#and the funny thing is it's fans of other historical women hating other women

[cosmic-walkers]

i wanna interact with more tudor history blogs (esp tudor women blogs) but it's kinda scary over there...

[dangermousie]

List of dramas everyone loves but I either watched and did not love or didn’t even want to watch because I found them unappealing to that degree.

1. Nirvana in Fire - the protag was way too OP and I also never did overcome my conviction that Wang Kai would get eaten alive by the court the moment MCS died - ideals and inability to do sleazy compromising morally grey things combined with too much morality make for a terrible ruler.

2. Castaway Diva - it was so fucking precious I wanted to scream “you can’t do magic realism with your magic chirpy castaway.” Sure Jorge Amado could but you ain’t Jorge Amado.

3. Extraordinary Attorney Woo - I do not do lawyer dramas at all. And as a contrarian, the more people fangirled over it, the more annoyed I got.

4. You are Beautiful - yeah it’s old but I can hold a grudge. Watching it as it aired was extremely not fun with insane fans who were enraged the ratings were not whatever it was, the characters were annoying as fuck and JGS decided to cosplay as his character in this for a decade after, the ending was lifted from A Star in my Heart. But honestly it’s the psychotic fans that really did it for me.

5. Start Up - why it inspired this degree of obsession and virtiol is beyond me but I couldn’t look at anyone involved for years.

6. Legend of Zhen Huan - I hate all harem dramas and the better made the more I hate them because all those smart women fighting for attention of one gross fail man so as to survive or for power or because it’s him or nobody is, historically accurate or not, depressing as fuck.

7. Legend of Fei - color beige given form.

8. Moon that Eclipses the Sun - moronic plot, dumbing down of any historical reality of anything, lead pair with no chemistry (and leading lady who can’t act), and the start of the horrifying fluffy youth sageuk trend. If I had Thanos’ zapper to use only on one drama this would be it.

9. My Name is Kim Sam Soon - once again huge old hit and I can hold grudges - it’s not funny and the leads are an immature annoying unlikeable pair. When the only character I like is the secondary girl you know you fucked up.

10. Rookie Historian - makes Moon that Eclipses the Sun seem like Jumong. Also if Cha Eun Woo actually moves his face I think the world might end so I am grateful to him from protecting us from that apocalypse in that and every other drama.

(I did not include dramas that were popular but had a mixed reception like Boys Over Flowers etc or we’d be here all day.)

[beevean]

Honestly that callout is the inevitable end of what we already mentioned abt nfcv criticisms:

-Loud annoying fucks make obvious racism fueled criticism of n!Annette

-Fandom considers this to be the sum of nfcv critics

-You n other fellas make criticism of n!Annette based on how her character was adapted, her story arc, interactions, etc

-"You're so racist n misogynistic!!!" Dogpiling

And you did acknowledge the unfair backlash against her in good faith and if ppl had disagreements it could be like "nah i dont agree bc x and i think you're being insensitive abt y bc z". Hell, if i got told i said something insensitive i'd rectify and apologize but nope. You're a bigot now congratulations :/

And (and im gonna get a bit political here sorry for that) forever gonna hate how nocturne made me have to speak abt all the nuances of the french revolution bc it is true that France was and is an imperialistic country w racism issues, but said history and issues can't be reduced into "white men bad, rich bad, 21th century 'murica politics" (specially considering how this is an Usamerican show, aka imperialistic country w racism issues that casually has France's politics on a leash lol)

It's all so annoying I just want a good adaptation of the funny beat up Dracula games

Pd: one of the things i like abt nocturne is her redesign lol. It doesn't has anything to do w the og but it's very good looking👍

Yeah, I knew I would be brushed off as one of those genuinely racist people whose criticism of Annette begins and ends with "MUH POLITICS, MUH WOKE" without knowing shit about history or even being a fan of the games. It's still annoying :V I always, always pointed out that those people exist and they have poisoned the conversation too much. But no, scream to me about how black women deserve to be in fandoms I guess. Yeah, I know. Good thing I didn't target you, isn't it.

And as other people have pointed out in the nothes, NFCV is genuinely all sorts of -ist and -phobic, there was a huge post that blew up about the blatant antisemitic implications of a "vampire cabal" owning all the slaves, so if you really want to play white savior, the show you're defending has plenty of material already :^)

And yes. I know this is going to sound like those MUH WOKE people, but I swear I don't mean it in the same way: Castlevania is not the franchise that should deal with real life politics. Not the games, nor the show. It's about humans vs. vampires. It has always been about human vs. vampires, or any sort of monster. Yes, N!Isaac had a past of slavery, but 1) it was highly historically inaccurate, since NFCV takes place before the Transatlantic Slave Trade and slaves in that area tended to be European, 2) it was still lowkey racist, as if black people can only be slaves, as if Isaac doesn't have already an in-built backstory of being persecuted for his powers, and 3) it was, at the end of the day, an insignificant factor of NFCV's lore. It justified one antagonist's misanthropy. It wasn't the literal core of the show. Nothing about the original show, let alone the damn games, would lead me to think "mmh, I sure would love to see important, complex historical events played out in this setting!".

(N!Annette is very cute, I concur lol. A much better design than N!Isaac. I appreciate that she's dressed in yellow like the original Annette :>)

[stormyoceans]

bl\gl with what plot would you like to see? fm this is a detective story, a thriller, asexuals \ aromatics

OH THIS IS SUCH AN INTERESTING QUESTION!!!!!!

i actually agree with all the ones you listed and in general i'd say i would love to see more plotty shows with grown up characters. we're definitely getting more variety these days, but i really want both BLs and GLs to keep branching out and trying new things (though i do think GLs should be allowed to give us all the highschool and office setting shows they want since we're only just now starting to get some consistent content for the genre). anyway here are some ultra specific shows i would love to see one day!!!!!

(just as a quick note, when i put BL/GL is because i'd like to get that show for both of them)

heist BL. GMMTV made this spot for the LOL fan fest and i've been obsessed with the idea ever since. except you know.... love all these dudes but i actually want women in the cast too. just give me a dozen random characters with weirdly specific abilities coming together to pull off the heist of the century and ending up becoming one big found family with multiple queer pairings!!!!

police procedural BL/GL. you know all those crime shows where the main characters are often two dudes who at first deeply dislike each other so of course they get paired up together and by working together they eventually build an 'epic bromance' (god i hate that term)? YEAH SO WHERE IS THE SHOW WHERE THEY ACTUALLY SMOOCH IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT HAPPENS ME THINK.

revenge plot GL. i don't really have a specific story in mind, i just think female characters should be allowed to commit some crimes, especially if said crimes are carried out against people who wronged them in the past. and while they're busy taking revenge they also find a girlfriend. OR!!!!!! group of girls murders someone and years later it comes to bite them in the ass so they have to cover the thing up and then they all kiss (aka what i wish could have happened in p.s. i hate you).

merman BL. FRANKLY INSANE TO ME THAT THERE'S NO MERMAN BL TO DATE. we could have got this with 49 days with a merman but they didn't make it a BL in the end which is a pity SO YEAH I DEMAND ONE (my dream would be to have forcebook playing this but i'd take anything at this point).

historical BL/GL. i know we're getting a couple of historical BLs this year, but it's so funny to me that both i feel you linger in the air and love upon a time are gonna be about a character from the future traveling back in time. i mean, don't get me wrong, time travel is one of my weaknesses, but also i'd just like an historical show where BOTH characters are from the same time period.

BL/GL with a teacher who doesn't get paired up with a student. sadly this is one of my limits: i don't really get the appeal of teacher/student, especially when we could have teacher/single parent (I NEED IT SO BADLY) or even teacher/teacher (i personally think it would be really interesting to get a university BL/GL but from the point of view of the teachers).

BL/GL exploring other sexualities and gender identities. pretty self explanatory, like you said just give me ace main characters, trans main characters, non-binary main characters, ALL THE DIFFERENT QUEER MAIN CHARACTERS!!!!!!!

[notasapleasure]

Brief considerations on finishing The Great:

The conspiracy theory hill I'm dying on that it was cancelled because execs mistakenly believed Nicholas Hoult was the star, when really he was just as excellent at scene-stealing as his character needed him to be.

I'll not forgive them for Orlo's arc. How did our ace king get sidelined into a relationship and then killed off without any attempt to give him the growth given to all the others? (I say growth, though really it's just as often regression that I mean. Anyway Archie, Grigor, Marial, even George to a degree! etc etc all change while still being themselves and still finding a place in the story. I don't know why that couldn't be done for Orlo). I'm not doing a headcount, but it does feel like the main cast and surrounding recurring characters were notably less diverse by the end of S3 - and now we don't even get to see whether Arkady gets a chance to grow from his brief flirtation with power.

