#whitney earnest

[weaponizedmoth]

Stacy's great grandma, Whitney Amelia Earnest, was born in 1904. She was the eldest of four, and the only one gifted with the Earnest curse. She was the one who inherited the local family meat business through sheer force of will, and some cowardice on her family members' part, when her father committed suicide in 1929. She was the one who, at 25, started to sell some less than apt for consumption meat during the great depression, which made the meat cheap and acessible, and her a local celebrity. Weird disappearances did trace back to her sometimes, but because everyone ate her meat, the idea of something like this happening was considered to be completely absurd. The police and general law enforcement and government were acquainted and friendly with her. During her lifetime, she won several accolades, not only for her meat business, which was local and more than once inspected for animal cruelty, tests it passed with flying colors, but also for her cooking. She published a minor, obscure cooking book that every household in town seems to have a copy of, tucked away somewhere in an attic. Whitney's daughter, Amelia, named after herself, was likewise born in 1929, at the beginning of the crisis. Additionally, she had three other daughters, a "spinster" called Evangeline (who had a female "roommate, lovely Meredith"), their sister Maria, who became a nun and lived in France, and the youngest, the most apt to bear the gift, who died taking this opening with her, a travesty that made the Cook hold the gift alone until Edwin (The General) was born. All the Earnest girls kept Whitney's last name, for being the most famous, and for the fact that their father, a gambling addict, died under mysterious circumstances when they were young. So, not knowing much about him, they stayed loyal to their mother.

[spookyhoax]

i might be going to karaoke with some of my coworkers next week and i'm terrified like. what do i sing

[andreablog2]

Rina was ahead of her time in 2018 w her songwriting and everything and idek what she did to warrant all the hate she gets. There’s very much a whites only attitude when it comes to who gets to identify as an alternative artist. Same reason twigs gets as much shit as she dose even though she’s easily one of the most dedicated to her craft/well researched/well rounded musicians today…..honestly I want act 3 to be alt or alt pop or whatever. So unfair charli is credited w giving pop/dance music a level artistic merit when in fact it was Donna Summer, Whitney, Janet and honestly Madonna who did that first. Like idek the earnestness which people consumed brat in the beginning of its digestion in pop culture really rubbed me the wrong way given how Beyoncés music, Nickis music, Mariah’s music were treated…which in every way are much more inventive, influential, capable of writing mega hits for decades upon decades…regardless of how you feel abt them those are honestly the women who should be given all this intellectual credit.

[dolskele]

Noah infodumppp + relationships w/ LIs (w/ quick doodles of everyone)

Side note, this is just a basic outline for now

I'll go deeper into detail for funsies

Kylar:

💚Noah initially ignored Kylar for the longest time (didn't do anything during the bullying scene)

💚It was only after they talked in the library that Noah noticed how much Kylar liked him, immediately took advantage of that

💚He's glad he has a guard dog to knock out any creeps and get him cash easily

💚That said, he only flirts and talks to Kylar so he becomes more attached

💚Poor guy

Sydney:

💛Probably the only person Noah genuinely cares about

💛Only acted nice at first to gain higher favor and an easy way into the temple, eventually found himself endeared to Sydney

💛Very minor feelings, while Sydney's head over heels

💛Noah was flirting at first to gain favor, but has mellowed out into more casual conversations

💛And that's what got Sydney tripping up

💛This man is on the BRINK of snapping

💛Noah wants to lure Sydney into the Aemias Cult, even though tht requires a certain ritual for initiation, wink wink nudge nudge

Robin:

🩷Grew up together in the orphanage, always had a teasing brother-sister relationship

🩷Noah sees Robin nothing more as a sibling, Robin has really small feelings

🩷But Robin values their bond too much to do anything abt it

🩷Is curious how Noah always has enough money to pay off Bailey, but refrains from asking

🩷They play animal crossing together<3

Whitney:

💜Whitney can't bully Noah to the extent he wants since Noah has such a high status

💜So it's usually just elementary stuff

💜Still pushes Noah for tht glock glock but always gets waved away

💜LOW low dominance

💜Noah thinks he's silly

💜They fight every now and then, but it's moreso roughhousing (Noah's having fun, Whitney's trying to hide his boner-)

Alex:

🧡Alex... Ouhhh Alex

🧡The only LI capable of throwing Noah's facade off (besides Eden but that's for another day)

🧡Noah began working w/ Alex for the sake of money and profit, thinking he could manipulate him like everyone else

🧡Alex is just really earnest, sweet, and genuine-

🧡And that really messed w/ Noah

🧡Noah: 'What's his gameplan here? Why is he being so nice? He must be plotting something-'

🧡Alex: Haha pretty boy go brrrr

🧡Alex is just rlly happy that the pretty city boy keeps coming back to spend time with him, likes showing off his strength

🧡Alex throws him around and constantly manhandles him (gets excited and doesn't understand that Noah is basically a cat that hates being picked up)

🧡Noah just smiles through it all like

＼( //＾ν＾//)／(^��^💢 )

🧡Alex adores the size + strength difference between them (188cm vs 173cm), horny hours

🧡Can you tell I'm really into this dynamic

[propertyofwhitney67]

Saving Grace

DoL Whitney x Reader

Word Count:766

Warnings: PTSD like flashback/episode, allusions to rape/assault, the usual DoL stuff

I laid awake smoking and watching him sleep, he looked so peaceful and cute like this. A side of him I only get to see when we're alone. I looked around the room, much cleaner than last time I was over. I made a mental note to tease him about it another time.

I reached over to the ashtray on the bedside table and ashed the cigarette I stole from Whitney. As I did he shifted and gripped my hip tighter to keep me from moving. I smiled down at his sleeping form. Face scrunched up, hair a mess, and only wearing sweatpants he looked perfect in my eyes.

