#I have like 30 gifs from that episode yup

[godsworstson]

jimmy pop on loveline, 1999

[notgilderoylockhart]

The Wolfkiller Cloak

So I have this thing where sometimes I see something on screen and my brain just short-circuits. It scratches my brain just right, I need to have this, I need to make this. And that’s what happened in nearly every episode of Interview with the Vampire, but especially in season 2 episode 3 “No Pain”. 

This cloak has seared itself into my brain. The soft shine, the drape, the movement of the fabric (as Lestat is dragged across the floor and smashed against the wall) had bewitched me, body and mind. So I went out researching and decided to make one for myself, based on this pattern for a hooded cloak.

The fabric I used was stretchy velvet (for budget reasons, 6m) and a black lining fabric with a small diamond print (for fun, 4m). The pattern I used doesn't include a lining and I did think about leaving it out but in the behind the scenes footage (and when Armand smashes him against the wall, thank you for that) you could clearly see that there clearly is a dark lining on the inside of the cloak and my brain decided leaving it out just wasn't an option. So I just cut out the front and back piece twice, one velvet and one lining.

It might be 35°C and sunny outside, but you gotta press those seams. At least for the lining fabric. Then we can pin the lining to the the velvet, sew them together at the collar and start hemming the sides. Be warned. It's a lot of fabric, so you're gonna need a lot of space. I would also recommend (if you're using a stretchy fabric like me) to pin and, if you're able, even sew the hems while it's hanging on a hanger. Yes, I handstitched the sides and bottom hem. Ever since I started looking into historical reconstructions, I have kind of fallen in love with the lack of visible seams. Not to mention that hand stitching has also become something of a favorite pastime of mine while rewatching IWTV.

Now I shortened it, which was quite hard to do simply because it's so much fabric and I don't have a mannequin. So I hung it up, pinned where I wanted to cut it, tried it on, took a video, so I could see the where the cut would be and went from there. Took me a few tries, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Now that that's done, we can attach the shorter layer and the hood. My biggest issue was finding some fur, but lucky for me, I was cat-sitting for my downstairs neighbor who has been working as a theater seamstress for 40 year and who was out of town for the weekend, visiting her son who, unbeknownst to me, also worked for a big theater company. And both of them had made it their personal mission to find me some faux fur. And they did. This incredible faux fur was everything I wanted it to be. A wolf-gray with a red shimmer and some darker spots. I was over the moon.

And it was totally worth coughing up hairballs for the rest of the evening. In the original pattern there actually is a hood lining, but I just replaced that with the fur. I would absolutely recommend stitching the fur and the hood together, as the pattern instructions say. Do as I say, not as I do.

The other issue I had was the fur on the hood. I had ordered a faux fur hood attachment for a winter jacket, but the look and the feel just wasn't the same. So I went on ebay, as I so often do late at night, and kind of hit the jackpot. A fox fur stole, not one person bidding on it, 3 days left to go. Yup, I got it. 30 bucks plus shipping.

I mean, come on. What a difference.

The last issue, the final problem so to speak, was the fact that there was a big border of velvet on the inside of the cloak. Now I tried attaching a long piece of velvet fabric, but it just wouldn't sit right and after the 3rd time attaching and reattaching and getting increasingly frustrated I simply took the easy way out. I cut out a triangular piece of velvet and attached it right where the cloak would open. Sue me.

And there you have it.

And because it's summer rn and I don't have the energy to head outside at night to take some actual pics, I decided to whip something up in photoshop.

[thesirencult]

ICY DIARIES 💍💎

Episode 1 :

THE GIRL THAT NEVER GETS PICKED

Apart from being an evolvement coach by utilising astrology and tarot, I'm also an avid #hypergamy/levelup reader.

I always had strong opinions about how to advance in life and how to make the most of your existence.

I decided to start this series where I will be serving 🍽️ some good ol' soul food and knocking some sense into YOU.

Yup you, the one who always waits for that text back, who doesn't go after her dreams, who has HUGE potential but won't take that mothereffing leap of faith towards your higher self.

I'm tired of getting messages from ladies who beg for a tarot reading or a synastry reading over their scum bag ex who another tarot reader claimed it's their TwIn FlAmE.

ON OUR 1ST EPISODE WE START WITH THIS 💎

[I specifically picked the video above just so you can see the original scum bag's reaction and to be frank ladies ... This is how most men think. NOT ALL MEN. (I love men ❤️)]

"I'm not a pick me girl, I just have never been picked!"

I see you, I feel you my fellow certified lover girls.

I used to be one of you a few years ago. No one asked me on dates, no one flirted with me, no one approaches me on parties. THANKFULLY.

WHY THE HELL DID YOU WANT TO BE APPROACHED BY 17 YEAR OLD JEREMY WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO COOK AN EGG 🍳 ?

Don't let these boys lie to you. They would get it on with a blow dryer if they could. You see them approaching women who are not that "attractive" just to get laid. So, if you don't get approached and you are under 30 take it as a compliment.

Why ?

Because you belong to the TOP OF THE SHELF CATEGORY and boys can't reach that high. That's only for grown MEN.

All jokes aside, your self esteem has definitely taken a hit by not being approached. It can feel very lonely and ostracizing.

What I want you to do is to flip that feeling. What boys like the ones in the video mean when they say "Don't go out with your attractive friends because you won't get approached." is : Don't go out with your friends who are made specifically for the club, who put out and are ready to spend the night with any guy who would approach them (thus looking more approachable).

Maybe you're not a "club type" beauty. Maybe you are a "slow Sunday morning, having coffee at the balcony" pretty or a "spiritual sensual bombshell" type of beauty or an "earth shattering, ocean deep, scorching hot fire, wuthering" beautiful.

