#was rewatching this episode on the weekend and gosh this moment is so good

[allyriadayne]

ALICENT'S REBELLION

[ep2nd]

@anxious-anon-time sorry for being late, was really busy this weekend

I'm very sorry this is 2 weeks late, had to board a plane, then was relaxing on Vacay, then had to catch up in school the next week

"What do you think of the Ink Scroll arc"

I absolutely stinking loved it.

Now here's the essay you ask for (or didn't, I just want to write an essay)

1. Love the foreshadowing/self awareness. Ex. When MK says "Maybe this the part of our journey where things get DARKEE" the poor boy- also love how the word Journey was used, foreshadowing how it was about the Journey to the West

2. Everyone had good arcs, except Pigsy? Like, MK beautiful, Meis opposite nature to Ao Lie, lovely, Sandy fighting the monster allegations, been his trauma since the beginning (when he references he's changed since meeting Pigsy last), showcasing the difference between Tang and Tripitaka qns for Tang to get more development?! Woo!!! But Pigsy?? Having the same plot/character development of Sandy, where being a monster doesn't matter Yada Yada Yada, it just didn't make sense.

There was no part beforehand where Pigsy EVER questioned that part of him, unlike Sandy who's been afraid of hurting someone, yes I enjoyed the episode, the Cook references from previous (and also Freenoodle crumbs) were amazing. What I wish they had done was something like Pigsy questioning his family, or chosen family in this case. THEY EVEN WENTOF THEIR WAY TO MAKE THE "MONKEY KINGS NOT MY DAD PIGSY IS" MOMENT. Like- I just Pigys arc was more family/friend centered, definitely would compliment whatever jumbo shrimp mess MK had going on

3. Talking bout MK- the trauma and angst were GORGEOUS we love it. My boy been through so much. And we learned more of his past?! The theorists were going CRAZY. Love the Sunburst and Soysauce moment, MMMMMMMM, this boy needs to stop trusting people so quickly oh my gosh AZURE WHEN I CATCH YOU-

4. Really good villain. Love how they went with a villain who thought HE was the hero, and main character I guess lol. Was he a turned villain? Yes but he was a good one! Kinda wish the foreshadowing was better, instead of that one episode where Tang just watched and realized it. He's a complex character, who just wanted to help people, and yeah his ambition wasn't even bad, the Jade Emperor isn't great even, but he took it too far

5. Great job yall, you guys made a character everyone hates, Peng, Revalis brother from another mother

6. Yellow Tusk was ehhh, wish we saw more of his character, seemed interesting, loved his loyalty

7. Now LMK is very special from other shows I've watched he'd because well, I'm willing to rewatch many episodes, even if I know what will happen, I tend to not rematch ANYTHING because of this problem, but LMK is just different. For some reason the Scroll arc is the exception, I like it, but for some reason I don't see myself rewarching it, don't know why

8. Ink MK was a beloved, his voice?! Design?!? DIALOG AND SPEECH PATTERN!?!? BRILLIANT. really love all Ink people moments, mostly just Ink MK, and Wukong.

9. Glad Wukong got development, man is facing the consequences of his actions and its really getting him, I'm glad he's getting really good development.

10. Master Subodhi. Do I need to say more?! Loved him dearly. Wish he and Wukong remet. :( liked his character very much, I like how he wasn't even real in the Scroll and still had omniscient abilities. My only question was what else did he know?! On that note, is anyone going to talk about how the girl is just, like immortal?! The Acolyte as yall call her. Now I don't think Subodhi just GIVES out immortality, I feel like he saves it for special people, like Wukong, no I have theories and headcannons for her but that's another day.

Also I'm a suckered for any JTTW character appearance. LMK GIVE ME ERLANG SHEN, GOLD STAR OF VENUS, GUANYIN, ANY OF NEZHAS BROTHERS, AND MY LUFE IS YOURSSSSS

11. The only thing I can think of left is how in the world did the Scroll worked?!? Like, it didn't teleport them to the past, I've been making a simulator almost? But then why does the characters inside feel so real, and how did Wukong trap Peng and Yellow Tusk, and where and hwt have they been doing?! AND HOW DOES THE OMNISCIENT POWER OF SUBHODI WORK. MAN CANT HAVE THAT MUCH PLOT REASONS POWER. AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE HOW DID THEY GET THE OLD PILGRIMS WEAPONS LAST TIME I CHECKED TRIPITAKAAS STAFF WSS IN WUKONGS CAVE

[melodiousramblings]

Tag Game

Tagged by @seiya-starsniper !! :D 💜

Last Song: Starlight by Muse. I was catching up with Masked Singer and this song was in the most recent episode and I remembered how much I like it so I pulled it up on YouTube. ⭐️

Last Show/Movie: Welp, I did just mention Masked Singer, so there’s that. As for movie, I went to see the Super Mario Movie on Friday. It was fun! Lots of references and silly humor, good enough for me!

Currently Watching: Mmm, nothing at the moment, apart from Masked Singer and Miraculous Ladybug. Oh, does Bluey count? 😂 It’s on while I get ready for work and also at midnight when I’m curling up to sleep. I keep wanting to pick up a series but I’m always too busy with something else or just not in the mood for anything. Though I’ve been tempted to rewatch “My Holo Love”, a kdrama that came out literally just before the pandemic and that I binged in like 2-3 days during a bout of loneliness.

Currently Reading: buggachat’s “drowning (in plain sight)”, a Miraculous Ladybug fic centered on Adrien Agreste, which I actually haven’t touched in weeks because I’ve been busy but gosh I want to finish it because it’s so good.

Current Obsession: Still Miraculous Ladybug, clearly. XD Especially with two new episodes that just came out. Sadly, I was MEGA busy this weekend and haven’t watched them yet, but I definitely will, hopefully tonight?

Tagging: @head-full-of-things and @sapphira-mydnyte, if you want to! ⭐️

[kisilinramblings]

7, 22, 24 for the ML ask!

