#after season 6 I decided that if she was still show runner I was gonna stop watching

[makorragal-312]

DING DONG KRISTEN'S GONE!!!

[uhlikzsuzsanna]

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen all of Season 1 of “Loki,” currently streaming on Disney Plus.

Ever since “Loki” first premiered in June, Kate Herron, who directed all six episodes of the Marvel Studios series, has had to pretend like she knew far less than she really does. For one, she couldn’t acknowledge that the homages to sci-fi classics like “Blade Runner” and “Brazil” that she’d baked into the elaborate sets for the Time Variance Authority — the cosmic bureaucracy tasked with maintaining the sacred timeline — were “meant to be sinister” rather than just “playful and quirky.”

For another, Herron was delighted to see fans theorizing after the very first episode that Kang the Conqueror — a character already set to appear in the Marvel Studios feature “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” as played by Jonathan Majors — was really pulling the strings of the TVA. But until the finale streamed last Wednesday, she couldn’t even hint that those fans were only half right: Majors does play the mastermind of the TVA, but he’s a variant of Kang referred to as He Who Remains. It’s only after He Who Remains encounters Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his female variant counterpart Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), and Sylvie plunges a blade into his heart, that the multiverse is reborn, creating the possibility for Kang the Conqueror to emerge.

Again, though: Herron couldn’t acknowledge any of that, even to those closest to her.

“Nothing has prepared me better for working with Marvel than playing tabletop games with my friends,” she says with a laugh. “It definitely taught me how to have a good poker face. You have to hide your hand — and sometimes lie.”

Now, thankfully, all of that is behind her — as is “Loki” itself. Despite receiving widespread acclaim for her assured, ambitious, and visually sumptuous work directing the show, Herron says she has decided not to return for Season 2 of the series.

“I gave it everything — in my soul, in my heart, everything,” she says. “I feel so proud of the work we’ve done. And yeah, I’ll be enjoying Season 2 as a fan.”

She’s quick to sing the praises of everyone she worked with at Marvel, and she says she’s “sure” she’ll work again with the studio. For now, however, she’s ready to take a holiday, and then turn to a project she’s writing herself “that’s really close to my heart that I really want to make.”

“It’s my own decision, but I just feel like my part with ‘Loki’ is finished now and I’m just excited to see where his story goes,” she says.

Before she parts ways for good, however, Herron spoke with Variety about bringing Jonathan Majors into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what she thought of the shocking revelation about infinity stones and what she would like to see happen in Season 2.

She always knew “Loki” would introduce Kang and the Multiverse…

From the very start, Herron says, she and head writer Michael Waldron knew that their six-episode run of “Loki” would always end with Loki and Sylvie meeting He Who Remains at his citadel, the result of which would cause the creation of the multiverse.

As Episode 6 makes clear, both of these events were massive turning points for the future of the MCU — and Herron still can’t quite believe she got to be the one to make them a reality.

“We were just, like, waiting to be told, ‘Actually, guys, we’ve had a change [of heart],'” Herron says. Instead, Herron says she and “Quantumania” director Peyton Reed participated in casting Majors in the role.

“I was just like, pinch me,” she says. “I can’t believe I was at the table for that, because I know it was such a big decision for them all.”

Herron also decided to have Majors provide the voices for all three “Timekeepers” who are supposedly at the head of the TVA, but are revealed by Sylvie to be nothing more than “mindless androids.”

“We didn’t have someone cast for those voices,” she says. “I remember thinking, well, ‘Wizard of Oz’ is clearly a reference for us. We should have the wizard. It’d be great if it’s Jonathan. So we sent him all the art of the timekeepers. And he just kind of came up with these incredible voices for each of them.”

…but not with a cliffhanger.

The most significant decision of the season, though, may be that it ends with a giant cliffhanger, when Loki discovers he’s in a brand new reality for the TVA in which Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) don’t even recognize him. But while Herron knew how this season of “Loki” would end, at first, she did not know that there would be any more seasons after it.

“When I started, there wasn’t a discussion of Season 2, exactly,” she says. “It was just that season of ‘Loki.’ As we got deeper into production, everyone was very happy, and obviously there’s so much to explore with Loki. It felt like we should continue the story. So I think the cliffhanger ending came in later in the process.”

Herron says she sprinkled in some hints to viewers that Loki is in a new timeline, like redressing sets to look slightly off, and recasting Eugene Cordero’s TVA receptionist Casey as a hunter headed to the armory in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. But her favorite bit is that the final line — said by Mobius to Loki — is the same as the first line spoken in the show, by a woman in the Gobi desert, also to Loki: “Who are you?”

“That was kind of the question of the whole first season,” Herron says.

She was just as shocked about the Infinity Stones as everyone else.

In the first episode, Loki discovers to his horror that not only does his magic not work inside the TVA, but Infinity Stones — heretofore believed to be the most powerful objects in the known universe — are just inert rocks there. The revelation sent shockwaves across the Marvel fandom; Herron was right there with them.

“That was in Michael’s script when I first got it to pitch [for the directing job],” she says. “I remember being like, ‘WHAT?! You put me through so much!’ But then I thought, ‘Oh, it’s kind of genius, because it shows how powerful the TVA are. Who are these people? What is this place?'”

Herron especially appreciated how her shock — and the audience’s — mirrored Loki’s own as the rug gets pulled out from under him. “I was quite excited by it,” she says. “It really shows you that there’s a new power in the MCU — and it’s not what we we spent the last decade dedicating our lives to.”

She told Kevin Feige she wanted gender parity among her crew.

Prior to “Loki,” Herron’s most high profile job was directing the second half of the first season of the Netflix dramedy “Sex Education.” She got the “Loki” job thanks to a 60-page pitch memo that filled out just about every detail of the world of the show. After hiring her, she says Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige asked her, “What are your terms?”

“This was the first time I was gonna get to hire my heads of department on a television show I worked on,” she says. “I was like, I’d really love [the crew] to be 50/50 across gender.”

Herron says she wasn’t out to fill any jobs on the film with a specific gender. But, she says, “There aren’t enough women in these roles. They’re out there. It’s a lack of opportunity. It’s not a lack of interest.”

She did end up hiring two women for critical roles that are still rarely occupied by women: cinematographer Autumn Durald (“The Sun Is Also a Star”) and composer Natalie Holt (History’s “Knightfall”).

“I felt like she was inside my mind,” Herron says of Durald. “We have the same taste. And I love the way that she talks about light as a character.”

Herron hired Holt unusually early for a composer, after she’d completed editing the first episode during the pandemic shutdown. She knew that the particular sci-fi film noir look of the show that she was developing with Durald needed similarly unique music, and she liked that part of Holt’s pitch was focusing on Loki’s identity as a character.

“Her music then started to inspire how I wanted to shoot other scenes,” Herron says. She’s especially enamored of Holt’s vision for her dynamic and foreboding theme for the TVA.

“She was like, ‘Oh, let’s have that theme be Kang’s’ — well, He Who Remains, I guess, in our show. But I hope that will go on to be Kang’s theme. That was the real fun of it is that you feel like he’s really played a hand now across the whole show, because you realize that music is his music.”

Herron, Durald, and Holt all deliver distinctive and superlative work that’s nothing like the MCU has quite seen before — and nothing quite like anything previously in their careers, either. And that’s entirely the point.

“I think for us, it was about just showing people what we could do and that we could do it at this level,” Herron says.

The episode in which Loki comes out as bisexual was inspired by Alfonso Cuarón and Richard Linklater.

Every episode of “Loki” features multiple extended scenes of two characters just talking to one another, a rarity in a comic book production. Herron says that cutting Episode 1 together during the pandemic lockdown and seeing the scenes between Loki and Mobius (Owen Wilson) play out so well “definitely gave us confidence” to continue that rhythm for the rest of the show.

That was especially true for Episode 3. Written by Bisha K. Ali (who went on to create the upcoming Marvel Studios series “Ms. Marvel”), the episode is essentially an extended meet-cute between Loki and Sylvie as they get to know each other on a planet doomed for total annihilation.

“Bisha’s reference was ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Children of Men,'” says Herron. “And it lit my brain on fire. It was kind of weird. It was almost like a bottle episode in the sense that we’re just with the two characters, but obviously, it’s Marvel, right? So they’re bonding in this Apocalypse, which also feels very Loki at the same time.”

That episode is best known for making Marvel Studios history, when Loki casually mentions that he’s had dalliances with both men and women. Herron says that when she first interviewed for the job, she asked if the show was going to acknowledge Loki’s sexuality, which had long been established in the comics as bisexual or pansexual.

“I think everyone wanted to acknowledge it,” she says. “It was just really about giving a care and consideration and doing it in the right way. I think everyone knew it was gonna be quite a big moment. So it was just really about doing it in a way that felt respectful. And honoring it.”

Herron also confirms what many fans had suspected, that she deliberately made the lighting scheme for the scene evoke the blue, purple and red of the bisexual flag. “We knew what we were doing with that scene,” she says with a smile.

She has a lot of ideas for what she’d like to see in Season 2.

Since Herron will be watching Season 2 of “Loki” only “as a fan,” she is also free to wildly speculate as to what she’d most like to see happen — like how, wherever Loki story leads, “we’ve opened the door” for the character to explore his sexuality with men as well as women.

Otherwise? She says she wants to know where Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) goes to when she leaves the TVA in search, she tells Mobius, of “free will.”

“I love her,” Herron says. “Gugu used to always call her an indoor girl, which made me laugh, but she is. She’s in the office, but she used to be this kick-ass Hunter. So I’m like, Okay, well, where’s her path going?”

Herron is also keen to learn more about Hunter B-15’s backstory — since she deliberately decided to hide it in the scene in Episode 4 when Sylvie shows B-15 her repressed memories as a variant.

“I was like, we shouldn’t see her memories,” Herron says. “It’s a character that thought they had power and realizes they have no power. It felt really powerful to at least give her some power in that scenario. The memories are private. They’re hers.” She pauses. “Also as a fan, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, who is she?!'”

“And obviously, you know, Loki and Sylvie?” Herron continues, on a roll. “He’s in a completely different reality. What’s going to happen to him? How will he get back? Or will he get back? And where’s Sylvie? She’s still in the Citadel? And the multiverse of it all. What the hell is going to happen?!”

Herron chuckles at her own excitement. “So I think there’s so many questions to be answered, and so much more road to travel with all our characters,” she says. “You know, I’m really proud that I got to set up Loki’s story here. But there’s so many different aspects of his identity and personality that’s yet to be explored. I’m excited to see where it goes.”

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Ep 28: Valon Joins the Dead People Gang

So lately it’s been really freakin hot.

Like crazy freakin hot. I haven’t done anything productive because youknow--I live in a Covid hotspot and I’ve been quarantined for what feels like is 6 years, and then to continue the 10 plagues across America, now it’s just really freakin hot.

I was trying to go the hell to sleep when I heard this WIND outside my window at 2 AM. Just...WIND. It was like 5000 degrees outside, and then it started thundering, and then the lightning started hitting and I was like...wtf 2020, please calm down!

So I decided to check Twitter at 3 AM really fast just to make sure this wasn’t a freakin dream. Aaaaaaand Northern California had a Fire tornado warning.

3 words I never thought I’d see in conjunction. Fire tornado Warning.

and it hella dropped in Tahoe, y’all, it was freakin nuts. Meanwhile, Death Valley--the place where Yugi hella biffed it and died, if you don’t remember--hit 130 F (54.4 C, for the metric lovers in the back) so...it’s been a time for every part of California, and now we have some good ol fashioned rolling blackouts accompanied by 27 wildfires (yes, 27 fires) who have turned the sky into a yellow pea soup.

So because of the rolling blackouts (one of our power transformers exploded because of either the lightning or overuse, I dunno) at any point...my power might go out. Because of this, I didn’t feel like booting up Photoshop and so instead I’ll just...work on this.

...something about the Fire Tornado, the yellow shadow realm outside my window, and crazy lightning over San Fransisco reminded me that it’s been a HOT MINUTE since I’ve posted so lets get back to Yugioh. Somehow they knew that the doorway to hell was my back yard and you know what? They’re right. Completely believable and I wish someone would close the damn door.

Tristan read my mind that it’s been such a hot minute since I’ve checked in, that he mansplained a very quick summary of what the hell is currently happening to Tea Gardner.

A brave man, Tristan Taylor. A brave man to risk getting into a fight with Tea, who is the only Goliath on this show that exists without also being a paper card.

Which is when Pharaoh had some news.

I guess without Duke around, Pharaoh had to be the new Killjoy

(read more under the cut)

I exaggerate a little for the caps, but it’s kind of interesting that when Joey is usually on his own, it’s Yugi who’s certain that Joey is about to die and Pharaoh is the one that has to calm little Yugi down. But, when Yugi’s not there, I guess Pharaoh is just already in a Mood.

Mai is really weird this episode! I wish this season had gone into more detail about the extent of the Orichalcos’s mind control. Because Mai could very well be under it’s spell...or not...maybe it has no spell and they’re just falling for it like a placebo?

It’s not like the Orichalcos was ever put on anyone who was “good.” like if it were possessing someone nice like...

....

....(let me think about this, I’ll think of someone on this show who is a true lawful good.)

....

.................Dark Magician Girl, then I’d actually know if this Orichalcos actually IS different from how these characters actually are. But Mai was introduced in this series as a villain, and she’s always been around to bust balls, so it’s like...what part is Mai and what part is not?

Apparently a part that only shows up when Valon dies.

PS Valon turns a very quick 180 right before he died. I honestly thought I had skipped an episode or something because bro mentioned something about...Valon burning down a church or something...but I think that was a spicy headcanon where he mixed up this show with another anime.

I think. If I skipped an episode, y’all would tell me, right? I didn’t skip an episode?

I did skip the card games, however, so something about getting punched like 1000 times in the dick by Joey Wheeler taught Valon how to be human again, and the death that followed the 1000 dick punches inspired Mai to remember that Valon exists and that she Loves Him.

(just flat on his face)

I just...

I am going to give Yugioh this one. They have had so little in terms of relationships--I will give this to them. Good Job Yugioh, you did it. You had a relationship on your show. Sure, it was one where she...never seemed to like the guy at all, but hey--they actually did embrace...a corpse. Good on you, Yugioh.

Again, I have a really difficult time not cracking up about this very tragic moment a little bit because (and I have said this before about relationships on Yugioh), but I have never seen a TV show treat a straight relationship this way. I have never seen Straight Baiting before in my life and it is...WILD.

Also because Valon and Mai have both murdered I want to say hundreds of people at this point, it’s hard to feel too bad about them, although they are drawn as a very cute couple in how their outfits match. They got the finger less gloves, the belts hanging off their collar, the sleeveless outfit that is both too much clothes and too little clothes at the same time.

And like...I really like the idea behind Valon/Mai. I still think that was a good idea to build off of, I just wish that there was more of a sign from Mai that she had any idea that Valon existed prior to this. Because Valon had Orichalcos too, but he was fully able to love her--so what was happening on her end that prevented this? Was it just the amount that she hated Joey was so much more than her love for Valon? Was Valon actually more jealous of her hate of Wheeler and misinterpreted it as love?

Anyway it’s a billion degrees and I don’t have air conditioning so...I think we’ll have more time to think about this next episode. Maybe it’ll occur to me two weeks after this heat wave ends exactly what I am trying to grasp at when it comes to these two, but for now all I can say is...well it was nice.

Ah RIP Valon/tine (or at least I assume that’s the ship name). You lasted almost a whole season. You almost became a thing. I guess well find out if there’s redemption after he eventually gets resurrected.

And on this show we redeem resurrected people kind of a lot, so that seems reasonable. Sure it was a couple hundred people that he murdered but like...we redeemed Marik.

And then she goes back to wigging out like immediately. The flipping and the flopping of Mai Valentine in this episode is a lot.

And immediately after he says something along the lines of this, he follows with...doing this:

Joey! Valon just died so you wouldn’t have to duel Mai Valentine! He’s dead, Joey! Maybe try talking???

The thing about this show is that cards can both heal you and also destroy you, and the line between the two is just...rolling a dice and hoping you come out healed. Yugi played cards against Yami so that Yami could free himself from his guilt and move on--Valon was healed of Orichalcos control because Joey beat him at cards--Seto was “cured” of his more evil side because Yami mind wiped him in a card game--card magic is weird.

At the same time, Cards can take your soul in just So Many Ways--kind of one of the downsides. But, in a very round about way, maybe cards are kind of like therapy in this world. Maybe they don’t have therapy, and all these kids playing card games with eachother is metaphorical to how they all need eachother in order to push eachother to actually go through the steps of-

Ah, who am I kidding? They just really needed to have Mai lose at cards so they could write her off the show.

I do appreciate that the show never tells you that someone’s actions in the past mean they must rot for eternity. This show will never cancel anyone and say “burn that bridge, let’s go” but I feel like murder is...the line where you can just walk away?

But youknow if that were true of Joey wheeler he’d have no friends left.

During this time, The Yugioh crew was inexplicably lost while, for once in his entire life, Seto was going the correct direction.

Unfortunately, the lure to throw cards at thing was too much for him to go the right direction for very long. It is kind of funny to note that he is the smartest boy in Domino--so he knows you can drive through a hologram--but he just didn’t want to know if they were real or not, so he...didn’t.

Like I think that says a lot about Seto, and I’m sure the show-runners didn’t think about this at all, but he could have tested his theory right now. He could have just seen if these were real in order to know if he was crazy or not...but he’d rather be insane, than be involved with magic.

Anyways, Mai drops that Orichalcos.

Reminder that San Francisco is only 7-12 miles from one end to the other depending on what part of the peninsula you’re on.

But then again, they’re reading a map in Roman characters and these kids are school dropouts who only speak Japanese and maybe Spanish. Maybe they’re actually doing really, really well considering the language barrier?

Anyway that’s all for now I’m gonna go pass out and hopefully when I wake up it’ll be next week when it is no longer hot. If you just got here, this is a link to read these caps from the beginning!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[howaboutalittlehelpneos]

Since I was tagged a while ago for a post I’ve done before, I figured I would make another one since I’ve seen one more Yugioh series than I had back then, so here’s the tag meme My first response can be found here

Tagged by: @asterism343​ Since I’ve answered these before, my responses will be a lot simpler this time around

Favorite series: I may have changed my icon and my header, but it is still in fact GX. Arc-V is where my current main focus lies because I’m always thinking about aus that actually make use of the lost potential in Arc-V, but GX will always hold the spot at number one for me. Favorite protagonist: Still Jaden. Dumb baby boy deserves the world after what he went through in his series. He is good, despite his crimes. Favorite rival: It’s gotta be The Chazz (god kill me), but the runner up is still Shark for me. Love those dumb gay idiots who are only soft for their rivals. Favorite bff: It’s such a hard call between Joey and... Actually, who is supposed to be Yusei’s best friend? I always just assumed it was Crow because he’s definitely the nicer brother when it comes to him and Jack, but I guess it could also be Kiryu? Or Bruno? I legitimately had a hard time telling which boy was supposed to be placed into the archetype of best friend for that show, so I’ll be right back after a quick google search.

Lmao this whore is not Yusei’s best friend- Anyways it’s a hard call between Joey and Crow when it comes to the best of the best friends, but I think I have to pick Crow once again. It’s a very close tie though.

Favorite girl: Sticking with Yuzu on this one tbh. I went through a few opinions on her over the course of Arc V, and I ended up just kinda wishing they’d let her do more. I can say with confidence she’s the main girl that has irked me the least, and I even kind of liked her as the show went on. She was just very underutilized past a certain point.

Favorite villain: This whore alien

I’ve talked at length about Vector in several posts, and no I will not stop using “I’m positively dripping” whenever I get the chance to, thank you for asking. He remains my favorite villain in design and personality, but let it not be forgotten that I also 100% wish they had killed this bitch off. I love him, but I wish he were dead. It’s what he deserves.

