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zimshan · 8 months

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august braindump: on the state of tv and heartstopper

the last year has been such a strange time for me and tv. i honestly cannot remember a time i watched less new tv shows. it’s not for lack of trying but every show/season i started, i was just dragging my heels to finish. some of that is because they’re older shows that aren’t as good as their earlier seasons. stranger things s4 took me an entire year to finish. the pacing was just wildly off to me, and that’s disappointing after the incredible structure of s1. some of that is because of subject matter. i haven’t been able to work myself up to watch outlander after the s5 finale because i just don’t have the mental bandwidth for a sexual trauma storyline. babylon berlin i stopped watching because they were threatening to kill another kid. i’ve noped out of so many shows because of the ratcheting stakes, something that i'm so so tired of seeing done just for the hell of it.

of all the shows, i probably watched the great s2 quickest because it was just so off the wall and the tone of s1 still fascinates me. but even that dragged and was partly guilt tripping to justify my hulu subscription, and i could never let my guard down because it was always going for the most outrageous grotesque thing. i’m stalled on s3 now that they’re killing off characters left and right.

i watched shadow and bone s2 like 15-20 minutes at a time in july because i just found it a snoozefest compared to s1. i legit just wanted to finish it to cross it off my list. how terrible is that? the moment i finished, i started the fame game, a bollywood show, literally because of one gifset on my dash. and watched that 4x faster than anything else i’ve seen all year. cementing my idea that the best of netflix is their international shows. but that shit was pretty dark too.

so beginning of august, i opened up netflix sleep deprived and looking for something to get my mind off my impossible deadline and fuel some writing inspiration. someone on my dash was recently talking about Heartstopper, and it reminded me i missed watching it last year when everyone was talking about it. so seeing it pop up on my netflix screen, i absentmindedly thought, "what the hell let’s see what the fuss is about" and started the first episode. and you know it did the impossible. it grabbed me from the first few frames, and i looked up 2 hours later like oh right sleep. and now i just want to analyze it like a bug. what the hell makes it work where others have failed?

the binging culture inherent to streaming tv is fascinating to me because i almost never do it. if there is one anti-binger out there, she is me. i miss the era of one episode a week on a certain night every day for years. my patience maxes out at 45 minutes every time. i think it’s terrible that shows need to be so bingeable millions of people have to watch an entire season in a weekend to get renewed. because even the best shows i can't commit to doing that for. where does anyone find the time or brainspace, idek.

i know most of the coverage and reaction to the show seem to be about representation and i agree. but there’s something about the elements of Heartstopper that just work where other tv shows lately have faltered and i want to break it down for parts. because on paper it does seem so simple. some of it really is just basic storytelling in tv. those first three episodes are key and the pacing is excellent, every second counts and the acting, editing, and music really drive the show and keep it compelling. on rewatch, i can see how the addictive quality is very much in the editing, in the music, to keep it punchy so that you never think to stop watching. but it’s also in the white space, the moments they give to the lead actors to let a moment breathe. i've been beating this drum for decades now but this show gave so many good examples of it.

several 5-minute sequences caught me thinking god that so compelling why how. the one that stood out on rewatch is the texting sequence in 102 after nick’s interception of the assault scene. there’s zero dialogue but the editing, acting, and music work together to feel the weight of the moment and then lift up from there.

all these essentials combine with something unique like the animations as visual representations of emotions and attraction and create some kind of magical alchemy. it’s been a long time since i’ve thought about it but “lightning in a bottle” describes the best seasons of tv i’ve seen: where it feels like everyone on set, all the actors, every one of the crew, writers, directors, care about the story and are working on all cylinders to do their best job. in the age of streaming, this seems to be more rare than ever and learning about mini writing rooms during the WGA strike has helped to understand why. so has seeing those checks to send home the overall state of residuals in the streaming era. to do the best job people need to be paid fairly. full stop.

so i started Heartstopper and watched 4 episodes in the blink of an eye. the next day, 6; the last day 4. then i did a thing i almost never do anymore: i looked up the soundtrack. music has always been a driver for me, a tv show that nails a score or soundtrack is always gonna get under my skin more than one that doesn’t. it’s part of the necessary ingredients for a good show for me. all my forever tv loves, music plays a central role, music that defines and sets the tone for the show and then becomes forever married to it. you can create a list of the songs and play it back and see the show unfurl again in your mind. its my favorite way of revisiting a show without actually watching it, after a good vid that is. but it works best when the music is a dead lock for the scene or character and typically this is sound driven more than lyrically driven. this show uses a 2012 era style sound i already have a strong affinity for, i have multiple work playlists from the last decade to drive me through a deadline with Foster The People, Fitz and the Tantrums, et al.

but it also did a thing i haven't seen in a long while: the lyrics were used as an extension of the script for internal character POV. in the first episode alone you have the following lyrical-visual pairs: -i'll go anywhere you want to go on charlie getting ben's text to meet -i wanna get lovesick with you on nick watching charlie run and asking him to join the team -right before i'm swallowed by my mind and cursing at the sky on charlie out of place on the rugby field before nick pulls him in to the group -what's the point of looking at the view? cause every time i do i just see you on elle and tao missing each other -the world ends it's you and me/in my head if we can be together/maybe we'll live forever on nick tackling charlie and the leaves animations around them -i see the signs of a lifetime on nick getting charlie's thank you x text paired with the flowing bird animations roll to the credits

this is vidding happening here.

so i spent a good two days listening to the soundtrack and related albums as i got through my deadline. and then i started getting some more questions about the timeline on the story (the soundtrack is of a style popular circa 2012 that i associate with 8tracks playlists even though the actual songs are a bit later, 2015 onwards) and looked up the books the show was based on. i started Solitaire after seeing it was the author’s first book and wanting to read tori’s POV after the glimpses in the show got me thinking about her elder daughter role.

then i looked up the comics when i realized the timeline of Solitaire was a year later and wanted to fill in the gaps. and wow, i’m in awe of how much of the show was already here, how much detail went into the show to match certain frames. the comics are basically acting as storyboards for the show. i used to do the most basic storyboarding for vidding a lifetime ago. i’ve recently gotten the storyboarding itch again the last few months after watching some BTS docs on TCM about storyboard artists and remembering how fascinating and underappreciated the skill actually is. there's some beautiful storyboarding out there, but it doesn't have to be beautiful, it's just got to be functional. at its heart, it's about the frame, the shot, the visual that tells the story. and a lot of that is already done in the comics and translated straight to screen.

i’m inspired learning about alice oseman’s story as a young author, how she started and finished Solitaire before graduating high school, writing the story she wished she saw on the shelves. then how she was taken with her two secondary characters and started teaching herself how to draw to visualize and bring to life their own journeys. it’s such a great example of how storytelling takes on a life of its own and how you are not defined by only your current skillset. there are no boundaries on creativity and curiosity but the ones we self-impose on ourselves.

the last few years, i’ve been thinking a lot about why some works fail to resonate while others succeed, especially in regard to book to screen adaptation. it probably started with the absolute fail that was GOT S8 and rereading THG next to the films and grown from there with my TCM pandemic focus. obviously it’s a gamechanger when the author is the showrunner and that alone is rare. the whole nature of Heartstopper as a webcomic first and driven by subscribers and kickstarter donations is unique as well. alice has built up a passionate audience to create for that helped promote the show and that makes a lot of difference.

but the streaming element is an added issue. by the time i finished season 2, my one overriding thought was wow, imagine society if this had aired 20 years ago. i couldn't help but think of the kids this show could have helped, seeing such an sincere example of queer community on screen. but interrogating that further, i know it’s a silly thought. it wouldn’t have gotten made at all. in 2000, dawson's creek kicked up hate over one gay kiss that amounted to almost nothing. my best friend at 15 came out as gay and felt like he had to pirate QaF asap as the only piece of queer rep around but something far outside of our age group. this story is age appropriate for the age that needs it. in 2023, homophobic parents are waging wars on the school board and libraries in our area for carrying books with queer representation including those of oseman's. no network would greenlight 22 episodes of a queer tumblr webcomic. netflix gave the show 4 hours for its first season in the middle of the pandemic. it only gets made in the streaming era. it is a product of the times, even if the story originates 10 years earlier.

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the picture of queer community and lifting up and supporting others is essential for the age this is targeting. i know i'm 20 years older than that target and am mindful of that. this show is not for me. but it's been a while since i've watched a teen series, probably skam, which is a big outliner in teen shows. i think from my dash i assumed the show was going to be pure teen fluff but instead was surprised how much texture it has. the love story is the focus of the gifsets, but it does sell the show short imo. the world doesn’t ignore the dark parts---homophobic bullies, abusive partners and clueless parents, trauma and its long tail, anxiety and eating disorders, the ways love and community can uplift and support but not cure. reading Solitaire i can see where it’s coming from, a dark story that starts the verse. the darkness is there not ignored but part of the journey. its presence makes the light more powerful. but its best virtue is that despite its dark parts, it’s at heart a comforting story. and i think this is an overarching reason why it succeeds as a show. the comic does right by each character and in turn cares for the reader. so everyone working on it saw the story as a comfort themselves and did right by the story. that care shows on screen.

the way Solitaire ends is a thesis statement of sorts for the osemanverse: support and lift each other up, you’re not alone and stronger as a community. it matches skam's thesis, and heartstopper continues it. that reminder is a balm to these times. it's the ethos of organizing but it got lost in isolation of the last few years. its simplicity is part of its power. part of lightning in a bottle is timing. i know some people have lived with this story for years, but after 4 long plague years, its sincerity speaks to me. i can’t think of a reminder i needed more than this story at this time. sometimes you really do stumble on the right story right when you need it.

anyway, this verse has gotten in my brain now so fair warning. heartstopper/osemanverse posting ahead.

#heartstopper #ive been stuck in bugs grief narrative for too long #this is a balm to my soul #i love it but im also breaking it down for parts #my txt #RB off #2023 #sometimes youre just running on empty and dont even realize it til a fandom blindsides you #havent done a tv braindump in ages #this is why #long post #pulling together all of my tag thoughts into one post

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isjatprenewed · 3 years

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every time netflix renews a show that isn't julie and the phantoms another piece of my soul dies 🙃

#real happy for people who watched shadow and bone though #and anything else netflix has renewed lately #wish i knew what that felt like #also i know netflix hasn't renewed that many shows but whatever #jatp #julie and the phantoms #renew jatp #renew julie and the phantoms #netflixwewantjatp2

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perlukafarinn · 3 years

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(ao3)

The day starts out pretty unremarkable. Dean wakes up at the crack of dawn to Cas slipping out of bed for his morning jog. He pulls him down for a good-morning kiss that turns into a make-out session that turns into them trading lazy handjobs and then falling asleep in each other’s arms again.

Their actual start to the day is around ten AM, when Cas finally gets up for his jog and Dean gets up for his cereal and a scroll through the morning news. He’s on the look for hunts, mostly out of habit since there’s been very little monster activity since Chuck went and fucked off for good. He doesn’t find anything this morning but that’s hardly a surprise. It’s been a couple of weeks since they’ve been out on a hunt and that inactivity, weirdly enough, is starting to bother him less and less.

Cas comes back from his jog about an hour before noon and with the mildest of prodding convinces Dean to join him in the shower. Afterwards, they throw together a lunch made from yesterday’s leftovers, taking their time eating and playing footsie under the table, because that’s apparently the kind of couple they are.

Usually by this time of day, Cas would be off in the Men of Letters’ library working on translations or cataloging and Dean would be on the phone helping Garth help out young, out-of-their depth hunters or in the garage, working on one of the beautiful but sadly neglected vehicles left behind there decades ago.

Today, both of them are seemingly feeling kind of lazy and so hardly any work gets done. It’s not until late in the afternoon that Dean feels the urge to do something productive and suggests they go out for groceries, which Cas readily agrees to.

The ride into town is quiet. Cas plays his mixtape - the damn thing should be worn out by now and Dean should long since be sick of it but for reasons too sappy to mention he isn’t - and they sit and listen in comfortable silence. It’s not until they pass the town hall on their way to the supermarket that Cas gets a contemplative look on his face.

“Should we get married?”

Only years of experience behind the wheel prevent Dean’s hands from twitching wildly and veering them into oncoming traffic.

“What.”

Cas looks over, frowning. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Is there any reason for us not to get married? We’re already planning on staying together for the rest of our lives.”

“Is there any reason-” Dean wheezes. “What the fuck, Cas? Is this your idea of a proposal?”

“Are you saying no?” Cas asks, mildly curious, as if they’re talking about the fucking weather and not getting married. “Because we don’t have to.”

Dean stares ahead, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “Are you actually asking?”

“I suppose I am.”

“You ‘suppose’,” Dean mocks. “Gee, Cas, that’s real romantic.”

“Will you marry me?”

Dean pulls over. It’s far too sudden, probably leaving tire tracks in the concrete, and the driver behind them honks his horn loudly as he passes. Dean ignores him, taking a deep breath as he finally turns to face Cas.

“Are you sure?”

He doesn’t really have to ask - Cas wouldn’t have brought it up if he wasn’t sure - but he needs to hear it.

Thankfully, Cas seems to get that. “I want to marry you, Dean. Do you want to marry me?”

