#more than 250 pages about the making of this movie

[lorephobic]

my best friend got me the oppie fyc coffee table book and it’s literally one of the coolest things i own now

[chainsawcorazon]

January 8th - 14th, 2024

Monday, January 8th - Sins of the Family // Isolation

Tuesday, January 9th - Prophecies // Deadly Devotion

Wednesday, January 10th - Superman Cults // Possession

Thursday, January 11th - The Forgotten One // A Hole in the World

Friday, January 12th - A Parent Knows Best // Eldritch Horror

Saturday, January 13th - It Takes a Village // Inheritance

Sunday, January 14th - Mistakes Were Made // Horror Movie AU

Purpose?

Not enough horror-themed fanworks in the world about the Superfam. Got jealous of the Batfandom having all these horror-themed events and projects, so I decided to host one for the Superfam.

Why should we participate in this?

Because you like seeing the soupeyfam in ever-increasingly fucked up situations that elicit a deeply-rooted, ancient dread :3

So how does it work?

The release date for fanworks is from Monday, the 8th of January through Sunday, the 14th of January, 2024. 

This aint a Halloween-themed event! You have well over three months to write, draw, and create fanworks. However, use the spooky season to help generate some ideas and propel you forward! :3

This an opportunity for people who’d like to explore the Superfamily characters, dynamics, and relationships through a variety of prompts. Although romantic ships are nice, please make sure the Superfam are the focus of your fanwork.

Superfamily characters include, but are not limited to:

Clark Kent

Lois Lane

Kara Zor El

Jonathan and Martha Kent

Jon Kent

Osul Ra and Otho Ra

John Henry Irons

Natasha Irons

Kon El/Conner Kent

Chris Kent/Lor Zod

Karen Starr

Kong Kenan

Superfamily characters of ANY comic book universe are acceptable. If you want to spend the entire fanweek exploring Ultraman and Injustice!Superman because you love drama, then be my guest! If you want Ultraman to kidnap Lois this time instead of Jon, go for it!! Let that imagination run WILD!!!

Darkfic, horrorfic, genre-specific work, and other both safe and not-safe-for-tunglr dot hell tropes are welcome. Just make sure that you post any Mature content on a landing page that doesn't restrict Mature content (like AO3). I don’t want anyone getting their blog banned. We cannot defeat our capitalist overlords, but we can definitely work around them.

This fanweek will not have a dedicated blog. These prompts are free for anyone to use. Because it is a non-traditional, non-monetized, and free-to-opt-in casual event, there will be no mods but moi, no advertising of paid services, and no ratings or participant restrictions. I will open a collection on AO3 in January for anyone who wants their work collated for this event.

In order to ensure that both creators and the audience are making informed decisions about what they engage with, all creators are encouraged to include triggers, ships, and any other squick warnings. 

Please utilize the read-more function for fanworks that are longer than 250 words. We're tryna read yer stories, not get spammed with a wall of text. Please Be Courteous.

And last but not least - if you are engaging with any of the fanworks, reblog, reblog, reblog! Share the work with your followers. Send all the love to the creators for crafting their masterpieces!!

What can I contribute?

Fanart (standalones, comic strips, etc.), fanfiction (one-shots, multichapter, etc.), fanmixes, gifsets, graphics, meme collections, fanvids, whatever your heart desires! Go wild!!!

Can I create/write not-safe-for-tunglr dot hell content?

Yes!!! All creators are encouraged to include triggers warnings, sub-genre specifications, ships, and other warnings in their posts. I will not discourage you from writing your 16k Kara-goes-evil fic, but please... Be Courteous and tag your fanworks appropriately so people can make an informed decision on what they're comfortable with viewing.

What does (X) prompt mean?

Each day has two prompts!! You can either pick a prompt OR you can combine prompts in different ways. Let your imagination take you where you want to go with each prompt!! If you want to explore both in the same fanwork, then be my guest!!

Mainstream Canon, Elsewords, and AU content is acceptable! Just make sure to stay within the comicsverse. Creativity is key! Have fun!!!

Can I crackship/multiship/harem/OT3/polyam the characters?

Absolutely!!! Just please remember that this is the Soupeyfam horror week, not the Lois-Has-A-Harem-of-Elseworlds-Supermen week. We love ships and things, but this week is about the Superfamily. The characters can have their lovers, but their personal romantic dalliances shouldn't overtake the Soupeyfam dynamics (unless you're pulling a Cersei and Jaime, lmao, if that's the case, go wild).

Does this have a tag?

During release week, use the general “superfam” tag to share your work with the wider Superfam fandom on tunglr. You can use whatever other tags you fancy. The best way to share, however, is to directly @ me so that I may reblog it.

I didn’t read a damn thing before this, Ava.

TL;DR: Over three months until the fanweek!!! For all fanwork creators out there, now’s the time to start thinking about what prompts you want to utilize for your creations. There are no creative restrictions, but I do ask that you follow these posting tips:

All fanfiction should be under a read-more.  

Not-safe-for-tunglr fanwork should be LINKED to whatever landing site the content is being hosted on (Twitter, AO3, etc). This includes both fanfiction and fanart. I don’t want your blog getting flagged bc tunglr hates gay people.

Provide content warnings for all triggers, squicks, and sub-genres. Unfortunately, in my ten odd years away from DC Comics, the fandom's seen a resurgence in puritanical behavior and tons of censorship and self-censorship. Please list content warnings on your work but do not be discouraged in sharing your work. If a fancop gets on your ass, block them. Please block as MANY as you can. They're like pests, they're always gonna be there, but their influence can be diminished by staunch blocking and reporting.

You can participate as much as you want!! Maybe you only wanna create for one day? Cool! Maybe you’re an overachieving corporate clown insomniac like myself, and wanna create for every day of the week? Go for it!!! 

The most important thing is to have fun :)

Truth be told, this event is entirely selfish. I personally love to the horror genre, and would love to see the characters in the Superfamily get more canon content as seen through beloved horror tropes. Unfortunately, Status Quo often gets in the way, and the current fanworks are largely ambivalent to the Dreadful and Despairing. If you'd like to join me in creating deliciously dark fiction featuring our favorite DC clan, please do! I would love to read your 10k character study of Otho and Osul assimilating into human society after spending their formative years as slaves in Warworld.

We’re over three months away from release week, so take your time, look through the prompts, and get your creative juices flowing! I will be sending out reminders until the go-live date.

For the people who showed interest during the initial interest check, I hope you're able to participate. To the four people who hate me, your mom's a hoe. Thank you.

[homestuckreplay]

Here's How GG Can Still Win

(page 637-650)

9/14/2009 Wheel Spin: Movie Reference Verdict: John’s Life Might Be Too Weird For Movies

9/15/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: being scared and terrified D:

John’s hammer, despite being sick as hell, turns out to be dangerous for him too. This is poetic, given the number of injuries he sustained from the pogo ride as a child, that he’s now finding newer and better ways to injure himself with it. Rose’s sweet catch is really good – and I’m always impressed at her 20-dexterity video game reflexes snatching Dad’s PDA from the air and sliding John’s bed beneath him just in time to avoid injury – but in this case, her move also stops John from falling through the hole into Dad’s room. Is this a coincidence, or is she still focused on stopping him from getting in there?

The Big Imp has entered the house, but is too big for the rooms inside. It’s going to cause serious destruction just by moving around if John can’t kill him soon – and John’s reached a high enough level that a second one is following close behind. It makes me wonder if the Big Imp will drop different, stronger types of grist that can be used to reinforce the house against mundane physical damage. Server player is definitely a full time job despite what Rose says about being ‘just a facilitator,’ and when Rose does enter the game and has to divide her time between server and client goals, this game is going to get even harder.

The visuals of page 641 don’t quite work for me, as the top two pictures overlap each other, and it’s hard to make sense of where the overlap begins - I turned it into a single image to get a better view (comparison below). I think this page would have worked much better as three sequential pages. The following page does this much better – despite the white space between panels, each starts where the previous ended, and it comes together in a visually pleasing way. I mention this because the problem will only compound as the scale of John’s house continues to increase, and the necessary aspect ratio continues to change. There are rare examples, such as pages 376, 484 and 494 where slightly taller images are used, and there are also animated and [S] pages, such as 246 and 250, where we are able to zoom out or pan up or down to see the world on a bigger scale. We haven’t seen it yet, but there could also be interactive panels, where we can use arrow keys or zoom buttons within a panel to see different parts of John’s house ourselves, while sticking with the standard panel dimensions – like having access to a ‘view only’ version of Rose’s server controls.

‘TT: In a way, thieving you of your free will as an adventurer, and the need to advance by your own skill and ingenuity.’ (p.643) I think it is deeply arguable how much free will John has as an adventurer or player, and I hope that the explicit mention of free will means it will be discussed in more depth later. The mechanic does make sense, though. If Rose could just pick up the bed and click and drag John to the first gate, that’d be a huge exploit in the game. Despite being in beta testing, we haven’t really seen any bugs in Sburb so far – it’s extremely well made and tightly programmed, arguably more so than most AAA game releases.

I thought Sburb would operate on video game logic where player characters don’t need to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, brush their teeth, or do other human things to sustain themselves, so long as their gel is viscose enough. So, what does it mean for John to sleep within Sburb? Is sleep still necessary for human survival, is it unnecessary but simply nice to take a nap, or is it something that could provide game benefits – such as minigames that can be played while asleep to gain extra resources, faster/automatic recovery of gel, or saving the game state to potentially return to that point later?

Also, the new sleepy John song is very windchimey to me, reminding me of Windchime Foley from page 82.

‘if you obtain the code for any item at your disposal, you think you could theoretically send the code to John and he could make it himself.’ The Sburb server disc didn’t work out, but Rose’s instincts are good. I wonder if there are any other items in Rose’s house that could help John out. Such as, I don’t know, whatever she’s got hidden in that purple box on p.218. A Grimoire for Summoning the Zoologically Dubious could be helpful too, as could a 20-foot tall granite statue of the mighty wizard, ZAZZERPAN THE LEARNED. This sadly makes me realize that Sburb alchemy is restricted to items that are small enough to captchalogue.

It’s certainly interesting that the Sburb server CD doesn’t have a captcha code – this must be intentional on the part of the developers. The relationship between the captchalogue system and Sburb as a game is really interesting to me. It makes sense that certain items just can’t be alchemized because they’d break the game, and these items wouldn’t need codes. We know that the Medium, where John is, exists outside of time – how possible is it that the sylladex system is also created by Skaia’s power (as it transcends those same digital-physical boundaries) and was always created to be a companion piece to Sburb? Or alternatively, did the sylladex system exist previously but without the codes on the backs of cards, and Sburb has somehow exploited that existing system to place those codes only on cards that will then be used in alchemy?

The forest fire is approaching Rose’s mausoleum much faster, and now the generator has gone out. It either hasn’t recharged the laptop’s battery at all, or its shutting down has caused the laptop to shortcircuit, as Rose’s laptop immediately goes dark. This is certainly much more dramatic than switching back to battery power. I asked a few weeks ago for the tension with Rose’s situation to ramp up so Act 2’s pace can accelerate, and I think we’ve officially hit that point – which I’m really excited about.

