Kelsey asks for the approval of the ladies before shaking Charles' hand. This will forever be one of my favourite scenes on this show.
The thought of Charles coming back and working as an editor alongside Liza is an actual dream. I mean, I am very happy to be taken on the journey the writers set, but I have legit wondered what it would be like to see him in that role and he and Liza working together properly as equals and I absolutely cannot believe it's going to happen.
Well this ended up being quite a bit longer than I expected (lol, what a surprise). Bring on episode 7!
*I will not in fact be sending Ashley Skidmore a houseplant because I live in a very far away country, it would cost a lot of money and it is 1000% creepy to receive a dead plant from a stranger. 
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patheticphallacy · 5 years
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I turned twenty in June! I hope everyone enjoyed all my twenty list posts, it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked on this blog, and I’m really happy with how those posts turned out.
I ended up going to London for a few days for my birthday. I went to see my friend’s band perform (Rames, check them out y’all, they’ve got a lot of big things planned) and hung out with friends, and I got to meet my best friend for the first time! She lives on the other side of the world and she happened to be in the country, so we met up in central London and went wandering, and it was so so great, literally the best way to celebrate my birthday.
Reading and most other things were on the back burner for most of the month. Since March I’ve been struggling a lot more with my mental illness and general health, so I had to take a break and just have time to myself to assess what it is I’m doing and need to do going forward to begin feeling better about my life.
READING WRAP UP
My Hero Academia Volume 17&18 by Kohei Horikoshi– this is the conclusion to the Overhaul arc and it was pretty satisfying! It’s also very sad, which I expected but I cried a lot more than I planned to. I cannot wait for the next volumes to come out so I can hoard them and then binge them in time for season 4!
The Bigfoot Files by Lindsay Eagar– A surprising middle grade that follows a young girl who goes with her cryptozoologist mother to the woods to prove, once and for all, that Bigfoot doesn’t exist. It has some elements of anxiety and self-harm, which came out of a left field but I appreciate, and I’ll have a review up in the coming weeks.
Falling into Place by Sheryn Munir– This was actually so boring. I wanted to enjoy it so much but it failed. The focus on food was GREAT, and I love their jobs, but it moves way too quick to ever invest in the characters, and I really don’t like the elements of cheating, both kissing outside of a relationship and emotional cheating. I went into this having been told there’s no cheating, but there definitely is, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Midnight and Apollo by Steve Orlando– We love gay superheroes! I love that this is all about their love and I’m so glad I finally read a comic about them. However I do recommend reading Orlando’s Midnighter series before picking this one up!
No.6 Volume 3&4 by Atsuko Asano– I’m enjoying reading this series. It’s a real throwback for me, the anime is one that got me into anime and finding more content with LGBT+ characters.
Shame Is An Ocean I Swim Across by Mary Lambert– This is Lambert’s poetry collection and I absolutely love it. It has a lot of poems on body image which is what got to me the most, but it also has poems on sexual assault, incest and trauma, and mental illness. It’s a very hard hitting collection, and one of my all time favourites now.
Trouble by Non Pratt– UKYA is out here and it’s trying to ruin all my fun. I really hated this book, it’s full of typical white feminism and ‘not like other girls’ vibes, and some of the worst treatment of grooming and incest I’ve seen.
The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson– THE BEST possible follow up to Trouble. I listened to the audiobook and it was just so great: it examines friendship, jealousy and the breakdown of relationships, as well as self-esteem and acceptance. Great representation too!
Coffee Boy by Austin Chant– A re-read of one of my favourite novellas. It follows a trans man who starts to work as an intern on a political campaign and grows closer to his humourless campaign strategist, Seth. Highly highly recommend it!
Smooth Criminals #5&6 by Kurt Lustgarten– I am enjoying this series! I love the friendship between the two main characters and the whole heist plot is at a head now, looking forward to the next issues.
Faithless #2 by Brian Azzarello– This is such a fucked up series and I’m loving it. It’s got explicit sex scenes, gore, and is just really bizarre. 
And my July TBR Jar pick is…. THE DEVOURING GRAY by Christine Lynn Herman!
TV SHOWS/MOVIES/VIDEOS
I binge watched all of Mista GG’s To Catch a Predator videos. Obviously triggering, and his humour may not be for all, but he has great commentary on the episodes and I honestly feel like it’s educating watching this show to begin recognising patterns of abuse.
MUSIC I’VE ENJOYED
I actually made a music playlist that has all of the songs I’m circling through and delete/add songs as time goes by but here’s some recommendations:
Be My Mistake by The 1975
goodnight n go by Ariana Grande
Do Re Mi by Blackbear
Unforgettable by French Montana (i’m so sorry i’m always on my bullshit for this song, i love it)
REVIEWS I POSTED
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Three Soft Sci-Fi Reviews: When the Sky Fell on Splendor, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, Save Me
Three Horror Reviews: This is Not a Test, The Silent Companions, Uzumaki
OTHER POSTS I’VE DONE 
Pride Month TBR
Update: Asking For Help!
Top Ten Tuesday: Twenty Horror and Contemporary Reads
Twenty Anticipated Releases (this is one of my favourite posts I’ve ever done)
Music Monday: Twenty Songs You Should Listen To
Film Friday: Twenty Films That Made Me
Twenty Books That Made Me
Picking My Summer 2019 TBR!
  June Wrap Up & July TBR Jar Pick I turned twenty in June! I hope everyone enjoyed all my twenty list posts, it's the hardest I've ever worked on this blog, and I'm really happy with how those posts turned out.
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