#meanwhile benson is neither…

[barklikeagod]

i think fundamentally benson doesn’t really want to hurt anyone it’s just the way he reacts to trauma like he seeks to have that control even while completely out of it but i think francis… is someone who maybe enjoys violence and the power it gives him when he otherwise feels so powerless. i don’t think he’s remorseful at all…

[pluckysidekick]

I’m back with Part 2 of my playlist of Great American Songbook standards and other classic songs that embody Nace’s journey in Season 4, inspired by @emorfili’s post. Check out Part 1 here. Both posts contain Spotify links, but you can find all of these tracks on Apple Music and YouTube. DM me for a link to the entire playlist. Shall we?

1. Picking up with fan favorite Episode 408, George Benson’s 1976 slammin’ This Masquerade, written by Leon Russell, works on so many levels for this episode: Nancy and Ace having to pretend to be each other in front on Thom, acting as if everything is OK between them, with neither saying what they really feel. “We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way, We're lost inside this lonely game we play.”

2. They Can’t Take That Away from Me is so perfect for the 408 sunset scene when Ace returns Nancy’s necklace, and they seem to come to some kind of peace (for the present). They may not have been able to make it work, but they still have a deep bond that no one can take away. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s duet of the Gershwin classic is the version.

3. Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra’s definitive version works for so much of Nancy Drew, but I picked it for Episode 409 for Nancy and Ace’s twin supernatural storylines, each of them beginning to fall for someone who may not be what they seem, and of course for Bess’s day in court defending the supernatural, and exposing the real history of Horseshoe Bay with witchcraft.

4. Nancy tells Nick in 409 that she wants a relationship that’s simpler than the ‘messy’ state of things with Ace (although note the look on her face as she says it). A Sunday Kind of Love by Etta James describes so well what Nancy thinks she wants in 409 and going into 410. Meanwhile Ace is falling under the spell of his mystery ghost - you could even say he’s Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered (I would). I went with Doris Day’s classic take from 1950.

5. Speaking of 410, I had to give a nod to Tristan Glass with Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy. Poor Tristan really goes through it this season and especially in this episode as he fights for his life when his would-be date shoots him, and from which he recovers only for his parents to kidnap and attempt to sacrifice her. I hope he has a nice life!

6. Episode 411 has Nancy crashing Ace’s Seder and causing a storm inside The Claw when she tries to raise Alice to discover how she died. Harold Arlen’s Stormy Weather sung by Lena Horne really drives home Ace’s stormy emotions, Nancy’s desperation (“Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky, Stormy weather, Since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all of the time”) and Alice’s pain that generates the storm.

7. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - The tension between Nancy and Ace that spills over from 411 to Episode 412 is all the more shocking because we’re used to them being soft with each other. But once Nancy is hot on the trail of the sin she erased, she’s not going to give up. Harold Arlen’s song, here sung by Tony Bennett in 1964, perfectly depicts that tension as Ace tries to give Nancy the runaround (and of course she isn’t having it): “I don’t want you, But I hate to lose you, You’ve got me in between, The devil and the deep blue sea”.

8. I’ve Got You Under My Skin - The venom that erupts when Ace & Nancy repeatedly confront each other in 412 couldn’t exist without the strong feelings that still run under the surface. Nancy admitting that she hasn’t moved on, and the look Ace gives her - they’ve got each other under their skin. Frank Sinatra’s 1956 gorgeous recording of the Cole Porter tune mirrors the back and forth of the star-crossed lovers throughout the season, but especially as we near the end.

9. “Oh Sinnerman, where you going to run to?” That’s the question this traditional spiritual continues to ask throughout Nina Simone’s 1965 powerhouse of a track. Nancy and Ace are both on the run in 412 — Nancy toward the truth of their sin, and Ace away from it. In Episode 413, they work together with the Crew and Tristan to lift the sin fog that’s infected the town, and discover Nancy’s soul connection to the root of the town’s sin. This legendary recording captures the frenetic energy of Nancy and Ace’s journey toward redemption and forgiveness.

10. The finale quickly moves from chaos to resolution of all of our favorite characters’ futures — and for Nancy and Ace’s relationship. Johnny Hartman’s voice on 1963’s My One and Only Love is simply beautiful, capturing Ace’s emotion as he finally comes back to Nancy, heart in hand. Swoon.

11. It Had to Be You - I had to include this one, recorded by Harry Connick, Jr. for another epic slow burn, friends to lovers romance, 1989’s When Harry Met Sally. Nancy and Ace are the soulmates that chose each other (and their friends), which this song’s lyrics capture so perfectly: “For nobody else gives me a thrill, with all your faults, I love you still, it had to be you, wonderful you, it had to be you.”

12. Cheek to Cheek - We didn't get the 6 minute director's cut of this scene that included a little dance with a dip (grr), but we did get that sense of effervescence once Ace and Nancy have broken the curse. Ella and Louis trading off verses on Irving Berlin's timeless classic is just the mood.

13. Ending on a sentimental note, At Last Nancy and Ace are together, and they and all of the Crew have the next part of their journeys mapped out. This lovely Etta James 1960 track is a perfect ending for this playlist, and for Nancy and Ace, Bess, George, and Nick as they say goodbye to The Claw.

So there you have it, my picks for Nace S4, classic style. Would love to hear what you think! Tell me your favorite pick, what I missed, or what you would have chosen instead. Hope this playlist brings a little joy this festive season - I think it’s the perfect background soundtrack for reading all of the @secretsleuthexchange fics!

[steveharrington]

Oh yeah I mean. Barb vs Chrissy is very distinct Barb is treated like a normal character introduced fairly naturally over the course of two (?) episodes, I don’t think we even learned her last name until season 2 with her parents (which makes sense. I don’t say my last name often in conversations). Meanwhile season 4 is like. Here’s Chrissy. Cunningham. She’s a brand new character! Here’s everything about her from her interests to her family to her dickish bf to her traumas. Here’s a fun middle school anecdote that doesn’t make sense with the timeline we’ve already established. Then she dies after existing for like, 30 minutes of screen time (most of which she wasn’t in). NONE of that felt natural. And the only characters who had any real reason to care were Jason and to a much lesser extent eddie (maybe max at a stretch. But neither of them really knew her. Her major role in the season was to cause problems for the gang by turning Jason into a secondary antagonist) who were ALSO introduced at the beginning of the season and dead by the end so she’ll basically have no lasting impact on the show. She could show up as a vecna vision and most of the characters would have very little idea who she is

They might try to wring some out bc she was kind of well-received (obviously the duffers rely on fan feedback in the worst way. Kali I will avenge you) but it won’t be earned AT ALL.

Chrissy managed to have a developed personality but ultimately I think she kind of failed the sexy lamp test. Like if Eddie had allegedly stolen and broken Jason’s prized possession the story wouldn’t have changed much she existed SOLELY to die (which is why I think too many people are like. Giving credit for how Chrissy was vs Barb. Barb was an actual minor character Chrissy was a list of traits tortured and killed for real reason, though gender plays a heavy role in how both were written and received. )

hmmm i don’t really agree :/ personally i don’t think chrissy was poorly written/introduced into the show at all, esp within the context of the season. all the things you listed that feel unnatural for us to know about her (her interests, her family, her boyfriend, her traumas) have an inherent place in the story because they matter when unraveling the mystery of vecna. we know about chrissy’s trauma from her mother and her ed because that’s what vecna takes advantage of. it’s showing us this to establish that he targets people who are already struggling with an internal conflict and plays on their fears/traumas. the exact same thing happens to fred! we meet him as fred benson, editor on the newspaper who likes nancy and has this traumatic past involving a car accident for which he feels a lot of guilt. it’s just the way new characters who will soon be vecna’d are introduced this season because it gives context to why they’re vecna’d. if anything, i think chrissy and fred were treated wayyyy better than patrick in terms of humanizing them and giving their trauma screentime. patrick is the Only vecna victim to not have his trauma delved into and explored beyond other characters talking about it.

as for stuff like learning about her relationship with jason and her little backstory with eddie….idk i think that was also fairly well executed and not unlike other character introductions we’ve seen? stranger things loveeees to have two characters recount a past shared experience from long long ago. mike and will at the park, joyce and hopper under the bleachers, jonathan and will as kids playing with legos, robin and steve in click’s class, etc etc so i don’t think chrissy and eddie reminiscing about middle school to find some common ground during an awkward meet-up is that out of place. i know there’s some conjecture about how old chrissy is supposed to be and if that would line up with her and eddie being in middle school at the same time and tbh i don’t know Much about it but she’s wearing an ‘86 necklace which i assumed was her graduating year, making her a senior and eddie two years older than her which isn’t that much of a stretch for them to have been in middle school at the same time

i don’t think chrissy could be replaced with an object to evoke the same reaction out of jason. really if i’m being honest i think jason is almost sympathetic for an st villain (i say almost because the whole spiral into puritanism and the tackling of erica just got. weird.) like……..he is under the very justified impression that eddie killed someone. a body was found in eddie’s house. the body of his girlfriend! i know jason is a shitty guy and very much douche who doesn’t respect women coded, but there’s really nothing in canon that explicitly suggests that he didn’t actually love chrissy. i’ve seen people be like “well he thought she would never do drugs, he didn’t really know her!!” yall eddie was also surprised by her doing drugs. it was clearly her first time buying drugs. no wonder jason wouldn’t think she would do that BUT i digress.

i think st does have trouble writing women sometimes, but i personally think those problems manifest mostly with nancy. i’m not trying to be a duffers apologist but i really didn’t find issue with chrissy’s introduction and characterization and death, mostly because she’s treated the exact same way as fred, a man, and treated better than patrick, a black man

[bookloveravenue]

Devon Falls (book 1): Fauxmance in the Falls by J.E. Birk

I'm here to destroy this town. How did I end up in a fake relationship with its hero?

I've spent my life proving to my grandpa and dad that I'm more than just the Lewis family mistake. So when Grandpa sends me to Devon Falls, VT to take some ridiculous leaf festival to court, I head straight there and get to work.

But Dr. Jack Lancer keeps getting in my way.

He's everywhere. Helping me out with my migraines, making me dinner, insisting people be nice to me even though I’m the enemy. Who is this guy? The next thing I know I'm pretending to be Jack's boyfriend to get him out of a bind. I swear he's putting kindness pills in my food or something.

Jack thinks he can fix me the same way he fixes everyone else. But I'm not broken. This podunk town will be when I'm done with it, though. And Jack? Well, he's about to learn the meaning of the term "collateral damage." Because I'll do anything to win this case and end this festival.

Even if it means losing something that feels an awful lot like love.

