#zach performance during this scene always makes me emotional

[keitorinrose]

Please don't leave!

[nctsjiho]

King JiHo (Favourite JiHo moments)

Fan Video by ‘Haechan’s Children’ on YouTube

(indented text = comments added by the maker of the video) I’m 100% convinced that this is JiHo’s world and we’re just living in it. Here’s some moments that prove this <3 Enjoyyyy~~

[[N'-135] New Thangs🙆‍♀️🙆‍♂️New Thangs👍👃 | ‘영웅(Kick It)’ 인기가요 대기실 비하인드]

NCT 127 was chilling in their dressing room, backstage, waiting for their turn to perform ‘Kick It’. JiHo sat in one of the chairs in front of the mirrors, ready to get her make up done. Taeyong who was holding the camera walked up to the girl ready to interview her.

“And here we have our lovely JiHo getting ready for our stage.” He commented, earning a hum from the girl. “How are you feeling- oh? What’s that?” The camera wasn’t pointed at anything anymore as Taeyong leaned in closer to the girl then readjusted the camera again to focus on JiHo. His hand reached out to grab her chin and his thumb lightly pressed against a purple spot beneath the left corner of her lip. “Is it real?” The concern was audible in his question and JiHo nodded.

“I thought it was fake! What happened? When did you get that bruise? It looks painful.” Taeyong kept firing out questions which had both JiHo and the make up artist, who was currently working on her, laughing. “It doesn’t hurt too bad.” JiHo answered coolly, her eyes darted to the mirror in front of her and she noticed Mark walk behind her.

“Mark and I got into a fight yesterday.” Taeyong gasped and Mark snapped his head towards her after hearing his name. “What?” Both men asked shocked at the statement. “Mark hit you?” Taeyong asked once again pointing towards the bruise on JiHo’s face. “What are you talking about?” Mark stuttered over his words and turned his head to take a closer look at the bruise. JiHo didn’t say anything as Taeyong put down the camera on the table in front of them and started scolding the innocent boy.

Both JiHo and the make up artist were laughing and JiHo decided to grab the camera and point it towards both boys. “Oppa. I’m just kidding, leave poor Mark alone.” She explained, trying not to laugh again.

Johnny who had been watching everything happen had joined the group wordlessly. “Lim JiHo! You can’t joke about things like that!” The leader scolded and Mark let out a relieved gasp. “What?” She laughed at his expression. “I know we didn’t get into a fight, but I almost started second guessing myself that I somehow did do that to you.” With a hand on his heart, the panic lingered in his eyes for a few more seconds before it slowly vanished.

“You two are so gullible, oh lord.” JiHo chuckled and Johnny now settled between both boys, patting them both on their shoulders. “Taeyong you should’ve known better. If JiHo did get into a fight with Mark, we all know Mark would be the one to come out that with bruises. Not the other way around.”

She has these boys wrapped around her finger and she knows it!

[NCT 127 Talks "Superhuman", Tour, and KPop]

“What makes NCT 127 different from every other boy band?” Jaehyun’s eyes met JiHo’s, who is sitting on the front row of members next to Jungwoo. They shared a smile as Zach, the host, continues his question.

Johnny translated the question to all the other members and JiHo slowly brought the mic up to her lips. Once Johnny finished translating, the female voice of JiHo resonated through the room. “Well...” She stopped there with a nod and everyone started laughing.

After Taeyong and Johnny finished their answer JiHo grabbed her mic once again. “Just want to clarify, I’m not saying I’m the only reason we’re different, I’m just saying, if you’re calling us a boy band then of course me being a female member would technically already make us different from all other boy bands.” She quickly added.

“How does that feel? Being the only girl in a group of men.” Zach asked and JiHo shrugged. “It doesn’t feel abnormal to me. I think after knowing the guys for such a long time I just like, kind of found my spot with them and it just feels normal.” “I think JiHo sometimes forgets that she a girl...” Johnny added carefully, his voice turning a bit unsure at the end. With the boys laughing in the background JiHo waved a piece sign in front of the camera closest to her and started “acting cool” before talking into the mic with a deeper voice. “I’m part of the boys. Part of the homies. Ya know?”

JiHo sweetie, I know you wanna look cool, but all you’re doing is looking adorable. Please stop I’m gonna have a heart attack

[⚾️시티고 야구부⚾️ EP.1 라커 급습 | NCT 127 Baseball Team]

After Johnny’s joke about copying Mark(’s butt), Taeil spoke up, “Aren’t we missing someone?” “Where’s JiHo?” Yuta spun around once as if he was looking for the absent girl. “Tsk. Again, she’s late-” “Lee Haechan!” A voiced boomed off of frame.

JiHo walked in with a confident stride stopping in the middle of the room and staring straight into the main camera. “Don’t speak about your baseball team leader like that.” She said in a cold tone. “Sunbaenim, where were you?” Johnny asked. Since the age rolls were reversed, JiHo was now the oldest in the group. “I just came back from the gym as the leader of the cheerleading team who just finished practise.” “You’re also their leader?” Doyoung stifled a laugh and JiHo turned to him sending him a glare. He put up his hands in a defensive pose and took a step back after which JiHo turned back to the camera.

“Why? Don’t you believe me?” “I don’t know JiHo. It’s just that-” Mark stopped talking before being able to finish his sentence as the girl kicked up her left leg. She caught her foot with her left hand and pulled her leg up until it was next to her face, extended into a heel stretch. Her right hand was also in the air, showing of how great her balance and flexibility is. She kept the pose for a few seconds before bringing her foot back down to the ground. “Wow!” The boys gasped in surprised.

JiHo isn’t trying to be flexible, flexible is trying to be JiHo

She eyed Mark who quickly acknowledged the fact that she fit as the role of the cheerleading team. “Don’t underestimate me Markie.” The teasing tone along with the nickname sent a shiver down the boy’s spine, the other boys either oohing or being slightly scared themselves.

Why is Mark always the victim of JiHo’s teasing?? I can’t with them

[‘To You’ #3]

The whole ‘To You’ series was really sweet and emotional. So this isn’t as funny as the previous clips, but I felt like this still fits the theme so well. I also think that not that many fans have seen this before, so after this clip you should watch all 3 videos <3

PS. this isn’t the full clip but here are some of my favourite parts of Taeil’s message to JiHo

“It must have been hard right? Your position in the group is very special and it must come with a lot of pressure.” Taeil’s eyes fell into his lap, a sad smile on his lips. “But you always try to hide your hardships from the group.”

I believe what he means with ‘position’ is being the maknae of the group as well as being the only girl

“I wished that you could come to us more and open up about those things, because I know that everyone (in the group) would drop everything they were doing in a heartbeat to hear you out.” He took a deep breath before continuing.

“Haechan is the mood maker in the sense that he likes joking around and being loud, but you also are a mood maker. Just in your own unique way. You’re such a good listener and observer so you notice things other people might not. You approach members silently or make small gestures, which mean a lot, to cheer someone up. But you can also be funny and loud. I appreciate both of those sides of you.”

I’m not crying, you are ::>_<::

It was silent for a little as Taeil seemed deep in thought. “I know you don’t like to be treated in a more special way than the other members, and the older members really try not to show it. But in our minds... and in our hearts, you do have a special place. I know you are a strong person and can protect yourself just as well, if not better, than the other members, but I can’t help but want to protect you.”

“Whatever anyone says, those people who aren’t our fans or don’t understand us, I hope you don’t take their painful words to heart. Because you are just as fit to be in NCT as any of the other members.”

I’m so happy to see how much NCT cares for JiHo, not that I ever doubted that they didn’t, but seeing this was so heart-warming and JiHo’s reaction was so sweet as well as her message to Taeyong (but you have to go watch the original video for that ;-) )

[[Un Cut] Take #4 I ‘NCT - RESONANCE Pt. 1’ The Future ver. Jacket Behind the Scene]

The camera focused on JiHo who was currently doing her individual shots. She was wearing a beige oversized long sleeve that showed of her collarbones but covered up most of the rest of her body.

JiHo squatted down and tilted her head to the side to show of her jawline. The staff were complimenting her as the shoot went on.

A particular switch in poses had elicited a surprising response from one of the female staff members. “Wow~ Has she always been this pretty?” She said in awe, which caused everyone to start laughing and agreeing.

After JiHo’s shoot it was Ten and Kun’s turn. During Ten’s individual interview he brought up the event that happened before his shoot started. “I heard that the staff was surprised by JiHo’s visuals.” He chuckled. “My baby is very pretty everyone. Don’t forget that or you’ll be surprised and fall in love with her like the staff member did.”

I don’t know if I’m freaking out more because Ten just called JiHo his baby or because she called her very pretty so casually? Also thanks for the warning Ten, but I’m already madly in love with JiHo so... a bit too late for that.

[Idol Crushes? | HDIGH Ep. #xx Highlight]

“Weren’t you promoting (’Revolution’) recently?” Jae (Day6) asked AleXa who was sat next to him. She hummed. “Actually it was around the same time that NCT was promoting their music.” “Oh did you talk to them?” AleXa shook her head whilst laughing but then stopped suddenly as if she remembered something.

“She wasn’t promoting with them at the time, but I saw JiHo sunbaenim backstage.” This comment perked up Jae’s interest as he sat up in his chair. “Did you introduce yourself?” “Yeah she actually noticed me first and came to say hi.”

Diane, who was the person behind the camera gasped loudly. “Why haven’t you told us about this?! She knows you?” The small girl nodded embarrassed and then explained what happened on that day.

“She’s super nice and complimented my music and dancing. I didn’t think I’d ever been at such a loss for words as back then. I got so nervous because even though she’s really nice, she has such a strong presence? If you know what I mean?” Jae and Diane hum in understanding. “Just seeing her up close like that was so intimidating. Like she told me she was there to support her members so she didn’t have any makeup on, but she was still insanely beautiful.” Jae laughed at the girl’s dramatic explanation. “You sound like you have a crush on her.” AleXa stuttered for a second before replying. “I think I might!” They all laughed.

“Did you exchange phone numbers?” Diane asked and AleXa nodded excitedly. “We did! We don’t text each other often, but every once in a while she reaches out after a new podcast episode comes out to tell me about the parts she liked.” “Oh so she watches this?” Jae’s eyes widened. “Yeah.”

AleXa turned to the camera and waved. “JiHo sunbaenim, if you are watching this, thank you so much! I hope we can get closer someday.”

I don’t know AleXa that well, but I think a collab between her and JiHo would be so powerful!

Thanks for watching this video guys! And leave a comment on what kind of content you want to see next, byeeee o/

[nellied-reviews]

Succulent Rat-Killing Tar Re-listen

Hey! So, I’m new here, but I’ve recently been re-listening to the podcast Wolf 359, and I'm obsessed again, so I kinda wanted, in true Self-Indulgent fashion, to record my thoughts about it, see what stands out now I know how the series plays out. I don’t know if anyone will actually want to read this, but I enjoyed writing it, at least!

If any of you don’t know Wolf 359, but are still, for whatever reason, reading this, a) you should go listen! It’s a sci-fi podcast with some awesome characters, and a really great balance of creepiness, wackiness and actual plot. But also, b) I will be posting spoilers here, sorry. It’s been a while, so I think they’re pretty much fair game now? But just so you’re not caught out: here be spoilers.

With that cleared up, then:

Succulent Rat-Killing Tar

In which we meet the disaster that is Douglas Eiffel, Hilbert blows things up, and the Hephaestus receive a strange transmission from deep space.

In some ways, re-listening to this episode was an odd experience, because the characters don’t quite feel solid yet. It’s the same in a few early episodes - tonally, they’re just really different to a lot of what comes later - and I don't think that’s bad, per se, especially since there are things, on a re-listen, that connect this to later episodes. But this episode is particularly weird, I think, even for the early episodes. 

Gabriel Urbina actually talked about this in the writing notes he posted to his Tumblr, how he conceived of Wolf 359 as a one-man show, and  what we get here is basically the Doug Eiffel! Show, with what are essentially cameo appearances from the others. As a consequence of this, Minkowski, Hera and Hilbert don’t get much characterisation, and even things like their voices seem ... odd? Hera, especially, feels more like Space Siri than the snarky AI we know and love, while Minkowski... eh, I don’t know why I don't like her here, but I remember not liking her when I first listened to it either. I think she sounds kind of flat, like she's not quite a real person?

 It’s probably good, then, that Eiffel comes onto the scene fully formed and really freakin' funny. Zach Valenti is a funny man, and he kills it here, from the very first lines. I particularly love how much information he gets into his opening monologue. He takes what looks, superficially, like a lazily-written infodump - because seriously, who would start their log like that on day 448? Does Eiffel open every single log like this?! - and just runs with it. It's such a ludicrous thing to do, and the whole reason I buy that yes, Eiffel totally does just sit there every single night talking to himself, is Zach Valenti’s performance. It's so good, guys, seriously!

On a side-note, I am also endlessly amused at the way in which Eiffel’s utterly bonkers decision to narrate his boring chores like an exposition-heavy radio show gives the Dear Listeners ammo later on. Like, if Eiffel were not such a fundamentally ridiculous character, they would not have his voice to contact the crew. So much of the plot just hinges on Eiffel being a dumbass, and I can respect that.

Besides the fact that he’s this weird, lovable dumbass, we do also get some nice character moments for Eiffel. For one, it’s buried under a lot of funny stuff, but we get our first hints at him having an addictive personality - his love of cigarettes certainly hits differently when you know about his past with alcohol.

There are also, sticking to things I picked up the first time round, hints that Eiffel is perhaps more competent than he lets on? Certainly, he kicks into a different gear when the transmissions come through - the goofing around stops straight away, and he genuinely seems keen to make contact. I like that, I think.

That said, he blows his moment of competence by ignoring the signal and getting coffee. For such a pop culture-savvy guy, he sure falls hard into the "I’m sure it was nothing" trap here. Ugh, Eiffel. Come on. You’re better than this.

