#LAST EP WAS A HARD ONE TO SIT THRU BUT THIS WAS BETTER THAN I WAS EXPECTING

[lailanihan]

TRIGUN STAMPEDE IM SORRY I EVER DOUBTED U

[stylohotmilo]

Best Albums of the Decade

One thing I've been doing with fervour in the last few weeks of 2019 was ploughing through 'Best of' lists. Best films, best books, songs... albums. It was a result of moments of FOMO that I was experiencing, and also anticipation on whether I've been in the loop on the good stuff that the world has been offering. I ended up with long lists of things to listen to, read and watch - and I'm not complaining. I love having something to dive into, things to explore, and new favourites. What got me most excited were new and old musicians I've discovered in these lists. And that's when I realised that for the whole of this decade, I've committed to finding music I'll love. I've a strange preference when it comes to music, and to be honest it's hard to find friends who'd appreciate the music I love. Enjoying music has seen been a lone affair - be it hunting for new music, listening to albums or attending concerts. My early days of hunting for music was through Bandcamp, where I would download any free digital album I could find within the genres of indie and alternative. Then a few years later Spotify came along, and my life changed completely. I decided that paying $7 a month for good music is worth it, and honestly it's one of the best decisions I've made in life. Every Monday, I start the week with the 'Discover Weekly' playlist that recommends new tracks based on music I've been listening to. And since the March of 2018, I've started to create bi-monthly playlists to curate tracks that I love in those weeks. I got so excited when Spotify introduced Wrapped in 2017, where it recapped tracks you've replayed for the year. I still love the songs in my 2017 playlist and they bring back so many memories. Perhaps it has to do with the way I live with music - music has always been with me at every episode, good and bad. Because I enjoy music alone, I put on my earpiece during commutes, walks, work, in the toilet, travels, after quarrels, before meetings. The songs I've been listening to somehow has a connecting image of an event that happened in life. Yesterday when I was browsing through my playlists, I realised that I want to do up this post to thank the music that has defined my life from age 16-26. It's in this decade that I figured out music I truly love, and learnt how to lean on music for comfort. So here goes, my 10 best albums from this decade.

The King of Limbs Radiohead, 2011 I'm lucky to chance upon Radiohead in my mid-teens. I don't know how it happened but it did, and Radiohead went on to define what quality means. I guess that's how mainstream music fell off my radar very quickly from then onwards. It took me a while to fall in love with this album, but the musicality and skills of the band shone through with this album. The layers and textures they offer with their songs are always so spell-binding, and it led me to appreciate genres like alternative, experimental, eletronica etc. Favourite tracks: Bloom, Lotus Flower, Give Up The Ghost

Coexist The XX, 2012 The XX's distinct sound really proves that composing music is a work of balance. Their sound is clean and minimal, yet textured and dense. It has just about the right amount of everything. Coupled with Romy Madley Croft's etheral voice and Oliver Sim's deep and husky vocals, The XX is pure magic. I recall being completely swept away when I first discovered their works. Favourite tracks: Chain, Tides, Unfold

Woman Rhye, 2013 I found it unbelievable that the vocals behind this album are from a man when I first listened to this album. It has a similar etheral quality to The XX's sound, but with the vocals and lyrics, I remember feeling a lot of sadness when listening to it. Woman made me feel really lonely and lost, and I used to play The Fall just to have a cry in my room. Favourite tracks: Open, The Fall, One Of Those Summer Days

Midnight Snack HOMESHAKE, 2015 HOMESHAKE is one of my best finds through Spotify. I think I started listening to Mac DeMarco's Salad Days and this was later introduced as a recommendation. This album, along with In The Shower have significantly shaped the rest of the music I've discovered through the app. I'm now listening to a lot of lo-fi, blues, dream pop and psychedelia. And it's the start of what my friends call 'music you listen to when you are high' haha. I don't know what that exactly feels like, but from HOMESHAKE's music, you'll seem to be able to catch a whiff of it. Also, a special mention to my top 3 tracks of all-time - Midnight Snack that's featured in this album. I just want to close my eyes to this song and gently sway along with it. Oh, please. Feelin' like I'm falling asleep. Not ready to visit my dreams. Nothing in the world let me feel. Alone, while she's here next to me. Favourite tracks: I Don't Wanna, Midnight Snack, Real Love

Skiptracing Mild High Club, 2016 Mild High Club brings a little jazz to lo-fi psychedelia, and I also love the vintage 80s vibe he layers the tracks with. I felt Brettin managed to create a unique sound that I really haven't found anywhere else. Mild High Club's debut album Timeline is a favourite as well. Favourite tracks: Skiptracing, Cary Me Back, Chapel Perilous, Kokopelli

Ego Death The Internet, 2015 The Internet are the ones who introduced me to hip hop, soul and funk music. I listened to this album heavily when a friend got us free tickets to Laneway where The Internet would be performing. It's an album that makes you want to stand up and groove along to the beats. Syd's laid-back but delicate vocals also makes The Internet's sound even more appealing. Favourite tracks: Get Away, Under Control, Go With It, Just Sayin/I Tried

Currents Tame Impala, 2015 Another band with a really distinct yet familiar sound. It feels more futuristic, almost foreign, and the narratives to the songs are also pretty fresh - on sexism, courage to tackle the unknown, embracing change.. It's an album that's high in contrast, colourful and very self-aware. It feels like it could be the soundtrack for Star Trek haha, the visuals just go so well with how I've experienced this album. Favourite tracks: The Less I Know The Better, Yes I'm Changing, The Moment

Cold Shower Triathalon, 2015 Triathalon is officially my artist of the decade based on Spotify's statistics. And it's true, I love all their albums and I've faithfully followed this very indie band for quite a while. I gave them a shout-out on Instagram to celebrate the status as artist of the decade and they so kindly replied me with "Yooo *prayer hands emoticon* *heart emoticon*" haha! Cold Shower is more of an EP, and I love all 4 tracks. It's so smooth, so groovy, so easy. Slow jams that stole my whole heart. Favourite tracks: South Side, I Want It, Come Thru, Smooth Move (hahaha yes, it's everything)

Drowsy Bane's World, 2016 "Dreamy psychedelic bedroom pop" is how fans defined Blanchard's sound. I didn't listen to this album in a seating - I was recommended various tracks one after the other and I only recently realised they are all from the same album. Some tracks are fun and cute (Still Lovely, You Bet I Stare), while others feel really eerie or melancholic (Dream Boat, Drowsy). It also took me a while to fall in love, but now I'm hooked. I've to say I do agree that his music is really strange - but it all just feels together and in the end they sit well. Favourite tracks: Dream Boat, Valentine's Curse, Stay Away From My Baby

Déjàvu Matty, 2018 I remember feeling really excited when I discovered Matty. It's the typical high-and-slightly-off pitch voice I found familiar with HOMESHAKE and Tame Impala, but he offers it with really beautiful compositions from instruments other than lo-fi keyboards and synthesizers. For some tracks I felt I was watching a movie unfolding while listening to them. A great find that wraps up my decade! Favourite tracks: I'll Gladly Place Myself Below You, Clear, Butter

[tainbocuailnge]

My friend mentioned the UFOtable Tales animes also getting the Weird Rewrite treatment when they adapted it, which has me curious about their approach to long narrative games and anime adaptations in general. Reading Realta Nua on its own had me wondering about Nasu's sense of pacing at times but then a lot of the adaptations just went and bum-rushed it. How well *can* exposition translate to a visual medium anyway? What would you do in their position?

i don’t know shit about tales animes bc I’m avoiding as many spoilers as possible while I work thru the games at my own pace so I can’t and won’t talk about those specifically

anyway the hardest part about exposition is always trying to find that balance between showing and telling. not everything needs to be said and its important to respect your audience’s intelligence but at the same time you can’t leave things too vague. one of nasu’s signature moves is explaining his metaphors with other metaphors and that’s something that’s never going to translate to the screen well but considering the nature of the source material i think in the case of fate it’s fine to be a bit wordy in your anime. fate is a story about character relationships first and fantasy battles to the death second so in production too the emphasis should be on the former. the biggest problem with ufotable’s fate adaptions has always been ufo shying away from internal monologues and thus failing to deliver vital information (altho they’ve done a lot better at it with heaven’s feel so far) because they focussed on the fantasy battles instead.

