eliabennet

[turquoiseorchid]

what is roswell about? i've never seen anyone else post about it but you've got me intrigued

Ooh, join us! Roswell New Mexico has 4 seasons (2019-2022) with 13ish eps each; it was on the CW and is available on Netflix. (It’s a remake of a 90s or early 00s show just called Roswell. That one’s on Hulu and I’ve only seen a few episodes.) Overall, it’s about aliens living in Roswell and their human friends/love interests, plus a few alien-related mysteries. Most of my summary will be about season one and I’ll leave the rest for you to see for yourself.

Liz (human) comes back to Roswell ten years after high school, discovers her high school crush is an alien, and then finds out her sister had been killed by aliens. This and other developments lead to their whole social circle getting in on the secret and there’s a bunch of love triangles.

If I knew who you were, dear anon, I’d tailor this to what fandoms we’ve already got in common but to cover some of the likely options and their high level comparisons: If you like Leverage, this has found family and the love triangles can easily be shipped as throuples/polycules. If you like The Magicians then same as leverage plus canon queer characters and magic(technically science) powers. If you like Supernatural, there can be a lot of overlap between malex and destiel (for better and worse). If you’re still here from my Torchwood days, again queer characters with messy relationships and a lot of snark.

Let’s introduce some of the characters!

In the Pod Squad (the three main aliens), we’ve got Isobel, Max, and Michael (left to right in gif). Max and Isobel were adopted together and grew up as the Evans twins while Michael was a foster kid but all three are inseparable. Isobel starts off the series as someone whose identity is mainly focused on wife/sister/volunteer but breaks down her walls and grows into a total badass. Often portrayed in fanon as “the woman with the brain cell” for better or worse. Max is a writer-turned-cop and total romantic who has been pining for his high school crush (Liz) for over a decade and risks his family secret in order to save her and struggles with choosing between her safety and his family’s. Michael is an angsty bisexual mechanic with a troubled past and became many people’s blorbo on sight. He too has a high school sweetheart (Alex) who he’s never gotten over but grows enough to find healthy relationships and let people in. They all have various powers including telekinesis, healing, and mind control/influencing.

And now for Team Human! Liz is a scientist who left town after graduation because her sister died from (apparently) drunk driving and gets shot an hour after she returns. The lack of being dead causes her to investigate/confront her crush (Max) and learns about aliens, leading to the realization that her sister was killed by an alien and the crash was a coverup. The first person who she brings in is her ex-boyfriend, Kyle, a jock-turned-surgeon with a strong moral compass who tries to rein in the mad scientist tendencies of his ex-girlfriend (who he still has feelings for).

Next in on the whole alien thing is Alex, a gay emo who had a secret thing with Michael in high school before leaving to join the Air Force. He’s back in town (minus a leg) and has his plate full with finding out that his abusive homophobic dad runs a secret military team hunting aliens and oh hey, his high school boyfriend turns out to be an alien! He’s best friends with Maria, a psychic who runs the local bar. Besides bartending, she splits her time between fortune telling as a side hustle, encouraging Alex about his old flame (secretly Michael), and nursing a crush on the local barfly/mechanic (also Michael).

(Fun fact: I have no idea how to use tumblr’s gif search so both of the human gifs were found through their respective throuple ship tags.)

There are plenty of ships around depending on your preference but the most prevalent is malex (Michael/Alex), it’s nearly inescapable. Echo is Max/Liz and generally well liked. Isobel starts off with a husband (Noah) but also gets other love interests. The two main throuples are malexa (malex plus Maria) and kaliz (echo plus Kyle).

Anyone else please feel free to add why Anon should watch RNM!

[shadow0-1]

101 facts/ headcanons about Jackie babey

Readmore here cause idk how I can add it without breaking formatting but there's really 101 trust me on this

Afraid of bears. One too many close encounters from camping/hunting

Enjoys the occasional fishing trip. He’s okay at it

Isn't too fond of dogs (got bit as a kid)

Tries to foster cats whenever he can

Avid snowboarder. Could have gone pro

Wanted to be search and rescue growing up

Carries around a matchbook instead of a lighter

Can bake better than he cooks

Mountain man. Born and grew up in a ski town in the Rockies

Shit driver. Laswell banned him from driving

Got an ego during his EOD days and got humbled to the point of doubting his skills when he almost died

Doesn't drink coffee because he knows he'll be reliant on it

Has an older brother, Jaime (5 years)

Played a lot of baseball as a kid. Was his school's starring pitcher

Subsequently got benched for a season because he broke his arm skateboarding across a street

Would say he got the scar under his eye from shrapnel if asked (he didn't)

Was captured and got his face cut up

The notch on his ear is from shrapnel tho

Slammed face first into a tree branch while snowboarding as a teen and got a fun little eyebrow scar from it

Very cuddly. Physical touch is his love language

Runs warm

Definitely the guy that wears a tshirt and shorts when it’s freezing outside

Gets miserable and cranky when it's too hot

Enjoys jogging but usually doesn't wake up early enough to do it in the morning

Sleeps like shit. Turns out he's just gay and needs someone to cuddle with

He's a tease and loves being a little shit

Likes to respond with "that's classified" to mundane questions just to be annoying

Has capybara energy

Has beef with anyone who bends the rules for personal gain

Cracked a bunch of his ribs during an explosion

Prone to some real bad panic attacks where he'll feel like he's suffocating all over again

