#in the last 30 seconds of the episode we see shit go up in flames

[covenofthearticulate]

I hope the show gets cancelled before we get to this point but I'm just saying, IF I were a writer on amc iwtv it would be so fun to write an episode from like a random npc's point of view for the concert. Not even OF the concert, like I don't want to see the actual show, I want the story of a girl who waited 10 hours in line to see The Vampire Lestat. I want the story of the girl who made friends with other strangers in line, who skipped out on school to go to the show, who drools all over herself while wearing horrible fake fangs. that's what we deserve tbh

[readbythestarlight]

c2e141 (part 1)

Okay this is so long I’m splitting it into 2 parts pre and post break so I don’t just end up with something horribly long that clogs up the dash

I’m already emotional just over the intro you guys i’M GONNA MISS THEM SO MUCH

"Skin cradle idk what to call it" how about NOT THAT MATT

[[MORE]]

Home!!

AWWWW

Clarabell!!!

I’m so glad his family is all there and safe

Awwww that’s so sweet, showing him the cards <3

"Hey Molly! Go fuck yourself!"

M: :D

Poor Essek is so lost

A night’s rest yes that would be good for ALL of you

Also it’s time to fake his death

"And will you face the consequences of your actions, or run?"

"I need a night’s sleep first, if you don’t mind."

That’s fair

I’m worried tho

Cad

Cad this isn’t allowed to be goodbye

Not yet

Not this early into the episode

Don’t do this to me

Okay, if they’re all gonna stay that’s okay that’s fine

I mean yes go see

Oh no wait

This

We can’t split up this early y’all I can’t handle it

Yes good bring them here don’t split up

So many HUGS

Oh no

Plz don’t

NO

Please choose to stay, Frumpkin!!

Stay??

No!!

NO

COME BAAAAACK

godDAMMIT

30 minutes and I’m already crying

At least Marisha is crying too I’m not alone

"I needed him when I needed him. That time has passed."

Please adopt all the stray cats

"The last couple of years" baby it’s been less than a year canon time

"YOURE a good person"

"I could be"

"You are"

"There’s just a little more to do"

"She’s not wrong. Trust me, I know a few bad people, you’re not one of them." ESSEK

I’m gonna cry AGAIN

"I think you’re a good person" THAT’S IT IM GONE

Aww Molly bringing them flowers

They have a valid point though, like is this Molly anymore?

Jester curling up next to Fjord I cry they’re so cute

"Hey Fjord? I love you"

AKDLALSKAKA YALL

ITS SO CUTE

I can’t handle them

Veth going swimming?? Willingly??

SAM

The DM will remember that and Sam’s character will be the first to die next campaign

"There’s not even any bugs? That’s not meat"

Fjord is describing my entire week rn

Clarabelle is the sweetest

I’m gonna miss Jester’s messages xD

Jester omg I can’t breathe

Yeza is gonna be so worried

"Okay… ‘honey’. I think I know who this is but I take it as good news" I LOVE HIM

Mollyyyyyy?

MOLLYYYYY??

Woman?? In a red?? Coat?

Sad angel okay yeah

Y’all need to give him some TIME you can’t just fix this super fast

Awww he remembers Yasha a little that’s good

Poor Molly

What woman??

WHAT WOMAN??

Is it his goddess?? The moonweaver?

He’s gonna change his name to King Tealeaf lol

Why don’t y’all chill and let him pick his own stuff and figure his own stuff out

He wants a parasol lol

Travis like what even is a parasol lol

So like

We’re not actually getting Molly back in the end huh

Oh boy temporary splitting up

lol Yasha with the "I can definitely message you"

Y’all can’t just bamf into places like that lol

Oh dear please don’t walk in on your parents

Dad aaaaaaaaand? Is mom there? Momma? Are you theeere?

AYYYYYYYY

NICE

MARION AND THE GENTLEMAAAAAN

THE PARENT TRAP WAS A SUCCESS

I’m so delighted

Y’all had better get married by the end

Aw

They’re so sweet I love Marion and Jester bless Laura and Matt for giving us a healthy parent/child relationship

LUC lol

Poor Yeza is probably going prematurely gray dealing with this lol

"I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything, it was—it was mostly flesh" I almost shot tea out my nose

"Dad I won’t sink to the fucking bottom"

Oh dear

That was the most accurate child thing Matt has ever done

Marion is the queen of this place she doesn’t need your cemetery Jester lol

I love the way things turned out with the Gentleman it’s so soft

Jester sweetie you literally told him NOT to say anything back

I’m emotional y’all

Fjord like Jester babe NO

FUCKING HELL

I’m going to stab this bitch myself

YOURE a tragedy

Fuck you Ikathon the answer is NO

Oh my god okay are we doing this

We’re doing this

NO

HES HERE??

HOW??

How did he know they were there???

And Veth just brought her family there too

That MOTHER FUCKER

I can’t believe I’m getting my wish for them to fuck up Trent after all

Fuck fuck fuck how many people can he transport out??

Also you can’t burn down Cad’s home!!

Oh god Essek is going to have to face him too

There’s too much going on here I’m STRESSED

Does he have dunemancy magic?? Is that what that is?

"We had issues larger than your ambitions" OOOO BURN

Suck a dick Trent

"Erase these errors, so I don’t have to look at it" FUCK YOU

What is happening holy shit

What is this????

Run Luc and Yeza run!!

Poor things :(

Poor Caliope

Poor Clays

Essek booiiii

Oh my god I looked at the stats on this spell and it’s BAD

THE COLLAR

NO

What

Wilting what what what

Counterspell

Thank god

NO

NOOO

53?!

IN ONE HIT??

AND HES SPOILING THE FOREST TOO

NO NOT AT JESTER

FUUUUUCK

Oh my god he rolled BAD thank god

I was just saying thank god he’s alone at least but NOPE

Astrid had better not wait in the shadows to see who looks like they’re going to win and then only joining the winning side

Caleb protecting his maaaaaan

FUCKING STOP

DID HE COUNTERSPELL

THAT BITCH

THAT FUCKING BITCH

NO NO NO

they’re so FUCKED

Thank fucking god

COUNTERSPELL PLEASE WORK

YESSSSS

I don’t care what Astrid’s game is I’m tired of it and she needs to die along with Trent

And so does Wulf if he’s gonna play the same game

Come onnnn Wulf do the right thing

Mood, Fjord, mood

MARISHA xD

Ooooooh nice!

“Caleb’s produce flame” her one wizard spell is a Caleb spell omg

FLUFFERNUTTERRRRRR

Nice SHOT Veth

WHAT

Come ON

Why can’t they hit him??

Come onnnn Essek do something baby

Oooooo! So what does that mean?

Does that mean when one takes damage the other does too?? That’s amazing

Caleb noooooo

Thank god

Hits??

COME ONNNNN

Ouch

Okay but the stars haven’t done as much damage as they COULD yet which is good

STOP calling him Bren

Fucking HELL come on

WORK?? WOOOORK???

DID IT

YESSSSS

YEAAHHHH CALEB

Oh thank God

Too little too late bitch

Wulf is gonna die though I can feel it

A second shield UGH

No you stay AWAY from Caleb

Come ooooon Jester!

YEAH

Nice!

“Come ooooon!” Boy you’re tethered either way

I have a feeling we have too much time left until break for the collar to work but GOD I hope it works

E: “Caleb! I’m scared!”

I shouldn’t be laughing but I am

VETH NOW

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

PLEEEEEASE

God god god

21

Godddds

NO

come onnnnnn

AH

IT WORKED

IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED

ITS ON HIM

ACTIVATE IT

A C T I V A T E I T

NO NOPE NOPE NOPE

COUNTERSPELL IT FJORD

DO IT

YAAAAAS

Good Wulf smart man

Ouch oh shit Caleb no

Oh NO

Caleb!!

Wulf, Astrid, soembody DO

CADUCEUS MY MAN THANK YOU

What does Caduceus say to the god of death? NOT TODAY (respectfully)

70 HP niiiiice!

Hot DAMN Veth nice call I love it

Oh come ON

Activate it!!

I still hate Astrid but fine

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[technobladetimestamps]

Nov 16 Stream Timestamps

Timestamps from Technoblade’s “THE REVOLUTION (dream SMP)”

Link to my youtube comment with all of the timestamps x

Timestamps with hyperlinks below

02:13  “This is a surprise tool which will help us later” / thumbnail isn’t foreshadowing / video thumbnails have to be big / stream thumbnails can be detailed 05:17  “The traitor is actually Jschlatt” / firework crafting 09:50  “The ratio is impeccable” 13:23  “Dream’s in the game! My audience retention rate” / vc with Tubbo & Quackity / traitor Jschlatt theory / “Are you high?” “A little” 14:47  “You’re a bit of a wildcard” “I am the most consistent character on the entire server” / “What’s this about getting into power” / “We’ll burn this bridge when we get to it” 15:54  “You really are such an English major” / “You’re an idiom” / malaphor / “I’m actually speaking twice as much English as you guys” 18:07  “I think Thunder is overcompensating in the chat” / “Where can you see me” “In my heart” (Karl & Quackity) / Karl not leaving vc 20:33  vc with Niki / “Did Tubbo just leave me? I spaced out for 2 seconds” / “You can’t call everyone the traitor” “I can & will” 22:45  “You know it’s an event when Skeppy’s here” / “You know it’s a big deal when Georgenotfound wakes up” / “Everyone leaves me” 23:31  explaining the traitor thing to Niki / “Maybe I’m a sleeper agent” / had to kill Tubbo 25:03  nothing happened with that creeper / Fundy interrogating Niki / “Why did I train her for MCC” 25:54  “Even YOU’RE leaving me” / sad music / “I’m sitting here with 203k viewers & it’s not enough for any of these streamers to bear talking to me for more than 60 seconds” / Skeppy joins vc to immediately leave 28:50  Karl has a gift for Techno / Karl is just here for the animatic 32:21  “At least the chat won’t leave me” / pays for his music 35:01  “I’m going to destroy the government so bad” / “I hate all of the farming updates on skyblock” 37:45  joining a vc / “I just got stood up in like 4...conversations in rapid succession” / “My new years resolution was to make friends & it’s november & I’ve made zero headway” / Eret switches sides 41:53  Ender chest setup / worried about hotbar management / potions > shields   43:13  vc with allies / “Karl you are literally the biggest third wheel I have ever seen” 45:03  angering the dogs / trident combo 47:13  “D!ck with one ball” (Tubbo) 50:25  “Let’s hope Wil overslept like [George]” 53:09  recruiting Eret / “If you fight on our side we’ll make you the King of Burger King” / “He’ll be an executive citizen” / “I’m surrounded by idiots” 54:58  putting Schlatt on the allies list / “Schlatt is an alcoholic high on protein power” (Fundy) 56:47  can’t trust Eret / “I hate it when you’re right” (Tubbo) / Wilbur joins vc 59:50  having a moment with Hubert / “Not even the mobs like me” / sad music / “I just gained 8k subscribers the sadness is gone” / cow pit exp farm 1:02:57  vc with Niki / “I’m going to join the other vc AHHHHH” 1:05:02  “Once everyone meets up...I have something prepared” / “Technoblade when are you not ready?” “When I joined the server” 1:09:38  “Who do you take me for? Of course I’ve read the Art of War. It’s written by Mozart” / battle planning 1:12:18  “This is the betrayal...happening very slowly” 1:13:35  Pan1 / “This revolution is so doomed” 1:15:29  Dream attack / Quackity dies 1:18:07  “Agree Retweet” / “Violence is the only universal language” / “i have a supply” / “Why do you talk in upwards inflections constantly?” 1:19:57  Techno not getting to talk / “He took it all by force didn’t he” / “Fear into Ear” 1:23:50  Techno telling everyone he has a stash twice / distributing blue / mushroom the fox 1:26:49  Tommy talking over Techno again / “Stop going off on your tangents” “We have food at home” 1:29:30  vault reveal / Tubbo stealing emeralds / secret chest 1:32:40  “Shut up bro you are green as shit” (Tommy) / “Everyone give me back my stuff you don’t deserve it” 1:34:41  no netherite swords / “Who’s the traitor” “Promise we won’t be mad” 1:36:31  battle / Technoblade trident maneuvering / giving rocket launchers to Tubbo & Tommy 1:40:27  killing Karl / Dream bringing out the end crystals / fighting invis Dream / purpled switches sides 1:43:57  Dream wants to talk / 309k / group photos 1:46:08  vc with Dream / “But only if my enemy insists” / in the van with Schlatt / “What are you doing in my drug van? It better not be drugs” / Tommy preparing to shoot Schlatt 1:54:42  “We won” / “We killed an old man with heart problems! It only took 20 of us!” / President Innit / subscribe to Technoblade sign 1:55:57  Dream & Techno talk in chat / Tommy speech / “It was meant to be” / “I don’t think anyone is bowing to Tommyinnit” / “Karl don’t be weird” / Skeppy has a disc 1:59:06  Techno being apprehensive on mute / Tommy makes Wilbur President / “I’ll be the president” “I’m gonna veto that” / “Techno...you’ve taught me that government is not the way to go” / Wilbur makes Tubbo president 2:03:20  “I’m not sure I like where this is going x2” / “I’m not sure this is a good ending” / “Team chaos” “Perhaps” 2:06:20  Techno shoots Tubbo / Philza joins / “You think Schlatt was the cause of your problems? No. It was government” / speech gets interrupted / “The government ends here, I’ll kill it myself!” 2:09:23  Phil kills Wilbur / techno yelling for silence / “Tommy you just did a coup...& instilled yourself as president” 2:12:11  “If you want to be a hero THAN DIE LIKE ONE” / wither spawning / killing his former allies 2:15:09  post fight talks / “There will be no new government today. It will be over my dead body” / “Techno was not the traitor” 2:18:50  “I need to increase the crater that is L’Manberg so that no country can rise in its place” / “Mom says it’s my turn on the flame bow” 2:23:51  “What I’m doing right now is small scale. This is the work of an individual. This is nothing compared to the cruelty governments all around the world [inflict]...systematically” / “Llamas are the primary victims of war” / “I just wanna be apart of the explosion” (George) 2:27:06  Techno joins vc / connor joins the server / “I hope you’re proud of yourself Techno” “I kinda am” / Jack Manifold (Thunder) being broke / netherite armor 2:32:30  “Beach episode” / Techno accidentally joins the L’Manberg vc 2:35:16  the base is compromised / “There’s no way Technoblade would put a clock there if it didn’t mean anything” / got robbed 2:37:37  “If you’re going to ask me how I got all these emerald & arrows that’s a story for another day” / explaining the bedrock / “I can give everyone stuff & it’ll be such a flex” 2:40:24  Greek mythology 2:41:45  The Golden Apple / “They didn’t use discord back then they used skype, so can’t invite Eris” / “Zeus the god of feminism” 2:46:02  Eret recruiting Techno to kill George / joining vc / “Let’s stop him before he gets land” / Awesamdude proposing a fight 2:49:08  “No one can kill me I’m invincible” (logs out) / Dream literally names the turtle potions Sam thinks he hasn’t heard of / “I’m at soup” / “It’s not smack talk he just has that many items” 2:53:06  “Stab him Dream, I’ll shout encouraging words” / Techno fighting Bad & Ant 2:56:23  Dream wins / “I think there was this Dream guy attacking you with some sort of weapon” 3:00:11  turtle potions / Dream hyping up Techno about fighting BBH / Badlands negotiating with George 3:04:34  vc with Philza 3:07:00  spider farm afk’ing / lagging Quackity’s computer 3:09:06  smp earth / Phil only logged on to back Techno up 3:10:32  killing George / “I’m gonna drop his armor off don’t jump me” / not fighting Dream 3:13:00  vc with Karl & Phil / Karl definitely not starting a government / “Chat that was the boring part, don’t leave” / 320k / “Why do we keep scheduling these on Monday?” 3:16:18  “I don’t even want to think about how famous Tommy will be in the future” / “I get a tad bitter” / covid is good for youtubers but obviously bad / “I’m so good at socially distancing” 3:19:51  “Aren’t you tired of being nice Philza? Don’t you just wanna go crazy” / “You should be wary of the old in a profession where people die young” / vc with Eret 3:21:47  “What if you built a slightly larger throne next to it?” /  “How are they paranoid of a mole but the guy with a track record of being a traitor gets no questions asked” 3:25:47  “I’m gonna place a block at the bottom & kill you instantly” / reverse mlg /  emerald rich even with Tubbo’s theft 3:27:57  “I’ll allow it” / upstairs chests robbed / Eret disconnects with the book 3:32:04  armor sabotage bc he thought it’d be 1v5 / crystals are mutually assured destruction / Wilbur afraid of tnt getting blown up early 3:34:11  the diary was actually Eret’s / “He’s gonna tell everyone who I have a crush on. Nooo” / reading the 100 page book / “Can I not win here?” “No” 3:40:14  “This stream has released more serotonin in my brain than the last 6 months combined” / revolution was overcrowded / could improve the crater 2:43:09  “Awkward ten minute period where I’m just sitting there watching them set up a new government but I can’t kill them yet” / Carl is missing 3:44:34  “The one time Technoblade is gonna roleplay & they talk over him” / “CARL” / “As long as Sapnap isn’t the one that took him there’ll still be hope” 3:46:10  “Once you start using end crystals it’s the only pvp that matters & end crystal pvp is so lame” / Webtoons 3:49:10  “What’s going to happen to you & WIlbur now?” “I don’t know, I think I’m chill with Wilbur” / “The only thing that changed is my voice. Zero personal growth” / lines from the first speech that got interrupted / “King George is trending booo” 3:52:00  1 million twitter followers / “O god it’s been four hours...I am not built for this” / did a 13 hour stream once / sub growth goals 3:56:30  “What the heck is Phil watching”

[omegangrins]

A Rant on the End of Tremors 7: Shrieker Island

As the main man said,

Throwing caution to the wind because this blew up elsewhere.

If you can do it with Justice League, fuck it, let's do it for every shitty movie we've got.

While we're at it, can we change the ending of the 7th Tremors movie so *MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS* Burt Gummer doesn't die or at least bring Jamie Kennedy back, or Marvel style recast Jon Heder, so he dies saving his son instead of a random-ass person who could have easily saved themselves. Or cut the forced montage of Burt clips at the end so his death is at least ambiguous. Seriously beyond pissed about that one. THAT is no way for him to go.

