#so may I present you an alternate take of the scene in ep 10 when Vegas freed Porsche and both of them got blocked by Pete

[yujeong]

Fic snippet #4: VegasPete

"Are you going to shoot me, Pete?" Vegas asks all of a sudden and the whole room freezes.  Is Vegas seriously taunting Pete right now?  Porsche has come to understand the hierarchy of the Theerapanyakul family pretty fucking well, but it still feels wrong in his head to challenge Pete, whose hand remains steady at the question. "Are you going to give me a reason to, Khun Vegas?" he asks, his expression darkening.  "I'm entertaining the thought," Vegas replies, a smile appearing on his face which widens as he utters the words.

I blame @coleslaww for this one, how dare you enable my brainrot.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

hi!! can you recc some fics set between 4x10 and 4x14, aka what happened behind the scenes that lead kurt and blaine to the car makeout after their christmas in new york?

Hi - you asked! There's a long list to follow, most are reaction fics to the episodes. ~ Jen

4X 10

Baby, It’s Cold Outside by whyitisyou

Kurt and Blaine end up spending the Holidays after their first break-up together in New York. They use the time to talk and they have to deal with the fact that they still feel warm about each other.

~~~~~

If The Fates Allow  by flaming muse

Blaine is feeling a lot of things. He adds cold to the list.

canonical, set just after 4x10 (“Glee, Actually”), no spoilers beyond

~~~~~

If the Fates Allowby Keitorin Asthore

Blaine desperately wants to do something, but he’s at a loss. And then Burt has a favor to ask him. Reaction fic to the Kurt plotline in “Glee Actually.” Klaine. Oneshot. COMPLETE.

~~~~~

Soliloquy By flamingmuse

The clock says it’s two-thirty-six in the morning when Kurt finally decides he isn’t going to sleep. He sits up slowly on the couch and rubs his hands over his face. His limbs feel heavy with fatigue, but it’s not just physical exhaustion that weighs on his shoulders tonight.

Dialogue-free, angsty Kurt introspection set during Glee 4x10 (“Glee, Actually”) in the wee hours of Christmas morning.

~~~~~

Time to dissolve by misqueue

Set over episode 4x10 "Glee Actually". There's little about Christmas this year that Kurt would choose. That's not necessarily a bad thing. A story of family and friendship and transforming grief into hope.

~~~~~

Are We Ever Gonna Be Okay Again? by @justgleekout

An alternate timeline in which Kurt did go to Lima for Christmas and he and Blaine had that much-needed heart-to-heart.

But uh-oh! It's angst and they cry.

~~~~

Merry and Bright by SiderumInCaelo

Kurt and Blaine, ice skating.

~~~~~

Missed by BlurglesmurfKlaine

Super short (like blink and you'll miss it) reaction fic I wrote immediately after Glee, Actually aired because I have a LOT of feelings about that episode.

~~~~~~

May your days be merry and bright by ShanleenKinnJaskey

Blaine surprises Kurt with his Christmas gift, and of course there's singing, kissing, and ice skating.

~~~~

Pocket Dial by nachochang

Blaine and Burt have a series of phone conversations that result in Blaine going to NYC for Christmas. Post-Ep for 4x10, Glee, Actually.

~~~~~

4.11 Sadie Hawkins

Fragile Gifts by @wowbright

4.11 reaction. Blaine loves three different people in three very different ways.

and

Unexpected gifts By @wowbright

4.11 missing scene fic. Tina takes Blaine home from the dance. She's quite the gentleman even though she might rather be a rake.

~~~~~

Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall by flaming-muse

Blaine watches the inauguration alone in his house, a bowl of microwave popcorn cooling on the coffee table and a glass of soda fizzing gently by his hand.

set in the canonical present, so assumes through 4x10 (“Glee, Actually”) with no spoilers beyond, takes place on January 21rst, 2013

~~~~~

You Are Here and So Am I by Edwardina

Glee kink meme fill. Takes place circa 413. Blaine and Kurt are in touch. Kurt senses Blaine is down and manages to wheedle out of him that he has a crush on Sam. Kurt can sympathize because he’s been there. Their conversation about Sam morphs and Klaine end up having a pretty hot phone sex session.

~~~~~

One More Night by trufflemores_Glee_fic

Blaine has a crush on Sam. It’s not subtle.

~~~~~

Reassurance by NikkiEvans

A short phone call between Kurt and Blaine reveals why Sam is Blaine’s crush. It has a lot more to do with Kurt than anyone realizes. OneShot 4.11 reaction fic.

~~~~~

4.12 Naked

Bare by Flaming_muse

Kurt and Rachel get a surprise package in the mail from Tina.

set in canon, episode tag for and spoilers through 4x12 (“Naked”), with no spoilers beyond

~~~~~~

Those stumbling words by misqueue

Set between 4x11 "Sadie Hawkins" and 4x12 "Naked". In a phone call after the Sadie Hawkin's dance, Kurt has something to tell Blaine. For klaineadvent 2013

And I breathe   by misqueue

Set during 4x12 "Naked". Lonely, Blaine goes to Scandals looking for a human connection, but what he finds isn't what he expects.

~~~~~

I'll be Looking at the Moon by misqueue

Blaine's surprised when Kurt texts him after his first date with Adam. It didn't go how Kurt expected. Set around 3x12 "Naked" and immediately following And I Breathe".

~~~~~

Tiny Imperfections By @wowbright

4.12 missing scene +. No teacher tells Blaine to go see Ms. Pillsbury, and his boyfriend doesn't drag him there. But he goes to talk to her anyway, because he wants to.

~~~~~

Long way home by pene

It can take a little time to find your way home. Warning: Finn’s death is referenced throughout the story.

This is alternate canon, splitting off somewhere around Glease. It is a love story foremost, but some chapters are possibly a bit sad, particularly the first one.

~~~~~

Less Than Decent Exposure by @lady-divine-writes

Rachel and Kurt get a copy of The Men of McKinley calendar in the mail from Sam. Its arrival is met with mixed reactions. Rachel is fine with it, Kurt is appalled…until Rachel directs him to two months in particular - January and December.

Written for the Klaine Advent Drabble prompt ‘indecent’. Takes place during the episode ‘Naked’.

~~~~~

4.13 Diva

Diva Love Fest by Flowerfan

After Blaine sings “Don’t Stop Me Now,” the Glee club reflects on his Diva-hood and, as Artie calls it, his "sexy stylings."

Support by trufflemores_Glee_fic

Blaine isn’t having the best week, but it’s improving.

~~~~~

4.14 I do

Best to look at the library tag for this one! Lots of choice!

It's Too easy By insighfulinsomniac

Missing Moments/Episode Expansion of 4x14 “I Do.”

Kurt was confident that he and Blaine could have a repeat of Christmas — a shared holiday and a sweet duet that means nothing more than two friends enjoying each other’s company. That lasts about as long as one duet practice session at Blaine’s house the night before the wedding.

After that, it’s all too easy for Kurt to reach out for Blaine, to re-establish a connection that’s never truly left them.

And maybe, just maybe, it might change things between them. But one thing’s for sure — as much as he wants to pretend it’s not true, Kurt still loves Blaine.

~~~~~

Shut me up and tie me down by milopoli

A peak behind the curtains of hotel room 206 after Will&Emma's wedding reception aka a Klaine smut fic in three acts.

~~~~~

Thought you should see this by slayerkitty S&C sign in needed

This is a combination reaction fic to 4.15 and 4.16, then goes completely AU for 4.17 onward, though I do incorporate some spoilers for 4.18 (One section of this will talk about there being a possible school shooting at McKinley - I don't go into detail, but if this is triggering for you at all, please don't read it). Ultimately, this is a Klaine reunion fic. This is a combination reaction fic to 4.15 and 4.16, then goes completely AU for 4.17 onward, though I do incorporate some spoilers for 4.18 (One section of this will talk about there being a possible school shooting at McKinley - I don't go into detail, but if this is triggering for you at all, please don't read it). Ultimately, this is a Klaine reunion fic.

~~~~~

A Ton of Twitterpation by @wowbright

Kurt has coffee with Adam the day after he gets back from Lima. Kurt notices that the barista has a crush on Adam, and Adam notices … well, you'll see.

~~~~~

Voice of Experience by flaming_muse

For once, Blaine knows something Kurt does not.

set within 4x14 (“I Do”), with no spoilers beyond

~~~~~

Shining Down for me by misqueue

Set within 4x14 "I Do". Kurt comes home for Will & Emma's wedding

~~~~~

Blaine Absolutely Knew He Was In Love by  Corriebird

“Blaine steps forward and whispers in Kurt’s ear, "If it’s not exclusive, then what’s to stop you?” Kurt’s eyes flare and he inhales sharply, so he steps back and heads to the bathroom without looking back. This is what life is, right? This is what it means to be alone, to be lonely. Taking what you can get. Sucking the marrow out, even if it’ll break your heart later.“ 4.14 fic!

Also

99 Perspectives on a Single Love story By @spaceorphan18

The Story of Kurt and Blaine told through the eyes of everyone else but them. Each chapter is a different perspective in the ongoing tale of their love story.

Chapters 54 The Photographers (Glee actually)

Chapter 55 Tine Cohen-Chang (Sadie Hawkins)

Chapter 56 Brody Weston (Naked)

Chapter 57 The Sychophants (Diva)

Chapter 58 Marley Rose (I Do)

