#again I have only just finished ep. 7 so I have no clue if this guy becomes like super evil or not | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

silviakundera · 10 months ago

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The Spirealm episode 5 -7 reaction (Let's call this episode 4 now per the new 38 episodes version)

fair warning: in these episode reactions I'm not gonna pretend I haven't read the novel. in fact, I purposely finished the novel before viewing, to get The Full Experience. thus novel spoilers, including twist end, included.

[1] [2] [3-4]

DON'T LEAN ON THE BANISTER ASDFGHJK

Ruan Baijie saving his boyfriend's ass yet again, must be Tuesday.

Then first key!!!! I wanna see the key!!!!!!!!

The survivors: wow, ok, Baijie really loves u

"Are you leaving so soon and reluctant to leave me?" // "No, it's not that," he lies

The suspicious survivors just couldn't resist trying to steal the door note and now no one has the key but the monster NICE GOING 😒

ahh and then the reveal that ofc Ruan Baijie figured out the taboos long before. He saves those who are worthy (aka his new partner).

wow Ruan Baijie is pretty. gifs don't do him justice.

Death match vs the bad hair day from The Ring.

Ep6

The whole scene in the opening of ep 6 is terribly cute. Ruan Baijie exposed as a drama sprite who was faking his injury, but Lin Quishi just accepts this in good humor as he's told this was just to "bring us closer" and for fun. Another round of, you're really picking me? but why?

He really does the, 'come closer' move to make your crush get up close so you can create a sense of intimacy with hushed voices smh

"Because there is light in you."

oh, did you give me this expensive looking necklace because you want me to join your gang?

no, because you are you.

..... misses the very gay pass completely.

(tbh I feel as if the actor is playing it like his character IS sensing the romantic undertones sometimes but doesn't know how to respond/not ready to process it and so represses & pushes it out of his mind and to the side)

Ep 7

They solved the case. Ruan Baijie gives him back the key again, "Still yours." They exchange a romantic look before he steps over.

Our protagonist thinks he's back in reality and only 15 minutes have passed. But of course that's not true: whether he entered the game time A, B, C, or it's the 12th Door theory... he's still in-play.

A roommate?? This must be the Wei what's his face, his One Friend I recall from the novel. With the girlfriend.

Injuries from the door lingering "outside".

Chestnut won't let him hug! (The clue in the novel that this is still within the door. Now, is this a new phenom or was it already Like That in ep 1? 🤔 Remains ambiguous.)

Wait, in this drama the One Friend has heard of Spirealm?! And it's eviiiill reputation. Everyone who plays it "goes insane and commits suicide". Lin Quishi acts like he hasn't already been warned that players die from the game.

Ah, created by a chinese designer who wanted to make a "comprehensive spirit world". The story goes, after he made it he added all the violent elements to the version he sold, to make it a bloody survival game.

'Can't control when you enter the door, can't get rid of it, Men Can Conquer Heaven'.

Bro goes to sleep and startles awake cause Ruan Nanzhu fka Baijie is pulling an Edward Cullen by his bedside. The more intense looking Nanzhu asks him to come along. Naturally, our boy stumbles along and meets!!! Cheng Qianli!!!!!!! 😄😄😄😄 Who is driving, like the scene in the novel. IM SO HAPPY.

Headquarters!!!!! The group!#####!!!! I'm hyped to see them all live & in color.

Emphasized again that once you enter the game, you must complete all 12 doors to get rid of the mental control of the game. ~Mind control~

(because the censors won't allow it to be explicitly supernatural)

(which doesn't mean the writer didn't intend to get around this barrier by using subtext & inferences that novel readers would understand 🤔🤔)

The clue for his next door freaks out the whole house. But then he meets cranky Cheng Yixie!!!!

He's settling in but the moment he glimpses Nanzhu's returned BUT INJURED *gasp* Must scurry down for hurt/comfort UST.

Love how absolutely unnecessary this hand-holding is. Light piano background to set the romantic mood.

A gurgling stomach growl from Ruan Nanxhu & Lin Quishi takes the initiative to stand up and make himself at home to cook for the man who's obviously being positioned as his love interest. (Like in The Untamed & Word of Honor, we're not being terribly subtle here.)

This is the 3rd time we've seen an instinctive caretaking gesture from him towards Nanzhu and the last moment as we fade out is the "boss man" looking down at his newly bestowed bandage and obviously GOING THRU IT. He's making this sigh and curling his fingers and everything.

side note: Lin Quishi is getting flashes of himself trapped under rubble. This is the second time we see them. Are they flash backs? Of a past event he survived, giving him baggage to carry? OR are we circling back again to my alternate, alternate theory that an evil VR game is part of the illusion and this IS the supernatural Doors from the novel that terminal people can get a chance to enter, to prolong or possibly prevent your death? (if so, then Ruan Nanzhu is still indeed the 12th door god. and Lin Quishi must decide to remain in the fantasy or exit & return to reality?)

#the spirealm #the spirealm spoilers #silvia watches the spirealm #cdrama #im gonna queue these thru the weekend but try to space them out #if they annoy u just block the tag silvia watches the spirealm

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ladyc0312 · 4 years ago

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A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 102-111

It’s been a minute! No, I haven’t abandoned this project - I’ve just been dealing with real world stuff at the same time as I’ve been working on my fic, which is wrapping up this week. It’s also been kind of strange to me to have gotten to this point in doing the Run episode write-ups, as 102 was the first episode of the show I ever watched.

With no further ado, let’s get it!

Ep 102 “King of Avatar Cook Part 1” (Ep: 4 / KM: 2)

The ones where Suga nearly cries over mixed up salt and sugar

6:44 - When JM beats JK in rocks paper scissors, JK "snips" Jimin's rock with his fingers and then moves his other hand to hold JM's hand for a moment (as seen in the Behind) Amusingly, no one except the editors seem to notice that JM only won by straight-up cheating and changing his answer to match Hobi's while everyone was looking at JK.

32:32 - JM touches JK's back when he first comes into the kitchen to taste the food JK helped make.

33:01 - After JM tells Hobi not to fill up on the other team's food, JK says Hobi should eat more and JM scolds him not to play dirty while wagging his finger at him. JM says to play fair and JK shakes his hand.

33:28 - JM and JK stand super close together to take the last of the food they want.

BEHIND 2:26 - After joking that he wanted to change teams, JM says that JK is always confident about his cooking and that he thinks JK will be good.

4:24 - Longer take of the 6:44 moment where you can see JK quickly holding JM's hand after rocks paper scissors.

5:03 - JK tattles on JM for looking at the recipe on his phone and says they should take points off for doing that.

Ep 103 “King of Avatar Cook Part 2” (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

6:16 - JK laughs and claps like it's the funniest thing ever when Suga instructs JM to stand still with his hands clasped and JM does so.

7:05 - When JM keeps pretending Suga is instructing RM to do stuff like say JM is handsome and be nice to him, JK says "Look, look, he's saying weird stuff!" and laughs with JH about it.

9:01 - JK once again laughs at JM being silly like it's much cuter and funnier than it is.

27:04 - Same here.

Ep 104 “Photo Exhibition Part 1″ (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

The one where everyone except Jimin is a little afraid of JK

All - black & white couple <3

2:24 - The guys are playing a musical chairs-type game and, twice, other members talk about how they're scared of getting hurt because JK is big and competitive. At this moment, JK and JM go for the same mat and JK wins. JM sits and leans back against him. As Hobi and Suga talk about how scary JK is, JK is smiling and putting his arms around JM while JM hums and smiles at the camera.

9:01-9:16 - Somewhere in here, JM uses the opportunity of RM getting up to select his clothes to shift his seat so that he's sitting next to JK.

10:44 - When JK is looking for a belt, JM helps him out by suggesting he make one with one of the pieces of clothing he's holding.

11:06 - Probably nothing, but Hobi suggests out of nowhere that JM go for the "boyfriend look" with his outfit.

Ep 105 “Photo Exhibition Part 2″ (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The one where everyone finishes their outfits and takes pictures of each other

5:37 - JM asks JK to look at the pants he made, seemingly searching for a compliment, which JK dutifully gives him.

11:47 - After JM gets the capital of Mongolia right, JK asks how he did it and comments that JM is full of surprises.

29:48 - JK helps JM tie on an accessory. Didn't want to not include this moment because it's cute, but it should be noted that JK is in the role of JM's "stylist" and that's why he's doing it.

32:52 - When V takes a pic of JM from the back, Suga says he can't tell if it's JM or JK (despite them having totally different outfits, different hair colors and cuts, and generally looking nothing alike...)

BEHIND 7:36 - Another angle of the 29:48 moment

Ep 106 “Photo Exhibition Part 3″ (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The one with the now-infamous photo of Jimin

4:20 - JM compliments JK's photography skills and shakes JK's hand when he returns from taking RM's photos.

6:57 - While the others are looking at Suga's pictures of JK, JM asks JK to take pictures of him (and licks his lips while doing so).

7:18 - JM is continuing to pose for JK, this time on all fours looking back over his shoulder. JM will claim half a minute later that he was going for a "werewolf pose"... but, really?

28:45 - When the others are criticizing JM's photo, JK comes over and puts his hands on JM's waist. The camera pans away immediately.

35:56 - JK ends the episode joking about the "new actor" photo he took of Jimin.

BEHIND 5:58 - JK takes everyone’s favorite photo of JM.

Ep 107 "BTS Game Scouts Part 1" (Ep: 2 / KM: 1)

The ones I’ve watched twice now and still can’t follow, but the guys seem happy

4:56 - JK calls Jimin "Jimin-ssi" and tells him to start drawing.

11:27 - JK does so again when it's JM’s turn here. BEHIND 6:01 - JM tells JK he's right behind JK in the score in a flirty tone.

Ep 108 "BTS Game Scouts Part 2" (Ep: 2 / KM: 1)

11:20 - When Jimin gets a purple reward, he starts repeating "boarahae" and JK joins in by singing it.

26:38 - J-Hope accidentally says "Jungkook and Jimin" when he means "Jungkook and Tae." It's almost like he's used to saying two of those names together...

30:06 - All three times they're about to announce JK the winner of something, JM cuts in to announce his name before they do.

31:28 - When JK asks where he can use his gift cards, Jimin tells him he can go shopping with them.

Ep 109 "Dubbing" (Ep: 5 / KM: 2)

The one where it seems JM might have a future in Disney dubbing if this whole idol thing doesn’t work out

0:19 - JM finds the different voice JK uses in the opening much funnier than anyone else does

10:40 - JK praises JM's Lion King performance

33:19 - After their guest praises JM for his performance as Judy in the Zootopia scene, JK calls out "Jimin-ssi!" twice

BEHIND 0:51 - JK has a GIANT smile on his face because he finds JM's sudden shyness adorable

3:50 - After JK complains that he is cold, JM puts his arms around him to warm him up

6:02 - When JM is playing around with the Rex voice, JK again finds it far funnier than anyone else does

Ep 110 "Treasure Hunt Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

The ones where the warm-up games to get hints to the treasure hunt are much more fun than the hunt itself

12:35 - When J-Hope suggests that someone should get piggy-backed, JK says "oh!" and looks right at JM.

22:18 - When JK starts singing, JM joins in and harmonizes with him. BEHIND

2:57 - When it's announced that a game is all about being strong, JM immediately says that JK should do it.

4:08 - When it becomes clear it's a strength and flexibility challenge, JK says JM should go and informs everyone that JM majored in contemporary dance.

Ep 111 "Treasure Hunt Part 2" (Ep: 2 / KM: 2)

6:19 - When they get the clue "Jungkook with a different last name," Suga immediately says, "Park Jungkook"

33:00 - When JM learns that the prize is to go home, one of his first comments is that JK won't be able to go home (because JM knows JK hasn't really been trying on this one.)

33:44 - In his ending comment, JM wishes everyone after him good luck - especially JK. BEHIND 4:12 - When JK is confused about the rules, he asks JM for clarification and JM explains to him (the on-screen text says he's being a "friendly hyung")

5:45 - When JH asks Tae if he knows the "JK's last name" answer yet, Tae also guesses "Park"

8:12 - As JM leaves, he once again brings up JK, saying "JK, fighting!" No proof of this, but there has been some speculation that JM's concern for JK may have led to him texting him the answer, because JK seems to be able to get the passcode without having done any of the work necessary to solve the clues...

#jikook guide to run bts #jikook #kookmin

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hacked-by-jake · 4 years ago

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Was that Jake there 2

Part 1

Pairing: JakexMc

Words: 4,2k

A/N: So, a few days ago I got an absolutely sweet comment from @captainwanderlust78❤️

Really, you made my last week. And then unfortunately the news came from Everbyte that EP 7 will come later. And actually, there wasn’t a second part planned for this story, but since you wanted one so much, here we are. This is my second attempt, because I wrote a part that I didn’t like. I tried to keep the story a little more quiet this time. Anyway, I hope you like it and apologize for possible mistakes. Oh and Merry Christmas. 🌲❤️

"Ready little ones?" Dan asks you and pokes you with his elbow.

"Yes, I’m ready," you answer and look at the big clock in the motel lobby.

Point 12 at midday.

"I’ll be gone," you say goodbye to the others.

"Take care of yourself and call me if you need anything," Richy informs you.

"Yeah, or if he attacks you," hiss Dan.

"Dan" hisses Jessy and steps on his foot.

"Ouch" growls Dan and looks at her accusingly.

Jessy is just ignoring this and calls after you, "See you later".

Slowly but with firm steps you make your way to the elevator.

Immediately the doors open and you get in and press the button for floor three.

The place the place where you meet is going to be a motel room that can’t be used because of renovation.

This is the perfect place to meet Jake.

He will come over the fire escape behind the motel to the third floor and there you meet in the room.

Deciding how and when the meeting will take place was quite awkward.

Yesterday after you guys finished partying at the club, you and Jessy called a cab as planned to take you home to Jessy. Fortunately, everything worked out, until the taxi driver drove to the roadside in the middle of the drive and simply switched off the engine.

Immediately all the alarms were on in your head, and you were ready to get out of the car if necessary.

He turned to you in the back and silently held a note to you.

The paper was folded very small, you opened it and saw many ones and zeros.

0100100001100101011011000110110001101111 010011010110001100001010

Grinning, you rolled your eyes.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Jessy wonders.

"This is a binary code," you explain to her and pull your phone out of your pocket.

"Ah now I know what that is, of course," she grumbles ironically.

"This is computer language"

You search the Internet for a code translator.

You took a picture of the notes, the translator took the numbers and translated them directly.

"Hello Mc" you read, "Is this serious?".

The driver silently held out a note to you.

You also open this note and moan desperately.

"Can’t he just write normal letters?" you mumble and take a deep breath.