I’m not complaining, though, because it does give us time to listen to Alan Rodi's beautiful music. Words cannot convey how much I love it. I don’t know if it's just nostalgia from last time I listened to Wolf 359, but hearing the music again here nearly made me cry, genuinely. I especially love the acoustic piano. I think it'd be easy to go with a technological, electronic sound for a podcast set in space, so the choice to use a more traditional, old-fashioned instrument like a piano is a pleasant surprise, grounding the show in something older and more Earth-bound, and providing the same kind of connection to Earth history and culture that the old music does at the end. You've got electronic bleeping going on, sure, which adds a layer of space-y weirdness to it all. But it's still, underneath the noises, something lovely and comforting and nice. So congrats, Alan Rodi. You made a 30 second coffee break into something really beautiful.

Then we're back and Minkowski has Eiffel reading Pryce and Carter - another mainstay of the show being introduced right there - and then Hilbert's lab is on fire. This whole section is solidly funny, and I especially love the tone of the Pryce and Carter entries. From the muzak in the background, to the disturbing, sort-of-aphoristic style of the entries, which kind of feel like something from Welcome to Night Vale, to the fact that this book seems to have no structure and is just one giant, non-user-friendly list, everything about this is hilarious to me. I also noticed the reference to the idea that somebody might be in space for disciplinary reasons. Which totally won’t be relevant later. Nope. Definitely not.

Hilbert, although his voice is much less growly than I’m used to, feels closer to his later self, character-wise, than the others. He’s maybe a bit too dotty, but then again, literally everything he does during this season is a front anyway, so I'm willing to give that one a pass. Stuff blowing up is always fun, either way, and it also introduces another idea that will stick around: the idea that everything on the Hephaestus is either broken or is about to break. Mentions of a power outage last week, in particular, suggest that this ship is already... less than shipshape.

And the we get the episode's climax, the arrival of the alien message which turns out to be... an old transmission of The Entertainer, by Scott Joplin?

And look, I think this was what sold me on Wolf 359. Sure, it took a while to find it's feet. But this moment was what convinced me that hey, I'll hang around a bit longer. Because it’s such a smart choice. 

Already, by having an audio drama series whose main character is a communications officer, and whose plot centres round him using radios and making audio logs, you have the ingredients for an intensely self-reflective, metatextually interesting show. It makes us think about radio and broadcasting and how sounds are transmitted through space. 

But by using a real recording of The Entertainer, something from the very earliest age of radio, with its gramophone-y crackle, you’re widening the scope, linking us all the way back to the birth of recorded sound. And Eiffel's joy at it all, his glee at finding a connection back to Earth, is a reminder of the power recorded sound can have. Eiffel, listening to Scott Joplin, is transported somewhere new and intriguing. Meanwhile we, listening to some podcast about stars and toothpaste and spacefaring dumbasses, are also transported away from our lives and our world. It’s a lovely idea.

Of course, I could be reading too much into this. It could just be that the piece is out of copyright, and hits the right balance of strange vs. familiar.

Either way, it makes for an ending that’s beautiful, wholesome and surprisingly sweet. I’m charmed, particularly, by how earnest Eiffel seems when he’s talking about how the music makes him feel. After spending a whole episode goofing around, it’s a refreshing change of pace, and it made me smile the first time I listened to it. This time round, it feels a bit more bittersweet, I think. We know that Eiffel won't be going home for a good, long time, after all.

In any case, it's a solid end to an episode that, while it has its issues, still mostly holds up. A surprising amount of plot-relevant stuff is established. Eiffel, at least, is properly introduced. And I get weirdly emotional about radio shows. Nice job, Wolf 359.

 Miscellaneous thoughts:

Eiffel not understanding Hilbert when Zach Valenti voices them both is peak comedy and you can fight me on this

 Eiffel joking about everyone on the ship have “series trust issues”. You ain’t seen nothing yet, hun.

The noises they made for Eiffel slurping coffee are so gross and childish I love them

Ooh, when he’s mocking Minkowski, Eiffel pronounces her name right!

Eiffel calling Hera “sweetheart” ^-^

Hilbert passing the explosion off as a hairdryer omg

[ronnytherandom]

A Film A Day To The Best Of My Ability Pt2

11/1/2021: Uncut Gems (Unfinished)

Not sure about this one. Made me feel uneasy about 20 minutes in, got bored and didn’t want to watch anymore. Ah well.

12/1/2021: The Missing Link Fantastic. I feel I needed something light and fun today and this was definitely that! Immediate note that the animation is fucking unreal, as you’d expect from Laika, particularly during the boat scene. To think they did that all stop motion! Boggles the mind! Acting is good, I particularly like Stephen Fry but that’s just a given for me. That said as good as the performance is, Zach Galifianakis’ Susan is another of those comic relief characters whose manner grates on me a little despite being generally endearing. The quality of the comedy throughout can vary from acceptable to fantastic, there are dry moments and there are laugh out loud moments and some very memorable quotes. Some of the best comedy is physical, especially in the case of anything Susan does and the saloon brawl, and this ties into a general trend of really good action which is made that much more impressive by the stop motion animation. These people are wizards I swear. On the matter of writing, I appreciate the message about the contrast between the “civilised” and the ostensibly uncivilised and the positive nature of progressive change but I feel like the plot is a little too predictable, in the broad strokes, to the point where I had the whole thing figured out by the aforementioned saloon fight. I feel like some might figure it sooner even than that. This matters not so much to me as even though we know what lies at the end of the journey there is still significant fun to be had in the intervening moments, and isn’t that part of the meaning of the film anyway?

13/1/2021: Annihilation

Magnificent! truly suspenseful and uneasy, but intriguing. It’s hard to truly hold my attention but I couldn’t take my eyes off this one from about the halfway point. It’ll be useful shorthand to just say everything about the film is masterful; acting, directing, soundtrack, visual effects, the whole lot. Specifically, I love the contrast between the lovely guitar riff and the alien synths. I love Nataly Portman’s performance. Effects were bloodcurdling, made me really squeamish and body conscious. Brilliant work. Strikes me as a very unique story as it lacks typical protagonistic and antagonistic forces, there’s no true good or evil. The meaning is somewhat abstract, there’s a shimmer over it perhaps, but I’m thinking the major conflict here is between change and stasis; where change is life and stasis is unlife or cancer, the latter being an ever-present motif. Perhaps the lesson is that to live forever is to be wrong and harmful and accepting change and growth is a progressive way forward? Id need some rewatches and time to really analyse it and id honestly look forward to that. Really a thoughtful, very well made and experiential film. I’ve not read the book but I have a feeling I will have to.

15/1/2021: Code 8 (unfinished)

Kind of boring. Whenever there’s something happening its pretty good and the dystopia is interesting, even if its just a rip of near-future-setting X-men with less interesting powers, but any time there’s dialogue the entire thing slows to a crawl. I appreciate the feature of a non-binary character (though the murderous intent fits in with the queer-coded villain trope) but aside from them there’s no one really of note, I don’t care enough about them to keep watching. I appreciate what it’s trying to say but I could be doing better things.

16/1/2021: The Irishman (unfinished) I don’t think Scorsese makes my kind of films. Criticisms are similar to Wolf of Wall Street, there is technical excellence evident in every facet of the feature, but it doesn’t come together in a way that entertains me. Its all so long winded and slow that it just doesn’t hold my attention, I found I’d rather read a Wikipedia article about Joseph P Kennedy Sr than continue watching the film. I feel it needs to be a bit snappier. I’m somewhat curious why everyone dies around 1980 but don’t care enough to find out; not to wade through syrup for another 2 hours.

17/1/2021: Labyrinth (rewatch)

Such fun! The 1980s energy is overbearing! My first thought is always of the effects, as the digital effects have aged horrendously in the past… 35 years?! However, the practical effects have aged terrifically and are exceptionally impressive though that is to be expected when you let Jim Henson loose. The worlds aesthetic is intriguing and the characters within it charming, especially Didymus and Ludo, the former being responsible for the two funniest lines. There is even powerful emotion by the very end where it feels like there is a final farewell coming and I appreciate the meaning as well as the film explores growing up well, with a little anti-materialist sentiment, and seeks to demonstrate the importance of friendship. Past all that I have very limited criticisms; mainly the human actors, I may have preferred this film if it were entirely puppets. Ultimately its cute and enjoyable; It feels like the cinematic equivalent of a good YA novel.

[gotarcher94]

The Witcher

So I’ve watched the first season of the Witcher on Netflix and all I can say is holy motherfucking shit. That was a good season. 

I wanted to jot down a few things that I liked about the season, bearing in mind that I haven’t yet read the books and have only played the Witcher 2 and 3. I will be using spoilers so consider this a spoiler warning.

(Also this will be a long post)

OK? OK

Henry Cavill

When Henry was announced I gotta admit I had some doubts over the casting. Not because I don’t rate him as an actor but I just couldn't picture him as Geralt. My personal pick was Zach McGowan, known for playing Charles Vane in Black Sails. He had the gruff voice, he looked like the game version of Geralt, and he even had similar hair. Just dye it white and he was good. 

But having seen the show... I recant every syllable of my foolishness.  

Henry Cavill is perfect as Geralt. He perfectly embodies the White Wolf. From his sarcastic sense of humour, to the subtle emotion on his face to the conflict he has while making the decisions he does. Absolutely perfect casting.

Anya Chalotra

Speaking of perfect casting, Anya is an incredible Yennefer of Vengerberg. Like Henry she perfectly embodies Yennefer. Anya plays the evolution of Yen superbly, from her beaten down and almost broken early days to the immensely powerful and confident sorceress she becomes later, she performs both absolutely perfectly.

And to all those who say that Anya is wrong to play Yennefer because she doesn’t “look like her”.... I cannot say shut the hell up loud enough. She was incredible and deserves all the accolades that should be sent her way.

Freya Allan

And rounding out the three main characters, the show is three for three in terms of perfect casting. I loved her independent and driven nature, continuing to keep going on despite all the trouble going her way despite only been about 11 or 12 (i think, not 100%). Her strong bond with both Queen Calanthe and Mousesack is evident, despite the relative lack of screentime devoted to it. I can’t wait to see how both the character and actress evolves over the (hopefully) seasons to come.

Geralt and Ciri

I loved the “the girl in the woods will be with you always” transition in the first episode, that eventually came full circle in the finale with the two finally meeting (with the run and hug scene!). Having seen their bond fully established in the games (I know they aren’t canon) I cant wait to see it develop on screen

Queen Calanthe

Is a badass. End of story. Ruling a kingdom, fighting at the front of every battle, effectively flipping off destiny and law of Surprise and being an incredible role model for Ciri. Absolute awesome character and Jodhi May did such an incredible job playing her.

Yennefer’s backstory

As a game only fan in terms of knowing much about the characters when I went into this season, my knowledge of Yen’s backstory was pretty much nonexistent, as I can’t remember it even being mentioned in the two games I played (of which Yen was only physically present for one). However, the show delved deep into it, and I’m glad they did. It simultaneously made us empathise fully with Yennefer but also established the basis for her desire to grow stronger and be in control of her own destiny and future, and why she was then so frustrated being in the mire of courtly intrigue, not able to grow higher.

The Yennefer and Tissaia dynamic

One of the most unexpected but welcome events of the show was the dynamic that they two shared. It was not the typical mentor and apprentice relationship and I appreciated the change from the norm. From Tissaia’s initial attempts to bring Yennefer to heel before eventually being the one to tell Yennefer to unleash her chaos during the battle at Sodden was great. 

The striga episode

I mean..... just wow. As soon as they mentioned Temeria I had a feeling that it would be the striga, as it was one of the few things that I knew about from the books. And holy shit they did not disappoint. From the investigation aspect, to the fight scene, to the music. It was incredible episode and one that I cannot wait to get back to when I re-watch the series

Battle of Sodden

The main focus of the incredible finale. I had heard of the Battle of Sodden during the games but to see it was something else. A great battle scene combined great fights, solid battle plans and incredibly cool magical skills. And also,during the night scenes, you could actually see what the fuck was happening. See GoT! It isn't hard!!

Vilgevortz

As soon as his name was revealed in the episode, I’m not gonna lie but i may have gone full fanboy. I know a little from what was mentioned in the books and have read a little from other sources about his story in the books and was immensely excited when he showed up. And I cannot wait to see his story unfold on the show and see him interact more with Yennefer and meet Geralt and Ciri.

Jaskier

From what I know, calling him Jaskier (his original name in the Polish stories) instead of the English name of Dandelion was one of the problems people had with the show. And I have to ask... does it really matter? He still acts like him, talks like him, annoys Geralt like him. He is the same character, the showrunners are just honouring his roots. 

And he brought some comic relief to the series in just the right ways, especially in the djinn and dragon hunt episodes. Joey Batey was great.

Music and Cinematography 

Both of them were absolutely fantastic. Every episode looked and sounded phenomenal. I’ve been listening to a few tracks from the soundtrack that have made it onto YouTube on repeat for a while, most notably “Toss a Coin to your Witcher”. However, one track that I really liked but haven't been able to find is the battle theme from the striga fight. If anyone could send me a link to it, I would be incredibly grateful

Fight choreography 

All of the fights this season were absolutely fantastic. Both the human fights and the monster battles. Geralt and Duny vs the Cintrian soldiers, Vilgevortz vs Cahir and (my personal favourites) Geralt vs Renfri and her gang from episode 1. All of them superb and I couldn't have asked for more from the fight scenes. 

Magic

I really like the magic system they set up in this series. Not only is it incredibly diverse (with the finale alone showing us Vilgevortz constantly creating swords, Triss making poison mushrooms grow beneath the feet of the army and Coral wiping out a whole section of the Nilgaardian army) but I really like the idea that it isn't just them tapping into a great power, that there can be a great cost to performing these spells. Not something that a lot of fantasy series do.

