#Multigenerational Drama

[unnieshimkoongkdramas]

Family KDramas - Is it Worth the 50 Episode Commitment?

There is a genre of Kdramas that I can only classify as family kdramas. I’m not sure what else to call them and I’m sure there is a proper name for them. I’ll ask my mom one day. They’re multi-generational stories. These stories contain the following: Most have a theme of a HUGE secret that everyone eventually finds out about. This is usually what hooks the viewer. The pain and frustration of…

[danse--macabre]

I decided fuck it and invented at least six ravengard family OCs overnight

[rotzaprachim]

the part of my brain that has serious canonverse fic to write versus the part of my brain that decided i could only start to unpeel the onion layers of cassian and maarva’s relationship via the vehicle of dry domestic comedy and was like. so what if this was all about a 1970′s geordie shipbuilder’s union? 

[leebrontide]

Someone, at some point, decided that teenagers only like stories about teens interacting with other teenagers.

But at my book launch for Names in Their Blood, there were loads of teens who were really excited about the idea of a spec-fic family drama. I really think it's an under-utilized story avenue in today's YA! Especially in scifi and fantasy!

And why??? Your teenage years are a time when your relationships to older family members are changing rapidly! Even teens that have a good relationships to parents/grandparents/aunts and uncles are going to experience those relationships changing as they themself mature and change. As their needs change and relationships either stall or adapt. As they grow up and are able to see those people and relationships in a new light!

And sibling relationships are so much richer when we put them against a backdrop of the sibling's different relationships to these key family members.

But whenever I try to find other spec-fic family drama people give me like...same age, newly formed peer groups and call it found family.

And that's fine. I love a found family.

But give me the multigenerational issues! The inherited behavioral quirks! The long and entangled histories! The same family events viewed through multiple eyes and recorded so differently! The ingrained patterns! Estrangements! Reunions! Secrets! Grudges! Loyalty! Coalitions! Hierarchies building and collapsing! I love it all!

Please, more scifi/fantasy YA family drama!

[natlacentral]

The cast of Netflix’s adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender knows they can’t please everyone.

It’s a difficult life lesson that many of the show’s young actors have come to learn since they were chosen to star in a live-action reimagining of one of the most beloved animated series of all time.

Like any great saga, the latest iteration of Avatar has taken a circuitous route to the small screen. In 2020, two years after Netflix announced that it was developing a remake, original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino departed the project over creative differences. A year later, former Nikita and Sleepy Hollow writer-producer Albert Kim officially assumed the role of creator and showrunner, intending to honor the Asian and Indigenous roots of his source material.

Since the debut of the new Avatar last Thursday, longtime fans have remained divided over the many changes that were made to turn a 20-episode half-hour children’s cartoon into an eight-episode serialized drama that has multigenerational appeal. But by maintaining the essence of the original while expanding the world that Konietzko and DiMartino have created, the new creative team is hoping to recapture some of the magic that transformed Avatar into a cultural phenomenon.

Every diehard fan can recite the basic premise by heart: The four nations — Water, Earth, Fire, Air — once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping the peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads. A century later, Aang (Gordon Cormier), a 12-year-old Air Nomad frozen in an iceberg, reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. With his newfound friends Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley), siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang sets out on a quest to save the world from the onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) while avoiding being captured by Ozai’s tempestuous son, Crown Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu).

Almost every Zoomer who grew up watching Nickelodeon seems to have their own relationship with the original Avatar. Kiawentiio, whose older siblings would always have the show playing in their house, recalls being drawn to its depiction of a young Indigenous girl, at a time when there was scant representation of Native Americans. Ousley credits Avatar and Star Wars: The Clone Wars for inspiring him to take up martial arts. Liu has a vivid childhood memory of watching a restless Zuko and his tea-drinking uncle Iroh’s first scene together on a boat. Cormier, as the youngest of the bunch, admits that he had not watched the show prior to auditioning. But by the time he entered production, all he could do was live and breathe Avatar.

Daniel Dae Kim, who watched the original with one of his sons when it first aired, tells Teen Vogue that he held a kind of family meeting with his now-adult children and some of his nieces and nephews after receiving an offer from Albert Kim (no relation) to star in the new version. “I called all of them, and I said, ‘What do you think about me doing a part in Avatar?’ And they were like, ‘You should do it!’ without hesitation. Then I asked the next question: ‘Well, I’m playing Ozai. He’s a bad guy…’ They paused for a second, and then they all screamed, ‘You should still do it!’” he says with a laugh.

