#Young Wizards: Lifeboats | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

highladyluck · 21 days

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13 books tag game, tagged by @amemoryofwot and @asha-mage (incidentally I typoed that as "amemeryofwot" which would be an excellent sideblog concept, maybe snatch that one up?)

1) Last book I read:

Mistress of the Empire by Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts (at the time I started filling this out, anyway… I've been working on this ask for several days) This whole trilogy was a delight, thanks to @sixth-light for telling me I would love Mara!

2) A book I recommend:

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord. It's a quiet little road trip romance exploring grief & diaspora, in a setting that I can best describe as 'if Madeline L'Engle had been in charge of Star Trek worldbuilding'. (If you squint you can see analogues to humans, Vulcans, Romulans, and Orions, but the tone is reminiscent of L'Engle.) There are sequels that follow different characters but this is the first one and it works as a standalone. I feel like it has a lovely light touch on some intense subjects and I appreciate the way each chapter works as a separate story while still fitting into the whole.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

I remember staying up past my bedtime for The Monster Baru Cormorant, I think? At the very least, that's where we first get my beloved Tau-Indi, and the pacing on the climax is kinda weird, about 2/3rds in, so I think I would have read through to it without stopping. I don't know if this question is supposed to be about compellingness or pacing? Probably compellingness, I think I'm weirdly fixated on structure when I read things. But sometimes I think books you 'can't put down' are at least partially that way because there's no damn place to breathe, and I don't entirely approve.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more)

I see from literally everyone who has tagged me in this that this is one of the two free spaces for Wheel of Time, but I'll switch it up: Lifeboats by Diane Duane. It's set between Young Wizards 9 & 10 and deals with an emergency response team permanently evacuating an entire alien population from a natural disaster (RIP their moon and also consequently their planet). This novel is a huge comfort read for me and is undoubtedly the Young Wizards work I've read the most. I don't really know how to explain what it means to me… I wish I had had it when I was living and working in a foreign country.

5) A book on my TBR

A friend recommended Cahokia Jazz (in general, not to me specifically) and it sounds SO MUCH like my jam. I suspect if I can't find it at my library soon, I'll end up buying the ebook.

6) A book I’ve put down

Can't think of a recent one, but if I hadn't forced myself to finish reading it because it was a Hugo Award nominee, I would have DNF'd Project Hail Mary.

7) A book on my wish list

I wish for more Baru Cormorant but I also literally cannot imagine how Seth is going to write that next book. So like, I'm girding my loins for Baru #4 either 15 years from now or never.

8) A favourite book from childhood

When I was really little I loved the Berenstain Bear books and my mom HATED that I loved them ("they were so badly written!" - my mom the children's librarian) but she bought them for me anyway. That's love.

9) A book you would give a friend

You all need to read Middlemarch by George Eliot. I don't care what stage of life you're at, you will find something resonant in it. Read it now, and read it again in 20 years. Give it to recent high school grads. Give it as a wedding present. Take it to the beach. BUT I am specifically recommending it to the WoT contingent, because the characters are so good!

10) The most books you own by a single author

It's actually either Diane Duane or Terry Pratchett, and DD's probably winning because I don't have every Pratchett book but I do have almost every DD book including tie-in novels.

11) A nonfiction book you own

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz. I don't read a ton of nonfiction but the writing is very engaging and I think cities are neat.

12) what are you currently reading

I'm between books but I just finished The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (as I am writing this part several days after question 1). I didn't like it as much as the first one, The Mimicking of Known Successes, but I think it's just a taste thing. I didn't like being in Pleiti's POV very much, her overthinking is too much like mine and it alternately stresses me out and makes me angry, because I can see the assumptions/unhelpful thought patterns but I can't fix them. Obviously, to draw that reaction from me the characters are well-defined, and I like everything else about the series, I just hope it goes back to Mossa's POV.

13) what are you planning on reading next?

WHEN WILL 'RED SIDE STORY' BY JASPER FFORDE REACH MY HOUSE??? I have been waiting like 15 years for this sequel to Shades of Grey and the entire point of preordering it was so I could have it ASAP. I could have walked into a bookstore on May 9th and walked out with it, and instead I won't get it until tomorrow. >:(

I think I am supposed to add a shelfie? The organizing principles(s) of this shelf in my bedroom are very weird…. Classics/adventure, fantasy, popular science writing? Someday I need to reshelve everything in the house according to size/favoriteness/genre/theme/vibes (in that order) but I haven’t felt like it.

I think pretty much everyone I was going to tag already got tagged, so whoever want to do it, go ahead!

#book meme #tag game

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elljayvee · 4 months

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i’m about to go tell my kids there’s a whole bunch of new books on their tablets, let’s goooooo

#diane duane #young wizards

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whinlatter · 1 year

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author's note | chapter 5: the flock 🌊

here is the author's note for chapter five of Beasts! this week, the tide's rolling in on the greyback hearings, the press are determined to rock the boat, harry and ginny head for the (metaphorical) lifeboats, and madam pince is officially sick of ginny weasley's shit. all the usual behind the scenes writing notes, headcanons, fic and meta inspo and song choices below, plus a tiny sneak peek of chapter six... 🗞️