Cahir

He was a great antagonist throughout the season and again I know little in specifics about him but I know that he is important to Ciri’s story, so I am looking forward to seeing that develop further.

Geralt and Visenna

I loved the scene of the two of them in the finale, even if it proved to only be a dream/hallucination. The “How do you like my eyes?” line legit gave me chills. Incredible acting by Henry there

Geralt and Yennefer (Yenneralt?, I think certain parts of the fandom have settled upon)

Now, as a game only fan prior to this, my exposure to the relationship between the two of them was limited, as the games only touched upon it in the Witcher 3. Before then it was told that Geralt and Yennefer had an epic love but it was very much tell and don’t show, as Yennefer didn't appear in person until the Witcher 3 and by then CDPR had developed the Geralt and Triss romance story in the Witcher 2. And I’m not gonna lie, I was fully into their romance during my playthroughs. Not that I didn't like Yennefer but I just didn't have the same basis into their bond that the book fans did. 

After Season 1, however, I am fully onto the Geralt and Yennefer ship, having seen it develop as it did.

Methinks it may be time for another playthrough, as well as buying the books.

Things I’m looking forward to seeing on the show in the future 

1. Yennefer and Ciri meeting

2. Seeing Geralt and Ciri bonding more, with some time together at Kaer Morhen

3. Thanedd Island (eventually)

4. Zoltan! 

5. Regis!

6. Vesemir!

[freddyfreebat]

Jack Dylan Grazer’s interview with HERO Magazine

[In] a far step from his first appearance on stage at six years old, during which he adopted a British accent and warbled out an opera ballad, [Jack Dylan] Grazer is currently gearing up for his role in Luca Guadaginino’s upcoming HBO series, We Are Who We Are, a love story set on an American military base in Italy.

Lindsey Okubo: Let’s start by talking about the on-set chemistry between you, Zach [Levi] and Asher [Angel] in Shazam! It was amazing to watch and I imagine that the influences you have on set play a large role in your life. How has your understanding of yourself been influenced by the roles you’ve played? Jack Dylan Grazer: Oh for sure, I think that if I wasn’t living through the opportunities that I have with acting... Oh my god, I’d be a mess. I would be all over the place [laughs]. This is my outlet. This is my world. I tried doing sports when I was little and it just didn’t work for me and then I started doing theatre and was like, this is my tribe, this is where I belong, this is my niche. To live in these fantasy worlds has been so cool because when I was growing up, I used to dress up as Captain Hook or Batman and do little scenes in the mirror. I just enjoyed living through these characters. Lindsey: You must feel a certain level of freedom as you disassociate from who you are? Jack: Yeah, it’s so liberating. Some people choose to bottle thing up, but for me, being on a stage or in front of the camera is freedom. Being someone else is really just me being me in a weird way, it’s who I am, it’s living out loud, which I’ve been doing my whole life.

Lindsey: Yeah, and growing up nowadays we really do have larger platforms to express ourselves, to live out loud and actually be heard compared to past generations. Jack: It’s definitely easier to speak your truth, be your real self, choose your destiny and not have a pre-orchestrated future. It’s easier to carve your own path because people are more understanding – or more empathetic. Lindsey: Are there ever any moments where you do feel vulnerable in those instances? With acting, you really have to open yourself up and be in tune with your emotions in a way that most people aren’t, it’s your livelihood. Jack: Totally. But when you surpass that wall of being afraid, of being vulnerable, you’ll find there’s comfort there. With acting, you’re also this other character and you get to speak your so-called “truth” through his character who may or may not be similar to you. Lindsey: Right, but how do you then fend off moments of doubt when you’re stretching your understanding of yourself? It’s the thought process of like, I know who I am, but how do I become someone else? Jack: Of course there’s going to be doubt, but when you know that you have the capability then it’s easier. You have to have some kind of empathy for your character and an understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing. A while ago I watched this interview with actor Steve Railsback, who is this super nice hippie dude, but he played Charles Manson in Helter Skelter (1976). Charles was a sickening human but Steve was like, “I can understand why my character does what he does. I can convince myself of his motives.” That’s a tough thing to do but it’s just that, it’s convincing yourself of your character’s motives instead of holding onto your own. Lindsey: Going back to what you were saying earlier about our generation being able to empathise to a greater extent, I’m wondering how do you differentiate between understanding and empathising? Jack: Empathy is putting yourself in the person’s shoes and comprehending the outcomes, while understanding is like, okay, I get where you’re coming from but I’m not going to fully go there. Lindsey: Do you ever feel suffocated by the fame while still figuring out who you are? Jack: Originally I felt, yeah, kind of suffocated, but what really grounded me was school and the fact that it’s super important to me. I plan on going to college and if I start thinking of school as a necessity, like brushing my teeth, or taking a shower, then it’s not as big of a thing. I do my final take on set and then it’s back to school. I never want to neglect it. Lindsey: That’s funny because I feel like now more than ever, people are questioning the importance of the schooling system – where does school become important for you and what value do you see in it now? Jack: Education in any field informs your art because there are always so many references to draw from, it’s so useful and I myself applying these when it comes to acting or anything creative. Subject-wise, I’m super into English, history and world civ, but it doesn’t need to be drawing from school directly, it can just be life experiences because I like to know a bit about the character and what that kind of person they are. Lindsey: Right, but there’s also something to be said about the people we are learning from. What makes a good teacher to you? Jack: I think it’s important when a teacher focuses on each student individually, instead of teaching students as a whole. It’s important to understand everyone has different learning capabilities, everyone learns at a different pace and has a different process. Lindsey: Taking that a step further and applying it to your own career, you’ve spoken about wanting to direct and write... Jack: Yeah I definitely want to extend into other creative factions – I want to stay in this environment and industry because it’s what I love. The cool thing about my experiences on set is that I’ve always been able to apply my own creative input. Like on It, me and Finn [Wolfhard] were always coming up with stuff. The majority of the dialogue between him and I was improvised and Andy [Muschietti], our director, was super fantastic about that. Lindsey: That’s cool. What do you think is the inherent power of storytelling? Jack: I think it’s the ultimate entertainment. It’s so vast, there are a multitude of conduits that go into telling a story and there are so many ways in which to be a storyteller. I’m equally interested in both telling the story and being a character in the narrative. On set, we’re all building the story as open, it’s a team, an ensemble. That being said, I think the key to being a good director is being flexible and doing away with the formalities, to allow for free reign. Lindsey: And it’s also about having trust in the people that you’re working with. I feel like that can be a difficult thing when so many of us have our walls up – how do you begin to break them down through storytelling? Jack: I’ve worked with actors before where I’ll be in a scene with them and they’ll be trying to flex their jawline to look good for the camera when it’s a serious scene. That’s great, but if you’re there in the body of that character, in that moment he wouldn’t be flexing [laughs]. It’s that self-aware thing where it’s like, “Wow, how good does my jawline look right now?” There are levels to it. For instance on social media, I’m a pretty open book but there are things I won’t share because it’s not other people’s business. I keep it lighthearted, I keep it easy, not because I want to make it seem like the life of Jack Dylan Grazer is all fun and games but it’s like, what’s the point in sharing if that’s not my purpose? I think my current purpose is to entertain and that’s what I want to do. My goal is to be funny, to be moving, to be storyteller. Lindsey: Does entertaining ever get tiresome for you to the point where you feel like you’re always performing instead of just being? Jack: I guess sometimes. But I really do feel at home performing. I remember the first time I ever went on stage to do a play, I was six, doing a British accent, singing opera and I found myself. I was like, I can’t do anything but this, I won’t allow myself to do anything but this. Now I’m here and have realised that I want to stretch myself – and sometimes it does get tiring to entertain. Humour is my number one trait, I like making people laugh – that’s my favourite thing. Lindsey: To what extent is sharing that creativity for yourself? Jack: If you’re a creative person and you’re confident in that, then it’s better to be open about it and express it to people who you feel you can share it with. I’m not saying show it off to the world if you don’t want to, but be proud of yourself and have assurance in yourself. There are always flaws in creativity but it’s all part of the art. It’s different for everybody, but for me, I love showing off what I do. Lindsey: Does it have anything to do with needing validation at the same time or are you past that point? Jack: I don’t know if it’s validation. I guess the simplest way to put it is that I’m just proud of what I do and if someone’s like, “Oh, it’s shitty,” I’m like, “Oh, okay, cool, I don’t care.” Unless it’s intelligent, constructive criticism of course. Lindsey: How do you define personal growth? Jack: You’re never done evolving. It’s pretty hard to detect when you’ve reached your full potential, which is like the blood of everything we do, it’s how we operate. By having dedication, commitment and discipline you’re able to access your ability and that’s my ultimate goal, as a human being and as an artist.

[popwasabi]

My MCU Phase 4 Wishlist

So, over a decade and 23 fucking films later an era of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has finally concluded with “Spider-man: Far From Home” premiering last week. 

It’s still staggering just how robust this franchise is considering in just eleven years’ time it already has amassed nearly as many films as the James Bond franchise and is arguably a more bankable series at this point than “Star Wars.” Though it’s not a perfect series by any stretch its success is nonetheless tied to its consistent, often magnetic charm and grand action set pieces and Phase 3 showed that it was even capable of some complex and nuanced growth. The third phase tackled deeper more emotional issues for our favorite super heroes while also giving many of its directors more free reign to do as they please with their scripts. Not always perfectly but it was more often than not hugely successful at reaching audiences on a personal level.

(Sometimes with mixed results...)

But as much as “Endgame” was a near perfect sendoff for this franchise, The Mouse isn’t done by any stretch with churning these films out seemingly until the end of time, so with that mind where should Disney go from here since it looks like the franchise will continue on indefinitely?

There’s a lot of ways to envision success for the MCU, and some wheels are already in motion between next year’s “Eternals” and Disney+’s streaming MCU shows but what would it really take for this series to get to the next level? Well this writer has some ideas and is more than happy to share a few of them.

 Make the Villains More Prominent (and stop killing them off!)

Less so in Phase 3 but consistently throughout most of the series has been a total lack in quality villain performances and story-telling. Whether they are generic mustache-twirlers, essentially dark mirrors of the hero or just plain half-baked characters, the MCU has really done a disservice to its robust catalogue of rogues by often wasting the talents of great actors and actresses all to just check a box in a super hero script.

And on top of that they are consistently dead by the end of each film giving them no chance for growth in a sequel. I mean it’s not like we haven’t seen that work before right?

(Case in point)

For phase 4, especially in the wake of two thirds of the Marvel’s Holy Trinity out of the picture, villains should take center stage now more than ever. The heroes of this newer, younger and developing Avengers are probably not ready for the responsibility of protecting the world and the universe as evidenced by the near catastrophic mess Spider-man commits in “Far From Home” and to have the villains of this next phase take advantage of that would be a smart move.

These villains need to be prominent, larger than life and command a nuance to them that much of the older films did not have. A character like Norman Osborn for instance could step in to fill the power vacuum left behind by Stark’s shadow as the new tech futurist of Earth but of course without the responsibility and good intentions of Iron Man. Doctor Doom could be a counter to Black Panther’s Wakanda as a polar opposite of nations in Latveria. And bringing on a character like Mephisto could further expand the mystical side of the MCU that started to be explored in “Dr. Strange.”

(But seriously, Marvel Studios, if I don’t get Toby Stephens as Norman Osborn I will riot...)

Either way, these villains need to carry on for more than one film for a change. Only Thanos, Vulture and Loki have managed to get past their first movies but if Phase 4 is going to be more distinctive it needs to have these villains come together in some way, perhaps even a *gasp* team-up! Having the villains form a super team to fight a younger more inexperienced Avengers could provide for some great drama and welcome change to the usual “fight an army of nameless goons, aliens and/or robots” of the previous era.

In any case, Kevin Feige and The Mouse need to have their sights set on truly developing these villains beyond just simple one-offs and into fully fleshed out characters that can continue to be trouble for our heroes across the series.

 Expand the Cosmic Spectrum of the MCU

The MCU is a science fiction series, if that didn’t already occur to you before, what with it’s iron-suited heroes, super soldiers and in these last two phases space aliens. With the latter the next phase really needs to lean into this and all its possibilities.

There’s a wealth of characters and worlds to explore on the cosmic level of Marvel Comics that not just the Guardians of the Galaxy can be a part of and Disney would be smart to bring even more properties into this real estate of the MCU.

It should namely start with Adam Warlock who was teased in the mid-credits scene of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2.” Warlock has long been a favorite character of mind, dating back to reading my dad’s old copies of the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity Watch. He’s a charismatic character who effectively blends both the cosmic and mystical side of the Marvel Universe together that can lead to a wealth of possibilities across the new MCU. Who should play him is purely subjective at this point but I can tell you right now Zach Efron isn’t even my fourth choice on that particular ladder.

(Maaaaaybe?)

With the Fox deal, Disney also has the option to bring Silver Surfer and Galactus into the mix which they absolutely should at some point. Beta Ray Bill is also said to be making his debut in “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” who can take over for Thor as Chris Hemsworth will eventually move on from the franchise at some point. Guardians will eventually need to retire too of course which opens up the possibility for the Infinity Watch with characters like Moon Dragon, Maxam and Pip the Troll and don’t tell me any of them wouldn’t work on the big screen. If Rocket Racoon can be a fan favorite Moon Dragon, Pip and Maxam can definitely make it too.

Either way the Marvel Universe is big fucking place and Disney would be dumb to not explore more of it for future franchises.

 Make better Original Scores

Johan Goransson’s Oscar win for Best Original Score for his work on “Black Panther” was a watershed moment for this franchise because it showed how super hero music can still be relevant. Imagine Christopher Reeve’s “Superman” without John Williams theme music or Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” without Hans Zimmer’s prominent percussion echoing the legend of Batman. Its not nearly as memorable and I feel the MCU has largely short-changed itself by not putting a higher emphasis on original scores during its decade-long run.

