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geralt-of-baevia · 27 days

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Call It What You Want: Chapter One

pairing: nobreakout!joel x f!ofc (Violet Fletcher)

rating: explicit, MDNI 18+

word count: 2.1k

summary: Seeking solace from a painful breakup, Violet relocates to a tranquil town, purchasing a neglected house to renovate. In her new neighborhood, she befriends Harlow, who introduces her to Joel, a gruff and seasoned contractor with a heart of gold. Despite Joel's initial grumpiness, Violet finds herself drawn to his expertise and hidden kindness.

As Violet immerses herself in home renovations alongside Joel, their dynamic begins to shift, with Joel unexpectedly opening himself up to the possibility of love. Their budding relationship faces challenges as shadows from their pasts emerge, testing their newfound connection.

warnings/tags: nothing for now! just lots of light and airy fluff and a meet-cute! but don't worry, it's gonna get dirty 😈! oh, I guess age gap? yeah, that one.

a/n: alright, i've had MAJOR writer's block for a couple years now. I tried to write a Ted Lasso fic last year, but quickly lost steam. But somehow Pedge worked his magic on me and I'm already nine chapters in on this story and 25k words and I'm just now posting it! I hope y'all enjoy. This story means the world to me rn. <3

My keys jingled in the door, and I couldn’t help but let out an aggravated sigh. This was at least the third time this week that the front door was sticking. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed again, knowing my fate: I would have to crawl through the kitchen window.

Again.

As I walked around the back to go in through the kitchen window, I heard a voice calling my name. I looked across the street and saw my neighbor Harlow. She was standing on the last step of her front porch. One of her hands was held up to her brow as a temporary visor, blocking her eyes from the sun. She was shaking her head at me with a big, stupid grin.

“Girl, is that front door stuck again?” she asked, humor dripping from her faint southern drawl.

I sighed, crossing my arms in defeat and shifting my weight to one hip.

“Is there any use in lying to you at this point?” I called back in response.

She let out a loud laugh. “At least this time I caught you before you god forbid get stuck in that damn kitchen window again, ass up and legs flailing.”

I laughed at her comment and placed a hand awkwardly over my face in embarrassment. Two days prior I had gotten stuck climbing through the kitchen window when the front door had been jammed again, Harlow coming to my rescue.

“And I thought you had “finally fixed” anyway?” she asked, doing air quotes with her hands.

“I did!”

“And how is that working out for you?”

I shook my head with a laugh and flipped her the bird.

“Well, why don’t you come over and I’ll make us some breakfast?” she said, motioning me to come over to her, “and then you are going to let me call my friend who will come and fix your door. And I’m not letting you tell me no this time.”

I knew there was no saying no to her.

----

“Wait, so you’re telling me you just sautee mushrooms and onions, and then put it between puff pastry and a slab of beef?”

I nodded with a giggle. “Mmhmm. And then you brush the meat with mustard as well.”

Harlow’s mouth dropped open.

“I’ll make it for you sometime!” I told her excitedly, “I haven’t made it since culinary school, but I loved it.”

The doorbell rang and interrupted us. Harlow shot up from her seat excitedly.

“He’s here!” she said as she made her way towards the front door. She paused for a minute and turned to face me.

“Okay, just a warning real quick. Don’t be put off by the fact that he might be a bit of a curmudgeon,” she giggled.

“A curmudgeon? That’s such a specific brand of grump,” I said with a chuckle. She shrugged her shoulders before turning back around to get the door.

The doorbell rang a second time and I heard Harlow shout, “I’m coming! Be patient, Jesus…”

I giggled to myself and took a long drink of my coffee. Before I was able to set my mug down on the table, I looked up to see Harlow walk back into the kitchen, a tall man following behind her.

“Do you want some coffee Joel?” she asked him. I watched as he crossed his arms and leaned against the frame of the doorway.

“Yes, please,” he replied, emphasizing the please.

I started to stand up to introduce myself, but he caught my eye and put a hand up to stop me.

“Oh, no need to get up on my behalf,” he said, stopping me. I sat back down as he walked the few steps between us and held his hand out to me.

I took his hand in mine and he gave me a firm handshake. I almost missed him introducing himself to me. I was too focused on how the pads of his hand and fingers were callused, and how it felt against my smooth skin.

“I’m Joel.”

“Hi, I’m Violet,” I replied, thankful that at least the autopilot in my head was paying attention. A big smile spread on his face, causing his eyes to squint and get crinkly in the corners.

“As in the Violet that lives across the street in the 1940s fixer-upper?” He had the same faded southern accent that Harlow did. They had known each other for a long time.

“I feel bad that you seem to know more about me than I know about you,” I said, trying to not come across awkwardly. Joel took a seat and let out an airy chuckle.

“Oh don’t worry, there’s not much to know about me,” he said sincerely.

“We both know that’s not true,” Harlow interjected. She sat down at the end of the table between Joel and me, handing him his coffee.

“Thank you,” he said almost in relief.

I tried my hardest not to stare at Joel, but I caught myself looking him up and down more than once as we sat at the table and talked.

“Wait, so what’s goin’ on?” he asked, setting his now empty coffee mug down on the table. I sighed before tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Okay, so the original door knob kept catching and jamming. Something having to do with the original door knob not lining up correctly when it's closed. I thought putting a new door knob and re-aligning it would work. But then I tried to open my door when I got open, and it was stuck again,” I explained, “so I think it’s past me just YouTubing answers.”

“Well it’s a good thing that Joel here is a carpenter,” Harlow said, patting him on the shoulder. He smiled another crinkled smile at her.

“Retired carpenter, but yes,” he said, giving her a friendly wink, “but I can fix that. I bet you anything your doorway is slackin’ and need a new door. Either way, I’m sure I can fix it.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother-”

“If it was going to be a bother to me, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place,” he said with a knowing smirk. I tried my hardest to keep my blushing to a minimum, but my cheeks still grew warm.

Joel stood up and clapped his hands, rubbing them together excitedly. “Alright ladies, let's get up and go look at this door.” We all got up and exited the house, making our way across the street to mine.