Once the cast was assembled, the creative team began the seemingly gargantuan task of trying to breathe new life into each of the characters. While the animated series dealt with weighty issues such as genocide, war and imperialism, there is an added human component in live-action storytelling that requires a more grounded approach to depicting real-life reactions and emotions. “We were all definitely allowed to look into the darker sides of each of our characters,” Cormier says. In Aang’s case, he is tasked with a responsibility that he doesn’t necessarily want but feels obligated to assume after discovering that he is the last living Airbender of his kind.

Aang is “naturally a really fun-loving, goofy 12-year-old, so to be hit with something so serious like a genocide [affecting] all of his people, it really affects him badly,” Cormier says. “We see in the first episode where I blow Katara and Sokka off the mountain how badly it’s affected me. It hurt me so much [that] I blasted into the Avatar state and started destroying my home. I think it just shows how serious and traumatic it is for Aang, but slowly, he’ll get through it and become the Avatar.”

The themes of loss and grief remain prevalent across all eight episodes, with each of the young characters being forced to confront their own unresolved trauma.

Katara is forced to reckon with how her memory of her mother’s death has affected her ability to become a full-fledged Waterbender. “Another thing that I feel like impacted her so much, without even really explicitly touching on it, is being the last Waterbender of her tribe,” Kiawentiio says. “She really feels so deeply connected with that part of [herself], even though it’s something that she can’t really access [at first], and she feels this sense of, ‘This is what I should be doing.’”

After his father left years ago on a mission to fight the Firebenders, Sokka was forced to grow up quickly and protect his tribe, especially his younger sister, from the waterbending abilities that had caused them so much pain. “Sokka is a perfect example of somebody that is not healed, is pushing stuff down and won’t let it come out, is putting on different masks to the point where he doesn’t even know who he is when we first find him,” says Ousley, who insisted on finding a way to bring out a more serious side in Sokka without losing his signature sarcasm in this adaptation. “I think the trauma that he has is covered up by humor often and covered up by acting silly, and he will have lots of moments where he actually discovers who he is.”

Zuko, however, may have the most compelling arc of the first season. Having been banished by Ozai from the Fire Nation, Zuko has effectively lost one father but gained another father figure in his Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), who takes it upon himself to look after Zuko on his journey to capture the Avatar. In the first season, viewers see Zuko’s Agni Kai — or traditional Firebender duel — with Ozai, who was responsible for giving Zuko his prominent facial scar.

While Ozai “may not have the tools to do it the right way,” Kim understands that his character “is trying, in his own way, to shape his children into what he feels is necessary to secure the future of not only his family, but of the entire Fire Nation.” That kind of tough love, unfortunately, has done irreparable damage to his children.

In a dramatic departure from the original series, the writers decided to introduce Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula earlier than in the original series. In doing so, the family dynamics between Ozai, Zuko and Azula become even more complicated. “Since Zuko’s away on his ship in the first season, you get a glimpse into, while he’s away, what is going on in the Fire Nation and who’s pulling all the strings,” Yu says. “For Azula, Zuko is very much more like a roadblock than anything else. You see that sense of family is not really there.”

“I think the writers did a good job of showing a rivalry between the two fighting for the father’s approval and attention without us directly interacting or speaking with each other,” Liu adds. “Zuko is just trying to prove he is worthy of his father’s love and attention just as much as Azula is. I think people will really come to root for Zuko because of everything that he’s been through.”

The production team was also keen to honor and recreate the costumes of the original series in a way that was not only beautiful but practical for the actors; Kiawentiio and Ousley had to wear heavy coats made of suede and fur, while Kim, Liu and Yu wore layers upon layers of corseted material with large shoulder pads.

“They really helped me complete the character because there was something about when I put on the wardrobe that made me walk [and] feel a certain way,” Kim says, “and it turned my character into someone more regal and powerful.”

It’s almost fitting that the most regal character is played by Hollywood royalty among Asian Americans. For the better part of the last three decades, Kim has been at the forefront of the movement to increase the visibility of Asian Americans in film and television. “The fact that I’m still working and able to see [the change] and be a part of it makes me feel very grateful, because success is not guaranteed to anyone in this business,” he reflects.

