#if anyone asks me about it Noah is 100% telling truth about what he does and doesn’t know and there’s nothing else to it!!!!

[chirpsythismorning]

While i do agree with u i have some weird feelings about us analyzing real ppl lol idk idk

Is this about Noah being the Tom Holland of ST??

I think if this was about Noah’s identity or something substantial related to him personally, and not just a basic thing that happens in promoting content as an actor, that would be one thing. But this is literally just speculation about a cast-member in relation to what they are/aren’t revealing about the show publicly.

If fans were coming across private footage of Noah, with like friends without his consent, or if fans were like hacking his shit without his consent trying to come up with evidence based on that, yes that would feel invasive. But I don’t see how just talking about how his behavior in terms of publicly promoting the show, out in the open, in relation to other actors doing similar things to promote their projects, is weird?

But to be entirely fair, I know some fans completely separate their experience in the fandom from the actors, where some don’t even follow the cast or pay any sort of attention to their actions in relation to promotion, bc they just feel uncomfy about having any sort of association with them outside of the show? Which is valid to a major extent, especially just knowing how private a lot of actors are and would prefer that their everyday life not be intermixed with their work in a way they aren’t at all wanting fans to do.

I would say that when it comes to Noah specifically and what he posts in regards to the show, that’s just literal public knowledge he is offering up on his own, to the point where he is literally talking to fans directly by acknowledging them, and doing it repeatedly.

I personally would stick to instances of him clearly out in the public eye interacting with fans, knowing he’s doing so and comfortable with it, before I would feel the need to make a point about what it could/couldn’t mean, based on him being an actor with a job which usually requires some instances of keeping your mouth shut, or saying something with the guise that oops I’m not supposed to because it makes people feel like they’re in on a big joke, even though it’s actually quite the opposite.

I’m not gonna sit on here and go into all of Noah’s micro expressions he has or every detail of what he’s doing and what he means at any given point, especially if it literally has nothing to do with the show.

But if dude is on TikTok live spoiling stuff, only to end it with im gonna get in trouble, followed by just repeating over and over again, I’m just gonna respectfully assume that he is a professional and knows what he’s doing, and he wouldn’t put the show and it’s success in jeopardy. If anything I’m giving Noah the benefit of the doubt here to be doing something that is fairly common, bc the alternative would be that he’s careless and doesn’t think the rules apply to him which… I just don’t think is the case here.

If you’re someone who feels uncomfortable making any sort of post about the cast in relation to how they promote the show bc it feels weird to analyze a real persons actions, fair enough!

My main point in bringing it up was to remind ppl that Noah, just like all of the cast, are actors. I think people take EVERYTHING they say about the show as gospel, which is exactly what they want, so I fully respect wanting to just go with that so we don’t make their job harder for them? After all going along with the joke that he spoils things, just like fans did with Tom, is only actually funny to those who willfully believe everything he does is by accident when he goes online and talks about the show. It wouldn’t exactly be good for everyone to know he’s faking bc then it sort of defeats the purpose.

So yes we should try to keep this our little secret and not put him on blast over it.

In the future, we’ll just have to wait and see what he or the others are willing to reveal publicly about what they did/didn’t know while promoting the show over the years, if they’re even willing to share that knowledge. If and until then, all we can do is wait and see.

[salmonthestoryteller]

Malex - Heading in the Right Direction

The last thing I expected was for me to have so many Malex thoughts after the first episode of season 2  - especially since they really only had one scene together.  But it was such an important scene to happen.  I’d talked previously about Malex & Character Growth - and how Alex’s character growth had outweighed Michael’s.  That in order for them to have a good relationship, we needed to see Michael match that.  And that’s exactly where we are headed, despite the spiral Michael is currently caught in.

First of all, despite Michael’s best efforts, Alex did not let this become an argument between them, once again demonstrating his character growth.  Michael did what he normally does when hurt - he lashed out - but instead of rising to the bait, we get instead Alex’s soft, “Hey”, and the way he holds Michael’s hand to his chest.  Alex has seen through the smokescreen now - he knows that under the anger and harsh words that Michael is in pain.  He wants to be the place he falls into.

Unfortunately, at this time, Alex is unaware that Max is dead.  (Note that Kyle’s scene with Rosa and Alex’s scene with Kyle come later.)  So, while he knows Michael lost his mother and a chance at answers with Noah, he doesn’t know what the true situation is when he asks if Michael would have come with him if he’d gotten out.  I’m actually so glad for the timing here, because when I first saw hints of the scene I couldn’t figure out why he would ask Michael to abandon Isobel in the wake of Max’s death when he knows how important Max and Isobel are to Michael.  Now it all makes sense.  Alex doesn’t know Michael has also lost Max, so he doesn’t know just how bad off Michael is right now.  He knows he’s bad, but he’s also willing to be there for him through it.  But Max’s death is a whole other level, and at this time Alex is in the dark about exactly how far down Michael is.

And Michael is way down.  Michael spoke previously to Max about the danger of hope in 01x11.  But, despite that, there are a few things Michael still had hope for. Fixing his ship was one - returning to their home planet.  Escaping the wreck of his life on Earth by finding a new one there.  Maybe finding a family there.  Michael no longer sees hope in that.  Their families were refugees, his mother was captured and tortured and is now dead.  His life’s work, fixing their spaceship, means nothing anymore because what is there to return to? A war-ravaged planet his mother ran away from?  It’s little wonder he doesn’t care about showing the console to Liz now - it no longer holds the meaning it held the day he showed it to Alex.  And now Max is dead - one of his only connections that mattered is gone.  Yeah, Michael is fresh out of hope, and he no longer wants to find a home.  Is it any wonder he’s pushing Alex, the only person who ever made him feel like he could belong somewhere, away?

However, there is a half-truth in what Michael says to Alex.  He did follow Alex’s lead in their relationship all these years.  He did allow Alex to come in and out of his life.  And him saying no to Alex here is important, because Michael never has before.  Not just to Alex, either - to anyone that matters in his life. Isobel, Max, even Liz - every protest he gives them throughout season 1, he never holds out on - instead he does what they want in the end. He tells Isobel he won’t go help Max because he chose Liz, yet he is the first on the scene of his fight with Wyatt.  He protests Max’s decisions all the time, yet he follows them - which he mentions to him in 01x11.  He initially tells Liz he won’t trust or help her, yet he takes her to his bunker - the first person he lets inside.

But I say half-truth, because while he’s acknowledging here that Alex’s leaving always hurt him, he’s not acknowledging that he let it happen.  He’s not acknowledging that he never told him No when he showed up.  He’s not acknowledging he never chased after him.  And right there is our Echo parallel - because what does Liz tell Max in 01x11?

“If I mess up. If I cave and take off again,  I need you to follow me this time. Don’t let me go that easily again, okay?”

Because that is what Michael has been doing as well.  That’s the other half of where his problems in their relationship land - the moment he gets a hint of rejection Michael lashes out and pushes away.  He doesn’t even question it.  He told Isobel Alex is like a crash landing, but he also sets himself up for it because he never asks Why.  He never talks to him, he simply pushes him away.

Probably the best example of all of this is actually the scene at the airstream after the reunion in 01x02.

“What happened last night can never happen again.” “What happened? I was pretty wasted.”

Alex’s rejection of Michael in this moment isn’t actually all that logical.  There isn’t anything holding him back from seeking a relationship at this moment.  He’s lived enough of his life away from Roswell now to know that Jesse isn’t as powerful as he once believed him to be when he was seventeen, so I don’t believe he’s rejecting Michael out of any notion he has to protect him.  He doesn’t know anything about Project Shepherd or aliens yet.  This moment is all Alex, his own doubts and fears, making him push Michael away.

And, really, Michael has no reason to push Alex away, either.  Alex is back in Roswell and doesn’t seem to have any plans to leave.  He clearly doesn’t mind others knowing about him and Alex. He clearly wants to be with Alex period.  But instead of asking Alex why he doesn’t want to be together, instead of having a conversation, Michael does what he always does - he lashes out.  He pushes him farther away.  That’s not on Alex.  That’s 100% on Michael.

Michael finally learning to say No, I don’t want to do this is important. And he continues this by finally telling Isobel they can’t bring Max back.  His second “no”, this time to Isobel.  His yes to Liz doesn’t count because Liz brings him science.  Max is partly still alive. So that yes makes sense.  It’s not about hope or feelings, it’s about facts.

And Michael’s No isn’t really a rejection of Alex.  It’s a rejection of the way they’ve been behaving toward each other.  Because he also is saying to Alex - I don’t want this if it ends the same.  I don’t want this if you leave. I’m tired of being hurt by you, but I’m also tired of hurting you.

“I want to be good for somebody.”

There’s a conversation happening here, an underlying message.  They can only do this if, this time, they do it right.  And I have absolutely no doubt they will.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep16: Rex and Weevil Do Not Understand “Rock Bottom”

Hey guys.

Hey.

So... kind of crazy out there, right?

Well, you know what they say. When life gives you lemons, you watch Netflix.

Anyway, Yugioh is racing down this canyon that should be going up alongside the 101 and through the middle of many cities. Don’t worry about it.

And then I found out the name of a card I haven’t seen yet and wow it’s a name.

I’m really glad that Rex Raptor, dinosaur enthusiast, has just no idea how to name dinosaurs and does so like a 6 year old child. Hornsaurus.

(read more under the cut)

So this episode is mostly about Rex and Weevil’s tragic backstory, and thankfully, it’s really not that tragic. We’ve had SO MANY bizarre and weird backstories under our belt, that to have a completely normal one is just...wild to me. They’re so freakin normal.

And on the way, our train just...

OK Train...anyway, I’ll do my best to show which scenes are flash back and which are not, but like bear with me because it flashes back like every other scene it feels like.

So Rex waxes long about that very short time in which he and Weevil were the best ever duelists in Japan (other than Kaiba, I guess, who they failed to mention in this flashback.)

(I used to have a very soft performance fleece sweater the exact same shade as Weevil’s jacket there, popped collar and everything, with piping outline. Don’t judge me, it was the 00′s, I’m just shocked that Weevil also shopped at Old Navy.)

(However I have no idea what’s going on with Rex’s three layers of clashing outfit styles that he has going on. A turtleneck under a thick button up jacket under an open fringe jacket is so much of a 90′s vibe.)

Up until now, bro has been PRETTY SURE every episode that Rex and Weevil are originally from America. I don’t know how I feel about being so right on the money about this one when the episode outright said that they’re from Japan. I don’t really want to out-Yugioh my brother, because at some point, I’ll accidentally let slip that in writing this blog I have accidentally gained all Yugioh knowledge, just like Noah did that one time when he was stuffed into that brain orb.

Just please don’t don’t ask me how this game works, I still have absolutely no idea.

Weevil and Rex had adoring fans in two-shaded polos exactly just like the type I used to wear in high school. But, their fans all left them the moment Weevil lost one single game against Yugi Muto.

Harsh. But granted, I feel like the people of Domino have rabbit memories and if you aren’t actively in the news every day because your blimp got abducted by sea pirates, then who the hell is EVER going to know who you are?

But youknow, Rex and Weevil are pretty sure that dodging getting murdered by Pegasus was actually their last shot at fame. It’s over forever. They’re done. Done until they beat either Joey or Yugi which...very specific, but, it would make you somewhat famous if you did that by simultaneously destroying the Caltrain.

And Weevil is like gunning for the King of Games title but...apparently no one in this episode wanted to mention to Weevil that the “King of Games” moniker actually went to Raphael?

That he needs to beat Raphael...not Yugi Muto?

Nobody?

Nobody feels like mentioning that neither Yami nor Yugi could possibly still be King of Games and that Weevil has no really good reason to be here? I mean it would save Weevil a lot of time. It would also save me a lot of time. We could just walk off this train and go back to what we were all doing before this happened, but nah, lets keep the lie going, because apparently Yami can’t bear to tell the truth, just like his host.

Waiiiit, isn’t Rebecca the King of Games because she beat Yugi in S1?

It’s the freakin Malfroy/Elder wand, it’ll be important in Ch 40 I’m sure of it. I’m sure they’re not going to just...forget...all of the people that beat Yugi before.

Man. Maybe that’s why Yugi is so hell bent on keeping tabs on Rebecca? Just to youknow...make sure she doesn’t tell anyone that she hella beat him that one time because otherwise Kaiba would have lost his freakin mind (again) that Yugi lost that title basically the same afternoon he came back from Pegasus’ island.