(*Bwaaaaaam BWAAAAAAAAAMMMM* I can hear this gif)

Phase 3 has definitely done a better job with this of course, Michael Giacchino’s work on Spider-man is solid, Alan Silvestri’s return to Avengers especially the “Portals” scene is epic as hell and again Goransson’s score is part of the reason we knew exactly what was coming next when Cap said “I know somewhere” before we even saw an image of Wakanda. But Phase 4, in my opinion, needs to make this more important as we introduce new characters.

Music has a way of echoing memories and ideas that we’ll immediately associate with an event or in this case a character and with the MCU heading into uncharted territory with what’s looks like even more unique characters, adding memorable music will help audiences identify with them. A catchy tune can go a long way to making a good scene greater just ask the binary sunset in “A New Hope” and it can make a character truly standout.

Imagine the next Avenger’s films if you will as all these new heroes come together on screen all their theme music coming together to culminate in one epic version of the Avengers suite. It will be glorious if done right and the MCU needs to make this happen with inventive composers and film scores in Phase 4.

 Save the X-Men for Phase 5

I know with the Fox deal and the whimpering flameout of “Dark Phoenix” fans are clamoring to see what Disney and Marvel Studios can do to bring in everyone’s favorite team of mutants but I say “hold up.”

As much as I would love to see a (hopefully) more faithful rendition of the X-Men I think we need a breather from Professor X, Cyclops, Beast and especially Wolverine. The X-Men franchise has been going on for over two decades and as much as we would all like to see these mutants get some much needed redemption after “Apocalypse” and “Dark Phoenix” I think general audiences need a breather. Yes, The MCU brought in Spider-man barely two years after the “Amazing” franchise which flamed out badly as well but Spider-man, even by its franchise standards, had a considerably smaller catalogue left behind when he made his debut in “Civil War.”

I think teasing the reappearance of the X-Men in Phase 4 is probably fine. Maybe dropping clues on the existence of mutants, maybe mentioning an alternate universe they come from because chances are their backstory will be retconned but either way the X-Men should be left on the backburner for Phase 4. 

(Deadpool though? Keep’em coming.)

Make Phase 5 all about the emergence of mutants, build them up as a great new team for the MCU and perhaps even pit them against the Avengers down the road. Either way, let the X-Men have a break for now. They need it after what Fox did to them.

 Bring in Diverse New Heroes

Oh, here comes that dreaded word that makes the slimiest denizens of the internet overreact and proclaim they’re not the “oversensitive” ones (in all CAPs of course).

The MCU had its fun with its main cast of primarily white Marvel staples over the past decade and if they’re going to show that they have new ideas and new stories to tell it should begin by bringing in browner heroes.

“Black Panther” was largely a breath of fresh air for the franchise because it told a very personal and relatable story to the society we live, primarily on the struggles of being a minority. The story wasn’t a simple good vs evil tale or nonspecific theme about family and love but of something deeply wrong in the world and it’s the reason it resonated as much it did.

The MCU is already making way for its first Asian American hero in Shang Chi, which is a good start but it shouldn’t end there either. Diverse heroes should be its next flagship for the new era of the MCU. Bring in Amadeus Cho, Ms. Marvel, and hell start teasing Miles Morales.

(And don’t give me that bullshit that black Spider-man can’t appeal to mass audiences...)

I can already hear the idiots shouting at the screen right now about “white erasure” or some other bull shit about reverse racism and/or forced diversity. First of all, these people would bitch about diversity no matter what way it was brought in. If a hero is turned from white to brown it’s “Why can’t they bring in a new brown hero?” If they bring in a new brown hero it’s “Why are they bringing in a new brown hero? No one cares.” And if people do care it’s “Forced diversity.” All I have to say to you people is you keep shifting around the goal posts so much to the point that it makes me wonder what you are actually angry about?

The MCU needs brand new blood and given that it again made a talking Raccoon a fan favorite there’s nothing that tells me this is a bad time to bring in more brown heroes from Marvel’s lesser known catalog. It isn’t that I or even other minority fans hate white heroes (I wrote an entire article on how much I love the MCU’s Captain America afterall) but for the sake of showing that these diverse heroes matter and giving them a chance to shine on the big screen this is needed. It wasn’t long ago that barely anybody knew who Black Panther was, now you have folks throwing up “Wakanda Forever” signs on their Instagram and social media and reading his graphic novels. So, open your mind up a bit and stop being a child about “forced diversity.” Thor was still epic as hell when he brought down Storm Breaker in “Infinity War,” Captain America still inspires patriotism in even the most cynical of souls and Iron Man saved the universe with a snap of his fingers. Your white heroes (and fragility) stories will survive a little spice in this franchise.

 How the MCU truly proceeds from here will be interesting. There are already projects in motion of course and fans should probably be excited for it regardless of what I have written here but I do truly hope a lot of these happen in Phase 4. Marvel needs better more consistent villains going forward, the cosmic side of the comics deserves more exploration, better soundtracks will make these movies better, the X-Men need a break, and after 23 movies we could stand add a few more brown people to the mix. 

Hopefully The Mouse is listening…

“Huhah! I own all future box office revenue regardless anyways, you peasants. Huhah!”

[screentimeblog-blog]

Who Killed Bryce Walker? A review of Season 3

13 Reasons Why Season 3 shifted the focus onto a new storyline. Who Killed Bryce Walker? In typical fashion of the series we quickly learn that everyone had a motive, including new girl Ani who serves as the narrator for events that unfold.

There will be spoilers. So read on only if you have watched season 3 or you don't mind finding out what happened based on this review. 

The first two seasons focused on Bryce and all the bad things he did trying to show he was the king of Liberty high school. Season 3 shed new light on Bryce as he made an effort to try and change his ways and realize all the hurt he had caused his classmates over the years. We quickly learn where Ani falls into this mix as her mother takes the job as an in home nurse to Bryce's ailing grandfather. She quickly becomes intertwined in the web of deception that surrounds the students of Liberty. 

Season 3 started off slower than the first two taking time to really dig deep into what has transpired since the ending of Season 2. What happened to Tyler? How would they help him heal? Could they help him heal? All of that was addressed and more and as the season progresses we learn the truth as to what each student is hiding and why. Starting with Tyler who went to confront Bryce after Monty told him the beating Tyler received was at Bryce's command. Tyler accepts his truth throughout the season and shows his friends that change is possible leading to the ultimate question of whether or not a man as evil as Bryce is capable of redemption.

Next up is Tony Padilla. Already having been arrested twice for assault we learn that during the trial the Walkers were able to find out that Tony's parents were illegals and they were then deported by ICE. Bryce swore up and down to Tony that he had known nothing about what happened but Tony didn't care. In his eyes all of this happened because of Bryce because his actions lead to the trial which lead to Tony being separated from his family. Tony spends most of the season trying to keep this secret from his friends leading to them thinking his rage may have gotten the best of him. 

It's safe to say that none of the audience actually believed Clay Jensen was the one who killed Bryce Walker but he was the number one person on the list of the police. This thanks in large part to multiple threats from Clay, including the events from last season where he pulled a gun on Bryce. Clay with the help of Ani, who we learn had an intimate relationship with Bryce look to clear Clays name for good. Clay just doesn't want to see anyone else's secrets exposed and once again protects his friends at all costs. Clay is both an admirable lead and a complete idiot at times. His courage is good for a lead, but for being a smart kid he does an awful lot that does make him look suspicious. His new found brotherhood with Justin Foley makes things even more complicated as he is willing to take the fall in order to protect Justin and the things he is hiding. 

Then there's the truth. That 3 people directly lead to the events that took Bryce's life. First up is Zach Dempsey. We learn Bryce deliberately set out to hurt Zach because of Chloe (Bryce's ex who had an abortion). Zach then proceeds after the football game to assault Bryce leaving him with a broken arm and leg but very much a live laying on the pier. Which leads to the second and third person. Alex and Jessica. They roll up as Bryce had asked Jess to come see him so he could give her something. We learn that was a tape with his confession and apology. After Alex reluctantly agrees to help Bryce up he begins to swear at Jess and promise to ruin Zach prompting Alex to push him over the edge. 

This is where it gets even more complicated. Ani is called into speak with Deputy Standall where she tells him Montgomery De La Cruz is the one who killed Bryce after the game as a way to keep him silent about the assault on Tyler. Standall agrees in order to protect Alex. Monty has been killed in prison. Yet we learn that Monty had a solid alibi. He was having relations with Hillcrest student Winston. Monty was very protective of sexual orientation and even assaulted Winston following their first hook up in order to protect the secret. 

It was a very engaging season with the murder mystery central premise. It allowed Justin Prentice (Bryce) the chance to show more emotional range than he had been given in the previous two seasons. He was given the daunting task of humanizing a character that had been portrayed as the clear villain if the first two seasons. At times it was hard to feel any different towards Bryce but as the season went along he did make strides. He made an effort and he wanted to realize how badly he hurt people. Prentice has always been one of the best actors on the show and this was his chance to solidify that. He was easy to hate for the first two seasons and during season 3 he was easy to both hate and want to see do better. 

Brandon Flynn as Justin Foley is probably my favorite performance. Justin is probably the most troubled kid in the series and even more so now. We learn he has not given up drugs like he tells everyone he has. Justin often says the dumb thing. He often is the weird comedic relief despite all the negative things going on his life. Justin is loyal. He loves deeply and is thankful for all the things his friends and family have done to try and turn his life around. He comes clean about the lies with the Jensen's at the end who vow that they will help him no matter what the cost. Justin is a troubled character but he has many layers and Flynn gets the chance to show us all of them very frequently throughout this season given that the truth is revealed in pieces as we go a long. 

Hearing both Alisha Boe and Devin Druid deliver monologues about surviving sexual assaults had me tearing up multiple times. Boe played Jess as a new found badass ready to find justice for people who may have lost their voice because of a trauma while helping Tyler find his voice without even realizing. The assembly scene where the survivors stand was both powerful and emotional. Druid expressing all his heartbreak and sadness as Tyler confesses to Clay what happened was very emotional as well. 13 Reasons Why has always been a hard show for me to watch as a parent and just 10 years removed from High School. Now my experience of school was not as distressing as the events depicted on the show, I do remember the days of being pushed into lockers because I was not friends with the jocks. I remember being the kid who sat in the library to avoid the halls because of bullying from kids whose parents were prominent contributors to the school and no matter what happened I was always the bad kid.

13 Reasons Why is a powerful show for those who have never felt like they could be heard. For those who feel never felt like they had friends they could count on to do the right thing. It reminds the good kids to do the right thing. It reminds the bully's that you will face the consequences of your actions. Yes it does make these points in the most exaggerated way possible but unless they did that it's doubtful that people would listen in the first place or pay attention to the fact that all these things are happening. The show reminds us to pay attention to differences in behaviour, to see changes in our friends and to stand up for the people who deserve it most. I think it's safe to say that anyone who has been bullied or stood up to bullies or both women and men who are survivors of sexual assaults can see a little bit of themselves in Clay, Jessica, Tyler and Justin. 

With the announcement of a fourth and final season I can say that I am invested in seeing what they do to wrap this season. I know both seasons 2 and 3 have been given very negative reviews but all of that seems unfair towards a show that has only ever tried to start a conversation and help those struggling with mental health and their secrets. There is no doubt that season 4 will be just as good as the first three and will continue the conversation about seeking help if you need it. For those struggling don't be afraid to reach out to counsellors and trusted adults. 

[koltarmi]

things i noticed/liked/thought while i was watching anastasia live ver 2.0

This past summer, I got the chance to go see Anastasia again and was lucky enough to see it with a whole new cast! At that point, Zach Adkins had become the principal Dmitry, Molly Rushing was Anya, Ken Krugman was Vlad, Max Von Essen was Vlad, Lily was Vicki Lewis, and the Dowager was Janet Dickson. 

Details are below:

Act 1

Kelli Youngman did an extra twirl trailing behind the rest of the Romanov sisters

Dima sounds real pissed especially in the beginning of he song. He gave off a kind of old movie conman vibe with the attitude and accent in "A rumour"

Ken did some preening in "a rumour" when talking about hobnobbing with the Royals

Dmitry yells "WE'LL BE OUT.” in the attitude one would say, "BYE, WE OUT BITCHES”

My first crush ever was on the animated Dmitry solely because of that belt on "the biggest con in  history" gave me chills every damn time. I was so pleased that Derek exceeded my expectations and I was always worried no one else could compare, but damn was I wrong because Zach did as equally well on that.

Instead of raising a chair in defence, Dimitry hides behind the couch he was lounging on.

Zach's Dimitry doesn't have the biting sarcasm of Derek's version, which is great. Who would want to watch the same performance after all? It's softer and he drawls his witty remarks which still have the same amount of sting as Derek's Dmitry who's remarks are quick and blunt.

Ken's Vlad does this over the top bow when he introduces himself to Anya.

Molly's version of Anya and Zach's version of Dimitry reminded me more of the dynamic between the two in the movie.

MOLLY'S VOICE WHEN SHE SINGS "In My Dreams” 😍😍😍😍

When Vlad teaches Anya how to walk properly, she sticks her arms and out and sort of bounces along which Vlad then mocks doing the flappy arm thing from “Paris Holds the Key”

Ken's Vlad adds a lilting tone to the end of some sentences giving them a touch of humour.

Anya's breakdown in “Learn to Do It” is not teary. In fact, it's the complete opposite. She is absolutely pissed off.

Vlad does a tsking sound when Dimitry tries to argue with Anya while she's angry.

When Dmitry steps on Anya's foot while they're dancing, Vlad looks so exasperated and says, “Just... just...just...” cue loud sigh. 

