#yeah. incredibly fun 10/10 would recommend

[hiperchile]

hab's geschafft

[adhd-merlin]

Vignette II: For Fun

Relationships: Gwen/Merlin/Arthur Tags: Polyamory, Established Relationship, Canon Era, Period Typical Attitudes, Questionable Use of Tenses Series: Call It Anything We Want Summary:

In which there is some fun experimenting. Set some time after Merlin's magic reveal.

Entirely plotless, so it can be read as a stand-alone.

“It’s just… odd,” Arthur says. Merlin lips twitch, as if to repress a smile. “You like odd.” “Well, apparently there’s a limit to how much odd I can take.”

READ ON AO3

[carlyraejepsans]

Good day! I was wondering on a scale of 1 to 10 how do you recommend ghost trick? Been thinking about playing it

I'd definitely recommend it at a 10 purely on the cult classic factor alone. it's fantastically fun and good at being a puzzle video game, it plays with mechanics and visuals that are endlessly entertaining and that made me Think about the way you can (mechanically) interact with videogames, how you move around in them, how you interact with the scenes presented to you.

it deserves another 10 purely on the mystery pacing factor alone. saying grick is gripping is an understatement of the century. grick doesn't grip you, you see grip dart by out into an alleyway out of the corner of your eyes and you spend the rest of the game breathlessly chasing after it. you never want to put the game down. i need to study how this game delivers its mystery plot because it's so masterfully done.

i would not give the story itself a ten out of ten. the cast is HYSTERICAL, delightful, and sticks to your brain like other shu takumi (and also toby fox) characters tend to do, and precisely because of that, i feel like the game could've delved deeper into some of their conflicts and concepts and ended up getting ridiculously close, before pussying out at the end for the... social-critique safe easy way out. which frustrates me! a lot! but the fact that it could've been so much more actively made me even More insane about it. nothing like a story that "was almost that good" to make you lose your goddamn mind talking about it.

but yeah, i wholeheartedly recommend playing the game, because it's hilarious, incredibly well animated, carries a deeply engaging story and lynne and sissel are going to live in my brain forever, but even if the character writing wasn't so contagious, i would still recommend it, if purely as an experience of What A Videogame Can Be.

basically yeah play ghost trick 100%

[backgroundagent3]

hey!! hope you're doing well!!

i know you're reading funny story right now (ahhh) and probably have a long tbr so there's no pressure to read this but i just read the ex vows by jessica joyce and i think you might like it!!!

it reminded me a lot of happy place in that it focused on a found family of friends and how they changed over the years, and it was a second chance romance, and there's a wedding they're prepping for, but it also felt completely like its own new and different thing! i think it's one of the best non-emily henry romances i've ever read and it's the kind of romance that emily henry writes, where it's more emotional and focuses a lot on the character journey.

anyways, since happy place is your favorite emily henry i thought i'd let you know about it!!

Hii! I'm doing good! Thank you so much for the recommendation, I always struggle a lot finding new books to read. I've got a couple of books I'd like to read first, but it sounds so good, I'm so excited!! I just loved the whole vibe of Happy Place, and I love reading about found families, so I'll add it to my tbr.

I'm almost done with Funny Story and on the one hand I can't wait to finish it and tell you about it, but I also never want it to end!

Also I forgot to tell you I finally finished Daisy Jones & The Six!! It's the book that's taken me the longest to read, which is weird cause it's so good! I guess I was really busy but anyways. I loved the format so much, it's so unique, and it also makes it so easy to read! I have a really short attention span, so a book that's basically all dialogue is perfect for me. Some spoilers ahead!

The characters were so funny to me. I went in thinking it was gonna be a found family but then it turns out they all kind of hate each other. They're all so unique and fun to read about. Camila and Karen are so cool, and Warren's the comedic relief, and Pete's just some guy, and Billy's insufferable, and Daisy's also kind of insufferable, but I still loved her. I've seen a lot of people hating on Eddie, and I genuinely don't understand it?? Yes he had a short fuse, but also yes he was justified (at least in my opinion. I hated how Billy kept screwing him over).

I also loved the "where are they now bit", because here I am thinking Pete is dead throughout the whole book, and then it turns out he just had no interest in being part of the interview (which is very cool of him, I too would try to forget about my incredibly dysfunctional found family). The Julia plot twist was so cool, and I couldn't believe Camila was dead all along! I loved her so much. It was so satisfying seeing what their lives look like today, and every ending was very fitting for each character too.

Also loved reading about Karen and Graham, and even though I knew they wouldn't stay together, I was so invested, and I cried my eyes out at their ending. It's so heartbreaking, and you kind of see both POVs, which makes it even sadder.

I think it's just one of these books that leave you staring off into the distance for a while. Just seeing the lives they lead, and knowing that this is how rockstars' lives were actually like feels so special and sad and exciting, and I don't even know where I'm going with this but yeah. 10/10.

Thanks again for the recommendation, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book! I'll try to finish Funny Story asap (I'm almost done, for real this time). <3

[etherealspacejelly]

music recommendations for you because i’m bored.

( i will use this format btw:

BAND NAME

GENRE( S )

rating 1 - 10

top songs imo

other notes )

THE FLAMING LIPS

psychedelic pop, experimental, alternative

10 / 10

the yeah yeah yeah song, do you realize???, giant baby, yoshimi battles the pink robots pt 1

a good deal of their songs are absolutely devastating, especially the kings mouth album. very existential shit so if that’s upsetting to you i wouldn’t recommend it. “intellectual” music in the words of my parents

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS

alternative pop, indie

8 / 10

i think i need a new heart, strange powers, andrew in drag

again a lot of sad songs, but this time they’re just love songs. if you think of sad ukulele songs written by an autistic gay man and a bunch of other funky people you’ve got the magnetic fields

BUILT TO SPILL

“dad rock,” alternative

10 / 10

bad light, i would hurt a fly, center of the universe, you were right

the keep it like a secret album doesn’t have a single skip. genuinely love this band so much.

TV GIRL

electronic, alternative

9 / 10

pantyhose, loving machine, cigarettes out the window, blue hair girl

a lot of references to sex and drugs plus some sh so be aware. blue hair girl is so overplayed but god it’s incredible. my mom loves them—calls it “fancy lounge music”

i’m needlessly proud of having such a good music taste. anyways !!! i thought you would like these guys have fun

[glorious-blackout]

My Year in Gigs

Seeing as we're nearing the end of the year, I thought I'd look back on the amazing shows I've been lucky enough to attend in 2023 and resurrect my Post-Concert Depression with a definitive ranking 😅💚

Eurovision Semi Final One - Live Show: Absolute dream-come-true experience. Loved every minute, the crowd was so kind and supportive towards every act, and I got to see most of my faves steal the show and advance to the finals 🥰 

Muse (Dublin) : My second Muse gig of the year was even more of a blast than the first! Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the joy of finally seeing Butterflies and Hurricanes and Apocalypse Please live 😭 

Queens of the Stone Age: Josh Homme arrived onstage, called us all crazy motherfuckers, expressed a sincere desire to get fucked in the ass by a Scottish dude, then called his guitarist a 500-year-old vampire before flirting shamelessly with him. 10/10, no notes. Oh yeah, and the music slapped too.