"He’s a computer nerd, they’re all weird," answers the man who was supposed to be just a taxi driver.

01010100 01101111 01101101 01101111 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110111

00001010 01000100 01101111 01101111 01110010 01100010 01100101 01101100 01101100 00001010 01010000 01101100 01100001 01101110

01100110 01101111 01110010

01100111 01110101 01111001

00001010

"Tomorrow morning, doorbell, plan for guy" is the translation.

"Huh?" makes Jessy next to you.

"I’ve got another one," the guy calls again.

"One more? Why not write everything on a piece of paper?"

"Clay said it was too confusing"

"Clay?"

"Oh, Jake, excuse me" he grins and holds out the third note.

01001101 01100101 01100101 01110100 00001010 00110001 00110010

"Meet

12 o'clock

"Midday"

"Okay, so, there’s a man ringing in the morning and he wants me to tell him the plan but the meeting has to be at 12:00," you put it all together.

"Right" the man agrees with you and starts the car again.

"Wait, You knew what that meant?"

"Yes, but we should talk as little as possible, that’s why the notes" he explains to you.

"But I said it out loud"

"Yes, right"

After that, he didn’t speak, but at least you didn’t have to pay.

Well, and then 20 minutes later, you and Jessy took the next taxi back to Roger’s garage, and there you all met again to work out the plan.

Lilly told Mrs Walter she didn’t have to work today. Lilly would take her shift and the owner should have a nice day with Alfie.

After a little persuasion it worked and Lilly is the only one who has to work.

There are only 13 rooms occupied in the entire motel, and only two of them are on the third floor, so the room with the renovation fits best.

This morning at 7 o'clock, a flower messenger rang at Jessy’s house, and you stared at the roses and then at the man.

"Gohstbusters" he said and you understood what to do.

You gave him a note stating the plan for the meeting.

However, written in hieroglyphs.

But there is also a translator on the Internet.

The elevator doors open and you look around.

No one is to be seen so you make yourself on the way to the room which is at the very end of the corridor.

With the key card you got from Lilly, you can open the door, hold the card against the sensor and the door cracks quietly. You press the door inwards and notice that there’s light on.

However, of course you did not expect that a man sitting in the room on the desk chair.

"Oh, God," you jump back a step.

The man looks up and immediately looks worried.

"Oh my God," you murmur as you realizes it’s just Jake.

Completely out of breath, you lean with your hands on your knees and breathe deeply.

"Oh shit, MC, I didn’t mean to." He murmurs and comes up to you.

You laugh in agony and grin forced.

"Ha uhm already okay, all right, I was not scared".

A small but quiet laugh comes from Jake’s mouth.

He’s going to the side so you can come in. He locks the door behind you.

"How did you get in here?" You ask and try to calm your heart that feels like it’s jumping out of your chest.

"The doors are not safe for hackers," he explains, sitting back on the chair.

"You hacked a motel door?" you ask amused.

"Yes, you weren’t there yet, but I couldn’t stay in front of the door. That would have been more than conspicuous," he argues.

You just shake your head and let yourself fall on the bed. For a moment it is quiet, only the ticking of the clock can be heard.

"Thank you for coming," you speak in silence.

"Hm yes" is the answer.

"You’re still against it, aren’t you?" you ask unsure.

"MC, please don’t think I wouldn’t want to see you too, but I won’t be reassured until you’re safe again," he explains.

"How are you?" you change the subject.

"I am fine, and you?"

You roll your eyes, "Don’t tell me everything at once," you say ironically.

A smile appears on his face.

"Honestly not so good" he admits.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, it’s okay" he declines. You pull up an eyebrow and you look at him in a challenging way, "Okay, then in a different way. Tell me what’s going on," you challenge him and leave no room for a negative answer.

You point to the bed next to you and signal him to sit next to you.

He thinks briefly but then does what you want

"Well, it’s all pretty stressful right now," he starts.

"Okay good, and keep going" attentively you look at him.

He finally surrenders and begins to report.

"There were some problems that we didn’t expect, they almost caught us. We could only cross a border with a lot of luck and help, but that took us quite some time. And then I made a stupid mistake, the pursuers were able to intercept our signal. As a result, I had to burn my laptop and cell phone so that nothing could be found.

That took us some time too. The agents are much better than I thought, they are much too fast and much too good and that makes it really hard for me. And for the others, too. And what’s even harder is, that I can’t write to you anymore. I dont know how far along you are, or if you have new clues, new key results, how far along you are with Hannah, but even worse, I don’t know how you’re doing. How you feel or if you have problems, and that makes my head full all day with questions that revolve around you. Sometimes we manage to access the Internet for a short time through public computers in libraries or cafes. But contacting you would be too dangerous. I can delete a lot of data from the system but as I said, the agents are better than I thought and unfortunately we do not know exactly how well and how much they can get back. I would have to take every computer with me and burn it down, but that would be even worse if computers were suddenly missing everywhere. It’s shitty MC, I’m honest, I hate this situation, but it’s my own fault"

exhausted, he rubs his face.

Wow okay, that was very honest.

Worried you look at him.

You could say things like "everything’s gonna be okay" or "it’s not your fault." But let’s face it, it’s not helping anyone. So the only logical way is to just hug him tight, and that’s exactly what you’re doing.

You slide a little closer to him and wrap your arms around his upper body and lean your head against his shoulder. Unlike yesterday, he does not tense himself but also gently lays his arms around your body. Immediately, its smell rises in your nose and tingles through your body. You notice how relief spreads in your body. Relief that he’s doing reasonably well, that he’s still free, that he’s here with you, that he’s hugging you, too. But above all, relief because it feels like every pressure is dropping from you, all the pressure of the last few weeks. The pressure because of Hannah, the pressure because of the man without a face, and of course the pressure that something might have happened to Jake. At least for a brief moment, everything is fine, and that makes you happy. And if you think about he’s gonna have to leave soon, you’re gonna get sick. But you don’t want to think about the negative things now, you just want to enjoy the moment, just a brief moment of rest.

You have closed your eyes and hear Jake’s heart beat rhythmically, which also calms you down. You remove an arm from his body and place your hand on his left chest. You can feel his heart just coming out of rhythm and then beating a little faster than before. This also makes your heart beat a little faster.

"You Jake?" you whisper softly.

"Mhh?" he makes a questioning sound.

"Who are the others?"

"They’re familiar to me. The three were also involved in the government project and now they are also in danger," he says briefly.

"Okay?" your voice sounds questioning.

"We know each other from different chat portals for hackers"

Thus, all your questions were answered. For this moment.

Slowly you break away from each other, even if you don’t want to, but it’s no use.

"I still have to thank Lilly and you" he addresses your #IamJake action.

"You don’t have to thank either of us, Lilly owed it to both of us, and I do it because I want," you assure him.

"But still, it’s not understandable, I hope it will help us. The idea was really good. The others were quite fascinated when they saw this, "he praises you and his half-sister.

"You deserve it, too, Jake," you reaffirm your action even more.

Ironically he laughs, "with what?"

"In which you are, and also do everything to find Hannah, even if she doesn’t know you’re her half-brother. And Lilly also understood that we both just wanted to help."

"That might have been a little selfish of me. I just wanted you guys to make up because I don’t know where this is going with the two of us. And I wanted to take the opportunity early" he confesses.

"I can live with that" a little smile is on your face.

He doesn’t know where this is going with us, and he wanted you and his half-sister to make up.

"I’m sorry, MC but -" he starts.

You sigh, "but we still have something to discuss," you finish his sentence.

"I’m sorry, but we only charged three hours at the most, then I have to go "he looks at you apologetically.

"It’s okay, let’s not talk about it now".

You really don’t want to talk about it right now. The conversation will come soon enough. Jake gets his backpack on the desk and takes out his laptop.

Then he sits down next to you again and asks you to give him your phone.

Quickly, a connection is established and the screen of your phone is displayed on the laptop.

And so you begin to discuss everything that’s happened since he was gone.

By now you had arrived at Lilly’s and your chat.

"You really called her Duskwood’s worst legend?" Jake asks a little overwhelmed if he can laugh about it.

"Um, I was a little mad," you smile innocently at him.

"Remind me not to argue with you" he looks at you briefly from the side and grins crooked.

"I like to argue sometimes" challenging, you look at him.

"Yes, I noticed that, so we prefer not to"

Quietly, he continues to read the chat while you wait to see if he has any questions.

From the side you see his eyes suddenly get a little bigger and he swallows.

"Everything okay?" you ask him immediately.

"So we’re in love?" he asks teasingly.

It takes a short time to remember the message, immediately you get warm and your cheeks turn red.

Then you laugh a little hysterical.

"Um, haha that- that, uhm yes..." you stutter.

Jake raises an eyebrow.

"Um, yeah, I can explain that," nervously you start playing with your hands and scratching your neck in turns.

"Uhm, so - on that point I didn’t know, uhm, what relationship you and Lilly have. So this - I didn’t know you both were siblings, and then I kind of wanted to piss them off. Well, I- I thought it might upset Lilly or something".

You don’t even know if that’s true, you just said it without thinking. Maybe it’s true, but he doesn’t want anyone know it, or it‘s just going too fast for him.

You wish for nothing more than for the floor to swallow you.

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have written that. I hope I didn’t make you feel stupid or anything, that’s the last thing I want, can we just forget about it?" you murmur in shame.

You look at the tips of your shoes so you don’t have to look at Jake.

"Lilly was right," Jake murmurs into the unpleasant silence.

"I didn’t like that they voted against you in the vote. They treated you unfairly, I didn’t like that at all," he admits, "I felt the need to at least scare the others. Which was not quite okay, but I couldn’t watch them treat you like this".

You’re looking at him.

"It was for Hannah, because you will be the key, but I could have just written a message, but that was not enough for me".

You can’t hold back a slight grin.

"Thank you" is all you can say.

"Is it true?" he harks curiously.

"Huh? What?" you act like you didn’t understand his question

"Well, what you wrote to Lilly"

"You know I like you," you confirm.

In response, you get just another big smile from Jake as he just keeps looking at the screen.

However, he omits the end of the chat, at the point where you got the video.

He knows probably after that it’s about his family.

"I’m very proud of you MC" he starts to talk, "you two worked really well together and I’m amazed how well you were able to solve the puzzles".

A little shy about his praise, you just thanked him.

Exhausted, you fall back on the bed.

Jake closes his laptop, puts it back in his pocket and then slowly lies down next to you.

"I haven’t asked you how you are actually doing" he notes a little depressed.

"At least better than in the last few weeks. It’s all very exhausting, but I can do it" you mumble and turn your head to the left so you can look at him.

His page profile is really beautiful.

"We met at a very strange time," Jake mutters, and he also turns his head in your direction.

For a moment, you look at each other silently.

"You are so wonderful and especially MC, do you know that?" he breathes.

"I don’t know, is that me?" you ask quietly.

"So wonderful that I don’t understand why you’re lying here with me"

"Maybe because you’re special, too, Jake. And even more wonderful than all the people I’ve met so far" you reciprocate his sweet compliment and mean every word seriously.

"Are you sure about this?"

"To 100 percent"

"You deserve someone better than me," he sighs.

"Stop lying," you grinned.

Now you both look at each other silently again, only the second hand and the birds from outside can be heard.

Slowly Jake raises a hand and wipes a strand of hair from your face.

You take his hand in yours and you cross your fingers with each other.

Jake looks thoughtfully at your hands.

"It’s dangerous what we’re doing here," he mutters.

"You can take that little break, Jake. That's okay," you calm him down.

"Maybe, but it’s dangerous to be here with you. You get such big problems if the persecutors find out you know me," he easily squeezes your hand.

"Jake, don’t worry about it. I know who I’m dealing with and I know it can end badly. But that’s why I don’t care, if we don’t risk it now, it may be too late. And then we’ll never know if it would’ve worked.

At the moment everything is going crazy, so why not at least do what you want for a short time?"

"You should become a motivational trainer" he suggests for fun.

"Do you think? Did my speech help?"

"I agree with your words, but I have so much more to lose. My freedom and looking for Hannah, but those are just the little things. The biggest problem is that I could never live with myself if you got problems just because I was selfish. Against these problems the man without face is nothing, MC. If you go to jail because of me, I could never forgive myself, you understand. And that’s my problem, I don’t know if I can risk it, I don’t want to ruin your whole life.

You made new friends here, when Hannah gets back, you’ll be completely happy, but then there’s me. The guy who runs from the government, that’s not what you deserve", he tries desperately to explain.

"That’s also why I don’t tell you what exactly I did, why I tell you as little as possible. You can’t say anything if you know nothing no matter what they do, you don’t know it. If the agents find you, they definitely do a lie-detector test with you, and hopefully, they won’t do any more than that. But if you don’t know anything, you’re not in danger either."

"I understand your point, I understand your worries and your fear, but, Jake, I’m aware of all of this. I know what happens if you and I can be connected, but I accept it for you and for Hannah."

"But that’s the thing, you shouldn’t put yourself in danger for this, not even for Hannah. And you being in Duskwood is dangerous enough, which is why I’m here with you, because it’s too dangerous."

You pull up an eyebrow and look skeptical.

"You don’t have to take care of me.What should happen to me? I won’t be alone.One of the others will always be with me. The man without a face can’t do anything to me, "you calm him down.

"I know, I know, but I’m still worried about you"

"But there’s nothing you can do about it, Jake. And the rest of the time we have left, we shouldn’t discuss things we can’t influence. None of us can change the situation"

"I don’t like that you’re right again" he grumbles what makes you smile.

"Do you know I’m happy right now?" you tell him softly, "because of you."

"Why?"

"Because I know you’re doing reasonably well, and because you’re here with me.

And you’re risking your freedom right now because I wished for this meeting. Then how could I not trust you, Jake? You deserve me to be here with you. And that’s also one reason why I don’t care if they get me, you confided in me even though you’re in a difficult time. You trusted me and that’s why I trust you" to support your words, you put his hand on your lips and breathe a short kiss on the back of his hand.

Like he’s petrified, he’s watching you.

"I think I’m really in love," he whispers.

"And I think I’m in love with you too" you giggle softly.

Minimally you slide closer to him and lean slightly with your elbow on the bed to push you a bit upwards.

As if he were considering whether this is a good idea, he eventually slips closer to you, but a lot more than you.

He also leans on the bed to be back on your height, your hands remain united all the time.

His thumb gently caresses the back of your hand.

Not ten centimeters separates your faces from each other.

Jake takes the initiative and leans even further up so that your faces almost touches. You feel his breath on your skin and your body is flooded with excitement. It’s like they just touched by accident.

Slowly, your faces move towards each other until your lips gently touch. But it’s enough to light a fire in you and get Jake to press his lips on yours.

