#my FAVE jordan quote

[oh-theatre]

Hal, admiring a sleeping Bruce: You’re so cute

Bruce, half asleep: I could kill you

Hal, lovingly and trying not to laugh: I know

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (21-27 Jan 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Cat Person (The_She_Devil) - 72K, shrunkyclunks - Bucky's the SHIELD agt tasked with bringing newly defrosted Steve up to speed on the 21st century - there's really hot sex in a secluded cabin PLUS feelings. All around deliciousness.

😊 Dark Carnivals: Modern Horrors and the Origins of American Empire (W. Scott Poole, author; Enrique McGavin, narrator) - interesting, edifying, depressing. Not as much discusssion of the films as I expected/would have liked - like 70% rundown of USian imperial activities of the last two centuries, 30% horror/scifi film discussion. [In hindsight, should have read this in text, as there were passages I really wanted to highlight/quote and the narration was…weird. Voice sound & tone was OK but there were lots of bizarre pauses. Sometimes when reading a quotes from a notable figure, the narrator did do some very credible imitations of Clinton & Reagan.]

😍 Waking Up Slow (odetteandodile) - 44K, shrunkyclunks - single dad Bucky, living in a isolated lighthouse in Canada, finds an amesiac, just-thawed Steve Rogers washed up on his beach… (reread for stucky bookclub, forever fave!)

😊 for a good time, call… (EvanesDust) - 46K, sterek, omegaverse fake-dating - solidly enjoyable

😊 Maurice (E.M. Forester, author; Peter Firth, narrator) - read this for a discord book club, can't believe I hadn't read it before & it's been 30 years since I watched the movie. Forester's language & turn of phrase is amazing.

🥰 And My Love Life Waits for Me (Bittersweet_in_Boston (author); Alaskan_Outsider (artist)) - 62K, shrunkyclunks soulmate fic - satisfyingly enjoyable, not nearly as dark as the tags might make you think

💖💖 +190K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Own Me series (nrnyx) - TW: Jordan/Derek /Stiles, 62K (series) - Stiles gets picked up by husbands Jordan & Derek at the club and what starts as a very hot one night stand becomes so much more. Very werewolfy omegaverse stuff. Hot quality smut but also action-y plot!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Goncharov (berlincorpography) - Goncharov (1973): OFC / OFC, 6K - very clever & funny fic featuring disaster lesbians, film criticism & academia

Once Upon a Time (softestpunk) - The Sandman: Dreamling, 14K - just so soft & warm, pure delight! They're both single dads! Falling in love! Dream is a children's librarian!

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - s8, e5-10

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Not All Who Wanda Are Lost" (s21, e3)

D20: Adventuring Party - "I Wanda'd In" (s16, e3)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

What Next: TBD - Have Algorithms Ruined Our Culture?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Whimzeyland

The Sporkful - Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Delta Tamales

Today, Explained - Frosty the Tesla

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Slowjamastan

It's Been a Minute - Benny Safdie on 'The Curse' — and performing goodness

Shedunnit - A Reading Life

Pop Culture Happy Hour - 2024 Oscar Nominations

Switched on Pop - Kali Uchis takes on the world

Today, Explained - Modi’s temple grandstanding

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Cord Jefferson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Code Switch - What happens when public housing goes private?

ICYMI - The TikTok Joy of Mychal the Librarian

Vibe Check - Heavy Negro Sigh

Culture Gabfest - True Detective’s Coldest Case Yet

Ologies with Alie Ward - Carcinology (CRABS) Part 2 with Adam Wall

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Giant Spectacle in Goffstown

Films To Be Buried With - Vincent D'Onofrio

The Sporkful - Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Tteokbokki

Off Menu - Ep 218: Jada Pinkett Smith

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Into the Huluverse

Endless Thread - The schism at the end of the tunnel

Dear Prudence - My Husband Stopped Using Soap and He Stinks. Help!

⭐ 99% Invisible #567 - The Double Kick

You're Dead to Me - Pythagoras

It's Been a Minute - South Africa's case for preventing genocide in Palestine; plus, why people love cults

Today, Explained - Music’s Pitchfork in the road

99% Invisible - Roman Mars Describes Chicago As It Is

Hit Parade - The Bridge: The Number of the Nominees Shall Be Five

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Folk Radio • Chill

Pop Radio • Downbeat

Dive Bar Karaoke

"Unholy" [Sam Smith & Kim Petras] radio

Essential New Wave

Melanie Radio • Familiar

My Mix 4 (Jimmy Buffett, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, Eagles)

[booksandwords]

Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price

Series: PsyCop, #1 Read Time: 2 Days Rating: 3/5

The quote: And when I felt overwhelmed, I’d just stand around and zone out, and everyone would assume I was talking to dead people. — Victor Bayne

I don't know what to make of this really. Honestly, I enjoyed the plot I like that sort of supernatural whatdunit and it took me a distressingly long time to figure this out. I know my supernatural lore I should have figured this out much earlier. But Among the Living also has a whole lot of I guess poorly written or ill-fitting smut. I don't read these for smut never have never will (wait that's a lie some authors do write it well enough that I will read their books regardless of plot). The characters have some chemistry but it essentially comes down to what Vic calls Psych groupie once you see that you cannot unsee it. Also, the plot ending is somewhat illogical even given the paranormal concept. Yes, they do have their own built-in logic systems and this one failed it's own system. Or Jordan Castillo Price chose to let the reader put together the scraps which is an option but doesn't make a lot of sense here. I did like the scene details and the writing though. The lore is at least mostly sound, the powers aren't op they all have a downside to them, a limitation or restriction. This is at least an okay start for a series.

I do sort of like the characters especially Lisa her powers are brilliant and powerful for something that appears so simple. It's also nice to see a character like her one who doesn't want her gift and is forced into revealing it. Carolyn's are just unenviable once you understand the scope and the way they can easily weaponised against her. Victor Bayne's scare me a little especially once you realise how much he sees. There is a rather distressing scene in the basement that felt so unnecessary but it also feels like it is setting something up for a future book, I really hope it wasn't just for kicks and giggles. It's a tiny moment in a book but oh I needed a minute there. There are innocent victims and then there is that. Our other leading man I struggled with Jacob Marks was a problem for me. Once Vic called him a Psych groupie I couldn't help but see him like that. The ending does not redeem that all, unfortunately. He kinda feeling like generic cop number 3. A walking talking wall of meat and muscle, yeah he has a brain but it's not utilised well. Victor himself is a good voice for a series. He has a reasonable voice and he's funny which is important. He actually reminds me a little of Calyx Starr from Juxtapose City but with less sex. If I compare anyone to Starr it's usually a good thing. Starr is a fave.

[theweathaa]

Trent, slamming his hand on the counter: I need a drink.

Hendo: He wants apple juice with no sugar added.

[sixth-light]

The Crusades: A Fandom Primer

Like many of you, I am very excited to see a whole lot of fic about everybody’s favourite new Crusades-era Muslim/Christian immortal warrior husbands! However, a preliminary reading indicates that fandom is a bit hazy on what actually happened during the Crusades. Or where. Or why. They’re a much-mythologised piece of history so this isn’t surprising, but at popular request – ok like five people that counts – I’m here with a fandom-oriented Crusades primer.

Please bear in mind that I’m not a historian and this primer is largely based on my notes and recollections from several undergraduate history courses I took in the mid ‘00s. I expect the field has moved on somewhat, and I welcome corrections from people with more up-to-date knowledge! There’s also this very good post by someone who is a lot less lazy about links than I am.

Where did they take place?

The Crusades, broadly, describe a series of invasions of the Eastern Mediterranean (modern Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Beirut, Jordan, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey and Greece) by (mostly) Western European armies, religiously justified by their belief that the city of Jerusalem should be part of ‘Christendom’, i.e. ruled by a Christian monarch. In the first expression of European settler colonialism, nobles from the area of modern France and Germany founded four Crusader Kingdoms (aka ‘Outremer’, ‘overseas’) – the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and County of Tripoli.