that obviously runs the risk of boring your audience with all talk and no action but it IS possible to keep that interesting. imo shaft is one of the best studios out there when it comes to presenting long mono/dialogues in a visually interesting way so I think it’s good to look at how they work when it comes to adapting stuff with a lot of long wordy exposition like nasuverse. a lot of shaft stuff is just two people sitting and talking but they still have really recognisable and interesting visuals and if you compare like, monologues in ubw or fate/zero to monologues in madoka or last encore the difference is super obvious (remember risei and tokiomi just walking circles around kirei in the first ep of zero? good times)

pacing is a whole beast on its own too, but imo in the case of fate the biggest difficulty is again because of the emphasis on personal relations over big fantasy battles. you can’t rush relationships the way you can battles so if you hurry past the countless small bonding moments scattered across the many words of the vn the story as a whole is going to feel stilted bc the core isn’t there. that’s why deen’s fate anime absolutely blows, it didn’t have time or budget for anything so none of these characters are like, friends. bc of that i would personally prefer to shave off a few seconds of a fight scene to show some small mundane character interactions than the other way around

i’m no director nor did I properly study anything like this so I’m not about to pretend I have all the answers but I know enough to know that shit’s hard and there’s bound to be a million factors that I don’t even know about that make it even harder. im gonna point out dumb decisions like ubw dedicating an entire episode to a character that barely even existed in the vn but i dont like endlessly ragging on adaptions for not being the exact same as the source either bc shit’s just hard man. art is fucking hard

[iknownothingihearnothing]

Game of Thrones 8.4 “The Last of the Starks”

I. Am. MAD.

This...this week’s offering right here is an example of an episode I loved and loathed in equal measure. There were lovely moments of--

And then...then there were even more ones of--

Y’all know what I’m talking about. From Brienne’s heartbroken face to that motherfucking Northern stubbornness, to Missandei’s capture and death, to Jon still not knowing enough (he’s so naive), to Euron shooting poor Rhaegal out of the sky, to JON BEING A HORRIBLE WOLF-DADDY!

He just ABANDONED Ghost! Without even a pat goodbye! Even if he had to leave him, he could’ve at least spared a frigging goodbye. Yeah yeah budget blah blah. You couldn’t get an actual big, white, fluffy dog for the few seconds needed for Jon Snow to bid his wolfy buddy who RISKED HIS LIFE for him a proper farewell?! 

I pet my dog and call him a good boy when he gets the ball and goes poop outside. You couldn’t spare more than a “laters, brah” nod to your poor puppy?!

LOOK HOW SAD HE IS!

I want to hug him and kiss him and snuggle him and tell him he’s the goodest boi in the North. Pawning him off to Tormund to live Beyond the Not Wall where he knows no one, what’s the matter with you, Jogon of House Snowaryen?! 

Dany may be leaning a biiiiiit too far into her House Targaryen roots but at least she is a dedicated pet owner. We know she loves her...scale...babies? They have spines, right? Spine babies? Fire babies. 

Ugh, let’s get into this week’s slice of sadness. 

The episode opens with a massive funeral for those that died in the Battle of Winterfell. Including Jorah, Lyanna, Theon, Mr. Edd, and Beric, who is now definitely out of lives.

Dany, crying, leans over Jorah’s prone body, kisses his forehead, and whispers something we’ll never know into his ear.

At least, we’ll never know unless either Emilia or Iain decide to spill the deets. Iain Glen said in a post-ep interview with Entertainment Weekly that it was “something definitely profound”. But who knows, he could be bullshitting us and she actually said “I like muffins” or something and he had to lay there pretending to be dead.

On second thought, she’s English. So perhaps she prefers crumpets. 

Sansa is sniffling over Theon’s body and places a House Stark pin in his shirt. Jon is looking out at this sea of corpses like--

There is no more Ol’ Nighty to bring them back.

Or so we’re led to believe. 

The camera pans across the mourners and we catch a glimpse of our favorite furry friend.

He’s such a good, loyal doggo. Wolfo? Direwolfo. 

Oh Jon I am so MAD AT YOU!

Saving my rage for a bit further down. Barely.

Jon gives a farewell speech about all their dead--they defended the realms of men, no one will ever see their like again, etc. etc.--and then some of the mourners who knew the dead best are given flaming branches in order to set the bodies alight. In the North, they burn their dead. I guess cus the ground is forever frozen and one day someone from House Whyrevr said fuck it and lit his dead grandma on fire. 

Afterwards, they have a joint funeral/”glad we’re alive” party because of course they do. Kinda reminiscent of our shiva except people are sitting on chairs. At the head table, Jon is looking awkwardly at Dany--apparently, that whole “we’re technically related and oh you have a better claim to the throne than me” stuff has lingered beyond fighting for their lives. Damn. Not even surviving Team Undead’s invasion could get them out of that business. 

Elsewhere, Gendry asks the Hound if he’s seen Arya. Does Robert’s bastard have a wee more on his mind than all the death? Like, say, his wee-wee?

Some things never change, no matter what century it is.

Gendry tries to stutter that it’s not about that but the Hound knows it is. Gendry’s alive and the dead are not. Might as well take ASS-vantage of it.

Eh? Eh?

Srsly, this is like the worst party in the history of Westeros. Uh, aside from the Red Wedding (but not the Purple one, #ByeJoflecia). They just buried burnt a heap of their dead, two of their hosts are keeping a huge secret from everyone (and being super weird around each other because of it), and Dany’s endlessly fighting against that frigging Northern hardheadedness. It’s not GREAT, Bob.

Speaking of that famous Northern jackassery, Dany sees an opportunity to crack that stubborn ice as Gendry crosses the party hall. Calling him over, she at first inquires about his parentage, asks him if he knows that Robert Baratheon kinda had her whole family killed and wanted to slaughter her as an infant. Gendry’s like “Whoa, did not know that he was my daddy until after he was dead” and Dany’s all “Yep he dead and so are Renly and Stannis so who’s Lord of Storm’s End?” and no one knows.

This is Dany’s chance to make good.

Not only did Gendry survive the battle, he got laid and made a lord!

You go, Glenn Coco, Gendry Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End!

Ser Davos, the onion knight (lol) leads the room in a toast to Gendry, the newest Lord on the block.

Don’t be fooled cus he’s now a Lord, he’s still he’s still Gendry from the Forge.

Tyrion remarks that now Gendry will forever be loyal to her and Dany says that he is not the only one that is clever.

Sansa, hearing this, looks at her like bats just sprouted from her head and flew out her ears while her eyes turned red as she chuckled evilly. 

Oh, come on! This is what people in powerful positions on the show do. That’s how they secure allies without, you know, marrying their allies. You want someone’s loyalty, do something for them. Dany’s not the first one to try that. And it’s not like she had Drogon Dracarys the hell out of one of Gendry’s enemies to secure that loyalty. She made him a damn Lord. 

The Starks are annoying me this season. Except when Arya laid the smacketh down on Ol’ Nighty. 

In another corner, Jaime and Brienne are celebrating by gettin’ crunk. She offers a halfassed excuse but Jaime’s all “Dude, we defeated a horde of zombies. Drink up!” and she does, giving him this look:

Bow chicka wowowwwwwwwwwwwwww chicka chicka boom.

Not that I can blame her. Aside from all that incestin’, Jaime’s a fine slice of Kingslayer pie.

Ser Davos of House Onion and Tyrion are talking about Melisandre, who last episode took off her necklace and aged into evaporation. Davos tells Tyrion that he swore to Melisandre he would kill her next time he saw her but he never got the chance, as she did it to herself. Or the Lord of Light took her. Or whatever. They don’t like him much. They fight his war and then he fucks off. 

Tyrion crosses the room to BranBot, who is reading in his wheelchair, which Tyrion calls a clever invention. I keep forgetting that wheelchairs aren’t really a thing in Westeros. 

BranBot, as animated as he’s programmed to be, delights in telling Tyrion that it is reminiscent of the one Daeron Targaryen made for his nephew over a hundred years ago. Just your regular episodic reminder that BranBot is...BranBot. 

Tyrion says BranBot’s BranVision will come in handy as the Lord of Winterfell, which he technically is as Ned Stark’s last surviving “trueborn” son. But BranBot doesn’t want it. BranBot doesn’t really want anything or anyone. He totally just doesn’t care, man.

Tyrion envies BranBot’s ability to not give a shit and and BranBot tells him not to because--

Yes, yes. You’re an “old soul”, BranBot. BranBot calls himself a grandpa in a teenager’s body. He forgets what generation he is and refers to people his own age as “you youngins”. He constantly crows that he is a “proud introvert” who’d rather be reading. We KNOW, BranBot!

Tormund leads a toast (with his awesome tusk cup) to the Dragon Queen and everyone cheers so maybe Dany’s making headway. She herself turns her own toast to Arya, the hero of the Battle of Winterfell. 

Jaime, Brienne, Tyrion, and Pod are playing a Westerosi version of Never Have I Ever with wine and Tormund, a bit drunk off his red ass, is going on and on about how awesome Jon is. Meanwhile, Dany is listening and though she toasts him she knows that she will always be an outsider to these people and they fucking love Jon.