Immediately you close your eyes and return the kiss with as much feeling as he did. You can’t control yourself and grin into the kiss, which also makes Jake smile.

Jake pulls you up to you and pushes you slightly on the bed so you can use your hands more.

But just as quickly the kiss becomes passionate again. A thousand different feelings are buzzing in your head. Despair, fear, happiness, contentment. And that is reflected in your kiss.

Now your two hands separate from each other and Jake wraps both arms around your upper body. You feel a little dizzy and feel like everything is spinning even if you have your eyes closed. Your body tries to cope with all the feelings of happiness and seems to be overwhelmed. Actually, it’s no wonder. You’ve never longed so much for closeness but with Jake now, it’s very different. The kiss last night,

it was beautiful. But that was a very different situation than it is now.you were overwhelmed and a little drunk. First the warm air in the club, then Phil, then suddenly Jake, a kiss, a deal, and then a weird cab driver. All quite a lot at once, but now you can enjoy the kiss, and it’s a very different one from yesterday. This is a relief for both of you, and the beginning of something greater, but also the beginning of an even more stressful time than before. 'Cause how you’re supposed to let Jake go right now, you absolutely don’t know.

You feel like your eyes are filling with tears because of the emotional overload that is currently running through your body. And unfortunately, you two seem to be really starting to have trouble breathing, so you’re must breaking up with each other with a heavy heart. Absolutely out of breath, Jake leans his forehead against yours.

"If the persecutors find me, beat me, okay?" he breathes hard. "Okay, but why?" you giggle.

"Because then I screwed up to be able to kiss you all the time."

In response, you laugh and give him another kiss. You could lie there forever like right now, but Jake’s phone suddenly starts ringing. Annoyed, he rolls his eyes but then stands up from the bed.He gets his cell phone out of his pocket and accepts the call. Instantly you assume the worst. The others are calling to tell him they have to leave. You don’t know how to react and your hands start to shake. His answers leave no room to speculate about what it’s all about, and his facial expressions and posture remain neutral. Shortly after he finishes the phone call, he blows out air and turns to you. You’re already struggling with the tears in your eyes as Jake starts smiling." Well, I think we need to rent a room at the motel."

Confused you look at him, "W-what do you mean?"

"We’ll be safe for the next few days, someone pretending to be me tried to hack the CIA. They think they’ve arrested me"

------

extra material:

"That’s her," he says in a much too high tone. "It’s an honor to finally meet you, I feel like I know you better than Jake knows you. Can you actually scan my personality? Jake always tells me that you are really good at seeing through people and assess" he babbles.

"Oh, is he telling you this?" you ask and grin at Jake.

"Oh yes, if you knew, When he can’t sleep, he tells a lot about you. He doesn’t usually talk that much in a year," giggles Jake’s buddy.

"Max" hisses Jake and looks at him hard.

"And he’s always telling you how impressive you are, and that he’s amazed you don’t have a problem with him being a hacker. And how sweet you are."

"Okay, that’s enough" growls Jake and pushes him. The pushed one begins to laugh and raises his hands up defensively.

"Do you tell such things?" you look amused at him. "Forget that, please," he grumbles. "Oh, I’ll never be able to forget that, but to be fair, I’m thrilled with you, too. And you don’t look bad either." You grin cheekily at him.

Masterlist🌹🎭

#duskwood #duskwood game #everbyte #duskwood jake #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood fanfiction #jake x mc

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my-mt-heart · 3 years ago

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I am super confused on how any of this reaper story is going to help Caryl?

I am also one who had done the tracking and I was convinced Carol would be at Meridian in episode 8, but I have to admit I don’t think she will be part of the Reapers at all now. It’s super disappointing but that is the reality of this. I feel bad for the Caryl fans who are sad, it’s not crazy to be let down. There hasn’t been anything Caryl in 8 episodes and before that it wasn’t great unless you go back to 10A, which was Caryl heaven.

Apologies for throwing these all together, but I'm feeling a little burnt out at the moment and would like to avoid repeating myself as much as possible. Friends, this block of episodes is shit. It's choppy, it's boring, it's stagnant. Carol and Caryl have been sidelined in favor of a bizarre arc that's nearly over and has yet to add any value to the story we actually care about. I don't think anyone is debating that, and after I finish watching 11x08, I'm anticipating my review will more closely resemble a long rant above all else. The execution is terrible so far, BUT, the outcome will be the same. First of all, a reminder that it is extremely on brand for AK to spend 7-8 episodes setting stuff up before cramming all the payoff in one episode. Second, a reminder that Caryl will ride off into the sunset by the end of the season, guaranteed. And they will be alone. Happy. Before that, Carol and Ezekiel will get closure. Doesn't mean they're getting back together. The nature of Daryl's and Connie's relationship will (probably) be addressed. Doesn't mean they're getting together at all. It would make no sense. Forgive me for not being in the mood to go into why (again), but it just wouldn't. What does make sense is building up to the moment Daryl and Carol do finally get on that bike. Cue deep, meaningful scenes between them where they finally unload all their trauma and make peace and love.

As for this whole will Carol or won't Carol fight Leah/the Reapers debate. My answer is the same as it's always been. We have to see. The only way to be sure is to watch the episodes when they air. Though there is no definitive proof of anything, there are still reasons to be hopeful. Filming is confusing as hell. I'm in this damn industry and I still don't know everything because all kinds of circumstances can occur. Pope dies in 8, but maybe the actor came back for reshoots in the middle of 9, or maybe MMB was there to prep for 9 while 8 was shooting. Who knows? Who's saying the bts photo is from episode 8? Could it be 9 or 10? There are also multiple other sightings of MMB/Carol at that filming location for eps 9-10. So while one sighting could easily be a fluke, multiple clues are fairly suspicious. Anyhow, I'm really hoping the trailer for 11B is released to maybe possibly hopefully give us some clarity.

#i swear this is supposed to sound positive #caryl positivity #caryl #caryl is endgame #caryl spinoff #twd #twd season 11 #twd speculation

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aerial-ace97 · 3 years ago

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AH Minecraft MorTallyTy #430

Hiya! So I’m a huge Achievement Hunter fan and a long time ago I set out with the hope of recording the deaths and kills of every single player throughout the entirety of their playthrough of Minecraft. I started posting about it on Episode 100 and I believe my last post was only around 140, as I posted every 10 episodes on youtube. You can still find those posts. I’ve still been recording privately since then but at a certain point I got really behind and kept saying I’d catch up by the next 10th episode but never got around to it. Then I also decided to go back and record ALL deaths and kills beyond just what was the ‘Big 6′ and that also took a while. I’m still extremely behind as I go through life and do other things and also as I started privately recording for GTA as well which I’m even further behind on. I just finished episode 430 and wanted to start an episode post to Tumblr for it. I’ll give full marks for every 10 episodes as well as the specific incidents for each time the players hit a 100 marker past episode 226 as that is when I started recording those. After each individual episode I’ll also post the kills and deaths for that episode. Hopefully in the next few months I’ll have legitimately caught up with the current game and also post to youtube as well. Until then, here are the scores as they stand as far as I’ve watched.

Disclaimer: There are people not being recorded here for obvious reasons. With that, these scores do not include episodes 387 or 390.

Minecraft Episode 430 Final Tally

Deaths

Gavin - 1786

Michael - 1416

Jack - 1329

Geoff - 962

Ray - 757

Jeremy - 679

Lindsey - 298

Matt - 174

Trevor - 144

Alfredo - 64

Caleb - 27

Mica - 20

Fiona - 18

Kerry - 10

Joel - 1

Kills

Michael - 508

Gavin - 343

Jack - 284

Ray - 247

Geoff - 239

Jeremy - 146

Matt - 24

Kerry - 19

Trevor - 12

Lindsey - 8

Caleb - 7

Mica - 2

Centennial Markers

Gavin’s 300 Kills - Killing //// in the final Battle Mode match in Ep. 226

Jack’s 1000 Deaths - Blown up by a Creeper around 34:30 in Ep. 230

Jeremy’s 100 Kills - Killed //// as Slender in the graveyard around 40:28 in Ep. 231

Gavin’s 1400 Deaths - Killed by falling at around 44:16 in Ep. 240

Michael’s 1100 Deaths - Falling too far at around 34:53 of Ep. 243

Jeremy’s 300 Deaths - Fall at 8:21 in Ep. 245

Jack’s 1100 Deaths - Fall at 4:00 in Ep. 246

Gavin’s 1500 Deaths - Fall at 10:08 in Ep. 246

Jeremy’s 400 Deaths - Flying into a wall at 11:25 in Ep. 254

Michael’s 1200 Deaths - Flying into a wall at 13:12 in Ep. 254

Gavin’s 1600 Deaths - Killed by //// at 9:41 in Ep. 261

Geoff’s 800 Deaths - Dropping into water at 42:29 in Ep. 261

Jeremy’s 500 Deaths - Dropping out of the Double Redwood in Ep. 300

Jack’s 1200 Deaths - Killed by a nether jelly fish in the chance cube catastrophe of Ep. 300

Lindsey’s 100 Deaths - Michael commits uxoricide at the end of Sky King

Michael’s 1300 Deaths - Lost oxygen on the moon at 13:37 in Ep. 335

Geoff’s 900 Deaths - Lost oxygen on the moon at 15:40 in Ep. 335

Gavin’s 1700 Deaths - Falling off a ladder in Clue Part 2 (Ep. 337)

Jeremy’s 600 Deaths - Blown up be a creeper in Super Creeper Soccer at 30:00 (Ep 371)

Lindsay’s 200 Deaths - Killed by a Zombie in Galacticraft Finale while helping Matt look for his key

Michael’s 500 Kills - Shooting Jack at the top of the altar in Altar of Pimps X

Jack’s 1300 Deaths - Jack got shot from the water spout in Altar of Pimps X

Trevor’s 100 Deaths - ‘Do it again. You don’t got the b-’ in Anime Swords and Thunder Gods

Matt’s 100 Deaths - Offscreen death at 29:53 in Feed Jack 3 - Stealing From The Ender Dragon

Michael’s 1400 Deaths - Burnt to death at 6:17 in Witcher Challenge (Part 4)

Kill to Death Ratios

Kerry - 190%

Michael - 36%

Ray - 33%

Caleb - 26%

Geoff - 25%

Jeremy - 22%

Jack - 21%

Gavin - 19%

Matt - 14%

Mica - 10%

Trevor - 8%

Lindsey - 3%

Alfredo - 0%

Fiona - 0%

Joel - 0%

#Achievement Hunter #Let's Play Minecraft #Minecraft MorTallyTy

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ultrahpfan5blog · 4 years ago

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My very belated thoughts on Game of Thrones and season 8 in particular

I feel like I have a somewhat unique perspective on GoT. The show has been such a pop culture phenomenon that I feel that fans have been invested in it for years, either having been book fans who watched the show, or those having watched the show for the better part of a decade. For me, I was never a part of the fandom because I never watched the show until it was in season 7. The books sound great but because I can’t stand reading incomplete series, I have never read them, and at this point, it just feels unlikely that GRRM will end up finishing the series. That sucks because its just the sort of fiction that I would love. I started watching GoT in season 7, and then in season 8. Obviously, I had very little clue what was going on other than the broad strokes and I was watching purely because the spectacle and scale was something I had never seen before on tv. On that front alone it was entertaining. Given the incredibly divisive reaction, I didn’t feel like spending the amount of hours required to watch the show from scratch, but because covid ended up impacting so many ongoing tv shows and movies, I ended up deciding to give it a go. I started a couple of months ago and just finished season 8 a couple of days ago. Its been quite an experience, belated as it may be.

I still feel that I view the show differently than a lot of people. Obviously, its a very different emotional commitment for me, having watched the show in 2 months whereas other have watched the show for about 10 years. Having not read the books, I don’t have the issue of comparing the quality of the books to the show. And given I saw season 8, I watched the show with the ending in mind, so I could understand if the ending made sense to me or not.

On the whole, the show is worth a lot of applause. The production, acting, music, writing, visuals etc... is something I have never seen on tv. Juggling such a huge cast of characters with so many ongoing storylines is an incredible achievement. Say what you will about season 8′s writing, but from a production, scale, and performance standpoint, the show remained stellar all the way through. And for that, I do think D&D deserve credit. I know that is an unpopular thing to say but they still have created something that is truly one of a kind. The show is definitely not perfect, even before season 8. There are storylines that drag, storylines that aren’t given the time they deserve, character developments that don’t completely work etc... but I feel that is part and parcel of every long running show. There are very few that are perfect, and for the sheer complexity of the narrative, its amazing that the show isn’t more convoluted. I do agree that the final 2 seasons are the weakest seasons of the lot. I still think season 7 is very good, and the first half of season 8 I also like a lot, but seasons 1-6 are superb. Its difficult for me the select my favorite season. I suppose season 4 is probably at the top. Its kind of the end of the era season, with the death of Joffrey, Tyrion’s trial, then him leaving Westoros. Arya and Sandor’s time together coming to an end with her traveling to Braavos, death of Tywin, and Jon rising in the ranks of the Nights Watch and becoming a more prominent character in the show. I love seasons 5-6 because of the rise of Jon. Season 2 arc of Tyrion as hand of the King was also excellent. My favorite episodes all come from these seasons. I love the battle episodes, with Blackwater, Hardhome, and Battle of the Bastards being 3 of my favorite eps. The Laws of Gods and Men is another episode I love just for the climax where Peter Dinklage just tears into the scene with his full might. I also loved Pedro Pascal as Oberyn in season 4. He added a unique quality and I was sad to see him not last past season 4. There were a few storylines that I wasn’t completely fond of. The early years of Daenerys weren’t the most compelling, Arya in Braavos was just too slow for my taste, the Littlefinger and Sansa storyline in season 4 also felt like they were treading water and then they backtrack on Sansa’s development in season 5. Also, Staanis was someone who went a little too batshit crazy in his lust for power. Felt a little out of character.

Now, when it comes to season 8, There are a lot of complaints about a lot of things. I will say that the main issue with season 8 is that it crams what should be 2 seasons of storylines and crams it into a single 6 episode season. I think virtually every complaint can be traced back to that. I actually really like episodes 1 and 2. Especially episode 2. Brienne’s knighting is actually very touching. Its great to see characters reuniting and characters meeting for the first time. I know lots of people complained about episode 3 and while its not as good as the other 3 battle episodes that I mentioned before, I still think its excellent. I did not have the lighting problem that others had. I watched it on my laptop and I could see everything. The episode is titled ‘The Long Night’ so I expected things to be dark, but it isn’t as if I had trouble seeing what happened. The episode is incredibly intense and while its a bit difficult o figure out how so many survived and there are some questionable tactics for sure, its still quite a spectacular spectacle. My only issue with the episode is really all Jon related, which I will get back to in a bit.