Rose’s main focus is on saving herself. This makes sense on two levels – she’s scared and entering self preservation mode, and it’s also necessary on a practical level, because John can’t progress in the game if his server player dies. I see Rose as someone who likes to be independent and self-reliant, and it must be hard for her to have to depend on someone else to get out of this situation. In this way, she’s the opposite to John, who wanted Rose’s help but was left without it when her laptop died – I love the storytelling here, it’s a great beginning of both their character development to challenge them and put them out of their comfort zones like this.

So, who will be Rose’s server player? Dave seemed likely, but he’ll almost certainly have to escape Bro’s rooftop saw traps before he can get the discs, and I don’t think Rose can wait that long. John seemed possible, but Rose’s plan to send him the disc code failed, and I highly doubt he’ll locate his dad’s car and the original disc any time soon. That means the only person left is our good friend gardenGnostic, who also happened to be the person who originally tipped Rose off about Sburb. This would be poetic, going from the snow to fire, from talk of a dead cat to sitting beside its corpse, from the birthday gift of an important tip to the ultimate gift of saving Rose’s life.

I think Homestuck will throw a curveball and suddenly introduce GG at Rose’s moment of greatest need, just as Rose was introduced at John’s. So far our characters have been introduced in early act 1, late act 1, and early act 2 – so if act 2 is heading towards endgame, which I think it is, this is the moment to finally reveal GG. They’ll need to happen across a server disc somewhere, so whatever the source of their prophetic gifts is could kick in to reveal its location. Alternatively, GG has said that ‘mail takes a while to get anywhere from here!!!’ so if they have been signed up as a beta tester without their knowledge, some delayed mail could be arriving right now. Either way, I think we’re about to get GG discovering a disc and swooping in to save Rose.

[kosmicdream]

What does your planning process look like? You mentioned not usually doing a full script, do you do something like page 57) knives get stabbed page 58) knives stabs the other guy page 59) intense backstory reveal or is it structured in a different way?

(replying to old ask, hope you dont mind!)The way I structure my scripts is in a very different way. For starters, I’ve never broken down it by panels/pages, as that comes when I am finally sketching them to give me more flexibility with pacing. It also just doesn’t make sense for me to, as I haven’t drawn them yet. The way I have constructed my scripts has changed a lot over the many years or making comics, but that hasn’t ever been part of the process. My scripts are written scene by scene, and broken down by character action/dialogue, sometimes including both and are written in script style. Sometimes I include notes for lore or something to keep in mind for myself, that might be a visual detail or something about an expression I want to remember. I don’t always write dialogue but I usually keep a rough draft of the dialogue exchange or purpose of what might say so i understand the goals intended, or include jokes I want to remember. The dialogue usually changes the most even if the end result functions more or less the same, just because of how the panels end up being drawn in the end usually changes up the flow and I will have to accommodate that. I break down the comic script scene by scene, then section by section, and usually end up with about 8-10 parts to a comic script and each of those parts can vary in page number of script. Its not exact, but usually 25 pages of script is about 250-300 pages of comics. FFAK comic scripts have been, when I write them, over 50 pages. But I chapter 16 is going to hopefully be the last of these, as its 47 pages long and I have made the other chapter scripts in arc2 around 20-30 pages long instead. Most NRD scripts barely reach 20 pages, but those sometimes have been even shorter as I tend to prioritize slow paced scenes, which don’t really require me to write a lot in script format.  They read more or less like a script for a screenplay for a movie but a lot rougher since I don’t need to polish these more than what i need. When I finish a scene I will grey out the text to make it easier to find where i left off. When the scene is done, I mark a date when it finished so i can see my progress at a glance. I slowly transitioned into writing scripts around chapter 10-12 but only fully was writing them by 13. I also only had a rough outline for NRD before I started to full scripts, although I can’t remember when that process also happened. It was probably chapter 2 or 3 though. Now, all of NRD/FFAK are written out this way until the end, but I still make edits along the way (mostly for FFAK, as its so long) to change up the pace of chapters and make things more compact.

(example of the top of the script to track progress, this ones for chapter 16! i have hidden the titles for parts 10-12 lol)

[quotidian-oblivion]

Book recs!! ✨

Hi! So a bit ago, I met a lovely amazing anon on ao3 (who is a BLESSING compared to the other mean anons commenting out there, thanks Kat, you make mine and im pretty sure other author's days too). So we got into talking about books and I offered to make a list for her and post it on tumblr so other people too can scrounge through so here we are lmao.

I gathered this list from the personal notes I had made to myself to add these books to my bookshelf when i move out and also from another list i made for my little siblings because no way are they gonna not read the good stuff I found. It's like a rite of passage now.

Just a note: I don't read romance. But since books don't have the very convenient tags we get on ao3, I end up getting to romance-y parts. The only romance books I have read are middle school level romance lmao XD Nothing except kisses and stuff lol.

Let's go!

The Maze Runner series

Maze Runner

I love this book. This series. Ngl, one of the first books where I felt that heart-clenching feeling of hurt. Love the characters, the world-building was in the fandom for a brief while and I love the plot too. Better than the movie plot anyway XD

Mare Runner: Scorch Trials

Second book in the series, also very good. Literally an adventure. So many twists and turns. Once more, the characterization is also amazing!

Maze Runner: Death Cure

Third and last book in the series as a main. Heartbreaking. Did shed tears. Page 250 still kills me. O u ch.

The Fever Code

Also in the same series and OUCH. It's the characters before the whole drama happened and they're kids and higehrfwb 😭 No kidding I was squealing and nearly threw the book multiple times out of excitement. It solved a couple plotlines too. I adored it. Plus, it gave me some closure from the many many (inevitable) deaths.

Crank Palace

It's a novella, but clears the mysterious gap that was in the third book. Plus, it gives much much more closure but I'm still crying so do what you will with that information. I love the new "OC"s here too.

Trials of Apollo

The Hidden Oracle The Dark Prophecy The Burning Maze The Tyrant's Tomb The Tower of Nero

Listen- listen- I know this is kinda obvious and you might be asking "where's the rest of the pjo series?" but that's a given. My personal favorites are the pjo, hoo and toa series, but toa somehow spoke to me more because the main relationship wasn't a romantic one like all the other teen books I read. I also adore Apollo/Lester's character development? Like, at first he was this carefree god, then at the end of the series, he transformed into a person who cared so much and so deeply and was willing to die for others. That is peak character development and if I hadn't read toa, I would still be blundering around and confused with my multi-chap fics as to how characters actually develop. Because you can see that journey so clearly in toa.

Jinx series

Jinx: The Wizard's Apprentice Jinx's Magic Jinx's Fire

I love this series so much??? I am a sucker for fantasy novels and this was so so good. I love the storyline and-

AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE FOUND FAMILY ASPECT HERE. THIS. IS LITERALLY RELUCTANT MENTOR-FATHER AND HYPER AND KEEN MENTEE-SON. AHHH.

Anyway, this was my first found family novel. I loved the whole storyline too, this was also the series where I was first introduced to the concept of whump (without knowing what whump actually was).

The Mapmaker Chronicles

Race To The End Of The World Prisoner Of The Black Hawk Breath Of The Dragon

These were also some of the first whump books I read. And I especially loved this because the plot was it. A smartass scrawny boy who accidentally turned into a hero? Hmmm, I wonder who that reminds me of. (Tim Drake. It reminds of Tim Drake)

But the characters are also special to my heart. There is minimal romance in here. Any romance is to move the plot forward.

Also a mentor-mentee relationship here. Not so much found family to the heart seeing as the main character already has family back home, but the whole crew definitely is a family of their own. I especially adore Ash! Ahhh! She's lovely and amazing. Oh and Zain- *sighs* he is the perfect mentor figure to scrawny li'l Quinn. And the hateable characters are so perfectly hateable!! The author truly is talented at stories.

Although the second book could do with more whump

Nevermoor series

Nevermoor

This book was described in the reviews as "Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland" and it stayed true to its description. It had beautiful and amazing characters, and an evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship (though not at first) and I am a sucker for that. Also, I just love the character herself. Morrigan is a very good and fleshed out character and I will love her forever.

Wundersmith

We explore more of the evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship. But Jupiter, Morrigan's actual caretaker, is the PERFECT uncle/caretaker for her and he's so protective of her and i just-

*sobs* I stan.

Hollowpox

Here we discover some of that delicious power upgrades. I also love all the friends! HAWTHORNE IS MY FAVORITE AND WILL ALWAYS BE I LOVE HIM. Stunning characters here 💫 Also some wise comparison of the different isms and phobias (as in homophobia, racism etc.) here in terms of fantasy.

The Mysterious Benedict Society series

The Mysterious Benedict Society The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Riddle of Ages

This... was one of the first mystery books I had ever read (my actual first was Sherlock Holmes cuz I found it on my grandparents' bookshelf and read it cuz I had read every other book they owned which wasn't a lot). I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. It was calm and just- a bunch of kids going on a perilous journey to solve a mystery to save the city. Those kind of vibes. But the vibes were so good. So enjoyable. Every time I hear about this series, I just sigh in contempt.

There are very, very interesting characters here too. The characters are what made the story so good. All of them have unique quirks which they use to crack clues and form conclusions and dive into actions. Such good characters. 10/10, honestly.

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

This is part of the Benedict society universe, but it takes place years before the main events. It has adventures of the leader of the group in the main series as a kid. This book has a special mention because the storyline was different to the style of the main series and it had tropes. Just- the friend and the character itself and- dnfhbevbiluw

Okay, I admit, Benedict here does remind me of Tim (my fav character in DC). Like y'know smol Tim with the camera? Those kind of vibes. Very strong vibes. I read this way before I discovered Tim even existed so maybe this book plays a part in my favorites?

Jessica Brody books

The fact that I put the actual author's name here should tell you something.

Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up

This book... brought me to tears. This was the second book that prompted salt water to slip out of my tear ducts. It was a strange feeling. Cuz I was not used to crying for books and movies and shows.

The plot just hit hard. A 12-year-old Addie magically time-travels to when she's 16 and experiences life as a teenager. The plot gives more than you expect. There are boys, yes, but that is a side plot, not a main plot. Which is why I love the book so much. Addie wants to be one of the "girly" girls who talks about boys and stuff and goes to parties like her older sister, but then as she lives the life of a teenager more and more, she realizes just how much she lost. Friendships, family, her personality, her interests, herself.

The part that made me cry was her missing her sister. Cuz, well, I'm an older sister. And my sister who is the oldest after me has the same age difference as Addie and her older sister. It wasn't just her missing her sister in that scene, it was everything crashing down on her that moved me to tears. Amazing book. If anything, I recommend you either read this or 'Better You Than Me' if nothing in this list goes towards your liking.

Better You Than Me

This was the first book that made me cry. It has two characters, one in middle school, the other who is an actress, swap bodies. So the typical middle school kid gets to live as a famous actress, and the famous actress gets to live as a typical middle school kid. Of course, neither of them end up liking their new life very much, but that only teaches them two important messages: appreciation and communication. God, I learnt so much from this book. I was like 13 or something when I read it and it resonated within me enough to make me cry. I adore this. SO much.

I Speak Boy

I actually have a library-borrowed copy with me right now XD It's about a middle school girl, Emmy, being very confused with the opposite gender. (Very much hetero, no homo despite it being published in 2021). But, once again, the reason I love this book isn't cuz of the romance (though it is kinda satisfactory but also a bit cliché). It's how the main character realizes that boys aren't everything. Just like in 'Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up'. It's a lot about friendship.

