#would also love to know wtf is up with my hbo though...

[ladylannisterxo]

hbo may have glitched out like 10 times on me but i finally managed to catch up on tlou and if i thought 'long, long time' was devastating W E L L 'endure and survive' was devastation part two: electric boogaloo

can't believe this show did this to me again. how do i go on after that?!

[lucy-ghoul]

sooooo, yesterday i watched hotd s1 finale. here are my (semi-coherent) thoughts:

i've had one (1) day to simmer down my instinctive "wtf??" reaction and ponder on some writing choices - actually, two notable writing choices. first, this is no got s8 levels of disaster, but i'd already noticed a couple of red flags in ep9 and so i was - i am - guarded, though my emotional investment is nowhere near as high as my peak asoiaf/got era. i'm way more detached, and if i came off as pissed in some prev posts it was more of a general 🤷🤷 feeling concerning old disappointments in correlated or different media. (having said that, the larys/alicent feet thing is atrocious.)

i see they're still going strong with the childbirth from hell saga - i've already written about it in an older post, and i quite liked it, however gory and heartbreaking it was.

i don't buy the daemyra choking (not in a kinky way) scene. there's nowhere near enough build up for that. yes, daemon killed his first wife (which btw wasn't in the book) but they hated each other and she wasn't a targ. from d. pov's that's quite an important detail. (not that i’m excusing it, you know.) i don't even buy that "he's grieving that's why he acts (more) irrationally and with 0 impulse control (than usual)" because while he's ready for war and legitimately angry at the thought of his brother being murdered (tho viserys had been rotting away for years, last time they saw each other he could barely stand/talk, it was only a matter of weeks, maybe a couple of months at best before he died, they should have been prepared for this & the greens response) he doesn't act that out of control. let's be honest here: daemyra was always problematic and people shouting ~grooming! weren't completely wrong, but the writers also sold it as High Romance. the Stupid Fangirls weren't that blinded by their silly girly brains: d&r were framed as being genuinely in love despite the painfully obvious problematic elements. (& the incest is the least problematic thing here, since this is westeros and they're targs.) i think one of the directors even compared their love to what she feels for her own husband. so no, we weren't dreaming it up, they just couldn't find a balance between Toxic Incest Couple & Soulmates Being Soulmates, and obv they had to put a ~Bad Man is Very Bad, Girlies, Don't Try At Home~ bs Morality Play that seems so damn popular in this day and age. mind you, we all knew shit was going to hit the fan with nettles' appearance (i'm still worried about her portrayal, she's just a young girl and daemon is so much older than her, and i have no idea how they’re going to develop/frame their relationship) but somehow i had not foreseen him being physically abusive to his wife (who just gave birth to their stillborn daughter and lost her father btw). i was expecting him to lash out but... not like this. after their (fabulous ngl) wedding i haven't been much invested in daemyra anyway (i thought their decades long budding romance was much more appealing) but despite what i said above, one thing d/r fans were wrong about was expecting that hbo could actually make a medieval fantasy wuthering heights 2.0 and deliver lmao. no mainstream media would do that, not in the current ~think of the girls!!! climate. this is like believing that the star wars sequels were a gothic female-gazey romance that featured rey's sexual awakening + happy ending with the local parricidal ex darksider - the romance was there, don't get me wrong, but no hollywood-made pop culture piece of media could ever deliver. we also know d/r history from f&b, it's not all sunshine and rainbows... tho it's not comparable to jaime&cersei either. this is no valonqar situation - if and when that happens in asoiaf, motives and characters can't be compared only because d. and jaime share a love for poor impulse control and incest; the framing for their ~love affair and the choking act is also radically different. this feels like a punishment for the girls who tend to romanticize daemon and his feelings for his niece, as a "sharp reminder" of who he is and what is capable of (and that women, even dragon queens who are more than mere consorts and childbearers, can be victimized and have shitty husbands ig). except that however awful and poor little meow meow he may be, he didn't do any of this marital abuse bs in the book as far as we know. which brings me to:

i have a small problem with the people who say "f&b is no real account of the dance, these characters can't be written as ooc because we basically don't know them! it's all headcanons and bias!". theoretically i agree: there are at least 3 different versions of any major event, and what intrigued me the most about this show was the premise of Unreliable Narrator Extraordinaire. which path would these writers follow? because logically one should also say: "is this what really happened in the dance?" like, aren't these people (hired by hbo, paid a shitton of money, apparently asoiaf fans themselves) also writing down their own interpretations? unless grrm himself is behind everything (foot fetish and wife-choking included) who are these people to say this is what actually happened? they didn't create the characters and the plot etc., we're seeing them through their eyes and bias as well. why are the Poor Naive Girls who romanticized the Bad Dark Prince (aka they knew he was a big asshole but didn't think he had it in him to actually assault the woman he loves) the ones to be so awfully biased and affected by media illiteracy, to the point i’ve already seen the usual crowd online gloating over it like “ha ha the bitches had it coming”? one could say this is just another version of the dance... which would actually be more compelling imo. this also brings me to:

grandma vhagar being nostalgic of her war crimes era and gnam gnam lucerys to the oblivion. i have... very mixed feelings about this. i agree that making aemond more than an evil cackling anime villain is a good choice but idk about this tbh. idk how they could have spin it differently either tho, so i give up. people say "at least he doesn't actively seek war out so he doesn't look like an idiot" except he looks like an even bigger idiot because no one in their right mind would chase down their four-and-ten nephew and his dragon (said to be “five times smaller” than vhagar) through the sky while they're riding a huge ass fucking beast that could dwarf a mountain and actually fought in the conquest just to pick out his eye, and not expect it to horribly escalate. like, if you make two dragons face each other (especially if one of them is as powerful and ancient as vhagar is) what do you think is going to happen? realistically, i mean? maybe aemond didn't want to go that far but omg he should have foreseen this from a mile. like, sweetie maybe you didn't study your history and lore so well. and for the "he's just a teenager he doesn't know what he's doing" crowd: in a short span of time this ~poor baby~ is going to burn down the riverlands, hundreds of people will die. the incident that sparks the dance being an actual accident, tho... lmao sorry but that sounds like a joke. like, no matter how you spin it, if you like or love or hate it, it still robs the character of his agency, and therefore the story of poignancy. and i'm not even 100% sold on ~the dragons randomly eating people alive even when their riders strictly forbid them too~ because yeah, i can see that, a dragon is no slave and of course they're not mindless beasts but actually quite intelligent etc. but on the other hand i for one can't wait for drogon to fire up kl of his own free will - maybe he'll just hate that fugly city, who knows - so that ~dany (aka an actual 16 year old victim of rape and abuse who liberated thousands of slaves in a continent she was exiled to as an infant) is going to burn children alive and be put down like a mad bitch because that's somehow comparable to lotr shire chapter!!1~ disk horse can finally die its miserable death.

so, yeah, mixed feelings about these two (2) plot points, particularly the ~daemon is physically abusive now~ thing. also dk about whitewashing the blacks anymore, rhaenys killed a fuck ton of civilians in ep9 for no conceivable reason (something that in the books and in peaceful times only the worst of the worst are willing to do, no matter how much these elite assholes don’t care about the smallfolk) and now daemon is even more evil than he was in the book. aegon ii may be... well, aegon ii, but with aemond being somehow more humane and whatever they're doing to alicent the blacks are the ones that actually wreak more havoc - and i’m not even touching the blood and cheese thing. at least aemond's fuck-up kinslaying was accidental lol. jokes aside i overall liked this ep more than i did ep9 and while it’s not bad bad... no mistake, this is no high television either. i’ve seen what great tv can do (it’s exceptionally rare tho, more than people think) and this doesn’t look like it except for some acting choices + scenes.

[renofstarlight]

I was tagged by @spneveryseason​ thank you!!

This is gonna be hard since I haven’t actually watched any spn except the first four eps, the finale, and A Very Supernatural Christmas in years lmao. (I’m trying to rewatch but Netflix keeps being a bitch.)

Sibling status (younger, middle, older, only child...) - oldest. I’m also a daughter so I need compensation for that.

How long have you been stanning for -stanning Sam since before I even watched the show, so probably since like 2012? I started watching in 2014 I think.

Favorite Sam era - oh this is hard... probably s2 or s3.

Favorite spn season, but if the only criteria was Sam’s hair -also hard bc I love almost all of Sam’s hair (except s10 wtf was that), but I’m gonna go with season 5.

Favorite Sam-centric episode - I can’t really say bc I can’t remember which eps were Sam-centric since it’s been so long since watching them. But Ana said All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1 and I do remember that one so yeah going with that one bc it was really good. Oh! I do actually really like Mystery Spot even though it’s painful af and actually way darker than the ep presents it. And I hate how fandom treats it. :/

Any ships you may like to mention - sastiel I guess?

Favorite song you would/have put in a Sam playlist -not to be Edgy(tm) but “Monster” by Skillet.

If you could steal one thing from Sam’s wardrobe, it would be - well I already have his purple dog shirt so.... lmao. but I also agree with Ana. His v neck gray pyjama top because it looks SO soft.

Complete the sentence: If Sam cishet, then WHY.... -his crossroad demons always men?

Favorite unhinged Sam moment - I don’t remember what ep it is but I think it’s in season 4? When he’s drinking the demon lady’s blood and the demon dude goes to stab him and Sam uses his powers to fling him into the wall and with his mouth all bloody says “wait your turn” YEAH

You must have some intense headcanons you need to talk about, tell me one Sam hc that drives you insane - oKAY. this is gonna be long. -cracks knuckles- so I have never seen this take before probably bc the disorder is so rare  (hint: it’s not there was just a huge movement in the 90s to discredit it lmao) but during his time in the Cage (which I take his estimates to be true so he was there for 5,000+ years bc I believe Hell time and Cage time are different) he had to split in order to stay functioning. So when he gets back and his wall is broken he basically has DID/OSDD (dissociative identity disorder). Those parts in himself in that one ep? They actually exist inside him along with probably hundreds of other parts/alters to hold and cope with all the trauma and they can “front” (be in control of the body). They’re a very covert system tho bc if Dean ever found out he’d flip. Also he definitely has introjects of Lucifer and Michael, probably multiple ones. So like hallucifer? Not just a product of the psychosis but also a literal person/part that lives in his head and torments him (tho it’s not really Lucifer bc it’s still a part of Sam’s psyche). This is why despite being in the Cage so long and being tortured in unimaginable ways he can still function. Because the Sam that is normally front doesn’t have access to all his Cage memories. Other parts hold those memories and keep them from him because otherwise he would literally be non-functional.

okay so that’s my headcanon. If you want to know more about it or even just DID in general PLEASE hmu. I would love to talk about it.

Tell me something about the hbo Sam that lives in your brain -he totally wears black nail polish and make up. Also embraces his psychic power more.

Oh no, the writers forgot to give Jess a personality! Now it’s up to you. Tell me, what was Jess like - she was definitely the kinda that encouraged everyone but esp Sam. definitely sassy and they probably had sass offs. she’s fiercely protective of the people she loves. she was super excited to bring Sam home to her family and they loved him even if he was a little weird.

Biggest injustice Supernatural commited against Sam (be as brief or as ranty as you desire) - season 6-15 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  lol jk. probably the s9 arc. That was... yeah. Or Lucifer being brought back in s11.

And finally, just say something about him that makes you smile - his compassion. Just how soft and gentle he is when talking to witnesses/victims/etc.

I’m tagging: @girlbossjared @car-romancerdean @wingsanddimples @armymaninashtraysaweverything @itsjustallaboutsam @itstartswithbloodshed @ilysm-mybabybrother @milfsamwinchester @marvelis @spectator-sam @mlmsam @haloforsam @crownsandfreckles no pressure if you don’t want to do it!! And if I didn’t tag you and you want to do it, consider yourself tagged!!!

[thegreenmeridian]

Star Trek Discovery thoughts so far:

It feels slightly too well polished to me. Like more effort in general is being put into everything and it takes itself more seriously so moments of shittiness are jarring, whereas in old school Trek shittiness is fun and part of the experience.

Idk a lot of plots and character development feel kinda rushed in a way you don’t really get in OG trek or shows like X-Files that space stuff out over multiple seasons and monster-of-the-week.

Like compare the DS9 overarching plot to S1 and the 4 episodes of S2 of Discovery I’ve seen so far. Shit’s packed together so closely that the plot twists seem to come out of nowhere and without letting me get attached to the characters enough to be properly impacted.

Wow that romance plot in S1 really just came out of fucking nowhere huh. And in retrospect it seems like it only existed to make the Klingon spy reveal more dramatic rather than actually serving the narrative at all. Absolutely should have slow-burned that. You can’t go from “I’ve never been in love” to full on romance that quickly with a barely developed new character without it feeling rushed as fuck. Drag that out, let me see her come to terms with her emotions, let me learn more about him. And actually show the romance, cause I wasn’t even entirely sure they were full on dating until the Klingon reveal episode anyway.

And two big ass reveals in one episode? Wtf is that about? Lorca is a bad guy after some barely-there foreshadowing. And Tyler is also a bad guy after barely-there foreshadowing. And those things are unrelated. And Lorca just straight up dies with frankly very little time spent exploring his motivations and then boom forgotten.

And then I get a bit of one episode where Tyler and L’Rell are actually interacting and now I’m supposed to feel emotions at their separation and baby?

And of course OG trek all had episodes that did this, but stories like that work in self contained episode chunks. It feels like they’re trying to do long-form storytelling ala HBO but without nearly as much flesh. Episodic or two-parter stories stretched out over long periods without any extra meat or reason to get properly invested. Or cramming stories that need more time into a single episode and trimming off all the meat.

Gimme three or four episodes of Tyler and L’Rell on Klingon as a subplot, build up their relationship so the baby reveal becomes a proper tragedy and a compelling motivation. Remind me who Vok is before making me have to search my memory when Tyler’s big reveal happens. Give the reveal its own episode and time to breathe and make an impact without overlapping it with the Lorca reveal and shortchanging both.

