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televinita · 6 months

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Goodreads Choice Awards but the nominees are just the books I've personally shelved

I have a lot of thoughts about the options as they exist (mostly not that bad, except when it comes to the total elimination of children's literature, about which I am furious), but per usual I can't really articulate them in a coherent way SO I sorted my shelves by publication date, ignored the GCA requirement of a minimum 3.5 average rating, and am doing this instead.

[update: oops this did not turn out coherent either. but it got typed!]

Important Reminder: These are not all books I consider equal contenders for "best." I simply wanted to highlight every possible option I actually knew about and have read or am interested in reading.

After the Sirens - Sharon Farrell

Begin Again - Emma Lord (forgot to add this one before)

The Brothers Hawthorne - Jennifer Lynn Barnes (actual nominee and I'm gonna vote for it even though it seems like it may be more of a filler book. The Davenports is the only other official nom to intrigue me, and its lower average rating + hideous cartoon cover isn't enough to flip me unread so sorry, we're going Basic Popularity Contest Pick)

Cleaning Up - Leanne Lieberman

Five Survive - Holly Jackson (definitely not a winner)

Gather - Kenneth M. Cadow (edit: National Book Award finalist?? like with the adult fiction??)

Good as Gold -- Candace Buford (definite contender for fave so far)

Holly Horror - Michelle Jabès Corpora

The Island - Natasha Preston (lol. lmao even. but ridiculous fun)

The Lake House - Sarah Beth Durst

A Long Stretch of Bad Days - Mindy McGinnis

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway - Ashley Schumacher (here on author loyalty only)

Three Rivers - Sarah Stusek (THAT'S RIGHT. HER.)

Summer Rental - Rektok Ross (why am I this aware of brand-new ya horror??) (because I love horror and it's usually better paced and spookier and less shock-gory than the adult brand? fair)

YA FANTASY / SCI FI

Dream to Me - Megan Paasch (I think it would go here, anyway. but maybe it's just regular YA)

The Eternal Ones - Namina Forna (I gotta remember this series exists)

FANTASY

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries -- winner winner pick!! (no like officially)

Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (though this is a close second, and honestly, if they weren't both actual nominees I'd think The Unmaking of June Farrow has some potential intrigue)

ROMANCE

Hazel Fine Sings Along - Katie Wicks (no comment on its Wattpad origin. I didn't notice until just now. have not read it.)

Famous For A Living - Melissa Ferguson (popular enough for Once Upon a Book Club! but not for for an official nom, despite my hopes, in this fiercely competitive category. boooo)

Out On a Limb - Hannah Bonam-Young (damn I actually saw this one making rounds on BookTube, thought it might be here)

Something Wild & Wonderful - Anita Kelly (can't believe there's actually a queer romance I want to see show up and it doesn't)

(Bonus: legit nominees I am considering for validity include Happy Place; Yours Truly - I really need to figure out if Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez are in my wheelhouse or not - and Hello Stranger, though as much as I like Katherine Center this one does not call to me)

FICTION

This Bird Has Flown - Susanna Hoffs (might also have been under romance if picked for the actual GCA? feels more mainstream than that but idk. anyway HATERS 2 THE LEFT.)

^ also my pick for debut

The Lost Manuscript - Mollie Rushmeyer (dunno which category this would officially go in either. probably romance? maybe mystery? but it's got a lot more plot than the average romance)

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Echo of Old Books - Barbara Davis (holy crap this one's actually in the nominations?! Instant vote. Almost disappointing because there are some other candidates I would have felt fine voting for to block the worse ones, but this is the only one on my acute TBR. If I don't give at least 4 stars I will be shocked)

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Forgotten Trail - Claire Kells

The Hike - Lucy Clarke

The Only One Left - Riley Sager

Homecoming - Kate Morton (crisis alert! the latter two are both official nominees and I am equally interested in both/both have equally good track records with me) (probs. gonna vote Kate on the principle of female solidarity. even though this is really stretching the definition of "mystery")

HORROR

A Haunting on the Hill - Elizabeth Hand

(How To Sell a Haunted House is a hard maybe but also the only one I think I'd even consider trying from the official noms)

MEMOIR

Paris: The Memoir - Paris Hilton

The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

Grimoire Girl - Hilarie Burton Morgan

Tell Me Everything - Minka Kelly

If You Would Have Told Me - John Stamos

Goodbye to Clocks Ticking - Joseph Monninger (forgot I just stumbled upon this one recently! it's on my library list but not my GR account)

and one more except GCA put it in a different category hang on

Three of these - not Burton's, alas - are actually nominees. Britney is gonna win but not without a fight from me. Do I go with Paris, whose memoir impressed me even though I still don't care much for her as a person, or Minka, whose memoir I haven't read but whose reviews sound excellent and whom I like more?

HUMOR

Being Henry - Henry Winkler (there is absolutely no reason for this not to be nominated in memoir btw. I hope it wins Humor because nothing else appeals in that category and I have multiple vendettas (SAMANTHA IRBY), but it would be as misplaced a win as the Office Ladies book was last year. fully deserving of an award! actually the best of the given nominees! but also like an adult beating a bunch of children in a footrace.)

MIDDLE GRADE

(no longer a GCA category but it fudgin' should be)

Just Gus - McCall Hoyle

Falling Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix (actually glad I don't have to choose between these two because like. dogs - but also boy MC - or author loyalty ft. sequel to my childhood fave??)

Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen - Geri Halliwell The Spice Girl (no. 😔) (and yet it is still on my shelf)

I have no strong opinions for any categories I skipped.

#I am actually very familiar with a lot of options this year thanks to my new BookTube obsession but still haven't read that many #(and probably won't)#so instead I present to you: books I have actually read or at least am excited to read someday #also excited to come back in the future and see how many better options from 2023 I have since found and read #...ooh maybe that should be my next post: actual picks or top 5 contenders from 5 to 10 years ago?#also: rats. i should have done cover image collages to break up the text walls...oh well #GCA related

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martsonmars · 2 years

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BONUS CONTENT

This is the first time I've made a banner for a fic, it took me too long and I love it, so I'm using it again.

Welcome to my I Know What You Are bonus content mess! It's a chaos of backstories, headcanons, jokes, me laughing at my own funny lines, a couple of deleted paragraphs... Enjoy!

Davy, Natasha, the Coven. Politics and personal life.

If you know me, you know I hate the Mage with a burning passion. And every time someone says that not everything he did was wrong (a good meta about it!) or that he's smart or that maybe he really loves Simon in his fucked up way or anything else about him being human and complex, it just makes me hate him more. (As a person, because as a character, the fact that I hate him so much proves that he's well built and well written, and not a flat villain.) So, even though explorations of his character are interesting, I keep hating him in canon compliant fics, or in AUs/divergences that give him the same role he has in canon.

But I wanted to try and give him a chance, in a different universe.

I assume Davy wanted to change the world in this universe, too. He spent his years at Watford saying that he would, and talking about prophecies, and injustice, and power. I do understand this desire to burn everything down to rebuild it better, but sadly you can't just reshape the world as you please. The road towards change is slow and often unsatisfactory. This Davy dealt with it healthily, though.

He started dating Lucy, and while she listened to him, she also held her own. She agreed with his ideas on principle, but she told him that a magickal saviour wouldn't fix everything.

Andrew Salisbury was an important member of the Coven, on the progressive side even though he came from one of the most important and wealthy families. He was head of the Coven for at least 15 years until he died (when Simon was 13), and Lucy learnt a lot from him, and used her knowledge to help Davy channel his revolutionary impulses into something productive and helpful. (Not to say that revolution is always bad! But we saw the results of Davy's ideas in canon, and that was bad.)

So, Davy went to therapy.

And not only therapy, maybe, as @johnwgrey suggests with this meme:

But anyway, Lucy didn't run away with him, she introduced him to her parents, they lived their relationship in the open and got married pretty soon. They conceived a child because they both wanted one, and not to create a weapon or magic's saviour. No children were harmed in the making of this fic—Simon was born, and his parents loved him for who he was.

Davy managed to fight his battles without casualties, or weird dangerous rituals, or wars, or paramilitary organisations. He became a Watford teacher, then he joined the Coven and went on the reform road—even though it's slower, and harder, and doesn't solve everything. He used his eloquence to make people see that change isn't always bad, and he had the opportunity to bring some real change when vampires attacked Watford.

I have more to say about how the vampire attack went here that it wasn't Davy's fault, but I'm planning on doing it in another fic. Let's just say that it was an attack to Natasha's racist politics, and the fact that she wasn't able to protect the school made her lose her job.

Davy became headmaster, and the Coven approved his first reforms. He made education free, and opened the school to creatures and low powered magicians, removing the tests that had kept them out of Watford for centuries.

And he kept fighting for a law against the discrimination of magickal creatures until it was approved a few months before Simon and Baz started Watford.

He was never head of the Coven—when Andrew Salisbury died, Mitali was elected, and the Coven passed a law to have elections for the office every six years.

About his personal life, he's a good husband and a good father. Ruth sometimes acts like she's not his biggest fan (she isn't), but she knows he's the right person for her daughter, and he's raising Simon well, so she's only playfully antagonistic. (All is good, though. I have had bad experiences with grandparents hating parents, and I don't want that for Simon. Ruth and Davy get along, and deep down they kinda like each other. They just bicker from time to time.) The idea of them sitting together at meals, anyway, is hilarious.

(The whole concept of family dinners now that Baz and Simon are dating is hilarious.)