Käärijä: Half hilarious stand-up show, half incredible party with insanely fun, energetic songs. One of the most enjoyable gigs I’ve ever been to and I would pay good money to fly to Finland solely to see Käärijä play a gig on his home turf. 

Muse (Bellahouston Park): My boys were incredible as ever and I had a genuinely great time at this gig, but it gets demoted a little due to the torrential rain cutting our setlist short and making me ill 😅 Would have been an easy third place had technical difficulties not robbed me of the chance to see Verona live... 

Go_A: If you’ve never been to a Ukrainian Folk-Rave before, I can highly recommend it! Go_A were simply phenomenal with great energy that had us dancing all night. Highlight of the show was Ihor delivering a badass flute solo while Kateryna went backstage to recharge her awesomeness. 

Sparks: These guys have been making consistently excellent music for decades and still have more energy and enthusiasm than most young bands could ever dream of possessing. Such a wonderful set filled with amazingly quirky songs both old and new. 

Joker Out: It says a lot about the high quality of shows on this list that I’ve had to rank these guys so low. In any other year they’d be a clear contender for top three! The energy from both the band and crowd were insane, the boys were clearly in awe of having a venue full of Scots singing along with them in Slovene, and I need the Demoni scream injected directly into my veins 😈 

Arctic Monkeys: This ranking has almost nothing to do with the band themselves who delivered a great show, but looking back on it I’ve just had to accept that I wasn’t having a good time during a large chunk of this gig. The crowd in my section were rowdy to the point where I couldn’t hear or see anything and I was wasting all my energy trying not to get shoved. My depression was also playing up to the point where I was struggling to get excited over songs I dearly love and I just felt unwell and burnt out all night. The second half was a definite improvement as we’d moved to a calmer area by the time they brought out The Car songs, but by the end I was just exhausted and desperate for home. Would see them again in a heartbeat in a more intimate indoor venue, but I think I’ll avoid any of their big stadium tours in future 😅 

Busted: Honestly, I had a much nicer time at this gig compared to Arctic Monkeys. The nostalgia alone of singing along to ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ at the top of my lungs is always a special moment. But I can’t pretend for a second that Busted’s music comes anywhere close to the quality of Arctic Monkeys’ recent output, so they’re a very reluctant last place on my list of generally incredible gig experiences 😅 

Best Support Act: Nova Twins by a country mile. I may have fallen slightly in love with Georgia and her incredible bass skills. It was easy to see why Muse invited them on tour because they seemed so at-ease in a massive arena 😊  

Here's to (hopefully) more amazing gigs in 2024! I'd love to hear about some of the great shows that you guys attended this year as well 🥰💖

[worstvideogamesong-poll]

Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 2 Match 13

NLA (Night) - Xenoblade Chronicles X

VERSUS

I Love Beijing Tiananmen - Hong Kong 97

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

NLA (Night):

(in reference to its previous match) "#anyways so i am voting NLA and also NLA is breaking my SOUL #it did the fucking yoshi clan thing where it had SUCH a banger backing track (those STRINGS) but covered them up with one of the worst #samples in the world #UH HYEAH #wow. its so bad. its impressive and also tragic"

"#[NLA (Night)] just makes me want to not play Xenoblade even more than I already wanted to not play Xenoblade"

"#the guitar in nla sounds like it belongs to a different better band"

"#it is nla night 100% #uh uh yeah for like 12 minutes while you run around nla"

"#i can see what theyre going for in the xenoblade one#but it would have been a perfectly servicable xenoblade song without someone going uhn yeah over it"

"#VOTE NLA NIGHT ITS SO AWFUL #NLA NIGHT MY BELOVED"

"#NLA Night jumpscared me wtf #after listening to it for a bit it's not bad it's just... extremely jarring as a Xenobladr song #the song title implies it's an area theme too? bc of the '(night)' #....i hope it at least makes sense in context #still need to play Xenoblade X"

"#xenoblade x has some great music #this is not one of those songs"

I Love Beijing Tiananmen:

"It's a 6 second loop of SNES quality voice recording that plays endlessly. Deliberately bad."

(in reference to its previous match) "#now whether it was bad or not it didn't have a chance against the BEAST that is i love beijing tiananmen #god i love these 7 second loops. just so little effort. something kinda fun ruined by being repeated 5000 times in 2 minutes. wait holy shi #ok post cancelled this was gonna be about how ive conditioned myself to like this song and could listen to it for 10 mintues if i tried but #i just looked up the game and it was apparently made in 2 days as a satire and this song was created from a clip off a LaserDisc the dev #got second hand. thats actually fuckin incredible. holy shit i love this. i mean objectively its the worse song but can i take back my vote #just cause the story behind it fuckin ROCKS???"

"#my heartbeat is more varied than i love beijing tiananmen #and i'm fairly healthy"

"#LETSGOOO HAPPYSOFT"

"#NOT THE HONG KONG 97 SONG"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!

[marlo-noni]

10 more Liu Yuning songs I love!

This is part 3. Here are part 1 and part 2.

New Year's Song (过年的歌), 2020 Why it's good: it's so cute, happy, and festive! You may hear it in your local Asian supermarket around Lunar New Year, because it's fairly popular. The video is adorable too. I love his bandmates, A-Zhuo and Da Fei, in their costumes - Da Fei is the god of wealth (I think), and A-Zhuo looks like some longevity god? My knowledge of Chinese mythology and deities is lacking.

2. Adore (十分喜欢), 2019 Why it's good: so soft and romantic! This feels like your boyfriend, Liu Yuning, is singing a love song directly to you. It was also written by Penny Tai, who Liu Yuning would later team up with on season 3 (2021) of the variety show Our Song.

3. Obviously (明明), 2019 Why it's good: just very catchy, especially the chorus. It's the first song on his 2019 album Ten (十), and it's a good choice for that, because it hooks you in.

4. Light Years Away (光年之外), 2018 cover of a G.E.M. song for the variety show Golden Melody 2 Why it's good: this was his first music variety show performance, only 2 months after he blew up online in June 2018. He said on livestream that preparing for this was super stressful, and his vocal coach (or maybe a producer? I can't remember) was having a conniption the night before. But he knocked it out of the park! I also listened to the original G.E.M. song just now, and it's got a completely different energy. Liu Yuning totally did his own thing with it. Thanks to @thefeastandthefast for sharing this performance, and the story, with me.

