#tldr katie is my top one

[tiodolma]

Who do you like more, Eva Green's Morgana or Katie McGrath's? 🙆

Thank you for the ask! @the-king-and-the-druidess

I have been pondering this myself for a few days now, especiallg with all the camelot x merlin shenanigans happening in my asks.

I like the Morgans I’ve seen so far. They all have qualities that make them the best in different categories.

Most accurate backstory and relationshit with merlin - Excalibur 1981 Morgana (Helen Mirren)

Best in becoming "loosest woman to ever live” - Starz Camelot Morgan (Eva Green)

Best in politics - Eva Green

Best sister/adversary to Arthur - for now Katie Mcgrath but I honestly think the Morgana from Mists of Avalon wins this even though I havent seen it.

Most compelling and logical backstory/reasons for war- Katie Mcgrath (coz her story deals with racial persecution and not just the "women=bad” narrative)

Best in fun shenanigans - Katie Mcgrath.

Katie’s is my fave adaptation coz she got to do all the really fun morgana stuff (minus the sex). Fun traditional Morgana stuff like:

Being really into fabrics

Loving apples

Necromancy

Healing/caretaker

Benevolent and smart

Loving Mordred

Acted as counsel to arthur for a time

Chasing after Merlin hungry for his knowledge, trust and also magic (first honestly then eventually in order to spurn him)

Sullying Guinevere’s honor/revealing gwencelot to arthur

Torturing and the unjust imprisonment of Guinevere and the knights for little reason

Loads of court intrigue

Takeover camelot more than once

Use old crone persona

Use birds for her plans

Healing people just to torture them again

Employinh other/younger girls to seduce knights and spy for her.

Build a community of loyalists sympathetic to her

Playing with Lancelot in a shtty manner

Taunting Gwaine

Having a lot of familiar arthurian allies working with her like morgause, agravaine and mordred

That self-righteousness and feminine fury

Her plans keep getting foiled so she comes up with even better more convuluted plans

Virtually unkillable (until that cop-out execution at the end of DotD)

Like i said before, i appreciate how they jampacked what little i know of legendary morgana into bbc’s adaptation.

Though i dont think this next part is faithful to traditional arthurian morgana, the tyranny part was a good bonus for me coz it’s very accurate to what radicalism/insurgency looks like irl. Plus with BBC Merlin’s premise, it really really works.

Imho The magic ban/persecution actually gave katie’s morgan le fay character more depth coz she now had more solid justification for the awful things that she does...compared to in the legends where it’s basically “morgan le fay retaliating really badly or exacting her sadistic brand of justice when she did not get what she wanted or when she was slighted.”

Also.... I just appreciate the dualistic nature of Katie’s Morgana the most. Katie played her hatred and rage with so much humanity, pain, loneliness, desperation and sadness. Hers is one of the coolest acting performances I have ever seen. (s5 especially)

Tbf tho she had been blessed with 5 seasons to really truly embody the essence of morgana from the legends (except all the sex and being an actual mom). Eva green was also good at this but with only one season given to her, eva green didnt get to play around as much as katie did.

The only thing that was missing was really katie’s morgana taking arthur’s body to avalon. (Mists!Morgana wins this one).

[rizansauce]

Gays vs Neurodivergent Gays (Music Taste)

You can identify whether a person is a gay or a neurodivergent gay just by seeing their music taste. Matter of fact their top artist on spotify and how long they've listened to them.

Now why is it important to identify a gay or a neurodivergent gay? No reason. They're just the most contrasting group of minorities I've ever seen. (at times)

You can catch a regular gay person listening to whatever cunty music they have their radar on made by either a poc straight woman or any homosexual who happens to make music. There is no wiggle room for any other type of artist.

Regular-tegular gays are just living it up and having fun when they forget that their rights exist as much as the mosquito who keeps you up at night who will eventually get smacked when they turn on their playlist and start blasting 180 bpm club music in C major.

HOWEVER

Neurodivergent gays are on the farthest end of the spectrum that they've already fallen off into the void. No one can save them. Ever.

Neurodivergent gays are either in the absolute worst pain ever that you would use as oc lore where the whole fucking planet has gone extinct and they witnessed their only friend die in their hands and now they're left alone until eventually they die of starvation.

Or

They are in the happiest, silliest, goofiest mood and start playing vocaloid as that is their only medium of happiness. The scales will always differ though. Either its a 70/30 ratio of 5 year chronic depression to kaito last name unknown or a 99.995 percent sadness and that one kagamine len song where the only lyric is bananananananana for a good 30 seconds.

The silliness never wins :(

Neurodivergent gays will either listen to the holy trinity of laufey, beabadoobee and mitski or vocaloid that they spent the past few months compiling an accurate playlist of as its been their hyperfixation for the past few years that they forgot about cause another one popped up while they went down a rabbit hole of vocaloid music videos. Their favourite vocaloid is either hatsune miku or any other cryptonloid or an utau called Jim Stunner that was voiced by jimmy buffet that was released back in 1994.

Digging up obscure artists and things is a neurodivergent's favourite activity

Regular gays listen to clublike cunt music which even the straights could get into if they were trying to be an ally in pride month. These playlists would probably contain moldovan eurovision submissions, charli xcx, or old 2010's music that probably includes a little bit of katy perry here and there.

