#this is all because I rewatched angels in America today and it is one of the best goddamn episodes of riverdale

[citrinegay]

Tabitha Tate: Patron Saint of Time Travel, Inexpensive Milkshakes, and Jughead Jones — The Angel of Riverdale.

[nobigsecrets]

So tumblr tells me I created this post on Jan 1, 2022 and apparently, I’ve gone from monthly rec lists to not even one per year. I’m sorry for that. But in honor of Steve’s birthday I’m posting it today and before it gathers even more dust in my drafts. This list includes some gems from the early days of the show since I went all the way back to page 851 on AO3 when I started my rewatch at the beginnging of 2022. Happy reading! :)

Captain America and the Angel of Death by @missslothy Rating: M, Words: 29,360 The State of Hawaii welcomes the rare people in the world who have magical, supernatural abilities - people like Steve and Danny.  But sometimes people come to the islands who aren't so tolerant. People who are looking to make trouble... When Danny and Steve find themselves outed on social media, they have to fight to protect their reputations, their Ohana and even their lives.  And who is targeting Steve and Danny and why?

See the truth; and you will see me by ellievolia Rating: G, Words: 1,105 Because Steve is sitting on a chair - looks like a dentist’s one, which is not warming Danny’s heart at all - getting his forearm tattooed, right there next to the curve of his elbow. Danny can’t help but think for a second that it has to be an act of rebellion against something Steve is not really a part of anymore.

One Foot on the Third Rail (and One on a Banana Peel) by Taz Rating: T, Words: 3,250 Danny has an acute reaction to an over the counter cold remedy.

Boxing Day by klutzy34 Rating: T, Words: 1,711 Steve can't help but watch the way Danny moves.

Both Sides of the Rainbow by ariadnes_string Rating: G, Words: 4,343 “Seriously?” Kono couldn’t tell whether blood loss was making her loopy, or whether things really had gotten that absurd.  “Are they seriously arguing about who’s going to rescue me like I’m some kind of Disney princess?”

Morning at sea by ariadnes_string Rating: G, Words: 1,704 Everyone’s had one of those mornings when they can’t get out of bed, right?

Relief by MDJensen Rating: T, Words: n/a After rescuing the bus full of kids, Steve needs to freak out a little. He does so, in a very early-seasons-Steve way. Set post 2x11.

Better Than Socks by JaneDavitt Rating: M, Words: 1,109 Danny and Steve get drunk and share a wishlist on Christmas Eve. Blow jobs seem popular.

Sleepwalking by JaneDavitt Rating: M, Words: 3,769 Things between Steve and Danny come to a head on a night when both of them are dead on their feet.

You Can't Carry it with You (If You Want to Survive) by dogeared Rating: T, Words: 884 "Why do you have to be so crazy all the time, that's what I want to know."

From This Day Forward by annieke Rating: T, Words: 1,700 The end of the night brings a little clearer realization to Danny and Steve. (Coda to 3x06)

Direction by waldorph Rating: E, Words: 1,124 You know how in 105 Steve was really good at taking direction?  Danny noticed.

How to Keep Your Mouth Shut by primetime Rating: E, Words: 10,072 Danny’s sometimes gay. Gay, sometimes. Does dudes. He doesn’t know how to say it right. He doesn’t know how to say it at all.

Wedding Bells by glorious_spoon Rating: G, Words: 1,814 Danny leans against the door frame, rubs a hand over his face, and says, “Grace thinks we should get married.” “Okay,” Steve says easily, pulling the fridge open. “You want breakfast?”

Choose Your Friends by McParrot Rating: T, Words: 1,421 The look on Steve's face is breaking Danny's heart. (Coda to 1x07)

Dug Deep by tari_roo Rating: G, Words: 1,792 After the adrenaline rush is over, even will power can't keep Steve from crashing.

Manhunt by @goneahead Rating: T, Words: 14,760 Steve is a space-weary SEAL, Danny is a retired cop who's raising his daughter on a quiet backwater planet. When Steve tracks a wanted fugitive to Jer-C II, he's expecting it to be just another job--until he meets Danny and Grace. Yep, the space meet-cute nobody asked for.

A man in uniform by Bluespirit Rating: E, Words: 679 Danny has a thing for Steve's dress uniform.

Ma Ke Kahakai by Longboard_Chris Rating: E, Words: 1,150 Four deleted scenes from Episode 1x20 (where Steve and Danny go hiking) that will NOT be included in the boxed set of Season 1.

Buzz Cut by shinysylver Rating: E, Words; 1,243 Danny misses the curls, but he'll miss Steve more.

Never Say Never by mohinikapuahi Rating: E, Words: 619 Nobody ever said Doris was the shy retiring type.

Shades of Blue by ThatwasJustaDream Rating: E, Words: 1,336 Steve noticed the Camaro parked near his driveway, and knew Danny had let himself in while he was gone.  But he expected to find him down by the water, so the sound of footsteps upstairs was strange.

Detour by MidnightThoughts Rating: E, Words: 1,189 A missing scene from episode 3 of season 1, in which Steve actually does take Danny on the detour he wanted.

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse Rewatches SPN 05x15

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

“Lets get horny for some angels” “What year was the car made? 67? Same as the birth of the grave” “Get your gun bro. Oh, he’s got one. It looks like he’s got a couple” “He who dies with the most toys wins. That was what the sign said, but they didn’t specify what kind of toys” Dean got microaggressed “And he picked today of all days to come back?” Hi Jody!!

“Huh” “Aren’t they stealing the gas anyway? With the credit cards?” “How long ago did the guy come out of the grave? Most cemeteries have dudes who mow every so often” “That was a neat transition” “Could have been that Sam just farted” “Why did she call the cops? Because the “FBI” came into their home? But her dead husband is alive? Why isn’t she freaking out?” “Bobby didn’t bother telling them that?” “Are all the reapers on vacation?” “Doesn’t he have to kill her again?” “I didn’t bother saying anything, but 15 or 20 came back” “Secret pie sounds good. That’s what’s going on in his brain” I didn’t realize my job was to bring you peace, Spouse.

“Must be that time of the month, Sam” “Is she going to eat his face?” “Delicious” “zombies” “The fuck is wrong with him?”

His wife is back

“So he’s going to cock a gun on the kids? Yeah sure?” “Wouldn’t 111 kill you? I’m pretty certain you’d die at like 105” “Did he eat his own leg, or is he killing Daddy?” “sure. As if there aren’t a bunch of people already locked up there. This is America” “She’s going to tell him now?” “zombies” “Bobby’s seen a lot of shit. He had to kill his wife twice” “Why do they bother asking each other? The answer is always the same no matter when they ask” “How do you get your hair to stay so perfect after breaking into houses, killing shit, whatever. There’s not a tear in those clothes even” “Zombie dogs next?” “Very Sean of the Dead vibe” “Cuz the guy got killed in a hunting accident and now there’s shotguns.” “What’s so important about here? There’s a whole ass town, and instead they’re going to the junkyard with armed people” “So when you said you were low, you really had a couple shots left.” “Terrible idea. You aren’t going to miss or have a ricochet?” “Hair’s still fine” “I mean, she had to kill her kid, and bobby killed his wife twice. But what do I know” “Just burning zombies in the town. No big deal” “What about twitter? Or anything else? The show can’t possibly pre-date that at this point” “What is shinola?” “Why do they even ask if he’s alright?” “hey Dean’s jacket is a little dirty. Imagine that”

"his collar is popped up though"

[karazor--el]

Supergirl's Nicole Maines Is the Trans Hero the World Needs

Trans actress Nicole Maines is seeking justice on Supergirl.

The CW’s Supergirl is showcasing the power of the press, says Nicole Maines, who plays reporter Nia Nal (a.k.a. Dreamer). “This is really a season about portraying journalists as superheroes,” she explains. “When we have a president who’s trying to vilify journalists, then you guys really are heroes.”

When the show’s creative team was planning the fifth season, Maines says they wanted create an enemy “that the Super Friends couldn’t necessarily fight with their fists or with heat vision.” The show’s writers found their adversary in the leader of a human supremacist group who’s “fanning the flames of hatred and bigotry in National City.” Even after he’s imprisoned, the city continues to be ravaged with problems. “How do you fight fear? “ Maines asks. “How do you fight ignorance and hatred and bigotry? That’s not something you can punch.”

The parallels are all too real given the constant attacks on immigrants, reporters, and trans people like Maines. At 21, the actress has already had a life of fighting the kind of bigotry she tackles on TV.

In 2007, Maines first challenged her elementary school over bathroom access. The case went to the Maine Supreme Court, which ruled in 2014 that denying a trans student access to a bathroom that matched their gender identity was unconstitutional. Since then, she’s advocated for LGBTQ rights, appearing in the HBO documentary The Trans List and in the book Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family. At 17, Glamour named her Woman of the Year. She’s also received honors from HRC and the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

These days, her acting career is taking center stage on a show that could not be more relevant. Her screen work is reminiscent of Wonder Woman’s Lynda Carter — who is, ironically, now Maines’s costar on Supergirl, playing U.S. President Olivia Marsdin.

The show delivers plenty of timely issues, including immigration. Maines, who accepted the role before she even knew the storyline, says, “I knew that I was going to play a trans woman and I knew I was going to play a reporter and I knew I was going to play a superhero.” Once she found out about how they were going to draw a parallel to America today, she knew this was “a story that needs to be told.”

“This is what we need in a superhero show,” says Maines. “We have a show about… otherworldly refugees coming to Earth, coming to National City. What would that look like? It would look like you know a lot of people saying aliens are coming to take our jobs, they’re dangerous. The exact same conversation we’re having with immigrants today... How do you make sense of it all? How do you combat people’s fears?”

Without a doubt, Supergirl is attempting to challenge the hearts and minds of its viewers. “I think superheroes are a great way to talk about these issues because superheroes are a huge staple in American culture and something everybody’s familiar with,” Maines says, adding that by using superheroes to talk about things like xenophobia or homophobia, it can make such topics more approachable in real life. The camp aspect of it all keeps it light.

“I am not reading my news app and crying and freaking out,” admits Maines, “At least I’m seeing this through Supergirl. At least that’s how I cope with it.”

Using fantasy as a tool to talk about political issues isn’t new. Films like Iron Man, Captain America, and Superman have managed it successfully — using historical enemies, like Nazis, and even setting the time amid the backdrop of the Cold War. Superheroes have always existed at the intersection of culture and politics, but Maines says it hasn’t always resonated with everyone, especially radical right-wingers who’d rather take politics out of superhero movies. “People are only upset about it now because, for the first time, they are on the other side of it,” she explains. “The enemy is potentially at home. It’s not overseas, it’s not someone you can point at.”

Playing Nia makes Maines an even bigger role model as well, and she feels that love on social media. While she feels enormous pressure being the first trans superhero, Maines admits it’s easier because she’s not the first trans character on TV.

“We are exiting the era of television where trans characters feel a need to explain themselves,” she says. “Where all trans characters are the trans characters and that their role on the show is to educate other characters…[and] the audience about what it means to be trans. I don’t have to be necessarily the trans superhero. I can be a superhero who is trans.”

“What an amazing trajectory to know in 50 years we can go from being a completely isolated community and being thrown in jail for wearing the wrong article of clothing to being on television in a super-suit, and being seen by everyone,” she adds. “Not just people in our community but people outside of our community, people across the country, across the world are seeing us.”

Maines hopes that Hollywood will now be more open to cast trans actors in trans-specific roles, mainly because of the effects it has off-screen.

