#nazneen does a thing

[legoflowers]

aminé // rina sawayama // simon glücklich //mansionz // félix armand heullant // julie bergen // pio ricci // edmund blair leighton

[anxiouspotatorants]

Quick disclaimer: I haven’t seen the later seasons of Gilmore Girls since I was little, so rewatching them in the future might change my mind. Now with that taken into account: I think Mitchum Huntzberger might have been right about Rory not being cut out for traditional journalism. 

Hear me out. I don’t think he was anywhere near correct in how he told her nor his motivations (not having what it takes?? Ew), and I also don’t personally think ASP did the right thing in AYITL by having Rory decide to become a writer by writing about her and her mother immediately while also being pregnant (I have opinions about that ending but that’s for another time). But I do think there was some truth to traditional journalism not being the perfect fit for Rory. From the early seasons she always seems more analytical than inquisitive. In spite of wanting to become the next Amanpour, she’s really hesitant about studying too far away from Stars Hollow and her mother. And that article with the beautiful prose on concrete and the impernanence of things? Most newspaper journalism doesn’t make a lot of room for that kind of writing. Not that it doesn’t exist, but the priority of news journalism is to report the truth and nothing but the truth. An integral part of journalistic writing is learning to share the news with as concise and few words as possible, and that just doesn’t sound like Rory “bedroom stuffed with door-stopper books” Gilmore to me.

That being said, I don’t necessarily think a pure book-writing career is the right fit for Rory either. I do think she benefits from her degree at Yale and from following the Obama campaign. While I do think she could end up writing a book about herself and her mother, it doesn’t feel like the right debut for her. It sounds more like a future magnum opus. So what kind of writing should Rory have done instead?

There’s this Norwegian book called “London” by Nazneen Khan-Østrem, which was marketed as a different kind of tourism book. Khan-Østrem splits the book into chapters based on different parts of London — more specifically on the main locations of various immigrant communities — and then writes about how these communities have shaped the city. She mixes personal memories of visiting London as a child with present day descriptions of the same areas, along with historical facts, pop culture references, and interviews with multiple community members. You can tell by her writing that Khan-Østrem has a background in journalism, but with her book she manages to delve so much deeper into her subjects than she could have in a newspaper/magazine article. That’s the kind of writing I think fits Rory.

I could imagine her getting disillusioned with journalism on the trail and starting to scribble down anecdotes about Stars Hollow when she’s homesick, or writing down observations from the road. Some colleague could come upon it and suggest she gets either of it published. I could see Rory writing a whole book series based on going on roadtrips around various parts of the world to try all the coffee she can, and ending up writing all these personal musings, historical facts, cultural references and interviews in between the coffee reviews. I could see her getting the guts to write a scathing but empathetic deep dive into the Daughters of the American Revolution and the culture that the Daughters of the Daughters grow up in. I see her getting free lance jobs to write commentary pieces and essays for various newspapers and news-related media inbetween books, maybe even some foreword- and editing gigs as well. And eventually I see her writing a big book on the history of Stars Hollow, which is soon followed Gilmore Girls.

Rory might not have “what it takes” to be a journalist. But she sure does have what it takes to be a journalistic writer.

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars Resistance: “The Mutiny”-Review

Kragan and his pirates stage a mutiny in a fun episode that is ultimately hampered by the weak storytelling decisions that preceded it.

(Review contains spoilers)

Kragan and his pirates have decided that the time has come to wrest control of the Colossus. Their frustrations with Captain Doza and his allies have reached a tipping point and the Quarren pirate captain has reached out to fellow buccaneer, Sidon Ithano aka the Crimson Corsair, to obtain old Separatist battle droids for their cause. However, the droids arrive damaged and they will need the assistance of a certain Nikto mechanic to get their mutiny up and running.