My point is, you are winning at the end. Our sensuality is sacred. We are portals to a different part of the universe that allows us to bring life into the world. Don't let anyone shame you, not even your own self.

Sometimes not being approached is a blessing in disguise.

[alex-guerin]

Tonight, for the first time ever, I get to see the very first canonically queer couple I've ever shipped get married and have a hard won Happily Ever After.

Pretty much every fandom I have ever been a part of, I have ended up shipping two male characters:

Jack Kelly/David Jacobs, Racetrack Higgins/Spot Conlon, Specs/Dutchy (1992 Newsies)

Greg House/James Wilson (House M.D.)

Templeton "Faceman" Peck/HM Murdock (The A-Team)

Tony Stark/Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson (The Avengers)

Crowley/Aziraphale (Good Omens -- could be argued they are canon, but it's not explicitly told that they are so for the sake of this we are going with not).

Charles "Trip" Tucker III/Malcolm Reed (Star Trek Enterprise)

It's always been a pipedream, though, to have two characters I love love each other.

Then one night this past March I decided to finally give Roswell, New Mexico a chance while bored and lonely at home, scrolling thru Netflix. I went into it not knowing there was a canon gay character.

The very first time I saw Michael and Alex on screen together, I remember thinking, "Yup. That's it. That's my new ship. I ship them. Don't care."

The next time they were on screen together, I actually sat up on the couch because, omg, their dialog was making it sound like they really could be gay and had been a couple at some point.

And then, this scene happened...

And I am not kidding when I say I fell off my couch flailing and screaming and fighting back tears because OMG THEY ARE!! THEY'RE GAY!! I DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, CUZ THEY ACTUALLY DO!!! And this was the pilot episode!

From that moment on I was hooked. I was so happy to finally have a canon queer couple!! And weirdly enough, they led me to some introspection of my own and made me realize that I myself am queer and that if I were ever able to/brave enough to transition that I would be gay.

I haven't been able to come out to many people except for on here because I know so many people in my life would react badly if I did (i.e. my family and even though I am 36, I do still currently live with them and I'd rather not deal with the fallout while under their roof). But slowly I have been trying to change things -- switching to Old Spice deodorant and bodywash, wearing guys shorts and flannels and pants, giving ambivalent answers to anything referring to me as female. Whatever I can do to make myself feel more like me without drawing too much attention to myself.

But tonight I get to watch my Emotional Support Queers get married. And for me that's like a confirmation that love wins. That even if your blood family hates you for who and what you are (Alex's dad forver hating him and thinking less of him for being gay, despite everything Alex did to try and prove himself worthy of love and respect from his family), it's okay to be who you are. There are people who will and do love you and support you no matter what. I will forever be thankful to these two characters and to the beautiful, wonderful, talented men who were brave enough to portray them so convincingly that for the first time ever I even found myself shipping the actors themselves. And I will also forever be grateful to Tyler Blackburn especially...who didn't finally find the courage to come out as bi until after he got the role as Alex...who was scared of coming out even into his 30s because he was afraid of how his family/father would react. Maybe some day I'll be as brave as him and be able to come out officially.

Thank you, Roswell New Mexico for giving me Malex.

Thank you Michael Guerin and Alex Manes for being so stupidly in love with each other even while trying to move on and be with other people, you were always going to end up with each other because you're cosmic soulmates. I'm going to miss seeing your stupid in love faces on my screen and watching you two grow as characters, a couple and eventually a family.

And finally, thank you Michael Vlamis and Tyler Blackburn, for everything you two have done in support of these characters and community. Your dedication to your characters cannot be beat and we love you both for it.

[shewhotellsstories]

Thank you for your detailed answer to my ask, I would like to comment on it again

Hiding? Oh, are you appearing much more publicly? I just want to protect my account from potential Su haters. I actually found your postings under the #anti suyin beifong, I specifically searched for this, because I am at least interested in other opinions

1. Shortly before the fight with Lin, Su said that she had already tried to reconcile with her sister several times and that when Su and Toph had made up, they asked Lin to join them, so that the three could be a family again, but Lin didn't want to. That is what I was referring to, of course Su made a few sassy comments, but only because she was hurt by how much Lin hated her. I also think that her apology at the end of the episode was sufficient, it was honest and sincere, and it was apparently enough for Lin too

2. How can Su be careless, when she was so happy to have Lin in her city? Clearly, she did care. It was also said in the episode that she and Varrick are friends, as was Bolin and Zhu Li at the time, who even helped him break out. Korra would have followed Aiwei one way or another, Su just made it easier and even honestly took the blame for it, when Lin asked, that is pretty mature if you ask me

3. Are you an only child? You don't want to know how many times I've been hurt by my siblings, I also have scars from them up to this day. They are just scars! No reason to make a fuss that will last 30 years. In addition, Su probably robbed a little shop, it would probably have been enough, if Su had returned the stuff, it wasn't necessary to hold her with force. Lin probably should have seen this coming, if she knew her sister that well, or she should have used her metal bending to dodge

4. Oh, I'm sorry I didn't study your entire blog, but nice to know we roughly agree on that

5. As I said, they are only scars. She didn't kill or seriously injure anyone, jeez it wasn't even on purpose. Blood is thicker than water and anyone, who cut ties, because of something like that, has probably never really loved their family in the first place. It wasn't Lin's job to pretend to be her mother, it would piss me off in Su's place too, because nobody likes it, when older siblings act like your parents

6. Yup, she shouldn't have done that. Su is under no obligation to tell neither Korra nor Opal about it, maybe she thought it wasn't her place to tell, but Lin's. Besides, if Lin hadn't been so stubborn and aggressive with her family, she wouldn't have had to apologize to Opal either

