#can you do a watch party on hulu

[kiefbowl]

this is a random thought I had in the shower actually well over a month ago, but I've been gnawing at it in my brain...and perhaps this is going to sound pathetic and a bit esoteric.

So, it suddenly dawned on me very randomly while I was showering that I have been paying for netflix for my own account since I was a freshman in college. Back in the dvd days, I remember having Firefly sent to me disk by disk my fall semester. This is 2009. It was an important part of college because I let my friends use it on their console and we'd all go to their dorm and watch streaming, and I passed out my log in to a ton of friends. I basically provided free Netflix to more or less 10 or so people over the course of four years for not even $7 a month I think.

What hit me though was that means, this year - that will be 15 years. That's what stopped me in my shower to stare off in the abyss for like 10 minutes and what's been on my mind for the past several weeks. I've been paying netflix for 15 years, which is the longest I've ever done anything. There is no other company I've so consistently paid for like this either, not for that many of years not even close. Quite possibly my longest relationship outside of my family and 2-3 other people. Netflix, the ever constant, of all forsaken things.

And what really bothers me about it is that, uhm, not to be an American consumer but like...I don't feel appreciated by netflix. For the past few years, I've barely used it, except for a few titles I've wanted to watch. I haven't passed out my log in since I changed it not long after college to keep an ex using it for free. I've remained loyal, despite the fact that I don't feel like some sort of loyal consumerist. I don't give a fuck about brands, I try to shop as little as possible, thrift what I can. And yet, what can I say? I actually am a loyal consumerist, to netflix that is.

What a shock to realize this, and what a shock to realize netflix does not acknowledge this, no email saying thanks, no surveys, no swag, no pizza party, no invite no perk no discount no nothing. Instead they raise prices, cut services, lose licenses, and cancel barely finished products. I'm 15 years loyal to this company for this?

And I think about the days of yore, but really not long ago. The preferred shopper's catalogues of department stores, the longtime shopper promotions of industry giants, the award systems for the loyal consumerists of chains and malls. The specialty Christmas items that are today vintage and worth money for their rarity. The thank yous, the special events. The mailers that say "Come to our store loyal customer and receive a free $20 coupon for that day!" And I'm not saying this is good, and of course it's all just marketing and advertisement, and I'm not saying this is the life I want to live...

But I am saying this would be easy for netflix to do, for someone like me. Someone who went from $7 to stream and receive DVDs, who got customers onboard when the model was new and the company was pioneering, to $20 to sit unused but for a month or two out of the year. It would be easy to pull the data. It would be easy to say which accounts have been opened the longest, to actually verify who has given 180 months worth of payments to them. It would be easy to give me a year's discount to say thank you. It would be easy for them to send an email to verify my address to send me merch. Do I want the merch? No, not really. But have they tried?

Have they even sent me an email saying "We appreciate your 15 years of support! We value you!" with little confetti animation? They didn't do it at 10 years. They didn't do it at 5 years. I don't recall ever receiving emails from netflix besides "Unfortunately, our payment model is changing."

As of today, I haven't pulled my account yet. I want to finish Bridgerton, even if this season is a snoozefest. But I think I will. I feel had and used, as pathetic as that sounds. Has Hulu done anything different? I can't remember when I signed up for them but it's been many years. No, but I frankly use it more, so I'm less angry. And with netflix...it's been fifteen years. They have really banked on us being passive in our payments, and accustomed to the freedom of endless choice, and it just feels gleeful that they never even once acknowledged I've been here this whole time. Actually, act like Sears and Bloomingdales 60 years ago, or we quit I think we should say. Ask me my address to send me a glass netflix mug or I'll fuck off, because who do you think you are to think so little of me, the only reason you exist for?

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/02/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; SambaSchutte; Vico Ortiz; Captain's Orders; AdoptOurCrew Saturday Sillies; Saturday "Masculinity" Fuckery; March 3 Reminders; FOTC and Short Poppies Watch Party Polls; Our Flag Turns 2; The Pirates Watch party; New Watch Party: Next Goal Wins; Repo News; Articles; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

= Cast&Crew Sightings =

= Samba Schutte =

Samba's new short film "I Keep Bumping Into Candy Maldonado" is screening tomorrow Mar 3 @ 10 am at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival! If you happen to be there, give it a watch!

Src: Samba's Instagram Story

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico's out here re-tweeting the AdoptOurCrew #TheseThems Watch Party! Way to go @adoptourcrew!

= Today was Captains Orders!=

Several folks got out and took some time to enjoy nature! I only got a few permissions to share so if I get more, I'll add more tomorrow! Thank you to @lucyrosebutler for sharing! The last two images are me and my sad dry state. Bonus, my nugget before he ran off.

== AdoptOurCrew Saturday Sillies ==

Our lovely crew-mates @AdoptOurCrew are back again with more #SaturdaySillies! This time around it's Pirate Connections! Want to know how to play? Check out the guide. If you already have twitter, please visit the Adopt Our Crew Thread to play! Don't have twitter? No problem! Their links to the Pirate Connections are below!

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

== Saturday Fuckery! ==

Our darling @RedsiesWorld on twitter started up a fuckery! Various crew members managed to lots of positive, healthy masculinity posts running through the #MasculinitySaturday tag!

== Reminders for March 3 ==

= FOTC/Short Poppies Watch Party Polls =

Have you voted yet for times for the Flight of the Conchords or Short Poppies Watch Party? @iamadequate1 still has the polls up!

How should ep breakdown in a Mon-Fri week be for the 12 eps of FotC S1?

What is a good hashtag for a FotC watch party?

What is a good hashtag for a Short Poppies watch party?

= #OurFlagTurns2! =

Our friends over at @AdoptOurCrew are hosting several questions on twitter regarding #OurFlagTurns2! If you're on twitter, please respond on their feed, otherwise, if you want to respond on any other platform, just add the hashtag #OurFlagTurns2!

Mar 3: The Pirates! Watch Party! 

This is a family friendly movie so bring the kids! Or the adults-- or anyone you know, really, as long as it's not against their will! Sunday March 3rd, 3 PM EST, 12 PM PST, 8 PM GMT!

Watch Party Hashtags:

#OurPirateCaptain

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

== New Watch Parties! =

March 8th - Next Goal Wins!

When: 8 pm GMT / 3 pm EST / 12 pm PST

Thank you @lamentus1 for the info! Now available to buy in the UK: £11.99 @ Apple (https://tinyurl.com/mr3p6bvm) and £9.99 or £11.99 @ Amazon https://tinyurl.com/2fwdmezz.

(US fans can watch on Hulu, and Disney Plus)

Watch Party Hashtags:

#SaveOFMD

#OurFlagWins

== Repo News ==

Hey all! Sorry it took so long.. I finally got the Renewal Repo Resources up with approved resources this time. I also added a new permission form so if you'd like to offer up your creations to be added to the repo for the purpose of sharing (with or without credit) you can do so and choose how your creations will get to be used. If anything on that form doesn't make sense or doesn't include something you feel needs to be included, please reach out to me! I got lots of feedback but I know there's always room for improvement, and I want to make sure I'm covering everyone's bases.

Please Note: This form is for shareable media. For "Fan Spotlight" I'll still be reaching out individually and those will be in a completely different part of the repo and not for sharing purposes.

OFMD Renewal Repo Sharable Media Submission / Permission Form

== Articles ==

Anti-Warner Bros. Sentiment Grows as Major Boycott Gains Traction (A shout out to @adoptourcrew in it! woo!)

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. I hope if you were able to get outside today that it helped a bit with giving you some relief. Nature really can be healing, as the captain says. If you weren't I hope you got to do something fun, like make a gif, read a fanfiction, eat something you love, and get some rest. Just wanted to remind you that you can do anything. You can write that fic. You can draw that art. You can learn that language, or that subject you want. You can get that new job, or take that break. You can make it through another day, even when it feels like you can't. Remember that. I believe in you <3 The crew believes in you <3 If you don't already, one day I know you'll believe in you too. Sending all the love <3 To Quote @bossbabe.inc "yes the fuck you can".

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

The gif theme tonight is "Strut your stuff". Rhys Gif Courtesy of @lacefuneral Taika Gif Courtesy of @fuckyeahworldoftaika

[nburkhardt]

Chrissy Cunningham, coming back to the music industry. First single in three years!

Chrissy Cunningham was once a Disney star, grew up in the spot light and was America’s sweetheart. Stepped away from the acting world to become a singer, with her fan base following along with her; became a pop star over night with her first single, Love Story. Eventually the actress turned singer, she took a massive break from both to quietly start up a fashion line.

Her success is known world wide and has recently stepped back in Hollywood with a short series on Hulu. Now it seems after that success, she’s taking her comeback further with her new single; Single Soon.

We’re all ready to hear the new music and see what else Cunningham has up her sleeve!

“The world seems to be ready for you, Sweets.” Eddie looks up from his phone to smile at a nervously pacing Chrissy, “Why the pacing?”

Chrissy groans and falls helplessly against the couch, covering her face and says something that Eddie can’t hear. She groans again, lifting a hand and repeats, “I’m afraid of what Jason’s gonna think”

“Carver? You’re asshole of an ex? That guy?”

She groans and sits up, “I’ve only ever dated one guy named Jason, Eddie! You know this”

He snorts, “yeah well, what about him?”

Chrissy glares at him and Eddie raises his hands in surrender, a finger wiggle gets her glare to drop. His smile drops as her face falls and he sets his phone down to sit next to her, “Chrissy, babe, what’s the actual problem? The song is amazing, your show is a success and Robin is coming over with Stevie”

“I’m afraid Jason will react, Eds. He is sweet but he can be a lot-“

“Yeah I know, I got the texts to remember that he has a controlling side”

She groans again, “we’ve been broken up for months and now I’m coming out with this song, he could try something” she’s biting her lip and twisting her shirt in her hands, “Just, I don’t want backlash”

Eddie softens and pulls her against his side, kissing her temple and rubbing her arm, “you won’t, not from the ones who know you. You have me, the rest of our friends and your fans? Babe, they’ll always be supportive of you! They’ll never take his side if he does come out with bullshit about you.”

“I guess” she mumbles against him, “Are you absolutely sure Robin will be here?”

Eddie’s happy that she’s hiding against his side, because she doesn’t see the shit-eating grin he has, “Stevie made absolutely sure that she’ll be there, he even promised to drag her away from her studio if he has too.”

“He doesn’t have to do that! I know she has a deadline for-“

He makes a ‘tsk’ sound while shaking his head, “Chrissy, her deadline isn’t as soon as you think. Stevie told me it’s actually in October, three months away. Your crush just has anxiety over her album, she can take a day to relax and maybe this will finally be the chance you get!”

She doesn’t say anything, Eddie has a good point but still, Chrissy is worried but she won’t say it again.

Eddie squeezes her once before hopping up and holding his hand out for her, she grabs it and is immediately up and twirled around before being hugged.

“Watch, this single will be a huge success. Carver can cry his heart out, you’ll be making records and get the girl you like so much. Trust me on this, Chrissy Cakes”

She squeezes her arms around him and nods, lost with words right now. Knowing her best friend, he’ll keep that promise and keep reminding her of it to even out her anxiety on it.

(Eddie’s right of course, the song is a huge success. At the launch party, she ends the night on stage with Robin Buckley, spinning her around and kissing her cheek. The media go wild with it, but it doesn’t bother Chrissy like she thought she would. Instead, she spends weeks laughing at Jason’s poor attempts to ruin her with Robin next to her)

I… don’t know where this came from other than I heard Selena Gomez’s new song ‘Single Soon’ and then I just started typing hahaha.

