#skylar's commentary under the cut :):):)

[dorireads]

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun || Book Review

Star Review: 3.5/5⭐

Tropes: Dating Show ????

This was another read I got from booktok! I wish I would learn my lesson, for real. This book was, like, some people's #1 read ever, and very very highly praised, so I set my expectations high and began to read it.

Honestly, it didn't meet my expectations. Not from a this-is-literally-a-piece-of-shit standpoint, but from the way that the story was told and the way the plot developed. If you like a very easy and very blunt read with characters that have blatant nuance rather than subtle and developing nuance, this book is for you. It's not a bad book by any means, it just felt kind of amateur in the way it was written. Which isn't a criminal offense.

To put positives first, this book is an amazing gay romance with a diverse cast of characters, commentary on misogyny and biphobia, a very fun setting of a dating show (this was probably my favorite part of the book! it was so fun to see these characters having to work on a set as someone with no experience in doing that!), and a generally sweet love story.

This book also includes self discovery and talks about finding their genuine passions, meeting other's expectations, and finding parts of themselves that they didn't know existed or had repressed. There is representation of anxiety, OCD, panic attacks, and destigmatizing therapy.

Honestly a very sweet and lovely book, definitely recommend for an easy read romance! I'll talk about parts I disliked under the cut, spoiler warning!

When I talk about reading being a very solitary and personal experience, this is what I mean. This book has been super widely liked, but it just didn't hit all the marks for me.

When we talk about the diversity of this book, it kind of fell flat in the way that everything was written so blatantly instead of developing over the span of the story.

This started when Skylar was introduced, the paragraph describing her reads: "As a queer black woman, Skylar Jones did not become the lead director of a reality television juggernaut by having chill. When she developed early female pattern baldness before forty from the stress of this job, she simply began shaving all her hair off."

I genuinely love and understand the sentiment of wanting to have representation in your writing, but I do feel like these points could have been expressed in better ways rather than just one paragraph in the beginning of the story telling you everything about this character. Because of this, it feels like it was added specifically and only for diversity, which isn't the coolest.

Another point in the book is Charlie having anxiety and OCD. I don't have OCD nor have I researched it very thoroughly, so I can't comment on the way it's been shown here, but I do have anxiety so I feel like I can talk about it.

It felt like Charlie's anxiety was kind of just an excuse in the beginning to push him away from interacting with the show. He signed a contract and consented to the show, but when he got there he consistently walks off set and refuses to participate in the beginning. Later in the book, he is able to participate and talk to the girls almost completely okay, but this is only after he realizes his feelings for Dev. This bothers me because his anxiety isn't dealt with or expanded upon much later in the book, and is only really used as a plot point in order for him not to have to get close with anyone on the show.

Also, Maureen's entire character was an L. I have nothing more to say about her. Cochrun succeeded at making a genuinely unlikeable antagonist, and she didn't even have that major of a role.

The last point that I specifically didn't like very much was the ending. The time skip fell flat because we didn't see anything that happened in between, we just jumped to when Dev's issues had already been mostly solved and when Charlie had already figured out what to do. I wish it had been talked about more so that we felt as though we were looking at a character that had developed and shown development, rather than just being told that he worked on himself and is over it now.

That's all from me!

[emomilestuck]

If this post gets 50 notes I will tweet Seth Rudetsky and tell him to revive Tuck Everlasting

lexi made this post but never actually posted it what a waste

[myhahnestopinion]

The AARONS 2018 - Best TV Episode

Peak TV is tearing me apart trying to binge-watch every show that is epic, so defending individual chapters of these shows is a good way to remind oneself to not get so lost in the big picture. Here are The Aarons for Best TV Episode: 

#10. “Captain Underpants and the Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus” (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Season 1, Episode 7)

Even more so than the fun but formulaic movie of last year, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants embraces the irreverent spirit of Dav Pilkey’s children’s books. This charming childishness is no more prominent than in “The Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus,” in which the latest vile villain brings the world of the Wedgie Warrior from its traditional genial 2D animation to 3D Claymation, threatening its survival... due to, as the characters note, the budget cuts to their show needed to maintain such animation. This meta-narrative proved that, when it comes to the colossal undertaking of retaining the joy of Pilkey’s series, the Netflix Series is certainly wearing the pants.