I know that Daenerys turning into the mad queen is a huge point of contention for the season. While I absolutely agree that that character arc went from 0 to a 100 way too fast, I don’t think it was completely out of the blue. Knowing the ending, I kept an eye on Daenerys, and I think there are a lot of instances where her first instinct to fixing problems has been to unleash her dragons. She has had characters around her like Selmy, Jorah, later Tyrion, even Daario, who have tempered that instinct somewhat. But that is still a natural instinct for her. Not to mention, in Essos, she was dealing with a fairly black and white issue when it comes to slavery. And she mistakenly thought, her experiences in Essos would translate to Westoros. She came with the idea that the common people would support her without fully processing the idea that she was bringing foreign armies into their land and three dragons, which had not been seen by people for generations. So they had legitimate reasons for fear. So it wasn’t completely out of the blue that she unraveled when confronted with the revelations that she was feared more than she was loved and that she did not have the sort of universal support she thought she would have. Obviously, that was compounded by the losses that she tacked up one after another. Definitely, one more season was required to make that a satisfactory arc, but I don’t think it was completely random. And honestly, once she did what she did in episode 5, she was never going to survive the show. I will say this, Emilia Clarke was outstanding in season 8. She was never the cast member who stood out in seasons past, but season 8 was really her season. While the character development was rushed, she sold every scene and earned her lead actress emmy nomination.

There are some endings which people hated which I understood. Like Jaime’s ending, which people were pretty pissed about, is an ending I quite get. As much as we love the story of redemption, the Cersei and Jaime bond was just too deep and toxic for him to so easily extricate himself. I get why he would be drawn back to her when he knew she was in danger. I think Lena and Nikolaj really sold their final scenes together. I felt for Lena as an actress. As a result of the short season, she really didn’t get much to do all season. Her death scene is really the only time she gets material to chew on. So that was a pity. I think Brienne and Sandor Clegane were two characters for whom their endings were perfect. Brienne becoming a knight of the six kingdoms and Clegane finally getting revenge on his brother was extremely satisfying. Theon’s ending was pretty much perfect. Sansa becoming queen in the North makes sense. The show seemed to be building towards it. Sophie Tuner gets some good material in the final season where you can see that there is a lot happening in her head and not all of it is altruistic. She does have a power hungry side to her, even if she’s not self destructively so. Maisie Williams was strong again. I wasn’t a huge fan of her getting to kill the Night King over Jon but there lots of good moments she has with Jon, Sandor, Gendry, Sansa etc... Bran becoming King of the six Kingdoms is definitely not the greatest ending. I don’t know whose decision it was to turn Bran into a robot and have him do nothing other than sit and stare, but it definitely wasn’t the greatest. I can’t imagine it was a particularly satisfying experience as an actor for Isaac. I did enjoy a couple of moments with him and Jaime, harking back to season 1.

The two other major characters are Tyrion and Jon. Certainly the finale is very heavily centered on those two. I do agree with the notion that they really dumbed down on Tyrion’s intelligence as he makes a lot of wrong moves in the last couple of seasons. But Peter Dinklage the actor has never disappointed. His performance in the finale ranks as one of his finest on the show. There has never been a time when he has not given his all. Him ending up as the hand is pretty effective ending. He is a humbled man, admitting that he’s not as smart as he thought he was. So maybe he would be a better hand as a result of that experience. Jon’s ending is another controversial one. I am in the audience who really wasn’t a fan of how Jon was treated in season 8. Kit Harington was quite poorly served in season 8, which was a bit of a whiplash since Jon was arguably at his most badass in season 5-7 and became a huge a fan favorite. Certainly he took over from Dinklage as the de facto male lead of the show. The character only comes back to life at the very end of episode 5. Part of that is probably the point. That Jon became too bent to Daenerys’ will, as Varys said.to Tyrion. It took Daenerys burning down King’s Landing to wake him up. I get that from a narrative standpoint, buts its dissatisfying from a character perspective when its the final season. Certainly I found it very strange how little role he played in The Long Night, given the White Walker storyline was Jon’s primary storyline on the show. Put aside killing the Night King, a showdown which was promised on the show, he didn’t even do much else in the episode. At the very least he should have gotten to destroy the undead Viserion. The memes about his dialogue in the season aren’t unfounded. But, I will say that Kit Harington is fantastic in the series finale. He arguable has the centerpoint scenes of the finale, the two scenes with Tyrion, and then the scene with Danaerys where he is literally begging her to give him a reason not to kill her and she keeps saying the wrong thing. Certainly Peter and Kit end the season on a high note. Him ending up with the Wildlings seems appropriate because Jon never seemed cut out to be King, nor did he ever want that responsibility. He probably would have been better than Bran, but its a decent enough ending for him. In the end, the way the show ends I was mostly ok with, but the path to getting there should have come with one extra season at least.

In the end, the production and the acting will always be something I will remember. I didn’t even mention great performances from Sean Bean, Charles Dance, Alfie Allen, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aiden Gillen, Diana Rigg, Jerome Flynn, Liam Cunningham among many others over the years. So even though I do have issues with the final season, I feel that the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to the show. Its not a show I foresee rewatching any time soon since its one of those shows that requires some digestion and a lot of hours, but I certainly don’t regret the time I gave to it.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #sansa stark #arya stark #jaime lannister #cersei lannister #tyrion lannister #bran stark #ned stark

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pocketmouse18 · 3 years ago

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Thank you so much to @herosofmarvelanddc @cloudypaws and @mtab2260 for the tag! This was so much fun to think about :)

(fair warning, I wrote too much for many of these...)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Just 2 :)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

450,577 if I did my math right!

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Officially? Just 1 - Agents of Shield (two, I guess, if you count MCU as separate, since I use characters from both...). Off the record, many more than that! I have lots of bits and bobs from other fandoms that I tinkered with when I was younger, still getting the hang of writing, not brave enough to post things, etc. etc. Some of those include X-Men, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Fosters, Star Wars, the Hunger Games, the 39 Clues, and a few others I can’t remember. None of those will likely see the light of day, mostly because they’re unfinished, not very good, and just not reflective of who I am as a writer anymore, but they were fun to play around with at the time :)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I just have the two, but The Important Thing is to Try wins, hands down, with 1227. Shoulder to Shoulder has 95, though, which I’m also very proud of! Important Thing has a definite advantage, being as long as it is, so I don’t know if that’s really a fair comparison between them.

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! Or at least, I always try to! I just can’t believe someone would be kind enough to take the time to tell me what they thought of my story, so I always want to take the time to thank them and return the favor :) Plus, as I’ve learned, it’s a fantastic way to get to know some really lovely people!

6. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Well... I technically only have one story that has an ending, at least on Ao3, and it’s not an especially angsty one, since it ends in Phil and Melinda getting married :) I have some angsty chapter endings in Important Thing, if that counts? I’m not even sure if any of my unpublished fiddlings have angsty endings (most don’t have endings at all lol)... I don’t mind writing angst, but I don’t know if I’m capable of making something without a happy (or at least hopeful) ending.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've ever written?

Not really, unless you count AoS/MCU crossovers (which I guess technically count, but also I would argue it’s not a true crossover since (and I will die on this hill) AoS is a part of MCU canon). When I was younger I was a fan of playing around with crossover AUs more so than the actual characters crossing paths (so like, what if these characters from XYZ were demigods or went to Hogwarts or what have you, and not so much what would happen if the X-Men met Luke, Leia, and Han on one of their space adventures). I started writing a crossover between AoS and the Marvel Rising cartoon once (which again, not sure if that’s a true crossover, since Daisy was in Marvel Rising, but I digress), where Coulson tasks Daisy to work with Kate Bishop and Rayshaun Lucas to collect and train a team of young Inhumans, starting with Kamala Khan, but I ran out of steam pretty quickly when it got too plot heavy.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think so. I’ve had some people not understand some choices that I made, but they asked it in a way that I thought was perfectly nice, and I was happy to talk about it with them. Sometimes people get “mad” at me when I cause pain and suffering, but I know that’s all in good fun :)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope, not for me. I don’t read it or write it, personally. Writing a kiss is hard enough!

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge! Important Thing is probably too long and unwieldy to ever steal :P

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone once asked me on FFN if they could translate Important Thing to Russian, which was basically the coolest thing I’ve ever been asked!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A fic, no. I’d love to try sometime! I had a friend in college who I co-wrote with A LOT, though, so I know I enjoy that process, given the right partner. We wrote several short plays together (ranging from ~15-50 minutes in length, including one that we wrote in a single afternoon!), selected scenes from a larger (unfinished) play inspired by historical letters we found in an archive that were sent between a man from Massachusetts serving in the American Civil War, his wife, and his 8-year-old son, and several scripts for TV sitcoms (2 pilots for 2 different shows, plus additional eps for those pilots, and a couple of later eps for a different show that a classmate of ours wrote the pilot for - we were trying to practice what it would be like to be on a staff with a showrunner haha). The sitcom scripts in particular I’m very proud of, and could talk somebody’s ear off about if asked (one’s about ghost hunters and one’s about a DnD party!), but maybe that’s better saved for another post ;)

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

That’s a very hard question for me! Mostly because shipping stuff is usually one of the last things to register for me when I’m thinking about shows/books/movies I like haha... I’m always a sucker for Philinda, and younger me was rather taken with Percabeth, I suppose.

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Hmm, several, really. The aforementioned AoS/Marvel Rising crossover I think could be really cool if I got it to work, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I also have a WIP that’s like an angstier version of a Hallmark Christmas movie AU where Daisy has to come home to her small town right before Christmas and figure out what she wants out of life, but I’m a little stalled out on that one, mostly because I’m waffling on who the charming love interest should be and because I don’t have enough of a plot, just lots of feelings about coming back home to a place you thought you had left behind lol.

I’d put Important Thing and it’s (as of yet) untitled sequel on here as things I want to finish, but I’m much more determined to see those through, so I don’t think they qualify for the “never will actually write” part of this question :)

15. What are your writing strengths?

I don’t know if other people agree with this, but I think I write pretty decent dialogue. My “training” (if you can call it that) is in, as you might have figured out by now, script and screenplay writing (those were the only creative writing classes I took in college). So having a sense of the rhythm a conversation needs to have and how to write dialogue that sounds mostly like how people really talk (but shined and tightened up enough so that it’s not actually like verbatim dialogue, which is far less interesting to read!) is something that I feel like comes pretty easily. I also think I do okay with similes and metaphors - my brain tends to work in that way. It’s easier for me to think of stuff (feelings, especially) in terms of comparing it to more familiar things than to just think of the thing directly, if that makes sense?

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

If I was being honest, this would be a very long section, but I know it’s not fun to read a big ol’ paragraph of someone self-criticizing, so I’ll keep it to one or two items ;) A big one for me is pacing, I think. I tend to write more than I need to and to over-explain things, so my chapters get very long and sometimes don’t really go anywhere? Until all of the sudden, they DO, because things need to HAPPEN! I’m a pretty rigorous self-editor, but I do have a really hard time cutting out sections (unless they’re really just not working), so even if it would help the pacing to leave out this conversation between character A and character B, I often can’t make myself cut it. I also think I struggle sometimes with balancing my ‘showing’ and my ‘telling,’ especially in the sense of me over-explaining certain things - like when it comes to feelings/facial expressions/etc, for example. I compensate for that in Important Thing by making it a part of a few people’s POV, but it’s not really a good habit to have in general. Also spelling! I’m really bad at spelling and run my stuff through robust spellchecks and text-to-speech before I post anything to make up for it :)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I do it with some regularity, although I always get nervous about doing it wrong! It’s hard to avoid in AoS, where characters are spies and should (in theory, at least) have a working knowledge of multiple languages (”We’re spies, I thought we all learned languages?!”). Even in an AU, where characters aren’t spies, I like to try and pay homage to that, plus pay homage to certain characters’ native languages or just general multilingualism. I’ve spent a fair amount of time around people who speak more than one language, so I feel like it’s a natural part of groups of people to have more than one language spoken. I have a pretty good handle on written Spanish, a patchy idea of French, plus I know some Russian phrases from my dad and some German words from my grandfather, but I do rely on internet translation a lot. I usually run stuff through google, then run it backwards to see just how far off the initial translation was, then consult some actual, like, language learning sites to see if there’s particular idioms or common phrases that use different words than what google will give me, then run those words through backwards in the place of the original words to see if I can massage the whole thing to sound reasonably competent. Languages like Russian or Mandarin (which have their own alphabets/characters) are the hardest, since I have to also try and do a transliteration. I always try to put an apology/disclaimer in the notes any time I write in a language that isn’t English, because I’m sure I make lots of mistakes.

Also, I tend not to italicize words that are in other languages, because it looks weird on the page to me to set the other language apart like that (and because I italicize mainly for internal thoughts or emphasis, and usually what’s being said in another language isn’t internal or being emphasized). I put a rough translation at the end so we don’t have to pause the story for a parenthetical translation, but because the translation’s not right there, I try to either put in enough context clues that a person can still understand what’s going on, or I make sure that what’s written in another language isn’t critical to the overall understanding of the scene.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Officially, it’s AoS, since that’s the only fandom I’ve published for. I think the first true fandom I wrote fic for was probably either Harry Potter (entirely populated with OCs lol, I just liked using the world/setting), Percy Jackson (a mix of OCs and canon characters), or X-Men (all canon characters). I was a bit of a latecomer to fanfiction, though, like, I wrote a ton as a kid, but mostly original stuff, because I didn’t know that fanfiction in its current form was even allowed until I was in high school lol.

Oh! I almost forgot one! I’m not sure if this really counts as a fandom, but it’s definitely the earliest version of fanfic I wrote haha... I was like 12 and I wrote more than one story of an OC joining Robin Hood’s band of Merry Men, and then also one of that same OC becoming a knight of the Round Table, so like... do what you will with that information haha.

19. What's you're favorite fic you've written?

I can’t choose between my two darlings :( I mean, okay, technically it’s probably Important Thing. That story’s my baby. It’s huge and I’ve been working on it for almost 2 years, and I’ve poured a lot of my heart and soul into it. I’ve fallen in love with the universe I built in it, so much so that I wrote an entire prequel and have very concrete plans for a lengthy sequel. But I can’t not crow about Shoulder to Shoulder (the aforementioned prequel!), too... I’m just really proud of that one - it has a lot of firsts for me. First completed story. First romance-focused story. First foray into expanding the Important Thing universe. But yes, if I have to choose, then Important Thing wins. That’s a story that I started writing exclusively for myself - to give myself characters I could relate to and to explore a style of AoS fic that I loved reading - and that’s a story I will always and forever be proud of.