Also Rex and Weevil once charged for headshots and this makes them vile, terrible people for some reason.

Apparently this is a bad practice? I mean if you’re famous enough please charge for head shots, you need to make money between playing cards. Take it from this jaded artist, always sell out so you can save money for when you will absolutely get carpal tunnel.

Whatever. Back to Rex who is certain that he is not famous anymore because he lost to Joey.

S4 and still everyone is certain that Joey is bad at cards. Joey will just never be free from this.

It was beautiful anime food for like ten seconds until he did this. How dare. Literally though, how did he do that? Was that burger made out of potato chips?

Can we talk about what a freakin crime it is I can’t watch my Nick at Night retro shows on Netflix or Hulu? Like hell I’m going to get a third streaming service so I can watch and admire how bad “I Love Lucy” aged. I want to see how incredibly off-putting Fonzie is as an adult. But nah. Not even allowed. You can only watch Cheers.

Cheers. What am I? 65? Cheers wasn’t on Nick at Night. My Mom watched Cheers. Gross.

This show trying to convince me so hard that Rex and Weevils lowest point wasn’t when they were 5 seconds away from being set on fire and having their soul removed by Maxamillion Pegasus.

Like for reals, the lowest point for ANYONE (except for the Ishtars) on this show was when they were trapped on that island, without any camping supplies, surrounded by human skulls, Bakura pre-exorcism, and so many other duelists who were probably going to eat them had the tournament gone 24 more hours than it had.

The island that also had a basement that was entirely full of cultists who absolutely murdered a guy right in front of us.

Like when they finally got out of the island’s huge ass forest, their dinner included a soup filled with Pegasus’ eyes.

I would have gotten pissed on by like 70 stray dogs to get off that island, y’all.

So one of the best things about this blog is I don’t have to worry about the restraint of a.) looking professional b.) the fear of sharing my actual real deal opinion. Everywhere else I post, I can’t share anything. I’ve come to terms with this, and so I hide my hot takes deep, deep within this Yugioh blog and the only people who suspect my art rage are like...y’all in the corner of Tumblr who do not care about what I’m talking about.

++++++++++++THIS IS MY HUGE RANT ABOUT ART POLITICS AND ART BITTERNESS FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS. WE’RE QUARANTINING SO MUCH OVER HERE DUE TO THE VIRUS THAT I AM GOING A LITTLE BIT HOUSE CRAZY+++++++++++++++

But like MAN I need to mention something. Both Joey and Rex are completely off base. Both of them.

Like I’ll be real, because of the sudden extra time I have on my hands, I was originally ranting quite a bit about art culture and stuff and I will admit it was projecting somewhat onto a TV show that was written before the recession and the gig economy basically came and laid a huge dump across the creative industry.

However, I really, really, really don’t like it when people naively say “I’m successful because I did the research, I did the work, and then I got a following despite doing no marketing at all,” LIKE HELL YOU DID, DUDE. And there’s certain places I go where this is the mantra of a hell ton of ppl who don’t believe in luck, and I have to just suck it in because they succeeded at a young age. Because inversely, if anyone doesn’t succeed right away--clearly they don’t work hard enough, right?

I won’t dig into real world stuff because that’s...the real world and the real world is a bummer, but even in the universe of Yugioh there’s this crazy disparity in duelers that the people on the top refuse to acknowledge and the people on the bottom have absolutely no way to cope with so they become insanely bitter about it.

Mai has mentioned that despite all of her hard work and success--because she isn’t the top 4 duelists of Kaiba’s tourney--no one knows who she freakin is. The card industry is so toxic, that even KAIBA dropped out.

And even without Kaiba to compete against anymore, Mai still wasn’t able to get in there to fill that void. The void that also has Marik and Odion in it, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure Marik will never touch a card ever again and might be back to living underground or on a boat in the middle of no-where. And we don’t even need to mention Bakura, right? Bakura who should have also been here to fill the void of fame, but his face probably only comes out fuzzy on camera like people haunted by that girl from the Ring. So we’ll just ignore Bakura, that makes sense, I can accept that canon.

But really...it’s just Joey and Yugi at the top of the crop when there should have been room for at least 4.

So, it’s interesting that the Oricalchos in this situation is the “get me popular quick” drug that will somehow give Rex and Weevil what they need for automatic success because I see people desperately looking for this SO MUCH online. I have seen so many post “This is how I got 100000 followers in 100 days,” and it’s always the same story that isn’t so much about hard work, but more how to game a broken system until all other competitors are invisible. And then there’s the hidden factor about...luck...that really offends people although we all know that it exists.

But just remember I’m not allowed to have this opinion that luck...exists...So if anyone asks, I never said this.

And also...if Rex and Weevil had any support up until now from these kids who have been stuffing them in the trunk for over a dozen episodes, they wouldn’t have done any of this.

So talking as a jaded Millennial, I’m not gonna judge you if you take your Oricalchos, if you know what I mean. Everyone has their reasons, and no one’s too good not to ever do it, lets be real.

+++++++++++++++END OF THIS RANT, WOW, I WANT TO SAY THAT WHILE SLAPPING A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE IN A GENTLE MANNER+++++++++++++

So I realized something. This cliff face is sort of an iconic train, but it’s the wrong train.

This is the Amtrak in the middle of Nevada/Utah, pretty sure. I know that shade of orange. I’ve done the Nevada drive a lot.

And part of the reason I’m even sleuthing into this is because as an artist I like to see where art inspiration comes from. It doesn’t just come from a void--they clearly did research and I just want to find out...how it happened.

So anyway, like I said last time, the Amtrak is in charge of the Caltrain management, although the Caltrain is not part of Amtrak. And so you get similar paint jobs--it’s just that Amtrak has blue topped cars, and the Caltrain cars are typically red. Yugioh safely did red, white and blue, which both cars do, to an extent, being American trains.

It’s possible that they decided to look up scenic trains in California and were like “this one looks neat.” This one is also named the “California Zephyr” which makes it seem super Californian but in actuality it goes from Emeryville, California to Chicago. Only problem is that Emeryville is North of Oakland, and we’re supposed to be taking the train “to the airport” when the airports are in Oakland or San Mateo. This train doesn’t go to the airport. You just drove by the airport.

This train also doesn’t go to Florida. Chicago is North, way north. This train exists to be a slow, scenic train for old tourists who want to sleep in cramped spaces or jaded millennials writing their award winning novel. It has no other purpose.

So, it doesn’t at all match anything story wise...but it looks cool. They would never take this train if the world was going to end, and Rebecca wouldn’t know it exists, but, it looks cool.

But anyway, onward to the next episode. I’ll be kind of bunking in my home for a while since my entire area basically shut down, so maybe I’ll get the next updates done earlier than usual? Maybe even catch up on my backlog? hm. Possibilities.

And if you just got here, this is all the Yugioh recaps in chrono order.

[imaginetrahs]

I

So excuse me, what's your problem?

Why you so mad? You're crazy, babe

Excuse me, you must be out your mind, baby

But you got the right one this time, I

You got me fucked up

- Ro James, Excuse Me

Nalani

Groaning in frustration, I threw my phone on the other side of my bed. Just when I thought everything was going good here comes Noah starting trouble. I don't understand where this sudden animosity came from, it's been 2 months since we've broken up and he needs to let it go.

"Sis you really need to talk to Noah before I do, because if I do there won't be much talking" Kaori said busting into my room. We balance each other out, where she's shoot first and ask questions later I'm ask questions first and then shoot.

"For what? He's entitled to his own opinion, although it's wrong. And if we did talk what would I even say to him?" I responded with much sarcasm because Kaori is never one to tell me to talk to anyone about our problems. Like I said she's shoot first ask questions later.

"Well first you could start by telling him he's a bitch and he needs to grow up. And secondly, if he felt this way why didn't he say something when you guys were dating because if I remember correctly he was once your biggest fan and OFFERED to pay for your studio session even though you told him he didn't need too. I don't know about you but that shit don't rock this way."

I didn't have anything to say because I knew she was absolutely correct. Every time I tried to pay for my studio sessions Noah told he would because I was his girl and it was the least he could do. When I released my first studio album, CTRL, I tried to pay him back for all of the studio sessions but he wouldn't take it because "it wasn't a big deal" so I never pressed it further. But for him to now throw it out in to the world that he "made me" is bullshit.

"Yeah I guess you're right" I said rolling my eyes.

"I know I am. But on to a more serious note, what are we eating for dinner?"

~

For dinner Kaori and I decided to go to Waffle House instead of cooking because honestly neither of us felt like it.

We come here so much that the servers already know our orders. I always get the ham and cheese omelet with double waffles and hash browns while Kaori gets the cheese stake omelet with double chocolate chip waffles and country hash browns which I think is a weird ass combination.

While waiting for our food we talked about important things I have in the future, like tour, photo shoots, and talk shows. Just regular promo for albums and stuff.

"I have a lot of shows to do this week. If you want to come you can but it'll be a lot plus I have a feeling everyone is going to ask me about what Noah said and not my album." I said stuffing my face with omelet.

"Duh, I'm coming with you. You know I don't like being home by myself," Kaori is a 24, almost 25, year old woman who doesn't like being at home by herself and I'll never understand why.

Kaori and I have been best friends since diapers really and when we were younger her parents were rarely home because of work and she always stayed at my house. Then when we got older we moved in together, and I guess over time of her parents being away she developed separation issues but she'll never admit to it. Which is why she sorta goes everywhere with me, even on tour.

"And even if they do, tell them the truth. Don't worry about what people will say because he obviously didn't give a fuck." She said shrugging her shoulders.

By now we've finished our food and we're just sitting here talking to my cousin who just happens to work here.

"I fucking hate working here. Do you see the people that come is here on a daily? Looking any type of way? And did y'all hear about that Waffle House that got shot the fuck up in Nashville? Let that shit happen out here, bet y'all I sue the fuck out this bitch!" My cousin Jay was something else, just loud, ghetto and as extra as they come.

"Jay shut the fuck up you ain't suing shit dummy. Ain't you supposed to be working? Look at you, always doing some shit you ain't supposed to. If anything they gon' sue yo' ass for not fucking working." Here he went and got Kaori started, they can never have a simple conversation without yelling or cussing, like damn shut up.

After a while I tuned them out and let them converse about whatever until Jay had to go back to work. He told us he'd see us later and now it was back to being just me and Kaori again.

"You good? You ready to go?" I was started to get tired and I knew it was the itis so I told her yeah but as soon as I was about get up she stopped me.

"Don't flip out but Aaron just walked in." She told me this like I was supposed to care.

"Okay and? What does that have to do with me leaving?" I really didn't see how any of this was my problem. I don't care about him or Noah. Quite frankly I'm tired of hearing and saying his name.

"What do you mean "okay and" you know if Aaron is here then Noah isn't too far behind. You know they're damn near attached at the hip." That statement was 100% true, wherever Noah went Aaron went and vice versa, kind of like me and Kaori.

"Well I'm not worried about them. If it's that big of a deal we can leave out the other doors, I'm just starting to get really tired and I want to go home." Kaori nodded her head and we got up getting ready to leave out the other doors, when I heard someone walk up behind me.

"Wassup y'all?" None other than Aaron himself had walked up.

So much for leaving around them.

[hadleys-hopeless]

So I gave it a few days because 1- I always have to watch an episode more than once to gather and process all my thoughts and 2- I wanted to be a few days removed from all the drama that occurred Monday so hopefully (maybe? Who knows!) everyone has calmed down a bit.

So now, my thoughts on Roswell, New Mexico season 2, episode 6, "Sex and Candy." As I have made pretty clear on my blog before now, I think this show is outstanding. I like most all of the characters, I don't think the storylines are badly written, and the music is a thing of beauty. This episode was no different. In fact, it was my favorite episode so far this season. Interestingly enough, episode 6 of season one was my favorite episode of that particular season so maybe it's just something about episode 6. I'm going to tackle this episode one storyline at a time.

Very quickly I will start with Forest because he was a pretty minor character in this episode but still important. I absolutely love that the Beagle was not Alex's. That was a great way to take a psychic's interpretation and surprise the viewers. I liked his and Alex's awkward interaction in the beginning and I really enjoyed Alex ending the episode going back to see him at the open mic night. Also, I think I would like to dye my hair blue. But that's off topic.