I would also like to point out that the next Tremors *HAS* to be titled Tremors 8: Ouroboros and bring everyone back for Burt's funeral . Otherwise, what's the fucking point?

I have feelings about it, people. *FEELINGS!!!*

One of my favourite childhood memories is picking out Tremors 2 from the local gas station's movie rentals and forcing my parents to watch it. I was probably 5-6 at the time.

Let's say that it's been a lifelong love affair ever since. It took me another 10 years before I even watched the 1st. Probably why I hold good sequels in such high regard.

I didn't even know about the 1st until it played as a trailer in front of 2 and never thought to watch until years later. That's a testament to its filmmaking if I ever knew one.

So seriously, that's how they chose to kill off one of the most well known and prolific characters in a movie/TV series known around the globe? With an unnecessaryily needed death and a montage of clips from all the other movies that are obviously better than this one.

And I'm saying that as someone who defends Chibnall/13th Doctor...

...and I'm fucking fuming because THIS is how you *actually* destroy something people love and hold dear to their hearts. It's like the ending of Game of Thrones. His shitty ass death has made it a loooooot harder to rewatch. And they are one of my favourite series!!! Not flawless but fun. But I will defend every other movie and all the episodes except this. Honestly I'll still defend 7/8ths of this one as well.

Like I said, it's easily fixed too. Fucking vice versa swap out Jon Heder for Jamie Kennedy, who the movies have been building up for the last two, and have Burt save his son in front of his old flame. Boom, you won't even need the montage of clips cause you can just have Travis and his mom reminisce about Burt instead. Show not tell. I don't even care he died by Graboid (although in all honesty, I've allways wanted El Blanco to take him down or Burt kills himself from the PTSD. It would have AT LEAST MADE SENSE. Hell, the best would be a heart attack to callback Val's "Yeah, Burt, the way you worry, you're gonna have a heart attack before you get a chance to survive World War Three.". But none of us ever get the best death.). And it's not even about Burt sacrificing himself to save a nobody. Cause that could work too. BUT YOU NEED TO BUILD THAT SHIT UP. Not just fucking drop it like it's hot.

Like I said too, the first 7/8ths ain't bad but it's an entirely different story than a swansong for a hero.

It's all about some billionaire scientist/cowboy hunter dude who likes to get his jollies off hunting the biggest and the baddest who ends up inviting people to this island so they can hunt down Super-Graboids he designed for shits and giggles. But then some Shrieker-fy....

And the pretentious douches come and die one by beautiful one while Burt tries to save them anyway and it's all spectacularly dumb fun until it comes crashing down in the final 10 minutes. Fuck, they should just cut the last 10 minutes. Then it's a perfect little Tremors ditty.

#RELEASETHE7THTREMORSWITH10MINUTESFROMTHEENDCUT

This isn't even about Jon Heder either. He's just doing his job. Hell, do what /u/VoiceofRonHoward pointed out.

"It is clear that Jon's character was just pasted in over Jamie's, the artifacts of the father-son relationship are all over it. They should have gone full Marvel and just replaced Jamie with Jon and acted like nothing happened."

CAUSE FUCK YES!! The only time a story sucks is when they don't commit. Commitment makes all the difference. Now, I'm pissed double-pissed they didn't do that instead since Heder and Kennedy are similar in terms of white-boy-ness.

Even Michael Gross agrees:

"Yes, yes. Now I can't presume to speak for Jamie [Kennedy]. My understanding was they asked him and he said no. And so that's why they went with somebody else. So I had nothing to do with that decision. I just heard the stories. I missed him for that reason. You begin a relationship with the character, and you want to continue it....

...As you build a relationship with this son, we had two, it would've been nice to have three, but that was the hand I was dealt."

One of my favourite bits of Tremors lore comes from the 5th too so it's not like I hate sequel changes out of hand:

"This is a warrior dance. Our ancestors hunting the lnkanyamba and the Impundulu.

"What's that?

"Impundulu. It's what you call the Ass Blaster.

"Ass Blaster.

"Yes.

"Yes.

"Hey, you know, you make Ass Blaster sound good.

Primitive cultures fighting Graboids, Shriekers and Assblasters. I just love that thought.

Hilariously, my meta opening to the 8th movie would be a flashback to 10,000 years ago and a Neanderthal-like Burt Gummer teaching others how to drive Graboids off cliffs like they did with mammoths.

Thank you for giving me the space to rant. Cause fuuuuuuhhhhhhhhuuccck!!!

Here's Michael Gross' own words from his AMA that prove the people making Shrieker Island didn't know their shit.

"The Tremors series is one very close to my heart and I want you to know how appreciated your continued effort is for your core fan base.

My only question would be were there ever any studio decisions made for Burt that you refused to comply with? Or was everybody pretty much always on the same page on what to do with the character?

Thanks again for your dedication.

- Josh"

"Thanks for the kind words, Josh. As regards the first four films, with Wilson and Maddock as the writers, we were very much on the same page. 5,6, and 7 were a bit different, because there was a 13-year hiatus between 4 and 5, and we had to refresh our memories while "reinventing" the franchise for a new audience. I will give you one example: in an early draft of Shrieker Island, a new writer wrote a draft where Burt threatened to shoot one of the bad dudes, and I had to tell him—this is true—"Burt never intentionally points his gun at another human being."

And his own thoughts on Burt's "death" and how to bring it all back together again.

Universal and the director [came] to me with this idea, and they said, 'This could be emotionally very powerful, if we have to say goodbye to this man after 30 years. And I hemmed and hawed, and I thought about it a little bit. And I said, 'You're absolutely right about the emotional gut punch this can be.' And I said, 'You're going to hurt a lot of people's feelings.' And I said, 'But I thought this franchise was over after four. So I could certainly live with it being over after seven.'

"What we negotiated -- well, it wasn't really a negotiation, we all agreed on this -- is that we kind of left the door open. >!Because although Burt is gone, we never see a corpse. We never see his remains. Everybody assumes he's gone. Is he buried somewhere? Is he unconscious somewhere? We never see Burt dead. We see Burt gone. We see Burt not returning. What does that mean? Has he been knocked out? Does he have amnesia somewhere? Does he wander off? Is he in a kind of coma? So yes, the way it ends is pretty profound."

"As regards to the end of Tremors 7, let me just say that while people ASSUME Burt is gone, we never see his remains, do we? Just sayin.'

"The only reason he has become the main character is that everyone else in the original cast moved on to other things. I NEVER thought of him as the central figure, but it just worked out that Michael Gross, like Burt Gummer, was a "survivor." :0) "

"No one would like to see it more than I!!! One of my greatest regrets is that so many other cast members fell away over time. Reba was on to other things, Kevin said no to a second, Fred said no to a third. I would LOVE one last go with all of them, but it is not up to me. :0( "

"There are no guarantees, but for those who wonder aloud if this is the final film, I will say what I have said before: SALES drive sequels, Show biz is 5% show and 95% business, so if this latest addition to the Tremors franchise, sells well, [Universal] will follow the money, and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment may will be back for more."

/u/ActorMichaelGross, the bell has been rung and the song sung. Get the producers on this ASAP!!

I was also the first person to discover the symbolic foreshadowing of Stumpy's end with Earl's sleeping bag in the original movie.

Let's just say, I really *really* love these movies. So if anyone knows anyone, hook me up to the producers of this series and I'll Justin Lin in the Fast and Furious out of this shit.

Since I don't think it's good to critique without proposing either, I say we can make up for this fuck up with the next movie. We'll call it Tremors 8: Ouroboros. After the snake which eats its own tail.

We find out Burt faked his death to get the Proudfoot Corporation to let down their guard and when everyone from the previous series comes back for Burt's fake funeral they give him ever loving shit for being such a paranoid whack-job that he would fake his death to fool a government agency. Why would he do this? He found an old photo of Hiram Gummer with a Graboid warning on the back and asks himself why this valley, why these things, why allways me? And we find out, it's not Burt. It's that lifestyles of extremes will end up in places of extremes. Burt and the Graboids are survivors of different species. Sure the Proudfoot Corporation IS using Mixmaster to combine Graboids, Shriekers, and Ass-Blasters into one super creature for the military but it pales in comparison to Burt looking at his life and wondering in shame how many ancient giants like himself he has killed. And with that, he actually dies, and we keep the ball rolling with the rest of the characters trying to stop what they allways thought was just another one of Burt's crazy conspiracies.

That's why it's Ouroboros. Everything comes back around. We could end/start the movie with Grady, Earl, and Jodi opening a Monster World in Perfection Valley a la Desert Jack's Graboid Adventure. I don't know. I'm fucking trying harder than the people they paid to do this already.

It ain't perfect but I'm building on sand here so changes are gonna get made.

Like if the makers of Tremors notice this,

Then DM me because fucking A you guys need some help.

[moonelf19]

Episode 115 Widofjord Highlights

I’m late for a livewatch but also consider! I am late for the monday youtube release. Time to get those crumbs though!

20:20 Fjord asks Caleb for some paper, “just a scrap”. Caleb happily hands over “5 or 6 complete pieces of paper, whatever you need.” Jester reminds the disaster casters that Calebs paper is expensive (and rare, and wow someone had to remind Caleb that his paper is precious? Excuse me?) and hands over her sketchbook instead. Fjord is happy to take the sketchbook and insists Caleb keep his paper in case Dagen screws up the map. At about 20:45 Caleb/Liam makes a wincing face and tilts his head kind of sassy, like “well fine my paper isn’t good enough for you”.

23:00 Caleb starts the conversation about Vess being dead and the consequences. At first he seems to be talking to Fjord about “keeping an eye out”, likely because Fjord can cast see invisibility and see scrying eyes. At the 25′ mark Fjord asks what they should do about Vess, right after Veth was talking, but he is turned to and directs the question to Caleb. Caleb posits some short term solutions and Fjord redirects back to ask “she’s in your amber, right?”

Caleb: Yes

Fjord: If someone tried to scry, like we did on Molly, would they just see your necklace?

Caleb: Well-

Cut to them trying to remember how scry works, if a dead person can be scried on.

Fjord: Should I give you your pendant back?

Fjord: As long as no one can track the item inside your necklace, again, like for the crystal clove.

Caleb: That was a whole other thing entirely, I believe.

The group gets distracted by the term “crystal clove” but Travis keeps looking over to Liam- I think he/Fjord is still really bothered that the crystal was tracked in the pendant and, dare I say it, I want him to confront Caleb about it. Because Travis seemed pretty upset and referred to it as “false advertising” during talks machina iirc. Give me the drama, bois. But Liam/Caleb diverts and calls out to Dagen, ending the rp moment.

52:28 Caleb opts to have Frumpkin keep Fjord company on first watch. 

54:09 Fjord notices the scrying orb and calls out to wake Caleb up. They proceed to have a painfully awkward not-conversation conversation while they panic because they didn’t come up with a plan for if Fjord saw anything and neither remember that it’s probably a scrying orb.

Fjord: We’re making good time heading to the most eastern destination. *gestures toward the orb with his head*

Caleb: We could certainly go further. *looks that way and sees nothing* We could probably go farther.

Fjord: Yep, yep. Well that’s it!

Caleb: I don’t think I can go to sleep now, Fjord.

Fjord: Yes, yes...

Fjord proceeds to threaten whoever is scrying, and Matt clarifies whether he is attuned to the necklace. Travis admits that he swapped out the ring of fire resistance for the call-blocking pendant. Liam says that someday, someone will inherit that ring and it will be really meaningful, clearly trying to help Travis save face but Travis seems to kind of embrace his impulse purchases.

58:43

Fjord: *moves back over to Caleb* There was another scrying. Sphere. Eye. Someone is watching.

Caleb, who is making eye contact with Fjord: Great. Take your pick on who wants us dead.

Fjord: The Empire? The Dynasty? Molly?

Caleb: *scoffs, smiles at Fjord* My money is on the Tiefling.

Fjord: Our scent, he said.

Caleb: ... scent. Our blood?

Fjord: *nods and smiles* Our blood. Do you have any idea how to counteract that? Blood magic?

Caleb: If it’s that, I do not. Gods, it’s cold.

Fjord: ... It is...

Liam looked like he was going to say something else, but Travis says he will keep an eye out and we cut to the next watch.

1:04:54 Caleb uses control flame to make the bonfire flare.

Fjord: Awesome! *basks in the warmth*

1:08:06 Dagen made everyone breakfast and is ribbing them about being noobs to the cold.

Fjord: We learned a lesson, yes? Hard lesson learned. All the wiser for it? Seasoned travelers.

Caleb: So much character built last night.

Fjord: So much. Bushels of character.

1:15:32 At the distraction pillar-

Fjord: Caleb you couldn’t read any of these markings, right? That’s not a language, or-

Caleb: I assume I would’ve been able to if it’s by sight.

Jester: You don’t have to cast anything anymore, you can just read things?

Fjord: *has no reason to have this confidence* Yep!

Caleb: Well I mean, I have done a lot of stuff for a long time.

Jester: How many languages do you speak?

Caleb: Four.

Beau: I can read five! I know more languages than you!

Jester: Beau you’re so smart-

Fjord: Okay, it’s not a competition >:(

Sorry, but Fjord, keep it in your pants. Jeez. You’re heart eyes are so loud rn.

Also I want to point out that Travis accurately called that trying to pull the gem out kills you. Smart dude. Still embarrassingly soft for Caleb.

1:20:34

Travis: This is literally the stupidest thing we could be doing. We should just keep going, right?

Liam: This pivoted the entire campaign one, what we are fucking with right now.

Travis: Yeup! We should just go.

Liam: The necromancy thing.

Travis: Let’s keep going.

... Liam: I am going to use telekinesis to pull the gem out.

Travis: And there goes our wizard.

A few minutes and 52 points of damage later.

Travis/Fjord/??: How far is your telekinesis range?

Liam: Exactly 60 feet!

Travis: Yeah yeah just kind of like *puts hand out*

Jester: Heal him!

Travis: Nah he’s fine!

Caleb: No you need to heal me!

Travis: Turn into a T-Rex!

1:27:03, literally a few seconds after the T-Rex comment

Jester: I don’t have cure wounds >_>

Fjord: I will, at 5th level, cast cure wounds on Caleb.

Laura: aww that’s so sweet :)

Fjord: 29 points of healing :)

1:30:17 Caleb gets shit kicked by the pillar again and starts peeling off his coat, looks like death, and Travis is like “its a point of pride!” Caleb rolls up his sleeves. Travis says “LETS GO!” Caleb gets mad at telekinesis and uses Cat’s Ire, still fails. Throws a snowball. Travis says it his the ground and rolls and Liam is like “makes it maybe halfway there”

1:35:23 Jester paints “BIG EMERALD HERE” with an arrow pointing down

Caleb Neutral... Good? Ok?: Oh that’s murder! *big smile* That’s going to bring people right to that!

Jester, Chaotic Neutral: They should be smarter than that :)

Fjord, Lawful Good: Jester, I don’t know, that seems like a bit much...

Cad: If I had seen that I wouldn’t have touched it.

Jester: Right?

Fjord: I would’ve (we know)

Caleb: That’s like a cave that says ‘Free Cupcakes’

Jester: Oh, well, when you say it like that...

Fjord: See? Yeah. *nods at Caleb*

Caleb: *smiles and points at Fjord*

Fjord: It all depends.

Caleb: You just have to attack it from the right angle sometimes.

Fjord: *smiles at Caleb*

As they leave the pillar Caleb tries to cast dispel magic. When it fails, Liam makes a very angry face and flips double middle fingers at Matt/the pillar.

Fjord: It’s ok! It’s ok. We’ll probably come back by this way. We’ll get it another day.

1:39:18 Liam gets a little lost looking at his spells again

Fjord: Cah-leb?

Caleb: Yeah ok.

New Achievement: Pet name for your lover

1:44:21

Jester: Waffle cornbread!

Beau: Does such a thing exist?

Fjord: If the cats can’t make it, I mean, who can?

Fjord is the ultimate hype man.

2:03:00

Travis: Is that a real story or did you write that?

Liam: I wrote it. Today.

Travis: *looks incredibly impressed but trying to hide it* Sure. Sure.

This is now a Travis and Liam friendship blog. Soft. Good. Pure.

2:53:45 Caleb turns Cad into a mammoth and Fjord/Travis is hype. Again. He also wants to see Caleb try to punch a yeti.

3:04:50 Fjord runs up to the yeti in melee with Caleb and does a pushing strike to get the yeti away.

3:32:16 Travis is broken, staring at his table. Laura points it out.

Travis: The necrotic stone? We can’t leave it alone. The yetis? We invite them to fucking dinner.

Excuse me, you say “we” but what you mean is “Caleb” sir.

3:59:20 Travis pops his fidget toy :( not widofjord but let’s all have a moment of silence for what cannot be the first time he’s done that. Can we start sending our recommendations for good fidget toys?

4:03:43 Fjord starts walking into the cave while the others are still debating the plan, and Caleb immediately follows him. When the others ask if Frumpkin will lead, Liam begins to describe using Fjord to steady himself to scout via Frumpkin before Matt cuts him off to close out the episode.

That’s it for this week! Let’s see what talks machina with Liam has for us >:)

[darkpoisonouslove]

“The Battle for Magix” Thoughts

I am pretty hyped about this because of how good the previous special was and because the events it is supposed to cover are my favorite part of season 1 of Winx Club. This should be intense due to the nature of the events it will have to depict so I am anxious to see how they’ve done. Fingers crossed that this will deliver!

- I am actually pretty glad we didn’t see that conversation between Winx about going to get Bloom because it was annoying to me (and it wouldn’t make sense considering they never got punished for the Day of the Royals). Besides, this works well even without it since Bloom didn’t tell Winx she was leaving so it was only natural for Stella to go look for her.

- I like the lack of dialogue as they enter Alfea. Appropriate with the heaviness of the situation and also removed that line of Stella’s about “this could be the end of the world”. Considering what we’ve seen from the Trix already, I think the threat that they are is coming through even without being spelled out for the audience.

- Well, the conversation with Faragonda was trimmed significantly but I actually don’t mind. It got the important bits in and I think the way Faragonda’s reasoning from keeping this from Bloom was worded a bit better here than in the original. Plus, they already thought of contacting Griffin which nobody thought of in the original. Not that they’ll have the time to do it but still.