NEVERTHELESS though that primed me to hate season 3 it was amazing. Holy SHIT the script on this baby. Utterly florid and absurd and vulgar and punching you in the solar plexus repeatedly about grief and love and loyalty and being human!!! Every time Elizabeth in particular opens her mouth I'm like 'this is bonkers but it's beautiful and it works so well!' Jenny-Slate-screaming-meme.png

Marial never did anything wrong ever. No this has nothing to do with Phoebe Fox's big brown eyes and sarcastic little smirk and stonking cleavage. (I am In Love).

ACTING. The whole cast is incredible, but Elle Fanning, babe, take it away! The range, darling! The emotion in an eye twitch, the scale of grief and depression measured in the angle of her pout, the mix of love and frustration that you wholly believe in, and her stompy, resolutely unladylike walk. And that dance to AC/DC right at the end. ;_;

Not to Marial stan on main again, but she was RIGHT, finally we were going to see an independent Catherine and those fuckers cancelled it!!

Everyone. I love everyone in this bar. They're all awful scheming fuckheads and I love them all.

Every time Grigor has an emotional breakdown it gives me life.

So many different women with sometimes complex, sometimes excruciatingly simple and/or dumb reasons for doing what they do, even the ones that hate each other find connection in surprising moments and then go back to hating each other, finding so many ways to be political and sexual and clever and so fucking stupid. Did I mention that I love them all especially Marial?

I still think it would be funny if I became a Bond villain billionaire and bought the rights to all of Georgia's TV channels and just constantly broadcast Archie's scenes without context. Hypocritical fucked up horny patriarch is here to help you re-evaluate your morals!

Small things like how Catherine doesn't really care about Paul <333 like yes ok she's wracked by grief for a bunch of the season, but even before, it's not like she's going round having a crisis about how to spend time with her child while ruling the country. The country is her priority.

I for one am glad Velementov isn't dying, and it's tragic that we won't get to see the arc where he sobers up and gives Agnes the ride of her life.

Watching this show is actually hugely frustrating a lot of the time and you might find yourself getting impatient with some of the characters when they're dithering about what to do. This is Good, Actually, because it gives room for that incredible script to breathe, and it reinforces the frustration and slow progress inherent to what the character of Catherine is trying to achieve.

I don't care about the 'occasionally true' bits of the story, as a vehicle for exploring what it's like to be a woman in power, as a way of looking at contemporary issues through a sumptuous, over-the-top pseudo-historical setting, it's an absolute banger.

---

ETA: I was right to post this before tag-diving!! Absolutely screaming at the hate for my bb girl who did nothing wrong ever. Honestly so glad I have no desire to get into fandom for this show at all.

[ashortstoryaboutlove]

2023 Drama Year in Review

I watched 21 Kdramas released in 2023. I am relatively new to this—I watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo last fall, then started watching things Netflix suggested in the new year, then started finding things on other platforms and wow! In total I watched 83 Kdramas this year 👀 (I also watched 17 Cdramas and 8 Jdramas this year). A lot of this was over the summer but yeah it’s a lot. Putting my list of favorites below the cut:

My favorites released in 2023:

Daily Dose of Sunshine was a hard watch but so relatable for someone like me who has struggled with depression in the past. This one has stuck with me for a while. Sad but hopeful.

Moving is one of the few I’ve recommended to people irl. My brother is a fan of Marvel & DC stuff and I know he’d enjoy it. It’s one of the best superhero series I’ve seen.

Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 was a riot! I had so much fun watching this one and the wardrobe is A+. Also loved the gumiho bros getting a chance to reunite.

Love to Hate You was also super fun to watch! I watched this twice this year, once alone and once with my oldest kid (18). Love the chaotic bits and the romance was so satisfying!

Call It Love was quietly beautiful. The characters’ struggles made my heart ache and although it had a last minute reunion (I’m not usually fond of those), it was still a moving and steady show that stayed near the top of this year’s list.

My Dearest blew me away! Such a master class in character development and longing! Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun Jin stole the show with their acting but I was fond of the support cast as well. Unfortunately I wasn’t as satisfied with the second half of the series (pacing and double amnesia was meh) but it was still really good and near the top of my list for the year.

Perfect Marriage Revenge was a perfect makjang with what I consider some of the best pacing and romance of anything I watched this year. The villains were fantastically villain-y and the revenge was so, so sweet. Loved it!

D.P. 2 is somewhat different in tone from most of the stuff I watch but sometimes a serious show looking at serious social issues is just what I need. Love the way the characters fight for each other—their little found family dynamic is the best.

Twinkling Watermelon was lovely for the family dynamics—I loved the son getting to know his parents as teens. And I really liked the way deaf characters were a major part of the story as characters with feelings and relationships and not just one-off side characters.

Honorable mention: King the Land for romantic fluff with very little conflict, Moon in the Day for complicated past lives and ghosts and beautiful romance, Vigilante for Nam Joo Hyuk being badass, Castaway Diva for nice music and Chae Jong Hyeop playing an ML who was the greenest of flags.

Other faves I watched this year that were released before 2023:

Crash Landing on You will always near the top of my list. Love that found family.

Mr. Queen made me see that historicals could be fun and omg Shin Hye Sun being the best!

Tomorrow could have been too difficult, but even with the concept of trying to save suicidal people, it gave so much hope. The comfort women episode was so moving. Rowoon was also adorable.

Our Beloved Summer had one of my favorite soundtracks and a lot of heart. The scene where FL watches ML doing his art at the event was sweet.

25 21 was the best sport-related drama with perfect 90s vibes (haha I was a teen in the 90s), sweet friends-to-lovers romance, and a realistic (if disappointing) ending.

Crazy Love was so chaotically funny at the beginning and I loved it. I will never forget the revenge onions.

My Lovely Sam Soon was the oldest show I watched (2005) and I just adored Sam Soon. ML wasn’t my favorite but I can overlook that bc she stole the show for me.

My fave Cdramas I watched this year: Meet Yourself, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Love Like the Galaxy

Favorite Jdramas watched this year: On a Starry Night and First Love: Hatsukoi

Currently watching and enjoying: Tell Me That You Love Me (this will prob be at the top of my list next year if it doesn’t fall apart before it ends in January), Welcome to Samdal-ri, Like Flowers in Sand

Looking forward to what 2024 has to offer!

[darkshrimpemotions]

The thing about HotD is its main conflict is so much more directly about patriarchy than the main conflict in GoT. In GoT fans could stan certain characters and hate others and it wasn't necessarily such a clear-cut issue of gender politics because, well...there were both women and men seeking power in their own right on all sides. The patriarchal undertones of certain characters were a lot more subtle.

But in HotD? Especially this early in the story? It's so painfully, utterly clear. Team Green represents a clinging to regressive traditions and a reflexive fear of change hidden behind righteousness. Team Black represents a push for change and a quest for finding fulfillment within one's life regardless of convention.

It's no accident that Alicent, repressed and martyred to her own life, dons the symbol of the faith of the seven, speaks angrily of duty and sacrifice, takes her cues from the men around her, and makes propping them up her life's purpose despite seeing their flaws all too clearly.

She knows Viserys is weak. She knows Aegon is unfit to rule. She eventually understands that Otto is manipulative. But she doesn't seek to change any of those things, despite how much they hurt her. Rather, she simply seeks to mitigate (or cover up) the worst of their excesses while preserving their power. And all the while she stews in her resentment of this role (and displaces it onto Rhaenyra, who she sees as leaving her behind to live a life free of duty and responsibility).

And yet Rhaenyra cannot love who she wants openly, or live the life she wants. She does sacrifice. She does do her duty. She was handed a heavy burden from a young age, pressured into choosing the best husband she could from a bad bunch before she'd even lived any life, and forced to find a way to cope with that situation and still find some sort of happiness.

The fact that her greatest "sin" up to this point in the eyes of her opponents is having an affair while married to a man who also had plenty of his own, and having illegitimate children when her husband could not give her legitimate ones, speaks volumes. The fact that many gleefully wait for her violent death, her punishment for daring to want love and children and yes, sex, despite her situation, is so very telling. The fact that she did so with her husband's full knowledge and support doesn't seem to matter. Nor does the fact that her actions truly harm no one. Half the fandom is salivating to see her punished anyway.

Under patriarchy, women are objects. We are not supposed to lead. We are not supposed to have opinions. We are not supposed to talk back, or argue, or want things. We are supposed to be decorous objects in the houses of our fathers until we are given to our husbands, at which time we are meant to become compliant, helpful, accommodating servants and sex toys and brood mares and bed warmers. Only smart or funny or competent insofar as it is a credit to the men who own us, without ever threatening to outshine them.

Alicent performs that role to a T without questioning it. Rhaenyra refuses it from the very beginning, to the furthest extent available to her. And that is the primary source of their conflict, and the primary question dividing Team Green from Team Black. All the quibbling over "historical accuracy" and which of them did this or that to prove their evilness and whether Viserys breaking tradition makes Rhaenyra a legitimate heir or not is a distraction. The central question in season one of House of the Dragon is: what role do you think women ought to play in history, in society, in politics? Are we people, or objects?

