#little gilmore girls reference there for ya ;)

[bookshopbentley]

“ aziraphale chose heaven over cr — “ shut UPPPP shut the fuck up aziraphale chose heaven over his own happiness THATS how selfless he is and if i have to read that one more time i’m throwing a tantrum

[callmelola111]

K.O. ♡ e.w. oneshot

 ✄ - - - -   inspo track   - - - -   bull believer- wednesday

synopsis: as hours, minutes, and seconds count down till the new year, secrets are revealed and trust is broken. who knew the downfall of your life could be so freeing—and that a total stranger would be the one to catch you.

      | 𓆣 | pairing & wc: ellie williams x reader. wc: 4.8k

      | ❀ | cw: 18+ themes (MDNI), modern au, reader is in a toxic relationship with a man (sexuality isn’t mentioned in huge detail so feel free to hc however you like—they could be bi, pan or just a lesbian with very real comp het), coming out scene (refers to self as “gay”), heavy swearing, descriptions of intense violence + gore, cheating (bf on reader), underage drinking + use of marjuana (18), reader is called a slur (dyke)

a/n: hi hellooo, long time no see! **first, a quick disclaimer: this isn't realistic, there is a complete lack of morals and an unethical/dangerous amount of violence that i wouldn't condone irl. but alas this is fan fiction based off a M rated game whose whole basis is violence, sooo plz keep that in mind when reading.** anywaysss... i’ve been obsessed with this song for months now and it sparked a little oneshot idea so here it is. not exactly my usual stuff, more of a passion project as i process my hatred for men as a lesbian who used to date them. soooo i guess this one goes out to my small town comp het girlies who love ellie williams. thanks for all the support!! ♡~ lola

In the south it never really felt like a true winter. All the holidays that came along with it never felt real either. Christmas was dull and New Years was even worse. After spending the last 18 years of your life in a small hick town, it felt like no use to wish for some “better future”. You were damned from the start. Sure it was a new year, but it was the same old shit and you knew nothing was gonna change until you got out of this hell hole.

Just 6 more months of pretending, you’d tell yourself. 6 more months of bending over backwards to please your overbearing parents. 6 more months of mediocre sex with your shitty boyfriend that you weren’t even sure you liked. 6 more months of artificial conversations with your estranged friend group from middle school who claim to “not get you” anymore. But at this point, as every little thing ate away at you, you weren’t sure if you could keep up your act for much longer. Especially tonight, where you’d be faced with the challenge of appeasing all 3. 

December 31st, 9:00pm:

Adorned in a matching set of mint green pjs you sat patiently on your bed waiting for the go-ahead. Like clockwork, your parents gave a small knock and pushed open your door from its cracked position. It always annoyed you how they knocked, pretending to respect your privacy while simultaneously enforcing a “no closed doors” rule. You thought at 18 they would’ve let it go, but no. 

“Well hun, me and your mother are heading out now. We don’t expect to be back till the morning… Ya know, just to be safe while taking part in all the ‘festivities’.” Your dad chuckled, throwing up some air quotes. Your mom stood deadpan waiting for him to wrap up his little bit before butting in.

“No plans for the evening, right?” She phrased her words like a question but you knew this was just her way of subtleing enforcing the stupid rules you’ve followed your whole life.

“Of course not momma. Probably just gonna watch Gilmore Girls reruns and then go to sleep before any fireworks start up.” You gestured to your pjs but your perfectly made bed said otherwise. See, you knew this little routine like the back of your hand. You knew just what to do and just what to say in order to lure your parents into a false sense of security. While they stood in the frame of your door wishing you a goodnight, your party clothes hung on the other side of it, just out of their view.

December 31st, 9:30pm:

A loud honking blared from just outside your bedroom window. You ushered the sheer curtains open and glared out at the little sedan sputtering in your driveway. Your hands ran down your face followed by a big sigh. It’s not like you didn’t know your boyfriend Jax was coming to pick you up for the new years party that night, you had planned it just days before. But unbeknownst to him, the only reason you reached out was because you didn’t have a ride and tonight was one of the few times your parents wouldn’t be around to police curfew. 

You climbed into the passenger seat already cringing at the unidentifiable smell and litters of trash covering the floor. Forcing a smile to your face you greet the grimey boy sitting at the wheel with a wave.

“Come onnnn, not even a kiss? You must be real happy to see me, huh?” You grit your teeth, squeeze both eye’s shut, and lean in for a peck to appease his complaints. 

“Of course I’m happy to see you babe.” This was a lie. Something you had become quite good at these past few years, even lying to yourself at times. The rest of the car ride was silent, leaving you to ponder this drudgery of a relationship. You weren’t quite sure when things shifted or if there was ever an attraction at all, but after a year together and college approaching you just decided to ride it out until the inevitable. And part of you recognized the same in him, so there was never any guilt about it. 

December 31st, 9:45pm:

Alcohol was the first thing on your mind as soon as the car went into park. The door to the house was propped wide open, inviting in teens of the small town. Some top 10 hit boomed from a speaker nested in the main living area, not really your style—at least not sober. You scavenged the kitchen for a clean solo cup to designate as your own and began the journey to drunkenness. Jax followed in suit with a couple bottles of beer. The harsh burn in your throat lingered but the alcohol's effect was already beginning to take off the edge that was your life.

You attempted to initiate some conversation with the man who had brought you here but he was too busy texting to listen. So consumed with the glow of his screen, you couldn’t help but peek to see what was so interesting. As soon as you got a glimpse you wished you had been less nosey. His attention was not being stolen by a dumb Instagram reels, but actually, a long string of texts with a girl whose name you didn’t recognize. Your stomach pinged at his possible infidelity. Partly because he was your boyfriend but mostly because you’d spent months convincing yourself to like him, to stay with him, to be a good girlfriend—and he could care less. All this work and effort on your part was simply discarded with his unloyal behavior. It was all for nothing. But hey, maybe you were just drawing conclusions. It could just be a friend. Right?

December 31st, 10:15pm:

Jax had finally shifted his attention back to you before his screen lit up again causing you to retaliate in irritation. You swiped up the cracked device before he had the chance and began to scroll.

“Can’t you just silence it? What is soooo fucking importan-.” Your voice caught at the sight of flirty messages littering the screen.

“Are-are you fucking cheating on me?” You instantly questioned.

“Bro no! Give me my fucking phone back!”

“Who the fuck are you texting then? ‘Mary Jane’,” you spouted in a mocking tone, “no way is that someone's real name. You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“It’s a joke between me and my cousin. Now would you chill?”

“Your cousin?? You call your cousin baby?? I mean, I knew this town was full of hicks but I didn’t know y’all were those kinds of hicks.” The alcohol was giving you a little too much courage as your taunting waded into dangerous territory.

“The fuck did you just say? Don’t fucking test me! Can’t even handle a couple shots without getting all crazy on me!!”

“Crazy?? I’m being fucking reasonable. Literally any other person would be bothered by this just as much as me.”

“You know what, just fuck off. We can talk when you stop being such a delusional bitch.” He then disappeared into the living room, landing onto the couch, leaving you alone with your anger. 

December 31st, 10:30pm:

You stood idle, bubbling over with emotion, eye’s filling with tears when a wet sensation hit your upper lip. Its flow grew stronger and began to trickle onto your hands where your gaze was locked. Deep red stained your palms- a random nosebleed. It was like a sign from the universe. A sign that you weren’t crazy. In fact, you might be one of the only sane people in this whole damn town. Stuck in your reverie, blood continued to drip on your hands, your shirt, your lips- everywhere. That is until a kind eyed girl slipped you a dish towel to stop the flow. 

“Uh hey, your nose is bleeding.” You snapped your head up finally acknowledging the moment in full.

“Shit thanks, sorry…” Your face went hot realizing how long you had been just standing still, letting the blood fall where it may. The heat doubled, spreading to your ears when you finally acknowledged the person who had witnessed the whole thing. Ellie Williams. You had never formally met but knew of her existence, as she had kind of a reputation around school. There wasn’t anything inherently bad about her (at least in your opinion), she just didn’t fit the mold of most residents in your town. Therefore, she was a target for people's prejudices, especially being the only out lesbian in your senior class. Despite everyone else’s thoughts, you really admired her. You wished you had that type of courage.

“It’s no problem…” the auburn haired girl glanced down deciding what to say next before lifting her gaze back up to you. “Not to be nosey, I know you don’t really know me, but like… are you okay?”

Head tilted back, you gave a nasally reply, “Oh me? Yeah, yeah uh- I’m okay” 

“No offense but uh, you don’t look that okay.” she gestured to your bloody everything.

“Alright so I’m not okay, you got me.” You looked down to your now crimson stained blouse and scrubbed frantically at the chiffon material trying to reprimand the damage.

“Here, here– You can just take my flannel to cover it up, I promise I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” Before you could say anything else, Ellie was sliding the warm garment over your shoulders and guiding you into the arm holes. It was dark blue, in a faded plaid pattern, and smelled of pine and incense. The girl was now left barren in just her white tank– and all for you.

“Yeah of course.” She then took it a step further, buttoning you up. You watched as her dexterous fingers worked up from the bottom of the shirt to the top, brushing you at each maneuver. A little jab into the plush right under your naval, a swipe past your ribs, and a tap at your collarbones. The quick, unexpected interaction left you completely flustered and you weren’t quite sure why.

“Thank you.” was all you could say. 

“Sooo… do you wanna talk about it?” At this point, Ellie was completely enamored with you from the way you handled yourself with Jax. She had this unusual feeling, a feeling like she needed to protect you. A feeling that you were different from most. Maybe you were even a little like her?

“Honestly, yeah. My friend Samara was supposed to be here tonight but I guess she decided not to show, and I’m starting to wish I didn’t either.”

“Well, if it’s worth anything, I’m glad you’re here. Come on now, follow me.” Ellie led the way to a set of stairs at the edge of the living room. You snaked right past the couch where Jax was drunkenly passed out, mumbling obscenities at his phone. Of course, he paid no mind to you. The idiot was too consumed with himself to even wonder if you were okay.

December 31st, 11:00pm:

You and the sweet girl sat on the rough carpeted step talking about everything under the sun. Ellie was the first person in a really long time who you felt you could be honest with.

“So you think he’s cheating on you?” she questions trying to clarify the few bits of dialogue she heard while watching from afar.

“I know he is. I’m not stupid.”

“I’m sure you’re not.” Ellie put her head down staring at the laces of her dirty converse. You felt so unreadable, making her unsure of how to proceed in the conversation. “So00, how do you feel about it all then?”

“I don’t know, I guess angry.” you answered with a remarkably solemn tone. 

“What about… sad?”

Like second nature, you instantly thought of a less than honest answer until Ellie’s attentive green eyes brought you back to Earth. 

“It feels like… I’m supposed to be sad, but I can’t. In a twisted, confusing way, I’m honestly kinda relieved. So fucking pissed, but relieved.” Ellie’s lids widened, this was an answer she wasn’t expecting at all–but one she was glad to hear.  

“I can’t blame you, he does kinda seem like a piece of shit.”

“And his dick is small too.” you quipped, making Ellie chuckle under her breath.

“Maybe I’m reading into things, but… it seems like you never really liked this guy in the first place.” 

You took a guilty pause before confirming, “Maybe…”

“So why haven’t you broken up with him?” Ellie was genuinely curious. She thought if it was her in the situation she definitely would’ve gotten rid of that Jax guy long, long ago. Who would wanna keep around a douche bag like that?

“Being with Jax felt convenient. He felt like my ticket to ‘normalcy’.” You put your head down in slight shame but continued the explanation. “I got so caught up in my image that I neglected how I actually felt. I was doing everything to please everyone but me.”  Ellie scooted in one inch to the left, now connecting your thighs and bringing in a sense of comfort.

“Trust me, I understand. This town is fucking ruthless.”

“God yeah, the things I’ve heard people say about you are seriously fucked up. I don’t know how you do it.” A beat of silence lingered as Ellie articulated her thoughts.

“I think… community. I mean, obviously most of the people at our school look down on me, but all it takes is one singular person to be right there with you and then things don’t feel so bad. I guess for me, I can’t imagine being anything but myself. Like completely myself.” The girl looked up from the hangnail she was picking at as she spoke and was met with your tear filled eyes. “Fuck, did I say something?”

Your hand shot up to quickly wipe away the floodgates threatening to fall, “No, no. It’s just that you’re right,” you stuttered, choking down another cry, “an-and, I wish I would've realized it sooner because these past 4 years have been like hell. I don’t wanna be the cookie cutter straight girl anymore. I just wanna be me.”

Ellie then placed a gentle hand to your knee and brought her eyes to meet your own, “And what might that be?”

“Gay. Like really fucking gay.” you said through teary-eyed laughs as Ellie joined in with her own hearty chuckle.

“Welcome to the club.” she said, sticking out a strong hand for you to shake. You grasped it tightly as her warm palm guided you up and down, her touch lingering just a little longer than the gesture itself. As you collected yourself you whipped out a small pocket mirror to touch up the smudged mascara littering your undereyes. Ellie admired in silence. She was in pure awe of your resilience, and when you were finished with your clean up, you turned back to realize what had just gone down.

“Fuck, I’m sorry for dumping all that on you considering we just met. It’s weird how things I’ve never even said out loud before can come out so easily around a stranger.”

Ellie nudges you with her shoulder, “I guess I just have that effect, huh?”

“I guess you do.” you sighed, nudging her back.

