#women definitely won this year btw

[choi-hae]

Kenny’s Top Music of 2022

Hi hello, it’s that time of year again. This year was full of an insane amount of great music. As always, I try to listen to as much as possible to get the fullest experience in my music journey. I know I can’t possible listen to everything, but I always do my best. 

This year’s music review is pretty crazy. These lists are much more extensive and specific as opposed to last year’s. More categories, more artists, more to consider in terms of what my most favourites of the year truly are. I had to be more detailed on my list categories so that I could include as much as possible. It wasn’t easy to make, that’s for sure. I also included short reasons to why each decision was made (some serious, some unserious). 

I have a couple rules I put onto myself in terms of my choices. Please take note of those before reading further. Thank you in advance for reading my lists!

RULES: 

1. If an album was chosen for top album (group or solo), I tried to choose a different title from a different album OR a completely different artist all together for top title track (group or solo) to showcase as much variety as possible (and to challenge myself). If an album was chosen, it can be assumed I love all, if not most, of the songs on that album anyway.  2. Top b sides are okay to chosen from top albums, as it only makes sense, and there can be multiple from a single artist but only ONE SONG per album. 3. None of these lists are in any particular order. It’s hard enough to choose top of anything, let alone put them into a numbered order. 

And with that, here are my top music of 2022! 

Top 6 group albums of the year: 

The World EP.1: Movement - ATEEZ

This album is cinematic. When music makes me visualize so clearly, it’s a winner. I knew it was album of the year from the moment the last song ended. 

Maxident - Stray Kids

Overall a cohesive album. Lots of vibes that I personally enjoy a lot and possibly the best unit tracks these boys have released (fight me on it, I dare you).

Harmony: Set In - P1Harmony

They put out three albums this year and each one was an A+. I chose this one for the list because it might be my favourite title and assortment of b sides from them so far. 

Shape of Love - Monsta X

Their only album this year but every song is laced with drugs, as many of their songs are. I believe they always manage to produce the most quality tracks. 

Reborn - PIXY

This album was a hit. The title is so groovy and replayable, the b sides are incredible. It’s a different vibe for them but suits them so well. 

RE: - KARD

This is mostly here because I was looking forward to this comeback more than anything. J.Seph’s return came at the perfect time and they dropped a great summer album.

Top 6 solo albums of the year: 

WHEE - Wheein

One of my favourite vocalists. Everything about her music is incredible to me. It’s the perfect calming vibe for relaxing and it makes me happy.

The Story - Kang Daniel

The title track is definitely a favourite from him, but also the b sides are phenomenal. Not to mention the amount of fantastic collabs. Great album all around.

28 Reasons - Seulgi

Another favourite vocalist. The fact that the entire album is so perfectly her while being something very different and new. Every song is a hit.

IM NAYEON - Nayeon

Another album that is so perfect for the artist. I expected nothing less and I still got more, with the fun title, great b sides, and perfect collab songs. 

Bare&Rare, Pt.1 - Chungha

I really do love every song on this album. She’s got this incredible ability to embody so many different styles of music and make it her own. I can’t wait for Pt. 2.

Colorful Trauma - Woodz

I love that punk rock/pop punk is finding its place in Kpop. He did such a great job at creating songs that are easy to listen to with this particular sound. 

Top 6 hip-hop/R&B albums of the year:

Moodswings In To Order - DPR IAN

Another album that feels cinematic, but in certain places. He makes you see and feel what he wants you to. An incredible storyteller throughout the entire project. 

Lowlife Princess: Noir - BIBI

Talk about an album that makes me feel like a bad bitch with every single track. This is the energy I needed. Every song is its own story and each one is just as compelling. 

Blanc - Junny

I’m really happy he released a mini after so long. The entire vibe of the album is perfect. His vocals are beautiful as always, not to mention the A+ collab songs. 

One Bad Night - Jamie

Another album I was very happy to see come out. She’s worked so hard and it’s clearly paid off. She did great for her first mini; every song is a banger. I feel proud. 

Love or Loved, Pt.1 - B.I

Immaculate vibes. I don’t need to say much more. The whole album is my style to a T.

Nangman - Big Naughty 

In my opinion, the king of K-R&B/K-Hip Hop. Every song on the album is a hit in its own way. The man just knows how to make good music. 

Top 6 girl group title tracks:

Shut Down - Blackpink

As someone who loves rap heavy songs and the incorporation of classical music elements in interesting ways, this track was made for me. The MV is one of my favourites too. 

Birthday - Red Velvet

Once again, an incorporation of classical sounding elements but with a more bubbly and fun feel to it, plus their impeccable vocals. It’s a hit. 

Talk That Talk - Twice

I don’t know what it is about this song, but it hits. It’s upbeat with a retro feel that suits them perfectly. I really fell for this song over time. 

Antifragile - LE SSERAFIM

I didn’t think I would like this song at first but it’s just hella catchy. It solidified these girls as a favourite rookie group. The choreography is an A+ as well. 

Nxde - (G)I-DLE

Some slight classical elements here but in more of the burlesque style (which I adore). The messaging behind the song is also fantastic. 

Cheshire - ITZY

This one snuck up on me. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. I’m in love with the playful nature of the track and it’s just incredibly catchy.

Top 6 boy group title tracks:

Maniac - Stray Kids

Something so different but so them. The MV is also one of my favourites between the camera work and the editing. They did great with this one.

Do It Like This - P1Harmony

This song started off the year with a bang, and I could never forget it. It set them off for an incredible year. 

NANANA - GOT7

One of my happy songs for the year. When the chorus comes up, it’s hard to not feel light and uplifted. It’s nice to see them together again. 

#MOOD - MCND

The MV really elevated this one for me. These guys always have the most fun comebacks and it was hard to forget this one when it came out. 

Same Scent - ONEUS

The dancehall sound is so my style that it was hard for me to ignore this one. It’s a pretty different sound for them but they pulled it off well.

But You - IKON

The retro vibes are immaculate. It suits them as a group so well. It was also nice to see them release as a group again after quite some time. 

Top 6 solo title tracks: 

Youth - Kihyun

The top anthem for anyone in their 20’s. The happy nature of the track but bittersweet feel of the lyrics really hit hard for me. I feel this one on an emotional level. 

Back In Vogue - Alexa

I love this concept for her. I think this was a great comeback for her after such a great year of achievements. 

Honey - Solar

This was an incredible solo for her. A step above from her previous one because I felt it really showed so many different sides of her. Plus it’s insanely catchy.

Zoom - Jessi

A fun song that deserved to go viral (and it did), plus the MV was really great. What a queen. 

No Thanks - Hyolyn

Another queen, another banger. Unbelievable catchy and makes me feel like a bad bitch. I don’t need much more than that tbh. 

Boom - Lee Minhyuk (Huta)

Probably one of the most powerful songs of the year. There’s not much more to say. He’s amazing. 

Top 6 band comebacks of the year: 

Haircut - Xdinary Heroes

This song is so unique and I think it does a great job of setting these guys apart from not just other bands, but Kpop music in general. Some don’t like the anti drop. I dig it. 

NAZABABARA - Rolling Quartz

Just a happy and uplifting track with the vocals but also the way the guitar is used throughout. It feels very different and I like it. 

Childhood - The Rose

I cried. Similar to Kihyun’s Youth, it makes me emotional but in a more melancholic way (which is not a bad thing). It’s just beautiful. 

Still Here - ONEWE

Another emotional one. Mostly because they’ll be gone for a while and it’s very sad, but also because it’s a beautiful song as a whole. 

I Like You - N.Flying

Another happy song. The upbeat bubbliness just makes me happy. That’s all. 

Play - LUCY

Another emotional one but much similar feeling to Kihyun’s Youth. The MV is also very touching and beautiful. 

Top 6 boy group b sides:

Chill - Stray Kids

The sound of this song is very my style so I fell for it pretty immediately, but after reading the lyrics as well, I really connected with the sentiment and it’s become a favourite. 

Ghost - Xdinary Heroes

I’m really in love with the creepy vibe and their vocals are very perfect on this track. It’s a very well rounded song. 

Venom - Stray Kids 

When I first heard the preview for this song, I knew that it was going to be special. Everything is perfect to me: from the sounds, to the melodies, to the rap. Everything. 

사랑한다 - Monsta X

Definitely a happy song. It’s literally a serotonin shot through my veins. It’s a breathe of fresh air. It’s beautiful. 

WDIG - ATEEZ

Of all the songs on the album, this one hits different. Something about the way the chorus drops makes my brain happy. 

One And Only - P1Harmony

A recent fav but still a good one. It’s bouncing but melodic. It hits a lot of happy parts of my brain. I can’t not put in on the list. 

Top 6(+1) girl group b sides: 

On A Ride - Red Velvet

Something about this song reminds me of the past and I like it. Plus when that chorus drops, how can you not go wild?

Tally - Blackpink

I like how stripped back it is, and the message is fun. Serious “fuck it” energy. 

Basics - Twice

“Slow it down and speed it up like you a spaceship.” Need I say more?

Can’t stop dreamin’ - Purple Kiss

A very dreamy song with a hint of light EDM. I swear the vocals are perfect on this one.

Breath - PIXY

Another dreamy b side but in a more haunting way. PIXY and Purple Kiss b sides from both their recent albums sit at the same table and I’d like to sit with them please. 

In My Dreams - Red Velvet

Would you look at that! Another dreamy b side, but with the Red Velvet flare. The harmonies are what really sell this one for me. 

COOL (Your rainbow) - NMIXX

Some classical elements with a calming beat behind it; the most relaxing vibe for me. Also, A+ vocals all around. These girls are talented.

Top 6 male solo/hip-hop/R&B b sides:

Mood - DPR IAN

When I first heard this song, I knew it’d be my favourite on the album. It’s playful but haunting. The way he uses effects and sounds throughout. It’s also just a bop. 

Tangerine - B.I

For me, this song sits at a similar table to Sunshine by Stray Kids, and if you know me, you know that means something. I feel safe and comforted by this song. 

Dopamine - Jackson Wang

I really love the lyrics in this one. It paints a scene for me that is so self indulgent but beautiful at the same time. Also, Jackson vocals = *chef’s kiss*

Zombies - pH-1

It makes me happy. The vibe of the track is so fun and bouncing. What more can I say?

Freak - ZICO

This song is simply crazy good. It’s fun, it’s loud, and the dance challenge was really fun to watch (the choreography was pretty fire).  

How We Live - Kang Daniel feat. sokodomo

Another happy song. It makes me smile. The piano is fun, sokodomo’s feature is great, and Daniel is a king. 

Top 6 female solo/hip-hop/R&B b sides:

Anywhere but Home - Seulgi

It’s a perfect driving song; I can easily visualize driving down a highway at night, the street lamps passing by. She got the vibe perfect. 

Blade - BIBI

It was hard choosing a favourite from her album, but I think it’s this one. Something about the sound hits just right for me. 

Love Countdown - Nayeon feat. Wonstein

This was on repeat for a while there. It’s fun, it’s cute, it’s bouncy, and Wonstein’s feature is perfect. I never expected to love this song as much as I do. 

XXX - Chungha

I love a song that makes me feel like a bad bitch, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. This is that song. It’s powerful and it’s got those deep 808s that I love as well. 

Pastel - Wheein

Another fun, cute song that I fell for quickly. It’s also very stripped back and lets her vocals really float. 

In My Bag - Jamie

Another bad bitch song. She is queen bad bitch so it makes sense. More deep 808s and her flow is too clean. 

Top 6 collabs:

Somebody! - Hwasa & Loco

This track is simply perfect for their voices, and their voices are perfect together. It creates the calming but uplifting atmosphere I crave. 

Better - Solar/Moonbyul & Big Naughty

A very unexpected collab but an incredible one. Similar to the one above, it’s just the perfect vibe for me and the vocals are fantastic. 

Nirvana Girl - Sorn & Yeeun

It’s amazing seeing them on a track together again. The song itself is incredibly uplifting and inspiring. 

Juliette! - pH-1 & UMI

I love the stripped back nature of the track, allowing the rap and vocals to flow so nicely. Another one that is just the perfect vibe. 

Side Effects - Woosung & Satica

A definite favourite from his album. Their voices match so well, even if her part is short. 

BTBT - B.I & DeVita

Another unexpected collab but their voices are incredible together. They match the track so well (the version with Soulja Boy doesn’t exist in my mind).

Top 6 rookies: 

IVE

They’ve only released bangers and bops since they debuted. Since Eleven, they’ve been a top rookie for me. 

LE SSERAFIM

A new rookie favourite for me. Antifragile really shot them into my vision, and their performance skills are incredible. 

PIXY

They’ve been on my radar since debut but their comeback this year really elevated them for me. Villain was a great title and all the b sides are phenomenal. 

NewJeans

Despite controversy regarding their company, the girls themselves are hella talented at their young ages. The vibe of their music is so easily digestible, it’s hard to ignore. 

XG

Although not technically a Kpop group, I’ve been in love with them since pre-debut and I feel the need to mention them. They’re going to go far with their talents. 

TNX

Their debut blew me away. So incredibly powerful, the performance skills are insane. They’re on my radar and I can’t wait for more. 