Mitali and Davy have the same kind of relationship as Ruth and Davy. She started liking him more when he stopped talking about prophecies and weird stuff, and she saw he was a good husband for her bestie, and really appreciated Davy's efforts and accomplishments in magickal politics. But they're both too stubborn and too sure of themselves, so they argue a lot.

(Davy and Martin have wine night where they talk about magickal theories and history and linguistics, and Davy has an outlet to discuss his (abandoned) research about the Chosen One prophecies. Martin is happy to listen, and maybe one day they'll start studying the prophecies together, as two middle-aged men who love rituals and don't feel the need to create a baby to prove their theories or save the world.)

We see more of Natasha's personal journey in the fic, but I have some notes.

She came from one of the most conservative families, and she was so secure in her biases that it took her so long to actively challenge them. Though, in a way, she started going against her family's wishes when she married Malcolm.

(A little note about him—Malcolm goes by Grimm-Pitch too in this fic. He doesn't give a fuck about politics, that's his wife's field, and at some point it becomes his son's field too. He just wants his son to have a happy life, and that's the only topic that gets him involved in political stuff. Other than that, his only interest is magickal stock. He's less emotionally constipated, a generally happier man, and he tries his best not to be homophobic—I think he pretty much succeeds, though he still has much to learn on how to interact with his son's sexuality without being weird. He's doing great, he'll just embarrass Simon and Baz a lot in his attempts at being a good ally. He and Natasha raise Baz together, and Fiona helps them a lot. He's not bothered by Baz's vampirism much, he has fewer biases than Natasha because he grew up on a farm, more in contact with nature and all its creatures, and probably has some magickal creatures as friends—so his love for Baz never wavers, and he helps Natasha fight her bigotry.)

Anyway, even though she tries to fight her own ideas to be able to accept Baz's vampirism from the beginning, her change really starts when she doesn't vote against the anti-discriminatory law, and then when Baz asks her if she hates him because he's a dark creature. There she realises that just ignoring the part of her son that she doesn't like isn't enough. And she starts her journey to overcome her own bigotry. Malcolm supports her a lot, and Fiona does too.

And Ruth, Ruth helps her too! They are friends, and Ruth has never shied away from telling Natasha that her ideals were fucked up, and when Natasha realises Ruth was right, Ruth is there for her.

(I like the comedic potential of Baz knowing Ruth pretty well because he visited her with his mother. I imagine Simon introducing his boyfriend to his grandmother, and Baz and Ruth immediately catching up on what they've missed since the last time they saw each other. Simon is like WHAT THE FUCK HOW DID I MISS THIS TOO??? And Ruth is like, “darling, I thought you knew your roommate and I have known each other for 18 years.”)

Natasha and Davy simply hate each other. Even though Natasha and Lucy are friends (they met through Ruth, and they bonded over having children of the same age), and Malcolm and Davy are friends. At first it was political hate, since they basically were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, now it's “no matter what our ideas are, we just can't stand each other”. (I can't wait for them to have to interact because their children are dating. It's going to be so passive-aggressive.)

Back to Natasha fighting her bigotry—she literally wakes up one day and decides to go All Rat. She just kind of ignored Baz's vampirism for years, because it made her uncomfortable even though she was trying to accept it, until one day she didn't anymore, and she taught him to kill rats. Character growth at its peak.

Not 100% related but I don't know where to put this: in this universe the mages who are also magickal creatures, especially dark creatures, are a lot. Baz and Nico aren't the only vampire magicians, and so on.

Baz and Simon at 11. The start of an era

Baz grew up listening to his mother's conservative ideals (never about magickal creatures, but about everything else), but also to Fiona's pseudo-anarchist ramblings, and Malcolm's “can we please exist quietly and let other people exist quietly too?”.

When he was 11, he could feel that his mother was distant, more emotionally unavailable than Malcolm and Fiona were, so he decided to make her proud by hating the same people and the same things she hated—starting with Davy. He decided to antagonise Simon to please his mother, and just picture him—a lame eleven-year-old boy who pretends to be fifty inside, with his stupid haircut, a too straight posture, and his uniform already on. He tried too hard to be mama's boy, can't blame Simon for just walking away.

But then he meets new people, gets out of the sheltered environment he grew up in, has that talk with his mother that makes him realise that her ideas aren't exactly the best, and that instead Cadwallader fought for people like him, and he starts his own “who I want to become” journey.

And he's grateful for what Cadwallader did. He stops antagonising Simon (though that's mainly because he realises he wants Simon's attention in a positive way, but it was already late for that), and Davy's fight for dark creatures is important in Baz's journey towards self-acceptance. I think Baz started seeing his vampire therapist when he was pretty young, so when he starts Watford he doesn't hate himself (he never really hates himself as in canon, but he did struggle at first), but it's only in 3rd year that he starts needing blood to survive, and it's important for him to be reminded that his existence is not something to be ashamed of. Davy is important in Baz's path towards self-love.

He still refuses to call Simon “Cadwallader”, but he does thank Davy in his mind. Though, when he gets to meet him as his boyfriend's father, it will be awkward. Davy will be perfectly okay with their relationship, but between Baz and Davy there will always be some mild animosity. They argue about every topic, even when they actually agree. But it's never too bad. They're just not compatible as people. They'll be an amazing father and son-in-law, though. Passive-aggressive enough without ever exaggerating.

Anyway, going back to the boys at 11.

They are just kids, with steady support systems, and this allows them to just... choose who they want to be. They are still influenced by their families, of course, but not in a It's-The-End-Of-The-World way.

Simon is chill, polite, a mature boy, maybe a little too sarcastic. He's also funny, and he had a normal childhood that allowed him to really be a child. No destiny or legacy to uphold.

He grew up among people—Davy brought him around when he met creatures to discuss reforms and treaties between communities and new inclusive legislation; Ruth had her parties, and Simon grew up around rich, posh people; Lucy also had plenty of friends and all that. He knows how to handle himself in society, and has no time for bullshit.

So, he sees 11-year-old Baz, and Baz totally fails the vibe check. I mean. Who has time for that sort of negativity? No thank you.

“Do you want to play Who's Got The Longer Name? I win, gel-head.” (Simon Snow Salisbury-Cadwallader is three letters longer than Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch—they'll bicker about it forever.)

Again, bit 100% related, but Simon has diagnosed and treated ADHD. I almost put an explicit mention to it in the fic, but it felt forced, so I didn't.

The gang

I didn't give Simon and Baz's friend as much space as I wanted, but I did think about them a lot. They played a huge role in making them the people they are at the end of the fic. Their love was important.

Simon and Penny basically grew up together, since Lucy and Mitali remained besties. They met Agatha when they were pretty young, because Davy and Wellbelove worked together on Coven reforms.

Pippa is trans, and the Crucible has no time for transphobia, so she's been Agatha's roommate since the start. They get along well.

Agatha was never forced to conform to a Golden Heterosexual Destiny. She and Simon never felt the need to date, and she could concentrate on herself. When Baz came out in 7th year and founded the Queer Club, she finally had a place and a person (Baz! They ignored each other before, but they become close friends in 7th year) that could help her figure herself out. She's definitely aromantic, maybe demisexual and sapphic.

(A note: it's super funny that Simon knew nothing about the Queer Club, since most of his friends are queer. Already mentioned Agatha and Pippa. Gareth is pansexual. Trixie and Keris are sapphic. Penny's probably on the aroace spectrum too. And yet, clueless boy.)

Pippa and Simon tried to date in 5th year, instead, but it lasted less than two weeks. They found each other attractive but there was no spark.

Penny is Trixie's roommate, can't stand her for years, but this Penny is less speciesist—she can't stand young Trixie just because she's annoying (according to Penny—Trixie has plenty of other friends). By 5th/6th years, though, they both get a little more mature, communicate more, and learn to coexist peacefully. During their last year, they're even friends.

Trixie, Keris and Simon start hanging out together when Trixie becomes Penny's friends. Before, they were just friendly acquaintances.

Keris is one of the first people who become Baz's friends—in the first years at Watford, he is friends with Dev (who isn't actually his friend), Niall (whom he knew before Watford and remains his closest friend), Pippa (they meet at the Drama Club in 2nd year and bond instantly) and Keris. Keris and Baz basically figure out their sexuality together around 3rd year, and Keris, Pippa and Niall are the only friends Baz is out to until 7th year. Then Keris starts dating Trixie, and she becomes Baz's friend too.

Penny and Baz were rivals for the best grades for years, but it's what makes them become friends at last. They study together sometimes. Penny has no time for Simon and Baz's bullshit, so she almost never mentions Simon to Baz and Baz to Simon until they become friends. She's just unbothered.

Simon, Rhys and Gareth have always been friends—Gareth and Simon play rugby together (Simon plays rugby like his mother did! He's even captain of the team for a few years), Rhys is Gareth's roommate and best friend.

Simon kissed Gareth in 6th year because he has a things for belt buckles. (Baz should fear the competition.) (Jk. That's not why he kissed him.) Gareth happily kissed him back. They fooled around a little bit, but neither of them was interested in anything more.

One day Baz tells Simon he's great at blow jobs, and Simon tells him to thank Gareth. (He's a hip thrusts expert, after all.) Baz wishes he had said nothing.

