#and then Remi came up with the team because of the comment by Rob

[eikotheblue]

Fen this "shitpost" art is an epic poem. To me. 💙 (And the fact that you did this in a medium and style you have no experience with is just. mindblowing to me. like. what.)

(Pokemon team and more story below the cut)

So the story of how this all happened is that - I was doing my local cryptid routine (I spin poi out around town wearing my usual all-blue, and am at this point decently well known for it) and we ran into some Local Youths, one of whom wanted a photo with me and another who said he didn't need one because he'd gotten one already. This caused his friend to say "oh, she's like a pokemon, huh" which I found delightful, and reported back to my discord server. This started a discussion in which Rob Nomaly asked "how hard would it be to come up with a well-rounded pokemon team that was all-blue?" and my wonderful roommate @toasthaste started brainstorming an all-blue pokemon team for gym leader Eiko. She did an incredible job and came up with:

Which is perfect. I love all these pokemon so much, and as a team it's just - exactly the kind of shitpost I'd be doing as a gym leader! Because it looks like a traditional Water-type team, for the first 3 mons! And then Glaceon shows up, and you think "well, hmm, that's unusual, but I guess Ice and Water are pretty close typewise" and then the last two are pure Dragon and Psychic-Steel, because the actual theme is just "blue pokemon". (Bonus: the Dragonair has an evolite, which combined with its typing just makes it annoyingly tanky against the moves you'd traditionally use against Water-type pokemon).

Then Fen posted their first draft of the drawing!

and the rest of my discord concluded that I'd be skating around the gym and the player would have to catch up by defeating trainers and manipulating various smarthome devices to block off my route and catch me. Which is an amazing gym concept. (One detail I didn't call out the original post is that the background shapes in the final drawing are a stylized depiction of Andrew, my smart washing machine. :D).

Behold! This absolutely incredible drawing of me as a Pokemon gym leader, drawn by my wonderful and incredibly talented friend Fen @salt-and-bramble 💙💙💙

I love it so much as a work of art and as a drawing of me and I'm using it as my profile picture everywhere now.

Fen did a wonderful job of - capturing lots of details that match up with things I actually wear (the heart gems I put on my forehead, my favorite top with the boob window, the galaxy print on my favorite dresses, the color of the glowy wheels on my skates), while also adding so many delightful little things that spark so much delight in my soul (the heart-shaped pupils, a much fancier design on my gloves than I currently have, the poi-pokeballs, a lil bit of embellishment on the cleavage) and. the hair.

Gods, the hair. Y'all have to understand - I've legit never seen a picture or depiction of my hair I've loved anywhere close to how much I love this. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my hair over my life, and despite historically really hating it, lately I've been figuring out ways to get it in a state where I can appreciate it myself, which has been a slow and strange process. But when I first saw this drawing, I felt like I understood for the first time what people are seeing, when they look at my hair and tell me it's beautiful. (When I told Fen this, they said I have the curls of the ocean... ;-; this has stuck in my head, and I think of it when I look at my avatar or my hair.) And the action lines in the rest of the piece really enhance the wave vibes...

it's just so perfect ;-;

[mantra4ia]

Desires: Lucifer season 5 on Netflix

Created: August 21, 2020. Last Modified: August 22, 2020.

Preface: Alright my Lucis, here’s the sitch: it’s been a minute. Life got a bit chaotic I wasn’t able to start season five quite on time when it premiered on August 21st because I haven’t finished the great 2020 Lucifer rewatch. I’m nearly done however and should be able to jump into it either later today or tomorrow, which is why beforehand I want to — as I’ve traditionally done for a few seasons — create a desires list and keep a tally throughout the season to see how many are met. I am going to try to pace myself, not binge, and watch a single episode a day so don’t spoil me. Likewise I will tag my spoilers. Here we go... #21DaysofLucifer

Season 3 and 4 Roundout - Desires Fulfilled / Questions Answered

✔We’ve seen other demons “like Maze” and a bit of what havoc they can reek. Well sort of. To be quite frank, although it was cool to see them possess the recently deceased, it wasn’t as impending doom as I was expecting. They didn’t seem nearly as disciplined or intimidating as Mazikeen, even Dromos, more bored and desperate.