5. Azure (这蔚蓝), 2024 performance on the variety show Melody Journey Why it's good: I love that chorus, with the "yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian" ("bit by bit by bit") in it. Liu Yuning also recently talked about this performance on livestream, and how this song was out of his comfort zone, so he was incredibly nervous. Again, he knocks it out of the park.

6. Adventurer (探险家), 2018 promo song for the film Alpha Why it's good: someone once asked Tumblr OG Liu Yuning fan @heymeowmao for some recommendations of songs where Liu Yuning rocks out, and this was on the list. And yeah, I think this might be his most rocking song - the only contender I can think of is his recent performance of Chi Luo Luo with Da Zhang Wei on season 6 of Our Song. But that's for another post (if I end up doing a list of fave collabs). For now, enjoy Liu Yuning at his most rock 'n' roll!

7. A Good Guy (挺好个人呐), 2020 promo song for the film My People, My Homeland Why it's good: just quirky as hell! I haven't seen the film this was promoting, but I assume it's a retro thing, because this is a total disco throwback. The heroic voice Liu Yuning uses in it is super fun as well. I'm just glad he decided to do such a silly song.

8. Fireworks and Stars (烟火星辰), 2021 OST opening theme for You Are My Glory Why it's good: sappy-as-hell theme song for the drama where two of China's prettiest people, Dilraba and Yang Yang, get it on. Liu Yuning has done a zillion cheesy love song OSTs, but this one sticks with me for some reason. It's got the same songwriter as his OST for Love Between Fairy and Devil (寻一个你) and that Melody Journey song I love so much, Falling (掉), so I think maybe it's just this songwriter's style that I like.

9. A Good Year (一个好年), 2023 Why it's good: this is Liu Yuning's much lesser-known Lunar New Year song. It's much sweeter, more nostalgic, and less energetic than the other one, but I think I've listened to this one more. It just feels uplifting and warm in the middle of the January/February gloom here in Vancouver.

10. Fall in Love, 2022 Why it's good: I can't believe I almost forgot this one! I've listened to it so many times that it's not in my regular rotation these days. This is his danciest poppiest song. It was originally going to be the lead single on his 2nd album, but since that album still hasn't come out (here's hoping for January 2025!), he said it's officially not new enough to be on there anymore. Anyway, this song is fun as hell!

[kuwdora]

Star Wars audiobooks! I've been restless for new Star Wars since Andor ended. Been going through a handful of Disney era and Legends novels over the last few months. I have enough reactions to get down into an actual post. Mostly I'm just going to be foaming at the mouth over Marc Thompson and Sam Witwer's narration and falling over myself about the characters. I have listened to: Dark Disciple, Last Shot, Disney Thrawn trilogy, Heir to the Empire, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Lots of these books I liked, some of them I didn't but the narration and characters are still amazing. Motherfucking MARA JADE. Asajj Ventress!!!!!!!! I have no rational mind about Maul and I am one of those feral stick figures chewing on Thrawn. Hnnghh.

First of all, let me start with Marc Thompson. He's been doing the audiobooks for years and years now. Here’s a great intro where he’s talking about the differences of doing character voices and learning the importance of bringing the right dynamic to the prose. He slips so seamlessly into his Star Wars voices reel, ahaha.

Here is a really cute Lip Sync Battle where Marc Thompson will say a line and then have a fan lip sync the same line back at the camera. His energy, his energy I love it so much. Everyone is having SO MUCH FUN. There’s also a cameo by Star Wars author Christie Golden in this video. Super cute.

First book:

Dark Disciple - Christie Golden Narrated by Marc Thompson

Alright I actually had picked this up ages go from my library and never read it but since I’ve been on an audiobook kick, Marc Thompson got me goin’ with alllll his voices.

I love Asajj Ventress so I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy something from this book. Apparently it was written based on some unfinished scripts for an arc that would have happened if the show didn’t get cancelled. Knowing this makes a lot more sense with regards to the pacing and I think I would have preferred the animated episodic for this since I think a lot of the early Quinlan and Asajj stuff dragged a little too much. However I did appreciate getting more of a deeper dive in Asajj’s head and it really made me want to go digging through AO3 for some amazing character studies that I know must exist at this point.

But yeah, I didn’t think I’d enjoy the eventual romance between Asajj and Quinlan but Quinlan was such a perfect set-up for a fall from the Jedi Order. I think I’m just really easy when it comes to whumping the fuck out of Jedi with torture and their own emotional repression.

I was really into all the Dathomir scenes and the history of Asajj with her sisters being touched upon again and how she managed to not “go crazy from the dark side” because of the balance she found because she was a Nightsister.

A++ for Asajj having to go to Boba fucking Fett to mount a rescue mission inside a fake heist.

Really I think I’m just so easy for murdery women with a rage boner. Fuck Dooku.

Marc Thompson’s narration was a delight and I definitely would recommend this for anyone who enjoyed The Clone Wars series and wanted to get a little more Asajj screen time. Here’s a scene where someone pulled Clone Wars clips and put Dark Disciple audio underneath. Marc Thompson bringing incredible Dooku subservience and Sidious danger, hhhngh.

7/10, would listen to again even though I'd rather see the finished episodes.

Last Shot (A Han and Lando Novel) - Daniel Jose Older Narrated by Marc Thompson, Daniel Jose Older and January LaVoy

This book was extremely disappointing. Normally I am a fan of seeing fan-favorites have their mid-life crises but I was extremely bored and over with Older’s take on Han having an existential crisis of who he was as a father an husband in this post-Empire world. Lando on the other hand, was having a crisis of genuinely having fallen in love and not knowing how to handle that. I fucking loved that.

This book had multiple timelines and jumped around a lot and I don’t know if I just wasn’t focused enough while listening but the timeline jumps were jarring and incomprehensible at times. The action plot ended up being rather unsatisfying.

It was also very jarring to have three narrators for the different timelines and I kind of feel bad because I went and looked and Older’s narration is just consistently getting panned across all reviewers—and for good reason. Thompson and LaVoy are experienced voice actors and with Older in the middle, Older just seems slapdash in his reading. If it was just Older all the way through I might have been more forgiving but going back and forth with everyone… it really was painful at times.

It was a slog to get through this book, really. What I actually really enjoyed was all the original characters: an Ewok slicer, a nonbinary hot shot pilot, and Lando’s love of his life whose name is slipping my mind even now, agh. I wasn’t fan of the villain character, unfortunately, and it was a bit of a letdown that the action plot was just… I don’t know, boring. It was a riff on transhumanism except with droids and a bit of droid supremacy to it and I was just... tired by it.