Favorite card: Honestly? Right now my current favorite card is Cheer Mole!

She just makes me really happy. Sweet shy mole baby that’s scared of people, but will perform when she’s gotta. I love her.

Favorite episode: I’m doing this by series, so here’s my list -Season 0: Episode 16: Turnabout by a Hair’s Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis -Duel Monsters: Season 5, episode 12-14: The Deciding Match for Duel King - Yugi vs. Leon/Golden Castle of Stromberg/KC Grand Prix Ends -GX: Season 3, episode 34: Dark Fusion! Inferno Wing!! -5Ds: Season 4, episode 2-3: Recollections, Entrusted with a Friend’s Dying Wish -Zexal II: Season 2, episode 5-6: Alito the Silent Fighter - Reunion of the Passionate Duelists!/ Be Revived! The Duelist Soul That Transcends Life!! -Arc-V: Season 1, episode 19-20: The Universe of Knowledge!! Eita Kyuando/A Difficult Question!? Attack Duel Quiz!!

Since the Arc-V ones are the only new addition here, I’m just gonna go ahead and say that it was admittedly hard for me to come up with an episode for this series. Most didn’t have a positive emotional impact on me as a whole- the episodes I Could think of either made me upset or angry (or they were the gay candyshipping ones in the beginning), so I had to scroll through the Arc-V anime channel in my Discord for ideas of what to pick. The quiz duels are some genuinely funny episodes that I would rewatch someday just to laugh. Yuya is really stupid in them and I get to hear him say “I want your lifespan?” in Japanese, and it’s just a good time all around. It’s simple, it’s fun, and it makes me laugh.

Favorite decks to use:  Elemental Heroes, Aromages, Red Eyes, Six Samurai, Gem Knights, and Crystal Beasts.  

Fusion, ritual, synchro, Xyz, pendulum, or link: Fusion Freak and XYZ Scum

Years in fandom: ??? A mystery to all. Used to be big on Yugioh in middle school, wrote a couple fanfics, then I fell out of it until April of this year, 2020.

Who I’m tagging: @finding-fallen-stars​ (I know you’ve done this before but now we’ve both seen Arc-V, so maybe your thoughts on a favorite episode will be better than mine lmao), @yuki-motou​, and @angelmelany​

[grumpy-zane]

((Had a ninjago fan season idea that takes place after s13 and semi centers around Kai ninjago. This seasons theme: Vacation gone wrong! I have segmented it into episodes for convenience. I uh, may or may not dedicate some time to drawing content for this thing, so I apologize in advance. ((also it is. a long post.

Episode 1 - Answering machine going off and its’ Ronins voice over the machine: 'Looks like I’m gonna run late.. ugh this whole thing is falling apart isn't it. But we'll make it work. I got you a ferry to take you there, one of the cruise ships. It was the least I could do for now... I'll meet you there, I promise.'     >Cuts to Dareth on the boat, taking him and the rest of the people to ‘Aves Isle’.    >While everyone is getting off, Dareth helps a naga lady with carrying some of her stuff because Dareth ninjago.    >Naga ladys' name is 'Olive', she is a semi native. She starts talking about the islands' history. 'there used to be a temple but we don't know what happened to it, but it sunk into the ground.    >two investigate the area because Dareth has time to wait on Ronin.    >Upon finding whats’ left of the area and entering, the atmosphere changes and inflicts a weird curse or whatever.    >Dareth starts getting progressively more pushy Episode 2 - After s13 Wu wants to do more adventures so the bounty is just flying wherever the wind takes it I guess w/e {{Also realized I didn’t write much for Wu this entire rest of the story so I am assuming he’s having a grand ol’ time being on vacation}}    >wow it is night time, the bounty is flying in    >The crew ask where they are and Zane starts to go on his normal informative spiel before getting cut off.    >Oh there’s a thing on the radar. What the heck is that thing flying towards us OH GOD THAT’S A BIG ANGRY DRAGON    >Bounty has two smaller 'runner' boats? I guess? marketing. Two of the ninja hop on those and fly off.    >Zane and Jay distract the dragon so the bounty can safely land but it turns out there are two dragons and Jay gets taken down first. Yay soft landing.    >Bounty makes it safely over the fences that are on the island    >Zane gets taken out.    >Cuts back to Dareth and Olive still rooting around. activates something and wow a lava fountain. the ground is glowing in weird markings!    >Dareth snaps at Olive and she wells up and runs away and Dareth snaps out of it temporarily like 'oh crud why did I do that I didn't mean to be so bossy' and goes after her    >Olive gets overtaken and now: pointy.    >Dareth tries to stop her but she jumps into the portal lava whatever? hole?? not sure.    >He, of course, jumps in after.    >Fire Dareth.    >Random golden-looking platform chained to the bottom of the hole they are in. ominous voice: hey how about you get these locks free and we'll rebuild the temple? nice.    >Temple platform rises    >Zane gets tossed into an area? park? fenced in something or another??    >oh hi Jay    >oh community service sorting trash from recyclables? can do.

Episode 3 - The remaining ninja visit the two who are in 'time out' before deciding to have a look around the island.    >They take a nice walk down the beach Cole reminisces about the time Kai was extremely afraid of water    >Kai frowns as a laugh track is played. Claims he has gotten better at it but screams when Nya splashes him.    >Zane and Jay are done with service and its like 'okay how about we try to get out again?’    >Zane suggests doing it in the broad daylight since the dragons went out at night and may be nocturnal    >they try    >they get taken out again    >another round of community service    >sees another aircraft fall out of the sky    >guard: wow more property damage.    >sundown. lloyd notices that something strange is happening with some of the residents randomly getting more nippy and then not. strange. (Ninja get into an arguments with the locals or whatever)    >Stop by community service area    >Jay is now frustrated    >rest recuperate at where they parked the bounty    >Nya: well nothing is really going on here we can probably leave once the two are done breaking the law     >Ronin shows up to the area and is greeted sourly by Jay ninjago

Episode 4 - The ninja are ready to leave when they notice a weird ominous structure that wasn't there before.    >Crew investigate    >oh its hot. you can go in, Kai ninjago    >kai enters    >oh frick fire dareth    >kai ninjago, walking out and is krispy: there is a problem.    >three get out of service    >ronin asks if the little runner ships are 'truly' important    >hekcin steals their engine or whatever    >regroup at the bouty    >Kai: hey uhh, Dareth is peeved haha, I don't get it though he and I hang out every now and then.    >Ronin, internally: oh god he's really mad I didn't follow plans to a T-    >the ninja exchange awkward glances of guilt    >decide it'd be best to talk to him tomorrow, or try to. Also, more people are randomly getting upsetti, Jay is still frustrated.

Episode 5 - jay still has a bad attitude. lloyd is also starting to get upset. Cole tries to diffuse the situation but it causes the two to point their noses up at each other in silent anger. great.    >Kai enters in the temple again, which is even more built than it was before.   >Dareth being snarky   >kai apologizes and tells him he wasn't aware of it, and that he thought the two were good friends, reminding him of the times they hung out outside of mission things.   >Dareth calms down a bit   >finds a reason to be mad again.   >Ronin shows up   >'ronin?'   >''Told you I'd meet you here, what didn't you believe me? not really much of a vacation. How about we get some fresh air?"   >Dareth approaches   >oh no he's really hot.   >cheek caress with the robotic arm. gae.   >two head out. Room is no longer unbearably hot. good!   >squad enters in. goes into one of the inner chambers   >oh look the towns people overtaken by rage are building. nice.   >oh no jay and lloyd are fighting again.   >grabs attention of workers.   >the ninja get their butts handed to themselves, and lose Jay and lloyd in the process. nice   >cuts to Ronin and Dareth walking on the beach.   >Ronin smooth talking, normal Ronin behvior   >Flames and whatever fade from Dareth and he snaps out of it completely and immediately starts pouring out how he feels bad about being rude to Olive and whatever the bad guy is and what the plans of the temple are.   >Ronin: maybe we should tell the ninja. I don't want us to get involved anymore.

Episode 6 - Ronin informs the ninja of what's up.   >Nya: oh no we gotta stop this !   >Dareth: I want to help.   >Ronin: no we are on vacation we shouldn't have to; leave it up to them.   >Dareth: no I started this, this is my fault, I have to make it up to Olive and everyone <:(   >Ronin: :/   >Zane: we should focus on. not making the locals angry because that seems to draw them towards the temple.   >Ninja proceed to do good deeds, while part of them break off to do research   >learn about the bad guy dunn dun dunn!

episode 7 - Kai ninjago somehow is the one keeping the most level head out of everyone here and things get tense again. is it potentially out of character? Well he's mad that lloyd and jay are overtaken but he's doing a good job at self control.   >cuts to lloyd and Jay   >lloyd: this is dumb! why are we helping!? We're supposed to be stopping this!   >Jay: we're helping because YOU dragged us into this with your plan!   >argue. great   >bad guy laughing or whatever, oh the voice has a physical form that's manifesting from the heat of the temple. 'Good, soon I will be reborn and reclaim the island!'   >Olive inform him that Dareth has broken the spell   >bad guy furious and confused but is also like 'whatever we have a lot more important things to worry about'   >Nya and Zane are stepping on each others' toes.   >ronin and Dareth relay what they learned.   >kai sitting in the bounty looking disheveled   >'Human pinata makes the kids happy'. Horrifying.   >story about how the bad guy was dispersed after 'other beings' landed on the island and taught he locals the importance of peace and not war or whatever. It was probably some Oni and dragons chillin.   >Cole: oh! I mean we have two 'other beings' and those are the dragons, but they seem really angry and territorial   >Kai: maybe they want something and just haven't gotten it? ((Id have to mention one of the festivals known as the 'laughing dragon' festival or whatever but it's fallen into obscurity due to the dragons not being happy. Mention that sometime during episode 3))   >investigation time part 3.   >learn that there's a fruit that the dragons like, but the recipee was lost on how to make the disk for them   >well gang, time to get cooking! thank goodness Zane is on our-   >just kidding Zane and Nya are gone now because they got too angry at each other and went to 'get space' but they're probably at the temple now.

Episode 8 - Gotta do the cookin by the book!   >the ingredients are gathered.   >Dareth insists that they used a very speicific brand of exctact.   >Cole has no idea how to cook well   >Kai starts putting things together.   >Cole: when did you learn to cook?   >Kai: Well I had to take care of my sister buutt.. I dunno I think being the master of fire, cooking comes easy. ;)   >Cole: if there's any way I can help just let me know.   >kai: oh, yeah, bust open those things.   >Cole literally smashes open the fruit sending bits everywhere   >good ol happy comedic moment.   >first try   >Cole: . looks. uh. strange.   >Ronin: I am afraid to taste it.   >Dareth: oh I'm sure it can’t be- -face scrunch-   >Kai: <:)   >Dareth: well... I swallowed it.. at least..   >cuts to temple again   >bad guy is like 'we need more people how come everyone stopped coming?? someone needs to go out and start beating people up >:('   >Olive reports that the ninja were gathering ingredients for something or another   >Bad guy is like 'okay send some people there and stop them'

episode 9 - after the 5th attempt it's much more palatable so they make a larger batch and stick it in a boat all fancied up and now have to deliver it   >oh god angry people   >why are they looking at us hhh   >fite   >Kai: we legit cannot let any of this spill otherwise I'm going to scream.   >only way to get it away from the people is to go by ocean   >Ronin: we'll do what we can but you gotta do this kai. You're tough.   >kai: ahaha I still don't like water but!   >boat on water   >gets to the part outside of the gate   >oddly silent.   >kai proceeds to put it on the beach and starts calling out for the dragons and starts making noise or whatever. "im gonna kick your sand! haha! what are you going to do about it??'   >Dragons emerge, ready to fight   >sees the offering. Kai: it's okay it's okay, this is for you.   >backs away from the boat   >lets the dragons have it.   >the smaller one is curious about him and approaches him after   >good ol’ kai dragon interaction. yay confidence!

Episode 10 - wow I sure do hate this sorting plant by now, thinks Ronin ninjago.   >tossed in the sorting plant Cole: this isn't too bad. Dareth: yeah I thought we were going to be burned by the stake, haha! Ronin: oh you'll hate it soon enough.   >Dareth and cole exchange glances. Cole: oh I know, how about we do a song, get a beat going? I'm sure kai has things under control! Dareth: good idea! Keep the spirits high, huh?   >Olive informs that the offering made it out into the ocean   >bad guy says 'no fear the ocean probably will swallow it', both unaware that kai was on the boat.   >temple is nearing completion.   >the angry ninja attempt yet again, to try to make a plan to stop him.   >everyone has a different idea   >they don't work together and go do their own plans.   >lloyd tries to go after him directly   >jay attempts to use his powers to get the workers to stop and go after him   >nya yells at jay   >Zane attempts to take out Olive, with mild success, kicks her out of the temple.   >olive decides to visit in on the captives   >glares at Dareth   >Dareth proceeds to apologize profusely   >Olive is stunned and snaps out of it, sorta. moment of clarity   >apologizes for stopping their plan about the dragons. gives more detail about the situation inside the temple before getting ready to head back.   >ronin. heckin. kidnaps her w/e He wants answers, and also doesn't want her relaying the information she gathered back to the bad guy. Dareth: oh my GOD did you KILL her?? Ronin: :B no messengers.

Episode 11 - The dragons fly overhead and do their little dance and show and yaay, the people are happy!   >people working on the temple stop and notice in awe and decide to go outside to have a look.   >bad guy takes notice and a n g r y, number of the workers stop and go enjoy the show. Some even going to their work areas and getting snacks and things like a festival. Bad guy: where is my messenger?! How did this happen?! steppin out. that's it, I'll deal with this personally.   >bad guy stands on his temple top whatever. Starts blasting fire balls.   >kai ninjago shooting fireballs back to deflect Locals: wow firework show!   >even more stop their progress.   >lloyd notices   >the rest of the ninja notice. lloyd: woah kai ninjago..! Nya: I don't know how long he can last doing that.. Zane: the power comes from the temple.. Jay: so we have to sink the temple!   >sink time   >as the temple starts to submerge again the fire balls become weaker   >bad guy adverts his attention to the ninja and decide to try to take them out   >Kai ninjago shows up and they have a fire bending battle not ripped from avatar at all Jay: kai you gotta get outta there the temple is collapsing! Kai: I will give me a minute!   >This is sparta kicks the dude into the portal thingy lava(?) and gets the heck outta there before everything falls in again.   >yaay, we won!   >mini celebration that's more like we gotta recover

Episode 12 - partially filler episode? w/e   >actual festival held   >good ol relaxing for real this time.   >Dareth: that was fun!   >Ronin: so much for a vacation, seems like trouble is always following you around.   >Dareth: thank god I have you to protect me from it all, huh?   >Ronin: wow gay   >Dareth: also why did you run late?   >Ronin: weeeeeell... that's a long story. B) I'll tell you on the flight back.   >Olive: how did you find the recipe for the thing?   >kai: I didn't I just... I mean, Well, when you have flare like me you tend to know how to make a good dish B)   >Cole: he guessed and messed up 5 times.   >Olive: oh-    >kai: >:( c o l e   >the ninja can actually leave now   >FFIV victory fanfare

[aenslem]

Doctor Who Tag Game

Tagged by: @thirteenstardisfam thank youu and i am so sorry it is so super long lmao i did not mean too, but somehow ended up with it, and also i think i will make fandom hate me for some stuff about 11, but i love him! don’t you dare to think otherwise :’D

im tagging: @tennant @luke-skywalker @panlyra @stupidape @buffyrosenbergs @expelliarmus idk who of you whovians wanna do it out there feel free to say i tagged you and go on ;)

Favourite Doctor:  still Ten, i love 12 and 13 almost as much, even if not harder atm, but if it comes to choosing 1 fav doctor then it’s always Ten, so far no one stepped higher for me :’D I loved his era, i loved so many episodes with him, his season arcs, his companions, his relationships with everyone, and this is the only Doctor whose regeneration was smooth for me, he was continuation of Ninth Doctor and it felt like that. I was not like ‘but he is so different in so many ways’ nope, never. Maybe it’s because companions were the same, everyone was still around which was great btw, and I fell in love with the show with Tenth Doctor, dare I say that I stopped watching back then when Matt Smitt became doctor? lmao, must be shock for some but yes, I dropped this show because of THAT lmao??now i laugh at my own self but yeah, i did. where’s everyone, why it feels so different? that was huge nope. Only years later I got back into it, thanks to amazing Michelle Gomez. Actually I was not even going to watch other doctors at that moment, but I watched episodes only with Missy, then i said well it’s not bad I like it and Missy and Twelve were?? OOOF LOVES OF MY LIFE FOR SURE because their relationship were so cool and of course i loved it, so i started a huge rewatch, the first since i dropped the show. Fell in love with Doctor/Master all over again, Ten was as amazing as I remembered, Nine was perfect and I love him too!!! and then... i got to s5... oh god, i was like, let’s give him a chance, what do i lose? but it still felt so weird, and the show was so different, and suddenly everyone else is so important but where are old characters? but i got into it because i have already seen some of 12′s episodes and i got used to the style?? i guess. and then River appeared, not because of her but around episode 5 or 6 i was into it already, not as much as i was before but anyway, maybe weeping angels helped because i loved them and it reminded me of Ten, i felt some kind of a connection to old doctor. I liked River with 10, i thought i will like her with 11 too... but alas, still felt like you know those boys who have never had sex but try to act like they know everything about it and hit on every moving thing and think they do it cool? :D i am sorry if i hurt someone’s feelings with it, but that’s how 11 was for me back then, and while I do understand river/11 it’s the least of all river ships for me, 11 is still the least fav doctor because of those feelings i had back then when i stopped watching, they are not rational i know that now but still feel them, but i love him now, and will protect that kid at all costs! i love ponds, i will kill if anyone says anything bad about Rory Williams! and Amy and Rory? quoting my favorite star trek couple? DUDE WE GO TOGETHER OR NOT AT ALL!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! and even if i was not into all river/11 relationship i loved the story, and of course i liked 12, but s8 still feels like what the hell for me, not because of the doctor but because they tried so hard to show clara as bossy, i mean, i liked her with 11 and then suddenly they turn her into some control freak, it was not so MUCH with 11... but i know now why they did it, so Missy’s words have an effect and all. but still, i love clara before and after s8 :’D s9 clara? i will kill for her too. it’s too long but idk  :’D and actually, this shows that if you give it a chance even if you don’t like actor/actress at first - you might love the show ;) so stop acting like jodie is miscast honestly, i am ready to fight anyone for saying that :D say whatever you want about plot choices, but do not fucking act like it’s Jodie’s fault! actors are not responsible for show runner choices. She acts amazing with the material she has. anyway, 10 is my fav idiot!

Favourite Master: Missy, always was and always shall be. My favorite character in general in the show, no one tops my girl!

Favourite Sonic: honestly? i don’t really remember any sonic but 12′s glasses :D so... glasses. I mean, i don’t really care how it looks like, it does its job... most of the time lmao, but i liked those glasses and the thing with browser history was my fav :D

Favourite Companion: oh it’s soooo hard!!! either Donna or Bill. I can’t choose. but yeah, those are both with whom there were no ‘romantic’ relationship implied, i love friends more than couples. and I just loved 10 and Donna as a team and Bill and 12, i still wish they had more time. also Martha, the smartest companion lol she was amazing.

Favourite Story: anything involving The Master :D all episodes with them are my favs, but i can’t just pick one story, i still remember the first episode i watched back when it was airing and are you my mummy stuck in my head for the rest of my life giving me brrrr feeling, like it was not scary but somehow made me super uncomfortable? also vashta nerada?? duuuuude, you can’t just look at the shadow the same way. and ten/river together were really great, i mean, he did not know who is she, the mystery, i love shit like that?? yeesss!!!!! there are so many great ones. I don’t want to choose.