The reason why I like these books by Jessica Brody (I haven't read the others yet) is because of the Bechdel Test factor in it.

S. K. Ali books

Again you have another author's name. This time, it's Muslim fiction!

Love From A To Z

The first Muslim fiction book I've ever read. And yes, it is a romance book. But it does not have any touchy-touchy stuff (except in the Epilogue and a couple dream scenes, very vague though and only kissing). As in, the main characters follow mainstream Sunni procedures and do not touch each other as they're not married. Which just leaves room for a ton of emotional romance.

I adore this simply because I'm a Muslim Hijabi myself and I am very much biased.

It deals with so many aspects of romance though, like personality first, lust last, and whether they are the right fit or not and whether they actually like each other or the idea of each other and how families play into this and online hate and emotion control and of course, the marvels and oddities of life. It is packed with so much. And when I finished the book, I had a good long cry. This is the first book that made me cry the longest. Because- because I was starved for representation! And this book did it so well! I just- love this so much.

The author has published a sequel, Love from Mecca to Medina, I have yet to read it because I'm waiting for it to be in a library. I prefer physical copy books.

Once Upon An Eid

Okay, this is very Muslim-based, but if you treat it like Muslim Christmas, everything becomes clear XD Also, Ali wrote only one story here. This book is actually a collection of stories by different Muslim authors. And each story is so special. Many people don't really know how Muslims celebrate Eid or why it's so special (besides spiritual reasons) and what it looks like. This paints an accurate picture. And it contains most, if not all, types of Muslims celebrating Eid. Sunni, Shia, refugee, African, American, revert/convert, South Asian etc. So really diverse.

Saints and Misfits Misfit In Love

Very much love-centred, but also has very vague mentions of sexual assault/rape/non-con. Yes, in a Muslim community. It exists. A lot actually. But it's hidden and hushed down. Disgustingly.

But the first book addresses it and how a Muslim girl battles it. She's in love with a white boy, yes, but she doesn't give in to her white boy desires. Neither does she fall to a non-white boy, at least not fully.

Which is why I recommend that if you're reading the first book, you definitely, definitely read the second one along with it. Because I felt even though the ending of the first book was satisfactory, it wasn't satisfactory to me. But the second book was! Because at the end of the second book, Janna (the main character), comes to the conclusion that boys aren't everything. And even though there is a very perfect boy that fancies her and she fancies him too, she takes a breath and says that she isn't too focused on that. And I adore that. But she only comes to that conclusion after falling in love with many, many, many boys. I did get a bit uncomfy cuz romance just in general makes me uncomfy, its a personal thing, but I kept reading it cuz... Muslim fiction! Anyway, good book series. But I like Love From A To Z better.

Now, those are... a lot of books. And a lot of me talking. And there are still so many more. So I'm just gonna go through some quick filtering and put the titles and authors of the other books here in dot points.

London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (my first novel, Kat knows about this lol)

Skyfire series by Michael Adams

NERDS series by Michael Buckley (it's an acronym that stands for National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society. It's weird but I laughed a lot so)

Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens

Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton

Naughtiest Girl In The School series by Enid Blyton

Scarlet and Ivy series by Sophie Cleverly (fuck- I forgot to add this to the main list, but this book is hella hella good and I recommend it very much)

Bounce by Megan Shull (life lessons in here)

Sick Bay by Nova Weetman

The Adventurer's Guild series by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos

Luck Uglies series by Paul Durham ("DADDY ISSUES!" screams Quo. "I love this book because I have daddy issues among other issues and that is all.")

Time Hunters by Chris Blake (it is very much a children's book, not even middle school, but I read it because it has an intriguing storyline and interesting historical facts that had me raising my hand in every history lesson)

There are no classic books here because that will need its own separate post.

And that's it! Thank you very much!

[bereft-of-frogs]

friday! and a nice friday too, the sun is out and everything!

books:

(finished) This Wretched Valley - Jenny Kiefer: I maintain this would have been better/scarier if they had been good at their jobs lol, like I said last week. Like imagine how scarier if you're doing everything right and still can't escape and slowly realize there's some*thing* keeping you in the wilderness? Personal preference.

(finished) (phone book) Into the Dark - Claudia Gray: You know, I didn't love this one as much as I did on the first pass a couple years ago. A weird opinion shift: I really don't like Cohmac haha. I remember liking him before and this time I'm like...no you can't have custody of Reath, I don't like you. Ok, that's...not the most mature book critique but still. I wish either Jora hadn't died or Dez or Orla had taken custody of Reath :( But it does make me consider giving Midnight Horizon a second chance, because my opinions shifted so much, maybe the opposite will happen with that one. Or maybe I'll just be able to further justify my Cohmac dislike.

(in-progress) (phone book) The Rising Storm - Cavan Scott: Bell is back! I missed Bell and Ember. Not too far in yet but at least I am back on track. I feel like this is where things start getting sadder which makes me happy (sorry Bell) :)

(in-progress) The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien: I'm like 30 pages from the end lol, I only read this while I have my morning coffee, just to explain why it's taken me like three weeks to read a 250 page children's book.

tv:

(finished) Anthracite (Netflix): What an insane amount of subplots for 6 EPISODES?? Either Netflix needed to greenlight like...4x as many episodes or once they got their budget the writers needed to cut like half the subplots and tighten up focus. I'm still honestly reeling. It did do a good job getting you to care about the main characters despite all the insane plot stuff. Also this was weird: like 90% of it was really well shot, and then randomly there would be a scene that looked like it was shot by someone in high school. I don't know if they had to go back in for reshoots or what but occasionally it was like oof that's not good.

(finished) Baby Reindeer (Netflix): Everyone was talking about this so I had to check it out. It's very intense. Is it bad I found the comedy shows were the hardest scenes to watch, despite everything else?

(in-progress) Under the Bridge (Hulu): Seems like sort of a standard mystery but I'm really just here for Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone and the moody vibes and so far am satisfied.

(in-progress) Constellation (AppleTV+): Nice little bit of unreality/space horror so far. I actually got got by a couple scenes, I'm so desensitized to horror that it's nice when I actually get creeped out by something (the ARM in the second episode!!). Looking forward to seeing where this is going, judging by the first two episodes, seems like my pet conspiracy theory (the Lost Cosmonaut theory) is getting a high budget AppleTV adaptation, never thought I'd see the day. Also I got kind of hyped about the Canadarm cameo in the first episode. The shot panned over the space station and I out loud shouted 'it's the Canadarm!', startling the cat

film:

The Apology (2022): Apparently this was the only movie I watched this week, it was ok, mostly just background noise for making lunch/writing. I wish it had leaned more comedic, which is not something I usually say but I think it would have fit if they'd committed to making a really dark horror-comedy rather than flipping between predictable melodrama and some pretty funny catharsis.

craft update: I am free of the tyranny of having to purl! I joined up the two sides of my sweater so I'm knitting in the round now yay! It turned out I didn't have a problem with needle size, the whole thing did fit on one circular needle so now we're cooking with gas.

to do:

finish the work day. ick. but depending on how long it takes me to get through actual work, I can probably get some writing done too

laundry, both clothes laundry on my lunch hour (now) and sheets/towels at my parents'

I'm through 8 out of 12 chapters of current wip! Unfortunately chapter 9 is SO action-focused. why did I do this to myself. I mean I know why because then chapter 10 gets to be angsty but damn I have to block out so many action scenes. why.

I ordered a filing cabinet. it arrived. most of the negative reviews were about how hard it was to put together. so I should put 'assemble filing cabinet' on this list but I think 'let filing cabinet percolate' is a more realistic entry

I might go to a local yarn store on my way up to my parents' tomorrow, because it's local yarn store day and I do not need any more stitch markers but BUT I want more stitch markers. don't @ me I know I have plenty of stitch markers.

pick a new book: I'm torn between giving Kill Show another shot, starting the other book I have checked out of the library (The Deep Sky) or a secret third thing

have a good weekend everyone!

[brongusthearcanist]

So I have not seen the new Dune yet, but I hear that is much more obvious in the movie that Paul is not the savior. And I kinda think this is a mistake, especially because they intend to adapt Dune Messiah to finish the trilogy. Yes Herbert did not intend for people to not get it, and the director has mentioned this and said he wants to honor Frank's original intention. Which I don't think is a bad thing, but there is kind-of an accidental genius in what Herbert did with the first book. Most people fell for Dune the same way they fell for Fight club, the writers didn't want you to, but due to the nature of what their trying to do, a cautionary tale about charismatic leaders, people fall for it anyway. Accurately depicting these characters to make your point will mean that a lot of people fall for it, it's an unfortunate constant. That's the accidental genius. People fall for it in Dune, and they learn in Dune Messiah that they fell for it, so they can avoid it in real life. Again, I haven't seen it yet, but now I kinda feel as if there are less reasons to do Dune Messiah; if everyone gets the point, then the story isn't really necessary. As much as Dune Messiah is necessary for the first book, to the point where I kinda think it just should've been added to the original book for future printings rather than be sold by itself. The first book has like 4, 250 page parts, and messiah is like 270 and feels like it's part of the first one because it is just falling action the whole time. Dune Messiah also does a lot of set-up for the next two books, and if those aren't going to be adapted, and it's obvious that Paul is just a colonizer, then I don't think it's really necessary. Maybe there are more changes that they made or things they left out that they are going to add it to messiah, idk, but either way I'm really excited to see how this plays out.

[chetterbox-blog]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Book

Read in it's entirety on December 5th, 2023. This horror novel is short, coming in at few pages over 250. I started it, and I couldn't stop reading it until it was finished. It had me hooked until near the end, when I just became utterly confused (more on that below). The off-settingness of this story and it's characters and how they interact is addicting. My biggest gripe about it was the buildup; it has that slow burn feeling a majority of the book, and the ending to me didn't have a big payoff. The book ended and I desperately wanted more.

SPOILERS

Near the end of the book, when he's got her in the school, there are moments that I don't understand. How her old childhood shirt ends up there; there's mention of the whole time of a man who watched her outside of her window, and on a bench, and I don't think it's Jake? It wouldn't make sense, but I felt like that was something mentioned more than once and then... it wasn't the big bad? THEN, the slithering of the janitor? And that Jake is actually the janitor? And he's the big bad; which that I understood even though the things surrounding it were weird. The phone calls are eerie but who's making them? We never find that out. And the girl at the Dairy Queen, how does she know? Then there is the split, where I didn't really understand anything. Did she kill herself? Did he kill himself? We're following her the whole book but then it turns into "we". I thought the interlude chapters were filling me in, but even at the end I was still confused.

Because of this, I figured I might watch the movie, because maybe seeing it unfold would make it make sense for me.

Movie

Ok, so I watched the movie today and just--

What in the hell did I just watch? It cleared nothing up for me in the slightest, even though the original author was a part of the production. Also, what the hell was that aspect ratio? Why?

SPOILERS

So the movie is unnerving, and I like the slow burn about it that matches a majority of the book. I really really like what they did with the parents, aging and de-aging, off-putting scenes and dialogue. There was this strange difference in the movie where she outright meets the janitor, and we get the information that the janitor IS him, and she doesn't run around away from him. Instead of her going crazy and running through the school and hiding there's like... this weird lyrical dance scene. The movie ends with an excerpt of old people watching him, older, in a musical? But he looks like him, aged up, not like the janitor.

