#i blame the newsreader for this

[domithanasia]

when i'm watching the newsreader and they're mean to noelene

[mariemariemaria]

Don't even think Dale is in his villain era tbh he didn't exactly turn the other cheek but if Gerry did leak that story about him and Tim then why would he support him. If I was him I wouldn't be held responsible for my actions

[adreamthatsworthkeeping]

The Newsreader gun episode is doing amazing work reflecting the issue around gun control.

[helen-dale]

(my main blog is @elialys, currently using this sideblog to post my newsreader feels/gifs because tumblr shadowbanned me on sunday for sending s3 to people 💀 anyway, this post was written a few days ago)

~~~~

I took notes on my immediate feelings after watching each episode of season 3 of The Newsreader, it’s helped with the “AAAAAAH” emotions that binging such an intense show cause, plus I figured quite a few of you might share my feels. It’s mostly me screaming, and it’s a tad disjointed as you can imagine, but blame the show for breaking my brain.

SPOILERS UNDER THE READ MORE!!

3.01 Night of Nights

I’ve honestly watched the first two seasons so many times in the past year that I forgot all about that HEAVY DREAD FEELING NEW EPISODES OF THIS SHOW MAKE ME FEEL. And I’m guessing it’s not going to get any better as the season progresses 😭 They truly are so good at creating the scenes with high energy, feeling so IMMEDIATE, and Helen’s anxiety never fails to trigger mine, so 🥲

Speaking of Helen, I’m going to need to rewatch the season a second time fairly fast because as always whenever I watch something new with Anna, I am too busy thinking “SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL” in a loop to pay attention to most of what she’s saying. But she is, I absolutely LOVE the new look in season 3, the shorter hair is perfect, her logie look was gorgeous, she looked so beautiful, and then she looked even better at the end when she was all casual at her house, in jeans and with barely any make up ❤️ ANYWAY, that’s my initial, mandatory gushing about the “Anna is gorgeous” aspect of things.

This episode was a whirlwind honestly, so many things to take in already, many many emotions were felt. I love how they are setting up the pieces for the rest of the season, the way they always do. I already want to slap Rob and protect Noelene at all costs from all those men. Lindsay needs to DIE ALREADY, I swear to god if he’s not run over by a bus by the end of this show 😡

Okay let me gush over Helen a bit more substantially. I love how FAST she was hit in the face by the reality of being back in Australia, with all the network bullshit. This poor woman has so much fucking trauma associated with this industry and the way they treated her, even at the height of her career, being offered this prime time show, she still doubts herself and the legitimacy of it. The way her anxiety took over, her fighting it, I know these are just the first cracks of the season 😭 PLEASE let our girl get a proper diagnosis and proper help by the end of this I BEG YOU SHOW. Needless to say I still absolutely adore the way Anna portrays her, always saying so much in all those moments she has zero lines of dialogue.

Dale. Dale Dale Dale. DALE IS DEAD INSIDE. Him saying he felt NOTHING standing there receiving his award? Him clearly being dead inside while having a man stripping in front of him, at his request? MY SWEET WET NOODLE, WHERE IS YOUR SOUL? I love the fact that I *know* they’re setting him up to being BROKEN this season, and I cannot wait. BREAK HIM. LET HIM FEEL THINGS AGAIN. I AM READY TO HURT WITH HIM.

Serious talk though, THE HELEN x DALE CONTENT IN THIS EPISODE???? 😭😭😭😭 Minute one in the restaurant, you can tell the love is still there. Minute two you can also tell they’re still shit at communicating so hahaha joke is on us as much as on them. Helen saying he was her only non-disaster yet they were pretty disastrous and him just…“I don’t think we were” DALE MY MAN YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME.

Don’t get me started on Helen losing her shit at the logies realizing she was going to “betray” Dale. Her trying NOT TO SAY IT. DALE’S SPEECH 30 SECONDS LATER THANKING HELEN FOR SEEING THE NEWSREADER IN HIM????? 😭😭😭

You know last year I loved talking about how Noelene and Rob’s relationship acted as a foil to Helen and Dale’s (as did Gerry and Carla’s), with them actually talking things through when Helen and Dale did not. This episode was another beautiful example of this, with the focus being put on Noelene being (RIGHTFULLY) upset that Rob just threw the “oh, and my wife” line in his speech when she fucking produced that show, and HERE IS DALE JENNINGS, on stage, thanking Helen for seeing him and making this possible for him, WHEN THEY ARE BROKEN UP AND ESTRANGED.

ALSO, talking of parallels, the hotel scene KILLED ME. I believe it was a VERY DELIBERATED CHOICE by Emma to frame Dale and that man the way she did, because that’s basically how Dale and Helen were framed in that hotel scene at the end of 2x01.

And Helen hoping so hard that they can remain “friends” despite the competition, when everything on Dale’s face tells you “naaaaah not gonna happen” but he smiles his empty smile and says “yeaaah sure” 😭 HE’S GONNA TAPE ALL OF HER SHOWS THOUGH BECAUSE HE’S DALE.

Anyway so much more to say, but I still want to watch another episode before attempting sleep, I need to find myself a paper bag to breathe in.

(just realized I didn’t mention the Dale and Kay thing once, but I think that says a lot in itself, no offence to Kay but NO THANK YOU)

(((Also, I hate the wig. I hate it so much)))

3.02 A New Era

(This ended up being me live commenting this episode because I kept getting so anxious/upset that I had to take breaks)

“Human conversations are not this boy’s strong suit” Lindsay, I hate you, but this does describe Dale a little too well.

Evelyn butting in and listening in to her daughter’s phone conversation with Dale is such an Evelyn thing to do. Also, look, I am aware that Kay and Dale are unsubstantial at this stage of the show and they’re only doing this to get us riled up, but guess what? IT IS WORKING.

Currently taking a pause from the episode because Lindsay is being a fucking ass and trying to feed Helen’s team fake news for her to read on her first show is STRESSING ME OUT I CANNOT DO THIS.

Ugh, the “HELEN’S MENTAL HEALTH” MUSICAL THEME KICKING OFF IN THE BACKGROUND FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON I AM NOT READY.