Information to know: everyone is famous in some way in this. Eddie’s got Corroded Coffin, Chrissy is basically Selena Gomez (child star/singer/fashion designer) Robin’s an indie singer and Steve’s a baseball player. The Party members are whatever you can think of it, I’d like to think some of them are YouTubers, singers & actors. Jason is also unfortunately famous too, he’s an actor. Steve and Eddie are together in this. They’ve been playing matchmaker with their best friends/platonic soulmates.

I could probably write more but I probably won’t lol so if anyone wants, you can take this and add too it or write your own version!

Tag list:

@spectrum-spectre @itsfreakingbats @mysticcrownshipper @artiststarme @thereindeerlady @justforthedead89 @ronniescontinuum @freyaforestafay @littlewildflowerkitten @estrellami-1 @gregre369 @zerokrox-blog @bookworm0690 @flustratedcas @carlprocastinator1000 @marvelmwah @solliesolesito @navnae @i-less-than-three-you @grimmfitzz @strangersteddierthings

[historicity-was-already-taken]

fyi

I'm not planning on watching hulu's new Holocaust drama, We Were the Lucky Ones. From everything I've heard it's very well done, and actually cast with Jewish actors, for once (this is a side rant, and not one I particularly want to do here), but I do not plan on watching it. I do not watch Holocaust tv shows and/or movies. If my book gets adapted into the HBO miniseries I long for, I'll probably struggle to watch it.

This is a long way of saying: please don't send me asks about it. The only person who can convince me to watch media which handles the Holocaust is my boyfriend, and he doesn't go here.

Thanks. And, of course, if you have watched it and have Thoughts, you're welcome to leave them in comments or reblogs for interested parties.

[kernyen-xo]

Remember, my rock party?

My contribution. You’re welcome.

Puffer totes. No. The AMC Gremlin version of handbags.

Office holiday parties. I remember back in the day that the spending limit for a white elephant gift was $10. Now, it’s $25. The kid: “That’s nothing. Ours was $40.”

What??

We’re doing a potluck too. It’s been ages since I’ve participated in one because of Covid.

I’m traveling to my brother’s this coming Saturday for the holidays. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. But you know what? My throat is starting to feel scratchy. I don’t even remember the last time I got a cold. The kind that kicks your ass for a few days. Please don’t let me get sick.

If you haven’t watched Quiz Lady on Hulu, I recommend that you do. It’s a light-hearted comedy that stars Sandra Oh and Awkwafina. I thought they had good chemistry together. Sandra was funny in her role.

I haven’t done any reading lately :-/. I know. What’s up with that?

Everything above this sentence, I wrote last night.

This morning I woke up with a full-blown sore throat. I can barely swallow. So, today I stayed home, but still plugging away doing work stuff. I ordered drugs via Door Dash. I’m desperate. I have plans, man! I can’t get sick.

Anyway.

Enough of that.

It’s raining like crazy over here, which I enjoy as long as I don’t have to leave my home. I’m gonna make a steamy hot cup of tea and drop a honey flavored cough drop in it.

I got this.

Toodles -xo

[thisnightissparkling089]

First sentance game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

I'm sooo late to the game on this, but better than than never! Thank you @chenfordspiral, @makeitastrength, @queseraone, @roguetwelve, @sisterofficerlucychen, and @mamadoc for the tags!

I think everyone has done this already, but if you haven't, join in!

1.) Anyone who had a heart

“Understood. I’ll be there in twenty.

“What’s going on?”

“I gotta go. I’m sorry.”

“Just wait—”

“I can’t. I’ll call you when I can.”

The panic doesn’t set in immediately.

Is she nervous? Of course. Concerned? Most definitely. But panicked? No. Not yet anyway. Panic hasn’t arrived just yet. In fact, panic is hours off.

Tamara stands in the kitchen, staring at Lucy, at a loss for what just happened.

“Here, let me make you a plate.” Lucy is quick to brush off the awkwardness of the moment and distracts herself as she moves into the kitchen and dishes the paella onto a plate for Tamara.

“Do you wanna watch a movie, or a show or something?” She asks. “I think Hulu has a new episode of 20/20. Maybe this will be the time the husband didn’t do it.”

“Yeah,” Tamara nods. “Okay.”

And just like that, date night is over. She can clearly tell Lucy is upset and confused by Tim’s abrupt departure. But along with that, she picks up on her desire not to talk about it or want to speculate on what it could mean.

If there was anything Tamara was good at, it was reading a room.

2.) Exile

The cramping started that day around 5pm. A full two hours before her shift ended. She could feel the wetness pooling in her panties and didn’t need a bathroom to know what was happening. And for the first time that week, Lucy was grateful to be riding by herself.

She entered the bathroom in the women’s locker room and pulled her pants down before sitting on the toilet. She released the stream of urine, finally relieving herself after having to hold it for the last hour.

Grabbing the toilet paper, Lucy wiped and paused for a moment before bringing the paper up so she could see it.

The crimson red stain stared back at her. She knew hours ago she was getting her period. If she was being honest with herself, she knew days ago she was going to get her period. But now, it was an undisputable fact staring her in the face.

She could feel the heat rising in her body, and she blinked, hot tears running down her cheek and dripping onto her uniform.

She wanted to punch the wall, wanted to kick the door in repeatedly until the red hot anger surrounding her fled her body. Instead, she sat there as the tears continued to fall.

She hated the fact that she was an angry crier. When she was angry, she just wanted to be angry, to sit with that anger. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t just anger. It wasn’t just rage.

It was grief.

3.) Something New

Alex looked in the mirror and assessed the situation.

Her hair was curled perfectly in soft beach waves, and her makeup was done in a way she was quite proud of. After hours of YouTube tutorials, advise from her aunts, and shopping trips with her mom, she had really started to get the hang of things.

The outfit wasn’t of exact importance, as she wouldn’t be wearing it once she got to the party. A black tank top, pink cropped sweatshirt, leggings, and sneakers. The perfect ‘I’m going to a sleepover’ outfit she knew her parents wouldn’t question. In her backpack, however, laid the outfit she knew her father would kill her 6 times over for if her ever caught her in it. A pair of tight, dark wash denim jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places. The heels she was ‘borrowing’ from her mom. And the clincher. A red, lace trim, cami bralette that Lucy and Tim absolutely forbade her from buying. The one she had secretly saved her allowance for and bought on her last trip to the mall.

If there was one thing that topped the list of things Tim Bradford hated for his daughters, it was crop tops. Most specifically, bralette crop tops. The cropped sweatshirt she wore in the moment had been battle enough, and Tim only allowed it if she wore a tank top underneath. No matter how many times Alex had tried to convince him that this was the current style, his answer was always the same.

“Not in my house, not on my daughters!”

Sitting back on her bed, she sighed and thought things through once more.

4.) Lovers & Friends

Tim’s eyes fluttered awake, and he shifted slightly in bed. He looked to the window and saw the sunlight just peaking above the buildings and starting to fill the room. 7 o’clock on the dot. He didn’t even have to check his phone. Tim Bradford was awake at 7am every morning, with or without an alarm clock. It was part of his routine, and even on vacation, his body was simply incapable of sleeping in any later.

Even though both he and Lucy had the day off, a true rarity, he was still up, same time as always. Directly next to him, Lucy lay fast asleep. He looked over and could see her chest rising and falling with each breath. Her honey brown hair was splayed across her face and the rising sun was hitting it at just the right angle, making it appear even more golden. Her tank top had ridden up on her in the middle of the night and was exposing just the right amount of her stomach and boy shorts, causing Tim to groan slightly.

It varied on whether or not Tim let Lucy sleep in on their days off. Occasionally, he would quietly slip out of the bed and head to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and make breakfast for the three of them. Pancakes and bacon, followed by copious amounts of coffee, always seemed to be Lucy and Tamara’s favorite.

5.) So it goes...

Tamara Colins has started a group chat

[Lucy Chen, Angela Lopez, Wesley Evers, Nyla Harper, John Nolan, Bailey Nune]

Tamara Colins: Fam, is anyone else’s power out? Or is it just us?

Nyla Harper: Out here too. Of all days…

Angela Lopez: Thank God. Wesley’s out in the garage and I was about to pop off thinking he was messing with the breaker box.

Lucy Chen: I told you I didn’t forget to pay the electric bill!

Wesley Evers: 😑

Wesley Evers: And I told you I was working on putting the crib together!

Tamara Colins: I mean…come on. It was a reasonable first guess.

Angela Lopez: If anyone would remember to pay a bill though, it’s Chen. Shit, she probably has it set up on auto pay.

Lucy Chen: I do, thank you very much!

Wesley Evers: Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be? You’ll defend Lucy, but not your husband?

Angela Lopez: Chen brought me an iced coffee this morning, I owe her one.

Wesley Evers: Speaking of owing one…

Angela Lopez: Yeah, I’ve got that debt right in my uterus, thanks. Presently, they’re pressing on my bladder.

Nyla Harper: Right, well as fascinating as this is, what are we gonna do? I’ve got breastmilk in the fridge that isn’t going to last if the power doesn’t turn back on and quickly. And Leah will never be able to sleep in this heat.

6.) (A not so) Cruel Summer

“S’Alright, alright, settle down. Gotta couple of announcements to make this morning before we set you free.” Grey announced as he made his way into roll call and approached the podium.

It was a sunny Monday morning in August, and as his vacation was starting on Saturday, and he and Luna had an All-Inclusive trip booked to Jamaica, he was eager to get through his week. Quickly, the officers fell in line and quieted down as they turned in their seats and gave the man their full attention.

“As I’m sure everyone already knows, it’s the last week of the LA County Fair. Things have thankfully been quite low key so far, so let’s hope that trend continues as it winds down. But while we’re on the topic…”

He paused for a moment and turned his gaze to Smitty. “A friendly reminder that policing does not include going on the rides while on duty if you happen to be working the fair.”

Smitty let out a huff as he threw his hands up. “Sarge, the kid was dodging me. It’s not my fault he decided to hop on the bumper cars while I was chasing him. Clearly it was an invitation!”

Grey rolled his eyes and reminded him of the rules just the same before continuing right along with his agenda, ticking a few more things off his list.

7.) Only love can hurt like this

Lucy Bradford was exhausted.

That was the understatement of the year.

At 38 weeks pregnant, her ankles were swollen, her back ached, and she had to pee roughly every four minutes. She could barely eat more than a few bites of food every few hours, sleeping more than three hours at a time had become seemingly impossible, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her vagina.

And this wasn’t her first go around.

No, the first go around, baby Nora, only 14 months old herself, was at home with Tim. When Lucy discovered she was pregnant again, when her first child was only five months old, Tim cried, Tamara snorted and tried to give Lucy a speech on sex education, and Lopez and Harper straight cackled.

“Bradford. You just can’t keep your hands to yourself for five minutes, can you?” Angela taunted.

Tim pursed his lips and shook his head, annoyed at the fact that his sex life was being openly discussed at work. “It was Valentine’s Day. Not my fault.”

8.) About last night

Tim startled awake in the darkened room and sat up in bed. He wasn’t sure of the exact time, but figured it had to be the middle of the night as it was still dark. Before he could even have a moment to locate the source of his middle of the night wake up, a knock rapped at their bedroom door.

He got up out of bed, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and shuffled over to the door, opening it. Tamara stood across from him with her arms wrapped around herself and eyes cast down to the floor.

“T, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Lucy’s crying.” She mumbled softly, unable to look him in the eye.

Tim’s eyes widened as he turned his head back and took notice of the now empty bed.

“I woke up thirsty and went to get some water and I heard her in the bathroom. I tried to check on her, but she won’t let me in.”

Tim looked toward the bathroom and could hear the exhaust fan and see the light coming through the bottom of the closed door. Sighing, he rubbed his hand over his face. “Okay, it’s alright. I got her. Go on back to bed and get some sleep, it’s still early.”