“Son of a bitch,” Dean breathes. “I mean - yes. Yeah, I do.”

Cas nods decisively. “Alright then. Now?”

“Now?”

It’s not exactly how Dean imagined this scenario would go (not that he - shut up) but it’s somehow the most romantic fucking thing that’s ever happened to him since Cas first told him he loved him. And hey, this time no one had to die!

They turn around, since there’s no point in going in without (forged) birth certificates. Once they get to the town hall, shortly before closing, they find out that it’s a three-day mandatory waiting period between applying for a marriage license and them actually being allowed to get married.

Cas suggests they use the interim time to pick up wedding rings. They wind up spending the next day driving to Topeka, where they find a couple of silver rings in a pawn shop. They’re tarnished but otherwise in good condition and once they get home, Dean spends the rest of the evening cleaning them while trying very hard not to think about just what they’re for.

The second day, Cas spends out back tending to his garden while Dean almost dials Sam’s number repeatedly before hanging up, torn between wanting to let his brother know that he’s getting married and not wanting to jinx it.

The third day, they head back into town. They arrive at the town hall just after it opens and it’s not until they’re standing in front of the clerk that Dean realizes they don’t have any witnesses. The clerk assures him that they don’t need one for civil ceremonies and the next ten minutes pass in a blur until Dean is being prompted to place the ring on Cas’ finger.

He does so with shaking hands, stilled only once Cas places one of his own on top and gives Dean a patient smile. He’s this calm for a reason, Dean finally realizes.

This doesn’t change anything.

Married or not, they’ve already promised themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. Til death do them part doesn’t even begin to describe it, and in sickness and in health is almost laughable at this point.

This really doesn’t change anything.

Dean’s own hand is still as Cas takes his turn, sliding the silver ring upon Dean’s finger. They say their “I do”s when prompted by the clerk, exchange a short, firm kiss, and just like that it’s over.

They’re married.

When Jody invites them to dinner about a week later, they still haven’t told anyone. Sam and Eileen will be there as well as Jack and the girls - it’s a regular family reunion and the perfect chance to announce the big news to everyone.

Dean has a better idea.

“Let’s not tell anyone,” he says. “At least, not before dessert. Let’s see if they notice first.”

They’re in the Impala, about half an hour away from Jody’s place.

Cas shoots him an amused look. “Is this because Sam claimed he always knew we’d get together when we first told him we were involved?”

“No,” Dean lies. He drums his fingers on the steering wheel, seeing Cas still giving him that look from the corner of his eye. “Fine, yes. But he didn’t know, for the record. He just likes to pretend he’s always on top of this shit.”

“He doesn’t like to admit when you’ve surprised him,” Cas agrees.

The conversation ends there but Dean’s plan is apparently agreed upon since once they arrive at Jody’s, Cas doesn’t say a word about their recent relationship upgrade. Jody doesn’t seem to notice anything different, but then Dean didn’t expect her to. She’s not the one they spend most of their time around. Neither do Donna, Alex, Claire or Kaia, none of them surprises. Patience, Dean is less sure about, but she at least doesn’t say anything. Her eyes do linger unusually long but that could mean anything.

Damn psychics.

Sam and Eileen arrive half an hour after Dean and Cas, Jack in tow. This is the real test; Sam and Dean may not spend as much time together in the past few months as they did in the years before but he’s still the person who knows Dean best and would be the most likely to notice a difference.

And yet, nothing.

Dean tries not to feel too smug.

They go through dinner without anyone mentioning it. Dean makes a point of reaching across the table as many times as he can, showing off the ring glinting on his finger. Cas must notice him doing it, judging by the fond exasperation on his face, but he’s the only one.

It isn’t until dessert that Patience breaks, patience (hah) clearly run out:

“Is no one going to mention that Dean and Castiel are wearing wedding rings?”

And all hell breaks loose.

Sam is wounded - mostly over Dean and Cas not telling him before they got married, though Dean can tell some part of it is his pride at not seeing this coming - but he’s over it soon enough, once they explain that it wasn’t a big deal, not some proper ceremony, just a quick affirmation of what they already knew.

“See if I make you Best Man at my wedding after this, jerk,” Sam tells Dean.

“Your wedding?” Eileen asks pointedly.

Jody and Donna offer their congratulations before the conversation can get awkward, and Kaia, Alex, and Patience chime in with theirs as well. Jack looks confused at the whole proceeding, finally asking whether this means there won’t be any bouquet to catch, which only means Dean has gravely failed him in his pop culture education (oh, who’s he kidding, as if half the romcoms Jack has watched didn’t come directly from the recommended tab on Dean’s Netflix account).

Finally, with a pointed elbow from Kaia and a hangdog expression from Cas, Claire mumbles that she’s happy for them. While Dean doesn’t doubt that’s true he also knows that this is more complicated for her than the rest of them, and for the first time he kind of feels guilty about springing this news on everyone.

It doesn’t last long, not after Donna cheerfully raises her glass and proposes a toast to the happy couple and everyone else follows suit. They chant for them to kiss and, blushing outrageously, Dean complies, leaning over to press a quick kiss against Cas’ lips.

“So, who proposed?” Sam asks once the hooting and hollering has calmed.

“Cas did,” Dean says, slinging an arm around his husband’s - his husband’s - shoulders. “And it was the least romantic proposal of all time, you should’ve heard him.”

Cas rolls his eyes. “If I had left it up to you, we never would have gotten married.”

“He didn’t even give me time to pick out flowers,” Dean informs Sam gravely.

“There’s always the vow renewal,” Cas says, the casual statement managing to sound like a threat, and Dean shuts up.

The conversation moves on, the mood noticeably cheerier. As Jack and Sam launch into a story of their most recent hunt, Dean leans against Cas.

“We could have flowers, if you want,” he mutters.

Cas smiles at him, so bright and easy that it makes Dean’s heart stutter. He takes Dean’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the cool silver of Dean’s ring.

“That’s not necessary,” he says. “I’ve got everything I want right here.”

#deancas #destiel #spn fanfic #perlukafarinn writes #fluff #domestic #post-canon #established relationship #thank u to miriam who read through most of this #and assured me that it's plenty gay!

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talesofafangirlwithadvr · 3 years

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May 2021 Picks

I can’t believe that I’m currently writing this while still in the month of May! That’s a record for me. (Now let’s just see if I post it before June...Wishful thinking...) I feel like I’ve watched a good amount of stuff this past month and these are just some of the highlights. I’m going to include stuff that I loved and some other stuff that I didn’t love that much, but want to vent a little about. So, let’s get started!

The usual spoilers are expected...

SHADOW AND BONE

This watch actually happened at the end of April, but I felt I needed to include it in my May wrap up. To date, this is the fastest Netflix binge I’ve watched. I always try to drag them out a bit because otherwise I’m sad it’s over (especially if we don’t know if the show is renewed or not). But with Shadow and Bone, I couldn’t do that. I was longing for the next episode and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I think we watched it in about 2 days right when it was released (another record for me). I didn’t have any background going into the show. Just a few details from my sister who loved Six of Crows and read the first book in the Shadow and Bone series. She didn’t spoil anything for me, she would just mention when it was a match to the source material (which was impressive how well it did that. We’re not often that lucky with book to screen adaptations). [Side note: I have now started to read Six of Crows. Loving it so far.] I really enjoyed the characters and how they fused the two plots together. I know that the Mal and Alina relationship is much stronger than the books, and I think they did a fantastic job of you rooting for them. I think that’s a great way of proving that the film adaptation can sometimes strengthen the source material. I honestly liked all the ships (other than Alina and the Darkling. Of course, it was great to see Ben Barnes though). I’m excited to explore more of Kaz and Inej AND Nina and Matthias more in the book. (Stay posted for more on that as I read). Lastly, I just want to say how much I loved any scene that the stag was in. I don’t know if it was because I watching this late at night, but there were times where I felt like I could cry seeing it. (That might sound dramatic and I’m shocked I felt this way too. I can’t explain it, so I hope others left that way too.)

Highly recommend this one! I really hope there’s a second season.

THE NEVERS

This show really snuck up on me and I’m so happy I watched it. I’m also happy that there’s more episodes coming for the second part of season 1. (Now I just want to know when that’s happening.) I love the fusion of the historical genre and fantasy (as I’ve mentioned many times before). I think the characters are great and I like that we got more insight into this world in the part one finale. Although, I was definitely confused watching it. Because we were apart of the future plotline for a good chunk of the beginning, I felt like I was watching the wrong show. I also understand the sci-fi component of the touched abilities coming from an alien presence, but I was also kind of hoping for something else too. (I don’t know what, but I was expecting something a little more different.) I really liked learning about Mrs. True’s backstory and filling in the gaps that were missing. Penance Adair has quickly become a character I would do anything for. I started watching Starz’s Death and Nightingales for Ann Skelly and while it has been good, it’s definitely not the Nevers (which I knew it wouldn’t be, but you can’t help compare when you just watched her as Penance).

I highly suggest this one if you’re looking for a period piece with an HBO flair (it’s not a Victorian Game of Thrones, but I compared it to someone like that because of the type of detailed world building.) ALSO if you want to revisit some of your favorite British actors as many familiar faces make an appearance then you should watch this show. I also LOVE the soundtrack and have been listening to the playlist nonstop on Spotify.

JUPITER’S LEGACY

Okay, so we’re now taking a jump to one of my watches that I didn’t enjoy. I wanted to include it on my list because I devoted a good amount of time to it and have some things to say. For a little bit, I thought about giving up on it, but then there would be moments where it looked promising. Overall, I did not enjoy this one. I was not a fan of the parallel storylines of the past and present. Mainly because I felt that they didn’t mirror each other well and that we were either in one or the other for a good amount of the episode. Why not have an episode just dedicated to the past? I read that it’s based on a graphic novel series, but had no knowledge of it going in. I knew it would not be a comedy, but felt it took itself very seriously. I wanted some lighter moments to balance out all the dark plots. I also couldn’t stand Chloe. I felt there was too much of her and I wanted to see a more redeeming development for her. I thought we were going to get there, but then we didn’t (or at least it wasn’t as big as I thought it should have been.)

If there is a second season I will not be watching.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

I’m doing a bit of a throwback now. Believe it or not, I haven’t seen all these movies. (Well, now I have, but at the start of the month I was missing movies 3 and 4.) I was in the mood for watching a series of movies and really enjoyed the Marvel Rewatch I did last year, so this felt like a good choice. I enjoyed watching them, especially along with my sister. For the most part I liked parts of all of them just the third and last one dragged the most for me. There’s definitely parts that repeat with similar storylines in each one. I think it’s ironic because any time I read a book that takes place on a ship, I can’t get into it, but watching I’m completely fine with it. I heard there’s talks of a sixth movie and I would watch it if it was released.

THE MIGHTY DUCKS: GAME CHANGERS

One throw back to the next. After watching each of the Pirates movies, my sister and I moved on to marathoning the Mighty Ducks movies. These were classics to watch when I was growing up, so it was great to re-live them before watching the new show on Disney Plus. I tried waiting a while to watch the series, this way we didn’t have to wait weekly for a new episode. (Just had to do that for the last two.) I REALLY enjoyed this series. So much more than I was expecting to. I wasn’t expecting so much heart and great acting from this new group of actors. I loved seeing Emilio Esteves once again as Gordan Bombay. While he’s a different Bombay than where we left him at the end of D:3, you quickly learn what has changed him. It’s interesting seeing the Mighty Ducks team as the bad guys. Before watching the show, I thought this would bother me, but it really didn’t. I loved all the throwbacks and Easter eggs and of course freaked out for episode 6 with the return of some of the original ducks.

I really hope that this show gets picked up. This way we can continue to make references from the franchise and without the restrictions from COVID more people can come back. (I’m looking at you Joshua Jackson.)

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

I’m so happy to add this movie to my May Picks. I just watched it a couple of weeks ago after it came out on Blu-ray. (Ironically, you can still go see it in some movie theaters in my area.) This was a highly-anticipated one for me. I was excited to learn more about the characters and get into the mythology. It did not disappoint. Similar to Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, this film has a lot of heart. I really liked Raya and so many of the secondary characters. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments. Awkwafina was a fantastic choice for the last dragon Sisu. Her voice was perfect! I loved the animation. I remember hearing that they had to film a good amount of the actor’s recordings at their homes and I think that’s amazing. You wouldn’t have known unless you watched the bloopers on the special features. Definitely add this one to your list!

THE GREAT POTTERY THROW DOWN

Such an addictive show. A must watch for anyone who is a fan of The Great British Bake-off and Netflix’s Blown Away. A friend mentioned this show to me at the start of the month and I instantly got hooked. I know nothing about pottery, but now feel that I do. Originally airing on the BBC, HBO Max is now streaming this pottery competition show. It follows ten home potters as they compete for the top pottery win (maybe money. I can’t remember, but there’s a great trophy). This is the kind of show where I feel apart of the cast and am sad to watch them go. I really clicked with season 1 and season 2 took a little bit, but I grew to love that group too. Now I’m on the finale and am very excited to see who wins it all.

If you need a feel-good, quick watch then you should look no further!