7. Favourite kwami?

Well, before S3, I would have said Plagg but now that we get to see more and more the Kwamis interacting on-screen, he now got competition with Longg and Duusu ^^; 

Duusu in Ladybug won me over. I dunno exactly why, but I love how he quickly changed emotions and easily got distrated. It’s a good contrast with Nathalie. 

But I have a weak spot for Longg as well. I love very formal characters cause a lot of laughs can be make at their expense. He is not formal annoying. He just takes the time to explain everything properly to the point it can be a flaw. But I also love how ready he was for action in Miracle Queen. 

22. Biggest plot twist/most unexpected moment?

Oh gosh, that’s hard for me to remember cause I rewatch episode several times on their first weekend and quickly forget the parts that surprised me the most ^^; Seeing Chloé resisting her akumatization in Miraculer was a big moment. Aspik in general back in Desperada (and Adrien giving up). Hawkmoth almost succedding during Party Crasher and how Kim received his Miraculous. Marinette wearing all the Miraculous for her plan in Kwami Buster. Bunnyx. So hard to choose!

Oh wait, I know! The Ladybug episode in general. It’s just one plot twist after the other. The big scheme against Marinette? Scarlet Moth being back? Hawkmoth abandonning his plan because of Mayura’s condition? Nathalie elaborating her own plan behind Gabriel’s back? Sentibug? Hawkmoth to Mayura’s rescue? Adrien’s deal with Lila? Yes! 

24. Tell us about an AU concept you like!

Oh! I don’t remember the exact name, but it’s the AU in which Ladybug and Cat Noir are considered like criminals? Bonus point if in this AU, all the Miraculous got scattered and they are trying to recover them, so they ressource to steal and invade properties as a way to avoid unnecessary fights and stuff like that.  I quite love it if this is set either in a Pirate universe, the Lumiere era or in the 1920s. 

It’s ask meme time!

[kippentrash]

OH MY GOSH I SAW THE EPISODE FOR THE FIRST TIME LIKE 30 MINUTES AGO AND I CRIED. Cyrus actually said it, no hinting, no going around it. He's gay. I was a Jyrus shipper not gonna lie but Tyrus has overtaken me and platonic Jyrus is amazing! Andi's little smile when TJ walked in...She seems to suspect and I loved her and Cece talking

(2/2 heres my replies to your questions!) I am in the Pacific Time Zone (Oregon/Washington area), I love Andi Mack and Blue Planet for shows, Inception for movie, favorite book ooof probably The Guardians series! I love the color brown, like an amber. I think I might be more pastel, but been told I’m a neon :) -ghostie anon PS I FORGOT TO SAY THIS BUT, when Buffy and Andi were talking about the phone I was like “please don’t fight guys” I love the GHC, them and you deserve the world

AHHHH I"M GOING TO TRY ONE MORE TIME WITH THESE ASKS BUT TUMBLR F YOU SERIOUSLY LET ME SEND ASK AND CRY ABOUT ANDI MACK. This episode was too powerful, Jonah being open, Cyrus coming out to Jonah! The platonic Jyrus is amazing. Buffy and Andi interacting about Marty and Walker (I want them to meet) and TJ appearing! So many tears tbh. I loved this episode and it has all of my uwus forever -ghostie anon

AHHH SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE GHOSTIE I’VE BEEN PACKED BECAUSE I HAVE 3 FRIENDS WITH BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEKEND SO MY SCHEDULES A BIT CRAMPED ;w; I’m putting most of it under a cut because I pretty much responded to each part individually so it’s like really long and jumbled whoops

But oh my god same at literally everything ahhhh daklsjda THEY LET HIM SAY THE WORDS “I’M GAY” I’M STILL SHOOK. I’m so glad that Andi Mack and Josh are able to be the ones to bring to the screen this iconic moment in Disney history, especially after everything else they’ve done. I still only half believe it. Wow.

Also like 90% of my wardrobe is black with like 5% red or blue, so I only wore some green accessories ;w; rip. I tried.

If I’m being honest, I never shipped Jyrus but that doesn’t mean I don’t freakin love platonic Jyrus with all my heart. I’m so glad that with Jonah and Cyrus there’s this comfortable and open friendship between guys that’s depicted so well and instead of two guys always trying to act all cool and tough towards each other, it shows it’s fine and honestly beautiful to have two close guy friends care and be so supportive towards one another. Even though Cyrus is gay, that doesn’t change the fact that Jonah will still be a kind and supportive friend and vice versa it’s just a fact that had to be said, and his reaction to it was just AHHH. And same with Cyrus supporting Jonah through his panic attacks, he didn’t lie and say “of course they’ll get easier eventually” because it’s not necessarily true that they ever get better, even if that’s what Jonah wanted him to say,; yet he still did reassure him with “that’s what you need to remember: that they end” to help him out and remind him that it’s survivable. Platonic Jyrus gets all my uwus it’s just so beautiful and AHSKJADHKS

Tyrus has overtaken me as well oh my god that moment was so soft and Luke’s doing freakin AMAZING at making TJ so very soft especially with the “of course I came” line I seriously adore the entire cast so much they’re so talented. Andi and Buffy’s shared look is me with my friends around their crushes all the time or when we’re like owo what’s this?? So that PLUS the texts between them got me over the edge ohmygod

CECE AND ANDI OH MY GOD THAT MADE ME WANT TO CRY. It made me appreciate my grandma even more than ever honestly to remember she’s still here and is always so helpful and supportive and even though she’s not the most fluent in English does her best and tries to get involved and know what’s going on with my life and Ima cry. The recent episodes have been doing really really well with the interactions between Andi and her family and I just adore them so much. 