“One of the arguments that I see is, ‘Well it’s acting, it’s pretending.’ Well yes, but you also have to take into account how that is reading to someone sitting on their couch watching — someone who has never seen a trans person before. If you cast a man and put him in a dress and say this is what ‘trans’ looks like, well then that’s where we get the whole ‘men in dresses’ argument. That’s why I feel it is so important, because we are actively combating that narrative that trans people are somehow pretending or playing dress-up.”

While she thinks equal opportunity for gay actors, for example, should be a consideration, the rest of the arguments aren’t the same. “No one is going around saying that gay people are straight people pretending to be gay to get into gay functions. No one is saying that. There’s not that harmful narrative reinforced [when compared to the trans narrative].”

Though Maines is quickly racing to the top of the Hollywood A-list, she can’t help but be anxious, especially since she’s now part of an industry with so much rejection. That’s why she’s choosing to “stop, smell the roses,” and “be very, very happy, be very thankful.”

Of course, that includes finding love. At 21, Maines is “single as a Pringle,” she jokes, and the men she meets in Vancouver (where Supergirl is filmed) are often outdoor adventurers.

“I feel like all the guys in Vancouver are like, ‘Let’s work out, let’s go skiing!’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s not.’ After a 16-hour day, the last thing I want to think about is working out. I’m going to sit on my couch in my sweatpants eating ice cream and…rewatching The Office.”

Her family back in Maine have been a great support, especially in helping cut through red tape so she could continue her hormone treatment while filming abroad. She jokes about the difficulty of working with insurance in the U.S., living in Canada part of the year, and no longer being able to have her mom mail hormones across the border to her on set. “Look at me smuggling estrogen across the border,” the baby-faced Maines quips. “I am the face of crime.”

Maines’s new vampire movie, Bit, premiers soon. “It’s freaking great,” Maines boasts. “I play a transgender girl from Oregon who visits her brother who is an actor in Los Angeles, and she falls in with a gang of intersectional feminist vampires in Los Angeles — and it is amazing.”

Hollywood clearly has a new superstar on the rise. And to whoever is casting the new Avatar: The Last Airbender reboot, Maines says she’s waiting for their call. Oh, and she’s game to do a Star Wars flick too.

“Superhero and Jedi,” says the young starlet, exposing her inner geek girl. “Those are where the goalposts are.”

The Advocate Magazine.

[stilesgivesmefeels]

OTP Game

Pick your top 10 OTPs without reading the questions.

I was tagged by absolutely no one but it looked fun!

1. Ian/Mickey - Shameless

2. Buck/Eddie - 9-1-1

3. Stiles/Derek -Teen Wolf

4. Steve/Bucky - Captain America/MCU 

5. Kirk/Spock - Star Trek 

6. Michael/Maria - Roswell (the original show!)

7. Eric ‘Bitty’ Bittle/Jack Zimmermann - Check Please!

8. Clark Kent/Lex Luther - Smallville

9. Angel/Cordelia Chase - Angel

10. Veronica/Logan - Veronica Mars

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

A. The diner scene for sure!  Just BAM! Making out in the diner.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

A. SO MANY.  It’s my all-consuming reading these days.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

A. No

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

A. That would never happen.  They are happily engaged (and probably married in 2020 time) and Ngozi has taken such good care of her audience and her characters that I don’t have to even worry about that!

5. Why is 1 so important?

A. Ooooh Gallavich!  Canon, married in canon!  They have probably the best on-screen chemistry of any of the ships. And I love ships with good chemistry.  But they just sizzle.  And also very clearly love each other, even when they didn’t have the language to use for it yet.  Their growth together over the seasons has been so great to watch.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

A. A little bit of both?  They had such great potential until Joss Whedon fucked it all over.  I am still so pissed on behalf of Charisma Carpenter.  She was completely fucked over.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

A. Gallavich for the canon ships by far!  Gallavich for overall as well!  For non-canon, Buck and Eddie.  They have so much love and affection for each other already.

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

A. Oooh this is a tough one.  Because Steve and Bucky have such a strong bond (and I completely ignore the very end of Endgame).  But Kirk and Spock are also basically soulmates.  So might be a tie between those two?

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

A. Sooooo many times.  But I end with the movie.  I refuse to watch the new season that kills of Logan!  Fuck that.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

A. I’m not sure what this means? For me to be shipping them?  Or since they started?  I think it means since they started and that would be Kirk/Spock.  They are the OG shipping!e

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

A. A dozen or so?

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

A. While Buck and Eddie would like to pretend that they would survive, the real answer is Clark and Lex.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

A. Yes, they did!  Jack wasn’t out to the rest of the team (or world) so their relationship had to be a secret at first.  But that was hurting Bitty so they came out to the friends and then to the world!

14. Is 4 still together?

A. If Endgame had actually followed the storyline set up about Steve and Bucky from the entire rest of the series they still would be!!!

15. Is 10 canon?

A. Yup!

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

A. If it were Winter Soldier era Steve and Bucky then they would definitely win. They would burn it all to the ground to save each other. 

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

A. Sort of?  They face a lot of obstacles but are definitely soulmates.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

A. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.  

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

A. I’ve never gone through any of their tumblr pages.  But during the height of my Sterek love my entire feed was all Sterek all the time.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

A. Michael and Maria.  But only because they were young and I haven’t rewatched the show in 20 years.  So it won’t hurt the same as the rest.

[letterboxd]

Most Picture 2020.

In which we award the Most Picture Oscar to the most-rewatched of the 2020 Best Picture nominees, and track down the Letterboxd member who most obsessively rewatched the Most Obsessively Rewatched Film in our 2019 Year in Review—Avengers: Endgame—to ask “Why?”.

Once again, we dive into the data on the Oscar Best Picture nominees to name not the Best Picture (respect to Parasite!), but what is the Most Picture, as in, which of the nine 2020 finalists was rewatched the most by Letterboxd members?

And the 2020 “Most” Picture Award goes to… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Letterboxd member Movie15 has the distinction of having logged Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood the most—a whopping 26 times since its August release, and though he hasn’t reviewed it on Letterboxd, we’ve enjoyed his quest to see Tarantino’s latest in as many Los Angeles movie theaters as possible, on 35mm as often as he can.

Bong Joon-ho’s multi-Academy-Award-winning masterpiece, Parasite, comes next, just 859 views behind—Khoi is the Letterboxd member who has most obsessively rewatched the film to date, with eleven recorded watches. Third place (and almost 14,000 views behind the two leaders) goes to Joker, watched the most (seventeen times) by Kenai Fleck, a hard-core Batman fan.

In fourth place, Little Women. Micah Simmons has logged the film fourteen times (but may in fact be pushing 20 views). On the thirteenth view, “I have nothing to add, except for mentioning a shot right before the scene where Amy does *the thing* to Jo, and there’s a crazy shot that foreshadows *the thing* so well and fuck this movie is smart.” Then come Marriage Story, The Irishman, 1917, Jojo Rabbit and Ford v. Ferrari in that order.

The official Letterboxd Most Picture list reveals the combined number of watches for all members with two or more entries for these films.

The Rewatches We Logged Along the Way

Avengers: Endgame was the Most Obsessively Rewatched Film of 2019 in our Year in Review, which means it had the highest number of Letterboxd members logging it five or more times in their diaries.

Member Max Joseph has the distinction of having logged Avengers: Endgame more times than any other. When we told him we needed to know why, he replied: “I’d be honored to talk about my love for Avengers Endgame!” Spoilers follow in this Q&A with Max (though at this point if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame it’s probably only because Max has watched it for you). This interview was conducted prior to the 2020 Academy Awards.

How many times do you think you have seen Avengers: Endgame? Max Joseph: Well, I’ve logged it 26 times as of today. But I also think there are a good three or four watches I didn’t log because I occasionally put it on before bed, and just never logged it. So I’d say my final answer is 29, but that honestly may be lowballing it. I have a feeling that by the time the Oscars roll around, it’ll probably be at 30. I always watch every single film, documentary and short nominated for the Oscars, and thankfully, Endgame was nominated!

What’s your reaction to the news that you are the member who has logged it the most? Kind of shocked! I really didn’t even realize how many times I watched it until you told me! I watch Avengers: Endgame because it brings me happiness, and I love the adventure! When it finally came out on Blu-ray and digital, there were a few times I would watch it multiple times in one day. Then I’d throw something else on, then get upset that I wasn’t watching Avengers. So maybe it isn’t as shocking as I had thought!

What keeps you coming back to it? I love all genres of film. Take this season for example. I love the more meaty and dramatic films like Parasite, 1917, Waves, Queen & Slim. I love comedies like Jojo Rabbit and Booksmart. Animation like Toy Story 4, Frozen II and Klaus.

But, you give me someone flying, turning invisible, super speed… that’s where I live. Superhero movies are just my favorites, and I think the reason I keep coming back to Avengers: Endgame is because besides being a superhero movie—which I just naturally gravitate towards—in Endgame, I get a little bit of every genre and mood. I also like that it’s split up into three acts, and each act gives me what I want in a superhero movie:

Act one is the slow burn, which we never really got in the MCU up to this point. It’s the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, and them dealing with the implications and the new normal of the universe. And this gives a chance for the story to build, and our actors to show off, especially Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson. It gives something new to the fans of the franchise and is one of the biggest reasons I keep coming back for more.

Act two is the “time heist” and it is a pure love letter to the fans of the franchise. They revisit some of the best parts of our MCU journey over the last eleven years and mess with it. Is it fan service? Absolutely! But I think they did it right.

Act three is the final battle at the now-destroyed Avengers headquarters. And this was where the slow burn pays off. It is what we’ve all been waiting for since 2008. The grand finale. The culmination of eleven years and 22 films. We are gifted my favorite battle I’ve ever seen, bone-chilling and heartbreaking moments, as well as the most cathartic endings to the most epic story I’ve ever had the privilege to watch, nearly 30 times over.

What have you noticed with each rewatch? Two things: firstly, how unbelievable the visual effects are. I may be alone in this, but I think Marvel has the best visual effects on the planet. By miles. And rewatching this makes me appreciate how much time and dedication was put into making this. So much happened behind the scenes, that I personally don’t really think about while watching it. But after 26 views, I start to think about green screens, the motion capturing, all of those elements, it’s insane! Go on YouTube and just check out all of that work they did visually. It’s beautiful.

Secondly, how brilliant Robert Downey Jr. is. I’ve been saying it for years, but RDJ was born to play Tony Stark. Has he had many other brilliant performances throughout his career? Absolutely. But I think that if he was not cast as Iron Man, this franchise wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. He is the heart of the MCU. And he has so many brilliant moments throughout the film, meets his dad during the “time heist”, the realization of “the one”, even the way he interacts with his daughter, Morgan. It’s truly exceptional work. I think it’s his best performance as Stark.

What is the single greatest scene in the film? Oy, well that’s near impossible. A few standouts are Cap wielding Mjölnir, the scene with Tony and his dad, the reveal of Professor Hulk, thicc Thor, Cap vs. Cap, “the snap”. There are so many! But I think the popular answer is also the greatest, and that is when our Avengers return.