I smiled up at the house as we made our way to the front door. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe it was mine. The house had been barely used for almost a decade. Each one of the five bedrooms needed to be redone. And the two bathrooms. And the sitting rooms. It was a lot of work, but worth it. Not to mention a dilapidated house was cheaper to buy than a ready-to-move-in one. I saw it as a way that I get to make the house exactly how I wanted it.

Once we were at the door, Joel held his hand out to me.

“Key please,” he said, locking eyes with me as he did. I fumbled into my pocket, pulled the key out, and placed it in his hand. “Thanks.”

He put the key in the keyhole and tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried turning it the other way, but it still didn’t move. I sighed.

“How badly did I fuck it up?” I asked. He let out a chuckle.

“You didn’t fuck it up, the house did,” he said, giving me a reassuring look. I watched as he pointed out areas around the frame on the wall, “I guarantee you it’s like I said, slacking in these places and putting the door off balance.”

“So what's the fix?” I asked, “Is it going to be intense?”

“Not at all. It’s a project I could do and get done by this afternoon. I just need to go get some things for it,” he said, still looking at the wall and assessing. “But I need to look at it from the inside before I can tell. Is there a way to get in?”

Harlow giggled. “Through the kitchen window. I had to help rescue her the other day, though.”

"I’ll give you a boost this time then,” he said with a smirk.

The three of us made our way around the back of the house, and I shimmied open the window just enough for me to fit through. Joel squatted down, laced his fingers together, and looked up at me.

“Ready?” he asked. I nodded in response. I took a deep breath, placed my hands on Joel’s shoulders, and then my foot in his hands.

“Three, two, one, up.” On ‘up’ I jumped with my foot on the ground as he simultaneously lifted me. I was taken aback a little by how effortlessly he did so, and how I could feel muscles through his shirt.

I grabbed onto the bottom of the windowsill and pulled myself up as Joel continued to push. He led the foot that was in his hands to his shoulder, where I was able to give myself a final boost and get through the window. I grabbed onto the edge of the counter inside and pulled myself the rest of the way in, accidentally landing in a thud on the black and white kitchen floor.

“You okay?” Joel and Harlow shouted in unison.

“I’m fine!” I called back as I got myself to my feet. I peeked out of the window to look at them. “I’m going to go find an easier window for you two to climb through and get it ready.”

I ran towards the front of the house, looking for a window that was lower and easier to get through. I decided on one of the windows that lined the porch. I haphazardly ripped the screen from the window and unlocked it. After opened it I stuck my head out and shouted, “Over here, you two!”

Once Harlow and Joel crawled into the house, Joel immediately headed for the front door.

“Have you decided on a paint color for this room yet?” Harlow asked me, looking around the room we were in. I shook my head.

“I’ve decided to keep the wallpaper. I’m just going to clean it and touch up the trim,” I told her with a big smile. She looked around the room at the wallpaper in question, wincing a little at the bold gold pattern on the walls.

“So, I was right,” Joel said, peeking his head around into the room. He nudged his head for me to come see. I swallowed the butterflies down into my stomach and went into the foyer. He nudged his head again before crouching down by the door knob. I closed the space between us and followed suit, crouching down so that I was at eye level with Joel and the doorknob.

Joel pointed his finger at where the door and the frame joined. “See how it’s not lining up, it's just a little too low.”

I watched as he stood up and grabbed onto the knob with both hands. With a grunt, he lifted the door and turned it at the same time. To my happy surprise, the door opened with no problem. Joe took a step back and placed his hands on his hips, looking at the door with a sense of accomplishment.

“So, a new doorframe?” I asked as I got to my feet. He replied with a “mmhmm.”

“Yep. I just need to take some measurements of the door and the frame. I know I have enough spare wood at my place, but I’ll need a new door. Did you say you have the original hardware?”

I nodded. “How much is a new door going to cost? I can get you the money for it.”

He shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry. I know a guy where I can get a good door for cheap. Consider it a housewarming gift.”

Harlow and I sat on my front porch as we watched Joel drive off in the direction of the woodshop.

“So, I thought you said he was a curmudgeon?” I said, keeping my gaze ahead.

“He is. Usually.”

She nudged my shoulder with hers, causing me to sway to the side. I straightened up and finally looked over at her just in time to nudge her back, biting at my bottom lip.

Usually. We’ll have to see what that means.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction #joel miller #joel miller x oc #tlou hbo #the last of us #the last of us hbo #joel miller smut #joel miller fanfic #no outbreak!joel miller #no outbreak au

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singofsolace · 1 year

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What were your thoughts on the last couple of TL episodes? It’s starting to look like Tedbecca was a collective delusion after all, lol. If that is indeed the case, what would you like to see as a conclusion to Rebecca’s arc? I can’t picture her ending up alone, romantically; normally I’d be all for it, subverting expectations and all, but so much of her story so far has hinged on her longing for a wholesome romantic love to settle down and start a family with, that I’m afraid her ending up alone wouldn’t be empowering but just straight up sad. And if it’s not Ted, who do you think it could be so that it’s still a somewhat satisfying endgame? I’d be ok with Sam, tbh. At least that’d be infinitely better than the Dutch man or some other random, last-minute addition.

If I'm being completely honest, the reason I haven't shared my thoughts on the last few episodes is because I have some pretty strong negative feelings about the writing, and I didn't want to put those feelings in the "Ted Lasso" tag and wind up getting hate, but tagging spoilers is necessary/required... so I was in a bit of a conundrum.

My biggest complaint is that I don't understand where this season is going. This season feels like it's incredibly scattered and all over the place--and if any new elements get added now in the last three episodes (even ones I've been longing to see since Episode 1), it's all going to feel incredibly rushed.

What it comes down to is that Ted and Rebecca are supposed to be the lead characters in this show, but lately (especially in these last two episodes about Keeley and Colin) it feels like they're barely even supporting characters. They don't have story arcs of their own within each episode, which is incredibly frustrating, because why would they sideline their main characters this late in the final season? No matter how much I love the large supporting cast, and think those actors deserve their time to shine, these supporting-character-centric episodes are making me feel like this can't possibly be the final season, because if this is "it" for Ted and Rebecca's stories, I feel incredibly cheated by the writers.