I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm glad I did. In a way he's been my saving grace, my sanity. I continue on for him. Without him I don't know where I'd be, maybe the underground brothel or farm. I still get nightmares about my time in both of them.

I don't think he knows about all of it. What I have to do and what I've done. It's for the best he doesn't, I don't want to think of what'd he do. I leaned over again and put out the butt of my cigarette in the ashtray.

I leaned back into the pillow as he shifted again, this time sitting up. "Dreams again?" He asked groggily while rubbing sleep from his eyes. I gave him a silent nod in reply to which he replied with a hum.

He reached out and manhandled me into a position he liked then laid down face first into my chest causing me to laugh. He playfully slapped my thigh and pulled the blanket over our bodies. Once comfortable enough he grabbed hold of my right breast and used the other as a pillow, "They can't hurt you here." He said quietly into my chest, making me smile sadly. The dreams are never ending just like the encounters. It makes me want to hide away with him, but I have to face the world and this shitty town with its shitty people.

I ran my hand through his hair making him hum in satisfaction. I continued to pet his hair till his breathing evened out and was asleep. I stayed up longer to admire him more, but eventually I too succumbed to sleep. The dreams aren't as bad when I'm with him.

I dreamt of a dark room and shady people. Pink humming lights and crowds cheering. The full picture always left me when I woke, but I always remember the feeling it gave me. I opened my eyes and quietly looked around fearing the worst but only finding Whitney's plushies. His bathroom door was cracked and the shower was running.

I sat up slowly to get my bearings. I was safe, I was ok. Nothing can hurt me here. But I can't stay…and there's always one right around the corner, watching and waiting. More will follow. I grabbed Iggy the whale, his favorite plushie, and held it tight as memories started to flood in and refused to leave. I could feel them all around me, grabbing and groping. The words they spat and the horrible things they called me. And god the smell. Everything was beginning to spiral around me when I was suddenly pulled out.

I peeked open my eyes and looked up to find a pair of worried blue eyes…Whitney. He looked distressed and frantic. “There you are slut.” He said with a sad chuckle, trying to keep it together, and loosened his grip to let me sit up. I didn’t move, just continued to stare. Waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. “It's just you and me Y/n.” He tried to reason with me. I could hear the earnestness in his voice and looked around to see no one but us. 

I took a deep breath and realized how close to tears I was. I sniffled and wiped at my eyes to keep the tears from falling. I sat up on my knees and looked at Whitney. He still looked distressed, but he was hiding it the best he could. “I’m sorry….” I trailed off not really knowing what to say. I just had an episode, a flashback I guess you could call it. They always felt so real. 

For the first time since coming to I realized he was only wearing a towel and was still wet from his shower. “Don’t fucking apologize.” He said with his voice breaking at the end. He pulled me close and didn’t let me go.

𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

[fairytale-poll]

PRELIMINARY ROUND! MATCH 2 OUT OF 5 - BATTLE OF THE RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA ADAPTATIONS!

Propaganda Under the Cut

Julie Andrews as Cinderella (1957 Movie):

((This movie is the Julie Andrew’s one.))

Lesley Ann Warrens as Cinderella (1965 Movie):

tbh I think that both other films for this version are superior to this one, but I want the full 128 bracket so I might as well submit this. Starring Lesley Ann Warren as Cinderella, it's a distinct remake of the Julie Andrews version (which was incredibly popular, but hadn't been filmed in color, thus the studio's decision to make a new one). It is admittedly more similar to the 1957 version than the 1997 version was, so if you don't want to accept it as its own story that's fine; but there *are* some differences in the script, songs, and acting choices for the characters. I haven't seen this version of the film since I was VERY young, so I can't speak on the quality or anything lol, but I remember that I really really liked it when I was five, before the 1997 version came out and consumed me lol. I had briefly considered submitting it earlier because it felt unfair to have Julie Andrews and Brandy Norwood both have a slot while poor Lesley Ann Warren was left out, but ultimately decided she probably wouldn't get very far. But now I'm reconsidering lol sooooo yeah. A third version of Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella for your consideration XD

Brandy as Cinderella (1997 Movie):

Because she is so cute in this, I love her outfits before and after the transformation, and this movie is just such a good adaptation of Cinderella.

the 1997 cinderella movie is the best one ever to me like. you have whitney houston as the fairy godmother and brandy is so so so pretty and she's such an amazing cinderella. 10 minutes ago the best cinderella song of all time ever she sounded so good <3

does this movie even NEED propaganda?

Brandy Cinderella with Whitney Houston! Need I say more?

Brandy plays one of the best iterations of Cinderella actually.

I just think she's neat. Also she looked the best in the ball gown.

One of the most iconic Cinderellas of all time, Brandy brought tenderness, earnestness, and heartfelt poignancy that transformed the story and emphasized its humanity and themes of dreaming for the future. Her voice is celestial! The power of her performance is undeniable! As a lifelong Cinderella fan she was always one of my favorites.

A lot of children grew up watching this movie around the holidays.

This is my favorite version of Cinderella and Brandy absolutely KILLS IT as Cinderella!! Her voice is so sweet and beautiful. And her dress!! I love her peplum. ALSO HER BRAIDS MAKE A BUN AND ITS SO ADORABLE. just look up the soundtrack for this movie PLEASE.

Various Actresses as Cinderella in the 2015 Musical:

[No Propaganda Submitted]

[carinalastimosa]

Man, oh man, oh Manny!

Star Wars’ The Acolyte may have been review bombed but it opened y’alls eyes up to the man, Manny Jacinto. The Filipino-Canadian actor made waves as The Stranger/Qimir. Now, if you haven’t seen the show, I won’t spoil it for you but I am sure by this point, you’ve seen some sort of meme/TikTok/post/text from your nanay, featuring the sexually charged (okay, Disney!!!) scenes between Amanda Stenberg’s Osha and Jacinto. In honor of The Acolyte’s finale, which aired last night on Disney+, here is a list of some of the other Asian men I’ve loved over the years on the big and small screen.