Cuts

I rarely cut entire paragraphs/scenes from my fics. I should learn to kill my darlings, but I usually don't—if I write something, I either edit it until it's unrecognisable because it was bad, or I fight to keep it in the fic. I did cut a couple of paragraphs this time, though:

1. Pippa. I struggled with her characterisation a lot, because at first she was just Simon's friend with no brain-to-mouth filter and a huge vampire kink. But then I made her Baz's friend too and it complicated things. At some point, she was both Baz's and Simon's friend (so perfectly aware that Simon had always ignored Baz), but there was a whole part (that I loved) where she kept telling Simon “I know you and Baz are friends (because I had written it before, when it made sense for Pippa to be unaware of how much Simon ignored Baz). I fought to keep that part, and wrote this shit to justify it:

(She knows us. She knows we’re not friends, but this isn’t the first time she acts like we are.) (Sometimes I suspect she’s trying to sneak up on me with some reverse psychology trick—maybe she believes we’ll become friends if she behaves like we already are.)

But luckily, I just had to edit things a bit and Pippa's character made sense, so I cut this part out.

2. Time setting. If chapter 2 starts in September, chapter 3 is around October, chapter 4 in November, and Baz and Simon's first kiss would fall around January/February. But the outfits they wear that day, especially in Baz “I'm cold” Pitch's case, aren't winter outfits. So, at first I decided to justify it this way:

I breathe in the mid-winter air, even if it doesn't feel like it's February at all. Bunce is experimenting with her eight year spell, and she managed to come up with one that makes the temperature on the school grounds rise to a late-spring level. Miss Possibelf said we shouldn't mess with nature like that, especially if then we complain about climate change, but it'll wear off soon enough, and Bunce's already found five different spells she wants to try.

(And I'm not complaining about the warmth. It allowed me to put on my favourite outfit.)

But I hated this part, and it didn't fit well in the chapter, so I was like “even though I used time references like “for weeks”, “for two months” etc, I never actually stated in which month the fic starts, so this chapter could be set in late spring”, and I cut my weather explanation out. In the end, since the epilogue is in May and Baz and Simon have been dating for at least two months by then, it was probably February when they got together. But at this point, I don't care. Maybe the day of their date was just super warm.

3. Foreshadowing to the other fic I'm planning on writing set in this universe.

So, if you know me, you know I'm obsessed with Daphne. So I was very sad when I realised that alive and happily married Natasha meant no Daphne, and I had an idea that I hoped to write for @carry-on-sapphic-week Pick N Mix. I didn't make it, but the idea is still there.

The goal is (other than give me Daphne and wlw content) show another angle of this world's politics: everything in I Know What You Are is seen through the eyes of 18 year olds (from privileged families) who are seeing their world change and are happy to finally be able to be themselves in the open. But real life isn't so easy, and a law doesn't magically solve everything. So I'm planning this fic where we'll see the same reforms through the eyes of a woman who suffered from the World of Mage's discrimination (Daphne, who in this universe couldn't attend Watford because she wasn't powerful enough) and now works in the Department of the Coven that deals with magickal creatures, and a woman whose brother suffered from the same discrimination, though because of his vampirism.

I wrote these lines that I wanted to include in the fic as foreshadowing to my other WIP, but couldn't make them fit, so they're here instead:

“Ebb? The goat herd?”

“Yeah. Do you know her?”

“She went to school with my aunt, they were friends. My aunt was even dating her twin, but then he got Turned.”

Fic commentary, memes, bullshit.

Chapter 2:

Baz's plan to catch Simon's attention may be stupid, but is it worse than thinking that summoning a chimera or pushing someone down the stairs counts as flirting???

Good thing Pippa is bringing tequila to our meeting later.

Queer Club meetings under Baz's management are called “Let's get drunk and pine.”

Chapter 3:

He complains every morning that the sun burns him, and it's hard not to keep reminding him that the sun burns everyone, and there's no need for him to invent excuses to want the curtains closed if he just wants to oversleep.

@johnwgrey provided visual example:

I can't believe he thought this would work, when pretending to be burned by a golden cross didn't.

Baz had to get a cross for this little experiment. Now I want you all to imagine Baz shopping on Amazon for “items to prove my crush that I'm a vampire”. (Reminds me of Impulse Shopping with Simon Snow.)

[I don't understand why he'd pretend to be a vampire when] vampires are the reason why his mother lost her office in the first place. Maybe he just likes black humour.

@sillyunicorn about Simon's ability to jump straight over the point: “He should try out for the track and field team doing the long jump. Or the pole vault.”

Chapter 4:

I don’t want to hear the details about her vampire kink, especially since she apparently decided to fan cast Basilton to embody it.

Simon inside: because the only acceptable vampire kink is Mine and only I can fancast Baz for it.

“It’s not like this is his first coming out, Simon.”

Simon, who missed Baz's very public coming out:

(Art by @cutestkilla. I would've posted a link to it but I don't know where to find it.)

I’m sure there’s a spell for [fake fangs]—something from Lady Gaga lyrics or a Shakespeare quote.

The Lady Gaga song is Teeth, and there are Shakespeare quotes that mention fangs.

By @facewithoutheart

Simon: I have ignoring Baz down to an artform.

Also Simon: and here is an essay on how pretty his magic is.

Because even when he ignores Baz, he's still the expert. (We see it in chapter 3 too, where Simon is like: it's impossible that I, the Roommate, Do Not Know Baz is a vampire.)

Also, Simon saying that he had to observe Baz when they were paired together for an assignment in 5th year like:

Miss Possibelf: the assignment is to repair a button.

Simon: stare at Basilton, got it.

Also by @johnwgrey:

Simon at the end of the chapter:

Chapter 5:

Can we appreciate that Baz recognised Simon's attraction for him and didn't try to ruin it for himself??? No drama, no pining, no fake rejections. This is a Baz who's fine with his crush and so ready to act on it—he just wanted Simon to accept him, and then he was down to kiss.

As @bookish-bogwitch amazingly summarised: “We romanticize Baz’s doomed willingness to take whatever scraps Simon will give him, in canon—and it’s sobering to have this reminder that that’s not just the product of love, but of his own self loathing. I love that a Baz who has already known love and acceptance will demand that in a partner, even Simon.”

And yes! You shouldn't settle for “whatever they can give”, you deserve to ask for what you need. Go, non-traumatised Baz, set boundaries and ask to be loved as you deserve!

In a this, even though Baz repeats the Catacombs picnic isn't a date because it isn't, not until Simon accepts him, he totally planned it as a date. And he did great. Simon loves it!

The door opens to my will (I wonder what the old wood is thinking of my need to get past it to show my crush how to drain a small mammal).

I was rereading the bit in CO where Simon talks about the Catacombs and I didn't remember that the door only opens if you have a “genuine desire to enter”. Baz's desire is always Rat, Simon's is always Baz.

Also, Baz asks Simon to cast a spell because he's better at it. Because Simon has a normal amount of magic in this fic! No weirdness. And he's actually pretty good at it, because his parents are both incredibly powerful, and he got help to develop his power in the best of ways.

Baz is maybe a better magician, all things considered, but he's also more attached to steady and traditional sources of magic. As we see in the last chapter, Simon loves experimental spells, pop spells, Internet spells... He dares more, tries things that might not work, while Baz doesn't. (He does try new spells, but only if he thinks the source is reliable and after researching A LOT.)

... covered in skulls that I absolutely loved (I was living an intense goth phase, take it up to the court)...

Baz had his emo phase at 13/14, but it was a mild emo phase. As @johnwgrey suggested, the Avril Lavigne emo phase. So, imagine:

Baz with bad eyeliner stolen from his mother and listening to Avril Lavigne: I am emo shit.

Fiona, eyebrow raised, rolling a joint: if it makes you sleep at night.

Or:

Baz: I eat rats! I'm punk!

Fiona: does the skull on your t-shirt have hearts as eye sockets?

Baz: shut up.

(I wouldn't refuse art of this.)

@captain-aralias said this in a comment, about Simon not believing Baz is a vampire even when he's about to bite a rat: “what if he bit you, simon? i think that would be very good proof in some way.”

And yes! I think Baz could have convinced Simon from his first try if he had just bitten Simon. But alas, as comfortable as this Baz is with biting people, he still thinks it's a special occasion, so he would've never done it. (Especially non consensually.) (Though I think Simon would've said: “Yeah, bite me. It's not like you're a vampire.”)

Chapter 6:

I struggled a lot with figuring out why Simon was denying Baz's vampirism so much. But then I was like HA. It's because he cares too much. And he's stubborn. And he can't believe his luck—his crush and his vampire kink in the same person. Once I figured that out, this chapter written itself.

(I feel a little bad for [the rat]—I’ll make sure its won’t be a vain sacrifice)

@facewithoutheart said that Baz should have drunk the rat, because the poor rat didn't deserve to be wasted. But I had kissing programmed for later, and I didn't want Baz to bitch about his mouth tasting of rat, so I just made Simon think of the rat's sad sacrifice.

Maybe he’d let me wash it later in our bathtub, and he'd complain about it, and about my rough fingers, but he'd secretly lean into my touch, closing his eyes…)

They did this, btw. Baz feeds before they leave the Catacombs, Simon watches. When they get back to their room, Baz brushes his teeth and they kiss a lot. Then, Simon casually says Baz has a spiderweb in his hair, and convinces Baz to let him wash his hair.

“At least I didn't parade my sexuality in front of you as I did with my vampirism.”

@johnwgrey sent the Snowbaz at pride comic by @krisrix here, saying “imagine if Baz had dressed like that the whole time.”

But as aralias said in another comment, Simon would've ignored it too, or thought Baz was just pretending to be queer, because “he's never had a boyfriend and he's THAT hot!! so it must be a lie!!!”.

Chapter 7:

Right when my tear ducts are moisturised enough to handle my thirteenth reread (or so) of Volume 3, Chapter 16 of Pride and Prejudice.