Top 6 groups/artists I look forward to/will be keeping an eye out for in 2023: 

P1Harmony

As I stated above, these guys released three albums this year and everything was a hit. I believe they’ll go far in this next year and do even more amazing things. 

Xdinary Heroes

They’ve really cultivated their own sound, especially with this recent comeback (the album was fantastic). I really can’t wait to see what else they’re capable of and where they go.

Jamie

I’ve been so excited for her over the past couple of years and I think she’s capable of incredible things. Hopefully with a mini out, she’ll do more great things in the next year. 

Alexa

After this incredible year, I can only see her going up and up. Plus with her MV universe/storyline, I’m always looking forward to what cool things will come next. 

NMIXX

A very divisive group among listeners, but I believe these girls are capable of amazing things. They’re so incredibly talented. I can’t wait for more from them. 

The Rose

Simply because they’re back. I found them doing the hiatus so I’m happy to see them all happy, thriving, and making great music again. 

If you’ve read this far, thank you for your time! I’d love to hear what your favourites of the year were. Do we have similar lists, or completely different? Did I miss a song that you absolutely loved? Feel free to let me know! I’m always open to new music.

And with that, 2022 is over. What a phenomenal year for music. There’s lots of songs I couldn’t include because there was just so much. I feel incredibly lucky to live in a time where I can listen to all this incredible music. I can’t wait for what 2023 will bring! 💕

#this list is very specifically kpop and korean music #since this blog is my kpop blog #but that's mostly what i listen to anyway so #it was difficult to make but fun #women definitely won this year btw #top music 2022 #2022 music #top list #music #text #💕

[fairytail-whathesays]

Ahhh mirafreed for the headcanons please? (I hope we're not overwhleming you too much with these asks btw and that youre doing well!)

You're fine! 💜

Many people have asked Mirajane out over the years, and most if not all have been rejected. Freed was one of the few whose request for a date was accepted, mostly because Mira trusts him and has never been asked out by a refined gentleman before.

Freed has had a lot of admiration for Mirajane ever since being defeated by her in the Battle of Fairy Tail. Freed has always feared the darkness inside him, and employing it was a desperation move. Mirajane is someone who swore off the darkness inside her, but apparently not due to fearing it. Not only did she kick his ass, she maintained control, something he was scared he'd lose even if he won.

They definitely become a sort of celebrity couple--Mirajane with her Sorceror Weekly profile, and Freed with his endless popularity among female wizardry fans. They get dubbed 'the King and Queen of Hell' by fans, especially once it comes out that Freed--who's relatively mysterious to many--uses dark magic.

Not only do they become known this way, they actually lean into it. They start setting up absolutely sick Halloween parties that take place annually the week after the Harvest Festival. Attendance is free but they take donations for charity, and there's a costume competition where the goal is to out-cosplay the queen of transformation herself, Mirajane.

Freed has eyes only for Mirajane. Other women don't even register. It's not that he's creepily devoted to her, but he does reserve his attention for her in a way that is flattering, if frustrating for other women around him.

Freed is especially careful with his Dark Eye around Mirajane, as the results could be disastrous if he didn't have it under control. Control, specifically, is why he trusts Mirajane so much. He knows that if either of them ever loses it, the other can bring them down and bring them back.

Strauss siblings' reactions? Lisanna: *ecstatic and supportive* Elfman: *a little disappointed at how normal freed is*

Thunder Legion reactions? Evergreen: *hesitantly supportive* Bickslow: *crowing about how Freed got the hottest girl* Laxus: *supportive but also literally doesn't care*

#mirafreed #mirajane strauss #freed justine #shipping

[just-1other-nerd]

My comments on Eurovision this year:

(Disclaimer: like what you like, this is just my personal taste)

The opening song is fire, modern and traditional (but what the heck did Kate do there, our commentator even shout outed her *rolling my eyes*)

Loved that they brought back Go_A

Sometimes, the Eurovision can feel like a fever dream with it's crazy costumes, wild dance choreographies and over the top special effects

I think it's cool that non-European/non-Australian people can vote, too

I liked the energy of Austria's song and the idea is just so much fun

Portugal is really delivering, it feels like vacation at the mediterranean sea

Switzerland's song is very good, the singer has a great voice but there is this tiny bit that is missing in my opinion

I was already thinking she's pretty and then the commentary said she's not even the only model of her family, but the song isn't my thing and personally I think the only dance part was too long. Poland had a TikTok dance vibe.

I definitely heard the video game in Serbia's song but when the commentator said the singer is into anime I hoped it would have a lot more of the anime intro

I like the costume of the France lady but it looks better when she's not standing on a glittery mountain. The song is very good, her voice is fabulous (but in the refrain there's a little too much of that beat for my taste). My mother and the commentary guy both said that they shouldn't have fixated her on that tower thing because she could barely move.

Again, why did the Royals have to be there? And Peppa Pig and Drag Queens are also weirdly enough in the same montage (???)

Cyprus' singer really hits the high notes. The song has such a powerful vibe. I like it, well done.

The Spanish singer has a nice voice and it like the clapping rhythm but why is there this synthesiser-like sound in between.

My mum said something I could not not share: she thinks the presenters' outfits remind her of paw patrol, especially the yellow one

Loreen is back. I liked her song with which she won back then (more than this one). My mum and I were surprised to see her again. The song was more than fine. But what's going on with her nails? They are so distracting.

Albania is great and the voices fit together very well

Btw the Italian guy walking in with a pride flag was iconic because this competition is so fruity fr. The song is very good and I can imagine a dramatic dance scene to this. Our commentator called his shirt "made out of christmas decorations". The guys in the background falling up and down the stairs made me laugh a bit tbh

Estonia's singer has a fantastic voice, and I adore the song. Her outfit is so cool.

The music of Finnland this year isn't anything I normally listen to, just totally not my genre. And the box thing made me laugh out loud.

The Czech women are so pretty but the song, oh dayum I really like it, also it's giving a tiny bit blackpink.

I'm not so much into the Australian song but that's just because of personal preferences. The e-guitar was the best part

Belgium's song isn't my thing, it sounds like one of the songs you hear in the background when you're shopping

There is a woman behind the presenter making butter. I'm not even kidding, this is really happening

Armenia is really delivering, I love it, there are a bit of siren vibes and then it changes to harpy warrior vibes

Moldova has this very cool flute in there, it's a very powerful song and in my opinion it's fun

Ukraine's song is good but it's not my genre. I love the message though

Norway is definitely one of my favourites. What a power anthem!

Metal isn't really my thing, but the lead singer has a great voice, and overall, I like it a lot. Not a big fan of the costumes though

Lithuania has a great singer with a fabulous voice, the song is a vibe

In my opinion, Israels song is okay at best, mostly because I cringe at the line "the power of a unicorn"

Slovenia's song is cool if you ask me, but not extremely memorable

Nope, Croatia isn't my thing this year but like at all. But it's cool that they wear skirts, never mind why did they get rid of their clothes?

Sorry UK, I love revenge songs by , I've heard better (not that this one is particularly bad, but something just doesn't click)

Overall, most songs were pretty solid this year, a better average than most years

I like that they have disabled people on stage and the song isn't bad either, the e-guitar is fabulous.

I didn't expect Germany to loose against literally everyone, I think this year the song was way more original than some of the songs which got a higher rating but were way more basic and mainstream

Congratulations to Sweden

Oh no, our commentator said it was his last time to do this, but he's done it for the last 25 years, his voice is Eurovision, now I'm sad

Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪

#eurovision #eurovision 2023 #esc 23

[peaamlipoetrydoctor]

Revisiting The Sealey Challenge 2021 ~ 12

The last of last year's sample, as the summer holiday kicks in.

Wislawa Szymborska's book is one of very few I've read so far in translation - although, thanks to the advocacy of Astrid Alben at her Poetry School workshops, I realise that I need to change this or will be much the poorer reader (/ and, presumably, writer) for that.

It's presented with the original Polish on the LH pages and the translated text on the RH pages. I can't read the original, but there's a sort of reassurance about seeing it - an echo of the gesture towards legitimacy that academics make when they offer references (and which, most of the time, is an academic habit I continue to value).

Unsurprisingly, given my taste preferences, I was much more taken with the joy-in-small-things poems (from memory, more of these in the second part of the book?) and found it hard to look at the ones that address atrocity. The ending of the title poem, for instance, is pretty hard to read - but isn't the point that I should also be disturbed by the apparently idyllic life described in the earlier part, given the cost-to-others that made it possible? (That's a big yes, BTW.)

Here's what the publisher said about that poem, extracted from the cover narrative about this collection:

Nobel laureate Symborska takes on current events and ancient conundrums in this elegant, terse new collection.

The title abbreviates the opening poem, "Monologue of a Dog Ensnared in History": the dog stands for all the citizens who served, or simply failed to resist, dictators, then wondered at the revolutions that displaced them. 

And a quick flashback to the moment when I shifted from thinking - I AM DEFINITELY NOT READING FOR THE SEALEY CHALLENGE THIS YEAR - to thinking - ok, I'm in, but just - you know, more slowly this time, maybe. I particularly appreciated the idea that we focus on sharing a favourite poem from the week's reading on a Wednesday.

Well, I have two e-books from the lovely Southbank Centre Poetry Library and they're both pretty hard going...

Which is not AT ALL to say that they should be avoided (although, yes, that is my instinct). They were written, I'm taking it, because the world is NOT right and this should be witnessed, protested.

Today's featured poem is called "Canto" (meaning - song) from "Songs My Enemy Taught Me" by Joelle Taylor. This is a book from 2017, so before C+nto won the TS Eliot Prize this year. It's almost entirely poetry-as-reportage, and, yes, comes with background notes in a reference section. Taylor has written poems sometimes about, sometimes in-the-voice-of the women whose oppressions she uncovered (spoiler - it wasn't hard to uncover stories of violence against women... usually framed as "of course" or "unsolveable").

She says of the work that it's like crossing a poet with a photo-journalist and then taking away the camera. The words as record.

Just a small extract from Canto, which opens the piece - caught my eye because the vivid capture of a dissociative moment, and yes, because it features the word "Wednesday". (Also, quick confession that the line breaks are messed up here, mea culpa).

I once witnessed my own murder.

It was Wednesday. It is always

Wednesday.

After my death people continued talking to me

as though I were still

there.

And here's a small extract from Joelle Taylor's introduction to the collection, where she writes about her motivation:

... I was continually moving, trying to break free from the skin that had imprisoned me by birth as a woman. I could have been forgiven for believing that I was transgender. But I am not. I am a woman who is afraid of being a woman, and that is very different...

... But inside every poem is a poem, and inside that there is another one still. The same principle applies to this book.

Once I had begun to see myself, I could not help noticing what was happening to women worldwide...

[heroineimages]

Villainess Showcase: the Unstoppable Melissa Foddebrat

So I’ve been meaning for a few years to offer a writeup on Tapastic’s amazing comic Beware the Villainess. As my longtime readers know, I love a well-written villainess as much as a well-written heroine, and the Lady Melissa Foddebrat is one of my absolute favorites. The story is an official translation of a Korean comic, available on Tapas (with Ink, btw, so it costs money to read). It offers amazing art, a unique story, and an excellent villainess. Discussion below the cut!

(tl,dr/spoiler-free: Melissa has amazing presence and presentation as a villainess. She's not afraid to get in the faces of entitled jerks, her fashion is magnificent, she maintains people's loyalty without resorting to fear or gaslighting, she knows how to project an intimidating demeanor, and she defies the story world’s expectations all over the freaking place. I definitely recommend!)

All screencaps taken from the comic. Story credits:

The basic premise is that the title character is a Korean girl who’s found herself reincarnated as Lady Melissa, the villainess in a romance novel called All the Men that Loved Her. In the novel the heroine, Yuri Elizabeth, is a sweet, gentle fairy-tale princess being pursued by four undeserving men: the handsome crown-prince, the strong-silent-type sniper, the ruggedly handsome werewolf, and the billionaire merchant. Having read the novel, Melissa knows that (1) the story and its heroes are going to disproportionately screw the villainess over, (2) all four of Yuri’s love-interests are slimy, toxic creeps being portrayed as heroes by a misogynist author, and (3) the heroine and villainess both deserve better.

Rather than just letting the story play out, Melissa opts to use her status as villainess to protect both herself and Yuri Elizabeth. All four of the alleged heroes in All the Men that Loved Her represent toxic male archetypes that frequently get portrayed as benign and even lovable in popular fiction. Melissa deserves to be a feminist icon for her drive to combat an entire story world’s worth of gross misogyny.

All of the romantic interests view Yuri as a possession, and none have any sense of consequences for their actions. The handsome crown prince---who is also Melissa’s fiance---is a womanizing cad who cheats on her in kind of a Zeus/Hera relationship dynamic. The sniper is Melissa’s brother who clandestinely follows Yuri around to ‘protect her,’ when he’s actually just a creepy stalker. The werewolf is courageous and ruggedly handsome but is also reckless and stupid with little respect for human life. And the suave, handsome billionaire is a possessive sadist who wants to lock Yuri away and keep her for himself. I love that Melissa makes it her mission to take the bastards down a few pegs.