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

You’ve heard me say it time and time again. This show is the best in the Arrowverse. I gave up on Supergirl years ago and while I stuck it through with Arrow, I don’t know if I’ll be doing that with the Flash. (I have been behind watching recently, and when I do watch I tend to fast forward most of it because I lose interest.) This season came back at the start of May and has aliens as the main adversary. Currently, I have liked some episodes more than others. I’m not sure if this is because of the alien plot, that I miss some of the OG cast, or I need a break from superhero shows. I also miss Sara being apart of the core group. Last season, she was away for a bit too and while I love Ava’s leader role of the legends (and have gotten really used to it), I want to see them working together. Especially now that they’re engaged! (Well, Sara doesn’t know Ava said yes yet, but I need them to be reunited.) Interested to see where we’re headed for the rest of the season.

Last thoughts....

I’ve been sharing a lot of my Nancy Drew reactions after watching the new episodes, so you can definitely find those on my page. I CANNOT WAIT for this finale tomorrow night. SO MUCH HAS TO HAPPEN TO WRAP EVERYTHING UP! I know Nancy has to be okay (because the show’s been renewed for a third season), but who knows what’ll happen. I am also desperate for more Nace content.

Kung Fu is another show on the CW that’s been killing it recently. I cannot believe that bombshell that Nicky’s mom revealed at the end of the last episode. What! How do we move forward? Also, can Nicky and Henry please make-up? I’m not sure my heart can take it.

I’ve missed you in the month of May. Can’t wait to watch more new episodes.

Just started season 2 on Amazon Prime Video. Just the historical/period piece, mystery I needed. I also love me some James Norton. (Although, I’m kind of done with the will they won’t they with Sidney and Amanda.)

Time for another Disney Plus telenovela. 80 episodes seasons; I’m back!

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juleswolverton-hyde · 3 years

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Otaku Nostalgia | Anime & Manga June 2021 Update

One thing not a lot of people know is that I used to be a big otaku. Yes, you read that correctly.

I was an otaku.

However, after graduating high school, I gradually left the hobby behind and started to focus on matters like work, university, and travelling. Nevertheless, on my last trip before the pandemic grew severe again, I bought a few manga when I was in Paris (late July/early August 2020). I meant to renew my interest in this part of Japanese culture back then yet took about a year to properly sit down and read them. I do have to admit it was a bit of a struggle since my French has grown rusty in the past four years. All the same, they brought back memories of my teenage years and may or may not have kickstarted the itch to collect manga again.

Okay, they have though I do have to say I try to keep the collection to a minimum since manga is quite expensive in The Netherlands. Fortunately, or perhaps not so in regards to the mangaka, there is the opportunity to read a lot of them online.

In regards to anime, it would be a lie to say Jaebeom and Christian Yu don’t form part of the reason I started watching again. Netflix providing me with Beastars was another push to kick back, relax, drink coffee, and watch a few anime episodes (or binge a whole series).

Having said all this, I thought it would be nice to provide monthly updates on what I watch and read. Also, if you have any recommendations, please leave a comment or shoot me a message. Now, without further ado, let’s get started.

Manga read: 6

Anime watched: 4

Manga

Currently reading: Kakuriyo Vol. 2 & Wotakoi Vol. 3

Summaries provided by Goodreads.

Wotakoi Vol. 1 & 2

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Josei

Author & Illustrator: Fujita

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: Narumi and Hirotaka are, by all appearances, a power couple. They're young, good-looking professionals. But they have secrets from everyone but each other: they're serious geeks! Narumi is a fujoshi, and Hirotaka's a hardcore gamer. Their sweet, awkward love story started life as a webcomic before becoming a full-blown manga series by popular demand, and is about to become a major anime series!

Review: Normally, I am not one for romcoms and avoid them at all costs to spare myself from their boredom. However, Wotakoi forms an exception to the rule since Narumi’s & Hirotaka’s as well as Hanako’s & Tarou’s love stories are the perfect blend of serious adult matters and what it means to be an otaku or a nerd in general in a world which sees nothing but the stereotype.

I might be aro and ace, but this series gives me hope I might one day find someone who accepts my nerdy side and participates in anything geeky since they are a nerd themself.

Yes, this romcom is the only one I will accept as good and enjoy to the fullest.

Kakuriyo Vol. 1

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Supernatural, Josei

Author: Midori Yuma

Illustrator: Waco Ioka

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: Faced with the choice of being married to a strange spirit or being made into dinner, Aoi decides to create a third option for herself! Aoi Tsubaki inherited her grandfather’s ability to see spirits—and his massive debt to them! Now she’s been kidnapped and taken to Kakuriyo, the spirit world, to make good on his bill. Her options: marry the head of the inn her grandfather trashed, or get eaten by ayakashi. But Aoi isn’t the type to let spirits push her around, and she’s determined to redeem her grandfather’s IOU on her own terms! Aoi wants to work off her debt to the Tenjin-ya inn, but she only has one day to find a position and none of the managers are willing to hire a human! If she can just get someone to see past her family background, Aoi is certain she can prove her worth!

Review: All right, I know I said I will only accept Wotakoi as a good and enjoyable romcom, but this one is splendid too. Also, I have a soft spot for anything having to do with yōkai (be it in the shape of ayakashi or something else).

Furthermore, Aoi is a strong-willed girl who knows what she wants. It is a nice change from the softer girls who are more dependent on the male protagonist/love interest. Independent women, that is where it’s at.

In regards of the secondary world, I adore how the reader gets an insight into the Japanese Underworld. Whereas Hades and Hel are dark nothingness, Hell is a flaming pit (depending on who you ask because Bede’s vision or, rather, Drythelm’s is vastly different from Dante’s), and Buddhism knowns a bright light of wisdom that stops the cycle of reincarnation, Kakuriyo is filled with ships flying in the sky and lanterns lighting up the heaven. I do know how to envision the other realms, though I am certain they will intrigue me just as much if the manga will introduce them.

Lastly, I merely want to bring the best fox boy to your attention. I ship Ginji and Aoi so much despite not having read much of the manga nor having seen the anime. This boy is just the sweetest, caring, and cheekiest lad out there.

That Wolf Boy Is Mine Vol. 1

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Shōjo

Author& Illustrator: Yoko Nogiri

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: Komugi’s not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn’t expect a boy to come up to her and say, “Gee…you smell good, somehow!” That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he’s a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Review: I love this manga and that is an understatement. Has this manga unconsciously influenced my personal writing? Maybe. I can’t say I mind, though the summary really does remind me of my current project (Not by the Moon/Until the Last Page of Spring).

I digress.

Anyways, the plot is fairly simple and straightforward. However, the manga thrives on the interactions between the characters. Essentially, this is what the story is all about: a normal girl falling in love with a wolf (don’t you glare at me) and being pulled into the world of ayakashi, a world she tries to reconcile with her own. It’s cute, quick, and simple. Moreover, there are only four volumes. Therefore, it’s a perfect story to binge-read in one sitting, especially now that it is summer.

Rose & Wolf Vol. 1

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Life, Supernatural, Shōjo

Author & Illustrator: Jun Yuzuki

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: This romantic comedy follows a high school girl and a male student with a hidden secret, both attending in Sumeragi Academy, one of Japan's most elite boarding schools. Futaba Yoshino is a freshman girl taking regular courses at the academy, but she daydreams about Kōga Kiriya, an aloof second-year student with translucent, dusk-colored eyes, but he's on the advanced track of special studies. Although they live in different worlds, something unexpected suddenly brings them together.

Review: I will be completely honest and admit I bought this manga because it was on sale and the title caught my eye (for obvious reasons). Nevertheless, I was disappointed with the story due to its clichés, poor worldbuilding, and less than awe-inspiring ‘wolves’. In fact, they were supposed to be dogs yet all I could see were boys with animal ears.

Worldbuilding-wise, the concept of the beast being reliant on an item for its lifeforce is a trope that is either done well or a complete flop. In the manga, a boy relies on a pearl a girl swallowed and can’t get back which condemns him to die. To me, this is an example of a poor execution of the trope. After all, with what little biology I had in high school, I am fairly certain the mangaka is being too drastic in her story.

Tokyo Ghoul: Re Vol. 1

Genre: Dark fantasy, Supernatural thriller, Seinen

Author & Illustrator: Sui Ishida

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: Haise Sasaki has been tasked with teaching Qs Squad how to be outstanding investigators, but his assignment is complicated by the troublesome personalities of his students and his own uncertain grasp of his Ghoul powers. Can he pull them together as a team, or will Qs Squad first assignment be their last?

Review: It is a shame my French has become rusty and I could therefore not understand the whole of the story. It also doesn’t help I haven’t finished the original series (though I am still eyeing the box set).

Notwithstanding, from what I did comprehend of the plot, it is as dark and gritty as Tokyo Ghoul. Many beloved characters from the original story return in the sequel, giving the reader a sense of where they’ve ended up and their place in society.

I can’t say anything else since I think it’s better to first have read the original series to avoid confusion. However, there is a brief introduction to the world in the first volume. Nevertheless, for newcomers or people who return to the Tokyo Ghoul universe after a long time like me, this intro is too little to go on. Henceforth, read Tokyo Ghoul first and only then start this series.

Anime

Currently watching: The Morose Mononokean (Fukigen na Mononokean)

Summaries provided by MyAnimeList.

Tokyo Ghoul (S1) & Tokyo Ghoul √A (S2)

Genre: Dark fantasy, Supernatural Thriller

Episodes S1: 12

Episodes S2: 12

Rating S1: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Rating S2: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary S1: Tokyo has become a cruel and merciless city—a place where vicious creatures called "ghouls" exist alongside humans. The citizens of this once great metropolis live in constant fear of these bloodthirsty savages and their thirst for human flesh. However, the greatest threat these ghouls pose is their dangerous ability to masquerade as humans and blend in with society. Based on the best-selling supernatural horror manga by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul follows Ken Kaneki, a shy, bookish college student, who is instantly drawn to Rize Kamishiro, an avid reader like himself. However, Rize is not exactly who she seems, and this unfortunate meeting pushes Kaneki into the dark depths of the ghouls' inhuman world. In a twist of fate, Kaneki is saved by the enigmatic waitress Touka Kirishima, and thus begins his new, secret life as a half-ghoul/half-human who must find a way to integrate into both societies.

Review: This was actually a re-watch for me, likely one of the last anime I saw before I dropped the hobby. And, boy, did it bring back feelings!

I won’t give any spoilers, but I was bawling my eyes out once again at the end of season two. In fact, I think I cried more during that season than because of the first.

I know Japan has a strict code on what can and can’t be shown on screen, but I would have liked for the gore to not be censored. After all, in the manga, it’s guts and gore galore. I didn’t mean to make that rhyme, but there you go.

Other than that, I was pinned to the edge of my seat as I was watching, indulging in pure nostalgia while also continuously being put on edge by the story. It goes without saying this is my go-to for when I want something dark and gritty that also, funnily enough, comments on modern society.

Wotakoi

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Episodes: 11

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: Having slept through all four of her alarms, the energetic Narumi Momose finds herself running late for her first day of work at a new office. As she races to catch her train, she makes a promise to herself that none of her coworkers will find out about her dark secret: that she is an otaku and a fujoshi. Her plan goes instantly awry, though, when she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, an old friend from middle school. Although she tries to keep her secret by inviting him out for drinks after work, her cover is blown when he casually asks her whether or not she will be attending the upcoming Summer Comiket. Luckily for her, the only witnesses—Hanako Koyanagi and Tarou Kabakura—are otaku as well. Later that night, the pair go out for drinks so that they can catch up after all the years apart. After Narumi complains about her previous boyfriend breaking up with her because he refused to date a fujoshi, Hirotaka suggests that she try dating a fellow otaku, specifically himself. He makes a solemn promise to always be there for her, to support her, and to help her farm for rare drops in Monster Hunter. Blown away by the proposal, Narumi agrees immediately. Thus the two otaku start dating, and their adorably awkward romance begins.

Review: I have nothing to say about the anime that I haven’t already mentioned in my review of the manga. Henceforth, refer to that to know my thoughts.

Beastars S1

Genre: Coming-of-Age, Drama, Fantasy

Episodes S1: 12

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Summary: In a civilized society of anthropomorphic animals, an uneasy tension exists between carnivores and herbivores. At Cherryton Academy, this mutual distrust peaks after a predation incident results in the death of Tem, an alpaca in the school's drama club. Tem's friend Legoshi, a grey wolf in the stage crew, has been an object of fear and suspicion for his whole life. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, he continues to lay low and hide his menacing traits, much to the disapproval of Louis, a red deer and the domineering star actor of the drama club. When Louis sneaks into the auditorium to train Tem's replacement for an upcoming play, he assigns Legoshi to lookout duty. That very night, Legoshi has a fateful encounter with Haru, a white dwarf rabbit scorned by her peers. His growing feelings for Haru, complicated by his predatory instincts, force him to confront his own true nature, the circumstances surrounding the death of his friend, and the undercurrent of violence plaguing the world around him.

Review: I bloody adore this series! It is also the one which initially got me back into the otaku game. Admittedly, the animation first threw me off a bit since there is a lot of CGI going on. Notwithstanding, I kept watching because of the story and Legoshi (for obvious reasons). In all seriousness, I had more fun following Legoshi’s point of view than the others’ likely because he is relatable to me as a person. Granted, I’m not a tall predator (if anything, I am likely closer to Hal’s or Juno’s height) but his personality overlaps a lot with mine.