Fauxmance in the Falls is an age-gap romance featuring a small town full of quirks, a grumpy lawyer and a charming physician, a fake relationship gone wild, some inappropriate use of a doctor’s office, and a healthy mix of humor and angst. It stars Benson Lewis, who first appeared in the book Counterpoint.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62701687-fauxmance-in-the-falls

********

April 4, 2023

My Review: 5/5 Stars

Been looking forward to this book since I heard Benson was our main character! For those who don't know, Benson is first scene in Counterpoint. I definitely recommend reading that one before you jump into this book. You get a better appreciation for who he is and how far he has come and changed as you are reading this story. Benson wasn't my favorite when I first read Counterpoint but it becomes clear that we don't know everything about him. And I was definitely not disappointed to learn about Benson and his past. So the story starts with Benson being sent to Devon Falls help a client prove he is the owner of the land where the town has their famous festival. Benson knows he'll be the bad guy here but also knows that if he succeeds perhaps his grandfather and father will actually acknowledge him and how far he has come. He just needs to keep his head down and don't ask questions. But that soon becomes impossible when Benson comes across pieces of this case that don't seem to add up quite right. Then to make things more complicated, Benson never expects Jack. The hot single doctor taking care of his nephew who needs a bit of help himself dealing with his ex-in-laws. Benson still isn't quite sure how he ends up being Jack's fake boyfriend when he sees how awful they are being. Jack, meanwhile, has felt like a failure for a while. Failed in his marriage, failing to help his nephew with school. He tries so hard but it seems to backfire on him every time. And when he meets Benson, who saves him, he can't help but feel like he's found something he's been missing all along. These two were so sweet! They had such a nice balance to one another. Where Benson knows he can come off as a jerk, Jack is endlessly patient and sees past that prickly side of Benson. And neither are perfect in this maybe not so fake relationship. They have issues to deal with and we get some twists and turns on their way to their happy ending. And just some plot twists in general that happened were so good! I couldn't put this story down. We got some great new characters, great old ones making an appearance, and a town that is just a hoot and where you'll want to move to. Really loved this first book in this series and I can't wait for more!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[aion-rsa]

Black Widow Review: Marvel’s Most Feminine Film is a Brutal Action Movie

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Let’s be honest: Black Widow really should have had a movie before now. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) has been in the MCU since Iron Man 2 in 2010, she’s part of the original line up of Avengers, she’s one of the most popular characters in that Universe and is one of the few lead females. Oh, and she’s also now dead. It’s pretty shocking how Nat’s been treated. So her long awaited solo film, delayed even further by the pandemic, and the first Marvel movie out of the stable since lockdown, has quite a bit of heavy lifting to do.

Beginning with a flashback to 1995, then mainly set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, this is an extension of a backstory for Natasha but also a tale of resolution. It’s a chance for her to clean up her ledger and although we know that her journey won’t truly end until the events of Endgame, this is definitely her farewell, made all the more poignant with knowledge of what’s to come. It’s action packed, yes, but it’s also very funny, emotionally nuanced, and a different flavour for Marvel.

After a glimpse at Nat’s idyllic/traumatic childhood in an impressive pre-credits sequence, we’re back to 2016. Natasha is a fugitive, in violation of the Sokovia Accords, and on the run from General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt). With help from her charming go-to guy Mason (O-T Fagbenle) she’s hiding out in a remote cabin in Norway convincing herself that after the Avengers’ “divorce” she’s better off alone. Peace doesn’t last long. A package sent from abroad and the sudden appearance of a relentless masked killing machine throws her back into the fray and into a mission which will reunite her with family and foes from the past. 

With nods to James Bond and Jason Bourne, Black Widow is an espionage movie that’s rammed with epic set pieces and spans the globe, taking us from Ohio to Cuba, Morocco to Budapest and more. Planes are crashed, cars are flipped, things fall out of the sky… though it’s getting a simultaneous Disney+ release, this is a movie built for the big screen with stunt work and spectacle to match anything the MCU has done before. It looks great but it’s in the character dynamics that Black Widow really shines.

This is a movie about family and central to it is the relationship between Natasha and her estranged surrogate sister Yelena (Florence Pugh). Pugh is brilliant – sulky, witty, and full of resentment at Natasha’s abandonment. She’s an equally skilled fighter as her sister, but burdened with being the younger sibling of an Avenger who adorns magazine covers. The chemistry between her and Johansson is palpable and they make a formidable double act. Meanwhile their one-time ‘parents’ Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei (David Harbour) are equally dysfunctional. She’s a former Widow, and current genius scientist/pig wrangler, he’s an overweight former super-soldier with ‘Karl Marx’ tattooed on his knuckles, and neither has nailed it at parenting.

Harbour is larger than life and gets some of the best lines – he views himself as the Soviet equivalent of Captain America and he’s the perfect counterpoint – disgusting, hilarious, overtly sexual, completely amoral, but also gloriously emotional when it comes to his ‘girls’.

We get to see another side of Nat too, suddenly in the presence of her folks, she’s vulnerable, she bickers with her sister, and her mother tells her off for slouching. 

Set in the real world, away from the gods and aliens of the wider MCU, Black Widow is most akin to the Captain America sequels but with a sharp script from Eric Pearson, Jac Schaeffer, and Ned Benson and some very deliberate choices from director Cate Shortland (no spoilers), this is a more feminine film than we’ve seen from Marvel before. It’s not just that the most capable characters in the film are women, the whole film is packed top to bottom with female faces and some of the best gags are about fallopian tubes, clothes, and what a poser Natasha is, while our big baddie, Ray Winstone’s Dreykov, is a human man with too much power who treats women as commodities. Feminine doesn’t equate to gentle though. Black Widow has a high body count (albeit mostly off screen) and Dreykov could be one of the most purely nasty villains the MCU has ever seen.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The movie has some of the usual Marvel Studios pitfalls. The final act is CGI heavy and convoluted, and for a gritty real-world movie, some of the falls Nat takes are almost as ridiculous as Ray Winstone’s Russian accent. But you’d have to be pretty hard of heart to have that as your main takeaway. We’ve waited way too long, but at last we have a Black Widow film that does Natasha justice. And though it feels like we were only just getting to know her, Black Widow gives Nat a legacy that could reach wide into the MCU and might just change it for the better. 

Black Widow opens in cinemas on 7 July (UK) and 9 July (US) and is available at a premium on Disney+ from 9 July.

The post Black Widow Review: Marvel’s Most Feminine Film is a Brutal Action Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 2 Episode 9)

Episode Title: All That Glitters

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers.

1. Now that the truth about Dr. Emilia being the one responsible for driving a wedge between mutes and humans is out, everyone is pretty much against her and they want to stop her from getting to Scarlemagne’s coronation. However, Kipo mostly wants to talk to Scarlemagne and probably convince him to join their side. 

2. Gerard then arrives shortly and Benson, Wolf and Dave go into hiding. He tells Kipo that she’s ordered by Scarlemagne to join him at the food court. Side note: I am loving the wink Kipo is giving us here in this picture. 

3. As Wolf, Benson and Dave are making their way back to Dr. Emilia’s headquarters, they are discussing about their plan of action, which is to hand over a perfume bottle to her instead of the nectar bomb so that they can use the bomb to blow up the tunnel’s entrance to prevent her from getting to Scarlemagne’s palace.

4. When they get back, Dr. Emilia already knew about them lying to her. She confronts them about it but they try to play it off like Kipo is very stressed out about having to fight the Mega Monkey and that’s why she ran off. I’m trying to connect the dots here; Does Dr. Emilia know that Kipo is Song and Lio’s daughter? No, right? Just checking lol. They then hand over the fake nectar bomb to her. 

5. Dr. Emilia tells Zane and Greta that they seem know of their hidden plan to kill Kipo after using her. Therefore, she has no choice but to use the sonic emitter on the Mega Monkey since Kipo isn’t around. 

6. Meanwhile, Kipo is randomly playing a board-game about strategy with Scarlemagne and they’re actually having fun with each other. However, it’s not all fun and games for Scarlemagne as he reveals that all the mute groups will be arriving tomorrow morning and he has something ready for them. I guess he’s going to use his pheromones to control them?

7. Kipo tries to convince him to not follow through with his plan but he won’t listen to her since becoming King was all her ever wanted. Also, Kipo needs to stop saying “Hugo” around him; It’s definitely his trigger word. She does have a plan though and proceeds to then break her dad out of prison. She wants Lio to help her make Scarlemagne a present but Lio isn’t so convinced that it would work. By the way, I didn’t appreciate how Lio referred to him as a “lunatic tyrant” and neither did Kipo. Lio abandoned Hugo and it was a crappy thing for him to do. Point. Blank. Period. 

8. Dr. Emilia is now ready to deploy her rescue teams, which comprise of the Alpha team, the B team and the Strike team. But before they could go, Benson tells everyone that he made pancakes. I immediately knew that this was a set-up but it’s funny how Dr. Emilia couldn’t see that. After serving them pancakes, we notice that Mandu is feeling left out of the group because he feels like he doesn’t contribute as much as the others. Poor thing. Eventually, Dave goes into the tunnel to detonate the nectar bomb. 

9. As I’ve predicted, Kipo is trying to recreate Hugo’s old blue blanket with the stars pattern on it in order to bring out the inner Hugo from inside of Scarlemagne. I love how Kipo is calling out her dad for giving up on Hugo so easily. I so agree with her; Her doing so convinces Lio to go through with her plan but as they make their way to Scarlemagne, they are spotted by the Mod Frogs.

10. Benson and the others are continuing to whip up more pancakes for the humans. But OMG BENSON! Why did you have to expose Song’s old journal like that!? *faceplams. Dr. Emilia is caught off guard by this but doesn’t do anything. Suddenly, we hear the nectar bomb explosion and Wolf tells everyone to check out that tunnel, which had caved in. Oh and Benson just had to leave the book on the table. Nice going Benson...

11. The Mod Frogs are now attacking Kipo and Lio for destroying their home but Kipo is able to handle all three of them very easily. Scarlemagne sees all of this and questions them. He also sprays his pheromones on Lio and get the truth out from him to which he confesses to Scarlemagne that he regrets giving up on him. You can tell from the look in his eyes that him saying that to him means a lot. 

12. It also looks like the Mod Frogs are going to be in a lot of trouble it seems. Back to the nectar explosion, Dave, Benson and Wolf manage to trap the humans near the site but of course, they didn’t account for Dr. Emilia.

13. Scarlemagne is playing Kipo the song he plans to have for his grand entrance but he ends up not liking it. Kipo, in turn, plays a suggestion of her own, one that is more relaxed and Scarlemagne really likes it. Lio and Song sure do raise their “kids” to be musically inclined. Eventually, the two of them play a piano duet. That’s really cool! I really hope Scarlemagne’s turns “good” by the end of the season. 

14. That’s so awesome. I love seeing them bond like that. After playing the piano, Kipo suggests to Scarlemagne that he should act like more of himself  with the other mutes in order to gain their loyalty instead of forcing them to follow him. However, Scarlemagne doesn’t think that anyone would choose to be his follower. Kipo thinks otherwise because he’s likable to her. She then passes the blanket she made for him and apologizes to him for everything that happened to him. She leaves him be in order to give him space to re-consider what he originally planned to do to the mutes. This has gotta be my favorite scene of the entire show thus far. It really warmed my heart. 

15. It’s time for Wolf, Benson and Dave vs Dr. Emilia. Let’s see how Dr. Emilia’s fighting chops are like lol. Well, she’s a pretty good fighter actually. She did knock out Benson and Dave (poor guys) and with Wolf, it’s pretty even. Well, she shouldn’t be so proud of herself since Wolf is a little girl after all lmao. In the end, she outclassed Wolf and throws all three of them into her glass cage to potentially lure Kipo in to rescue them. I guess this is Mandu’s time to shine? Where is she anyways?

16. After breaking Stalky (to Wolf’s heartbreak), Dr. Emilia is stopped by Mandu (there she is!) and we get this bada** fight scene between her and Dr. Emilia. Mandu is killing it out there! And guess what? She defeats her by stinging her leg with Stalky’s broken part. Mandu is the MVP of this episode for sure! She then rescues the others and they’re so impressed by her; As they should be. 

