#this is honestly the funniest thing that has happened to me during summer break

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

I love your blog! Have u ever considered making a side blog with rp for the binary bfs? If not/you don’t want to, that’s fine! It’s not for everyone, although if you could link some that do that’d be awesome! Anyways, how do you think Hawk and Demitri met? What was their first date like? Do the karate dads know?- Cherry

Oh my goodness, my inbox has been blowing up lately! :D Imma have to answer like 2 questions a day to have any hopes of keeping up lol

Hey Cherry! OMG thank you so much, I’m so glad you like it :D

TBH idk if I have time to run a full-on RPG sideblog at the moment--truth be told, it’s enough work keeping this one as active as it is! Haha XD I’ll still give all the snippets of that sweet, sweet Demetri x Hawk content that I possibly can on this blog though :D

BUT I think @sipping--snowflakes​ recently started a Demetri RPG blog and is actually looking for someone to roleplay Elimetri with them :D If any of my watchers are interested, hit them up!!! There is much binary boyfriend roleplay fun to potentially be had!!!

ON TO THE QUESTIONS

My personal headcanon on how Demetri and Eli met is that on the first day of kindergarten, Demetri absolutely would NOT shut up about dinosaurs and Star Wars to their class (I mean, come ON, little Demetri HAD to have had a Dinosaur Phase...I know it deep in my heart to be true). He wandered around to basically every table during Center Time/Arts and Crafts Time/Whatever the fuck they call that “free wandering-about-the-classroom-doing-whatever-activities-you-want time” in elementary school and chatted the ear off of every boy and every group of boys in the class (remember, this is Tiny Demetri, who DEFINITELY would not have the courage to speak to ANY girl XD). And every single boy, every single group, without fail, responds with “Oh my GOD shut UP go AWAY you’re so ANNOYING you weirdo” and poor little excited Demetri is just crushed that no one wants to hear about tyrannosaurus rexes and lightsabers--or worse, tyrannosaurus rexes HOLDING lightsabers and dueling with them. And then, finally, he gets to little Eli, sitting all alone (because no one wants to befriend the kid with the messed up lip), and LO AND BEHOLD! Someone is finally listening to him!!! And seems to actually care about tyrannosaurus rexes with lightsabers!!! Little Demetri is beyond thrilled to have someone to talk to. Little Eli, meanwhile, is also thrilled, because did this kid just talk his ear off about Obi-Wan Kenobi for 20 minutes straight and not mention the lip scar once? Demetri, meanwhile, is so caught up in his rambling that he doesn’t notice the goddamn lip scar is even THERE until they’ve already spent half the day together XD “ANYWAYS I THINK ONCE THE JEDI ORDER COMES BACK AFTER RETURN OF THE JEDI THEY SHOULD RIDE STEGOSAURUSES AND--oh, what happened to your lip?”

As for their first date...had to think for a while about the perfect first date for them would be. I was originally gonna say they’d just go down to Santa Monica Pier or something and just goof off, but I think Demetri would want to make it more special than that. I ended up headcanoning that they’ve always wanted to go to Universal Studios together growing up (mainly because of Harry Potter World, of course!!!), but neither of their families have ever really been able to afford it. BUT when Demetri and Eli finally get together, Demetri is like “fuck it, we’re finally gonna do this” and he saves up basically all the money he’s made at summer jobs and buys tickets for both of them to surprise Eli. Eli is so happy he starts crying, and then he gets angry he’s crying in front of Dem and is like “GOD DAMMIT STOP LOOKING AT ME THIS IS SO EMBARASSING, I’M TOUGH” and Demetri thinks it’s the cutest, funniest thing ever XD Then Demetri drives them both down to Universal and they both just have the best goddamn day of their lives and buy WAY more merchandise from Harry Potter World than is in any way wise XD And becoming “Hawk” has, for better or for worse, laid bare Eli’s inner adrenaline junkie, and he drags poor Demetri on every. Single. Roller coaster. Don’t worry, Eli is more than happy to hold his hand during the scary drops XD But Eli will not rest until they’ve ridden EVERY fast ride in the park and Demetri whines about it but secretly he just likes seeing his boyfriend that shamelessly excited about something! Also Dem takes a million cheesy couple selfies and posts them all over social media bragging about his cute bf, much to Eli’s embarrassment.

“Karate Dads” fksljchcbduswvc I love that this is like...the universal term for Daniel and Johnny now. I honestly could not be happier about it XD Daniel I’m sure would pick up on it first (Johnny, though I love him dearly, is just so very DENSE sometimes), either just kinda by reading the room or hearing about it through Sam (who probably has mixed feelings on it herself). I imagine being as protective of Demetri as he is, Daniel would pull him aside at some point and be like “Demetri wasn’t this guy the reason you pushed yourself to learn self-defense in the first place??? And now you want to DATE him??? Are you sure???” and Demetri of course would be like “Yeah he was in a really dark place then, but I’ve known him basically my whole life and I know he’s got a good heart!” and Daniel would probably be wary about it, but ultimately decide Demetri’s a smart enough guy to handle himself and trust him to make his own judgements. And of course, he’d figure if Sam can vouch for an ex Cobra Kai like Miguel turning over a new leaf and trying to be better, there’s no reason Hawk can’t, too. And seeing how much Eli cares about Demetri and how protective he’s gotten of Dem helps too, and Daniel would probably warm up to Eli eventually. Although, like Sam, I imagine it would take a cool minute. Johnny would probably find out through chatting with Hawk, and Hawk just kinda...accidentally lets it slip he and Demetri are dating, and Johnny just quizzically raises an eyebrow like “Oh? You’re dating the mouthy kid?” And Hawk just goes bright-ass red and Johnny remembers how Demetri went off on him on the first day of Cobra Kai all those months ago for making fun of Hawk’s lip, and he breaks into this HUGE shit-eating smirk like “yeeeeeah that doesn’t surprise me at all. Eh, it’s probably for the best. If anyone can toughen that kid up, it’s you. Although I hear he DID hand your ass to you when he kicked you into that trophy case, so maybe he’s not as much of a pussy as I thought.” (sidenote: Yes, I do think Johnny ended up hearing about Demetri’s KO kick...and was grudgingly impressed XD) And Hawk just...gawks at Johnny being THIS nonchalant about all of this and he’s just like “Sensei? You...don’t think it’s weird I’m dating a guy?” and Johnny just looks him dead in the eye and says “I don’t give a fuck if whoever you’re making out with has a cock or a pussy, or whatever, as long as it’s not gonna distract you during training. Just play Hide the Salamis on your own time.” And Hawk, now a blushing mess, is just like “Y-YES SENSEI” and stumbles out of the room XD Ironically I think Johnny would probably vouch for the relationship to Daniel later on, and be like “I mean, the kid DID switch sides MID-FIGHT to save that scrawny little nerd. That takes some serious balls, LaRusso. He clearly cares about the wimp, you can stop hovering over them like Demetri’s gonna keel over and die any second.”

Thank you for the ask, as always! More to come!

[lady-griffin]

I Became Engulfed by Desire...

This was a super cute episode and absolutely hilarious. Mary and Maria were the true MVPs of the episode. I loved that these two brilliant and accomplished ladies are absolute dumbasses when it comes to one specific dumbass.

Mary is just comedic gold. She is so goddamn funny and ridiculous. I love her so much.

I’m still laughing at this. Look at this desperate dork who just wants to be with her precious Lady Katarina. 

Maria was also pretty funny, but she was really more of the straight man to Mary being amazing.

Alan was also a great delight. His and Katarina’s scenes were very sweet and endearing and just made me smile. I mean really, how could anyone not smile or have their heart warmed by those two at the end.

ALSO LOOK HOW STUNNING KATARINA WAS!!!!

This episode in general had some stunning scenes. I particularly love this one image.

Beautiful.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode.

-

It is just filler episode, so I will admit a part of me wants to gets back to the actual plot and get to certain scenes. As I am a bit worried that some of favorite scenes will not get the full-attention they deserve.

And I get a bit more concerned when I notice that there is still a sleepover and possible gardening shears extra to be explored in the anime. Based off these images.

While I absolutely love the extra Manga Ch. 17.5 (it’s an absolute delight and just so adorable), I am curious and nervous to see how they will do everything that they have to do in the remaining time they have left.

Though, perhaps the anime isn’t going to adapt the whole Ch. 17.5 plot, but take the essential core of it for a future scene. Similarly, to how the anime adapted Alan’s extra chapter in Vol. 5 (LN) to the last scene of this episode.

I have confidence in the anime, but I’m still a bit nervous.

SPOILERS BELOW

Plot Heavy Future

The anime does have a decent amount to cover in the next four episodes.

Bully Accusation Scene Maria Disappearing Katarina learning about Black Magic/Nightmare Katarina confronting Raphael Infirmary Scene – Everyone upset/why they love Katarina Katarina Revisiting her old life Raphael’s backstory Confronting Raphael Raphael and Katarina talking on her farm Graduation Party

To be fair, some of these scenes won’t take that much time and some could be excluded or combined. But still, it’s a lot.

We’ll have to see how the Gardening Shears and Sleepover Scenes happen and when. But if we only had a choice between the two, I’d picked the former. I really do love Ch. 17. 5 with all my heart and would love to see it adapted into the anime.

Angst

I do hope the next four episodes will do justice for future events. I want my angst and I want it now.

I particularly want Ch. 18 to get so much attention and love from the anime.

It’s one of my favorite chapters. 

I love how everyone is thinking about how much they love Katarina while at the same time are at the horrific realization that Katarina might die and their helpless to stop it. I want that. Give me that angst and more.

I want to suffer.

Alan and Katarina 

If you ship Alan and Katarina, then this episode was a godsend. I personally really enjoyed these two here. 

I loved how the anime  included Alan’s extra POV chapter and Manga chapter from Vol.5 (LN). in this episode. It was well done. 

Their scenes were very sweet and romantic. 

There’s something I quite like about Alan and Katarina. I think it’s because their relationship is based in a genuine friendship.

Alan is really the only one I can see who would take his shoes off and join Katarina up in a tree. So, it’s just nice seeing them interact.

Also, Alan at this point, is the most normal one. And I think to a certain extent he brings that out in Katarina…particularly in this scene. Katarina was just a lovely, normal girl. It was nice.

It was lovely. Absolutely lovely.

Despite no one thinking of him being a real threat in the race for Katarina’s heart, due to him being oblivious of his own feelings, he’s made the most headway.

Also look at him blushing.

Alan x Katarina have certainly moved up in my rankings.

The colors and scenery of the last scene were really stunning. Just gorgeous.  

Katarina’s Desire

She just wants sweets and I love that. Also, she’s like legit eating the Witch’s house from Hansel and Gretel, so that was fun.

I know it’s not that kind of episode, but I would’ve also liked to see Katarina’s deepest desire – avoiding her doomed endings.

While the other characters (and sometimes the narration) believe there is nothing more to Katarina than what’s on the surface, we know that’s not true. Or at least not 100% true.

And I may be looking into this way more deeply than I should.

But since Katarina was essential to everyone else’s desire and she was actually in the book with them, that makes me wonder if Katarina wasn’t there – would they have been satisfied with a fictional Katarina?

Or would they be like Katarina and not be satisfied with their fictional sweets?

The Harem’s Desires

This might be controversial, but I didn’t think their desires for Katarina were honestly that bad as some people have made them out to be. When I had crushes, my ideal situations and fantasies were just as ridiculous and over the top.

That being said, they could’ve definitely improved on how they showed them with one simple fix.

Have Katarina blushing and eyes sparkling, more than what they showed in the episode. That would have easily worked – Katarina is a huge fan of romance. She is so into it (which is why it’s so hilarious she’s oblivious to what’s happening in her life).

I don’t think the desires were awful or even bad, but they were somewhat off-putting for me. And I did feel like they missed the mark.  

Geordo

All I can think about is the weird Matrix moves in his fantasy…what a fucking dork.

But at the core he wants to get married to Katarina and have her all to himself without anyone interrupting them (for one night)…which yeah, I get that. Every time he’s alone with Katarina for more than 3 minutes, Keith breaks down the door.

I have mixed feelings towards Geordo saying he likes the uncomfortable face of Katarina’s. On the one hand, we’re seeing that so-called sadistic side of Geordo that we keep hearing about but never really see. 

But still…bad Geordo. Very bad. I’m rooting for you, don’t make me regret it.

For me, that statement is a darker take on what Geordo’s desire are stated to be in The Light Novels.

There’s a difference between this –

And this- 

It’s the difference between a cabin in the woods vs. a cottage in the forest. Essentially the same concept, but the words make all the difference.

Changing that line from uncomfortable to embarrassed or flustered would’ve been a huge improvement. But there’s nothing we can do about that now and in the end, I did find the overall scene funny.

Though I feel like the anime is a bit of a let down when it comes to Geordo, so there is that. 

Keith

I liked Keith’s desire the least. Surprisingly enough, it really had nothing to do with the pseudo-incest.

It was just the most off-putting for me. I did not like the weird lip-licking thing he did… I wasn’t a fan at all.

Sophia

She’s very bold; I’ll give her that.

But also, poor Sophia. Katarina has no idea that Sophia (or the other gals) has any romantic intention towards her and just thinks it’s fully platonic

…because slamming your friend against a wall is super platonic Katarina…

Nicol

This one was probably the funniest fantasy to me. The sounds Nicol made when he was jumping around the city were so funny to me. It was like they were out of a video game.

Also, Nicol’s desire to be The Devilish Count means that either Katarina or Sophia (definitely Sophia) told him that Katarina sees him being similar to the Count. And I guess after he learned that, Nicol read the entire book series and wants to be that way for Katarina.

He wants to be confident around her and have the freedom (and no guilt) in romantically wooing her.

Which is nice, but also what a dork.

Also, Katarina’s dress in his fantasy is either the same as Katarina’s birthday dress, but in a different color. Or at the very least, very similar.

Possibly because Nicol got to dance with Katarina on her birthday and his fantasy did involve dancing with her. A nice bit of detail.

Mary’s reaction to his fantasy, was a gem among gems.

Alan

He wants to play a recital for Katarina. Which is just so touching. Seriously, Alan is killing me with his sweetness.

If I’m not mistaken, Katarina is wearing the same dress she wore to his recital during their summer break. So, it seems very likely he’s playing “Dedicated to You, My Beloved” to well his beloved.

I’m assuming there was more to his desire, but Mary shutting the book was hilarious.

Also, Alan got pretty damn close to his desire in the real world, so good on him.

-

I feel like it’s safe to say that Mary and Maria’s desire if they were amplified by the book, would be at the same level of everyone else’s’. 

Which is fun to imagine. Especially Mary’s desire for Katarina. 

Also, everyone realizing that not only did Mary and Maria sees their desire for Katarina, but Katarina experienced their desire was so funny. They all just stood up and left. A+ comedy.

The Study Session Growing

It was fun seeing everyone join in on Mary’s alone time with Katarina, one by one, and Mary’s frustration building up.

Evil Harem.

If we ever wanted to see the Harem as “evil,” this is not a bad reference point in terms of visuals.

 Raphael

I love the red herrings surrounding him. It appears he’s just falling for Katarina, which technically he is, but that’s just scratching the surface of what’s actually going on.

