#he's already the most conventionally attractive male companion

[multi-lefaiye]

not convinced that a lot of the people horny on main on nexusmods about astarion even find his design attractive.

all these mods to smooth out his wrinkles and make him look younger and make hin look more anime and change his design until he's unrecognizable. do you ever get tired

[norgestan]

I'm going back for seconds! Viri/Hugo, Nora/Miquel, Lucasim, Emma/You. Lol tbh I just want an Emma ship and I feel like we haven't properly settled for one. 😔 Who should end up with Emma, Mia excluded since you haven't watched Druck yet?

ardi round 2, i loooove this :)

VIRIHUGO:

i think at the end of the day i’m just resigned to virihugo’s existence. do i hate that they just Start pining for each other with no setup at all? yes. do i hate that their relationship was a noorhelm+vilde esque get-together where dylan is the one who ends up alone? yes (imagine if noora had told william something like “oh lol vilde is just some slut that goes for every boy around her, she’ll get over it soon and she doesn’t really care about us being together ;)”. bc that’s essentially what virihugo did LOL). do i hate that half of their clips are they just standing still and monologuing about each other? oh yes. do i care? not really. i would resent them a lot more if viri had been the protag of s3, but eskam had really compelling couples with noriquel and norandro so i just spend my time focusing on them and not the lesser part of the season.

viri is an endearing character, and although i didn’t like most of her subplot in s3, i do think eskam made her an interesting character with what they had and i’m happy she got a nice boyfriend that she has lots of fun with. moreover, norandro was lacking the enemies-to-lovers snarky interactions (too busy being a really compelling couple!) and the trope was picked up by hugo and viri. which i kinda dig, because those interactions were the only things that i enjoyed about various noorhelms in the skamverse - if most of them were like that and less bad abusive boy feminist girl jerk-fest, i wouldn’t loathe noorhelm as much as i do. although this also makes me wish viri and hugo had been that kind of dynamic from the start, and just gotten a lot of will-they-won’t-they glances from their friends throughout the show until they finally got into each other on s3. but i guess that would’ve made it impossible for eskam to use dylan just to *checks notes* make every person in the love triangle insanely infuriating, oh well.

tl;dr: they are allowed to exist.

NORIQUEL:

ardi, you just want to see the world burn LMAO

to me it’s hard to dislike any pairing with nora on it because she’s a very good character and that just means she’ll always have great dynamics with other good characters. and oh is miquel a good character. in a lot of ways, eskam gave us two great williams in one season: my boy alejandro, who is the perfect candidate for a nora love interest, who earned his place and then helped nora earn her place as the best candidate to be his love interest as well, and then miquel, that has just enough characterization to be exactly what the narrative of the season needs him to be - not only a mustache-twirling antagonist who will punch out then smirk his way out of situations, but a real person.

see, they could’ve made miquel into a one-dimensional asshole that nora is stupidly into because he’s hot (does that sound familiar to you? LOL) but oh no, miquel is way more than that. he earns nora’s trust because he’s not an asshole, he resents olga for cheating on him and you can see how nora waits until the moment where he’ll call her a slut but it NEVER comes, he defends nora in front of his friends... he gives her what she needs, and he fits right where she expects him to. and that’s so important in a season where every other character is challenging nora in one way or another: alejandro doesn’t fit in her box of “incorrigible fuckboy”, viri doesn’t fit in her box of “helpless friend who needs my pity”, emma doesn’t fit in her box of “s/a victim”. being with miquel is easy, when he just humors her and spits out thoughts that nora agrees with all the time. it’s just REALLY great to watch. not only is her season a display of how emotional abuse looks like, but also her entire relationship with miquel showcases her shame, her flaws, the things she needs to work with to better her relationships with the people who ask more of her because it’s only fair.

i honestly never was in the miquel hate train. once you get the point of the character, it’s easy to love him for what he is. as i said before, miquel was also a call of attention because the conversations that he had with nora reminded me of talks with male friends i’ve had in my uni years, and it really put it in perspective and made me realize that i have been humoring numerous miquels by sitting through their “i’m actually a feminist, ya know” think-pieces and agreeing with the general feeling of it. and i don’t think a character like niko could EVER make anyone feel like that.

i’ve checked the middle square because that was my reaction every time eskam made a point to parallel noriquel to noorhelm. like YES. YOU DO GET ME. TRULY A SEASON FROM NOORHELM ANTIS TO NOORHELM ANTIS. what a skamverse treat. this relationship is good for the SOUL. that’s why i never got infuriated watching the couple, despite knowing what the point of their existence was: at the end of the day, i knew that the signs of abuse weren’t pointless and just fillers for an end-of-season sex scene, but they were actually going to do something interesting with them. and that’s exactly what they did. noriquel is actually a perfectly crafted relationship for what its message is and it deserves to be remembered as that.

LUKASIM:

oh BOY.

i just.... kasim is in this relationship. that already makes this REALLY difficult to tackle it. the thing about kasim is... if you only watched the season as the movistar+ channel shows it, kasim is simply a plot device. he’s not a character. he’s only there to introduce conflict and stir some shit and then fuck off to the sunset. he doesn’t have an og counterpart which meant that eskam didn’t have to actually try with him, and kasim is just what they need him to be: a way to introduce the main conflict, a reason for dounia to hate amira, boy on boy action for that sweet fanservice, misogynist microaggressions towards amira, a loose way to wrap things up at the end of the season and absolve her from any guilt or shame, etc. he just shows up when the plot needs him and then walks away very swaggily. and that’s why kasim is an essay kind of topic because to talk about him, you have to tackle the racism in s4 and all the ways they could’ve made a conflict-inducing gay muslim guy actually likable. which i won’t do here.

but then if you look at the lucas extra clips... he’s actually LIKABLE. he’s a character: he has personality, he’s funny, he doesn’t take lucas’ shit, he will only be with him if lucas apologizes and changes first. and as someone who desperately wants to protect kasim from the shit characterization and treatment he got in the show, i treasure those clips immensely - which i don’t think a lot of people do, and i can see why. it’s just sad that the moments where kasim was a likable, real character were hidden behind a paywall, and drown in a convoluted plotline of outing people when they behave badly as a good punishment. the thing about their get-together is that their impact relies only on amira, and is meant to make her life a living hell. other than that, there’s not really a narrative or character reason why they’re both into each other. is it only because they’re conventionally attractive guys and the only recurrent mlm in the show? wow, that shit’s BORING.

sigh, anyway. in a slightly better world, kasim being gay wasn’t actually a nuance as it was presented in the show. rather, kasim was out and confident about it, close to his sister, probably a regular in las labass where he could also work with organizations of other queer muslims in madrid. this also means that lucas and kasim’s relationship wasn’t the typical hidden gay love story that they were in the actual show, but they’re just, ya know. typical gay kids who made out in the club and then became just friends. or lucas’ activism on s2 warranted some instagram dms and then they upgraded to acquaintances. it’s upsetting that lucas is the only eskild who doesn’t really get to hangout or be in queer circles like other eskilds are implied to, so it would be great for him to actually have gay friends that he enjoys just as much as his primarily friend group. like, their version of lucas’ queer lifestyle being going to bars and hooking up with older guys it’s so....................... why. they didn’t have the time to say anything interesting about it and so obviously they didn’t do it lol. at this rate lucas’ only platonic queer companion is cris, which is lackluster to say the least.