As soon as I heard Sam Wilson’s (Falcon) voice, I lost my mind. And they brilliantly added “On your left” right before all the portals open up. “On your left” is a callback to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That’s the first line of the movie, and is repeated again at the end. Both times are between Sam and Steve, and it was the same in Endgame. And then you add Alan Silvestri’s score (the song is titled ‘Portals’) which is building and building with emotion, which leads into Cap finally saying…

“Avengers (music cuts) Assemble”… (enter Avengers theme song)

It. Is. Perfection. I have chills as I type this. It was probably the greatest theater experience I’ve had in my life. I was sobbing. Imagine how I was by the end…

What has the overall Avengers cinematic adventure meant to you? I remember seeing the first Iron Man in theaters with some friends in 2008. We all dressed up in suits, because we were at a high school awards show kind of thing, and just went straight to the theater, and we had the best time. From the first moment ’til the end, when Tony says, “I am Iron Man”, then Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ starts playing, my jaw was on the floor. I gave a standing ovation. In a suit. From that moment on, I knew that this was made for me.

It has given me the greatest moments in a movie theater, incredible discussions with friends and strangers, and although it may seem cheesy, some much-needed happiness in some of the most difficult times in my life. I watch these stories because I love them. They mean something to me. They are an important part of who I am.

What would you say to people who say that blockbusters like these aren't ‘real’ cinema? Hahaha! This is a hilarious question, and I’m thrilled that you asked it. I’ve actually had a good 20 people ask me this, and I always said that I’d write something or make a video about it, so here we go…

Let me start off by saying that Martin Scorsese is arguably one of the greatest directors of all time. I love his work, I respect it, and I encourage everyone to watch his full repertoire, ’cause it’s beautiful.

That being said… ‘real cinema’ is a matter of opinions. To me, Avengers: Endgame is just as much real cinema, as The Irishman, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, anything. I don’t care who you are, you can be Martin Scorsese, Kevin Feige, one of my friends, a stranger, I don’t think you have the right to tell me what is ‘real cinema’. You can say something isn’t good, or only being made to earn a profit, but you don’t get to say that movies like this aren’t worthy of being ‘real cinema’. To me, they are. You’re more than entitled to that opinion! I just happen to disagree with you, but you’re not wrong by any means. I’m entitled to my opinion, you’re entitled to yours. And that’s what it comes down to. Opinions.

Thicc Thor—keep or send back to the gym? I totally don’t care. Taika Waititi figured out how to write that character in Thor: Ragnarok, and thankfully they continued writing him this way in Endgame. So as long as the writers continue on the path that Waititi sent him on, I’m good. Make him thicc, give him an eight-pack, as long as the character has purpose and the lines flow naturally, I’m more than satisfied with whatever he looks like.

How amped are you to learn more about Natasha’s background in this year’s Black Widow? Finally! We’ve been waiting since Iron Man 2, and it is finally time for the Black Widow movie she deserves! I’m fascinated by the Red Room, which was where she started her training as a Russian spy. They showed us glimpses of her beginnings in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and I’ve always been hungry for more information because it looked really interesting.

I also think that we may finally find out what happened in Budapest. It was first mentioned in The Avengers back in 2012, as a bit of banter between Black Widow and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and has kind of been a mystery ever since. It was actually mentioned again in Endgame. I’m basing this on the San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel. There was a title card that said “Budapest”, so it would make sense that we’re gonna get what we’ve been asking for!

I’m also thrilled because the cast is awesome. Obviously double Oscar-nominated actor this season, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour and one of my favorite actors, Florence Pugh, who had an unbelievable 2019, with Fighting With My Family, Midsommar (one of my favorite performances of the decade), and she topped it off with an Oscar-nominated performance in Little Women!

What do you think should win best picture at this year’s Oscars? Parasite. And it’s not even close. I think Parasite is one of the greatest films I’ve seen in my life. I think it deserves that number one slot on your Top 250 Narrative Features list.

It features the best performance from an ensemble, Song Kang-ho should have been nominated for supporting actor (he should be winning). The production design is fabulous. They literally built the Park family’s house for the film! Hong Kyung-pyo’s photography is worthy of being framed. He created a few shots that are permanently engraved in my head (in a good way). And of course, Bong Joon-ho’s direction flows with emotion and his script is original, gripping and electric. He is the definition of a visionary, at the top of his game.

Parasite is the crowning achievement of the decade and should be awarded as such. It would be the perfect way to end the decade with the first foreign-language film (now titled “International Feature Film”) winning Best Picture at the Oscars. #BONGHIVE all the way!

What do you think will win? My heart says Parasite, but I think it may end up going to something like Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, The Irishman or 1917 (which is in my top ten this year). The easy answer is probably Hollywood because it won the Globe, but that doesn’t always translate into an Oscar.

But if it’s not Parasite, I think it should be 1917. It is a technical work of art from Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning director Sam Mendes. Roger Deakins outdid himself and is pretty much guaranteed to earn his second Oscar [update: he did!]. Thomas Newman’s score is probably my favorite of the year (possibly of his career), followed closely by Emile Mosseri’s for The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Hildur Guðnadóttir’s for Joker. And George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman should be on everyone’s radar. They’re phenomenal. It’s shaping up to be quite a race this year!

What’s your favorite thing about Letterboxd? I think the reason I love it so much is because it feels like a family. I’ve had such a passion for the cinema for my whole life, and I like to share it wherever I can. But other social platforms (as wonderful as they are), aren’t always the best place to post about every single movie I’ve watched, or a top ten that I make. Letterboxd is the only place where I can let out all of my opinions, all of my thoughts, without feeling embarrassed or like I’m bothering anyone when I say how perfect Avengers: Endgame is. Or if I watch it and spot something new, I can post about it, and have great conversations about what I’ve discovered. It is the place for movie lovers, and it actually helped me love movies more, and to learn more about the crews, studios, and everything behind the film.

[lids-flutter-open]

a thing i wrote for the rabbi in preparation for finishing my conversion

1. How did you get to be sitting here today - tell me your story, how you learned to love Judaism, why you aren't x-tan anymore

I grew up in Olympia, Washington. My mother was "spiritual" but not specifically religious, and took us to a Unitarian Universalist church. I think this was a good experience for me, because it connected time in church ("church") to time talking about social justice concerns, and to caring about other people in a concentrated way. The UU church fed people at a shelter and raised money for environmental causes. I think it informed my principles as a person, even though my mother stopped taking us after a while. My father, whose mother was fairly fervently Methodist, didn't like religion. As a child, I associated religion proper--the kind of Christianity that other people did, for instance--with being asked to believe in something that was impossible, and the moral logic of religion, and especially Christianity as my grandmother knew it, didn't make a lot of sense to me. I was without any kind of religion throughout high school. I often felt depressed and anxious; I was gay and trans, and even after my parents began supporting me, many of my friends faced bullying, homelessness, mental health crises, and abuse. As I learned more about war, iniquity, and imperialism, I often felt like the world as it existed was beyond help, and that too many people suffered for the world to have any order. During that time, as I participated in LGBT groups around my town, I met some friends who were Jewish and coming into what that meant to them. I had really interesting conversations around Jewish ideas of God and morality with my friend Levi, who had grown up in a very racist town in Nevada and who embraced the idea of an all-knowing God who at the same time was mysteriously and frustratingly absent and who one had to both believe in and be angry at. In college, I took a class on European Jewish literature since the 1800s and read a lot of literature (from Gluckel von Hameln to Irene Nemirovsky and Stefan Zweig and Marx and Freud) accompanied by the analysis of a very gay older professor who tried very hard to keep his analysis secular while giving us religious concepts to provide context for the significance of writers' desperation, alienation, and struggle. A central idea that stuck with me from that class was the paradox of a God who has issued laws which everyone must follow for the salvation of the world even though nobody is sure exactly how to follow them. It combined the comforting and somewhat idealistic certainty that there was a plan with the sensible conclusion that, based on the chaos and horror extant in the world today, nobody was enforcing that plan and for practical purposes humanity was on its own to solve its problems. I also was fascinated that the ideas of Marx, and the ideas of many of the people who tried to formulate socialist states from the ruins of monarchies in the early 20th century, were influenced by the Jewish messianic tradition and were part of the idea that people themselves could bring on the dawn of the ultimate, perfect era of life on Earth if we only worked together and worked hard enough. It's romantic, but I pictured Jewish socialists motorcycling across the Russian steppe (as indeed they did, when carrying news during the 1918 crisis), imagining that their work might fix what everyone else had gotten wrong. I like Judaism because it recognizes humanity's messiness and mistakes, including prophets. It notes the arguments people have had, the different views people take, the times people have seriously messed up and faced consequences for it, the times people have seriously messed up and faced no consequences. It is concerned with bodies and matter and daily practice more than with immortal souls, but also speaks about souls and love and hope. It remembers, and it watches, and it hopes for the day where the word of G-D becomes something real--something explicitly material--, and tries to work for it, but admits that there may or may not be a clear path to get there. At the same time, it motivates me to do work in the world directed outwards, toward helping people. 2. Tell me about God / spirituality / prayer. What does that all mean to you?

I like thinking of God as the connection that exists between people, and anything good, but also as something boundless, beyond good and evil, and utterly incomprehensible to human identity, morality, etc. God is in the wonder of a wave crashing down on the sand. God is the potential for good things to happen because God is the potential for anything to happen, and when someone is a human, the best potential is that humans can come together and fix something, or figure out a way to care for each other better. Prayer is also being glad to be alive, to see candles or smell smoke or feel one's arms working in the morning. I pray because I believe there's some way to tap into that sort of divine similarity I have with all other beings and all other matter and make something happen that's good. I also think there is a lot to be said for the way Jewish prayer emphasizes sensual pleasure and simple appreciation of one's material body and material existence. I think God is a way for me to understand all bodies as good, for all experiences of bodies to be divine, even if they are painful. 

3. What are some meaningful Jewish rituals / practices that you do and why are they important to you?

I observe Shabbat by avoiding grocery shopping, laundry, and travel on that day, and by trying to spend time with friends. I attend services on Friday nights and some Saturday mornings at CBE. In the last year, I have also observed the Jewish holidays of Shavuot, Tisha b'Av, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Hannukah, Purim and Pesach. On Rosh Hashanah, I made food for my friends, including two new friends from my synagogue, even though my apartment is pretty small, and tried to incorporate foods traditional to the new year like apples and honey, round challah, and other foods. I observed Tisha b'Av and Yom Kippur by fasting, and throughout the month of Elul I thought a lot about the things in my life I wanted to change and about calamities I wanted to do something to prevent or to help people recover from. I read a book recommended by Rabbi Katz (This is Real and You're Completely Unprepared by Alan Lew) in order to better approach the holiday from a mindset of introspection and reconciliation with the parts of myself I wanted to leave behind. I also took a new appreciation of the themes of Elul and Yom Kippur with me as I rewatched Angels in America, which deals a lot in Jewish reconciliation, forgiveness, and death. On Hannukah I went to friends' houses in order to eat latkes and other oily foods and also engaged in conversations about the dubious victory of the Maccabees/when a revolution becomes a repressive regime. On Purim I went to party and attended services, and thought about what it means to survive something terrible and what it means to ask for revenge or to make up a story where you get revenge, and what the difference is. On Passover I was with friends in 2017 and 2018, talking about freedom, human trafficking, refugees, motherhood and reproductive freedom, and a list of other issues that seem more relevant every year. In 2018 I also learned songs, both traditional and more recent.   In terms of everyday rituals: I try to give to people who ask for things. I try to care for people in my life who I value. I try to think critically and to better myself and to improve the world. I try to criticize tyrants. I try to be thankful for my body. I try to forgive people, and also to think carefully about when someone deserves forgiveness. I try to rigorously evaluate my standards for living a decent life and see if they are good enough. I try to remember history. I think about how the lessons of Torah relate to my life and what wisdom that text contains that I can apply to my life and sometimes make Spotify playlists related to books of the Torah. I try to read the weekly parsha and think about it critically. I read feminist books about Judaism and read fiction by Jewish authors. 4. What do you still want to learn / read about when you are Jewish?

