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wellship · 4 years

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Hello hi I just wanted to say I am absolutely here for Leah and Haley being girlfriends... hippie artist and pretty fashion girl??? Match made in heaven. Thank you. My crops are watered.

LISTEN…….. You have hereby given me permission to wall-of-text about why I love this ship so much lmao…

I already started off loving Haley because she’s IMO the best bachelorette in the game. I love not only how she grows as a character (compared to some of the others who can feel stagnant, even though I love them all too) but how her “growth” doesn’t mean that she sacrifices her personality completely.She was the first villager I ever romanced playing SDV because I was curious to see how she would be written and I was so, so pleasantly surprised. It’s so easy and common for characters like Haley to either stay as a shallow caricature of a “mean, girly girl” forever as a punching-bag for the writers’ projections, OR for her to do a complete 180 as if being girly, or interested in fashion, or not academic are bad traits to be “fixed” in order for the character to become likeable - especially since this was essentially a first-person dating sim, which often plays into the fantasy where a mean girl is turned into a totally pacified wifey-type by the (usually male) PC. I was fully expecting and bracing for Haley to go from being a caricature of a “mall brat” Mean Girl to being a caricature of an “I’m not like other girls” Cool Girl (or worse, “I’m so glad I Grew Up and realised all I need in my life is my hubby!”, but I wasn’t quite getting that vibe from SDV).

But that didn’t happen. Major props to CA for creating a character who DID grow and learn to appreciate things outside of her little bubble without feeling the need to abandon/criticise the things she used to like. She learns that shopping/makeup/boys (wink) etc. aren’t the only important things in her life, and she expands her horizons, but those things are still important to her. As someone who’s also interested in fashion and makeup it was refreshing to see those hobbies still portrayed in a positive light as opposed to something she had to “move past”.

So. Anyway. That’s why I love Haley so much and why I particularly like a narrative of her discovering she’s a wlw (thank you Stardew Valley for watering MY crops by giving everyone canon bi~ reads) as it ties in with her growing and maturing as a person.

And so when I looked at the roster of girls in Stardew Valley I felt like Leah was the best one to complement her character in a relationship:

Haley’s biggest obstacle in her life right now is that she’s very sheltered and, as a result, a little spoiled. Her parents are globe-trotting and her older sister has been left to look after her. The age gap between the sisters doesn’t seem to be that big and Emily isn’t very confrontational at the best of times, so I think she just took the path of least resistance, which was to do everything herself rather than argue with Haley who still sees her as a peer and not an authority figure.Leah, conversely, has had to become extremely independent and self-sufficient, very recently. Her narrative plot line about leaving an (if not abusive, then at least implied to be toxic/unhealthy) relationship and a position where she was “comfortable” but unhappy is very fresh and it’s exactly where Haley needs to be. Leah is in a prime position to, basically, give Haley a kick up the rear and tell her to get her act together, but without it coming off as too sanctimonious or parental since Leah is still going through it and learning herself. Two young adults navigating their way through adulthood and pulling each other along rather than one grabbing the other by the hand and “fixing” them.

The flipside of this is that Leah is in her position through choice, which she was privileged to be able to make. She CHOSE to leave behind a life in the big city and a stable career to pursue the aesthetic of living in a little country cabin and making art all day. Haley wants the opposite, but can’t make it happen. Haley would KILL to be able to pack up her life and move to the city to pursue her dreams - Fashion? Photography? Fashion photography? - but she can’t. She’s sheltered because she has everything provided for her in Pelican Town, but that doesn’t translate to having the same opportunities for forward momentum as Leah. Her parents aren’t implied to be very supportive of her dreams, so they’re not going to fund a move for her, and we constantly see that there are limited employment opportunities in Pelican Town unless she wants to work for minimum wage at Joja. So she’s kind of stuck. Narratively, we’re supposed to see Leah’s desire to move from the city to the country as a positive story arc (because it mirrors the player’s) while we’re supposed to see Haley’s desire to move from the country to the city as somehow being shallow or consumerist, and I think Leah herself would fall into the trap of thinking that way, which would be eye-opening for her.When you look at it, their narratives mirror each other. It’s easy to say that Haley is spoiled and out of touch with the “real world”, but Leah is also out of touch with reality in that not everyone can do what she did. I like Leah a lot and I’m not saying her life or her decisions were easy - and she definitely does seem to be genuinely “roughing it” and struggling for money when we meet her in-game - but she still got there by choice and she still does have a safety net of sorts, since it’s implied she could probably get re-hired in whatever lucrative field she worked in before moving. Haley doesn’t have that - her “safety net” of her parents’ house and her sister only works to support her as long as she stays put.I can see this being a really delicious and rewarding narrative point between them as they started to get to know each other, because I think they would probably HATE each other at first, lol. Leah would think Haley was childish and represented everything she disliked about “fake” city living while Haley would think Leah was pretentious and ungrateful.

