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mercurygray · 3 years ago

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So, I Hear You Liked: 1917

More World War One Films

I was very excited about 1917 when it first came out because it almost perfectly coincided with the 100th anniversary of the First World War, a conflict that I love to read about, write about, and watch movies about. This period is my JAM, and there's such a lot of good content for when you're done with Sam Mendes's film.

Obviously there are a lot of movies and TV shows out there - this is just a selection that I enjoyed, and wish more people knew about.

Note: Everyone enjoys a show or movie for different reasons. These shows are on this list because of the time period they depict, not because of the quality of their writing, the accuracy of their history or the political nature of their content. Where I’m able to, I’ve mentioned if a book is available if you’d like to read more.

I'd like to start the list with a movie that isn't a fiction piece at all - Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old (2019) is a beautifully produced film that allows the soldiers and archival images themselves, lovingly retimed and tinted into living color, to tell their own story. It is a must watch for anyone interested in the period.

Wings (1927), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932, 1957), The Dawn Patrol (1938), Sergeant York (1941), and Paths of Glory (1957) are all classics with a couple of Oscars between them, and it's sort of fun to watch how the war gets changed and interpreted as the years pass. (The Dawn Patrol, for instance, might as just as easily be about the RAF in World War 2.)

All Quiet is based on a famous memoir, and A Farewell to Arms on a Hemingway novel; both have several adaptations and they're all a little different. Speaking of iconic novels, Doctor Zhivago (1965) based on the Pasternak novel of the same title, examines life of its protagonist between 1905 and the start of the second World War.

I think one thing historians agree on is that the start of World War One is worth discussing - and that there's a lot of backstory. Fall of Eagles (1974), a 13 part BBC miniseries, details the relationships between the great houses of Europe, starting in the 1860s; it's long but good, and I think might be on YouTube. The Last Czars (2019) takes a dramatized look at the Romanovs and how their reactions to the war lead to their eventual demise.

As far as the war itself, Sarajevo (2014) and 37 Days (2014) both discuss the outbreak of hostilities and the slow roll into actual battle.

The Passing Bells (2014) follows the whole war through the eyes of two soldiers, one German and one British, beginning in peacetime.

Joyeux Noel ( 2005) is a cute story - it takes place early in the war during the Christmas Peace and approaches the event from a multinational perspective.

War Horse (2011) is, of course, a name you'll recognize. Based on the breakout West End play, which is itself based on a YA novel by Michael Morpurgo, the story follows a horse who's requisitioned for cavalry service and the young man who owns him. Private Peaceful (2012) is also based on a Morpurgo novel, but I didn't think it was quite as good as War Horse.

The Wipers Times (2013) is one of my all-time favorites; it's about a short lived trench paper written and produced by soldiers near Ypres, often called Wipers by the average foot soldier. The miniseries, like the paper, is laugh out loud funny in a dark humor way.

My Boy Jack (2007) is another miniseries based on a play, this one about Rudyard Kipling and his son, Jack, who served in the Irish Guards and died at Loos. Kipling later wrote a poem about the death of his son, and helped select the phrase that appears on all commonwealth gravestones of the First World War.

Gallipoli (1981) is stunning in a way only a Peter Weir movie can be; this is a classic and a must-see.

Gallipoli is a big story that's been told and retold a lot. I still haven't seen Deadline Gallipoli (2015) an Australian miniseries about the men who wrote about the battle for the folks back home and were subject to censorship about how bad things really were. For a slightly different perspective, the Turkish director Yesim Sezgin made Çanakkale 1915 in 2012, detailing the Turkish side of the battle. Although most of The Water Diviner (2014) takes place after the war is over, it also covers parts of Gallipoli and while it didn't get great reviews, I enjoy it enough to own it on DVD.

I don't know why all of my favorite WWI films tend to be Australian; Beneath Hill 60 (2010) is another one of my favorites, talking about the 1st Australian Tunneling Company at the Ypres Salient. The War Below (2021) promises to tell a similar story about the Pioneer companies at Messines, responsible for building the huge network of mines there.

Passchendaele (2008) is a Canadian production about the battle of the same name. I'd forgotten I've seen this film, which might not say very much for the story.

Journey's End (2017) is an adaptation of an RC Sheriff play that takes place towards the end of the war in a dugout amongst British officers.

No look at the Great War is complete without a nod to developing military technologies, and this is the war that pioneers the aviation battle for us. I really wish Flyboys (2006) was better than it is, but The Red Baron (2008) makes up for it from the German perspective.

One of the reasons I like reading about the First World War is that everyone is having a revolution. Technology is growing by leaps and bounds, women are fighting for the right to vote, and a lot of colonial possessions are coming into their own, including (but not limited to) Ireland. Rebellion (2016) was a multi-season miniseries that went into the Easter Rising, as well as the role the war played there. Michael Collins (1996) spends more time with the Anglo-Irish war in the 1920s but is still worth watching (or wincing through Julia Roberts' bad accent, you decide.) The Wind that Shakes the Barley covers the same conflict and is excellent.

The centennial of the war meant that in addition to talking about the war, people were also interested in talking about the Armenian Genocide. The Promise (2016) and The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017) came out around the same time and two different looks at the situation in Armenia.

This is a war of poets and writers, of whom we have already mentioned a few. Hedd Wynn ( 1992) which is almost entirely in Welsh, and tells the story of Ellis Evans, a Welsh language poet who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele. I think Ioan Gruffudd has read some of his poetry online somewhere, it's very pretty. A Bear Named Winnie (2004) follows the life of the bear who'd become the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh. Tolkien (2019) expands a little on the author's early life and his service during the war. Benediction (2021) will tell the story of Siegfried Sassoon and his time at Craiglockhart Hospital. Craiglockhart is also represented in Regeneration (1997) based on a novel by Pat Barker.

Anzac Girls (2014) is probably my favorite mini-series in the history of EVER; it follows the lives of a group of Australian and New Zealand nurses from hospital duty in Egypt to the lines of the Western Front. I love this series not only because it portrays women (ALWAYS a plus) but gives a sense of the scope of the many theatres of the war that most movies don't. It's based on a book by Peter Rees, which is similarly excellent.

On a similar note, The Crimson Field (2014) explores the lives of members of a Voluntary Aid Detachment, or VADs, lady volunteers without formal nursing training who were sent to help with menial work in hospitals. It only ran for a season but had a lot of potential. Testament of Youth (2014) is based on the celebrated memoirs of Vera Brittain, who served as a VAD for part of the war and lead her to become a dedicated pacifist.

Also, while we're on the subject of women, though these aren't war movies specifically, I feel like the additional color to the early 20th century female experience offered by Suffragette (2015) and Iron-Jawed Angels (2004) is worth the time.

As a general rule, Americans don't talk about World War One, and we sure don't make movies about it, either. The Lost Battalion (2001) tells the story of Major Charles Whittlesey and the 9 companies of the 77th Infantry division who were trapped behind enemy lines during the battle of the Meuse Argonne.

I should add that this list is curtailed a little bit by what's available for broadcast or stream on American television, so it's missing a lot of dramas in other languages. The Road to Calvary (2017) was a Russian drama based on the novels of Alexei Tolstoy. Kurt Seyit ve Şura (2014) is based on a novel and follows a love story between a Crimean officer (a Muslim) and the Russian woman he loves. The show is primarily in Turkish, and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who plays the lead, is *very* attractive.

Finally, although it might seem silly to mention them, Upstairs Downstairs (1971-1975 ) Downton Abbey (2010-2015) and Peaky Blinders (2013-present) are worth a mention and a watch. All of them are large ensemble TV shows that take place over a much longer period than just the Great War, but the characters in each are shaped tremendously by the war.

#so i hear you liked #preaching the period drama gospel i am #world war one #period drama #period drama trash #1917

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makeitquietly · 4 years ago

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Laurel or Hardy: Early Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy traces the roots of the legendary comedy duo by offering fans a two-disc set of 35 newly restored films starring either Stan Laurel or Oliver Hardy—all produced before the two genius talents ever joined forces.

Laurel and Hardy became cinematic legends together, but before they were ever hauling pianos or throwing pies as a hilarious and unforgettable comedic duo, each had to develop as an individual artist and performer. Laurel or Hardy: Early Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as proudly presented by Flicker Alley, the Library of Congress, and Blackhawk Films®, offers fans new and old the rare opportunity to track the early solo careers of two comedy icons. Featuring all new 2K restorations sourced from materials contributed by archives and collectors around the world, this comprehensive 2-disc Blu-ray collection features 35 films and includes new scores from some of the best silent film composers working today.

Arthur Stanley Jefferson comes from the British vaudeville scene, and was at one time Chaplin's understudy. Oliver Norvell Hardy, a comedian born on film, worked steadily for years in Hollywood and built his notoriety in over 300 roles. Although the two had different styles and came from distinct backgrounds, they followed similar creative paths, each marked with trials, errors, successes, and the occasional strokes of genius. Along the way, they made millions of people laugh, offering ample evidence of the incredible individual talents that would eventually merge together to create one of the greatest comedy duos in all of film history.

Stan Laurel Films:

Bears and Bad Men (1918); The Egg (1922); A Weak-End Party (1922); The Pest (1922); When Knights Were Cold (1923); The Handy Man (1923); Pick and Shovel (1923); Collars and Cuffs (1923); Gas and Air (1923); A Man About Town (1923); The Whole Truth (1923); Brothers Under the Chin (1924); Zeb Vs. Paprika (1924); Wide Open Spaces (1924); Detained (1924); Twins (1925); Pie-Eyed (1925)

Oliver Hardy Films:

Mother's Baby Boy (1914); The Servant Girl's Legacy (1914); An Expensive Visit (1915); A Lucky Strike (1915); The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford: The Lilac Splash (1915); The Serenade (1916); Hungry Hearts (1916); The Candy Trail (1916); The Chief Cook (1917); Hello Trouble (1918); Married to Order (1918); He's In Again (1918); The Rent Collector (1921); The Bakery (1921); The Show (1922); Rivals (1925); Wandering Papas (1926); Say It With Babies (1926)

BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:

Image Gallery — Slideshow presentation featuring photographs from the Library of Congress collections.

Collector’s Edition Souvenir Booklet — Limited edition booklet with film notes from film historian Rob Stone, as well as notes on the restoration from Lobster Film’s Serge Bromberg.

The photo and sales pitch are from flickeralley.com.

How this post came about:

Step 1: Oh, a new Blu-ray with Stan & Babe’s solo films. I wonder if there’s anything on it that I don’t have...

Step 2: Huh? This is the same collection as the DVD set released last year. I bought that one, so no need to bother with this.

Step 3: Nice touch to have the photos on the cover from the actual period, unlike on the DVD set:

Step 4: Kind of weird that Stan’s in costume while Babe’s with his pet monkey.

Step 5: Lol, Under Two Jags isn’t even included on this set, so why the photo?

Step 6: I wonder if the photo of Babe and his pet monkey is in that album of his... Might post it because kind of cute.

Step 7: Yes, it is! Wait, no, just two other photos... Er, what the actual fuck....?

Step 8: Posting those two photos

Step 9: This post.

If anyone has any theories on why they shopped the two pet monkey photos into one and put it on the cover of the Blu-ray, I’d love to read them!

I mean, why not choose one of them? Is there something wrong with them that gets better when they’re put together? In that case, did it have to be a photo about Babe and his pet? Why? Wouldn’t it have been logical to choose a movie photo since Stan’s was one too? Well, preferably use a photo from a movie included in the set for both of them.

I fucking hate it when people selling stuff change/add/remove things. Especially without saying so.

Anyways, the DVD set doesn’t have a photo gallery, so kind of extra curious now about what’s included... 🙄

Also, to be nitpicky, “early solo films” and all produced before they “ever joined forces” aren’t accurate expressions. These people must know it. So why lie? That “each had to develop” individually at first is a very peculiar claim. “Rare opportunity” isn’t true, though an understandable lie, if you want people to think nothing else is available.

Very proud of my collection. 😊

Can’t say anything about the picture quality on the Blu-rays, but at least the DVD set doesn’t have the wax problem which last year’s Laurel & Hardy “Definitive Restorations” collection suffers from. Also, some of the movies don’t appear elsewhere, which seems to me like a usable fact for marketing purposes, but whatever.

I suppose that last paragraph is opinions mostly, and I don’t even know what coming from “distinct backgrounds” is supposed to mean, but Stan and Babe really didn’t follow “similar creative paths”.

OTOH, why not just say the greatest comedy duo when you bloody well can without anybody being able to dispute it because it’s an actual personal preference? Unless of course it’s not yours...

Tl;dr: If anyone knows what’s included in the photo gallery, please tell me! I’ve tried to find useful reviews but failed.