And I dunno, have Lorca live. That could have absolutely been a “camera zooms in on the corpse, hand twitches, cut to end credits” moment to have him come back later as a villain. Or have a few more episodes of him as the villain before killing him. I was relatively attached to him, his ending felt unfulfilling. I can’t help but compare it to the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident, and how compelling the Romulan Captain and his subordinate were as characters despite only seeing them for one episode, and how beautifully the tactical game between him and Kirk played out. I would have liked to have seen Lorca get that, at least. Give me a few episodes of him being a worthy foe, let me see his betrayed crew deal with the knowledge they have to kill him. Having Georgiou toss him in a mushroom pit for a betrayal the viewers have zero investment in felt like a really abrupt and meaningless end. Especially after a really sudden reveal. Having that play out for a bit longer so the viewer can see his motives but not Michael would have been really interesting.

And like, Mirror Georgiou is great and all but I had like 1 episode and a voice recording of Regular Georgiou. I am not hugely attached to her and the dichotomy between the versions isn’t noticeable. Even a few flashbacks or something would have helped me get properly attached to MG. She is otherwise a compelling villain/antihero, but Michael’s anguish would be more real if the viewer got to see more of RG.

I guess my main note is that I’m frustrated. There’s a lot of good elements here but like... it just isn’t getting sewn together properly, and as a show it seems to demand more scrutiny than old Trek. Comedic relief Ferengi episodes, 30s gangster planets, and Riker’s slut shirts let me give old Trek more leeway, and the nature of primarily episodic storytelling is that fuckery with one plot only annoys me for one episode. Something high budget, high effort, and season based has a higher bar to clear and I dunno if this is quite clearing it for me.

It’s also kind of missing the comedy woven into old Trek. Like there’s been a couple instances of the Saurian guy sneezing and complaining of having 6 nasal passages, those got a giggle, but Harry Mudd was kinda... eh. And there’s been very limited humour outside of that. I don’t think it has to be a laugh a minute or anything but part of what made old Trek great was the sense of humour. Bits of light to balance the dark. This feels... not quite fully gritty/grimdark/HBO but still lacking something of the originals.

I am enjoying Michael as a character a lot, at least. And Saru is quality. Some of the others feel a bit cardboard-cut-out though. Like, you know how CBS procedurals are all basically constructed of a selection of “types”? This seems to be doing the same thing. Honestly I got higher standards for secondary characters now anyway because of The Terror but still.

I’m wondering if maybe I just don’t vibe with Bryan Fuller stuff in general, because I couldn’t get through more than two episodes of Pushing Daisies and Hannibal didn’t grab me at all. I did like the two DS9 episodes he did but I never really managed to get into Voyager at all and he wrote a lot for that so idk.

Ima still keep watching it though. I promised a mate I’d give it a chance in exchange for him watching The Terror and I’m unemployed so fuck it, why not?

[themeatlife]

the Meat Life Stay-At-Home Watchlist

Chronicling what I have watched or rewatched through the pandemic so far

The world has changed around us the last few months, particularly in the United States since March 11.  With the lack of events to hit up, like most Americans I’ve been catching up on some watching through the various streaming services and my own digital copies of movies and shows.

I didn’t really think of keeping up with what I have been watching until just recently, but here is what I can remember hitting up so far since I’ve spent the majority of the time at home.  Some are favorites that I would have watched anyway.  Some were unfinished until I got a chance to get back to them.  And others just became available.

Here’s what I remember of the watchlist:

The Office (Netfilx) This is a favorite of me and the wife.  We watch this on the regular though.  My wife uses The Office as her lullaby of sorts, putting it on in the evening as she gets ready for bed and is in bed to fall asleep.  I did a post on the 15th anniversary, so I won’t really deep-dive.

Gossip Girl (Netflix) Another one that my wife rotates with The Office as her lullaby.  The series is not bad, it’s basically The OC in Manhattan (both are created and developed by Josh Schwartz).  It also takes on a new perspective when you think about star Penn Badgley is the creep in You.  So Dan Humphrey gets this weird creeper Joe Goldberg vibe at times.

Parks and Recreation (Netflix) I never got into Parks and Rec on its original run.  I was encouraged to check it out by some coworkers since I liked The Office.  It is a great show, very funny, and poignant in a way.  It feels like a throwback to when people could disagree politically and still get along.  There is a lot less of that nowadays.  We might need more Parks and Rec in real life.  I started this right before the pandemic and finished around the beginning of things getting locked down.

Frozen II (Disney+) The sequel debuted on Disney+ early on in the quarantine period.  My family enjoyed it.  I thought it was entertaining, but I felt like it was weighted down a bit by the mythology explaining.  It seemed too busy explaining a lot of things.  Still an enjoyable movie, but the first is better.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness (Netflix) Intriguing.  The series debuted early in the quarantine period and became a staple of stay-at-home viewing and a runaway hit.  Lots of WTF moments.  It was like the train wreck analogy to the Nth degree.  But you can tell it was made in a way that leans in favor of Joe Exotic, making him look like a victim in the last couple episodes.  Also gave way to memorable memes ever since.

The Rocketeer (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  Looking back, you can see a lot of The Rocketeer in Captain America - The First Avenger.  Easy to see though, since they share the same director Joe Johnston.  Prior to America’s involvement in World War II, a movie star Nazi goes after an experimental rocket pack developed by Howard Hughes.  The rocket pack is retrieved by accident from a down on luck stunt pilot.  Fun movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney+) I should have watched the entire Skywalker saga leading up to it, but I figured I have a ton of time to do that later.  This was a May the 4th watch.  I haven’t watched the Skywalker saga finale since it was in theaters.  It’s not a bad movie, I just feel it could have been a lot better with some modifications here and there.  Also, I believe this was going to be the Leia movie.  The Force Awakens was Han’s swan song, as was The Last Jedi for Luke.  I feel like this would have been great for Leia but obviously they were limited due to the untimely death of Carrie Fisher.  The scene where Ren/Ben speaks with Han after battling Rey would have hit harder with Leia instead of Han.

Trolls: World Tour (VOD) Cute kid movie.  Was nice to hear a lot of familiar music.  Sucks that rock was the villain in the first couple acts.  Seeing it once was enough, though.  Like the first Trolls, I am glad my kids enjoyed it but did not participate in excessive multiple viewings.

Onward (Disney+) Didn’t get a chance to catch this at the theater before they closed them down.  Great movie, but gosh.  Why does Pixar always pull at the heart strings like that?  I was quietly crying to myself at the end.  I’m glad we made our living room dark theater-style, otherwise my kids would have seen me all torn up.

Fast and Furious 5-7 (Fast Five - HBO, The Fast and the Furious 6/Furious 7 - Digital) I ended up not watching the entire series.  There is a great trilogy within the series, 5-7 was that trilogy.  Fast Five was the best of the FF franchise and where it perfected their movie formula.  It was like an action Ocean’s Eleven with cars.  6 and 7 expanded on that formula, upping the humor and ridiculousness factor.  6 had the exits of the Han and Gisele characters (they found a way to tie in Tokyo Drift to the rest of the series, Gal Gadot was on her way to becoming Wonder Woman for DC).  And 7 had that great ending with the tribute to Paul Walker to the sounds of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.

Toy Story 4 (Disney+) Another Pixar hit.  Didn’t hit me quite as hard as Onward or Toy Story 3 did emotionally, thank goodness.  I thought this story was over the way Toy Story 3 ended.  But Pixar did a good job adapting to prolong these characters stories.  It did feel like it was a bit of two and three combined looking back.  Still very good, Pixar knows what it’s doing.

The Marvel Infinity Saga (Disney+/Netflix/Digital) Leading up to the one-year anniversary of the release of Avengers: Endgame, I went through and rewatched all 23 MCU movies.  This time, I went in chronological story order by starting with Captain America - The First Avenger.  I chronicled the order I watched in my last post.  Even after viewing many of these movies multiple times, I’m still amazed at how much I enjoy them and the scope of what Marvel was able to achieve leading into the climax in Endgame.

Community (Netflix/Hulu) I loved Community on its initial run on NBC but never watched any of the episodes when it was on Yahoo for its sixth season.  It has been great to rewatch the meta-humor and sitcom trope parodies.  And since Ken Jeong and Joel McHale started their own podcast called The Darkest Timeline (half COVID-19, half Community pod), it has been a good companion viewing.

The Back to the Future Trilogy (Netflix) Recent add to Netflix for easy viewing, these movies have been a favorite of the Mitra boys since childhood.  Upon viewing as an adult, there is some humor that I didn’t recognize as a kid that is hilarious to me now.  It is also crazy how well this teen time-travel sci-fi comedy works.  Some of the effects in Part 2 are dated and 2015 didn’t quite end up the way it did in the movies.  But overall very enjoyable on the rewatch!

Extraction (Netflix) High budget action flick funded by Netflix?  Written by the Russo Brothers?  And staring Chris Hemsworth?  I’m in!  Directed by long-time stunt man and Russo Bros go-to stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave (you can tell the Russo influence).  It has an awesome 15ish minute one-shot action/chase sequence that is top notch.  Don’t think much about the plot or the controversy of cultural representation, just enjoy the action.

The Mighty Ducks Trilogy (HBO) Another childhood favorite of mine.  Nevermind that the hockey itself isn’t accurate.  This is about pure fun for an hour and a half at a time.  Come for the hi-jinx, stay for the heart.  Triple-deke, knuckle-puck, taking out the trash.  And leave it out on the ice!

The Harry Potter Series (Blu-Ray/Digital) This was not a go-to for me until Linda made me watch the entire series.  I guess when the first movie came out, it was too much of a kid movie for me (I was a high school senior at the time).  But from the second movie onward, it felt like the storytelling and movie making got better and better.  The Deathly Hallows was an epic ending, even if they did change the ending from the book.  I didn’t watch the newer Fantastic Beasts movies along with this though, my wife did.

Westworld - Season 3 (HBO) Recently got HBO back, so I caught up on Westworld Season 3.  I haven’t rewatched the previous seasons yet, but I may revisit it soon.  Season 1 was spectacular, Season 2 was confusing as hell but still entertaining.  Season 3 is somewhere in between, expanding on the ongoing storyline.  It was more straight-forward because its storyline is in the “real-world.”  For those of you that have watched, didn’t you think it was highly ironic that the Incite ball was basically the AT&T logo? (AT&T is the parent company for WarnerMedia and HBO)

The Last Dance (ESPN/ESPN+) The Michael Jordan docu-series has been a god-sent for sports fans devoid of live American sports for the past couple months.  Is it Jordan-biased?  Sure.  But it is full of drama and intrigue and full of nostalgia.  The NBA had commissioned a camera crew to follow the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls on their run for their sixth NBA championship.  Jordan owned the controlling rights to the footage and unlocked it after the 2016 NBA Finals.  So this documentary was years in the making and with the pandemic the release date was moved up.  Although it featured a lot of unseen footage, it also chronicled the years leading up to the 1998 Bulls title.  The last 5 Sundays have been awesome.

The Princess Bride (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  It wasn’t one of my recurring watches back then.  So this was actually my second viewing of this movie ever.  I found it quite enjoyable.  It was cheesy, but fun, and a good family watch.  One of the many older titles available on Disney+.

Scoob (VOD) My kids had some of the older Scooby Doo episodes on DVD and watched them when they were younger.  This was a fun revisit for them and for us as parents.  It was actually cool seeing a lot of the Hanna-Barbera characters in one movie.  We watched this shortly after finishing Community, and my kids recognized Ken Jeong’s voice as Dynomutt.  My daughter hilariously shouted “Senor Chang!” when she recognized him.

The Indiana Jones Series (Netflix) I introduced my son to Indiana Jones a few months ago watching Raiders of the Lost Ark.  He loved it.  He lost a little bit of interest during the Temple of Doom, I think the character Short Round lost it for him (character hasn’t aged well).  The Last Crusade reclaimed his interest.  Harrison Ford was at his natural apex playing Indiana Jones.  I did not watch the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I didn’t feel the need to revisit that installment, while it was enjoyable the alien ending ruined the lead up to it.

The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight - Hulu, The Dark Knight Rises - Digital) Every few years I try to revisit this series.  It is the best thing DC has ever put out cinematically.  While Begins and Rises is more comic book, TDK is a straight crime drama set in the world of Batman.  My favorite is Rises, but the absolute best comic book movie remains The Dark Knight, even with the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jurassic Park/Jurassic World Series (Jurassic Park/The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Blu-Ray, Jurassic World - Digital, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Cinemax) The original Jurassic Park is such a great movie.  Rewatching, it’s crazy how well the effects for the dinosaurs hold up.  Steven Spielberg, Stan Winston, and ILM did a great job mixing animatronic and CGI dino effects that stand the test of time.  The Lost World was enjoyable but not as good as the original.  I skipped JP III, such a bad movie.  Jurassic World was a good way to reboot the series, basically a remake of the original but incorporating a lot of references to it.  I just finished Fallen Kingdom today.  Although Fallen Kingdom was entertaining, it fails to recapture some of the magic of JP and JW.

I’m not sure what I will hit up next.  I might hit some Keanu Reeves movies like Speed, the Matrix Trilogy, and/or the John Wick Trilogy.  Maybe Top Gun.  Maybe rewatch Friends or How I Met Your Mother.  Maybe something on HBO Max when it comes out like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  Maybe Terminator.  Possibilities are endless, at least until some American sports return.

[wolfwhiteflowers]

I keep having fan theories/wishes/hopes✨ of the Rick Grimes movies. 😅🙃

Oh boy. ...I’m gonna have high expectations and stuff about the movie. arghhh ...um I need a fanfic or something. 

Anyway, I guess I put some thoughts on here ..so then I don’t make new posts all the time or something. I also wanna do fan edits. It helps to write out my wishes and go like there thats my “head/canon” ending of TWD/RG’s story.

===================================================

-So lately I think the movies are gonna be like a repeat of the show’s premise and I kept thinking maybe Rick will be friending with a teen boy who is similar to Carl or he could be Asian and it also reminds us of Glenn. So it would be like father and son figure trope-storyline like other shows/movie have done.

-It would be cool to see Heath there (idk if the actor’s available and etc.) Then it also reminds of some theories like if Morgan’s son Duane is still alive and they’re at CRM. But I think that messes up Morgan’s story though.

