safflower season

exclusively ships couples who bicker constantly.

[safflowerseason]

bring me to light, chapter twelve

Oooof, it’s been a while. 

Chapter Twelve: Dan and Cassie watch The Lion King, with unintended results.  

2021 was a really crazy year for me, but finally, agonizing sentence after sentence…I finished Chapter Twelve. I sincerely hope the content of this chapter makes up for the long wait. For the readers still out there, thank you so much for your patience and for reading and rereading. And thank you especially to those who write in with BMTL questions and comments—you have no idea how much of an inspiration that is for me. (AO3 reviews are also a major form of love).

Up next: Mr. Brookheimer’s funeral is finally here.

[inadvertently-biblical]

THE PITT - S2 Finale

[carolinawrenn]

Lord knows that the United States has and continues to commit atrocities. I can't justify that. And the current political situation here is scary as hell. But I love this place. I love the Atlantic Ocean and New York City and the Pacific Northwest. I love my Blue Ridge Mountains with my whole entire heart. I love cardinals and mockingbirds and kudzu and possums and black rat snakes and the way the woods smell in the mornings. 

I love that Americans are known for complimenting strangers. I love that we fry everything, and that we do it well. I love 12-foot-high plastic Halloween skeletons in people’s yards and tacky Christmas lights that stay up too long. I love that we are an unabashedly goofy people.

I love bluegrass music. I love stepping. I love that there are always folklorico dancers in my town’s Mardi Gras parade. I love that my town has a Mardi Gras parade, even though most people here aren’t Catholic or French and didn’t grow up with any kind of Carnivale tradition. I love that if "Livin On A Prayer" comes on a pizzeria, at least one person at each table won't be able to stop themselves from singing along. I love that the middle school gym shakes to the rafters when families cheer for THEIR baby finishing eighth grade and that they bring balloons and bouquets and flower garlands to celebrate.

I love the 80 year old couple at our local No Kings protest. I love all the little kids there with their families, too. I love the brass band that always shows up at protests here and plays old union songs and gospel music. I cry like a damn baby every time I hear “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.”

This country is horrible and selfish and destructive, but it’s also wonderful and kind and full of people loving and fighting and trying to make things better. And the people saying that there’s only one kind of real American, and that if you don’t look like they do or talk like they do or think like they do, then you don’t count, those people can go pound sand. I’m as real American as they come, and those people aren’t the only ones who get to love our country.

[sophsun1]

You've Got Mail (1998) dir. Nora Ephron

[freenarnian]

During my last re-read of The Lord of the Rings it really sunk in for me how often the protagonists encounter not only danger and betrayal, but unexpected help and friends in unlikely places. Tolkien had a sojourner's heart and said yes, we may be small, but be encouraged. Evil always tries to make itself look bigger than it is. Keep faith with ordinary goodness. Never underestimate the power of simply doing what is right and kind, against the convoluted machinations of evil. The gates of Mordor will not prevail against it.

[freenarnian]

During my last re-watch of The Return of the King it struck me how ugly and stupid evil is. Kudos to PJ and Co for not aestheticizing the baddies, even resisting the temptation to make Sauron sexy. The Witch King is scary but without substance, defeated by a depressed girl and her pint-sized bestie. The army of Mordor is huge in number but quakes at the sound of Rohan's arrival. They can't even keep a crown of flowers from forming around the fallen statue of a king, only replace his head with a dumb rock and scraps of rusty, twisted metal. The Dark Lord is powerful and dangerous, yes, but he's not all-powerful and he's not infallible. Even his great burning eye is focused in all the wrong places. He uses smoke and mirrors to impress and corrupt Saruman, and to drive Denethor to despair—Denethor, who could have welcomed home the King. (Instead, he wallows in grief, capitulates to fear, and grows bitter in grumbling over Rohan's presumed betrayal. Note how this parallels Gollum instilling suspicion and doubt in Frodo regarding brave and loyal Sam.) The enemy is a liar and a deceiver, and Aragorn knows this when he silences the Mouth of Sauron and says, “I do not believe it. I will not!”

And I want to emphasize this point, this rebuttal of Sauron's divide and conquer tactics: The Fellowship gets weakened. It suffers losses. It becomes scattered across the larger battlefield. But its members remain true to each other, and to their shared mission, even when they find themselves parting ways to accomplish it. At the end of the first film, Aragorn tells Frodo, “I would have gone with you to the end. To the very fires of Mordor.” And where is Aragorn, at the end of the last film?? The gates of Mordor, with the remaining members of the Fellowship (and some new friends, too), exactly where Frodo needs them to be at that moment. No one expects to survive, no one can guarantee victory, and no one but the audience sees the tiny bud on the Tree of Gondor, hope blooming in response to faithfulness even while the sky remains overcast and the city lies in ruins around it.

To repeat my previous tags: #I've said this before and I'll say it again #the devil WANTS you to feel overwhelmed and already defeated and like the small acts of everyday love and faithfulness aren't enough #but in fact each one is chipping another stone out of the foundation of his dark tower #and from your vantage point you may not see the people chipping stones on the other side (but they are there!) #you don't need an extensive understanding of architecture to bring it down #just the willing hands of a hobbit

I love these books and these films.

[allsonargent]

BAD SISTERS (Season 1)

[castledevil]

The Pitt (2025- )

[coffeefocusrat]

DON DRAPER AFFIRMATIONS:

GET OUT OF HERE

MOVE FORWARD

THIS NEVER HAPPENED

IT WILL SHOCK YOU HOW MUCH IT NEVER HAPPENED

[jelestes]

cut from the same cloth, two peas in a very fucked up pod etc etc

[linusbenjamin]

Sherlock —1.01, A Study in Pink

[chainofclovers]

Put in the tags the completely finished (whether cancelled or wrapped up on its own terms) TV series that has YOUR perfect ending, however you define that

Please don’t include huge spoilers for the specifics of the endings, and it would also make me happy if people don’t use this to talk about the shows whose endings they hated

[andremichaux]

the one where jennifer aniston breaks character

“When you watch the show and see Rachel [cover her mouth] a lot… that’s Jennifer hiding her laugh. Just so everybody knows.” - Matt LeBlanc

FRIENDS (1994 - 2004)

Bonus:

the one where matt leblanc breaks character

[sapph0sfriend]

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that’s why I veep on company time

[princessrhcenyra]

Amy, the gates of hell have opened and you are my plus one.

[romelzacarnes]

LIZZIE VEREKER & FREDDIE JONES - 2x06

[richonne-glaggie]

Ryan & Marissa

The OC 1x24

[dogmetaphors]

THE O.C. | S01E01 "Premiere"