Aaaand indeed, I was not ready, crying actual tears at Helen losing her shit at work in front of everyone, this is going to be a long season I AM FINE 😭

GUYS EVERYONE IS SCREAMING IN THIS EPISODE WHAT THE HELL I LOVE IT BUT I CAN’T TAKE IT

God Vincent’s comment about how she’s the first woman on a prime time show and we “can’t even see her tits” I want to kill all those men I SWEAR TO GOD

I am dying inside at the PARALLELS of Helen and Dale watching a tape of Helen’s first show, which was shit, while Dale kicked ass, like THIS IS HOW THE SHOW STARTED BUT WITH THEIR PLACES SWITCHED.

I keep having to pause this episode, I’m so upset at Helen being told off by her new boss for having mental health issues that interfere with her work, I clearly did not buy enough tissues for this season. I mean, it HAS to be addressed, she does have to seek PROPER help, but the way it’s just…thrown at her, always, it’s too real and heartbreaking. THE PATRONIZING!!!

Not gonna lie, kinda loving the fact that Dale is learning to assert himself with his man friend he pays for sex and that he’s learning to use those skills with Lindsay. Somehow it’s unsettling and awkward and very Dale and I’m thriving.

I wanted to talk a little about Noelene and baby Hana (and Rob lol) because CONGRATS NOELENE, but right now I’m too busy ugly crying over that scene of Helen admitting to the psychiatrist that she’s been struggling her whole life. Oh this punched me in the GUTS.

That’s my cue to take a break and get some sleep, dear lord, my own mental health is not equipped for this.

~~

Alright, back at at it after less than 5h of sleep, I don’t foresee myself crying less. I’ve been thinking about the first couple episodes over and over, and I’ve realized the start of this season feels skewed. And a big part of it is because of Dale.

In those first two episodes, Helen is more alive than ever, full of emotions that overwhelm her, and you FEEL for her. Usually, I feel that for Dale, too, with his big wet eyes and the constant panic in 2/3 of the scenes he’s in. But so far this season? I feel nothing, except concern for him. He’s just empty, he’s pretending with everyone, at work, with Kay, with Helen. He’s struggling to be in control in any way he can, paying for what I can’t really describe as intimacy, since he’s using those moments to try asserting any kind of control.

Plus, he’s got a terrible wig, but I’m aware that’s mostly me overfixating on it.

I also know something’s gotta give. I’m suspecting episode 3 will do that, one way or another.

It's 6am, let’s gooooo

3.03 Behind the Front Line

HOLY HELL, this episode came for me!!! My favorite one of the season so far, shockingly I know haha, with it containing Helen’s long awaited diagnosis and that famous improv scene at her house.

Let me say it again: HOLY HELL 😭😭😭

I seriously love the way they handled Helen learning what her diagnosis is, from her figuring it out on her own by doing research, to her losing her shit as a result of her psychiatrist confirming it. I’ve figured it was borderline personality disorder a long time ago when I first watched the show and did research before starting to write fanfic about her, because I wanted to understand her better and be mindful in the way I wrote her, and like her doctor said, she ticked so many of those boxes.

Don’t get me started on how Dale reassures her with “All I see is you” to counter her saying he must have seen it, must have known. He’s not brushing off or denying the messiest parts of her, he’s acknowledging them, basically saying it’s always been part of her, and he’s loved her as she was and as she is. Beautiful, beautiful scene, Anna’s acting was insane, absolutely insane, cannot wait to rewatch it in a loop until every frame is carved in my neurodivergent brain.

I am so worried for my boy Dale though, he’s so fucking dead inside. Still practicing sounding normal in front of mirrors, like the beautiful neurospicy human that he is. Helen being surprised that he’s throwing himself a birthday party and him being literally “it’s a social event, it’s a normal thing to do” DALE MY LOVE YOU ARE ALLOWED NOT TO FIT IN.

I do not trust whatever is going on between him and Kay. I don’t understand how anyone can fall for Dale *right now*. Like I get why both Helen and Tim were swooning over Dale in s1 because he was so squishy and nerdy and sweet and full of tears, but THIS Dale Kay is interacting with? HE’S A SHELL OF A HUMAN BEING. He’s just as much of a lifeless husk on the desk as he is away from it and IT HURTS MY SOUL. So yeah, Kay saying “I love the way you make me feel” I’m just??? Also, the fact that she keeps comparing him to her dad, haha. Anyway, I don’t sense this ‘relationship’ going anywhere healthy given the state of things.

Also, LINDSAY???? He didn’t actually give Noelene her maternity leave, at all???? Being a fucking racist???? Crashing the party and having a temper tantrum???? I am not surprised by any of this but god this man deserves a heart attack or a stroke for fuck’s sake.

Noelene is absolutely fabulous, LOVE the way she just said fuck it and gave the story to Helen, then JOINED Helen, like YES QUEEEEEEENS.

I have no idea what to expect for the second half of the season, although I suspect since the first half was more about Helen’s mental health and job, the second half will focus more on Dale’s mental health and job, as in, I’m waiting for him to break. Guessing the 6th and final episode titled “The Fall” might feature a bit of that. Our boy is drinking a lot. Like, A LOT.

3.04 One Team, All Brothers

Ugh. UGH.

I always loved how this show handles complex topics, and this episode was as strong as ever. I’m GLAD Rob’s attitude toward racism was brought to light, Noelene absolutely killed it. Rob’s scene with Deano…man 😭

Equally loved Helen’s journey through this episode, how she’s trying to help but as always she’s confronted to people around her not wanting to stir the pot, and how in the end, she is just another “white woman” because, well, she is. LYNUS THOUGH, so so glad to have more of him, he’s so wonderful ❤️

I am so so in love with the way they show Helen working so hard on not losing it at work, using strategies and calling her therapist like, I can’t remember seeing this side of mental health portrayed on tv like this before, it is so validating. And watching it WORK, watching how it allows her to ground herself. And sure it might not always work, but at least she’s being given the tools to handle those overwhelming emotions, and I’m so proud of her.

Talking of in love, I did not see the “I’m in love with you” from Bill thing coming, but I am here for the drama. I don’t even blame this man, he spent months with her overseas where she was clearly thriving, he got to see the best side of her, and yeah, we’ve all been there, Bill. Curious to see how that’s going to impact the next two episodes because talk about awkward, he’s executive producer 💀

NERVOUS about the Kay and Dale thing. They make me uncomfortable, as stated in my previous comments for episode 3, this is not love, this is them using each other for very different reasons. Nervous about Dale’s escort not being as discreet in the future as Dale hopes he’ll be. Also, EVELYN?? I get that she’s “looking out for her daughter” but what a fucking bitch, as Helen would say.