-I have that whole “#Carol’s mission” theory...and was wondering how Carol and Daryl (Grimes kids, and other current characters in the show and FTWD, TWDWB) appear in the movies. Maybe the movies’ timeline takes place after 2 years or less from the show(or after the show’s series finale time-wise). So, it would be like the movies are ahead and we watch the show -on how the characters get to the point they were at in Movie 1.

eta.

I really don’t know what the plot could be and for 3 movies.😑 Like what’s the conflict and who’s the antagonist.

-someone kinda mention it already and I like the idea that it could be CRM (antagonist) vs. Commonwealth. Or, within CRM, Group A vs Group B (where Rick is at). I kinda had this idea that Group A/CRM are dressed in black and Group B are in streetwear, casual, and wear white/Commonwealth soldiers (and red? Commonwealth and TF helps them.) So it’s black vs white.  ....But Idk what A and B means...I’m hearing it’s “after or before” bitten? ok

eta.

-It would be funny or fun if each movie has a different theme to it. Like movie 1 is spy-like movie, movie 2-rom / romcom movie, movie 3- road trip movie.

-I’ve been doing edits and like yeah ok it doesn’t make sense and blah. Idk what my ending I want. Mainly everyone wants a Grimes (and others) reunion. Yeah we want that but i think there’ll be more to it(3 movies!)..other plots going on. 

So, hmm ..it would be cool if they did my wish/idea that I wanted for The 100 show to do. But, the show didn’t but Falling Skies kinda did it. It would be interesting if with my theory TWD does it. The theory/idea is like Rick goes west of USA, territory by territory to save everyone kinda like Lewis and Clark(get it from The100..k) traveling to west... and Rick find other communities. Gaining other communities/friends..against walkers or enemy. Rick would be the leader or someone who help unite communities/territories together. I guess this is like LOTR or a road trip movie. (I told my sis about Falling Skies and she said so there would be bad zombies and good zombies? lol 😑)

- I was thinking maybe there would be an arc, like in the Commonwealth arc in the comics, where it’s Old World vs New World.

Too Long, Read More

eta.

- maybe the movie(s) will be like TWDG s3 with the logo on the title parallel and Clem&AJ are like Judith&RJ. heh Well if the kids are gonna be in the movies. I hope they are.

...*thoughts

- Maybe they film in May ‘20, after DG’s HBO show. *shrug* :\

-I was thinking if Gimple is all about the easter eggs and creating a TWD universe with many shows/things kinda linked together, then I think TWD movie(s) are like the mothership story (right? movies are the big deal of hollywood/franchise).  Anyway, Gimple really have to plan the movie story out or just have this big plan and endgame in mind ahead of time. This seems really hard..and timelines. Like 3 shows kinda hinting CRM, they all keep going forward into their story, while we get movie1 and then later movie2. It gotta make sense. That’s hard..with SW and Avengers it was already based on books or planned out already(George Lucas). Or movies came out first. TWD comic books ended like s12-ish. // ok... Sigh so many promises.

- Those scifi movies or the mythology in the story is all crazy drama but the answer is LOVE. heh that would be cool. Idk how that works in this. They won the great war, found cure from zombie bites, and everyone’s at peace because of (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ , L💖VE. (easy way out-writing)

-Gimple mentioned “wild directions” on the movies and I just hope the movies still feel like TWD and nicely wrap up Rick’s story. Just no retconning, love triangles, and killing other major characters. 👽

-Doing random edits and like ahh it’s like fic but I see it. FeelsFeelsFeels. Anyway what if Rick, every place he’s been at, left Michonne letters just because(and misses her and loves her still) and it kinda becomes like clues for Michonne to find Rick. Michonne finds love letters for her all over the world/US. 😢💖 But uh my theory is he’s in one place or not idk.

-ok but what if Richonne Reunite on a bridge. 😭💞I like the idea of also being like their first meeting in s3 when they’re by the fences. Also, maybe, something do with their hands..hand touches. -they do a lot of hands holding on the show, btw.

-eta. I haven’t thought of ideas lately and I also did my big twd/rick movie AU edits and felt like satisfied like..there’s that my wish or my au wish to depend on. And also felt discouraged or hopeless?.. on those movies and tired of these rushed early plans on what gimple is gonna do. Like I  mainly just want an overall plan. So far I think i figured out that the movies might be after “TWD World Beyond” ends.  And idk whatever crazy thing AMC is gonna do. like solo movies wtf?

Anyway, I guess they’re kinda saying or rumors that TWD other characters(WB, FTWD) will join. Which I figured because hello movies..make it a TWD movie(more interest, fans, $$). ok. So, if true, Carol/Caryl will be there. And I recently thought of a different idea than before. Like maybe Caryl team will go to New Mexico to meet up FTWD’s group..to help fight against CRM.. ..and to bring them to the movies. Just an idea but idk how that works with other TF/Grimes kids and the tv show. Well I guess maybe it works for both before or after Rick movie #1, and tv show still going (if they still continue the show after s12,TWD:WB and movie #1.)

[thewolfbit]

Thoughts on 801

I missed a TON being off Tumblr for almost a week, and I’ve been trying to go through everything in the tag but failing miserably (bc you all ROCK at generating new content, and I am so well fed!!!!). So this is probably really repetitive and jet-laggy, but here are my thoughts (they may be a bit out of order):

Arya Stark!!!! I SHRIEKED

Then my heart broke because she sees some of the most important men in her life again, and none of them see her, and honestly that scene was really painful??? Her reaction! She was so disappointed and it HURT.

D is upset the smallfolk of the North don’t like her, but then her dragons swoop in and TERRIFY everyone and she has SUCH a satisfied smile... like omg HBO is dark!D on main now I guess??

JON AND BRAN REUNION. Jon quickly falls into the “he’s weird but we still love and accept him” group with Sansa and Arya

JON AND SANSA HUG WAS SHORTENED!!! WTF Y’ALL. I’m mad about this!!! Why did they shorten that amazing reunion 2.0 after hyping it so much?? Idk I know they shoot it from multiple angles, but it just seems really strange to me to edit and prep two different versions to air for no apparent reason. (Also, were they for sure the same footage? For example, D and Jorah start walking, but don’t unclasp their hands like they did in the teaser... idk, I need to watch it again when my brain is done being jet lagged.) 

^ Has GoT done this before with any other alternate footage that’s only used for promo?

D: “JON TOLD ME HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE.” That’s it. That’s my take on this line.

D finding out about Viserion being turned was... rushed... I felt like this should have been a MUCH bigger moment. But—

Sansa and Tyrion reunion. Either Tyrion and Jon are both turned into devoted idiots in D’s presence, or they’re playing at something. Sansa sees through that shit with Tyrion!! I drank grape juice (no wine, I’m jet lagged!) to salute her in this scene

ARYA AND JON REUNION. While parts of this were great, I felt so bad for Arya here!! She deserved a real, wonderful, drawn-out reunion like Sansa and Jon got, instead of two seconds of loveliness and then “help me with Sansa and my gf” 🙄 Jon I get that maybe you’re trying to get on Arya’s side and be co-conspirators again like you were as kids but KNOCK IT OFF, you’re annoying me in this episode. #sansadefensesquad (which Arya is totally a part of and DON’T FORGET THAT)

Oh no the dragons only ate the equivalent of 100 human meals today!! 😢 The dragon flying scene was honestly so cringey I felt like we were watching a completely different TV show. Why TF would D just be like “hey ride my 2nd dragon”??? There wasn’t even any pretext?? Like can’t they just throw in a “hey my dragons weirdly like you, they’ve never liked anyone, maybe they’ll let you ride them”?? Anyway I don’t even have anything more to say about this mess of a DotD2.0-setting-up scene other than: IT’S A MESS

Varys: “if you think J*nerys is endgame you aren’t paying attention”

D threatening Sansa. 

N O P E. 

I want to say “TRY IT” but also... pls don’t try it because you’re scary and have WMDs. LEAVE MY GIRL ALONE, she’s trying to defend her home from a usurper, which seems like something you could understand (tbh Sansa has been perfectly respectful... all she is doing is not being friendly!!! What TREASON)

Theon saved Yara!! Wow, super rushed! But OK! Theon is coming back to WF, probably to die by saving Bran or Sansa or something. Sigh. But at least he’s coming back.

Cersei was amazing in this episode. Everything was just so... great. Lena is perfection. Lena is the anti-dragon flying scene. Grape juice all around

Sidenote: some people are mentioning Daario returning with the Golden Company? I need to look more into this, but DANG. That would be interesting. I would love for this show to tie up some of its loose ends

SANSA AND JON SCENE. This is a great scene (even though I was mad at Jon). THE ANGST. THE SUBTEXT. The lines: “You know I do.” “She’s much prettier.” (Aka she’s a pretty version of the Mad King, Jon... it’s not a compliment!!!) and of course:

The Hound’s reunion with Arya... kinda sucked? Idk I know things are Complicated between them and she hated him a lot, but they also had a kind of grudging love for each other after all they went through. I just hated that he called her a bitch. I’m not trying to defend anything the Hound did or said, because it was awful and he wasn’t an amazing role model or anything!! But that’s who he was before, and I sort of thought that after his redemption arc and all that he’d be happier to see Arya. Or at least not call her a bitch, because 

She was a child!!!

He was terrible to her!! She probably would have mercy killed him if he hadn’t been like “I wanted to rape your sister”

If she’d killed him he would be... dead... you’re alive now so calm tf down and don’t call her a bitch!! #aryadefensesquad 

(Also, I’m a bit nervous that they’ll have the Hound and Sansa have a more emotional reunion since they skipped it with him and Arya, and their relationship was even more fraught, so... yikes)

GENDRY AND ARYA REUNION. My Gendrya heart is SOARING!! That shit was cute!!! “You’ve gotten better” omfg Gendry, YOU ADORABLE IDIOT. IMO this was the only good Arya reunion in this episode, sadly

Sam was obviously upset about his dad and brother being executed. Because duh. Jon was upset too. Because duh. Wait until they find out it was execution by FIRE. (I sort of hope Sam doesn’t, because this scene was so sad and I felt so bad for him.) 

I was also annoyed that they made it somewhat comedic with Sam almost getting run over by a wagon and then tripping down the crypt steps or whatever. Sam is an actual human with feelings who just found out his dad and brother died, not just some comic relief 🙄

Sam and Jon reunion! A short nice moment between Sam learning that his family members were killed and Sam telling Jon who his real family members are (...including, coincidentally, the family member who killed Sam’s family members...)

Parentage reveal. I felt like this scene could have been slowed down a bit (and Jon could have shown a lot more consideration of Sam’s news about his dad and brother dying!!), but I get that the audience already knows the truth so they don’t have time to have Sam convince Jon that it’s true. Jon’s first response: “it’s treason.” Aka he’s scared of D’s reaction. Not that he’s gonna lose his relationship with her. Not that he doesn’t think he could be a better leader. But that she’ll turn against him—and now he’s led her into his home.

Jaime rolls up and Bran’s like “HEY PAL.” My guess is that everyone will want to kill him (besides Tyrion and Brienne) but Bran will be like “we need him” or something

Overall, I think the episode had some great Jonsa/dark!D/pol!Jon setup and enough corny J*nerys stuff to make shippers and GA think it’s still a True Romance. 

Stuff I can’t wait for in the next episode:

Sansa(!) and Arya’s reactions to the parentage reveal

D’s reaction, if it happens—Jon might not want to rock the boat and risk losing her support before the WWs come

Varys seeing Sansa as the ruler she is

Jaime swearing an oath to Sansa, Arya, and Bran in Catelyn’s honor

Braime reunion!!!!!

Gendrya moments!!

Everyone saying goodbye to their loved ones before the battle (night before the battle love/passion scenes are MY JAM)

Cersei plotting to kidnap Sansa?

[sophygurl]

Dirty Dancing

I had a hankering to watch one of my old favorites today - one I’ve seen hundreds of times and that’s not an exaggeration. I probably watched it one hundred times alone the first summer it was on HBO and I recorded it - I’m guessing 1988 since it came out in 87?

Anyway - the short version of this post is simply that I’m pretty sure Dirty Dancing is a big part of my bisexuality and polyamorousness like. I’m sorry but Baby falls for Penny as much as Johnny and you can’t convince me otherwise and they would make an excellent throuple. And my little hetnormative-trained 13 year old brain didn’t KNOW that was a big draw of the movie for me but it was because the scenes between the three of them were my favorites - especially the dance training montage scenes where they’re all dancing together oh my HEART. But also just like you see so clearly how Baby is crushing on them both so much in those beginning stages and SOMETHING ABOUT THAT SPOKE TO MY LIL TEENAGE HEART OKAY?

So but the longer version is that I still love every single bit of this damned movie (2 minor exceptions - when Baby says “I’m not proud of myself” in her emotional monologue to her dad? I’d take that out. And also I wish the mom had just a smidge more agency but I also get that the lack of agency for the women was a big part of the story- hence these only being slight exceptions).

But okay yes. The movie? Is hella fun with a kicking soundtrack and amazing dancing and acting and Grey and Swayze have chemistry coming out of their whazoodles and I’d throw Rhodes in there too and all of that is fun and sexy and romantic and nostalgic (now for TWO decades since it kinda melds 60′s and 80′s stuff together in some ways).

You know what else though? It’s also just an amazing movie with incredible peeks into the sexism and classism of the era, and especially the intersection of the two. It explores both upper and lower class women’s roles and how both lower class men and women were treated. Swayze’s Johnny Castle is treated like a sexual object and expected to have sex with the upper class women who are being neglected by their husbands (interesting to note that the entertainment staff was forbidden to socialize with the daughters but expected to sex up the older ladies and the more educated upper class staff were expected to romance but not have sex with the daughters of the guests). 

Then there’s Penny and the whole pregnancy/abortion storyline and how Robbie treats both her and Baby’s sister Lisa - spoiler alert he treats them both horribly but in different ways. The mom has almost no agency. Baby thinks she has it, but you can clearly see the difference between when she’s with her family or with fellow upper class Neil and when she’s with Johnny and Penny and Billy - she blossoms into this whole new wonderful person with new insights and opinions about the world because she’s finally seeing outside of the bubble of her family and class. 