17. Time is running out and the coronation is about to start. Wolf is very sad about her shattered Stalky but she has to move on without it. I’m sure if they had more time, she could have gotten it fixed. 

18. So we get to the coronation and all the mute groups are gathered there. Despite doing her best to get through to Scarlemagne, it looks like he’s still focused on being a forceful and mind-controlling ruler. He addresses the crowd and tells them that they have a choice between swearing their loyalty to him or to oppose him and become encased in solid gold, like in the case of the Mod Frogs. Oh my...are they dead? I guess they are...So, the mutes have no other choice but to pledge their loyalty to him.

19. We find out that Scarlemagne only turned the Mod Frogs to gold because he doesn’t want them to bother Kipo again. I guess Scarlemagne still has a soft spot for Kipo despite all the other treacheries. Nonetheless, Kipo is upset with what happened to the frogs. Scarlemagne sees that she’s hurt and tells her that he is willing to let everyone go if she’s willing to let him gild (I had to Google that. It basically means cover something in gold) Lio. She obviously declines his offer and that’s that; Scarlemagne is then crowned emperor.

20. This was another solid episode from the season. As you can tell, my favorite scenes were the interactions we saw between Kipo and Scarlemagne. Scarlemagne is definitely fond of Kipo due to her showing her sympathy towards him but he’s still hurting from his past and it’s hard to change him. 

21. I’m planning to watch the last episode of the season on Tuesday since I will be busy on Monday. So please stay tuned for when I post my review of episode 10 (season finale) on that day. Thank you for reading my review. I really appreciate it. Till then, see ya!

[hollyoaksloversx]

Who’s Been Sleeping in Warren’s Bed?

Rounding up a week in Hollyoaks (14th-18th December 2020)

Hollyoaks fans were given an early Christmas present this week, as Liberty finally received help for her postpartum psychosis, meaning that Nico finally disappeared from our screens. As the week’s action kicked off, Liberty was planning to take an unwell Faith to see a doctor, but Nico advised against it. Later, Damon arrived home to find Liberty talking to Nico. He shared his discovery with Sienna, but when she went to confront her sister, Liberty did a runner. Sienna eventually caught up with Liberty at the folly and convinced her that she needed help. Despite Nico dripping poison in her ear, Liberty agreed to go to the hospital and was admitted to a mental health ward. Although relieved that Liberty was finally getting the help she needed, Sienna was hurt that Brody had not believed her. After some support from Warren, Sienna went to speak with Brody, but things didn’t go well and Sienna ended up storming off when Brody referred to Faith as ‘his daughter. 

Meanwhile, over at The Dog, another sin was revealed, leading to panic for Nana, who admitted her gambling addiction to a shocked Mercedes. Determined to pay the blackmailer off, Mercedes began entertaining men online for money, but Cher found out and told Sylver. Of course, Sylver was furious when he found out what Mercedes was up to and a viscous argument broke out, resulting in Mercedes walking out, shouting that she was off to sleep with every man she could see. Mercedes and Sienna bumped into each other at the folly, with emotions still running high following their arguments with their partners. As the pair talked about their problems, both of their mobiles started to ring, and Warren was shown making a phone call before a mystery woman turned up at his door...

The following morning, neither Sienna nor Mercedes had come home. At the Blake’s, Brody thought he knew where exactly where to look and headed straight round to Warren’s, but he denied all knowledge. At the Dog, Sylver was also worried about what had become of Mercedes, but she soon staggered in, telling Sylver that she’d crashed out on the floor of Tony’s caravan. With it being revealed that Sienna was the one that Warren had spent the night with, Warren was keen for the pair to get together properly, but Sienna was unsure. Later, Brody saw Sienna and Warren together in the village and immediately put two and two together. However, when Brody confronted the pair, Warren lied that he’d spent the night with Mercedes, just as Sylver arrived. 

Brody and Sienna soon patched up their differences and excitedly headed to the hospital to bring baby Faith home, where she would stay until a space became available at the Mother and baby unit. Later, Sienna went to see Warren, and explained that she couldn’t be with him, not realising that Sylver had overheard. Realising that Mercedes really had slept on Tony’s floor, Sylver went home to apologise, but the family were soon distracted by another message from the doll. This time, it was John Paul who had reason to squirm, as the doll revealed to the pub, including Nancy, that he had stolen Kyle’s watch...

In other news this week, Felix agreed not to report Toby to the police when Celeste pointed out the affect it could have on Walter and Martine, whilst Brooke agreed to go on a date with Imran. Finally, determined to find out the truth about Diane’s attack, Tony came to a realisation when Ste encouraged him to think about who would have reason to want to keep him and Diane apart...

This Week’s Cast:

Brody, Brooke, Celeste, Cher, Cindy, Damon, Felix, George, Imran, John Paul, Liberty, Martine, Mercedes, Misbah, Nana McQueen, Nancy, Nico, Ripley, Sally, Scott, Sid, Sienna, Ste, Summer, Sylver, Theresa, Toby, Tony, Walter and Warren

Blasts From The Past:

Kurt Benson, Mitchell Deveraux, Kyle Kelly, Lisa Loveday

[hellyeahomeland]

“Prisoners of War”: an HYH recap

The finale of our last season opens just as the finale of our first season did: with Nicholas Brody’s suicide tape. Brody stands before us just as we remember him: uniform pressed, grainy black and white, defending his decisions to the masses. Carrie drives late at night, her face steely, as those familiar words echo in her ears: “People will say I was broken, I was brainwashed. People will say that I was turned into a terrorist, taught to hate my country. I love my country.”

She arrives home, again, to an empty house.

Back in New York, Linus is paying Saul a surprise visit.

Saul: Hey, man! Am I fired yet? Linus: Miraculously, no! But Jalal Haqqani is definitely not dead, did you have any idea? Saul: Yeah, it was my entire idea. I didn’t tell you so you’d have plausible deniability. Linus: WHERE IS THE ALLIGATOR? Look, Hayes is pissed and is saying he’s going to take out Pakistan’s nuclear facilities if they don’t stand down. Saul: Jesus. Ok, get in the car, I’ll explain why I’ve been acting so fishy on the way back.

The next morning, Carrie’s enjoying a nice cup of coffee while watching her former enemy Tasneem deliver an address at the UN. Tasneem explains that the US are basically a bunch of annoying bullies and they have no choice but to defend themselves with everything they have. After, Anna goes back to the Russian Federation’s office and into Director Mirov’s office, where she notices the red flight recorder. She recaps Tasneem’s speech and Mirov is delighted because they’re all about to get promotions. Anna is steely-faced and says he deserves it.

Carrie arrives at Charlotte Benson’s giant mansion. Two Russian hunks, one of whom looks EXACTLY LIKE Jonas but is not, escort her to Charlotte’s murder demo. Actually, Carrie’s not going to murder him. She’s just gonna mix a few chemicals and create a gel that she rubs on his skin to immobilize him, then the Russians hunks will murder him. According to Yevgeny, they’re the best, and Yevgeny wants nothing but the best for his girl. Carrie looks like she may actually vomit, even though I already completed that bingo square.

In the Oval Office, Saul arrives for his meeting with Hayes but instead it’s just Evil Spawn Zabel, who looks so totally delighted to be going one-on-one with Saul again. Saul shares that the flight recorder indicates the helicopter wasn’t shot down after all, it was just mechanical failure. Zabel seems intrigued initially, the wheels in his head probably spinning to figure out how he can play this to his advantage. But Saul doesn’t have the recording and in fact has no proof. Zabel says he’s full of shit. They basically talk past each other, neither side budging from the facts (or, as Zabel would say, “facts”). He pronounces Saddam in Saddam Hussein like it rhymes with “Goddamn” and then says the Iraq War was a good idea “for the record.” Hugh Dancy revels in the slime.

Saul’s relaying this shitshow to Linus when he arrives home to find St. Maggie. Mr. Bill “I’ve Had It” Mathison has a friend who swore he saw Carrie at Langley the other day, which makes no sense to me or to Maggie but Saul’s like “could have happened!” Wasn’t Carrie on trial for being involved in the president’s murder? Anyhoozles, Maggie is once again exasperated with Carrie, her sister whom she just can’t understand. Carrie hasn’t even stopped by to see Franny. Saul agrees it’s strange.

Ironically, while Maggie is paying a house visit to Saul, Carrie is paying a house visit to Maggie. Well, more specifically to Franny’s bedroom, where’s she’s hidden a go-bag filled with cash and a shitload of meds and a half dozen passports. On her way out, she pauses on a photo of Franny, her hair red as ever, in a bright yellow rain coat. She takes it with her.

Later that night, Carrie arrives back at Saul’s, looking again like she could hurl at any minute. She spots the Russian hunks in a nearby car lighting up a cigarette. She steps inside to find Saul, sitting in his library, listening to the Fleabag soundtrack. It’s very ominous. Dad is NOT happy!

He confronts her immediately. Why hasn’t she seen Franny? Actually, why the fuck is she even back here? Seems like she’s planning a quick escape. But why come back in the first place?

She deflects initially, but it’s Saul. She knows that he knows. He knows that she knows that he knows. There is a lot of knowing going on.

Carrie: You know the answers to all your questions. Saul: I still want to hear you say it. With my own ears. Carrie: I made a deal with Yevgeny. The flight recorder for your asset in Moscow. Saul: Asset? What asset? Carrie: Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I know she exists. I know how you communicate. Saul: Good God, Carrie, tell me you haven’t. If you have, you’ve permanently crippled our position in Russia. She’s the last live source we have there. The rest were sent to the wall by Allison Carr, a thing that was 0% my fault. Carrie: We can rebuild the intelligence network. Saul: It’ll take a decades. Meanwhile they slowly strangle us. Carrie: Let’s worry about all that tomorrow. We’re on the brink of nuclear war today in case you forgot. Saul: Relax, I’m talking to some journalists tomorrow. Carrie: Lol, like that will make a flying fuck worth of a difference. Saul: Well, sometimes that’s the price of doing business. Carrie: Who even are you? Saul: What do you want from me? Carrie: GIVE ME HER NAME. Saul: I never will. God, get the fuck out of my house. You’re turning yourself in ASAP.

Carrie storms upstairs and starts to mix the not-murder potion. For some reason she forgets to close the door because Saul walks in a few moments later. She panics and smears the gel across his neck. He looks confused for a second and then collapses. Carrie looks in shock at her mentor sprawled out on the floor. She signals the Russian hunks on the street outside. Sara begins to have an actual panic attack thinking Carrie might murder Saul.

Saul can hear her, of course, but he can’t move. He can barely speak. She tells him to give her the name, now, or some Russian dudes are gonna murder him. She says it’s out of her hands when it’s entirely in her hands. She explains to him the legacy plan. The poor guy looks literally dumbstruck. She asks him to see reason. No one person can be worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It’s an interesting replay of his conversation with Zabel earlier.

The GRU team walks in then — she gives him one final chance, but he still won’t say her name. They take him into his bedroom, which is GIANT, and begin prepping for the murder.

Carrie tries again. She tries really hard, with everything she has.

“Everything you have ever asked of me, I have done.” In a single line, their whole relationship, eight seasons’ worth. He stares back up at her, simultaneously expressionless and filled with hurt and pain. Is there no fucking line?

Then: “Come here,” he mumbles, barely audible. She leans in close to him, expectant. “Go fuck yourself.” A fat tear rolls down her face and she shakes her head at the GRU team. She says something about a fallback plan and then turns toward Saul, every inch of herself sorry and lost and guilty. “I had to try,” she says quietly.