December 31st, 11:15pm:

The two of you continued your banter until a cold breeze from the back door gave Ellie a brilliant idea.

“Dare I say… you look like you need a blunt?” she said with a mischievous smirk.

“No, please. It's exactly what I need.”

Ellie then reached into the pocket of her baggy jeans, “I guess it’s your lucky day then.” she said, revealing the most perfectly wrapped blunt you’d ever seen.

“You’re actually god sent Ellie. How are we just now meeting?” The auburn-haired girl gave a small laugh before grabbing your hand and leading you to the backyard. As she pushed the white panel door open, every single ounce of weight that had been lifted off from that one singular conversation, all came crashing back down. Ellie and you weren’t the only ones who adventured outside into the brisk night air. Right on the porch stood Jax, accompanied by your “friend” Samara, who up until this point you didn’t even think was coming. The piece of shit was practically sucking her face off before the creaking sound of the back door sent them 5 feet apart.

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” you yelled, eyes growing dark with rage. Ellie just stood and watched from the corner.

“Babe, please! I swear it’s not what you think!” Jax stumbled forward, attempting to grasp at your figure.

“Don’t you dare try and touch me! You don’t even deserve to look at me. It’s over Jax. I’m done being suffocated by your never ending bullshit!” Knuckles clenched, you continued your lashings, this time at Samara. “I-I thought we were friends. What happened to that?”

“You don’t even like him. You should be thanking me.” she spat. 

“You really don’t get it, huh? This has nothing to do with me liking Jax or not, you completely betrayed our friendship the second you started fucking him behind my back. Friends don’t fuck each other boyfriends Samara!” Before she could even respond Jax was dragging her away, flipping you off on the way inside.

“Ellie-” you squeaked, trembling in shock. 

“Come here, it’s okay love.” she whispered, parting her arms to make a safe space just for you. You collapsed into the warm cavity and relinquished the buckets of tears you had been saving for the moment someone actually gave a fuck. And Ellie did. She never let go of you even for a second as you crumbled under her.

“Jeez I’m sorry.” you said after minutes of pure silence, lifting your head to meet Ellie’s green eyes. 

“For what?”

“For being a drunk mess, crying to you about a man, and also, I think I got a little snot on your shirt.” you tried to laugh it off but you really just wanted to disappear.

Taking your face in her palms Ellie reassured you, “hey, hey no need to be sorry pretty girl. You’ve been through a lot tonight. Besides, I think I look kinda good with this huge ass wet spot in the middle of my tank top. What do you think?” You stepped back and took a look at the damage, and honestly, she was kinda right. With the white cotton material you could see right through to her toned stomach, barely missing the bottom of her breasts. 

“Fine, yes. I’m sure there’s plenty of girls who’d kill to see you in a wet shirt Ellie.”

“Lucky you then.” she said, playfully nudging your shoulder.

You couldn’t help it as the corners of your mouth turned upwards, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“There’s that smile. Soooo… blunt now?”

“Yes. Blunt.”

December 31st, 11:30pm:

And just like that, you were halfway through the chestnut wand of herbs and deep in conversation.  

“So you really haven't seen But I’m a Cheerleader?” Ellie asked, blowing out a puff of smoke with the question and passing it on.

You took the blunt from between her fingers and let it rest between your own, “No. Should I have?” 

“Definitely dude, it’s like queer classic.”

“Oh yeah?” You cocked your head at the freckled faced girl. 

“Yeah. And now that I’m thinking about it, you’re honestly just like the main character.”

“How so?” you asked, taking another long draw. 

“She’s in denial about being gay for like the first 30 minutes of the movie.”

A string of coughs unleashed from your chest as you let out a hefty laugh mid-inhale, “Bitch-”

“What? I’m being so deadass!”

“Fine, what character are you then?” you pry, passing the lit blunt back over to Ellie.

Taking a hit she replies, “I guess I’d be graham.”

“And what does she do?”

“I’m kinda like your awakening in a sense. Graham is all gay and cool, and of course Megan—that's you—totally falls for her.” 

You retrieve the lit cannabis and roll your eyes, “I haven’t fallen for you yet Williams.”

“Yet.” she emphasizes, placing a soft finger to the tip of your nose tauntingly.

“Ha. Ha.” you monotonously mock, “Now here, I think it’s done.” You hand Ellie the roach and she promptly stubs it out into the concrete slab deck.

“Come on, let’s go inside. I’m fucking cold.” she pleas.

“Dude I’m scared. Like I am way too fucked up for this.”

“No, no– I promise you’re fine. I’ll protect you.” 

“Fineee.” you drag out.

December 31st, 11:50pm:

Things were seemingly fine as you and Ellie entered the muggy living area of the packed house once more. Your hesitancy was quite clear though and Ellie could sense you needed just a little reassurance. Your right hand, currently picking away at the hangnail on the thumb of your left, was quickly captured by Ellies own rough hand which led you back to your comfortable spot on the ascending stair set.

As you both took a seat your grip remained tight on the girl, afraid that if you let go you might jump up from your spot right then and there just to give Jax one more lesson. Just the sight of him through the slats of the stairs’ wooden railing—legs casually spread wide and eyes focused in on a casual game of Mortal Kombat—drove you fucking crazy. 

“Dude if you keep staring like that you might actually burn a hole through his dumb ass T-shirt.” Ellie said, nudging your tensed shoulder.

“Good it’s ugly anyways.”

“Fair point.”

“I just have this burning need to get back at him. I wanna beat his ass just like in that game he can’t take his eyes off.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, “Very funny, but you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Oh yeah?” you questioned before laying a soft punch to the girl's forearm. A string of dramatic “Ows” reverberated from her lips. “See, I’m a badass right?”

“Fine you’re a total badass” she agreed begrudgingly, rubbing the soft tissue of her arm where you had left your mark. 

“What? It hurt that bad? You need me to kiss it better?” you taunted. 

“Maybe I do.” she said, longing eyes staring into your own. 

You gulped down any hesitation and felt it drop straight to your nervous stomach, “Where does it hurt?”

Ellie pointed to her arm slowly, “here.”

You placed a soft peck.

Hot breath raising goosebumps to the surface of her skin, “and here”, she gestured to her outstretched neck

Another supple kiss.

“And um-” she continued, but was quickly cut off and brought back to reality with the bellowing sound of a countdown. Too caught up in the moment, you both had almost forgotten about the holiday currently taking place.

FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO…

“Can I kiss you?” she blurted frantically, and with no words you dove into her plump, chapped lips. Just like a puzzle piece your bottom lip slotted perfectly between her own. It was a gentle and delicate kiss at first, drinking in the euphoric moment. Quickly though, soft maneuvers of the mouth got quicker and harder. Spit was exchanged with passion and need, as your hands were becoming grabby at the girl's toned figure. The heat growing between your legs was an easy distraction from the fact that you were at a large party, in a hick town, with your ex-boyfriend now hovering over your more than friendly exchange.

January 1st, 12:01am:

“The fuck? You’re a dyke now?” he yells, practically loud enough for the whole party to hear. You and Ellie frantically pull apart, bumping heads in the process.

The calloused hands that were once caressing the small of your back are now balled into tight fists as Ellie rises from her seated position.

“The fuck did you just say?” she questions, tilting her head to the right.

You now stand up with her, worried where this might go, “Jax you need to walk away.”

“Oh shut up slut. You’re so fucking desperate you’d do it with anyone!” 

That one hurt. That was the tipping point. Tears welled in your eyes. 

“I’M NOT A FUCKING SLUT! I’M GAY AND NEVER LIKED YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

“You need to leave now before I do something I’ll regret, you dirty bitch.” he threatens. And that's it, Ellie takes a swing aiming straight for his nose. Her fist retracts and reveals his bloody and now crooked cartilage. Through clenched teeth Jax grips onto Ellies white tank, throwing her into the open space of the living room. Just like a car crash, it’s one of those things where a scene can be so disturbing but you just can’t look away. And everyone else in the room was feeling it too—backed into corners, hands over mouths, some men even obnoxiously chanting “fight, fight.” But this isn’t what you wanted. Not at all.

“STOP! YOU NEED TO FUCKING STOP IT!” you screamed desperately. You didn’t even want to imagine what Jax would do to the freckled girl who changed your life in mere hours. But you didn’t have to, because here they were, brawling it out for the whole school. Jax swung at Ellie’s head to which she ducked before jabbing him in the stomach, stealing whatever air was swimming in his lungs. He stumbled backwards 3 steps, coughing through the hit, but this just made him angrier.

He charged back at the flustered girl with more force and gained a grip on a wad of choppy auburn hair. With a forceful yank she came tumbling to the ground with him on top. Ellie wriggled, pushed, and kicked but the sheer weight of the furious man was enough to keep her pinned. Jax began punching left and right, capturing her face with each blow. Thick crimson decorated his knuckles and the entirety of the girl's face. You could barely make out her litter of freckles and the half-lidded slits of emerald green—it was blood, all blood.

But as Jax kept on going, and the room grew quieter, this fight turned into something much more serious. It was inching on life or death and you had to do something. You surveyed the room, eyes dancing from counter to counter until a large glass beer bottle nagged at the tips of your fingers. Grabbing it tightly in your fist, you did what you had to to end this. Glass and gasps scattered through the room. The sharp brown shards littered the floor and evoked a gushing red stream from the back of Jax’s head. He instantly rolled to the side leaving Ellie an opening to escape. You weren’t done yet though, he hadn’t gotten what he deserved yet. Falling to the floor right at his body, hot tears streamed down your face.

Through curses and screams you thrashed at the man's barely conscious frame, “FUCK YOU JAX! FUCK YOU!” This was for every time he made you feel stupid, for making you feel like the ugliest girl in the room, for all the times he kissed you while you just prayed for it to be over, for making your life a living hell. With each scratch, punch, and kick all the pent up anger and resentment drained from your soul. Ellie let you have at him for a bit but as the crowd started to thin she knew the cops would be here any second now.

“Come on! We gotta go hun!” she nagged. 

“NO I CAN’T! NOT YET” you yelled, collapsing down into tears. Ellie promptly scooped you up by your armpits and dragged you from Jax’s limp body.

“I know baby, you're angry, it’s hard. But the cops are coming and we need to leave now.” she said, picking you up completely and carrying you through the frame of the propped open front door. You nestled your head into her bloody top as your chest still rapidly rose up and down, choking on the last few streams of tears and snot. “I’m gonna get you home love, don’t you worry.”

January 1st, 12:15am:

Finally through the small window of Ellie’s red truck you spot your familiar 2 story home. She grips the steering wheel, whipping to the right into the empty driveway. Of course she helps you inside and up to your quaint little bedroom. It felt weird almost—so quiet and still after such a chaotic night—and void of any life but you and the freckled faced girl. It was a cold feeling knowing you’d be all alone in just a few minutes, and tonight, you weren’t sure if that was a feeling you wanted to know.

“Els?”

“Yeah?” she answered softly. 

“Can you stay?”

With a kiss to the head she agreed, “Of course I’ll stay.” The rest of the night was spent cuddled up under your warm comforter, and despite all the events from just hours before, you felt safe. And for once, in fucking years, you were content.

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[venti-venus]

baby driver - j. m x reader

summary: after a failed study session with dean forester, jess and y/n decide to get a little innocent payback.

𐌕Ꮤ: hating on dean forester, accurate gilmore girls banter and drama, not spellchecked, first jess fic yippie ! ¸¸♬·¯·♪·¯·♫¸¸ ¸¸♫·¯·♪¸♩·¯·♬¸¸

"Mariano," Y/N whined, stumbling into Luke's Diner. She dragged her feet across the floor and dramatically plopped down on one of the bar stools. " I feel like my face is about to fall off and I'm blaming it on you."

Jess rolled his eyes as he wiped down the counter, "Good morning to you too, Y/N. I get the feeling you didn't just come in here to complain."

"And you would be right!" Y/N smirked, "I'm here for the doughnuts. Chocolate, please." She jokingly batted her eyelashes before yawning. "Ugh, get me a coffee too."

"So, why are you up at eight o'clock in the morning," Jess poured her some coffee and handed it to her, along with the doughnuts. "You don't wake up until at least two. Special occasion?"

"Oh yeah, Dean Forester is real special. I'm supposed to meet up with him to go over our English assignment. I doubt he'll actually focus on the work though. I swear he's been so obsessed with Rory it's actually suffocating my last braincell."

Jess laughed at your comment, "You wish that was you or somethin'?"

Y/N threw a crumb of her doughnut at him and gagged, "As if! Dean doesn't even like Bowie, there's no chance him and I are gonna be anything more than friends."

"Very true," Jess smirked, "Any hater of David Bowie should be locked up and studied. I'm glad you're staying away from the freaks of the world, Y/N. Very proud."

"Yeah well, I better get going. Dean said he would pick me up from here and drive us to the lake so we can focus or something." Y/N sighed, "Wish me luck, Mario."

"Hey, do not call me that. Put some respect on a poor kids name, will ya?" He joked, "At least you get to ride around in his car. Pretty nice one if I do say so myself."

"Pretty car, pretty annoying boy." Y/N took her coffee and doughnuts and gave Jess one last smile before she headed out to wait for Dean and his car. Surely he wouldn't be too long..

"H-Hey, Jess," Y/N's shaky voice spoke into her phone, "Can you come pick me up? I'm at the lake and it's raining and Dean left an-"

"I'll be there in 10." Y/N could hear a door slam and a car start on the other side of the line. Jess hung up and Y/n waited as he drove to come get her.