The movie does entirely ignore race issues, which is unfortunate. But I’m also guessing that is partly due to the setting - the vacationers would all have been upper class white folk and it seems most of the staff would have been as well. The band leader is a black man, but I think that’s it? IDK if that would have been indicative of the times or not, but it seems like the movie could have figured race into things if it had wanted to. The only other way it’s mentioned is when Neil says when the summer ends, he’s going to join the freedom riders. He seems to say this in order to impress Baby, who has shown she is concerned about social justice issues. And it comes off as a sort of privileged ally-cookie-quest. If Neil’s character did care about civil rights, it was not reflected in the way he treated the lower class staff at his uncle’s resort. 

Despite this lack, however, the movie does a pretty decent job looking at this intersection of gender and class. The way Baby was raised to believe she could change the world, and that this meant she should care about everyone regardless of things like race and class - but then quickly learned that her family (particularly her father) meant she should do these things in a more dignified and distanced way. They sort of humor her ideas of joining the peace corp and studying the economics of undeveloped countries - but the idea of befriending the entertainment staff at the resort is *gasp* Scandal!! 

But because Baby believed in those ideals she was raised with, and hadn’t yet learned the reality of what her parents expected of her - she plows right in and befriends these people whose dancing skill she so admires. She falls in love with dance, and with the people themselves (*ahem* Johnny AND Penny here) and with their easy way of being with one another. 

She rushes in to help wherever and whenever she can, but is still ashamed of her association and hides it from her family. This new world she’s discovered is a sort of guilty secret, and especially so once her relationship with Johnny becomes sexual in nature (AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH AGENCY SHE HAD IN THAT FIRST SEX SCENE LIKE SHE IS JUST GOING ON ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT HE IS TO HER, STARTS TO DANCE WITH HIM, GRABS HIS ASS, AND IS JUST LIKE - YEA BABY LET’S GO!).

So okay, she’s having teh sex and doing teh dance and making teh friends - but it’s still a secret because her family would find it shameful. Does this stop her when she finds out that Johnny is about to be blamed and fired for the theft? SHIT NO it does not! She jumps in to tell the whole world (well okay her family and the Kellerman’s and some other folks in the dining room at the time) that she slept with him that night so he couldn’t have stolen the wallet so THERE! 

And of course he gets fired anyway (I guess for defiling a rich girl? Blech.) but like. When he comes to find her and is all “nobody has ever stood up for me like that! ever!” - I die a little inside because this poor guy has been so beaten down that he doesn’t think he’s good for anything when what WE know about him is that he 1) totally stands by and protects his female bff (possible triad member???? shhh sophy we’re doing a thing here) no matter what and 2) he loves Baby so much because he sees all this good in her and he doesn’t think he deserves her but he is so proud of her and UGH 3) he stops taking the rich guy’s money to sex up his wife because Baby had finally convinced him he was better than that and 4) he works super hard all the time just to make ends meet but would Still have given Penny all his money to help her out and 5) GDI NEIL HE DOESN’T WANNA DO THE PACACHANGA!

All of this culminates when he comes back in and is all “Nobody puts Baby in a corner!” - which is such an epic and cool line but is also super cheesy and a bit nonsensical??? But what he means, really, is that in that moment he sees this woman that he loves sitting quietly in the corner with her parents who are suppressing this passionate and compassionate side of her (well mostly her dad her poor mom doesn’t wtf is going on) and he knows - okay - Johnny Castle KNOWS that Fances Baby Houseman is a fucking STAR okay and he is going to show the whole world (well all of the Kellerman guests and staff anyway) what she can do! PHEW.

So like. Yea, the movie is fun as shit for a lot of reasons. But it’s also so real and vital and important for more reasons than just this one gal’s bisexual/poly pre-awakening (it took another 5-10 years to fully get it - this was the 80′s/90′s in Wisconsin alright we didn’t have the internet back then to explain our sexualities to us!)

I don’t have a nice concluding thesis for this rambly meta except to say that I hope you enjoyed it and also I once again scared the crap out of my cats by singing and dancing a lot - they think singing means I’m sad and lonely so they come to comfort me because they call out and howl when they’re sad and lonely. They are so lovely to come and comfort me but the dancing and singing combo really freaks them out like what are you Doing lady - lady we’re scared - what’s happening? Are you ill??? Should we ... how do .. do cats call 911??? 

[supernovaecastaway]

Just Another Tag Meme

Tagged by @nasigorengart (Thanks girl 😘 I was looking for something to do instead of working lol)

1. What is the favourite item of clothing you own?

My denim/cloth hooded jacket probably. It’s my go to. Going on a plane? That jacket. Cold out? That jacket. Just wanna add a little something extra to an outfit? That jacket lol It has freakin inside pockets y’all, how could I not love it?

2. Tell me about the first time you watched your favourite movie?

I don’t have just one fave so this is difficult. But I guess Moulin Rouge back in like 6th grade on our stolen HBO with my mom and the both of us fell in love even though when we started it we were like wtf these aren’t original songs T.T

3. What was the last book you finished?

Circe by Madeline Miller like, last week! Definitely recommend, Circe was the baddest bitch on the block lol If you are a fan of greek mythology and wanna read a really fantastic retelling, this is for you! and also rec the song of achilles if you like greek mythology and havent read it yet. i liked just a tiny bit better than circe but i also knew about achilles before reading so i may be biased

4. What is the next book you want to read?

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee! And by want, I mean am lol I mentioned it a little earlier this week, but it follows the lives of a Korean family over four generations and has some pretty hefty recognition standing behind it so I’m super excited to read! also the forward or whatever mentioned something about one character being a romantic hero with a gangster twist which is just right up my alley. honestly my trip cant come soon enough so i can read :D

5. When is your birthday, and what do you want for it this year? (If your birthday has already happened this year, did you get what you had your heart set on?)

My birthday is September 20th and Dallas Pride almost always happens around that time, so I’m pretty sure I’m gonna go to that again like I did last year to party with the bestie. Unless I have a new job that won’t let me. But currently that’s the plan :3

6. If you were given one month and $10,000, where would you travel to?

I partially wanted to say $10k was a lot so you could go anywhere but if you’re talking international travel, not so much. BUUUUUT I would use it to go to Japan and see all there is to see out there. Check out the cities and the little towns and the shrines. I would really love to see where my grandma and her family are from, ya know? I think it would be awesome.

7. Cake or pie?

Cake, I’m a slut for frosting.

8. Name 3 things you think you’re really good at.

Writing lol Which sounds big headed but like, it’s literally one of the only things I’ve consistently been complimented on in my life, so yeah. thanks @ every teacher ive ever had and my family and my friends and my readers that tell me nice things

 Listening. I’ll be just about anyone’s shoulder to cry on

Crisis management. That sounds really weird and out of place here but if I told you about the things I’ve had to deal with for my job, you’d get it lol

9. Name 3 things you’d like to be better at.

I’m stealing the first answer and saying art. I’m decent enough but basically only at drawing the same face or drawing with reference/redrawing. 

Time management. I’m getting there on this one though, that bullet journal is really helping me out.

Fitness. Why is it so hard 😭

10. Name 3 far-fetched dreams you’d like to do someday.

Publish a book

Have my own magazine focused on musicians on tour

Own a house

11. If you had to dye your hair, what colour would you dye it?

The real question at this point I think is what color have I not dyed it yet XD Haven’t tried out green yet, so I think that would be cool but I also worry about how green fades. Next color I’m goin is that white silver I’d had between my blonde and the grey. Would like to go back pink eventually though, that was one of my favorites

Tagging: Literally anyone who wants to, which I know is such a cop out but I always feel so bad when I forget folks, so consider this a blanket tagging :)

[allthislove]

I’m not proud of myself.

Today, I finally blew up at my roommate- soon to be former roommate. For me, it had been a long time coming. Living with her hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. Though she stays gone much of the time, usually not coming home before 9 or 10 PM and leaving before 8 AM, when she is home, she treats the apartment like it’s her domain. You ever met someone who wants everything done their way, or it’s a problem? She’s this way.

She’s belittling, undermining, and controlling... and per our conversation today, and the last time we had a big discussion like this a month ago, manipulative. (She loves to turn my complaints around on me, or twist the conversation into me somehow being in the wrong.)

Here’s the thing. She isn’t a bad person. In fact, I think if we hadn’t ever lived together, we could’ve been friends. She and I enjoy some of the same things, and she has a jovial attitude, when she’s... not in her “do as I say” mode. 

The major problem is that she just sees herself as the boss of the apartment. I believe she sees it as her apartment, and I’m just the person she let live with her. It’s my fault, though. For one, when we secured the apartment last summer, I hadn’t yet moved up to Brooklyn and had no intention of doing so until my semester started at NYU. So, she actually found the place (which is nice, but is in an area I hate), and she moved into it before me (though we signed the lease at the same time, and I paid rent and all deposits even before I got there.) I was assured that these things wouldn’t be a problem, but they were. The first few months I lived there, I felt like a guest. Not like.... she was treating me with hospitality and with courtesy. Like, I was a person invading space that belonged to her. Space that I paid equal rent and utilities for, mind you.

Then, as time went on, she became more and more of a control freak. It was blaming me for not taking out trash or washing dishes, it was manipulative lies about “not feeling like I(she) should have to clean up after someone.” It was “I just feel like if you use my dishes and don’t wash them right after, it’s disrespectful.” When I moved in, she and her mother insisted that she had all the dishes and appliances we needed, and I didn’t have to buy anything. When I expressed discomfort with that idea, they assured me it would be fine. I knew it would become a problem, and it did. 

My biggest mistake, thought, was getting hooked up with her in the first place. Her family is friends with my aunt’s family. They knew we were both headed to New York around the same time, her for work, me for grad school, and everyone was suggesting to me that we should move in together. Something inside of me said that wasn’t a great idea, but I did it, anyway. It was convenient and I figured it couldn’t be a bother, because I was mostly focusing on school. Now, I’ve told the girl off, and my only worry is for my aunt’s relationship with her friend.

My final straw came today. I’m back home with my family, and my roommate, like she does, sent me a Venmo charge for the electric bill. Which is fine. What isn’t fine is that she kept sending me reminder notifications. Which she’s done in the past, which I’ve asked her not to do. Then, I texted her and asked her not to send me reminders. She responded “Please me then”. I don’t know what she meant by that, and I sort of think it was a typo meant to say “pay me then.” But either way, it was rude and ugly and my LAST STRAW. Mind you, I pay all of my bills on time. I pay other bills than the measly one(s) we share together. This bitch has been trying to mentally paint me as a deadbeat who doesn’t pay bills for M O N T H S, which is fucking annoying, because I PAY ALL OF MY BILLS ON TIME. I pay 1 credit card, 1 cell phone, 1 medical payment, 2 insurance bills, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now... EVERY MONTH. Not including the rent, electricity, and internet we pay together. (Oh, I also sponsor a child every month.)

Now, this fucking electric bill. I have actually never seen the actual bill. I never see how much the fucking bill costs. I have never seen when it’s due. I just take her word for it when she sends me a Venmo charge. And I pay it. Usually not that exact second, because I DON’T HOP TO for anyone and it’s Venmo, and the bill is PAID to the company, which is what matters most- essentially, I’m just paying HER back for it. Which is actually not a mode I like, and I didn’t tell her to set it up this way, and I’d much rather send money directly to the electric company than pay her back, but whatever. Mind you, I asked her months ago to tell me WHEN the bill was due and how much it was so I could determine my half and pay it to her on my own. I don’t need anyone to remind me to pay bills. I’m actually adult af, I’ve been paying bills on my own for Y E A R S. She has never shown me a bill nor told me when it’s due. She also claims she Venmos me on the same day every month, which is patently false. 

So, yeah, usually by today (the 28th-ish of each month) I’d pay rent and electricity and internet at the same time (meaning I’d pay rent to the landlord, and pay this roommate over Venmo). 

So, anyway, she texted me “please me then.” Which was a fucking weird ass text. So, I text back “Wtf. How about you sent me an actual copy of the bill. This shit is annoying af.”

Then she called me. She called me, thinking she was gonna “Queen Mother” and manipulate me into submission. But little does she know, the week I left to come home (the day after my birthday, May 18), I vowed that she had ONE MORE TIME to try me. And she caught me on the right day. When she started out her mouth with her bullshit, I LET HER HAVE IT. I READ HER FOR FILTH. And she kept trying her manipulative “no, you’re the problem” bullshit, but every time she came out her mouth with some shit, I read her even more. She even tried some “I don’t see what’s the problem with reminding you about a bill that’s PAST DUE”, to which I said “HOLD UP, sis, I PAY MY BILLS ON TIME. And you never told me when this bill was due, EVEN WHEN I ASKED YOU TO, so don’t even start that bullshit.”

And, like... I’m happy that I stood up for myself, and let her know that I’m not her doormat, I’m not her underling, and I don’t need her nor answer to her, but I’m sad that it had to come to this. Because I know she’s going to cry to her mom, and it’s going to get back to her grandma, and then to MY AUNT, and it’s going to be a whole thing.

And I know she’s going to lie and say “my roommate never wanted to pay bills and stuck me with everything.” Because, she said similar things about previous roommates when we first moved in together. She said she’d had problems with roommates in the past. Which is a red flag. Which I ignored, because ... I don’t always trust my intuition. But I guarantee her problems with roommates in the past is because she’s a bossy, manipulative person who wants everything her way and thinks people are supposed to fall in line after her. Which... is not me. Could never be me. 

And, like, it SUCKS because my aunt is really good friends with her family. Like, besties with her grandma. And also, I’m NERVOUS about my social interactions with people, and never wanted to have a roommate because I think I end up making everyone hate me (which isn’t really true, but you know... the few bad times always stand out.) And, like, I have one more year at NYU, and I have to have one more year of having roommates, probably, and I’m really scared to have another situation like this. 

And New York City is so expensive that living by yourself is hard or impossible. Like, unless I find some kind of really well paying job that is willing to allow me time to finish my classes, getting a place by myself isn’t really an option, or is a very unlikely option. 

