#or jessica and jennifer i guess

[carpp]

these two were the best part of the event for me

[ericdeggans]

My List of the Best TV in 2023: An Abundance of Quality Even in Adversity

What’s the surest proof that there truly is too much television available these days?

The fact that, even though 2023 featured historic performers and writers strikes in Hollywood which crippled film and TV production for months, there was still enough great series and projects to fill an entire notebook page.

Way too many, in fact, for me to cover in my small part of NPR’s awesome annual listing of the best TV and film of the year, compiled among six different critics. It’s one reason the strikes went on so long in the first place – for fans of great TV, it didn’t really seem like much changed, as streaming services kept dropping cool stuff, thanks to their long production lead times.

Ironically, viewers may notice the strikes’ impact more next year – in part, because a lot of cool TV shows left us in 2023 (pour one out for Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Crown, Reservation Dogs, Succession, and, possibly, Ted Lasso) and also because the streamers will spend some time rebuilding lineups which got depleted.

Here, where I have a lot more room is my highly subjective and surprisingly long list of the Best TV of 2024:

TOP PICK - Succession – A show which perfectly captured how the dysfunctions of wealthy families can impact the world delivered a note-perfect finale that surprised – though I did predict Tom would win out – and yet felt completely inevitable. All while the world was second-guessing and writing their own endings. Masterful.

The Last of Us – Who knew reinventing the zombie apocalypse story was simple as coming up with a new cause – fungus, eww! – and the willingness to hand big chunks of the story over to compelling, fully drawn supporting characters. Doesn’t hurt to have ultimate zaddy Pedro Pascal and precocious acting genius Bella Ramsey on the case, either.

The Bear - Speaking of compelling supporting characters…this show’s second season sparkled by giving the other employees in Carmy’s greasy spoon-becoming-a-great-restaurant lots of narrative room. But it took flight with unexpected, brilliant cameos from Jon Bernthal, Olivia Colman, Oliver Platt, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, and the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis.

Reservation Dogs – Proof of the amazing, authentic, original stories which come from letting indigenous people tells their own stories, smashing together a crushing realism with the sense that a jarring visit from the spirit world is always around the next corner.

Fargo – Not sure I love the ultimate message on the healing power of suburban, white, upper middle class Midwestern family life (or what happens to the one major Black character). But crackling performances from Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason leigh and Dave Foley make this year’s installment the best version in many years.

Shrinking – An emotional and truly funny comedy that reminds us how hilarious Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams can be while not making us spend too much time on Jason Segel’s angsty privileged white guy shtick.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The TV series which scored the most by taking the boldest swings, leaning into Trek’s original heritage as an adventure-of-the-week which told the most ambitious stories on the small screen.

(The dancing, dubstepping, boy band-style Klingons on Strange New Worlds powered my favorite TV scene of the year.)

Star Trek: Picard – Yeah, I put TWO Trek series here, because everyone else in critic-land seems to be sleeping on the fact that they made more than one excellent season of a new Trek series filled with nods to what came before, including this show, which reunited the Next Generation cast in a storyline basically about old people saving the universe from young, clueless, mind-controlled pawns.

Barry – Wasn’t thrilled about how grim this series’ finale eventually became. But respected the fact that co-creator/star Bill Hader never shied away from the fact that the show was going to be his laboratory for all the directing and storytelling tricks he ever wanted to try, and a dark comedy about a hitman-turned-actor has to be seriously dark to mean something.

Beef – A road rage incident becomes a crackling, entertaining look at everything from Asian family culture to Elon Musk-level mogul dysfunction while also proving my girl Ali Wong can act her ass off.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Story – While other celebrities are executive producing documentaries to show how legendarily cool they are, Fox helped create an up close look at his struggle with Parkinson’s disease which show how hard it is to put on socks and take a walk on a new York street without crashing to the ground right in front of a concerned fan.

Only Murders in the Building – A comedy about over-privileged crime podcasters in an Upper West side apartment building should not stay entertaining over three seasons. But this show pulls it off, tossing in against-the-grain cameos by Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep that provide the best icing on a very fine cake.

Slow Horses – This show about a department filled with failed British intelligence agents not only subverts the spy genre, it subverts the satires which originally subverted classic spy dramas, like Get Smart. Topped by mesmerizing performances from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, I would have subtitled this one, Get Smarter.

Happy Valley - This series about an experienced, ball-busting divorced single mom of a police sergeant in a mid-size town in Britain notched an underappreciated series finale featuring the amazing Sarah Lancashire as Catharine Cawood, finally confronting the man she blamed for her daughter’s suicide and her grandson’s emotional turmoil.

BS High – A great documentary often tells a story which keeps going deeper and better, like a descent into a spellbinding madness. This film achieved that by giving center stage to master manipulator/football coach Roy Johnson, who got ESPN to air a game featuring his Bishop Sycamore High School team; the film contends their crushing loss eventually exposed that the school didn’t really exist.

I’m a Virgo – Creator and activist Boots Riley made an urban parable where Black excellence became superpowers and the world’s exploitive class came for a 13-foot-tall Black teen played by the always compelling Jharrel Jerome. Always inspiring to see how Boots turns mainstream media’s tropes and expectations against itself.

[bridgeportbritt]

Creeksbrey Palace | Umbrage, SimDonia

Gianni on phone: Once they remove that stipulation, I'll sign the contract. That's totally ridiculous... Yeah. Okay... just make it happen, man. I can't keep going back and forth with this.

Gianni: I'm literally at my brother's wedding! I- uh... figure it out and we'll talk more about it when I get back.

???: Oh, hey there. Sorry, I was just heading to the bathroom.

Gianni nervous: No, no. Don't be sorry. Quick work call. Um, hi! How ya' doin', man?

Nick: Hey, pretty good. I mean, surprisingly I'm here. Not sure how or why but 'it's an honor to be invited' as my wife says!

Gianni nervous: Oh, wife! That's awesome. Congrats! My mom loves your wife, for some reason. I mean... not for some reason! She seems great, of course! Sorry, I-

Nick chuckles: Relax, man. I get it. My wife is great. I guess I gotta get used to her being so great, we're attending royal events! Never thought I'd ever enter a palace, let alone as an invited guest.

Gianni chuckles: Hey, you guys are making big moves!

Nick: Yeah, I guess you could say that. We did make an actual big move. To Del Sol Valley. So, I'm thinking it will just go up from here.

Gianni: Oh, that's awesome. I love living in Del Sol. I already miss the sun which apparently hates SimDonia in Spring.

Nick: Yeah, it's pretty cool so far. Still getting used to it, of course.

Gianni: For sure, if you need any recommendations on places to eat or anything, hit me up. My girlfriend and I have been eating out quite a bit lately.

Nick: Ah, the lady in red, right? I actually had a chance to talk to her for a bit. Jessica?

Gianni nervous laugh: Jennifer. Should I, uh, be worried about this conversation?

Nick: Of course not. Look, I know we had an... awkward run in. But it's all in the past. I left thinking you're a good kid. Maybe, just being led down the wrong path.

Gianni: Yeah... I'm glad to hear that, though. I don't think awkward could even cut it. Supposed to be a cool moment, but I can't even rewatch it.

Nick laughs: I mean... at the time, it was insane. But, looking back? It was kind of funny. Your dad is... something else. I, uh, heard about the charges and everything.

Gianni: Yeah. That's the reason I'm out here making work calls during my brother's wedding.

Nick: I'm sorry to hear that. I just thought your dad was an ass, not a criminal. No offense.

Gianni: No, it took me a while to see it, but my dad's just not a good guy. I wish I'd seen it back then.

Nick: Hey, every son wants to look up to their dad. But at the end of the day, you gotta be your own man, especially if your old man isn't the kind of man you want to be.

Gianni: More great advice from Nick. I think I'm the honored one here!

Nick laughs: I try my best. And it seems like you are, too. Working hard, supporting your family, pretty cool girlfriend. That's awesome. If you really wanted to make me proud like you said, it's working!

Gianni laughs: That's really cool of you to say. I am trying It's all new for me, especially being a boyfriend. Jennifer's just amazing.

Nick: Well, like I told your dad back then, it's all about cherishing the woman you love. Let them know how you feel and treat them like they are the best part of your life. Because if she's the right one, she is.

Gianni: That makes sense. Thanks, Nick!

Nick: Well, let me continue my journey to the restroom. It was good talking to you, Gianni. Good luck!

Gianni: You, too, Nick! Thanks for the chat.

[crashdevlin]

Permission Granted 1- New Girl

Author’s Note: This is the first chapter of Permission Granted, the first part of To Have it All. This is Open...from Jensen's side!

Summary: Jensen meets Y/n, the new guest star on Supernatural. There's an instant connection, but a dozen reasons not to pursue it. 