Nextly, the fashion in Beware the Villainess is absolutely phenomenal. I’ve read dozens, if not hundreds, of webcomics over the years, and I can’t think of any that consistently compare to Melissa’s magnificent wardrobe. She gets striking daily wear, elegant ball gowns, and dapper riding suits---definitely a perk of being a nobleman’s daughter.

And it’s consistently this excellent! I don’t think Melissa owns a single boring outfit. Though hardly the only thing that makes Melissa such a dashing and charismatic villainess, her excellent fashion is definitely an important part of her overall presentation.

I appreciate as well that Melissa maintains people’s loyalty without intimidation or gaslighting. In fact, she genuinely treats people of lower station as human beings. When the sniper and werewolf get in a fight, for example, Melissa revels in the pandemonium at first, but once she realizes that their fight puts innocent bystanders in danger, she stands up to both of them and puts an end to their stupid dogfight.

Similarly, Melissa also befriends her werewolf butler Nine and the heroine Yuri by treating them both as people. Nine is an outcast from his clan and was starving and homeless before Melissa took him in. While her reasons for rescuing Nine off the streets were ultimately kind of self-serving, Melissa is the first to treat him like a person, and she maintains his loyalty by giving him a home and job and showing him his value. Yuri, meanwhile, gets treated as a prize to be won by her four suitors. But by treating Yuri as a friend, Melissa demonstrates to her that she has value beyond being a mere object of others’ affection. Ultimately, this completely turns Yuri off toward her suitors. While I think one can argue that Melissa’s goals aren’t wholly selfless, I feel like she gives every indication she values her friends and servants as individuals.

To her enemies, however, Melissa is a scary monster. Though early on she struggles against the story’s plot and the heroes’ plot-armor, Melissa gradually discovers how to use the story world to her advantage, outwit the male protagonists, and scare the shit out of minor characters.

And I think that’s why Melissa’s enemies and even the story itself are terrified of her: she consistently defies everyone’s expectations of her. Where her past self was dismissed as a bratty noble and the story’s women are expected to be demure, pretty objects, Melissa has only this to say in response:

I adore her character for so many reasons.

She’s defiant,

darkly funny,

dapper,

fearless against some very powerful adversaries,

and even heroic at times.

In fact, I don’t think since Avatar Korra have I seen a character who so consistently flouts the expectations both of her readers and of the world she inhabits. Melissa’s characterization is magnificent, and I applaud the writers and artists for their magnificent work.

Thanks as always for reading, folks! Take care and stay awesome!

#Beware the Villainess #Melissa Foddebrat #villainesses #comics #webcomics

[cloudy-leonhart]

AOT veterans with a Filipino S/O!!

[author note: did I write this as soon as I posted the first part?? yes. I like writing for this, it’s so fun lolol up next, Marleyan Warriors!!]

Summary: not much, just the AOT vets with their filipino S/O.

Gender Neutral Reader.

Recommended Song: Buwan - Juan Karlos.

Theme: Fluff, Modern AU.

TW: Swearing.

Characters: Hange, Levi, Miche, Erwin, Moblit, Nanaba.

Hange Zöe

Honestly they fully immersed themselves in your culture, as you know Hange LOVES learning about new things, discovering about your culture, they probably forced you to go the Philippines with them.

They started asking people for directions in english?? You had to step in translate for them, in which they responded to ask to teach them the language.

Yes they keep a small notebook of words they think are interesting. Yes even swear words are in there, not to mention they absolutely just butcher the way you say it.

One time when you both came back, Hange told Erwin that Bakla was a word for a good man, and they laughed their asses off watching Erwin tell people he was Bakla LMFAO.

They actually visited your province, they met your family and was surprised at the fact that they owned a whole farm, they tried to learn with your siblings on how to harvest rice, they nailed it btw.

they named your carabao, Sawney, and your chicken, Bean.

And respectfully so, your family started to call their animals by the name Hange gave them.

They started to cry about the fact that you guys had to go back, and like every time, your mom and dad encouraged y’all to bring filipino snacks back home, in which you did, because you knew that you’d probably miss it when you flew back home.

You guys have a tradition of going to the Philippines for your guys’ anniversary.

THEY SUPRISINGLY LISTENS TO FILIPINO MUSIC

They were the one to suggest Aegis to Levi but they prefer someone like Jireh Lim.

Favourite song is probably, Buko. They love the guitar in it.

Levi Ackerman

He first found out you were Filipino when he caught you packing a balikbayan box for your family back home, (for those who don’t know, balikbayan box is a box full of your country’s snacks to send back to the PH for your family to try.)

He had asked you what it was, and you answered that it was for your family back in the Philippines, in which he responded with helping you, and mainly scolding you about the way you packed it.

“Idiot, pack it like this, so you have more space to place stuff.”

When he first went to the Philippines, he first noticed the cleanliness of the hotels, he looked at you with a ‘is this why you’re so good at cleaning?’ look. 

God when I say your parents loved him, YOUR PARENTS ABSOLUTELY ADORED HIM. He would clean for your mom, and not only that, your mom approved of his cleaning technique, yes she told you to marry him that second.

And that you did, you had your first wedding with you family in the Philippines, and another in where you guys currently lived.

Bye, he absolutely looks AMAZING in a Barong. Your dad helped him slick his hair back.

Your mom and him, bonded of cleaning, sometimes when your mom needs help removing rust on her pans, she calls Levi.

like Hange he and you go to the Philippines for y’alls anniversary. 

Please save this man from the streets, I’m not saying it to be mean but this man almost gave his wallet to a bunch of kids who were hungry.

You gave money instead because you didn’t want your man to be broke lmfao.

He loves seeing you so happy while you’re in the Philippines, he just thinks it’s adorable when you speak your language.

Aegis listener, absolutely no discussion, mans listens to them while cleaning, he listens to “Sayang Na Sayang” religiously.

when Aegis plays in the house, you know it’s a cleaning day lmao.

Erwin Smith

Please, remember when I said Hange told him bakla was a word for a good man, yes, that’s how he found out you were Filipino, you literally was so dumbfounded, you waited for him in the living room, your friend’s laughing over the phone, man thought he did something wrong until..

“Erwin, can you tell me why you’ve been telling your friends you’re fucking gay??”

Yeah he’s got trust issues now. But he wasn’t that shocked to find out you were filipino, he just thinks it’s neat, he butchers pronouncing shit, he tries to learn filipino jokes??? It’s really bad, like you need to stop him from telling your family to save HIM from embarrassment.

He knows how to cook barbecue lmfao, he sits at your family’s barbecue spot and cooks for them, your dad appreciates the help so much lmao, also he loves drinking the gulaman whenever he’s there, your dad gives it to him for free because, he basically considers Erwin his son now. His awkward, barbecue-cooking, son.

You guys go on hiking in Mt. Butalao, yes you sneak peeks when he’s climbing because his muscles flex, and he sweats. You guys go on a double hiking date with Miche and his S/O all the time.

He was kind of fearful when you went to a province to get in touch with your grandparents, he watched you help their carabao back into their pens, he’s scared of carabaos, don’t blame him-

Surprisingly he’s as good as your dad in basketball, bye I just know the women of your community comes to watch him, he’s ripped, you’re jealous but you don’t say it lmao.

He’s got those jeep keychains lmfao, the fact that he kinda looked like a lost puppy when you’re traveling, like so many people, so little space-

please educate him, he’s confused on everything-

he probably listens to Eraserheads, Huwag Mo Nang Itanong. Yes his ultimate song. 

Miche Zacharias

probably the only veteran that knows what to do?? Beside Moblit?? He knows how to bless, he knows to call your parents nanay and tatay. He also loves going to where there’s a lot of Filipino street food because he loves the smell, he prefers the smell of bananaque over anything, hotcakes are a close second.

mf was scared when your mom suddenly said, “Oh yeah, I kept your childhood spider.”

YOU OWNED A MF SPIDER?? You were all like ‘omg i miss him’ he was a little scared bitch omg.

You had to explain that you would buy them from the local toy store and you and your friends would make them fight each other to the death.

HE THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE SMALL- IT’S A WHOLE MF TARANTULA BYE

you know those dyed chicks you get from winning a game, yeah, he was attached to one you guys won, but as always, they weren’t going to live long, I think he sulked for a whole 2 days. He named the chick Richard AHAHA.

ah yes, absolute unit in basketball, yes you and Erwin’s S/O would watch them play basketball together with your guys’ dads. Yes y’all gossiped about how hot they were in tagalog.

Just saying, Miche got some that night. 

He doesn’t fit in tricycles- neither does he fit in jeepneys lmfao- he kinda has to sit on the ground if you force him to fit, in which he has to awkwardly crawl to get out lmfao.

He literally looks godly while hiking, you guys don’t go to your parents’ house when you first arrive, you guys hike.

You guys go whenever y’all feel like it honestly.

“hey hey, reader, Mahal Kita.”

He listens to anything in filipino honestly, he likes chill filipino songs like Tell Me Where It Hurts by MYMP.

Moblit Berner

He’s a researcher, he makes sure he doesn’t disrespect the culture.

he knows to bless and all that jazz like Miche.

Wait but your family loved him as soon as you told them he was a doctor lmfao?? He’s in nursing.

He’s basically already apart of the family, all your little siblings call him kuya Moblit, he absolutely thinks it’s adorable.

when you guys are sending a balikbayan box, he places toys he bought for your little siblings in the box, with a note written and translated by you for them.

Moblit also knows about poverty in the Philippines, he’s apart of an organization where they give to those who can’t afford real food, even when he’s back home with you, he donates from abroad, everyone knows him as the generous kuya.

honestly I can see him as someone who’s also known by your community, people call him kuya Moblit or tito Moblit, it’s very wholesome when a kid asks him to carry them.

This man looks so nice and kind on the outside but when you guys are at your tita’s bday party and there’s a whole mf buffet, he’s a whole beast.

You know when your uncles have like, food stacked on their plate, and like a cup of buko pandan at the side?? yes, him. definitely.

He’s kinda like sasha in this au, he loves the food so much, he probably finished a filipino dish by himself (it’s the palabok)

he’s also a god at making ice candy?? like he’s so good at filling up the plastic with the liquid lmao.

you guys adopted a stray dog in the community and his name was Moblit, your family takes care of him while you guys are back home.

genuinely, it’s mostly wholesome with him, he doesn’t really do anything wrong besides butchering pronounciation.

Moblit probably watches boxing with your dad though, it’s just too accurate not to be true.

More of a movie watcher than a song listener, his favourite movie so far is Four Sisters and A Wedding.

he cries every filipino movie, them do it to you.

Seven Sundays, he cried for days straight.

Nanaba

Nanaba found a filipino flag from your collage years in a box, asked you about it, then encouraged you to visit the Philippines because she wanted to meet your family. 

Okay but your family thought she was a guy because of her hair?? 

your siblings can’t say Nanaba, so they call her Ate Nana.

She was kind of jealous of your bond with your family, she knows she shouldn’t be, but she couldn’t help it since her and her father’s relationship absolutely sucked.

And you know this, you had talked with her about it too, it was kinda like a, “are you okay?” and “it’s nothing.”

You had to drag her out to family events, eventually, she started to feel like she was apart of the family, she went swimming with the fam, did karaoke nights, she was basically in the family now.

She felt really happy that you decided to help her educate herself in your culture, and that your family openly accepted her into your family.

when you and her married, she wore a baro’t saya for the wedding reception and she looked absolutely gorgeous in them. She took your last name.

Your mom taught her to do the tinikling dance, and she mastered it easily, you of course danced with her.

she kinda had a guilty pleasure of going to McDonalds in the Philippines, SOLELY FOR THE ROOT BEER FLOAT, that stuff be bussin.

she forces you to go to McD’s whenever’s there’s a new flavour released.

Nanaba loves going on the jeepney, she likes the fact that you ring a bell when you have to get off and she does it every time you guys use a jeep for transportation.

Nanaba knows one word in filipino and that’s Mahal, she uses it so weirdly though, but she’s adorable so you let it pass.

“Reader..erm, I mahal?? you?..” 

she’s both a listener and a movie watcher, she listens to more modern filipino singers, like Patch Quiwa.

Favourite movie is when Vice Ganda’s in it, she just thinks all his movies are funny.

#nanaba aot #nanaba #nanaba x reader #AOT headcanons #aot imagines #aot x reader #aot veterans #aot x y/n #aot #levi attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin levi #snk levi #levi ackerman x reader #levi x reader #hange zoe #hange zöe #hanji zoe #zoe hanji #shingeki no kyojin hanji #aot hanji #hanji x reader #Erwin Smith #attack on titan erwin #erwin snk #miche zacharias #miche x reader #mike zacharias #moblit berner #snk moblit #moblit x reader

[apenapaperandadoofus]

Can i request the RFA with a mexican MC?

Hellou! Aight so I'mma make it a bit more general latinx MC bc I am not mexican BUT I am a latina pft so yeah! Also should I add the minor trio and maybe Rika on another post? 👀

(psttt also if you're into BNHA @cafedanslanuit made an awesome hc post about the BNHA boys with a latinx MC if you want to check it out: x

RFA members with a Latinx MC:

Zen:

This man absolutely loves the MUSIC

Salsa? Merengue? Rumba, Samba, Bachata, THE CHA CHA CHA!?