the decision of making kasim lucas’ endgame is just another one on the list of things s4 got so, so wrong. what for? why does lucas need (another) boyfriend, again? why does every queer person in this show have to be dating someone and also come out to their parents? again, their relationship is just another rushed hidden gay love story that i found interesting at 13 years old and then never again. they could’ve taken it into ANY other direction, please. i’m begging.

anyways, you had really nice headcanons of lucas being the only eskild willing to revert to date a muslim guy, so that’s the only reason why i’m open to the idea of them being a couple. in a better universe, eskam actually made a case for these two being a good couple, and i agreed with it. as it is for now, it’s just really pointless, and rooted on the fact that kasim is not a real character to begin with. so i’m OBVIOUSLY sending them to superhell <3

EMMA/ME:

standard wlw relationship that would probably get sooooo much backlash about how neither of the characters Really feel like wlw and the emma love interest being boring as fuck, tbh.

alright, now that we’ve covered all that.... should dear emma grace even end up with someone in the skamverse? maybe one of the skamau girlies, given the proximity? maybe she’ll hook up with the female eskild that i know so many people dislike? idk. emma deserves a nice love story, in the same wavelength as nora. she deserves someone who is patient, who communicates well, who establishes boundaries and asks for respect, who understands she’s not only the act of crazy party girl and there are really interesting, carefully placed layers around her. maybe someone who went through a similar situation or at the very least sits down with her and tries their hardest to understand all the things going on with her life. like... there’s something about emma dropping the accusations and then dipping to another country, away from her parents and even her hometown in the states, just to throw herself in a city as busy as nyc is, that is desperately asking to be explained and explored. in a lot of ways, emma’s story is the other side of the noora story that couldn’t be told through nora’s perspective. in a perfect universe, there’s a spinoff that takes place right between s3 and s4, where emma gets the news of how much of a shithead miquel actually is and she has to question all of that yet again, and break the sense of normalcy and comfort she had built during all those years. it would be great if that story featured her closest friendships, and a newfound love. yes i was serious when i talked about the emma grace spinoff @ movistar+

[squitayumin]

Taiora Week 2020 - Day 2: First Date

Graduation is around the corner, and they’re weeks away from entering their adult lives. The school is throwing an end-of-year formal, and she asks whether he’s going to go. He says he’s still thinking about it, but he’s not that interested. This is how he reacts to every school event, aside from his own football matches. She scolds him for not being more enthused, because she considers this a necessary occasion for every final year student to attend.

She wonders whether he has anyone he’d like to ask. Maybe Mimi, he muses with a shrug. She has been hinting to him that she wants to see what the upperclassmen formal will be like, but she tells him that someone has already asked Mimi. He shrugs again.

She sighs and tells him that nobody has asked her either, then suggests that perhaps they can go together as friends. He agrees easily with that same indifference.

As a child, she was teased for having a male best friend, but once everyone reached puberty, that teasing turned to envy. Taichi is a convenient friend to have whenever she needs a male companion but can’t find a date. They’ve known each other for so long and are so platonic that he doesn’t really mind, because he does the same with her.

They don’t really talk about the formal again until the day before, when he asks her what colour tie he should wear to match her dress, and whether he should pick her up or just meet at the school. She is floored by the latter question because they live in the same apartment complex, for crying out loud.

Taichi, for being so clueless, cleans up well, and he arrives at her home looking rather dashing. She checks the hue of his tie against her dress to make sure it doesn’t clash—he doesn’t realise there are different shades of the same colour—and they’re off to the formal. He’s the most interested in the food, but she’s able to force him on the dance floor too. She tries to teach him how to dance, but he’s clumsy and lacks rhythm. He doesn’t care that she is embarrassed for him, gyrating to the music in a humiliating but admittedly amusing blend of ineptitude and shamelessness.

At the end of the night, he drops her off at her building and jokes that she should thank him for his company when she was in such desperate need of a date, though he also tells her that he had a good time when she takes offence.

He stands there, waiting for her to go inside, but she stands there too. He looks confused.

He’s just a friend. He has shown no interest, and she isn’t really interested in him either, but he’s there and conventionally attractive. Same as always, when she needs a male companion but doesn’t have one, he fits the bill.

She steps forward, lands on her toes, and plants a peck on his lips. He stares at her, for once in his life at a loss for words.

She tells him not to misunderstand. She doesn’t like him. She just wants to enter adulthood and university life with the experience of kissing someone.

His astonishment fades, and his lips spread into that smug smirk he always gives her. She knows what’s coming, and he immediately teases her for not having kissed anyone yet. Unlike how he is with her, she gets flustered when he teases her. She clarifies again that it isn’t that she likes him and emphasises for him not to misunderstand her. She is just comfortable around him, so she thought it wouldn’t be awkward.

He nods understandingly, still appearing too arrogant for her liking, then leans down to kiss her again. His isn’t as innocent, using his lips to part hers, and when he finishes, he looks even more haughty, licking his lips.

Even though he has already pulled away, she pushes him against his chest as if what he’s done is more uncalled for than what she did to him. She glares at him, which has no effect. In fact, it only makes him even more pompous.

He doesn’t want her first kiss to be so lacklustre, he explains, especially if his name will be attached to it. Whoever she ends up dating though, he swears he is absolutely going to reveal that he stole her first kiss.

That’s what he says anyway, but later in the future, he never does.

[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

[dimples-of-discontent]

Reporting in from Paleyfest

I have returned from Paleyfest (and some drinks with friends afterwards so sorry for the delay)! It was a great experience - the crowd was psyched and it was all super fun. I’m glad you all got the livestream so you can enjoy the whole panel too. I’m actually pretty surprised that there wasn’t some kind of announcement made, either about possible Season 14 (although Singer alluded to it with “maybe we’ll go there next season” it’s not a confirmation and he could just be assuming) or about Wayward. It seemed like with this much PR going on there would be something substantial to promote BUT the crossover ep itself is a big deal and a long time in the making so I guess it was the occasion.

Speaking of the crossover episode, I’m going to break the rules (or the very polite request that they gave us) to not spoil it for anyone else. @tinkdw asked me to and I’m guessing there are other people out there who’d like to know some the details in advance. (I’m also not a member of the press or anything or else I’d have more qualms about making public stuff they asked to keep on the DL since it would be job-related.)

SO - I am putting my thoughts on the episode below a cut. If you read on, know that I will spoil the whole plot and also give you my initial analysis of it from the perspective I usually have (Destiel-positive, endgame-positive). And if you’d rather not spoil, just scroll on.

@elizabethrobertajones @naruhearts @sactownbrowns3 @amwritingmeta @postmodernmulticoloredcloak @mittensmorgul @amyoatmeal and any other meta writers (who I forgot b/c it’s 4:30am to my body clock) I’m alerting you to the existence of this post in case you want the episode details ahead of time BUT in your position I probably wouldn’t so don’t feel in any way bad if you don’t want to read now. (I’ll reblog once it airs.)

***SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT LIKE WOAH***

I loved this episode!! It was a ton of fun. It was slapstick and silly but did some heavy lifting too. Honestly, it worked the way a lot of our favorite crack episodes did and alluded to at least one of them explicitly (”Changing Channels,” obvs, and I think there may have been more subtle references to others). 

I’m too tired to do a full meta analysis but here’s a kind of bullet recap, first of the most plot-based elements:

The plot turns on the fact that the Scooby Doo world, suddenly, ends up functioning like the world Sam and Dean inhabit. The boys enter the cartoon assuming all usual cartoon rules would apply (and Dean’s ready to have a rollicking good time with them) only to discover that the first murder in the haunted house is real. Ghosts are real. Death is real. Sam wants to tell the Scooby gang about it from the get-go but Dean wants to protect them and preserve their innocence. 

It’s already obviously about childhood, and losing it, but Dean makes it explicit by talking about how much he loved Scooby Doo because no matter where their dad had dragged them it would always be on. They were his friends and constant companions. He is really being thrown into the best part of his childhood....and you can see why it would be the best because it’s probably his fantasy and deepest wish that the ghosts, demons, etc. of the world he inhabits would turn out just to be bad guys in masks, death wouldn’t be real, etc. It’s Dean safe place in childhood because it takes his actual life (ghost hunting) and makes it safe and even fun. Dean wants to keep his safe place safe and is shocked and horrified when the rules of his universe invade.

It’s Sam who wants to tell them the truth about monsters from the word “go” even before it’s been revealed that death can come to Scooby Doo. (Dean laments, heartbreakingly, that it doesn’t matter if he dies...what’s important is that they make sure Scooby doesn’t die because clearly he’s such an innocent creature.) Sam, who did not have his childhood cut as abruptly short as Dean and who did not have to seek solace in a cartoon world because Dean helped him make a safe space in the real world, doesn’t see the point of lying about ghosts being real. Dean, who worked to keep Sam safe from this knowledge for YEARS of his own stunted childhood by acting as a parent, does want to keep the gang in the dark because he wants them to retain their innocence. It’s a huge lampshade to the different experiences Sam and Dean had as children and as sons.

They do eventually have to tell the Scooby gang and, wonderfully, it induces an existential crisis in them. Watching Daphne question the existence of God based on what she has inferred about the afterlife is amazing. It is not what I expected. Dean brings them back from the brink by reminding them of all the good work they had done before.

I’m going to tell the ending now and then double back to some other observations: the phantom they are chasing is the ghost of a small boy who is being manipulated, through a cursed object (a pocket knife given to him by his beloved father before he died), by an unscrupulous man (the real estate agent who we met in the beginning) who unleashes the boy’s anger on whoever he chooses for his own purpose...to scare people off of property he wants to buy. This way, the villain of a typical Scooby episode actually becomes the villain of this SPN episode...the evil real estate developer. 

Before heading back to their world, where they burn the pocket knife and free the ghost, Dean convinces Sam and Cas to lie to the Scooby gang and tell them that they were right initially--ghosts aren’t real. He goes so far as to stage the unmasking of the cartoon villain (the one from the original Scooby episode) and helps them to explanations involving wires, cornstarch blood, etc. Sam is grumpy about it but does it anyway. It’s crucial to Dean that they leave the Scooby gang as they found them and not saddle them with the world the Winchesters live in.

Let me just reiterate...the ghost that has been terrorizing them is frightened little boy. Who kept a pocket knife (much like the one we see being used to carve the Winchester’s initials into the Impala) as a token of his dead father. His father is symbolized and memorialized by a weapon. The weapon is the object the little boy is tied to and that another man--a bad man--can use to manipulate him into hurting others because “I just get so angry sometimes.” To be free, the knife (weapon, father’s legacy) has to be burned. There are closeups on a very sad Dean while this happens (some sad Sam and Cas too).

It is blindingly obvious that the little boy, who is wreaking havoc on the cartoon safe space of his childhood, represents Dean. To stop the destruction Dean has to let something go (he starts the episode referencing Elsa and EXPLICITLY SAYING THIS LINE I CAN’T EVEN). Something that is keeping him angry. Something that is tied to his father. Something that can be used to manipulate him, employed as a weapon to hurt other innocent people (Mark of Cain/Demon Dean plot lines). Dean is full of anger and of self-loathing and it’s coming from the same source. That source is toxic masculinity. Let it go, Dean. Let it go.

Is it also tied to issues of sexuality? I think so. I’ll reflect a little bit below, but I wanted to do the whole plot-based analysis first. 

And now the less plot-based stuff:

Ok, so can the ghost represent repressed sexuality/a different form of masculinity? SO MUCH YES. Point one: Cas is the only one who stops to take a look at the ghost and is thisclose to seeing through it’s big ol’scary disguise and finding a vulnerable child. He stops and squints at it, Cas-style, and says “I’ve never seen a ghost wear such a ridiculous costume. Unless...” and then he reaches out to it, starting to push aside the veil only to be pulled away. Now if that isn’t metaphorically precisely what Cas did, and does, for Dean and his performing facade I will buy a hat so that I can eat it. 

Point two, there is a scene where the ghost is chasing everyone through a series of doors on either side of a hallway (you know the scene...they run across the hallway, doors open and shut on either side, feet flying everywhere). They successfully shut the ghost in a closet with iron chains, though it’s close to breaking out. Daphne presses her body up against the door to hold it. Dean checks her out very obviously in a way that is both superfluous to and inconsistent with the plot. This means that the silhouette of a conventionally sexy woman is QUITE LITERALLY holding the closet door closed on the ghost. Metaphorically, it shows how Dean is able to use his attraction to conventionally sexy women to hold back what’s haunting him...attraction to men, ideas about a certain type of masculinity. Does it work? BIG FAT NO. The ghost breaks out anyway. (<Puts on professor cap> Have you guys read “The Beast in the Closet”? It’s by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and is about "intense male homosocial desire as at once the most compulsory and the most prohibited of social bonds.” It’s about Henry James’s work but I think you would all dig it. <Takes off professor cap.>)

I wanted to start with that because I can tell that people are going to be very upset about Dean’s excessive flirtation with/pursuit of Daphne. And, yeah, I almost injured my eyes by rolling them so hard at some of the things he says. BUT THAT’S THE POINT. What he’s saying is a child’s idea of how a grown man would act with a woman he likes. And it bears a great deal of similarity to how Dean does act sometimes. We call it performing!Dean and wonder to what extent Dean is conscious of his performing. Given this episode I’d say..maybe .not that conscious? I feel like the overstated heterosexual dudebroness was done specifically to give us an over-exaggerated literal cartoon version of heterosexual Dean to compare to regular Dean so that anyone who doesn’t know Dean performs in his own life will have a lens through which to see it.