7. Putting your little sister in a car accident and arrest her afterwards, do you call protecting? I'm not saying Lin doesn't protect others, it comes with the job, but she doesn't do it for purely selfless reasons. For example, when she destroyed the airships, she didn't do it for Tenzin, but because that is her job and I suspect it was some kind of suicide attempt, like a kamikaze. Jokes on her, Tenzin and his family got captured anyway, so it was just plain pointless. Besides, no one betrayed her, she just didn't want to have anything to do with anyone, because she prefers to be lonely. Also, sometimes it is good to just get over things, because Lin was much happier after forgiving Su. She needed that too

Yeah, yeah, I know Lin has a lot of fans. But many of them are so deluded that they don't even want to see that Lin made quite a few mistakes. I also see that Su gets a lot of criticism, but she is actually a pretty well-written character, who has strengths and weaknesses, who made mistakes, who did good. Su is human and represents someone, who had a difficult childhood, made mistakes in the past, and developed into an independent, strong, charismatic woman. You can like whoever you want, but is it necessary to hate other characters?

Please put yourself in Su's shoes for once and tell me, if you still think that she is a bad, irresponsible and horrible person

Dude. What (and I cannot stress this enough) the fuck? I wasn't the one going into people's inboxes and throwing around words like pathetic for disliking a character. When I disagree about something I say it with my whole chest. I don’t name-call and hide behind a grey face and glasses. People can for better or worse tag me and respond.

And here’s a simple etiquette lesson: you don’t get to come out of the gate with “you’re hatred of [insert character’s name here] is pathetic” and expect politeness from me. 

This is some next level white-washing and apologism and I used to watch Once Upon a Time, so that’s saying something.

There is so much happening here, so I’m just gonna go in order:

1) I’d remind you that it looked like Lin had tried to tell Suyin to quit ditching school, tried to tell her not to waste her potential, and not to hang around with gang members. She got her face mutilated for her trouble. If that’s not motivation to wash your hands of someone I don’t know what is. Furthermore no one is owed reconciliation or forgiveness. Toph and Suyin weren’t entitled to Lin’s time or forgiveness after how horribly they treated her. And c’mon you say “I’m sorry I gave you a hard time,” when you borrow sweaters without asking and dent their car, not scar their face. She undermined Lin, downplayed her hurtful behavior, and threw her break-up in her face. Suyin just found being estranged inconvenient.

2)She’s careless because she does irresponsible things that hurt people and then acts like it’s no big deal when there are consequences. Suyin is the sort of person who will talk a big game about wanting to be a family, about wanting her sister back but without any of the work involved in making amends and reconciling. Instead of understanding that Lin had a right to be angry because she hurt her, she got mad that Lin wasn’t forgiving her on the timetable she set and insulted her.

And are you kidding me?? She sent the Avatar out into the city when she knew dangerous people wanted to kill her. Yes, Korra is impulsive that doesn’t mean people who should be older and wiser should encourage a suicide mission. And “took the blame” when she told Lin she acted like it was no big deal. Which is on brand, but still obnoxious.

3)To be perfectly honest it’s none of your business but yes, I do have siblings. I am also an adult with a good grasp on boundaries and I know tha blood isn’t a suicide pact. I know that in a perfect world all families would be loving and supportive, the reality is that sometimes families can be toxic and abusive. No one is obligated to put up with physical or emotional abuse just because the person dishing it out is a family member. It’s not fun or easy but cutting ties is the only course of option sometimes.

3 a) That’s super fucked up. Yeah kids play rough sometimes but at a certain age that becomes unacceptable. And in the case of Lin and Suyin we’re not talking about a pillow fight or wrestling match that went sideways. SHE. SCARRED. HER.

3 b) Holy white-washing and apologism batman. Do I truly need to spell out for you why probably terrifying and risking ruining a small business by robbing them is wrong? There’s nothing noble happening there. Suyin wasn’t getting what she needed from her mother but she’s not like Mako and Bolin. She wasn’t some starving homeless kid with no choice, she was a rich kid seeking a thrill and attention. She sauntered away because she expected Lin to let her get away with it. It was literally Lin’s job to stop robberies and she felt that not ignoring Suyin’s behavior would force her to clean up her act.

(credit: wormhole-judgement-line)

4)Not my fault if you don’t do your research anon.

5) If those are just scars then hell is just a sauna. I’m sad it needs to be said but scars aren’t always just scars. We’re not talking about a scraped knee, we’re talking about being left with a physical reminder of how someone you loved hurt you. Now, who could possibly relate to Lin? A certain Fire Prince. The power dynamics between siblings and a parent and child are different but would Zuko at any point have said that what Ozai did to him was just a scar???

6) Oh please, she was covering her own ass. If Suyin hadn’t thrown a pity party to gain the krew’s sympathy and been honest none of that would’ve happened. You can’t put it all on Lin who at least had the decency to sincerely apologize to Opal.

7) Wow. Reading this has been like a very strange, victim blamey fever dream. So Lin is still selfish for risking her life, comfort, and at one point her bending to keep people safe? Perhaps we Lin fans don’t have the market cornered on being deluded. We can talk about Lin’s self sacrificing nature possibly being rooted in feeling expendable, but what you said is just a bad take. And ‘happier” sure, who wouldn’t be happy after accepting a half-assed apology after spending days being bullied about totally valid feelings. It’s practically a Disney movie.

Personally, I think Lin would've been a heck of a lot happier if she'd realized that she didn't owe people who treated her with disrespect and disregarded her feelings her help.