✔ We’ve seen a little more or the heavenly host in Remiel. Remi was cool, if a bit intense. Her character, and her affinity to Amenadiel was a nice foil to see how far his character has come in evolution. But again like Uriel was for Lucifer, she kind of became a driving force character device to push Amenadiel’s growth. So I wonder if we’ll get to see more of her or not.

✔ (s3) The backstory of Lucifer’s arrival in LA, finding LUX, and making a deal with Amenadiel.

✔ (s3) Cain finally went to hell, YES! Not that I didn’t like Marcus Pierce/Tom Welling, there were some great interactions there, but I just think he was a wishy-washy antagonist based on how he was written and I can’t wait to trade up for Michael.

✔ Maze finally had some happiness and attachment to this silly mortal coil and it slipped away! Why Eve why? I love Maze’s bonding with humans, Linda, Trixie, Chloe. But I love that after a Millennia of serving, and then watching Amenadiel and Linda be happy in a family unit, that she might actually make her own and my hopes were dashed. 

Things we got that we didn’t even know we wanted. SO GOOD:

Season 4 ep 8: Amenadiel bonding with Caleb and confronting community violence, police brutality, and systemic racism. It was a rough episode to be sure, but absolutely needed,

Chloe talking Lucifer down and out of a self-hatred spiral and his transformation into full-fledged devil and back again.

Lucifer playing Creep on repeat while missing the detective (even after insisting in a therapy session that “he’s not a teenager playing Adele on repeat) and Mr. Said Out B**** trying to rob Lucifer and gun point and ultimately get rich. What a fun twist.

The Dan and Maze Los X’s fight. They are wicked good at laying down the  hurt on the criminal element and I was wondering when they’d pair up again after dispatching Warden Perry.

The devil in a bar fight! I mean, it’s only fair since the ladies had their brawl. I love how this fight sequence was filmed in bursts of slo-mo from various angles, involved everything from fists, to tasers, knives, bottles, and the infamous pool cue, and they picked the perfect song for pacing (Jake Bugg, Lightning Bolt, could listen to it all day on repeat.)

Time for all good demons to go home / Enough, you will bow down to your king. Go home! (aka appropriate use of Devilish intimidation face)

Amenadiel vs Remi 

A Rocky montage with Lucifer and Amenadiel / Amenadiel’s face the first time Lucifer drives the Corvette

Lucifer at the roller derby

Chloe the YA fangirl

Maze teaching Trixie about knives, with each handle decorated in a different toy.

Amenadiel and Chloe catching up: your father is so proud of you. Like and angel BOSS!

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:

★ (s3) Amenadiel taking Charlotte home

★ Dan being comforted in his grief by Amenadiel

★ Amenadiel’s wrath and the brotherly duo tag team to lay the hurt on the drug dealer that got Charlie killed. It’s been a while since we’ve seen warrior angel ready to dispatch anyone in his way. And it was glorious!

★ (s3) Lucifer’s almost driving lesson with Trixie “Morningstar”

★ (s3) Maze torturing Lucifer by making him think he’s the Angel of San Bernadino

★ (s3) Amenadiel and Lina helping to dispose of Lucifer’s wings

★  Lucifer kicking Julian, Tiernan’s son, through a glass pane window

★ The goodbye kiss between Lucifer and Chloe

 DIDN’T LIKE:

☒ (s3) Cain playing guitar and singing. What is he, a crime lord, a top cop, or an act that the improv club wouldn’t take? 

☒ Eve. I liked Eve, but we mostly got to see one side of her around Lucifer, and a kind of floundering an confused side when she was with Maze. The side that I would have liked to see more of was the maternal side that came out when she briefly talked about Abel or was interrogated by Trixie. That made her more layered.

☒ Father Kinley. That dude is just meh.

☒ Dan’s broken heart and rebounding with Ella. Don’t get me wrong, its a good arc, but I don’t see it lasting

☒ (s3) Abel and Reese. Those were two side stories I could have done without, although they had great moments of humor. I quite enjoyed Reese’s character, and although I didn’t like Abel Lucifer’s stick-figure comic illustration of Cain fighting with him over a rock was quite enjoyable.