✨ spoilers for this chapter below the cut ✨

[ flock, n.: a number of birds of one kind feeding, resting, or travelling together ]

writing notes and headcanons:

the hearings – this chapter sees ginny forced to zoom out from her own (real) problems and start to confront developments beyond the castles: the trials/hearings, a broader politics and set of questions about justice and inclusions/exclusions from wizarding society, and the role of the media in that society’s political and cultural life. i wanted this chapter to feel like a wave building and building and breaking - narratively, i wanted a false break, with harry and ginny’s reunion, and the actual breaking to be with bill’s speech at the end (jury’s out on that one - also just made the chapter extremely long and a bit top heavy, which i might prune in an edit). but i was so excited to start writing this dimension to the fic more explicitly, because i’m really interested in taking up questions about the kinds of evil and darkness that linger after voldemort’s end, and how wizarding institutions do or don’t confront their own role in furthering kinds of societal divisions and discrimination that helped pre-dated voldemort and have survived him. it’s not that ginny’s personal problems aren’t valid or real, but that what i hoped for in this chapter is to take a step back and put what ginny’s going through into a broader context of a whole society coming to a reckoning.

the wireless – i’ve taken some creative liberties on the wireless, as we don’t really know how it works (this pottermore page on technology was far more frustrating than it was helpful lmao - if muggle wirelesses have been ‘modified’, are they still running on the same kinds of (muggle) technology, or on magic? how do they work!!!). i decided static must still exist lol, to add to this sensory experience of irritating omnipresent noise ginny experiences throughout this chapter. the lil opener about the shipping forecast i’m so attached to is a bit of a love letter to this very strange british radio tradition (i really recommend listening to a sample one, they’re so charming), but i liked it also as a window onto a possible touchpoint between muggle and wizarding society that the wireless itself symbolises. young ginny’s question to arthur about sea monsters causing waves, and arthur’s response (“there doesn’t always have to be a monster, you know. Sometimes, there are other things to worry about”) is me trying to play with ideas about wizarding hubris that young witches and wizards internalise but which prevent wizarding society from seeing its own blindspots and points of ignorance. also the shipping forecast is foreshadowing for the rest of the chapter lol (forth is the oceanic region nearest hogwarts; lundy is the region nearest cornwall, where bill’s from. don’t worry i think i’m obnoxious too)

on bill weasley – bill is probably my favourite weasley after ron and ginny. he could be a really nothing character, but instead he’s quietly a really strong and reassuring presence who is clearly widely admired and who has these really loving close relationships with other great characters. he’s empathetic and highly observant, he’s got a sense of humour but also knows when to be serious, and he takes his responsibilities to his parents and to his siblings very seriously. but he’s also got this other streak - ginny think it’s him being drawn to ‘glamour’ and ‘adventure’, but i see it more as him having a bit of a capacity to surprise, an edge, a real audacity, strong sense of self, and a belief in his own convictions. that neither bill nor charlie followed arthur into the ministry is i think very revealing of how the weasley siblings grow up seeing through the political institutions of their world (and what makes percy’s arc all the more heartbreaking).

bill and remus – this is such a personal obsession of mine lol, being a big fan of both bill and remus as characters in their own right, but i think bill and remus’ interactions in canon are small but really meaningful, and speak to two characters bound together in some way, even before bill’s attack. obviously they’re both young(ish) men in the order, reasonably close in age (at least, less than the age gap between remus and dora), and they both often play similar roles within the larger group of resistance fighter, including as peacemakers (to molly in ootp over percy, and to ginny in DH during the evacuation), and sage guides to the younger ones (remus examples too many to name, but on bill i’m thinking of him advising harry in pre-gringotts, sheltering ron after his desertion). they also, canonically, both have an interest in these questions about politics, beings and beasts the place of other species in the wizarding world, actually discussing the goblin Q together with arthur in ootp (remus on goblins: “if they’re offered freedoms we’ve been denying them for centuries they’re going to be tempted [by Voldemort]”) then, of course, after bill’s attack, remus is both a source of information and experience in the immediate aftermath, and has previously shown an interest in comforting victims of werewolf attacks and other wereolves (ootp in st mungo’s). i think they also have a mutual respect and quite a warm friendship, only glimpsed very briefly through harry’s narration. when mad-eye is killed during the seven potters rescue, it’s remus who consoles a crying bill at the burrow (‘Bill’s voice broke. “Of course you couldn’t have done anything,” said Lupin.’) remus knows bill is upset and offers to recover mad-eye’s body with kingsley to spare bill the task, but bill is insistent he wants to go, and the two of them agree to set off alone together. bill also seems to know about remus trying to leave tonks, and knows when they’ve reconciled: ron passes the info on to the trio through bill. then ofc when teddy is born, remus and bill have that lovely moment where bill’s trying to get him drunk to toast to his son’s birth when remus is absolutely elated. i think remus’ experience as a fellow victim of greyback, their age gap and remus’ credentials as a young man who fought in the first war would mean bill would both look up to remus a great deal and would motivate him to do right by remus in death.

bill and ginny – ginny’s admiration, even reverence, for bill, comes through so strongly in canon (harry even seems faintly amused by it, as it borders on hero-worship - “Bill doesn’t like him either,” said Ginny, as though that settled the matter, in OotP). i think if fleur had been with any other of her brothers, ginny might have taken her arrival better. little ginny wants to be charlie, but she also really admires bill and will follow where he leads (👀). bill sticking his neck out will (we’ll see) have big consequences for his family and for ginny. all i’ll say for now is that i think it means a lot that ginny spends this chapter trying to shield bill from the horrors of the greyback hearings, and then he takes her surprise and walks straight into the fire.

