ryanreacts

The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.
"But on the plus side, no Snape today," said Ron bracingly.
Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy about, she simply said, "The hats have gone. Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Ron told her cuttingly. "They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like woolly bladders."
Hermione did not speak to him all morning.

Frankie has been sick the last few days. She powered through it on Thursday, called out Friday and Saturday, and went home early yesterday. Obviously I want nothing more than for her to get better, but I did point out multiple times that, if she was feeling up to it, we really should drive to Bozeman today and knock out some crucial errands.

Last night we spent some time discussing a Walmart pick-up order that I have been thinking about pretty much all week. My goal is to get enough food, cleaning products, face cream, and whatever else we might need that we won't have to go shopping again for two full weeks. She also ordered a few things from Target because Walmart didn't have them in stock. And since it's Monday, we have to go to Elevated and buy a bunch of edibles for fifteen percent off. I ate my last gummies on Wednesday, so I am beyond excited to get more and really enjoy this time off, you know?

Today should also be PAYDAY (at least, for me - Frankie's direct deposits tend to take an extra day), which is even more exciting than usual since it will be the check from the pay period when we worked a little more than eighty-five hours!

We might stop by the library for a second to return a few books.

And, yep, that is pretty much all we really need to do today.

Once we drive to Bozeman and complete all our errands and drive back, I will ingest at least fifty milligrams of magic and then do any or all of the following things:

• READ
• WRITE
• Watch two new episodes of Abbott Elementary, one of which features Cree Summer!
• Watch my favorite episode in all eight seasons of CHARMED (we watched the one before it last night and I told Frankie, "Okay, we are not allowed to watch any more of this show until we go to Elevated, because we need to be stoned out of our minds for the next episode")
• Watch something else
• Make another playlist
• If it's an energetic high, I might listen to music and deep-clean my bathroom
• SLEEP

Frankie and I have not watched Charmed in several weeks, possibly even a whole month? Which IS somewhat sad, what with season four being one of the best . . . but I don't dwell on it, since we have been watching Derry Girls instead. We're almost done with it, and two nights ago she said she was in the mood to watch "either Derry Girls or Charmed." So maybe we will get back to it soon.

Approximately two weeks ago, I decided it was finally time to re-watch the first three seasons of Sex Education so I can watch the final season. As of this writing, I have only two more episodes until The End. The prospect of the show actually ending is so bittersweet that I almost have to talk myself into watching it, but episode six was so excellent that I might watch the last two today.

Sadly, I have not read anything since finishing Circle of Three last month.

Obviously I am still obsessed with the Mean Girls soundtrack and still impatient for the movie to be available on streaming so I can watch it several times.

I will probably start watching the Netflix Avatar series as soon as it's available, but I am still quite skeptical of the whole thing, since Mike & Bryan left the project due to creative differences. How do you have such major creative differences with THE CREATORS that they quit?

This week the car got a flat tire. Frankie took Friday off to deal with it and figured she should probably get all four tires replaced. It cost $420, and I reimbursed her for half. Let's hope that's the last time we have to spend money on the car for a good long while.

These are the first hundred books I would buy today if I had unlimited funds and unlimited shelves.

Obviously I do already own copies of my top four favorites, but I need to replace them all for various reasons, so let's start there.

1. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
2. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
3. Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
4. Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
5. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
6. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
7. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
8. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
9. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett
10. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
11. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
12. Ever After High: A Wonderlandiful World by Shannon Hale
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
14. Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
15. Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson
16. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
17. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
18. anything else by Laurie Halse Anderson
19. The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh
20. Sport by Louise Fitzhugh
21. Nobody's Family Is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh
22. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
23. The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
24. The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna
25. WICKED: The Grimmerie by David Cote and Joan Marcus
26. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
27. literally anything else by Alice Hoffman
28. Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
29. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
30. Shadows by Robin McKinley
31. Chalice by Robin McKinley
32. anything else by Robin McKinley
33. The Lost Slayer by Christopher Golden
34. Please Don't Kill the Freshman by Zoe Trope
35. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
36. Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
37. I'll think of the rest later

For the last month, my sister and I have been stuck in Gardiner, Montana Hell.

In October, we were offered seasonal housekeeping jobs at The Ridgeline Hotel. We were told that we could move in on November 19th and start work the next day, but shortly after arriving we were told that we actually wouldn't start work until December 4th. And when we finally did start work, we were informed that hours would be minimal until at least mid-January, TWO FULL MONTHS after we got there.

The whole point of accepting these jobs was to earn as much money as possible, so what was the fucking point of lying about our start date? What was the point of hiring us at all if there were almost no hours until the season was half over?