Buffy and Andi conflict was like “Buffy I get what you feel but Andi I get what you feel too please communicate yall are more understanding of each other but shady is no bueno ;-;” I’m glad though that Buffy did eventually tell both her and Cyrus, but oh my gosh her FACE of defeat when she finally did like “I know what you guys are about to think but please be chill for once in your lives.” Good to see that both Andi and Cyrus are still the biggest Muffy shippers. Everyone’s talking ‘bout Andi’s teasing Buffy about it but did you hear Cyrus’s squeaky “what???” That was the sound of containing yourself when your friend is talking to someone you ship them with don’t change my mind because that’s me with my friends.

I so want all of them to meet (Marty and Walker and TJ) and I’m sad Walker got written off before he and Marty or he and TJ ever got the chance to interact. It would have been interesting to see how Marty and Walker react to each other similar to how we got to see Walker and Jonah interact, and I’m genuinely curious about how Walker would have reacted to TJ and if the others would tell him about old TJ or just leave the past in the past. Honestly I just love the friendships in this show, the GHC + Jonah + Walker + Amber + Marty + TJ + Libby would be the dream. But just from last ep GHC + Jonah was beautiful and even though the moment was inherently romantic the friendship connotations of Tyrus last episode (TJ being there for Cyrus when he needed his friends to support him through the loss in general) was so sweet too. 

TL:DR; I love so much of that episode!!! It’s in a heated battle between Bash Mitzfah as my favorite ep primarily because Bash Mitzfah was so fun and had more time to do more things without having to rush. I need to rewatch it so I can decide but ahhhh it was SO GOOD MY HEART

As for the personal questions, I’ve never heard of Blue Pacific... is it a newer or older show? Oh my Inception is a mind fk LOL, and my brother read the Guardians (I think I’m thinking of the right one, the one with the owls?) awhile back but I never really tried it or got into it I think. How many books is it? :o And ooo a warm color liker, amber’s a nice shade! And lol I like how you see yourself as a pastel while others see you as a neon because they’re so starkly different LMAOO

Sorry again for the late response to your asks ghostie!!! ;w; Hope you have a nice day and weekend you lovely lovely human! Or should I say spirit since I call you ghostie lol ;P

[therightprometheanfire]

Tag Game

I got tagged by @nerdygingerandproud, y’all!

1. Relationship status:  Single

2. Lipstick or chapstick: Definitely lipstick. I have one in a light pleasant pink and another in a dark red and that last one especially is one of my favorite things.

3. Three favorite foods:  Hmmmm. Burgers (particularly this burger joint back home in VT is just... fucking incredible, my dudes), strawberries, aaaaand I’m gonna go with the steak that my brother makes, because when I was still at home and he was working at the grocery store and tired all the time, he learned what the cheapest cuts of meat in the store that still tasted good were, so he’d bring home five dollar cuts of meat that he’s so good at cooking, and idk, I’ve been missing it a lot lately

4. Song stuck in your head:  this is a weird pull, but when I went home last weekend my brother and I rewatched the Simpsons episode “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet”, and there’s this bit where Jasper’s singing to the tune of “Theme from a Summer Place” but instead of the lyrics he sings “it’s the theeeeeeme from a suuuuummer plaaaaace, from a summer plaaaace, it’s the theeeeme from a suuuummer plaaaace”, and on and off ever since it has been going in a goddamn loop in my brain

5. Last movie you watched: if documentaries count, an American Masters on Edgar Allen Poe. It was only okay: they were bending over backwards to excuse how Poe was kind of a dick (although he’s not a dick in all the ways we commonly believe him to be, which the documentary was pushing pretty hard, he still married his thirteen year old cousin, so)

6. Top three shows— Classic: I always went more hardcore on classic movies than classic TV shows and my brain is a garbage fire in general, so these will probably be the ones that I remember (some of these I haven’t even seen in ages but remember loving dearly), BUT: Monty Python, most of the early SNL stuff, and The Twilight Zone. I haven’t watched enough Star Trek OTS to call it a favorite, but I’ve seen enough that I like and appreciate it a bunch.  Recent: The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and American Experience. Really, any PBS documentary is good with me.

7. Books I’m currently reading:  I haven’t been reading as much as I have been listening to audiobooks, so for audiobooks I’m working on The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore and Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris. The physical book I’m trying to finish is Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd. Queer City is very well written, and pretty interesting, but it advertises as being a history including gays, lesbians, transgender folk, and that it is not very good at it. It’s mostly a history of gay men, and also some lesbians, and a very small amount of trans folk. As a gay male history of London, it’s exceptional, but as far being an all encompassing queer history book, it definitely falls way short of the mark.

8. Last thing I googled:  "queer city book”, because I couldn’t remember the full title or author, and it’s on my bookshelf but I do not have the vision necessary to read the author from here and my comforter is very warm.

9. Time: 5:52 pm

10. Dream trip: God, dudes, I want to travel so bad. I think I answered one of these recently talking about how my next trip I wanted to be to NYC, and that is still true, but as far as dream trip, fuck, man. I would love to do a road trip across the US because I’ve always wanted to do a road trip, but for one thing that costs money, and for another a loudmouthed queer woman traveling on her own across the country is... probably not a good thing to be doing at the moment. But I also really wanna go to Britain. I’m really interested in English and Irish history and would love to travel to see historical landmarks (yes, I would be that tourist), I’ve been a Shakespeare nerd since I was about seven or eight and I’ve always wanted to see a production at the Globe, I have friends in Britain I’d love to see (looking at you, @dont-offend-the-bees and @lavellington).

11. Anything you want:  Gosh. Well, okay. I’d like for the world to not be such a fucking nightmare, and if the US weathers Trump, I would really like for liberals and the left to not dust off their hands and go “yay, we fixed it!”, because getting rid of Trump will not mean “we fixed all the problems that led us here”, and we still have a lot of work to do with racism and misogyny and transphobia and homophobia. Getting rid of the asshole at the top of the system does not mean we have fixed the problems inherent in the system.