Pairing: none yet, eventual Jensen x Reader

Word count: 4354

Story Warnings: none really, little bit of Y/n's shitty self esteem peeking through

~~~~

"They're replacing Ruthie quick, aren’t they?" I commented to Jared as I read over Dabb's email in the Hair and Makeup trailer. "Wonder why they didn't just bring Rowena back."

"Fresh face, probably. I dunno. You know Dabb's always looking for new female characters to kill off." Jared shrugged and took a drink of his froufrou iced latte.

"Oh, if we're lucky, maybe she'll be a lesbian so they can leave her broken in a bathtub," I said, rolling my eyes as they started blow drying Jared's hair.

"Or a fuckin’ love interest so they can kill her off in two episodes," he shouted over the sound of the dryer.

"Shoshanna got more than two."

"Barely, Ackles! She got two and then forty-five seconds of a death scene!”

I nodded and licked my lips. Yeah, they had to kill her off. Every fuckin’ time. “Well, maybe this one won’t go the same direction.”

I settled back and read over the rest of the email. Damn it. They’ve got Dean on the ‘Kill Jack despite the fact that the kid hasn’t done anything wrong’ track. Of course they do. Have they ever watched the show? Whatever.

It was a couple days later that I was sitting in the makeup chair and a short woman walked up the steps and stopped in her tracks. She's not the first guest to freeze when they see me the first time but she was definitely the cutest doing it. I didn’t call attention to her 'deer in the headlights' thing as she stood in the doorway, clearly debating leaving until she looked at her phone screen and determined that she had to stay.

She had to get herself comfortable with me somehow. As fun as it can be to tease the new girl, professionalism is the best way forward for most of these situations. I determined to tease her when she got a little more comfortable.

She sat down in the stylist’s chair and looked down at her phone, obviously trying to distract herself with something more than Jennifer doing her hair. It was pretty adorable. She was pretty adorable. But...I had to start the task of getting her okay.

“You must be our new witch,” I said. She made a little squeaky noise and I could see her eyes glaze over a little in the mirror. “I’m Jensen.” Normally, I would have offered my hand but we weren’t in the position for that.

“I know that,” she whispered, making me chuckle as she cleared her throat and turned a little to look at me as much as she could. “I’m Y/n. Big fan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. Uh, I used to watch Days with my mom, but I think I became a real fan with Smart Alec on Dark Angel,” she said and I smiled. Eric Brady and Alec McDowell. Two amazing characters. I really liked Alec. Jessica could’ve been less of a prima donna but I guess she could’ve been worse, too.

“That feels like a million years ago. That show was badass, though,” I mused. “Fox shoulda kept it longer.”

“Agreed,” she said, smiling all shy. She looked so fucking nervous, so I had to move the conversation along.

“So...fan of mine...have you seen much of this show or are we gonna have to give you context for scenes?” I teased. She seemed to relax a little, slumping in her chair.

“Might’ve been a fan of you longer, but I love the show. Seen almost every episode.”

Better than me. I haven’t seen half of ‘em. “Almost every episode? What kinda fan are you?”

“Do not question my nerd cred, sir,” she sassed me. “I’m a fan, big time. I even went to a Creation Con late last year, just to see you guys up close.”

I laughed a little at that. The cons are great, but I really don’t think we’re worth all that money just to see us in person. “Yeah? Gold?” I had to figure out how devoted a fan she actually was. It would determine my interaction moving forward.

“Silver. I was working retail at the time,” she responded, shaking her head a little. “Couldn’t reconcile dropping a thousand dollars on a vacation.”

I was happy to hear that she kept her crazy to reasonable levels. “Oh, so we met in the autograph line.”

“Yep,” she said, popping that ‘p’ like vocal directors hate so much and looking away from me in the mirror.

There was obviously a story there, so I pressed her. “What’d I sign for you?”

“A hat. A white hat...with a devil’s trap in the middle and SW and DW on opposite sides.”

Crazy as it is, I remembered the hat, but the conventions all blur together so I couldn’t tell where I met her. “Which con was this?” I asked.

“Atlanta,” she answered quickly.

A one-off con. That helped, because I only had one night of memories to sift through. White hat, shaking young woman who could barely speak to me and definitely couldn’t look me in the eyes. I remember my handler getting up after she walked away, came back a minute later to say that Y/n had almost passed out as soon as she got outside the curtain. “Oh, yeah, I remember. I tried to sign Jared’s side but you wouldn’t let me.”

Y/n turned to look at me, obviously shocked with those pretty eyes all wide. “You were doing it on purpose? I thought you were just tired and not paying attention.”

“Nah, I was exhausted in Atlanta, but you looked mortified. I was trying to make you laugh.” Obviously failed on that. I chuckled again as Jennifer started curling her hair. “You seem a lot more put together now.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes just a bit. “I’m mortified now too, but I saw you and Jared were gonna be on Lot today so I took an Ativan before I got in the car this morning.” Always nice when people are honest and open about their anxiety problems.

“Well, that’s good. Take a double dose tomorrow,” I teased as Trisha pulled the makeup drop cloth and I stood, looking down at her as panic crossed her face.

“What? Why?” she squeaked.

I could tell she hadn’t been given the pages for our scene the next day. I couldn’t resist a little torture. I just laughed as I left the trailer. “You’ll see when you get tomorrow’s pages.” I met Jared on the Bunker set and he patted my shoulder as we walked up into the library. “First meeting with the new girl went well. She seems a little out of her element but nice overall.”

“Oh, uh, Y/n?”

“Yeah, she is a fan, actually. We met her at the Atlanta convention. She had that Devil’s Trap hat.” Jared shook his head. He didn’t remember her. “She’s the one that tripped or whatever right after I signed her hat.”

“Oh, the one that fuckin’ fainted?”

“Yeah, I think so. She’s still uncomfortable so we’ll have to warm her up.”

“‘Warm her up’, huh?” Jared raised his eyebrows suggestively and I laughed.

“Not like that, you dummy.”

Of course, Y/n was cute, but messing around with the guest stars was a bit of a no-no, and messing with fans was a big no-no. Especially considering that there’s almost nothing to keep a fan from talking...and the open marriage thing needed to stay quiet.

But I was curious about her. Can’t lie about that. So, I asked around. I went to a few other crew members before I went to Andrew Dabb.

“You remember that casting call we did toward the end of eleven? We got a few of the British Men of Letters off of it?” He leaned back in his chair and looked up at me. “We opened it up for a few folks without representation for a couple weeks. CW didn’t advertise it but we did a post on a few acting sites and there was a bit of circulation once the fandom got a hold of it. She sent a video in. She wasn’t right for the Brits, not posh enough, but her accents were good and she was a pretty great actress, so...”

“So, she isn’t an actor?”

“She’s been doing pretty well for the fact that she hasn’t acted in anything before.”

I blinked at him a few times. “Wow. So, she’s completely green?”

“Technically, yeah. But the second unit directors say she’s doing good.”

“Cool. Thanks.” I started to leave but stopped at the door. “So, what’s the track on her character? She stickin’ around?”

“She’s on for five episodes.”

“Is she going to bite it after those episodes?” I pushed.

“We’re not exactly-”

“Is she a love interest? Is she gonna disappear without a trace? Will she at least get an actual storyline?”

Andrew rolled his eyes at me and shifted in his chair. “I don’t know if she’s going to be a love interest. The writers’ room is in disagreement about that. She’d be a good match for Dean, but we’re not sure how the viewers would react. They never really like it when Dean and Sam have women in their lives.”

“So, you don’t even know. Okay.” I was not impressed with that answer so I left him in his office.

I went looking for her at lunchtime, a little after 1. She was sitting at a table in the Craft Services tent, in the corner by herself, looking down at a paper coffee cup. She was really good at making herself small and seemingly insignificant...but it had the opposite effect on me. It made me want to talk to her more. I grabbed a coffee for myself and a caramel macchiato for Jared from the coffee cart.

“So, I asked Dabb where we got you from and he said it was an open cast. You sent a video in but you’ve never done anything else. You don’t even have an agent.” I walked up and sat in front of her on the other side of the table. She looked up and her eyes went all wide. “So you just decided to become an actor in your twenties?” I guessed her age.

She bit her bottom lip for a minute before leaning forward. “No. I decided to become an actor in high school,” she disputed. She looked a bit disappointed as she continued. “I then graduated from high school and decided that it was a stupid dream and I’d never make any headway so I gave up on it and got a real job.”

She did say that she was working retail. “Retail. So where are you from, Y/n?” I took a drink of my coffee as she leaned back.

“Northwest Florida. Little town about fifteen miles from the state line.”

I smiled, remembering a Spring Break with Christian back in the 90s. “North Florida. I spent a couple Spring Breaks at PCB when I was...younger and unmarried.”

She gave a little laugh. “Panama City is about an hour and a half away from home.”

I took another drink, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going. “So you acted in high school, huh?” I asked as I saw Jared walk into the tent behind her.

“Yeah. School plays, Thespians, Forensics competitions, that kinda thing.” I heard about that competition shit from Jared. ‘Competition’ is the key word on that. Apparently, it’s harder than screen acting.

“You did Forensics?” Jared asked, his whole face lighting up. “I won Nationals with my friend Chris in high school.” He came over and folded himself backward into a chair. I handed him his coffee and he nodded at me.

“I did monos. Got second in State, but didn’t make Nationals.” She sounded a little disappointed, but shit, second in State is pretty damn good.

“I did monos, duos, and extemp, but I only placed in Duo. Jared,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

She looked a bit more comfortable with Jared and that made me feel a little bit jealous. I’m nice. I didn’t understand why she was awkward with me. “Y/n. It’s amazing to meet you.”

“Oh, he gets an ‘amazing to meet you’? I didn’t even get a handshake.” I covered the jealousy with a teasing comment.

Jared teased back before she could. “Well maybe I’m just more approachable, dude.”

“You? Giant muscley gym-bro?” I hit back.

“Honestly, I’m five-three so you’re both giants to me,” she joked with a laugh.

“So, Y/n, how long did they sign you for?” Jared asked.

“Five episodes to start. They said they’ll give me more or not depending on fan response. They’ll probably hate me, though, so I’ll be gone by midseason Hellatus.” ‘Hellatus’ made me smile.

“Why would they hate you?” Jared asked. “It’s not like your character is a love interest.” He looked between Y/n and me for a minute. “Wait, Tara’s not a love interest, is she?”

“Andrew said the writers are at an impasse on that one. No, the fans will hate her for one simple reason: jealousy.” I shrugged. “She’s a fan. Some of ‘em probably know her from, like cons and shit. They’re gonna be jealous that she’s here and they aren’t.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve kinda tried to keep a lid on this from the fan groups. Haven’t told anybody except the family and my best friends about it. Unfortunately, had to stop posting in my Facebook groups when I got the job.” I cringed a bit at the mention of the Facebook groups. Fan groups are a subject best ignored as much as possible.

Jared laughed. “Man, you seem like a reasonable woman so don’t be offended when I say...some of our fans are crazy. You’re better off staying away from the fan sites.”