  After a first unexpected wave of success in the First Crusade (1096-1099), which surprised everybody including the participants by conquering Jerusalem, the Crusaders were gradually driven and the last part of Outremer was lost to European control with the fall of the city of Acre in 1291. Crusades after that still nominally aimed to take Jerusalem but rarely got very far, with the Fourth Crusade famously sacking the city of Byzantium, their nominal Christian allies, in 1204. During this whole period activity that can be considered part of the ‘Crusades’ took place around the Eastern Mediterranean.

The most important thing to remember is that modern national boundaries didn’t exist in the same way; Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the UK were not unified nations. Most of the southern Iberian peninsula (modern Spain) was ‘al-Andalus’, Muslim kingdoms ruled by nobility originally from North Africa. Sicily had been an Emirate up until very recently, when it had been conquered by Normans (Vikings with a one-century stopover in France). Italy and Germany in particular were a series of city-states and small duchies; Genoa, if you’re curious about it for some reason, ;), was a maritime power with more or less a distinct language, Genoese Ligurian (their dialect had enough of a navy to qualify). England had recently become part of the Anglo-Norman Empire, which ruled most of England (but not Wales or Scotland) and also large parts of modern France, particularly Normandy.

The Muslim world was similarly fragmented in ways that don’t correspond to modern national boundaries - there were multiple taifa states in Iberia, the Almoravid Caliphate in Morocco, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, and (nominally) the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, one of the great cities of the era, although the Seljuq Turks were the major power in Anatolia (modern Turkey) and what we describe as the ‘Middle East’. 

The largest Christian unified power in the wider European/Mediterranean region was the Byzantine Empire, centered on the city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), which quite fairly considered itself the direct continuation of the Roman Empire, the capital having been moved there by the Emperor Constantine in 323. In fact, the really big political and religious question of the time for Christians was who got to be considered the centre of Christendom (there was no real concept of ‘Europe’ at this point) – the Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Emperor, and the Patriarch of Constantinople in Constantinople, or the Holy Roman Emperor (er…dude in nominal charge of a lot of German and Italian principalities) and the Roman Catholic Church led by the Pope in Rome. The Orthodox Church in Constantinople and the Roman Catholic Church had agreed to disagree in 1054 in the Great Schism, so in 1096 this issue was still what you’d call fresh.

Onto this stage of East-West disagreement and the heritage of Rome crashed the Seljuq Turks, a Muslim group from Central Asia who swept through Anatolia (modern Turkey), Byzantium’s richest province, culminating in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 which wiped out Byzantium as an independent military force. The southern provinces had fallen under Muslim rule long ago, during the era of the first Umayyad Caliphate – including Jerusalem, famous as the birthplace of Christianity and a holy site for Judaism and Islam as well, but also a fairly uninteresting provincial town. Until...

Until…what?

Here’s why all the geography matters: It is generally accepted that the First Crusade kicked off largely because Alexios I Comnenus, the then-current Byzantine Emperor, requested aid from Western Europe against the Muslim Seljuq Turks. Byzantium often recruited mercenaries from Western Europe; the Normans (aka the Vikings), who had settled Normandy and southern Italy in the past century were frequent hires. Hence those runes in the Hagia Sophia.

Meanwhile in Western Europe, the Pope – Urban II – was having difficulty with the current Emperor, and was eager to heal the Schism and establish the primacy of the Roman church. He declared that an expedition to aid the Byzantines would have the blessing of the church, and that a new kind of pilgrimage – an armed pilgrimage – was religiously acceptable, if aimed against the enemies of Christendom.

Pilgrimages (travelling to holy sites, such as churches that held saints’ relics) were a major part of European Christianity at the time and many people went on pilgrimage in their lives, so this was a familiar concept. Western Europe was also somewhat overpopulated with knights – don’t think plate armour, this is 1096, think very murderous rich men with good swords – who could always use forgiveness, on account of all the murder. The Roman Catholic church, unlike the Eastern Orthodox church, also subscribed to the concept of ‘just war’, that war could be acceptable for the right reasons. And so a whole lot of nobles from the area of modern France, Belgium, England, Germany, and Italy decided that this new Crusade thing was something they wanted in on – and they took several armies with them.

I’m going to skip over a bunch of stuff involving the People’s Crusade (a popular movement of poorer people, got literally slaughtered in Anatolia), the massacres of Jews in Eastern Europe, and a lot of battles, but the takeaway is this: Alexios probably thought he was getting mercenaries. He got a popular religious movement that, somewhat unfortunately, actually achieved its goal (Jerusalem), did next to nothing to solve his Anatolia problem, and gave a succession of Popes a convenient outlet for errant knights, nobles, and rulers: going on Crusade.  

How many were there?

Official Crusades that anybody cares about: Nine, technically. Crusade-like military events that immortal soldiers might have got involved with, plus local stoushes in Outremer: way more. WAY more.

The First Crusade (1096-1099): First and original, set a frankly (heh) terrible precedent, founded the Crusader States and captured Jerusalem. Only regarded as a clash of civilisations by the Western Christians involved. For the local Muslims it was just another day at the ‘Byzantium hires Frankish mercenaries to make our lives difficult’ office.

The Crusade of 1101: Everybody who peaced out on the First Crusade hurried to prove they were actually up for it, once the remaining First Crusaders took Jerusalem. Didn’t do much.

The Second Crusade (1147-1150): The County of Edessa falls, Eleanor of Aquitaine happens (my fave), the only winners are the people who semi-accidentally conquer Lisbon (in Portugal) (but from Muslim rulers so that…counts?).

The Third Crusade (1189-1192): You all know this one because it has RICHARD THE LIONHEART and SALADIN. Much Clash of Civilisations, very Noble, did enough to keep the remaining Crusader kingdoms going but access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims was obtained by treaty, not conquest. Indirectly responsible for the Robin Hood mythos when Richard gets banged up in prison on the way home and is away from England for ages.

The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204): Aims for Jerusalem, ends up sacking the Eastern Orthodox city of Constantinople, just not a great time for anybody, more or less the eventual cause of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453.  

The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221): Still going for Jerusalem, starts with Cairo instead, does not get anywhere it wants to even after allying with the Anatolian Sultanate of Rum, making the whole ‘Christians vs Muslims’ thing even murkier than it already was post the Fourth Crusade.

The Sixth Crusade (1228-1229): Somehow these things are still going. Nobody even does very much fighting. Access to Jerusalem is negotiated by treaty, yet again.

The Seventh, Eight, and Ninth Crusades: Seriously nobody cares anymore and also nobody is trying very hard. Kings have better things to do, mostly. People end up in Egypt a lot. We covered these in one lecture and I have forgotten all of it.

The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229): Why take a three-year trip to the Holy Land to fight pagans when you can fight the ones in your own backyard (southern France), AND take their stuff? Famously the source of the probably apocryphal ‘Kill them all, God will know His own’ quote, regarding the massacre of most of a city harbouring Cathars (a Christian sect deemed heretical).

Can we circle back to that ‘massacres of Jews’ bit? WTF?

Crusades, historically, were Not A Good Time for Jewish communities in Europe; when Christians were riled up to go and Fight The Infidel, it was a lot quicker to massacre local Jews than travel to the Holy Land. Also, then you could take their stuff. I will note here that it is VERY TACKY to use historical pogroms as backdrops for your non-Jewish main characters so keep this in mind but, like, use with extreme caution in fanfic, okay? Generally life was a lot easier for Jewish communities in Muslim-ruled states in this period, which is why so many Hispanic Jews ended up in Turkey after they were expelled from Spain. 

What were they really about, then?