Book vs Movie

I would say the book is worth the read, though it was hard for me to understand in the end. There are major differences, different aspects that are not in the movie that are in the book, and vice versa. Brother vs. No Brother. Experience with the watching man vs not even mentioned. The book has more emphasis on the caller, and has different descriptions of the characters than the actors portray.

2.5/5

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week # 148 (Year 3/Week 44):

“… Would you go without her?… “

No bears, my 5th and favourite meta-film by persecuted Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Made in secret and illegally while being prohibited by the Ayatollahs. It's a slick and sharp fictionalized metaphor about a director, played again by himself, who rents a room in a tiny, primitive village near the Turkish border, while directing a movie long-distance about a couple who wants to escape Iran.

It's impossible to separate the fiction from reality. This is like a serious 'La Nuit américaine' with real-life consequences. Panahi was sentenced to 6 years in jail a month after the premier of the film. What kind of movies could he make, had he born in a "normal" country?

There's always the noise of traffic, when you're in the city. But it ends with the barks of country dogs at night. 9/10.

🍿

“ … So you’re a rocket scientist?…”

How many times have I seen J.C. Chandor's masterly thriller Margin Call in the last couple of years? At least half a dozen, and I simply can't get enough. After 'The Wolf of Wall Street' re-watch last week, I had to do it one more time. It's interesting that the movie doesn't show what they actually do, except of the end, after the long night is over. The muted score... The bridge story... the top-notch performances.

Noted this time: Stanley Tucci got $1,411,768 in extra bonus to stay at the office one last day - why such a sum? Also, the credits listed 12 people on the ‘Jeremy Irons miracle visa team’...

A perfect 10/10 - "Best Wall Street move ever made".

🍿

Third re-watching of György Pálfi’s immersive mashup Final Cut, Ladies and Gentlemen a ‘supercut’ of 451 clips from the most famous films in history. It’s a meta-love story, told through a montage of scenes edited together from all those other films.

It proves the power of the good editor. Also, how visual tropes and cinematic cliches repeat themselves again and again throughout history; Running through wheat fields, a whistling kettle, lovers kissing in the rain, a mirror is being smashed, clutching a child to one’s bosom, the clicking of keyboard...

And now you just want to watch and re-watch every single one of these 451 movies where the clips are from... Absolutely fantastic.

🍿

Another French classic, Peppermint Soda, my first by Diane Kurys. A sweet coming of age story of two charming sisters, 13 and 15 years old in Paris of 1963. Very similar in spirit, 'feel' and maturity as Truffaut's '400 Blows', but with girl-centric focus, which is so refreshing. She managed to write and direct this little masterpiece without having any prior experience in movie-making!

The 13-year-old who played the main character, Éléonore Klarwein, looks so familiar, but doesn't even have a Wikipedia page!

I'm going to seek the rest of Kurys work. Most delightful discovery of the week!

🍿

3 more by prolific French director Patrice Leconte:

🍿 I’ve only seen his ‘The man on the train’ before. Monsieur Hire was based on a mystery novel by Georges Simenon. It tells of a bald, lonely, middle age tailor who falls in love with young Sandrine Bonnaire, who lives in the apartment across from his. This was one of the last films that Roger Ebert added to his 'Great movies' list. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

🍿 Gérard Depardieu starred in ~ 250 movies. One of his latest was playing Maigret, one of the original old-time detectives. A large and tired, but very humane figure, he's quietly trying to discover the circumstances behind a murder of a lonely young woman. (Photo Above).

🍿 The Boléro drummer is a 1992 wordless short. It comically focuses on the frustrated facial expressions of a drummer, while participating in a performance of Ravel's piece.

🍿

I’m your man, my second film by German director Maria Schrader (after ‘She said’). An updated version to Spike Jonze's 'Her', where it's not only the voice but a complete human android they fall in love with. A better-than-usual Black Mirror romcom, with growing emotional resonance. It, unsurprisingly, ends in a sleepy seaside Danish village! 7/10.

🍿

Tarkovsky's lyrical debut feature Ivan’s childhood about a Soviet boy hero in WW2 fighting the Nazis. Not what I expected, minimalist poetry.

🍿

3 more by Martin Ritt:

🍿 “… You’re an unprincipled man, Hud…”

Hud, a Neo-Western about a self-centered, indecent bastard, an amoral anti-hero Paul Newman, and his proud, old-fashioned father. Played in a dying small west-Texas town, of the 'Last Picture Show' bleakness and despair kind. Based on a Larry McMurtry novel, and featuring Patricia Neal as a housekeeper who was hurt before, and won't be again, if she can help it. There's a scene where a large herd of cows, possibly infected with Foot-and-mouth disease, is being shot in a culling pit that is very hard to watch. 8/10.

🍿 Stanley & Iris, Martin Ritt's final film, and the only one where Robert de Nero is getting around on a bicycle. A romantic working class tearjerker that didn't work; A large commercial bakery where most of the work was done by hand, an illiterate laborer who becomes fabulously successful once he learns to read (and the tired cliche of a person walking in the middle of the street instead of the sidewalk..) 2/10.

🍿 Re-watch: The political drama about the 1950's Hollywood blacklisters, The front. A superficial study of the workings and effects of McCarthyism, made 2 decades later by a group of writers who were boycotted themselves. But Woody Allen was an obnoxious actor always playing obnoxious characters, even here, when he didn't mean to be funny. Dated and two-dimensional. 3/10.

🍿

Another Red Scare re-watch, Don Siegel's alien invasion allegory Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The originator of the 'Pod people' conspiracy concept. The fear of losing one's 'originality' and 'personality' when confronted with conformity and mass acceptance. In retrospect, the conclusions and explanations had a low 'Twilight Zone' quality.

🍿

The body, a convoluted Spanish crime mystery that predictably plays it by the numbers. There were two scene that elevated it from a complete bore-fest: An outrageously disgusting one, when the accused husband tears an incriminating letter in a dirty toilet, and when it doesn’t flush, he has to fish it out and swallow it. And the final, unexpected twist, that came out of left field. 2/10.

🍿

4 comedies I haven’t seen before:

🍿 ... "We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now..."

Withnail & I, an odd, Ralph Steadman-like, off-beat British classic satire, about 2 drunk slackers, unemployed actors, who escape to an unheated, falling-down cottage in the country. Punkish Richard E. Grant debut film.

🍿 “who wants a mustache ride?”

Super troopers, a sophomoric, noisy, crude and low-brow comedy, that wasn't as stupid as it sounds. With Brian Cox and Lynda Carter.

🍿 I Love You Phillip Morris, a misguided gay romance with Jim Carrey that can't decide if it's a tender drama about a conman, or a low-brow comedy full of gay stereotypes. Fake cliches all the way. With Hair's Annie Golden. 2/10.

🍿 Jennifer’s body, a female-focused horror written by Diablo Cody. I watched it only because of one insightful review on 'Letterbox', but the tenets of the horror genre simply don't work for me. Gave it 25 minutes, then gave it up, sorry.

🍿

I've seen 7 of Paolo Sorrentino's 10 features so far, so I wanted to indulge with his HBO-series, The young pope, with Jude Law playing a rebellious American pope. The first episode was typically stylish, and beautifully irreverent. But the premise of the Vatican letting an un-vetted young mutt to take over the institution is so ridiculous, that after 2 hours I had to bail out.

🍿

3+ female-directed shorts:

🍿 'A Seaman’s Life Flashes Before His Eyes', in the Oscar nominated Canadian short The flying sailor. It is based on the real life Halifax explosion that happened in 1917, where a sailor was blown through the air and survived.

🍿 Muta, by Argentinian Lucrecia Martel; A group of 8 well-dressed models on a barge sailing the Amazon river. Creepy, unexplained, experimental. My 2nd from the Miu Miu collection of Women's tales.

🍿 Zoe Cassavetes’s (John’s daughter) The Powder Room. Basically, a clothing ad. 1/10.

🍿 Also, Capitol of Conformity, a Dystopian Short Film created by AI and by Aze Adora.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

[statisticalsite]

Lifetime Stock Video Review

Lifetime Stock Video Review Read in depth=> https://explorreviews.com/lifetime-stock-video-review/

Who Needs Lifetime Stock Video?

Will JV Partners Make Money?

Video is clearly the highest generating niche on JVZoo

The number of Sales Letters / Explainer Softwares / Video Tools and the volume of sales they generate are epic.

These top video softwares have sold over 370,000 products for $15,000,000 in sales.

And that's just the start of the target market for Lifetime Stock Video.

Our Stock Footage works with any software or service that allows you to import/upload videos.

Vidgeos, VideoScribe, Keynote, Adobe (Multiple Tools), ScreenFlow, Camtasia Studio,

Apple iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, PowerPoint, Google and more.

All of our videos are available in full 4K and HD resolution as well as multiple smaller

formats to guarantee compatibility.

Why Lifetime Stock Video?

Why Do Your Clients Need It?

Video is no longer a "nice to have" in marketing - it is a 100% requirement. 4x as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. Video on a landing page can increase conversions over 80%

Far too many videos use rubbish low quality free backgrounds & scenes. 62% of consumers are more likely to have a negative perception of a brand that published a poor quality video.

Quality Matters. Backlinko.com analyzed 1.3 million YouTube videos to better understand how YouTube's search engine works. One of the key indicators identified is that high quality videos dominate YouTube's search results. 68.2% of videos on the first page of YouTube are in HD or better.

It's time to improve the quality of asset sales on JVZoo. Lifetime Stock Video provides one of the best formats for any asset sale on JVZoo - instead of giving buyers 30 zip files of unsearchable videos, we provide a full membership club. Buyers can see full previews, browse videos and keyword/tag search their assets. And they don't need to download and store 280 GB of files on their hard drive.

We've put together a rock solid product, with monthly updates at a crazy low price. Buyer remorse and customer returns should be minimal.

Key Selling Points for Lifetime Stock Video

Full Membership Site

Unlike other low-cost graphics / videos / audio specials, this isn't a "firesale" or "collection". We're not giving the buyers a 100 GB dump of unsearchable assets with crazy names that sit on their hard drives and gather dust.

Multiple Sizes for Each Video

All 4K videos are in 6 sizes from 3840x2160 down to 426x240. All HD videos are in 4 sizes from 1920x1080 down to 426x240. This guarantees compatibility with any software, website or tool that can import video (buyers don't need to downsize videos on their own.)

New 4K Assets Monthly

For the next 24 months we will add 200 new 4K videos to the Professional Membership Accounts (4,800 over 2 years.) And 75 new 4K videos monthly to the Standard Membership Accounts (1,800 over 2 years.)

One Payment

Pay once, use forever. Just like our Lifetime.Hosting product, customers will only make a single payment to join our membership club for life. Other stock video memberships charge $100/month recurring. Our recurring cost is $0/month.

The Funnel Generating up to $120 in your pocket for each customer.