Paolo Montalban - The Definitive Prince Charming

One of my favorite movies, to this day, is the 1997 Whitney Houston produced television movie Cinderella. Even my top 4 on letterboxd proves this. It’s one of my first memories consuming pop culture because of the diversity in casting. Houston saw that this story didn’t have to follow traditional casting norms. You can have a Filipino prince and his parents be a white man and a black woman with no one questioning it! Since I saw this at the young age of 7, I thought this was the norm, when in fact, it was the opposite. It’d be one of those rare moments where my parents would ask, “Filipino?” because they weren’t and still aren’t used to seeing Filipinos on screen. Paolo Montalban as Prince Charming is honestly, charming! He brings an earnestness to the role and has genuine chemistry with the luminous Brandy as the titular Cinderella. Their chemistry was so strong, that they’ve even reprised their roles in the recently released Disney+ movie Descendants: The Rise of Red.

Tuxedo Mask - My First (Animated) Crush

That’s right! We all have one. And my animated crush was Tuxedo Mask from the Sailor Moon series. I mean, who could resist! The mask, so mysterious! The black, so tuxedo!

Dante Basco - Rufioooooooo!

The beauty of film is that it is forever. Which means, that for generations of kids to come, they have the exuberance of Dante Basco captured on screen as Rufio in Steven Spielberg’s Hook. I was one of those kids when I was first introduced to the film in the last 90’s. At first, it didn’t even register to me that Basco is also Filipino-American and I think that’s the beauty of Basco’s performance. He’s just one of the boys, the lost boys. While Basco’s career moved more towards voice over, he made his indelible mark as Zuko in Nickelodeon’s animated Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Charles Melton - This Man is a Movie Star

My first introduction to Charles Milton didn’t come through the hit CW series Riverdale. It was after my time. I’m of the Gossip Girl generation, xoxo. I started to hear about the Korean-American actor as the scene stealer in the hotly anticipated Natalie Portman-Julianne Moore headliner May December. And he didn’t disappoint. Melton completely transforms into a man forced into very adult circumstances, still trying to navigate his adolescence. It’s a deeply felt performance filled with longing. He should have been nominated for an Oscar. During the campaign trail, he exuded glamour with his style, affable charm during his interviews, and pride in his heritage in acceptance speeches. Proving why he should be Hollywood’s new leading man.

Lee Jung-jae - Quit Playing (Squid) Games with my Heart

Netflix probably didn’t realize they had a mega international hit on their hands when they dropped their all Korean language tv series Squid Game on their streaming platform. Studio execs will say a foreign language show will alienate audiences, that there aren’t enough bankable Asian stars even when shows like this and FX’s Shogun have proven otherwise. Squid Game made several stars out of the series, including model turned actor Jung Ho-yeon but Korea was already hot on Lee, already a well established star there, we were just playing catch up. It didn’t take long. Lee won numerous awards for his performance and he easily won my style heart. What an elegant, sexy ass man! Needless to say, I’m very grateful to his Gucci campaign.

Dev Patel - The Man

The Indian-British actor/producer/director has had an already varied and expansive career spanning nearly 2 decades, doing so with just 26 acting credits to his IMDb. Which tells me the industry is simply not using this man enough!

Henry Golding - Crazy Handsome Asian

To me, one of the most magical things a film can pull off is perfect casting. It’s a magic trick if they cast a virtual unknown, dazzling the audience, wondering how they did it. That’s how I felt with the casting of Malaysian-British tv correspondent Henry Golding in the film Crazy Rich Asians. A lot was already riding on this movie adaptation: a big budget, romantic comedy, starring an all Asian cast. It had to do well. Or else studio execs had the “proof” they needed to no longer back Asian-led films. Casting Golding as their leading man could have been a risk but with their heroine Constance Wu and Oscar-worthy supporting performance from Michelle Yeoh, the movie was in good hands. Golding holds his own in his first feature film outing. Effortless and magnetic. Buzzy roles quickly followed in Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor and G.I. Joe franchise Snake Eyes. He’s also taken on more dramatic roles in smaller films, further pushing his acting ability. He continues to develop his craft, further cementing why we fell in love with him in the first place.

Manny Jacinto - The Inspo of this Blog

Everybody say, "Salamat, Manny"! He deserves all the roles. No more getting cut from films! In The Good Place, he played the classic himbo, which could have easily pigeonholded into similar roles but he's shown his versatility in shows like Nine Perfect Strangers where he held his own with, my favorite actress, Nicole Kidman. The Acolyte is another facet he's getting to show us and I hope this momentum carries him to the big screen. I'm rooting for this manny, talaga.

[isfjmel-phleg]

February 2024 Books

Westmark by Lloyd Alexander (reread)

According to GoodReads, I read this years ago. Had zero memory of it. I had a hard time getting into it this time around, so I suspect that was the case last time too.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Such a pretty cover, such an interesting premise. I wanted to love this one. I really did. But sorry, everyone, I struggled with this book.

I had a hard time with its being set ostensibly in 1909 but doing absolutely nothing to ground the narrative and world in that time period. A magical world with vaguely historical flair, like in HMC, would work fine, but the moment you evoke a particular year, you're committing to a definite setting and need to incorporate features of that time into your worldbuilding. No one in this book was living in the Edwardian Era or its equivalent; their thinking and society were very contemporary, so I don't understand what the point was of the 1909 setting.

Besides that, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and I'm not sure why?

The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari

Featuring the most endearing little elf I have ever encountered. Yorsh is adorable.

Between Homes by W. R. Gingell

I continue to get further and further invested in the characters while having nothing intelligent to say about the series.