I want to learn Hebrew so I can comfortably read in services in either language. I want to learn more about the history of Jewish people in the United States and around the world, because even as I learn more there is still a lot I have missed out on. 

5. What Hebrew name are you thinking of having? And Why? Zev as a biblical name originates from a reference to Benjamin, who is called "a wolf that raveneth". The text refers to Benjamin-as-wolf killing prey in the morning and dividing spoils in evening. But there isn't much reference to whether Benjamin actually ever does any killing, though he gave rise to the line that included Ehud, Saul and, supposedly, Mordecai. Some consider the term "ravenous Wolf" not to refer to war at all but to refer to Temple sacrifices. Benjamin is known in rabbinic tradition as being a uniquely upstanding, sin-free person, and is also notable for being the youngest son of Rachel, and the last child of Jacob. When I was considering names for myself as a fifteen-year-old after coming out as trans, I considered Benjamin (on the advice of my therapist!) because of Rachel trying to name Benjamin Benoni after her pain and death, but failing. The name represented a triumph above origin while also presenting a puzzle because the actual etymology of the name is contested--it means son of days, son of the south, etc etc. But I didn't choose Benjamin as a name then, and I don't want to choose it now, because it's too full of a story and too precise. I like Zev because, though it's technically an allusion to this character, it also just means Wolf. I like that there are aspects of Benjamin's life I could step into, but don't want to draw parallels between myself and a biblical character every time I say my name. I like wolves, and have since I was a child, because they are both powerful and dangerous but also care for one another. Researchers studying wolves have found that in the wild they are far more communal and less aggressive toward each other than they are in captivity or under stress. I think that the protective powers of the wolf, and also the familial bonds between wolves, is something I want to emulate. I want to step into a different aspect of the name than Zev Jabotinsky, whose militancy and ferocity I think are antithetical to building an enduring, peaceful, prosperous future for humanity and other species on this planet.

[transmxnfenris]

EVERY BOTANICAL ASK

WHY DO YOU DO THIS Jasmine: what mythical creature do you wish existed? Ooooh, probs Selkies. They are so pure, good and lovely. I would strive to protect them all. Lavender: soundcloud or vinyls? Vinyl because I’m a True Hipster Primrose: what book does everyone need to read right now? The Book Thief because it changed my life. Lunar mist: do you like wearing other people’s shirts/jackets? You know the answer to this Richie, I am literally wearing your shirt right now you are right next to me you absolute dork Bird of Paradise: what was the best thing that happened to you this month? Moving to my new place 💖Gardenia: what’s a promise you’ve recently made to yourself? Um well it’s faith related and kinda secret and I can’t remember any others Lion’s fairytale: would you rather be the sky, the ocean, or the forests? The ocean for sure Whirling butterflies: would you kiss the last person you kissed again? A thousand times 💖Marmalade skies: do you plan your outits? Kinda, I wear the same three outfits all the time cause I am autistic Apricot drift: how do you feel right now? Pretty great. I’m happyEverlasting daisy: what’s the last dream you remember having? Oh you were there! I dreamed we went to Costco last night but it was closed down so you (Richie) cried Queen’s cup: what are you craving right now? McCoy’s Cheddar and Onion crisps like I always am Lavender dream: turn ons/turn offs? Turn ons: well created art Turn offs: unnecessary nastiness Water Lilly: when was the last time you cried? Why? I don’t know I cry all the time I cry because puppies are too cute sometimes Lily of the Valley: did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologise? No, and that’s okay because I don’t need him or his apology. I’m moving on now. Winterberry: do you bite or lick your ice cream? Bite Honey perfume: favourite movie ever? Mulan Snapdragon: have you ever met or seen in person a celebrity? My dads cousin is a quasi famous comedian but I can’t tell you who he is cos my and him have the same last name Night owl: how many countries have you visited?Nine? I think it’s nine Heliotrope: have you ever been in a castle? Yeah loads of times, last one was Hellsinger castle in Denmark where Hamlet’s set. It was awesome. Creams and sky: what’s the craziest/bravest thing you’ve done? Skydiving probs Lantana: what’s on your mind right now? Finishing all these god damn questions you’ve set me you dingbat Pumpkin patch: what’s your zodiac sign? Aries Tulip: name five facts about yourself. Amethyst is my favourite crystal but that may change soonSunflowers are my favourite flowers but I’m starting to prefer daffodils I want to go to Japan I want twelve cats seven dogs and five rabbits I think Icarus deserved better Daphne: do you believe in karma? Kind of Queen of the meadow: ever been in love? I’m in love with you you dingbat Wisteria: whom do you admire and why? Carrie Fisher because she beat addiction and let herself be crazy Angel’s face: what was your favourite bed time story as a child? The Jolly Christmas Postman Remember me: did you make someone laugh today? Yeah you a handful of minutes ago Iris: do you believe in ghosts? Kinda Lilac: If you could go back in time which time period would you visit? Ancient Egypt or Shakespearean times so I could be bffs with Shakespeare or Tutankhamen Caramel kisses: would you want to live forever? Why/why not? When you believe the universe is all connected this question feels hard to answer Primula: what makes you sad? Other people/animals being hurt Rain lily: was today tropical? Why/why not? Not really, cause I live in England. It’s sunny though? Queen Anne’s Lace: who do you trust the most? You ofc 💖Lady’s slipper: what did you have for breakfast today? I skipped breakfast but I had a Tesco’s meal deal for lunch Forget me not: do you have any regrets looking back on life? Yes but I try not to Lunaria: what’s your favourite fictional universe? Why don’t you just ask me to pick a favourite child while you’re at it... probs Persona? Or Star Wars. Or Harry Potter. Or Discworld. Idk this is too hard. Violet: favourite tv show? Hmm ... For quality Mr Robot for rewatchability and comfort Friends Sunflower: share a quote. “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.” - Frida KahloSnowdrop: what does your ideal day look like? A picnic with my boyfriend on a sunny day with no worries at all Tiger lily: do you have any hobbies? Writing, gaming, role playing, reading, and I like swimming Peony: share a small random book passage that means something to you. “oh I can believe things that are true and things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” - Sam Black Crow, American GodsIM GONNA STOP NOW cause I’m too tired and this too long

[darkstar6782]

5.19: Hammer of the Gods - My Rewatch Review

I find this episode to be a great homage to ‘American Gods’, which Eric Kripke has said was one of his inspirations for the setting of Supernatural in the first place. It fits the concept of the “pagan” gods as we have seen them in the show before—as powerful beings whose nature has devolved to that of little more than monsters as their worshipers have diminished and they have been forgotten—while also serving as a reminder that the angels, for all their power, are really just a higher breed of monster as far as humanity should be concerned, and that the Apocalypse, for all this talk of God and destiny and things bring written, is still the world-ending cataclysm that was foretold by only one religion, which means that it only holds as much power over the fate of the world as belief in that religion gives it. That’s why one of the things I love about this episode is the different ways in which the gods that have gathered take the news of the Apocalypse being nigh. Odin’s comments about how ‘everyone’ knows that the world will actually end the way that the Norse religion says it will, and Kali’s anger at the arrogance of ‘Westerners�� thinking that their religion and their Apocalypse should take precedence over the religion of billions of people in the rest of the world stand out as the two best examples, but in two very different ways.

Odin’s comment was meant mostly in jest, I think. Though more of his pantheon was in attendance than those of other religions at the meeting, I doubt that he has any illusions any more about the relative power of the Norse religion in the world today. By contrast, Kali’s anger at the idea of Christian myths and supernatural figures getting to dictate the fates of the large chunk of humanity that doesn’t believe in them is a perfectly valid position to have, and I like to think that her anger at this fact gets through to Gabriel as much as Dean’s anger over Gabriel being unwilling to stand up to his family does. Because, though it is not often stated so blatantly as Gabriel does in this episode, there really are three sides to the battle being waged over the Apocalypse: Heaven’s side, Hell’s side, and humanity’s side. And given that both Heaven and Hell only see the other side as their opponent, humanity is just caught in the middle, and is going to be the one that suffers the most without anyone to even stand up for them. Because even when it comes to the beliefs of Christians, it’s not as if the deity or the supernatural beings that they believe in are representing them in this fight either. The angels could care less about their believers, which means that, despite this being a ‘religious’ war, all of humanity suffers equally, regardless of the outcome. So Kali may be standing up for her believers in the face of another religion’s holy war threatening them, but she is also standing up for all of humanity in the process, believers of all religions and non-believers in common, because the war being fought is not about belief, but about ideology, and it is not about humanity, but about two warring supernatural factions. It may carry the trappings of religion, but when everything is said and done, all humanity will pay the price, regardless of their beliefs.

Which, to my mind, is a bold message for the show to be putting out there, as well as one that fits its uniquely American setting in the same way the the monsters and the urban legends that the boys chase do. And that was the original conceit of ‘American Gods’ as well; the idea that there is something unique about the way that the cultural melting pot of America shapes belief, and the way that religions and the deities that birthed those religions change and become separated from that belief system when their believers are separated from their native cultures and mingle with the rest of humanity in a different land across the world. And it is an important message too, for Sam and Dean to stand on the side of the gods that they would normally be hunting down as monsters, because they are all at risk of annihilation if Michael and Lucifer get around to fighting. It is a message that humanity is more than its gods or its religions, that everyone is worth saving regardless of their beliefs, and that at the end of the day, the ‘good guys’ are the ones on the side of humanity, not on the side of the angels. Even Loki/Gabriel redeems himself in the end not because he stood up against his brothers, but because he stood up for humanity and sacrificed himself to give Sam and Dean the key to ending this war with humanity winning out over both Heaven and Hell.

[jonesandcoops]

About The Blogger

I was tagged by @theheavycrown thank you my dear (my New Years resolution is to stop procrastinating and actually try to do more of these)

last (1-5)

drink: Tea (milk, one sugar ☕️)

phone call: My best friend

text msg: “please don’t! I’ll buy you like 5 wispa golds!!” (It’s a long story)

song you listened to: Love You Till The End by the Pogues

time you cried: Saturday night

ever…? (6-11)

dated someone twice: Nope.

ever kissed someone and regretted it: No..I’m a perpetually single Pringle 🙄

been cheated on: No

lost someone special: Yes.

been depressed: When I was struggling with my anxiety, more so in school.

gotten drunk/thrown up: Yes definitely but I’m proud to say I’ve yet to vomit due to alcohol 👌🏼

favourite colours (12-14)

Blue

Purple

Pink

in the last year have you… (15-21)

made new friends/mutuals: Yes! And I love all of them 💖

fallen out of love: Have’t been in love yet

laughed until you cried: Thanks to my beautiful family and friends, YES!

found out someone was talking about you: kind of??

met someone who changed you: hmmm I don’t really think so

kissed someone on your FB friends’ list: Nope!

general (22-51)

how many of your FB friends do you know IRL: I mean..I haven’t met all of them in person. A few of them are friends I made during Gishwes and live in other countries, but I do feel that I know them all.

you have any pets: sadly no, but I’m hopefully getting a dog soon 🙏🏻🤞🏻

do you want to change your name: No, I love my name!

what did you do for your previous birthday: I had a low-key dinner with my immediate family and best friend and baked Star Wars cookies for work (my birthday is Star Wars day! May the fourth be with you) I don’t really like celebrating my birthday...I’m a bit of a Jughead.

what time did you wake up today: 5:45 am same as everyday

What were you doing @ midnight last night: Sleeeeeping 😴😴

what is something you can’t wait for: Bughead to reconcile 😂 also I have a pretty great year coming up. I’m taking my little sister to see Taylor Swift and going on two holidays!!

what’re you listening to at the moment: The Greatest Showman -Soundtrack

have you ever talked to a person named Tom: ummm..yeah 😂

something that’s getting on your nerves: A girl at work who is not very good at her job.

most visited site: Tumblr / YouTube / Instagram

hair colour: Dark Brown

long/short hair: Long now, I’ve just grown it out.

do you have a crush on someone: I’m in love with both Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart! 😍 in real life...that’s a secret 😉

what do you like about yourself: I would say I’m there for my friends a lot..

want any piercings: I have 6 piercings in my ears and am planning on getting more. I’m also getting my nose pierced for my birthday this year ✨

blood type: no idea

nicknames: Bob, Bobin, Bobz and other variations (my sister could pronounce my name properly when she was a baby and called me Bobin so that’s where that comes from ☺️)

relationship status: single Pringle

zodiac: Taurus

pronoun(s): She/Her

favourite tv/on-air shows: Riverdale, Supernatural, Will & Grace, The X Files, Stranger Things

tattoos?: No but me and my best friends are planning getting matching ones

rightie or leftie: Rightie!

ever had surgery: Yes, I’ve had my Wars pinned back and then had to have a lump cut off one of them.

piercings: As I said, 6 in my years at present.

sports: Karate and Dance.

vacation: I’ve been to America once and would love to go again. We mostly go to Greece or The Canary Islands or stay in the UK.

trainers: as in shoes? I wear my reeboks quite a lot??

more general (52-58)

eating: chocolate digestives 🍪

drinking: Tea, I embrace my countries stereotype.