on the montgomery family - i wrote much longer versions of all the testimonies drawn from canon here (the montgomery family, parvati on lavender, bill on remus and his own attack). The montgomery family only get a brief mention in HBP, the two sisters whose little brother died after being attacked by greyback, and writing from the perspective from the parents of that child was honestly horrendous. i had to cut a lot of it down because it was just actually horrific and much too sad, too early in the chapter. but yeah sorry writing this chapter really made me realise how fucking awful the greyback stuff is. truly truly not children’s book shit lol

on parvati and lavender - i wanted parvati’s testimony about lavender to address the severity of her injuries after the attack, but it was also important to use this speech as a chance to explore how this friendship feels for those two characters. Harry’s narration is that of a teenage boy - he’s friendly with them both, but not close, probably has a bit more time for parvati than lavender, and he’s largely uninterested in both girls’ inner lives (and tends to dismissive them as silly, girlish and giggly). so it seemed important to explore their friendship as something rich and meaningful, and to put forward a version of lavender that, while shaded by her canon appearances, gives her a more well-rounded and kinder character assessment than the narration in canon ever affords her. hermione looking up to the dormitory steps as she listens to them, ginny and luna holding hands during - girls processing their friendships 2k23 babyyy

on hermione and ginny – as discussed in the last author’s note, this is me playing with how to write conflict between two female characters that’s true to their characterisation and their relationship’s dynamics, but that also has them both coming from a reasonable and understandable place but both exhibiting unhealthy coping mechanisms. ginny is avoidant, using humour, denial and distractions, and fiercely protective of the other gryffindors, trying to shelter them from exposure to too many emotional triggers. without spoiling anything, hermione has a different perspective; she wants all the information possible, she’s very interested in these questions of how this society will or won’t change, and the prospect of reform (she also, of course, has had her own traumatising run-ins with greyback), but, as ginny, harry and ron can all see, she’s not taking care of herself - she’s not allowing her any respite from the traumatising news cycle, and she’s also clearly showing signs of distress, isolation and PTSD, particularly the absence of harry and ron (especially ron, our real hero in this chap). i’ve found it so fun but challenging to write ginny’s pov when personally i’d probably be much more like hermione (want to know everything and obsessively follow the news lol). i really care about trying to write this arc in a way that feels fair to both characters.

on harry and ginny – i finally let them kiss ok!!! and i even gave harry a semi (sorry). those two just write themselves. it was very very important for me in this chapter to have the two of them thinking together about the world around them, as well as providing each other with forms of emotional support that are valuable to each of them (quiet, careful, lots of physical contact, not overstepping or overreaching, balanced out by laughter). ginny is better practiced at this: harry is still learning, though he’s getting there. what i hope i’m starting to show is how these two people go from teenage sweethearts to two people in a marriage and a partnership. (also how do you know ginny’s in the grounds a lot in the mornings harry??? hmmmmmm???) also harry potter loves the sea it’s canon and he also has no chill and definitely would pick out a little seaside house for them both tomorrow if ginny let him. love u hjp miss writing your narration where i could take for granted that you’re very selectively observant and have you slowly realise things. ginny is too observant i have to work much harder to cultivate her ignorance lol

on ron and ginny – i really feel like you can tell in their parting conversation that i’ve been binging succession lately. the surprise at ‘love you’ is pure roy siblings without any of the you know, deeply-fucked-up-ness

on st andrews/anstruther/scottish coastal destinations – how does ginny know these places, indeed? a story for another time… (we’ll get there)

on arnold – ok confession time: i forgot about arnold when i mapped out this fic. wrote a ginny pov fic about magical beasts and forgot her literal pet. in my defence, on my re-reads i was always just thinking like, what is the point of arnold. also what tf happens to arnold. is arnold one of the fallen fifty? we do not know. (...) at a certain point, though, i realised that arnold is just like, a dumb fun pet an adolescent girl gets to play with, and that’s kind of the point. joy is worth something in its own right. so having remembered he exists in canon lol and had that realisation, i’m happy with how he’s ended up in this fic finally lmao. the story of his handover is still to come, but for now just to say i really like the idea of little bea taking ownership of ginny’s pet, this symbol of innocence and fun and happy girlhood.

on chapter titles – this one is for my jonathan livingstone seagull fans (👀 again…)

reading list:

on bill weasley:

up and down and barely made it over by cosmicwritings

Harbor by @greenhousethree

on postwar justice and trials:

castles by @pebblysand

on the sea:

Harry and Ginny at Shell Cottage (meta)

on neville and ginny's friendship:

Ginny and Neville: A Friendship Forged in Fire (meta) by @greenhousethree

on lupin among the werewolves:

It's Just What You Do To Get By by @evesaintyves

songs for this chapter from the playlist:

to anyone who has reached out to tell me they’ve been listening to the playlist - you are all the loves of my life and i could kiss you. i spend an indecent amount of time picking songs out for that damn playlist, and i really used this week’s to get me into the zone for writing different sections, so feel very attached to this chapter's song choices (also it includes one of my all-time favourite songs, nobody else will be there, by the national, which is an immaculate and underrated hinny anthem and maybe my favourite love song in the world)...

and a tiny sneak peek of chapter six... ❓❔⁉️

MEET THE WEASLEYS: THE WIZARDING WORLD’S MOST OUTSPOKEN - AND CONTROVERSIAL - FAMILY William ‘Bill’ Weasley may have made headlines after his recent pro-werewolf testimony before the Wizengamot. But Bill’s not the only Weasley unafraid to ruffle some feathers. Get to know the notorious family who are no stranger to scandal, with the Daily Prophet’s handy pull-out guide, Which Weasley?