WHAT I TRULY DESIRE: SINFUL SEASON 5, my BURNING QUESTIONS, and SPECULATIONS

Obviously, don’t spoil anything for me, but if any of my desires end up coming true in any of the first eight episodes maybe drop me a hint in the comments...

A big time jump. We need to see the lasting impact of Lucifer’s absence. I know that time in hell works differently per that episode where Lucifer saved Chloe and almost got stuck in a loop, but we still need enough time to elapse that the impact is felt on the mortal side. Or, we need to see the passage of time through a series of events without Lucifer, like a montage of character development. At least a year or so, if for no other reason then Trixie is growing up and I actually want to see her take driving lessons with Lucifer.

Last season Maze gave baby Charlie a gift, something she’d wished she’d had growing up, and previously had alluded to the language of demons, her many siblings, and teased her mother, the mother of all demons. Will we finally get to meet Maze’s mom Lilith (or however they address her)? And, in spite of Mazikeen’s found family, she still has restlessness and abandonment issues. Will her mom finally finally bring her peace, or will clashing with her resolidify Maze’s purpose on earth?

A Decker/Mazikeen team-up or girls night out 2.0 would always be appreciated. At this point its probably 4.0 if you count the bar fight and the bachelorette party.

Will we see tougher, scarier demons, or are they just warmup to the really scary depths of hell?

Speaking of hell, more hell. Tons of hell. I want to know the minutia of all the mechanics. If Lucifer’s gotta be down there in self-imposed exile, he may as well show us around. Pour us a drink.

Will Lucifer see Cain in Hell? Not that I’m dying to see more of “sad Cain” but it would be interesting to see a more dark or desperate or cunning side to him at least now that he’s actually neck deep in torment. Or, alternatively, I’m hedging my bets that he could be a good candidate to light the fire under Lucifer’s *** to get of hell back to the earthly realm. Even in hell, I’m betting Cain would have a soft spot for Chloe, and if news reached Lucifer that Michael were trying to abscond with his life and with Chloe, it would give Cain and Lucifer one last bit of “A-Hole brothers” common ground to bond over. Like “Brothers, am I right? Go kick, get Chloe back, I’ll still have enough guilt to torture me with in a few thousand years when you get back,”   

Will Lucifer fall into peril in hell of once again potentially getting distracted and stuck in a hell loop? Will his servants be satisfied with his return? Will Amenadiel bust him out.

Mr. Said Out Bitch needs a role reprise. He’s been in every season opener 2-4, we’ve gotten to know his undergarments very well.  Its high time we get to know his name and story. He’s put in the work!  

Amenadiel should be running LUX in Lucifer's absence. We got a tease of that in previous seasons (remember when he asked what would Lucifer do?) its time for that to come to fruition. Plus, any excuse to put DB Woodside in a suit, just because he wears them so well. It would also be interesting if, after that tragedy he’s experienced, Amenadiel will start taking after Luci. Maybe not the punishing, not yet, but wanting to seek out evil and corruption. It has been teased since s1 “fall as I did.” Perhaps he’ll start developing a taste for his bother’s line of work whereas he found it repugnant in the early days

Dan and Maze or Dan and Ella pair up. Both Dan and Maze are due for some happiness.

An Azrael reboot, when need more of her. She’s the angel of Death for pity’s sake. I don’t know if the original actress is still available or if they would have to recast, or if the character concept by Netflix would even be the same, but I need Azrael to be capable of sweet and unassuming and on a coin flip downright menacing.

More of Lucifer as a godparent, bless! And maybe a cool montage of “cousin” Trixie and Lucifer co-babysitting Charlie please.

Whilst on the subject of Lucifer and parenting, and without putting Trixie too much into harm’s way, I need to see what “I would do anything to protect that little urchin” looks like. Trixstar ride or die.

Father Frank, come back! I need a cameo or recurrent role pleeeeease.

Trixie in every episode. This is non-negotiable, much like chocolate cake. Beatrice is an all-star. In fact, I’ve decided that when Dad/God finally does show up, Trixie needs to be the one to get to know him / introduce him first. She’s been captain on the celestial cheer squad for four seasons, she’s earned this.