I’m about to watch: The Goldberg’s

waiting for: BUGHEAD COMMUNICATION

want: To save money more, to find love 💕 and to get my butt to the gym more often!!

get married: I mean I guess, eventually?? We’ll see!

career: In a perfect world...a makeup artist! 💄

which is better (59-65)

hugs/kisses: depends on the person! 💕

lips/eyes: Eyes

shorter/taller: Taller! But for me that’s not hard..I’m 5 ft on a good day.

older/younger: I’m an 80 year old in a 20 year olds body...so... I’m not sure?????

nice arms/stomach: nice arms!

hookup/relationship: I’ve had neither so who knows?

troublemaker/hesitant: Hesitant I think??

have you ever (66-75)

kissed a stranger: Nope.

drank hard liquor: Yes.

lost glasses: Yes...and they weren’t my own😂

turned someone down: Yes.

sex on 1st date: Noooope.

broken a heart: I doubt it

had your heart broken: Yes

been arrested: No

cried when someone died: Yes

fallen for a friend: Maybe 😉

do you believe in… (76-81)

yourself: I’m trying to

miracles: No.

love @ first sight: No. You have to know someone to love them.

santa clause: duh! Obviously!!

kiss on a 1st date: sure why not!

angels: No.

other (82-85)

best friend’s name: Charlotte / Lewis (I can’t choose between my two fave nerds 😜)

favourite movie: Legally Blonde is the one I rewatch the most.

eye colour: Bright Green

Fav Actor: (riverdale not included) I think maybe Jared Padalecki / Jensen Ackles because I’ve met them 😍

I will tag……..

@bettcoop @paperlesscrown @colesprous

(Please ignore if you have already been tagged or don’t want to do it ✨)

[blackwealthmatters]

Black Economics

How 3 Movie Franchises, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Harlem Nights, and Back to The Future Explain How We Arrive At George Floyd

Author:  Overstander Mally Waxx

Introduction

   Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a classic movie from my childhood.  I began rewatching this movie back in 2004 while in college at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.  I thought hmm, this looks like gentrification.  Gentrification, a term I casually remembered from highschool.  Upon researching the term, being that I was in Ohio and the search engines are geo-located the GLENVILLE RIOTS appeared as the first result.  Reading Wikipedia, I realize this is what my mom was talking about in the 1960’s.  Fast Forward through college many movies started to stand out to me as analogies to my neighborhood Glenville.  One of my favorite movies of all-time is Back to The Future 2, then part 1, followed by part 3.  In the first act of Back to The Future 2, Marty goes back to the 1955.  He arrives and finds the Suburb that he lives at is all but an open field with a development sign displaying the future of the area.  So you ask, what is the connection?  The setting for Roger Rabbit is Los Angeles during a time where street cars are ruling the streets, its post-prohibition era America.  The Movie’s central villan’s plan, The Judge played by Christopher Lloyd is to buy street car company and the Bus Company, so that he can usher in the development of a freeway that runs right through Toon Town (think black neighborhood).  At the time I could not make that complete loop as far as the government’s involvement, so I just continued my college education with dreams of creating an Black Media Empire to help people I know get careers in entertainment. 

Post Collegiate Career

Post 2007, I had graduated and was attempting to find out how to implement my life goals, and during downtime I would watch old movies, you know kinda re-live Black Movies, especially ones that I was way too young to understand.  Harlem Nights, the story of Sugar and Quick and their club.  The mob wanted Sugar’s club because it was making money and taking away from their clubs.  In the movie they show the mob’s clientele is very rich and so-called elite.  During a time right after the great depression, why would you think that a club catered to 1 percent would survive.  Sugar Ray’s catered to Blacks and the working man.  The decline in the mob’s profits had nothing to do with Sugar Ray, but the mob themselves unwillingness to look at their own business model.  Instead of practicing good business they decided to use their influence with the police department to bomb Sugar Ray’s forcing them to flee to another city.  While that particular sector of the mob was defeated and killed, another mob or anyone from the white community comes right in and swoops up the property.  The property that is left is just left to rot throughout the decades 

Known as EC, The Ville, and The Wood colloquially by its current residents now, are historically Black Neighborhoods in the City of Cleveland, my hometown and my 3 neighborhoods that I come from.  I am from the Glenville and East Cleveland border,a graduate of Collinwood, went to Patrick Henry Middle School, Oliver Hazard Perry, Forest Hill Parkway, Iowa Maple.  Reviewing historical documents and pictures of the era you see clearly the relationship between all 3 movies.  You have places that were all white, then went to mixed then white flighted.  Buildings burned down or abandoned as a result of social upheaval of the 1960’s, old factories where GM or GM subsidiaries have been allowed to pollute and vacate.  You also have a host of political corruption that has allowed to continue through each administration.  You even have voter suppression on the ballots where the language is above even a college level graduate as myself, so how do we win.

Enter East Cleveland, Glenville, Collinwood

We Take IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are reading this, then you probably fall in the category of what is known now as the Black Conscience Movement.  We are attempting to reclaim our heritage to Africa, and like most started to realize that our heritage includes way more than just Africa.  We are now realizing that our parents and grandparents talk of Indian in the family was not just some long lived joke in our community similar to everyone knowing what “Dynomite” is in reference to “The Good Times” tv show.  We are finding out that Moors ruled Europe of over 700 years.  We are also learning how Black Moors and Black African and Black Native Amerian Nations contributed to slavery whether by coercion or by force.  We have all this information, but now what, take it back.  The policies in which built this nation now are now crumbling, and the laws that helped White Americans can be utilized in the Black Communities.  However we need policy and law change as well, we also need to work on rebuilding these redlined areas.  In most a large number of these communities the money is held or controlled in someway by the Community Development Corporation.  That is they Major KEY S/O to DJKhaled, start there.  

What is Underscored through out this all?

Early 1900’s:

How did the Great Depression contribute to the problem?

In the Great Depression, many lower-middle class and working-class families lost their home. They couldn’t keep up with their payments. So the Public Works Administration constructed the first civilian public housing ever in this country. Initially, it was primarily for white families in segregated white projects, but at some point, a few projects were built for African-Americans in segregated African-American projects. This practice often segregated neighborhoods that hadn’t previously been that way.

In Langston Hughes’ autobiography, he describes how he lived in an integrated neighborhood in Cleveland. His best friend in high school was Polish. He dated a Jewish girl. That neighborhood in Cleveland was razed by the WPA, which built two segregated [ones], one for African-Americans, one for whites. The Depression gave the stimulus for the first civilian public housing to be built. Were it not for that policy, many of these cities might have developed with a different residential pattern.

•  emergence of zoning laws:  Even though the Buchanan decision was handed down in 1917, many cities continued to have racial ordinances in flagrant violation of the decision. Richmond, Virginia, passed an ordinance that said people couldn’t move on to a block where they were prohibited from marrying the majority of people on that block. And since Virginia had an anti-miscegenation law that prohibited blacks and whites from marrying, the state claimed that this provision didn’t violate the Buchanan decision. Many of these devices were used to evade the Court’s decision. Some cities adopted ordinances that prohibited African-Americans from living on a block that was majority white. So the Buchanan decision wasn’t totally effective, but it did stimulate the drive for economic zoning to keep African-Americans out of white neighborhoods. (Katie NodjimbademThe Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything But Accidental)  Then we have first segregated public housing projects of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, to the 1949 Housing Act that encouraged white movement to the suburbs, to unconstitutional racial zoning ordinances enacted by city government.  (Katie NodjimbademThe Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything But Accidental)   These racial motivated policies have led to what we see today.  There are many other factors however this article is meant to address Gentrification as it relates to the Black Community at large.  We have two Americas now and I guess it has always been this way.  We have one America, where the American dream worked, and another where that same dream has long been replaced with dreams of entertainment based goals and where wealth has not been allowed to grow.  It leads to crime, poverty, and a host of other social issues.  So America, still sees Black People as their pets in which they must punish when they step out of line, or even presume to have stepped.  George Floyd was apparently guilty of attempting to spend a counterfeit, and now we are receiving reports that he had drugs in his system, wow really are we surprised by any of this.

Conclusion:

What do we do Mally, 1 educate yourself politically, 2 look into what happened to black people throughout history, 3  go through your Black Awakening, 4.  get involved, join the local NAACP, but plan to infiltrate and push your friends to do the same, so that you can change the agenda, join any non-profit that helps your community.  If you do not live in a predominately Black Community find one to support.  In your own community if you do not live in a majority Black one, get involved in there and start speaking up for injustice that your neighborhood may do to contribute to the causes of systemic poverty, 5. call your local officials, not for voting, but ask why the street is dirty, ask why this road is being constructed now, and not 10 - 20 years ago.  Ask your local officials how long do you have to live in your current neighborhood when projected housing values and property values are due to rise.  Ask why is the majority of the lottery profits go to administration and not the schools it is intended for.  And when they give you an answer ask why again and again.  Then when they get tired ask them what they intend to do about it.  

I want to thank the Entire Black Conscienceness Community, ADOS, and FRIENDS of ADOS, and anyone Black that has attempted to get the truth to the people about history and current states of Black America whoever you may be.  My team, and are affiliates do not believe in Toxic Debates only healthy ones.  We organize on common ground and once we get what we want from the World’s Governments then we will be able to have Black Philosophy and a complete retelling and rediscovery of Black History and Cultures across the Globe

I do not own the rights to any of these images as they are publically available 

Links used or follow up information to read.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/americas-formerly-redlines-areas-changed-so-must-solutions/

• https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still-hurting-minorities-today/

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining

• https://youtu.be/2o-yD0wGxAc

• https://youtu.be/Gp3PfvRAhlw

• https://youtu.be/ETR9qrVS17g

Also read the Color of Law or Look it up on YouTube and research the terms and policies discussed

peace, live in light

[terryblas]

One Day

I felt sad today. I've felt down a bit lately, but it was hard to describe why. I figured it out this afternoon.