Neurodivergent gays typically have a longer time spent on spotify for obvious reasons aka stimming or just wallowing in their feelings that weigh as much as . They're probably the entire top 500 of any vocaloid producer with about 100,000 hours spent on listening to mitski

To end off this tangent,

Honorable Mentions:

Kikuo (oh my god kikuo is singlehandedly a LARGE portion of the pain, suffering and more section of the neurodivergent gay music taste)

Crypton (The company that made vocaloid and had more impact on the neurodivergent community as a whole than minecraft)

Chappell Roan (The ringleader for lesbians worldwide)

Lady Gaga (No words need to be said.)

Fiona Apple

Pheobe Bridgers

and

Mafumafu, Ado and Eve (Utaites aka cover artists that eventually became artists (not all of them do for the uninitiated) that I consider a staple in the neurodivergent gay music community)

In conclusion, or a TLDR, the gays have great music taste in cunt

and the neurodivergent gays will suffer with you or drop off some silly serotonin for your troubles

Thank you for your time ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

[whenyouhearthedoorcreak]

Hold up cause I've got shit to say

I have to preface this by saying I have No Idea if gwen was right so sentence sefa to death, I'm just going by the production aspects and acting choices of this scene

In this scene Gwen is, wholely and entirely, in a way we don't see many more time Queen Guinevere of Camelot. She is Nobel and patient, but strong, she holds herself in full knowledge of her station. This is in contrast to her earlier actions towards the same character in which she frames herself as an equal to Sefa. Let's look at this thing frame by frame because it is possibly one of my favourite shots in the show

First we open on a close shot of Gwen that quickly zooms away, leaving us distant from her, she becomes the focus and lead in the shot without question, this is also striking given that Guinevere is usually given close up shots. The show has previously used wide shots only on characters of unquestionable royalty, (queen Annis is very often given this shot comp) these distanced shots continue throughout the scene.

The camera stays below her even in close up shots, this is a common shot comp to denote power. Basically the camera work is Screaming that Gwen holds unquestionable power and dominance in this scene, she is queen and she Should Be.

We also get a number of cut away shots to specifically Gaius and Elyan, two people who have known Gwen the longest, but are for the first time seeing Queen Guinevere really for the first time. I'll leave the interpretation of their reactions up to you.

Okay moving on from camera usage, let's look at the choice of Gwen's costume which I think speaks volumes.

Guinevere is rarely ever in red. She wear blues and purples more than any other colour. It's become Her Colour. No one else wears purple but Gwen. So why is she in red here? Specifically she's wearing Camelot Red, she is wearing the colour of the kingdom she rules. The dress is gorgeous, but more importantly is sets of a little memory association in your head to Camelot, serving to once again send the message that this is Queen Guinevere of Camelot.

I've said before we don't give angel enough credit in this fandom (I mean hell we pay more attention to Katie's evil smirk than angels performance of Gwen's banishment) but this scene in particular needs to be screamed form the roof tops.

I've spent this whole time talking about how this is our first real view of Queen Guinevere of Camelot. But what I have to stress is that we never once in this scene really lose Gwen Serving Made, who's father was killed after a meeting just like this. You could argue the writing looses sight of that, but Angel never does. She is restrained and Nobel, but also incredibly kind for the situation. She strengthens her voice all of three times, and never once yells. She doesn't second guess or question herself, because she's Gwen and you know she thought this through, she knows exactly what she's going to say, and she already knows the verdict. She may not be happy about it, just the past night she was trying to befriend this girl, but she knows the verdict and she passes it. And Angel's performance makes it almost impossible to question her.

TLDR: in Arthur's bane pt1 Gwen sentences the servant sega to death for treason, and the scene is incredibly well crafted and perfectly shows Guinevere's assent to Queen of Camelot without loosing who she was.

(an addition: I made this post directly after watching the scene before finishing the ep and need to stress how much More important this scene becomes in showing why Gwen deserves to be queen once her ultimate plan is revealed)

[heyjude19-writing]

Hi Jude! I absolutely adore your work. The characters literally come to life for me. But coming from the books and seeing what he had to do and the choices he made, why do you think Draco is one worth giving a second chance to?

Hi anon! Thanks for reading my work!

Great question and I’m not even going to attempt to be succinct. I re-read the entire HP series once a year, and when I was much younger and reading the books for the first time, Draco didn’t really register as much of an interesting character for me. He was just this spoiled bully who existed to make life sort of annoying for Harry and his friends. Re-reading as an adult, he reads as pathetically jealous of them and it’s a bit sad, actually. He’s just a little shit, not much depth there for books 1-5. 

Then we come to HBP and it’s painfully clear that this boy has no real friends. He has no one to help him get out of this truly terrible position. Not only that, Dumbledore (an adult. An adult in charge of Draco’s [a child] care while he is at school) knows exactly what is happening. Not only does he let Draco carry on, but two other students (Katie Bell, Ron) are almost killed because of his negligence. It’s pretty fucked up. Draco’s breakdown in front of Myrtle (and Harry) is heartbreaking for what it reveals about his fears and desperation. He doesn’t feel as if he has a choice or a support system. So yes, I think he deserves a chance to earn a redemption.