Kim believes the new Avatar is a reflection of today’s changing landscape in Western entertainment for more diverse stories that center Asian and Indigenous communities. “I don’t think it’s any secret to say that a live-action version has been done in the past, but it wasn’t done this way,” he says, referring to M. Night Shyamalan’s disastrous The Last Airbender film, which whitewashed many key characters. “I don’t think that it would have been done this way even five or 10 years ago because there wasn’t the same emphasis on proper representation and real diversity [that there is now].”

“I feel like we fought hard for the progress that we’ve made, and at the same time, I acknowledge that there need to be others outside of those of us in the community to push things forward,” he adds. “It takes a community working together along with allies.”

As the most accomplished actor of the group, did Kim have any advice for his younger castmates? “I don’t feel like it’s necessarily my place to be giving advice where it’s not needed or wanted, but it was nice of them to ask me about my experiences and how they could chart their own path forward in a business that’s very difficult,” Kim responds. “I can tell you that I really have been impressed by all of them, and I’m so excited to see the next generation of Asian American actors in particular come in with this attitude, with this opportunity. I would really love nothing more than to see them succeed beyond what we’ve seen in generations previous.”

The first season ends with Aang, Katara and Sokka successfully helping the Northern Water Tribe fend off a vicious attack from the Firebenders. Rather than following the advice of past Avatars, who stressed that he would have to bear the burden of his title alone, Aang realizes that he needs his friends to master all four elements.

“The Avatar still has to learn other elements, so we had to get the ball rolling on water and earth. If we did reach Season 2, I believe that we’ll find Aang already practicing water just because in the group he has quite the master to teach him,” Kiawentiio says with a smile, alluding to her own character.

But the last minutes of the finale also reveal that the attack on the North was actually a decoy for the Fire Nation. Ozai, as it turns out, had his sights on the Earth Kingdom — and his daughter, Azula, has taken over the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu with her own army. Aang’s old friend, King Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar), has now been taken prisoner.

“You have this idea of the prodigal son and you put all of your attention to someone who, in Ozai’s eyes, is failing him,” Kim says of the state of Ozai’s relationships with his two most powerful children at the end of the season. “So when there’s another child that you are not looking at in the same way that ends up surprising you, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it changes the way that you see the future. I think Azula was a surprise to him, and it brings him some joy, and he may have overlooked her in the past, but now he sees her as a real heir apparent.”

The revelation that his father has passed him over for his sister, at least for now, shakes up Zuko’s entire world, Liu says. “He feels a weird sense of betrayal because even though it is his sister and his father working against him, they are part of the Fire Nation, and his loyalty towards the Fire Nation was something that we know he was very persistent about, even though he was banished.”

Going forward, Kim would be interested in deepening the portrayal of Ozai’s relationships with his children, as well as his older brother, Iroh. “What is the relationship between the two of them when the second son supersedes the first? And how does Iroh feel about all of that? We never really see that explored,” he remarks. “I’d also like to see what happened to Zuko and Azula’s mom. These kinds of things are crucial to deepening the character, and I would love to see a little bit more of his history and how that informs who he is now.”

While the show has yet to be renewed for a second season, the young actors all have their own hopes for future seasons. Ousley would like to see Sokka “pick up the pieces” emotionally after the beautifully tragic end of his first love, Princess Yue (Amber Midthunder). Yu is ready to “do some of the really iconic Azula lines and scenes that we all know,” especially the Agni Kai in Season 3. Cormier is most excited to potentially adapt “Appa’s Lost Days” and the final fight scene between Aang and Ozai. “Throughout the show, I feel like he's going to learn more and more about why he has to be the Avatar,” he says.

[specialagentartemis]

Metal Gear Solid is the Homeric Epic Cycle for our age. Iliad ass series.

A very long war epic

War Is Hell

Eight thousand characters and most of them die

Multigenerational drama set in motion long before most of the characters were born

Cursed bloodlines, looming fate, cycles of violence, the inevitable consequences of the choices you made, the sons facing the judgement and the consequences for the sins of their fathers

Characters will just randomly stop what they’re doing to monologue about their backstory and also anything else tangentially related

Lots of cool women. The story does not respect them at all

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

The Guardian tries to be sympathetic and fails.

The different reactions on both sides of the pond are interesting. The UK has to treat them as relevant and has to take this seriously because of their connection to the royal family and various aspects of the country’s mythos (the spare, Diana, etc…), but the US doesn’t have to do that.

The US is just mocking them and framing them as irrelevant, not just irrelevant now but irrelevant since their public lives started.