She smiled. “No, I know how crazy some of us can be. I’ve had some fights online with the tin-hat folks.”

I know I grimaced when she mentioned those folks. Jared did, too. “What is wrong with those people?” Jared shook his head.

She started laughing and it was such a cute, uninhibited sound. “They just...really want you to be gay for each other.”

“Yeah.” She was definitely comfortable and I wanted to take full advantage of it. “So, uh, you get tomorrow’s pages yet?” I asked, smirking. She looked down for a moment before hiding by drinking her coffee. “Yeah, she did. You gonna be okay? You’re not gonna freak out, are you?”

“I will…” She swallowed so loud I could hear it across the table. “...try my best...to not freak out.”

“You look like you’re already freaking out,” Jared said, smiling.

She took a deep breath and let it out as a scoff. “Totally. I am totally freaking out about tomorrow’s scene.”

Jared and I both laughed before I leaned forward a bit. “How about we run lines later?” That wasn’t a new thing for me. I often offer to run lines, especially with the guest stars. But the next words that came out of my mouth were new. “We could grab some dinner, meet up at my trailer, and get the nerves out of the way.”

I was just about to apologize for overstepping any bounds by inviting her to my trailer when she whispered, “That sounds...amazing.” It was this breathy, sexy voice coming out of this sweet woman and I just didn’t feel like I’d overstepped after that, even when she stuttered out, “I mean, it sounds amazing to get the nerves out of the-”

“6 o’clock. Don’t be late,” I said as Jared and I stood to get back to the Bunker.

“What am I gonna do? Go back to my motel to watch one of the ten channels that actually come through clearly?”

“They’ve got you in that Budget Inn, don’t they?” Jared guessed. We have heard a lot of horror stories about that motel.

“Yeah. It’s not so bad. Gotta sleep in the tub to avoid the bed bugs, but it’s cool. Livin’ the dream,” she joked and I laughed as we walked away.

"So...your trailer, Ackles?" Jared asked as we walked away, his eyebrow cocked.

"I'm just tryin' to be friendly, man."

"I know what your 'friendly' looks like and that was not just friendly."

"I just met her!" I argued. "And she's a guest...and a fan! I'm just trying to accommodate her nervousness so we don’t have to do a million takes tomorrow."

"Okay, well...I won't tell Dee, but you should-" I reached out and pushed his shoulder roughly and he laughed as he teetered a bit. "She seems nice, though. Don't scare her away."

I wasn’t planning to scare Y/n away. I wasn’t planning anything except hospitality. I really wasn’t. But she was cute and interesting and she was obviously incredibly attracted to me, so I couldn’t do anything anyway because that might get awkward quick.

No, I was just gonna make a new friend out of the new girl. I’ve done it a bunch of times before. I mean...look at Misha.

She showed up about half an hour early and watched us flub a few takes of this argument between Sam and Dean about Jack and it was fun to watch her expression get more awed with every take. Phil cut us for dinner after a while I jumped down from the soundstage, smiling at the look on her face. “Well, hello, Newbie,” I greeted. “I’m thinkin’ pizza. You good with pizza?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Pizza’s fine.”

I walked away from her, trying to keep everything casual as we went off to my trailer. She ran after me and I slowed down a bit. I was used to Jared and Misha following me around the lot, so I had to consciously slow myself to make it easier for Y/n’s short legs.

“Any dietary restrictions? Lactose, gluten, vegan?” I asked, just to make sure that I wasn’t going to poison her by ordering a pie with pepperoni or something.

“It’s not a pizza without cheese and meats and…” Y/n shook her head and laughed. “I’m a Southern girl. We don’t deal with crazy…gluten-free, meat-free, paleo-vegan...blah, blah, blah,” she finished, gesturing with her hands in the air. It was adorable.

“I thought you were from Florida,” I argued teasingly. “Not really ‘Southern’.”

“And I thought you’d been to North Florida. You should know that Northwest Florida is pretty much UCLA: Upper Corner, Lower Alabama,” she responded and I laughed. Never heard that one before. “That’s not my joke.”

“It was pretty funny anyway. So, you like pepperoni?”

“Look at me. Do I look like I’ve ever turned down free food? Well, except lasagna, but got a...thing with lasagna.”

That threw me so hard I had to stop and turn to her. “What does that mean, you’ve got a thing with lasagna?” I asked.

“There was a bad thing with some really horrible microwave lasagna when I was about seven. Couldn’t eat it for years, now I can only eat it if I make it.”

There was a story there, but I wasn’t ready to push for it. “Wow. Okay. Do not order lasagna. Check.” I opened up the trailer and let her in, grabbing my phone off of the counter as soon as I got inside. I pulled up the speed dial for the closest good pizza place and went into the bathroom to change. It was a mix of teasing her and preparing her that I drove me to change my clothes. Well, change my pants into shorts and take the wardrobe shirts off. I wrapped a towel around my waist and checked in the mirror to make sure the shorts weren’t visible before setting the phone on the sink counter and grabbing the door handle. “Okay, pizza will be here in ‘bout forty, which gives us plenty of time to run lines,” I said, to get her attention before I’d opened the door, so she could get the full effect of my outfit.

Which got me exactly the dumbfounded look from her that I was expecting. She stared. And when I say ‘stared’, I mean it. Her jaw dropped, her eyes went focused and unfocused and roamed over me like crazy. Usually, I start feeling shy when women stare at me like that, but not with her. With Y/n, it felt less like objectification and more like appreciation.

“See, this is why we need to practice,” I said to snap her out of it. I smirked as she cleared her throat and looked off toward the fireplace before closing her eyes.

“Sorry.”

“No, you have to look at me, kid. It’s part of the scene.”

She sighed and looked over at me. “I’m not a kid. I have a kid. I’m a woman.”

“Then act like one,” I challenged.

She licked her lips, cleared her throat again and sat forward. “Please, do keep both hands on the towel, Winchester. One never knows where you hunters have hidden weapons.”

I went into Dean mode like the second nature that it is. “Tara. What do you want?”

“World peace, a condo in Malibu, and a little respect would be nice,” she said, confidence that was definitely not her natural mode leaking out of her. “I mean, I did save your asses in Chicago.”

“Yeah, that’s not how I remember it.”

She laughed out loud and stood. “Of course not. You can’t possibly admit that a witch helped you. I mean, a witch other than Rowena Macleod.”

“Yeah, your mentor, right? Explain again why I’m supposed to trust that you’re a white witch?”

“She wasn’t my mentor. She wasn’t allowed to be. Olivette wouldn’t let me. Shit! ‘Olivette wouldn’t let her’.” Her face fell as she pulled out her pages, obviously upset that she’d blown a single word in her line. “‘Olivette wouldn’t let her. We had to train in secret, but that doesn’t mean I carry her ideals’,” she read frantically.

I smiled as soothingly as possible. “Calm down. It’s a lot better to fuck up here with me than out there on camera. Don’t wanna end up on the gag reel, do you?” She shook her head. “All right. From the top.”

We made it through the scene completely on the second try and she said her lines like she was completely immersed in Tara’s character. It shocked me a bit, actually. No wonder Casting picked her out of a pile of video submissions. She hit those facial expressions and the overwhelming sense of ‘trying to do right without the right tools’ better than I could have imagined. There was so much pain in her eyes when she said, “Don’t trust me. Don’t like me. I don’t care” and it wasn’t even in the script to be anything but pissy.

She asked how well she’d done and I smiled as I pulled the towel off and tossed it across the room to land on the counter. She looked relieved to see my golf shorts. “You did great. You think you’ll be able to stay focused in front of the cameras?”

“Well, if I can manage to not drool all over myself staring at you when it’s just the two of us, I think I can keep my shit together in front of Phil and everyone else.”

I smiled as she carried some of her Tara energy over into her real life. “Ah, so you’re one of those fans,” I teased.

She scoffed loudly. “Oh, come on. You know how sexy you are.” She scrunched her face up in a grimace and looked away. “That was not what I intended to say.”

“Can’t take it back now,” I said, chuckling.

“Oh, how I wish I could,” she said, shaking her head. “Okay, so have they told you anything about the Chicago episode ‘cause I have no clue what’s going on with that. They haven’t given me anything on that.”

They do that sometimes, where they’ll forget to tell folks what’s going on in the episodes before. It’s part of shooting out of order, but it usually doesn’t affect the guests too much...and they almost always told me and Jared in advance. “Right, I’ve got a first draft script round here somewhere.” I went looking around the counter near the kitchenette to find the script and handed it to her. I’d already read it but I looked over her shoulder as she went through it herself.

“Oh, she...is very flirty, isn’t she?” she said when she got to the part where Tara said ‘If we were doing what I wanted, we’d be in bed not a warehouse’. She seemed a bit uncomfortable about it so I smiled and knocked my knee into hers.

“You can handle that, right?”

“Of course I can,” she defended.

“Good,” I said, getting up to retrieve the pizza from the PA knocking at my door. As we ate slices of floppy pepperoni pizza, she pointed out a line where Dean tells Sam ‘Tara was kinda hot in a Khloe Kardashian circa 2007 kinda way’. “Which means…?”

“That’s when she was the ‘fat’ Kardashian,” Y/n explained, looking down at herself a bit self-consciously. “She was still hot, I guess…’cause she knows how to make herself look good with the clothes and makeup and all the stuff money makes easy, but she was not considered the prettiest one.”

It seemed like a subject that made her sad, and I guess I could see that Y/n was what Hollywood considered ‘fat’, but I thought she was hot...and I didn’t like her feeling bad about herself. “Oh, so a chick likes to eat, so she’s not hot? Never understand that.”

“Me either,” she said, smiling as she took a big bite of her pizza.

I made her feel a bit better and that was exactly what I needed at that moment.

The Kitchen Sink Tags- @flamencodiva @sacriceria @lyarr24 @440mxs-wife @nancymcl @mariekoukie6661 @alwayskeepfightingsweetheart @cosicas-cuquis @queenoftheunderdark @myheartbelongsintz @squirrelnotsam @akshi8278 @muhahaha303 @agirlwithdemonblood @this-is-me19 @mrswhozeewhatsis

[lolahauri]

✎ Introduction ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

5/9/24 Update: This is a strictly smut/nsfw fic blog only, my fluff and angst stuff are being deleted and reposted to @lolahaurisfw - I've also expanded my character list a LOT, so check that out before you request!

I do take requests. I don't have an anon list but I can start one if anyone wants to be labeled and become a regular anon.

DNI: Map, Zoo, Pro-Para, Pro-Ana, TERF, Zionist, Bigots, Minors, Discourse Blogs. Block me if you don't agree. ❤️🖤🤍💚

Things I Won't Write:

Sex crimes of any kind, super extreme kinks, violence/abuse used as a kink, anything most would consider "gross/weird" (ex: puke, shit, ddlg, pet play, age play). no exceptions, and no hate to dead dove writers, i'm just personally not willing to write these.

Things I Will Write:

Pretty much everything else i guess? Daddy/Mommy kink, Cheating, CNC/Dubcon, Sex Pollen, Legal Age Gap, Yandere, Power Dynamic (Prof/Student, Boss/Employee), Foot Fetish, Piss Kink, Breeding, Any regular/non-extreme kink (ex: Cock Warming, Dry Humping, Voyeur, Orgy, 3somes, Sex Toys, etc...) *if you aren't sure, just ask!*

Hc's, one shots, short multi-chapter fics, imagines/drabbles.

Canon-friendly, Au's, Canon Divergence, Out of Character.

Ch x Ch / Ch x Reader / Ch x OC / Poly Ships of any kind.

F/F, M/M, F/M, GN/F, GN/M, Poly Ships of any kind.

Fictional Other (F/O) Imagines: +18, no names.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the list of fandoms and characters i'm familiar with and will happily take requests on! (you can request others from these fandoms, but it will prob take me longer)