Also, Daphne is his childhood crush. OF COURSE he’s going to act like a moron around her. If I encountered [insert childhood TV crush here...for me it was Kevin from “The Wonder Years” for whatever reason] I’d act dumb as fuck! But you have to remember that she represents innocence for him...it’s established that all the Scoobies do (heh - puns!). Even if he’s kissing her hand or putting an arm around her or whatever there is no danger there, just like there’s no danger in the ghosts. Sexuality to Dean isn’t scary in Scooby Doo because it’s simple: it’s just a girl he likes. Except, just like how the ghosts are also dangerous, the love plot isn’t going to be that simple or that straightforward (heh - straight). You see where I’m going. Dean would rather be in a universe ghosts weren’t real because it’s safer and easier and kind of a fantasy land but they ARE real and he will have to deal with them; Dean would also rather be in a world where he was a suave, irresistible ladies’ man because it’s safer and easier and a kind of fantasy....but he’s not. Jensen even said so in his interview. Granted, Jensen’s comment may have just meant that Dean’s not suave like he thinks. But the actual episode draws a parallel that’s pretty damn clear.

Another reason to not worry: Daphne is zero interest in Dean at all. She has negative interest in Dean. Her lack of interest in Dean has created a void that is sucking all the air out of the room. She may not even know that Dean is hitting on her. She is so focused on Fred that no one else exists for her as a romantic interest. They are so obviously a pair, even though they are never shown to be together as a couple explicitly. <Stares directly into the camera like I’m on The Office.> Can Dean not see that? Is he blind? Well, he does see it, but he thinks Daphne is “settling” for Fred who represents a kind of masculinity that makes him uncomfortable (more in a sec). In point of fact, no one is romantically interested in Dean in this episode...unlike Sam who gets a lot of appreciation (and an eventual kiss) from Velma.

 As for Fred, Dean begins by really hating him (so much that Sam remarks on it) and when pressed about why he attributes it to Fred’s self-confidence despite things like his “stupid ascot.” Dean comes to like and admire Fred and, ultimately, have the confidence to wear an ascot himself BECAUSE HE LIKES IT. It didn’t make Fred less of a man. It doesn’t make Dean less of a man to wear it with his plaid shirt. Fred helps Dean along the way to some self-acceptance. It’s nice. Fred is there to serve as a contrast to Dean’s overblown notions of what is “masculine” and offer another form of masculinity that is, manifestly, still appealing to the ladies.

Now, remember the Scooby Doo universe doesn’t have sex in it. It’s a cartoon. And they bend those rules only the tiniest bit here. All of Dean’s advances and even his jokes are PG. That innocence on the part of the Scoobies is played for laughs, Daphne remarking that Dean is silly for not knowing that “boys and girls don��t sleep in the same room” for example, but it’s also integral to the plot. (There are some other jokes too and, for a glorious second, I thought that they were legitimately going to reveal that Daphne and Velma were a thing but sadly not.) No one would want to ruin the Scooby universe by telling them about sex...not even Dean. Again, it contains a child’s conception of relationships.

I’m imagining some people will also be upset about how the episode treats Cas. I was especially stung that, right at the outset, Dean says flat-out that “Cas is basically a talking dog.” I made a noise of indignation that made people look at me. BUT let’s also remember how much Dean loves that talking dog. He’d die for him. He wants to protect him at any cost. He doesn’t want to spoil his innocence. So, yeah, that’s not a nice thing to say but it’s also not the whole story. Cas is grouped with Scooby and Shaggy the whole time and he bonds with them, SMILING (ALERT ALERT CARTOON CASTIEL KNOWS HOW TO SMILE) AND LAUGHING when he has to leave. He thanks them for showing him the importance of humor even in dangerous times. I think it’s a good lesson for Cas and his real affection for them reminds me of what a soft character he is inside, wanting to get a cat or save monkeys or keep bees. That’s been missing from Cas lately (even though I do LOVE bamf!Cas) so maybe this will help him recall it.

I want to say again that Cas is the one who can see through the ghost and its “ridiculous costume.”

Interestingly, both his entrances (his first appearance after Fred and Dean take off to drag race; when he reunites with the boys in the haunted house) frame him as a scary villain. The first is from behind and you just see the coat billowing out (though this did remind me of the girl running the drag race in “Grease” which...lol); the second he’s silhouetted in a window, approaching it in the rain, and is then covered with a sheet before he’s “unmasked” by Dean and discovered to be a friend. This is...pretty much Castiel’s character progression always. Looks like a threat but is discovered not to be.

Once they get back to their regular world Dean makes a remark about how that was the most fun he’s ever had “including that time with the Cartwright twins.” Cas studies him and asks “What did you do with the Cartwright twins?”. There’s a long beat in which Dean looks shifty and grins and shakes his head and turns away. Sam says “I don’t think I want to know.” Cas says nothing. Cas does want to know. This is new and part of a general progression that @amwritingmeta wrote a great analysis of where Cas is becoming able to think something like Forget that sacred oath...I must know what Dean did with those twins.

There was probably more, you guys, but it’s super late for my poor body clock. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would like it but bear in mind that a) there are MASSIVE SPOILERS, b) this is just my interpretation of the episode, and c) I only saw it live once so my details may be wrong. 

I thought this as a fantastic episode the more I think about it and I’m SO EXCITED for all of you to get to see it too so I can hear your thoughts!! <3

[joannaluvsnonsense]

Farm Stuffed Animals

Writer: Angeline Hope A jumbo stuffed animal is just a celebration of all comfortable toys nice and small. Publisher: Angeline Hope A life dimension stuffed animal is self-explanatory: a stuffed animal that is the same measurement as the real factor. They are extraordinary plush toys and anybody lucky enough to have one is truly privileged certainly. Publisher: Angeline Hope Whereas we all cannot be Mary and own lambs (or take them to school), we are able to have lamb stuffed animals as companions as an alternative. Who can resist these adorable baby animals? A lamb stuffed animal is gentle and cuddly, very like the true thing seems prefer it can be. Publisher: Angeline Hope It is exhausting to think about that a toddler would prefer wolf stuffed animals over a cherished teddy bear, but like all wild animals, they do have their place in the plush world. For anybody that is a collector of plush toys, specifically, wild animals, wolf stuffed animals make an exquisite addition to an already established assortment. Despite the fact that wolf stuffed animals can look just like the canine pet subsequent door, they should by no means be mistaken for domesticated dogs. Labels with sweeping statements like “natural,” have been criticized for not being regulated (or defined) sufficient. And a few merchandise that require additional labeling additionally price more. Meat labeled as “humanely-raised,” for instance, might cost 3 times as much as conventionally raised meat. This typically murky world of labeling is one motive Williams needed to create Real. The very last thing any of us want to do is additional confuse shoppers,” he stated. Firms seem like listening. And several other companies have made headlines lately for providing higher therapy for the animals they increase. Perdue, for instance, introduced in 2016 it was revamping the areas chickens dwell in, together with giving them extra exercise equipment and home windows. Panera Bread made an analogous announcement in 2016, vowing to treat broiler chickens higher. Some critics have also mentioned, although, that phrases like “cage free” won't at all times mean what consumers are imagining. And there are cases when farms and different meals producers don’t observe the foundations they are purported to.