Historians still Have Opinions about this. Genuine religious fervour was absolutely a key motivator, especially of the First Crusade. The ability to wage war sanctioned by the Church, or to redeem your local sins by going and fighting against the pagans, was part of that, too. Control of key trade routes to the East was probably not not a part of it. The Crusader States were definitely Baby’s First Experiment With Settler Colonialism, and paved the theological and rhetorical ground for the colonisation of the Americas. But many individuals on the Christian side would absolutely have believed they were doing God’s work. The various Muslim rulers and certainly the local Christian, Jewish, and Muslim inhabitants of the Holy Land itself were mostly just getting invaded by Franks. As time wound on the Crusades became more and more political (frequently featuring intra-religious violence and inter-religious alliances) and less and less about their forever nominal goal, control of Jerusalem.

How’s Wikipedia on this?

Basically not too bad but I’m not totally confident on some of the bits about motivation (see: white supremacists love this period, ugh.)

Why did they stop?

The prospect of re-taking Jerusalem vanished entirely as the Ottoman Empire centralised and took a firm hold over most of the Levant (and made inroads into Europe, as far as Austria, taking Constantinople in 1453 and finally ending the continuous Roman Empire), the Spanish Reconquista and various intra-European conflicts (the Hundred Years’ War, for example) absorbed military attention, and then the Reformation happened and half of Europe stopped listening to the Pope and started stabbing each other over who was the right kind of Christian. But the concept lingered; white supremacists love the Crusades. Which is why it is a very good idea to be sparing with Crusader imagery around Niccolò in fanfic set in the modern era, and please for fuck’s sake stop with the ‘crugayders’ tag, Yusuf wasn’t a Crusader.  

What other fun facts should I keep in mind re: Nicky | Nicolò and Joe | Yusuf?

·        Genoa is not the same as Italy; Nicolò is Nicolò di Genova and would have spoken Genoese (Ligurian) and considered himself to be Genoese. Italian as a language didn’t really exist yet. The language he and Yusuf would most likely have had in common was the ‘lingua franca’ (Frankish language, literally) of the Mediterranean trading region, a pidgin based heavily on maritime Italian languages. Yusuf 300% would have thought of him as a ‘Frank’ (the generic term for Western Christians) and probably annoyed him by calling him that until at least 1200 or so.

·        Yusuf is apparently from ‘Maghrib’, which I assume means al-Maghrib/the Maghreb (as his actor is IIRC of Tunisian descent), i.e. North Africa. He could have had relatives in al-Andalus (southern modern Spain), he may have spoken languages other than Arabic natively (Mozarabic or Berber), his native area had universities before Europe did. Basically: this is as useful as saying he’s ‘from Europe’, do better backstory writers.

·        Taking the whole ‘Nicky used to be a priest’ backstory at face value: being a priest in 1096 looked pretty different to how it did even 200 years later. They were still working on the celibacy thing. The famous monastic orders were still forming. Some priests could and did hold lands and go to war (this wasn’t common but it happened, especially if they were nobles by birth). Nicolò di Genova would not necessarily have seen a conflict between going on Crusade and being a priest, is what I’m getting at. If he was ALSO trained as a knight, he was from a wealthy family; it took the equivalent several villages to support a knight.

·        ‘Period-typical homophobia’ is going to look very different for this period. They are NOT getting beaten up for holding hands. Or sharing a bed! Or even kissing, depending on the circumstances! I am not an expert on Islamic sexual mores of the era but Christian ones were heavily on the side of ‘unsanctioned sex is bad, sanctioned (marital) sex is slightly less bad’, and there was no concept of ‘being gay’. An interfaith relationship would be in some ways more of a problem for them than the same-sex one (and in some ways less difficult to navigate than a heterosexual interfaith relationship.) The past is another country.

·        Look just no more fanfics where Yusuf is trying to learn ‘Italian’ in the early twelfth century I am BEGGING you all

[mikelogan]

Tagged by: @lesbianiconsteveharrington the true mvp

Fave color: blue, pretty much any shade. as a general rule, cool colors, not warm!

Currently reading: nothing, but I read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica a couple days ago in three hours and it was pretty good!

Last song: currently listening to Lavender Haze (and Midnights 3AM version on repeat) by TSwizzle

Last series: The Patient on Hulu, easy 10/10. I’ve watched a shit load of TV in the last couple weeks so: The Devil in Ohio: 8/10, KinnPorsche: 9/10 (-1 because no KimChay reunion), The Watcher: 9/10, The Midnight Club: 6/10, and then all of Mike Flanagan’s other shows which are like 12/10s for me.

Last movie: The Shining. Watched it for the first time last night and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. It could have been like an hour shorter and I absolutely lost my shit laughing when they show Jack frozen bc meme, but I gave it 7/10 on IMDb

Currently working on: I have so many WIPs it’s disgusting, but here are just some of them:

1) My massive Ben x Perry fic that I’ll never shut up about. It starts in 1977 and goes from there and follows Ben and Perry’s lives if they met in college in CA when Perry’s a junior and Ben is a freshman. I usually go months without touching it despite thinking about it/them all the time, but just in the last couple weeks, I wrote about 8k words!

2) A second installment in what hopefully becomes a series for JDox daddy kink oops

3) A Ben x JD x Perry OT3 fic

4) A JDox fic with established JDox who’ve been having Problems and then JD gets hurt (wild idea, I know)

5) Another JDox fic with established JDox where JD gets hurt right before their wedding (yes i absolutely hate myself) 

6) literally a massive document with fic/oneshot ideas in various stages of planning from just an idea or quote to a nearly finished outline

Share 10 different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order, then tag 10 people 🎥🎬📺:

1) Perry Cox, my beloved (Scrubs)

2) JD because he’s so flawed and fucked up but I see so much of myself in him and god I love that man (Scrubs)

3) Remus Lupin, absolute angel who has never done anything wrong (HP)

4) Elijah Mikaelson (The Vampire Diaries/The Originals) I will never get tired of him and his nobility also ELIJAH IS NOT A CUTLERY DRAWER

5) Ben Sullivan because actual golden retriever?? And like yes, my HCs that I treat as canon... aren’t canon, but I made him even better so deal with it (Scrubs)

6) Sirius Black because name a more tragic character i’ll go first (HP)

7) Carla Espinosa aka my wife but also momther. Carla gets like .5% of the recognition she deserves in the fandom and i literally love her so much (Scrubs)

8) Jordan “Godzilla” Sullivan bc her character is actually complex and she’s not just a heartless heart-eating demon, though she definitely sleeps upside down hanging from the ceiling wraaaaapped in a cocoon of her own wings (Scrubs)

9) Elena Gilbert bc I know she has her annoying moments, but at her core, she’s a girl who lost her entire family and did the best she could and who deserved so much better (The Vampire Diaries)

10) Can I just collectively say all the characters (not you, Bev Keane) from The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass? Mike Flanagan, pay for my therapy

I tag: literally anyone bc I love doing these and seeing other people’s answers! so say I tagged you if you want to do it 😊

[flashfuture]

seen the old "barry has no personality" argument as for why he should have stayed dead and why wally's the better flash and should be the only one, do you have a better argument than mine which is "barry would agree with you he loves his nephew so much".

See my argument is Barry and Wally should both be the Flash. And any argument is just bad to me because Wally would never think he lives up to Barry. And Barry thinks Wally has already surpassed him.

Because Barry always has loved his nephew so much and would do anything for the kid, he’s so proud of him. And Wally to quote “didn’t want Barry Allen to be the Flash he wanted the Flash to be Barry Allen” there is no one Wally wants to live up to more.

But yeah bringing Barry back was for silly universe reboot purposes. But you see Barry in Blackest Night? That’s The Flash baby.

And Barry would trade his life in a heartbeat for anyone. But his last words were regretting leaving his loved ones behind.

Wally had an amazing run as the Flash. He came into his own with an increase of comic presence. He was on the upturn.