Plus, we didn't have access to a kitchen, and the free breakfast we had heard about wasn't available yet because the season hadn't started. So we had to stress over every cent we spent, even if we only spent money on food because we were hungry.

PLUS, the bunk beds in our tiny room were majorly uncomfortable

Also, our start date wasn't the only thing that the Operations Manager lied about. Was she "really" a liar, or "just" seriously disorganized? I don't know, and I don't care. The point is, we were utterly miserable.

BUT THEN, twelve days ago, Frankie found another nearby job on CoolWorks! Dishwashers slash stewards slash Back Of House Associates at Crazy Mountain Ranch!

We both applied on Sunday, December 10th. And then, the very next day, the Executive Chef gave her a call. They talked for nearly an hour, and he called me almost immediately after. I was pretty much convinced that we would not get hired, since staff housing is three miles away from the restaurant and the roads are impossible to walk on in winter . . . but apparently both of our references said good things about us, because he offered us jobs that Tuesday, less than forty-eight hours after we applied!

One week later, on December 19th, we left the Ridgeline (November 19th to December 19th - we are beyond grateful that we only stayed for one month!) and moved in here. And then, wonder of wonders, we really did start work the very next day!

I . . . honestly can't believe it. This place is so much better.

 

• The housing is free (technically we each have to pay a $500 deposit, but those will get taken out of our first three paychecks) and, get this, WE HAVE OUR OWN ROOMS! With our own bathrooms and walk-in closets with built-in shelves! And full beds which are literally one thousand times more comfortable than those goddamn bunk beds, I am not even exaggerating.
• Whenever we work we get free food, and they feed us very well. Tacos, fish & chips, yellow curry, beef stroganoff. Today we got a whole Christmas dinner: braised tri-tip, loaded mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, stuffing, cranberries, and beignets! And there's always leftover food, so we can pack ourselves a to-go box. AND the staff dining room has bread, cereal, apples, chips, string cheese, Gatorade, and I don't even know what else!
• There's a hiring bonus, which we should receive next week.
• Our building has a kitchenette, but we are like a one-minute walk away from a building with a huge full kitchen we can use whenever we want. Which we haven't done so far, what with all the free food.
• We don't have to leave our building to do laundry, we can just walk downstairs.
• I am still somewhat shocked by this, but literally no one has even asked why I don't drive. Three people other than Frankie have driven me to or from work, and none of them have said or done anything to make me feel like a burden.

So, yeah. This place is a massive major upgrade. I am thinking we will probably take our money and return to Washington once the season ends, but it's so nice here that we might possibly decide to stick around. We'll see.

In conclusion: If this is a dream, DO NOT fucking pinch me.

1. Purple Panic Christie, Perfect Pink Teresa, Extreme Green Skipper, and Cool Blue Barbie

2. Babysitter Courtney and Skipper

3. Pizza Party Courtney, Skipper, and maybe the boy

4. Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie, Midge, and Teresa

5. Travel Daisy

6. President Barbie, Gloria, Weird Barbie, and other dolls from the film

7. Brooklyn & Malibu Mermaids

8. MORE DOORABLES: Hercules, A Goofy Movie, more random sets

9. Monster High G3: all playsets, every Clawdeen, Amped Up Frankie (major want), at least one doll of almost every character

10.  Lord Zedd, more Megazords (especially Zord Ascension Project), Finster, Kat & Kat with Cat Kat, and unlimited other Power Rangers action figures

11. FiguArts: Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon, all Outer Senshi and various other Sailor Moon characters, Captain Marvel, Thee Suicide Squad Harley Quinn, others?

12. Batman Forever Transforming Vehicle and Wayne Manor slash Batcave playset

13. Batman Returns: Catwoman, Robin, Penguin and his umbrella plane, three-pack of penguins, car that transforms Bruce into Batman, several Batman figures

14. Batman 1989: Joker and his motorcycle

15. The Marvels: Kamala, Carol; other pieces to complete the BAF

16. Jubilee, Dazzler, Colossus, Pixie, several other X-Men including unlimited Storms (as of this writing I only have two)

17. at least six different Invisible Woman action figures

18. She-Hulk, Nico Minoru, Okoye, Spider-Woman, Jessica Jones, other Marvel characters

19. LEGO HOCUS POCUS, LEGO HOCUS POCUS, LEGO HOCUS POCUS

20. other LEGO sets

21. CHARMED action figures: Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Belthazor, at least one variant of each sister

22. at least one Elphaba doll - and, obviously she will need a Glinda

23. NaNaNa! Surprise! Minis! - Cruella and the other four I need to complete Series 2, at least one of the new unicorn bedroom backpack playsets