And a distressing number of fans, many women among them, yelled "objects!" without hesitation.

[totodiletears]

On the subject of Posts About Female Characters in Fandom That I Don't Want To Comment On Because I Don't Want To Fight:

I've also kinda been thinking that there's some kind of... I dunno, terrible feedback loop when it comes to canon female characters. You know, there are fewer decent girls and women written in mas media because sexism, and also people are harsh toward the girls and women they DO get and prefer the boys and men because sexism, so in response future canons focus more on the boys and men, so with more people attaching themselves to the boys and men, rinse and repeat. Like, okay, you want me to get fandomy about a character? For me at least, odds go way up when you can point to a character who is clearly competent and still sometimes go, "lol look at that idiot." The lol is vital, I should note. We need to be able to laugh at them sometimes. Shamelessly tease the blorbos. A lot of times, even when ladies are present, you don't see people doing this with them. Why?

For example, let's look at Avatar the Last Airbender. This is a show that is is really quite good with its girls, by children's animation standards, especially for the time! We have a good balance of boys and girls, and they're pretty well-characterized! Now let's go in with my "competent but sometimes an idiot lol" standard.

First, obviously, we have Sokka. Sokka is like the single best example this show has to offer of a character who is highly competent while also having idiot moments. Zuko is also a strong contender. Probably not a coincidence that shipping these two got so much more popular after the Avatar-on-Netflix resurgence: fandoms love to see their dumbasses.

But can we really describe any of the girls this way? They're mostly just straight-up competent. Ty Lee maybe, but she's more quirky than dumbass. Katara comes the closest to having proper dumbass moments, and what do you know, fans have historically been harsh on her.

But then, Katara's moments aren't really framed as being funny. She steals from pirates! And we get a story out of it for an episode, and fans get to argue with each other about whether she was right to do so or not. Nobody ever looks at that moment and says, "haha what an idiot I love her." It's less like Sokka worrying about Enemy Birds!!! and more like Sokka breaking the rules in Wan Shi Tong's library. Sure, some people might fold the latter into poking fun at Sokka's dumbassery, but I don't see it happening if we don't also get moments like the former.

BUT. There is a young woman who's a major character in the overall franchise that I liked well enough. Korra is a competent character I would point at and affectionately say, "haha look at this idiot." But a lot of people don't like her! And I don't mean, "a lot of people don't like Legend of Korra" because that's fair, it's a lot more inconsistent of a show and some people aren't going to like that. What I mean is, I've seen a lot of people who just straight-up hate Korra the character because... she's really strong and sometimes does dumb things. Is this solely people not liking when a woman exhibits these traits, or is it something people are more critical of when the overall show is not as good as its predecessor? Perhaps a combination of both?

BUT BUT. Then we have the Kyoshi novels too! Kyoshi is totally a competent dumbass. And I don't think I've ever seen someone who was annoyed by her. These books have had a pretty positive reception. Is this because fandom is more willing to fall for a woman character nowadays, or is it because the novels have a much smaller audience than the TV shows?

OR. Is this just the result of the Strong Female Character(TM) going down in popularity since ATLA aired? Becoming more criticized? Because once upon a time that was considered the single best way to write your girls and women, and Strong Female Characters(TM) never got to have dumbass moments. But then again, while they're less common, Strong Female Characters(TM) are still alive and well. And they're still boring. Are they common enough to be part of the explanation for why fandoms are less likely to focus on the women? Or is the fact that they still exist evidence that there are still many people who wouldn't like a more interesting female character?

I don't actually have any answers. But I think it would be a good conversation to have. I'd rather grapple with these questions than just go, "HEY MISOGYNISTS STOP WRITING MORE FIC ABOUT THE MEN" every time someone brings it up.

[fireemblems24]

I think is very funny on how people says that the fact that Byleth has to "choose" Edelgard (level her suppor to B, talk to her to go to Enbar) means how Byleth is their only true self in CF and not in the others because you, the player, are not given a choice to dump on Dimitri or Claude, which for me is the opposite, Byleth not needing the players input makes them have a (even though small) "character", a good example of this is when Byleth can choose SS not once but twice. If you didn't /1

caught on already, a lot of the opinions on some characters (*cough Edelgard cough*) depends entirely on how much do they self-insert in them, a lot of the most "extreme" Edelfans see Byleth's and El's relationship the love story of the century and how precius and pure F!Byleth (because M!Byleth doesn't exist) "fixes" the poor and lonely El, but if they hate Dimitri or Rhea, then Byleth should have totally "put them down like an animal". I think a lot of these issues could have totally been /2

fixed if Byleth was an actual character with a voice and personality, and not somekind of weird thing between a silent character and self-insert, I know for this to work you would need to change some things (*cough Edelgard's obsession and playerpanderism cough*) but I think those problems can be fixed with a coherent and consistent character's arc. /3

I do think it's an interesting theory that the more someone self-inserts into Byleth, the harder they lean into CF, but I'm not exactly sure that's true.

For starters, it's always F!Byleth for CF. I imagine the majority players are male, and historically men have a harder time relating to a woman character than women do men (all the "controversy" over female protagonists in traditionally male-dominated stories like superheroes or just video games in general) (and no, it's not because "woman = mysterious" and "man = simple" but because we're overexposed to male writers, directors, characters, etc . . . compared to female ones). I have a feeling if they were truly self-inserting, they'd choose the gender they self-identify as.

I also fully believe there's people self-inserting as Byleth to marry characters other than Edelgard (and my God, Dimitri fans seem equally horny to be honest).

Plus, it's just impossible to prove.

I do agree that Edelgard has a subset of extreme fans who hate on every other major character and generate arguments to support their opinions rather than looking at evidence and coming to a conclusion, but hey we all do that sometimes.

I do with Byleth was a bit more of a defined character. I'm enjoying seeing them get more voiced lines in Hopes, it's doing a lot for characterization. And Shez getting multiple sentiments you pick rather than like "yes" or "ok" is going a long way towards a self-insert having more obvious personality. I also agree that if Byleth weren't such a possible blank state people would be able to respect the choices character!Byleth is making even if it's not one they like.

Also, the people who argue CF is "good actually" for Rhea and Dimitri because you "put them down" are making a disgusting argument. You put down dogs when they're in so much pain they can't recover from. You DO NOT put down mentally ill people and act like a life with mental illness isn't worth living. I'm glad I don't see it except among the most extreme Edelgard fans.

[anonymous-dentist]

hi ad i was wondering if you could help me historically contextualize this great post tagged #red scare (among other irrelevant things) with your historical expertise? 😊😊😊😊😊

(joseph stalin does not understand my aesthetic visions)

Alright, so I'm first going to say that the 'He' in question here would actually be United States Senator Joseph McCarthy, the instigator of the most famous of America's various Red Scares. That motherfucker hated communism, and aesthetics beyond anything WASP-y. The introduction of the stereotypical white suburban housewife? That's thanks to McCarthy, and, well. Hm.

So the most famous Red Scare we've had in America would be the one that originated right after the end of World War Two. It came about because America is a country that was birthed upon the foundation of We Want Our Money (taxation without representation, dig?) After the Russian Civil War (1917-1922), only one country in the world really recognized the Soviet Union, and it was not the United States (it was actually Germany, who was Europe's other most ostracized nation, though this backfired on the USSR pretty badly in 1941 with Hitler's Operation Barbarossa.) The US has had a history of Red Scares dating back to the 1920s after the Russian Revolution, and I'd argue that we're in the middle of a Third Red Scare today.

But back to our Red Scare, the Second Red Scare as it's called.

So the big three dudes during World War Two on the Allied side were US President Roosevelt, British Fucker Churchill, and That Motherfucker Stalin. But Roosevelt died and was replaced with that motherfucker Truman, and Churchill was replaced by some other dude that doesn't matter. Stalin hated Truman. A lot. He thought Truman was intolerable. He also hated the "west" in general because, uh, fuck them, I guess. Some sort of Russian nationalism, which Stalin was famous for despite being Georgian (I believe, don't quote me on that.)

So by the time the Berlin Airlifts happened in 1948-49, Stalin was about done with the US, and the US was about done with the USSR. It gets better when the USSR is revealed to be working on this funny little thing called a Fucking Nuke. On top of that, communism was spreading around the world at a rapid rate, mostly in countries in the process of decolonizing, and especially in countries in the process of decolonizing that saw the bullshit that America had been up to regarding its own colonizing efforts and said, fuck that, we're not doing this whole capitalism thing.