#beasts #author's note #spoilers #fic rec #alexa play press by cardi b

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wilygryphon · 8 months

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Princess of All Evil (Kingdom Hearts AU)

Rather than being caught by Xehanort and sent to Destiny Islands in the lifeboat, Kairi is caught by Maleficent, who takes the young Princess of Heart on as her apprentice. The witch trains Kairi as the girl grows up, becoming a powerful sorceress and a clever schemer by the age of fourteen. She meets and develops a bond with the rest of Maleficent’s council, though she avoids Ansem (who is not happy about not being able to follow her to find a Keybearer to use as a pawn). In the present day, she is sent to lead a Heartless attack on Beast’s Castle to kidnap Belle, which she accomplishes by twisting the castle’s enchantments to immobilize the servants and shift Beast’s animalistic form to prevent his attacks.

When the Heartless attack Destiny Islands, Riku hears a voice in his head calling him to the play island, and he goes in spite of the storm. Sora sees him outside of his window and follows him out of concern. When Heartless swarm them both, a Keyblade appears in Riku’s hand, which he uses to defend Sora and fight the monsters. They are unable to stop the Darkside, and the islands crumble while the boys are sucked into the chaos orb and wind up in Traverse Town. Riku ends up in the First District and encounters the Heartless and Leon while searching for Sora, while Sora ends up in the swamp outside of Merlin’s house and he meets the old wizard and starts to learn magic from him. Sora heads to town to look for Riku after a few lessons at the same time that his friend was sent to track down the Heartless’ leader. Sora and Riku bump into each other just before Donald and Goofy crash on top of them, and they all fight the Guard Armor. Wanting to help out and see the worlds, Sora and Riku agree to go with Donald and Goofy to fight the Heartless. Leon gives Sora a sword to use in battle, and Goofy and Donald begin tutoring both boys in combat and magic, respectively.

Kairi trails Alice through Wonderland, only for the younger girl to be put on trial for a Heartless’ attack on the Queen of Hearts. As she tries to come up with a plan to extract her, Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy show up and intervene in the trial. Seeing an opportunity, she waits for her chance and creates a Corridor of Darkness in the cage Alice is in when it is raised and the curtain is drawn. Taking an interest in the “cute boys with the Keyblade”, she reports what she saw to Maleficent and later heads to Traverse Town with Maleficent, where she approaches the party posing as a civilian refugee. She endears herself to the group easily, though Donald is suspicious of the magical energy he is detecting around her, and she finds herself genuinely liking them in return. When the Guard Armor attacks the Keyhole, she tests the party’s abilities by transforming the Heartless into the stronger Opposite Armor.

Kairi joins Jafar in capturing Princess Jasmine, stealing Genie’s lamp, and locating the Agrabah Keyhole, as she wants not only to supervise Jasmine’s capture but also to get her hands on the lamp when Jafar uses up his wishes. When Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin show up, they see Kairi and realize that she is working with Maleficent. Kairi joins the ensuing fight and fends off anyone who attacks her, but she is content to let the fight play out. When Jafar becomes a genie and is subsequently defeated, she sneaks off with his lamp, preparing her wishes, and she also takes Jasmine to Hollow Bastion.

It is here that it is revealed that Kairi has been waking the captured Princesses up to talk for most of her life and has genuinely befriended them. Emboldened after capturing Alice and having learned more of what Maleficent and Ansem intend for them, she left her awake and woke the others up, keeping them in a room adjacent to her own.

Ansem and Maleficent put Kairi with Captain Hook to travel around and gather the materials to forge the Keyblade of Hearts. Kairi convinces Maleficent and Hook to let her take the Princesses on as crewmen, knowing that Ansem plans to use the Keyblade to steal the hearts of all seven of them, including her. She teaches the girls magic and convinces them to help with her plans.

While digging for ore on an asteroid, Monstro attacks, forcing the Jolly Roger to flee which results in Kairi being swallowed by the whale. Intrigued by Pinocchio’s existence, she lures him away so that she can study his magic (and maybe also play some games with him). When Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy appear to take Pinocchio back to Geppetto, she teases the boys and makes them chase her through the whale. She decides that Pinocchio won’t be able to offer her any benefits, but she still helps the party rescue him from Parasite Cage, then takes him and tries to heal him when he is injured by the Heartless and appears to have lost his heart, even considering using her first wish to help him before Sora and Riku confront her and it turns out that Pinocchio is alright. When the Parasite Cage returns, she makes her escape through a Corridor of Darkness to the pirate ship.

When the heroes storm Hollow Bastion, Ansem talks Maleficent into fighting them in the chapel. When the witch is injured in the fight, Kairi goes to check on her mentor, and Ansem manipulates Hook into stabbing Kairi with the Keyblade of Hearts, reasoning that Maleficent will not be able to protect her charge. However, the “Kairi” they target was actually Snow White with an illusion spell, and the real Kairi uses her first wish to Jafar to have the Keyblade of Hearts appear in her hand, which she stabs at Ansem, trapping his heart within the weapon.

It is then that Kairi makes her case. The worlds will remain safe, but she will be in charge, with the Heartless under her control; she will be a hands-off ruler, but if she makes a decree, it will be law, and the Heartless will enforce it. If the Heartless step out of line, they will be slain in droves. Sora insists that he and Riku want their islands and the other worlds back, to which she agrees. Maleficent protests at her wicked work being undone, but Kairi warns that she will strike the witch down without hesitation if she stands against her. She guides everyone up to the Grand Hall, where she and the Princesses cast a spell with their light to complete the Final Keyhole, then instruct Riku to seal it. She informs them that the Door to Darkness will appear on End of the World, and that sealing it with the Keyblade from both sides will cause all of the worlds to be restored along with their inhabitants. Sora and Riku agree to help Kairi while Donald and Goofy go along with it until they can find a solution that they are both satisfied with.

