Defult User

Just a bunch of desperate unclaimed kids trying to figure out their heritage by seeing who they’re attracted to and hoping the gods will stop them from crushing on their siblings

If you need to start with a chain stitch, but your chain stitch is too tight to comfortably get your hook through, you can make your chain stitch with a larger hook than the rest of the work until you learn to control your tension better

I've heard that color-changing (variegated) yarn can make it easier to learn to crochet, since the contrasting colors can help you see how you're making your stitches better (it's been too long since I learned for me to say one way or another 😅)

If you're working with other people's patterns, it's a good idea to check the country of origin; the US and UK use the same names for different stitches, and it can cause some significant confusion if you don't know which to use

If you're crocheting in rows, you need to chain a couple of extra at the end of your row before you turn it around; this will help keep your work from turning into a triangle on accident; the general recommendation I've seen is two chain stitches for US single crochet/UK double crochet, and three chain stitches for US double crochet/UK treble crochet

Speaking of turning chain, depending on your pattern, the turning chain may be used as the "first stitch" in the row it starts; so you skip over the first stitch you would normally crochet into, and when you get to the end of the previous row, you crochet into that row's turning chain stitches; this will make the sides more smooth/even (I hope I'm explaining that right; it's not something I grew up doing, and now I crochet almost entirely in the round 😅)

Stitch markers are amazing! You can buy plastic or metal stitch markers at your average craft store, but you can also just use a scrap of contrasting color yarn to mark your place if you need to; there are also crafters who make and sell fancy stitch markers—just make sure you're getting crochet stitch markers and not knitting stitch markers, though! Crochet stitch markers go into the work and are removable, while knitting stitch markers go on the needles

If you can work with metal crochet hooks, I recommend it; I've broken at least two plastic crochet hooks while working before, the more memorable one having the hook part snap off because of friction from repeated use 😂

Don't be afraid to alter someone else's pattern to suit your needs! Want to change color in a place the pattern doesn't say to? Go for it! You're the boss of your own project

I just really don’t like how much focus they put on j*ke. Coz this is supposed to be a found family show, but it consistently pushes Alex and especially Reggie to the side to focus on the relationship between Julie and Luke. A relationship that barely has any development or depth to begin with.

The only things we see them bonding over are music and their mums, and even their issues with their mums are no way similar to each other. Julie lost her mum and she can’t see her again. Her mum isn’t a ghost, she might not see her again until she dies herself. But Luke lost both of his parents, and he can still interact with them in some way. He can still spend time with them, and if he revealed the existence of ghosts to them, he could have some sort of relationship with them. His grief of losing his parents isn’t any more similar to Julie’s than Reggie and Alex’s. Hell, I’d say Reggie’s story is closer than Julie’s is. But Luke gets the parent arc instead, despite the fact that there’s almost zero setup for him missing his parents

And the scenes we get of them bonding over music are,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I mean they have good chemistry, but they don’t get deep about anything. They just think the other’s pretty. We barely actually know anything about Luke’s love of music without looking at the extra-canon material in the books. In the show he just,,,,,,,,,, enjoys music and has some band shirts. That’s as deep as it ever goes for him in the show

They put so much prioritisation on making their romance seem Deep and Important that they actively push Reggie and Alex aside. They make all the band scenes about Julie and Luke, not the band. I mean they were all brought back by Rose to help Julie back into music, but Julie asks Luke and only Luke to thank her for that. She specifically asks him to step away from the guys to ask him about it, and the guys are very clearly within earshot the whole time

And the final garage scene is the absolute worst for this. She hugs Luke and says she loves the guys while Alex and Reggie watch them a few feet away, just kinda Being There because they have to be. They’re barely second thoughts in the scene, despite the fact that it’s supposed to be the big showstopping found family moment

The show’s called Julie and the Phantoms, but it’s more like Julie, Luke, and the Others. Alex and Reggie are consistently ignored to set up the romance between Julie and Luke, but they never actually put much work into characterising Luke. Luke in the show has probably the least substance out of all of the characters. He’s mostly riding on good looks, a crush, and a guitar. He feels so flat when you actually think about what we get told about him, and if Charlie wasn’t such a naturally charismatic actor he’d probably just be. kinda shit. He wasn’t written well at all in my opinion

JatP isn’t a show that puts found family before the romance, and I hate that people keep saying that about it. They consistently put romance first and they didn’t even develop the main romance much to show us what they like about each other beyond Pretty And Good At Music

I think they could have been so much better if they’d balanced out the other characters and actually given Luke some depth and consistency. Plus it’s just so obvious that Luke’s way older than Julie and it makes me so uncomfortable. Yes he’s meant to be 17 and she’s 15 (which is gross enough for me as a Brit) but Charlie was literally 21 when they filmed and you can Tell.