#THE NEW SEASON IS ALREADY MOST LIKELY GOING TO PREMIER ON OR RIGHT BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY IT NOW LEGALLY NEEDS TO FEATURE CUBFAN135

[funkyplantguy]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN CUBFAN135 SAID THAT THERE'S ALWAYS A CHANCE HE'LL BE IN THE NEXT LIFE SERIES

[stablersolivia]

Thoughts on Caryl/MMB/TWDCaryl

First things first, I'm super new to the fandom stuff involving anything The Walking Dead... but I've been through this before.

So--- I began The Walking Dead in 2018, which is around when Season 8 was about to premiere I believe (correct me if I'm wrong). Nevermind the fact I watched the premiere episode all the way back in 2010 and for some reason, never watched again, lol. All I remember is binge watching the first 7 seasons and waiting for the new season to air. But something came up, and I somehow lost track of the new episodes. Fast forward 6ish years and I decided to rewatch from the beginning ...on election night .... to distract from the chaos. I ended up watching the entire series (plus two seasons of #TWDCaryl) in 3 weeks.

Similar to many other fans, I loved the whole cast, but something drew me to Carol and Daryl the most. I remember loving them the first time, but I never really "delved" into it. I liked the idea of them, but I wasn't super... shippy if that makes sense. But---and this is important--- I was already fully immersed in a long-term ship already in EO. Yeah, that EO. The 25 year long slow burn ship from Law and Order SVU. I guess you can say I didn't have the brain function to obsess over two different ships... at least not back 6ish years ago, which is still about 2 years before news broke Chris Meloni/Elliot was coming back to the franchise after 10 YEARS away. SO--- if you're familiar at all with that and/or EO and the drama with the ship itself, the other ships within the show, and the fans --then we're on the same page.

Which brings me back to Caryl/TWD spinoff. I can't say I'm super surprised at the drama surrounding the new spinoff ---which I was insanely excited about years ago when it was first announced even though I hadn't watched the show in a couple of years. Plus, I was a Caryl fan from the beginning too. But then the news broke that Melissa wasn't going to be on the spinoff after all and I remember thinking --- I'm kind of glad I didn't get as invested in them as I have EO (which is ridiculously invested ---17 years worth of fanfic, fanart, twitter, tumblr friends, etc). But after rewatching the series in its entirety this past November-- I've lost that battle. While I didn't hardcore ship Caryl the first time around (even though I really liked the idea) ---I'm down bad now. Especially after watching seasons 9/10/11 and now the spinoff. My twitter bookmarks, tumblr queue and tags are a Caryl mess right now and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I absolutely adore Melissa and Norman, and their friendship mirrors Chris and Mariska's on SVU's as well (Elliot and Olivia) in a lot of ways -- but that's for another time. (Also-- if you haven't watched Norman's ep of SVU -- highly recommend -- it's in Season 7). I truly think the friendships behind these characters truly drive the effectiveness of duos and ships. If the actors don't get along and/or truly love each other in real life-- it's just not the same. The love truly bleeds onto the screen when it's organic. It really makes everything "earned' like Mariska and Norman have both said about the relationships.

So--- it's disheartening to see that even though Melissa is back in the TWD world after all, and appeared at the end of S1 of the spinoff and all of Season 2, that she's -- from what I've seen tweeted/posted on tumblr --- not getting the respect she deserves, or so it seems. Being a part of a duo comes with all kinds of peaks and valleys. So, one half not getting what they deserve is something I hope sincerely isn't the case. She is literally my favorite female character on this show. I truly think MMB, is a gifted actress who is light years ahead in talent. And again, I love pretty much every character.

With MMB being a woman of a certain age leading a long running show--- I can't help go back to SVU with Mariska. Being leading women on high profile tv shows in your late 50's, early 60's is something to celebrate and be super careful with to be quite frank. MH has been lead/Co-lead on her show for 26 seasons now and an executive producer. If she's getting the respect over at nbc, then Melissa certainly should be getting the same over at amc. (Don't get me wrong, there is still BS behind the scenes on SVU too, but in different ways). Especially if she's also now an EP on TWD. ESPECIALLY by being a part of this for 15 years which is nothing to sneer at. Carol has got to be amongst the longest running female characters on television right now.

I certainly don't know much about what is going on behind the scenes in this case, and I don't really want to knowing what I've known and heard with SVU over the years. Sometimes it's better to NOT know. That's totally ignoring what the showrunner is saying in interviews and what not. I've definitely heard about him. Ugh. With that being said, hopefully things are not what they seem and that there's a lot to be excited and surprised about when Season 3 comes out I'm assuming later this year. There's a thin line between toxic positivity and just having been around the block a few times with previous shows and trying to wait it out. This means taking into consideration what is being filmed elsewhere and indoors.

I'm rooting for Caryl (big time) and for good writing for them. In regards to MMB not being seen on set much, hopefully it's purely her decision for it being that way, or because they're doing what SVU/OC have been doing and trying to keep storylines under wraps so they aren't spoiled --since the whole S2 got released prematurely for the Caryl Spinoff. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Maybe it's seen through rose-colored lenses because I'm not used to this type of fandom discourse like I am with SVU.

It's 2025, and I'm just rooting for my ships to finally receive the writing/canon they deserve. I must be a glutton for punishment because why in the frick do I ship these two??? LOL.

Anyways, I just wanted to get this off my chest because I hate seeing the downside to something I love so much and I'm sure that's true for everyone who comes across this.

I'll certainly be over on twitter expressing my love for Melissa/Carol and Caryl. (I do love Norman as well -- but wanted to focus this on what's important and that's giving Melissa her flowers.) Give that woman an EMMY. Anyways.

Thanks for reading my thoughts even as discombobulated as they may be. Caryl is endgame! BOOM.

[ncisfranchise-source]

When Mark Harmon first read the guest role of Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on JAG in 2003, one thing stood out immediately.

"The name caught me," Harmon, who couldn't have known then what a TV mainstay Gibbs would become, tells PEOPLE. 

NCIS, on which Harmon starred for 19 seasons until 2021, remains one of TV's most popular crime franchises. It also hit its 1,000th episode this April and has spawned four spinoffs.

Now, a fifth, NCIS: Origins, set in 1991, follows young Gibbs. 

"It's an NCIS-verse you haven't seen before," says Austin Stowell, 39, who inherits the character. Harmon, executive producing and narrating the new series — and appearing in its debut episode on Oct. 14 on CBS — agrees. “We're not trying to do something over again.”

For Stowell, leading a highly anticipated network prequel is “the opportunity of a lifetime.” Watching the two-part premiere, he tells PEOPLE, proved emotional. “I was a mess at the end of it.”

To breathe new life into an iconic character, Stowell “had to become Gibbs’ biggest fan,” he adds. Luckily, in Harmon, he had a mentor with a lot of experience. Ahead of the Monday, Oct. 14 premiere, PEOPLE caught up with the duo for a sneak peek at NCIS: Origins.

PEOPLE: Mark, what do you remember about casting Austin as a 1991-era Leroy Jethro Gibbs? HARMON: I felt the room jump a little when Austin came in, before he said anything. He walked out and someone said, “I'll just say it, that's a movie star.” And there was heavy competition there. There were a lot of good [actors in contention]. 

Austin, what about your introduction to your character?  STOWELL: If I can start imagining myself as [a character], in their shoes, then I know it's working. I read the first episode, and right away there were lots of parallels to my life. I knew the show, I knew the character — not as intimately as I do now — but just as I started to turn the pages, I had these moments over and over again, saying, “Oh, I know this guy.”

So how did you go about approaching playing a younger version of Gibbs, this icon Mark brought to life? STOWELL: I knew I had something that I could bring to the character that was very real, that was palpable. But I also knew that I was stepping into a character that was creative, created and filled out and beloved by this guy for 20 years. And I wanted to pay homage to his acting talent. So I wasn't doing an impression, but I was trying to encapsulate who I thought Mark was. And I do that every day now. He leads by example. We're all here because of him. I think about him constantly. [To Harmon] I dream about you. Which is — HARMON: A little frightening! STOWELL: I dream about the show, almost every night. He's given me the greatest gift that I could ask for… This is the Gibbs who's making mistakes, who's living with ghosts and trying to put his life back together. And that's a lot of fun for me to play. HARMON: Austin has to birth this guy. He's got the challenge and also the gift to be able to play this guy younger and to be able to let him be the newbie.

Talk about balancing making a different show with inheriting such a beloved TV franchise. How are you thinking about its legacy? STOWELL: What the mothership [NCIS] did so well was create this feeling of family. Like you knew the characters that you were inviting into your home. And I think that's a big difference between films and television, especially episodic television like this. You choose to turn on the TV when you have your intimate moments with your family. It's time when you're cooking dinner, it's time when you're relaxing after a day of work, sitting on the sofa with your loved ones. That is a big responsibility for a show like this.

Does that ever feel daunting?  STOWELL: No, it's not. It only means I have to come to that level. And that's okay with me. I like reaching for a bar that's higher, that fuels me when I get out of bed in the morning. The fact that I know that there's 300 million people out there who are waiting to see what this is only makes me fight harder and make me want to fulfill their expectations. HARMON: He's got his eye on the ball. In some ways, it gets bigger every day, the responsibility of it. But right now he's just trying to make the work be the best it can be every day. That's got really nothing to do with what you do in acting class. It's got more to do with who you are as a human being. STOWELL: I got to be writing all this down! This is another part of the value that Mark brings to the table is that he comes and talks to all of us… Immediately, I store all that in my head. I've never been on a show like this. I've never been a [number one on the call sheet] before. This is all brand new to me. So he comes to offer that kind of advice and that immediately, I store all that in my head. 

What is the Origins shooting schedule like?  HARMON: They're working long hours right now. They're working night hours. It's all part of it. STOWELL: You're going to work every day. I wake up, I train, learn my lines, go to set. Wash, rinse, repeat, Monday through Friday. HARMON: And you get questions like, "Well, how do you handle that?" STOWELL: You just do.

What is your favorite thing about creating this new show? STOWELL: We've all worked really hard at this and we're trying to get it right. It looks beautiful. I [am] just really happy for all of our crew, that it's going to be something that we're all going to be proud of... I've gotten to know them, so many, really intimately, I know about their kids and their plans for the weekends. It's not lost on me that a big part of that responsibility is to keep everybody at work. I like that responsibility. It gives me great purpose. I don't just go to work for me, I go to work with everyone… I've been able to concentrate on what I need to concentrate on because I do feel like I have a safety net. HARMON: When I was selling shoes, I used to always look at my watch and I'd go, "Lost four hours today. Where are we going to make that up?" Guess what? At a certain point you stop looking at your watch. Maybe sleep is a little overrated. You care about your crew… You walk on the set, you can feel it. STOWELL: We're a family already. HARMON: And if you can bring that to it too, what Austin's talking about, then you venture into the territory of something special and it becoming a little more than a job. This is a place where everybody's busting their tail because they want it to be good. It’s not about a paycheck.

[seiya-starsniper]

9 BOOKS I PLAN TO READ IN 2025

Tagged by @softest-punk 💖💖

This was a bit hard to narrow down because my TBR is SO LARGE and keeps growing as new books are released every year!

I'm going to keep it to books I haven't already started as well, since my currently reading list is also...very long lmao

Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf by C.L. Clark - THE ARCANE BRAINROT IS REAL. My wife, my toxic milf, the most unhinged warmongering bad bitch in all of Arcane is getting a spinoff novel how could I NOT read it??? I'm unhinged about her. I cannot wait to have my heart ripped out.

Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner - The final novel in the Godkiller trilogy. I'm so excited. I picked up Godkiller on a whim at Target and I've been unwell about the series ever since.

Vicious by V.E. Scwab - I've started and restarted this book like 10 times since 2013 when @lyriclorelei gifted it to me 😅. I am DETERMINED to read through the duology this year, I know I'm going to like it, I've loved every V.E. Scwab book I've ever gotten my hands on, and the premise of this book was basically made for me.

Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey - I imprinted on this book when I was 12. I would like to re-read it as an adult and see how it holds up!

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston - I meant to read this when it came out in 2024 but got understandably distracted by other novels. Nevertheless I am very excited to sink my teeth into yet another CM queer romance.

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske - Another book I meant to read in 2024. Can you tell I am a sucker for queer romance novels yet???

Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice - Now that the AMC show is leaning into TVL and QOTD for season 3, I must reread this chonker of a novel. It's tradition at this point. I reread Interview just before the premiere of season 1 and TVL right before the premiere of Season 2. I am so very excited to see the wild ride of season 3.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - Continuing my love of books that are getting adaptations, this novel is getting a movie in 2025 so it's time I finally read it.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo - I keep getting recommended this book, and at this juncture I have no reason NOT to read it. I already love Nghi Vo's prose, and I'm a sucker for Hollywood fame dramas, AND this one has magical realism in it? Sign me the fuck up.

Honorable mentions to the books I'm currently in the middle of reading:

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Scwab

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (thanks @arialerendeair for the rec!)

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles

Dark City Omega by Elizabeth Stephens

tagging: @lyriclorelei @gil212 @valeriianz

@b-plot-butch @janimoon @arialerendeair @beholdme

and anyone else who wants to play!

[celestial-specter]

I haven’t seen it as much online these days, but when season one was still airing, I often saw criticism that the batch, other than perhaps Hunter and Omega, ‘lacked character depth.’

It was something I didn’t think too much about at the time, but now, on my final re-watch of the whole show before the final season begins (😭) I couldn’t disagree more.

Sure, as there is so much action and plot occurring during the series premiere Aftermath, there is not much screen-time remaining to dedicate towards the emotional depth of the characters.

However, I’m a huge fan of the ways writers can use unconventional methods to show audiences the traits and roles of characters; As the bad batch are soldiers in every sense of the word, I believe there is no better way to highlight their individual personalities and talents than to show it through their battle strategy.

So, if you’re like me and love both star wars and unnecessarily in-depth analysis, I present…

Aftermath’s battle simulation: How one scene reintroduces us to Clone Force 99, and possibly foreshadows later events in the series.

(Part 1)

Across all star wars projects, the empire is always presented from above (in the context of The Bad Batch, think of the broadcast of Palpatine shown to the clones earlier during Aftermath, Raven’s Peak towering over the cloud cover on Eriadu, and Mount Tantiss surging over the natural jungle on Weyland). During the battle simulation, Tarkin watches from the viewing platform above the training ground, suggesting this scene will illustrate how the batch will respond to the new power of the empire.

When the team first enter the training ground, Hunter is the only one without his helmet on - he is already more humanized than the rest of his brothers. Of all the team, Hunter is the one who looks most like a ‘regular’ clone, despite his obvious attempts otherwise. He understands the importance of humanizing himself and his brothers - when he tries to save Caleb on Kaller, he removes his helmet in an attempt to get through to him. In this scene, Hunter only puts on his helmet and regains his status as a soldier when it is clear that a battle is about to begin. Even this small action could be interpreted as showing that being a soldier is not what Hunter truly wants, whereas the rest of his brothers are satisfied to continue in the way of life they have always known.

Once the battle begins, Hunter gives his brothers no instructions besides ‘You know what to do.’ Even as their leader, he trusts his team enough to know that they will succeed without his direct intervention. Even without a clear approach in mind, they all fall into places without any preamble - showing that Hunter is correct in his assessment of the situation, and that his brothers know each other well enough to do so without guidance.

The positioning of each member at the beginning of the battle is also important- as they move to the barrier, Echo, Crosshair and Hunter go left, while Wrecker and Tech go right, as seen below.

These positions could be indicative of their current roles within the squad at its peak. For example, the split between the right and left side could represent their difference standards of morals. Hunter, Echo, and Crosshair have, at this point in the series, been shown to be the most complex and strong willed members of the team - it is clear what each one of them believes in, and each one of them is unafraid to speak up when something goes against their personal moral code. This this shown prior to this point during Aftermath, as most of the discussion over Order 66 is between this trio, while Wrecker and Tech seem to be simply going through the motions rather than challenging them.

This is not to say that Tech and Wrecker do not also each have strong personalities, but so far they are much more focused on their individual interests than the morality of their lives as soldiers and their prospective roles in the formation of the new empire.

In this formation, Hunter is caught in the middle of all of his brothers, a position he is often placed in during group shots throughout the series. In this scene however, he is closely drawn to Crosshair’s side. Hunter’s reaction to Omega has shown that he has complex feelings about children being on Kamino, likely an attitude he has formed due to his own upbringing on the planet. It can be assumed by CT numbers that Crosshair (CT-9904) is the youngest of the batch, explaining the close yet intense relationship shared between him and Hunter.

Echo is also on the left side, but remains on the outside of the group. This could be interpreted as Echo simply arriving late to the batch and their having to reform this battle strategy to include him, but I prefer to think of it as a way to highlight Echo’s continued isolation, even amongst his brothers.

The placement of Crosshair between Echo and Hunter is also interesting. Echo, who has always been very focused on rules and regulations, and Hunter, the leader of a squad who openly flaunt their ability to break them. This positioning could be indicative of Crosshair feeling torn between two places, and his emotional conflict due to the effects of the inhibitor chip.

Located on the right side, Wrecker and Tech are both much more placid and easygoing. They are both often involved in childish bickering (as is Crosshair), but these two are never typically involved in intense conflict as the others are. As shown by the batch’s first appearance in The Clone Wars, Wrecker can be quick to anger when his brothers are threatened, but is easily dissuaded from violence by Hunter. Meanwhile, Tech is attempting to stop the fight from occurring in the first place, and is seemingly averse to conflict unless he deems the situation to be inescapable without it (e.g. the cafeteria fight).

Wrecker and Hunter are technically next to one another, but there is a huge space between them. To me, this gap represents the difference in their personalities as a result of their upbringing. Wrecker truly symbolizes the more easygoing, often-childlike comedic character, while Hunter is burdened by his concerns and responsibilities for his family. The pair were shown to have a closer relationship during their arc in The Clone Wars, with Hunter joining in with the jokes and antics of his younger brothers, and assuring Wrecker that he will beat Crosshair’s kill count during their next mission. In this scene, the space between them could foreshadow the upcoming degradation of their relationship due to the rise of the empire.

Tech is also on the outside of the group, but on the complete opposite side to Echo. Interestingly, since their very first meeting, Tech and Echo have been shown to have quickly developed a close relationship, with Tech being the main clone (other than Rex) to liberate Echo from captivity. The pair being on opposite sides likely is due to their similar technical skillsets but opposing ways off approaching situations- Echo is shown to possess a great deal of tact and patience when it comes to other characters such as Omega, whereas Tech can come across as nonchalant and uncaring at times. These positions also highlight how these two are the most independent of the group, both of them having no issues in leaving to compete missions alone.

[horizon-verizon]

I'm still on my self-imposed Tumblr writing break but I had to share this comedy gold mine where Condal tells us all about "impostor syndrome" before I'm overtaken by the urge to write an essay on it instead. I have no time to cook. Fortunately, we've been served a meal on a silver platter.

https://bigthink.com/high-culture/house-of-the-dragon-ryan-condal/

House of the Dragon, which premiered in 2022, might have continued that [Game of Thrones] trend. Instead, the show proved a return to form, offering the same Shakespearean dialogue and political intrigue that made people fall in love with Martin’s fictional universe back in 2011. The second season is just as good, if not better.

I can see that this is going to be a very fair assessment of Condal and his work.

“Every day,” Condal confesses when asked if he suffers from imposter syndrome. “For me, though, it was less the scale and scope of House of the Dragon and more its visibility that intimidated me."

😭😭😭 It's okay! He wasn't worried about whether he'd do a good job! He was just worried about how visible his ingenious work would be.

Appointed for his encyclopedic knowledge of Martin’s oeuvre, Condal has — in his own words — “played with fire” without getting burned. In the following interview, he demonstrates his mastery of Westerosi lore and explains why all history – real or imagined – ultimately amounts to propaganda.

The business major is about to tell us about historiography. The question is, does he understand historiography? Or does he think he's inventing a new concept?

Condal is a relative newcomer to television. In his previous life, he graduated from Villanova University with an accounting degree and spent eight years working in pharmaceutical advertising — quite different from working as a Hollywood showrunner, but not entirely unrelated.

Yes, we know. It's actually very related. Especially the way Condal does it. I'll also point out here that his university was a private Catholic institution. I don't feel the need to connect those dots right now.

"I also learned to compromise, adapting your writing to clients who aren’t always going to love your brilliant, avant-garde choices. That’s the talent-studio relationship, right there."

I... this tells us two things about the writing process and attitude behind it. Two things we already knew. But... it's sure telling.

"I was able to navigate challenges that some of my colleagues with filmmaking and art history degrees maybe weren’t prepped for."

In theory, nothing wrong with this^ statement. But in context...

While some criticism is valuable, too much can lead to creative paralysis. “I tend more towards the negative than the positive, so I made a conscious decision to stay away from social media when I got this job,” Condal says. If anything, he believes the healthy distance he maintains between himself and his audience has improved the show: “Audiences think they know what they want, but sometimes, they have to be given what they need instead."

I repeat my prior sentiment.

Ultimately, Condal’s own passion for Martin’s writing outweighed any doubt he had about his own. “I’m trying to make the type of show I would enjoy as a fan, which I am. And while I realize my ideal fan show will be different from someone else’s, I still think that it’s a good true north heading on my compass. Actually, I think that’s why HBO hired me in the first place.”

Oh, we know.

“It was hugely intimidating, moving to a new country [the U.K.] and working with a new but also hugely talented crew that I had to — not tell them what to do, exactly, but lead them; collaborate with them. I definitely had to earn my place, but think that — because I came in with a clear vision of what I wanted for the show — those relationships were easy to establish.”

Make it stop.

The most important part of making a successful fantasy show isn’t the sets, costumes, or special effects, but lore. Fictional places like Westeros have their own unique cultures, customs, and social institutions, all of which help create the illusion that this fantasy world is as real and complex as our own. To transfer that illusion from page to screen, the writers must know Martin’s work as thoroughly as Martin himself. “It’s not just me,” Condal says. “We are all deeply entrenched fans of George. One of our writers has worked with him for many years. If I’m a graduate in Westeros studies, she’s an archmaester,” referring to the order of academics sworn to advise and educate Westeros’ nobility.

Well that explains why they're worse than Gyldayn.

Condal: “Textual references are best done in light touches to remind people that this is a fully realized society with hundreds of years of mapped-out history to it. And you don’t need an entire scene to do that. Instead of writing, you can communicate details environmentally through props like heraldry. For the fans, these little touches tell them they are in good hands. Better yet, they know the details are there just for them, the hardcore fans. For everyone else, the casual viewers, this stuff is flying by 100 miles an hour, and they probably won’t notice it. But it’s there.”

Again, there's nothing wrong with this^ in theory. In. Theory.

“I’m definitely an architect,” says Condal, “and I think I have to be as a screenwriter, because our life is so deadline-driven. The literal definition of a playwright, W-R-I-G-H-T, is ‘one who builds plays.’ A dramatic writer is almost by necessity a structuralist, and I very much fall into that camp.”

Now wait for it... wait for it... Keep in mind these are Brinkhof's (article author) words. But wait for it.

Martin, by contrast, identifies as a gardener. While this writing style — with its many unexpected twists, turns, and deaths — helps explain what made Game of Thrones so successful, it may also have been responsible for the show’s eventual downfall. Sticking to Martin’s analogy, “gardening stories” grow like trees, their narratives branching out in an exponential number of paths, making them difficult to finish. As of today, Martin has spent more than 14 years on the next installment in the Song of Ice and Fire series, his prolonged bout of writer’s block forcing Weiss and Benioff to come up with their own ending.

No words. Now back to Condal.

“The advantage we have over them is that we’re dealing with a finished text, where they were working with an unfinished, living work,” Condal says. “Where the Game of Thrones team had to trim down 5,000 pages into a few dozen scripts, we’re challenged in the opposite direction, turning around 100 pages into a multi-season arc of television, and that requires a lot of invention.”

Oh? So... you do know where it's going. Which means your "inventions" should... probably lead there?

Condal treats Fire & Blood like a real-world historian might treat a manuscript from the Middle Ages. “These three writers all had personal agendas which, to me, seem to reflect one of the main themes of our show: powerful women living in an unbreakable patriarchy. The writers, particularly the priest, appear to blame the war on the squabbling between Rhaenyra and Alicent.”

No comment for now. No... comment...