Funnel Details Front End - Standard Lifetime Stock Video Standard for $24.95 - 1,000 4K & HD videos for own projects/videos and clients projects/videos. Plus 75 4K videos per month. OTO1 - Professional Lifetime Stock Video Professional for $37.00 - Upgrade to 3,300 4K & HD videos for own projects/videos and clients projects/videos. Plus 250 4K videos per month. OTO1 Downsell - Professional Lifetime Stock Video Professional for $27.00 - Upgrade to 3,000 4K & HD videos for own projects/videos and clients projects/videos. (300 less videos and no bonuses.) Plus 250 4K videos per month. OTO2 - Professional Lifetime Stock Images Membership Club Enterprise for $47.00 - Addon 15,000 HD Images for own projects/videos and clients projects/videos. OTO2 Downsell - Standard Lifetime Stock Images Membership Club Premium for $27.00 - Addon 12,000 HD Images for own projects/videos and clients projects/videos. (3,000 less images and no bonuses.) OTO3 - Lifetime Stock Video Reseller Reseller 20 for $67.00 - resell 20 Standard packages ($940 value) Reseller 50 for $97.00 - resell 50 Standard packages ($2,350 value) Reseller 500 for $127.00 - resell 500 Standard & Professional packages ($47,000 value) OTO3 Downsell - Lifetime Stock Video Reseller 3-Pay Reseller 20 for 3 monthly payments of $27.00 (total $81) - resell 20 Standard packages ($940 value) Reseller 50 for 3 monthly payments of $37.00 (total $111) - resell 50 Standard packages ($2,350 value) Reseller 500 for 3 monthly payments of $47.00 (total $141) - resell 500 Standard & Professional packages ($47,000 value) Richard who? Ask these guys...

Richard and his team put together a great product and a funnel that converted really well. When I promoted the first Lifetime.Hosting I generated 844 sales in under a week. And my list and I were really impressed with the live support provided. His launch was in the top 10% of all my 2016 launches. Pretty impressive stuff. If you're think about working with Richard, do it. - Sam Bakker

Richard is not only a great affiliate that can hit your top 10 but also a great person to connect with. If you're looking for a great offer to promote, make sure you sign up for Richard and put his on the top of your list. He is one of a few people that will actually reciprocate hard for you. - Han Fan

Of all the products I have promoted, Richard's Lifetime.Hosting launch resulted in the best affiliate earnings. He is easy to reach out to and always helps with all my JV related questions. Also his product support team is top notch. I highly recommend promoting Richard's products. - Igor Burban

I've worked with Richard twice on his Lifetime Hosting promotion. Both converted amazingly well. His support and dedication that he provides for his customers and affiliates are some of the best in the industry. I'll definitely look for his future launches as I know they'll convert really well. The fact that he's a really cool guy is an added bonus. - Gee Sanghera

I'm happy to talk about Richard Madison and the heat that he can bring to your launch. This guy jumped on my recent launch 48 hours after it started and within 24 hours he rocketed to the top of the leaderboard sending the most sales and revenue. It's the first time I've dealt with Richard and I'll tell you I'm happy to deal with him more and more. 24 hours, 100+ sales. - Jason Fulton  

I was thrilled to see this gentleman crush the #1 best seller spot on my leaderboard back in September 2016. Richard is "The Man, The Myth, The Legend" most people haven't heard about. But in the elite circles of the online marketing world, he's known as the founder of Lifetime Hosting and an overall A+ affiliate marketer. I give Richard two thumbs up and I recommend you work with him - you will see a major difference to your bottom line. His copy converts & his team consists of experienced top-shelf tech support & customer service reps. You don't know what making money online is until you've work with Richard - period. - Vas Blagodarskiy

More Reasons to Partner with Us Instant Commission for trusted partners on the JVZoo platform Proven Results from our entire team (copywriter, design, product, delivery) Professional Product exceeding all other video assets ever sold on JVZoo Fantastic video and long salesletter pitch by proven copywriter Limited time launch for urgency; converting to monthly price after launch Plenty of upsells and OTOs for you to earn more when the buyer has their wallet out

Source: https://statisticalsite.blogspot.com/2023/05/lifetime-stock-video-review.html

[fox-under-the-willow-tree]

20 word book reviews

The year has barely started, but I've already read 12 books, some of which left a profound impact. Others... not so much.

March is slowly making a shy entrace, I expect if I continue like this, 2023 will be a fruitful literary year for me. I could wait until the year ends for my top 10 list, but why not give a cheeky short review for those who are looking for a quick recommendation?

So, here are my January/February book reviews, all in 20 words or less.

-If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha (5/5)

The ideal book for that one annoying koreaboo friend who fetishizes Asian people to show life in Korea isn' t easy. (Especially as a woman.)

-Beautiful Darkness - Fabien Vehlmann (3,5/5)

Well this was a delightfully disturbing graphic novel.

-A Curse on Dostoyevsky - Atiq Rahimi (2/5)

It had potential, had it been written by someone else.

-Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs (5/5)

What the hell did I just read, I loved it.

-When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi (5/5)

If this memoire about a doctor dying from cancer doesn' t make you cry, you have no soul.

-Coraline - Neil Gaiman (4/5)

Hard to believe, but the graphic novel is even more disturbing than the movie.

-Tolstoy and the Purple Chair - Nina Sankovitch. (3/5)

Great premise for a story, but it' s difficult to pay attention to 250 page book that comprises over 300 tiny book reviews.

-The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi (5/5)

The absolute best of what graphic novels can offer.

-The Stationary Shop - Marjan Kamali (3/5)

Average romantic story, except it takes place (supposedly) in Iran.

-The Legende of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo (5/5)

It' s not just inspiring for a children' s story, but a great work of art in general. Little Prince meets Ernest and Celestine.

-My Mother' s Secret - J.L. Witterick (3,5/5)

Stunning prose, but why is this powerful story so short?!

-I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokpokki - Baek See-hee (1,5/5)

The cover will look great on your Instagram, but there' s barely any content. I wouldn't qualify it as a book.

Currently Reading: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. (Might post a full review for this one.)

[benterri]

Best bookreader apps for android

#Best bookreader apps for android portable#

#Best bookreader apps for android for android#

#Best bookreader apps for android software#

#Best bookreader apps for android Offline#

Its customizable display is meant for clearing out visual clutter.

Pocket cares for your eyes, so that, you can read as much as you wish to.

The publishers it supports include the likes of Buzzfeed, Google News, Medium, Business Insider and so on.

Pocket is integrated with more than 1500 apps.

#Best bookreader apps for android Offline#

You can save article to read later offline or stories, videos and much more from several sources ranging from online publications, pages or other apps.

#Best bookreader apps for android for android#

Pocket is a great offline reader for Android that doesn’t just let you save textual content but even video content. But its $250 starting price is significantly higher than that of even our top pick, yet it isn’t clearly better for even frequent readers.Best Offline Reading Apps For Android: 1. There’s a lot to like about the Kindle Oasis. Amazon has also added a night-mode feature that shifts the display’s color temperature you can set it to change automatically on a custom schedule or at sunrise and sunset, but it doesn’t automatically adjust based on ambient lighting conditions. The Oasis is no longer the only waterproof Kindle, but it does have an auto-brightness feature that automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness level based on ambient light. Overall, the Oasis’s larger size makes it less practical to carry and hold than the Paperwhite. The Oasis is a little wider than the Paperwhite, though it weighs about the same, and it also has a larger 7-inch screen. Its design is unique compared with that of other Kindles, as it features an asymmetrical body (0.13 inch on the thinner edge, 0.33 inch on the thicker edge) with physical page-turn buttons along one edge.

#Best bookreader apps for android software#

(The Kobo Clara HD, as with other modern Kobos, also has seamless OverDrive integration some other readers require a third-party software client running on a computer to transfer the files to the ebook reader.)Īmazon’s Kindle Oasis (10th generation) is the most advanced, and the most expensive, e-reader Amazon sells. With the Kindle Paperwhite Kids (and all other Kindles), OverDrive uses Amazon’s storefront, as well as the same wireless delivery you’d expect from a purchase. All of the ebook readers we tested allow you to use OverDrive to borrow free ebooks from your local library. Just a few examples include the capability to share purchased books with people on your Amazon Prime account X-Ray, which helps identify notable people and terms in your books the optional Kindle Unlimited service, which gives you on-demand access to a huge catalog of books for a flat rate every month and Amazon Kids+, which provides access to kid’s books, movies, TV shows, and more (a free, one-year subscription is included with the Kindle Paperwhite Kids). The huge collection of services that Amazon and its partners offer is a major reason why we love the Kindle Paperwhite Kids. While all readers allow you to side-load unprotected content, it’s important that they provide easy access to a large library of commercial books. Library: Ebook readers can’t stand on the strength of their hardware alone.Other features: While not required, features like waterproofing and Bluetooth audio can make a good e-reader great.In other words, most specs are less important than how good the ebook reader feels in the hand. Battery life and storage: Most of the readers promise battery life somewhere between six and eight weeks (depending on usage) and offer 8 GB or 32 GB of storage.

#Best bookreader apps for android portable#

Six-inch screens are the most common size, as well as the most portable and likely to be pocketable, although newer readers pack larger screens into similarly sized bodies, which is a bonus.

Build quality and size: While most ebook readers are made of plastic, some feel better than others in your hands.

Anything lower will mean less crisp text and images.

Screen quality: We gave preference to devices with a pixel density of 300 dots per inch, the highest available in any ebook reader and what most models offer.

(Unlike tablets such as the iPad, ebook readers use a side-lighting system that provides a glow across the screen, rather than from behind it.) Because this feature is so prevalent, we didn’t test any readers without it.

Built-in lighting: Most e-readers provide their own light for reading in dark environments.

[pinertaylor]

Olli olli2

#Olli olli2 how to

#Olli olli2 movie

#Olli olli2 manuals

#Olli olli2 full

And if you want to really master the game? You might want to invest in buying a back-up Vita, just to be on the safe side. As I said, OlliOlli2 is still pretty darn hard just passing each level requires you to whip your Vita’s thumbsticks around in a way that can’t be good for the system’s longterm physical health. In the big scheme of things, though, the differences between the two games are pretty minimal. It’s still an insanely hard game to master, of course, but at least OlliOlli2 makes an effort to help you learn. The tutorial levels hold your hand a little more than the first game did, which is nice the original OlliOlli challenged players right from the get-go, so it’s great that they’ve tried to make the sequel a little more user-friendly. OlliOlli2 also tries to make its mechanics a little easier to understand. (Not that it necessarily needed it, mind you - we’re talking about a skateboarding game, after all not some huge RPG where you need a story to sustain your interest through endless grinding.) Obviously we’re not exactly talking a huge narrative step forward, but it still provides a cohesion that may not have been there the first time out.

#Olli olli2 movie

While the visual differences may not be too great, there’s at least an attempt to tell a story here - OlliOlli2 has borrowed a page from the Joe Danger playbook, and situates its levels on movie sets. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that it might even be ever so slightly better. OllliOlli2 may lack that thrill of discovery that accompanied the first game, but it makes up for that by being its equal in every way. The first OlliOlli was pretty phenomenal, so I’m not going to complain that Roll7 haven’t innovated all that much the second time around. That’s not the worst thing in the world, of course. I mean, there are some minor cosmetic differences here and there, but on the whole, the two games are basically identical. There is a ridiculous amount of gaming to be had in this game for a mere $.99 If you have a Shield device, this is a game that is easy to recommend.I have to be honest: if someone were to place screenshots or videos of OlliOlli and OlliOlli2 next to each other and told me to pick which was which, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the original from the sequel. OlliOlli 2 is integrated with Google Game Play Services with 27 achievements to unlock and leaderboards to compete on. 250 New challenges to tear through, along with the return of the much loved Daily Grind, Spots Mode and Rad Mode.New Worlds and Levels: Five new worlds, 50 Amateur and Pro Levels.Expanded bag of tricks with new specials including 540 Shove-its, Anti-Capser Flips and Darkslides.Getting the high score is only one of the many challenges on each level. Some challenges you may complete easily, while others are going to take some time learning to pull off. You would do well to study the Tricktionary before taking off on a level.