Baz, face masks and glass of wine, ready to cry over a book: self care time baby.

(I wouldn't refuse art of this either.)

I manage to discern some of the words—blood? death? sparkle?

As @sillyunicorn noticed, this answers the annoying “How would your friends describe you in 3 words?” question for Baz.

He should’ve had rugby practice this morning, but he either skipped (my money’s on it) or overcame his fear of locker room showers.

Simon skipped practice to write down vampire questions. Of course.

Though I would’ve murdered him if he had tried to wake me up when he left for breakfast—it’s Saturday, and I made my priorities in this relationship very clear.)

The day after they first sleep together is a Saturday. Simon wakes Baz up with a kiss. Baz punches him (lightly) and goes back to sleep. Later they talk about boundaries, and Baz is pretty clear: no romance before 11am on weekends and holidays.

You have to thank @johnwgrey if they say I love you and if there's a whole kissing section. I sent her the snippet that ends with Baz saying “You love it”, and she was like it would be so easy if Simon replied I love you. So that's what happened.

I wrote the following part thinking that it was the first time Simon told Baz he loves him (and Baz says it back off screen), but maybe it's not. I feel like they're comfortable enough with themselves and with each other, when they start dating, that saying I love you might not be that big of a deal. So maybe they had already said it before.

(Other ideas by @johnwgrey, who helped me so much with the original outline of the fic: “Oh, clumsy me, I dropped blood on my cuffs again!”; Simon thinking Baz's fangs are props; Simon offering to eat the rat; Simon saying that only a vampire could like salt and vinegar crisps; them bickering over Simon's name being three letters longer; probably other things I forgot.)

Simon and Fiona will become friends. And they will talk about vampires and their vampire kink.

And about that, bite time! I love a Baz who is comfortable enough with is vampirism that he accepts to bite Simon a few months after they start dating. It's clumsy, and a mess, but they do it!

The “I sleep in your arms” is definitely a not to “You slept in my arms!” “Fitfully”. (And Baz is the little spoon.)

What were you doing locked in your room on a splendid May afternoon?” She drawls, and I can feel her eyebrows waggling as she speaks.

Fun fact, when I first wrote this sentence, I hadn't written the kissing part yet. I thought they'd keep doing the vampire Q&A up to Agatha's interruption. So Baz's thoughts after that sentence were “I hear the implication in her voice, and I wish she was right”. But then @johnwgrey made them say I love you and it derailed the fic to kissing times. So, turns out Agatha was right.

“I found a notebook where he wrote our names over and over and circled the last three letters of mine in increasingly aggressive colours.”

The real reason why Baz was writing their surnames in a notebook is that he wanted to figure out the best combinations for their married surname.

... some boring volume about vowels doing weird things that according to Penny will make his eight-year spell work better...

I headcanon that Baz is the first to make On love's light wings work as a spell, and it's his 8th year spell.

Instead, Penny manages to create her Internet spell, and mages/creatures have now a safe corner of the Internet to use without fearing Normals. It improves information, culture, education, politics, etc etc.

Penny and Shepard meet through magickal Internet. They become besties.

Simon does put his video on magickal YouTube, but they have to film it again because they didn't get enough family friendly footage. There was only a lot of kissing.

Anyway, I loved writing this version of Simon and Baz. They deserve happy families, happy childhoods, and a relationship less burdened by trauma. They get to be silly together, to enjoy creepy stuff, to share interests and dreams. They'll have awkward dinners with their families, and kiss a lot, and I'm just overwhelmed by my own fic bye.

#i had edited and proofread this accurately but tumblr decided not to save #so ignore mistakes #this is longer than any chapters of the fic lmao #my writing

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foolofabookwyrm-activated · 2 years

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I'm still thinking about Lucy. I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. So here, have some more of this fic I've been working on. This is a bit of a letter from Lucy to Jamie:

I do worry sometimes. That he’ll have too much magic. What if I don’t know how to raise a baby with more magic than I have? What if I let him down? What if Davy and I can’t give him everything he needs?

I just want him to be healthy and happy. No matter how much magic he has I just want him to grow up knowing how loved he is. That love comes from who you are and not the magic you possess.

I love you, Jamie. Every day. For who you are and not for the magic you possess.

I’ll talk to you again soon, I promise. After Simon is here. When it’s safe for me to travel again. When Davy feels safe bringing Simon out to meet the world. Until then, just know that I’m thinking of you always.

And as a bonus, I'll also bestow this picrew I made of Lucy because I never stop thinking about her.

Thank you to those who've tagged me the last week! @tea-brigade @confused-bi-queer @martsonmars @prettylightsbigcity @aristocratic-otter @krisrix And some bonus tags, just to say hello. I love you. I hope you're all doing well. 🥰 @caitybug @stardustasincocaine @bloodiedpixie @mostlymaudlin @ivelovedhimthroughworse @wetheformidables @sillyunicorn @nick-eyre

#wip wednesday #lucy salisbury #simon snow series #my writing

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alcalexandria · 2 years

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Station Eleven Blu Ray release.

Looks like a placeholder image, but this seems to suggest a Blu Ray (And DVD) release pencilled in for October 18th.

Station Eleven was outstanding and got a lot of critical love, but it was also a HBO Max release. Given how expensive it must have been and the fact its weird release pattern made it hard for an audience to find, I strongly recommend considering picking up a physical release while you can. Mackenzie Davis' performance in it is incredible.

Bonus - Deleted Scenes!

#stationeleven #station11 #mackenzie davis #himesh patel #helen shaver #david cross #daniel zovatto #matilda lawler #caitlin fitzgerald

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queermtl · 1 year

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QUEER MTL THINGS TO DO: DECEMBER 2022

Every month, Montréal’s queer calendar is stuffed full of exciting events, parties and performances. Here’s some of our picks for the best LGBTQ+ things to do in the city this December. For further announcements, follow QueerMTL on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr! Got an event coming up? DM it our way!

EVENT OF THE MONTH:

🎤 Marking their first concert presentation in Montréal, lesbian-event organizers Ellelui present Constellations: A Benefit Concert for Black Healing Fund at Théâtre Fairmount on Friday, December 16, 2022. Featuring performances by Naïka Champaïgne, OK Naledi and Fraud Perry (with bonus afterparty sounds from KidCrayola), proceeds will assist the volunteer-run Black Healing Fund in providing funding for mental health and wellness services to low-income members of the community. Tickets are available at Universe.

EVENTS

🕯 In recognition of World AIDS Day, Montréal’s Parc de l’Espoir (founded by ACT UP Montréal in 1991) hosts a Vigil for those lost to HIV/AIDS. Free and open to all at 5:00 PM. 🎤 Ria Mae comes to Le Studio TD on December 1, 2022, with Virginia to Vegas and Noelle. Tickets at Evenko.

🎥 Co-presented by Séro.Syndicat // Blood.Union - BUSS, AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM) and Queer Film Club, Day Without Art: Being & Belonging features works by HIV-positive artists and a Q&A with artist activists Camila Arce and Mikiki. At Cinéma de Sève on the Concordia University campus at 6:30 PM. Tickets available at the link above.

🎥 All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, documenting both photographer Nan Goldin’s luminous career as well as her fight against big pharma, comes to Cinema du Parc from December 2, 2022.

🎤 The Rufus et Martha Wainwright Ensemble + Famille host Étoiles et Toi, their annual holiday spectacle at Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste on December 3, 2022. Pop Montréal has tickets here.

🎭 GW Brazier’s Brother 12: A Cult Rock Opera, based on a true story, receives its world premiere on December 3, 2022 at O Patro Vys. Tickets at thepointofsale.

💪 Diablos Boylesque: Holidays Edition is coming to Bar Le Cocktail on December 4, 2022 to answer the question as to just who’s been naughty or nice this year. Tickets at Eventbrite.

🎤 Ellelui’s Sapphic Open Mic Night welcomes one and all on December 6, 2022 at The Diving Bell Social Club. PWYC, with nobody turned away for lack of funds.

✏️ Drink & Draw returns to Bar Le Cocktail on December 7, 2022 (and again the week following on December 14, 2022), featuring live models to sketch. Presented by Hommehomo.

🐶 Montréal’s puppy community gathers at Bar Le Stud on December 8, 2022 for Puppy Noël.

📚 The Violet Hour Book Club will read and discuss Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis and gather to discuss on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at the Archives gaies du Québec. (They’ll also be reading The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis for their next meeting on Saturday, January 3 2023).

🎤 The Backstreet Boys Burlesque takes over Café Cléopatra on December 10, 2022. Tickets at Eventbrite.

🎤 Sing your heart out with Boney M at the stately L’Olympia on December 14, 2022. Tickets here.

🎤 The Tales of Gender Affirmation Open Mic Fundraiser featuring comedy, music, poetry and more alongside special appearances from Raquel Maestre, Binya Koatz, Alo Azimov and a Respectful Roast Battle with Gowtham Kasy will take place at The Diving Bell Social Club on December 15, 2022.

🐻 The bears will be out in force at Bar Le Stud on December 16, 2022, to celebrate Bear Noël.

🌱 Root to Branch brings the Queer Solstice Swap to Frigo Vert on Saturday, December 17, 2022, an opportunity to buy or trade with local QTBIPOC artisans and makers.

🤣 Queer Comedy All Stars is back at the Diving Bell Social Club on December 29, 2022 with host Lucy Gervais, All Azimov, Maka, Darragh Mondoux, Ash Davis and headliner Dan James. Tickets, which usually go quick, are available here.