Chapter 59 Adam Crawford (Girls and Boys on Film)

~~~~~

Enjoy!!

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Blending left field jazz elements with club tropes to forge something truly new, Emma-Jean Thackray's work is never less than riveting. New album Yellow is out on July 2, with the composer commenting: “It’s a record about togetherness, the oneness of all things in the universe, showing love and kindness, human connection. I approached the record by trying to simulate a life-changing psychedelic experience, an hour where we see behind the curtain to a hidden dimension, where the physical realm melts away and we finally see that we are all one.” Set to be released via her own Movementt imprint, the album is led by gorgeous new single 'Say Something' - opening with glimmers of Rhodes piano, it leans on that hi-hat shuffle before Emma-Jean Thackray uses her voice to elevate the song. A plea towards communication, it's a powerful introduction. [via Clash]

Philadelphia punk rockers Mannequin Pussy have released the title track to Perfect, their upcoming EP due out May 21. The new song comes with a flashy music video that’s inspired by the kitschy glamor of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, too. Musically, 'Perfect' is a distorted blaze of rock guitars that sees vocalist-guitarist Missy eviscerating the idea that people must manicure their own social media presence. “Last year, I found myself spending more time on my phone than I ever had in my life… I realized that through years of social media training, many of us have grown this deep desire to manicure our lives to look as perfect, as aspirational as possible,” explained Missy in a statement. “We want to put ourselves out there, share our lives, our stories, our day to day — and these images and videos all shout the same thing: ‘Please look at me, please tell me I’m so perfect.’ It’s simultaneously a declaration of our confidence but edged with the desperation that seeks validation from others.” In the accompanying music video, directed by Missy, viewers get to watch as a 10-year reunion at Sugarbush High slowly unravels. It opens on three former classmates, all three of whom are pregnant, dishing some hushed gossip and talking about how they want to get plastic surgery that’s so good they mistake one another for strangers. Cue two students-turned-drag queens making a grand entrance and strutting their stuff on the dance floor (mirroring the 1997 comedy classic) while old classmates gasp, shield their eyes, and panic. Meanwhile, Mannequin Pussy can be seen tearing up the band stage while they perform live. [via Consequence]

Following the release of her debut EP I Can’t Cry For You in December, Manchester’s Phoebe Green is back with new bop ‘IDK’. “[It] explores a complete detachment from reality, observing things from a place of total apathy and feeling as though I’m witnessing my life as a bystander with little to no connection to it,” Phoebe explains. “It’s a horrible state to be in, I think it happens when I get overwhelmed.” [via DIY]

Fast-rising French-Korean artist spill tab is unveiling her latest mesmerising single ‘Anybody Else’. Accompanied by a new vid directed by friend and collaborator Jade Sadler, spill tab says, “This song is cheesy as fuck but I love it, it’s pretty straight forward, a little shameless - the lyrics are sort of a way of expressing my love without openly saying I love you. Jade Sadler (the video director) and I just wanted to have a shit ton of fun on this one. We thought about something with narrative or plot and it was just getting to be too corny. I wanted something lighthearted and playful, so we decided we would have all of our homies in this video paired with different colors and angles and set designs. I’m so excited with the way it turned out.” [via DIY]

Willow Kayne has shared her debut single 'Two Seater'. The Gen Z talent links together huge opposing forces, creating her own potent brand of rebel-pop. New single 'Two Seater' finds Willow blazing a trail, upending convention through melding together differing sounds. The lush, 90s inspired soundscape leans on nostalgic impulses, but her punk-like disregard for convention is sheer pop futurism. Produced by DANIO, it finds Willow Kayne coming into her own completely off the bat. [via Clash]

BENEE has shared a video for her single ‘Happen To Me’. It’s the latest cut from her debut album, Hey u x, which arrived last November featuring guest spots from the likes of Grimes, Lily Allen and Flo Milli. “This song is super important to me,” she says. “It’s the opening track [on the album]. It’s the first song where I’ve written about anxiety. The lyrics are pretty dark. Life is pretty crazy right now, and I think it’s important to talk about this kind of stuff.” Of the video, she adds: “Stoked to be sharing this music video with everyone! I filmed it with a bunch of mates, and it was the coolest set! Hope you love it as much as I do.” [via Dork]

Los Angeles-based art-pop artist Kit Major has shared the music video for 'When the Drugs Don't Work,' a more introspective stab at her signature dark, electropop sound. Blending driving dance beats and thumping hyperpop-influenced synths, Kit Major creates an intoxicating elixir of soundbites and grit. Taking inspiration from Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and Charlotte Lawrence, 'When the Drugs Don't Work' dives into the overwhelming vulnerability and panic of failing to curb a depressive episode with medication. With this release, Kit Major furthers her efforts to be open and make light of her mental health struggles. On the video, Kit Major shares, "'When The Drugs Don't Work' was filmed in one weekend, directed by my best friend in my departed grandparents' now empty house. We filmed this in quarantine without a crew and worked to create a dark & twisted fairytale together. When I first started thinking about the video, I knew I wanted a more lighthearted take to balance the darker theme of my mental health in the song. I wrote the lyric, “little princess hurt locked away inside her palace,” because sometimes when I'm isolated in my room I visualize myself as a Disney princess running inside her castle, instead of being in my bed, surrounded by empty water bottles. This song was written from a mix of different perspectives including my own, my persona, and outside voices. I think we accomplished the storytelling behind WTDDW by portraying the importance of imagination and trusting yourself."  Alongside, director Noël Dombroski adds, "WDDW is a raw, introspective song from Kit that shines a light on parts of herself that at times may be hard to face. We were lucky enough to be able to shoot at Kit's late grandparents' house, an emotionally significant location that acts in the video as the inside of Kit's head. We wanted to challenge viewers to look at every facet of themselves and realize that each part is valuable, even if you may not like it. A conversation we had a lot was about the color scene, where the image of Kit is being pulled apart by color channels. You may hate one of those colors, but you still need it to create that full image. The same can sometimes be said about depression - it may be a layer of yourself that you don't care for, but without that experience, I don't know that WDDW could exist." The music video dives into the psychological turmoil at the heart of the track with a hyperstylized touch. Spotlights wander through a funhouse version of Kit's childhood home, hunting down our protagonist, who we find trapped behind bars, downing teardrops from teacups and champagne from the bottle. Simultaneously unnerving and stimulating in a Paranormal Activity-meets Alice in Wonderland aestheticism, the music video for 'When the Drugs Don't Work' dives into the floating images of a mental breakdown with a fever dream lucidity.

Number One Popstar continues to prove herself as a powerhouse, shaking up the music world with her fresh, unapologetic beats. This week, she shares another one, her new single 'Forever 21.' And no, it’s not about clothes. 'Forever 21' begins with a kicking beat, but subdued with reflective, twinkly keys. It’s a perfect mix of existential dread and dance. Carrying this vibe throughout, it breaks in between with a beaming guitar-driven bridge. Lyrically, the track makes us question why brands and media make it seem like our twenties are our prime, when we still have our whole lives ahead of us? Despite the effervescent pop sound, Hollowell got vulnerable about her past and its effect on the song, saying, "I initially started writing 'Forever 21' when I found myself looking back on my early 20’s, wanting to recapture the hopeful and dumb feelings of my youth. But the longer I spent on the song, the more it became a reflection of the loss I faced when my parents passed away in my early 20s. I started looking at my own fear of death, of dying like them. I really didn’t know where my life was headed back then. […] I eventually turned that painful experience into a motivation to go after everything I wanted in life. To be seriously less serious, recognizing everything is fleeting.” Like her other music videos, Hollowell likes to flip popular culture and societal expetations on their head. While also bringing the fear of aging to life, she also reminds audiences to stay present instead of holding on to youth. [via Earmilk]

Following in the footsteps of Prince and Lizzo, Dizzy Fae is set to become the Twin Cities’ next pop sensation. She just dropped her brand new track, 'BODY MOVE', and much like the name suggests, it will make you want to move. Self-described as alternative R&B, Fae takes a few notes from contemporary hyperpop artists like Charli XCX and Doja Cat with an industrial iciness that plays off the technicolor pop melodies. It’s an influence you can hear on 'BODY MOVE', produced by New York’s Stelios (Young Thug, SZA). The track builds itself off a snappy, rubber band bass line indebted to pop’s recent disco revival. “It’d be so cruel if I didn’t let my body move,” Fea’s voice loops through a robotic filter. A buzzing drum machines barrels in at the chorus, transforming the lightly retro groove to a futuristic club track more akin to the production styles of 100 gecs. But for all the modern influences, the Ying Yang Twins reference shows she’s a student of all types of music. [via Consequence]

Technically, 'Your Power' is not the lead single from Billie Eilish’s newly announced album Happier Than Ever. The album includes two songs she released last year: the jazzy, well received ballad 'my future' and the contemptuous multi-format radio hit 'Therefore I Am.' However, 'Your Power' is the first song Eilish has released since announcing the new album, debuting her new look, and officially commencing her LP2 era, so there’s definitely a deep sense of anticipations around the song. Eilish teased 'Your Power' this week with a brief sound snippet featuring acoustic guitar and the words “Try not to use your power” sung to a Feist-y melody. Now the full song and its Eilish-directed music video have arrived. The completed record remains as soft, pretty, and devastatingly sad as the preview audio. In the clip, a slow pan across a mountainside in the Simi Valley reveals Eilish in the clutches of a gigantic snake. (A press release specifies that it’s an 80-pound anaconda.) [via Stereogum]

[spaceymcspaceship]

22?? maybe??

time heist

circa nowhen

me being like u can have a little 12, as a treat, as a break from 10

i really love this episode idk why

is it all the familiar faces? is it my childhood love of ocean’s eleven? is it clara’s fucking suit? is it the doctor calling himself out in yet another scene so brilliantly delivered by capaldi? is it the line “not the last of its species, the last two” and its subtle parallel to two time lord disasters? 

whatever it is i do genuinely love this episode

the runaway bride

circa 2007

i just really really really love donna 

like yes she’s so mad and spends the first twenty minutes yelling at the doctor

oh god i missed that he called her unimportant too that kills ME

but then by the time we get to her finding out that her fiance was just using her? like the doctor’s realization of that moments before her? my heart is aching

her protectiveness immediately after of the doc? 

and then he takes her to the creation of the earth???

and she stops him??? from taking vengeful time lord thing too far???

and then the end scene is so tender and Soft and i’m crying because i want them to be best emotionally supportive buds travelling the universe together forever

blink

circa 2007

i was trying so hard to figure out why this was 2007 and not 2008 like the rest of season 3 and finally i think it was bc at the end we have a year later and then she meets 10 and martha, but it hasn’t happened yet for them, but i still don’t know exactly how we got that time 

anyway time is one big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff

both doc and companion lite episodes are interesting to me and i’ll have to keep an eye out moving out of rtd era bc i can’t really recall many?

anyway this whole ep is gold and baby mulligan sells it here

thanks for making us afraid of statues doctor who

turn left

circa alternate 2007 (and 2008 and 2009)

i put this one here bc the turning point is in 2007 and i was trying to mix up 10 as much as i could...but it does lean heavily on the events of seasons 3 and 4 so idkkkk

anyway i love donna noble just gotta repeat that

rose!!!! i forgot that every time rose comes back on the show she just glows up more and more

also it really strikes me how much she is playing the doctor’s role here (she even points it out herself) which makes me have a lot of 13 feels thx

‘i shan’t it’s christmas’ 

ICONIC

‘the most important woman in the whole of creation’ 

it’s so wild bc that line stuck with me when i first watched it in high school and it still makes me emotional

but you know what resonates now?

the ‘i’m tired. i’m so tired.’

she doesn’t want any of that responsibility and weight and doesn’t think she’s important and doesn’t want to keep fighting

and that’s me crying

i forgot how hard this episode goes with the alt timeline stuff like it is not even remotely in the vicinity of fucking around

and honestly the risky choices they make could potentially not land at all and could feel like they’re there for shock value but everyone onscreen (and behind it too i imagine) is pouring as much truth as they can into it and is committed to the actual horror that is this alternate timeline and it absolutely lands

god what an episode

nightmare in silver

circa nowhen

so that may have been a lie i think this one actually goes vaguely in the future

anyway here it helped breakup 10 eps so that’s good

i was like why an abandoned amusement park that’s cool but odd

and then i realized neil gaiman that’s why

anyway cybermen are more interesting when there’s more than just a painfully slow build to a reveal of a cybermen army ready to take over oh noes

and so HOLY SHIT SMITH

11 vs the cyber-planner is actually unbelievable???

his acting my god 

it’s interesting bc there are a lot of similarities to the end of season 12 plot wise 