Most chicken owners place their coop run in order that it gets good sunlight throughout the morning hours. This permits the dew to dry up and the chickens to get out early. If you place the run accurately, it will even present some protection through the hotter parts of the day when the chickens may need a shade break. Predators are another concern in terms of your rooster coop run. When the chickens are in the roosting and nesting areas, they have some protection. However, in a poorly constructed run, the predators can get entry. You want to provide protection from all sides. The run fencing want buried not less than eight to 12 inches down. This prevents digging predators from gaining entry. The highest of the run additionally wants coverage. This prevents flying predators such as owls and hawks from swooping in. Cleansing is a serious concern along with your chicken coop run. Chickens make droppings. That is a reality of life. He seems to be taking more after the Smokey/Lady line than Snowflake, however that is okay with us. Smokey and Lady are the spine of our breeding program and we are trying to produce extra alpacas Female Alpacas for Sale UK (http://mailto:derek@alpacas-hampshire.co.uk) like them. We really preferred Jolly Roger so we determined to breed Snowflake back to Smokey. We are hoping for a woman this 12 months. It is going to be attention-grabbing to see what color they produce this year. Snowflake's ultrasound is pictured below. Bringing up the rear in 2009 shall be Peruvian Bellesa. That is our newest addition to our herd. She is at the moment boarding at Evergreen Elegant Alpacas in Indiana until she is confirmed 90 days bred. She was bred to the well-known Peruvian Macusani. He is usually referred to as the "unique gray." He was certainly one of the primary grey herdsires to be imported from Peru in the early 1990's and is considered a Peruvian powerhouse. Bellesa had an ultrasound at 22 days bred and the vet could not verify a pregnancy. Although conduct checks before and since point out that she is pregnant. Bellesa has been operating from the males, so we are hoping that she is pregnant. We are going to get another ultrasound in February around 90 days to affirm whether or not she is pregnant or not. We are holding our fingers crossed. If she shouldn't be bred, we will rebreed again in the spring. I am most wanting forward to this cria in 2009. Bellesa has been bred to Macusani several occasions in the past and has produced several gray cria. So we now have four cria due this yr for positive, and hopefully 5. Since we began in 2006, we have solely had one cria per 12 months, so this 12 months will likely be a number of enjoyable. We're excited for a new yr and to welcome new life on our farm.

Camouflage: The colorings of some animals act as a protection from their predators. The very best rainforest animals which can be tailored to the rainforest are insects. The ‘walking stick’ is one example; it blends in with the palm tree in a method that nobody would realize it lives there until it strikes. Some butterflies of the rainforest look like leaves, once they close their wings. Where camouflage is done for defending oneself from a predator, it's also utilized by the predators themselves to sneak as much as their prey. Hiding: Some animals protect them selves from predators by hiding themselves in burrows, rocks, leaves, tree hollows or niches that are troublesome to get to. Pretension: Some rainforest animals attempt to convince their predators that they are greater than they actually seem to be. Just like the larva of the lobster moth, its larva looks like a scorpion however is admittedly not dangerous. Many butterflies have large eye designs on their wings so that it appears like the pinnacle of a large animal. Colors: Many poisonous animals are lined with bright colours or flashy patters. When an animal eats one among them, they get sick; this reminiscence stays with the animal and it avoids that animal in the future. In regards to the AuthorThis is Alex Albert, Completed MBA and excited about Animals in order that also done Put up Graduation of animal science degree. Now give the information about animals on animalport.com.

Find out how to tug additional visitors to your site via videos by reading this quick article - i guarantee you'll discover it useful. Mov Into Flash Video Streaming File - Web Videos Coaching! Writer: Chris Malovetz Listen up, in case you would like to transform mov into flash video streaming file, you'll probably discover this essentially the most enlightening introduction you'll probably ever learn. And not using a shadow of a doubt - if you actually need to be taught to attract additional guests to your website by way of online videos you should definitely take advantage of my latest discoveries on the subject. Publisher: Chris Jensen There are too much of how to implement video in your web site. From the web site visitor’s perspective, he can either watch for your entire video file to download and then view it, or use streaming methods to right away begin taking part in the vide file when the page masses. Streaming video becomes increasingly in style daily. Due to this fact, it will be significant for site owners to know the way so as to add streaming video to their web sites. Publisher: Joel Smith In trendy society, most individuals at point of their lives dream of being on television.

[nbpetal]

Farm Stuffed Animals

Writer: Angeline Hope A jumbo stuffed animal is solely a celebration of all comfortable toys great and small. Writer: Angeline Hope A life measurement stuffed animal is self-explanatory: a stuffed animal that is the same measurement as the real thing. They are extraordinary plush toys and anyone lucky enough to have one is truly privileged indeed. Writer: Angeline Hope While all of us cannot be Mary and personal lambs (or take them to highschool), we can have lamb stuffed animals as companions as a substitute. Who can resist these adorable baby animals? A lamb stuffed animal is soft and cuddly, very similar to the true factor seems like it would be. Publisher: Angeline Hope It's laborious to imagine that a baby would prefer wolf stuffed animals over a cherished teddy bear, however like all wild animals, they do have their place within the plush world. For anybody that may be a collector of plush toys, particularly, wild animals, wolf stuffed animals make a beautiful addition to an already established assortment. Although wolf stuffed animals can look like the canine pet next door, they need to never be mistaken for domesticated dogs. Labels with sweeping statements like “natural,” have been criticized for not being regulated (or defined) enough. And some products that require further labeling additionally price more. Meat labeled as “humanely-raised,” for instance, may cost three times as a lot as conventionally raised meat. This typically murky world of labeling is one reason Williams wanted to create Real. The very last thing any of us want to do is additional confuse customers,” he mentioned. Firms appear to be listening. And several other companies have made headlines in recent times for offering higher therapy for the animals they elevate. Perdue, for example, announced in 2016 it was revamping the areas chickens reside in, including giving them extra exercise tools and home windows. Panera Bread made an analogous announcement in 2016, vowing to deal with broiler chickens better. Some critics have additionally stated, although, that phrases like “cage free” won't all the time imply what consumers are imagining. And there are cases when farms and different food producers don’t comply with the foundations they're presupposed to.

Most hen homeowners place their coop run so that it will get good sunlight during the morning hours. This permits the dew to dry up and the chickens to get out early. In case you place the run correctly, it may even provide some safety during the hotter parts of the day when the chickens might need a shade break. Predators are one other concern on the subject of your hen coop run. When the chickens are within the roosting and nesting areas, they have some safety. However, in a poorly constructed run, the predators can get access. You want to supply safety from all sides. The run fencing want buried not less than eight to 12 inches down. This prevents digging predators from gaining entry. The highest of the run also needs coverage. This prevents flying predators akin to owls and hawks from swooping in. Cleaning is a major concern with your chicken coop run. Chickens make droppings. That is a fact of life. He seems to be taking extra after the Smokey/Lady line than Snowflake, however that's okay with us. Smokey and Lady are the spine of our breeding program and we are attempting to produce extra alpacas alpacas for sale (http://mailto:derek@alpacas-hampshire.co.uk) like them. We actually favored Jolly Roger so we decided to breed Snowflake again to Smokey. We are hoping for a lady this year. Will probably be interesting to see what color they produce this yr. Snowflake's ultrasound is pictured below. Bringing up the rear in 2009 shall be Peruvian Bellesa. This is our latest addition to our herd. She is at present boarding at Evergreen Elegant Alpacas in Indiana till she is confirmed ninety days bred. She was bred to the well-known Peruvian Macusani. He is often referred to because the "authentic grey." He was one in all the first grey herdsires to be imported from Peru in the early 1990's and is taken into account a Peruvian powerhouse. Bellesa had an ultrasound at 22 days bred and the vet couldn't confirm a pregnancy. Although behavior exams before and since indicate that she is pregnant. Bellesa has been operating from the males, so we are hoping that she is pregnant. We'll get another ultrasound in February round 90 days to verify whether or not she is pregnant or not. We are maintaining our fingers crossed. If she shouldn't be bred, we'll rebreed again in the spring. I'm most looking forward to this cria in 2009. Bellesa has been bred to Macusani several instances up to now and has produced several grey cria. So now we have four cria due this yr for certain, and hopefully 5. Since we started in 2006, now we have only had one cria per yr, so this yr can be a lot of fun. We are excited for a new year and to welcome new life on our farm.