“Tim…” Tamara looked up at him with eyes full of confusion, hurt and sadness. Ever since she had known Lucy, she had been strong, stable, and put together. Seemingly, Lucy had the answers to everything. It wasn’t often that Tamara ever saw or knew about Lucy in a state of unrest. The handful of times she did always left her feeling helpless.

“Hey, come ‘mere.”

He opened his arms and Tamara leaned in for a hug.

9.) I wont

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

“Put your hands behind your back.”

“What?! No!”

But her protests didn’t matter.

She felt Nolan gently take her wrists. On instinct she had jerked back, but his force tightened slightly, holding them in place as the cold metal slipped around her.

She wanted to run. She wanted to blink and wake up and find out that somehow, the last hour had just been some God-awful nightmare.

“Stop! You’re making a mistake!” She had sobbed. Hot tears dripped down her cheeks. But no one was listening. It was as if she was drowning and begging for help while everyone stood on the dock and simply watched her struggle and drown.

“I’m sorry, but it has to be this way. We can figure out the rest once we get to the hospital.”

John glared at his rookie, chastising her with his eyes. “Officer Juarez, stop, right now!” He bellowed. “We can’t appear impartial in any way. The only thing you can say to her is her Miranda rights.”

“Right, apologies sir.”

She looked over to him being loaded onto the stretcher, still holding his groin, and screaming in pain. It felt like every eye in the room was on them.

“I want that crazy bitch arrested and thrown in jail!”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”

She could hear Celina’s voice, but it was faded and far away. In any event, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t possibly be talking to her anyway. None of this was real. It had to be a bad dream. That’s all it was, just a dream. Soon, she would wake up, covered in sweat, and come back to reality.

The door opened and they escorted her out. Red and blue lights flashed brightly and bounced off the house. People lined the yard, staring, whispering, filming, pointing.

It was all just a dream.

10.) Switchin up positions for you

Tim’s eyes fluttered awake, adjusting to the sunlight pouring into the room. He had talked to Lucy previously about investing in some blackout curtains, but it never seemed to get past the talking stage. And in her opinion, she liked the sunrise coming through her room and thought it brought about much needed warmth.

Leaning into her side of the bed, he reached out for her blindly, wanting to snuggle in with her as they did every morning. He would rest his head against her shoulder and bury his nose against her hair, breathing in her honeysuckle shampoo scent.

And while his intentions always started off innocently enough, it wasn’t long before clothing was being shed and he had her underneath him, crying out his name. He was growing hard already just thinking about the amorous activities that lay ahead.

But in reaching over for her, he was met with nothing but an empty space. Cracking one eye open, he found her side of the bed empty. Opening both eyes, he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and listened for a hint of where she was.

The sound of the shower finally came into focus, and he was on his way out of bed to go find her when his phone began to vibrate against the bedside table.

[shelfthe-reader]

alright cabinet, if the only musicals i've watched are spring awakening, dear evan hansen, hamilton, and the percy jackson musical, where should I start?

So I’m not the BIGGEST slime tutorial (iykyk) person so I have NO CLUE the best links for those but here are my favorite movie-musicals you can find on Streaming

Disney+

Newsies (1992)

Newsies (2017) These two would help you understand some of my reblogs lmao

Hamilton

Into the Woods (contrary to popular belief, it’s not as bad as it could have been, and this is the only role James Corden has EVER been decent in)

West Side Story (one of my all-time favorites; I love this version more than the OG)

MAX

In The Heights

Singin In The Rain

Mamma Mia

The Color Purple (2023)

Hulu

Mamma Mia/Here We Go Again

The Color Purple (2023)

As for cast albums, here’s a playlist of the “official” opening songs to all of MY favorites (this IS NOT a finished playlist, especially since people keep dropping cast albums) (you will NEVER see Phantom or Les Mis or Chicago etc etc on here) (But again, this is an ever-evolving playlist on opening numbers so who knows)

Right now, the albums I have on repeat (Note: NOT the same as favorites) are Hell’s Kitchen, The Outsiders, Suffs, 35MM, Bonnie & Clyde, Water for Elephants, and Almost Famous

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITES are Come From Away, Newsies, The Outsiders, West Side Story, RENT, Parade, and & Juliet (as of Monday July 1st)

The Shows I’ve Seen on Broadway (in order)

School of Rock

Come From Away

Hadestown

Six

Paradise Square

& Juliet

Aladdin (music is Menken so thats all it had going for it lmao) (Michael you were great tho)

Parade

The Outsiders

The Heart of Rock and Roll (music was good, plot was out of pocket)

National Tours

Six

Anastasia

College Theter

Newsies

Rent

Into the Woods

Community Theater

Anastasia

Newsies

Beauty and the Beast

Bye Bye Birdie

Aladdin Jr.

School Musicals

Godspell

The Sound of Music

Newsies

Frozen Jr

Shrek Jr

And I was in Tuck Everlasting (Youth Edition) so that’s fun too

I think I’ve covered all my bases so if you have ANY QUESTIONS please ask me also if you want to do like a listening party for any of these I wouldn’t say no lmao

[danpuff-ao3]

break.

I wasn't really going to "announce" this, but I'll be taking a little break for a while. My current mental health state is....pretty critical, actually. Generally I try to be open about my mental health struggles, because I know how beneficial it was, and is, for me to remember I'm not alone. And if me sharing my struggles helps others, too, that's the least I can do. But dire as things are, all I could think was: "no one cares about your pity party, danni."

Last night, though, thoroughly exhausted from therapy, I flopped down on my couch and watched Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields on Hulu. Towards the end, in part 2, she spoke about her battle with postpartum depression and speaking out about it in 2005, which I actually remember. I was an avid consumer of celebrity tabloids in my younger years. Somehow I'd forgotten how big of a deal it was at the time. And last night, I felt extra admiring of how she came out to talk about it, the backlash she faced, and all that she accomplished back then.

More than that was her talk of being diagnosed. And how abnormal and wrong she felt. And how worried the people around her were. We've come a long way in terms of mental health awareness, though there's also a long way to go.

I'm no Brooke Shields, I'm afraid, and nothing I say is going to knock anyone's socks off. But I'm suffering. And I have been for a long time. And despite everyone else's dearest wishes, I'm not going to get better anytime soon. My therapist and I both know there is a very long road ahead. Part of that journey is learning how to take care of myself, and when to step back and rest when I need to. Much as it matters to me to share love and joy, it is very exhausting, and I'm quite tired now.

Other people's expectations and entitlement (and inevitable disappointment) leave me feeling quite raw. I need to remember that I am not at fault for not giving or being what they want.

Other people's opinions on my healing are, frankly, ridiculous and offensive. There's nothing wrong with me as a person for having different struggles and different needs. All I can do is focus on myself and take care of myself. I'm doing all that I can. I'm committed to this path and that's what matters, more than anything else. Progress will ebb and flow; sticking to it is what matters.

As you can probably tell, there's a lot of pain and pressure from others, and why stepping back for a while and not engaging so much will probably be good for me. It will be good to sit with myself for a while, and surround myself with the people who love me, and let them love me. And with luck I'll have a little reset, better balance and boundaries, and a new outlook!

So...Until next time, friends <3

[pleaseeeimjustagirl]

🎀30 Day Glow Up Challenge🎀 - day nineteen

♡ Mindset : on the weekends I like to detach from my phone and spend time with my friends and family. I prefer workout during the week so on the weekends I can just relax and focus on having fun. I’ve doing higher self/ dream self journaling I love it I’ll leave the prompts I’ve been following down below do you can use them as well. I use the Apple journaling app so I can add images with my journal entries I love creating vision board and mood boards and the Apple journal allows me to be able to do that and I love the app<3333

♡ Health : I have been eating clean, walking, and working out consistently it’s always hard trying to fix bad habits but it gets easier the more I do it.

♡ Self Care : I bought the Crest Brilliance Teeth Whitening Toothpaste and I’m so happy I start using it today can’t wait to see where my teeth are a month from now. My teeth have never been extremely yellow I have nice teeth but I want a nice white smile.

♡ Experience : I spent time with my friend today watching Netflix And Hulu series it was nice I made her breakfast when she came over. I want to learn how to host parties and brunches.

Tell me how you’re doing babes I would love to know my inbox and requests are open<33333

[alyjojo]

January ⛸️ 2024 Monthly - Capricorn

Whole of your energy: Death

In your meditation was this same tapestry I have hanging on the wall, which made me chuckle, I’ll post it after. I just like it, and it’s staying for the year, I don’t connect it to Capricorn, but still that’s what I’m getting. It’s The Fool card, except on this cliff, it’s Persephone reaching out for transformation (butterfly/seasons)…about to leap, because it’s The Fool, and Hades below, reaching for her. Your preshuffle shows needing to gain some perspective on a romantic partner or relationship, both Wands court cards, you two show up as a divine pair. Probably very different though, opposites even. Or it seems so. In the vision, these two were singing the same song but differently, in their own way, but consciously towards the other person 🎶

I don’t get a bad feeling from this Death card, like most people might, more that you’re ringing in the new year with necessary changes on your mind, probably self judgements for the most part, personal transformations, conscious ones, I get this being a positive release of what you don’t want anymore. Some of you will be more focused on where your money is going, entertainment, tv subscriptions, unnecessary expenses, eating too much fast food. Some of you could start going to the gym, walking your dog more often, generally getting back on a schedule where you’ve allowed yourself to be more lax and enjoying whatever your holiday season is. It’s back to work for you 💯

What’s going on in January:

Page of Cups:

I don’t get you approaching this from a negative mindset, even with 4 Pentacles here. That’s your energy, and here it seems to be about saving money, that’s probably one of your main goals for this year, at least starting off. This Page can be a sweet invite or being asked out on a date, it feels very new if that’s the case. I think when it comes to dating, you’re being totally honest that you just don’t have the money to do anything too extravagant, the holidays could’ve kicked your butt financially and you’re still recovering. Dates, parties, gatherings, are all financial risks you don’t want to take, or can’t, but again I don’t see you being negative about it. Just honest, “I like you, I want to, but I just can’t right now.” For some of you this could be a child or partner that’s frustrated at you for holding back from some event *they’re* invited to, or it’s possible you’re lecturing them about it and they’re being stubborn. Or you are. Page of Cups can also show an apology for something along these lines, if someone has been offended. Some of you are simply creating a second/third/etc savings account where you save up for fun stuff. $20 a week or so, whatever you’ve been giving Hulu that you never watch.

Ace of Swords:

This energy is more harsh, but it doesn’t *feel* harsh, it feels healthy. Queen of Swords clarifies, she holds the Ace of Swords, and there are a whole gang of people at the bottom of the deck being swiftly cut off, because that’s what Swords do. Something is being communicated in an honest & straightforward way, I don’t get any toxic energy or conflicts. Or if there’s an apology involved, there’s clear communication and clarity involving whatever went wrong, what you’re avoiding or dealing with at the moment. You’re not mean, but you are separating from “others”, possibly friends that like to spontaneously go out and spend money, at bars or something. You can’t afford that right now, you hope no one gets offended, but you’re also emotionally detached from that outcome if they do. You know what you need, and you have no issue speaking your truth about what’s what and how this is going to go. Or someone is this way with you.