I'm on my fifth rewatch of the first season of One Day at a Time on Netflix. I haven't watched something this intensely since Buffy the Vampire Slayer which is funny considering Elena and several episodes in the latter half of the season. On the surface, yeah, I get that I like it because I'm gay and a writer like Elena. I come from a Latin, military family with religious parents. While I'm not Cuban, or Cuban American, there's enough similarities to Mexican culture that I heavily relate. And I get to hear people who sound like and look like me and my family. Hearing Spanish spoken on TV without any subtitles is thrilling. People will go out of their way to learn Elvish or Klingon but for some reason won't take the little computer they have in their pocket and google what a few words in mean in Spanish. Hopefully now, they will. And that's a good thing. It's estimated that in the next decade a whole quarter of the United States will be Latino. We're here. Get over it. A wall's not keeping anybody out.

I thought at first that this was why I was sad. And obviously, the way the president talks about Latinos and Mexicans doesn't help. It furthers falsehoods and stereotypes that are wrong and dangerous. It helps people make assumptions instead of asking genuine questions. I've heard people in the past talk about us like we're rats.

"Oh, I don't want to go over there. There's too many Mexicans."

"Did they finish cleaning yet? I don't mind if they're here, I just don't want to see them."

Because I'm not what most people picture when they think of a Mexican or the child of a Mexican immigrant, people assume I don't speak Spanish. I hear many an interesting thing when this is the case. This is also what I have to guess is responsible for someone assuming at the grocery store that my mother was my nanny when I was seven. This one is particularly damaging and still makes me upset. In the eyes and mind of this person, why couldn't she have just been my mom?

So anyway, because of the state of the world I've been escaping. RuPaul's Drag Race came back for it's 9th season and that helped. Say what you will about Valentina, maybe she isn't perfect and sweet, but when she came out on the runway in a traditional mariachi suit and the following week sashayed down the runway looking like the most beautiful Telenovela bride you've ever seen, I cried. I'm not exaggerating when I say this. As a kid, I had no gay Mexicans to look up to. It would be years before Justin Suarez showed up on Ugly Betty and by then I was an adult. On Drag Race, traditional Mexican beauty was being shown and broadcast to America. They heard the words: Aguas Calientes.

So with One Day at a Time, well, I can't stop watching it. And for a comedy it's incredibly sad and emotional. In the episode "Viva Cuba" Lydia (played by Rita Moreno) reveals a family secret about when she left Cuba that I won't spoil for you. It's so well written and acted that I've cried every time I've seen it. When she scene begins she's looking at old family photos from when she lived in Cuba. She looks sad and lost in thought.

And then it hit me.

I'd seen my mother do the same thing. I've heard my mother cry over missing her family members, and people she never got to see again after she left Mexico and came to the United States. My mom's circumstances were different, she wasn't fleeing Mexico like Lydia was fleeing Cuba, but I understood that while this country became my mother's permanent residence, it was never really her home. I can only assume it took me this long to realize it because now as an adult, I often feel like there's a part of me that's missing too. This is what my mother felt. Constantly.

I've been to Mexico City, Amecameca, Cuenavaca, San Miguel de Allende, Cabo San Lucas, Monterrey and had addresses/lived in Querataro, Ixtapa, Zijuatanejo and Villa De Los Flores. I list these off because it's more cities than I've visited or lived in in the United States. I was raised speaking Spanish by both of my parents and taught to be proud of my culture and heritage. But for the past 11 years I've lived in Portland Oregon. Don't get me wrong, I love Portland most of the time, but I never speak Spanish here. I hardly ever get Mexican food unless I make it and I am rarely around other Latinos.

I miss Mexico and sometimes New York and Los Angeles because there were more people like me there. No wonder I spent all day in Santee Alley on a recent trip to Los Angeles. 

 I haven't been to Mexico in a very long time. It's a part of me. It hurts when people say I'm a fake Mexican, or I'm too white to be Mexican, or I wasn't born there so I can't claim to be Mexican. None of that is true, so I brush it off, but it's my dream to visit again. I miss my grandmother. I miss her food. I miss the sounds and the smells and the beautiful architecture. I miss the people. I miss the art. The striking colors everywhere you look. It makes sense why I'm obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. Boise was brown and gray and dull for me. Mexico was vibrant and full of life.

This piece of me, this part that's missing, it's difficult to pour something in there and fill it up. I found a small community of Latinos here, a group that I'm attempting to be more a part of. And while I live in Portland, I continue to work on comics and write more stories that feature Latinos and Mexicans. It's important to me. I needed characters to connect with when I was younger. I needed to see that. Now as an adult I'm creating that. But my heroes are writers and artists who are doing the same. Salma Hayek for producing Ugly Betty. Jenny Lorenzo for her amazing comedy videos that have brought me so much happiness this year. And Gloria Calderon Kellett for bringing so much visibility to Latinos, Latino Americans and LGBT Latinos at that. The three graphic novels projects I'm working on right now all feature Latinos and Latinas.

I want the world to see Latinas who aren't stereotyped as sexy, or as the maid. I want them to see Latinos who aren't preoccupied with being macho. I want them to see Latinas that are brave and strong and smart and Latinos who are sweet and sensitive. We are rarely portrayed this way, but we sure are on One Day at a Time.

I think writing and creating stories and characters is what I've been doing to try and fill that void. One day I’ll get back to Mexico but until that time, or the time I get to continually use my Spanish, I suppose it'll have to do.

That, and looking through my childhood photo albums.

[wereonthemoonbitch]

✨ 92 Statements ✨

I was tagged by @salt-throne thanks! 

RULES: You must answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Sparkling lemonade. My mom bought it for a potluck and like it’s not bad but it’s not good? idk haha

2. Phone call: My friend called me but I missed it. Last call I actually answered was from my moms friend. 

3. Text message: “k that works” 

4. Song you listened to: Praying by Kesha

5. Time you cried: Today i woke up crying from a nightmare. Which happens a lot tbh. They’re not like scary nightmares either more like super sad and I start crying in my dream and then I wake up crying? 

6. Dated someone twice: Nope

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: No

8. Been cheated on: No 

9. Lost someone special: My grandpa 

10. Been depressed: lmao i’m suffering from depression right now 

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: Yeah once and it was terrible 

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS:

12.-14. periwinkle, blue, and black

IN THE LAST YEAR, HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Yes!

16. Fallen out of love: Haven’t fallen in love yet so theres no possible way for me to have fallen out of it

17. Laughed until you cried: Too many times to count 

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Yeah but not in a bad way

19. Met someone who changed you: Yeah 

20. Found out who your friends are: I have like two friends and my sister and they’re the best <3

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Lmao no. Facebook who? Like I’m surprised I still even have a Facebook. I should delete my account tbh.

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: All of them? I don’t follow people I don’t know. But also i haven’t accepted any friend requests in like the past 5 years which shows you how much i don’t gaf about my Facebook acount anymore. 

23. Do you have any pets: i have two fat cats named Oreo and Daisy and then a dog named Eliza. 

24. Do you want to change your name: No

25. What did you do for your last birthday: I went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner at the Mall of America (because I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe) and it was my 21st birthday. Also the waiter asked if I wanted to go up on stage with him and he got everybody in the restaurant to say happy birthday to me it was magical. And of course I got drunk and was laughing while walking through Nickelodeon Universe (after the park was closed) back to our car. 

26. What time did you wake up: 10:30

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching Game of Thrones. I’m rewatching before the new season starts. 

28. Name something you can’t wait for: To meet my long distance girlfriend in person. 

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: An hour ago. She left to bring Eliza to the dog park. 

31. What are you listening to right now: There’s a Honey by Pale Waves. They only have one song out right now and I need more. They were opening for the 1975 when I went to their concert and they were AMAZING live.

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Not that I can remember but probably?

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: The FACT THIS IS 92 QUESTIONS???? WHY. WOULDN’T. YOU. JUST. MAKE. IT. 100????? I have questions

34. Most visited website: Tumblr and Youtube for sure

35.-37. Apparently theres no 35-37 question? Weird. So either someone deleted the questions by accident or the person making it miscounted and this should really be 89 questions? 

38. Hair colour: Light brown 

39. Long or short hair: It’s getting a little too long again I need to get a haircut

40. Do you have a crush on someone: No

41. What do you like about yourself: Being an understanding person

42. Piercings: I have ear piercings but I haven’t worn any piercings in so long.

43. Blood type: Idk haha

44. Nickname: Manda

45. Relationship status: Taken by @jhopesmexicanhoe

46. Zodiac: Taurus 

47. Pronouns: She/Her

48. Favorite TV show: I got a few right now. Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, and Wynonna Earp are probably my top 3 at the moment

49. Tattoos: No but I want one

50. Right or left handed: Left handed 

51. Surgery: I had reconstructive jaw surgery a few years ago because I was born with an open bite. Had to eat/drink out of a straw for 6-8 weeks and I couldn’t eat anything chewy or hard for like 3 months. Good smoothies and milkshakes were a lifesaver tho (don’t ever try a pizza smoothie lmao just don’t)

52. Piercing: This tag is cursed. 

53. Sport: Yeah right. 

55. Vacation: The last vacation I went on was to St Thomas US Virgin Islands and it was amazing! The scenery and beaches were beautiful. I got to swim with the cutest sea turtles out in the wild. And the food was sooo good. Also their rum is cheap af. 

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: i eat out a lot which is probably bad

58. Drinking: I mostly just drink pop and water (too much pop tho my gf doesn’t approve haha)

59. I’m about to: Try to work on some fan videos i’m making of different ships I like.

WHERES 60??????? CURSED

61. Waiting for: 7:45 tonight so I can see Spiderman: Homecoming haha

62. Want: To fall in love

63. Get married: I want to get married someday

64. Career: I’m still undecided but I know I want to work in the medical field

WHICH IS BETTER:

65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs because I've never been kissed (yet)

66. Lips or eyes: Eyes

67. Shorter or taller: I don’t care

68. Older or younger: Someone who is my age or close to my age

WHY YOU LEAVE OUT 69???? 

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: All arms and stomachs are beautiful

71????? 92 QUESTIONS IS A LIE

72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant af

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: No

75. Drank hard liquor: Yeah 

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I lose my glasses more times than I can count and then I end up finding them in the stupidest places. 

77. Turned someone down: I’ve turned like family and friends down when they’ve wanted to go do things and I just wasn’t in the mood. But turning someone down that wanted to go out with me nope.