The fallback plan is to go see Saul’s sister Dorit (“Saul, what do you have?”) in the West Bank. And, once there, to tell Dorit that Saul’s died of a stroke and Dorit needs to go back to DC at once for funeral arrangements. Carrie plays somber yet dutiful surrogate daughter well. She’s disgusted with herself but, again, can’t hold back. Wherever the line is, if it existed, she’s lost it now.

While she’s helping Dorit pack, she makes her move and pokes around the legacy plan. Dorit, like Mira before her, sees her brother in this woman all too clearly. “Always an ulterior motive,” she says. But Dorit is kind-hearted and she does have an envelope for Carrie. There’s a thumb drive inside and Carrie looks so relieved she could cry. She sends Dorit on her way (but not before swiping her phone... I LOVE YOU CARRIE).

Back in Washington, Saul has full motor control again but he’s really late for his meeting with those journalists, and Linus, ever the mensch and detective, realizes something’s fishy pretty immediately. Nevertheless, Carrie’s just given word to Yevgeny that she has the name, so they peace out anyway.

Yevgeny arrives at Dorit’s house on cue and dressed for warm weather. Carrie’s not getting a needle to the neck this time. She’s on full alert, gun pointed straight at him before he even walks through the door. She makes a big show of patting every inch of his body down for a weapon that he actually doesn’t have, and then tosses him a piece of paper with Anna’s name. Then she shows him what’s on the flash drive.

Here’s what’s on the flash drive: a much darker-haired Saul, with different glasses, explaining who Anna is. Aside from Carrie, she is the most important professional relationship in his life. She’s an asset but she runs herself (sounds familiar!). She is extraordinary. And he never told her because he was protecting her. Carrie turns away — his soft, sure words are like daggers. Everything he’s talking about on that tape is destroyed. Carrie took a match to it all.

Anna’s now burned and Mirov knows. Saul rings up Resident Hottie Scott Ryan at the UN for an assist. Saul pleads with him to get Anna out of there ASAP. At the same time, Mirov’s men run in quick pursuit. Scott and Anna make their way to a dead-end room in the basement and barricade the door. Anna asks for a gun, not to shoot her way out… well, at least not out. Anna is determined, assured, confident. She won’t let them take her. You can tell how she’s been such an incredible, independent asset all these years and why Saul wants so desperately to save her. Scott refuses to hand over his gun and Anna asks to phone a friend.

On the phone, Saul reacts initially just like Scott. There’s got to be another way. We can get out of this, you don’t have to do this. But she is persistent, she’s determined. She wants to end this on her own terms. “I’ve never known anyone so brave,” Saul says, his eyes wide. He orders Scott to give her the gun. On the other end of the line, Saul hears the single shot. He winces in pain.

Shockingly, Russia followed through with their end of the deal and Mirov gets up at the UN with brand new evidence that Jalal Haqqani didn’t shoot down the president’s helicopter. It was an accident and now the whole world can hear the cockpit recording for themselves. Watching in Israel, Carrie’s disgusted. Yevgeny, ever the considerate boyfriend, asks if she’s ok.

Carrie: Just cut the bullshit, the game’s over. Also, why the fuck are you still here? Just leave already. Russia’s a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize and a decent woman is going to be tortured and killed by your government. Yevgeny: That decent woman got two assets of mine killed in Cyprus. Carrie: Oh, I’m sure they were both good samaritans. Yevgeny: Fine, if you want to blame me, go ahead. Carrie: Good, I do blame you! Yevgeny: Look, sometimes it’s just the cost of doing business. I did what I had to do. Carrie: WHY DO ALL THE MEN IN MY LIFE SAY THE SAME THINGS? Yevgeny: He should have pulled Anna from the field the second he realized what you were doing. Carrie: You just don’t fucking get it. He didn’t pull her because he trusted me. He fucking loved me. I betrayed him. I broke that.  Do you even understand what that means? Yevgeny: You’ll survive. So will he. Carrie: I don’t know what it’s like on your side but it must be very lonely.

In the Oval Office, Hayes, Zabel, and Linus—still not eaten by an alligator—are huddled around the TV watching Mirov’s press conference. Mirov pleads with Hayes to stand down following the reveal of this big misunderstanding. Suddenly Zabel looks like he wants to get eaten by an alligator! Hayes asks Linus, who hasn’t been addressed directly by POTUS in 4-6 weeks, for a direct line with the military. They get Owens on the phone. Zabel’s plan to start a phony war to consolidate power and kill more brown people has been thwarted. Everything’s coming up Linus!

Back at Dorit’s house, Yevgeny tells Carrie that Anna’s killed herself. She’s about to make some quippy remark like “Sorry you missed out on some gulag fun” when Yevgeny connects the dots for her and says that Saul must have warned her. And then Carrie connects the dots for us: Israeli counter-intelligence knows too. Time to book it! They hop in their getaway car and head for Ramallah. Yevgeny has people there who can smuggle her into Syria. And then? And then…

Are you sitting down? We fast forward two years. We’re in Moscow. Carrie Mathison is in a large, spacious penthouse. She is applying MASCARA. TO HER EYELASHES. HER HAIR IS CURLED.

“You almost ready?” says a familiar, accented voice. IT’S YEVGENY. She turns and smiles. Y’ALL THEY ARE LIVING TOGETHER IN MOSCOW.

Sara: [head explodes]  

He asks if she’s excited. “Very.” Remember in season five when Claire’s like, “Carrie’s doing great, for five minutes.” This is like that only better.

Yevgeny gives her a gold necklace, for “finishing.” Do we all get one too? He tells her what she’s done is very, very important and it’s time to celebrate. It’s sort of surreal. The best way I can think of to describe it is the season of Lost where Jack and Kate are off the island and living together and in love and if you were, say, into that, it was paradise. If you were, say, not into that, it was bizarre as fuck.

Once ready, Carrie runs into her office to get her purse. It’s… about what you’d expect her office to look like. There are stacks of books everywhere, documents printed out and tacked to the wall, sticky notes all over the window. The picture of Franny in the yellow rain coat is still there. She turns to the wall and takes it in. It’s pages and pages of news articles about the CIA’s drone program, Abu Ghraib, the black sites, torture. Familiar figures—in real life and in-show—are visible. Snowden, Brody, Quinn, Keane. It’s her professional career—her entire life—arrayed in one final collage for us to take in. The familiar closing score from “The Star” begins playing as she shuts off the lights.

Cut to Saul, in his house, now much emptier. He and Dorit are packing boxes. He’s had a heart attack and is moving out, presumably to someplace where he’s not alone all the time. The phone begins to ring. It’s someone looking for a Professor Rabinow.

Then the jazz stars to play. Yevgeny’s big celebration for Carrie was a jazz concert by Kamasi Washington and crew. It’s electrifying. They’re both into it, bobbing their heads as much as one can bob their head to jazz. It’s a clever callback not only to the jazz musicians Carries spots in the pilot but also to this oft-parodied passion of hers. The cacophonous sounds, it’s bliss.

The song finishes and out of the corner of her eye Carrie spots a woman in the orchestra exit her seat. She absentmindedly rubs Yevgeny’s knee. It’s a subtle but specific detail with one purpose and that is to reveal that this relationship is real. It is comfortably intimate. It exists in the grey--in the duplicity--that Carrie’s relationships with men have always existed in. Maybe that’s her happiness. Maybe that’s how she’s not alone.

In DC, Saul pays a visit to his friend Claude, who calls him Professor repeatedly, even though Saul claims all that stuff is over with. Well, the package addressed to Professor Rabinow that was just delivered this morning begs to differ.

At the concert, Carrie excuses herself to go freshen up her makeup and ends up at the vanity right next to that woman she’d spotted. The other woman eyes Carrie, before casually taking off with Carrie’s purse. Carrie takes hers.

At his home, Saul has the Professor Rabinow package. He opens it. It’s Carrie’s book, the presumed result of all that research in her office. It’s called Tyranny of Secrets. A haunting black-and-white image of Carrie stares back at him from the cover. This is her work... and it’s his, too. He flips through the first few pages. He reads the subtitle, “Why I Had to Betray My Country.” And the dedication, “For my daughter, in the hope that one day she will understand.”  

He doesn’t get it until he does. He flips the book upside down into that familiar Y shape and then extracts a slim piece of paper from the spine. She reads: “Greetings from Moscow, Professor. The Russian S400 missile defense system sold to Iran and Turkey has a back door. It can be defeated. Specs to follow. Stay tuned.” He looks up in awe, a hint of a smile across his face.

At the concert, the saxophone blares in her ears, vocals ringing, strings, bass, piano, drums. Everything, all at once. She sighs, then smiles, bathed in blue light. Not noise. Music.

[reading-writing-revolution]

Heather Cox Richardson

May 20, 2020 (Wednesday)

There was one vignette today that captured a lot more than its immediate subject.

Trump took to twitter to oppose what he said was Michigan’s recent mailing of absentee ballots to the state’s voters. “This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!” the president tweeted.

But Michigan’s secretary of state responded: “Hi! I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson. And we sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia.” When Trump deleted his first inaccurate tweet about ballots and corrected it in a second similar tweet, she responded: “Every Michigan registered voter has a right to vote by mail. I have the authority & responsibility to make sure that they know how to exercise this right- just like my GOP colleagues are doing in GA, IA, NE, and WV. Also, again, my name is Jocelyn Benson.”

Later today, Trump tried to threaten Nevada in a similar way. “State of Nevada ‘thinks’ that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, ‘I think’ I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections.”

There is a lot encompassed in these tweets. Trump is running behind presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in virtually every poll, and Michigan is crucial to his reelection prospects. But his problem is not mail-in ballots. Currently, the states of Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Utah, as well as various counties in California, all have vote by mail. A mail-in system creates about a 2% increase in voting, but does not appear to benefit one party over another. Neither does it create measurable voter fraud, which remains vanishingly rare in our system. Nonetheless, Trump has concluded that the Republicans should “fight very hard” against mail-in voting, despite the coronavirus, because it “doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”

If this exchange of tweets between Trump and Benson shows that Trump is worried about his reelection prospects, it also reveals the sort of quid pro quo that was at the heart of the Ukraine scandal. His threat to withhold monies from Michigan and Nevada until they do what he wants echoes his request of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that he announce an investigation into Joe Biden’s son before getting the military support Ukraine so desperately needed. It reiterates his view of governance as merely a series of deals with a winner and a loser, a zero-sum game, rather than as an arrangement that should benefit everyone.

That being said, it is not at all clear what monies Trump was talking about. As Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar put it, “Last time I checked, the Constitution gives Congress the power to appropriate money, not you. We provided $400 million to help states protect voters from this virus. A bill you signed! You can’t take money back because you think you should be the only one allowed to vote by mail.”

Klobuchar is referring to the fact that Trump, himself, along with Vice President Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and other senior members of the administration, all vote by mail. Nonetheless, Republicans are pushing the idea that mail-in voting is an attempt of Democrats to commit fraud. Texas is in the midst of a nasty legal fight over whether voters can mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus. Opponents are happy for older people-- who skew Republican--to vote by mail, but say that fear of Covid-19 is not a physical condition that would justify a mail-in ballot; it is simply an "emotional" fear and thus no excuse for wanting to avoid public polling places. The question is now before the Texas courts.

So Trump is worried about his reelection prospects and eager to attack mail-in voting that pretty clearly does not give Democrats any particular leg up, raising the possibility that he is setting himself up to accuse Michigan and Nevada of rigging the system if he loses in November. He has accused Democrats of cheating since 2016, and his language on that front has ramped up dramatically lately as his polls have fallen.