Doesn’t like wearing heavier armors anymore because they make him feel claustrophobic

Got his reaper tattoo after almost dying in said explosion

Was besties with a guy named Evan in his army EOD days (definitely didn't have a crush on him

Evan designed the other tattoo on his back (a fucked up looking door)

@depyotee designed the forest tat on his left arm

After his recruitment and deployment to Urzikstan for some Top Secret operation, he and Evan started tallying their defusals. Jackie got triangles on his right bicep and Evan got crosshairs

He stopped counting after he almost died (and Evan did die)

Has some gnarly survivors guilt and feels as if it was his fault

Gets nervous when people say they trust him (Evan’s last words to him were “don’t worry, I trust you”)

Alex tipped him off about some gas shipments he and Farah were tracking and Jackie eventually got tasked to assist Shadow Company in finding the rest of the shipments and to destroy them

Added some gunships and vtols by his tally tats a few months into his mission with Graves. Got them to mark new beginnings and new heights

Didn't go with a cover up because Evan wasn't able to get a proper burial. Needed/wanted something to remember him by

Mission lasted a couple years. They totally didn't pine for each other like a bunch of high schoolers

Graves offered him a permanent spot in Shadow after the mission was completed but Jackie declined

Graves calls him cowboy because he kept getting teased for saying "yee fuckin' haw"

Graves confiscated his cigs cause Jackie mentioned he wanted to quit smoking once

Shepherd thinks that him sitting a desk all day is a waste of manpower and his skills. He’s not exactly fond of Shepherd

His mom has a cat that he spoils

Out of all the Shadows, he gets along with Dipaolo the best (not counting Graves)

He tagged along with Laswell, Price and Gaz to Spain for recon by fire but stayed at the hotel or whatever cause Laswell said it was going to be all chill. It wasn’t and he blamed himself for not insisting to go along to help

Price wouldn’t let him join the rescue mission because because too emotional. Jackie responded rationally by punching his car. Later sat and sulked and called Graves to get his mind off wanting some cigs

Had a little Thing™ with Kamarov during the armistice

Fast learner, picked up a lot of tips and tricks while working intel for the armistice

Feels deeply indebted to both Laswell and Alex

Laswell trusts Jackie’s intuition even if he doesn't anymore

Likes collecting patches from different special forces groups and what not. Has a case for them in his apartment

Has a CIA issued apartment that he rarely spends any time in. It’s depressing and has almost no decorations because He’s Busy

Worked with the Los Vaqueros briefly in 2016/2017

Can play the guitar but it's been a few years so he might miss a chord or two

Has a 1965 mustang back home that his grandfather left for him. Plans on fixing it up when/if he retires

Knows a variety of mixed martial arts

Could probably outrun the 141 if he really tried

He has some bangin thighs

His handwriting is dogshit. Laswell's lucky he types anything important (Capable of writing neat and tidy but it takes significantly longer)

Got really into photography one winter. Mainly takes scenery pics

Shoplifted regularly as a kid (mainly sodas and candy bar kinda stuff) only got caught once

Has a sweet tooth but most things are too sweet for him now

He got a fat dumpy okay. A real dumptruck ass.

Modeling is not a part of my skill set yet and Jackie's head was made by editing the models and textures of existing characters

Enjoys a good carnival every once in a while. Can almost always win any of the games where you have to throw things (ring toss, balloon and darts, bucket toss etc)

Got his shit wrecked the first time he sparred with Graves. They have a little “no holding back” rule and Jackie almost broke Graves’ arm because he wouldn’t tap out once (it was a rough week)

First thought/impression he had of Graves was "no way this guy's a commander" (Graves’ first impression of Jackie was “wow he seems like a piece of shit”

His voice is kinda like Lee Pace's but a little deeper and more gravely

Has a fear of looking out a window at night and seeing something/someone staring back at him (contributes to his fear of bears)

Had a close encounter with a mountain lion once while on a hunting trip with his dad

Wasn't exactly the most well behaved kid. Left on kinda bad and tense terms but he'd made it up with his mother. Stays with her whenever he gets a vacation

Things are still a bit weird with his brother. Gets even weirder when Jaime becomes a CIA lawyer (they're chill now)

Left because his parents were divorcing and he couldn’t stand being in the house any longer. Doesn’t really talk to his father anymore. His mother doesn’t talk about it but Jackie knows it’s because his father started drinking

He will almost always speak his mind

Will go to events just for a free t shirt

Has commandeered plenty of shirts, jackets and sweats from Shadow Company. Graves pretends not to notice. He has more Shadow gear than CIA

His favorite color is blue

Teased Alex about Farah. Alex got his revenge soon after Jackie started working with Graves

Has a lot of anxiety when it comes to field work. Worked through a lot of it since his assignment with Shadow

Greatly appreciates Graves not pushing him to get on the field

Sort of became Shadow's demolitions expert during their assignment together

Honorary Shadow. Shadow-Actual was his call sign 😌

Eventually joined them on the field. Stuck mainly to minor roles at first until he got more comfortable. Would sometimes rig explosives

Al Qatala had been expecting them during one outing and had rigged the building they were in to blow. Jackie managed his first defusal in a decade with help and encouragement from Graves

Hates when people say he’s lucky. He was lucky to be at the top of his class during training, lucky to keep all his limbs intact, lucky he never got blown up yet, lucky he survived that blast

