Yana Aleks
Bio
Fiction writer, reviewer and an incurable chatterbox.
Stories (25/0)
50 Shades Darker: A Hilarious Watch-A-Long
Note: This is actually very old! Quite a while ago when I first watched this movie I found it so ridiculous that I narrated my reactions to my friends in real time. I rediscovered it recently and though it was still funny so here it is for posterity, hope it entertains somebody else as well. ;)
By Yana Aleksabout a year ago in Geeks
Netflix’s Lockwood and Co is Pretty Cool!
Yes, I’m a grown woman who watches YA fantasy shows, this surprises nobody at this point. But my standards have indeed changed with age and it’s (regrettably) more difficult for a show to keep my attention and keep me entertained. Otherwise I’d have so many more series to fill my time with. Alas, I bore more easily than I did at fifteen. Which is why I was actually pretty surprised to finish the first season of “Lockwood and Co” in two days, and it only took me this long because I had actual work to do.
By Yana Aleksabout a year ago in Geeks
The Last of Us Episode 1 - What Works and What Doesn't
Author’s Notes: 1. Small note on pronouns - as of the last interviews I’ve seen, Bella Ramsey has said that she ticks the non-binary option on forms but is perfectly fine with she/her pronouns so that’s what I’m using here, especially as her heroine is female.
By Yana Aleksabout a year ago in Geeks
The Day the Dragons Came
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. They came on the heels of a dead man. They came with the chaos that followed his demise. They sensed a change in the fabric of the universe and, like many animals when there is a major disruption to their world, they panicked. They fled their lairs with bellies filled with scorching fear, just waiting to pour out of their snouts. They flew down, down, down from the tall mountains that were their home. Far down where they were not at all supposed to be. All the way to the Valley with its little towns and one big sprawling city. The city of Grasben stretched beneath them, still peacefully snoozing in the honey-yellow light of the early morning. It didn’t know to expect them, it wasn’t prepared and so it would soon wake up in flames.
By Yana Aleks2 years ago in Horror
The Emotional Punches of "Encanto" - Why Are We All Bawling Our Eyes Out?
Am I really late to the party with this film? Absolutely. Will that stop me from writing about it? Nope! Beware of some major spoilers. I think it’s the sort of movie that you will want to watch even if you know everything about it, but still, if you do care about spoilers and haven’t seen it yet, maybe go and watch it first.
By Yana Aleks2 years ago in Geeks
5 Reasons You Should Watch “All of Us Are Dead” on Netflix
Let’s be fair - Korean television has had a pretty decent audience in the West for a long time. But now Korean shows have started kicking ass and taking names! After the global success of “Squid Game”, the competition has real reason to start quaking in its boots. And it seems that “Squid Game” wasn’t a fluke - if “All of Us Are Dead” is any indication, hit Korean series might become the norm.
By Yana Aleks2 years ago in Geeks
Emily in Paris Season 2 and the Fantasy of Being Anxiety-Free
Beware of spoilers. You can read my opinions on season 1 here: When the first season of Netflix’s dramedy series “Emily in Paris” got slammed and ridiculed by critics and audiences alike, the show took it the same way its heroine takes anything - with a shrug, a smile, and the deep conviction that any gaffe could be turned into profitable social media exposure. As it turns out, the show (along with Emily) was probably right. No amount of bad press could prevent the second season from happening and… well, people are watching it. They may be dubbing it a ‘guilty pleasure’ and scoffing at the vapidness of its heroine, but they are watching. And, as the series teaches us, that’s pretty much the only thing that matters.
By Yana Aleks2 years ago in Geeks
Gods of Time
Author's Note: The cover photo and the (somewhat silly) video at the end are all me, bad singing included. Sorry about that, I suppose I got very invested in this story. It was intentionally written with the gender of the second person protagonist left ambiguous so you can put yourself in their shoes regardless of your gender. However, if you can figure out what classic work of literature this is very vaguely inspired by you might guess what I had in mind while I wrote it. I will let you know the answer at the end.
By Yana Aleks2 years ago in Fiction