I think most people have probably answered this tag game at this point, so I don’t want to accidentally retag anyone! If you haven’t yet, and would like to join in, please do! This is your invitation <3

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shijiujun · 4 years ago

Text

The Lost Tomb Reboot Season 2 Episodes 1-8 - Recap & Review

MAJOR SPOILERS below the cut!!! DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS!!! (I’m tagging #chongqispoilers if you wanna block it for the next three weeks heh)

But first I would like everyone to know that Xiao Bai has been sworn sibling-zoned as fourth sister to Big Brother Xiao Ge, Second Brother Pang Zi and Third Brother Wu Xie (Ep 3/4)

And also secondly, WU XIE GETS HIS OWN TEAM?!! AND THEY ALL HANDSOME MEN!!! INCLUDING THAT DOCTOR!!! So it’s apparently the antagonistic frenemy doctor from Season 1 (like actual S1, not Reunion S1), and damn he damn frickin handsome in this one okay guys?!!! Like I AM IN LOVE!!! AND HE FIRSTLY SAVES WU XIE, THEN TAKES CARE OF WU XIE SO WELL EVEN THOUGH HE KEEPS CURSING WU XIE TO DIE SOON LMAO (Ep 8)

So yes I’m telling all of you guys how much I frickin love that doctor - I am absolutely in LOVE <333 He’s so capable?! And he talks about Xiao Ge and Er Shu with so much familiarity? He totally like takes charge with a critical eye, no nonsense, just starts commanding people. Hates Wu Xie but then doesn’t wake him up when they arrive at their destination so he can sleep more because HE BE DYING SOON? AND THEN PATS WU XIE TO TELL HIM NOT TO BE RASH when Wu Xie wants to rush to help, and then offers to go in his stead without another word (EVEN THO HE HATES HIM?!!)

A NEW SHIP HAS BEEN BORN FOR ME OKAY?!!! I’M SORRY PINGXIE RIGHT NOW I SHIP DOCTOR/XIE TOO!!!

And yes I binge-watched all eight episodes today and damn too much shit happened!!!

Eps 1-2:

OKAY THE DEATH ZONE AREA in Warehouse 11 finished up way faster than I thought it would to be honest, and it’s a little anti-climactic but that’s okay, but anyway it’s hilarious that there are two people still living in Si Dang Qu to guide Wu Xie and Xiao Bai, and okay CREEP FACTOR IS UP OKAY!!! Wow damn it so many tentacles?!!!

Anyway, Wu Xie and Xiao Bai are not supposed to go into Si Dang Qu but they do it anyway, Xiao Bai gets electrocuted and then some, and they meet two weird people in Si Dang Qu, and also the funniest thing is that there is WIFI IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN DEEP HOLE (IT’S TWO DEEP HOLES BY THE WAY) and these two people are just like hello guys, we live here, let me point you to where there’s wifi.

And then they both seem to make it out just fine even though San Shu was stuck there for like more than three years, and boom these two make it out in less than 24 hours - Wu Xie gets fired, Xiao Bai is suspended, Jia Ke Zi (they guy with the good hearing back in Warehouse 11, also VERY HANDSOME) and Li Jia Le were also fired because they were working with the bad Supervisor Ding from Reunion Season 1, and then!!!

I think the most touching part is every single warehouse person like sending him off standing in the surveillance room in the dark, watching as he walks out? I mean, not discounting the people who are genuinely like “DAMN YES, CAN WE GO BACK TO OUR NORMAL LIVES NOW TYVM”, I just felt really touched that they all feel enough for Wu Xie and he’s actually made some impact on their lives or smth, so much so that they’re willing to watch him go off

Eps 3-6:

Okay so Xue Wu Ye, the bad guy, big brother number five, is plotting something, but that’s for later. Wu Xie heads home, and starts researching again - they decide to go back to the place where they found Yang Da Guang’s body to find more clues. In between, he meets up with Xiao Bai for dinner, they get drunk, Pang Zi turns up to pick em up but gets drunk too, then they all swear to be siblings with kebabs, like literally, in place of joss sticks. It’s all filmed by the shop owners. Xiao Bai is crying because NO DAMN SHE WANNA BE WU XIE WIFEY, NOT WU XIE FOURTH SISTER

And anw at the place, they find another map and Wu Xie gets electrocuted and faints, and then they manage to call Er Shu who’s about to head into a cave with Xiao Ge and everyone else - They do a video call, and damn it’s so cute to see Wu Xie and Pang Zi going “XIAO GE XIAO GE WE’RE HERE!!!” And then they go in, but they meet a trap, Xiao Ge and Hei Xia Zi are trapped and considered dead, and Er Shu is in trouble. Kan Jian manages to call Wu Xie and then Wu Xie gets him to tap out morse code message, and sure enough, XIAO GE AND HEI XIA ZI ARE ALIVE. But Xiao Ge says there’s a mole, and so they all pretend they’re dead, then Kan Jian and Jing Shu promise Wu Xie they’ll get Er Shu out, and Kan Jian sends Wu Xie coordinates to their location and then he goes MIA

At the same time, Xue Wu Ye has found out about Er Shu’s predicament (or was part of it) and his role is to basically snatch over the Wu family’s business. I’m not going to go into details, but anyway Wu Xie and Pang Zi are like bullied really badly by them, but good news is Piao Piao, Pang Zi’s gf, finally realizes he’s the one who helped her daughter out and then they affirm their feelings for each other. However, Piao Piao decides to still be undercover at Xue Wu Ye’s place - unfortunately, he finds out and as she’s fleeing, a truck hits her and she dies FUCK THIS SHIT.

Then Wu Xie nearly dies AGAIN, AND THAT’S WHEN THEY MEET HANDSOME FRENEMY DOCTOR!!! WHO REFUSES TO SAVE HIM FIRST, BUT THEN DOES!!!

Eps 7-8:

AT THE SAME TIME TOO, the mute girl, who’s Hei Xia Zi’s potential girlfriend, is captured by big bad Boss Jiao but she can talk now. And then he kills her too apparently!!! WHICH IS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK CAN WE PLS DON’T KILL ALL THE WOMEN IN THIS STORY?!! But her death isn’t super confirmed, because she falls but no body, no confirmed death in this show, damn it. Unfortunately, Piao Piao is legit ;-; and Pang Zi and Wu Xie only find out way later because Xue Wu Ye hid it from them that motherfucker!!!

Anyway, Xue Wu Ye’s plan is to basically take over the Wu family’s business and to prevent Wu Xie from gathering resources and a team to go and save Er Shu - so Wu Xie’s goal is to get money, defeat Xue Wu Ye and go find Er Shu.

Wu Xie schemes and then he manages to defeat Xue Wu Ye for good, and Xiao Bai goes to find Jia Ke Zi (omg who’s so sad, because while he was away, his wife cheated on him?!! and won’t let him return to his home?!!) and Li Jia Le is getting cheated out of daily salary working at a construction place, when Xiao Bai finds them for the job.

THEN THE TEAM ASSEMBLES!!!! Xiao Bai turns up with the two guys, and then FRENEMY DOCTOR TURNS UP TO MAKE SURE WU XIE DOESN’T DIE ON THE WAY!!! And he’s really fricking handy, and like I said above while Wu Xie is sleeping in the car, he makes sure no one disturbs him. The rest of the team survey the place and then he’s like, “Guys, what’s the use of hiring and bringing y’all if Wu Xie has to do everything himself? We’ll split up.”

And leaves Wu Xie sleeping in the car I WEEP!!!!

=======

Thoughts on this:

Not gonna lie, the front parts in Warehouse 11 are a bit like... illogical to me and done too quickly, but I guess it doesn’t always have to make sense. I’m still quite sad Piao Piao died?!! And that mute girl might be dead?!!! I can’t wait for the reunion which seems to be coming up soon, but I AM REALLY, SO HAPPY THAT WU XIE HAS A TEAM OF HIS OWN DAMN IT.

Also really worried about Er Shu and the identity of the mole, HOPING IT’S NOT LIU SANG OR JING SHU OR KAN JIAN PLS!!!!

So far the Wu Xie Fainting Count is - 2 in 8 episodes.

There are 2 more eps each for Monday and Tuesday, cannot wait for FOUND FAMILY VIBES DAMN IT!!! THEY BETTER NOT BREAK UP MY FAMILY!!!

And srsly I hope handsome doctors survives because... I really like him HAHAHA

#the lost tomb reboot #重启之极海听雷 #the lost tomb reboot 2 #reunion: the sound of the providence #chongqispoilers #SPOILERS #SPOILERS!! MAJOR!!!#DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS

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toogoodmusic · 3 years ago

Audio

THE TOO GOOD TEN with MADS LANGER

Growing up in the countryside near the small town of Skive, singer, songwriter and musician Mads Langer grew up always knowing he’d be in music. From singing songs at the age of 18 months in his own language to his latest release, “Lightning,” the new dad has been pursuing the dream for a long time now. Through honest, original and disruptive music the Danish singer has been able to be reborn time and time again through his music and continues that creativity as he looks to the release of his upcoming EP, Where Oceans Meet. The boundary pushing message of love is love in “Lightning” serves as a taste of the upcoming EP and contributes to the already 38 million streams and 506k monthly listeners he’s amassed across his career. He takes a break from his world domination to take on the latest Too Good Ten. Check out the full interview below to learn more about the latest release, “Lightning,” how becoming a dad has changed his perspective on life, how he rebounded from getting dropped by his girlfriend and label around the same time and much more.

The Too Good Ten. Ten Questions. One Artist. Too Good.

1. Looking at the beginning of your career – what was it about music that inspired you to pursue a career in it?

MADS LANGER: Expressing myself through music has been a fundamental part of my language for as long as I remember. My parents have recordings of me singing my own songs in my own language when I was 18 months old. I always knew that music was going to be my path in life. It wasn't a decision that I made at a certain time. It was more a realization that I was not gonna be able to pursue any other career even though I’ve always had plenty of other interests. I could have been in politics, in sports, in science and many other things. I could have been a teacher as my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents were. And then again, none of these career paths were ever up for grabs. Music was and always will be my thing.

2. You got signed and had an album that you ended up describing as “flopped” and had to start over and spent time busking all over Europe. How did you come to the decision to busk in the wake of “starting over?” What did you do to keep your internal mental conversation strong through the hardships that I assume came with traveling around?

ML: I got signed when I had just turned 18. I went straight from living in my parents house, in the countryside of Denmark, to living a life full of pressure and expectations in New York City. That was quite a shocking change of scenery to be honest. Looking back, I was definitely too young at that time. When a major label first wants you it’s the end of the innocence. I had to grow up overnight and try to keep up with that big machine that started dictating how I was gonna live my life. When my first record didn't succeed commercially and I got dropped I think I saw it as an opportunity to do some of the stuff that most of my friends had done after finishing high school. But most of all that whole 6 months of busking in my old van all over Europe was an escape from heartbreak. My first girlfriend had dropped me around the same time that my label dropped me. She fell in love with a really cool guy in Paris who was older than me and he could grow a very impressive beard, hahaha…

As far as keeping my internal mental conversation strong, that's has never been problem at all and as you can imagine I had plenty of stuff to think about, write about and then finally sing about in the streets of all of these beautiful cities that I got to visit on that trip.

3. “Lightning” is the latest release and gives fans the first taste of your upcoming album Where Oceans Meet which is due out October 1st. How did you decide to release this one as the lead single? What was the inspiration behind it?

ML: In many ways, I think “Lightning” is a song that represents that certain place where the oceans meet on my album. “Lightning” is a song about recognition. When I wrote this song, I thought about all those moments in my life where I really felt recognized on a deeper level. When I met my wife. When I looked my newborn daughter in the eyes for the first time. In concerts when my music meets the audience and it feels like we're all getting struck by the same lightning. Those kinds of moments.

CHECK OUT THE FAUSTIX REMIX OF “LIGHTNING” HERE.

4. Speaking of the upcoming album – what’s the meaning behind the album title? How many songs? Any collabs? Is there a song on the album you’re nervous about releasing out to the world?

ML: Where Oceans Meet is a metaphor. The entire album circles around the different contrasts that we all face in our lives. The light, the dark. The head, the heart. Hopes and fears. It’s about loving and longing at the same time. Where Oceans Meet represents the idea of the place where all these contrasts meet and embrace each other.

5. “Lightning” follows up “Hanging With You” which peaked at #1 in Denmark radio. What’s the story behind when you first heard one of your songs on the radio? Does it ever get old?

ML: It never gets old. Every time I listen to the radio, I must admit that I hope that they will play my song. It's the best feeling ever. This might be a little far-fetched, but it's kind of like when you give someone you really care for a present for their birthday. And it's not just any kind of present. It’s a present that you put all your time, thoughts and heart into. And then one day you randomly turn on the TV. Look who's there. Is that special person that you gave the present to. She’s actually wearing that sweater that you spent five years learning how to knit. After endless attempts, you finally managed to knit a sweater that you would give her without being scared that she would think it was a joke. She’s not wearing it because she feels like she has to, because you’re on a date with her. She’s wearing it because she likes it. And she just put it on that day that she randomly got stopped by the tv-station and interviewed in the streets of your hometown. That is close to the feeling I get when I hear my songs on the radio. And no, I have no clue how to knit a sweater, but I like the image.

6. The past year in the pandemic had a lot of its own challenges but it also had some beautiful moments like the drive-in concert you organized in Denmark last May. Why did you feel it necessary to put something like this together during that time? Being the first one to do so, how did you figure out logistics, etc. for the entire event? Anything you would’ve changed about it looking back?

ML: I had just started touring when the pandemic hit us all. I had spent months preparing the show and I was extremely disappointed when I had to turn around the tour bus and go back home after only playing 10 out of 100 shows. I had a couple of weeks where I was feeling really depressed. But then I decided to see if I could turn this whole thing into some sort of an adventure. I made a list of stuff I wanted to do. On that list I had drive-in concerts for some reason. I know a couple guys who are really good at putting together big events that include live music, so we talked about how we could make this happen. All credit to them for putting logistics together. I just played the shows. I had no idea that I would be the first one in the world to do a drive in concert. But it was really fun and I would not change a thing. In my shows, everyone was on the same video conference call. I loved that because I could talk to the people in the cars in between the songs. The people in their cars requested what songs of mine that they wanted to hear. And often they had really personal stories to the songs that I never heard before. So that was something that I will never forget.

7. The past year also brought about a new baby for you – congrats! What’s been the most surprising thing about having a baby that you might not have known before?

ML: Thank you so much. Yeah, that's truly a life changing event. My little daughter is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm so grateful that I got to receive a little soul with my wife. Even though it has happened billions and billions of times already it still feels like a miracle. I think the biggest surprise is the fact that your whole perspective changes in the blink of an eye. She is now the single most important thing in my life. I thought that would be something that would happen gradually, but for me it really happened at the moment that she was born.