FNAF Movie: Vanessa, Mike, William/Steve. Turning Red: Ming Lee, Jin Lee. YOU: Joe, Love, Beck, Peach. Encanto: Isabela, Bruno, Dolores, Julieta. Regular Show: Mordecai, Margret, Eileen, CJ, Benson. (Human Ver) Attack on Titan: Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, Levi, Hanji, Annie, Historia, Reiner, Erwin. BNA: Michiru, Shirou. Stardew Valley: All Adult Humans. (Including SDVE & RSV) Total Drama: All season 1 contestants, Chris, Chef, Blainley. SheRa: All Adults (Except Rogelio) King Of The Hill: Hank, Peggy, Luanne, Nancy, Dale, John Redcorn, Kahn, Min. Shameless: Lip, Fiona, Kev, V, Tony. Riverdale: FP Jones, Jughead, Veronica, Hiram, Betty. Creepypasta: Ben, Jeff, Jane, Eyeless Jack, Laughing Jack, Slenderman, Masky, Hoodie, Toby, X Virus, Nina, Clockwork, Splendorman, Kate. Gravity Falls: Stan, Ford, Soos, Giffany Steven Universe: Jasper, Amethyst, Blue Diamond, Peridot, Lapis, Garnet, Rose, Bismuth, Greg. Adventure Time/Fiona and Cake: Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, Marshall Lee, Winter King, Candy Queen, Simon, Ice King, Fiona. COD: Konig, Ghost, Mace, Keegan, Krueger, Valeria. Desperate Housewives: Bree, Gabby, Edie, Mike, Lynette. DC: Batman, Harley, Joker, Ivy, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenburg). Slashers & DBD: Brahms, Ghostface (general), Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, Pyramid Head, The Spirit, Wraith, Huntress, Trapper, The Trickster, Pearl, Carrie White, Jennifer Check, Stu Matcher, Billy Loomis, Tiffany Valentine, Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Sawyer, Bo Sinclair, Vincent Sinclair, Eric Draven. Nintendo: Link, Zelda, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Luigi, Waluigi, Bowser. Squid Games: Gi-Hun, Sae-Byeok, Ali, Sang Woo. Rick and Morty: Rick, Beth, Jerry. Stranger Things: Robin, Billy, Eddie, Chrissy, Hopper. Bee & Puppycat: Bee, Deckard, Cass, Toast. Princess & The Frog: Shadow Man, Tiana, Lottie, Naveen. Ratatouille: Collette, Linguini. The Nanny: CC, Fran, Maxwell. Full House: Danny, Jesse, Joey. BigBang Theory: Raj, Leonard, Amy, Penny. Spiderverse: Miguel, Jessica Drew. Black Dynamite: Honeybee, Black Dynamite. Breaking Bad: Skylar, Jesse, Walter. National Treasure: Benjamin Gates, Riley Poole. Superstore: Jonah, Amy, Dina. Spongebob: Man Ray, Dennis. Tangeled: Flynn, Rapunzel, Mother Gothell. Lisa Frankenstein: Lisa, Creature, Taffy. Jane the Virgin: Jane, Micheal, Rogelio, Petra, Xiomara, Rose, Luisa. Young Sheldon: Mary, Connie. Twilight: Edward, Carlisle, Alice, Charlie. Bistro Huddy: All Staff Members, Poppy. WWE: Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns. American Animals: Evan Peters (Warren), Barry Keoghan (Spencer). The Batman (2022): Batman, Riddler. Little Mermaid (2023): Ariel, Eric. Bob's Burgers: Linda, Bob. Avatar: Jake, Neytiri. Frozen: Elsa, Anna, Kristoff. My Hero Academia: Dabi, Hawks, Aizawa. Futurama: Leela, Amy, Fry, Bender. Earth Girls Are Easy: Mac, Wiploc, Zeebo, Valerie. Supernatural: Dean, Sam, Castiel. Sherlock (2010): Sherlock Holmes, John Watson. Silverado: Slick, Rae, Mal, Paden.

Nani Palekai (Lilo & Stitch) Paul Cable (Last Stand at Saber River) Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim vs The World) Peter Mitchell (3 Men & A Baby) Randy Marsh (South Park) Charles Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie) Master Chief (Halo) Ian Hawke (Alvin & The Chipmunks) Poe Dameron (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) Linda Gunderson (Rio) Bruce (Beyond Therapy) Jack Harrison (Transylvania 6-5000) Peggy Bundy (Married… With Children) Kitten (Breakfast on Pluto) - M Reader Only Scarecrow (Batman Begins) John Wick (John Wick 4) David Levinson (Independence Day) Jackson Rippner (Red Eye) Stevo (SLC Punk!) Mike (5lbs of Pressure) Santa/Babbo Natale (Violent Night) Dan Conner (Roseanne) Tate Langdon (AHS: Murder House) Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd (Top Gun: Maverick 2022) Francine (American Dad) Beverly Goldberg (The Goldbergs) Fujimoto (Ponyo) Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I 1980) Doug Remer (Baseketball) Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park 1993) Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) Moe Doodle (Doodle Bops) Astarion (Baulders Gate 3) Trevor Phillips (GTA5) Shaun Murphy (The Good Doctor) Georgia Miller (Ginny & Georgia) John Doe (John Doe Game) Paul Blart (Paul Blart Mall Cop) Fezzik (Princess Bride)

[panelshowsource]

new additions to the masterpost :)

hey all ~

along with the few panelist collections i soft-launched yesterday (🥹 thanks for enjoying them), there is some new content on the masterpost + secondary masterpost!

—

panel shows

bring the noise — complete series sky 1 series hosted by ricky wilson with nicole scherzinger, tinie tempah, joel dommett, katherine ryan

the guessing game — complete series bbc radio scotland radio panel show where guests are asked a series of bizarre questions; hosted by clive anderson and guests include alex horne, susan calman, hal cruttenden, matthew crosby, cariad lloyd, etc.

it's your round — complete series radio panel show where each guests invents the round to be won. hosted by angus deayton and guests include miles jupp, sara pascoe, rebecca front, josie long, bridget christie, tim key, etc.

richard hammond's brain reaction — complete series science-based panel show hosted by richard hammond alongside victoria coren mitchell, johnny vegas and ria lina

misc. tv

archiveologists — complete series two episodes of mash aka diane morgan & joe wilkinson re-voice archive footage to give us a twisted comedy spin on british social history and institutions in short 'information' films

beauty & the beast: a pantomime for comic relief (2021) pandemic era virtual panto starring lily james, oliver chris, sian gibson, kiell smith-bynoe, miranda hart, michael sheen, lee mack, etc.

imagine... jo brand: no holds barred (2019) documentary about the legend herself, featuring interviews with peter capaldi, alan davies, victoria coren mitchell, etc.

show & tell — complete series e4 series celebrating comic storytelling. each episode sees three comedians bring something to 'show' to viewers. hosted by chris addison and guests include roisin conaty, elis james, joe wilkinson, joe lycett, diane morgan, james acaster, etc.

staged — complete series david tennant and michael sheen didn't win a bafta for this but they should have

the complete stand up to cancer celebrity episodes of the great british bake off (i will work on the sport relief episodes!)

twenty twelve — complete series bbc mockumentary series accompanying the 2012 olympics, starring hugh bonneville and jessica hynes

who do you think you are? — david tennant

misc. radio

alex horne presents the horne section — complete series 2011–2014 bbc radio 4 series

party's over — complete series bbc radio 4 sitcom starring miles jupp as a prime minister coping with life after leaving office

women talking about cars — complete series victoria coren mitchell hosts an exploration of what cars symbolise to women today, including freedom, power, refuge, novelty and familiarity; guests include olivia colman, claudia winkleman, jennifer saunders, etc.

—

ps. icymi these are the masterpost additions from last week which are well worth checking out!

WATCH LINKS MASTERPOST / FAQ / TAGS / ASK

[twopoppies]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12100747/amp/Harry-Styles-growing-close-Candice-Swanepoel.html

Hi Gina what's ur opinion about this? Do you think its bs or she could be the new stunt? X

I think the Daily Mail is scoping out dumb posts on Twitter and DeuxMoi to create fake stories. The woman used one of his songs in a video and suddenly they’re dating.

I guess we’d better inform EmRata, Kiko, Yan Yan, Australian dancer girl, Kendall, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Alba, and Brad that their boyfriend is cheating. 🙄

[abysscronica]

She-Hulk gotta be the worst Marvel series yet.

I just watched the last two episodes (after I seriously considered dropping the series altogether, and I endured all the Marvel series so far, Disney+ and Netflix). Now I'm like... what was that? Seriously, what do the writers think they were doing here? Something original? Something funny? A comedy series with a tad of legal drama and a sprinkle of extremely serious issues that are just dropped there, with no depth or weight whatsoever?

This show was such a mess that I don't even know where to start. I'm sure there are tons of people who tackled its problems much better than I ever could. Starting with the obtuse, cringe, appalling attempt at what they call feminism (??) scattered here and there, to the use of revenge porn; let me say it again so it sinks, they dared to throw in revenge porn and then just, you know, forgot about it. Am I stupid to think that a shallow, dull comedy show should never touch serious issues when it's obviously unable to handle them?

Even without this problematic aspects, there's not much salvageable in this series. The whole fourth wall thing was executed so bad it turned out embarrassing to watch. I guess Jennifer was supposed to come off as relatable for single women in their thirties? Instead they just made her a no-pride-desperate-for-a-relationship character? Way to spit on your pathetic attempt at feminism there. The rest of the characters are just flat caricatures that nobody cares about. They have no purpose and add nothing to the plot (what plot anyway?). Nikki, Titania, Pug, Amelia, you could literally write off any of them and nobody would notice. I will forget them in a day (had to google the cast to list them). And the writers were aware of this! They had to use the fourth wall breaking at least twice to remind the viewers who a character was! Like, hello? You're doing something wrong here? And this is a pity because it's not the actors' fault. Tatiana Maslany seems like a decent actress, but she was given such a bad script that it was impossible to shine through in any way. Want a proof? Charlie Cox, aka Daredevil. As I started watching the seventh episode I thought "okay, at least this series has the merit of bringing Matt Murdock back". Boy, did I regret it when I saw what terrible lines they shoved onto him. This coming to a fan of the character, the actor and the original series. I was super excited when I saw his cameo in the latest Spiderman installment. I'm still happy that he appeared in She-Hulk because I take it as a sign that the MCU is not abandoning nor recasting Daredevil (whereas we see no life signs for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist or The Punisher at the moment), but I'm a little disgusted with the way they violated the character in this series. I get it, Daredevil/Matt Murdock, with his grit, darkness and complex introspection is not exactly Disney material and it doesn't go well with the happy-go-lucky MCU vibe. But damn, I thought we were moving forward! I'm sure you can still keep the character without tearing apart all the great work that was done in the Netflix series. Or maybe not? Whatever, I'll think about it, now I'm too grossed out.

(Before anyone comes at me saying how shitty the various Netflix series were: I only save Daredevil and the first season of Jessica Jones. BUT you have to admit that the casting for Luke Cage and The Punisher was great as well, those actors deserve a place in the MCU in my opinion.)

[skiplo-wave]

It is my lucky day! I went to a community sale at a rich neighborhood. I went to see what the had despite knowing damn well I wouldn't be able to afford nothing. Skip, I got a huge box of designer and celebrity perfumes for $50 bucks. Most of it doesn't even look like it's been touched. It belonged to someone's grandmother who passed away.

Paris Hilton: Gold Rush

Rihanna: Nude

Christina Aguilera: Woman

Dolce & Gabbana: Light Blue

Britney Spears: Intimate Fantasy

Ariana Grande: Sweet Like Candy

Chanel: Chance

Ariana Grande: Thank U, Next

Shakira: Elixir

Juicy Couture: Couture Couture

Mariah Carey: Dreams

Ariana Grande: Moonlight

Dior: J'adore

Chloe: Nomade

Mugler: Angel

Zara: Rose Marshmallow Candy

JLO: Miami Glow

Ariana Grande: Cloud

Chloe: Love Story

Paris Hilton: Electrify

Rihanna: Rogue

YSL: Libre

Paris Hilton: Heiress

Chanel: Coco Mademoiselle

Jessica Simpson: I Fancy You

Jennifer Lopez: Still

Valentino: Voce Viva

Paris Hilton: Rose Rrush

Lancome: Idole

Victoria's Secret: Dream Angel

Chloe