- There were some weird pauses in the scene with the Trix fighting Griffin and almost all the dialogue was completely abolished for some reason. Also, I was going to screech at Griffin’s initial reaction to seeing them because they aren’t supposed to be expelled in this but from her words, I guess she was just outraged that they’d been nowhere to be found the last... At least two days? I suppose that could work but the other witches’ reactions didn’t make much sense. I like the way Icy’s ice encased Griffin in this one, though. It looks much more solid than it did in the original. Also, the fact that Icy totally steps on the ice in her heels that almost says “Yeah, she can walk on ice in stilettos and still be regal as fuck.” XD

- “I am not a fairy. I’m not anything anymore.” Aw, baby no! What have these specials done to me? I actually feel pretty bad for Bloom?! Now there’s a surprise. I guess I just feel that the way her guilt is portrayed is realistic to me and I also wish that she wouldn’t dismiss herself like that. She was something before she discovered she has powers so this is not true. But please, tell me they won’t be going to Domino!

- Why did Riven have to go to Cloud Tower if he and Darcy can communicate from afar? But besides that, I LOVE what they have done to this scene! I love how Riven had no idea why they were in Griffin’s office and the way he instantly was like “Well, I’m fucked. Everything is wrong.” This is so much better than the original! And the confrontation was intense even if it was a bit shorter than it was originally.

- Eh, I hope they’re gonna say something more about the Army of Darkness/Decay. They aren’t even calling it that and I will be disappointed if they don’t say it is made up of everything that has rotted in the past 1000 years because that was one of the best ideas I have ever seen.

- Why were the creatures attacking Knut? Or was it that he was simply in the way? I like that Saladin wasn’t that suspicious of him in this one but they really sped through this scene. There was hardly any room to breathe and the tension could’ve used a few more moments to build. Also, Knut’s sudden change of heart was indeed very sudden since we never saw him past the first special. In s1 there was a bit of a gradual change in him before he decided to leave the Trix. Oh, and the mention of his mother that he wanted to protect wasn’t in this which was sad because it gave him character, some kind of miniature backstory and motivation.

- Oh, they actually kinda prepared for the battle? And Saladin gave a motivational speech that resonated with the Specialists? Instead of, you know, “whoever survives passes the semester”? I am on board with that. But damn, I guess there is no barricading yourself when the things just appear from the ground. Also, I am living for this guy:

- Ah, I see mini Ogron is also here:

- Knut’s save was cool but there is no end to the creatures. I also liked Saladin using his magic but Red Fountain still fell. However, I feel like that will prompt Bloom to go to Cloud Tower to look for her powers so no Domino. Yay!

- *screams* The scene where Diaspro comes to take Sky from Red Fountain was missing! I sure hope that means that she was the one to dump his sorry ass! You go, girl! You deserve better! (I just hope they won’t say something else later on. Leave me in my land of make-believe, will you?)

- Why does everyone have flames in their eyes? I get it that the Trix have the Dragon Fire now but what’s your excuse about Faragonda? I know the situation is dire and they are all “aflame” with both worry and determination but chill with the “Eyes on Fire”.

- “Hey, kiddo”? XDDD I’m dying. I never thought I would hear Griffin say that. I like this scene, though. I like that there was some student-teacher interaction, especially since Riven isn’t Griffin’s student. And him wanting to help her both with getting out and blaming herself was just adorable. They have trimmed this one a bit from its original, too, but I get why that is necessary. And they removed that detail about Griffin using magic to help Riven pick the lock which has always annoyed me so much. Are you seriously telling me that Riven can’t pick a lock on his own?!?!?! Really?

- Well, I’m glad they removed the “Riven is the living Red Fountain manual” part. And they showed him falling from the window? Nice! But omg!!!!!!!!! Are you seriously telling me Sky just sensed that Riven was in trouble?!?!?!?! That is, like, only the basis of the true love/soulmates connection. I said what I said. Or rather the writers said what they said.

- Sky just called Bloom a lunatic. Great! I am a bit sulky about the fact that the tunnels between the schools were only mentioned now (since they cut all the times they were used before). It would have made this smoother and not seeming like it just popped out of nowhere. But awwww! at Stella being so ready to go with Bloom. I just don’t like that we still haven’t seen the rest of Winx this episode.

- I kinda agree with Stella on Knut getting his shit together. 14 near death experiences in 30 minutes is A LOT.

- Bloom’s Earth powers are coming in again! It is said that we won’t have them dubbed as such here (since I think that happened while they were on Domino in s1).

- Okay, but the fact that they skipped the trip to Domino does one big disservice to all this and that is that Bloom and Sky originally reconciled on the way back from Domino and here that never happened.

- Ugh, again with the “we’ve been friends with this person for years but we can’t recognize their voice for some fucking reason”. I hate it when they do that in movies/shows. Unless you have a cognitive condition, you should be able to recognize people’s voices.

- I can’t decide which is dumber - the original s1 “my cape is aerodynamic so I survived the fall’ or this one’s “it was just luck that he didn’t break anything”.

- Prince “I’m glad to have you back” Sky aka Riven’s boyfriend. I don’t make the rules here.

- Didn’t Bloom say that the Trix wouldn’t expect them? Because they sure look like they expected them.

- Riven deliberately went looking for Griffin? I like that change! And it actually makes sense.

- Well, he found her. Three seconds later. This right here doesn’t make sense because she would’ve had to have been very close in order to arrive to the room so soon after Bloom and the rest did. Not to mention that there was none of the dialogue here. They really butchered that scene. And removed some of the next ones. Though, I guess they weren’t that crucial.

- At least they removed the “enter the portal in alphabetical order” part that was just stupid. But I still don’t like the fact that Bloom decided to stay with Sky (it is kinda out of place since they haven’t resolved their relationship drama here but they act like they have and I know that is not the most important thing right now but still) and both Griffin and Stella allowed it. This is stupid from a tactical point of view. If Bloom gets caught, they won’t have a chance to stop the Army of Decay without her to get her powers back. And Stella just left her behind? Yeah, right.

- Where were these magical blasts coming from? The Trix were still back in Cloud Tower but that magic appeared to come from the front. That was kinda nonsensical. But damn, what a crash.

- Wasn’t it dark when the witches entered the portal? Why are they only arriving now? The idea of a portal is to transport you instantly, you know? Bloom and Stella got from Alfea to CT faster on foot.

- Sky even sounds like an asshole. Like, the tone of his voice is asshole-ish. And he called Bloom crazy again. I cannot stand him.

- Why didn’t they bring Mirta to Faragonda or Griselda? I am sure that they could have reversed the spell Icy put on her. She didn’t even have Dragon Fire back then. That spell can’t be so strong.

- “They’re ganging up on us”? You destroyed Red Fountain and took over Cloud Tower. It was only logical that they would all gather at Alfea. What else were they supposed to do?

- At least they got rid of “the Invisible Road” that made no sense at all.

- Am I supposed to root for Sky and even be impressed by him? Yeah, I don’t think so.

- They also removed the first wave of attack against Alfea. I know they don’t have much time but that’s kinda disappointing. Well, nothing to do about it.

- Well, the crown of Domino is not Bloom’s birthright. It is Daphne’s. But now that she’s more or less dead, Bloom is the only living heir of Domino that is left. There is a difference, though.

- I wish Bloom would have left Sky to deal with it on his own. And yes, I know he couldn’t have.

- Darcy and Stormy never gave Icy their Dragon Fire in this one, though. So they should have been able to break out of Griffin and Faragonda’s prison since they still had the most powerful magic in the universe. Come on, people! And Darcy waited until that tornado was right in front of her to start running instead of getting out of its way the moment she saw it was out of control and heading in her direction.

- Oh, damn! There’s some real fury in the battle between Icy and Bloom. From both sides. But it’s obvious that ice can’t defeat fire. As long as Bloom has her flames, Icy can’t defeat her.

- Okay, this was actually more intense than the original. And it was the wave of Dragon Fire energy coming off of Bloom that destroyed the monsters instead of them just disappearing once the Trix were defeated? That was a solid change.

- What are those shackles that Darcy and Stormy are wearing? Those look kinda... painful.

- “Here you go, Miss Faragonda”? Did Bloom just give Icy to Faragonda like “now you can handle this from here”? Omg, what a power move!

- That sentencing them to Lightrock scene was kinda... meh. I mean, I think I prefer the original. This just had a weird feeling to it. Also, why is Icy’s makeup running? Did Bloom’s flames make it melt off or what?

- Bloom and Sky are kissing? Why? They never resolved the Diaspro drama. I hate this part.

- They dropped the part where Bloom was looking for her origins. She still has no idea what happened to her parents and she didn’t even think about it. I get how that went to the background once the Dragon Fire was stolen from her but they should have brought it up in that last part when she was telling Sky that she was thinking about everything. She sure wasn’t thinking about her parents. And it should have occurred to her after meeting with Daphne.

Well, idk if it is the fact that some of the battle scenes were missing or that they really cut down on some of the others, but I didn’t really feel it in this episode. And Musa, Flora and Tecna were barely in it (but they still wasted time on the ugly transformation sequences). Objectively speaking, this had almost all the elements necessary for the plot to come to a logical ending. There were two or three huge things that were left out that really make some of this nonsensical but, overall, I guess it was okay. I didn’t really like it as much as the previous one and I can’t even say why. Some of the original feel of tension was lost to me, I suppose. Let’s see what the last special will deliver.

[black-rose-writings]

Rose watches Fate: The Winx Saga

Episode 1: How bad can it be?

I have not seen any reviews of the actual show, though I have come across some (not favorable ones) and watched the trailer, which left me with “that’s not good” vibes.

SPOILERS, obviously.

I’m gonna regret this so much.

Shit, I forgot it’s a Netflix adaptation.

Horror atmosphere? Okay.

Farmer cursing out sheep? Am I watching the right show?

Whooo, spooky magic portal.

Sheep gore? Ehm, alright.

What’s that, a werewolf?

Yep, it’s Winx. Starting out with a guy getting bloodily murdered off-screen by a werewolf. I’m disappointed and we’re only at the title card.

What’s that music? Not bad, but I’m not a big fan, either.

Oh, look, fat white Not-Flora, selling flowers to some bald dude in front of the school.

Aisha with braids. Yeah, I’m not mad at her, yet.

Stella looks like she’s thirty.

So does Musa. She looks bored. That doesn’t bode well.

Is that fuckboy Sky? I’m giving him a chance - but only one.

Was Bloom loking at him? Was that supposed to be disgust?

Wow, Sky, who wrote your dialog? On that note, who wrote Stella’s text?

Also... that’s one shitty way to insert yourself there, buddy. Was that supposed to sound smart?

Aaand patronizing. Nice. I’m losing respect quickly. And, if she’s gonna end up with you at the end, I’m gonna barf.

Nervous laughter, yay. WE GET IT, SHE’S NEW TO THE WHOLE FAIRY THING.

Not a fan of the word mansplaining being used unironically, but honestly, you go girl.

“Quit perving on the first years”, I’m with you on that, though I’m pretty sure that’s not a phrasing people would use. Also, who’s that? Riven? Brandon? I don’t remember the guy’s casting, they all looked way too similar.

Stella with British accent is... okay, I guess. Not a fan. Also... she looks way too old and way too fancy for this.

Also... had Bloom and Stella never met before? How did they get in contact? How did Bloom find out about magic? I have so many questions.

So, the Not-Faragonda gave her a Hogwarts letter. Okay.

Stella’s ring is like the first thing about this that I actually kinda like.

Oh, never mind. Not “Sword of Solaria” - “Gateway ring”. And Stella hates being at Alfea. Oh, wow, so quirky.

Only 7 realms? Wow, they really shrunk the Magical Dimension down. I mean, I get why, but they could have left it vague.

Yes, yes, you desperately want to be Harry Potter, like everyone else for the last 20 years.

“The transformation magic has been lost” - I was disappointed already, but somehow, it got worse.

Cool, Tinkerbell was real and Not-Faragonda already knows, what kind of magic Bloom has. I mean, they said three months ago, so I guess that makes sense, but still.

Ooh, foreshadowing. She burned her house down, didn’t she?

“Magic can be dangerous, as you well know” - yep, definitelly burned her house down. Probably killed someone in the process.

"Trust the process” - so, is Not-Faragonda gonna be the villain?

“I’m here because you promised you can teach me control.“ “No, you’re here, because you had no other choice.“ Bloom definitelly killed her parents. And I’m getting major creeps from Faragonda.

That school looks like the X-Men amnsion. Am I the only one seeing that? Is this gonna be wanna-be X-Men?

Facetiming her parents, as you do. Nevermind, she didn’t kill them. Maybe someone else?

Jeez, girl, no need to be so judgy.

“Lady of the Flies, sweetie, don’t be sexist“ - I get the California stereotype, but that was very, very unnecessary.

Oh, they don’t know she’s in a magic school. Okay.

Not-Faragonda is a liar, get it.

And here come the Harry Potter references.

Can you tone the references down? Also, they have Harry Potter and Lord of the Flies in the Not-Magix. (And yes, I’m gonna be doing the “not” thing a lot.

Oh, they assigned Stella to Bloom. That’s disappointing.

And Not-Flora is quirky and can’t shut up. Okay. This girl is looking more and more as the exact opposite of Flora.

Stella was held a year, just like in the original show, calling it now.

“I have a cousin named Flora” - namedropping her doesn’t earn you forgiveness, lady.

Oh, yeah, Musa has mind powers, I forgot that one. Great.

Yay, big badasses, kicking each other in a dirty pond, how cool...

“She’s a ginge, they’re all nuts“, okay. “Amazing shags, though.“ Ehm, excuse me, what? I get that we’re all adult here, but like... I appretiated the virgin joke there, Sky. Not funny, but appreciated.

Is that supposed to be Codatorta? Is Alfea a bootcamp, now?

“Burned Ones“, huh? So, that’s the werewolf, thing? Okay, we have a big evil, now.

Whoa, zombies. And a traumatized drill sergant. Nice.

Is Sky smoking? Cause if so, I have no more respect for him.

Okay, who’s Rosalind? Bloom’s mom? (Please, no spoilers)

Not-Faragonda denying reality, as expected.

Oh, the bald guy is Not-Flora’s dad. Okay.

Oh, look, the... wanna-be evil fairy? Definitelly and “arsehole”, as she says.

What a polite way to say “Fuck off”.

Calling her mum a basic bitch is... very classy. You’re very quirky, very relatable and not like the other girls, we get it.

Are Stella and Sky dating? I know that’s gonna cause drama and I hate that already.

The hell is that? A fire Patronus?

So, what did she burn, exacly?

She looks so happy at the baby flame.

She’s got that evil look down.

And now she can’t stop. Shocker.

Bloom is quirky and doesn’t like her mom. That’s... the exact opposite of the relationship they had in the show.

And I hate that character assasination of Vanessa. What the hell? Why can’t a female lead have an awesome relationship with her mom who loves her? Why is Mike such a doormat? I fucking hate this show and I’m 30 minutes in.

I was close. She almost killed her parents.

Yep, definitely a changeling. I was gonna write it here, but I forgot to pause and she said it before I did.

“Someone’s been lying to her” - shot at Not-Faragonda with creepy music in the background. Yep, bad guy, through and through.

Seeecret tunnel. Seeecret tunnel.

Is Not-Faragonda wearing sweatpants? I mean, that’s her choice, it just seems odd.

Yeah, bitch, strangle the dudebro, he deserves it.

I have just realized I can’t tell Riven and Sky appart. I’m not sure, if that’s saying something about me or the show.

Ooh, drama, what did Sky do? I don’t want to know, cause my respect for him is already at zero and I’d hate to hate the obvious love interest.

Ooh, she left the door open.

She’s supposed to be 16. The only one I’m buying being 16 for a second is Flora. The others, hell no. I kinda hoped they had aged them up, but no, 16 it is.

Secret hideout, nice.

Is that Daphne? Nope, that’s a fire zombie.

*insert every horror trope ever*

Fire zombie steals the ring, cool.

Oh, look, Not-Faragonda comes to save the day, yay...

“Where’s Stella?“ Getting laid, apparently.

Silva? Is that the Not-Codatorta? Okay.

Oh, the drama... end the suffering already.

Oh, it’s Riven, who’s smoking, not Sky. I said I can’t tell them apart.

Great, now I hate that fangirl, too. Ew, smokers.

Aand... that’s the first episode.

Honestly, I had the feeling this was gonna be the Last Airbender movie for the Winx series and... yeah, I was right. Not terrible on it’s own (though not very good, either), but become infinitely worse, when you know the source material.

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E43 (December 4, 2018)

Tonight’s episode features Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham!

Announcements for tonight: 

New Pumat shirt! Matt and Taliesin will also be playing some Fortnite with a Pumat voice pack. As you do.

#EverythingisContent stream tomorrow at 4PM Pacific: games on the all-new MAME cabinet!

Travis’ FPS stream will be happening next week!

Travis strongly recommends tuning in right at the start of the episode on Thursday. Right at the start. You and all your friends. Don’t miss it. There’s a sneak preview of some sort of animation!

Check out Gil Ramirez’s (an amazing smith, but also of “don’t fuck me Gil” fame) kickstarter!

Stats!

This episode had more spells cast than any previous episode: 76.

3rd time Beau has attempted to Extort Truth, and the 2nd time it’s succeeded.

Fjord has used four potions, all administered to other people. Brian: “For as much as you like swallowing... potions, not so much.”

Fjord has just passed Molly’s natural 20 count, reaching 26. Beau still sits at the top, with 49.

Travis and Marisha agree that this was one of their top five episodes of the show.

Fjord “totally dug” Caleb’s call to go with Wall of Flame to bring the situation with Avantika to a head. He points out that they’d had a conversation about keeping this whole situation in check if need be.

Brian: “You sound like McCree’s drunk uncle.”

The group planned (”we obsessed”) over the game for the entire two weeks, hundreds and hundreds of messages. It pretty much went according to plan. Marisha: “We had contingency plans. We had an ideal initiative, but we were like, if we fuck up, then Nott will take the journal. We had main roles and then understudies.”