Also, this happened:

“May I have your name?”

“Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons.”

“Okay, that’s Daniellris Shoehorn, the Sunburnt, Keen of Mean Girls, Bean of the Sandals and the Thirsty Hen, Call Sweetie of the Eight Assed Bee, Brother of Wagons. Is that correct?”

“Ugh. Just write Dany.”

“Okay, Fannie.”

The PTB at HBO have since digitally removed The Cup from the episode but wah bro I think they should have kept it in. That’s hilarious. I want to live in a world where Starbucks exists on Game of Thrones. And it survived the battle. Of course House Styrbycks is right around the corner from Winterfell, conveniently situated at the heart of the town square. 

And you better believe there’s a ride-thru for the horseman on the go.

I enjoy how HBO came out with a statement that Dany ordered herbal tea. I can see Dany ordering herbal tea.

In warmer climes, though, she’s definitely a dragon fruit smoothie girl.

Aside: Liam Cunningham recently went on Conan and gifted him The Cup:

He swore it was the actual cup. How is that even possible?! Wouldn’t someone have tossed it after all this time? And the fact that it was still around had to signal to someone on set that a) trolol a person in Consistency fucked up and at least one dude on GoT knew it before the ep aired and b) that Emilia’s discarded latte appearing in a scene would be gold. 

I want to believe it’s legit. I want to believe so hard that it’s the real Cup and that all these circumstances came together to land the Cup in Liam’s hand all this time later. I want to, and so I shall.

(Yes, I know it is not the real Cup but shh I want to BELIEVE!)

So, Dany is watching everyone have fun and be close with each other, especially how everyone seems to love Jon here, and she’s feeling even more like an outsider (and not a bit insecure about her claim to the throne) and she gets up and leaves. Varys starts to follow her with his watchful Varys eyes.

Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, and Tyrion are still playing their game and getting increasingly drunker doing so. Drunker and more giggly. Everything’s all well and good until Tyrion suddenly sits up, looks Brienne in the eye, and accuses her of being a--dun dun dun--virgin. Pod nonchalantly sips his wine.

Brienne clambers out of her seat and mutters that she has to piss. Tormund, also drunk as a skunk, stumbles to their table, celebrating, and asks--

Well? Who did shit in Tormund’s pants?!

It’s kinda awks because Tormund is into Brienne but Brienne has feelings for Jaime and when did GoT become a teen soap opera? It’s like The North 00000 up in here.

Tyrion pours more wine into Tormund’s tusk as Jaime follows Brienne out.

Dramz. Will they? Won’t they? Stay tuned next week!

No, they totally will right now. 

But first, Tormund is going to bitch.

I was cheering for Tormund to win his Big Woman, I really was. But then Jaime showed up and their chemistry just...reignited. 

Tormund expresses sadness until a Northern lady volunteers to take up his time. The Hound continues to drown his sorrows--tho idk what he’s sad about, he’s alive--ignoring even the prospect of sexytimes until Sansa, finally able to make eye contact with the Hound, shares his table. It was a long time ago when she couldn’t even look at him, back when she was just a little bird. But now she’s a dark phoenix (see what I did there? Because Sophie Turner is starring in Dark Phoenix!) risen from the ashes, having had her revenge against her latest torturer/husband, Ramsay Bolton via his own hounds.

None of if would’ve happened if Sansa had left K.L. with the Hound way back when. But Sansa gently squeezes his hand and says that without Ramsay, Littlefinger, and all those assholes, she’d still be that same naive little bird.

Anyone else get the vibe that David and D.B. are kinda...trying to justify what Ramsay did to Sansa here? Just an itty bit? All that’s missing is Sansa belting out Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter”. 

Outside, Arya is practicing her archery skillz when Gendry, the new Lord of Storm’s End, is imbued with way too much enthusiasm after being dubbed by Dany and legit blurts out a proposal to his one night stand right then and there.

Ugh. I can’t wait until my shitty copy of Phhotoshop arrives. Until then I have to use paint shop. Look at those corners! They are making me itch.

Anyway, Arya obvs rejects Gendry’s proposal and it’s d’awww. Gendry is like that guy you hook up with once because he’s hot and afterwards, he won’t stop calling you and texting you and trying to add you as a Facebook friend and messaging you on Twitter suggesting that you fly to Michigan to meet his parents for Thanksgiving. This is something I know nothing about.

Ah, now we’ve circled back to the Jaime and Brienne Show!

That’s if he’s not still obsessed with his siiiiiiiiissssterrrr (she’s a psycho!)

Brienne’s throwing more wood onto yet another hearth (there are a lot of hearths in Winterfell) when Jaime knocks on her door and unceremoniously proclaims that she did not drink when Tyrion accused her of being a V to the gin. He pours her some Dornish red and mutters about it being hot in here; Brienne has learned in the North to always keep a fire going. Jaime has learned in the North that he hates the fucking North. Brienne counters that it grew on her.

Jaime wonders if Tormund Giantsbane also grew on her. He seemed quite sad when she left.

He wants the V-card and the V.

Jaime chuckles awkwardly and begins to pull at the collar of his shirt because “it’s bloody hot in here”. Brienne watches him warily for a second until she gets annoyed and unties the garment herself.

You see where this is going.

First time for Jaime, too. He’s never slept with a knight before.

Has he ever slept with anyone who isn’t his sister before?

Shows how much he cares about Brienne. Letting someone in who isn’t Cersei. That’s a good, non-incestuous step forward, Jaime.

It’s a big moment for Brienne, too, aside from the obvious. She’s had a thing for Jaime for years. This is like that guy you’ve been secretly pining for suddenly realizing he’s totally into it.

In the next scene, Dany confronts a “slightly drunk” Jon, who did not know Ser Jorah very well, but he is pretty sure that if he would’ve chosen a way to die, it would have been protecting Dany. Dany knows Jorah loved her, but she couldn’t love him back--not the way he deserved, not the way she loves Jon.

They kiss and it’s like before Jon ever found out he’s also Aegon until--

“Does Westeros have any support groups for this? Maybe I should ask Ser Jaime.”

Jon wishes that Dany had never told them that they were related and I’m sitting here like--

He would’ve figured it out sooner or later, right? I mean, if he knew he was half Targaryen and all and Rhaegar was his daddy. I understand math is hard but...

Dany tries to forget and sometimes almost succeeds until tonight when she saw all those people gathered around him, looking at him like I’m The Hero! People have looked at her like that before, lots of people, but not here, not on this side of the Narrow Sea. She begs him not to tell anyone of his Targaryen lineage, to swear Samwell and BranBot to secrecy, so that things could go back to how they were before between them. 

But Jon must tell Sansa and Arya because family and nobility and Starkism and all that. And we all know Sansa no likey Dany, despite the fact that HER ARMIES SAVED YOUR NORTHERN ASS.

She begs him some more and he promises that she is his Queen and they can all live together. And they can, if Jon keeps his trap shut.

In Brienne’s quarters, if the animal pelts are a rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’!

Warm enough in there now, Brienne? 

In the War Room--damn, don’t we all aspire to have a War Room?--our favorites are gathered around the Great Table or whatever with a map of Westeros in the center and some old timey Checkers pieces standing in for the two sides’ respective armies. Obvs, the Battle of Winterfell has depleted Dany and Jon’s forces greatly, but they still have enough to wage hell on Cersei. Yara has taken back the Iron Islands in her name, and the Prince of Dorne pledges his support. Still, Cersei has the Golden Company led by Guyliner Greyjoy and the Lannister Army fresh and ready to fight. 

Dany is not appeased. No matter how many noble people declare their fealty to her, while Cersei still sits on the Iron Throne, she can still call herself Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon, Tyrion, and Varys reassure her with talk of dragons and the people of K.L. having rebelled against their King before. Sansa adds that she wants to give the armies time to recuperate, which is also--

--since they just fought Team Undead and all. But Dany wants to hit up K.L. NOW NOW NOW because the longer they wait, the stronger her enemies become. Or something.

Someone’s starting to lean a wee too far into her Targ roots. It’s just common sense, Dany. Take a chill pill.

But Jon sticks up for his GF. Very sternly, he swears the North will honor its commitments and allegiance to the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and blah blah blah. 

Dany appears smug.

Silently, Arya and Sansa trade glances like--

Tyrion narrates that Jon will lead the remaining forces up the Kingsroad while a smaller group of them will take a fleet to Dragonstone while the Queen will follow on...dragonback.

Jaime will remain at Winterfell as a guest. 

The camera ticks to Brienne’s expression at the mention of her former crush and new lovah’s name:

She’s trying to outwardly remain passive, but inside--

She’s getting laid and she’s not dead. Those are good times in Westeros.

