#this revival makes me CRAAAZY

[demonbarbers]

Josh Groban & Annaleigh Ashford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023)

[steppedoffaflight]

Sorry if this is weird feel free to ignore if you want. I've been following you for years, since the SAK days and I've always enjoyed your little end of year round ups. I was wondering if you would do one this year? What you have been listening to/watching/reading etc.

Time for the 2024 year in review!! Under the cut I have my year in music, podcasts, books, fic, TV shows and video games (some of these sections are sparse, I had a craaazy busy year).

MUSIC

Chappell Roan I get quite emotional thinking about how a lesbian woman was one of the fastest-growing artists this year!! I discovered her through my gf's friend, and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was love at first listen. Favorites include After Midnight, Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl, and Hot To Go. I usually listen to this album to get in the right mental headspace for a night out so that's why my faves are the upbeat party tracks. Maisie Peters The beginning of my year was quite fraught, and The Good Witch album was my bestie through it all (and still is!). I love that in between the sad/breakup undertones, the narrative about how we are the ones who write our own stories is woven through the entire album. Ugh. Actual art. Favorites include There It Goes, BSC, Holy Revival, and Truth Is (making myself stop before I list the entire tracklist, lmao) Gracie Abrams I discovered her pretty late into the year, but The Secret of Us is SUCH a good album. That's So True is definitely the star, in my humble opinion of course. Catfish and the Bottlemen Last but not least, can't forget the release of Showtime, which I love. Hopefully we get to hear more of whatever's in the works in 2025!

PODCASTS

Cancelled with Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield I have been a Tana Mongeau fan for many, many years, mostly in an amused, what-will-she-do-now way, and I think Brooke is the perfect co-host for her. They're sooo funny and I learn a lot of interesting things about life in LA and pop culture through them. Ruined with Alison Leiby and Halle Kiefer Probably my favorite podcast of the year. As someone who can't stand horror movies (or true crime, gore, etc) but has a morbid curiosity to at least know about them, Ruined is a dream. Each episode includes Halle, a scary-movie expert, explaining the plot of a movie to Alison, who is squeamish and horror-movie adverse like myself. It's so funny and wonderful!! Jumping In An Elevator Mike's Mic seriously has the same humor as me (which could probably be considered annoying by many), so I laugh out loud listening to his podcast. His one about his Italy adventures is to die for. My only gripe is that he uploads sporadically, boo.

BOOKS

Know My Name by Chanel Miller This book was soooo good. I read this in the first quarter-ish(?) of the year, as a way to try and gain some perspective on the Hockey Canada/World Juniors Cup 2018 scandal that was (and still is!) plaguing the NHL. That whole thing is sort of my sociology niche, and I wanted to read something from a survivor of assault by an athlete to get a better idea of what I could do personally as a fan of a professional sport. I was blown away by Chanel's incredible writing, her experience, and the awful things about the legal system I didn't already know. I am a better person for having read her wonderful wisdom. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske I have one more book left in this trilogy, but I keep putting it off because I love it too much to finish it. I decided to pick it up because I saw it described as "historical romance where everyone is a messy bisexual and also there is sex magic" and if that line doesn't hook you I don't know what could. Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski I listened to this book because I was going through some sort of uninspired sex rut, and it was SO GOOD!! Even though I looove sexuality and sex education, I learned an INSANE amount from this book. Literally every person with a vagina should read it, if not every person in the world. Also Emily's writing style is relaxed and funny, it was such a nice read. Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal I just finished this one as my last book of 2024, and I liked it a lot! I feel like it's full of a lot of helpful tips that work for people with ADHD (like me), and isn't about waking up at 4am every morning to grind at your to-do list until the sun goes down. It was actually very realistic and focused on how feeling good is actually what motivates our brains to get things done.

FICS

honor amongst thieves by greenteam (Jack Hughes/Nico Hischier/Jonas Siegenthaler) I read this one in my pool during the summer, and although it's unfinished (for now) the first part alone will hook you and is a great read. Although every time I'm on ao3 I do double check to see if the second half is out yet. rock bottom, baby by teethkick (Nico Hischier/Jack Hughes) Oh, lord. I think about this one a lot. The author is incredible at setting a scene and making it so incredibly vivid that sometimes it feels like something I've actually lived. Also I thought the unbothered, never-jealous Nico was incredibly realistic, and at the end of the day a realistic Nico is what really seals the deal for me. fell into you like a leap of faith by passengers (Nico Hischier/Nolan Patrick) I am not a kidfic person, but this one absolutely sold me. First of all I personally will also never beat the stuck in 2017 allegations, and second of all Nico is SOO Swiss in this fic that I think that's the aspect I loved the most? I hate fics where his Swiss-ness kind of just gets wiped away? Also the random time having sex over their mutual crush of Jonas?? Mutual crushes are my personal kryptonite. Ugh!!!! Happy Endings by makeit_takeit (Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick) This is my attempt at including something without Nico, which is hard because I was really in a Nico mood this year I guess! This fic was an impossibly delightful (and hot) interpretation of a realistic/homophobic Nolan whom had a scandal this year where he was allegedly running an X burner account that was incredibly problematic, to say the least. This was a fun read during that scandal, and also includes some very inspiring thoughts about how fic characters are toys for our enrichment, fuck how they act in real life.