That, obviously, is the big one. On a smaller scale,  I’d like to be able to set up a both at craft shows, for one thing, I love crochet and I’d love to be able to showcase it to a bunch of people and have a bunch of people buy my stuff (and definitely validate my yarn habit). I would love to get a book published- I have a couple long term book plots churning, but I think an anthology of poetry and short stories would be good for me. I want to lose some weight cause even though I actually really like being fat, I have arthritis, and the less weighing on my joints, the less I’ll be in pain. Kind of foiling that last wish, I really want a plain untoasted bagel with a smoked salmon schmear from the cafe about eight minutes from me.

All right, I’ve definitely fuckin talked enough, let’s get tagging. I’m supposed to tag fifteen people, but I always struggle with hitting the exact number, so I’m gonna do my best and if y’all feel like doing it, go for it.

@dont-offend-the-bees, @klaudiart, @princessparadoxical, @punkpuppydragon, @singlemaltantiseptics, @lavellington, @elijahwoodnot

[grunge-mermaid]

grunge rewatches Doctor Who (part idk)

this has been in my drafts since at least December... maybe? who knows... time means nothing but I'm pretty sure it was before the convoy occupation. probably gonna rewatch season 2 this weekend so have fun, or scroll past, or unfollow, or you know, do whatever the fuck you want, I'm no one's mother

back by absolutely zero demand, after months of not watching Doctor Who, I am now back at it.

1x11 Boomtown

oh it's the slitheen again. I'm assuming that's why I stopped where I did last time?

MAE!!!!

*poor little cake soggy bottom, poor little cake soggy bottom*

sometimes I feel bad for Mickey

and then he opens his mouth

Bad Wolf count: 2

that's a really nice public bathroom

I know this is still primarily a little kids' show but can we not with the sound effects?

"nothing exciting but he's mine" and a shotgun wedding. you sound like a real prize, Cathy

Doctor who? count: 1

Bad Wolf count: 3

I forgot how much I liked Captain Jack

Bad Wolf count: 8

bondage jokes on a children's show. ok.

Rose: clearly Mickey doesn't want to hear about all your exciting adventures, talk about something else for a bit

Mickey: be a little more supportive. your girlfriend is trying to share something important with you, be excited for her

also, bit skeezy to suggest getting a hotel for the night and then go "btw I'm sleeping with your ex-coworker"

full disclosure: I was painting my nails, couldn't really type for the last bit

1x12 Bad Wolf

oh it's about to go down

Big Brother is not really this old, is it?

the Anne droid

is that the first Torchwood reference?

Doctor Who predicting Arnold Schwarzenneger as president in a reality show themed episode as an extremely absurd possibility

god what a hopeful time they lived in

Bad Wolf count: 10

montages create an artificially high Bad Wolf count

bad wolf count: 11

2005: critiquing reality television, lack of reliable information, climate destruction

2021: much, much worse

I might take back what I said about how much I like Captain Jack. the innuendos are just so over the top, it's so out of place in the show

fuck you, Roderick

god Chris Eccleston was so good

I stand by my opinion that he was the right choice to bring back the show, it was the right choice for him to do only one season, and David Tennant was the right choice for the tenth Doctor

but god damn, Eccleston was good

it's really hard to understand the impact of the Daleks returning en masse for the first time when they've come back so. many. times.

1x13 The Parting of the Ways

skip recap

skip intro

I really miss low-budget Who

I mean, the power ranger Daleks are cool and all, but look at these janky little pepper pots with whisks for hands

do not blaspheme

really gonna go down the jealously route with Rose vs Lynda? really?

Jack kissing Rose and the Doctor in exactly the same way will forever be one of my favourite Doctor Who moments, especially because it was a conscious decision on John Barrowman's part to do it that way

did something significant happen in Marbella in 1989?

oh god

the Doctor sending Rose away will always be one of the most heartbreaking moments of Doctor Who

why am I crying so much right now

Rose, speaking for every single person who ever left their home town and unexpectedly found themselves back home against their will

(have you ever been called a snob for coming home for the holidays while attending university? by a woman with a stroller who spent all day in her pyjamas at the Tim Hortons? that was a real eye-opener)

paused at A Critical Moment to go see if I could see the aurora (nope, foggy as fuck outside) and then got distracted by the internet and missed commentating on a good 10 minutes of the show whoops

the moment that started my obsession with dorky lanky beanpoles

ok Christmas Invasion and then I'm done for the night

2x00 The Christmas Invasion

that's an awfully warm and sunny looking London Christmas

gosh David Tennant was cute

he still is, and he's aged like fine wine, but what a cutie

Doctor who? count: 1

okay that's a slightly better way of dealing with the whole left behind thing, Mickey.

still kinda shitty that you don't want your kinda girlfriend to worry about her best friend who may or may not be dying, and that you don't want to hear about any of the good things she's experienced, but playful teasing is at least less manipulative than Boomtown

still not great, but it's an improvement nonetheless

honestly the spinning christmas tree of death is peak low-budget Who practical effects and I unironically love it so much

Dame. Penelope. Wilton. I love you.

anything that challenges the whole "the American president is the leader of the free world [*barf*] and therefore gets to deal with first contact in an alien invasion" trope is A-OK with me

I mean, the UK Prime Minister probably shouldn't either, except in this case it *is* their probe so have at 'er

shouldn't it be the Secretary General of the UN? Aren't they the closest we have to a global authority?

idk as a non-American whose country's entertainment industry and consumer economy infrastructure are increasingly eroded by American companies, American exceptionalism in media really grinds my gears

and I like it when non-American shows stand up to that

got distracted again. this time by making cookie dough and discord

but I'm paying attention again just in time for David Tennant being great with his Lion King soliloquy

cheers, big fella

this is the reason I use "jimjams" so often

look at this adorable dork of a lanky beanpole just so excited to still have a friend

no, Mickey, she's not gonna stay, especially if you get all manipulative like that about it

love that's there's a twist on the snowing at Christmas trope, kinda disturbed by what the snow is. as it should be.

and that's a wrap. thanks for reading (ie scrolling past) a half-assed recap that nobody asked for and that I barely paid attention to in order to write

[ah-maa-zing]

@austencello:

I’m looking forward to writing my review this weekend (I don’t have time to rewatch it until Friday!)