#Olli olli2 how to

The good thing is that the game includes a Trictionary, that shows you how to pull off different types of tricks. the game can be tough if you aren’t familiar with the different nuances of the controls.

#Olli olli2 full

Welcome to OlliWood is full of challenges to complete.

#Olli olli2 manuals

Further, OlliOlli2’s combo system has been expanded with the joy of manuals, reverts manuals and grind switching giving you more control and expression than ever before.” – Devolver Digital/Roll7 Revamped Paths and Combos: The sequel boasts all new ramps and epic hills allowing for monster air and multi-route levels. The iconic skater is going all green-screen with a stunning new look, plucking you from the street and dropping you squarely in the middle of the big screen’s most bodacious cinema locations. “Drop in to Olliwood and prepare for finger-flippin mayhem in this follow up to cult skateboarding smash OlliOlli.

[calzona-ga]

In her unauthorized book, Lynette Rice explores the stories behind some of the ABC drama's biggest moments, including — in this exclusive excerpt — the factors that led to McDreamy's shocking death.

In How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, author Lynette Rice recounts the ABC medical drama’s eventful 16-year history, revealing new details behind some of the show’s biggest departures. Included in the unauthorized, 320-page oral history (St. Martin’s Press, Sept. 21, $29.99) is a chapter that offers new insight into leading man Patrick Dempsey’s shocking exit in season 11 of the Shonda Rhimes-created drama. In the chapter, Rice speaks with Dempsey’s co-stars and exec producers who were present during filming of his final days on Grey’s Anatomy, and reveals claims of “HR issues” that contributed to the death of his alter-ego, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd.

“There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” recalls exec producer James D. Parriott, who was brought back to the series to oversee Dempsey’s exit.

In more than 80 interviews with current and former cast- and crewmembers, Rice, an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, also explores the show’s early days, recounts the thinking behind some of its more polarizing storylines and offers exclusive details about the show’s behind-the-scenes culture.

“After 17 seasons, fans still can’t get enough of Grey’s Anatomy,” Rice tells THR. But what went down behind the scenes was just as dramatic as what viewers saw every Thursday. I’m excited for fans to read what I learned about those early days, along with what it was like to work for Shonda Rhimes, and why the drama was so freakin’ headline-prone.”

Below, The Hollywood Reporter shares an excerpt — the full eighth chapter — from How to Save a Life, and tune in Friday to TV’s Top 5 for an interview with Rice about her book and the other big reveals she uncovered in her reporting for it.

(Reps for ABC, ABC Signature, Shondaland, and Dempsey declined comment on the reveals in Rice’s book.)

“He’s Very Dreamy, but He’s Not the Sun,” Or, How Grey’s Anatomy Loved — Then Learned to Live Without — Patrick Dempsey Ellen Pompeo may have played the titular role, but for many fans over many years, Patrick Dempsey was the real draw to Grey’s Anatomy. Some of it had to do with his celebrity: Dempsey was the most famous member of the original cast at the time of the pilot and brought with him quite a cult following from his 1987 movie Can’t Buy Me Love. But a lot of it was due to the way Rhimes wrote her McDreamy and how Dempsey depicted him. James D. Parriott I would say, “The guy would never say that,” and Shonda would say, “He’s McDreamy. He’s the perfect man. He would say that.” I’d say, “Okay. It’s your show.” Eric Buchman Shonda had a very clear idea of how important it was to keep Derek as this almost idealized love interest, not just for Meredith but for the audience. Naturally, the writers—especially writers who had been working on one-hour dramas for a while—were like, “Well, maybe have McDreamy make a big mistake in surgery and kill somebody. Or he develops an addiction of some kind. What is his deep, dark secret?” Shonda was very insistent: that’s not the character we do that with. Even when you find out he’s married, that was done in a very sympathetic way that kept him being a hero. He was wronged by his spouse and in spite of it all he was still gonna give his marriage a second chance. Stacy McKee Shonda was protective of McDreamy, but it was really with an eye toward being protective of Meredith. I don’t think the two were separate from one another. I don’t think she wanted to put something out there that maybe on the surface might seem a little frivolous. At its core, there was something really substantial that she wanted to say. She wanted to be very specific about the type of relationship values that she put out there. Tony Phelan I was in editing with Shonda once, and it was the scene where Meredith and Derek had broken up. He comes over and she’s like, “I can’t remember the last time we kissed.” And he says, “I remember. You were wearing this and you smelled of this …”

Joan Rater “Your shampoo smelled like flowers, you had that sweater on …” He described their last kiss. Tony Phelan Typically in editing you start on Derek, then you cut to Meredith for a reaction, and then you’ll go back to him. I noticed that we weren’t ever cutting back to Meredith. I asked why. Shonda said, “Because the woman in Iowa who’s watching this show wants to believe that Patrick is talking to her, and if you cut back to Meredith, it pushes them out of it.” In those special moments, we would just lock into Derek and let him do his thing. Joan Rater And he was a master at it. Patrick Dempsey He’s the ideal man, and that’s what Shonda constructed. There’s a projection [of him] onto me when you come in contact with fans, certainly with the younger and older fans. There is a certain amount of expectation. There is a responsibility to it. It made me grow, too. There were good qualities [of his] that you work on to obtain. Off camera, Dempsey was equally as charismatic to his fellow actors, crew members, and anyone who would come to visit the set. Lauren Stamile I was going in to meet him, and I remember I had this little cardigan sweater on and I took it off before I got into the room. Dempsey is one of those people—it’s almost like there’s a light shining around his body, and you feel like you’re the only person in the room. I got so hot and I remember saying, “Gosh, I would take off my sweater if I had one on because I’m so hot, but I took it off.” I was just babbling. He said, “You look nice,” and I said, “You look nicer.” I felt so awkward and he was so gracious and lovely. I was having a nervous breakdown. It’s like this “it” factor. I was like, God, whatever he has, I wish I had. I think it was very obvious how nervous I was, and he went out of his way to make sure he introduced me to everybody and made sure I felt comfortable, which he certainly didn’t have to do. But he did. Joan Rater He knew I had a giant crush on him, and he loved it. And when we’d go to table reads—I was an actress at one point in my life—they would always give me Meredith if Ellen wasn’t there. And I’d be getting my chicken tenders at craft services before the table read and he’d come up behind me and say, “Are you reading Meredith?” in my ear, like, so sexy. I’d be like, Oh my God. I mean, I could barely … I could not look at him. Tina Majorino I worked with Patrick a ton. I love him so much. We had a really great time working together. I think he’s such a great actor and he really made me laugh a lot. I feel like we had a good dynamic in scenes together, and it was always fun to play opposite him. Yes, he’s that charismatic in real life. Yes, his hair is that awesome. Yes, he is dreamy up close.

Chandra Wilson Patrick Dempsey will forever be known as Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy. Derek Shepherd is a permanent part of television history.

Norman Leavitt He is a big, personable guy.

Jeannine Renshaw We all love Patrick. Patrick is a sweetheart. If I saw him on the street, I’d give him a hug. I love the guy.

Mark Wilding I’ve always had a soft spot for Patrick. He really does try to do the right thing. Brooke Smith, who played Dr. Erica Hahn, remembers how Dempsey defended her when the decision was made to fire her from the show in 2008. Brooke Smith I remember calling him and saying, “Oh my God, they said they can’t write for me anymore, so I guess I’m leaving.” And he was like, “What are you talking about? You’re the only one they’re writing for.” Which at that time, it kind of did feel that way. But I guess someone didn’t like that. They gave me a statement [to release, about her departure] and I never said it. Patrick said that he actually took it out of his jacket on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and read the statement. He won’t let me forget it. He was like, “I defended you, see?” And it was true.

By season eleven, however, fans saw a disturbing break in MerDer’s once unbreakable bond. Six episodes had gone by without a peep from Derek, who was supposedly in Washington, D.C., where he had apparently made out with a research fellow. Fans began threatening to bolt if their hero didn’t return soon to Seattle. “I have never missed one episode,” wrote a fan on Dempsey’s Facebook page. “But I swear if [Rhimes] kills you off I’m done.” But there was a critical reason for Derek’s strange absence: behind the scenes, there was talk of Dempsey’s diva-like fits and tension between him and Pompeo. To help manage the explosive situation, executive producer James D. Parriott was brought back in to serve as a veritable Dempsey whisperer.

Patrick Dempsey [That] was the first year that I haven’t been in every episode. I [was] in every episode since the pilot— close to 250 episodes. That [was a] huge run. James D. Parriott Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes. There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.

Jeannine Renshaw There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that “I’m here too late” or “I’ve been here too long” when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did. When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, “Look around you. These people have been here since six thirty a.m.” He would go, “Oh, yeah.” He would get it. It’s just that actors tend to see things from their own perspective. He’s like a kid. He’s so high energy and would go, “What’s happening next?” He literally goes out of his skin, sitting and waiting. He wants to be out driving his race car or doing something fun. He’s the kid in class who wants to go to recess.

Patrick Dempsey It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, “What are you doing on Monday?” And you go, “I don’t know,” because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.

Longtime Crew Member Poor Patrick. I’m not defending his schtick. I like him, but he was the Lone Ranger. All of these actresses were getting all this power. All the rogue actresses would go running to Shonda and say, “Hey, Patrick’s doing this. Patrick’s late for work. He’s a nightmare.” He was just shut out in the cold. His behavior wasn’t the greatest, but he had nowhere to go. He was so miserable. He had no one to talk to. When Sandra left, I remember him telling me, “I should’ve left then, but I stayed on because they showed me all this money. They just were dumping money on me.”

Patrick Dempsey It [was] hard to say no to that kind of money. How do you say no to that? It’s remarkable to be a working actor, and then on top of that to be on a show that’s visible. And then on top of that to be on a phenomenal show that’s known around the world, and play a character who is beloved around the world. It’s very heady. It [was] a lot to process, and not wanting to let that go, because you never know whether you will work again and have success again.

Jeannine Renshaw A lot of the complaining … I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw. Shonda had to say to the network, “If he doesn’t go, I go.” Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.

James D. Parriott I vaguely recall something like that, but I can’t be sure. It would have happened right toward the end, because I know they were negotiating and negotiating, trying to figure out what to do. We had three different scenarios that we actually had to break because we didn’t know until I think about three days before he came back to set which one we were going to go with. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. We had a whole story line where we were going to keep him in Washington, D.C., so we could separate him from the rest of the show. He would not have to work with Ellen again. Then we had the one where he comes back, doesn’t die, and we figure out what Derek’s relationship with Meredith would be. Then there was the one we did. It was kind of crazy. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. It was ultimately decided that just bringing him back was going to be too hard on the other actors. The studio just said it was going to be more trouble than it was worth and decided to move on.