All in all, I cannot wait to start watching season 2 and to begin reading the manga. I recently acquired the first three volumes, so I think I might binge-read them in the near future.

#otaku #manga #anime #Wotakoi #Beastars #Tokyo Ghoul #Tokyo Ghoul:Re #Kakuriyo #That Wolf Boy is Mine!#Rose & Wolf

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iloveseung-gi · 2 years

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I am watching

“Memories of the Alhambra”

again, but this time with a friend and I am having so much fun watching his facial expressions and hearing his “Oh my God!” and “WHAT??!” as things progress throughout the series.

It’s fun to share something good with someone else and watch them have as much a good time watching it as I did originally.

The special effects in this series still blows me away!

I so wish that they would create a season two…..

“Memories of the Alhambra" is a 2018 South Korean television series starring Hyun Bin and Park Shin-hye. The K-drama dropped its final episode on January 20, 2019. Nearly three years after its release, fans continue to hope that the creators will definitely return with Season 2 soon.

"Memories of the Alhambra" was obviously a commercial success, consistently topping the cable television viewership ratings in its timeslot. The drama has grabbed audience's attention for its unique theme of augmented reality and earned praise for its high-end computer graphics, cinematography, and fast-paced storytelling.

In the meantime, a petition was launched to compel the creators to renew Memories of the Alhambra for Season 2. Although Netflix or TvN has not yet made any official announcement on the show's renewal, fans are hopeful that Memories of the Alhambra Season 2 would come in the future. In their defense, the renewal of the renewal of successful titles is a de facto norm in the industry. Many earlier hit k-dramas was restored by public demand lately.

"Memories of the Alhambra" follows Yoo Jin-woo (Hyun Bin), the CEO of a finance company that deals with visual devices. After receiving an email regarding a groundbreaking AR game about medieval battles in the Alhambra, Yoo Jin-woo, travels to Granada, Spain to meet the creator of the game, Jung Se-joo (Park Chan-yeol). However, Se-joo has gone missing and there he meets his older sister, Jung Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye), who is the owner of the hostel he stays in. His sister is a former guitarist too. Both get entangled in mysterious incidents, as the border between the real world and the AR world built by Se-joo begins to blur. When Memories of the Alhambra Season 2 returns, viewers might see some twists in the interesting storyline.

Presently, there is no announcement regarding the second season of the k-drama. However, the renewal of "Memories of the Alhambra" Season 2 could be delayed due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic. We will surely keep updating the news as soon as we get anything new. Stay tuned to Devdiscourse to get the latest updates!

Ummm, still waiting…..

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arsonist-chicken · 3 years

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Lockdown Tag game; I got tagged by @we-are-not-amoosed thank you! I keep forgetting you know I exist, also I hope you had fun being drunk at midnight on a Tuesday hjhjhj.

First of all, a big FUCK YOU to tumblr, because I was at the LAST QUESTION and opened ONE NEW TAB to look up the word windmill, and when I went back to tumblr, my post was GONE, so here we go again. If an answer seems short of half-answered, it’s because I didn’t feel like typing everything again.

Are you staying home from work or school?

HA. Yes. Love that for me. Not at all. My university opened for 1 1/2 weeks in March 2020, then for another 4 weeks in November, and it has been closed ever since. I’m in my dormitory in the town I study in, not home home at my parents’ place though, because that would Not end well. The internet connection sucks though, that’s really annoying with distance learning. When I go into The City for A Thing, I usually cycle past my department and it makes we Yearn to go back in there, which is a thing I didn’t think would ever happen, but one pandemic later and suddenly everyone would kill for the change to go back to work/school in person, wouldn’t we?

If you’re staying home who is there with you?

I live in a dormitory, so technically, there’s a lot of other people there, but I don’t really talk to any of them except for when we meet in the hallways or the kitchen or wherever, so really it’s just me, the stuffed animal my friend got me last year because I kept whining that I didn’t have a cat like her at her boyfriend’s place where she basically lives now, and the birds who come to eat from the bird house I put on my balcony.

If it makes you feel any better @we-are-not-amoosed, not that I think it will but hey, who knows, my twin sister is moving out in December, so I will be the only child at home with my parents during summer/Christmas/Easter break, which will be Not Fun. I’ll take another 1 ½ years for my degree, and another 2 if I do a master’s, so that’s about... 1-3/4 years I’ll be alone with my parents while my perfect sister gets to move out and move on and live Adult Life fully respected as an Adult working with renewable energy, as opposed to the Disappointment who takes 5 years for a 3 year degree in a field that’s hard to find employment in and never Does Stuff like my mother wants me to Do Stuff.

Are you a homebody?

I’m with @we-are-not-amoosed there, I didn’t know what that meant, but Pons says “Stubenhocker”. A bit I guess? I’m definitely fine being home by myself if I’m unbothered there (read: not at my parents’ when they are home) and I do need time by myself to recharge. But probably like everyone else, I crave and enjoy social contact a ton more than Before. I meet a friend fairly often (aka the only friend still here instead of home for distance learning), and today we worked together (handing out flyers which idk why the company pays us to hand them out, like 95% of them get thrown away immediately, but hey, we’re getting paid 🤷) and then went to sit by the river, and there were SO MANY people there, it was not *entirely* corona-compliant (but outside with town-typical wind, so it’s fine I think, with my non-existent knowledge about spreading of viruses and such), but honestly? I just couldn’t be bothered to care in that moment: it was warm and sunny, I was there with a very close friend, people were laughing and dancing to good music, it was just so GOOD to be there, almost as if Corona didn’t exist. The police even drove by like they always do to check for people smoking weed and didn’t say anything like usual, so hey. It was just so good, okay? So, homebody? Within reason, I guess, but less than Before, probably.

An event you were looking forward to that eventually got cancelled?

Oh boy, SO MANY. The one I’m most bitter about was a very prestigious international interpreting event, that would have involved me interpreting in the actual European Parliament building in Strasbourg. But there was also a festival week with my best friend I was looking forward to, maybe even a second festival with another friend, my company’s ten year anniversary party, etc. And Prides! I came out to my family in 2019, and was like “Yay, I can finally go to Prides now!” but well 🤷

DUDE SO MANY ARE YOU KIDDING ME

CONCERTS: 5SOS (I SHOULD HAVE heard “Old Me” in a crowd full of other people getting nostalgic for their past selves, but NO), Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Rock im Park aka GREEN DAY AND RISE AGAINST (I have been trying to see Rise Against for YEARS and ALWAYS something gets in the way!), one or two small local artists.

ERASMUS: I should have gone to Russia for a semester to improve my not-too-great speaking skills but Corona said FUCK YOU you will study ALONE and LONELY in your ROOM like a child on TIMEOUT

PRIDE: none in particular, just generally it would have been nice to go, maybe even with a friend to the one in Vienna

Also just general stuff like birthdays and get-togethers with friends, and my club’s annual get-together was cancelled too, and it would have been my friend, sister and my’s 10-year-anniversary, so that sucked to get cancelled.

What movies have you watched recently?

Movies? Pfuh, I don’t know, I’m not really into movies anymore, tbh. TV-series and games are more my jam.

Descendants 1 +2, I finally watched those after I read so much fanfiction that I knew the plot without having watched a single scene that isn’t a music video that youtube kept showing me. They’re nice enough, if you overlook the fact that they make a 16-year-old king while there’s still perfectly capable adults but whatever, there’s a lot of cute moments (Carlos and Jane omg) and a lot of funny ones (UMA. Is HILARIOUS), the music kind of slaps ngl, and arguably Mal + Evie are queer and in love. I still want to watch the third soon, and rewatch The Hunger Games since it showed up on my dash recently.

What shows are you watching?

Rewatching Julie and the Phantoms forever until the end of time (or until season 2 comes out @netflix, and I started Brooklyn 99 again for background noise/low-energy background watching. A friend recommended Ginny & Georgia and it’s okay enough, but it’s written in a way that makes you want to keep watching because there’s just such whack stuff happening that you want it explained; it’s 1h episodes though, that’s a bit hard on my attention span. I want to rewatch FMA:B some time, too.

What are you reading?

@we-are-not-amoosed said “tumblr posts and the texts I translate at work” and if that isn’t a Mood. I’d love to read more, but my attention span is shit and my reading comprehension even worse. I *am* reading “Explain to me like I’m 5” atm which explains stuff easily, like, well, you’re 5 years old, so you’d think a 23-year-old could understand, no? No. I read it, I vaguely understand some stuff, I close the book, and it’s G-O-N-E, not a single thing left. Literally the only thing I remember – and this is why I had to re-write ^^^all that because I needed to look up the English word for Windräder, if that’s even what they’re called in German but whatever I’m tired – is that insects and birds die a LOT in windmills when they get too close and get sucked in and can’t escape anymore, which is one of the reasons windmills aren’t as environmentally friendly as we thought when we built them. Anyhow, I’d love to read more, but idk, there are a lot of posts on here, some I’ve reblogged, that are like.. something something reading fanfiction is easier because you already know the characters and universe something something less mental energy something something idk. Yeah I mostly read fanfiction these days. I hope I’ll get back to reading books sometime soon-ish, I have a long list.

What are you doing for self-care?

Hm. I meet my friend I mentioned above pretty regularly, and I have a notebook that I write stuff in that was nice or made me happy when that happened (like today: working with my friend and then sitting among people by the river in the sun with said friend). I’m getting a tattoo next week (3 cat paws + 1 dog paw = technically my two cats and my late cat and dog, but well, two of them are dead, so I asked two friends for a paw print of their cat and dog, so I’ll always have those two with me, too). I try to make a to-do-list each day, but I rarely stick to it. I apply eyeshadow and body glitter if I want to, I dye my hair bright colors (think pink, purple, blue, red, maybe orange next). I always have chocolate in my room meaning I stopped depriving myself of food I like/food in general because it’s “healthier”/”I need to lose weight” etc. all that you know all those great reasons. I went to a doctor about my knee and it ended up being useless but I went, so.

I also went to see a therapist but she is very useless, like “ended our first session telling me well she doesn’t know how to help me/if she can help me at all/if therapy would even help me” kind of useless; I’ll go again next week and see if that changes or if next week will be the last week and I’ll go back to Dealing Like Before, which is not great but whatever. I’ve lived until 23 without therapy, surely I can keep doing it. Therapy’s expensive if it’s not covered (which this doctor IS which is why I went to her but it’s still a waste of time) and if it’s not gonna work/not gonna help me apparently or if there’s nothing actually wrong OR that therapist is just like, bad at her job, what’s the point of going yk?

Uggggh, I hope the swimming pools and Zumba class will be open again soon, Zumba (also with said friend) is AMAZING, easy fun exercise you don’t need any knowledge or skill for and you can hang out with your friend by the street after for an hour and say goodbye five times and then remember one more thing you wanted to actually still mention and stand there for another 20 minutes hjhjhj. Best times, truly.

Idk this is probably not self-care but I got a small job working with Austrian German and it gnetflix the chance to save up a bit and add it to my resume and also hopefully get my mother to shut up about my non-existent job prospects for a bit, so that’s kind of helping in making me feel a bit more like I’m Being An Adult (also because it means I have to learn how to change my insurance and finance department stuff now, yey).

Tagging: @languages-and-else @psychicbouquetblaze-stuff @the-real-daddy-van-der-bellen @sunsetcurveofficial if you feel like doing it, also sorry @we-are-not-amoosed it became such a rambled long answe on almost everything hjhjhj

#tag games #me talks #covid-19 #swearing #It’s a post about corona there Must be swearing

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zmediaoutlet · 4 years

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in support of Black Lives Matter, @butsamsd donated $50, and requested Sam/Dean/Jack. Thank you for donating!

to get your own personalized fic, please see this post. (no longer taking prompts)

After the craziness of their Halloween hunt, it’s good to be back in Kansas. Dean isn’t totally whole, probably won’t be for a while--Sam knows what it’s like to be possessed better than just about anyone else alive, he knows what the aftereffects are. Still, the hunt--getting out of his room, getting away from it all--Sam knows that it helped, too, and Dean’s happier on that drive home than he’s been in weeks, and even the crowd of cars parked up in front of the bunker don’t dim his grin, still wheedling Sam to try to get him to agree to a couple costume, for some future Halloween Dean’s thinking they might both see.

“Daphne and Velma,” Dean offers, parking the Impala in her pride of place down in the garage, and Sam squints at him, trying not to laugh, says, “Which one of us is Velma?” and Dean says, reproachfully, “Sam, please take this seriously,” and Sam looks around the empty garage, and pulls Dean in by that stupid plaid jacket, and kisses him soft, right there, because they’re--home. They’re finally home.

Dean blinks at him, when he pulls back. Surprised, uncertainly pleased. They haven’t really messed around, since he got Dean back from Michael. There was that first night, desperate and pressing together, and they had to be near-silent and it was more of an insane desperate renewing of something they’d both always promised each other than something that actually felt good. Otherwise--Dean too hurt, and trying to pretend he wasn’t, and the bunker too full, and things not right. Things still aren’t right but Sam thinks they can both live with them. “Think I’ll take a shower,” Sam says, pulling back to his side of the bench seat. “Then--my room?”