And so, with all those foreign problems in mind, we've got this motherfucker in the US named Joseph McCarthy. Anyone who was sus (for lack of a better phrase) was considered a communist spy and was arrested. That included people of color, single women over the age of about 24, disabled or neurodivergent people, queer people, etc. Basically, you aren't a good ol' boy, you're sus. You don't like Jesus? Sus. You support queer rights? Sus. You criticize the government? Sus.

I'm not going to go too far into the specifics because, frankly, it's entirely too long a topic and it pisses me off. The Second Red Scare was essentially the same kind of terror-based enforced nationalism that Stalin himself was a pretty big fan of during his various Terrors of the 1930s, and that Soviet leaders were pretty big on until that motherfucker Gorbachev. I'm sure that you've at least read about, say, the Rosenberg trials, and the foundation of the People's Republic of China, and the nuclear bomb, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. You've also got the CIA, and, well.

Well.

#Traumatize Men

[leonardhoee]

Ikevamp Boys In Vegas

Leonardo:

Ok Leo wouldn’t really be into the expensive nightlife part of Vegas. He’d probably like the old bars and pubs in downtown Vegas where all the original casinos are. He’d also like to explore the nearby mining ghost downs (Rhyolite Ghost Town). (He’d also take everyone to the ghost tours of those places at night). He would probably just wake up and leave the hotel and when all the others wake up they can’t find him but don’t really question it since they probably expected him to go off exploring on his own. He would also go to the Neon Graveyard and Madame Tussaud’s + any other cool art display with Vincent and Theo. He would take MC to the gondolas in the Venetian hotel. They would also go to the Ceaser’s Palace mall and just run around there for hours looking at different stores and get lost. He’d like the Avengers Exhibit and he’d try to make some of the things he saw there. (There was also a Da Vinci exhibit that MC would definitely take him to see). One time Leo and Dazai were smoking together at a fancy rooftop bar and ended up sharing a blunt with Snoop Dogg. Both of them wake up the next day thinking it was a fever dream. (Listen I just really think Leo and Snoop Dogg would be good friends. They are basically the same person)

Arthur:

He would immediately go to an expensive rooftop bar to flirt with women (If MC isn't part of this). His favorite places would be the strip clubs and bars (he drags Theo with him). He and Comte go to a Burlesque club together. He got kicked out of a bar once because he was unknowingly hitting on someone’s wife. This boy would also take Theo Gucci shopping with him. The two of them will probably get into several bar fights and either get kicked out or arrested. (Comte bails them out). He would take pictures with every showgirl he meets and gets Theo in on some of them (Theo is just standing there glaring at the camera with his arms crossed). He loved going to the Pitbull concert, wants to be called Mr. Worldwide now but no one will call him that. He would also go to Casinos and somehow win big to impress MC. Security is keeping an eye on him.

Comte:

One of the chillest ones on the trip. He just goes to fancy restaurants and watches Cirque Du Soliel shows. Every time you see him he just has a glass of expensive wine. He takes Leo to clubs with him, even though they just sit by the bar the whole time having a drinking competition. Comte also runs into Arthur at a Burlesque club. (This man would be into burlesque you can’t tell me otherwise).  He mostly just manages everyone’s schedule, helps them book tickets for whatever they want to do, and occasionally bails people out. Also goes to Italian restaurants with Leo (because Vegas has the best Italian food I’ve ever had ong) What? No ofc its not a date. He buys MC a new dress and leaves it on her bed with a note telling her to be ready by 6 and takes her to an exclusive restaurant in a limo. He goes all out for their date.

Shakespeare:

Bruh he would absolutely LOVE all the different shows. The whole environment that THRIVES off entertainment. This would be his dream city. He would somehow get backstage for a Variety show and help them add scenes and dance numbers. He’d come back with so many ideas for his own plays. He would also follow around some of the wilder residents to see if they do something he can include in his plays. I also believe he’d somehow find the most romantic places to take MC if she was there with them. He would also be interested in the Mob Museum and the mafia history. He would LOVE Criss Angel’s Mindfreak show (No I’m not just saying that because I love it too)

Napoleon: 

I think he would like exploring the various hotels more than going out clubbing. Let’s be honest, Comte would get the super expensive suites so Napoleon would just be sleeping in half the day. He would use it as a chance to unwind and would take full advantage of the room service and spas. He would go to the pool with MC and Sebastian. I can see him being everyone’s designated photographer and bag holder. If MC wants to go somewhere he would come with her to make sure she gets there safely (The amount of creepy old men who have stared at me when I walk through casinos is gross).

Vincent: 

He and Theo would definitely go to the Neon Graveyard with Leo. They would also love seeing the abstract art pieces and murals that are all over downtown Las Vegas. He would be so amazed seeing the seasonal decorations in the Bellagio hotel. MC would take him to the Van Gogh art gallery so he and Theo could see how successful his art has become. He also like exploring the hotel with everyone and going to the pool to relax. He would take amazing pictures of MC and make an album for her. One time he was walking to a show with everyone when a few showgirls asked if he wanted to take a picture. And being the absolute angel he is, he told them how beautiful they are and just had the most wholesome heart- stealing interaction with them. 

Theo:

He would go to old bars and pubs with Leo and Arthur in downtown Vegas (They got into a bar fight that Leo helped them hide from Comte). Arthur would drag him to various clubs but I think he would have an overall artistic appreciation for Burlesque. I think he’d be happy to see that artistic expression isn't being censored anymore like it was in his time. MC would take him and Vincent to the Van Gogh exhibit. He would also love the different murals and abstract art that's all over downtown Las Vegas. MC would buy him one of those glass art sculptures and he would be all “oh Hondje brought me a toy?” but he would actually be super touched and would blush when she gave it to him. Arthur would also drag him into taking pictures with various showgirls and then would get jealous when Theo gets more attention from them (even though Theo isn’t a big fan of it).

Isaac:

Isaac would go to all the different museum exhibits with Leo, MC, and the Van Gogh. He would also enjoy the Avengers Exhibit because of all the crazy technology and scientific concepts used in creating it. He would also go to the spas with Napoleon and MC because that boy needs to relax himself. I think most of the time he would either stick with Leo, Napoleon or MC because Vegas is... a lot and he might get overwhelmed. Arthur would rope him into taking a picture with the Showgirls and he would be flustered for the rest of the day. He mostly just gets dragged into whatever activities the others are doing.

Dazai:

Dazai would love all the different comedy shows. He would also be exploring the hotels but instead of finding the spa he would find the most random hidden storage areas and rooms of the hotel. By the end of the trip he would somehow know the whole hotel inside out. One time he went missing and no one could find them until he came down the elevator with this rich elderly couple who gave him a tour of their whole VIP floor. He would also go out to bars with Leo in the middle of the night and they’d come back and just smoke together on the balcony. He would find the best obscure dessert places in the whole city and somehow make friends with a celebrity that he met purely by accident. (He just shows up to lunch with Pitbull one day and he’s like “yeah I just met him in the bathroom”. MC and Sebastian are  s h o o k)

Mozart:

Mozart would be very interested in seeing the street musicians and how they're able to play songs from everyday objects.He, Comte, and MC go shopping together and then they’d go to exclusive lounges together. He gets dragged to clubs by everyone but god forbid he gets touched by a sweaty person dancing, he will LOOSE IT. He gives pointers to the DJs and he actually likes listening to different genres of music. (Funny story, one time my dad went to a club in Vegas where Calvin Harris was DJing and he gave him tips on how to mix songs. He had no idea who Calvin Harris was). Mozart loves the spa and huge bathrooms, hates casinos since he thinks they're noisy and filthy. He goes to the mall and buys expensive skincare items. 

Jean:

Poor boy is so lost. Just like Isaac he kind of gets dragged everywhere. He likes going to the lounges with MC and Mozart but most of the time he will just want to enjoy the hotel room alone. MC doesn't want him to be alone the whole time so she takes him to see the Bellagio decorations and takes adorable candid pictures of him while he's there. He is amazed at how they were able to create something like that. He’s also amazed at the fountain show that MC takes him to at night. Mozart and MC take Jean with them when they goes shopping and he buys Jean some nice things (because he DESERVES IT). Would avoid clubs at all costs and if he somehow gets dragged there by everyone he leaves the first chance he gets.

Sebastian:

Like Shakespeare, Sebastian also follows around the residents, seeing how they react to such a new environment. He takes notes on all their activities and exchanges info with Shakespeare. He made all the reservations and keeps track of everyone’s itinerary. He is the only other person who knows about Arthur and Theo’s bar fight because Leo told him in exchange for modern cigarettes. He was so excited when Napoleon asked him to join him in their spa trip. Most of the time Sebastian goes with Comte and Napoleon to their activities. He would also love seeing some of the historical exhibits, like the Titanic and Ancient Egypt ones in the Luxor hotel. He’s mainly just happy to have enough free time to write as much info in his book as he wants.

