#rewatched ep 63 since there is no new ep this week and. still very good

[amelikos]

Grusha, huh.

[anythingstephenking]

Time Traveling Swing Dancers/Teachers/Assassins

Welp, I did it y’all. I made it full circle to the book that started it all, 11/22/63. I read this brick of a book back in 2016, which lead me to The Stand, which led me to a journey towards 73 novels. Bless your heart, 11/22/63.

I just love this book. My first read through back in the day took me only a couple days; my second trip back in time took me almost a week, still a feat for the 800+ pages of book. Let’s go.

Another tale, like Under The Dome, that ruminated in King’s mind since the 70’s but came to fruition in the 21st century. Although the idea kicked around in King’s head for decades, he was daunted by the research that would be required to tell the story properly, so I think he waited until he was swimming in that sweet sweet money to hire a research team. Per usual, I am speculating.

But King did have a research assistant on this book, that much is true. He also consulted with the likes of Doris Kearns Goodwin, a treasure of American history, who gave King some real fun ideas about what might have happened if JFK had lived. The research was obviously thorough, and like it or not, you sure learn a lot about real-life Lee Harvey Oswald in this work of fiction. You’ll also squiggle in your seat through reminders of racism and hate that lived out loud in the 60s, different but also the same as we see today. History doesn’t change everything.

King has said that the extensive research and reading he did to prepare to write this story confirmed in his mind that Oswald acted alone. While it’s fun to imagine conspiracy theories of magic bullets and a second shooter, if King believes, I’m inclined to believe. If QAnon has taught us anything, it’s that Americans love a conspiracy theory. If Jack Ruby hadn’t shot Oswald in that parking garage, we may have learned what actually happened on November 22, 1963. If Oswald had gone to trial and had been placed under oath. If his last words weren’t about how he was a patsy. If, if if. Maybe Jake should have stopped worrying about stopping Oswald and stopped Ruby instead.

So, yeah, Jake Epping. Our hero of this tale. He’s a writer that teaches and lives in Maine. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I started a book summary with that sentence, I’d have like $10 bucks and I probably go buy myself a fancy coffee of something.

Jake’s a teacher and loves hamburgers! Who doesn’t. He get’s them cheap at his favorite diner, from the proprietor named Al Templeton, who harbors a pretty rad secret that he’s gunna toss onto Jake. Now, why Jake? I mean, I don’t really know. Al doesn’t have any family and Jake is young and unattached? I suppose at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, because Jake, like Frodo Baggins before him, is off on an adventure.

Because Al’s diner is actually a portal back in time. We all suspend some disbelief - it’s some version of a thinny (maybe?) that plops you from present day back to 1958. The rules are this: however long you spend in the past, you can return to the future just 2 minutes after you left. Al says there’s no impact on quick trips - Al’s been going back and forth for years buy ground beef for his cheap burgers - but when you do something that might change the future, the past will push back. We learn that Al is very, very wrong, but more on that later.

Al’s set out to save John Fitzgerald Kennedy from his head exploding, but the past gave him lung cancer and he didn’t make it to ’63. He’s back in the present and ready to tag Jake into the ring to get back to the fight for him. Jake hesitates but not NEARLY enough. Seriously, if some stranger told you had to go back in time, follow around a total assmunch for 5 years and live WITHOUT CELL PHONES OR NETFLIX?? I don’t care how delicious the root beer in 1958 is. Fuck that.

Jake goes. A couple times actually. He’s first interested in saving Harry, the high school janitor’s family from being murdered, which is a real noble cause. The past gives him diarrhea, and he wears a diaper to take out the bad man. He fails the first time (diarrhea), heads back home to “reset”, and back to 1958, succeeding the second time around. Sayonara douche.

We cross paths with Beverly and Beep Beep Ritchie in Derry, where Jake spends a fair amount of time in 1960. The town is dark, creepy and troubled, and Jake hates being there. Little interconnected web of the King-o-Verse is always there, and I love every second of it. 

Jake heads to Dallas to wait on Oswald, realizes he hates it (lol, fuck Dallas-Fort Worth), and moves out to the country instead. He gets a nice little job and meets a librarian, and our heroine, Sadie. Sadie’s got some real baggage in the form of a psychotic ex-husband (men are mostly the worst in this book) but her and Jakie fall in love anyways. She’s a well written, strong female lead and I haven’t loved a female King character this much since Lisey.