When Anya kicks Dmitry's shin, a scolding voice.

The third time around he takes in a deep breath and counts in a higher pitched tone. 

Dmitry looks so offended when Vlad says Russian was for common folks like him. 

The Russian telephone that works line he chuckled for a long time before realizing oh fuck his boss didn't find that funny.

When Anya is brought in, MVE's Gleb doesn't use intimidation. He acts more like the good cop.

When he does realize who he's talking to. His demeanour changes and he stutters before dismissing the officers with a wave of his hand and a "eep" like noise (this is like the best I can describe it).

After he says it's the uniform and the office that make the bad impression, he proves it by plastering on a wide grin.

In the last refrain of “The Neva Flows”, Anya sings the refrain along with him playing the part of a loyal comrade who knows better now, except she stops when he sings, “The Tsar lies cold”.

The drunk guys aren't as excited when they tell that the Tsar is drinking his vodka in hell. Instead the sorta half mumble and sound tired.

Love the way James Peirce says, “Girrrrrrrrrlfriend” and how the group of them sway in a circle to look at Anya.

Molly chasing after those guys while screaming was adorable and hilarious.

In the beginning of “My Petersburg”, for the first few verses Zach sort of says-sings them, belts on the first “Petersburg” then goes in to full force singing into “I've bartered for a blanket/stolen for my bread”.

At the end of the first verse, he nods his head forward and tells Anya, “Come on.”

Zach growls the line “rough company” and holy shit i was shook.

Why did they cut Anya and Dimitry singing “You and I on the fly/just in time” I love it so much.

His response to Anya when she says that neither of them has a family is so earnest it hurts me. Derek's Dmitry says it hesitantly almost forgetting he's conned Anya into this, while Zach's Dimitry is softer and assures her that her family is waiting for her in Paris and I honestly don't which interpretation I like better because I love both of them.

The tone he uses when he tells Anya the object she's holding a music box is exactly the same when he tells her it's broken and that made the audience chuckle.

When Anya opens the music box, Dmitry throws his hands up, rolls his eyes in exasperation, and walks away when Anya opens up the music box on her first try. 'Of fucking course she got it open on her first try,’

When he asks her how she opened it, he sounds more curious than he does confused.

The seats we had this time were way closer to the projections on the wall and holy shit, they look even more magical up close that I wanted to touch them. 

My sister teared up by the end of “Once Upon a December” because the song made her so sad and nostalgic at the same time. 

Dmitry sounds so regretful when he tells Anya that they don't have enough to get out of Russia.

They drop a coin when Dmitry tries to give Anya back her money and for the rest of the scene and the next one, I kept worrying someone would slip on it. 

When she talks about how stubborn Dmitry is she says the part about him being almost as stubborn like her in a somewhat bragging tone.

Molly's singing when during the little reprise of “In My Dreams” about the diamond is just absolutely gorgeous.

Man, Constantine Germancos and the rest of the ensemble singing “Stay, I Pray You” gives me chills everytime. Hearing it live is just so much more gut wrenching than the album. For the first stay, I pray you, he holds the word “stay” a little.longer and DAMN.

Anya rolls her eyes and gets up to walk around the train when Vlad says he loved the diamond studded watch more than Lily.

Lyrica Woodruff and Kristen Smith-Davies made a really an exaggerated motion of scooting over when Zach had one foot on the bench that got a chuckle out of a few people.

Anya slides off the top of the bench she's sitting on when the train comes to a sudden stop.

When the jump off the train the scene turns black, but for some reason this time the lighting from the two offices (Gleb's and his superior officer's, which was on stage right) made it bright enough that you could see Molly, Zach, and Ken hurry offstage

MVE's “Still” 👌🔥✔👌✔👌👌🔥✔🔥🔥🔥👌

When Vlad says that Anya will break his heart, he laughs it off. But when Vlad tells her how he'll never see her if she's accepted as the real Anastasia, the realization of his friend's warning hits him like a ton of bricks.

TBH, a little disappointed Dmitry didn't bound offstage like a young goat, he just ran.

Molly's smile is absolutely radiant when she finishes “Journey to the Past”.

Act 2

Vlad's shaggy beard is gone when they change into their fancy Paris clothes.

Zach is a much better dancer than Derek. The boy's talent lies in his voice not his coordination while Zach seems to be a better balance between vocal power and dance. 

The look Anya and Dmitry shared as they circled each other was goddamn magnetic and when he offers a hand to dance and she gets twirled away by someone else the look on his face is so disappointed that it wrecked me. 

Molly's “Crossing a Bridge” is so full of hope it makes me emotional. Her voice singing that song is so pure???!! Like that's the only way I feel describes it correctly.

I don't remember if Christy did this, but when Vlad announces he's going to try find Lily, Anya reaches up to neaten Vlad's bowtie in a good luck gesture of sorts.

Vicki Lewis' Lily is not as comedic as Caroline O'Connor's. She has much more serious and drier humour, which perfectly compliments Ken's Vlad.

The best way I can describe it is Vicki's Lily is basically a Vodka Aunt ™

This Count Leopold is less slimy more pompous.

MBP's Dowager is full of grieving and sadness while Janet's Dickson's is tired and bitter. Also the way she drags the word “Cleaveland” with disgust was pretty funny. 

The way she sings “tell them/no more” she really puts emphasis on the “no more” which makes her sound so defeated. 

At the entrance of the Neva Club, Lily says this to the doorman after greeting her a good evening: “The only good thing it means there's one day less.” She then laughs and says she's being Russian and with a deadpan expression and tone she looks out to the audience and says, “I love life.”  which is such a big mood. 

When everyone is passed out at the Neva Club during “Land of Yesterday”, Vicki's Lily is dancing and drinking from an empty vodka bottle without hands before she wakes them all up by belting a high note.

When Lily and Vlad go outside to talk and she acts cold to him, she very purposefully drops her handkerchief and Vlad rushes to pick it up.

During “The Countess and the Common Man”  when Lily says she loved him, Vlad pauses for a few seconds looking for the right words to say before hesitantly replying, “You loved me,” which got a chuckle out of the audience.

The two really drew out the part where they're exhausted. Vlad was finding his pulse while Lily took a breath and stretched. 

Ken and Vicki really went at it. Like she straight up was feeling up his butt. 

The part where he belts “the Common Man”, Vicki wrapped herself around his leg which made them look like the cover of bodice-ripper harlequin novel. 

MVE's reprise of “Land of Yesterday” The man has a voice like velvet. 

When Dmitry rushes in to reassure Anya, he sounds so genuine and honest. It's clear he's head over heels in love with her and he's forgotten the whole thing is a con. 

After Dmitry sings his part in “In a Crowd of Thousands” Anya scoots a little closer to him when he sits back down at the bed. 

BOTH MOLLY AND ZACH'S VOICES IN THE SONG MY GOD, IT MADE THE AUDIENCE FELT LIKE THEY WERE INTRUDING ON A PRIVATE MOMENT.  

So when Anya sings that young Dmitry was “not too clean”, Derek used to act jokingly offended but Zach's Dmitry is just so enraptured by Anya telling her side of the story he's just smiling at her the whole time like wow pro tip get yourself a zach's version in Dmitry who looks so lovingly at Molly's Anya cause that's true love. 

That loving smile becomes a look of shock, confusion, and the slightest bit of hope when Anya goes, “And then he bowed.”

I LOVR THE WAY MOLLY SAYS, “You didn't have to. I remember.” It's not surprise or shock at the sudden memory. She says it like a fact. Water is wet, fire is hot, the sky is blue, and I remember the boy on the street who made me smile, it was you. It's been you all this time.

The rush towards each other, so utterly happy, but then Zach's Dimitry suddenly realizes what's he doing and freezes. He pulls away from Anya and that look on his voice is so similar to the look he had in PHTK when she gets spun away from him. 

So I timed this as soon as they walked offstage, Zach had about 55 seconds to change while Molly had about 70 seconds to change.

Quartet of the Ballet, man. The lyrics are the same, but sung by different people who have different interpretations of the same characters is whole new damn experience. 

Zach and Max's voices went really well together and I want a duet between them immediately. 

In “Everything to Win”, Zach sings beautifully and then says "wHY PANIC NOW??” and resumes his lovely singing which got a chuckle out of the audience. Boi looked like he was gonna lose his goddamn mind. 

When Anya comes out, he asks her in a hopeful voice, “What happened?” and her stoic facial expression turns into one of complete and utter betrayal and anger.

The confrontation between Maria and Dmitry is a totally different tone, because neither them holds back and basically yells in the other's face.

“I was hungry and desperate when I met you, but I wasn't dishonest. I hate you for that.” She says the last sentence so quietly you can almost miss it, but damn if that doesnt hurt I don't know what would because we've seen an annoyed, violent, and angry Anya. This quiet anger and betrayal is so much worse.

When they're back in the hotel and Anya is packing her things, she throws the doll Dmitry bought her and it falls to the ground. And when she's ripping  Vlad a new one, she rips the medallion looking thingy from his suit and throws it on the ground.

Again, Janet's Maria is again tired and bitter and it really shows in the scene between her and Anya.

When Maria and Anya hug, Dmitry is in the background, the doll she threw away in his hand.

Just like in “Land of Yesterday”, Vicki's Lily belts a high note to silence the press in “The Press Conference”

The confrontation between Anya and Gleb is just so intense. He tries playing the good cop card again, when it's clear she won't fall for it, he becomes more clear with his threats. 

I remember seeing video of Christy adding this move in The Neva Flows Reprise where she falls back into the chair and Molly does it as well, she backs up into the chair as if this conversation physically hurts her and pushes her back, defeated into the chair, head slumped.

When he demands one last time, who she is, we see the Anya we know and love return in full force. Her head and spine that was slumped straightens as she stares him down and walks toward right into his gun, proudly declaring that she is The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevena Romanov.

And it seems her confidence and courage in her identity weakens Gleb's. His hand shakes as he points the gun at her chest. He tries to point it at her head, but that just weakens his resolve and he crumples into the ground, dropping his gun. (If I haven't made it clear, I fucking love MVE's interpretation of Gleb)

The whole conversation between the two after this is softer and filled with quiet understanding and regret. And they part as comrades both knowing the truth.

The way Zach's Dmitry says, "I don't want to be in love with someone I can't have," is so bitter like he believes that now that Anya is proven to be Anastasia he will never be worthy of her love, which he is 110% wrong.

Molly's Anya says the line about her first kiss with a prince like a fact. 

When they kiss, Dmitry is shocked like his wildest dreams has come true before he realizes this is real and just gently kisses her back.

[cachekakusu]

K, so ya girl made the trip to see Anastasia on Broadway because WHY THE FUCK NOT also I needed a much needed vacation lmaooo (RIP MY $$$ but I’m here for a good time, not a long time!!! And worth going to see the show alone!) I also saw it twice because I’m so Extra(TM). But anyway, here be a reallllyy looooooong ass flail-y recap and thoughts for prosperity!!! I’m also combining both nights because I can!!!

So the first night, I sat center orchestra so I can IMMERSE MYSELF IN THE SHOW and the second time, I sat mezzanine right and HONESTLY the theatre is so small that as long as you’re not super to the side, you’ll get an amazing view wherever you are.

ACT I

When the EMPRESS WALKS IN, THAT SHIT SPARKLED LIKE A FUCKING THOUSAND DIAMONDS!?!?!? WOW LINDA CHO WAS ROBBED. The audience also gasped audibly during her entrance

People laughed when they took pictures IDK WHY IT’S SO FUNNY KJDSFS

The Attack (as I’m dubbing it) is so intense and visually stunning, especially the end

Also the “In The Dark of the Night” melody playing!!!! 

I also loved the Romanov Sisters “AAAAAHHHHHHH”  before the run away 

Ok MAX AS GLEB!!! I LOVED HIM he really was more awkward and less poised than Ramin was, at least in front of Anya but just as terrifying and intimidating.  I thought he was also funnier sdjfhdsjkhf. The tone of voices were pretty similar too so it was kind of easier to focus on his portrayal, which was amazing overall. 

Uhhh once Dmitry comes out, you can’t stop looking at him. JAWLINE. And also he gesticulates a lot sjkfskjj.

Christy really forreal literally has a sparkle in her eye whenever she sings and it’s amazing to witness SHE REALLY IS SUCH A SPECIAL PERFORMER 

ISTG, one of these days Derek and John are forreal gonna end up flipping Christy over when they lift her THEY ALMOST DID THE SECOND NIGHT AND I WAS STRESSEDT you legit could see her feet up in the air lmfaaooao

After Anya chases off those hooligans, she points the stick at Dmitry and says, “Come at me, I won’t hurt you.” in this playful almost flirty voice and it gave me......thoughts......

DEREK GETS SO SWEATY AT THE END OF MY PETERSBURG AND IT’S SO FUNNY KFHSKJF also he kind of warbled the last note in both nights but I  find it kind of endearing lmao bless him

There are a number of moments where Dmitry just kind of stares at Anya and then kind of catches himself and shakes himself out of it and it’s adorable like “hahahahaha idiot you’re falling in loooooooooooooove”

Uhhh OUAD is even more amazing because the ghost projections extend to the sides of the theatre so like SENSORY OVERLOAD I cried metaphorically

Watching the ensemble is so fun, when you can look away from Derek/Christy for a few seconds (WHICH IS HARD TO DO) lmfaoo, and in “We’ll go from There”, when it’s Dmitry’s turn to sing and he’s just hanging on the train rails, I was watching the two smoker girls (one played by Lyrica aka Odette/Ballerina), and at first, they have these disgusted looks that slowly turn into “Oh no, he’s hot” and LYRICA ESPECIALLY had that “gosh, he’s actually really cute” AND IT’S HILARIOUS (and I told Lyrica when I met her at stagedoor and she laughed a lot, saying she and Sarah have a lot of fun doing that scene)

OTP: DMITRY x BATHTUBS FOREVER

Stay, I Pray You gets me on a deep personal level because the immigrant connection is real (”You are all I know. You have raised me.” WHEN WILL I NOT CRY!?!?!?) , also I love numbers where everyone just sings classic choral style also the harmonies at the end PHEW

Also CONSTANTINE’S VOCALS

Journey to the Past. No words tbh other than MAGICAL. 