Dean breathes, presses Sam’s hand low on the bench where no one would be able to see, even if there were someone in the garage with them. “Sounds good to me, Sammy,” he says, and Sam squeezes his thumb, and gets out and heads into the bunker, smiling at the few refugees he sees, thinking--this is it. They really are home, at last.

Not all that many people around, really. Mom’s gone, like she usually is anymore, and Sam’s long-since reconciled himself to it. Cas in the wind, too, and what’s left is a half-dozen of the people Sam’s been training who aren’t on hunts, and he and Dean got back late enough that most of them are in bed, anyway, in the bunked-out rooms they reserved for themselves. Just Roland left up, manning the phones and watching Friends reruns on Netflix, and Sam waves at him but doesn’t stop, because--because Dean’s going to be waiting for him, and that knowledge is a heavy beating thrum in Sam’s blood.

Shower room’s empty, thank god. Sam strips out of the nerd gear, drops it all on the bench below the towel rack. Under the showerhead, that instant blast of heat and pressure carving the lingering worry of the hunt out of his shoulders, and he stands there for a second, soaking. Imagining. Dean, in his room, in the gold light. Dean’s skin under his hands. Everything else falling away. He drags his hands through his hair, decides to wash it another day because he can’t wait another ten minutes, and when he turns around under the stream of water there’s--Jack, standing there in his pajamas and bare feet, watching him.

Sam starts, moves a little out of the water. “Jack, hey,” he says, smiling--a little awkward, he bets, but Jack probably can’t tell. The showers are old-school open pans, not exactly private, but most people know not to just come in and watch when someone else is using them. Then again, Jack’s not most people. “You all right? Thought you were asleep.”

“I’m okay,” Jack says, and smiles. A little wan, maybe, a little pale, but he’s been different since Lucifer stole his grace. Sam’s still rinsing off suds, and Jack tracks his eyes down Sam’s body--deliberate, really looking, and Sam goes still. Jack nods, like he’s made a decision, and looks Sam in the eye. “Sam, I’d like it if we could have sex.”

Sam drops his washcloth with a splat. “What?”

Jack smiles, soft. “I thought that might seem weird,” he says, easy, but he also--strips off his t-shirt, and his pajama pants, and then he’s--jesus, naked, all of him right there, and he steps up into the shower pan and walks closer, makes Sam back up against the wall out of pure shock. “I know that isn’t the way our relationship has been going, but I think it’s something I need.”

“Jack,” Sam starts, and can only--laugh, kind of, like it’s some weird demented joke. “Buddy, this isn’t--I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

A tiny beat. Jack licks his lips. He’s not in the stream of still-running water and his body’s all smooth, pale. Perfect. Sam glances down, can’t help it, and Jack’s dick isn’t hard--just another perfect piece of him, soft and pink and curved gently over his balls, in a sparse nest of fine hair barely darker than the golden hair on his head. Cherub, Sam thinks, not for the first time, and then Jack puts his hand square in the center of Sam’s chest, over his sternum. Sam hitches in air, completely thrown. “I’ve just been thinking,” Jack says, softer. “All of the--stuff. Humans get to learn all of this when they’re growing up, but I’m already grown up and no one would ever--no one would get that. Nobody understands.”

“That’s--” Sam starts, and grabs Jack’s wrist. Soft, slipping under his wet hand. “You have to get to know people, Jack. Girls, or--or boys, I guess. Your own age, you know? This stuff doesn’t just happen automatically.”

“No one else is sixteen months old with a fully functional body and brain,” Jack says, reproachful, and Sam doesn’t have a lot to say to that, but then Jack’s mouth twists, somehow--sad. “I just want--I want to know what it’s like. At least once.”

Sam frowns--what does that mean?--but Jack shakes his head, and moves in closer, and puts both hands on Sam’s chest. “Sam,” he says, soft, and Sam should--should push him away, should demand answers, should ask why Jack doesn’t think he has other chances--only the door opens, and Dean says, “Sammy, what’s taking so long,” and Sam looks up over Jack’s head to find Dean there in the bathroom doorway, mouth half-open, staring at them.

“Dean,” Jack says, sounding glad. “You’re here.”

“Yeah, I am,” Dean says, slowly, and looks Sam in the eyes. He shakes his head, not knowing what to say. Dean’s in his undershirt, flannel pants, and he takes a step closer. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“I want to know what sex is like,” Jack says, again, firm, and Dean’s face does a thing that’d make Sam laugh any other time. “I asked Sam, but I want to know from you, too.”

“Kid,” Dean starts, but Jack shakes his head, looks back and forth between them, says, impossibly, “I know that you both have sex. With each other, I mean. It shouldn’t be a big deal for you to show me.”

“How did you know that?” Sam says, past the weird ringing in his ears. God, the shower��s still running. He shuts it off, and Dean’s just staring at Jack, his mouth set and his eyes narrow.

“My senses were better when I had my grace,” Jack says, shrugging, and looks up at Sam. “Castiel said I shouldn’t mention it, but it seems like--you know what you’re doing.” He looks at Dean, while Sam’s trying to dig himself out of the pit of what both of those statements mean. “I just...” he says, and he’s--so lost little kid, for a second. Immensely young, and sad, and Dean’s face changes again, settles.

“Why us?” Dean says, guarded.

Jack shrugs, again. He doesn’t even look turned on--just miserable, and there’s a wry curve to his mouth. “Who else could I trust?” he says, and Sam puts a hand on his bare shoulder. Something’s going on--something they should dig into.

Dean tips his head back a little, looks at Jack with full attention. His lips part, after a second, like he’s seeing something Sam doesn’t, and there’s a wash of compassion across his face. He looks up at Sam, and Sam thinks, something unlocking under his chest--this isn’t a good idea. They’re going to do it anyway.

The door to Sam’s room locks behind them. Silent, but Jack’s not nervous because he doesn’t know what to expect. Other than-- “I watched a pornographic video,” he says, and Dean closes his eyes and mutters jesus christ. “But it had a woman and a man, and I guess we can’t do those same things.”

“Some of ‘em,” Dean says, easy, and Sam leans his back against the door, holding his towel around his waist with what remains of his strength. Dean pulls Jack into the middle of the room, looks at him steady. “Jack. What are you--what do want to get out of this?”

Good question--better question than a lot of the ones Sam has. Jack frowns, seems like he really thinks about it. “I want to know--I mean, I’ve--with my hand,” he says, unexpectedly shy. Sam drags in a deep breath, imagining it. “But I don’t know what it’s like with someone else. In books they say it’s better with someone who loves you. You and Sam have that.”

Sam catches Dean’s eye. “Yeah,” Dean says, gruff, and then turns his full attention onto Jack, and smiles. Small, but full of promise. “You say the second you want anything to stop, all right?” he says, and his voice is--Sam’s gut revs, because he knows that voice. Dean, when he’s not laying it on thick as a charmer but when he knows someone wants him, and Jack blinks and nods, eager, and Dean lifts both hands and strokes his thumbs along Jack’s smooth jaw, gentle and easy, and then ducks and inch and kisses him, smooth and confident and simple, and Sam feels like the bottom drops out of his stomach.

Dean knows how to kiss. Sam knows that better than just about anyone, too. Jack makes a startled noise, clutches alternately at Dean’s shirt, his arms, and when Dean pulls back to let him breathe Jack’s chest is already heaving, his face all surprise. “Good?” Dean says, and Jack nods, more jerky than before, and Dean smiles at him, cupping his face. “Good,” Dean says, and catches Sam’s eye, and Sam walks over while Dean kisses Jack again, smooth, and again, soft and constant pressure, and Sam thinks with a burst of total insanity--this is like when Dean taught him to kiss, what feels like a million years ago--and he walks up behind Jack and holds his waist, watches up close. Soft, but insistent, and Jack’s hand creeps up to Dean’s neck like instinct’s driving it, his mouth following Dean’s lead like he’s learned everything they taught him, quick and eager. Dean makes a small, approving sound, and runs his knuckles over Jack’s cheek, and on the next press in he opens Jack’s mouth with his own and Sam sees the wet glance of Dean’s tongue and Jack moans, startled, and Sam dips and presses a kiss to his neck, says, “God, that’s good, Jack--you’re doing so good.”

Dean pulls back, mutters jesus again--grabs the back of Sam’s head and pulls him down and kisses him, too, over Jack’s shoulder, and Sam’s pulled close enough that his dick presses into Jack’s ass, and he breathes hot into Dean’s mouth and rubs his thumb in that soft sweet spot just below his ear, and god, this is--weird, weird, so goddamn weird but it doesn’t feel wrong, and Sam’s done a lot in his life that felt wrong and he knows the difference.

“Wow,” Jack says, small, and Dean laughs, pulls back from Sam and cups Jack’s cheek.

“Wow is right,” Dean says, warm with promise, and Sam knows then--whatever Jack wants, they’ll give him. They taught him everything else. It doesn’t have to be anything more than what it is. Anyway--it’s not like it’s something that’d come between Dean and Sam. Nothing ever will again.

Dean looks at Sam, expression as soft as though he heard the thought. “You ready for more?” he says, and Jack nods, so eager it makes Sam grin. Yeah, he’s ready. It’s going to be a good night.

#fffb #butsamsd #wincest #sam/dean/jack #my writing #full disclosure this doesn't get as sticky as i wanted :/#but i already spent more than the allotted time on it #i'll come back to it some other time i hope #but this is it for now

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awkward-radar-tech · 4 years

Text

Kylo Ren, The Rising Star

Summary: You are Kylo Ren’s personal assistant. The rising star doesn’t know how to cope with his sudden popularity. You let him take sanctuary in your apartment, and help him return to who he was before, Ben Solo.

A/N: I’m stating this now, no romantic relationship blooms in this. But, the seeds are planted. And I will write more where the relationship does grow, if requested.

Prompt, from an anon: But I got an idea, how about worn out actor Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo has been doing to much lately he doesn't even know what time zone he's in sometimes. Reader is average Joe lucky enough to be his PA in his new film. With the stress of everything and fans following him everywhere Ben hides out at your house, were he sleeps all day in your bed and you feed him lots of food, cos you like to cook?

Chapter 2

🌟🌟🌟

You didn’t know what you were getting into when you applied to be an assistant for a local movie shoot. But being the new personal assistant to the biggest rising star was not it at all. And you weren’t always local like you expected. Being Kylo Ren’s PA meant you had to go with him on his other press tours during breaks in shooting. Caffeinated anything had become your friend, and today was one where you were dependant. You had jumped across every American time zone in a day and a half, and now you had crossed the Atlantic, only to turn around in twelve hours and fly home.

You checked your watch and went to knock on Kylo’s dressing room door, “Twenty minutes until you’re on, sir. Do you need anything else?”

He opened the door, still in the t shirt and jeans he wore on the plane, “I just have one question, where are we?”

You looked at him, concerned, “We are in London, sir. You’re doing an interview for ‘the rom-com’ right now. Your suit should be hanging up for you.”

He yawned, “I told you to call me Kylo, not sir. And it is there. Could you step in real quick?”

You nodded and waited for him to step aside, following him inside, “Sorry, Kylo. So used to using sir. Now, what do you need?”

He closed the door and sat on the couch, “First, no need to apologize. Second, can I have a caffeine pill?”

You pulled out a packet from your bag and handed it to him, “You can hold onto these. But, uhh, Kylo, you didn’t need to ask me in here for that. Nobody cares how you stay awake.”

He hummed, “Thank you, (y/n),” he quickly took a pill, “and that isn’t why I asked you in here. I have an unconventional request, that nobody can know about.”

“Yes?”

“This movie, people are going crazy over it. They have surrounded my building at home, waiting for my return apparently. It is exhausting having to go through all these people, some have even found ways inside my building and to my door. I need a break. Could I stay at your place? I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Kylo, sir, I live in a run down apartment. You wouldn’t want to stay there. And my couch is only a bit longer than this one, you wouldn't sleep very well."

"I'd much rather stay there than possibly anger fans. Please, think about it."

You gave him a pointed look and checked your watch, “Fifteen minutes, Kylo. Now get changed.”

You left the room, closing the door. Kylo was, but also wasn’t, your boss, and he was asking to stay at your place? He had bodyguards, couldn’t they tell the fans to leave? No, he cared too much about his fans’ feelings to have them told to leave. Maybe you would let him stay. Once back he was off for a week, so he wouldn’t have to leave. It would be fun to hang out with somebody for once, even if it was the person you worked for.

The interview went well, and before long you were being taken to a hotel for the night.

You followed Kylo outside to the car and he looked at you once inside, “Woah… It is already night?”

You nodded, “Yeah, it is almost eight. I think we are here for like ten hours then we head home to rest for a week.”

As you pulled up at the hotel, there were clearly a bunch of fans waiting for him, and you heard a muttered “shit.”

You looked at him, “When we get home, you can stay at my place, okay?”

He smiled wide for once in his life, “Thank you, so much, (y/n). I’ll give you a bonus.”

You shook your head, “We’ll talk about it later. I don’t want any extra money. Think of it as a kind gesture from a friend.”