Suyin acted out because Toph failed to parent her. Lin as the oldest felt the need to try and pick up the slack but it wasn’t her attention Suyin wanted. We can talk about if Toph being a bad mother is in character or an extension of Bryke’s weird extremes with their portrayal of motherhood. But Suyin growing up under supervised doesn’t excuse her behavior. Considering Toph’s hands off approach it’s not shocking that even as an adult Suyin fails to grasp that actions have consequences but yeah, even as an adult at her core Suyin is careless and no one ever takes her to task for this. So:

Blood isn’t thick enough to resign oneself to a lifetime of being used as a punching bag. Blood doesn’t make someone’s presence in your life healthy or safe. Blood is just a start, if your family is toxic and cruel you don’t need to deal with them.

“you’re allowed to hold your family at arm’s length. family can be toxic. family can be abusive. family can belittle you, invalidate you, or make you feel unsafe. you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone who disagrees. —do what you have to do.”

-Amanda Lovelace, Break Your Glass Slippers.

[autie-j]

Webby is autistic headcanon

From the moment that I first started watching Ducktales back in November 2019 I got serious autistic vibes from Webby. And on my initial watch of the series I decided to take it upon myself to record every bit of evidence that I found throughout the series. I don’t think I have ever had such a strong autistic headcanon before.

There's:

In the first episode she misses the social cue that Louie is lying to Donald. Louie: "Hey, Uncle Donald. Nope, yeah, pretty boring. We napped, rubbed ointment on our joints. Old people stuff." Webby: "Oh, no no what?! What about the dragon? And the plane crash?"

Literally the entirety of 'Daytrip of Doom' but specifically the free water cup scene. Webby: "I was hoping you could hook me up with one of those free water cups, you know for fruit punch." Waitress: "you suuure you don't want it for water?" Webby: "Yes for water, fruity water that really packs a punch, am I right? (Winks with both eyes)" Waitress: "I...I don't know." Webby: "I mean fruit punch" and then not understanding Louie's hand gestures.

This scene:

In 'The Beagle Boys Massacre' Webby shows she has trouble recognizing sarcasm. Lena: "Real smooth moves back there." Webby: "Ha! Thanks! Wait, was that sarcastic?" Lena: "Nope." Webby: "Ha! Thanks! Wait was that-" (also the most relatable dialogue I've ever heard. I've had that conversation like a million times in my life)

In 'The Beagle Birthday Massacre' Dewey: "I don't know what any of that means." Webby: "Now you know how I feel half the time!" which like mood

Special interest in Scrooge McDuck, the supernatural, survival, treasure hunting, etc

Very rule oriented. In Jaw$ she says "are you excited for our sleepover? We're gonna brush our teeth, go to bed on time"

Infodumps a lot about her spins. In Jaw$ she tells Lena without prompting "did you know there's a military grade tuck in that's also used as an interrogation technique?"

"I've read online that the number one sleepover activity is-" she researches what to do in social events.

Doesn't realize how uncomfortable she's making Scrooge when she says she knows everything about him in "From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22" and that scene where she just stares at him while he drinks his tea. And just the entirety of that scene where she's talking to Scrooge as he drinks his tea.

And she definitely has issues with personal space as evidenced by the bus scene and this scene

In the Ducktales short Dewey Dew Night: The Sidekick, Dewey says "So you were telling me about something funny that happened in the cursed antiquities room today?" Webby: "No I wasn't, I just got here" Dewey: "No no, earlier. Before the show when we talked about what you would talk about on the show." Webby: "oh right, and you told me to mention that funny thing you said when I accidentally mislabeled an artifact and you said-." Proving that Webby definitely has a tendency to take things literally.

In the Ducktales short "30 Things with Webby Vanderquack", in her list of things she loves to do Webby lists, "laughing, even if I don't get the joke", confirming that she often doesn't get the jokes other people make (it happens often enough for her to comment on it). Also, not getting the joke but laughing along anyway is so relatable

Also in the Ducktales short Webby reacts, Webby shows that she takes things literally when in the Andy Mack video the one character asks the other character to be a couple and Webby responds, “A couple of what?” Also in the same video she says “Awkward like Webby. Oh that’s me” which like relatable

Yup, definitely a spin on Scrooge McDuck. In The Other Money Bin of Scrooge McDuck- Lena: "Its just, Mr. McDuck is pretty cool. I may have caught a bit of the obsession bug from you." Webby: "oh no! Sorry you caught the greatest disease ever! Oh, oh, let's start a fan club!" And she researches her spins extensively and tends to info dump about them. In the same episode- Webby: "But I do have an exhaustively researched presentation on the life and times of Scrooge McDuck!" Lena: "Oh no." Webby: "Scotland 1867, a duckling was hatched to humble beginnings." To which Lena sighs and looks bored. And then the episode cuts to Huey Dewey and Louie and by the time it cuts back Webby is still infodumping about Scrooge and Lena has fallen asleep.

Webby's face when she finds out Castle McDuck holds the secrets for all things Scrooge McDuck which is her spin. And Dewey describes it as a joy overload.

In The Last Crash of the Sunchaser, when Hewey, Dewey, and Louie are trying to act casual and whistling, instead of playing along like they are Webby looks awkward and says, "inconspicuous whistling, just a casual whistle."

In "The Golden Spear" Webby misses the social cue that Huey doesn't want want Donald to know about the tape they're going to watch.

The episode "Friendship Hates Magic" shows another example of Webby having routines. Lena is able to predict everything that Webby is about to do and say, implying that she does the same exact thing every time she visits the library. Lena even says later "sorry she's got a library day routine"

Also Webby says "Hi, I'm Webby so often that I'm convinced it's a script that she's practiced for when she meets new people.

When Webby is trying to think of what other kids like to do and she says, "What do normal kids like? Games! And pie!"