Fjord thinks being able to summon demons is pretty much in line with all the weird shit that’s happened to him up to this point. He hasn’t even considered the consequences. Marisha: “I feel like that’s this entire mission. We’ll consider the consequences later.”

During the “I... wait” scene, Brian and Dani were yelling at their TVs, Travis was trying to telepathically communicate, and Marisha had complete tunnel-vision. She knew that if she’d fucked that up, they would have all died. She turned to Travis after Beau got up there and realized, “It’s just me and my words.”

Gif of the Week: the executive goth approves of Fjord’s demon-summoning! Henry models the prize:

Travis gets asked why Fjord slipped into his real voice when yelling that Caleb needed help. Travis pleads the Fifth: “My what?”

Marisha had no idea her mention of the Cobalt Soul would carry so much weight with the Plank King. It was a last-ditch effort after Fjord’s diplomacy fell flat with him. Travis desperately wants to know how much of what Beau said was true.

Brian: “Only Mercer could make Plank King cool again... Planking? Remember?” There is a brief threat of mutiny in the studio. It’s a Tuesday.

Matt mentioned to Marisha that, if Avantika had been allowed to speak, she would’ve called for a trial. Things could’ve gone very wrong for the Nein.

Out-of-context quote of the night: Dani: “Can you fit a puppy in your pocket?” Travis: “Yes, I’m enormous.”

Beau is surrounded by people who can do all sorts of absurd magic, “so of course she’s like, ‘Yeah, I can punch the shit out of you. I’ll start a fucking fight to do it!’”

Travis isn’t working with anything custom for his class, apart from the sword. Brian: “So your gag reflex is right out of the Handbook?” Travis: “That and personal experience.”

Travis on Fjord’s reaction to Avantika’s death: “All great stories are laced with truth. That fucked me up, because I hadn’t realized until that point that if she’s toast, I won’t get to ask her questions.” Not to mention the whole island having reactions to Vandren’s name. “I went back and watched it twice. The ritual, the tattoos, how she found her sphere, all of that shit, I’m feeling more like I knew less of the man than I thought I knew, and she knew more about him than I ever did. It’s fucking me up.”

Fanart of the Week: “I... wait.”

Marisha on Avantika’s very sudden death: “You know how things happen, and you go, wow, I should’ve seen that coming...” The outcome of the first plan was just to get her arrested, and then the fight happened, so she wasn’t thinking about immediate repercussions. She was expecting an arrest, and maybe she’d get executed after they left, but “I mean... that was brutal.” Travis: “It just kept escalating, and then she kept saying nothing after nothing. We’re going to be front row center for this.”

Travis: “Fjord is Lawful Good, clearly--” Brian: “You’re fooling no one with that Lawful Good bullshit, Travis.” Travis: “At least 40% of the audience. Lawful Good. Clearly feels a little distressed that she had to pay with her life.” But he points out that it wasn’t the first time Fjord wanted to see her dead. “If he could’ve seen to it himself, I think he would’ve.” It’s not something he’s very practiced with, but he’s emboldened by his new abilities.

Beau was definitely intimidated by the Plank King, but still had a bit of her contempt for authority figures. “I think it set in pretty hard that she was going to be terse, she was going to be blunt, but she wasn’t going to try anything that was going to get her throat slit immediately.”

Travis hadn’t intended to start picking up pieces of lost friends as part of his identity (Molly’s sword, Vandren’s accent), but it felt like the right fit, since he’s trying to establish his identity for the first time. He’s emulating what he admires about them.

Fjord’s in his early 30s. Beau’s in her early 20s. Playing Beau younger than Marisha lets her give Beau a little extra room for development; it also makes sense with her backstory. For Fjord, he was old enough to have mostly figured out what he was doing... and then everything changed.

Travis: “Fjord saw in Vandren a leadership that empowers people to rise in their station.” It’s about the team succeeding, not one person gaining more power. He’s constantly trying to put people in different situations for success.

Fjord is very attached to this group, but he’s also uncomfortable with how much attention is starting to be put on him. His whole survival mechanism is based on blending in, and being pushed to the front and being forced to make decisions is hard for him (Travis: “And me.”). Fjord is loving everything that’s been happening. The world’s never been richer or more exciting, and he wants to protect that if he can.

Brian: “Are you preparing for when things are as Beau-focused as they are... Fjord-focused right now?” No pun intended. Beau: “It’s a horror that you cannot prepare for. One day Matt will just introduce an NPC and he’s going to look at you and he’s going to be like, ‘Hello, Beau,’ and I’m going to be like ‘AHHH’.” Travis: “The tension is palpable. It’s real.” They compliment Taliesin on his handling of the first character-centric arc in the first campaign.

Brian jokes about everyone stumbling into Yasha’s story while Ashley’s still away, so Travis would have to play her through the whole thing. Travis gives a sneak-preview of how that would go, grabbing Beau’s hand and staring deeply into her eyes.

A gift for Travis from fans! He’s blown away.

Talks Machina: After Dog

Essential update on Henry: he likes wearing costumes because “it feels like being hugged”. There’s talk about him doing a Grog cosplay.

Pumat impressions all around. Travis’ is, according to Marisha, “Like Grog doing a Pumat impression.” Marisha has some practice because she was the one who wrote all the Pumat promos. Travis: “Wow, that puts your Swedish accent to shame.”

Fjord and Jester? “Fjord picks up on some subtle things and some not-so-subtle things, and then probably second-guesses those things.” He’s not too sure where they stand.

Everyone’s worried about their favorite artists’ tumblrs.

Travis reads the German on the back of his chocolate. Marisha: “There are way more syllables there than what you said.” Travis offers the last chocolate to Brian, and promptly eats it in front of him instead. “You gotta act fast on that shit.”

There were some ideas that didn’t work out: Travis was going to cast a spell so everyone could breathe underwater, and they were going to jump off the ship.

A question for Henry: Who’s a good boy?

Quote from the text thread: “Oh shoot. There is an a-hole with a crossbow. Dangit.”

Finally, in case you were losing sleep wondering, Brian is still dabbing every time he says the word “slash” in a URL. Further updates as warranted. 

[coll2mitts]

Why is the High Fidelity show a thing that exists?

I binge-watched High Fidelity last night.  Not necessarily out of love for the show, but with the knowledge if I stopped at any point, I probably wouldn’t finish the series, because try as I may, I was not invested.

I was in high school when I watched the movie with John Cusack for the first time.  I’m fairly certain it was on HBO a lot, or VH1, because I’d seen this movie dozens of times before I bought it on DVD.  I think I was young and inexperienced enough with relationships to process that Rob was kind of the worst, but I still wanted him to be happy at the end.  It’s John Cusack.  He’s extremely likable to me.  Even when he’s saying shitty things, or judging others around him for being insufferable when he’s just a irritable, broken man, there’s a sense of awareness in how he conducts himself that makes a lot of shit tolerable.  

This was my only exposure to the story until college, when I read the novel, and ohhhhh boy.  Had I read the book first, and then heard they were making a movie about it, I would have straight up not seen it.  Rob is supremely unlikable, and not for one second of this novel did I want Laura to rekindle that relationship.  He was self-absorbed, petty, and I got the impression his desire to get her back had nothing to do with his love of her, but with his need to not be rejected?  It’s been over a solid decade since I dug into this, and I have zero reason to torture myself again. I was going to read About a Boy, but after the High Fidelity debacle I swore off of all future Nick Hornby novels.  About a Boy cast supremely likable Hugh Grant, whose awkward attractiveness covers up a whole number of sins, and I didn’t want my enjoyment of that movie to be killed by the actual source material.

I came to the slapdash conclusion that stories like that, about grumpy, entitled men who have very little going for them opening themselves up to love even though they’ve done none of the work to deserve it, was a story of its era and unlikely to be revisited.  Women are way more vocal about how annoying it is to babysit men through their emotions today than they were 20 years ago.

Imagine my bewilderment when I heard they were making High Fidelity into a television series.   Biggest question I had going into it: How does it justify its own existence?  What more did we need to explore about this story that necessitates 10 episodes of a television show?

After watching it last night, honestly, I don’t think it does anything to convince me of its merit.  It basically takes sections of the movie and stretches it out, using 30 minutes to say something when 2 sentences would have sufficed.

I would say let’s weigh the pros and cons, but each pro has a con, so we’re kind of middle of the road here.  Which I could say about the entire series, but whatever.

* I like Zoë Kravitz as an actress, and the idea of her taking on the role of Rob intrigued me.  I would have liked to see her dive into it a little bit more.  I really didn’t believe she was as much of a mess as she was trying to portray herself, which was super evident in the birthday episode, where she’s trying to play drunk, but just comes off as whiny.  Like, I’ve watched Fleabag an embarrassing amount of times.  Going out to a club with 2 people you don’t like and eating pizza on a rooftop with your ex while you rehash the past really doesn’t read as rock bottom to me, which I think was the tone the episode was trying to set.  The worst thing she does all series is ignore her friends, but she makes it up to one of them by buying them a guitar, so I guess it’s all good?  I don’t think protagonists necessarily have to be flaming train wrecks for epiphanies to land, but it seemed like all the other characters on the show were reacting to her behavior in a non-proportionate way.

* I liked Simon as a character, and it seems like the writers did too, because he, for sure, gets the most development in the series next to Rob.  I liked how he was so similar to Rob, but clearly included in the story to act as her foil.  Instead of letting heartbreak destroy him, he used it as a motivator to change his life and break the cycle.  His solo episode was good, but it felt so out-of-place in the series, making it feel like it was only included so they could meet a 10 episode minimum, or add suspense before the reveal of what happens between Rob and Mac when he shows up at her apartment with her key (Sidenote: How dumb was that?  We already know Simon has a key to her apartment since he used it to break in before, so why wouldn’t she call him?  And we’re supposed to believe that Mac moved to London and took a key to his ex’s New York apartment with him?!).  I also never bought he was one of her biggest heartbreaks, since she literally sees him every day, and not once before she confronts him about the list do you get the impression that this bothers her, or that she feels like she missed out on something.  I also found the fact he was hyper focused on her every mood swing super unbelievable, and actually kind of heartbreaking considering not once did she reciprocate that kind of attention with him. 

* I very much liked Clyde, even though he was a rock-climbing dork that didn’t seem suited to Rob literally at all.  I totally didn’t buy Rob trying to win him back at the end, unless it was because she wanted someone to be nice to her?  They had nothing in common.  He consistently did things that were thoughtful and showed genuine interest, and she continually blew him off or used him.  That’s their entire “romance” in a nutshell.  Even if Rob did the work to reciprocate his affection, would that relationship even make her happy?  It’s like she’s going out of her way to try on a pair of pants she knows are not going to fit her, and we’re supposed to listen to Stevie Wonder and cheer her on like, Yeah!  She wants to stop harassing her ex!  Character growth!  Clyde explicitly says he shouldn’t date someone like Rob because it never works out for him, so if we get a season 2 where they’re dating, I’m just going to feel bad that he caved.  

Straight up cons:

* The relationship with the Harry Styles character was just weird, went longer than it should have, and added nothing to the story.  I felt similarly about its inclusion in the movie, too, because it felt like it only existed to show the audience that Rob could get laid if he wanted to.  But Lisa Bonet is hot and it doesn’t take up too much screen time, so I forgave it there.  There was no reason for this to be a multi-episode arc in the show.

* We get zero conclusion for any of the career-based the plot threads.  The kids she’s helping by loaning them records, and Cherise deciding to join their band, are interesting plot points, but I don’t think they’re enough to carry an entire second season.

* I thought her brother was obnoxious, and when he was throwing a “I’m becoming a father so clearly I’m going to die” pity party in the bar, I could only roll my eyes and think, “Ah, here’s the Nick Hornby characters we’re used to”.  His constant feedback of, “Just stop being sad!  Why are you so sad?!” was just the one of the infuriating tone-deaf choir of people who don’t understand depression, and she takes it as relevant feedback cause it’s her brother.

* We get no insight whatsoever why Rob acts the way she does in relationships.  All that is explained is that she “overthinks things”, which means nothing.  We get one small moment in the car with Clyde, where he literally has to spell out to the audience that she’s afraid her past bad decisions will shape her future, but why did she make those bad decisions?  Why did she keep one foot out of the door in all of her relationships?   Because she was scared?  Why was she scared?  If it was because she was scared of having her heart broken, it happened to her at least 5 times anyway, so it doesn’t feel like that is a motivator enough to sabotage things.

* Mac was boring.  Lily was boring.  I didn’t understand why Mac wanted Rob back in the first place, especially hours after finding out she slept with someone else because “she loved him too much”.  I didn’t understand why Rob continually pushed Mac away, and how he interpreted that as not loving her the right way?  I didn’t understand why Lily still wanted Mac even though he was still hung up on Rob.  I didn’t understand why Rob didn’t take Mac back after spending the entire series pining over him.  What was so bad about Mac that Clyde was the better option?  If this is the main conflict of the entire series, and I don’t care or understand 0% about it, then I think it, as a plot thread, failed.   We don’t even get a “Top 5 things Rob misses about Laura”.  Legit, I think about the one in the movie all the time.  The way he describes how she rubs her feet together an equal number of times... it’s a fantastic detail.  Or even the list of Rob’s top 5 dream jobs, where Laura notes that architect is a throwaway, and that being a record shop owner is better than that... it shows how much she understands Rob.  There is no indication that Mac understands anything about Rob, so why does he love her, and why should we care they’re not together?

* Which leads me to the biggest sin of the series... the Top 5 lists felt super superfluous and didn’t really tie with the plot in a way that felt meaningful.  Sure, you get the top 5 heartbreaks to set the tone of that episode, but you don’t get something like “Top 5 Songs About Death“ when Laura’s dad dies.  Or Rob’s top 5 books or movies in relation to what his exes were.  It’d be a super easy thing to include to flesh out your characters more, but instead it’s just a thing that seems to randomly happen sometimes so the characters have a reason to talk to each other.

Edited to add: I forgot about the “Top 5 Underdogs” after Cherise gets blown off by that manager, and I did really appreciate that.  She also does list Jason’s favorite musical artists, which did say a lot about him, so I might give this con half a pro... haha

So, was the series horrible?  No, it was fine.  I didn’t hate it.  But I don’t think it expanded on any of the themes in the book or movie in a way that was new, or enough to justify making it.  It had 5 hours to tell the story instead of 2, and I felt like they wasted the extra time on plot points that went nowhere and spent less time trying to develop any of the characters other than Simon and Cherise.  It did succeed in making me want to rewatch the movie, so... I guess I’ll do that tonight.

[veridium]

dirty little secret

WOAH BOY. I did not expect such a quick turn around, but when you’re writing sweet, sweet friendship, shit happens. thanks to @bitchesofostwick and her fabulous writing that got my gears going.

I have been wanting to use an all-american-rejects ref as a title since we started and now, here I am!

on this episode...Olivia awakens to find Ellinor wearing a strange fleece (HM??). BUT, that is not the only incident that surprises her, as a message left on her door gives her cause for concern. 

part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 // part 6 // part 7 // part 8 // part 9 // part 10 // part 11 

--

Her cell phone alarm goes off as it always does on wednesday: 7:30, just enough time to get her shit together before her 10am lecture. However, as she revisits the text she got the night before from Ellinor, it also becomes a beautiful morning for hearing all about her “group project meeting.” Luckily she doesn’t have to travel far, or bother with pants. Wearing an over-sized, old All-American Rejects tour shirt she thrifted a year ago, she fits the bill when lastly she slips on her pink fuzzy slippers -- the only items of her wardrobe she would accept in such a color. She then wanders a few doors down to Ellinor’s and Sera’s room. Sera is gone for a few days on some road trip to one of her many hair-brained destinations, so Olivia has no minced feelings about knocking loudly.

Knock, knock, knock. Nothing.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. Nothing again.

“Knock, knock, bitch, get up! We need coffee!”

The door rips open, and a face with slight drool on the corner of her mouth and hair tousled over her eyes appears. But, it’s not her expression that Olivia’s eyes fixate on like a moth to a fleece flame.

A Knight athletic fleece, the expensive one.

“Good morning sunsh--shit, is that…”

Ellinor jerks her chin down, suddenly coherent. Her brow furrows and she whirls around to retreat back into her lair, mumbling things while she lazily swings the door shut. Olivia, of course, slaps her hand on it and waves it open with gusto.

“Ellinor Trev--”

“NO.”

“Is he in here?!” she skips in, looking around in all corners and nooks as if Cullen is compactible like a lawn chair or something. “Oh, God dammit, I never catch your lovers! No fair!”

Ellinor crawls back under her covers and pulls them up over her head. Interestingly, she does not forsake the fleece sweatshirt that has seemed to magically exist out of nowhere.

“Is that his…”

“Mmph.”

“So it IS. You’re a filthy liar! You said you didn’t do anything in your text, I got receipts!” Olivia promptly hops onto the lower side of the twin mattress, curling her legs up under her sideways.

“I didn’t do anything. I meant it. I just...this...it was cold, okay! Why does everyone think I am magically not cold susceptible? I have questionable circulation…” she half-whines the last part, before squirming into her pillow some more like a burrowing naked mole rat.

Olivia hums, not convinced. “You got some explaining to do, and this calls for extra strong coffee. And scones. I want every detail. I’m gonna throw on some sweats or something, I won’t be long.” The casual mood she has yesterday with Cassandra has carried over through a full night’s sleep, and Olivia feels all the pomp and makeup of her typical routine to be unnecessary for once. She swats on the bump in the comforter she suspects is Ellinor’s ass before hopping back onto her feet and out into the hallway. She’ll be back to wrangle her soon enough out of the depths of her ironic despair.

Scooting her poof-slippered feet out into the hall she spots her door half-shut. Only, it’s not her door -- not the way she remembers it, anyhow. There’s...papers? Taped on it just above the doorknob. Posted notes and event reminders aren’t exactly unheard of in dorm halls, but as she walks she scans the other shut and locked doors -- nothing. Just hers has stuff on it.

When she arrives she yanks off the posted paper and notices some hastily copy/pasted clipart of some crosses mounted on a hillside. Her stomach churns as she reads the message. It’s a pamphlet-esque flyer asking the reader if their soul has been saved, and if not, resources in order to accomplish that. On the back there’s a scripture excerpt as the header, and then a list of every Church in the city limits with their contact information and addresses. It has the design skills of a 4th grader who’s project is due the morning after and all they have to use is Microsoft Word 2003.