Camouflage: The colorings of some animals act as a protection from their predators. The perfect rainforest animals which might be tailored to the rainforest are insects. The ‘walking stick’ is one instance; it blends in with the palm tree in a approach that no one would notice it lives there till it strikes. Some butterflies of the rainforest appear to be leaves, once they shut their wings. The place camouflage is finished for protecting oneself from a predator, additionally it is used by the predators themselves to sneak up to their prey. Hiding: Some animals protect them selves from predators by hiding themselves in burrows, rocks, leaves, tree hollows or niches which are difficult to get to. Pretension: Some rainforest animals try to convince their predators that they're larger than they actually seem to be. Just like the larva of the lobster moth, its larva appears to be like like a scorpion however is really not dangerous. Many butterflies have giant eye designs on their wings so that it seems to be like the pinnacle of a big animal. Colors: Many poisonous animals are coated with vivid colors or flashy patters. When an animal eats certainly one of them, they get sick; this memory stays with the animal and it avoids that animal sooner or later. In regards to the AuthorThis is Alex Albert, Completed MBA and fascinated about Animals so that also performed Submit Graduation of animal science degree. Now give the information about animals on animalport.com.

Find out how to pull extra visitors to your site via videos by reading this quick article - i guarantee you may discover it useful. Mov Into Flash Video Streaming File - Net Videos Training! Publisher: Chris Malovetz Pay attention up, in case you would like to convert mov into flash video streaming file, you will doubtless discover this essentially the most enlightening introduction you will most likely ever learn. With out a shadow of a doubt - if you actually need to study to attract extra guests to your web site through online videos make sure to reap the benefits of my latest discoveries on the subject. Writer: Chris Jensen There are too much of the way to implement video in your web site. From the website visitor’s perspective, he can either look ahead to the complete video file to obtain after which view it, or use streaming techniques to right away start enjoying the vide file when the page masses. Streaming video becomes an increasing number of common day by day. Therefore, it will be significant for webmasters to know the way to add streaming video to their websites. Publisher: Joel Smith In trendy society, most people at point of their lives dream of being on television.

[albino-ottsel]

Farm Stuffed Animals

Writer: Angeline Hope A jumbo stuffed animal is just a celebration of all delicate toys great and small. Publisher: Angeline Hope A life dimension stuffed animal is self-explanatory: a stuffed animal that is identical dimension as the true factor. They are extraordinary plush toys and anybody fortunate enough to have one is truly privileged certainly. Writer: Angeline Hope Whereas we all can't be Mary and personal lambs (or take them to high school), we will have lamb stuffed animals as companions as a substitute. Who can resist these adorable baby animals? A lamb stuffed animal is smooth and cuddly, very similar to the true factor appears like it could be. Publisher: Angeline Hope It is arduous to imagine that a child would like wolf stuffed animals over a cherished teddy bear, however like all wild animals, they do have their place in the plush world. For anyone that could be a collector of plush toys, particularly, wild animals, wolf stuffed animals make a beautiful addition to an already established assortment. Regardless that wolf stuffed animals can look just like the canine pet subsequent door, they should by no means be mistaken for domesticated dogs. Labels with sweeping statements like “natural,” have been criticized for not being regulated (or outlined) enough. And a few merchandise that require additional labeling additionally value more. Meat labeled as “humanely-raised,” for example, might value 3 times as much as conventionally raised meat. This typically murky world of labeling is one cause Williams needed to create Actual. The last thing any of us need to do is additional confuse consumers,” he said. Companies seem like listening. And several other companies have made headlines in recent times for offering better treatment for the animals they raise. Perdue, for instance, announced in 2016 it was revamping the areas chickens live in, including giving them extra train tools and home windows. Panera Bread made the same announcement in 2016, vowing to treat broiler chickens higher. Some critics have also mentioned, though, that terms like “cage free” won't at all times mean what consumers are imagining. And there are instances when farms and different meals producers don’t observe the rules they're alleged to.

Most rooster owners place their coop run so that it gets good sunlight through the morning hours. This enables the dew to dry up and the chickens to get out early. In case you place the run correctly, it will also provide some protection through the hotter elements of the day when the chickens might want a shade break. Predators are one other concern in the case of your hen coop run. When the chickens are within the roosting and nesting areas, they have some protection. Nonetheless, in a poorly constructed run, the predators can get access. You want to offer protection from all sides. The run fencing need buried at the very least eight to 12 inches down. This prevents digging predators from gaining entry. The highest of the run additionally wants coverage. This prevents flying predators similar to owls and hawks from swooping in. Cleansing is a serious concern together with your rooster coop run. Chickens make droppings. That may be a truth of life. He seems to be taking more after the Smokey/Lady line than Snowflake, but that is okay with us. Smokey and Lady are the backbone of our breeding program and we try to provide extra alpacas adopt an alpaca (http://mailto:derek@alpacas-hampshire.co.uk) like them. We actually preferred Jolly Roger so we decided to breed Snowflake back to Smokey. We are hoping for a girl this 12 months. It is going to be fascinating to see what colour they produce this yr. Snowflake's ultrasound is pictured under. Bringing up the rear in 2009 might be Peruvian Bellesa. This is our latest addition to our herd. She is at present boarding at Evergreen Elegant Alpacas in Indiana until she is confirmed ninety days bred. She was bred to the famous Peruvian Macusani. He is usually referred to because the "original grey." He was considered one of the primary grey herdsires to be imported from Peru within the early 1990's and is considered a Peruvian powerhouse. Bellesa had an ultrasound at 22 days bred and the vet could not affirm a pregnancy. Although behavior checks earlier than and since indicate that she is pregnant. Bellesa has been running from the males, so we are hoping that she is pregnant. We are going to get another ultrasound in February around 90 days to verify whether she is pregnant or not. We are preserving our fingers crossed. If she just isn't bred, we will rebreed again in the spring. I'm most wanting ahead to this cria in 2009. Bellesa has been bred to Macusani a number of times prior to now and has produced a number of gray cria. So we have 4 cria due this yr for certain, and hopefully 5. Since we began in 2006, we've got only had one cria per 12 months, so this yr can be a number of fun. We're excited for a new 12 months and to welcome new life on our farm.