8. What do you hope to accomplish with your music in the future that you may feel you have not done already? Have any of those goals or aspirations shifted with the new addition to the family?

ML: I really hope that people will recognize themselves in my songs. Obviously, the goal is that my songs will travel and become part of people's lives in new territories. I have spent so much time in the US since I moved away from home. I lived in New York City and in Los Angeles and I spend at least three or four months a year in the US working with all the talented people that I have met over the years. Building an audience in the US is a huge dream of mine. Hopefully this album will help introducing me to people all over America.

9. If you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life, who would they be?

ML:

The Beatles

Pink Floyd

Keith Jarrett

Mozart

Radiohead

10. What’s the rest of 2021 and beyond look like for Mads Langer?

ML: My album comes out in October. That is obviously a huge event in my life, and it looks like I'm going to be very busy talking about the album and singing the songs from it in many different places all over the world. Apart from that I will be changing diapers on my newborn daughter. Kissing my wife. Learning Chinese and writing my first score for a movie that comes out in 2022.

A HUGE shout-out to the talented Mads Langer for hanging for this latest Too Good Ten interview. Keep up to date with everything he has going on by following the links below and be sure to be on the look out for his latest EP, Where Oceans Meet due out October 1st.

SOCIAL LINKS:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

MUSIC:

Apple Music

Spotify

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fortunatelylori · 5 years ago

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1/2 Hi! I really liked your review of Sanditon ep. 7! I wanted to ask for your thoughts about the Heraclitus comment but the conversation around it. I agree Sidney absolutely did not intend to insult Charlotte, but Eliza turned it into an insult and the rest of the party (except Lady Susan) all laughed at Charlotte's expense. And it cut to Charlotte's insecurity about not fitting in with the London crowd, which we also saw at the ball in ep. 6.

2/2 But while at the ball Sidney told her “not to doubt” herself and “you’re more than equal to any woman here,” in ep. 7, he doesn’t laugh, but he doesn’t say anything reassuring either when he catches up with her. He only says he hopes she wasn’t she wasn’t offended by Mrs. Campion, and that it was all “in jest.” He clearly meant well, but that’s the worst thing to say to someone who is clearly hurt and upset by said “jest.” And he didn’t reassure her, which hurt as well. What do you think?

Hi! Sorry this turned into a 3/3. I would have really liked to see more of Sidney and Eliza, especially after her behavior toward Charlotte. Because we know Sidney doesn’t agree with her assessment of Charlotte, but not if he said anything about it to Eliza. I wish we had seen their last conversation! We know so little about their story. Did he realize how mean she actually is and how her behavior was inappropriate?

Hey, nonnie!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed my review.

I wanted to ask for your thoughts about the Heraclitus comment but the conversation around it.

Oh, good! We get to talk about my current favorite subject: Sidney Parker. You have unleashed the cracken, nonnie! Get your tea, biscuits, sausages or whatever and strap in. This is going to be a loooooong one!

I actually thought it would be interesting to try and analyze Sidney throughout this episode because, as I said, the narrative choice of making Eliza’s reappearance all about Charlotte’s unrequited love drama has robbed us of some insight into Sidney. For all intents and purposes Eliza was his plot, not Charlotte’s and it’s a shame Davies didn’t explore it.

That being said, I do think that enough was given in order to create a pretty clear picture of what Sidney was going through if you are willing to look more in depth. And let’s face it, we’re all willing since we’re spending inordinate amounts of time watching these scenes.

Btw, I’m at my 87th rewatch of the dance scene. Anyone else keeping score? And speaking of that glorious tv moment to be treasured for all time, that’s where our clue hunt must start. In this particular moment to be precise:

This is the genesis, the big bang if you will of Sidney’s crisis and the word that can describe him from this moment on is: CONFUSION! Sidney spends the entirety of episode 7 in a state of confusion.

You can see it in this moment above. He goes from complete calm decisiveness in regards to what he feels for Charlotte and what he wants from her to completely losing the plot in a matter of seconds when faced with the return of Eliza Campion.

Look at him! I don’t think we’ve ever seen Sidney this flustered. And the way he walks towards her, like a moth to the flame? In an instant it’s very clear just how much he must have loved this woman and that, for the time being, he’s forgotten all about Charlotte.

There is a brief moment where he remembers her that will be echoed in episode 7, when he brings Eliza to Tom’s house:

Episode 6:

Episode 7:

Theo James is really bringing his A game to these micro expressions because you can see very clearly that Sidney hesitates and also feels a bit uncomfortable having Charlotte see him with Eliza. He is, however, spellbound by Eliza in the London scene:

Incidentally we will never see Sidney this happy in her presence again. On the subject of micro expressions, I would like to draw your attention to this smile Theo James does over and over again. It’s almost a tic at this point:

Once you see it, you can’t really unsee it. This is the face Sidney does every time he doesn’t actually want to say what’s on his mind and it’s his way of keeping people at arm’s length. The reason why this is important is that he has this expression in every single scene he shares with Eliza:

Beach scene:

Boatus interruptus:

Tent of doom:

The don’t make me do this scene:

He’s also pretty much retired this expression when talking to Charlotte, instead hitting her with the irresistible combination of:

and …

My guess is Eliza didn’t see those pearly whites once during her whole stay in Sanditon.

So, given all of this distant body language, why is Sidney confused to begin with? Clearly Charlotte makes him happy while Eliza makes him indifferent at best and unpleasantly surprised at worst (we’ll get to that).

In order to answer that, we need to pay a little attention to this line Sidney says, during his scene with his brothers:

Sidney: It is a strange feeling. You’ve wanted something impossible for so long and suddenly it’s within your grasp.

If we were to do an exercise of imagination, we could go back in time to a young Sidney Parker. What would he have been like? I would argue he wouldn’t be all that dissimilar to Charlotte. Basically a happy, go lucky kind of guy who grew up in a loving family. Or as Eleanor Tilney in Northanger Abbey would put it, a person with a dangerous upbringing.

Sidney grew up thinking that the world was a basically wonderful place and everyone was “as pure of heart”as he. With the romantic notions of a young man, he fell in love with the pretty and witty Eliza and perhaps turned a blind eye to her more disagreeable traits. That was until those traits hit him right in the emotions organ and she left him to marry an older, richer man.

I don’t think it can be understated just how cruelly Eliza behaved. This isn’t Anne Elliot refusing Fredrick Wentworth’s proposal because she’s a young girl who’s a little too trusting when it comes to the adults in her life. This is a girl who knowingly strung Sidney along, through an engagement, only to leave him in the dust the moment a more “appealing” option came along.

Despite all of this, Sidney isn’t angry at her (supposedly at least). Moreover, he admits to having dreamed about their reunion for years. Usually when you dream about getting back with someone who showed so little care for you it’s because you’ve idealized them in your head and you probably remember that relationship through rose colored glasses.

That’s why Arthur is truly the genius of the Parker family. Just look at this smooth motherfucker smashing those glasses of delusion:

Arthur: Do you know that for years all I knew about my brother Sidney was that he was driven to the West Indies with a broken heart?

He instinctively understands that if he were to outright tell Sidney that getting back with the woman who used his heart for minced meat, that would make his brother dismiss him immediately. Instead he gently reminds him of the pain she caused. Which still elicits a defensive answer from Sidney:

Sidney: And what is your point, Arthur?

So in his very jovial, kind way, Arthur kicks Sidney right in the feeling nuts:

Arthur: I admire your spirit of forgivness. That is all. If it were me, I do not think I could bring myself to trust her again.

Still, Arthur’s intervention can only go so far. Sidney’s wanted to be with Eliza for so long … How could he help himself from being in her company when given the opportunity?

Well actually he can help himself quite easily …

Coming back to the whole topic that you were talking about, we need to separate Sidney’s actions from Sidney’s words because his failure to understand himself is displayed in this marked difference.

Let me give you an example: Sidney says he’s wanted Eliza for a long time. But how does Eliza Campion get to Sanditon? Does Sidney bring her, eager to have her near him?

No … Sidney doesn’t bring her because Sidney left London after the ball and is now spending his time waiting for Charlotte in Mrs. Griffith’s drawing room. Eliza gets to Sanditon on her own, surrounded by her minions. And this creates a trend throughout the episode, where Sidney might be talking about Eliza but seeks Charlotte out every chance he gets and it’s actually Eliza that is pursuing him.

Sidney’s true confusion doesn’t even really come from having to choose between Charlotte and Eliza but rather because he can’t get his mind around the fact that he is no longer in love with the woman that has occupied his thoughts for years. He’s carried her around with him for so long that now that she’s here and available, he can’t really grasp why he’s no longer interested.

It must be because:

Sidney: I haven’t picked up an oar in years.

Or because

Sidney: I had convinced myself that I was destined to remain alone. That I was ill suited for matrimony.

These series of excuses go on and on throughout his interactions with Eliza because what Sidney really loved was the way he had loved her and not Eliza herself. And that idyllic image of what might have been is shuttered by reality because:

Sidney: A man cannot step into the same river twice.

Charlotte: For he is not the same man and it is not the same river.

How fitting it is that it’s Charlotte who finishes this quote for him. Because in Eliza and Charlotte, Sidney has the opportunity to either go back and relive the what might have been or go forward and live the what can be. To go back means to try and be the same man on the same river. To go forward means to leap into the unknown with someone new.

What does Sidney do?

Might I just point out that if he wanted to balance the boat he could have invited Eliza? But he doesn’t … He might not be ready to admit it, even to himself, but only Charlotte can truly balance his boat.

However things don’t end up coming to a head until the tent scene. That’s because the last stage after releasing yourself from someone you used to be attached to is to see them for what they truly are. To discover the chink in their armor to quote Lady Susan. And boy, does Eliza wreck her freaking armor!

Did he realize how mean she actually is and how her behavior was inappropriate?

Of course he did. He actually realizes it much sonner than you’d think.

Eliza: There must be a boy in your village that’s caught your eye.

That’s not a happy face.

Also it’s very important to note that when Sidney says Charlotte would be happier reading a book, he doesn’t actually say that even though that’s what she understands. What he says is exactly this:

Sidney: I have no doubt Charlotte would rather be sat somewhere, quietly reading Heraclitus.

If he had said anything else, then it might be debatable whether or not he was making a joke at her expense but because he mentions Heraclitus in particular, this becomes his attempt at bonding with her, one outlier to another.

He doesn’t say anything reassuring either when he catches up with her. He only says he hopes she wasn’t she wasn’t offended by Mrs. Campion, and that it was all “in jest.” He clearly meant well, but that’s the worst thing to say to someone who is clearly hurt and upset by said “jest.” And he didn’t reassure her, which hurt as well. What do you think?

I get how from Charlotte’s point of view she feels hurt by his lack of reassurance and by feeling like she’s a “source of amusement” for him. But you know …. Charlotte’s in the whole “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy …”phase. She’s not thinking all that clearly.

Sidney runs after her because he realizes she’s upset and tries to comfort her. But I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect him to understand why she’s upset. I’d argue most people have the source of her sadness wrong.

Eliza isn’t the first person to make jokes regarding Charlotte’s marriage prospects. Lady Denham did the same thing to her in episode 1 and 2. Only Lady Denham was far harsher and rudder about it. And Charlotte wasn’t the least bit upset. She responded in kind and, in Lady Denham’s own words, “couldn’t help but stand up for herself”.

She doesn’t do it with Eliza because what’s causing her pain isn’t the lame ass attempt at making jokes about her not finding a husband. What’s truly hurting her is that Sidney is revealing something personal to the two of them to this woman that, in Charlotte’s mind, has made it impossible for her to ever be with him. She feels exposed, vulnerable and insecure.

When Sidney runs after her, trying to comfort her, there’s truly only one thing Charlotte wants to hear:

Charlote: What is it you want from me?

That’s something Sidney can’t answer at that time. He can’t really formulate what he wants from her because he’s just coming out of the whole Eliza spell and is himself uncertain about what Charlotte may or may not be feeling for him.

However, as I said, at this point his words are less important than his actions and given the sequence of events, it’s pretty obvious that the tent scene is the last time he is actually in Eliza’s company until she seeks him out at the end of the episode. So he might not have found the words to reassure Charlotte but he made certain he taxed Eliza for hurting her.

And when Eliza finally does track him down, what’s the first thing he tells her?

Sidney: You know, you didn’t have to wait for me.

Well … color me swooning. What girl doesn’t dream of hearing that?

I truly wish they had given us this complete scene because I really wanted to see how he would resolve this chapter of his life but given that she says this:

Eliza: The truth is now that I have found you again, I can scarcely bring myself to let you out of my sight. (beat) You know I never lost hope that we would stand besides each other once more and here we are! Fate has gifted us a second chance.

And he looks like this:

I’m willing to bet Eliza’s minions wasted all of their handkerchiefs on her on the coach ride back to London.

Which leaves us with:

Sidney: [Mrs. Campion] has already left. I decided against joining her. On reflection, I realized I would rather be here. I am a great deal less than perfect. You’ve made me all too aware of that. But, for whatever it’s worth, I believe I am my best self, my truest self, when I’m with you.

Sidney’s words finally match his actions. He chooses to go forward as the man he is now, wanting the woman that’s in front of him and not as the boy he used to be, chasing the dream of the girl that never was. Because …

A man cannot step into the same river twice. For he is not the same man and it is not the same river.

Thanks for the ask!

#sanditon #sanditon 2019 #sidney parker #charlotte x sidney #sidney x charlotte #sidlotte

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kattahj · 5 years ago

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Thoughts on Witcher rewatch, episode 6: Rare species

I started reading this story in Sword of Destiny and got so acutely embarrassed that I had to stop after a few pages. It was like being invited to Sapkowski's middle school locker. Lots of bare thighs, giggling, and hints of bathtub orgies. It's not so much that it's sexist but that it's so adolescent. I'm not saying that the show's portrayal of Borch, Tea and Vea is unproblematic, but it's a little easier to ignore the leering bits. But don't worry, I will return to it eventually!

I know there are Class fans who watched this for Jordan Renzo, and I'm rather amused at how disappointed they must be. He plays an idiot and a douche who is killed off in a most unflattering way halfway through the episode, and we all cheer it on because fuck him for killing that poor hirikka.

The subtitles say that the hirikka "sort of looks like a faun", but surely it should be "fawn"? Because that's what he looks like. And he IS rather cute in a pitiful way, that poor starved creature.

"You overgrown cockhair" is a great insult.

So the dwarves see what's going on with Nilfgaard before anyone else does. And Borch suggests that Yennefer could have stopped it. Ah, the possibilities of alternate timelines!