-

Overall, it was nice and cute episode and really funny and ridiculous.

We got a bit more of a look into the characters and their desires for Katarina, but really the main development was between Alan and Katarina. Who would’ve thought?

Oh, and Mary being the funniest character alive.

[loveisblindfanfictionbka]

Love Is Blind: Chapter Five

Chris grabbed a large box from his postmaster and placed it into the back seat of his truck. 

“Daddy, what’s that?” Anesa asked.

“Not sure yet. I wasn’t expecting anything in the mail.”

“Oh. Are we gonna get our puppy today?”

“No, we’ll gonna get one on Friday. The only place that has the dog you want is in the city so we’ll go after my afternoon class.”

“Friday? That’s so many days away, Daddy.”

“I know Love Bug but we’re not going into the city until next week so you’ll have to wait.”

“But Daddy.”

“Anesa, we’re not having this conversation. You’ve waited all this time for a puppy, you can wait a few more days, ok?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Good. So what do you want for lunch?”

“Cheese sticks and french fries.”

“You gonna turn into a cheese stick; you keep eating them so much, “ Chris replied with a chuckle as he pulled out of the post office parking lot.

Chris went into his office as Anesa plopped down in front of the TV. He grabbed the box and set it on top of the coffee table then sat down on the couch in front of it. He carefully slit open the top and smiled at the note “You indulged one of my hidden passions, why not indulge yours? Hope you like it (wink).” Chris dug into the box and pulled out a luxury model train set then a collection of various Jazz compilations on vinyl.

“Wow….this woman went all out,” he murmured to himself. He grabbed his phone and took a picture of the gifts before sending it as an attachment through the dating chat. A few minutes passed before he got a response

A: I was wondering if it got there in time

C: This is incredible and way more than what I got you

A: Actually it’s even steven. I looked up how much those poetry collections cost by the way

C: Totally not the same

A: It’s exactly the same.

C: Thank you, Anna

A: You are definitely welcome. So did you get the puppy?

C: We are picking him up on Friday

A: Cool. What did you get?

C; A maltipoo

A: Oh.

C: He is a shelter dog. It sounded like that was something important to you

A: That’s awesome

C; So what are you up to?

A: Nothing. Trying to decide what I’m gonna do for the upcoming two weeks

C: Something new happening?

A: It is my annual office ban.

C: Office ban?

A: My friends and employees got together a few years ago and decided the only way to force me to take time off was to ban me from the office. So they literally take my keys and ban me from coming into work

C: Lol Wow. Are you really a workaholic like that?

A: I like being busy and they hate it

C: Are you busy because you really like your job or you’re hiding?

A: Depends on the day

C: Ah. Do you only take off during this annual ban?

A: Yes

C: Maybe if you got out more, they’d get off your back

A: that’s possible. How was work?

C: I canceled classes today

A: Why?

C: Spring Break starts this week. I usually do classes remotely during the week prior to Spring Break to give my students a longer break but I do keep my office hours so I’ll be on campus Friday, that’s why we’re waiting to get the dog then

A: What do you usually do during a break?

C: Well with the new pet, we’ll probably be getting accustomed to the house but usually we go and visit my sister so Anesa can play with her cousins and such.

A: Does your sister live in NY?

C: Yea, she’s a little further upstate, towards Albany

A: How many additional hours of driving?

C: About another 2 or 3 hours

A: Oh that’s not too bad.

C: Yea. You sound surprised.

A: I was expecting something like away from home vacation

C: I have one scheduled for her birthday in the summer so we’re playing it lowkey for right now

A: Ah, that sounds awesome

C: Why don’t you go on a vacation?

A: I don’t know where I would go. It’s not like I really wanna be around people

C: You could always rent a villa or something and just relax alone

A: That’s true. Any recommendations?

C: Depends on your taste. In the states or another country? Busy or remote? A lot of adventure or quiet activities?

A: Another country. Remote. Quiet.

C: Cannes is nice this time of year especially on the outskirts of the town

A: Cannes, France?’

C: Yea. Is that a problem?

A: No, I’ve always wanted to go there but I never made it

C: Really? I went the year before I got Anesa. Sort of a soul-searching thing

A: How was it?

C: It was beautiful. A nice mix of people and solitude.

A: I might think about it then

C: It is a nice spot for a European vacation

A: Sounds like it. Thanks for the suggestion

C: Not a problem. I can forward you a link to some vacation rentals if you would like

A: That'd be great.

They fell silent for a few moments before Chris started typing again

C: Can I tell you something?

A: Sure.

C: This the closest I’ve ever felt to someone in the last few years. I really appreciate your company

A: That is really sweet, Chris. I appreciate yours as well. It feels good to talk to someone and not feel like I’m crazy or having them think I’m depressed

C: I know the feeling. Sometimes we just have to take our time to get back to where we used to be

A: I don’t think I ever wanna go back to where I used to be

C: You might have to, to get to where you wanna be. Healing has to start at the source

A: And next you’re gonna say that healing hurts

C: It can especially if you have to face some truths that you don’t want to face

A: I guess that’s true.

C: You should really give some deep thought about speaking to your ex or at least to a therapist to get the feelings out. You deserve to be angry and you deserve to be angry at him. Holding it in doesn’t make you as noble as you think.

A: I don’t believe I’m being noble

C: I think you do. I think you think no lashing out makes you more mature when it just makes you more angry. Listen, if he walked away to save you from himself, why are you still letting that torture you?

A: I don’t know

C: Healing isn’t for the other person, it's for you. You deserve to be happy, that’s why you agreed to the divorce, isn’t it? You wanted to be happy too

A: I agreed to the divorce because I didn’t want to face the fact that he didn’t want me

C: So you would’ve stayed?

A: Absolutely. Sometimes you meet a person and they’re just-

C: It. I know.

A: I know something was going on with him, I could feel it but I couldn’t fix it. I didn’t want to be a failure

C: And it wasn’t your job to fix it

A: I could’ve been more supportive. 

C: Do you really think that?

A: When he shut down, I shut down too. I can admit that

C: Which is understandable

A: but not helpful. You don’t have to say it

C: Listen, nobody blames you for trying to stay unscathed. Damaged people can be hard to deal with. I know I wasn’t. I was moody and anxious all the time. Never wanted to talk. Never wanted to do anything. That could drive anybody crazy

A: It just about did

C: Anna, you needed to protect yourself. That’s not failure. You should never sacrifice yourself in that manner. In the whole picture, maybe he should’ve been better and actually spoke to you to do better but at the time, his only option may have been to let you go. That’s not failure. That’s survival

A: Boy, am I glad you can’t see me

C: Lol, why you say that?

A: Because I am a crying mess right now

C: Aww...I’m sorry.

A: No, it’s fine. I just never heard it quite like that. Like I knew it wasn’t my job to fix him but I felt so guilty about leaving even though he was pushing me away

C: When you really love and care about someone, that happens. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think so often we get wrapped in our own pain that we don’t realize how our distance affects others. Was he a bad guy prior to then?

A: No, he was the sweetest and funniest person. He just became so cold and empty. Like literally you couldn’t see any life in his eyes

C: Do you think he didn’t love you?

A: He did love me. I could see it breaking him to tell me to leave but it wasn’t strong enough

C: Then that’s what you need to hold on to. There’s nothing wrong with loving him. And there’s nothing wrong with being angry with him either. You have a right to be but you also have the power to deal with it and determine how you react to it. 

A; You’re absolutely right

C: I think you really should go on a vacation and just take some time to yourself. Some of the locations out there are remote enough that you could stand outside and scream for hours. You need to release it

A: Then what do I do after that?

C: You live. And be happy. And that doesn’t mean you have to date or fall in love with anyone other than yourself. You don’t have to let your anger be your only connection to him, that’s what your love is for.

A: You still love your ex-wife

C: I do.

A: She was it for you, wasn’t she?

C: She was. Still is.

A: How’d you let go?

C: Physically? I distanced myself. I moved out of our old house, I stayed away from our old friends. Emotionally? I still haven’t learned how to

A: Does that part ever get easier?

C: No but I just try and bury it, which probably isn’t healthy but I can’t have her, you know.

A: Did you ever try?

C: Honestly, I don’t know what to say. Besides, I don’t deserve another chance

A: Isn’t that for her to decide?

C: You’re right.

A: I know you think you’re protecting her but lying, even by omission, never helps. You wanna know what to say? The truth. Tell her everything. That much you do owe her.

C: You’re right

A: Who needs a therapist when we got each other?

C: LOL, you are right again. Thanks for the gifts and your gift

A: My gift?

C: Your friendship. It’s refreshing, haven’t felt like this in a long time

A: You’re very welcome. Same to you.

C: I guess I should let you go then

A: You don’t have to if you don’t want to. What else you wanna talk about?

C: How about your connect for these vinyls?

A: Lol

Omg Daddy, look at all the puppies,” Anesa said as she squeezed his hand with delight, “can I get more than one?

“No. We agreed on one puppy and that’s all.”

“Yes Daddy. Is the one I want here?”

“Yup. The shelter manager says that he’s getting checked out right now and then we’ll be able to take him and go.

“Yay!”

Chris chuckled, “no yelling inside, Nesa.”

“Oops.”

A blonde woman walked over to him with a clipboard, “My name is Alexis. How may we help you?”

“Hi. We have an appointment to pick up a Maltipoo named Shep.”

“He is in the back with our resident vet. She runs the clinic next door. Would you like to come back and see him?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all. Follow me.”

Chris and Anesa followed the employee farther back into a vet office. Just as they stopped in the doorway behind Alexis, the doctor looked up.

“Robyn?”

“Chris?”

[mc-slowwalker]

before I continue, I was watching Jack Manifold’s stream while writing this and slightly distracted by the fact that he has hair now

dreamsmp homonormative society is actually the funniest thing that they’ve managed to do and with characters ages and like time in general I tend to just go with a handwavey they’re the ccs ages and time progresses probably

ooh I want c!dream out of the prison sooo bad but also I want more prison streams tooooo. like sometimes I forget the c!techno is even in the prison give me more podcasts to compensate. looooree where is ittt I need it. it’s actually a crime that I’m asleep for 99% of ponk and foolish’s streams 😔✌️

omg I work at a dental clinic and when I read that I just imagined all the dsmp characters just like there and it cracks me up so much

oh I’ll apologise for c!sapnap because I understand where he’s coming from of course. I don’t know if I would say he’s justified exactly in thinking that or well maybe he is because of past experiences but he’s not exactly right in it I wouldn’t say. like I get why sapnap would react in the way that he did but he does have a few misconception about some things but also his character makes me sad sometimes actually c!dteam makes me sad sometimes (read all the time.) lmao ranboo arc nice. I’ve realised I tend to be biased toward c!tommy and c!dream the most funnily enough even though I try to look at it all more objectively when actually analysing lore cause that’s more fun but I will 100% be biased as hell when joking around cause that’s funnier

yeah! I’m enjoying cc!george doing lighthearted lore and the fandom turning it into c!george angst lmao. but also like a way to do lore that he’ll actually enjoy too. YES PLEASE C!PUNZ WHERE ARE YOU. nevermind c!tommy and c!dream it’s actually c!punz that I am most biased towards. and c!tubbo.

yeah!! it’s honestly so awesome what the dsmp has done like there’s something for everyone

also I was really tired while writing this so it’s not as long or coherent and I would say more about the lore foolish did but I haven’t watched it yet (cause I was asleep😪)

Jack manifold having hair is bad but I also think he shoukd get a mullet I just think it would be funny

I don’t think they meant for it to happen? I don’t even know if they’ve realized it yet. I would 100% agree because that’s how I treat character ages but philza is 100000 years old in canon and no kne can take that away from me

Ponk exclusively streams when I have classes and during summer/breaks he streams,,, arguably at a time that I should be awake, but at a time I am never awake. But he’s been doing longer streams recently!

Weirdly enough I kind of have a weird relationship (parasocial) with foolish? When he was first added I was real upset that dream added another white guy to the smp and he was a white guy that I didn’t know. So with philza and friends joining I had already heard of them/got a vouch from other ccs that they would be cool, but foolish was a complete unknown. I got over myself though and he’s really grown on me. I don’t tune into his streams because I tend to dislike streams where streamers are on their own and/or are too low energy. I think I’m a feral boys main because those fuckers so rarely stream without other people shjdjd

Oh shit you work at a dental place?? I’m prevet/vet assistant I feel this weird medical kinship sjdbkfj. But deeper into dream smp people going to the dentist. Techno straight up has tusks. How the fcuk- tommy for sure bites and I’m not even sure ranboo has teeth. I think it would be extra funny if the dentist tried to give quackity a normal colored replacement tooth but he brought his own gold and was like “hey you know what’d look banger” actually I just realized that the gold tooth thing is all fanon isn’t it? Huh

C!Dreamteam makes me sad too, and suprisingly I’m more critical of c!sapnap but less so in the way you’d think? I haven’t forgiven him for the pet wars. I’ve found with joking around I’m more likely to be meaner to c!tommy but take c!dream criticism to heart? High empathy and low sympathy will do that to a bitch ig. I think when people joke about c!dream apologists I’m put on edge because of the sheer amount of people who genuinely think that being a c!dream apologist makes you a morally bad person in real life. I’ve tried to chill a bit and not take stuff personally but rsd is a bitch

I realize now that you meant like characters that you like when you said biased towards but I read it wrong and already wrote a paragraph so it’s too late to go back on it

Cc just make better content when they’re happy, we get better george lore when he’s having fun so I think it’s a good trade off

[divine17]

↳ BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS W/ STEVE HARRINGTON | MASTERLIST

Fandom: Stranger Things

Request: —

Count: 90

A/N: just a sweet lil thing for now. in the process of cooking up some actual fics & stuff though, just take this for now, thanks

The two of you would first meet when you’re young

Kindergarten, in the beginning of the year, when the teacher first assigns seats

You’d be tasked with sitting right beside Steve Harrington

At first, you’d be annoyed by him

He’s always playing with his hair and kicking his feet against the metal chair legs, tapping his pencil against the table

But eventually, the two of you start to get to know each other, and it stops being annoying

And after that, the two of you just clicked

Always begging your parents to let you go to each other’s houses, to spend the night, to let the two of you ride your bikes up to the park together

Over the moon kind of excited when they agreed, and with that, the pair of you became inseparable

As the two of you grew older, you didn't drift apart like your parents had all kind of expected you to

In fact, you only became closer

Still pretty much never apart from one another, all throughout elementary & middle school and into high school

When you’re not home, you're with Steve, and vice versa

Everyone realizes that it’s actually probably safer for you to be together instead of alone so it’s fine, whatever

When he wanted to go to a party? Fine, you’ll lie to your parents and tag along

If you want to go to the pool for the ninth day in a row? Alright, give him a few minutes to get ready

Neither of you had ever really thought of each other as more than best friends until the summer before sophomore year

Steve had started realizing that he’s started getting more nervous around you than he had ever been before

And when you'd fall asleep on his lap or lean over on his chest or shoulder, he can't help but just admire you

You’re so beautiful and you're one of the best people he knows, so kind and intelligent and responsible, and just so fucking gorgeous

And you’re his best friend, he shouldn't be thinking about you like that

So he just puts that on the back burner for a while, trying to forget about it

It takes you a little longer to realize your feelings for him, but boy, when you do...