but tonally this episode is so wildly different and serves a completely different purpose in the narrative and season that i have no motivation to draw parallels bc they’re both just doing interesting but separate things

smith and jones

circa 2008

who’s ready for some martha jones????

martha just deserves better. like. all the time.

i mean this is martha ‘you’re a doctor? yeah well i’ll call you that when you earn it’ jones

judoon platoon upon the moon 

that’s all

haha dr. stoker i see what u did there

there are so many moments where you just have to be like what the fuck am i watching and the vampire lady drinking out of the doc’s neck with a straw is definitely up there

i level up every time martha calls herself a doctor or says that she’s going to be one

the lazarus experiment

circa 2008

we r rolling folks

how many doctor who episodes has gatiss been in my god????

black tie episode niiiiiiice

we’ve been name dropping harold saxon in literally every single episode present day this season and last my goodness

i can’t imagine what that’s about lol

maybe we’ll find out tomorrow

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 3x16 Doppelgängland

aka evil skanky and kinda gay

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And if today’s episode doesn’t make you laugh out loud uncomfortably at least 5 times during each rewatch... then you’re probably Vamp!Willow, and that’s cool. You do you. Literally, I guess.

During my rant for The Wish, I already confessed that that episode used to be pretty high up on my personal list. I’m aware however, that most people prefer Doppelgangland to that fun AU apocalypse scenario... and I get it. I really do, especially these days.

On the other hand, it’s also tough to make comparisons. It’s a different tone, different vibe and offers different things for the show’s general storyline and lore, despite using the same alternate universe as a jumping point. The Wish is a dark and gloomy exploration of the hell we make for ourselves once we lose hope in a better world. Doppelgangland is a non-stop fun ride that’s a major milestone and has many future implications for Willow’s character arc.

But let’s start at the beginning-ish, with an unfairly neglected segment of these rants that I like to call Out of Context Wuffy.

Willow:  How come the sudden calisthenics? Aren't you sort of naturally buff, Buff? *giggles* Buff buff.

(If that’s not the official ship name, I will make it so, if it’s the last thing I do on this site.)

Willow then talks about how the whole pencil floating she does requires emotional control... and then when she’s like “Oh, I’m totally fine with us talking about Faith”, the pencil starts twirling like crazy like some supernatural lie detector.

But there’ll be plenty of opportunity to discuss Willow’s feelings on Faith a couple of eps from now.

Faith herself is presently bonding with the Mayor, but she also goes out of her way to touch Buffy’s shoulder in a scene beforehand???

There really is no heterosexual explanation for this. Like, I literally can’t explain how Faith acts with Buffy in any other way. We just have to accept that Faith is in love with Buffy as part of the text rather than just subtext, and move on from there.

Oz:  I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text.

Shut up, Joss, I’m right and you know it.

But this episode is still very much a Willow episode, so I should probably talk Willow. Which, as you may know, I’m prone to do a lot anyway.

The problem that I’m kind of running into is that I find it hard to talk about the subtle effects and shifts this episode starts or shines a light on in Willow’s character without seeing that arc folding out first. Like, I know where we’re going, and I could talk about that part I guess, but I’m more interested in re-experiencing and paying more attention to the steps that take us there.

Something that this episode calls out for instance, is how Willow feels like she’s The Doormat, even in their own friend group. The person that gets bullied to do other peoples work for them, someone they rely on to be there and do what they ask of her.

This, while coincides with Willow’s desire for validation, runs counter to her need to feel special. So when Anya asks if she wants to do a spell with her, there’s absolutely no hesitation on her part. Finally, she gets to do something that sets her apart!

But then Evil!Willow appears, and that represents a whole new can of worms to Willow... On the plus side, one of those is the fact that she’s not afraid to want or ask things for herself. And that’s a lesson that our Willow will certainly take away from this encounter I think.

I particularly like the ending scene, where the jock Willow was supposed to tutor, and who tried to get her to write his whole essay for him, shows up after his encounter with Vamp!Willow. And he’s actually done all the work. Thoroughly. Twice. And even gives his apple to Willow.

It’s a rare occasion where we see Willow actually having the power in an encounter or relationship like that. At least it’s been rare up until this point.

That’s sort of the fun of Vamp!Willow here. She may not be our Willow exactly, and she may be an evil creepy vampire (as all vampires are), but she still makes Willow consider new possibilities... As well as perhaps confront some facets of her character that she ignored in the past.

Willow:  That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and... skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay. Buffy:  Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was. Angel:  Well, actually...

And just look at that girl in the screencap above. She’s so gay for Vamp!Willow, it’s not even funny. No wonder she got the Moloch treatment of getting immediately killed by her evil gay crush. (Those wacky 90s, am I right?)

Let’s not forget though, that Vamp!Willow evidently also enjoys getting handsy with herself. Their shared scenes are essentially the embodiment of the “I don’t wanna have sex with my clone ‘cause what if my clone is evil” meme.

Meanwhile Anya gets introduced more, and I can’t wait to spend some more quality time with my favorite 1000-year-old demon child.

Arguably something else that can be said of this episode, is that it’s just all memorable lines all the time, from start to finish. So, much like with the previous episode, I can only advise you to give this episode in particular a rewatch. It’s very much worth it.

Press play on Doppelgangland you guys, watch order be damned!

[aion-rsa]

The Best TV Shows of 2020

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Some year, eh? 

We’re often poetic about TV around these parts. It’s no secret that we like to sing its praises as a powerful, restorative, and maybe sometimes therapeutic medium. But during a dangerous, confusing year, delving into the many ways that TV “kept us sane” or whatever feels reductive. 

What we can say, however, is this: TV was around this year. And that’s no small feat as not every other medium was so lucky. Concerts and other live performances were canceled. The movie-going experience was upended (perhaps permanently), and even curling up with a nice book at a coffee shop was no longer an option for much of the year. The TV production schedule may have been disrupted, but for the most part, the television machine chugged along, providing us with a diverse (and often overwhelming) number of truly excellent options to take in.

This year we want to honor the best of those TV shows – not for any particular reason other than that it’s fun to do and we’ve all earned some year-end distractions. We had our staff vote on their favorite series, polled you the reader as well, then crunched all the numbers in an intensely complicated propriety equation (not really) to determine our winners. 

Please enjoy our choices for the 25 Best TV Shows of 2020. 

25. How To with John Wilson

How To with John Wilson is the heir to Nathan For You’s throne, which seems obvious considering the series boasts Nathan Fielder as an executive producer, but the new HBO series shares much of the fiercely beloved former Comedy Central series’ DNA. While Nathan For You used helping businesses as a jumping off point to explore social interactions and the funny, insane things that people may say or do if you point a camera in their face, How To with John Wilson purports to explain how to perform simple tasks like making small talk or splitting a check, but mostly showcases how beautiful, ugly, life-affirming, and odd life in New York City can be. It’s a difficult show to explain, but it uses dry narration and quick documentary-style footage to create laugh out loud set-ups and punchlines, and digresses into some of the most poignant, and “WTF” moments found in a comedy series. You may not learn much, but you’ll laugh a lot. 

– Nick Harley

24. The Plot Against America

TV writing geniuses David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire, The Deuce) are masters of subtlety. Their many shows, several of which are among the best in TV history, know how to conquer small moments en route to a bigger, oft devastating picture. During these very unsubtle times then, how could they possibly adapt Philip Roth’s equally unsubtle book about creeping fascism in America, The Plot Against America? The answer, as it turns out, is with the same gentle touch and keen understanding of the human condition as they always employ.

Like Roth’s 2004 novel, The Plot Against America picks up in an alternate version of the American 1940s, where real life aviation hero and Nazi-sympathizing populist Charles Lindbergh is elected president. The show then follows the working class Jewish Levin family as they deal with the fallout. Simon and Burns’ subtle touch works uncommonly well here. The Plot Against America’s six episodes are in many ways about how gradually and imperceptibly things can get worse until one’s home is no longer recognizable. For obvious reasons, the series resonated this year but its ability to summon creeping dread would have played well just about any time. 

– Alec Bojalad

23. Lovecraft Country

A sprawling anthology with an overarching fable set in the depths of Jim Crow America in the 1950s, Lovecraft Country was an epic, political, sometimes gory, always ambitious sci-fi horror unlike anything else in 2020. Following the journey of Atticus (Jonathan Majors), Leti (Jurnee Smollett), and Atticus’s uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a mission to find Atticus’s missing father, the story combines real life racist horror with supernatural creatures inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.

Each episode is both a standalone story and part of the whole, playing with different subgenres. Ep 3 “Holy Ghost” is a classic haunted house tale with a historical twist against a backdrop of neighborhood racism, ep 5 “A Strange Case” is an extraordinary body horror which explores the female experience, 6 “Meet Me in Daegu” introduces a character from Korean folklore, while ep 8 “I Am” is a sprawling afrofuturist sci-fi. Created by Misha Green, exec produced by Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams, this is glossy cinematic stuff with a terrific ensemble cast. Talk about bang for your buck.

– Rosie Fletcher

22. His Dark Materials

If season one of this fantasy adaptation was carefully laying the tracks, then season two is hurtling along them, whooping out of the window as it goes. The new episodes started from the high-point of the season one finale and kept climbing. The difference is in tone – this time it’s warmer, keying more successfully into its characters’ emotional lives. It’s bolder too, demonstrating confidence by stepping away from the books to add scenes, humor and modern updates as required.

Season two, adapted from the second book in Philip Pullman’s original trilogy, sees Lyra and Will cross worlds and forge a bond. Will undertakes his own hero’s journey, one involving Spectres, a magical knife and the father he’d long thought dead. The real star though, is Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter, a devilishly complex character into whose head this show is satisfyingly determined to get. 

Season two is an episode short, thanks to COVID-19, but we should be grateful it made it here on time at all. The real delight is all the talent and effort that’s gone into telling such a weird story, one that only gets weirder from hereon in…

– Louisa Mellor

21. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Season 5 of She-Ra was the show at its absolute best. Every restriction seemed to be lifted and it just let loose with all the joy, deepness, and big queer energy it had ever wanted to display. Bless it for that because it allowed the show to go out on the highest of notes. We’d be here all day if we listed all the fantastic plots this season and how everyone got a chance to shine but no moment stands out more than Catra and Adora kissing. 

It’s a moment queer fans had hoped for and were shocked it actually happened. Seeing two leads in a legacy property get to be not only confirmed queer but also kiss is still a rare sight and we can only hope it signals great change in animation going forward.  We’re sad to see She-Ra go but glad it got to end so perfectly. 

– Shamus Kelley

20. Pen15 

During the 2011 “Middle School” episode of This American Life, host Ira Glass interviews producer Alex Blumberg, who presents a radical new approach to education in America: get rid of middle school. Children’s bodies and brains are just simply too volatile in their preteen years to meaningfully learn anything in the years between elementary school and high school. Give them a break, then pick up and try again in a couple years.

It’s hard not to think of that interview when watching Hulu’s wonderful middle school comedy Pen15. Lead characters Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle) are very rarely seen learning something in class or poring over their homework. And why would they be? There are boys to obsess over, school plays to audition for, and moments that will scar them forever to experience. 

Rarely has there ever been a more frank, honest, and hilarious exploration of the middle school years than Pen15. Much was made during the show’s first season about the adult Konkle and Erskine’s ability to portray their younger selves. And in season 2, they blend in so seamlessly that the novelty of the casting choice might never even occur to the viewer. 

– Alec Bojalad

19. I Hate Suzie

The last time playwright Lucy Prebble wrote a TV series for Billie Piper, it was 2007’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl. London-set, glamorous, sexy and funny, that was a distinctly twentysomething story. Over a decade later, Prebble and Piper reunited to do something different in I Hate Suzie; still funny, but rawer, more experimental, and probing all the ways that a thirtysomething woman’s identity – wife, mother, and in this case, celebrity – can be defined by everything except herself. 