Now let's move on to Isobel. In the last few episodes her character has completely changed and how I feel about her as a character really has as well. I have loved seeing this new side of her that is more friendly and kind and fun as she navigates getting out from underneath Noah's influence. All of her scenes were delightful to watch this episode and I was thrilled that they wrote her and Kyle together. It was the friendship I- kind of knew but didn't totally understand yet- that I absolutely needed in my life. I was a little sad when they didn't end up hooking up but was very pleased to see her exploring her sexuality. I love the idea that these are advanced aliens from another planet so, of course, why the heck would they care about silly things like what gender you fall in love with. I LOVE IT.

Next, Maria, Alex, and Michael. I really liked their story this episode, but it was definitely the story I walked away with having the most questions going forward. I loved the inclusion of the always crazy yet wonderful David Anders, but by the time they left the farm I really did not feel like they had gotten any information. So I'm wondering if we're going to come back to that because of the whole twin thing, and the fact that Alex mentioned at the end that the whole place had been burned down. Like, what's up with that? I need answers people.

As for the threesome, I liked that scene, and I did not have any problems with it. To me, there was copious amounts of consent among three adults in that scene and anyone trying to argue otherwise honestly baffles me. I legitimately don't get it.

I like to think I'm open-minded and that I can see other people's side of what they're saying even when I don't agree. However, in this instance I simply cannot agree. I was especially alarmed by the number of people on here who claimed that this scene was basically a rape scene and Alex was assaulted. That was astounding to me. Three consenting adults does not equal rape. If you watched Alex state he did not want to go (more than once!), then consent to kissing Maria, and then both of them inviting Michael in as well with their body language- and thought "this is assault," I feel like we aren't even watching the same show. Michael even asked to make sure it was ok to proceed. There could not have been more consent!

LET ME BE CLEAR- I am OK 100% with you just being like "gross, didn't want to see those characters have a threesome- that's not for me". If that's how you feel, I respect that SO VERY MUCH. What I can not agree with is calling that scene an act of sexual assault or rape. Just this once I can't walk the neutral line I like to walk and I have to come down aon the side of there was nothing wrong in that consent filled threesome between 3 people who all love each other.

WHEW! Moving on. One more thing on Michael and Alex.

They're morning-after scene made me cry. But in like a really good way. If that makes any sense. It was just so beautifully heartbreaking watching Alex walking away but Michael still looking at him. I just continue to love their storyline this season and how they are healing and growing as people and friends. I hope they will eventually come back together in the healthy way that Tyler described in the livestream (BTW the questions the moderator asked kinda stunk. She was just ok).

Now onto my favorite storyline of this particular episode, Max and Liz. This episode made my heart so full and I cried happy tears. And I am not a happy tears, sappy kind of gal. Max not remembering Liz, but then immediately finding her charming and asking her out on a date. Cute. Liz coming to Max's rescue when he spoke horrible Spanish. Cuter. They're adorable little horseback riding date and truth-telling out in front of the stars. I love that Liz told him about Diego for the first time (I would still bet money we will eventually see that character at some point).

And then. The scene on the rooftop where he tells her about the milkshake. My god, the romance. No wonder she forgot to tell him she loved him. That was the scene that really got me going with the happy tears. And then I loved their scene at the end where she did actually remember to tell him she loved him. I was all up in my feelings after this aired.

So those are my thoughts. Wow, I had more thoughts than I realized. Really enjoyed this episode. Looking forward to the story continuing!

[p4nkow]

Happier - part III

i love the fact that you guys are loving Happier as much as i do! here’s part 3

as usual let me know what you think, i love reading your comments! and ofc it can be read as Ben!Roger

Part I , Part II

Summary: you work as an assistant at EMI and you meet Roger while organising Queen’s gig at Hyde Park. lots of fluff but then, after months of relationship, Roger admits something that breaks your heart and the two of you break up. You try to move on and so does he, but after two months of being apart you meet at a pub and you both have a date. What will happen? But most importantly, will you and Roger fall in love again after being forced to see each other everyday?

Warnings: Paul Prenter being... y’know, Paul Prenter

“Did she really say she wasn't impressed?” Veronica was clearly amused by the things you were telling her about your date night.

You started to play with the phone cord, laying on your couch as you updated your best friend on your amorous adventures.

“Yeah, 'cause it wasn't their first date. So typical of Roger.”

You heard her huff on the phone. "What I thought wasn't so typical of him was being a complete asshole."

You chuckled at her words, nodding even though she couldn't see you. “How the hell are we supposed to be friends when I was dumped by him? Is that humanly possible?”

“If he says so. Y/N, please, don’t forget what he said to you.” She was almost begging you through the phone.

“Ronnie I won’t, I promise. I’m moving on. I’m way over him by now.” It wasn’t exactly the truth and you hated lying to her but you didn’t want for her to worry about you.

“And what about Noah? Didn’t the two of you have dinner at your place yesterday?”

“Yeah, we did” You replied with a smile.

“And?” You were amused by Veronica’s hopeful tone.

“And nothing happened, don’t fantasise about it.” She groaned and you narrowed your brows. “What’s wrong?”

“This little peanut is kicking so hard I‘m starting to think he’s making his way out by force.”

You smiled and you sat down, glancing at your dog. “Maybe you should pick a real name for that little peanut” You teased her.

You immediately thought of her belly and you couldn’t help but think how your life would have been if you were still with Roger. Would you have started a family? Bought a big house far from the city lights? No matter how much you though about it, you just couldn’t imagine Roger settling down.

“We’re brainstorming names, I swear.”

You chuckled, brought back to reality by her words. “Yeah, I can only imagine John’s— hey! Ringo, don’t! Let it go!”

You let go your receiver in order to get back your shoe from your dog, ending up running around the couch in order to catch him. “Ringo!”

You quickly went back to the phone, saying in an heavy breath “Ronnie, gotta go. Ringo took my shoe.”

You heard Veronica chuckle from the other side of the phone. “Maybe getting a dog of almost 100 Ibs wasn’t the best idea you ever got. And name it Ringo? What the hell were you thinking? Isn’t it... I dunno, some kind of dog trauma?”

You softly laughed at her words, looking at your dog while played with your sneaker. “There’s nothing wrong with my dog nor with its name. Ringo’s cool.”

“Ringo Starr wouldn’t be happy to know you named your dog after him, though.”

“There’s no need for him to know.” You quickly glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and swore under your breath. “Fuck, I’m late. Gotta get to work.”

“Call me later if there’s any news.”

After getting off the phone you hurried to get ready, spending at least ten minutes to choose what to wear. You wanted to dress to impress, but on who? Roger? You didn’t do that anymore.

The ride didn’t take you long but you were nervous as hell. You did nothing but hum random songs he entire way until you got to the studio. You were happy to notice that Roger’s car wasn’t there yet so you didn’t think that much before going in.

As soon as you stepped in you felt like home. You had spent entire days in that room, surrounded by instruments and electronic devices built by John.

You kinda missed all the spats between the boys, which ended up in different pubs every night. You raised your gaze to the high ceiling and you smiled, taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t have allowed Roger to ruin your job.

“I heard we’ve got a new assistant.” You jumped by hearing that deep voice and Brian chuckled. He was sitting right in front of one of the biggest windows with a notebook placed on his knees, probably working on a new song. He immediately stood up and approached you.

“Heard that, too. I hope she’s good, though.” You replied as you held him in an embrace. God, you’d missed him.

“Missed you, space boy” You softly said against his curly hair and he held you tighter.

“Missed you too, bossy.”

You gave him an amused smile and friendly patted him. “Still stuck on that?”

“Always.”

“What are you working on?” You nodded towards the notebook and he shrugged, giving it to you. “Fat bottomed girls. I like it.”

Brian’s smile grew wider as he met your gaze, looking at the lyrics first and then at you. “Really?”

“Really. Even though I don’t really wanna know what kind of nannies you had as a child.”

He bursted into laughter and the pair of you have been interrupted by the sound of door closing. You turned towards it and you immediately smiled as you saw John coming in.

You hadn’t really really missed him considering the fact that you saw him almost everyday, thanks to Veronica.

“Hey Deaks” You greeted him as you looked back at the notebook, trying to pay attention to the lyric of Brian’s song.

“‘s good to see you back in here. Are you updating her on the booty’s song?” Deaky asked as he approached you and Brian gave him a death stare.

“Fat bottomed girls” He clarified and John limited himself to just stare at him.

You chuckled and you looked at them, returning the notebook to Brian. “I’d love to read something of yours, too. Maybe after I catch up on everything.”

“Sure” He said with a nod and he walked towards his bass. You met Brian’s gaze and tried not to laugh as you shrugged and approached on of the shelves with lots of documents.

Ten minutes passed by before the door opened again. You turned towards it, hoping it would be Freddie but you were wrong.

Roger came in, his left arm surrounding Nicole’s shoulders. She bursted into laughter because of something Roger said and they looked at each other in the eyes. Well, not really because Roger was wearing shades, but that was the idea.

You cleared your throat and you looked back at your papers, trying to catch up with everything you had missed.

“Hi everyone” Nicole said with a big, bright smile and you raised your gaze. You forced yourself to smile back at her and that’s when she noticed you “Hey, Y/N! Rog, look who’s here.”

Roger met your gaze and slowly moved his arm off Nicole’s shoulders, giving you a nod. “Yeah, hi.”

You didn’t reply and went back to work as they sat on the couch, still giggling as teenagers. You clenched your jaw and tried to focus but you couldn’t think clearly. Bloody Roger Taylor.

“You okay?” Deaky murmured, leaning towards you as he softly played a riff on his bass.

You faked a smile and nodded, closing the binder with a thud. “Yeah, I’m fine.” The sound echoed all over the room and you caught Roger’s attention. His blue eyes were on you as he gently caressed Nicole’s shoulder, casually nodding at her but not really paying attention to what she was saying.

You cleared your throat and said out loud “So, anyone who wants to catch me up on everything?”

“I’ll do it, darling!” Freddie popped in to the room and your smile grew wider as soon as you saw him. “Fred!” You walked towards him and you threw your arms around his neck, hugging him tight. He hugged you back, placing a hand on your back as he murmured “As much as I love being this close to you, dear, I’d like to take a few breaths.”

You backed away and gave him an apologetic smile and only then you noticed Paul Prenter standing right next to him. “Paul” You greeted him with a nod.

“Look who’s here” He murmured, looking at you first and then at Roger and Nicole. He gave you an evil grin before passing you by and taking a seat on one of the chairs.

“Come, darling. There’s a lot you need to know.” Freddie led you to an armchair placed right in front of the couch and you sat down with a deep sight. Brian sat in one on the armrest and gave you a warm smile.

You were all sat in a circle and you tried to avoid Roger and Nicole’s gaze as much as you could.

“So, you’re working on a new album.”

“Jazz” Roger immediately answered and you nodded without looking at him. You heard Freddie cough but you avoided his gaze, too. The tension was palpable.

“Right, Jazz.”

“I’m working on a few songs, so is Freddie. John’s too busy with the bun in the oven but he’s got something, too. Roger, on the other hand...” Brian didn’t finish his sentence and you gave him a confused smile.

You looked at Roger, who was giving him a death stare. “I’m working on something, too.”

“Yeah, a fuckin’ disco song.”

You raised your brows at their little spat, deciding to intervene. “‘kay, I got it. How many tracks?”

Prenter looked at you with the same green as earlier but it was Freddie who replied. “Hopefully thirteen, maybe fourteen.”

“Good, that’s good. And when are you planning to record it?”

“If everything’s ready then on July, in Montreux.” John looked at you with the corner of his eye, folding his hands in front of him.

“Can I come?” Nicole asked but no one answered her.

“July? But the baby is supposed—”

“I know” John said, interrupting you and you sighed in displeasure.

John and Veronica’s baby was supposed to be born towards the end of July and he wouldn’t even been there for his wife. That sucked.

Wait, did he just say Montreux? In Switzerland?

“Switzerland?” You asked in disbelief and Nicole chuckled. You completely ignored her.

“Bowie recorded there, too.” It was the first time Prenter intervened and you gave him a confused look.

“And how exactly that does concern us?”