Stacy McKee I don’t think there was any way to exit him without him dying. He and Meredith were such an incredibly bonded couple at that point. It would be completely out of character if he left his kids. There was no exit that would honor that character other than if he were to die. Patrick Dempsey I don’t remember the date [I got the news]. It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It was just a natural progression. And the way everything was unfolding in a very organic way, it was like, “Okay! This is obviously the right time.” Things happened very quickly. We were like, “Oh, this is where it’s going to go.”

So that was that: McDreamy would die in episode twenty-one of season eleven, even though Dempsey was in year one of his recently signed two-year contract extension. Rhimes wrote a script that was befitting of her lead’s heroic persona: she began “How to Save a Life” by having Derek witness a car crash and helping the injured. Once it appeared everyone was out of harm’s way, Derek continues on his road trip but is suddenly broadsided by a truck.

Rob Hardy (Director) The paramedics leave. He’s there by himself. He’s having a moment. The nice music is playing, and all of a sudden, bang. It comes out of nowhere, which, you know, is how accidents happen. So as opposed to watching it as a viewer, we saw the accident happen through Derek’s perspective. Derek ends up at Dillard Medical Center, a hospital far from Grey Sloan and the talented doctors who work there. His eyes are open, but his brain is severely damaged. No one hears his plea for a CT scan; he can’t speak. To help keep the episode a secret, the scenes were shot in an abandoned hospital in Hawthorne, California, about twenty-two miles from the show’s home studio in Los Feliz.

Mimi Melgaard It was really hard on all of us because it was so secretive and we had so many different locations. We shot at this closed-down hospital that was absolutely creepy haunted. All the scenes there were so sad anyway, and in this yucky-feeling haunted hospital? It was really weird. His whole last episode was really tough. Patrick Dempsey It was like any other day. It was just another workday. There was still too much going on. You’re in the midst of it—you’re not really processing it. Rob Hardy Here’s a guy who’s immobile. Now you’re inside of his head. We were trying to make that feel scary from the perspective of a person who’s used to being in control, from a person who usually has the power of life and death in his own hands. But now he doesn’t have the ability to speak on his own behalf.

Samantha Sloyan When I went to audition, I didn’t recognize any of these doctors’ names. I assumed they were just dummy sides so people wouldn’t ruin the story line or anything like that. All we knew is that we were dealing with a man who’s been in a car accident. I had no idea that it was going to be Derek. I just figured I was going to be a guest doctor and that whoever this person was who was injured, was going to be just a character on the show. Once it became clear what we were working on, I was like, Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe this is the episode I’m on.

Mike McColl (Dr. Paul Castello) I signed an NDA before they would release the script to me. I was reading it in my house, and I was like, “Oh, my God.” I didn’t tell anyone, including my agents. I just said, “This is a really great booking. It’s a great role on Grey’s.” And they didn’t know anything until it aired.

Savannah Paige Rae (Winnie) The first scene I shot was actually the sentimental scene when I’m saying, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives, right?” I’m in the hospital room with Derek and talking to him. Even though I never watched the show, I recognized the value of the episode I was in and just really took it to heart. It was so special that I got to be a part of it.

Rob Hardy [Patrick] had a lot of emotions during the whole shoot, which evolved. I think when we first started, he was very calm and cool … the same Patrick that I remembered when I worked on the show a year or so before. With each passing day, he was a lot more emotional. A lot more was on his mind, and that would show itself in different ways. The finality of the episode and for his character was setting in. You’ve become a global icon on this show and then in five, four, three, two, a day … it’s over.

James D. Parriott Patrick was very cooperative and good.

Mike McColl When I met Patrick, he’s lying on a stretcher and we’re rushing him into the ER. I just introduced myself, shook his hand, and was like, “Man, I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be the guy to take you down.” He loved it. He could not have been nicer to me and was funny through the whole shoot. He was on the table in front of me there when I cut his chest open and all that stuff. He gave me a hug at the end. It was a real privilege to be a part of TV history in that way.

Samantha Sloyan I remember him being incredibly kind. They had his neck in a brace, and he’s strapped down to the board, so there wasn’t a ton of chatting. I remember him being really kind, but it was clearly intense for him.

Stacy McKee It was such a beautiful piece of storytelling. I knew this event was going to be a really sad, horrible event for Meredith, but I also knew it was going to be the beginning of such an incredible chapter for Meredith.

Dempsey completed his final hours of shooting on a rainy night. There was no goodbye party, no goodbye cake. Maybe that’s because some cast members were left out of the loop. James Pickens, Jr., told ABC News that the cast “didn’t know a whole lot. It was kind of on the fly. So whatever information we got, we pretty much got it kind of right before it happened.”

Caterina Scorsone (Dr. Amelia Shepherd) I didn’t get to say goodbye to Patrick when he left. I do think that helped, because I’ve been using the character of Derek in my internal landscape since Private Practice. Derek was the stability in Amelia’s life. He became a father figure after they watched robbers shoot their father. When he was suddenly gone from the show, we didn’t have that closure, so I got to play it out. She’s about to use drugs again before Owen confronts her in a way that she finally talks about her feelings about losing Derek. She doesn’t end up using.

James D. Parriott The day he left, that was my last day. There was a certain sadness to it, but I think he was relieved. I mean, I think it took a toll on him, too.

Rob Hardy I didn’t see other actors showing up and saying, “Hey, it’s the last day! Wanted to come and wish you well.” I didn’t get that. It was more the Patrick show. We were in the Patrick world, and then Ellen came, and there was definitely a lot of emotion that both of them had individually … not necessarily together. It was more so her being there on the day that he died. He had his own way of being with that, and the same thing with her. It was like two people who grew up together and … here we are. They had their own way of reflecting.

Patrick Dempsey I very quietly left. It was beautiful. It was raining, which was really touching. I got in my Panamera, got in rush-hour traffic, and two hours later I was home. Big news like this doesn’t stay quiet for long. Both Michael Ausiello—who left EW in 2010 to launch the news site TVLine—and Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter learned two weeks prior to Dempsey’s final episode that he would be leaving the show. No reporter worth their salt wants to sit on a scoop—least of all one as huge as this—but Ausiello and Goldberg didn’t want to spoil the outcome for fans, so they agreed to hold the story until after the episode aired. I eventually found out, too, but in the nuttiest way imaginable: I was standing on the set of CSI: Cyber, watching Patricia Arquette talk about some droll techno-criminal. Unfortunately, the publicist also cc’d Dempsey’s manager and ABC publicist while trying to give me a major story, so I couldn’t immediately report the scoop. But I did use the information to successfully negotiate the one and only exit interview with Dempsey. Two weeks before his final episode, I met him and his publicist at Feed Body & Soul in Venice, California, for a story that would hit newsstands on April 24. He seemed a little shell-shocked and at one point choked up, but at the time he said nothing about how his on-set behavior may have contributed to his ouster. My editor, Henry Goldblatt, wanted to put him on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but he couldn’t guarantee to ABC that no one would see it before the episode aired. Good thing we didn’t: some subscribers got the issue on the morning of Dempsey’s final episode— and one actually tweeted the story. Our PR department tried to get the tweets removed, but the cat was out of the bag: some fans found out early that McDreamy was about to be McHistory. Outlets like Variety reported how the story got out early, while our PR department released this statement: “We are surprised that an EW subscriber may have received their issue a day earlier than planned. We always try our best to bring readers exclusive news first. We would like to apologize to fans of the show that learned the news ahead of time.” Dempsey’s final episode was watched by 8.83 million viewers—the show’s largest audience since the premiere that season. Variety even pontificated whether the ratings boost was due to my exclusive with Dempsey.

Lesley Goldberg (The Hollywood Reporter) I’m used to working with networks to hold news as part of their efforts to guard against plot spoilers. But the way Patrick Dempsey’s exit was handled involved a layer of paranoia and secrecy that has been unlike anything I’ve seen in my reporting career. News that he was leaving, and his character being killed off, would have been a major story considering how big the show is domestically and internationally. However, it also would have meant spoiling the episode and, more important, damaging key relationships I’ve worked hard to build. At some point, publishing the news of Dempsey’s exit before the episode aired became an ethical question of what was more important—a big story and its subsequent traffic, which would have come no matter what, or the relationships and trust that it took years to craft. Ultimately, I still published early because EW subscribers received the issue with Lynette’s Dempsey interview before the episode aired.

Mike McColl The morning after Derek’s last episode aired, my daughter sent me a link that was on YouTube or Facebook or something. I actually pulled it up to look at it, and it was a Grey’s Anatomy showbiz cheat sheet. It asked the question “Who is the attending doctor who killed Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepherd?” It included a photo that I posted from the set. I had on a bloody rubber glove and was in my scrubs and mask. I never obviously would have posted this before it aired. I posted it well after the episode aired, and I [captioned it] “McDeadly.” This writer said something like, “Kill McDeadly.” Maybe that’s why the producer didn’t choose a big-name actor to be the one who killed our beloved McDreamy! I want to be ultrasensitive to these hard-core fans because it means so much to them, and I certainly didn’t mean in that case to make light of it. It’s just, I’m an actor, and I recognize it for what it is. Is everybody clear on the fact that this is just pretend and Patrick knew he was going to be leaving the show? It was just like, “God. He’s okay. He really is okay.”

Peter Horton Derek was going to be there forever with Meredith because you went through a whole journey with them. That was incredibly fulfilling. So even if he’s not there, he’s there. I don’t think any of us really worried about that going away because by then you were so invested in it. The show can last as it has for years.

Patrick Dempsey Lots of people [miss him]. “It’s good to see you alive” is the comment I get. I’m like, “Yes, I’m very much alive in reruns.” People were really invested in that relationship. I knew it would be heavy. Very happy to have moved on with a different chapter in my life.

Samantha Sloyan The montage just killed me, when Meredith says, “It’s okay, you can go.” God, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. The chemistry they have as a pair and the way they were able to build that and sustain it! So many of these relationships are, like, “Will they, won’t they,” and then it wears thin. They sustained it for the duration of their relationship on the show, and it’s just, I think, a testament to what those two created. It was just unbelievable.

Pompeo addressed Dempsey’s departure with a tweet that focused solely on his character, not on how she spent eleven years working side by side with him: “There are so many people out there who have suffered tremendous loss and tragedy. Husbands and wives of soldiers, victims of senseless violence, and parents who have lost children. People who get up every day and do what feels like is the impossible. So it is for these people and in the spirit of resilance [sic] I am honored and excited to tell the story of how Meredith goes on in the face of what feels like the impossible.” Meanwhile, fans futilely created a Change.org petition to reinstate McDempsey, while other, more desperate ones simply tweeted “We Hate You” to Rhimes.

Shonda Rhimes Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character—for Meredith, for me, and for the fans. I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our McDreamy. Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example— happy, sad, romantic, painful, and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love. His loss will be felt by all.

Talk about the mother (father?) of all postscripts: In November of 2020 Dempsey reprised his role as McDreamy in the season opener—but only in Meredith’s dreams. Stricken with COVID-19, an unconscious Meredith “imagined” reuniting with her husband on the beach. After talking exclusively to Deadline and saying how it was “really a very healing process, and really rewarding,” Dempsey would return for more beach-based episodes that would ultimately stand out as the best moments of season seventeen. “It was a second chance thing,” one ABC executive told me at the time. “Shonda likes a comeback. Also, they wanted him in their last season.”