Piper plays popstar-turned actor Suzie, whose life explodes when hacked photos of her cheating on her husband leak online. Suzie goes through the stages of grief in eight riotous half-hour episodes that experiment with form and genre. There’s drama. There’s satire. There’s singing and dancing. There’s Dexter Fletcher doing coke off a bare arse, and a whole-episode wank that explores the societal construction of female desire. It is, in modern parlance, a lot, in the most exhilarating and enriching way. These two had better not leave it another 10 years until their next collaboration. We demand more. 

– Louisa Mellor 

18. Rick and Morty

Did you hear? This guy turns himself into a pickle…a PICKLE! It’s wild. Every subsequent year that Rick and Morty airs, it gets harder to separate the “meme” of Rick and Morty from the show itself. Suppose that’s just what happens when a fanbase proves itself to be…uh, energetic, and the Merchandising Industrial Complex kicks itself into overdrive to produce some truly offensively bad Big Dog-style shirts. 

Removed from the meta of it all, Rick and Morty still churned out some great episodes of television in 2020. The back half of the series’ two-part season 4 all aired this year and there were real gems included among them. Though it proved to be divisive, “Never Ricking Morty” was certainly among the most structurally ambitious installments the show has ever attempted. Then there was just the sublimely hilarious “The Vat of Acid Episode,” which was enough to earn the show a Best Animated Series Emmy. 

– Alec Bojalad

17. Dark

Dark is already notable for reaching levels of popularity in the United States not often enjoyed by subtitled fare, but it also was afforded the rare opportunity to end on its own terms with its third season in 2020. Audiences fell in love with the generational stories of the families living around the nuclear power plant in Winden, Germany, marveling at casting choices for characters in their older or younger forms whose resemblances were spot on.

The time travel plot tied viewers’ brains into knots, but the desire to see an end to the apocalypse was made even deeper by the strong chemistry between Dark’s own Adam and Eve: Jonas and Martha. As the true source of the alternate timelines and causal loops became known, everything about the show’s reality was called into question, but the ending left a lingering question mark to entice fans to speculate long after the show had ended. 

– Michael Ahr

16. The Untamed

While The Untamed technically premiered in 2019, the Chinese xianxia drama was one of the escapist stories that most defined a year we all wanted to get as far away from as possible. Bursting onto the transformative fandom scene to come in ninth on Tumblr’s list of the most-discussed live action TV shows of 2020, the foreign-language fantasy series tells the story of supernatural flautist Wei Wuixan (Xiao Zhan) from his humble beginnings as a teen cultivator-in-training to his controversial role as a demonic cultivator war hero to his time as a masked detective after he is mysteriously brought back to life in a stranger’s body 13 years after his gruesome death. 

But, like any good melodrama, The Untamed is really all about the relationships. This is a complex emotional story about siblings and sects, honor and morality. At the heart of the interpersonal narrative is the epic romance between Wei Wuixan and his stoic swordsman boyfriend Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo). The Untamed is adapted from an explicitly queer web novel, but China’s anti-LGBTQ censorship laws require the series tell its love story via lingering gazes, clasped wrists, and declarations of undying devotion. The result is no less queer, as these canonical soulmates sacrifice everything but their fervid commitment to protect the innocent for one another. 

– Kayti Burt

15. The Haunting of Bly Manor

In 2018, Netflix shrieked its way into the spooky season game with the breakout hit The Haunting of Hill House. The streamer then afforded creator Mike Flanagan the opportunity to American Horror Story-ize his work into an anthology of his own, thus The Haunting series was born. In typical second child fashion, The Haunting of Bly Manor had a world of expectations to live up to, which included its often-adapted source material, primarily the novella Turn of The Screw by Henry James (or Hank Jim as we like to call him) among two other works. Flanagan, who’s a heavyweight in the horror genre at this point, again eschewed a direct remake for a loose adaptation with Bly Manor, a slow burn, but ultimately a deeply personal and satisfying tale of ghosts, both of the faced and faceless variety, intertwined with Gothic romance.

The returning players from the previous season, Victoria Pedretti (Dani), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Peter Quint), Henry Thomas (Henry Wingrave), Carla Gugino (The Storyteller), and Kate Siegel (a surprise character in an excellent episode 8), bring back some of the winning chemistry from Hill House. However it’s the newcomers to the series, T’Nia Miller as Hannah Grose the housekeeper, Amelia Eve as Jamie the gardener, and Rahul Kohli as Owen the cook, whose standout performances ground Flanagan’s headier concepts, like the series’ mesmerizing fifth episode. It’s through these characters that Bly Manor poignantly articulates how love can be as much of a burden as it is a blessing. Not long after your Bly Manor binge is complete, Flora’s line, “You said it was a ghost story. It isn’t. It’s a love story,” will crystallize the throughline Flanagan was gunning for. And if that line isn’t a lasting memory of the limited series, perhaps it’s Owen’s lucious mustache, the best on TV in 2020, that will live on. 

– Chris Longo

14. Ted Lasso

In a relentlessly dark year, Ted Lasso was one of the few rays of sunshine that warmed our hearts. Its title character is so pleasant and optimistic, he makes Leslie Knope look like a curmudgeon by comparison. Folksy, thoughtful, and almost aggressively friendly, Jason Sudeikis’s Lasso is hired to lead a struggling English Premier League team in a move of sabotage, but ends up charming the pants off of the squad and proving the power of positivity. 

The character is practically impossible not to like, and in a time of so much anxiety and frustration, it’s refreshing to spend time with someone like Ted. The title coach isn’t the only reason to watch; the show features well-crafted characters with satisfying individual arcs, comforting, yet well-executed sports movie tropes, and funny fish out of water culture clash moments. Ted Lasso is a breezy, low-effort experience that makes you feel good. What more could you ask for in 2020? 

– Nick Harley

13. The Umbrella Academy

The first season of The Umbrella Academy was already a stellar achievement in adapting the gloriously weird Gerard Way/Gabriel Bá graphic novels, but season 2 took the show to another level in 2020. The varied reactions of the superpowered family to being stranded in 1960s Dallas were extremely enlightening and made the characters even more enjoyable with all of their quirks, flaws, and emotional depth.

Of particular interest was the manner in which Allison strove to lead a normal life with a husband that loved her despite the difficulties of being Black in the segregated South and her determination not to use her powers. Fan favorite character Ben also received a noble and inspiring arc that led to a completely new role for him in season 3. Although there are plenty of mysteries remaining, the unfolding backstory leaves us always wanting more of The Umbrella Academy. 

– Michael Ahr

12. The Great

“Russia must be saved, and I with it.” An occasionally true story from The Favourite co-screenwriter Tony McNamara, The Great is a satirical look at the rise of Russian monarch Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning, getting a chance to show off her comedic chops), from her arrival from Prussia as a naive teen bride to her time plotting the death of her husband, Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult, seemingly having the time of his career). The Great is cutting, clever, and hilarious, but, like The Favourite before it, its true secret weapon lies in its moments of earnest emotion. 

The Hulu series revels in the often absurd nature of its subject matter, but not at the cost of ignoring the trauma and joys of its often gruesome world. The unpredictability of which kind of scene you will get next—absurd, deeply emotional, or both—creates a fantastic dramatic tension that sustains throughout the entire 10-episode first season, perhaps necessary in a story that, should it follow the broadest of historical strokes, the viewer knows will end in Catherine’s triumph. Huzzah! 

– Kayti Burt

11. Harley Quinn

This year, we found out the answer to a question that no one was really asking – “who would win: a big budget Birds of Prey DC spinoff movie starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, or one small Harley Quinn-focused animated series that was seemingly about to be left for dead on the ailing DC Universe streaming service?” Harley Quinn won, for everyone who cared to investigate, as the show leveled up in season 2 by having the balls to let Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel fall in love with her sardonic roommate Poison Ivy on screen and ditch any lingering feelings she had for the Joker, but for those not invested in the romance (they should go have a soup and rethink their priorities) there was so much else going on beyond deconstructing its central character.

Animated shows are typically seen as an immature, lesser form of entertainment than live-action series, but just imagining the creativity you’d need to come up with this many running jokes, in-jokes and meta jokes for the larger-than-life characters of Gotham is exhausting. There’s so much writing talent behind Harley Quinn that a third season wasn’t just expected, but demanded. And indeed, Harley Quinn will live on at HBO Max, but if it hadn’t happened, we’d do what the Doctor ordered and RIOT. 

– Kirsten Howard

10. BoJack Horseman

Through its superb six-season run, BoJack Horseman’s tonal brilliance came to be an expected fact of life. Early on, it was tempting to pull non-viewers aside, shake their shoulders, and yell in their face “No, you don’t get it! It’s an animated comedy about a horse that was a ‘90s sitcom, yes, but it’s also a searing exploration of depression, dysfunction, and the dismal nature of the human condition!” It’s to the show’s eternal credit that that stellar comedic/dramatic tightrope act became all but a given a few seasons in and the world adjusted to it thusly. But even with that level of familiarity and comfort, it’s jarring just how well the show pulls off that delicate formula in its final, and perhaps best season. 

BoJack Horseman season 6 premiered eight of its final 16 episodes in 2020’s first month and their dramatic resonance carried through the rest of the year. The story ends here as we always expected it might. BoJack’s past finally catches up to him, and when he becomes a pop culture pariah, he slowly begins to undo whatever progress he made throughout the series, culminating in a stunning penultimate episode where BoJack faces the infinite and meets up with all the figures in his life who died along the way. But it’s not until the show’s very end where the message comes into clear focus. BoJack has to start all over again, just like we all must from time to time. The difference this time is that the other people in his life are finally prepared to move on…possibly without him. “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if this night was the last time we ever talked to each other?” BoJack says to Diane as they look up at the Hollywood night sky. Wouldn’t it be funny indeed. 

– Alec Bojalad

9. Legends of Tomorrow

There is no superhero TV show that has strayed as far from its superheroic roots than Legends of Tomorrow. Despite the fact that its full official title is quick to point out that this is indeed DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, you’d be hard pressed to find a DC show less overtly concerned about its comic book roots, or even with any synergistic responsibilities it may have to the other DC shows in its orbit. Sure, Supergirl, Black Lightning, The Flash, and Stargirl are great, and they’re note perfect representations of what makes those characters special, but Legends does everything those other shows do, but with far less recognizable characters, with far more laughs, and an effortlessly perfect ensemble cast boasting chemistry for days.   

No matter how high the reality-altering stakes, it all seems less important than watching the friendships between this crew of superheroic time traveling misfits. Legends of Tomorrow is everything good and hopeful and pure (ok, well…maybe not pure, especially where Matt Ryan’s John Constantine is concerned) about superhero shows without any of the baggage, and often without the superheroics. Always hilarious and often surprisingly touching, there’s not a single superhero team on the big or small screen that you’d rather actually hang out with. You don’t have to love superhero TV to love Legends, you just have to love TV. 

– Mike Cecchini

8. Schitt’s Creek

People who love Schitt’s Creek LOVE Schitt’s Creek. It’s almost become cult-like in its following, so the arrival of the sixth and final season felt like an event and the end of a journey not just for fans of the show but the stars themselves. Season six isn’t the best season of Schitt’s – it leans into the schmaltz and sentiment heavily and throws realism to the wind in favor of the absurd but if you’ve come this far with the displaced Rose family and the sometimes odd but overall endearing residents of Schitt’s Creek, you won’t be disappointed. 

All the major players get their arc. Alexis and Ted’s separation is heartbreaking, Moira’s Crows movie premiere is a hilarious mess, some of the Jazzagals almost join a cult… the season is packed with ridiculous scenarios in between many more moments of genuine sweetness as it gently guides its characters to an end. The finale comes together with David’s wedding to Patrick – a perfectly idiosyncratic affair in the Schitt’s Creek town hall. It’s a moving send off to which we’re all invited. 

This is a show about family and community, created by a real family – father and son Eugene and Daniel Levy (sister Sarah plays Twyla) – that spawned a community of fans. This might be the end of Schitt’s Creek but we can always re-visit. 

– Rosie Fletcher

7. Devs

Alex Garland’s unsettling, yet visually gorgeous science-fiction parables are always thought-provoking, but FX’s Devs asks bigger questions than any of the writer/directors previous projects. Do we determine our own fates? Does the multiverse exist? Can computers predict our future? Devs isn’t just heady techno-philosophical musings, it spends its runtime being a pretty satisfying corporate thriller, with our protagonist Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) investigating the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend.

This is a somewhat scathing indictment on Silicon Valley culture, with a Google-esque tech company operating with unmatched power in the shadows. Featuring a moving dramatic performance from Nick Offerman and a star-making turn from Sonoya Mizuno, Devs is just as pretty, existentially threatening, and hard sci-fi as Garland’s beloved films Ex Machina and Annihilation. If you love thrillers, but are also interested in Quantum Theory, this was the limited series you’d been waiting for in 2020.