🤣 Stand-Up St. Henri Open Mic runs every Tuesday throughout the month of December at Montréal Improv. With a focus on giving stage time to women, non-binary, queer comedians and allies, it’s the perfect fit for comedy fans. Tickets at Eventbrite.

PARTIES

🥳 Celebrate 27 years of Bar Le Stud on December 3, 2022!

🥳 Techno Haute Couture: Oil Edition brings a night of electronic sounds to KIN Experience on Saturday, December 3, 2022. Tickets available here.

🥳 The Dark Eighties: Cult 80s Hits Party returns to Bar Le Ritz PDB on Friday, December 9, 2022 with a night full of your goth faves. Don’t forget the eyeliner, and purchase tickets at Eventbrite.

🥳 Queen & Queer celebrates their seventh event and first anniversary with a birthday party at La Sala Rossa on Saturday, December 10, 2022, featuring sets from resident DJ Sam and special guest DJ BlackGold. Tickets here.

🥳 Les Divas d’Hochelaga take over Blockhaus on December 10, 2022 with All I Want pour Noël dance party, featuring all your favourite pop divas’ seasonal hits.

🥳 The F4gtory Collective brings their Industrial dance party MANUF4GTURED to Bar Le Ritz PDB on December 10, 2022.

🥳 Tension Shibari school and lifestyle space in Montréal’s gay village is hosting a Queer Dance Party on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

🥳 Homopop’s popular tribute nights continue with a Beyoncé Dance Party (featuring local queen royalty Kiara and Lady Boom Boom) on December 16th at Cabaret Berlin.

🥳 District Events’ Frosty guarantees to heat up Club Soda on Saturday, December 17, 2022 with sets from DJ Ashley Gauthier and DJ Isaac Escalante. Grab tickets here.

🥳 Super Taste MTL want you to dance the night away at VOULEZ-VOUS 2023 to all your favourite new-wave and disco hits at Bar Le Ritz PDB. Tickets available here.

🥳 Say goodbye to 2022 in style at Cirque De Boudoir’s Carnavalesque 2023 Snow Ball New Year’s Even Party at Bain Mathieu on December 31, 2022, hosted by the legendary Plastik Patrik. Tickets at Eventbrite.

🥳 Bar Le Stud rings in the new year with Party du Nouvel An on December 31, 2022, featuring free entry. We’d suggest arriving early!

🥳 Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the epic L’Olympia in the heart of the Gay Village with music from Domeno, TIZI and Michael Louis. Get your tickets here.

DRAG

👑 In collaboration with Montréal’s gay rugby team Armada Montréal (who trade in their jerseys for drag), Gisele Lullaby hosts Armado – Edition Noel at Cabaret Mado on December 1, 2022. Tickets here.

👑 Self-professed “tiny shapeshifting glamour demon” Yikes Macaroni brings Chum Dump #6—Joyeux Noel Open Stage to Bar Le Cocktail on December 3, 2022.

👑 The incredible drag chameleon Jimmy Moore brings Merry Christmas: Jimmy Moore Does Mariah Carey to Cabaret Mado on December 3, 2022. Tickets available here.

👑 Montréal drag kings Rock Bière and RV Metal host Bière et Métal featuring the city’s finest fellow talents on December 8, 2022 at Cabaret Mado. Tickets here.

👑 Lulu Shade presents Garden of Shade – Winter Edition at Bar Le Cocktail with Sarah Winters, Misty Waterfalls, Sally D and Niko Lubie on December 13, 2022.

👑 Underkingstruction: Werking in the Snow Edition, hosted by Ad’Horrible, Niko Lucie and Mike Oxlong promises to be the most unique holiday drag open stage show in Montréal on December 15, 2022 at Notre-Dame-Des-Quilles. Sign up here to perform. PWYC!

👑 Miami Minx brings Les Folies Draglesque to Cabaret Mado on December 15, 2022, a night open to all genders and bodies in the spirit of burlesque, drag and all things in between. Tickets available here.

👑 Uma Gahd and Selma Gahd bring their spooky COVEN back for its December edition featuring Bijuriya to The Diving Bell Social Club on December 16, 2022.

👑 Lady Boom Boom hosts La Revue Drag 2022 at Cabaret Mado on December 18, 2022, featuring Clay Thorris, Démone LaStrange, Jessie Précieuse, Miss Mira Belle, Pétula Claque, Walter Ego and surprise guests.

👑 Celebrate the holidays in drag with Deux folles à Noël at Bar Le Cocktail on December 22, 2022, hosted by Miss Butterfly and Michel Dorion. Tickets here.

👑 Wow! A special finale screening of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. The World is coming to the Olympia de Montréal on December 23, 2022! And the line-up is incredible, featuring Anita Wigl'it, Gisele Lullaby, Kendall Gender, Kiara, Kitana Sweett, Kiara, Rajah Ohara, Rita Baga, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Stephanie Prince, Vanity Milan and Victoria Scone, hosted by Uma Gahd! Grab tickets at the link. 👠

👑 Rainbow hosts Bingo Disco on December 28, 2022. And what’s better than drag bingo? Not much! Tickets here.

👑 Jimmy Moore keeps the hits coming with Jimmy Moore personnifie Lady Gaga at Cabaret Mado at both 7:30 and 10:00 pm on December 29, 2022. Tickets for both shows available here.

👑 Crystal Starz hosts Starz Night at Bar Le Cocktail with special guests Sasha bags and Lana Dalida on December 29, 2022. Pre-show tickets are available at lepointdevente.

👑 Ring in the New Year at Bar Le Cocktail’s Bonne Année 2023 on December 31, 2022 with queens Ciatha Night, Crystal Starz, Chouchoune, Chibouki and Sally-D. Tickets available now.

👑 Every Tuesday, Canada’s Drag Race season 3 winner Gisèle Lullaby hosts Full Gisèle at Cabaret Mado. Tickets and schedule at Cabaret Mado’s website.

👑 On Friday nights, the legendary Mado Lamotte hosts Mado Reçoit at her namesake club, Cabaret Mado. Each week, she shares the stage with a hand-picked roster of queens. Tickets and lineup info here.

👑 Bar Le Cocktail’s regular weekly events include Butterfly de Nuit with Miss Butterfly on Thursdays, Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion on Fridays and Samedi Drôles de Drags with a rotating cast of queens. Check listings for specific details, and pick up tickets here.

#mtlmoments #queermtl #drag #nightlife #lgbttravel #queer #queer mtl #queernightlife #party #specialevent #lgbtq #2slgbtq #lgbtqevent

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martianbugsbunny · 1 year

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OUAT Thoughts Pt.72--Episodes 15-16

I have watched through S7E16; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for anyone further behind than I am.

—Flynn’s Barcade. Love me a TRON reference. Those movies were brilliant.

—Also, now I know that Hook apparently plays pinball.

—Woulda been funny if Rumple had the high score on Galaga. Can I really see him playing video games? Probably not. Would it be funny anyway? Yes, yes it would.

—I adore Drizella’s fashion sense. She’s very chic. The miniskirts are fun, and they’ve got cute patterns and different textures. And I love how she wears black tights and black shoes together, it looks great.

—I don’t think I really believe that she could fend off a killer like that, but as long as she and her sister get to be together in another world I can excuse the bogusness that got them there.

—Zelena’s last name being West in Hyperion Heights is almost as stupid as Belle’s last name being French.

—The second episode 15 ended, I galaxy-brained and realized that Nick/Jack was Hansel. I’m glad I’m finally getting back my intuitive touch—I should hate for it to be predictable, but I feel honestly brilliant whenever I accurately forecast a plot twist in this show.

—Having a piratey adventure was fun. Even if most of it was fake. Also, it was really considerate of Hook to set up that entire venture just to help Henry find a ring he thought was worthy of Cinderella. I didn’t think about it before, but it must be hard for him to be compared to original Hook. He’s a good guy in his own right, though, and it’s about time Henry figured that out.

—Hook is totally gorgeous with his hair all wet and sticking to his face. Storms look good on him.

—Considering Davy Jones was a pirate, wouldn’t it be fun if Hook was like a long-lost legacy of his?

—Rumple telling Henry that Henry Mills was his favorite character in the book was sweet. Sad, too, because he had to skirt the truth, but he was still trying to bolster his grandson’s spirits, but it was terribly sweet.

—Actually, it’s really sad how so many people have to keep the truth from the others around them. Regina can’t talk to Henry mother-to-son. Zelena can’t tell Robin the truth, even though it’s hurting their relationship. (At least they know they’re mother and daughter, though. That’s a bonus.) Even Lucy has to keep secrets from her mom and dad, despite the fact that she’s trying to either get them together or keep them apart. And Rumple has to withhold the truth from Henry, *and* he knows that Alice is Hook’s daughter and he can’t tell, even if he does try to help their relationship along.

—Rumple gluing the teacup back together made me sad.

—It’s hilarious that Hook made Alice get a job because she ate everything in his fridge.

—The string of lights in Tiana’s food truck being chili-shaped is awesome. I wonder where, if at all, one could find those fr?

—Alice is adorable. I love the way she pronounces beignets. You know what, I don’t have all the details on their relationship before the curse, but it would just slap if Alice and Robin broke the curse with True Love’s Kiss.

—Gosh, Rumple’s even kinda got the bi sitting thing down.

—I love that Rumple is committed to being good now, even with Belle gone. That light in him is beautiful.

—See, it’s nice to see Regina being happy in her relationship with Dr. Facilier, but I don’t even trust him as far as I can throw him, and honeys that ain’t far.