The study session had gone alright, but it was what happened after that which led to Y/N now being stranded. She hid under what little over a close by oak tree had and waited until Jess pulled up.

“Get in.” Jess handed her a towel as Y/N got into his car. His knuckles grew white as he gripped the steering wheel, not saying anything else as he drove off.

“Thank you, Jess.” Y/N sniffled, “I could’ve walked but my house is too far with the rain and all.” She looked over to see the brunette focused on the road.

She decided to stay quiet as he drove her to her house, using the towel Jess gave her to dry off as best she could.

"The hell do you mean he kissed you?" Jess yelled from the living room, arms crossed on his chest. His eyebrows were so creased, they were practically conjoined. He was sitting down on the couch while Y/N was in the kitchen, trying to dry off and get water.

"I don't know! He told me he was finally dating Rory and everything was fine and then out of the blue," Y/N threw her hands up, "And then I freaked out because, hello, he just said he was with Rory!"

Jess huffed. "And then what happened?"

"He got mad at me for some stupid reason and yelled at me." Y/N got quieter, "I swear Dean makes no sense. One minute he's normal and the other he's... I'm sure there's some reference I could make but I can't think of one, but you get what I'm saying. He totally flipped."

Y/N opened her refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water. "Oh, and then," She scoffed, "He had the audacity to tell me that he actually liked me the whole time. He was 'too scared' to tell me though because-. (because he thought I was dating you.)" Y/N paused and quietly mumbled, "That's not important." She frantically walked over to the living room and sat down next to Jess.

"Does he even like Rory? Or is he just leading her on now?" Jess was confused about the whole situation.

"Everyone likes Rory, Jess." Y/N rolled her eyes, "But I don't think he wants to get serious with her. I just can't believe he would do something like that to me."

"That tall freak has some serious paying up to do," Jess got up. "Go get changed into something dry. I have an idea."

Jess and Y/N got into Dean's Ford F-150, muffling their laughs as best as they could.

"Wait, you know how to drive, right?" Jess teased as he buckled his seatbelt.

Y/N rolled her eyes, laughing as she pulled out of Dean's driveway. Rory had picked him up earlier after Jess pulled a few strings, so his car was free and available for a little joy ride.

"I got my license last year, Jess. I'm practically Richard Petty." She pulled out of the driveway and turned on the radio.

"Okay, baby driver." Jess laughed as the two of them began to drive, happily using Dean's car for the night.

¸¸♬·¯·♪·¯·♫¸¸ ¸¸♫·¯·♪¸♩·¯·♬¸¸

[watchingspnagain]

Rewatching Hollywood Babylon

Welcome to “SamDean, the Scream Queen, and a Damn Good PA: A Supernatural Rewatch Blog” with Lor and Mace!

Up today, s2e18: Hollywood Babylon

 After The Trauma with Madison, Dean hauls Sam out to the west coast for some downtime, but Sam is twitchy and finds a case—on a horror movie set. People associated with the movie keep ending up dead, in grisly ways that mirror previous deaths that occurred on that movie stage. Dean pretends to be a PA (and is damn good at it), Sam gets super snarky, and the references and show meta comes so fast it’s sometimes hard to keep up amidst all the glee. Oh, and the boys solve the case—it was ghosts and a twerp. They’ll getcha every time.

 Below is a log of our real-time reactions as we watched. Remember that there may be spoilers for any part of SPN’s 15-season run here. Note also that the nature of our conversation is adult and thus it may contain adult language and themes.

 [and we begin:]

 Lor:

 oh boy oh boy one of the first ones where they go all meta

 Mace:

 YES

Mace:

 I love how perfectly we get duped into thinking it’s a regular cold open

 Lor:

 YES

and then the scream being so obviously awful

 Mace:

 HAHAHA YES

 omg don’t call her pumpkin

 Lor:

 RIGHT?

 I love the Snapple

 Mace:

 DATA!!!

(that’s Data, right?)

 Lor:

 wait, is it?

 Mace:

 hm, maybe not? it sure looks a lot like him

 Lor:

 it LOOKS like him?

 Mace:

 I haven’t had a snapple in FOREVER

 Lor:

 me either

I used to LIVE on the strawberry kiwi ones

 Mace:

 NICE

 I could never be a scream queen because even my real screams are just pathetic little yips

 Lor:

 this actress reminds me very slightly of a woman I knew in college. theatre major. the "ha ha very funny" makes me think of her EVERY TIME

 HA!

YEP

 Mace:

 interesting!

 Lor:

 omg Dean

 Mace:

 omg this kid with the ice cream

 Lor:

 he's having so much fun

 SAM'S FACE

 Mace:

 HAAAAHAHAHA GILMORE GIRLS

 Lor:

 the Gilmore Girls ref YAAAAS

 Mace:

 I think you mean Dean’s face

Sam’s face

SamDean’s face

 Lor:

 omg

 mmmm Sam's red v-neck and his slightly pinked button-up

 "it's practically Canadian" snork

 Mace:

 YAS

HAHAHAHA

 omg cultural heritage

 Lor:

 "cultural heritage"

YES

 Mace:

 HAHAHAHA

 Lor:

 Poltergeist is my OG horror movie I saw too young that scarred me forever

 Mace:

 oh wow yeah that one IS scary

 Lor:

 especially if you are seven

 Mace:

 omg yes that’s too young

 Lor:

 "more color" "who says horror has to be dark" omg

 Mace:

 HAHAHA

 Lor:

 that is... a blue shirt

 Mace:

 it’s not green?

 Lor:

 isn't it blue?

 Mace:

 snork!

I am totally second guessing my eyes now

 Lor:

 MACE DO WE SEE COLORS DIFFERENTLY I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN HANDLE THAT

 Mace:

 HAHAHAHAHA

 Mace:

 church Latin pronunciation (and badly done at that) twitches

 Lor:

 pets you

it is indeed one of the modern dilemmas of our society today

 Mace:

 SNORK

 I WANT A MINI PHILLY CHEESESTEAK SAMMICH

 Lor:

 I want one of those sandwiches now

OMG

 Mace:

 OMG

 Lor:

 mmm Dean's nose freckles

 Mace:

 I think Dean’s shirt is blue but so faded that it looks kinda green

 omg his nervous approach

 Lor:

 lol we'll go with that

 RIGHT?

I love that it's probably like 70/30 put on and real

 Mace:

 YES

(also YES to the freckles)

 NOPE NOT DATA

 Lor:

 yeah not

much less resemblance with his hair back

 Mace:

 Dean is having the time of his life

 yep

 Lor:

 he IS

 "new media" omg

 Mace:

 HA

 Lor:

 "isn't that kind of cruel" pets him

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

 "we're very glad you're alive" SAMMY

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

 "king of the cyclops peoples"

 Mace:

omg baby Dean

 Lor:

 HOW bad do I want to have movie night with Dean

 Mace:

 YASYASYAS

 Lor:

 THE RULES AREN'T LANDING

 Mace:

 omg “if the ghosts are in hell how do they hear…”

THIS SHOW

 Lor:

 wait till the angels and no one knows what happens to their vessels when they go back to heaven

 RIGHT?

that they were making fun of themselves like this in season two

LOVE IT

 Mace:

 YES

 I love how the dude busting through the roof is not in the script but feels like it very much could be but then also actually IS in the script...

 Lor:

 YES

 DEAN

 Mace:

 omg DEAN WINCHESTER

 Dean’s reaction to the salt skepticism

 Lor:

 Dean's laugh at the salt comment

salt's not a condiment dude

 Mace:

 YES

snork!

 Lor:

 he gots the little belt

 Mace:

 HE DOES

 Lor:

 he's made friends

 Mace:

 of course he has he’s ridiculously charming

 Lor:

 YES

and he knows all the scuttlebutt

 Mace:

 YES HE DOES

 Lor:

 I love how he just fits himself in places

 Mace:

 but belongs nowhere

amazing

 Lor:

 YES

"I don't know who played the baby"

 Mace:

 HAHAHAHA

 Lor:

 I hope Jensen had as much doing this as it looks like he did

 Mace:

 ME TOO

 Lor:

 "bite your tongue, heathen"

 Mace:

 snork!

 Lor:

 Yahtzee

 Mace:

 Ha!

 Lor:

 "somebody could get hurt here" and then he turns around and his head is in half LOVE IT

 Mace:

 YES

 death by fan blade is just EW

 Lor:

 right? GROSS

 haaaahahahaha I forgot there was a trailer for the movie

 Mace:

 YAS

 omg making fun of McG so hard I LOVE IT

 Lor:

 YES

 Dean's face and looking around

 Mace:

 HAHAHA

 Lor:

 "maybe the spirits are trying to shut down the movie because they think it sucks" SAMMY

 Mace:

 SO SNARKY

 Lor:

 YES

already taking the producer's name off the door

 Mace:

 yeah

 Lor:

 I love how done Sam is

 Mace:

 YAS

it’s exhausting to lie about liking the movie

 Lor:

 haaaahahahaha YES

 how many closeup screams are there in this episode? it's great

 Mace:

 IT IS

 Lor:

 "it's not that we like him or anything it's just a matter of principle"

 Mace:

 he’s a damn good PA

 Lor:

 he IS

 SMART SAMMY

 Mace:

 SO SMART

 oh dude, Walter. bad move

 Lor:

 yeeeah

 Mace:

 THE MUSIC

 Lor:

 lololol Sam

 YES

 Mace:

 DEAN

 Lor:

 YAAAAS

 Mace:

 oh god the look on his FACE

 Lor:

 awwww they had so much fun together

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

 walking off into the sunset

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

 and it's not real

I LOVE IT

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

 such a fun episode

 Mace:

 it so is

and i love that Dean’s kid-in-the-candy-store over sleeping with the scream queen but not in a “I banged that chick” way but in his own unique gleeful hedonistically joyful way

 Lor:

 YES

he had a lovely time and so did she. it wasn't a CONQUEST or something

 Mace:

 exactly

i suspect she’s the one who did the propositioning, in fact

 Lor:

 AGREED

Mace:

especially with her PA comment

he was fulfilling a request

 Lor:

 YES

[crescentcampbell]

what's ASP's beef with phones

This took me a second. It's not really a beef it's just the way, particularly in Gilmore Girls: The Revival, the use of the internet was portrayed as virtually nonexistent except for a yelp mention by Paris and Rory using youtube to stress tap which was the dumbest thing they could have done with Rory being a writer. Rory's own aversion to the internet with Sandy Says because it's digital and not a print and an obvious reference to popular websites like Hello Giggles rip-off it made me want to scream. It made zero sense given that she was a writer who if they'd used ANY of the season 7 storyline instead of just ignoring it would have worked on a campaign trail heavily involved in the implementing of social media (the Obama campaign which was one of the first to do so) and oh yeah DATED a guy who worked in tech. I've been writing and or attending writers conferences since I was sixteen years old (I'm 31 now---the first writer's conference I went to was like in 2006, and I was the only one who knew what the Gossip Girl books were on the YA panel for perspective) and even back in the 2000s, they were telling people that having a website or a blog was a good way to get your name out there. There's so much disconnect between print writers and Hollywood writers it drives me crazy because the two things are NOT the same and Rory's portrayal of writer life was so clearly a Hollywood version of someone who had no idea what that was it MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM. Not to mention she would have used it just for research purposes? But they've got her looking through everything analogue because, I guess, it looks better or whatever. I know Stars Hollow is in its own little bubble but I live in a small town that is similar and even OUR newspaper has a website we can pull up past issues on.

[waywardnerd67]

Stars Hollow

Summary: Dean wakes up in a whole new universe where everything he ever knew was gone. Will this little trip change him once he gets back to his universe. Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Rory Gilmore, Lorelei Gilmore, Dean Forester, Reader Pairing: No Pairing Warnings: Fluff/Angst Word Count: 1207 Prompt: Gilmore Girls A/N: This is for @impala-dreamer and @deanwanddamons “I Do Understand That Reference SPN Writing Challenge”.

His head was throbbing along with his back and hip. Dean opened his eyes, wincing as he sat up to get a look around.

“Sam?” There was no answer, “Sammy?!”

Shaking his head slightly, his eyes came into focus seeing he was sitting next to a large gazebo. He stood up knocking off the dirt and grass from his clothes. Dean did not recognize anything around him and the last thing he remembered was seeing a bright flash in the Bunker library.

“What the hell happened?” He muttered to himself as he looked for any signs to tell him where he was at, “Welcome to Stars Hollow.”

Just beyond the large town sign was the welcomed sign of a diner. Dean started to make his way towards it. Upon entering there was a loud voice from the back telling him to have a seat anywhere. Glancing around the diner was nearly empty except for an incredibly gorgeous woman and what he could only assume was her little sister.

Choosing a table in the far corner near the door, Dean sat down taking out his cell phone, “Damn no service.”

“Hey!” A tall man with a plaid shirt and baseball cap pointed to a sign behind the counter stating no cell phones allowed, “What can I get ya?”

Dean slipped his phone into his pocket scoffing at the sign, “Bacon cheeseburger, fries and a coke.”

Without a word the man turned walking behind the corner and calling out his order to the back. Dean watched as he grabbed a pot of coffee making his way towards the table with the gorgeous woman.

“Luke, you know just the way to my heart.” She said batting her eyes up at him dramatically.

“More like the way to your grave. This stuff over time will kill you and you allow her to drink it too.” He motioned to the younger girl who looked up as he poured coffee into her cup.