Didn’t start calling Graves by his first name until 3 months into the mission. Just felt weird

Regrets never telling Evan about his feelings. He wouldn’t make that same mistake with Graves

Teases Graves for putting the rook on one of the Shadow Company logos. Laswell taught Jackie how to play chess and Graves has never won against him because he's a sweaty tryhard

Got a reputation for being really calm and chill and he does his best to maintain that image even when he doesn't know what he's doing or what the best decision is

Has a scar on his right arm from climbing a barbed wire fence on a dare

Got arrested for trespassing once (definitely not related)

Laswell told him that he shouldn’t have to feel like he has to stick around because he still feels indebted to her. She encourages him to take Graves’ job offer if he really wants to

Promised Laswell’s wife that he’d kick her out of the office if she stays too late, keenly aware that he himself is a hypocrite and has stayed late just as many times as Laswell

Graves thinks it’s funny to call Jackie “rabbit/bunny”

Jackie and Graves help directly set up the game events because I said so

[gra-sonas]

‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Star MichaeI VIamis Teases MaIex Jealousy, 1940s Flashbacks

The CW’s “Roswell, New Mexico” Season 2 is giving Michael Guerin plenty of drama. In the first two episodes, the character has grieved the loss of his brother, tried to make amends with Maria, learned new information about his alien mother and he’s already been arrested once. Actor Michael Vlamis told International Business Times that there’s plenty more to come.

The Chicago native talked to IBT last week in a phone interview while he was social distancing in Los Angeles, and he opened up about Michael’s anger, jealousy and longing. Plus, of course, he teased more tension for Michael and Alex (Tyler Blackburn), AKA Malex, as Michael tries to move on with Maria and Alex gets a new love interest.

IBT: What’s your favorite aspect of Michael's storyline this year?

Vlamis: My favorite aspect is probably also my least favorite aspect, which is the feeling of losing a brother because that is also such a difficult thing. There's losing a relationship, and then there's losing a family member. Fortunately, aside from grandparents, I haven't had to deal with losing a direct family member, but I have lost a very close friend. That actually happened right before the season started, which was, it was a crazy experience. I don't want to get into it. It's way too dark.

But that person that I lost, my buddy, was such a proponent of my career and me as an actor. Back in the day, he was always so excited for me to take a chance and come out to LA and do this thing, and so I felt like this responsibility, I kind of channeled that guy on set during this season while reeling from the loss of my brother. It was a very beautiful and cathartic thing, but it was also a very tough thing because consistently I'm putting myself in this headspace of what I felt like at the time when he was gone.... If that dude was going to go down, he would want to go down with a purpose, and I just try to take some of him and put it into my work.

I think he's pissed off because he feels like he has to step up now, and he has to now all of a sudden be the protector. He has to be the savior. In a lot of ways, he is a protector, but he never thinks of himself as that. He just does what he has to do, and now the fact that Max has gone--because he played the hero card, because he played the savior card, which is a big reason we're in this whole mess, he's always kind of done that--he kind of feels responsible that he needs to be the one to look after Isobel.

I think that's why he shows up to the funeral. I don't think he wants to be there. I think he wants to be drinking away all of his sorrows, and that's why he shows up not dressed and filthy and hammered and he's got a bottle with him. Deep down, he knows what he has to do, but he hates the fact that he has to do it.

IBT: Michael is also learning about his real family and his mom. At the end of the last episode, we see him become suddenly more determined to learn about his mom. Can you tease a little bit of where that journey's going to take him?

Vlamis: I think he was always very interested in learning about his mother, and then when she passed at the end of Season 1, he gave up. Now that this new information's coming, it's pissing him off because he's been drinking, wallowing in his sorrows, playing this victim card, wanting this whole thing to be over on the outside. Like just, "Okay, maybe there is no purpose, and that's it. Screw it. I don't have a family. I don't have anything. I'm kind of this lost soul."

But this new information comes up, and just when he's deciding to give up on it, deep down, he's still that kid who's longing for his family, who bounced around from foster home to foster home. He wants to find out his roots, and he does this season. He really finds out a lot about his mother and where she came from and did she spend any time when she landed in Roswell, or was she taken as a prisoner immediately?

This is all information that gets explained as the season goes on, and they do it in a really cool way. They use the flashback device to go back to the late 1940s and early 1950s and see what Roswell was like back in the day during that time, and that's all through the information that he's finding. It's a really cool journey for the character, but also for the show because we get to see all these old pieces.

IBT: Of course, I have to talk to you about Michael's many romances.

Vlamis: Of course. Of course, you do.

IBT: I was re-watching the end of the last episode earlier today, and Michael really says, "I want to be with Maria," to Alex very kind of abruptly. Why is he so anxious to tell him that he likes Maria?

Vlamis: I think because he wants to be left alone right now. When it comes to Alex, I think that there's too much pain, too much trauma between the two of them, too many reminders of a darker time that he needs to let go, and whether he wants to say that--Maybe it came out so abruptly because maybe he doesn't know what he wants exactly, but he knows that he deserves to be happy, and maybe he wants to actually be happy for once.

Does he want to push Alex away? Probably not. I mean, they have a kind of love that's unexplainable. It's been around forever, and there's so much history. That's always a tough thing. But unless you lay a hammer down, you're never going to go explore these other possibilities and maybe a life that you actually deserve and that is better for you.