Favourite Soundtrack: that unreleased tiny melody when the master dies in the last of the time lords T--T and this is gallifrey and clara’s theme! those are my favs. and I also really like 11′s theme, kinda ready for adventures and doing some weird but funny shit :D

Dream Actor for next Doctor: ooooof OOOOF dude! you know what, usually it is one actor for 3 seasons, that’s how it was for the last 3 doctors, i want Jodie to break that rule and stay with us for 4th season as well, i just want to see how pissed off those haters will be lmao i really really think the entire timeless child thing will not feel the same with someone else yet, and i don’t think they will reveal much in 13th season, that’s HUGE thing, or they should make it so good and the next doctor... aaah i don’t want to feel that change again, like i did with 10 to 11, and felt with the every next doctor, but i overcome that shit and just give them a chance, it’s the doctor after all and im sure loving all of them now. not sure it can disappoint me even if most of plot choices in the season are ... weak. idk who, there are so many great actors but whoever i choose will not be as great as someone they choose, because they always somehow cast amazing people, but i agree with emily it’s time for a doctor of color! tho, they can’t go back to white male actor right now, i just can imagine how it will look like, with all the hate Jodie received and how people still whine about female doctor, it will look like they tried and decided to go back to white male doctors, one half will be happy but the other one will eat them alive! so yeah, i am pretty sure it’s not gonna be white man again yet lol

Dream Composer: idk

Dream Story: well, considering 13 is in jail now, i would love to see someone “we know” rescuing her, because honestly if they just showed me jack and left it like that, i will not accept it!!! but also since yaz will be the only one left with the doctor, since bradley and tosin leave the show, i hope we will have some yaz and doctor relationship development without anyone else, maybe jack could stay because i love him, but jack’s presence did not hurt doctor and rose relationship development back then, so it should not hurt now also. but if they bring someone new, at least don’t make it right away, let yaz and 13 have an adventure at least 1 episode, some talk and stuff. so when yaz leaves also... (and i kind of had that stupid feeling that yaz will die in the end, because somehow everything hints on that for me? idk maybe it’s because i rewatched and giffed orphan 55 today and vilma (?) telling yaz to run and stay alive kinda felt like something that hints on yaz’s future... and yaz is always going somewhere without thinking, to random alien ship, to save the doctor, she steps into trouble like a doctor hoping everything will somehow be ok, but im not even sure she hopes, it’s more like i am as good as her so i can do it, not in clara’s way when everything hinted she is like the doctor, because let’s be honest she was and even got her own tardis, but she thinks she is, but she is not, i think some day that might end bad for her... so when she also leaves i don’t want it be like well yeah, what’s next? i mean, i still miss Bill, that was like NOOOOOO with tears and screams for me, i loved Bill! and we had 2 seasons with yaz and i still don’t feel the same connection to any of the current companions atm, so i would like the show to make me love them more, i do love them, just not as much as those i still miss, but im sure defending any of them lmao i love them anyway. you know what i mean...

A Companion You’d like to see back: oh OH. we cant bring them back for entire season right? but doctor can meet Donna at some point, which will have no point lmao cos she doesn’t remember and it will only hurt doctor and i don’t see how her appearance will help any plot, it will be just fanservice cameo. But Bill is out there with Heather, they are powerful creatures now, i think it could somehow fit into the story, I want Bill back. But also, Clara is still one heartbeat away from death, she can be out there, and she has tardis. tiny cameos will be fine for me :D and Martha, but also Madam Vastra and Jenny, Kate and Osgood, where they are??? bring them back and it can make sense, their appearances. I mean, imagine someone from UNIT in s11, not unit itself but osgood??? it would feel so much different. 

An Enemy/Alien/Creature you’d like to see again: weeping angels!!!! OOOF they were creepy, and i love them, like, DON’T BLINK!!! how can you not blink for so long? that is cool, i want them back. and also the most beautiful shots are always with angels so... :’D

If you could travel with one of the Doctors, which Doctor and why?: oooh, while 10 is my fav, and I totally would hit on 13 :D i will choose 12, 12 from season 10, because he was such a grandpa, no lovey dovey stuff, he would lecture me on thing i do, give me new info about something, we would explore shit together and he would be like a grandpa i never had. We would definitely have long discussions about stuff and have good laugh together and i would make references to movies and then we would watch those movies :D i would act like Bill lmao yess i want to travel with 12!!!

[mashitandsmashit]

America’s Got Talent: Season 14 - Auditions 6

First of all, Ra’ed was Ra’obbed! They will NEVER have a brilliant singer/songwriter like him on this show again! M. Bison never looked so FABULOOOOUUUUSSSS!!!

Kidding aside, let’s talk about our final audition, and then we’ll reflect on these auditions in general and discuss what to expect moving ahead...

So here goes!

10: The Sentimentalists. I know these two! They were some of the caretakers of the Baudelaire orphans! Boy did Count Olaf have to jump through hoops to trick THESE folks! But seriously, I find them both very entertaining, especially quirky/creepy bellhop lady...But as the judges pointed out, the tricks were lacking, and we’ve seen pretty much everything they had to offer before...They really did feel like the bargain bin Clairvoyants...I hope they improve, because I like THEM...I just don’t like the act yet...

9: Gonzo. He’s come a long way since his Muppet days...And he never looked so good! (Though I do wonder how things are going with him and Camilla...) I guess he’s dropped the usual daredevil stunts to...play the tambourine! Anyway, this was amusing, but I’ve seen other acts this season that had a little more of that silly charm...Still, that stone face and sexy outfit added a lot!

8: Matthew Richardson. Probably the best Cyr wheel acrobat we’ve seen so far...But it’s not like it was such a high bar in the first place! Don’t get me wrong, a LOT of practice must go into all this...It’s just nothing that’s gonna stick with me...This was impressive, just not super-memorable...Though I’m sure plenty of ladies are already getting their phones ready to vote for the good-looking underwear model in the glittery paint!

7: Olivia Calderon. Howie says this isn’t his cup of tea...even though back in Season 7, he gave the Wildcard to that mariachi kid who ALSO sang “My Way”! Whatever, the judges are inconsistent, what else is new? Regardless, while she didn’t hit every note perfectly, I still really enjoyed her singing and look forward to seeing *insert “Coco” reference here*!

6: Luke Islam. Surprise, surprise, Julie’s Golden Buzzer is another singer...I would have liked a LITTLE more variety, just one more non-singer outside the violin kid (and maybe a girl...Kinda interesting that this year’s GBs are proving to be a bit of a sausage fest, seeing that the majority of them are usually female, preferably of the preadolescent variety...) But despite all that, I’ll let Julie have this one, as this kid is both very likable and very talented! He may need some coaching before he’s ready for Broadway, but he’s on his way...Until then, he’s ready for AGT!

5: Kara with a K. Oh look, it’s the Southern Melissa McCarthy! I guess when in doubt, keep talking and sooner or later a joke or two will hit...Also helps if you pack some fast food in your cleavage! Anyway, while this lady could potentially become annoying, for now I would say she gave me the most chuckles as well as entertainment out of all of the stand-up comedians in this round! And she sure knows how to split...as well as fall down!

4: Duo MainTenanT. NOW these acrobatic acts are gettin’ steamy! I bet couples everywhere are watching this and whipping out their notebooks! Only from France, mon cheri! I see a lot of potential with these two, though whether or not they reach that potential is yet to be seen...

3: Revolution Queens. It’s like Malevo, but female and with more screaming! I think Malevo even used that same song in one of their performances...(So is Marilyn Manson, like, a thing in Argentina?) I still hold to my opinion that nothing beats just letting the drums, shoes and whips make the music, no backing-track involved, which Malevo spoiled us with for their first performance...So with that, they peaked too early...As for these ladies, while I’ve mostly seen this all before from Male-vo (Get it?), it is new seeing women do it...And I don’t think I’ve seen any of the men swing a whip with their mouths! Either way, I’m willing to give them a chance!

2: Chris Klafford. Who knew the Amazing Atheist had such a beautiful voice! This man has effectively dethroned Charlotte Summers as the best overall singer of the auditions. “Imagine” is a difficult song to both display one’s voice and make unique, but he pulled it off! I can now officially root for Lamont Landers to get knocked out by this guy (both figuratively AND literally! I mean look at the guy! He’s almost as big as Terry! I’m sure he’s sweet and gentle most of the time, but I would not want to get on his bad side, much less a nerd like Lamont! I wonder what it would be like if he, Terry, Ra’ed and the guy from Bir Khalsa joined into one group! All I gotta say is beware, right? I mean it would make for one hell of a wrestling troupe and-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtm_Q2LK9g Okay, okay!)

1: Robert Finley. Looks like the Masqueraders left a man behind...While the previous entry has a more unique and polished voice, this cool cat also has an impressive voice for his age, plus the bonus of having written the song (and it was a pretty damn good song, if I do say so myself!) And as it turns out, this man is no joke: https://www.amazon.com/Goin-Platinum-Robert-Finley/dp/B076188VCZ Not only is he dropping albums, he’s even been working with the guy from the Black Keys, which is yet more automatic cool points! It’s hard to say how far he’ll make it in this competition despite how awesome he is, because the competition is STACKED! But for now, he took the stage, wrapped it up in bacon, and SIZZLED!!!

This last audition was pretty singer-centric, but I overall really liked all of the singers, and there were some pretty solid variety acts as well! Not quite the best audition, but not the weakest either!

And that about wraps it up (in bacon) for this season’s auditions, and I gotta say, it was quite solid! Everyone who made it (and were concentrated on) felt justified in some way or another...Even the stupid acts were all amusing, and even the singers who I wasn’t big on were at least in some way interesting or special...And what’s more, Simon did a pretty good job weeding out the trite! I guess he’s good for something after all...He just needed a little time to get into the swing of it...

And while the Golden Buzzers weren’t QUITE as varied as I would have liked, they do all have some kind of star quality to them, and I can see all of them earning a place in the finals, assuming they don’t cancel each other out...

But as it is, Kodi Lee IS the would-be winner of the season...While I knew he would go far, I didn’t think of him as the potential winner at first...And then something happened: Everyone kept talking about him! It’s just like what happened with artists like Kevin Skinner and Grace VanderWaal; They won by the power of their influence!

That said, after last season, I wouldn’t rule out the chances of an upset...But for that to happen, there would have to be a sizable backlash against Kodi, like with Courtney Hadwin last season...Again, I’m convinced that Shin Lim was NOT supposed to win...He was probably always meant to be the runner-up or something...But because Courtney got such a backlash by the end, he was simply the next one down...But all the better for him, right?

Anyway, we’ll worry about all of that later...For now, we have Judge Cuts to look forward to...I guess stay tuned for a list of predictions...It seems like all of the acts that appeared in the “Best of Auditions” episode are candidates for Golden Buzzers (especially the ones who already have one)! But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Right now, my best guess for next week is that Brad Paisley will give it to Sophie Pecora, but we’ll wait for the other acts to be announced and see if there is anyone else who would appeal to him...Or he could just pick something unexpected like the dog act or something; I WAS wrong about the other country singer guest judges in the past...

Until then, I’ll keep you all posted on other candidates as the list continues to be updated...

Edit: Okay, the full line-up has been announced! Naturally, there’s no point in predicting any of the acts that were skimmed or skipped over in the auditions making it; Probably the only one who has even a SLIGHT shot is Jecko, but only because we saw a bit more of his act than the others...

Otherwise, I’ve counted eleven acts that HAVE been properly focused on in the auditions, which means that four of them will be eliminated (or more if they actually DO decide to put through some lesser-knowns...)

I guess I’ll start with the singers: There are three legitimate contenders in the category, who are all legitimate contenders for the game in general, each in different ways...We have Sophie Pecora, the soulful songwriter, Chris Klafford, arguably the best overall singer of the season, and Ndlovu Youth Choir, who could potentially go down as the best choir in the history of the show. I’m feeling pretty confident that all three will advance, and for one of them by means of Paisley’s Golden Buzzer...As predictable as it would be for yet another choir to get a GB, I’d say Ndlovu deserves it the most, though I guess I wouldn’t mind either of the other two (that said, Sophie will REALLY have to up her game to justify it over the high bar that the others have set).

Berywam falls under the “If they don’t make it, I’ll be pissed” category, and I’m feeling pretty confident for Lukas & Falco.

And then we have the ones who are in a slightly tougher position...Let’s start with the acrobats: There are three of them in this show, and they all involve shirtless dudes (that’s important!) One of them is sure to make it! That said, Duo Togni is out since we only concentrated on them in the auditions for a second...So that just leaves Matthew Richardson and the Messoudi Brothers. Simon did tell the former that there needs to be more in the next round, which puts some pressure on him. But at the end of the day, I think it all comes down to which of them puts on the best performance...

The Sentimentalists also have pressure placed on them from the criticism they got from both Howie AND Simon...But since they’re competing against one or two other magic acts, and they’re fairly interesting characters, they’ll probably make it regardless...

The same cannot be said for the Emerald Belles who are probably already on Howie’s chopping block...It could go either way for them...

I WOULD consider Kevin Schwartz to be a contender, but I can’t help but compare this season’s comedians to last year’s...This year’s main comedians to consider are him, Ryan Niemiller, Jackie Fabulous and Kara with a K. I guess it’s debatable whether Kara or Jackie is this year’s Vicki Barbolak, and which one’s Carmen Lynch, but Ryan definitely feels like Samuel J. Comroe...and Kevin...feels like Oliver Graves...Maybe they won’t do it COMPLETELY like last season, but I still wonder...

And finally, we have Andy Rowell, who as I said before is at a serious risk of getting pigeonholed...Maybe he’ll find a way out of it, but I’m not holding my breath...

So with all that said, here’s my most educated guess on who will make it next week:

1: Berywam

2: Chris Klafford

3: Lukas & Falco

4: Matthew Richardson/Messoudi Brothers

5: Ndlovu Youth Choir (Golden Buzzer)

6: Sophie Pecora

7: The Sentimentalists

We’ll see how accurate my guess is...next week!

[frederator-studios]

Derek Iversen: The Frederator Interview

Derek Iversen began his unlikely career in animation as a PA on the very first season of Spongebob Squarepants. You might say he was got by The Hook: he spent about a decade with the show, on the production staff before becoming a writer on Seasons 6-9. Since then, he’s written on countless awesome TV shows, become an elected official in the neighborhood of Valley Glen (business card and all!), and created his own Nickelodeon short, “Carrot and Stick” inspired by his dog Rosie, whose image blesses the end of this interview. In honor of his episode of Bravest Warriors premiering tomorrow (5/18), Derek and I sat down to discuss sketch comedy, time travel, and a certain absorbent (and yellow and porous) friend.

Did you always want to be a writer? What’d you want to be growing up?

First I wanted to be a fireman. Then a police officer - huge jump there. Then I wanted to be an astronaut, until I realized I get motion sickness. So I thought I should be an astronomer - a little safer, little less barfing. But in 5th grade, my English teacher Mrs. Carrol gave me high marks on a short story assignment. I got really encouraged by that; I thought, “Hey, maybe I’ve found something I’m good at!” So pretty much from then on, I wanted to be a writer.

Wow, 5th grade? Were you a wunderkind, writing a ton as a kid?

Nah, I wasn’t that ambitious. In high school I took Theater with another great teacher, Mrs. Carrick. She encouraged us to write our own scenes and monologues. So I had the opportunity to try stuff out with my fellow students, and hopefully crack them up with idiocy. Then in college at University of Arizona, I joined a group called Comedy Corner and got really into sketch comedy. I thought if I could make a living doing that, THAT’s what I want to do. There’s nothing like doing live comedy before an audience. It’s thrilling.

Did you stick with comedy after college?

Some friends and I formed our own group! The People Who Do That. We became the kings of Tucson comedy… which, shockingly, didn’t pay the bills. So some of us decided to truck it out to LA to try to make it in the big city.

Did you have a job when you got to LA?

Nope, but I got a really stupid one: phone customer service for a pager company. Let me just say, the introduction of cell phones was NOT the only thing that killed off pagers… but I had a friend working at Nickelodeon, so I managed to get a job as a driver on The Angry Beavers. This was back in the olden days, when if artists needed reference materials, someone had to actually go pick them up from libraries or - RIP - video stores. Soon after, I got a job as a production assistant on a show that Nick had just picked up: Spongebob Squarepants. At the time we all thought, ‘This is a strange little show that hopefully will get a cult following.’ It did a little better than that. So that was kind of my ‘big break’. But it took me 7 years of working on the show to become a writer on it.

How did that path look?

Long and meandering. Because for some time, I thought I wanted to do sketch comedy, and that animation was my day job. I was a PA on seasons 1 to 3 and a coordinator on seasons 4 and 5. In that time I started chipping away at animation writing, because I had to actually learn how to write cartoons. I was used to writing for the stage, and animation is a visual medium. Much more so than even other kinds of TV, let alone theater, so I had to learn to tell stories visually. And stories that kids could relate to—I’d always written for adults, so my stuff went right over kid’s heads. But I wanted to write and kept knocking on the door, and in season 6, became a staff writer. I was one until season 9.

Do you think your background in sketch comedy aided that transition?

Oh yeah, absolutely. When you do a sketch in front of a big throng of crazy college students, it’s clear when it works and when it doesn’t. Sketch taught me not to waste the audience’s time: you get in, do the joke, and get out.

How was working on Spongebob? Any stories, secrets, lore?

It was a wild ride and a lot of fun. I’ve gotta be the only one who remembers this, but I swear it’s true: back in the first season, Steve (Hillenburg, creator) had a sign on his door that read, “Have fun or you’re fired.” It sounds cruel, but it actually set a good tone. We did have a lot of fun! And there wasn't much firing—it’s not like the hatchet fell every time somebody frowned. The crew had awesome camaraderie, and I think that’s reflected in the show. I sincerely believe the environment of a show, how it’s made, affects how it turns out. If a show is made with a tense crew where everyone fears the creator, it shows on-screen. Conversely, if the crew has fun and makes each other laugh, that’s clear on-screen too.

(Season 1 Christmas party: Ennio Torresan, Carly Benner-StClair, Bruce Heller, Mica Nataami, Carl (CH) Greenblatt, and Derek with the devil horns.) 

So despite the sign, no one was afraid of Steve Hillenburg?

No, no, the sign is misleading. He’s a total sweetheart. Success couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy: just a thoughtful, funny, sincere human being.

That’s exactly what you wanna hear about your heroes. What’s your favorite thing about the show?

Well Spongebob is definitely a reflection of Steve! As are the other characters, but mostly Spongebob. And to me, the greatest thing about the show, and the reason I think it’s been such a huge success, is that Spongebob is genuine. He’s without guile. He’s enthusiastic without any reservation. And I think, especially when the show came out, a lot of cartoons in the kid realm starred adults disguised as kids. And Spongebob was never that; he was always for kids, always had a kid’s spirit. That’s part of why we never defined his age: he has kid and adult qualities. He’s just sincere—and sincerity is underrated.

Do you have a favorite Spongebob episode?

Man... that’s like choosing a favorite child. But I’ll go ahead and do it. I have several favorites. One is “SB-129”. I’m a bit of a sucker for time travel - it’s part of why I enjoy Bravest Warriors so much. “The Fun Show” is awesome too, it’s a classic. Of episodes I wrote, “Not Normal” was my first and still a favorite. It’s a bit autobiographical: I was a weird kid and always felt like I needed to conform to some idea of normality. After a while, I decided that didn’t matter and I was going to accept being my weird self. And the same is true of Spongebob.

(Mr. Lawrence (aka Plankton), Vincent Waller, and Derek.)

How did you come to write for Bravest Warriors?

After Spongebob, I was a staff writer on Sanjay and Craig, which Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi executive produced. They’re great guys and a blast to work with. They'd also produced Bravest, so I found out about the show through them. I watched it and just thought it was madness in the best possible way. Last year Will mentioned they were looking for writers, so I gave it a shot. I really wanted to be part of the show and feel lucky that I got to be!