 – Nick Harley

6. The Mandalorian (READERS’ CHOICE)

Starting with its first season and extending into its improved second, The Mandalorian just works. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s creation about the galaxy’s most beloved bounty hunter dad is the kind of forward-thinking Star Wars project that works perfectly on a streaming platform. 

If you’re a massive Star Wars nerd, The Mandalorian continues to provide plenty of Easter eggs and callbacks for you, but the show excels at being both a fun reentry point for fans fatigued with the sequels and prequels, and a standalone adventure series for viewers who don’t have much knowledge of Star Wars at all, deftly creating a string of sidequests in a galaxy far, far away that put you firmly in the beautiful Lone Wolf and Cub-like tale of Mando and Grogu as they fly toward an unknown future.

As we recently learned, there will come a time in the next few years when we will be simply drowning in Star Wars TV series, as ten(!) of them are in development, but for now, we get to really savor the intricate worldbuilding going on in The Mandalorian.

This is the way. 

– Kirsten Howard

5. The Boys

The Boys was a breakout hit when it first landed on Amazon’s streaming service, but when the series returned, there was a bit of a backlash from fans of the show who were enraged that some of its new episodes would arrive weekly, unlike the binge-ready first season. Luckily, Season 2 had so many “what the fuck” moments in store that the griping soon quietened down, and the show eventually found its stride again after a slow start. Our diabolical, supe-fighting team led by a rather distracted Billy Butcher dealt with one bonkers revelation about Vought International after another this season, while the Supes themselves battled with their own humanity, and both groups often found common ground where they least expected it. 

It’s really hard to pick a favorite moment from Season 2, but if you’ve forgotten how out there it was, let us present a wild bouquet that includes “Homelander angrily wanking over the city in the form of his own demented Bat-Signal”, “The Seven filming a very (very) thinly-veiled Zack Snyder-esque superhero movie that had undergone a Joss Whedon rewrite”, “a massive-dicked supe-in-captivity called Love Sausage”, and “a timid child getting confidently pushed off the roof of a house by his own beaming father”. And that’s without bringing up the whole “immortal Nazi” stuff that occasionally propelled the narrative into Verhoeven-level satirical territory.

There were things that didnt work about Season 2, and we can argue about them forever, but there’s one thing that everyone can agree on: if Antony Starr doesn’t get two armfuls of awards for his performance as Homelander, a fucking travesty has occurred. 

– Kirsten Howard

4. I May Destroy You

On a night out while writing the second series of her acclaimed sitcom Chewing Gum, Michaela Coel was drugged and sexually assaulted by strangers. What she did with that experience – alchemizing it into a wise and fearless TV drama about trauma and survival – was extraordinary. 

I May Destroy You is an extraordinary series. In it, Coel plays Arabella, a young writer also drugged and raped on a night out, while under pressure from publishers to follow up her hit book debut. With long-ranging flashbacks, the story moves through the next year in Bella’s life. We see her draw power from her new identity as a survivor and (often clumsily) navigate close friendships and new sexual relationships. She strays from likeability, changing in response to what happened, and in a transcendent, experimental finale, teaches herself how to live.

Coel is a bewitching lead with excellent support from Weruche Opia and Paapa Essiedu as Bella’s friends Terry and Kwame. This is no dreary misery memoir. It’s surprising, confrontational, often funny and always buzzing with life – a frank and much needed course correction for telling this kind of story on screen.

 – Louisa Mellor

3. What We Do in the Shadows

Over the past decade of television, we’ve come to expect a lot out of our TV comedies. Since the Emmy Awards now categorize just about anything that’s 30 minutes long as comedy, the genre is now home to things like shockingly dramatic coming of age tales, intensely personal narratives, and experimental structures. This evolving of the half hour format is a welcome one. At the same time, however, sometimes you just want to laugh.

Enter What We Do in the Shadows. In its remarkable 10-episode second season, this FX adaptation of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s movie of the same name made a serious case for itself as the funniest show on television. And it did so in shockingly simple fashion. In season 2, the character list remains short: just Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Guillermo (Harvey Guillen), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) make up the show’s cast of characters for the most part (give or take a Mark Hamill or Nick Kroll). And that’s all they need. 

This year, the writers and performers all operate at the top of their game to make every possible plotline work and every character pairing sing. The comedic energy is top notch from the season’s opening “Resurrection” episode through midseason classics “Colin’s Promotion” and “On The Run” and all the way to the finale “Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires.”

– Alec Bojalad

2. Better Call Saul

The penultimate season of Better Call Saul was an absolutely brilliant run of episodes that perfectly set the stage for a climactic conclusion that looks to be every bit as heart-wrenching and explosive as the final season of parent series Breaking Bad. The show successfully introduced Lalo, perhaps the most charismatic and terrifying villain in Vince Gilligan’s Albuquerque, and merged the series’ seemingly disparate storylines by bringing fan-favorite Kim Wexler closer to the dangerous dealings of the cartel.  

It turns out that Jimmy becoming Saul wasn’t the tragedy that we should have been anticipating, it was Kim embracing the Saul way that we should have been worried about. The show’s strengths have always been its meticulous attention to details, fascination with processes, and humanistic view of exactly why someone like Jimmy McGill might break bad and become a dishonorable huckster like Saul Goodman. Those strengths only became more apparent in the thrilling, low-key heartbreaking fifth season.

 – Nick Harley

1. The Queen’s Gambit

Oftentimes when assessing the quality of TV shows, we talk about how “timely” they are. In fact, if you scroll back through this list, you will find at least a few instances of just such language. The appeal to Netflix’s stylish, thrilling limited series The Queen’s Gambit, however, is just how timeless it is. And in a year with plenty of timely TV shows, that distinction was enough to launch the show to the very top of our best-of list. 

Though we on the television side of Den of Geek are loath to call any rightful TV show an “x-hour movie,” there’s no denying that The Queen’s Gambit fits that mold. But this is not just any kind of filmic experience. It’s a throwback to a ‘70s and ‘80s style of simple, elemental storytelling that simply knows how to win over an audience. The beats of The Queen’s Gambit are predictable, but elegant and perfectly executed. Beth Harmon (the ethereal Anya Taylor-Joy) is a quiet, wide-eyed hero armed with one skill that can make the world care about her and in turn make her care about herself. 

So she uses that skill and assembles her tools – her King, Queen, Bishops, Knights, Rooks, and Pawns, to embark on a classical bildungsroman journey of self-discovery and chess dominance. Like a deftly executed chess game itself, each of The Queen’s Gambit’s seven episodes acts like a move on a chess board. Some moments are triumphs, some are defeats, and some are sacrifices. But they all lead into one definitive, enormously satisfying checkmate. 

– Alec Bojalad

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Other shows receiving votes: Animaniacs, Ozark, High Fidelity, Star Trek: Picard, The Last Dance, Mrs. America, Solar Opposites, The Hollow, Killing Eve, Noughts + Crosses, Outlander, Star Trek: Discovery, Vida, Saved by the Bell, Lucifer, Gangs of London, Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, World on Fire, Crash Landing on You, Infinity Train, Locke & Key, McDonalds & Dobbs, Into the Night, The Good Lord Bird, The Last Kingdom, DuckTales, Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Pharmacist, Doctor Who, Away, Dublin Murders, Great Pretender, The Babysitters Club, Tiger King, The Crown, Ramy, The Shivering Truth, Perry Mason, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, The Undoing, Westworld, Doom Patrol, Stargirl, The Clone Wars, P-Valley, Bridgerton, Homeland, Stumptown, The Magicians, Bob’s Burgers, Primal, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Search Party, Roadkill, Raised by Wolves, The Flight Attendant, The Eric Andre Show, Defending Jacob, The Outsider, Julie and the Phantoms, Brave New World, Utopia, Carmen Sandiego, Brockmire, Somebody Feed Phil, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Dead to Me, The Gift, Ghosts, YOLO: Crystal Fantasy, The 100, The Spanish Princess, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Adult Material, Fargo, Deadwater Fell, The Flash, Archer, Weird But True, Evil, Motherland: Fort Salem, Baghdad Central

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[coe-lilium]

Would you be willing to rank the major Apocrypha characters (Masters and Servants) from best to worst? I'm curious as to how you would rank them

Gladly :D

Be warned that this will be 90% tastes and maybe 10% narrative/objective analysis. And sorry for taking so long to answer. Also, it got long ^^’

A concise, condensed ver before the cut

- 10+/10, tie between Mordred, Jeanne e Shirou

-  9.5/10: Semirams and Shishigou Kairi

- 8-7.5/10: Vlad, Achilles, Shakespeare, Caules 

- 7: Chiron, Fran, Atalanta, Karna, Fiore, Darnic

- 6, I start not caring: Gordes

- “wasted” and “still bitter after 5 years”, no numbers: Avicebron and Siegfried

- 5-4, it’s complicated: Astolfo

- 4: Sieg (and it might go down to 0, I’m serious)

- 3 to 0: Jack, Reika, Celenike 

Btw, I kept them vague, but spoilers/hints up to vol4 and 5

Rank “will fight the world for them, forever in Higashide’s debt, I wish one day for Nasu to write them himself because I trust the mushroom man to make me love them even more than I already do, 10+/10″: 

Mordred: SHE. Higashide’s best accomplishment in winning me over no matter other flaws. Tie with Gilgamesh as my favorite Nasuverse character ever.

There isn’t a single thing I don’t love about her (bar that atrocious “dress” under the armor, delete that). The armored and casual character design. The backstory as abused and exploited child who tries to break free of her mother influence and plots but ends up following them anyway because of her other parent rejection and, ultimately, how Morgan life lasting damage could not be undone without support. Her snarky, bratty, selfish and ferocious personality she show to the outside world and the hidden insecurities, the good heart and the ability to reflect on her flaws. Her loyalty and her desperate need for parental love and recognition as her own person. Her fighting style that is a delight to read or watch, truly a beast. Her chemistry and relationship with Shishigou, all of it. How it start in that cemetery, how develops over the course of the story, how she manage to open, connect and trust him and ultimately find a real father in him.

If I have to find a “wish this was expanded on” is her written in but not recognised by canon issues with gender/presentation which wasn’t a real issue for me until I read metas here and I’m now quite confused especially on how to write her (him?) in the future, when I’ll hopefully get at it.

The only reason I don’t completely wish for her and her Master to have been made MCs is the love I have for the following two guys and this couple steal too much of a spotlight from other characters.

Still, while theirs is a story more focused on personal growth and healing then deciding the fate of a great number of people or the world, in the end Mordred and Kairi saved each other so it could’ve still meshed neatly with the overall salvation theme. Sadly it was not meant to be but I’m more than content for what we got.

Jeanne: She. Who gets only second place and no caps lock because, a surprisingly good portrayal none withstanding, she could’ve been even better had Higashide done a bit more research (in his favour, I don’t know what kind of books on her are translated in Japanese and if the processes transcripts are among them).

For example I’ll forever maintain that, while the whole “romance” thing has a historical base (funny that, uh?), it required a way better realisation and as it’s written in Apocrypha does her character a disservice. Laeticia too, who was a potentially interesting “device” and could’ve been our outsider perspective, got derailed into more nonsense romance and aww poor Sieg and oh man, who-gives-a-damn: not me.

Also, not enough of a sarcastic spitfire or military prowess (“just waved the flag”, now that’s a funny way to write “half of Charles’ court was impressed by how good she was with every damn weapon”) for my tastes but I guess historical Jeanne is just that irreplaceable or TM chose to emphasise her piety and “sainthood” over other traits in order to avoid an Arturia 2.0.

Not a single mention to her mentors either, in 5 volumes (which is bad, extremely bad, Higashide why) and too much of Gilles de Rais nonsense but unfortunately Type Moon is committed to roll with it. Dunois, La Hire and d’Alencon never, poor me. 

That said, Fate!Jeanne is really a good interpretation, firmly rooted in history and I love, love her. 

Her faith and lack of hate are spot-on and are treated with respect instead of mocked. 

She’s allowed to have a no-nonsense and even ruthless soldier like attitude, a protective streak (which always remind me of that promise she made to a young noblewoman to keep her husband safe and bring him back to her, or how she took care of her young squire. Both survived her) and loth of empathy at the same time. 

She’s down to earth but can also be immature and have flaws and be tempted. 

This post is already long as it is, so here’s some more reasons I love Apo Jeanne: 

Novel Jeanne musing 1       

Jeanne meta from the manga 1

Jeanne meta from the manga 2

My eternal greatest disappointment will forever be the lack of a satisfying confrontation with Shirou. You write someone able to shake Jeanne d’Arc convictions, make her doubt her conduct and moral standing when the threat of torture and the Rouen process weren’t able do so... and you don’t follow on it? Unforgivable.   