Marc Jacobs: Daisy

Victoria's Secret: Tease

Mugler: Angel Nova

Jimmy Choo: Illicit

Britney Spears: Circus Fantasy

Sofia Vergara: Sofia

Victoria's Secret: Heavenly

Rihanna: RiRi Kiss

Lancome: La Vie Est Belle

YSL: Manifesto

Jessica Simpson: Fancy Love

Guerlain: Mon Guerlain

Paris Hilton: Just Me

Jovan: White Musk

Jimmy Choo: Blossom

Ariana Grande: Ari

Kim Kardashian: Pure Honey

Dior: Miss Dior

Guess: Dare for Her

TOCCA: Cleopatra

Giorgio Armani: Si

Chanel: No 5

Paris Hilton: Fairy Dust

Paris Hilton: Can-Can Burlesque

Paris Hilton: Can-Can

Rihanna: Reb'l Fleur, Love Always

Davidoff: Cool Water for Her

TOCCA: Florence

Beyonce: Midnight Heat

Beyonce: Heat Wild Orchid

Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday

Vikto&Rolf: Good Fortune

Victoria's Secret: Bombshell

Dior: Joy

Mugler: Womanity

Britney Spears: Believe

Dior: Pure Poison

Versace: Bright Crystal

Ariana Grande: God Is A Woman

Paris Hilton: Dazzle

Jessica Simpson: Fancy

Mariah Carey: M

Mariah Carey: That Chick

Lancome: Tresor Midnight Rose

Viktor&Rolf: Bonbon

Lolita Lempicka

Briney Spears: Prerogative

Nina Ricci: Nina

Katy Perry: Mad Potion

Mugler: Aura

Katy Perry: Killer Queen

Britney Spears: Fantasy

TOCCA: Maya

Taylor Swift: Wonderstruck

Dolce & Gobbana: The Only One

Paris Hilton: Tease

Stella McCartney: Stella

Britney Spears: Midnight Fantasy

Mariah Carey: Mine Again

Katy Perry: Purr

Victoria's Secret: Bombshell Intense

Sofia Vergara: Love

Guerlain: Insolence

Cacharel: Amor Amor

Victoria's Secret: Very Sexy

Mugler: Alien

Stella McCartney: Stella Rose Absolute

Victoria's Secret: Very Sexy Sea

Good lord

You could create a perfume nuke with those bottles

[lookwhathappenedtomack]

Ladies, gentlemen, and interesting people, welcome to...

The Mackolades are my personal annual film awards, awarded to my favorite (for the most part) movies, performances, and people from all the movies I watched for the first time in 2022, regardless of release year. This is more or less a companion series to Brendan’s Pink Bettes, as most of our movie watching is together. You can see the first and second Mackolades here on my tumblr, now let’s get started on the third!

FAVORITE DRAMA

WINNER: tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) dir. Lin-Manuel Miranda

FINALISTS:

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) dir. James Cameron

Dramarama (2020) dir. Jonathan Wysocki

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) dir. Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan

TÁR (2022) dir. Todd Field

NOMINEES:

The Batman (2022) dir. Matt Reeves

The Godfather (1972) dir. Francis Ford Coppola

Klaus (2019) dir. Sergio Pablos

Pride & Prejudice (2005) dir. Joe Wright

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) dir. Anthony Minghella

Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) dir. George Miller

GREAT year for the Favorite Drama category! I knew from the first few minutes of tick, tick...BOOM! that it was winning, but two of the finalists (Dramarama and Everything Everywhere All At Once) gave it a real run for its money. And then TÁR was just impeccable in every way (CATE!!!!!!). Special shoutout to The Godfather for actually living up to the hype and The Batman for being a genuinely good superhero movie. Highly recommend Dramarama in particular to any of my theatre friends that see this.

FAVORITE HORROR

WINNER: The Menu (2022) dir. Mark Mylod

FINALISTS:

All About Evil (2010) dir. Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches Christ)

Nope (2022) dir. Jordan Peele

Pearl (2022) dir. Ti West

Scream (2022) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

NOMINEES:

Arachnophobia (1990) dir. Frank Marshall

Barbarian (2022) dir. Zach Cregger

Fresh (2022) dir. Mimi Cave

Hellraiser (2022) dir. David Bruckner

What Keeps You Alive (2018) dir. Colin Minihan

X (2022) dir. Ti West

GREAT year for horror, too! The Menu is such a fun ride, almost more of a dark comedy than horror. I had a lot more actual scares this year than in 2021, particularly in Nope, Scream, Arachnophobia, and Barbarian.

FAVORITE COMEDY

WINNER: Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar (2021) dir. Josh Greenbaum

FINALISTS:

Do Revenge (2022) dir. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Glass Onion (2022) dir. Rian Johnson

Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) dir. Michael Showalter

Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

NOMINEES:

Burn After Reading (2008) dir. Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Fire Island (2022) dir. Andrew Ahn

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris (2022) dir. Anthony Fabian

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) dir. Joel Zwick

See How They Run (2022) dir. Tom George

Hey guess what. It was a great year for comedy, too. Barb & Star is destined to join Romy & Michele and the Tragedy Girls as a pair of gal pals that live in my head for the rest of my life. They’ve had this win sewn up since I first saw the movie in August, but there was still plenty of competition. Do Revenge is probably my unofficial runner up - those twists and turn and goops and gags and outfits!

FAVORITE SERIES

WINNER: Before Trilogy (3/3)

FINALISTS:

The Godfather (3/3)

Hell House, LLC (2/3)

Wong Kar-wai’s Love Trilogy (3/3)

X/Pearl/Maxxxine (2/3)

God, what can I say that hasn’t already been said about Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy? It’s just two people talking, but it’s perfect!

THE THANKS! I HATE IT! AWARD

WINNER: Whiplash (2014) dir. Damien Chazelle

FINALIST: Fall (2022) dir. Scott Mann

This new category is for movies that are good, but I hate them anyway! And there’s no movie that quite fits that bill like Whiplash. What an incredible work that I never wanna see again. Or dwell on for long here.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

WINNER: Halloween Ends (2022) dir. David Gordon Green

FINALISTS:

Brothers (2009) dir. Jim Sheridan

The Invitation (2022) dir. Jessica M. Thompson

Nerve (2016) dir. Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Uncle Peckerhead (2020) dir. Matthew John Lawrence

NOMINEES:

Fall (2022) dir. Scott Mann

Hatching (2022) dir. Hanna Bergholm

Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) dir. Michael Showalter

Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

The Lost City (2022) dir. Adam Nee & Aaron Nee

Valentine (2001) dir. Jamie Blanks

After Halloween Kills won Biggest Letdown at last year’s Mackolades, I went into Halloween Ends with rock bottom expectations, but was pleasantly surprised! From the opening scene it showed it was completely different from any Halloween movie that came before it, and I was mostly delighted by what followed. It’s far from the best Halloween, and has some major problems, but it’s leagues ahead of Kills, and that alone win it Biggest Surprise for me.

BIGGEST LETDOWN

WINNER: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022) dir. Sam Raimi

I’ve engaged in a fair bit of MCU hate over the last few years, but I’ve held onto the belief that I’d probably enjoy them if I gave them a chance and just didn’t think too hard about it. Well... I guess I was wrong. I really thought I’d like this, the trailers looked interesting and Sam Raimi has a pretty good track record with me. But yeah... Martin Scorsese was right, these are just flashy theme park rides. Absolutely zero substance worth engaging with. What a disappointment, for me and for general culture. Anyway, somehow this was the only movie I watched in 2022 that I went into with expectations that were significantly let down, and I figured I’d give it its own multiverse of mediocrity with the myriad of posters available.

FAVORITE LEAD ACTRESS PERFORMANCE

WINNER: Cate Blanchett, TÁR (2022)

FINALISTS:

Mia Goth, Pearl (2022)

Janelle Monae, Glass Onion (2022)

Keke Palmer, Nope (2022)

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

NOMINEES:

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)

Sally Field, Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)

Natasha Lyonne, All About Evil (2010)

Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris (2022)

Thandiwe Newton, God’s Country (2022)

Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu (2022)

Okay I have to bullet point this one so I can talk about all the finalists.

Cate is THE performance of the year for me. Her take on Lydia Tár is nothing short of amazing - even from the opening scene, with that TED Talk-like scene where she just talks about music for a few minutes, had Brendan and me grabbing each other and whispering in the (otherwise empty) theater about how breathtaking her performance was. I can’t believe I’m giving her lead actress two years in a row (out of three total!) but she really does deserve it.

Brendan and I loved Mia Goth in 2020′s Emma, but she reached new heights in X and, in particular, Pearl. The monologue! The face journey! The everything else! She’s now on the We’ll See Anything She’s In list, and I can’t wait for MaXXXine.

Janelle! I don’t have as much to say for her, but damn she picks projects well! Incredible lady and fantastic performance(s) in Glass Onion.

Keke - #ReleaseTheSpinCut! What a joy.

Okay I adore Michelle Yeoh and if Cate doesn’t win the Oscar I hope it’s hers. Truly wonderful and deserves everything good that’s coming her way right now.

FAVORITE SUPPORTING ACTRESS PERFORMANCE

WINNER: Hong Chau, The Menu (2022)

FINALISTS:

Jamie Clayton, Hellraiser (2022)

Courtney Cox, Scream (2022)

Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Brittany Snow, X (2022)

NOMINEES:

Margaret Cho, Fire Island (2022)

Tovah Feldshuh, Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)

Vanessa Hudgens, tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

Andrea Martin, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Alia Shawkat, Being The Ricardos (2021)

Tandi Wright, Pearl (2022)

Hong Chau is another 2022 addition to the We’ll See Anything She’s In list, and she got an Oscar nom for the other one! Yay! But this is about my favorites, not objectivity, and I prefer her in The Menu. What a treat! I don’t have much to say about the finalists and nominees that wouldn’t require this becoming far too long, so I’m just gonna move on.

FAVORITE ACTOR PERFORMANCE

WINNER: Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

FINALISTS:

Marlon Brando, The Godfather (1972)

Austin Butler, Elvis (2022)

Alton Brown, Elvis (2022)

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

NOMINEES:

Rohan Campbell, Halloween Ends (2022)

Ralph Fiennes, The Menu (2022)

Andrew Garfield, tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

Robin de Jesús, tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

Haley Joel Osment, Sassy Pants (2012)

Conrad Ricamora, Fire Island (2022)

I started watching Little Miss Sunshine for Toni, but I remember it for Paul, particularly the sequence pictured above. Special shoutout to Alton Brown for stealing the show for a scene or two of Elvis (a difficult task when Austin Butler’s Elvis is present!)

THE TONI “SHE HAS THE RANGE” COLLETTE AWARD FOR MULTI-GENRE EXCELLENCE

WINNER: Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)/Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

FINALISTS:

Jamie Dornan, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar (2021)/Belfast (2021)

Idris Elba, The Dark Tower (2017)/Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)/Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

Jenna Ortega, The Fallout (2021)/Scream (2022)

Tilda Swinton, Burn After Reading (2008)/Constantine (2005)/Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

I mean, Jim Carrey was basically born to play Dr. Robotnik, and when you contrast that with Eternal Sunshine, well, that’s basically what this category is for!

THE CARLY RAE JEPSEN “SHE MAKES MY BLOOD FEEL CARBONATED” AWARD

WINNER: Elaine Stritch, Original Cast Album: Company (1970)

During the Ladies Who Lunch sequence of the Company documentary, I must’ve turned to Brendan at least three times to say “I love being gay” - Elaine’s an icon and a queen and I hate I didn’t get into theatre soon enough to appreciate her while she was alive. (NOTE: If I’d started this category a year earlier, Carol Channing certainly would’ve gotten it for the documentary Larger Than Life, and it felt wrong to not mention that here)

HOTTEST DADDY

WINNER: Russell Crowe, The Nice Guys (2016)

FINALISTS:

George Clooney, Solaris (2002)

Guillermo Diaz, Bros (2022)