ALSO, I think living with her was so stressful it was making me physically sick, and making my body have really adverse stress reactions, so there’s that. (Seriously, like... I was having a lot of stress-related health issues that ARE GONE AND I’VE ONLY BEEN HOME A WEEK.)

So... anyway, if any of y’all read this and care... please wish me luck in finding comfortable, nice housing in a nice area so that my home life can be comfortable and my only stress can be finishing my thesis so I can graduate next spring. And please send me “great roommate” vibes! I’ve heard of so many people finding roommates that become like family, and I need that in my life.... 

[keepingup-withthetargaryens]

S7, E4:

Damn. God damn HBO.

I haven’t been writing these because I feel like everything is all a bit more straightforward these days, and people don’t need recaps because everyone is an ~expert~. I got close last week because it was such a badass episode, but this one. I. AM. Shook. 

The before-the-show “remember this” previews always get me because, i.e., in this one, we see Qyburn talking about a “solution” for the dragons, you see Dany getting frustrated, and you’re like SHIT NOT THE DRAGONS. 

But let’s back up.

So we begin at Highgarden (RIP OLENNA) with Jaime paying his debts to Bronn. I hate to say this, because as much as I hated the sand snakes (overall and just... overall) I kind of wanted Bronn to ride off to King’s Landing to save Tyene... somehow. Wishful thinking, because Bronn sends him off to help Dickon Tarly yell at people.

Now on to Cersei. Tycho, this guy from the Iron Bank, is hella creepy. He reminds me of my student loan officer from college who was like “if you take that fifth year, think about all you can accomplish”. And now 1/3 of my monthly income goes away to pay it off. Anyway.

Cersei is still possessed with the idea of controlling the “continent” which at this point sounds incredibly stupid given what we know is to come with the War for the Dawn. But, semantics.

Okay, this dagger situation. Littlefinger is being smarmy, and talking about how Bran almost died, and Catelyn did die. It’s almost as bad as when Bran was like “Hey Sansa, remember how beautiful you were when you were raped?”  It also sounds really “off” to hear Petyr call him “Brandon” because only Cat did that when she was yelling at him for climbing around Winterfell. 

I’m so glad that Meera interrupts the smarm-sesh because Bran isn’t really waving him off. And tbh whenever I see Meera, I just hope they’re not going to go down the “Jon and Meera” twins crackpot theory road. The one where they decide that there were TWO babies at the Tower of Joy, and Ned took one, and Howland took the other? I hate that theory. Let us have Jon. Meera’s a badass, but... THEN she starts talking about how when “they” (the white walkers) come, she needs to be with her family. Ah, yes, her father, THE Howland Reed, who killed Arthur Dayne, who was the only other living person not a baby who was there at the Tower when Lyanna made Ned swear to protect Jon’s true identity. 

Can SOMEONE please just tell this boy he’s a Targaryen already?! I’ve waited 12 years and that’s long enough.

Back to Bran. Bran is still being very Jaden Smith-like and it’s getting old because he’s not really helping anyone. Bran, this is why we left you out of an entire season. Remember that? The North does. 

So, now Arya is here, and maybe she can knock some sense into raisin-Bran. 

Arya looking at the Stark crest, though. *Tears up*

I’m upset that we’ve come so far that nobody knows who Rodrick is. SER RODRICK. I miss those mutton chops.

Arya and Sansa! Together! Being sassy! I love it! Except I only see Maisie and Sophie together, and not their characters, and I’ve forgotten that Arya and Sansa didn’t exactly get along all those years ago.

They talk about how Jon would be SO happy to see Arya, and I hope we get to that point. Arya says that Ned’s statue doesn’t look him him, just as Robert remarked that Lyanna’s looks nothing like her, so that seems to be a trend in the Stark crypt.

I like how Sansa is essentially WTF about her siblings’ new personalities. Bran is a fortune-telling raisin, and Arya is an assassin who broke bread with Ed Sheeran.

THREE STARKS IN ONE FRAME. AT WINTERFELL. I CAN’T.

Clearly Bran has seen Arya do something with this dagger, or he wouldn’t be so creepy about giving it to her. He ~knows. I’m glad Sansa perks up and says something about how Littlefinger has to be up to something, because for a minute there it looked like she was on board with him.

I love how Jon literally interrupts girl talk here, and Missandei is like “well talk later”. 

I also love how Dany just waltzes in there with him, and is apparently fully on board with trusting him at this point.

And we all know how much Jon Snow loves caves. *wink*

I like how he thinks he’s showing her a bit of her heritage, but really, he’s discovering his own as well. 

How CONVENIENT that there are markings showing white walkers, the very things she doesn’t believe in, though?

When Jon touches Dany I literally just wanted to scream “THEY ARE TOUCHING. WHO TOUCHES THE QUEEN” like this is 2005 Pride and Prejudice and Darcy is helping Elizabeth into the carriage.

That look.

I want someone to touch my arm and lead me gently around a cave where I learn about history.

So much tension.

So. much. tension.

People were like “they have no chemistry!” Me: *Gestures at this scene*

Also, the parallels: 

“I will fight for you. I will fight for the North. When you bend the knee.”

There are tears welling up in my eyes.

DAMN, DANY. Don’t ask Jon to bend the knee in a cave because he’s already done that and we saw how that went. But honestly I could totally see them turning this around and having him “bend the knee” some other way, especially because of that tension. DAMN.

~Lingering looks and soft music~

But I don’t know how they’re going to get around the incest factor. It’s not a big deal on GoT but there’s really no way of making it normal between two beloved characters even if they are Targaryens.

In the books, Viserys yells at Dany for not being born earlier so she could marry Rhaegar (normal) because then he wouldn’t have run off with Lyanna (Jon’s mom).

And then they exit the cave so closely it almost looks like they’re holding hands from the angle, but they aren’t, don’t worry. But we’ve come a long way in one episode.

Tyrion’s like, what do you want, good news or bad news first? Varys is like, my hands are cold.

Okay, I feel bad that Dany digs into Tyrion like that, but she has a right to be pissed. I also like how she says Jon and Davos should stay because they’re essentially part of her small council now.

“Enough with clever plans. I have three large dragons. I’m going to fly them to the Red Keep”.

I like how she says “large”. Not just that she has dragons, but like they’re LARGE. Anyway.

AND THEN SHE LOOKS TO JON. TO JON.

He’s like “who, me?” Missandei and Varys are like “who, him?” 

Help me Jon Snow. You’re my only hope.

And he gives her a speech about doing impossible things, which he has ALSO done. The layers. (I’m not just saying layers because the Onion knight is right there.)

Every time we see dragons I’m like “can Rhaegal come say hi to Jon” like we’re at the damn pet store.

Arya. Sparring with Brienne. I also can’t. If you think back to when Ned was telling Arya she’d make a fine lady one day, and she told him that’s not who she was, so he hired Syrio, and she was getting somewhat decent, but she wasn’t great. Now... on par with Brienne. We’ve come so far. *ANTM fist pump*

Pod’s like “damnnnn”.

Sansa’s like “who is my sister”. 

Littlefinger’s like “oh fuck”.

THIS. IS. GAME. OF. THRONES. 

Honestly you can tell this was so fun to shoot for the two of them, and I love it. I’m living.

Omg Jon acting like he’s in middle school: “who?” YOUR CRUSH JON. YOUR CRUSH. “I’ve seen you staring at her good heart”. ARE YOU SERIOUS WITH THIS DIALOGUE, D&D?

Okay, two things are happening here. 

1. Davos CONTINUES to mention Missandei OF NAATH. Not just, Missandei. While it’s common to mention where people are from, nothing on this show is coincidental. He even talks about if she wanted to sail home to Naath. Just FYI - if you want to know something slightly sketchy, look up the butterflies of Naath.

2. They talk about names, which Jon is like “semantics”. Are they setting us up for his Targaryen name reveal?! “My mother and father weren’t married”. BUT WERE THEY?! Ugh I can’t wait to get into this and talk about how they probably were but this post is long enough as it is.

Missandei speaks 19 languages. And she doesn’t know what a bastard is. Okay.

Jon’s aggression toward Theon. YAS. There’s my little warrior bb. His expression is the epitome of “over this shit”.

I’m honestly surprised Theon had the balls to walk toward Jon at all. Okay not funny.

Okay, sidebar: sometimes I just think about Kit in Pompeii. Running around. Being a gladiator. I’m done now.

“The Queen is gone.”

OH MY GOD DANY IS GOING TO GET THE LANNISTERS. 

“If the head of the line is ambushed, the tail will never be able to reinforce it in time” - Randyll Tarly, you foreshadower, you. Head. Tail. Dragon. I see you.

“Rickon.”

“Dickon.”

Bronn: *Cackles. Is all of us*

I like how Jaime continues to call him by dead Stark names - previously, Rickard, and now Rickon. 

But then. Hoofbeats. DAMN, DAMN. I hate the Lannisters but I like Jaime and Bronn and I know what a shitstorm is coming for them and ARE THEY GOING TO MAKE IT?!

I like how you can hear the Dothraki screaming from that far away, before you can even see them. Remember this conversation that Robert and Cersei had in season 1? Robert: I do know this: If the Targaryen girl convinces her horselord husband to invade and the Dothraki horde crosses the Narrow Sea...We won't be able to stop them. Cersei: The Dothraki don't sail. Every child knows that. They don't have discipline, they don't have armor, they don't have siege weapons. Robert: It's a neat little trick you do. You move your lips and your father's voice comes out. Cersei: Is my father wrong? Robert: Let's say Viserys Targaryen lands with 40,000 Dothraki screamers at his back. We hole up in our castles. A wise move. Only a fool would meet the Dothraki in an open field. They leave us in our castles. They go from town to town, looting and burning, killing every man who can't hide behind a stone wall, stealing all our crops and livestock, enslaving all our women and children. How long do the people of the Seven Kingdoms stand behind their absentee king, their cowardly king hiding behind high walls? When do the people decide that Viserys Targaryen is the rightful monarch after all?

Those payoffs, though.

It all looks quite stormy, as though this battle will go in favor of Daenerys Stormborn.

Sidebar: they did a fantastic job with the CGI background, here.

Jaime, if Bronn is telling you to go, you go. He doesn’t play around.

“DRACARYS”

DAMN, DANY.

And people are shook. People are stepping over each other’s ashes like it’s Pompeii (shout out, Kit) while the Dothraki mow over them.

I’ve watched a lot of war movies.

I’ve watched a lot of battle scenes.

And, damn.

Big question: Are Rhaegal and Viserion at home, or?

Sidebar: this must have been EXPENSIVE for all that fire power.

Archers with regular arrows: nope

Bronn with the scorpion: SHIT

SHIT ARE YOU KIDDING ME WE HAVE TO WATCH BRONN SHOOT DROGON WHILST DANY RIDES HIM. THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. I feel like this is the worst kind of dread because you KNOW it’s going to happen.

Bronn is 100% “if I were into that, I’d be into that.” Like, if I were into guys with issues and lots of war wrinkles, I’d be into him. Which means I slightly am. Anyway.

And after Dany and Drogon almost gets hit, SHE DOESN’T LEAVE? SHE DOESN’T LEARN FROM THE FIGHTING PIT SCENE? GO, GO, GO.

As much as I am in agony I’m also like THIS IS PRIME GAME OF THRONES. BRONN, AIMING A GIANT CROSSBOW THING AT A DRAGON WHILE DANY RIDES IT AND TRIES TO BURN HIM TO A CRISP? THIS. IS. GAME. OF. THRONES. BITCHES.

Sidebar: How does Bronn know how to operate this thing and dramatically throw the sides down like that?!

TYRION IS HERE? SHIT. THAT MEANS BAD THINGS FOR DANY AND/OR JAIME BECAUSE HE IS HERE TO WATCH.

“Your people can’t fight” A) Does Tyrion now speak Dothraki? He’s terrible at Valyrian. B) Is this also a reference to the fact that Tyrion MAY not be a Lannister after all? C) Is that a hint of the Rains of Castamere in the background? But like a slow remix? Um... who is going to die

Jaime, watching his soldiers crumble away like ash. Third Pompeii reference.

Bronn, shooting at Dany.

The music swells.

Drogon roars.

Tyrion watches with interest.

Bronn loads the scorpion.

SHIT. SHIT. SHIT.

He hits Drogon. He moves to strike again.

DANY AND DROGON ARE FALLING.

Okay, Drogon burns the scorpion to a crisp, but IS HE OKAY?! BB!

Dany’s really going to pull that thing out herself?

No, JAIME. DON’T DO IT.

You one-handed idiot.

But honestly that shot of Jaime galloping along the burning riverbanks toward Dany is cinematic goals.

Dany actually looks scared, but Drogon’s got her.

BAM.

BOOM.

P.S. If they killed Jaime off, I feel like they’d tell us. They were outright with Olenna... they weren’t outright with Jon. Jaime still has a lot to do.... Valonquar, anyone?

UNTIL NEXT WEEK. P.S. If you like my recaps as much as Davos loves Jon Snow, please let me know and I’ll continue writing them.

[kateofthecanals]

For The (Not)Watch: Episode 7.4

The Reason HBO Can’t Afford Direwolves Anymore

So this week wasn’t quite AS boring as last week, but that’s not saying much. I almost had an emotion or two. ALMOST...

We open on something other than Dragonstone for a change -- in the Reach(?) and on the Westerosi Wells Fargo Wagon, which Jaime is once-overing, while Bronn hangs out in the background demanding Jaime give him Highgarden, but Biggie Lannister is like “nah, mo’ money, mo’ problems!” Bronn’s not buying that line, though, and feels he should be on the list of debts the Lannisters pay off. He also makes some snarky remarks about Cersei which are actually 100% accurate but of course Jaime, like GoT watchers, is blissfully blind to the truth. Jaime then sends Bronn with the Tarlys to go shake-down local farmers for their sweet, sweet grains.

Then we head over to King’s Landing, where Tycho is hella impressed that Pinhead Cersei will be able to pay off her debts in one lump sum but is kinda bummed to be losing out on that tasty monthly APR. Cersei hints that Qyburn is in negotiations with the Golden Company to join her cause and Tycho vouches for them... but reminds Cersei that the Iron Bank ain’t doing shit until Jaime makes that big deposit.