—I want neither Henry nor Zelena to kick the bucket. That would be 0/10, not at all cool.

—Regina was wearing a real gorgeous pair of magenta boots. I like about half of her new wardrobe, and those boots totally make the list.

—Maybe Henry and Cinderella should stop focusing so much on whether or not the signs are telling them to be together, and instead take a good long think about why they want the signs so desperately. I mean, I love soulmates and destiny and that kind of stuff, but sometimes you have to get off your keister and get it done yourself.

—Pardon me for saying it, but this season has got me feeling some kind of way about Hook and Rumple. A shipping kind of way, if you catch my drift. I don’t care if it’s a popular opinion or an unpopular one, but their dynamic is pretty different in this season, what with Rumple being good and Hook not remembering that he hated Rumple back in the day, and they’ve got some tension but they also get along pretty well....Idk, if you don’t like it, then feel free to ignore this particular opinion, because it’s only one of many I have and it’s not exactly the kind of hill I want to die on, but I do find myself enjoying this new perspective.

Little off-topic, but today I watched episodes of 7th Heaven and ER with Raphael Sbarge (Dr. Hopper) in them, and boy am I living. He’s just been cute his whole goshdarn life, hasn’t he! (Tho it kinda threw me for a loop the first time I saw him without glasses.) I’ve gotta find a way to watch Star Trek: Voyager, because he’s in like five episodes of that, and I just adore him. And, as an added bonus, the episode of ER that came on after the one with Raphael Sbarge had Eion Bailey (August/Pinocchio) in it, which is yes.

Also, I’m annoyed at Prime Video, because I would love to watch The Full Monty (my mom even said she would watch it with me) but it’s only available for pay. It bothers me how we pay for streaming services, in order to get access to a whole load of stuff, and then there’s still stuff locked behind a paywall. I guess it’s a better business model, but still. And yes, I would be watching that movie for Robert Carlyle and Robert Carlyle only.

#once upon a time #ouat #flynn's barcade #Captain Hook #rumplestiltskin #drizella #zelena #kelly west #Hansel #Davy Jones #Henry mills-swan #Alice #Alice jones #regina mills #cinderella #raphael sbarge #martianbugsbunny reviews

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survivorsfm · 5 months

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* ANONYMOUS ASKED : mwf woc fcs ?

ohhhhh. cyb i made a post just yesterday with some fcsoc ? it has people of all genders but you have plenty of woc in it too, you can find it here. but ! aside from promoting my own post sdfskdj some of the names that come up pretty often among our members + some personal favorites are: taylor russell , havana rose liu , medalion rahimi , gemma chan , angela bassett , tati gabrielle , davika hoorne , dichen lachman , viola davis , tessa thompson , paulina alexis , tahira sharif , laverne cox , miya horcher , adeline rudolph , jaz sinclair , tawny cypress , regina king , lesley - ann brandt , lucy liu , aurora perrineau , ritu arya , seychelle gabriel , karen fukushima , alyah chanelle scott , jurnee smollett , kaylee bryant , midori francis and the love of my life aubrey plaza. if none of these convince you, tho, you can always ask for more ( cuz i have more, lots more ) . also ! as a bonus, some highly wanted afab or fem - presenting non - binary fcsoc are jessie mei li , lizeth selene , sara ramírez , janelle monáe & quintessa swindell !

#answered.#mw.#appless rp #oc rp #mumu rp #active rp #women of color my beloveds <3 i have so many names u have no idea ...

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rosalyn51 · 3 years

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Michael Buble ‘christmas’ celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary with the release of an extraordinary Super Deluxe Limited Edition Box Set. In addition to the original CD and exclusive green vinyl, the collection will include a 7-track bonus CD with two newly recorded songs: “The Christmas Sweater” and “Let It Snow”, as well as “Winter Wonderland”, a duet with Rod Stewart. Additionally, [...]

Rosalyn51 Note: NEW song ‘The Christmas Sweater’ is featured in upcoming dark comedy ‘Silent Night’ dir. Camille Griffin.

Cast: Keira Knightley, Matthew GoodE, Annabelle Wallis, Roman Griffin Davis, Lily-Rose Depp, Ṣọpé Dìrísù, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones, Davida McKenzie, and Trudie Styler (also producer).

Silent Night (2021) Photo: EW

The movie will be released in theaters and streaming on AMC+ in North America on December 3. The ‘Christmas’ 10th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box is ‘available November 12th in the US & Canada and November 19th worldwide.’

Thanks twitter friends for heads up!

#matthew goode #keira knightley #annabelle wallis #roman griffin davis #michael buble #silent night (2021)#the christmas sweater

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dionaearps · 3 years

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hi, i’m joey (25, nb, he/they) and i’m looking for some new plots! rules and plot/fc ideas below the cut!

rules.

i rp on tumblr and discord. my strict cut off is 18+ for partners but i generally prefer partners over 21. i have a slight preference for playing girls or nb muses, but mostly because i prefer f/f ships. i’m down for any pair combination, with a big preference for queer ships.

my favourite genres are fantasy, supermatural, sci-fi, dark academia. i generally don’t like plots that are solely domestic, pregnancy/parenting, or celeb/fame rps. further info such as my trigger warnings can be found here.

plots.

period vampires! i don’t have much to say for this one bc there’s lots of directions we could go, i would rly love to play a jodie comer fc for this perhaps…, kind of like interview with a vampire/anne rice style vampires maybe?

i love anything to do with fae lore, esp the rly traditional stuff. also love anything from holly blacks’ fae verses. changeling plots are particuarly *chef’s kiss*.

i have a faulty android muse that i’d love to plot with in a setting based off cypberpunk 2077 (or the original 2020 ttrpg). based on this super old comic from tumblr where the android escapes half-broken from the corp that made them and breaks into a techies’ shop to fix themselves up

fantasy mumus in settings like the elder scrolls or dragon age or a generic ass fantasy settings where we could just make a bunch of ocs and stick ‘em together in a guild like in ur standard dungeons and dragons set up. i have a lot of dnd ocs. and a lot of them will never be used in games so??

something rly cutesy and farmcore with like stardew valley/animal crossing/harvest moon vibes plot where its all whimsical and rural and fervently anti-capitalist but has maybe some soft fantasy vibes (look i just rewatched the animal crossing film and im,, in love once again, bonus for older muses looking for a city escape). i also saw this post that mentioned a witch running a cat shelter like that it’s thats the ship. cat shelter witch x former corporate wage slave turned farm girl.

girl’s. boarding. schools. enough said. could either have a dark academia vibe with a murder mystery OR ghosts/cults/general spooky stuff (or both??).

have any of y’alll read angelology? nun and a cute academic team up to stop nephilim from destroying the world with gabriel’s lyre and then it turns out nun is a nephilim and academic is like actually, nope and suddenly they’re enemies? Love that

fandoms.

generally i prefer to play ocs in fandom settings, but there are a few canon ships i’d like to do.

elder scrolls

fallout

dragon age (leliana/josephine, leliana/warden, morrigan/warden, hawke/isabela, josephine/inquisitor, sera/inquisitor)

the witcher

borderlands

stardew valley

life is strange (chloe/max, chloe/rachel)

tithe

percy jackson

magnus archives

would love a bubbleline or catradora ship as well

faceclaims.

i prefer finding the right fc for the character rather than make plots based on fcs, but here are some i’m interested in:

hunter schafer, zendaya coleman, dev patel, lulu antariksa, chella man, reece king, gabriel darku, barbie feirrera, natasha liu bordizzo, amita suman, moon gayoung, aubrey joseph, danai gurira aron piper, seo kang joon, emmy rossum, maya hawke, kimiko glenn, sophie skelton, ryan potter, michael cimino, mj rodriguez, joe keery, jonathon daviss, lalisa manoban, tati gabrielle, rachel weisz, archie renaux, alilsha wainwright, indya moore, keiynan lonsdale, taron egerton, park chae wo, madison bailey, theo germaine, haley kiyoko, kit young, summer bishil, lana condor, viola davis, vanessa morgan, medalian rahimi, steven yuen, sofia byrant, liv hewson, lucy lui, jordan fisher, avan jogia, malese jow, doona bae, alberto rosende, arden cho, jodie cormer, rudy pankow, marlo kelly, tessa thompson, lyrica okano, lupita nyong'o, anya chalotra, naomi scott, neve campbell, erinn westbrook, brianne tju, ryan destiny, bryna marquezine, maisie williams, nick robinson, jessica parker kennedy, freddy carter, kaylee bryant, millie brady, bridgette lundy-paine, oscar isaac, sen mitsuji, im jinah, jessie mei li, lee pace, oliver jackson-cohan

#1x1 #1x1 rp #discord rp #discord 1x1

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femalechibiblogger · 3 years

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My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies

1. The Nativity Story

Betrothed to much-older Joseph (Oscar Isaac), Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) must remain a maiden for one year, but she subsequently receives a visit from the angel Gabriel, who tells her of her destiny. When Joseph and now-heavily pregnant Mary journey to Bethlehem for the Roman census, they face a threat from King Herod, whose obsession with an ancient prophecy endangers soon-to-be-born Jesus.

2. A Christmas Story

Based on the humorous writings of author Jean Shepherd, this beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a "Red Ryder air rifle." Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

3. Christmas Vacation

As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), and children, as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark's employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.

4. Home Alone

When bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) acts out the night before a family trip to Paris, his mother (Catherine O'Hara) makes him sleep in the attic. After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty house and assumes his wish to have no family has come true. But his excitement sours when he realizes that two con men (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister residence, and that he alone must protect the family home.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. Lucy suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, but his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers. After Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cheers up, and the Peanuts gang unites to celebrate the Christmas season.