Dany completes the conference and Arya demands a word with Jon. Outside, Jon is like “We’d all be DEAD if not for her” which is again DUH and Sansa snides “Arya’s the one that killed the Night King”. Arya wouldn’t have had the chance to kill the Night King without Dany’s armies because they’d all be DEAD. Seven Hells, you people are ridiculous. “We don’t trust her, ShE’s nOt OnE oF Us.” That is an absurd reason not to trust someone. I’m from New Jersey. It’d be like me about to be murdered and refusing help from someone because they’re from Florida. Don’t trust her because of her personality not because of where she is from.

And then, like a naive idiot, Jon actually thinks because he swore them to secrecy, Sansa and Arya will for sure totally keep his true lineage behind zipped lips.

This here was one of the scenes that made me roll my eyes so hard, they almost got stuck.

From that, thankfully, GoT moves on to one of my favorite scenes of the episode. Jaime and Tyrion sitting there over drinks gossiping like yentas. Jaime’s giving his younger brother all the deets vis-a-vis his liaison with Brienne. When Tyrion doesn’t say anything snide, Jaime is visibly uncomfortable, and Tyrion claims he’s happy Jaime is happy. 

And--

Tyrion has been waiting for ages to make tall person jokes.

He also wants to know what she’s like “down there”. Jaime calls him a dog.

But then Bronn shows up, finally after Creepy Qyburn hired him to kill Cersei’s “traitorous brothers”, a bit drunk off his ass, brandishing that crossbow. After he smacks Tyrion in the nose, he tells them that Cersei offered him Riverrun, but he knows the Queen is fucked after seeing Dany’s dragons, even with their depleted forces. And Cersei can’t pay up if she’s dead, so...

So Tyrion counters the offer. Highgarden for Riverrun. Bronn would be made Lord of the Reach. It’s certainly open now that House Tyrell has been decimated (RIP Olenna, you ultimate badass). Jaime blanches. How could Tyrion just give him Highgarden? Well hell, it’s better than being dead. 

Jaime doesn’t think Bronn will seriously kill them. Jaime is wrong.

Jaime scoffs Highgarden will never belong to a cuttrhoat but Bronn laughs pish-posh. Isn’t that how all the great Houses started? Kill a few hundred, they make you a Lord. Kill a few thousand, they make you a King?

Tyrion gives Bronn-y his word he’l give him Highgarden as long as they take King’s Landing. Bronn opts out of leading the fight, but wishes the brothers luck with a casual “Don’t die”.

The Hound yells “FFS!” when he meets up with Arya on the Kingsroad. Yep, they’re both goin’ Kings Landing way. Nope, Arya doesn’t really care to hang around, even if she is the hero after knifing that horned fucker. Yes, she probably will abandon the Hound again if he gets hurt.

They both have “unfinished business”. Arya to scratch Cersei off her infamous Kill List. The Hound, presumably, to finally fulfill our fantasy of Clegane Bowl!

Elsewhere, Dany is getting ready to leave the fucking frozen North, petting her dragons. And on this show, that is not a euphemism. One of them, presumably Rhaegal, takes flight.

While Drogon remains with her, that mama’s boy.

On the bridge, Sansa is watching Drogon and Rhaegal lift off, trying to shoot them down with her eyes.

Before he leaves, Tyrion tries to convince her one more time that Daenerys is it, or at least a way better option than Cersei, and he believes in her, her people love her, Jon loves her, etc, and he’d totes appreciate it if they were at least allies, and he turns to leave as the camera pans close on Sansa’s face; she calls him back to spilleth the beans..eth.

Did I win?

As Jon is loading up his Horshon Wagon, Tormund jokes that he’s not riding the dragon down south. Jon laughs that Rhaegal needs a break; he doesn’t need Jon weighing him down.

Tormund says that he has had enough of “the south” and plans to take the Free Folk back Beyond the Not Wall through Castle Black. It’s not home, not where they belong. Or, suddenly, where Ghost belongs either after EIGHT YEARS.

Yeah, this is where I RAGE.

Jon insists the North is no place for a direwolf and asks Tormund to take Ghost with him back Beyond the Not Wall, where he knows no one, will be lonely, and have to contend with even colder weather than what he’s used to. Tormund tells Jon that he has the “real” North running through his veins and “maybe” they’ll meet again before he departs and Jon goes to HUG EVERYONE. 

ALMOST.

RAGE! RAGE AGAINST THE JONCHINE!

I know, I know working with the CGI wolves is ExPeNsIvE, blah blah. I DON’T CARE. There are dragons that spit actual fire on this show. Y’all couldn’t substitute a real big, white, fluffy doggie so Jon could bid his furry friend a real goodbye?! This was the saddest scene in GoT history. Forget Ned’s beheading or even the Red Wedding. This right here is inhuman.

The episode’s director, David Nutter, tried to defend himself, weakly, by insisting he thought this way was more powerful. He obviously does not own dogs. Or any pets of any kind. He did not anticipate how much we all love our furry friends. As soon as the episode aired, Twitter lit up with #GhostDeservedBetter. Poor Ghostie. He lost an ear for you! You’re leaving forever. I snuggle my dogs when I just leave to go to the bathroom. I shall honor Ghost here, First of His Name, Protector of the Realms of Men, the One Eared and the White Furred, Warden of the North. Or at least Warden of the Woof. 

I had to watch this portion a few times to get the right screenshots so now I must go snuggle my own doggies. And tell them they are my own little direwoofies and I will never ever leave them. Especially for King’s Landing.

Jon “I’m the worst Wolf Daddy in Westeros” Snow rides off and Sam, Gilly, Tormund, and Ghost watch him go, even after his owner slighted him, because he is the goodest boi on the continent.

On the way to Dragonstone, Tyrion has immediately spilled to Varys because let’s be honest: Jon’s true parentage was always going to stay a secret for about, meh, an hour? And now eight people know--Jon, Dany, Sansa, Arya, Tyrion, Varys, Sam, and BranBot. Which makes it less a secret and more info. If the internetz had existed back then, the whole of Twitter would’ve known within fifteen minutes. #JongonSnowgaryen would trend worldwide. Westeroswide? 

I need to start following The_Mastr. 

People like Jon. They follow Jon (even tho he’s a terrible pet owner). If this were to get out, Dany would lose the North--Winterfell and the Vale. Sansa would see to that. 

Tyrion suggests marrying them and they could rule together. They love each other, but Varys ain’t so sure Jon could ever see beyond that whole “she’s his aunt” thing. And Dany doesn’t like to have her authority questioned. Then Tyrion cheerfully suggests that Cersei could end up killing them all anyway and that would solve their problems.

And then Guyliner Greyjoy comes out of nowhere and motherfucking shoots down Rhaegal!

I literally gasped “NOOOOOOOOO!” out loud when this happened. My animal-loving heart can only take so much, Game of Thrones. There’s a fan theory that technically we didn’t see Rhaegal die and two somethings appeared in the sky in the trailer for the next episode so he could come back with a vengeance. Please come back with a vengeance, Rhaegal. 

Dany is furious that Captain Maybelline shot her baby and orders Drogon to make a beeline for him. But afraid for her other baby’s life, she turns at the last minute. Euron, annoyed that he only took down one dragon, instead aims for the boat carrying Team Daenerys, which explodes under the force of multiple scorpion arrows. 

All of them swim to shore--all of them, except one. Just before the arrows flew, Grey Worm ordered Missandei to seek refuge on the skiff, and, when we shift to the castle gates, we see Cersei presiding over thousands of innocents who will be caught in the crossfire of war between her and Dany, her child (which she tells Captain Maybellne is his), and a captured Missandei.

In the War Room at Dragonstone--every Great House has a War Room, it seems--our merry band is presiding over a map of King’s Landing where Varys looks Dany in the eye and begs her not to attack the castle. They have Missandei, they killed Rhaegal, yes, but thousands of innocents are held inside the Red Keep, which is Cersei’s modus operandi. Varys pleads with her not to destroy the city she came to save but Dany believes she has a destiny to rid the world of tyrants, and she will fulfill it, no matter the cost.

That sounds vaguely culty, Dany. It wasn’t that long ago you were doing all you could to avoid a battle inside King’s Landing, cus you didn’t wanna destroy the city and the people you were gonna rule over. What happened? Don’t go all Aerys on us.

Tyrion suggests offering Cersei her life in exchange for the throne to avoid carnage. Dany knows Cersei will never go for it, but it’s good for PR, anyway. The people will know that Daenerys Stormborn tried to avoid bloodshed, and Cersei Lannister refused.

Take it back a few, Dany. Just a few, mkay?

At the hearth--there is always a hearth chat going on, and Dragonstone is no exception--Tyrion and Varys are having A Talk. Varys has served many tyrants, and they all talk about destiny and stuff. But, Tyrion negates, Dany has walked through fire and made dragons and lived, maybe she really is destined to rule the Seven Kingdoms. 