[faraway-wanderer]

BOOKS BY ASIAN AUTHORS MASTERLIST #stopasianhate

In light of recent events and the growing anti- Asian hate in the US and UK over the course of the pandemic I wanted to put together a masterlist of books by Asian authors. Obviously, it’s not extensive and there are HUNDREDS out there, but supporting art by Asian creators is a way of showing support; read their stories, educate ourselves. It goes without saying that we should all be putting effort into reading stories of POC and by POC because even through fiction we’re learning about different cultures, countries and heritages. So here’s some books to start with by Asian authors!

Here is a link also for resources to educate and petitions to sign (especially if you don’t read haha). It’s important that we educate ourselves and uplift Asian voices right now. Your anti-racism has to include every minority that faces it.

https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/

for UK peeps, this is a good read: We may not hear about the anti Asian racism happening here, but it is definitely happening. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a35692226/its-time-we-stopped-downplaying-the-uks-anti-asian-racism/

 THE BOOKS:

·         War Cross- Marie Lu ( the worldbuilding in this is IMMENSE.)

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. 

·         Star Daughter- Shveta Thakrar

A beautiful story about a girl who is half human and half star, and she must go to the celestial court to try to save her father after he has fallen ill. And before she knows it, she is taking part in a magical competition that she must win!

·         These Violent Delights- Chloe Gong (I told my little sister to read this book yesterday bc she has a thing for a Leo as Romeo- so if you want deadly good looking Romeos, badass Juliet’s and to learn about 1920s Shanghai- this is for you.)

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. A Romeo and Juliet retelling.

·         The Poppy War- R.F Kuang (My fave fantasy series just fyi- it’s soul crushing in the best way. Rebecca Kuang is a god of an author).

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

·         Loveboat Taipei-  Abigail Hing Wen  (Really heartwarming and insightful!)

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

·         Sorcerer to the Crown- Zen Cho (if anyone is looking for another Howl’s Moving Castle, look no further than this book)

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

·         Emergency Contact- Mary H.K. Choi (very wholesome and fun rom-com!)

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. When she heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

 ·         Jade City- Fonda Lee (I am reading this currently and can I just say- I think everyone who loves fantasy and blood feuds in a story should read this.)

JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu. The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

 ·         A Pho Love Story- Loan Le

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighbouring restaurants.

·         Rebelwing- Andrea Tang

Business is booming for Prudence Wu. A black-market-media smuggler and scholarship student at the prestigious New Columbia Preparatory Academy, Pru is lucky to live in the Barricade Coalition where she is free to study, read, watch, and listen to whatever she wants.

·         Wings of the Locust- Joel Donato Ching Jacob

Tuan escapes his mundane and mediocre existence when he is apprenticed to Muhen, a charming barangay wiseman. But, as he delves deeper into the craft of a mambabarang and its applications in espionage, sabotage and assassination, the young apprentice is overcome by conflicting emotions that cause him to question his new life.

 ·         The Travelling Cat Chronicles- Hiro Arikawa

Sometimes you have to leave behind everything you know to find the place you truly belong...

Nana the cat is on a road trip. He is not sure where he's going or why, but it means that he gets to sit in the front seat of a silver van with his beloved owner, Satoru. 

 ·         Super Fake Love Song- David Yoon

From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

  ·         Parachutes- Kelly Yang

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

·         The Grace of Kings- Ken Liu ( One of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time!)

Two men rebel together against tyranny—and then become rivals—in this first sweeping book of an epic fantasy series from Ken Liu, recipient of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards.

·         Wicked Fox- Kat Cho

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

 ·         Descendant of the Crane- Joan He

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

 ·         Pachinko- Min Jin Lee

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

·         America is in the Heart- Carlos Bulosan

First published in 1946, this autobiography of the well known Filipino poet describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West.

 ·         Days of Distraction- Alexandra Chang

A wry, tender portrait of a young woman — finally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she knows herself well enough to choose wisely—from a captivating new literary voice.

·         The Astonishing Colour of After Emily X.R Pan

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love. 

·         The Gilded Wolves- Roshani Chokshi

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

·         When Dimple met Rishi- Sandhya Menon

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

·         On Earth we’re briefly Gorgeous- Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

·         Fierce Fairytales- Nikita Gill

Complete with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, Fierce Fairytales is an empowering collection of poems and stories for a new generation.

 BOOKS BEING RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR TO PREORDER:

·         Counting down with you- Tashie Bhuiyan- 4th May

A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.

How do you make one month last a lifetime?

·         Gearbreakers- Zoe Hana Mikuta- June 29th

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series

·         XOXO- Axie Oh- 13th July

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

·         She who became the sun- Shelley Parker-Chan- 20th July

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

·         Jade Fire Gold- June C.L Tan- October 12th

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series

  Keep sharing, signing petitions and donating where you can. The more people who are actively anti-racist, the better. And if your anti-racism doesn’t include the Asian community then go and educate yourself! BLM wasn’t a trend and neither is this. We have to stand up against white supremacy, and racism and stereotypes and we have to support the communities that need our support. Part of that can include cultivating your reading so you’re reading more diversely and challenging any stereotypes western society may have given you.

 Feel free to reblog and add any more recommendations and resources of course!

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

I watched all the arthurian tv series I could possibly find and put them all from best to worst (imho)

Regarding my opinions and my taste: I am okay with low budget, bad special effects and even bad/weird acting, I prefer enjoyment over any kind of historical accuracy. I also enjoy cheesy movies, and I prefer characters over plot, and plot over the rest (pace, acting etc.).I tend to prefer movies that uses characters with a reason (ex. using Morgause as Arthur's sister versus using a random guy and calling him Gaheris just because it's an arthurian sounding name). I am also a bit Mordred fan.

Here I considered miniseries part of the tv shows/series list! 

(the sequel to this movies post)

The Legend of King Arthur (1979) - my favourite arthurian media EVER. Among movies and tv shows, this is my favorite ever. It focuses a lot on Morgana and Arthur and on her revenge in particular. If you like Morgana, this show is for you. It also has a great Mordred, and some very beautiful moments for Bors.

Kaamelott - Amazing arthurian parody that starts as full on sketches and gets pretty serious and dramatic by the 5th season. It focuses mainly on Arthur.

Arthur et les enfants de la Table Ronde (animated series) - amazing animated show about a kid Arthur living in Uther's castle and having a bunch of adventures with Guinevere, Morgana, Gawain, Sagramore and Tristan. Pretty heartwarming!

The Boy Merlin - while I am not a Merlin fan in general, I still loved this miniseries which focuses on Merlin's childhood and small adventures without being too cheesy.

Arthur of the Britons - I love this show, and I am a big Kay fan so this show is really a gift. Sadly, it lacks in arthurian events/characters.

The Mists of Avalon (2001) - I hate the novel, but the miniseries managed to cut out my least favorite parts, and kept the bone structure of it. It also focuses on Morgana and she is played by one of my favorite actresses.

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot - episodic and fun, this has one of my favourite Lancelot ever. The only thing I disliked was that there is no overall plot or drama

Camelot (Starz, 2011) - the series was cancelled after the first season so it never gets to other events, but as a Morgana focused series it was pretty amazing. Arthur was quite weak as a character, but at least Eva Green was in it.

The Legend of Prince Valiant (cartoon) - this is my favorite adaptation of Prince Valiant and it has tons of arthurian elements, in particular it also had some great episodes for Gawain and Guinevere.

Fate/Apocrypha (anime): This season is not connected with the other seasons and can be watched alone. It is about humans summoning historical figures as servants to fight and obtain the Grail (basically a wish-giving object). Mordred is one of these figures.

Trollhunters (animated series) - (only first season and third season) The arthurian elements are pretty vague at the beginning, but the new season explored Camelot and the relationship between Morgana and Arthur. In general, Morgana is a great character in this show.

The Librarians - Mainly not an arthurian series, but it is a general fun show and it has Galahad as one of its main characters, with some specific episodes about him.

The Adventures of Sir Galahad - a fun watch but very repetitive. Still, I enjoyed this one tv series where Mordred and Galahad actually interact

Cursed (Netflix) - Tv show focusing on Nimue. Pretty fun, especially by the end, but many times the whole "this character by neutral name... is actually *insert arthurian character here*" ended up being not necessary and pretty fanservice-y, without any real meaning.

Merlin (1998 miniseries) - while I enjoyed it, in particular the second episode, I generally disliked many of the "beauty as most important for women" elements

Merlin (BBC) - I enjoyed the first two seasons more than the rest. The show ends up with a lot of plot stuff missing or forgotten and it ends up with no particular coherent plot at all.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (anime) - I am still at episode ~ 12, but I am really enjoying it. It focuses on the adventure of Arthur on a journey (with some other knights) to find out who killed his parents and stop the big anime style villain

Sir Gadabout - I only watched a few episodes so take this with a grain of salt, but it's a funny parody show, but nothing special

Il cuore e la Spada - an Italian Tristan and Isolde tv show

Stargate SG1 season 9 and 10 - This was a good show, but it's this low because the arthurian elements of these "arthurian seasons" are only a few.