And yet, Michigan's secretary of state called him out. Insisting on the reality that belies his narrative, she repeats: “My name is Jocelyn Benson.”

From Moby Dick’s famous beginning “Call me Ishmael” to the fear in the Harry Potter books of calling the evil Voldemort by name, invoking someone’s name makes them a power to be reckoned with. In this case, a woman doing her job, insisting on reality that interrupts Trump’s narrative, repeatedly demands that he use her name.

It’s a powerful moment. At a time when senators and government officials appear to have ceded their power to Trump, it is ordinary Americans like Jocelyn Benson, ordinary women like Jocelyn Benson, who are standing up to him. "Hi!" she wrote. "I also have a name."

Indeed she does. That's exactly what the president is afraid of.

--

Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court upheld voting by mail yesterday, and Maryland also votes by mail. But you won't hear Trump say anything about those states because they have Republican governors.

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 6x19 Seeing Red

aka dick move joss

Welcome to this dailyish (weekly? bi-weekly?) text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And after today’s episode, who’s ready to get drunk and do some math? *points to self* It me. I’m drunk.

Seeing Red has not one, but TWO of the show’s most controversial scenes in the entire series, so that’s a distinction I guess. One that I should probably be talking about, but… you know. Turns out that when you drink the rest of your apple liquor in one sitting, your ability to form critical thought exponentially deteriorates with each and every second.

But math? Math is easy. You can do math drunk while walking on your hands. So let’s do math.

So, did you guys know that Amber Benson appeared in the most Buffy episodes per season while not being in the credits? It’s true. I made a very detailed excel sheet.

(Yes, these are all the actors who appeared at least 14 episodes of the show. I didn’t really need to include all of them to prove my point, but I did it anyway.)

Those purple highlights you see? Those are for actors who appeared at least 70% of the episodes while not being part of the main cast in a season. Apart from a few special cases where someone has been promoted to the main cast during a season (like Michelle Trachtenberg after one episode in season 5 or Marc Blucas following the first 10 episodes of season 4), the only ones this applies for is Kristine Sutherland and Amber Benson. And the latter’s 18 appearance during season 5 (aka 82% of the season) is our biggest outlier among those even.

Now, to be fair, actors who are part of the main cast never actually go below 83% in their own respective season appearances on Buffy (see the blue highlights that show the two instances that goes below 90% even), but like… Appearing in 16-18 episodes of at least two 22-episode seasons in a major capacity is still a fucking lot by any TV standards.

So the fact that neither of these actors have been promoted to regular status during their run is kind of weird. Maybe Joyce was often forced into the background, but Kristine Sutherland was a huge presence in season 5 in particular. Up until Joyce’s death in The Body, she appeared in all episodes, and had a cameo later in The Weight of the World. She should’ve been in the credits for that period, imo.

Similarly, if you look at other characters who occupied a comparable role to Tara – so, basically characters who were introduced as love interests to one of the Scoobies –, each and every one of them have been promoted to the main cast by their 3rd year at the very least. And Emma Caulfield, who was one of those third year joiners, only appeared in 5 episodes in her first season. Seth Green, who with his 10/22 appearance is much closer to Amber Benson’s 12/22 in their respective debut seasons, was part of the credits by his second year on the show.

In conclusion what I’m saying is that fuck you Joss for pulling that opening credits shit on us. No. This should’ve happened two seasons ago, and now you’re using it to play on the audience’s attachment to this character, dangling that promise of having more of her on the show just to take it away.

Not cool, my dude. So very not cool.

In other bad news, making that excel sheet sobered me up a bit (damn you, math), and now I’m just kinda tired and sad. It’s starting to dawn on me that this is the last I’ll see of Tara during this rewatch.

Maybe I should just start over from Hush? There’s an idea…

There’s also a reason why this episode is cited as such an egregious example of the Bury Your Gays trope even after almost two decades. With the show having been limited on what they can show of Willow and Tara’s relationship early on, the inclusion of the many sexual moments in this episode especially jumps out. Having that precede Tara’s death somehow manages to maximize the negative impact of it even more, reinforcing pre-existing harmful associations in the audience.

But then again, would it have been better to not have these moments at all? I don’t know the answer to that.

In any case, when I talked about character deaths earlier on this show, I mentioned that there are two criteria that I judge those: story impact and social impact. Meaning on one hand, that when you kill off a character, you want that to have a meaningful impact on your story and characters. It needs to have a purpose and long-lasting effects for it to satisfy your audience’s emotional needs. And on the other hand, there’s also the bigger media and societal landscape to consider. Especially when you’re killing off a character, who’s already part of an underrepresented group.

I think I probably already alluded to how I consider Tara’s death to be well-executed story-wise, despite being extremely poorly done in the latter regard. There are arguments to be made of course about how maybe the show could’ve killed a different character to achieve the same effect in the story, etc. – but I find the following arc captivating as it is regardless.

Then again, I also love Tara, and definitely wouldn’t have complained if the show just randomly brought her back from the death, story be damned. Unbury your gays, you cowards.

I guess I’ll also need to touch on the other controversial scene in the episode, huh? Well, I don’t want to.

But fine.

Hot take, but I just don’t connect to Spike. Not during this rewatch. And looking back at my feelings on it, I think that part of that is the very association that’s textualized here.

See, vampires are giant rape metaphors. Well, they can be metaphors for a lot of things, this is Buffy after all, but that’s definitely a big part of them. And the show’s been playing up this aspect with Spike in the past – usually it’s just been done for comedy.

Think about his scenes with Willow in Lovers Walk or The Initiative. The latter is especially chilling with the way he attacks Willow on her bed and turns up the music, right before we cut to black… and then we find out that Spike’s “impotent” and can’t bite her, and suddenly she’s comforting him? And it’s a comedy?

That scene is super weird. And uncomfortable. And that was probably part of its purpose, but it also means that I’m just not shocked by what he almost does here.

Spike’s a romantic, but he’s also a soulless vampire who can’t differentiate between love, death, sex and violence. He tells Buffy in a previous episode that he wouldn’t hurt her, but while he may believe that, it’s not true exactly. He doesn’t understand what Buffy needs. They share an understanding, but in this, he’s unable to empathize with Buffy beyond a certain level.

Afterwards though, he does seem to understand what he’s done, and given what we know of vampires, that’s pretty fascinating. He finally realizes that he can’t love Buffy without that empathy. And he can’t be the monster he used to be with these conflicts. So he’s off to rectify that.

Meanwhile Buffy’s out there, fighting superpowered nerds right after that fucking traumatic experience. Which… don’t get me wrong, I can definitely see how beating up Warren can be therapeutic, but there is also something to be said about the show not giving Buffy enough space to process certain traumas, and focusing more on Spike’s development instead.

Again though, it’s not that I don’t get it. Spike’s an intriguing character, and I can definitely see how a lot of people connect with him. His more negative traits are balanced out by his vulnerability, and his ability to self-reflect and grow. Just because I have a hard time relating to him, doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t enjoy his character. God knows that I have plenty of problematic faves...

Oh yeah, and Xander and Buffy share a nice scene by the end of the episode. Still, I guess I wanted a bit more out of it? Like Xander acknowledging how putting Buffy on a pedestal leads to him judging her more harshly, and how it’s something he should be working on in order to be a better friend to Buffy? Maybe I just want too much.

A character who was just perfect in this episode though? Dawn. Actual picture of Dawn Summers looking at Tara and Willow.

Same, Dawn. Same.

The last three minutes of Seeing Red? I don’t know her.

[taffysannotatedsonichu]

Sonichu 10 Page 95 - Retconned

ALEC BENSON LEARY: Good day, neighbor Mao.

MAO LING: Good day, neighbor Alec.

ALEC BENSON LEARY: How are you today?

MAO LING: I had a pleasant night’s sleep with my manditorily chosen wife. She has fixed a good bacon and eggs with biscuits for breakfast.

ALEC BENSON LEARY: That is good.

MAO LING: Yes, it is.

SFX: Wham

The Asperpedia Four are drawn completely identically in their new Amish lifestyle, intended to suggest the Amish are repressing their individuality. Neither Mao nor Evan are drawn with glasses, so maybe even in this retcon Sandy still was able to keep Evan’s glasses as a trophy.

The conversation between Alec and Mao is incredibly rigid, and refer to each other with the honorific “neighbor” universally. I can’t really find anything on it, but I believe that “neighbor” is not a style of address ever used among the real Amish.

Mao mentions he spent the night with a “manditorily chosen wife”, suggesting that Chris believes the Amish practice arranged marriages. They do not, though they may not marry outside of their community.

Mao’s weird double entendre about bacon and eggs appears to be a rewording of Chris’s favorite joke, which uses milk as a metaphor for semen and (chicken) eggs as a metaphor for human eggs, and making a baby is described as a “balanced breakfast”. Here, I don’t really know though. I’m guessing the “biscuits” are a double entendre for breasts, but I don’t really know what Chris means by the bacon.

Sean, meanwhile is walking along when he steps on a rake, most certainly based on the scene from The Simpsons episode “Cape Feare”, wherein Sideshow Bob is surrounded by rakes and continues to step on the teeth of the rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face.

[ohladybegood]

Next Season: So, we’re in the past now (maybe? idk, I need to rewatch this season, the plot was like an explosion in a fish bowl--a lot to deal with in a confided space), but we have LMD Coulson with all of his memories, May in recovery, and I’m a little emotional about the whole thing, mostly because Daisy needs them both so much, and neither of them wanted to leave her in the first place. Also, Fitz and Simmons are separated again because what’s new, but maybe they’ll finally take this chance to have a think about codependency and addressing the fact that they more or less told each other “you are the root of my every unhappiness.” Meanwhile, Piper has temporary custody of Flint, I don’t care to remember where Deke is, Benson’s hopefully in rehab because that’s the help he needs, and Agent Diaz is holding down the fort at SHIELD. Jemma and Daisy are once again stuck out of time but together, so hopefully Daisy can convince her to let her hair down because that was one severe looking ponytail, and um, also, what is Angie Martinelli up to these days? 

[churroandchocolatte]

The claws that clicked upon the windowsill slid in and out of the sheath of skin near the subject’s pads in a slow rhythmical beat.

Their owner’s head was lowered and pressed to the window. His well-built back faced away from the door unconsciously blocking out the sun’s light better than most curtains on the market.

The darkness of the room put his body into sharp silhouette, but despite the focus, his inherent stillness made it difficult to discern the small telltale signs that marked what was very nearly the only evidence the room’s sole occupant still drew air.

Instead, his dark, sharply dressed foreboding form made him seem more shadow than a man.

An observer would hardly have been blamed had they wrongfully mistaken the figure as a statue or some abandoned fixture placed by a much-beleaguered staff member at the behest of one of the more eccentric member’s of the club before it had been forgotten entirely in favor of newer and more trendy paraphernalia.

A sharp knock caused the subject to glance up, his claws ceasing their motion.

Then, sensing his moment of weakness would be observed, he settled for partially sheathing the claws once more beneath his furry paws.

Taking a step forward, the figure withdrew from the window, throwing the orange, black, and white patterned outline of the fearsome Shere Khan in sharp contrast.

The servant was quick, polite and to the point, leaving the mail and the morning paper before refilling the tiger’s morning tea, and if he noticed the small limp in the feline’s proud gate that years of psychical therapy could not fully recover, nothing was said.