My personal interest in exploring a redemption arc for him is because his canon arc was really underwritten and narratively unsatisfying. JKR wrote some pivotal moments for him where from a story-telling perspective it seemed like he might turn a corner and then… nothing. On the top of the Astronomy Tower when he lowers his wand, again at Malfoy Manor when he doesn’t identify Harry and is vague about the others, and then in the Room of Requirement. She kept setting up these opportunities and then left those potential plot threads dangling. 

It was an odd narrative choice to me, especially with all the work she does to redeem Snape and even tacks on a hero arc for Regulus. She could have made a powerful statement with Draco about overcoming brainwashing and ingrained prejudice. 

His lack of an arc is particularly puzzling when we consider the epilogue. Here, he has a wife and a kid and can trade polite nods with the trio and everyone is cool? I’m not sure why that moment is included at all, except to show some maturation has occurred over the years. Obviously that moment sets up Cursed Child future money-making endeavors for jkr I guess, but that wasn’t a thing at the time of DH’s release so who knows.

Draco does get his second chance in Cursed Child cash grab, so while he does technically get redeemed in canon, to me, there were ways to have done this much earlier. 

TLDR: fanfiction is a beautiful thing.

[chaoticbis]

ranger sorter antics

basically a wordy list of all the “hard” pairings this thing gives me

tldr : cassie was #1, and that’s all you need to know.

im doing the ranger sorter and they’re making me choose between kelsey and lucas, which may not sound hard to y’all, but ohh boyy

(edit) these f**king choices man. now they want me to choose between kai and zhane????

(edit 2) how am i, a bisexual, supposed to choose between ryan and katie. i know this ain’t all about looks, but goddamn

(edit 3) THEY’RE MAKING ME CHOOSE BETWEEN ZIGGY AND ADAM, WHAT TF IS THIS???

(edit 4) i guess the characters cycle back through

(edit 5) okay i think i pressed “i like both” one too many times, and any who, they’re now making me choose between wes an dustin. i—

(edit 6) im 146 pairs in and only 28% done?

(edit 7) i guess this wouldn’t take as long if i didn’t overthink it, but also, theyre now making me choose between leo and chip 

(edit 8) DUSTIN V. ZHANE?????

(edit 9) i just agonized over having to choose between antonio and rocky, and now it wants me to choose between antonio and tyler???

(edit 10) NOT CASSIE AND AISHA

(edit 11) okay ill prob stop after this bc i wsnt to finish and im not even half way there and i think people get the point, but HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN IVAN AND XANDER? HOW?

dustin or trent? 

i was just going on in my head about how i don’t mind tommy, and this thing has the audacity to make bridge and rocky the next whatever. i hate it here.

ok i keep fucking up and choosing “i don’t know” or like the movie characters (i haven’t seen the movie in years)

and now i have to choose between cassie and xander 

how does i dont know affect your score?

not my favorite green rangers. when will this be over

the f**king audacity of this sorter thingy

how tf am i supposed to choose anything anymore??

i have a math test i shoud’ve studied for, but instead im here, contemplating whether i like cassie or bridge more. 

this thing just doesn’t know when to stop. does it

*smashes head against wall

mike or mike lol

wait a second. adam wasn’t a choice for anything, yet he’s in the top ten? not complaining, but wtf sorcery is this???

is there no way to save the results?

anyway, it was pretty accurate, but i still think i pressed idk too many times

i would share my results, but i don’t feel like getting cancelled (lol don’t @ me)

[bushybeardedbear]

A Little Something I like about Plance 2 - Electric Boogaloo. 💙💚

Wherein BushyBeardedBear adds to the “Bi-Lance” discussion and how it relates to his near obsession with this OTP... See Part One Here...

Look at that soft look just look at it!!

So, the TLDR? - IMHO Pidge is best for Bi-Lance.

In the previous post I discussed how Plance, FlirtyRobot, Pidgance, SeaSalt, F*ckPlant, whatever you want to call this adorable ship doesn’t actually give us the LGBT+ rep we want... Well, maybe we just have to squint a little...? In this essay I will...direct you to the link below so I don’t dominate your feed...

This line of thinking started a couple of days ago. My partner was looking through a draft of one of my many unfinished fanfics and said to me... “You’re using that one again...?” “Which one’s that?” I reply nervously. “The idea that Lance liked Pidge when she was doing the Mulan thing...? You really like that don’t you...?” And my partner’s right. I DO really like that idea. It’s my top tier head canon. But the discussion got me thinking. Why do I like it beyond it being cute...? Well, there has been discussion in the fandom regarding Lance’s theorised bi-sexuality probably ever since he shared more than a nano-second on screen with another attractive boy. No shade, I’m guilty of it too in more fandoms than I’d care to admit. It’s a pretty understandable feeling. But there’s also this pic... 