Dara's a smart cookie. If only he had been smarter and not come with Ciri at all. :-( And he walks away in the end. Why did I remember him dying? Maybe because he's been knocked out so many times. Or does he die in a later episode? I find I barely remember eps 7 and 8 at all. I suck at arc-heavy stuff.

Geralt has such a nice smile. I'd wish to see it more, but honestly I think part of the reason I like it may be because it's so rare. Yen has an even lovelier smile, when it's genuine. So often it's just a sneer, but in bed with Geralt when she looks so radiant, she's so cute and I love it.

I can understand dragon hearts hypothetically curing a barren woman if it's just pcos or something, but Yennefer doesn't even have her reproductive organs. What would the dragon do, regrow them? Or just plant the seed in her womb? If she has a womb; I can't remember if that was taken too. (She could keep the foetus in a box... Sorry.)

Geralt's "uh" face when he let slip the Child Surprise thing is so great. :-D

"I can take care of myself." "You don't always have to." Well, she’s nowhere near the point of accepting that, is she?

Yen has a way of staring into the distance.

Ciri's finally getting a bit proactive, asking the right questions and then using the knife to attack the Doppler. Not that it does her much good.

I would NOT walk on that mountain path EVER. Then again, most of what happens on this show is stuff I wouldn't do ever.

Geralt is such a giant pile of fluff. It's funny, in one of the Man from UNCLE interview, Henry Cavill describes his character as "a steel fist wrapped in a velvet glove" and Armie Hammer describes his as "a puppy in the body of a wrecking ball", but here, Geralt is most definitely the puppy. (Yen’s too vulnerable to be the steel fist, though. If anything, she’s a puppy inside a steel fist inside a velvet glove. And that’s a weird image.)

Jaskier has genuinely been crying for Borch, Tea and Vea. Aw. You don't have to, they're fine!

Yennefer actually conjured up furniture for her tent. And look at the ornamentation on the tent poles! If this was modern times, she'd have a trailer with shower and everything. :-)

A bunch of little flashbacks showing the various times they've banged. I wonder what happened the other times between Rinde and this.

She expects him to be gone in the morning and then he's not gone and I'm emotional.

The Doppler/Cahir fight would have been more effective if I had the first clue which is which.

Yennefer can just freeze people in time. Yen, that's cheating! But why doesn't she use it again during the fight? She's very hands-on, Geralt does the only magic bit.

When push comes to shove, Yennefer can't just let another baby be harmed to get hers.

I understand Yen's need for independence, and why she's upset about the wish, but at the same time, there's only so far you can push people away if you want someone to be with you. (Then again, I'm like Yen in this respect, don't get too fucking close but don't let me die alone.)

Their parting is so sad, but if we compare it to the Istredd/Yennefer breakup it's not half as nasty. There's nothing truly unforgiveable said on either side. If anything, they're both right about each other. If it weren't for the destiny angle rankling Yen so much, it would be barely more than a tiff.

Interestingly enough, in the book Yen likes the thought of being bound to Geralt. The versions are quite different in some ways. (And I do need to finish reading this story, for proper comparison, embarrassment notwithstanding.)

And then he takes it all out on Jaskier instead. I think fandom's desire to fix this, more than the Yen/Geralt fight, is in part the inclination towards boyslash above all else, yes, but also that it has a more obvious solution: Geralt is out of line, he knows he's out of line, and if he wasn't so emotionally constipated he'd apologize.

In comparison, the Yen situation requires either breaking the bond, or Yennefer accepting it, and neither one of those is a minute's work.

(Sidenote: This is one reason I feel like I need to write Yen's version of my fic. I put her and Geralt back together without explaining how that happened, and I need to. But I also need to rewatch first to get the details right, especially since I’m so hazy on the last two eps.)

I hope we get more Fringilla and Cahir next season, I'd like to see what makes them tick beyond just religious fervour.

I feel like Netflix played themselves by waiting so long to deliver the soundtrack, because by now, I actually likes Joey Batey's songs with The Amazing Devil better than the ones he sings as Jaskier. I mean, Her Sweet Kiss is nice and all, but compared to the raw bitterness of Elsa's Song? Pass.

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #jaskier #cirilla of cintra

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multimetaverse · 6 years ago

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Andi Mack 3x14 & 3x15 Reviews

Hammer Time and Unloading Zone were two good eps that were somewhat marred by filler. Let’s dig in!

Positives:

It’s good to teach kids early that there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism.

I’ll give them credit for not bearding TJ and for having him explicitly say that that he and Kira are not together. Also really drove home how petty and manipulative Kira is.

The Tyrus scenes were brief but not as angsty as I thought. It’s very clear they’re pushing the bounds of subtext and showing that Cyrus has a crush on TJ and wants to make that known but of course we can’t start moving into text until after the cut episode. I think this is the ep that probably clues in the casual audience that Cyrus does in fact like TJ as more than a friend though knowledge that they’re being set up to be a couple won’t come until Something to Talk A-Boot (unless they happen to see the promo with the Bench scene).

They’ve clearly set up Buffy as Cyrus’ crush confidante, making sure all talk of TJ is kept away from Andi and Jonah which is sad but unsurprising. It wouldn’t shock me if Andi and Jonah don’t explicitly know about Cyrus’ crush until after the bench scene itself. Great to see Buffy being so encouraging although she can’t explicitly say anything yet.

I wonder if that whole ‘’brings out his eyes’’ bit will come back during or after the bench scene. TJ is wearing a green shirt at the party that would bring out his eyes. Maybe that will be a Disney approved gay version of the typical straight guy calling his love interest pretty.

Those were some great Muffy scenes. I know there were some worries on tumblr about their chemistry after 3x13 but those should be put to rest now I think.

Extremely easy to see the Muffy arc ending in a kiss in the finale.

Bringing Garren back was a very wise decision on the writers part. That ‘’ I want to cross the finish line’’ with you line was a great little nod to them being endgame. And that piggyback ride Marty gave Buffy was sweet.

Really good subtle message sent by the camp out that it should be totally normal for a straight guy to have sleepovers with his gay friend.

Andi’s line about Jonah maybe not being capable of more emotional connection than his usual 6 emojis is damning but I also wonder if it’s set up for him to subvert that when he sings You Girl.

A sad reminder about Amber’s awful home life. It’s clear she’s seeking the love and attention she’s not getting at home from her parents but Jonah is really not the solution.

In 3x15 we get some foreshadowing for Buffy’s later foot injury

Nice to see Jonah participating in the protest and I always enjoy when they lean into Jonah being kind of dumb.

We still managed to get an Alpaca cameo after all. Also confirms that the original 3x18 at Snuck Farm was indeed planned as the original wedding.

The don’t hurt yourself lines Cyrus and Jonah had were very funny.

Cyrus referenced the Tunguska event most likely

Lauren Tom knocked it out of the park with her emotional scenes in both eps. i wish we had seen more of this Celia in S3 instead of wacky grandma

Liked Officer Penn’s Clint Eastwood impression. And interesting that they used a white male cop as a bad guy.

Celia’s snow globe was a lovely gift. According to Disney PR, it was inspired by Terri’s snow globe collection and Lilan and Trent didn’t know what was inside the box until they opened it.

Liked the Game of Thrones reference (at least the Andi Mack finale can’t be worse than that show’s)

Loved the music in the cold open, it was the same they used for scene transitions in 3x07.

I try not to pass judgment on the show because the whole Ham situation is so awful and unprecedented but that convo about him going to India really skated close to dark humour especially when Celia said ‘’don’t worry you’ll see him again’’.

Negatives:

Notice how they kept Kira making TJ feel bad about his crush out of the previously on and instead focused on her disliking Cyrus because he’s Buffy’s friend. I do think Kira gets called out for that by TJ during the finale but it’s clear for now that they’re trying to pass this off as her hating Buffy and liking TJ and wanting him for herself.

They had Luke and Raquel for a day but filmed quite a bit less than their typical maximum. TJ himself only got 2:45 minutes of screentime, including being in the background, which is a little less than his usual 3 minutes.

Which isn’t a surprise, TJ’s screen time operates by a different math than other recurring characters. It’s the same pattern in both S2 and S3, he can be in 9 aired eps max and only 3 eps after the 13th ep of the season. Luckily in S3 Disney only ordered 21 eps so instead of only 3 TJ eps spread out over 12 eps we got 3 spread out over 8 until the FBI knocked that down to 7.

It’s not a question of budget, they had a much higher per ep budget in S3, nor was it scheduling since Luke had no other projects and they were able to work around Garren’s GH filming schedule right through the finale and re-shoots nor was there a 9 ep limit on recurring characters as Emily was in 11 of the original 21 this season.

Not to mention they’ve been drastically cutting TJ’s screentime with Cyrus. Luckily they do probably have to give him a bit more than 3 minutes in Something to Talk A-Boot and hopefully gets more than 3 in the finale.

The Cyrus and Jonah plot was sweet but pure filler. I never expected Cyrus to talk to Jonah about his feelings or anything related to his sexuality but was there nothing else they could even briefly touch on? Jonah’s anxiety? Cyrus’ anxiety? Jonah’s family problems? It’s not like Terri didn’t know the show was going to end just 7 eps later in otl so why waste this time? It’s most likely the last significant solo time those two have and they should have used it more wisely.

Vivian turned out to be completely useless. Seems like they cut some of her lines but I really don’t get her purpose.

The clothing protest was rushed and the ending was very unsatisfying. It hurt the plot that we never actually saw anyone connected to the company.

Celia and Bex didn’t really patch up either and I’m guessing things weren’t truly fixed until Bex agreed to put the wedding back on in 3x17 in otl.

Amber is in love with Jonah? This is what they’re dedicating so much screen time to in these final eps?

They really ruined the swings for nothing. At least we get nice scenes in Something to Talk A-Boot and the finale

Kira really is something. She’s trying to get a a guy she knows is gay to date her which is insane

I was expecting there to be very little in this final TJ ep before the original wedding in part because of Terri’s instagram post back in November right after Josh revealed the endgame had changed and right before they shot the original 3x18 where she screenshotted a tweet that said Andi Mack fans should stop accusing the show of queer baiting or blaming Disney censorship in regards to Cyrus’ story line. Writers let their work speak for them and that Terri posted that was a sign that the criticism hit to close to home.

The show is not queer baiting and 3x11 was an all time great but to pretend there hasn’t been long running censorship from Disney is a straight up lie and excluding 3x11 there’s really been very little. I’m sure she had planned for the bench scene for a while but she couldn’t have known that she’d get it approved until it was time to write the finale. Disney seemed committed to some sort of Tyrus endgame but it very easily could have been just them standing together smiling at the end in which case this whole mess of a plot would have been for nothing. She was reckless but got very lucky that Disney didn’t screw her over. I hope whoever ends up making the next Disney show with a gay story line will know not to bite off more than they can chew.

Looking Ahead:

Things are in some ways simpler and in some ways messier for Tyrus. TJ seems to have accepted Kira as a friend but is refusing to use her as a beard and still wants to hang with Cyrus. Cyrus thinks TJ is straight but has seemingly forgiven him for costume day so that conflict is swept under the rug. Either Kira does a complete 180 off screen and apologizes in her 45 seconds of speaking time in the finale or she’s just there so Cyrus can be sad and TJ tells her off and then goes to speak to Cyrus without her getting any real development or redemption. Either way it’s going to be wild going from closeted TJ to TJ having a boyfriend and being out to at least several people all in like 3-4 minutes of screentime.

She really is only looking at something like 30-45 seconds of speaking time in the finale and not all that much more of background time if she’s lucky as Raquel was only on set for one day and it was the same day all the other main and recurring kids were also filming and she was only 14 at the time which means she can be on set a little less than most of the other kids. And her insta story shows that it was just her and Luke in the school room and after she finished class she was just hanging on set until they wrapped for the day.

If she’s not getting a redemption arc than most likely they’ll follow up with what Buffy said and she’ll say something mean about Cyrus that will cause TJ to drop his willful blindness and tell her off or she gets tired of waiting and tries to demand that TJ dates her and he tells her off. Either way Cyrus would likely see them and mistake it for them having a moment.

This does mean that TJ doesn’t need to redeem himself so much in Something to Talk A-Boot at the theatre or the game. That TJ is even at those events and hanging with Cyrus over at least two days in universe means he’s either not hanging with Kira or he still is but is less vulnerable to her manipulation.

So the prop garbage was for community service after all. Wild

They really went there with the stereotypes about Asian people. I think great things can come of this plot and I’m excited to see Andi’s art plot line take off.

Now we know why Jonah says ‘’why can’t it just be fun? Why does it have to be love?’’ There’s almost no chance this Amber in love with Jonah story won’t be a trainwreck but hopefully it’s an entertaining one. I really don’t know if there’s anything they can do for Amber’s home life. Her parents divorcing would probably help in the long term but it would be a very depressing ending to her arc.

Really does seem to be no set up for Jandi but we’ll see how long they can keep their lead girl completely romance free. Lilan and Asher have both talked about Jonah and Andi being settled and Disney has been hyping up Jandi moments and of course Jonah sings You Girl so something is going to happen. With the new promos suggesting Andi might be moving away in the finale, probably for her art, I wonder if they have an ending where they’re not officially together but they know they like each other and that the universe will always guide them back to one another or some hippy crap like that.

Presumably Bowie still wants to get married. Wonder how they’ll get the wedding back on track without Ham’s help.

Mack chat kids hate Kira but no mention of Tyrus which is no surprise. On the plus side this means we get Luke guest starring for either Something to Talk A-Boot or the finale and it seems that Josh was a finale guest so they will have to talk about Tyrus even if only briefly.

I’ll talk more about the new promos tomorrow but I’m so glad that they’re teasing the bench scene.

Only 5 more weeks left!

#Andi Mack #Tyrus #TJ Kippen #Cyrus Goodman #Muffy #Buffy Driscoll #Marty from the party #Jonah Beck #amber #Jamber #Bexie #Bex Mack #Bowie Quinn #Celia Mack #Kira #Andi Mack Reviews #Andi Mack Meta #Andi Mack Season 3

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twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years ago

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Episodic Patterns for Episodes 8, 9, & 10

Good morning, Everyone! How was your Thanksgiving. Mine was great! Lots of family, craziness, WAY too much pie. Good times! ;D

Okay, so I’m first going to talk about the video released on the official YouTube channel that shows clips of Beth’s, Carl’s, and Deanna’s deaths after the 10x08 trailer. Because that’s what got me thinking about this. I said originally that showing Carl’s death along with Beth’s made perfect sense to me, but Deanna’s mystified me a bit.

Well, after hashing things out with my fellow theorists, I have much more to say. Actually, @wdway came up with these initial observations all by herself, so kudos to her for that. What she observed is 100% accurate and insightful, and led to me realize these other episodic patterns. So let’s go through these quickly.