#Stan Laurel #Oliver Hardy #Laurel and Hardy #other #2021 #2020s #British vaudeville is an odd expression too #and Babe worked elsewhere too not only in Hollywood #anyone ever counted how many solo films he made?#I get ca 280

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clawedghouls · 4 years ago

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Every man in a youtube horror ARG about slenderman know only 3 thing; Have weird relationship with environments, be awkward on camera, and LIE

It has been a while since I’ve actively done a Text Post on this blog over idly reblogging things, which is a good way to interact with the hell site do not let me discourage you, but I have been watching marble hornets and want to talk about the idea of spatial influence and character drive/motives.

Before, here are some good pieces of text about the internet that help form my opinions on the matter, some as refreshers and some as set dressing. I will not tell you which. (each numeral has a link, please click)

1. The American Room by Paul Ford, 2014

2. Attention K-Mart Shoppers submitted to The Internet Archive by Mark Davis, recordings from 1980′s-1994.

3. Lambertville Highschool (before demolition), Abandonednj.com, post 2012.

4. Enter The Marble Hornets' Nest by Kasey Hullett, 2015

5. This House Has People In It, WHAMCITY COMEDY, published by Adult Swim, 2016

Not included is the book : Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man The Development of an Internet Mythology by Shira Chess, Eric Newsom. which you can find online on Amazon. It informs this somewhat, but as you know I am not king and I hold no bounds. (spoilers ahead)

I spent a decent amount of hours watching MH, and I can immediately see the influence to other videos of its kind. The quality is expected for its age, and influences what it’s saying to the viewer.

For this, I am going to take EverymanHYBRID as its opposition force, given how it started a year after MH and is related to its universe. EMH, and MH both are the same sort of series- they have the slenderman myths, the same air of mystery, violence, and ARG tendencies- but one uses them in a more symbolic fashion.

MH, which focuses on the at-one-point collaborative and then later outright hostile relationship between Alex and Jay, plays with alot of intriguing concepts that become really prone in every series that it influences. Corruption of self, guilt, destructive and violent relationships that invoke creeping diseases on each individual. The tapes act as markers in the advancement of that sense of foreboding, especially with Jay having to recount 7 months or more of missing memories while walking about in a daze- his thought process both being charming and at once entirely frustrating. Slowly, the characters begin to spiral into something that revolves around chaotic violence and the unbalanced power play between them, Alex, and The Operator.

And that the whole bit really, that they are being withdrawn from the outside world to the point that outside interactions become another extension of their push and pull with each other. The hotel that Jay has been for several months not having to worry about paying for, or even having interactions with housekeeping, become the place where he is swallowed hole by either memories or forces beyond his control. The places, the spaces, become vehicles for the story itself- The hotel does not matter as it is a vessel to hold both him and Jessica. When Alex kills a man who is not even related to the original social bubble who knows what kind of person he is, it becomes a symbol of how irrational the situation has become- especially given how The Operator takes the body away with zero fanfare. The operator is akin to seeing hives bloom across the body, as it is not the cause but the symptom.

In comparison, EMH lives in a totally seperate rhythm. Its places, and their environment’s stories, are key to why these characters do the things that they do. Every room that is shown, every place they interact with, reacts to them. in the narrative they show with this with long cuts, positioning of selves or props, and in something that MH does fairly well: footage that shows remixed or morphing images/videos of characters and covert messages. A few scenes immediately come to mind about EMH, but the best reflection would be in Jeff’s house and in relation to his little brother.

At the start, each of the trifecta’s houses are alive. Alive not in the sense of human interaction, but in actively breathing, moving, changing, and its destructive ways. The Operator/Slenderman/That Horrible Thing, enters into the home through crawlspaces, behind closed and out of sight rooms, and even through windows. When Jeff finds a rip in the universe within a closet crawl space that leads him to abandoned places, they close up again when he returns. The same way with his brother, who disappears behind a closed door. Their environments become actively dangerous, the rooms are hungry, they are devouring them whole- the scene in which Evan looks directly into a surveillance camera after being attacked- the back of the cabin at the end of the world where Vinny has to kill his friend in the thick of the PA woods- where Jeff is drowned in a pool or comes walking out of the dark covered in blood- that is a spatial existence which is hostile.

However, MH is the total opposite. It is not the Rosswood park that is dangerous, it is the fact that Alex is in there. It is not the house you should be afraid to enter, its the people in it, the house is only a witness. Even Alex’s apartment has nothing much to offer the viewer, it is only a place to store tapes and sleep, with so many boxes within. The scene that I thought of the most, especially when drafting this, is in the middle of the Entries, where Jay (the fool) breaks into Alex’s apartment. Jay gets found out almost instantly by Alex, and while trying to escape gets into an altercation with him, who yells that he brought ‘it’ back to his apartment. Jay looks at Alex and screams, realizing that the Operator is right behind him, and runs away- stealing the front door key on his way out. We are not told what happened to Alex after that specific point, and the next entry continues on.

To Jay, The Operator is a real threat, but to Alex he cannot even see him. In conversations about this, my friend Cirice described it ‘like having a terminal illness and not seeking treatment.’ Alex’s perception can become the reality he is in- and his personal feelings become facts. To him, the reality is that Jay, Jessica, anyone he’s interacted with, is a threat. In the same way The Operator is a threat to Jay and the rest- the way the coughing and their bodies being slowly broken apart is a threat- but Alex holds the power in the relationships when the spatial existence is passive. The Operator acts as a device to move forward the narrative, but the relationships drive it to its conclusions. It doesn't matter the places that MH is located, they’re interchangeable. This is untrue for EMH, where NJ (the area it takes place in) holds like an oppressive cloud over the group.

To place into a direct metaphor, The Operator in MH is blowing bubbles into the world that interact with only each other and effectively destroy only themselves (or those unfortunate to interact), where as in EMH the metaphor is of a house that’s collapsing on purpose to kill those trashing its insides.

TLDR;

Marble Hornets: “You want to fuck me so bad it makes you stupid” Alex & Jay, Character driven stories about how power imbalances will kill you, the creeping disease of cruelty and how perception leads you to a fucked up rock climbing wall looking for DVD cassettes you funky little detective.

EverymanHYBRID: “Hostile Geometry” Spatial horror and your environments will change you in such a way you are unrecognizable to yourself now in the mirror, the house is alive, the house is hungry, and its consuming you whole- and has been for generations.

also, whats up with killing women in both of these series?

#EMH #everymanhybrid #mh #marble hornets #text posts #text #tw / horror #violence #tw murder #unsettling images

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bazzybelle · 5 years ago

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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat! AKA Bat-Baz II: Electric Bazaloo

Note: I feel I should explain for those new to the beauty and wonder that is Bat-Baz. It started with THIS piece of art by the talented @parijpg (give them 100000% credit for starting the whole Bat-Baz craze). I was so inspired to write that THIS happened (Original Bat-Baz Fic).

If you scroll through the reblogs of that fic, you’ll find some QUALITY ART by the lovely @subpar-selkie !

I was going to end it there, but THIS (adorable BAT) and THIS (more quality content from @subpar-selkie ) were posted this week… So, I caved and wrote ANOTHER BAT-BAZ fic!

It’s the (not very highly) anticipated sequel to Love is Blind (As A Bat). Definitely not as good as The Godfather: Part II, but hopefully better than the straight-to-VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray Disney sequels.

Thank you to @carryonsimoncarryonbaz for the beta-reading, @giishu , and @f-ing-ruthless-baz for yelling at encouraging me to post this story, and @fight-surrender for bothering me this week and cheering me up and making sure I don’t feel too alone this week.

Enjoy… and I’m so sorry.

PS: Also, posting this on AO3. If you want, you can read it HERE.

__________

SIMON

“How many times do I have to tell you!? Rowling’s spells are dodgy at best!”

Baz is yelling on the phone to his half-sister Mordelia. He looks absolutely exhausted, and I can’t say I blame him for taking it out on his little sister. He just spent the better part of the evening as a small black bat, and must be beyond mortified. Anyone who knows Baz Pitch, knows that he usually deals with his embarrassment with snark and (on occasion) misdirected anger. In this case, the anger is very well-directed. It seems Mordelia was responsible for turning him into a bat in the first place.

“I don’t care what spell you were trying to accomplish! Her spells are as problematic and preposterous as she is! She’s barely a magician herself, if we’re being honest.”

I feel like I need to calm Baz down as he’s quickly heading towards one of his famous tirades. I start to run my fingers through his hair and plant a small kiss on his shoulder. Baz’s grey eyes meet my eyes and he sighs heavily. He grabs onto my hand and gives it a small squeeze.

“I know it wasn’t done on purpose, Mordelia, but you need to be careful! You’re starting Watford in the autumn and I highly doubt your classmates will appreciate you turning them into winged mammals.”

I choke back a snort as I think about the hijinks Baz’s sister will get into once she begins her Watford education. Images of a frozen moat in January, and enchanted snowball fights (you can enchant them so they follow the intended target like a tracker – Baz had gotten me a few times that way) fill my mind. I start to lightly scratch Baz’s back and I feel his muscles beginning to relax. I just hope he ends his call soon, so I can have my boyfriend back to his calm, arrogant self.

“I shall be coming back tomorrow to collect my… belongings. If you so much as breathe on my clothes or my mobile, I will not hesitate to turn you into a tarantula!”

Baz finally hangs up and tosses my mobile back to me. He starts rubbing his eyes and groans heavily. I continue to rub his shoulders and start to nuzzle his arm. He turns to me and offers small, tired smile.

“I apologize for that, Simon. But I’d like to think you’d be the same way if you’d just spent the better part of your evening flying from Hampshire to London. I can barely feel my arms.”

“Would you like me to rub your shoulders for you, then?” I ask him. Baz raises an eyebrow and smiles coyly at me.

I place myself behind him and start to knead my fingers into the space where his neck meets his shoulders. My thumbs press deep circles into his shoulder blades. I am careful to not touch his hair, nor the base of his neck (he flinches when I get too close to where he was bitten – it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be when I first massaged him, but I’d rather not risk it).

I hear a soft sigh coming from Baz. I want to continue, but I’m noticing his head lolling forward. I stop my back rubbing and sit back down next to him. I take note of his eyelids beginning to droop. I move some hair from his face and he smiles dreamily at me.

“Did you need to feed before going to bed?” I ask him. Baz shakes his head slowly.

“I fed right before all this started.” Baz gestures towards his body. I lift myself from the bed and gather some pyjamas for him. I toss them to the bed and grab a pair for myself.

“Here. I’ll warm you up some blood, just to be safe, while you change.” Baz rolls his eyes at me, but I’m already out the door before he can protest any further.

I walk into the kitchen to see that the spell books and materials have already been cleared out. I’ll have to thank Penny properly tomorrow, for her help tonight. I suppose a breakfast of her favourite pancakes (banana-blueberry) is enough to show my gratitude. I heat up some blood we keep on hand in the fridge (several butcher’s shops carry a steady supply). I also take some time to make a few sandwiches for him (and for myself… I get hungry when I worry). Before going back into the bedroom, I quickly change into my pyjamas and wash up (Baz must be beyond exhausted if he didn’t even think to freshen up in the bathroom, which means he’ll be cranky tomorrow).

When I get back into the bedroom, Baz is already settled into the bed, eyes closed, and sheets pulled up to his chin. I can feel my heart softening for him, he’s had an impossibly long day. I kneel down beside him and run my hand through his hair. His eyes open slowly. I place the sandwiches on the night stand and hand him a mug with some blood inside.

“I’m fine, Snow” He slurs, but accepts the mug regardless. He downs it in a matter of seconds (Prat… Was probably more thirsty than he let on), and places the mug on the nightstand, next to the plate (he doesn’t touch the sandwiches, which is fine, he’ll eat when he wants to). I climb into the bed and wrap my arms around his waist. Baz settles in as well. I hold him for a little while as I feel him beginning to doze off.

I plant a few small kisses on his shoulder as I start to fall asleep as well.

BAZ

A rumbling in the pit of my stomach startles me awake. I clutch at my abdomen as I attempt to recall when I had last eaten. I rub my eyes,wondering what time it is. I glance at the window and see the dark skies of the night. I wonder how long I’ve been asleep for, as I glance at Simon still sleeping peacefully beside me. His lips are opened slightly (mouth-breather) and he has his arms pulled tight against his chest. I move to give him a small kiss, when my stomach rumbles again.

Right… should probably take care of that first. I look to the night stand and remember the sandwiches that Simon made. I stare at him as I eat slowly (I’ve been practicing controlling my fangs… the only good thing to come out of America), feeling so grateful for the beautiful disaster in my life. I would never ask him to do what he did for me tonight, but Simon does it anyway, just as I would for him. I finish off a couple of sandwiches from the plate, and bring the dishes back to the kitchen. I brush my teeth in the bathroom (exhausted as I am, I still maintain proper hygiene) before heading back into bed with Simon.

I face him and watch him for a moment as he sleeps soundly, chest slowly rising and falling. I reach over and run my fingers through his hair. I plant a small kiss on his lips (I never want to relive the experience of my boyfriend kissing me in bat-form ever again).