Given certain recent news that I won’t go into for fear of spoiler territory, this image suddenly has a lot more attention within the fandom. In particular, the discussion of Lance’s sexuality. Now, cute as it would be for Hance, Klance, Shance, Latte etc. to become canon, as long as they were all handled respectfully and lovingly for all involved, I just don’t personally see them fitting the character growth Lance has been given so far. Feel free to respectfully disagree, because I’m not anti any of your shipping preferences you ship what makes you happy. This is just my opinion, #shipandletship In the last post on this subject, my focus was essentially Lance unshackling himself from the concepts of toxic masculinity and how important a message that is for men young and old to see. Setting aside the idea of conquest, bravado etc and becoming a more nuanced, thoughtful and ultimately complete human being.

You know what fits that narrative really well? Loving someone regardless of what they are and more down to who they are. This wouldn’t be something new to Lance either. Just look at the early seasons of his being the incessant flirt-machine. Was he ever turned off by the idea of a non human being? Do you honestly think a particularly cute xenomorph would have been off the table? Seriously, if Lance had met this...

...do you think he would have cared about the silicon skin, the acid blood, the secondary mouth (ok maybe the secondary mouth for making out...), the barbed tail...? Or do you think he would have just taken one look at the smile, the figure, and been all over her like a rash...? Or at least given the winning smile and the finger guns. And now, as his character has developed into caring less about the physical and far more about the person within, learning to put aside his feelings of romance into being a better friend and person, do we really think he’d suddenly be hung up on the same sex or gender identity of his own species? I’d be tempted to say Lance may not simply be Bi, but given his utter lack of concern about alien species, he may well be Pansexual.

And this is where the Crush on Pidge at the Garrison comes in. Maybe Lance never even realised it at first. Maybe he did and just didn’t or couldn’t act on it, giving the barrier early Pidge always put up...? Just consider though. Even presenting as a male, even with the cold barrier up, Lance sought Pidge out, Lance raced ahead at Pidge’s behest toward certain danger, Lance cared deeply about Pidge’s reassurance of his decisions, valued Pidge’s intellect and took a genuine interest in what Pidge did and who “he” (as Lance saw it) was. Even waking from a coma just to save “him” from death at the hands of Sendak. Y’know. Like a friend does...

Or like a friend desperately reciprocates as a form of narrative parallel...

Now sure, this is all speculation on my part and all of those instances can easily be discarded as “just friends” if you like, that’s the wonderful thing about media and it’s polysemic interpretations. But, friends only or friends to lovers trope, they do show at least a connection, on that much we can agree. Connections can develop. Connections can deepen. Connections can be re-evaluated with the benefit of hindsight. So, perhaps one day we’ll see Lance reflecting on both how cute Pidge Gunderson was to him and how cute Katie Holt is to him now. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful message for Lance, grown as a character, to love someone beyond skin depth, beyond sex or gender, and purely for the person they are...?

And who fits that role better than our favourite Green Paladin? IMO, nobody.

Now you two hurry up and realise it already!!

[abomination-station]

just my Hot Take™ for today: I love making absurdist memes out of everything as much as the next person but this Millie Bobby Brown situation is just the epitome of how desperately some of y'all need to learn that your actions have consequences no matter how many layers of irony they're cloaked in.

I've heard on here that the homophobic Millie Bobby Brown meme was started by gay teens ironically. "It was ironic, we didn't ask for it to be spread around." That's great, but it was, and it made a kid the target of vitriol to the point where she had to leave social media. And ive seen people, people I follow, not only have the audacity to continue this meme, but mock everyone calling it out by saying some shit like "I guess you just don't get layered ironic gay humor" LAYERED? Is making shit up about a child what we consider complex and layered humor now lmao? And I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure when ironic humor has actual consequences irl, I don't think you can just hide behind irony as a defense anymore but maybe that's just me, idk.

I'm giving off a very "NO FUN ALLOWED" lecturing vibe rn, but listen, that's not why I'm making this post. I'm saying this because I don't know if y'all realize this, whether you're a teen or adult, so I would like to take a second to remind you: this type of behavior is going to bite you in the ass.

Oh yeah, it may seem fun now to use your personal Twitter to scream at kids show animators about how much they suck at character design but I sure hope you weren't planning on trying to get a job in the animation industry someday, because you may have burned every last bridge that was going to get you employed before you even realized it.

And yes, making fun of celebrities on the internet is a large source of comedy and basically why twitter exists. I mean fuck, my most popular post on this site is about how little I give a shit about katy perry. I get the appeal, celebrities can be rich, narcisstic assholes who have major god complexes. They are very easy to make fun of. But we're talking about a kid, a girl who is already in a vulnerable position in the culture and the industry. A girl who was minding her own business.

If you're a teen you just see her as your peer, but think about it. If you were minding your damn business and people started making screenshots of shit you never said and you had to stop posting on here that would really fucking suck, right? The internet is already shit enough if you're any kind of minority. On top of that, imagine that every single thing you did was already being scrutinized because you were already in the public eye. And to the adults participating and encouraging this: what the fuck is your excuse lmao?

When your actions have tangible consequences on a CHILD, whether you're in her age group or not, you don't have the moral high ground. It's not the time to double down on the meme just because you didn't intend for it to affect her. It's the time to take a step back and maybe think about how your actions impact people and their lives, and how they might impact your future.