Doesn't recognize/understand when Fenton is flirting with Gandra while Huey does. Misses the social cue. Webby: "Are they fighting?" Huey: "Oh Webby, this is a standard romantic meeting of adults, often known as a meet cute."

She also definitely has hyper empathy as evidenced throughout the series but definitely with how she reacts when Lena reunites with the triplets. 

[missshezz]

Another week and another disappointing episode of The Omega Sue show (trust me, folks, the show is all about the godling with the titular characters used just to lure us in).

I know people are trying to explain the five episodes since the first one away as slowly building the story, getting us to love the characters and all but...

It’s not building the story or focusing on the characters at all.

There is a technique to world building. Infusing tidbits here and there to create intrigue and add mystery. Build suspense and ramp up the drama. Not every episode has to be action-packed.

It does need to move the story forward. Every episode should be building towards the “end”. Sixteen episodes is not a lot when you have a 28-30 minute runtime. Every minute counts.

Sadly, the only focus of Bad Batch is on easter eggs, characters I didn’t give enough of a shit about to sit through multiple episodes of in Clone Wars and telling us how awesomely special and wonderful some ten-year-old twerp is.

Hunter has become a caricature of himself, Tech is reduced to snarky comments, Echo has been turned into a service droid and Wrecker has become a dumbed down wreck.

All to allow one female character to shine.

Here’s some notes I wrote as I watched the episode this morning:

Of course, even the scum in Cid’s cantina fawn all over Omega Sue, why wouldn’t they?

She isn’t a natural? So, we’ve forgotten she outshot Crosshair her first time using a blaster?

And Omega tags along, again, on a mission she’s unnecessary for...

“Stay here...” yeah, right, that won’t happen... (and it didn’t because the little brat was needed to get into trouble so Hunter could rush to her rescue).

Useless CW characters I didn’t care about in CW showing up because why not? We don’t want story or to see the Bad Batch as the elite force they are. Noooo, we want to see them needing rescue by a child week after week while getting random guest appearances of characters we don’t care about or want instead of, yanno, the ones we do!

Wrecker again bumps his head and we start to see his chip failing. Oh, we can’t get CROSSHAIR in any of these episodes but can hear his voice as Wrecker is laying there. Thanks for that, Dave! Cannot give us Crosshair but you can remind us he was their lookout by shoehorning your brat into his place!

Of course Hunter rushes to the Godling’s aide (gee, didn’t rip this off from another movie, either, did ya, Dave?)

And the useless characters even come to her aide and fall in love with her, too because gosh darn-it, she’s just sugar and spice and everything nice!

Ah the “unnatural” who was struggling in the beginning to even shoot the damn bow has suddenly perfected shooting the damn bow! Yup, didn’t call that, at all!

Folks, this episode would have worked a ton better without Omega in it. It was the perfect episode to showcase the Bad Batch struggling with being one man down (a vital member of their team, at that). Gave them a challenge to overcome as they tried to retrieve the tactical droid and fight the security droids because they’d realize how much of a well-oiled machine they were until the team fragmented.

The time wasted on Omega getting into trouble could have explored Wrecker’s head situation and put concern into the others about those chips and what they could cause them to do. Made them start wondering who they could turn too and ask for help.

The ending with the girls contacting whoever is another meh because it will not lead to anyone I wanna see (Rex, specifically or even Bail Organa as I initially thought it might be). It will likely lead to another guest appearance of another CW, Rebels or Mandalorian character because that’s all Dave Filoni is interested in giving us: rehashed storylines, one-dimensional Sue characters, and easter eggs that don’t deliver the show we were promised.

[saleintothe90s]

427. Super Bowl 1991 Commercials (1/27/1991)

(I love that this carefree ad ran in the WE’RE AT WAR issue of my local paper, Daily Press, ten days before the Super Bowl):

I believe my mom would save the papers from the war, and send them to my dad who was out to sea at the time. That’s the only reason why we still have this copy that’s in my collection right now (I took this pic back in 2017 when I re-found it). 

So, anyway, just like 30 years ago, Super Bowl 2021 is being held during an uncertain time in the country, and just like in 1991, advertisers were hesitant. Diet Pepsi pulled a “call this number for your chance at a million dollars” ad days before the game, citing “world events”, and the fear of “Disrupting our nation’s ability to communicate” 1: 

New York Times on wartime Super Bowl coverage the following day: 

Even the commercials were affected by events in the Gulf. In most Super Bowl telecasts, the messages are slick and expensive. This year's batch was somewhat toned down because of the war, most notably the ads of Coke and Pepsi, which abandoned ambitious promotions and made sure the viewer knew it. (And didn't Pepsi have to love that halftime shot of a soldier drinking its product while watching the game in Saudi Arabia?) 2

(source) 

Before we get started, I have to mention Whitney Houston’s Star Spangled Banner from that year. Every Monday morning in elementary school, we had to stand for the Star Spangled Banner along with the Pledge of Allegiance. For weeks after the game, we always stood for the Whitney version. I always refer to this Super Bowl as the “Whitney Houston Super Bowl”.

Ok, now to the “subdued” (?) commercials, beginning here: 

Look, I know that Jay from the Purple Stuff Podcast said he loved this commercial in the Super Bowl Commercials episode, but I think this Bugle Boy commercial with the GoGos is so lame. I mean, I’m going to say it, were the GoGos still relevant in 1991? Was Bugle Boy clothes still a thing in 1991? 

Are picture-in picture TVs still a thing?!

Bud Bowl 3 with Bud Dry this year! I predict Bud Light will win this year.