The reaction to the “chase” is the best example of this. In the UK, it stirs up memories of Diana’s death and the little boy walking behind the coffin. The US, however, doesn’t my have that kind of institutional memory. The Harkles are not part of a multigenerational national drama in this country. Diana was a celebrity in the US and her impact was through fashion, glamour and charity, not drama.

When the Harkles moved to the US, the media here thought they would deliver on that glamour and charity. They didn’t. All they’ve delivered is drama, drama, drama. Now the media is lashing back.

And their usually defenses-Diana card, Hero Harry, etc… don’t work here the way they work in the UK. I’ve been particularly struck by the different ways paps are portrayed. The UK paps were characterized as parasites, even by the US media. However, the US paps are presented as people who are just doing their jobs. In years of following this telenovela, I don’t think I’d seen even one sympathetic interview with the paps. Now I’ve seen three (Post, NYMag, and NYT).

And the US outlets are far more willing to accurately call out press shenanigans (branding strategies, spokespeople, security staging, leaks, exaggerated statements) than the UK. If the 2016 KP statement’s claims of pap break-ins had been met with this kind of healthy skepticism we would be in a very different place right now.

[cwseriesshowdown]

Round 2B: Legends of Tomorrow vs Gilmore Girls

Legends of Tomorrow: After seeing what doom the future holds, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter realizes heroes alone are not enough to prevent the impending catastrophe that threatens the planet. Tasked with recruiting both heroes and villains, Rip brings together a ragtag team of divergent talents, which includes the likes of Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, and Heat Wave. Although the team continually adds and loses members, their goal is always the same -- prevent supervillains from destroying time itself.

Gilmore Girls: Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated by an eclectic mix of dreamers, artists and everyday folk, this multigenerational drama about family and friendship centres around Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory. Lorelai owns the town's bed-and-breakfast, the Dragonfly Inn, with best friend/chef Sookie, and contends with weekly dinners with eccentric, well-off parents Richard and Emily Gilmore (who always have something to say about their daughter's life). After high school, Rory attends Yale University but frequently returns to Stars Hollow to visit her mom.

[my-emily-gilmore-era]

Gilmores prove life doesn’t end after 40

By Deseret News Feb 7, 2005

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — There's a certain irony in the fact that the WB — the network that targets teens and twentysomethings — has the two most believable, most well-rounded characters in their 60s on television.

And Richard and Emily Gilmore, as portrayed by 61-year-old Edward Herrmann and 60-year-old Kelly Bishop, have been an integral part of "The Gilmore Girls" since the show began 100 episodes ago.

"I know the WB is known as a young network and viewed, I think, a little bit too much that way," Bishop said. "This show is multigenerational. And, frankly, it's not about my own ego, but I wouldn't be inclined to watch this show as a viewer if it weren't for us, because I'm going to identify with an older person. I'm not going to be watching shows about teenagers because I've been there, done that."

In a medium that places such a high value on youth, the elder Gilmores are such an anomaly they're almost alone.

Herrmann replied with humor to questions about his "elder" status. "Let me get out of my wheelchair and dance," he said, affecting a truly elderly voice.

"That's kind of wonderful, too, that we're still alive," Bishop said. "And, what, 60 is the new 30, right?"

Well, maybe, but Richard and Emily have never had to act like teenagers to get airtime on "Gilmore Girls." They're not simply saccharin grandparents, they're complicated people living imperfect lives.

"It's interesting. It's wonderful," Herrmann said. "I mean, these people are lively. You don't die after the age of 40."

The Emmy-winning actor said the show's writers have "done a wonderful job with Richard."

"He's a fellow who's gone through a number of changes. . . . There have been a lot of plot lines for him, which I find true to life. So I haven't been bored at all."

The premise of the show is that their daughter, Lorelai (Lauren Graham), got pregnant when she was 16 and decided to keep and raise the baby on her own. Which, not surprisingly, drove a wedge between her and her parents.

A wedge that remained until Lorelai's daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), was a teenager and Lorelai had to turn to her wealthy parents for financial help to send Rory to private school. That reopened the daughter-parents relationship and gave Richard and Emily their first chance to really get to know their granddaughter, but it's a rift that's never been entirely healed.

"What I look for at the end of the tunnel is the reconciliation between (Richard and Lorelai) in some way," Herrmann said. But when he has raised the issue with creator/executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino, "She said, 'Not yet. We can't. There's a wonderful tension between the two that you want to try to maintain.'