He shrugged and looked at Roger with a grin, saying “He wrote Heroes in Montreux. Isn’t it about two young lovers who fight for their love?”

You clenched your jaw as you tried to avoid his jab. Roger looked back at him and answered in a low voice “Yes, yes it is.”

“Though nothing will keep us together” Paul murmured, quoting Bowie’s words. “Ah, so heartbreaking. He wrote it for his mistress!”

“That’s enough” Deaky spat and you cleared your throat, looking away from everyone.

“So, on July in Montreux. Awesome.” You murmured and silence fell on the room for a few moments.

“And hopefully by then Roger will remember that he’s in a band.”

Roger couldn’t take anymore Brian’s jabs and he stood up, his arms wide open. “‘kay, that’s enough. What’s wrong with you, mate?”

“The real question is what’s wrong with you.”

You noticed Brian’s gaze moving to Nicole and you had a bad feeling about that entire situation.

“Watch it” Roger murmured under his breath and you quickly stood up, placing yourself in among the two of them.

“Bri, please” You tried to catch his attention but he didn’t look at you, so you turned towards Roger. It was the last thing you wanted to do but you placed a hand on his chest in order to stopping him from moving forward towards Brian.

“Roger” You softly said and his gaze immediately met yours. He was breathing heavily and so were you, but for a completely different reason.

As soon as he looked at your hand on his chest you backed away, recoiling from him. You cleared your throat and said “That’s enough, you guys gotta get back to work. You have an album to make.”

“She’s right, let’s get back to work.” Freddie backed you and without any chitchats everyone took their place and Nicole made herself very comfortable in the couch.

Roger and Brian seemed to have forgotten their little spat as they rehearsed and you glanced at them once or twice while talking with Prenter.

He was catching you up on the tour you had to schedule when you suddenly heard Roger exclaim “We can’t slow down!”

Brian deeply sighed at his words while Freddie chuckled. “I’m trying to slow it a little down—“

“Well it doesn’t need slowing down, it’s— god, it’s creeping at the moment!” Roger said by interrupting Brian.

“Is everything okay?” You asked and Freddie glanced at you.

“Oh yes, darling. It happens all the time. Alright, try—”

“God, it was so slow! And it was getting even slower. You always try to play this like I’ve never—”

“Roger” Nicole softly said as to catch his attention, to calm him down. You used to do that when stuff like this happened and your heart sank.

John didn’t pay her attention and said in an amused tone “You’re playing the fucking twelve string.”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Fred moved the mic’s wire and took again his position.

“Alright then, I’ll follow you!” Roger replied, all fed up.

You stared at him longer than you should have but you just couldn’t stop looking at him.

You still weren’t used to his short hair but they gave him a different look— even hotter. You couldn’t resist him when he was behind his drums— the way he twirled his drumsticks or the way he shook his head when hitting the cymbals... just wow.

“Y/N” Paul suddenly said, trying to catch your attention.

“Hm?”

“Nicole doesn’t look much happy about you staring at his boyfriend.”

You immediately raised his gaze to meet his, giving him a death stare. “‘m not staring.”

“I understand, Roger’s been your great love, but don’t you really think—”

He’s been interrupted by Nicole, who was now standing and looking at you. “Y/N?”

You turned towards her with a worried look, fearing that she’d say something about you staring at Roger. That’s until you noticed Noah standing next to her.

“Noah!” You quickly reached him and you bit her lip as soon as you were in front of him, trying not to smile. You threw your arms around him and you hugged him, glad that he was there to save you from that situation.

“Well, hello to you too.” He placed a hand on your back and held you tight, chuckling against your ear.

You heard the guys whispering behind your back and you heard Roger “What’s he doing here?” But you completely ignored him.

However you asked Noah that exact same question, to which he answered “Hello boys!” He said greeting them before turning back to you. “You gotta sign a few papers, bureaucratic stuff. All boring but necessary things.”

You slowly nodded, leading him to the closest table.

As you gave a quick look at the papers you told him loud enough for the boys to hear “After the rehearsals we’re planning on going to a pub for a drink a few blocks down. D’ya wanna come?”

You looked at him with hopeful eyes and he was about to answer you when he was interrupted by Roger. “Actually is more like... a band thing.”

You let go your papers and slowly looked at him, replying with your brows raised “A bandthing?”

He shrugged and you could barely see him from behind his drums. Why was he wearing his bloody shades inside? But more importantly, why was he being an asshole?

“Y/N, it’s okay. I can—”

You shook your head and you interrupted Noah by saying “No, it’s fine. If it’s a band thing then I shouldn’t go either. We can order Indian food and we can watch Happy Days at my place.”

Noah looked at you with a big, bright smile. “You sure? You’re gonna miss all the fun.”

“Oh, my dear. That’s bullshit, don’t even listen to Roger. The two of you are more than welcome. Nicole’s coming too!” Freddie said by nodding at her. Of course she was.

Deaky gave you the kind of look which said ‘I already know what you’re thinking’ and that’s probably why he didn’t seem surprised when you shook your head and said “No, I’d rather spend the night with Noah. Thanks Fred.”

You faked a smile and you focused back on the papers, quickly signing where it was needed before giving them back to Noah. “D’ya mind ordering at the restaurant? I can pick it up when I head back home.”

“C’mon, Y/N. Come with us. You too, Noah.” Brian said by trying to persuade you but you never looked away from Noah, who nodded at your question and placed a kiss between your hair.

“I’ll go get something for Ringo, too.”

“There’s no need, you know that.”

He started to recoil, never stop smiling at you. “You know I love that dog. See ya later.”

You watched him disappear behind the front door and since that moment you never looked at Roger, not even once. You were so bloody mad at him that you wanted to punch him straight in the face.

You had the chance to state that time flies faster when you’re mad, and that’s why rehearsals were over before you could even notice it. 

You quickly grabbed your things and made your way to the front door, exclaiming a general “Bye, boys!”

“So you’re not coming with us, are you?” Nicole asked you on your way out and you shook your head without looking at her.

“Have fun” You murmured while pushing the door, storming out of the room.

You heard John calling you but you didn’t stop and you also heard Brian murmuring “Roger, sometimes you’re a total prick.”

As you told Noah, you stopped by the restaurant to grab your ordination and quickly headed back home, swearing under your breath every time you thought of Roger. Bloody idiot. Bloody, bloody moron.

You petted Ringo as soon as you arrived home, trying to distract yourself. Noah arrived shortly after and the two of you were having dinner sitting on the couch and making comments about Happy Days.

“I swear it, I still have that exact same jacked somewhere.”

“Like Fonzie’s?”

Noah quickly looked at you and you gave him an amused smile. “Don’t laugh at me, they were cool a few years back.”

“Yeah, right.”

The two of you spent most of the night like that, cuddling on the couch while watching sitcoms over sitcoms. Noah wasn’t the kind of guy who made you pressure or speeded things up. He was a quiet person, and maybe quiet was exactly what you needed after being with a hurricane of emotions like Roger.

It was almost 1AM and you had fallen asleep in his arms. He was gently hugging you and you were so comfy that you didn’t want to move to the bed. Ringo had fallen asleep too and he was laying at the foot of the sofa, snoring out loud.

You groaned when you heard a loud sound waking you up. You were so confused that at first you didn’t even realise it came from the front door— someone was knocking.

“What’s wrong?” Noah murmured without opening his eyes and you quickly broke the embrace and stood up.

You rubbed your eyes, trying to completely wake up. You tried to be as silent as possible as you walked up to the door, looking through the peephole in your tiptoes. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing and that’s why, under Noah’s questioning gaze, you quickly unlocked the door.

“Roger?”

Taglist: @but-legendsneverdie @ohtheseboysilove @xgypsy-witchy-vibes @queen-turtle-boiii @scarsout @hystericaldancingqueen @mercurycrowley @protectrowanwhitethorn  @70sarreaga @loveandbeloved29 

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[adam-driver-online]

ADAM DRIVER INTERVIEW IN ‘LITTLE WHITE LIES’ MAGAZINE

Your character, Jamie, has quite a manipulative approach to creativity. How much honesty do you think is necessary when it comes to filmmaking?

100 percent. When I first read the script the character that I identified the most with was Ben Stiller’s character, Josh. I see the benefit of discipline and in living with something for a long time even though the process is annoying, so it was tough for me to find a way in. I judge my own generation for appropriating items they have not lived with. There’s a benefit in boredom and not being so inter-connected and being alone with your thoughts and all those things. But Jamie, in the story, does create something from nothing and works fast. Josh has been labouring over the same thing for years and has, at a certain point, made what he’s working on way too precious and self-important and that’s also limiting whereas Jamie in a matter of days has created something. It’s up to everyone else to judge what that is but that ambition is an attractive quality in a person and getting off on the inter-connectedness of everything is not my first impulse but I see how that’s charming.

What is the trick to sitting with ideas for long enough that they mature but not so long that they fester?

That’s a tricky thing about acting that I don’t think I’ll ever figure out. There’s a danger in both. If there’s anything I rediscover any time I get to work on something, it’s not knowing an answer to anything. I try to practice that also in life as much as possible. Not knowing always leads to something more gratifying than feeling that you have the right answer. Obviously, you can’t skip steps and you should do the work. I don’t really have a set process or a certain way I have to do things. I also think it’s a mistake for me to have a way of working that I want to impose on everyone else, that I want them to adapt to. I always think that there’s so much information in not knowing a right answer.

Do you have any advice on developing self-discipline?

I don’t, no, not really. I was very fortunate in that I just was put in situations where I felt the benefit, whether it be running or anything, really. I actually hate having to go through the process. I want to jump to the answer right away and it seems like everything in life tells you that you have to slow down but I have no advice because I feel like it’s something that I will practice and rehearse until I die.

Is acting a job-for-life then?

I hope I get to do it for a life. There’s nothing else that I would rather do.

Do you think that it helps to ground you that you lived a different life before acting and celebrity?

I’ve just had different experiences, which have definitely helped shape who I get to be as an actor. What better acting training than being stuck in the military with a bunch of 18 or 19 year-olds who are just being crazy because they’re away from home and missing family or handling machine guns. We didn’t have any money, really, growing up and that’s a really great experience to have. It shapes you and you get to live life and have mistakes. Being raised in a small town in Indiana I’m so grateful for that experience even though at the time I couldn’t wait to get out.

Do you ever imagine what your younger self would have made of what you’re doing now?

I wouldn’t have been able to believe it. I was just thinking about this recently, not about acting, but it’s coming up on ten years that I’ve lived in New York. When I first moved to New York I had two big sea bags and they were just filled with clothes. I was living in Hoboken, New Jersey, in my uncle’s closet. He was living on the top floor of a house that didn’t have a kitchen. I stayed in his closet because that was the largest space on the ground to sleep. I stayed there for a couple of weeks until I found a room to rent from someone on Craigslist. I was walking to all the restaurants in that area, thinking, ‘I’ll just get a job and be a waiter and start school.’ I now have a really great group of friends and I get to make a living doing what I love to do and I get to travel, which is like a huge thing. I can’t imagine myself getting to go to Taiwan being from Mishawaka, Indiana.

What are the main differences between working on a small, indie film like While We’re Young and working on a massive, massive, massive movie?

The amenities around you are a little better on a big budget movie than they are on a smaller movie but it doesn’t really make a difference. It’s not like suddenly the catering is better on Star Wars than on While We’re Young and it’s going to make you a better actor. I was lucky that it was JJ Abrams directing Star Wars. He is someone, like Noah, or like the Coen Brothers or Scorsese, if it doesn’t make sense to the story or the characters then everything else is secondary. In that sense they are all the same. Something like Star Wars is maybe a little bit different because so many people have a frame of reference for that but as far as big budget or small budget, you just have to make sense and be real and be truthful.

Do you think being a hipster is an actual thing or is it a nonsense construction?

It’s probably a bit of both. There is kind of like a mindset of appropriating history but at the same time I don’t think anyone can really judge anybody or, certainly, label them as something. I don’t know what makes hipsters so I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you.

It seems like you’re wary of pop cultural trends.

Whenever a large group of people suddenly feel like, ‘We’re all going to do this thing’ there’s something in my DNA that never seemS to want to go that route. It just seems to close you off to so many other possibilities. I’m not saying that as a prophet or someone who’s good at practicing that. I am more skeptical of things that are mass-produced.

Are you concerned about navigating Hollywood?