Varys considers How To Solve A Problem Like Jon Snow. Who may not be a problem so much as a solution. Who would make a better ruler, Jon or Dany? Varys knows Jon doesn’t wanna rule, which is partly why he bent the knee, but maybe a good ruler would be someone who doesn’t want to rule at all.

And Jon’s a dude, which, in ye olden times, was important. Also why he’s got a tighter claim to the throne than Dany does. They’re talking treason right now. Tyrion accuses Varys of abandoning all of the kings he served under. Varys reaffirms that he will always serve what’s best for the realm and the people, thousands of whom will die if the wrong person sits on the throne. 

Tyrion asks what happens to Dany and Varys gives him a look like “What do you think?” 

At Winterfell, the Northerners are rebuilding while Sansa and Brienne are being all secret-like, talking in whispers and glancing at Jaime. He follows them, having the creeping sensation that they’re talking about something that pertains to him. When he asks what’s up, Brienne tells him that they just got word of Guyliner Greyjoy’s ambush on Dany’s ships, Rhaegal’s death, and Missandei’s capture. 

And another for Jaime Reacting to Bad News screenshots:

BUT what exactly is he reacting to? That Cersei is going to die or that he isn’t going to do it himself?

That night, Jaime is watching Brienne sleep, then creeps outside to pack up his mighty steed to head back to the capital. Too bad Brienne wakes up and catches him. The city is going to be destroyed, they all know this. And Jaime doesn’t have to die alongside Cersei.

Jaime doesn’t think he’s a good man. He pushed a boy out of a window and crippled him for life (which led to him becoming BranBot) for Cersei. He strangled his cousin to get back to Cersei. He would’ve killed every man, woman, and child in Riverrun to get back to Cersei. She’s a monster. And so is Jaime.

And then he leaves and Brienne is heartsick and her POOR FACE. 

THIS EPISODE IS KILLING ME.

But--and I know a lot of other people think this, too--after I wrung my hands a bit, I thought about this moment. I think Jaime’s going back to K.L. to off Cersei himself, leaving Brienne to believe he left because he thinks he doesn’t deserve her. It still SUCKS but it’s less sucky than thinking he’d rather have his twin sister’s V. 

In said capital, the remaining Unsullied and Dothraki forces, along with Dany and her merry men, are lined up outside the gates. Cersei, Pirate von D, and Cersei’s ever lurking zombie Mountain are on the battlements with a chained Missandei. The camera sweeps to show both sides and when did King’s Landing get so FLAT?

Isn’t King’s Landing supposed to be all lush and hilly? What has Cersei done to the place?! This is Dubrovnik, ffs!

Creepy Qyburn comes out of the gates and Tyrion goes to meet him, Hand to Hand. Queen Daenerys demands Cersei’s unconditional surrender and the return of Missandei, unharmed. Queen Cersei demands Daenerys’ unconditional surrender. It’s a stalemate and they’re not getting anywhere so Tyrion tries to appeal to Creepy Qyburn’s logic. They have a chance to prevent bloodshed. To not cause the screams of thousands of children as hellfire is rained down upon them. It’s not a pleasant sound, Qyburn agrees. Alas, he still goes on about Cersei being the one true Queen so Tyrion pushes past him to speak to his sister himself.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are all--

Dany also thinks this is not a good idea.

Some of the Lannister army up on the battlements with Cersei and Co get their bows and arrows ready but as Tyrion approaches, Cersei waves them off with a smug smile. Calling up to her, Tyrion says he knows Cersei doesn’t care about the people of the Seven Kingdoms; they hate her and the feeling’s mutual. 

He mentions her children, her unborn child. How she loved them more than life itself. And just because her reign is over doesn’t mean her life has to end, her her child has to die. 

Just for a moment, one moment, it appears as if his words are getting to her. Cersei takes a deep breath, lets it out shakily. Lena’s acting in this instance is superb. And then, she crosses to Missandei as Dany and Grey Worm race toward the gate in alarm, and murmurs “If you have any last words, now is the time”.

Missandei’s last word?

With her last word, Missandei is telling Dany to fuck it all and burn King’s Landing to the ground.

Cersei gives zombie Mountain the nod to take off Missandei’s head, and poor Grey Worm can’t watch as the undead monster kills his girlfriend.

Dany shakes, turns, and walks away as Cersei smiles triumphantly.

The Mother of Dragons is so done fucking around, y’all.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh this episode was a ride. I wanted to wring SO many necks. Jon Snow, how does it feel to be the villain of the internet? Jaime, you best be headin’ back to K.L. to kill Cersei. Don’t you be breaking Brienne’s heart for nothing. Burn it all down, Dany! #Cleganebowl!

I am EXCITE for the penultimate ep. So EXCITE!

[moonydiego]

review shinees lucifer album 🐸 (im judging anything below a 9/10 jsyk)

send me an album and i’ll review it

alright SO 2010 kpop, lucifer was arguably shinees break out album (really theyve been the shit since replay with that rookie grand slam, PLUS with ring ding dong as a strong single of the ep Y.O.U.) i personally think this is due to how shinee was branded as actaully fucken amazing at dancing, and the lucifer choreography is honestly something unmatched, especially for the time that it came out.

but honestly for me as how i view things in shinee’s discography timeline, as well as with sales or what not i really think lucifer was that staple that not only was hype af when it came out but its main single “lucifer” still brings people onto shinee to this day so? really iconic album

however, as a long time shinee fan, i really love lucifer mostly nostalgically, like most people the first video i saw from shinee was lucifer, the first album i downloaded was lucifer, i tried learning the vogueing part from lucifer (and i still remember it lmao) so for me lucifer is really? great, mostly because it’s album i listened to when i was super young and kinda brought me onto shinee which in turn brought me to a wider spectrum of music

however, while it may be shinee’s amazing throwback album, looking back on it as a whole it really did not showcase the amazing powerhouse shinee is.

im not talking singing wise, lucifer does showcase amazing vocals but, shinee as a whole has a huge history of being contemporary, of always bringing people that new shit-that good shit-that cutting edge shit. and i think it’s taken them some time to grow into that contemporary mindset, before this mostly imo theyve been contemporary in the terms of style and what not but musically they’ve more or less sat comfortably of what was kinda going on. rather than being on the edge of the trend imo they brought out something that refined the trend to further establish it as the norm-before moving on as the trend changes

(imo shinee breaks out with sherlock as THAT group musically and artistically, that constantly pushes kpop music but thats for another review)

however lucifer is a staple in shinee’s discography and it’s a really nice album for that 2010 nostalgia era, it has cute upbeat songs, the freaking catchy lucifer as well as some gr8 ballads (and electric heart, imo one of the BEST songs shinee’s ever done)

anyway here’s the track by track review lmao:

(disclaimer, vocally shinee’s performances never disappoint (maybe rap wise but never singing wise) this is mostly me critiquing like the actual music and what it brings to the table as a cohesive album so not really shinee but mostly the production team backing them up and sm’s musical choices lmaoooo)

the first track is up and down, it’s classic 2010 kpop era type of song, it’s cute it’s catchy it’s upbeat. the main vocalists voices are strong af and the backing voices are really noice as well, the chorus is extremely catchy and it’s just? a straight forward catchy song. honestly nothing really new, especially with the placements of the raps but? it’s just a sweet listen, maybe a bit too sweet as the years pass, i think ready or not is a better catchy pop-y song imo but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the next track is lucifer and honestly im gonna give my actual opinion, i dont listen to lucifer anymore sure i love lucifer but honestly i think this is just the perfect throwback song that you’re super hype for but in my opinion i dont listen to on the daily, like its good and it’s just catchy but, it follows that generic verse chorus verse chorus rap chorus. really what brought shinee into the lime light imo was their dancing and lucifer showcased that AMAZINGLY, but songwise it’s pretty? catchy but ?? you feel me??????