Because I swear to god, one day you're gonna be running for the city council or some shit and may honest-to-god have to answer for the bonkers-ass nonsense you said on the internet. The internet is a steel trap of your worst mistakes solidified forever. It's all fun and games until you have to explain how your vore phase when you were 19 was just "ironic" to a room full of your peers at the age of 43. If that scenario doesn't chill you to the bone, I don't think anything ever will.

Don't let that be you.

Take it from someone whose blog is a dumpster fire of nonsense. We're all in this potential future hell together. I just want this post to get even one person to stop and wonder "is there a chance I'm gonna have to justify this thing I'm about to post to a room full of people 40 years from now?" If I could save even one of your future selves from the humiliation of having to explain why you asked Todd Howard to raw you on Twitter, I would be content.

Tldr: stop being a dick to children and stop running your mouth on the internet before it comes back to haunt you

[survivorhephaestus]

EPISODE 10: Basically, I Was Lied To Yet Again

Before the players had a chance to catch their breath, an Instant Tribal was announced - meaning they would skip an immunity challenge and go straight to another vote. This was activated by the three people who were chosen as “best commanders” in Touchy Subjects: Josh, Patrick, and Logan. These three commanders were given the opportunity to decide whether to have an Instant Tribal this round or the next one and they chose to do it right now.

After an intense twenty-four hours of strategy and bargaining, Patrick was voted out 5 - 3 and became the next member of the jury.

JOSH

this game has aged me. i just want to watch anime in peace but i have to deal with Jakey yelling at me, Pat not being here, Lydia tryna talk game with me and Renee not talking to me at all

tldr i was tryna play both sides this vote that's why i gave lydia my idol to ensure her safety and vote her out to keep jakey happy. turns out richie had already told jakey about my idol then jakey told katie then katie told everyone? and jakey told me they're voting lydia to waste my vote? drew still left in the end so whatever. i feel really solid with my alliance with pat and lydia i'm tryna be open to them as much as possible. i really need to work on my game relationship with logan too. as much as i love them outside the game we don't really talk game much. my top 2 to vote out this instant is either katie or jakey. jakey dosent have immunity  so it's a perfect time but also katie is such a wildcard.

unrelated to the game but UGH I'm so emotional about a fictional character again haha

PATRICK

That was a fun council! What a strange and winding road we took to get there, though. 

I still don't think I have a clear understanding of exactly where the votes came down, except that Katie was the flip vote that made it tie. And whoever threw that Lydia vote is my hero. (Not a sentence I ever thought I'd type – thanks for voting against one of my strongest allies!!!) 

I give Jakey all the credit in the world. That was a really savvy play that very nearly worked. I don't think he or his fellow voters were counting on Josh voting for Drew – I think they expected him to vote Lydia, too. But I came within inches because of an exceptionally well-orchestrated idol flush. 

Katie, OTOH, played this round about as well as she could have. Lydia and I discussed the night before last how Katie plays more for fun than for the win, and I think last night's play was a perfect example of that. She got the idol flush she wanted, made a splashy play, but when push came to shove she didn't bail on her people. 

(Sidebar, and I acknowledge it's weird timing given everything, but the vote got me talking a bit more with Katie and I'd forgotten what a delightful human she is.)  

The instant council also couldn't be coming at a better time, and I'm glad we had that under our hats and ready to spring. Jakey was telling me that if I stayed, he knew he was gone as soon as he didn't have immunity. It took everything in me not to be all "okay I guess we only have 24 hours left then!" Not that I'd do it with any malice or anything. Jakey's aight. 

Game plan tonight... I don't know? Obviously, I think the core of Lydia-Logan-Karter-Josh-me will likely be voting in unison. And for once, I don't feel like I have to camouflage my intentions! It's WEIRD. I think this assassination attempt is the best thing to ever happen to me in a game. I don't usually survive these attempted blindsides, but it's nice to have a solid gauge on where everything lies. 

Also, speaking of lies (see the segue there? did you see it? the segue that i did?) Renee is such an odd bird. She says hi to me yesterday – initiates the conversation – then doesn't respond to my reply. Then votes me out. So I sent her a message being like, "Hey, no hard feelings, do what you've gotta do... but I wish you'd have given me a chance to at least pitch my case." Guilt-tripping, admittedly, because I was planning on voting her out soon. She comes back and says "you still have a chance" and when I asked her if it'd be worth typing a novel and if she'd really consider changing her vote, she says "idk which of you goes" so... like, cool. I didn't bother because I had far more constructive dialogues going elsewhere and I didn't know how much time I'd have.  

Then post-vote, after the instant is revealed, she asks what the vote is this time. Then tries pitching me on... me? Says "honestly like i already voted u once why not just do it again". And THEN tries pitching me on Lydia. And gives me, no joke, my favourite scenario-setting discussion ever. 

Renee, 11:01 PM "well theres 8 people left right i think i could get you, me, logan, karter, josh, katie, jakey to vote her. thats majority." 

Pat, 11:03 PM "That’s unanimous lmao. Only person you couldn’t get is Lydia?" 

Renee, 11:04 PM "unless we convinced her to stay offline all day and she self voted you said she trusts you, do you think you could get her to do that?" 