General consensus is that the mid-section of this book is that it drags a little bit, but I couldn’t disagree more. Sure, does Jake putting on a big theater production have literally anything to do with Lee Harvey Oswald? Nope. But I loved all Jake’s time in Jodie, Texas. He falls in love with Sadie, they are lovely and happy, and albeit doomed because of time travel, it’s a wonderful distraction from all the heaviness.

That said, PLEASE Stephen King, DON’T WRITE SEX SCENES LIKE THIS. ::Monkey with hands over eyes emoji:: The sex stuff is awful. There’s a lot of broad references to Jake and Sadie’s love life, like “She looked. Then she touched.” Gross.

Exhibit B:

She said, "Don't make me wait, I've had enough of that," and so I kissed the sweaty hollow of her temple and moved my hips forward ... She gasped, retreated a little, then raised her hips to meet me. "Sadie? All right?"

"Ohmygodyes," she said and I laughed. She opened her eyes and looked up at me with curiosity and hopefulness. "Is it over, or is there more?"

"A little more," I said. "I don't know how much. I haven't been with a woman in a long time."

It turned out there was quite a bit more … At the end she began to gasp. "Oh dear, oh my dear, oh my dear dear God, oh sugar!"

Guys, this passage was from Sadie’s FIRST TIME. She comes? And Jake notices there is blood on the sheets afterwards. But she orgasmed. Yeah ok, sure.

Other than poorly written Harlequin romance passages, the rest of the story clips along with lots of fun (and not so fun) bits, leading the the culmination of Jake (spoilers) killing Oswald. Sadie dies in the process and it is heart wrenching. But at least the world got saved?

WRONG. Another gripe is this; Jake goes back to 2007 and it’s a fucking post apocalyptic wasteland. Nuclear war has ruined the globe - Jake somehow crosses paths with Harry the janitor, who gives him a 5 minute synopsis of how everything went to hell. It is TOO SHORT. Why do we spend so little time here? I want more dystopian future.

We also get a brief bit about how each trip back isn’t a real “reset” - each one triggers a new “string” or parallel universe. Al’s diner isn’t the only passage, and anyone that has read the Dark Tower books gets it. Al was dumb and Jake was dumb, and at the end of the day Jake resets the past and saves this new string from nuclear fallout but you know those poor souls that were on that timeline are still fucked?

Anywho, the end is lovely and King changed what he originally planned (which was lame) at his son’s suggestion. Good job Joe Hill. Maybe I’ll read some of his books someday.

So that’s 11/22/63. This is the latest in King’s bibliography that I have already read, so I’m headed into the last 20 or so novels without any spoilers at all. I still haven’t even let myself watch The Outsider on HBO yet.

Speaking of adaptations, Lisey’s Story on Apple+ starts airing on Friday. Will be watching and hope that it is better than The Stand.

9/10

First Line: I had never been what you would call a crying man.

Last Line: Then the music takes us, the music rolls away the years, and we dance.

Adaptations:

A Hulu miniseries! They did 2 seasons of Castle Rock, so they’re a-ok in my book. Anything not produced by ABC is a-ok with me. I watched it when it aired and it was pretty decent IIRC. I’ve started rewatching, but only made it through the first episode so far. It’s a hard rewatch knowing what a creep James Franco is. And his fake goatee in the first 30 minutes is the actual worst.

The show takes its own liberties with the plot which is fine; Jake gets a partner in crime named Bill; without Bill we’d have a lot of internal Franco monologue I’d guess. The show is well cast and well acted, and has an 8.2 on IMDB, so it’s doing a lot better than most King projects.

James Franco channeling his inner Annie Wilkes.

[straycrayoncrypt]