[mccoyyy]

moving this to my new blog so I can pin it again lol

@stregoni-benefici you are completely correct but I just wanted to expand on this a little bit - also i’m putting this under a read more cause this got a lot longer than i originally thought it would be

sexism: smeyers treatment of female characters throughout the entire series is extremely problematic. like you don’t even need to read deep into the books to see that. the backstories of all her female characters all involve some form of trauma and are significantly more violent than the male vampires (Rosalie and Esme enduring physical/sexual assault meanwhile Edward dies of the flu and Emmett gets vibe checked by a bear).

she also creates the idea that a woman isn’t complete without children/being a mother. every female vampire in the series is desperate for children yet can’t, its mentioned in pretty much every book and extreme emphasis is placed on how tragic this is. a female character wanting children isn’t wrong or sexist at all but the way its written in twilight makes it seem like its something a woman has to do in order to be happy and smeyer pretty much cements this idea by making Bella suddenly desperate to have Renesmee despite showing no interest in children/audibly voicing her thoughts against having children in eclipse and the start of breaking dawn (i’m pretty sure Bella has a line of dialogue in the books where she says something like she didn’t realise it was something she wanted/needed until it happened bit I’m not sure I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

there’s also the way she writes female characters, specifically Rosalie. its mentioned throughout the series that Rosalie has extreme mechanical skills and multiple degrees in STEM fields but its barely ever shown, and instead her characterisation focuses on being obsessed with her looks (first couple pages of this, written by smeyer for new moon), and being a ‘stereotypical bitch’. for the first three books most of her character/dialogue is based on being cold and rude to Bella. She is unnecessarily painted as the villain for having different views on Bella (quite literally) giving up her life and future to be with a man (which is a whole other can of worms). the same is done to the character of Leah in eclipse/breaking dawn. Leah is a woman in the Quileute Tribe, she has been severely affected by the Cullen’s presence in the area and is painted as a character that the reader is supposed to dislike simply because she doesn’t like Bella/the Cullen’s despite having extremely valid reasons not to

anti-Native - smeyers treatment of native tribes is horrendous. she has profited fr years off of of native american culture for years and has done so without any acknowledgements. furthermore, she also demonises native american teens (especially in new moon) by calling them wild, violent, dangerous and out of control and then uses these stereotypes to create a contrast between the self control and patience of the Cullen’s and make them seem more like the good guys, and the wolf pack being lesser. She does this again with the treatment of Jacobs character in new moon and especially eclipse.

Jacob starts off in new moon as Bella’s best friend. he helps Bella come out of a severe depression caused when Edward left at the start of the book. however in eclipse his character makes a complete flip and he becomes moody, temperamental, argumentative and disrespectful of Bella’s boundaries. his character becomes unrecognisable and despite smeyers claims of a love triangle, it is obvious what the outcome will be. I have seen countless instances of people on this site claiming they hate Jacob because he is a dick/disrespectful/just as unhealthy as Edward. this was done on purpose by smeyer as she uses Jacob to make Edward seem like the obvious and correct choice for Bella. if you need more proof of this, take the scene where Jacob kisses Bella without her consent and she breaks her hand when punching him, Edward swoops in and almost gets into a fight with Jacob for touching Bella without her consent. this is an obvious attempt to make Jacob seem like the villain and Edward the white saviour

there’s also the treatment of the native characters by the white characters in the books. multiple times in the series, the native characters are called/compared to dogs/brutes and have a distinct unpleasant smell. I don’t think I need to explain how this is racist. the pack also helps the Cullen’s/saves Bella’s lives and never receive any acknowledgement/are treated any better by the Cullen’s/anyone really. the pack are only ever used as a way to make the Cullen’s look better.

there’s also some pretty obvious similarities to colonisation with the Cullen’s entering Quiluete lands which then forces them to start phasing into wolves (and I’m pretty sure none of the pack actually want to start phasing). also, remember Leah? the only female member of the wolf pack? because of the change she effectively can’t have children? that has implications.

and to top it all off, after doing all that, smeyer has never once addressed this or even acknowledged the Quileute Tribe.

pedophilic - I mean even without mentioning breaking dawn its pretty awful. first of all you’ve got the blatant sexualisation of minors throughout the entire series. Edward is 17 throughout the series and smeyer is writing literal paragraphs about his chiselled abs. Jacob is 16/17 when she has him running about forks topless with a 6 pack. this is way more apparent in the movies but its still a huge issue in the books and lead to Taylor Lautner being confronted by adult fans trying to get him to sign their underwear, and being forced into being shirtless for most of the movies which made him extremely uncomfortable (Elizabeth Reaser (Esme) briefly talks about this in the ID10T podcast on spotify). and just as a reminder, Taylor was 16 when the first one was filmed and 17 for the second.

Breaking Dawn is a whole other can of worms. the glaringly obvious issue is Jacob imprinting on a literal newborn baby. now the concept of imprinting itself has racist elements to it, but its heavily implied in the series that imprinting will inevitably lead to a romantic relationship. Jacob imprinting on Renesmee and waiting until she is old enough to enter into a romantic relationship (never mind the fact that shes ‘old enough’ she will still technically be 5) is pretty much grooming. The same happens with Quil and his imprint, Claire (a two year old) where I’m pretty sure there’s a scene in breaking dawn where Jacob and Leah are watching Quil play with Claire and talking about how Quil isn’t going to date anyone because he and Claire are ‘pretty much inevitable’ (i might be wrong though, like I said I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

smeyer has also written a spin off book (its like 250 odd pages) called the short second life of Bree Tanner (Bree is that newborn vampire killed after the battle in eclipse by the Volturi btw). In this book, Bree is 15 almost 16, and another character Diego is 18 which is definitely pushing the boundaries of ok. (also as a side note, funny how Bree and Jacob are literally the same age and smeyer states multiple times how Bree deserved better and is only a child (who straight up kills people), yet when it comes to Jacob he has to be a responsible adult and is vilified for every mistake he makes)

racist - smeyer refused to let Catherine Hardwicke (director of the first twilight) have a diverse cast because she ‘imagined them a certain way’ (white) and it was a fight to get Edi Gathegi cast as Laurent and had to compromise with smeyer to make Bella’s friend group more diverse. this woman straight up refused to hire more diverse actors and only agreed to when they were side characters/villains.

Also in the official companion book/guide to twilight, smeyer literally writes that vampire venom makes you white

‘the venom leeches all pigmentation from the skin into a more indestructable vampire form…regardless of original ethnicity a vampires skin will be exceptionally pale’ (official illustrated guide pg.69)

this is a whole lot of bullshit cause she is literally whitewashing characters, but when you pair this with the idea that vampires possess inhuman levels of beauty it becomes extremely problematic and implies that being pale/white is more beautiful than darker skin tones.

also, if we go back to Laurent’s character for a second. so Laurent is one of the only characters who isn’t described as white (in the books he is described as having a pale olive skin tone) and in the first book he comes across as pretty reasonable (warning carlisle about James/Victoria, travels up to Denali and tries out the veggie lifestyle) but in new moon, his characterisation pulls a 180° (sensing a theme here) and is suddenly trying to kill Bella as a favour to Victoria and is Evil™ despite in the first book he literally says to Carlisle he didn’t particularly like travelling with James/Victoria and was only really doing it for convenience. where did this undying loyalty come from? yet again, smeyer is completely disregarding established characterisation in POC characters specifically to villainise them.

and finally, we have Jasper. for some reason (that reason being that she is racist) smeyer decides to make Jasper a confederate soldier in his human life. if you don’t have a lot of knowledge on the american civil war, the confederacy were the side of the US that seceded from the union in order to keep their slaves. Jasper was a confederate soldier, and not just any soldier, but a major. Jasper was a major in an army that fought for 4 years to keep the existence of slavery (and don’t even try to say that slavery wasn’t the root cause of the civil war. states rights aye? states rights to do what). now there’s an argument out there made by certain fans that a lot of people joined the confederate army out of pride/were forced into it cause of conscription to try and head canon the racism away but like that doesn’t matter. there was literally no need to make jasper a confederate in the first place. if she was so desperate to have a civil war vampire then she could have made him a member of the union. its been common knowledge that the confederacy was racist for a long time now, smeyer has absolutely no excuses here.

a lot of these issues overlap and I have probably missed heaps of issues (so feel free to add on) but hope this helps explain why smeyer can *ahem* get tae absolute fuck

[smalltownfae]

Top five non-fantasy genres?

I haven't read enough non-fantasy books for this to be completely accurate. Especially considering that even magical realism is included in fantasy and that I don't consider classics or literary fiction a genre.

1. Science Fiction. Damn, but I am really picky with this one. One of my favourite authors is a scifi author, one of my favourite books is "Frankenstein" and I do usually enjoy dystopias, which are part of the scifi genre. However, I hate the scientific and technological focus of most scifi I've read. I like the ideas, but the lack of character bothers me. Just like in fantasy, I prefer low scifi. I don't usually like the space setting either. But, when I love a scifi book I really really love it. If we include movies I also really tend to like them. I accept the technobabble in movies way better because the characters care for it as much as I do and just tell the exposition character to move on so the plot can continue.

2. Historical Fiction. This can be any historical period really so there is a lot of room for different stories here. I am just tired of the WWII stories. There are way too many of those and there are way better things to focus on. I also need to read historical fiction from other continents besides Europe. From my experience these tend to be character focused. I particularly like Sarah Waters' books.

3. Thriller. Especially psychological thrillers. I don't usually like police detective stories. What I like is an average person put into difficult situations that they have to learn to deal with. I prefer this genre way better in movies. It's probably my favourite when it comes to movies. However, when it comes to books it's often just fun while I am reading and forgettable after that. Plus, I don't often feel like rereading these books, which is why I don't buy them as much anymore. I did recently bought "The Maid" though and I did enjoy all the books by Gillian Flynn so far so there is that.

4. Contemporary. Here is a genre that has been growing on me even if I am still really really picky about it. I guess what I am not interested in is contemporary that feels too close from my own experience because there is no novelty to it. I already know those things since I am living them. Due to this, I am trying to look for contemporary from non white people and depending on the synopsis I will see if it appeals to me. I also prefer these books to be really short. It's another one of those genres that I can only take in small doses. I recently figured out that contemporary romances don't work for me though. Fantasy romances and historical romances are a maybe, but not contemporary it seems. Once again it might be because it's usually about situations I am more or less familiar with if there is only the romance and nothing else. The most I do about these books is think that they are alright and I don't want to waste my time on just alright books anymore.

5. Mystery. Here is a genre that I used to enjoy way more than I do now. The fun for me with these books is trying to figure out who did the crime and I like these books to be really short (250 pages maximum). Agatha Christie usually has great characters in her novels given how little time she has to make me care for them, but at times she manages that. It's too bad that now I can't help seeing the racism and the classism in her stories, which makes me not enjoy the books as much as I used to. I've seen mystery books that are so long and I immediately know those aren't for me. There are also mystery books that make it impossible for the reader to guess who did it and those are for people that are reading just to be entertained without having to think, which is not what I like in mysteries. So, for this genre what I need to find is short who done it books and I have a tendency for what is called cosy mysteries and/or close circle mysteries.