I’m still at the beginning… I don’t know if it’s even fair to say that I’m at the beginning because I could be at the end of a career. For me to say that I’ll never do a certain thing because there’s no value in it, it isn’t really up to whatever the form is. There is some value in doing something that you maybe don’t understand but you tried that experience and you know what you like and don’t like about it. I have opinions about all the Hollywood movies that I see that just suck. There are so many of them and, god, you can rail against them and they’re not really about creating anything, they’re about selling something and that’s terrible. I feel no pressure to do any of that but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t smart directors that are still trying to find a smart way to work within a studio system. It doesn’t really matter the size of the film or if it’s a cartoon movie about foxes or whatever. If there’s an interesting character and I feel like the people around it are really after something and I’m lucky enough to get the job then that’s pretty great and the structure around it doesn’t matter.

Are you good at reading from the outset whether the people and material involved chime with what you’re after?

I feel like I just have an impulse about something, and I usually do no-brainers. If you get asked, ‘Do you want to do a movie with the Coen brothers?’ That’s a no-brainer. ‘Do you want to work with Martin Scorsese?’ Sure. I’ve been fortunate to be put in a lot of situations where the people involved just seem to do the work for me. Or not the work for me, but it just made the choices obvious ones. I’m a bit thick, so if I feel myself being wishy-washy about something then it’s hard to commit.

“I’m still trying to figure out what it is that I’m doing and what acting means. Who knows if it means anything?”

You’re not thick. Why do you say that?

You can take things too seriously and suddenly you take yourself too seriously and it’s good to be light even though the world is dark and we all die alone. It’s a tricky thing to spend your life balancing.

Is your growing star profile playing havoc with this balancing act?

I try to stay detached from all that and try to not let anything get in the way of being a person. It’s not really my job to make it about myself. There are other people involved. My wife keeps me very grounded. I’m also a straight, white male so I’ve had more opportunities than other people, completely unjustly, so you put it in perspective. I’m, like, surrounded by really inspiring people so I try to focus on that as much as possible. I say that, but that’s a really hard thing to practice, especially when you lose your anonymity and suddenly you start thinking that you have something important to say or everything gets way too serious. It’s not really about any of that. I don’t know what it is about. I’m still trying to figure out what it is that I’m doing and what acting means. Who knows if it means anything?

It sounds like you’re talking about the sweet spot at the core, which is your actual reason for doing things, which you’re still trying to figure out.

Martin Scorsese has been doing it for so long but you still see that drive to figure it out, do it better, do things more economically, go a little deeper, take it less seriously or take it more seriously. A great thing about being an actor and why actors hopefully get to do what they do for a long time is because you never get to figure it out. There’s a constant investigation that is both – when I see it in older actors – exciting and really terrifying because one, you never figure anything out and that’s great and two, you never figure anything out and that’s petrifying.

On the one hand you have eloquent theories of what it all means but on the other hand you’re like ‘maybe it means nothing’.

Like life.

Yeah!

It fuckin’ sucks! I got to talk to a woman in the church in the Dominican sect of Catholicism and she was saying that it’s all a big risk. She’s devoted her life to something that could very much not be true. Maybe it’s all about enjoying the experience which… I don’t enjoy either. I feel like the best part of the job – and maybe you relate to this as a writer – is getting the job. Then, it’s all second-guessing yourself and doubt and the anguish at doing at.

It’s also enjoyable when work is accepted by others. Is that the same for you?

It’s better than people saying that they don’t like it and they’re not going to give you a job, but at the same time, not to sound completely joyless, sometimes people offer interpretations that are completely different to the way you were working. It’s good, but you always have to take it with a grain of salt. You didn’t get there alone. Well, maybe you did, probably, more so than other people because you’re a writer, but for me I’m supported by writing, directing, lighting, editing, you know – thank god! It’s all so people can’t see the mistakes and you can pass around the responsibility. But yeah, I’m sounding like a total fucking pessimist. When people respond to your work, who am I kidding, that feels really great and that’s good and gratifying, but it’s not really anything you can hang your hat on. You can’t look for other people’s praise to push you forward because that’s also a trap.

Sorry for that really high-pitched laugh. It was because of the dramatic way you said ‘total fucking pessimist’.

No, that’s okay. I’m so in my head with what I’m saying I didn’t even hear.

Great. I’ll just release occasional laughs in the security that…

No. I’m lying, I did hear it and I’m judging you.

You say you’re really pessimistic but that can’t be the whole truth. When you’re in a good relationship, surely that brings some lightness?

If you’re lucky, because I feel like a lot of people don’t have that in their life – even in that I’ve scored a jackpot, even with my friends who challenge me. A weird thing that I’m learning about acting is that the more you get to do, the more public you become. Anonymity and being a spy is what your job is, so suddenly to feel like you can’t participate in things is tricky. It’s important to make mistakes, to be a failure and to live recklessly. That’s why it was kind of difficult at first to relate to Jamie. That mindset of interconnectedness, sharing everything and being so out there and open, for me – and I can only speak for myself because some people are better developed – it’s not my impulse, because who gives a shit. And also, that’s your stuff. Feeling the pressure to make things perfect or apologise or watch what you say or just how scary the internet it and how wildly inaccurate it almost all is, it can make you really want to not be a person. It’s a tricky thing. In the past couple of years, and now, I’m still finding a way to navigate. I’m not on the internet really, like social media. The internet’s a crazy place and just the way our culture is – phones and shit like that. It’s a tricky thing to still be a person and do my job.

Are you more like Jamie than Josh in the sense that you try to make your life about physical things rather than digital ones?

Yeah, it’s also because I just don’t understand computers. My thumbs are really just too big. If I had skinnier thumbs I think I would be more technologically savvy. It just gets me really frustrated trying to type so many things. It takes me just double the time to do it. If I had skinnier fingers I would have a completely different philosophy so that’s why I think I like tactile things.

How big exactly are your thumbs?

They’re big. I wish I could show you.

Can you give me a household object of comparable size?

A basketball.

[thisiskindagross]

Satan and Me Asks

1.)  for the questions thing - are you cool w sexuality headcanons for ur characters??

I’m assuming you mean if people in the fandom make sexuality headcanons? And of course. You guys can do whatever you want. I know I’ve only posted about a few sexualities, so there’s not much to go on anyway.

2.)  Is hell really gone out of Satan forever? How long does Nat's wish last?

Hell’s not gone from Satan. It’s still inside of him, but he doesn’t hear the constant voices in his head anymore because of Natalie’s wish. That was what she sold her soul for, so the wish will stay in effect the rest of his existence.

3.)  Will we be seeing Pax or Felix soon? What about that small little boy?

Pax and Felix looking for Zadkiel is kind of a side plot in the comic, so I can’t say for sure when they will intercept. My guess is anywhere in the next 15 updates?

4.)  Do satan's earings indicate his emotions as well?

When Satan is in “human” form, his earrings are like his horns. They will change between yellow and red based on his mood.

5.)  is gabriel ok?

At the moment, no. He’s in considerable distress, but he will be. You’ll see this arc.

6.)  So im a ask, how does satan really feel about nat being damned to hell and him not being able to figure out how to stop it? He seems to care if she does.

He doesn’t like it at all, but since they can’t change it atm he is choosing to not think about it.

7.)  Has Satan thought about sex with Nat?

He’s been too preoccupied with the Apocalypse and the recent Titus thing (and now Natalie being sick) to really think about anything like that, I’d think. That’s not to say he’s never thought about sex in general, but just the plot never called for him to so? He really hasn’t.

8.)  any ships you generally don't like?

I mean, my taste in ships change all the time and have no effect in canon. There are some ships that become/are already canon that I don’t care for, and there are some I really like that I know will never be canon. For example, I used to hate Ganthea, but now I like it. It really depends. I flip-flop around a lot. I’d feel bad though listing ships I don’t care for, just because I don’t want to make anyone feel bad for liking something. Just because I don’t shouldn’t mean that you guys can’t like them. 

So in the spirit of not making someone feel bad IDK if I can fully answer this question.

9.)  any insights into how angel society works/what it generally is like for the various background angels? what do they get up to? are they all the same ones who were created back at the Beginning? how do they view current comic events (if they generally know anything)? what do they think of their 'leaders' (the archangels)?

Loaded question lol Well, the angels canonically in the bible are ranked. There are a lot of classes of angels; the archangels are actually second from the bottom. They’re literally just protectors and foot soldiers, I guess that’s the closest I could equate them to. So the vast majority of angels are just the society in the comic, whereas the ones who follow the archangels actually enlist to be in the army.

Each archangel leads a squad (except Raphael, who only works with the medic angels in the hospital). Each squad has a certain duty (ex: Jophiel’s is trained in recovery and surveillance, Zadkiel’s was p much the ones who take on tough jobs that have a low mortality rate, Gabriel’s is trained in support and backup to other troops, etc). They’re sorted and placed under an archangel depending on their test results. I actually do plan to do a dumb little comic about angels enlisting at one point.

Angel society as a whole aren’t 100% up to current events, because the archangels and higher up angels dictate what information is allowed to be trickled down. They also don’t want to cause alarm so they bend the truth a little bit. Right now majority of the angels aren’t even aware what really happened with Titus (like they didn’t know that someone was trying to overthrow Satan).

Not all of them were created at the beginning. Some were, others are fairly new. It really depends. It also depends on their personality if they like the archangels or not, so it’s hard to lump them all in together. For the most part the angels not in the army are blissfully unaware of the things around them. They stay in Heaven and mind their own business.

10.)  Why is Angel Michael so upset about Human Michael? And what does Human Michael think about Angel Michael?

Angel Michael is upset not at Mike P, but the situation. He likes humans but he doesn’t want to be a human. So the idea of being put into his body upsets him a lot. Mike P. doesn’t know anything about Michael; he’s just trying to process the information. When he does, he will want to get to know him.

11.)  Have any of the angels actually crushed on a human before

Quite a few have, but virtually none act on it. They would be executed if they procreated with a human, as would the nephilim baby. It’s a “look but don’t touch” situation.

12.)  okay okay you wont tell us the end game ships & das okay, but can you tell us who you personally ship Natalie with?

Natalie’s the rare character that I can ship with 95% of the cast, if written a certain way. The list would be too long lol

13.)  Do we get anything about Luce's past in the comic? I know there are parts from where he's an angel but maybe how he grew up or him as smol babe? Perhaps some cute scenes where they interact with God as their father and cutesy things?

There will be comics like this, yes.

14.)  What are the places/businesses Ipos and Sheila set up in the past? 

Ipos spent a lot of time around various parts of the world. During the 1700-1800s he stayed in Ireland, where he met Sheila officially. She spent most of her time in the Southern Hemisphere, and stayed in Australia for a while. 

Ipos was in the military for a while, too, so he could see more places, learn more about humans, keep tabs on everything. The real Ipos he’s based off of is actually an information keeper, so I tried to keep that true to form in the comic as well. Under different guises, Ipos and Sheila have run restaurants, bars, brothels, a hardware store, gun shops, camping supply stores, construction companies, real estate businesses.

15.)  Are all demons fallen angels, or were some just always demons? Also, is it possible for angels to have kids, either with each other or with humans? 

95% of demons are Fallen Angels. The few that aren’t are either born from bad circumstance/human sorrow, or have been made in a pact with another higher level Fallen. (I actually have a series that explains the first contracts with demons but that won’t debut for another few years I’d surmise. It’s touched upon as well in future “Here it Comes” updates.)

Angels can have children with each other, though it’s rare, and they can reproduce with humans. Nephilim, human and angel children, are very strong and very unpredictable so they’re viewed as taboos. In the bible it’s a big reason why God flooded the earth with Noah and his ark. Angels had copulated and had children with humans so they drowned them and their parents. (I’ve heard speculation that Goliath from David and Goliath was a nephilim baby too, but IDK how accurate that is).

  16.)  What is Kristi's family like? 

Kristi has her parents, Norma and Ray Lange, and an older sister who is in college, Lily. Kristi’s mother is high maintenance, which is probably where Kristi got it from. Her father grew up in town with Alex McAllister, and he used to bully him a lot. He had a crush on Carla (but was stuck dating her cousin), so that’s another reason he doesn’t like Alex. He settled for Kristi’s mom when he met her later, so it’s not exactly a love built marriage. He’s not too interested in his home life. Kristi’s sister is easy going and nice. She has a good relationship with Kristi.