next is electric heart and electric heart TO THIS DAY is one of my favorite all time shinee songs. dude shinee has not done this type of song before, and it’s the only time they do this type of song on this album. the vocals are breathy and self assured, the harmonies are fucken angelic, the instrumentals fit their voices perfectly gives a very moody almost? seductive type of vibe that’s really punctuated by their falsettos. fucken A+++ track and honestly it really stands out from the album IMO just because of the way they sing and just how they all work together to make the song work. it’s groovy and sensual and jams when it needs to and just? a great listen all of them work so well in this ugh i love it

then it’s a-yo which i used to love when i was younger, not to repeat myself but the way i feel about this track is how i honestly feel about up and down with the exception that this song isn’t as upbeat, it’s more of a subdued upbeat song, something that in my opinion would fit perfectly in their replay album? i feel like it has that 2008 vibe. anyway yeah. catchy, cute, nothing new but nothing wrong w that

ok then we hit obsession and it’s one of the few shinee songs i actually dont like. i will give them the fact that it’s pretty experimental i guess?? for them??? for this album? the only problem is how out of place it feels, like we have upbeat and catchy then kinda sensual rly nice electric heart and then this? it has a darker tone and it’s? okay i guess i just think they really didn’t go all way that they couldve on this, i feel like theyve really refined the “darker” songs or more desperate sounding songs on the misconception albums. like it’s dark then soft and then you’re hit with jonghyun almost pleading chorus, honestly im not that big of a fan of it, especially with how the beginning and the chorus sound so disjointed on the same song but not in a Cool Experimental way imo, i kno i lot of people like it and if you do please tell me why!! would love to discuss w you all c:

after you’re hit with quasimodo which is a str8 up ballad and it would sound weird to have on an album that has songs like up and down and ready or not but? being placed after obsession was a great choice imo so it doesn’t sound so jarring. this is a complete ballads with fucken amazing vocals but especially the way they all just work together especially on the verses leading up to vocals. imo im not a huge fan of ballads but this is a really beautiful song that’s just, a great soft listen if you like those types of ballads. imo not anything new or groundbreaking but honestly it’s a Typical Ballad song in which jinki kills it so??? not really complaining

ok then it’s shout out which i was….obsessed with and honestly i….never listen to it now. it’s a great, “we’ve gone thru so much shit and here we are bitch we’re back and we dont give up” song i guess. however, in my opinion as a rap song? it’s not really? anything new or anything really?? astounding, imo listening back it’s kinda? i dont wanna say childish but i think like as utilizing “rapping” as a form of conveying music shinee (esp minho and kibum) have really improved on that a lot in their after years, and this is like a last remaining album of kibum and minho rapping the way every kpop group did in 2010 you know? nothing really shinee-like it’s just? idk it really isnt that great listening back and how far theyve come since it (odd eye guys, the rap in odd eye is a perf example because the rap goes along so well with the song itself and it feels like it sits in shinee’s discography as a perfect shinee song rather than A Rap Song They Did) and idk yeah, not a big fan now and i honestly think it’s great to show just how much shinee has grown as a kpop group to actual artists.

next up is wowowow and it’s? another catchy upbeat song but it’s not really with a lot of substance imo, like i feel they really went hard on the autotone like autotune can be used as a really cool device in song producing but i feel like? it’s a bit off putting with jonghyun’s high vocals you know?  it’s catchy but???? it’s just cute that’s it, what are they offering here that the other upbeat songs on this album dont offer? not to bash on it but?? there’s not much to say that i havent already ;A; (it’s still really cute)

your name is next and it’s? a cute slower song. it’s slow but not ballady. it’s like if wowowow was w/o autotune and like a bit more chiller. it’s just a sweet song nothing really???amazing i guess?? the “lalalala” the members do is really nice and i like it towards the end, once minho raps and the song changes a bit, i feel like it’s less generic and a cooler listen, like most songs in this era there’s a slight change towards the end of the song with the first two halves sounding extremely similar. nothing much to say w this one just. it’s cute.

then it’s life, which if i have one thing to say about this album’s lack of a cohesive feel is the fact that they put the slower songs with perfect transitioning songs before them, so listening to the album straight isn’t a jarring experience so honestly??? good on them that was a fab choice. now in my opinion, quasimodo was a better ballad-mostly because all the members really work together backing each other up and it sounds greater orchestrally than this song. life takes nearly two minutes to pick up, now i lov a slow start to get the tension started but really it doesn’t pick of until 1:50 and there isn’t really? anything amazing going on instrumentally to garner attention imo, shinee’s vocals are beautiful but?? u kno???? like most songs the cool shit is towards the end but i feel like it’s just subdued with some great notes belted out. classic ballady song if you like it, but again i think quasimodo really brought it home without sounding like it’s taking a while to get to the good parts you know????

after it’s ready or not. which i know i mentioned having transitining songs from slower to upbeat, which is NOT the case with this. but i FUCKEN lov ready or not. it’s literally like a better version of up and down imo, up and down sounds incredibly repetitive because of the whole rollercoaster ride thing, but this is like a repetitive song that doesnt seem like it’s looping. it has some embarssing 2010 song moments but honestly??? i dont care it’s literally a cute up beat song, generic especially with that kpop formula and the slight change towards the end but honestly thats what shinee was doing at the time, and it was fine. im only being so hard on this album because shinee Really Fucking Worked on their music and really went like beyond everything to become the shinee we know and love and appreciate today. so yeah. generic cute pop song that i still jam to but dont listen to often.

then it’s love pain, which i mean? it’s like a more hurt ayo lmao. like in the way it’s sung and it’s feel, the subject matter can be totally different. anyway not much to say just like…this album is so 2010 and this song really captures that like idk not much critique on this, i dont love it anymore but? vocals are gr8 and it’s a cool slow song

the album finishes with love still goes on, which is i think an AMAZING reference to the song love should off their first album. it’s a nod to the past while showing off how theyve grown and how theyve improved their vocals. the problem i have with this song is literally the same with ready or not with a dash of side eye at the raps but honestly?? it’s cute its happening and i just think the nod to their first album was a cute way to finish the album. it doesnt finish with a band but rather with a thanks, and i think that was really lovely

anyway my final review is: nostalgia/10 (with me mostly only listening to electric heart, ready or not, love still goes on and up and down)

but again this was me really just? giving a thorough critique lmao i still really lov this album, i own it (a ver AND b ver) and honestly if i ever see shinee live and they do any song off this album you will catch me wiping the tears from my eyes while belting out the lyrics. hyped as fuck. i kno this album like the back of my hand istgggggg i really do love this album, it’s just musically we all kno shinee is that group, but it’s super cool looking at their progression as artists and how theyve moved along musically!!

[ios-amsterdam]

EP 2. “We Tried”

After Gegoochel lost the first immunity, the contestants vie for immunity

JONES:

“Part of me feels like Keaton doing everyone's puzzles has personal motives to it? It's nice of him, but it feels like he's just doing it for the personal advantage (if there even is one)”

JAMES:

“BITCH WE BETTER PULL THRU THIS TIME... LIKE I AM NOT GOING TO TRIBAL AGAIN. WHY IS THIS COMP SO HARD”

MO:

“K I’m searching for a puzzle and either 1. I have bad luck 2. I’ve passed on without seeing it 3. All of the above and I just have a shitty life“

CULLAN:

“This was a weird kind of challenge. It has a good concept but the part I dislike about this is that it's very grindy. Even if we split the efforts between everyone, it takes very long for the sole reason that it all is based on patience and internet connection. I really hope someone on my tribe found atleast a few puzzles and submitted them as I really don't want to go to tribal tonight. However, I feel I should be safe going into tribal. My game plan right now is just to prove I'm active and a nice guy to have around camp. I've already been talking to everyone and they seem to be talking back to that seems cool that I'm bonding with everyone :) The one person I trust the most is Mo so I believe we can work together!”

ALYSSA:

“I found a puzzle that could get me a reward........... but i suck at puzzles.......... one hour........... and i only got 50% through......... end me.”

CHRISSA:

“today was amazing watching my tribe working together to find the codes and the puzzles and it was enough for us to win i know i sat out so i didn't do alot but i am proud of us for getting along well enough to do this, thank god for kage being like really crazy good at puzzles which ultimately didn't actually matter but still. IOS is truly amazing.”

IAN:

“This is my third confessional doing one pretty early in the morning and just want to reflect on what happened last challenge. We came in second which was good and seem to have lots of people committed to the challenges which I love about this tribe and also scares me about this tribe. The pros are that we actually feel like more of a team and can work together but the downside is that I hold nothing over others and a tribal would be all about numbers at that point and I don't think I'm the numbers so I could be a potential next target so the goal is not lose challenges and just lie low for the time being.”

SAXON:

“https://youtu.be/suelJ4n5WzU“

JONES:

“I got sent to Het Kerker!! Woohoo!! Buuuuut I died, oh well. Sorry I'm a naturally curious person and wanted to talk to the witch lol, I thought she'd be sweet but I was thoroughly disappointed. I know I never got an advantage, but at least I won't get a disadvantage again. So that's okay!”

CHRISSA:

“idk why keaton didn't suggest sitting out if he wasn't gonna be here at all today when nick asked about it, i hope kage posts his links.”

NICK:

“So basically my tribe is three people at the moment... Autumn, Mo, and myself! There is no point in not doing that challenge so I really do not understand why the other two didn’t pull their weight. So now it’s about which one is weaker and which one is stronger aka which one will actually do stuff for the tribe over the other who probably won’t do anything for the tribe.”