24. Ever After High: original four dolls plus two-pack, almost every Briar, Giant Maddie, every Ginger, Faybelle, Getting Fairest, Apple's fainting couch WITH GLASSES, Spring Unsprung, et cetera

25. quite a bit of Little Mermaid stuffs

26. several Disney action figures and dolls from childhood

27. Disney Villains three-pack with The Evil Queen, Cruella, and YZMA

28. more Encanto dolls (I only have Isabela)

29. Comfy Princess dolls: Elsa & Anna two-pack, others

30. Animorphs Transformers: Jake & Cassie & Marco T-Rex, others

31. X-Men Robot Fighters: Jubilee, both Storm variants

32: Generation X: Monet, Chamber; PLEASE MAKE MORE FIGURES

33. so many ATLA slash Legend of Korra figures (I only have Toph)

34. plus, of course I want at least one plush Appa!

35. if I could actually find them, I would really really really like to get any Cloudees I don't have

36. Mission Gear Poison Ivy

37. Frightfully Tall Ghouls: Clawdeen, Frankie, Draculaura, Elissabat

38. Wonder Girl action figure - as far as I know, they have never made one inspired by Cassie's appearance in the Young Justice cartoon, so I will settle for this one

39. Big Bad Beetleborgs action figures from season one and Metallix

40. Fashionistas who look like Sabrina and her aunts?

1. Elphaba Thropp
My mom and I watched The Wizard of Oz together when I was very young, like four or maybe only three years old, and I fell in love with the Wicked Witch of the West. Roughly one decade later, I borrowed a Buffy guide book about monsters from the library and the section on witches mentioned a book about a little green girl who grows up to be her, so of course I read that and loved it. And then a few years after that, my best friend burned me a copy of the soundtrack, which I loved so much that I will never get over it. So I've fallen in love with her at least three different times, in three different kinds of storytelling, and to this day she is my favorite fictional character full stop.

2. Willow Rosenberg
She literally changed my life. I grew up in a very Christian family, so I had always been taught that witches were some of the worst creatures to ever exist, and once I discovered gay people, well, they were even worse. But then I met Willow, and I really started to wonder how either of those things could be true. She lit the spark that led to witchcraft being as important to me as it is.

3. Tara Maclay
A young queer witch whose family has repeatedly told her that she's actually a demon. Told her over and over and over, so that she not only believes it but doesn't even question it anymore even though magic doesn't feel evil.
She's also a big nerd who loves books so much that she's usually somewhat awkward around people.
What I'm saying is that, in many ways, she is significantly relatable to me personally.
Which is why I will never ever ever forgive Joss for killing her. With a gun. By accident.

4. Harriet M. Welsch
When I was eight years old, my sister and I joined our cousins at our grandparents' house for a month in the summer. Among many other reasons, this was fun because they had cable. Nickelodeon promoted the movie all the time because it was the first one they had produced. I don't specifically remember seeing it for the first time, but we all thought it was fun and I personally wanted to be Harriet. I pretended to be her, and she made me want to be a writer. I begged my mom to buy the VHS. I gathered my own spy gear and wore it as often as I could. I brought the movie to school and all of my classmates got composition books, but I started leaving mine at home when our teacher announced that no one was allowed to write anything mean in their notebook, because the thing about having a notebook is that you tell the truth when you write, and sometimes the truth isn't nice
Another thing I don't remember specifically is how old I was when I read the book for the first time, but I was still younger than Harriet, who is eleven. I haven't been eleven for almost twenty-five years (geez), but it is still my favorite book of all time. I sincerely give thanks that Louise Fitzhugh wrote it.
And I still want to be a writer.

5. Korra
She saved the world from ten thousand years of darkness. I don't want to go into all the gory details, but the first time I saw those episodes she also saved my life.
AND THEN, two seasons later, in the last scene of the series, we found out that she's in love with Asami!

6. Sunshine
"You are not consumed by the darkness because you are full of light."
Also, she makes me want to be a baker.

7. Buffy Summers
She may not mean quite as much to me as her BFF, but she is one of the best main characters in the history of television and one of the best heroes in the history of storytelling. These are not my opinions, they are empirical facts.

8. Trini Kwan
From the way my cousins talked about the Power Rangers, I thought they would be familiar cartoon superheroes with capes and stuff. When I finally got to watch the show with them, my mind was fucking blown. Again, I do not specifically remember details of that first viewing, but Trini was my favorite right away and she always will be.