TV SHOWS

New Girl Everyone has probably seen this one, I saw a good chunk of it while it was actively airing but wanted to start from the beginning and watch the whole thing, which I'm still working on. This is genuinely some of the only television I watched during my incredibly busy year besides for comfort watching Lost in my limited free time.

VIDEO GAMES

NHL 25 I am the proud owner of a new PlayStation 5, and also determined to FINALLY learn to play the NHL series. So far my career mode is going good, except I haven't played it recently so I'm not sure what position I'll be drafted. Although bless the developers' hearts, the faces on these guys are still pretty wrong. A Little To The Left My favorite casual/cozy game, although I did see some reviews about how the puzzles enraged them instead and sometimes I have to agree. But still a fun game if you're not opposed to just saying fuck it and looking at the hints for the solution. Spyro Reignited Trilogy All of the Spyro games are comfort games for me, and I've loved going back through and working on completing each of the trilogy to 100%. They don't make games like this anymore and it makes me so fucking sad!!! Also highly recommend listening to the soundtrack as background/working music, both the original and the Reignited versions are available. Planet Zoo I recommended this last year, but now THIS year I got it on PS5 and have been enjoying the console version, which I highly recommend.

[darcylightninglewis]

MCU?

omg, this is gonna get craaazy…

who i will protect at all costs: bucky, shuri, natasha, steve, darcy lewis & dr jane foster, foggy nelson, karen page, jessica jones

who deserves better: omg, this is a long list [clears throat]: jane foster, darcy lewis, natasha romanoff, clint barton, james rhodes, wanda maximoff, SKYE, foggy nelson

who was killed off too early: pietro.

who i used to hate but now i love: 

who i used to love but now i hate: daisy (hate is strong, and it’s not true but I can’t stand her.  I mean, I gave up on AoS largely because they ignored her making her own path once she found her parents in order to make her into Quake/Daisy. She could have honored them by taking the last name and keeping Skye. But uuugh just no.)

who needs to be killed off asap: ward. how is he not dead? Great actor, but come on. Vision. I just don’t care about him.

who is unfairly hated: Steve and Tony. Like, everyone fucking chill. They’re both heroes who are flawed and have a tremendous amount of emotional baggage. Stop trying to make one better. They’ve both fucked up and been screwed over. You can understand something without losing your shit. 

who is unfairly loved: loki - look, he’s fun and tom is amazing-no arguments here. But loki’s done some really bad shit. You can feel bad for what he’s been though that doesn’t mean he gets a pass. vision - look, humanoid doesn’t get humanity, there’s some lolz, to be sure. And I love Paul. But as a character I’m not at all invested in him. There’s no substance to the character. 

who needs to sort out their priorities: everyone in the mcu.

who needs a hug: holy shit, everyone? bucky, natasha, tony, steve, wanda, gamora, nebula, thor, valkyrie, everyone except thanos. Or Ultron, fuck that guy.

who needs to get out of their current relationship: not current per-say, but if it needs to come out that Yelena Belova impersonated her for a while and got that started shit with Bruce started. But Clint was like, NOPE. NOT NATASHA.

who the writers love: loki - they know he’s a fan favorite so he’s staying forever. 

who needs a better storyline: hahaha, natasha, no joke. Wanda too. Clint, holy shit Joss, way to fuck a great character over. Steve Rogers should get a third movie sometime… GIVE ME BACK JANE AND DARCY

who has an amazing redemption arc: yondu. holy shit I cried. also, tony & thor.

who is hot af: steve, natasha, bucky, t’challa, gamora, darcy lewis, thor, okoye, valkyrie, sam, nakia…so so many

who belongs in jail: loki. HYDRA. BURN THEM ALL. 

who needs to be revived from the dead: well, pietro. But also: Betty Ross, Helen Cho, Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster, CLINT MOTHER FUCKIN’ BARTON.

[nellielovett]

Josh Groban & Annaleigh Ashford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023)