What are your favorite things about Bravest Warriors?

I love time travel and sci-fi, and you get both of those in BW. That’s a treat. But I love that it also goes right to the heart of teen angst. That’s a sandbox I don’t get to play in a lot, as I’m usually writing for kids or preschoolers. It’s a lot of fun to deal with broken hearts, romantic attraction, all that gooey hormonal stuff.

Do you have a favorite character from the show?

I like Danny a lot, because he’s kinda pathetic. I just want to help him out. But I can’t resist Catbug. He’s amazing. And I’m a big fan of Impossibear. Something about his gruffness... he’s selfish in a way that reminds me of Bender from Futurama. If I ever got to do another BW episode, I’d want it to be about Impossibear. Finding the mushy heart he hides inside.

What is your episode, “A Apple, B Banana, C Chili” about?

I did a sort of anti-consumerist screed cleverly disguised as a Bravest Warriors episode. The team succumbs to the power of marketing. They have to escape the clutches of a Costco-like superstore. It seemed like a uniquely weird challenge they hadn’t faced before. I think that’s why it was chosen from the ideas I pitched—when you’re pitching on a show with a lot of episodes, you’ve got to find the part of the floor that hasn’t been painted yet.

Aha - don’t they go in that store to grab Wallow a snack?

Haha yeah. Wallow gets hangry on a mission so they go to buy him some chips or a granola bar or something and it goes terribly wrong. I love episodes like that - we did it on Spongebob too - where it’s the simplest possible objective. The goal of the episode is one tiny thing, and then it balloons out from there and becomes ridiculously huge in a way it never deserved to be.

What would you be if you weren’t a TV writer?

Maybe a lawyer. Or a crazy activist trying to make the world a better place and not getting very far. I’d probably be quitting my job at the EPA right now out of sheer frustration. At least writing cartoons, I can express the absurdity of our world—but hopefully to make people laugh, instead of cry.

What are your favorite cartoons?

Well, Spongebob’s pretty darn good. I always loved Ren and Stimpy, the latest news notwithstanding. I’m a simple man: I love Road Runner. I couldn’t resist the simplicity of the gags. You always know what’s going to happen - Road Runner’s gonna get away and Wile E. Coyote is gonna eat it. But you don’t know how he’s gonna eat it. The magic is in the details. I’m a big fan of The Simpsons. And I enjoyed Aqua Teen Hunger Force; Master Shake cracks me up. I love how stupid and petty he is.

After writing for so long, is it ever still challenging?

Absolutely, it’s always a challenge. I think a lot of people struggle with being too precious with their ideas. It’s a collaborative medium: stories change and change and change again. You can accept compromises and look for the good in them, or you can fight against them. My view is, you have to choose your battles. Even the creator doesn’t have complete control. And the best creators and showrunners delegate responsibilities. They trust the people they’ve hired.  

Do you pitch show ideas around?

I haven’t as much lately; I’m busy story editing a preschool show now called Hanni and the Wild Woods. But I made a Nickelodeon short a few years back with my friend Miles Hindman, called “Carrot and Stick,” about a pair of buddies who live in a junkyard. Their nemesis is a dog named Rosie, based on my own dog Rosie. It’s a mixed media show - a combination of puppets, live action and 2D - so we wanted her to play herself. It didn’t work out. She’s cute and all, but cute doesn’t make you a good actor…

(Rosie, sweet and perfect in every conceivable way aside from acting ability.)

What else are you working on?

Well besides Hanni, I just got back from teaching an Animation Writing class in Jamaica for a few weeks - that was amazing. It was through The World Bank; they’re trying to build an animation industry over there. I’m glad they found me, it was a ton of fun and some of the student’s ideas were really cool. I also have a YA sci-fi book I really want to write. The trick is finding the time to do it; it keeps eluding me. Earlier I said animation is very collaborative - not so with this book. I have a very specific vision, and I’m excited to tell exactly the story I want to tell. I also write as Spongebob and Patrick on their Twitter accounts - which is a tougher gig than it sounds! All of the 140 character zingers have to be contained to their universe. But it’s fun and keeps me connected to the characters, and I love that.

Thank you for the interview Derek! So much fun talking with you. Good luck on all your many projects, I’ll be on the lookout!

- Cooper

[usstatesofsong]

Eurovision 2018 Grand Final Thoughts

This will be my last blog before the season finale - we’re only 12 hours away! Sometime later we’ll publish a blog with the final rankings compared with our opinions/predictions. But here’s what we’ve got to say about the performances upcoming, and whether our opinions have changed! :)

--------------------

1. Ukraine - I still wish there was more variation in his voice. The performance is copy-paste from the national selection. But it’s a good opener.

2. Spain - They gave the death slot to the Spanish. Will they ever climb out of the bottom 5?

3. Slovenia - MY GIRL MADE IT TO THE FINAL YO!!! I’m kinda upset that she cheapened her act with that “glitch”... but whatevs. Lea does Lea.

4. Lithuania - I still don’t quite get it. But I was right; it made the Final. The Lithuanian phrases at the end! YAY!

5. Austria - Surprised this made it through, actually! But again, it’s quality, written well... people may have fallen for the spaceship and I don’t dig that top-cut shirt thingy. Again, whatevs.

6. Estonia - May be too early in the running order to pull out a victory. Idk... I’m still rooting for it, though! Great staging. I think it has the shock factor to get the people out there to vote.

7. Norway - NEXT.

8. Portugal - The small snippet they showed us is nice. Unsure about the little groove dances with Isaura. I’ll need a chill-pill after the previous atrocity, though.

9. United Kingdom - Interesting running order position for this. Everyone’s prediction is that it’ll finish last; I *still* disagree!

10. Serbia - MY OTHER GUILTY PLEASURE MADE IT THROUGH - this was a good year for my guilty pleasures ;) The performance itself is a bit disjointed, but they’ve kept the 45-second intro part. I love the folk-electronica stuff. They’d get my vote if I could.

11. Germany - Dark. Horse. That’s all I’m gonna say. I predict a Top 10 finish. The staging is fantastic.

12. Albania - Nothing spectacular staging-wise, but he delivers with those vocals. Faces an uphill battle by being sandwiched between two ‘message’-style songs. Not a great running order spot.

13. France - There’s nothing that I saw in the short clip of this performance that is going to signal Europe what this song is about, thus I’ve come to accept that this won’t win tomorrow. Sorry, France!

14. Czech Republic - Feels a bit empty on that big stage, and Mikolas is definitely nurturing his injury. Regardless, this will give Czechia its best finish ever - not like it has much competition, though :P

15. Denmark - The sound was unbalanced. Good performance/staging, bad audio/vocals. Will finish on right side of board.

16. Australia - I’m the only one that liked this... with aboriginal-inspired dance moves! It’ll get the good ol’ jury boost regardless of what the public thinks.

17. Finland - Pure. Eurovision. Too similar in sound to Australia, though - again, why such bad running order?

18. Bulgaria - Fantastic staging. Nobody tried to over-sing each other. Top 10 threat, possibly Top 5 if the planets align correctly.

19. Moldova - Clever staging; may feel too tacky for juries to vote it up.

20. Sweden - If Czech Republic sounded empty, this felt AND sounded dead inside. It’s cool, but that’s it. He even repeats the same dance moves for the two chorus segments. They risk ending their Top 10 streak tomorrow; I’m serious.

21. Hungary - WAKE UP, EUROPE! It’s fun to have them in the Final; I’m glad for everyone. But it’s still overkill.

22. Israel - Intriguing running order spot for the (former) front-runner. I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that Hungary hasn’t smashed the potential impact that the song/performance could’ve had. I wanted a bit more dancing/energy from Netta herself than what we’re getting; I’m getting Italy 2017 vibes...

23. Netherlands - Horrible. Next.

24. Ireland - Surprise qualifier of the YEAR. I had bumped it slightly higher in my rankings because I didn’t quite get the universal hate vibes, but still didn’t think it would ever make it through. Can’t wait to find out if this was 10th place in the semi.

25. Cyprus - I see what you did here, Christer. I ... I just don’t get it; like, of all the songs Cyprus has sent... why is *this* one the special one? People will vote for her hotness and not the song quality. Please balance this out, juries.

26. Italy - You won’t escape ESC without a balance of real-life thrown in at the end. By coming after a big pop-banger and finishing the show, I think people will be too tired at home to vote this up. Good idea to incorporate the on-screen text, though; I actually don’t mind it.

-----------

I have a sneaky suspicion that this year’s voting sequence will be extremely intense. With no outright winner, we could see a situation like 2016 where the overall winner didn’t win with either the public or juries -- or the jury ends up deciding who wins in the end, much to the disappointment of the public.

Anyway, that’s it from us - get your snacks, drinks, and friends ready. See you on the other side!

[sinsiriuslyemo]

SVU: episode 8, Intent

Okay so, I just watched the new episode. I know some people haven’t watched it yet, so I’m going to be leaving the spoiler commentary under the cut.

Initial Thoughts

This episode was fairly well done with respect to the balance between the case and the “extra” scenes, and by extra I mean the look into the personal live. I thought the pacing was done well; the case was the main attraction, which I’ve said time and time again should be the formula of this show, always. As far as the personal story lines, I have some thoughts, which will be under the cut like I said above to respect those who don’t want any spoilers. I will say this though, I’m failing to see the point anymore with respect to the Sheila/Liv/Noah story line. The Rollins/Carisi scene was awkward at best, and almost seemed like different characters we were watching in my opinion. So...on to the spoilers...

The Case

I thought the case was innovative, and fresh. We really haven’t had a case like this one before, so I very appreciated that. We’ve catfishing stories, but none quite like this where it was both sides being catfished. Steve Howey was amazing as “The Monster,” I really enjoyed his guest star role, and it was kind of refreshing to see a pro fighter portrayed this way because not all of them are ‘tough guys’ in and out of the ring.

I also very much loved that he took that plea deal, because he could see that even though he was led to believe one thing, he did end up violating someone.

“That’s a man!!” is legit what I yelled out as I was watching the episode.

I loved that we saw plenty of Barba in this episode as well, and that the case and it’s complexities were center stage.

As far as the actual perp goes, I wish we had seen just a little bit more of how this evidence that Carisi found had been discovered. Now, granted this may have made for a bit of a boring scene, and I loved the bar scene between Liv/Rafael/Carisi but if the perp only had 6 followers on Instagram, and with her mother’s illness and her having to care for her, this leads me to believe that she didn’t post very often.

Also, a bit of a plot hole with the police officer from West Virginia saying, “her voice sounded familiar” and then identifying her as the poster on Reddit, but later Barba only references text posts. Does this mean that the WA officer was referring to her ‘voice’ as a writer? Or was he referring to her actual voice, which would make more sense to me-- if she didn’t have many followers, how would he recognize her writer’s voice enough to be able to say, she’s this user?

In the end, as a whole, I did enjoy the case as catfishing happens all the time and to so many people. It is something that needs to be brought to light that most times this seemingly “innocent” thing can very much go wrong, too far, and have a lasting impact on the unsuspecting victims.

The Rollisi-almost-kissed-and-then-Sonny-was-butthurt Scene

This entire sequence was awkward. Awkward, awkward, awkward. From the scene where they almost kiss to Sonny’s behavior the next day, and what we can infer was a day or two later. I don’t enjoy that the writers are so quick to have Amanda hook up with her partners (except for Fin because, let’s be real, Fin wouldn’t go there ever). Honestly, she’s changed as a character after she had Jesse, and while this scene was away from home, away from her motherly duties and a time where she got to just be a cop again, it felt as though we were watching the old Amanda.

I definitely didn’t like that feeling of “taking two steps back” with regard to her demeanor during and after. Not so much during, but absolutely after, where as @missjennifercole pointed out to me last night while she was watching the episode, she basically suggested that she would in fact sleep with Sonny if given the opportunity. This just doesn’t sound like the Amanda that she as a character has grown into. It sounds like the just-got-here Amanda.

Let’s also not forget that she and Declan (which if you remember, is Jesse’s father) parted on good terms. Eventually his assignment will be over, and he may very well come back to New York in order to try and build a relationship with his daughter, and for all we know he may even want to try building one with Amanda as well. The writers really should be keeping that in mind when they write for her. This isn’t to say that she can’t sleep with someone if she wants to. She is, after all a single mother, but she’s a mother first and foremost, so this thing with Buck the bartender likely happened because she was away from home and there was no way they would ever see each other again.

Had this scene taken place in New York, it likely would have turned out differently.

I’m sorry to the Rollisi shippers (whom if I’m not mistaken are also upset about how this scene went) but that almost-kiss was so awkward. It was not natural or organic at all. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’d like to offer a fresh perspective on this scene...

If you really watch their movements before the almost-kiss, one could argue that it wasn’t an almost-kiss at all, and that they were just super drunk and close together. The reason Carisi was so butt-hurt afterward was because as far as he knew Amanda had turned a new leaf after having Jesse with regard to her love life. Meaning that she was more weary of having one night stands with strangers, and it wasn’t that he was butt-hurt at all, but that he was disappointed in her as a friend.

I’m not saying this is what I think, especially with the last scene where they acknowledge (don’t acknowledge) their time in West Virginia, but it’s possible. Also, while she was talking about ‘sometimes you sleep with someone you love, and sometimes you sleep with someone you don’t,’ you would think she would have brought up their ‘almost-kiss’ and either tell him that she wanted them to stay friends, or that she was interested in seeing if there was anything there.

All of that said, Carisi’s initial reaction was realistic, but the shortness in his attitude towards her in that last scene was absolutely out of character. This is someone he’s grown incredibly close with in the last couple of seasons, and it almost felt like this incident with Buck the bartender had him reevaluating their friendship. He’s seen other people in the past, so this doesn’t make sense for Sonny if he was jealous and it was making him want to back away from the friendship.

Hurt, yes maybe, because it’s pretty rude to decline sleeping with someone and say that you’re tired, and then go out and bring someone else home and sleep with them. Now, we don’t know the circumstances; maybe Buck came to the motel, and Amanda just let him in. We don’t know for sure that she went back out to find him, so...that’s just some food for thought.

Listen guys, I love all my Rollisi shippers, I truly do, but I maintain that these two are just better served as friends. One, because Rollins is the kind of character who has immensely benefited from having a platonic male friend in her life, that truly cares for both her well-being and that of her daughter’s. Secondly, I really want them to break away from having Amanda sleep with all of her partners. That was the old Amanda, she’s grown since then. If you’re going to give her a love-interest, have it be with someone that reflects her growth, not brings her back to old habits.

I’m sure some will argue that Sonny is no Nick, and they would be right, but we’ve seen that having relationships within the squad never works. And I would hate to lose the camaraderie that we all love between Sonny and Amanda.

The Liv/Noah/Sheila Trainwreck

I’m not gonna lie, this story line is not looking good. It seems to me that the writers simply wanted to give Olivia something interesting to work through this season, and thought, “Okay, let’s make Ellie’s mom actually be alive. That’ll cause some friction.”

The problem is that it hasn’t been handled very well at. Let’s start with the fact that Live seemed like she was against Sheila even being in Noah’s life in the first place. This could be explained by the fact that Sheila was coming at her sideways, and luckily that was resolved relatively quickly.

Now the whole, Noah asked about Ellie thing; he never said, my mom or my real mommy. He just said, “Ellie,” which would indicate to me that Sheila (as she later clarified) mentioned her in passing, but likely did not identify Ellie as his real mother. What is the problem if Noah gets to know Ellie as Ellie now while he’s young so that when he gets older and Liv decides to tell him the truth about his mother, he already has some kind of attachment to her? Honestly, what the hell would be so bad about that?

I don’t believe that Sheila slipped in the sense that she revealed to Noah that Ellie was his real mother because she is wanting to stay on Liv’s good side. Therefore, she would be cautious about saying things like that. Mentioning Ellie in passing, however, is more realistic and in my opinion totally harmless. Ellie could be anyone; she could be an aunt or a cousin as far as Noah is concerned. So Liv lowkey freaking out over Sheila mentioning Ellie is a little over the top.

Now the damn kidnapping. This is obviously and more than likely something that will tie back to Olivia, but what the hell is this show-runner trying to pull? Honestly. I suppose it could be someone that is somehow tied to Ellie, but who would possibly do that? And I swear if they’re trying to pull the, “Oh my Gosh! Ellie isn’t dead, she was just afraid of testifying against Johnny D! WHAAAAAAAATTTTTT?!” they are seriously going to fuck up with this fandom.

It was one thing that Ellie’s mother was still alive, but to put this baby, this child through hell and have it be for absolutely nothing at all would be a huge disservice both to the show and to the fandom. So I’m hoping this isn’t the case.

But then who else could it have been?

William Lewis is dead. So is Johnny D.

This leaves either a random perp whom Olivia convicted or investigated some time ago (we’ve seen that before) or someone who is connected to Ellie, but is not Ellie herself.

I suppose it’s also possible that there is no connection at all and this was just a random stranger/kidnapper. It does happen. Though, Noah didn’t make a sound, so this might be indicative to him either recognizing the person or being drugged, in which case, is there security footage available? We won’t know this until the show comes back.

Also, I just need to say this as a mother myself-- Did anyone else arch a brow at Liv’s reaction to the phone call, that likely went something like this:

Sheila: *hysterical voice* Liv, you need to come meet me right now. I can’t find Noah. I only took my eyes off him for a second as I was grabbing a coat off the rack, but he’s gone Liv! He’s gone! I can’t find him! Please come now!

Liv: *almost-facepalm*

Seriously? That’s it? You were just told that your son is missing, and that’s the reaction you have? Now, being frozen is one thing-- we saw that with Sheila. She froze, but slowly we saw the panic setting in as she looked around frantically, low-key hyperventalating while she looked for her grandson. We could see the thought process in her facial expression going from, “Please let this be a joke, and he’s just hiding somewhere,” to “Omg, where the fuck is he?! No, this can not be happening!”

Liv, however...she gave me the “not again” feels big time. Had she expressed facially similar emotions as Sheila, I wouldn’t be pointing this out, but if anyone has a screenshot or made a gif of that last shot in the episode, please reblog and leave it up and just look at that damn mug right now.

Are you for real?

Beyond that, they need to leave Noah alone. The story line is getting old already, and it’s not as though they don’t have other characters they could do story lines with, first of all. Secondly, if this shit keeps happening to Noah because Liv is his mother, how are we supposed to believe that child services won’t get involved at some point?

Why can’t we have parenting story lines that are relatable? I want to see Noah throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t get his way. How does Liv deal with that? I want to see Noah getting into trouble at school or Noah mouthing off, because it happens. He’s a kid. Give us kid troubles to grow the character and grow Liv as a mother. Don’t put a kid who’s already been through a lot of trauma through more trauma for the sake of making things interesting.

It isn’t fair to the Olivia Benson character and more over it isn’t fair to the viewers. Period.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, I enjoyed the episode but as far as the subplots are concerned, we’ll just have to see how they handle the aftermath/resolutions. It’s hard to gauge at this point, but both plot points had very rocky jump-starts. I did however love that the case took center stage, as that’s how all episodes should be formatted. And there was an acceptable amount of Barba in the episode, so there’s always that.

Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts were! Do you agree with the things I pointed out? Do you have different interpretations/views? I’d love to hear from you!!

[dreamersscape]

Heyy! Robin Hood Secret Santa again! How are you doing? I hope your week is good? I wanted to ask a few questions so I can make your present just right, if that's okay! If not, no worries. So I was wondering, who are your favourite characters and why? What are your feelings on winter? If Robin Hood is your number 1 fandom, what's number 2? Christmas? xoxo

Hi again! I’m doing really well, I’ve just been very busy, and yet it looks like I’ll be even busier this week. But it’s mostly gonna be Christmas busyness, so I’ll allow it. :D

Of course I don’t mind answering your q’s! Let me know if you have any follow ups or if you need a more in-depth answer with anything. (I’m also sorry if my lack of prompt response has caused a time crunch for you.)