And on the very bottom, handwritten for that special touch: “For the Slut in 21C.”

She looks both ways down the end of the hall and sees no one lurking, though the hair on the back of her neck stands up. The faces of those Church preps that pouted at her when she was on Cassandra’s bike pop into her head. Oh, it would be an interesting coffee sesh indeed.

--

What had originally been intentions to come outside casual and no muss, no fuss, turned into a black knit oversized sweater dress, thigh-high black velvet boot stilettos, and loose curls with a full face of sharp makeup. She looks like an insta model out in the light of day instead of in her cardboard box, but it is better this way: people don’t fuck with her.

They get their coffee downtown and walk out onto the sidewalk. She has class in 30 minutes, anyway. Ellinor is holding the flyer in her hand, though it’s bent outta shape from Olivia’s wrath.

“I don’t know, Liv. It is kind of concerning that they know where your dorm is. Isn’t that a hate crime if it’s targeting a member of a targeted group?”

“Biphobia getting treated as biphobia instead of ‘free speech’ discussing sexual behavior that both straights and gays sneer at? In this economy?” Olivia slips her own shades on and shoves the forsaken paper into her bag. “And besides, my dorm is easy to find out. All they’d need is one person to see me walking in, or one person who lives in the same hall as me.”

Ellinor slurps her hot matcha latte and hands it over to her, before pulling her aviator shades down from atop her head of a loose braid crown. She slides her arm through the second shoulder strap of her backpack.

Olivia is steeping. On the surface she looks straight up pissed, which is intentional. But deep down she’s nervous. This was more than she signed up for.

“What are you going to do then? It’s obvious this has to do with you hanging out with her. This is bullshit. if I was there when those punks came into the dorm, I would have shoved my timbs so far up their pastey Jesus mayo asses that….that...gah! Just really far, okay?” Ellinor grumbles and sips as they near the corner. She hasn’t had enough caffeine yet. 

Olivia veers to the left and punches the crosswalk button. She reaches into her back searching for her keys as she spots her black mini cooper parked on the curb a block from them.

“I don’t know what the fuck to do! I feel like I’ve become this Scarlet Letter for something I haven’t even done. It’d be different if we had actually, like...did stuff. But she is so prim and…” the crosswalk signals walk, and they push onward. “She goes from this super interested and focused person to hands-off and out the door faster than I can get my eyeliner wings to match.”

Olivia walks faster as Ellinor hones in on the passenger door facing the curb. “Woah that’s...that’s pretty fast.”

“You think?” Olivia faces her over the car hood as she hits the car alarm button, making the headlights flash. She unlocks fast and eyes both ends of the street for surveilling gazes before sliding in.

“At least with Cullen...” Olivia tries to keep her conversation going while settling in, tossing her bag over her head. She slides her key into the ignition and checks her mirror. Ellinor slides her drink into the center console and pulls her seat belt. She’ll need it -- Olivia has a love of driving, and that love translates into speed and mastery of a stick shift.

“At least with Cullen, what?” Ellinor replies, dreading it already.

Olivia bites her lip and eyes her. “You know...at least…” she slumps forward against her steering wheel. “At least you know what his intentions are...I mean, were, for you. He was pursuing you. He wanted to do...to do things with you.” Her tone has gotten less spirited and more melancholy. Enough for Ellinor’s initial defensive pouty face to melt into sympathy. Though, Olivia worries if it’s less sympathy and more soreness at being reminded of what she tossed up.

Dammit, Liv, she thinks to herself. Ellinor isn’t as tough as she plays.

“Well...I think she really does like you,” Ellinor comforts after a pause, her gregarious personality trying its best to rally.

Olivia twists the key to start. The engine grinds and then starts with ease, and she clutches the stick shift with her manicured hand covered in black, dramatic rings on almost every finger.

“I know she likes me. What I meant was, like...you know.”

“You said she asked if she had another...didn’t she call it a ‘shot’ or something?”

“Yeah, but, I don’t--”

“Liv, I don’t know anyone who would ask if they could be friends with someone by asking if they had another shot. Remember how we met?”

Olivia looks at her windshield and snorts. “Yeah. You asked if I had time to talk about our Lord and Savior Gerard Way at a freshman ice cream social of all fucking places. Then I sat on my retainer.”

“Hah,” Ellinor sits back, elbow on the door. “Exactly. Not ‘Do I have a shot?’”

Ellinor, in her particular brand of eloquence, has a point. Cassandra is one of the most intentional people Olivia has ever met. She doesn’t even sneeze out of line. And she doesn’t strike Olivia as the kind of person to sit idle while the things and the people she wants float on by. But, there’s something still hanging her up on it all. An unspeakable hesitancy that comes from having one foot in and one foot out the door.

“I just wish she like...did the thing.”

“Thing? What thing?”

Olivia pulls the car into gear and puts her hands on the wheel, staring out her side mirror for oncoming traffic. “You know, like, there’s a thing queer people do when they want to drop their queerness on the radar. Say you loved the new Hayley Kiyoko single, or...shit, like, you went to Pride last summer and had a blast. Something.”

“Cassandra Pentaghast at Pride? Even if she’s 1/24th lady-lover, dude, I doubt she’d be down.”

“Yeah because that’s how it works, Ellinor,” Olivia chuckles and pulls into the lane, clutches and shifts into gear again as she accelerates. “It’s just like...okay, you know what I mean. Something. Just a little tidbit. Like...letting me go home with a fleece sweatshirt.”

She only has to side-eye her once to see Ellinor’s cheeks go deep with blush, her lips rolling shut.

Olivia raises a brow and adjusts her large, round black sunglasses. “Mhm.”

“Look, I said what I said. It was cold.”

“Fine, fine. I’m only holding off on hounding you ‘cause I know you have to see him again. I can almost see his face watching you leave with it. Ugh, good shit.”

Ellinor slaps her on the arm before grabbing her drink. “It wasn’t like that, dammit.”

“Not when you were looking it wasn’t,” Olivia continues to tease in that sultry tone. “But…’as she walked off, her figure becoming shapeless in the dark and only traceable by lamp light, I knew that she took a piece of my with her...a piece, of fleece…’”

“GOD you are HORRIBLE!” Ellinor’s laugh gets louder the longer Olivia does her act. The ‘poetry recitation’ voice Olivia does is too good, too pure even in its mortification. She laughs, too, as they turn onto the boulevard which will take them directly to campus.

“You talk a good story for a cynic,” Ellinor settles down, resting her knee against the door. The woman can’t sit right in any chair to save her life.

Olivia smirks as she turns her signal on, the car arriving at the light before the campus entrance. “My Mom had those movies on all day when I was a kid, okay. I internalized that trash in between Blue’s Clues episodes.”

“Ugh, I forgot, my bad.”

They pull in and drive past all the pretty red brick building tops, and people walking with backpacks on the sidewalks or running with shorts and tanks on. Olivia notices a jogger weaving through the pairings of people walking to class and she remembers the way Cassandra looked on the soccer fields, back when she was just a tall, dark, and beautiful stranger she could pretend was all these things. Never could she have foreseen this all unfolding, but a part of her misses when it was all a mystery. When it was a mystery, she could believe that Cassandra was for sure into girls. Now, she is attached to finding out the truth, and the truth might not be so kind.

They pull up into one of the Blue parking lots and by some miracle, someone is pulling out in time for her to snag the spot. She turns in and puts it into park.

“Tits up, girl,” Ellinor sighs, grabbing for her things as Olivia turns the key back, the engine going quiet. They both adjust their bras on cue at her word.

“You’re hiding that fleece in your backpack, aren’t you?” Olivia eyes the bag, a little swollen in shape.

Ellinor glares at her. “No.”

“Ellinor,” Olivia giggles, as she pulls her drink up out of the cupholder. “You don’t want to give it back. Admit it.”

“I admit…!” she looks away for a moment and composes herself. “I...am not the owner of this garment, and I will not be keeping it. It was borrowed. I said I would give it to him during class.”

“Mhmm,” Olivia hums again, reaching for the door. Before she does, though, Ellinor is not done with her side of questioning.

“You gonna tell her what happened?”

“Why should I? What is she gonna do, challenge all the preps to a duel on quad? It’s not gonna change anything. Don’t tell Cullen, either. I’m gonna...handle it. It’ll be fine.”

Ellinor rolls her eyes. “Look, I’m not any of your horoscope apps, but the Cassandra I saw last night staring down a guy stick up for someone she barely knows, seems like the kind of person who’d like to know if people are messing with her girl.”

The phrase ‘her girl’ makes Olivia’s stomach erupt into butterflies, and she blushes and looks away towards her window. Thank goodness for giant sunglasses.

“This isn’t High School. I’m not ‘her girl,’ I’m her friend. And a friend who could quickly turn out to be more work than she wanted to deal with when she realizes all her peers want to burn her at the stake.”

“Over my dead body,” Ellinor says, before grabbing Olivia on her forearm as she tries to get out for the car. “Hey, I mean it. If it’s not Cass, it’s me grabbing a crowbar, alright? Just say when and where to aim.”

Olivia looks back at her and her lower lip curdles. “Aw, Ellinor…” she tilts her head, “you do have affectionate emotions….?”

Ellinor quickly scoffs and pushes her. Back to normal in an instant. They get out, and Olivia locks the door. Slinging her bag on her shoulder she looks around again, slightly paranoid despite her cool exterior. No pastel polo shirts and no french braid pigtails. No woman in a black long-sleeve with pants and a pixie cut. For once, she’s relieved on both fronts, and walks with Ellinor down the way towards their respective lecture halls.

On the way, OIivia elbows her in the shoulder, a sly smile on her black lips. “Thanks, babe.”

--

Later that day --

-- Hey, you didn’t say whether you’d come with to the gala next weekend. I need confirmation!!

-- Ellinor: I can, but I’m not going to! You already have someone who can go!

-- That is the opposite of what I have! I’m not inviting her. Ughhh don’t do this to me I’ll cry.

-- Ellinor: [Kim Kardashian Tragic GIF]

-- You’re the worst. How did Cullen act when you gave back the sweater?

✓ READ AT 4:12PM

If she weren’t in the library, she would have screeched like a harpie. As it was, she was not in the place or the time to do so, so her catharsis would have to wait. She shoved her phone in her bra and goes back to collecting her arms worth of books. They aren’t for her this time -- a Professor she’s TA-ing for wanted to scan and make copies of chapters for students, and asked her to do it while they...well, do Professor things.

Such as TA’s did, and Liv being a TA as a third year undergrad was an esteemed vote of confidence she did not shirk.

She comes around the aisle she’s in and decides to cut through to the stairwell. She’s down two floors from the ground level where the checkout desk is, a level that separates the boys from the men in terms of archival dedication. She balances the six or so books of varying densities, wondering how close they are to weighing the same as her.

Around another corner and she comes upon a cluster of single-seat study desks -- you know, the kind that only libraries have, with soft wood and worn out, grey-blue upholstery. A couple heads bob up from their stationed spots at them and she pays them no mind. That is, until she sees a blonde head. Blonde, wavy head.

“C...Cullen?” she says, and is promptly shh’d by someone else. Cullen himself looks up from his desk and laptop, and grins.

“Oliv--” another shh, and he gives them a pointed stare of come on man, before pushing his chair back. “How you been?”

She bobs from foot to foot carrying the stack in both her hands. “Uh, good! Good, just, doing some TA work.”

“Oh, nice. Cassandra mentioned you TA for Professor...uh, their name esca--”

“Erickson. Professor Erickson,” she smiles. “Just for the intro to political and economic theory classes. It’s not a big thing.”  It was and is a big deal. The Political Science department has a huge group of grad students who could TA or assist courses, and they often do. Taking in an undergrad for a TA position meant that undergrad could do the work they did with Bachelor’s degrees, and sometimes even Master’s degrees, under their belt. Her parents didn’t stop talking about it like that for a month after she was invited by Erickson to fill the position. Though, they made it more pompous-sounding than she would have liked.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know. Cassandra is the only other undergrad I know who TA’s.”

“She...she TA’s?”

He looks at her and his brows go together. In a sort of, ‘yeah, of course’ kind of way. Like she was supposed to know that.

“Uh, yeah! In Philosophy, I think.” Figures. The woman breathes and spews philosophy and english lit fervor like Shakespeare has used her for a horcrux. It’s...annoying. And...wonderful.

“Ah, yeah, I think she mentioned that,” she lies, and tucks hair behind her ear while balancing the stack nervously in the other arm.

“You uh, you need help with that?” he gestures to get up, but she shakes her head vehemently.

“No, no,” she replies, smiling again. “It’s fine. I need the conditioning for dance, anyways. How is your group project going?”

He grins and looks back to his desk, blinking fast. He shouldn’t have to say, she already knows. But, it’s the kindness that counts. “Oh, yeah, it’s going good. Group projects, you know. They...they are what they are.”

“Yeah, but, at least it’s with Ellinor right? It’s always better with…” she catches herself, bits her smiling lip, and looks away too. Damn, didn’t think that one through.

“It’s better with people you know, right, I gotcha,” he finishes and puts her out of her misery. He’s a good guy -- he doesn’t let anyone hang out on a limb by themselves, even if he’s a bit awkward in his solidarity. It’s easy being in his presence despite the underlying melancholy.

“Yeah, right! Sorry, my head is fried from today. Look, don’t be a stranger. Come by anytime.” she sounds like she has a house with a picket fence and not a hole-in-the-wall dorm room. The olive branch didn’t fit the ecosystem.

He smiles crookedly and nods. “For sure. Yeah. You have a safe walk back with those books.”

“Oh you know, what’s a fall down some stairs?”

He chuckles and waves his hand casually. “Whatever you say.”

She waves back and sees herself off. A couple yards away from him and she spots the staircase, she reaches in her shoulder bag while keeping her eyes on the sign that says “TO LEVEL B,” feeling for her phone and attached headphones. The papers and pack of gum get shoved in and out, and the smooth plastic of her case finally turns up. She yanks it out before the stack of books in her hand fall apart. The sound and sensation of something falling behind her to the ground pries at the back of her head, but she ignores it -- the books are heavy, and the stairs are gonna be a pain in the ass, and that pain will pale in comparison to copying individual chapters 40 copies each.

She reaches the checkout desk after a grueling journey up two flights and through another plethora of shelf rows. While catching her breath against the desk, she checks her phone. A new message sent 15 minutes prior.

Cassandra: Hey. I’m going to be grading practice midterms Friday afternoon at my TA office in Henderson Hall. I thought maybe you would have a similar workload? Want to keep each other company?

Keep each other company. How sexy. Had she said she TA’d, and Olivia just never caught that detail? That would have been something she’d remember. Oh, wait, they were talking about course-loads at one point during a walk to classes...oh, shit, that was the day Cassandra wore a blazer and took it off as she was walking and was so smooth while doing so and...and...oh. God, Olivia is too bisexual to function.

She looks up and scans the room, her gaze out of focus while she thinks. No, she has no reason to! She can deny her this once, what, does she come at her beck and call now? She has no work to do anyw--

Her email ding goes off. It’s Professor Erickson:

Hi Olivia,

My mother is in the hospital and we are heading out of town to see her. I know it’s short notice, but could you grade the stack of bibliographies in my inbox before Monday and hand them out on that day’s class? I promised the students. Just markup for Chicago style and make sure they have the 3 required sources and 2 outside, and nothing looks iffy. I’m going to cancel Friday’s class.

I might be out until middle of next week. Monday is just a hand-back day, so don’t worry about keeping them entertained after they get their work. Play a movie, maybe. Nothing too radically bootlegged, please.

Don’t worry about the chapter copies. Those aren’t needed until next Wednesday, and if you can’t get to them I will finish what you don’t. Good job today by the way explaining to that one student the difference between socialism and democratic-socialism. You are getting more concise!

Thanks!

E

Sent from my Iphone

Professors. The nerve. They emailed on phones even when it was a long-ass message, and yet threw fits when students didn’t title their emails with anything less than an oath to name their firstborn child after them. Erickson wasn’t that bad, though. A fun guy -- a bit too into loafers -- but a fun guy, and amazing Professor. And she was getting paid, which helped.

She rolls her eyes closed and groans so deep the poor library work study student flinches. She looks at them apologetically before turning her attention back to her phone.

-- Hey. Sure, but I can’t stay very long. What time?

Cassandra: Cool, no worries. Say around 6?

-- Yeah, that works. Henderson is that long building by bio sciences, right?

Cassandra: Actually, it’s the one to the left of quad. Big archway entrance. I’ll be at my desk in 10E.

Olivia sighs. Great, a big building on quad. In front of everyone. Open season continues for her. 6:00pm on a Friday? Why that time? Surely if they were exams they were not going to be handed back over the weekend. Did Cassandra have a life that wasn’t work, sport, and more work?

-- Right, I forgot. Whoops. Okay, see you then!

Cassandra: Awesome. See you. 

Cassandra: Oh, also -- this song came up on my shuffle. It’s an old one, but it’s Adele. I would appreciate if you listened to it. I think you’d like it.

Another chance for a ‘sign’ thwarted. As promised, she sends the link to a song and it is, in fact, Adele. Adele. Olivia pouts to herself. Adele is a beautiful singer, but her songs tend to sound the same to her sometimes. One of those ‘you listen to one, you listen to them all,’ kinda deals. The song is entitled “Water Under The Bridge.” Olivia had hoped it would at least be one of the romantic ones, but it hardly sounds like a profession of love or crushing. Her frustration continues to grow in her mind, and she clicks her phone to lock. 

“Alright, Ma’am, that’s it! They’re due back October 7th!” The woman on the other side of the table shoves the plastic bag of books. What a blessing to have them in a bag. She smiles, says thanks, and heads out the door into the open air of dusk. As she walks back to Jefferson Hall a few minutes away, she can’t help but look over her shoulder ever so often, hand clutching her keys in her bag. But, no one approaches or even appears, and as she gets in the door to her own academic building, it feels like it’s all in her head.

It’ll blow over. No big deal. Just have to pretend it doesn’t bother me.

She gets into the elevator and hits the #3. Thankfully, she, too, has an office to hull up in.