Other characters see this. Take Iris who supported her husband all the way and supports her nephew her children her grandchildren. She’s never gonna make a pick because she doesn’t feel she’s gotta she knows each of the kids have the hero thing down.

And Hal told Wally he was just as much a hero as Barry. There literally isn’t a better compliment to get from Hal Jordan than to be compared to Barry. So everyone close to these two wants them both alive too.

Also people who say Barry had no personality have never read a silver age comic once I know it. Barry had so much personality he revamped the comic industry as a whole. Characters were based off him, made to play off him, revamped to be on a team with him. Hell the Fantastic Four were inspired by him.

I could just as easily say I think Wally is too stand off-ish and not smart enough or whatever else I wanted to throw in there to justify my faves. I mean you can make any argument you want but at the end of the day we all have our faves and telling other people they’re wrong isn’t gonna you know change anything.

It’s silly to you know compare the flashes specifically because it’s a legacy title more than anything else in DC. Barry was inspired by Jay, Wally wanted to live up to Barry. So yeah those are my thoughts

[nickmillerscaulk]

Good Girls 4x02 Soundtrack Review

HAPPY SEXY POOL TABLE SUNDAY! But before we get there, here’s your brief 4x02 music review (note: this episode only featured a grand total of TWO songs, not including a couple of obscure background ones, so I didn’t have a lot to work with hahaha). 

Songs that made me feel things?

Nah. BUT when Rio and Beth met on her street in the dark, I had flashbacks to 2x02 and ‘Shake Baby Shake’ so uh, at least I have that song to make me feel things still??

Montage check! A wasted or taken soundtrack opportunity?

We had a mini montage (that JT narrated)!! But unfortunately, the song that backed it was super faint (both Shazaam and Jonathan Leahy’s official GG S4 playlist can’t tell me what it is). Even though the montage was v short, I’m declaring it a wasted soundtrack opportunity, because guess which show has set my montage song standards too high!! 

Bop/banger status?

Me, still searching for bops and/or bangers: 

Give me either! I beg! (tldr; bops/bangers are still MIA)

Any memorable songs?

Lmao after 4x02 aired, it took me a good twenty minutes to realize I couldn’t remember hearing *any* songs.

Fave song from the episode?

It’s a tie between a. the obscure one Mick was listening to while having a happy lil soak in his hot tub (which! I actually figured out is Watch Me by Nick Jordan??) and b. my sworn enemy, the custom composed instrumental (DON’T QUOTE ME ON THIS), that picked up when Rio flashed his headlights.

Least fave song from the episode?

N/A*

*see tags

How did the music fit with the episode’s ~vibe~?

Hmmm. 4x02 was a fairly... quiet episode, overall (literally and vibe-wise). The song that played as Phoebe dug through the Boland’s trash/Beth approached the the hitman in the restaurant kitchen (’A Nation of Bloodsuckers’ by Songs of Raphael) was only fine and it generally fit the vibe. And while ‘Red Shoes’ didn’t land for me, it felt fairly on par for what is technically still ‘would-be-S3.’

I wish we’d gotten a French bop for the brief shopping montage and something angsty/more alternative for the Dean-getting-arrested scene. (Maybe I’ll make ‘wishlist’ a category next week??)

Overall ranking: lol*weeps*/10

Episode Track Listing:

A Nation of Bloodsuckers - Sons of Raphael Red Shoes - Dolly Parton (unofficially: Watch Me - Nick Jordan)

...

(good girls s4 playlist) 

(nmc’s gg s1-s4 faves playlist)

(previously on nmc’s gg soundtrack review: 4x01)

[pineau-noir]

Would you tell me a story about the writing process for your favorite fic?

Oh, my friend, thank you so much for implying there’s a process to my fic, I love you for that.

Right now my fave fic is my unrevealed anon fest fic so I can’t talk much about it in detail because...anon. But I can go through a little bit of the “process” from writing the last fic that had some substance, my Wireless.

So it was based on a song and part of a prompt, I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, awkward flirting, they both worked at the ministry. I’m all for awkward flirting so I grabbed the prompt as fast as I could (then bothered the mods- sorry mods!) to make sure I had gotten it.

I knew I wanted Draco to be a cursebreaker and I decided there was going to be a creepy cursed thing that brought him and Harry together. Then I decided I wanted Draco to have dressed like Jordan Catalano from My So-Called Life 8th Year at Hogwarts so I bought the show and...then didn’t watch it.

Then! I fell down the hole of creepy toys and decided, what the hell, I’ll do a series of creepy toys and shouted at @cibeewastaken in DMs about creepy toys because we apparently share a love for them and I need so much instant feedback, it’s sad. 

After that, I decided I wanted Draco to sing Muggle pop songs so I went down a hole looking for early aughts female pop. 

Now, mind you, this fic is from Harry’s POV so it was easy for him to react to Draco’s things because I was reacting to them. That’s like, my whole thing- ‘how would I, as this character’ feel about xyz’ because I’m always in love with one character and projecting from the other.

Then I wrote...and words came out and plot came out? Like, I didn’t know Bellatrix was going to be the one who had cursed the toys until my fingers typed it out. Apparently, this is an ADD/ADHD thing which is both cool and horrible? I love getting in the flow and really letting my brain surprise me, but sometimes, I have to do an outline and I’m just 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️- insert guess I’ll die meme-???

Then at the end, I always plan out my last handful of scenes. I don’t know why, I think it’s the part of my brain that likes to mark things off a list and when I’m at the end, I’m anxious so I need to make sure I don’t forget the important beats. Like in my anon fest, I knew I needed to do one thing for this reason, I needed to do another thing for another reason and then I wanted them to do something else. Then the last bit was just like- sure ok, they’ll do that?

However, the best part of my whole process is getting to share with a beta reader. I’ve somehow managed to work with the absolute best people out there, just so generous and smart and funny people, who have taken my scribbles and turned them into calligraphy. For last year’s Wireless it was @static-abyss and I think? that was the first time they beta read for me. They’re one of the most talented authors out there so having them in my doc is just a pleasure and they make sure my ramblings are coherent instead of incoherent. Plus, the instant brain chemicals you get from someone whose writing you admire, telling you they like your fic? 15/10 would recommend. 

And then the last thing is, through out all of the writing process, I throw in little Easter Eggs for myself and my friends. I’ve got a friend from another fandom that, anytime I say something about a spider-monkey, it’s for her because we watched all of the Twilight films together. And I also remember funny things from shows and books and movies and I’ll reference them in my own little way. This was always one of best things about writing Spideypool, just seeing how many things Wade could outright quote. 

Like, no joke, in my anon fest, there’s a throwaway line that’s a reference to a show from 1998-1999 that in no way is related to the fest piece. There’s literally nothing connecting them except my brain was like ‘this is funny, how can we use it’. No one will get it unless I tell them about it, because it’s so obscure, but it’s in there. I told my non-fandom bestie (who had watched the show) and she was like ‘oh, yeah, I remember that’ but she admitted without me pointing it out, she wouldn’t have read it and realized. I also wrote a tiny bit in for another friend who I didn’t think would be in the doc, then she was and I was like “that’s for you my friend!!!”

So! To sum up, I’m a chaos monster and my brain just likes to do what it will. However, this was so much fun to ramble about, so thank you so much!!!!

[gabbiesworld]

Get Out (2017) dir. Jordan Peele

[riosgoodgirll]

i got tagged by the lovely @ama-ssiempre to do some oversharing, which i love to do so let’s goooo!