Thomas Forbes-Madison, The Lost City (2022)

David Harbour, Violent Night (2022)

NOMINEES:

Daniel Craig, Glass Onion (2022)

Idris Elba, Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

Ethan Hawke, The Black Phone (2022)

Martin Henderson, X (2022)

Peter Sarsgaard, The Batman (2022)

Bradley Whitford, tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

Someone ask me what kind of guys I like. I dare you. I downloaded six entire movies to get enough usable shots of these men - definitely the most work I did for any single category.

Anyway, that’s the 2022 Mackolades! 65 movies honored (or dishonored) from an eligibility pool of 205. Now you know what I love - any recommendations of what to watch in 2023?

[oliviaischillin1204]

This Fanfiction Of Sanders Sides Is Called "Bluey" Part 4: Janus

[olivia's note: hey y'all! this is the 4th and final chapter of a fic by the amazing anne onymous! thank you SO MUCH for submitting this to me!!! i'm so grateful for your writing <;3]

chapters (1) (2) (3) 4

Patton walked into the kitchen, immediately catching Janus's attention. "Hi Janus! Sure is quiet tonight, huh?" Patton greeted. "It was. Since when are you up this late?" Janus asked, rolling his eyes. "I just have too much energy to sleep. Roman too. Since we're all up, wanna come play with us?" Patton offered. "Nice try. I heard about what you two did with Remus and if you think I'm going to fall for this, you're clearly just as dumb as I thought." Janus said before sipping his wine. "Well, guess you leave me no choice but to bring out the big guns. Roman!" Patton called out, summoning the prince who was carrying many Bluey toys and their YouTooz plushies. Patton took half and flashed his best puppy-dog eyes. "Why do you never play with us?" Patton cried. "What is happening?" Janus asked. "You're always with Remus!" Patton whined. "Because no one else can handle him! Even then, I spend half my time hiding from him." Janus argued, trying to stay strong. "It's like you don't even love us! Don't you know how much we love you?" Patton asked, tearfully. Janus was stunned. Why was this working? What was Patton doing with his eyes? And why did the plushies make it harder to say "no"? What is happening?! "How can you not love your own family?" Patton sobbed. Oof, the family card. "Alright, fine! I'll play with you." Janus groaned. "Yay!" Patton cheered, high-fiving Roman.

"Let's just get this over with. Whatever we're doing, are we doing it here?" Janus asked. "Of course not, silly. We're going to my room." Patton said, sinking out with Roman following after. Janus did the same and as soon as he appeared, Roman tackled him to the bed and pinned him down. He summoned scarves to tie Janus's wrists to the headboard–wait, their beds don't have headboards. Did they summon one just for this?! His protests fell on deaf ears as Roman tied his ankles to the bedposts and removed his shoes. "Untie me this instant!" Janus shouted. "Tsk tsk tsk, someone is certainly cranky, eh Patton?" Roman said. "Probably because he's up so late, poor snakey-baby needs sleepytime. Guess we'll have to tire him out so he can get the rest he needs." Patton reasoned. "School's in session, let's start the lesson!" Roman exclaimed as he sat beside Janus who was still struggling in his bonds. "What lesson?" Janus asked. "I promised Roman I'd teach him some of my tickle techniques. You don't mind, right?" Patton explained. Janus's eyes widened. He was only teasing about Remus's endeavour, he didn't think Patton was actually smart enough to come up with a scheme like this! He's managed to dodge all of Remus's attempts at a tickle attack for years but now he's tied up in a Y position and about to be made nothing more than a tickle toy? Well, he's certainly not going down without a fight.

"I will not be your experimental guinea pig, now let me go!" Janus protested. "Too late, you already agreed to play with us, Jennifer." Roman remarked. "Janus." he corrected. "Whatever." Roman scoffed. "Let's start with something you're familiar with, Roman." Patton suggested. "Perhaps this little game will change your tune, hmm?" Roman teased, manoeuvring his legs under Janus's back so his torso rested on his lap. "Ladies, gentlemen and esteemed guests, I shall now play for you the Rondo Alla Turca." Roman announced as he pushed Janus's shirt up, revealing his slightly scaley stomach. Janus wiggled and squirmed, desperate to stop Roman, but his struggling only got the job done faster. "Such good manners, little Jessica." Roman teased. "Janus." he hissed. "Don't care." Roman remarked, cracking his knuckles. He cleared his throat then began dancing his fingers all over Janus's tummy, singing and humming a tune before stopping when he noticed Janus wasn't laughing. Roman turned to look at Janus and smirked at what he saw. He was biting his lip and his eyes were shut tight. He was trying not to laugh. Game on. "My sincerest apologies, everyone. I seem to be having a bit of trouble with my piano. Probably just needs a little tweaking." Roman said, lightly pinching all over Janus's torso. The deceitful Side jumped and jerked with every pinch, still refusing to give Roman what he wanted.

"You sure he's a piano?" Patton asked with a wink. "You're right Padre, silly me." Roman remarked as he laid down next to Janus. He took his hat and placed it on his own head, tipping it. "M'snakey." Roman said, causing Patton to giggle while Janus scowled. "This is no piano, it's a banjo!" Roman exclaimed, "strumming" across Janus's belly. The dam finally broke when Roman got a little too close to his sensitive bellybutton, causing him to squeal loudly before bursting into a fit of laughter. "Nohohohoho! Rohohoman, I'm gohohoing to kihihill yohohohou!" Janus cackled before he snorted, causing Roman to stop and Patton to squeal. "Did you just snort?! That was so adorable!" Patton gushed. "Mention it to anyone and you're both dead! And Roman, give me my hat." Janus scolded. "You really think you're in any position to make demands, Georgia?" Roman queried, twirling the hat around on his finger. "That one's not even close!" Janus argued. "Close enough. Hey Patton, catch!" Roman said before tossing Janus's hat to Patton who caught it and decided to wear it. "Suits you better than him, but now he looks cold. No worries, I'll be your blanket." Roman said, laying on top of Janus. "Get off me, Roman!" Janus barked. "There's no Roman here, only a blanket. A crazy blanket!" Roman teased, digging his fingers into Janus's ribs. "Hahahahaha! I hahahahate yohohohou!" Janus laughed heartily. "The feeling's more than mutual, Ginny." Roman remarked.

"Uh-oh, looks like this blanket is infested with ticklecrabs!" Patton chimed in, scratching at Janus's underarms while repeating "tickle tickle" over and over again, not that it could be heard over Janus's giddy giggles. "Aww, the ticklecrabs just want a friend to play with. Luckily, I heard there's a lonely bug who also likes to play giggly games like this." Roman teased, straddling Janus's thighs. He placed his hands at the bottom of Janus's ribs and began crawling them down as he sang. "Poor little bug on the wall, ding ching!" Roman sung, digging into Janus's hips at the last minute which evoked a very loud squeak. Holding back his own snickers, Roman trailed down Janus's legs. "No one to love him at all, ding ching!" Roman continued as he scratched at the back of his knees, chuckling at Janus's attempts at kicking. He turned himself around and moved down to Janus's ankles, removing his socks. "No one to tickle his toes, ding ching!" Roman sung as he spidered across Janus's sensitive soles, delighted by the boisterous laughter that followed. "No one to blow his nose." Roman finished before blowing a raspberry on Janus's tummy, causing him scream with belly laughter as he bucked and struggled in his bonds. "NOHOHOHO! THAHAHAHAT TIHIHICKLES! HAHAHAHA!" Janus shrieked. "That's kind of the point, Janus." Patton said. Roman got back up for air and decided he and Patton should take a break, giving Janus one too.

Janus never felt so humiliated. So embarrassed. So...happy? And loved? The endless laughter was exhilarating, he felt a certain closeness with the others he's never felt before and the tickling sensations themselves were a lot more fun than he anticipated. He avoided being tickled for so long because he assumed he'd hate it but he was loving every second of it. But he has an image to uphold, so he can't let Patton and Roman know. "Hey Patton, remember the Bluey episode "Featherwand"?" Roman asked. "Uh-huh. It did not go in the direction I thought it would." Patton said. "Well, what do you say we give in to our imaginations and make our expectations a reality?" Roman offered, summoning a long white fluffy feather. "I like the way you think." Patton complimented. "Watch this." Roman said before fluttering the feather around Janus's ears and under his chin, causing him to giggle uncontrollably. "And if you think that's cute, wait until you see this." Roman said, noticing Patton squealing into his hands. He pulled the feather away and raised it in the air. "Heavy!" Roman exclaimed, causing the feather to glow golden. He began tickling Janus's belly with the feather but this time, he bellowed loudly and struggled frantically. "Oh, I get it! Bingo's featherwand made things heavier when she said "heavy", and yours makes heavier laughter!" Patton said. "Close. It actually feels like heavier tickling which causes heavier laughter." Roman explained.

"Hey, you didn't even need my help this time! Good job, kiddo!" Patton praised. Roman beamed with pride. "Hear that, Jeanette? You're dealing with TWO tickle monster pros now. Cootchie coo!" Roman teased, moving the feather down to Janus's feet. "ROHOHOMAN, DOHOHON'T! HAHAHAHAHA!" Janus screamed. "Well well well, looks like someone's got feather-sensitive footsies. Tickle tickle tickle!" Roman taunted, waving the feather at his ticklish toes. Janus completely lost it. "AHAHAHAHA!!! GUHUHUYS, PLEHEHEASE STOHOHOHOP!!!" Janus begged, pulling at his bonds as hard as he could. Roman and Patton immediately stopped everything and in a snap, everything from the feather and the scarves to the bedposts and the headboard vanished. Janus curled into himself, still giggly from the phantom tickles coursing through his body. That. Was. Amazing. Not that he would ever admit it. Patton summoned a glass of water and tapped Janus on the shoulder, handing it to him as he turned around. "Here Jan, this will help." Patton advised. Janus took the glass and slowly gulped it all down. "Thank you." Janus mumbled softly, handing the empty glass back to Patton. "For the water or the tickles?" Patton asked. Janus froze. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out so he closed it again and looked down, sheepishly. "Your secret's safe with us. Promise." Patton assured.

"Plus, you and me can be considered even now after that comment you made about me and a certain Side." Roman said. "Seriously?! You're still moping about that?! Need I remind you I only said that because you laughed at and insulted my name?! And you still continued to make fun of it by getting it wrong throughout this ridiculous endeavour!" Janus protested. "I would've gladly apologised for that, had you apologised to me for comparing me to Remus of all people!" Roman argued. "Ok, let's all calm down. Maybe both of you should say you're sorry while we're here." Patton suggested. Janus and Roman glared at each other. "Janus, is there something you'd like to say to Roman?" Patton asked. Janus sighed. "Roman, I'm sorry for comparing you to Remus. It was hurtful and uncalled for. I promise I'll never do it again." Janus apologised. "Very good, Janus. Roman?" Patton said. "Well, I'm not entirely innocent either. I'm sorry for treating your name like a joke...Janus." Roman replied. The two fidgeted awkwardly as they uncomfortably stood in silence. "Come on, hug it out." Patton encouraged. Janus and Roman hesitantly walked towards each other and hugged. Roman felt slightly uneasy but Janus didn't want it to end. He didn't get hugs very often except from Remus, but he's too rough. Plus, he stinks. "See? Not so bad." Patton said. Janus let go of Roman, grabbed his socks and shoes, snatched his hat back from Patton and sank out.