The Gang is where my heart lies, character-wise, for Robin Hood. Specifically, Allan and Djaq are my most favoritest ones of the bunch, but Much and Will are incredibly dear to me as well. There’s probably no good, succinct way for me to explain why I love Allan a Dale so much and this will likely sound more than a little sappy, but let’s give this a go. He is my enormously dunderheaded deeply flawed miscreant son who nevertheless deserved to live a long happy life with his outlaw-comprised found family. I have A Lot of feelings about his character arc of going from someone with off-the-charts self-preservation skills developed from believing to survive you had to look out for yourself above all else and all others to coming to care so much about the friends he stumbled into making that he would (after many bumps along the way) sacrifice his own well being to try to help them even while believing they thought the worse of him. Among those friends he found someone who he admired so greatly, regardless of his having such a radically different mindset than Allan, that he would want to emulate him, change who he was, and have him show Allan he could have a purpose for his life beyond just surviving. Whoops, there go my Allan & Robin feelings again. Also, I quite like his supremely fluffy hair.

I like Djaq because… well, she’s just, The Best? I relate to her love of science,  books, and desrie to help/heal people physically via medicine as well as mentally/emotionally. There’s a reason why my queue tag is a riff off of her “I believe you’re a good man, Allan a Dale” line. :)

I also relate to Much a whole bunch, minus his being an extrovert and my very decidely introverted ways. We’re both extremely Hufflepuff-y, would cook or bake you something to eat as our go-to comfort method and would gladly be your Mom Friend. Will is my favorite passionate crafty craftsman. Fun fact: Will was my favorite character the first time I watched season 1 before my brain contracted Allan a Dale disease. I love that Little John is everyone’s dad. He’s the best Big Bear/Papa Bear ever.  I’m very fond of Robin, apart from his dynamic with Allan, there’s our mutual love of puns and his relationship with Much. I adore all Marian and Edward scenes with my whole heart.

Relevant ‘why I love my faves’ posts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

(Sorry, I got a liiiiiittle carried away. *shuffles feet* Disregard as needed.)

I have very positive feelings towards winter! Maybe because I’ve never experienced some of its downsides, like driving in the snow, but I much prefer winter to summer, and the only part of winter I dislike is when it wants to be super cold without the presence of snow. That seems unfair to me. ;)

LOL. If there is a Christmas fandom, I really ought to be a part of it, it’s true! I have a hard time ranking things generally, but probably my second fandom of choice would probably have to be Criminal Minds. It’s still airing, it has a good-sized ensemble cast, which I’m a fan of, has my dearly beloved found family/team family trope, and I even wrote a little ficlet for it once upon a time! I have been previously very into The 100, but sadly, while I will likely continue watching when it returns, I think it’s best I emotionally distance myself from it quite a bit, so it’s not going to be priority watching for me going forward. I get too angry or upset when I think about it too much. But anyway! A runner-up to CM could be TURN: Washington’s Spies. It had its series finale over the summer, and while I was disappointed Anna and Edmund were never reunited and I couldn’t for the life of me explain what the point was of Anna’s Season 4 arc, pretty much everything else was thoroughly enjoyable. In case this is helpful to you in any way, my favorite characters on Turn were Caleb Brewster and Mary Woodhull, and on Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid and Emily Prentiss are my top 2 darlings.

ETA: Oh, also Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a good choice for secondary fandom too! I’m reeeeally digging what they’ve been doing this season. I am very solidly team fitzsimmons here. :)

[shaydixons]

wlw queerbaiting survey results!

thank you to every wlw skam fan who took mine and @aliciqvikander ‘s survey! we ended up with 313 responses! below is a summary of each question.

disclaimer: though it was explicitly stated that the survey was for wlw, there were several straight people that decided to take the survey and give disrespectful/homophobic answers, and they were deleted from the survey pool. this survey is by and for wlw skam fans, and the below statistics will reflect that. the point of this survey was to give wlw skam fans a place to share their thoughts, not for straight people to spout homophobic rhetoric.

part 1: demographics

what is your sexuality?

the survey consisted of 121 bisexuals, 109 lesbians, and 29 pansexuals; other identities included queer (17), sapphic (11), asexual (11), gay (5), questioning (4), and several other sexualities including demibisexual (1), bi ace (1), ace lesbian (2), and aromantic pansexual (1).

where are you from?

there were many different answers for this, the most common being sweden, usa, uk, germany, finland, norway, spain, canada, and australia.

how old are you?

the most common answer was 17-19 (138), then 14-16 (97), then 20-24 (63), then 25-30 (7), then under 14 (4), then 31+ (2)

part 2: opinions

who are your favorite characters?

the most common answers in order are: sana (240), isak (157), eva (139), even (127), noora (78), vilde (71), jonas (45), chris (35), eskild (21), elias (15), yousef (11), linn (7), magnus (2), and mahdi (1). there were a few people who specified that noora from season 1 is their favorite, not noora from the later seasons. there was also one vote for dr. skrulle. no one voted for william.

who is your favorite canon ship?

evak was the clear winner (237) the rest of the answers in order were yousana (55,) none (11), and joneva (8). there was also one vote for noorhelm, though it’s worth noting that this person also put noora down as a lesbian so it’s possible it was a mistake. no one voted for vagnus.

who are your favorite non-canon ships?

(apologies for the way this one looks)

the most common non-canon ships in order were nooreva (285), evilde (252), sanoora (104), evana (86), noorvilde (63), chrisana (52), jonas x mikael (41), noorevilde (35), chrilde (34), youkael (32), sonja x emma (31), sana x vilde (29), johdi (29), yousef x elias (25), iben x eva (20), noora x mari (14), joora (13), iben x mari (10), sonja x linn (7), chriseva (8), elias x eskild (5), and various others including mikael x adam, the whole girl squad in a polyamorous relationship, and noora x literally any woman.

do you like any of the following canon straight pairings? check off as many as you like.

yousana had the most votes by far (274), followed by joneva (190), then chris x kasper (64), then vagnus (22), then mohnstad (20), then noorhelm (11), then pchris x emma (8), then jonas x isabell (6), then jonas x emma (4). there was also one person who wrote “none bc julie cant write het ships to save her life”. it’s also worth noting that the majority of people who put vagnus also put vilde down as a lesbian. 

Do you think that Vilde is a lesbian?

the overwhelmingly popular answer was yes (286 responses). there was one vote for no, about 10 people thought she is bi/pan/queer, and several other people were undecided.

did you think lesbian vilde was going to be canon?

the most common answer was, “i had confidence it would happen after all the hints but wasn't 100% sure” (148), then the rest in order were “i didn’t think it was gonna happen but i had hope” (82), “after julie andem hinted at in that interview i was 100% sure it would happen” (55), “i had confidence lesbian vilde would not become canon” (6), and also several type-in responses about how people think she’s a lesbian or didn’t see it until people pointed it out but now they do, and my favourite one, “She was lesbian-coded and I strongly believe she is a lesbian, but I don't think Julie knew that because she probably hasn't talked to a lesbian in her life.”

in an interview with DR, julie andem was asked if vilde was a lesbian, to which she responded "no comment". do you feel that this is baiting?

the most common answer was “Yes, because she gave wlw fans hope while she wasn't planning to follow through” with 194 votes, followed by “Yes, though I think she was originally planning to follow through but couldn’t find time to include it” with 79 votes, only 7 people thought this wasn’t baiting at all. some of the write-in answers included “i actually took that as her treating lesbianism like it was inappropriate to talk about in a way”, “I don't think THIS was baiting this was just Julie being an asshole and dismissing wlw fans. Like even the idea of Vilde being gay is just so ridiculous that she's not even gonna make a comment. The queerbaiting was literally lesbian coding Vilde throughout the entire show and throwing so many hints but not going through with it.” and “I feel like she thought saying no comment was funny bc the idea of vilde being gay is sOOoOoo ridiculous to her and the idea of a canon wlw character hadn't crossed her mind in a serious way. she wasn't thinking.” regardless, the overall response by wlw fans is negative.

do you feel like the way eva and vilde's relationship was built up was paving the way for evilde to become a canon couple in the end?

the most common answer was yes (125) but the opinion on this one was pretty split as a total of 138 people said no, 112 of them still had hope though but 26 people thought evilde was strictly friendly. many people also typed in saying that they think that evilde could have been a plot point for a sexual discovery for vilde but not have been endgame.

do you think that noora is a lesbian?

the most common answer is yes (178), there were also 56 people who voted no, and most of the write-in answers either said that they think she’s bi, or that they think season 1 noora in particular is a lesbian, and in later seasons she’s either bi or straight.

when noora was first introduced, did you think she was a love interest?

a majority of people said yes (232), 48 people said no and most of the type in responses were people saying they had watched season 3 first and therefore couldn’t say since they already knew noorhelm was going to be canon. several people also mentioned how eva looking noora up on facebook mirrored the way evak and yousana stalked each other on facebook and that if noora had been a guy her introduction would most certainly have been romantic.

please watch the season 2 trailer if you haven't. do you feel this is an example of queerbaiting?

the most common answer was “Yes, this is explicit queerbaiting” (145), followed by “No, but I do find it disrespectful to wlw to act as though sleeping with a woman is a scandalous thing” (84), then “Yes, this is accidental queerbaiting”, and only 3 votes for “No, this isn’t queerbaiting and doesn’t bother me.”The write-in answers included: “can i just say how gross it is that they took noora possibly sleeping with another girl as something for willhell to get off on??? anyway yes this is queerbaiting bc the entire season was abt noorhell”, and “WTF WTF WTF I JUST WATCHED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WHAT.THE.FUCK. LIKE WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT WHY WOULD YOU BAIT THE GAYS KNOWING THEY WOULD HATE YOU LIKE IF YOUR MAKING A SEASON THATS BASICALLY A LOVE LETTER TO ABUSIVE STRAIGHT MEN WHY WOULD YOU NOT MAKE THE TRAILER SOMETHING GROSS AND STARIGHT LIKE THE SEASON SO AT LEAST THE STRAIGHTE ARE HAPPY LIKE ASIDE FROM HOW CRUEL AND IRRESPONSIBLE THAT WAS TO QUEER FANS IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE ON A ADVERTISEMENT LEVEL LIKE IDK A LOT OF STRAIGHT PEOPLE WHO ENJOYED THE SEASON WOULD WANT TO WATCH IT AFTER THAT TRAILER??? I AM SO UPSET AND I CANT BELIEVE HOW STUPID PEOPLE ARE WTF !!!!!!!!”

in addition, I had someone message me after they took the survey with new thoughts about the trailer and I quite like what they said so I’m going to include it here:

okay so i answered this in the survey, but i had new thoughts abt the s2 trailer. the more i think abt it the more pissed off i get b/c: okay, from what i heard, fans from s1 were interpreting noora as a lesbian right? (if s1 fans could weigh in that'd be gr8) & that makes sense since fans interpreting noora as gay is brought up p early in s2 in the form of vilde, so we know that they were aware of these theories. so, when deciding on the s2 trailer, when deciding to present a scene in which noora wakes up naked w/a man & a woman, knowing the theories abt noora being gay (& since scripts are finalised only slightly before filming, they had time to change it after hearing what fans were saying) they decided to only show her w/the woman??? despite the man being much more important to the story? (& like it wouldn't've been a spoiler to see nico. u don't see mari's face, it could've easily been hidden) they had to have known how that would be interpreted!! they had to!!! they absolutely had to have known that showing that would be baiting fans w/the promise of lgbt+ content w/no follow up. i did say in the survey that i saw the trailer as explicit queerbaiting but. when i put more thought into it, it was actually even worse than i thought? i mean, s2 trailer is gayer than s3's & SEASON 3 ACTUALLY HAS GAY CHARACTERS. i can believe that the lesbian coding of noora in s1 was an accident, but the s2 trailer was absolutely intentional & it pisses me off so much.

please watch the season 1 trailer if you haven't. do you feel this is an example of queerbaiting?

this question had no type in answers and most people agreed it was queerbaiting, “yes, this is explicit queerbaiting” was the most popular answer with 165, “no, but i find it disrespectful how kissing girls is treated as something dramatic and surprising” was the runner up with 85 and “yes, this is accidental queerbaiting” was third with 48 and last came, “no, i don’t think it’s queerbaiting and don’t find it disrespectful” with 12.

opinion on queerbaiting & skam?

the overwhelmingly popular choice was that there was explicit queerbaiting, with 200 votes, there were also 88 votes for “they originally meant to have a canon wlw character but decided not to follow through”. there were NO votes for “there was no queerbaiting”. There were many type-in answers, including “who honestly makes a character say they get horny when kissing a girl and then make her straight? if that is not the biggest fkn queerbaiting idk what is”, “I honestly don't think they intentionally queerbaited at the start, but when it's been explicitly stated multiple times that they took audience response into account when writing the show they should have looked at how much wlw were identifying with some of the things vilde has said/done and taken that opportunity to represent wlw in the show. We know they see what people say about Skam on social media so there's no way they didn't see all the posts about lesbian Vilde or bisexual Eva, etc. They just chose to ignore it.” and “skam continuously brought up the concept of two women being in a relationship but never took the time to explore it; it feels like julie thought she'd done enough by simply acknowledging that wlw exist”

part 3: long answer questions

i just want to say that there were so many beautiful responses to these questions and I wish we could include them all! So many of you are so insightful. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and I’m sorry we can’t include all the ones we like!

what moments did you feel most baited by?

the most common responses were the evilde kisses; the entirety of noora and eva’s interactions in season 1, in particular the first meeting; and when vilde said “I made out with Eva, the feelings that arise don’t necessarily mean you’re a lesbian.” Here are some of the responses:

The evilde kiss in season 4 cuz like at that point, they knew exactly what they were doing, they knew they weren't gonna follow through, and it gave wlw false hope when in the end both of them were shoehorned into forced straight relationships.

u g h. 1. all those extremely Gay looks between noora and eva in s1 were absolutely unreal. they had so much chemistry and were always looking at each other so appreciatively. 2. vilde going on and on about how cozy a lesbian couple would be, her getting turned on by kissing eva when she couldn't get turned on by boys, her and eva actually kissing - passionately - which was unlike something ive seen before tbh. they had this sort of fiery passion but at the same time there was a gentleness and familiarity to the kiss and the way their bodies just meld together. that's what really made me feel baited. also, all the social media updates from vilde.

When I first watched vilde commenting on Nora's sexuality and making out with Eva I thought they were explicit hints at her being lesbian, but watching them again in context they definitely feel like Julie making fun of the fandom thinking nooreva would happen and then acting like women kissing is scandalous or a joke

the way noora was portrayed in the first season came across to me as if she would be a love interest and showed interest in eva that seemed to go beyond just friendship. the repeated kisses between eva and vilde and the whole "feelings that arise" thing that followed.

if you think vilde is a lesbian, why?

this question had many answers but most of them touched up on vilde and evas constant making out at parties and the way vilde talks about men. Many people pointed out that vilde is obsessed with being popular and liked and that she picks the men that will fit that image and doesn’t actually feel attraction to them. there were also very many people who said that they can relate to vilde’s experiences. here are some good responses:

(I've spent way too much time pondering this but: shortened version). The main thing that almost convinces me that lesbian!Vilde would've been canon if she'd gotten a season is the contrast between how she talks about her "crush" Willhelm, & Eva. Like having her basically say "guys don't turn me on, thinking about feminine-coded objects does" & "making out w/my female friend makes me happy & horny but the prospect having sex w/my One True Male Love makes me nervous & uncomfortable & drives me to drink" (WHICH ISAK DOES WHEN TRYING TO HOOK UP W/EMMA)  & how upset she looks when she sees Eva kissing PChris instead of her! I mean, w/o lesbian!Vilde what's the point of those scenes????? & "my orgasm felt like a sneeze down there" r e a l l y. & then there's how she doesn't want to hang out w/her bf magnus, how she seems to choose either a guy who's already explicitly into her (magnus) or the "hottest guy in all of third year" (william) as crushes, the former after her friend points out that she's not hooking up w/guys!!!!! & then there's her obsession w/noora being gay (like straight girls fetishize gay guys sometimes, yea, but they don't react like that to gay girls). And I mean, w/her desperation to be popular & fit in, it'd make perfect sense for her to bury her sexuality b/c she feels (perhaps subconsciously) that it'd ostracize her from her peers more than she already is. There's just!!!!!! So! Much! Evidence! (Eva-dence 🌚🌚🌚)

Okay, so I'm ace, I don't feel sexual attraction towards anyone and I'm positive Vilde feels the exact same way about men. I do however think she does feel attraction towards women ('the feelings that arise'?? Hello??). But I do recognize myself SO MUCH in how she is towards men. The way she forces herself onto men and over compensate, how she sexulizes herself because she doesn't feel it so she tries so hard to act like she thinks it should be, talk about what she should feel, what she should like. Because isn't that what everyone does? I did that shit for years before I figured it out.

have u heard her talk ever

well yes everything about her screams closeted lesbian/struggling with compulsory heterosexuality. not being turned on by men, describing stereotypical girls clothes when saying what makes her horny, admitting she was turned on while kissing eva, her obsession with noora being a lesbian, claiming she's so in love with a boy but being "relieved" when he doesn't want her, having to get drunk to have sex with a boy, also "feeling relieved" if said boy doesn't have sex with her. the entirety of s3 she didn't hook up with anyone but the moment the girls joked about her not getting dick she hooked up with the first that showed interest. her relationship with magnus didn't even feel genuine on her part or even healthy up until like the last clip that they tried to make the audience sympathize with them together lol.

she obviously cares a lot about what other people, particularily girls, think of her, so she would struggle with coming to terms with her sexuality. her crush was the most generic popular older boy because he's who she was supposed to be into, she wanted to sleep with him so that her first time would be with a popular guy (also to help out her bus friends) (if wanting to hook up with guys to impress other girls isnt lesbian culture i dont know what is) yet when she finds out he and noora are a thing she feels relief (she also expressed that she'd feel relieved if he never called for sex and while that could mean she just had butterflies the fact that he didnt turn her on at all makes it v questionable), she felt feelings for eva after making out with her, she is turned on by traditionally feminine things... The way she behaves around magnus reminded me of my romantic/sexual interactions with men which only appealed to me when i could discuss them with girls or go on double dates with other girls or show off to other girls (it was always about girls!!!) and just julie why do you hate us

many lgbt people got into the show because of the gay representation. was this the case for you, and, if so, do you feel disappointed in the lgbt representation as a whole?

the response to this answer was mixed. most people said they got into the show for the gay representation, though many say they got into it because of the girl squad, or sana in particular. the general consensus is that people are very happy with evak and the portrayal of mental illness, but that there are no wlw characters and no trans characters, so the lgbt representation as a whole is lacking. here are some responses:

I had high hopes when Vilde talked about how cosy a lesbian couple at the cabin would be but I don't think the show creators ever took their responsibility to queer women seriously. What little respect there was in the few comments like Vilde's was eroded by their queer bating. Looking back I wonder if they thought Vilde acknowledging the existence of lesbians and making statements about lesbians not being weird WAS positive representation.