House of the Dragon pretends to show the real history that Fire & Blood recorded and distorted. Some events happen the way the one of the three authors describe it, while others contain elements of all three conflicting accounts. Others still indicate that none of them got it right. As a rule, every character in the show is far more complex than the jester, maester, and priest made them out to be.

I... I... I... I... I...

“Alicent can be the stereotypical evil stepmother at times,” says Condal, “just as King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine in season 1, can come across at weak. However, the thing that in-universe historians don’t get about Viserys is that he was carrying the burden of a prophecy passed down through generations and couldn’t tell anybody about it. A lot of his supposedly weak decision-making was actually in service of this secret prophecy. We were trying to show that there was more to him, that multiple things about him could be true at the same time.”

Must... Resist... Urge... To... Write... Essay...

“We have to arrive at the same endpoint as the book,” he reminds himself. “Whoever George said becomes king must become king at the end of the war. Hopefully, though, we have a bit of latitude leading up to that, to show how history has been interpreted differently at different times by different historians. I realize I’m playing with fire, but it does excite and fascinate me — to be able to comment on how history is made, not just this fictional history, but all history. It’s all propaganda to some degree.”

😭 The clownery.

Historiographers weep.

@rhaenin-time, you must be stopped. Ryan should be , too, but you have decided to bring me in close proximity to this nonsense. I am sitting here, eating chewy ChipsAhoy, and you came in here like a wrecking ball with this news....I hate you. [read, this is a joke]

I don't think I'll be able to address every thing I want to address in this. I want to be done with this show, I have been tired since the 6th epi of the last season.

Condal is a relative newcomer to television. In his previous life, he graduated from Villanova University with an accounting degree and spent eight years working in pharmaceutical advertising — quite different from working as a Hollywood showrunner, but not entirely unrelated. [...]

I also learned to compromise, adapting your writing to clients who aren’t always going to love your brilliant, avant-garde choices. That’s the talent-studio relationship, right there. [...] Audiences think they know what they want, but sometimes, they have to be given what they need instead."

Who tf does this man think he is?!!! Yes, I needed mother-son coochie eating. I needed to have a brown girl erased for a rapist to become a family man with a sick child. I needed Cole fucking Alicent at least 3 times instead of a brown haired Targ make instrumental alliances with more people to add to his stepfather's armies in the Riverlands. I needed to see nonexistent and sterile parallels. I needed to see a black woman be burned alive when she actually died at least surrounded by family, her ignored by her husband so his later marriage to a white girl be that much more special. I needed to see a disabled man jerk it over a queen's bare feet like she's in OnlyFans and doesn't know where her next meal is. I needed to see a pretteen prince jerk it over a window and barely even tell what his brother was doing later with Vhagar, instead of another preteen girl bond with the most powerful dragon of the then living ones. I needed to see a woman so much more hypocritical than her book counterpart be framed as one of the wisest women to exist while she praises Jaehaerys I of all people for having a peaceful reign, as if his decision to have that council has no responsibility for the now burgeouning war--OR that she still wouldn't be more resentful of Jaehaerys' actions ot pass her over, yes even now when they are deliberating war..bc praising Jaehaerys itself is NOT as important or more moral than her feeling "some type of way"...why did we need Jaehaerys praise now instead fo actual strategy?!--coming up right now.

He can't even properly write character ACTION as opposed to REACTION (Seth Abramson's article on substack):

Appointed for his encyclopedic knowledge of Martin’s oeuvre, Condal has — in his own words — “played with fire” without getting burned. In the following interview, he demonstrates his mastery of Westerosi lore and explains why all history – real or imagined – ultimately amounts to propaganda.

And yet Daemon dislikes his daughter or grow impatient with her bec she doesn't have a dragon....while he only claimed one at 16 or a bit younger with Caraxes AND Targs don't actually bond with dragons in the cradle that often, actually usually doing it in preteens to teens AND Aegon I definitely had to bond later in life as well. And said that Aegon I lived/was alive when Old Valyria still existed. Allowed Criston Cole to be called Dornish both by Alicent and the fans without giving us any explanation or exploration of that identity esp when canonically he came from the Stormlander part of the Dornish Marches. "Encyclopedic" my nonexistent ballsack! He has no authority to claim that F&B is so unreliable that he can't tell truth form agenda-motivated fiction and then claim himself intelligent or "brilliant" at the same time!

"avant-garde"...yes bc it's so revoluntionary and creative to have a man lick his former home from his own mother in a "vision". As if making a woman her son's character tool wasn't something HBO already did with its female characters and perform male gaze....okay...As if he's special and different from other male writers and it not just keeping with ASoIaF adaptation tradition. It added so much to the story other than the sick eroticism of something already cleared up last season.

I definitely had to earn my place, but think that — because I came in with a clear vision of what I wanted for the show

No you didn't. If you did, you wouldn't have had a such a problem with the pacing, the numerous inconsistencies, plotholes, the [if true] possible merge of Rhaena and Nettles and many episodes would't contradict each other as if one writer disagreed and vetoed another. And you'd see why/how show!Rhaena's purpose must be kept more or less the exact same as her in the bk for the post-Dance environment. We'd have Maelor. We'd have Daeron mentioned and described much earlier, not as some sort of random ass surprise that is bound to thrown so many locals off when he does appear.

If I’m a graduate in Westeros studies, she’s an archmaester,” referring to the order of academics sworn to advise and educate Westeros’ nobility.

....what the fuck does this even mean?! There are no fucking graduates of anything in Westeros and there are no archmaesters of real life bc the set ups in education of EU medieval history vs Westeros are so different it's not even funny. there are no universities for one to even imagine there are Westerosi "graduates", and there is no way you can tell if a graduate would be more or less educated than a grandmaester, bc we don't have rules of "graduation" or gradations of maestership exactly like the modern one. There are archmaesters, the Gran Maesters, acolytes, novices, and finally regular maesters who may or may not go ut to be the personal assistant and tutor in other lords' households. The modern school system can never be properly equalized in structure or depth or habits to Westerosi maestership, the instituton.

Therefore trying to create some sort of analogy as if grads exist in Westeros by immediately using "grandmaester" for another you're aligning yourself with is just so stupid. Worst part is, I know exactly what he's trying to say, but his use of this device is so wrong that I'm mad and sure people will just take this at face value instead of see how inept this man is with literature analysis and thus creative writing. Reminds me, ironically, of his saying he's inspired by PARADISE LOST in writing S2...if you don't sit yourself down to hell, sir!

Martin, by contrast, identifies as a gardener. While this writing style — with its many unexpected twists, turns, and deaths — helps explain what made Game of Thrones so successful, it may also have been responsible for the show’s eventual downfall.

And there it is, Ryan is prepping to use the ole fan excuse of "not much story left" excuse people had for D&D, and it makes sense how he would considering how F&B is considered to unreliable to adapt even the clearest events and characterizations as they are given....

[golbrocklovely]

this is about luke newton and the fans/bridgerton fandom

i'm very new to all of this so i'll be honest up front, i don't know everything. so maybe that alone is why i shouldn't say anything, but i feel like i gotta add my two cents since everyone else already is too lol

i keep seeing over and over again that for some fans, luke "ruined" part 2's airing bc he was seen out with his gf. how some have worded it, bc he was seen out the night of it's airing, he had the attention, the six months of pr and promotion that he and nic spent go down the drain all over a couple pics of him and his gf somewhat holding hands.

and to that i say…. are yall fucking nuts??

respectfully, the average viewer, which is the majority of ppl that watch bridgerton, don't give two flying fucks about the actors or more specifically who they are dating. so if you personally feel like the season or part 2 was ruined bc he was seen out with someone - that most have you have known about since like new years, if not before - i need you to come back to reality. luke is not colin. he did not betray pen or nic by having a love life that doesn't consist of either of them. if you genuinely feel like him being spotted a couple hours after the premiere of part 2 with his gf somehow destroyed all of the work he and nic did (along with the cast and crew), i need you to explain how any of that is possible. the show still exists. part 2 still aired swimmingly, and is getting record breaking numbers.

i think some of you got so lost in the sauce of nic and luke and them possibly being a couple that when part 2 came out and they didn't announce that they were together and in fact the complete opposite happened - yall didn't know what to do with yourselves. so instead of just taking a step back and realizing that maybe you read this situation wrong, you are now blaming him bc you decided to pay more attention to his love life rather than the show you guys spent two fucking years waiting for.

and look, i love nic and luke. and i would love for them to date. but reality is that's not what THEY want, as of right now. if that changes, awesome. if it doesn't, also awesome. if you can't handle two real life ppl making decisions for themselves that have absolutely no impact on you, go outside and TOUCH GRASS.

luke is not an asshole for dating someone. luke is not an asshole for having the friends he has. he's not an asshole for not promoting bridgerton as often as nic. he's not an asshole for wanting his life to be private. and on top of this, yall know literally nothing about his gf. everything that is known are conclusions or assumptions you are jumping to bc god forbid he might be happy with someone that isn't nic.

imma need yall to parasocial your ass to a therapist rather than luke. consider doing that. bc to all the outsiders (like me), you sound fucking CRAZY lol

[foreverjustaplace]

The Bear, Season 3 PREDICTIONS

OKAY! So with The Bear premiering slightly earlier now, I wanted to go ahead and get my predictions (and maybe some delusional wishes) out on here because I just saw the still where Syd and Carmy are drinking tea after Carmy gets out of the fridge and I definitely had Syd being there when he got out of the walk-in. I never did get my fanfic out before the new season (although who knows. There’s still time!) so I hope I’ll still be in the headspace to finish it after I see the new episodes!

I would LOVE to see everyone’s predictions, too, so add them in the comments or create a post and tag me!

My Predictions:

Let’s start with Sydcarmy first. Oh, hell. This season is going to be one that drags us through all of the emotions. It’s already giving angst galore from all of the promos. A lot of us are worried about this ship, but I have to believe that while Storer may have not initially been on the sydcarmy train, we have a believer in Calo and loves love. We’ll be okay but it’s not going to always be pretty. We’re about to go through it, 100%, but I think the arduous emotional jouney will be worth it in the end (the end perhaps not being this season…). 

As mentioned, I predicted to myself that Syd would be waiting for Carmy when he finally is freed the walk-in refrigerator before I saw the image. To add to this, I believe this will be a very tense moment. Syd is incredibly disappointed with Carmy, but we’re going to get a hellava moment between the two in the very first episode. This moment is going to show just how deep Syd’s love (and I actually do mean in the friendship sense here) runs for Carmy. Despite Carmy already fucking up by not get the fridge fixed, we will get to see Syd give Carmy more grace than he deserves. But she is going to be skeptical as hell of him. He is going to seemingly change overnight and ignore all healthy ways of coping and go straight into this maniacal version of himself. 

They are about to put us through a Sydcarmy fight for the ages after Carmy does his whole partnership shit. But when I tell you this is going to remind us of the most dramatic romances we read on our Kindles, I mean it. Imagine this trope as one of those whole ass agreement list things that one or both of the romance leads (in a friends to lovers, especially) have. The agreement is done when the friends have an insane, amazing friendship and there’s more there, obviously, but they’re afraid to admit it. Sometimes they truly don’t even know that they like each other! In the case of Carmy, he is so avoidant of all of his feelings, he doesn’t even allow himself to think he likes her in this way. And even if he does recognize it, he certainly doesn’t know how to properly channel that into a romantic relationship with Sydney but he is 100% cognizant of the fact that he doesn’t want to lose her. That he CANNOT lose her. This agreement is done under the guide of a professional work agreement, but what he is proposing sounds more initamiate this just a work agreement. I honestly think it’s going to be jarring because on one hand Carmy believes this will lead to a star, but on the other hand what he’s trying to do starts to look and sound more like a non-platonic relationship.  

There is going to be a DREAM sequence that will make sydcarmy shippers happy. I just have this feeling or maybe this is me in delululand. Look. There were one too many damn dream sequence jokes for me to not take it seriously. I’m always a big believer that dream sequences should go big or go home; in fact, I’m trying to go through all of the dream sequences I’ve watched before in my head right now. I can’t think of one that did not involve kissing OR the wake-up-right-before-they-kiss moment at least. Think back to last month’s Polin (Bridgerton). I hope we get the kiss but I’ll even take the latter. BUT I’m going to go big and say that this may not even be a all heated and sexy dream. Um. What if it’s a Sydcarmy wedding!!!  