At 4 minutes in, Advertising History happens. Yes, it’s the Ray Charles Diet Pepsi UH-HUH commercial! I was seven when this aired, so this was one of the first big commercial campaigns I really remembered. I have this strange memory of seeing a TV interview with the Uh-Huh girls (Meilani Paul, Darlene Dillinger and Gretchen Palmer) , and they said they were coming out with an album soon, and little me was like, “I’m going to buy that album”. It never came out. 

Ray made an appearance on Pepsi cans in 2018. I never got my hands on the Ray can, I always got Britney or MJ when I got a pack of Diet Pepsi that Summer. 

I’ve been meaning to watch the John Goodman critical flop King Ralph for months now. 

Is wielding around a giant bottle opener legal at the Bud Bowl?

Part 2 starts with an upset at the Bud Bowl -- Bud Light hid the football in his label? what? So many questions with the commercials this year. 

Peter Jennings updates us during the commercial break about the war. The Air Force was using smart bombs to disturb the oil flow into the Gulf, started by the Iraqis.  It was 3am and quiet in Saudi Arabia. 

Earlier, I mentioned that I was just a little kid when this was going on, and I don’t remember much. However, I do remember thinking “Iraq” was spelled “Arrack”, until I saw the word “Iraq” in a newspaper headline. 

Peter will be back at halftime for another update. Yup, you heard me, no halftime show was broadcast that year. If you were at the stadium in Tampa that year you saw the show with the New Kids on the Block and an “all kids Super Bowl”, but if you were watching it on TV, you got the news, and maybe after the premiere of Davis Rules after the game, you saw the show, pretaped, but most people didn’t see the show. There’s a great video by Secret Base about the “worst halftime show ever”. Peter Jennings was “the Beyonce of 1991″. It looks like from Secret Base’s video that we didn’t miss anything. i mean a small bowl-cut haired boy sang “Wind Beneath My Wings”, which I’ve mentioned before, is the saddest song ever: 

(that little kid has major hair roots)

 The original World Football League only lasted two years.   I found an early game on YouTube.

McDonalds thought that neon clad skiers could sell its steak sandwich with onions, mushrooms, and sauce that looks little McRib-y.

Here is a Harlem Globetrotter dancing with Miss Piggy. 

Karl Malone had some jazzy LAGears.  Did you know that there are some LAGears on the Payless Shoes website? 

I have more questions, what is that popping out of that Panasonic TV? A remote control? Way back in the beginning of this website, I asked another question about a Panasonic Commercial that aired this evening.

 Bud Bowl update at the end of part 2: 

Part 3

Oh, give me a break with this elementary school garbage, Hertz. This is the Super Bowl.

All the goodwill I gave the Ray Charles Diet Pepsi commercial is out the door after hearing Jerry Lewis sing murder the song. 

A 40 oz of Budweiser crushed and murdered some Bud Light bottles. Game’s tied.

Part 4

~the new Panasonic portable laptop word processor~ Nope, this wasn’t a computer, it just handled word processing. 

Eriq La Salle played an olympian in a Budweiser commercial. ~America~

Ok, Boomer. But seriously, l’m 37, and I still want Reebok Pumps. 

Diet Coke dumped their Leslie Nielsen commercial, and instead ran a commercial stating why they didn’t feel right airing it? I don’t think this commercial would hurt anybody’s feelings or offend anybody, Diet Coke. In 1994, The New York Times mentioned it as an ad fail: 

In 1991 the Persian Gulf War overshadowed the cola wars, forcing Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola to reassess plans to promote contests with humorous commercials.

Coca-Cola went ahead with its contest, but replaced its silly spots, starring Leslie Nielsen as a bumbling police detective, with serious spots, including one announcing a $1 million donation to the U.S.O. There have been few more surreal moments in advertising history than when a somber-voiced announcer in a no-frills Diet Coke commercial asked consumers to play the "Crack the Code for Real Refreshment" game.

Pepsi, by contrast, scrapped its contest but stuck with its funny commercials, featuring Ray Charles warbling "You got the right one baby, uh-huh!" for Diet Pepsi. The result: Diet Pepsi trounced Diet Coke -- and Coca-Cola has yet to return to the Super Bowl. 3

A sense of relief washed over me when I saw my bbys, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey in an American Express commercial.

Jon couldn’t shop at Needless Markup. 

Budweiser is cheating again. 

(part 5)

Bud Light won fair and square!

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1. “Pepsi Promotion Fizzles Out.” Broadcasting, January 28, 1991. 26. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1991/BC-1991-01-28.pdf 

2. Lapointe, Joe. “SUPER BOWL XXV: TELEVISION; ABC’s Coverage Stays in Perspective.” The New York Times, January 28, 1991, sec. Sports. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/28/sports/super-bowl-xxv-television-abc-s-coverage-stays-in-perspective.html.

3. Elliott, Stuart. “Super Triumphs and Super Flops.” The New York Times, January 30, 1994, sec. Business. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/30/business/super-triumphs-and-super-flops.html.

[namtanlovesfilm]

axelle judges bl shows > Make Our Days Count

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD.

shitty summary: Xiang Hao Ting starts hating his classmate Yu Xi Gu when he believes that he’s trying to steal his girlfriend, until he doesn’t anymore.

where to watch: viki

grade: 6/10

pros:

- the chemistry between both couples (even though I didn’t follow the second couple’s storyline which I will touch on later) is absolutely incredible. it is comparable with my holy grail of bl, crossing the line, but because they had much more screentime (20 episodes instead of 8), it really has the time to develop into one of the greatest chemistries I’ve ever seen

- the acting is incredible, there wasn’t one bad performance but I must especially applaud Hao Ting’s actor who did an amazing job!

cons:

- really badly done major character death. I don’t mind a sad ending, in fact my favorite bl of the year, Indigo No Kibun, has a sad ending, or even the death of a lgbtq+ character like the movie Dear Ex for example, but this one was just terribly done. a death, especially of the main character who’s lgbtq+ at that, should be handled extremely carefully. this one not only comes from nowhere, but serves no purpose in the plot except making the other main character suffer and provide a sad ending. it’s especially cruel since it kills a character who has had a difficult life right when he finally gets the happiness he deserves, and it also feels like the whole 20 episodes series has been pointless. I’ve seen people praise the series for changing it up with an ending we didn’t expect but I absolutely disagree, this ending was lazy, cruel and disrespectful to the viewers who had been used to the HIStory series having a happy ending. overall it absolutely ruined the series for me and many other viewers.