The door was opened and Kylo was escorted into the building. You stayed in until the car parked before grabbing your own stuff and going up to your room; there were shrieks from girls, obviously he decided to stop and talk. You went up to your room and got ready for a bit of sleep.

As you washed your face you heard your phone ringing in the other room. When you went out to check it, you read it was Kylo calling, so quickly answered it.

“How can I help you, Kylo?”

“What time do I have to be ready by? Need to set my alarm.”

“Six. Hopefully the crazies won’t be awake then.”

He groaned, “Hopefully. Thank you. Goodnight, (y/n).”

“Goodnight, Kylo. Text me in the morning so I know you’re awake please.”

He hummed in acknowledgement and hung up.

In the morning he clearly hadn’t slept much, or well, he was a living zombie in a somehow oversized sweatshirt, clutching to a cup of coffee.

He looked at you in the hallway, “Oh, I forgot to ask if you wanted a cup. Security brought it up to me. They said everybody left at like 2 am, so the coast is clear.”

You gave him a warm smile, “It is alright, Kylo. I’m fine. Let’s head down to the car then.”

You thankfully got to the airport and onto the plane without incident, people have better things to do between 6 and 7 am on a Tuesday apparently. Landing back in Los Angeles was a different story, people don’t care that it is noon on a Tuesday.

Kylo still looked exhausted, and you hoped nobody followed you. As the car pulled up to the studio you knew you would be safe. You showed Kylo to your car and got in to drive to your apartment.

He looked at you as you pulled out of your spot, “Hey, thank you so much. I appreciate it, more than you might think.”

You nodded, “You’re welcome, Kylo. Do you want to listen to some music?”

“Sure. Listen to what you normally do.”

You turned on your radio, the bluetooth connecting and automatically playing your playlist. You tapped along to the songs on your steering wheel as you drove. After twenty minutes you pulled up to your run down building and parked in your spot.

You turned to Kylo, “No crazy fans it seems. That is good.”

He hummed, “Yeah. But there are still people around that could recognize me.”

“If they ask if you’re Kylo Ren just tell them no and give a fake name. I don’t talk with my neighbors so they don’t know what I do. And none of my friends know who I work for.”

He nodded and prepared himself to step out. He messed up his hair so it wasn’t as perfect as his normal style, put on the hood of his sweatshirt and stepped out, slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder.

You stepped out and got your bag from your trunk. You looked over at him awkwardly looming next to the car, “Let’s go, sir.”

He followed you like a lost puppy, and then you heard the voice of your annoying neighbor from the floor below yours, “Hey, 32! Is that Kylo Ren?”

You turned to her voice, “No. This is my friend.”

She acted like you were lying, “You sure?”

He stepped in, “Uh, yeah. I’m Ben. But I get that a lot. It is a bit tiresome.”

You tried to pull him away and walk inside, but she wouldn’t relent, why did she have to be out? And why did she care? She has always been vocal about despising everything about Hollywood, especially celebrities.

“Do you have ID to prove it?”

Kylo stopped and you turned, “Ben, don’t pay her any mind, let’s go get some lunch.”

He didn’t move when you pulled, “No, she wants proof I’m not stupid Kylo Ren, I’ll prove it,” he pulled out his ID and showed it to her, “See? Benjamin Solo. Now, can me and my friend go have some lunch? I’m rather hungry and I have a short fuse when I haven’t eaten.”

She just walked away after reading his ID. He looked to you and you just walked in, taking the elevator up and getting him in your apartment.

You threw down your bag as soon as you closed your door, “I’m so damn sorry Kylo. She is so annoying, and thinks she can know anything she wants. She isn’t even on this floor, she is in 21. But, uhh? You aren’t really Kylo Ren?”

He sat on your couch, “Well, I am now. I legally changed my name last year when people started recognizing me, but I still have my old ID, which I had just renewed a few months before I changed my name.”

You nodded, not wanting to pry further, "Alright then. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Can I get some water please?"

You went and dropped your stuff in your room then got him a glass of water.

You sat on the floor after you gave him the cup, "TV? Food?"

"Watch whatever you want, (y/n)."

You turned on Netflix and turned on the show you were currently binging, then your belly grumbled, “I’m going to go fix some lunch, any requests?”

He looked at you hopefully, “Tacos?”

You thought for a moment and nodded, “Yes, I have everything to make tacos.”

You left the show on, you could rewatch the episode later, and went in to cook. You cooked some carne asada you had prepared for this week, some rice and beans, then prepared all the toppings you needed. Assembling Kylo's tacos were easy, he liked his tacos almost plain, just meat on the tortilla with some fresh pico de gallo. When everything was finished you fixed each of you a plate of your preferred tacos with some rice and beans then brought the plates to the living room.

"Here you go, Kylo. Just as you like it."

He took the offered plate and began to eat, "Did you make all of this right now? This is amazing."

You nodded, "I did most of it. I had the carne asada marinating to fix this week, and the salsa I just made. The beans and rice are pre-packaged, but I try to make them myself too, when I have the time. And the tortillas I buy fresh from a neighbor."

He hummed, "Well this is all delicious. Thank you so much."

You smiled and ate your meal. When you finished you took your plate into wash along with all the items you cooked with once you stored the leftover food.

After a moment Kylo sheepishly walked in with his plate, "Excuse me, (y/n)? Is there anymore?"

You turned to look at him, "Yeah! I just put it away in the fridge. Help yourself."

Kylo took out the containers and fixed himself more tacos, then stood at the counter to eat them while talking with you. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

"Mostly self taught. I had to learn how to stretch my food budget when I moved out. Cooking from bulk purchases helps. So I had to learn how to use the same ingredients in as many ways as possible so I wouldn't get bored."

He handed you his now empty plate, "Can you be my personal chef and my PA?"

You laughed, "You don't want to see me 24/7 Kylo."

He walked out of the kitchen, "Maybe I do."

You just shook your head and finished washing everything. When you walked back into your living room, Kylo was passed out on your couch. He looked so uncomfortable, he was almost bigger than the old thing. You went to your room, changed all your bedding, then hid all the embarrassing things you had out.

You gently woke up Kylo once you finished, "Hey, go sleep in my bed. It is a lot more comfortable than this small thing."

He groaned and stretched, voice heavy with sleep, "No. That is your bed. You sleep in it. I'm fine here."

You crossed your arms, "No. Kylo. You are sleeping in my bed. I don't need to sleep right now anyways. You do. You've been working so hard recently. Go sleep in a damn bed."

He stood up and pat your head, clearly still mostly asleep, "Whatever you say, my dear. Goodnight."

Your cheeks burned and you just shook your head as you watched him shuffle into your room and unceremoniously flop face first onto your bed, snoring within moments. You went and shut the door most of the way, but first you placed his bags in plain sight in case he woke up and wanted to change out of his jeans.

You worked around your apartment, not letting the fact you had an unplanned guest keep you from your planned chores. You swept and dusted, set your bedding on to wash, the one nice thing about this apartment, you had a washer and dryer in your unit. While the wash was on you sat down and restarted your show and went through your social media. One of your friends shared a tabloid article theorizing that Kylo Ren is in a secret relationship since he has yet to return home after landing earlier today and has spent a lot less time interacting with fans these past few months.

You mumbled to yourself, “He’s staying away from you pricks. You’ve exhausted the poor man.”

You continued perusing, finding nothing else of interest, then paused your show before moving everything to the dryer. You continued watching until it was time to make dinner, pasta is what you had planned for tonight, so you doubled everything to have enough for Kylo.

As you were cooking you heard Kylo enter the kitchen, “Good evening, sleeping beauty. Are you hungry?”

Kylo was still a bit groggy, but rapidly waking up, “Yeah. The smells woke me up. What are you making?”

He sat at your kitchen table and you brought him a glass of orange juice, his favorite, “Pasta. Specifically homemade cheese tortellini with meat sauce. And garlic bread.”

He took a sip and hummed, “You make pasta?”

You nodded, “Only filled pasta, it is cheaper that way. And I made the sauce and garlic bread. Including the bread. But I freeze a lot of stuff so I didn’t actually make any of it tonight.”

He held up his glass, “And this juice?”

You laughed, “That is store bought. I can’t make it as well.”

“You’re lying. I’m sure you can.”

You hummed, “Yeah. I can. But only when oranges are in season.”

You turned back and began to stir the sauce and added the pasta to the now boiling water. You pulled out the garlic bread and shut off the flame for the sauce. After a few minutes you drained the pasta and added a bit of the water to the sauce, then added most of the sauce to the drained pasta.

"Alright, food is ready Kylo. Come help yourself."

"It smells amazing."

You handed him a plate and he served himself then sat back at the table. You followed suit and served yourself, then sat across from him.

You shared pleasant conversation, taking turns asking about the other's life. While you worked for him, and were around him more often than not, neither of you knew much about the other, but this time together would change that.

When he finished he looked up and smiled at you, "Now for a more personal question, if you want to answer it. Are you dating anyone?"

You smiled back and chuckled, "So asking about my parents and childhood isn't personal, but asking if I'm dating is?" You paused to take a sip, "No, Kylo. I'm not. Haven't dated in awhile. What about you then? There is a tabloid article out there theorizing you're in a secret relationship since you haven't come home yet and aren't interacting as much with fans."

He groaned and covered his face, "No. I'm not. Same as you, haven't in awhile." He rubbed his face and looked at you again, "And you know that tabloid is wrong. I'm here with you."

"But what about the fan interactions? Just the burn out?"

He nodded, "Yeah. I've really just wanted to go to bed recently, or get into work. They're great and all, but I don't want to be on at 7 am or 9 pm, especially if I just came from a different timezone."

"I can't even imagine. But you don't have to be on at all this week. Stay here for as much of that time as you want. Be Benjamin Solo again, if only for me."

His eyes lit up, "Yes. Call me Ben. Please. Only my mom and dad call me that anymore. I need to be Ben for a week. I'll order some plain clothes online to be delivered here too. I’m going to be Ben Solo again."

You nodded, "Okay, Ben. Let me clean up, and you can work on ordering everything you need. Then tell me when you're checking out and I'll fill out my address."

He stood up and grabbed both plates, "Let me help you please."

"Alright. You can help me Ben."

He grinned and had a tiny celebration, "Yes! Thank you."

He set to work filling up the sink with water, placing the plates and utensils in the sink, then turning to you, "Uhh, the leftovers need to be put away. Where are your containers?"

You moved to the right cabinet, "This one, Ben. But I'll put it away. You focus on washing."

He nodded, "Okay, (y/n)."

You put away the food and Ben grabbed each empty piece and cleaned it. Once the food was put away you sat up on your counter.

You looked to Ben, who was meticulously scrubbing the saucepan, "I had no problem cleaning up, Ky… I mean Ben. I do it all the time."

He turned to you, "I'm your unplanned guest. I want to do has much as possible to help and not throw off your schedule and routine. I'm sure you have one here too."

You looked away, feeling your cheeks warm a bit, "Well I do. But I'm fine doing it all myself."

He pointed a stern finger at you, but his face held a small smile, "No. I'm washing the dishes. Go relax. Put on a movie. Pour yourself some wine if you want, and have any. I'll be out in a bit."

You just nodded and listened, going to turn on some super cheesy rom-com your friend told you to watch. After a while you heard the sink draining and footsteps coming back out.

Ben plopped down on the couch right next to you and outstretched his arms across the back, then groaned, "Really, (y/n)? You like rom-coms too?"

You paused it, "Shit, sorry. Wasn't thinking. I just think that they are funny, especially the real cheesy ones. And one can dream about randomly falling in love with a stranger. But I'll change it to something else."

Ben shook his head, "No, you can keep watching. I'll order those clothes."

You started playing the movie again and he pulled out his phone and wallet to find clothes with rush shipping. After twenty minutes he silently passed his phone to you and you typed in the address information then handed it back. Once the order was placed he put his phone away and again stretched his arms out. You didn't know if he was actually watching or just zoning out, but you were happy he didn't mind.

As the credits rolled, you let out a yawn, “Alright, time for bed for me,” you tapped his thigh, “That means it is time for you to move, Mr. Solo. You’re on my bed.”

He turned to you, “No. I’ll sleep here.”

You grabbed his arm and stood up, “Nope, this is not an option. You are sleeping in my bed,” you began to pull on his arm, “Now come on you big oaf. You are going to sleep in my bed, just like you did earlier.”

He stayed planted in his spot, chuckling, “You’re gonna have to pull harder than that. I’m almost all muscles.”

You pulled harder and then tried to pull both his hands, starting to laugh, “Come on Ben. Go sleep in my damn bed.”

He stood up suddenly and caught you before you fell back, “Fine. Just this once.”

You crossed your arms, “This will be the second time, Ben. You slept before dinner.”

He smirked and walked away, into your room, “That was Kylo Ren, thank you very much. Now, do you need anything from in here before I close the door?”

You ran in, “Yes!”

He chuckled and just sat on your bed, pulling out his pajamas from his duffle bag. You grabbed everything you needed and went out.

You paused in the doorway, turning to Ben before closing the door, “Goodnight, Ben. See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, (y/n). Thank you again.”

You nodded and closed the door then went to change and grab your bedding from the dryer. After setting everything up you crawled into your cocoon of blankets and pillows on the couch and fell asleep.