King Arthur's Disasters - Episodic parodies about Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere (mainly).

Fate/Stay Night and *Fate/Zero (*anime) - The anime has some arthurian elements (Holy Grail and Saber/Arthur), but I did find it pretty confusing e boring.

Once Upon A time - The tv show had some arthurian elements and then an entire arthurian arc. Unfortunately they dropped so many plots points that it literally made no sense.

Merlin's Apprentice - Melrin 1998 without the interesting parts

The Seven Deadly Sins (Anime) - It has Merlin, Tristan's Dad and Lancelot's dad among its main characters, plus other arthurian characters and Arthur as a guest character. It has some really problematic elements and the third season was also pretty boring.

Mr Merlin - this is barely arthurian. It's also about Merlin in modern times, and nothing too exciting.

Alias the Jester - I don't even know why I watched it. It only had, like, one arthurian element and in general it was pretty boring

Not watched/in the list:

Arthur And The Square Knights Of The Round (I watched some episodes ages ago, but I remember nothing)

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice

Blazing Dragons

Guinevere Jones (it's impossible to find in English)

Merlin (1980 German tv show and, sadly, I don't know German)

Arthur Prince on the White Horse (sequel of the other arthurian anime that I have to finish)

Space Knights (I only recently found out about this and haven't watched it yet)

House of Anubis (never found it in English)

Merlin (2012, only in French)

Runaways (I watched the first season, and have yet to get to the arthurian elements in the third)

Honorable mentions:

The MacGyver's arthurian episodes are among my favorite Connecticut Yankee adaptations. Doctor Who Battlefield was also a pretty good arthurian arc.

[a-room-of-my-own]

Have you read "An Apology to JK Rowling" by Petra Bueskens on Areo? I'm pathetically grateful to read something so clever and well articulated on the subject after the amount of abuse JK has been subjected to

It's a great piece so here it is, thank you anon!

 Rowling recently published an eminently reasonable, heartfelt treatise, outlining why it is important to preserve the category of woman. There’s only one thing wrong with it: it assumes a rational interlocutor. Rowling outlines why the biological and legal category of sex is important: in sports, in rape crisis shelters, in prisons, in toilets and changing rooms, for lesbians who want to sleep with natal women only and at the level of reality in general. Rowling marshals her experiences as an androgynous girl, as a domestic violence and sexual assault survivor and as someone familiar with the emotional perils of social media, in ways that have resonated with many women (and men). Her writing is clear, unpretentious, thoughtful, moving, vulnerable and honest. At no point does she use exclusionary or hostile language or say that trans women do not exist, have no right to exist or that she wants to rob them of their rights. Her position is that natal women exist and have a right to limit access to their political and personal spaces. Period.

Of course, to assume that her missive would be engaged with in the spirit in which it was intended, is to make the mistake of imagining that the identitarian left is broadly committed to secular, rational discourse. It is not. Its activist component has transmogrified into a religious movement, which brooks no opposition and no discussion. You must agree with every tenet or else you’re a racist, sexist, transphobic bigot, etc. Because its followers are fanatics, Rowling is being subjected to an extraordinary level of abuse. There seems to be no cognitive dissonance among those who accuse her of insensitivity and then proceed to call her a cunt, bitch or hag and insist that they want to assault and even kill her (see this compilation of tweets on Medium). She has been accused of ruining childhoods. Some even claim that the actor Daniel Radcliffe wrote the Harry Potter books—reality has become optional for some of these identitarians. Rowling’s age, menstrual status and vagina come in for particularly nasty attention and many trans women (or those masquerading as such) write of wanting to sexually assault her with lady cock, as a punishment for speaking out. I haven’t seen misogyny like this since Julia Gillard became our prime minister.

The Balkanisation of culture into silos of unreason means that the responses have not followed what might be loosely called the pre-digital rules of discourse. These rules assume that the purpose of public debate is to discern truth and that interlocutors on opposing sides—a reductionist bifurcation, because, in fact, there are many sides—engage in argument because they are interested in something higher than themselves: an ideal of truth, no matter how complicated, multifaceted and evolving. While in-group preferences and biases are inevitable, these exist within an overarching deliberative framework. This style of dialogue assumes the validity of a persuasive argument grounded in reason and evidence, even if—as Rowling does—it also utilises experience and feeling. By default, it assumes that civil conflict and opposition are essential devices in the pursuit of truth.

Three decades of postmodernism and ten years of Twitter have destroyed these conventions and, together with them, the shared norms by which we create and sustain social consensus. There is no grounding metanarrative, there are no binding norms of civil discourse in the digital age. Indeed, as Jaron Lanier shows with his bummer paradigm (Behaviours of Users Modified and Made into an Empire for Rent) social media is destroying the fabric of our personal and political lives (although, with a different business model and more robust regulation, it need not do so). The algorithm searching for and recording your every click, like and share, your every purchase, search term, conversation, movement, facial expression, social connection and preference rewards engagement above all else—which means that your feed—an aptly infantile descriptor—will quickly become full of the things you and others like you are most likely to be motivated to click, like and share. Outrage is a more effective mechanism through which to foster engagement than almost anything else. In Lanier’s terms, this produces a “menagerie of wraiths”—a bunch of digitised dementors: fake and bad actors, paid troll armies and dyspeptic bots—designed to confect mob outrage.

The norms of civil discourse are being eroded, as we increasingly inhabit individualised media ecosystems, designed to addict, distract, absorb, outrage, manipulate and incite us. These internecine culture wars damage us all. As Lanier notes, social media is biased “not towards the left or right but downwards.” As a result, we are witnessing a catastrophic decline in the standards of our democratic institutions and discourse. Nowhere is this more evident than in the contemporary culture wars around the trans question, where confected outrage is the norm.

This is why the furore over Rowling’s blog post misses the point: whether we agree with her or not, the problem is the collapse of our capacity to disagree constructively. If you deal primarily in subjective experience and impulse-driven reaction, under the assumption that you occupy the undisputed moral high ground, and you’ve been incited by fake news and want to signal your allegiances to your social media friends, then you can’t engage in rational discussion with your opponent. Your stock in trade will be unsubstantiated accusations and social shaming.

In this discombobulating universe, sex-based rights are turned into insults against trans people. Gender-critical feminists are recast as immoral bigots, engaged in deliberately hurtful, even life-threatening, speech. Rowling is not who we thought she was, her ex-fans wail, her characters and plots conceal hidden reservoirs of homophobia and bigotry. A few grandstanders attempt to distinguish themselves by saying that they have always been able to smell a rat—no, not Scabbers—and therefore hated the books from the outset. Nowhere amid this morass of moral grandstanding and outrage is there any serious engagement with her ideas.

Those of us on the left—and left-wing feminists in particular—who find trans ideology fraught, for all the reasons Rowling outlines, are a very small group. While Rowling is clearly privileged, she has also become the figurehead of a rapidly dwindling and increasingly vilified group of feminists, pejoratively labelled terfs, who want to preserve women’s sex-based rights and spaces. Although our arguments align with centrist, conservative and common sense positions, ours is not the prevailing view in academia, public service or the media, arts and culture industries, where we are most likely to be located (when we are not at home with our children). In most of these workplaces, a sex-based rights position is defined a priori as bigoted, indeed as hate speech. It can get us fired, attacked, socially ostracised and even assaulted.

As leftist thinkers who believe in freedom of speech and thought, who find creeping ideological and bureaucratic control alarming, we are horrified by these increasingly vicious denunciations by the left. The centre right and libertarians—the neo-cons, post-liberals and the IDW—are invariably smug about how funny it is to watch the left eat itself. But it’s true: some progressive circles are now defined by a call out/cancel culture to rival that of the most repressive of totalitarian states. Historically, it was progressives who fought against limits on freedom of speech and action. But the digital–identitarian left split off from the old print-based left some time ago, and has become its own beast. A contingent of us are deeply critical of these new directions.

Only a few on the left have had the gumption to speak up for us. Few have even defended our right to express our opinions. Those who have spoken out include former media darlings Germaine Greer and Michael Leunig. Many reader comments on left-leaning news sites claim that Rowling is to blame for the ill treatment she is suffering. Rowling can bask in the consequences of her free speech, they claim, as if having a different opinion from the woke majority means that she is no longer entitled to respect, and that any and all abuse is warranted—or, at least, to be expected. Where is the outrage on her behalf? Where are the writers, film makers, actors and artists defending her right to speak her mind?