Camouflage: The colorings of some animals act as a protection from their predators. One of the best rainforest animals which can be tailored to the rainforest are insects. The ‘walking stick’ is one instance; it blends in with the palm tree in a method that nobody would realize it lives there till it strikes. Some butterflies of the rainforest appear to be leaves, after they shut their wings. Where camouflage is completed for protecting oneself from a predator, it is also utilized by the predators themselves to sneak as much as their prey. Hiding: Some animals protect them selves from predators by hiding themselves in burrows, rocks, leaves, tree hollows or niches which are difficult to get to. Pretension: Some rainforest animals attempt to persuade their predators that they're bigger than they really appear to be. Like the larva of the lobster moth, its larva appears like a scorpion however is absolutely not harmful. Many butterflies have massive eye designs on their wings so that it appears to be like like the pinnacle of a big animal. Colours: Many poisonous animals are lined with vibrant colors or flashy patters. When an animal eats certainly one of them, they get sick; this reminiscence stays with the animal and it avoids that animal sooner or later. About the AuthorThis is Alex Albert, Completed MBA and fascinated about Animals so that also performed Publish Graduation of animal science degree. Now give the details about animals on animalport.com.

Learn the way to drag additional guests to your site through videos by studying this fast article - i guarantee you may find it useful. Mov Into Flash Video Streaming File - Internet Videos Coaching! Writer: Chris Malovetz Hear up, in case you would like to transform mov into flash video streaming file, you will doubtless find this probably the most enlightening introduction you will most likely ever learn. Without a shadow of a doubt - if you actually wish to be taught to attract further visitors to your web site via online videos be sure to reap the benefits of my latest discoveries on the topic. Writer: Chris Jensen There are loads of the way to implement video on your webpage. From the website visitor’s perspective, he can both anticipate the complete video file to obtain after which view it, or use streaming techniques to instantly start playing the vide file when the web page masses. Streaming video turns into an increasing number of well-liked day-after-day. Therefore, it's important for webmasters to understand how so as to add streaming video to their web sites. Writer: Joel Smith In modern society, most individuals at level of their lives dream of being on tv.

[dimples-of-discontent]

13x16 thoughts (from Paleyfest)

(I may need to go back and refine later but these are my post-Paleyfest notes on 13x16.)

I loved this episode!! It was a ton of fun. It was slapstick and silly but did some heavy lifting too. Honestly, it worked the way a lot of our favorite crack episodes did and alluded to at least one of them explicitly (”Changing Channels,” obvs, and I think there may have been more subtle references to others).

I’m too tired to do a full meta analysis but here’s a kind of bullet recap, first of the most plot-based elements:

The plot turns on the fact that the Scooby Doo world, suddenly, ends up functioning like the world Sam and Dean inhabit. The boys enter the cartoon assuming all usual cartoon rules would apply (and Dean’s ready to have a rollicking good time with them) only to discover that the first murder in the haunted house is real. Ghosts are real. Death is real. Sam wants to tell the Scooby gang about it from the get-go but Dean wants to protect them and preserve their innocence.

It’s already obviously about childhood, and losing it, but Dean makes it explicit by talking about how much he loved Scooby Doo because no matter where their dad had dragged them it would always be on. They were his friends and constant companions. He is really being thrown into the best part of his childhood….and you can see why it would be the best because it’s probably his fantasy and deepest wish that the ghosts, demons, etc. of the world he inhabits would turn out just to be bad guys in masks, death wouldn’t be real, etc. It’s Dean safe place in childhood because it takes his actual life (ghost hunting) and makes it safe and even fun. Dean wants to keep his safe place safe and is shocked and horrified when the rules of his universe invade.

It’s Sam who wants to tell them the truth about monsters from the word “go” even before it’s been revealed that death can come to Scooby Doo. (Dean laments, heartbreakingly, that it doesn’t matter if he dies…what’s important is that they make sure Scooby doesn’t die because clearly he’s such an innocent creature.) Sam, who did not have his childhood cut as abruptly short as Dean and who did not have to seek solace in a cartoon world because Dean helped him make a safe space in the real world, doesn’t see the point of lying about ghosts being real. Dean, who worked to keep Sam safe from this knowledge for YEARS of his own stunted childhood by acting as a parent, does want to keep the gang in the dark because he wants them to retain their innocence. It’s a huge lampshade to the different experiences Sam and Dean had as children and as sons.

They do eventually have to tell the Scooby gang and, wonderfully, it induces an existential crisis in them. Watching Daphne question the existence of God based on what she has inferred about the afterlife is amazing. It is not what I expected. Dean brings them back from the brink by reminding them of all the good work they had done before.

I’m going to tell the ending now and then double back to some other observations: the phantom they are chasing is the ghost of a small boy who is being manipulated, through a cursed object (a pocket knife given to him by his beloved father before he died), by an unscrupulous man (the real estate agent who we met in the beginning) who unleashes the boy’s anger on whoever he chooses for his own purpose…to scare people off of property he wants to buy. This way, the villain of a typical Scooby episode actually becomes the villain of this SPN episode…the evil real estate developer.

Before heading back to their world, where they burn the pocket knife and free the ghost, Dean convinces Sam and Cas to lie to the Scooby gang and tell them that they were right initially–ghosts aren’t real. He goes so far as to stage the unmasking of the cartoon villain (the one from the original Scooby episode) and helps them to explanations involving wires, cornstarch blood, etc. Sam is grumpy about it but does it anyway. It’s crucial to Dean that they leave the Scooby gang as they found them and not saddle them with the world the Winchesters live in.

Let me just reiterate…the ghost that has been terrorizing them is frightened little boy. Who kept a pocket knife (much like the one we see being used to carve the Winchester’s initials into the Impala) as a token of his dead father. His father is symbolized and memorialized by a weapon. The weapon is the object the little boy is tied to and that another man–a bad man–can use to manipulate him into hurting others because “I just get so angry sometimes.” To be free, the knife (weapon, father’s legacy) has to be burned. There are closeups on a very sad Dean while this happens (some sad Sam and Cas too).

It is blindingly obvious that the little boy, who is wreaking havoc on the cartoon safe space of his childhood, represents Dean. To stop the destruction Dean has to let something go (he starts the episode referencing Elsa and EXPLICITLY SAYING THIS LINE I CAN’T EVEN). Something that is keeping him angry. Something that is tied to his father. Something that can be used to manipulate him, employed as a weapon to hurt other innocent people (Mark of Cain/Demon Dean plot lines). Dean is full of anger and of self-loathing and it’s coming from the same source. That source is toxic masculinity. Let it go, Dean. Let it go.

Is it also tied to issues of sexuality? I think so. I’ll reflect a little bit below, but I wanted to do the whole plot-based analysis first.

And now the less plot-based stuff:

Ok, so can the ghost represent repressed sexuality/a different form of masculinity? SO MUCH YES. Point one: Cas is the only one who stops to take a look at the ghost and is thisclose to seeing through it’s big ol’scary disguise and finding a vulnerable child. He stops and squints at it, Cas-style, and says “I’ve never seen a ghost wear such a ridiculous costume. Unless…” and then he reaches out to it, starting to push aside the veil only to be pulled away. Now if that isn’t metaphorically precisely what Cas did, and does, for Dean and his performing facade I will buy a hat so that I can eat it.