Also I definitely love that hippie girl/mall girl contrast BUT please consider - Haley is also an artist and I think they’d both “get” each other on that level. Nobody in town considers Haley an artist. Leah is a “real” artist, a fine artist and a sculptor. Elliott is a “real” artist by way of being an author. Emily is a “real” artist for her sewing and… y’know… general aura. Those are defining aspects of their character. But to the other people in town, and even to the player, art is not one of Haley’s notable features. Her photography is just a throwaway idea. She’s the shallow, frilly, pink, bubblegum-scented boy-crazy “girly girl” who just also happens to take photos sometimes.But photography is serious TO HALEY. It’s pretty much the only thing she does around town other than wandering aimlessly. She has some pretty impressive equipment and she even builds a dark room for herself, either implicitly converting it from a walk-in wardrobe (which demonstrates how she sees her own priorities, regardless of how others see her) OR she builds it from scratch, which is even more dedicated. I think Leah is the best person in town to recognise that Haley is also an artist who’s dedicated to her craft and probably the only person to really encourage her to pursue it, to tell her that it’s worthwhile and not just some silly hobby. Leah would be able to see a lot of her own internal struggles over art in Haley, about whether it was “good enough”.

Conversely if there’s one thing Haley has which Leah lacks, it’s confidence. Leah is full of self-doubt about her art, her life choices, etc. whereas Haley’s main issue is apathy; once she finds something she’s actually passionate about, she’s very self-assured. I think once they broke the ice and started to become friends, if Leah expressed even a smidgen of self-doubt Haley would shut it down with very over-the-top but sincere pep talks.

I also just think their personalities contrast well, lol. Haley is extremely blunt but she’s not really trying to be rude, it’s just that the things she say often come from a sheltered perspective (i.e. “appearance is important to me” -> “[my concept of] appearance is important to everyone” -> “I should tell people if they’re doing Appearance wrong”). Leah on the other hand is very casual and polite but also hard to offend. She’s mostly content to let the odd comment roll off her back, but as we’ve seen with Kel, she’s also not afraid to tell people off when they’re being inconsiderate, which is what Haley needs - someone who won’t ditch her for putting her foot in her mouth, like most would/do, but also someone who won’t just enable her to stay sheltered.

Also in the context of this being a wlw ship/narrative, I think Haley would need a partner who was comfortable in their own sexuality since Haley (and her thematic counterpart Alex) are both extremely stuck in compulsive heterosexuality and sort of need a partner who… isn’t? Or else they’d just get sucked into a “will-they-won’t-they” vortex for a million years where neither of them know how to make the first move. Leah is the only bachelor(ette) who by default has any canonical LGBTQ relationship before the farmer, and that energy just translates well for Haley, IMO. I think if Haley found out Leah was a wlw then it would force Haley to reconsider her assumptions about her own sexuality.

Leah would go absolutely googoo gaga over Haley IMO and it’s just fun to picture her at the start of their interactions being like “god dammit she annoys me so much but DAMB .. .. .. girl pretty”

I doubt anyone read all of this but I HAD FUN and I’m really really glad to see such a positive response to that art!! I would love it if more people started shipping and making content for them 👀

#Anonymous #Stardew Valley #long post #text

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quiisquiliae-archived · 6 years

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For your canon muses: what are aspects you disagree with or choose to ignore when writing them? For your OCs: what is your thought process when doing their world and or character building?

So far, the only one that I really disagree with canon for is Logan tbh? I’m hella in denial about his death so while he still OD’s, he doesn’t die. He winds up in the hospital and then goes to rehab and cleans up eventually. Also (cuz butterfly effect), Haley lets Jules live so the Delos twins wind up reasonably happy and healthy thank you very much.

Billy, I’ll have to see what happens with season 2, Brisco, I’m pretty sure I’m fine with shit that happens in canon, I’m still working on rewatching his show but I don’t think there’s anything I vehemently disagree with.

OCs... It depends. Talon started out as “I wanna play a dual wield assassin, and let’s make him snarky with no sense of diplomacy cuz it’ll be hilarious to romance Josephine with him and I don’t have to worry about approval”. And then quite frankly he just... Grew. What I do with OCs from there, once I have that base concept (either as a random concept that’ll be fun, something I wanna see more of, or a role that needs filled like in the case of Alaric) I’ll sit down and work backwards from where I need them to be and that’s how I develop their backstory? So I’m constantly asking “ok, here’s where they are, how did they get there, why are they like this, what could have made them this way/choose that path”. Keryth was a “well what if” moment, and again, I just got too involved and invested in this dynamic to just... Leave it be just a “what if”. So Talon got a baby boy to raise.