I did! Skam actually helped me figure out I liked girls, watching season 3 first then circling around and watching all of vildes "gay" scenes kind of made it click and I lived season 3 but when I look at the rep as a whole, it seems Julie only recognizes gay/pan white men as worthy of exploration or mention outside of humor and it's so strange for me because I know vastly more wlw than I do mlm so for there to be 0 cannon wlw characters is almost mind blowing

Yes and yes. Fuck that lesbophobe honestly I'm done with this whole cute gayboy trope if it means it's only meant for the straight fetish af gaze

yes, part of the lure of the show was the gay rep and the fact that there were no gay girls is a let down, mainly bc andem has said that the show was made for teenage girls. if so, why are there no gay girls as part of this teenage experience??? why would a sexuality struggle or a picture of finding urself not include them??? but the worst of all is the disappointment in the fact that andem EXPLICITLY said "no comment" about vilde. she should've said outright no, that was rlly irresponsible and almost mean bc it gave people hope. honestly until then i liked gay hcs but i didn't have much hope it would be canon and didn't mind too much if it wasn't but it was specifically that comment which made me think "ok, vilde is going to be lesbian in canon for sure!!! that's exciting".. like i wouldn't have expected any more from the show than evak if she hadn't sent that expectation??? it's like,, ok, if u only want to show a limited part of the lgbt community in ur rep, make that clear from the outset and i'll take it for what it is, but to keep up this pretence and bait fans and then for canon to fall short and not deliver is truly so embittering and disappointing, or it was for me at least

how do you feel about the way lesbians are represented on skam? do you feel they are treated respectfully?

most people here answered either: which lesbians?, or talked about all the lesbian jokes in season 2. so the overall answer was no, two girls making out is a joke and something for penetrator chris to stare at.

No, not at all? Eva kissing girls at parties is treated as frivolous (which it often is irl, but I would hope that fictional media would give a purpose to that plotline?), & despite her bf obviously freaking when she kisses a guy at a party, his ex making out w/eva & ingrid at parties apparently didn't bother him at all, b/c it's not cheating if it's two girls!!!! And the jokes about how Noora can't possibly be gay in s2, which I didn't mind at all when I thought that they were set-up for Vilde's coming out arc, but now that that's gone nowhere, it's genuinely upsetting. & for a show that was apparently created in order to represent teenage girls, the fact that they had an entire season about male lgbt+ characters, & yet never delivered on making any female ones? That's ridiculous. If they wanted to represent the underrepresented, as they claim, maybe they shouldn't have focused on the adventures of the white cishets?

No in no way it was like there was no possibility that there could be lesbians so fuck you julie andem for this

Lesbians are as a punchile of a joke like girls making out it's not and it should not be as real as boys kissing boys or girls kissing boys. Skam actually enforces compulsory heterosexuality and laughs so while doing so. Whenever lesbians are mentioned, it's never seen as valid but more as a funny joke.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- ahem. On a serious note. I think the writers used specific themes and close female friendships to bait wlw viewers. So many of the storylines are explicitly coming out / questioning / discovering yourself storylines and yet they were all wrapped up with random-ass "men! *heart eyes*" conclusions. ESPECIALLY Vilde x Magnus.

i feel HORRIBLE and betrayed. it feels as though julie decided that teen lesbians don't exist? don't matter? are disgusting? don't deserve representation? are only there for the purpose of straight guys or as a punchline? the answer is all of the above. this hurts even more cos this show was targeted towards teenage girls. i;ve (unfortunately) grown used to this sort of lesbian queerbaiting/fetishization in shows targeted for men/teenage boys, or as distasteful and hurtful jokes in comedy, but in a show that i thought i would see myself represented in it stung even more. there are also 3 queer boys, but no girls? julie took it upon herself to write a whole season dealing with coming out and dealing with homophobia as a boy, but she couldn't even just make one of the characters a lesbian? thanks???

do you feel that the lack of wlw representation on the show is just a coincidence, or do you think it's intentional? is it part of a wider trend of lesbian erasure and lesbophobia in media?

This question in particular had so many insightful responses. The consensus is that with all the care that is put into Skam, it’s either intentional or completely careless. It’s incredibly disheartening to have so little lesbian rep in media, and the little rep we do have is often stereotypical, morbid, or, as in Skam, the lesbians are treated as jokes. The reason the lack of wlw representation in Skam hurts so much is for two reasons; first, we were baited very hard (see the previous responses); and, two, there is SO much care put into Skam, they interviewed 1000 teenagers, they read social media reactions, they put a ton of care and effort into the show and incorporate fan reactions, so to not include wlw characters despite knowledge that many wlw saw themselves in vilde, noora, and eva; feels incredibly intentional and disrespectful. here are a few great answers:

I think Skam is such good at showing diversity and realness in young women in every aspect but sexuality. It seems like Julie Andem has drawn on personal experience without much filter which makes the show authentic and relatable, as we all know. But with that said, the way sexuality was treated feels not so much like a personal experience as it does a personal fantasy - and in general, season 3 seems like a fantasy with the Baz Luhrmann theme and big, romantic gestures. Somehow it felt lazy? At least in terms of breaking boundaries, because it definitely would have been more groundbreaking to show a lesbian main character, defy lesbian erasure and talk about the lesbophobia in teenage girls. I think somehow that would have been too much for the show to handle? Too controversial? The same way that they never really dug into Islam or islamophobia in season 4 - it hits too close to home. So, I think the lack of wlw representation is partly because of the mystification of LGBT people which led to this big, fantasy-like season 3 (also a representation of straight, teenage girls' fantasy), and partly because it would be too difficult or controversial to have one of the mains be a lesbian, be forced to tell her story and make people examine their much more subtle lesbophobia. This also makes it a lot easier for the creators to queerbait because they can show that they know wlw exist but at the same time feel no obligation to actually tell the stories of wlw. So, it is not only lesbophobia in the media, but lesbophobia in society.

I don't think it's intentional in the sense that Julie thought to herself, "oh, let's see, hmm, no lesbians on this show", but I also do believe that the decision to leave the girls' sexualities unaddressed is intentional and lesbophobic; we all know that Julie and the crew spent time reading fan theories and shit. They knew we wanted it and cared jackass about it. Even in Vilde's clip, it could've been confirmed just by her mum asking if she's met any cute girl. Or that Magnus and her exchanged a text message that left us knowing their "relationship" is bearded. Or that even Eva is confirmed bi. They could've continued that storyline off show and on social media, with just slightly addressed (for the casual viewers), because they knew that the fans following the show religiously were expecting the rep. The decision to leave wlw rep out in the final season is complete lesbophobia and awfully disgusting of them.

for sure its lesbian erasure and lesbophobia in the media. 100%. theres no way julie can have isak, even, eskild, have her lesbian coded character say the word lesbian several times, exhibit lesbian behaviour and compulsory heterosexuality throughout a whole series - and then randomly and coincidently forget to include an actual lesbian character. nope. there was all the time in the world, she just choose not to - whether by her own prejudice or total disregard for lesbians, i dont know.

I think it's intentional. I think this is why, even when the original plan for the show was to have each of the girl squad have their own season plus isak, the season with the big coming/LGBT storyline featured a gay boy and a m/m couple, because that content is more palatable to an audience of mostly straight girls, and also non-straight sexuality in younger girls is almost never taken seriously. And I think apart from the queerbaiting, Julie was straight up lesbophobic in how she treated the concept of girls loving girls as a literal joke and something to laugh about that couldn't possibly be real; you know, the feelings that arise /can't/ mean you're a lesbian because that's just preposterous, apparently. And this is definitely a wider problem in media, because people cannot fathom girls liking each other romantically and wanting to be with other girls and whatnot, and then there's the whole thing about (straight) girls being sooo comfortable with their friends that they can kiss each other at parties and cuddle and all that but God forbid one of them isn't actually straight.

PART OF A WIDER TREND OF LESBIAN ERASURE IN MEDIA AND SHE SHOULD GET BACKLASH FOR IT IN THE NORWEGIAN PRESS AND BY NORWEGIAN LGBT ORGANIZATIONS BUT INSTEAD SHE IS TREATED LIKE THE PERFECT ALLY AND WINNNS LGBT AWARDS AT OSLO PRIDE

Wider trend. I think creators acknowledge the need for queer community representation, but then go with the easy option of two cis white boys kissing and think that's ticked the box. And I get it, because the two boys option will be popular, there's plenty of evidence to show it. But if you're not giving us the option to root for two girls written with the same care and depth and multi layered story, you're never giving us the chance to show how hard we would support a wlw relationship and create actual change across the media. We as wlw viewers would've defended the show creators if they copped flack for representing wlw or torpedoing a popular straight ship, and a lot of us have done stuff like vote in polls for Evak to show our support for that. We have their back. But they don't have ours.

it's not a coincidence. it cannot be coincidence when while having a mlm relationship on the show there isn't any wlw relationship or even just a lesbian/bisexual/pansexual girl. and there where plenty of time to make a wlw on the show. (they could have made eva bisexual and make season two about nooreva with a strong and self-confident lesbian noora, but okay, whatever) why couldn't they make sana's muslim friend a wlw?? it would mean so much not only to wlw fans but also to muslim wlw fans??? or give sana a wlw sister?? it wouldn't hurt the plot but would give at least some wlw representation. the conclusion is while having more and more gay representation (and i respect that, i do realise that is just as much important as wlw representation) a lot of shows just want to get attention and only give a gay couple so that young straight girls could fetishize them and don't give them proper storylines. and most of the shows that have a gay couple do not have a lesbian couple because i suppose they think there is "limit" on the lgbtq+ characters. and skam isn't the exeption. wlw fans have been queerbaited and humiliated by julie and skam multiple times and i fucking hate it. i also hate julie since hates lesbians.

conclusion: queerbaiting is very common in media and gay people are naturally more in tune to it. the majority of wlw skam fans who took this survey feel that there was queerbaiting on skam, specifically with vilde and season 1 noora. the majority of people who took this survey are incredibly disappointed, and got their hopes up during seasons 3 and 4, only to have their hopes dashed. it would have meant so much to many wlw skam fans to have a wlw character, but instead many feel disheartened, disappointed, and even hurt at their existence being treated like a joke on the show. vilde and noora were both explicitly lesbian-coded, so to make jokes around their sexuality feels like adding insult to injury.

bonus: some nicknames for william we saw: willfurry, mr. dicky, limpdick, richdick, dickface, trashelm, willphlegm, willdemort, willtwat, shitdick, dickface, and one person called him a naked mole rat.

THANK YOU again to everyone who participated!

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/06/09/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-6917/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 6/9/17

  In an interesting shake-up over at CBS, Erinn Hayes has been let go from her role as wife to Kevin James in Kevin Can Wait. They say that the show is going in a new direction, which necessitated the firing. But here’s where it gets interesting. Leah Remini, who played James’s wife on King of Queens, popped up in the season finale as James’ former cop partner. Well, just before announcing Hayes’s departure, CBS announced that Remini would be joining the show next season as a series regular. Now, if you’ve never seen Kevin Can Wait, Kevin James plays a former NYC cop who tries to figure out how to adjust to his recent retirement. Based on the season finale, though, it seems like James’s character might be coming out of retirement. It’s just a strange move, seeing as how the show ended the season as the #1 new comedy on network TV – hardly a situation that necessitated a retooling of the show. Part of what critics praised was Hayes’s portrayal of James’s wife of 20 years. How do you just gloss over that relationship? I mean, they’ve gotta kill her off, but unless you do a time jump, you’ve gotta slog through all the grief stuff, which doesn’t lend itself well to a multicam comedy. And if they’re gonna fast track a relationship between James and Remini, will the audience accept it? It really feels like they blew a sure thing and, if they wanted to recreate The King of Queens, thy should’ve just revived The King of Queens! I’ve said that online since Kevin was announced!

Speaking of Remini, I’m starting to think she’s a Scientology double agent. Bear with me here: Scientology is a well-connected organization in Hollywood that allegedly has the power to ruin your career with the information that they have on their members. If you ever leave the church, you’re pretty much done. Just look at the list of former Scientologists. On that list, Remini and Jeffrey Tambor are the one ones who even have a semblance of a steady career right now, and Tambor kinda skirted the issue by saying he never really joined the church. Remini, however, joined up as a child, and was a HUGE booster of the church. Then, in 2013, she turned on the church – not for its negative views on homosexuality (which is why Crash director Paul Haggis left) or its alleged illegal activities. No, she left because she got her feelings hurt after leadership clapped back at her. At Tom Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes, Remini asked why church leader David Miscavige’s wife wasn’t in attendance, and they basically told her she didn’t have clearance for that info (formal speak for “Nunyo Biznazz”). She didn’t trust that answer, and went further to file a missing persons report on Mrs. Miscavige. Then, she made it her mission to publicly discredit Miscavige, criticizing his leadership, citing reports of abuse in the Sea Org, and more. She went straight to the TOP with her blame game, yet NOTHING has happened to her. In fact, it’s probably rejuvenated her career. She got a successful show on A&E called Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, where she’s basically telling all their secrets. When the show debuted, the church issued a statement attacking her. Yet, she’s working more now than she was before. So, there’s two things happening here: either Scientology isn’t as powerful and litigious as we’ve been led to believe OR they’re in on it. It’s yin and yang. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. While Scientology has its critics, it never really had an enemy before. Why not create one where they could control the narrative? It’s like learning that Captain America has secretly been Hydra the whole time. Long story short, I’m not entirely convinced she’s left the church, especially over something as trivial as what’s reported to have started the whole thing. And she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

In other TV news, Tia and Tamera Mowry (yeah, they got married and have new hyphenated last names, but I ain’t got time for all that) are trying to get a Sister, Sister revival off the ground. And I don’t know anyone who wants this. If you were cool back in the 90s you probably never watched Sister, Sister, where a set of adopted twins didn’t realize they were twins until a chance meeting in a department store, a la The Parent Trap. Then they all move in together. It was the definition of “mediocre”, yet once ABC canceled it, it gained a new life over on The WB. The most memorable thing about it was that Marques “Batman” Houston, of the R&B group Immature/IMx, played their annoying neighbor Roger (kinda like a watered down Steve Urkel), and they’d constantly yell “Go home, Roger!” at him. Other than that, it was just a bunch of zany, mistaken identity twin shit – stuff that I’d hope adult Tia and Tamera had outgrown by now. What’s the story to tell? They both get divorced, and move in together with their kids? Sorry, Kate & Allie, Getting By, and the upcoming Raven’s Home have already covered that old chestnut. Are they single in the city, doing the same twin shit? Not interested. I don’t have a lot of faith in this one getting picked up, though, because they’re far behind where they need to be. Right now, they say they’re looking for a show runner to guide the project, but then they’d have to find a network. Sister, Sister was NO Full House, so I doubt Netflix would be interested. If anything, the only place I’d put it right now would probably be Freeform, even though the twins are slightly older than the target demo of that channel. Let this just be a lesson that not everything needs to be revived.

In other television news, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has cast Tala Ashe as Muslim “hacktivist” Zari Adrianna Tomaz for season 3. She’s a computer whiz from 2030, so basically the team’s got their own Oracle/Felicity now – not that they really need it, with Gideon and all. Anyway, in comics Tomaz is actually an Egyptian who uses the Amulet of Isis to transform into the hero Isis. Before the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, Isis was an important character in the weekly series 52, as she was in a relationship with Black Adam, and her brother, Osiris, was eaten by Sobek. Oh, and she had a cheesy TV show in the 70s. None of that’s gonna be in the Legends, I’m sure. Given the current political climate, and how loaded the name “Isis” is right now, I doubt they’ll actually ever call her that onscreen, either.

Song of the Week

Today I give you “Vampires”, by The Midnight. My pal and thrifting partner, “Special Forces”, and I decided that this is the official theme song for Thrift Justice should it ever become a real show. Synthwave AND saxophone?! I wanna direct Skinemax movies just so I can score them with this entire album. So sexy. Right now, Thrift Justice is a USA drama circa 1990, and I ain’t got no problems with that!

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland will guest star on Freeform’s Shadowhunters, which kinda sounds like a step back…

Speaking of Freeform, they’ve ordered a pilot for an American adaptation of UK hit Misfits. The network is a good home for something like this, but I’m still pissed over the American adaptation of Skins, so…

Rudy Huxtable herself, Keshia Knight Pulliam, escorted TV dad Bill Cosby to the first day of his rape trial. Whatever. Call me when Lisa Bonet shows up.

In next level pettiness, Taylor Swift put her entire catalog back on Spotify at midnight – at the very moment Katy Perry released her album “Witness”

According to Dan Aykroyd, Paul Feig blew his chance at a Ghostbusters sequel because he overran his budget on unnecessary reshoots. Sony refuted the figures Aykroyd presented, saying the estimates were off by about NINETY percent. Woo!

Jennifer Connelly will join Daveed Diggs in TNT’s Snowpiercer pilot, playing the person who makes the daily announcements on the train. Exciting!

Tom Cruise revealed that the title of the Top Gun sequel will be Top Gun: Maverick. I wonder if John McCain has any feelings about that. Coherent feelings, not ramblings about the Diamondbacks…

Speaking of Cruise, his The Mummy reboot opens today, and reviewers have called it “the worst Tom Cruise movie ever”. Wow.

Singer/actress/sister of Ray J Brandy was found unconscious on a Delta flight, and the doctor who came to her rescue was reportedly Kim Kardashian’s uncle! Considering Ray J put that family on the map, I figure it’s time the Kardashians did something to return the favor.

Gotham stars Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie got married. Knowing that show, it’ll probably revealed that they’re Bruce’s real parents or some shit. It’s not like it pays attention to any of the rest of the lore, so why not?

Fox canceled 24 Legacy after a low-rated single season, but they’re still committed to the 24 brand. They’re reportedly developing an anthology series to take the show back to its real-time roots

Like Peter denied Jesus, Jerry Seinfeld denied THREE requests for a hug from Kesha. I don’t blame him!

In one of the strangest deals I’ve ever heard of, Epix has inked a deal to stream its content directly to 2018 Honda Odyssey  minivans

Sony will begin selling clean versions of some of their hit movies. If you’ve ever accidentally bought a clean version of an album from Walmart, you can see why this decision might anger some folks

Hank Williams Jr is back singing the opening to Monday Night Football for the first time since 2011. I guess all his rowdy friends will be over after they finish burning a few more crosses…

George and Amal Clooney welcomed twins Ella and Alexander

Former Power Rangers director/producer/fight coordinator Koichi Sakamoto will direct the upcoming Ultraman Geed series, focusing on the son of the evil Ultraman Belial. Yeah, those words mean something to someone out there.

Newcomer Blu Hunt has been cast as Danielle Moonstar in the upcoming New Mutants spinoff of the X-Men films.

A live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop is being developed, and my heart weeps. As one of the few anime series I’ve watched, and loved, I kinda hope this dies in development hell

Hackers released 8 stolen episodes of ABC’s upcoming game show, Funderdome, and nobody cared.

Donald Glover will be retiring her Childish Gambino hip hop persona after his next album.

We got our first poster for the Black Panther film.

Last week I gave my opinions and feelings on the movie. This week, I’m just gonna stick to the facts:

92% on Rotten Tomatoes

$103 million opening weekend domestic box office

$220 million opening weekend global box office

Third highest opening for a DC film

Most successful female-directed film

Mot expensive female-directed film, with a budget of $150 million

Most tweeted about movie of 2017, with 2.19 million tweets

Won Best In Show and Best Fantasy/Adventure at the Golden Trailer Awards

Last Saturday, Wonder Woman Day was celebrated at comic shops around the world

You’ve seen it by now, right? RIGHT?! Then, what are you waiting for? For these reasons, and more, Wonder Woman once again had the West Week Ever.

[therightprometheanfire]

I got tagged twice! Here’s @ravingliberal‘s first, because I got hers first.

RULES: tell your followers 11 random facts about yourself and tag 11 people. tag backs are allowed but if you do get tagged again you must not repeat any of the facts you mentioned in the previous round. the facts can be absolutely anything, whatever comes to mind first. 

#1: I just got a banana Starburst that was clearly labeled as a Lemon Starburst, and feel vaguely cheated.

#2: The day Terry Pratchett died, my dad was out on a run. I’d managed to stop crying by the time he came back, but only just. I told him what had happened and felt my face get a little shaky again. He looked at me for a minute, then said “you wanna watch a movie or something after I shower?”. I nodded and before he went to shower, he disappeared for a second, and returned with an oatmeal cookie. “Sadness cookie,” he said sagely, and gave it to me. I don’t remember what we watched, but that’s the most unimportant part of the story.