“What can I say, like mother, like daughter.” She said clinking cups with her mom.

Dean’s eyes widened as she said daughter. Just then the door opened as a young man walked in with a boy band haircut. He had a tall, lanky body wearing baggy cargo pants and a sweater. The longer Dean stared at the man the more familiar he seemed to him. It was not until he heard the man speak that he nearly fell out of his chair.

“Hey,” he sat next to them stealing a fry from the daughter, “If we’re having movie night then why are you two eating at Luke’s?”

The rest was the conversation muffled as he sat there in shock. The man looked and sounded exactly like Sam but an even dorkier version of him. Baseball cap man came back with his drink and food.

“You okay fella? Looks like you saw a ghost.”

Dean chuckled slightly, “Fine. Hey, can you tell me who those people are over there?”

The man gave him a skeptical look, hesitantly answering, “Lorelei and Rory Gilmore then that’s Rory’s boyfriend, Dean Forester. Why?”

“Oh, no reason. I thought they were someone else, but I was wrong. Thanks.” The man nodded as Dean started to slowly eat his food while trying not to draw any attention from watching them.

Seeing his little brother young, happy and living the life he always wanted to at that age had Dean’s heart weighing heavily within his chest. Deciding to finish his food quickly, Dean left enough cash on the table to cover his meal and left the diner. He made his way back towards the gazebo finding a bench to sit on where he could watch this alternate version of Sam leave the diner.

“Strange to see him happy?”

Dean looked behind him as the familiar voice spoke, “(Y/N)? H-How did… what the hell is going on?”

She stood calmly voided of any emotions. This was not the (Y/N) he knew and instinctively Dean reached for his angel blade within his jacket.

“I removed it before I sent you here. I can take you back, but Chuck wants reassurance that you will play along with his little game.” Her fists were clenched at her sides as if she were in pain.

“That son of a bitch. (Y/N) what did he do to you?” Dean took a step closer but she put her hand up to stop him.

Extending her finger pointing past him, “Watch.”

He turned to see Sam’s alternate walking out with his arm around the young girl named Rory. They were having a light-hearted conversation making their way towards him. Dean quickly pulled (Y/N) down to the bench as if they were having a conversation themselves.

“No way, licorice is an acceptable movie night snack. It’s… it’s made of dirt.” He said as Rory acted offended.

“It’s up there with popcorn, you freak of nature.” She laughed as he scoffed.

Dean could not help but smile remembering having that exact argument with Sam when they had a movie night with Bobby. As soon as they were out of ear shot, he turned towards (Y/N).

“What does Chuck want?” His shoulders sagged as defeat settled onto them.

(Y/N) stood extending her hand to him, “What he has always wanted. The ending to his story.”

Placing his hand in hers there was another bright flash and when his eyes opened Dean was back in the Bunker. Sam was looking at him with wide, sad eyes. (Y/N) stood at the head of their table, tears trailing down her cheeks as her body trembled.

“I… I only have a moment before…” she grunted and the men rushed to her sides, “Don’t give in to him. Don’t give up. For me, don’t… give… up.” Her body went rigid then straightened up with her eyes glowing blue.

“Get out of her you winged bastard.” Dean seethed as Sam took a defensive stance.

The angel controlling her body looked to the both of them, “I was not expecting her to be that strong. That’s good, I like a good fight. I would not listen to her though. Chuck will get the ending he wants and I will be by his side when he triumphs.”

With that (Y/N) was gone with the echoing sound of wings flapping. Dean looked to Sam, his disbelieving expression mirroring his own. After calling all the hunters they knew to keep an eye out for (Y/N) and updating Castiel on what happened they both sat in the library drinking some whiskey.

“Where did you end up?” Dean asked after pouring his second glass.

Sam chuckled, “In a town called Capeside in Massachusetts. A guy who looked like you but with longer hair and called himself CJ. He was going to a No Doubt concert and ended up standing outside all night talking to some blonde girl about sleeping with her best friend.”

Dean stared at his brother, “No Doubt? Wow, I hope I was just trying to get laid because if not alternate me was just as much of a wuss as alternate you was.”

Sam gave him a curious look as Dean began to tell him all about Stars Hollow.

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

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[gilmoregirlsrevival2016]

Season 1 Gilmore Girls References (Breakdown)

Yay! All the season 1 references have been posted. Before I start posting season 2, I wanted to post this little breakdown for your enjoyment :) It starts with some statistics and then below the cut is a list of all the specific references.

Overall amount of references in season 1: 605

Top 10 Most Common References: NSYNC (5), Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (5), Taylor Hanson (6), Leo Tolstoy (7), Lucky Spencer (7), Marcel Proust (7), PJ Harvey (7), The Bangles (8), The Donna Reed Show (8), William Shakespeare (10)

Which episodes had the most references: #1 is That Damn Donna Reed with 55 references. #2 is Christopher Returns with 44 references 

What characters made the most references (Only including characters/actors who were in the opening credits): Lorelai had the most with 237 references, Rory had second most with 118, and Lane had third most with 48.

First reference of the season: Jack Kerouac referenced by Lorelai 

Final reference of the season: Adolf Eichmann referenced by Michel 

  Movies/TV Shows/Episodes/Characters, Commercials, Cartoons/Cartoon Characters, Plays, Documentaries:

9 1/2 Weeks, Alex Stone, Alfalfa, An Affair To Remember, A Streetcar Named Desire, Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman, Avon Commercials, Bambi, Beethoven, Boogie Nights, Cabaret, Casablanca, Charlie's Angels, Charlie Brown cartoons, Christine, Cinderella, Citizen Kane, Daisy Duke, Damien Thorn, Dawson Leery, Donna Stone, Double Indemnity, Double Mint Commercials, Ethel Mertz, Everest, Felix Unger, Fiddler On The Roof, Footloose, Freaky Friday, Fred Mertz, Gaslight, General Hospital, G.I. Jane, Gone With The Wind, Grease, Hamlet, Heathers, Hee Haw, House On Haunted Hill, Ice Castles, I Love Lucy, Iron Chef, Ishtar, Jeff Stone, Joanie Loves Chachi, John Shaft, Lady And The Tramp, Life With Judy Garland: Me And My Shadows, Love Story, Lucky Spencer, Lucy Raises Chickens, Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Van Pelt, Macbeth,  Magnolia, Mary Stone, Mask, Midnight Express, Misery, Norman Bates, Officer Krupke, Oompa Loompas, Old Yeller, Oscar Madison, Out Of Africa, Patton, Pepe Le Pew, Peyton Place, Pink Ladies, Pinky Tuscadero, Ponyboy, Psycho, Queen Of Outer Space, Rapunzel, Richard III, Ricky Ricardo, Rocky Dennis, Romeo And Juliet, Rosemary's Baby, Sandy Olsson, Saved By The Bell, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Schroeder, Sesame Street, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Sex And The City, Sixteen Candles, Sleeping Beauty, Star Trek, Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski, Stretch Cunningham, The Champ, The Comedy Of Errors, The Crucible, The Donna Reed Show, The Duke's Of Hazzard, The Fly, The Great Santini, The Little Match Girl, The Matrix, The Miracle Worker, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Outsiders, The Shining, The Sixth Sense, The View, The Waltons, The Way We Were, The Scarecrow, This Old House, V.I.P., Valley Of The Dolls, Vulcans, Wild Kingdom, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Wheel Of Fortune, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Working Girl, Yogi Bear, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

Bands, Songs, CDs:

98 Degrees, Air Supply, Apple Venus Volume 2, Backstreet Boys, Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Blue Man Group, Blur, Bon Jovi, Boston, Bush, Duran Duran, Everlong, Foo Fighters, Fugazi, Grandaddy, Hanson, I'm Too Sexy, Joy Division, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Kraftwerk, Like A Virgin, Livin La Vida Loca, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Man I Feel Like A Woman, Metallica, Money Money, My Ding-A-Ling, NSYNC, On The Good Ship Lollipop, Pink Moon, Queen, Rancid, Sergeant Pepper, Shake Your Bon Bon, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Sister Sledge, Smoke On The Water, Steely Dan, Suppertime, Tambourine Man, The B-52s, The Bangles, The Beatles, The Best Of Blondie, The Cranberries, The Cure, The Offspring, The Sugarplastic, The Wallflowers, The Velvet Underground, Walk Like An Egyptian, XTC, Ya Got Trouble, Young Marble Giants

Books/Book Characters, Comic Books/Comic Book Characters, Comic Strips: 

A Mencken Chrestomathy, A Tale Of Two Cities, Anna Karenina, Belle Watling, Boo Radley, Carrie, David Copperfield, Dick Tracy, Dopey (One of the seven dwarfs) Goofus And Gallant, Great Expectations, Grinch, Hannibal Lecter, Hansel And Gretel, Harry Potter (book as well as character referenced), Huckleberry Finn, Little Dorrit, Madame Bovary, Moby Dick, Mommie Dearest, Moose Mason, Nancy Drew, Out Of Africa, Pinocchio, Swann's Way, The Amityville Horror, The Art Of Fiction, The Bell Jar, The Grapes Of Wrath, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Lost Weekend, The Metamorphosis, The Portable Dorothy Parker, The Unabridged Journals Of Sylvia Plath, The Witch Tree Symbol, There's A Certain Slant Of Light, Tuesdays With Morrie, War And Peace, Wonder Woman

Public Figures:

Adolf Eichmann, Alfred Hitchcock, Angelina Jolie, Anna Nicole Smith, Annie Oakley, Antonio Banderas, Arthur Miller, Artie Shaw, Barbara Hutton, Barbara Stanwyck, Barbra Streisand, Beck, Ben Jonson, Benito Mussolini, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Crudup, Bob Barker, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Catherine The Great, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Charles I, Charles Dickens, Charles Manson, Charlie Parker, Charlotte Bronte, Charlton Heston, Charo, Cher, Cheryl Ladd, Chris Penn, Christiane Amanpour, Christopher Marlowe, Chuck Berry, Claudine Longet, Cleopatra, Cokie Roberts, Courtney Love, Dalai Lama, Damon Albarn, Dante Alighieri, David Mamet, Donna Reed, Edith Wharton, Edna O'Brien, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth Webber, Elle Macpherson, Elsa Klensch, Elvis, Emeril Lagasse, Emily Dickinson, Emily Post, Eminem, Emma Goldman, Errol Flynn, Fabio, Farrah Fawcett, Fawn Hall, Flo Jo, Francis Bacon, Frank Sinatra, Franz Kafka, Fred MacMurray, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gene Hackman, Gene Wilder, George Clooney, George Sand, George W. Bush, Harry Houdini, Harvey Fierstein, Henny Youngman, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, Henry VIII, Herman Melville, Homer, Honore De Balzac, Howard Cosell, Hugh Grant, Hunter Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Jaclyn Smith, James Dean, Jane Austen, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Tandy, Jim Carey, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hoffa, Joan Of Arc, Joan Rivers, Jocelyn Wildenstein, Joel Grey, John Cage, John Gardner, John Muir, John Paul II, John Webster, Johnny Cash, Johnny Depp, Joseph Merrick AKA Elephant Man, Judy Blume, Judy Garland, Julian Lennon, Justin Timberlake, Karen Blixen AKA Isak Dinesen, Kate Jackson, Kathy Bates, Kevin Bacon, Kreskin, Lee Harvey Oswald, Leo Tolstoy, Leopold and Loeb, Lewis Carroll, Linda McCartney, Liz Phair, Liza Minnelli, Lou Reed, M Night Shyamalan, Macy Gray, Madonna, Marcel Marceau, Marcel Proust, Margot Kidder, Marie Antoinette, Marie Curie, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Twain, Mark Wahlberg, Marlin Perkins, Martha Stewart, Martha Washington, Martin Luther, Mary Kay Letourneau, Maurice Chevalier, Melissa Rivers, Meryl Streep, Michael Crichton, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Miguel De Cervantes, Miss Manners, Mozart, Nancy Kerrigan, Nancy Walker, Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Nico, Oliver North, Oprah Winfrey, Oscar Levant, Pat Benatar, Paul McCartney, Peter III Of Russia, Peter Frampton, Philip Glass, PJ Harvey, Prince, Queen Elizabeth I, Regis, Richard Simmons, Rick James, Ricky Martin, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Robert Smith, Robin Leach, Rosie O'Donnell, Ru Paul, Ruth Gordon, Samuel Barber, Sarah Duchess Of York, Sean Lennon, Sean Penn, Shania Twain, Shelley Hack, Sigmund Freud, Squeaky Fromme, Stephen King, Steven Tyler, Susan Faludi, Susanna Hoffs, Tanya Roberts, Taylor Hanson, Theodore Kaczynski AKA The Unabomber, The Kennedy Family, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo Marx AKA The Marx Brothers, Venus and Serena Williams (The reference was "The Williams Sisters"),Thelonious Monk, Tiger Woods, Tito Puente, Tom Waits, Tony Randall, Tonya Harding, Vaclav Havel, Vanna White, Vivien Leigh, Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, William Shatner, Yoko Ono, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Misc:

Camelot, Chernobyl Disaster, Cone Of Silence, Hindenburg Disaster, Iran-Contra Affair, Paul Bunyan, The Menendez Murders, Tribbles, Vulcan Death Grip, Whoville, Winchester Mystery House

[writingquestionsanswered]

any advice for coming up with a name for a big setting (like a city, town, or country)?