[applecherry108]

first of all hooooooooolyyyy shiitttt

FUCK tungle. it took like 30 tries to log in on desktop. admittedly, i was using the wrong password at first, BUT, even when i remembered the right one it kept giving me shit. This is what i get for being L337 i guess... -_-

anyways, im only on desktop so i can add a readmore to say:

i just,,,,,hate voltron. okay? It sucked. it fucking sucked. i watched the first season and it was like, okay yeah, this has potential. and then s2 was like, okay yeah not as good but maybe s3 will pick up...

s3 didn’t pick up. it was just one long death spiral by the same idiots who fucked up the atla sequel. i hate their writing, i hate their story plots, i hate how they butcher any good ideas they have, and i especially hate their inability to have good character AND plot development happen at the same time.

I got swept up in storm of klance and that’s about it. i have soft spots for other ships but at the end of the day i don’t care. i just don.t fucking,,, care???

the fandom is a mess, the crew was a mess, everything was a fucking mess from the get go.

Like who tf is this show written for?? it has to be for like, 8-10 year olds. It has to be. Everything is just so....stupid. Nothing is ever properly explained, motivations never really given, everyone is just a 2 dimensional cardboard cutout of a trope. And that pisses me off so much bc like??? other shows aimed at young kids can still have great world building. they can have good world building and characters and overall story and still be cheesy and a lil dumb. cheesy and a lil dumb is completely fine!! but voltron is just so...godammn... BORING!! it’s like i WANT to like the characters but its just so goddamn hard when everybody is so fucking flat. by all rights, i should want to marry allura. shes everything i loved when i was little, from her color pallet to her princesshood to her white fucking hair!! i should LOVE allura but i don’t!! i kind of hate her. why?? i don’t know!! shes so...boring! and flat! and fucking PASSIVE! everything in this show lands so fucking flat holy shit.

pidge at matts “grave”? yikes, that was second hand hard to watch for like.... “oooh this is so serious!” but the buildup wasnt there...it was kind of funny tbh... and HELLA awkward...

don’t get me started on lance and hunk. bolin was my favorite look character for the first few episodes and then he got knocked to Comic Relief and had maybe two (2) importantish moments. he/they may be part of the main cast but they’re not main characters. they feel like background props to the Actual Main characters.

which brings me to keith.

FUCK keith.

that’s my reaction after every! new! season!! is just,, FUCK keith. god the show functioned SO WELL without him. he’s just so...idk. i also don’t care. what was his character arc anyway? it SHOULD have been about learning to love and trust others but we only get that in lip service and speed run character development (i hate the quantum abyss...so much... like yeah, who cares about SHOWING our characters mature, let’s just tell that it happened in afucking montage.) if keith were a properly developed character he shouldve remained PASSIONATE and idk, run support?? that boy SHOULD have piloted red, end of story. period. keith doesn’t need to lead he needs to learn to TRUST others and that insludes trusting other WITH HIS LIFE. i won’t rant about how we should have had black paladin lance, but keith should have never ever been black paladin. even after he “matures” he still sucks at. he’s this awful,,little,, Shiro 2.0. and I hate it. i ahte it and i hate shiro just a little bit. even though he was arguably the most likeable character, he shouldve stayed dead. or missing. or whatever. he didn’t need to come back and they didnt need to make keith a little offbrand clone of him. i ESPECIALLY hate that they aged keith up 2 years for no goddamn reason other than to make him the Adult (tm). keith’s dedication to others was gre4at, but it should have, and im failing for this word here so forgive me, climaxed? cresscendo’d? whatever. /resulted/ in him playing support. not leader. lone wolf keith doesn’t need how to lead his pack, he needed to learn to HELP his pack. to be a TEAM PLAYER. he didn’t want the responsibility of leading bc guess what?? some people hate leading!! there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be support! keith’s entire arc is a huge mess of missed opportunities and a grand illustration that he is lm’s and jds’ favorite, just like fucking mako.

i won’t rant about mako, but just know i fucking hate him and the special treatment he gets, and good LORD does keith take over mako. keith isn’t space zuko he’s space mako and it fucking SHOWS.

okay, i’m losing steam here, but like.... so apple, why tf where u voltron 24/7 if you hated it so much? because homestuck was over and i needed a new hyperfixation. and i really had to force it for vld tbh. and at the end of the day, it wasn’t so much about the show itself as the potential of klance (or sheith, up until s3). between the interviews, the coding, the fucking EVERYTHING--it really felt like it could be canon. i knew in my heart it was queer baiting but i had HOPE dammit. hope that this could be killer representation, hope that these characters would delvelopment into something incredible. again, there was so much POTENTIAL. and all of it was wasted. everything really came to a head during the fucking game show episode. it was like lm and lds giving everyone who likes lance the middle finger, really driving home that “no no, he IS just stupid. he’s the comic releif. there’s nothing deeper about him and no one will stand up for him bc they all think of him as such.” and that just....broke my heart. we were so...SO close to lance actually mattering but nope! bolin’d again! and what was his purpose in s8? why to be an accessory to allura of course!

i’ve seen a lot of people really divorce themselves from canon and live solely for fanon, esp fanon klance but like.... i can’t. i just can’t. it’s so fucking hard to work with these cardboard characters. you can only draw so much depth onto them, you know? until the very last moments they had potential, but then it all got snuffed out. but who cares about canon? why bother with it? because! we don’t have a solid consistent fanon version of them! no one sat down and delivered the ten commandments of “here’s what we agree k and l are actually like” it’s stupid and it sucks because everyone has their own little differences and its so so tiring to basically be interacting with minutely different ocs all the goddamn time. canon matters bc it gives everyone the same base to work with. like a cooking showing with the same basket ingredients, but now it’s like.... ya’ll don’t wanna use the mandatory ingredients (and why would you? those canon ingredients are like, a century egg and spoiled sardines, they’re awful.)

okay, and im at work and just came back to this and dont remember my train of thought so like... what really threw all this into sharp clarity was the recent steven universe episodes. they were so...GOOD. so fucking good. so much plot and foreshadowing coming to a head. it was such a wonderfully satisfying payoff that it made me remember what a GOOD show is like, how vld is so very very /bad/. the difference is fucking striking. where one is an intricately woven tale with excellent character development and clear story AND character arcs, that can progress AT THE SAME TIME, one is a hacked together flaming dumpster firing that constantly falls flat and doesn’t know where its going or why. and it s so BORING! like fight scenes can be amazing! they can be well coreographed and tense! and we as the audience can be anxious about the outcome! and vld just wasn’t that! it was boring repetetive action in the least exciting way. and where su set up a lot of potential, holy shit they DELIVERED on that potential. not just for rep, but for characters! for story! for plain ol simple character interactions! and then, again, two dimensional cardboard cutouts.

and now with this difference in good vs bad show so very clearly highlighted for me, i just.... i can’t, anymore, with vld. it sucks. it sucked and i can’t pretend or force a fixation with it that just isn’t there, and truthfully, probably never was. maybe that’s why i’ve been struggling to finish my fic, struggling ever since i posted the last chapter, ever since s7, which, again, that game show was really the nail in the coffin as far as holding onto any hope that this tire fire would ever pick up. like a physically feel ill trying to finishing this stupid fic bc i don’t care so hard. i don’t care and i just... really want to be over it. im sick of seeing it everywhere, im sick of the drama, of the Discourse. like all fandoms have their issues, but hold fuck does vld fandom have a massive Purity problem. like, god, let people ship whatever. who cares. die mad about it.

like homestuck, idk if i’ll ever fully ween myself off vld but i want to move on. i want to enjoy Other Things without having this lackluster weight on my shoulders. and more than anything, i want to stop feeling like im obligated to like the same shit as i did two years ago, or last year, or hell, last week! feel free to unfollow, but yeah i just.... really needed to let this out in a proper post and not in the misc tags somewhere.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E08 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 368 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 352 Responses

84% of total respondents gave the episode a 4 or 5 star rating. The episode this week was overall considered very enjoyable!

kinda average,some cuts didnt make sense,lets see if the next one is good.

This episode was so great, I really enjoyed it! But there are still things that are bothering me.

This episode was fricking amazing.

All in all, one of the best episodes in the season for me, hands down.

I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next ep.

Amazing as always! ❤️

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES WERE YOUR FAVORITES? 356 Responses

Eren making his move in order to protect his friends was the overall favorite scene of the episode. Closely behind is Squad Levi showing up to save Eren and Historia. Despite some upset about the change, the scene where Levi tells Historia she has to become the queen ranked third.

The hardest question for me to answer was what my most favourite scene was because frankly speaking, none of the “big” and “impressive” scenes made an impact on me. I just rewatched S2 and was blown away by how the last few episodes especially were so well done. I wish this season makes me feel the same way later on.

Historias Speech before Levi squad gets there had so much feels

WHICH CHARACTER INTERACTION WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 354 Responses

There were lots of good character interactions this week. Most shippers seemed quite happy with theirs. The most loved moment of the episode, however, was Mikasa joking with Historia that she should punch Levi in the face. Closely behind was Levi lamenting having to tell Eren to make a choice again, and in third was Historia’s speech while saving Eren.

ALL OF THE ABOVE. YOU CANT MAKE ME PICK ONE HOW DARE YOU

They cut it out T.T

Oof, too many can't chose. Historia and Eren, Mikasa saving Historia, Jean and Historia motivating Eren, Levi apologizing to Eren, Sasha and Eren, Eremin hand touch <3, Levi and Erwin, Hange and Historia, Jean and Connie stepping in for Historia.....

Historia refusing the plan to let Eren be eaten by Rod-EREHISU4LYFE

That beautiful "Danchou" made me WEAK.

I like two: Mikasa x Historia and Mikasa telling Historia to punch Levi.

Every Levi & Eren interaction! So many Ereri moments in this episode ~

Kenny

MikaHisu is sailing hard

Levi and Eren interactions were amazing ♥

bjitch you think I'm neutral enough about snk to pick one think again

Character moments and interactions are what truly make this series for me.

I really enjoyed Hange's contribution to the discussion about Eren's and Rod's fates. The music, the flaming titan in the background, Hange pointing at it, and the overall drama of the conversation was on point!

BEST TITAN STEAM WINDBLOWN HAIR: 357 Responses

Levi won this overall, but plenty of voters appreciated that we put Connie in the rankings despite being bald! ;)

ROD REISS’ TITAN IS ALL CGI - HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS? 356 Responses

Nearly half of voters were surprisingly content with the CGI and thought that it added more disgust and hugeness to Rod’s titan. Looks like WIT utilized the CGI well this time around!

Hi WIT what the fuck

I didn't really like the CGI in season 2, but to be honest I expected it for the turkey titan and holy hell does it look big 10/10

I don't mind it too much, but i think traditional animation would be better.

I remember this feeling of absolute horror and disgust when I first saw Rod Reiss' titan back in the manga but the memes over the years made me forget. Wit has very successfully brought those feelings to the fore again, and goddamn I get shudders even now and I've rewatched the episode twice already.

I'm halfway though... A part of me wanna see turkey titan moving. A part of me actually prefer worm titan coz it is more disgusting. Anyways CGI are overdone in this scene. Wonder if the face reveal will be as disgusting as the rest of the body

I was worried about it at first glance as the Colossal Titan in season 2 was too out of place, but it worked and probably helped that Rod’s Titan can’t stand upright.

It’s tacky but I’m here for it

Looks great in some scenes... kinda shitty in others :/

MEEEAAAAAATTTTLLOOOOOAAAFFFF

The cgi is disgusting but I like it like that. It's like your ugly child, you still like it. Plus if it's allows them to reduce the time and the cost of the animation I'm fine with it. I'd rather have an aime with a bit of cgi every year than no anime at all or a season every 4 years.

im scared

Yummy yummy meatloaf.

DO YOU THINK KENNY CARED FOR HIS SQUAD? 357 Responses

Overall, the majority of voters agree that Kenny cared about his squad. Only slightly less than half of those voters believe that he still valued himself more, though.

He was concerned for their safety but was also probably like "do you guys not have any self preservation?

Maybe? I don't know, lol. We didn't see him interact with them much.

Kenny probably cared about them a bit but didn't feel any deep bonds with them.

I think he mostly cared about Traute because she was his second in command, not to mention her nihilistic nature was exciting for him.

Idk

WHOSE PEP TALK TO EREN WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 355 Responses

HIstoria’s words to Eren while he was certain they were all going to die won for the best pep talk. Not far behind was Levi telling Eren to make a choice. Jean’s commentary about Eren never being able to do anything by himself also got a decent amount of votes!

YOUR REACTION TO EREN’S DECISION TO BELIEVE IN HIMSELF? 355 Responses

Overall, voters had a positive reaction to Eren’s decision to believe in himself instead of his friends.

EREN WAS GREAT AND I M SO PROUD.

Attack titan's big dick energy saved them all.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT JEAN AND CONNIE’S COMMENTS DEFENDING HISTORIA? 351 Responses

73% of voters were happy to see Jean and Connie sticking up for Historia. 17% weren’t invested, while others think that the scene was shoehorned in and unneeded.

Connie and Jean are definitely best boys (and underrated imo) and I loved that they gave them this filler scene but I feel like it would've made even more sense if they would've animated the wall scene from Chapter 51. Still loved this though. <3

Poor Connie, he didn't know what words to use. I'm glad Jean helped him out :) They're great friends.

I felt like they (WIT) messed up a great scene from the manga and didn't add anything of a value to that scene

It makes a lot of sense that Connie would jump in Historia's defense to prevent her from taking another role given that he was there to witness her shedding one during Utgard. And while Jean's is great, it works better at cementing his tumultous relationship with Levi and how he works as the voice of Springlestein.

While I like the concept of the 104th kids showing their concern for Historia, the dialogue pretty much spelled out Historia's character arc and felt incredibly forced and on the nose

It's a decent part of a scene that shouldn't have been changed.

On the fence because it seemed very filler

Connie and Jean r protecting their wife

WHICH OF LEVI’S DOUBLE ENTENDRES WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 352 Responses

It was a hard choice, but the majority of you appreciated those classic double entendres--with “That’s what I call hardening” taking the lead while 34.9% of you made us feel really attacked.

EREN MENTIONED INVESTIGATING HIS OLD BASEMENT IN SHIGANSHINA - WHERE’S THE KEY? 353 Responses

41% of voters believe that Eren is still in possession of the key but that the detail is simply overlooked Because Anime™. 30% believe the key was stored away for safekeeping due to the potential of Eren getting kidnapped. A small percentage believe that either Levi, Mikasa or Armin had it the whole time. A few of you think Eren is hiding it in less appropriate places and make us very concerned.

Shit. Fuck. I completely forgot about the key...

Erwin has it

I never noticed that even in the manga LMAO

Hell if i know

I didn't even care before this question and I won't start caring now lmao

Plothole

Stolen by Rod when they took his shirt. He just hasn't realized it yet.

this question is going to haunt me for eternity

Eren hid it in his asshole. No one would look there, that smart guy!

He keeps key in his ass

In his ass

up dat booty

HOW’D YOU FEEL ABOUT JEAN CALLING EREN A “TOPLESS WIMP” INSTEAD OF A SHIRTLESS WONDER? 356 Responses

The votes on this question were relatively balanced. Most voters just see it as a translation difference with no other meaning to it, while closely behind are those who preferred “shirtless wonder”. A small amount are looking forward to hearing how Funimation chooses to script this in the dub.

DID YOU MISS LEVI’S SALTY COMMENT - “JUST HOW SHITTY CAN THIS DAY GET”? 357 Responses

The majority of voters agreed that salty Levi would have been nice to keep around. 33% didn’t even realize the quote was missing!

more salty levi is required

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM ANIMATING THE COLLAPSE OF THE CHAPEL AND THE GROUND? 354 Responses

Nearly 77% of voters were thrilled to see the chapel and ground collapsing. 12% didn’t think it was all that special.

WERE YOU EXCITED TO SEE EREN’S HARDENING POWER ANIMATED? 356 Responses

65% of respondents were happy to see the hardening in action and thought WIT did a great job with it. 14% were happy to see it, but felt a bit underwhelmed. 11% preferred the mystery in the manga.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SCENE WITH EREN CALLING ROD TITAN A MIDGET AND PUNCHING THE AIR BEING REMOVED? 357 Responses

Nearly half of voters aren’t happy that WIT cut this detail out, because it showed that Eren can’t activate the coordinate as he pleases. 23% are confident that the scene will be moved to on top of the wall in the next episode. 14% didn’t care.

Why didn't they do the scene with Eren yelling at Rod's Titan?

I don't think that comment would've fit the tone of the scene. I'm hoping that it will be made clear that Eren normally can't use the power some other way.

I am so so angry that this scene was cut!! Not only was it HILARIOUS but it was a small moment of reprieve from the heavy atmosphere and I am so bitter about its removal!

I’m guessing they’ll be moving that scene to the top of the wall in the next episode

I’m okay with what WIT did, but it would’ve been nice too to see it animated.

I’m just salty it got removed. I personally thought it was hilarious and added comedic relief. Same goes for hange telling Erwin she’s ok - they really cut that scene down.

I miss that it was removed, but it was a bit comedic and would've added some flak to the scene

Very very disappointed. But not because it erased the hint about how the axe works but because of Levi's reaction! Goddammit wit not again!

I don't remember that one o.o I should re-read the manga I think XD

They'll probably move the scene to the next episode or have an equivalently expository scene later.

WE FINALLY GOT  THE SCENE WHERE LEVI TELLS HISTORIA SHE NEEDS TO BE QUEEN - WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? 354 Responses

With the top two options being at nearly a tie, 25.1% still believe that the scene should have been included before the kidnapping - brutality included - and 24.9% were just happy to have it although the characterization of Historia and Levi feels changed. 23% agreed that the change was needed as Levi lifting Historia at this point in the story would no longer make any sense. 17% preferred the change and felt it gave Historia more agency over her situation.

Considering this scene took place after the kidnapping it wouldn’t make sense for Levi to get angry and attack her but the scene was pretty underwhelming compared to the manga. Although I’m just glad that this means we still get to see Historia punch Levi (even if he hadn’t really done anything to deserve it in this version).

I feel like Historia accepted her fate as the new queen way too fast.

They should’ve added it before the Levi Vs Kenny fight. It was important to both of their characters and I’m still pissed WIT cut Levi’s speech out.