Marc Thompson was KILLING it tho. His performances always fucking delight me. January LaVoy’s narration of Lando and L-3 were also really great even though I just wasn’t into the scenes themselves.

3/10 - do not recommend, HOWEVER I would read fic about the lady ewok hacker Peekpa.

Darth Maul: Shadow hunter By Michael Reeves Narrated by SAM WITWER

I am, as the fannish parlance goes, Not Normal about Maul or Sam Witwer's performance as Maul.

This novel takes place just before the events of The Phantom Menace and it’s a Star Wars story that is very, very narrow in scope. The stakes are still very high because someone has gained information about the Trade Federation’s impending blockade and Sidious sends Maul to go and take care of it. The whole story takes place in the underbelly of Coruscant and I gotta say, it’s really refreshing after going through a bunch of Star Wars shows, books and films where it’s all galactic hopping whirlwind stuff to have that's in one place and happening in a short amount of time. I think it's something like 2 or 3 days that all the events happen.

Michael Reeves is a man of deep characterization and creates an amazing sense of place in the Black Sun alley of Corusant. We get very little Sidious and Maul interaction but what bits we do get are fascinating and haunting. I do like the ‘less is more’ approach here with these two...although I will say I’m not sure I would have picked up this book if I hadn’t gone through The Clone Wars and lost my goddamn mind over Sam Witwer’s portrayal of Maul.

And his performance here. In this book. I don’t know what it is about Witwer but when he does Maul my brain just lights up in a way that I haven’t really gotten outside of live theater performances. He brings this sense of ruthlessness and competence to Maul, his gleeful rage and oscillating mania as he ends up tracking an information broker and Jedi Padawan. Oh, Witwer is truly just. Fucking amazing, okay.

I would love this book even if it wasn’t Witwer narrating it but my god he elevates it to a whole new level. I got my copy from the library but it is immediately on my to-buy list once I can buy books again.

Michael Reeves also wrote for Batman the Animated series and Gargoyles which makes a whole lot of sense in the way he’s able to just create such lush sensory detail of place and people, oh holy fuck. He’s the writer who wrote the Gargoyles episode about Broadway accidentally shooting Elisa with her gun (this is an episode that got pulled from airing and I don’t think they have on Disney+ right now). Aw man, alright I definitely need to read more of his stuff now.

The action plot is Lorn Pavan is a down-on-his-luck fellow who got information he shouldn’t have and he is trying to sell it, Darsha the Jedi Padawan gets sent down to bring in a Black Sun informant and things go tits up for her in horrible ways. Darsha and Lorn’s paths collide and they try to survive Maul. I love everything about these characters, except for the end where Lorn started having romantic feelings about the Padawan. Blech.

Also somehow I think I-5 is now my second favorite droid character I’ve come across in the greater Star Wars canon (Chopper will always be my #1 grumpy cat droid). Witwer has the best dry delivery for the droid character. Like. It’s so fucking GOOD.

I’m also impossibly impressed and obsessed with Witwer’s performance of Sidious and the Jedi Council. His Qui-Gon is SO FUCKING GOOD. His Palaptine has my teeth rattling in my head oh my god.

Here’s the first 5 or so minutes of Shadow Hunter, hhnngh. You get Maul, Sidious a drunk Lorn Pavan, and my new droid bestie I-5:

I am 100% going to be reading Michael Reeves’ other Star Wars novels. Apparently he has a series that follows a Jedi-in-hiding post-Order 66 and I want to just dunk my head in all the Star Wars noir, I guess, yes please.

10/10 - I love, would heartily recommend to anyone wanting a kind of story that’s more heavy on character and setting and also SAM WITWER!!!!!!!!! Maul. Hnnghghghgh.

TIMOTHY ZAHN TIME.

Thrawn Trilogy (Disney era) Thrawn, Thrawn Alliances, Thrawn Treason Narrated by Marc Thompson

This was my second time through the Disney novels. I watched Star Wars Rebels first, then my friend jb_slasher told me about Thrawn having novels. I had vaguely heard of Heir to the Empire over the years and also my friend recommended the Disney trilogy so I figured I’d start with that since I was diving off from Disney canon anyway.

My god I love this trilogy so fuckin’ much. Marc Thompson out here nailing it. This Thrawn is the type of character who is always the smartest person in the room and I should get irritated by that like all the other characters but mmmm, I have a competence kink. And I am just over the moon with how he instills loyally and allegiance in his crew who can now have a commander who is not interested in politicking his way through things but actually is committed to strategy and whatnot.

Also fucking Zahn made Thrawn go back to space college. And gave him a little protege who he grew to admire. Eli Vanto is a great character, I am reading a lot of slash about them obviously but yeah, I loved seeing his growth throughout the trilogy. And THRAWN ALLIANCE. Y’all. Y’all. The Star Wars memes about Thrawn and Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are AMAZING and really do the hilarity so much justice. Here's a fantastic book trailer cut together with Marc Thompson' narration, hnngh.

This man absolutely knows who Darth Vader is and Darth Vader is like “oh fuck no you don’t.” And when Thrawn had met Anakin during the Clone Wars and Anakin had to try and work together with him? Perfection. Bonus Padme getting to be a ridiculous and foolish badass when she goes looking for trouble. And also her also having a competence kink for Thrawn, too. It cracks me the fuck uuuuuup, okay.

Thrawn absolutely hates politics so fucking much and I love to see how that is the primary way he gets thwarted or has to build his strategy around. Because people are fucking assholes and political everywhere. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love Marc Thompson??

Thrawn Treason gave us more of Thrawn’s people and whatnot with the Chiss which I also liked but I’m really less interested in their motivations and experiences as a culture on the edge of the Empire. More here for Vanto now getting to be the fish-out-of-water and leveling up and getting all the respect he deserves.

MARC THOMPSON, y’all. He does a great Thrawn, an AMAZING whinybaby sycophant Ronan of the Starkiller Project, and his Eli Vanto Space Yokel intonation is 💋. Also I feel like the loyalty and trust that Thrawn earns from his subordinates really feeds into this praise kink thing that everyone develops by being around him. I love it.

10/10 will lose my mind and listen/read this trilogy again and also read all the fanfic about it.

Heir to the Empire Timothy Zahn

I am sorry it took me 30 years to get here but I AM NOW HERE FOR MARA JADE’S RAGE BONER. Let me repeat: MARA. JADE. !!!!!!!!!

Also holy fuck. Luke Skywalker getting to be smart, technically creative and able to navigate through terrible situations in spite of a Force-Blocking Macguffin is AMAZING. I was not expecting to be this into a post-Empire Luke but I really fucking loved it.