Syd and Carmy will sit next to each other at the funeral. There will be some comforting hand holding that is going to put us in a chokehold. I think Syd cries and Carmy comforts her. 

Ya know how Carmy helped Claire move whatever the hell furniture last season? Yeah, we’re gonna see a parallel of the moving thing when he helps Syd. We’re gonna get a Sydcarmy moment inside Sydney’s apartment and they’re going to talk about the future. This will be a great scene and will be use in all the future edits for sureee. Fantasyland me wants Carmy to say some shit like, “Syd, I don’t even know why you didn’t just move in with me?” “Carmy, use your head. You have one bedroom ? ? ?” “I would’ve taken the couch, nbd.”

Carmy sees Syd’s tattoos. I hope!! Perhaps this is in the dream sequence? Or maybe they have an actual conversation. Carmy tells Syd what one of his tattoos means. She does the same. But, forreal, this is a headcanon for me. 

To end the season, Syd and Carmy forreal do something that makes it hard to deny they are 100% in the platonic love category. They kiss and there is a conversation that rivals the under the table scene. Richie is the one who helps them get to this point. 

Sydney makes the decision to step away from Carmy a bit. Does she go to Ever? God, I hope not. But I think her health problems are going to be crazier (PLEASE STORER do not make her sick!!! I beg you!) and she can’t deal with Carmy’s shit any longer. I honestly think we’re going to see the season span months and the angst will be rough. Hopefully it’s one of those, “Three Months Later” things so we don’t actually have to see it. LOL Just get me to the end. 

Carmy is about to piss everyone off. I think we’re going to see Tina, Natalie, Richie, Sweeps, even Pete get into it with him. 

There will be a good number of flashbacks this season:

*Mikey in his last few months, weeks, and/or days leading up to his death 

*But also we’ll see some fun, sweet memories involving Mikey. Moments with Richie, Nat, and Carmy.

*Carmy as a chef before The Beef/The Bear. I’m so looking forward to these! 

*We are finally going to see Syd’s mom in flashbacks! 

Emanuael and Carmy meet. Syd’s dad will not like Carmy. He’s not gonna be impressed at all. They are going to talk and Carmy is going to do everything in his power to convince Emanuel he will be better for Syd and that she’s everything to him. Emanuel is going to give him some advice to win over Sydney. 

Richie is going to start dating and at least semi-successful. I think his redemption arc is still happening and specifically related to his relationships. Not gonna lie, I do actually like the idea of Jess and Richie and so I’m going to keep that in the mix and say Richie is the one who sets up Syd with the Ever guy. Richie will attend Tiff and Frank’s wedding. 

Syd and Marcus grow so much closer. Syd is going to serve as a supporting, loving friend to Marcus. They’re going to bond over the dead mom club. It’s going to be wonderful to see their friendship.

Donna is there for Nat. Perhaps she goes into labor and Donna is there to ease her nerves. It’s a wild moment for sure but a pretty poignant one. 

Luca. Dude. I don’t even know. I LOVE his character. I want him to, like, I’d love for him and Marcus to hook up. That would be the absolute best. Hell, I’d really love for Luca to be Sydney and starting flirting with her and with get to see jealous!Carmy! (PLEASE!) but I’ll settle for some flashback scenes. I guessss. Perhaps Luca comes help out at The Bear? I’d love that.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that The Bear will struggle greatly and close. I cannot deal with this LOL. I don’t want this to happen so I’m not going to predict it, but I think there will be some struggling. 

Tina’s story is gonna be emotional. Her journey into the kitchen is going to be one that happens because she desperately needs a job. We’re going to see her with Luis’ father. We are going to see her with Mikey. We’re going to see that she has always been bright and so capable. 

Claire. Man. I don’t like that she is even in this season, but I appreciate a great story and don’t think we can fully wrap this whole thing up if the walk-in fridge breakup was it. Fak is starting to get on my last nerves with his matchmaking shit lol but I think we will see Claire in at least a slightly different and enhanced light. Chris Storer is intentional in everything he does and I don’t believe for one second this doctor can be so surface level. Carmy may have this guilt eating him up and his trauma keeping him from  wanting anything good, but ultimately Carmy doesn’t actually want her. She’s meant to represent this nice person and serve merely as (physical) relief. But I don’t even know. I don’t think she and Carmy are endgame at all. I want Claire to tell Fak to stop his nonsense. I want her to understand her worth and not go back to Carmy after he said all of this shit about her (and not just because I love Sydcarmy but because I’m for the girlies knowing their worth!). 

What I would really love to happen is Claire cursing Carmy tf out. I’d love for Claire and Syd to have a one-on-one conversation and Sydney says something that exposes how she feels about Carmy to Claire. Awkwardness ensues. 

Okay. Damn. I started typing and I couldn’t stop. It was as if I was ten years old again and typing my predictions for the upcoming Harry Potter book. Dang. Take me back to those days! Those prediction threads were unreal. Tell me your predictions! 

[oldiesstationlover11607]

🥁 anon here! If you want to assign me a new emoji, feel free! I’m cool with whichever option.

I have an idea for you: Josh x reader (cause you know ya girl loves Josh haha). They have to get ready for a big event. You can choose what, some ideas are a gala, interview, maybe a premiere of something, etc. Just like, the reader maybe going shopping with Jenna, getting ready, and then Josh’s reaction to her all dolled up. If you do write this, then thank you very much! And if not, no worries!

Yours truly,

🥁

Premiere - Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: None really hehe - super fluffy

Word count: 1690

A/N: Enjoy!

Josh had warned me it was going to be a big night, but I still hadn’t anticipated this level of intensity. I could barely believe that I, of all people, would be attending a movie premiere as his plus one. It wasn’t just any premiere, either; this was the premier of one of the most anticipated films of the year���and I couldn’t be more excited (and nervous) to stand by his side for it.

The pressure was definitely on. I wanted to look perfect, not only because this was such a high-profile event but because Josh would be there—suited up, looking incredible as always. Jenna could read me like a book and had insisted on helping me find the perfect dress.

As I sipped my coffee at the Joseph house, she leaned over the counter with an excited grin. “Are you ready for a shopping spree? We’re going all out today.”

I gave a little laugh, hoping it didn’t sound as nervous as I felt. “I think so. Just...no frills, no massive sequins, and no neon. Other than that, I’m ready.”

Jenna shook her head, clearly amused by my mild panic. “Relax, it’s going to be amazing. We’re finding you something that’ll make everyone’s jaw drop.”

The boutique Jenna took me to was an upscale place with deep purple walls, golden chandeliers, and rows upon rows of gorgeous dresses. It smelled faintly of jasmine and leather, like luxury itself. I took a deep breath as we walked in, feeling a little intimidated by the glimmering fabrics around me. Jenna seemed completely at ease, though, diving right in and flicking through the racks like a seasoned pro.

“Josh is going to love this,” she said with a smirk, pulling out a navy dress with a low back and smooth satin finish.

I blushed, imagining his reaction already. “It's beautiful,” I murmured, reaching out to feel the fabric. It was silky and weightless, a total departure from anything I’d ever worn.

“Try it on! I’ll keep looking, but something about this one feels right,” she said, shoving the dress into my arms.

I slipped into one of the fitting rooms, trying not to let my nerves get the better of me. As I pulled the dress over my head and looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself. The dress fit like it was made for me, hugging my curves in a way that was both subtle and breathtaking. My skin glowed against the navy satin, and the low back gave it a bit of an edge that felt daring.

Before I could even open the door, Jenna was waiting with an expression of barely-contained excitement. “Come on, let’s see!”

When I stepped out, her face broke into a grin, and she clasped her hands together. “Oh my god, yes. This is it. You look stunning!”

I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror, starting to believe her. The dress did feel like something special, like it had just the right combination of class and mystery.

Jenna tilted her head, evaluating. “The best part is that Josh has never seen you in anything like this before. You’re going to blow him away.”

I took another look in the mirror and started to feel a thrill of anticipation. There was something exhilarating about the idea of surprising him, of seeing his expression when he saw me in this dress.

“Alright,” I said, giving Jenna a small, determined smile. “Let’s do it.”

After an afternoon of shopping, we headed back to Jenna's apartment to start the real transformation. I knew I wanted a look that complemented the dress but didn’t overpower it—something classy and timeless. Jenna had taken it upon herself to play the role of stylist and makeup artist, and honestly, I was glad for it; her confidence was infectious.

I sat cross-legged on the floor while she arranged a collection of makeup products and brushes around her, ready to work her magic. The evening light filtered through the window, casting a soft glow over everything. I could feel the excitement building with each brushstroke.

“You’re going to look like a million bucks,” Jenna said, a glint of pride in her eyes as she applied a warm eyeshadow that made my eyes stand out.

A small part of me was skeptical, but with each step, I could see myself transforming in the mirror. I had on soft waves, natural-looking yet striking makeup, and the dress fit perfectly. I almost didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror as the same girl who’d been stressing about this event just yesterday.

When Jenna finished, she stood back with her arms crossed, nodding in approval. “You look like a movie star.”

I laughed, but as I looked in the mirror, I saw what she meant. I felt glamorous, polished, and ready to face any red carpet. The anticipation grew stronger. What would Josh think?

The time finally arrived for Josh to pick me up. I waited nervously by the door, my hands clasped tightly together, trying to steady my breathing. I’d been to premieres and events before, but never one as someone’s date, and certainly never for anything as big as this.

I heard the faint buzz of his knock, and Jenna mouthed “Good luck!” before retreating to another room, giving us our moment.

I opened the door, and for a brief second, Josh didn’t move. His mouth parted slightly, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of me standing there. He looked flawless, wearing a perfectly tailored black suit that gave him an air of effortless charm. His hair was styled just right, and his familiar, warm smile grew as he regained his composure.

“Wow,” he breathed out, looking at me from head to toe. “You look… I mean, really wow.”

A flush of warmth spread through me as his gaze lingered, a mix of admiration and affection in his eyes. He reached for my hand, his thumb brushing over my knuckles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this beautiful.”

I swallowed, suddenly a little shy under his intense gaze. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

“‘Like’ doesn’t begin to cover it,” he said with a grin, gently guiding me out of the apartment. “Come on, let’s get going before I decide to keep you all to myself.”

The car ride to the theater was surreal. The city lights glinted against the car windows, blurring as we sped through the streets. I held onto Josh’s hand, feeling a little more grounded with him beside me. As we pulled up to the premiere, I could see the flash of cameras, the red carpet lined with fans and reporters.

Josh gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’re going to be amazing out there. Don’t worry about the cameras, just stay by my side.”

As we stepped out of the car, a flurry of lights and voices greeted us. Josh’s arm slipped around my waist, steadying me as we made our way down the red carpet. I felt his hand on my back, warm and comforting, and my nerves began to ease, even with the cameras clicking away.

Reporters called out to him, and Josh answered questions with his usual charm and ease. Occasionally, they’d direct a question toward me, and he’d glance at me with a reassuring smile, subtly guiding me through the moment. The warmth in his eyes every time he looked at me made me feel like I was the only person there.

When we reached the end of the carpet, he pulled me close, his eyes never leaving mine. “I can’t stop looking at you,” he murmured, his voice soft, just for me to hear. “You’re making it hard for me to focus on anything else.”

I felt my heart flutter, a smile breaking out despite the seriousness of the event. “Good,” I replied, feeling a rush of confidence. “Because I’ve been waiting all day to see that reaction.”

He laughed, leaning in just close enough that his forehead nearly brushed mine. “Mission accomplished.”

Once inside, the theater buzzed with excitement. We took our seats, and as the lights dimmed, Josh took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. Getting to watch a film on the big screen for the first time was surreal. When the movie ended, the audience erupted in applause. I looked over at him, and he gave me a soft, almost shy smile. 

As the night wore on, there was a celebratory reception, and Josh introduced me to some of his actor friends. Everyone was gracious and welcoming, and I couldn’t help but notice the way Josh kept glancing at me with a mix of admiration and pride. Every now and then, he’d lean in and whisper something, making me laugh or blush, reminding me that even amidst all the attention and glamor, he was there for me.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted but exhilarated. We slipped away from the party and took a quiet car ride back to his place. The city lights passed by in a dreamy haze, and I felt Josh’s hand find mine again, squeezing gently.