While it would have been great to see a little more irrational side of Levi, the change fit in very well and helped establish the relationships of Squad Levi

It should have being either included in it original form before the kidnapping or dropped all together including payoff with punching and smiling. Now it makes little sense for Mikasa to suggest something like that or for Historia to feel that way, we also lost asshole Levi moment, which would had add a dimension to his anime version. But oh well.

They should’ve added it before the Levi Vs Kenny fight. It was important to both of their characters and I’m still pissed WIT cut Levi’s speech out.

Meh. Anime wants to have a cake and eat a cake. At least they are hilarious!

Why do you guys want to see a grown man throw around a little girl so much? Gross! Grow up! I couldn't be happier with the way that scene change went! As well as Mikasa's being the one to get Reeves' line about punching Levi - I think it both fits and is unexpectedly cute.

i wish they kept the scene like in the manga because it really builds up anger in historia that she later releases by her big AckerPunchTM

MIKASA TELLS HISTORIA TO PUNCH LEVI INSTEAD OF DIMO REEVES. WAS THIS A GOOD CHANGE? 357 Responses

At a pretty even split, the most votes went toward believing that the scene was okay, but still preferring the manga’s turn of events. 24% believed that the way WIT did it was funnier. 22% feel like Mikasa’s comment is out of the blue. 21% are just happy Mikasa saved Levi’s smile.

The feeling that I got from Mikasa's smile/smirk was that she JOKINGLY suggested that Historia hit Levi, mostly because she's not his biggest fan and she enjoys messing with people (for example, eating the bread in front of Sasha, and the funny expression she elicited from Historia by saying this). Mikasa is going to be surprised (and ofc delighted) when she realizes Historia actually took her literally lmao

Why did Mikasa told Historia to punch Levi? Historia has no reason to punch him since he did nothing to her. It doesn't make any sense for her to hit him just because Mikasa told her to, or at least it has so much less meaning than in the manga…

About the punch, I still prefer the way the event happened in the manga but IM SO FUCKING GLAD THAT NOW WE KNOW WE GONNA SEE THAT BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL SMILE

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 358 Responses

32% of voters are pumped to see Rod’s gruesome titan face looming over the wall. 25% are excited to see Eren punch the brat out of himself, 20% are ready for Smol to chat with Tol an 14% are looking forward to seeing Eren fighting in his titan form again.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

A lot of people yelling at WIT. Sure, I miss some of the exclusions too but the pacing change was needed and stuff has to be cut. The important bits of the story are still all there. I think they're doing a fantastic job and I'm almost sure Isayama gave his thumbs-up for all the changes.

Thanks wit for giving us so much mikasa this episode. My daughter deserves all that screentime ❤️😍

i get meatloaf titan and eruri. i am a happy boi.

The soundtrack was fuking amazing 😚👌 as always

Since there were no questions about the soundtrack I'll use this place to try to convert everybody to the Sawanism. God the music was a masterpiece!

The CGI worm titan was such an alienating thing to witness that it took away from the horror of the situation. It might have looked really hideous as this creepy-crawly giant thing of a titan, but sadly it just didn't work. On second viewing, it didn't bother me as much as the first time, though, so I guess one can get used to it.

I don't know if any of the music was new or not but wow!!! It made those scenes feel so much more emotional

RIP Traute Caven, our nihilist queen

Levi is a much sweeter version of himself in the anime, I've noticed. In fact nothing is as dark as it was in the manga. But Accordion Titan is way creepier animated so no complaints there.

I'm kinda disappointed that WIT remove some Frieda flashbacks, (last episode with the possessed Frieda scene missing, and here Historia not thinking about her alongside Ymir) it reduces the impact she has on Historia's life/development.

I was watching it in the night, so it gave me some double thrills :D Rod's titan was really creepy and Sawano's music made him to be even more scary. In my opinion the animation was awesome. It looked much better than I expected. The whole extreme moments in the cave was also amazing and I truly liked them.

For once WIT did eremin some justice with their reunion touch (my heart!), every mikahisu moment was perfect (yes, even the one at the end where mikasa tells historia to punch levi) and I ADORED that they gave historia so much agency in her decision to become queen! Honestly if I had to watch Levi rough her up at this point in the series, I probably would've vomited. It would've been incredibly unnecessary (which is likely why isa changed it, don't y'all think?) and this way was SO MUCH BETTER. Plus jean and conny being so concerned for her was THE BEST THING EVER, they're just like "but dad, what about my friend's FEELINGS?" and I LOVED IT. That's snk at its core tbh. Historia definitely deserves it too. And her power walk into the briefing room afterward was everything! In conclusion! Eremin is real! Mikahisu is real! And erurihan is fuckin real! That "danchou" had me FLOORED and we already know how much both erwin and levi love hange so like.. get with the winning team y'all.

Armin described the moment Rod's titan came out from under the chapel as something like "the end of the world". Between the music and his nightmarish CGI look, I was sold on that description. Oh, and since I mentioned music, Sawano's at it again, the absolute madman! Will he ever stop coming up with good tunes? The answer is never.

My ovaries are ready for wet cast in next episode!!

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 337 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again on Tuesday!

[kynthosmojo]

I am aware that everyone has their own opinion. But I'm starting to really get pissed of when I hear that Season 13 is crap and they need new writers.

What gets me is that Sam and Dean have been doing this for TWELVE YEARS. They are now in their mid 30s, continuing this endless fight. Personally, I am thrilled to see the subtle changes in the characters. The relationship between the brothers is now on equal ground. They argue but to me, they're solid.

Now. I hear people say how Dean is getting all the attention and Sam is shit. FUCKING STOP. If you don't know by now that there is no One without the Other, you have clearly not been paying attention. Sam is NOT shit. Sam has a very important role. The role he has ALWAYS had with his brother, only now with years behind him, he has fine-tuned the way he addresses Dean in his current state. This is NOT a power trip. I am so tired of reading how the writers don't care. The season sucks. WHAT exactly are these people looking for? For example: last episode. Dean decides to "die" to confront the ghosts and find the kid. It was up to Sam to administer the adrenaline and get him back after 3 minutes. People had a problem with this. People thought it was "recycled writing". So let me ask you this, oh loyal fans who cannot be satisfied. How the FUCK else would you have created a situation where Dean encounters Billie? Because Billie had some serious key shit to say to Dean, and that was not going to play out unless our boy somehow died for a bit. So fucking think about that. That was fucking brilliant. The focus was on the MESSAGE Billie was conveying to Dean. That ENTIRE SCENE was a TURNING POINT, yet all you can focus on was how Sam wasn't balling his eyes out when Dean didn't come back right away? PAY ATTENTION. The writing is NOT bad. The writing is DEEPER now. NOW you have to THINK A bit more than the Monster of the Week, Crowley, Chuck, etc. This show is evolving, and that is wonderful!!! The characters are not the same 22 and 26 year olds anymore. They've been through some shit now and have grown from it. And fucking STOP being all twisted about Cas for Chrissake! I am not a fan of Cas, but Cas is playing an important role here (at the moment). Take a step back and look at the entire picture. Pay attention to the storyline. Be giddy when you watch Dean waving his hand in front of the glass door to open it and it doesn't, and crack up at his face when he looks so exasperated that he has to physically push the door to open it. I laughed at that for 5 minutes. Pay close attention to how Sam is handling Dean, and you will see that Sam is really the only foundation Dean has. Now more than ever.

As a fan, I really did not like Season 12. I liked the concept, but I really didn't like the Men of Letters. And it's just my way to NOT spew my dislike all over social media and Bash the characters. I liked the characters. I just wasn't crazy about the season as a whole. I suppose what I'm saying is, people don't have to like every single second of the show. None of us do. But can we fucking STOP bashing and being so nasty when expressing dislike? There are fans that express their opinions in a mature, tactful way and THAT is what I enjoy the most about this fandom. A good debate about a particular scene or episode. I LOVE these discussions! What I don't love is the disrespect that is written so casually when you aren't happy with the way the characters are portrayed.

Example (good): I'm not understanding the direction that they are going this season. It seems that Dean is the main focus and Sam I'd kinda in the backround. I'm not really thrilled with this last episode because....(whatever).

Example (Bad): They need new writers. This season is shit. It's going down in flames and I regret wasting my time watching because there's no focus on Sam and it's all about Dean and how could they allow This? It's gotten boring.

First and foremost, FUCK YOU. Stop that shit. Stop bashing. And at the risk of being hypocritical, You're the same bitches who bash Jensen's "Destiel Doesn't Exist" and Jared for his "inappropriate" joke. The same people who find a fucking issue with Sam's hair, Dean's bitching, something, somewhere, just to point it out in a NASTY way and be a hemorrhoid about it. It not that you have opinions. It's HOW you express them.

Fucking tired of the bashing and bitchiness all around. Practice being kind. You can HATE an episode. Just don't be so fucking nasty about it. Sheesh.

K I'm done.

Oh. And if anyone was offended by this rant, my apologies. I'll be more than happy to discuss it with you.

~A wonderful friend who's tired of the wank.

These words are so much truth. We need to look at the bigger picture and enjoy the moments we DO get. All the hatred and vitriol is toxic to us individually AND collectively. Fandom was my happy place, my escape. Was it perfect? No place is. But there used to be less hatred and drama here than in my family.

~ Cyn

[survivorreelsmagicwithin]

Episode 14-  “i hope this isn't the beginning of the end for me”-Kevin

HAHAHAHA UGH, I feel so bad right now but.... at least now I think I am GOOOOOD with everyone on this island and I can kind of figure out who I want to vote with next week.  Next I think Autumn should go because she is a big threat and I feel like maybe I can get Kevin and Juls to vote with me for her now that Joanna is out of the picture.   Also now that maybe I have earned Lily's trust again she will too.   I seriously do feel like such a villain right now, frick. 

10 minutes later

I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I MADE IT TO FINAL 6!!   I'm really sorry Joanna, I just really needed to get myself in a good position with all these people left so I can kind of decide which way I want to take things next round.  Kevin and I are talking about maybe getting Lily to vote with us to get Chips or Autumn out.   I never really thought that Chips was much of a threat but with his immunity win he might be one. 

so Joanna just got blindsided, that's not fun, if you ever read this Joanna I love you and you're so good and you didn't deserve that. Basically ruthie backstabbed our alliance because she thought we were playing her, which I can understand to a point, the day was abnormally quiet, so if there was ever gonna be a round where she was blindsided it would be now. BUT WE WEREN'T !! like we were all genuine and honest with wanting chips out and it seemed like the easy vote but ruthie complicates everything.. AGAIN. I love her but she is kind of all over the place, i never know when to believe her and then she came into our chat with juls/me/her and came forward about it and was honest which was nice i guess. At this point I can't trust chips or autumn at all and i think they feel the same way as me, so i need to work my social game and make sure ruthie knows i TRUST HER, i also need lily to know i want to work with her going forward and that i've been trying to be HONEST, i even told her I was voting for chips and that was the only name i heard. And then we could have gone after autumn next round like SHE pitched to ME. nothing goes right when i'm immune, but i feel the need to keep winning even though it will grow the target on my back. being on the wrong side of votes is such a blessing in disguise, i can milk this and try to spin it like im completely out of the loop and boohoo thank goodness i won immunity, i think in a game this crazy the last thing people are worried about sitting next to in the end is someone who seems like they needed challenges to be here. I think Lily and Autumn are the biggest THINKERS in this game, i think they know what they're doing and why they do it and that's scary. Ruthie is an acter, no i didn't misspell that, she is just someone who DOES, i think moves are brought to her and she decides whether to do them or not, a middle man of sorts. I've played like her many times in the past and now i know why people were frustrated with me, it's a frustrating style of play to deal with if you're not the one doing it, because you can't ever really rely on anyone. Chips and Juls are breeds of their own (respectfully) Chips is a full on goat but he's a goat for autumn, not really anyone else, i think they both need to go home before the final 3 for my game to work out in the end. Juls is special, juls is a social player through and through she gets in your good graces and then she settles down there, makes herself at home, eats your food, and kinda just lives there. No one ever really wants juls out, would taking juls out be helpful in weakening people? absolutely, but people don't wanna do it. My thing with juls is I don't think she's as big of a thinker as other people (juls if you read this i love you to death) she's smart thats a given but when it comes to the game i think she resonates more with the style of gameplay as ruthie, but not as ruthless or are messily, she's kinda consistent the whole way through. I think I could sit next to juls and feel like i outplayed her at the end, but if i sat next to like her and ruthie i think i could outtalk them too. BUT IM GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF, i think my gameplan going forward is to simply oversell my loyalty to to both ruthie/juls and ruthie/lily but specifically RUTHIE, i want her to feel like i feel like i need her, because i think she's less likely to flip on me if thats the case. I am trying to pitch the duo of autumn/chips as the biggest threat in the game rn and even proposed to ruthie we go to finals with lily to lessen the perception of me and juls being close. There's very little margin for error here but i have played my heart out and i think whatever happens from here on out i will be content with, i hope this isn't the beginning of the end for me but whatever happens happens. ok this is extraordinarily long for being 40 minutes into the final 6 but woo! I am glad i made it this far and all that i have accomplished, feeling like im writing my obituary but i wont just give up !!

Good thing my life doesn't depend on wizards chest i don't know what the fuck i'm doing, LOL

40 minutes later

I can't believe I'm staying up late to get this competition over with, LOL.  I still have no idea what I'm doing but I'm starting to get a little better sense of it?   I'm having long drawn out conversations with Lily, Kevin and Chips all one on one and not really about that game so that and my coke are keeping me awake, lol. I feel like Juls is mad at me and I need to reach one on one instead of just in our alliance chat but for now I'm just not going to worry with it. 

1 hour and 30 minutes later

I LOOK SO DUMB FOR LOSING THAT, LOL! I had no idea what I was doing but apparently when I took my last move Chips told me I could have gone to A1 and set myself up for the win.  UGH.   I am seriously so dumb and mad at myself for not winning that.  Juls is the Ron Weasley of Wizards Chess and I am... stupid, LOL. 

I GOT IMMUNITY BITCHES! *peace sign* but um.. hehe.. i don’t even know what to say! after enduring so much SHIT these past few round from losing my allies, no one talking to me, and the lying that occurs straight to my face. but i think i finally take breather and i’m so content.. i’ve never ever made it past 6th place so the fact that i’ve secured my spot in 5th makes me so happy!!! i’ve only played one survivor org before this so it makes me wanna cry with how proud of myself i am HBSBZN i think i could really pull this shit off.. maybe. i’m not getting my hopes up too soon.

The vote actually went through successfully with Ruthie, Lily, Autumn, and myself voting out Joanna. The other three votes fell on me - not surprising! The next immunity challenge was semi-live and it was Knight Moves so I made it my whole objective to make sure Kevin was eliminated. In a perfect world Juls would have also been eliminated... but we don't live in that world and Ruthie accidentally gave her the win for the challenge. This round will more or less decide if Kevin is the clear person to go on to win the season. If he gets voted out with no advantages played then it's anyone's game. If someone else (very probably either me or Autumn) gets voted out without an advantage he wins the game. If an advantage is played and Kevin stays then it's still probably his game to lose, but there's a little more wiggle room on my jury vote. Hoping everyone is wise enough to knock out the clear and obvious winner at this final 6. If they are not they are either playing for second or third.

I would just like to say that all flaming should not be taken personally as I constantly contradict myself from video to video lmao and the only person I haven't flamed at this point is Chips so https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ct6kYHHfeBI3ngTJJWdpF6Bikn14qjzP/view?usp=sharing 

 But also I could get idoled out?? So enjoy the confessionals while you have em ya know? I'm booked and busy these quarantine days haha. Insecure is back, I'm playing a main, I need a full time job, the list goes on. So vote me or don't. Go to rocks over me or don't. Call my bluff or don't. None of it will hurt my feelings and that's on period https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sG_CW_FU724v92eAPu4Qa3L53LyNMFvN/view?usp=sharing

I feel like Lily really has something up her sleeve OR I'm going to somehow get blindsided tonight. Kevin made a group chat with he, Lily, Juls and I and all Lily said in it was 'hi' which makes me think something is up.  I just want to be in on the plan if there is some kind of a plan.   Kevin wants to do a 2-2-2 vote which I'm not sure is a great idea and I'm just worried that Lily cooked something up so that Chips and Autumn vote me out with her.  I think Kevin IS a bigger threat over me but it is hard to tell what other people think. I also asked Lily if Autumn does use an advantage should we go after  Kevin then and she didn't really answer?  I don't know, I have four messages right now so I'm going to see what I can gather.   I kind of asked again and she IGNORED THE QUESTION A SECOND TIME.  I smell something fishy going on right now..... I guess I'm scared that she ratted me out to Kevin but we'll see, lol.

25 minutes later

THIS is exactly how I feel anytime I end up getting voted out.  Flushed face, lack of conversations going on around me and just... general shadiness all around.  Like, you can FEEL when it is going to happen.  SOMETHING is definitely up. 

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 14/02/2020

This’ll either be a long episode, a very confusing one, or both. We have nine new arrivals, which might actually be our most ever, although it’s probably tied with one from last year unless we had something ridiculous like twelve new arrivals. Let’s just get this over with.

Top 10

First of all, celebrating its second week at #1, we have “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd stable since last week at the top spot. I love this song, so I’m definitely glad to see it here.

Speaking of songs I love, “The Box” by Roddy Ricch isn’t moving either at number-two.

In fact, much like most of our busy weeks, the top 10 doesn’t necessarily reflect that, as with some exceptions, there’s nothing of note to speak of here. “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi is stable at number-three.

The number-four spot has also stabilised; “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa is there, and doesn’t seem to have any competition.

Neither does “Godzilla” by Eminem featuring the late Juice WRLD, unfortunately, at number-five.

Up two spots to number-six for whatever reason is “Life is Good” by Drake, then Future – this might rebound even higher next week due to a DaBaby remix.

“Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi is down a spot to number-seven, but it’ll be back in the top five once the BRITs have their impact. Delightful.

Our big story in the top 10 is the 13-space boost for “Roses” up to number-eight, meaning it’s Saint Jhn’s first ever top 10 single in the UK, and, yeah, sure, we’ll give Imanbek credit for that too, since his unauthorised house remix really blew it up all over Europe. Hence, I’m pretty sure this is the first Kazakh lead artist on a UK Top 10 single, and that’s pretty epic.