I also love all of the Han and Lando scenes in this (WAY MORE than Last Shot, sorry Daniel Jose Older).

Leia and Chewie!! On Kashyyk!! Talon Karrde was so great (Thompson made him kind of sound like Antonio Banderas??)

Thrawn and his bestie Pelleaon! What a fascinating dynamic.

I actually was not very into Thrawn’s vibes in this book as much as I was in the Disney stuff. I don’t know if it’s because of the vibes they wrote him in Star Wars rebels that got filtered back into Zahn’s take on him for the books (or if it was the other way around?) - Like, the calculating tactical and man of strategy is still there, but… hm, I’ve been struggling to articulate what about it that didn’t tickle me as much. He’s still playing the long game in every situation but I don’t know… I think there’s this more pragmatic view of people he has in the Disney books that he doesn’t get here in the first of this trilogy. I haven’t gotten to the other two books from this series yet so maybe I’ll feel differently later. The anniversary edition of the audiobook that I got from my library was narrated by Marc Thompson and he (you'll be so surprised) fucking nailed it all for me. Love love love.

10/10 timothy zahn, I love you. You got an amazing way of writing action. I gotta read more of your stuff. Anyway, I'm also starting the Ahsoka novella that I think (??) is not quite canon anymore since they got a final season for Clone Wars, but it's by E.K. Johnston and narrated by Ahoska's voice actor Ashley Eckstein. Don't have enough thoughts about it yet but I love Ahsoka so I'm sure I'll have a decent time.

[anime-academia]

Books read in 2024 (plus ratings)

江戸川 乱歩/ Edogawa Ranpo 孤島の鬼 (Kotō no Oni)/ The Demon of the Lonely Isle [trans. Alexis J. Brown] (10/10) Utterly unwell over this one. The last part makes me want to cry every time I think about it. The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows [trans. Ian Hughes](7/10) Fun reads! The first one is an Akechi Kogoro mystery iirc. The Phantom Doctor (7/10) Also Akechi-sensei and fun, but nowhere near as brain rewiring as Koto no Oni. Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination [trans. James B. Harris](7/10) A collection of some of Ranpo's works. Some were good, some were mid, and some were just Junji Ito levels of weird.

Shakespeare The Tempest (8/10) Fun, but coloniser mentality much. Did read it in conjunction with Jane Eyre, not actually reading Robinson Crusoe, and reminiscing over Wide Sargasso Sea, so that was actually very fun for the brain. Twelfth Night (Or, What You Will) (10/10) I need to direct a production of this play so badly. Or just let me be Cesario. As You Like It (7/10) Fun but not really my vibe.

The Martian by Andy Weir (9/10) Not usually a sci-fi girlie, but this was delightful to read.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (8/10) Delightful, amazing, BBC Sherlock can actually take the Reinbach plunge for the gross mischaracterisation of Sherlock.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (7/10) Good, it's a classic for a reason. I would recommend reading Wide Sargasso Sea along with JE.

人間失格 (Ningen Shikkaku)/No Longer Human by 太宰 治/ Dazai Osamu [rather crusty pdf, I don't remember who the translator is] (8/10) Incredible. Reminded me of reading The Bell Jar. It did make me really sad tho, ngl, but there's also a sense of recognition.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (10/10) Loved this!

镇魂 (Zhèn Hún)/ Guardian by Priest (6/10) Was not vibing with the main story. Miscommunication and just general ridiculousness imo. B-plot was fun and Changcheng is so baby and sweet. I love him. 3 of the 6 stars are for him, the rest are for the other characters excluding MC and not-actually-a-professor. 2 books

川口 俊和/ Toshikazu Kawaguchi [trans. Geoffrey Trousselot] さよならも言えないうちに/ Before We Say Goodbye 思い出が消えないうちに/ Before Your Memory Fades この嘘がばれないうちに/ Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe (7/10) for all. They were good, but not rent-free levels of good.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith (7/10) It was good.

墨香铜臭 (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu) [Trans: Seven Seas] 人渣反派自救系统 (Rén zhā fǎnpài zìjiù xìtǒng)/Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (9/10) So much about this one. I think about it at least once a week, probably. This was 4 books iirc 魔道祖师 (Módào Zǔshī)/ Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (8/10) Love the political intrigue. I will read this again at some point so that I can enjoy it while understanding what's happening. Everything can be explained by the answer "Jin Ling's uncle". Honestly, probably some of my favourite characters are in here. 5 books 天官赐福 (Tiān Guān Cì Fú)/ Heaven Official's Blessing (8/10) Yeah, filing and maths is difficult. Intriguing plot as well and as with MDZS, got stabbed in the heart several times. this is like 8 books long T^T

二哈和他的白猫师尊 (Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun)/ The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by 肉包不吃肉 (Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou)/ Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat [Trans: Seven Seas] (7/10) I was ready to give up, but the actual plot was interesting. and there's time travel. idk how many.. 3 or 4

女将军和长公主 (Nu Jiangjun he Zhang Gōngzhu)/Female General, Eldest Princess by 请君莫笑 (Please Don’t Laugh) [Trans: Melts and Eiko] (8/10) Plot is good. Stressed me tf out though ngl. Definite recommendation. Like watching shoujo after too much shounen. I think about this one frequently as well.

The Twelve Week Year by Brian P. Moran & Michael Lennington Idk how to rate this, but it's been helpful and I wanna try this method out this year.

Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya Kaidan by Saitō Takashi (7/10) Wanted to kill a lot of people in this myself. That being said, the story is told nicely.

The Snows of Kilimajaro by Ernest Hemingway (7/10) Collection. Some were good, some were mid. His life was absolutely wild. Idk how Hemingway survived as long as he did tbh.

ダンジョン飯/ Dungeon Meshi by 九井諒子/Ryoko Kui (9/10) Loved this!! Suck you in with fun fantasy and then damn, the curtains are not just blue. 14 volumes

Depilautumn by Nakahara Chūya [trans. Kenneth L. Richard & John L. Riley] (8/10). Poetry Anthology, fun but not all were a vibe.

River of Stars by Yosano Akiko [trans. Sam Hamill & Keiko Matsui Gibson) (8/10) Delightful and Yosano was pretty damn amazing!