Pog by Pádraig Kenny

Not bad, but not as strong thematically as Kenny's other books that I've read.

Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

Loved the premise of the characters and a lot of the interactions, less captivated by the plot.

The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien

Very effective at the intended creepy tone, but I failed to connect with it.

The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth edited by Leonard S. Marcus (reread)

Picked this up at a bookstore a while back and enjoyed getting to revisit the creative process behind a book I loved as a child. (It is deeply appropriate that Juster wrote the book while procrastinating on another project!)

Ann of Sunflower Lane by Julie A. Sellers

An innocuous book that leans way too hard into its connections with Anne of Green Gables. The eponymous Ann reads AoGG for the first time and is obsessed (relatable), but unfortunately this means that the narrative and many of the characters are constantly drawing parallels between events and people in her life and those in the book. This doesn't allow the story to develop very strongly in its own right. Ann has a different past and some different struggles from Anne, with potential for a distinct story, and the Kansas setting is lovingly depicted and definitely different from Avonlea, but everything keeps coming back to Anne. The supporting cast tend to be pale imitations of Montgomery's characters (for instance, when Ann meets a group of other girls, she mentally designates them as "the practical one...the sweet one...the Ruby Gillis one...the nasty one" and their characterization goes no further than these stock roles). What makes Montgomery's novel work is its very human characters, its sense of humor, and its earnestness. This book was less successful at capturing these elements, so it was harder to get actually emotionally invested.

(I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but the index in the back of every quotation, from AoGG and other books was a little much, especially since the quotations in the narrative were self-conscious enough already.)

Lands End by Mary Stolz

I think this book was making some statements about childhood emotional neglect, which was intriguing, but honestly I'm not sure what the conclusion was. The narrative was contemplative and took quite a while to get to an actual plot. I mind that much less as an adult, but I can't really imagine most children really getting much out of this book, despite its intended middle-grade audience (presumably).

Secret of the Emerald Star by Phyllis A. Whitney

More character-focused and among Whitney's more engaging middle-grade mysteries.

Mystery of the Strange Traveler by Phyllis A. Whitney

But I was less interested in this one. Connected less with the cast and the mystery.

Comics

The Flash by Mark Waid Book Six

Gradually making my way through this series. The stories of course vary in interest, but Waid's characterization of Wally is always well done, and Wally and Linda's relationship is genuinely sweet.

Reading/skimming Tim Drake's every significant appearance, which is still a work in progress.

I am having emotions and tucking things away in drafts, so brace yourselves. Also discovering things that quite frankly are more interesting than fanon (and sometimes funnier).

[luciferinn]

something that bugs me about the explosion around "planet of the bass" last year that still lingers with me now is exactly how much the eurodance genre was attributed to "weird white europeans" in the general (irony poisoned) conversation around it. idk it just irks me how much that narrative is spread around as someone who has a really deep earnest love for the genre. like i think it's really important that people understand the ways in which music you personally find silly and dumb ALSO have heavy ties to black music communities because it is no secret how much eurodance lifts from house and rap music especially. like yes Aqua and Toy-Box and whatever exist but so do La Bouche, so does Franky Gee from Captain Jack, so does Corona and the vocalists of Real McCoy and Black Box and SNAP! and Haddaway and so on and so forth. as well as a heavily aligned Diva House genre with women like Robin S, Crystal Waters and the iconic Thunderpuss remixes for women like Whitney Houston. i think the heavily black involvement in the genre just gets somewhat ignored by the wider conversation around eurodance because everyone wants to think of it as a "joke genre" as opposed to something that represents pure joy and fun and imo thats ignorant and shows your ass on exactly how you think about music to me at least

[indigodreams]

Edmund Archer (1904–1986)

Edmund Archer (1904–1986) was an American artist best known for his portraits of African Americans. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, to parents who were both culturally and socially prominent in that city. Having taken an early interest in painting, he took art classes continually from childhood into his adult years. His long career included periods spent in Richmond, Paris, New York, and Washington, D.C. In addition to painting, he served as an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art and an instructor at the Corcoran School of Art. His portrait style tended toward a poster-like flatness early in his career and later toward a more traditional modeled style. He painted with a high degree of realism throughout his career and rarely experimented with any degree of abstraction. Galleries and museums gave him frequent exhibitions and both individual and institutional collectors provided him with income from sales. In 1938, a critic said he was then considered to be "one of the best of the young artists in the United States".[2] A few months later, another critic credited his success to hard work: "Edmund Minor Archer has had advantages. His success story is no Horatio Alger tale. It is a story of an earnest and deeply talented artist who has worked and studied in humility and devotion, and has early reached the top, hard step by hard step" - Wikipedia

[femboyhunting]

Mickie gives me cuteness aggression. Every time i see him i get the sudden urge to rip this throat out with my teeth ❤️ Can you tell me more about himb

He will absolutely kick your ass though so you best behave. He started working out just to be able to kick ass better.

So I'm pretty bad at coming up with stuff off the top of my head so please do feel free to ask if you have anything specific you want to know about him.

He's a really good dancer.

He started a band that he called For Profit Orphan Farm, because that's what he calls the orphanage. He also sometimes calls Bailey a for profit orphan farmer. On the topic of Bailey, He also has a drawing he made of Bailey he made pinned to a dart board. Throws darts at it.

He and Bailey have kind of a weird complicated relationship that's only gotten more weird and complicated over the years. It started off as entirely adversarial at first, Mikie hated Bailey's guts. Then eventually he figured that considering how much power and influence Bailey has, it would be in his best interest to get on his good side. So he decided he'd work to gain Bailey's trust then when he had it he'd betray him and take over. He didn't really change his additude but he did work to make it obvious he was an invaluable asset. Bailey ended up having to rescue him a few times and each time he'd give him a chunk of extra money in his weekly orphan fee. After all money is the only thing Bailey gives a shit about. They're not "friendly", Mikie even acts openly antagonistic and insulting towards him sometimes but it's almost joking? They almost sort of have something of a banter going? He plays pranks on him sometimes. Mikie would never admit it to anyone or even himself, but he sort of wants to impress Bailey, prove he's more than just another orphan. It's impossible to know what he truly feels for Bailey, even less so what Bailey feels for Mikie.