I think that's probably why I said it so abruptly just because it just needed to be said, and such a hard thing to say. And I could play this yo-yo effect forever and go back and forth with the two characters. Or I could take a shot, which is even harder to do, to say no to someone and say yes to another. I think that's what he's doing right there.

IBT: Last time we talked was at New York Comic Con, and you said that there's definitely sexual tension between the guys, but they're going to try to be friends. Are they going to struggle with being friends? Being friends with your ex is not the easiest.

Vlamis: No, I've never been friends with one of my exes. I don't know how that works, so I kind of take in a lot of my life experience into the character. I always try to do that. I will say that it's very rocky at first, but with that being said, he's the one guy who's really helping me uncover this truth about my mother, so whether there's animosity towards one another or not, we are stuck together. There are so many more Malex scenes this season, maybe even more than last year.

It's just a different dynamic. But that's something that we really enjoy to play too. We enjoy that sexual tension because no matter what happens, they have a deep love for one another, so whatever the lines are, there's going to be that, "What if that worked out, What if?" Whether that's good for him or not, whether he wants that or not, you always kind of wonder that.

IBT: I know that Alex has also getting a new love interest this season. Will we see any jealousy in Michael?

Vlamis: Yes. Screw that guy. Hate that guy. [laughs] Oh, man. I actually love that actor, Christian [Antidormi]'s the man, but there is a lot of... Yes. You will see a lot of jealousy from Michael Guerin--even though he shouldn't be jealous because he's in a different relationship. But we all act actually have some scenes together too coming up, the three of us, which is really fun. Yes, you get to see the subtext of Guerin not being too happy about this new guy in the world of Roswell.

IBT: You have been playing Michael for two seasons now, and I believe you guys are renewed for a third, right?

Vlamis: We are. Yes. We just got word that we might go back a little later to Santa Fe to shoot, but they're just being safe right now and kind of … trying to figure it out, but it seems like, yes, we 100% have a Season 3, and it'll be shot sometime this year.

IBT: You get to actually think about this character's future and know that your character does have a future. So what do you really want to see Michael do?

Vlamis: Man, if I answered this, honestly, I'd probably give away spoilers, so I have to be careful in how I answer this, but I would want him to find peace within himself and knowing that he's enough and that there are people that love him and care about him in the way that he's always longed for, which his family, whether him and the aliens are actually related not or whether they were separated from different homes growing up.

I think I really want him to realize that none of that matters and he has a family, which is something that he's back and forth on. He struggled a lot. He knows that they-- The Pod Squad, what everyone calls us. Yeah, I love that actually--But he knows that they're there for him. But deep, deep, deep down, they weren't in the house every day.

He didn't wake up and eat a cereal with those siblings and everything just went about. No, he was getting beat up, and he would sneak out to the Foster Ranch and wonder about where he's supposed to be. I would like him to find a little bit more peace with himself. At the same time, I'm a little conflicted because I love being in a jail cell as the character. I love being dirty. I love fighting. I love the drama. I don't know which way they're going to take me, but I'm going to be happy with either.

~ ibtimes

[hecth]

❛ ˗˗˗˗ ❥ ( alex fitzalan, he/him, cis male.) : * ❝ oh my god! is that heath godwin? i know all about them, i used to date a friend of theirs. they are a twenty-three year old production assistant from camden, maine but they’ve been living in apartment 405, room two for two years. they are known as the interstellar because they are so + open-minded, and + determined but they can also be very - changeable, and - airy. i’ve heard they really give off the arcade lighting, foggy evenings and super eight film cameras vibe you know? ❞

hello all!! i’m hayley n i’m excited to be here and introduce you all to my bby heath! he’s a reworked older muse of mine so i’m kinda working things out still but i would love to plot with you aLL! i’m about to head to bed bc,,, i have to be up early,,, and gmt problems... but if you leave a like i will come to you with all my best ideas in the morning! 

BACKGROUND!

the youngest of three boys, both with other varying nature names, heath is the product of two hippies who were chasing their lifetime dream of owning and running a b&b in camden, maine.

being the baby of the family, heath was always, well… babied… more than his older brothers. not that he ever really minded. he kinda loved the affection and extra attention

growing up, he really just enjoyed being around a lot of people? so a b&b was probably one of the best places for that. as he’d lie spread out on a rug on his stomach listening to guests’ stories and asking about their lives (probably contributed to the only 1 star reviews the place got on tripadvisor lbr) and particularly adored in the fall when spookier stories were exchanged

creativity was always fostered in their household and heath’s lying on the carpet kinda developed over time into his siblings and him playing elaborate games of pretend based on the stories they’d hear, which eventually!!! developed further into heath offering to record them so they’d always have a memory of it when they grew older

except he also became super passionate about filmmaking! which culminated when he was sixteen when heath made his first short film with the help of his brother who wrote the script. a debut characterised by heaps of imagination and vivid colouring, set on the coast in the height of summer and featuring some of the stories they’d heard over the years.

very idyllic and dreamlike as a result of his upbringing, this kinda transferred into the style of filmmaking he enjoyed most. most of the short films he’s made are sorta wes anderson-inspired focuses on visuals, but also think shrouded in some kind of scooby doo-esque mystery

by the time he was applying to college, heath was pretty certain he’d be applying to film schools. he’d developed a small showreel and had a couple of local accolades

attended nyu tisch with the help of scholarship funding and a pool of his parents’ savings and has kinda been haunting the city like a ghost ever since. when he moved into 405 it was basically the only place he could afford as he was still a student and on a part-time job/whatever stipends his parents were generous enough to give him budget!