It was close to midnight and everything in Hawkins was closed, but the two of you were energized and needed to do something, anything, to cure the boredom in your minds

And it was hot, a very warm summer night in July

So the two of you decided to go down to the lake and swim for a while, underneath the stars and bright moonlight

At one point, you went under in the cold water, and Steve snuck up on you

When you came up, he found himself a little closer than he'd expected

He was all you could see, your faces so close, your warm bodies against each other, his dark hazel eyes looking down at you

You were certain you had turned to jelly, your eyes practically hearts, as you looked at him

Bright hazel eyes, bare chest glimmering with water droplets and his hair sticking to his face, he was handsome, and you’d just now realized that

But didn't seem to notice your reaction at all

Steve just grinned, picking you up and putting you on his shoulders to walk back to the shore, where you relaxed and talked for a few minutes before riding home on the back of his bike

Just the memory of it was enough to give you butterflies in your stomach and a little pink blush across your cheeks

Much like Steve, you just tried to shrug the whole thing off, trying not to think too much about it

But as time went on, it seemed as if it was the only thing either of you could think about

The two of you just quietly existed with each other, and from the outside, it surely looked like you were slowly falling apart

But in reality, you’d never really been closer than you were now

It all reached a fever pitch about a year later, in the middle of Junior year

Steve had taken a liking to the party scene in Hawkins, and had quickly increased in popularity

Found a couple of new asshole friends to hang out with when he wasn’t with you, became the town’s Keg King, grown a rather high tolerance to hard liquor (for a 17 year old)

You were never much into it, only really attending a couple here and there when he reaaaaally wanted you there

On Halloween night that year, it all happened so fast

You’d decided to drink with him, which was an uncommon occasion as you were usually his DD

The two of you got absolutely plastered and a little bit high, danced and partied together for a few hours before slowly beginning the short walk back to his house

(Because you’d made & strictly enforced a no biking while inebriated rule a looong time ago after he smashed into someone’s mailbox)

When the two of you got home, you went up to his room, being as quiet as you possibly could (which was actually a bit too loud) in your drunken states

Once you were up there, the two of you flopped down onto his bed and relaxed

And then it was almost like a switch flipped within you

You both went from rambunctious and drunk and loud to calm and almost serene, unusually so

And then slowly, the two of you inched closer to one another, and eventually your lips pressed together in a sweet little kiss

His hand started to drift off to your waist and you eagerly brought your hand to tangle into his hair, pulling him closer

This was exactly what both of you had been waiting for, for so long now

After a moment, you both just pulled away, breaking into manical laughter like it was the funniest thing in the world

It didn’t take long before both of you fell asleep after that

And in the morning, you both pretended not to remember it, but ...

It’s definitely safe to say you did, vividly

Time passed and neither of you said anything, just continued on like usual, even through Will Byers’ disappearance and the events that followed

The two of you were just existing together in peace until he started dating Nancy Wheeler in the first semester of senior year

You couldn’t help but feel a little tiny, itty bitty, minuscule pang of jealousy when you watched him wrap his arms around her, keeping her close or picking her up to kiss her

You just kind of ignored it, hanging out with different people for a while and hoping Steve didn’t notice too much

But he did, it didn’t feel right not having you by his side, especially after the events of last year(/season one)

So eventually, he broke up with Nancy, which was actually pretty great because she got with Jonathan Byers instead, and he seemed much better for her, to say the least

Steve wouldn’t even know where to begin with asking you out

You’d known each other for, what?

Ten, twelve years now?

You’d been everywhere and done everything with each other, always, you were always together and never separate

Hell, he’s literally seen you naked before or whatever but now he’s getting nauseous even thinking about officially spilling his feelings for you even though he was like 70% sure you liked him back

Just so nervous and anxious, more than he’d ever been for any girl

Not any fling or hookup, not any girlfriend he had when he was younger, and certainly not Nancy Wheeler

Eventually, he would just get some pretty flowers and come up to your bedroom window at midnight, knocking quietly on the glass so he doesn’t wake your family

When you answer and give him a shy little smile and invite him in, glad to see him, he just melts and forgets everything he’s planned on saying

His mouth goes dry and his heart starts beating so much faster and his mind is racing and he thinks he might actually fall over dead

So instead, he just sits down on your bed, staring at the roses in his hands

“So, you know, we’ve been friends our whole lives. That’s cool. You’ve always been there for me. When I shot myself with that stapler in the sixth grade and had to go to the hospital, when my parents got me the car. All my birthday parties and shit. Always around, even during the summer when you had better things to do than hang out with me and get stoned and get into trouble. I don’t know, I just really appreciate that and I love you a lot. Anyway so I think I might actually be in love with you and you know, that’d be nice if you could just say something about right now so I don’t just sit here and ramble like an idi-“

He’s cut off from his rant with a kiss that ends with you in his lap, leaning against his chest, foreheads pressed together as you stare into his hazel eyes

“Don’t know why it took so long,” You’d tease. “I’ve wanted to make a move since the lake during sophomore year, shit just kept getting in the way.”

He’s literally stunned to hear you say that, because what?? Even?? What??

The two of you lowkey pillowtalking until he finally asks you the big question

“Does this mean I can call you my girlfriend now?”

“Yes, you doofus, I’m your girlfriend now.”

“And I’m your boyfriend! I’ve wanted to say that for so long, you don’t even know.”

He’s a little too enthusiastic about that, the way he says it is so cute

All of his nervousness and anxiety from earlier just melts away as you just grin at him, that sweet look in your eyes that he loves so much

The two of you end up laying in bed curled up together, talking until you both pass out sometime near five in the morning

The golden yellow haze of the morning sun was just beginning to creep through your bedroom window, the very same one he’d crawled through hours earlier

You’d probably wake up sometime around ten and just decide to go back t sleep, no one will notice that you’re not there

But they do notice, and they definitely take note of how you and Steve are both gone on the same day, and the wild rumors begin to swirl around the school

That’s fine though, because fuck all of them, honestly

You have Steve and he has you and that’s all either of you really need

[jordanrosenburg]

Stranger Things 3

Okay, many spoilers ahead, but honestly if you haven’t binged the season yet???? That’s a you problem. 

I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of this season, well actually there was one thing I wanted and that was for Steve to find love, and I guess he found it...he has a beautiful new friendship with Robin, who was the perfect female addition to the season. It was refreshing to have the kids on summer break, and not have another thing happen during the school year. I love this show and I want it to go on and on, but at the same time, how much more can these kids go through? 

The thing about Stranger Things, is that we are now used to its formula, a formula that works great. We have usually have three different stories happening, the adults, the teens, and the kids. They each are going through their version of a scary movie, and when they all finally come together, they get the job done. This season had a real slasher film vibe to it. Way more guts and gore, and honestly a little too much CGI? It was like watching Teen Wold amirite?

It was kind of cool finally seeing this monster come to life, and not just an image in Will’s head. And it was cool seeing the kids sort of start to become teenagers themselves, and the teens cross slowly into adulthood. I can’t tell what vibe I like more with the pacing of this show. Last season felt really slow, and this season almost felt rushed? We really just dove right in. I’m not a big fan of time skips, I really like knowing how characters get to certain places in their lives. Was Steve so distraught over Nancy that he couldn’t get his grades up? Thus not getting into college? Will he go to community college? I JUST WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR MY SON!

Billy...I just...I feel like I’m still grieving. We knew the season was about him, but I feel like his screen time wasn’t enough, I wanted more. Why was the monster able to possess more so than Will? We got barely an episode in before he was taken over. I thought it would have been a couple episodes in. Dacre did an incredible job, his acting was incredible. The only thing that creeped me out were all of the moms gawking at him at the pool. He is a teenage boy, I don’t care how attractive he is. If the roles were reversed, if that had been a bunch of dads looking at a teenage girl like that, there would have been hell to pay. Billy wanted Mrs. Wheeler, and he is suave, but she should not have even entertained the idea. 

A truly crushing moment was when El saw Billy’s memories of his mother. I think what happened to him happens all too often. A victim of abuse is finally able to escape, but leaves the child behind. She knew what kind of monster Billy would be left with, and it clearly seems like she never did anything to try to get him out of that toxic environment. And in spite of all of this, she was STILL his happiest memories! RIP MY HEART OUT WHY DONTCHA! The other thing that really fucked me up is that Max and Billy must have mended whatever tension or issues they may have had between season 2 and 3. She didn’t seem afraid of him anymore, and she really grieved for him. That shot of her sitting in his room killed me. And I wonder how his fucking shit ass father dealt with it??? 

El and Mike were so adorable the entire time. I truly love a young love. It is so innocent and sweet. I feel like for that moment they got to just be normal tweens without a care in the world. I was surprised to see Lucas and Max still together, but there must be something good there if they keep making it work. Dustin and Suzie were so cute, HOWEVER HAD SHE NOT MADE HIM SING BILLY AND HOPPER WOULD HAVE SURVIVED, OR YOU KNOW IF JOYCE HADN’T HESITATED!!!! I’m just really not a fan of character death until it means something. I feel like these deaths were purely shock value. Hopper went down a hero sure, but HIM AND JOYCE WERE FINALLY GOING TO GET DINNER! And after everything Billy went through? They could have tried harder to save him. Nancy was ready to fucking shoot him. 

Nancy, as usual, just really pissed me off. She is one of the most inconsiderate people I’ve ever seen. I get it, it’s the 80′s, she’s trying to be an equal, that I can respect! What I don’t respect is how impulsive she is. She never thinks about the consequences of her actions. From little things like ruining Jonathan’s pictures, to immediately trying to kill Billy. I get it, you’re all sick of the bullshit, but he was still a person. They didn’t immediately try to kill Will. 

AND POOR WILL JUST WANTED TO PLAY DND! I think it can be so hard at that age. Some people grow up at different rates than others, and he felt out. I also think he knew he was going to be moving, and just wanted to complete one more campaign with his friends before he broke the news. It also made me sad that we didn’t get much time with all four boys together. It was great to see how close Dustin and Steve had gotten, but they should have learned by now that they all work better when they’re together, not separated. 

How about Steve coming in clutch with the car to save Nancy and the kids??? NOT EVEN A THANK YOU FROM HER! Okay, maybe there wasn’t time for a thank you, but their interactions just felt awkward, and there’s not need for it. I will say I was happy there was no love triangle. My heart did get sad when Robin asked Steve if he still loved Nancy, and when he said no it was basically because he found this love for Robin. My poor baby was still hurt! And when he said that she really wasn’t a priss. There had to have been a conversation about her hooking up with Jonathan at some point that had to have solidified that they were over. I still don’t care for the way she treated Steven, could ya tell???

A theory I have about El: are her powers starting wear off because the effects of what she went through at the lab wearing off? Think about it, she hasn’t been contained and tested on for over a year. Maybe her body is finally regulating. This does mean that if this thing comes back, which it seems like it will since there is one in Russia being used for testing, she herself will be defenseless. Luckily the other kids are good at protecting her. 

At the end we see the subtitles, “No, not the America”. Does this mean Hopper somehow survived? I don’t know how possible this is since everyone else in the lab fucking melted, but he could have been on high enough ground to escape, but may not have escaped fast enough for the American troops to come in. The Russians may have captured him as one final fuck you. I think I started tearing up when he gave one last smile to Joyce. He annoyed me at the beginning of the season with him being overprotective with El, but his letter, which made me sob, helped drive his point home. Also, him shooting off the machine gun while screaming EVERYONE OUT was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. 

The kids all saying goodbye made me cry as well. I wonder how far away Joyce will take them. Something tells me their troubles will follow. I hope we don’t have to wait three years to figure out what happens next. My prediction is that season 4 will be the final season because again, how much can these kids go through. 

One final thing, the soundtrack, yet again, was killer. Moving in Stereo is the song I have on repeat. Season 1 it was Sunglasses at Night and some of the original synth music. Hearing Hero again at the end of this season also made me cry. It really felt like a lot was wrapping up. 

Alright, I’m done rambling for now. 

[purplesurveys]

711

How fast can you say the alphabet? I can say it quickly without my accent failing me, I guess? I’m too lazy to time it. What are you allergic to? None. How many serious relationships have you had? Just one. If you could read one person's mind, who would it be? I wouldn’t want to target one person like that. I’d only be picking my dog’s so I can hear what he thinks of me, ha. If someone dared you, what dare would you be afraid to attempt? Eating/drinking anything rotten.

How do you like your eggs? Scrambled or over easy. What's your most expensive piece of clothing? Probably my shoes. Most of them are several thousand bucks. What was your last big achievement? The last objectively big achievement I made was finishing the first half of my thesis and getting the go signal to finish the rest of it. But if we’re counting tiny steps that feel like big achievements, it’s having an article published in my org’s publication this week. I co-wrote it with JM and Rick, but it still feels nice to get to say I was productive during the quarantine. What famous person's memoir would you like to read? I’m willing to read anyone’s biography/autobiography since it’s one of my favorite genres. But at the moment I’m probably most willing to read something about Kim Jong Un since it’s generally hard to find material in North Korea as it is, and it would be fascinating to hear about their life and culture there. Have you ever had a "false alarm" moment, what was it about? Sure. A few months ago I was in Manila for a workshop and my car wouldn’t start when it was time to drive back home. Pressing any button on the key fob wouldn’t work and I couldn’t open the doors, so I was pretty much just locked out. I was already stuck there for a while and I was starting to panic, so I called up my parents to ask for help and they were already getting dressed to drive all the way where I was. Right before they left the house Jhian was mysteriously able to make stuff work and opened my door and I gave my parents the happiest “false alarm” ever haha. Do you know how to ride a bike? I don’t. My dad recently pumped air into the wheels of the bike that we have in the house so I can practice riding it throughout the quarantine, but I just can’t. I never did learn what my friends say when they tell me to just “find my balance.” If you could breed two species together what new animal would you create? No thanks. What 5 world leaders would you make sit down in a room to discuss issues? Isn’t that already the point of UN? If you were in the hospital who are the two people you'd want by your side? Gab and my dad. When was the last time you cried and what made you cry? Ooh ya got me. With this quarantine not letting me go anywhere and giving me new experiences, I’ve had no reason to cry lol. 

The last most vivid reason I remember crying was that one Wednesday in February where everything went wrong  – Andrew and I got red marks all over our thesis and we got practically yelled at over how bad our work had been so far; accidentally spewing peanut sauce all over the said thesis draft immediately after it was returned to us; almost losing this one thing for the org that I 100% WAS NOT allowed to lose, and having to ask Andrew to go back to campus at mid-fucking-night just to retrieve it and feeling shit the whole time for asking that of him; and having to deal with an unresponsive source for an article I needed to write and finish ASAP. I cried nonstop until like 2 AM that night. If you could ever take a street sign, what sign do you want? It’d be such a pointless steal, so no thanks. What is your favorite ride at any amusement park? Haha anything mild and for kids tbh. My stomach can’t handle rides. Have you ever raised money for charity? I haven’t spearheaded any fundraisers but I’ve donated for some, like whenever workers from exploitative corporations go to UP to visit some classes, talk about their struggles, and ask for support. How do you feel about growing older? I’ve got little time to be scared of it because getting old just happens all the time and constantly. I just take it for what it is and learn along the way. What wild animal scares you? Probs lion. I’ve never seen one in real life and movies and shows have conditioned me to think they’ll attack any human that comes close enough, soooooooo no thanks. I’d love to be corrected and to find out that they’re big softies, though. Do you think actors and athletes are overpaid? I can argue that for some actors, but definitely not athletes. Athletes bust their ass day in and day out and are in constant need of training, transportation, and the adequate gear, equipment, etc. Some actors just have to sit pretty and they wouldn’t even be good at it. Have you ever been alienated, if so for what? This was me for most of what you’d call middle school. People were starting to be more conscious of trends and using it as a basis for who to hang out with, so while everyone had a Blackberry, got side bangs, and listened to The Summer Set, I was struggling to fit in a place where my love of wrestling would be accepted. Of course there was none, and I felt left out for a while.