#3: I can sing all of “Bruce’s Philosopher Song” by the Monty Python guys and when I was fourteen, I sang it during a Shakespeare production, I believe The Merchant of Venice, while playing a drunk, because it was the only drinking song I knew and I knew it by heart. I told only my brother I was going to do it, and he was excited to be let in on the secret. I couldn’t hear her because I was doing my best to project my singing because it was an outdoor production, but my mother evidently laughed so hard and so loud that people turned around to stare at her. I was also still full time homeschooled at that point (for another couple of weeks, anyway, before I went to high school), and my mother jokingly said that the song was our philosophy education for the year.

#4: I have absolutely abysmal eating habits, which is mostly due to the fact that I eat a lot of food as kind of a coping mechanism. I’m trying to get the upper hand here, but it’s really fucking hard.

#5: These days I refer to all male authority figures as “sir” and all female authority figures “ma’am”, which is less me being obsessively polite and more a side effect of going to a military college, even as a civilian.

#6: I love weird socks. Which I always have, to a certain extent. But @i-am-the-knight-who-says-ni got me ones that say “I gave a fuck, once” and that kicked off my real delight in them. Now I have a wide array, including a LOT from Blue Q like “I have mood swings” and “It’s okay, I hate everyone too”, some that look like famous paintings, and a personal favorite that my mom brought me back from Austin, which are American flag socks with Bill Murray’s face all over them.

#7: I am probably the only person on Earth who has a really hard time bingewatching. I’ll marathon half-hour shows, for sure, but those are usually either in the background while I do something else, or episodes I’ve seen before. Bingewatching new, hour+ content is near impossible for me, mostly happening in spurts. The closest I think I’ve come most recently was when I started Hannibal, and watched six episodes in one day. Before that, I watched the second half of the first season of The X-Files and the first couple episodes of the second season in a day. I burnt myself out on both those shows just from those viewings and it took forever to take them up again. Bingewatching, man. An unattainable constant. 

#8: I am a really fast and capable reader, and I started reading Shakespeare when I was nine or ten, starting with abridged children’s versions and moving quickly to the plays themselves. I used to take out books in the tens from the library, read them all, and return them the next week. When I was reading the American Girl books around seven, we had an AG board game that I played with my mother. It had a trivia section and I went for those cards every time, and Mom, who’d been under the impression that I wasn’t really reading the books, just sort of flipping the pages like little kids do sometimes, proceeded to be really freaked out when I nailed almost every single question. I’m not trying to brag or boast here. I’m trying to set up some backstory for you so you understand what I’m telling you that, when none of these things tripped me up, when I was a quite confident and competent reader, I was ground to a halt by The Fellowship of the Ring. I tried reading it when I was ten or eleven, and it took me three years. Now that’ll knock you down a peg.

#9: Orson Welles in his prime, Citizen Kane days could get it. Seriously, all he would have to have done was ask me and I would be like “yup, you bet”.

#10: In relation to the LOTR thing, when I was a kid I had a book called The Languages of Middle-Earth (I had seen the movies at this point even though I hadn’t read the books), which had an Elvish-English dictionary. I decided to write poetry in Elvish. Not only was it abysmal poetry, I mixed the shit out of Sindarin and Quenya, so it just read like a fucking mess.

#11: I refuse to wear any shirt that has curse words on it in public, because in public there are sometimes children and I’m not gonna have curse words around children, come the fuck on now.

I tag @singlemaltantiseptics, @flapperwitch, @irlkatebishop, @princessparadoxical, @ellicelluella, @jennysparkling, @valkyriesuits, @infinitegem, @0nlywishfulthinking, @katymacky, and @padbaeamidla!

Now for the next one! Please assume that everyone tagged in the above is also tagged in this, minus of course @princessparadoxical, on the grounds that she is the one who tagged me in this one :D

Bold the statements that are true for you!

APPEARANCE: I am 5′7″ or taller I wear glasses I have at least one tattoo I have at least one piercing I have blonde hair I have brown eyes I have short hair My abs are at least somewhat defined I have or have had braces There is something I would change about the way I look

PERSONALITY: My Hogwarts house is: Gryffindor Hufflepuff Ravenclaw Slytherin I am an introvert I like love meeting new people People tell me that I’m funny Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me I enjoy physical challenges I enjoy mental challenges (depends) I’m playfully rude with people I know well I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY: I can sing well I can play an instrument I can do over 30 pushups without stopping I’m a fast runner I can draw well I have a good memory I’m good at doing math in my head I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES: I enjoy playing sports I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else I’m in a orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else I have learned a new song in the past week I work out at least once a week I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months I have drawn something in the past month I enjoy writing Fandoms are my #1 passion I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES: I have had my first kiss I have had alcohol I have scored the winning goal in a sports game I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting I have been at an overnight event I have been in a taxi I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year I have beaten a video game in one day I have visited another country I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIP: I’m in a relationship I have a celebrity crush I have a crush on someone I know I have been in at least 3 relationships I have never been in a relationship I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them I get crushes easily I have had a crush on someone for over a year I have been in a relationship for at least a year I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE: I have at least one person I consider a “best friend” I live close to my school (25 min. away, depends on definition of close) My parents are still together I have at least one sibling I live in the United States There is snow right now where I live I have hung out with a friend outside of school in the past month I have a smartphone I have at least 15 CDs I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT: I have breakdanced I know a person named Jamie I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce I have dyed my hair (tried) I’m listening to one song on repeat right now I have punched someone in the past week I know someone who has gone to jail I have broken a bone I have eaten a waffle today I know what I want to do with my life I speak at least 2 languages fluently I have made a new friend in the past year

Thanks for the tags, y’all!

[celtfather]

St Patrick's Day and Month

Greetings Gunn Runner

And farewell February. Things might've run a little behind. But I made big progress this month. Especially with the release of my Kickstarter for Selcouth. I conquered my $5000 goal just a few days after it launched. It still has two weeks to go. So I'm feeling pretty good about it so far. But before we talk more about that, let's talk about...

Show #259

0:40 - PODCASTS

The Pub Songs Podcast is back with a vengeance. I am a podcaster at heart. I figured it'd be fairly easy to knock out completely live episodes of the Pub Songs Podcast to my Kickstarter every week. And I was correct. I recorded four new episodes so far. Which is good because in addition to promoting the podcast, it also allows me to keep to my initial schedule of how many episodes I want to release this year.

Plus, I love the format. I'm fine tuning it still. But it starts with a song. I go into some news, add a stories from the road, and a couple more songs. It feels good. Like something I COULD keep up every week. Though I don't plan to at present.

Stories from the Road is not getting ahead. But I have a lot of new content. So I'm staying on top of it. That's good because this is my Patron-only podcast.

I got ahead for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But I already feel like I'm losing that lead I got. I want to try and knock out a bunch of summer episodes. But I'm stalling for St Patrick's Day. Sooooo we shall see.   The In the ‘Verse podcast is coming. I apologize for the delay. But it's been crazy.

Course, that doesn't mean I didn't go ahead and setup the Cat Music Lovers podcast. The first podcast I ever published was the Cat Lovers Podcast. I created it to promote my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. But I ran out of time and had less interest in keeping it going. But I was still proud of that show. I was happy it was still available. Until I realized it was No Longer available. So I did a bunch of maintenance on the show. It should be back up on Apple Podcasts soon.

2:54 - VIDEOS

My voice is back. Which means Coffee with the Celtfather is back as well.  I feel like I've had some good shows. Though the attendance still seems a little lower than I'd like. Maybe I need to promote the show more.

That said, I am posting new videos on YouTube. And I'm working on a new strategy for the site.

My views have dropped dramatically since I deleted all of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast videos. Now each video I post gets about 50 views. That's not too good. But it allows me to start over and decide what this channel will be.

So what will it be?

Family videos set to my music. I like doing videos of my family. It's extra cool when I can add in my own music to spice up the video. I haven't figured out how to name the videos yet. But these videos help me learn a lot about shooting and editing videos.

I have a new one featuring Inara. We went for a hike the other day. It was't too bad a video. My editing still needs work though

Travel videos. I recorded a lot of video these past couple o'years going on my Celtic Invasion Vacations. These are a great way to promote my trips. So I'm gonna keep editing these videos.

The sucky thing is that as I edit them, I realize I should've done this or that... Like in the latest video from The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye. I did a poor job filming. But there was enough footage that it's not too bad.

Song Performance videos. I thought I had recorded a lot of these videos. After reviewing my site, I realize I haven't. So I'm gonna keep recording me singing individual songs.

This is a great way to attract new followers of my site. So hopefully, you'll see more.

Celtic Geek Thoughts. I'm not yet sure how to do these videos or what content to put on them, aside from the Celtic Top 40 videos I wanna do. But I'll have to tell you when I figure that out.

10:26 - MERCH

My free CD offer went over GREAT last month. If you ever want to find out how many of your fans listen to physical CDs. Give one away. LOL. I had over a hundred that went out into the world. And of course, all you have to do is pay the shipping cost. You'll find a link in the shownotes if you want one.

Again the Kickstarter for Selcouth is going great. I'm $700 over my initial goal. Yes. My actual goal is to earn $7500. But at least my base expenses are covered. I CAN create a new CD. And I still have two weeks to go to hit my first stretch goal.

I ran into one interesting problem as the goal has started to stall out. That is, how do I keep up momentum. Seems like every time I post something fun or interesting, I get a spike. But I'm not the best storyteller I think. So that's making it tough.

I discussed this challenge with Andrew. He suggested that I bring people in on video to chat about it. I'm gonna try and do that the next couple o'weeks. Stay tuned...

12:06 - TRAVEL

The Celtic Invasion of Venice closed up. We have a very small group this year. And I can start planning for Scotland in 2021. But I'm excited to see what happens next...

12:56 - WEBSITES

With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, I started updating my Irish Song Lyrics website. I started this site years ago to promote my Celtic songs. Admittedly, I've done little with it the past few years, Except around St Patrick's Day.

But I decided to update it for two reasons. One, it's that time of year. And two because I want to get back to helping people learn these songs.

You see, the reason I started the site was to offer an incredible resource. How to play songs the way I learn them, by ear. There are just lyrics, chords, and music to listen to on the site. You can play along with me over and over again if you so desire. This makes it a lot easier.

I'm also trying to make it entirely about the user. I removed much of the advertising that was on the website. Now it's just the stuff you really want. It's an amazing, free resource. So go along with me.

14:15 - PROMOTION

I also had a new promotion idea I thought up recently using Facebook groups... Well, actually any online community.

I have two groups that I actively share to on Facebook: Celtic Geeks and Irish & Celtic Music Club. Most everything really goes to the Celtic Geeks group. If I find something I love, unless it's hardcore Celtic, I share it to the Celtic Geeks group.

That makes it easy. I don't use my personal profile. I share to an interactive community. It's awesome.

And that's the tip I came up with.

Instead of trying to share my music to your friends who may or may not share you interests, share to a group, where your interests definitely align.

I haven't seen many Gunn Runners doing that yet, well aside from Sarah, who sort of inspired this idea when she shared Selcouth to a Firefly fan group.

16:04 - SHOWS PLANNED FOR MARCH

I updated the gig calendar on my website. I'm using Google Calendars again. This is going GREAT for listing shows. You can see everywhere I'll be this year. And yes, it is fully up-to-date.

MAR 7: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM MAR 12: St Patrick's Day Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM MAR 13: Interstellar Ginger Beer & Exploration Co, Alabaster, AL MAR 14: St Patrick’s Day at 5 Points, Birmingham, AL MAR 20-22: ConCoction, Cleveland, Ohio MAR 26: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA @ 6:30 PM

APR 4-5: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX APR 9: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM APR 11-12: Sherwood Forest Faire, Paige, TX APR 17-19: JordanCon, Atlanta, GA Weds 10:30 AM EDT: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!)

17:24 - STATS

Mailing list subscribers = 1038 is up from 1024 Celtic Music Magazine = 3963 is up from 3859 at the beginning of the year

YouTube Subscribers = 4441 is up 53 from 4388 YouTube Watch Time = 314.8K is up from 19.0K and 32.1K min from the month before YouTube Views = 8.5K is down from 8.8K

Facebook Likes = 3667 is up from 3666 FB Page Views = 501 is up from 392 FB Reach = 9214 is up from 8839 FB Video Views = 9485 is up from 8466

Spotify Latest Single Stats: "Slainte Mhaith Christmas": 3347 is up from 3310 is up from 3238 Spotify Latest Single Stats: "The Last Jedi Drinking Song": 832 is up from 696 Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 1.4k streams, "One Note Concerto in G" has the most streams

Spotify followers: 1476 is up 31 from 1445 # Number of listens on Spotify: 3266 is up from 2224 Most-popular songs on Spotify: Wild Kitty (1.6K), The Widow and the Devil (1.2K), Doctor of Gallifrey (567), When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling (331), Furagone's Wake (320), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (289), Reavers, Malcolm Reavers (264), Hero of Canton (224) Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits (162)

Top Irish & Celtic Music: 431 is up from 426 Firefly Drinking Songs: 103 is up from 101

PATREON

Patreon Subscribers: 155 is up from 151 Patreon Monthly Income: $1050 is up from $977

Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts. Slainte!

#CFMonthly

Check out this episode!

[josephstoontown]

Holiday Breakdown, Ch. I

Chapter I of "Holiday Breakdown," A Joseph's ToonTown story. (Formerly one-half of the story of the same name.)

This is another story I never actually kept a "hard" copy of (meaning I never converted it into AbiWord format).  Ah, what fun. (help me help me help me help me help me help me help me help me)

Word count: 4,603 – Character count: 26,709 Originally written: October ?? - ??, 2016* Slightly revised: January 13th, 2017 Revised further: August 26th, 2017 (* I don't remember...  The original post date and the actual writing date are different.  Sorry.)

How do you say "Merry Christmas" to someone you haven't talked to in almost a year?

Shinko the Toon Girl and related characters and properties created by and © shinkothetoongirl Woody Woodpecker, Winnie Woodpecker, The Woody Woodpecker Show, and related characters and properties created by and © Walter Lantz Productions

[ ↶ Prev. Story | ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → | Next Story ↷ ]

    During the jolly holiday season in December, a pair of red-headed, cartoon woodpeckers were happily cuddled-up on a couch as they watched TV, wearing matching holiday sweaters.  They seemed to really be enjoying each other’s company… as well as the holiday programming.  However, within the apartment was a third person… an olive-gold fox who was the male woodpecker’s roommate… and, someone who didn’t seem very interested in holiday cheer.

    “Guys, could you turn down the TV?” he said from a desk in the corner.  “I need to focus on this…”     “What’s the problem, pal?” asked his roommate.     “Maybe Joseph doesn’t celebrate Christmas?” added the female situated in the male woodpecker’s lap.     “I don’t even know what Christmas is, Winnie…  It reminds me of Snow Festival back home, though.  But, no, I just– I’m trying to write a letter to someone, here.”     “Oh, yeah?” Woody asked, taking a sudden interest as he nudged Winnie to the side of the couch.  “Writin’ a letter to Santy Claus, Joe?”     “Who?”  The fox’s ears fell underneath his festive, red winter hat.  “No, Woody.”     “It is a letter for someone special?” the female woodpecker politely asked from her seat.     “Something like that.”     “Lemme see!”     Before Joseph could hide his letter away, he found it snatched up by the male woodpecker.  The fox narrowed his golden eyes at the bird…     “Woody!”  Winnie hopped up and walked over to her boyfriend.  “Don’t be mean!  I’m sure it’s something he doesn’t want anyone else to read!”     “‘Dear Shinko…’” the male woodpecker began to read with a smirk.     “Gimme that!”

    Woody gave a blink as the letter was forcibly removed from his hands.  He looked up at the fox, then, blinking again from the angry look on his face.  Woody, however, was no longer wearing a smirk… but, a look of confusion.     “Uuuhh… ya sure ya wanna send that letter off, pal?”  The woodpecker tilted his head.  “All it says it ‘Dear Shinko.’”     “It’s not done, yet!”     “Ooohh…  I see!”  The shorter figure laughed.  “By all means, go ahead ‘n finish writin’!  I’m sure Shinko’ll be interested in what ya been up to since April!”     “Who’s ‘Shinko,’ if you don’t mind me asking…?”     The fox perked, looking to his left.  Winnie had spoken up from that side, her blue eyes looking up with curiosity.     “Shinko’s his long-lost not-quite-but-maybe-someday almost-sorta-kinda–”     “She’s… a friend,” Joseph interrupted.  “I… think.  I don’t… really know.  We haven’t been in-contact for–”     “7 months, 29 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, and 19 seconds!”     Joseph looked down at his roommate, a blank stare on his face.     “What?”  Woody gave a grin.  “I been keepin’ track!”     “W… why?”     The woodpecker shrugged in his green sweater.  “Just somethin’ to do…”

    “Anyway, Winnie…” Joseph continued, “it’s been a while and I’m sure she’s, ya know, kept busy and forgotten all about me.  But, for some reason…”     “I understand, Joseph.”  The lady gave a reassuring smile.  “I think it’s sweet that you’re trying to keep in touch with your friend – especially during the holidays.”     “Yeah…  I kinda wanted to give her this $100.00 gift card, too,” the fox said as he gestured to something on the desk.  It looked to be a gift card for Walmart.     “Didn’t’cha say she got sore with ya for spendin’ money on her, though?”     “She did.  But… I dunno.”  The fox frowned.  “I can’t think of any one thing to give her… and, it seemed like money was tight at her place, besides, so… I figured that a gift card would maybe… I dunno… lighten the load for at least a month?”     “Hey, wait a sec…”  The woodpecker gave his roommate a suspicious look.  “Where’d ya even get a hundie t’ spend on yer gal-pal?”     Joseph tensed at the question.  “Oh… I uh…”     “You been holdin’ out on me, pal…?”  He started to give his roommate the stink-eye.  “Our money sit-chi-a-tion ain’t so great, either!  We got bills t’ pay, ya know!”     “I kept it handy from when I arrived, okay?”  The fox frowned.  “It was… from my ‘emergency fund,’ I guess you could say.  Or… what was left of it, I mean.”     “Oh, Joseph…” Winnie with a sympathetic smile.  “You really shouldn’t do that…”     “I probably shouldn’t,” he agreed, “but, I did.”     “Joey, Joey, Joey…”  Woody shook his head and gave a sigh.  “What’re we gonna do with you?”     Joseph continued to look down with guilt… until he noticed Woody shoot him a smile.  For some reason, this made him smile as well.  Winnie couldn’t help but smile, herself.

    “No harm done, pal,” Woody said, giving Joseph a pat on the back.  “Just, ya know… maybe… run your expenses by your financial advisor, next time.”     “‘Financial advisor?’”  The fox tilted his head.  “I have one of those?”     “Ya do, pal!”  The woodpecker gave a grin.  “Me!”     “Says the guy who wanted to buy an ugly cow lamp for $50.00.”     “Heeey!  I’ll have you know that cow lamp was a prop from a real famous ‘toon!”     “Oh yeah?”  Joseph gave a smirk.  “Which one?”     “Homestar Runner!”     “Never heard of him.”     Both Woody and Winnie stared up at the fox for a moment.     “You’ve never heard of ‘Homestar Runner?’” Woody asked.     “Everybody loves the Homestar Runner!” Winnie added, excitedly holding her arms out.  “He’s a terrific athlete!”     “And… he’s a ‘toon?” Joseph asked, head tilting.     “He’s a Flash ‘toon!” Woody explained.  “I showed you his website, one time.  Don’cha remember?  White face, red shirt, li’l dopey?”     “No.  I don’t recall,” the fox admitted.  “I was probably pre-occupied that day.”