One of the most intriguing storytelling concepts going into the second season of Star Wars Resistance was seeing the residents of the Colossus be forced to live alongside their former enemies. Kragan’s pirates were a source of fear and danger in the first season of this show and ultimately led the denizens of the station to flee to the First Order for protection and security. Now that Kragan and his crew share a tight quarters space station for a home with the rest of the citizenry, both sides would be forced to confront their prejudices and hopefully come to work together. It potentially brings to mind some great storylines from the seminal space opera series of the 00’s, Battlestar Galactica. When done best, we got to see the pirates function as brash and arrogant new allies such as in “A Quick Salvage Run” or the victims of prejudice by our heroes in “The Engineer.” It was all working, but what was really lacking for this storyline was any sense of momentum or mounting tension. Last time we saw the pirates, it was a rather lighthearted storyline in the comedic episode, “Kaz’s Curse.” It seemed like despite all their rough adjustments that things were settling down and the Colossus was about to become even more multicultural than it already was.

Then “The Mutiny” arrives and apparently we’ve hit a final straw. It’s a very head scratching start to a plot thread that pretty much just seems to arrive out of nowhere. It doesn’t stop “The Mutiny” from being a mostly good episode of the series, but the total lack of storytelling context for how we start this episode is a massive letdown on the part of showrunner Justin Ridge. Star Wars shows, animated or otherwise, have always struggled with balancing eclectic, episodic storytelling and telling complete full season narratives. Arguably, the only two times it has been done exceptionally well in terms of serialized storytelling has been in the final season of Rebels and last season in Resistance. Events should feel like they are building upon one another towards some sort of climax or character catharsis. It was one thing that made last season of Resistance ultimately successful. Even when we would get a relatively bland or even poor episode, we still were seeing how the various storytelling seeds fit together to build towards a climax. It’s part of what made that final episode stretch so fun. This season, despite episodes that are by and large better directed and arguably better written, lacks that and as a result we are sliding in herky, jerky fashion into the final five episode stretch.

So, Kragan’s mutiny just arrives without fanfare or pretext, but it does make for an overall fun episode of Resistance. Director Bosco Ng is one of the most accomplished directors in the Star Wars animation realm and he frames this struggle for control of the Colossus with the right amount of intensity and tension.

Refreshingly, writer Mairghread Scott focuses the episode on one expected star and one that comes as a delightful surprise. Synara San has been a standout character since her debut last season. While she is very clearly the moral conscience for Kragan’s crew, she still functions as a refreshingly complex go between for our heroes and their pirate frenemies. There may be no surprise as to where she will land when push comes to shove, but Scott smartly never shies away from the fact that these people that Synara is fighting against were ostensibly her found family for most of her life. There’s plenty of these tiny moments that show how Synara’s emotional past doesn’t define her future and Nazneen Contractor sells everyone one of them. Resistance is all the richer for having Synara remain a central member of its cast and hopefully it stays that way.

The real hero of “The Mutiny” ends up being Neeku though. This little ball of Nikto awkward joy ends up being the key component to taking down Kragan’s plot in refreshingly fun fashion. Sure, there are plenty of logical problems in Doza’s plan to have Neeku infiltrate the pirates ahead of their planned attack. I mean, the simple fact that Neeku even repaired the droids at all instead of immediately having them turn against their pirate masters is a big orb of confusion, but it still makes for an entertaining little plot beat.

Most of this comes from the delightful inclusion of a B1 era battle droid to function as Neeku’s sidekick. While they never really worked as an antagonists back in The Clone Wars, these ineffectual and even charmingly naïve little robots have become a great artifact of a previous era of Star Wars history and its always a joy to see them anachronistically rub shoulders with later eras. It’s also just clear how much affection that Matthew Wood has for these little guys and getting to play a comedic hero and sidekick to Neeku is the perfect role for one of these former robotic warriors. B1 is an instant hit and I’m very, very hopeful that he gets to stick around for future episodes.

Also, can we just acknowledge how great Sidon Ithano is? It’s a stellar character design and he’s quickly becoming the sequel trilogy’s equivalent of a Bossk or any other background badass. I hope we get more of him sometime in the future, especially given that we got to see his crimson self partying it up with the Resistance in The Rise of Skywalker.

With that, Kragan’s pirates are kicked off the ship and we are only four episodes away from the big finish. Who knows where we go from here. Next week brings us two full episodes of the series which means that we are just three weeks away from the big finish. Let’s see how this all goes!