Mikie hasn't actually been in the orphanage since he was a child, instead he came to the orphanage in his mid teens after his parents lost custody. At that time he was a total loner with a bad additude but Robin really brought him out of his shell. Robin was his first friend at the orphanage, perseverating to try to be his friend even on those first days when Mikie kept telling him he was annoying and to scram. Mikie doesn't talk about his parents, he actually doesn't remember them or his childhood before the orphanage much aside from vague feelings and snippets. And he doesn't really care to, he's perfectly content to act like his time before the orphanage doesn't exist at all.

He's a delinquent that likes to cause trouble in school. Essentially harmless stuff. Well other than pepper spraying people. But to be fair those people were Whitney and his pack of friends. Mikie maintains that if you don't start none there won't be none, and it's not his fault Whitney keeps running back over and over again to get his ass kicked. He also intervenes when he sees students getting bullied and is generally kind of scrappy and rarely runs from a fight. So he's in fights a lot. Which means he's in detention a lot. You'd think his obvious status as a delinquent would mean he's probably getting shit grades but he's actually doing surprisingly well, like he actually gets good grades. He's the worst at math, unsurprisingly. River likes him since he volunteers at the soup kitchen occasionally. River thought he was another rude asshole kid at first but Mikies always been earnest and worked hard and proved himself to be ultimately a kind person even if he's a bit rough around the edges. So River bumps up his grade even though he really shouldn't.

He doesn't really know how to draw, he's not a good artist.

He's kinda in a thruple with Kylar and Sydney. (Well technically Mikie is seeing like a bunch of different men but Ky and Sydney are the only ones he thinks of as his actual boyfriends he actually loves.) Which was a whole goddamn mess to set up and frankly is still more or less a goddamn mess. They're kind of competitive and snippy to eachother. Ky is more openly antagonistic and Syd is just sarcastic and teasing. And while Mikie does think it's kind of very super hot when boys fight over him (he feels really guilty for this) he does genuinely care deeply for both of them and wants them to get along. He also tries to get Ky and Robin to hang out. Mikie worries about Ky, thinks he could really use a friend. Though it's probably kinda dumb to keep trying to get Kylar to get along with people Mikies been inside of but oh well Mikies never had very good judgement when it comes to relationships.

[phoebehalliwell]

What would be your ideal cast for the next generation in 2023?

hmm that's difficult mainly bc i really don't watch that many teen drama so i don't have a solid list of actors in the appropriate age range lmao but i love a challenge nonetheless so here we go!!

for wyatt i would kind of love to cast something of an already famous person to kind of really hit home the idea of Legacy tm but the issue is bc wyatt is so big in narrative he kind of just. gets less plot. so that actually might not work. so tbh really i think the move would lowkey be casting a nepo baby. honestly i would love wyatt russell (same name besties?!?!?) but he is just a shade old. if you've only seen him in falcon and the winter soldiers i am begging you to expand and see his cali babe range.... he's in black mirror, 22 jump street, ingrid goes west, lodge 49... babes. like. beyond that, charlie hall who was in sex lives of college girls as that like. really manic guy whitney went out with. and then third option but also on the older side would be alex roe who played the male lead on the tv siren that i think like. only five people watched (excluding myself: four). i think he could swing the necessary earnest energy.

chris honestly should probably be The Star kind of hte one who brings the most draw to the show ideally someone who already has something of a fanbase in a gifset before i've used thomas doherty before who checks two boxes in that he already has an established fan base coming from both the descendant's franchise & also the gossip girl reboot and of course he is also devastatingly handsome in a very cliche way and we already know can play a slut. so that's actually three boxes. another option which i thnk would Slay but again he's a little older would be logan lerman <3 like. y'all see it rite? wild card would be tommy martinez.

for melinda i think a couple solid options would be sarah catherine hook from first kill, sarah desjardins from. well im gonna say yellowjackets but i know her from riverdale lmao. or kaitlyn dever from booksmart also potentially kaylee bryant from legacies or brenna damico from descendants

rest of the next gen under the cut ❤️

for the twins tamora & kat, ideally, they are played by twins. but i do not know a lot of famous acting twins those would have to be found. however, some actors i really like would be liv hewson from santa clarita diet (gone too soon, rip). i think louisa harland from derry girls could be really fun. katherine langford from. well. best known for 13rw but fuck that show. wild card would be storm reid from a wrinkle in time.

henry jr i will be honest i have no idea what he looks like in my head other than he has dark hair. so i'm just gonna spit out some options. archie renaux from shadow and bone. gavin leatherwood from sabrina maybe. mekki leeper from slocg. anirudh pisharody from 9-1-1. booboo steward from (twilight) julie and the phantoms. asher angel from shazam.

pj functionally serves as the leader of the cupitches so i would love to again see her as someone with a good amount of draw honestly i would love to see danielle rose russell as her like those scenes in legacies where she plays lizzie disguised as hope is the exact vibe we're going for. other excellent options imo would be madelyn cline or sabrina carpenter

parker and pj together kind of carry the emotional brunt of the cupitches mainly because peyton is so young it's just easier to defer to her sisters til she's old enough to properly shoulder the burden of a solo narrative. so w both pj and parker the actress needs to slay the solid exterior // cracks slip through; for pj that's the super cool capable princess form parker that's the badass unflinching warrior, both of them are hiding A Lot. so really, any of the pj castings could work for parker imo and vice versa. but some parker specific ones would be savannah lee may from julie and the phantoms, i love that she's kind of got like this baby faced nice energy but can play just like the mean girl. i would love that dichotomy w parker of someone who does not look violent always packing a knife you know? other than that: emma myers from wednesday, odessa azion, or emily alyn lind from gossip girl (tho between you and me eal is my personal fancast for penn)

for peyton she really is the baby of the family so again it would ideally probably be someone new to the scene bc they're so young but i think good existing options would be trinity likins who plays jellybean on riverdale or shay rudolph from the babysitters club.