[this-is-not-yesterday]

My Top 10 books of 2024 (as in ones that i read not that came out in 2024)

(in no particular order)

The well of loneliness (radclyffe hall) absolute classic for all the melancholy lesbians (me) loved it, took me like a month to read and i felt like i was living it it, it was great

The mirror and the palette (jennifer higgie) this was the second ever art history book i read and i loved it it got me well into it because all my previous experience with art history had been boring, sterile and emotionless (at least to me) i never really connected with any artists until i read this book, also read it while i was camping and that was so much fun trying to read with a half dead torch in a one man tent i can't sit up it

Albert and the whale (philip hoare) got this book from the library because i liked the cover and it was incredible, read it in a few days, it told such a story and was so tangential and rambly in a way i love, was a journey, learned many things, think about it all the time

The power (naomi alderman) got this at fopp cos i read disobedience (same author) the year before (also from fopp) and i wasnt expecting a sci-fi thing after disobedience but i loved it, read it really fast cos it was so good i was so invested the story was just like cliff-hanger, good tv type of story where its not predictable and i was genuinely gasping at the plot twists and i probably cried also

Seven steeples (sarah baume) this was kind of alarming to read (in the same sort of way as the discomfort of evening was to me but less horrifying and ruining) cos it was so similar to sort of what goes on in my head and the kind of thing i would write if one day i wrote a book so it wasnt quite as enjoyable as the prev. 4 for that reason but it was very beautiful and affecting.

Tipping the velvet (sarah waters) i read this a whole year ago now so its somewhat hard to remember but i think it was an incredible story in a similar was to the power where it was exciting and easy to read, there was a section in the book i really loved when the main character is on her own for a long while and from what i remembered i loved the ending but a couple of characters in the beginning were a little annoying

The sixth extinction (elizabeth kolbert) LOVED. read it in the summer got it from the library, it was so good, it had good story telling for a non fiction book which i like and it was about global warming but was mainly about cool ecology things in relation to global warming so it was still somehow fun to read - frogs, bats, loved the bit about geology so much im such an amateur geology nerd, coral lots of stuff hard recommend

The story of art without men (katy hessel) first art history book i read, made me study art history, i looked up introductory/overview art history books and got the story of art which i read a bit of and was immediately put off and dismayed but the complete lack of women artists (in the first edition there were 0, in later ones i think there have been a couple amongst the hoades of men) so when i saw the story of art without men i thought perfect hell yeah and it was great loved it, incredible introduction. (now i unfortunately study predominately men against my will and am forced to balance it out by reading about women in my free time)

our wives under the sea (julia armfield) loved the story definitely cried at least a couple of times but was two short for me to be that attatched to the characters. i loved that it seemed like it could be a metaphor interpreted in loads of ways but also was just great as a scifi weird thing anyway on its own. the bits in the submarine i liked a lot, more than the bits on land i think.

the outsider (camus) + metamorphosis (kafka) combining these two because theyre both very short and i read them at a similar time both in about a day and so although i loved the writing and the story of both and i think about them often, i just don't get as attached to short books and don't remember them so well. i think i will reread them both at some point though and maybe have more to say (also enough has been said about these books to fill the ocean lets be real)

[whatyourusherthinks]

The Killer's Game Review

We didn't get a trailer for this one, but we did get a poster. A physical poster we didn't use. Yeah, we use tv screens to display digital posters, but movie companies will still send us physical posters anyway. The managers just give them away to whoever wants them, so I'm proud to report that I've taken none of them. I'm not posters person. Anyway, this movie was getting savaged by critics. It's got only a 39% of Rotten Tomatoes. Which is actually misleading, since that percentage is the percentage of critics who recommend the movie, not an average of what critics rank the movie. If you want that, look at IMDB, which gave this movie a 5.8 out of 10.

Sigh. Man, how come the action movies this summer sucked? It's been a mostly horror centric year, since we opened up the year with the writer's strike so a lot of projects got delayed and horror movies are easier to make. So I would hope that means the four action movies that came out over the hot months would be good right? Nah half of 'em suck and the other half were just okay. And recently I've been very unenthused about everything I've watched. Yeah, I really liked Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but I'm starting to realize my enjoyment was heightened by going to see it with my family and making it an event. Not that the quality of the movie has gone down, I think I just overhyped my personal enjoyment. My depression is kicking my ass recently too, so maybe I'm just being a sad sack.

What's The Movie About?

Dave Bautista is Joe Flood, a hitman who finds out he has a terminal illness, so he puts a hit out on himself to end his suffering early. Then he finds out his doctor mixed up the test results.

What I Like.

Well. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sure got dethroned quickly. This movie gave me the kind of joy I haven't felt since, well, May.

First off, the action is amazing. It's fast paced, well choreographed, and damn fun. All of the hitmen who go after Joe are colorful and have gimmicks, like two brothers who kill their targets with motorbikes. Or a bisexual stripper team. This movie honestly reminded me of the action from The Crow reboot with it's inventiveness and brutality, but it was much more frequent. A lot of this movie kinda reminds me of The Crow if it didn't suck ass, since they also take time to set up Joe's girlfriend who then gets put in peril and he has to save her. But unlike THAT movie, the time it takes is actually interesting, the leads have good chemistry, and they set up way more than just two kids making moony eyes at each other. The characters are a lot of fun. Not only is Joe and his girlfriend a very cute couple, but the various hitmen and side characters are incredibly entertaining. I actually think the story was really good. The set-up seems stupid at the front, which it is, but they go out of their way to justify it and I think it made sense. The depiction of Joe's depression after he gets diagnosed is pretty damn realistic, and I think Dave Bautista nails it. I like the editing and pacing. It is very dynamic and interesting, there's a lot of fade ins and comic panel style compositions, but when it gets to the action they go to more standard camera. It's not a steady cam but it's not too shaky and the cuts are fairly restrained. The movie is funny as well. It's a lot of quips but it still had heart and there's a little bit of physical comedy to spice things up as well.

What I Didn't Like.

But the movie isn't perfect. While all the characters are fun, they are mostly stereotypes. Not just the colorful assassins or side characters, Ben Kingsley plays Joe's contractor who's a Jewish guy and his accent is so thick it felt kinda racist. Not that I'm accusing the movie or anything, I liked all the characters and it feels more like the over the top accents and ridiculous behaviors are there to characterize the hitmen rather than make us hate them or perpetuate a harmful ideal, but that might be why this movie got crapped on critics. Also, it's kinda sloppy in a lot of cases. I thought the movie was really funny, but not every one liner lands. The pacing jumps a bit. And occasionally stuff seems to just happen out of nowhere. And the acting from pretty much everyone except Dave and Sofia Boutella is ehhhhh. Mostly because the actors seem to be the kinds of actors who just play themselves but with a slightly different gimmick each time. Like you don't expect Terry Cruz to be anyone else except Terry Cruz but meaner in this movie. Although the good actors like Ben Kingsley and Alex Kingston seem to be doing the same thing? So I guess it's purposefully? All of these little things really makes the movie feel scrappy instead of amateurish.

Final Summation.

There has only two movie that have come out this year which I wanted to watch a second time in theater. The first was The Fall Guy, which is still the best movie that has come out this year. And the second is this one. The Killer's Game is awesome, don't let the negative critical reception fool you.