An all too familiar feeling begins to arise as soon as my lips leave Simon’s. The splitting headache, the light-headed feeling, and most importantly, the blinding pain shooting up my back. I leap out of bed and I shout to alert Simon, but all that comes out of my mouth is a small, garbled chirp.

Seven snakes! Not again!

I rush to wake him up, but my head suddenly feels so heavy… and I cannot keep my eyes open for much longer… And my stomach begins to lurch.

I feel myself crumple onto the bedroom floor…

At least Simon will know it’s me this time. I think as I hit the floor and become shrouded in darkness…

SIMON

I don’t feel Baz in bed with me as I wake up. I rub my hand on his side of the bed and feel it empty. My eyebrows furrow as I slowly lift myself up from bed. It’s strange for Baz to be awake before I am.

“Baz?” I call out groggily. I look over to his side of the bed once more and notice his pyjamas in a pile on the floor.

“Fuck!” I yell out as I jump out of bed. If there was something I could be sure of, it’s that my boyfriend would NEVER leave his clothing in a messy pile on the side of the bed. Something must have happened to him… again!

Panic rises in my throat as I search through the clothing. I’m hoping with everything in me that I don’t find ash or anything else that could indicate my deepest fears.

Everything seems to be normal, but I notice tiny claw marks within the fabric of the pyjamas. My eyes widen as I piece the clues together.

Bloody fucking hell! Not again!

My eyes dart around the bedroom for any sign of Baz hiding. I begin to search through the darker corners of the bedroom, each spot turning up empty. With every empty spot, I start to panic a little more. Did he get out? Did he get stuck somewhere? Merlin, are there any stray cats that could have gotten inside?

“Baz!? Stop being such a wanker! Where did you get to?!” I call out. When I don’t hear an answer, I stomp through the bedroom door and into the kitchen, where I see Penny, sitting calmly, drinking some tea and eating cereal.

“Good morning Simon.” She tries to say to me, but I ignore her as I start to desperately search the flat for any sign of Baz, or any place he could be sleeping (is he a nocturnal bat? Does it matter? Is his curse following the rules of his anatomy or that of a bat?).

Penny tries calling out to me again, but I’m currently flipping over throw pillows and searching under the sofa.

“Simon… What on Earth…”

“Baz is missing again! Except he’s also a bat again! And I can’t find him!”

I start to move the bookcase, rattling the books and objects placed carefully inside. The organization was Penny and Baz’s doing. They argued for weeks on how to organize the books (Penny wanted alphabetically; Baz by the Dewey Decimal system – which I’d have never even known about, but I’m in love with an impossibly intellectual tosser), but settled on a system that worked for both of them. I’m now mucking up that system, by moving and shifting things around. I’m wondering if Baz found his way behind on the of the books. Maybe his wing got caught somewhere.

“Simon… you should maybe…” She joins me by the bookshelf, but I avoid her and head into the kitchen. I’m thinking that maybe Baz got into one of the cupboards (were they opened last night?)

“Not now Penny!” I open every cupboard in the kitchen and look inside. Nothing. No Baz. I begin to tug the curls in my head, as I think about other places he could have gotten into.

Penny has joined me by the cupboards. I feel her grabbing my wrists. “Simon!” she shouts at me, finally forcing me to look up at her. She points to her head. Plopped calmly and looking at me like I’m impossibly thick, is Baz. Once again, he’s a bat.

“Bloody hell, Baz! You can’t scare me like that!” I reach out my hands, and he hops into them. Bat-Baz nuzzles his face between the space between my thumb and index finger. I bring him up and plant a kiss on top of his head. Penny scratches him behind his wings.

“I found him perched upside down on the lamp, fast asleep. Nearly gave me a heart attack. He woke up not too long ago and found his way to me. What happened? I know you were joking about trying new things with him… But… did you ask him to change back, Simon?!”

I stare at her, mouth open wide and eyes boring into her. Does she actually think I would put Baz through another round of transformations all for a little excitement? I look at Bat-Baz, and he’s giving her the exact same look.

“For Crowley’s sake, Penny! No! I woke up and he was gone! He must have changed again during the night!” My comments are backed up by Bat-Baz’s frantic chirping and wing-flapping. I try to sush him and start rubbing the back of his wings. It worked to calm him down yesterday, and it seems to do the trick today. Bat-Baz starts licking my hand, and while I think that’s adorable and sweet, I don’t want to think about my bat-boyfriend in this way… lest it start affecting our intimate moments.

Penny starts scratching her head and frowns down at Bat-Baz. “I’m wondering if the spell last night worked at all? Is this a side-effect of that spell? Did it mix badly with the spell that made him a bat in the first place?”

“What do you suggest we do?"

Penny stifles a small laugh, "Maybe try and figure out what bats eat? It seems we’ll be stuck here for a while.” Her comment is met with angry chirps from Bat-Baz. If I wasn’t holding onto him as tight as I was, I’m fairly sure he would be attempting to jump at Penny.

“Oh! I didn’t mean it Basil!” Penny tries to pet him, but he hisses at her. I turn my back towards her and lift Bat-Baz to my face. He is not amused at this situation, but I still frown at him.

“Baz… I know you’re pissed off, but try and calm down, yeah”. I turn to Penny, who’s stuck her tongue out at him. I shake my head at her.

“And you! Now is not the time to take the piss out of anything.” Penny looks away, ashamed and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Since when am I the responsible one out of this group? I place Bat-Baz on my shoulder and head to the kitchen. I need to make myself some breakfast before trying to tackle this mystery.

I look at Bat-Baz, who’s started nuzzling my face, and just wanting to stay as close to me as possible. Baz hates feeling vulnerable in any way, and being changed into a tiny animal, without his strength and his magic… yeah, pretty fucking vulnerable, if you ask me. I pick him up again and look into his eyes (fuck… they’re still grey…). I feel my heart break a little as I stare at them, because they look devastated.

“Hey… don’t be like that. We’re going to figure this out.” I speak in a small soft voice to him, but Bat-Baz looks away from me. I run my thumb over his little head a few times and his eyes close. A tiny, sad chirp escapes him as he leans into my touch. He starts licking me again. I bring him closer to my face.

“I promise, Baz. If anything, this proves even further that we match… y’know… ‘cause of the wings.” I give my wings a small flap as Bat-Baz rolls his eyes.

“I know you’re laughing on the inside, Baz. Come on. I’ll try to find you something to eat.” I give him a small peck on his bat lips and leave him to perch on the edge of my wing. I start to look through the refrigerator for any fruit or blood (seriously… what do bats eat? What kind of bat is he? I mean… vampire bat makes sense, but is that a little too on the nose?).

I don’t notice the bright purple glow surrounding Baz’s small form. I feel him swooping down from my wing and see him flying desperately towards the bedroom. I slam the refrigerator door shut and run after him. Penny tries to follow, but I shut the door before she gets too close. She begins to knock on the door.

“Simon! What’s going on! Is he changing back?”

“Yes Penny! He’s changing back!” I breathe a sigh of relief as Baz turns back into himself (again, completely starkers… probably the only side effect of the spell I can’t be mad about). I rush to him and wrap my arms around him. He leans his head on my shoulder and breathes heavily into me. I run my fingers through his hair and start rubbing his back. He lifts his head and his eyes meet mine.

“At least we know how to change me back.” He says. I start to laugh.

“Fat lot that’ll do, until we know what causes the transformation to happen. D’you remember what happened before you changed?” Baz leans down and presses his hands together. He starts shaking his head. Another series of knocks pounds through the room. Penny’s voice rings out, loudly.

“Is he back to his grumpy self, then?!”

Baz glares at the door. I sigh as I get up and fetch some clothes for him to wear. If we’re going to have a discussion about breaking his spell (or I suppose it’s more of a curse at this point), Penny should be a part of it.

“I’d like to see you maintain a cheery demeanor when spending most of your time as a tiny winged mammal, Bunce!” Baz barks, while slipping on one of his shirts. Now that he’s decent, I should go open the door. Before I do, I walk up to him and cup his face in my hands. I make sure he’s looking at me

“We’re going to figure this out. Trust us, okay?” Baz smiles at me and nods.

“Okay.”

I give him a small smile and softly kiss him once more. Baz reaches up and starts to caress my shoulders. I press further into him, when a pained moan escapes his lips. I quickly back, worried that I hurt him. Baz’s eyes are opened wide, and panicked. I grab his wrists and try to get him to look at me, but it won’t work.

“Baz? What’s happening?” I try to ask him.

“Simon! It-” His speech is cut short by a series of loud, hysterical chirping. He finally looks at me for a few moments, before collapsing onto the bed. I manage to catch him and lie him down, but I can already see the transformation happening. To my horror, he starts glowing and shrinking into his clothes.

“Fuck! Shit! Baz… Why’s this happening?”

Merlin, Morgana, and Methuselah! How many times has it been now? I notice a small lump moving around inside the sweater. I look inside to see a furious Bat-Baz. I cup him in my hands and walk sadly towards the door. I open the door to a Penny with her hands on her hips. She frowns at the bat-boyfriend in my hands.

“Wasn’t he just changed?”

“He was! That didn’t last very long.” I set Bat-Baz back on my wing. He calmly perches upside-down and wraps his tiny body in his wings. I think he wants to be left alone for now. I don’t blame him.

“Well, what happened now, Simon!?”

“I don’t know Penny! All I did was tell him that we’d fix things and then he changed again!” I stomp out of the bedroom and head back to the kitchen. I whip open the refrigerator and pull out some eggs and fruit. I decide to make myself some breakfast and cut up some fruit for Baz. Maybe some food will calm us both down.

Penny follows me into the kitchen and leans on the wall as I cook the eggs. “Is that all you did, Simon?” she asks me. I slam the spatula in my hand down on the counter and turn to her, hands raised above my head.

“Oh of course! I forgot to mention the secret demonic ritual I had Baz perform so that he can stay a bat at my whim!” I notice that my wings start flapping. I take a deep breath and calm myself down. The last thing I want to do is send Bat-Baz accidently hurtling across the room because I’m throwing a tantrum.

Penny places a calm hand on my shoulder. “No! But did you do anything else?”

I sigh and run my hands through my hair, trying to think of anything that could have done this to him. The only thing I can think of is the kiss I gave him. But that can’t be it. It was what changed him back to his normal vampire-self. I shrug at Penny. “I don’t know… I kissed him. But I alway-”

“AHA!” Penny shouts in my ear. Her sudden exclamation causes me to jump back and violently flap my wings, which in turn sends Bat-Baz flinging off. Thankfully, he catches himself before hitting anything and flies up. He dives towards Penny, who ducks for cover. Bat-Baz starts screeching at her, before I step in between them. He lands on my head and buries himself in my curls. I turn back to Penny, who’s wearing a small apologetic look on her face.

“Well? What is it, Penny?” Penny stands up and straightens her plaid skirt.

“The kisses Simon. We know that kisses turn him back into a human. Well what if they work both ways?” Penny grabs an apple and begins to slice it. She places a thin slice in her hand and holds it up towards my head, a small peace offering, I suppose. Bat-Baz perkes up and sniffs the apple slice in Penny’s hand. He slowly hops into her palm and starts to eat the apple slice.

Merlin… My heart melts to watch them. I snap out of it and continue my discussion.

“Both ways?”

Penny starts to scratch Bat-Baz behind the wings. He continues to eat his apple slice. “Yes. Like how we spell your wings off until a bell rings?” I nod at her, pressing her to go on. “Well maybe this is similar. Since we connected it to a Bat-Man spell.”

“What does Bat-Man have to do with this?” I finally finish cooking my eggs and place them on a plate. Penny has placed Baz on the counter and continues to slice small apple slices for him. He starts to eat them slowly. I start shoveling the eggs in my mouth. Bat-Baz looks up at me, and I didn’t think a bat could look so disgusted… but there you go. Penny’s got the same look on her face, so maybe it’s just me.

Penny heads towards the refrigerator. She opens it and starts to look for something inside. “Think about it Simon. Bat-Man is all about living your life within a duality. Maybe the spell was not literal enough. Instead of changing a bat into a man. It allowed for a more controlled dual life. Controlled by your kisses, it seems” She pulls out one of the containers of blood, we keep on hand for Baz. She hands it to me and motions towards the stove. I eat some more of my eggs and get started on heating some of the blood. I don’t suppose we need very much of it right now.

Penny grabs a small saucer from the cupboard. I spoon a tiny amount of blood into the saucer and set it in front of Bat-Baz. He gives it a look and looks up at Penny and me, with drooping ears. I sigh at him.

“Honestly, Baz. It isn’t a big deal if we see you feed. You should feed so that you feel better.” He doesn’t make a move toward the blood, instead focusing on the apple slices. I grumble to myself and grab Penny by the arm, leading her away from Bat-Baz.