However, as professional as the servant tried to remain, it was clear from his master’s stiff and unyielding posture that he was on edge and less than pleased to have been interrupted.

The tense silence stretched between them before Khan raised a stark eyebrow which the servant gratefully took as the dismissal it was.

Yellow eyes glanced at the front page headline–

Cape Suzette bombing victims: Two dead, several others injured–

And took a sip of the tea that had been set aside for him.

Outwardly he no longer seemed interested in pursuing anything besides the consumption of the foul-smelling brew of Nepeta cataria and Teucrium marum leaves infused with Valerian Root.

But internally… internally he was cursing Douglas Benson to Naraka for as long as Yama would keep him.

Shere Khan was neither a practicing Hindu nor was he a personal believer in the afterlife.

However, the idea of some mystical death god of divine justice tormenting Mr. Benson after death as compensation for the wrongs he had committed against others that had forced Khan to play nanny before the gray cat was reincarnated into something particularly embarrassing appealed to him on a number of levels.

He had cleaned up the mess Benson had made and had bribed those he knew would remain silent. Fortunately, those few had been the only witnesses to the event, so he had not been forced to do anything more extreme than that.

As things currently stood, the most he could do, short of killing his current kink in the tail, was arrange to have the former executive tried in secrecy, with the likelihood of lifelong incarceration hanging over the gray feline’s head.

There was no reason to believe the irrational behavior of a former associate would not generate any negative press.

The solution rid him of one problem, but it didn’t solve the most pressing on his mind:

Obsolescence.

With advances being made every which way, he worried that his company would become a mere footnote, or worse, a steppingstone for someone else.

What he needed was new blood, new ideas, and new solutions to appeal to the average consumer.

He’d spent too much of his time building up his company, building up himself, to lose to the onslaught of time.

But, there was a problem, one that, to his own annoyance he could not repair on his own.

He had developed, what Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley described as an  “empathy deficit.”

He was well aware that there was a disparity between those of his social status and the average middle-class citizen, he just…could not find it in him to lower himself to their level.

Admitting defeat, he had resigned himself to the fact that this was one thing he could not do on his own.

What he needed was a missing link to bridge the economic split between higher castes and the common man to attract the public’s attention and generate new positive interest in his company.

Mr. Benson’s sudden and inexplicable retirement had opened a void for some fortunate soul to occupy, he just needed to find someone suitable to fill it… and that was a task far easier thought than successfully completed.

He placed the now drained cup back on the saucer but did not call for another, opting to raise himself up and open the door that seperated him from the other club members instead.

“–have $100,000 of cold, hard cash in this case. Four chefs get $25,000 each. If they want to leave this kitchen with any of the cash, they have to survive three culinary challenges—and each other—in a game where sabotage is not only encouraged, it’s for sale!”

He gave a quick assessment of the recreation hall, noting only three other occupants.

Scrooge and Glomgold were surrounded by a verifiable fortification of bonnets.

Each duck circled each other, their hands were tightly clasped together, and their eyes were locked with the same gleaming antagonistic spark of challenge in their eyes.

Meanwhile, the newest addition to the club, an African gray parrot who’s name escaped him, was tapping rapidly on his cellular phone’s keyboard(the action, an aide had told him, was referred to as ‘texting’) and excitedly taking pictures of the two elderly ducks making utter fools of themselves.

In the din, a lone television program played on the elaborate projection screen before him, apparently abandoned by whoever had set it up in favor of the spectacle before him.

idiots.

Looming in the doorway in what would appear to others as intimidating, but in reality was merely indecision, he reached into the pocket of his expensively made suit and frowned at his list of contacts, a padded finger hovered over a line reading

‘Personnel.’

A pensive look threatened to cross his features before once more smoothing out. He had his dreams of the ideal employee dance across the feild his mind’s eye but the cat had been in an executive position and one that needed filling soon.

He could and would send word to the appropriate parties to begin the search for a suitable and more than likely, superior replacement.

 He employed a well-trained team of what some might disparagingly refer to as ‘yes men,’ who would jump at the chance of locating, interviewing, and hiring new hopefuls to sacrifice on the altar of their notoriously difficult to please boss’ favor for just such a purpose.

he just wasn’t certain he was ready to start looking for someone  to replace Benson because a large portion of him wanted to wait until he was more certain whoever chosen would fit his vision

But that delay, he decided, would ultimately serve no purpose.

He wanted something he had doubts even existed outside C rated Hollywood films, but, quite frankly, he didn’t feel like setting himself up for failure at present.

Recruiting and training employees was always a tedious affair, and ended in disappointment far more often than not.

Khan was so very tired of disappointment.

Decision made, he fired off a quick text message to the recruiters.

He gave a quick survey of the room, and to his chagrin noticed that mnothing had changed between the competitors.

Khan sighed and decided it would appear cowardly to freeze at the sight of the two rivaling Scotsmen playing a game of Bonnety, and then turn tail and flee.

“Anyone” the rational side of him argued “who had ever spent even five minutes with those two in speaking distance would understand all too well if he had fled”

the problem was, he Shere Khan, could not be allowed to be seen as merely anyone.

So, his own mind protesting loudly at his choice, he padded over to an empty couch. At least this time Glomgold was not singing.

it seemed it was not in his fate to remain unnoticed as he was very nearly straddled by one Mark Beaks in his (pathetic, really) haste to introduce himself.

Fighting back the internal reflex to strike out at an unconsciously perceived threat, the tiger was gracious enough to tolerate the avian’s aggressively cheerful invasion of his personal space.

He gave the customary polite greetings despite the offense.

He’d once read so-called alpha males tended to have a lower personal space than anyone else, while others, with respect to that person, would, therefore, clear the area around that person.

Apparently the bird thought, even if it was on a subconcious level that he was superior to Shere Khan.

The tiger was not here to have a bird attempt to metaphorically knock him off his perch, so to speak, even in something like this.

He scooted closer to the parrot so that their thighs had been brought together, his firm and well-built were nearly caressing the other’s bony knees, before he unleashed a slow and almost sincere smile as he visibly watched the confidence in the prey animal confidence splutter then die a painful death.

His unwanted companion return to his side of the room.

feeling smugly assured, he went back to ignoring the pest in favor of the evenings preferred entertainment, glancing up at the projector.

It was just one of those reality shows that catered to basest competive drives in their audiances.

The entertainment lay watching strangers prepare culinary creations made from everything they were as a chef and a person, only to have their entire self worth ripped to shreds on national television before an entire audiance.

All the while capitalizing on the safe and comforting nostalgia of childhood and food preparation.

it was insidious. he respected them for that.

“And,” he added mentally, “the thrill of watching danger from a safe distance.”, As one of the participants, a black-back Jackal who had been hugely unlucky to have been situated near a bubbling deep fat fryer, scream, and collapse in a ball of pain and agony after one of his fellow contenders, a black duck with an aggressive streak a mile wide, had thrown Labrador tea flowers into the deep fat fryer, drenching a good part of the hapless entrant’s face and upper body.

Regrettably for the wretched canine, his misfortune was not yet complete.

Drops of the hot liquid hit his heating station, and the entire area erupted in a roaring fireball of orange.

Shere Khan had to fight back an empathetic flinch, as the unexpected appearance of the flames triggered an unfurling well of terror within him, THEN…

the show went to commercials.

He nearly growled under the weight of his own self-directed exasperation.

How long would the same event continue to haunt him? He desperately wanted to move on. It had been years.

The red blaze that had danced across the screen, beautiful as any flower, hadn’t even been present in the same room with Khan, and he’d still felt that cloying clinging restrictive weight in his chest and head.

He chanced a surreptitious glance at the bird sitting on the couch opposite of with him, looking for any sign that the other had noticed anything afoot. His temporary companion hadn’t seen, and he had to fight off genuine relief that followed, but he was glad for it.

He wasn’t altogether…fond… of fire, and he had no desire for anyone else to realize the fact as well.

So, it was imperative that he changed the channel.

And to do that required locating the remote.

He frowned, surveying the room with a critical stare, before preparing to raise himself out of a warm and entirely too comfortable couch to fetch a servant.

He was not going to ask any of his compatriots if they had the remote or knew where it might be located.

He wasn’t paranoid to think they would automatically divine his issue with fire from a small hint such as channel surfing when there were so many other reasons he might disapprove of the show, not to mention acknowledging his weakness would demeaning besides.

The help, however, would likely possess a universal remote and he could change it, or better yet turn the blasted thing off that way.

The show returned all too soon and with it came the realization.

One of them was none other than Flintheart Glomgold.

The bird was paranoid to a fault. Out of any individual of their social station on khan’s social radar would believe that something as commonplace as channel surfing would be a telltale sign that what was an apparently normal reaction was anything but.

Perhaps even going so far as to claim the individual hunting for the remote had a morbid fear of fire. in this case, he’d absolutely correct, and knowing Flintheart as well as he did, the duck would attempt to test his little theory.

And then Shere Khan would have to kill him.

Fortunately, he’d been prescribed medication to help him control his symptoms.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait to take them.

In order to remain inconspicuous to the three billionaires in attendance, he remained seated. he only partially listened to the testimonials of the other three contestants as they shared their own opinion of the accident that had befallen the pitiful jackal. the show had chosen to include graphic play by play footage and multiple view shots of the incident in question.

by the end of that show’s segment, he had plotted the downfall of the series in over a dozen increasingly elaborate ways as his heartbeat increased and the pressure pounded at him along with it.

He just that he needed to get to the bar located in the far left corner of the room fill his glass with 16 ounces of something that was non-alcoholic and with any luck healthy as well.

He managed to make his way over unassisted and nodded to Beaks when the gray parrot requested a mango puree. His own drink came first, putting together various ingredients before blending in the medication and the ice. He was careful to avoid placing the pill in eyesight of any of his fellow room member’s eye view, before dropping it in the mixture and blending it all together.

He started the parrots order less out of politeness, and more as a method of hiding his own shaking hands.

When he felt more in control of his necessary faculties, he brought the drink over to its destined owner, but the parrot was now in the middle of a call with someone from his research and development department.

He intended to return to his own room to sleep off his personal distress before heading off to his home.

But first, he had to force himself to linger a few minutes more to keep up the charade of normalcy as he waited for Beaks to notice his drink was ready.

It seemed the program had changed while he’d busied himself behind the bar.

The show still involved competitors. it also included food. but this time those competing were significantly younger.

The camera focused on the soft childish faces of the competitors.

They seemed impossibly tiny among the crowd of adults.

Their eyes were round with excitement, terror, adrenaline, or a combination of all three.

When the judges strutted imperiously into the room, a title tag appearing by each one as they entered. They came to a standing rest before calling the contestants forward and having them introduce themselves.

One little boy, a small Eurasian lynx, seemed as if he were about to cry.

Not seeing anything worthy of his notice, he turned to leave.

He was not prepared for the gentle feathered hand patting his own when he’d tried to hand him the mango puree.

“it’s okay you know,” the parrot said in a conspiring voice obviously intended to be soothing but only managing to be irritating. “ I totally get you.”

”indeed”

Shere Khan did his best impression of amused confusion. He hadn’t thought he’d been too noticeable but if even the newbie had noticed his behavior was off then it would not be long before the others took stock of it. He had no desire to see it used against him by men such as Glomgold.

He felt pressure in the sheaths of his hands. his sharp claws driven by instinct to be unsheathed and attack what they viewed as a potential threat. He managed to keep them contained, but the urge remained.