Also I just gotta say, that bit at the start, with Helen and Dale watching those parodies of themselves :’)) How Helen is just finding it all so hilarious, including the parody of her (which is so funny honestly), while Dale is just…well, dead inside, BECAUSE THAT IS JUST DALE’S DEFAULT MODE THIS SEASON.

God I do hope we start seeing him crack soon, I am so desperate for some EMOTIONS FROM HIM. And I gotta say, this show as always is great at surprising me. 4 episodes out of 6, and so far, none of the ‘ugly competition’ between Helen and Dale I was expecting/fearing from the promo and season synopsis. Yes their shows are against one another, timewise, and yes, there’s competition between networks, but it’s like, in the background, and it’s not seemed to have impacted whatever version of ‘friendship’ they both have at the moment. I put ‘friendship’ in quotes because well, see my “DALE IS DEAD INSIDE” comments. This poor man is just existing right now.

I’m wondering if Helen is so focused on her show and working on herself (as she should ❤️) and just happy that Dale is still part of her life in some capacity, that she’s not yet gone “hey honey, you look and sound a little like a fucking zombie, let’s talk about this”. I’m also thinking, between their schedules and him dating Kay, they don’t actually see each other that often, and never for long. I’m just…I want someone to ACKNOWLEDGE that Dale is not doing well, and I would 1000% appreciate it most if it was Helen 😭

3.05 On the Brink

There is something incredibly sad in the fact that Helen’s comments on air, about how shame and isolation are what makes having mental health issues so unbearable, are being said on a show that takes place in 1989, yet are still extremely relevant to this day, 35 years later. There has been great progress, but not enough. It’s 2025 and struggling with anxiety or depression, or anything of the sort, is STILL so misunderstood by most people, still hush hush.

That being said, I am so incredibly moved, so so grateful, that the show has chosen to bring so much light on mental health through Helen. I’m going to need to process everything in this episode but that was beautifully cathartic, can’t quite talk about it properly yet.

Also, absolutely heartbroken about Dale completely spiraling, between the drinking and the drugs, while being fucking blackmailed. The final episode clearly is called “The Fall” for a very good reason 😭 A little terrified to watch it, as it will be THE END, so I’m going to make myself some lunch instead. But given how beautifully they’ve handled Helen’s story in those last 5 episodes, I absolutely trust that they put just as much care in Dale’s breaking point. I also trust the fact that in the past, whenever one of them broke, the other was there to catch them. And I cannot wait for that.

One last thing about this episode, I feel like Helen turning down Bill is another proof of the progress she’s made. She has a fear of abandonment, she latches on to people who are showing her the slightest bit of love, of attention, even when it’s the toxic kind, and she’s not been shy about seeking pleasure. And here you have this man who’s telling her he loves her, who’s her boss (another pattern in her previous lifestyle), and she says no.

I am so proud of her 😭

3.06 The Fall

This was so fucking hard to watch. The first part of it with Dale’s breakdown, absolutely heartbreaking, I was literally clutching at my face and hiding my eyes at times. The self-loathing was difficult to WATCH, I just…Sam Reid, what the fuck, his performance. It WAS like watching a trainwreck in real time. The part with him hitting himself, and listening to those awful audience comments over and over and over again 😭 This man was in so much pain, and SO touch-starved, needing real connection but not finding it 😭

It did bother me that they made the plot decision to just....let Dale sit on that desk, CLEARLY DRUNK and looking the way he did, when a few episodes ago, Helen was sent home straight away when she tried doing her show while drunk/high. If they couldn’t keep him off the desk at least don’t go live and put the “technical issues” screen on, and DON’T LEAVE HIM ON AIR FOR SO LONG.

God Lindsay really is a fucking villain, him looming over Dale, just…the psychological abuse was so so hard to watch.

He didn’t just deserve to be sacked, HE DESERVED TO BE RUN OVER BY A BUS. That being said I’m extremely glad the show ended with him gone, and Dennis stepping in.

Ugh I absolutely love Noelene telling Helen exactly what she thinks. Not only did she stand up for herself, she also gave Helen the last push she needed to call the shots for HER show.

The image of her being the lone woman at that table full of men once again berating her, was so damn powerful, ESPECIALLY the way she just let them have their trantrum, only to calmly tell them “No” and step away like, QUEEN.

Oh and Helen's "I'm not gonna be punished because I didn't want to fuck you" to Bill?

The Helen x Dale content was so scarce this season, but I don’t actually mind it? Like, the shipper in me mourns the fact that we didn’t get more and will never get more, but I’m a fic writer, I’ll make more 😏 I am 150% happy with the fact that they focused so much more on Helen’s journey through taking care of her mental health, and Dale stepping away from this toxic, TOXIC environment.

Also all the call backs to season 1 guys, I cannot 😭 Her ‘rescuing’ him, the dialogue being almost exactly the same from the pilot 😭😭😭 Not gonna lie the fact that it’s basically how I started my own “helen x dale post s2 fix it fic” over a year ago gives me warm feelings. Also, I am terrible person for thinking this but when Dale told his mum that what was in the paper was true (about him being with men) and he said “I love you, I hope you can still love me” and she said NOTHING? I thought “well I’m not so sorry I killed you off in my fic now” because?!!! 🙃 I’m sure she’ll come around and everything, she STAYED with him, but it's still a gut punch compared to Helen’s “I love you just the way you are” in season 1 after he told her the truth.

Honestly, I didn’t know what kind of ending I wanted for these two as a pair, except that this is what I was hoping for, since I figured there wouldn’t me any romantic ending. Them CLEARLY in each other’s lives, clearly better when they have each other, with me free to imagine that when Dale comes home from Germany, he smooches the hell out of Helen and they get acquainted with her couch again :’))

(you know she's thinking about that couch)

(can we blame her? LOOK AT HIM)

I’m going to need to rewatch this season at least once or twice in the next week to really take it all in. I am so sad that it’s over, overwhelmed with so many emotions after taking it all in so fast, but also very content. I feel they wrapped everyone’s storyline beautifully, and left us on a GOOD, positive note, full of hope.

And again, so beyond grateful for how truly Helen focused this last season was.

God that was so beautiful.