"So it's great fun. And, actually, (executive producers) Amy (Sherman-Palladino) and Dan (Palladino) have given us really good stuff to do this year."

Good stuff that culminates Tuesday (7 p.m., Ch. 30) as Richard and Emily renew their wedding vows. The couple, married almost four decades, have been separated since last season. Not separated by much — Richard moved into the pool house — but their relationship had deteriorated badly.

"I love the idea because I think that those of you who are in long-term relationships will realize that you have, of course, that initial love/lust and all that," Bishop said, "and then it settles down. And then it kind of hits a point sometimes in a relationship where you're really bored with the other person and kind of think, hmmmm.

"And then out of no place and for no particular reason . . . you look at the person one day and you are so in love with them all over again."

It made for some great material for Bishop and Herrmann. Over the 99 previous episodes, they've done comedy, they've done drama, they've had surprises and they've always come across as real.

"The palette is rich. There's a lot of stuff to talk about," Herrmann said.

"I mean, almost to slapstick," Bishop said. "I finally got to do physical comedy climbing out of the basement window. (Richard accidentally locked Emily in.) That was so much fun."

And she loves playing a woman who's not exactly a caring, nurturing mother/grandmother. Emily Gilmore loves Lorelai and Rory, but she expresses that love in a manipulative way that drives her daughter crazy.

She's at it again in the 100th episode, using Rory's father, Christopher (David Sutcliffe), to try to end Lorelai's romance with Luke (Scott Patterson) — a relationship she doesn't approve of.

"I've gotten some really nice, vicious things to say to people," Bishop said, "which I always enjoy. . . . She's a piece of work, but, yeah, I had a lot of fun this year. Amy gave me some really nasty things to say."

Sherman-Palladino is amused at how Bishop — "one of the nicest people in the world" — takes so much joy in playing Emily, who is not. "I just love that she's so excited that she gets to be horrible to people."

But Bishop said she doesn't always understand viewers' reactions to the character.

"I'm surprised. People seem to really like her. And I haven't figured that out yet, because I think she's just horrible," she said. "I love playing her because she's so mean.

"And every once in a while people say they identify with her and I say, 'Why? I'm glad you're enjoying my performance, but you don't have to like Emily. Because I don't particularly like her. I like playing her.' "

[buffyfan145]

The trailer is out for Charlie's new Amazon miniseries "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart" and it looks great!!! :D It's a multigenerational drama about the Hart family and their flower farm in Australia and the main character Alice uncovering all these family secrets. They've got a great cast for this too. Also for us "Rings of Power" fans there already looks to be some interesting scenes in it of Charlie's character Clem as in one scene he's covered in ashes from that fire:

And then this scene with his daughter Alice made me scream Celebrían!!! :D The little girl playing Alice looks so much like how I picture her in our modern day Haladriel fics, including when writing my own. There's going to be a lot of gifs and scenes from this we can easily use for modern day Haladriel things I just know it. LOL

And I'm so excited to have something new of Charlie's to watch and the book was really good too. Comes out August 4th. :)

[ihatedean]

Is jojo's bizarre adventure a good first anime? I've only watched Sailor Moon as a kid and maybe Dragon Ball but the art is so gorgeous I'm kinda curious!

people who aren't fans appreciating the art style give me life omg<33 i agree it's stunning ! ! just look at this ! wow ! !

EDIT: WOW OH MY GOD WE'VE ENTERED YAPPING STATE. SORRY. SHORT ANSWER YES IF YOU LIKE MULTIGENERATIONAL FAMILY SAGAS AND THEMES OF FATE AND BLOOD BUT IT'LL TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO. JOJO IS A WEIRD SHOW. ITS WIDELY KNOWN AS THE GAY ANIME FOR A REASON.

but to answer your question,, i'd say it's 50-50? i know a lot of people that aren't anime fans that LOVE jojo. it's a very unique show that doesn't follow the classic formula that other shonen anime follow like DB does, for example- this is either a huge bonus or it completely ruins the experience, because a lot of people compare it to other shows they're already familiar with. there's no better word for it, it's a BIZARRE series. everything is weird, the dialogue, the characters, the setting, the art. the author's writing style is something everyone sort of had to get used to and we love him for making us go through that.

i actually avoided the anime for years because i thought the characters looked gross and the lack of female characters was kind of an issue for me back then (it gets better it gets a lot better you just have to see it through). but it was my boyfriend's first shonen and he begged me for months to watch it together so i said fuck it- i think i made him watch twilight or play danganronpa in exchange.