Ashe was initially a self insert wayyyyyy back when and wound up being very much a foil to Talon. With her though, I was never happy with her background and motivations? So idk, I just kept reworking her and tweaking her to see what felt right for her, and I think I’m happy with where she’s at now. Alaric, like I said, he was built out of necessity. I felt like Ashe had a sibling and initially he was dead, but that just... Didn’t fit, so he (and their eldest brother, Azriel) wound up coming into existence and being developed to help enrich her story.

Taliesin was based off Talon’s initial design and a similar concept, but I didn’t wanna do the same thing, but snarky rogues? That’s something I’m familiar with, and I wanted something familiar for my first DnD venture which is what Taliesin was built for. I also didn’t want to have a super tragic backstory for him, and I think I partially succeeded? He’s still got dead parents, but ah, he had a good childhood before he lost them.

I also have a handful of other OCs that were created cuz I don’t see much of that kind of character. Like I’ve got a really feminine dwarf warden, a young teenage elf quizzy who’s got anxiety, a Trevelyan who’s Bann of Ostwick and a grandfather and is another one of my quizzies...

#thank you so much #sorry this got so long #tl;dr I don't have one singular process #it all depends on the OC #araethi

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just0nemorepage · 6 years

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My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories || Stephanie Perkins || 321 pages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 3 Genres: Young Adult / Short Stories / Romance

Synopsis: If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

Finished: December 14th, 2017.

Progress: 13 / 50. 26% complete.

My Rating: ★★★★★. [5/5]

My Review: [Under the read more - NOT SPOILER FREE]

Alright, it's been three days, I've seen the new Star Wars on opening night, survived my office's Christmas party and a trip to the mall, spent a night with Tyler and an evening out with my entire family for my dad's birthday, ticked off another D&D session, woke up early to do some dog sitting, passed out in bed before 11pm on both of my days off cause – who knew – I am tired, SO, it's about time I wrote this review.

Gift wrapping still needs done today too.

REVIEW FIRST.

CAUSE THIS BOOK DID THINGS TO ME.

To be fair – as with all short story books, some stories fell kind of flat, most others were either neutral or just generally enjoyable, and the rest were like JESUS CHRIST I WANT A FULL NOVEL OF THIS.

I also had a fun time trying to identify which of the ice skating couples on the front of the book corresponded with each couple in each story. 😁

So I suppose I'll do a breakdown of all twelve stories, with individual ratings and comments for each one, knowing that the whole book gets a full five stars cause holy shit my heart.

Midnights ; Rainbow Rowell - ★★★☆☆. 3/5. One of the ones I felt kind of neutral towards, and maybe even fell a little flat. It was cute, definitely, and a good start to the book, but the characters felt so... "young adult." They didn't feel real at all. It felt like an extremely romanticized version of a friendship turning into a romance, and like it was more a stylized painting of a relationship than an actual relationship. But, it was still cute.

The Lady and the Fox ; Kelly Link - ★★☆☆☆. 2/5. The writing was beautiful and poetic, but the relationship was... weird. I know that a lot was left unexplained and up to your imagination on purpose, but there was so much left out that I don't know if it was actually on purpose or if it was just poor storytelling. I also don't like the concept of a young girl meeting a strange older man, and as she "ages into it" they eventually fall in love. Especially since he was mean to her at first. Plus her personality change into "goth/punk" and the witch's appearance and deciding to let Fenny out of her grasp happened very abruptly, and left me feeling very unsatisfied. And Elspeth sort of just.. appearing in the middle of it all? Already fully understanding the situation? It was weird and needed much more explaining to feel like a fully developed story, and without it just felt like the bare bones outline of a story that could have maybe been decent with more flushing out.

Angels in the Snow ; Matt de la Pena - ★★★☆☆. 3/5. Yaaas Mexican main character, and mixed-race relationship. The story was all extremely adorable and felt very real, and I like how the ending wasn't necessarily happy. I also like how the whole situation was messy, and neither character is completely likable – Shy had his pride, was a chronic liar, and had issues with expressing healthy emotions, and Haley never fully explained WHY she wanted to break up with her boyfriend, and also had a night of cheating on him. These things are what made me feel genuinely annoyed enough to not actually be able to enjoy the story and the messiness of everything. But – BUT – Shy understood consent, and Haley understood things were no longer fair and healthy between her and her boyfriend, so she broke up with him that very same night she cheated. I heavily appreciate and respect these things, and I must say that even though the character's annoyances cut through too deep for me to rate the story any higher, it was very powerful and actually pretty well done.