Next we hit up Winterfell, AND WHO THE HELL LEFT THE KIDS ALONE WITH LITTLEFINGER?? Somehow that snake slithered his way into Bran’s chambers and is attempting some kinda cringeworthy heart-to-heart... Seriously I half-expected him to tell Bran “I’M YOUR DADDY NOW.” Instead he decides to give Bran a gift -- the Valyrian steel dagger that was used to try to murder him in Season 1. Bran’s like... “Thanks?” (But really, isn’t this kinda payback for last week when he threw Sandra’s wedding night back in her face?) LF starts monologuing about Catelyn, and Bran asks if LF knows who the dagger belonged to (I’m guessing just to test LF, because obviously Miss Cleo is gonna know exactly who it belonged to... right??), and of course LF is like “No idea!” Then he randomly mentions the word “chaos” and Bran’s creep-dar goes off, and he interrupts him by saying “CHAOS IS A LADDAH.” Yes, folks, Bran threw LF’s dumbest catchphrase back in his face and it was played off like a genuinely weighty moment and not something that required a laugh track in the background. LF has barely time to react before Meera comes in. LF leaves, and Meera makes the sad announcement that she has to leave to be with her family, and Bran’s just like “Cool, bye then.” And Meera’s like... “bitch that all you have to say to me????” And Bran’s just like “uhhhh thank you for your service?” Meera then be thinking hmmm maybe this is just like a teen comedy and he’ll come wheelin’ after me at the airport at the last minute to profess his love for me? But nah, Bran’s straight-up fixing to ghost her ass, smh. She’s like “my brother, your wolf, and Hodor all died for you, Bran!!” But he’s like

And because D&D would rather leave significant character development off-screen, they have Meera assure us that Bran “died in that cave.” Cool, thanks, good to know!

Meera leaves, and then Bran hears the familiar strings of the Stark Theme, and he knows that Arya is near! Yes, Arya has finally found her way back to Winterfell. She strolls up to the front gates and is immediately given a hard time by the guards in a blatant repeat of the same scene from Season 1 (not the first or last time we will be seeing rip-offs from the first couple of seasons just in this episode alone). One of the guards even tries to PUNCH her (???) before agreeing to left her in but telling her wait while they decide what to tell Sansa. And since WF is being guarded by 2 of the 3 Stooges, Arya is able to just wander off without them noticing.

The guards then enter what appears to be the Bat Cave where Sandra is hiding out and has pretty much no visible reaction to hearing that Arya is in the house. Which is funny because Arya implied to the guards that Sandra would have their asses if she found out they’d turned her sister away. Instead, she just kinda looks bored and is like, “whatever, I know where she is...”

We then go down to the crypts for one of the most-anticipated reunions in ASOIAF-dom!!! Buuuut this is GoT, so it’s all very awkward and forced. Like, seriously, Arya, you���re not fooling anyone...

Sandra runs up to hug her, but just like with Small Wonder Bran, Arya-Bot 1000 barely registers an emotion or even bothers to hug her back. WTF, people???

They briefly have a moment in front of Ned’s statue, which was kinda nice. I mean, they didn’t even call him stupid or anything!! The lowest of low-hanging fruit, but I’ll take it at this point... Then Arya says it doesn’t look enough like Ned and that it should have been carved by someone who knew his face, but Sandra says that everyone who knew his face is dead. Ummmm? Sandra, Arya, Bran, Jon, Cersei, Varys, Sandor, Jaime, Littlefinger, Beric, Thoros... that’s almost a dozen people right there who are still alive that knew what Ned looked like (though I can’t vouch for their stone-carving skills...). Then, as usual, the moment is completely trampled on when the two sisters bond over how they both wished they had killed Joffrey themselves HAHAHAHAHA so sweet. Then Arya tells Sandra about her List, and Sandra’s just like

They make vague allusions to all the things they’ve been through since their separation. They then venture the godswood to say howdy to Bran, who is a party-pooper as usual, calling out Arya on her plan to go to KL to kill Cersei. Sandra asks Arya who else is on her list... SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING UP SANDOR BUT NOOOOOPE CAN’T HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE HOUND WITH OR IN FRONT OF SANDRA EVEN IF IT’S ARYA DOING THE DISCUSSIN’ so she’s just like “eh most of them are already dead.” Then out of nowhere Bran’s just like “check out this new toy Littlefinger gave me” and Sandra’s like “WHY IS LITTLEFINGER GIVING YOU WEAPONS” Bran’s like “doesn’t matter, don’t want it anyway” and gives it to Arya.

The three Starks then make their way back into the the yard, where Brienne and Pod see them, and Pod says, “Good job, m’lady!” and she responds pretty much the same way I did -- “I didn’t do shit.”

Then we hit up Dragonstone, where the Jonerys train is being happily conducted by Missandei and Davos. Both give their respective masters a forced series of “nudge-nudge-wink-wink” moments with regards to the other, so as to to remind the viewers that THIS IS TOTALLY A THING, YOU GUYS. Dany and Missy are taking a stroll, and when they see Jon, they exchange a look like two freshmen girls who have just been acknowledged by the varsity QB on the quad. It’s quite pitiful.

Anyway, Jon takes Dany into one of the dragonglass caves to show her something. Sadly, he keeps his pants on and instead ducks into a tunnel which opens up into another cave with a bunch of primitive drawings on the walls. Indiana Snow then schools Dany on how they were drawn by the Children of the Forest and depict their encounters with both the First Men and the white walkers.

P.S. the CoF totally phoned it in on the FM but got all HR Giger when it came to the WWs.

And even though Jon could have drawn those pictures himself and made up literally everything he said for all Dany knew, she considers this definitive proof of his claims and immediately agrees to help him... if he bends the knee. There’s a lot of whisper-talking and long-held gazes, which I think was supposed to be “sexual tension”.

They exit the cave with their chaperones, where they find Tyrion and Varys waiting for them, looking rather glum. Tyrion drops the bad news that although they took Casterly Rock, the Lannister forces took Highgarden and all the spoils. Tyrion tries to rally, but Dany reams him out for fucking up and suggests he did it on purpose cuz he’s really still loyal to the Lannisters (OH DUHHHHH). She then declares “enough with the clever plans” and decides instead to stick to more stupid ones I guess. To that end, she asks Jon what she should do.

Your QUEEN, ladies and gents. Has no idea what she’s doing and constantly has to ask the (much smarter) men around her to tell her what to do. But the mere fact that she is “in charge” is I guess enough for most people to declare this “feminist”. Sure, okay.

Anyway, Jon tells her that if she uses her dragons to annihilate everyone, she’s just “more of the same” and isn’t giving her followers anything better to hope for. Which is a fair enough assessment but we all know it’s being used to highlight Jon’s “dumb” honor and compassion because DRAGONS SO EPICCCCCC!!!

Back at Winterfell, Brienne is again cleaning Pod’s clock (remember when this kid killed a Kingsguard in the middle of the Battle of the Blackwater? D&D don’t either I guess), but then Arya rolls up on her with Needle and says she wants to throw down with the person who beat the Hound. Brienne’s like “haha cute” but then Arya pulls out all the water-dancing nonsense and completely flummoxes Brienne.

So, for those doing the math:

Brienne beat The Hound; Arya beat Brienne; ergo, ARYA CAN BEAT THE HOUND.

I really wanted to enjoy this scene, but I couldn’t forget that the last time we saw Arya actually spar with anyone was in Season 1 with Syrio. Now all of a sudden she’s the most formidable warrior in the Seven Kingdoms. 

Any-freaking-way, Sandra appears on her perch again (with LF not far behind, of course), and at first she seems pretty impressed with Arya’s skillz, but when it’s over, she just, like, storms off in a huff? Why??

She leaves LF to have a weird stare-down with Arya.

Back on Dragonstone, it’s now Davos’s turn to tease Jon about Dany, implying that Jon was staring at her rack apparently?? Jon’s like “ain’t nobody got time for that” but luckily they run into Missandei where Davos can continue on that train of thought. They then have a conversation about how bastard names work on Westeros (in Season 7?????) and Missandei declares that marriage isn’t a thing in Naath, and Dirty Ol’ Man Davos is like HAHAHAHA not where I come from either, wanna go grab a drink later?? Jon and Davos then start questioning why Missandei is so loyal to Dany, and Missandei begins to talk about Dany like Squeaky Fromme talking about Charles Manson.

^^ waiting for this dialogue to pop out of Dany’s mouth at some point this season...

Davos is basically like SORRY I ASKED. Just then, they’re interrupted by a dingy being pulled up on shore (somehow they didn’t notice this until the were RIGHT on the beach) containing Theon and the straggler Ironborn. Theon sees Jon and is like like “hey sup” and Jon’s all YOUSONOFABITCH!!! but stops just short of roughing him up because of what he did for Sandra. He then tells him that Euron has his sister and he needs Dany’s help to get her back, but Jon says she’s not home right now...

Where could she beeeeeee?? Welp, we hop back over the the Lannister wagon train, which, again, Jaime and Bronn are just sitting and watching. Apparently they are much closer the the Crownlands (or in the Crownlands?) than they had been at the beginning of the episode... They then decide to have some not-so-subtle small talk with Dickon Tarly, whom Jaime again calls Rickon, about how he fought pretty decently at Highharden but how he has yet to be really tested. THEN GUESS WHAT HAPPENS, GUYS??? The show is interrupted by a screening of Dances with Wolves--no, wait, that’s just the Dothraki streaming over the hill to fuck shit up... along with Dany riding Drogon.

COMMENCE BATTLE #371 TO DISTRACT THE VIEWERS FROM THE SHITTY WRITING!!!

Yes, it’s all very exciting and well-executed, if you ignore:

The Dothraki would have had to circumvent KL somehow to get there.

They couldn’t have gone by ship because Euron destroyed Dany’s fleet.

Horse-Surfing™

The scene was 90% about Bronn?? For some reason??

Dany, who not 10 minutes ago was complaining about not being able to feed her army, proceeds to destroy all the gold and grain the Lannisters were hauling.

Gratuitous horse violence because “edgy” I guess

WHY/HOW IS TYRION THERE?

So the big climax comes when Bronn gets promoted from Bronn of the Blackwater to Bronn of the Big-Ass Crossbow. Yes, in yet another ham-fisted callback to an early season, Bronn figures out how to use the giant ballista and fires an arrow straight into Drogon’s shoulder, forcing Dany to land. While she’s down, Tyrion is standing off to the side and spots Jaime on the battlefield and is mumbling for him to get the fuck out of there. But this is Jaime Fookin’ Lannister, he doesn’t run away from anything, especially his toxic co-dependent relationship with his twin sister!! So he grabs a spear and begins to charge toward Dany like he at the Hand’s Tourney (except we never actually saw him joust at the Hand’s Tourney, so once again, emotional impact of this moment is M.I.A.). Just as he’s about to strike, Drogon turns and is about to make him dragon kibble when he is rescued at the last second by, presumably, Bronn, and is swept away beneath an extremely deep puddle that just happened to be nearby. The End.

I know there are a lot of show-critics today who are super hyped about this battle (which is apparently a “reference” to the Field of Fire, ugh), but guys... sorry, no. I am way past the point where a showy battle scene is going to make up for all the nonsense that came before it. They’ve tried this trick already -- it was called “Hardhome”. It didn’t work on me then, and it won’t work on me now. I would have rather seen a more meaningful reunion between the Stark sisters than another expensive spectacle. If this is why the direwolves have disappeared, then sorry, I don’t consider it a fair trade-off.

[bellringermal]

«She fancied Gehrman, unaware of his curious "mania", but was left heartbroken when Gehrman couldn't, or wouldn't, reveal his feeling towards her.» WTF, fextralife?!

Thank you fextralife! ~♡No okay let’s be serious for a second and put aside my fangirl heart that craves for the damn romance and let’s look at the facts, shall we?

Let’s begin with the Hair Ornament and how the Doll reacts to it.

The item is described as “ordinary” and does look as such. This is not something fit for a woman of noble lineage like Maria is, is the sort of gift that a middle-class Yharnamite would give his fiancee. In fact, I would say that the Red Jewelled Brooch that Gascoigne gave to his wife looks way fancier and in line with what a Cainhurst noble would wear than the plain, ordinary hair ornament.

Giving little tokens of affection before the marriage was a no-no for Victorian lovebirds unless the couple openly expressed the intention to get married and both families agreed to the arrangement.

In Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Marianne Dashwood’s spontaneous behaviour is considered unorthodox and her (only rumoured!) clandestine engagement with John Willoughby is heavily frowned upon. One of her biggest ‘sins’ was to have sent John a bunch of letters and locks of her hair that the young man respectfully gives back to her before marrying another woman.

So, if we take for granted that Yharnam’s courtship customs are similar to those of the 19th century’s I think it’s safe to assume that if an unmarried man gave something as cute and personal as a hairpin to an unmarried woman he was clearly saying “hey babe I like you. But I haven’t the slightest idea of what I’m doing and I should’ve finish that “how to pick up fair maidens” book before doing anything on my own” :P

Of course, we can’t take Victorian society and expect Yharnam’s to be exactly the same because of all the obvious differences such as the clearly more prominent role of women in society, (Amelia is the highest authority of the Church, many hunters are women, Viola, though traditionally married, takes instant action to help her husband etc) but I still think it to be a good lens through which seeing the game’s world and it surely gives some extra credit to Gehrman’s conscious decision to hide his feelings from Maria.

Now, on the subject of Plain Doll, if we gave her the Hairpin she says this:

What… what is this? I-I can’t remember, not a thing, only… I feel… A yearning… something I’ve never felt before… What’s happening to me? Ahh… Tell me hunter, could this be joy? Ahh…

And as she speaks, they even took the time to actually animate her so that she would wipe her tears and gave us the Tear Stone:

Now, the dialogue itself is enough for me to say that Maria had feelings for Gehrman because there’s _no way_ that mere admiration and/or respect for the guy would make her surrogate, who only shares a few, blurred memories with her, cry tears of joy. But hey, we could say that since Plain Doll was “made” to love her creator her perception could be warped by what Gehrman wants her to feel towards him. So, let’s read what the lore has to say about this ;) let’s turn the Tear Stone into a Blood Gem!