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

name/nickname: brittany, don’t really have a nickname but sometimes my mum or friends will just shorten my name so britt/brits

gender: woman/girl/female (not a man! 😁)

star sign: sagittarius (the best fire sign yep 😙)

height: every time i get measured i feel like it’s different even though i haven’t grown in like 5 years but i believe i’m between 5’0 and a half and 5’1, which is like 155cm (very short!)

time: 23:45 😭

birthday: december 11th (which was like a week ago)

favourite bands: i don’t really listen to any right now but i used to obsessed with the 1975 and i still have a few of their songs on repeat!

favourite solo artists: i feel like i have so many! aya nakamura, partynextdoor, kcamp, victoria monét, nicki minaj, tinashe and so many more

song stuck in my head: champagne problems by taylor swift, the bridge is pure excellence! “she would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in the head!!!” 😁☝🏾

last movie: jordan peele’s us! it’s gonna be a movie i have on repeat for a while because i’m doing one of my essays for uni on it 🤧

last show: currently rewatching arrow! well forcing myself to get through it because it can get boring sometimes 🤣

when did I create this blog: this is a side blog but i made it in like 2019 i believe, right after season one of good girls or the beginning of season 2

what I post: i feel like all i do is reblog good girls stuff and the occasional gifs for other shows! ooooh some megan thee stallion, sometimes some other stuff and quotes, etc 😭

last thing googled: zara - because i want to browse the sale they have on at the moment 😹

other blogs: i have a main blog where i just post aesthetic stuff and nba content 😭 also i have another sideblog where i post football content (so soccer for the americans 🤣) - fun fact: i enjoy watching sports!!!

do I get asks: i do get some when i reblog those ask game things

why I chose my url: because rio + good girls = this url & there’s just something so 😙 about the phrase skjdskjdskjds

following: 285 people - but it’s like split across 3 blogs

followers: 825 which is so funny because i remember i abandoned this blog, at one point i considered deleting 😭 and then i came back to loads of followers and i was so shocked because idk what i offer here 🤣🤣🤣

average hours of sleep: depends but can range between 5 and 10 - sometimes i get up at terrible hours because i’ve gone to bed late 😭 last night/this morning i fell asleep at like 6am and woke up when it was dark so 🤣

lucky number: 3 and 5

instruments: used to play the flute as a kid but stopped when i was like 13

what am I wearing: a t-shirt that says veggie burger and some pyjama pants 😁

dream job: none ❤️

dream trip: so many! brazil, italy, thailand, a lot of caribbean countries, greece and so many more

favourite food: chips/fries - if i could, i would eat them every single day

nationality: jamaican

favourite song: right now it’s between champagne problems by taylor swift & move me by wet & sleepless nights by terrace martin

last book read: i kinda read a lot for my degree (well i try to) but i don’t even remember so currently i’m reading we need new names by noviolet bulawayo for one of my essays

top three fictional universes I’d like to live in:

• the vampire diaries world because their vampires are my fave - think i’d like to be a hybrid!

• when i was younger i loved scooby doo so that world because they were always travelling and eating some good food 😭

• i can’t even think of a third but i used to really enjoy those hunger games/divergent movies so maybe that world just because i was obsessed with the plots and the action and stuff 😭 i would even say twilight just because that world is so funny and chaotic to me

tagging: i’m going off of my recent notifs so @ashesto-dust @no-thoughts-headd-emptyy @piecesofres @thekracken @zarrypoet @onlyformissmarks @magneticflower and anyone else whose reading this & wants to 💖

don’t feel obliged to though!!!

[booksandwords]

Upside Down by N.R. Walker

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: "All I want really big and rock-hard on a guy is his IQ, and what I consider to be hardcore porn is a picture of a guy reading a book with a hard cover. Soft-core porn is a paperback, and browsing Amazon is my version of PornHub, okay?" — Jordan O’Neill

Warnings: homophobia, acephobia, debatably sexual assault (main character, past relationship)

Most of this review is just my fave quotes from the book. 🥰 It is a joy when one of your favourite writers writes about your people, and these really are my people. Importantly for that, I guess, this is set in Australia, using our language though not to the extent that it would be illegible to others. It is worth noting that Hennessey and Jordan both have darkness in their pasts pertaining to previous romantic relationships, family and their dual asexual and gay identities. So warnings for homophobia, acephobia, debatably sexual assault. Look he claims it was consensual, but it was far from enthusiastic consent and it upset me, as was the point.

One of the two protagonists, Jordan, feels like me or eerily similar to me in training. Jordan O'Neill is a librarian who works in the stunning Surry Hills Library in Sydney's inner suburbs, he comes across as slightly clumsy, swears A LOT and most importantly he's a baby ace. He's at first trying to figure out if he is asexual and if he can be comfortable wearing that label along with his others (including gay) then he starts trying to reconcile his attraction to Hennessy with his ace-ness. You cannot read this if you cannot take harsh language. Jordan loves to swear. His favourite word is motherfucker. There is the rather memorable passage "Motherfucker, motherfucker, mother-fucking-fucker. I’m so stupid. I felt awful. My stomach was in knots, my heart was aching, my mind was a motherfucking mess." (Jordan). He swears when he's excited, swears when he's stressed, swears when he's sad. I like it, it suits him, it suits a young Australian. I mean he even swears at work, much to the chagrin of his manager. Jordan is gorgeous, he makes me smile. I love his constant swearing and anxiety. Hennessy is just sweet and knows how to handle Jordan and his anxiety well. Their relationship is just sweet, that soft flirting on a bus and their funny audience. Hennessy Lang is just sweet, known at first as Headphones Guy, then Hennessy the Headphone Guy. Hennessey runs an aspec support group and catches the same bus as Jordan every day. He works as a network security expert, honestly, it sounds kinda fascinating. Hennessey is so self-assured and feels not worldly per se but confident in guiding and helping others on their aspec journey. He's a comfortable character, he feels so different to Jordan while definitely on the same wavelength. But Hennessey doesn't feel as I don't know unique maybe as Jordan, I certainly don't relate to him on the same level. Overall Theirs is a sweet story of coming to terms with yourself, your identity, your limitations and how to be yourself with someone else.

The support cast. The Soup Crew are quite possibly the funniest wider supporting cast I've read in a long time. If they don't make you laugh I'm not sure anything will. Honestly, I think I've almost been those people. Jordan summed them up in one line "So God help me. The Soup Crew really were a bunch of weird and wonderful motherfuckers.". The idea of Hennessy and Jordan's relationship creating friendships among their supporters is a good one. Anyone who catches the same public transport at the same time on a regular basis knows the sensation of hey it's you. And has possibly seen people change over time. I know people watched me grow up when I was catching the bus daily for school. I know this because people commented on it when I was in my final days of year 12 and later 'haven't seen you in a while, how is life post high school', also regular horn honks from bus drivers while I'm walking. Other than them and more important than them in many ways are Merry Jordan's best friend and work colleague, Angus his housemate and Michael Hennessey's friend and colleague. These three all want what is best for their respective person. Even if they have doubts about the other party there is both trust and a want to defend their soft souls. Merry in particular threatens Hennessey with violence more than once if he dares hurt Jordan. Micheal is the poly rep with his wife whom we do meet albeit a little briefly. Angus, Angus is something like a brother to Jordan. But he is very, very odd. He needs to be read to be experienced.

Some of my fave quotes and comments on them

“We see repeatedly, we’re told repeatedly, it’s shown, it’s implied, it’s blatant that sex equals love. That we’re not complete without it. That sexual intimacy is the pinnacle of all relationship goals.” — (Hennessey) This with a tone of slight disappointment, and frustration. But an absolute mood for my aspec sibs. We've all had a moment of exasperation while trying to explain that this whole thing is bullsh*t.

“There’s a difference between normal behaviour and normalised behaviour,” Nataya said. “Normal is subjective. And by whose definition should we fit anyway? Do we take normality from people like my grandma who is horrified by just about everything we see on the internet, or do we take normality from guys who think it’s normal and completely okay to send dick pics to people they’ve never met?” — (Nataya) It is that first line that is critical to real-life and aces know that better than most. But while the first line has the most highlights in the book, I wanted to include the whole thing. The full quote explains the first line.