Polaris is Where You'll Find Me ; Jenny Han - ★★★☆☆. 3/5. THIS ONE WAS SAD. I wasn't expecting a fantasy story in this book, and it was a pleasant surprise! BUT IT WAS SAD. I loved that the MC was Asian, and the concept of a human raised amongst Christmas elves is a pleasing one to me, especially since these elves seemed more like LotR elves than Elf elves. But that Natalie was so unaccepted and unwelcomed by everybody? That Santa (as her father) seemed relatively oblivious to it all? That Flynn apparently has had feelings for her and only showed it after he provided her with Lars's address, already knowing she's likely to go back to the human world to choose Lars than stay where she knows she doesn't belong? Annoying, hence the three stars, BUT SO SAD. Probably the saddest story in the book, and having an ending that wasn't necessarily happy and left so up in the air REALLY was a nice surprise.

It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown ; Stephanie Perkins - ★★★★★. 5/5. THE FIRST ONE I ADORED. OH GOD. This is also my first ever Stephanie Perkins story. If all of her shit is like this then OH MAN OH MAN. The story and the situation was so fucking cute, and actually believable, and holy wow *another* PoC MC, and paganism treated as real and respectable and legit and holy shit it's actually in a story (which legit made me want to find ways to celebrate the Solstice in addition to Christmas cause fuck man that's closer to what I actually feel than anything else out there), and I just, idek. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY was fucking amazing and incredible and I want a whole NOVEL of it. I mean I could re-read it again right now cause AAAHHHH. This isn't doing the story justice at all and I feel horrible for it but I CAN'T ORGANIZE MY THOUGHTS OKAY.

Your Temporary Santa ; David Levithan - ★★★★☆. 4/5. A gay couple!! Treated as completely normal and not about coming out and not facing shitty people and oppression!!! That in itself is fantastic. And then there's the "oh, this is more complicated than I thought" thing that pops up right about when Lana comes out to taunt the (Jewish!!) MC, who I think I just realized went unnamed in the whole story. It's never stated clearly but it's heavily implied that the last person to wear that Santa suit is Connor's dad, who is also heavily implied to have left the family. Riley is still too young to understand, Lana is SO ANGRY about the situation and takes it out on everyone and everything at only 12 years old (that poor kid), and Connor seems to just want to do something for his baby sister without realizing what it might do to the rest of the family.. that, and that the MC crawls into bed with Connor at the end of it when it was both implied that he wasn't yet properly introduced to the family, AND that to do so would give away the Santa secret.. those last couple things are what made me go "?" and docked the one star off. Otherwise though, it's powerful and sad and I am a HUGE fan of the diversity in this whole book cause omg.

Krampuslauf ; Holly Black - ★★★★★. 5/5. THE SECOND ONE I ADORED. At first it seemed like it was too try-hard and edgelord, but then quickly proved to be a PERFECT combination of my aesthetic – cause I mean, a faun IS going to be my next costume project, so there's that, AND justice is a massive turn-on, SO. Creatures from some sort of fae realm showing up during Christmas to deliver justice against a cheating sexist shit-head as a gift to the girls he's wronged, especially in the form of a fae woman with a knife and a satyr who's probably the sexiest character I've read about in a book to date (the gold-painted goat-legged Krampus self-dubbed Joachim), is EXACTLY my kind of shit and oh my god I want like – a whole novel or a whole series of novels about this. Just oh my god. Once I realized what was going on I was like "HOLY SHIT" and almost felt like it was written specifically for me because it fit so perfectly. I mean of course it wasn't – BUT STILL. I WANT MORE. I was NOT expecting darkness or anything seductive in a CHRISTMAS story so this took me so off guard and asdhkjhkdhf.

FAE, BUDDY. YOU DON'T MESS WITH THEM. THEY ARE GOALS IN LIFE.

What the Hell Have you Done, Sophie Roth? ; Gayle Forman - ★★★★★. 5/5. Another one I thought was utterly fantastic. The storytelling and the characters and the setting felt so well done and so real, and ANOTHER mixed-race relationship (AW YISS), and the MC being a card-carrying intersectional feminist in all but a specific statement saying so, and, DUDE, SHE'S JEWISH, and idk this one was SO FUCKING CUTE and I loved it to pieces. She reminded me SO much of myself – a personality and sense of humor that doesn't really fit in and tries so hard to be aware of other peoples' plights and troubles, and that she actually fucks up and handles it, and just. IT HIT ME IN THE FEELS.

These comments with each story are probably getting less and less clear and concise as I go on but idgaf.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus ; Myra McEntire - ★★★★★. 5/5. I didn't adore this one as much as the other five starers, but it still gets five in just how pleasantly surprised I was, and how all my stereotypical expectations were blown completely apart and proved totally wrong. Troublemaker guy has a crush on pastor's daughter, who is dating the star football player, and all these people end up coming together to put on a Christmas pageant troublemaker-guy is responsible for as his act of community service for all the trouble he gets into. And it's set in the south. Quite frankly, it sounds sickening and like I'd rather suck on a cactus.