ACT II

PARIS HOLD THE KEY TO YOUR HEART IS SO FUN AND THE ELEVATOR RIDE UP TO THE EIFFEL TOWER IS SO FUCKING FUN!!!

I appreciate Land of Yesterday so much more as a visual performance because Caroline O’Connor is amazing. Her wit and her PHYSICAL STAMINA

MBP is one regal HBIC and Close the Door made me EMO

TCATCM is always such a hoot and John and Caroline are amazing together, the audience really just eats it up

IN A CROWD!!!! OF FUCKING THOUSANDS!!!!

I love arm

Christy’s delivery of “I remember” has gotten much softer it seems, and then they both kind of stare at each other for awhile, as if really realizing who each other is before they CRASH INTO EACH OTHER RIP ME 

both gasp lightly between “I’d find you....” “again”

*cue the disappointed sounds of the audience when Dmitry pulls back. SAME, MY DUDES*

also they both let out really audible gasps before Dmitry pulls back and it’s so !!!!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!?!?!?

When Dmitry kneels down, the background turns into this starry sky AND THE FULL EFFECT OF IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND I WAS AWESTRUCK

I always get so emo when character’s leitmotifs play but ANYWAYS when the Dowager came out, you can tell she just looked so done and tired AND IT BROKE MY HEART (she looked regal af though)

When Dmitry comes RUNNING OUT and just kind of looks around and you know he’s searching for Anya THE silly boy and then Vlad spots him and he’s fixing him up while he acts like a disgruntled son lmflaks

ANYA’S ENTRANCE IN THE ICONIC BLUE DRESS fuck, the sparkles on that dress is so mesmerizing and SHE WAS GLOWING but she only had eyes for Dmitry right when she found him and has this fond look on her face AND SDKJFHSKJ SHE LOVES HIM FLALSMA

(release “When She Walks In”, you cowards!)

I didn’t really cry cuz during both performances (I was TOO HAPPY TO SEE THIS ALL COME TO LIFE BEFORE MY EYES) BUT I did get super emotional when Vlad sang “Meant to Be” becaue HE JUST LOOKED SO HEARTBROKEN FOR BOTH HIS CHILDREN!?!?!?

QUARTET AT THE BALLET is one of my favorites AND I LOSE MY SHIT EVERY TIME!!!! Also LYRICA!!!!! What an amazing dancer and I found it really nice that it was a show within a show and they had their own curtain call for this

Seriously, which of the writers hates Cleveland sdkjfhsdjkfh that joke will never not be funny

DEREK’S CRESCENDO AND DESCRESCENDO IN ETW!! BITCH!!!!

Also, DMITRY BOUGHT ANYA A FUCKING DOLL!?!!? WHY IS HE LIKE THIS!?!?!? Let me stare off into space while I continue to process that information

Uh, when Dmitry checks in on the Dowager and Anya during their reunion, he has a little smile on his face before he angstily walks away (and out of Anya’s life forever!!! Or so he thought, haha that fool)

The Anya/Gleb confrontation is always such a cool and emotional scene, especially when the Romanov ghosts also step back behind 

After Gleb decides to let Anya go, and the Romanovs/Officers leave and you see them carry a body, as if physically and metaphorically burying the past IT’S SO. WOW. HAUNTING AND EVOCATIVE AND I THINK ABOUT IT A LOT

When Anya finds Dmitry and he kind of takes her in for a bit before going all emo on her and Anya kind of has this fond smile before getting all sad once he says, “I can’t be in love with someone I can’t have for the rest of my life” like GOD, YOU’RE A FOOL BUT I LOVE YOU!?!?!?

“*softly* I’m not your prince, Anya.”

*cue my tears*

THE KISS!!! SO MUCH CHEERING And lmao whenever Christy grabs his suitcase to step on it, IT’S SO HILARIOUS because even in her heels she’s almost eye level with Derek (a real testament to how big of a height difference they have) 

After Dmitry pulls away, they both have dazed smiles on and kind of look at each other for a beat longer RIP ME

EVEN AFTER ANYA TAKES HIS ARM AND THEY KEEP SMILING AT EACH OTHER AND IT’S SOOO!!! CUTE!!! I LOVE ROMANCE!!! 

The finale gets me so emo, the Dowager’s “Still...” and her opening the music box AND THE ROMANOV SPIRITS ALL COME OUT AND THEN THEY ALL ROTATE LIKE AN ACTUAL MUSIC BOX!!!! IT’S BEAUTIFUL

Also the bridge in the background changes from being real, to a PAINTING as if to really add to the fairytale effect of DIMYA WALKING TO THEIR FUTURE and then when it goes, “Far away...” IT CHANGES TO A SNOWY SCENE AND I!!! LOSE MY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stage door. K so honestly, I appreciate all of them so much they are all so nice and gracious AND DESERVE ALL THE LOVE AND PRAISE!!!!

Max was so nice (SUPER HANDSOME) and I told him that he was really funny as Max and he laughed skdjskjf

Nicole came out next and she’s adorable, protect her forever!!!!

Lyrica is WOW BEAAUTIFUL TBH and I told her she’s an amazing dancer and she said how she has so much fun doing the ballet (also she has the most legible signature and I respect that lmaoo)

Caroline O’Connor is a delight and is so nice and I told her that I love her jokes and her high kicks skjfhskdjfh and she laughed and she thanked me for buying the program lmfaoo that was cute

Mary Beth also came out and is so elegant and precious and Zach was following after her because he was carrying some box (??? hers??? WHO KNOWS) 

I’m lame and exclaimed, “You’re the music box!!!” when it was Zach’s turn to sign and he was all, “How did you know!?!?!? We have an avid fan over here, guys!” sdkjfhskjfh and I honestly would love to see his Dima cuz he’s really witty and a good egg.

I told John that he was the real winner in my heart and he laughed and said how they really enjoy making the vlogs and I jokingly asked when the next season was and he was very ;)))) about it SO THAT’S EXCITING BECAUSE I WANT MORE ROYAL MISFITS FOREVER!!! I also told him he deserved a full pack of gum sjkfhsjk and he said that he doesnt even like gum sjkdfsh 

Derek is unreal beautiful and lmao the thirst for him by everyone is real but he’s so nice with everyone. I just told him that his vocals in Quartet are particularly amazing sdfjhsjkfh and he laughed adorably (ok, everything he does is adorable lbr). I was kind of a mess trying to take a pic with him but he was really patient while I got my shit together and flkaoska he’s so tall he had to crouch down quite a bit (sorry for my shortness, my dude). Anyway, both pics turned out slightly blurry because???? He just has that effect, I guess!

Christy went last and lmao, I wonder if they purposely plan it that way  now because of how long she takes interacting with each fan. Even the security guard was impressed with how much she loves doing the stage door lmao. She really is as precious as you expect and I pretty much babbled my love for Anastasia and for her AT her because SHE’S EVERYTHING AND IS A LITERAL PRINCESS and emanates so much love and kindness. I asked for a pic and I’m such an awkward ass turtle, trying to decide which way would provide better lighting lmao she offered to do hold the phone instead and I didn’t even realize she was taking so many pics lmao. Then I told her I loved her and thanked her for being THE BEST ANASTASIA  A FAN CAN HOPE FOR and we hugged and she thanked me for coming and told me my hair smelled good sdkjfskf. The second night is when I gave her my gift (lmao, it’s supposed to be a giant easter egg that I painted with some candy in it but the top half came off when she was taking it out, hence why she’s only holding half of it in the picture akhad) and she’s honestly like a little kid with how excited she was about it and even held it out so the other peeps could see lolol. She saw the treats inside and I told her how I know she loves snacking and she kind of went on about the pocki sticks she was eating backstage (which she pronounces, “poke-y” lmaoo so I didn’t know what she was talking about til like, a day later) and how they’re so addicing lmao I love one (1) backstage snacker. And she keeps saying how they have the best fans and I’m like, “UH!!! YOU GUYS DESERVE IT, HONESTLY!!!!” and she does the “Awwww!!!” face (y’all know the one). OH she also tried guessing where I was from but I kind of blurted it out before she could and she was so “SEE, I WAS GONNA SAY ‘CALIFORNIA’! I shouldn’t have even asked!” lmao. I gushed at her again, thanked her and probably told her I loved her again before I finally said goodbye lmao. 

I’m probably missing a lot of stuff, honestly it’s a blur and I’m trying to finish this up before I pass out from a food coma but ANYWAYS! 20/10 would fucking recommend, I love this musical so goddamn much and the cast and literally every one involved they’re all so talented and it will always hold a special place in my goddamn heart!!! *a million crying emojis*

[caelansnoisynose]

Australian glass-playing noise-artist Lucas Abela a.k.a. Granpa a.k.a. Justice Yeldham. (Justice Yeldham was the name of a court judge who committed suicide and was later found to be having an affair.)

Shown to me by a friend after I showed him how to build a contact mic.

Abela played with instrument-building since the ‘90s.

His work relates to exploring material as a noise-maker, and embeds the act with the sound.

“I see the glass as a magnified stylus that I vibrate with my mouth instead of a groove. “

His work is kind of ironic and yet also points out what it means to be a true musician. He is fully within and committed to the work despite the pain. In his case, the pain is manifested to the viewer during the performance, not hidden behind the scene by callouses from steel strings or the frustration of coordinating one’s fingers on piano keys.

It’s fundamentally aggressive. It relates to my idea of using a speaker because it’s subversive and he’s playing with and expanding dissonant, aggressive, even transgressive, sound as worthy of high art and expertise. It’s ironic because it’s such an unlikely source, and it comes at a great, virtually unrealistic, cost (for the general public). It, at the same time, can seem to mock and venerate the myth of the genius in art.

Testimonial from his website, http://dualplover.com/yeldham/

"Utilising just a piece of glass (found in the area of the performance), a contact mic and some pedals, justice comes onto applause and anticipation from the audience anxious to see the spectacle. Dressed in what looks like a doctor’s gown, his attire gives Yeldham an arguably fitting sideshow freak appearance. After a brief introduction Yeldham launches into full performance by doing what he does best. An intense cacophonic human explosion of condensed cathartic vibrations follows, laced with a kind of transgressive, yet genuine euphoria. In a world of digital laptop complacency, Yeldham’s performance nods more towards Jap Noise legend Masonna for its organic tour de force and true outsider punk spirit, with a tongue in cheek (or rather in this case, pressed up against glass!) approach and cutting humour that the noise/improve scene usually lacks. An audience member between 'tracks' asks Yeldham to bleed at one point, evoking brief vocal disdain from Yeldham. Indeed Yeldham has stressed that any bloodletting that may occur is a by product of the show and not the primary intention. And disappointing for some, Yeldham does not bleed during this show, but bites through the glass toward the end to shocked gasps from some members of the audience. Whether or not Yeldham bleeds after his performance (and at 20 mins Yeldham leaves not his repertoire to overkill, much like classical punk performance) is irrelevant, as in a world of contrived noise makers, Yeldham’s show cuts straight through to the jugular by means of simplicity. And succeeds - in being both unique and bringing a much needed breath of fresh air into the scene. Famously described by one journalist as “The most exciting performer I have seen in the last three years – in fact, since I first saw Iggy Pop" .He’s not far off - its exciting, raw untamed stuff in a world of full of complacent bores .If you ever get the chance (and Yeldham has toured everywhere - from Berlin to Korea with his show!), catch him if you can…."

Andy Black Forest - Supersonc Festival - beat 13 - Burmingham 221012

Interview, process and some skill.

“My installations are mainly driven by my philosophy that noise music is far more fun to make than watch.”

"First up, I got to see this guy perform live – and I seriously was not expecting that. There’s no blood but the intensity of the emotion reminds me of early Neubauten or Nina Simone or someone: he has a trunk full of effects and delay and distortion pedals, and he’s not scared to use them. He blows crazy shit across a shaped plate of glass for 20 or 30 minutes or so, and it’s crazy shit good – so good, that when he started I figured Nicola had slipped on an extraordinarily loud noise tape and I could not quite understand why everyone was crowding around the ‘stage’. The noise is incredible – and when I type ‘noise’, I mean layers of sound, texture, understanding, dissonant harmony. Really incredible. I never was much one for guitar shredding or extended drum fills or virtuoso vocal acrobatics, but it seems the one thing that will really get my pulse racing is some glass shredding. Seriously. This is body-expanding. Sometimes I’m laughing out loud at the nerve and brilliance of it. Sometimes, I just want to fuck shit up (plus ça change). Halfway across it bothers me that few people are dancing amid the ruins but then I figure they too are too stupefied. Justice tells me afterwards that he can’t get booked no more: this is only his second performance this year. Man, this man should be headlining the fucking Sydney Opera House. He’s a fucking MASTER or MISTRESS, or have it what you will, of his chosen instrument. I feel the same empathy towards his music that others doubtless feel for fucking Kevin Shields. (Not literally fucking Kevin Shields, you understand – though maybe some feel that too.) He can’t get booked cos he’s an experimental artist – frequently gets called a ‘performance artist’, much to his disgust – and so he’s meant to be always switching around, trying out new ideas and forms, not concentrate for several years on becoming the world’s leading glass shredder."

Everett True - collapseboard - Brisbane 210614

WARNING

Links:

https://thebrag.com/lucas-abela-sydney-festival/

Coming collab. with experimental hip hop Death Grips. Performed in 2010 with drummer Zach Hill.

https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/bjvmq5/death-grips-are-working-with-face-shredding-artist-lucas-abela

[disisphlebotinum]

1x01 Pilot

Watching with Elizabeth Henstridge (via her youtube channel. I do not actually know her.)