and then as other casts for the eventual bianca mimi keene from sex education or amita suman from shadow and bone. for melinda's roommate ale mariselo zumbado from genera+ion possibly, ale's character is mexican so i would really love a mexican actress to be cast. google is not aiding me in this hunt. melinda's (new) whitelighter effie freya mavor from skins can defo do the scottish accent, i also think gracie dzienny from first kill & slocg could bring that necessarily wackadoodle energy. over with kat's plotline viola could be played by bola koleosho. more characters to come who ideally would also fit here but no spoilers yet !!

[jacquelinemerritt]

Queer Media Review: Her Story (2016)

Originally posted September 1st, 2016

Honest, earnest, and representative, even to a fault.

This review is the first in a weekly series of pieces on queer and trans media. See them all here!

The importance of Her Story as a piece of queer representative media cannot be understated. In a time where the majority of films about trans women are cast and crewed by cisgender men and women, that Her Story was co-written and co-produced by Jen Richards and Laura Zak, a trans woman and cis queer woman, respectively, makes it unique, and lends the entire production a sense of honesty and earnestness that defines the series. Unfortunately, that earnestness is what leads to the biggest flaws of the series, near the end, though they are far from great enough to bring down the overall quality of this Emmy Nominated series.

Her Story begins by setting up its primary framing device: Allie (Laura Zak) is a journalist writing for a queer magazine called “Gay LA,” and she decides that she wants to write a story on the dating lives of trans women with Violet (Jen Richards) as her primary interview subject. They interview over coffee, and Violet establishes the “rules” (in the screenwriting sense) about trans women that will hold throughout the series (and reflect their existence in the actual world). It’s all done very playfully, however, and the scene serves to set up a burgeoning relationship between these two women, with Allie coyly flirting with Violet the entire time.

These two women clearly have romantic chemistry with one another, but it’s established around the same time that Violet is already in a committed relationship with Mark (Josh Wingate), with the primary conflict being both that Mark doesn’t want Violet seeing this woman and Violet being unsure of her own sexuality, having exclusively dated men since transitioning to life as woman.

While this relationship is the main focus of the series, a number of subplots are set up in the background as well. Paige (Angelica Ross), a civil rights attorney and Violet’s friend, is attempting to navigate a new relationship with James (Christian Ochoa) a (presumed) cis man who is unaware that Paige is trans, while Lisa (Caroline Whitney Smith) is attempting to discourage her friend Allie from dating Violet, arguing that it is impossible to be a lesbian and date someone who is a “former man,” misgendering Violet and using transphobic language against her. These two subplots coalesce wonderfully in a way I won’t spoil. Both of these subplots are given satisfactory endings which leave both Allie and Lisa with the opportunity for significant character growth if this series continues.

While the side stories are resolved well, the main story of Violet and Allie’s relationship is concluded rather clumsily, with Violet giving a speech on her character’s entire history in the fifth episode which feels like an attempt to make Violet representative of as many trans women as possible, rather than to build complexity into her character.

What’s more, Allie being present with Violet to receive the revelation is spurred on by a poorly designed coincidence that would seem to serve to alienate Violet further from one of her few friends, the lesbian punk rock artist Bad Penny (Elizabeth Frances). This is glossed over in favor of giving Allie an opportunity to learn Violet’s darkest secrets early on. It’s a weak bit of storytelling that both lessens the impact of Violet’s eventual coupling with Allie and sidelines the reality of Violet’s experiences in favor of pushing her into the story’s resolution (the latter of which I find particularly frustrating).

Nevertheless, these flaws aren’t enough to lessen the value of Her Story. Even with a weak resolution to the main story, the development of Allie and Violet’s relationship is honest, and watching Paige attempt to navigate the complex issue of whether or not to disclose that she’s trans to her love interest is incredibly compelling. That issue in particular is one that has been absent in almost all trans media created so far, despite being a very regular part of the trans experience dating. Seeing that conflict depicted on screen is both affirming and empowering, as is the complexity of Violet’s confusion over her own sexuality.

I would highly recommend Her Story as an honest depiction of navigating romance as a trans woman. It’s well-constructed, well-shot, and well-acted, and its flaws come nowhere near outweighing its strengths.

Rating: 4/5

Her Story can be viewed on the series’ official site, HerStoryShow.com.

Critical Eye Criticism is the work of Jacqueline Merritt, a trans woman, filmmaker, and critic. You can support her continued film criticism addiction on Patreon.

[bkdotblog]

"Not a Yacht of Fun," S3 E9

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 3 Episode 9 Recap

My Title:  "Champagne Problem"

My rating: 3 out of 10 years in prison (too much Jen)

Support for Lisa Barlow: Very strong

<><><>

We open in the restroom of Jen Shah's suburban mini-manse. She is putting in her contacts — having somehow already applied huge, downy fake lashes — and flashing back to the afternoon of her arrest at Beauty Lab and Laser.

In a narration, Shah explains how she began taking antidepressants after her father's death. Then she got to a good place... until her indictment for her part in a grand theft elder plot. Now she's depressed again :( Jen is living and breathing proof that money can buy happiness, no matter the cost. I love that for her and for us!