BUT. Pastor's daughter (Gracie) COMPLETELY proved to be her own, strong, willful person who doesn't even seem to be SUPER religious – still religious, sure, but more into science and historical accuracy than "Bible this and Bible that", who knows what she wants and goes for it and is complicated and fucking smart (valedictorian!), and Vaughn – troublemaker guy – eventually sees all of this and COMPLETELY RESPECTS ALL OF IT. No taking advantage of her, no thinking less of her, no belittling her, IS RESPECTING OF CONSENT, sees her completely as her own person, respect everywhere, oh my god. And the football star Gracie's dating? Is ALSO ACTUALLY PRETTY RESPECTFUL. And nice. And it turns out the situation there was just a cover for a long-distance relationship he's in that his family wouldn't approve of, that she's understandably not a fan of and wants out of, and they promise to handle it and fix it like mature adults. So. DUDE.

I WAS SO SURPRISED.

It gets a full five stars just for shattering all my horrible expectations and actually being completely everything I could ever want in this situation.

More things need to shatter my expectations like that! I was so happy!

Welcome to Christmas, CA ; Kiersten White - ★★★★★. 5/5. Oh man another one I loved. Maria reminded me so much of my boyfriend, and this whole story is just so adorably sickeningly cute and sweet and I can't get enough of it. Candy's boyfriend can go FUCK HIMSELF and I am so happy she got away, and also so happy that Maria came to see the truth of things and adopted a much more healthy outlook at the end, and I am HALF CONVINCED Ben's story of "juvie" is just a cover-up that he's a Christmas elf. Though I also accept the story that he's actually from juvie, cause fuck, people with those kinds of backgrounds NEED more stories of hope and success and still making a good life for themselves.

I'M FEELING ALL FLUFFY INSIDE AGAIN JUST THINKING OF THESE STORIES I LOVED SO MUCH JESUS CHRIST.

I'm gonna have to bookmark them or something so I can re-read them again whenever I want omg.

Star of Bethlehem ; Ally Carter - ★☆☆☆☆. 1/5. Seemed more like a situation that was trying too hard to be a thriller, and with an ending that was a COMPLETE flop and let down. I spent the whole story trying to figure out wtf the real issue was and why Liddy was as scarred as she was. So when it got to the end, and it was revealed that she was a teen music star and the "bad guy" was her manager-turned-guardian and was only missing the goatee and steepled fingers for as typical of a "bad guy" as he was – I mean, he all but yelled back "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME" like some Batman villain – just, man. I was so disappointed. It all was so fast and so basic and so stereotypical and so one-dimensional – I mean, the family and town would all accept her just like that? No anger that she lied at all? Aunt Mary actually wants to adopt her after just a WEEK? She let Ethan kiss her and actually felt okay with it amongst all the rest of it? I mean – wasn't he upset about Hulda? He knows nothing about this girl and just knows she's lying and could hurt his whole family – how could he feel anything good at all, let alone romantic feelings toward her? None of it made sense and none of it fit and it actually felt kind of... bad. I mean, okay, the underlying story was interesting, I appreciate the idea of someone famous just wanting to be normal again and have a loving family again, and I like the idea of a family seeing through someone's completely obviously bad coverup story and taking care of the person anyway, but I DON'T like the lack of consequences, the complete inconsistencies in character development and plot, and how friggen rushed and horribly written the ending and the reveal was. This one was probably my least favorite story in the entire book, and left me feeling actively annoyed and disappointed.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer ; Laini Taylor - ★★★★★. 5/5. AND THEN THERE'S THIS ONE.

OH, MAN.

I almost want to just leave this review at JUST THAT cause holy shit how do you review this one.

It was SUCH a perfect ending to this book, I just, oh my god, it was so beautiful and perfect and wonderful and fantastical and FUCK THAT MINISTER MAN and idk it seemed all about the "fuck Christianity pro-nature pro-paganism" that I feel down in my bones and the depth of my soul, and I JUST COMPLETELY ADORED THIS STORY. idk other people might be able to say that it's "fuck a very specific kind of Christianity", which I get and agree with. But this "very specific kind" is like.. 99% of all people who follow it. Including all of history and what America was founded on and what people are trying to work into American law. So like. Yeah.

Enough about that though. Oh my GOD, this whole story and situation and everything about it. THE WRITING. OH, MY. THE WRITING. Holy shit I do not do favorite authors, but I think Laini Taylor just found her way into a spot amongst my favorites anyway. This is not the first story of hers I've read that has been written this beautifully, so I believe it's a consistent thing and I AM IN LOVE.

The only thing that made me sad was leaving all the other girls behind in the dust. So things went WONDERFULLY for Neve... but what about all the others? Are they going to be left behind to rot in unwanted, rape-y relationships? Was this society and the situation fixed at all? Was the shitty oppressive religion silenced in favor of the old one, the real one, the one that doesn't empower horrible people and punishes ACTUAL wrong-doings and sees all people as equals?