He is an absolute BEAST he seriously loves all the dances and he has some friggin HIP MOVES.

Honestly you're kinda jealous he dances better than you

Some days while you're cooking or just chilling at home, you'll put up your favorite music, and soon enough you'll be swaying to the rythm of the beat, swaying your hips and signing along to the music

Zen will come back from work and find you dancing, so he'll come up behind you and wrap his arms around your hips, the two of you dancing together

At one point he'll probably try to sing but absolutely butcher the words too lmao

Yoosung:

The first time you met for a date, you actually broke the poor boy

He was NOT expecting the kiss on the cheek, he wasn't prepared!!!

Especially since Korea saves the whole touchy feely things for people that are either family or couples, usually they aren't really ones to come and hug their friends or kiss their cheek to say hello as a greeting

Meanwhile, in your culture if you don't do it you get a glare from your mother and probably a chancla beating for being rude AKSJSNSJS (been there too many times 😅💀)

After you start dating though he absolutely loves it. He didn't realize how much he loved being hugged or kissed until he met you!

He finds it pretty funny whenever you get mad and go on a swearing spree, especially when you hit your foot or elbow against something. You just start yelling and curing their mother, their father and their children, and he just loves you so much, it's weird, but he loves it.

Btw, COOKING TRADITIONAL LATIN FOOD AJSJSNSJSBS

At first it's an absolutely mess but he soon gets the hang of it

Jaehee:

MORE FOOOOD

Jaehee absolutely loves EVEYTHING about your culture, especially the food.

Whenever you are having a bad day she will cheer you up by making you your favorite foods!

On Christmas she makes a mix between korean and latin foods that you both enjoy, her favorite, of course are tamales! (Who doesn't love tamales, also they're a MUST for Christmas akkssnsn)

She also likes cooking you for breakfast gallo pinto (it's basically rice and beans but it's friggin delicious.)

Some of her favorite's are chalupas and chifrijo too!

listen you basically won the lottery with this woman, she is such a GOOD cook and she makes the most delicious food.

Sometimes you will find her in the kitchen trying to sign some of her favorite songs. She only knows the chorus but she definitely has the spirit!

Jumin:

One word:

Telenovelas

Listen, it's already been confirmed that Jumin has seen a few soap operas (and been influenced by them hence the kiss scene in his route ajsjsjsj)

Now k-dramas can be pretty dramatic.

BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE SPANISH TELENOVELAS!?

Seriously if you get this man near them there's no telling what he'll do.

Our sweet and adorable Jumin can get influenced by Tv like that pretty easily, let's admit it, so at one point you may wake up and be in a spanish telenovela lmao

Honestly, when it all started, you were chilling at Jumin's place, ironically watching (but actually who are we kidding, you were pretty invested) one of the stupidest telenovelas you had seen in a while. You loved making fun of the characters and watching as chaos unfolded. It eventually became a routine and every Thursday you'd sit on your couch and stream the new episode.

That day Jumin came home early, and he saw you watching TV. You kissed him to welcome him home, but kept your eyes on the dramatic 'cat fight' scene on the tv. Jumin got pretty curious about what you were watching, and so he sat beside you, watching the whole episode in silence.

Once it was done, you felt a bit shaken up by the cliffhanger, but then got up to make some dinner. However, before you could leave Jumin grabbed your hand making yoy raise an eyebrow, confused.

"Jumin? What's wrong?"

"....MC. Why are you leaving? The show hasn't ended yet, has it? We still don't know what happened to Emilio, and Maria still hasn't figured out that Elena tricked her into leaving. Not only that, the 'salon' is about to close down. Love, we have to keep watching to find out what happens."

You let out a laugh and squeezed your boyfriend's cheeks. "Jumin! I didn't know you got so into it. Well sadly, the next episode comes out until next week so we'll have to wait. I can record it though, and wait till you come home so we can maybe watch it together?"

Jumin nodded and you couldn't help but compare him to an excited child that had suddenly found their favorite TV show. Soon, every Thursday the two of you would cuddle in bed together and watch another episode of the soap opera. Jumin enjoyed those moments so much. Not only because he was focused on the story, but because he loved the way you would suddenly gasp or randomly curse at the screen whenever something happened

(ALSO C&R cat telenovela coming out when??? -pfttt poor Jaehee but I'm 100% convinced Jumin would do this lmao)

Saeyoung:

Ohhh boy

You should have never told him about every single leyend that you grew up with as a child.

One day you were sharing with the RFA about all the spooky ghost stories, since Jumin had been asking about a few of them.

Saeyoung came in, heard spooky ghost stories and was immediately sold. That night you told him about La Segua, La Llorona, El Cadejos and more.

The thing is, you were not prepared for the chaos you had suddenly unleashed upon the world.

The next day while Saeyoung played LOLOL with Yoosung, you heard him retelling one of his favorite leyends that you had told him.

La Segua. The story was about a woman that would appear before sunset, asking for help with directions. The thing is, as soon as you helped her and night came, she'd turn into a horse and kill you. (I know it's weird AKSKSJA but I remember being SO scared of this when I was a kid, honestly these legends are so freaking good lmao, everyone in primary school would just be scared of a lady with a horse head pfttttttt)

As soon as you heard him tell the story to Yoosung, you knew that he was planning something. And were you going to stop him? No :D

A few days later, you invited Yoosung out to eat. As the sun was setting you led him towards Saeyoung's home, and then while you walked you met up with a very beautiful lady asking for directions. Yoosung immediately said 'nope' and tried to get you to quickly run away, but you insisted on helping the poor woman. After calming down a very shaken Yoosung, you explained that La Segua was just a story, and that Saeyoung was poebably just trying to spook him when he told it to him. Yoosung calmed down and apologized to the lady, offering to help her go home.

Suddenly you ended up in a very deserted place, making Yoousng feel a bit uneasy. As Yoosung walked, he turned around to tell you something along the lines of 'fuck this, let's go back to Saeyoung's.' he found that there was nothing behind him. He looked around, trying to look for you, but you appeared to have suddnely vanished.

Yoosung felt his throat get dry as the woman's arm tightened around his, and he tried to look anywhere but beside him

"Yoosung~" the woman whispered.

He yelped as he slowly turned around to look at the woman.

And he found a horse head staring back at him.

Later both you and Saeyoung had to look for him for about an hour and a half, and you found him under a bridge, shaking.

Yoosung did not find it funny at all, and you tried to nag Saeyoung telling him that maybe you had taken it too far, but you both couldn't help but laugh.

Of course you made it up to him, Saeyoung got him very exclusive Lolol costumes for his avatars, and Yoosung, even though he developed a trauma for both women and horses, ended up forgiving him and totally forgetting about the incident.

So the next time Saeyoung told him about La Llorona and gave you a mischievous smirk, you prayed for poor and innocent Yoosung, who obviously hadn't learned his lesson.

(this also happened a few more times until you had to intervene bc by now Yoosung wouldn't even go outside pfttt)

Also a few years later, while at the RFA Halloween party, Yoosung got stuck on the top of a tree and wouldn't come down.

Why you may ask? Because as he was drinking some wine, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to find a big ass horse head staring back at him.

Rip Yoosung 😔✊

#mystic messenger #jumin han #saeyoung choi #mysme #yoosung kim #jaehee kang #jihyun mysme #choi bois #mysme zen

[isthespiceoflife]

Added to Netflix this week:

"The Slap" (Heard Around the World)!

The Dolby Theater in H'wood, host to The Oscar's, {((echoed))} something last night I'm sure it's never had to before -- a live slap in the face by elite actor Will Smith, onto comedian Chris Rock. Not seen it yet? Click above. It 'Will Rock' your world!

LOL! Smfh. All the trendy acronyms probably could be applied. Well, listen. Seriously. Jada has "alopecia" -- a condition of sudden hair loss, that she's open about as well. So why the visceral reaction Will? If it was secret and Chris did what he did, maybe I'll excuse him for being so upset, but to consciously walk up on stage at The Oscar's?!?! Talk about entitled? AF. He was def having his 'Ye' moment. But also, is Jada a statue? Anyone have a screenshot of Jada when he was walking up? If she's calm, she's a narcissistic scary woman! And since when women can't defend themselves? Will played out a H'wood script too often written that continues the hypocrisy on women's equality! Let her slap him Will! I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I digress.

On Hollywood’s biggest stage, as a black man -- as any human being/gender for that matter, how are you gonna slap another brother right in front of Uncle Denzel, for making a stupid joke about your wife? Chris Rock hurled pokes n' jokes at official couples all night long, so did hostesses Amy, Wanda & Regina -- who were all brilliant l, btw. Maaaan, just laugh. Handle your biz after, if necessary! Now it's gonna be back to #Oscarsowhite! Speaking of, what if it were comedian, Seth Meyers?! Was Will doing his version of a 'pimp slap'?? Most don't also know, but, the rumor is CR, WS & JP-S used to be a thang, not sure when, but maybe in 'August'?. I "will" leave it at that, mind my business and drink my water! 😉

Anyway, check out the clip again. Will laughs at the joke! It's only when Jada rolls her eyes he had an issue suddenly. So now, he has to "fake tough" it out for her. Typical fraudism in an actor's DNA. Slap! C'mon bro, your mom amongst her older folk are knitting in Philly, I'm sure she nicked her thumb! Imagine, it's your 1st Oscar award but before you receive it, drama unfolds. Couldn't he wait 'til the after-party like how all the drama unfolds in years past? Plus, the best chance to H'wood spin it into positivity, charity, and all the other hypocritical fraudisms imagined. But how will it be remembered now? Definitely NOT by your trifling speech? No spin there. Even during watching "Billions" on Showtime sometime after 'slapgate' occurred, I couldn't help but anticipate several slap scenarios entrenched in my traumatized mind. Let alone during his fake ass speech about (drum roll!) - L♡VE? Yea, that's right go 'head baby drink it. It's called Kool-aid.

Again, the context. As a minority always under the scope of 'others', this is the last thing you wanna draw publicity towards yourself. Not even Mr. "KING RICHARD" Williams would've done this and he's surely done + said some crazy wild stuff. The irony.

And I'd say this. The "black experience" is already chiming-in the morning after, in defense mode. I get it. Whites have this way to chime in much more on (black) negativity than they do with (black) positivity. Strip the color-lines, I agree as it even pertains to people in general. But again, this isn't Tyrone squabbling over Kim with Terry on the corner of Jefferson Ave & Malcolm X Blvd, in Bed-Stuy! This. Is. The. Oscar's. We're quick to lay out praises in the light of "1st black" this and "best actor a black man" that, or "a black director won" this, when celebrating our accomplishments, even fueled by the mainstream media. But then turn around, act like we're against being scrutinized as "black" when we do jackassness? Like, hey this is a family matter, we'll take it from here! And privately?!? C'mon. We have to assume (black) responsibility too, yes -- even in negativity! Unfortunately, it won't work only one way, esp under this (LIVE TV!) tremendous platform called The Oscar's, Will Smith et al. Can't believe he still got up to accept his award, afterwards, and to a standing ovation... H'wood, at least is consistent!👏🏾🙄🌴

#will smith #chris rock #oscars #hollywood #the slap #jada pinkett smith #king richard #fresh memes #fresh prince of bel air #drink water and mind my business #hollywood gossip #post-oscars

[redwineconversation]

I greatly enjoy your blog! I’m a new fan of the team and I always learn so much from your blog and really like the team more now. What can you tell us about some of the younger players or the players beyond Henry, Le Sommer, Maro, Bouhaddi, and Ada? I want to be able to say I’m a real fan and know a bit about all the players. Who do you think is the best young to watch talent too?

*cracks neck* Okay kids, last time we learned about Lyon's definition of love and loyalty and how it affects their state of mind, tonight we are learning about youth development and returns of investment.

So as I have said in the past, when Aulas created the women's team, he did with the idea that eventually the team would pay for itself. Whatever money you put into the team, you will end up getting back. You can buy all the top players you want, but what becomes of the club if you do that, 5, 10, 15 years down the line?

Why buy top players when you can create them yourself?

So FC Lyon's women team and Olympique Lyonnais merge in 2004 and the first thing Aulas does is start pumping large amounts of money into OL's youth academy. And I mean a lot - the infrastructure and recruitment strategies increases dramatically over a very short period of time. Aulas wasn't just thinking that he wanted to get a women's team that would dominate the European scene for over ten years, he wanted to make sure he would get the money back if he did it.

And that starts with youth academies.

So he created this youth academy and pays significant money to their scouts. Look hard enough and you can find local talent. Develop local talent and you can make money.

So the Lyon Academy, fueled with decent money, can actually start developing players. Players like Amel Majri. Players like Delphine Cascarino. Players like Selma Bacha. Players like Eve Perisset. Players like Melvine Malard. Players like Laurine Baga, etc.