Of course, the actors from the Harry Potter films are under no obligation to agree with JK Rowling just because she made them famous. They don’t owe her their ideological fealty: but they owe her better forms of disagreement. When Daniel Radcliffe repeats the nonsensical chant trans women are women, he’s not developing an argument, he’s reciting a mantra. When he invokes experts, who supposedly know more about the subject than Rowling, he betrays his ignorance of how contested the topic of transgender medicine actually is: for example, within endocrinology, paediatrics, psychiatry, sociology, and psychology (the controversies within the latter discipline have been demonstrated by the numerous recent resignations from the prestigious Tavistock and Portman gender identity clinic). The experts are a long way from consensus in what remains a politically fraught field.

Trans women are women is not an engaged reply. It is a mere arrangement of words, which presupposes a faith that cannot be questioned. To question it, we are told, causes harm—an assertion that transforms discussion into a thought crime. If questioning this orthodoxy is tantamount to abuse, then feminists and other dissenters have been gaslit out of the discussion before they can even enter it. This is especially pernicious because feminists in the west have been fighting patriarchy for several hundred years and we do not intend our cause to be derailed at the eleventh hour by an infinitesimal number of natal males, who have decided that they are women. Now, we are told, trans women are women, but natal females are menstruators. I can’t imagine what the suffragists would have made of this patently absurd turn of events.

There has been a cacophony of apologies to the trans community for Rowling’s apparently tendentious and hate-filled words. But no one has paused to apologise to Rowling for the torrent of abuse she has suffered and for being mischaracterised so profoundly.

So, I’m sorry, JK Rowling. I’m sorry that you will not receive the respectful disagreement you deserve: disagreement with your ideas not your person, disagreement with your politics, rather than accusations of wrongspeak. I’m sorry that schools, publishing staff and fan clubs are now cancelling you. And I’m sorry that you will be punished—because cancel culture is all about punishment. I’m sorry that you are being burned at the digital stake for expressing an opinion that goes against the grain.

But remember this, JK—however counterintuitive this may seem to progressives, whose natural home is on the fringe—most people are looking on incredulously at the disconnect between culture and reality. Despite raucous protestations to the contrary, you are on the right side of history—not just because of the points you make, but because of how you make them.

[celiabowens]

Book recommendations, Literary Fiction edition(?)

A companion to this post (which should be updated, at some point lol)

Short Story Collections: 

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield: grotesque and disquieting collection about women and their experience in society, how they view and perceive their own body and desires. Pretty strong mythic, magical realism, body horror elements in here.

The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks: fascinating collection in which Sacks reminishes some particularly odd stories of patients who had to cope with bizarre neurological disorders.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: a collection focused on the Chinese millennial experience. Stories about love and loss, family, immigration and the uncertainty of the future. (also there’s an extremely beautiful short story about a pair of Chinese divers that broke me forever!!!)

Bestiary: The Selected Stories by Julio Cortázar: unforgettable selection of short stories that mix surreal elements to everyday life and apparently ordinary events. Would also recommend All Fires the Fire by the same author.

Novels:

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang: one of the biggest debuts of 2020, it follows two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era. An adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration, this is one of my favorites 2020 reads so yeah, I’d really push it in anyone’s hands to be honest.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: historical fiction inspired by the last days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in the 1820s. A quite bleak, but beautiful novel (the prose is stunning).

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: historical fiction novel set in Norway in the 17th century, following the lives of a group of women in a village that recently (barely) survived a storm that killed all of the island’s men. 

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: the 2020 winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist (side note, I’ve been recommended The Underground Railroad by Whitehead as well, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. If you’re looking for something quite peculiar, if a bit less refined when compared to The Nickel Boys, The Intuitionist is a quite odd pulpy noir set in an alternate NY about...elevator inspectors *and racism*). 

The Leavers by Lisa Ko: haunting book about identity and immigration as the main character is apparently abandoned by his own mother (an undocumented Chinese immigrant) during his childhood. Mainly a story about living in between places and constantly feeling out of place. 

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa: when everyone would probably recommend Murakami (not much against Murakami besides his descriptions of women and their boobs), I suggest checking out some of Ogawa’s books. The recently translated The Memory Police, published in Japan in the mid 90s, is an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories slowly disappear. Would also really recommend The Housekeeper and The Professor, a really short novel about a housekeeper hired to clean and cook for a math professor who suffered an injury that causes him to remember new things for only 80 minutes. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, following a son writing a letter to his illiterate mother. The book seems quite polarising due to Vuong’s writing style (his poetry background is really quite clear and the book doesn’t really follow a regular narrative, rather than portrays events and memories in brief flashes), but I loved it and I’d really just recommend going into it without knowing much? It’s a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and more.

Exist West by Mohsin Hamid: this book was fairly popular when it came out (in 2017 I believe) and was often incorrectly marketed as magical realism. Hamid’s book is a brief and quietly brutal journey with a few fantastical elements, following a couple trying to escape their city in the middle of war, as they hear about peculiar doors that can whisk people far away. The doors are, of course, a quite effective metaphor for the immigrant experience and the book does a great job at portraying the main characters’ relationship. 

Family Trust by Kathy Wang: this has a really low rating on goodreads which...wow i hate that. Family Trust is a literary family saga/drama about a Chinese-American family residing in the Silicon Valley. It’s often been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, but I believe it to be more on the literary side and definitely less lighthearted. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: historical family saga (one of my favorites tbh, I’m absolutely biased, but this book deserved more hype) set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century, following four generations of a Korean family. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the prose, the book has really great characterisation and absolutely fascinating characters. (I’d suggest checking out eventual TW first, in this case). 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: another recent read, The Silence of the Girls, while not faultless, is a pretty good retelling of The Iliad, narrated through Briseis’ perspective. The prose can feel a bit too modern at times, but it provides the reader with some really strong quotes and descriptions. 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: and also Little Fires Everywhere by the same author, to be honest. If you’re looking for really really good family dramas, with great explorations of rather complex and nuanced relationships? You should just check out her stuff. Vibrant characters, good writing, and some superb portrayal of longing here. 

Nutshell by Ian McEwan: i’m starting with this one only to grab your attention (if you’ve even reached this part lol, congrats), but McEwan’s one of my favorite authors and I’d recommend almost everything I’ve read by him? Nutshell, specifically, is a really odd and fun retelling of Hamlet...told from the pov of an unborn baby. But really, I’d also recommend Atonement (of course), The Children Act, Amsterdam? All good stuff. 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: I’ve read this book this summer and, while I’m still unsatisfied with the ending, I’d thoroughly recommend this? The novel follows Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A singular novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life. 

Human Acts by Han Kang: from the bestselling author of The Vegetarian (which honestly, I thoroughly despised lol), Human Acts focuses on the South Korean Gwangju uprising. It’s a really odd (and at times grotesque) experimental novel (one chapter is narrated from the pov of one of the bodies if I remember correctly), so one really has to be in the mood for it, but it’s a really unique experience, worth a chance.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: sort of a really chunky historical adventure novel following two artists in 1940s/1950s NY, who create a superhero and use him to wage a one man war on the Nazis. A bit slow in places (the pace can be uneven at times and the book is quite long), but an enjoyable novel that does a pretty good job when it comes to exploring rather classic themes of American contemporary fiction: the American dream and the figure of the artist (I think there’s a particularly interesting focus on how the artists navigates the corporate world and its rules) and their creative process.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: this is a pretty classic rec, the book really got a lot of hype when it came out? It’s a dystopian-ish novel set after civilisation’s collapse, following a post-apocalyptic troupe (of Shakespearean actors). It’s a really odd, but surprisingly quiet book. Not sure if a pandemic is exactly the right time to read it, but I thoroughly recommend it. 

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng: I feel like this book is extremely complex to summarise to be honest. In short, it’s a book set in Malaya at the end of the 1940s, following a woman who, after surviving Japanese wartime camps, spends her life prosecuting war criminals. But truthfully this book is about conflicts and contradictions and in particular about remembering and forgetting. Lovely prose. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: and also The Goldfinch. I’m sure no one really needs me to introduce Donna Tartt?

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton: quite cerebral mystery set in New Zealand in 1866. Honestly you have to be a patient reader who enjoys novels with a pretty complex structure to like this, but if you’re into this sort of challenging read...go for it? It’s a book of interlocking stories (with 10+ pov and main characters) with a really fascinating structure based on astrological charts, which provide insight to the main characters’ traits and personality as the mystery unfolds.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: ok...do not watch the movie first. The Hours is an incredibly difficult novel to describe to be honest: it begins by recalling the last moments of Virginia Woolf’s life, as she’s writing Mrs. Dalloway. The book focuses on three separate narratives, each one following a specific character throughout a single day of their own life. Goes without saying that I’d suggest being familiar with Mrs. Dalloway itself first though.

An Artists of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro: not one of Ishiguro’s most famous works (most start reading his work with Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day), but probably my favorite out of those I’ve read so far. The novel follows  Masuji Ono, an artist who put his work in service of imperialist propaganda throughout WWII. Basically a reflection and an account of the artist’s life as he deals with the culpability of his previous actions. 