Score: B

[inquisitivewordsmith]

Messy Thoughts on Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters

I finished binging the first 13 episodes of Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters. Like with Marvel’s Spider-Man, here’s some scattered thoughts. SPOILERS for the entire first season ahead! In short, I liked it!

 * The pilot (first two episodes) is pretty okay. It introduces the main protagonists well and establishes the overall premise of the series. Some things are a little rushed, such as how the trio quickly develops their powers and how Multi-Farious came about.  

* The relationship between the three heroes is pretty solid. They all have distinct personalities, quirks, and personal struggles that contrast to each other, from Jake’s overly scheduled and regulated life with an overbearing father, to Nathan being ignored in a large family and being closer to his grandfather than his own parents, and Ricardo’s constantly-changing, lonely life. There’s some conflicts that develop from them, like Ricardo enjoying Nathan’s family, but not getting too close to them to avoid getting attached to them if he ever moves to another town yet again.  

* I do like how, while still relying on some cliches and tropes in regards to a teenage superhero cartoon, it pokes fun at or subverts them at times. The best example of this is when Nathan shows Ricardo around the school, and Ricardo guesses at the school’s cliques, only for his guesses to be completely wrong. 

* The use of Rook as their benevolent, multimillionaire ally is interesting, and the Flex Fighters being corporate-sponsored heroes brings in a new twist to the teenage superhero subgenre. I do appreciate that they bring up some of the problematic elements of Rook basically owning most of Charter City and how much harm his vision of progress can do, even with the best intentions. It also makes the final revelations in the season finale a lot more satisfying. 

* On the other side, there’s Kane, the strict, antagonistic Head of Security for Rook, who distrusts young teens as superheroes. He contrasts Rook’s more easygoing, casual leadership to the boys, but his character gets fleshed out surprisingly fast. It helps that Keith David brings his usual charisma to the role. 

* In fact, the voice acting is one of the biggest strengths of the series. It has a very strong cast of voice actors. Scott Menville, Steven Yeun, and Ogie Banks voice the Flex Fighters, while actors like Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Nazneen Contractor, Sab Shimono, and Gary Cole round up the supporting cast, and there’s villains voiced by Jon Heder, Grey Griffin, Clancy Brown, Henry Rollins, Miguel Ferrer, Yvette Nicole Brown, and more. 

* Another big strength of the show is the worldbuilding. Stretch Armstrong has very little lore behind it, and besides he and Stretch Monster, all of the other characters are created for the series. There’s a lot of care and thought put into Charter City and the world the characters inhabit, including background easter eggs and details that help develop it. 

* Speaking of easter eggs, there’s references to the original Stretch Armstrong figure, Transformers, and a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic one that may or may not be in this season. I know I saw it in some sneak peek footage, but not in the series itself. 

* The fight scenes are pretty fun. I doubt there’s anything as memorable as some of the fights in The Spectacular Spider-Man, but it’s fun seeing how the elastic powers are used in creative and different ways. 

* One of themes in the series involves image and perception. It’s not just how the Flex Fighters are overly-publicized and seen as heroes by Charter City, but how that extends to the larger conspiracy at hand. The alleged villains, Dr. C and Blindstrike, largely shown in the show’s publicity as such, are the actual heroes, while Rook, secretly the villain dubbed as the Stretch Monster, is the one using his power and influence to change public perception of them, as he eventually does with Jake and co. once they discover Rook’s true, sinister Darwinist agenda. 

* The reveals are a little predictable, but they work within the series, and they end up leaving more questions than answers for the next season, which should be very interesting. Stretch and the Flex Fighters have to prove themselves as heroes to Kane, their parents, and Charter City, without Rook’s resources and help. 

* If I had a complaint, it’s that I wish they had given Erika and Riya more to do. They don’t really do much on their own beyond being potential love interests for the boys. Riya does retroactively have a more active role in the series after the Blindstrike reveal, but it still feels small. I hope the image of her alongside the Flex Fighters in the final episode credits hints at her having a more active role in the next season. 