Rebecca hasn't had her own storyline, where she isn't just reacting to what other characters are doing, since "Sunflowers." How is that possible? In my MFA creative writing program, you would get your piece of writing torn to fucking shreds if your lead female character had no agency in the story and was simply reacting to other characters. Rebecca Welton is meant to be an active presence in this story, effecting change and driving the story forward; why on earth has she been relegated to someone who is only in the episode to give advice and pep talks to the other characters (sometimes shouted advice, but advice nonetheless)?

I'm also still trying to figure out why they introduced the idea that Rebecca is/was actively trying to have a baby, even going so far as to get tests done at a fertility clinic, only to immediately drop that thread after revealing her infertility...? As if finding out the news had no lasting impact on her whatsoever, and she immediately gave up trying to have a family, even though there are so many other avenues she could've explored...? I trust that they haven't forgotten about that storyline, and will most likely try to tie up that loose end by the final episode, but immediately abandoning that storyline after introducing it in order to focus the show on supporting characters makes me feel like Rebecca's storyline is no longer the one that is driving the narrative of the show, which is a huge change, and one I don't particularly like.

As for the question about who would make a satisfying endgame for Rebecca, I'm firmly a Rebecca x Happiness person, so whatever will make her happy, I could find a way to justify. I personally have reservations about Rebecca/Sam, but the show itself doesn't seem to share those reservations. But I think the fact that Sam's father doesn't like Rebecca speaks volumes, because I'm sure Sam was kind when describing what happened between them, so his dad taking that information badly is validating to me. And if Dutch Boatman comes back, I'd be pissed, because the "did we? oh yes we did," still bothers me, even though I'm well-aware that the writers didn't intend for that to imply an assault happened. There are so many other ways they could've written that line, and that storyline in general, and I'm just frustrated that it made it to the screen the way it did.

I think that what is actually going to happen is that we'll see a classic rom-com airport scene where Rebecca asks Ted to stay instead of going back to Kansas, and the show will end right there, a bit ambiguously, with Ted and Rebecca decidedly not together yet, but with the possibility of that "Ted, please, stay," meaning something more. I'm almost positive that's what's going to happen, because that sets up more seasons if they want to do them, but also lets them "off the hook" if more seasons don't happen, because the ending would be a classic one that audiences recognize as an "end" even in its ambiguity.

#ted lasso spoilers #rebecca welton #ted lasso

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theodore-lasso · 1 year

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Okay I’m just gonna do a little Ted Lasso vent under a cut feel free to keep scrolling this is just so I don’t ruin someone’s day in DM’s by being salty as hell

TLDR this season has just been: go girl give us nothing for me.

I’ll start with overall vibes, I just think they’re doing too much. Maybe this is personal preference re: ensemble shows but there are so many plotlines and while I disagree that Shandy and Zava and Anastacia are useless and time fillers (they’re side characters to advance main characters personal arcs.... that’s how side characters work) I do agree that they feel flat and one note, but I think that’s just because there’s too many characters and too many plots, and they’re not able to go deeply into any of them anymore. Like we’re not often sitting with characters, it’s like a quick scene then moving onto the next person and issue.

Unfortunately I’m feeling that with Henry and Ted now, which sucks, because it’s one of the most meaningful relationships on the show. But Henry had an issue this ep, and by the time Ted spoke to him it had already been solved by parenting he’d done in the past. Which... I feel like we as an audience don’t need more reminders that Ted is a good dad, we already know that. Also I don’t feel as if “count to ten until you don’t feel angry even if that’s infinite” is the lesson that Ted has been learning this season? Hasn’t he been learning to occasionally be assertive and stand up for himself? I think this plot line could have been a bit deeper - Henry being insecure because his dad isn’t there and taking it out on other kids instead of... undisclosed being mean for no apparent reason and immediately apologising. Anyway that’s just one moment in the entire episode that fell flat for me.

Rebecca, bro idk. She feels like 2 different characters to me at the moment. Like she’ll yell at Ted to make them win a match and then literally isn’t doing a single thing about it outside of that and will just be like hi :) to him in the hallway. Loved the moment where Higgins said maybe they needed to find another manager so much, I love his growth from S1 and actually saying brave things now, but I hate that it was brushed aside especially if she’s yelling at Ted on the regular now about losing. I’m glad she got her fertility tested because I feel like otherwise there’d be this huge “what if” for her. As a single person I was rolling my eyes at the emergency contact thing but yeah I get it she wants to find love. I think this is where my main criticism of the season comes in, and that is the reliance on the psychic, things that have been “set up” in previous seasons rather than characters actively doing things. Like as someone who has been watching closely for years now, I haven’t really been surprised by any of the directions they’ve taken s3.

Rebecca is walking around looking for signs related to the psychic, which is all well and good especially if it leads her to getting her fertility tested and stuff, but same with Ted, not currently doing anything about the teams losses, not doing anything about the team & Zava when he was still there. He hasn’t spoken to Colin about benching him and then playing him when like... S1 Ted would be all over that. He hasn’t spoken to Beard about Jane. Idk I think there’s so much reliance on “it will all work out in the end” that they’ve forgotten you need to make active strides in the middle. We haven’t yet seen Roy working on himself to figure out what he wants with Keeley, Jamie has had no arc this season so far other than being suddenly a genius (like nothing has come from the 4am training sessions yet?)

Literally shocked that the writers can’t seem to think of a meet-cute that isn’t with someone’s boss, like I do think it’s odd that it’s happened 3 times now (Sam and Simi, Keeley and Jack, Sam and Rebecca) but I am here for seeing sapphics kiss onscreen even though I’m slightly concerned about the long-term of that for Keeley (but tbf I was about Sam too and that ended fine)

Shandy Keeley stuff, I know it was a mirror with Sam Edwin but fml, I thought Keeley was going to learn to be a good manager and grow Shandy as an employee but... no.

