The Tortured Trudie Department

This is my little corner for sharing my nerdy writing, reblogging art, & connecting. You can find my hobby writing on my free Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/trudiegraham For business, please see my Carrd: https://trudie-graham.carrd.co/

[dagna]

i'm a part of you. i want it to be like that forever.

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

We're starting DS9 over on YouTube!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Im back!! It's not queerbaiting, it's saving the world.

[girl4music]

I watched Xena: Warrior Princess for the first time in 2025, and loved it

Does Xena: Warrior Princess hold up today? Hell yeah it does!

“Things that matter — characters, ideas, boldness — are done right, which makes laughing at hammy action or over-the-top flourishes something you do with the show, not at it.” Likewise - they laugh with us, not at us.

Wonderful write-up of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’

@thetorturedtrudiedepartment aka Girl Meets TV.

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

the foreshadowing goes crazy

Eps 8 and 9 full commentary: https://www.patreon.com/posts/xena-warrior-09-151257180

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf_prZ69iQ0

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Normally I live for the drama but this one hurt. Full vid on Patreon, YouTube upload will go live Friday, 9pm GMT. If you care

Xena: Warrior Princess 1x06 & 7 Full Reaction (Early Access) | Girl Meets TV

Get more from Girl Meets TV on Patreon

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Girls, PLEASE

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

#Repost from X @ GirlMeetsTV_

Wisdom before weapons. Episode 3 Rewatch with Me is live 🗡️🫶🏻

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Togetherness at a cost: Pluribus’ anti-hero and digital anxiety

A deep dive into Pluribus and how it captures the feeling of our post-pandemic world.

"Carol’s rage, the loss of Helen (Miriam Shor), and her frank communication style are what make her character so refreshing. In a new world of validation-seeking, ignorance-is-bliss mentalities, others paint her as hysterical."

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

How Orange Is the New Black helped change TV forever

An essay on the disruption to the TV industry Netflix brought with Orange is the New Black.

"House of Cards laid the foundation for the service’s dominance, but the prison drama Orange Is the New Black secured it. Bursting onto the platform in July 2013 with tenacious, dynamic storytelling, and an ensemble cast that captivated audiences, this was Netflix’s first mainstream hit."

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Agatha All Along has revived something in me

Agatha All Along is the best Marvel series since WandaVision started this witchy journey down the road.

"We’re back… it’s true. I’m treating a Marvel series like appointment television. The last time this happened was when WandaVision was airing, and we seemed on the cusp of a more creative MCU that had to reinvent itself to stay relevant post-Endgame. We know how that turned out.

I never thought I would lose touch with the MCU, but the ball officially started rolling during Loki Season 2. I decided a YouTube recap video would be sufficient, and for the first time, I skipped an MCU project. Not because it was terrible, but because I had limited time and MCU shows failed to compete with other serialised storytelling.

I was never going to miss Agatha All Along, partly because it was born from WandaVision and partly because gay people cannot resist Kathryn Hahn. But that doesn’t mean I expected greatness. It was in ‘will they, won’t they’ development for years, the marketing was uninspired, and it was to be released right when people openly admitted they’d given up on the Marvel machine. All odds were against it. But you cannot keep a bad witch down."

Full post on my Substack!

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Death Stranding: Meditative gaming has never felt so good

Death Stranding hinges on community.

"I was well aware of Death Stranding in the lead-up to its initial release, purely based on Hideo Komija’s reputation. I was excited to try it and understand why people called him a genius.

Then the first write-ups trickled out. Games journalists tried to explain what exactly it was, some of them falling back to walking simulator descriptions, while others attempted to grasp what Kojima was attempting to achieve without the context of a full playthrough.

You can’t blame them or the readers who expressed disappointment for the muted reaction, because a slice of Death Stranding is not filling. “You just deliver parcels?" And the game makes that bland task as finicky as possible?” Well, yes and no."

A very short new bit on my Substack about how I adore Death Stranding's weird, lulling, vibes <3

[pocketgalaxies]

where's that post about how you can tell how badly a cr fight is going by how much it looks like a renaissance painting

[patetemult]

This is the face of a sapphic that has been Going Through It for 40 odd eps, and I feel it so much

[instarwars]

[thetorturedtrudiedepartment]

Person of Interest soundtrack: The best needle drops from the series

Person of Interest scenes that hand the reigns over to music were few and far between, but they packed a punch. From lyricless tracks with g

‘The Day the World Went Away’ left a bitter, hollow, feeling in its wake. Harold vengefully spirals, while John and Shaw receive the call from Fusco. The song plays as John stands in the night rain, listening to the news through the quiet phone speaker. Two people dedicated to protecting others, frozen in time realizing there was nothing they could do.

Though the team lost Carter in Season 3, this defeat felt sickly, cruel, and full of repercussions. Root’s death marked the first fallen domino in the end-game against Samaritan. The song’s grimy, muffled build to an eventually pacier piano and guitar backing voiced the sorrow. It did feel as if the world had collapsed and become a colder place — although, those feelings are locked behind static and frosted glass because it’s the Mayhem Twins.

Another day, another POI post on my Substack! As per usual, it's free to everyone at first. However, if you enjoy these, please consider becoming a paid subscriber so I can do more of 'em.