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas

The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown's beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same annual routine of frightening people in the "real world." When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm spirits, he gets a new lease on life -- he plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go seriously awry.

7. The Grinch

The Grinch and his loyal dog, Max, live a solitary existence inside a cave on Mount Crumpet. His main source of aggravation comes during Christmastime when his neighbours in Whoville celebrate the holidays with a bang. When the Whos decide to make Christmas bigger and brighter, the disgruntled Grinch realises there is one way to gain peace and quiet. With help from Max, the green grump hatches a scheme to pose as Santa Claus, steal Christmas and silence the Whos' holiday cheer once and for all.

8. Elf

Buddy (Will Ferrell) was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa's elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn't fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.

9. Arthur Christmas

Everyone knows that, each Christmas, Santa Claus delivers presents to every last child on Earth. What everyone doesn't know is that Santa accomplishes the feat with a very high-tech operation beneath the North Pole. But when the unthinkable happens, and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of millions, someone has to save the day. It's up to Arthur (James McAvoy), Santa's youngest son, to deliver a present to the forgotten tyke before Christmas morning dawns.

10. White Christmas

Having left the Army following W.W.II, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song-and-dance act. Davis plays matchmaker and introduces Wallace to a pair of beautiful sisters (Betty and Judy) who also have a song-and-dance act. When Betty and Judy travel to a Vermont lodge to perform a Christmas show, Wallace and Davis follow, only to find their former commander, General Waverly, as the lodge owner. A series of romantic mix-ups ensue as the performers try to help the General.

#christmas #top 10 list #Top List #the nativity story #christmas story #christmas vacation #home alone #charlie brown #the nightmare before christmas #the grinch #elf #arthur christmas #white christmas #movie

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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years

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PARLEY BAER

August 5, 1904

Parley Baer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He studied drama at the University of Utah. Early in his career, Baer was a circus ringmaster and publicist before entering military service in World War II. In the 1950s, he had a job training wild animals at Jungleland and was a docent at the Los Angeles Zoo. The highlight of his radio career was originating the role of Chester in the radio version of “Gunsmoke”, a role played by Dennis Weaver on television. Baer is perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Mayor Stoner on “The Andy Griffith Show” and Doc Appleby in “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

“Radio is the most nearly perfect medium for an actor. If you have an audience of 5 million people listening to you, you're giving 5 million performances.” ~ Parley Baer

On radio, he did four episodes of “Grandby’s Green Acres” starring Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret, a summer fill-in for Lucille Ball’s “My Favorite Husband.” Baer would also later appear in four episodes of the television version, “Green Acres” (1965-71).

Baer’s first collaboration with Lucille Ball was playing MGM’s Mr. Reilly in “Ricky Needs an Agent” (ILL S4;E29). Disguised as Miss McGillicuddy, Ricky’s agent, Lucy is determined to see Dore Schary herself, but remembers that they previously met, so she meets with another Metro executive Reilly instead.

Baer returned to the series as Connecticut furniture salesman Mr. Perry in “Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors” (ILL S6;E18). Neighbor Betty Ramsey (Mary Jane Croft) takes Lucy to her favorite showroom, where Lucy mistakes stock numbers for price tags and goes over the budget Ricky allowed her.

Baer made five appearances on “The Lucy Show.” In his first appearance he is Mr. Evans, who sells Lucy Carmichael a sheep to help maintain her lawn in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (TLS S1;E5) in 1962.

Two years later (finally in color) Baer returns to “The Lucy Show” to play Jack T. Kasten, a humorless Danfield judge that has to tolerate an overzealous “Lucy the Meter Maid” (TLS S3;E7) in 1964.

In “Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (TLS S4;E10) in 1965, Baer played Colonel Dietrich (codename HIM) of US Intelligence. After seeing a James Bond film, Lucy, the Countess and Mr. Mooney find themselves embroiled in a spy caper that ends up with Lucy disguised as Carol Channing.

When Lucy develops super strength in “Lucy the Superwoman” (TLS S4;E26) in 1966, she is examined by Dr. Davis (Baer) to determine the source of her sudden power.

Baer once again dons judge’s robes when “Lucy Sues Mooney” (TLS S6;E12) in 1967. This would be his last appearance on the series, but not his last with Ball...

On “Here’s Lucy” he played Dr. Cunningham, Harry Carter’s psychiatrist, in “Lucy’s Vacation” (HL S3;E17)...

and in “Lucy’s Bonus Bounces” (HL S4;E16). There may have been intentions to make Dr. Cunningham a recurring character, but this never came to pass.

ON THE DESILU LOT...

Between 1952 and 1955, Baer made three appearances on “Our Miss Brooks” starring Gale Gordon and Eve Arden.

In 1956, he made an appearance on the Desilu sitcom “December Bride” starring Verna Felton.

In May 1959, he did an episode of Desilu’s “Whirlybirds” a series about helicopter pilots. He shared the screen with Herb Vigran, who Baer is sometimes mistaken for and who also did several Lucy-coms.

That same year, Baer did “The Hanging Judge” a non-Lucy-Desi episode of “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse”. The show was hosted by Desi Arnaz.

From 1956 to 1960, Baer did three episodes of “The Danny Thomas Show” aka “Make Room for Daddy”, a show that moved to CBS in 1959 and did a crossover episode with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”. In one episode, Baer acted with Mary Wickes (Madame Lamond), and in another he appeared opposite Shirley Mitchell (Marion Strong). The series was not produced by Desilu, but it was shot at their studio.

In 1960, Baer did one episode of the short-lived Desilu series “Harrigan and Son” about a father / son law firm.

In April 1961, Baer did an episode of “Angel” shot on the Desilu lot. In his episode, he played the title character of “The Dentist” and acted opposite Doris Singleton (Carlolyn Appleby), a recurring character on the short-lived series.

Perhaps his most famous work on the Desilu backlot was as Mayberry Mayor Roy Stoner in seven episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1962 to 1963.

Back on the bench as a Judge on “My Living Doll” on the Desilu backlot for an episode aired in February 1965. The short-lived series was about a psychiatrist (Bob Cummings) entrusted with the care of a sexy robot (Julie Newmar).

In 1966 and 1967, Baer did two episodes of “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C” on the Desilu backlot. In 1966, Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) turned up in a cameo on “The Lucy Show.” At the end of 1967, Lucille Ball sold Desilu to Paramount and Gulf + Western.

In 1946, Baer married Ernestine Clarke and they had two children. Baer died in November 2002 after a stroke.

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randomositycat · 4 years

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Black trans folks

Day 1 - Willmer “Little Axe” Broadnax (1916 - 1992)

Broadnax was a trans man who moved to Southern California from Houston with his brother to join the Southern Gospel Singers. He and his brother later formed their own group called “Little Axe and the Golden Echoes.” Eventually the brothers parted ways and joined various other groups throughout their musical careers

Day 2 - Jim McHarris (1924-Unknown)

McHarris was a trans man born in Mississippi. He was sent to foster care after his parents died. He transitioned in his early teens and began traveling the country taking various jobs. He was notorious for being a ladies’ man and was engaged to be married when one evening, he was pulled over for problems with his lights and the officers found an open bottle of whiskey in his car. During the pat-down, he revealed his birth sex to the officers. The police didn't believe him, so McHarris was forced to strip naked in front of a judge and the police. He served 30 days on a jail farm and continued living as a man upon release.

Day 3 - Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)

Johnson was a prominent figure within the gay liberation movement and was part of the Stonewall uprising of 1969. She co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries with Sylvia Rivera. They engaged in sex work in order to secure hotel rooms where they fed and housed queer youth. She was later involved with ACT-UP, a coalition working to impact the lives of people living with AIDS. Her body was found in the Hudson River in 1992 and many believed she may have been murdered by the mafia. Her death was never solved, despite multiple attempts to reopen the case.

Day 4 - Sir Lady Java (1943-Present)

Sir Lady Java was born in New Orleans. She transitioned at an early age with her mother’s support. She made a living in the nightclub scene and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she become a hit in a club frequented by Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Pryor, Don Rickles and other great comedy legends of that time. The Los Angeles Police Department started shutting down her shows for violating an ordinance that prohibited a person from dressing as someone of the “opposite sex.” They threatened to also fine any venue that hosted her. She protested and involved the ACLU, but the case was thrown out on the grounds that only club owners could sue. She went on to become an actress and prominent transgender activist

Day 5 - The Lady Chablis (1957-2016)

The Lady Chablis was an actress and author who was originally born in Florida. She dropped out of high school and decided as a teenager to go by the name Chablis. Her mother saw the name on a wine bottle and wanted it for her unborn daughter, whom she later miscarried. After asking for her mother’s blessing, Chablis legally adopted the name. Chablis became a hit in the club scene and was the first drag performer to be accepted by a larger audience. She was best known for her appearance in the bestselling book and film adaptation of Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil. She made other film and television appearances, including documentaries about her life, made-for-TV films and even The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Chablis died of pneumonia at the age of 59.

Day 6 - Mary Jones (Unknown)

Jones was a trans woman living in New York City in the 1830s who made a living as a sex worker. Her clients were wealthy white men, and after she slept with them, she’d steal their wallets as a bonus. Most of them never reported the thefts because they didn’t want their conservative peers to know they had a fetish for black trans women. She was eventually charged with grand larceny when someone turned her in to the police. Jones was released after five years in prison, at which point she was arrested again for dressing as a woman. She served an additional five months.