    “In any case, you get back t’ writin’ that letter!”  Woody walked around the fox and gave Winnie a nudge before the two walked back toward the couch.  “And, hey!  Tell Shinko I said ‘Hi,’ would’ja, pal?”     Winnie gave her boyfriend a suspicious look at that innocent request.     “What’s that supposed to mean?”     “Nothin’, nothin’!” the male woodpecker said with a laugh.     “Let’s hope so, Woody.”  The female woodpecker grabbed her boyfriend’s arm, giving it a squeeze and offering him a smile.  “I’d hate to think some other girl’s on your mind when you have your girl right here!”     Joseph watched Winnie give Woody a kiss on the cheek.  The woodpecker laughed in his special way, shortly after.

    “Say…”  Winnie smiled to her boyfriend.  “How about we go out for dinner?  My treat!”     Woody’s stomach gave a visible rumble at the suggestion.     “Think my stomach likes that idea!” he said with a grin.  “C’mon, Joe!  Get’cher coat!”     “No, silly!” the lady said with a giggle.  “Just you and I!”     “Oh?  Ooohh…!  Well then, don’t get’cher coat, Joe!” he laughed.     “And then, after dinner, maybe we could…”     The fox tilted his head the other way.  He’d been watching the conversation unfold up to that point… but, when he saw Winnie lean in and whisper to Woody, followed by Woody giving a loud cheer and clicking his heels, he decided it was best to just go back to focusing on his letter.  That was made even easier when he heard the two woodpeckers leave out the door shortly after.

    Alright… he thought.  Now, with those two gone, maybe I can get some writing done.     He stared at the crinkled piece of paper on the desk for several moments, trying to form words with his mind.  However, after five minutes of staring, he realized…

    I… can’t think of anything to write.

    Joseph sat at his desk, idly tapping his pen and staring at the blank sheet of paper that seemed to be mocking him.  It had been thirty minutes since the woodpeckers had left the apartment and all he’d managed to do was add a comma to the already-written line of “Dear Shinko.”

    “Why is this so difficult…?” he thought aloud, glaring at the crinkled paper.  “So much has happened since April… so, what’s stopping me from telling her about it?  Any of it?  Or… or even just saying ‘hello…?’”     The fox paused.     “Wait.  That’s… that’s a good starting point.  ‘Hello.’  Yeah, that’s how I’ll open the letter!”     With that, he set to begin his letter to his friend.

    Dear Shinko,     Hi!  How have you been?     “Bah, that’s garbage!” he said, crumpling up the paper a second later.  “What kind of greeting is ‘How’ve you been?’ for someone you haven’t even spoken to for most of the year?  No… I need something more… professional, I guess?  But, still friendly.  Hm…”     Joseph pulled a clean sheet of paper from the desk and began again.

    Dear Shinko,     Season’s Greetings.  I hope this letter finds you well.     And, once again, the paper was crumpled into a ball.

    “That feels wrong, too…  Maybe something more distant?  Or… maybe a mysterious greeting?  No, that’s stupid…  What if I…?  How about…?  No, wait, what if…?”     But, try as he might, Joseph simply could not seem to create a letter with a satisfactory greeting and, after several more failed attempts, he leaned down and rested his head on the desk.

    “Maybe I should just give up…  It’s not like she’s made any attempt to find me since I left.  Not… that she even knows I’m still here… probably.  But, maybe, it’s better that way.  I mean, she doesn’t need someone like me cluttering up her life… especially if I’m just gonna up-and-vanish, one day.  Again.  Probably.  Hm…”     The fox pulled his right hand into view and took a moment to examine the jade-inlaid ring on his finger.     “It’s weird that that ‘M’ guy hasn’t contacted me again, though…  No more weird letters with goodies… not even so much as a postcard.  Not since that first one, months back…”     He shook his head.     “Well, that’s fine.  Life isn’t as easy here as it was on Ragnarok but, dammit, I’ve made what I could of it and I plan to keep doing so for as long as it takes.  Besides…”     A grin came across his face.     “Woody’d be lost without me.”     “Who’d be lost without who, pal?”     The fox jerked out of his chair and looked toward the door.  Woody was standing there in his green sweater.  He had a huge grin, as well as what looked to be several pink kiss marks, on his face as he sauntered up to his roommate.

    “What happened to you?” Joseph asked.     “Ooh… not much…  I just played a few rounds of ‘Find the Mistletoe’ with Winnie, is all…”  The grin on his beak somehow became wider as he added, “I think I won.”     The odd laugh Woody gave made Joseph wonder about just what kind of game “Find the Mistletoe” was…     “So!” Woody started again as he rubbed the marks off his face, “did’ja get your letter done?”     “You tell me.”     The woodpecker looked toward the desk-side trash can.  The pile of crumpled pieces of paper said all there was to say.

    “What’s the problem, Joe?”     The woodpecker leaned up to look at Joseph’s latest attempt at a letter.  To his surprise, he once again saw a piece of paper with two words and a comma written on it.     “I thought you’d be done and watchin’ ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ by now!”     Joseph withdrew a small, metallic, pen-like object from his pocket and placed it in his muzzle.  “You thought wrong, I guess.”     “What’s so hard about writin’ a letter to your favorite gal-pal, anyway?” Woody asked, watching his roommate make the end of the metal stick glow as he sucked on it.     “It’s just… hard,” the fox said, expelling a large cloud of what looked like smoke… but, smelled like spearmint.     “What is, though?  Just say ‘hi,’ tell her wha’cha been up to, wish ‘er Season’s Greetings, ‘n call it a day!”  Woody gave a shrug.  “Easy as pie!”     “It’s not that easy for me, I guess…”     “Do ya want me to write it for ya?”     “What?”  He blinked.  “No, I–”     “Scoot over!”

    Joseph found himself tossed out of the chair and on to the floor.  He then watched in confusion as Woody grabbed his pen and, apparently, began writing a letter to Shinko.

    “Dear Shinko,” Woody enthusiastically said as he scribbled on the paper, “Happy Holidays from your favorite fuzzball!  Things’re goin’ great, over here!  Got a sweet job at Joe’s Diner – no relation… sharin’ an apartment with the coolest woodpecker in ToonTown…  We got a nice TV, a couch, and a cozy bedroom with a bed!  Wouldn’t mind showin’ ya, sometime…”     Joseph growled as Woody repeated that almost-suggestive laugh from earlier.     “Knock it off!” he half-shouted, getting to his feet.  As he tried to take the pen away from Woody, the woodpecker hopped out of the chair, laughing his normal laugh and grinning again.     “Calm down, pal!  Gettin’ so worked-up over nothin’ can’t be good for ya!”     “Nothing?!”  The fox growled again, baring his teeth.  “You’re writing suggestive crap I’d never say to Shinko!”     “What’s so ‘suggestive’ about wantin’ your best gal in your apartment…?”     “That’s not what–”     Woody’s lowered his eyelids, his grin widening.  “Bedroom.”     “You sonova–!”     Again, Joseph took a lunge at the woodpecker.  However, the laughing ‘toon easily evaded him a second time, bouncing off his head and causing him to face-plant on to the floor.

    “Now, why’d’ja fall down?” the woodpecker teased from across the room.  “Can’t keep your balance?”     “Stupid… bird!” the fox huffed.     “Now now, Joey… no need t’ get personal!  It’s only a joke!”     Joseph gave a frustrated grunt.     “It’s okay if ya don’t wanna show Shinko the bedroom.  It is kind of a mess!”

    “Stop saying that…!” he protested.     “Stop sayin’ what?”     The fox rolled over and sat up on his arms.  “You know what!”     Woody gave an innocent smile, bringing his arms behind his back and rocking on his feet.     “No?  What?”     By that point, Joseph’s frustration was starting to get to him.     “Er, pal?  Are… are you cryin’?”     The fox laid back down, hiding his face under his hat.  Despite that, Woody could hear him sniffling.

    “Joey…”  The smile vanished from Woody’s face.  “C-c’mon, pal… don’t do that.  It was all for fun!”     The fox’s folded ears gave a flick as he heard a piece of paper rustle.  He didn’t move as he then heard the woodpecker walk his way.     “I didn’t even write anything!  Really!  Never even took th’ cap off th’ pen!  Look!”     “That’s not the point…” the fox said, not moving his Santa hat away.     “What’s wrong, then?”  He sat down next to his roommate.  “You can tell ol’ Woody!”     There was a long pause, followed by Joseph inhaling and exhaling a breath.  Finally, he moved the cap from his face and looked over toward the woodpecker.

    “I never meant to…”  He paused again.  “I never meant to do that, to her…”     Woody tilted his head.  “Do what?”     “I never meant to make her think…”     The fox took another moment to try and gather his thoughts.     “The last thing I ever wanted to do was upset her…  I just wanted her to know how much she means to me… how much I like her…  I didn’t want to make her think she was just some… object… some kind of goal, to me.  She’s not anything like that, to me…  She’s the most wonderful ‘toon girl in this or any other universe…  And… and, I blew it.”     Woody tilted his head the other way.  “Ya sure about that, pal?”     “I still remember how cold she acted after… after I did what I did.”  Joseph shook his head.  “Not that I blame her…”     “Don’cha think you’re overreactin’ a little, though?  I mean, ya ain’t even talked to her in 7 months, 29 days, 9 hou–”     “I’m positive she hates me…  This version of me, anyway…”     “‘This version?’”  The woodpecker looked completely confused at that point.  “Ya mean there’s another Joe out there?”     Joseph looked up at his roommate.  “I told you the story, right?  About how I was here before, some-odd years ago?”     “Yeah?  I think so…?”     Joseph turned his attention to the ceiling.  “I was a different person, then… and…”     “And, so was she.”

    The fox gave a blink.  He then looked at Woody again.     “What did you say?”     “I said, ‘And so was she,’” he repeated.  “Ya said she was a li’l girl back then, right?  All bright-eyed ‘n innocent ‘n stuff.  Ya told me since Shinko grew up, she’s been more serious-like?”     “She seemed so happy to see me…” the fox mused.  “Then, I screwed it up with that stupid kiss!”     “Well… that didn’t happen ‘til later, though!”  Woody gestured with one gloved hand.  “Didn’t’cha say she seemed kinda doom-‘n-gloomy, before that?”     “Kind of…  Like… I dunno…”  The fox looked up at the ceiling again.  “It seemed like that childlike wonderment she had was just… gone.  She seemed really happy when she was shooting her rifle at the firing range, but…”     Joseph paused.  Slowly, a horrified look crawled over his face.     “Woody…” the fox quietly said, his head turning toward the concerned roommate.  “You don’t think…”     “Not often!” he said with a grin.  “What’s up?”     “You don’t think… she ended up in the Armed Forces, do you?”     The woodpecker gave a confused blink.  “Umm…”     “War has a tendency to change a person… and she seemed like she’d seen better days – particularly in the past.  Plus, I’d never known her to be good with, or even be interested in, firearms.  But, as I watched her at the range… it was like watching a well-oiled machine… made only for shooting things.”     Joseph sat up, rubbing his face with one arm.     “That’s what it is,” he continued.  “She’s been re-programmed into a fighter.  That’s why she reacted the way she did.”     “By screaming?”  Woody gave a chuckle.  “Think about what’cha just said, pal!  If she was programmed for fightin’, she prob’ly would’a walloped ya instead’a freakin’-out!”     Joseph’s ears perked.  It was his turn to blink.  All at once, his horrified look became almost neutral.

    “Huh…  You’re… probably right, actually.  But…”  Joseph looked down, rubbing his muzzle in thought.  “What could it be?  She’s not the ‘toon I remember…  What changed?”     “Maybe she just wasn’t ready for life on her own?”     Again, the fox gave a blink.     “Didn’cha say she used t’ live with her animator?  Maybe her life ain’t what she thought it’d be when she was younger?”     “Heh.  Whose is?”     “Yeah!” Woody laughed.  “But, maybe, it’s just kinda… got her down.  So, when ya went ‘n kissed her, maybe that didn’t go like she hoped, either, and it kinda bummed her out?”     The fox tilted his head.

    “Ya said ya remember her likin’ fairy tale stuff, right?  Like, Disney stuff?”     “I think that’s what she said…”     “So, maybe… she was expectin’ ya t’ be her ‘White Knight’?”  Woody gestured again.  “Ya know… ride in when things seem their worst… pull her up on yer horse… whisk her away t’ live in a big castle with a million servants and tons’a moolah… that sorta thing!”     Joseph gave another blink.  “Maybe…”     “So, when it turned out you were just some peasant instead of a charmin’ prince–”     “Heeyyy…”     “– it just reminded her that life ain’t always like it is in the pictures!  Then, when ya went ‘n kissed her…”     “It wasn’t supposed to turn out like that…”     Woody gave another blink of his green eyes, watching the fox draw his smoke-pen from his pocket and take another long draft.     “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he sighed, emitting a plume of sweet-smelling pseudo-smoke.  The woodpecker stayed quiet as Joseph continued.     “The moment just felt… right…  We drew close… looked into each other’s eyes…  We blushed… I drew closer… she didn’t turn away…  Then… I kissed her.  I don’t know why I was expecting her to just melt into my arms and kiss back…  Like you said…”  The fox sneered.  “I’m no ‘charming prince.’  I’m just a worthless, penniless fox who just reminds Shinko of how miserable and depressing real life truly is.”     The woodpecker looked down at the floor as Joseph took another draw of his device.  For the first time in a long while… he didn’t know what to say.

    The fox continued to sit on the floor, staring down at his knees, not saying a word or drawing from his smoke-pen.  Woody didn’t seem in much better spirits, standing nearby with a concerned look on his face.     What do I do? he thought as he watched his roommate sit motionless in front of him.  What do I say?  This whole ‘Shinko’ thing’s really got him down-in-the-dumps…     “Ch… cheer up, pal!” is what he eventually said.  “We all do dumb things and–”     Joseph silenced his roommate with a nasty glare before slowly turning away.     “S… sooo…”  Woody rubbed his left arm, trying to think of something else to say.     “It doesn’t matter anymore, Woody.”     The woodpecker tilted his head as Joseph spoke.     “Maybe Shinko’s not the naive one, here.  Maybe it’s me.  I’m the problem.”     “Mm… I don’t think–”     “I expected too much from someone who wasn’t ready to give me what I wanted,” the fox continued.  “And I just expected everything to work out right.  It’s like you said… my actions ruined this image she had of me… and there’s nothing I can do to fix that.”     “I don’t think that’s true, either!”     “I can’t be Shinko’s hero.  I can’t be her knight in shining armor.  I can’t be her favorite person and I sure as hell can’t be her boyfriend.  I’m not even sure I can be her friend, to be perfectly honest.  That one action… that stupid kiss…  It ruined everything.  And you know what the funny part… the truly funny part… is?”     Woody’s head tipped the other way.  “No?  What?”     Joseph gave a chuckle before turning his head to look at Woody.     “Even knowing what I know now… I’d do it again, if I could.”

    There was a long period of silence between the two as Joseph returned to staring at the floor.  Woody just kind of stood and stared as he watched the fox slowly draw from his minty vaporizer now-and-then, thoughts entering and exiting his mind as to where to go with the conversation.  It was obvious Joseph had a lot of unresolved issues he needed to work out… whether with or without the help of others… but, Woody knew that, if there was something he could possibly do to get his friend out of his funk… he’d do it.

    “What’s your deal, anyway?” he said after a few more moments.     “What’s my deal with what?” the fox replied, still staring at the floor.     “You don’t even know if Shinko hates you or how she feels about you for sure, right?  Why’ve ya been hangin’ ‘round here all these months, bellyachin’ over what you only think was a huge mistake?”     “She screamed, Woody…”  Joseph gave a growl.  And then, she turned cold and went to bed.  She obviously did not appreciate the gesture.”     The woodpecker paused for a moment… which unfortunately gave time for Joseph to continue.     “Now, maybe, it’s different in ToonTown… but, back where I come from?  When you kiss someone, you either get slapped… or, they kiss you, back.  Shinko did neither of those things.  She almost acted like… like…”     The fox closed his eyes, his body giving a shiver as a particularly dark thought hit him.     “Alright, so maybe things didn’t go like ya planned!” Woody interjected.  “So?  Why give up?  Why call it quits?”     “Because, Woody…” the fox rebutted, an angry look in his watery eyes, “I think I’ve done more-than-enough damage, as it is… and, if I’d kept at it, I’d just be proving her right.”     “Proving her right?”  Woody tilted his head again.  “I don’t underst–”     “I’m not that kind of guy!  I’m not– I’m not…”  Joseph pulled his legs up to his chest.  He was rapidly losing his composure…  “I’m not…”     His roommate gave a hard swallow before cautiously asking, “Not… what?”     “I… I’m not… not a… not a r… r…”

    Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.  Woody hesitated for a moment…  He wanted to console the fox… but, at the same time, he really didn’t like where the conversation was going, having an idea of what Joseph was implying…  And so, he quietly walked over to the door.     “Hello?” he politely called from behind the door.     “It’s me, again,” called a feminine voice similar to his own.     “Oh!  Winnie!”     The woodpecker was quick to open the door after hearing that voice.     “You left your keys at my place, again, Woody,” the blue-eyed woodpecker said with a giggle as she held out a keyring.     “Oh!  Um… th-thanks!” the man said, taking the keys and putting them into his pocket.     “One of these days, you’re going to end up locking yourself out with no keys, Mr. Woodpecker!  And, then what?”     Woody gave a hollow laugh and a weak smile at the comment.  That immediately told Winnie something was wrong…

    “Are you okay, Woody?” she asked with a look of concern.  “And… is he okay?”     The two looked over toward Joseph.  He was still sitting on the floor, tail curled around his feet and arms hugging his legs to his chest.     “Um… let’s… talk.  Outside,” Woody said as he escorted his girlfriend back outside.

    “So that’s the problem…” Winnie said after listening to Woody explain the situation.  “That’s such a shame!”     “Yeah…” Woody added, his arms behind his back as he tapped a toe on the floor.  “Poor guy…  I tried t’ cheer him up, but–”     “Maybe this calls for a woman’s touch?”     The male woodpecker perked at the question.  “Eh?”     “Let me try talking to him, for a white,” his girlfriend suggested with a smile.  “Maybe I can help him feel better?”     “Well…”  Woody gave a light smile.  “Ya couldn’t do much worse than I did, I s’pose.”     “Oh, thanks for that vote of confidence!”     Winnie rolled her eyes with a smirk.  The two then shared a bit of laughter before settling back down.

    “Well… I hope ya can help him,” Woody said with a hopeful smile as he reached into his chest pocket.  Winnie scowled as she watched him withdraw a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.     “That’s a really bad habit, Woody…”     “Gotta do somethin’ t’ pass the time…” he said with a grin.  Winnie just sighed and shook her head.     “We’ll talk about this, later.  Right now, I need to see what I can do about poor Joseph.”     “Good luck, babe!”     “Thanks.”

    Winnie headed back into the apartment, leaving Woody to smoke in the hallway.  She was determined to try and help her boyfriend’s roommate snap out of his funk as she re-entered Apartment 3C.  As she closed the door and looked at the fox, however, she suddenly wondered…     What am I going to say?     She continued to think as she slowly walked over toward the upset vulpine curled-up on the floor.     I barely know anything about the guy… except that he’s Woody’s friend.  Think, Winnie, think…  What’s Woody told you about him?     Her beak curled into a smirk as she remembered some of the… “things…” Woody had mentioned.     The positives, Winnie, the positives.     She continued to try and remember some of the nicer things her boyfriend had to say about his roommate as she stood beside him.  Unfortunately, the more she thought about it, the less she came up with.     Darn it, Woody!  Why do you have to be such a silly bird all the time?  Couldn’t you have said one nice thing about him that wasn’t a joke?     Completely devoid of any other place she might begin, the female woodpecker decided to start with an old standby…