Shirou: This guy. This absolute mess of a human being. I need more and no, GO, “evil alternative self” isn’t what I mean (but yeah, gimme him too). After discovering him in Apocrypha I started digging my university library to hunt down his IRL self story and there is no higher accomplishment for a Fateverse character for me.                                                                                    Fascinating person and fascinating take by TM, double so since I discovered dude’s still being vilified in contemporary Jp stories/entertainment and man do that enrage me.

It’s like someone mixed up a character I love (Kirei), one I loathe (Kiritsugu), shaked it and the result it’s the best possible one I could ask for. 

I like the character design (both), the historical and post 3HGW backstory and how it shaped him into a Jeanne opposite (for excellent reasons), the most “Kotomine” traits like the snark and trollish attitude and how they cover all the suffering, despair and hate boiling under the constant smirk. How Higashide avoided the “turned evil” interpretation that’s prevalent in jp entertainment and made him a good person and a hero, if a misguided one and also the trapping of a “void/hollow inside” personality and instead gave him those fragments where you see he’s still a 17yo kid. 

He’s not just interesting, he’s funny to read, even with all the angst going on.  

The interactions with Shakespeare are great and... his relationship with Semiramis. Man, that’s excellent, excellent stuff. Can’t gush enough about how much I love them together

My only great complaint -for now, until I see a certain late discovery with my own eyes- is that all the narrative build up and comparisons between him and Jeanne (done in-universe and acknowledged within the text mind you, I’m not headcanoning here) went wasted. 

How can you write two characters who mirror each other so perfectly, put them as “head” of their factions, in the same role both... and not deliver with a confrontation? The only thing that tried to do so was -ironically- the anime in ep #13, as their confrontation in the novels wasn’t as personal and as good as the anime.      

Rank “good, excellent civilisation, never get tired of them”, 9.5/10

Shishigou: best father ever, 100% should legally adopt Mordred. He was/is extremely enjoyable to read about, snarky, smart, his fucked-up magus backstory had long lasting effects but managed not to destroy him, on the outside your tough, broody mercenary making hard decision but actually a good, moral person with a caring nature and, again, a great father. 

As already said, his and Mordred narrative is less tied to the different views of salvation theme and more to the “people making their wishes come true” and they’re bit of outliers for the whole duration of the story but I wouldn’t change a thing (except one T_T). 

His relationship with Mordred is one of the absolute highlights of Apocrypha for me, in every medium.

Semiramis: shallow reason first: charming, scheming, hot asshole-ish royalty in league with a Kotomine troll, what more could’ve I asked for?                        That she was an interesting char in her own right, which is what I got.          

More in-depth, she’s another character I never have enough of. Begrudging sole responsible adult of red team, I couldn’t help but grin every time she had to deal with AKA team or single members, not to speak of her scenes with Shakespeare, which are both amusing and very good for characterisation. 

She may not have that much of screen time compared to other faves but earned her place by making what she had memorable. 

Her backstory is simple: abandoned child learns to exploit her society view on women to rise to the top and get everything she wants and fuck everything else. Which not only neatly establish how and why she became what she is but also why this broken kid, which is a sort of her exact opposite, fascinate her so much. 

Speaking about our broken resident Kotomine, her chemistry with Shirou is simply great, all of their scenes are a joy to read. They have fun plotting together, they (she, dude’s either too young to notice or just let it go) casually flirts, have a functioning, mostly open relationship from the get-go that works no matter how messed up they really are and get each other’s back until the very end. Most of the more lighthearted stuff is in vol 1-2, then things gets more interesting. 

See, as much as she seems to be (and like to present herself as such to enemies) the perfectly devoted Servant and is aiding Shirou… she’s also truly villainous, cold and ruthless as hell and is also very conflicted and switch back and forth on what she wants, not much as out of the War as instead from her Master in particular (don’t think bad… okay, do) for the whole series. Vol3 and 4 are a godsend for her character and you dunno how I wish we had more than a bare bone summary for vol 5 because god damn some things in that summary. 

With the many, many stay night or Zero parallels and homages in Apocrypha, she come off as a sort of reverse Zero Gilgamesh and Gilles in being, respectively, the devilish member of the  Kotomine - Servant pair and the “personal involvement/interest in the saint figure, sometimes verging on the creep-ish, predatory behaviour" one (Gilles was 100% full on creepy mode, Semiramis keeps her thoughts for herself and is just tempted. I strongly appreciate), “reverse” for being conflicted, but in the end being a better person than both dudes above and respecting and knowing her partner enough to let go of her worst desires/frustrations. There’s some really good stuff in these two’s relationship, let me tell you. 

If Mordred-Shishigou take the cake for best platonic relationship in Apo, Semiramis and Shirou single handy destroy every competition for the romantic one. 

Rank “You. I like you”, 8-7.5/10

Vlad: here’s someone I’m pretty content with how he’s written (I wouldn’t change a thing), but really wish had had more space just because I enjoyed him a lot. Higashide nailed him and I wanted more of a historical Vlad III who is a hero, a good ruler caring for his country and a ruthless warrior and executioner and none of this aspects negate the others. Plus, it was refreshing to see a Vlad III being so clearly separated from the “vampire” twist that his wish for the Grail was to erase book and legacy from existence.

Achilles: a simil Alexander, I dislike the IRL/myth dude but can’t stay mad with their Fate incarnations. I like his personality, his quirks, his relationships with Chiron and Atalanta. Loved the mocking duel (and the anime committee will hear me scream from the other side of the world if I get robbed of it  yeah, I wrote this part before ep17. Fuck you A1). 

I don’t even think he needed more screen time, he’s really fine with what’s shown. Not every character need to be a main one and Achilles manage to be a good secondary one, with enough development and characterisation.

Shakespeare: here’s an enjoyable dude I like to hate. Amusing character, his interactions with Semiramis and Shirou are a joy to read or watch, but, fuck this guy. May Moriarty and Saber Gilles have their way with you in Chaldea.

Caules: one of those rare beasts known as “perfectly functioning siblings” of the Nasuverese. Respect his Servant and tries to do her right till the end. A good dude.

Rank “could’ve shined more in a longer and more focused series, but okay” aka those who served their purpose, 7/10 

Chiron                                                                                                            Atalanta                                                                                                          Karna                                                                                                                Fran                                                                                                                  Fiore                                                                                                                Darnic

Not really anything to say about each one here. They’re fine as they are.            

Could’ve used more Darnic, the 3HGW is a fascinating subject no matter who the Einzbern decide to summon and his actions shaped the whole world of Apo. Personally I’d have cut the Jack business and expanded him as a character/treat, maybe to shed light into CT politics and magus society fuckery (because if there’s something the Yggdmillennia as a whole and each one of them in particular show is how the magi society is an aberration that twist and corrupt everything it touch). But in the end I know it was either Ygg vs CT as promised or Rulers against each other and I’ll gladly take the latter.  A longer series could’ve had space for both, who knows.

Rank “nice arc. There are more interesting people but I’ve come to appreciate you” 

Gordes: Probably the human character who experience more growth in the series.

Rank “wasted” and “decent what little is there, perhaps, but still bitter after five years”

Avicebron: also know as the poor thing similar to the antagonist in background and wish that could’ve worked with the themes while also being a personal foil to the protagonist in being a golem/artificial life creator and user but the writer couldn’t/wouldn’t bother with him for some reason and he only got to be the “Gilles de Rais summon Chtlulu and heroes have to team up to bring him down” of Apocrypha, with no other purpose than being a Zero “homage”. 

To add insult to injury, the Adam threat does literally jack shit on a narrative point because “Servant goes stray and threaten the world, Servants form both factions have to team up to defeat him” already happened, 2 episodes before for the anime, end of vol2 vs beginning of vol3 for the novel version. And Mordred and Shishigou making an alliance with the surviving Black members was already going to be a thing after the Gardens mess. Shame, shame and shame.

Siegfried:  tainbocuailnge here has written some good meta about him lately and, yeah, perhaps all of that was intended, and I can kinda appreciate it. The point is that I couldn’t give a single crap over the OC when for him to come into being means sacrificing freaking Siegfried. I may not have read as much or being already attached to the literature/epic character like other cases but… no, just no. Siegfried deserved way better than what he got in Type Moon. 

Add more personal bitterness because with such numbers I thought it was finally time for the Heroes to shine and for the Masters to be sidelined and instead we got super special super powered MC. To hell with it.  

If anything, Siegfried may be the only character the anime did more good than damage. He’s still there and sometimes get to act as a mentor instead of being a useful power up and then fucking off for the remaining 4 volumes.

Rank “I tried to like you, I wish I could like you, but I cannot stand you no matter what”, 5-4

Astolfo: I’ve tried to like him but to no avail (rest assured, though, that I’ll deck anyone who’ll try use that t*ap or “girl” bullshit). 

It has to be that unholy combination of extremely airhead personality and mannerism, all the screen time he gets that could’ve gone to my favourites, that idiotic attempt at a “love triangle” (for the love of God, Higashide) and a voice acting that, I swear, even if I already didn’t like him from the novel the anime would’ve been the nail in the coffin. All these combined make him grates on my nerves like few other Fate characters. Perhaps part of my distaste comes from being unable to shake the feeling that the author himself don’t respect him.

I realise it’s quite… unfair, because on the page he has everything I usually like: he’s brave, he’s kind, he has morals and will maintain them in front of everything, he stand up to assholes, he save and inspire people, you can overpower him as much as you like and he still won’t care and will still fight you. 

Astolfo is a good, decently written character and I really wish the franchise would just stop using him as a joke and stop being so gross to him in order to cater to even more gross “fans”. 

If I were to put tastes/guts feelings aside, I could praise him for pages. I simply can’t bring myself closing the gaps from appreciating the undeniable qualities to actually like the character. 

Rank: fluctuating between “your concept should’ve been handled by a more experienced narrator” and “goddamn, does your very existence piss me off”, pending more on the second as we go on, less than 4

Sieg: on the page kid’s got a good arc. An homunculus, a magus’s tool, trash to be used and disposed off, gains consciousness and, shaped by what he witness and the actions and sacrifices of heroic figures, rise to free his kin from their slavers and then find himself fighting to “save the world”. How he attained freedom and have come to interpret it and his experiences put him in the path of the antagonist and the two and their “ideologies” makes for an interesting double face of the coin, forced salvation vs free offer and answer to actual prayers. Sounds pretty great. 

Unfortunately, Higashide aimed too high for his skills or didn’t learn well from Nasu and Shirou Emiya, or both. 

Otakus mad because he “got the waifu” aside, Sieg do come across as too damn lucky and overpowered and there is a limit on how much the in-universe reason “damn, the Counter Force had to work hard to give him a chance to stop a Heroic Spirit with hundreds time his experience” can go before the readers start getting annoyed at Heroes dropping dead or getting sidelined just to push him forward. 

I’m not a fan of these buzzwords, but the impression he’s a fan fiction OC that force the original and more interesting cast to revolve around/sacrifice for him or hijack their plots is damn strong. Scrap it, it’s not an impression, it’s exactly what happen. In at least 4 or 5 cases. 

There were also too many times he bore me to death so not really what you want from your protagonist. 

Another thing, more grave than personal preferences: his wish/fight firstly go nowhere, then get resolved too quickly without a fuss and then, once his goal has been effortlessly achieved, he proceeds to tag along and stole duels and confrontations from other characters, on which he had no stakes nor reason to be. What kind of writing is this?! He get the contract with Astolfo, walks in the castle and the Yggd agree on releasing the homunculi. And that’s it. Wow?

Also here’s my 100% personal reason for not having an ounce of interest in Sieg, godly writing skills or not: for once, just once, we could’ve got our first Fate solo female protagonist. An all-around badass but, at the same time, not an Arturia nor Shiki nor Arc nor Aoko clone. Who just happened to be my favourite historical figure ever.

Could’ve kept the same theme of opposing concepts of salvation, brought the Ruler vs Ruler/Saint vs Saint thing in the spotlight, with all their nice baggage of similar lives resulting in  opposite views by different regrets and traumas, faith or lack (that instead got all swept under the rug, and man if the self awareness of vol4 isn’t something to behold) and after five years I still feel personally robbed of all of this, especially when it became clear Apocrypha was yet another “male protagonist with the world revolving around him while the female heroine gets to be his support/sidekick. Oh, and as already said, he get the confrontation with whom the narrative builds as her rival”. Because of course he does. 