#9. “A House Divided” (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, Season 3, Episode 10)

Trollhunters rose above the basic tropes at the backbone of its story thanks to the creative spirit of creator Guillermo del Toro. For its final season, del Toro’s influence was felt harder than ever, particularly in “A House Divided,” which marks protagonist Jim Lake’s fateful loss of innocence, a common theme among the director’s works. Jim’s journey has left him with an impossible choice, which renders the viewer nervously unable to breathe for the duration of the episode, only to culminate in an unforgettable ending that features only the sound of breathing. While spin-off series 3 Below may be off to a good start, it will be difficult for any of del Toro’s planned Tales of Arcadia to match the heights of his subterranean world of trolls.

#8. “I’m Not the Person I Used to Be” (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Season 4, Episode 8)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s final season is off to an affecting start, but has suffered from a sense of place-setting in its first half, the blessing and the curse of its extended episode order this year. However, the series’ endgame seems to have finally begun in its tight-knit mid-season finale, which saw the return of season 1 mainstay Greg like you’ve never seen him before… literally. Skylar Astin gets off on the right foot as the recasting of the role, a backstage change used within universe to demonstrate and further develop Rebecca’s changing sense of self as she seeks happiness and reconciliation, noble pursuits that make for notable television. That doesn’t sound so crazy now, does it?

#7. “Winner” (Better Call Saul, Season 4, Episode 10)

If Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has made excellent television out of the pursuit of personal growth, then Better Call Saul’s moral decay can perhaps be designated its mirror image. As with all of the show’s season finales, “Winner” is a product of bad decisions on the part of the characters, and great decisions on the part of the show’s creators. The episode acts as a microcosm of a season filled with exhilarating schemes, striking cinematography, and poignant decisions, culminating in a turn of events that remains shocking despite being known as inevitable. The episode title says it all. This one’s a winner.

#6. “Legends of To-Meow-Meow” (Legends of Tomorrow, Season 4, Episode 8)

As noted in its ranking in the Best TV Shows of the year, there is a large assortment of gonzo episodes of Legends of Tomorrow that deserve distinguished praise, but the show might have snuck its most awesomely oddball episode in just under the wire for this awards show. A teammate’s transformation into a feline following a regretful change to history is but the cat-alyst of an episode that illustrates the multiple revisions to the Legends of Tomorrow (aka Custodians of the Chronology aka Sirens of Space Time) timeline via retro-TV-themed intros, explicitly mocks the comparatively tame nature of the concurrent running “Elseworlds” crossover, and, yes, teaches kids helpful lessons through the power of singing puppets. It’s an episode brimming with loveable moments, but all knit together with a touching story of a lost love that perfectly illustrates why Legends of Tomorrow has clawed its way up to the best of the Arrowverse.

#5. “Time’s Up for the Gang” (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 13, Episode 4)

Always Sunny has never shied away from addressing hot-button issues, tackling racism, abortion, and gun control with a biting satirical edge in just its first batch of episodes. Yet, it’s still shocking how much dark humor the show can unearth in the most unlikely of places, a delicate balancing act that succeeds because the show is keenly aware of where its jokes should fall. Written by series standout Megan Ganz, “Time’s Up for the Gang” puts its hilariously-horrible cast of characters through the ringer over their past behavior with rollicking gall and technical grace. There’s likely no other show that can maintain such quality and relevance thirteen seasons in, suggesting that Always Sunny’s time is far from over.

#4. “Jeremy Bearimy” (The Good Place, Season 3, Episode 4)

Written by the bearer of one of Twitter’s best accounts, and the mind behind last year’s eclectic entry “Dance Dance Resolution,” Megan Amram, Jeremy Bearimy brought The Good Place’s third season roaring to life in wild fashion. Kickstarting with the reveal that our universe’s true nature is more “Jeremy Bearimy” than timey-wimey, the episode features a slow descent into existential crises that is, despite the show’s wonderfully heightened reality, presented in the most relatable of fashions: a truly, truly disgusting bowl of chili. The episode’s major resonance lies in the credo cultivated in its final moments, a commitment to doing good in the face of inescapable punishment, but it’s also an unbearably funny journey to get there.