he started working as a production assistant at nbc a year ago which… wasn’t exactly what he envisaged it to be, but ya know. getting some experience with witnessing how a production is run comes at the cost of taking everyone’s coffee orders

FUN FACTS !

odd socks with quirky designs for days

avid reader of horoscopes but he’ll never admit it. just judge u based on your sign from afar

big east-coaster. contemplated moving to los angeles for better job opportunities after graduation but… just couldn’t bring himself to do it. he loves seasons!

kinda gets by on good luck? definitely one of those people who you kinda wonder how they still exist as he honestly probably zones out sometimes while crossing the road and ~other stupid stories to come~

has the most chaotic creative process in which it’s probably just… a heap of stuff gathered around him and heath sitting in the middle drawing a weird flowchart that legit would not make sense to anyone bar him

will easily indulge in 3am discussions about conspiracy theories. is it procrastination? is it genuine interest? he’ll never tell

has a huge passion for all things stephen king but due to the fact that his parents deemed his work to be too gory, he still keeps this on the down-low like it’s some kind of taboo

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th (July 2018)

Believe it or else, three years have passed since Disney made the biggest mistake in the history of television animation in the 2010s: canceling the well-received Wander Over Yonder before the second season got the chance to prove itself (and several months after the third season was fully conceived).

So, what would my reaction be if a third season of Wander Over Yonder were to happen? The answer is quite simple.

I would rejoice!

Let me expand on my answer, though, in a way that explains why I still support the show.

Before 2008, I had little-to-no interest in Disney Channel because of its heavy reliance on live-action sitcoms. I had no reason to tune into that channel back then, but a certain animated show about a couple of stepbrothers finding ways to spend summer vacation came along and made me change my mind. When I discovered Phineas and Ferb, I was in for a treat. An original premise, quirky characters, subplots connecting with main plots, unique feats not possible in live-action shows... P&F had the whole kit and caboodle and was the one show I would watch whenever a new episode came on.

Then in 2010, we got Fish Hooks. While it had certain moments I would love to forget, it did have a diverse cast of water-dwelling characters living in a pet shop and focused on the life and times of three high school fish. That might be why I kept tuning into the show for new episodes, which, consequently, might have contributed to its chance at getting a third season, giving the show the privilege of spanning four years of high school.

Believe it or not, one thing that got me interested in Gravity Falls in 2012 was the fact that its creator happened to be the voice of Clamantha from Fish Hooks. I never knew Alex Hirsch was capable of doing many voices. I often think of the voice of Grunkle Stan as his take on Krusty the Klown from The Simpsons. And I did find his voice for Soos fun to hear and imitate. I think what got me even more interested back then was the involvement of Matt Chapman, one of the many men of hundreds of voices and one of the two brothers who created the Homestar Runner body of work, which I’ve been following since 2003. That, and cryptic codes you find in the credits. Truth be told, I had no idea how much of an impact it would have among viewers.

These are just three animated shows that had me stay tuned on the Disney Channel before mid-2013. This leads us to my rising interest in Wander Over Yonder, which also premiered in 2013 on said channel. Knowing this was a feel-good kind of show starring Jack McBrayer and created by @crackmccraigen, the experienced genius behind The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, I would be a total fool for missing out on it. The characters are diverse and so are the environments. There’s always something brand-spanking new in every episode. I cannot tell a lie. It’s the funniest, cleverest, and most well thought-out cartoon I’ve ever watched. Considering the other Disney shows in the resurgence weren’t in jeopardy, I was sure Disney had succeeded in boosting my interest in their animated fare. Regardless of hiatuses, I saw no signs of the company lousing up their shows’ schedules. I actually thought the show would be too good to fail even after the move to Disney XD in early 2014.

Even though the three aforementioned shows weren’t as impressive as WOY animation-wise and humor-wise, I’d managed to catch up on them. I also watched The 7D, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil on Disney XD, all because the company was going in the right direction. Like many viewers, I was completely unaware of the actions the heads of Disney were going to take, one of which involved choosing one or a few over the others.

When I got the news of WOY getting a second season (and the 11 1-minute shorts that preceded it), I made sure not to miss it because I enjoyed the first season. Before the bad news broke out in March of 2016, I had already moved on from Fish Hooks, Phineas and Ferb, and Gravity Falls because they had absolutely no unfinished business after they ended properly. When I found via DaBurninator’s DeviantArt account that Wander got canceled one week before S2 started even though a whole third season was planned out in early 2015, I became puzzled and felt betrayed. It’s like the Disney bosses didn’t give any thought to how the fans would feel. “Disney, how could you?” I thought. I had other questions in mind.

“What about Fish Hooks? It may not be as popular as Phineas and Ferb, but it got 3 seasons!”

“What makes them think there’s no need to make more episodes?”

“What did we ever do to be denied to know what happens after the second season?”

“Do they know what Craig went through to get his third season pitch together?”