Final note even though I could probably rant for longer: I miss Phoebe SO MUCH

Anyway highlights of the season are: NATE!!!!, BeardRoy, Trent although I wish he’d say more, Higgins, and Colin has potential

#ted lasso #ted lasso season 3 spoilers #vent post

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bookgeekgrrl · 11 months

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My media this week (21-27 May 2023)

ᵗʰᵉ ᵃᵏʳᵒⁿ ᵃʳᵗ ᵐᵘˢᵉᵘᵐ ʰᵃˢ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᵉˡᶦˣ ᵍᵒⁿᶻᵃˡᵉᶻ ᵗᵒʳʳᵉˢ ᶦⁿˢᵗᵃˡˡᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿˢ ˢᵒ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʷᵃˢ ᵃⁿ ᵘⁿᵉˣᵖᵉᶜᵗᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉᵐᵒᵗᶦᵒⁿᵃˡ ˢᵘʳᵖʳᶦˢᵉ ⁽ᶦ ʷᵃˢ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᵏᵉᶦᵗʰ ʰᵃʳᶦⁿᵍ ᵉˣʰᶦᵇᶦᵗ ʷʰᶦᶜʰ ʷᵃˢ ᵃˡˢᵒ ᶠᵃⁿᵗᵃˢᵗᶦᶜ⁾

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰👂‍Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (Cecelia and Kate #1) (Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer, author; Lucy Rayner, narrator) - epistolary fantasy regency - formative & beloved and still a fave comfort read

😍Werewolves in the Workplace (leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)) - 45K, stucky AU, were!bucky, vamp!steve, SHIELD, partners-to-friends-to-lovers - fucking awesome fic!

🥰👂‍This Is How You Lose The Time War (Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, author; Cynthia Farrell & Emily Woo Zeller, narrators) - this had been in my TBR forever but all the recent fuss with bigolas dickolas reminded me and made me bump it to the top - I genuinely loved it and am looking forward to rereading it; books with wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff are good for a reread

🙂Politics and Animals (Kryptaria, zooeyscigar) - 73K, stucky no-powers modern AU with some D/s stuff - enjoyable enough and I don't regret finishing it but it left me kinda meh

🙂Pretty Good Neighbor (Jeffrey Ford) - freebie horror/sci fi short story

💖💖 +188K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Relationship Goals: Have a Relationship (cleo4u2, xantissa) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 21K - reread, fave - wrong number AU

bene castigat series (Nonymos) - MCU: no powers shrinkyclinks, clintasha, 69K - reread, forever fave - really excellent BDSM series with tiny sadist dom steve and beefy masochist sub bucky + lots of great appearances/involvement of clint, natasha & sam

Flex and Flexibility (musette22) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 4K - adorable meet cute

Push It (thepinupchemist) - MCU: stucky+peggy, 8K - modern AU, basically 3some pwp: they're all alternative models doing a lingerie photoshoot that turns into sex. very hot

i'm so in love that i might stop breathing (i wanna brainwash you into loving me forever) (instantcaramel) - Ted Lasso: Keeley/Roy/Jamie, 4K - post 3.11, jamie's not sure how he fits in but roy & keeley reassure him

My Heart Belongs to Captain Rogers (lavenderbucky) - MCU: stucky, 2K - established relationship, super cute accidental clothes sharing leads to social media meltdown (positive)

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Um, Actually - s3, e2-7; s8, e5

Ted Lasso - s3, e11 [x2]

Ghosted

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Sporkful - Comic Jamie Loftus’s Hot Dog Summer

Into It - ‘The Little Mermaid’ and the Black Princess Test

Re: Dracula - May 24: It Never Rains but it Pours

Vibe Check - You’re the Warm up Act, Honey

⭐You Are Good - Steel Magnolias w. Ali Soukovich

Re: Dracula - May 25: Mingle Our Weeps

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Tina Turner

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - Willing a Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt Duet Into Existence (with Julie Stewart-Binks)

The Waves Plus - I Don’t Care If You Like Me

Re: Dracula - May 26: Count Me in Every Time

Into It - Are We Into the End of 'Succession' and HBO Max? (Plus: We Remember Tina Turner)

Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Little Mermaid and What's Making Us Happy

Ologies with Alie Ward - Field Trip: A Hollywood Visit to the Writers Guild Strike Line

⭐Sidedoor - The Funk List

Our Opinions Are Correct - Mini Episode: Our Favorite New TV Show of 2023!

Our Opinions Are Correct - MINI EPISODE: Are People Finally Sick of Superhero Movies?

Switched on Pop - Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery

99% Invisible #538 - Train Set: Track Three

⭐Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Vocal Stratosphere

Hit Parade Plus - The Bridge: The Sun Never Set on the Britpop Empire

Shedunnit - Bonus: Julia Jones on Margery Allingham

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Relaxing '80s Rock

my 'Likes' playlist [every song is a certified banger but it is almost 600 songs long and took me 5 days to get thru. no regrets!]

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chainofclovers · 1 year

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💔🤡

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

I actually tend to avoid writing anything that will truly break my heart, at least when it comes to fic, and at least when it comes to how a story concludes, but I'm willing to get pretty close! In both Lost in the Supermarket and The Gift I Was Given For Not Giving Up (stories two and five in the OPW series), I made myself really sad writing about Ted's mom and her refusal to accept Ted's relationship, to the point that I will never use that same made-up name for Mama Lasso again even if normally I keep names consistent across all my stories even if they're from different universes. By the latter story, I knew the series would conclude without any resolution or promise that Ted's mom would come around and be kinder about the situation, even if it's not entirely without hope. It really bummed me out to write and I genuinely felt upset.

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

For some reason I cracked myself up writing Ted and Rebecca's bathtub-related interaction in Friendship,. (Not the emotional sex scene, but the conversational lead-up.)

Before filling the tub, she tested it out with her clothes on; if she sat in it diagonally she could lie back with her legs stretched all the way out with plenty of room to spare. Still dressed, she stood at the side of the tub and snapped a photo of its surface filling up with water. She sent it to Ted, figuring that even if someone who didn’t know they were sleeping together saw the image, they could play it off as friends gawking at a miracle of modern plumbing. Within seconds, Ted sent a thumbs-up in reply. Barely five minutes passed before he knocked at her door.

“I didn’t misinterpret, right?” Ted asked as he walked into the living area portion of the suite. He wore grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt. His Jordans were untied; he must have shoved them back onto his feet when her text came through. The bathroom door was open, and the water rushing from the faucet seemed loud. “You weren’t just celebrating modern plumbing with that text?”

From fanfic writer emoji ask.