More recently, this was also me in applying for AIESEC but I’ve already touched on that a couple of times here. The alienation was so bad my friends and I just resort to laughing about my experience whenever it gets brought up. Have you ever not returned something you borrowed and if so what was it? I have a couple of Gab’s jackets, but she doesn’t mind me keeping them since I get cold quicker and more often. When you pack your lunch, what's your favorite packed lunch? Loooove when my dad makes curry for me to bring to school. What was the one most important thing you learned from your parents? It’s impossible to start at the bottom and work your way to the very top. I’m constantly worried about staying at the bottom, so it’s always comforting to see how far they’ve come.

On a parenting note, I’ve learned that I should talk to my future kids the way they are – kids. Ever since I can remember my mom has always gotten mad at me as if I was already an adult, so it’s made me permanently terrified of all adults/the idea of pissing anyone off. She would always just get mad, banging stuff around, and never explain to me what I did wrong, so to this day I get very self-punishing when I feel like I’ve done something wrong but don’t exactly know what it was I did.

How fast can you run? I used to be good as a kid which is what landed me on the track team in grade school, but I didn’t enjoy running so I did it less and less every year. Now I’m just meh at it. Have you done something you worry could come back to haunt you, what? Nothing that bad, no. What is your most favorite feature of your favorite electronic device? I’m very happy with the battery life of my laptop, considering how 1) my old Macbook Air only had a battery life of one hour, and 2) the laptop I had before had a damaged battery to begin with so I couldn’t even use it/bring it anywhere unless it was plugged in. The 10-hour battery life for my current one is a fucking dream for me lmao. If you had to build a small ark, what 7 animals would you save? All the endangered ones so like an elephant, Philippine eagle, panda, orangutan, tiger, and a rhinoceros. I’d save the last slot for a stray dog. What is your favorite Christmas or holiday tradition? I love going over to my mom’s cousins’ place and have our tradition of exchanging gifts singing My Monito/Monita. What novel would you love to be transported into to live out your days? I prefer non-fiction, soz. What is your favorite hiding place? MY CAR. It’s seen my worst breakdowns, my sleeping sessions in the middle of the day, and the days where I’m okay but simply need a break from everyone. If I feel like being alone I just head inside, recline my seat, and tune out the whole world. What is something your parents love that you actually love too? Indian food. Have anyone ever said "I love you" and you couldn't say it back. This is me with my mom. I’ve stopped saying “I love you” ever since I came to terms with the fact that she has brought a lot of trauma into my life and it would be unfair to the both of us (mostly me, heh) if I said it back. Have you ever ridden a camel? I haven’t. It would be very difficult to find a camel on this side of the planet.

What's been the hardest loss you've had to take? My grandfather and Nacho. What emotion is your least favorite and the one you are not in touch with? I hate feeling embarrassed obviously, but I’m regularly in touch with it because there’s always at least one event a day where I fuck up and I feel extremely embarrassed. Do you think facial moles or freckles are cute? I don’t mind them. They’re not a common facial trait where I live, so I’m more fascinated by them than anything else. Would you ever pick up a hitchhiker? I’ve read too many accounts of serial killers where hitchhikers were involved to feel skeptical about them but I know I’d also feel bad if I ignored them. I honestly don’t know what to feel about them as I don’t live in a hitchhike-y area.

What was your funniest computer or phone wallpaper? Eh, I don’t really pick wallpapers to find them funny. If you're searching for a relationship, where is your go place to look? Unapplicable for my demi ass. When and where are you happiest? Either anywhere with Gab or Skywalk with my orgmates. What was your favorite age, so far? 16 has so far been the year with the least fuckups. What is your favorite part of the day? Typically, it would be the moment I realize I’m done with everything that needed to be done for that day, like if my last meeting has ended or if I’m finished with my last class, and all that’s left to do is to drive home. What book have you read multiple times? The Septimus Heap series up til the 5th book (there are 7) only because in the past I had always made plans to restart and finish the whole series, but I never did get around to finishing it so I’ve only just kept restarting and restarting the books.   Do you keep a budget? No budget. What matters to me is at least being able to have savings at the end of the week, which is tbh not the smartest thing to do. Have you ever test driven a car you knew you weren't going to buy? Nope, I’ve never gone car shopping like that. Pretend you're doing an interview, what's the first question? Uhhhhhhhhhh idk depends on what the interview is for? What do you have a hard time visualizing? Everything. I’m not a very visual person and creativity is my weak point, so I genuinely struggle if I do have to imagine anything. Abstract reasoning has always been my least favorite part of tests. What makes you feel uncomfortable in group settings? If all of them already know each other and I am just starting to try and fit in – it’s worse if they’re all loud and extroverts. The former is what made my internship hard for me in the beginning, but thankfully they were all very nice and could tell I was shy so they knew not to overwhelm me by being too loud. What was your worst date ever? I haven’t had a bad date. Have you ever gotten in a bidding war on Ebay, if so for what item? Nope. If you had to pick one food to eat everyday for life, what would it be? Risotto or chicken wings. For dessert, macarons. Are you supportive of your friends even if you don't agree with them? As long as their choice doesn’t entail stepping on human rights, e.g. not being pro-choice or supporting a president that supports killing the poor, I’ll be fine with the disagreement. Have you ever used the opposite sex restroom in an emergency? Yeah I had a bad nausea attack one time and needed to vomit but I only had enough time to run to the men’s bathroom before I started throwing up everywhere, so that’s where I ran. What did you think was stupid until you tried it? Ube cheesecake. I really hate ube flavor and I hate everything it’s in, but I gave it a chance when a local bakeshop incorporated ube in cheesecake since it’s my favorite kind of cake. I ended up really liking it and now I often look for it when we have family get-togethers. What subject do you and your parents never see eye to eye on? Politics, duh. Where do you see yourself in 1 year's time? Having a job, out of the quarantine, maybe saving for a trip. How scared of the dark are you? I’m fine with the dark as long as I’m not somewhere that’s meant to be haunted. What is your favorite type of seafood? Crab fat, sashimi, eel, and sea urchin. What triggers your inner shopaholic? I don’t really have a trigger. I don’t even consider myself a shopaholic. I just shop for new clothes once I feel like I’ve been repeating my clothes too much. What is the rudest thing a person can do to another person in your opinion? Insulting dead parents is one. Except if you’re the Marcoses, heh. What public figure do you disagree with the most? President Duterte, obviously. I wanna barf just having to call him President. Do you think you could ever be a firefighter, why/why not? Nope, because I’m terrified of fire and I don’t have half the stamina needed to carry the shit they have to lift when they have to put out fires. What is/was your favorite bedtime story? I don’t have any. My favorite kids’ book was Corduroy, though. What was the last thing to make you feel happy? My dog going down the stairs and going straight to me for pats once he was done. What is your opinion on rats as pets? Rats are pests here so I find it pretty disgusting. I think hamsters are fine, though. What is something you're afraid to try? Cliff diving, bungee jumping... anything that would give me the sensation of leaving my stomach behind lmao. What cartoon character best describes you? Mr. Peanutbutter from BoJack Horseman. What keeps you interested in your goals or dreams? The fact that I went through so much shit as a child/teenager that I absolutely have to make myself happy in the end, and I can only do that by achieving my goals. What is your favorite actress beginning with the letter J? Jessica Chastain. What song makes you dance uncontrollably? Crazy in Love by Beyoncé, heh. If you wanted to live off the radar where would you live? I was gonna say Sagada but everyone knows it’s my favorite place so it’d probably be one of the first areas they’d start to look... so I’d go with Batanes. That place can’t get any more secretive with their sporadic phone signal and nonexistent internet/data connection. Do you like nachos, if so what topping is a MUST have? Melted cheese. Do you have any subscriptions? Netflix and (technically) Spotify. Which is better, Mario or Sonic? Mario. I’ve never played a Sonic game and I’ve only ever encountered him playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is a Mario-themed game to begin with. Who is the most creative person you know? Alex, someone from my high school who can recreate any. thing. Art is in her blood; she was my seatmate for one sem and she was constantly doodling and drawing and making new stuff in every class we were in. Besides a pickle, what is your favorite thing pickled? I hate pickles and anything pickled :/ Not really in the Filipino palate. What did you do for your 21st birthday? If not, 21 what are your plans? I celebrated it mostly alone because Gab couldn’t be present. Angela made me feel better by taking me to dinner and an arcade.

Are you a role model for anyone in your life? I dunno. I hope so, for at least one person. What song do you hate the most? Any song by The Vamps or Meghan Trainor. Do you think you need to slow down and enjoy life more? Isn’t slowing down what we’re all kinda forced to do right now? Can you impersonate anyone famous? Eh, sure. It’s fun to copy Gordon Ramsay for one hahaha. If you could go back in time to change one thing what would it be? Going out of my shell as early as freshman year and avoiding the semester-long breakdown/depressive episode I had. Can you honestly say you're enjoying your life right now? I can’t say I’m unhappy lmao. I have no problem doing nothing at home for more than a month – besides, this already serves as the break I planned to have shortly after graduating. After this I’ll be really ready to start looking for a job. What is your favorite salty snack? Pringles. What is your favorite restaurant? Yabu, Torch, Pound by Todd English, or Frankies. Idk man, I’m craving so much shit now that I haven’t eaten out for more than a month.  Have you ever been in a play for school? Yeah, we were all required to be in all the annual school productions from kinder to senior year.

[jasiper]

my experience at tlt musical

hi friends! as you guys may know, last night i had the chance to go to the lightning thief musical and it was so much fun! since i need to babble about how amazing it was and all my favorite parts, i decided tumblr is the way to go :’) under the cut because i have no clue how long it’ll be, but as it’s 1:30am and i am pretty tired, i’ll try to make sure this actually makes sense

mrs. dodds saying “kronos” every two seconds when chiron was trying to tell the story of the gods was so funny

PERCY PULLING OUT RIPTIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS HONESTLY GOD TIER. CHRIS’S REACTION IS 100% HOW I ENVISION PERCY REACTING

percy talking about the field trip and casually slipping in the fact he got expelled between talking about art... then sally saying “i know. the headmaster called.” followed by percy’s “...about the art?” SO CUTE

percy spraying febreze when gabe enters was the funniest thing in the entire world, i actually cackled

SALLY STANDING UP FOR PERCY TO GABE BY SAYING HE ISN’T GABE’S KID! POP OFF SALLY

chris shoved his face full of marshmallows during strong and was still singing with a marshmallow wedged in his cheek. he is so cute

strong also made me emo as hell, just saying!

grover shows up stuck in a garbage can which was so funny

percy waking up from his dream immediately to be told by annabeth “you drool in your sleep”. those kids own me

everything about mr. d was so great. jorrel honestly killed it!

“i need a drink” me too mr. d, me too

WHEN RYAN GALLOPPED WITH JUST A TAIL I LOST IT. I KNEW IT HAPPENED. I STILL COULD NOT STOP FROM LAUGHING. IT WAS SO FUNNY.

“you’re my dream girl!” “are you sure he doesn’t have a concussion?” GOD CHRIS AND KRISTIN HONESTLY JUST KILLED THE PERCABETH DYNAMIC. YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA. I CANNOT PUT INTO WORDS HOW AMAZING THEY PORTRAYED THEIR RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS. SO WHOLESOME.

PERCY MAKING LIGHT SABER NOISES WHEN HE MOVES RIPTIDE AND ANNABETH TELLING HIM IT’S NOT A LIGHT SABER GOT ME

okay but chris was so amazing when percy found out sally was gone. his voice kept breaking and it was so emotional. my angsty son.

PERCY AND GROVER’S HUG WHEN THEY SEE EACH OTHER AFTER PERCY WAKES UP! SO CUTE! SO PURE!

the capture the flag scene... so good. the whole song, everything. sarah beth kills it at clarisse.

i’m probably so biased because i love the song, but the campfire song was so good. grover popping up and yelling “my turn! my turn! IT’S MY TURN!” then he cried and annabeth, silena, and katie all tried to comfort him, but the second the chorus came back he was dancing again! so cute!

the dancing in the campfire song just gets me too!

percy finding out his dad is poseidon and getting all excited until everyone else moves away from him :((

mr. d said and i quote “the master bolt! it’s not a jagged tin foil thing you find in a traveling musical!” which was so funny, i love when actors break the fourth wall

the oracle was such a cool scene! i love how they did it!

okay good kid is when i cried a decent bit. chris portrays so much emotion in this song. i was so moved but his singing, his facial expressions, everything. i knew it was going to emotional but i didn’t truly grasp the magnitude until i was there! (also because mari asked, percy did not say fuck. #LetPercySayFuck2019)

killer quest was such a fun song! the original trio getting excited about leaving! so cute!

okay during intermission we got the announcement that kristin was being replaced with sarah beth because kristin blew her voice out during act 1, but she finished the act before pulling out which i think is so cool! i was pretty disappointed but kristin obviously knows her limits and her health comes before anything else.

lost! was so good. i love that song so much and it was the first time sarah beth sang as annabeth and it was good!

grover messing around with uncle ferdinand’s statue (rip)

sarah beth did amazing in my grand plan. her vocals are killer!

drive was also a super fun song, james finally came out as ares and it was awesome!

tree on the hill was another song that made me teary. jorrel was amazing and poured everything into the song. so good.

DOA man! holy crap! jalynn is crazy talented! her vocals! such a good song!

the trio almost getting pulled into tartarus: “i think that’s tartarus.” “like the fish sauce?” “NO. tartar-us.”

HADES. SO GOOD. SO FUNNY. “poseidon’s too busy to come visit his brother” as he cries was GOD TIER. i did not expect hades to be that funny but hey! it was hilarious!

the son of poseidon was also amazing, i love that song so much. “it’s a seashell!”

poseidon acting like a stereotypical surfer dude... so funny. “i wish you weren’t born.” “wow, really?”

poseidon flirting with sally, percy getting very uncomfortable and saying “yeah..... that’s my dad”

i could write an entire essay on the last day of summer. an entire essay. luke’s reprise always gets me, but seeing james perform it live. chills. actual chills. james is so crazy talented everyone, hype him tf up.

OKAY. THE PERCABETH SCENE. i wasn’t sure how it was going to be (i was so looking forward to kristin and chris) but sarah beth and chris killed it! THEIR NOSES BRUSHED, PEOPLE. I THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO KISS. 100%. ANNABETH CUPPED PERCY’S CHEEKS IN HER HANDS AND THEIR. NOSES. BRUSHED.