Stoner by John Williams: I feel like this is an odd book to recommend, because I don’t think someone can truly get the hype unless they read it themselves. Stoner is a pretty straight-forward book, following the ordinary life of an even more ordinary man. And yet it’s so compelling and never dull in its exploration of the characters’ lives and personalities. Also, I’ve just finished Augustus by the same author, which is an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Really liked it. 

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien: back to integenerational family sagas (because I love those, in case it wasn’t clear lol), Do Not Say We Have Nothing follows a young woman who suddenly rediscovers her family’s fractured past. The novel focuses on two successive generations of a Chinese family through China’s 20th century history. While not every character got the type of development they deserved, the author does a good job when it comes to gradually recreating the family’s complex and nuanced history. 

There’s probably more but I doubt anyone’s going to reach the end or anything so. There’s that lol.

[travel-hopefully]

A collective post of everything I watched on Netflix in 2020

I finally found the watch history function on Netflix which I wanted in order to reminisce over the TV/film I watched over the last year, including the good and the bad. I’ve included a little round-up of my thoughts for each, as lockdown has got me with plenty of time on my hands. If anyone has watched any of the below feel free to give me a message- happy to discuss anything!

Travelers (season 3) - this was an unforgettable show with some great characters and definitely put me through hell (in a good way), I am a David x Marcy shipper for sure!

IT Crowd (season 4 & 5) - my favourite comedy show ever, and I mean the UK version

Explained (random episodes) - interesting bite-sized episodes on a variety of topics

Sherlock (season 3 & 4) - it kinda went downhill from season 4...and doesn’t help that there is no season 5 in sight

Unforgettable - must be pretty forgettable cause I couldn’t remember watching, a typical revenge plot romp I think

The Mind, Explained - same as for Explained above, except more pyshcological

You (season 2) - binge-worthy! I love to hate Joe Goldberg.

Don’t F**k with Cats - wow, this was disturbing but so gripping.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - geniunely a good remake and rather amusing

Sex, Explained - as for Explained but a little more intriguing ;)

The Stranger (season 1) - full of suspense and a good binge watch but ultimately full of plot holes with an unsatisfying conclusion

Gavin & Stacey (season 3) - a classic which I only started watching in 2019

Sex Education (all of it) - comedy gold!

Unbelievable (limited series) - very harrowing, an emotional rollercoaster based on a real-life rape case

Atypical (all of it) - light-hearted and fun to binge

The Sinner (season 1) - it was okay... wasn’t spectacular compared to other similar dramas I’ve seen

Love Is Blind (season 1) - cringey but satisfying

In the Shadow of the Moon - I hardly remember this one :)

Dunkirk - a stand-out historical movie

The Stepfather - typical killer stepfather plot but rather enjoyable

The Super - an interesting premise, but not that super

Saw VI - all gore not much plot

Doctor Who (random episodes) - no words needed :D

Louis Theroux and Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends (random episodes) - I love his style of interviewing - what a man!

The Revenant - a lot of... well, not much

Nightcrawler - it was decent, but something was missing which I couldn’t put my finger on

How To Get Away With Murder (seasons 1-5) - probably my biggest new watch of the year, a rollercoaster of suspense, drama and murder, another season to go...

Ocean’s Eleven - fun but cheesey

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare - creepy faces and an interesting ending

Eli - it started one way then went another, I wasn’t convinced

Star Trek (2009) - I couldn’t really get into this one...

In the Tall Grass - a lot of running around in grass

Bloodride (season 1) - i loved this, a quirky idea, i binged it

Apostle - intense, a satisfying religious cult horror

The Platform - great idea, not sure on the ending

What Keeps You Alive - what happened in this one again?

History 101 - didn’t watch many episodes :P

The Prodigy - a decent child possession horror

Into the Night (season 1) - really enjoyed this, a highlight of the year for me, hoping for a season 2

It - pretty chilling and creepy, but a tad cheesey

Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - the first one has a brilliant dinosaur fight scene, the second one has too many plot holes and inconsistencies to take seriously

Knowing - a Nicholas Cage sci-fi/apocalpytic classic, pretty decent

Stranger Things (random episodes) - i tried to get my bf into the show but sadly he still isn’t much of a TV fan

Miranda (random episodes) - such fun!

Black Mirror (seasons 1 & 2) - another one i introduced the bf to, i got a bit further with him on this one, the very first episode being the highlight

The Last House on the Left - a decent remake, but nothing outstanding

Dark (season 3) - this, my friends, is one of the greatest shows of all time. want a timey-wimey story where everything is connected and has an amazingly satisfying conclusion? this is the show for you!

The Silence - a bad ‘A Quiet Place’

Geostorm - i’m a fan of disaster movies but this one wasn’t in the same league as some of the greats

Panic Room - a mum and kid hides in the panic room when a group of thugs break into the house, it was enjoyable but not all that memorable

Prisoners - a very long film with some enjoyable parts but overall unsatisfying

Girl on the Third Floor - it was okay, i can’t remember much of it

The Woods (season 1) - another Harlan Coben adaptation- not as good as ‘Safe’ or ‘The Stranger’ but still a gripping thriller

Time Trap - a fun time-travel film with some interesting turns of events

72 Dangerous/Cutest Animals (random episodes) - just ‘cause i love animals

Slasher (all of it) - some very gory deaths, especially in season 3. quite disturbing but keeps the suspense up throughout.

2012 - a guilty pleasure of mine, realistic or not

Kingsman: The Secret Service - a fun spy film, will be looking to watch the second one soon

Blackfish - this was harrowing, it really made me think, but overall i’m on the side of tilikum

Unsolved Mysteries (season 1 & 2) - watching some of these my jaw dropped, love theorising on this kind of stuff

Down to Earth with Zac Efron (season 1) - Zac is great in this, he seems so chill and literally ‘down to earth’

The Call - I love this film, seen it 3 times now

Contagion - very relatable right now, interesting to see the parallels with todays situation

Next in Fashion (season 1) - i didn’t get too far with this, i found it a little superficial

Searching - another of those internet web-cam based films. decent but not memorable.

Non-stop - another Nicholas Cage classic, this time a suspense thriller

Freaks - as the title suggests this one was rather weird, i didn’t quite gel with it

The Perfection - wow, that was an experience. definitely memorable, even if some characters make questionable decisions...

Extraction - not usually a fan of action-type thrillers, but i actually enjoyed this one, plus it has Chris Hemsworth in it!

Line of Duty (season 2) - full of suspense, a great build-up in the first 5 episodes, but the way they tied it up really grated on me 

Insidious - watched this one with my sister. a genuinely good horror film on rewatch with an amazing cliff-hanger

A Quiet Place - another one watched with my sister. labelled a horror but its more sci-fi, either way its a classic. bring on the second film!

The Dark Tower - disappointing mostly.

Gladiator - i’d never seen this before and now i understand the hype- what an epic movie!

Criminal UK (season 2) - didn’t disappoint following the exceptional first season

Venom - a fun comedic marvel film, definitely need to watch more from Marvel in the next year- i need an order to watch them in as don’t know where to start

Our Planet (season 1) - chill David Attenborough to put on in the background

The Equalizer - a great action revenge thriller plot with a badass Denzel

Merlin (random episodes) - who doesn’t love a trip down memory lane with some nostalgic bbc merlin?

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - pretty scary remake

The Witcher (season 1) - rewatched in order to familiarise myself again before season 2 - i didn’t realise how funny the show was until this time round, gotta love Jaskier!

American Murder: The Family Next Door - this was haunting

The Haunting of Bly Manor - phenomenal, emotional, creepy, heartbreaking - i much preferred it to Hill House

Abducted in Plain Sight - seriously, how naive are the parents in this? i could have a rant for hours about this!

The End of the F***ing World (seasons 1 & 2) - very bingeable, Alyssa makes me laugh too much, i love how relatable the show is

Fractured - didn’t expect much from this consipiracy-type film but it kept me guessing right till the end

The Ripper (limited series) - very intriguing, but the mysogyny in this was shocking

Inconceivable - a typical mother looking for her baby revenge plot but still entertaining

The Midnight Sky - i’d heard rave reviews for this but was disappointed by a lacklustre plot which was sacrificed for award-winning cinematography

Killer Women with Piers Morgan (season 2) - a pyschological interview series which looks into the mind of murderers, rather interesting

May the Devil Take You - scarier and jumpier than i thought it would be!

So 2020 obviously gave me a lot of time to watch a s**t load of stuff and looking back at it i feel like i got a decent amount of my watch-list ticked off! And obviously this is not including shows watched on other media so there’s that too (a special shout-out to the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who which I watched this year on BritBox). In all, 2020 has definitely introduced me to a few new fandoms and progressed my love for others.