I think Matt Rogers said it best on la Las Culturistas podcastica: Jen's storyline has lost all of its water since her plea changed from "I'm innocent and wearing a little hat" to "I'm guilty but available for more reality work." (News broke this week that Jenné signed with CGEM Talent, signaling her exasperating intent to continue her entertainment career.) Whatever. Next!

Oh god. This season's triumvirate of villains — Heather Gay, Bad Angie, "Danna" — arrive to a brunch. And I mean literally, because when Heather and Danna enter the restaurant, everybody's food is already there! There's a club sandwich with fries that I really want to eat, a roll, some avocado halves...

The ladies are discussing the upcoming girls trip to San Diego, which has excluded Danna (for talking behind Jen's back) and Bad Angie (for being rude and insane generally). By commiserating with Danna, Heather is aligning herself squarely against Jen. She is now in conflict with every other housewife on the show, excluding Meredith. Good work, Hedda!

Not loving this faction!

We're back at the Shah rental. Meredith arrives in full traffic cone drag:

Jen explains that she's celebrating Ramadan by embracing peace. [BK's Take, earnest: One of my favorite things about RHOSLC is religion as a fortifying theme, like money in Beverly Hills or lineage in NY. Love to see how that refracts through the UNIQUE* prism of each Housewife.] Meredith takes this opportunity to see if she will embrace Danna on their San Diego girls trip. Jen begrudgingly agrees, sipping her tea.

*stream Renaissance!

Meanwhile, the other ladies are talking about how Jen is kind of a bitch. The conversation turns to the trip and Heather starts to tear up. "This trip, I feel like nobody actually wants me there?" she says. Then there is a brief and tasteful montage recapping her existing arguments, as if to say, yup! Let's see how this goes.

Also because I was rude about Meredith's fit earlier I will say that I loved the whole look when the coat was off, from head to fingernail to probably toe. My relationship to Meredith is tenuous but I have no choice in the end but to support authentic Midwestern representation!

(Here she is accepting the role of CEO of Fun for their San Diego trip.)

Housewives packing montage! I love this stuff. Lisa playfully suggests "running down to the Louis Vuitton store" to get more luggage. Seth Marks shows his beloved wife a pair of earrings and says "Lisa Barlow's not the richest anymore" or something. OK? Whitney is stuffing her brand new clothes into brand new luggage. "What do you think you'll get out of this trip?" Her husband asks. "A migraine," she deadpans.

Airport arrivals! Jen wearing a huge fur and looking chic, Good Angie wearing some god awful Cookie Monster looking sweatset, Lisa and Whitney looking appropriately glam lite. Danna arrives but weirdly doesn't say hi to anyone, standing off to the side until one of her friends shows up.

BK's Take: Weird thing for an adult to do!

Danna also reveals this is the first girl's trip she has ever been on.

They arrive to the house -- the AirBnb of it all -- only to find that it is actually kind of gorgeous. "A little Santorini," Lisa says. Jen is becoming peeved with Good Angie, who is showing everybody around the house that she booked. Whitney expresses confusion at who is "hosting" the trip. (Why?)

And now we have my third favorite kind of social situation in any Housewives ep, behind Explosive Restaurant Dinner (#2) and Explosive Charity Event (#1): House bedroom selection. For the first time in human history, there are enough bedrooms of quality for all guests to be comfortably situated. However, this is not good enough: Jen Shah bristles that she isn't in the master bedroom.

Whitney points out that Jen has been situated in the biggest bedroom in the last two of their trips, and opines that she should have it again, because, you know, her next bedroom could be:

BK's Take: It's not generous of her, but Good Angie has the right to the biggest bedroom, as she hooked up the house.

Good Angie tries to ignore Jen, but it doesn't work: Jen pours a glass of champagne on her in front of all of the other women right before the commercial break.

The ladies all react with stunned silence. In a confessional, Heather likens Good Angie to Sissy Spacek in Carrie:

Jen, ever the sociopath, now insists that the champagne thing was a fun JOKE, she was just JOKING, duh, why is everyone so SERIOUS?? She doubles down by asking Angie to pour champagne on HER head, and when Angie declines, very miffed, Jen pours it on her self!

EVEN CRAZIER is how everybody else reacts: With utter nothingness. In confessionals, Whitney objects; Heather Gay says it was funny; Meredith weirdly also suggests that she found it funny and not over the line?. But none actually say anything. In the aftermath, Lisa expresses regret for not calling out the behavior in the moment. But is escalation a good idea at all when Jen is feeling insecure?

Privately, to Lisa, Angie discloses what I'm sure will become this episode's banner accusation: That she not only hosted Coach Shah's birthday party on Jen's behalf but she also paid $15,000 for it.

She itemizes the costs: Dance floor $1500, clean up $500, appetizers $3000...

Angie says: "I could have bought my daughter a horse with that money," she says, "and you know what, I did do that!" And we get this image:

BK's Take: A little much, I think we get it. no need to bring Elektra into this!

Meredith says to Jen: "I honestly don't think [Angie's] really angry,"

Angie says to Lisa: "I'm so mad right now," and she's crying.

A chyron reminds us that this is still Day 1 of the trip.

Danna visits Heather in the casita. Heather says that she gets why Jen did the champagne thing -- she wanted Angie to shut up! Danna is like, sure, but there are other ways. Heather secretly says that she's happy for all of this drama because it's deflecting from her seven ongoing feuds.

Then, shockingly, Jen walks in!!

Jen is still on her "girls just wanna have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!" behavior, but says she'll talk to Danna later and exits. Hedda gives Danna actually good advice: Let's avoid incensing the hostess for now. Danna doesn't understand this, which bodes well.

The ladies gather in the massive kitchen, wearing their yachtiest garments. Some ladies cluster around Angie and others cluster around Jen. "The tension is rill," Whitney says. Angie reveals that she called her husband and drew a pretty thick red line between Jen conning elderly people out of money and withdrawing $15,000 from the Party Bank of Angie.