I believe all the Arrowverse soundtracks are due to come out next week. However, history often has them coming out a little later than their original date, so we shall see. I am very curious to know what will be on it. The most memorable music was the crossover and that got its own soundtrack. There are a few episodes near the end that had good music moments which I am hoping will be on it!

One non-crossover track I’m really hoping is on the soundtrack is the one from the finale, during the big fight between Diaz and Oliver. They used it in one of the early promos for S7 too. Other than that, yeah, I’m not sure what else will be on the soundtrack; nothing else really springs to mind. That said, I always find at least one or two tracks on the listings that I’ve enjoyed each season, so hope for some this time around too. 

@cherchersketch​​:

My favourite part of this new season, other than how amazing the episodes look like their gonna be, is how active the fandom is again /0/ I love reading your metas.I did not notice the ‘extremely lethal’ sign on his prison door but oh my gosh it makes me more excited for the prison scenes now, especially since Oliver is NOT HOLDING BACK anymore.I miss Oliver’s hair too ;3; when will it grow back ;A;And yes HOW?!??!!???? did Diaz escape ARGUS again. I assume they would have sent a small team to rescue Felicity. I ??????????I hope Stan the Stan is just a regular dude ;3; Please just let Oliver have good things for once ;3; 

Haha, Oliver’s hair will be missed by us all. It’s been TOTALLY thrown off schedule now ;( 

Re: Diaz - I have no idea how he managed to evade ARGUS (other than “because plot”). Come to think of it, something I didn’t mention in the review -- shouldn’t the FBI have shown up rather than ARGUS? I assume it was their Witness Protection Programme...although Oliver did say it was John who’d set Felicity and William up with new identities. But still. You’d think the FBI would have been keeping an eye on them after the trouble they’ve caused...

As for Stan, I really hope he is a regular dude. He seems fun, and will provide a little humour for Oliver (and us) in prison. I’m just wary with this show, but I hope I’m wrong about him. 

Thank you! I love your Lil Justice panels and always look forward to them. I’ve always loved the creativity in this fandom. 

@andjustforthismoment​:

So awesome to see this post from you @ah-maa-zing  and yes! to all of this.  This episode has me excited for what’s to come. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and love seeing you on my dash. mwah

Thank you, Sal! I love seeing you on my dash too, always :)

[a-salty-alto]

Random Thoughts on the finale

So I just watched the finale to season 4, but screencaps are probably not going to come before next weekend because I'm busy with school and stuff. Usually the episodes are up on KimCartoon around noonish EST on Monday, so I'll keep an eye out and post a link when they're up.

Here we go, in no particular order:

So in "Citadel," Tony is grumpy and tells Steve "I'm not one of your soldiers" and Steve replies "You're gosh darn right you're not" SO SULTRILY I thought they were going to make out on the desk right there.

Tony has a journal and I nearly flipped a table because Tony having a journal and documenting his time on Battleworld has SO MUCH ANGST POTENTIAL I'm mad I haven't already written it.

There is a scene between Carol and Hope that serves no other purpose than to remind us they're girlfriends

Jane finally becomes Thor and it's amazing, but she also kicks ass before that.

I'm starting to think that whoever animates those little recap shorts ships FrostIron because like, there's one where Tony and Loki are looking at the Bifrost all proud of themselves and Loki looks at Tony and it's pretty gay

Also also, Loki/Dr. Strange have some good moments too

The Beyonder's 90's outfit is very, um 90's comics I guess. It's amazing, I can't describe it with words

We get some quick Dad Tony and Kamala where he tells her to drive and she's like "why me?" And Tony's like "why not you" and it's really cute

ACTUAL LINE OF DIALOGUE FROM TONY: "uh Cap, if you ever wanted to say one of those bad words I taught you, now would be a perfect time."

WOW

what other naughty things did you teach Steve, Tony?

Kamala called Vision her best friend and I'm crying

So spoilery things are going under the cut

The Beyonder offers Tony immortality and I immediately thought of transhumansim. Idk if how it fit into the context of the episode really works with Transhumanist beliefs but maybe?

Tony and the Beyonder have a sorta "foe-yay" thing going on. Like I could totally see the Beyonder trying to seduce Tony to the dark side with things other than science

I think Loki might have died, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm pissed he betrayed the Avengers but I didn't think he'd actually die

MODOK is a member of the Beyonder's villain squad and Tony says somwthing along the lines of "wow MODOK, thought of you as much of a team player," and that line utterly baffled me because the literal first time we're introduced to MODOK in the show is him working with the Red Skull, then he joins the first Cabal. Then when he's reintroduced in season 4 again in the context of working with Taskmaster. I legit thought it was going to turn out that Tony had amnesia or something and forgotten the first 3 seasons and was just rolling with it.

Season 4 is really weird because like, I LOVE every single episode. I'd haplily rewatch them all again and there are really good bits of characterization for everyone. Despite a doubled cast size, everyone gets a moment to shine this season. The problem is in the overarching story tying them together, because that is weak as shit, and in some cases contradictory. The most ready example for me is in "Beyond," and the whole thinking Tony is dead thing. Not only is that never established, it's directly contradicted. Then there are the Halloween and New Year's episodes, which are again great but they're also essentially filler for the wrong season, which makes them extra pointless to the overall story arc. And that is really bad, because you can't really justify these episodes existing when you have things that need to be established. Season 4 has around 3 or 4 major changes to the status quo and we don't really get to look at all of them in depth because there's already so little time, the fact that two episode slots are lost for season 3 filler is frustrating. Don't even get me started on Ultron. The episodes are all great but I wouldn't be able to binge them.