After everything is restored, Kairi looks over Ansem and Xehanort’s research one more time before her date with Sora, regards the Keyblade of Hearts which holds Xehanort’s Heartless, and remarks: “You’re Darkness Number One. That means I have twelve to go.”

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts au #kh au #kairi #kairi kingdom hearts #kh kairi #villain kairi #anti-villain kairi #maleficent #sora kingdom hearts #riku kingdom hearts

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haveyoureadthisfantasybook · 3 months

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I would like to submit the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane.

The author is on tumblr with her name as the url as a heads up, so you can tag her but someone will likely bring the poll to her attention at some point

hello! I don’t do polls for series as a whole, so this would mean polling about each book in the series individually (note: So You Want to Be a Wizard is already queued, set to post on April 18th).

keeping in mind that So You Want to Be a Wizard is already queued, do you actually want me to poll the remaining 9(+) books in the series as well?

if so, do you also want to include the adjacent standalone publications (Lifeboats, How Lovely Are Thy Branches, Not on My Patch, and Owl Be Home for Christmas)?

#clarification requests

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ksfoxwald · 9 months

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Okay I think "Lifeboats" is my new favorite Young Wizards novel

#young wizards #interim errantry

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inukagome15 · 6 years

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Interim Errantry was definitely a lot like fanfic but totally canon and I loved it.

#young wizards #it was glorious #also kit had me giggling at numerous points in lifeboats

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commonjourney · 7 years

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So I finally finished Lifeboats, and Kit really was the kid who tried to take every critter home with him, wasn’t he?

I am sure his mom and sisters have stories.

#lifeboats #Kit Rodriguez #Young Wizards #(1 day I will settle on a good draft of Dairine's dress from WAW)#(rather than trying to make a bajillion other things)

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beingatoaster · 2 years

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I'm still on my Young Wizards re-read and I've hit Lifeboats, and wow is it timely in a way I'm having difficult-to-define feelings about.

#young wizards

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dduane · 3 months

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i read Lifeboats for the first time last week and i was struck by the author's note at the end... how sad that such a great book would be difficult to publish traditionally!! but i was so glad you can sell it through your online store and that i got to read it!

Thanks so much! I'm very glad you enjoyed it. :)

Re: not being able to get it trad-published: There are always going to be some books that will make your publisher simply shake their head and say "Nah, the subject's too niche / specific / weird / just not commercial enough to make it worth our while." At least these days we have alternatives. :)

#Young Wizards: Lifeboats #Young Wizards meta #publishing

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thelastspeecher · 4 years

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It’s been years, and I haven’t read the last one (it’s actually in the mail right now so I’d better do some rereading) but they were my favorite thing for awhile. Little me may have said the oath and been very disappointed the book didn’t turn into the manual. Oh! Do you think Stan would have ended up the local Advisory? Otherwise, him hiding the magic until the equivalent of the zombies?

you mean “Games Wizards Play”? oh my GOD that one’s actually my favorite in the series. it even tops “A Wizard Abroad” in my opinion. like, it’s one where you can really tell Diane Duane made sure to speak to the communities and cultures she represented in it, and applied so much nuance and care to things that other authors (*cough cough* JK Rowling *cough cough*) would paint with broad, offensive strokes. I’m not gonna give any other info, tho, bc spoilers. just know that it’s good. very good.

imo, you won’t need to reread the whole series to be caught up for that book. just “A Wizard’s Holiday” through “A Wizard of Mars”. honestly, if you can remember the characters introduced in “A Wizard’s Holiday” (Sker’ret, Filif, and Roshaun), you’ll probably be fine just rereading “Wizards at War” and “A Wizard of Mars”. but I’m not gonna stop you from rereading the other books in the series, the other books are great and always deserve another read lmao.

honestly.....YES. Stan becomes the local Advisory, ABSOLUTELY. maybe Dipper and Mabel don’t look up who the local Advisory is until the events of “Scary-Oke”, so that’s why they don’t find out who he is. or it could be that thing mentioned in “A Wizard Abroad”, where the manual hides wizards who are related to you. tho I don’t know if that would work the same way for someone who’s an Advisory....hmm.

and the zombie thing actually works perfectly! I was actually just rereading “Interrim Errantry” the other day, which is a collection of three stories of varying length that take place between “A Wizard of Mars” and “Games Wizards Play”. you can buy it in eBook format on Amazon and Diane Duane’s website, idk about a physical copy. it’s great and the last story in it, “Lifeboats”, fills me with all the emotions, from gut punch to cringe. SO good.

ANYWAYS back to the zombie thing. in “Interrim Errantry”, there’s a short story that takes place during Halloween and there actually ARE zombies that they wind up having to fight and then Nita weaponizes a pumpkin, it’s great. so there wouldn’t even need to be a zombie equivalent. it could just be....zombies. honestly, the more I think about it, the more Young Wizards lines up with Gravity Falls in a very smooth way. it deserves a crossover, big time.

I was also thinking about making Pa Guck a Senior for this AU, really make it an actual AU of the Stan McGucket AU. like, Stan gets kicked out, goes on Ordeal, during his Ordeal, tries to find someone to tell him how to Magic, stumbles across a Senior, aka Pa Guck. but that’s mostly bc I’m trying to bring my regular nonsense into this lmao.