I’ve got a whole post about it, and I’ve actually been wanting to update it. So here goes!

Guide: Naming Locations

1) Genre/Theme/Tone

It’s important to consider the genre, theme, and tone of your story when choosing a town name. Notice how the following place names reflect the genre or theme of the story:King’s Landing (sounds fantastical, from Game of Thrones)Cloud City (sounds futuristic, from Star Wars)Silent Hill (sounds scary, from a horror game)Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat, from a YA series)Bikini Bottom (sounds funny, from Spongebob Squarepants)Radiator Springs (sounds car-related, from Disney’s Cars)Halloween Town (sounds spooky, from The Nightmare Before Christmas)Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related, from Once Upon a Time)

2) Time/Place

It’s also important to consider when and where your story takes place. For example, “Vista Gulch” wouldn’t be a good name for a town in Victorian England because “vista” is a Spanish word commonly found where Spanish is (or was) a common language. And “gulch” is specific to the American Southwest, though it can occasionally be found in other places in North America. If you’re not sure what would be appropriate for your story, look for similar places in similar time periods. For example, if you’re writing a medieval fantasy set in a fictional world but modeled strongly after medieval France, look at maps of medieval France to see what kinds of names the towns, cities, and other places had.

3) Size/Settlement Type (Settlement Hierarchy)

When you’re naming any kind of settlement, it’s important to have some idea of the population/size, as this can sometimes influence naming conventions. These may differ slightly in different time periods/parts of the world, but this is a good general guide:

Homestead - a single dwelling or cluster of dwellings, typically occupied by one family or several related families. In modern times, often referred to as a “compound.” (Example: Fraser’s Ridge in Outlander, at least initially when it’s the cabin and just a few surrounding families.)

Hamlet - a very small community, typically with 100 people or fewer, and little in the services/amenities outside of possibly a church and a post office. When a hamlet has a small train station, they’re often called a “whistle-stop.” (Examples: Blackwater, Missouri. Whitwell-on-the-Hill, England)

Village - a small community of 1,000 people or fewer, likely to have a church or a few, a post office, a market, and possibly a few businesses. (Examples: Highbury in Jane Austen’s Emma. Hogsmeade in Harry Potter)

Town - a larger community of people, typically with the standard services/businesses, as well as schools and parks, often clustered around a town square/downtown/main street area. (Small town: 1,000 - 5,000, Town: 5,000 - 10,000, Large Town: 10,000 to 100,000) Larger towns may have shopping centers, malls, movie theaters, entertainment venues, etc. (Example: Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls) 

City - a sprawling community with a robust center and a wide variety of businesses and services. Ranging in size from 100,000 (small) to just under one-million (huge.) Larger cities often include suburbs and towns. (Examples: Waco, Texas. Miami, Florida. Manchester, England. Okayama, Japan)

Metropolis - a very large city and its suburbs, of between one-million and three-million people, typically made up of several smaller cities and towns that have expanded into one another. (Examples: San Diego, California. Birmingham, England. Chicago, Illinois)

Conurbation - a group of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that have expanded into one another to create an enormous, polycentric urban area, with anywhere from three-million to ten-million people. (Examples: Los Angeles, California. London, England. New York, New York. Tokyo, Japan)

Megalopolis - a group of conurbations clustered together, with a total population of more than ten-million. (Examples: Sao Paulo, Brazil (12 million), Moscow, Russia (13 million), Beijing, China (18 million), Shanghai, China (24 million)

4) Geography

Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island.Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water.

5) History

Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name.

6) Combination of Words

person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek

group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge

descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill

person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville

landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville

Word Lists:

Types of Settlements

Geographical Features

Place Words

Common Suffixes

Other Descriptors

And remember, if all else fails, you can look to real areas/places for inspiration. Often they can help you figure out a believable naming convention for a particular type of area. :)

[alittleoptimistic]

Favorite Character Tropes as Wish Fulfillment?

I wrote that title after I analyzed this stuff because I realized a thing about myself I was unaware of. I always get attached to the Same Character. Like, they are literally the same person in different stories. And I want to know why. So I did a little digging and thinking and all that good, good stuff. 

Here are a few examples of my typical favorite character

Charlie from Lost

Virgil from Sanders Sides

Philip from Travelers

the Doctor from Doctor Who (specifically 10)

Klaus from Umbrella Academy

Stiles from Teen Wolf

Riley from Sense 8

Cisco from Flash

Peter Pan from any version of this story

Jim from the Office

Peter from Heroes

Merlin from Merlin

Will from Hannibal

Felix from Orphan Black

Chuck from Chuck

Josh (the werewolf ) from Being Human

Jessica from Jessica Jones

Castiel from Supernatural

Loki from Marvel

Skylar from Heroes

Sherlock from Sherlock

Zuko from The Last Airbender

Killian from Once Upon a Time

I could probably find more but you get the idea

General similarities seem to be:

out of 23

21 are male?

15 have some type of addiction/problem they have difficulty controlling? (drugs, attention, adventure, eating people, killing people, ya know, etc)

17 have a secret

‘neuro-divergent’ in some way? (ADD, PTSD anxiety, depression, something? the kids are not alright)

All 23 have grey morals (probably chaotic good-ish? they all would break the rules for a good reason or get what they want)

19 have a crappy homelife/large tragedy in the past

20 have ‘superpowers/special ability’

18 are physically weak in appearance

18 are Underdogs, underestimated but actually powerful/very intelligent?

7 have a redemption arch

17 have dark hair lol

18 have a sarcastic, sense of humor

14 talk too much

mostly white in one form or another :/

So... why?? Why do I tend to like these characters more than others?

male. I am female and there are a few female characters that I LOVE. They happen, but, in all honesty, they are far and few in between. Wonder Woman, Jessica Jones, Hermione, Rey, Riley, Rory (Gilmore girls) Perhaps it is the way girls are often written? I like Jessica Jones because she is a hilarious mess and I relate. Same with... all of the ones I like, actually. They have that grey-moral vibe of real people, but lack the sexy Cat Woman, I’m-so-bad-I-can-kill-you-with-my-massive-butt-and-boobs?? Thing?? yeah? how unfortunate. They are small breasted or, at least, that is not drawn attention to too much. Could it be. holy moly, ya’ll. could it be I like women characters when they’re written... like people? like. like, as if girls are screwed up humans! not objects?? isn’t that incredible.

srry but not srry

an addiction. now, why do I tend to go here? Its a kind of a painful trope. They always go back, and back and back again to what we know is horrible for them. Perhaps there is enjoyment in watching the struggle and seeing them inevitably win their struggle, whatever it is? The strength to conquer the darkness within themselves and do the right thing. It might just make you think you can conquer your own battles?? Maybe I feel like I can relate in some sort of way, going back to old habits, struggling to be the person I want to be. Year after year of the same new year goals...

a secret. This is honestly just a nice trope and its neat, fun writing. Creates tension, and it is usually connected to the addiction. You get invested in this secret!!! It builds up to the inevitable discovery of that secret and the aftermath and all the reactions of their friends. (merlin, Will graham, chuck, etc.)

Neurodivergent. I think this is just me relating to these people. I have bouts of depression and anxiety and am currently researching the possibility of having ADD (thats a whole new weird thing idek) so this is just something that I think I see in myself.

Grey-morals. Again. This is my moral alignment, shocker. So, again, me relating to the characters. Also, characters that obviously have flaws are just well-written, well-rounded characters? No one is actually Clark Kent. characters that seem perfect either come off as plastic and fake because real people do not act like that, or they come off as kind of creepy?? because they must have some darkness lurking beneath the surface (when this is done on purpose, i actually like this quite a lot. Rose Quartz is an example of a character who seemed perfect on the surface, but as the show moved on, is revealed to be a Real Disaster Queen. she isn’t evil, just kind of a brat, but that redeemed what seemed to be sloppy storytelling because it was realistic)

Tragic past. This is just something that authors give to Disaster People to justify their screwed-up-ness. Course, not all of them had tragic pasts, but something bad happened to all of them (except Jim from the Office I think??, but then again, that is a sitcom...)

Special Ability Again, wish fulfillment. Not even gonna lie. I often feel powerless and out of control, this Freaks Me Out. I think there is comfort in seeing the ‘little guy’ (aka le me) having with a BAMF hashtag

 Weak And once more on Relatable-Station. This is in connection with relating to feeling and looking powerless, but finding comfort in the secret strength these characters have whether through supernatural means, superior intelligence, biting humor, a quick tongue, etc.

Underestimated the cap on this trio. The last 3 points could be summed up as one thing. A weak, underestimated person actually has some secret strength. These characters might just be a coping mechanism I have to deal with feeling weak and overlooked and powerless, whether or not those feelings accurately portray reality. I wonder where those feelings came from in the first place.

A redemption arch This trope is often a result of having grey morals. These also help deal with feelings of inadequacy or guilt in the reader?? It makes you think, if they can be loved, surely I can. (i am really dragging myself in this post, which was not the plan lol but here we are) 

Dark hair/brown hair. I have dark hair, I also wanted black hair as a child and found it very beautiful. Also, I think the dark hair goes with the personality trope as a Screw Up. Not gonna lie, messy brown/black hair on boys and girls, honestly, but the short messy thing, is great. and when they go evil for a bit and the hair gets Extra Messy?? That. That’s. Good. (for reference see: Stiles, Killian, Peter, Virgil, Loki)

Sarcastic my flavor of humor. this is turning into the realization that we do, in fact, like characters we relate to the most. I thought that might be far fetched because I’m ‘nothing like’ these characters, but let's get real. They’re me but as a cute boy or girl.

Talk too much This isn’t me. but This is who I want to be, I think. I’ve always struggled with anxiety about being the quiet one while my brother was so much better at talking, making friends, etc. so this is, again, wish fulfillment. i swear i didn’t think this was going to be this self-indulgent but i obviously was wrong

White They aren’t all white. Zuko is Asian. Cisco’s actor is Columbian American. But that’s... thats a really small amount of diversity. Like, I’m concerned. (when i say white btw, I don’t mean just American or British or whatever, because there are characters on here that are from all over. I just mean overall white-looking for the sake of this analysis) 

So, First Hypothesis: prejudice is very ingrained and even with good intentions, i could be subconsciously avoiding characters that are POC??? If this is all a ‘projecting myself’ thing, then I relate to white people the most? Im sure im screwing this up, but i’m not gonna chicken out and avoid this because thats what I’d usually do to keep from dumbly saying something offensive, but if I dont address a problem, then no one is getting anywhere 

Second Hypothesis: Its been known the fiction industry as a whole has a problem with representation,,, I don’t want to discount me being white, but I don’t think this is just me and my tiny entitled butt. There probably isn’t as much access to that type of character for POC. How often do creators have well-rounded, stick-around-for-a-long-time, flawed, funny, sometimes-problematic-but-well-meaning characters that are also POC? not often enough. Maybe it’s not always on purpose. But because of ‘Diversity Points’, character development might get pushed aside, and then the character’s personality becomes Their Race, which is... a crappy way to build a character? The industry has a hard enough time with diversity in general. Maybe people just don't write POC as that type of character. Which makes characters like Cisco unique. I’ve never even thought about that... Good on you, Flash writer crew.

let's fix this??

need more Ciscos???

 if any POC feels inclined to call me out on my bull or give their insight (only if you want to, of course), pls do.

In conclusion: this was interesting, and it makes sense, I guess, why people like different types of characters if their favorite characters are projections in one way or another of them. I’m not saying that we all relate to our favorite characters, but me, because I have this weird, dozen or more of the same type of character that I love, it might be reasonable to assume there’s something about that character I see in myself or wish I saw in myself? Anyway, an interesting thought. What do you guys think? Do you see yourself in your favorite characters?

This has been an honest essay that got too long. I wish I was as invested in writing school essays as I am in Tumblr posts.