8 Pentacles:

Your work energy is pretty intense this month, if you had a small vacation or a few days off, you’ll be back at it in no time. Something is going down at work with another person - a Tower, this could be unexpected, and because of this situation, circumstances are currently changing with your own job and where you stand on things. 10 Pentacles rev at the beginning could show work being unstable right now, I don’t get that’s because of you or even regarding you. For now though, you may be expected to take on more responsibility, handle some sort of work crisis, invest a lot of yourself in that area of life. Could be family for someone. As for friends, love or anything else, that’s going to have to take a backseat, not forever just for now, while a situation is “ironed out” because it’s sudden, unexpected, and takes immediate priority. For some of you, your job could have changes scheduled to roll out at the beginning of the year, and someone messes something up - leaving it on you to help get things where they need to be. Or clean up a mess 😬

3 Wands:

Whatever this is will last more than a day, more than a week even, I’m not sure but it’s the heavy time being invested that’s causing someone to be kinda irritable with you - it’s like you live at this place - and I’m getting you have zero control over this right now. You want to leave too, spend time with your person or meet up with friends, you just can’t afford it or are super busy right now. It’s not your fault, I keep hearing that, all there is to do is wait it out, circumstances are shifting and won’t stay this way forever. Something is chaotic at work or home, but I see you more as a grounding force there, than part of any of the issues. You could be hoping that by being so available, you’re rewarded in some way. More money, new position, a gift card to say thanks for working on the weekend to save our asses, something along those lines. I don’t actually see that, just you hoping for it. Maybe, if they do that.

Judgement:

Clarified by your person, or you if this is their situation, whoever isn’t being dominated by work issues right now is getting increasingly annoyed with being brushed aside in the priority chain. They want to hang out with friends, or you, going out together and having a good time. They want romance, passion, attention, and I don’t get a bad vibe from them either. They’ve been patient - Temperance, they know they have no control over what’s going on or what you have to do, but they’re going to let you know how they feel, the longer this continues. Queen of Cups is someone deeply in love, nurturing, kind, they’ve been patient, they’re just tired of being alone, and you come out with long hours, possibly late nights, they’re like “okay but what about…?” Them, what about them? Here we have a loving pair, in the preshuffle it was the passionate, exciting & ambitious pair, it’s a beautiful connection it’s just not the main priority right now. They may expect this Death regarding this situation with you, and you feel like there’s nothing you can do, you could be telling *them* you’re sorry you just can’t right now 🤷 You probably won’t have a lot of extra time, even if you do have the money. I do get you’ll be as ready to be done with this as they want you to be, you are on the same page…eventually 💯

Signs you may be dealing with:

Pisces, Scorpio, Virgo & Aries

Oracle: ✨

32 Struggle 🥴

Struggle is a part of life - so much so that you probably know people who seem to constantly attract one struggle after another into their lives. This is their comfort zone. While struggle is natural, it is natural only so far as it lends itself to learning lessons and overcoming inner personal challenges. Beneath every one of these struggles is the gift of enlightenment. The satisfaction of a lesson learned. Use this knowledge as the light at the end of your dark tunnel. What lesson is this struggle teaching you? Alternately, after a brief setback, this situation will start to right itself.

We enter into January as:

Rose Without Thorns 🌹:

“It is time to face my true feelings.”

You are most fortunate. As we mature, we learn that to enjoy the beauty of a rose, we must occasionally risk getting pricked by a thorn. You are not facing “the same situation”, this is the dawn of feelings being awakened and a new truth being born. You’re being presented with a different way to live. Trust you will know what to do. Stay open. Time changes us all if we’re lucky, it’s time to surrender and make the change. The best incentive to change is often love.

What is to be learned in January:

Salmon Chairs 🌷

“Come sit in my chair and feel my love”.

People, places and events are being drawn to you beyond your wildest imagination. Aim higher, for you will draw even greater experiences into your life. It is time to step up to the next level. All “things” are energy and will be drawn to you when you allow your energy to grow. The Salmon Chairs is being brought to you as a gift, to raise your faith and self esteem. It is a gentle and profound change in the way one relates to themselves, and the world. We create the life we feel we deserve. Often we feel we must do something to prepare, yet Salmon Chairs says “Stay in the light of truth, meditate, and relax - if you drink in the light and allow spiritual wealth, you will be surrounded by material wealth.” This is about subtle action, and receiving is an action. You are being told to sit still and receive the bounty that is coming to you. Salmon Chairs can also signify a love relationship in the wings, it’s your choice to receive it. It may also be a present relationship that’s moving to the next level, both spiritually and physically.

Salmon may be a lucky color 🩷

🍨 Happy Birthday Capricorn!!🧋

[fantastical-euphoria]

from the top of the stairwell in my house, i could hear my two big brothers discussing my big birthday party that was set to take place later that afternoon.

i was turning five, which apparently was a “big age,” according to them. i always thought a big age was 27, or 25, like them. mom always liked to use the word “milestone” when she talked about big ages. then again, she used that word all the time, not just in talking about ages. for instance, she always talked about milestones when she was jogging. she loved doing that.

henry and percy gained a baby sister when they were 22 and 20. i always asked them if it was weird. that i was basically still a baby to them. “nah, we love it,” they told me. “that means we get to permanently pick on you.” i think they were just messing with me when they said that.

“so, let’s see who we have here, maisie, aria, cooper, benny, kidd… i think that’s it.”

“yeah, they’re all coming over.”

“is that confirmed?”

“yeah. you talk to the parents?”

“i thought that was your responsibility?”

“psh, you know how anxious i get over the phone.”

“c’mon, man, we’re teachers. we have to talk to them all the time.”

“still doesn’t make it easy.”

“and… you picked up the blue monster cake that she wanted?”

“i called, said they were out of stock.”

“crap, then what do we do?”

“i’ve no idea.”

“we’ll think of something.”

“yeah, def.”

later that day, i could see several adults and several children come in through the door.

my brothers began to greet the grownups, socializing with them this way and that.

still, i observed from the stairwell, a bit shy to come down.

“yeah, we’re both teachers at the dreamers academy. it’s, uh, it’s a school. well, we do volunteer at the humane society from time to time.”

“well, i think i’m the only one still doing that.”

“it’s hard to carve time out of my schedule, okay?”

“while you’re doing what? binge watching hulu?”

“man’s gotta do what man’s gotta do.”

“i swear to god.”

i could hear several adults laughing.

“yeah, we set up a starbucks date sometime? maybe grab coffee and donuts? wait, does starbucks even have donuts?”

“yeah, absolutely, great to see you again! yeah, she’s getting big, growing up too fast.”

“i remember when she was little, well, she’ll always be little to us, but when she was little little, she’d follow us around all the time…”

“did it ever get annoying? no, we were mature about it.”

“she’s always been cute. always loved us.”

“yeah, absolutely. she’s five now, can you believe it?”

“hey, you know where she is?”

“did you call her down?”

“allie? where are you love?”

“maybe she’s with the other kids in the bonus room.”

“yeah, let’s check there.”

i heard their voices fade as they walked away from the bottom of the stairwell and further into the house.

we had a big house. it had three stories. the giant blue room that took up most of the third floor was mine. it used to be an attic, but then we moved the attic into a storage closet on the first floor. i think it came right after i was born.

my brothers were right in saying that they were both teachers. they were both naturally gifted with kids. the dreamers academy sounded like a strange name for a school, but it was all to appeal to the adults who wanted to send their kids away to a place where they could have fun and dream big while they learn. that was kind of their motto, anyway. and it attracted the kids, as well, because all the teachers were devoted, dedicated individuals who always prioritized the children they taught. and they made the lessons fun. and no day was ever challenging, at least, according to my brothers.

but they could often times be intimidating to someone as little as me. i only knew them, truly knew them, for two years. i only began talking when i was two. and they never really spent time around the house until i was around three. i don’t even remember being held by them. i did remember the following them around part, though.

i always thought of them as fun uncles. i never thought of them as my brothers.

but they had tender, caring hearts. big, big hearts. like they were giant, human teddy bears. soft, gentle and huggable.

but, at the age of almost five, i was shy. reserved. quiet. but that never bothered them. they said that maybe i’d grow out of my quiet demeanor, my shyness, but that if i didn’t, well, it wasn’t a big deal.

suddenly i heard voices shouting,

“allie?! allie?! where are you? the party’s down here, silly!”

“allie, come down, please, everyone’s waiting for you!”

a few moments later:

“allie, don’t make me count to three.”

nobody could see me because i was on the third floor, not the first. i was so high up that it wouldn’t be easy to spot me.

i liked to be elusive. but sometimes that got me in big trouble.

so i rushed downstairs and attacked both henry and percy’s legs with big hugs.

“ahaha, there she is!”

“hey, birthday girl!”

“kiddo.” i felt one of them rub the top of my head.

i said hi to all of my friends thag showed up. my brothers were all familiar with them, since they all attended the same school as me and we were all in the same classes. henry taught reading and math and percy taught gym. they looked kind of similar, but henry wore glasses a lot of the time.

“mr. angus,” (that was our last name and how the rest of the kids knew my brothers), “i want to play in the bonus room, can we play in the bonus room?”

i saw one of my friends tugging on henry’s wrist and hand with both their hands.

that made me laugh a bit.

“absolutely!” he chuckled when the tugging got to be so forceful it dragged his feet across the tile floor of the kitchen. “alright, alright, i’m coming!”

i looked up to percy, who was just about to join them before he looked down to me. “hey, allicat, ya comin?”

i giggled and nodded, following him into the big bonus room.

later on, both of my brothers, down on their hands and knees, got trampled on by me all my friends. we were using them like giant jungle gyms.

my friends’ parents liked to tease me a bit, saying stuff like “oh, you must be the smartest kid that goes there, you have two brothers who are both teachers there!” this wasn’t really true. i wasn’t realy that smart for an almost five year old. but my brothers didn’t mind.

later on, henry had gotten dragged into a different direction by the kids while i followed percy into the kitchen. he was going to call a bakery to see if they had another cake in stock for me.

“percy, i wanna show you my handstand! can you see it? please??”

he chuckled and sat down on the kitchen counter. “alright, let me see it.”

so i did it for as long as i could, never minding that my hands were touching a floor that so many feet had stepped on. but it was near-perfect. and i was quite proud of it.

“wow, look at you go! that was brilliant!” he clapped a bit, laughing. “well done! how long have you been practicing?”

i shrugged. “i don’t know, i don’t do it much, i just wanted someone to see it.”

“that was really good, allie, well done kiddo!” he got off the counter and bent down to rub the top of my head.

i frowned. “i want to show henry, but… i’m afraid he’ll laugh.”

“aw, sunshine, no he won’t. he’ll love it as much as i do.”

“you promise?”

“i promise.” he drew an x on his heart, smiling down at me to show that he meant it. “c’mon, you wanna go show it to him right now?”

suddenly i felt my cheeks turn bright red. suddenly i got all shy again. i shook my head.

“aw, why not? you shy?”

i nodded.

“allie,” he laughed, “don’t be shy. if you want, i can get his attention.”

i nodded, my smile fading.

his faded right alongside mine as he took a knee in front of me.

“aw, allie, what’s wrong?” he rubbed my back.

“what if i mess it up?” i whispered.

“you won’t mess it up,” he chuckled. “i know this.”

“i’m still nervous,” i smiled slightly.

“aw, you shouldn’t be nervous around him, allie, he’s our big bro, he’s got your back. always.”

suddenly i could hear henry yelling from the room next door, “percy! help me! they’ve got me trapped!”

percy and i both giggled as he rolled his eyes. “oh, boy,” he sighed out, then looked down at me with a smile, nodding in that direction. “c’mon, let’s go help him out, and then we can show everyone your impressive handstand.”

“it’s not impressive,” i muttered.

“well, i think it is.” suddenly he took my hand and ran off towards the living room, pulling me like a sled dog.

he always liked to do that with me, and every time it made me laugh.

right as we entered the room, however, the doorbell rang.

“oh, that must be the cake!” percy exclaimed. “hang on,” he held up a finger, “i’ll be right back.”

as i watched him run off towards the front door, i felt someone tug my hand in the direction of henry (the same hand tugger as before) and someone else shouting in my ear, “c’mon allie! we gotta trample him!”