- I also had a problem with the secondary couple, one being still 17 and the other being around 30 years old. some people reminded me that 17 is above the age of consent in Taiwan and I had to tell them it wasn’t my issue. the thing is, a relationship between a 17 years old and a 30 years old is absolutely NOT equal, no matter how much people wanna pretend it is. if it was a 17 years old girl with a 30 years old guy, people would call him creepy and predatory, but because make our days count presented a same-sex relationship it was deemed okay. it also really annoyed me how age was barely an obstacle in the relationship... that ship just didn’t sit right with me

- I realized pretty early on that there was no real storyline in the show? at first there was one, and then as the series progressed it became clear to me it had no direction so it became ‘cute boys being in love’, and as much as the actors’ chemistry could pull it off, it really felt like a step back from Crossing the Line (yup I’m always gonna reference this gem) or even Trapped which I liked less but at least had somewhat of a solid plot. this series, especially taking the terrible ending into account, felt just pointless.

- there’s still the ‘I don’t like guys but I like you’ trope which is immensely annoying to still see in 2019... like yes people like that exist but the overwhelming majority of people who like the same sex, even once, are on the lgbtq+ spectrum

would I rewatch it: only the Hao Ting and Xi Gu’s scenes once I get over the ending, yes

top/bottom discourse: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3

(one being implied, two being shown and three being said)

Sadly while the chemistry and acting of the show kinda saved a lot of the show and made it watchable, it doesn’t make it a good show and it’s in my opinion the second worst HIStory show after Right or Wrong.

[themakebelievediaries]

Catfished : Episode 6

“I have to go meet him.” you have no idea why that came out, you aren’t even sure if you really let out those words.

“Are you kidding me?!!” Beth grabs your arm and pulls you to a corner, “What part of the creepy message did you not understand?!”

“Beth, I have been talking to this guy for 6 months, if he is some sort of-”

“Murderer.”

“Would you stop calling him that!”

“Well what other explanation do you possibly have for a man who apparently knows what you look like without you even telling him?!” Beth did not take a breath between that sentence.

You know she’s right, there is something so off about this whole thing yet, you find yourself unable to pull back, everything in you screaming ‘you’re in love’.

Are you really going to let love risk your life?

“He could have traced my IP address or even my username, he is a computer genius you know?”

Beth stares at you with an exaggerated straight face “Yeah. That’s totally normal and non-psychotic”

You sigh, looking down at the phone screen, all this fuss over a person you never met.

“I’ve waited 6 months Beth” your voice carrying a rather depression tone, barely audible but she heard you.

Beth’s eyes rolls up, she takes a deep breath almost like she cannot believe what she is about to do “The Alley is a dead end” she mutters,

“What?” You move closer to hear her better,

Beth tilts her jaw, she didn’t want you to know it but as your friend she is obliged to tell the truth.

“The alley is a dead end, there is nothing that happens in there that the crowd outside won’t see”

“Beth, are you saying, I’m –“

“Yes, yes you’re safe” Beth’s mouth is twisted,

“Ah!” you leap unto her, hugging her tight, “wait.” You look her in the eyes, with your hands on her shoulders “then why the mom speech?”

“I didn’t want you getting hurt, what if he isn’t there?”

“Whether I get hurt or not, it’s my decision.”

Beth smiles “okay fine, Go meet your samurai prince”

You both hug once more, although your eyes grow wide as you see Steve approaching you in his new costume,

You pull out of the hug with Beth and your jaw drops in awe,

Beth sees your expression and is confused “What?”

She turns around “Sweet merciful pineapples”

Steve couldn’t have been better looking at any time than he was at this moment, A long blue coat with gold embroidery and hems, complete with cream tights and boots that marks his prince charming costume,

“Hello ladies”

“Nice.” You smile wide,

“He’s tall, how have we not noticed that he is tall?” Beth whispers to you then quickly straightens up toward him “And what are you supposed to be?” she tries to be her snarky, nasty self to him,

Steve bows gently to where his eyes met Beth’s and he takes her hand “Prince” he places his lips on her hand and presses down gently then looks up with a smile that’s brighter than the sun “Charming”.

Beth turns bright red “I need a bathroom in the moment” Beth shuts her eyes and starts giggling awkwardly “I mean a moment in the bathroom” she snatches back her hand and runs off.

“Uh, what just happened?” you chuckle as you see her disappear in the complete opposite direction of the bathroom.

“I won” Steve smiles goofily,

“You won? and why do you wear the costumes she wants every Halloween?”

“Beth and I have this bet every year, loser wears the costume of winner’s choice”

You raise an eyebrow “What’s the bet?”

“Last year it was who could eat the most Marsh mellows, classic chubby bunny but this year we went all out with dares”

“So she dared you to wear the Cinderella outfit?”

“Yup, if I remove it I lose”

“But you did remove it, how did you win?”

“Well there is a flaw in her dare” Steve raises his coat revealing the blue corset part from the dress, you place a hand over your mouth “She didn’t say I couldn’t modify it now did she?” he chuckles

“Oh my God, Steve you’re pure genius” you are in awe “What was your dare for her?”