A lot of Lyon haters like to sit there and pretend that Lyon just buys world class players and anyone who gets a starting spot is there because they won a bunch of things with other teams first and it's kinda... not exactly true? So let's talk about why the Lyon Kids, as I like to call them, stand out, and why when people clutch their pearls and say have you seen Lyon's roster, the sheer audacity of it all, the appropriate answer is "... yes, and?"

Let's start with Selma Bacha. She entered the OL youth academy in 2008. Left footed and argumentative, Lyon also saw what she could become: a player they could mold into whatever they wanted who would defend a club no matter what. She moved up the youth ranks really fast, and in 2018, this person called Sonia Bompastor was like ''yeah I stopped assuming she would play in the U-19s because she spends all her time with the Pro team." Bacha benefited from injuries and sent most of the 2018 season training with the pro team. She played the 2018 UWCL final, did well, and celebrated like a kid who was on an extreme sugar rush.

Selma Bacha fun facts: Hegerberg and Renard got into a debate as to whether her or Eugénie Le Sommer were the smallest on the team (they couldn't decide); when asked what team she would leave OL for her reply was "none"; if I had to put money on a player getting a red card for instigating the opposing players/fans she would be my absolute first choice. To be brutally honest I am surprised she hasn't gotten a red for that yet.

Next up, Delphine Cascarino! Also Lyon's favorite love story, if there was such a thing. Same origins: she showed up on Lyon's radar because of the amount of money Aulas put into the youth development team. She has a twin sister, Estelle, who plays for PSG (man those family dinners must be awkward. Btw Lyon passed on Estelle and sold her.) She is fast and technical. Doesn't quite understand why players don't have the same football IQ as her. Considers traumatizing Wolfsburg's defense as a hobby.

But more importantly, is one of the most concrete examples of what happens when you love a club that loves you back. She suffered a very severe knee injury in 2017, before she had truly established herself in the first team. And let's be frank. Most teams would have cut their losses. She hadn't really done anything yet. She was a kid who had talent but a borderline career ending knee injury. You want to know what Aulas did? He opened his check book, gave her a contract extension, and told her to start performing when she was healthy again.

And that's how Delphine Cascarino won 5 Champions League trophies before she was 25.

I constantly threaten to send either my therapist bills or general health bills to Melvine Malard and the only reason I haven't gone through with it is genuine laziness on my part. Did tell her when I saw her in Portland "my therapist knows about you" but she laughed, probably because it came after she scored the winning goal against Barcelona.

Here's another thing you should know about Malard: Lyon product but she still makes shit decisions. She somehow embodies Hegerberg and Prometheus at the same time: she will score decisive goals but will make 85 wrong decisions before she does that. I honestly think most of my twitter rants about Lyon involve me bitching about Malard's decision making. Anyway, want someone who will get you the winning goal? Decent odds to go with Malard. Want a player who is guaranteed to give you stress ulcers and extreme anxiety? Look no further!

I'm praying that she gets shipped off next season to a loan so she can ponder the consequences of making shit decision making in front of goal only to be bailed out by the grace of God, but I am also not holding my breath.

Now for the established kids: Ellie Carpenter, Catarina Macario, and Damaris Egurrola.

These kids bonded because they came in around the same time (Carpenter summer 2020; Macario and Damaris January 2021). The average age is something like 22 between them, which is actually really young considering their positions.

Carpenter analysis: when it was first leaked that we were getting Carpenter I am not going to lie, my initial reaction was something along the lines of what the actual fuck? It wasn't even because she was a Thorns player, it was because she was so young and playing in a position to replace Lucy Bronze. Even Bronze wasn't Bronze at 20. So I was like ??? Her, really??? when it was announced Lyon was looking at her.

And then she started following a bunch of Lyon coffee shops and I was a bit like *flips hair* you might enjoy a good soy latte too but that doesn't mean you get the keys to a Maserati.

But you know what one of the conditions is of getting to drive that car? You have to prove you are loyal. And Carpenter was like consistent during the games and I remember constantly thinking her?? Really?? but yeah. Carpenter continued to show up even though the remaining players were often DOA. And then she snarked that she understood French better than she could speak it and that's when I thought, ah, maybe we can work something out, after all.

At 21 (22 in late April), Carpenter is too young to understand what love means. But her and Lyon have this belief that they can work something out between them, and that it will sound a lot like the definition of love.

Regarding Damaris: Aulas pays money for young players when he thinks he will get a return of investment. It is very, very rare for Lyon to drop six figures on a transfer fee on a player who had only been with their current club for approximately six months. It shows that Damaris had been on their radar long before she was with Everton.

When I first saw Damaris play my initial reaction was simply Henry?? Physically, technique wise, she reminded me of Lyon's favorite love story. The same technique, a similar physique, and an understanding that all good love stories start with the idea of simply wanting to be seen. Lyon always saw Damaris. But now she is looking back.

Catarina Macario is the player Marozsan used to be. This is what I meant when I said the kids don't really trust Marozsan, it's because they don't have a reason to. They have their own toy, a shiner toy, a better toy. They have a toy they sympathize with. A young player, a gifted player, Macario gives Lyon what they so desperately crave: a player maker who sees them for what they are.

Those are the important kids I would keep an eye on.

#all good love stories start in the rain

[fishylife]

Street Dance of China, Season 4, Episode 4

- I’ve had issues with Tumblr not saving my posts again v.v I’ll just save often and hope that that does the trick.

- Latrice and Ibuki reenacting HB’s performance haha. From the behind the scenes clips I’ve seen, Ibuki does speak English, so I like to think they are now friends :D

- Hilty & Bosch have known each other since they were six years old T_T That’s cuuuute. Apparently they don’t get into arguments a lot because they always keep a distance between them XD Good strategy.

- San’er’s performance was great! He definitely brings the entertainment in his creativity (including incorporating a story line), but he doesn’t forget about the technical parts of dancing (the popping).

- Bouboo cheering on Rochka when he challenged Jianyan :P

- This spinning move he did was neat

- 不咋地 is going to be the recurring inside joke between Yibo, Rochka, and Bouboo ^^;;

- Yixing singing the SDOC theme song again XD With his super low energy voice XD

- Yibo was tipping the bench which was why Yixing and Henry were like, rocking back and forth at the same pace lol.

- Admittedly George vs. C-Lil was kind of rough. George tried to include Chinese elements in his performance, but he was injured, so he couldn’t really showcase them, and the latter part of his performance became just a typical contemporary dance. C-Lil’s performance was alright, but I think the judges were expecting something more impressive. While break dancing is very impressive to watch, I am starting to see the limitations of it, because if a dancer is not impressive, they are just kind of mediocre. George and C-Lil weren’t able to bring anything superbly impressive, which I think it was difficult for them to vote. Yibo abstained, and C-Lil got two votes, so C-Lil advanced.

- Zyko was incredible as always. It fascinates me how he’s mostly performed with these ballad type songs that don’t really have a beat. Also his flexibility is insane. I’m glad he got through with four votes because we need to see him more.

- I really liked Chika’s performance! I feel like women’s dancing is sometimes a bit limited in the mainstream because people just expect them to look sexy. It isn’t as much the case on this show because all of the ladies on this show are dancers and not idols or pop stars. But anyway, I just love seeing women dance without their bodies being sexualized. Chika’s dance showcased not only control over her body, but POWER. I loved her big movements. Compare the power that she shows vs. the power that say, Ibuki shows. Ibuki is a much smaller lady and it shows in her proportions, so how she expresses power looks different from how Chika expresses power, and Chika’s is the sort of power that I’ve really looked forward to seeing.

- Rochka fanboys over everybody, I love it. Keep spreading the love, dude.

- Ok, Xiaoji’s performance was pretty entertaining. I am not kidding when I say my jaw dropped, at the same time that all the captains went OH SNAP. But this guy definitely has charisma and stage presence. His confidence made up for his lack of ability to improvise XD I was CACKLING when this guy thought the song was done and Yibo was like “bro there’s more” and Xiaoji had to come up with something to end it off lol. I wouldn’t say his challenge was as good as Xiaohai’s, mostly because he hadn’t memorized the music like Xiaohai did. In terms of technical stuff, his performance did seem more impressive than Lai Wei’er’s, but he also did less “stuff” (like, there were a lot of pauses in his dance probably because he didn’t now the music). But Xiaoji’s was definitely more entertaining, though that may just be because of who he is and not his dancing. (By the way, Xiaoji’s real name is 林森. I thought the name 林木森 was just a joke because of how much wood was in it. I never guessed that someone would name their kid 林森 X’D Guess his 八字 indicated that he had a weakness in wood or something lol)

- Have some laughing captains, it’s good for the soul.

- Acky-san acknowledged that he’s probably not going to beat the younger dancers in terms of technique, so what he brought instead was style. The “robot” style of popping is pretty old, but no one else has done it in this competition probably because it’s so old school, and he definitely delivered in a way that only he could.

- Henry singing Frere Jacques with the French contingent X’D

- Thoughts on Han Yu vs. Boris. I can imagine what Han Yu was going for in his original performance, but I don’t think it worked. I don’t have the vocabulary to explain it, but basically the way his performance was choreographed just didn’t really impress. As Yibo mentioned, Boris was impressive in his dance to Han Yu’s music, but his dancing didn’t suit the song as much as Han Yu’s did. So the original dance + challenge was a matter of impressiveness vs. whether the dancing suited the music. Han Yu shone in the battle. I think he seemed a lot more impressive when back in a hip hop sort of groove, music that has a lot of major beats, compared to the piano music that was less grand an epic. As for Boris, I think that seeing a few of his performances in succession showed that his toolbox is a little limited in comparison to Han Yu. It hate to see Boris go because I loved his battle against Zyko but alas. I also wanted him to stay because he’s one of the few non-Chinese contestants who speak Mandarin relatively well. He had no issues speaking in Mandarin with most of the Chinese people on set. The ending was hilarious, when he was asked whether he had any last words, and Boris was like “well, I’m literally going to see these guys in two seconds when I’m back in the audience, I’m not dying” lmao.

- I don’t know how I feel about how the show has decided to deal with the last 29 contestants, of which three would be chosen to join the 49 dancers advancing. They’re competing fairly with the other contestants that haven’t performed yet, but they’re at a disadvantage compared to the previous contestants that were judged individually. For example, what if the fourth best dancer was better than a dancer that had already entered the 49? It would only be fair if the judges were allowed to take out people from the 46 contestants that had passed. It would’ve been a bigger problem if there were still a lot of big names to go though. Most of the best dancers have already secured a spot for themselves, so I think that’s why I’m not like, the most perturbed.

- I was low key waiting for Xiao Jie’s performance because his audition performance during episode 1 was so amusing. I thought his individual performance was fun! He managed to add some creativity and story telling (Chinese dude getting drunk) but also showcase some of his specialty skills (locking).

- I forgot to mention this before, but it amuses me that so the editing team will so diligently put in a “don’t try this at home” warning message whenever a dancer does a dangerous move haha.

- So the captains are doing a dance battle for the reborn event, but I’m not really sure how this is all gonna work. I’m digging Yixing’s look for the battle btw.

- Anyway, pre-battle hugs for all.

- KRUMPMASTER. Also I think he did some of the routine that he did back in Season 3.

- Not gonna lie, I wasn’t super impressed with Han Geng’s first dance but his second dance was pretty hype.

- Lol Yibo feels most comfortable challenging Yixing during his battles. He did move where he dropped onto his back right after Yixing did it (i.e. being like you can do it but I can do it better). Based on what I saw of season 3, I think Yibo would call out Yixing in his performances then too.

- Yixing was definitely heavy on the krump side, though I actually thought his first performance was really interesting because there was barely any krump in that one. He mostly stuck to other elements. As we got through the other rounds, he became more krump heavy, and I think he lost a bit in terms of variety there.

- The thing about Han Geng is that he’s no longer as athletic, so he relies more on power and control, but he needs to make sure he does the right moves that showcase that.

- I think Yibo impressed me the most. He had a lot of variety in his arsenal and he was very entertaining. He is also quite athletic, so as long as he can imagine it, I think he can do it haha.

- As others mentioned, Henry was extremely creative. He used a lot of dance moves to show a certain action, like tugging a rope or playing pool and such.

- Anyway, big hugs.

- Baby needs a nap.

- Yibo won the most points in the four rounds of the battle. This hug with Han Geng is uwu. Anyway, Tony Gogo mentioned that Yibo interpreted the music very well.

- Of course, Tony Gogo as well as the Gogo brothers praised Yixing for his krumping energy

- Philip said that Han Geng had a really good ear, and that was how he was able to take advantage of the best moments to unleash certain dances.

- The five contestants that were saved were A-wei, Boris, George, JC Jun, and Kelo & Uwa. I definitely think the editors purposely showed us more clips of them so that we’d grow attached lol. The only one of these five that I don’t quite remember is A-wei though. Anyway, very pleased that Boris is back haha.

- Pouty boi

- Yibo, Henry, Han Geng, and Ibuki getting really into 煞科 lol.

- I think next episode is going to have some team performances, which I think will be fun. Some of these teams are STACKED.

- Previews for Hot pot!