Who's going to see through Michael's facade first? I mean, I know that trailer shows Maze torturing it out of him, but as far as intuition goes, I've got a 50/50 split between Trixie and Linda, with an honorable mention to Dan.

If Michael is Lucifer's twin, does he have the same angelic compulsion skill set? Or something different? And will it work on Chloe or is she universally immune?

A “be like Mike” pop-culture reference. ******Spoilers: ******* all the trailers have revealed Michael already, so they owe us this for letting the steam out.

As far as pop-culture, how many movie and TV references will we get from Lucifer and ensemble this year? I expect A-game, from sci-fi to 80s action, on par with the previous likes of Parent Trap, Star Wars, Home Alone, Kim Possible, and Rocky.

Will Amenadiel’s necklace make a reappearance, even after he put it around Caleb’s neck in the morgue? Heavenly artifacts have a way of causing trouble in this show.

Will what finally learn what, if any, significance there is to Lucifer’s ring? Again, as all my fictional writings will attest, I really kind of want it to be a stolen little trinket from him Dad.

Plot twist: will we get to see Hell and the silver city all in one season, or is that too devilishly good to ask? It would be intriguing if Lucifer fell from Heaven for rebelling and now some threat like, for example, the mother of demons would pose a threat to the gates such that Lucifer was called upon to defend them. Not expecting anything Endgame level with a host of Angels popping up like sorcerers...but it is food for the imagination.

Plot twist: will Michael, duplicitous twin that he is, be revealed as the reason that Lucifer does not lie and can’t stand liars? Will be get a Michael back story? Is he perhaps the true rebellious son? see: my original fan conjecture here.

Additional links to previous recaps, roundouts and wishlists: 

Season 1: Best Moments // Season 2: Predictions, Desires, Roundout, Best Moments // Season 3: Speculations, Quick-shot summary 

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 38 - STL - Bitter Blues

We all remember that distinct fragility that existed on last season’s team. If it was a couple goals down, even one goal sometimes, they sat back like the die was cast and gave us boring hockey. If nothing else changed this season it has been a renewed determination to win and a never let those Sab losing habits come back. Find a way to win. Jack Eichel fanboys such as myself like to say his drive to win came out an infected the whole team since he got the Captaincy, and that’s certainly an element, but there were other changes too that probably have something to do with it. One of those changes is the leading goal scorer on the St. Louis Blues: Ryan O’Reilly. Actually, he leads the Blues in every major statistical category except save percentage and goals against because well… the Blues suck ass. There is an abundance of similarities between the two clubs including both having productive off seasons in trades, signings and minor moves but for now let’s focus on how their different. The Blues love beating their hated rival Chicago Blackhawks and this season the Blues came through again challenging the Hawks for positioning in the basement of the league. Most observers puzzle just like we do at how a team that could’ve been viewed as loading up for a deep playoff run before the season turns into a gong show with Steve Ott breaking up fights in practice and what not. I got no good answer with you on that front. Going into this game the Blues are in the midst of a tiny bit of a comeback going .500 over the last dozen or so games so maybe that’s your silver lining although it may be a stretch to see them make the playoffs. The playoff percentages for the Sabres are far better approaching the halfway point in the regular season. That said, Buffalo is not a lock for the postseason and the next five to six games may have a lot to say about what this team is going forward. Jason Pominville out and Carter Hutton in net in St. Louis for the Sabres first game after the Christmas break to start a vital stretch bridging into the New Year.