Just to reiterate I loved this season. For all the main plot frustrates me, all the characters are still great despite the large cast, the voice acting is on point and the character dynamics are varried and well-written. The way i'd fix most problems I have with this season is to add more to it. Give the show some breathing room and extra episodes with these guys. (I might do a compeltely self-indulgent post about this later) I'm pretty sure this is my favorite season after season 3, and it was a lot of fun. And you guys make it even better.

😁

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

Rules: tag 9 people with excellent taste

Colour(s) I’m currently wearing

Mostly white - I’m wearing my bathrobe. My mom got it for me and it’s great. It’s not the softest but it’s good and it’s got cool blue and grey horizontal stripes on the bottom. Normally it’s very frustrating for her to try to get clothing gifts for me, but she hit the nail on the head with this one.

Last band T shirt I bought

I’ve never bought a ‘band’ t-shirt. The artists I really love don’t have much in the way of t-shirts and if they do, they look really corny. Like I’m not gonna get a Streisand t-shirt and look like some middle-aged empty-nester out grocery shopping.

Last band I saw live

I guess our evening Jazz Ensemble - it’s professional adult musicians - at my school’s Jazz Ensembles concert. They’re great. As for non-school performances, I think? the last concert I went to was a Brian Setzer concert at the Hollywood Bowl with my mom a while back.

Last song I listened to

I tried listening to some contemporary pop from the Love, Simon (2018) soundtrack today and it was really difficult so now I’m at the computer enjoying some tumblr-time and listening to my most-chill and most-favorite Doris Day album.

Lipstick or chapstick?

I used lipstick once for my Katharine Hepburn halloween costume last year and - tbh lipstick is so much work - makeup in general. Like it would be fun to be a girl and wear dresses and be super pretty and stuff - but wo-MAN it’s so much work!

So chapstick. The tube I use is some Burt’s Bees pink grapefruit that I really love. This might sound weird but I only have it because a boy I had a small crush on once asked me to hold it while he changed clothes and forgot to collect it from me..

Last movie I watched

I went to the movies last weekend with @adamsberg​ and another one of my best friends and saw Love, Simon (2018). I really really really really loved it.

I hadn’t even heard of it until a few weeks ago I saw a trailer on YouTube, but I thought it looked great and it was everything I hoped and more. I have this soft spot for angsty contemporary teen dramas like this [The Fault In Our Stars (2014) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) are also in this micro-genre]. While I love my classics, I also love these great movies that are being made here and NOW! Sometimes I feel apart from the rest of the world - and not in a good way. I wasn’t friendless in high school - but I wasn’t anywhere near as close to any of my friends as any of these movie teens are... as accepted and loved as I am to/by an amazing, small, group of my friends now. I have no horror stories, but I don’t have very many stories and that’s just it - I could have had so much more, but I didn’t. Part of it was because I wasn’t out yet and this film so wonderfully explored that. I highly reccomend it - and not just for the good plot, it’s hilarious and an overall great experience.

Last 3 TV shows I watched

911 (2018-present) 

Sometimes my mom’s taste in first-run television is pretty bad (NCIS stopped being good like a decade ago) but in this case I am totally on-board. Angela Bassett [WAIT HOW IS SHE 59???????] is an inspiration (I WANT HER CHARACTER’S HOUSE!), the writing and production values are generally very good - it’s a solid, interesting show. Still, can anyone tell me what the deal with that middle-aged white lady (who’s a few years younger than Angela Bassett but lowekey looks 20 years older) who dresses like a suburban mom trying to dress like her teenage daughter - like what’s the deal with her dating that guy in his 20s? 

Frasier (1993-2004)

My mom and I watch this show somewhat regularly as it’s on like every flippin’ night on the scourge that is the Hallmark Channel (generally decent reruns, but I hate the channel itself and their original programming is complete trash). In a lotta ways I really love it - it’s hilarious, witty, sophisticated, adult, and has the power to  create a real poigniant moment like you rarely see so fully-realized in sitcoms. 

It has its issues though. Frasier and Niles (especially in early seasons) can get annoyingly whiny/snobby. I get that their characters are kinda built around that, but there’s a point at which they take it too far and it becomes disengaging. Also it’s a super white-people-centric show (I wonder why Hallmark likes it so much...) so diversity could be a lot better. Still, it’s generally a high-quality program.

Gosh I don’t remember what else I watched last. I haven’t had a lotta TV time lately so Imma use this opportunity to plug...

Stranger Things (2016-present)

One’a my best friends, Grace, introduced me to this show and I absolutely love it. The period’s really well done - not just accurate, but alive and real and relatable. The acting and casting is great. Winona Ryder is a treasure and I have a shameless crush on Joe Keery’s amazing hair and the person it belongs to. The scoring is effective, interesting, and very different from the kind of film music I usually am exposed to (I’m really making an effort to expand my horizons beyond classic orchestral sounds lately). The production values are great - it’s just an amazing show. 

Last 3 characters I identified with

1.) Simon Spier from Love, Simon (2018)

While there are some things about him I definitely don’t identify with (message me personally if you wanna know specifics- I don’t want to spoil anything), I very much identify with his coming out story and coming to terms with his sexuality on his own terms. 

I feel like there are people who will criticize the film based on Simon’s extreme normalcy - like he’s honestly a fairly stock white, middle-class, suburban teenage boy and, aside from his involvement in theater and ‘ya know liking boys he doesn’t do much that would be considered “gay” - but that’s kinda the point of the film. Being gay is just something that is and anyone can be gay - they’re not weird or whatever just for being gay - that was one of my fears - that I would be treated (or even just feel like) some strange unwelcome outsider just because of this one thing.