THEIR. NOSES. BRUSHED.

“seaweed brain...” “wise... girl?” wow i was in tears

bring on the monsters had me in tears again! it was such a great end to the musical, friends. words cannot even describe how fitting the end was.

and then, of course i stage doored.

i told james he was the perfect luke and he told me that compliment makes him so happy :’) such a sweet dude

wow this is blurry BUT sarah beth told me that she loves signing books! i was the only one back there who had the book instead of the program so i felt really stoked to be the only one to bring my copy of the lightning thief

ryan was wearing a medusa shirt and i complimented it and he was so excited i noticed. he also told me he has a centaur shirt lmaooo

and finally jorrel. he is so sweet! my hands were shaking when he got to me and i apologized and he was like “oh my god no! you’re fine! you’re fine!” he is the actual sweetest. i then asked him who runs the twitter account and he said they won’t tell him. i told him how they roasted me on my birthday so i thought it was him so he was like “they roast me all the time! i wouldn’t do that to myself!” and i pointed out he was in the show so he deserved it instead of me but he was like “they do it all the time though!” jorrel stayed out the longest with us and kept hugging everyone and ugh! i love him!

now my book is all signed up and i absolutely love it :’)

so, to sum up a very long post, if you have the opportunity to see the musical, please do. the musicians and cast pour their entire heart into it and it was so evident through this performance. it made me so happy. words cannot describe how i felt while watching it and how i feel now! my heart is actually soaring. i cannot articulate how amazing it was to be immersed in the show and to be surrounded by other fans. this was what we deserved from the movies! just... if you have the means/resources to watch it, do it. no hesitation. i highly recommend going to see it, friends.

[nicol3houghts]

STOP WATCHING THE OFFICE:   other things to watch this summer

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ZIE OFFICE!! But as much as it pains me to say, the office isn’t a personality trait, so I’ve decided to make a list (e.g. Buzzfeed lists) of my top 16 recommendations for TV and podcasts to watch and listen to—since we all need to stop being basic bitches and FOCUS! 

I hope you listen to me when I say these shows are amazing and actually watch them if you have the time. I'm doing this because I care about you and your TV preferences.

I'll break it up by streaming service, starting with Netflix then Hulu, YouTube, then Podcasts last.

*I apologize in advance for the lousy grammar and lack of editing, but also not really sorry bout it.

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On NETFLIX:

1. Arrested Development

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 91

Hours to Binge: 35

Okay, number one on my list is Arrested development. A lot of people I talk to, especially in my age range, don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, but this show is GENIUS... on G*D. I’ve watched it around four times now, and each time it gets better and better. I read somewhere that it was created as a satire of Bush-era incompetence and idiotic hanky-panky during the Iraq war. But at its heart, the show’s about a rich family with four adult children—who are all goofy and quirky. Their dad get’s thrown in jail for doing business with terrorists or something like that and Micheal Bluth (Jason Bateman) has to get them out of weird ass situations.

Above is one of my favorite scenes  (Best clip I could find on youtube!!).

This show has a LOT of jokes and long running bits that you kind of have to pay attention to to get the storyline. It’s hella META, and at times, can be really weird (see George Micheal Bluth and Maeby Fünke’s little Les Cousins Dangereux). In conclusion, however, Jason Bateman is hot, Micheal Cera is hot, and Tony Hale is ~super~ hot.

P.S. a lot of memes come from this show that you would know but don’t know that it’s from this show.

2. The Haunting of Hill House

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 10

Hours to binge: 9

Scary as f*ck! Do not watch yourself or u will die. I warned you.

I'm not going to spoil it too much, but it's about a family living in a spooky house and crazy ass shit keeps happening to them. They eventually move out, but even 20 years after--when the kids are all adults--the haunting of the house follows them.

There's even a 17 min scene that they shot in one shot!!!!!!!! That's wiLD.

3. Schitt's Creek

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 66

Hours to binge: 25

Yet another show about a rich family loosing all their money. A bit different than Arrested Development. This show is about a rich ass family loosing all their money and resorting to live in Schitt's Creek--a town in Nowhere, U.S.A. the family bought as a JOKE. It's a really easy watch. The characters in this show are SO un-relatable and mean it's hilarious--only if u f*ck wit dry humor tho.

Here's my favorite character, Alexis Rose just being iconic:

Give it a try, the first few episodes are rocky, but it gets better. That's a guarantee.

4. American Vandal

Number of Seasons: 2

Number of Episodes: 16

Hours to binge: 9

A lot of people already probs watch this show, but it's honestly so beautifully written. The show is an homage to Making a Murderer, a true crime mockumentary of sorts. It follows two guys, Sam and Peter as they try to figure out a mystery: WHO DREW D*CKS ON THE TEACHER'S CARS?

Also, JIMMY TATRO!!!!!

Season 2 follows a different crime and it's... it's poopy.

5. Mindhunter

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 10

Hours to binge: 9

YUH. Just started this, already on ep. 8, very interesting. Mindhunter is about the first FBI agents to use profiling to catch serial killers. THE CHARACTERS IN THIS SHOW WALKED SO THAT HOTCH AND REID COULD RUN.

This show is no joke and based on true serial killers like the coed killer, the shoe fetish killer, and BTK, it's very.... very creepy.

ALWAYS carry pepper spray on ya, that's fer sher.

6. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

pinot noir, caviar

7. John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid

eat ass, suck a dick, and sell drugs

8. The Good Place

is it really the good place?

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On Hulu:

9. Broad City

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 50

Hours to binge: 18

One of the greatest television series of all time about two baller best fraaands who get into the schemes of the century in New York City. Illana, a ferocious kween wit ZERO f*cks, and Abbi, an aspiring artiste with a great ass. The two work min-wage jobs in NYC (so they're broke) and they're just trying to find luv and a good bacon egg and cheese.

Think Sex and the City but fresh and new and wild. Abbi and Ilana's dialogue and schemes are relatable af, it makes it seem like you're there with them. Their co-dependency is so powerful... yet at moments, a lil destructive. I once had a friendship like this.. and let me tell you... co-dependency is a wild ride.

Some of the funniest scenes in this show is just of them talking on the street. Sometimes, when I'm walking with my friends, I pretend like I'm in the show lol.

I recommend you start from beginning to end because of the endless callbacks and running gags, but if not start with season 3, episode 7 B&B-NYC. Blake Griffin is in it.

10. Community

Number of Seasons: 6

Number of Episodes: 110

Hours to binge: 41

What can I say about this show to make you watch it? Well first of all the fact that Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) is in it should already have you clicking over to Hulu by now.

Community is about seven quirky misfits: a disbarred lawyer, a failed housewife, an activist everyone hates, a racist old man, a stupid jock who lost his sports scholarship, a high-strung know-it-all who took too much adderall, and abed. They all end up at Greendale Community College with a phsyco spanish teacher and a colorful dean. 

This show is kind of a parody of a sitcom, and it is VERY meta--often referring to themselves as TV show characters. The seven get into hilarious adventures and obstacles along the way. The show also genre hops from time to time. For example, they have a whole pillow fort vs. blanket fort episode (Pillows and Blankets, season 3, episode 4) in a Ken Burns documentary style, an episode in claymation for Christmas (Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas, season 2, episode 11), and a bunch of paintball episodes in style of Quentin Tarantino and StarWars.

Again, you should start at the beginning, but if you want to get into it quickly, I really loved Pillows and Blankets (season 3, episode 4).

11. The Mindy Project

As a "petite asian woman" who is not petite, this show is very relatable. About finding love and eating good in the big apple.  

P.S. If you don't like Kelly from the office, you're dead 2 m3.

12. Brooklyn 99

Cool. coolcoolcoolcool. Jake Peralta is the greatest detective/genius.

13. Superstore

If Walmart and the office had a baby and it was incompetent.

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On YouTube and Facebook Watch:

14. The Real Bros of Simi Valley

Number of Seasons: 2

Number of Episodes: 14

Hours to binge: 4

You straight up know these guys, fool. Four stoner/burn-outs who think your hometown's Mexican food is the best in the world. Amazingly written and surprisingly good acting. Lightweight lowkey thought they were speaking another language at first.

Jimmy Tatro, Cody Ko, Getter, and Nick Colletti. What more do you want? LITERALLY WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?

The unnecessary drama and endless quotable jokes in this show leads you wanting more with only 14 episodes totaling at around four hours.

Watch the first season YouTube here:

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

---------------------------------------------

Podcasts:

15. Tiny Meat Gang

Aha hah bro last night was a movie bro ON GOD.

Noel Miller and Cody Ko talk about literally anything, but goofy. I can listen to them talk for straight up hours.

I usually listen on Apple Podcasts, but you can also watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/ZCMs4FrC_c0

Just start listening, bro.

16. My Favorite Murder

No shade to Codel, but My Favorite Murder is my all time favorite podcast. Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark  are two hilarious women who love murder. Not murdering, but the psychology of murderers and survivors. Each Thursdays each of them tell a story about a murder. They don't make fun of murders, but it's their banter that makes it fun to listen to.

If you're a fan of true crime at all, please listen so I have more people to talk about it with. shouts outs Jenna for putting me on to the show!

Here are my favorite episodes!

*tip: skip the first 15-20 min to the first murder when first listening.

150: How Dare You Kill Kelli

The Hanging of Alice Riley and The Murder of Reyena Marroquin

131: The Uninhibited

The Murder of Standford White and The Case of the Boys on the Tracks

[madamekyberpunk]

Film Diary (July 12, 2020 - Dec 28, 2020)

JULY

July 12, 2020: KNIVES OUT (Dir. Rian Johnson)

We get to see Rian Johnson finely tune his craft in real time, and I find it exciting. I’ve been on a binge of his work as-of-late and a recurring theme of most of his movies is them being a commentary on themselves or the genres they’re working within. I think this movie nails that trick on the head without patting itself on the back too much. The ensemble cast is expertly chosen and works together really well, and you can tell just by watching it that they were having fun on set. The cast is grounded by Ana de Armas’ quietly brilliant performance. My favorite Rian Johnson movie is still reserved for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but I do think this is his best work so far.

July 13, 2020: MERMAIDS (Dir. Richard Benjamin)

A slightly more absurd version of Lady Bird, if Lady Bird was made in the nineties. A good addition to the strained-but-loving mother-daughter relationship cinematic universe.

July 15, 2020: THE UNTOUCHABLES (Dir. Brian De Palma)

This is actually the first mafia movie I’ve ever seen, and honestly...it was probably a bad one to start with. Although it was entertaining and tense at all the right moments, the whole thing just felt empty. Every character seemed half-baked and none of them really had any development. De Palma could’ve gone grittier for an R-rating and made his interpretation of Al Capone a little less cartoonish; Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness was doing the absolute least, and Robert De Niro’s Al Capone was doing the absolute most.

July 31, 2020: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Dir. Marc Webb)

For some reason I have unintentionally seen almost all of Marc Webb’s filmography, and I have to say that I’m underwhelmed by all of it. While watching I found myself reflexively comparing this to Webb’s The Amazing Spiderman and maybe it ruined my viewing experience a little bit. Both of them have lots of super mumbly, drawn-out conversations and an interpretation of an “indie” style that just seems...bland to me. (Also, both of them have pale women with bangs and men with undiagnosed depression.) I don’t know, I just feel like if you want a rom-com with a realistic depiction of romantic relationships, you should just go watch The Big Sick.

AUGUST

August 14, 2020: LATE NIGHT (Dir. Nisha Ganatra)

Emma Thompson was great in this, and I think Mindy Kaling is very underrated as a writer (in some ways, I think she is the modern Nora Ephron). I’ve seen quite a few reviews claiming that this movie plays along with conventions, but I don’t necessarily think that conventions are inherently bad as long as they’re executed well. In this case, they were.

August 22, 2020: THE FAREWELL (Dir. Lulu Wang)

I’d classify this as a really good movie that just didn’t click with me. It was a complete, “it’s not them, it’s me,” situation. It was smartly directed with a focused, sharp script and an excellent leading performance from Awkwafina - I can see why people were upset that it got snubbed at the Oscars - but it just wasn’t my thing. The only time I really connected with it emotionally was the ending.

August 22, 2020: KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE (Dir. Rachel Lears)

The only piece of media currently in existence that somehow makes me feel a sense of patriotism for this hellscape of a country.

SEPTEMBER

September 5, 2020: BARRY (Dir. Vikram Gandhi)

Speaking of living in a hellscape of a country, I have mixed feelings about the Obama presidency - but this movie isn’t about his presidency. It isn’t indicative that he’ll be president at any point. It’s essentially a piece of historical fiction about race and American identity that happens to use Barack Obama as its protagonist. You could replace him with any other dude with a background similar to his and it still would’ve been interesting.

September 8, 2020: UNICORN STORE (Dir. Brie Larson)

If there’s one word to describe this movie, I’d say, it’s cute. Not in a patronizing type of way, but in a this-movie-feels-like-a-warm-hug type of way. I like this Brie Larson vehicle much more than Captain Marvel, mainly because I feel like she’s having more fun in this and she gets to wear more colors and Samuel L. Jackson has tinsel in his hair and also there’s a unicorn in it. I’m a simple girl with simple needs. I also think Samuel L. Jackson should be adorned in tinsel in every film he’s in without explanation (I might actually watch Pulp Fiction if Jackson’s character had a sparkly afro in it). This movie also made me stan Mamoudou Athie - I think he plays a good straight man and I hope that they don’t waste him in Jurassic World: Dominion, although I’m not getting my hopes up.

September 11, 2020: LADY BIRD (Dir. Greta Gerwig)

I waited a criminally long amount of time to finally watch this. I can’t really say anything about this movie that hasn’t already been said. It’s good! It’s genuine and sweet and I liked seeing Timothée Chalamet play a pretentious asshole.

September 12, 2020: THE BROTHERS BLOOM (Dir. Rian Johnson)

Upon a rewatch, I’m taking my original score of 3.5 out of 5 and bumping it up to a 4 out of 5.  Adrian Brody and Rachel Weisz’s performances pretty much make this movie with their earnestness and chemistry. I think you could qualify this film as a romantic dramedy that just happens to be about an international con job. It doesn’t do the greatest job of explaining itself plot-wise, but it makes up for it with stylish direction and a charming cast.

September 18, 2020: EVER AFTER (Dir. Andy Tennant)

The best Cinderella adaptation currently in existence (next to Nickelodeon’s Rags starring Keke Palmer, of course). It’s so good that I’m willing to forgive Drew Barrymore’s attempt at a British accent. I also think this is one of the few movies that could be a decent remake if you gave it to the right director.

September 19, 2020: BRICK (Dir. Rian Johnson)

I love Rian Johnson, I think we’ve established that already, but I kind of sort of hated his film debut. It seemed so caught up in its own concept that it ended up seeming like a shell of a movie with no theme to ground it. Sometimes I don’t care if movie has no theme if it’s entertaining, but this movie was not entertaining, so...

September 25, 2020: ABOUT LAST NIGHT... (Dir. Edward Zwick)

Alternate title: Toxic Man is Horrible to a Woman Who Literally Does Nothing Wrong Ever and Also is Gorgeous, They Break Up, Toxic Man Gets a Different Job and Toxicity is Gone Now, Like His Personality was Sifted Through a Brita Water Filter, then the Toxic Man Gets an Unearned Happy Ending with Gorgeous Woman. It might be a little bit long, but at least people would know what they were in for. Still better than (500) Days of Summer, although every male character in About Last Night... deserves to be in jail. All of Demi Moore’s sweaters get five stars.