You were awoken a couple hours later by the sound of whining and screams, coming from your room. You quickly got up and knocked on the door, “Ben? You okay in there, sir?”

He didn’t respond, just more whimpers, so you opened up the door and walked in to find him asleep but thrashing.

Carefully, you approached him, reaching out to rub his arm, “Ben. Kylo. Wake up, sir. You’re having a nightmare.”

He woke up and clung to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He was panting, repeating your name, “I’m so sorry. So sorry. For waking you up. Sorry.”

You ran your fingers through his hair, “Ben. It is okay, Ben. I promise.”

He nodded and slowly calmed down, “Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thanks for waking me up. I normally have to fight for much longer to wake up.”

You softly scratched his scalp, “Lay back down. I’ll stay until you’re asleep again.”

He hummed, “Can you keep doing that, and playing with my hair?”

You chuckled, “Sure.”

He moved back to laying normally and you moved to keep petting his head. It didn’t take long for him to get drowsy again, and he began mumbling to you.

His voice was barely audible and clearly full of sleep, “I like this. I like you. Don’t tell though.”

You felt your cheeks warm and continued until his murmurs turned to snores. You got up again and softly kissed his forehead, “Goodnight, Ben Solo. Sweet dreams.”

#a-r-t creation #ben solo / reader #kylo ren/ reader #kylo ren x reader #ben solo x reader #kylo ren/ you #ben solo/ you #kylo ren x you #ben solo x you

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dragontrailz · 4 years

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David Attenborough - The Colonialist

More platitudes are being rained down on David Attenborough now that he’s finally beginning to notice the destruction of our planet and the consequence of climate change. Yet, a closer look at how he frames his arguments reveals many contractions. I find his late life pleading to be too little, too late. ‘Curbing excess capitalism’ - what does he even mean by that? What is he himself prepared to give up? Will he stop flying around the world lecturing us all about what we need to do? We need a new paradigm, reforming capitalism isn’t going to do anything.

His latest Netflix film offers up a hugely oversimplified narrative. Notice how the World Economic Forum have been embedded into the narrative? It was noticeable that once he began talking about 'solutions’, the problem was immediately framed as overpopulation. There was no talk of economic growth, affluence, inequality, urbanisation or industrialisation driving the problem. One coherent solution, would have been to push for a ban on pesticides. Yet there was no mention of the impacts of agrochemicals have on biodiversity collapse.

Blaming overpopulation plays into EcoFascist narratives that lay the blame at regions like Africa, which have growing populations, but where per capita resource use is much lower than in the Global North.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/06/26/the-big-green-lie/

Attenborough’s other solutions? He mentions 'rewilding’, but this is another colonial agenda that's associated with land enclosure and prioritised usage for the privileged few.

Attenborough has spent his whole life trying to make nature look beautiful when all around him it was being destroyed. He’s now a spokesperson for WWF (who back his latest film) and (alongside Jane Goodall and Greta Thunberg) the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WWF are associated with all sorts of wrong doing whilst supposedly protection of nature - land grabbing and displacing Indigenous people from their land being the most well documented.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/07/armed-ecoguards-funded-by-wwf-beat-up-congo-tribespeople

The head of WWF International is Pavan Sudhek, one of the brains behind the financialisation of nature, that’s documented in the film, Banking Nature. In addition to land grabbing the film documents some of the latest scams such as biodiversity offsetting and species gene banking - the short selling of biodiversity that’s a death spiral for the fabric of life on earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1EdZeRHgbM

The WWF made another film recently, only in this film they platformed the banksters who want enable this deal for nature. You can watch the film here, decide for yourself what their agenda is

https://youtu.be/7IvNqT5aMTw

What else will magically reverse biodiversity loss and climate change? According to Attenborough, renewable energy. Again, this is populism, there’s no mention of the ecological impacts of metal mining or the resource constraints imposed by the limited amounts of critical metals.

The World Economic Forum aka the Davos set are at the heart of much of what’s gone wrong with processes at the UN level. They communicate their message via the big NGOs, such as WWF and well known faces such as Attenborough. Recently, the biodiversity circus has been plain for all to see. As the UN conference played out a few weeks ago, figures such as Attenborough and Monbiot have once again been rolled out to lecture us on how things should be done by trying to make a case for protecting 30% of land in nature reserves.

https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/12455

Much of what Monbiot, Attenborough and the rest say sounds good on the surface but doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Next year the banksters grand plan will be codified in Kunming, China where world leaders will be attempting to enacting a 'New Deal for Nature’. Like the UN IPCC COP process, the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) is likely to be a corporate captured horror show, with WWF, the Nature Conservancy and Greenpeace all dancing to the WEF’s tune. This is one of the most complex scams I’ve ever seen. A lot of people are going to be confused by this process and what it really represents.

#Attenborough WEF WWF Nature Biodiversity

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militant-holy-knight · 4 years

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Castlevania Season 3 Review: Ellis is Gonna Ellis I Suppose.

Warning: Massive spoilers ahead because I don’t give a shit anymore so scroll down really fast if don’t want to get spoiled

Being a Castlevania fan is pure suffering, man. Not only is the video game franchise being put on ice by Konami at the time of writing, but your only form of enjoyment is a hit-or-miss Netflix Original written by a guy who admits never playing the games. I tried to enjoy the first season despite it being only four episodes long, and same thing with the second one which was longer but had a plethora of issues. Now it’s the third season, which took a year-long break to be made, and I am absolutely sorry to say it’s the absolute lowest point of the show: not only repeating the issues from the previous season, but amplifying them and failing to do anything interesting with anything new that is given. I will elaborate why I think so in this review.

So after Season 2, Dracula has been destroyed, our heroes have split up with Trevor and Sypha going their own way while Alucard has stayed behind in his father’s castle overlooking the Belmont Hold. Carmilla and Isaac have survived and are preparing to build an whole new army, the former to establish a new empire and the latter to get his revenge on her for betraying Dracula.

Even though the stakes are lower than the possible extinction of the human race which was the (possible) outcome from Season 2 which never actually came into fruition, you’d imagine they would do something inciting with this new status quo... But you’d be wrong. This season as a whole felt like padding in all conceivable manners. Not only was the pacing atrocious (which I will get into a minute), but really, nearly all of the events that occurred could have been omitted and the storyline as a whole wouldn’t have been affected somehow.

The pacing was the worst problem in Season 2 since you had the protagonists locked down inside a hold to do research on how to kill Dracula and endless exposition among the bad guys that some defenders call “vampire politics’ which ultimately went nowhere. The pacing in Season 3 is even worse since not only is it longer (10 episodes this time), you have more storylines now but each of them move at completely sluggish pace with a disproportional large amount of exposition and comparatively few action.

The Castlevania games were level-based games which had you visiting several distinct locations whether if it was inside or outside the castle. An adaptation series of Castlevania would make more sense if it was episodic in nature, perhaps even with monster of the week formula. It would have been better off for it, but the show is attempting channel Game of Thrones with an over-aching arc with sprawling individual storylines whose episodes are build up for an epic confrontation at the end, but it fails in that regard.

Trevor and Sypha’s storyline was absolutely pointless - they have no idea of the larger threat brewing with two demonic armies about to clash against each other, but they are stuck doing what basically amounts to a sidequest, investigating a evil cult operating in a small town which takes a needless long time to conclude. They completely fail in saving the townsfolk from being sacrificed and end up discovering that one of the characters that has been helping them is actually a monster all along. This only serves to make their effort completely pointless and leave the pair absolutely bitter and angry.

Not that there is any urgency in stopping Carmilla or Isaac since they come nowhere near close to trading blows to one another. In fact, Carmilla doesn’t come anywhere close to achieving her goal of raising an army of demons with Hector (who has been enslaved by her for this purpose) and it’s actually one of her lieutenants Lenore that solves this problem at the end. On the other hand, Isaac gets the closest thing to an highlight in this season by experiencing something of an character development since he is questioned by several characters that maybe humans aren’t so bad as a whole. The problem is that his development becomes inconclusive since he doesn’t learn to be anymore different than he used to.

Alucard gets sidelined like you wouldn’t believe. He spends the entire season in his castle now with two new characters, Japanese twin hunters that seek to be training so they can free their people from the vampires... Aaaaand they try to fuckin kill him, which comes out from nowhere specially after an extremely uncomfortable threesome between him and the twins. And just in case you thought the previous season was depressing enough with Alucard breaking down in tears completely alone in his castle, this one ends not only with Alucard still alone, crying, but now emulating his dad by leaving the impaled corpses of the twins in the castle’s entrance to scare off any trespassers which is the closing shot of this season.

But for me, the biggest letdown has to be Hector. He was one of my favorite characters from the games, having starred his own entry Curse of Darkness for the PS2 where he actually turns on Dracula on behalf of humanity and pursues Isaac for murdering his wife. Here, he does absolutely fuck all during the entire season except being bossed around by Carmilla’s sisters. The guy had such cool powers of summoning Innocent Devils and wielding all types of weapons (including a lightsaber) is reduced to a whimpering slave, whom I have absolutely no hope of seeing in his absolute glory. The worst part is that it was very predictable - the moment I saw Lenore saying that both her and Hector should flee together, I knew she was gonna screw him in some way. The irony is that unlike the other storylines which pull some kind of mean twist in the last second, here you already can tell what is going to happen next.

The new characters frankly do nothing for the story. The aforementioned Carmilla’s sisters are pure window-dressing and only Lenore gets the shit done by herself might I add completely independent from the others and specially Carmilla herself (who does nothing). A video game character actually does get featured - Comte of Saint-Germain, who is some kind of magician in search of his loved one who got lost in another dimension. Another step down from his video counterpart who is a time guardian that preserves the cosmic balance (though it seems they were channeling the historical figure rather than the character that happens to share the same name given their ignorance for the source material).

There are of course those typical Warren Ellis moments like three mentions of bestiality (and one goatfucking as usual) and anti-Christian commentary, though it seems to be sending some kind of mixed messages this time: in one hand Sypha comment that while she hates God, she at least admires Jesus because of his sacrifice which can be considered one of nicest things that atheists can comment about Christianity... And then the next episode features an demon that used to be a Greek philosopher who lived during post-Constantinian Roman Empire and was persecuted by Christians because of his intellect. Oh dear. With that said, it’s rather odd this guy became a demon so maybe he had it coming?

Overall, this season is a lot more weaker and lacking than Season 2, which at least had the climax in Episode 7 which some people were willing to forgive the dullness from that season. But Season 3′s climax is completely unfocused, interlaced with unnecessary and uncomfortable sex scenes and doesn’t even feature classical music from the games, which was the saving grace from the last time.

So did it have any upsides? I guess so if you look hard enough like Isaac’s schizophrenic “should I hate all humans or not” dillema which goes unresolved. Hardly anything that elevates the season or make it redeemable in some way. To be perfectly frank with you, I don’t know if I have any interest in keeping with this show. It blew away any good will Season 1 and 2 did, it barely moved the plot forward (and that if it has an overaching plot at all), the protagonists being disconnected to the main threat at large and quite frankly, none of the antagonists are as interesting as Dracula, I just don’t care what happens next. Specially if the pacing and exposition remain in place. In theory, if the series was restructured to be episodic instead of trying to be Game of Thrones, my interest in the show would have been renewed but it’s too little too late.

I guess in retrospect I should be grateful that Season 1 was so short had I knew later ones would be so tedious. There is so very little to do with Castlevania: Dracula’s Curse when you already got rid of the main villain and you don’t move the plot forward. If they want to regain my interest, do a Leon Belmont season that is episodic or heck anything else, but I don’t see them doing this because they have to give closure to this story arc, which already grew past it’s welcome and wasted everyone’s time with a season that amounted to nothing more than filler. Well, my patience has been worn thin.

#Castlevania #reviews

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potterandpromises · 4 years

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New Traditions

First fic of 2020! A Christmas fic. Better late than never, right?

Also on AO3

They lay on an air mattress, Flynn propped up by pillows, Lucy by him. She scrolls through Netflix’s recommendations.

In contrast to her partner, who intends to catch up on the last half decade, Lucy’s making her way through a plethora of old movies (a few of which, she’s pretty sure the team’s presence influenced). But when that fails— and she’s getting to that point again— when she needs to completely shut her brain off, she turns to Real Housewives.

What? She’d tried to be interested in the pilots they watched. But whenever she googles them for triggers, they've always been canceled on a cliffhanger or the fans hate it now. So while Flynn watches, she’s usually poking around online for a job, talking with the team, or cleaning up a little. And conditions permitting, sometimes she’ll take a walk around the block, thank you very much.

The awkward angle becomes painful and she drags her aching bones upright, still searching for Flynn’s sake. Not that he refuses to watch it or do other things, but the mutual exhaustion is palpable and his wry comments about the show would not be appreciated at the moment.

She presses the remote’s same button in quick succession, down on down...

And halts over Miracle on 34th Street.

"That's fine,” he says, breathing deeply. They’ve been in bed all morning, bad dreams and realities keeping them up most of the night. She looks over at him. He catches her eye, understands there’s more, and waits.

"Christmas is... when?”

Flynn picks up his phone. "Five days."