78. Sex on the first date: Nah

79. Broken someone’s heart: Not yet and I hope I never do

80. Had your heart broken: No

81. Been arrested: No

82. Cried when someone died: Yeah I cried when my grandpa died

83. Fallen for a friend: Haha yes but thats history and she was straight af

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: Sometimes

85. Miracles: Yes

86. Love at first sight: No

87. Santa Claus: Santa Claus is real binch

88. Kiss on the first date: Yeah why not

89. Angels: No not really

OTHER:

90. Current best friend’s name: Megan

91. Eye colour: Hazel

92. Favourite movie: I don’t watch that many movies but at the moment it’s probably Wonder Woman

I’m tagging: @jhopesmexicanhoe @promoteselfsoothing @fanofdeadships @gbrenes but if you’re smart you’ll probably not do this because it took me forever and it’s a cursed tag

[erizee]

92 Truths Tag Meme

Tagged by @ravenwald 💚💜 thank youu

Rules: write 92 truths about yourself then tag 25 people (I’m pretty sure I don’t even know 25 people here o.o)

LAST: [1] drink: cocoa for breakfast [2] phone call: home [3] text message: to my friend [4] song you listened to: trouble by cage the elephant [5] time you cried: when I rewatched some of my favourite nygmob videos yesterday

HAVE YOU EVER: [6] dated someone twice: I never dated anyone period :^) [7] been cheated on: nope [8] kissed someone and regretted it: never kissed anyone either :^) [9] lost someone special: I lost my best friend to my ex-best friend when I was 13 [10] been depressed: yep [11] gotten drunk and thrown up: nah

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS: [12] black [13] blue [14] violet

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: [15] made a new friend: yesss!!! (shout out to the stripped cats people) [16] fallen out of love: nope [17] laughed until you cried: maybe? [18] found out someone was talking about you: I guess they do anyway [19] met someone who changed you: the new friends from question 15 [20] found out who your true friends were: I’m not sure what true friends means exactly, I consider everyone that talks to me from time to time my friend tbh [21] kissed someone on your facebook list: nope

GENERAL: [22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: When I still had facebook I knew about 2/5 of them but I only talked to about 5 people at all [23] do you have any pets: I used to have a guinea pig called Maia [24] do you want to change your name: I used to but now I’m starting to like it more. Not my ‘real’ name tho, I still hate that one. [25] what did you do for your last birthday: Watched Lego Batman, ate pizza and got sort of drunk with the 5 real life friends that could make it, but that was two weeks later. It still counts. [26] what time did you wake up: 7:30 because I had an internship today [27] what were you doing at midnight last night: I either slept or read fanfiction [28] name something you cannot wait for: Gotham!!!!!!!! and all the awesome movies coming out this year [31] what are you listening to right now: The dishwasher [32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: I used to know a Tom that worked for the church in the village next to ours but I was super scared of him so I never talked to him [33] something that is getting on your nerves: That my holidays just started but I have to wait until they’re over until gotham comes back [34] most visited website: tumblr and ao3 [35] elementary: a tiny one in germany [36] high school: a bigger one in germany [37] college: I’m still in high school [38] hair colour: Originally 'normal’ brown but now it’s dark brown/red [39] long or short hair: half-long [40] do you have a crush on someone: I think so? I’m not sure what having a crush feels like tbh but if it’s staring at someone because their smile reminds you of the sun then yes [41] what do you like about yourself: My legs and my hair also my grades [42] piercings: I used to have earings if that counts [43] bloodtype: idk [44] nickname: conny, connickel, and recently eri (💚) [45] relationship status: single (just like I’ve been all my life :^)) [46] zodiac sign: aquarius [47] pronouns: she/her but I honestly don’t mind if you use other pronouns [48] fav tv shows: *cracks knuckles* hannibal, gotham, avatar, yuri on ice, 3%, riverdale, dirk gently…, charmed, doctor who (season 1-4), eyewitness, supernatural (season 1-5), sherlock, game of thrones, agent carter, agents of shield, miraculous ladybug, powerless, shadowhunters, star wars the clone wars, stranger things, teen wolf (season 1-3), the get down, and many more I can’t think of right now. [49] tattoos: I want one but I don’t have one yet [50] right or left hand: left

FIRST… [51] surgery: wisdom teeth (also my only surgery) [52] piercing: ears when I was about 10 [53] best friend: my neighbour jasmin (she’s the one i lost my second best friend to) [54] sport: handball!! [55] vacation: probably spain [56] pair of trainers: no idea

RIGHT NOW: [57] eating: ravioli [58] drinking: coke [59] i’m about to: write my arkham au [60] listening to: my dad cooking and the dishwasher [61] waiting for: my dad to give me the invitations for my grandparents’ golden wedding so I can edit them [62] want: cake [63] get married: I don’t want to get married right now D’: [64] career: I’m still in high school but I have an internship at a law firm for the next few days

WHICH IS BETTER: [65] kisses or hugs: I love hugs and I have no idea how kisses feel (but I still write fanfics about it………. makes a lot of sense I know) [66] lips or eyes: eyes [67] shorter or taller: I rarely meet anyone taller than me and if I do I don’t like it so I’d say shorter [68] younger or older: older I guess? I’d rather have the same age tho [70] nice arms or nice stomach: arms [71] sensitive or loud: loud annoys me after a while [72] hook up or relationship: never had neither but I’d rather have a relationship [73] troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant!!

HAVE YOU EVER: [74] kissed a stranger: nope [75] drank hard liquor: I drank alcohol over 12% if that counts [76] lost glasses/contact lenses: I don’t have glasses or contact lenses [77] turned someone down: I can’t do that ever [78] sex on first date: never had neither [79] broken someone’s heart: Not that I know of [80] had your heart broken: In a friend way yes but not in a crush way [81] been arrested: no [82] cried when someone died: No one close to me died before so no (if fictional characters count yes) [83] fallen for a friend: I’m not sure what that feels like so I’d say no?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: [84] yourself: sometimes [85] miracles: not really, there’s some kind of explanation for everything [86] love at first sight: not LOVE love but interest or liking someone in general yes [87] santa claus: nah [88] kiss on the first date: sure [89] angels: nope

OTHER: [90] current best friend’s name: I don’t think I have one tbh, I have friends I love but not exactly a best friend [91] eye colour: grey [92] favourite movie: *cracks knuckles part 2* Captain America 1-3, Avengers, Lego Batman, Deadpool, all Star Wars movies, the X-men movies, Would You Rather, But I’m a Cheerleader, the Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Moving on, Dog Food, Kingsman, Heathers, Little Shop of Horrors, Harry Potter, Megamind, Mulan, Suicide Squad (shut up), basically everything from Studio Ghibli, Warm Bodies, Interview with the Vampire, Alice in Wonderland, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Re-animator, Addams Family 2 (I still need to see the first one), the Princess Bride, Matilda, Vertigo aaand some more I don’t remember right now but I think these are enough for now

I tag @idkjustbreath (we need to talk more dude), @bizarre-transmission, @geleaousfandoms, @flyinyoursoup, @backwardabyss, @actuallykaymcdoogle, @roguepythia, @socktrollqueen, @endlessotaku, @mswholock21387, @leftover-verg, @corymichaelsmithofficial and everyone else who wants to do it (shame on you raven you tagged most of the people I would have tagged)

[asleepypisces]

than you @lesbeauxarts for tagging me! 💖✨

1. last drink: water

2. last phone call: my younger brother

3. last text message: I was supposed to meet with my CA (same thing as an RA) and it says “I completely forgot about the meeting, I was studying upstairs but I'm on my way now”

4. last song you listened to: american by lana del rey

5. last time you cried: maybe a few weeks ago?

6. dated someone twice? nope, never dated

7. kissed someone and regretted it? no

8. been cheated on? no

9. lost someone special? no one I was very close to, but I have gone to sad funerals for family

10. been depressed? no

11. gotten drunk and thrown up? no, never drank

Fave colours

12. all shades of pink

13. aqua blue

14. lavender

in the last year have you…

15. made new friends? yes! my new friends from college

16. fallen out of love? no

17. laughed until you cried? many times

18. found out someone was talking about you? yeah I always find out 😊

19. met someone who changed you? everyone impacts you, but nobody changed me in a major way

20. found out who your friends are? yeah graduating high school does that, but I love my friends so much and I’m glad I’m still friends with all the people most important to me

21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list? nope, never kissed anyone

General

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl? all of them

23. do you have any pets? two dogs, one at my mom’s house and one at my dad’s house! sapphire is a medium sized mix and max is a huge black lab and I love them

24. do you want to change your name? I’m happy with Amanda, I couldn’t picture being called anything else

25. what did you do for your last birthday? a nice dinner and shopping

26. what time did you wake up today? around 7:40

27. what were you doing at midnight last night? getting ready to go to sleep

28. what is something you can’t wait for? seeing wicked on Friday, getting new glasses next weekend, and my birthday

30. what are you listening to right now? art deco by lana del rey

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom? I think I have a distant cousin named Tom but I’ve never personally talked to him

32. something that’s getting on your nerves? all the homework I have this week!

33. most visited website: tumblr

34. hair colour: dark blonde

35. long or short hair: long

36. do you have a crush on someone: not at the moment

37. what do you like about yourself: my long hair, my eyes, my intelligence, and my optimism

38. want any piercings? more ear piercings

39. blood type: I seriously don’t know, my parents never told me?

40. nicknames: none

41. relationship status: single

42. zodiac: pisces

43. pronouns: she/her

44. fave TV shows: pretty little liars, gossip girl, riverdale, once upon a time, and stranger things but I also love reality tv like survivor, big brother, so you think you can dance, dance moms, america’s next top model

45. tattoos: I have some ideas for the future

46. right or left handed: right

47. ever had surgery: no

48. piercings: ear lobes

49. sport: I played soccer until middle school and I danced until I started college

50. vacation: ooh either India, France, Morocco, Italy, or Iceland

52. eating: I could go for chocolate covered strawberries or mozzarella sticks right now

53. drinking: lots of sweet tea

54. I’m about to watch: right now I watch once upon a time and I’m rewatching pretty little liars with a friend but idk what I’ll watch next

55. waiting for: spring break!

56. want: to travel the world, have a career I love, and fall in love

57. get married: yes! I got it all planned out

58. career: psychiatrist or pediatrician

59. hugs or kisses: I don’t really like hugging people and I’ve kissed anyone so...

60. mouth or eyes: eyes

61. shorter or taller: taller because I’m short

62. older or younger: I mean I personally wouldn’t want someone way older, and I’m 18 so no younger

63. nice arms or stomach: I would like a nice stomach but I’ve also grown to love my body the way it is

64. hookup or relationship: relationship

65. troublemaker or hesitant: absolutely hesitant

66. have you ever kissed a stranger: no

67. drank hard liquor: no

68. lost glasses: never, I’d be blind

69. turned someone down: haven’t had the chance lol

70. sex on first date: depends on the situation

71. broken someone’s heart: no

72. had your heart broken: no, I’ve just had crushes

73. been arrested: no

74. cried when someone died: yes

75. fallen for a friend: uh, yes

76. do you believe in yourself: most of the time

77. miracles: I’d like to believe so

78. love at first sight: the romantic in me wants to say yes, but the realist says no because true love takes time to grow as you get to know a person and it’s more than just surface level.

79. Santa: no, but I do love Christmas presents

80. kiss on a first date: yeah why not

81. angels: I love the idea of guardian angels so I say yes

Other

82. best friends name: I can’t pick one here so...

I’ve been friends with Gabrielle and Ariane since kindergarten and we’re practically sisters. we’ve celebrated birthdays and had sleepovers together for 13 years! we’re so different but I love them and know we’ll be friends forever.

Courtney and me became close in high school and she’s funny and so smart, although she doesn’t think so. she loves animals and so talented with her instrument and I just know we’ll be friends forever too!

83. eye color: blue

84. fave movie: at the moment the greatest showman but that’s because it’s the last movie I saw. my favorites I’d say are disney movies though.

85. fave actor: right now I’d say zendaya

I’ll tag @moongloss , @cloudbeam , @virgofleur , @lovlae , @1gudetama , @spicedbby , all my mutuals, and literally anyone if you want to of course!

[birdlord]

What I Watched in 2016

Here are the movies and TV series I watched in 2016, some with commentary and some without. The number after the movies is the date of release, my faves are bolded, and rewatches are marked with as asterisk. Last year’s list!

01 Do I Sound Gay (14)

02 We are The Best! (13)

03 Hateful Eight (15)

04 Welcome to Me (14)

05 For Your Eyes Only (81) - I listened to a lot of back episodes of the James Bonding podcast early this year, which of course led to watching a bunch of Bond movies. Not all, and not in order, certainly.