[ifwebefriends]

Just saw Across the Spiderverse. Spoilers below!

Never in my life have I enjoyed a movie so much and had so much fun watching a movie that also left so incredibly unsatisfied at the end

Is this movie the new Infinity War?

How can it simultaneously feel like so fucking much happened but also nothing happened in that film?

Yeah I’m going to need like 10 hours of video essays about this film to totally wrap my head around it baby

This movie felt so long but so short at the same time

Pavitr Prabhakar is my favorite

Hobie Brown literally made me want to go full punk ngl

Peter B Parker is such a goofy ahh cringe dad I love it

Miguel is the morally grey antagonist ever

Art style and visuals that are even better than the original ngl there was just more

I loved the Venom reference near the beginning!!

There were several times that this movie made my jaw fucking drop I’m serious

I am fucking blown away

Rotating the movie in my mind

Miguel needs a fucking nap

I loved it I hated it 11/10 9 stars out of 5 best movie I’ve ever seen worst ending I’ve ever seen would highly recommend

Might make a sequel to this post when I think of more to say because Jesus Christ

[gffa]

Buncha scattered thoughts about trying out some different TV shows and whether or not I’d recommend them so far: - The Last of Us, with only a basic understanding of the plot of the games, I’m otherwise going in basically blind on this one and I’ve been enjoying the HBO adaptation a ton so far!  Very much at the top of the “if you’re looking for a show to binge and don’t mind horror and sad stories, TO WATCH” list!  The chemistry of the characters and the stunning scenery and well-paced scenes makes it thoroughly watchable. - Shrinking, I’ll give pretty much anything Bill Lawrence produces a shot (Scrubs, Cougar Town, Ted Lasso) and I’m charmed from the first episode.  You’ll always get fun banter and funny dialogue, but I’m already engaged with the characters because he has a way of writing snarky characters who still have a ton of heart.  The therapist’s hot mess of a life is offset by how genuinely he cares about his patients, openly and honestly.  I am a sucker for people who banter but aren’t afraid to put their heart on their sleeve. - The Light in the Hall, which I can’t talk about without spoiling the ending, but I wound up disappointed by this one.  The story is fairly predictable and the acting is top-notch, but I was frustrated by [redacted] being the only [redacted] and of course they end up being the murderer, all in service of making a woobie out of the [redacted].  It left a bad taste in what was otherwise a strong show. - Poker Face, I am not Rian Johnson’s biggest fan, but I like his work a lot more when he seems to be writing a love letter to a genre that he wants to pay homage to, to build a tribute to it, rather than subvert it.  I like that it’s quirky but keeps a lid on the amount of it, it feels like it’s having fun with the concept of this version of Columbo, and it knows that you’re here to watch Natasha Lyonne do her thing and it loves watching Natasha Lyonne do her thing, too. - His Dark Materials, which I love the adaptation, having never read the books it still feels like you can tell they were adapted with love and it works as a coherent storyline.  The actors are incredible, each of them are great on their own, but then having fantastic chemistry with each other, and I’m very taken with the themes of the story, around religion and knowledge and free will and independent thought.  Sprinkle in that the main character gets to be an angry, often messy, often very loud about her feelings character, and I’m in. - The Price of Glee, I went into this one hoping that it would at least be something of a tell-all about what went on behind the scenes, because I bet that would be fucking wild, given what we already know.  But after the first episode and skimming the later ones, it seems to be focused more on (as the title suggests) how much it cost these people to be part of it.  Which, you know, fair.  But not quite what I was looking for, so I’ve set it aside for now. - The Owl House, 10/10 no notes.  It’s been so satisfying to see a lot of character arcs come to fruition, even if the season has been massively truncated.  Luz’s struggle between which world she wants to stay in, the maturation of her relationship with Amity, the reconnection with her mother, all of that is fantastic.  The acknowledgement of Willow’s feelings and the support she gets from her friends, Hunter’s willingness to open up about his own feelings, also so much good.  Worldbuilding bits and pieces with the Collector and that I’m already engaged with wanting that poor kid to have better influences, yeah, that’s the stuff. - Three Pines, which I mostly picked up because I like Alfred Molina and he is indeed very charismatic and warm in this series, which has some pretty scenery and a very cozy feeling.  I’ve never read the books this is based on, but it feels like the show very much knew that it wanted to be a charming little murder mystery series with a connective throughline and it was exactly that.  I wouldn’t call it light-hearted, it has some lovely emotional weight, it has characters who very openly care about others, but I would still say it was a very warm show. - Avenue 5, which got off to a bit of a rocky start in its second season for me, but by the end of it, I was enjoying the absolute flaming trainwreck the whole thing is and how, when you lean into the chaos along with the show, it’s pretty hilarious.  I love the characters and I want to know where it’s going from here, I’m going to be so pissed if HBO doesn’t renew it for a third season. - The Sex Lives of College Girls, I enjoyed the first season of the show enough to binge the whole thing and I liked the girls’ friendships with each other and it felt like there was a lot of heart here.  I don’t know what happened with the second season, if it’s me or the show but nothing felt like it was clicking anymore and I finally had to drop it.  First season is adorable, totally worth watching as a stand-alone show!  Second season, idk maybe others liked it more than I did! - Criminal Mind Evolution, I was willing to pick this show back up again because I still have fondness for the actors and the characters, but after two episodes I had to rage quit.  The writing just isn’t working for me, its leaning into everything I grew to be frustrated with or outright hate about the original and even a character like Garcia’s warmth feels forced and unearned.  Dropped and will not be going back.

[stephaniejuhnay]

I watched a video the other day of top ten community episodes (and the five worst), and realized how nearly impossible that would be for me to do bc 90% of the show is so good to me. But I’m gonna try. I’m also gonna cheat bc it’s my post and idc.

Top 10 Best (aka my favorite) Community Episodes:

Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design - I wish I could watch this episode for the first time again because of the ride it took me on. I said it on here before but if there was only one episode I could recommend to someone from the series, it would be this. It’s so outlandish and fun that it’ll hook you into watching the series to understand how this school and these people got to this point and are just okay with it. Kevin Corrigan was a gem in this also. Anywho. The rest of these are all equally at 2 for me even tho I will be numbering them. Just understand that I love them all EQUALLY.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - another episode I wish I could watch again for the first time. To tell that story in mostly bottle episode form was brilliant. Also, the acting was top notch. Again, not a lot for them to work off of in terms of action and movement, so for it to be SUCH a compelling episode with them just sitting around the study room table is just a testament to the brilliance and vision of Dan and the writers and the cast. And the Russos for directing this masterpiece.

Remedial Chaos Theory - I know this is going to be a shocker, but this is an episode I wish I could watch again for the first time. Darkest timeline intro. Cigarette gag. Pizza dance. Toilet olives. Arguably Troy’s most iconic gif (he has many). What else do I need to say?