“So… What, I can’t ever kiss Baz again? What sort of rubbish is that?” I hear angry chirping, signifying Baz’s agreement that our situation is in fact rubbish.

Penny lifts her glasses from her head. She grabs a small piece of cloth from her skirt pocket and begins to clean them. “Don’t be dramatic, Simon. There is a solution to this. We just have to go to the source of the spell.” I groan, because that means we have to call Mordelia and ask her what spell she used and I do not feel like talking to her. I look over towards the kitchen counter.

“Baz? You done in there?” A series of small chirps tells me that he’s done feeding. I go back to the kitchen. I clean up the saucer and plates, while Baz finishes up the apple slice he’s been eating. I pick him up and he starts licking my hand again (I’ve gotten used to it by now… seeing as we won’t be allowed to kiss until this spell is broken, we’ll have to find more creative ways of showing affection towards each other). Penny looks over at us and makes a face.

“Nicks and Slick, Basil! Maybe I need to spell a small pouch to put you in so that you allow Simon the use of his hands!”. Bat-Baz looks up at her and glares. I bring him up and kiss the top of his head.

“She isn’t serious… Right Penny?” She shrugs and walks away. I frown at her and look down at Bat-Baz who… actually has a sneer on his face. I head towards the bedroom.

“Come on… Let’s turn you back into my Baz.”

BAZ

Simon is leaning against my arm, reading a graphic novel adaptation of Interview with a Vampire (I bought it for him recently, after he would not stop asking me about Anne Rice).It’s taking everything in my willpower to not kiss him right now. All I have to do is think about how uncomfortable it is to move about as a bat and my desires to kiss him disappear (almost disappear… or rather… momentarily disappear. I am a constant disappointment to myself, after all). I have chosen to browse through The Vampire Lestat. It is the homework that Bunce has given to us. She has settled herself on the kitchen table, reading the atrocious Twilight books, while furiously writing down notes. I look down at my own neatly written notes, and the few sentences that Simon’s managed to scribble down (with my gentle coaxing).

We had been going at this all day. After our unconventional breakfast, Simon took me into the bedroom and privately changed me back into my nearly human form. We then (well, mostly me, Simon was pacing about the flat the entire time, while Bunce took extensive notes) called my irksome little sister to ask her what spell she was trying to cast.

Apparently she thought it absolutely brilliant to try and cast Expecto Patronum. According to Mordelia, she was hoping to know what her patronus was, and I just happened to show up at the wrong time. She insisted that “it would have worked had you not shown up, Basil!”. After berating her for nearly an hour on how impossible the very notion of a patronus was (the closest thing could be a familiar, but even that is rare), I once again threatened to turn her into an abhorrent arachnid before hanging up the phone.

We came to the conclusion that I was turned into a bat because, well, if patronuses did exist, it was very possible that mine would be a bat (at least that was the explanation Bunce offered, I personally think it’s bollocks).

Which brings us to our homework session. Bunce believes that in order to turn me back into my full-self, we needed to create a spell that brings forth my true nature (hence the diverse selection of vampire-related literature).

For now, I am scanning the pages of my book, while Simon lazily lies against my shoulder. I look over at him, to see him smiling up at me. I smirk back at him. Simon reaches over and gently tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. I lean towards him and touch my nose to his. He begins to caress my face and I lean into his soft touch.

I realize too late that his lips have made their way to mine.

I pull back in fear. Simon is wearing a look of shock… which soon changes into one of instant regret.

“Fuck! Bollocks! I forgot!” He yells, which gets Bunce’s attention. She runs towards the sofa, but I can already feel the transformation taking over. I give Simon an angry sneer.

“I swear to Crowley, Snow. I-” my hand clamps over my mouth as a loud chirp escapes it. My head once again feels dizzy and I feel sweat beads on my brow. I lean over and put my head down to steady the all-too-familiar sensation of sickness and lightheadedness. I can hear Simon next to me apologizing profusely. I reach for his hand and hold it tightly. I don’t have much time before I am a bat again, and although I am cross with him, I don’t wish for him to beat himself up over this.

I give a small lop-sided grin to Simon and collapse onto his shoulder as the transformation takes over (hopefully for a final time).

SIMON

And so we’re here again. Bat-Baz nestled in my curls (I think he’s having a nap, the transformations take a lot of energy out of him), Penny making tasteless bat-related jokes and puns, and me trying to keep my head on straight. It’s becoming more and more difficult to do so.

Baz hasn’t wanted to change back into a human and has been feeling extra mopey. I’ve cut up some more fruit for him, but he hasn’t been in the mood to eat anything. I’ve tried petting his head, his wings, his tiny back… no response from him.

I now reach up to my head and hope that Bat-Baz decides to climb onto my hand. I sprinkled some sugared water on my hand as a way to coax him (with that sweet-tooth he’s got). A smile spreads across my lips as I feel his tiny body clamber into my palm. I bring him down to eye-level and he begins to excitedly lick the sugar off of my hand. I start laughing and give him a kiss on one of his wings. Bat-Baz stops licking and a small blush creeps over his cheeks.

“Glad you’re feeling a little better. Can you eat something for me?” I offer him a small piece of strawberry. Bat-Baz thankfully accepts it. As he’s eating his strawberry, Penny enters the kitchen. She’s holding a notepad and a triumphant smile on her face.

“What is it, Penny?”

“I think I’ve got the spell to change Baz back.”

“Okay. What is it?”

Penny shows me the notepad. Bat-Baz looks down at it and starts to angrily chirp at Penny. I read the spell, but I’m not familiar with the quote written down.

“Where is this from, Penny? And why if Baz obviously objecting to it?” Penny’s lips curl into a sneaky smile. Whatever it is, it’s making her far too excited.

“Twilight.”

I shake my head violently and walk away from her. Absolutely not! Baz hates that entire series. He claims they are terrible books, and the very notion of dazzling in the sunlight is offensive to him as a vampire.

“You’ve got to be joking Penny! Of all books to choose, you chose Twilight? Baz will never forgive you.” I look down to see Bat-Baz giving Penny the most judgmental look I have ever seen (well for a bat, that is).

“The quote is technically from the movie, but it should still work! The entire franchise is wildly popular! I still see Normals walking around with Team Edward shirts!”

Bat-Baz covers his head in his wings. It’s going to take some convincing for him to be on board with this, but so far, it’s the best shot we’ve got (even though it’s a rather piss-poor shot).

“Alright. Let’s try it.” I sigh and follow Penny into the living room.

Penny smiles and holds out her hand. I place Bat-Baz in one of my hands and cradle him carefully. He grips onto my thumb and curls into a small ball (I think he’s begun to lose hope at this point… also, bloody Twilight? As if he wasn’t mortified enough). I give Penny my other hand. She lifts the notepad to my eye level and I read off the first line of quote.

“I know what you are” I say to my tiny bat-boyfriend. Penny places her hand gently over Bat-Baz’s head, making sure the ring finger touches him directly. She squeezes my hand tightly and looks into my eyes.

“Say it. Out loud… SIMON SNOW say it!” She yells. I can feel her magic in the air, stong, comforting, with the distinct smell of sage in the air. I feel it wash over me and vibrate over Bat-Baz’s tiny body. He beginning to chirp wildly and I begin to worry that we’re hurting him. I want to get this spell done with. I speak in a loud clear voice:

“Baz Pitch… Vampire-Mage”

A bright, white light explodes from Penny’s ring and causes us to fall backwards. In the commotion that occurs, I let go of Bat-Baz and he slips from my grasp. The white light envelopes him completely and I need to shield my eyes. A strong force pushes Penny and me back a little more. I try to look for where Baz landed, but all I can see if the piercing white light. I have to hope that he’s somewhere in there, turning back into himself. Eventually, the white light starts to dim and the pulsing magical force starts to die down.

Merlin please let this be it. Please let Baz be himself again. I don’t think he can handle another series of intense changes.

I hear Penny screaming before my eyes get the chance to adjust to the scene in front of me. But, there he is, on the ground and fully human again. And… naked. And unconscious! Fuck!

I yell at Penny to get me some water for him. I grab a nearby blanket and scramble to him. I drape the blanket over his body and gently lift his head from the floor.

My anxious mind winds down as I hear his slow steady breaths. He’s alive, but probably completely drained. I lift him a little more and position my legs beneath him, so that I can better support him. Penny comes back with a glass of water and a small wet towel. She bends down and places her hand on his arm.

“Is he alright?” She asks, concern washing over her brown eyes.

I nod at her. Penny sighs with relief and places the glass on the floor, beside me. I ask her to go find some clothes for him, for when he wakes up. I grab the towel from her and start to dab his brow and his face. As I work, I hear a soft groan coming from his lips. His eyelids start squinting and he stirs a little. I give him a small delicate shake.

“Baz? It’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay.”

He starts to mumble something, but it’s hard for me to understand him. I lean in closer to him. “What was that?”

“That was wholly unpleasant.” He opens his eyes and smiles at me. “Hello, Snow.” he drawls.

“Hi.” I laugh at him. I help him sit up and offer the glass of water to him. He smiles as he takes a sip.

Baz’s little smile quickly turns into a slight frown. He looks down at the blanket covering him and his eyes bulge.

“Snow… am I, naked?”

“Um… y-yes?”

“Crowleyyyyy! Just set me on fire now!” Baz smacks his hand over his eyes in complete humiliation. I wrap one of my arms over his shoulders and gently hold him close. Baz buries his face into my shoulder and wraps one of his arms around my neck. I kiss the side of his head and rub small circles on his back. Penny creeps back into the room and quietly places some clothes beside me. I turn to her and mouth a “thank you”. Penny smiles and squeezes my wing. She heads to her room and closes the door, allowing us some much-needed privacy.

I give Baz a small shake and he lifts his head from my shoulder. I grab the clothes and hand them to him. He accepts them and starts putting them on. I get up from the floor and give him a few moments to collect himself and regain his dignity.

I’m putting some water to boil for tea when I feel a set of strong cool arms wrapping around me. Baz leans his head on my shoulder and gives me a small kiss on my cheek.

“Thank you. For everything today.” He whispers to me.

I smile in return. He doesn’t need to thank me. For him, I’d do it all.

“D’you think it worked this time?”

Baz sighs, “There’s only one way to find out.”

I turn to face him and study his deep-grey eyes. They’re tired, mostly. He draws a shaky breath, worried that the spell didn’t work.

“It had to have worked. I know it did.” I whisper to him. Baz closes his eyes and lowers his head.

I comb his hair back with my fingers and trail my hand down his face. We both take a deep breath and lean into a tiny, almost-chaste kiss. I see Baz squeezing his eyes shut, anticipating the transformation to begin.

But… nothing happens.

I shake Baz happily. “Baz! It worked! You’re you again!”

Baz begins to laugh and touches his forehead to mine. He grips my face in his hands and pulls me into a deep kiss. I lean into him and respond with a small happy sigh.

Baz pulls away and cocks an eyebrow at me. “I think I’m going to take a break from visiting my parents. I’ve had enough excitement to last me quite a while.”

I roll my eyes and him and flick his chin. “Baz… I don’t want to hear about your family right after you’ve snogged me.”

Baz laughs and pulls away again. He grabs my hand and leads me slowly into the bedroom. Once we’re inside, and with a coy smile, he grabs his wand from the nightstand and closes the door.

#The Return of Bat-Baz #Bat-Baz #simon snow #baz pitch #tyrannus basilton pitch #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #basilton pitch #snowbaz #carry on #wayward son #crack #Yes hello I am a trash #trash #I am also a shit #comforting boyfriend #Simon Snow is a good boyfriend #my writing #fanfic

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erinptah · 5 years ago

Text

Super Drags review (tl;dr Show Good)

The post where I do my best to spread the Good News, that there exists a saucy gay drag-queen magical-girl animated comedy and everyone should watch it.

Okay, not everyone -- I'll give some caveats at the end -- but definitely a heck of a lot more people than Netflix has bothered to advertise it to.

Look at this! Why did nobody tell me about this??

What is Super Drags?

Fast facts:

It's a 1-season, 5-episode adult animated comedy series, released in November 2018

Here's the official page, with a free-to-view trailer

It packs more explicit, unashamed queerness into those 5 episodes than any other cartoon I can think of

The only possible competitor would be if you took the whole 5000-episode run of Steven Universe and pared it down to a supercut of Just The Gay Parts

This in spite of being produced in Brazil, which (in my broad understanding, as a total non-authority on the subject) is more oppressively, dangerously homophobic than the US

The original is in Portuguese

There is an English dub, fabulously voiced by contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race

It's wrapped in "for adults only!" warnings, not because the content is any less child-friendly than (say) your Bojacks Horsemen or your Ricks and Mortys, but because Brazilian authorities tried to get it shut down on the grounds of this much gay being Harmful For Children

It was (heartbreakingly) not renewed for a second season

Here's a promo video, in which the main characters (Portuguese, with subtitles) play Drag Race judges for Shangela, who ends up voicing Scarlet in English.