OCTOBER

October 3, 2020: ENOLA HOLMES (Dir. Harry Bradbeer)

During the first draft of this post, I gave this movie a pretty good review. Then I rewatched it, and...huh. It’s not exactly a bad movie, it’s just an aggressively average movie. Enola Holmes would have benefited from a) a shorter runtime, b) a better mystery, and c) a weirder style. I think that if the character is going to repeatedly talk into the camera, which is kinda weird, you should just make everything else weird too. Give it a Birds of Prey-esque unreliable narrator and non-linear storyline. It’s still a fun movie, and the inevitable sequels have potential, but it just felt like they could’ve - I don’t know - made more of an effort?

October 10, 2020: HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (Dir. Taika Waititi)

This is the first Taika Waititi movie I’ve seen besides Thor: Ragnarok. I liked seeing how his style transferred into Ragnarok, and it probably has the funniest funeral scene ever written (do yourself a favor and look it up on YouTube). Hunt for the Wilderpeople knows when to make a joke without getting too goofy, and it knows when to be sentimental without getting too sappy. It also has dozens of glorious one-liners.

October 11, 2020: LITTLE WOMEN (Dir. Greta Gerwig)

The best Little Women adaptation. (I haven’t seen the one with Katharine Hepburn but I’m just going to assume that this one’s better.) This movie was clearly made for people who know and love the story, which can be a good thing and a bad thing - it means that it took some creative liberties that enhanced the story and added subversions that made it feel meta in a satisfying way. But it also meant that it could be potentially confusing for people who aren’t familiar with the story. Personally I wasn’t lost, but I think Gerwig could’ve used some more visual cues to let you know when they were in the present or when they were diving into the past. I wouldn’t want her to eliminate the jumping back and forth, though, because I think it allowed the characters to be explored a lot more than a linear story would’ve allowed. Gerwig also did a great job of letting you understand the motivations of the supporting characters - specifically Amy - in a way that prior adaptations never really did. Every character felt like their own person instead of accessories to Jo’s life.

October 16, 2020: THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (Dir. Aaron Sorkin)

Siegel, a very good Letterboxd reviewer that I follow, said it better than I can: “Aaron Sorkin is way too good a writer to be forced to work with such a mediocre director as Aaron Sorkin”. I didn’t mind the beginning - I thought the quick editing, upbeat music, and cuts back and forth between historical footage and fictionalized scenes were engaging, but the ending was clunky and didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film. The Trial of the Chicago 7 was a little confused politically and wanted to desperately cling onto a centrism that didn’t let the film fully embrace the anger that it could’ve ended on. Despite all of these things, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. The performances were all excellent, and if any of them get nominated for an Oscar it’s well-deserved. I’m also a sucker for Aaron Sorkin’s speechy, tangential dialogue. It makes me feel smart whenever I listen to it.

October 20, 2020: HALLOWEENTOWN (Dir. Duwayne Dunham)

This movie does it for the girls and the gays, that’s it.

October 26, 2020: BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (Dir. Cathy Yan)

This movie also does it for the girls and the gays, that’s it. Seriously, I honestly don’t know why people don’t love this movie. Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn is Oscar-worthy. That’s not a joke. I actually think that if the Oscars knew how to have fun, she would get a nomination. She is this character. It feels so lived-in and she never does too much - and with a role like Harley Quinn, it would be very easy to do too much. I also have to give props to the type of feminism that director Cathy Yan inserted into this film. I really enjoyed Wonder Woman and didn’t mind Captain Marvel, but there was something so formulaic and studio-approved about the female empowerment in both of those films. Birds of Prey, however, didn’t really give a single fuck. It was a nuanced, violent, funny as hell story about flawed women forming alliances and finding meaningful relationships in a world that actively abuses them and ugh, I love this movie. It’s probably my personal favorite of the year.

October 27, 2020: DOLLY PARTON: HERE I AM (Dir. Francis Whately)

This documentary was strangely edited and offered pretty surface-level information presented in an uninteresting way. I enjoyed myself while I was watching it, but I just wish it would’ve gone deeper. Dolly Parton is one of the most interesting figures in music history, and there was a lot more they could’ve explored.

NOVEMBER

November 1, 2020: ATTACK THE BLOCK (Dir. Joe Cornish)

This 82-minute movie gave John Boyega a more satisfactory arc than the almost seven hour long Star Wars sequel trilogy. Seriously, this movie fucking slaps! It hit all the right notes at all the right moments. I honestly think that a lot of sci-fi movies would be better if they worked with smaller budgets and shorter runtimes. Something about working within limitations makes a film feel more authentic and cuts out a lot of the excess fat. This movie is funny and earnest and surprisingly has a lot to say about the world we live in, with a budget that’s 200 million dollars less and a runtime that's 45 minutes less than a lot of sci-fi movies out there.

November 18, 2020: A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS (Dir. Michael Damian)

*Lady Gaga voice* Amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely-not-ever-been-done-before... My go-to shitty Hallmark Christmas movie every year :)

November 19, 2020: THE LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL (Dir. Ken Cunningham)

I’m giving this a five-star rating completely unironically. This movie uses the mechanism of time travel better than Avengers: Endgame.

November 20, 2020: THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES (Dir. Clay Kaytis)

There’s a scene where Kurt Russel does a musical number in a jail cell and then Winston from “New Girl” quits his job as a cop. What more could you want from a Christmas movie?

November 21, 2020: INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)

What was originally intended to be an Oscar Isaac thirst watch turned into what might end up being one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s one of those movies where it’s hard to articulate why it was so good, it was just good, but for the sake of this post I’ll try my best. Oscar Isaac was phenomenal in this - and I’m not just saying that because I’m a simp. His performance, combined with the script, made you root for his character even if he was a douchebag a lot of the time. The movie did a great job of blurring the line between what Llewyn Davis brought on himself and what was the result of just really, really bad luck. The use of sound in Llewyn Davis is excellent, too. Instead of using an instrumental score to emphasize emotion, they used sounds from the character’s environment, which really let the occasional musical moments pop - whenever anyone started singing, it almost felt cathartic. The Coen Brothers also provided moments of levity with perfectly-timed comedic moments throughout. It’s one of those movies where at the end of it, you’re kind of jealous that someone could make something that good. The fact that Oscar Isaac didn’t even get an Oscar nomination for this is - not to be dramatic - a fucking war crime.

November 22, 2020: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Dir. Rian Johnson)

Listen, I know The Last Jedi is such a hotly debated movie that it’s almost political, but it happens to be my favorite movie of all time. Like, number one. It even beats A Princess for Christmas. I’ve had my fair share of slander for loving this movie so damn much, but I will defend it until the day I die, and then I will have my tombstone engraved with “Luke Skywalker’s portrayal in this movie makes sense, you guys are just poisoned by nostalgia.” I’ve seen this movie several times, but I actually haven’t given it a rewatch since The Rise of Skywalker came out last December, and it still holds up. There’s a couple of things that I really appreciated a bit more this time around: every shot in this movie seems so intentional and emotionally charged. Pause it at any point and you’re going to have something interesting and aesthetically pleasing to look at. I really enjoyed the dialogue, too. In most of his movies, Rian Johnson makes his characters talk in a slightly heightened (or in Brick's case, very heightened) way, and it lends well to the Star Wars universe. I'm never going to to not gush about this film. The Last Jedi is the movie that made me love movies, and for that I will always be grateful.

November 25, 2020: HAPPIEST SEASON (Dir. Clea DuVall)

I have similar feelings toward this movie as I did toward Crazy Rich Asians; it follows most of the conventions that populate the rom-com genre, but for the marginalized people the movie is representing, it’s actually pretty fresh. Hot take, but I don’t think that Kristen Stewart’s character should’ve ended up with Aubrey Plaza’s character - I just think the film could’ve done a better job of empathizing with Mackenzie Davis’s character. If we focused on her perspective a bit more, maybe she would’ve seemed less...shitty and distant. I’d also appreciate it if we just stop doing the Gay Best Friend Trope after this movie because - let’s be honest with ourselves - no one’s going to be able to top Daniel Levy’s rendition of it.

November 29, 2020: MANGROVE (Dir. Steve McQueen)

See my Mangrove review here.

DECEMBER

December 5, 2020: RED, WHITE AND BLUE (Dir. Steve McQueen)

I may need to give this a rewatch at some point, mainly because it seems like I didn’t fully grasp the themes it was conveying due to my own skepticisms going into it. Here’s my original review.

December 13, 2020: THE PROM (Dir. Ryan Murphy)

I really can’t critically engage with this movie because my brain just turns off the minute the first song starts. Most of the criticisms you’ve heard are valid - though perhaps a little bit blown out of proportion - but it’s so much damn fun. I’ve watched it twice now.

December 19, 2020: MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (Dir. George C. Wolfe)

Chadwick Boseman’s last performance is haunting, transformative, and magnetic. The same can be said about Viola Davis’ performance, which is a surprise to no one, but this is really Chadwick’s vehicle. I just wish the directing was as interesting as the acting. This film was adapted from an August Wilson play, and directorially it was treated like a play, which doesn’t necessarily translate that well to film. The space around the actors wasn’t really utilized, and the way it was shot was pretty lackluster and static; oftentimes, the only interesting thing to look at in a scene was an actor’s performance. Maybe I’ve just been a little obsessed with Steve McQueen’s directing style lately, but this movie probably would’ve been five stars for me (instead of the four-and-a-half I gave it) if it was directed by him.

December 19, 2020: LONG TOAST (Dir. Karsten Runquist)

Fuck yeah, Karsten Runquist! Shout out to his monthly “what I watched in [insert month]” videos for giving me the inspiration to write this. 

December 23, 2020: LET IT SNOW (Dir. Luke Snellin)

Weirdly enough, this may be one of my favorite Christmas movies. There’s nothing all that remarkable about it, but it has a sweet, simple holiday vibe with innocent performances and low stakes. I don’t really ask a lot for Christmas movies, and this pretty much delivers.

December 25, 2020: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAM ANALYSIS (Dir. Rian Johnson)

This short film from Rian Johnson is the earliest thing I could find of his filmography on Letterboxd, and it was a pretty engaging watch. It was essentially all of Johnson’s quirks as a director condensed into ten minutes. It reminded me of those trippy short stories you had to read in middle school.

December 26, 2020: PLUS ONE (Dir. Jeff Chan & Andrew Rhymer)

I’ve seen a lot of rom-coms - like, an ungodly amount - and my love-hate affair with this genre has made me realize that predictability isn’t the issue with rom-coms (a lot of genres are very, very predictable). The issue is a lack of authenticity. Yes, this film is predictable, but it’s authentic. The humor in this movie actually feels like something that would happen in real life, not something heavily contrived or exaggerated for the sake of entertainment. I don’t have anything against the contrived and exaggerated, but it’s refreshing to see comedy being delivered so naturally in this genre. Plus One also has a more realistic (but still sweet) perspective on love and relationships which you don’t normally see in any genre.

December 27, 2020: THE HALF OF IT (Dir. Alice Wu)

I watched this at the beginning of the year and didn’t enjoy it all that much - partly because I was in the closet and aaaah girls kissing aaaaaah - and partly because I just thought it was boring. On a second viewing, I really appreciated it more. I think it’s the smartest and most well-shot movie directed toward teens that I’ve seen on Netflix. Although the script can be a bit pretentious, it’s directed in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s either trying to be too indie or like an hour and fourty-five minute long single-camera sitcom episode. The character of Ellie is also a really interesting and nuanced character, and a good example of how to write and portray queerness on screen.

December 27, 2020: TAYLOR SWIFT - FOLKLORE: THE LONG POND STUDIO SESSIONS (Dir. Taylor Swift)

I would die for Taylor Swift and/or Jack Antonoff.

December 28, 2020: MANK (Dir. David Fincher)

I went into this movie as a) someone who has never seen a David Fincher film, and b) someone who has never seen Citizen Kane. Unsurprisingly, Mank was definitely not my thing. That doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate it. It’s a fucking good-looking movie. But it’s kind of like the himbo of movies - it’s nice to look at, but there’s not much going on underneath. I’m hearing this complaint from a lot of people: it’s a technical masterpiece, but it feels pretty damn hollow. Personally, it’s not enough for me to recognize that a film looks and sounds good - I have to care about and know the human beings within it in order for me to think that it’s a good movie. To me, a film is only as good as the emotional relevance of its story, but sadly emotional relevance is where Mank falls short.

What movies kept you sane during 2020? Let me know!

[solargroup09]

Thank you solar! it was a statistic exam kkk im free now until september when i have the extra session but at least i can enjoy a bit of summer hahah can i ask the members if they have any stories about exams and tests? do you always get nervous before an exam? 🤡 anon

Mina: eww statistics (sorry, I really dislike anything that has to do with math lol) 😫 I had to take some statistics classes during my bachelors, too - highkey the most stressful ones out of all my exams. I‘m glad you did so well though and that you can enjoy your summer now 🥰 do you have anything nice planned? and I always get very nervous during exams, no matter how hard I studied beforehand... I‘m always afraid my mind will go blank and I’ll just forget everything 😅 that has thankfully never happened though. And I guess my funniest/most interesting story is that I once finished an exam over an hour earlier (so after half the time given to us) and my prof thought I cheated because it shouldn’t have been possible - I didn’t cheat though, I just wrote very quickly and truly knew everything 🤷🏻‍♀️ he did believe me in the end (he also had to, I guess) and I even got one of the highest grades! 😊

Yueliang: wow statistic... sounds difficult! I'm glad you did so well in your exam! Please enjoy the summer and relax as much as you can! 😍 I won't say that I like exams but I always enjoyed the feeling of knowing I'd do well because I studied hard. I remember my high school state exam, when my classmates were all so worried and had started reviewing the material three months beforehand and, on the day of the first exam, they were panicking and I was there calmer than ever. For a moment I was worried because I was the only one not worrying 😂 but then, all three tests went well and I did great in the oral exam, which made me so happy because I felt like all the studying I did for a year finally had paid off. As long as you do your best you will always be satisfied!

Rin: statistics.....much respect for you because my brain turns to mush in front of data and like math 😂 anyways so proud of you and hope you enjoy your summer break <3 || not proud to say it but i was constantly dreaming of going back to training while in school, otherwise i would be sleeping in class. honestly surprised im even getting average results for exams because I don't study 😅 im never nervous or stressed out either because i don't have any expectations (please don't be like me)(but also i enjoy learning new things on my own, i just can't with the education system) interesting story about exams? hmmm i tend to recall my teachers' voices during exams and once i kept hearing my math teacher reminding us to not make a certain mistake but ignored it and ended up making that very same mistake rip

Ari: statistics.... big oof from me. But I’m so proud of you! Any fun summer plans?? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten really nervous before a test... but when one of my friends did when I lived in the US, I always made sure to get their mind off of the test right before the test, that way it felt like they were going into it fresh, if that makes any sense?? Then their worrying wouldn’t affect them as badly 🤷🏻‍♀️

AJ: ooof, statistics are just not for me! but I’m so happy you’re doing good!💖My favorite thing about exams during high school was that after we finished them we basically had the day off and my friends and me would always go to have breakfast together. I had a bigger group of friends back then so it was a lot of people just walking together and joking towards a fast-food restaurant. It became a tradition and I miss it so much!💕

Luna: Oh lord... statistics 😳 Definitely not something I like or even understand 😂 But congratulations dear !! That's truly amazing, I am really happy for you 🥰 I tend to be VERY stressed on the exam day. I don't like taking breaks from studying even though I know I should. The girls usually have to drag me out. If I really can't be calmed down the night before, I have a long talk about truly anything with anyone who's up for it, just to get my mind off of things.