SURE, I COULD GET LYDIA TO SELF-VOTE. SHOULD I CURE WORLD HUNGER AND ACCOMPLISH UNIVERSAL NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT TOO. 

I think Renee was just being ridiculous for the sake of it. She has to know her game pretty much died last night. 

Anyhow, all things being equal tonight, I'm pulling for a Jakey vote – surpriiiiiiiise. If you come at me, you'd better not miss! It's the obvious play, and if there's an idol floating around still it could easily splash back on me. Lydia also told me the idea's been floated around that I might have an idol (lol I haven't intensely guessed for one since pre-swap, really) so I could see myself continuing to receive votes tonight. But as long as our core stays solid (and I don't see any of those people I listed flipping on me) then I think we're sitting pretty moving into F7. Knock on wood. I think the only reason last night's play failed is because I'm usually the F8 boot, not the F9. They tried it one round too early. Then, ideally, we pick off Katie, Renee in whatever order, leaving us with Logan, Lydia, myself, Josh and Karter. That's a damn fine spot to be in. I've got all the options in the world in that F5. But.... I'm going to NOT get too far ahead of myself. Let's survive this vote first. 

LYDIA

JAKEY

PATRICK

Congrats, Jakey. You got me. ;) Shouldn't have let off the gas and given you a chance to reload.

[the-bitch-files]

Spring Reading Wrap Up!

Hello! Instead of doing a monthly wrap up or individual reviews, I have decided to do a seasonal wrap of the books I have read. Here, I will list all the books I've read  I've watched during the Spring months - March, April & May - and include some select reviews. This is because I only have so many thoughts about these things and there are some books where I want to write a review and have plenty of thoughts about it. Hopefully that makes sense. So, without further ado, let's get to it!

What I Read

MARCH

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (2017) - 5 ★ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (2019) - 5 ★ Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton (2021) - 5 ★ Good & Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister - 4 ★ Men Explain Things to Me And Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit (2014) - 5 ★ The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe (2021) - 5 ★ All Eyes on Her by L.E. Flynn (2020) - 3 1/2 ★ The Book of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories of Courage and Resistance by Chelsea and Hillary Rodham Clinton (2020) The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan (2020) - 5 ★

APRIL

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin (2020) - 2 ★ Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex and Other Taboo Topics by Lara Parker (2020, memoir, non-fiction) Girl A by Abigail Dean (2021) - 5 ★ The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto (2021) - 4.5 ★ The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (2021) - 5 ★ Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women White Feminists Forgot by Mikki Kendall (2020, feminist non-fiction) - 4 ★ Sisters by Daisy Johnson (2020) - 3 ★ Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2017, short feminist non-fiction)

MAY

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney (2017) - 3.5 ★ Moranthology by Caitlin Moran (2012, collection of her newspaper columns) You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (2016) - 4 ★ People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd (2021) - 1 ★ Pretty Bitches: On Being Called Crazy, Angry, Bossy, Frumpy, Feisty, and All the Other Words Used to Undermine Women ed. by Lizzie Skurnick (2020, anthology essay collection)

REVIEWS

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin (2020) - 2 ★

This was my worst read of the season. This book was slow-paced, slightly predictable with a plot that felt like it had already been done and an ending that had little effect on the world in the book. 

   Following Ember Williams - which is short for September, named after her birth month - who sets out to take down the Red Court, a secret society within her high school which grants favours for others at a price, in revenge for an accident which left her elder sister April paralysed two years earlier. After joining the Red Court (RC) and playing a part in missions (including election rigging for Homecoming, breaking up couples and takedowns of other students), Ember faces a conflict of morality and struggles with the secrets she's keeping from her best friend, Gideon, and new love interest/crush, Chase - who happens to be one half of the couple she breaks up soon after joining the Red Court and the guy that she competes with academically. This leads to drama within her own life and Ember spirals into her obsession with the Red Court while trying to keep up with school and her relationships with friends, family and now Chase.

   I didn't connect to Ember as a character as she seemed to be hellbent on revenge and while I do enjoy a good revenge tale, this was not that. It seemed like she changed her mind sometimes on her opinion on the RC, even going so far as to think herself as a potential new Queen of Hearts (the leader), remaking the RC with her own vision. It did not seem like a good idea and just selfish thinking that she is superior to these other girls and the RC itself. Ember says that she is doing this for her sister - and at one point it gets all 'this is bigger than you and me and I must do it for the greater good', which seems cliche - but it seemed like April wasn't convinced and didn't want Ember to do it. 

   Also, the 'romance' between Ember and Chase was pretty boring and quite forced. They just kept bumping into each other and Ember was like 'I can't be seen with this guy because of my place in the Red Court. but I'm really starting to like him. What do I do?' Chase seemed like a good enough guy but not developed enough as a character. The romance itself was just added drama for Ember to deal with on top of the RC shit. 

   This turned into a rant and I usually don't like to complain about books this much - sorry. TLDR: I thought it was going to be a good revenge tale; it wasn't. Waste of Queen of Hearts/Alice in Wonderland motif. Too slow paced as well.