Cooperative Calligraphy - again. Bottle episode brilliance. And the twist of it all! I remember watching it and being dumbfounded by the end. But also so heart-warmed at how the group overcame. It’s always the heart in this series that wins no matter how insane the premise might be.

Basic Lupine Urology- if I’m remembering correctly, this might be the first episode I watched live after restarting the series. I started when it aired but didn’t stick with it until til my mom caught Aerodynamics of Gender on a plane and said “Steph you gotta watch this episode of this show I just saw.” And the rest is history. But yeah. The deep regret I had watching this episode bc I’d deprived myself of 2 years of this show…no one was taking the swings community took and pulling it off THIS well. Super conceptual, super low stakes made to be incredibly important, and easily some of the best jokes of the season, maybe the series.

Epidemiology - I literally was stunned that they pulled off that concept so well. I think I watched again after finishing it the first time because I couldn’t believe it. This was also when we got the start of the dean’s iconic costumes, a cornerstone of this show. Also, I was legitimately scared the first time watching this! 😂

Critical Film Studies - I think this was some of the best story-telling on this show. A really sweet story at the heart of it (which is the show as a whole) wrapped in a hilarious and really creative premise paying homage to one of the most obscure movies ever.

Paradigms of Human History - for a long time, this was my favorite episode bc I couldn’t believe what they pulled off. I still can’t honestly, which is why it’s second on my list (remember I said these are all #2 after Conspiracy Theories). When they came back and did it again in Curriculum Unavailable, I was thrilled and once again stunned. (You can count Curriculum Unavailable as part of this list I guess). Leave it to Dan to spin the clip show concept.

Contemporary American Poultry - this episode is amazing and rightfully called one of the best of season one. This episode laid the groundwork for establishing just how whimsical and insane Greendale could be, and made everything that came after it believable. It was also so incredibly heartwarming and the start of a lot of jokes that were called back.

Basic Intergluteal Numismatics - similar to the reasons I love Basic Lupine Urology. The commitment to the genre, the callback to the ACB, a one off joke from 2 seasons before, the fact that it’s still a cold case. I love it so much.

Honorable Mentions:

Modern Warfare, A Fist Full of Paintballs, For a Few Paintballs More, and Modern Espionage - I feel like the paintball run is in a league of their own and unfair to put in a top 10 list. Clearly they are amazing and amongst the best episodes of the series. And yes I purposely left out Advanced Introduction to Finality. That was not paintball. 😭

Football, Feminism, and You - this is when the show hit its stride for me when I finally went back to watch. The pacing, the writing, the actors finally figuring out who their characters were for real, Troy’s politically conservative shamefully outdated fight raps. It’s a perfect episode of television to me and to find that so early in a series is pretty amazing.

Aerodynamics of Gender - the episode that got me back into the show. I owe it so much. Also gave me one of my favorite Troy line: “worth it.”

Regional Holiday Music - again, Harmon’s (and his writers’) mind in pulling off these highly conceptual episodes that feels real to the world they built and grounded. I’m forever in awe.

Basic Human Anatomy - YES. A season 4 episode made this list. Jim Rash wrote the hell outta this episode and it was the brightest spot on season 4.

Five Worst Episodes:

I won’t elaborate on these too much bc the basic idea is that they were not good and felt contrived despite the writers trying to maintain Harmon’s world and the actors giving it everything they had. Yes they’re all from the gas leak year.

Advanced Introduction to Finality

Heroic Origins (I like to pretend none of those origins took place bc too many plot holes)

Alternative History of the German Invasion

Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations (we deserved a better Jeff/William conflict and resolution and so did Jeff)

Conventions of Space and Time (this was a great concept that in Dan’s hands could’ve been brilliant)

[orangesunsets12]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

Thanks so much to @mentallyundone for the tag, I appreciate it! This was super fun!

Are you named after anyone? No, I don't think so, and I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not. I love having a unique name in the family, but being named after someone is so cool!

When was the last time you cried? I think...yesterday? I don't cry too frequently, I usually get upset about things by panicking a lot and overthinking, but yesterday was a hard day

Do you have kids? Nope, I haven't even went on a date yet lol. I'm a single pringle, and I always have been! Though, it would be nice to have a boyfriend lol. All of my friends are dating and here I am being all alone lol. But it's not too bad...then I have more fanfic writing time! So, yeah, no kids.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Occasionally, but not too often. I'm not a very sarcastic person.

What sports do you play/have you played? I don't really play sports, I only did gym in high school and nothing more. Though, I do enjoy basketball (I'm not very good at it) and I like curling, too.

What’s the first thing you notice about people? Probably their hair. I love seeing the different styles of hair people have, I'm not sure if it tells me much about them, but it's still something that I notice pretty much right away.

What’s your eye color? Blue. It isn't a vibrant blue, it's more dark, and it's not too noticeable.

Scary movies or happy endings? Probably happy endings, as much as I want to, I don't really watch horror movies, I've actually never watched one. But I still want to see some eventually. If anyone has any horror movie recommendations for newbies to the horror genre, please let me know! I don't want anything too scary to start lol. For the question, happy endings 100%, but I love a sad ending, too.

Any special talents? Not really...the only one I can think of is being able to drink super cold drinks faster than most people. Is that a talent, or just a sign that I need to stop drinking sugary, cold drinks and stuff?

Where were you born? I was born in my family home, not a hospital, which I learned early on is a bit strange. Apparently being born at home is rare?

What are your hobbies? I love writing, playing Minecraft Skyblock, and reading, but lately I haven't been reading much.

Do you have pets? Yup! I have three dogs, and they probably my best friends. They're all mixed breeds, so they look a bit goofy, but they're really cute.

How tall are you? I haven't measured myself in a while, but I think I'm 5 foot 9 or 5 foot 10.

Favorite subject in school? Either English or a media class that I took, in which I learned how to edit videos, make movies and stuff like that. It was really fun! As for English, I've always had incredible teachers, so they made it super fun! One of my teachers actually let me write a fanfic for a final assignment lol. But, I don't understand Shakespeare at all. That was the worst part of English class for me.

Dream job? I really, really want to be a full time author. I really want to write books for a living...it would be amazing. But, for now, I'll be working in retail

Thanks again for the tag, @mentallyundone, this was super fun! I may have overshared...but it was fun!

No pressure tags: @idiot-stevie @rockfact @ducky-died-inside @icedteaandoldlace @amethystandemma @angstydeaddragon @outlawcare @targetf0rce @blueskiesandstarrynights @strangerthingfanfic (I didn't know who else to tag , so anyone else who isn't tagged but wants to do this feel free to!)