Skitz: Aaahhhh Statistics......never taken it. But i hear it's extremely hard!!!! So great job!!!!! We'e proud of you! 🥰 As for nerves before an exam.....I've never felt nervous before. It's always either during, or after I take the exam that the nerves kick in. Cause I realise I have no idea what any of the questions are and I never studied 🤷‍♀️ A little story though is at one point, some classmates and I were waiting for certain students to finish their tests and a friend of my brought a guitar to school. He'd played some songs I knew and I began singing with him. We ended up forming a crowd around us, and someone else joined into our jam session! It was amazing

[nicolekidmanwigfactory]

Do EVERY musical theatre ask

I hate you because I answer in paragraphs but I love you because this will take me forever and I have all night

1. What was the first musical you saw?

I’m having trouble remembering. Not counting animated Disney movies, I guess the Sound of Music for movie musicals and my grade school’s production of Godspell when I was in kindergarten. I had no idea what the show was about I was obsessed with “Bless the Lord.”

2. What musical got you really  into theatre?

In high school, I was an editor of my senior class’ student-written musical parody of the school. At the end of junior year, we’d sketched out the plot and over the summer about 6-7 groups of ten people each wrote their assigned scenes, song parodies, etc. At the start of August, I was chosen, along with one other student, by our director (one of the English teachers) to basically take these collections of scenes and songs and make them into a cohesive, workable show, which included rewriting lines, deleting jokes, etc. We’d meet weekly at the teacher’s house and go over the drafts, consider his input, but the creative control was ultimately ours. 

One of the teachers, who’d been there for more than 25 years and seen every senior production in her time, said the entire show was the second best she’d seen. During awards night, the director told us this show was one of his favorites he’d directed. But working on this show left me obsessed with theatre in general, something I never had much interest in before. I was attracted to musical theatre in particular because I thought the songs selected to be parodied for the show were the weakest part of the show, so I guess I started listening to cast albums to search for songs in an effort to subconsciously fix what I thought to be errors. I did that for prolly the first year after the show.

I told you I answer in paragraphs.

3. Who was your first Broadway crush?

I don’t really get crushes, so I don’t have a first one. When I fall, but I fall hard; it’s not crush area. But I’m a horny person and who I’m attracted to seems to come in phases and right now and I’m very attracted to Brandon Uranowitz and (which came as a total shock to me) Andrew Rannells.

4. Name three of your current Broadway crushes.

Brandon Uranowitz, Andrew Rannells, Jeanine Tesori (she’s a woman but she is GLAM)

5. Name four of your dream roles.

I’ve never had a real desire to perform but I guess Madame Armfeldt, Amy, Phyllis Stone (if I get to sing Ah, But Underneath), Joanne. What can I say, Sondheim’s women are more fun to sing than any role meant for a man.

6. Favourite off-broadway show:

i don’t distinguish between between on and off-Broadway

7. Favourite cast recording.

1970 Company Original Cast Recording. The gold standard for cast recordings in general.

8. 2013 Tony opening number or 2016 Tony opening number?

I honestly don’t remember either and don’t care enough to look them up.

9. Favourite show currently on Broadway.

none of them really speak to me right now, so...Hello Dolly! because I like the score most?

10. A musical that closed and you’re still bitter about. Rant a bit.

Fun Home. 

11. Best stage to screen adaptation?

West Side Story. Steve is wrong when he kvetches about the movie’s switching the places of “Cool” and “Gee, Officer Krupke.” THEIR LEADER JUST GOT KILLED WHY ARE THEY JOKING IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO PLAY COOL THAN TO JOKE AROUND. i’d prefer if the songs were also in that order on stage as well. They already get their moment of post-intermission levity with “I Feel Pretty.” “Gee, Officer Krupke” in Act 2 is excessive. The movie fixes this mistake.

12. Worst  stage to screen adaptation?

I haven’t really seen all that many movie musicals. I don’t know if I would call it the worst but I absolutely hated the Les Mis movie but I don’t know if it’s because i find the show itself over the top or if it was the movie itself

13. Favourite #ham4ham?

never seen them

14. A musical you would love to see produced by Deaf West?

Fun Home. I think having actors who are Deaf parallel the lesbian themes in the show would be a unique take on the show’s portrayal closetedness and parental/child relationships...if that makes sense. it does in my head

15. If you could revive any musical, which one would it be and who would you cast in it?

Assuming it meets all my other requirements, Candide. I don’t have any ideas for who to play whom, but casting must be colorblind, age appropriate, and match the vocal requirements.

16. If you could go to a concert at the 54 below, who’s would it be?

Barbara Cook

17. Do you watch broadway.com vlogs? Which one is your favourite?

Nope.

18. Make a broadway related confession.

I don’t let others know just how much I enjoy the theatre because I don’t want to come off as one of the theatre kids you hated in high school (but secretly admired for their confidence).

19. What do musicals mean to you?

This question is so corny I refuse to answer it.

20. Express some love for understudies and swings!

Danny I just want to be done with this. You do good work understudies and swings. you’re not appreciated enough and when you do go on it’s to the disappointment of the audience who was expecting someone else so good job dealing with that already tough situation to begin with.

21. Best Disney musical:

I’m going based off of the movies and to this I answer Lion King. I liked the stage version when I saw the tour but the movie as a musical is so satisfying and impossible to improve upon (though Shadowland and He Lives in You are great additions)

22. Which Disney movie should be made into a musical?

none. keep them as movies. broadway’s already getting pandering enough

23. Which musical fandom has the funniest memes?

PASSION

24. Name a character from a musical you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

I’m a Ravenclaw according to Pottermore so give me Madame Armfeldt.

25. Name a Broadway star you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Stephen Sondheim

26. Best on stage chemistry?

Patti LuPone and the scenery

27. A Broadway duo you love.

@jasonrobertclown and @kayleefabulous

28. What book, tv show, movie, biography, video game, etc. should be turned into a musical?

HOWARDS END HOWARDS END HOWARDS END HOWARDS END

29. If you could make a jukebox musical, what artist or genre would you pick?

no

30. Favourite role played by _________________?

Angela Lansbury. Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate. It’s not a stage role but she’s a stage legend and it’s my favorite role of hers.

31. What musical has made you cry the most?

I don’t cry at movies or books or anything, so none.

32. What musical has made you laugh the most?

It’s not Steve’s best score by any means, but A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a fucking laugh riot but thankfully, the strength of the show is its book. 

33. Current showtune stuck in you head:

I’ve been mourning the death of Barbara Cook and her “Will I Ever Tell You” from The Music Man is one I’ve been listening to a lot the past two days. It’s lovely and keeps popping back into my head.

34. A musical that has left you thinking about life for a long time or deeply inspired you.

Bridge of Madison County was a show that affected me more than I expected and I think it was because I had just put in my notice for my teaching job so I could return to grad school. The show was entirely about choice and consequence and that was what I was taking from it.

35. If you could perform any ensemble number , which one would you pick?

I wouldn’t. I am a star. 

36. Name a musical you didn’t like at first but ended up loving.

A Little Night Music.

37. What are some customes you’d love to try on?

I don’t really have any.

38. Favourite dance break.

this dance break from “The Story of Lucy and Jessie” in the original production of Follies. It’s Bennett’s best work and even better than the sublime work he did on “Who’s that Woman”

39. Favourite Starkid musical:

don’t have one

40. What’s a musical more people should know about?

Nine

41. What are some lines from musicals you really like?

Basically everything Regina Resnik’s Madame Armfeldt says

42. Name a Tony performance you rewatch and rewatch.

Ring of Keys

[herecomesthesonshine-blog]

Week 3: Surviving Kindergarten

Wow. Another week is done. It’s honestly crazy to me. This weekend was probably the first few moments I’ve experienced that I’m actually in Maryland. I’m actually at camp. I’m actually here for two more months.

Seriously. Whoa.

So, not gonna lie, this week was hard for me. I had a tired day where I could just feel the grumpiness at the surface level, I lost my voice AGAIN (twice in two weeks), and I’ve had a couple lonely days too.

But guys, before I recap, I just want to say that God is SO GOOD. This entire week has been reminder after reminder about the character of God. And He has been reminding me that He has definitely planned for me to be where I am needed for His purpose.

It seems like just when you get into the swing of things, camp changes. On Monday morning my HC told me that I was going to be a sub in Discovery all week for kindergarten. Mind you, the first day of camp with kindergarten was not at all my cup of tea and this week kind of wasn’t either, but I’ll get there. Let me just say that I am not a spiritual leader for 5 year olds. I have trouble breaking it down for them instead of going into great detail. I also just struggle with this age because you have to repeatedly remind them of the good behaviors you just taught them yesterday. Herding kids around camp can feel insane sometimes.

But here’s where God met me with a gift on Monday.

I finished my morning debrief with Discovery and headed up to skit team where I honestly set my stuff down, went into the bathroom, and let myself just cry a little bit. I was overwhelmed and I felt helpless. More than that, I once again felt a little torn in two. Just when I feel like I’m starting to belong to a program here at Sonshine I’m needed somewhere else. It’s hard to build friendships that way, but like one of my housemates Savannah has told me this weekend, “I think God is challenging you and I to become more independent this summer.”

After I allowed myself to briefly cry out that frustration that was sitting in my chest, I washed my hands because all these bathrooms are full of little kid germs (and kids are gross, guys). While doing that who could walk into the hallway to 201 but MERCY. She said hi and I made sure to look at her for only two seconds so that she might not see what my post-crying face looked like. She did though and immediately showed me that she and I have a spiritual gift in common - which so happens to be her name. Mercy, if you read this and try to tell me that you don’t have the spiritual gift of mercy then you’re a darn liar. (:

Honestly she was such a support. Just knowing she was in my corner was what I needed most. Someone in my corner who I could actively call to help or who could offer help when my headstrong self tells me I can do it on my own. Bless you, Mercy. You seriously made my week.

SO THESE KIDS.

God knew what kind of kids of this age I would be able to feed into. He gave me a sweet group with minimal rough behavior issues like fighting and cut downs. Praise. That was a big help.

Secondly, the spiritual theme for this week was something I feel like is simple enough for me to explain to kids because it’s plain visible. God Made Me Special. We’re all so different! How cool.

There were multiple group times this week where I was able to use this trick that I saw Diane from Cornerstone use the one time she taught in 5.6 (and she did it so well). It’s just the use of repetition! Kids are always down to repeat something after you if you tell them to. Now repeat after me, Unique. Then they all respond “Unique.” So easy. And now that word is stuck with that. Magic.

While I could talk endlessly about these 7 different campers and how unique and awesome each one of them are, I am just going to highlight a few moments this week.

For my one camper who is a bus kid I’m going to call her Sandy, since I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t use their real names. Sandy is a wonderful listener and so, so considerate. She likes to laugh but you kind of have to prompt it out of her. One of my favorite moments this week was having this other counselor Aaron hang out with us a couple times and for us to talk about how awesome Sandy is. She seriously captured this guys heart and Sandy thinks he is so cool. And it was nice to see that although Sandy wasn’t opening up to me that she was still getting to open up to someone out there.

This little sweet blonde boy I’m going to call Derek. Derek is seriously one of the kindest, loveliest kids I’ve ever met. He loves to draw, he’s very sensitive to other’s emotions, and he is incredibly thoughtful. He knew that Sandy wanted a water bottle like his and I got to see him ask his mom if they could buy one for her. This was a little late in the week, but I like to think that he’ll get to give Sandy that water bottle before the summer is up (these kids don’t always come every week). That was one sweet moment I had to mention but my favorite moment was during our latestay on Thursday.

Latestays are basically where the kids can sign up to stay until 8pm instead of the usual 3:30pm. It’s pretty fun. It’s always about the theme (which was carnival this week) and not all the kids sign up so you have a smaller group and it’s chill. But while we were eating dinner with a second grade boys group one of the second grade boys left after eating to go play with some sticks and use them like he was playing the drums on this log. Derek got all concerned and asked me if sticks were part of nature. I told him yes and he proceeded to tell me that this kid was destroying nature. My heart. It was such an innocent moment I’ve thought about it like 29539 times since then.

The last kid I want to talk about is this little talkative red-head who I’ll call Montana. She instantly became my friend. The first day she talked so much to me and every day since then has been a non-stop talkative train that you have to raise your voice a bit to get her to pump the brakes. She loved laughing at me being silly. She thought it was hilarious that I would say, “Sit your butt down.” Because of the word “butt” obviously. She had this way of saying, “What the heck” that I’m honestly going to be saying it that way for a long time. My moments with her are a series of moments because every day, at least two or three times she’d say, “I love you!” or “You’re the best.” Seriously, she was a treat. She was pretty sad that I won’t be her counselor anymore.

But guys, kindergarten isn’t all rainbows at sunshine. I had a couple criers who would try to use their tears as an advantage in moments where they would get in trouble or where they didn’t have money for the camp store or the ice cream shack as though I had the money to get something for them. I had one kid who liked to argue with me. I had another who got sick later in the week and went home early. We had a group time out late in the week. I had one who consistently needed reminding to keep his hands and feet to himself.

He’s actually the last one I wanted to mention. Let’s call him Storm. Storm is a sweet boy with a huge smile and dimples and loves to tell you his opinion and wears some cool blue hearing aids. He’s a handful but he’s great. You have to tell him multiple times to do something, but he’ll do it. Storm had a big problem where he would get too excited while playing and accidentally hit someone or throw sand that would hit someone. I had a talk with him at the ball pit about good choices vs bad choices. He pinky promised me that he wanted to make good choices from then on. The next day he got too excited at the sand box and I gave him a warning and told him if he did it again that we wouldn’t be playing in the sand box anymore. Not 10 minutes later he does it again. When I tell him it’s time to get out he starts getting a little panicked and keeps saying, “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean to!” I told him I know he didn’t but I did already give him a warning. I asked him if he thought throwing sand was a good choice and instead of answering proceeded to plead with me by saying, “I want to make good choices! I want to make good choices!” Honestly, my heart melted because a) he listened and b) he took it to heart and c) after letting him continue to play in the sandbox I only had maybe two moments the rest of the week where I had to remind him of good choices.

So those were my snippets of this week. The rest is me being tired and losing my voice, which honestly upsets me. But the nurse said it because of allergies most likely because there are such different plants here. I bought some dayquil and I brought allergy pills with me and my voice is back and I’m hoping for it to stay that way.

ReFuel, our Wednesday night staff worship, was amazing. I don’t always get really inclined to say Amen or Hallelujah during sermons but I did feel it a few times this week. It was cleansing and the music was great, I just couldn’t sing well.