[akajustmerry]

its sunday night so i am thinking about dale jennings!!! i saw a post this week talking about dale jennings of the newsreader fame's biggest issue being that he lacks conviction and its made him into a people pleaser and i agree with that! the op is right he does lack conviction, which is a fundamental element of who he is and why he has become who he is, and why he and helen ultimately Struggle™️. HOWEVER. i don't think his eager unsure responses to situations (ie. being unsure about marriage until gerry brings it up, following helen's lead, etc) come from a desire to PLEASE people. otherwise he couldn't have betrayed gerry or iced out helen the way he did. no, dale jennings is Like That because he has a debilitating disbelief in himself and is afraid of his feelings of bone-deep inadequacy being discovered. his line, "i don't have a sort of place" isn't just about his sexuality. its about EVERY aspect of his life. its the thesis of his whole character. he genuinely feels no matter how far he gets in his career, relationships, whatever the fuck that he should not be there, and any minute someone will catch him out. so he jumps the gun to not get caught. it already happened to him when he was caught with that other gay kid as a teenager and dale let everyone blame the other kid while still internalising all that homophobia from the adults around him and he's full of shame about it. and so much of what happens with dale in the newsreader is cycle of him almost getting caught and wiggling his way out before he can be caught and then internalising the shame of that until he's just a black hole of insecurity keeping everything at arms length so he never has to worry about being "caught"again. and all it cost was his heart and soul. anyways, i am having a very normal one tonight.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I was tagged by @o0anapher0o, @aquarines and @pankadoll... and I'm very late with this, too, apologies 😭

Rules: shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and post the 10 first tracks, then tag 10 friends to do the same.

I don't have Spotify, so I used the "favorites mix" playlist, which resulted in this:

There Must Be An Angel, Eurythmics

She's Like The Wind, Patrick Swayze

Walking In The Air, Nightwish

You Can't Hurry Love, Phil Collins

Walking On Broken Glass, Annie Lennox

Alone, Heart

Don't Stop Believing, Journey

You Took The Words Right Out My Mouth, Meat Loaf

Blinding Lights, The Weekend

For Once In My Life, Stevie Wonder

Tagging @originalstarlighttiger, @lgbthenry, @fandomsmeantheworldtome, @fluegelschatten, @penguinsandbats, @mouser26, @madevampselle, @anaid-queen, @silvervinespiderwebs, @emeraldinerosefaedragon and also whoever wants to :))

PS: Current Eurythmics and Annie Lennox obsession is firmly to blame on The Newsreader, juuuuuuuuuust as a note. And "Don't stop believing" will forever and always make me smile because of Scrubs and JD and Turk. :)

[thelioncourts]

I love your Tumblr, and I know you're not just a Loustater in name,like some other But the recent Sam sighting isn't just about the Newsreader—he's also the only one actually present in the writers' room, so of course, he gets a lot of contents. I'm really trying not to be negative or sound like I'm blaming you, but let's be real—there's going to be a shift in how AMC promotes the show. And I'm sure Jacob, or even Assad and Delainey, will notice it too.

I'm sure Jacob is supportive and just think,it's Sam moment now but it's a bit frustrating

I'm not talking about marketing, and I've been very vocal about marketing on several occasions and will continue to be vocal about it if we do see an insane shift as S3 moves ahead; I'm talking about "right now" things, and Sam at the writers room was because he was there for the CCA event and, again, genuinely does have some work to do before the season takes off, work that nobody else will be needed for because Sam is not a professionally trained musician and has to learn lyrics and strengthen a skill and stuff. again, outside of the CCA event - which is tied in to the writers room visit - there hasn't been anything crazy that we're looking at right now.

S3 marketing scares me in so many ways because it is easier to sell a general audience on white male rockstar who wears eyeliner or whatever, and so if AMC marketing pushes that more than they ever pushed the first two seasons, it says a lot about AMC. but AMC itself is not the show and I really hope that things don't become what they have the potential to become. And if they do, I will be vocal about it because it'll be bullshit and not unexpected but extremely disappointing. But, again, if I sit here and preemptively start getting upset about potential 'what ifs' or if I sit here and doom post about things that we don't actually know, it's going to make me miserable and we are in too long of a hiatus for me to do that to myself. Louis means too much to me for me to do that to myself.

if we get to that point, if the S3 direction proves to be disappointing as in it completely sidelines Louis, everyone will hear it from me. I didn't post myself absolutely ugly sobbing to the S2 finale because it meant more Louis storylines and more Louis in general and literally could not get my shit together from crying so hard about how happy I was about Louis for them to sideline him. but I genuinely don't think that's going to happen at all. I really don't. and until I actually see it, I'm going to continue to quote people like Rolin who said 'I own the night' is not an exit line, quote people like Sam who has said in multiple interviews that the changes that have been made have been so good too because it means more of Jacob's Louis, people like Jacob who loves Louis and has said small things about S3 (video at SDCC, that run-in with that fan a few weeks ago, still mentioning IwtV in his podcasts that aren't even about IwtV, etc.) and who has said about Loustat that they've wasted so much time but luckily they've got forever, etc.

[humbledragon669]

S1E4 – Saturday Morning Funtime Write Up P1 - Saturday (The last day of the World) up to The Fields of Megiddo

Please forgive the slight skipping ahead to get the banner for the time period, I’m a sucker for consistency and I like to start this write ups with a pretty picture so all the text doesn’t look so daunting. There’s a lot of narrative to get through in this episode, which is borne out in quick scene changes, so apologies if this write up comes across as a bit scattered. Housekeeping aside, I have something intriguing to point out in the opening scene. Captain Vincent (who in the script is described as William Shatner but seems to me more like a Liam Neesom type) records in the ship’s log that the ship is on course to Havana. Looking at the location of Atlantis on Crowley’s globe from later in the episode, I think they may have been blown somewhat off course:

But then, what would you expect from a cruise ship whose name is the medical term for an infectious disease (measles)? I do rather like the insinuation that cruise guests are so stupid as to believe the ship’s crew capable of raising an entire continent from the deep, complete with its citizens, purely for their entertainment though. Light-hearted as this scene is, it serves as a neat little bridge from the previous episode, where the last thing we saw was the consequences of Adam coming into his power, albeit in unexpected ways. It sounds like the voices are getting stronger and clearer for him now too, seeing as we’re able to make out words and full sentences this time around. And if we were at all unclear as to what exactly Adam’s powers consist of, he spells it out for us, his earnest words underpinned by come creepy child choir soundtrack to really hammer home their meaning:

What I say I true.

Just in case there was any doubt about the intelligence levels of the cruise guests, we have another little dig here in the form of a Facebook post by one of them.

The long-lost continent of Atlantis has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, which means the ship can’t go anywhere, but don’t worry – the Captain has sent a bottle of Champagne to make up for it. Cretin.