"We haven't done anything.” Her own statement rings miserably true, holiday-related and otherwise. And she hears Flynn’s voice a few days in, warning her to be gentle with herself, that one doesn’t just bounce right back after a war, and since they were considerably compensated for their work— hush money, Lucy suspects— they can afford to live in a cheep city for a few months without renewable income just fine.

So now they have subscriptions to every streaming service 2019 has to offer. And it’s been good to sleep, to hear stories, to journal and eat. But two weeks later and her judgment is shot, a fulfilling future is laughable, and nothing is to be trusted as real— except for him, her brain automatically corrects. But on the next second, that’s false again. If only Homeland Security would give them ‘permission to tell a therapist’ for Christmas.

"Did you have something in mind?" He licks his lips, watching her intently.

“No.” She sits up, crossing her legs. “But I don't want to completely ignore it.” Through dark socks, she cracks her toes, noting a small hole. “We can do just about anything we’d like. Except travel.” They waited too long to buy plane tickets, she’s checked, and they don’t own a car. Moving to Ohio (the cheapest state, Lucy read once), fleeing, had seemed like a good idea after being trapped in a black site for days. It hadn’t even occurred to her that everyone else wouldn’t scatter. That it was her choice to— physically— lose them.

He sighs. "We don't have to do anything;” she’s quick to reassure. “If you don’t want to.” If it’s a sore spot; and the idea of celebrating without him is completely unappealing.

"No, I just—” He pulls himself into an upright position. The mattress is beginning to deflate again. “I just miss them.” He smiles sadly, squeezing her hand, reassuring. “And I would like to do something with you. Maybe not stockings and wreaths and cookies— what?"

She looks up at him though her eyelashes.

And there he is. This side: laughter, radiance. Exhilaration bubbles in her chest; it’s been so long.

"Do you want me to make you cookies?"

She bites her lip, hoping to defeat the rising blush. "If it’s not too much trouble..."

"Of course. What else?"

A weight’s been lifted, and the promise encourages her. “Definitely call everyone day of. Check a few Christmas movies off our lists..."

"While I make you cookies," he finishes.

She tilts her chin up. (It’s not as if he hates doing things for her benefit.) “Yes.”

His smile, the way it fits into the lines around his mouth, is gorgeous. And maybe one day, she’ll get used to his soft adoring looks the way she got used to his presence by her side, hands folded.

The moment ends naturally and she misses it instantly. But they’ll be more, she reminds herself. This, and him, are here to stay.

“I may want to attend Mass.” He clears his throat. “And if we’re actually are going to go out and explore this city, the decorations are a good incentive.”

He doesn’t actually look too smitten with the idea of going outside. But if there’s a tradition to keep now, it’s one that necessitates fresh air and possibly sunlight. So she agrees.

Flynn studies her, and gains a mischievous glint in his eye. “Did you um, want those cookies now?”

“Are you offering?”

“If you get the ingredients with me, I am.”

Making plans can be fun, Lucy decides.

“I’ll get my coat.”

#garcy #timeless #garcy ff #timeless ff #lucy preston #garcia flynn #christmas #fanfiction #my fanfic tag #Fic series: Here and Now #for the sake of accuracy #i'll say that miracle on 34th street is not on netflix #it's on disney plus #meh

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ahab2631 · 4 years

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Hey, how are things ? I don’t know if you’ve been intentionally quiet about this or just haven’t had the opportunity to speak about it, but what are your thoughts on the S&B Netflix show? The cast, your thoughts, fears, etc.

In all honesty I am a terrible fangirl. I don’t chase or follow updates on things because 1) I hate feeling impatient, which is an inevitable product of anticipation, and 2) I want my experience of a story/tv show/whatever to be pure and unadulterated by any sort of “behind the curtain” info or fan opinion/spculation or what have you.

Perhaps oddly, I just don’t consider myself a “voice” in the Grisha fandom, you know? People’s experiences are theirs to have, and since I’m so obsessive about experiencing what’s put in front of me in its purest form, as whatever creator intended, I feel weird about adding my voice in opinion of a thing that doesn’t even exist yet. But being asked is another matter entirely! When I found out the project was announced, I was curious enough to dig around periodically until basic information was released, largely because of the fact that, let’s by honest, cross-platform adaptations typically end up being complete garbage. It seems even more problematic in the YA world, but that may just be because that has seemed to be such ripe ground for farming in the last... however many years. 10+? Idk. When I saw the types of hands this project was being put into, however, the exciting possibility entered my mind that the finished product might actually end up being pretty decent! The last of my spelunking was when the initial cast photo was released. I was elated that it wasn’t a whitebread party - the persistence of that nonsense in movies and TV has historically made me want to stab things. I did have a purely canon-related concern about at least one of the casting choices (Alina, because Ravka = Russia = white people as far as the eye can see, given the lack of modernity presented), but A) it’d be criminally easy to explain her Shu heritage even if the creators stick to the oldworld Russia picture of Ravka, and in good hands that could actually be used to enrich the whole thing, and B) it seems pretty obvious that the worldstate and timeline, at the very least, are being tweaked from canon anyway, so it may be a complete non-issue. After the fact, I do have reservations about at least two of the other casting choices, but probably 90% of that is flavors of personal preference. At least one of the choices is so strongly adherent to a reductive stereotype (more worrying is that I have never seen the acting not follow suit in such cases) that is a solar system past cliche at this point that it has renewed some concerns about the thing as a whole being mishandled, but... all I can do is wait and see how the team’s vision and interpretation comes together. Speculation outside of that is fairly pointless. TV and movies are an astounding beast in that the way all the parts come together can really change everything and anything. When I saw a photo of Gal Godot when they cast her as Wonder Woman, I thought it was the worst choice I’d ever seen, and ffs look how that turned out. Honestly one of the the best feelings in the world is being pleasantly surprised by someone else’s creative vision and ability. The rest of my side-eye regarding the cast probably only really has to do with the fact that literally the only visual interpretation of any book characters I’ve ever found satisfying or even a little fitting are Charlie Bowaters’ Rhysand and Bone Carver from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. But honestly, when someone’s being exists solely in your head and heart, how can any physical interpretation ever really be accurate? And that’s just talking about one person’s idea, god help anyone who has to cast a character that’s supposed to appeal to an entire fandom. (Side notes: 1) Charlie Bowater could draw a photorealistic pool of chunky diarrhea and I would think it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, so that helps, and 2) Full disclosure, I wasn’t actually a huge fan of the ACoTaR book series despite the fact that I found it [Rhysand. Basically just Rhysand.] ridiculously addictive. I’m world-class picky af about writing* *Fanfics get an almost endless free pass because none of us have editors and most of us are either entirely uneducated or at the very least haven’t majored in writing) Lastly, I'll say I did a quick Googly search before answering this just to make sure I remembered the cast right, and watched the short video where they introduced themselves. I found three things to be just... just magical: The Matthias/Nina actors’ interplay (most perfect, adorable thing I have ever seen in my life) Jesper’s actor basically being Jesper’s spirit animal while not even acting, and The way the guy (I don’t do names unless absolutely necessary, sorry humans >_>) who plays the Darkling was standing in front of his door/trailer and it was labeled simply “Bad Guy” instead of his name, and then Alina’s actress popped her head out from inside with a huge mischiefgrin I died on the spot. I actually don’t even know when the thing is being released, so I’ll probably be late to that party, too. xD Feel free to harass me, I’ll renew Netflix when the show comes out so I can watch it. <3!

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sammysreelreviews · 5 years

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Counting Down My Top 10 Netflix Original Tv Shows

Netflix has 593 original tv shows and counting. Yes you read that number correctly but, this also includes shows that are made by other networks but Netflix has the international rights to stream them for example: Peaky Blinders and The End of the F***ing World or shows they’ve saved like Lucifer and You but those won’t be included in this list. I’m always asked “what do you recommend to watch on Netflix” and these are my holy top ten that I know you’ll love. Once again, I’ve decided to make the list solely off of Netflix produced shows so shows they saved like You and shows they share like Peaky Blinders are unfortunately not on this list which is a shame cause I love the fookin Peaky Blinders. These shows are not only amazing they’re all shows I’ve rewatched many times like y’all these are my ELITE ten! I was gonna have this up weeks ago but I dead ass forgot to write/wasn’t feeling well mentally but here it finally is so enjoy my absolute Netflix favorites! Spoiler free!

10. Stranger Things (2016 - )

I mean we all know of the Sci-Fi phenomenon that is Stranger Things. I really wanted to rank this after season 3 came out and I’m not gonna lie I was a tad disappointed. This is a spoiler free post so I won’t give anything away to the people who take forever to binge shit but I felt like this season was dull, too cheesy, expensive but not in a good way, and directionless? Beside season 3, seasons 1 and 2 are immaculate and I hope season 4 is on point this time.

Status of show: Has been renewed for a 4th season

9. Atypical (2017 - )

This comedy about a teenage boy with Autism is one of the funniest and heartwarming shows EVER! Keir Gilchrist is absolutely brilliant in this and it really shows a side of autism we don’t normally see in the media. There’s family drama, lots of laughs, and some tear inducing moments. It’s a show you can binge super quickly so please give it a chance there’s nothing else like it!

Status of show: Renewed for a 3rd season

8. Big Mouth (2017 - )

The vulgar animated show that shows the trials and tribulations of puberty is a show that’s so fucking crazy it works. This is a show you can rewatch multiple times cause I promise you there are some jokes or scenes you’ll miss in the background. The planned parenthood episode is not only hysterical but also so well written its genius (also within the time I took to post this this exact episode was nominated for an Emmy). Nick Kroll, Maya Rudolph, and John Mulaney deserve all the awards for their voice acting.

Status of show: Season 3 should be coming soon

7. Bojack Horseman (2014 - )

Bojack Horseman is not only one of the best animated shows ever created but also one of the most depressing? Don’t get me wrong Bojack is indeed a comedy and it is HYSTERICAL but once you dig into Bojack’s past and really get to know him it makes you self aware in a way. I don’t like when my cartoons get sentimental but Bojack talks about mental health and if you know me I am all about checking your mental health.

Status of show: Renewed for a 6th season

6. Dear White People (2017 - )

The show based off the film of the same name about black kids in a mostly white elite college is very relatable, funny, and informative. Dear White People has drama, great conversation starters, and tons of laughs. Coming from a black girl in a mostly white area and going to private mostly white schools my whole life this show is like everything I could ever say. The writing is impeccable and is one of Netflix’s highest rated shows on Rotten Tomatoes.

Status of show: Season 3 is currently streaming on Netflix

5. Quicksand (2019 - )

This is a show I have literally BEGGED people to watch cause it’s just so well fucking done! I’m not gonna repeat myself and go on again but I will tell you the plot. Quicksand is about a girl who is the only one left standing after a school shooting happens in her classroom. The question is what the hell happened? The show then goes on to flashback on the events that happened before the shooting. This is a Netflix international show from Sweden and the acting is phenomenal, the story is powerful, and as chilling as it is you’ll wanna watch it again so um, FUCKING WATCH IT.

Status of show: Sadly unknown

4. Dark (2017 - )

It’s exhausting how many times I’ve told people to watch this sci-fi masterpiece but here I am again begging y’all to watch it. Dark is about a small German town where two boys go missing and what happens next no one could’ve prepared for. This is a show that’s so well written it’s scary like you can tell everything was planned out to the T. I just want y’all to know that this is probably the best show on Netflix. It would be number one on this list but the next three shows I’ve probably rewatched one thousand times. Any who, Dark is ending with a third season and it should be out in late 2020 so binge binge binge!

Status of show: Season 3 will be the last season

3. On My Block (2018 - )

The show about a group of high schoolers dealing with love, school, and gang violence is a show I’ve rewatched like way too many times to count. What I love about this show is that the cast is all people of color and while it is funny as hell when it gets deep it really tugs on your heartstrings. The characters are all so easily to fall in love with and I can not wait for season 3! Also the season one finale... whew!

Status of show: Season 3 is currently filming

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015 - 2019)

The quirky show about a woman who was kidnapped in her teens escapes and moves to New York is one of my favorite shows of all time. The references and situations on this show are even more special because sweet Kimmy (Ellie Kenner) only understands things from the 90’s since she was trapped underground for 17 years. The cast also includes Titus Burgess, Jane Krakowski, and Carol Kane. Everyone pulls their own weight on the show but Titus Burgess as Titus is literally one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on television. He should’ve gotten all the awards for his Lemonade episode ALONE! Not only is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt funny but it deals with sensitive topics like #metoo and immigration in lighthearted ways. It’s repulsive how many times I’ve watched this show but honestly there is not a funnier show on Netflix. Periodt.

Status of show: Ended BUT, I heard there’s going to an interactive episode coming out so that’ll be interesting

1. Narcos (2015 - 2017)

This is now the 5th time I’ve mentioned this show on here. I’ve described it best in my last article here. For the love of Godney Spears please watch this fucking show.

Status of show: Ended BUT they focus on the cartels in Mexico in Narcos: Mexico which stars Diego Luna and is also a Netflix original

#netflix #netflix suggestions #netflix recommendations #atypical #stranger things #quicksand netflix #dark netflix #unbreakable kimmy schmidt #narcos #on my block #dear white people #big mouth #bojack horseman #millie bobby brown #maya rudolph #tina fey #dacre montgomery

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