“Yeah,” beaks said, clearly not realizing the danger, his eyes turning back to the projector. “it’s hard to be a dude who gets his chill watching cooking stuff.”

Shere Khan blinked.

It had not occurred to him that the bird might misinterpret his reaction.

The thought that the other believed his response was somehow due to doubt in his own “manhood” so to speak nearly surprised a laugh at him.

“I suppose so.” he allowed. Some men might feel somewhat emasculated by the thought, but he was not among them.

It did explain some of the ridiculously overly masculine commercials he’d seen.

they’d practically dripped machismo.

“Right-o!” Beaks said brightly. “I think this tiger’s got it!”

The Bird’s smile faded. “But, seriously, like I was saying, man, don’t worry.”

his hand tapped rapidly at his cellular phone and then in a flash of gray feathers jumped upon the couch to thrust the device in his face.

“Forty-six percent of men say they watch cooking channels often, so like, you’re good, ‘kay?”

Shere Khan nodded, somewhat off-put by the repeated incursions of his personal space, and waited for the other man to sit down again.

Which he did in a clumsy sort of sprawl that spoke of a young man who likely never thought of what such positions would do to his back as he aged.

He looked away from the bird, who had seemingly lost interest in him as quickly as he had gained it and then looked at the screen again.

those were some impressive stats.

Beaks hadn’t said it, but on that same link, he’d seen fifty-four percent of women had answered ‘yes’ to the same question.

It was a sizable market and one he’d yet to take advantage of.

A whistle sounded from the speakers, and each child began to hurriedly gather supplies needed for their creations.

Khan thought back on his most pressing problem. What he needed was something new, and this was something he’d never tried before.

An idea began forming as he watched the children work diligently in their assigned areas.

He wasn’t fond of putting children to work for a number of reasons that related more to practicality and pragmatism than morality, but—his mind was suddenly tumbling over the idea, smoothing out the rougher edges and polishing the remains behind his eyes- this could work.

He could start a reality show.

Setting up a little broadcast of his own would be simple for someone of his resources. He could create a challenge, examining each contestant to find the most efficient.

Hopefully, the individual would also possess the most mental maturity, mold the winner to his designs, and avoid any of the messy emotional backlash from adults often created when they saw children populating a workplace that outweighed any benefit that employing them would provide.

The plan could prove interesting, but even as he thought of the potential benefits, the expenses of such a stunt began swiftly piling up unbidden in his mind’s eye.

Khan had to bite back a groan.

The undertaking would be expensive.

Too expensive for his own comfort.

It wasn’t that he didn’t possess the necessary funds to make the idea a reality. With a few quick calls and a touch of harmless blackmail, he could shave his production costs by a few million.

The problem was more internal than that.

He just wasn’t the sort of man who would throw his own money into a project if he could have others sacrifice their personal assets first. He hadn’t become the rich and powerful man he was today be overindulging his pet projects any time the whim struck.

Ultimately that was all this would amount to. It was a publicity stunt and nothing more.The plan would have to be changed to minimize costs.

His thoughts were interrupted as Glomgold was thrown backward into the bonnets, his graceless careening knocking every bonnet to the ground.

Scrooge’s face was absurdly smug for someone who apparently disliked spending time with his stout compatriot, watching Gomgold struggle like an overturned tortoise.

The duck’s brief paralysis was enough time for Scrooge to gather the fallen bonnets and begin pelting his downed opponent with them, as per game rules. (and Beaks to quickly vacate his spot on the couch to take selfies over Glomgold’s fallen form.)Glomgold managed to the right himself and, in a surprising burst of speed throw himself through the ornate wooden doors.

Scrooge, arms laden with bonnets of all sizes and designs made a move to go after his archnemesis, but khan, unimpeded by an excess of weighted hats was faster.

“Mr. McDuck,” he said, after he’d followed the duck into a nearby alcove, and, more importantly, out of Mark Beaks’ hearing.

“A moment of your time if you will.”

Scrooge paused and glared at khan.

If the duck had intended to be intimidating the effect was very much negated by his colorful and sparkling load.

“khan”

he acknowledged with a nod though his tone was anything but friendly.

It seemed the tiger would be forced to bear the brunt of the burden of sociability.

“I’ve heard your family has recently taken to living with you?” he said, a smile crossing his face. “it must be quite the change to have three additional little ones underfoot.”

A crisp, No nonsense, “aye” was the answer Khan was met with.

The voice had turned into a decidedly frosty growl. Khan ignored it. “Excellent,” he said, face still set in a crooked grin.

“I’m sure the whelps are a regular chip off the old block, full of promise, and–”

“Khan.” Scrooge said again. Interrupting the tiger as his voice grated out impatiently.  “What do ye want?”

the tone brooked no room for further discourse.

The hostility was so thick you could have broken a claw attempting to cut it.

Shere Khan nearly rolled his eyes at the venom in the old duck’s words. Somehow despite his best efforts, he had accumulated the reputation of being somewhat untrustworthy.

Shere Khan considered himself a fundamentally fair boss.

He had simple, clearly defined expectations he wanted to be met, and if they weren’t, employees would be replaced with someone new who could do the tasks he had outlined for them.

clean, neat, and tidy. that’s how he preferred his life and that’s what he wanted for his workspace.

But it seemed, in his mind, that the average person had very little understanding of such a simple process.It wasn’t that people, on the whole, disliked the prospect of being employed.

No, they were very attached to the notion of earning money and spending it as they saw fit.

And yet, the most common issue he’d from the new employees tended to inevitably be that they disliked actually arriving to work when there were other opportunities to enjoy themselves elsewhere, and he simply could not tolerate a young employee taking more than four days off.

It was strict but fair as far he was concerned.

You’d think it would be obvious. Going to work inevitably meant more money in a worker’s pockets and the ability pat for whatever it was that brought them the most pleasure in their off-hours.

Sadly common sense was rarely ever as common as what was supposed.

And recently deposed employees had a proclivity towards trash talking the establishments that had fired them.

Contractual gag order be damned.

“well,” he began ”I’m thinking of setting up a little game.”

”A game” the other repeated raising a sardonic eyebrow. “well you can straight up count my grand nephews out of it then.”

Scrooge declared continuing on as he had been, murmuring something about how his family managed to get in enough trouble on their own without receiving any help 

“what if I told you the purpose of the game was to give them a better understanding of running a business?”

the bonnets dropped and Scrooge said something quite rude that would have made the Scotsman’s nephew, Donald give him a stern lecture on the topic of words he could and could not speak in front of the children.

On the topic of business, he and Scrooge had more in common than the old duck wanted to admit. Even if Scrooge had a tendency of letting sentimentality occasionally rule his actions.

“I’d ask to know what sort of business we were talking about. “

Scrooge asked, turning back to give Shere khan his full attention now.

“and what aspects of it in particular?”

“everything they’d need to know.”

Shere Khan said glibly, enjoying how the emotions played across the old man’s face, before settling on disbelief.

”Really,” Scrooge said. He drew the word out like he half expected the tiger to stuff his grand nephews into a stove, bake them until they were a golden brown, and then feed them to their own great uncle as a hearty meal.

“yes,” he answered simply, voice steady and unperturbed. “everything that can be taught at any rate.”

Scrooge frowned at him.

“and what possible benefit would that give you?”

“I’ve heard rumors that you were attempting to teach one of your nephews the value of a dollar,” he said, as the duck drew his arm to his own chest defensively. annoyed confusion still marring his face. “I intend to create a reality show built around giving children the ability to study under award-winning economists and the finances to start their own business.”

“Again I’m forced to ask, what’s in it for you?”

There was a note of warning in the duck’s tone now. Even someone unfamiliar with the man could tell that if the continued tiptoeing around the answer, there would be no convincing him to see things khan’s way.“I shan’t do it again,”  he added, unnecessarily in the tiger’s opinion.

Shere Khan sighed inwardly.

They had reached the part of this conversation that he was looking forward to the least.

”sharing project costs.”

Scrooge laughed openly, mirth evident in every line of his feathered body.

“oh that is too good,” he shook his head still chuckling,  “even here, all anyone sees of me is a walking money bin.”

“I really d–”

Khan was rudely interrupted by the older businessman shoving a black cane in his face.

“my answer to you is no, you’ll not be seeing a single dime from me, and that’ll be the end of it”

the Scotsman turned back, stance proud. even his fluffy white tail, negligible as it was, stood higher than usual.

“ I hate to be contrarian, dear fellow,” Khan began masking his chuckle under an attempt to sound sincere. “but I did not mean money.”

That caused the other to pause mid-step.

Good.

“from such mundane necessities, such as feeding participants to obtaining licenses to film in certain locations” he shrugged, muscular shoulders wide.  “the sort of project I’m thinking of would generate a good deal of secondary expenses.”

there was a pregnant pause as the old man deciphered what the tiger was hinting at.

“you want to hold this competition in Duckburg” Scrooge realized, eyes wide.

“Indeed, I do.”

Shere Khan answered, forcefully keeping even the slightest hint of condescension from his voice.

While he was confident even a small cub would realize the city was the most logical location to host the affair. Scrooge owned the entire property, so if he were to obtain permission from Scrooge he would avoid a good deal of paperwork, licensing laws, and bribery.

Treating the man in question like he was an infant would not aid him in achieving his goal.Scrooge remained uncertain, his feathered face was scrunched up in consternation.

”I’d like some time to think this over,” he said slowly. his voice was more sedated than it had been before.

“take all the time you need.”Shere Khan waved his words off airily as if he felt the other’s participation meant little to nothing in the grand scheme of things.

He smiled pleasantly, doing his best to avoid showing his teeth.

”I hope to see you soon.”

“Shere Khan”

the tiger had been moving in the direction he’d last seen Glomgold, and raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued at the seriousness of McDuck’s tone.

“yes?”

“why did you think this offer would appeal to me?”

The unspoken ‘Don’t you think I m more than qualified to teach my family the basics of economics and business on my own’ remained silent between them. Scrooge’s face was full of repressed sadness and something else he could not place.

“sometimes experience is the best teacher.”

Shere Khan opined voice softened to match his conversation partner’s.“ I believe this is a belief the two of us share.”

Scrooge closed his eyes, face suddenly looking weary and weak behind his pez nez glasses, as years of memories seemed to flicker beneath those lids.

“aye, we do at that.” he acknowledged.

The eyes snapped open and regarded the other businessman with a guarded frown Shere Khan didn’t entirely trust himself to speak.

“I’m not saying yes to this crazy idea of yours,"  Scrooge said finally. ”But I’d like to go over the specifics with you tomorrow.”

“And bring your lawyers.” the duck raised a finger as if tell off a misbehaving child. “I want everything to be official.”

Shere Khan bowed.

“I shall indeed.”

Scrooge didn’t have to say ‘yes’ they both knew a guarded affirmative response when they heard one.

In what he felt was a remarkable feat of self-control, Shere Khan managed to keep the smirk he felt off his face. He left Scrooge deeply in thought as he left the room quietly, his gate predatory, as he stalked down the corridors in hunt of Flintheart Glomgold. 

[paulbenedictblog]

%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Fox news ABC News, CBS News face growing backlash over handling of Epstein leaker: They 'colluded' and fired the 'wrong person'

Fox news

ABC Records and CBS Records are both going thru a firestorm of criticism over their response to a leaked video featuring ABC anchor Amy Robach complaining that the network had spiked an interview with a outstanding accuser of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier this week, stories circulated that ABC had identified the employee suspected of leaking the Robach video to controversial watchdog neighborhood Mission Veritas. In step with the stories, ABC executives told their counterparts at CBS, where the staffer had just not too lengthy previously been hired, of their suspicions and the employee soon lost her job.