I sincerely hope so.

A BOOK COULD BE WRITTEN ABOUT IT TO ELABORATE.

Yanno. Just saying.

Oh my god I am so happy with all the diversity and differences and equality and YAAAAS in this book. SO HAPPY.

Things that could have made it all even better: A LADY-LOVE ROMANCE. Or some other form of gay relationship – like maybe someone who's bi! Or even ace or pan – THAT would've been wonderfully rare and unexpected!

I do realize that the average of my star ratings should put my overall rating at about.. a 3.8. But, seriously – the ones I loved, I loved SO MUCH, that it completely overrode any feelings I had about any of the ones that I didn't. They were just THAT GOOD, that I could ignore the meh ones' presences entirely and go right ahead and fucking love the entire compilation anyway.

I mean, it's not like I didn't appreciate the efforts and the stories and what all the others were trying to get across. Everything still had its own sweet or sad notes and it all still felt appropriately Christmas-y to me.

So, yeah, I can still honestly say I adored the whole book and would shove it in the faces of people who are in the mood for some cute romantic shit and are ready to barf Christmas everywhere. :D Barfing Christmas everywhere is my LIFE each December. So this is absolutely for anyone who does the same!

Those five-star stories I'll read YEAR-ROUND anyway, not even gonna lie, they were THAT GOOD. I'll barf Christmas in JUNE to re-read that shit.

#book reviews #my true love gave to me #stephanie perkins #★★★★★#young adult #short stories #romance #favorites #stunning covers #owned #print book #stand alone #jomp original

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND February 15, 2019 - HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, ISN’T IT ROMANTIC

Well, it looks like I’ve already gotten myself into a bind trying to write two movie columns a week, and unfortunately, this one can only be written as my time allows. It’s President’s Day weekend, incorporating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, with three new wide releases hitting theatres either on Weds or Thursday hoping to grab some early biz before the long weekend.

Also, a reminder that if you want to read my box office analysis and predictions, you can find those over at The Beat later today. (My box office preview column will post around 9:30AM on Weds.)

HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U (Universal)

Written and directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day,Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) Cast: Jessica Rothe, Rudy Modine, Israel Broussard, Rachel Matthews, Suraj Sharma, Phi Vu, Charles Aitken MPAA Rating: PG-13

The movie with the best bet of succeeding this weekend is the sequel to Universal and Blumhouse Pictures’ 2017 hit Happy Death Day with director Christopher Landon, Jessica Rothe and the rest of the cast returning… and returning… and returning. The horror version of Bill Murray’s Groundhog’s Day featured a mostly-unknown cast of young actors, including Jessica Rothe, who is destined to be a superstar, and all of them return for this sequel, which ups the ante on the original’s high-concept premise. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to see the movie before opening – I plan on going Wednesday afternoon – but I really enjoyed the first movie, and I expect the sequel to be more of the same i.e. obvious but funny and not necessarily as gory as a slasher movie like this might normally be.

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (20thCentury Fox)

Directed by Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City, Predators, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Desperado and many more) Written by James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis, Robert Rodriguez Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keann Johnson, Lana Condor, Eiza Gonzalez MPAA Rating: PG-13

Next up is an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s popular Manga series which premiered way back in 1990 and has been a passion project for Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron to make for almost as long. It’s definitely interesting to see Cameron work with a young upstart (by comparison) like Rodriguez, who has built quite a solid industry out of his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, but I’m not sure if American moviegoers are nearly as gung-ho about the collaboration. The cast is generally solid with The Maze Runner star Rosa Salazar getting the title role, joined by Oscar-caliber actors like Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali, as well as newcomer Keann Johnson. Blink and you might miss the heavily CG-ed Ed Skrein, Lana Condor, Eiza Gonzalez and Jackie Earle Haley – I think he plays the Dogmaster. Reviews have generally been mixed but I really didn’t like it much at all (see my review below) and I’m not sure if moviegoers will feel too differently, as this is going to be a divisive movie. I’m not even sure if and how fans of the Manga will enjoy seeing it brought to life, but that’s really going to be seen for sure after its extended opening weekend that runs from Thursday through Monday.

My Review of Alita

Another Piece I Wrote About Alita

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC (New Line/WB)

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson (The Final Girls, A VeryHarold and Kumar 3D Christmas) Written by Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, Katie Silberman Cast: Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine, Jennifer Saunders, Priyanka Chopra, Betty Gilpin, Jennifer Saunders MPAA Rating: PG-13

Last but not least, especially with this week’s Valentine’s Hallmark Holiday on Thursday, is this unconventional romantic comedy that acts almost as a satire of the medium without going into Date Movie territory. It’s another chance for the very funny Rebel Wilson and Adam Devine, both from the Pitch Perfect movies, to break out on their own after mainly playing supporting roles in other comedies. Devine at least has a fanbase from his Comedy Central show Workaholics, and he’s had more featured roles in movies like Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, but this movie has more of an opportunity to reach young lovers and the date night crowd than the other two movies. I probably won’t review this, but I generally liked it quite a bit. I thought it was quite clever and funny in a snarky way that the kids seem to like and really its only straight competition is last week’s What Men Want.