There are some subtle parallels between Beth’s, Deanna’s, and Carl’s deaths. Mostly, it has to do with the way they’re set up in the MSF. In each case, the death is “announced” if you will in the MSF, and we’re kind of led to believe that they’ll die in that episode. Except that they don’t. They’re given another episode to kind of wrap things up.

So with Beth, this is obvious. At least to us TDers. We’re led to believe she died in the MSF, and we don’t think she did. But even setting the death fake out aside for a moment, even 5x09 is kind of a continuation of her death. We really shouldn’t have seen her at all after 5x08, but we did.

Seeing her, even as part of Tyreese’s death hallucination, was a surprise. And we have other clues (like the group running to their cars) of other things that may have happened in the interim that we aren’t privy to. So the idea is that things might not have gone down in exactly the way we were led to believe based on the MSF.

Deanna’s is less dramatic. We knew she’d die one way or the other because she was bitten. She was given a gun to end her own life rather than be eaten. And we had clues that it wouldn’t go down that way (she opened the door, screamed at the walkers, and fired at them) but we didn’t’ know because we didn’t actually SEE her death. (Perhaps another Beth parallel.)

Then, in 6x10, we do learn that things didn’t go according to plan. Because Deanna, as a reanimated walker, is stumbling around outside of Alexandria. So, she couldn’t have shot herself in the head. But she also wasn’t eaten by walkers.

Something happened that helped her avoid being a meal, but also led to her reanimated self getting not only out of the room but outside the walls. What was it? We don’t know. And it’s probably not even very important because Deanna wasn’t a super main-stream character.

But the point is, things didn’t go down the way the MSF finale led us to believe they would. And we have parallels to Beth’s death both in the mystery surrounding what happened with Deanna, and the fact that Spencer looked for her as a walker, which we also believe Daryl did with Beth.

Carl’s death is similar. We found out about his bite in the MSF and many people might have pegged that as his death episode. Yet, they gave him another episode with a much bigger send off to tie up all the loose ends. So things didn’t go down quite as people thought they would, based on the setup in the MSF.

There are other subtle parallels as well. I have to point out the gunshot-to-the-head theme that runs through these. The theme is present in all three, but what actually happens is different each time. Beth is shot in the head, but we believe it didn’t kill her. Deanna is supposed to shoot herself in the head, but doesn’t, and reanimates as a walker as a result. Carl actually does shoot himself in the head, and it kills him, and we see his burial/funeral.

There are other rabbit holes we could go down as well when it comes to the symbolic ties between these deaths. I’ll just mention a few things without actually going down them.

Carl is the one who sees walker-Deanna and leads her to Spencer so Spencer can put her down. He tells Michonne such things should be done by family or someone who loves the deceased person. That he would do it for her. You could see that as a foreshadow of Carl’s death. The way it’s presented, it almost seems like a foreshadow of Michonne’s death (“I’d do it for you,”) but it wasn’t. Carl said it and it was about him. A foreshadow that when he was bitten (like Deanna) Michonne would be there to make sure he got put down and didn’t reanimate as a walker.

But the thing is, this conversation takes place right after Carl says the thing to Baby Judith about using the North Star to find your way HOME. Saying that and then talking to Michonne about his death (not literally, of course) also entangles Carl’s death with Beth’s return.

See what I mean about the rabbit holes?

I also think it’s interesting that Michonne was involved in a big way in both Carl’s and Deanna’s deaths. Makes you wonder what her role in the missing 17 days after Coda was, doesn’t it? And what her role in Beth’s return will be.

But let’s switch gears just a bit, here. Thinking about all of this helped make a pattern clear in my mind about the structure of episode 8, 9, and 10 in each season. And I think you’ll all like this because it’s another, concrete way to point at episode 10 as possibly being when Beth returns.

We all tend to think and say—me especially—that each season is divided into 16 episodes with two major arcs: the front half and back half. And while that’s true, it’s not quite that neat and tidy is it? The two arcs don’t consist of 1-8 and 9-16. Rather, the first arc tends to be 1-7. 8-9 is a shit-hits-the-fan mini-arc,

and then the new arc for the back half starts in episode 10. Hence all those damn sunrises we see, yeah? ;D

I think my biggest takeaway here is that they never FINISH in episode 8 what they started in episode 8. They usually short it up in episode 9. We already talked about this with character deaths, but it’s true in a more general sense as well. Ep 10 starts the new arc, and, more often that not, it includes them finding a new group or community.

So I had to think through all the seasons. Or at least, all the ones since S4. Arguments can be made for 1-3, but I’ll stick to the ones after Gimple took over.

S4: So right off the bat, S4 was a little different. I think that’s mostly because they split into so many little groups and they had to show them all. But of course the big event in ep 8 was the prison going down,

but ep 9 and 10 were continuations of that. Hence all the running. Again, I think this took 2 episodes because 9 was just about Rick/Michonne/Carl and then 10 covered Bethyl, Maggie/Sasha/Bob, and Glenn/Abraham/and co. They didn’t actually find a new community, but all of them started moving toward Terminus in one way or another.

S5: Obviously the shitstorm in ep 8 was Beth/Grady. And while it’s still a little unclear how ep 9 continues this, the biggest clue is that Beth was actually in episode 9, albeit as a hallucination. And it’s hard to pin down because it was so metaphorical and abstract, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Ep 9 was about taking Noah home. That was to honor Beth’s wishes, and Noah came to the group courtesy of Beth/Grady anyway. So that episode really was an outgrowth or extension of the Grady arc.

And it ends with a burial. Of course it was Ty’s, rather than Beth’s, but now, after all this time, I can see that it was meant to symbolize Beth’s as well. Not because she actually died or got a burial, but rather because, for all intents and purposes—both to the characters and to the audience—she was dead, and that was the end of that arc.

The new arc starts, of course, with Aaron showing up to bring them to a new community: Alexandria.

S6: This is a big one for me. I always said 6x09 would have made a WAY better MSF than 6x08. The big event was the church falling on the fence and letting walkers into Alexandria. (Yeah, I know it technically happened at the end of ep 7, but that was just for the cliffhanger effect. Ep 8 was them dealing with the horde.)

And ep 8 left off right smack in the middle of the action. Daryl/Sasha/Abe were still facing Saviors on the road, Eugene was still calling for help on the radio, Rick and co held hands and moved into the horde, but things were far from solved. Maggie was still trapped on the scaffold. Glenn and Enid were still outside the walls. Then ep 9 comes along and all the great stuff happens. Daryl plays with a rocket, everyone returns to the Alexandria, Glenn and Maggie reunite after 8 episodes apart (end of death fakeout, by the way), Daryl stars the lake on fire, Carl shot, Jessie & sons eaten, and epic battle against walkers for Alexandria.

So my point is, they didn’t wrap things up until episode 9. New arc begins in ep 10 when they meet Jesus and go to Hilltop (new community).

S7: Much less drama in the middle of S7, but ep 8 ends on a confrontation with Negan and Rick deciding it’s time to fight back. It continues in ep 9 as they try to figure out exactly HOW to do that and where they’ll get the resources.

New arc begins in ep 10 when they meet a new community (Scavengers) and the arc for the rest of the season focuses on building things up toward the war.

S8: We already talked about Carl’s death, which is definitely part of this pattern. In terms of plot, the big event was the bombing of Alexandria.

But when it ended, it REALLY didn’t end. Carl didn’t die, everyone was still hiding in the sewer, and plenty of people were still running around in the woods in the dark, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It didn’t wrap up until ep 9, including Carl’s death and burial. I think the “new community” aspect in this season was Enid and Aaron going to ask Oceanside for help. So, not a new community, but they weren’t a part of the war yet, and there were TONS of Beth symbols around this arc, which is important.

S9: So I really wasn’t sure at first if they’d stuck to this pattern in S9, especially given that we know Andy left later than originally planned. I couldn’t even remember off the top of my head which episodes were which, and had to go look at them. Yeah, they totally kept to pattern. The big event was graveyard/Whisperers/Jesus’ death,

which came from going to rescue Eugene. But you can tell they didn’t wrap it up until ep 9 because we didn’t see Jesus’ burial/funeral until ep 9. In terms of episode 10 and finding a new group, guess what episode 10 was? Omega, where Alpha shows up at the gates. So yeah, they totally pulled it off.

So what’s the point of all of this? Well, they’re following pattern this season. They started something in episode 8 (Daryl and co going to find the horde and look for Lydia) but it definitely didn’t finish. It ended in the middle of the action, much as it always does. So I’m fully expecting that they’ll solve that particular problem in ep 9, and if there are any character deaths, they will no doubt happen then. (No idea if any of the reports about Connie or someone falling off a cliff will prove true, but IF they do, it will be in episode 9 anyway, not 9).

As for them meeting a new community, which should happen in episode 10, we don’t REALLY know what it will be…except that they’ve been filming at Grady so we do. Whether it’s actually Grady or some other hospital, chances are it will be introduced in episode 10.

And the fact of the 10:10 clock on Beth’s wall, which episode will probably coincide with them finding this new community? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think it’s safe to say that Gimple planned for this a LONG time ago.

So yeah. Just wanted to point that out and hopefully it carries everyone through the hiatus and gets you excited for 10b. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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agl03 · 6 years ago

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What do you say our chances are of FitzSimmons getting a happy ending? Who do you think won’t get a happy ending? A lot of people are saying Daisy will die, do you know why? Do you think the ending will be the team has to go their seperate ways?

Hi Anon,

Bearing in mind there are still 16 episodes to go and a heck of a lot can happen this is my hot take after watching/reading many of the SDCC interviews, chatting with the CTT, and my gut (if that counts for anything).

I do think that part of the “Bittersweet” ending that the cast and EP’s are referring too is that we will see the team, for the most part, going their separate ways as the final credits roll. I also won’t rule out them pulling some sort of “19 Years Later” kind of thing and we get flash forwards for the teams as to where they land.

Right now here is my hot takes on the Main Cast and a few bonuses.

Fitzsimmons: Yes, I do think they will get a happy ending. Loop Fitz was doomed from the beginning, as soon as the writers realized they could kill him and have a way out. Even more evidence for that to me is the difference between how they have written Season 5 vs Season 6 Fitz. Those who follow my blog know that with Iain running back and forth so much mid season I am expecting something to happen to Fitz be it he goes on an undercover mission or gets kidnapped again (really I’ll be shocked if he (and Jemma) aren’t grabbed or go in the finale). And this final separation and likely a few other tipping points such as a the death of someone really close to them or Baby Bomb is what seals the deal for them leaving active duty. I think they do leave either to help at the Academy or start their own company and will have a family.

May: Like Fitzsimmons will get out of Shield. For her it will be time to pass the torch to another generation and she’ll want to fulfill Coulson’s legacy with the Academy.

Sarge/Coulson: If I am right and we end the season with Sarge trying to come to terms with having ghosts of Coulson’s memories and now not having a mission we’ll likely see him hang around with Shield to fix whatever poop gets triggered in the finale....still looking at you Chromicons. However I need to see how this shakes out before I can theorize much ore where he’ll end up. But I still maintain we wont’ see him turn into “our” Phil Coulson again.

Deke: I won’t lie, I do have concerns about Deke surviving the series finale. He’s toeing the line a bit of a hero arc similar to Mace’s back in Season 4. I do think that as we finish Season 6 and move into 7 he will at the very least find his place with his grandparents and likely more of the Shield team as well. Since we’re seeing him and Fitz get close now we’ll see him and Jemma getting closer, especially when Fitz is missing (the annual Fitznapping is a tradition after all). I also don’t see Deke hesitating for even a second to sacrifice himself to save someone he cares about, especially his grandparents. My ideal ending is he buys Nana and Bobo that castle in Scotland and the live there inventing all sorts of stuff safe and happy but I also know this show.

Daisy: I do see Daisy making it to the end and I actually feel that they’ll finish the arc they started her on and we’ll see her at some point be the Director of Shield. She wasn’t ready in Season 5, but the mission in space saving Fitz plus whatever is to come I feel will finally have her where Coulson saw her being and ready to lead.

Mack: Which brings me to the one I”m gonna get yelled at over. Because for Daisy to be director, means that Mack needs to retire or fall....and I think unless we have a massive flash forward, that we don’t see Mack retiring so soon after taking over as Director. I could see something horribly personal happening as well that would have him walk away but no one is going to like that one either is I feel Elena is the only one close enough to him he’d hang it all up for after losing.

Elena: I worry about Elena too. No question that something Major happens to her in the Season 6 finale, perhaps a death and miracle safe and she joins the been dead club. In the comics she dies sacrificing herself as part of a mission

Essentially I do see who is left from OT6 making it out. Again I could change my mind with so much real estate to go.

I do think that somehow we’ll see old faces return as things wind down. Ward, Davis, Piper, Bobbi, and Hunter (for the love of all things writers just give me one ONE scene with Fitz, Deke, and Hunter...preferably sassing the Hades out of a baddie) are the big ones for me right now...and no i have no clue HOW yet just its on my radar and we have time travel now so sky is the limit.

As I watched interview something that jumped out at me was that Jed, Mo, Jeph, and Jeff felt a lot of pressure to “stick the landing”. As finales get so much attention and those who miss we can all name off the tops of our heads and even ruined the series for long time fans.

Even though they wrote Season 5 as a potential series finale they left that loop hole with Fitz and that was an arc all ready to go for Season 6. It was them wanting to find a way to keep Clark but not bring back Coulson and throw away what they felt like was his perfect ending, that gave birth to the absolutely facinating Sarge arc. I for one am really enjoying it and I love Clark being allowed to stretch his wings a big and how many complicated layers there are to this.

This time they aren’t leaving any loop holes they need to clean up. Yes things will be left open but not to the point where we won’t know someone’s final fate.

Another comment that stuck out was “We don’t want to do the same thing again”. For me that takes killing Fitz, someone getting eaten by a space rock, mass kidnapping, and dropping Sarge and May off in Tahiti off the table.

While I will never ever ask you guys to trust the writers and I’m super leery about it myself. I do feel that they saw the um lets just go with feedback after the Season 5 finale. They saw the comments on the internet, they got the comments we sent to ABC, they know they hurt the fandom something fierce. And while seeing where they went with the whole Space Arc and we got the masterpiece that is Inescapable out of it I’m okay. Again had they not told me the’d written that as a series finale and just season the upset wouldn’t have been nearly as bad. I get that it is still hard to trust them especially when Loeb uses words like heartbreaking. But remember they have a different dictionary with us I simply refer too “soon” and “Satisfying” as examples of this.

#aos spoilers #aos speculation #ask agl03 #that escalated quickly

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