Tensions boil over in the sprinter van, with Angie wasting no time before lobbing the party stuff at Jen. Jen hits back with myriad defenses: First that she DID pay her back, second that actually she gave her a $5000 necklace, and lastly that friends don't invoice friends after hosting friend's husband's birthday party. All of the other ladies mutely watch, whipping their heads back and forth like they're watching tennis.

Angie 15, Jen Love.

On to the yacht. "A yacht is just a sprinter van on open water," Heather sagely observes.

WOW WOW WOW. THE NAME OF THE BOAT IS CHAMPAGNE!!!!

CHAMPAGNE!!!

Champagne.

Allah is good AND funny!

The episode ends shortly thereafter, but not before Jen begins to spin her wheels about Angie. As she has pointed out in every single episode this season, this is a very fragile time for her. Meredith is watching her like she's watching a building collapse on TV.

Jen says, to no one or to everyone in particular, "You know what? Fuck you."

BK's Take, retrospective: ONLY because Jen brought it up on the sprinter. In the very first episode of the entire series, we see Jen showing a Shah-mazing party for Meredith Marks' birthday that was actually just fine. But in the first season reunion, we find out that the party was supposed to honor both Meredith and Lisa, who's birthdays are close; the party in question was held ON Lisa's birthday proper, not Meredith's which was the next day; Both are Sagittarius queens; Lisa received a MUCH smaller cake and a non-televised celebration; Lisa gracefully didn't turn this into the storyline it could have been. That's called class — heard of it, Jennifer? — and it's the one thing you cannot buy.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! —BK

<><><>

Gay Imagery

She may be this season's villain, but we cannot deny that she is Heather Gay.

This is her ordering the omakase drink option from the yacht waitress:

And of course, her dropping her candy-colored luggage down the escalator at the airport:

See you next week!

[project1939]

100+ Films of 1952

Film number 147: The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima

Release date: August 20th, 1952

Studio: Warner Brothers 

Genre: drama 

Director: John Brahm 

Producer: Brian Foy 

Actors: Susan Whitney, Sherry Jackson, Sammy Ogg, Gilbert Roland 

Plot Summary: In 1917 three Portuguese children of shepherds see an apparition of the Virgin Mary. She brings warnings of upcoming war and strife if people do not worship the Christian god. The anti-religious government fears what could happen when thousands of people begin arriving to see Mary for themselves. 

My Rating (out of five stars): *** 

Full disclosure, I am neither a Christian nor religious, so I am not the intended audience for this. I wasn’t sure if I would even watch it because it’s so overtly Catholic, but I decided to give it a try because it was a major release by Warner Brothers in 1952. In my heathen opinion, this could actually unintentionally be atheist propaganda! Do you want to worship a god that delivers a “positive message” by making children suffer? Over and over again, this god refuses to intervene and stop the suffering of children! I could not find anything beautiful in it, but horses for courses, I guess. (some spoilers)

The Good: 

Susan Whitney as Lucia, the main girl. She was only about 12 here, and for a child actor in this era, she was quite good. Her face gave off a genuine seeming innocence and earnestness. 

I liked the character of Hugo just because he was the only skeptical one who wasn’t judged harshly for it. He was clearly written to be likeable despite his lack of piety. Of course, he had to have a tacked on “come to Jesus moment” at the end, but I was expecting that. 

The cast overall was pretty good. Both of the other children were capable and cute, despite the fact that the poor girl playing Jacinta had to cry more than speak. The adults were also effective performers. 

The crowd scenes at the sacred spot were impressive. I appreciated that the extras all looked like real people. 

The score was lush and pleasing, even if the non-diegetic choir got a little tedious at times.  

The WarnerColor looked nice. It’s not as beautiful as Technicolor, but it's not bad, either. 

The Bad: 

Mary appears to be cool with the suffering of children! One of her first messages is that two of the three children will soon die, which she says right to their faces! Then she stands back and lets them all endure trauma after trauma. Another time, a boy on crutches asks to be healed, and Mary basically says, “OK, chill- you'll be cured in about a year.” How can a loving god do nothing about, and even glorify, the agony and pain of children??

At one point Mary tells the suffering Lucia, “You are enduring these hardships for the conversion of sinners, as atonement for sins committed against God.” WTF?! I thought Jesus already did that?? Isn’t that the whole point of Christianity? Why does an innocent little girl need to atone for other people’s sins? I wanted to scream. 

Mary hates Commies, I guess?  

The spot where the miracles occurred was obviously a set. I understand that to make it otherwise would require a lot of location shooting, but the set felt stagey and lifeless. 

The ending “miracle” was highly disappointing! 

There was some absolutely hilarious rear projection where a road sign appeared to be a cartoon! 

The film was completely unskeptical of the events. No real inquiry was given to the story, because everyone who questioned it was either a villain or malevolent in at least some way. 

“Secular Governments are bad, I say, bad!” Because the theocratic monarchy that preceded it was so freedom-lovin' good?

In one scene an innocent little girl was scapegoated and handed over to the police to protect Lucia. We see her terrified face and hear her desperate cries... and that’s the end of the scene. The movie only cared about the “good outcome” of Lucia getting away. What about that little girl? Again with the suffering of children! 

Lucia’s mother was horrible in the first two thirds of the film. She screamed at her, slapped her, and grounded her, telling her to stop lying and admit the visions were fake. When she had a change of heart at the end, I didn’t exactly want to forgive her. 

[whitneyfanclublog]

On February 6, 2010, Whitney’s “Nothing But Love” Tour commenced in earnest (after a soft opening in Russia in December of 2009). The tour started on February 6 in Seoul, South Korea for 2 shows. The tour was Whitney’s 9th and final tour and ran until June 17 — with shows in Asia, Oceania and Europe.