You don’t sideline Jeanne frigging d’Arc and expect me to forgive you for it.

Rank “why are you even here, why are we wasting anything on you”

Jack and Reika: ye god, why. The concept behind this Jack the Ripper? I find Fake ver superior but I’m on board. Then, first, that fucking character design. Sorry BL, reddit, MAL and whatever: putting a child in a thong is a revolting choice of character design and no, there’s no “well, she learned from prostitutes” that count.    I appreciate at least the connection made with Atalanta. But the execution. Their “plot” drag and drag on and goes nowhere (hilariously so in the anime. What was the point of Jack killing some random homunculi and disappearing for the whole arc, again?). Their only narrative purpose is doing ???? for roughly three volumes, *do that* to Atalanta and shaking Sieg’s worldview. At least they grant Jeanne some badass solo scenes and to us more insight on her character. Still the equivalent of a anime-only filler, and a bad one. 

Pity, really, because a child Jack who 1. is a child and act as one and 2. get heavily influenced by her/their Master and thus could either become a better person or be exploited wasn’t that bad of a twist for a famous figure but the pair was never allowed to be more than “Apo pair of rogue murderers”. 

Celenike: just… begone. I cheered when she died in the novel, cheered loudly when she died in the anime and will cheer even more loudly when she will die in the manga. 

[kwispayne]

The Top 10 Albums Of The Decade (2010-2019)

I got requests to pull a decade list together, so this is my attempt. This wasn't as easy as I thought, as opinions do change, but I'd like to think this is the best. Also, it is a stark realization that I really love the modern British rock scene. Go figure.

So here are some rules:

1. I may have changed my opinion from previous lists. Sometimes things stick...sometimes they don’t.

2. I didn’t hear every album this decade. But I am open to recommendations.

3. This is all personal opinion. And my tastes are odd.

10. Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep

Year Of Release: 2015

Genres: Post Hardcore, Electronica, Electronicore, Pop Rock, Experimental Rock, Alternative Rock, Mathcore

Country of origin: England

As I have said in the past, Enter Shikari are in my opinion a part of the best of the British rock scene at the moment. While their follow up The Spark did see the band experiment even further down the pop and electronic circles, this was very much the best of both worlds. This album very much holds everything great about this band. It's heavy, screamy, poppy and experimental enough. But the epicness of this album really is what grabs my attention. With the use of atmospheric strings and a production which makes the sound almost symphonic, it still makes the hairs on my neck stand to attention. Musically speaking it is the bands strongest effort, and definitely Rou Reynolds best vocal performances. While their debut is still a classic, this album is the bands masterpiece.

9. Black Peaks - Statues

Year Of Release: 2016

Genres: Post Hardcore, Post Metal, Progressive Metal, Experimental Rock, Progressive Rock, Math Rock, Sludge Metal, Hard Rock

Country of origin: England

While their latest album All That Divides is a fantastic album, nothing will beat the staying and natural power of their debut. This band came out of nowhere, and I remember within the first few minutes of listening to the opening track, I knew this band was special. I remember the first time I had heard this album, I tested myself to see if I could find one track on it which I disliked. And there isn't one. This album is bone crushingly heavy and just complex enough to not hinder it from the material at large. But the biggest draw for attention is Will Gardner's vocals. I remember going to see this band live in Belfast not shortly after the release, and being just blown away by the power and determination of this band (Will at one point had to sit down from screaming so much). Definitely the best debut album from any band this decade.

8. Devin Townsend Project - Sky Blue

Year Of Release: 2014

Genres: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock, Pop, Electronica, Post Metal, Experimental Metal, Alternative Metal, Art Rock

Country of origin: Canada

Looking back at the body of work Devin made around this time and later, this is definitly the album that stands out the most to myself. When it was released, it was more of a bonus disk which followed the newer Ziltoid project. But, surprisingly it contained his most focused and honest work. A personal concept album dealing with death and loss, Devin  put down the inward telescope, and held a hand with his audience, to know that he was there with them going through their loss (I'm not sure if he lost someone at the time himself, if he didn't, then this album is mostly a brilliant act of kindness). Also this is what I feel to be his poppiest release, and I love when he pushes forward the pop element of his sound. And as usual, the music and production is first class.

7. Everything Everything - A Fever Dream

Year Of Release: 2017

Genres: Pop Rock, Pop, Art Rock, Electronic, Progressive Rock, Experimental Rock, Indie Pop

Country of origin: England

These album was prophetic at the time, but it still stings. But I am afraid the uncomfortable nature of this album is still lingering in our political and general atmospheres. The band did release an ep of songs after this which were good, but overall I think this album is the band's greatest pop achievement (they will appear again later on in this list). One of the criticisms thrown at this album at the time was the cleaner production, but I think it bodes well to the bands sound. One of the slight criticisms would be the lack of complexity, but overall I think the material outshines what the band used to be and I am looking forward to listening to whatever they have planned next.

6. Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance

Year of release: 2018

Genres: Punk, Hardcore Punk, Experimental Rock, Noise Rock, Art Rock, Post Punk. Comedy

Country of origin: England

This album is just packed full of tunes. How could I not leave it out? Ok, it is a little bit more than that. The album itself is  one of the most positive messages out there to deal with the modern world we live in. And it's also really funny at times. This album is very much like a drug that I would recommend to get rid of sadness. But then there are sad and somber moments on it too. But then again, we all need a bit of sadness in our lives. Positive punk! What should be an oxymoron is now a cure for all ails. I really hope at some point I can see this band live, and I will be shouting along each word of this album back at the band.

5.Jamie Lenman - Devolver

Year of release: 2017

Genres: Post Hardcore, Punk, Pop Rock, Pop, Indie Rock

Country of origin: England

Like the Idles album, this album is just a collection of brilliant tunes. But, with a twist. Now after having made this album, Jamie did release a covers album this year which was a nostalgic look at his past, but this album is also a nostalgic look at his past too and in my opinion is the greatest piece of work he has released. I still put this album on and I'm still blown away by the production. The guitar tone on this album is heavy as hell, and the riffs and songwriting on the project are all killer.  Jamie is another example of one of the best creative artists coming out of England. A  singer songwriter who is able to really rock and kick ass.

4. Everything Everything - Get To Heaven

Year of release: 2015

Genres: Art Rock, Art Pop, Experimental Rock, Electronica, Indie Rock, Pop Rock, Pop, Progressive Rock, Math Rock

Country of origin: England

Yes. They are on the top 10 list. This band is just this good. Now, come on. Look at this cover. This is kick ass. But the cover itself is a bit of a distraction, because underneath the oddness of the opening visual, the album itself opens a dangerous and complicated world. A world that 4 years ago were living in, and now has become deformed. This album was able to get a top 40 UK hit while detailing the trail of an Islamist terrorist. I don't think any modern band have the balls or even the talent to pull this off. But luckily this album exists to dispel and exert this fears. Musically complex, raw at times and even a bit odd at times, this is the band's finest work, as it mixes the best parts of their pop and experimental sounds.

3. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience

Year of release: 2013

Genres: Pop, Neo Soul, Soul, Symphonic Rock, R&B, Experimental Rock, Hip Hop

Country of origin: USA

Ok. Let me explain this one. I have always kind of had a soft sound for lil old Justin. But his albums always lacked I found. Or were too long. Or too overblown. And on this project, it is all the problems I just mentioned. This is the oddest pop album ever. Pretty much most songs on this album are close to or over the 8 minute mark, they go on weird experimental jams, at times the song is finished, and Justin is not ready to finish it like a child desperate for attention. But what he wants to tell the audience is so good, he just has to get it out there. And his presentation is just beautiful. Epic soaring strings, heartfelt lyrics, great beats and fantastic musicianship throughout. Justin has always been great at getting multi layered vocals (possibly from his boyband times) on tape and his range on this is superb. The joy that comes from this album is intoxicating. Also, when this album came out, I was put in the middle of a rather uncomfortable situation, and this album really got me through it all. Also, one of my all time favorite albums is Songs In The Key Of Life, and I feel this is a big tribute to that album.

2. David Bowie - Blackstar

Year of release: 2016

Genres: Art Rock, Experimental Rock, Progressive Rock, Jazz, Post Rock, Adult Contemporary, Electronic, Art Pop

Country of origin – England

This one still hurts. The last masterpiece created by one the greatest artists that ever lived. And while it deals with dark subject matters and musically it is rather odd, there is a twisted sense of joy behind it all. As if Bowie knew this was the end and he wanted to make sure his audience was kept well looked after. But this album is still miles ahead of his modern contemporaries. I can't see any artist able to make something so experimental, but yet so accessible at the same time. This album emotionally connected to me because I heard it the day I found out he died. And instead of losing someone, it felt as if I was meeting them for the first time. In an eternal loop. And this is why this album has still stuck with me all these years. In his long and lustrous career it is his greatest work and it is the greatest swan song ever created.

1. Anathema - Weather Systems

Year of release: 2012

Genres: Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Pop Rock, Experimental Rock, New Prog, Art Rock

Country of origin: England

So here we have it. The best album of the decade. Now let me explain. When this album came out, I was dealing with the death of a family member and dealing with other challenges...and this album was the biggest help. This is one of those albums were it is so open ended, you can take it to mean whatever you imagine. Personally I think the album deals with death, but it could also be interpreted as a look into how people deal with personal changes. Musically this album is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. The raw emotion of Vince Cavanagh's vocals underlayed by the beauty of Lee Douglas' crooning, the orchestral back gushes forward and slams straight into your chest. They did follow this album with 2 great releases, and before this album they had 2 great releases, but personally I believe this to be the bands strongest work, and one of the greatest albums ever made.

[riffrelevant]

Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Chief Editor

Richmond, Virginia has long been home to a constantly burgeoning music scene, one where each new day seems to bring a new band into being.

In recent years, RVA has seen the materialization of HEWOLF, a “supergroup” trio of sorts, comprised of guys whose collective pedigree is more that stellar. Between the three, they lay claim to such acts as Alabama Thunderpussy, Darkest Hour, Joyburner, The Medusa, Iron Reagan, Crackhead, and several other easily recognized bands. Within HEWOLF, bassist and vocalist Paul Burnette, guitarist and vocalist Johnny Throckmorton, and drummer Erik Josephson bring each’s stylistically diverse past to the table.

If you need further elaboration, each member has played in bands of differing genres and types. Here in HEWOLF there is no one set or single musical style to stay within the confines of. To hell with that, right? Clearly these three feel the same way, as they have quite the knack for alternating audio fluidity. One moment we get alternative rock, then aggro groove metal, or grunge, melodic doom, some punk, stoner rock, or anything else that strikes their fancy.

They do all of this so well, as evidenced upon the three official releases from HEWOLF, starting with the most recent, this year’s ‘Lilith‘ (review). It was preceded by 2018’s ‘Live For Minimum Wage‘ EP (review) and an eponymous EP issued in 2017.

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  As you can see, I have been a fan of the band for a couple of years now. As such, I am the type to take my shots when and where I can get them and this past summer provided me one that I could not pass up. Before we get to the part where the getting gets good, allow me to set the scene with a bit of backstory if I may.

The following interview took place in early July 2019, in HEWOLF‘s Richmond home base, on a day that was a particularly sweltering, hellish inferno of heat and humidity. Seeking to find a somewhat less traveled location to converse with the band, we ended up on a riverwalk, in the shade beneath intersecting train trestles. In doing so, we periodically became subjects in the daytime spotlight of a gondola borne sightseeing tour of the town.

It’s true, these passenger bearing gondolas would float by in the river less than 10 feet or so from us, their riders ogling us inquisitively. They may have wondered, is this some type of historic re-enactment like the region is so well known for? Perhaps they were witnessing a drug transaction that some witless, unsavory looking types decided to conduct in view of their route? Whatever they were thinking, I would wager they were not anticipating our rather animated push to face them, mere feet away, and thrust the devil horns straight at them as we did!

Lastly, let me say this exchange presented quite a challenge post-conversation and there were points where I thought it would have to be scrapped. Thankfully, my trusted A/V wizard and photographer, Will Bouton, worked some fantastic editing magic and presto change-o, here we are: Riff Relevant Interviews HEWOLF!

  Riff Relevant Interviews: HEWOLF [Video] Article By: Pat 'Riot' Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway, Owner/Chief Editor Richmond, Virginia has long been home to a constantly burgeoning music scene, one where each new day seems to bring a new band into being.