Billie Eilish’s “everything i wanted” is down two spots to number-nine.

And finally, to round off our top 10, is the non-mover, “Adore You” by Harry Styles.

Climbers

To my surprise, we do actually have a few notable climbers, and a lot more than I expected at that. First, there’s “You should be sad” by Halsey up five spaces to #12, making a pretty unexpected play for the top 10. There’s also “Lonely” by Joel Corry up 14 spaces to #16 off of the debut, and “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez inexplicably moving up six spots to #21. Maybe in the wake of a Justin Bieber album, there’s some stan revenge streaming? It’s a stretch but that’s honestly my only explanation other than it making another, more organic chart run. I do have a reason for Jonas Brothers and the nine-spot boost for “What a Man Gotta Do”: the second video as well as the One Show performance, which is still something millions of people watch here in the UK. “Better Off Without You” by Becky Hill and Shift K3y is up 12 to #24 off of the debut and finally, “Say So” by Doja Cat is up 10 spots to #25 also off of the debut (Not complaining about that one).

Fallers

There were some pretty massive fallers this week but also not actually that many that were notable, and definitely ones that demonstrate a transition period between Winter 2019/2020 and Spring 2020, but these are also mostly hip-hop and rap, hence can be explained by streaming cuts, an arbitrary UK chart rule that affects nearly exclusively one genre for the most part. That’s not the case for all of them though; “Wake Up Call” by KSI featuring Trippie Redd is down 17 spaces to #28 because it’s a song by a YouTuber, and hence usually a bit crap. The rule did affect, however, “ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas, down 24 spaces to #33, and “Memories” by Maroon 5, an exception to the rule seemingly, down 23 spots to #39.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There were a hell of a lot of dropouts and actually two returning entries, for once. All of these dropouts don’t seem like they’re going to gain much traction after this week, and if they do, it’ll probably be some kind of fluke or special event that gets them back up there. I can see about three or four of these returning to the dregs of the top 40, but otherwise this seems to be the end of the line for most of these. “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi is out from #15, “Pump it Up” by DJ Endor is out from #23, “Lose Control” by MEDUZA, Goodboys and Becky Hill is out from #25, “This is Real” by Jax Jones featuring Ella Henderson is out from #26, “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean ends its second run out from #29, “Gangsta” by Darkoo and One Acen is out from #32, “Don’t Rush” by Young T & Bugsey with Headie One is out from #34, “Ladbroke Grove” by AJ Tracey is out for what must be the fourth time from #37, “Those Kinda Nights” by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran is thankfully out from #38, “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy is temporarily out from #39 but the BRITs will probably pick this one up and boost its numbers, and finally, “Big Conspiracy” by J Hus featuring iceé tgm is out from #40. The other two J Hus songs are somehow still in the top 40.

The two returning entries are, firstly, “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi returning at #30, seemingly in a trade with “Bruises”, because, I guess two Capaldi songs in the top 10 isn’t enough. The second is “Pee Pee” by M Huncho at #40, and I just love how stupid that song is. It’s actually a pretty fun and arguably good song, but I also have so many questions about it, like why the album it’s from is called Huncholini the 1st. I’m glad to see it back here though. Anyway, before we get to the new arrivals, here are some songs below the top 40 that I could see getting here in a couple weeks, if that. Not all of them are good, not all of them are bad. We have “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #72, “No Judgement” at Niall Horan at #70, “Yikes” by Nicki Minaj at #69, “No Shame” by 5 Seconds of Summer at #68, “What if I Told You that I Love You” by Ali Gatie at #63, “Charades” by Headie One and Fred Again at #57, “Stop this Flame” by Celeste at #56, “Staqdo” by MoStack at #54, “Mya Mills” by Lil Pino at #50, “Run” by Joji at #46, “High Fashion” by Roddy Ricch and Mustard at #45, and finally, “Ourself” by NSG at #43. Now, for our new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#38 – “Ballin’” – Mustard and Roddy Ricch

Produced by Mustard, Justus West and Gylttrip

Okay, so this is a song I’ve been predicting would breach the top 40 for ages, mostly because it’s already been a massive hit in 2019 for the US, and hence is on my list of the best hit songs of 2019, which will probably be the last of one of those lists that I actually do. It’s #14, so it’s not that high, but I feel like I should talk more in-depth there since the list’ll be out as soon as possible, probably this month. It’s Mustard’s first UK Top 40 hit as a lead artist (Congratulations) and Roddy Ricch’s second – I love this song, we’ll talk about it more another day, that’s all.

#37 – “Suicidal” – YNW Melly

Produced by Z3n

Okay, so let me explain: Yes, YNW Melly, real name Jamell Demons (Fitting name by the way), is still in prison facing murder charges. This is the third album he’s released behind bars, obviously the others were released while he was incarcerated for less serious offenses, but it’s not exactly a new concept and hey, the label aren’t milking his death, at least, although they are milking the murder of two other people, so I guess that point’s out the window. It’s not impossible to make an album from prison but they’re probably just taking snippets of his SoundCloud stuff or unreleased demos and re-releasing it as new content. This is his second UK Top 40 hit after “Murder on My Mind” – if you go by just his song titles, this man is guilty as all hell – and well, it was never going to be any good, was it? The dull piano-lead trap beat isn’t emotive at all, and with the disruptive producer tags and clipping bass, as well as the generic emo guitar, it just feels emotionless, which is awful for a song called “Suicidal”, and YNW Melly is actually giving it all trying to replicate a typical emo-pop song with his voice that I actually love hearing most of the time, especially when it’s drowned in Auto-Tune like this; the vocal track here, despite oddly mixed, would sound great in isolation. Sadly, this beat is so boring, and he goes off topic so many times, with his structure-less flow and monotonous rambling about how he’s got his bag now and everyone’s wishing bad on him now (Probably because he’s facing murder charges)... yeah, this just does nothing for me, and it’s clearly an immature attempt at making a deep, powerful break-up song, even with some of the most pathetic inflections I’ve heard from the man in that “I’m drinkin’ Hennessey” bridge, as well as his heartbreak ending up being as deep as “I swear to God, I swear to God, you stupid bitch”. Yeah, no, this is not great at all, and way too long, by the way.

#36 – “Birthday” – Anne-Marie

Produced by Oak

So, if you forgot who Anne-Marie was, first of all I don’t blame you because so did I, but second of all, she’s a pop songstress who often hops on dancehall or house beats with a voice and delivery that treads the line between indie-girl mumble mouth and a fake Caribbean accent. This is the lead single from her second album, that actually debuted dangerously low—seriously, this is looking like it’s prepared for a sophomore slump ala Camila Cabello’s Romance late last year, although admittedly Anne-Marie’s chart presence, whilst seemingly omnipresent in 2018 and early 2019, has dwindled considerably. This is her tenth UK Top 40 hit, and well, I don’t exactly know what to expect but I’m guessing some fluffy, vaguely tropical dance-pop tune, but it could be a ballad for all I know. It doesn’t look like I’m too far off, but this one is particularly obnoxious, with a dated, beeping synth tone acting as the main melody, an aggravatingly static hi-hat pattern, a messy and out-of-place drum beat that sounds straight out of a shit Flume rip-off, some of Anne-Marie’s most obnoxious Auto-Tuned vocal inflections (And some of her most Kehlani-like, may I add), and vocal mixing that is questionably lower than the drums in the pre-chorus, even though they’re clearly not backing vocals. The chorus is hilariously trite, saying, “Goddamn, it’s my birthday”, and that people should give her money because it’s her birthday. Basically, it’s about a spoiled teenager on her 16th birthday being all rebellious and edgy to spite their parents but without any actual emotion or passion, and instead some pathetic vocal runs and disgusting, cluttered instrumentation... actually, that would describe a teenage birthday party pretty well. The little chuckle at the end in place of an outro is also really cringe worthy. What an awful song – it’s been a while since we’ve had a hit here that seems fundamentally broken, but this gets pretty close.

#34 – “Know Your Worth” – Khalid and Disclosure

Produced by Disclosure

R&B singer Khalid and EDM group Disclosure, two acts I happen to be very fond of whenever they appear on this show, have collaborated for the second time since 2019’s “Talk”, a song which I love but won’t be making an appearance on my best list for that year for one simple reason that’ll seem obvious once you read that list. This collaboration doesn’t seem to be for an album, though, and is instead an advert for Levi’s jeans. Nice. It’s Khalid’s thirteenth and Disclosure’s sixth (ironically excluding “Talk” as they weren’t properly credited as lead artist) UK Top 40 hit, and it sure is a Disclosure song, with their more modern EDM touches they’ve been picking up recently in productions like the aforementioned “Talk” and Mac Miller’s “Blue World”, but with some really sweet steel pans, the same stilted groove they’re known for, a quirky collection of beeping synths and a familiar yelling vocal sample that I can’t find the original source for anywhere. Khalid rides on the instrumental pretty nicely and smoothly but this really isn’t anything special, with the lyrics mostly being some kind of general motivation or self-empowerment, mostly directed towards a girl whose significant other doesn’t exactly treat her like she is worth, apparently to Khalid. I think Shawn Mendes is rubbing off on you, mate.

#32 – “London” – M24 featuring Tion Wayne

Produced by ETS

Hey, Tion Wayne! I like this dude a lot, and I was thinking about him a couple days ago, thinking that he’d had his time up on the charts, but he seems to be back with M24, another British rapper, for this new single. Tion Wayne is one of the main reasons “Options” by NSG is one of my most-listened songs of last year, and has since delivered excellent verses on “Bally” with the equally charismatic Swarmz and tried to lighten up the amazingly dull “Keisha & Becky” by Russ splash, who has since changed his name because of course he has. It’s safe to say he’s one of my favourite of the recent crop of London rappers, simply because of how fun his cadences can be. I was surprised when I saw him on a sharp black-and-white cover art with a song about London, which I assumed would be about the struggles of gang violence and poverty that Tion Wayne has since risen above, but instead, for his fourth UK Top 40 hit and M24’s first ever, we have a chorus that goes, “That gyal wan’ shock, one eye on her arse like, “Holy f***”, look at the arch, you know I buss, back up the arse like uh-uh”. That’s actually about what I expected from Tion Wayne to be honest. Looking back on all those songs that I mentioned, especially “Bally”, it has interesting, eccentric, exciting and energetic cadences, as well as some upbeat production that is sourly missing from people like Aitch and DigDat. That’s why while I was slightly disappointed by the more minimalist, dull, colourless drill production, which honestly actually kind of bangs, I was welcomed by Tion Wayne’s hilarious hook, especially the “UH UH” ad-lib, and his injections of humour into the verses, which M24 tries as well. Both M24’s more aggressive stuttering delivery and Tion Wayne’s more carefree flow work for this beat (which is unfitting for a song that’s supposed to be about attractive women by the way; this is in no way sexy), with Tion Wayne’s first verse seemingly carrying the theme of “beef”, and he likes a fight in prison because it’s “beef in a cell”... “like Beyoncé”? Huh? He kind of gets away with it though, as the next line is even funnier; his gun is like his roll-on deodorant because it doesn’t leave shells. He shouts out his designer-brand boxers then says that he will fight a man for his phone charger. You get why I like this dude, right? He’s kind of absurd. M24 and Tion Wayne trade bars on the second verse, with M24 even lightening up to say that his sex is so good that his groupies try to invite their mother. Lovely. They also share some clever worldplay about “ye” (drugs) and Kanye, both comparing themselves to Kim Kardashian in the process. All this is without overstaying its welcome, by the way, it’s less than three minutes. Wayne then, for a final few bars, adopts the “A$AP Forever” flow to shout out basically every woman in England, as well as saying this:

I f*** your girl from the back / I put my block on the map

These two events (hopefully) have no relation to each other, like at all. Never change, Tion Wayne.

#31 – “Destined for Greatness” – Tobi & Manny featuring Janelle

Produced by Krunchie and Zdot

I knew this was going to be a tricky one once I realised that I know more about the producers than I do about any of the three primary vocalists here. Krunchie and Zdot are responsible for much of Bugzy Malone’s discography, especially the older stuff. Anyway, this is the first UK Top 40 hit for Tobi & Manny, a duo much like Young T & Bugsey or Krept and Konan made of two members or affiliates of the Sidemen, namely: Tobi and Manny, two brothers that joined KSI’s group of YouTubers, rappers, entertainers, FIFA players, what have you. They teamed up with their sister Janelle, who actually contributes very little to the song, no more than a short intro and backing vocals, for a kid-friendly motivational anthem – on a dark, menacing beat. Of course. Yeah, this is pathetic. Both Tobi and Manny have no interesting bars, and whilst it is mostly a story-telling song, there isn’t any passion in their voices about their come-up, so why should I care? Janelle doesn’t exist, and if she does, she’s annoying, joining in on the bland hook for a somewhat colourful addition to the shitty non-entities of Tobi and Manny, both of whom are just phoning it in, but I feel like this is them trying to be their best, to be honest. This is just corny, and aggravatingly so, with a boring beat to boot. I have no idea how this debuted this high, when it is this painfully amateur. “We’re controlling the game like Nintendo Wii”? Give me a break. Oh, and I listened to Tobi’s only other official single as part of the Sidemen on “The Gift”, and somehow he had the best verse.

#29 – “React” – The Pussycat Dolls

Produced by Will Simms, Johan Gustafson and Ivares

The Pussycat Dolls were a girl group formed in the 2000s, who were reasonably  big worldwide and massive here in the UK. They weren’t made by a British talent show, but they were similarly generic and basically just the sexier alternative to the more teeny-bopper groups, and hence I guess were made more for boys than they were for girls, in that respect, but even for today, despite being produced and directed by men for men and presented consistently in an awfully objectifying manner, they have kept that “girl power” schtick. You may know them for “Don’t Cha”, “Buttons”, “Beep”, “I Hate This Part”, whatever, they’re all garbage. After the group split only lead singer Nicole Sherzinger retained relevance and officially made the only good song tangentially related to the Dolls, with her (originally uncredited) feature on “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida and David Guetta. I mean, it’s a low bar that you’d think they’d be able to ascend, but I can’t think of a single song from the Dolls that is better. Anyway, they’re all in their 40s now, and they’ve reunited for their eleventh UK Top 40 hit (and their first since 2010’s “Hush Hush, Hush Hush” peaked at #17), with massive comeback, television debut, high-budget music video and... a chart debut at #29. Yikes. Well, the Dolls were always dancers rather than singers, so people won’t purchase the single in the streaming era where you can choose what to listen to and you’re not having songs pushed down your throat by radio stations incessant label promotion (Well, at least not most of the time, Drake). I think the only reason the song is even in the top 40 at all is that the UK Singles Chart decided three years ago that YouTube streams counted for the chart. Listen, the song is manufactured plastic dance-pop that’s worth no-one’s time, with even the most distinct voice in the band, Scherzinger, sounding like a vocaloid. The chorus is a massive rip-off of the melody from the verses of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “I Really Like You”, by the way. Once I heard that, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Jepsen’s song is actually good, by the way.

#27 – “Power Over Me” – Dermot Kennedy

Produced by Koz

Remember “Outnumbered”? That was a pretty decent folk-trap hit, right? Well, Dermot Kennedy is back for his second UK Top 40 single, which was actually released far before his breakout hit but is getting the push now, “Power Over Me”, originally released in 2018. Now, it’s basically the same concept: Irish dude croons and belts over a guitar-lead pop song... but this isn’t a ballad, and instead has a real kick to it, figuratively and literally, but very little groove. The song isn’t bad at all, and I love the concept of a song of not him having the power in this relationship, but him finding himself subservient to this girl, who he paints as some kind of deity figure, and it’s convincing. God, I love how the drums sound in this song. The humming in the pre-chorus is just so sonically pleasing as well. The belting in the bridge and the mesh of guitar, on the other hand, isn’t really, but damn, the strings in the final chorus are genuinely gorgeous, and it’s catchy as hell, so for a good folk-rock love song, yeah, I can vouch for this one. There’s a MEDUZA house remix to this that hilariously misses the point of this song but sounds crazy good doing it, and might be a bit better than the original, if just for the blend of 80s post-disco and 16-bit chiptune bass in the drop. Either way, this is a good song, and reminds me kind of 2000s alt-rock, as did “Outnumbered”, to be honest. Maybe I should check out that debut self-titled album.

#14 – “Intentions” – Justin Bieber featuring Quavo

Produced by Poo Bear and the Audibles

This is the most 2016-sounding song that was released after 2017, and that’s just off the title alone. You guys want to add Chance the Rapper while you’re at it? God, what an anti-climactic end to our new arrivals. Justin Bieber and Quavo. I cannot imagine a blander, less interesting duo than Justin Bieber and Quavo. I think I’ve lived approximately five Quavo verses ever, the dude is so non-descript compared to the rest of the Migos, especially Offset, who, to be honest, I’ve become quite a fan of in recent months. It’s Bieber’s 46th UK Top 40 hit or something to that effect, and Quavo’s seventh but who cares, honestly? Who is listening to Bieber out of passion for his music or voice or whatever? Only his biggest, most loyal fans. The general public who casually listen to Bieber are listening more out of morbid curiosity than anything else, and for someone who seemed like the biggest star in the world at some point, that’s just depressing. Yeah, I have nothing else to say, and I’ll continue to ignore actually reviewing this dude’s songs, even once the album bomb comes next week, if it even does. I think the “(feat. Lil Dicky)” song might be even more dreadfully embarrassing than the “(feat. Quavo)”, actually.

Conclusion

All things considered, this was a below-average week but I had a lot of fun reviewing these songs, so at least most of them were interestingly bad or had intriguing stories behind them. Even if I didn’t review it, the Best of the Week is still going to “Ballin’” by Mustard and Roddy Ricch, with Honourable Mention probably being a toss-up between “London” by M24 featuring Tion Wayne, and “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy. The Worst of the Week is undoubtedly “Birthday” by Anne-Marie, with “Destined for Greatness” by whoever that was by picking up the Dishonourable Mention. This could be one of two or three big weeks on the horizon, so watch out for that and follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for my real-time reactions to said weeks, and more pop music ramblings. Thank you for reading!

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

[medea10]

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