For those amongst you who aren’t native to the UK (or don’t watch the news, and honestly who would blame you), the newsreader in this scene is an actual newsreader (rather than an actress playing one) called Kirsty Wark. I think little things like this are really important to contributing to the charm and appeal of the series – it blurs the lines between the story and reality, but also really assists with the show’s relatability.

So, elephant in room question. Questions actually I think.

Why is Gabriel on Earth?

Why is Gabriel jogging on Earth?

Why is Gabriel jogging on Earth where Aziraphale is?

Why is Gabriel jogging on Earth where Aziraphale is, which also happens to be the place where Aziraphale and Crowley had their break-up the night before?

These are all questions I had from the very first watch of the show, and it’s never addressed. I just can’t get my head around any of it, perhaps because I get hung up on wondering if Aziraphale came back to the park or whether he’s still there from the night before. Maybe waiting to see if Crowley will come back. After that I’m not capable of thinking of much else in a logical way because that is just too angsty. What we do know is that Aziraphale is still nervous – he’s wringing his hands. Not nervous enough to not look intrigued by the human interpretation of an angel’s appearance though. Almost so intrigued he misses Gabriel. I can’t quite work out whether his expression says he’s surprised to see the archangel or whether he’s just spurred into action. If it’s the former, then I think we really are in the “Aziraphale has been hanging around the park all night pining” territory. If it’s the latter (which, I’m inclined to think it is, the directions in the script state that he’s looking for someone at this point), I’d really like to know how he knew Gabriel was going to be there in the first place. Either way, I really love the way that Aziraphale starts this conversation in the exact same way that his phone conversations with Crowley usually start (“It’s me.”) – it’s such a casual way to start a conversation, mostly reserved for situations where there is a level of familiarity between the participants that betrays how comfortable they are with one another. It’s also a very human interaction, one which Gabriel does not appear able to understand the nuances of – after all, it is a pretty obvious thing to say isn’t it?

I have to call attention to the level of detail that has gone into the production of this series here, and this time the credit goes to the costume department. They could have had Gabriel running in a very plain set of running clothes, but no – they had to go and add a little hint to his true nature, embroidered right there on his sweater:

So subtle, but it just goes to show how much thought went into every single aspect of this show. It might not be an intricately detailed suit, or a deliberately distressed demon outfit, but this tiny detail is still capable of reminding us of the true nature of the characters we’re watching.

I’m fairly sure that Gabriel’s assertion that the purpose of war is so that they can win it is probably the main reason why most wars are fought. Which is, quite honestly, batshit crazy. Gabriel doesn’t think so though – he can’t understand what Aziraphale’s problem is with this ridiculous catch-22 situation, oblivious to our angel’s very obvious distress:

I find the use of the word “soft” here interesting. I think the meaning of the word in Aziraphale’s mind is very complicated – he’s not really talking about his lack of physical prowess (not my opinion, just reiterating what Gabriel so hurtfully said previously) but his attachment to Earth as a whole, which would no doubt be perceived by Heaven as having gone “soft”. The irony is that his “softness”, perceived at this point by him and others as weak, is exactly what draws us to him as a character, forming an essential part of his make-up as a hero character.

Moving on, it looks like Lesley (the International Express delivery man) is quite the foreshadower of his own fate.

Ours is not to reason why. Ours is to deliver packages.

I’m sure most people will know that the way the second part of this line should end is nothing to do with delivering packages, but should instead be “to do and die”. It’s a very well-known quote, even if it is slightly altered from the original, from Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, underlining the fact that soldiers should not question the purpose of their service, only to perform their duties and give their life when necessary. Which is exactly what Lesley is about to do with his deliveries, even if he is ignorant of the fact that he’s been drafted as the harbinger of Armageddon.

Quick note: I love that view from Heaven! It’s another one of those little things that you only see for a moment, and if you’re not concentrating, you might think it’s just any old cityscape but let’s take a quick inventory, shall we?

From left to right:

The Eiffel Tower.

Big Ben.

Mountains.

Empire State Building.

The London Eye.

The Shard.

Pyramids.

There are maybe some others (in a later shot you can also see what looks like St Paul’s cathedral), but you get the idea – there’s no way that all of those things could be in one view - some of them are in different continents to each other. It’s a pretty cool view though, I wonder if you can Airbnb up there?

We now have the first firm indication that things are getting tricky for our hero pair. “Earth observation files” you say? That sounds decidedly problematic. I do love how Gabriel genuinely seems to think there would be an innocent explanation for an angel and demon to have met multiple times, though in his defence none of the photos he is presented with show the pair with anything other than neutral expressions. What this exchange does inform us of is that the suspicions surrounding Aziraphale have only been incited owing to his recent comments – he really has been fooling them completely for the last 6000 years, and even when they do catch on Michael’s first thought is that he’s a double agent. Not a bad record if you ask me. I think it’s pretty spiteful of Michael to turn Crowley in to Hell at this point – they must know that he’s not working for Heaven, and would be aware that Hell are probably going to take an even harsher stance towards any descent in the ranks they suspect.

Here we go, another (side) note of appreciation (it’s easy to rack these up when the emotional angst isn’t so high). I don’t know whether the chameleon on Ligur’s head is an animatronic prop or CGI, but the fact that it moves, seemingly independently, is yet another beautiful detail that is easy to miss.

Back with Crowley, we find out that he’s still intending on running. It’s here that we find out that he had a hand in creating some of the component parts of the universe, and we have the first mention of Alpha Centauri as being a favoured destination. It feels like an obvious statement to make that the choice of this particular constellation was owing to it being made of two words starting with “A” and “C” but Neil has been asked this question before and stated that its use was purely circumstantial. I’m not sure I fully believe that but maybe that’s just me. My heart goes out to Crowley in this scene – he looks truly defeated. So defeated that he actually tries to reason with God in a tone that could be described as pleading. And in contrast to Gabriel’s description of the reason for Crowley’s fall (that he was one of the rebelling forces against Heaven), we see here that Crowley’s take on the situation is quite different.

Four episodes in and we’re still being introduced to new characters – hello, Pollution. We are given some backstory about why this Horseman isn’t the traditionally-known Pestilence, and I think I read somewhere that this was a conscious substitution made by Neil and Terry to make it feel more relevant/current but I can’t find that source now. Interestingly, the name for the recipient of the crown is given on the delivery form as “Mr. White”, but Lesley refers to them as “Chalky”, a continuation of the theme that there are many names for each of the Horsemen, all of which allude to the same thing.