Craig has been in the business for more than 20 years and his amazing ideas for S3 get snubbed by a company with the notion of dreams coming true? That is absolutely unheard of. He hasn’t done anything wrong before and after leaving Cartoon Network. Sure, he had a student film with an inappropriate title that got a much more suitable name when he got started with Hanna-Barbera, but I know dang well he was giving his all to make one of the best shows in the history of Disney television. He was trying to make a show that takes place in outer space, utilizes characters with structures that follow the “lava lamp theory,” and mixes hilarity and critical thinking. He was making for Disney a show that could leave a good impression on the viewers and show them that kindness can be a good thing. No other show by Disney could ever offer the same satisfaction demonstrated in WOY, that’s why I currently have little-to-no interest in Disney shows not created by Craig. I still suspect the higher Disney bosses like Fish Hooks more than they like WOY.

If people had no interest or faith in WOY, would they have allowed songs from My Fair Hatey to be recorded at Capitol Records? The point is, if the WOY crew members went above and beyond to make WOY good, we MUST give it tons of attention! I still do.

Back to my answer to the question of Trending 27th. If a third season of WOY were to ever happen, I would rejoice by hugging everyone around me and spreading the word. If I made doubly sure that it is the case, I’d probably happily laugh in hysterics, but that’d be because after years of putting up with the popularity of higher-rated Disney shows (especially GF and SvtFoE) and inspiring WOY fans to fight harder, I would know all our efforts would have finally paid off. I’d also have renewed my trust in Disney television.

Just imagine, the lips of Craig and his crew would be unsealed and we would finally get to witness these things in S3.

•The first scene consisting of Dominator grumpily orbbling through space (and maybe looking at the picture she took in The Flower)

•A new angle that’s “delightfully petty but wholly Dominator”

•The construction and launch of The Star Nomad (thanks to Future-Worm, we know who owns it)

•The space primate

•The threat worse than Dominator

•Peepers’s arc

•More Wander/Sylvia/Hater/Peepers team-ups

•More info on Demurra and Dracor’s children

•More Eye on the Skullship

•Emperor Awesome’s “ultimate comeuppance”

•Major Threat being a recurring character

•Returning characters (like the Black Cube, Ripov, Neckbeard, to name a few)

•What the other villains have been up to since The Bad Neighbors

•New characters (that means new ALFs - Alien Life Forms)

•Possibly a new musical

���Lord Hater’s origin story and how he and Peepers met (still waiting for it!)

•And most important, Wander being tested in a cool way

•And also most important, a message saying, “Thanks for watching!”

Get the picture? We would see all this and more become a reality if we leave shows with no unfinished business alone, ease up on shows that aren’t in danger of cancellation, and pay more attention to discontinued shows calling for proper closure. We can’t stand idly by while that space pod accident remains unexplained. We must let Disney know there IS a need for one more season (or TV movie) so we can see WOY end properly before Craig decides to retire.

[aion-rsa]

Supergirl Takes on the Prison Industrial Complex and Falls Short

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This SUPERGIRL article contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 9, “Dream Weaver.”

Supergirl Season 6 Episode 9

A number of much-loved shows are coming to an end, or have recently, that in some ways could have pushed their luck, but in other ways were a product of a moment – a moment that they looked up to find had passed. VEEP stands out as a clear example, as does Brooklyn 99, which is doing its best to be a fun cop show that knows cops aren’t good guys without – losing all its levity or becoming a documentary. While many of us will miss Supergirl, and we might even struggle with the calculus of losing the show just as Superman and Lois came on the scene, this episode serves as a reminder that the titular character’s overwhelmingly positive worldview – one that the show at large and many of the Super Friends all adopt – can come into conflict with another cornerstone of the show’s storytelling, her dedication to justice.

The main events of the episode concern an orphaned alien, Joey, living under the thumb of an obviously unfit foster parent at a group home, and a string of robberies for bomb components, perpetrated by aliens who don’t normally work together. One hopes the Supergirl writers aren’t going for subtly here, as the obvious connection between the two is the little boy’s incarcerated older brother, Orlando, who shows signs of overusing his powers during his work release program, which is clearly a front for the robberies that the prison authorities force the incarcerated folks to participate in.

That’s all well and good, and it opens an excellent door for Kelly Olsen to put her own spin on the Guardian mantle that her brother set down when he left the show to go back to their hometown to give back in a different way. As a Black social worker, Kelly sees another angle of humanity that needs help. She does a great job, and hopefully there will be more to come during the remaining episodes, in that spiffy new helmet that her brother sent over.

What’s concerning is that while various characters reference “the system” being stacked against folks, there are multiple ways that Supergirl/Kara Danvers are complicit in that system, which the show itself doesn’t acknowledge. Throughout the episode, Supergirl repeatedly endorses the notion that this prisoner work release program is an unequivocally good thing. (It is unquestioned that Kara believes Earth prison is good, even if she did question the space prison her aunt and uncle built.) Kara was excited about the program when Kelly mentioned it, and she repeatedly explains its features in glowing terms. Her love of the program is how the warden tries to stop Kara from writing her story to blow the whistle on the robberies. Supergirl endorses the program live on air and says she hopes it will continue under new leadership at the end of the episode. The idea that these programs are good – for incarcerated individuals themselves, not just for the rest of us – isn’t merely an assumption, it’s a driving aspect of the narrative.

While the shiny happy world of Supergirl talks about building skills for incarcerated folks that can help them after release, the reality is often another story. Prison worker programs have been compared to modern day slavery, often paying pennies on the dollar, if any money at all. Ava DuVernay and John Oliver have both taken on this system. It’s incredibly difficult for returning citizens to find work after incarceration for many reasons, including stigma and the fact that in many states, they’re required to check a box saying they were previously incarcerated. And those skills everyone kept mentioning? The jobs are typically incredibly low-skilled, or even shoveling snow or battling forest fires. The idea that this is being celebrated on a show like Supergirl is concerning.