“i’m already trampled, geez!” that was henry’s comical squeaky high pitched voice. of course, this made all the kids shriek with laughter.

a few moments later, we could hear percy’s voice from the kitchen:

“alright, who’s ready for cake?”

all the kids instantly hopped off of henry and stormed off, eagerly awaiting a slice.

henry and i had to both run to join them, henry sounding a bit out of breath.

after everyone sang happy birthday to me (i turned a bit red in the face, as my shyness sometimes couldn’t handle a bunch of people singing directly to me), and i helped percy cut the cake, and after we stuffed our faces with said cake, we eagerly ran back into the bonus room, with henry breathlessly following close behind. i knew percy probably ran to clean up.

“alright, now who’s ready for a talent contest?” henry asked all of us.

“ooh ooh!! me! me! me!” a whole bunch of hands shot up.

“alright, who’s willing to go first? well, actually, how bout we have the birthday girl go first?” henry gestured to me. “how’s about it, allie!”

“yeah, allie!”

“yay, allie!”

“woo, allieee!!!” everyone was looking at me, clapping at me.

“c’mon allie!”

“you can do this!”

“you got this!”

suddenly one of the kids had started up a chant. “al-lie! al-lie! al-lie!”

soon all of them joined in, clapping to the rhythm.

now, i was absolutely mortified. i knew i wanted to do my handstand, and this was the perfect golden opportunity, but… i still wasn’t feeling confident about it. i knew i could do it in front of percy, but… could i do it front of henry?

“n-no,” i shook my head, nervously clasping my hands together and fidgeting slightly. “i-i don’t wanna go…”

“oh, allie, why not?”

“yeah, are you afraid?”

“you scared?”

“you’re a chicken!”

“c’mon, allie…”

now, this was far, far worse than anyone laughing at me. this was teasing. jeering. bullying.

i looked over to henry, who was trying his best to settle the crowd down, holding his hands out in front and gradually bringing them down, a gesture to hopefully mitigate all the noise.

“guys, guys, hey, c’mon now, we’re not gonna make her feel bad now, right?”

“but she won’t do it for us!”

“yeah, like, look at her!”

“she’s a wimp!”

“guys! what did i say?”

but it was too late to change anything now.

“i-i’m sorry…” i choked out before i ran out of the room, the tears already stinging my eyes.

i could very faintly hear henry yelling “allie! wait! come back!”

but i’d already gotten to the front door, running out of it and finding a place to sit down at the far end of our porch.

i buried my face in my hands and began to cry.

i felt absolutely awful.

but what was probably even worse was that outside, it was freezing cold.

at least it was quiet.

suddenly i heard the front door open, and felt someone sit beside me, placing a gentle hand on my back.

“allie, what happened? why’d you run out like that?”

i sniffled, “i don’t wanna talk about it. they were making fun of me.”

“making fun of you?” his voice expressed nothing but concern, i could even hear it crack a bit.

i nodded, crying softly.

“aw, alliecat, c’mere,” i felt a warm sweater wrap around me and hold me tight.

“here, i’ll get henry for you and distract those other kids while you do your handstand for him. just for him.” his voice softened even more. “alright?”

i sniffled but nodded, looking up at him with teary eyes.

he smiled back down and swiped my nose with his finger. “atta girl,” he chuckled. “i’ll get henry, there’s plenty of grass here, you got this, champ.” he rubbed the top of my head again before he set me aside, getting up and going back inside.

my eyes followed him back in, and through the window i could see a perfect view of the bonus room. henry was getting toppled by the kids again, and he looked absolutely miserable. percy went running in, pulling kids off of him. i could very faintly hear him say, “alright, let’s give my poor brother a break from all your chaos for right now.”

i could then hear a collective “aww,” coming out of them.

“but! you get to beat up on me instead! how’s that sound you lot?”

suddenly there was loud cheers, percy saying an emphatic “alright!” through the cheers.

henry immediately got up and limped off to the side, shaking his head in bewilderment before putting his hands together and mouthing “thank you,” to percy, who flashed him a smile and a thumbs up in return.

percy must have told him prior that i had run outside and that he was going to check on me, and now he was telling henry that it was his turn to check on me.

before i knew it, i could hear the front door open again, and i saw henry come out. he sighed softly and muttered to himself, “phew, never thought i’d ever get away from those psychos.”

then he glanced over to the side of the porch i wasn’t on, before glancing in my direction. “ah, there you are,” i saw him point in my direction, smiling a bit.

he ran over and slid down beside me. “those kids scare both of us, don’t they?”

i nodded, shivering slightly. the cold was now starting to get to me.

“i’m sorry,” i whispered. “i wanted.. i wanted to show you my… my handstand but…” suddenly i broke out into an onslaught of tears all over again.

“no,” i heard him whisper, taking my hands in his and lifting me into his lap, “i’m sorry. i should’ve been paying more attention to you but… your friends wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“it’s okay,” i smiled slightly before it faded once more. “but… it’s also okay if you don’t want to see my, uh, my, um… i mean… it’s not very good…”

“no, no, i’m intrigued, let me see it.”

i shook my head.

“c’mon, alls, pretty please? just for me? just for your lame old brother? who can’t even do a handstand himself?”

i giggled a bit at this. “but… i’m not very good.”

“percy says you’re really good at it… and he usually doesn’t lie to me… i make sure of it.” he chuckled slightly. “now, c’mon, before we freeze to death, it’s getting cold and i’d like to head back in soon.”

i sighed. “okay, okay.” then i looked into his eyes sincerely, remembering something. “it’s okay if you laugh, too.”

“i won’t laugh, i promise. if you fall down, maybe, but you know i can’t help it. you do too, i know this.”

i frowned slightly.

“i’ll try not to,” he dropped his voice down, rubbing the back of my neck a bit.

i smiled. “okay.”

he clasped his hands together, before rubbing them in anticipation, “okay, c’mon, show me. i’m anxiously waiting.” he waved me off in the direction of the front yard.

so i went down the steps and into the yard.

and i tried to do one, but, i couldn’t quite stick it, and ended up falling down.

i felt my face turn red.

“i’m sorry,” i called to him, starting to walk back up to him.

“no, no, it’s okay, try again!” he waved me back to the yard.

the one thing i noticed was that he didn’t laugh.

so that made me feel a bit better.

so i tried again.

and again.

and another time.

and on the fifth try, i finally got my handstand to stick perfectly, like it did with percy.

suddenly i felt myself being lifted by the legs, spun around a bit before being flipped right side up and caught in an arm.

“bravooo!! that was all you? wowwwzzaaaa.” i felt my stomach being tickled by a few fingers. “clever girl.” he was bouncing me up and down now, and i was shrieking with laughter.

“seriously, bravo. that was incredible.” we were both inside now, the kids still playing in the bonus room with percy.

the way henry carried me reminded me of how a fun uncle would carry me, in the most irregular, not normal way possible. i liked that a lot.

“here, they’re gonna be a while playing tug of war or whatever, i wanna show you something really fast.” henry took me away from the living room and carried me upstairs, into his room.

i never got to see his room that much. mostly percy’s, because he’d sometimes invite me in case i had a nightmare. naturally, henry’s room always tended to be a bit messier, but that’s just how he liked it, i guess.

“so…” i coughed a little, half from the cold, half from the way henry was holding me. “did you… like my handstand?”

henry adjusted me so i was being held the proper way. “course i did, you kidding? that was freaking brilliant stuff. brilliant brilliant stuff.” he smiled and squeezed me a bit. “so proud of you, lil’ sis.”

i giggled at this as he set me down on his bed. “excuse the mess,” he rolled his eyes playfully as he sorted through a dresser full of old photos, taking a few out that his fingers stumbled across.

one of the pictures he showed me was of him holding what looked to be a one-year-old baby upside down, on the floor, with her hands touching it and their feet dangling in the air. “guess who taught you how to do a handstand?” he pointed to himself, beaming proudly.

“that was me?” i pointed at the baby.

“in the flesh.” he rubbed the top of my head. “you were always a hand-standing kiddo. we knew you had it in you.”

once again, i giggled at this. both my brothers knew how to put a smile on my face, always, and all the time.

when i ran back downstairs and i found percy getting out all the presents for me, i eagerly told him.

“yeahh, way to go, kid! i knew you could do it!” percy bent down to me slightly and showed his hand so i could give him a high five.

he then followed it up with another playful head rub and a bit of a side squeeze.

“can you do a handstand?” i asked.

“ha,” he scoffed, “i can try, but i can’t say i’m any good.”

“but you’re a gym teacher,” i laughed.

“yeah, a gym teacher who can’t do a freaking handstand.” he was laughing at his own self-deprecation. “anyway, i’ve got presents out for you, why don’t you start with the smallest one and make your way up to the biggest?”

all the kids had run back in afterwards, sitting down right beside me and watching eagerly as i opened up each individually-wrapped gift.

i couldn’t wait to play with all of them, but i knew that it had to wait until the next day, since it was getting late.

all the parents had arrived to pick up my friends, and so i waved and said goodbye to them.

i was greeted with a chorus of “bye allie! happy birthday!”

you had to admit, as chaotic as little kids were, they were obedient when prompted.

i watched as henry and percy gave each other a high five, both breathing a sigh of relief. “we did it.”

“phew!”

“glad we got that out of the way.”

“birthday party, done and done.”

i quickly ran up to them, taking each of their hands in one of mine. “i wanna play allie ball. can we? please?”

i knew that it was a game that they made up where they took turns throwing me to each other and catching me, as if i was some giant football. it was meant to be played outside, but it was fun for me as i got thrown around like a sack of potatoes.

“allie, it’s getting late…”

“aw, c’mon lad, it’s her birthday…”

“alright, fine, grab your jacket though, it’s freezing out and i don’t want you catching a cold on your birthday. you hear?” henry waggled a finger in my direction.

i giggled, “i hear.”

“good girl.” he smiled down at me.

so we went outside, and henry was first to throw me to percy. then right after percy caught me, after putting up with my deafening squeals and shrieks of delight, he’d throw me back to henry.

“this is the best birthday ever!” i screamed in the air, which earned a laugh from both my brothers.

then it was percy’s turn to throw me. this particular throw, though, he’d thrown me a bit higher than he normally threw, and a bit higher than i was used to.

“percy, wait, no, i’m too high! that’s too high!” i shrieked as i flailed myself in the air, right before landing into henry’s arms.

“woah, you alright there sun?”

i was shaking and trembling with pure fright. that was a bit too high up for my comfort zone.

“that was a a bit silly of him, wasn’t it? shame on him, he should know better,” henry chuckled slightly, scratching the top of my head a bit.

i started to sniffle a bit, “that.. he threw me.. it was too… high… up…” i was flat out sobbing now. i was still a bit fearful of heights. i clutched onto henry with all my might.

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry!” percy came running over frantically. “you okay sis?” i felt his hand run along the back of my head, on top of henry’s. “aw, i’m sorry. i’m… i’m sorry… here, want me to hold you?”

i shook my head, holding onto henry for dear life.

i didn’t like that game anymore. i really didn’t.

“way to go, way to screw up this time, yeah?” i heard henry mumble to percy.

“hey, i said i was sorry, okay? geezusss!”

i quickly took a glance at percy, and from what i could see through my blurry, tear-stained vision, he had the utmost hurt look on his face, his eyes never leaving mine.

“i’m sorry,” he kept mouthing, hoping to catch my attention.

every time i trembled slightly, i felt henry’s hand run along my back.

“great, now allie’s gonna have nightmares all night, thanks to you.”

“i’ll… i’ll try not to…” now i was starting to feel bad for percy. i know henry liked to pick on him, that’s just what brothers did, but still… i felt sorry for percy.

so i tugged on henry’s shirt.

“i want percy to hold me now.”

henry looked down at me a bit confusedly.

“oh, really?”

i nodded.

he chuckled, “alright, off ya go.”

i felt myself being passed off to percy, who held me a bit tighter than henry, making me cough a bit.

“hi, you,” he smiled down at me as he ran a hand along the back of my head, carrying me with his other arm.