"I didn’t want to admit the asexual thing to myself for a long time, and I’m thinking it will take some getting used to. Like breaking in a pair of Doc Martens, ya know? Like they’re uncomfortable and tight and basically kill your feet until they’re the most comfortable shoes you’ll ever wear. They become like a second skin, and I’m pretty sure this whole asexual thing will be like that.” He made a thoughtful face. “I like that analogy.” — (Jordan and Hennessey) I too really like this analogy. I've had to come to terms with my aspec identity and all the things it means, more the cultural milestones losses, the broader implications and I have broken in Doc Martens too. Yeah, they kinda feel like the same thing.

And his eyes when I admitted it wasn’t music I was listening to… well, his grey-coloured eyes melted like silver, warm amber with hints of blue and green. And he smelt really good, and his nervous rambling was kinda cute. — (Hennessey) This about Jordan, I mean obvs. It's the description of his eyes they are gorgeous and this is a helluva way to describe them. And Hennessey is the analytical of the two, not the more creative one. Though there is creativity in what looks a lot like white hat hacking when he talks about it.

“Thanks. I like to add a little colour to an otherwise drab uniform.” “It matches, every day,” I said. “Of course it does.” He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m gay. Of course it fucking matches.” — (Jordan and Hennessey) I unashamedly love Jordan. It's Jordan that adds colour to his uniform every day, brightly coloured scarf and shoes, coordinated perfectly with his jacket. They always match and some of the colours are outrageous. But it was the last line that made me laugh... out loud... on the train.

“Sarcasm is in the self-help section, by the way.” “Self-help?” "Yes, so you can pull your head out of your own arse.” I barked out a laugh. “Are you always so funny?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s a fine line between comedy and horror. It could go either way.” — (Jordan and Hennessey) We do a love library/ Dewey Decimal joke. This is basically

“She’s the best. She knows how to deal with me.” “Which is…?” “Well, that depends. She either tells me to pull my head out of my arse and stop being such a dick, or she talks me back from the ledge. It totally depends on what I need more, which she seems to know better than me. And I work at the library.” — (Jordan and Hennessey) This about Merry. Merry is the best friend Jordan could ask for. We see her build him up, we see her talk him off the ledge and it's her that encourages him to push his limits, push through his discomfort for his betterment.

“Was that during one of my nervous ramblings, because you can probably disregard anything and all I ever say when I’m like that.” I chuckled. “I think it might be the opposite. I think the filter comes off and you say what’s really on your mind.”

I chuckled. “I think it might be the opposite. I think the filter comes off and you say what’s really on your mind.” — (Jordan and Hennessey) To this point I hadn't picked up on this point of Jordan's ramblings. Hennessey is transparent with Jordan and intuitive. Hennessey shares his insights with the audience

“It’s like a treehouse,” I whispered. Jordan grinned. “Isn’t it awesome?” “Pretty sure whoever designed this was a reader or someone who really loved books.” — (Hennessy and Jordan) Surry Hills Library is library p*rn, it's fu**ing stunning. Thank God it's not "architecturally designed" as is the joke made in my library technician TAFE course (Fiona if you do ever read this Laura and I have never forgotten those moments). Or designed by committee which is even worse. Basically, the libraries and spaces designed by architects (without consultation with library staff) are horrendous and usually borderline impractical. I'm wondering if this might be where NR Walker does her writing and research. I really want to go there now. I guess I'll add it to my library tour bucket list. I've got half a chance I only live 12hrs away, I go back to Sydney one day.

"And about the breed of bird you made up, do they look like puffins? Because they’re the cutest bird I’ve ever seen. You know, if one was curious.” “If one was curious, they’d be pleased to know the Australian Pygmy Puffin is far cuter than the Atlantic Puffin. Like all Australian animals, they look adorable but are either venomous, poisonous, or just total jerks.” “The Pygmy Puffin?” I asked, smiling. “Yes. Small fluff balls, incredibly rare. There are three rules when handling them: One, no bright light. Two, don’t get them wet. And three, never feed them after midnight, no matter how much they beg.” — (Hennessey and Jordan) Okay I lost it at this exchange. There is context but do you really need it? This is kinda where their conversations go off into wonderland.

“He quoted Lewis Carroll,” I tried to say, but it was barely a squeaky breath. “Oh, Jesus,” she whispered. Her eyes went from my phone to me, then back again. “So that’s it then. I’ll start planning the wedding.” — (Jordan and Merry) Merry is bestie goals. This kind of dry deadpan humour is key to her.

“Ask him why we send something by car and call it shipment but send stuff by ship and call it cargo? Or why do our feet smell and our noses run? Or why the number eleven isn’t pronounced onety-one? Is Disneyland a people trap operated by a mouse?” — (Rachel) Another quote where there is context to do with philosophical questions prompted by "Why isn’t cereal considered to be or called a soup?" and “Do you think maths is something we invented or something we discovered?” from Jordan. This is Rachel's sense of humour. Also, all three questions just made me think. I couldn't help it.

I’m no expert in art, but I know books, and there is such a misconception about what genre people prefer. I don’t give a fuck what people read, as long as they read. From manga to gardening books, it doesn’t matter, and why people scoff at romance, I’ll never know. Because isn’t it a beautiful thing? Romance, that is. People wanting a happy ending. How is that ever wrong? — (Jordan) I have no words for this other than it speaks to my librarian soul.

“Celebrity you’d love to meet?” “Percy Shelley but I’ll need a priest, a Ouija board, and the blood of a chicken.” — (Hennessey and Jordan) Just what??

Oh, and your questions earlier. My tattoo is the Marvel Avengers’ A, you know, but in black, grey, white, and purple, like the ace flag. Kind of like my superhero shield. — (Hennessey) I love this tattoo so much. And I like the idea of mixing our flag colouring and a beloved fandom iconography. I would so do this with the dagger I've wanted for years.

“Like I said before, desire and attraction are not the same thing. To experience sexual desire does not make someone less asexual than someone else. Asexual people can engage in sexual pleasure. It doesn’t make them any less asexual. Sometimes our bodies betray our minds, and it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with you. Your asexuality is still valid.” — (Hennessey) This is from an extensive passage or series of passages from Hennessey about desire vs pleasure. In some ways because Jordan is such a baby-ace and Hennessey is his first real contact with the aspec community and a guide somewhat to him this makes sense. But what he really becomes is something of an educator to the reader, particularly readers who don't know much about what asexuality really is.

“Really? Dick jokes?” “Yes. Dick jokes. I’m asexual, not dead." — (Jordan and Hennessey) No comment. Just 🍆😆

In the interest of full disclosure any book that uses aspecs well, that explores asexuality gets an automatic five stars from me. We just need more representation. And Upside Down does explore asexuality well. That idea of coming to terms and adjusting to your new self and learning how to be that person with someone else. This has so much joy, power and representation. This is an Australian author going where so few dare to tread, with two ace protagonists and a setting in their own backyard. Better yet Hennessy and Jordan are fun, funny and written in a way that makes you just want them to be happy. Hopefully together but if with other people so be it. With an uber supportive and highly amusing support cast to boot. I really recommend this as a way to see a different world.