.....it might not grip you from the start. part 1 is not a lot of people's favorite part. it wasn't mine- after like four or five episodes (of nine ! it's very short !) of being weirded out by it, i realized that i had to stop seeing it as a shonen anime, and instead began to see it as,,, a play,, of sorts. if you watch the first two parts you'll know what i'm talking about. it's drama. once i changed my perspective on it, i completely fell in love ! ! from part 3 onwards it's a lot more like the usual shonen, and i know it's a lot more enjoyable for the average fan, but the first two parts are charming in their own weird little way :)

looking back on it after watching twin peaks, there are a lot of similarities, with the quirky characters and the themes. i only started twin peaks because of a jjba fic inspired by it. if you like twin peaks, i'm certain you'll like jojo.

but this is my spn blog and i assume you like supernatural so. i'll say: don't expect the same focus on relationships that spn puts on the characters, but know that its present in every interaction. where sam and dean hold each other tenderly and talk about how they're the only thing that matters, in jjba you'll have one character looking at the other in a way that's just drawn differently and the fandom will go insane. the supernatural characters are built very very carefully and have a lot of details that fans memorized- jjba characters are just as good but have a lot more space to play with if you want, regarding headcanons and storylines. their lives and thoughts aren't as well documented as sam and dean's is what i'm trying to say lol you'll know what brand of underwear a character likes most but you won't know his birthday. it happens. yes a lot of the fanfic is ooc because there's barely any character to remain inside of.

last but not least. this is a wincest blog. the first six parts of jojo follow six different generations of the same family. this is not minor. there will be daddy and mommy issues, there will be strange family dynamics. the family tree is FUCKED up and when you learn why you'll either drop the show or become sickeningly obsessed with a certain little guy called DIO. yes like THAT dio. there are a lot of musical references. unlike some characters i know, he's canonically bisexual.

anyways WOW do i like this anime. idk what else to say if you need more convincing this is the opening i guess

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

Hallmark Lands ‘The Chicken Sisters’ Series Adaptation With Lea Thompson, Schuyler Fisk, Genevieve Angelson and Wendie Malick (Variety EXCLUSIVE)

“The Chicken Sisters,” the bestselling 2020 novel by KJ Dell’Antonia and a Reese’s Book Club selection, is being adapted into a new original television series at Hallmark, Variety can exclusively announce.

Annie Mebane is set as both executive producer and showrunner of the eight-episode series, in production now and set to air later this year. The cast includes Schuyler Fisk, Genevieve Angelson, Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick.

“The Chicken Sisters,” a family drama with southern charm and romance, is set in the fictional town of Merinac, “where a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants – Mimi’s and Frannie’s – has left the founders’ families fractured and the locals taking sides.” When a popular cooking show comes to town, things get more complicated as sparks begin to fly and secrets are uncovered.

“Annie Mebane blew us away with her vision for ‘The Chicken Sisters’ — her unique spin and enthusiasm for this fried chicken feud had us excited from day one,” says Lisa Hamilton Daly, EVP of programming, Hallmark Media. “And talk about a dream cast! Schuyler, Genevieve, Lea and Wendie are the perfect actors to lead this witty and heartfelt story. We are confident that each episode is going leave our viewers craving more and more.”

Mebane adds, “When I read ‘The Chicken Sisters’ by KJ Dell’Antonia, I fell in love with these characters.  On the surface, the show is about two restaurants competing on a reality show, but it’s about the baggage we pass down through the generations and learning to unpack it. I love telling this multigenerational story focused on women: their frustrations, their desires, and ultimately, their healing. We’ve assembled an incredible cast, and we can’t wait to welcome audiences to Merinac.”

Read the full article at Variety by clicking this LINK.

[not-available-for-comment]

2023

Pros:

Met my amazing gf

Started getting treatment for diabetes and generally feeling less shitty

As a result, also lost ~40 pounds which puts me back at approximately my usual set point. I can fit into some favorite clothes again!