[sunshincdisguise]

these aren’t exactly headcanons but i wanna do this so i’m gonna call it a headcanon for lack of a better word! under the cut i’ve written out the reasoning/stories behind all my characters’ tags!

angie jeremiah: “ someone’s little sister “ -- did i steal this from the f.osters? yes i did. angie’s tag is a reference to her older brother craig who is a famous musician. so, like, her brother is someone. and she’s someone’s little sister. get it??? i don’t think it really like sums her up entirely but i don’t have anything else that sums her up as well so it’s like subpar but it’s the best i got.

bay huxley: “ girl next door “ -- “the feminine equivalent of the average joe” “a character an ordinary guy kind of male character might have known growing up” “easy to talk to and a good listener” “in a betty and veronica duo, she’s the betty” “the inevitably unlucky childhood friend of the protagonist” bay is, by definitely, perpetually the best friend. she listens. she hears. she’s there. and she’s barely noticed. she exists as background noise in other people’s lives. or at least that’s how she sees herself. 

benji riddle: “ move forward like the seasons “ -- so benji’s a musician and gr.eyson cha.nce is his fc and his vc and benji wrote the song “seasons” about his sister, fay, after her death. so because his main verse on this blog takes place just after fay’s death, this song is really just a summary of where he’s at in life rn because he’s just trying to move forward with his life instead of always looking back because he knows that’s what his sister would want.

cassidy collins: “ disappointed in myself “ -- cassidy is also a musician and his fc/vc is ale.x wol.ff and he’s literally based on the song disappointed. literally. i literally listened to that song, and i had a nat fc character and i decided to give him a little brother based on that song. so here’s my lil boi cass. if u want insight into his brain just listen to that song. it’s About Him.

emmy pierce: “ sick of losing soulmates “ -- it’s a do.die song and it’s really just a summary of emmy’s relationship with her (deceased) boyfriend, or rather how she felt after he passed away. leo was definitely her soulmate, but in a way so was her whole group of her’s and leo’s friends, and after he passed she just became very distant from all of them and from the life she used to have so she just feels like she’s lost all her soulmates and she’s sorta afraid of getting close to people because of it

genevieve samuels: “ my heart looks like a bruise “ -- okay so the full quote can be found here. but basically i chose this because basically all of gen’s experiences with love in the past have been abusive in one way or another, whether it was the older boys who took advantage of her when she was very young, or her high school boyfriend who was literally physically abusive. gen doesn’t have any experience with love that doesn’t hurt her. so her heart is black and blue. ya get it??

hadley bridges: “ you are missing from me “ -- so in french apparently you don’t say “i miss you” you say “tu me manques” which more accurately translates to “you are missing from me”. i chose this quote for hadley because it sort of sums up the way that hadley misses people. she doesn’t just miss them. she feels like she’s lost herself when she loses her loved ones. as a result she’s never really been her own person. she lost her mother when she was young and she never knew how to grow into her own person, so when she lost her sister in high school, she really didn’t know how to be herself because she feels like something is missing from her. 

joey hughes: “ beauty queen in tears “ -- this is a lor.de lyric from the song tennis court, which has some relevance to joey, but it’s not really the reason why i picked the tag. i really just picked it because i think it’s a perfect summary of what joey is like. she’s not literally a beauty queen (in her main verse), but she sort of has the general aesthetic of one and it’s kinda the way other people view her but she’s also just devastatingly sad. so it’s like her two sides summed up in one little lyric

juliet jacobs: “ a rose by any other name “ -- okay so i think this one is uhh kinda obvious. it’s an excerpt from romeo and juliet and her name is juliet. but also!! it’s perfect for her!! juliet’s adopted so it’s kinda this poetic commentary on like the fact that she’s juliet jacobs because she was adopted by the jacobs and they named her that but her bio family’s name for her was phoebe (gallagher) and i’ve played her as phoebe as well, and the point is that she’s the rose, and by any other name, she’s still herself. slightly different. but still herself. so yeah. what’s in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.

kc gilmore: “ hard liquor mixed with a bit of intellect “ -- i’ve gone through many tags for kc before finally settling on this one. the perfect one. it’s a har.ry styl.es lyric. and it sums of kc’s two biggest traits: he’s a party boy and he’s super fucking smart. it’s really that simple. also in that song theres the whole “i’m having your baby its none of your business” thing which is also weirdly relevant to kc 

lucas wild: “ just another la devotee “ -- okay this one isn’t really perfect and honestly lukes old tag (one man show) is probably more accurate to him, but i wanted to switch things up. i really just picked this lyric because lucas loves movies and acting so he’s an la devotee. it’s not that deep. 

ophelia jacobs: “ lay me down in a bed of roses “ -- a few things! so first, it matches her sister’s tag with the whole roses reference. second, it’s from the song “if i die young” which always reminded me of ophelia (like from ham.let). which brings us to third, which is that the song is about death and ophelia’s whole life story is really deeply intwined with death and the death of loved ones in particular. so while ophelia herself doesn’t fit the song because she has very little in common with her namesake (in fact it always bothered her that her parents named both her and her sister after girls who killed themselves over boys), she does have the experience of love that ends in death. 

wren stilinski: “ we long for legend “ -- tbh i don’t remember where this came from originally but it was a quote about belief and wren is a textbook Believer in the supernatural (even in verses where the supernatural really doesn’t exist) so she Longs for Legend. idk. it’s really simple. that’s all folks. 

[yabookers]

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood

One summer will challenge everything the Garrett sisters thought they knew about themselves—and each other in this captivating new novel by Jessica Spotswood.

As the oldest, Des shoulders a lot of responsibility for her family and their independent bookstore. Except it's hard to dream big when she's so busy taking care of everyone else. Vi has a crush on the girl next door. It makes her happy and nervous, but Cece has a boyfriend...so it's not like her feelings could ever be reciprocated, right? Kat lands the lead in the community theater's summer play, but the drama spills offstage when her ex and his new girlfriend are cast too. Can she get revenge by staging a new romance of her own? Bea and her boyfriend are heading off to college together in the fall, just like they planned when they started dating. But Bea isn't sure she wants the same things as when she was thirteen... Told through four alternating points of view, readers will laugh, cry, and fall in love alongside the Garrett girls.

Disclaimer: I received a copy free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls follows four sisters for their last summer together as a family before Bea goes off to college. I enjoyed The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. It is the perfect summer read full of romance, self-discovery, and family. I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s Little Women meets Gilmore Girls and yeah that pretty much sums this one up. It follows four sisters – Des, Bea, Vi, and Kat – through the summer as they meet new people, try new things, discovers new things about themselves, and fall for people they didn’t expect.

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls was a joy to read and it was fun and heartfelt. I loved the bookish references during Vi’s chapters as their family owns a bookstore. We saw mentions of Nina LaCour’s books, Robin Talley’s books, and Reign of the Fallen! I loved that. The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is a very character driven book with each sister going on her own journey and discovers something about themselves. But at the heart of the story, it is about sisterhood, family, and friendship and I really loved that.

Each sister had a very distinct personality and each one went on their own personal journeys and they were definitely a highlight of the book. Des learns that sometimes she needs to put herself first sometimes and learns to stand up for herself. As the oldest, she has always felt like she needs to be the responsible one, the one to pick up everyone’s slack. She’s naive but she learns and she grows and I liked that.

Bea, the second oldest, has been with Erik since she was thirteen and they have had their whole life planned out. They’ve just graduated and are heading off to Georgetown but Bea isn’t sure that is what she wants anymore. She isn’t sure what she wants or who she wants, she doesn’t even know who she is without Erik by her side. Bea was… a complicated and messy character who I liked as a person. She was selfish, impatient, ambitious and very very anxious so I related to that (I personally thought it was good anxiety rep). BUT her storylines also features cheating which is always a big no for me.

Vi is the youngest sister and a lesbian and she is out and proud. She has a crush on the girl next door called Cece (who is queer & latina) but she isn’t sure if Cece is straight or not, she knows she likes lgbtqia+ lit but she isn’t out. I really adored their relationship and especially their love for YA lit and their love for dogs! Kat kind of a favourite of mine she is such a drama queen and I loved every second of it. Also, her storyline featured fake dating which is a favourite of mine. Her relationship with Mase (who is Bisexual & Asian-American) was super cute and I loved it.

Overall, The Last Summer of Garrett Girls is a solid summer read with cute romances, family bonds, and a book about self-discovery.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy now from Book Depository

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

11 Questions

1. Favorite dog breed?

Either German Shepherd or a Mastiff.

2. Favorite TV shows?

Star Trek TOS, Sherlock, Merlin, Gilmore Girls, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, LOST, The Carol Burnett Show, Galavant, there’s a bunch.

3. What are some songs that you are addicted to right now?

This little gem, “Roots” by Alice Merton. “Love Is” by Rod Stewart. “Below My Feet” by Mumford and Sons. There’s a bunch.

4. Do you collect anything?

Spoons, pressed pennies, money from other places.

5. What is your go to thing to make yourself feel better?

Running. Writing. Singing. Sleeping.

6. Any fave books/fics?

Books: Memoirs of a Geisha, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Hyperbole and a Half.

Fics: Too many to list.

7. What’s a funny joke you know?

Reverse knock knock joke. You say, “I have a knock knock joke, but you have to start it.” They’ll say, “knock knock”. You say, “who’s there?” and then wait to see how long it takes them to realize they’ve been had.

8. What’s the story behind your url?

It’s a multilevel pun. Beauty-Grace-Outer-Space is a play on the “she’s beauty she’s grace, she’s miss United States” song, which became a meme a few years back. Coincidentally, William Shatner was in Miss Congeniality as one of the hosts of the Miss USA pageant and sang said song. Outer space is also a Star Trek reference. And here we are. There’s more I’m sure, but I’m very tired.

9. What’s the most interesting fact you know?

The mitochondria is the power house of the cell.

10. Thoughts on cereal?

Eh.

11. What’s the closest thing to you that’s blue?

A pen.

Tagged by @goingknowherewastaken, thanks, doll.

Tagging whoever wants to do it, same questions.

[crowdvscritic]

crowd vs. critic // BEST OF THE DECADE (2010s)

Well, people, I tried. I really tried to whittle down the decade to 100 movies or fewer just like a good little Best of Decade list does, but here we are. That is, here we are at 144.

Maybe it’s because movies have meant so much to me this decade. When I graduated from high school in 2010, I loved John Hughes and Audrey Hepburn, but since then, film has cemented itself as my favorite art form. A few highlights in this journey:

Taking film classes at Taylor University, including a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in 2013

Writing for ZekeFilm starting in 2016

Writing about every new movie I watched in 2016

Watching classic movies while podcasting about Gilmore Girls pop culture references

Discovering my love for Turner Classic Movies, including taking their online summer course “Mad About Musicals”

Watching every movie nominated for Best Picture in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019

Beginning a slow (very slow) but sure trek through every Best Picture winner in history

And, oh yeah— starting this little blog!

I left Snow White and The Huntsman wishing someone would review it considering how fun it was even though it wasn’t a great art. Then I thought, what if that person was me? I hope my writing and critical analysis has grown since then, but I still ask the same questions about every movie I’ve watched since then: What is the popcorn potential? What is the artistic taste?

This decade I also spent July Friday nights watching outdoor movies on Art Hill, hosted annual Oscars watch parties with dear friends, attended my first midnight premiere (The Hunger Games), paid extra for the reclining seats to celebrate my first job (Interstellar), and found a laugh break with my whole family during a stressful summer (Ant-Man and the Wasp).

So here’s a small tribute to the time I spent watching, discussing, and reading and writing about movies I watched these 10 years: 72 Crowd picks and 72 Critic picks. They’re the 144 films that moved me, made me laugh, or made the biggest impact on me, and they’re the ones I recommend most from the 2010s.

Crowd-Pleasers of the 2010s

1. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) – An acting tour de force you’ll still be thinking about days later. (#JohnGoodmanForBestSupportingActor) Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

2. The Age of Adaline (2015) - The color palette and costumes are dreamy, and the romance taking a back seat to Adaline’s personal growth is refreshing. On my Best of 2015.

3. Austenland (2013) – “This movie is for two kinds of people: people who love Jane Austen and people who think Jane Austen fans are funny.” – A paraphrased director Jerusha Hess. On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

4. Ant-Man (2015) – All hail, Paul Rudd and his ability to make us care about ants. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2015.

5. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - An impossibly satisfying conclusion that seemed impossible when Iron Man came out in 2008. A peak in the superhero subgenre as well as ensemble films, action flicks, sci-fi adventures, and time travel comedies. On my Best of 2019.

6. Baby Driver (2017) – If you forced me to pick my favorite on this entire list, here you go. A modern musical that lights up every spark in my brain. On my Best of 2017.

7. Beauty and the Beast (2017) – My favorite of the Disney live action remakes. On my Best of 2017.

8. Before We Go (2014) – I’m a sucker for Boy-Meets-Girl-and-They-Talk-All-Night stories, and this one’s an aesthetic dream. Excellent pick if your flight is cancelled and you’re stuck in an airport for nine hours.

9. The Big Sick (2017) – You’ll fall in love with the treasure Kumail Nanjiani. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2017.

10. Black Panther (2018) – WAKANDA FOREVER. On my Best of 2018.

11. Central Intelligence (2016) – No complaints from me when the Rock and Kevin Hart team up. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

12. Colossal (2016) – The best quasi-superhero movie no one talked about this decade. On my Best of 2017.

13. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) – Three cheers for Awkwafina! On my Best of 2018.

14. Creed (2015)

15. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Controversial Movie Corner: My favorite of The Dark Knight trilogy.

16. Finding Dory (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

17. Frozen II (2019) – Controversial Movie Corner: Better than the original.

18. Fury (2014)

19. Game Night (2018) - Come for the sharp jokes, stay for the clever heist plotting and a hilarious ensemble. On my Best of 2018.

20. Ghostbusters (2016) – I had the option to rewatch this or the 1984 version for Halloween this year, and I chose to laugh through this one. FYI, the extra 15 minutes in the extended version make a difference. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

21. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – Another modern musical. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

23. Home Again (2017) – Made of pure charm. Read ZekeFilm review.

24. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) The best of the best dystopian YA adaptation series this decade. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

25. I Feel Pretty (2018)

26. Inception (2010)

27. The Intern (2015) – Insanely rewatchable. On my Best of 2015.

28. Interstellar (2014)

29. Juliet, Naked (2018) – On my Best of 2018.

30. Jurassic World (2015) – Doesn’t hold up to scrutiny on second watch, but a big spectacle on a big screen. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2015.

31. The Kings of Summer (2013) – My favorite from Sundance 2013. On my Best of 2013.

32. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) – A course-correction of tired spy movie clichés. On my Best of 2015.

33. Knives Out (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

34. Kong: Skull Island (2017) – Very rewatchable. Very relistenable soundtrack.

35. Late Night (2019)

36. The Lego Movie (2014) – I didn’t choose this movie, but I laughed so hard I forgave my friends for dragging me to it.