#freetobegrace #asks #hot dork club #fic writer emoji ask meme #meme

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hondagirll · 1 year

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I posted 1,877 times in 2022

37 posts created (2%)

1,840 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dollsome-does-tumblr

@bethanyactually

@jicklet

@commander0fmyheart

@useyourtelescope

I tagged 1,877 of my posts in 2022

#have you heard about queue? that's messed up right - 246 posts

#movies - 178 posts

#nancy drew - 123 posts

#cheers - 120 posts

#ted lasso - 114 posts

#bridgerton - 111 posts

#abbott elementary - 81 posts

#actors - 72 posts

#sam and diane - 60 posts

#gilmore girls - 53 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#its them as friends but since they are both single you can also see the something more simmering underneath all their interactions

My Top Posts in 2022:

Well it happened. I finally got COVID. My parents tested positive over the weekend and I had dinner with them on Friday night before we knew it was the house of plague.

Yesterday was pretty bad, I had a high fever, sore throat, every joint in my body was achy. Today the achyness is gone but I'm still so tired. I've slept twice today and it's only mid afternoon.

And this is me vaccinated. I cannot imagine how bad I would be without the vaccine. My pulse yesterday was at 108 beats per minute and that was with me lying in bed and barely moving. It's scary stuff.

18 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

Well I finally watched The Mummy (1999).

I get the hype now.

It was a rollercoaster of pure enjoyment from start to finish.

21 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

I can get over most shows (poor) choices that writers and directors make after a certain amount of time but it's been 8 years and I am still mad at the HIMYM finale.

I will be upset until I'm dead, apparently. This wound will never heal.

28 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

PSA

This is like a year and half after I promised I’d watch it but guess who finally started Nancy Drew?

I’m two episodes in and I LOVE IT. Nancy, Bess and George - I’m already digging their chaotic vibe together.Am looking forward to more

@jicklet @bethanyactually @heartunsettledsoul @acehardy @ whoever else on my dash watches this show

37 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I watched the trailer for the new Persuasion movie coming to Netflix and I have to say, I was not impressed.

Don't get me wrong, it looked cute and funny but Persuasion is not cute nor is it very funny. Persuasion is angst and regret and wondering "am I so altered that he does not recognize me?" Persuasion is watching the man you once loved flirt with your two friends and pretend you do not exist except he notices you are tired and deposits you in his sister's carriage before you can even make a squeak of protest. Persuasion is realizing that you two are strangers, worse than strangers actually because you can't be friends again and it hurts. Persuasion is a lot of missed communication, glances, doubts and heartache that lay at the base of every interaction Anne and Wentworth have. It's what makes the ending scene (THAT LETTER!) so good, we went on that long and winding journey with them.

I saw none of that in the trailer.

45 notes - Posted June 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #i really like that cheers made it in #(considering i spent like 9 months watching that show!)#and nancy drew! i fell down that rabbit hole and FAST #also i am laughing that my most reblogged post is me complaining about the new persuasion #that tracks

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talldecafcappuccino · 3 years

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#I’ve been plagued by visions since I started this show #this plot line is a personal attack and jason is my joe fox #the ted lasso writers are testing me #I expect a bouquet of daisies soon #you’ve got mail #ted lasso

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fullregalia · 3 years

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20/20.

This year, in hindsight, was a real write-off. I had grand plans for it, and while I ushered it in in a very low-key manner since I was recovering from the flu, I’d expected things to look up. Well, you know what they say about plans (RIP, my trip to Europe). I got very, very sick in early February, and I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t COVID. Since March, the days have been a carousel of monotony: coffee, run, work, cook, yoga, existential spiral, sleep. My Own Private Year of Rest and Relaxation, if you will. Of course, life has a way of breaking through regardless; I attended protests, completed my thesis, graduated from grad school, took a couple of road trips upstate, and celebrated the accomplishments and birthdays of friends and family from a safe social distance. It was all a bit of a blur, and not ideal circumstances to re-enter the real world, or whatever this COVID-present is.

Throughout it all, in lieu of happy hours, coffee dates, and panel discussions, I’ve turned even more to culture and cuisine to fill the the negative space on my calendar where my social life once resided. However, since a global pandemic ought not to disrupt every tradition, here’s my year-end round up of what made this terrible one slightly more tolerable.

After an ascetic fall semester abstaining from TV in 2019 (save for my beloved Succession), I allowed myself to watch more as the year wore on, and especially after graduation. I caught up on some cultural blind spots by finally getting around to The Sopranos, Ramy, Search Party, and Girlfriends. I wasn’t alone in bingeing Sopranos, it absolutely lived up to the hype and then some; this Jersey Girl can’t get enough gabagool-adjacent content, pizzeria culture is my culture!

Speaking of my culture, there was also a disproportionate amount of UK and European shows in my queue. Nothing like being in social isolation and watching the horny Irish teens in Normal People brood. I’m partial to it because I share a surname with the showrunner, so I have to embrace blind loyalty even though there was, in my opinion, a Marianne problem in the casting. Speaking of charming Irish characters with limited emotional vocabularies, I belatedly discovered This Way Up a 2019 show from Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan. And while Connell and Marianne are actually exceptional students, I found the real normal people on GBBO to bring me a bit more joy. Baking was abundantly therapeutic for me this year, and watching charming people drink loads of tea and fret over soggy bottoms was a comfort. I also discovered the Great Pottery Throw Down, and as a lifelong ceramics enthusiast, I cannot recommend it highly enough if you care about things like slips, coils, and glazing techniques. GPTD embraces wabi sabi in a way that GBBO eschews flaws in favor of perfection, and in a time of uncertainty, the former reminded me why I miss getting my hands in the mud as a coping mechanism (hence all the baking). Speaking of coping mechanisms, like everybody else with two eyes and an HBO password, I loved Michaela Cole’s I May Destroy You; though we’ve all had enough distress this year for a lifetime, watching Cole’s Arabella process her assault and search for meaning, justice, and closure was a compelling portrait of grief and purpose in the aftermath of trauma. Arabella’s creative and patient friends Kwame and Terry steal the show throughout, as they deal with their own setbacks and emotional turmoil. Where I May Destroy You provides catharsis, Ted Lasso presents British eccentricity in all its stereotypical glory. At first I was skeptical of the show’s hype on Twitter, but once I gave in it charmed me, if only for Roy Kent’s emotional trajectory and extolling the restorative powers of shortbread. For a more accurate depiction of life in London, Steve McQueen’s series Small Axe provides a visually lush and politically clear-eyed depiction of the lives of British West Indians in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Lastly, how could I get through a recap of my year in tv if I don’t mention The Crown. Normal People may have needed an intimacy coordinator, but the number of Barbours at Balmoral was the real phonographic content for me.