Coworker convinced me we should ask for promotions and she ended up being right, we got them

Learned a new weaving technique

Finished an afghan

Got to attend a multigenerational queer brunch at my church and talk to an 80yo lesbian about her experiences

Got to visit the UK again, which I’ve been wanting to do for nearly 20 years

Made it back to the dojo after various health issues last year

Started letting more overtly butch items into my wardrobe

Cons

Got diagnosed with diabetes (scary)

Lots of work stress and office drama

Started the year with not great mental health

My dad had a health emergency (he’s doing better)

Have spent this entire fucking month either jetlagged or ill: first food poisoning, now covid

On balance, a fantastic year because I met my girl 🥰

Here’s to ending out next year healthier and with the two of us in the same place 🥂

[leebrontide]

I miss being an author who gets invited onto podcasts. I lost all those connections when Twitter died.

Anyways, I have two novels and a novella out. They're scifi. They're queer on multiple axis. They're technically superhero novels but are actually complicated, multigenerational, found family + blood family dramas (the family drama is mostly not about queerness) They're about disability. They're about my anger at the criminal justice system. They're about genetic engineering and eugenics. They're about medical malpractice. They're about identity. They're YA edging into adult and very deliberately about that transition. They're written by a trauma therapist with a bone to pick.

If you want me to come ramble, you can check out some of my text ramblings here.

Reblogs appreciated! Help an author out!

[kelinswriter]

Links to recent Way Home press and interviews, with lots of amazing pictures of Chyler and some fun video. The ScaryMommy interview is 🔥🔥🔥. Also spoilers through ep 2.

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2024 #6-8

sits here. i have been behind on this.... once again... i think i just have to accept that i do these when i do these.

Finished Week 6 (Feb 4-10):

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (skimmed/read the spark notes for class discussion, won't be reading more)

Undoing Gender by Judith Butler (read Chapter 6 "Longing for Recognition", currently won't be reading more)

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin, narrated by Rob Inglis (started the same week, audio book was lots of fun)

i love Tenar...... i think it's really cool that the way the Earthsea books are working is that even tho Ged is a reocurring character, we get a new child perspective for each one

Orange, Vol. 4 by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (started same week)

truly TRULY the love triangle/rivals in this are so primed to be read polyamorously it had driven me crazy. just form a triad, you all like each other

about 10 other smaller things (articles, short stories, excerpts) that i shall not be naming individually bc this post is already too long

Finished Week 7 (Feb 11-17):

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (started in Week 6)

this book flips is like reading a multigenerational family drama with each section involving the slowly growing tension of knowing what horrific historical event/conditions they are about to live through

Venus by Susan-Lori Parks (started same week)

The Way of the House Husband by Kousuke Oono, translated by Amanda Haley (started same week)

“Experiential Gender” in Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano

“Black (W)holes and The Geometry of Black Female Sexuality” by Evelynn Hammonds

"Unsexed: A Zero Concept for Gender Studies" by Kath Weston

"Of Catamites and Kings: Reflections on Butch, Gender, and Boundaries" by Gayle Rubin (these four i read for a class that i lead the discussion four so while they fall under the category of articles i'm not mentioning right now, i felt they should be included for that reason)

a shit ton of student papers

6 smaller things (articles and abandoned books that i'm skipping for same reason as above)

Finished Week 8 (Feb 18-24):

Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam (started same week)

very in-depth descriptions of bowel movements in this

Orange, Vol. 5 by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (started same week)

so cute! once again i am advocating for them to just form a poly triad

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (started ages and ages ago...)

you've already seen my frantic reblog spam about this. i'm glad i finally finished reading this. the quarter 3 of it was kind a low point but i think it really captured me again by the end (however, i think the like... FINAL two pages are really scream "remember! that this is technically inspired by some real history!" in a way i found unneccesary and kinda too me out of the satisfaction of the end). i think the ending worked for me because Ma was really underused (i know it would have made the book kinda bloated but i would have loved a chapter or two of her perspective holding down the fort and dealing with internal politics while Zhu was away doing war things....), so her role in the finale was what really solidified it for me. this book drove me crazy in a great way, i think so many people should read She Who Became the Sun and then this sequel

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 11 by Kamome Shirahama, translated by Stephen Kohler (started same week)

the panelling in this manga is simply so fucking good. read this. its so cute

Orange, Vol. 6: Future by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (started same week)

i don't think this volume was necessary lol... i did not need to know how Suwa and Naho got together in the future where Kakeru died, it was better as implications

Ongoing Reads:

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (read another chapter)

i am so sorry to my girlfriend who has to deal with me complaining about this book i am reading to her after every chapter... i am glad she is enjoying it regardless

The Farther Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin, narrated by Rob Inglis (about halfway through)

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (basically read the preface material so far)