SIDEBAR: I almost went the whole way without a sidebar - too bad! So the director of camp, Kirk, has his son on campus pretty often which is great. His son is super cute. I honestly love that kid and I’ve never even gotten to speak to him. So his kid is holding the mic that Kirk had while we’re all singing worship, figures out how to turn it on, and then in a quiet moment of the song all you hear is this kid babble-singing into the mic. I think I literally died. It was the cutest/funniest/best moment of my whole week. LOVE THAT KID.

This weekend has been good too. Went to Baltimore and I honestly didn’t do much. I had some Chick Fil A and then went to a Barnes and Noble with Preston and we sat by the plays and read some books that we picked out. It was relaxing.

Church this morning was good too. It tied together all the reminders I’ve been getting of who God is as today focused on the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy. It’s a hymn that’s really focused on God and who he is. “Blessed Trinity.” Loved it. Pastor was spittin’ fire. Church was lit.

Got some lunch. Came back to the room. And I’ve been napping on and off since then.

Two more weeks to Arts Adventure. Pray for me!

[haleyfury]

October was a month filled with so many (good) things and moments in my academic and personal life. That being said, my life was more busy and honestly hectic than it’s ever been before. October often marks midterm season in the college world, which meant a few papers and writing assignments on my end, including having to start drafting my first of two senior research papers. I know I haven’t been too specific about my senior project for my English major (honestly I’m still working out my subtopics and arguments even with my 15-20 page draft in the works), but I can reveal that I’m talking about Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give! I’ve luckily read a decent amount of contemporary literature in my English courses, but this is my first time studying YA.

Between also balancing my course-load alongside my jobs and social time (trying to make the most of my last year living with all of my best friends), my brain has been feeling fried and not exactly in the mood to read at the end of the day. Probably also not helping my reading life, I watched so many great new TV shows this month.

I really wish I was reading more, but I’m at the point where I have to dedicate my free time to the aforementioned things. However, I 100% admit that my senioritis is definitely kicking in and I’ve been finding myself drifting  to blogging and reading when I should probably be doing school work. I think it’s also because it’s almost (!!!) the end of the year and I’ve been working on my favorites, yearly wrap-up, and holiday-themed posts, but I’ve been so in the mood to read lately because of all the new books coming out still this year (I’m looking at you, The Toll and The Queen of Nothing.

The Chase by Elle Kennedy | 4/5 Stars

I was so excited to jump back into the Off-Campus world with The Chase. Although it’s not my favorite Elle Kennedy book, I loved having Fitz as one of the protagonists.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh | 4/5

The most Halloween-esque book that I read in October, I enjoyed The Beautiful for its atmospheric setting and for the fact that it broke my usual reading habits with its paranormal and mysterious story.

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston (ARC) | 4/5

October marks Christmas season prep in the Fangirl Fury handbook, which further encouraged me to pick up 10 Blind Dates. 10 Blind Dates was a fun holiday mood read. I really enjoyed its family focus.

Full Disclosure by Camyrn Garrett (ARC) | 3/5

I appreciated that Full Disclosure took on a ton of important topics, as its main protagonist lives with HIV. While I appreciated its mature discussions surrounding sex and sexuality, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style and plot.

Crier’s War by Nina Varela | 5/5

Hands-down my favorite book of the month, I absolutely loved Crier’s War for its unique world and fantastic character and story arcs.

The Politician S1 (Netflix)- Hands-down one of my favorite TV shows of the year, The Politician stole my heart in October. It’s such a quirky show and honestly feels like a blend of Ryan Murphy’s other shows (Glee, AHS, and American Crime Story). I freaking loved Ben Platt (which led me to also being addicted to his album, Sing to Me Instead this month) and the overall cast. The show luckily came out during my fall break, which meant that I was able to binge-watch all 8 episodes before heading back to school.

Insatiable S2 (Netflix)- My guilty pleasure show the month, Insatiable season 2 was definitely more dramatic and crazy, but somehow much more developed than the first season. This show is totally not the best, especially in light of all the controversy, but it is a fun watch for me personally.

Schitt’s Creek S1 (Netflix)- I started watching Schitt’s Creek over the summer, but I struggled getting into it. My best friend (and lets be honest, Twitter) encouraged me to get back into and I’m absolutely loving it. David is for sure my favorite character.

Modern Love (Prime)- Towards the end of October, I flip-flopped between watching Schitt’s Creek and Amazon’s new show based on the Modern Love column. My favorite episodes are “When the Doorman is Your Main Man” and “When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist.”

You’ve Got Mail- I 100% admit that I am still confused over the fact that English major and lifelong reader me did not watch You’ve Got Mail until 2019. IT’S A MOVIE ABOUT BOOKSTORE RIVALS!!! I absolutely love movies from the 80s and 90s, and You’ve Got Mail was no exception.

Isn’t It Romantic? – One of the funniest rom-coms I’ve seen lately, I absolutely loved the cast (Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, & Adam DeVine) and it made me laugh out loud so much.

Reviews 

NEW FAVORITE FROM FAVORITE AUTHOR: The Fountains of Silence Review

FAVORITE LEIGH BARDUGO BOOK: Ninth House Review

THOUGHTS, FEELS & RANTS: Wayward Son Review

FALL MOOD READ: Pumpkinheads Review

PERFECT HALLOWEEN READ: The Beautiful Review

THE BOOK OF YOUR READER DREAMS: The Library of Lost Things Review

STAR-CROSSED SWOON: Twice in a Blue Moon Review

BEST NERDY ROMANCE: Comics Will Break Your Heart Review

A 2019 FAVORITE FANTASY: Crier’s War Review

Bookish Fun 

‘TIS THE FALL SEASON: The Autumn Tag

LIBRARY LOVIN’:The Library Loves Tag

Top Five Wednesday: Most Halloweenish Books on My TBR

My life happenings section always flips between monthly fangirl news or my IRL happenings, and today’s a mixture of both!

IRL 

Lucy’s Deli on Sixth- I’m in the city twice a week for class this semester, so my friends and I try to do New York things on our lunch breaks and after class. I was on Twitter one weekend earlier in October and Jess from The Book Bratz shared a photo of a stuffed/felt avocado from a pop-up shop in Rockefeller Center, Lucy’s Delicatessen on 6th. This pop-up was set up like a grocery store and featured hand-sewn and felt food. My friend and I went on our lunch break that week and we had so much fun looking at ALL the cute things.

Fall-themed Saturday- I’m always wanting to do seasonal things, so I was really excited when my best friend and I decided to spend a Saturday afternoon at a local farm. We had a mini photo shoot (okay, it wasn’t that mini or spur-of-the-moment, I came prepared with my Canon) in a pumpkin patch and then we went apple-picking. This was my first time apple-picking and while its near the end of the season where I live, the orchard was really beautiful. I think all the apples I picked were honey crisp, which I used the next day to make an apple pie.

Fangirl Things

10 Things I Hate About Pinky Cover Reveal- The cover for Sandhya Menon’s second book of 2020, 10 Things I Hate About Pinky, is officially out in the world! I love how much it compliments her other books, and I’m just so excited for this one and Of Curses and Kisses.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky cover reveal Sandhya Menon Credit: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

More details about Sarah J. Maas’ Crescent City– I haven’t been able to find Sarah J. Maas’ full panel on Crescent City from New York Comic Con ’19, but Kristin of SuperSpaceChick included a clip of the panel in her NYCC Haul. I highly recommend checking out Kristin’s entire video! Anyway, SJM revealed more about the plot than she has ever have before. In shot, picture the ACOTAR universe set 3,000 years in the future (yes that means cell phones and cars), every paranormal and mythological creature possible, a party and half-Fae girl who finds herself involved in a murder investigation, and true to SJM, steam/romance.

Let It Snow Trailer- I’m just generally excited for Netflix’s holiday movie line-up, but I feel like I’ve been waiting for the Let It Snow adaptation for forever! This book was one of the first YA books I’ve ever picked up and while I probably need a reread, I’m excited to see it on the screen come November 8th.

Ninth House/the Alex Stern series is being turned into a TV show- While much attention in the Leigh Bardugo TV-world has been on the Netflix Grishaverse adaptation, it was recently announced that Ninth House will be adapted into a TV show by Amazon, with Leigh attached as the writer and executive producer. Since Ninth House is officially my favorite Leigh Bardugo book, I am so looking forward to seeing this show come to life!

What did you read and watch in October? Share in the comments!

BOOKS, TV & FALL THINGS: October 2019 Wrap Up October was a month filled with so many (good) things and moments in my academic and personal life.

[mlephoebe]

Slam Dunk Part 1: Volunteering

Before I delve into this blog post I think it highlights very strongly how I need to stop starting posts and then moving on to others. What I have done for the past 5 posts is start them then move onto the other to then later come back to. Which is stupid as it messes with the flow of things. As you will find here it has been nearly 3 weeks since Slam Dunk not 4 days lol. Anyways enjoy…

Some cool things happened in the month of May and some more sick adventures are to be had in the coming months, so I felt it was only right to blog about it. I’m not going to blog in chronological order of events as what’s the fun in that, aye? Plus the past weekend is still very much lodged in my mind and 4 days on my mind is now settling and coming to terms that Slam Dunk 2017 is overrr, :’(

As soon as Slam Dunk 2017 tickets went on sale back in November I purchased my south date ticket at 9am on the dot. And until February thought I was attending only as a fan of the festival, but I was wrong. The midlands date, held in Birmingham would be where I volunteered, and would also be one of the best/worst days of my life, let’s just say travel is not my forte.

Now where would the fun be if we were to plan our trip to Birmingham in plenty of time? Nowhere! We would have been relaxed and calm as a clam, but in reality not even 12hours before we had to be at the venue did we decide to sort out travel. Now I will outline here that Tom is a genius and had his head in the game when it came to travel but that was something the rest of us lacked. I’ll point out here that I went to Slam Dunk with fellow students Tom and Michael and our friend Beth, just so you have some idea who ‘they’ are. The thought of paying for a train up to Birmingham international then paying for a coach home worth another £28 sounded too pricey for the rest us all, bar Tom. But in hindsight was a very smart idea and something we all should have done, as it would have prevented Michael, Beth and myself being stuck in Birmingham with nowhere to stay until 9:10am the next day. But we survived, just, and I am here to tell the tale.

So at 6:30am we just about caught the train to Oxford. When I say just I mean they let me on the train with a card with ‘pay at Oxford’ scribbled on it. This was due to the fact the train was just pulling in and there was not enough time to buy my tickets due to the hassle Michael had. Now you may be thinking you should have gotten to the station earlier Phoebe. But Michael for one had been there since half 5 due to his hiccup in purchasing the wrong ticket.

So once we had settled on the train we could relax, we were actually on our way for a very long day ahead.

Once arriving at Birmingham International at around 8:30am we headed to the entrance outside hall 1, which was where we were told to meet Michelle, the lady in charge. (Who by the way was lovely, and I will definitely be helping out again, major shout out[ps1]  to Michelle) Once exiting the train I had my first fan girl moment of the weekend, I’d say the calmest and shyest, actually still bummed I didn’t say hi. Like we were on the same carriage, how?, I could have spent the ride chatting cool shit with her. By her I mean Hannah from the fantastic band Creeper, who btw are insane live, really cool band I would highly recommend checking out. Any ways, once I noticed her she looked like she was in a rush and I was slightly confused because I knew Creeper weren’t playing Slam Dunk, any how it turns out it was her, as little did I know until seeing Frank Iero’s Instagram the next day that she was selling his merch at Slam Dunk, so that’s a pointless cool story of my stupidity, but shout out to Creeper lol.

Right time to get into actual volunteering role as this blog is typically for the purpose of outlining work experiences over the summer, and some of you viewing this may be here solely for that purpose only, so I do apologise about the rambling, but Slam Dunk is always a beautiful time and so I need to blog about it all, probably going to split this into 2 parts, volunteering and enjoying the event because boy did I have a wonderful time, painful time, but wonderful none the less. (I ended the weekend broken, physically broken).

9:15am was our meeting time, along with 8 other people who were here for the same reason as us we headed into the main hall to get our hi-vis jackets and be taught the ropes of the role. The role being wrist-banding and scanning on entrance. I know what you may be thinking, how boring but I kid you not it was actually really fun and the time flew by. Plus the Fireball stage was in the same hall, hid from us by a curtain but the sound was very much still there, YAYYY, which meant I could hear Zebrahead even if I could not see them. Also my 15minute break lined beautifully with the Ataris’s set, which made my day. If you did not know they are one of my faves and seeing them live was something I thought I would never get to do, so my dreams have been made.

I keep getting side tracked but we started our role at 10:30 and carried on through till 5pm. At 3pm the queue was starting to die off, after scanning in a total of 12,000 people it was starting to take its toll, especially on our legs. We were told by Michelle that half of us could leave but who was the question. Pizza and drink vouchers were at offer for those who stayed, honestly not really making much of a difference to most and to us either but we pulled the small straw and had to stay later which in the end wasn’t too bad as it saved us £7 on a pizza each and we got to help break down the set up of the lines, take down signage and the barriers, which was different and quite fun. Plus getting to wear the hi-vis longer made us all feel like part of the crew, haha.

What I enjoyed most about wrist banding was getting to talk to so many different people. The lines were divided, 2 for women over 18, 2 for over 18 males and 2 for under 18s, one for females and one for males. The reason for the divide was due to the Manchester bombing the week prior to the event, bag and body checks were vigilant plus women were checked by women, men by men. I paired up with Beth and we were in the over 18’s Male queue, which was great fun. The amount of middle aged men dressed like 2002 Deryck Whibley made my absolute day, also was hilarious for later when we got to enjoy the festival as everyone remembered us, and we moshed out little hearts out to Enter Shikari with people we had wristbanded. When I say moshed out little hearts out I quite literally mean it, for the last 2 songs I could not even clap along I was a broken being, emotionally and physically. Take this picture of my arm, this picture was taken not even 30 seconds after I left the floor from watching Seaway, one of the best shows of the weekend. I swear Seaway just get better and better everytime, they always put on an incredible show. Singing into the mic made me feel very special.

The funniest thing about Seaways set was me walking onto the floor before they began and telling Michael and Beth how I wanted to crowd surf during their show but was slightly bummed as the crowd was not big enough, however once Seaway began the crowd turned absolutely nuts, honestly the crowd despite its size was better than the crowd for Bury Tomorrow on Monday, something I will touch on in a bit, the difference between venues, which was very real. However, I was battered during their set, Beth had to take a 5minute breather and I was in the mist of it all, an experience I never thought I was experience during Seaway.

 Crazy small world story time during their set though was how I bumped into a girl I went to secondary school with. I’m from Dorset so a fair bit away from Birmingham, this girl still lives their and I bumped into her during Seaway, how crazy is that? It had been about 3 years since I had seen her and was nuts that I noticed by getting her dreadlock caught on me lol.

Well for a post that was simply started to outline my amazing time volunteering at Slam Dunk has become quite lengthy so I will leave it here and start part 2, a post about the rest of my time at Slam Dunk 2017 and the adventures that were to come later in the evening at Birmingham. Let’s just say train stations are quite comfortable and there is something warm and comforting about them.

 [ps1]