ALYSSA:

“So Saxon and James and I are in an alliance that Madison wasn’t invited to but uh.... she never answered Saxon about it. Madison and I really didn’t talk at all our last season so I was really hesitant but despite that double texted her within the first few days just because I was really interested in working with her!!! I know she’s in the final stages of kilo so I get it but like girl get it together damn. I really like Saxon but I am kind of afraid our personalities will clash. Hopefully it’ll be like a me/skylita tag team where we both have peak social game and still root each other on and move towards f2!!!”

MADISON:

“listen here kiddos, these people on Google tribe are great and all but i'm bored of the dynamic. I need to see some fresh faces because tbh i don't have any good feel for how i want to play the game when merge hits, other than the fact that Saxon and I have a mutual trust I think? Idk man i just wanna bathe in blood already let's get it rollin! Swap time please this pretty girl needs some new friends”

CHRISSA:

“so here are my thoughts, we are safe which is great, i do feel if keaton had sat out instead of jayden we may have gotten first possibly but that's not for sure just a guess, i am a bit mad at keaton for not speaking up to sit out when nick asked but since we are safe anyway i am gonna let it go. Also I wanna be Slamtonian like christian, the mayor of slam town is convincing me. <3 “

JAYDEN:

“Quite honestly im a bit scared to go to tribal. Idk if people just aren't talking game yet, but no one has talked serious game with me, idk who I can trust and like idk but I kinda (a tiny bit) wanna lose so I can find out whos loyal to me. I think im fine socially, I just gotta prove myself in challenges. I haven't performed insanely well yet and that's gotta change if I want them to keep me around.”

MO:

“Jacob comes into chat, and he goes “we tried” and I fucking choked. Like he legit did nothing. https://youtu.be/6oAfbebVfOI“

CULLAN:

“I feel like absolute shit for not putting much effort into this challenge because of my mental health. Hopefully I can convince people to let me stay because I really want to play this and I don’t want my mental health to affect my performance in this game”

[noodlenutter]

i met my childhood idol TWICE this weekend and i dont think im gonna be the same ever again

super longwinded and probably kinda cringey/obsessivly detailed post under the cut

ok so when i was 11 there was a show on cbbc called mission 2110 and the main character, caleb, was this cyborg dude w a robot arm and headset and he was fighting against evil robots who’d taken over the world, and most importantly, he was played by stuart goldsmith. 

i saw a sign around uni for a comedy show at the basement, york, by (you guessed it) stuart goldsmith. so of course i had to go, if only to make childhood-me happy

i turned up alone and Very early. i waited outside the venue for a while and saw stu leave and go for a walk around york but I wasn’t 100% sure it was him so i didnt approach him then

when we finally got in i sat on the front row between a group of elderly people and a drunk hen party - as soon as stuart got on stage, he started his introducing himself/the show, talking about the venue and warming up the crowd spiel, but instantly froze when he saw the hen party (he was surprised that they were there and kept sort of forgetting his train of thought and going back to the fact the entire front row was a hen party, cos they’re not his usual audience)

he started the gig and im not gonna go into huge detail about that in this post cos there’s no way i’d do any of it justice thru words (plus theres gonna be a tour dvd sometime ;) ) but at some points he interacted with the audience (usually the front row) so i’ll mention those 

the first Direct Interaction was when he spat directly onto my shoe while talking. he looked right at me, stopped his joke, and said ‘yes, i know what just happened. i know. it was Entirely Intentional.’ and kept going as if nothing had happened at all (it was fuckin hilarious cos no one else even saw it happen so the crowd was like ?????)

& for the part where he asked about jobs, he asked me and i said i was a student so he firstly asked what i wanted to do after - but straight away asked what i studied. i shrugged as a response to what i want to do after the degree (cos who knows lmao) but he took that as a response for what i study and made some quip about me not even knowing what i study n how that’s just a Typical Student Thing isn’t it?

(apparently when robots take our jobs, psychologists will be replaced by tape recorders on legs)

during the break (NOT an interval) i was talking to the people beside me (not the ones in the hen party) about york and scarborough and floods and bands and everything, they were so nice 

not much happened in the 2nd half of the show (other than the fact i almost CRIED laughing, honestly that dude is SO funny), but he said he was gonna hang around afterwards to sell tshirts and say hi to people, so i decided to ask him about cbbc’s mission 2110 (which was my favourite show ever and also the place i know him from)

so, after he’d told his last joke (one about raisins, which i remembered on the drive home and had to pull over cos i was laughing so hard i thought i was gonna crash the car), he said goodbye and got off stage etc etc, i queue up to say hi. straight away he reaches out to shake my hand & say ‘hi mate, thanks for enjoying the show’, that kinda thing

i asked him about m2110 and his face LIT UP, i thought he was gonna hate me for reminding him of it but he was happy and said that was his dream job, all the robots were played by his street performer friends, and he cant wait for the day that one of the kids from the show turns up to his gig

i asked him for a photo after that and he was like ‘yea, of course!! ill even do the pose!’ and put his hand to his face like caleb from m2110 did (im grinning at the memory while typing this, its such a dumb photo but i look insanely happy and he looks exactly as i remember caleb looking)

i asked how m2110 ended (i never got to see the last ever episode), and he looked like he was going to tell me but when i said i hadn’t seen the last ep he said ‘i’m not gonna tell you then!!’ (cmon mate its been deleted off the internet for like 8 years now :(!! )

all in all i think the first show was just how a typical comedy gig goes, but the 2nd show things got different (in a good way)

i decided to go again when i found out he was going to be in leeds 2 days later, and i took my friend who was disappointed that she’d missed the first show

we got to the front row and had to sit directly in front of him (we were gonna sit a bit further across but other people wanted to sit there first), so when he came up on stage to do his intro he glanced at me, then snapped back to do a double take - ‘are you BACK???’ he asked, pointing at me, ‘you were in york the other day, weren’t you?’

i gave him a thumbs up, high enough for most of the crowd to see, and he grinned, crouched a bit and started talking to me about the york show’s crowd - the fact there was a hen party, how surprised he was about them, and then that the weren’t as rowdy as we both thought they were going to be - after a minute or so, he stood up again and said ‘this is more of a chat than a show, isn’t it?’ & got on with the show.

i honestly can’t stop thinking about the “what’s your name, where you from, where d’you do your howling?” part of the show cos it’s never something i thought of before, but every day since then i’ve screamed in my car to a song and it’s kinda therapeutic (he pointed at me when he asked about howling, he points at a random audience member for each question) (also SOIL) (also also the bit about wanting to do a mic drop but with a microphone made of meringue) 

in the break, the person behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked whether it was different from york or better/worse than york, and whether i’d been a fan for long, etc etc 

after the break, stu got back on stage and thanked us all for coming back - then asked whether there were any ‘guilty empty seats’ next to anyone. the guy in the seat next to mine didn’t return after the break, so the person next to him and i pointed at the empty chair on the front row (he said something about how he respects that decision cos the guy came alone anyway) 

“shall we mix this part up a bit? could you shuffle these?” he asked, and gave me the flashcards while explaining how this part of the show worked (he workshops jokes from flashcards, they’re in a set order for every other show but he wanted to make it different for leeds, and so gave me the cards to decide the order)

i panicked a bit though cos I was so shocked, so i just shuffled them randomly instead of reading the cards and what they said (oops), and i put an interesting one on top - it just said ‘R’ in a circle and i couldn’t think what joke that would have been so i put it first.

i gave him the cards back and he looked at the top one like ‘uhh, no, i cant do this one first, that’s possibly the best bit of them all it’s gotta go at the end’ (which made me realise it was the raisin joke at the end of the show, so i told him how it really is because I had to pull over on the drive home it made me laugh so much - to which he fist pumped and yelled ‘now THAT’S a review!’)

before moving onto the content on the cards he talked about how he wishes he could go on stage to an audience who’s already ‘warm’ to him so he doesnt have to waste his 2nd best joke so early in the show, so he was planning ideas to get the crowd hyped before he even came out. he sat on the empty chair next to me and talked about how if everyone’s hyped enough then he’ll get a standing ovation etc etc, then stood back up, jumped on stage, and we all stood with him and clapped - ‘yeah, keep going!!! no one sit down! dont do it!’, after a few seconds i was losing my balance but i thought it’d be Funny if someone sat down, and Funny if that someone was me, who everyone knew had been to the show before. so i sat. 