“i’m sorry i cried,” i whispered to him, leaning my head against his chest. “i was just scared.”

“i know you were. and i’m sorry i threw you so high. i didn’t mean to, honest to god.”

i was beginning to get tired at that point. it was getting late, after all.

so when we got inside, percy let me down on the floor as i took off my jacket and hung it up, right before running upstairs to my bedroom on the third floor.

“wait, allie, don’t you want us to tuck you in?” percy shouted up to me, him and henry following me up.

they found me already tucked into bed, clutching one of my stuffed animals that i’d received for my birthday.

i shook my head, smiling. “i wanna tuck in myself now. i wanna be a big girl now.”

they both had fond, sweet smiles instantly plastered on their faces as soon as i said that.

“aw, alls, you’ll always be our baby sis.”

“yeah, you’re not ready to grow up yet.”

“well, we don’t really want you to grow up.”

“don’t rush it kid. not yet, anyway.”

“you have all the time in the world to grow up, you can start whenever you want.”

“but just not now.” i felt someone rub the back of my head. “alright?”

i nodded slowly, yawning.

“i hear ya,” henry chuckled. “sweet dreams, birthday girl.”

“yeah, sweet dreams. we love you.” i felt my hand being squeezed, once by henry, and once (a bit longer) by percy.

i knew i was in the safest of hands when they babysat me for the night.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

04/04/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys/Rosie/Theo; Kristian Nairn; Nathan Foad; Jes Tom; Samba Schutte; Dominic Burgess; Watch parties; Glaad Awards Reminder; SaveOFMDCrew's Final Charity Donations; Fan Spotlight; Cast Cards; Big Gay Energy Podcast; OFMD Sightings; Articles; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

Hey all! Sorry for the late recap again, as a heads up I'm doing late night work for my day job (sometimes 8pm - 1 am) and also still trying to get my taxes done by the 15th, so the recaps may be delayed til the following morning depending on how late I have to work.

= Rhys & Rosie =

Rhys and Rosie's bday happened in AoNZ and some friends snapped some cute pics and videos!

Src: H.Miller's IG

Sneaky Rhys arm today! The Darby Family Influencer Era seems to be in full swing!

Edit: I felt kinda weird plastering Theo's face up so I left in Rhys' arm since people keep asking for it, lol

Src: Rosie's IG Stories

= Nathan Foad =

Src: Kennett Tanner's IG Nathan was also interviewed by British Comedy Guide!

= Dominic Burgess =

Our Jeffrey Fettering was interviewed by Variety! Check it out here! Src: Dominic's Twitter

= Kristian Nairn =

Kristian sent us some love notes!

"Looking forward to all the work / travel / meeting you guys stuff coming up this year. Have a good day y’all !!" SRC: Kristian's IG

= Samba Schutte =

Samba being a goofball Src: Samba's IG Stories

= Jes Tom =

Some sightings of Jes Tom! On their instagram! SRC: Jes Tom's IG Stories

== Watch Parties ==

Taskmaster NZ Series 1 Watch Party with @saveofmdcrewmates! When: April 3-12 (W,F, Su - 2 eps each) Time: 11 am PT/ 2pm ET/ 7pm BST Where to watch: YouTube, TVNZ, Channel 4

Twitter Hashtags:

#Quartermaster

#OurFlagMeansDeath

#Taskmaster

== GLAAD Awards ==

Apparently you can vote multiple times with the same email on the GLAAD awards! To vote: https://t.co/dEfZMncBfO Src: @adoptourcrew Twitter

== Save OFMD Crew Final Charity Donation Results ==

$1000 GBP to @Mermaids_Gender (UK) mermaidsuk.org.uk

$2,028 NZD to RainbowYouth (AoNZ) ry.org.nz

$1216 USD to Point Foundation (US) pointfoundation.org

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

Our dear @melvisik spotlighted King George I today! Angus Sampson did such an excellent job making the kind unhinged! Check him out in his other work!

= Big Gay Energy Podcast =

New reaction video to Calypso's Birthday!

== Other ==

Thank you @oluwandesorange on twitter for pointing out the the OFMD billboards are STILL UP

== Articles ==

“I’m Scared”: Why It’s a Brutal Time to Be a TV Writer

Coyote versus Warner Bros: The fight to get a movie released

Hulu Just Canceled Another Show After One Season, And I'm Getting Really Tired Of It

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies! The week is almost over! Was it busy for you? Have you been hanging in there? I do want to know! I think about you all every day, even when I'm busy with work.

I know you've heard it all before, but please take some time to practice some self care today. It's been a long week for a lot of folks and you've been through the ringer from various life events. Please drink some water, grab a snack, stick your nose out the window (weather permitting) and take a deep breath of fresh air.

The weekend is coming, and the more self care you practice, the easier things will be. Ebbs and Flows babe, everything ebbs and flows, and sometimes we get longer ebbs, and longer flows -- but we can brave them better if we take care of ourselves.

You deserve to be taken care of. You deserve a break.

Love you crew, reach out if you wanna talk ok?

Pic Src: @gladyourehereco on IG

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Today's theme is these two goofballs expressive eyebrows.

Daily Darby: Courtesy of @ thunderwingdoomslayer

Today's Taika: Courtesy of @neverswungonswingingstars

[teenytinycoffeebean]

I Am On A Journey to Watch AS MANY Films with Crispin Hellion Glover in Them As Possible

I will do my best to watch the films/shows and give a high-level view of my thoughts on each. 

I will continue to do this until I watch all of the films I have on my list (the list will be added to this post as well as updated throughout). 

I am playing catch-up compared to my other social media accounts but, to be honest, Tumblr is perfect for this kind of thing. 

So... Buckle up because this is going to be a LONG ride. (: 

First, I’d like to personally thank Crispin Glover for all the fantastic performances and artworks he’s created over the years. His approach to acting is beautifully unique, and every single one of his performances are memorable. Though I haven’t had the pleasure of viewing his own films, I’ve at least seen some of his artwork through the books he publishes. Now that I’ve found myself down a rabbit hole of sorts, not just watching these movies but also listening to all kinds of interviews and such, I am a huge admirer of the way he approaches what he does and creates. 

TL;DR: I’ve found boundless inspiration and joy from observing both his craft and his art. So, for that and for a lot more I’m struggling to put into words because they are genuinely such big emotions, thank you! 

Ok, let’s get into it. 

Although this is not the original list from when I started the journey (this project began in early December 2022--today is January 1, 2023), here is the list I am using to track, plus where to watch the films. Note that some of these are me rewatching them--like Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Alice in Wonderland--but I will note those as I go.

Crispin Glover's Filmography Watchlist

Note: this is not his full filmography (and does not include his personal films--though I aspire to see those as soon as I can) however it is a list of the films I aim to watch and potentially own.

Watched (in order of coverage):

Friday the 13th The Final Chapter (DVD - owned)

Back to the Future (Peacock)

Bartleby (DVD - owned)

Wizard of Gore (Tubi)

Willard (DVD - owned)

Twister [1989] (Amazon Prime)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle (DVD - owned)

Lucky Day (Amazon Prime)

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)

Drop Dead Sexy (Tubi)

The Donner Party (Tubi)

Like Mike (Tubi)

Aimy in a Cage (Tubi)

River’s Edge (DVD - owned)

Crime and Punishment (Tubi)

Charlie's Angels (DVD - owned)

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (DVD - owned)

Rubin & Ed (DVD - owned)

Simon Says (DVD - owned)

Hot Tub Time Machine (HBO Max)

Freaky Deaky (Tubi)

The People vs. Larry Flynt (Hulu)

Mr. Nice (Tubi)

At Close Range (HBO Max)

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (HBO Max)

Epic Movie (Hulu)

Wild at Heart (DVD - owned)

Alice in Wonderland (Disney+)

Watching:

American Gods (DVD - owned)

To watch:

Little Noises (DVD - owned)

Teachers (DVD)

The Doors (DVD)

Fast Sofa (YouTube/DVD)

Beowulf (Pluto)

The Incident at Loch Ness (Amazon Prime)

Smiley Face Killers (Amazon Prime)

The Bag Man (Amazon Prime)

Hotel Room - Episode: "Blackout" (YouTube)

The Orkly Kid (?)

Where the Heart Is (?)

Why am I doing this? Because I want to!

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To kick things off, and in the order in which I cover this journey on other social media platforms, a rewatch of one of my favorite slasher flicks was in order. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)! 

If you remember this movie at all, which you should because it is the 2nd best film in the franchise, you may recall the awkward kid who kept talking about being horny, obsessed over his friend calling him a "dead fuck," and danced real wacky in that one scene. Ya know, Jimmy “Jimbo” Mortimer. Yes! That one! That was Crispin Glover alright. 

Though the role is small, his performance in this is just exactly what I’ve come to expect from most, if not all, of Crispin’s performances: oh so memorable. 

I love this performance a lot. Even before I was aware of Crispin Glover, I was enamored with just how strange the character was and how that differed from a lot of the other performances in the Friday the 13th franchise. 

A bit of a fun fact: Crispin has talked about that dance he does and mentions that the song that was played on set during filming was not what ended up being used in the final product of that scene. Apparently, the song used for filming was AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” Cool folks on the internet have attempt to show that off so check this shit out: 

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As part of a double feature with Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, I watched Back to the Future (1985) for the first time. Yes, the first time. I know how shameful for a 28-year-old such as myself. 

I genuinely felt that the best descriptor for the film was "cute". It was cute! It’s one of those movies that I felt like I had really already seen due to how references to it have permeated our culture. 

I can understand why the film is a classic. The way Crispin plays George McFly makes him an incredibly endearing character. I loved the “George-isms” that Crispin created, that carry over from old George to young George. It’s excellent work.

I think Back to the Future is talked about too much, in all honesty, and especially with the whole lawsuit and incredibly harmful shit that happened to Crispin with Back to the Future II, a movie which I straight up refuse to see. 

But yeah, all that aside, Back to the Future was cute and a fun time. 

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Shout out to the free streaming service Tubi, which has been incredible kind to me and provided SO many of the films on my list. 

One of those films is Bartleby (2001). Bartleby is a surrealist, sit-com-style office comedy film adaptation of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener". Crispin plays Bartleby, and genuinely ends up having few lines except for, of course, “I would prefer not to” or some iteration of that. 

This film ended up being Supremely My Shit in terms of what I look for in a comedy. 

I LOVED this movie, so much so that I now own it on DVD and plan to show it to everyone. I cannot recommend it enough. 

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Next up, Wizard of Gore (2007). A splatter/noir horror film. This is a remake of the 1970 film of the same name. 

I will say that this film, overall, wasn’t that great. It has some highlights though! For instance, Crispin hams it up as a wacko magician who has an outrageously huge codpiece. And, oh hey! Brad Dourif and Jeffrey Combs are in it! 

As I’ve sat with this one, it’s one where I can say the performance that Crispin gives is the real draw here. He’s absolutely perfect for something so strange and unusual as this. 

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Now, I should back up and take some time to talk about Willard (2003). I have a lot of thoughts, as well as some fun facts. 

This remake of a 1971 film of the same name, which in turn was based off of the Stephen Gilbert novel Ratman’s Notebooks, is a standout so far for the films I've seen Crispin Glover in. I knew going into viewing it that it was well regarded in his filmography. I can understand why! It's incredible. 

It is a horror movie but not in the way that is typical. To me, the horror lies in the treatment of Willard, particularly in the workplace. And then, of course, later the horror continues but more in the form of self-inflicted acclimation of choices made by Willard (if only he were nicer to Ben! Oh, things would’ve been different). I do believe reading the rats as a force of nature as an element of horror is pretty accurate.