And here's a beautiful flashy music video of the big musical number! (Also Portuguese, no subtitles, but the melody and the visuals stand on their own.)

Plot and worldbuilding stuff!

The elevator pitch is "What if Charlie's Angels, but also drag queens, with superpowers, because magical-girl transformations?"

In this universe, all LGBTQ people have magical energy. The Big Bad is an evil magical-drag-queen nemesis who tries to drain our energy for her own purposes. It's like if Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a first-season Sailor Moon villain.

...sidenote, in case you were worried, the representation isn't "cis gay men and nobody else." There's a butch lesbian in the recurring cast, a genderfluid person (in that specific word!) as a one-off love interest, and all the ensemble scenes are wonderful collages of different races, body types, and gender presentations.

Our heroes also fight non-magical everyday homophobes, who get written with scathing realism.

The moment I knew the show wasn't pulling any punches was in the first episode, where a newscaster complains about being Silenced by the Law of Political Correctness, then chirps "however, we have a special guest who is thankfully above the law!"

According to the reviews I've found from Brazilian viewers, it's also pitch-perfect when it comes to local queer culture, community dynamics, slang and speech patterns, even memes. All of which flies right over my head, so here's a post (with no-context spoilers) about one viewer's favorite details.

The handful of reaction posts on Tumblr have a dramatic split between "Brazilian viewers fiercely defending the show as culturally-accurate, uplifting, and brave in a terrifying political moment" and "American viewers complaining that the show is problematic because it's a comedy about drag queens with no perfect role models and lots of sex jokes."

As the Super Drags tell their nemesis (and this is also in the first episode): "How dare you try to turn the LGBTQXYZ community against each other? We do enough of that on our own!"

In between missions, our girls work sitcom retail jobs and deal with other everyday problems. All of which are written in amazingly nuanced and thoughtful ways for a show that also features "defeating an orgy monster with a lip-sync battle."

Detailed character stuff!

Our heroes are Color Coded For Your Convenience!

The Super Drags themselves go by "she" in-uniform, and a lot of the time when out of it. Like the Sailor Starlights, only more so. I'll roll with that.

In blue: Safira Cyan, or Ralph by day, an excitable college-age kid who's built like a football player and squees like a fangirl. (She's an anime fan in the original, and for some reason all the otaku references were replaced in the dub, but you can see them in the subtitles.)

Ralph lives with her younger sister (they play video games together!) and their dad, comes out to them mid-series, and is very shippable with another young guy who starts out reciting the homophobic beliefs he was raised with but whose heart clearly isn't in it.

Safira's weapon is a classic magical-girl wand that casts protective force-fields. Which are shaped like condoms. Because of course.

In yellow: Lemon Chiffon, aka Patrick, the oldest of the group and generally the smartest/most strategic. In most cases, the other two treat her as the de facto team leader -- unless she pushes it too far.

By day she's a single guy with thick thighs and thinning hair, who has some body-image insecurities on the dating scene. And this show has Things To Say about unrealistic beauty standards within the community...not to mention, about masc guys who look down on anyone too flaming or femme because straight people disapprove.

Lemon's weapon is a fluffy boa that can be used as a whip or a lasso, especially when there's a bondage joke to be made.

In red: Scarlet Carmesim, also Donizete, the loudest and most aggressive teammate with the most cutting insults, who refuses to suppress that attitude in an attempt to appease racists. (But will give it a shot when trying not to get fired.)

Donny still lives in her religious/homophobic mom's apartment, and I'm pretty sure it's because neither of them can afford to move out. Her rock-solid sense of fierce self-confidence is the reason it doesn't bring her down.

Scarlet's weapon is a fan that she uses to throw shade. Yeah, you knew that was coming.

The Charlie to these angels is Champagne, who runs operations from a cool magitech compound and breaks the fourth wall at the end to petition for viewers' support in getting a second season.

...we let her down, folks :(

So here's a thing. The show never draws a sharp line between "people who become drag queens because it's a way they're driven to express themselves as gay men" and "people who become drag queens because they were trans women all along." That's consistent with how South American LGBT+ culture works. (Again: best of my knowledge, not personally an authority on this, etc etc.)

Many of the characters, including Champagne, never describe themselves in ways that translate to one of our sharply-defined Anglo-USian identity categories. And I'm not going to try to impose any English labels on them here.

But I can say (in contrast to Safira, Lemon, and Scarlet), Champagne never switches out of her "drag" name/voice/presentation, not even in the most candid off-duty scenes, and still has the same bustline when naked in the tub. Make of that what you will.

You Should Watch This Show

If you have a Netflix subscription, watch Super Drags!

If you ever do a Netflix free trial month in the future, make a note to yourself to watch Super Drags!

It's one of their original productions, so there's no risk of missing your chance because the license expired. But it's absolutely not getting the promotion it deserves. Which means potentially interested viewers won't find it, which means Netflix will think there's no interest, which means they'll keep not promoting it...etc etc etc.

No idea if there's any chance of getting it un-canceled, but maybe we can at least convince them to release it on DVD.

And the sheer gutsiness it took for a group of Brazilian creators to produce this show in the first place -- that deserves to be rewarded with your attention.

In spite of various anti-discrimination laws that sound good on paper, the country has serious problems with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-LGBT violence (warning, article has a violent image which is only partly blurred).

Maybe the creators could've gotten a second season if they made this one softer, less sexually-explicit, more restrained...but honestly? I bet that wouldn't have helped.

Consider Danger & Eggs, an Amazon original cartoon. It was made in the US, thoroughly child-friendly, and restricts its LGBT+ representation to things like "characters go to a Pride celebration...where nobody ever names or describes the quality they're proud of."

And it didn't get renewed past the first season either.

(Note: it had a trans woman showrunner and a queer-heavy creative staff, so I blame all that restraint on executive meddling, not the creators themselves. The showrunner even liked the tweet of my review that complains about it.)

So there's something very satisfying about how Super Drags went all-out, balls-to-the-wall (sometimes literally), all the rep explicit and unapologetic, packing every 25-minute episode with all kinds of queer content that would be censored or muted elsewhere -- but here it's exaggerated and celebrated and just keeps coming.

(...as do jokes like that, and I'm not sorry.)

Okay, there are a few legitimate reasons to not watch this show

Some caveats.

None of these things are Objectively Bad Problems that the show itself should be shamed for...but maybe they're genuinely not your cup of tea.

It does have actual Adult Content beyond "the existence of gay people." This show loves to swing barely-clothed cartoon genitalia in your face. There is, as mentioned, an orgy monster. If that kind of humor is going to bother you too much to appreciate the rest of the show, give it a pass.

I wasn't kidding about how realistic the homophobes are. Opening of the first episode has a guy trying to murder a busload of people while shouting slurs at them. If that level of hatred on-screen is gonna crush your soul, even in a show about sparkly queens flying to the rescue with dick-shaped magical weapons, don't push yourself.

Any fiction with this much crossdressing and gender-transgressing is going to hit some trans viewers in a bad way. Because trans people are such a broad group, with so many different experiences, that Every Possible Trope Involved pushes somebody's buttons. (See also: "some trans readers complain about a storyline that turns out to be drawn from a trans writer's actual life experience".) If this show goes does gender things that turn out to be personally distressing for you...or even just distressing for this specific time in your life...don't feel obligated to keep watching.

It has aggressively-sassy queer characters making jokes and calling each other things that are affectionate in-context, but would not be okay coming from straight/cis people. If you can't wrap your head around that, go watch something else.

Other Than That, Go Watch This Show

For all its big heart, big ambitions, and big gay energy, Super Drags is tiny enough that I've binged the whole show 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Thankfully, it's highly re-watchable -- lots of fun background gags and subtle foreshadowing that you don't catch on the first round.

(Pausing one last time to appreciate that a show with elements like "the high-tech robot assistant is called D.I.L.D.O." can be subtle at all, let alone be this good at it.)

I've also paged through all the fanart on Tumblr and Deviantart, looked up the single fanfic on the AO3, and started brainstorming plans to request it in Yuletide next year. Someone, please, come join me in (the English-language side of) the itty-bitty fandom for this ridiculous, glittery, over-the-top, fabulous series.

#Super Drags #lgbtq #recommendations #recs

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nctinfo · 6 years ago

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[TRANS] ViVi Magazine: NCT 127′s thoughts after the tour!

Q. Congratulations on completing the Japanese tour, you’ve worked hard! When you look back at the last 2 months tell us how do you honestly feel. Taeyong: There are so many different thoughts…. Too many for them all to come out straight away, so please start with a different member haha Doyoung: Starting from me then. Our 2-month long tour has finished yesterday, but right now I and the members would like to express words of gratitude towards our staff who worked so hard with us together. Also, I’m sincerely thankful to the fans who made the tour with us. I started this tour with feeling grateful and so I’m also ending it with feeling grateful. Mark: Because this tour is our very first I’m extra emotional about it. First of all with it being the first I’ve learned so much and it’s ingrained in my memory. I’m really thankful for being able to experience something this good. Taeil: I think it’s a shame that Haechan couldn’t participate from the first show because of his injury, but thankfully we managed to complete the tour smoothly till the end. I’ve learned so much through this tour and as it finished safely I have no regrets, so it’s become a really good experience. Haechan: Just like Taeil-hyung said, it really is a shame that I couldn’t be there from the very beginning of NCT 127’s Japanese tour, so I kept thinking about how next time I will have to be able to attend all shows. But still, it’s very good that I could participate in the last concert in Saitama! At that show, I felt like we’ve gotten so much help from the people around us and that felt really nice too. Johnny: With wrapping up such a long tour my first thought is, of course, the faces of our fans. We were able to see our fans from the stage. When we saw their smiles, the smiles on our faces naturally grew too. It was like looking at our own reflection in the mirror. Yuta: Me too, I really felt our fans sincere support all over again. Now after being able to share so much good time with the fans through this tour I only have good thoughts. Jungwoo: Honestly before the start of the tour I didn’t know how to do a good stage so I was only thinking about having to try my very best. But as it finished I felt like the way to becoming a real singer must be cool. I also really felt how precious standing on the stage in front of the fans is, I thought that I want to be with them forever. Jaehyun: I think that successfully finishing the tour really is thanks to the fans. When yesterday’s last concert ended I thought, we really created moments that feel like my heart is going to burst. And I thought that to be able to make these moments, the members, the staff and all of the fans had to all run together. It was like our bodies were charged with electricity, making it even more thrilling.

Yuta: It’s just that, there is a lot of fans in areas we couldn't go to so next time I want to go and meet them in these areas too. Johnny: Right. I was really happy when I was standing on the stage, I saw a lot of our fans who were just as happy, and when then last show ended I thought to myself. Even though I really enjoyed this tour, next time I’m gonna have to work my best so more people can empathise with it. I’ve made a promise with myself! Doyoung: On this tour, we also had risky performances with the use of the jungle gym, so from the moment we started practicing I thought I wanted us to do it with no injuries. Thanks to various people helping us we managed to finish it all smoothly and safely, so I’m also thankful for that. We’re having a world tour next, so I think we’ll be able to showcase cool performances there too because of that! (members clapping enthusiastically) Taeyong: And now it’s my turn. Until now we’ve gone to Japan so many times already, but because we’ve been going all around the country with this tour, Japan feels so big now. I kept feeling like I was in Japan for the first time all the throughout the whole tour. Like that it was a shining time for me. Also, I was very happy to find out there were so many people who wanted to see us, there were so many moments when my heart felt so overjoyed when I was standing on the stage. In the future we want to come to Japan more often, both as NCT 127 and individually!

Q. How did you spend the night prior to your last concert? Johnny: I drank some water, took a bath, had one cup of beer, had more water and went to sleep haha I thought it would help me to unwind. Taeil: I tried to go to bed as quickly as possible. But it ended up being the usual time………. Doyoung: I didn’t do anything special and spent it like I normally would. But there's one thing I need to say, I slept in a humidifying mask. Doing so protected my voice. Jaehyun: I watched a really short video of us on stage and went to sleep. Mark: The Saitama Super Arena was not only our last show but also lasted 3 days. To be honest when we completed the first 2 days I was feeling a bit bummed. So the night before the last one I went to sleep with the mindset of ‘I want the 3rd one to be without any regrets’. Haechan: Since I hurt my ankle I went for a foot bath before the concert. I was thinking ‘How should I do tomorrow’... And then went to sleep straight after. Normally I go to sleep late but weirdly enough I slept very early for the past 3 days. So I had enough sleep on the last night! Jungwoo: Nice……. I was super nervous before the last day. Since it was the last show I kept thinking about how I wanted it to be of high quality. So I kept telling myself ‘Let’s keep not making any mistakes and have maximum strength!’. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but I did take a warm shower and the next day I had an energy drink 2 hours before the show hehe Yuta: I took a bath, and while soaking in the water I was thinking a lot. This tour has started in Korea. A long time felt so short. I thought that during that time I was able to experience so many different things and so I have also grown as a person. The next day was our last we’d spend with fans in Japan, so I was also thinking about the ways we could express our feelings more.... So I was bathing while thinking about these things. Taeyong: The night prior to the last day me and Doyoung who I was rooming with talked a lot. As people who live together and will also grow together as members, we really talked about a lot of things. And then I took a bath with Yuta! Doyoung: Yes! We did talk a lot, didn’t we. It was a good time.