9. All Six Animorphs
When I first discovered these books, circa sixth or seventh grade, my favorite characters were Tobias (who narrated the first book I read; plus, my little closeted nerd self had a massive crush on him) and Cassie. When I read the whole series again in my junior year of high school, I realized my favorites were now Rachel and Marco. And of course I love Ax and Jake too. If I had to pick one favorite today it would be Rachel, but I really do love all six of them more than words can say.
I loved these books so dang much that I occasionally tried to acquire animals and turn into them EVEN THOUGH I had never touched a blue box; and wondered if people in my real life might be Controllers; and continued to read them obsessively even when they gave me nightmares.

10. Storm
Of course she is a very popular character, but I don't understand how she isn't even more popular. She's just so fucking cool.

1. Soap
Last week I bought two bars of a Dove scent I've never tried before, green tea & cucumber. It smells nice and feels great.

2. Sparkling Ice
Two perfect-for-summer flavors I'm really enjoying lately are orange mango and coconut pineapple. (I don't like coconut very much but do like pineapple a lot, so the fact that I like this flavor may or may not be some kind of big deal.)

3. Toys I Already Have
In the last few days I have opened fifteen Doorables from the 24-pack I purchased a while ago. So far, my faves include the Cheshire Cat, Dr Facilier, and a Marshmallow who is different from the one in the Olaf Presents set. I mean, they are the exact same figure with different paints, but still.

4. What We Do in the Shadows
I finally watched season five. This show continues to blow my mind with how funny it is.

5. ???

1. Sailor Moon
As of this very moment, I can say that if I suddenly became rich the first big toy purchase I'd make would be at least one FiguArts version of every character other than Jupiter, who I already have because she's my favorite. I think I want them in this order: Venus, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Pluto, ChibiMoon. I would also get the Zoisite Fake Sailor Moon figure, of course.

2. Charmed
Speaking of expensive action figures I would buy right away if I suddenly had a lot of disposable income! Words cannot express how much I fucking love the fact that Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Belthazor all come with interlocking playsets!
Actually, this line has at least a few variant figures. For example, Phoebe has one in red who I would absolutely purchase instead of the "normal" Phoebe, who wears the exact same outfit in less memorable colors. Paige has at least three variants - pink shirt with white skirt, pink shirt with black shirt, green shirt with pink skirt - and I love Paige so much that I might get all three. Piper is available in either a white shirt or a red shirt, and I suppose I  would go with the white, since Phoebe wears so much red. Heck, I could get two in the white shirt and send one off to some artist I find online to re-paint her shirt any color I want.

3. Toys I Already Have
Since yesterday, I have opened Q Posket Terra, Punk Storm, and four sets of Doorables. Today or tomorrow, I may open another action figure or three, as well as more Doorables . . .

4. Sparkling Ice
I fucking swear to fuck, the sensation of drinking one of these after it has been in the freezer for a bit feels much better than almost anything else I can think of.

5. Vodka
It's been at least a few months since the last time I had any, but yesterday I was discussing it with my sister because of its appearance in a Yellowjackets scene, and I keep thinking about how pleasant it could be, with some orange juice or pineapple juice or both.

6. Schitt's Creek
I could take a break from Yellowjackets and watch a few episodes of this instead.

7. Chicken
Specifically, the spicy chicken from Teriyaki Madness in Seattle. If I could have some sort of job that allowed me to work from home and afford an apartment within walking distance of this place, I would move back tomorrow. Even though they stopped serving their delicious cucumber salad circa 2019 and replaced it with a considerably less appetizing bit of greens with carrot shavings and ranch dressing. I know that sounds bitter, but the cucumber salad was so damn tasty. Like, if they still made it, in addition to getting it as a side with my spicy chicken, I would gladly pay for a much bigger portion of just cucumber salad on its own. And I would never leave it in my fridge long enough to worry about it turning into pickles. Heh.

8. Biscuit Bitch
Speaking of places I would eat at again if I was lucky enough to live in Seattle. Although I would unfortunately eat here less often, since in this fantasy my apartment must be less than ten blocks away from Teriyaki Madness, meaning I would have to either take a bus or walk approximately an hour to get to Biscuit Bitch. Which would be worth it, I'm just saying I would probably do it less often. Although, actually, maybe I would hack my brain to run there and back, and then get stoned and eat my unhealthy food because running.

9. Movies
Another fun "speaking of Seattle" thing is that downtown has a Regal and an AMC within a few blocks of each other.
Obviously I haven't gone to theaters nearly as often since Covid Times, BUT these are some movies I might watch at home sometime soonish:
Midsommar
Hereditary
Knives Out
Glass Onion
Moana

And Moana is the only one of those I've seen before! Although, you know, if I'm gonna let myself watch that, I might as well also watch The Emperor's New Groove.