Turning my attention across the Channel, after the trainwreck that was Emily in Paris, I started watching a proper French show, Call My Agent! It’s truly delightful, and unlike the binge-worthy format of "ambient shows” I have been really relishing taking an hour each week to watch CMA, subtitles, cigarettes, and all.

Honorable mention: The Last Dance for its in-depth look at many notable former Chicago residents; High Fidelity for reminding me of the years in college when my brother and I would drive around listening to Beta Band; and Big Mouth.

Music

My Spotify wrapped this year was a bit odd. I don‘t think “Chromatica II into 911″ is technically a song, so it revealed other things about my listening habits this year, which turned out to remain very much stuck in the last, sonically. I listened to a lot more podcasts than new music this year, but there were some records that found their way into heavy rotation. While I listened to a lot of classics both old and new to write my thesis (Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Prokofiev, and Bach) the soundtrack to my coursework, runs, walks, and editing was more contemporary. Standouts include:

Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee, which makes me feel like I’m breathing fresh air even when I’m stuck inside all day

La Bella Vita by Niia, which was there for me when I walked past my ex on 7th avenue (twice!) and he pretended that I didn’t exist

Fetch the Bolt Cutters by THEE Fiona Apple, because Fiona, our social distancing queen, has always been my Talmud, her songs shimmering, evolving, and living with me every year

Shore by Fleet Foxes, for the long drive to the Catskills

Women in Music, Pt. III by HAIM, because these days, these days...

Musicians have been reckoning with tumult this year as much as the rest of us, and the industry has dealt with loss on all fronts. I’d be remiss not to talk about how the passing of John Prine brought his music into my life, and McCoy Tyner, who has been a companion through good and bad over the years.

Honorable mention to: græ by Moses Sumney; The Main Thing by Real Estate; on the tender spot of every calloused moment by Ambrose Akinmusire; Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers; folklore by you know who; and songs by Adrianne Lenker.

Reading

What would this overlong blob be without a list of the best things I read this year? While I left publishing temporarily, books, the news, and newsletters still took up a majority of my attention (duh and/or doomscrolling by any other name). I can’t be comprehensive, and frankly, there are already great roundups of the best longform this year out there, so this is mostly books and praising random writers.

Last year I wrote about peak newsletter. Apparently, my prediction was a bit premature as this year saw an even bigger Substack Boom. But two new newsletters in particular have delighted me: Aminatou Sow’s Crème de la Crème and Hunter Harris’ Hung Up (her ”this one line” series is true force of chaotic good on Blue Ivy’s internet). Relatedly, Sow and Ann Friedman’s Big Friendship was gifted to me by a dear friend and another bff and I are going to read it in tandem next week.

On the “Barack Obama published a 700+ page memoir, crippling the printing industry’s supply chains” front, grad school severely hamstrung my ability to read for pleasure, but I managed to get through almost 30 books this year, some old (Master and Margarita), most new-ish (Say Nothing, Nickel Boys). Four 2020 books in particular enthralled me:

Uncanny Valley: Anna Wiener’s memoir has been buzzed about since n+1 published her essay of the same name in 2016. Her ability to see, clear-eyed, the industry for both its foibles and allure captured that era when the excess and solipsism of the Valley seemed more of a cultural quirk than the harbinger of societal schism.

Transcendent Kingdom: Yaa Gyasi’s novel about faith, family, loss, and--naturally--grad school was deeply empathetic, relatable, and moving. I think this was my favorite book of the year. Following the life of a Ghanaian family that settles in Alabama, it captured the kind of emotional ennui that comes from having one foot in the belief of childhood and one foot in the bewilderment that comes from losing faith in the aftermath of tragedy.

Vanishing Half: Similarly to Transcendent Kingdom, Brit Bennett’s novel about siblings who are separated; it’s also about the ways that colorism can be internalized and the ways chosen family can (and cannot) replace your real kin. It was a compassionate story that captured the pain of abuse and abandonment in two pages in a way that Hanya Yanagihara couldn’t do in 720.

Dessert Person: Ok, so this is a cookbook, but it’s a good read, and the recipes are approachable and delicious. After all the BA Test Kitchen chaos this summer, it’s nice we didn’t have to cancel Claire. Make the thrice baked rye cookies!!!! You will thank me later.

Honorable mention goes to: Leave The World Behind for hitting the Severance/Station Eleven dystopian apocalypse novel sweet spot; Exciting Times for reminding me why I liked Sally Rooney; and Summer by Ali Smith, which wasn’t the strongest of the seasonal quartet, but was a series I enjoyed for two years.

Podcasts

I’m saving my most enthusiastic section for last: ever since 2018, I’ve been listening to an embarrassing amount of podcasts. Moving into a studio apartment will do that to you, as will grad school, add a pandemic to that equation and there’s a lot of time to fill with what has sort of become white noise to me (or, in one case, nice white parents noise). In addition to the shows that I’ve written about before (Still Processing, Popcast, Who? Weekly, and Why is This Happening?), these are the shows I started listening to this year that fueled my parasocial fire:

You’re Wrong About: If you like history, hate patriarchy, and are a millennial, you’ll love Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes’ deep dives into the most notable stories of the past few decades (think Enron and Princess Diana) and also some other cultural flashpoints that briefly but memorably shaped the national discourse (think Terri Schiavo, Elian González, and the Duke Lacrosse rape case).

Home Cooking: This mini series started (and ended) during the pandemic. As someone who stress baked her way through the past nine months, Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway’s show is filled with warmth, banter, and useful advice. Home Cooking has been a reassuring companion in the kitchen, and even though it will be a time capsule once we’re all vaccinated and close talking again, it’s still worth a listen for tips and inspiration while we’re hunkered down for the time being.