When we got to his apartment, he opened the door, and we both stood there for a moment, letting the silence settle around us. He looked at me, his gaze warm and intense, like he was taking in every detail.

“Tonight was incredible,” he said, his voice low and sincere. “Thank you for being there with me. It meant a lot.”

I felt my heart swell, and I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close. “Thank you for asking me to be there.”

He chuckled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “God I love you.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, his arms enveloping me in a warm embrace.

As I leaned into him, feeling his heartbeat against mine, I knew that this was a night I’d never forget—a night where we’d both seen each other in a new light, side by side, as if the rest of the world had faded away.

//

REQUESTS OPEN

[those-who-stay]

For Mackie Samoskevich, playing hockey was not so much a choice as a birthright.  The Sandy Hook, Connecticut native doesn’t remember exactly when his parents set into motion the family’s backyard rink, but he suspects it predates him.

“I don’t think I was born yet.  They put down pavement; it was a whole job.  I remember seeing a picture of all the machines out in the backyard,” Samoskevich says with a smile. 

The backyard setup precluded the Samoskevichs from installing the pool they’d also fancied, but it invited a childhood with sticks and pucks ready to hand at all times for their three children.  “[My parents, Fred and Patty] definitely wanted the pool for sure, but I think [the rink] helped us out in the long run,” assesses the sophomore with his customary self-effacement.

Mackie, his elder sister Melissa, and twin sister Maddy (whose attempts at pronouncing her brother’s given name Matthew led to the nickname Mackie taking hold) laid the groundwork for their hockey careers on that backyard rink, whether on its wintertime ice or in its alternate summer concrete incarnation.

As Samoskevich explains it, “My dad hadn’t played to a high level, but he grew up loving the game.  I think his dad had gotten him into it at a pretty young age, so he was always a fan of hockey and always wanted his kids to play hockey.  It definitely worked out.”

In keeping with his soft-spoken disposition, the winger again undersold his siblings’ and his success.  Melissa now works as the director of player development and operations at her alma mater Quinnipiac, while also continuing her playing career in her third season for the Premier Hockey Federation’s Connecticut Whale.  Maddy, the lone blue liner amongst the three siblings, is a junior for the Bobcats with six assists already in just eleven games.  With a 10-1 record, Quinnipiac sits at fifth in the latest USCHO poll.

For the siblings, a shared bond of playing hockey helped brighten the day-to-day grind of sharpening their skills. “We’d always be in the backyard, shooting together and playing games,” Mackie says.  “Just having that was super special. It’s really nice to have days where I’m feeling tired and they get me out of the house [to play together] or vice versa.”

Ten games into his sophomore season at Michigan, Mackie has stepped outside of the shadow of last year’s Olympian teammates like Brendan Brisson, Kent Johnson, or Matty Beniers and into the running for the Hobey Baker.  He has eight goals and seven assists for a neat point-and-a-half per game.

A year ago, Samoskevich was no afterthought for the Wolverines, even as a freshman on one of the most talented rosters in the history of NCAA hockey.  He scored twenty-nine points in forty games and received the Big Ten’s All-Freshman honors.  Still, he did so without the burden or opportunity, depending on one’s perspective, of putting in the longest shift in the team’s offensive engine room.  Despite his impressive point total, Samoskevich played only third-line minutes with some power play time mixed in as a freshman, before flourishing with a greater role as a sophomore.

According to his head coach Brandon Naurato (an assistant a year ago for his first season in Ann Arbor), it makes more sense to frame Samoskevich’s sophomore ascendance as the byproduct of his limited freshman role rather than a natural development once roster turnover made more room for him.

“He wasn’t great right away,” Naurato says.  “Did he deserve more time?  Sure, he deserved more time, but [playing on the third line] might have been the best thing for him because he’s like ‘I don’t like playing twelve minutes, I think I should be playing seventeen, I’m going to do something.’  He’s always been an elite player, and he’s taken another step.  He went through some pain that made him stronger. Not even pain, but he wanted more out of himself, and he’s looking in the mirror, and he just took steps.”

One of Samoskevich’s new responsibilities is taking shifts on the penalty kill, a decision Naurato explains was at its most basic an effort to “take care of the boys.”  He added “your best players should play in all situations.  It’s better development for him long term.  He may not start in the NHL and play in the same spot [on the flank] that he can on the power play, but what if he can come in and he can kill?  What if he learns how to check?”

Naurato points to former Wolverine Carl Hagelin as an example of an offensive star in college who ended up with two Stanley Cups and $30 million in the bank by becoming one of the NHL’s top penalty killers and checkers.

Samoskevich adds that earning minutes on the PK has been a tool to stay engaged in any game state: “It definitely helps because when you’re not killing, you’re sitting on the bench for two minutes, three minutes, and maybe extends a little bit more.  It’s nice to just get out there.”

For Samoskevich, that the beginning of his freshman season provided a challenge came as no surprise: “I think that your first year anywhere when you go up a level, it’s gonna be harder, and it’s gonna be an adjustment period.”

From his head coach’s point of view, Samoskevich’s progress is well deserved: “He’s a really hard worker and a very cerebral player, and I’m happy for him.  He’s way harder, way harder.  [In the early going of his freshman season] it was all skill.  When he first came here he wasn’t soft.  He just didn’t know how hard it is to have success.”

Both coach and player also point out the importance of observing the habits of future NHLers in the form of then-sophomores Owen Power, Johnson, and Beniers.  Naurato points out that it was impossible to ignore the work that trio put in as sophomores despite their shared status as top-five NHL picks.  

“I’m not saying I [knew how hard it was to become a pro] at that age,” Naurato says. “And I wasn’t even as close to as good as [my players today], but just being around those guys all the time you see that any successful person in life���they’re not successful because of their job title. They’re successful because of the path and failure.”

Meanwhile, Samoskevich admired the way the teammates one year his elder embraced leadership, even though it was only their second year on campus: “It was nice to have the guys in the sophomore class that we had and just see how they handled that role.  Just how they [went] around their everyday, their little habits.  Owen was such a creature of the small little things that build up everyday.”

Adjusting to new environments is nothing new for Samoskevich.  Though Connecticutian by birth, Michigan’s burgeoning star forward has been on a roundabout tour of the Midwest pursuing his hockey career since his early teens.  First, it was Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the famed Minnesota prep school whose alums include Nathan MacKinnon, Jocelyn and Monique Lamoureux, and Brisson.  Then it was Chicago and the USHL, where Samoskevich won a Clark Cup for the Steel, before moving on to Ann Arbor.

When asked about his travels through a region that is not his home, Samoskevich smiles. “I’ve loved it.  Minnesota was definitely different.  Definitely colder.  I wasn’t used to that when I was fourteen, but I think it was a good thing to get out at a young age, just learn how to take care of myself away from my parents.”

Though the move to Shattuck carried with it a step toward independence, it did not take him beyond family bonds. “The reason why I went out there is because my sister [Melissa] went out there.  It was a good program, and she loved all four years, so I thought I’d go out there with my sister [Maddy].”

Six years after leaving Fairfield County for Faribault, Minnesota, Mackie Samoskevich is a vital cog in college hockey’s most formidable line.  Alongside Adam Fantilli and Dylan Duke, the quiet confidence with which Samoskevich carries himself off the ice manifests as a creative flair.

When you watch Samoskevich play (regardless of teammates), you first notice his release and his skating.  If the puck is on his tape with an unfettered look at the net, there’s a good chance you won’t see it again until the goaltender is fishing it out from behind him.

If has open ice to skate into, you aren’t catching him.

Yet even as his shot and top speed command attention, there is something more mesmeric about the way he can jaunt through the neutral zone without having to slam the accelerator to the floorboards.

There is almost a playful quality to the way he sidles past one defender and traipses around another, before laying the puck on for his teammates.  

There was something defiant in the backhand he roofed in an October home victory over Western Michigan.  Having received an expert keep-in from Luke Hughes, Samoskevich—using nothing more than his patience—reduced Bronco defenseman Jacob Bauer to sprawling across the ice in desperation.  From there, Samoskevich had no real options other than a backhand but still seemed to deceive WMU goaltender Cameron Rowe by preceding his instantaneous release with still more patience.

During a period of the season in which Naurato has made experimenting with line combinations an expressed focus, Michigan’s top line of Fantilli between Samoskevich and Duke remains untouched.  It is not hard to understand why.  Through ten games, the trio accounts for twenty-one of the Wolverines’ forty-six goals (45.6%).

Though they had never operated as a triumvirate before, neither Duke nor Fantilli was a new linemate for Samoskevich.

As freshmen, he and Duke settled into a role abreast of Johnny Beecher on the Wolverines’ third line.  Duke’s ruggedness along the boards, along with his craftiness at the netfront, paired neatly with Samoskevich’s speed and skill.

“There’s definitely a lot of chemistry that we carried over from last year,” Duke explains.  “We had a really good understanding of how we play and how our different skill sets can work together and create a lot of sustained o-zone time, and you know, score a lot of goals.”

Meanwhile, Fantilli and Samoskevich played alongside one another with the Chicago Steel.  As Duke said of him, Samoskevich emphasizes a shared understanding of approach as central to the strong chemistry he’s demonstrated with Fantilli.  “We got coached together [in Chicago], so we think the game alike.”  Ever one to downplay his own success, he adds “I think it’s coming along, and I think it’s just gonna keep getting better and better.”  2.1 goals per game between them, and Samoskevich believes the line remains a work in progress.

That Samoskevich has a near perfect split of his fifteen points (eight goals, seven assists) bespeaks an intentional commitment to being a dual threat player.  Though he grew up a Ranger fan, Samoskevich’s favorite NHLer is the Islanders Mathew Barzal.  The young winger attributes some of his knack for graceful rushes up the ice to studying Barzal’s game.

Samoskevich says that he loved Barzal’s playmaking, “how he creates space for his teammates.  I think that was the biggest thing that made me fall in love with him, and there’s so many videos of him just skating around the zone and then all of a sudden the play just appears from him.”

While the forward his teammates affectionately refer to as “Samo” sharpened his playmaking craft by studying the Islanders star, he credits his fearsome shot to the hours logged out on the backyard rink.  “I think I developed [my shot] by myself.  Like I said, in the backyard, it was something I did day in and day out.  It’s better to be more a passer AND a shooter, dual threat.  It’s harder to defend and makes me more dangerous as a player.” It is the closest Samoskevich ever comes to boastfulness, and, given his production, it is more than deserved.

When he’s not on the ice, Samoskevich garners attention from his teammates for his commitment to a housebound lifestyle.  In a mid-October edition of @umichhockey’s weekly Monday Question, several teammates expressed that they would love to experience the winger’s “insane routine” featuring naps, movies, and DoorDash.

Duke, who lives with Samoskevich in addition to sharing top-line duties with him, pauses when asked for something he’s learned about his fellow sophomore. The Ohioan winger jokes that he doesn’t want to “throw [Mackie] under the bus” before revealing that his room- and line-mate is an expert at making egg sandwiches.  According to Duke, Samoskevich will use whatever bread is on hand at their house, “but he loves his ketchup with his eggs.”

When the pair aren’t enjoying Samoskevich-prepared egg sandwiches, they are liable to be found on the virtual battlefields of Fortnite.  As Duke tells it, the duo, along with Luke Hughes and Ethan Edwards, have “a little squad going.”  

Based on Duke’s scouting report, “Edwards is definitely the best.  Mackie is mediocre, in the middle.  Luke’s just under Mackie, and then I’m the worst by far.”  Evidently, Duke’s workmanlike streak on the ice extends to video games—“I’m more there just to carry shields.”

As Sara Civian’s semiweekly style rankings for Bleacher Report attest, interest in pregame fashion has—like an attacking penalty kill or the fluid interchange of a center and his wingers—come into vogue in NHL circles in recent years. Perhaps this image from prior to his team’s October 16th contest with BU is the best distillation of Samoskevich.

The photo depicts the forward walking into Yost: a Michigan toque perched atop his head with a crisp blue-checked suit paired with Adidas slides.  The hint of a bandage peeking out from beneath the strap of his right sandal suggests that the footwear may be the byproduct of injury.

Even if that were the case, it’s hard not to read more into his pregame stylings. The sharp tailoring of his suit suggests focus, self-seriousness, and performance, yet the sandals show that even at his imperious best, Samoskevich projects a certain ease.  If nothing else, the pregame flip-flops appear appropriate for a player selected in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Panthers and thus for whom a professional future in South Florida awaits.