Though the part that make this film an instant comfort movie for me/a film that immediately went on my "get to know me movies list" is Crispin's performance and the framing of Willard's abuse in the workplace. I have some pretty bad workplace-related trauma from sustained abuse by past and previous employers. I have to admit to feeling some level of catharsis in relating to the Willard character, as well as viewing him as a kind of hero despite serious pitfalls and gruesome mistakes throughout, including a variety of self-inflicted repression of emotion and being (also I'd say the character is neurodivergent-coded, and thats highly relatable to me). I also think that [spoilers] when he kills his boss with a horde of rats--not for himself, entirely, but for Socrates--I felt that in my core like, yes, it's so much harder to stand up for yourself, even if you can't take more abuse, but it's easier when you have something rally behind or protect or avenge, in this situation. Am I thinking too hard about the contents of a 2003 horror movie? Probably. 

Anyway. The rats are awesome in this film too, as is the performance of R. Lee Ermey. I wish New Line Cinemas let the film be rated R. I feel like more gore and Ermey riffing off strings of cursing would've been nice. Apparently, there was an R-rated version but it is lost now. I've been able to view some of the deleted scenes and I can see where an R-rated version could have been. 

A great aspect of promotional materials for Willard was that Crispin Glover recorded a cover of Michael Jackson's "Ben" (yes, it's about the rat). It's my understanding the original song was recorded for the 1973 sequel to Willard, also titled Ben. Anyway, the music video for Glover's take on "Ben" was also directed by him. It's an absolute treat. Check it out: 

While I have you here, I'd like to let you know that the opening credits of Willard feature imagery from Glover's own published book -- Rat Catching. Rat Catching, published in 1988, is a heavily illustrated piece of visual and textural art built from the 1896 book Studies in the Art of Rat Catching.

Crispin has published other works similar to Rat Catching: Oak Mot (1989), Concrete Inspection (1990), What it is, and How it is Done (1992), and Round My House (2016). In each he rearranges text, blacks out certain standing passages (a la blackout poetry), and adds his own prose and occasionally images into the margins and elsewhere, thus creating an entirely new story. Plus, as is my understanding, a visual feast for the eyes. 

GUESS WHAT THE COOLEST PART ABOUT THESE BOOKS ARE?! You can get em directly from the guy himself! Literally. You can chuck $30-ish + shipping at him directly (metaphorically, of course) and you'll get a book. 

I fully intend to get my hands on at least a few of them... or all of them, ya know, casually. If you also think these books sound rad as fuck, here's the website: crispinglover.com. Do it. Go get an awesome book created by an awesome artist. It's cool to do. 

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On my TV back a few weeks ago was Twister (1989). 

From what I had previously read about the film, it billed as a comedy but in actuality it is more drama. It is an adaptation of the the novel Oh by Mary Robison. 

The film features music by Hans Zimmer, a cameo by William S. Burroughs, and, of course, a late 80s Crispin Glover doing his weird lil thing that I love oh so much. It was... bizarre!! 

I can’t really say if it is good or bad--it just is. I can’t even say if the ending is good or bad, it simply is what it is. Having sat with it for a while, I can appreciate Twister for eliciting emotion. I was pretty fed up with some of the character and confused at their motivations but at least it got me thinking about what was happening and asking the question “what are they doing and why?” That’s important in its own right. 

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Let me just say, I was VERY excited to watch We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018). I am a huge fan of the original novel, which I read when I was much younger. I remember starting to watch this film when it came to Netflix in 2019 but failing to finish it due to life events (I think we were moving), but I can say now that I have finished watching it! 

I am happy to report that We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel, give or take, and was really enjoyable to see. I feel like it is a hard novel to adapt since Merricat is an unreliable narrator and it is all told from her perspective, but I think this film does a solid job illustrating that. 

I'm generally very pleased with the framing of the characters in the adaptation and the performances are great. I don't think anyone else could do Charles except for Sebastian Stan. He's so good at playing a total dick.

On that note, I don't think anyone else could've played Julian Blackwood like Crispin Glover. Comparing to the novel, I had no idea how to really imagine Julian in a lot of instances but seeing this character performed in this way makes SO much more sense to me. Incredible work.

I could probably go on, but I highly recommend checking it out for yourself, especially if you're a fan of the novel! 

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Ohhh Lucky Day (2019)! It was AWESOME. Though, I didn’t keep enough detailed thoughts about it so I apologize for a short and sweet overview of some highlights. 

I swear to god this film must've flown under the radar when it came out because I hadn't heard of it until recently (but I distinctly remember seeing showtimes for it back when it came out). 

It was a damn good time. Crispin plays a contract killer of sorts who has the most over-the-top French accent (despite not being French at all) and every scene he's in is golden. His serious demeanor for some of the more ridiculous scenes just works and brought a big stupid grin to my face.  

I’ve seen this film twice now it’s just a masterfully done action/comedy/drama--and yes, it really does blend the genres so well. 

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Before I take a break from letting this live in my drafts, I want to talk about a big one for me: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, Episode 5: “Pickman's Model”. The one that started this journey. And I know, I'm so utterly late to the party! I live in my own lil horror-themed film bubble most of the time until I find some performances I enjoy and really gnaw on, for lack of a better word. So this kicked it off entirely.

The whole show is a standout for me. I enjoyed every single episode and every story. I think the most technically scary was “Lot 36″ and the most relatable to me in the way it is framed is “The Outside”. Upon my first watch of the show, I just knew I'd be head over heels for the “Pickman’s Model” retelling. It's my favorite Lovecraft story, and I just love that integration of tangible art and eldritch horror. It's just the best. 

I feel that the adaptation is very strong, and a great depiction of a more modern Lovecraft despite the setting and time period. I loved all the lil reference drops to other works in the Cthulhu Mythos throughout as well -- such a nice touch. 

I felt the relationship that Thurber and Pickman have is so utterly bizarre and my own explanation for why there is a draw there is that "the darkness" itself as described and felt by both character acts as an allegory for queerness. I might be um biased, being a queer person and all, but that's just me. I think it's also valid to interpret the whole relationship as like human curiosity--like hell yeah I'd also be fascinated by this guy's art, if not also a bit frightened! So the draw is simply explained that way... if you so choose. Lots of ways to go on that end of things, and that's rad. 

There is such a a genuine level of depth and understanding of character in the way Crispin plays Pickman. I swear there's not even that much depth in the original Lovecraft story! It's just all on this adaptation, the director, and his performance. It's outstanding, and he really steals the show (and my heart) in this one particularly.  

A lot of folks, and I mean A LOT, didn't seem to appreciate the the truly old-timey Bostonian accent. I see ya’ll out there. C'mon, he worked with THE Erik Singer for that accent to sounds as true-to-time-period as possible -- at least respect it but I find it fascinating how that, being as normal for that setting as it is, given an extra level of strangeness to Pickman as a character (namely because nobody else is doing that, give or take. There are some Massachusetts accents here and there from other characters but there's not really the same level of commitment). 

Also, I thought the way they did Pickman's sketchbook up as a multi-media and textural kinda piece in and of itself was a nice touch -- felt like that was purposely laid out specifically with Crispin in mind to play off the works he creates. Not quite, of course, but I think that's neat and how I’m choosing to read into it. 

[bi-fiend]

Hey! I’ve never watched an anime series apart from Avatar stuff, if that counts. Do you have an anime series to recommend? I strongly prefer dubs over subs, and I like fantasy. Thanks !

Might I suggest delicious in dungeon? It's about a dnd party cooking and eating monsters in a dungeon, as they save their leader's sister from a red dragon's stomach before it digests her. it is on Netflix!

Below are some more anime recs with short summaries and where to watch them, keep in mind I'm shit at summaries ↓↓↓

Mob Psycho 100: middle school student, shigeo kageyama just wants to live a normal life, Despite his psychic powers. He is taken advantage of for said powers by a con man pretending to be a psychic, reigen arataka. He runs a business called Spirits and Such, where he (mostly mob) (that's shigeo's nickname) exorcises spirits bothering his clientele. Mob's powers are also a good metaphor for autism, I think it's canon that mob's autistic? Anyway, it's fuckin' fantastic. I love this. And I love mob?? Forever and platonically?? It's on Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll (season 1 is free but 2 & 3 need a premium subscription)

Sk8 The Infinity: high school student Reki introduces his new friend Langa to skateboarding, and. I can't recommend you watch this enoughm despite the simple premise I gave, it's fucking fantastic! I can't put these feelings into words!Please! It is free on Crunchyroll with ads, but the dubs after episode 3 require Crunchyroll premium.

Bocchi the Rock!: and here I thought mob was literally me! Hitori wants to be in a band, because in the words of the band that inspired her, a band is where an introvert can shine! She spent her days practicing and pouring her soul into the guitar, practicing to be ready to perform at her middle school's culture festival! But, well, in her own words,

"I practiced six hours every day, so I could learn how to play in front of people... The result? Middle school ended and I never played a single note for them! I never performed once... at the culture festival! I never put together... the members for a band! And I never made a single friend... In three whole years! Now, in high school... I gotta form a band or die trying! But, despite my vow, it's been a whole month since high school started, and yet my heart remains grounded in the guitar, little better than a shut in..."

Sasaki To Miyano:

Anyway, she joins a band and that's all I'm gonna say because thisssss is getting too long. She has social anxiety! Jus like me! And she has my exact fear for the future. it made me cry tears of deep unfocused fear and misery. It's free on Crunchyroll with ads, but there's no dub. But! But! I promise you it's worth a watch! The animation is great, the voice acting is great, the humor is great, the characters are great, the story inspires me to get my shit together (thus great), and the SONGS? OUGGGHHH DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE SONGS. THSI ANIME SINGLEHANDEDLY MADE ME REALIZE HOW MUCH I LOVED MUSIC. IVE CRIED AT SOME OF THE SONGS FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. EVEn if you don't watch the anime, at least listen to the soundtrack! try Rock'n roll, Morning Light Falls On You! It's crack cocaine in song form! Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

oohhhhhhgodherewego

Alright first things first, this shits adorable. Understatement! High school student Miyano befriends this guy Sasaki, and he gets interested in the bl manga that miya reads, and he borrows one. Much to Miyano's surprise, he loved it! ohhhhhgod i can feel the hyperfixation taking hold once again over time, they start to fall in love. Yeah, it's BL!!!! Fuxk! I love yaoi! I love life! The world hath gained colour! Funny part is, uh.miya's straight. He contemplates things on front of his bookshelf of BL manga. Taking a line from a summary I saw on YouTube, reading bl manga everyday and having an entire bookshelf of bl manga, while saying "yeah I'm straight!" Is a special kind of in the closet. Anyway fuckkkkkkkkkkkki love thsi series soooooososososososoo much. I have RAMMED MY HEAD INTO A WALL BECAUSE OF THIS. I HAVE PACED THE LIVING ROOM LISTENING TO THE SOUNDTRACK LIKE RETIRED MIDDLE AGED DETECTIVE GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE HAUNTED BY A COLD CASE HE JUST CANT CRACK BECAUSE OF THIS. granted that was me going delirious with hungerSASAMIYA IS MY REASON TO LIVE. anyway it is unfortunately exclusively on Crunchyroll for a premium subscription, but you can READ it! Yeah its 10 volumes are online to read! for free! call your dentist, you will gain cavities! but I do hear the dub is phenomenal!

Sorry for yappin', and happy viewing if you decide to watch any of these! Can you tell sasamiya and bocchi are my faves?

[letsbenditlikebennett]

TIMING: Some time after Alex got ouched by that hunter and before Rhett kidnapped Ariadne in his van. (Rude of him tbh :/ ) PARTIES: @ariadnewhitlock & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Ariadne comes over to the cabin with snacks and to keep Alex company. They watch Daisy Jones & the Six. CONTENT: Just a sweet lil thread.