How Long Gone: I don’t really know how to explain this other than saying that media twitter broke my brain and enjoying Chris Black and Jason Stewart’s ridiculous banter is the price I pay for it.

Blank Check: Blank Check is like the GBBO of podcasts--Griffin Newman and David Sims’ enthusiasm for and encyclopedic knowledge of film, combined with their hilarious guests and inevitable cultural tangents is always a welcome distraction. Exploring a different film from a director’s oeuvre each week over the course of months, the podcast delves into careers and creative decisions with the passion of completists who want to honor the filmmaking process even when the finished products end up falling short. The Nancy Meyers and Norah Ephron series were favorites because I’d seen most of the movies, but I also have been enjoying the Robert Zemeckis episodes they’re doing right now. The possibility of Soderbergh comes up often (The Big Picture just did a nice episode about/with him), and I’d love to hear them talk about his movies or Spike Lee (or, obviously, Martin Scorsese).

Odds & Ends

If you’re still reading this, you’re a real one, so let’s get into the fun stuff. This was a horrible way to start a new decade, but at least we ended our long national nightmare. We got an excellent dumb twitter meme. I obviously made banana bread, got into home made nut butters, and baked an obscene amount of granola as I try to manifest a future where I own a Subaru Outback. Amanda Mull answered every question I had about Why [Insert Quarantine Trend] Happens. My brother started an organization that is working to eliminate food insecurity in LA. Discovering the Down Dog app allowed me to stay moderately sane, despite busting both of my knees in separate stupid falls on the criminally messed up sidewalks and streets of Philadelphia. I can’t stop burning these candles. Jim Carrey confused us all. We have a Jewish Second Gentleman! Grub Street Diets continued to spark joy. Dolly Parton remains America’s Sweetheart (and possible vaccine savior). And, last, but certainly not least: no one still knows how to pronounce X Æ A-12 Boucher-Musk.

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your-dietician · 3 years

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Entertainment heat wave is coming this summer: What to watch for | Entertainment

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/entertainment/entertainment-heat-wave-is-coming-this-summer-what-to-watch-for-entertainment/

Entertainment heat wave is coming this summer: What to watch for | Entertainment

Remember 2019, when hot girl summer became a motto for living with confidence?

Well, with life getting closer to normal and vaccines nudging the pandemic into — fingers crossed — the rear-view mirror, 2021’s entertainment calendar for the next few months has a similar mood.

Call it a hot everything summer.

Blockbuster movies are returning to theaters. Live concerts are set to resume. Television and streaming shows are back to being a nice part of the mix, not a sole entertainment lifeline. And with travel heating up again, beach books can actually be read on a faraway beach.

To navigate this soaring heat index for fun, here is a list of recommendations that are sunny, breezy, steaming and sizzling. You get the idea.

Hot Jeff Daniels summer

Michigan’s resident acting great always keeps it real — remember his plaid dad shirt at February’s virtual Golden Globes? His latest project evokes his home state’s ethos of blue-collar endurance. “American Rust,” a nine-episode series premiering Sept. 12 on Showtime, stars Daniels as the police chief of a Rust-Belt Pennsylvania town who is feeling “ticked off and kind of jumpy” when a murder investigation tests his loyalties. If the preview looks a bit like HBO’s gritty “Mare of Easttown,” that’s a very good thing.

Hot goofy summer

In real life, metro Detroit native Tim Robinson could be a calm, collected guy. But as a sketch comedian, he’s made an art form out of wildly overreacting to life’s little embarrassments. “I Think You Should Leave,” his mini-masterpiece Netflix show, is back July 6 with a second season. Besides brilliantly making himself the butt of the jokes, Robinson always remembers his hometown friends. Let’s hope for repeat appearances by his pals like “Detroiters” co-star Sam Richardson and Troy’s own Oscar nominee, Steven Yeun.

Hot retro Motor City summer

The Detroit of the mid-1950s comes alive in director Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move,” available July 1 on HBO Max. The crime drama starring Don Cheadle, David Harbour, Benicio del Toro, Jon Hamm and more is about some low-level criminals given a simple assignment that draws them into a mystery that stretches to the heights of the automotive industry’s power structure. The film was shot last year in Detroit under strict COVID-19 safety measures, because Soderbergh, who filmed 1998’s “Out of Sight” here, would accept no other city as a substitute.

Hot road trip summer

Six years ago, a young waitress from Detroit created a viral Twitter thread about a bizarre journey she took to Florida with a new friend to do some freelance stripping. It was as compelling as a novel and as vivid as a movie. Cut to June 30 when “Zola” hits theaters starring Taylour Page and Riley Keough. It’s a comedy and a thriller that defies expectations and makes J-Lo’s “Hustlers” seem mild. Director Janicza Bravo and screenplay co-writer Jeremy O. Harris have created a raunchy adventure that still respects A’Ziah (Zola) King as a strong woman and original writing voice.

Hot action dad summer

Yes, Matt Damon is now old enough to play a Liam Neeson-esque outraged father out for justice. In “Stillwater,” Damon is a worker for an Oklahoma oil rig who must travel to France to try and clear his daughter (Abigail Breslin) of murder charges. Think “Taken,” if it were a serious drama directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy of “Spotlight” fame. It comes out July 30, just in time to make Damon’s fans from his “Good Will Hunting” days feel ancient.

Hot reboot summer

It has been almost a decade since “Gossip Girl” ended its run, which is way too long to be without fashion tips from impossibly beautiful rich kids. The newly reimagined “Gossip Girl” on HBO Max arrives July 8 with some notable improvements, like the inclusiveness of its cast of newcomers. But it’s bringing back the original narrator, Kristen Bell (who grew up in Huntington Woods), as the voice of the title character with the hidden identity.

Hot sweating summer

Sweating is a bodily function, but what exactly is it all about? “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration,” out July 13, will explore the biology, history and marketing behind the moisture that makes us glow (to use a polite term). It covers everything from the role of stress in sweat to deodorant research that involves people who can sniff out, literally, the effectiveness of a product. Since the New York Times recommended the book as one of its 24 summer reads, you know that author Sarah Everts did sweat the details.