The game started with the Sabres doing everything right: the better possession, shots, chances transitions, everything really. Hell, Rob Ray was even making jokes back and forth with Ryan O’Reilly from that little box between the benches like they were old chums. Kyle Okposo in particular seemed hungry as his third line with Casey Mittelstadt and Remi Elie got a favorable matchup against the Blue first line and manufactured chances like all American St. Louis Beer. Should I go with that bit? Beer production? That feels weak but I don’t know what else St. Louis produces other than racial controversies. Tage Thompson also made his fair share of plays turning on an axis around that big hind end. On the Sabres one powerplay in first frame Lawrence Pilut ate up the Blues clearing attempts and quarterbacked a powerplay that looked perfect short of actually scoring a goal. The goaltenders took over play as the first period winded down and ended 10-6 in favor of the visitors in shots. The second period was a bit less favorable. Rob “not the Rob Thomas your mom likes for no good reason” Thomas got credit for a goal at 2:03 in what was really a case of Carter Hutton failing to lock down a puck right in his grill and thrashing around in his crease like a suffocating fish. I’ll leave it at that because it’s not even the worst goal against in this middle period. The Sabres did kill a Blues powerplay before things got worse but the stupid floodgates had opened and Jay Bouwmeester scored a wristshot straight down the center over Hutton halfway through. That I can excuse, even as the Sabres seem to be in full retreat at this point, but then Patrick Maroon tapped in a goal that was simply Carter Hutton not doing his job. 3-0 Blues hurt and I got grouchy as the Sabres got a powerplay after Joel Edmundson got called for tripping Captain Jack on a breakaway. Jack Eichel shot from the high circle on the ensuing man advantage and it was 3-1 after 40 minutes and I was noticeably less grouchy just because Buffalo now looked like they were playing their game again, transitioning, passing and shooting like normal again almost getting another before the horn blew.

I don’t know how these Blues got these Sabres off their game other than just saying they were better 5 on 5. That looks weird on the screen in front of me considering this club’s special teams so far this season but that’s what this game was: weird. The third period was a bit of resurgence at first. Buffalo got some wicked chances up the sides even seeing a few good shots from lines not a part of the Jack Sandwich line. All the while the Blues get the loose pucks. That was really the key in this game particularly in the third: you give his angry St. Louis team any daylight and they’ll get back down ice. That was exactly what happened when at 6:13 left in the third Ryan O’Reilly got a breakaway along the boards and roofed one over Hutton. That one hurt, particularly because it emblemized a final ten minutes of this game when the Blues really took over. I am not going to call it a Sabs performance but gee, 4-1 loss to St. Louis right now feels like a missed opportunity wrapped in moldy old bitterness. This game felt like a good old fashion case of chasing and losing. Buffalo didn’t have the puck for most of this game and it felt like it. For how much crap we’ve all talked about St. Louis so far this season they just took it to us 4-1 in regulation. The Blues have now lost 7 straight in that building going back to 2009 and the only thing stopping my overwhelming desire to say whatever at that is the anxious press of a 4-6-3 record since the win streak ended. That’s not good to say the least.

Now Buffalo gets three straight at home to figure it out against Boston, the Islanders and Panthers? Well shit. I feel like if I tried to prognosticate why it would turn into fifty shades of no secondary scoring. Sustained zone time? Should I make the case for better possession and zone time? That’s a little above my pay grade and frankly I don’t want to join the merry band of nitwits bitching about a single time zone change and same day flight to St. Louis. Good teams win games where there are a few variables against them; good teams have their dynamic top line set fire to the rest of the lineup. This ain’t it, Chief. I’ll apologize for all the shit talk to Blues fans but let’s just say if y’all are in a playoff race when you come to Buffalo on St. Patrick’s Day it will be a special season for both of us. Hell, if you win that game I’ll buy one of these twelve million heavily discounted O’Reilly jerseys in every Western New York sports store.

Boston got Patrice Bergeron back too, Saturday will be interesting. Sorry, I’m just a little bitter O’Reilly had to tack on that beaut goal late in this one. At least Jack Eichel knows what went wrong: this was one of those nights it’s really comforting in postgame hearing him break it down like he was watching from our angle knowing he has a C on his chest. Perhaps his point about them not making the adjustments necessary in game to win is really poignant: that’s a trait of good teams that will come in time. I suppose a game like this is growing pains. I hope it’s not a pain reading this blog. Like it, comment on it and share it around to help my bitterness. Boston and the Islanders are the teams that together pose the biggest threat to the Sabres playoff chances on the back half of this season and these two games to close out the calendar year of 2018 will likely prove instructive in that regard. Make them winning lessons, boys.  

Thanks for reading.

P.S. There is a fantastic Sports Illustrated article on Jack Eichel I recently retweeted. It might be exactly what the doctor ordered for you if you’re as bitter as I am about this loss.