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe (2021) - 5 ★

This book was sooo good! I loved it - it was so thrilling, action-packed, heartbreaking, and brilliant. A few things that I loved in this:

bisexual protagonist with great rep (she has a good relationship with her male ex as they are now friends, and is a good relationship with her current girlfriend)

the protagonist, Nora, is a con artist who is v skilled but is dealing with what she's experienced and how she grew up with her con artist mother

the girlfriend, Iris, is amazing and well-written as a character and love interest. she loves vintage clothes, is resourceful and wants to investigate arson for a living which gives some skills that helps them out

the action is set in a bank robbery and this takes place over a matter of hours so it is quite action-packed for a short time frame. the characters have to think quickly on their feet in order to survive and it really questions what would you do to survive when placed in a life-or-death situation

as someone who deals with bad period pain/constant abdominal pain (potential endometriosis), I really liked the inclusion of a character with endometriosis in Iris. During the bank robbery it's revealed that Iris is on her period, so dealing with a heavy, painful period along with the stress of a hostage situation must be overwhelming. Iris is such a badass for this and we see her do some heroics near the end. I love Iris

the characters of Nora, Iris and Wes (their best friend and Nora's ex) are bonded by their friendship and have past trauma and asshole dads (or stepdad in Nora's case) in common. their friendship is awesome and they will do anything for each other. a great example of found family trope

The plotline of the bank robbery is written alongside flashbacks to Nora's past through the different aliases she has had - the eponymous 'girls I've been' - and we really get to see what Nora's learnt, and how her mom has manipulated her into living these lives and running these cons when Nora didn't ask to be a part of it. She was born into it really, since it started so young. It's all she's known but she wants more from her life. The men that her mom - Abby - chose to be the marks were always bad guys and they got worse as Nora got older, culminating in crime boss and Abby's love Raymond Keane. Nora's past and present collide during the bank robbery with secrets being revealed.

   The whole novel was fantastic. Highly recommend.

Girl A by Abigail Dean (2021) - 5 ★

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and god, it was so good. 'Girl A' deserves all the praise it is getting - and some of it is included on the inside cover. As devastating as it is brilliant, this novel is a compelling read that looks at the lasting impact of trauma from the perspective of Lex Gracie, a survivor of child abuse and neglect that became a nation-wide headline-making case known as the 'House of Horrors'. She is Girl A, the girl who escaped, but there is so much more to it than that.

   The narrative switches between the present day with Lex at age 30 and dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death in prison as she is the executor of her will and now owns the House of Horrors, and the past taking us through Lex's childhood and the abuse she and her six siblings faced. Since the timeline shifts quickly by paragraph, sometimes it can be quite jarring and confusing as you realise that she is talking about the past but I understood this mostly. You could say it speaks to how hard it is to shake off that kind of past.

   Sometimes it can be hard to read simply because of how horrifying the abuse is and the conditions that the Gracie children had to live in. That just shows how strong Abigail Dean's writing is. This is a fantastic debut and one that I found absolutely excellent.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (2016) - 3.5 ★

I continue to love Megan Abbott's writing style as she writes great prose about women, their bodies, the relationships between women and femininity. She writes about sports that considered typically feminine - cheerleading in 'Dare Me', gymnastics here and ballet in the upcoming 'The Turnout' - and it feels like a deep dive into the sport itself and the impact it has on the girls who take part and their bodies. Gymnastics was central to the plot as the protagonist's (Katie) daughter, Devon, is a star of the sport. Multiple times we are reminded how extraordinary Devon is due to her ability as a gymnast and commitment to the sport.

   There is a mystery here with the death of a young man within this community being the catalyst for the events of the book, but it takes a backseat to the gymnastics. I do wish there was more to this mystery but it seems that it was not the focus here.

   I did not like this as much as I did my other Megan Abbott reads - 'Dare Me' and 'Give Me Your Hand' - but it was still a great read.

The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (2021) - 5 ★

This was *chef's kiss* amazing.  

   The writing was brilliant, the twists were stunning (particularly in the last 10%) and the dynamic between Amb (Ambrosia Wellington) and Sully (Sloan Sullivan) was intense, toxic, co-dependent, and destructive, both internally and externally - as in, destructive towards themselves and other people. The title is a reference to the optimism of Amb's roommate Flora, when in actuality, the niceness was mostly fake, particularly from the perspective of cynical Amb. there were a few quotes here that I liked, including: 

   "I don't know if it's disgusting or impressive that girls can do that for each other. that we can achieve that level of deceit in the name of sisterhood."

   "People thought girls' bodies were our deadlines weapons. they had no idea about the mountains our imaginations could move."

   "the world loves a pretty dead girl."

   "I discovered my own version of sisterhood. It doesn't have to be merciless, feeding on the chunks it tears from its own flesh. It can be softer, more forgiving. because there are girls like me, fighting to make the society we're fenced into a more hospitable place for all of us."

   "I turned into a monster, but the world knows exactly how to make monsters out of girls who want what they can't have."

   Definitely recommend! Especially if you're a fan of Megan Abbott (it's like 'Dare Me' and 'Give Me Your Hand'), toxic female friendships, and dark academia (I don't know if this could be considered dark academia, but ). 5 stars all the way.