I find white to be an interesting colour association to make with Pollution – many of us would associate it with cleanliness and purity, the complete opposite of what this Horseman stands for.

Lesley’s final delivery instructions are communicated in a handwritten note:

He is clearly aware of the connotations of this delivery, leaving a note for his beloved Maud. Quite why he doesn’t just “fuck this shit” at this point is a mystery to me – I certainly would have done. Perhaps it’s a callback to his Tennyson quote from earlier. I do find myself wondering if he might have avoided Armageddon himself if he had just done the sensible thing though – after all, he has been (unknowingly) tasked with summoning the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, without which there can be no Armageddon. What if he had just refused to make the last of his deliveries? Regardless, the sequence representing his death shows firstly the colour starting to bleed out of the footage before he dissolves into starlight – a recurring theme in Neil’s work.

On to lighter things now – here’s Anathema doing that creepy thing of offering virtually unknown children food again. I love how Bryan’s initial concern about the chocolate is that he thinks it’s coming from a witch. Never mind “stranger danger”, what you really have to watch out for is those witches. Sounds like he’s well suited for a position in the Witchfinder Army.

It’s not unexpected that Shadwell has Jerusalem playing in his (gross) apartment, I think he probably plays that recording on a loop so as to continue feeding his delusions that his insanity is driven by a deep love for his country. The particular line of the song playing here (“in England’s dark Satanic mills”) is pretty well-timed though, seeing as it won’t be long until everything in England has a distinctly devilish tone to it. There’s also an irony to Shadwell’s farewell:

May the armies of glory march beside ye.

I don’t really think that’s a good idea, seeing as how they’re perfectly comfortable with wiping out the entire human race for the sole purpose of winning an argument…

There’s another throwback to Adam’s imagination becoming real in the next scene, with the UFO that Newton witnesses having the same design as the one we saw hanging from Adam’s bookcase earlier in the episode:

And I love the use of the theremin in the soundtrack – nothing screams an old school UFO and aliens more than the sound of a theremin!

Side note: the mention of a “neuter” gender by the alien is in the original book, written in 1996. I hope I’m not being offensive by crediting Neil and Terry with being massively ahead of their time in their support of the LGBTQ+ community there, and applaud them for being beacons of what we should all aspire to be.

Secondary side note: anybody else get Douglas Adams vibes from this alien conversation? For me it really conjures memories of a different universe where an alien race showed up to destroy Earth to make way for a new hyperspace bypass…

We’re back with The Them, with Wensleydale kindly reminding us that whales have big brains, for the third time in this series. I think it’s fair to say that we should be aware each of the children have their own distinct personalities, given the scripting and acting that we have seen up to this point. If we were in any doubt though, it’s really underlined by the fact that they each have a different type of ice lolly.

Again I say the level of attention to detail in this show is truly astounding. We’ll see more of it in the next scene where we see Ligur’s chameleon not only moving independently but that its skin actually cycles though a range a colours. That said, I do have a question about the information available to Anathema in the next scene:

The full prophecy on the card shows us a lot more information than is narrated in the show (like how she knew he was a Witchfinder, and that his descendant was responsible for the death of her own). What it doesn’t say is how she knows exactly the date and time of his arrival. That information isn’t even in any of the scribbled notes on the card. I guess we’ll never know how she comes to find this out.

And on that quandry, I’m going to wrap it up for this part of the episode write up. I realise it’s a slightly odd place in the episode to call it a day, but if I finish here I can use the Fields of Megiddo signpost to head the next part (told you I was a sucker for consistency). So as always, questions, comments, discussion – always welcome.

[newsatsix1986]

Dale Jennings - now no longer a future Gold Logie winner! 😉🌟❤️

.

.

Well how about that, everyone! Our Dale Jennings is now a Gold Logie winner! Hip hip hooray! It is quite the achievement; he beat out Neighbours’ Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, as well as Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s Daryl Somers. He must be really, really popular in this fictional version of 1980s Australia! In the real Logies ceremony from 1989, it was Daryl that took home the award, but the Hall Of Fame truly went to Mr Bryan Brown, as depicted by stand in actors for Mr Brown and the late Bert Newton in ‘Night Of Nights’!

It was simply divine that he chose to take his beautiful mum Val Jennings as his plus one. I must admit I got a little tear in my eye seeing her all fancied up and getting to bask in the spotlight. She was so very good in keeping on script when Donna Gillies asked her those probing questions about Dale’s childhood; well, almost! But who could blame her, she was just the proudest Mumma alive!

To think that little boy from Bendigo who was fixated on the news from potentially far too young of an age has now won a Gold Logie for his newsreading is so very special. It was even more touching that in his speech, he thanked our Helen Norville, for seeing the newsreader in him and believing he had the potential to become someone bigger. It was such enormous gratitude to her and I must say that I got a lump in my throat. Watching both of their eyes as they realised they were now in direct competition to one another, oh goodness. It was certainly a hard feeling to nurse.

Now our Rob Rickards must be psychic, because in our Season One he called it early. Dale Jennings was indeed a future Gold Logie winner, and it was the most beautiful round circle moment that Rob’s prediction came true. The cleverness in this show’s writing never fails to amaze me! Well done again, Mr Michael Lucas, well done you! ❤️🌟🤴🏼

[electricsun85]

Episode 1: red over blue

The little yellow jeep ambled towards Bryston Metro, passing vibrant neon lights and whizzing trees as a lively news jingle blared over the radio.

Jase was behind the wheel. Stella soundly asleep with her 'Beast-B; cradled in her arms, while Ichiro revelled in the thrill of hand surfing out the window.

“Good evening, good morning, good afternoon! No matter where you are, whatever you do. So many things happening in the world today,” the cheerful newsreader announced. “Whatever happens, don’t worry--! Keep your chin up—you never had any control anyway!” she added, only to be abruptly cut off by static noise.

"What’s going on?" Jase muttered, puzzled by the newsreader's unusually upbeat tone. He cranked the volume higher, hearing muffled voices ordering 'Cerys' to stick to the script.

"In today's leading story, Zandau Industries has struck gold again! The tech titan has secured another government grant package worth undisclosed millions -- potentially billions-- through suspected backdoor dealings that could fund the next phase of its Metralis project.

This groundbreaking, paradigm-shifting, mind-bending technology promises to usher in a new era of human advancement..." the news reader continued.

A brief silence. Then, panicked voices followed by rustling of papers being thrown around.