LIMITED RELEASES

Not a ton of limited releases this weekend thankfully, but one of the big ones is the New York and L.A. release of Stephen Merchant’s FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY (MGM), a comedic biopic about WWE Superstar Paige, as played by Florence Pugh (Lady MacBeth) and also starring Jack Lowden, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn and Dwayne Johnson, who also produced the film along with WWE Films. It follows the story of how Paige and her brother Zak (Lowden) have dreams of becoming WWE superstars, coming from a family of wrestlers, and Paige’s struggles to fit in at the NXT training camp with Vaughn playing her tough coach. Johnson produced the film along with WWE Films, and he makes a couple brief apperances as himself. It’s a fun movie that I really enjoyed. You can read my full review below, and then look for my interview with Paige over at VitalThrills.com.

https://weekendwarriorblog.tumblr.com/post/182726024603/fighting-with-my-family-eds-very-important

Another pleasant surprise for the weekend is RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR (Sony Pictures Classics), Slovenian filmmaker Milorad Krstic’s amazing animated feature centered around the title character, Ruben Brandt, a psychotherapist who has been having nightmares involving 13 famous paintings, so he puts together a band of art thieves (actual pieces of art who are also criminals) to steal some of the greatest artworks in the world. He quickly earns a reputation as “The Collector,” and a group of insurance companies hire private detective Mike Kowalski to get the art back. I didn’t really know what to expect when I saw this movie a few weeks back, and the premise and characters are so bizarre, that it took me some time to adjust to the pace, but there’s some really cool stuff on display here including a number of action setpieces right out of Mission: Impossible or The Fast and the Furious, but all animated with a unique style that reminded me about what I loved about Terry Gilliam’s animation on Monty Python’s Flying Circus. If you’re a fan of animation and/or looking for something different this weekend, this is what I recommend.

Opening in New York Friday at the Quad Cinema and on VOD is Tim Sutton’s DONNYBROOK (IFC Films), based on the novel by Frank Bill, in which Jamie Bell plays Jarhead Earl, who wants to keep his family together, so he robs a gun shop and goes on the road with his son to enter a legendary bare-knuckle brawl called Donnybrook, in which the winner gets $100,000. On his trail is drugdealer Chainsaw Angus, played by Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and Angus’ sister (Margaret Qualley). (FYI, Sutton will be at select screenings at the Quad.)

Opening on Weds at New York’s Film Forum and at several L.A. theaters on Friday is BIRDS OF PASSAGE (The Orchard), Colombia’s Oscar entry directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent). It’s an amazing story set in the rural Colombian drug trade over the course of several decades. The winner of three Colombian Fenix Film Awards, Birds of Passageopened the Directors’ Fortnight at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and has played a number of major festivals since then. It’s a really strong film that showcases the indigenous Wayuu tribe based in the rural area of Colombia who get involved with the drug trade as a way to survive financially. It focuses primarily on the growing feud between two families and the plight of a young man named Rapayet to get out of the drug trade once he’s pulled into it in order to afford the dowry for his beautiful bride. It’s another great-looking film but one that feels a little more contemporary than Guerra’s previous film even though it takes place between the ‘60s and ‘80s and could actually be viewed as a companion film to Tom Cruise’s American Madein the sense that it shows the very beginnings of the drug journey to the States.

Opening Friday at Lincoln Center is Hong Sang-soo’s Hotel by the River (Cinema Guild), which played at the New York Film Festival last year. It involves two intersecting tales, one about an old poet who calls his estranged sons to be by his side as he reaches the end, and the other about a young woman with a broken heart.

Ryan Reynolds narrates the IMAX documentary Great Bear Rainforest: Land of the Spirit Bear, which opens solely in IMAX screens on Friday. It’s a movie about the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada where resides the rare all-white spirit bear, and the indigenous First Nations tribe.

Dog lovers who didn’t get enough canine cuteness with A Dog’s Way Home can also catch the dog movie Patrick (Screen Media), written and directed by Mandy Fletcher (Absolutely Fabulous), which will open in select cities and VOD Friday. It revolves around a young woman named Sarah Francis (Beattie Edmonson) whose life is a mess even before her grandmother (played by her real-life mother Jennifer Saunders, who is also in Isn’t It Romantic) bequeathes her spoiled pug Patrick to her. It also stars Ed Skrein (also in Alita), Gemma Jones and Emily Atack.