ARTICLE FROM GULO GULO HOCKEY

You can support their work further by subscribing or by visiting https://ko-fi.com/gulogulohockey. Full article with further embeds linked below.

[brightlight-dazzlingeyes]

between the lines | interlude

rúben dias x original female character [+18]

synopsis: isabella is a sports journalist covering the premier league. she has sworn to never get involved with a football player. that is, until she meets a handsome portuguese defender. warnings: incorrect journalism references; timeline of events are not faithful to real life; i have never been to england; mutual pining; romantic comedy;  minors dni.

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

Interlude

“I think she wants you to sing to her!” Carlos exasperatedly requests me a lullaby. I’m sitting down on the floor in front of my floor length mirror, trying to do something nice with my hair. I'm getting ready for my first day back at work after a short lived summer break. My brother is on facetime, showing me my niece. “I swear, she was saying ‘tía’ a lot. I think she’s asking for the song.”

It’s August and I just got back to England. Getting drunk on Pinot Noir on as many Spanish islands as my money could afford was a goal I gracefully achieved over the break. Okay, maybe ‘gracefully’ is not the best word to describe my alcohol driven antics. But here I am, all pieces glued together, ready for another season.

This time last year I was a rookie in this League and by the end of the season I was having dinner dates with a Prem superstar.

None of that this time, tough. I've grown a year older since my birthday last week, and that means I’m only focusing on my career. For real this time. No more relapses, no more calls in the middle of the night.

So I sing Lucía a song and then I go to work.

“New year, new me, huh?” I point out as Melissa hugs me, she has a new hair color and is rocking a new makeup style.

“Isabella, it’s August.” Mel doesn't share my enthusiasm. “Also, I hate covering pre-season. I always end up making stupid decisions like going blonde or something.”

“What? You didn’t have fun in the US?” I’m still hugging her when I ask.

“Oh, shut up. Your insta stories didn’t help me either, you know?” Mel puts both hands on my shoulders and looks deep into my eyes. “But you had fun, right? You’re feeling good?”

“Yeah, of course. Feeling good. I feel great.” I nod, mostly to myself. “I feel amazing…” 

She agrees and continues to walk.

“I swear I wish I had forgotten most of these dudes' names.” She bites her lips looking menacingly into the horizon. I giggle, ashamed.

“I share the feeling.”

At lunch Mel ordered Japanese food and I just stared at the package for a full minute before deciding to eat.

“You know you can talk to me, right?” It’s the fourth or sixth time she said that to me, ever since she noticed something was off a couple months ago.

It was a Japanese restaurant but I almost didn’t notice at first, being too focused on something else. He wore a button up shirt and I felt like dying.

I remember saying something like:

“I don’t really like Portuguese food. Too many eggs. You guys put eggs in everything. Egg on the entrance, egg on the fish, for desert? Egg flavored cake. Francesinha is a sandwich with egg on top of it. That’s not where the egg is supposed to go, Rúben.”

And he laughed, he laughed at every joke I said. At the end of the night my jaw was hurting from how I smiled at him and I wondered if he felt the same.

It’s a double-edge sword, this whole falling in love thing. Even being the one saying goodbye, I still hurt like I was dumped by my first boyfriend at 16 all over again.

At first it was easy, everything can be a distraction if you try hard enough. But with time the thing I was trying so hard to hide became bigger and louder in my mind. The sound of the laughter, the clicking of the cutlery.

The realization that I chose this, standing outside of Wembley with a microphone in hand; over whatever that was.

This is fine, I’m great.

“How are you feeling about this season?” I question a random City fan outside the stadium.

“Good, yeah.” The lad shrugs.

“You guys already won everything, do you think the players-” I start, but he stops me.

“Nah, we didn’t win everything. There’s always more to win. We only got 3 out of 4 last season.” When he says that, I realize that around 20 meters away from me, in the distance, is the Manchester City bus. I walk faster.

The sound of wanting gets drowned out by a crowded pub and suddenly it's easier to breathe again and everything really is fine.

“Rice, rice, baby!” It’s Victor’s voice that gets a genuine laugh out of me. “I fucking love Wembley!”

We’re all meeting at the pub after the Community Shield game and the atmosphere is exactly like the first day back to school, but with a lot more beer involved.

“Please don’t tell me you have money on Arsenal winning the league.” Seb is sitting next to me, pointing his green bottle to Victor.

“I do. Yes, go ahead, laugh all you want.” Victor raises his voice, looking offended. “I’m not even being optimistic, mate, it’s just the plain truth.”

The entire table laughs and we almost can't hear when he continues. “They’re stronger this year, guys, hear me out.”

“You’re right to be confident, but personally I’m not putting money on Mikel.” Mel says.

I bite my tongue when they ask my opinion.

“I’m being a hundred percent professional this year, no betting, no guessing, just straight analyzing.” The table booed me and I raised my hands in the air, in surrender. “Hey, I didn’t even want to be here. I wish I was in Australia right now.”

“Don't remind me!” Mel sighs and lightly slaps me. “We’re literally the only women not covering the World Cup right now.”

“No whining! Come on, let’s toast.” Seb raises his bottle once again, but this time we all follow. “To a busy and long season!”

And we all repeat: “To a busy and long season!”

[nickmaghighlights]

Nick Mag Highlights - Nick Mag Presents: Danny Phantom (Fall 2005)

Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here. Welcome back to my blog and the words that inhabit it. Today, Halloween comes early this year when we read through another exciting issue of Nickelodeon Magazine Presents, this time all about Danny Phantom. Boo! Trick-or-Treat! Deck the halls!

And not only is this edition of Nick Mag Highlights spooky, it’s also… pretty chill. Y’know? Just takin’ it easy, reading a handful of comics and probably a crossword puzzle or something. As much as I love researching the kind of stuff Nickelodeon Magazine includes in its articles, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and take things at face value and just see what the state of Nickelodeon was like at any given time, and these short-and-sweet issues of Nick Mag Presents are the perfect venue for just that.

But why exactly am I tackling this purportedly Halloween-themed issue in August? Well, mainly it’s because that new Danny Phantom graphic novel just came out… two weeks ago (oops). And I really enjoyed it! So I’ve since been in a big Danny Phantom mood lately. I even ended up re-watching the whole first season and had a blast doing so. This show was a real obsession of mine as a kid, so maybe this blog post is also a way for me to give it its dues.

This issue can be found online here, read along… if you dare!

Another Nick Mag Presents, another humorously wordy introduction. If you’re unfamiliar, basically all these Presents-styled issues have a panel on the first page with a character essentially advertising the book to you and talking about all the comics and activities included inside. This one here features Danny and an understandably perturbed ghost, for example. 

Since these issues were usually sold in stores as opposed to through a mail subscription, I suppose this is the issue’s way of hooking you in and explaining to you why you should buy it. I think a kid would probably be more inclined to just flip through the book and arrive at the same conclusion, but I guess this approach doesn’t hurt anybody.

But anyway, let’s see here… aw, only two wholly new comics? The Fairly Oddparents-themed issue I took a look at previously had five original comics. That’s a bummer, but at least we’ve still got variety… SpongeBob, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and The Wild Thornberrys, oh my! Even Tak makes an appearance here, two years before the premiere of his actual Nickelodeon cartoon, meaning this was an attempt to interest readers in the then-recently released video game: Tak 3: The Great Juju Challenge. Not sure if that worked.

And if you’ll take a look at that yellow, spiky bubble with words on the right there, this September 2005 issue is meant to coincide with the then-upcoming two episode-long Danny Phantom special, “The Ultimate Enemy”, which featured Danny taking on a more powerful version of himself from the future. Seems like the included removable poster is even themed around that very episode! Let’s just hope that poster is still left intact, eh?

So first up, we’ve got a page to get you up to speed on the main cast if you’re new to the show. It’s even got some new factoids for the already familiar superfans! For example: Did you know Sam is into anime? I sure didn’t.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where series villain Vlad Masters is, don’t worry, they go over him later on in the book.

On the right you’ll find an easy if not slightly amusing word puzzle, which tasks you with solving questions where each answer contains the word boo. Simple enough for a kid while still being worth the time, methinks.

Although all the stock ghost art on the page gets me wondering, how come most of the ghosts in the show manifest as typical-looking cartoon ghosts while others manifest in a human form? I guess maybe it comes down to the strength of your spirit. Who’s to say?

You’ve met the characters, now it’s time to meet the voices behind them! I’ll always take a side of interviews with my Nickelodeon Magazine, and this is no exception. The questions are cute, and I had fun reading them. Not much to say.

So we’re finally here at the first comic of the issue, and… not really a fan of this one! Yeah, sorry to start this retrospective off on a sour note but this isn’t really doing it for me. The main villain of this one is Youngblood, who already isn’t exactly one of my favorite villains from the series. But here they’ve got him and all the other characters stuck in a pretty by-the-numbers plot where Danny and co. get stuck babysitting the brat while he tries to maim them, with them of course unable to fight back lest they face the wrath of his parents (who are humongous lizard monsters, for some reason). 

If you’re even a little familiar with cartoons you’ve probably already seen quite a few takes on this formula already. And even if you like Youngblood as a character they don’t have him doing his usual pirate shtick he’s remembered for, so I’m not sure what anyone is getting out of this, really. What's especially not helping is that this goes on for ten pages, further dragging out an already tired concept. 

So there you have it, I guess. Done-to-death story with accordingly done-to-death jokes, a lame villain, and about two pages of action. I will say though, Danny and Tucker’s babysitting poster on page 2 did get a smile out of me, at least.

You’ve met the characters, and you’ve also met the voices behind them, now it’s time to meet… the rest of the characters! The villain ones! These guys really made the show for me, cause the team behind the show really just seemed to understand the assignment and made all of them really unique and memorable.

So we can see they’ve been ranked in terms of how dangerous they all are, which is a fun idea. ‘Course you’ve got Vlad at the top of, but then there’s Technus just behind him? I can’t say I remember him being notably more dangerous than any of the other baddies, I’m fairly certain he gets swept up at the end of his specific episode just like all the rest. I’m pretty sure Valerie gave Danny a bigger run for his money, and she’s down at #3.

Woah now, I’m starting to scrutinize the power levels of cartoon characters. Cartoon characters from a show I haven’t even fully watched all the way through since I was a kid, no less. Better put a stop to that before it gets ugly.

Cool little cartoons on the left there, that one on the top right is properly devious and I’m all for it. All the art is quite lovely too.

The right is… well, it’s Mad Libs, there’s no other way around it. Y’know the Mad Libs website refers to itself as “the world’s greatest word game” but I seriously think they need to take that up with Scrabble, or hell, even Hangman. Yeah I was never a big fan of this kind of fill-in-the-blanks stuff, but I guess it’s a pretty inoffensive activity to include.

Check out Danny’s dad rocking that emo hair.

And now we’ve made it to the second and last new comic for the issue, and unfortunately it’s only a two-pager. But hey, if my thoughts on the previous ten-page comic said anything, it was that I prefer quality over quantity. And this one is… okay. It’s funny enough, does what all it needs to with the concept, and it definitely doesn’t overstay its welcome. I’m again surprised by the lack of action in both of these comics, considering Danny Phantom is an action show, after all, but it’s not like the show wasn’t a comedy either, so it’s not that weird.

I guess while we’re here I could nitpick it a bit. The lineart here courtesy of series creator Butch Hartman* is a bit wonky at times. There’s the aforementioned emo hair Danny’s dad is wearing, but my main gripe is that dog robot just doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the artstyle. It being the only new original character design for this comic as well doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me. I guess the team was fine with whatever Hartman drew because he made the show after all, so surely he knows what he’s doing, right?*

*Insert obligatory comment about how much of a loser Butch Hartman is here.

Just want to give a shoutout to this pretty creative puzzle here. It actually stumped me a little when I first read it! Those monster designs are pretty entertaining too. Solid activity overall.

Next up it’s an installment of Sam Shade, which was a short-lived recurring series in Nickelodeon Magazine. Apparently the series ran from 2002 to 2005, so this may be one of the last times a Sam Shade comic was ever printed in a Nick Magazine. 