[wenightmareyou]

movie post for AR @alien-romantic !! ✨

okay i feel like my movie taste really does come down to what did i see in theaters that made me define my personality around them for the rest of the week, and i usually have Allergic to Watching Old Movies Disease so most of these are p recent! my movie taste is Also defined by what i saw enough on tumblr that eventually i broke down and watched it and it was actually amazing lol

✨favorite horror movies✨

Jennifer’s Body: THEE movie of all time, it literally has anything i could ever want in a movie: excessively campy dialogue, a plot around making a deal with the devil, a town that’s slightly fucked up, extended metaphors about gender violence but in a palatable PG-13 non-graphic format, Megan Fox going feral and eating boys, a homoerotic friendship where they also kinda hate each other but its mostly bc neither of them can deal with their feelings in the world they were brought up in, and a soundtrack that slaps. Seriously i could probably quote this movie word for word at this point, and like technically its horror but its also really funny and theres not really any jumpscares or anything. Im gonna stop talking about this one bc if i keep going i could write a whole essay but its so good (also i wont elaborate but Jennifers Body and Heathers are sisters, spiritually)

Us: hhhhhhhh this is so good, ik Jordan Peele’s only directed two movies so far but he never misses, like this was genuinely terrifying for me but also raises a lot of Questions and made me think about the implications of it for weeks afterward. It’s about this family vacationing in Santa Cruz, CA at the same time that there’s this planned uprising of doppelgängers all around the US (i cant remember if its the world or just the US? But it makes a lot of commentary about the US in particular so im guessing its just the US). I’ve still only seen it once but the aesthetics are so good, its definitely more on the violent side than Get Out was, but its not too bad (like idk if you’ve seen Midsommar but like. its nowhere near as gory as that lol). I swear i didnt have a fear of doppelgängers before this but between this and tma i sure do now

It (chapter 1): this one is so close to my heart omg 🥺 i associate it super strongly with watching it with friends so thats at least half the reason its a favorite. Also i love horror-comedies so much as a genre, mostly bc i scare easily so its nice to have jokes in between to break the tension and this movie’s hilarious

Cabin in the Woods: i cant say what this one’s about without spoiling it but i’ll say it definitely goes under the same category as It for me, in terms of horror-comedy. Its such a fun deconstruction of horror movie tropes and it gets so insane at the end, like when you watch it you can *tell* it was made in 2011 but like in a good way

Also honorable mention to The Love Witch for sending me into a spiral about what truly is the female gaze/if there can be one definition of that/the relationship between love and violence etc etc basically it’s Extremely Gender. Also not v bloody and doesnt have any jumpscares, and its an aesthetic masterpiece omg

✨favorite comfort movies/romcoms✨

Juno: i dont normally have favorite actors but Elliot Page is my emotional support favorite actor, like idk how to explain it but all of his characters just scream comfort character somehow. Juno has the same screenwriter as Jennifer’s Body so it has a really similar sense of humor, but altogether v wholesome plot about a pregnant teenager and her bff, michael cera. Also highly quotable, and i dont think ive ever watched this without crying, like this is one of those movies where im like love is real actually 🥺💕

Easy A: this movieee!!! Oh my god this movie, its so intensely californian and thats def part of why i like it. Also realizing now a major factor in movies i like is how quotable they are bc this is another one i feel like i quote all the time. Plus theres something so fun about baby Emma Stone living her 80s movie protagonist dream AND doing the “you think i’m a villain? I’ll show you a villain!” trope bc thats always fun

All of twilight but especially the first one: i mean idk what to say, i got brainworms when i was 11 and made twilight my whole personality for like 3 years, then grew out of it, then the twilight renaissance happened and im Back on My Bullshit 😂 i also just like having a purpose for me memorizing everything possible about twilight in middle school so like.... if you ever want any fun twilight facts hit me up (this goes to AR but if you’re not AR and reading this too this also applies lmao im down to talk about twilight any time)

And honorable mention to Scott Pilgrim (okay not a romcom but def a comfort movie), to be fair i havent seen this one all the way through in a looong time but i go back to the most iconic parts a lot

also okay theres def more in this category that i like but my brain is turned off now so i cant remember them 😂

✨ and the best category: movies i hate ❤️ ✨

i feel like i tend not to like movies that feel like they’re trying too hard? Like if i watch something and *instantly* know its trying to be Oscar bait, or if its trying to be camp but like,,., pretentious high end camp. Like anything by Wes Anderson is a hard nope for me, also i saw Gravity in theatres on a whim whenever that came out and it just didnt click for me at all. (Also okay The Love Witch kiiiind of checks the boxes for this but its still a fave)

Also okay this movie isnt any of those things but i still dont like it: It Chapter 2! I feel so bad cause It chapter 1 was so good and created this huge hype for the sequel for me, but the plot just went off the fucking rails. Sure we got bill hader being in love with his childhood best friend which spawned the whole Reddie craze on here for awhile..... but that came at the price of naked old ladies being used for shock value and whatever the hell was going on with Pennywise being an alien/god/something??? Like if the book is like this i know i couldn’t get through it, i was laughing my way through the whole movie but like, laughing (derogatory)

I feel like this section just became a reason to dunk on It Ch 2 but honestly the only other sequel i can think of that betrayed me like that was Endgame 😂

Also unrelated but while im still on the topic of movies i dont like/my hot takes: 10 Things I Hate About You was too sexist for me enjoy, i see it hyped on here a lot and im like ??? yall that did not age well 😭 but tbf i still like Mean Girls so we all have our things 😂

[kkshowtunes]

aLSO wait u reposted a newsies thing too,,,, i did not know u liked newsies buT if you do

1. that is so rad

2. can u do the "Send me a fandom and i’ll tell you:" with that too maybe???

1. Lmao my blog is like,,, 80% Newsies at this point

2. Ty for the asks tho

3. This is for Livesies

the character I least understand - Albert,, I’m not sure why I just don’t relate to him a lot

interactions I enjoyed the most - Davey and Les, they just felt so brotherly 

the character who scares me the most - Snyder (fuck him)

the character who is mostly like me - maybe Kathrine 

hottest looks character - Jack (Jeremy Jordan <3)

one thing I dislike about my fave character - Jack shouldn’t have taken the money (I know why and stuff I just love him ok this question is hard)

one thing I like about my hated character - The Bottom Line slaps 

a quote or scene that haunts me - Letter from the Refuge

a death that left me indifferent - No deaths in Newsies!!!

a character I wish died but didn’t - Snyder

my ship that never sailed - Javid, Jackcrutchie

[nerdalmighty]

I was tagged by @ryik-the-writer!!! Thank you for thinking of me!!!

Rules: name ten favorite characters from ten different things (TV, movies, books, etc.), then tag ten people! 

Here they are in no particular order (also I didn’t use my own gifs cuz tumblr is a demon to navigate, but all the gifs used have sources so check them out!):

1. Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls) - Dipper is basically one of the first characters I can actually remember relating to. He’s an anxious bean who just wants to help those around him and go about it in the most logical way. I also have some freckles on my arm that look like the Big Dipper and that made me feel like I shared something even cooler with him than a few personality traits! Plus I adore Jason Ritter. Gravity Falls was definitely the show that made me realize I want to write for cartoons!

2. Belle (Beauty and the Beast) - Everyone who knows me in real life knows that I AM Belle. I work at a bookstore, sing “i want” songs as if I wrote them myself, and Disney is one of my trivia strengths. I also went as her for Halloween the past two years! I don’t love the beast (Flynn Rider is the best prince, fight me), but I can definitely relate to Belle’s ideals and thirst for adventure. Plus Lumiere is epic and I’d love to hang out with him. 

3. Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas) - Though I’m in love with Jack, Sally always stuck out to me in The Nightmare Before Christmas. One of my favorite quotes about her from Tim Burton is something along the lines of “If Jack is the brains behind the story, then Sally’s the heart.” She’s so melancholic and Catherine O’Hara’s performance is top notch. She’s shy and sheltered, but she’s also strong and goes against the grain. Plus, her song at the end with Jack is also how I want to be proposed to eventually.

4. Deku/Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia) - This mans JUST slid into my life. I binged all of My Hero this past February/March and I’M LOVE DEKU. He’s a soft boy who wants to save the world and I can’t get enough of him. The show is also really well written and performed and I’m even thinking about what my own quirk would be if I had one (message me about it! I’d love to brainstorm and discuss with you guys!) Thank GOD the dub is coming back on Sunday because I miss that sweet sweet Justin Briner. GIVE ME ALL THE DEKU CONTENT PLEASE!!!!!!!