17.)  Does Raphael have any fears about like real physical stuff/like how people have fears of snakes, spiders etc

Raphael doesn’t have a lot of fears like that. His are more mental stuff. But he is scared of bats. Won’t go near them.

18.)  Are there things about the story that you wish you could change but can't 'cause it's too late? if so, what?

Yeah, there are a couple. I wish I did more with Jericho. I watered him down for the comic, which I’m regretting. He was going to be more problematic than that. I’d like to keep Ipos and Sheila around a little longer, but they died p quick. There are scrapped updates I wish I went through with, but I can’t do anything about that now.

19.)  will we see pestilence and famine interacting with natalie and satan?

Not sure about Famine, but Pestilence yes.

20.)  Would it be fair to ask about what kind of piercings each character has? I know that each has their own unique ones and since we don't always see all the piercings (as with Anthea, whose belly piercings aren't revealed until that one episode) and it would be cool to know all the piercings that each has.

That’s a lot to list, but I’ll just say what piercing someone has if it’s under clothing.

Zadkiel has lower back dermals, Pax has a Apadravya, Jophiel has hip dermals.

 21.)  So how come Lucifer only uses "Festus" and doesnt call Felix "Felix"? 

Lucifer’s more formal like that. I’m sure if Felix pushed the issue he would change, but it’s really force of habit cuz that name comes to mind first when he talks/thinks about him.  

22.) How do you make updates do you write out a script or do you just make it up as you go?

I make it up as I go. Aside from a few events I know that I want to take place, I have no idea how I’m getting there and just let what happens on each new page take me there. A lot of times I’m surprised how the story changed, but that’s what makes it fun

23.)  Are we going to find out what happened to Yup's parents? 

If anything it will be subtle if it’s mentioned in passing, but IDK if it will. His dad and mom weren’t married so his dad split. His mom was into recreational drugs and was evicted from their apartment because of insufficient funds when Yup was 6.  She left him at the freeway underpass when she couldn’t deal with her situation anymore. When Zadkiel found Yup he’d been on his own for a month or so.

24.)  Do any of the angels or demons have any Phobias or fears? Just random things they are afraid of for no reason or for a specific reason at all

They do, it just depends on the demon. Anthea was afraid of driving on the freeway. Felix is afraid of being ignored. Zoe is afraid of small spaces.

25.)  i've always been curious... what exactly were titus' spikes made of? were they some type of metal? and did it hurt him to use them?

It did hurt, but he had a high pain tolerance. They were a mixture of calcium and stone (like Cain with Abel).

26.)  Do any of the angels have tattoos besides Gabriel and Raguel?

Some do, just depends. They usually have a specific reason in mind if they do.

27.)  Do any of the angels look less than human?

Yes.

28.)  What was laila's brother's name?

Lyle. Laila’s name is actually Veronique and her middle name is Laila. After he died, she started going by Laila to feel closer to him, since they sounded similar.

29.)  Does Michael have an ex and does she have a name?

Michael does have an ex. They were together briefly before she fell, not enough time to really get attached but he was curious enough to try. They aren’t really touched upon in the comic so I never gave them a name.

30.)  So something I was wondering, bc I love Ipos and wish he was in the comic longer, does he have an Irish accent because he was in Ireland for so long and decided to adapt it? Also how tf is Ipos pronounced, bc i say it like eye-pos but idk if thts right.

He has a small accent, yes. And yeah, it’s eye-pos.

31.)  Have you ever imagined any Satan and Me babies? Not the characters themselves as children, but having children

32.) Since Raguel is only 55, Does that mean he actually has a birthday then?

The day he was created was April 2nd on the 20th century calendar, as opposed to the other archangels who were born at the beginning of earth’s creation.

33.)  I was wondering is Michael jealous of how close nat and satan are? like when satan flew off with nat after the scuffle. I noticed Michael didnt look too happy. By the way I love your blog its the best It puts a fun twist on bible stories/charecters.

Michael is very jealous of Natalie and Satan’s relationship. It drives him up a wall.

34.)  I actually thought of one, surprise surprise. We know a few of the "who knew who first" scenarios, but did felix know of Lucifer first, or meet Anthea first? I suppose the same question could go for Anthea over Felix and Gabriel.

Felix knew of Satan first and was already enamored with him by the time he met Anthea. Anthea met Felix before Gabriel, though. In that WIP Gabriel and Anthea comic pre-fall I think it’s addressed that they met later down the line.

[noahhernandez]

I’m OLD and bored 8/7/2020

1.Is there a boy/girl in your life? No!  2:Think of the last person who hurt you; do you forgive them? If it is Pajak then no i do not <3  3:What do you think of when you hear the word “meow?” A cat, and oddly enough Cardi B 4:What’s something you really want right now? A stable job that I like :)  5:Are you afraid of falling in love? No, but I don’t want to. Relationships are soul sucking and not in the fun way. 6:Do you like the beach? No i do not like the beach one bit. Well, I like being in a beach house but I don’t like getting in the water. 7:Have you ever slept on a couch with someone else? Yes I have  8:What’s the background on your cell? It is the scene in Hereditary where he husband is on fire 9:Name the last four beds you were sat on? Mine, Emily’s, Bri’s, lol I don’t really know um  ? Probably like my aunts when I lived with her 10:Do you like your phone? Yes it work 11:Honestly, are things going the way you planned? NO! I wanted to have a fun summer and look for another job and think about studying for Grad School and etc etc but I was JOBLESS for FOUR months and bc of COVID we cant do a DAMn thing 12:Who was the last person whose phone number you added to your contacts? I have absolutely no idea probably like.. ? I don’t know lol 13:Would you rather have a poodle or a Rottweiler? Rottweiler 14:Which hurts the most, physical or emotional pain? Emotional pain, lol it’s funny bc my last answer said physical I have grown up so much  15:Would you rather visit a zoo or an art museum? Art Museum 16:Are you tired? Physically yes lol 17:How long have you known your 1st phone contact? For 16 years because it’s my little sister 18:Are they a relative? omg yes 19:Would you ever consider getting back together with any of your exes? NO ! well maybe 1.  20:When did you last talk to the last person you shared a kiss with? I have no idea bitch !  21:If you knew you had the right person, would you marry them today? no 22:Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? no  23:How many bracelets do you have on your wrists right now? 3 24:Is there a certain quote you live by? no!  25:What’s on your mind? literally nothing its kind of nice like not thinking 26:Do you have any tattoos? Yes, I have a sleeve so a total of like 9 tattoos i think idk 27:What is your favorite color? black 28:Next time you will kiss someone on the lips? Hell if I know 29:Who are you texting? Nobody bc Emily and Janett are at work and Bri (F.) is simply not texting me 30:Think to the last person you kissed, have you ever kissed them on a couch? yes 31:Have you ever had the feeling something bad was going to happen and you were right? Yeah of course its called  i know things bitch 32:Do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to? Ya of course i can tell michelle faith bri emily and janett everything  33:Do you think anyone has feelings for you? u know probably not 34:Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes? my eyes are dark brown lol so no 35:Say the last person you kissed was kissing someone right in front of you? i dont care 36:Were you single on Valentines Day? yes !  37:Are you friends with the last person you kissed? I honestly dont know the last person I kissed like i dont know if it was michelle or not lmao 38:What do your friends call you? Noah 39:Has anyone upset you in the last week? No  ! 40:Have you ever cried over a text? Probably ! Yes when I was told “sorry noah i cheated on you last night” like who TEXTS that LMFAO anyways I cried 41:Where’s your last bruise located? hand from work 42:What is it from? oh from work 43:Last time you wanted to be away from somewhere really bad? Bitch i want to die 44:Who was the last person you were on the phone with? leann  45:Do you have a favourite pair of shoes? my dr. martens theyre like 2 inch platforms lmao 46:Do you wear hats if your having a bad hair day? No lol 47:Would you ever go bald if it was the style? no omg 48:Do you make supper for your family? ew hell no i live ALONE 49:Does your bedroom have a door? omg yes  50:Top 3 web-pages? Facebook, Twitter, Youtube 51:Do you know anyone who hates shopping? Um, no all my friends shop about an average amount 52:Does anything on your body hurt? My back and my feet!!  53:Are goodbyes hard for you? They were sometimes. Sometimes it do be sucking when u say goodbye but didnt know it was the last :( 54:What was the last beverage you spilled on yourself? I had the sudden memory of last summer when I fell down the stairs at work and spilled coffee all over myself and had to change 55:How is your hair? Short and not combed at the slightest 56:What do you usually do first in the morning? Pee! !!  57:Do you think two people can last forever? nope!  58:Think back to January 2007, were you single? I was 10 59:Green or purple grapes? Green 60:When’s the next time you will give someone a BIG hug? um honestly i have no idea lmao we arent allowed to hug each other in these tough times!  61:Do you wish you were somewhere else right now? no !  62:When will be the next time you text someone? I am texting Angel rn actually 63:Where will you be 5 hours from now? Asleep 64:What were you doing at 8 this morning. dead ass asleep 65:This time last year, can you remember who you liked? Nope !  66:Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile? this is gay yes all my friends but only because they are funny not because I enjoy seeing them 67:Did you kiss or hug anyone today? I did not hug anyone or kiss anyone today!! ! 68:What was your last thought before you went to bed last night? i literally was struggling so hard to go to sleep last night so I was probably really frustrated 69:Have you ever tried your hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? yes on taking exams normally except my last like ... 2 years of college were phenomenal   70:How many windows are open on your computer? 4- amazon, youtube, CBS and this 71:How many fingers do you have? 10 72:What is your ringtone? like the original one 73:How old will you be in 5 months? 24 LOL  74:Where is your Mum right now? Honestly I have no fucking idea lmao 75:Why aren’t you with the person you were first in love with or almost in love?  because they cheated on me, they were very toxic and manipulative and uncaring and i dealt with it for a long ass time and it literally going to kill me if I kept it up. Dealt with bad anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, I wasn’t eating, and I had to start taking medication and see therapy because of it literally it was the worst shit ever  76:Have you held hands with somebody in the past three days? No 77:Are you friends with the people you were friends with two years ago? Let me think of some- yes. Faith, Peter, Michelle, Bri, Emily, Janett, Angel, Anissa, I’ll still consider Keyla my friend too hehe .  78:Do you remember who you had a crush on in year 7? some guy named Chris 79:Is there anyone you know with the name Mike? No 80:Have you ever fallen asleep in someones arms? yes and I hated it

81:How many people have you liked in the past three months? 0 82:Has anyone seen you in your underwear in the last 3 days? no lol 83:Will you talk to the person you like tonight? no!  84:You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with? Definitely MICHELLE and PETER. I would ask Bri and Emily to please not let me get that drunk 85:If your BF/GF was into drugs would you care? yes 86:What was the most eventful thing that happened last time you went to see a movie? I literally work at a movie theater an nothing cool happens like the last almost 6 years of working there have been boring 87:Who was your last received call from? Leann asking me where my nametag was at in my car 88:If someone gave you $1,000 to burn a butterfly over a candle, would you? um yes 89:What is something you wish you had more of? money !! $$$ 90:Have you ever trusted someone too much?  ya it was some dumb ass shit !  91:Do you sleep with your window open? hell no i live in southeast houston is too fucking humid and hot for that shit i will get mold 92:Do you get along with girls? yeah lmao 93:Are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth? i dont even know i dont think so 94:Does sex mean love? hell no!  95:You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem? nope!   96:Have you ever kissed anyone with a lip ring? ew no those are trashy 97:Did you sleep alone this week? yes lol :( 98:Everybody has somebody that makes them happy, do you? my friends what kind of dumb ass question is this  99:Do you believe in love at first sight?  no !  100:Who was the last person that you pinky promise?  nobody ! if anything I smokey sweared with Michelle like 23 years ago

[cwdcshows]

Supergirl - S5 Ep5 - Dangerous Liasons

Is this Obsidian commercial taking place in Pleasantville....? So did Kara clear bringing William into the DEO to connect him with the information they've learned related to his story? Also, she wants to take him into a government agency that doesn't officially exist; something that raises all sorts of questions of legitimacy and oversight, especially when they usurp the authority of other agencies by posing as FBI agents or other recognized law enforcement.  Wouldn't that be something that William might have some qualms about and perhaps want to disclose to the public?  