"This was fun, we should do something like this again sometime." Roman suggested before yawning and rubbing his eyes. In an instant, he changed from his signature look to a white tank top and red pyjama pants. "Thanks for everything today. Night, Patton." Roman said, leaving the room. "Goodnight kiddo." Patton said as he climbed into bed. He kissed all his plushies goodnight and dozed off. Today was a fun day. A day he would still be thinking about tomorrow morning. He found himself waking up earlier than usual and decided to do something productive. He borrowed some paper, crayons and colouring pencils from Roman and began to work on something for Emile. As soon as it was done, he quietly sneaked down the hall and slid it under Emile's door. Emile woke up about an hour later and as soon as he noticed something on the floor by his door, he got out of bed and picked it up. It was a hand-drawn Bluey themed card. Each of the Heelers was sketched on every corner and the words "THANK YOU" were written in the centre. He opened the card and there was more drawings and a message from Patton that read "Thanks for your help yesterday morning, it made the day really fun. I got to tickle pretty much everyone AND help Roman with a few problems. I'd like to do something for you in return. Wanna have that Bluey marathon for real life?"

The End.

[heystephen]

wild that the message swifties got is “you’re so strong and brave for saying this queen but we’ll defend you anyway because we hate him” and not maybe…… stop making her releases about the men she’s dated after literally hearing her tell you she didn’t re-record for you to do that. it isn’t about john it’s about swifties’ inability to distance themselves from her personal life and refusal to let shit go like no matter what that is not your relationship it’s hers. she’s telling you to shut your mouths and refusing to listen feels wildly infantilizing

well.. to be quite honest i feel somewhat conflicted about the topic. i feel like john mayer, more than anyone else, deserves it. not just because he chose to date a 19 year old when he was like, 32. but because he jokes about having a 'white supremacist dick', namely compared his genitals to a member of the kkk, that prevents him from being attracted to black women, used the n-word, and made disparaging comments about not just taylor, but also jessica simpson, jennifer aniston and jennifer love hewitt. he's always been a slimeball and kind of just skated by without any real heat. so.. i guess what i'm trying to say is that john mayer is a terrible person, and i do understand where taylor is coming from in saying that she doesn't want her fans to go after him on her behalf, but i think anything he receives is a product of the shameful things that he's done over the years. there's probably a good joke about karma in there somewhere, lol

[pbandjesse]

I am feeling just slightly stressed out. I think I am just very tired. I am feeling better but I am just exhausted.

It was a pretty good day. I slept alright. And woke up feeling fine. Getting up was hard. But I got myself together and James made the bed and gave me my lunch and offered to carry my drinks to the car but I was alright. I just wanted to leave with them.

I was surprised that the car had frost all over it. I didn't want to scrap it off the glass so I waited for the car to warm up and watched James bike off. I didn't have to wait long.

It was a fine drive to camp. I don't know why but I did not wear my puffer jacket and I was very cold outside even with a sweater and a fleece. I would be inside for the majority of the day though and would be fairly comfortable.

I drove up to arts first to drop off all my large stuffed animals. Some will probably still come home but for now at least they have a safe place to be. Once those were put away I went back down to the office.

I could see over at the nurse's office there were some work trucks. I wasn't sure what part they were working on but they were doing something.

When I got to the office I microwaved my breakfast and set myself up. I drew the card for my neighbor's. I wrote out some well wishes and told them I was sorry I couldn't do more. It was nice to draw. I was in a drawing mood.

I would actually do some more prep work for my daily sticker project. Just getting some early work done so if I fall behind I will have something to fall back on. Especially since everything is so busy right now. And it's only going to get worse. Not at work but in life. And it was nice to work on the style I'm going for.

As I was drawing I saw the men from the nurses office walk over. They came in the office and said they needed the nurse key and that they would be back to work in the basement. They were very nice. I texted our office group chat and told them we had men in the basement. Which is the most ominous way to say that. But it was true!

Eventually everyone else came in. I told them about the detectives coming to my house. And the card I wrote. I had James print that to give to the neighbors and apparently Jessica thought it was incredibly sweet. I'm glad no one thinks it's weird. I just felt like it was the least I could do.

It would be a nice day. I would have emails to write and some things to create for sending interest emails out for staff. Me and Sarah would also do a bunch of research to find vendors to email about possibly being a part of our music festival. That took a surprisingly long time because we had to find emails and not everyone made that easy!!

I did get a lot of reading done today too. I finished my book about the 1793 yellow fever endemic. It was very interesting and honestly while it was sad it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. There was some hope at the end. I do wish they did an epilog like the Dear America ones do but that's okay. I still enjoyed it.

The day would go pretty fast. At one point Dad asked me to call and we discussed some house stuff. And he asked if I could try installing zippers in some of his pants. I can sure try! He's sending them with Mom tomorrow. And I will do my best to get that done ASAP. It was also just nice to talk to him. He sounded healthy. And he's really proud of us about the house and that feels good.

I am a little stressed though because Jennifer, the loan processor, asked for some information from me but when I followed up with what I think is what she's asking for she didn't say anything! I wish she would send confirmation emails but she didn't with the last documents either and it just stresses me so bad. Especially on a holiday weekend. Like girl. Please just tell me this is what you need so we aren't going to have to push back the closing. James thinks it was the correct info though so fingers crossed I guess.

I am excited though. Like it's happening. That's so cool. I'm going to miss this apartment a lot but this is new! This is going to be great! And if I keep that energy it will be true even if it is hard.

The end of the day came pretty fast. I was ready to get out of there, mainly because I was excited to go hang out with Callie. I said goodbye to everyone and they reminded me that MLK day is Monday. But I already don't work on Mondays so it didn't matter to much. But I hope they all enjoy the extra day and I'll see them Tuesday.

On my drive my blood sugar felt incredibly low. My hands started shaking. I sent Callie a text I would need to run to the grocery store to grab a piece of a pizza. And she was totally cool about it. I just couldn't think and needed food immediately.

As soon as I parked I saw her and we walked over and I quickly got my pizza and basically inhaled it. I was actually able to talk and focus once I ate and I was slightly embarrassed that I got that bad. But she was cool about it and she filled the air while I couldn't talk.

We went over to amazing glaze and I finished eating my pizza and we decided what to paint. She picked a tiny trinket dish and I got a pasta bowl/plate. I have done this shape before buts its one I go for at home a lot so it seemed right.

And I had so much fun painting. She filled me in about school. I filled her in about the house. She painted a bunny and I painted a bedroom with little beads all tucked in. I impressed the workers which is all I'm ever trying to do. And while we were there for 2 hours, and I for sure could have been there longer, I am super proud of my piece.

I really enjoyed Callie's company. We talked about camp and life and she offered to help us move because she's great. And I had a very good time.

We finished up a little after 630. Just as the rain started. We hugged and said goodbye. And it really felt like we left at the perfect time because right after I got home the storm picked up and got very heavy and very windy. I was happy to be home.

But I was in a weird mood. While me and Callie were painting I texted James something time sensitive and they didn't answer me. It was going in 40 minutes and I finally called them and asked them to answer my texts and I hate the this is something we continue to struggle with. It's literally the only thing in our relationship that makes me angry. And it's because it makes me feel like I can't call them in an emergency. And it upsets me really bad. And they felt terrible but it doesn't fix it. And I just want them to try to be better.

So my mood was sour but I'm sure I also was just tired and it made things feel worse. James did tell me they knocked on our neighbor's door and gave them my card and apparently she was super grateful and told James if I didn't call her husband could have died. And I am horrified that it was that bad. I am glad that he's home. I'm glad I was able to help. I still wish I could have done more.

James was in the kitchen doing something for a long time. I opened the mail and texted my mom about tomorrow. I'm really excited to have her and my aunt visit. I just have to be well rested for it!!

I took a shower. I was hurting a bit. My lip has been doing better and I didn't wear a bandaid today. But then I hit the wound with the zipper of my fleece and it hurt so deeply and continued to hurt for hours. Cleaning it in the shower also hurt but I am still trying to baby it. It's getting better but it's still split. At least it's not as swollen.

I am in bed now. And I am very very ready to sleep. We are going to have a long day tomorrow.

Mom and aunt Nadine will be here for brunch. And then we are going to the visionary museum. And I'm really hoping for a good day. I hope you all sleep well and have a nice day tomorrow. Be careful in the heavy winds. I love you all. Goodnight!!

[affablyevilshowdown]

Large Bracket Round 1

Large Bracket

No. No! Unless…

Patrick Bateman               (American Psycho)

Tyler Durden                      (Fight Club)

<3<                                      (Homestuck?)

Hedonist Lit

Lestat de Lioncourt          (Interview with a Vampire)

Dorian Gray                       (The Picture Of Dorian Gray)

Virtually the same person. I guess?

Discord                (My Little Pony (Friendship is Magic Gen 4))

Q                           (Star Trek)

The Doctor vs The Master 1

The Master (Delgado)     (Doctor Who)

Dr. Griffin                           (The Invisible Man)

The Doctor vs The Master 2

The Master (Crispy)         (Doctor Who)

Doc Scratch                       (Homestuck)

The Doctor vs The Master 3 (Animal Kin Edition)

The Master (Ainley)         (Doctor Who)

Doc Ock                              (Into the Spiderverse)

The Doctor vs The Master 4

The Master (Simm)          (Doctor Who)

Dr. Evil                                (Austin Powers)

The Doctor vs The Master 5

The Master (Missy)          (Doctor Who)

Heinz Doofenshmirtz       (Phineas and Ferb)

The Doctor vs The Master 6

The Master (Dhawan)     (Doctor Who)

Dr. Facilier                         (The Princess and the Frog)

This is so tremendously unfair, but hey it's the two inspirations of my favorite OC

Bill Cipher            (Gravity Falls)

Solf J Kimblee     (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Dracula was on Buffy the Vampire slayer too

Spike                     (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Dracula                (Dracula)

Entitled White Lady- Names (Since we don't have a Karen)

Helen the Distortion        (The Magnus Archives)

Lauren Mallard                 (Welcome to Nightvale)

Jennifer Check                  (Jennifer's Body)

Actual Entitled White Ladies

The Handler                       (Umbrella Academy)

Cruella De Vile                  (101 Dalmatians)

Fairy Godmother              (Shrek 2)

Fight your shadow lego self

Lego Joker           (The Lego Batman Movie)

Joker                    (Batman (2005))

*Heard over the speaker system, when you are about to have a bad time*

The Narrator      (The Stanley Parable)

Cave Johnson     (Portal)

Style Icons