Day 7 - Lucy Hicks Anderson (1886-1954)

As a child, Anderson wore dresses and chose her name. Her mother took her to a physician who advised her mother to raise Anderson as a girl. Anderson, who was born in Kentucky, graduated and started traveling and working as a domestic worker. The Ventura County district attorney found out she was trans and the courts charged her with perjury for illegally signing a marriage license as a trans woman. She was given 10 years probation instead of going to prison. Since Anderson had received allotment checks as the wife of a soldier in the U.S. Army, the courts convicted both her and her second husband of fraud in 1946. and she was sent to prison. When she got out of prison, she was forced to leave Oxnard; she lived in Los Angeles the rest of her life

Day 8 - Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (1940-Present)

Another Stonewall veteran, Miss Major has continued to engage in vital activism on behalf of the LGBT community. She was an AIDS advocate in the 80's and 90's and more recently was executive director of the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), which supports transgender women affected by incarceration and police violence. She is also the subject of the upcoming documentary, Major!

Day 9 - Carlett A. Brown (1927-Unknown)

Brown was serving in the Navy when she began being treated for a few medical conditions. There was concern she was mentally ill because she admitted she wanted to be a woman. While undergoing a physical exam, it was discovered Brown was actually intersex. She refused to have the doctor-recommended surgery to become “more typically male,” according to Autostraddle, and decided she wanted to have gender confirmation surgery instead. (It was referred to as “sex reassignment surgery” at the time.) After having the surgery, she planned to marry her boyfriend, Sgt. Eugene Martin.

Day 10 - Tracey "Africa" Norman (1952-Present)

Tracey Norman, who often went by Tracey Africa, is best known for being the first African American transgender woman model. Norman appeared on a box of Clairol in the 1970s and landed a contract with Avon for a skin care line. In 1971, renowned photographer Irving Penn photographed Norman for Italian Vogue. She was also photographed for Essence in 1980, but when her transgender identity was discovered she was blacklisted in the United States.

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brokehorrorfan · 5 years

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Best New Horror Movies on Netflix: Winter 2018

There’s an overwhelming amount of horror films and TV shows to sift through on Netflix, so I’ve decided to take out some of the legwork by compiling a list of the season’s best new genre titles available on Netflix’s instant streaming service.

Please feel free to leave a comment with any I may have missed and share your thoughts on the films you watch. You can also peruse past installments of Best New Horror Moves on Netflix for more suggestions.

1. The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is, quite simply, some of the best long-form horror storytelling of all time. Based on - but not a strict adaptation of - Shirley Jackson's influential gothic horror novel of the same name, the series is created and directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil). Told through two timelines, with clever transitions between the past and present, the story concerns five siblings and how an alleged haunting they experienced as kids affects them as adults. The cast includes Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), Carla Gugino (Watchmen), Michiel Huisman (Treme), Elizabeth Reaser (Ouija: Origin of Evil), Kate Siegel (Hush), Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), and Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation). It is admirably character-driven, which makes the horror elements hit even harder, and a spooky atmosphere is present throughout all 10 episodes.

2. Green Room

Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier achieves the impossible by matching - and perhaps even surpassing - the unbridled intensity of his previous film, Blue Ruin, with Green Room. The exercise in white-knuckle suspense finds a scrappy punk band trapped in a skinhead club after unwittingly walking in on a crime. The late Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) delivers one of the best performances of his tragically short career as the de facto leader of the band. In a bit of inspired casting, Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation) is chilling as the conniving, white supremacist venue owner. Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Joe Cole (Skins), and Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) round out the band, while Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later) is also wrapped up in the brutal fight for survival. Akin to Don't Breathe, the tension on screen is enough to induce anxiety, and Saulnier nails the punk rock DIY spirit to boot.

3. Cam

Cam stars Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid's Tale) as a cam girl - one who performs pornographic acts live on camera for paying viewers - who is desperate to gain popularity. Produced by Blumhouse, this is not your typical "seedy underbelly of the sex industry" movie, although there is some of that; instead, it goes in a refreshing, unpredictable direction. Reminiscent of a neon-soaked episode of Black Mirror, Cam is a suspenseful and compelling mystery-thriller with a sci-fi twist and horror undertones. Brewer is spectacular in her fearless performance, while director Daniel Goldhaber makes a powerful feature debut.

4. The Night Comes for Us

The Night Comes for Us is an unrelenting action thriller in the vein of The Raid, John Wick, and Dredd. In fact, the Indonesian film reunites The Raid's Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais. Taslim leads as a man who goes rogue from a dangerous crime syndicate. A variety of deadly individuals (Uwais among them) are out to get him, but he has some tough allies as well. It all culminates in an incredible final battle in which the viewer feels every blow. The blend of brutal, graphic violence and impressively choreographed fight scenes is written and directed by by Timo Tjahjanto (whose V/H/S/2 segment is a highlight of the franchise).

5. Apostle

Forget that Nicolas Cage abomination; Apostle is the Wicker Man reboot we deserve. The Netflix original film is reminiscent of the 1973 occult horror classic not only in plot but also in tone, style, and pacing. Set in 1905 London, a feral Dan Stevens (The Guest) stars as a man whose sister is kidnapped by a religious cult on a secluded island, which he must infiltrate to save her. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) serves as the cult's charismatic leader, while Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) plays his daughter. The slow-burn is quite a change of pace for writer-director Gareth Evans (The Raid franchise) and his regular cinematographer, Matt Flannery, but they handle it beautifully.

6. May the Devil Take You

May the Devil Take You feels like The Evil Dead's Sam Raimi directing an installment in The Conjuring universe. The Indonesian horror film is not a scrappy splatterfest; it's elegantly directed by Timo Tjahjanto (V/H/S/2). He culls from modern supernatural tropes to craft fine horror set pieces, spooky imagery, a good atmosphere, and strong production value. Chelsea Islan (Headshot) earns to be mentioned in the same breath as Bruce Campbell in her lead role as a daughter who investigates her estranged father's past to uncover the truth behind his coma and her haunting visions. It's a tad overlong at 110 minutes, which is particularly felt during the last act, but there's enough kinetic energy to keep it moving forward.

7. Hold the Dark

Hold the Dark is not quite as strong as Jeremy Saulnier's previous efforts (Green Room, Blue Ruin), but his mastery of tension remains unparalleled. Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) stars as a wolf expert who's convinced by an Alaskan woman (Riley Keough, Max Mad: Fury Road) to hunt a wolf that took her young son, only to get wrapped up in a murder plot. Meanwhile, the boy's soldier father (Alexander Skarsgård, True Blood) returns home from duty in the Middle East unhinged. The screenplay is written by Macon Blair (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore), based on the book of the same name by William Giraldi. As viewers have come to expect from Saulnier, the violence is as unrelenting as the suspense.

8. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not your TGIF version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Its aesthetically similar to the Archie Comics title on which its based, embracing the rich Gothic horror atmosphere, but the story veers more into teen drama territory. The result is like a mash-up of Riverdale, The Witch, and Harry Potter. It may take a few episodes to become invested, plus to get used to the distracting shallow depth of field style (which is thankfully used less as the season progresses), but it's eventually rather addicting. The midsection becomes something of a monster-of-the-week series, but it never loses sight of the overall story arc. Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) is charming as the titular witch, and the main cast also includes Ross Lynch (My Friend Dahmer), Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings), and Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who).

9. Into the Forest

Into the Forest is a post-apocalyptic tale of sorts, but it's a grounded take on the subject matter that largely functions as a drama. Ellen Page (Inception) and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) star as sisters who live with their father (Callum Keith Rennie, Battlestar Galactica) in a secluded, woodland home. Directed by Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park), the movie follows the family in their fight for survival in the months after electricity is lost throughout the world. Although it drags in spots, Page, who produced the film after falling in love with Jean Hegland's novel on which it's based, is in top form.

10. In Darkness

In Darkness stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) as a blind pianist who hears her upstairs neighbor (Emily Ratajkowski, Gone Girl) get murdered, drawing her into London's seedy underworld, where she meets Ed Skrein (Deadpool) and Joely Richardson (Event Horizon). With shades of Wait Until Dark, the thriller offers some solid suspense and tension, plus superb sound design and cinematography. The setup is gripping, though the plot later becomes too convoluted for its own good. Dormer is fantastic in the lead, and she also produced and co-wrote the script with director Anthony Byrne (Peaky Blinders).

11. Don't Watch This

Don't Watch This is listed on Netflix as a season, but it's simply five unrelated horror shorts, ranging between 2 and 9 minutes in length. There's body horror, killer kids, urban explorers, and Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski parodying American Psycho. In addition to a few clever setups and strong horror set pieces, they boast quality production value, cinematography, and special features (both practical and digital). Shorts usually struggle to find an audience on YouTube, so it's great to see them showcased on a platform as powerful as Netflix.

Bonus: De Palma

De Palma is a documentary on filmmaker Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible, Blow Out, Phantom of the Paradise, et al.). The septuagenarian himself - with no other talking heads - discusses and reflects on his oeuvre, going movie by movie (plus a handful of unmade projects) in chronological order, accompanied by clips and stills. Co-directed by Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) and Jake Paltrow (Young Ones), the candid nature of the interviews prevent the film from feeling like a mere DVD special feature. It moves briskly, leaving you wanting more even at 110 minutes.

#netflix #the haunting of hill house #chilling adventures of sabrina #green room #cam #may the devil take you #apostle #the night comes for us #hold the dark #into the forest #best of netflix #article #list #haunting of hill house #sabrina #in darkness #don't watch this #de palma #bent neck lady

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