I mean, sure, I guess that's kind of the point of making him sign something saying he won't, but that hasn't necessarily stopped a good journalist determined to expose important truths in the name of transparency and accountability.  Just as importantly, Kara says that he has to sign the NDA saying he won't say where here sister works; and at first I assumed that in spite of how Kara worded it, that such an agreement would probably be a little bit more explicitly worded to keep William or someone from publicly acknowledging the existence of the DEO.  I looked up to see if there was actually a difference between a Non-Disclosure agreement, which is specifically what Kara called it, and a Confidentiality Agreement, which is more of what I assumed he would be asked to sign.  While they are at their core essence the same thing, an NDA is generally applied to keeping personal information secret, where as a confidentiality agreement is typically much broader and can require a more proactive level of protect of whatever is to remain confidential; and from that perspective the former fits with Kara's description of not wanting to disclose where Alex works. Within that very specific and narrow definition, if taken at full face value, William couldn't "disclose" the nature of how the source of his information came from someone working at the DEO. But could he conceivably leagally reveal the existence of the DEO if it were unrelated to his story and without mentioning Alex Danvers or her involvement with the organization?

Again, NDA vs Confidentiality Agreemen are two sides of the same coin; and whatever Kara calls it, William would probably be expected to adhere to it a greater degree of secrecy, but I still think it would pique his interest as an investigative journalist to learn about a secret military organization that works for the US government to monitor and occasionally detain extraterrestrials and was involved with essentially deposing their former president. So why exactly did Hope and Lena need to induce J'Onn's brother Steve into a human form before they conducted their test?   Oh, it was to save money on CGI and because the Martian CGI looked fake as shit?  Got it. Also Steve was wearing boots in his Martian form and is barefoot when induced to take on a human form; and I'm not sure I really have much of an observation about that other than it being kind of weird.  Martians are generally depicted as using their shape shifting to produce their clothes, as well as their physical appearance; which means that however Hope and Lena induced this human form, they also somehow picked out his clothes and made a conscious choice not to give him shoes.  So what kind of detail did they have to go into in selecting the rest of his physical appearance?  I mean, J'Onn looks the way he does because he looks like Hank Henshaw.  Papa Martian Manhunter ostensibly took some arbitrary form that mirrored his sons to some varying extent.  Did they have to decide how long his hair should be?  If you had a beard? If he was ticklish?  How tall he was? Did they make his human form anatomically correct or is he just smooth like a Ken doll?  Did they debate size? It'd be great if it turned out that Lena just decided to make Steve look like character actor Phil LaMarr.  Turns out, she's a big fan of Mad TV. So Lena and Hope can access Steve's mind enough to force him to morph into a human form, because Lena has a thing for Hermes Conrad, but that's as deep of access as it goes before his telepathic defenses kick in?  Seems like Steve needs to priorities the parts of his mind other people can tamper with, so someone can't make him morph into a bug they can squash.  He's just lucky that so far Lena just wanted a chance to meet the voice of John Stewart. Kara, why would you tell Alex what Kelly is getting her for their anniversary? (I'm not calling it a "date-averssary, it's just a regular anniversary) But back to the point, doesn't Kara know how presents work; the recipient isn't supposed to know what it is before they get it.  Sure, it would make sense if Kara told her she helped Kelly work out what the present should be in order to let Alex know that Kelly was in fact getting her something in case Alex wasn't planning to get a present, but she shouldn't have ruined the surprise. Why is William even in the interrogation room if they weren't going to let him ask questions?  It looks like there's literally a two-way mirror behind him, meaning they could have been on the other side of it to observe; which would also presumably be safer for a bunch of reasons for civilians. And wouldn't whatshername recognize Kara as the woman she blew out the window in the last episode?  I mean, she could reasonably infer that Supergirl saved her, but it seems suspicious that the super secret DEO brought the same woman in with another dude and they both happen to be reporters. Wait, so William's friend was killed by Doc Ock?  Man, Sony will climb into bed with anyone to make a couple of bucks. Why would anyone leave anything Lex Luther made intact or active?  I suppose some of it might be too advance for easy or safe disassembly or disarmament, but it seems irresponsible to just leave his doomsday devices or advanced weaponry laying around, even if it is supposedly under arm guard. "Martian biology prevents brother from fight brother." The Martian version of talk shows must be even more violent than ours; it's not even a talk show, they just straight for the fight to see what happens. "Q'Uarus and M'Morin fought for 20 minutes without side effect, T'Gor, you are not Q'Uarus' father.  Also, your actual son is dead." "Do what Lex Luther failed to do.  Change the world...." (Old lady walks away without specifically outlining what Not-Ock is supposed to do.  Not-Ock discovers that the laser could actually be modified into a universal, unlimited clean power source and begins freely distributing this discovery throughout the world; paid for by selling a line of mechanical arm back-packs, which hugely successful.  The rest of the fortunate he amasses he spends on ending world hunger and homelessness, ushering in a new era for humanity, as he shares his simple philosophy embraces by all - "Do what Lex Luther failed do. Change the world." 45 years later, Not-Ock is on his deathbed, a day soon to be marked as a global tragedy, as they lose one of the most influential men in the world; when the door to his hospital room opens and a woman well over 100 enters, being pushed in a wheelchair.  She rolls up next to his bed, takes his hand and says, "Do you remember what I told you all those years ago in the alley?" "Yes," he replies, "Did I do it? Did I change the world?" "Yes," she responds, "you did.") Huh, Kelly didn't strike me as the type to "get freaky"..... Ah, well, obviously Russell is going to turn out to be Not-Ock..... Wait, does J'Onn, a Martian, believe Noah's Ark actually happened? "That's a huge wave!" You know that guy called his parents after wrapping that part and said, "Mom, dad, I made it.  I'm an actor.  Are...are you proud of me?" And they responded, "No." They must really be pinching pennies for crisis to have J'Onn flying around in his human form in the arctic, sportin' the casual dad on the weekend look. I can definitely imagine a few scenarios how Lena might use this new ability to control minds on Kara to get back at her, but none of them are appropriate to post in a public forum.  I might write it down in a book that will eventually be adapted in a movie starring Dakota Johnson.....  I think I'll call it something clever like, 20 Shades of Kryptonite or Lena Luther and the Secret Room in the Fortress of Solitude. You know what I think happened?  I think Alex already bought the fancy riding helmet for herself and when Kara told her that Kelly was going to buy her the same thing, she came up with this "riding partner" idea as a way not making Kelly feel bad for buying her something she already has; while also not actually needing to buy her a present - which is actually kind of genius.

[nolimitsongrace]

October 20: Is It Time for a Personal Evaluation?

Is It Time for a Personal Evaluation?October 20, 2019

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. — Matthew 25:29

A business consultant who gave high-dollar lectures to large companies once asked me, “Rick, how are you able to accomplish all that you do in your ministry? It seems like God keeps handing new assignments to you.”

I was blessed by this man’s view of our ministry, as he was a very serious businessman who had seen a lot over the course of his career. As I pondered his compliment, I was reminded of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:29, which says, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” The word “abundance” in this verse is the Greek word perisseuo, which means to abound or to have something in excess. In some places in the Greek New Testament, it carries the ideas of something that is given generously or something that is overflowing, plentiful, or even superabundant.

As I look back on all our years of ministry, I believe the word “abundance” perfectly describes the many assignments that God has given me. When it seems there is no more in us to take on new assignments, that is often when God opens a marvelous new door and beckons us to walk through it. These past adventures of faith and obedience have built a strong foundation for our ministry, which enables us to do more and more with the help of our well-trained team. Although there is still much room for growth, the strides we’ve made over the years in our personal lives, in our spiritual walks, and in the structure of our organization have put us on solid ground and demonstrated to the Lord that we are capable of doing more. So “more” is exactly what the Lord continues to give us!

*[If you started reading this from your email, begin reading here.]

In Matthew 25:29, Jesus teaches that how you perform in your current endeavor determines whether or not God gives you greater, more significant responsibilities in the future. God is watching you right now to see if you will prove yourself faithful in your present task because it shows Him whether or not you can be trusted with a big promotion. Your future is contingent on your attitude and job performance in the present!

Therefore, it’s important that you take a thorough look at yourself and honestly evaluate your condition. Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I giving my present job 100 percent of my effort?

If I was looking for someone to fill a position of great responsibility, would I want to hire someone who has my attitude and work ethic?

Do I finish projects, or do I drop the ball along the way?

Can I be trusted with money?

Do I handle my money in a way that shows I appreciate its value and power?

Does my life and attitude reflect the qualities that would make God want to choose me?

Your honest answers to these questions should help you determine whether or not you are the kind of person to whom God wants to give additional responsibilities in the future. Don’t despair if your answers are less than satisfactory. Simply determine to make necessary adjustments in your life and become the kind of person God looks for when He needs someone to fulfill an assignment from Heaven!

One thing is certain: God does not choose lazy people who sit around doing nothing. Think about it. Why would He call someone to do His work when that person hasn’t successfully done his or her own work?

There is not a single example in Scripture of God significantly using a person who was idly sitting around and wasting time when He called them. All the men and women of God in the Bible were already busy doing something when God spoke to them.

Consider Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:14-30, which tells of the master who gave talents to three of his servants. Jesus says that when the master returned from his long trip, he expected to see increase and productivity as a result of his gifts. The two servants who were faithful and worked hard were richly rewarded. However, Jesus describes the servant who brought no increase or productivity as “unprofitable.” The Greek word for “unprofitable” is achreios, which means useless. It is the picture of a person who contributes so little that he is essentially worthless, and it reveals a lot about how Jesus views lazy people.

Through this parable, Jesus teaches that faithfulness and hard work is commendable in the Kingdom of God. When God needs someone to do something for Him, He looks for hardworking, faithful, “use-what-they-have” individuals who have already demonstrated worth. These people already know how to handle money; they know how to work; and they know how to stick with the job until it’s done. Maybe they are still growing in these areas, but they have done enough to demonstrate to God that they can be trusted with more.

The Bible is loaded with examples of men and women of God who exude these qualities. The following list provides a few examples of strategic, well-known, key Bible personalities who were already successful before God called them, and there are many, many more found in Scripture.

Noah was successful and righteous before he was called to build the ark.

Abraham was successful and rich before God called him to become the father of faith.

Joshua was successful as Moses’ associate before God called him to be the leader of Israel.

Gideon was successful as a leader before God called him to lead the Israelite armies.

David was successful as a shepherd before God called him to be the king of Israel.

Daniel was successful in Nebuchadnezzar’s court and walked in integrity before God called him to be a prophet.

Matthew was successful as a tax collector before Jesus called him to be His disciple.

Peter was a successful fisherman and businessman before Jesus called him to be His disciple.

Luke was a successful doctor before he was called into the ministry.

Paul was a successful politician and religious leader before God called him into the apostolic ministry.

Timothy was successful as Paul’s associate and disciple before he became the pastor of the church of Ephesus.

This is just a small, representative list of the many similar cases I could show you from both the Old and New Testaments. God called these individuals because they had already proved their work ethic through their previous endeavors. By observation, He knew each of them could be trusted with a greater assignment.

You might try to put together a list of people who were doing nothing when God chose them for a big assignment. If you do, I believe you’ll have a very difficult time assimilating such a list. I actually tried once to compile one, and I couldn’t think of anyone who was used significantly by God but was doing nothing when He called him.

Maybe you think you have enough on your plate already, and that may be a fair point. But know that when God finds someone faithful, He likes to give that person more responsibility because He knows He’s finally found someone He can trust. Therefore, don’t be too surprised if more is given to you in “abundance.” Just consider it the harvest of faithfulness and a demonstration of God’s trust in you!

I encourage you today to conduct a deliberate self-evaluation to see how you’re doing in your walk with God and where you need to grow and change. As God observes your willingness to yield to the necessary process of preparation, He will know when you are ready for more.