Misa Amane                                     (Death Note)

Her Imperious Condescension     (Homestuck)

Nui Harime                                       (Kill la kill)

Dads

Hunson Abadeer                              (Adventure Time)

Asgore Dreemur                              (Undertale)

Mayor Richard Wilkins III             (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Can do so much better than their ex

Harley Quinn      (Birds of Prey)

Spinel                   (Stephen Universe)

An image of the self

Kevin                                                  (Welcome to Nightvale)

Frankenstein’s Creature                (Frankenstein)

Double Trouble                                (She Ra)

Entitled Creeps

Nevel Papperman             (iCarly)

Killgrave                              (Jessica Jones)

Lil Gideon                           (Gravity Falls)

Scorpion tails >:3

Tyrian Callows   (RWBY)

Scorpia                 (She Ra)

Shaped

Big Jack Horner  (Puss in Boots: The last wish)

Eggman               (Sonic)

Wheatley             (Portal)

#girlboss

GLaDOS               (Portal)

Monika                (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Jesters

Marx                     (Kirby)

Rouxls Kaard      (Deltarune)

Second career as highschool staff

Yzma                    (The Emperor’s New Groove)

Baron Draxum    (Rise Of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Just a child, no, No Ignore the destruction and the carnage. this is a baby

The Collector                    (The Owl House)

Flowey the Flower           (Undertale)

Creates an empire with his "children"

Horde Prime                                                                  (She Ra)

John Gaius, Emperor Undying, Necrolord Prime   (The Locked Tomb)

Soft and fluffy, Soft and fluffy. Sharp and pointy! Soft and fluffy..

Kyubey                (Madoka Magica)

Monokuma         (Danganronpa)

In another world they're just an ordinary hero, and honestly that's worse

Gentle Criminal                 (My Hero Academia)

Megamind                          (Megamind)

Goro Akechi                       (Persona 5)

Fairy tale vibes

Rumpelstiltskin   (Once Upon a Time)

Salem                   (RWBY)

Space bois!

HAL9000                             (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Marvin the Martian         (Looney tunes)

Love and Anxiety is stored in the them

Spamton              (Deltarune)

Navy Ruby           (Stephen Universe)

Jinx                       (Arcane)

One says "you're gonna die" because of how good his food is, and the other you're gonna die and become food..

Lalo Salamanca                 (Better Call Saul)

Hannibal Lecter                (Hannibal/Silence of the Lambs)

Kira ;)

Yoshikage Kira   (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Light Yagami      (Death Note)

Radio Adjacent/Death Adjacent

Alastor                 (Hazbin Hotel)

Dusknoir              (Pokémon)

Their crime is basically just being a capitalist

Mr. Grizz              (Splatoon)

Varrick                 (Legend of Korra)

Elias Bouchard   (The Magnus Archives)

Wizards

Merasmus          (Team Fortress 2)

Magolor              (Kirby)

Death gods

Hades    (Hercules)

Ryuk      (Death Note)

Abstract Fears

Michael Distortion           (The Magnus Archives)

Other Mother                   (Coraline)

Godzilla                               (Godzilla)

Royalty

King Boo                             (Luigi's Mansion games)

Queen                                 (Deltarune)

Prince Humperdinck        (The Princess Bride)

The absence of the thing they're addicted to causes Problems

Gamzee Makara               (Homestuck)

Bender                                (Futurama)

I'm calling them both pirates

Long John Silver                (Treasure Island)

Khan Noonien Singh        (Star Trek)

Mobsters?

Gustavo Fring                    (Breaking Bad)

Wilson Fisk/Kingpin         (Daredevil (Netflix))

Listen, I don't know how long it would take to actually fit these three into a category that makes sense, I'm just glad I technically only have one strict Miscellaneous vote (actually there are 6)

Oogie Boogie                    (The Nightmare before Christmas)

Roman Torchwick            (RWBY)

Medic                                  (Team Fortress 2)

[greenb0i]

June 2023

I am rotting at this point. OK I'm not but like I've just been doing noting beside going on Mt phone. I am that one shinji meme

'•.¸♡ Films ♡¸.•'

Across the Spider-verse (2023) Dir. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson

What can i even say about this movie. It one i haven't stopped thinking about for the last few days. Everything in the movie is amazing, from the visual to the story to how it portrays the characters. And the charater design!!!!! Literally, the whole reason i saw the movie!!!! And that one chase scene!!!! The whole part was just an amazing and deffo my favourite part. From beginning to end, i was wrapped up in the story the movie is trying to tell. It is probably one of the best movies I've seen all year. (10/10)

Erin Brockovich (2000) Dir. Steven Soderbergh

I like this. I thought Julie Andrews was really good as Erin. It was good (7/10)

Misha and the wolves (2021)

It grand. I thought the story was really interesting but like noting amazeing. I kinda forgot i watched it lol so (5/10)

Do Revenge (2022) Dir. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

I love this movie. This is probaye the 3rd time i rewated it. I love Just everything about it, especially the fashion, like it just say so much about the character abd everthing(9/10)

The Big Short (2015) Dir. Adam McKay

I thought this was good. I like the editing a lot. I feel like it makes the story more interesting, I guess. With the story being about something as over complex and honesty, bordering banking, the fast-paced editing really sucks you into the story. That, as well as the acting, just makes it really good (8/10)

White chicks (2004) Kennen Ivory Wayans

Funny as shit my god

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚Books ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

The Convalescent By Jessica Anthony

This is such a strange book. To both read and think about. It surreal to read, and can confusing to think about (im still not 100% sure about what this book is tryin to say) since so many events in the book reads like folk-lore, which i do really like. This addtions to almost folk-lore like storys telling make the events toward the end of the book (were it really goes off the rails) feel like a natrual progression and one you could maybe even see coming. The to what isn't a terrble complated novel story wise. But it levase enough there to make you want to read on and see where the fuck there going at points. It can be confusing as hell, but i like that, how it not complety clear on what it trying to say. 7/10

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me By Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

I got this book ages ago and deicded to reread it and god I love this book. The story is good, and if i were to just read it as a novel i proabyeb think it was grand, but god the art. The art of the book adds so much. I think it evaleds the story to the point of being amazing. I love small used of colour and the way the charater are draw just adds to there charaterisaton alot. (8/10)

The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all By Arai Sumiko

Like every lesbian, i love this. It so cute to read about this two nerds bonding. I need them to kiss. Also i love how the artist draws charater, esalily there outfits. For the main girls, it feel like there chose in fashion says a lot alot them and why they like what they like (8/10)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*Fives songs i love*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Benefiits of lying (with your friends)- The Apple In Stereo

Caroline, Please Kill Me-Coma Cinema

Miku-Anamanaguchi, Hatsune Miku

Summer Again-The Wytches

Sleep Patterns-Merchant Ships

[jessicafurseth]

Reading List, Hotter Than Ever edition.

“The question is not who influences you, but which people give you courage.” [Hilary Mantel]

[Image: Linda McCartney]

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"I think I’m hotter than I’ve ever been and so is every woman I know. I do not look at one female friend and think they were more physically attractive ten years ago. They know their face and bodies now; what suits them and makes them feel great. They know that thinness doesn’t mean happiness and that the best parties are with the best people, not when you’re wearing the best outfit. They are more likely to go for a swim in their mismatched underwear if they forget their bikini but the water looks beautiful. They are not scared to ask for what they want in bed. They’re hotter than ever." Dolly Alderton has opinions. [The Times - PSA: if you sign up you get one free a week]

Most of us feel about 20% younger than we actually are. But why? [Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic]

How Red Rock Island became the only private island in San Francisco Bay [Tessa McLean, SFGate]

“My perspective has always been that we can out of a sense of hope and not out of a sense of fear. I’m preserving food for another day because I expect to be around to enjoy it.” Canning, a retro hobby for the end times [Anna North, Vox]

The New York Times' 'Letter of Recommendation'series is usually great, but they've been on a proper roll lately:

"And now the Shipping Forecast, issued by the Met Office.” A Secret for Falling Asleep So Good It’s a British National Treasure [Grace Linden]

"I trained my gaze toward my feet [and found] evidence of all kinds of commutes: traces of hopping birds, the soles of humans’ shoes, restless leaves that fell and sank into wet concrete at just the right moment." Why I Hunt for Sidewalk Fossils [Jessica Leigh Hester]

"An unspoken intimacy and solidarity exists among us, the attentive viewers." Why I Watch the Closing Credits of Every Movie I See [Emma Kantor]

“I love being in that place where everything is just coming in, and everything is potentially important, and I’m underlining every great sentence that John McPhee has ever written and then I’m typing it up into this embarrassingly long set of reading notes, documents, organized by books. And then when you sit down with it as a writer who has a job, and his job is to fill a little window of a magazine or website, all of that ecstatic inhaling has to stop. You realize that you’ve collected approximately 900,000% of what you need or could ever use.” Longform Podcast #506: Sam Anderson

My Parents Got Sick. It Changed How I Thought About My Marriage [Mary HK Choi, GQ]

"If you are a fast walker and the person in front of you on the sidewalk is walking slowly, do not walk directly behind them for blocks on end." OMG Etiquette Rules for Tipping, Parenting, Friends, and Work [The Cut]

"It makes me feel ridiculous to acknowledge that cutting those few hours of [weekend] life prep out of my life effectively knee-capped my plans for the week. But I guess I have to feel ridiculous, because it’s true." The Work is Not Enough [Anne Helen Petersen's Culture Study]

Menopausal hormone therapy was once the most commonly prescribed treatment in the US. But one imperfect study in 2002 incorrectly linked it to health risks, and women have been suffering ever since. Women Have Been Misled About Menopause [Susan Dominus, The New York Times]

The Mystery of Teenage Anxiety [Derek Thompson, The Atlantic]

Influencer Is a Real Job. It's Time to Act Like It. [Emily Hund, Wired]

Why on earth does anyone care what Gen Z think of sex scenes in films? [Marie Le Conte, The New Statesman]

Who gets to be messy? [Kathryn Jezer-Morton, The Cut] On restaurants as living rooms [Ruby Tandoh, Vittles]

The case for hanging out [Dan Kois, Slate]

The pandemic changed us, but we still don't know how to talk about it: "[Maybe] when we say the pandemic is over, we are actually seeking permission to act like it never happened — to let ourselves off the hook from having to make sense of it or take seriously its continuing effects. ... Each of us is consciously or subconsciously working through potentially irreconcilable stories about what we lived through — or else, strenuously avoiding that dissonance, insisting there’s no work to be done." I don't think we can fully move forward until we understand what happened - this article helped me do this a little more.[Jon Mooallem, The New York Times - unpaywalled link]