10. Witchcraft
One thing I can't help but notice about Yellowjackets is that Misty's Trapper Keeper of shrooms & other herbs, that she hides in a tree, is one of the witchiest things I have ever observed on a progrum which is not explicitly about witches.
To clarify, I am not saying that Misty is a witch. Just this one specific thing she does is witchy.

Also, I might be feeling an itch to read the Circle of Three books again. Which, when you think about it, is a witchy itch.



11. Key Lime Pie
I currently have one in my freezer, which makes me happy even though life sucks.

12. Nachos
Oh yes, I have plans to celebrate the weekend by combining one jar of salsa con queso and one jar of medium salsa!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Obviously, Willow is my favorite character on this show. And one of my favorite fictional characters ever full stop. And one of the best examples of my tendency to like the best friend more than the main character. And her relationship with Tara (fun fact: my first episode was "Who Are You?," in which they keep their clothes on but still have sex onscreen) helped me realize that I was gay and that might just be okay, even though I grew up in an abusive environment where coming out would have been majorly unsafe.
However.
If I wrote a list of My Favorite Fictional Characters Who Are Absolutely Not Witches, Buffy Anne Summers would definitely be top three, if not number one. I love her more than words can say. Her character development is sublime. When we meet her she is fully denying her Slayerness, but almost immediately after moving to The Hellmouth she starts saving people from vampires again and, albeit somewhat reluctantly, accepts her destiny. Until she finds out about a prophecy that says she will fight The Master and she will die. She's sixteen years old, she doesn't wanna die. But she fights him anyway, and she dies, but thanks to Xander's breath she doesn't stay dead for more than a minute, and then she kills The Master anyway!
And that's just season one. She has so damn many more moments. Smashing The Master's bones in the season two premiere so his pesky followers can't bring him back.
Her seventeenth birthday: having sex for the very first time with her boyfriend who she has been in love with for approximately ten months, and then he loses his soul and turns evil again; killing The Judge with a rocket launcher because no weapon forged could defeat him, but "that was then"; her mom lights a candle in a cupcake and asks if she wants to make a wish, but she says she'll just let it burn and she does and then the episode ends.
"So that's everything, huh? No friends, no weapons, no hope. Take all that away, and what's left?" "Me."
Killing her boyfriend, even though Willow did restore his soul at the last minute, to save the world from being sucked into Hell and then leaving town on a bus.
Coming back and flirting with Faith.
Barely surviving the barbaric test the Watchers' Council put her through on her eighteenth birthday.
Telling the Council she wasn't going to work with them anymore, then blowing up her high school at Graduation to destroy the Mayor, who had successfully "ascended" into a demon.
Joining her essence with Willow, Xander, and Giles to defeat Adam.
Fighting Dracula and asking Giles to start training her again.
"I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions."
Sacrificing herself to save Dawn - and also, the universe.
Coming back from the dead and feeling like existence is misery.
Realizing that she can defeat The First Evil by activating every potential Slayer on the planet.
So yeah, I love her more than words can say, but those are some.

Gilmore Girls
You know why I never get tired of watching this show over and over and over and over and over again? Because it did and still does have some of the funniest, cleverest, fastest dialogue of all time.

And then the third show of my top three is Avatar: The Last Airbender slash The Legend of Korra
Technically two separate shows, which technically shatters the whole "top three" premise, but I say it gets a pass because Korra is literally Aang's next life.
Anyway, this is one of my favorite fictional worlds ever, with one of my favorite magic systems in all of the fantasy fiction I've ever read or watched or imagined.
Aang and his friends ended the Hundred-Year War, then between their two shows he grew up and got married and had kids and grew old and died, then Korra was born and proved to be the Avatar much sooner than usual, and one of the many things she did was SAVE THE WORLD FROM TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS (which, the first time I saw it, saved my life).
I don't know, it's just a really really really beautiful story that I will never be able to recommend enough.

YELLOWJACKETS
Let's see, it's currently the penultimate day of August, so that's only five or six months since I discovered this show, but it is seriously one of the greatest things I have ever seen. I cannot say enough good things about the writing or the acting or any other aspect of the production, from wardrobe to hair & makeup to, um, whatever department provides the disturbingly realistic-looking chunks of human flesh that get sliced and roasted and eaten in uncomfortable close-up detail.
I'm angry that the studios have dragged the strikes out this long for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is that the season three writers only had one day of work before their strike started, and now the show might never be allowed to finish, which is maddening because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO AKILAH, OKAY???

I might add to this later, but that's enough for now.