I had a long conversation tonight with an older kinda mentor’y friend of mine (though I’m more of the mentor) who’s gay and who was having a really rough night. Among the lotta things he said was that all gay men cheat that there’s no true monagomous love in the gay community and like lightning I shot him down with a fervor and wisdom and riteousness that would make Kate proud (wayto blow my own horn). 

That’s the exact kind of idiotic prejudice that makes people afraid to come out in the first place. It’s fear that kind of small-minded judgmental behavior which was most responsible for me remaining closeted in high school. It’s a hard thing to explain to someone who hasn’t been there because after you’ve been through it, it can kinda feel like nothing afterwards -  all this fear and conflict and it’s really kinda purposeless. You find that people still love you and the people who don’t are really not good people anyway. I wish I had come out in high school, I could have been happier. But I am happy now.

2.) Tracy Lord from The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Dedicated followers may remember I rewatched this one a few wks ago on what would have been a date with me and my crush until he cancelled. That time I saw Trace and Kate herself through lenses less tinted than ever before, but still she’s there in all her glory and all her not-glory. Tracy is riteous, despises drinking and gets very contemptful of what she views as weakness, such as her ex-husband’s drinking problem or Mike’s cynical view of the rich. I am often that way (in large part due to the second-generation effects of my mom’s own east coast catholic upbrining) which has it’s merits certainly - that specific east coast almost ‘puritan’ toughness (I think Dick Cavett, said Bette Davis and Kate both had it) can be a tremendous source of strength and sense. It can also easily become cold, prudish, snobbish, and condesending. I have tried to unlearn these aspects and I am still working on that. This is kinda what Tracy’s arc is about, learning to be human and be loved and to love others.

Though it’s not as recent, the next one that comes to mind is

3.)  Nancy Wheeler from Stranger Things

I already mentioned that my friend Grace got me into this show, but I didn’t mention that I only ever watch it with her. Not that I don’t really love the show - I do - but I like saving it for when we’re together - it makes it more special. 

Anyway, more than perhaps any other single character on that show, I identify with Nancy Wheeler. Regular suburban teenager who’s better - not just a regular suburban teenager - she’s aware of the sort of suburban ‘don’t do much with your life ‘cept rasie kids [not that there’s anything wrong with having and raising kids, that’s wonderful] trap. I also found the episode with her at Steve’s house really resonated with me. Barb telling Nancy “this isn’t you” really got to me. Part of me still has an internal ‘Barb’ that kinda ties in with the whole east-coast ‘puritan’y’ morality but there’s also the part of me that wants to be young and just a person and do cool things with my friends and kiss boys and watch great angsty contemporary teen dramas. They both have their merits and drawbacks - the young side has life but can be stupid and reckless - the old side is wise and careful, but can be paralyzing and stagnating.

Books I’m currently reading

I have a whole slew of books checked out that I’m supposed to be reading (for my own enjoyment).

The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard     by   Leonard Bernstien

I loved his The Joy of Music so I figured I would like this too. He’s a great music lecturer. I’m only like 5 pages in so far.

Elizabeth Taylor: A Private Life for Public Consumption      by    Ellis Cashmore 

This one I’m a little further on, though most of that was just the introductory timeline of her life with a key notating each illness/medical episode, marriage/actual or rumored romantic relationship, and neaar-death experience (her life is such ‘drama’).

I also have a book about motifs in Hitchcock’s films with the car picnic from To Catch a Thief (1955) on the cover. I haven’t started reading it yet.

And I have some book about Lerner & Lowe, the duo responsibly for My Fair Lady, Camelot, etc...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was really really wonderful to participate in. Thank you, my amazing friends, so much for tagging me @adamsberg​ and @in-the-key-of-d-minor​. I’ve enjoyed lots of asks and tag games, but I’ve never felt this good about one before...

I tag

@hildy-dont-be-hasty @tyronepowerbottom @reluctant-martyrs @thevintagious @littlehappyrock @n2ninvisiblegirl @solasdisapproves @hepburnandhepburn and @her-man-friday

If I didn’t tag you but you wanna participate, have at it!

What’m I gonna do, fire you?

[elizabethrobertajones]

So, I have this question and I thought I'd send it here :) What are your thoughts on Sam x fashion aside from the crack? Do you have early Sam x fashion meta? I'm feeling it's reflective of his making his own choices as he had wacky weird fashion sense in earlier seasons then during the time he follows Dean cos guilt copies Dean's lumberjack style until season 12 when he gets some weird clothes again (orange jacket cough). I kinda hope we see him in wacky fashion now he's more independent again?

hahahaha

I feel kind of like the asshole cat who’s always knocking things over until someone comes to give me attention

But no, yeah. Sam’s clothes are weird, man. Weird. *shuffles the purple dog shirt to the bottom of my drawer of t-shirts*

In season 1 his quintessential look to me is the brown hoodie and backpack, and sometimes the leather laptop satchel he has. He could be wandering on a college campus, and that’s intentional, because, well, that was what he had been doing. He has t-shirts with things on them, favouring purple and dark red for symbolic reasons but he does have a couple of different designs of each if you squint.

I always like the immediately established pattern that Sam and Dean essentially wear the same clothes with minor differences, but that Sam ALWAYS buttons up his shirt, and Dean ALWAYS leaves his loose. It’s the no. 1 thing that bugs me about fan art of the two of them, that I can tell casual “Lol just dipping into this fandom” art immediately because they’ll depict Dean with a buttoned up shirt or Sam with his open and loose. Sam wears his open in like… 4x07 when he was half-undressed, and Dean wears a button up shirt in 6x01 and 9x13 in a job interview. I may be missing some others but that’s like… in all my years of caring about this and rewatching the show with a meta mind, and keeping half an eye on their clothes in case of Symbolism, I don’t see much variation. (Also: Sam always wears v-necks once the patterns get entrenched, and Dean always wears round necks.)