- They were talking about songs they listened to in their childhood. Han Geng started singing a song about an Office Black Cat? XD I’m guessing it’s a cartoon haha. Yibo listened to Leehom Wang and Jay Chou. Henry mentioned that he looked up to Leehom because he was also an overseas Chinese, plus he played a lot of instruments (just like Henry). As expected, Yixing looked up to Jay Chou (after all, Jay Chou was one of the earliest artists to popularize using Chinese elements in pop songs). Yixing said he also liked Leehom Wang, JJ Lin, and Khalil Fong (I legit have not heard the name 方大同 in a long time so that took me by surprise lol).

- Yibo mentioned Li Ronghao and Yixing was like OH WAIT YEAH HIM TOO. We know from Idol Producer that Yixing and Li Ronghao are bros haha. The captain says “不榮藝 組合” which pronounced the same as “不容易 組合” which is something like “unlikely duo,” except the the 榮 is from Li Ronghao’s name and the 藝 is from Zhang Yixing’s name lol.

- The robot spilled all the tea! Bad bot!

- I think they later played a listening game that Henry kept losing? lol

#thinking out loud #cvariety #street dance of china #screencaps

[catrakomtrikru]

I'm so sick and tired of people saying, "keep politics out of sports." You literally can't.

When I was 13 I had just realized I was gay. And I thought it was impossible for women to have sex with each other. I thought sex was a cis man and a cis woman moving around and kissing a little for the purpose of having a baby. Thats it. I was a literal child.

And yet, I was on the basketball team at my middle school. I had came out to a friend, but I didn't want anyone else to know, just her because I knew for a fact she wouldn't judge me. But this was a little county town and soon everyone knew. And in the locker room especially i got called a pervert and a pedo. And I wouldn't even look at the other girls while I was in there. I would look at the wall or the floor.

Fast forward to my senior year of high school, my co-ed hockey team got a new head coach. And he started letting people who couldn't skate on the varsity team just to fill roster spots. One of those kids had a very religious family and said he couldn't play Sundays, all our home games were Sundays. And then they didn't want to drive him to Houston for our away games. And then there was a girl, and she only wanted to be on the team to be around the hot boys, and she played two games with us and that was it.

Those two aside I was better then some of and equal in skill to most my male teammates. But the coach "put me on a line with them" basically benching me most of the season and only using me to sit in the box to serve penalties for others. I walked out on him one game and didn't go to our one playoff game, that the team lost anyway.

Last story for you, I bet most of you don't know these schools have hockey teams. But the current head coach of the university of Texas used to play at Texas A&M and he coached me a little too. So off course, when UT plays A&M i have to pick on him and all that fun stuff.

Anyway, he's Jewish. And his last name definitely shows it. Well, when he was still playing for A&M they had in away game in Oklahoma. When they got back i asked him how that went. He told me they won but a bunch of people were saying very rude things about him being Jewish.

Oh side note, start paying professional women's teams the same way you pay men.

And what about men that want to be cheerleaders, and play volleyball but they have to play with girls because there's no boys team and they're "gay" for doing either of those things. And what about trans people who are told they can't play on the team of their own gender?

See, you can't keep politics out of sports. Women, Jewish people and other religions that aren't Christians, people of color, trans people, men even. People literally have to fight all these different things, children through adults. And when you get down to it all of these things fall into politics. So when we people start getting treated right, maybe you won't have to hear about politics in sports so much.

I know being Jewish isn't just a religion BTW and I know that's not the only one like that.

#long post #peronal #sports #politics #university of texas #texas a&m

[fish-harlan]

End of Year Book asks? 1, 3, 10, 15?

1. How many books did you read this year?

Ok it took me a while to count, but I believe it's 15 books! For me, that's definitely a marked improvement. I think I hit maybe 3 or 4 in 2020

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Number 1: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Rollins. It's been a while since a book has affected me as much as this silly novel about immortality and perfume, but damn it if I'm not planning on getting a beetroot tattoo.

Number 2: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (found here on tumblr @sshannonauthor). It was beautifully written, full of interesting and exciting characters, and dragons. Love me some dragons. Absolutely stunning.

Number 3: Outcast by Michelle Paver. This is the 4th book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series and might be my favorite. This is a re-read for me, but one I love.

Number 4: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. Another re-read for me from my favorite book series of all time. It's so full of nostalgia for me and is a great build-up for the final book in the series.

Number 5: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. This one came at recommendation and one I took very seriously. It's considered by some a classic, and it's no wonder why. I'm excited to continue in the series!

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

I actually didn't get to any new releases this year! I have a new job with a lot of downtime where I'm allowed to read, so I've been working on mostly series re-reads and my to-be-read list. The closest was To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini, which released last year in September and I read in December. Still a great book btw.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

As with the last question, I don't think anything I read was nominated this year. But I might check out the award lists for some titles to add to my TBR!

#thanks for the ask!! #long post

[howtotrainyouragents]

Things I Noticed in the Hamilton Film

Soooo, I was supposed to have posted this last year when the film first dropped, and I forgot...

Anywayyyy, things that were new, from the album, or was obvious to everyone but me. This is literally just me listing details I loved for my own keepsake later on

I hope this film’s success (and the play’s hopeful continued success on stage), shows that Broadway plays can and should be filmed for everyone 

Lin Manuel Miranda is a brilliant writer, scriptwriter, musician, rapper, singer, and a genuinely lovely person, but I think my favorite part about him is his acting. He has such a pure naturalness and sincerity in his acting. He nails microexpressions/gestures and sometimes I forget that he’s acting

E.g., Lin’s devastation after Washington kicks him out 

There’s some songs I wondered what their purpose was, but watching it I understood. For example, Story of Tonight sets up the purpose of the revolution. Like, My Shot is Hamilton’s ‘I want’ song, but Story of Tonight is all of the revolutionaries ‘I want’ song, and that’s why it comes up again for Laurens and Hamilton at their ends

Samuel Seabury’s acting was gold

In Right Hand Man the way the backup stage/cast lights up as they sing ‘not throwing away my shot” and Hamilton agrees to work for Washington

The fact that Helpless ends with “You’ll be a new man” because Hamilton is still so obsessed with his own ascendency  

HOLY FUCK RENEE ELISE GOLDSBERRY

They way they start Satisfied, it’s like Angelica doesn’t know the true extent of her devastation until she gives her toast and says “satisfied”. Like, she knows what she’s done but she’s still thinks this is fine and this is for the best, and it’s not until this moment that the weight of it fully hits her. By the end of it, it’s like she’s barely holding it together for this toast

Towards the end of the song, Eliza kisses her cheek and Renee’s expression is like she’s about fall apart in that very moment from the sheer overwhelming joy and pain

So in Helpless when their talking about letters, Peggy does a cute random shimmy while handing Eliza the letter. But then in Satisfied we see that she’s doing the shimmy to the beat of Satisfied, meaning that she knows how Angelica feels and knows about the love triangle 

I’m trying really hard not to scream about the rewind of all the dance and action in Satisfaction but please know I am internally screaming about this forever. 

Almost forgot, Burr and Hamilton were friends at one point. Burr shows up for his wedding to wish him well :(

I wasn’t gonna scream that much here, but LESLIE ODOM JR. 

Leslie’s smile- amused and scoffing disbelief- when singing about Hamilton in Wait for it

Speaking of Wait for it, the way the whole cast is waiting on stage and the balconies as Burr sings. and the way the dancers shift to Hamilton’s direction when Burr talks about him 

Also the lighting creates boxes on the stages, like Burr is trapped. But then this reappears in Your Obedient Servant 

I never knew the lyrics were “This is commonplace, 'specially 'tween recruits” and not “’tween corps” in Ten Duel Commandments...makes more sense

I think there’s 10 people in that line up in Ten Commandments 

The way Stay Alive conflicts Hamilton’s precious notions of sacrifice, and forces him to shift his focus from dying to legacy

The mimic of the bullet in Stay Alive 

The way that Eliza is also so excited about the war and the scholars in The Schuyler Sisters and that excitement goes away after she has the actual risk of losing someone she loves because of the war 

Who’s the choreographer because DAMN (btw it’s Andy Blankenbuehler) 

Also the dancers lifting up other dancers for whole bars? Incredible

The way women are interwoven into the story of the war, singing the chorus and setting the scene and rejoicing with the soldiers at the end 

The fucking red lighting in Yorktown. Also, the shot in the song’s pause is one of the best shots in musical history. 

The fact that ‘black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom’ ‘not yet’ is a commentary on slavery and the line is said by Washington 

The brilliant way What Comes Next undercuts the gravitas of Yorktown . 

Also, King George loses more and more of his costume and moves around more as the show goes on. Also, blue lighting with “I’m feeling blue” hahaha

Lafayette and Hercules getting the same letter about Laurens + Hamilton’s sobbing. And Laurens’ singing ‘there will be more of us’, referring to the future generations who will fight and win abolition. 

Nonstop: 

Burr’s disgust while Hamilton rants. Hamilton’s pouting then childish glee at the beginning 

Burr stays at the bottom of the staircase after Hamilton climbs it. Also, Jefferson descends the staircase after Hamilton ascends it, indicating their statuses

The refrain of “How does a....” shows up in Nonstop as Burr’s “How do you write...” (other characters sing their own personal refrains but Burr sings this), and it’s like this ongoing, jealous, incredulous questioning of how Hamilton became so successful, and part of the answer of how he did it is that he doesn’t stop writing and working.

Regardless of which sister he ended up with, love was never gonna be enough for Hamilton

The way Daveed Diggs jumps and dances and dives across the stage in just about every song he’s in. The man truly deserved the Emmy 

Jefferson’s being surrounded by his slaves because he sucks 

Hamilton’s costume goes from white --> brown-->blue-->green-->black and someone with more color scheme expertise needs to dissect this for me please

The fact that even Burr peaces out when it comes to the affair, like, nope, this is too messed up even for me

An in-universe explanation as to why the Ten Duel Commandments and Phillip’s count is the same is that Hamilton’s killing (metaphorically and literally) in order to stay alive is a part of their family’s DNA.

Anthony Ramos is phenomenal at playing 9 years old then having to switch to 19

The fact that Phillip was probably so determined to defend his father is that this is after the Reynolds Pamphlet and everyone was humiliating and scorning Hamilton

The Room Where it Happened

Hamilton is like an apparation to him, and Burr is both scared and begging the ghost to reveal the truth

The fact that this song is a plot song and a ‘i want’ song and a villain song all at once. Also, the song picks up speed to signal the shift from historical recounting to ‘i want’ song

They replay the beginning where Jefferson/Madison call for Hamilton

Jefferson being the one to ask “Don’t you remember Lafayette”, and there’s like a slight change in his demeanor that’s more Lafayette then Jefferson 

Burr, Madison, and Jefferson discreetly talking to each other in Washington on Your Side representing their nefarious schedming. Also, Daveed Diggs keeps Jefferson’s limp even without the cane. Also Madison is angry at Hamiilton when he says “the bill of rights, which I wrote!” 

One Last Time: 

How perfectly the Bible verse reflects Washington’s opinion of legacy. The younger men are obsessed with preserving their own memories in history, but for Washington, his legacy would be that everyone would be safe and at peace. 

Washington’s practically crying at the end 

Hamilton asking Washington here to teach him how to say goodbye because Hamilton genuinely doesn’t know how: people left him before he could ever say goodbye 

We Know: Jefferson’s pure WTF face when he says “my God...”. In this reaidng, Burr definitely threatened him (I didn’t always intepret that way when listening). But Hamilton’s still an idiot. 

Hurricane: Once again, Lin’s facial expressions. The way the the chorus stands around and watches him. But also the freaking brilliant way that the dancers mimic the hurricane, and Burr and Maria are the only other people in the hurricane with Hamilton. But at the end, it’s just Hamilton and the desk 

Reynolds Pamphlet: The way Washington can’t even look at him, but Angelica gets in his face to yell at him. Also, Jefferson hands a pamphlet to the conductor 

This reading, Phillippa Soo sings Burn with so much rage and fury and that is pretty much my favorite part of this entire film

Hamilton’s face at “Alexander, did you know?”

The fact that Angelica narrates Uptown because it’s too intimate for Burr or anyone else to narrate. Eliza’s changing facial expressions as she slowly lets him in. The way Hamilton just completely breaks down and sobs

The Election of 1800: 

Jefferson shaking his head when Madison suggests Hamilton

Burr’s falseness is hilarious. He hands Hamilton a pamphlet. 

Jefferson’s look of resignation when Hamilton is making his decision, then starts dancing around when he’s won

The close-up of Burr’s face falling when he realizes who Hamilton has voted for 

The whole “runner-up becomes VP” thing made me think about if we could have had Hillary Clinton as VP, and I made myself sad. 

Your Obedient Servant: I always saw this song as a reflection of the custom, but I never fully appreciated how it reflects their relationship: their relationship has completely disintegrated, but their working to maintain this false appearance of friendship/civility that no longer has a place in their relationship. 