Q. Do you feel like you’ve grown on this tour, or maybe do you regret anything? Yuta: Until now we were able to show a lot of our performances on TV. So without even knowing I thought I should make something nice for our confidence. But at the bottom of my heart, I was like, I want to do something for our fans! When I saw the faces of our staff working hard behind the scenes for us to shine, I thought I have to try even harder so I can repay them! And in all honesty, I did work hard, but no matter how hard I work I think there will always be some regrets. But don’t we grow more when we regret something and think’ ‘Next time I’ll have to do it like this’? So for me, I don’t think having regrets is a bad thing. Doyoung: I thought, rather than how we did it at our first concert in Seoul, isn’t it better to take it easy in a good way? So with the mindset like ‘I look less nervous in front of the camera, I want to show a happy image or other various images!’ I relaxed a little. I’ve said that in interviews we’ve done while touring, but I wanted to improve the technical aspect so I could perform without thinking about anything. I wanted to be so lost in it so that I could not think about anything after it’s over, but it’s a little shame that I couldn’t do it till the very end. Jaehyun: The stage aspect when you perform over and over……. For example, what kind of performance different than ones we do on TV would be good, what kind of expression and gestures will be portrayed easily, I feel like I was really able to grow in terms of that. The regretful thing is that I started learning Japanese as we started touring, so I feel like I should’ve studied more. If I learned more I could have deeper conversations with our fans, so next time we meet I want to do better! Taeil: If I compare the first and the last shows on the tour I think I’ve gotten more relaxed. Rather than performing in a fixed way at the beginning of the tour, I wish I had fun like the fans and I were breathing together from start to finish. There was a lot of things I was unfamiliar with since it was the first tour, but sharing stories, talking, and performing with our fans elevated the ‘Let’s do it together!’ atmosphere, so I think I’ve grown in the communication with each other aspect. Sometimes I feel like ‘I’ve done well there’, sometimes it’s like ‘I should’ve done better”. I think it would be better if I could be satisfied with everything because I still lack a sense of security. Johnny: I think I’ve grown in a lot of aspects, but there are two things I want to talk about. First off, concentration. And once again I’ve broadened my view. When performing I wanted to look all around the venue to feel the concert atmosphere. I think I was able to do it through this tour. There’s a lot of minor things I regret. But I think there is no perfect stage. I might not see one for the rest of my life……. So in the future, I want to try my best to find our perfection. Doyoung: Johnny-hyung looked disappointed that he couldn’t flip his long hair like he did in <Wakey-Wakey> MV though? Johnny: Ah~! hahahahaha But there’s an actual reason for this! I didn’t want to surprise the fans on the first day of Saitama Arena shows, so I didn’t do it. So I thought of having long hair on the second day, but then I thought that I would also have to do it on the third day. But on the third day, we had a DVD shooting! So, in the end, I couldn’t do it at all hahaha Doyoung: Wouldn’t it be good if you did it from day one hahaha Mark: When I compare the first show in Seoul and the last show in Saitama, I think I’ve gained stamina to perform for 3 hours. But like Johnny and Yuta-hyung, if I started nitpicking single details from performances and think like ‘it would’ve been better like this’ it would be like this till the very end. Even though that’s the standard I look at details with, deep inside there was a lot of aspects when I was like ‘that’s a shame’. The point is that there’s no stage without even the slightest regret. Jungwoo: I’ve only joined NCT 127 late autumn last year. So I had less experience and had a lot different member choreography to memorise. For that reason, at first, I was anxious with thoughts like ‘I’m scared’, ‘Can I do it’, but when I got on stage I saw fans being happy and cheering for me. Thanks to this the weight was dropped off my shoulders and I was able to show you who I am. I feel like I’ve showcased really good stages in that regard and I think I’ll be able to do cool stages in the future too. Haechan: Anything you regret? Jungwoo: Ah~ There’s really a lot. I’m still unripe and like Mark said, if you start nitpicking on little things there’s no end to it. So out of all of these things, I think the most regretful is that I couldn’t look into the camera, it didn’t come out well. Haechan: I think I’ve grown in the aspect of ‘making a performance’. I was talking to the tour directors I was sharing my opinions like ‘Wouldn’t it be better if it’s done like this?’ and changed things bit by bit. Like this, I’ve learned ways to make things through communication with no doubts. And of course not being able to spend much time together with fans due to my injury is something I regret. Taeyong: I think this tour has taught me again that this is my job. Something I want to do and something I have to do in the future… And one more thing, I’ve learned how important it is to be thankful to people that surround you. Or maybe rather than being thankful, we should get to know people who support us. And I like the scenery in Japan so whenever I come here I always try to take some time off to go sightseeing. But because this time it was mad busy I couldn’t find any free time. Besides, I couldn’t eat as much as I wanted even if my body found it delicious hahaha So I want to go back to Korea with my restraints left behind with the tour ending today!

Translation: Alex @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: ViVi [ Kor ] — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

#NCT #NCT 127 #taeil #johnny #taeyong #yuta #doyoung #jaehyun #jungwoo #mark #haechan #t:trans #t:interview #vivi magazine

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quintessence-sentimentalist · 5 years ago

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quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week Four

Well, I’m a bit late and also exhausted, so not as much to say this time around. Still, Days 22-29!

Day 22 A wonderful pet

Oh, Dormouse/Mr. Huggles, for sure. Comics Dormouse was as iconic a symbol of Will as frogs or, hell, even the Heart. He was as adorable as he was troublesome, and he was just so precious with Will. His death still packs such a wallop that it’s outright unfair.

Mr. Huggles of the cartoon has a slightly better time of it, with the exception of literally being turned into a monster. I generally prefer comics Dormouse’s brown coat (and lack of name, I’ll admit) to Mr. Huggles’s white-gray, but I do think the color change works a bit better for animation. And while it’s a little... odd that they largely did away with Will’s close bond with him, at least they still kept him in his little family by having Matt take him in for good. Their relationship - a boy and his not-a-rat-he’s-a-dormouse - is reminiscent of another one from a certain other Disney teen hero cartoon around the same time, so that’s enjoyable to me. (And now I’m headcanoning Matt and Mr. Huggles meeting Ron and Rufus in a team-up of sidekicks to badass redheaded ladies and I really need this now.)

Day 23 A magical item

Is it too cliché to say the Heart of Kandrakar?

Really though, I absolutely love the design and concept of the Heart. Do its actual powers vary frustratingly from time to time and randomly do incredibly powerful things without any prior hint that it can? Sure. But the fact that such a pretty crystal packs that much of a punch is pretty darn cool.

Day 24 A group shot

I’m sure I could think of multiple from the comics, but hey, I’m just going to go with my header image, because I feel like I’m one of the only sources out there for it (somehow??) and honestly I love it too much because I feel like it should have been the season 3 promo art, with the way it has the girls looking super badass and surrounded by their allies.

Day 25 A minor character

For some reason I keep thinking of Principal Knickerbocker?? Her comic design is just really sticking out in my head for some reason.

But okay, I’m going to cheat on this one and go with pretty much the whole non-family/non-significant other supporting cast in Heatherfield (with the exception of Uriah and the gang). I just think they made a very... eclectic cast of background characters in the girls’ civilian lives that make for some fun and interesting moments outside of saving the world. There’s a running gag with how Mr. Horseberg and Coach O’Neill can’t stand each other (and literally come to blows over it), poor Bertold the custodian is Knickerbocker’s confidante/sidekick in running the show at Sheffield, and yes, I’m going to include Medina, McTiennan, and Sylla in this group because I enjoyed the concept of getting actual law enforcement involved in a magical girl series.

Day 26 A fantasy people/race/species

I think I’m going to go with the Banshees, partially for the reasons I discussed already in regards to Yua (beings that are supposedly super evil but frankly just want to be left alone in their bog home). I also find their design fascinating, as they all pretty much look the same and have the silhouettes of a beautiful woman, but get on their bad side and they’ll show you exactly how otherworldly and terrifying they can be.

Runner-up goes to the Basiliadians, because they’re so markedly diverse and I’d be fascinated by that worldbuilding.

Day 27 A personal headcanon

Oof, okay, let me think of something that I haven’t already blathered on about...

Hmm, well it’s not so much a headcanon as, like... a vindictive moment of satisfaction I’d love to see (and will maybe one day fic), but sometimes I like to entertain the concept of Will running into her old friends from Fadden Hills - who rejected her in the Year Before special - and just seeing them react to how much better her life is, having these friends who legitimately care about and love her and how she’s grown into this confident leader. I’ve been in pre-series Will’s place before, so this would be a cathartic thing for me, as well as a means to revisit prior canon.

Day 28 A personal memory

Oh dear, there are several of these that come to mind, some of which I’ve definitely mentioned before. But I guess I’ll choose one for the comics and one for the cartoon that I haven’t discussed previously.

I honestly just distinctly remember the wait for new issues - whether of the Philippines comics or the UK magazines - after my dad would order them on Ebay, since the US had largely stopped releasing any books or graphic novels by that point. I just remember being 13 and zoning out in history class because the package was supposed to come that afternoon (it oftentimes took a few more days) and I was so ready to binge-read when I got home.

As for the animated series, we didn’t get cable until near the very end of season 2, and the series had stopped running on network TV in early season 1, so I had to watch the majority of the series via YouTube. Mind you, YouTube had only been around for a year at this point and I think we had just switched over from dial-up, so most of my viewing happened at the kitchen table on my mom’s brick of a work laptop, having to rewind the low-quality recording every few seconds because it was buffering again, and then having to track down parts 2 and 3 of the episode because there wasn’t a capacity for more than 6-8 minutes of footage per upload. It was tedious, but the memories are somewhat fond.

And then some six years down the line, when I was a senior in high school, I would pop the DVDs I had into my computer and rewatch the series in the middle of the night after I finished studying, conveniently forgetting that I needed to be up for school about five hours later. I guess I just have memories of watching the series on a smaller screen.

Day 29 A word of thanks to any official W.i.t.c.h. artist(s)/writer(s)

I mean, you can’t have a W.i.t.c.h.versary without toasting to the minds behind our beloved girls: Elisabetta Gnone, Barbara Canepa, and Alessandro Barbucci. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving us these wonderful, truly magical heroines who have shaped my life in more ways than I can list. I’m a good 15 years into my adoration of this series, and I don’t see that train losing steam anytime soon.

Also, a nod to Greg Weisman and crew for season 2 of the animated series, which took the narrative in some intriguing directions that I still enjoy to this day.

#w.i.t.c.h.#30daysofwitchversary #30 days of witchversary #quintessence-sentimentalist rambles

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duhragonball · 6 years ago

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Dragon Ball Z Movie 1: Dead Zone

All right, it’s time or the first DBZ movie. Dead Zone premiered on July 15, 1989, right between epsiodes 11 and 12. It wasn’t actually called “Dead Zone”, and it’s title was simply “Dragon Ball Z” until the other movies came out, and then it was known in Japan as “Return my Gohan!” Personally, I think “Dead Zone” works better as a title although it doesn’t really come into play until the very end.

I ran into some trouble with this one, because I own all the DBZ movies on Blu-Ray, and it turns out that I can’t take screen captures of Blu-Ray movies on my computer. So my only other option was to log on to Funimation’s streaming service and get my images from there. But the video quality was pathetic, so I’ll apologize in advance for the crappy screenshots.

I’m not sure how I’ll proceed with the other films. I can’t use Funimation.com for all of them, because the Bardock special, the Broly movies, and Fusion Reborn were all taken off the site, probably because they’ve been playing them in theaters lately. I guess I could buy the DVD editions, but I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. Well, I’ll worry about that later.

We open on this shot of Piccolo screaming. Right away, you call tell this is going to be a great movie. Casablanca should have done this.

I’m not sure what Piccolo is up to here, but I guess he’s blowing up rock formations as part of his training to beat Goku someday.

Then he gets ambushed by three mysterious warriors, and they pretty much eat his lunch. A fourth one orders them to kill Piccolo.

Piccolo screams, and there’s an explosion, and the bad guys seem pretty confident that he’s dead. They also know that since Piccolo and Kami were once the same person, they’ve killed Kami along with Piccolo, which seems to have been the purpose of this attack.

Except Kami’s just fine. We see him on the Lookout, sitting in what looks like a confessional. He’s startled, but only because he can sense that Piccolo has been defeated. He suspects Goku, but then he realizes that it must have been... him.