Created from a shining silver doll tear, this blood gem is a quiet but unfaltering friend that continually restores HP, the life essence of a hunter. Perhaps the doll’s creator had wished for just such a friend, albeit in vain

BOOM! “Albeit in vain”… and here it is why I think Gehrman doesn’t talk to/doesn’t care about and is openly dismissive of the Doll. She is not the woman he used to know but a pale imitation. She doesn’t have Maria’s memories, she is nothing like the hunter that fought by his side, the strong and kind woman he secretly fell in love with. Before Moon Presence brought the Doll to life, Gehrman poured love and care into her creation that most likely happened after Maria’s passing. All item descriptions related to the Doll include this bit:

“A deep love for the doll can be surmised by the fine craftsmanship of this article, and the care with which it was kept.“ It borderlines on mania, and exudes a slight warmth.”

Which once again, reinforce my idea that my boi Gehrman cared for Maria not _just_ because she was hot. He doesn’t dress her up in revealing clothes nor does he keep her hunter attire while retaining elements of it such as the brooch and her boots. Maria killed herself after renouncing her life as a hunter, her conscience forever stained by what she and her teacher had done to the inhabitants of Fishing Hamlet. Dressing the doll in her hunter set would have been an even greater insult to her memory. Gehrman’s decision to dress her up in the seemly clothes of a respectable woman of the time is actually pretty tasteful if you ask me. May look strange and “unnecessary cute” to us modern-day players but that’s how women used to dress. Take a look at this picture of Mia Wasikowska’s in this movie adaptation of Jane Eyre. The reason why I pick this movie is its director, Cary Fukunaga who also directed the first season of the award-winning HBO series True Detective. (a show inspired by R.W Chambers and Lovecraft’s nihilism & cosmic dread.) This too is a pretty dark and spooky rendition of Charlotte Brontë’s classic.

But no more talking about Gehrman, let’s get back to Maria:

Among the first hunters, all students of Gehrman, was the lady hunter Maria. This was her hunter’s [cap/garb/gloves/trousers], crafted in Cainhurst. Maria is distantly related to the undead queen, but had great admiration for Gehrman, unaware of his curious mania.  [Maria’s Hunter Set]

This description tells us a lot of things, but most of them are irrelevant to the subject of this analysis. I could go on for hours pointing out the similarities of her set to the Knight’s and other Cainhurst fashion but let’s not do that. What matters here is that Maria, despite being of noble blood, had no social prejudice towards her mentor (and I would assume, any of her fellow hunters.) and, just like Gwyn’s firstborn, “had respect only for arms and nothing else” :P

I wouldn’t say that the reason why she was heartbroken was the fact that Gehrman never revealed his feelings to her (as mentioned in the ask) but that she idolized him and the cause of the Byrgenwerth Hunters as a whole and couldn’t bear the guilt once the college’s research pushed their actions too far. Like Ludwig who had an unshakable faith in the ways of the Healing Church, Maria had faith in and was possibly in love with Gehrman and couldn’t believe that the man she admired so deeply would blindly obey Byrgenwerth’s orders.

“Go and kill those fishmen who did nothing wrong and aren’t bothering anyone. Oh, and be sure to rip that umbilical cord from the body of thad Great One that washed ashore.”

“Yep.” No question asked.

THAT’s why Maria felt betrayed. It hasn’t anything to do with Gehrman’s “mania”. In my headcanons Gehrman’s total obedience to Willem is motivated but there’s no solid proof in canon so let’s just say that Gehrman was an idiot who never questioned the orders from above :/

And now, let’s get to the final, FUNDAMENTAL point of this analysis: did Maria love Gehrman back?

Yes she did. Why else would anyone want to take a look at any picture one last time before killing themselves? To remember what they lost or could’ve had if things were different.

Why am I 100% sure that Gehrman is in that picture? Because in canon we don’t know the name of any other member of the Old Hunters. It’s just the two of them: Gehrman and Maria, the only ones with faces and backstory in a crowd of faceless, bloodthirsty mannequins.

Here you go, thanks Fextralife.

[gameofbrodon-blog]

Baby Jon Is Still Hot

Welcome Brodie to my first GoT recap. This adventure began way back on Feb 5 when you replied to my IG story about starting the GoT rewatch. Back then, Jon was a hot baby teenager, Dany was just a baby but she was naked a lot because this was before HBO toned down the OTT nudity, and poor old Ned Stark was still alive. Feels like a decade ago... oh wait...

Jon Snow was a pouty little baby back then. He was the bastard of Winterfell and even though Robb and Bran and Arya and Rickon and Ned (RIP) all loved him, he was never actually equal. Catelyn made sure he remembered that he was a bastard. Jon really wants to join the Nights Watch cos as a Ranger like his uncle Benjen, he can shed the bastard name and stigma. Little does he know he’s about to become the sexiest man alive (and King in the North but whatever. Remember when he was naked? Yeah me too. 

Side note - I noticed that when King Robert arrived at Winterfell, and all the Starks were standing in line to greet him, Jon was in the back row behind them. Legit excluding him cos he’s (not actually) a bastard. OR was Ned trying to hide him from Robert because he’s worried Robert will recognise Lyanna’s features in Jon’s face?! Interesting... 

Speaking of King Robert - I can’t see him without seeing Roland from A Nights Tale. That was a good movie. RIP Heath Ledger.

Joffrey is a right little git. A dinkhead from day one. Best scene of season 1? When Tyrion slaps him a lot. THE BEST. Also, Tyrion. He’s a good guy from day one I’m discovering. Could HE sit on the Iron throne in the end? I’d support that.

Teeny Tiny Baby Arya. Stick him with the pointy end. The hug/farewell with Jon. Adorable. We don’t see her soft like that for a while. Poor thing. But also badass in the making, there’s a reason I named my dog after her!

Sansa is a whingy little brat. Stop pining after Joffrey. He legit gets horny when people are being tortured. HE. IS. NOT. THE. GUY. FOR. YOU. GIRLFRIEND.

Eddard Stark, Warden of the North. We should have known he was gonna die from day one. Sean Bean always dies. FORESHADOWING EXAMPLE ONE?!

Now, let’s discuss our #Queen Dany. Early days, her wig is terrible, her brother keeps telling her he’s going to let horses rape her (wtf?) and she’s naked a lot. Did Emilia use a body double? Just curious, cos I’d be like nah mate you can’t write in any more nudity till you cast a body double who’s way fitter than me please and thank you. I want the world to think I have abs please.

I enjoyed watching her gain confidence with Drogo. And them falling in love. SWOON. My Sun and Stars. Moon of my Life. STOP IT. If my future husband doesn’t use these pet names with me I’m getting a divorce. 

Also super satisfying when Drogo pours molten gold onto Dany’s bro’s head. YASSSS! Drogo is also a baby. Is season one just babies? Who knows. I just know that now Drogo is Aquaman and he’s rugged AF. 

More nudity when Dany walks into the fire and then the next morning is like SUPRISE I hatched the dead dragon eggs! Also, everyone was asleep around the fire, and she was just sitting in the ash. I would have thrown a rock at someone to wake them up so I could do my big naked dragon reveal. She probably had to wait ages for everyone to wake up.

We see our first Incest Sex Scene! Yay! I’m being very sarcastic! Can you tell?! Jaime, did you really need to push Bran out the window cos he saw you going at it with your twin sister? 

Side Note - I think the incest is even creepier cos they’re twins. Like, you legit started out as the same egg/sperm. forking gross. 

Can you believe that in 7 seasons time, Dany and Jon will be having sex but then also find out they’re related, and Arya will have slashed Littlefinger’s throat (more on that in another post) and Sansa will have been tortured by Joffrey and Ramsay and as a result will be a badass boss bench? I almost can’t when watching Season 1. It’s all so... minor? The issues at hand aren’t massive in comparison to the challenges in Season 7. The king is dead and his son is actually the bastard son born of incest from his mother and uncle? Damn. Drama. It’s no where near as troublesome as the army of White Walkers marching on Westeros that will literally kill everyone. (Sarcasm again if it wasn’t obvious).

Season 1 peeps need to sort their shirt out. Winter is Coming.

x Jords

[mrmichaelchadler]

Daring, Different Second Season of HBO’s “Westworld” Starts with a Bang

“This is what happens when you let a story play all the way out.” –The Man in Black, “Westworld,” Episode 202

HBO’s beloved sci-fi creation “Westworld” finally returns Sunday night after more than 16 months off the air and expectations are through the roof. How do creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan plan to follow up the twisting and turning narrative of their first season? How could they possibly top the puzzle box of the first season, which lit up message boards and basically broke Reddit? Having seen half of the second season of “Westworld,” I’m happy to reveal that the new year is familiar but just different enough to still feel fresh, mostly because the show feels like it’s embracing its B-movie roots more and leaning on action instead of philosophy. If the first season was about awakening, this season is about revolution. It loses its footing sometimes (it did in year one, too), but this is still smart television with film-caliber production values and incredible performances. Sometimes the writing can call a bit too much attention to itself, but the writers are smart enough in season two to avoid piling more puzzles on top of the ones they created in season one (which was my biggest concern ... a neverending series of mysteries). Don’t worry: there are incredible new developments in what now feels like a multi-season story instead of just a standalone event, but they feel like they’re a part of a new chapter. We’re in a whole new maze. Good luck finding your way out.

Of course, much of the joy fans get from “Westworld” is in experiencing the way that the story unfolds and so I will spoil nothing. However, if you haven’t finished season one, turn away now. At the end of last year, Arnold Weber and Robert Ford’s creation turned on its creators. The androids of the adult amusement park that was Westworld revolted, led by Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood), who we learned was also the mysterious Wyatt. Ford was killed, along with dozens of investors at an event in Westworld. Maeve (Thandie Newton), another “host,” reached a moment of true independence and actually returned to Westworld after nearly escaping the island, hoping to find her daughter. Meanwhile, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) learned that he too was a “host,” modeled after Arnold, and fans connected the dots between the flashbacks of a young “white hat” named William (Jimmi Simpson) and the evil “black hat” known only as the Man in Black (Ed Harris), learning they were one and the same.

In the season premiere, most of these plot threads pick up where they left off. For the most part, there’s no massive reset. Don’t worry—the park isn’t back up and running like nothing happened. In fact, the bulk of the start of the season takes place immediately after the events in the town of Pariah. Dolores and Teddy (James Marsden) are leading the revolution of the hosts, even though they’re not even 100% sure what that means. The big philosophical question of the second season of “Westworld” is if you were suddenly free, what would you do with that freedom? The hosts of “Westworld” are responding in very different ways—some feeling anger, some fear, most confusion. Meanwhile, Bernard and Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) are trying to escape while the Man in Black (Ed Harris) embraces this new evolution of his favorite game, one he can't stop playing.

It wouldn’t be “Westworld” if the plot of season two was as simple as that last paragraph. Of course, the season premiere ends with a head-scratching cliffhanger, and then the second episode unfolds as arguably the most ambitious in the history of the show. It’s up to you as to whether or not this sounds like a compliment or a criticism but the second season of “Westworld” is more “LOST” than the first, playing with time and location in ways designed to enhance its themes and deepen its mysteries. Just as with that show, the “WTF” nature of the experience has evolved as we get to know the characters and the writers expand the world and what they do within it. They’ve also divided our protagonists into small groups in a way that reminded me of when the characters of “LOST” were spread across the island, and, as we’ve learned, this show plays with time like the ABC hit did so well.

The answer to the big question of how “Westworld” follows up its first season is that it has evolved much like its hosts. It’s still the kind of show that will dive into philosophical waters more than most any program, and those waters can be a bit muddy, but the stakes feel higher in season two and the characters more resonant, in part because great performers like Wood and Newton have been freed from the host loops. There’s bloodshed and turmoil. And at the center of it all are two truly great performances from Wright and Wood as the real heart and soul of this show. They represent both the creator and his creation and the instability that comes with true freedom. They are fascinating characters, and they hold the show together when it threatens to come apart. (Newton and Harris are typically great too. As is the new addition of Peter Mullan as...SPOILER REDACTED.)

“Westworld” faced a bit of a backlash near the end of the first season, and I worry that the action-driven, fragmented narrative of the new season might push viewers out even more. There’s a sense that HBO’s fancy new car doesn’t look so new anymore, and our pop culture world only likes The New with increasing intensity (look at how many people turned on the second season of “Stranger Things” with rabid glee.) We love to knock hit shows off their pedestals, and I'm curious if that happens here to "Westworld." It didn't for me. And my hope is that the people who truly love this show—the real hardcore fan base—will grow even more devoted. The very good news is that “Westworld” now feels like more of a journey instead of just a puzzle box waiting to be solved. And I can’t wait to see where we're going.

from All Content https://ift.tt/2qGnXji

[topmixtrends]

AFTER THE OPERA SINGER has told the story of marrying her ex-husband the day they met, her relationship with a sociopath, and her life in an ultra-specialized career, she finally coaches the comedian on his vibrato. He announces that he’s stepping away from the microphone, flexing his diaphragm, and then he lets out a warbling note. He admits that it was terrible, but she laughs and reassures him politely.

“I feel like I’ve done way too much talking,” she says afterward.

“Well, it is a podcast that’s based around the idea of conversation, so I wouldn’t say that,” he replies.

The comedian is Chris Gethard, host of the podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, which celebrated its 100th episode this February. The opera singer is unnamed, though after an hour-long conversation, not unknown. The conceit is this: Gethard takes a phone call from an anonymous stranger and they talk for 60 minutes, during which Gethard can’t hang up but the caller may disconnect at any time. Or, as he introduces each episode, “One phone call, one hour, no names, no holds barred.” (Gethard is a fan of both professional wrestling and punk rock.)

The opera singer is a longtime listener, first-time caller. “Your podcast is a huge thing for me,” she continues, “because it celebrates this idea of opening up and talking and the human connection. Beautiful/Anonymous is my favorite podcast, because I’m introverted […] I get a lot of my social stuff from this, being able to connect with the callers. And I love hearing people’s stories.”

“That’s very nice,” he replies. “Here at Beautiful/Anonymous we’re all about the human connection, and also sometimes poop stories. Also, that one time, just really graphic poop stories.”