5. Varian (Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure) - OH BOY VARIAN. Tangled: The Series just ended and I had to mourn the loss of my favorite little alchemist. Everything he says and does is so cute and relatable and it’s mainly because Jeremy Jordan freaking ROCKS. Beautiful singing voice? Heart of gold? Villainous streak? All combine to create *chef kiss* this perfect FOOL. LET ME HUG YOU!!!!!!!!!!

6. Professor Venomous (OK K.O.: Let’s Be Heroes!) - If you haven’t seen OK K.O., this was the dude we were all thirsting after a few months back. IT’S NOT OUR FAULT. Steven Ogg has the voice of an angel. Plus they LITERALLY designed him to be hot, which is one of my favorite fun facts about him. Another good turned bad character on my list, but this one adopted a green rat baby and married a part robot/part man/part chicken... man. He’s CLEARLY the best character. OK K.O., being as hilarious as it is, really let PV shine in all the right ways. I miss him everyday. 

7. Eclipsa Butterfly (Star Vs. The Forces of Evil) - MY QUEEN. I think they could have gone a few very cool ways with her character/arc, but the Eclipsa we ended up with is still one of my faves. She’s a misunderstood punk rock (literal) QUEEN who deserves far better than what she got (in terms of her tragic love story and being imprisoned for 300+ years). I went as her for Halloween 2017 and though no one knew who she was at the time, I KNEW she’d be a fan favorite and to this day, she’s still one of my faves. 

8. Scrooge McDuck (Ducktales 2017) - So I actually had a dream that I went on an adventure with Scrooge McDuck a few summers ago, and after that I was like “Alright, so Scrooge is my best friend” lmao. It helps that I love David Tennant but a large part of why I love Scrooge is because of how well written he is! His dialogue is always so clever, and the love he has for his family/found family is ADORABLE. My sister saw a Scrooge photo op while she was at Disney World and DIDN’T get a take a pic for me. BUT IT’S FINE.

9. Pearl (Steven Universe) - Literally whenever people ask me what my gemsona would be, I say a pearl and they’re like “yeah, I see it.” My best friend says it’s because I’m dramatic and emotional and motherly like pearl, and my sister says it’s because “I suck.” EITHER WAY, I see it and am honored to be compared to such a funny and important character. She also happens to be my fave Crystal Gem. Her arc is so inspiring and tragic and complicated and I’ll miss my BIRD MOM!!!!!! Thank god I follow Deedee on Twitter and Insta to get that Bird Mom content.

10. Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir (Miraculous Ladybug) - I SHALL BE HONEST. I had a hard time coming up with a tenth character that isn’t from something I’ve already said. We haven’t had any new Miraculous content lately, so it’s one of those things where I forget how much I love it until it comes back. Adrien/Chat is like my ideal dork, but I feel like the show has done him dirty recently. Maybe it’s because Thomas Astruc (the creator of the show) has been a bit of a tool on Twitter recently so I’m a bit put off by him and his work at the moment. REGARDLESS!!!!!! Bryce Papenbrook is FABULOUS and SO KIND, so I’ll let it slide. FOR NOW.

I TAG! @melanope​ @dumblesbianjockenergy​ @noa-bird​ @wallywestward​ @kyvss​ @mattteaa​ @smallestfloof​ @mulancrossing​ @janetbrown711​ @littlesleepybard​

Remember to tag me so I see it :)))

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Tues 27 Aug

Louis: "are you quite finished? All right HOLD MY DRINK..." holy fuck y'all. Okay so quick recap, promo for Louis' new single just went from zero to one thousand, it's (aptly) called Kill My Mind and it's already killing us. Please just take it as read that I'm still having a full on conniption about every scrap of this but it'll be 5k if I actually emote even a small percentage of what I'm feeling. So: first the song was registered (co-writers are Jamie Hartman and Sean Douglas) and then Louis tweeted "Here we go again..." He liked a reply quoting Clouds ("another go round for all my friends") but in fact was referencing Back To You as a clue- streaming BTY on spotify revealed it had a new short video attached of black and white footage of Louis with lettering, BTY title stuff, but with red accents picking out KMM. Why BTY? Maybe because he's close to hitting a billion streams on spotify, this should tip it over, the brilliance... as for why that single I feel like it being the only one that the title info actually has the letters KMM in it is possibly a significant factor. Anyway, his website also updated to a red and black theme, and after giving us like an hour to freak out Louis came back and tweeted simply "KMM"; right after that the cover art with (not yet active) pre-save and purchase links was found, they'd made the link and not shared it yet. And apparently didn't intend to whoops! It's back down for now and probably someone got in trouble as they kind of should: if you're gonna set us hunting for things be prepared to have us, you know, finding things. Remember the hidden TOU director's cut though? There's so much we aren't finding right now probably... (overwhelmed tears) Anyway the cover feels like it goes with the TOU cover (LT1 theeeme) but features a close and intimate and soft but mildly confrontational Louis picture where TOU was more remote and introspective feeling, and loud high contrast red and black and white in place of the TOU cream tones, in summary my crystal ball says you're all correct and it's gonna be the "loud and in your face" pop punk banger we were promised and have been waiting on (oh yeah and we're all gonna die)!

The fan who won the comic relief breakfast with Louis revealed that they've known the single title since then, then retweeted the "took some time cos I’ve ran out of energy of playing someone I’ve heard I’m supposed to be" lyric tweet. Louis said that he will play "4 or 5 new songs in Madrid," one will be released before then, and the album will have "10, 12, 14" songs, "not decided just yet." We learned that the Madrid set will be televised, thank god, at some point we'll have HQ video of it. Jordan Green said the BTY video footage wasn't his which was weird but then he was like oh wait no it is! Lol. I take this to mean it's his footage but they didn't have him do the edit as he usually does. LTHQ posted a pic of Louis in studio featuring (well I say featuring, spotted with eagle eyes more like) a joint and a Winnie the Pooh mug; the cup features a stuffed bear on one side and a bee on the other.

In short, it's only day one (1) and already Louis' promo, again, looks to be absolutely on point, flawlessly coordinated, and so perfectly Louis: smart, interesting, a little mischievous, and catering to the best parts of a fandom they clearly know inside and out, rewarding our attention to detail and desire to make connections and decipher clues. I feel (mutually) respected and seen and fed and I absolutely LOVE IT. I cannot wait to see what comes next, it's going to be amazing...

AND other things happened today as well, can you believe? Harry, who was not in fact quite finished, followed the "Tina she's gay" fan (who was excited about their coming out story being featured in Rolling Stone, a privilege usually reserved for famous musicians), and HSHQ made an attempt to remind us that the gucci campaign is still a thing that exists by posting a pretty picture of Harry glowing in the afternoon light of the Italian countryside. More importantly we got an 'outtake' (??!?) from the RS shoot of him barefoot on a slippery ledge by the water in his fetching shorts suit and cropped sweater and feathered rich widow chapeau that's absolutely to die for.

The Liam charity drive reached goal well before his birthday (the 29th) and the man himself retweeted the announcement, adding "thank you so much this is truly amazing."

Live Lounge is coming soon and there's a TBA spot Sept 16 and everyone is eyeing it for their fave but no news yet, and the SNL new season is also coming soon and has performer slots open; Niall responded to a tweet about how nice it would be to see him on the Nov 2 SNL with "it would indeed." He also tweeted "what's your name," a Nice To Meet Ya tease one assumes, and, never one to like things by halves, gushed about the new Taylor Swift song, making TWO posts telling us it is "important," "a classic," and "will stand the test of time." "Thank you Niall!" Taylor posted. The Omega Masters ft Niall opens tomorrow, and he is there already, and met some happy fans and took pics.