"Cerys! Stop! Is this still live!? Oh NO! No! Cut to commercial! Commercial. Now!"

“The critics? What do they know? They're resentful, uninspired souls! Vision is wasted on them!" she pressed on before being swallowed by static.

Jase groaned. “Ah! Why now? It was just getting good!” he rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to scold the radio like it personally wronged him. He didn’t want to be caught talking to an inanimate object.

Ichiro grinned, watching Jase fumble with the dials. “So much fuss over nothing”.

He wondered why Jase hadn’t realised what was behind the strange white noise that swallowed the radio broadcast.  It was Metralis.

Anything not implanted with ZM’s propriety CORD technology – anything unlinked – was affected. Fortunately, the anomalies were fleeting. Harmless, for now. 

Ichiro’s gaze drifted upward. The unmistakable superstructure of Metralis Tower East loomed overhead, casting long, shifting shadows over the suspension bridge linking the two halves of Bryston Metro. The city hummed beneath them, oblivious.

He could feel Jase signalling to him through the rearview mirror, waiting.

Ichiro sighed. What does he want now? He wasn’t in the mood—but Jase, clearly, couldn’t wait.

Raising an eyebrow, Ichiro finally relented. “What is it?”

Tell me you've seen them," Jase whispered sharply.  He knew Jase was referring to CORD implants – the neural tech fitted into machines, binding them to ZM’s vast network. No machinist -- especially not even a tinkerer like Jase could resist the urge of obtaining such a prize. Every piece of discarded tech held untapped potential.

Listen, I hate ZM as much as you," Jase snapped, catching Ichiro’s sarcasm before it fully formed. "But the machine isn't to blame—it does what is told. The system can be hacked, the connection severed, reprogramed. Once its off the grid? autonomous."

Ichiro scoffed. “You know, that’s illegal.”

Did Jase even understand what he’s playing with? While Ichiro secretly yearned for a world unshackled from Zandau’s tech empire, it was BOA Institute’s questionable actions on Metralis which haunted him.

Despite his father’s warnings, the Institute—under ZM’s directive—had pushed forward, implanting untested CORD prototypes into every mech on the assembly line. No one asked questions. No one stopped it.

"In case you're wondering," Jase began, with a glint of excitement in his eyes, "That’s what you call human ingenuity— nobody should underestimate our ability for innovation. And we will prevail! The moment we flip the script and turn their own machines against them will shift this tide in our favour. Are you in? “His voice surged with an enthusiasm that resonated deeply within the hollow chambers of Ichiro's heart. 

Ichiro folded his arms, unmoved. “Just how well do you even know your toys, Jase?”

Jase sighed dramatically. “I knew you’d say that.” Disappointment creeping into his voice. “Can’t you see?! The answers are right there, but only those bold enough to act will reshape everything! But what do you know? You’re just a kid, after all.”

Ichiro’s expression darkened. “And what if you’re the tool? Maybe stop pretending you’re not just a cog in the machine like the rest of them! His voice was sharp now, cutting. “It’s pointless. And stupid.”

Jase scoffed, adjusting the rear-view mirror to get a clearer view of his rival. “Besides, it’s not like you believe in anything, Ichiro...”

 “Why don’t you try saying that again?!” Ichiro’s voice rose dangerously. He was giving Jase one more chance to retract his words.

Jase didnt. "Well, things are moving ahead, with or without you.” A slow grin spread across his face. “ You should see what Stella’s Baezyn can do now.”

 Ichiro’s jaw almost dropped.   

“What have you done?!”

Jase saw Ichiro’s spiralling curiosity and laughed. “Relax Ichiro. I just gave it some upgrades. Don’t Tell her ok? Its the DC10 CORD implants, which is a little dated but still packs a punch! It’s on a whole new level!”

Ichiro felt sick. “How did you get them? Tell me!”

CORD implants weren’t just illegal – they were classified. BOA’s research centres kept their full capabilities under lock and key. Ichiro saw them as ticking time bombs.

Jase, leaned back, smug.  “It’s not what you know, Ichiro. It’s who you know.”

Ichiro’s gaze flickered to the backseat. Stella was still asleep, her Baezyn clutched tightly in her arms. A memory stabbed through his mind—Vermillion Square.

The chaos. The near escape. The dawning horror that Stella’s machine could be at the heart of it all.

Lashing tongues of light from a Metralis Tower leapt, as sirens wailed. Flashing lights, broken glass. Screams. People running.

And yet -- no reports, no emergency calls. The next day, a single line on the news: "A minor power outage in Bryston Metro. No further details.”

But Ichiro remembered. The moment Jase made “adjustments” to Stella’s Baezyn, the chaos stopped

Ichiro’s brow furrowed into a deep frown, “So, what happened Vermillion Square, Jase?” he waited, but Jase suddenly looked away. “Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with it.

Silence.   

Unable to contain his patience, Ichiro seethed, “What are you, crazy?! Do you have any idea how much trouble we could get into with your reckless stunts?!”

Jase exhaled sharply. “Nobody got hurt right? It wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s just a malfunction.” He hesitated. “Sorry

But then—Jase’s voice lifted, hopeful. “I’ll get it right next time. If I could just—”

“No more…” Ichiro’s voice cuts through the air like a blade.

“You don’t get it, do you? Nothing’s going to change!” said Ichiro grimly, but the weight of his words crumbled under his own voice.

Jase scoffed. “Does it make you look cool, Shiro? Being grim about everything? What’s your problem?”

“Oh, really? You want to bring this up now?” Ichiro’s voice was razor-sharp. “I’m not the sell-out here.”

Jase’s expression darkened. “Listen here, you little prick—”

As their argument escalated, the two become oblivious to notice the radio flicker back to life. This time, the voice was different. Warped. Distorted.

“…Bryston Police Department is seeking any information … “

“Shiro,” Jase continued, “One day, I hope you realize not every day is a curse, even if it doesn’t seem like it”

“…Suspect is highly armed and dangerous… involved in a string of violent attacks on teenagers….”

Do you know how much the upgrades mean to Stella? She puts her soul into her music—I'm just giving her a whole new sound," Jase insisted, and something in Ichiro snapped. “I don’t care about her stupid machine!” Ichiro shot back furiously, immediately regretting the words as they left his mouth.

“…Report immediately to the nearest police station…”

Ichiro glanced over his shoulder. And froze. Stella was staring straight at him.

 “H-hey, Stella? How… long have you been awake?” he asked, but she didn’t answer.