#3. “Free Churro” (BoJack Horseman, Season 5, Episode 6)

BoJack Horseman’s most remarkable episodes, such as previous Aaron winners “Fish Out of Water” and “Stupid Piece of Sh*t,” have been those that have toyed with its animation format. “Free Churro” breaks these conventions in a completely different manner, isolating the entire action of the episode to a single monologue via eulogy delivered by Will Arnett’s BoJack. This striped-down focus parallels the striping down of BoJack’s psyche through a rambling, soul-churning soliloquy that lays bare BoJack’s tragic backstory. As it goes on, the monologue leads the protagonist and the viewer to the harrowing realization that perhaps there will not be a happy ending waiting at the end of all this. It’s heavy stuff, but the cherry on the top of a great episode is the comedic pay-off to the piece, in case you were afraid that “Free Churro” was entire free of cheer.

#2. “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 4, Episode 3)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, like BoJack Horseman, is a show that address a history of abuse in unexpectedly uproarious ways, and, like BoJack Horseman, produced one of the best episodes of the year by breaking its Unbreakable formula. Framed as an expose documentary on Kimmy’s once-captor, the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne aka DJ Slizzard, “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” is at once a staggering assortment of long-running gags, a painfully precise mockery of documentary formats (including riotous instances of narrative tangents and stock footage), and a scathing lampooning of how misogynistic radicalization takes hold.  The show has always been fueled by a righteous fury, but with the fourth season’s no-holds-barred approach to its darker material that never sacrifices the rapid-fire humor, it’s sad that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will be ending this year, when it seems like it’s still just scratching the surface.

AND THE BEST TV EPISODE OF 2018 IS...

#1. “Teddy Perkins” (Atlanta, Season 2, Episode 6)

Unexpected even in a show that’s routinely impossible to predict, “Teddy Perkins” is undoubtedly the strangest episode of TV all year… and certainly the best. Fulfilling, and perhaps exceeding, the bizarreness of Atlanta’s oft-cited inspiration Twin Peaks, the episode follows Lakeith Stanfield’s Daryl quest for a particular piano that lands him in the decrepit mansion of the peculiar eponymous Teddy Perkins, an eerie, ersatz late-in-life Michael Jackson, played by star Donald Glover in extensive make-up. It’s surreal without sacrificing structure (in fact, the episode aired unbroken by commercial to enhance the immersion) or the show’s social commentary. For the entire extended-length of the unnerving and unforgettable episode, viewers are rankled by the horrifying possibilities of a show that has so unequivocally shattered all boundaries of television, including the possibility of a fateful end for a beloved central character. A standalone dreamlike masterpiece strengthened by its relation to a superb show, “Teddy Perkins” will undoubtedly perk up your ears if you’ re not already all in on Atlanta.

Yes, I know my puns got worse as the episodes got better.

NEXT UP: THE 2018 AARON FOR BEST TV PERFORMANCE!

[sky-lar-son]

✧·ﾟSomeone in my hometown looks just like KATHERINE MCNAMARA ! SKYLAR ‘RED’ LARSON is 19 years old and from the NORTHSIDE.  THEY are known as the PASTICHE and their friends say they are CONFIDENT, but I’ve heard they can be SECRETIVES.  They are a GHOULIE.

Welcome my lovely little Ghoulie babe to the group, hey y’all, here’s Red!

Red was actually born Alesandra Steele and went by ‘Princess’ from most of the Ghoulies all her life seeing as though both of her parents were long time Ghoulies and held a lot of respect in the group. After a war about three years back with the Serpents, Red’s mother was killed and as more threats were made towards the Ghoulies and her name was dropped by some cocky Serpent, her father packed her and her and her brother up and they left town. She understood why they had to leave, it was for the overall protection of what was left of their family, but it was still hard. She left behind her friends, her boyfriend, her Ghoulie family and the only life that had made any sense to her.