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, I pray that You will help me honestly evaluate myself and my performance. Even more, I ask for Your grace to help me see where I need to change. I receive Your empowerment to make the necessary adjustments so You can trust me with more responsibility. In those areas where I have not done well, I ask You to forgive me, and I receive Your forgiveness. With the power of the Holy Spirit and my decision to change, I believe that I’ll make forward progress in my life and that You will put more on my plate because You’ve seen that I am faithful with what I’m doing right now.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I am faithful with what God assigned me to do right now. God is watching me; He is evaluating my performance; and He sees that I am doing the best I can with the knowledge and experience that I possess. I confess that I am willing to grow and change in the areas where I have not done well. I refuse to shut my eyes to the truth, and I will be honest with myself about the areas I need to change. God’s Spirit is helping me — and with His help, I will become a vessel that God knows He can depend on and use.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

Take a moment to think about people whom God called upon to do great things. Can you think of any who were doing nothing at the time that God called them?

Based on the conclusion that God gives more to people who are doing well with what he has already given them to do, how do you evaluate yourself? Are you a candidate to whom God would consider giving more responsibility?

As you evaluate yourself honestly, what are the areas that you know need to change?

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Deck the Hall, his jokes are folly

RIGHT, well, been some sort of seven days.

The highs of celebrating one of the most exciting players in our generation giving up the game suddenly midseason, through to an awful piece of radio causing nothing but further grief in its wake 

The footy is pretty good as well, or is it, because we’re changing the whole game so much it will resemble bat tennis come the end of the year are we not? 

Lots to get into, all this redundant intro is just holding back the inevitable..

 1.       Let us start with the infamous Barry Hall joke last week. This will be of no surprise to most of you. Firstly, Barry’s comments, yeah not funny, came from nowhere. Yes, Liz Ellis, from nowhere, but we’ll get to you soon Liz let me assure you!

The background I want to touch on first is that Erinn’s pregnancy has often been discussed on Triple M when Leigh has been on air. On numerous occasions the radio has got Erinn on the air for a quick chat, and last Friday again was no exception. Leigh has shared some of his biggest moments on air with the listeners, from the calamity of their wedding plans on the breakfast show through to updates with the Erinn and the baby’s progress as he joined the football team this year.

2.       Next is that, and we don’t need to address Barry, he had a shocker, we know this, but Leigh was asked by Mark Howard first for the latest ‘milestone’ if you like in the lead up to the big day, to which the sweep indeed had happened just that day, and for those who care to realise, it was then Nathan Brown who then took it up to the cliff’s edge. Mark Howard opened the bowling by asking Leigh “have you had the old stretch”, Leigh at one point then said, “I can’t really explain it…” either unsure or uncomfortable, and then old Browny really got the wheels in motion by “explain it, talk about your wife’s sweep, go on…” and so he did, apologised on the run for being so honest about it, Barry then went with his zinger, and here we now are.

3.       Barry doesn’t make the joke nothing is even mentioned. That’s the truth. Leigh has copped it since for his explanation, his description. Two things, not only was the way Leigh described it honest if somewhat off the cuff, but to be real it is what that procedure is – it need not be taboo. Sure, others may have found it uncomfortable (Leigh’s comments, not Barry, we aren’t touching on Barry today), but to suggest Leigh is at fault for what brought this all to a head in the first place, which is Hall’s joke, if you can even call it a joke, is farcical.

4.       And before we take aim at some individuals to end this topic, can I just say, some perspective please, for all those who enjoy being offended, and seek offense out so they can proclaim they are offended – little Noah arrived Sunday, he is a gem, he is a little star and maybe one day he’ll pull on his dad’s red, white and black and may he never know about a stupid fallout to some dumb radio only a couple days before his arrival.

5.       Ok, so, who’s first up for a lashing. Liz. Right. So she went national on her Sunday morning TV spot, and she’s accruing some poor form in this area, by having a whack at Leigh for talking about his wife. Yes, Triple M, its culture, its style, up for conjecture, no doubt. But as I’ve touched on, Erinn was on the radio herself, and then for Howard and Brown  spurring the conversation on, if you’re going to whack Leigh for a moronic link between his comments warranting Hall’s brainfade, then you have to go back a further step – if Leigh wasn’t asked, he wouldn’t have said a thing, and I’d be probably talking about Ross Lyon at this point or something. If we’re going to talk about sanctioning people for being silly on a national broadcast, I’m sure there’s a candidate in the mirror at home, Liz.

6.       Now onto my new mate Darren Levin. I don’t know him, he mustn’t be that important. Nor am I, granted, but still nor is he. But I like two of his tweets from last Friday. I’ll give you the second one first, which is “I’ve listened to the Triple M audio and *everyone* should be sacked. Why were they even talking about it in the first place?”. Wow, ok, settle down. But only minutes earlier he tweeted, “CAN SOMEONE PLS TELL ME WHAT HE SAID? IT’S KILLLLLLING ME”. Now Darren. No. We aren’t sacking everyone, don’t be so alarmist. But if you’re going to be so curious and dirty for something that your desperation for the audio is killlllllllllling you, then you’ve got larger issues mate. I do hope you can find a way out of this sadness. Best wishes.

7.       And lastly, Grant Thomas. Now mate, Grant, old wobblearse Thommo. Let’s go the the audio:

“I am a big fan of Leigh’s but I think Joey should resign. I wouldn’t sack them, that’s the easy way out. Because one man’s been sacked I would think hang on I was actually culpable in this and if it hadn’t have been for my stupidity poor old Barry wouldn’t have said what he said. It’s at least his responsibility to suspend himself for a period of time to make a statement.”

Facts are important here, and clearly the failed Saints ex-coach has gone large on his former player not knowing or caring for the facts. Thommo has form on Twitter and his podcast, deliberately being controversial to spike an interest from the public he otherwise wouldn’t have. Perhaps he suffered a bad head knock from one of his chins when one day he was far too vigorous when nodding. Who knows.

8.       I’m happy to move on.

9.       State of the game, this one continues to infuriate. Kinda feel like this year’s premiership race is just getting in the way, the sooner the season ends the sooner we can all preach at the church of reform and the summit to work out the gazillion rule changes to save the sport from certain doom can take place. Um. Do we need to send Guide Dogs Australia down to Town Hall? With the return of a nine-game round after the byes period, last week we had, and let’s be balanced here, Thursday night, cracker, Friday night, belter, all four Saturday games meandered between just fine to really engaging tight games, Sunday gave us one lopsided upset but a high scoring spectacle and a two-point thriller. Steve Hocking, yes you man, baby, bathwater, don’t do it mate, step back from the ledge.

10.   Whilst we’re on mistakes, Susan Alberti. Not her, she’s lovely no doubt, even if she does make a right mess of security doing their jobs, especially when they wouldn’t know her from any other AFLW spectator, but she’s been awarded Victorian of the Year. And well done to her for all the work she does. But how has Neale Daniher, in all the years since he started his crusade, miss out on being awarded Victorian of the Year? Mike Brady got it last year. Yes, the ‘Up There Cazaly’ guy. Yet Neale is overlooked. Who’s in charge? Sir James Gobbo I hear is the chair or something of the Victoria Day council. Now Gobbo. Fix it. Neale’s a legend. Don’t go past Go, don’t collect $200, Gobbo, just fix it.

11.   Who else? Gary Ablett and Patrick Dangerfield. Yep, not good enough. I think they’ve been getting tips off Zali Stegall. Downhill skiers the lot of them. Numerous passages of play against the Dogs where they’d get into a strong sprint when they had possession, but, turnover, the Bulldogs player that was chasing them, turns and burns, ends up being part of the scoring chain uncontested whilst the Brownlow medallists are sauntering miles back assuming one of the non-Brownlow medallists will do their dirty work for them. Lazy? Selfish? Dunno, you chose your own adjective. Chose all of them if you like, don’t let me pressure you Nathan Brown style.

12.   Melbourne footy club. Hmm. Let’s not worry about which parcel of Yarra Park land you want to train on, how about just screw your heads on and don’t let St Kilda embarrass you on your home ground. The Saints had no right to escape from a loss to the Gold Coast, yet made you all look like fruits, stewed fruits. I have no idea of the analogy here, other than to say I’m reasonably confident stewed fruits don’t make the finals, and you did it last year Demons, go on, lose the unlosable finals spot again, it would be as the kids say ‘so lit’.

13.   We mentioned the Suns, which players have the Gold Coast improved? Jack Martin was supposed to be a gun, he isn’t, Ainsworth's played 27 games but so what, Touk Miller is at 74 games but wouldn't get a gig for North Ballarat, David Swallow's had injuries, so we'll give him that, Aaron Hall has played 100 games but we'd forgotten about him, then there's Day, Lonergan, Sexton, even Peter Wright doesn’t scare anyone at 44 games. Jarryd Lyons may be the only improved player on their list. Don’t give them concessions, you can give them an all-star team, the issue is that talent dissipates once it lands at Coolangatta airport. The Logies were ok in Melbourne, goes up to the Gold Coast, looks like a Channel 31 production. The Gold Logie winner doesn’t even have a show. Staggering.

14.   Quick change of sports but I’ve got my back up and I’m running downhill with the wind – so Aaron Finch is in form is he? An 84, 68* and 172 in his last three matches, all in twenty 20s. The Aussies more broadly, two big wins from two in the Zimbabwe T20 tri-series. Hang on. No. Who the hell cares about some T20 games in Zimbabwe in July when there's a 50-over World Cup 12 months from now and in the most recent series of that format, in England, five minutes ago, we got sodomised five nil. Don't want to hear about how Finchy or the rest of the team looks great in a hit and giggle in Harare, it’s like if old mate brought a high-pressure hose to Hiroshima in August 1945 saying a quick rinse is all this place needs. Don’t wanna hear about it Finchy, get some runs in a longer format and I’ll reconsider.

15.   Oh, do we want to mention the nation of the Philippines before we get onto some other stuff? How Chris Goulding walks away with only some bruises from a dozen men punching, kicking, stomping, hitting him with chairs, is so fortunate. But, obviously the Philippine basketballers can fight as well as they can play basketball. Right mugs the lot of them. But if you’re stuck in an alleyway between confronting an angry Filipino basketballer or a sleepy field mouse, I’d be running away from the field mouse, their teeth are surprisingly sharp.

16.   Cyril. How’d you get this far down the list champion? So his Dad had heart issues I believe last year (I’ll stand corrected in case I get a call from Liz Ellis), and basically, unlike Dayne Beams who could get a trade to a new club based in the city where his ailing Dad resides, Cyril’s old man lives in Darwin, and if Tassie can’t get a team yet, then Darwin is way behind them. So, for a player who has always said he wouldn’t be a league footballer too long after turning 30 (he is a couple weeks shy of turning 29), ‘Junior Boy’ has called it a day a year or two early to be around his family. He was this close to doing this last offseason, Shaun Burgoyne essentially twisted his arm to go one more year, a knee injury and then officially putting a line through it now brings us to here.

17.   We’ve all seen the record the last couple of days, but four premierships, one of six in that famous dynasty to be a part of all of them (Burgoyne has four, but one was at Port). Three All-Australians, don’t forget the Norm Smith in 2015, but that he was also so influential in turning the game in the ’08 granny as a teenager. For freakish, athletic ability, be it leaping, tackling, borking, sprinting, unparalleled in our time.

18.   Want to give a shout out to the Tiwi Islands. A series of many islands, two larger ones though, Melville and Bathurst Islands, about 1000 people each. Melville Island though, tiny, tiny place, yet it has produced 3 Norm Smith medallists out of the 37 to receive the award: Cyril in 2015, Michael Long in 1993, and Cyril’s uncle Maurice in 1982. Not only from the same island, but the same family to boot.

19.   On that family, Maurice Rioli, South Fremantle and Richmond superstar of the 1980s, uncle to Cyril, great uncle to Daniel, his son, Maurice Jr, he would be the 2020 draft but already playing cracking senior footy for St Mary's in the NT as a teenager. Will be a gun first round father son pick to Richmond or Fremantle and the lineage will continue. His cousin Willie also, looking fairly good for the Eagles too, who is Ronnie Burns cousin on his mother's side as well. What a family!

20.   Lastly, World Cup, I’m as confident that Vladimir Putin had a hand in ‘organising’ the five-nil result for the hosts against Saudi Arabia as I am Liz Ellis having another shocker this Sunday morning on the telly. So all this talk of “its coming home” from those with bad teeth and confused by the concept of the shower, the fact that it’s merely Sweden and then Croatia in the way to a first World Cup final since 1966, don’t underestimate the nerve, or is that nerve agent, of the Russian leader. Golden Boot nominees to this point:

Kane, Mbappe, Putin.

(originally published 5 July)