Then once more, on Friday, ousted CBS staffer Ashley Bianco publicly denied that she used to be the leaker. At almost the very same moment, Mission Veritas published a suppose from the alleged "ABC insider" it claimed used to be in the encourage of the leak.

CBS FIRES FORMER ABC STAFFER WHO BLEW WHISTLE ON NETWORK SPIKING EPSTEIN ACCUSER INTERVIEW

Bianco, a former producer on ABC’s “Valid Morning The United States” who joined “CBS This Morning” final month, acknowledged she used to be fired by CBS after the network obtained a name from ABC informing her new boss that she once had acquire staunch of entry to to the leaked video.

“I didn't" leak the tape, Bianco told journalist Megyn Kelly in an interview posted on YouTube.“I’m not the whistleblower. I’m sorry to ABC, however the leaker is indifferent within.”

Bianco told Kelly that she doesn’t know who leaked the tape because “each person” at ABC used to be awake it existed. She additionally insisted she had never heard of Mission Veritas sooner than this week.

“I begged, I pleaded, I didn’t know what I had performed notorious,” she told Kelly. “I wasn’t even given the expert courtesy to defend myself. It used to be humiliating, it used to be devastating.”

Meanwhile, the alleged leaker -- the use of the pseudonym "Ignotus" -- began the piece published by Mission Veritas by stressing, "I didn't and terminate not look any non-public save from this info whether or not it's monetary or in another case," and expressed their desire to homicide the suggestions public out of "anger, confusion and sadness."

"I’ve walked the halls experiencing the same feelings we're all having horny now," wrote the supposed leaker, addressing ABC workers. "All of you no subject your possess non-public differences in a single form or one more terminate a great job. I sincerely journey working with one and all of you and ought to indifferent proceed to terminate so during our careers."

Ignotus then addressed "these wrongfully accused," an obvious reference to Bianco.

"It's miles horrifying that you just may per chance maybe need got been lashed out at by the corporate. I do know some may put the burden of guilt on me, however my sense of right and incorrect is definite," Ignotus wrote. "The actions of the corporate towards you may per chance maybe maybe also very nicely be the outcomes of their possess and never any person else. The public outcry, from hunch to hunch, of all contributors, creeds, and political affiliations, is definite. I in actuality haven't one doubt that there will continuously be give a make a selection to for you, and you've got prosperous careers. For neither you, nor I, possess performed anything notorious."

CBS Records declined to touch upon Bianco's claim. ABC Records didn't today respond to requests for comment.

CBS NEWS SPARKS OUTRAGE FOR REPORTEDLY FIRING EX-ABC NEWS STAFFER WHO LEAKED EPSTEIN BOMBSHELL

The twin revelations sparked an avalanche of criticism over the fallout of the leaker crackdown.

The Hill's media reporter Joe Concha known as Bianco's allegations about her firing "traumatic" and swiped other info shops for not preserving the rising controversy.

"Here is fully an extra and extra expansive media story and for thus many predominant shops, specifically these with media teams that encourage to veil this roughly story, to ignore it's miles patently shameful," Concha told Fox Records.

The Day-to-day Wire's Matt Walsh accused the networks of "colluding" to fireplace "an innocent girl," calling ABC and CBS "disgraceful organizations."

"ABC had the Epstein story three years previously however killed it to guard a serial rapist pedophile and sex trafficker. Then when the scandal used to be uncovered they tracked down a former staffer and had her fired even though she isn’t the one who leaked it. Fabulous work, ABC. If truth be told superb," Walsh reacted.

ABC NEWS' AMY ROBACH CAUGHT ON HOT MIC SAYING NETWORK SPIKED JEFFREY EPSTEIN BOMBSHELL

NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck told Fox Records that Bianco "got right here across as believable" and that if ABC "used to be searching for a head to roll, they went after the notorious particular person."

"It’s an example of how the liberal elites possess made up our minds that the very journalistic ethics that are extolled in journalism colleges and advocacy groups are no bigger than empty guarantees," Houck acknowledged.

Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson laid out a timeline that began with ABC Records quashing "critical reporting into billionaire pedophile’s predations & that you just may per chance maybe maybe per chance imagine co-conspirators," persevered with the network convincing CBS Records to fireplace the "‘culprit,’ w/o clarification, transparency or due course of," and ending with that fired staffer being the "notorious particular person."

"I’m delivery to 1 more aspect of the story, however we haven’t heard it. Wagons seem circled," Benson added.

Whereas many media watchdogs possess criticized ABC and CBS over the incident, CNN’s outspoken media correspondent Brian Stelter has been oddly mute.

"Stelter has not tweeted about the story and as far as we can expose, has not covered the story. He made some extent out in his e-newsletter a pair of nights previously, however right linked to others that are preserving the story," TV blogger Scott Jones wrote. "Clearly this seems to be to be a epic that is in Stelter’s wheelhouse, but we acquire crickets from CNN."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Mission Veritas, whose founder, James O'Keefe, describes himself as a “guerrilla journalist,” published the photos, which included Robach announcing ABC refused to air an interview she performed with one of Epstein’s victims because the British royal household had objected.

Despite fashioned criticism, ABC Records downplayed the importance of the video, previously telling Fox Records that Robach’s Epstein story wasn’t match to air.

“On the time, not all of our reporting met our standards to air, however we possess never stopped investigating the story. Ever since, we’ve had a team on this investigation and tall resources devoted to it," an ABC Records spokesperson told Fox Records. "That work has resulted in a two-hour documentary and six-fragment podcast that will air in the new year.”

Fox Records' Brian Flood contributed to this characterize. 

[fedoremelianenkodevoted]

Bellator and Rizin's Saitama artwork is the best fight poster you'll see this year

By: Simon Head, The Blue Corner | November 7, 2019 7:45 am

While the sport of MMA continues to evolve and improve inside and outside the cage, one area that has stayed relatively stagnant in recent years has been the design of official fight posters.

While some of the artwork produced by independent artists (tip of the hat to you, Bosslogic) has been both original and pleasing to the eye, many of the posters put out by the big promotions have all been a bit “samey.” The same fonts each event, the same look, slight variations on pretty much the same layout. They might fit the corporate brief, but they don’t really set the pulses racing and make the posters fun, exciting or collectible for fans.

It means that when we do see moments of rare creative license being allowed, it really stands out. And that’s certainly the case with the new poster for Bellator and Rizin’s twin events at the Saitama Super Arena on Dec. 29 and 31.

I mean, just look at it! It’s a work of art:

Spanning the 6,781 miles from The Statue of Liberty to Mount Fuji (we checked), it’s just about the best fight poster we’ve seen this year. And if the two promotions can serve up fight nights to match the promotional artwork, fans are going to be in for an end-of-year treat.

Bellator Japan will feature a battle of heavyweights who became legends in “The Land of the Rising Sun,” as former PRIDE heroes Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson will go head to head in the main event. The co-headliner will see former champions collide as ex-UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson takes on former Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler.

Rizin’s New Year’s Eve offering, meanwhile, is expected to feature two-promotion champ Kyoji Horiguchi, who will put his Rizin bantamweight title on the line against the man who finished him in the first round at Rizin 18 earlier this year, Kai Asakura.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

[still-love-the-moon]

In secret kiss Silverio

Silverio is done with his sisters’ love lives, as in 100% done, ‘I’m gonna throw myself under a bus’ kind of done.

Ámbar regularly denies that she has feelings for Simón and then runs in his arms when she thinks no one can see, kissing and loving him like there is no tomorrow- he heard all the moans and whispers last night. Which is gross but he is trying to ignore it because he never saw Ámbar this happy.

Julia, meanwhile, doesn’t hide at all because she likes attention and wants everyone to know that Jim is her girlfriend.She takes the redhead’s hand in her own and then starts making out in front of the whole Jam & Roller- this makes him remember that they should talk about PDA and her lacking conception of how to behave when she is with other people.

And he is there, sitting in a lonely corner and watching everyone with a miserable expression on his face, faking that everything is alright when it’s the exact opposite.

“What’s wrong?”- asks Ramiro looking at him with concern, trying to figure out what’s wrong with his friend- “Problem with your family?”

He shakes his head glancing at his twin sister and the way she casually walks out of the dressing room, playing with her phone as nothing happened and one minute later Simón follows her, messy hair, wrinkled shirt, and one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen on his face.

Disgusting.

“Love problems?”- asks the Chilean again, understanding what’s going on when he sees what is looking at- “God, Ámbar and Simón are gross! I’m never going to use the dressing room again”

“It’s complicated”- he murmurs, the voice is so muffled that for a moment he is sure that Ramiro didn’t catch what he just said. But he always does.

“It really is or you are just making excuses to cover up the fact that you are scared?”- questions his friend before excusing himself and leaving his seat the second he sees Matteo.

It’s actually really complicated because he is having sex with a straight boy who has a girlfriend but he can’t tell him that.

He breathes slowly ignoring the way his heart starts pounding a little faster when he sees- his lover or a friend with benefits, he is not sure anymore- the Italian walking towards him and sitting on his other side, looking carefully at the Chilean boy.

“So you are fucking Ramiro now?”- asks the boy annoyed, taking his friend’s drink and sucking the smoothie with another straw that he took from the bar before- “Who is next Yam or Pedro?”

He reclaims something? Isn’t he the one that is dating Luna Valente- or Sol Benson whatever- but still had sex with him multiple times? Silverio stares at him with an offended expression- hypocrite, but a cute one in his mind- for a few instants before smirking at him and taking back his drink- “What’s going on Teo? Are you jealous?”- he questions getting a little closer to him- “Luna doesn’t kiss as well as I do?”

“No”- the Italian answer quietly- he is not sure about which question- looking under the table and playing with his hands- “But after yesterday I thought that, maybe, I meant something more to you than just a casual fuck when you want”

It’s more when he wants and he knows it but he can’t bring himself to admit it. God, he never showed this side of himself to anyone- he has a reputation to keep- and he wished to find enough courage to break up with Luna- because she doesn’t deserve this and neither does Silverio- and finally, be with the other boy.

The twin takes his hand from under the table whispering something that makes the other boy’s heart stops for a few seconds.

“Teo I’m in love with you”- says Silverio smiling fondly at the boy in front of him, giving up and admitting it. Letting his walls down for someone he fell for the second time in his entire life, hoping that it doesn’t end up like the first time.

The moment gets ruined by Jazmin that walks near them and Matteo removes his hand from the other’s- they are a secret- looking behind his lover with a serious expression.

Silverio turns around seeing Luna- and once again his heart gets broken- walking towards them with a big smile on her face and throwing herself in her boyfriend’s arms, kissing him deeply. And he can’t tell her anything because she is dating Matteo and he is just the one that casually has sex with him. He is the bad one in the story.

“The drink is on me”- he simply states while he is getting up, ignoring the way his heart breaks again, to leave the couple some privacy - “See you around Matteo”

Matteo is not ready to make coming out and he understands it- he really does- but he is also done being the other one and the second choice. It happened with Marco two years ago and it left it broken-hearted, he chooses his girlfriend over him, he chooses to not coming out and to pretend he was still in love with her.

He deserves his epic love story to live every day, not a stupid secret love story when no one sees.