It works like this: when Gethard is in the recording studio, he tweets out a phone number and people call in for the chance to participate. There’s no set schedule, no queue, and almost no vetting — producers simply make sure they have a clear phone connection. In the style of old-school radio contests, callers depend on plain luck to get through the line. The show recently broke its own record when nearly 17,000 people dialed in for one episode. A producer answers, connects the call to Gethard in the studio, and the phone hangs up after 60 minutes. Conversation topics range from geology to Satanism, gun control to scatological humor, and nothing is off-limits except names and identifying details. But there’s been no need to censor, no hate speech or offensive language, and it’s even a running joke for callers to apologize to Gethard’s mother — “sorry, Sally” — after they curse. The concept dictates that callers can hang up anytime, but Gethard can’t. That fail-safe has only been used once — the caller claimed he had to get back to work — and seems so unnecessary it makes one wonder what the producers expected when they made the rule. Were callers going to yell at Gethard, and he had to take it? Did they presume some combative conversation in which the caller decides to bow out? If so, Gethard is the wrong guy.

Beautiful/Anonymous and its host are a near-perfect match. At 37, Gethard is a staple in the New York comedy scene, with an offbeat career. In conversations on Beautiful/Anonymous, he describes himself as Springsteen-esque, an awkward working-class kid from New Jersey who champions the little guy. He has often been the underdog, with bit parts on shows like Broad City and Parks and Recreation while his friends like 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer have gone on to national TV glory. For three seasons, he ran an eponymous oddball talk show on public access television, which now airs new episodes on truTV. The most popular episode featured a dumpster on-set, while viewers called in to guess what was inside. In addition to his quirkiness, Gethard’s fans appreciate his openness about his struggles with mental health. There doesn’t seem to be much he won’t share, and he has recounted drug use and suicide attempts in his comedy. Last year, he detailed his experiences with depression and anxiety in an off-Broadway show-turned-HBO-special, Career Suicide. While that may not seem like the funniest material, he’s long been a master of fusing comedy and tragedy, and fans love him for his honesty and his bucking of the status quo (remember: punk rock, public access dumpster). He’s like the Pied Piper of the uncool, and one of the first iTunes reviews for Beautiful/Anonymous describes him as “the weirdo’s hero.”

This notion of being a weirdo, just like his fans, is a thread throughout his work. By branding himself as a misfit underdog, he has established himself as a sort of egalitarian performer, breaking down the distinction between entertainer and audience. Hosting Beautiful/Anonymous, where he allows other people to share their stories, seems like a logical next step. It feels as though he is saying, “You’ve heard all of my secrets, now let’s hear yours.” When so much of his work pulls from the sad, awkward, funny moments of his life, it feels authentic when he listens to the sad, awkward, funny moments of someone else’s. In the intro to a recent episode, he says, “The whole premise of this podcast might just be, ‘Maybe we can all be okay. Let’s talk about it.’”

Beautiful/Anonymous is all a bit more warm-hearted than perhaps even the creators expected. It is almost quaint to hear people’s candid, extemporaneous voices now that hour-long phone calls have become passé and most personal communication is done by text message. For a podcast hosted by a stand-up comedian, it isn’t really funny, at least not consistently. Gethard makes jokes but mostly it’s just strangers talking, with a vibe somewhere between a first date and a therapy session, and all of the ice-breakers and sadness and mundanity and, yes, humor, two people can share in an hour. Participants call on their lunch hours, in their cars, tethered to their phone charger on the floor of their office, from a storage unit, while getting a tattoo, in a Dunkin’ Donuts bathroom, while walking the streets of France. They are a midwife, a public defender, a queer black punk from Appalachia, a teenager who just experienced her first kiss. They tell their life stories, or sometimes just chit-chat, and their stories are ordinary, fascinating, serious, light — often all at once.

When the show began in March 2016, most of the callers were already fans of Gethard’s: comedy nerds and aspiring artists and twentysomethings nervous about their careers. The episodes began to feel a little one-note, so a voicemail box was set up so people could leave a pitch for what they’d talk about if they ever got on the show. These messages have been used for a call a handful of times, such as with a transgender man who wanted to share his experience, and with a black veteran from Charlottesville soon after the tragedy there. As the show gained traction — thanks in large part to an excerpt on This American Life — callers became more diverse, including a Southern woman in her 50s who wanted to discuss her support of Donald Trump. It was a vast departure from Gethard’s usual demographic, and as he respectfully disagreed with her politics, he also empathized with her stories of motherhood and domestic abuse. It aired in mid-2016, when Americans were beginning in earnest to pull away from each other, making this coming together seem simultaneously shocking, uncomfortable, and important. It was one of the most compelling episodes of the show’s run.

Beautiful/Anonymous shares DNA with longform interview shows like Marc Maron’s WTF and the thoughtful features of public radio, but it isn’t quite like anything else. Gethard’s style is unique: more conversational than an interview, yet more one-sided than a conversation. Like Beautiful/Anonymous, S-Town and This American Life cover the lives of regular people, but those interviews are researched, edited, and crafted by the producers; the stories are told by others. Instead, the conversations in Beautiful/Anonymous are expressed — verbatim, in their entirety — by the protagonists themselves, like The Moth without the polish or StoryCorps with a host. Beautiful/Anonymous is raw footage, like the “Before” image of a prestige radio segment. And in that way, it may be the most authentic podcast there is.

True authenticity, of course, is arguable — likely impossible — in any public medium. Participants are, by definition, listeners of the show, and often will refer to past episodes in a sort of meta-conversation. A phone call with a stranger isn’t the most natural setting, and it’s even harder to have a real conversation when there’s an element of fandom involved — some callers idolize Gethard and are nervous to talk to him. Knowing that they’re speaking to him, and to an invisible audience, inevitably shapes their stories, whether consciously or not. Gethard plays a role in shaping these stories as well. He asks questions that are most interesting to him, but it would be naïve to assume that he’s not also guiding the conversation into what makes good radio.

Except it’s not always good radio, not in the constructed way we’ve come to expect. Sometimes conversations are awkward or repetitive or over-eager, because in real life, people are most definitely awkward, repetitive, and over-eager. Yes, some episodes are shocking: the mother who unknowingly married a pedophile; the immigrant who fled the civil war in El Salvador; the guy with four kids who doubts that his wife still loves him … and hasn’t talked to anyone else about it. But many are boring, regular conversations with regular people. The college student skipping her internship to make the call. The millennial who recently fell in love. The pregnant woman who lies that it’s her birthday. Gethard’s callers aren’t media-trained, and they don’t speak like prepared entertainers or pundits. There’s an air of truth to what they’re saying and how they say it. Even if total public authenticity is doubtful, Beautiful/Anonymous comes close.

There’s a larger value in listening to regular people. That they are featured so prominently on a podcast gives weight to their stories, their lives, and, thus, to the listener’s. Beautiful/Anonymous highlights the individuality of people’s stories and shows that there aren’t any one-note lives. My descriptions — the opera singer, the immigrant — are incomplete. No one is a cliche or a type; there are no basic bitches or typical bros. Similarly, no caller is a celebrity or memoirist or subject of a TV drama, but all of their stories have humor, pathos, and validity just the same. There are as many fascinating conversations as mundane ones, and then you realize that even the mundane ones are fascinating in their own way.

This appreciation of the average Joe is thanks to Gethard himself. In conversation, he’s enthusiastic and attentive, and is able to find a connection with anyone. Like the intern, he also majored in American Studies! He and the Australian both love Morrissey! He swaps supernatural stories with a ghost hunter! He’s non-judgmental and impressed with people’s stories. He asks probing questions, shares his own anecdotes, and thoughtfully challenges the points he disagrees with. He’ll give a little shit and crack a few jokes too; you can’t take the comedian out of the interviewer. Just as he does in his comedy work, Gethard seems genuine and vulnerable on the show, like when he cried openly while talking to a mother waiting for her five-year-old’s cancer prognosis. Participants often feel so comfortable that they mistakenly say their name, though any slip-ups are bleeped. Each episode, Gethard develops a connection with the caller, which filters over to the listener; it’s what the opera singer experienced as both.

Most interesting is the vast emotional ground covered in these conversations, which almost always turn intimate — often dark — but still maintain an element of lightness. The Charlottesville veteran plays Mario Kart during his call. A major crimes detective microwaves a Hot Pocket. The Australian guy recounts his suicide attempt and then ends the call in a sing-along, with Gethard, to the show’s hold music. Of course, it’s impossible to cover the whole of someone’s identity in an hour, but it’s amazing how much Gethard is able to mine in that time, like a cross-section of a person’s life. Everyone has joy and pain and occasionally funny stories about vomiting. Some conversations are entirely pleasant, but never wholly dark, which says something about humanity — we skew toward the positive, the fun, and, like Gethard, avoid letting the darkness overtake us.

Gethard’s honesty about his own mental illness seems to be the major thing that brings people to the podcast, both as callers and listeners. Almost every caller mentions a struggle with mental health, and his public vulnerability allows them to be vulnerable too. Some callers may believe he’s better than a therapist because he’ll admit to his own issues, and though he avoids giving advice (his own shrink told him not to) he often becomes a reluctant mental health guru. When the mother in the children’s hospital says, “You get to be my therapist for the next hour,” Gethard hesitates. “Well, I can’t be that…” he says. Instead, he’ll often respond with “I’m sorry you’re going through that” — supportive, noncommittal, but apparently genuine. The show sometimes moves into self-help territory, and the less generous listeners among us may roll our eyes at the melodrama in some of these stories: everyone has problems, why should we listen to yours? But Gethard doesn’t. And that’s the key — he cares about people, so we care about people.

What’s notable is that these are real, ordinary people. Not real people who become YouTube stars or reality show favorites. Not real people who are tracked and meme-ified like Damn Daniel and Ken Bone. Anyone can become a blogger or Instagram influencer, with the backlash that may come along with it. Beautiful/Anonymous gives people an opportunity to be heard as themselves, with more nuance than a meme and without the glory — or burden — of recognition. Callers get the chance to say anything they want to a large audience — most episodes are listened to by over 100,000 people — without the expectation of fame. And for listeners, in an age of curated online presences and #brands, it’s moving to hear someone share something that isn’t connected to their constructed persona.

Anonymous media isn’t groundbreaking. A decade ago the website PostSecret displayed unsigned postcards of funny, shocking, or sad secrets to millions of readers, and now famed psychotherapist Esther Perel broadcasts an anonymous couples therapy session on her podcast Where Should We Begin?. It’s no less compelling to listen to Beautiful/Anonymous and hear the personal stories of love, abuse, and longing about families, partners, politics, and jobs, with a level of honesty only available to those who are unidentified. In this way, Beautiful/Anonymous presents a paradox: though names and biographical details are usually the first thing we learn about people, in the show we start to deeply know someone who remains unnamed. In today’s world, we are so closely connected to the daily lives of our friends, but the conversations in Beautiful/Anonymous contain things people can’t share with family, therapists, in Snapchat stories, or possibly anywhere else. “I can just be openly blatantly honest with you ‘cause that’s the whole point of this, right?” one caller says early in the hour. “Yeah,” Gethard replies, “no one’s ever going to know.”

Gethard says the goals of the show are human connection, giving someone a platform, and bringing people together in a time when our world feels so fractured. That’s a lot for one podcast to take on, and it doesn’t quite accomplish all of it — at least not in every episode. Gethard hopes listeners will benefit from hearing differing opinions, at a time when the current political climate has closed people off to dialogue. Which, okay sure, the show does that. But we already have cable news panels and coastal thinkpieces and Hillbilly Elegy. The value of Beautiful/Anonymous isn’t solely political. It’s in simply listening to people, with all of their complexities and contradictions, unbounded by names, identities, and the expectations around them. After 45 minutes, we learn that the Salvadoran immigrant was paralyzed by shrapnel. The ghost hunter is also a Sandy Hook denier. The Russian sex worker is a Christian who harbored a murderous revenge plot after he was raped. You may disagree or judge or cry or fall in love with them for an hour, but either way you’re listening.

There’s an irony, though, to the idea of feeling connected to anonymous strangers through a podcast. On the subway, with Beautiful/Anonymous in my headphones, I’m not engaged with the anonymous strangers surrounding me, but rather a conversation that was taped weeks ago and that doesn’t include me. The show becomes both a throwback — phone calls — and a symbol of our contemporary disengagement — listening alone. There’s safety in the anonymity for the caller, naturally, but for the listener too. We can feel close to someone we don’t have to see or know in any other context. For us perhaps it’s a baby step, a low-stakes connection. You don’t actually have to make a new friend, or more scarily, talk to anyone who disagrees with you. As I’m listening, I understand that the lives of the strangers around me are surely as rich as the one in my headphones. Listening to Beautiful/Anonymous is an exercise in empathy, thanks predominantly to Gethard himself. He feels it, he shows it, and he brings it out in us. We learn empathy by his example.

I wonder whether Beautiful/Anonymous has encouraged anyone to be more open and vulnerable in their own life. The fact remains that in public, in person, with our own identities, the barrier between our interior and exterior selves is hard to cross. But while there is no empirical evidence for this, I have a feeling that the show makes people kinder, or at least more thoughtful about the lives that surround them. What Beautiful/Anonymous seems to be saying, or — I should be honest — what it says to me, is that your regular-person life, with or without jokes or success or depression or a million Twitter followers, is good enough. And that there is value in sharing it, for both the speaker and the listener.

At its best, the show is about the power of conversation, whether intense or casual. It’s fascinating to listen to two people just talking, the awkward dance toward intimacy, and we hear something deep and true from a person like us. Or not at all like us, but somehow there is a feeling that we’re in this life together. It’s not a constructed reality show or a crafted essay, just a conversation about being in the world. We listeners are voyeurs, but we can find ourselves in others’ minutiae, insecurities, jokes, and tragedies. These stories act as mirrors for our own, or windows to other lives. Either way, we feel less alone.

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Katy Hershberger is a writer and book publishing professional living in New York. She is an MFA candidate in Nonfiction at The New School and her work has appeared on TinHouse.com, Bustle, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Find her on Twitter @katyhersh

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