Also, Burr’s increasingly incensed and it does not help that Hamilton sends like a 12-page letter and the dancer even teases Burr

The guy who gives Hamilton Burr’s duel challenge plays Charles Lee. Karma 

The World Was Wide Enough

Burr’s POV then Hamilton’s POV, like this story has become less and less about Hamilton and he is no longer in control of who’s telling his story

The shot of Eliza walking away and in her wake, it’s Burr shooting 

Burr’s alone in the stage, finally realizing the world (aka the stage) was wide enough for the both of them, but it’s too late. Also, in part foreshadowing his own future: that he had the world before him regardless of Hamilton, but he was completely ruined after this duel

I definitely cried at ‘the orphanage’. Also I interpret the gasp at the end as her breaking fourth wall and seeing the audience and realizing that Hamilton’s legacy has continued even to today. 

#hamilton #i know it's cool to hate hamilton now #but i dont #so forgive me for putting this on your dash #agent report #agent h

[moghedien]

Could you recommend some adult sff? Love your blog btw!

Thank you! 

And ok, I could give you better personalized recs if you give me some idea of what you’re looking for or what you like, but I’m gonna give you some general recommendations. Also I only really feel comfortable recommending books that I have personally read, and there are tons more out there than what I have read. If you want to find more, looking at recent Hugo nominations over the past few years might be helpful. Also one of the reasons why I know anything at all about the SFF world is that I’ve been listening to the Sword and Laser podcast for like, a decade. I never really mention that podcast, but its literally why I started reading at all and also they have a pretty active goodreads group as well. 

So recommendations: 

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie: 

This is one of my favorite books period. This is a far future space opera about an artificial intelligence who used to be a spaceship and now is only one human body, and she is ANGRY ABOUT that. I don’t really want to say more than that, but if you like AI shenanigans and being sorta confused as to what is going on the entire time, then this is the book for you! It’s the first book in a completed trilogy.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan: 

Obviously I’m gonna recommend the Wheel of Time. This is the first book in a 14 (actually 15) book series and if you need something to do with the next 1-5 years of your life *motions toward EoTW*. 

So the Eye of the World, I think is uniquely good as a book if you kinda want to get into adult fantasy for a few reasons. For one thing, its kinda considered to be one of those “classics” of the genre but its not too old to be offputting to some readers. It’s a 30 year old book, so its not reflective of the genre now, but you can definitely see its influence all the place, even outside of just books. The Eye of the World specifically, also goes out of its way to make readers comfortable. It leans heavy on Tolkien references and tropes at first without being a straight up copy of Lord of the Rings like some classic fantasy books are. Its done very purposefully, in my opinion, to make the reader feel like they have some idea of what’s going on, and the series quickly drops the Tolkien references as soon as its established itself enough. 

Also the Gandalf parallel for the series is a smol bi lady and there is 24 year old rage healer who wants to fight everyone with her own two fists.So many women to stan. 

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

This is the first book of the Expanse, which is a nearish future space opera that takes place in our solar system. Mars has long ago been colonized and is a completely separate government entity than Earth, and conflict between the two planets has been stirring. The Asteroid Belt has also been colonized and have long been little more than tools of corporations that run their colonies. A group of ice haulers working in the outer planets get in the middle of one of the biggest secrets in the solar system and find themselves in all kinds of trouble. 

I don’t really want to say more than this, but this is probably the only SF series that I actively keep up on when a new book comes out. There are 8 books our currently, and the 9th and final book will be out sometime in the near future. There are also several short stories and novellas set in the world, and there’s a TV show that I really like though I need to catch up on it. 

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Hello, this book comes with content warnings for literally everything, but it is such a good book/trilogy. This is book about a woman trying to find her daughter again in the middle of the apocalypse. Definitely a heavy read but absolutely brilliant. The world has a magic system based on geology and the people that can use that magic....saying they’re discriminated against is an understatement. I don’t want to say much more about it, but if you have any kind of content you can’t read for whatever reason, I’d check before picking this up. This is the first book in a completed trilogy

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

So this isn’t really super SF heavy and is actually sold as a literary book, but it takes place after a flu pandemic has wiped out a large portion of the population...so maybe this is a bad time to read this book, OR its the best time to read it. Depends on how you’re dealing with *motions at the world*

The book flashes back to before and during the pandemic a lot, but is largely about art’s importance and is actually quite optimistic in its messaging, and this is another of my favorite books ever. But yeah, might be a bad time for you to read it of you can’t deal with the content now. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

I just remembered that this book also has a plague, but its a subplot and not the major thing. So this is a big ol’ chonky standalone book that is high fantasy, deals with multiple cultures having to interact and work together, and has dragons. Also there’s a genunine slow burn f/f romance and *chef’s kiss*. I can’t really say much else, mostly because I struggle to explain this book, but its very good and probably my favorite book from last year. 

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal 

In this house we stan Mary Robinette Kowal, ok? 

So this is a science fiction that is more an alternate history that poses the question, hey, what would have happened if an asteroid slammed into the east coast in 1952 and the world had to scramble to colonize Mars so that everyone didn’t die on earth when the climate got catastrophic, because that’s the inciting action of the book. The main character is a Jewish woman who was a WASP pilot in WW2 and is a computer for the space program when all this happens. The book deals with sexism, and racism, and xenophobia, and all the social issues that are gonna come up with it being set in 1952, but Mary Robinette doesn’t flinch away from addressing social issues in any of her books, even when it makes her main characters look bad. (Also if you like Pride and Prejudice, she has a series that is just Pride and Prejudice with magic and like, yeah, its good). 

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

This is a book which poses a question, what if dragons were like weird animals that were real and an eccentric woman spent her entire life traveling the world to study them and then told the stories of that in her memoirs when she was too old to care about the consequences of publishing all her scandals. That’s what the book is about. This one is probably actually the weakest in the series, just because it deals with so much set up. It’s a great series to get on audio because Kate Reading is a fantastic narrator, and the prose works so well as audio, because it’s just someone telling you her life story. There are five books in the series. 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

So this is a novella and is the first in the murderbot series. Basically a killer robot gets addicted to television shows and accidentally became sentient. I haven’t read the others in the series, but I really need to reread this one and get to the others. 

Jade City by Fonda Lee

This is a fantasy set in world sorta inspired by the early 1900s but is in a fantasy world. It’s like a mafia movie and kung fu movie had a baby and it was this book. The sequel is out currently, but the third book is set to release next year.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon 

This is another heavy read. This is a SF story set on a generation ship that has a society very heavily inspired by the antebellum south. There’s class issues, race issues, gender issues, mental health issues. All kinds of things intersecting here. Its fantastic, but a heavy read.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

This is another fantasy classic, and is the first of the Farseer Trilogy. The title is sort of also a description of the book, so like. I’m not sure what else I can say. I haven’t read further into the series, but people I trust love it, and honestly I need to reread this and read more of the books. 

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

So if you think that Station Eleven might be a bad book to read at the time, then this is THE WORST POSSIBLE BOOK TO READ RIGHT NOW. Or, maybe the best. Depends on how you cope. This is a book about time travelers based in Oxford and the main character accidentally gets stranded in the past right as the Black Plague is about to hit. And it hits. The book is horrific. The second book in the series is much funnier. This one ain’t funny, but is good. Just, oof. 

Mistborn or Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

So if you want to get into the Cosmere, which is a series of series that interconnect and will ruin your life, then then my personal opinion is to either start with Mistborn or Warbreaker. People might not agree with me, but that’s my personal opinion. 

Warbreaker is currently a standalone (a sequel will come out eventually but its not set up for a sequel so you can 100% read it as a standalone). The magic in this world is based on colors, and the story revolves around two sisters. One of them is betrothed to the horrific God King of their neighboring kingdom. The other sister ends up being sent in her place because their dad hates her. I adore Warbreaker so much. It has it all. Two women discovering their true places on the prep/goth spectrum. Talking swords. Vivenna. Everything you can need right there. 

Mistborn is a trilogy that is very emo and will ruin you. Its about people who swallow metal to get magic powers and live in world where the dark lord won already, so they’re all emo. And that was the worst description of Mistborn I ever could have written, but I find it too funny to change. 

So if you’re interested in the Cosmere, but are afraid to commit long term, pick up Warbreaker. If you want to get into a series right away, pick up Mistborn. 

[secretly-a-nerd]

Destiel is bad for mlm. An essay with comebacks.

CLARIFICATIONS BEFORE I START: DESTIEL FANS DON'T INTERACT WITH THIS OF COURSE!!! Btw, I am mlm, I have a loving boyfriend who acts like Castiel while I act like Sam a lot... so yeah, I'm a Sastiel shipper so this post may come off as a little biased but I want to help other shippers who are against Destiel.  So if you're not a Sastiel shipper, still, don't leave- I'm not forcing you to ship it. That's wrong to force someone to ship. I'm also anti-Dean person.  In this post, there will be spoilers for Supernatural.

Ight let's put this show on the road... first off...

WHY DESTIEL IS BAD: -Yes, the ship is mlm and if canon, will be a mlm ship... but it’s bad rep. Why? Because if you want good representation, you gotta have a good relationship and not be queerbait for about 12 years. Dean literally beat Castiel up multiple times (even without the Mark of Cain). Let me ask you this fellas in a relationship... do you beat your partner? Bark commands at them 24/7? See them as a monster at times? I don’t think so.

-Stepping away from the ship itself, the fans are toxic and normally straight cis women who think they know what’s good for mlm or fetishizes mlm. (However, I’m not saying everyone who ships Destiel is straight and a cis woman) Also, the Destiel shippers will often times force others to ship that ship with them.

-What is mlm fetishization? People who solely love mlm ships- they barely have any wlw ships or straight ships. Just... mlm... or forces two males together, even if they are straight. They are or the equvialent of asking a gay male to be their 'gay friend'. That is very toxic. Destielhellers... get a new hobby, something healthier than reading/watching sexual assault, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.

COMEBACKS:

-When Castiel raised Dean from hell, he didn’t do it because “he loves Dean!” It was because Castiel is a soldier, a perfect soldier too, created by God to obey orders without question. When Castiel was first introduced to the show, he didn’t understand human emotions nor actually feel them so how could he quickly love Dean? Castiel also raised from Sam from hell.

-“#Theysilencedyou” on Instagram... the CW didn’t silence you, no one did. It was never canon in the first place. If Destiel was canon in the first place and Dean says “I love you too” OUT LOUD to Castiel, then killing Castiel off and NOT GIVING Dean a happy ending would be a “they silenced you” moment. But did that really happen? No. In the end, Castiel and Dean got a happy ending, just not together. And WOAH WOAH WOAH DON'T PULL CHARLIE INTO THIS. The show does a good job of giving her a lot of screentime about her sexuality and whatnot. She got a girlfriend multiple times. Her first death... she died in a Joan of Arc kind of way too which is awesome to me- but that's not the point with Charlie. She didn't come back in the finale because of covid and it's heavily hinted that everyone in the alternative universe place did go to heaven. I bet you anything she's in heaven right now.

-Castiel’s last words were the words he said in 15x18. He was dying. The empty was getting him. Those were his dying words, if he had said those while not dying, I would understand “they silenced you” there too. But Castiel didn’t say it while NOT dying, right? Also, there are different types of meanings behind "I love you" such as the friendship kind, which I say "I love you" to a lot of my friends, there's the family kind, and yes, there's the lover kind. Castiel most likely meant it in a family way since he said- same with Dean- that the Winchester brothers were like family to him.

-The CW writers aren’t homophobic. Here’s a list of the lgbtq+ characters from their other shows:

-Sara Lance (Arrow) -Alex Danvers (Supergirl) -Clarke Griffin (The 100) -Nyssa Raatko (Arrow) -David Singh (The Flash) -Anissa Pierce (Black Lightning) -Toni Topaz (Riverdale) -Teddy Montgomery (90210) AND MORE.

Granted, there aren't many gay men in that list. That's because they haven't found an actor who would feel comfortable playing a gay man... toxic masculinity happens guys... Reminds you of a certain character in Supernatural?

-“Kill Sam/Jared!” Sadly, I’ve seen that comment. Firstly, if you kill Jared... that’s literal murder and... dude that’s so extremist... you shouldn’t wish death upon anybody. Secondly, Sam is a main character in the show. He’s Dean’s brother. If Dean was left alone with Castiel, it still wouldn’t happen. Why? Because like we saw in the finale (15x20), Sam was mourning after Dean and it left him to FOREVER remember his brother. Dean would be the same if Sam were to die and go to heaven. Dean’s and Sam’s brotherly relationship is the glue that keeps it all together in the show. One brother is very rarely without the other in screentime.

-“Sam is Destiel’s number one cheerleader!” Okay, no, I get where they get it from... the episode, Fan Fiction (10x5). But Sam was messing with Dean because he knew how squirmy he’d get. Dean sees Castiel as a brother... and imagine being shipped with your friend that you see as family. Horrible, right? because it’s getting rid of the aspects of your relationship? Sam even shipped himself with Castiel in one of the scenes. So how would that make him a cheerleader of Destiel?

-Destiel fans admitted to being queerbaited, which is bad and can lead to other shows in the future doing that. I’m gonna add the definition of queerbaiting: "a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation." -from Wikipedia. I'm sorry but there was little queerbaiting with Destiel... because Dean would CONSTANTLY be a jerk to Castiel then we'd have like... one scene where Dean wasn't a jerk to Castiel in the episode, then never see a scene where Dean was kind to Castiel until two episodes later.