In hindsight, it seemed painfully obvious that Alex wouldn’t get a normal birthday party like every other young twenty-something who didn’t moonlight as a lupine monster three nights a month. If anything, the birthday plans only made it more difficult in the aftermath of her run-in with the hunter. There wasn’t really a super chill way to say ‘hey, sorry! I have to cancel that party because I was attacked by a hunter and have to recover’ to all her friends. At least the ones in the know could get a partial version of the truth, but for the others the vague excuse of a medical emergency had to do. Even then, it may not have been a good enough excuse. At least not for someone as sweet as Ariadne who thought she deserved some company and snacks in the wake of her medical emergency. What had she even told Ariadne? Power tool accident? Maybe it’d be best to just not mention even if the limp in her step made the fact there was an ordeal fairly obvious. 

It wasn’t like she could just yell out when she heard Ariadne’s footsteps approaching like she had with Cass. The whole super-hearing thing would be creepy without that context… or a dead giveaway. So Alex waited patiently for the knock on her door before moving away from her spot on the couch to open it. “Hey,” she greeted with a smile that she hoped didn’t look as pained as her body felt. 

“Welcome to la maison de Bennett,” she joked, “It’s small, but we’ve got a smart TV and a Hulu/Disney Plus bundle subscription. Come in, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink? Once I sit back down on the couch, I’ll be pretty stationary for a while.” 

—

She was thoroughly done with her friends getting kidnapped or injured. Or having medical emergencies, which was what had happened to Alex. Ariadne didn’t know enough about medical things to help her in any real way, and so offering to be company and give snacks was the best she could manage.

Thankfully, Alex was more than accepting of what Ariadne’d had to offer, and so there was at least that worry off her chest (though admittedly, she felt selfish for even somewhat having had anxiety about anything when her friend had just had some sort of real actual emergency).

“Hey.” She offered her friend a gentle smile.

“It’s your home, I don’t care about the size.” Ariadne offered, “all I mean is, I’m here for you, not your stuff. I can get myself stuff to drink, if you want. But if you have a soda, I’ll take that. Or go get that for myself. Can I get you anything?”

—

“Of course you don’t,” Alex laughed as if it should have been obvious because shouldn’t it have been? Ariadne was never judgmental and was continually kind to everyone she met. It was something she admired about her friend even if she wished Aria stuck up for herself a little bit more. The block button was a friend, too, and she’d remind Aria of that if anyone dared to give her a hard time. “Not sure why I gave you of all people the disclaimer. We have our only judge people for being mean thing which I think is a good motto.” 

Given she wasn’t speaking to Andy and she was doing her damnedest to push Kaden away, the werewolf found she was particularly lonely whenever Cass wasn’t there. Alex found it a bit easier to relax into her spot on the couch knowing that Ariadne was there and she’d have some reprieve from her own thoughts which had grown far too loud for her liking. 

“We have plenty of soda in the fridge,” Alex exclaimed, “There’s Coke, root beer, creme soda, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, sparkling water, Baja Blast… you can grab whatever. I’ll take a Coke if you don’t mind grabbing me one while you’re in there.” 

She hated not being able to be a better host, but deep down, Alex knew that her friend didn’t mind grabbing her own drink or about hosting duties that the werewolf wasn’t able to perform. Aria was there just to be there. “I downloaded all of Daisy Jones and the Six off Amazon Prime,” she told her friend with a smile and patted the sea next to her on the couch, “Have you seen it? It’s totally fictional, but it’s like loosely based on the story of Fleetwood Mac so I thought you might enjoy it.” 

—

“I just – I don’t want you to think I’m going to go around judging you and stuff is all.” Not that Ariadne though Alex would automatically assume that, but it was better to just play it safe from the get-go, so as to limit the likelihood of things being misconstrued. Or maybe that was just the anxiety talking. That much of her anxiety had been around even before she died, so even if she wanted to blame it on becoming a monster, she couldn’t. “I think that’s a super duper good motto, yeah.”

She offered her friend a small shrug. “It’s nice to be here.” Which she’d probably already said and probably didn’t need repeating, but she wanted to highlight this. How good being around Alex felt.

“Dr. Pepper’s a win for me, always. Of course, I might put some ice in a glass if you’d like that? Make it… well, I don’t know if that counts as fancy, but you get what I mean. I hope.” Ariadne let out a halfway sort of a laugh, feeling awkward for a moment, if only because this was time for Alex, and not time for Ariadne to be taking up excessive space or making a total fool of herself.

“I actually have,” she buried her face in her hands for a moment, “but it’s super good and I’ve been meaning for a rewatch. Camila in it is so dreamy. I mean, to be fair, they all are, but…”

—

“I don't,” Alex assured. Surprisingly enough, she found that she meant it, too. Not once since she had met Ariadne had the werewolf ever felt judged and this moment was no different. Given, her friend didn't know everything there was to know about her and may have ran the other way if she knew she was a werewolf, but maybe she wouldn't. She seemed pretty big on the not judging people thing. ”It is,“ she smiled.

“I mean, she's a doctor,” Alex  joked, ”How could she not win? We love a well-educated... soft drink?“ She laughed a bit at how ridiculous her own joke was and gently smoothed over Puppyeye's fur as she stirred in her sleep. ”If you get out a couple of the wine glasses my cousin bought, I think it totally counts as fancy. I think there's actual glasses now, too... apparently everything isn't meant to be drank out of coffee mugs. Who knew?“

She knew, but they'd always been tight on money, so excess containers to hold their beverages seemed a little bit silly. Alex guessed that wasn't really the case anymore, but part of her still enjoyed her coffee mugs best. 

Alex kept her face from falling when Aria mentioned that she'd seen the show. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised since Aria had been the one to introduce her to Fleetwood Mac in the first place, but she found herself grinning when her friend seemed happy to rewatch. 

“A rewatch it is then,” she exclaimed, “With a super dreamy cast at that.” She nudged some blankets towards where Ariadne would be sitting and waiting for her friend to join in the spot beside her. “Did you read the book, too?” She knew the answer was probably yes, but it'd be nice to know how much the show followed the book. 

—

“Well, I’m glad you don’t.” She was, really. Exceptionally so, Ariadne found herself thinking. Alex was nice and cool and kind, and it was through pure luck that the two of them had met, and she was grateful for that, even if the fact that Alex wasn’t feeling well made her feel a bit (or more than a bit) down.

“Pretty impressive for a soft drink, yeah. I don’t know if any of the other ones have degrees, but I also don’t want to be rude and assume one way or the other.” Ariadne watched the dog twitch in her sleep. “Um – I – Puppyeye might be happier elsewhere? If – if that’s okay.” So that Ariadne didn’t ruin everything because of what she was, and because animals could tell that she was bad. “Coffee mugs are perfect, though, but fancy wine glasses sounds like a fun way to have soda, yeah!” She nodded, enthusiastically. “Also like, you can eat ice cream out of coffee mugs too, so they’re multi-use and get to have fun pictures on them, sometimes.”

Another nod. “Yes! It’ll be just as good as watching it for the first time, though. Because you’re totally right, the cast are all wildly dreamy. Do you have a favorite? Like, dreamiest one? I – only if you wanna share.” Ariadne wasn’t sure if that was too weird to ask, but she’d asked it already and so, she supposed, there was no real turning back now. “I did – well, I listened to it on audiobook, which was such a good way to read it.”

—

“I think it’s safe to say they’d throw doctor in the name if they were doctors,” Alex replied playfully, “That’d be a major marketing bag fumble if they weren’t throwing that in the name. So Dr. Pepper is clearly the genius of soft drinks. And delicious, which is the most important thing.” She heard a soft whimper in her head and saw Puppyeye twitching in her sleep. When Aria spoke, something clicked as she remembered her friend didn’t do too well around pets… and didn’t have a discernible heartbeat. “Oh, right,” she nodded and carefully lifted herself from the couch. 

“Here girl,” Alex lightly patted against her good leg for the puppy to follow to their room. Once the puppy was cozy in her bed, she shut the door quietly and made her way slowly back out to the living room, trying not to grimace with each step. She called out from the hallway, “Wine glasses it is.” 

She made an effort to not look towards the kitchen as she positioned herself back on the couch. While Alex has her suspicions about what Aria might be, she wasn’t sure she was ready to dive into the whole story of what happened with the hunter. She was tired of explaining… and mostly just tired. Soda and snacks and Daisy Jones sounded better than any of that. 

“We love a dreamy cast,” Alex smirked as Aria joined her on the couch, “I think we’re set up for the perfect afternoon of watching a whole season of a show. We’ve got soft drinks, candy, salty snacks… I can probably convince my cousin to bring home a pizza later.” She found herself cozying into the blankets as she pressed play and let herself be taken away by the story on the screen with the quiet and comforting presence of a good friend next to her. It was exactly the kind of afternoon she needed and she felt lucky to have a friend like Ariadne to spend it with. 

[xanadontit]

You can block the “holiday movie fun” tag if these are annoying, btw.

@legendofthehiddenbbc Suggested 12 Dates of Christmas and Mistletoe and Menorahs so I watched them on Hulu with commercials because that is my dedication to the cause! Also I lead a sad life.

12 Dates of Christmas stars Amy Smart with Mark-Paul Gosselaar as her love interest. Spoiler: he’s widowed. Seriously guys what the fuck. Anyway, Amy is hung up on her ex but agrees to a date with MPG after being set up by her stepmom (oh yeah, HER mom is also dead). On the way, she’s dosed by an over-zealous perfume counter girl, passes out, comes to, and goes about her day. The date sucks. Her ex has moved on. She falls asleep in her childhood bedroom but at the stroke of midnight she reawakens on the floor of the department store and is destined to keep re-living the day. Like Bill Murray, she takes advantage of the knowledge she has about the day to have some fun and unleash some frustrations. Somewhere in there she sorts out her issues with her ex, makes peace with her family, acts as a matchmaker for people around her, and gets with MPG. 

This was super predictable which is what we need in these unprecedented times, but with the added bonus of taking place in a city! What? 5/5 Winter Coats for the comfort and the 2010s fashion realness.

Mistletoe and Menorahs might be an actual hate crime. The plot centers on Christy, a self-proclaimed Christmas fanatic and marketing/business lady with a douchebag bro boyfriend, who is asked to give a big pitch at her client’s holiday party on December 24th. Christy agrees happily, thinking she’s going to nail it. Her coworker/friend breaks the news that the client is Jewish - it’s a Hanukkah party! OH NO. Christy doesn’t know jack shit about Hanukkah or that Jewish people even exist! Don’t worry: coworker/friend has a solution in the form of her son’s Jewish teacher, Jonathan, who will be her Hanukkah tutor. In exchange, Christy will teach him about Christmas before he meets his goyfriend’s dad. 

OK so this could be cute but mostly it feels like everyone in this movie has a TBI. Christy and the goyfriend (don’t get too attached to her) keep referring to the food and traditions as “random” (YIKES) and Jonathan acts like he has never seen a Christmas tree, nor has he ever wrapped a gift of any sort. Given how pervasive Christmas is I find it hard to believe he’s completely oblivious? If he is, then honestly good for him. Seriously. 

The obvious happens when they ditch their crappy partners and Jonathan accompanies Christy to the big pitch/party which is basically a black-tie gala and not only does she nail the pitch (with a toy line of maccabee action figures no I am not joking) but she is asked to light the menorah and lead the group in prayer, which she does perfectly, of course. Side note: how pissed would you be if your spouse was like “hey I’m inviting a bunch of business associates to come to our family party and I’m letting some random lady take part in our cultural traditions and oh yeah we’re having a business meeting too” because I’d be outta there so fast.

Big twist though: in another room we find a Christmas Wonderland. The client’s wife is Christian! Their home includes all traditions! Again: nice sentiment but why is Christmas always the default? (I know why.)

0/5 Winter Coats for doing the whole “Hanukkah is Jewish Christmas” thing and terrible acting and pretending like loving Christmas is a personality.