When Kara spoke about her story on the prison work program, she said it looked like a great, safe program, referencing her interview with the warden. Why did she only speak to the person in power about the program? Would a prison warden ever tell you if one of his programs was anything other than great and safe? This sets up a story so that the powerful are seen as the truth, the voice of reason, and the factual record, with anyone else as a deviation. Far too often it’s the standard, as we see with reporters writing the views of police as unquestionable facts, even in cases where they may have a vested interest in misleading the public. There’s been more pushback about this standard in newsrooms nationwide in the last year, and it would have been interesting to see Kara and her colleagues deal with their past biases, rather than simply wring their hands and go back to business as usual.

The assumption that everything is fine and the people in charge are correct is an insidious one that goes beyond members of the media. After the team knew about the bomb and that the prison program was connected, Alex said, “Well it’s obvious someone has infiltrated the prison program.” Is that obvious? Why would it be? For-profit prisons, prisoner abuse, prison corruption and the abuse inherent to prison labor programs are rampant and incredibly well documented. J’onn and Kara said it didn’t even make sense for these aliens to work together. Occam’s razor brings us to the idea that the prison labor program itself is bad news, but because Alex, like many white people, is biased toward authority and against incarcerated people and people of color (even if unconsciously), she jumped to the more convoluted conclusion that an outside element infiltrated the program.

At the end of the episode, after seeing how corrupt this prison is, Kara’s whole plan was to…bring these men back to that same prison? It’s not surprising they tried to run. It’s pretty gross that her best argument to them against running was that the authorities would never stop hunting them. Even Supergirl with her boundless optimism knows there’s not a compelling argument otherwise, though she does try (yet again) with her “I’m not white, I’m an alien” speech. Everything ends all neat and tidy with Orlando getting released early due to the injustice of it all, though it’s hard for anyone with eyeballs and a pulse in America to imagine that’s how it would really go down. Where is the line between wish fulfillment for a better world and gas lighting us about the one we’re currently living in?

Of course, with Supergirl as with Brooklyn 99, the reality that makes these pollyana-esque takes on our carceral system hard to watch isn’t actually new. Even the notion that these shows are problematic now (but were totally cool before?) is a very white one. Meanwhile any system, such as a prison work program, which exploits incarcerated folks is inherently racist, as we incarcerate people of color at disproportionate rates.

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Stories can and should include biases and shortcomings like these; perfect characters are uninteresting and unrealistic. But what happens when these biases are shown but not explored? Was Supergirl really delving into them knowingly, or merely reproducing them, perhaps because they belong to the folks who create the show itself? While there’s a lot to love about Supergirl, this episode’s glowing endorsement of an unjust, racist system like prison worker programs shows how ill-equipped the show is to tackle systemic injustice in a meaningful way, especially as mainstream media is forced to integrate systemic racism and the failings of our carceral system into its programming.

The post Supergirl Takes on the Prison Industrial Complex and Falls Short appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[auburnfamilynews]

Hey, what do you want to know about these guys?

Thanks to the folks over at Roll Bama Roll for answering some questions about their boa constrictor of a football team. Hope we can make a good showing against them, but who knows. We’re just lowly ole little brother Auburn.

...

So, Alabama is really good. For the hype that the Tide received coming into the season, has it been met?

I actually think it’s been exceeded. We all expected the offense to be good, with the trio of sophomore receivers returning, Damien Harris returning, and the offensive line replacing only two starters with former 5-star recruits. Oh, and a QB that won a national championship in overtime. But I don’t think even the most ardent of Bama fans expected Tua to end up being this good. The defense lost the entire secondary and over half of the front seven, so we expected a step back. Add in pretty much an entirely new coaching staff aside from Saban, and we all had some uncertainty going in. The defense struggled early this season, but has really come into it’s own the last few weeks (though obviously you have to temper that with the fact that LSU and Miss St. have some pretty atrocious offenses).

Obviously, everyone is looking at Tua and the health of his knee. He seems fine, and poised to win you guys another Heisman. If he does somehow go out, what’s the confidence of Bama fans in Jalen or Mac Jones to win an Iron Bowl/SEC Championship Game?

I think we could win the Iron Bowl and maybe the SEC championship with a fully healthy Jalen Hurts, but it would be a lot tighter than with Tua back there. Unfortunately, Jalen is not fully healthy, as he’s still coming off his ankle surgery. We aren’t going very far in the playoffs without Tua though, so please don’t hurt him this week.

Mac Jones on the other hand... The freshman just isn’t ready. We aren’t winning anything if he is forced to be the guy for the majority of the game.

The offensive lineup around Tua has been great, and there seem to be a lot more weapons than in years past where the attack almost seemed like it depended on the deep ball to Cooper or Ridley. Who are the most important skill players you’ve got?