Before the video starts in chat, someone said Daisy super sucked in season 5. I think I am experiencing blind rage.

I have loved Jay since Angel. I am so glad he is the guest. Hearing stories about how his career stalled is breaking my heart. He has the talent. 

“I could be a hero.” REAL.

Jay’s mind being blown that people are watching made my Wednesday. That was adorable.

Never forget that the shows starts with Mike trying to save lives. 

The budget on the pilot. The only budget the show ever had.

I have never once thought about the fact that Ward’s first scenes take place in France let alone that they actually filmed it there.

Zach’s memory scares me. 

Lol. Remember when we were all Joss fans? Literally if you are not Mike Schur then I only love your work and not you. I’m going to need to know you first. 

Elizabeth is stupidly talented. Her ability to emote is on the next level. The moment she gets a job people are not ignoring because of stupidity, she is going to take all their awards.

I hate Jay’s career. He deserves better. No one should have ever forgot him or made him think he was forgotten. HE HAS BEEN IN ALL OUR FAVORITE SHOWS. THIS MAN IS TELEVISION.

Jay looks impressed as Elizabeth breaks down all the issues with actual shooting process. Daylight dependent, location. This man looks happy to talk about some craft. I really love him so much.

LITTLE FITZSIMMONS!!!!!!!!!!

I miss the buss. I would have died to tour that set. That and like the Gilmore Girls gazebo are the only physically sets I have ever wished to see in person.

I wish I was in a situation where I got a read pilots.

Skye is such baby Daisy it’s almost painful.

Jay is supportive and engaging. CAN WE JUST PLEASE APPRECIATE HIM? i have so many feelings about this right now. 

Brett’s performance during the truth serum scene feels campy watching it knowing that it was a ploy. Not a complaint. If anything a compliment. I can understand why the show didn’t want to let him go. His performances were able to make you love him while always deceiving you. It feels like once you know Ward is the villain, you can see the small moments they used to show it. I definitely did not expect it on the first view.

Deathlok ain’t a villain. He was a man in horrible circumstances. 

Sacrificing the buss for production was a mistake.

Fitzsimmons really was the ultimate double act. Elizabeth and Iain made it seem like that dynamic was innate. 

I wish Daisy’s van made a come back. I wish Sousa got to meet the van.

There really were a lot of hologram shits going on in season 1. That kind of dropped for more screens and the framework in the future.

I have never been to a station. Not union station, not grand central station. The amount of people is worse than an airport and looks terrifying. Like, I’m too scared to leave my house amount of people.

Skye is clever  getting those dudes to fight Mike. I love the visual of the one dude flying.

Monster Day. That will be in my vocabulary.

The monologue. THE MONOLOGUE. Deathlok is not a villain.

Iain looks like a baby. Elizabeth looks exactly like she does today.

I love how Jay remembers and appreciates what people say to him. Did we express that we love him enough1?!?!?!

[love-takes-work]

Sorta-Transcript from online fan Q&A with Shelby Rabara, Deedee Magno Hall, and Michaela Dietz

Anyone can watch this online Q&A with the above voice actors, but if you don’t want to watch/can’t listen to audio, I made this sorta-transcript. Meaning I did not transcribe the exact words in most cases, but I wrote down the questions and the basic idea of how they answered. Enjoy! 

Shelby Rabara (voice of Peridot) was the Livestream host for fan questions! Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl) and Michaela Dietz (Amethyst) were giving answers, but usually Shelby gave her answer too.

Shelby read fan questions.

1. Favorite episode and why?

Deedee: “Steven and the Stevens”: she likes the song, because it reminds her of the movie That Thing You Do.

Michaela: Is it a cop-out to say all of them? Ha. “Tiger Millionaire” is great because Zach's performance is great and wrestling's cool.

Shelby: “Lion 3: Straight to Video.” Because it's emotional.

2. What character that you don't voice do you relate to most?

Deedee: Amethyst.

Michaela: Really??

Deedee: Because I like to eat. I like to eat FOOD.

Michaela: You don't like to eat stacks of garbage and moldy burritos?

Michaela: Steven. He has a good head on his shoulders.

Deedee: And you also have a very good heart like him!

Shelby: I relate to Connie. She is level-headed and uses logic and makes the correct choice.

Michaela: She's bright and assertive and so are you.

Shelby: Are you having fun here?

Michaela and Deedee: YES! We just had a great panel and cosplay!

3. If your characters were human, what jobs would they have?

Deedee: Pearl would work in a Laundromat because she's really good at folding clothes and I think either that or maybe she might be in the cleaning business because she likes to organize. She's tidy.

Michaela: I need the Pearl method in my home. Amethyst would be a camp counselor. She would be the wacky counselor who's getting too into the games.

Shelby: I'd want Amethyst as a counselor.

4. If you were a Gem, what would your gem weapon be and why?

Deedee: Because I'm a mom, I would want to have a healing blanket to heal them.

Michaela: The power of a bad joke. "Orange ya glad I didn't say banana?" So powerful.

Shelby: I would wanna read people's minds. Can I use that? Is that like Garnet's third eye?

Deedee: Similar but not.

5. How do you get into character when you perform voice-overs?

Michaela: I have an evolved routine. I wake up. And that's what I do. I'm so close to Amethyst! I wake up, I talk, it's acting.

Deedee: That comes so easy to you! I have to wake up early, and warm up, especially if it's a singing episode. No coffee with cream. I have to drink water to avoid sticky saliva. Green apples!

Shelby: I noticed that you ate green apples!

Deedee: I wish I didn't have to do that! But green apples help lubricate and get rid of mucus.

Michaela: Or a potato chip. Not a weird flavor.

Shelby: I'm gonna try those things next time I'm in the booth with you guys.

6. What's your favorite Fusion?

Michaela and Deedee: [Start singing "Giant Woman"]

Deedee: Though I do like Sardonyx.

Michaela: Every time a new Fusion appears I like that one. I'm crushing on Smoky Quartz.

Shelby: I like Stevonnie. That's an aesthetic I haven't seen in cartoons. It's Steven and Connie mashed together!

Michaela: Says young cosplayers remind her of Stevonnie with the maturity they exude. Stumbles over calling Stevonnie a "young woman" and then acknowledges they're a nonbinary Fusion. Says that easy confidence is so attractive.

Deedee: AJ is a perfect voice for Stevonnie. She killed it at the panel, and the singing with Estelle with Rebecca playing was amazing. What a great Fusion they are.

7. Give your best impression of another character.

Michaela: muhmuhmuh! [Onion voice]

Deedee: I'm nervous doing this in front of you. "YOU CLODS!" [Peridot voice]

Shelby: YOU'RE GONNA TAKE MY JOB AWAY!

Deedee and Michaela: NO YOU'RE THE BEST!

Shelby: Let's just fawn over each other.

8. How long does it take to record an episode?

Michaela: Depends on how many lines we have. Could be an hour, could be four hours.

Deedee: We get in at 9, could be wrapped up by 1.

Michaela: An episode takes ten months from the idea to on the TV.

Deedee: Like a baby. It IS a baby.

9. What celebrity would you like to see appear on the show?

Michaela: Rebecca Sugar. And T-Pain. He's a big Steven Universe fan.

Deedee: I just want to meet him and sing with him: Bruno Mars.

Shelby: I would wanna see Adele. Adele should voice a character. And she's funny. And she loves herself.

Michaela: Loving who you are is so on-brand!

10. Who's the best Steven Universe villain?

Deedee: Can I say Peridot? She started out as a villain and then changed for good. [Michaela helped express this and they say they Giant Womaned that.]

11. What would your fusion dance be?

Deedee and Michaela do a fusion dance with Shelby providing beatboxing.

Michaela: Actually that's how we greet each other on the street.

Deedee: I was nervous. Dancing in front of you makes me nervous because you're a pro dancer.

Shelby: Imagine us in a booth together! Our work isn't even work.

Michaela: People probably see us and ask if we had too much ginger ale. Too many vegetables.

Deedee: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY VEGETABLES. Fruits and vegetables. Also, hydrate. Drink lots of water.

12. What are your favorite memories from recording?

Deedee: We're still making more memories! The efforts! When we crack up over making effort noises.

Michaela: Do you hear that? It's an earthquake!

[All three make noises like they're losing their balance.]

Michaela: When we get together it's always a great time, like a mini family reunion. Recently AJ was there, Estelle was there, you [Deedee] were there, Paz was there . . . I think Zach wasn't there? Toks was there! [Nanefua's voice actor.] We had a reunion. We're so close!

13. What has been the most difficult scene to record?

Deedee: There are many re-dos. For me, the really wordy Pearl lines, 'cause I don't speak like that normally. The intricate dialogue that Pearl says is tough for me.

Michaela: You execute them flawlessly.

Deedee: Take after take after take.

Michaela: During Amethyst's angrier self-expression phases, it was hard to scream a lot and vary it so it didn't all sound the same. Very challenging.

Shelby: We're our own biggest critic. When we have long runs, we have to think so quickly. Finding the levels is important, trying to hit them emotionally.

Deedee: It's so helpful to have Rebecca, Kent, Matt, and Ben in the booth giving specifics to us on how to execute our lines.

Michaela: You both are so good at taking the text and making it feel like your own. I learn the most from watching other actors.

Deedee: We go to school every sesh!

14. Tell the fans what your favorite line is.

Deedee: OH MY GOODNESS.

Michaela: CHAIRS!

Deedee: I like saying everybody's names. "STEVEN!" "AMETHYST!" "~GARNET!" [The “Steven” read sounds fearful, the “Amethyst” read sounds angry, and the “Garnet” read sounds almost pleading.]

Shelby: Mine's definitely "Clod."

Shelby: On Sunday, Cartoon Network they're filming a music video for "Stronger Than You" with Estelle!

[The VAs sing a line from "Stronger Than You."]

Michaela: But we're not really stronger than YOU because you guys are really strong.

Deedee: Really strong. Stay strong! In the real way.

Shelby: YES.

[pinupgalore-lanadelrey]

Lana Del Rey for Elle

“I know that if I had more of a persona [before], I have less of one now. And I think it comes down to getting a little older. Maybe I needed a stronger look or something to lean on then. But I feel like it wouldn’t be hard for me today to play a mega show in jeans without rehearsing and still feel like I was coming from the right place.” 

“Looking back now I get a little more of what [the critics] were saying. When I was in the mix of a lot of reviews and critiques, I was kind of like, “What? I do my hair and my make-up just like everyone else for my pictures and my show, and yes my songs are melancholic, but so are whoever else’s.” So to see a couple other female artists not get criticized made me think, “What is it about me?” I think it comes down to energy, I really do. I wasn’t overtly saying “I’m unhappy” or “I’m struggling” in my music, but I think maybe people did catch that and they were saying, “If you’re going to put music like that out you better fess up to it.” But I don’t think I really knew how I felt. Then when things got a little bigger with the music, I was still figuring out what was important to me.” 

“I have cringey moments. Certain things I have said and certain songs I have done, but mostly the ones that were leaked.. I mean, they’re not my finest.”

What does performing on stage take from you emotionally and what do you gain from it? “It depends on the day. If I’m having a good day, it still takes a lot, but so much of it is physical. I try to take strength and sing from my core, so I have to actually feel good and get a lot of sleep. Of course, it also helps if my personal life is even; when you’re on stage for an hour, you think while you’re singing. I don’t like my in-between thoughts to be restless, or worrisome, so I can focus on the crowd. It’s not like you do it and it didn’t happen; it’s a real experience. I know rock bands who say they fucking love it- that they would [perform] every night and wouldn’t do anything else. I don’t know if it’s as emotional for them [as it is for me.]

Staying in L.A has made her happy right now -  “I’m growing my roots and meeting a lot of other friends, so I feel a little more settled. I have a friend called Ron who likes to swim with me. So every now and then we find an empty beach, jump in, and swim the length of the coast, from one side of the cove to the other.” 

Her friends are her family, says Lana and that’s why she can’t accept anything less than total honesty and trust from them. “The fact that I know that now makes everything a lot clearer. What’s interesting is how unsafe we [could] feel among each other [if we weren’t] able to express how we really feel. It’s hard knowing that if you tell someone exactly how you fee, like if you’re happy or unhappy, that could be the end of the relationship because they don’t feel the same way.”

“When you’re in your twenties, you let this cast of characters [into your life], especially if they’re in you’re in the arts. It didn’t matter what they stood for or what they thought was important. But as the years went on, there were things I saw in people that I didn’t like.”

Lana is enjoying being part of a music scene in LA where her friends include Emma Tillman, Father John Misty, Zach Dawes (Last Shadow Puppets), Jonathan Wilson and Cam Avery. They play music together which is not something she’s done with her friends before. The first time she had dinner with the whole gang, she thought “Wow, this is great.” “Feeling a part of something is definitely a nice feeling.” Karaoke competition - “If I am with the guys, they’re always on the microphone and sometimes it’s hard to grab it from them. Everyone pretends it doesn’t matter but you can tell there are moments in the choruses when people are really singing.”

“All the tough things that I have been through – that I’ve drawn upon [in my work] – don’t exist for me anymore. Not all my romantic relationships were bad, but some of them challenged me in a way that I didn’t want to be challenged and I am happy I don’t have to do that now.”

I asked whether she feels that when she admits she’s happy that something bad might be just around the corner? “Yes, sometimes. I have a little bit of that. I feel that it’s a human thing to be superstitious. Sometimes I like to say to my friends,”I don’t want to jinx it”. Or if I’m on the phone I’m like, “I’m so excited about this”, and then I’m just waiting for that phone call the next day... but there’s no such thing as jinxing it. Just let go.”