06 She’s the One (96)

07 * Diamonds are Forever (71)

08 It’s Complicated (09) - I think it was an article about the kitchen design in this movie that led me to watch it?

09 The Natural (84)

10 * Anna Karenina (12) - Never having read the book I can’t REALLY speak to this movie but haha I kinda love its commitment to artifice. 

11 About Time (13)

12 What We Do in the Shadows (14) - I did enjoy this, but wasn’t as taken by it as I thought I might be. Found the werewolves the funniest by far, so I wish they’d turned up more often. 

13 The Abominable Bride (15) - counting this as a movie, it was the Sherlock xmas special and I recall exactly zero about it, so…..must have been amazing, right?

14 Wake in Fright (71) - Never Go To Australia 

15 Hail Caesar (16) - I think I’d have to see it again to determine if the whole thing actually holds together, but at the time, it felt of a piece with the Coen’s cheerier output. 

16 In the Heart of the Sea (15)

17 The Night of the Comet (84)

18 Laggies (14)

19 * Bowling for Columbine (02)

20 A Gentleman’s Agreement (47) - confessional, experiential journalism, but done by Cary Grant in the 40s. Ahead of his time/gender?

21 Barefoot in the Park (67)

22 Suddenly Last Summer (59)

23 Tangerine (15)

24 * His Girl Friday (40)

25 That Touch of Mink (62)

26 * Charlie’s Angels (00)

27 9-5 (80) - Holy shit, somehow I thought this movie was just a rah-rah, girl power story about a bunch of secretaries getting together and overthrowing their boss and yeah, that’s SORT OF it but it gets way way weirder in the final third.

28 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (88)

29 * The Addams Family (91)

30 * Addams Family Values (93)

31 Frida (02)

32 Bridge of Spies (15) - A E I O U and sometimes SPIES :O

33 Swimming With Sharks (94)

34 Sleeping With the Enemy (91)

35 Fatal Attraction (87) - Watched this movie and the previous one as part of an 80s/90s thriller weekend. These two are an interesting contrast to one another, being as the first is about an abusive husband and the second focuses on the most notable example of the “crazy ex-girlfriend”.

36 1 Cloverfield Lane (16)

37 The Man Who Never Was (56)

38 * To Die For (95) - This was a super fave of Teen Emily, who definitely identified with the Lydia character. Watching this time was a huge reminder than Illeana Douglas is a goddamn national treasure.

39 Trouble In Paradise (32)

40 Eraser (96)

41 * Flashdance (83)

42 * Notting Hill (99)

43 Gone to Earth (50) - Not the best Powell and Pressburger out there, but one takes what one can get, right?

44 Holiday Camp (47)

45 Never Sleep Again (10) - This is a four-hour doc about the entire Nightmare on Elm St series, and is the reason I watched Freddy’s Revenge a couple of movies down the list. It’s not a series that I have a particular attachment to, so I learned a ton.

46 Clouds of Sils Maria (15)

47 Mommie Dearest (81) - I’m not sure that I have enough appreciation for high camp to really get into this. There were some moments, but overall it’s a fine example of the kind of thing that is Not For Me.

48 Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy’s Revenge (85)

49 Inside Man (06)

50 Trainwreck (15)

51 White God (14)

52 * Sleepwalk With Me (12)

53 Amy (15)

54 * Meatballs (79)

55 Everybody Wants Some!! (16) - I found this a huge disappointment, and I’ve been a bit mystified by its positive reviews and inclusion on critics’ end of year lists. While D&C definitely has a “main character”, and we do follow him and his friends, other people and subsets of the high school are given serious time and consideration. Ultimately, I don’t think following this one dude tripping through a bunch of different college subsets was as illuminating. Plus, weak jokes.

56 * Dazed & Confused (93) - had to cleanse the mind-palate by watching the original!

57 Summertime (55)

58 The Money Pit (86)

59 Zombeavers (14)

60 Mistress America (15) - I am finding Greta Gerwig more and more charming, the more I see of her. Greta, let’s be friends!

61 While We’re Young (14)

62 The Invitation (16) - quite effective, very upper-middle-class bohemian LA horror film. I’ve heard some complaints about the final scene, but I thought it was an effective & clever way to show an expanding scope without an extra expense or sets.

63 End of Days (99)

64 Escape From New York (81)

65 Escape from L.A. (96) - Watched these two together, on the same night. They definitely should NOT be watched that way, given how identical the plots are. Unbelievably terrible ’96-era CGI in the second one, hard to believe that Jurassic Park was three years previous?? Gotta get that Spielberg money, am I right?

66 High Rise (16) - my only real disappointment in this movie was not being around to see the decline of the civilization - we jump straight from things being fine (if weird) and everything gone to heck. My favourite part is the decline, give me decline!

67 The Great Outdoors (88)

68 * Catch Me If You Can (02)

69 Little Darlings (80) - just your classic losing-virginity-at-camp story, but…wait for it….with GIRLS.

70 * Good Will Hunting (97)

71 Popstar (16) - diminishing returns, but some funny bits (mostly in the songs, not surprisingly). 

72 Tarzan (16) - watched this with friends and relatives, at a drive-in theatre a couple of days after my wedding! It’s NOT a good movie, but it was a fun time.

73 Love & Friendship (16) - got completely obsessed with Tom Bennett based on his 100% rate of scene-stealing in this film. Sevigny feels utterly out of place - am I capable of seeing her in a period piece set before, say, 1975 without feeling weird about it?

74 The Night Before (15)

75 Ghostbusters (16) - So I know I was supposed to be charmed by Kate McKinnon, but her schtick just doesn’t work on me, for whatever reason. I was also really frustrated by the final fight scene of this movie - it had obviously been hacked up in editing, and wtf is up with punching ghosts instead of containing them? I’m glad this movie happened, and certainly a great deal of the criticism it came in for was deeply unfair, but it was distinctly disappointing to find that this movie just wasn’t that great.

76 Brooklyn (15)

77 Poltergeist (82)

78 * Before Sunrise (95)

79 Love & Basketball (00) - Effusive praise for this movie somehow came to my attention from all over the place this year, so I finally had to watch it.

80 The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)

81 * Road House (89)

82 Carol (15) - watching this FINALLY allowed me to fully participate in Today’s Meme Culture

83 * Out of Sight (98)

84 Happy Texas (99)

85 Red Rock West (93)

86 Weiner Dog (15)

87 The Trouble With Harry (55)

88 * When Harry Met Sally (89)

89 Jungle Fever (91)

90 Ocean’s 11 (01)

91 Star Trek Beyond (16)

92 Two For the Road (67)

93 * Seven Year Itch (55)

94 Maggie’s Plan (15) - like I said earlier about Greta Gerwig? I liked this one even more than Mistress.

95 The Dish (00)

96 Splash (84)

97 Desk Set (57) - watching this and the next were inspired by stumbling across a blog about depictions of librarians on film. I particularly hit on this one because I’ve always wanted to see a Hepburne/Tracy film, and never had (to my memory, anyhow).

98 Party Girl (95) - one of those movies I’d always noticed on the shelves at the video store, and never actually watched it.

99 * Young Frankenstein (74) - saw this in the theatre, Gene Wilder notwithstanding I…..don’t think it’s good. It’s only extremely intermittently funny, you guys! Plus, the Putting’ on the Ritz bit makes me uncomfortable (especially in audio-only form, which I heard TOO many times after Wilder died).

100 The House of the Devil (09)

101* The Witches of Eastwick (87)

102 The Borning (81)

103 * Shaun of the Dead (04)

104 Dolores Claiborne (95)

105 The Conjuring 2 (13)

106 In a Valley of Violence (16) - definitely watched this because I happened across an article about the movie’s dog star. 

107 The Witch (16) - very effective in getting across the supernatural, natural, and social dangers of early puritan America, and Black Philip has entered my idiolect for any creepy animal/person/twitter feed. 

108 * Wayne’s World (92)

109 What if (13) - riffs on When Harry Met Sally’s fundamental question of women and men being friends, and basically comes to the same conclusion. yawn.

110 The Martian (15) - I read the book as part of a book club last year, and finally got around to watching the film. Since I found the worst of the writing in the book to be those passages dealing with description, the movie was a lot less annoying to experience.

111 Sleepless in Seattle (93)

112 * Thelma & Louise (91)

113 Casino (95)

114 Other People (16) - wept several times. GOSH I love Jesse Plemons, he’s so hugely sympathetic. Would watch in virtually anything.

115 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (43)

116 Primary Colors (98)

117 Edge of Seventeen (16)

118 *Die Hard (88) - loaded up the laptop with this and the next four xmas-set movies, for watching on planes and in airports, while we were on the road at christmastime.

119 *Batman Returns (92)

120 *Scrooged (88)

121 * The Apartment (60)

Theatre - 5

Drive-in - 1

All the rest at home or at friends’ homes!

TV SERIES

*The Office US S2-3

War & Peace (2016) - you bet your BOOTS I started the book after watching this. Did I finish it? Not even close.

Love (2016)

Better Call Saul S2 - this is a show I enjoy while I’m watching it, but I don’t particularly find it memorable. Why? Who knows. It’s still something I look forward to, but not a show that sticks with me.

Great British Bake off *S1, *S2, S7 + Xmas Specials - a eulogy for Bake-Off as it was. Pour one (pint of double cream, that is) out for what once was.

Broad City S5

Travel Man S1, S2 - I find Richard Ayoade so desperately charming, but ever time I’ve watched one of the movies he’s directed, I’ve ended up disappointed. This show is a bit hit or miss, depending on the guests he brings along, and the episodes definitely have a sameness to them, but if you find this guy even a sliver as entertaining as I do, it’ll pull you along anyhow.

The Night Manager - so looking forward to Hugh Laurie’s upcoming career phase as Bond Villain.

Cooked

Newsradio S1-S3 - I’d seen an episode or two of this over the years but never sat down to fully appreciate it. It’s making me miss Phil Hartman all over again, a fresh devastation, plus haha did u know Tone Loc plays a security guard on this show? It’s all true.

Lady Dynamite

OJ Made In America - I’ll count this as a series, since I didn’t watch it in the theatre. Still haven’t seen the other big OJ series of 2016, but I loved loved LOVED this. What impressed me the most is that, in spite of its 7 hour+ running time there were still aspects of this story that could have been expanded upon.

Silicon Valley S3

* Veep S1, S2

Catastrophe S2

Pulling - went back in time to get more Sharon Horgan in my life, since Catastrophe seasons are terribly short and far-between. I’d been aware of this show for a long time, and somehow wasn’t expecting it to be as near-devastating as it ended up being. What, did I forget what a British show was like?

Another Period S2

Difficult People S1, S2 - Another late discovery, but a great one. A fine example of just giving some funny people a show, and letting them just do their thing on it every week.

Fleabag - yes, I’m in for this, obviously. And if I wasn’t, the show designed itself to put me off, from the first moments. A wise move!

One Mississippi

Very British Problems S1, S2

Atlanta - I’ve got a bad feeling that this show’s deserved success will lead to surreal elements being deployed, but much less deftly than they were here.

Please Like Me S1-S4 - Tore through this entire series greedily, am now suffering until they make another season. Balances some very harrowing elements with comedy and an ensemble cast of loveable/terrible humans.

Divorce - Sharon Horgan’s writing minus her acting is a hollow empty shell, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it.

The Fall S3 - I’d decided last year after S2 that I was done with this show, and yet, here we are, I was drawn back in.

The Crown

Insecure