#can you tell that no one I know can talk to me about these books #I just. I get so excited when people have read the underappreciated books that I have #thank you for continuing to let me scream about this #forreals tho WHERE IS MY YW GF CROSSOVER WHERE IS IT #YW AU #AU of Stanley McGucket AU #ask #neptunesmirror

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themargaretann · 6 years

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I’m freaking out about the implications of the ending of the new Fantastic Beasts film, and I’ve developed a somewhat far-fetched theory

WARNING: SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS. It’s like a three-year-old gallon of milk around here. Beware.

Do NOT click the link below if you haven’t seen The Crimes of Grindelwald film.

So Credence is supposedly a brother of Albus Dumbledore named Aurelius Dumbledore. We’re all still reeling from that one, but I think I may have an idea of how Jo’s going to make something that, timeline-wise, doesn’t really make sense, actually work out to be true.

But first, let’s lay out the possibilities with respect to this revelation.

1. Credence is indeed Albus Dumbledore’s younger brother.

Issues: if he is a Dumbledore and is related to Albus through the blood of their father (which we will assume, since Kendra Dumbledore wasn’t born into, but married into, the Dumbledore family), then he would have had to have been conceived after their (and Aberforth and Ariana’s) father was already arrested and locked up in Azkaban for attacking the muggle boys who attacked Ariana. But Albus’ father supposedly died in Azkaban when he was young, and so by that timeline, Aurelius would be much older than Credence is.

2. Credence is a relative of Albus Dumbledore, but not his brother.

This seems the most likely case? After all, he does have the phoenix talent-connection-thingy, but then why would Grindelwald have told a little white lie in calling him Albus’ brother? It seems to me that Grindelwald tells big lies big time, but doesn’t waste energy on little ones. After all, why would calling him Albus’ long-lost brother make a particular difference to Credence than just calling him his long-lost uncle or cousin or what have you?? The emotional push Credence needs to follow Grindelwald (and remain in constant meltdown mode) is just to believe that his own blood family doesn’t love him and is trying to kill him (which, Albus isn’t, but Credence doesn’t know that).

3. Credence is no relative of Albus Dumbledore at all, and Grindelwald is lying.

A few things seem to support this.1) Timing. Credence is too young to have been born to either of Albus’ parents before they died. 2) What proof do we really have that Grindelwald isn’t lying, save for the phoenix bit? 3) On some level, it just seems TOO ironic and intertwined to believe that Dumbledore’s sibling was swapped with the Lestrange child who was Newt’s friend/childhood love’s brother. Too many coincidences here.

4. Credence is Aurelius, but somehow Aurelius was born into the Dumbledore family before Ariana’s abuse by the muggle boys when she was small. Potentially, Aurelius was sent away (maybe even without Albus or Aberforth knowing about him), but for some reason didn’t grow up in real time.

What could Jo cook up to make this happen? Initially, I thought “no idea”, but she’s already challenged what we think we know about the rules of magic PLENTY of times in these two movies--think obscurus for one, Nagini being a real person (!!) under a blood curse for two, and then the new development with Dumbledore and Grindelwald having taken a blood oath, which seems to be akin to an unbreakable vow, though possibly and probably deadlier, for three. (More on how she might achieve this later.)

But let me take a little detour to note a few interesting clues or holes that might be important in this discussion before I propose my (very untidy and underdeveloped) theory.

Who was Credence with on the ship before it sank? (And also, what was the ship that sank? Was this the Titanic or Lusitania or some other real-world sinking that Jo has appropriated, or is it just a generic ship that we can’t attach to real history?) We know that Leta had swapped her real genetic half-brother, Corvus Lestrange, an infant, with another baby (who turns out to be Credence). So when the ship sinks, the family that was in possession of Credence (whether actually his relatives or not) drowns with fake-Credence-who-is-actually-real-Corvus-Lestrange when their lifeboat capsizes. SO WHO ARE THEY? It looked like a black (??) woman in the brief shot that picked him up to take him from the crib, and then the woman (the same?? I don’t recall) swimming toward him when they’re drowning, and that’s pretty much all we know.

Related to the Previous Thought:

Why does Corvus Lestrange (Leta and baby Corvus’ father--yes, they have the same name just to make things difficult) play a role in this film in supporting Grindelwald? We see him in the ministry at the beginning, taking the “job” that Newt won’t (i.e. going after Credence to kill him in Paris), but then later, he has a nice little chat with Grindelwald under a bridge where he informs Grindelwald that he killed the Lestrange nurse (WHY?), and that he is going to have a tough time with the Ministry officials for letting Credence “get away”. If, presumably, Corvus believed that the obscurial, Credence, was his son (we don’t, but it’s possibly a safe assumption), why would he be trying to help get him to Grindelwald? Maybe because he saw Grindelwald as a way to save his (or who he believes is) his child that he had adored? The important question, though, is: Does Corvus Lestrange (the father) know anything about Aurelius Dumbledore, and what role (if any) will he play for Grindelwald’s rise to power in the coming films?

This one’s a bit of a tangent, but I think it’s worth considering and investigating: I’m curious where Bathilda Bagshot is in all of this Dumbledore/Grindelwald business. We know that she introduced the two teenagers to each other all those years ago in Godric’s Hollow, and that Grindelwald was there because she was his great-aunt, whom he was visiting. Is it possible that Credence is actually part of Grindelwald’s family, not Dumbledore’s, and that Grindelwald lied to him because he’s going to use Credence against Dumbledore somehow in the midst of this shifty blood oath business? I don’t know if this question goes anywhere, but I think it’s worth asking if our favorite wizarding author (okay, maybe Hermione’s and mine, at least) and magical historian will make an appearance.

Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s blood oath seems to be waving a red flag in our faces when it’s announced at the very end of the film, in literally the exact same scene, as Credence’s blood relation to Dumbledore is revealed. Somehow, Credence--or Aurelius, I should say, since none of us is convinced that they ARE, in fact, the same person--seems like he’s going to play a HUGE PART in Dumbledore figuring out how to break that blood oath, or in how Grindelwald is able to break it (OR maybe protect it in order to protect himself from Dumbledore??).

And lastly:

Aurelius is a Latin/Roman name, taken most famously from Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and philosopher. It means “golden” or “gilded”--and this got me thinking. Maybe it isn’t significant, but Jo does love to play with names and she doesn’t pick them willy-nilly. Of course, the name fits with all the other ‘A’ Dumbledore siblings (Albus, Aberforth, Ariana), so that does suggest a hint of authenticity (or at least plausibility) to the existence of such a brother, but if he DOES exist--is that even Credence?

But then I noticed something else about the meaning in the name. Gold has to do with (it’s used in) ALCHEMY. The Sorcerer’s Stone can turn any metal into pure gold à la King Midas. D’you think somehow that Albus, in his involvement/partnership with Nicholas Flamel, found a way to keep his infant brother (see possibilities #1 and #3) alive for years without him aging??

OR, maybe there were only three Dumbledore siblings after all, but after Ariana’s “death”, Dumbledore found a way with Flamel to take her obscurus, and revive it as a new person, or, at the very least, attach it to a person (to form an obscurial)? Could Aurelius be a name that Albus Dumbledore gave to this child when they brought a part of Ariana back to life as a little boy? A child who was brought back to life through alchemy would make sense to have a name having to do with gold, for sure.

In fact, it would almost make even more sense, because perhaps Dumbledore’s alchemy partnership with Flamel was born from his interest in trying to bring his sister back after her death (and his heavy guilt over it), rather than the other way around.

Finally, I have to ask a question here: Why the hell was Flamel in this movie in the first place? What real function did he serve? Jo could’ve pulled in any minor character--or made one up!--to throw in a place for a safehouse and have an extra wizard body to help stop the weird blue flames from destroying Paris in the end, so WHY PICK FLAMEL? It seems to me that he has yet to fully serve his purpose in this film series and that he will come back to haunt us (with a very old and zombie-like, and yet very real body) later in a more significant plot role.

#fantastic beasts #protectthesecrets #SPOILER WARNING #crimesofgrindelwald #credence #aurelius dumbledore

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dweemeister · 5 years

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A list of all films featured in 2019′s 31 Days of Oscar

This is the exhaustive list of all 388 short- and feature-length films featured during this year’s 31 Days of Oscar marathon (up from 296 last year). Best Picture winners and the one (and only) winner for Unique and Artistic Production are in bold. Asterisked (*) films are films I haven’t seen in their entirety as of the publishing of this post.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Two Arabian Knights (1927)*

The Crowd (1928)

Sadie Thompson (1928)*

Speedy (1928)

Street Angel (1928)

A Woman of Affairs (1928)

White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)*

The Broadway Melody (1929)

The Divine Lady (1929)*

Weary River (1929)*

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The Big House (1930)

The Doorway to Hell (1930)*

Flight Commander (1930)*

The Criminal Code (1931)*

Little Caesar (1931)

The Public Enemy (1931)

Flowers and Trees (1932 short)

Grand Hotel (1932)

What Price Hollywood? (1932)*

42nd Street (1933)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Morning Glory (1933)*

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)*

Cleopatra (1934)*

Imitation of Life (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)*

The Thin Man (1934)

Alice Adams (1935)*

Captain Blood (1935)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)*

Top Hat (1935)

Dodsworth (1936)

Fury (1936)*

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Libeled Lady (1936)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Captains Courageous (1937)

Night Must Fall (1937)*

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

A Star Is Born (1937)

Way Out West (1937)*

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Boys Town (1938)

Merrily We Live (1938)*

Pygmalion (1938)

You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

Beau Geste (1939)

Dark Victory (1939)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Gulliver’s Travels (1939)

Lady of the Tropics (1939)*

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Ninotchka (1939)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)*

Stagecoach (1939)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wuthering Heights (1939)*

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

The Great McGinty (1940)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Night Train to Munich (1940)*

Our Town (1940)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

Strike Up the Band (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Waterloo Bridge (1940)

Dumbo (1941)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Suspicion (1941)

Bambi (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

Johnny Eager (1942)*

Kings Row (1942)*

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Random Harvest (1942)

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

The Desert Song (1943)*

The Human Comedy (1943)*

Lassie Come Home (1943)

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

Henry V (1944)*

Lifeboat (1944)

National Velvet (1944)

Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Blithe Spirit (1945)*

Brief Encounter (1945)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

They Were Expendable (1945)*

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Harvey Girls (1946)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Stranger (1946)*

First Steps (1947)*

Forever Amber (1947)*

Life with Father (1947)*

The Perils of Pauline (1947)*

Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy)

Hamlet (1948)

The Naked City (1948)

The Red Shoes (1948)

I Remember Mama (1948)

Romance on the High Seas (1948)*

Adam’s Rib (1949)*

Battleground (1949)