So, what did you read in the spring months? have you read any of these books? if so, what did you think? let me know in the comments. thanks for reading! - Cat

[thereviewsarein]

We miss the CNE. We miss a lot of things this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Canadian National Exhibition is a big one, a fundamental piece of Toronto’s summer, and host to a lot of fun musical memories over the years.

We’ve seen pop, rock, country, classics, new artists, and more – and today I’ve got three memories to share from our time covering the concerts at the fair.

Related: CNE – 10 Canadian Performances – Fan Videos

This list has some Canadian country, some Canadian rock and roll, and an artist that had been on my bucket list for years, and made all the waiting worth it. Check ’em out!

Let’s go!

Jess Moskaluke & High Valley

The CNE Bandshell, 2016

https://www.thereviewsarein.com/2016/08/29/take-me-home-jess-moskaluke-at-the-cne-2016/

https://www.thereviewsarein.com/2016/08/30/every-weeks-got-a-friday-high-valley-at-the-cne-2016/

This show was a lot of fun for a couple of reasons. 1) Jess Moskaluke and High Valley are both super talented Canadian country music acts, so getting them on the same stage on the same night was a win for all fans in attendance. 2) We got to bring my mom with us as her birthday present and she got to hang out while we did our interviews and then watched the show.

It was great to get to chat with everyone and share the highlights of those conversations in our posts. But, when it comes down to it, it’s that double-header of talent that makes this night memorable. First, Moskaluke (just weeks away from winning her third consecutive Canadian Country Music Association Female Artist of the Year award) played an hour-long set with 15 songs that included hits like Used, Kiss Me Quiet, and Night We Won’t Forget, plus covers like Ex’s And Oh’s and My Church (which made me run to our pal Stef so we could sing along at the tops of our lungs) before she closed things out with Cheap Wine & Cigarettes. She crushed it, could have been the headliner, and we hope that she gets that chance in the future.

As headliners go though, High Valley was a great fit. The Alberta brothers whipped up the Toronto crowd with hits and favourites. They had folks dancing and singing and treating a Sunday night like a Friday. Four years later (wow!) it’s still easy to remember the happiness that the country fans gathered in front of the bandshell stage were experiencing. The Rempel bros. were in control and making sure everyone enjoyed themselves, and they showed us that they are well-deserving of all the acclaim and fanfare they receive. Heck, if I could go back and just sing along to Make You Mine that night, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It was that fun.

Note: We also saw Jess Moskaluke & High Valley together when they were on the Paul Brandt Journey Tour in Oshawa in February 2019. Paul Brandt & The Journey Tour Hits Oshawa

2016 saw a lot of country music at the CNE, and we’re glad we were there for this night to wrap it up.

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Sam Roberts

The CNE Bandshell, 2017

https://www.thereviewsarein.com/2017/08/20/terraform-sam-roberts-band-with-janes-party-at-the-2017-cne/

I’ve been a fan of Sam Roberts for quite some time now, and when we got to see the band in Toronto in 2017, it was a treat. For an hour and a half, Roberts and the band played new songs, old songs, big hits, and fan favourites. They did it with no frills, just rock, and I appreciated then, and remember it fondly now.

In my head I can still hear Where Have All The Good People Gone, We’re All In This Together, and Brother Down. I can feel the rock and roll and smile on my face and the Canadiana washing over me. It’s a lovely memory and one of the coolest parts of seeing great shows is the remembering (in my opinion).

The Sam Roberts Band is still pumping out great music, and we all know they are wonderful. But seeing them in 2017, 15 years after I became a fan, really cemented all of that for me. I’m glad I was at this show. I’m glad I remember this show. And I hope that lots and lots of people have similar Sam Roberts memories and get to make more of them in the coming years.

TLDR Sam Roberts Band is great, they played an awesome show at the CNE in 2017, and I remember it very, very fondly.

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Rick Springfield

The CNE Bandshell, 2015

https://www.thereviewsarein.com/2015/08/29/rocket-science-rick-springfield-rocks-it-out-at-the-2015-cne/

Look, Rick Springfield was a lot of fun at the CNE back in 2015 – but there’s one overwhelming reason that this show is memorable and made it into this post – Jessie’s Girl!

Yes, it was really cool to be blown away by the energy and guitar chops and rock and roll vibe that Springfield showed off at the bandshell (because I didn’t know he had that in him), but really it was the legendary hit single that hovered over the entire set. I knew it was going to be the encore. Everyone should have known it was going to be in the encore. BUT, every time Springfield played even a hint of the Jessie’s Girl guitar riff, the crowd went nuts.

The set was super fun, the crowd was perfect for him, and he even nailed a cover of Katy Perry’s Roar. And then, when we were in encore time and Rick Springfield and his band finally played Jessie’s Girl, I popped, the crowd popped, he looked like anything other than a 66-year-old artist who hadn’t played the bandshell in 33 years, and it was AWESOME!

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Joshua’s Live Music Memories (part 4): Canadian National Exhibition We miss the CNE. We miss a lot of things this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Canadian National Exhibition is a big one, a fundamental piece of Toronto's summer, and host to a lot of fun musical memories over the years.