These comics mainly consist of the titular Detective Sam Shade trying to solve some mystery, sleuthing around the area in a series of detailed, wordy scenes. Likewise, you as the reader are as well tasked with scouring the pages for clues to help deduce the culprit. Each panel here smoothly moves into the next, making for something like a Where’s Waldo puzzle but with an actual narrative. It’s a really good idea! A shame this series didn’t last longer.

Hey, is that Carl from Jimmy Neutron on the bottom right there?

Pretty nice My Life as a Teenage Robot comic here. Although that’s kind of unfortunate in a way, since that means I haven’t got much to talk about! It’s pretty much a 1-to-1 translation from animation to comic here. The artstyle and writing are both on point, it’s all just in a shorter, more paper-y format.

I wonder why the aliens’ speech bubble has flowers in it. Is that a theater reference, maybe?

The design of these fiery aliens are particularly awesome - simple but effective. I’m surprised they used such a cool design in a comic that was going to be seen by way less people as opposed to using it in the cartoon. Man, this show is so cool, even its supplementary media is stylish!

But anyway, do you want to know how this story ends? Read it yourself!

Ohh man, I distinctly remember this comic. I don’t remember what issue of Nickelodeon Magazine this one is sourced from, but whichever one it was, I had it. The story’s nothing to write home about really, It's another take on the age old tale of “Squidward yells at SpongeBob and Patrick for doing something annoying, so they inadvertently ruin his life”. Squidward must have a really good lawyer for him to be able to bounce back from all the crap SpongeBob and Pat get him into.

This version of the usual story has S. Bob and P. Rick making a cake in Squidward’s image. Mr. Krabs ends up mistaking it for the real Squidward, bringing it to the Krusty Krab, and having it run the cash register, obviously to disastrous results. It’s all pretty par for the course, and there’s some funny lines to be had.

Weirdly though, unless I’m blind, I can’t seem to find any credits for this one. Not in the comic itself or at the back of the book. I’m pretty sure the artist(s) behind this one did more SpongeBob SquarePants comics though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same writing team had a hand in them too. I distinctly remember one where all the characters turn into desserts. Or maybe it was an alternate universe where they’re all desserts? Something like that. Maybe I’ll find it and cover it on this blog someday!

And up next, it’s a Wild Thornberrys comic of all things (said with feigned surprise, having read the table of contents moments ago). And I’m just now realizing none of these comics have anything to do with ghosts, or horror, really. Quite the magazine you’ve got just in time for October, Nickelodeon!

But hey, it’s not right to judge a piece of art specifically by the context in which it is presented. Especially when it was originally published in a magazine that likely came out years earlier, probably not even around the month of October. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that, even when it comes to filling the pages of a magazine.

This comic is especially cool, anyway, as you can no doubt tell from its distinct shakeup in style!

The story has Eliza receiving some gifts from her Japanese friend, Mayumi (who was probably in the show, presumably), one of those gifts being a homemade manga. And while I’m not exactly an expert on the Japanese arts, I certainly find this art convincing and really appreciate the attention to detail. I bet any kids that were fans of manga around this time must have felt pretty seen to have one of their hobbies referenced in a rather unlikely place, and with such attention to detail no less.

One thing I can also appreciate is that this story really isn’t something they could have pulled off in the show itself (unless they studio really wanted to have an anime-themed episode and go through the undertaking of doing an episode in an entirely different, foreign animation style all on their usual budget), so overall this is a really fun idea done quite flawlessly. My only gripe is we don’t get to see a manga-styled Nigel Thornberry, but what can you do?

Oh boy, the Tak comic, cool. Now, I know these games have their fans, but I can’t say I’m one of them. I did watch the show a bit though, but I’ve heard it has nothing to do with the games, so I guess that makes me rather unprepared to tackle this two-page comic on an intellectual, researched level. I will say though that I think the Sam Shade comic from earlier pulled off this style of free-flowing, no-panel storytelling to a much greater effect. The amount of Taks they threw around the page makes it feel really busy and cramped, and they had to essentially remove the second character Tak is traveling with from the story since I guess they were strapped for page space.

But yeah, the colors are nice at least, and Tak media is especially hard to come by nowadays, so I suppose if I were more into the property, I might be more into this.

Last comic of the day, and it’s Jimmy Neutron. At least this one kinda fits the theme, I mean, aliens are almost in the same horror-league as vampires, zombies, ghosts, and all that. This is a pretty quality one to end off the book with, and in regards to Jimmy Neutron, this is one of the better ways these characters have been translated to 2D. Although the incredibly warm colors and harsh shadows throw me for a loop. Pretty good overall!

Before we wrap things up, I would like to mention that advert for The Nicktoons Film Festival on the right. I totally forgot these used to be a thing! From 2004 to 2009 Nickelodeon hosted a film festival and let viewers vote for their favorite animated short, along with letting proper animation people who know what they’re talking about vote on their favorites, too. Lots of great up-and-coming cartoonists took part in these festivals. This one in 2005 actually featured a short by J. G. Quintel that eventually was used as a basis for his own Cartoon Network show, Regular Show! You can check the short out below:

Neat bit of history there, yeah?

Even though I’m still a bit disappointed this issue didn’t include more original content, I still think this ended up being a fairly entertaining walk down memory lane. And hey, I hope you had a good time too. I’m doubly disappointed, however, that the archive of this issue didn’t come with that tear-out poster! Now we’ll never see it in its full hi-def glory.

As always, thanks for stopping by and checking out another bit of Nick history with me. Have yourself a good one, and I’ll see you all next time!

[jakesuit0]

Too Young Review

“Too Young” finally follows up on the newly deaged Princess Bubblegum, something fans were dying to see after no glimpses of her in the past four episodes. This would have been a more thematically appropriate season premiere, but I do like the building anticipation for the followup. The question of how this new dynamic would alter the status quo of the series going forward hung over our heads. Turns out: not at all. At least not in an obvious way.

Even putting aside the romance aspect, it’s just great to see Finn finally hanging out with someone his own age, something we never get enough of. He’s always hanging out with his older brother, and his other best friends are hundreds of years older than him. As Finn says at the beginning, he can just be himself. I like Finn stepping out to get moral support from Jake. His encouragement of Finn’s pursuit of Bubblegum is finally appropriate! Finn is a little nervous, this is probably his first ever date. But, he is overall pretty comfortable, as there’s still a strong familiarity between Finn and PB. There’s also no pussyfooting around between the two, they are very upfront with their feelings. PB already knows how Finn feels, and she basically tells Finn that he’s hot after he drinks her serum. He admits to not bathing, so it’s a good thing that BMO gets Finn on a bathing schedule by “Holly Jolly Secrets Part 1.” It’s interesting that Finn first asks if she’s trying to make herself 18 again. Part of him thinks this is all too good to be true.  

Not really sure how much I need to introduce him, but Lemongrab! He’s probably the tenth most prominent character in the series, and one of the most well known characters, period. He wasn’t given much of a personality in the outline. Tom Herpich and especially Jesse Monyihan, the storyboarders for this episode, really created Lemongrab. They succeeded in making such a distinct character, and with Justin Roiland bringing him to life with some of the best voice acting of the series so far, he was basically guaranteed to become a recurring character. (I know there’s a massive elephant in the room that I’m avoiding, but it’s just not pertinent to this review. It will be addressed when I get to “Prismo the Wishmaster” and morals will be condemned!) Lemongrab’s very screamy, but he does it in such an alien way that he’s not annoying. He’s introduced with his iconic “unacceptable” catchphrase, which is pretty great and has been memed to death. He was originally going to be PB’s uncle (I assume it would have straight up been Gumbald, albeit in a very different incarnation, since he was mentioned in “Susan Strong”). I’m very glad they didn’t go that direction. They were dangerously close to ruining much of the direction they’ll take PB’s character in. 

Lemongrab is now technically the rightful ruler due to PB’s deaging. I assume Bubblegum created Lemongrab with the intention of wanting an heir, and that stuck in Candy Kingdom law. Similarly to my take on “Hot Diggity Doom”, I don’t think Princess Bubblegum actually cares about the legal technicality, especially since she started creating the kingdom when she was a kid. She just wanted to delay the inevitable. She might also have more respect for the rules as a less jaded thirteen year old. 

The flashback establishes that she created Lemongrab. It’s the first hint that PB created all the candy people, but it could still just be assumed that Lemongrab was an exception. The implications of PB creating life aren’t explored here, but this establishes a trait for her that will be explored a ton. We don’t know exactly when she created him, but it’s implied that it happened a long time ago, possibly hundreds of years ago. My theory is it happened before the flashbacks seen in “The Vault”. PB was used to making candy people dumb on purpose, probably straight up using dum dum juice. It’d make sense to not want her heir to be incompetent, so she’d need a different formula, especially since she isn’t using parts of the mother gum like she did with Gumbald, Lolly, and Chicle. This caused the experiment to “go wrong”. The reason I think it’s before “The Vault”, is because we see a young Peppermint Butler in it, who I don’t think was created with dum dum juice. She must have perfected the formula by then. Pep wasn’t intended to be an heir, as she’s still trying in “Goliad”, but she’ll eventually realize he fits the bill. Calling Lemongrab her “first” experiment to go wrong, is a straight up continuity error due to the Uncle Gumbald backstory. It’s also hard to believe that she didn’t have any other experiments go wrong. I think my theory could recontextualize the line to mean it’s the first one of her experiments with her new formula to go wrong, but it’s a little handwavey. As if this flashback didn’t already have enough interesting implications, we see that PB still has her memories. This raises the question of if she still has the same experiences, is her relationship with Finn still problematic? I argue that it isn’t. She behaves like a child in her new state. Her brain, just like the rest of her body, has less candy biomass, and is the brain of a child. She’s seeing her memories through the lens of a kid. 

Finn and Bonnie try to solve their problems like kids would for once, with pranks. Their relationship is so pure and adorable. Bonnie cuddling up to Finn on the castle roof is one of the most wholesome moments ever in Adventure Time and Finn looks so incredibly happy. It really captures the innocence of a young child’s first romance, and it stands apart from the awkwardness that defines his relationship with Flame Princess and the maturity that comes with his dynamic with Huntress Wizard. At the same time, Lemongrab gets more defined as he tries to laugh and have fun with the pranks after Peppermint Butler’s explanation. He wants to fit in with others, but he just doesn’t see the world in a neurotypical way, so it comes off as forced and awkward, like his bobbing head laughter.

Peppermint Butler tells Lemongrab that food comes from Mars. It’s a weird lore detail that isn’t ever explained, but is referenced again. It’d make sense for a world of talking animals and talking food to get food from an outside source, but there’s plenty of examples of them eating food from Ooo. I’ll assume that industrialized food comes from Mars, and this is considered more civilized. Lemongrab eating the spiced food is a great sequence, and causes him too much pain for him to just laugh off.

Princess Bubblegum finally decides it's time to stop delaying what she knows is inevitable: becoming 18 again. Finn’s upset, but has the ability to recognize the greater good enough to swallow those feelings. This whole experience was more of a well needed break for PB, than a true commitment to a new permanent identity, just like a later arc she’ll have. But unlike later, she doesn’t change the way she conducts her life through learning from this ordeal. Many fans don’t think this episode works with PB’s portrayal in the rest of the series, but I disagree. She sacrifices her happiness for her people, which will be explored as a character flaw later down the line that ends up backfiring for her kingdom anyway. She views having fun as something mainly for children, and work as something that must consume adults. There is no middle ground for her. The pain this causes PB just makes her double down on work as a distraction. Some of that analysis is based on future episodes, but a lot of it can be taken away from just “Too Young”. It’s great to finally get an episode that focuses on fleshing out Princess Bubblegum’s deeper feelings and motivations. It’s really the only episode in the first three seasons with that accomplishment. 

Princess Bubblegum says she needs her lab equipment to engineer more candy flesh, an even bigger hint that she created the candy people. I love the scene of her citizens giving PB parts of themselves. They recognize how selfless Bubblegum is, and sacrifice pieces of themselves like she does for them. Finn uses the power of love to catalyze the re-aging process. He gets to return Princess Bubblegum’s favor in “Mortal Folly” with the like-like sweater! It’s cheesy but it’s such a perfect resolution. Princess Bubblegum’s goodbye to Finn is heartbreaking, and it’s really tragic, especially after seeing how happy they were together. They hug and Finn has his first kiss. It’s a really special moment, and it really should be his only kiss with Princess Bubblegum. Fuck you “Wizard Battle” for taking away a little bit of what makes this moment so special and tragic. 