Hot Olympic star summer

The 2021 Tokyo Games, which run July 23-Aug. 8, will feature the world’s best gymnast, Simone Biles. She still enjoys competing, but quarantining gave her some time to improve her work-life balance, as she told Glamour for its June cover story (which comes with a dazzling photo spread of Biles). “Before I would only focus on the gym. But me being happy outside the gym is just as important as me being happy and doing well in the gym. Now it’s like everything’s coming together.” For the 24-year-old GOAT, the sky — or, maybe, gravity — is the limit.

Hot variety show summer

“What percentage of white women do you hate? And there is a right answer.” That was among the questions posed by internet sensation Ziwe to her first guest, Fran Lebowitz, on the current Showtime series that carries her name. Combining interviews, sketches and music, “Ziwe” deploys comedy to illuminate America’s awkwardness on issues of race and politics. The results are hilarious, so find out about Ziwe now before her next project arrives, a scam-themed comedy for Amazon called “The Nigerian Princess.”

Hot ice road summer

Take the driving skills of the reality series “Ice Road Truckers” and add one stoic dose of Liam Neeson and you’ve got “The Ice Road,” which premiered Friday on Hulu. The adventure flick involves a collapse in a diamond mine, the miners trapped inside and the man (Neeson) who’s willing to steer his ginormous rig over frozen water to attempt a rescue mission. Crank up the AC temporarily!

Hot kindness summer

There is a better way to be a human being, and he shares a name with an Apple TV+ series. “Ted Lasso,” the fish-out-of-water sitcom about an American football coach (Jason Sudeikis) who’s drafted to lead a British soccer team returns for a second season on July 23 —the date that Lasso fans will resume their efforts to be more empathetic and encouraging, just like Ted. Only there’s a new sports psychologist for AFC Richmond who seems impervious to Ted’s charms and home-baked biscuits. She doesn’t like Ted? We’re gobsmacked!

Hot podcast summer

When Michael Che guested on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” recently, his segment was interrupted repeatedly by Dave Chappelle, who kept plugging his “The Midnight Miracle” podcast available on Luminary. What Chappelle was selling is worth the listening. “The Midnight Miracle” brings him together with his co-hosts, Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey, and his famous friends from the comedy world and beyond for funny and though-provoking conversations interspersed with music. If you were a fly on the wall of Chappelle’s home, this is what you might hear.

Hot series finale summer

The last 10 episodes of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” start airing Aug. 12 on NBC, a too-short goodbye to one of the most underrated comedies in TV history. You can give all the glory to “The Office,” but the detectives of the Nine-Nine could go toe to toe with Dunder-Mifflin’s Scranton branch in terms of quirkiness, humanity and office romances and bromances. It’s hard to pick a favorite dynamic among the characters, but the irritated father-incorrigible son vibes between Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) and Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) are sublime.

Hot musical comedy summer

Keegan-Michael Key and “Saturday Night Live’s” Cecily Strong lead a star-studded cast in “Schmigadoon!,” an AppleTV+ series premiering July 16 that magically transports a backpacking couple to a land of 1940s musicals. Until Broadway reopens in September, this parody love letter to the power of musical theater should do nicely. And the premiere episode’s song “Corn Pudding”? Catchy!

Hot nostalgia tour

Hall & Oates are criss-crossing the nation with enough 1980s hits —”Maneater,” “Kiss on My List,” “I Can’t Go for That,” “You Make My Dreams Come True,” etc. — to make you want to trade your mom jeans for spandex leggings. As if they weren’t enough top-40 goodness, their opening acts are Squeeze, still pouring a cup of “Black Coffee in Bed” all these years later, and K.T. Tunstall, whose “Suddenly I See” is immortalized as the anthem of “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Hot all-female, all-Muslim punk band summer

A British import now airing on the NBC streaming spinoff Peacock, “We Are Lady Parts” would be notable alone for defying stereotypes about Muslim women. But this sitcom about an all-female, all-Muslim aspiring rock band is a gem of both representation and laughs, thanks to characters like Amina, a shy doctoral candidate in microbiology whose complaints about a guy she calls “Bashir with the good beard” inspires a song.

Hot documentary summer

While Woodstock has become synonymous with epic music gatherings, the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 is finally about to get the pop-culture recognition it deserves. “Summer of Soul: (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” directed by the Roots drummer Questlove, will hit theaters and Hulu on July 2. It chronicles a mostly forgotten event that drew superstars like Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, the Fifth Dimension, Sly & the Family Stone and B.B. King. Using his vast knowledge of music, archival footage and interviews with performers and those who attended, Questlove has created a history lesson that’s also the best concert you’ve never seen before.

Hot Marvel summer

Once you’re all caught up with the summer streaming sensation “Loki” on Disney+, please turn your attention to two new films. “Black Widow,” the long-awaited star turn for Scarlett Johansson’s former KGB assassin Natasha Romanoff, makes its debut July 9. It’s followed by “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” set for Sept. 3 and starring Simu Liu (“Kim’s Convenience”) as the martial arts master of the title. All brought to you by the corporate global entertainment domination machine that is Marvel.

Hot biopic summer

“Respect,” starring Jennifer Hudson, arrives Aug. 13 at theaters, nearly three years to the day the world lost the Queen of Soul. Although Cynthia Erivo gave a fine performance earlier this year as Franklin in “Genius: Aretha” on the National Geographic network, the odds are good that Hudson, chosen by Franklin herself for the part, will be the definitive screen Aretha.

Hot fiction summer

Terry McMillan calls “The Other Black Girl” essential reading. Entertainment Weekly describes it as “‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meets ‘Get Out,’ with a little bit of ‘Black Mirror’ thrown in.” This debut novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris mixes office politics with suspense in its story of Nella Rogers, an editorial assistant who’s the only Black staffer at a noted publishing company. When Hazel, a new Black employee, is hired, things seem to be improving. But then Nella starts receiving ominous unsigned notes. Sounds like yet another reason to keep working from home.

Hot slow dance summer

After nearly four months on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, “Leave the Door Open” remains the song most likely to provoke a quiet storm on the dance floor. The hit single from Silk Sonic (aka Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) may sound like a cover of a long-lost ‘70s classic R&B tune, but it’s a contemporary song that can make you forget the humidity long enough for “kissing, cuddling, rose petals in the bathtub, girl, lets jump in.”

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