Of course, the easiest explanation is Sam keeps his shirt buttoned because Secrets and Deep Hidden Layers, while Dean wears his heart on his sleeve slightly more literally, in that his shirt is flapping open exposing the t-shirt beneath, and of course he has the amulet to accent that look for the first 3rd of the show, hanging over his heart. (Dean also is the only one of them who wears henleys, ever. Sam just wears a t-shirt exposed when he’s being vulnerable, while Dean has a little more variation.)

Anyways. Sam’s look is less practical than Dean’s - more white shirts, more dressy shirts to start with. The godawful white one with the red patterning underneath. Pin-stripes. He has patterns and Dean has block colours. Even as the show goes on, Sam collects shirts with stripes and mixes them in with wearing plaid, all in the same manner. I think that is basically again a little link back to the early costuming.

One of the funniest moments of the show to me at the time when it was about all the canon we had, was in 6x18 when Sam’s only concession to time travelling is to change his shirt, and he pulls it off in comparison to Dean’s wildly over-enthusiastic time travelling, and issues with it and eventual re-costuming, again into a whole ensemble. I think that particularly tells us about Sam that he doesn’t really sweat the details like Dean does because his surface layer is such a strong, placid force that people don’t question it. In 8x11 Dean dresses up and Sam stays in his fed suit for most of the episode, and it doesn’t cause him problems in anywhere near the same way. In both episodes there’s a lot more to say about Dean and his need to fit in/exuberance to dress up and be someone else, but I do love the light it shines on contrast to Sam, that somehow his lack of caring about his clothes just beams out and makes everyone else not really care that much either. 

But yeah, Sam’s shirts get more interchangeable with Dean as time goes on - he starts wearing some of the same colours, and they have shirts I am sure that in a non-TV world where the costume department takes care of this for them they’d always be mixing them up and accidentally wearing each other’s clothes. Or at least putting them on and then Sam stares in disbelief at how his arm grew another 2 inches overnight and - wait a minute this is one of Dean’s shirts.

(Dean also got a shirt in season 12 with the same pocket buttons as Sam’s rusty bacon shirt, but I think it was a block colour shirt. Of course.) 

Although Sam would never, ever wear the denim shirts Dean does. It’s that sneaky little class divide between them again. Not a major thing, but Sam’s striped shirts vs Dean’s denim and henleys does tell the tale, that no matter how much closer their style seems to get, Sam’s always got that different backstory to his fashion. 

(In 3x12 the close up of their feet always makes me notice Dean’s jeans are all fraying and old and Sam’s look new. I think for one thing Sam had to start mostly from scratch after season 1 because he took just a weekend of clothes with him to Jericho. But also just that maybe he has slightly more pride in his clothes while Dean will wear out whatever he can wear out (that doesn’t get too torn or weirdly stained.) I like in 3x11 you get the contrast to their ways of living and hunting with Dean clearly the controlling factor in the boot of the impala being all messy and esoterically organised and Sam locking it down in moulded foam to hold everything… Dean having scruffy trouser legs, dream catchers in the boot of the car, all that jewellery, on the other hand, makes me feel like he’s got much more of an instinctive, stylistic connection to the job as a *lifestyle* rather than a *job*, which was an old theme…

Oh gosh what else :P Well Sam’s new jackets… Yes okay I do actually love he’s getting new jackets which stand out so much as actually being items of clothing instead of boring camouflage/background radiation to being a hunter. You got me >.> I still think Sam’s got a baseline dodgy approach to clothes and style but it’s sort of quirky. It’s VERY Sam to get a red shirt under an orange jacket or to wear a jacket with a plaid lining over a plaid shirt. I mean… I would dress just as badly because it’s still practical over style in many ways. 

I also wonder about his shoes because Dean’s boots or at least combat boots in general would be more practical in their line of work and they’re always being accused of dressing in army surplus, but Sam started off wearing trainers and I swear he never wore them on screen but I just headcanon him in converse all stars anywhere in like season 1 and 2 because it goes with the whole student/overgrown child thing the hoodie and backpack did… But anyway his shoes are more grown up styles now but he still doesn’t exactly dress for the JOB, while Dean’s always wearing good boots. I always remember an ex of mine wore similar shoes to Sam and I, being me, had a reputation for being pretty wonky and useless, and we were walking and it began raining, and we were in this plaza with slippery tiles, and my ex was like, “DON’T RUN, YOU’LL DIE” but I was wearing boots with a tread? And I legged it. And he was slippy sliding after me, barely able to function in the rain on a smooth surface. And I was watching from the shelter. 

(PS: the moral of this meta is don’t date me unless you understand we are 2 completely autonomous humans because I am awful at being a team player or at willingly getting soaked because you wore the wrong shoes :P)

[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

[iamacolor]

IS THIS SHOW SERIOUS I JUST FINISHED OUR GIRL SERIES 2& AHHHHHH I WAS DYING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE LAST EP (Also, can I just say that when I found out abt the why for the ep 1 no show I was crying too. LAURA!)And I somehow (ahem..qtsnably) managed to find the 7 minute THINGS AND ISTG I TEARED UP with the message in a bottle. But like, Elvis, a text?!?!? Seriously? Broooooooo, not cool. But anyway in the endd!!! She and Nafula

Aaaahhh yeah you've finished it!!!!! I'm so so glad you liked it!!!And omg yes that last episode was tense! Gosh I need a rewatch, I've been busy this afternoon but now your message makes me want to rewatch it sooo much!!!Oh yeah that moment of revelation was emotional. And wow you managed to found the video? Good job!! I searched for it a little bit but I couldn't find it. I'd love to see it again because I don't remember many details so I'll to keep searching lolAnd yeah the end of the season was really nice! Georgie claiming her independence and going to be a badass with her friend and saving people on a daily?? Sign me up!Hahaha yeah that's what this show does lol now you'll have to watch season 3 as it comes out, waiting between each episode