Alesandra ‘Lizzie’ Steele was fifteen, almost sixteen when She left town. She was passionate about music, not singing like every other girl seemed to be, but chose instead to play piano and the violin. She played volleyball at Southside High before the last bit of the sports budget was cut and passed her classes with at least Bs. She was close with her big brother and had a tight knit group of friends. 

She wasn’t weak by any means, she was witty and a great thief. She could tear someone down and with her brains and snide commentary alone, not to mention the endless self-defense she was taught most her life. Alesandra was born a Ghoulie and raised a Ghoulie, but somehow, she still managed to have an incredible heart. She felt compassion for others, even the Serpents and Northsiders at times, this compassion lead her to being incredibly close with one who saw past their labels and after some time, the two began dating in secret. 

When you’re a fifteen year old girl, however, and your role model is killed by the same group of people who not only tormented you, but some of which had befriended you, it changes most things about your life. Lizzie not only lost her mother, but she lost friends and she lost a relationship with someone she was head over heels in love with when she inevitably had to leave town.

Losing her mother took a tole on the family, her father began drinking and she distanced herself from everyone, choosing to never get too close with anyone again. She pushed her own brother away, hoping the distance would mean it hurt less if she ever lost him. Now, without parental supervision and limited attention from her older brother, she was left to run free through Seattle. But before she could do that the family had to go by a new name, her father went basic with the last name, choosing Larson. There were plenty of Larson’s in the world, they could keep safe and anonymous. She picked Skylar as her first name, figuring everyone would call her Sky, but when she dyed her hair red, her newest name was born.

Red began dating a tattoo artist and musician who made her feel in over her head most of the time. She broke her comfort zones with him, learned to be an absolutely and entirely unfiltered version of herself, learned to handle mayhem and push aside emotions to the best of her ability, but it didn’t come easy. She has been using drugs for about two years now to help numb the grief and inner turmoil she never let herself truly feel, unfortunately it was her boyfriend’s idea the first time and she quickly felt out of control with drugs. Without them she is brutal, rash and ultimately off the rails. The one time she tried to quit, the detox was so awful she swore to never give them up again.

Red finished high school just a few months ago and left behind her life in Seattle, determined to return to Riverdale and make the Serpent’s lives hell. The only lasting emotions she allowed herself to feel were anger towards anyone and everyone who turned her life upside down. Because of the war going on in the Southside, she had to get a place in the Northside and so far it's proving to be helpful in keeping her true identity under wraps. She was never as close to Northsiders as she was with Southsiders, so she has been able to successfully play off just being a new girl who seems to enjoy trouble.

Skylar has been back for about three months and has become friendly with many, close with very few, but only Malachai knows her born identity. It was her one way of getting back in with the Ghoulies immediately and she has happily helped plot the demise of the Serpents.

Red is strong, fiercely independent and stands down to no one. She definitely has her weaknesses, sometimes she tries so hard to block out her pain that she ends up hurting others and lashing out and other times she has full-blown breakdowns, no matter how much she wants to believe she doesn’t care or feel. Reality always finds a way of catching up to you. But Lizzy.. Lizzy was a princess, protected by many, determined she could handle herself, but ultimately having to run when things got to scary. Red never planned on bringing Lizzie back, so now that she has returned to Riverdale, she still uses her false identity.

Ultimately, she’s in town for revenge and any way to try and numb and heal her pain. She will raise Ghoulie hell upon Riverdale and with Hiram now funding their chaos, she figures now is as good of a time as any to enjoy the true Ghoulie experience. Can anyone help her find peace again or will she continue to set fire to the lives of those who ruined her life.

Anywhooo, there’s my shitty little intro/bio thing for my girl, Red. I’d looove to make connections with y’all, especially with her being an OC. She can have connections from the past and current, so shoot me a message and lets plot! Check out my wanted connections page here and let me know if you’re interested in forming one of her connections!

[emomilestuck]

@whattheeverlastingtuck waffles

this is the quality content y’all missed out on bc lexi abandoned tumblr aren’t y’all sad