Bubblegum turns back and is pretty cold to Finn, but I love the contrast of her just saying “‘scuse me Finn” and how much taller she is than Finn. She’s also cold to Lemongrab, calling him a butt, which is even more problematic given the fact she’s responsible for him. The next moment is soooo important. Finn comes on to PB, which I can’t even condemn him for this time given the circumstances, and PB immediately shuts him down. She takes the crush slightly more seriously than just innocent puppy love. I love how awkward Finn asking if she wants to hug more is, really highlighting how this relationship does not work with this age difference. She responds by not humoring him finally, saying “that was like 5 years ago” and “you really gotta move on.” People have criticized Bubblegum for being too cold to Finn. I do understand calling those comments, and her joking about the situation, insensitive. It comes across to Finn like the relationship they had means nothing to her now. I really don’t think it meant nothing to her, as we’ll see by her subtle changes in behavior and a line she has in “Burning Low.”  But, I’m sure it was hurtful and confusing for Finn. I still can’t really blame PB for how she responded. She definitely could have been more sensitive about it, while still clearly turning him down. But, it’s an awkward situation. She was still trying to be kind about it, even if the joking manner came off as hurtful, and she’s very clear in her rejection which is good. She still doesn’t know the true extent of Finn’s feelings.

Season two’s cliffhanger being immediately reversed in one episode is a controversial decision. It’s the first example of one of the biggest criticisms leveled against the series, not committing to interesting status quo changes. Turning Bonnie back to 18 is a decision I 100% support. Yes, it’s sad how much of a more entertaining character young PB is compared to the regular state of her character so far. But, essentially replacing the most boring character of the main cast with an entirely different character would feel like such a lame solution to a problem the series has. Working on making her a more engaging character is the correct path. The path they take Bubblegum on is my favorite aspect of the series, so I’m glad this didn’t stick. It’s just unfortunate that it takes another season for that to happen. It makes reversing back to the status quo more questionable. Also, we can’t lose Hynden Walch! To be fair, restoring the status quo after only one episode is the aspect of this that’s more contentious. I wouldn’t have been opposed to seeing young PB in a few more episodes, but I don’t really see what more could have been done. I think “Too Young” fully explores everything interesting that can come out of this plotline: her relationship with Finn and how Princess Bubblegum acts differently at this age. This also isn’t entirely a reset. Not only does this episode color Princess Bubblegum’s character moving forward, it also sets a clear new dynamic for Finn and Bubblegum. She stops humoring his advancements (except for “Wizard Battle”, but again, fuck that episode). It’s the first of many times “everything stays, but it still changes” is applicable. We’ll see how long that ends up being a good excuse moving forward though. 

Finn calls Jake and he gives Finn some pretty bad advice if you take it as him still telling Finn to keep pursuing PB! To be fair, he doesn’t yet know that Bubblegum is an adult again. But Finn tells him that he got dumped. You could also interpret Jake’s advice as being persistent in finding love in general, not necessarily referring to Bubblegum specifically. His speech was intended to be important and to foreshadow the rest of the series, but I’m not sure if this really panned out. He does defeat a demon lord (whether it refers to Hunson, Ke-Oth, The Lich, or evil in general). Finn definitely warps through several worlds (“Puhoy”, “Crossover”, “Beyond the Grotto”, etc). Walking up the wizard steps could foreshadow Huntress Wizard, even though it’s unclear if they ever get in a committed relationship. The magic key and water world don’t really come to pass, unless you wanna say “President Porpoise is Missing!” I’m probably taking it too literally. I think it’s true meaning is to just be persistent in finding love despite all the obstacles. I think that’s what Jake’s means, so I like the speech. The episode ends with Finn looking at Bubblegum up above. It seems like Finn takes it as advice to keep pursuing PB specifically, as we see in upcoming episodes. A lot of fans took it this way, thinking Finn will just have to wait until he becomes 18 to get with PB. With him aging throughout the series, that does seem like a plausible endgame. But there’s obviously problematic implications with that. The series ends up going in a different direction and doesn’t make romance a central part of Finn’s final arc, so this speech really doesn’t end up feeling as important as it was set out to be. 

This is a really iconic episode with a super memorable story and introduction of a major character, and it’s one of my favorites so far. It’s essentially a what if scenario, the one time we see what Finn and PB could be like as a couple. The one time Finn gets to live out his greatest desire. I’m not a Fubblegum shipper, but I’m glad the shippers get this episode. Shipping them outside this episode is weird, but I’m fully on board with their relationship here. I guess I’ll end with some controversy. You can’t tell me Princess Bubblegum didn’t have real feelings for Finn in this one. I totally interpret her as bi just because of this episode. 

Grade: A

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: Mentopolis and The Big Guy

Gonna be honest: while I loved the trailer of Mentopolis and have seen it more times that I can count with both hands and feet, the premiere of the latest Dimension 20 season wasn't as attention-grabbing as I was expecting it to be. Which is probably because this is the first time I'm seeing Brennan Lee Mulligan be a game-master for a non-D&D actual play and I'm just not used to it.

It does pick up as the episode rolls along though, and by mid-way I was in for the ride. It just… It took a while to get there.

But I'm not here to gripe about the show. I don't actually have anything to gripe about. Because although Brennan didn't have a hundred percent of my attention, he still had around ninety-five percent. (Which is still a lot considering I'm not great at focusing these days.) I do, however, want to talk about all the things I loved--

The puns! I was like Mike Trapp with every new name Brennan uttered, trying to figure out what the wordplay is. And we really have to talk about how Brennan is so great at capturing a personality with just a name.

The mystery and the noir of it all! We start the episode with a murder, and before we're done with the introduction of the characters, we already get the table-setting of the mystery. The projections and the lighting are really doing some heavy lifting this episode, creating such an amazing atmosphere that transports you faster into the goings on of the city. But it's also a testament to Brennan's brilliant brain that there's no question which genre we're playing in: with his movement, the character voices he employed, and the way he unfolded the story and the relationships of the characters.

And finally: the players! I already knew Siobhan Thompson was gonna deliver the goods, and Mike Trapp is established to be just as smart and funny as Brennan--but this is my first time to watch the other players in a role-playing game and they are all amazing. Danielle Radford swings strongly with her (trailer-used) "a body! a body?" delivery and then goes all-out when she starts lobbing with Trapp.

Freddie Wong and Hank Green are fun, fantastic, and fearsome. Hank delivers one of the most solid intimidation scenes in all of the Dimension 20 content I've consumed so far--and he does it with a factoid concerning snakes and their dicks. It is exhilerating. But the episode's mvp for me has to be Alex Song-Xia. I'm not familiar with their body of work, but the way they played their character was just top-notch. You just want to hold them and hug them and tell them that everything's gonna be all right--even though you know things are about to get bad.

I'm already looking forward to next week's episode. Hopefully, whatever jitters Brennan had felt at the beginning of this episode won't be there--'cause he has nothing to worry about. He is good at this. I have no background with the system they're using this season and I didn't have a problem quickly grasping the concept of slick, sturdy, savvy, etc. And, after this season ends, I might actually start watching the non-D&D seasons on Dimension 20.

[salted-anime-takes]

Sword Art Online (S1 & S2; dropped after that)

Author: Reki Kawahara, originally light novels

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Genres (Listed by MAL): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance (vomits), Love Polygon (kills you)

Premiered: Summer 2012

Anime vs. Manga?: You couldn't pay me less than $100 to consume additional content to this series. I'd also need a large margarita.

Salted Genres: stereotypical teen boy fantasy, loser cardboard male mc, harem of women too good for him, jesus christ they had a torture dungeon for main girl in S2 by some grown man obsessed with her???, jesus FUCKING christ they gave Kirito a cousin who is into him but reasoned it off not being totally blood related, why did we let this series get so popular

Major Trigger Warnings: that weird sex dungeon thing in S2, almost incest, shitty writing, shitty love polygon garbage

Can I Watch It Around My Parents?: Just don't watch it. The cultural context isn't worth it. Do yourself a favor and stop thinking isekai will be family friendly when the main audience is incels.

Artstyle: That moe-esque style without any personality and makes all the main characters look 12, and many side characters look ridiculously older.

Personal Review: I will never forgive SAO for kicking off the isekai genre in anime so hard. Fuck yourself, Kirito. Every other anime lead in isekai is just you. Fuck this garbage pile for the isekai boom. Fuck my life

Context: This is the real reason you're here, aside from the scathing remarks you've probably heard a billion times. Why the fuck is this show even relevant? Let's go back to the early 2010s, before half of tumblr could pretend to read. (This is mostly from the Western perspective, so please add anything else happening in the world with this wild popularity jump, because I'd LOVE to hear additional takes.) Several factors were going on. Firstly, Netflix was finally a full streaming service, and most people were starting to subscribe. You didn't have to hope it was on Toonami or go to whatever sketchy websites had anime illegally available (and get every virus known to computer-kind) to get your fix anymore. Well... for a small starting selection. Secondly, while the isekai genre was already a fully developed thing, it hadn't broken into the majority Western anime viewership circles, which barely ventured outside of Toonami at the time. Then along came SAO. Netflix got the rights to the entire first season, and suddenly, it was not only insanely accessible but also something most Western fans had never seen before. You die in the game, you die in real life?! Incredible!!! (Sorry Tron, you weren't high fantasy enough for this crowd.) Thirdly, gaming was finally mainstream, and watching streamers was a new norm. The timing couldn't have been better for its release. And what with the insane levels of ignorance and assumptions most Western anime watchers had at the time of anime tropes, most red flags discussed were merely looked over. We let too much slide in the early 2010s, and SAO was one of the biggest culprits. Fourthly, if you needed a gateway anime? SAO didn't require any sort of understanding of Japanese culture to get, which appealed to a lot of people who didn't want to think outside their box, as was the early 2010s. Despite it all, SAO was easy merchandise. Hot Topic (apologies for the American chain drop) was venturing into nerd culture and including some nice trinkets for the little nerds that hung out with their goth besties, and anime merch- including SAO- was some of the first big hits. After that? It's history. I don't know if anyone who still claims to like SAO actually is banking on nostalgia or just never gained tastes beyond a lameass horny 15 year old boy, but that boom it created gave so many light novel writers the ticket they needed to get isekai as a major genre in today's seasonal anime lineup.

Favorite Character: Asuna deserved better you motherfuckers. She actually did stuff until you get thrown into the most unnecessary slice of life arc where they begin the Sexualization. S2 cour 2 they gave her a genuinely interesting opportunity to be a lead, AND Kirito wasn't there. Still not worth watching.

Fandom: you couldn't pay me ANYTHING to check this.

[hawkai2406]

Guess who finally could watch Psycho Pass Providence

Yes it’s about me 🤣

I’ve been already 9 years into the fandom and considering how many other fandoms I’m in, Psycho Pass always remains as one of my top of the tops -alongside Shingeki no Kyojin-.

What’s more important is that when I rewatched lately some series I enjoyed during my late teens/early twenties, I found them just „different” from my first or second views a few years ago. And Psycho Pass, especially season 1, is one of the few constant titles that I’m regularly going back to. Of course I changed my views on some plot points and/or characters through the years, but they still make sense to me, some of them even more than before (*cough*for example Mika Shimotsuki*cough*)

(For the context: I mean that I rewatch it literally every year, seriously, it’s like it’s became part of my genetics that whenever it’s October/November - the months I’ve seen s1 for the first time - I get that feeling that I need to rewatch the series AGAIN 😂 I often omitted S2 from watching again but hey, this year I saw it for the second time so I guess that counts as a success 🤣)

But back to Providence - I think that I need a proper rewatch before my -final- opinion, even though I spoiled myself with most events when the movie came out in May.

Now all I can say is that I find some things differently than the fandom right after the premiere and that for me it feels like it’s a transition chapter between, let’s say, Psycho-Pass Part 1 (from S1 to Sinners of the System series) and Psycho-Pass Part 2 (S3 and First Inspector) - probably just how it should be viewed if it has both old and the new cast, lol 🤣 but the „transition” part really hit me after credits rolled on my TV screen.

Okay, rambling’s off, I just needed to get it out of my system 😂

Also excuse my english, I’m out of practice and also I’m sick so my brain isn’t working like it should atm