‘NO!! she’s sat down! that’s it i guess, it’s over isnt it, alright then, you can all stop now i suppose’ (tbf i feel slightly bad for it BUT it made it all funnier anyway so it’s chill, i hope)

because i hadn’t looked at the cards every time there was an unexpected one he glanced over to me, ‘is this really what you want? you want this one?’, sighed ‘okay then’ and did the bit. the one about the squirrel (’you really want the fuckin squirrel one???’) kinda flopped cos it built off a previous one in york so he said that at least he’s learnt that it has to be in a certain order to be funny (youre welcome)

after the show when i went to say hi & thank you for letting me control the cards etc (i never actually said that cos i got distracted, ended up talking about how one of my twitter friends & her family is friends with him and his family but he asked who i was talking about and im like ‘uhhh i dont know her name we use nicknames online uhhhhhhh sorry’ lol), when he saw me he lifted his arms and went straight in for a hug (I HUGGED MY CHILDHOOD IDOL) & thanked me for coming back again so soon

i asked if he could sign something for me but all i had was a yellow envelope (’oh! a yenvelope!’) nnd a sharpie wrapped in tissues cos it leaks (’uhhhh lucy, why is it wrapped in tissue? oh, it leaks? well, if i were you i’d wrap it in something, maybe a tissue?’) & signed the envelope with ‘you are too big a fan! :)’ which is the most true thing anyones ever said about me, ever. he also asked if i wanted a photo or anything but i said i’d already got one n he was like ‘oh of course you do’ lol

anyway yea we left after that and i’ve been screaming internally ever since cos i never thought id ever even meet him but then i saw him twice in 3 days and he recognised me, let me influence the show AND hugged me. im still amazed. im in awe. stuart goldsmith is such a wholesome guy and im waiting (im)patiently for his next tour

EDIT: i just remembered that during the last joke i was laughing so much that i was crying and i was fanning my face, and he saw and was like ‘are you ok there?? you good??’ which made me laugh even more, jesus,

[survivormidwayatoll]

Ep. 4 - “Chill You’ve Only Missed One Round of the Warzone Freak” - Sara

DING DONG THE WITH IS DEAD. Ok, I don't mean, that I love her and I wish she wasn't so vocal about me not having power. But now... Kait is gone!! Yeaaahhh man! High key she was out for my blood and I'm totally fine with her being gone. She's a comp beast and a social threat and people like thhat are hard to take out at merge. So this is awesome for me. Also, I haven't gotten any blood on my hands yet, and I won this challenge in Rakiura, and I plan on doing it again. So I'm just doing what I can to avoid the Warzone. It sucks because I won't be making connections, but safety is better for the time being. I'd rather be safe and out of the loop, than a target with allies. Which brings me to my text point, being a target by winning challenges. That's EXACTLY why Kait was taken out, so I can't let the same fate come of me. I'm eventually going to have to go into the Warzone, but I'll do it after I see who submits and then I'll throw the challenge to get numbers. I wouldn't wanna have to mess my hair up while I'm in danger, so I might as well keep an entourage with me. I just have to really learn how to use this twist to my advantage. Isaac is getting a lot of blood on his hands right now, which is both beneficial to my game, and also not good at all. He's mentally not here for all of that, and if we keep sending him into the Warzone he'll burn out. So he'll either explode, or get voted off. But he's taking threats out for me, and I'm ok with it. But I want him safe for now. Allison seems to as well. Gage is just kinda there for me right now.... I have no idea where hes actually at. And Kelsey and Shae? Actual crackheads. What the fuck is going on with them? ACTUAL. CRACKHEADS. That's what. 

OH WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN FRIENDS??? Whew first of all I'm officially on a Witch Hunt for everyone that attended that tribal (except for Carson he can stay) but WHEW. Shea and Kelsey can stop with their fake drama like it's enough. I literally had to sit through a call with Shea and how distraught they were and it's just.....I don't buy it. I really don't. Especially if your gonna sit there and tell me you had no idea my duo was going and that my duo had no idea either like, I think I know my duo thanks. Then there's Tyler whose acting clueless that kait was even my duo and that he has absolutely know idea what happened. Like, do you really think that's gonna help??? I just hate fake people, I hate people who treat me like I'm a complete idiot. I'm not taking it! Not this season. I know if I go to the warzone I'm gonna be a Target so I'm gonna avoid it like the plague. My only Ally at this point is Jordan Pines and so if that ain't a sign that I'm on a death wish I don't know what is. But yeah anyway, #JusticeForKait will be served and these people are gonna realize they messed with the wrong black widows.

I don't even know what to say except what the fuck?

Last nights tribal just shows how out of the loop you are when you're not in the warzone I guess. I was thinking of throwing immunity for a solid 10 minutes and then I was like "chill you've only missed one round of the warzone freak @myself". Tribes who go on long immunity streaks miss game dynamic changes too. I'm just thinking too hard about it bc I want to have all the info in order to make the right moves but I just gotta remind myself that most of the time that's not feasible. 

I'm like the saddest 8 year old ever right now. The game of Survivor has so many layers, There's the social and physical aspects, the strategic aspect, but now with this particular season, there's the synergy aspect. Last night I tried to vote off my partner, yet it seems people were shocked by that move so a few people flipped and voted off Kait, which I was sad with because I really liked Kait. Kelsey set me off and I ended up outing him as a catfish, it just was eating at me. People were surprised I wanted Kelsey out but, I couldn't trust her. We don't have a partner dynamic like everyone else, we haven't been close friends for a long time. I thought I didn't know Kelsey before, but now I really don't know him. Apparently other people do, and Kelsey sent me this long paragraph about how he has leukemia and how this game means a lot to him. I don't know how much of that is true, if it is, I truly dearly from the bottom of my heart feel bad for him, but I just don't know if he is being genuine. He hasn't before, why would he start now. I don't want to go to tribal again, but it's likely i will. 

I'm completely crushed to be going back to the war zone. I feel like no matter what I do I'm gonna land here, It's so tiring. I'm back in that helpless feeling I felt last season, where there was a majority alliance closing in and there was nothing I could do. Ironically, I like the people on my tribe, but that doesn't matter. My closest allies in this game (Christine and Jordan) don't ever come to the war zone with me, and I'm left to fend for myself. I was put on a tribe full of strong physical players who I can't compete with in challenges. If this were a regular game, we'd probably never lose a challenge, but in a situation like this it's a nightmare. I'm going back to the war zone tonight where I'm going to, again, be lied to by some huge friend alliance Jordan says exists, and I'm probably going home 3rd tribal council, again, and thats really depressing. I'm sad to be in this position but there's nothing I can do. The only way I see myself staying is if people are actively gunning for a threat. I'm weak in challenges, I don't trust my duo, I'm easy to manipulate and a complete free vote, but people might not want to take advantage of that.

Remember what I said earlier about wanting to go to the warzone so I wouldn't feel out of the loop? Well here I am and I'm still out of the loop!! I hope it's just because it's noon on a Tuesday and people are at school/at work but I'd like to know what the vote is sooner rather than later. At this point I'd rather just take the easy vote and send Kelsey home because the first two votes were arguably uh...not the easy votes. Kait needed to go but I want that to be the only major blindside for the next few rounds but we all know that ain't happening 

I DONT KNOW WHERE I STAND IN THIS GAME BECAUSE I HAVENT HAD TO ACTUALLY PLAY YET. I'm really proud of myself for coming thru in these challenges, but it really limits the way I usually play, which is very social. I get stuck with 2-3 people every round, and like i get bored. I want a swap tbh. I really really really want to play with Billy. He'll keep me safe (or i hope so) I just really don't want to go into the warzone esp with people like Isaac there. But bet my ass I'm gonna fight to stay if I have to.

I don't know what is going on tonight and I'm highkey freaking out. Yes - the person who wants me out of the game is gone, but that does nothing to ease my nerves. I'm coming in a someone who is known in this series, either for winning, POTS, Hellwai or hosting. There are few people who came into this game without knowing me or knowing of me. That's terrifying. Yeah - I have people and I don't think I'm going home this week, but I don't know how long I will be able to pull this off TBH. I don't see them letting me make merge if they're smart. It'll be the first PI game I haven't made jury in, but I can just feel it. 

kelsey is gettin votes yeah

It aint a real TC if Kelsey and Shea aren't here! woo!

I have a lot of tea in a vid confessional I've yet to upload but basically Kait was killed and it SHOOKT up the game. And now my ass is in the war zone where I tried to get Shea killed but it might be Kelsey. But I've been lowkey worried it's Carson or myself because after Isaac went for Kait like that I'm worried like. The boy don't got anymore boundaries. I feel like he'll vote anyone. So I'll be sad if that happens and I go :') Especially because I have an IDOL. Well, technically a Rainbow Pistol. Which can become any of the super crazy color idols at random when played hehe. But I'm worried. Carson gave it to me to hold onto because he's not online so I'm gonna feel like shit if I'm voted out. I just have to hope I'm not getting fucked over!

Yes honey, back in town to shut it down and NOT receive a strike! XDDDD See you after this trial,  yes~? ;D