37. Letters to Juliet (2010) – Very corny. Very rewatchable for its Italian countryside setting.

38. Logan Lucky (2017) – Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, and Daniel Craig at their funniest. On my Best of 2017.

39. The Magnificent Seven (2016) – Sometimes you just want to see a bunch of movie stars tearing it up. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

40. Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – One of the most successful movies on this list because it knows exactly what it wants to be and then is that. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2018.

41. The Maze Runner (2014) – Let’s just forget those sequels ever happened.

42. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) – Fallout got the most attention, but I prefer the squad in this sequel. Bonus points for Jeremy Renner. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2015.

43. Moana (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

44. Monte Carlo (2011) – Wanderlust satisfied because it takes inspiration from Golden Hollywood fairy tales like Roman Holiday.

45. Morning Glory (2010)

46. The Muppets (2011) – Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

47. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) – Even bigger, fatter, and Greeker than the original. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

48. Ocean’s Eight (2018) – The real heist? Eight funny ladies taking turns stealing every scene. On my Best of 2018.

49. Passengers (2016) - A near-perfect popcorn flick. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

50. Paper Towns (2015) – Love me some Nat Wolff with an indie pop soundtrack.

51. Prometheus (2012) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

52. A Quiet Place (2018) – Where the best of commercial and critical filmmaking come together. On my Best of 2018.

53. Ready or Not (2019)

54. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) – Another entry in the Wanderlust Canon.

55. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) – Imperfect, but sticks the landing.

56. Shazam! (2019) – Read ZekeFilm review.

57. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) – Charismatic movie stars + flashy cinematography = A great time at the theatre (even when the projector fails in the middle of your screening and you have to start over).

58. The Spectacular Now (2013)

59. Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

60. Spy (2015) – I still can’t believe how much I laughed at this.

61. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – The best Star War since 1980. On my Best of 2017.

62. Super 8 (2011)

63. Tangled (2010) – Controversial Movie Corner: Better than both Frozens.

64. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

65. Toy Story 3 (2010)

66. Warm Bodies (2013) – Who knew a zom rom com would become one of my go-to comfort foods? Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

67. Wonder Woman (2017) – Anyone else almost cry in that No Man’s Land scene? On my Best of 2017.

68. World War Z (2013) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

69. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – Why I’d pick the X-Men over the Avengers most days. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

70. Yesterday (2019) – You know a movie captures its audience when most stay through the credits to sing “Hey Jude.” On my Best of 2019.

71. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) – Hello, my name is Taylor, and I declare Woody Harrelson a national treasure. Read ZekeFilm review.

72. Zootopia (2016) – Creatively and socially sharp. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

Critic Picks of the 2010s

1. 12 Years a Slave (2013) – There’s no beauty or redemption in this chapter of America’s story, but the beauty of this is it restores humanity to millions denied it in their lifetimes. Read ZekeFilm review.

2. 20 Feet From Stardom (2013) – On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

3. 1917 (2019) – Who needs suplots? Or more than one camera? On my Best of 2019.

4. Ad Astra (2019) – Prayerful poetry + one of Brad Pitt’s best performances. On my Best of 2019.

5. American Sniper (2014)

6. Argo (2012) – CIA work: It’s just like makin’ a movie! Read ZekeFilm review.

7. Arrival (2016) - The best Hollywood has to offer. I left wishing I felt this way after every film. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

8. The Artist (2011)

9. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

10. Begin Again (2013) – Adam Levine singing in Begin Again > Adam Levine singing in Maroon 5. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

11. The Beguiled (2017) – Sofia Coppola = Queen. On my Best of 2017.

12. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

13. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Don’t @ me—I like this better than the original. On my Best of 2017.

14. BlacKkKlansman (2018) – Just when you think this undercover investigation can’t get riskier, Spike Lee finds another way to send your blood pressure rising. On my Best of 2018.

15. The Bling Ring (2013) – Sofia Coppola = Still Queen.

16. Boyhood (2014)

17. Brooklyn (2015) – I think that Saorsie Ronan is goin’ places. On my Best of 2015.

18. Circles (2013) – Love me some symbolism. On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

19. Dunkirk (2017) – The freshest take on World War II since Schindler’s List. On my Best of 2017.

20. Fences (2016) – Denzel Washington and Viola Davis bring issues of race, class, gender, marriage, and intelligence to life in a story as relevant today as in the 1950s. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

21. First Man (2018) – On my Best of 2018.

22. Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) – More proof Hugh Grant is just the best. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

23. First Reformed (2017) – I‘ve never heard a character pray in words so close to mine. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2018.

24. The Florida Project (2017) - For what this lacked in narrative momentum, it made up for in empathy. On my Best of 2017.

25. Get Out (2017) – I’m not one for horror, and I’m not one to watch the same film twice in one week, but this broke both of those rules. On my Best of 2017.

26. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

27. Gravity (2013) – Maybe my favorite Sandra Bullock performance. On my Best of 2013.

28. Green Book (2018) – Read ZekeFilm review.

29. Hacksaw Ridge (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic review.

30. The Help (2011) – Prescient of the decade ahead for its soon-to-be-superstar cast and a story reminding white people they should probably just shut up and listen instead of thinking they have all the answers.

31. Hell or High Water (2016) – A modern Cain and Abel story. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

32. Hidden Figures (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

33. I, Tonya (2017)

34. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) – Controversial Movie Corner: My preferred Barry Jenkins of the decade. On my Best of 2018.

35. Inside Out (2015) – “There’s inductive reasoning, there’s déjà vu, there’s language processing, there’s déjà vu, there’s critical thinking, there’s déjà vu…” On my Best of 2015.

36. Jackie (2016) – Changed my perspective on Natalie Portman. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

37. Jojo Rabbit (2019) – Shows not just how ugly hate is but how winsome it can appear. On my Best of 2019.

38. Joy (2015) – An important film at a hard time in my life. On my Best of 2015.

39. The King’s Speech (2010)

40. La La Land (2016) – Already one of the Great Musicals. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

41. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) – Like a novel on screen. On my Best of 2019.

42. Les Misérables (2012)

43. Lincoln (2012)

44. The Light Between Oceans (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

45. Lion (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

46. Little Women (2019) – I don’t sob in every film, but one of the most realistic onscreen depictions of sisterhood will make me do it.  On my Best of 2019.

47. Love & Friendship (2016) - Captures Jane Austen’s sardonic tone and her eye for silliness in social etiquette. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

48. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Bananas, but the best kind of bananas. On my Best of 2015.

49. Marriage Story (2019) – A divorce story I want every engaged couple to watch. An Adam Driver/Scarlett Johansson acting show I want every film lover to watch. On my Best of 2019.

50. The Martian (2015) – Of all the fantastic space stories this decade, this is the most feel-good. On my Best of 2015 list.

51. Midnight in Paris (2011) – Another entry into the Wanderlust Canon.

52. Midnight Traveler (2019) – A documentary that feels more like flipping through a family photo album than reading a newspaper. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

53. Molly’s Game (2017) – Sorkin Part 1!

54. Moneyball (2011) – Sorkin Part 2!

55. mother! (2017) - Exactly zero people on Earth can explain what this story means, but I think we can all agree we don’t deserve Jennifer Lawrence. On my Best of 2017.

56. Mudbound (2017) – A Greek tragedy set in the Deep South. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2017.

57. Parasite (2019) – A Southern Gothic set in South Korea. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

58. Philomena (2013)

59. The Post (2017) – Hanks. Spielberg. Streep. Need I say more? On my Best of 2017.

60. The Report (2019) - Solely included here for the performance from Adam Driver, who elevated this so much he became one of my favorite working actors by the credits. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

61. Selma (2014)

62. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – I’m ready for more J. Law and B. Coop team ups in the 2020s. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

63. Sing Street (2016) – Listen to “The Riddle of the Model” and you can thank me later. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

64. The Social Network (2010) – Sorkin Part 3!

65. Spotlight (2015)

66. A Star Is Born (2018) – Sometimes a film is everything you hope it will be. On my Best of 2018.

67. The Theory of Everything (2014)

68. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – A needed dialogue with unexpected opportunities for redemption. On my Best of 2017.

69. Three Identical Strangers (2018) - Sucks you in with its stranger-than-fiction premise but keeps you because of its better-than-fiction characters. On my Best of 2018.

70. The Tree of Life (2011)

71. The Two Popes (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

72. Wind River (2017) – The story lead the way instead of its politics, which makes both more compelling. More of Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen in everything, please. On my Best of 2017.

Photo credits: All photos from IMDb.com.

[monicalorandavis]

So you wanna be a good person

You (I mean, me) have some extra time on your hands these days and Trump has you feeling fucked up because he’s out here banning people from countries he doesn’t have hotels in and pardoning Judges who run murder camps for Mexican people.  Also he fucks with the KKK.  Like he does.  Forreal.  He acts like he doesn’t.  But he also doesn’t act like he doesn’t.  

The climate is feeling racist as fuck and your girl thought she’d be a mentor to a young woman of color and show her that somebody still cares about her.  

So I drunkenly applied to be a Big Sister through the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters of LA.  I’m not Catholic but they have hella hype on the internet so I went with the best mentor crew out here in these streets.

So fast forward a few weeks and a very chipper lady calls me out of the blue to “follow up with your application” and I’m like, ‘er’, and she politely reminds me “for the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters of LA!”  And I have to fumble some rote ‘I love to give back!’ and ‘Mentorship shaped me into a better person!’ response I gave to a Northwestern recruiter in 2004 that I know worked because I GOT INTO NORTHWESTERN (but I didn’t go because my parents were like, ‘nah we ain’t paying for that get your butt to Berkeley’ but also go Bears!!!!).

Now follow that up with weeks of background checks and fingerprinting and peer interviews and an interview with my boss that may or may not have been a friend pretending to be my boss, and then, finally, a meeting with my mentee! And she’s BRILLIANT and thinks I’m the SMARTEST PERSON SHE’S EVER MET because I went to BERKELEY.  So like my parents get another point on the board and I get a great kid to shape into a greater adult.  But ALSO the thought races through my head that I miiiiight be the best person in America.  These other fakers are talking a big game about impeachment but what are they doing on the ground level, ya feel me?!!??!

So, then me and my mentee get to go on outings: trips to the mall, movies, runs around the reservoir, fancy ice cream at gelato shops.  And then there’s her ideas: the Body World exhibit at the Science Center has me shook for a week straight.  Plus, she is OBSESSED with Cost Plus World Market and the appeal sort of goes over my head.  But I take away, that she likes interior design and candy from all over the globe.  She asks me advice on things and I give it to her and she seems genuinely sad when I drop her off at her house which would be the worst but she seems SO happy when I pick her up the next time.  So my self-esteem is on 100, bruh.

Needless to say, I’m hyped.  And when the program director says she has free baseball tickets for me and the mentee I hesitate because sports aren’t my thing but maybe the moral of the story is about doing things out of your comfort zone!  I’ve never been a mentor before and that’s certainly surpassed my expectations so why not, I take the tickets!  We arrive at Dodgers Stadium and it’s 4,000 degrees and no one is in a good mood.  

But, things get worse.

We hike the mile and a half up to our seats and find other (very shy) big brothers with their little brothers and I’m the only woman and I think ‘these guys don’t look half as fun as me’.  And then we sit in the blistering sun and I try my hardest not to scream obscenities into the sky.

In front of us sit a row of mentally challenged men in their 40′s and right away, one guy takes a shine to me and innocently looks back often and smiles.  I think I catch him winking at me and I’m flattered.  They’re all occupied with snack-sized bags of Cheeto’s and I’m a little jealous but I say nothing.

Then, a minute goes by, and one man sitting next to my new friend is surreptitiously masturbating inside his jeans.  I look and look away, and all the while HE’S STARING DIRECTLY AT ME.  For at least a minute I’m frozen and I can’t move or think.  No.  I think a lot.  Just too fast and can’t sort it out.  I’m like, “Can you slap someone who’s mentally handicapped?!  Oh jesus, I can’t slap him he’s fucking disabled.  Son of a bitch.  Why me?  Why her?!?!  Who the hell is watching this guy!  He’s literally covered in Cheeto dust!  Fuck!  Now I can never eat Cheetos again.  Fucking hell.”  And maybe that last thought snaps me back into reality because it’s just too cruel.  And I remember, my mentee.  She’s right there.  She’s 11.  She’s the most important.  I gotta protect her! 

So I hop up and slurp the rest of my soda and say too loudly ‘I’m done with my soda, let’s get another one!’  She gets up and follows me in the blistering heat as we storm past throngs of sweaty, drunk adults and I realize I’m not drinking and everyone is wasted.  And I’m not jealous of them.  I’ve got a little kid to protect.  

So we get to the bullpen which is I think what you call the place where the pitchers warm up and I snag us two seats and we immediately breathe a sigh of relief.  We’re finally in our own little pocket away from the craziness that is all sporting events and can speak to each other at a normal volume.  As I think, ‘did she notice the guy masturbating?  His dick wasn’t out...that’s got to be a little bit better!  Do I bring it up? Oh jesus, why?’  She says ‘That lady has blue hair!” And I look at a lady who does in fact have a big bushy, blue afro which is surprising because she’s sort of conservative looking and dorky.  And I remember, my little sister is just a kid. 