This year has been interesting in that regard. There’s always been one focal skill player on pretty much every Alabama team, except maybe the 2012 year when Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon had a nearly 50-50 split. At receiver, Jerry Jeudy, Devonte Smith, and Henry Ruggs all came in the same class and worked on the second team with Tua all 2017, then graduated to first team at the same time that he did. Ruggs and Smith were more of a factor than Jeudy in 2017, but have both dealt with some nagging injuries this year that let Jeudy take the lead, statistically. At running back, you would have thought that senior Damien Harris would be the go-to man this year, but it seems that Saban has been intentionally spelling him a lot all year to keep him fresh-- for late in the game, late in the season, and likely for the pros as well. Josh Jacobs, a change-of-pace guy that dealt with injuries his whole career, has really stepped up and become an all-around back. He catches the ball well, blocks better than any running back, and has added a good bit of power to his previously only elusive game. Then, there’s sophomore Najee Harris, the physical beast who was once the #1 recruit in the nation. As a pure runner, Najee is better than the other two, and is nearly impossible to tackle one on one. His spotty blocking has kept him behind the other two on the depth chart, but he’s always a danger to come in the 2nd or 3rd quarter and grind out some grueling 8-yard gains and give the offense a spark.

All that said, I think I’d actually say that freshman receiver Jaylen Waddle might be the most important. The diminutive speedster was expected to come in as an unrefined athlete who excelled at juking people, but needed work as a true receiver. Instead, he’s seemed to have become Tua’s most trusted target in critical situations. He may not have the most catches or yards, but he’s consistently made tough catches and squirted through traffic for a first down in the most important moments.

Looking at the results so far, the defense has been fine and they’ve always had a big cushion to play with. It’s never been imperative that they make a stop to save the game. How effective are they compared to some of the early-Saban lockdown units?

For probably the first time in Saban’s entire tenure, the linebackers are not the leading position group of the defense. Mack Wilson and Dylan Moses have been good and flashed talent, but they haven’t truly been difference makers. The outside linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Christian Miller have been solid if unspectacular, and are really missing Terrell Lewis, the physical freak of a pass rusher who tore his ACL just before the season started. The secondary has been much better than expected, especially true freshman Patrick Surtain Jr. Safety Deionte Thompson has been absolutely stellar at defending the deep centerfield, and strong safety Xavier McKinney has been excellent in run support and blitzes. Saivion Smith has had some struggles after replacing Trevon Diggs, who went out earlier this season with a broken leg. He’s talented with the ball in the air, but has really struggled in run defense and tackling on the perimeter.

Then there’s Quinnen Williams. The undersized nose tackle has been nothing short of a revelation. He started the season well, and has gotten better and better every single game. Sometimes, a guy just gets in the zone. And Quinnen is in the zone. He’s been nearly unblockable lately, leaving Gary Danielson laughing and speechless. Whether it’s been stopping a run or messing with the QB, Williams has been an absolute terror. And that kind of disruption up front can hide all sorts of minor problems that a defense might actually have.

Twitter has had fun with #BamaKickers because there have been some missed extra points and the like. If the game somehow comes down to special teams, how confident are Tide fans in the team’s ability to convert a game-winning kick, and why has this been such a problem for Saban over the years?

Ha, if it comes down to special teams, it’s game over. The fans have absolutely 0 confidence. Every year, I think that the field goal kicking has to get better than last season, and every year, it just gets worse. It’s pretty comical at this point. I’m not sure why Saban hasn’t totally given up kicking field goals. If the Tide had went for 2 after every touchdown this year, they’d only have to convert 44% of the time to score more that the kickers have trying to hit extra points. And you can’t tell me that Tua and company wouldn’t be better than 44% from the 2 yard line.

As for why? It’s just psychology at this point. It all started in 2011 when Cade Foster missed like three different should-be game winners in the “game of the century” 9-6 loss against LSU. It’s just gone downhill ever since. The kick six didn’t exactly help either, as you well know. Any kicker that kicks for Alabama now has all that history in the back of their mind, and it won’t go away. And every kicker that messes up just adds to the baggage to pass along to the next one. Until we get some sociopath of a kicker to break the streak, it will probably just keep on going.

You’re Nick Saban. What’s your biggest worry heading into the Iron Bowl?

The tackling on the perimeter defense. Auburn has some major speed, and the corners have been a bit suspect on keeping contain and forcing runners back in to the linebackers. Plus the linebackers have a little bit of a history with struggling with misdirection.

On the other side of the ball, the offensive line is dealing with some injuries, with left guard Deonte Brown likely out with a Turf Toe, and right guard Alex Leatherwood is day-to-day with a bum ankle. The line REALLY struggled against Mississippi State without Brown, and it very nearly got Tua killed. Fortunately, the Bulldogs’ offense was quite offensive to watch, so it wasn’t a big issue. But if Auburn’s defensive line can exploit that, while the offense takes advantage of the secondary’s tackling, it might be a long night for the Tide.

How does this game play out and what’s your score prediction?

Ultimately, I think Tua is finally healthy and comfortable. And as long as he’s healthy and comfortable, I can’t see Alabama losing another game. The Tide offense will start hot and jump to an early 14-0 lead before Auburn’s defense settles in and forces a turnover and a couple of stops. Auburn gets a score out of it, but Alabama answers with another touchdown in a 2-minute drill, going into halftime with a 21-7 lead. The second half is a little more bland. Alabama hits a big play early in the half for a touchdown, and follows up quickly with a defensive score off a turnover. Auburn mounts up and puts together a drive in the 4th quarter to make it 35-14, but doesn’t manage to score again as the Tide works to drain the clock.

...

Heathens.

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2018/11/23/18107519/opponent-q-a-alabama