[the-fitsquad]

Perfect Workstation 3 (Iws 3)

What Is Workstation? Webopedia Definition

One of the prime difficulties in today’s information centers and offices is that of space. The ZBook x2 follows the release of HP’s other detachable PCs, the HP Spectre x2 and the HP Elite x2. Nevertheless, the ZBook x2 is geared toward enhancing mobility and productivity for expert creatives and artists, the release said. My daughter received her present, but I have only received an e-mail (after spending far more than four hours total on the telephone with buyer service more than the past two weeks) that states, and I quote straight, “Regrettably we are not in a position to situation the refund of $85, which was promissed to you earlier. The installed set of policies on the log is invalid. The facilities team performs to give sustainable and ergonomic furnishings selections for GSE staff. The improvement of workstations was historically connected to developments in individual computing advances in microprocessors, computer software, memory storage, and so forth.

Inform them you help the Fair Repair Act, H. 663 Tell them that you think repair need to be fair, cost-effective, and accessible. HP’s specialist graphics line-up is best for users who are operating business vital applications based on OpenGL and DirectX® who call for stability, reliability, fantastic functionality, extra support, and application-particular characteristics and optimization for things like complex design modeling, dataset manipulation, visual effects and visualization. From film to oil drilling to medicine, HP’s workstations have their hands in a lot of pies – and right now, that expands more straight to however one more significant industry: video games. The deployment operation failed because the volume is not empty. BIOSTAR memberikan klaim bahwa Racing Z370 GT7 yang dibangun berbasis Chipset Intel Z370 Express ini mendukung memory DDR4 hingga frekuensi 3866 MHz melalui overclocking (OC).

9. Workplace Burglary – A break-in is perpetrated to steal documents and computers containing sensitive data. The Xeon brand refers to numerous households of Intel’s x86 multiprocessing CPUs – for dual-processor (DP) and multi-processor (MP) configuration on a single motherboard targeted at non-consumer markets of server and workstation computers, and also at blade servers and embedded systems. Take your company to a greater level with HP Z Series of high-performance workstations. PW will be interested to see the maximum quantity of cores per CPU which is crucial to pack as significantly power as attainable into a workstation for simulation, rendering and video unique effects. Boost scene complexity and the scale of your projects across a multitude of software program platforms with our CAD workstations, featuring Intel Xeon CPUs, unlock a new level of overall performance to maximize your creativity.

Differentiate the design and style concerns of OS in between a stand-alone Pc and a Workstation connected to a network. It is restricted, however, to devices making use of Intel’s RealSense 3D camera, which indicates it will be out of attain for most customers. The “SCM Windows ten – Domain Safety” GPO might be linked to the domain independently of PAW, but will influence the entire domain. How a lot effect can your workplace furnishings have on worker productivity? This is the cheapest low profile entry-level workstation graphics card that you can get in the industry. In spite of this, the Z820’s CPUs ought to nonetheless offer you a efficiency increase: even though the clock speed of its Xeon E5-2687Ws is 200MHz slower than the Z800’s Xeon 5680s, tests performed by other hardware internet sites suggests that its Sandy Bridge architecture delivers a efficiency enhance of 10-20% over the older Westmere-EP architecture.

Plus, with the NVIDIA® Tesla K20c as component of NVIDIA’s Maximus answer, the HP Z420 can effectively fill your high-performance GPU computing needs. We understand how crucial your time is when dealing with detailed architectural, engineering, and construction models in today’s enterprise environment. In a position to accommodate 4x GPUs with no program bottlenecks in addition to dual potent CPUs, quickly memory and storage it is designed to manage visit their website the most daunting production tasks. One particular of the most demanding programs will run smoothly, and if you are a multitasker, you won’t experience any lags or concerns. Ai Overclock Tuner and Xeon Turbo Charger in the BIOS are committed to boosting the CPU’s overclocking overall performance by up to ten% to reach amazing CPU Higher Performance Linpack (HPL) scores and improves SPEC CPU 2006 benchmark results by up to six.87%.

In order to repair this, they had to come up with 64 bit operating systems to raise the limit on these, and subsequently raise the limit on the size of the files which could be held in RAM at a given time. So at bargain hardware we put you in manage with our configure-to-order (CTO) choice menus, enabling you to custom build every aspect of your efficiency Pc from CPU to computer software. It comes with Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD. Error (%1) occurred, which might have resulted from the unavailability of directory service server (%two). Students are taught how to use the computer as a tool for tasks such as two-D drafting, 3-D modeling and straightforward CAD related programming. Intel membuat 3 versi berbeda, varian tertinggi mengintegrasikan HD Graphics 3000 yang terdiri atas 12 EU memiliki clock 1.35 GHz dan Intel Rapid Sync.

When it comes to the HP Z8, it is primarily based on up to two Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 with 28 cores and 205 W TDP every single, which signifies that the method has to get rid of 410 W of thermal energy only from CPUs, and this requirement had a important effect on the design of the complete method. The Ace Personal computer Desk combines functionality and modern design and style with built-in storage, a white glass tabletop and a geometric build for a specialist work space to blast out company reports and host clients. Technology Solutions will decide the instruction sessions, instances, availability and will be advertised through email and the Technology Services web site. We have a variety of oak desks which will function with the decor and ambience you have set in your property workplace making certain that any desk you may possibly get fits completely within your residence.

Operating high-priced CAD software program on a games card as opposed to certified workstation graphics cards could very easily lead to continual application, crashes, errors or data coruption or inaccuracies. Workstation Specialists (WS) sent in two configurations with diverse alternatives for graphics and memory. Supervising the credit limits of guests and non guests accounts assists to sustain the integrity of a front office accounting method. The Application Licensing Service reported that the license shop is already initialized. So if you want a potent low profile workstation graphics card then this one is really worth checking. Other enhancements include a brand new internal design and style with improved air flow for cooling, optional Thunderbolt three connectivity, Dual 1GbE ports for blazing rapidly information transfers, USB three.1 Type C ports, a 1700W energy supply, and 9 PCIe slots.

Laptop Eurocom Sky X9C adalah produk tertinggi yang mendukung NVIDIA SLI dan VR. Dilengkapi dengan GeForce GTX 1080 ganda dan pendingin liquid metal paste serta didukung oleh unlocked program BIOS. It’s a fine line to walk, and I think it is a testament to HP’s technical provenance that they are able to succeed in the workstation business nowadays. All PACS workstations – are based on the very same essential Computer technology with which you are currently familiar. Just think about thousand workstations with laptop and thousand workstations with desktop computer and believe which one particular appears excellent. The factor about Intel processors is that their pipelines are meant for longer streams of data, those streams that are most typical to visual computation. It is critical to note that whilst BOXX can ship a Pc with Windows 7 installed on a PCIe SSD, it’s not an implementation supported natively by the OS. That signifies the OS cannot be effortlessly restored to factory settings.

Some modern rendering programs take advantage of the GPU at times but that does hold not accurate for majority of the applications. In current occasions, a personal computer operate desk consist of many items, from the computer’s central processing unit, to a monitor, printer, and possibly external difficult drives and other products. HP’s workstation laptops are thin and light, provide an optional touch screen, integrated numeric keypad, and outstanding battery life and can be configured with discrete graphics and mobile Xeon processors. Precision 690 motherboard component number MY171 board revision A02 supports Quad-core Xeon processors. Our assistance nevertheless, is a exclusive lifetime service. It is equipped with a really potent and newest generation Intel Core i7-7500U CPU which is capable of undertaking every day tasks and far more, it has 16GB of RAM which is adequate for multi-tasking and operating several programs.

School storage units and University desks are in a position to modify to a more viable and straightforward resolution with our compact range of laptop desks. Application created on the MaxWorkstation10G is effortlessly deployed in production on MPC-N series data center connectivity systems. The Computer Series Mobile Powered Workstation by Newcastle Systems has been made to hold and power a range of gear, such as a laser printer, but also provides generous space to hold inventory. No matter whether you are hunting for the ultimate Gaming computer, with the most recent, blazingly-quick graphics card, a simple house pc for browsing and letter-writing, or a multi-monitor CAD workstation – we’ve got a model for you. FreeSync is an AMD technology made to reduce or remove screen tears in games and videos by allowing the monitor’s refresh price to be controlled by and synchronized to the graphics card.

All workstations purchases need to go with the desktop management specification. There are not numerous desks designed particularly for gaming (such as the Atlantic Gaming Desk above). The TransactionManager must be brought totally On the web by calling RecoverTransactionManager to recover to the end of its LogFile just before objects in its Transaction or ResourceManager namespaces can be opened. Numerous graphics cards reside together happily in Win 7 and up. This is a excellent reasonably priced low profile workstation card that is enough for a budget desktop workstation. Hi, I am utilizing the HP Z400 workstation with three.07 GHz processor and 12GB RAM with Inventor 2012 expert. Laptop computers and tablets do not have the adjustability of a desktop computer when adjusting keyboard, mouse and monitor.

A coach-built system with an Intel Core i7-980 six-core CPU running at three.3GHz, 12GB of RAM, and a Nvidia Quadro 4000 GPU. I known as to report a DMCA violation (Amazon was employing a solution description from our web site, full with the typo!) and the consumer service rep gave me a legal get in touch with quantity that’s not on your web page: 206-266-4064. Since rendering is a multi-threaded operation, the a lot more cores the processor has, the quicker the processing efficiency. The Digital Appropriate to Repair Act requires producers to offer owners and independent repair info organizations with fair access to service information, security updates, and replacement parts. It does not give as significantly shelf storage but it nevertheless has plenty of double hang as nicely as long hanging space and shelves for footwear and sweaters.

The E5-2600 series processors assistance both single and dual processor configuration. Adding laptop desks to your den or property office is a practical option that lends organization and finesse to your work area. Should just discover the iso operating method (I have downloaded from the Microsoft site, I do not know if is also easy for windows ten item important ), the web site offers hyperlinks but I feel almost certainly not in French. Save dual xeon workstation to get e-mail alerts and updates on your eBay Feed. The best score for an ASUS with a pair of Xeon E5- 2680 v3’s has a CPU score of 26976 (64GB RAM) – so extremely equivalent performance. Guests might encounter line at front desk when checking out during the peak hours (e.g., among 7.30 and 9.30 am).

I just thought I’d place in my two cents about Amazon present cards. Getting been tested on a quantity of higher-functionality applications from Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Dassault, ESRI, SolidWorks, Siemens, and far more, the workstations are undoubtedly focused on power, which of course is what tends to make them workstations to begin with. I got rid of the Dell PowerEdge server that was sat beneath my desk with a 24″ CRT monitor and switched to the 1st generation of MacBook Pro. And, smartly, the components themselves had been undoubtedly considered as the move to the BMW Designworks case coincided with the upgrade to Intel’s Nehalem processors, which have produced fairly a splash as well. A very timely post as I was just swapping out RAM and hard drive on 1 of our HP Z210 workstations.

The Dell Precision T7400 functions the newest, and most strong, multi-core Intel® Xeon® processors, as properly as sophisticated memory, graphics, and RAID choices to power through the most complex applications. We have a wide selection of desks in various colours for you to select from, which you can match with rest of the furnishings in your property and workplace region. Our desks are offered in a variety of designs and shapes from rectangular or wave to ergonomic, and in sturdy supplies, such as wood, steel or glass. Most workstation microprocessors employ decreased instruction set computing ( RISC ) architecture, as opposed to the complicated instruction set computing (CISC) employed in most PCs. Processor Intel Xeon W Series hadir dengan membawa arsitektur Mesh, kesimbangan hierarki cache dan teknologi proses 14 nm+, yang mengindikasikan bahwa seri ini merupakan turunan dari Skylake-X.

As with all of the updated HP line, this chassis has been redesigned to fall in line with the other Z series, and is trademarked by the tool-much less accessibility, which permits even a novice user to switch out crucial components like storage drives, memory, and graphics cards. Merupakan processor x86 pertama yang beroperasi dalam 32-bit dan mendukung sistem memory sampai four GB. My query is, am i far better of upgrading the graphics card to a GTX980Ti or adding say a Quadro K1200 (if both the GTX960 and the Quadro work together). Devices on the network that want to share sources or info and the medium which allows the communication to happen. Beberapa desain prosesor Xeon juga digunakan untuk prosesor desktop, sebagai contoh prosesor Intel Pentium Extreme Edition.

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