And then, a cute pitcher comes out and stands less than ten feet away from us, doing the weirdest moves his body can make and she bursts out laughing and finally I realize I’m not covered in sweat anymore.  Another cute pitcher walks out and he starts what appears to be a goofy warm-up competition.  He’s windmilling his arms around comically fast, and then reverses, and then does the same move in teeny-tiny circles at differing rhythms.  And then, right on cue, a third, very, very short pitcher walks out with his pants pulled-up too high and we’re wiping away tears from our eyes because the whole scene is so silly and funny.  The people around us start laughing at us laughing and I can finally chill, even if just for a second.  

My mentee and I start reenacting the various loosening up routines and some bald guy with lecherous eyes leans in and asks me what the score is and that makes us laugh harder.  Like, ‘Are you even looking at me dude? I’m wearing a sundress and doing an interpretive dance right now, I ain’t worried ‘bout the score.’ And I effectively tell him to take a hike.  And I hope my little sister realizes that I’ll protect her from creeps.  

Maybe not all of them, but, God as my witness I’ll block at least one out.

So the real moral of the story is, there will be guys who will try to ruin your day by masturbating at very inappropriate times and you gotta run away and make your own fun because when you stop running you might just find a lady with a blue afro and sexy pitchers in tight pants doing cracked-out tai chi.  And you really don’t want to miss that. 

[bellamysgriffin]

to read list (ya version)

jsjsdfj this is so long i’m s o rry it’s partially for my reference but honestly hmu if anyone wants to start book club (@ tilde worry not asoue and hdm and peregrine’s are implied) this is hideously long so it’s under a cut

yellow brick war by danielle paige 

i’ll give you the sun by jandy nelson 

everything everything by nicola yoon

a million miles away by lara avery

the secret language of sisters by luanne rice

falling into place by amy zhang

shooter by caroline pignat

never always sometimes by adi alsaid

the last good day of the year by jessica warman

proof of forever by lexa hillyer

because you’ll never meet me by leah thomas

the name of the star by maureen johnson

the game of love and death by martha brockenbrough

hate list by jennifer brown

the body in the woods by april henry

me being me is exactly as insane as you being you by todd hasak-lowy

the end or something like that by ann dee ellis

the truth about alice by jennifer mathieu

say what you will by cammie mcgovern

everything that makes you by moriah mcstay

tease by amanda maciel

killer instinct by s.e. green

we’ll always have paris by jennifer coburn

paperweight by meg haston

like it never happened by emily adrian

don’t even think about it by sarah mlynowski

finding paris by joy preble

emancipated by m. g. reyes

the face on the milk carton by caroline b. cooney

the last boy and girl in the world by siobhan vivian

once again by liz braswell and cameron dokey

boy of summer by jessica brody

road trip summer by lauren barnholdt

survive the night by danielle vega 

kill the boy band by goldy moldavsky

totally awkward love story by tom ellen and lucy ivison

the square root of summer by harriet reuter hapgood

the lifeboat clique by kathy parks

boys like you by juliana stone

26 kisses by anna michels

dissonance by erica o’rourke

if i was your girl by meredith russo 

now that you’re here by amy k nichols

the only thing worse than me is you by lily anderson

some of the parts by hannah barnaby

a song for ella gray by david almond

summer days and summer nights by stephanie perkins

my life next door by huntley fitzpatrick

in real life by jessica love

whisper to me by nick lake

the walls around us by nova ren suma

ready player one by ernest cline

awake by natasha preston

the siren by kiera cass

mirror in the sky by aditi khorana

magonia by maria dahvana headley

last year’s mistake by gina ciocca

once upon a dream by liz braswell

dreamology by lucy keating

the last time we were us by leah konen

keep me in mind by jamie reed

p.s. i like you by kasie west

summer of supernovas by darcy woods

the way back to you by michelle andreani and mindi scott

please don’t tell by laura tims

the cresswell plot by elisza wass

i woke up dead at the mall by judy sheehan

a week of monday’s by jessica brody

don’t look back by jennifer l armentrout

the problem with forever by jennifer l armentrout

fig by sarah elizabeth schantz

you have seven messages by stewart lewis

denton little’s death date by lance rubin

the fall by bethany griffin

don’t stop now by julie halpern

side effects may vary by julie murphy

inland by kat rosenfield

invincible by amy reed

i am princess x by cherie priest

off the page by jodi picoult

panic by lauren oliver

devoted by jennifer mathieu

six of crows by leigh bardugo

we were liars by e. lockhart

bone gap by laura ruby

elsewhere by gabrielle zevin

a whole new world by liz braswell

never said by carol lynch williams

hit by lorie ann grover

the dark elements by jennifer l armentrout

daughters unto devils by amy lukavics

wendy darling by colleen oakes

fracture by megan miranda

red girl blue boy by lauren baratz-logsted

wonders of the invisible world by christopher barzak

stranded by melinda braun

taking aim by michael cart

the accident season by moira fowley-doyle

infinite in between by carolyn macker

wither by lauren destefano

how it went down by kekla magoon

sing by vivi greene

the third twin by cj omololu

backlash by sarah darer littman

liars inc. by paula stokes

the killing by natasha preston

the thousandth floor by katherine mcgee

the raft by s.a. boden

ella minnow pea by mark dunn

the pregnancy project by gaby rodriguez

out of control by sarah alderson

ruthless by carolyn lee adams

the memory book by lara avery

georgia peaches and other forbidden fruit by jaye robin brown

tumbling by caela carter

the odds of lightning by jocelyn davies

tell me something real by calla devlin

don’t get caught by kurt dinan

everyone we’ve been by sarah everett

playlist for the dead by michelle falkoff

the weight of zero by karen fortunati

we were never here by jennifer gilmore

been here all along by sandy hall

three truths and a lie by brent hartinger

you were here by cori mccarthy

nearly gone by elle cosimano

the infinity of you and me by j q coyle

lost stars by lisa selin davis

die for you by amy fellner dominy

until friday night by abbi glines

this is our story by ashley elston

to catch a killer by sheryl scarborough

the hundred lies of lizzie lovett by chelsea sediti

the hate u give by angie thomas

but then i came back by estelle laure

me and me by alice kuipers 

shackled by tom leveen

infinite in between by carolyn mackler

the free by lauren mclaughlin

the outliers by kimberly mccreight

a good idea by cristina moracho

girl on a plane by miriam moss

eat the sky, drink the ocean by multiple authors

the sky is everywhere by jandy nelson

meg and linus by hanna nowinski

radio silence by alice oseman

all the forever things by jolene perry

keeping the beat by marie powell and jeff norton

the homecoming by stacie ramey

seven ways we lie by riley redgate

beautiful broken girls by kim savage

between shades of gray by ruta sepetys

history is all you left me by adam silvera

everything beautiful is not ruined by danielle younge-ullman

shooter by walter dean myers

the memory of light by francisco x stork

a storied life by gabrielle zevin

worthy by donna cooner

run by kody keplinger

one of us is lying by karen m mcmanus

a psalm for lost girls by katie bayerl

the one memory of flora banks by emily barr

[geminigrlfriend]

All of them!!!!!!!!! 💖💕👍

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? my bf!! the angel

2. Are you outgoing or shy? pretty outgoing but sometimes i get shy

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? my parents tomorrowwww

4. Are you easy to get along with? i hope so?? i couldn’t tell you

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? yeah he would

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? kind and fun ones. people who are dorks and make me laugh

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? yeah (i mean i hope so i don’t wanna mess with my karma by being too cocky)

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? stephen who else 

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? no i’m almost too comfortable with it

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? stephen

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? it’s up to you!! i can do either b (to rach about our breakfast plans tomorrow)

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? sweet dispostion-the temper trap, i can lift a car-walk the moon, west coast-FIDLAR, faith-george michael, and hope-modern baseball

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? yes yes yes

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? yes! just tryin to have hope

15. What good thing happened this summer? rach and i went on a lot of drives 

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? yes i’m gonna kiss him tomorrow! 

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? yes 

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? no 

19. Do you like bubble baths? yes with lush bath bombs and bubbles. my fav

20. Do you like your neighbors? yeah they’re cute 

21. What are you bad habits? biting my nails, smoking, getting angry too easily at little things

22. Where would you like to travel? iceland, india, england, france, and many more

23. Do you have trust issues? yeah but i’m better than i was before 

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? washing my makeup off at night

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? my butt and arms

26. What do you do when you wake up? check the cosmo snap story 

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? nope

28. Who are you most comfortable around? melly, stephen, rach, and my parents

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? no but one was very reluctant to even break up does that count

30. Do you ever want to get married? yes!! 

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? it’s in one rn! 

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? rami malek and daniel norris (who is a baseball player but whatever)

33. Spell your name with your chin. ssfss 

34. Do you play sports? What sports? nah i’m not coordinated 

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? someone else asked me this so imma save it!

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? ^^ same as above

37. What do you say during awkward silences? oh god too much

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? honest, kind, funny, dorky, respectful, curly hair, light eyes, and totally in love with me

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? TARGET and trader joes

40. What do you want to do after high school? currently in college so i guess that was the answer

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? no. on minor stuff yes, but some people really don’t.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? that i’m disassociating or that i’m sad or that i just don’t feel like talking

43. Do you smile at strangers? sometimes!

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? s p a c e

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? coffee and plans

46. What are you paranoid about? so many things. that i’m never gonna live the life i want to

47. Have you ever been high? yep 

48. Have you ever been drunk? yep

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? no

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? i think black?

51. Ever wished you were someone else? all the time

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? pls whoever or whatever god is make my nose smaller

53. Favourite makeup brand? love e.l.f

54. Favourite store? target

55. Favourite blog? flowury i love her

56. Favourite colour? green! and pink and yellow

57. Favourite food? berries and pizza

58. Last thing you ate? powered sugar donuts

59. First thing you ate this morning? powdered sugar donuts lol (it was a big bag of them)

60. Ever won a competition? For what? i won a tshirt design competition in 5th grade omg my proudest moment my dad still wears the shirt i designed

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? no

62. Been arrested? For what? no

63. Ever been in love? on the verge of it right now

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? i was laying in bed with this boy i had a crush on and we were drunk and the shining was on and xmas lights were lighting the room and he leaned over and kissed me

65. Are you hungry right now? actually yes which is sad cause i just told melly i wasn’t gonna go get food earlier but i have regrets. i may order pizza. 

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? no i love my real friends

67. Facebook or Twitter? i don’t even have a twitter but still probably twitter

68. Twitter or Tumblr? tumblr

69. Are you watching tv right now? nope

70. Names of your bestfriends? melly, rach, han, maddy, and britt

71. Craving something? What? food! 

72. What colour are your towels? blue

72. How many pillows do you sleep with? two

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? yeah i have my valentine’s seal i bought for myself after i broke up with someone cause i was sad

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? about 10? 15?

75. Favourite animal? i love cats

76. What colour is your underwear? grey

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? grey

80. What colour pants? saving it for someone else 

81. Favourite tv show? ooh i love so many. gilmore girls, call the midwife, outlander, hannibal, fargo, etc.

82. Favourite movie? the shining

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? original

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? mean girls but i do love jump street

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? ms. norbury

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? nemooo

87. First person you talked to today? stephen

88. Last person you talked to today? melly

89. Name a person you hate? donald trump

90. Name a person you love? all my friends 

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? refer to question 89

92. In a fight with someone? no

93. How many sweatpants do you have? like 6 

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? ooh too many 

95. Last movie you watched? the babadook

96. Favourite actress? katharine hepburn

97. Favourite actor? love rami malek

98. Do you tan a lot? no

99. Have any pets? 3 cats n 2 birds

100. How are you feeling? hungry and have a little headache

101. Do you type fast? average

102. Do you regret anything from your past? yeah

103. Can you spell well? yes

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? i mean yeah but my life is better without them

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? yes

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? yes

107. Have you ever been on a horse? no

108. What should you be doing? nothing cause finals are over!!! bye!!

109. Is something irritating you right now? no

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? yes yes 

111. Do you have trust issues? ya

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? my parents

113. What was your childhood nickname? i didn’t have one! 

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? yes

115. Do you play the Wii? someone else asked !

116. Are you listening to music right now? no

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? i’m vegetarian but 5th grade me lived off of tim horton’s chicken noodle

118. Do you like Chinese food? yeah!

119. Favourite book? too many

120. Are you afraid of the dark? no

121. Are you mean? i can be

122. Is cheating ever okay? no!!!!!

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? lol

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? no

125. Do you believe in true love? yes

126. Are you currently bored? yes i’m answering 150 questions for no reason

127. What makes you happy? my friends, my boyfriend, my parents, avocado toast, music

128. Would you change your name? no i like my name

129. What your zodiac sign? gemini!

130. Do you like subway? yes that sounds so good rn wow

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? see if i like them back then proceed from there

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? ,, this was already asked,, 

133. Favourite lyrics right now? “will i ever be able to be your hope”

134. Can you count to one million? i’m so impatient!!

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? i can’t remember but i’m sure it was dumb

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? closed

137. How tall are you? 5′8

138. Curly or Straight hair? curlyyy it’s so cute

139. Brunette or Blonde? both are pretty

140. Summer or Winter? usually winter but rn i want summer and watermelon

141. Night or Day? day

142. Favourite month? october 

143. Are you a vegetarian? i am!

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? milk

145. Tea or Coffee? coffee

146. Was today a good day? yeah it was good but cold

147. Mars or Snickers? snickers

148. What’s your favourite quote? i don’t know if i have a favorite!

149. Do you believe in ghosts? yes they’re always watching

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? “later heard her volley crude nonsense at Rose across the fence.” from lolita

thanks for asking b xx