* Overall, this is a very strong animated series. The crew took the opportunity to have a blank slate like Stretch Armstrong, and made a fun, interesting world around it. Netflix has been assembling a solid roster of animated, serialized action cartoons between Voltron: Legendary Defender, Trollhunters, Kulipari: An Army of Frogs, and now this. I’m eagerly awaiting for the tie-in comic and the next season. 

[goarticletec-blog]

Star Wars Resistance episode 8: Synara's Score brings pirate danger

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Star Wars Resistance episode 8: Synara's Score brings pirate danger

Synara San is a more complex character than she first appeared.

Lucasfilm

The eighth episode of Star Wars Resistance isn’t quite as strong as the last few, but hints at one character’s fascinating moral quandary and sees the villains’ plans falling into place.

The Colossus refueling platform is vulnerable to further pirate attacks while its Ace Squadron is away, so Resistance spy/mechanic Kazuda Xiono (aka Kaz, played by Christopher Sean) and Tam Ryvora (Suzie McGrath) are tasked with getting a part to repair its automated turrets.

They’re told not to alert anyone about the nonfunctioning defenses and turn to the recently arrived Synara San (Nazneen Contractor) for help, not knowing that she’s actually an infiltrator working for the pirates.

Synara is clearly conflicted

“It seems we both want the the same thing — more than what life has offered us.”

Synara gets to know Tam and clearly sympathizes with her situation.. She’s also truly shocked when Tam risks her life to make sure she’s safe as the pirates attack and takes out one of her outlaw allies to save Tam in return.

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This sets up a fascinating dynamic for future episodes — will Synara turn on the pirates? Will she reveal that the First Order is actually supporting the pirates in an effort to take over the Colossus, blowing the whole plot wide open? Let’s hope so.

The pirates are back.

Lucasfilm

Kaz is a terrible liar, but getting better in a fight

He bumbles his way through his cover story with Synara, hinting that he has a crush on her. These moments, along the self-imposed “silence” of colleague Neeku Vozo (Josh Brener), slow the episode down too much.

However, he manages to hold his own and play a vital role in getting the platform’s turrets back online — smoothly taking out a hulking Trandoshan pirate — earning more respect from chief mechanic Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence).

Yeager’s lost none of his military skills

The forrmer rebel does some pretty slick flying in the small transport he and Kaz use to reach the turrets’ targeting computer, holding off pirate boss Kragan Gorr (Gary Anthony Williams) and taking a very effective brute force approach to making the repairs.

He’s also the only person to realize how convenient the timing of the pirates’ attack was, telling Kaz that he was “never the only spy on this platform.” But does he suspect Synara?

The attack is foiled, but we know it’s just a means to an end.

Lucasfilm

Looks like First Order has what it wants

With the Colossus in flames outside his office, platform boss Captain Doza (Jason Hightower) contacts Commander Pyre (Liam McIntyre) — whose last mission involved capturing or killing children — and agrees to the First Order’s offer of protection from the pirates.

“I will arrive to oversee the details of our proposal… personally,” says the sinister Pyre.

Guess we’ll be seeing a First Order occupation of the Colossus — an exciting prospect, and one that should up the stakes considerably.

Star Wars Resistance airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel, DisneyNOW and Disney Channel VOD. Check out the official episode guide for more trivia.

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' Purple Storm' Celebrity Royal Prince, 57, Perishes At U.S. Studio Complex.

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[legoflowers]

let's pretend like you can't tell i haven't done this in months

[legoflowers]

brain melty, tear drippy: a playlist

the playlist: brain melty,tear drippy

the atmosphere: maybe it’s because you scored low on a test you spent all night cramming for, maybe because you’ve had another fight with your parents. whatever it is, it has been a long day. but you can’t sleep. you toss and you turn and you even count sheep but you just can't fall asleep.  you need release. you take out your diary but the words wont come.so you make up your mind. you pull on a jacket and slowly ease out the screen of the window nearest to your bed. climbing out noiselessly isn’t the easiest thing but you’ve had experience. once safely out, you make your way to the old park a couple of blocks away and perch on one of the less creaky swings. you start slowly but gain momentum quickly as all the negative feelings of that day leave your body with every breath of fresh winter air that you take in. pretty soon your nose in runny and you can’t tell if your eyes are watery because of the harsh wind or because of your own tears, but it doesn’t matter. you’re finally at peace.it’s 2 a.m. when you make your way home, and as you snuggle under the covers you’re grateful that it’s finally the weekend and you can sleep in.