@athousandstarstodreamon did this and I wanted to, too Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people THE LAST:
1. Drink: tea
2. Phone call: the last 87 calls on my phone were missed calls and they were all spam
3. Text message: my dad
4. Song you listened to: Friday Night- Vigiland
5. Time you cried: real cried or made myself cry while acting out a scene in my head? October or November for one and two days ago for the other HAVE YOU:
6. Dated someone twice: that would require dating someone once, first
7. Kissed someone and regretted it: nope
8. Been cheated on: Nope
9. Lost someone special: Yes
10. Been depressed: Yuuuuuuup
11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: nope LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Black 
13. Really intense royal blue 
14. BURGUNDY IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:
15. Made new friends: maybe? What is time, really?
16. Fallen out of love: No
17. Laughed until you cried: Yes
18. Found out someone was talking about you: nnoooo...?
19. Met someone who changed you: don't think so
20. Found out who your friends are: Lel
21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: No GENERAL:
22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: Most of them. Do I actually see them irl tho? Haha
23. Do you have any pets: Dougal the dogo!
24. Do you want to change your name: Not at the moment, seeing as I just did
25. What did you do for your last Birthday: Went to Outback? That's it I think
26. What time did you wake up? 7:30am
27. What were you doing at midnight last night: trying desperately to fall asleep
28. Name something you can’t wait for: uh... not really looking forward to much atm... Superfruit dropping their first ep?
29. When was the last time you saw your mom: two minutes ago or yesterday depending on which mom
30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: I'd like to find where I left my motivation, that's something
31. What are you listening right now: still Friday Night by Vigiland. It's on loop.
32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: no
33. Something that is getting on your nerves: People reminding me I'm going back to school when I'm trying with every fiber of my being to not think about that to avoid dissolving into panic attacks
34. Most visited Website: Instagram..?
35. Mole/s: Yes
36. Mark/s: one. 
37. Childhood dream: jfc I wanted to do everything
38. Haircolor: Bright orange
39. Long or short hair: Medium ish. I've been informed that more than shoulder length is considered "long" but I have a hard time remembering that. It feels short to me.
40. Do you have a crush on someone: might do, though I can't think of one off the top of my head
41. What do you like about yourself: my legs. I have very nice legs. Exactly the right length to reach the ground.
42. Piercings: both ears 3 times.. so 6 total?
43. Bloodtype: no idea
44. Nickname: Don't have one atm
45. Relationship status: Single 
46. Zodiac: Pisces
47. Pronouns: They/them... although I don't mind he/him 48. Favorite TV Show: Steven Universe, since it's the only one I watch?
49. Tattoos: 2
50. Right or left hand: right
51. Surgery: had the inside of my upper lip lasered bc the tendon attachment was too far down, top surgery
52. Hair dyed in different color: ALWAYS
53. Sport: swimming!
55. Vacation: I'm filling this out instead of packing to go home so...
56. Pair of trainers: sneakers every day. The hard part is finding ones that aren't pink. MORE GENERAL:
57. Eating: I'm so hungry I'm gonna diiiee
58. Drinking: Tea. All day.
59. I’m about to: eat breakfast, hopefully
61. Waiting for: bacon to be readyyyy
62. Want: a life
63. Get married: the tax benefits are undeniable. Also, if my potential future partners have good insurance through their employers. Otherwise, pfft.
64. Career: hahahhaahhahahaha WHICH IS BETTER
65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs
66. Lips or eyes: Eyes, good teeth are more important than aesthetically pleasing lips.
67. Shorter or taller: no preference
68. Older or younger: Older, cause I secretly like being the baby of my friend group. 
70. Nice arms or nice stomach: All arms and stomachs are subjectively nice
71. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive?? Those are kind of different categories...
72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship
73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Instigator. HAVE YOU EVER:
74. Kissed a Stranger: no
75. Drank hard liquor: yes
76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I don't think so... I forgot my glasses exactly once a week after I first got them in fifth grade and have never left them behind again (to date).
77. Turned someone down: Two separate people in drastically different manners.
78. Sex on the first date: No, but really that's a no regardless of what number date it is... sex in theory is entertaining but I find the idea of actually engaging in it... nyeehhhhh...
79. Broken someone’s heart: I have no idea
80. Had your heart broken: Not on the relationship front.
81. Been arrested: I think that's a matter of time and whether I get over my fear enough to protest all the things that frustrate me. 
82. Cried when someone died: yes
83. Fallen for a friend: I like that which is unobtainable. Monogamous friends already dating other friends falls into that category. DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
84. Yourself: sometimesss
85. Miracles: Yes? Sort of. Miracles come from personal effort though, not some divine blessing.
86. Love at first sight: No. Aesthetically pleasing at first sight? Yes.
87. Santa Claus: No, but I don't celebrate Christmas and I never have so...
88. Kiss on the first date: Sure OTHER:
90. Current best friend name: ???
91. Eyecolor: Brown
92. Favorite movie: um... Fury Road given it's actually rewatchable... Moana. That's probably it atm.