From there, we move on to Goku’s house, where the Ox King just arrived to bring Gohan some presents. It’s very much like the first few episodes of DBZ, only this time Gohan is actually home when Ox shows up.

But then Ox King collapses, and Gohan has to run away before his grandpa can fall on him.

Turns out some bad guy coldcocked Ox King from behind, and now he wants the Dragon Ball on Gohan’s hat. Chi-Chi sends Gohan into the relative safety of the house...

...but this guy’s waiting inside, so that’s no good. Also he eats three pears, just because.

Chi-Chi squares up to fight these guys, but there’s three of them and one of her, and she has to keep an eye on Gohan too. There’s a lot of gifs out there of Chi-Chi’s desperate stance in this movie, because it’s just so well-animated. Everything in this movie is well-animated, really. It might not be the most innovative story, but the visuals more than make up for it.

Chi-Chi can’t even land a blow, as it turns out. The bad guys take Gohan and leave, and Goku’s out fishing. Somehow, he senses it when Chi-Chi falls, and he runs back to the house to see what’s wrong. Chi-Chi tells him that his son has been kidnapped by bad guys. The question now is: Is Goku a bad enough dude to rescue him? The answer is yes.

Then we cut to the bad guys’ lair. This shot looks amazing. I love the weird architecture of the castle, I love the salmon-colored sky and the yellow clouds, it’s just really pleasant to look at. I’d hang this up on my wall at home if I did that sort of thing.

The leader, named Garlic Junior, plans to use the Dragon Balls to wish for eternal life. With Gohan’s capture, they now have five of the Dragon Balls, and they seem pretty confident that they can locate the last two without much trouble. I’m curious as to how they can find them so easily, but this is never explained.

Also, I don’t understand why they kidnapped Gohan when all they wanted was the Dragon Ball on his hat. Gohan informs them that his father will come rescue him, and the bad guys seem mildly impressed to learn that Goku is his father. Garlic even recognizes Goku as the man who defeated Piccolo at the World Martial Arts tournament. On the other hand, they just got done beating Piccolo, and quite easily, so they figure they can handle Goku if he happens to show up.

Garlic senses that Gohan has a great power within him, and decides to raise him as his henchman. This right here turns out to be a huge mistake. Bringing Gohan here was a questionable move at best, but here we see Garlic decide to keep the kid, rather than kill him or send him back to his family. It just isn’t worth it. Yeah, Gohan might make a useful flunky, but does Garlic really need one? Probably not, but he’s too high on his own success to hedge his bets.

Meanwhile, Goku heads to Master Roshi’s place to get Bulma’s Dragon Radar. Not sure how he knew Bulma was at Roshi’s place, but whatever. Just like in the TV series, when Radditz kidnapped Gohan, Goku was able to track his son by the Dragon Ball on his hat. And this seems like a good time to discuss the continuity of this movie.

See, the original Dragon Ball movies sort of functioned as a retelling of Goku’s early adventures, with different characters and plot elements tossed in. It was readily apparent that they didn’t fit into the continuity of the TV anime or the manga, because they literally retold key moments, like Goku meeting Bulma for the first time, or Krilln meeting Master Roshi, or Tao Pai Pai’s murder of Bora. But the circumstances were changed, so it was clear that those movie moments didn’t fit in with the original story. The DBZ movies, on the other hand, sort of operate as side-stories to the manga and anime, ecxcept that there’s usually one or two plot holes that keep them from fitting into the mythos.

In this case, the big problem is that Bulma, Roshi, and Krillin are helping Goku find his lost son, but they didn’t find out Goku even had a son until Episode 2 of DBZ, which ends with Radditz kidnapping the boy. If not for this scene right here, you could make an argument that this movie works as a prequel to DBZ, and Gohan got kidnapped by a different supervillain right before Raditz showed up.

So why not say that it’s set after the battle with Raditz? Because Goku dies in that battle, and by the time he comes back, Piccolo is dead. By the time Piccolo returns to life, they’re all on Planet Namek. You won’t see all of these characters reunited on Earth until Episode 121. By that time, Goku’s a Super Saiyan, and Gohan is a few years older, and far more capable than the timid little boy we see in this movie.

Still, it’s a pretty subtle plot hole, which I think is why some fans cling to the idea that the movies are canon somehow. It doesn’t help that Toei did a whole filler arc in the anime, where Garlic Junior returns and references the events of the movie, but it just doesn’t make sense.

Back at Garlic’s castle, he’s sent two of his minions to gather the last two Dragon Balls, while the third has to look after Gohan. He doesn’t care much for this, and he stops to take a break by eating fruit from a tree in the courtyard...

... But Gohan has the same idea.

Turns out this is special fruit that gets you drunk.

Gohan has a whole hallucination, complete with a musical theme.

Somehow he wanders into Garlic’s oversized novelty cuckoo clock.

And then he sleeps it off on Garlic’s throne. Garlic seems to consider all of this as a sign that Gohan is no ordinary child, so maybe a normal kid would just pass out or die if they ate that fruit.

Doesn’t matter, because it’s wish time. Garlic gets all seven balls, and he asks the Dragon to make him immortal, and it works! Goku’s still on his way when this happens. It’s kind of surreal to see a bad guy pull something like this off without a hitch. Even King Piccolo had to fight a few people first.

The actual process of making Garlic Junior immortal seems to involve some sort of energy transfer. It even looks a little uncomfortable, but Garlic is sure that it worked.

then we get this whole scene of demons rising up from the ground and marching off to war. I’m not sure if this is actually happening while Garlic is becoming immortal, or if he’s just imagining what he’s going to do now that no one can stop him.

Goku arrives soon after, demanding the release of his son, and then Kami shows up, all glowing yellow like he’s a big shot. Garlic is shocked to see Kami, since he assumed he was already dead, but Goku is just annoyed that Kami is butting into his rescue mission. This scene makes a lot more sense when you’ve seen Kami and Goku quibble over the fight with Piccolo in the original Dragon Ball.

From there, Kami starts explaining just who Garlic Junior is. Turns out that Garlic Senior was Kami’s rival for the job of Guardian of the Earth. The previous Kami recognized the evil ambitions in Garlic, Sr.’s heart, so he picked the guy we now know as Kami. Garlic, Sr. was a sore loser about this, so he rebelled against Kami, only to be defeated. According to Kami, Garlic Senior’s last words were that he would take his revenge 300 years later.

Kami finds it tragic that Garlic would be so evil as to put his own son in charge of his vengeance, but that’s where things stand. So let’s talk about this for a bit.

I guess this is one of the things that makes this one of my favorites. The previous films really didn’t add anything to the lore or advance the story. Mystical Adventure was pretty good and fun, but it basically rehashed the same ideas that were already established in the TV series. My favorite part of that movie was the Mifan Empire, but it can’t exist outside of that movie, because there’s no Chiaotzu or Crane Hermit to run the place. On the other hand, the villain in Dead Zone has ties to Kami, which means that we can learn some things about Kami that maybe fit into the canon as well? Like, this movie isn’t canon, but Kami is, so maybe he really did have to compete with a guy named Garlic to get the job 300 years ago?

Anyway, Garlic Junior seems to be an amalgam of several Dragon Ball villains. He looks a lot like Emperor Pilaf, to the point where Funimation cast Chuck Huber to play both roles. Garlic always struck me as an attempt to make an Emperor Pilaf who could really cause trouble. Beyond that, Garlic also resembles King Piccolo because of his wish on the Dragon Balls and his plan to conquer the world, and he resembles Piccolo Junior, in the sense that he’s been tasked to avenge the defeat of his wicked father. I don’t know if the Garlics have the same relationship as the Piccolos, where the son is essentially a duplicate of the father, but it could be like that. Garlic also resembles Raditz by kidnapping Gohan and using similar moves to battle Goku and Piccolo later, and finally, he resembles Vegeta in his desire to wish for immortality. Put all of this together, and you end up with a pretty compelling movie boss.

At his core, though, I think Garlic is sort of meant to be an evil version of Kami. Garlic Senior failed to impress the previous Kami, so he went full-on evil. The current Kami, on the other hand, succeeded because he purged himself of his wickedness, although he created Piccolo in the process. The implication here is that it was kind of a no-win situation. The previous Kami had to choose between two inadequate applicants. One became a villain and the other created a villain. Even when Garlic Senior was defeated, his son was left behind to carry on his vendetta.

The story raises more questions than answers, though. What was Garlic Junior doing for 300 years? Training, I guess, but it never gets explained. The Garlic Junior Saga will later establish that he and his father are aliens from the planet Makyo, so how does that all fit into this? Was Garlic Senior always a bad guy, or was he truly sincere in his desire to become Kami until he was turned down for the job? Where are the Spice Boys in all of this?

Anyway, Goku doesn’t care about any of this. He’s just here for his son, and for some reason Garlic’s minions actually bother to stop him. They introduce themselves as Ginger...

...Sansho...

... And Nikki.

Then they puff up their bodies to get stronger and faster.

The three of them give Goku a little trouble, but then Krillin and Piccolo show up and the odds are now even. I guess Krillin followed Goku here from Roshi’s place, while Piccolo survived the ambush from the start of the movie, and now he’s here for revenge.

Turns out that Garic’s henchmen aren’t so tough when they can’t gang up on someone. Piccolo crushes Sansho like it’s not even hard.

Meanwhile, Kami and Garlic fight. This is kind of a big deal, because we never get to see Kami in action in the anime, even though he was supposed to be a very powerful character in the Piccolo sagas. But this is DBZ, so he’s helpless against as DBZ villain like Garlic.

But Kami still has some power to spare.

Meanwhile, Goku fights Nikki and Ginger at the same time, and while they give him a little trouble, he wins pretty handily. This movie also marks one of the few times we see Goku use his Nyoibo as an adult. I feel like DBZ never quite figured out what happened to the Nyoibo after Goku came down from Kami’s Lookout, but he’s got it in this movie, and he needs it, because Nikki and Ginger can pull swords out of their bodies.

This movie also marks the first time Goku actually kills a villain with a Kamehameha. In the past he either misses or the bad guy survives somehow, but here he aims at Ginger, hits him, and then hits Nikki with the same blast. That’s one of the nice things about the movies. They’re very short and self-contained, so there isn’t time for plot twists like “The big finishing move didn’t work!” or “Goku lost! What do we do now?” If Goku loses in a movie he just has to get up and try again, or hope the bad guy is feeling merciful.

Kami is clearly overmatched against Garlic, so he tries to blow himself up to kill Garlic in the process. Trouble is, Garlic’s immortal, so that trick wouldn’t work.

Fortunately, Goku and Piccolo want a piece of Garlic Junior, so Kami can sit this one out. Garlic actually wonders why either of these dudes would come to Kami’s aid. Isn’t it obvious? Garlic kidnapped Goku’s son, and he ambushed Piccolo, so now they want revenge. I mean, on top of that, Garlic’s plans for the Earth would make things tough for their own lives, but there’s plenty of reasons for them to want to beat him up.

So Garlic transforms into the big beefy guy we saw in shadow a the start of the movie. I guess this makes him the first Dragon Ball character to transform? Well, Goku and Gohan turned into giant apes, but still, this is kind of a big deal.

Like I was saying, Garlic sort of resembles Raditz here, in that he managed to get Goku and Piccolo to team up against him. He even uses the same opening move as Raditz, rushing towards them, vanishing, and then hitting them in the back with his elbows at the same time.

So where’s Krillin in all of this? Goku tasked him with looking after Gohan, but when the fight started, Krillin got clobbered by a falling pillar and dropped the kid.

Outside, Goku and Piccolo shed their weighted training clothes, just as they did against Raditz. Goku again expresses surprise that Piccolo even uses weighted training clothes, so once again, this episode just doesn’t fit in continuity. They could have teamed up to fight Garlic and Raditz, but Goku can only find out about Piccolo’s weighted clothes once.

Anyway, shedding the wieghted clothes seems to do the trick pretty well, so I guess that means Garlic Junior isn’t quite as tough as Raditz.

For some reason, they decide Garlic is beaten, so they move on to settling their own rivalry. Did everyone just forget that he’s immortal?

Garlic Junior sure didn’t, since he’s back on his feet. But instead of fighting again, he takes a different approach.

Here’s a great shot of the castle, by the way.

Then this black hole looking thing opens up in the sky and starts sucking everything into it.

Piccolo almost gets drawn in, but Goku manages to save him, which is pretty awesome.

I always thought “Dead Zone” was a dub-ism, but no, that’s what Garlic himself calls it in the original script. He even says “Dead Zone” in English. What is a dub-ism (I think) is that his father, Garlic Senior, was banished into the Dead Zone 300 years ago. Of course, any living thing that gets trapped in the Dead Zone gets killed eventually, so we might as well call that an execution, but the Japanese dub never mentions this when discussing Senior’s fate.