“I dared her to not show that she has feelings for me no matter what I do”

“Oh yeah she definitely lost” you laugh

“I’m going to go find her, thanks for spilling your drink on me, it’s what gave me the idea”

“Anytime Steve” you curtsy for fun, he soon disappears into the crowd,

“Steve and Beth, I would have never guessed” You think out loud,

You look at your phone, it’s been 10 minutes since the message was sent, GreenNinja must be waiting for you,

“It’s time” you say with a smile to your phone as if he could somehow hear you and then you drop him a text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“April took it really well and plus those cops gave us the key to the city!”

“It’s different with April, she’s family” Leo tries to reason with the ever so jittery Donnie,

“Dude, she fainted” Mikey chuckles, to which Donnie gives him the death stare “Woah, bad vibes dude”

“We don’t know this girl and she doesn’t know we exist, they tend to be happier when they don’t know we exist” Raph adds,

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but, Raph is right”

“I can’t believe you’re saying this either” Donnie looks at Leo, his face straitened with disappointment, there is a silent language between Leo and Donnie as they lock in eye contact.

“What’s going on here?”

Leo did not want to break eye contact but Donnie is forced to when his tablet makes a sound he looks forward to hear *pling*

He grabs his tablet and looks into it and his forehead wrinkles as he frowns,

“What is it?” Leo peers into the tablet,

NerdGirl4Eva : I’m coming *smiley face*

“That’s odd” Donnie looks up at Leo “I didn’t send her a message since last night”

Donnie looks through the history of chats, with his brother’s heads hovering over the tablet screen from all sides.

GreenNinja03 : I’m unlike anybody else.

GreenNinja03 : Let’s just say you would be surprised.

“Cool username dude” Mikey peeps through the tiny gap between Leo and Donnie,

Donnie is suddenly flustered and his face slowly turns red at a very small realization that his brothers are looking at his chat history with you, all the geeky, goofy things he told you, all the bad jokes that you replied so happily with a laughing emoji all the sweet nothings and compliments, a sense of embarrassment fills him that his other side with you is on display to his bad ass Ninja brothers.

NerdGirl4Ever : I don’t care what you look like, I saw your heart and I just want to see the man attached to it.

NerdGirl4Ever : Look, I understand you’re nervous, I am too.

NerdGirl4Ever : But if you want to, there’s a party tomorrow night at 8:30, you need to wear a costume because well, it’s Halloween. I’m going to send you the address.

NerdGirl4Ever : I really hope you come.

“Damn, this girl can talk up a storm” Raph comments “She’s perfect for you Donnie” Donnie feels a strong pat on his back,

Donnie knows this is just the beginning of all teasing so he shrugs it off to show it doesn’t get to him.

“I didn’t reply to any of these” Donnie says,

“So you did say ‘You look beautiful tonight’ even though it has your name before it” Leo raises an eyebrow to Donnie,

“Why would I say that? She isn’t supposed to know that we kn-“ Donnie pauses looking at Raph and Mikey “I mean that “I” know what she looks like”

Raph narrows his eyes at Donnie,

Donnie ignores him and continues “And I most definitely did not tell her to meet me in the Alley”

“What’s going on here Donnie?” Leo asks

“Someone is pretending to be me” he grabs his high tech goggles and scans the area around the club, trying to spot you “and Y/N is falling for it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The alley is as Beth said it is, a dead end.

Still very dark, very creepy and of course very smelly.

The walls on either side are spray painted with words you can’t make out, there’s a pile of trash and the light from the club only goes so far as to reach the trash cans, the rest of the way is pitch dark and there is no way you are going into that,

So you stop at the edge of the light and squint your eyes to let them adjust in the dark “hello? anyone there?”, In hopes of spotting someone, anyone.

To your surprise, you did.

A slender silhouette of a man in the dark is what you see, you are a tad bit creeped out you could sense he is facing you, so you step back, you jerk when he speaks,

“Don’t be scared, it’s me, GreenNinja03” his voice young yet deep like a boy who catches puberty early.

That’s it! He says the username, it’s definitely him.

“Why are you in the dark?”

“I didn’t-“ he pauses for a second like he is gathering his thoughts “want the others to see my costume before you did”

“Why don’t you come into the light so I could see?” you smile,

The figure in the dark is suddenly getting closer and closer and no one truly knows how scared you are but you stood your ground and the crowd in front of the club, gave you assurance that you are safe.

The slender figure paused before stepping into the light,

A tall slim man, dressed in what seemed to be an all-black Ninja suit, he thought of everything, he had nunchakus on his belt and a sword strapped onto his back, and of course a mask that covered his face,

You are relieved and couldn’t wait to tell Beth, he’s an ordinary guy.

“So do I get to see your face?”

He steps closer, “You know a Ninja is never seen unless he wants his victim to see him”

You smile, clearly confused “What?”

He suddenly grabs your arm and pulls you into the dark, you try to scream but his hand suddenly clamps your mouth the moment you are out of the crowd’s sight.

Suddenly the shadows begin to move, whilst you struggle to get away, figures suddenly appear from the walls and dark corners, you were held by 4, no 5, there’s too many to count!

No one is seeing this,

With the loud music thumping out of the club no one can hear you scream into the masked man’s hand “HELP!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note : Hey! remember me? I hope you guys are all doing well. I’m sorry this took forever but I promise you my reasons are legit, with that being said hello from Srilanka! this is the main reason I’m super late with this so bear with me guys, I love you loads and I hope you enjoyed this episode. Feedback is always appreciated!

Love and Hugs, Jo xoxo