the songs:

[x] chanel - frank ocean 

[x] somebody else - the 1975

[x] nobody cares - kina (ft. shiloh)

[x] buzzcut season - lorde

[x] better {slowed} - khalid

[x] let me sleep/starving - one11twenty

[x] get you the moon - kina (ft. snow)

[x] can we kiss forever? - kina (ft. adriana proenza)

[x] sunset lover {slowed down + reverb} - petit biscuit

[x] say goodbye -  snøw, monty datta

[x] now you’re gone {slowed} - tom walker (ft. zara larsson)

[x] not about angels {slowed} - birdy

[x] youngblood {slowed} - 5 seconds of summer

[x] dead eyes - powfu (ft. ouse)

[x] ocean eyes {mashup} - billie eilish (+mgk cover)

[x] lost in you - sea (ft. christian alexander)

[x] losin control - russ

[x] let me love you {slowed} - dj snake, justin bieber

[x] habits (stay high) {slowed} - tove lo, hippie sabotage

[x] falling {slowed + reverb} - trevor daniel

[x] savior - beowulf

[x] are you okay? - thomas reid x rxseboy (ft. powfu)

[x] in the name of love {slowed} - martin garrix (ft. bebe rexha)

[x] you broke my heart again - teqkoi (ft. aiko)

[x] lost in the moment - nf (ft. andreas moss)

[x] deathbed - powfu

[legoflowers]

Guess who’s (finally) reading Sense and Sensibility??

This was originally made to go in my art journal but they turned out soo pretty and i’m seriously contemplating framing them and hanging them up.

[legoflowers]

My Favorite OSTs

[x] Sang e Mar Mar - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

[x] Tere Bina - Asim Azhar, Sara Haider

[x] Mann Mayal - Qurat-ul-ain Baloch, Shuja Hyder

[x] Dil Mom Ka Diya - Soch the Band (ft. Sanam Marvi)

[x] Kahin Deep Jalay - Sahir Ali Bagga

[x] Khamosi - Bilal Khan (ft. Schumaila)

[x] Diyar-e-Dil - Zeb Bangash, Momin Durrani

[x] Sadqay Tumhare - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

[x] Laal Ishq - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

[x] Aangan - Farhan Saeed 

[x] Ranjha Ranjha Kardi - Rahma Ali Muqaddaran

[x] Koi Chand Rakh - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

[x] Aatish - Ali Tariq

[x] Dumpukht {Aatish-e-Ishq} - ?

[x] Dil Lagi - Rahet Fateh Ali Khan

[x] Naseebon Jali - Rizwan Anwar

[x] Qurban - Masroor Ali Khan,Goher Mumtaz

[x] Ishq Tamasha - Sanam Marvi, Sanval Esakhalvi

[x] Humsafar - Qurat-ul-ain Baloch

[x] Pukaar - Shuja Haider

[legoflowers]

I decided to make Eid cards for my cousins and they're not 100 percent finished but I'm kinda obsessed with how they look so far.

[legoflowers]

my younger brother does this thing where whenever there’s any sort of minor inconvenience, he blames it on me just to annoy me. (granted yesterday’s inconvenience was anything but minor, our fridge decided to just randomly stop working....it was a whole thing) so he’ll walk up to me and be like ‘why’d you do that’. or ‘it’s all your fault, everything is your fault’ just because he knows it annoys me to no end. yesterday though, i wasn’t fasting so i was on pakora frying duty while everyone broke their fast and my brother walks up to me and was like ‘it’s all your fault nazneen...’ *pauses, realizes it’s ramadan* ‘....that this meal is so good, thank you very much’ and he just kinda patted me on the shoulder in a ‘you did good’ kinda way and walked of???