Point two, there is a scene where the ghost is chasing everyone through a series of doors on either side of a hallway (you know the scene…they run across the hallway, doors open and shut on either side, feet flying everywhere). They successfully shut the ghost in a closet with iron chains, though it’s close to breaking out. Daphne presses her body up against the door to hold it. Dean checks her out very obviously in a way that is both superfluous to and inconsistent with the plot. This means that the silhouette of a conventionally sexy woman is QUITE LITERALLY holding the closet door closed on the ghost. Metaphorically, it shows how Dean is able to use his attraction to conventionally sexy women to hold back what’s haunting him…attraction to men, ideas about a certain type of masculinity. Does it work? BIG FAT NO. The ghost breaks out anyway. (<Puts on professor cap> Have you guys read “The Beast in the Closet”? It’s by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and is about “intense male homosocial desire as at once the most compulsory and the most prohibited of social bonds.” It’s about Henry James’s work but I think you would all dig it. <Takes off professor cap.>)

I wanted to start with that because I can tell that people are going to be very upset about Dean’s excessive flirtation with/pursuit of Daphne. And, yeah, I almost injured my eyes by rolling them so hard at some of the things he says. BUT THAT’S THE POINT. What he’s saying is a child’s idea of how a grown man would act with a woman he likes. And it bears a great deal of similarity to how Dean does act sometimes. We call it performing!Dean and wonder to what extent Dean is conscious of his performing. Given this episode I’d say..maybe .not that conscious? I feel like the overstated heterosexual dudebroness was done specifically to give us an over-exaggerated literal cartoon version of heterosexual Dean to compare to regular Dean so that anyone who doesn’t know Dean performs in his own life will have a lens through which to see it.

Also, Daphne is his childhood crush. OF COURSE he’s going to act like a moron around her. If I encountered [insert childhood TV crush here…for me it was Kevin from “The Wonder Years” for whatever reason] I’d act dumb as fuck! But you have to remember that she represents innocence for him…it’s established that all the Scoobies do (heh - puns!). Even if he’s kissing her hand or putting an arm around her or whatever there is no danger there, just like there’s no danger in the ghosts. Sexuality to Dean isn’t scary in Scooby Doo because it’s simple: it’s just a girl he likes. Except, just like how the ghosts are also dangerous, the love plot isn’t going to be that simple or that straightforward (heh - straight). You see where I’m going. Dean would rather be in a universe ghosts weren’t real because it’s safer and easier and kind of a fantasy land but they ARE real and he will have to deal with them; Dean would also rather be in a world where he was a suave, irresistible ladies’ man because it’s safer and easier and a kind of fantasy….but he’s not. Jensen even said so in his interview. Granted, Jensen’s comment may have just meant that Dean’s not suave like he thinks. But the actual episode draws a parallel that’s pretty damn clear.

Another reason to not worry: Daphne is zero interest in Dean at all. She has negative interest in Dean. Her lack of interest in Dean has created a void that is sucking all the air out of the room. She may not even know that Dean is hitting on her. She is so focused on Fred that no one else exists for her as a romantic interest. They are so obviously a pair, even though they are never shown to be together as a couple explicitly.<Stares directly into the camera like I’m on The Office.> Can Dean not see that? Is he blind? Well, he does see it, but he thinks Daphne is “settling” for Fred who represents a kind of masculinity that makes him uncomfortable (more in a sec). In point of fact, no one is romantically interested in Dean in this episode…unlike Sam who gets a lot of appreciation (and an eventual kiss) from Velma.

As for Fred, Dean begins by really hating him (so much that Sam remarks on it) and when pressed about why he attributes it to Fred’s self-confidence despite things like his “stupid ascot.” Dean comes to like and admire Fred and, ultimately, have the confidence to wear an ascot himself BECAUSE HE LIKES IT. It didn’t make Fred less of a man. It doesn’t make Dean less of a man to wear it with his plaid shirt. Fred helps Dean along the way to some self-acceptance. It’s nice. Fred is there to serve as a contrast to Dean’s overblown notions of what is “masculine” and offer another form of masculinity that is, manifestly, still appealing to the ladies.

Now, remember the Scooby Doo universe doesn’t have sex in it. It’s a cartoon. And they bend those rules only the tiniest bit here. All of Dean’s advances and even his jokes are PG. That innocence on the part of the Scoobies is played for laughs, Daphne remarking that Dean is silly for not knowing that “boys and girls don’t sleep in the same room” for example, but it’s also integral to the plot. (There are some other jokes too and, for a glorious second, I thought that they were legitimately going to reveal that Daphne and Velma were a thing but sadly not.) No one would want to ruin the Scooby universe by telling them about sex…not even Dean. Again, it contains a child’s conception of relationships.

I’m imagining some people will also be upset about how the episode treats Cas. I was especially stung that, right at the outset, Dean says flat-out that “Cas is basically a talking dog.” I made a noise of indignation that made people look at me. BUT let’s also remember how much Dean loves that talking dog. He’d die for him. He wants to protect him at any cost. He doesn’t want to spoil his innocence. So, yeah, that’s not a nice thing to say but it’s also not the whole story. Cas is grouped with Scooby and Shaggy the whole time and he bonds with them, SMILING (ALERT ALERT CARTOON CASTIEL KNOWS HOW TO SMILE) AND LAUGHING when he has to leave. He thanks them for showing him the importance of humor even in dangerous times. I think it’s a good lesson for Cas and his real affection for them reminds me of what a soft character he is inside, wanting to get a cat or save monkeys or keep bees. That’s been missing from Cas lately (even though I do LOVE bamf!Cas) so maybe this will help him recall it.

I want to say again that Cas is the one who can see through the ghost and its “ridiculous costume.”

Interestingly, both his entrances (his first appearance after Fred and Dean take off to drag race; when he reunites with the boys in the haunted house) frame him as a scary villain. The first is from behind and you just see the coat billowing out (though this did remind me of the girl running the drag race in “Grease” which…lol); the second he’s silhouetted in a window, approaching it in the rain, and is then covered with a sheet before he’s “unmasked” by Dean and discovered to be a friend. This is…pretty much Castiel’s character progression always. Looks like a threat but is discovered not to be.

Once they get back to their regular world Dean makes a remark about how that was the most fun he’s ever had “including that time with the Cartwright twins.” Cas studies him and asks “What did you do with the Cartwright twins?”. There’s a long beat in which Dean looks shifty and grins and shakes his head and turns away. Sam says “I don’t think I want to know.” Cas says nothing. Cas does want to know. This is new and part of a general progression that @amwritingmeta wrote a great analysis of where Cas is becoming able to think something like Forget that sacred oath…I must know what Dean did with those twins.

There was probably more, you guys, but it’s super late for my poor body clock. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would like it but bear in mind that a) there are MASSIVE SPOILERS, b) this is just my interpretation of the episode, and c) I only saw it live once so my details may be wrong.

I thought this as a fantastic episode the more I think about it and I’m SO EXCITED to hear your thoughts!! <3