“I try not to do anything that won’t [make me happy], even if it’s just a show in a place that doesn’t suit me. It’s so simple; I always used to ask myself that, but I never listened [to the answer]because I knew I was probably going to do it anyway. If someone really needed me to do something, I would probably be like,”OK!”  I think happiness is the ultimate life goal. I think it’s the only thing that’s important. There are no mechanisms in place for routes to happiness, that’s the whole fucking problem. I think people are unhappy in school – the education structure has been the same for a long time and kids are still not satisfied with their educational experience. And you don’t have enough conversations when you’re young about what makes for a satisfying, mutual relationship. Those collective life experiences – your youth, your academic education and your education about business, marriage or relationship goals – they all lead up to your collective happiness. I think the emphasis is on the wrong things and it has been for a long time.”

“It would be weird to be making a record during the past 18 months and not comment on how [the political landscape] was making me or the people I know feel, which is not good. It would be really difficult if my views didn’t line up with a lot of what people were saying.”

I think it’s  a balance, I really do. You are so fortunate if you have good health and high energy because it takes a lot to be a responsible human. Responsible to yourself, responsible to others, and to know when not to get too deep into the wormhole of news, but still be politically in-the-know, and not be disconnected. In my life, it’s like walking on a tightrope.I read the news, but I won’t read it before bed; I won’t read it when I get up and I won’t read it between my recording sessions. I have windows of time where I check in and catch up with everyone, but I keep my sacred things sacred.”

I wrote “God Bless America” [a track on the album] before the Women’s Marches, but I could tell they were going to happen… I realized a lot of women were nervous about some of the bills that might get passed that would directly affect them. So yes, it’s a direct response in anticipation of what I thought would happen, and what did happen.”

Lust For Life - A pop collaboration with The Weeknd on the title track to the moody duet with Sean Lennon and Yosemite, a beautiful song about the way relationships change over time with the refrain that she’s “no longer a candle in the wind.”  The chorus of Yosemite is about doing things for fun, for free, and doing them for the right reasons. It’s about having artistic integrity; not because you think they would be big but because the message is something that’s important. And then it’s just about being with someone because you can’t see not having them in your life, not because it would be “beneficial” to you to be in their company. It’s that concept of just being in a relationship for 100% the right reasons. Being a good person, basically.”

 I actually am the best girlfriend because I only get into a relationship if I’m really excited about it. I’m unconditionally understanding, very loving and I like to be with that person for a lot of the time.  For me, the dream is to have a little bit of edge, the sexiness, the magnetism, the camaraderie, be on the same page and all that stuff, but without the fallout that comes from a person who is really selfish and puts only their needs first, which is like a lot of frontmen if we’re talking about musicians! I’m going to write a book one day called, ‘The curse of the frontman and why you should always date a bassist’. I guess I have a little bit of fantasy that really great relationships, friendships, and romances can stand the test of time. Even though each person in the relationship or the group changes, they don’t change in ways that would make the relationship come to an end. 

[daleisgreat]

Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story

Kevin Owens was only on WWE TV for about two years before WWE gave him the best of home video treatment complete with a biography and collection of his best matches. The DVD/BluRay hit in 2017 under the title, Kevin Owens: Fight Owens Fight (trailer). It is notorious for being WWE’s final regularly released BluRay (with the only exception being WWE’s annual Wrestlemania home video still getting the BluRay treatment). All other non-Wrestlemania home video releases from WWE since have only been in DVD. The documentary portion opens with a monologue of quotes of people doubting Owens making it in the business because of his unique musculature. I was one of those doubters too, but am glad he has since proved me wrong. From watching my one or two Ring of Honor shows a year I thought Owens could have still maintained the same One Man Gang-esque image he was going for, but felt he overdid it by 20% and I was/am concerned for his health because of it. I was legit shocked when the bio opens with lots of his early indie footage from his teenage years and Owens looked nothing like he is now and was in fit shape, with no beard and doing far more acrobatic moves similar to Rob Van Dam. My only criticism of the biography is that Owens never addresses the image he has now so I do not know if it is something he is doing intentionally for his character, or if it is a personal vice he has always been battling with.

The biography is one hour long and I was surprised that nearly a third of it focuses on his indie wrestling career. There have been other WWE-produced bios that lightly touch on indie careers of other stars, but Fight Owens Fight has thorough coverage of how Owens broke in as Kevin Steen alongside Sami Zayn, then known as El Generico, as they trained in former Jacques Rougeu’s training territory and went on to greater indie fame in Combat Zone Wrestling and then Ring of Honor. The feature interviews Owens’ fellow indie colleagues of that time such as Sami Zayn, Johnny Gargano, Neville, Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs to help provide context of what the indie scene was like at the time and how they were involved in some of Owens’ most heated rivalries from his indie days. Big ups to Ring of Honor and other indie leagues for providing plenty of footage to flesh this portion out. The doc heats up on Kevin’s journey from being scouted by WWE and working his way through the Performance Center system and into instant success in NXT. There is a lot of vintage training footage here of Owens rehearsing promos that he touches on were big stepping stones for him that were a delight to take in. I also dug how it recapped his early WWE success with his rivalries against John Cena and tearing it up with Sami Zayn on multiple PPVs. John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Jimmy Jacobs and Zayn all provide tremendous insight to make these matches and feuds stand out.

The bio wraps up recapping how Owens was disappointed with where he was in his career opening the 2016 edition of Summerslam, but how a freak injury to Finn Balor resulted in Kevin Owens winning the title on one of the following RAWs. I remember being stunned at the quick change to Owens winning the big one at the time and how he went on to have a successful half year title reign. It closes with Kevin’s family and peers putting Owens over. One last hair I got to pick is I would have loved to see this bio recap the tremendous friendship/rivalry between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho as that had such a great build that culminated in the memorable break-up at the ‘Festival of Friendship’ and their much hyped faceoff at Wrestlemania 33 that is included in the matches on this collection. Owens does have insight on this beloved rivalry with Jericho on his WWE Netork special for the ‘365’ series where WWE cameras followed him behind-the-scenes for one year. It is a very gritty look capturing a lot of Owens’ raw, unfiltered emotions during his run with and against Jericho and other feuds from a year of WWE television and is a terrific supplementary piece to Fight Owens Fight that I highly recommend checking out. There are an hour of deletes scenes/bonus stories on the collection, most of which are of significant caliber that they could have easily been woven into the main feature. About a third of them revolve around more indie highlights like walking out of the Jacques Rougeau league and touching on his feud with Steve Corino. Other noteworthy bonuses are crediting Enzo for ring attire ideas, and WWE Network episodes of Superstar Ink and Unfiltered with Renee Young that both featured Kevin Owens.

There are 15 matches included in Fight Owens Fight. Four of which are exclusive to the BluRay. As expected there are a few Sami Zayn matches, and unsurprisingly all of them are winners with their PPV blow-off bout at Battleground 2016 being the runaway best match of the 15 in this collection. Runners-up would be an inventive last man standing bout with Dean Ambrose and his awesome WWE PPV debut clash with John Cena at the 2015 Elimination Chamber. Definitely do not skip over the Dolph Ziggler match on a 2016 episode of Main Event. I did a double-take at its listing, but it is worth it as the match got a lot of time and has features a ton of hilarious improv from Owens getting himself over as the ‘king of headlocks’ in the match and Jerry Lawler having a blast with it on commentary. I have seen other home video collections from WWE before that they rushed out too early in a star’s career and that is not the case with Fight Owens Fight. It has a thorough biography with a surprisingly detailed look at his indie years and his early NXT/WWE success. Top it off with a mostly satisfying selection of his WWE and NXT matches and that results in this being a must-have for your collection. Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 > OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania 3: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

[rosaharrisonlma21]

A Chorus Line

For our assessment we had to complete a monologue, song and dance to the musical ‘A Chorus Line’. I really enjoyed this module as I think it is a great classic musical and was good to look into different ways of performing it.  My character for this piece was Kristine, who is a very tense, shy character, married to Al DeLuca, another auditionee. She constantly relies on Al for support and sometimes he has to finish her sentences off for her due to her being so flustered and shy all the time. She makes it past the initial stage and is aged 22 at the time of play.

Monologue

I chose Kristine’s monologue in which she is auditioning and telling of her past with dance. Throughout the monologue she is extremely nervous and keeps repeating herself and stuttering. When I first performed the monologue for our tutor, I performed the whole monologue as if I was nervous and scared. The points I received afterwards was to change the mood slightly at times to give it more depth, so that I’m not just feeling one emotion throughout. Our tutor suggested that I should act over excited for some parts and then switch back to being nervous when my character realises where she is and what she is doing. After this small change in the monologue, I then found it flowed more easy and was actually more of a realistic performance. We were asked to chose a song to perform our monologues over, not necessarily a musical theatre song but just one which fits. I found that when I was performing over a song being played, I lost the character a bit and I also found myself to be rushing the monologue, however once a new song was chosen by my tutor I then found it easier to perform the monologue over the piece. We had to stand in a line and act as if Richard, our tutor, was the casting director in A Chorus Line, Zach, and we were auditioning for him. Being in the line doing our monologues one by one made it a lot easier and more realistic for me. To be stood next to other people, we were then all able to use body language and facial expressions to one anothers monologue, not only creating depth to the scene as a whole but for each individual then made it easier to get into character and ‘be in the scene’ as whilst performing my monologue. Peoples reactions helped to fuel more energy and create a more believable performance from everyone as a whole. When performing my monologue for the actual assessment, I believe that I did it well and kept the character throughout the performance of ‘I Hope I Get It”, I used the feedback given from our tutor of where to slow things down, speed up, and change reactions and emotions and it worked well and I believe I did my monologue to the best of my ability.

Dance

For this module, the dance that we did was ‘One’ from A Chorus Line. The dance for One is stylistic, including use of double time, patterns, synchronisation and angles within the body. The dynamics were extremely important in this piece. 

As dance is my weakest attribute, I struggled at first to keep up with the choreography at times, however with extra rehearsals at home and coming in early and practising, I managed to have the full thing off by heart pretty quickly. However, I still had to work on my technique for certain things. One thing Lucy kept reminding me of was to stay on my toes whilst walking to the back and bring our knees high up whilst marching. Due to an injury I found this hard at first but again with practice and help from our tutor I then always remembered the feet and knees. 

The dance consisted of extending arms and legs out frequently and sharp, isolated moves. I found this slightly more difficult to do once using New Yorker shoes as practising in normal Jazz shoes was different and my legs were not used to needing more effort to extend properly. However, I continued to practice with the New Yorkers closer to the assessment and was able to complete the dance without the heels getting in the way of my ability. 

Although I practised intensely in and out of Uni, on the day of our assessment due to nerves I went wrong on quite a few occasions, including the timing of the first move, which had been practiced time and time again. Something I have learnt from this is to not let nerves get the better of me, as I was very disappointed in myself that after the hard work put in to make sure I performed the choreography correctly, I ended up doing it worse than I ever had before. To learn from this I will make sure that if possible I will meditate the morning of a next performance/assessment. However, I feel that I get more nervous if I am performing in studio in front of college/staff members rather than on a stage in front of a numerous amount of people. This is something that I need to work on personally, although throughout the performance I still acted my way through and made sure I did my best and sang all the right notes, the beginning mistakes knocked my confidence giving the whole performance a lower standard to what it should have been. This is something I can learn and grow from, as I am aware that nobody is perfect and it can happen to the best of us. We incorporated the song “I Hope I Get It’ into this module as well to perform our monologues, and during this, some parts were dance. 

Song

During our singing lessons for this monologue we sung ‘One’ and ‘I Hope I Get It’. One is the finale song of the performance, and it is a grandiose piece approximately 4 minutes long. Personally, I struggled at first with this song as there is tricky note jumps and rests, and fast paced tongue twisting lyrics. On top of this, toward the end of the song there was a two part harmony and also the boys split off and sang different lyrics. This was off putting at first but with repeated rehearsals and lots of practice at home, it wasn’t long before I had it right.

When we were first given sheet music it was important that we recapped on reading sheet music to jog our memory, then helping us to learn the song at a quicker pace and understand the rests and how long we hold notes on for. I enjoyed performing these songs as it was interesting to be singing a classical style of musical theatre contrasting with our rehearsals for our show, Legally Blonde which is contemporary. 

It is important to know where to position the larynx in order to achieve the correct notes to their best ability. Lowering the larynx increases the space in the mouth allowing a deeper, warmer tone. For technique, a low larynx position in the middle range can strongly influence us towards the upper register, falsetto, head voice, whatever you want to call it. In essence, away from the bottom register, or chest voice. This is largely down to the influence that resonance has on our vocal fold function. The broad name for this ‘Source Filter Interaction‘. Because a low larynx position can influence us away from chest voice, that obviously makes it a common tool for developing the vocal break and avoiding pulling the bottom register up too high. That is, if you don’t override it’s influence by trying to belt through it. Therefore meaning that the lowered larynx is to create a thicker tone, used in vocal qualities such as belt and sob, in comparison to lifting the larynx higher. The raised larynx generates a much brighter sound than it’s low counterpart, because it reduces space in the pharynx and that has a corresponding vocal quality. It’s a lot like speech quality in its softer form, or even that twangy country music sound in its extreme form. In any case, the higher larynx position, to varying degrees, is present in pretty much all contemporary styles. That means we have to be able to produce it well and without effort. (Naked Vocalist 2016)

Once you have mastered at controlling where the larynx is, it is then easier to focus on singing the song properly, along with other techniques we have learnt from our studies. One of these includes pushing the tongue out against the bottom teeth, this creates space in the mouth allowing the sound to resonate. Also when singing we have been using movement to also help achieve notes. Like bending our knees and bringing our arms out to the sides before then squeezing arms in. This allows the brain to visually memorise what we should be doing, creating space in our mouths is opening the arms and pushing them back together is the sound leaving the body.