STREAMING

The only new movie streaming on Netflix this Friday is the New Zealand comedy The Breaker Upperers, written and directed by Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek, who also star as BFFs Jen and Mel who get paid for ending romances, although their own relationship is put to the test when one of gets a conscience about what they’re doing.

As far as series, Netflix is debuting the new series The Umbrella Academy, based on the comic series by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba, this Friday. Meanwhile, on DC Universe’s streaming platform, the new Doom Patrol will premiere, and that’s a pretty crazy bit of counter-programming.

Not exactly “streaming” but Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s doc United Skates will premiere on HBO on Monday the 18th. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival last year where it won the Audience Award for documentary, and it’s won many other festival audience awards. It looks at the vanishing world of roller rinks and the “adult nights” that brought many of the African-American communities together in cities in North Carolina and California, but one that’s quickly fading away.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Valentine’s Day at the Metrograph is always a fun time, and this year is no exception with screenings of Casablanca (1942), Ernst Lubisch’s Heaven Can Wait (1943), Werner Fassbinder’s Querelle (1982), David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996), Claire Denis’ Trouble All Day (2001) and even Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning Moonlight. (These are all playing on Valentine’s Day and a couple screenings before/after.) Produced by David O. Selznick ends this weekend with screenings of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and George Cukor’sWhat Price Hollywood? (1932). This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is the Chinese crime film Black Coal Thin Ice (2014) on Thursday night and Trouble All Day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matineesis the beloved 2017 family film Paddington 2, directed by Paul King.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Not to be outdone by that young upstart Metrograph, Tarantino’s rep theater will screen the late great Burt Reynolds’ Deliverance (1972) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997), also starring Reynolds, on Weds. and Thursday, then continuing their Reynolds tribute with double features of White Lightning (1973) and 1974’s The Longest Yard (one of my personal favorites). Saturday night’s midnight screening is D.A. Pannebaker’s classic concert film Monterey Pop from 1968, featuring performances by The Who, Jimi Hendrix and more, while the weekend’s Kiddee Matinee on Saturday and Sunday is Ralph Nelson’s 1971 film Flight of the Doves. Sunday and Monday night are double features of Laurel and Hardy’s Flying Deuces (1939) and Mel Brooks’ The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), starring the wonderful Marty Feldman. There’s also a screening on Sunday afternoon of Carl Franklin’s 1995 film Devil with a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Opening on Friday is the exclusive premiere of Milestone Films’ 4k rerelease of Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 documentary I Am Cuba, presented by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, which features amazing footage of Havana in the late ‘50s. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. offering is a new 4k restoration of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel (1956)

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Other than Valentine’s Day screenings of Hal Ashby’s 1971 dark comedy Harold and Maude (another personal favorite of mine) and Ivan Nagy’s Skinner (1993) starring Ted Raimi, the Egyptian is mainly focusing on making sure Oscar voters have a chance to see some of this year’s Best Picture nominees like Roma and Bohemian Rhapsody.

AERO (LA):

The Aero is also showing the 1942 classic Casablanca on Valentine’s Day, but mostly, the entire weekend is dedicated to screening Jean Luc Godard’s most recent effort, The Image Book.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Goldblum Variations, celebrating the great Jeff Goldblum, continues this weekend with screenings of Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Fly, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Thank God It’s Friday, Into the Night and more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: The Feds presents a 35mm print of Sandra Bullock’s Miss Congeniality from 2000, this weekend’s Weekend Classics: Early Godard is Vivre Sa Vie from 1962, which is playing Friday through Monday at 11AM. Late Night Favorites has two movies running over the weekend, David Lynch’s Blue Velvetand Dario Argento’s Suspiria.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday night’s midnight movie is Blood Diner from 1987!

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, the Film Society will show Sergey Bondarchuk’s four-part War and Peace (1969), presented by Mosfilm Cinema Concern, an epic that runs for seven ours over the four parts, each which will run two or three times over the weekend.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Thursday, the Brooklyn Arts Museum will begin Programmer’s Note: On Love, a series that will include romantic films such as Love & Basketball on Thursday, Pedro Almodovar’s Bad Education on Friday, and much more all running over the course of the next week.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Sir Sidney PoitierscreensTo Sir with Love (1967) on Weds, Lillies of the Field (1963) on Thursday, and Stanley Kramer’s Guessing Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967) on Friday.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Derek Jarman-Humphrey Jennings retrospective continues with Sebastiane (1976) on Friday, preceded by the short The Silent Village, plus two more films on Saturday and Sunday nights. MOMI is also screening Roman Holiday (1953) on Saturday as part of the Edith Head series.

That’s it for this week, but next week is a bit lighter with DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Fighting with My Family expands natiowide. Don’t forget to check out my weekly box office column at The Beat, which you can read right here.

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