The Heiress (1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)*

Mighty Joe Young (1949)*

On the Town (1949)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

The Stratton Story (1949)*

The Third Man (1949)

White Heat (1949)

All About Eve (1950)

Broken Arrow (1950)*

Destination Moon (1950)*

Mystery Street (1950)*

Rashômon (1950, Japan)

An American in Paris (1951)

Royal Wedding (1951)

Show Boat (1951)*

Strangers on a Train (1951)

High Noon (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Umberto D. (1952, Italy)

The Band Wagon (1953)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)*

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Julius Caesar (1953)*

Lili (1953)

Little Fugitive (1953)*

Little Johnny Jet (1953 short)*

Titanic (1953)*

Brigadoon (1954)

La Strada (1954, Italy)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Seven Samurai (1954, Japan)

A Star Is Born (1954)

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

Marty (1955)

Speedy Gonzales (1955 short)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

The Bespoke Overcoat (1956 short)*

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Lust for Life (1956)

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)*

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Funny Face (1957)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

12 Angry Men (1957)

The Defiant Ones (1958)

Gigi (1958)

Mon Oncle (1958, France)

The Young Lions (1958)*

Ben-Hur (1959)

South Pacific (1958)

The 400 Blows (1959, France)

North by Northwest (1959)

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Macario (1960, Mexico)*

The Time Machine (1960)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

The Children’s Hour (1961)*

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Sweden)*

West Side Story (1961)

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

How the West Was Won (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Longest Day (1962)

The Miracle Worker (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

Charade (1963)

Cleopatra (1963)

The Leopard (1963, Italy)

Tom Jones (1963)*

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963, Italy)*

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Mary Poppins (1964)

My Fair Lady (1964)

The Pink Phink (1964 short)*

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, France)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

A Patch of Blue (1965)*

The Sound of Music (1965)

The Battle of Algiers (1966, Algeria)

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Grand Prix (1966)*

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

The Professionals (1966)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Doctor Dolittle (1967)*

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Two for the Road (1967)*

Bullitt (1968)*

Funny Girl (1968)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)*

The Lion in Winter (1968)*

Oliver! (1968)

It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1969 short)*

The Magic Machines (1969 short)*

Marooned (1969)*

Midnight Cowboy (1969)*

The Great White Hope (1970)*

I Girasoli (1970, Italy)*

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970, Italy)*

Patton (1970)

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

The French Connection (1971)

The Last Picture Show (1971)*

The Godfather (1972)

Sounder (1972)

Travels with My Aunt (1972)*

The Day of the Dolphin (1973)*

The Way We Were (1973)*

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Nashville (1975)

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

Network (1976)

The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

California Suite (1978)*

Superman (1978)

The Black Hole (1979)

The Black Stallion (1979)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

A Little Romance (1979)

Every Child (1979 short)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Atlantic City (1980)*

Kagemusha (1980, Japan)

Das Boot (1981, Germany)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Annie (1982)

Tron (1982)

Victor/Victoria (1982)*

Blue Thunder (1983)*

Amadeus (1984)

Dune (1984)*

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

Agnes of God (1985)*

Back to the Future (1985)

Legend (1985)*

My Life as a Dog (1985, Sweden)

Silverado (1985)*

Hoosiers (1986)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Au revoir les enfants (1987, France)

The Last Emperor (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Untouchables (1987)*

Stand and Deliver (1988)

Willow (1988)*

Do the Right Thing (1989)

For All Mankind (1989)

Glory (1989)

Henry V (1989)

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)*

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Misery (1990)*

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The Prince of Tides (1991)*

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Toys (1992)*

Unforgiven (1992)

The Age of Innocence (1993)*

Philadelphia (1993)*

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Three Colors: Red (1994, France/Poland)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Hamlet (1996)

Sleepers (1996)*

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Children of Heaven (1997, Iran)

Four Days in September (1997, Brazil)*

Titanic (1997)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Sixth Sense (1999)*

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Erin Brokovich (2000)*

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)*

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Monsters Inc. (2001)

Y Tu Mamá También (2001, Mexico)*

Chicago (2002)

Big Fish (2003)*

I, Robot (2004)*

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Walk the Line (2005)*

The Danish Poet (2006)*

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico)

Persepolis (2007, France/Iran)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)*

The Dark Knight (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008)*

Man on Wire (2008)*

Milk (2008)*

The Reader (2008)*

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The Wrestler (2008)*

The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentina)*

Biutiful (2010, Mexico)*

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

The Artist (2011, France)

Hugo (2011)

A Separation (2011, Iran)

The Act of Killing (2012, Indonesia/Norway/Denmark)*

Frankenweenie (2012)*

Life of Pi (2012)

Lincoln (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

Ida (2013, Poland)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

American Sniper (2014)

Interstellar (2014)

Song of the Sea (2014)

Creed (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The Revenant (2015)

Spotlight (2015)

We Can’t Live Without Cosmos (2015 short, Russia)

World of Tomorrow (2015 short)

Ennemis intérieurs (2016 short, France)

Fences (2016)

Moonlight (2016)

My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland)

Pearl (2016 short)

Baby Driver (2017)*

Dunkirk (2017)

Loving Vincent (2017)

The Shape of Water (2017)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)*

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Cold War (2018, Poland)

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018)*

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Shoplifters (2018, Japan)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

The eight nominees for Best Picture, including the winner, Green Book (2018)

The fifteen nominees for the short film categories (2018)

#31 Days of Oscar

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