It would be kind of ironic, though, because Kami doesn’t have anything to do with the power of opening portals to the Dead Zone. Garlic Junior can do it (obviously), so if Senior got stuck in the Dead Zone, then that sort of implies that he put himself there accidentally, just like Junior is about to... well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Turns out Gohan’s awake now, and he’s mad.

I mean really mad!

Garlic isn’t entirely surprised to see that Gohan can resist the suction of the Dead Zone, but he doesn’t seem to think Gohan can stop him either. He prepares to attack him with all of his power...

But Gohan fires an energy blast that knocks Garlic off his feet, and sends him into the Dead Zone instead.

Garlic proclaims that this won’t kill him, but I don’t know if he’s relieved or terrified by that prospect.

Now that the moment has passed, Gohan just sort of passes out.

And without Garlic to maintain the portal, the effect wears off.

And then the sky fractures? I don’t know what this is supposed to mean. I thought the yellow and red color scheme just meant that it was sunset at Garlic’s fortress...

But now it’s a clear blue mid-day sky. So I guess it was Garlic Junior’s doing? Anyway, Kami remarks that he’s trapped forever in the Dead Zone, without even death to relieve his suffering in that place.

Ironically, Gohan thinks it was Goku who saved him, when it was actually the other way around.

Piccolo watches the others leave, and promises to deal with Goku another day.

And then we find the shards of the orange sky on the bottom of the sea, and Garlic is inside one of them, desperately trying to get out.

So yeah, this is one of my personal faves from the movies. I dig the idea of a bad guy actually wishing for immortality, only to have it backfire on him so spectacularly. It fits in nicely with the whole theme of greed in this story. Garlic didn’t need to attack Piccolo or kidnap Gohan to further his plan, but he did it anyway because he saw no downside to it, and it all came back to haunt him. Goku and Piccolo almost lost when they got too wrapped up in their own grudge, but they managed to get back on track before it got out of hand.

Also, this movie is just a visual feast. Even simple things like Nikki eating pears or Chi-Chi tossing her apron aside are really beautifully done.

It’s a little light on characters, but after Mystical Adventure, I’d say that was a good move. Yeah, it would have been nice to have more of the gang in this movie, but they would have slowed the story down. Honestly, they could have left Krillin out of the mix and it wouldn’t have hurt anything.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #dead zone #goku #piccolo #gohan #krillin #kami #garlic junior #nikki #ginger #sansho #shenron #garlic senior #master roshi #bulma #ox king #chi chi #dbmovieliveblog

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mcfrey · 6 years ago

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something I wrote about BigHit on my phone at 2am to try and organise my thoughts that nobody asked for or has to agree with, but I just thought some people might find interesting to think about (it seems over dramatic with the layout but I swear that's just how I punctuate stuff in my phone sorry)

it finally happened

and by that I mean I'm gonna talk about something that's been bugging me

SO ANYWAYS

yeah

it's bighit

I felt it with answer not having all the songs on. they only left 2 songs and skits off of HYYH so like... to leave what was it like 6 songs off of answer?

sea, pied piper, paradise, love maze, 134340

okay that's the only 5 I could think of but it still applies

and it's like they chose those ones so that people have to buy all 3

I know I'm biased because those were literally my favourite ones and im still salty but

it feels like they chose to put in the ones with American producers and writers over prioritising fan favourites?

bighit

WYD

then came

burn the stage the movie

which didnt really bug me

lowkey just made me really happy but also really sad

although to have a YouTube series and a movie??? like I get that it costs a lot to make but if felt a bit weird

I got over it once I saw it though

but I still feel like their money making is hardly subtle

someone mentioned how bighit effectively make money off of overworking the boys through things like burn the stage and that's the upsetting truth. it raises awareness for what they do, but then they'll just have more fans so there will be more pressure and it will just get worse

okay wait part 2 should have been bon voyage

like yeah it's cute but breaks that are semi scripted with cameras in your bedroom shouldn't be classed as breaks

and then we watch it

we purchase it

it works

so they do it again

sometimes you get things which are meaningful out of those videos like when they were on the boat

or when they read letters on run

but are they actually meaningful? probably, but not compared to what happens off camera because

that's all we see

we dont know what goes on the rest of the time

how many actually genuinely meaningful moments there have or havent been

it's hardly news that we're not really a part of bts' story as individuals. not truly. so why fake it? why not embrace what it is?

next we have LY in Seoul screenings

kind of chill because not everyone gets to see the tour, plus even if there was a DVD it would be region locked

and it's just a nice chance to see them on a bigger screen and meet other armies so I cant really complain. nobody's making me go and for some people it's a really good thing.

but also kind of not chill because renting it on YouTube would be like 3£ and a cinema ticket is like 15£

*edit: and to do it when the tour is still going on feels strange to me? someone pointed out that some people couldn't go because it spoils it

and bighit push all this stuff about the boys overworking which we already know and feel guilty about but then they overlap this with their schedule when it makes so much more sense to promote and release this at a time when they're either on a break or working in the shadows so that we can get prerecorded content whilst they're resting*

bt21

cute and wholesome, but the collaborations with everything?

wait, this can apply to just bts themselves too

here's the thing, bighit, you may profit a lot from all these things but at the end of the day it's the partner who wins because people buy things they never wouldve thought to buy before bts' face was on it because that's just how consumerism works. bts are under your contract and by accepting every single deal presented to you one could argue that you are in fact damaging their image by contradicting the message of their music. we know that the members arent sincere in their promoting without even having to ask them. there is nothing spiteful about it. the members arent in the wrong or trying to deceive us. they're just doing their jobs. the problem is that people support bts because of their music, lyrics, and speeches which are all, just to name a few, anti capitalist, anti consumerist, and anti racist, and you make money off of them because they show those traits, and it's because it's all clearly sincere.

but you also make money off of them through their advertising campaigns with luxury products, fast fashion designs, and uninclusive makeup lines.

you cannot show two sides of BTS to the world without making one of them emotionally worthless.

and if I were you, I would not for a second risk losing the quality and sincerity of the message in bts' music that got you where you are today.

what makes it hurt more is that bts are still so passionate.

they make songs and remixes in their own time.

why arent they incorporated into the discography? why is the discography simultaneously over saturated and lacking? rushed yet milked?

their performances are still so strong, but they collapse at the end

is it really worth it in your eyes? why cant they simply perform less and better? is their hardworking image being abused for further popularity, exhibiting their sleep deprivation like its part of what attracts people to them?

and this stadium tour

now this is different

because it's not bad at the moment, just confusing

what I think it means is that bighit wasnt brave enough to try for stadiums the first time, then realised their mistake when every arena sold out in minutes or even seconds?

or worse, he knew they would sell out and wanted them to so that the show could be labelled as Sold Out

which is fair enough, and clever

but it's also really not

like there are hundreds of thousands of people missing out on the tour who want to give you their money but the venues were too small or there were too few dates

or you avoided their state, country or continent altogether

and now you could argue you're fixing that by going back with a larger capacity and giving them a chance but why with 9 days notice?

look I get that nothing can be perfect but this has just been piling up recently and I think it's the deals and tours that bothered me most

dont get me wrong, I'm much madder at the way *edit: i put a company name here* capitalizes and could probably be even more mad if I actually learnt about it rather than just using instinct (get it it's funny)

and I'm even more mad at *edit: I put a different company name here* for their poor management and neglect of what people actually want

but bighit really have bts

The BTS

and that gives them so many choices

yet they seem to make some really irrational ones

and now its 2:39am

and we'll end it on that beautiful negative note

*edit: please dont hesitate to let me know what you think about this or if you think it's just going to stir up something and I should take it down

and thanks for sitting through this whole thing*

#bts #bighit #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan boys #bighit entertainment #bts love yourself #speak yourself #love yourself

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pattonpatton7-blog · 6 years ago

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paulsmith425-blog · 6 years ago

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Its Okay Quotes and Sayings and it will be Okay Quotes

I may not know you actually, but rather I needed to connect over the web and to certifiably hold your hand and let you realize it will approve of a major rundown of reasons why. A rundown of reasons why the world doesn't suck despite the fact that things feel extremely hard at the present time. A rundown of suggestions to enable you to review your very own inward quality and versatility. A rundown of statements and insights and reflections on how and why you'll likely get past this time.

“I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” ― J. K. Rowling

Because there are families out there raising and championing kind, compassionate, loving, respectful little boys.

Because I wrote you a pep talk for those times when you’re struggling.

“Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” ― David Richo

Because there are families out there who are consciously allowing and deliberately supporting their child’s own natural gender and sexual identity to emerge of their own accord. How incredibly beautiful and powerful is that?

Its Okay Quotes Sayings

You are resilient. Perhaps more so than you know. And you can do really, really hard things.

“People are like stained – glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.

Because while you may not know what the future holds, I trust you have the skills and capacity to meet it and to navigate it. However it unfolds. “One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.

Because, if the average person lives 27,375 days and this one happens to be a particularly bad one for you, remember not all of the other days lived so far felt this bad and remember that not all of your remaining days will likely feel this bad. It’s just one of many days in your life, even if it sucks right now.

“Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.” ― Fred Rogers

No matter how hard things seem right now, you always have some degree of choice and free will, somewhere, somehow, even it’s “just” in how you choose to think about a situation.

“I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as well. If you don’t need the medication, I will love you, too. There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert

If you’re feeling scared and fearful because you’re experiencing or anticipating a loss and it’s bringing up your childhood fears around scarcity, grief, and loneliness, look around you and find reasons why you’re actually more secure than you feel. Just because past feelings are present does not mean the situation is real.

Okay Images

Because there are great and effective tools you can use to help manage your feelings.

Because, the smell of fresh baked bread.

Because there are enormously talented writers out there like J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and others who have created whole worlds and universes for us to “escape” into if we need a little break from this one.

Because no feeling lasts forever. Even if it feels like it might always feel this way, it won’t. It’s impossible for it to because change is inevitable for all of us.

When it feels like you’re the last of your college girlfriends to get engaged/get married/have a baby/buy a house and you feel sad and very alone, just remember… Adulting’s not easy. And humaning can be hard.

“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” ― Fred Rogers

Its all Okay Quotes

I mean, because of things like this video.

Because the world is filled with talented ASMR artists who are creating content to help soothe and support you.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ― Maya Angelou

Because even while it feels like the world (or your world) is ending, if you look around and notice the ground safely underneath your feet, the walls holding up the ceiling, your lungs breathing in and out, you have proof that it isn’t. Proof that you are safe.

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell

When you have gone through tough times in the past you got through them, didn’t you? You developed resources and skills or had gifts and opportunities brought to you at the time you needed them, right? Here’s your proof that this may happen again while you’re going through a hard time.

“It’s good to do uncomfortable things. It’s weight training for life.” ― Anne Lamott

You have (at least) one person in your life you could likely turn to if you needed to. A friend. A parent. Your therapist. Your neighbor. Your doctor.

“We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.” ― Brené Brown

If you’re feeling uncomfortable and scared because you’re stretching yourself and doing something you’ve never done before, know that this is totally normal and natural! It’s normal and natural to feel emotionally and physically uncomfortable when you up level and do new tasks or act from new ways of being. Your discomfort may not last and it may not be a sign that this is the wrong step.

“I think one of the keys to happiness is accepting that I am never going to be perfectly happy. Life is uncomfortable. So I might as well get busy loving the people around me. I’m going to stop trying so hard to decide whether they are the “right people” for me and just take deep breaths and love my neighbors. I’m going to take care of my friends. I’m going to find peace in the ’burbs. I’m going to quit chasing happiness long enough to notice it smiling right at me.” ― Glennon Doyle

Because of the sweet, milky smell of little babies…

It will be Okay Quotes

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Right now, somewhere in the world, spiritual leaders are praying for you, meditating for you, crafting their work in the world for you.

“It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools – friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty – and said ‘do the best you can with these, they will have to do’. And mostly, against all odds, they do.” ― Anne Lamott

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You guys, there are libraries. Air-conditioned places where we can go to LEARN and to escape and to grow. Where you can find computers and free internet, audio books, dvd’s and thousands upon thousands of worlds waiting for you to explore them.

Because of everyday warriors like Senator Elizabeth Warren who are standing up for us and fighting the good fight.

“This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change: you won’t feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most. I believe you can’t feel real joy unless you’ve felt heartache. You can’t have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can’t know what it’s like to feel holy until you know what it’s like to feel really fucking evil. And you can’t be birthed again until you’ve died.” ― Kelly Cutrone

While you cannot go back and change the past, the reality is that you now have choice about what you want to do moving forward. So get clear on what you want now, and do everything you can to go after it.

Because, giggling children, crazy cats, and lists of what’s going right in the world.

You may not understand what’s happening right now, but I invite you to TRUST THE PROCESS.

It may be that your soul needs to be going through this right now for a divine reason that’s just not known to you right now.

#Okay Quotes #Its Okay Quotes #It will be Okay Quotes #Okay Images #Its Okay Quotes Sayings #Its all Okay Quotes

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