-"Dean isn’t straight!!!" Yuh he is straight, have you seen him with a man? Let alone, feel comfortable with one romantically? I'll type up all of the episodes in which he was passively homophobic later on... AND don’t push Sam into this saying some stupid stuff like “he’s homophobic!”

-“Jensen is homophobic!” I actually used to believe this until I woke up and did some research on that. How that started was by Dean, the character Jensen plays, not saying "I love you" back to Castiel/Misha. They're practically forcing the ship to happen. Jensen was just following the script, same with Misha. They're under a contract guys, they don't have much say in it. However, there have been some rumors saying Jensen is homophobic even before 15x18. I cannot confirm this but I've heard that Jensen did decline a fan's request to hold a pride flag... but there's not much context behind it because the fan themself could of been weird and creepy and harassing Jensen, or forcing Jensen to say Dean is something so he needs to hold up that pride flag. Or... yes, Jensen was lowkey being homophobic...

-Destiel fans are signing stuff to change the ending... like??? That won’t work. The cast's contract with CW is done. Also, this like the equivalent of Trump’s “STOP THE COUNT!!” and “I won the election!!!”.... changing stuff to make people believe you are right. That's hella manipulative. -[Insert that one shot of all of the crew together at the end of 15x20.] Destiel fan: "WHY WASN'T CASTIEL THERE?!! WITH DEAN IN HEAVEN?!?!!?!?!" Okay, firstly, Jack wasn't there too and he's now God, covid happens and the writers really wanted Bobby's actor to be there ((I forgot why, I'll add it in later!!! BUT THERE'S A REASON)). Mary and John Winchester could of been in that finale... there are so many characters that could of been in that finale guys, but COVID-19 happened. The lack of characters was for the actors' safety. I don't know about you but some show isn't more important than my own safety. Besides, the contract is about to be lifted, and they had other shows to act in.... Jared with Walker... Jensen with The Boys...

-"How is Destiel bad for mlm...? It's gay ship..." I already answered that question, but I just wanted to remind you guys that Destiel fans WILL ask this. But I'll sum it up for you guys: it's fetishization because you're pairing up a toxic man who sees that other person as another brother/best friend. Also, that 'toxic man' isn't bisexual. He always has been with females and makes lowkey homophobic remarks. On top of that, Dean has beaten Castiel up sooooo many times, both physically and mentally. ***This essay is a WIP... and I take constructive criticism. However, if you are a Destiel fan and write about this, I will ignore you.

#destiew #anti destihellers #stop fetishizing mlm #i will literally die with these opinions #dni destiel fans

[five-wow]

10.19!!! watched it, had thoughts about it, wrote them down. the usual under the cut.

there is a random man in steve’s kitchen (is it the helicopter guy? i... don’t know him well enough to be sure but i am genuinely unsure who else it would be) wearing a “seals do it better” apron while he’s cooking and talking to junior about how this recipe helped him “seal the deal” with the love of his life. okay, random man. you’re not acknowledging it, but you just made a seal pun, so you have my attention.

btw, for a good long moment i genuinely thought this guy might be danny in some kind of weird dream sequence future. i mean, old danny in steve’s kitchen wearing a seal-themed apron and making waffles? i wouldn’t hate it.

junior about how it’s going with tani: “it’s amazing.” okay a) YAY and THAT IS VERY CUTE and b) even so, it’s hilarious to me when random guy says “sounds like you’ve got it bad” just based on junior saying that it’s amazing while he kind of smiles vaguely. cute as it was, it wasn’t a passionate love declaration.

junior lies in bed awake at night dreaming of his thing with tani working out (and not sleeping because he’s scared it might not) and i just !! he’s a smitten mess over her and i adore it, even though his level of anxiety sounds like it’s a little detrimental for his sleep, omg.

fjdkfd we get a scene of adam and quinn who went surfing together and OF COURSE they’re standing under the beach showers as they talk because i feel like adam is literally contractually obligated to have a certain number of shower scenes each season.

tani!! gave quinn!! some surfing pointers!! let’s review: we know that tani is really great at surfing and definitely better than junior, because we had a scene once of them getting back from a surfing trip and junior was slightly pouty over it and tani was absolutely unwilling to downplay her own skill and it was Very Good, and now, in these last few episodes, tani was first present during noelani’s surfing lessons and now she’s apparently been giving quinn advice, and the idea of the h50 women hanging out? the idea of tani being supportive and sharing her knowledge? it’s all so good, ahhh. (ALSO. my mighty need for tani and kono to meet grows with each and every mention of tani’s surfing skill.)

oh my gOD i wrote that bit in brackets and hit play on the episode and IMMEDIATELY adam says that he’s used to being second best in the ocean because “my ex wife was a pro surfer, and very competitive.” YES. GOOD. LOVE THE KONO REFERENCE.

quinn gets a dramatic call from an olivia! i read an episode description, so i know that’s her ex-step daughter. i’m a little hesitant about this “btw quinn has an ex-husband” subplot, but also curious to see where they’re going with it, and quinn jumping to help out a teen girl that she still has a strong bond with is an angle of approach that could potentially be very very relevant to my interests.

cows! “moooo” say the cows, quietly, under the music. they’re not important or plot-relevant, i just like cows.

fjdkfd olivia has a Bad Dad and yes, i do want quinn to adopt her now. it could be good! she could swap tips with steve about how to let your adopted teen know they’re loved and safe and worth so much more than what their parents gave them.

tani to junior: “what, you think i didn’t have a life before i met you?” junior’s eyes: [shoot up to steve, standing right behind tani, who is junior’s mentor AND boss, making it slightly awkward to have a relationship talk right in front of him during work hours] POOR BOY (but also, yes, tani, tell him).

junior is now obsessed with the mystery of why tani is so familiar with a random rancher bar an hour away from her house, and to be honest, so am i.

tani wON A LINE DANCING COMPETITION FOUR WEEKS IN A ROW. that is the BEST solution to the mystery, my gosh.

tani: [brags about her line dancing skills and calls herself the queen] junior: “who are you?” fdjkfdjkfd junior, i don’t even know why you’re suprised that a) tani slays at something she did or b) she is utterly unapologetic about that fact.

olivia says that maybe quinn could come watch her play volleybal some time and quinn says that she’d love to but it’s complicated and don’t do that, quinn! my heart hurts now!

OKAY so olivia isn’t doing cheer this year even though she was captain the previous year and she makes up an excuse about it being because of the other girls but it’s actually about HER DAD taking the money that quinn gave her for a UNIFORM which means she probably couldn’t even try out and I HATE THIS. find your ex and kick his ass, quinn.

lou, after talking about macadamia farming: “but here’s where the story gets a littllllle... nutty.” tani, fistpumping: “nice one.” punner solidarity!! good stuff, good stuff. (though i do wonder what happened to danny’s punning streak in later seasons. anyone remember 1.14, when he joked about the head in a box? he’s lost his appreciation for this fine art and it’s a tragedy, honestly.)

quinn has enlisted adam’s help in tracking her ex (jake) down and she’s telling adam a little about how she never thought she’d fall for a guy like him but he was charming, and then she says “and olivia” and THAT’S when she really smiles, and look, PLEASE don’t let this episode end with olivia still living with her dad because will have to write fix-it fic.

quinn: “i haven’t told anybody i was married, not even steve.” that’s cool, but like, do we believe that means steve doesn’t know? if his background checks haven’t gone completely downhill in the last few years, i would assume he’s figured this out, right? (i love quinn’s “in case you haven’t noticed, i’m not really a sharer” that she adds, because it fits with her personality and it’s just nice to have a female character that’s allowed to be a little secretive about her past in a way that doesn’t feel, idk, sensationalized.)

i have seen a lot of gifs of this episode by now and they’re all of steve and danny and the horses so i’ve seen most of their very polite discussion that ensues when danny calls steve out on not asking him if he wants to ride along, but it’s still utterly glorious. grace gets mentioned, too! and the way danny ends it with “why don’t you try to keep up?” as he passes in front of steve, with steve watching him go? that is flirting. blatant flirting in front of all of their poor teammates. (at least now junior can feel a little less awkward about bringing his relationship with him on the job!)

fjdkfdjk lou’s “all this and they still go time to argue, isn’t that nice?” is A+

steve and danny, as they’re super leisurely chasing some criminals through the woods on horseback: yes, this would be a good time to make up an argument about absolutely nothing at all.

oh gosh, okay, danny says “you know i can uh, i can hear you at night” and steve’s response is “why don’t you get some earplugs?” and um. uh. it’s followed by context, i know, but come on, jfc.

“when i moved in a couple months ago” he’s just GOING for it now, omg. not “came to stay with you”, no attempt at hiding that he’s been staying with steve for literal months at this point - just. when i moved in. a couple months ago.

(i am obviously also very aware of what danny is saying about steve not sleeping and how that’s a new thing because it wasn’t like that a few months ago and steve’s evasiness about it and i am VERY WORRIED ABOUT THAT but i’m also electing to somewhat ignore it because. my god. screw that. we don’t want any of where that seems to be headed in this house.)

“i appreciate it. thank you.” this is growth and it’s good and it’s steve realizing that maybe just his quippy putdown isn’t enough of a response to danny’s genuine offer of support! (and again, we’re not thinking about reasons why he might want to think twice about how he treats danny so danny will know he’s appreciated, because there is no reason for steve to be worried about that, because nothing is going to happen.)

steve: “cuff him, danno.” DANNO. danno has returned from war!!

fjdkfd and then steve says it again in like, the next sentence he says. really cramming in those danno’s suddenly.

oh noooooo. quinn tells adam that jake could be a very good dad (which is valid! addiction is a disease and it’s good to know he wasn’t always like this to olivia, even if i don’t think it excuses what’s happening now), but then she says that jake was all the things she always wished her own dad could be and that maybe that’s why she was so drawn to him, and. okay. did not need that. h50 has a tendency to make women compare their love interests to their dads that makes me very uncomfortable. (the other big one that springs to mind is when abby and chin are courting and chin opens a car door for abby and she says something about how she always admired chivalry in her dad and she thought that died out with his generation and it’s this weird thing where she seems to be flirting by going “wink wonk you make me think of my dad” and oh my god. let’s just say it’s very much not my thing.)

steve and danny end up holed up in a cabin while seven people shoot at them and ahhh, just like old times. also just like last episode, to be honest, with the whole cabin filled with poison thing, but at least there’s no poison this time! that’s a plus!

steve’s improv involves LASSO’ING a guy i’m screaming

dude gets the drop on steve, they have an epic fight, steve HITS HIS HEAD and the dude picks up a GIANT LOG to hulksmash on steve’s head, presumably, and then danny swoops in to the rescue and!!! that’s also very much like old times!!! especially with this forest green color scheme and steve lying on the floor a little dazed it really reminds me of that episode with the girlscout troop in season 3.

(so. in this possible universe we’re not talking about where steve might be sick again and could be pacing at night because he knows or fears he’s going to die (you know the one) do you think that maybe part of why his first words to danny are “why’d you leave the cabin? that wasn’t the plan” is that he was kind of... hoping the other guy would get to finish him off? do you ever think about how steve mcgarrett, man of action, would almost definitely rather go out in a blaze of glory after taking out six guys all on his own with danny having his back, than after watching his own body slowly betray him and give out on him after losing a painful and drawn-out fight with itself?)

confused, frowny steve who almost definitely has a concussion and is also still very bloody is oddly cute, gosh. also, nincompoop! definitely one of danny’s most wonderful insults yet.

quinn gets her ex arrested and yells at him and tells him that if he doesn’t clean up his act, he’ll lose custody of his daughter, and then she drives away and she’s sobbing and trying not to and just !!!!! this was definitely the good kind of “quinn has an ex-husband” storyline, but also very painful.

the sunset scene! seen this in gifset too, but hoooo boy, it hits very differently with actual sound. (i may also have described the scene to my sister and mentioned the “probably ‘cause i figured i’d see a million more” and her immediate response was “oooh, he’s dead” and yES, that’s what i was TELLING YOU i’m worried about and also what i’m not thinking about so let’s just pretend i’m not typing these words right now.)

fdjkfdjkfd i’m sure that steve turning to danny just as he says “those are the things that you’re gonna miss the most in the end, you know” after mentioning things you see every day is just. a total coincidence. yeah. he’s totally just turning away from this sunset he was so entranced by a moment ago to look at danny’s face because he wants to stretch his neck. uh huh.

there’s banter about squirrels and it’s good and then steve says “admit it danny, you’re gonna miss this when it’s done” and that sounds very meta, omg, but it gets better when danny says “yeah, maybe, but i would never say it out loud” because that is literally a way to say it, out loud.

a very good episode!! i loved meeting olivia and learning about quinn’s background and there was some prime tani content and to top it off a lot of mcdanno in the second half, and if we just completely ignore that this episode also made my anxiety about the series finale skyrocket (which i knew it would, based on what i’d gathered of other people’s response to it, but that still didn’t accurately prepare me) it was wonderful and i liked it a lot! 

#10.19 #h50 spoilers #h50 #I. DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MIGHT BE AHEAD