Ichiro was rooted to the spot, his heartbeat ringing in his ears. He should say something—anything—to explain himself, but the words wouldn't come out.

She hugged her Baezyn tightly, her expression unreadable. That silence was worse than any scolding she could have given him.

“That went very well, didn’t it?” Ichiro heard Jase say as he stepped on the gas and sped past the traffic intersection. That was when they met her.

Continue reading

[prttynrgnl]

Sending questions, hope that entertains you. 🙃 Also, I'm so sorry if I ask you something you've already told me, my audhd memory sucks most of the time lol. Which episode/scene/character/ship on IWTV are your favorite? You can mention two or more if you have problem picking only one like I do. 😅 Have you read the books? If so, how many? What are you looking forward to seeing on the show? P.S. Based on your wishes and not the odds of it actually happening, you can say far-fetched stuff. 🙃

my memory sucks too..like big time so forgetfulness is fully acceptable and this is going to be messy long yapping session warning!!

my fav episodes/scenes..

s1 is kinda blurry so i cant tell a fav episode but ig first episode "in throes of increasing wonder 01x01" i love courtship eras of iwtv sm..both loustat and loumand , and cant wait for the same of nickstat, loustat 2.0 , devil's minion and whoever comes..

unholy family moments are very dear for me...especially the scene where they all dance together and also lestat's murder ( gotta love a family's duality)

for s2 i think "dont be afraid, just start the tape 02x05" i love how it steered the story also it was the *slams the table* i fucking knew it !! episode for me as an armand hater like u when u finally see the gremlin it his tru form that u doubted frm start...the danlou :(( , also the only book easter egg ik "chop my hands off"

but “I Could Not Prevent It 02x07” thats one of the most horrible and brilliant thing i hv ever seen even in my life

"What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned 02x01" is the one that caught me emotionally most and my fav title...also the amount of claudia we hv in this, its emotionally tender like an open wound and also the episode where we just get reminded of the vampires/humans disconnection at i forgot her name but the one they meet at Romania.. “if you were the last vampire on earth, it would be enough. Just you & me. Me & you.” is probably the greatest line ever wrote in television.. but "she could dream" was where i cried tho that scene was jacob's one of the top moments in the series. and but it also hv the most annoying can u two get a room bickering we get frm devil's minion "disregard"

special mention moments

everything lesmand, claudaline flirting, "i fucked santiago too, celeste.... even had an aerobic evening with tuan and quang pham" i love its delivery a lot, i said it already but paris loumand is everything, loustat reunion, madeline turning etc..its going to take days if i mention all

i think that's for episodes & scenes godd its going to take forever before i finish this...god how does people do this

characters and ships

while watching the show my fav characters were daniel and claudia still r but i hated armand then didnt liked him at all but i never shut up abt him too was a bit obsessed... then i found this thing named devil's minion after watching show and assad's interviews got me liking this one...im still obsessed but now im on other side of the love and hate line..

im a can i get everyone kiss everyone pls person, so a lot ships even daniel/raglan, real rashid/dubai trio and armand/santiago (santiago's obsession is so tasty)... i think main one is devil's minion for me i cant seem to shut up abt them...but im loud enough abt lesmand till my non fan frnds know them.. i love loumand, loustat, claudaline but im not that annoying abt them... basically so far im mainly a daniel should be vampire bicycle person and blame everything on assad zaman's i will look at you like u, urself is the star hung upon the shy eyes shipper

for s3...

regular stuff everyone anticipates like rockstar lestat, nickistat, lestat's version of lesmand ff, scraps of dm, loustat situationship era, danstat etc..

i can't wait to drop all these men the second i see gabrielle (like i did with helen/noelene and dale while watching newsreader), i wanna see danstat kiss (fuck actually), raglan and daniel to kiss, post divorce/post partum gremlin armand...im actually curious to see marius and wht he is like and to see how horrible they r gonna make lestat's life with family since writers room loves to dial up trauma 🥲 for now,..

its near 1 am now i started writing this at 11 something 🧍‍♀️oh...i forgot abt books... i started tvl... nickistat is still planning eloping and letting them to do it slowly and take their time for planning... so tvl is currently marinating (like all my current non ao3 reads 🫠)

[helennorville]

people i'd like to get to know better tag game!

tagged by: @ballion, thank you 🙌

last song: besides the lofi jazz im blasting at the library right now.. so long, frank lloyd wright by madison cunningham

favorite color: green and yellow

last book: det sanne og det synlige (the true and the visible... it doesn't have an english translation yet), currently reading kunsten å feike arabisk (the art of faking arabic, also no translaton yet 🙈)

last movie: watched horton hears a who last weekend with the kid. i blame the kid but i picked the movie 🧠

last show: the newsreader season 3!!

last google: "me when i'm 100 years old drawing".... i teach art to elementary kids on wednesdays djfksd

latest obsession: it's food related but the good ole wasa kavring with brown cheese and raspberry jam... scandinavians will Get it

looking forward to: garden work!! the days are getting noticeably longer now and im sooo excited to do some planning for the garden :')

tagging: @seinfeldyke @this-is-a-love-story-isnt-it @elialys @chiefofmilfs @sportsbianism and anyone who wants to do this just say i tagged you lovelies <3

[vole-mon-amour]

You know what? I already read Mindhunter by John Douglas twice & it is that time again when i beg for season 3 of Netflix's Mindhunter. Season three WHEN??? I need it like air and clean water. I NEED it.

God I miss that show so much. And Bill, and Holden, and Wendy.

BTK story when??? Bill and Holden getting their own division when??? Wendy getting her happily ever after with a woman that cherishes her and actually understands how important her job is WHEN??? Fincher, get your ass over here and do your damn job (I am begging)

I can rewatch the show only so many times, but I NEED season 3.

[segue-into-romanticism]

I think Dale's relationships with Helen and Tim are both a mix of passion and compassion but on very varying levels

[rileymarie]

"The greatest form of control is when you think you're free when you're being fundamentally manipulated and dictated to. One form of dictatorship is being in a prison cell and you can see the bars and touch them. The other one is sitting in a prison cell but you can't see the bars but you think you're free."

"What the human race is suffering from is MASS HYPNOSIS. We are being hypnotized by people like this: newsreaders, politicians, teachers, lecturers. We are in a country and in a world that is being run by **unbelievably sick people**. The chasm between what we're told is going on and what is really going on is absolutely enormous."

"We laugh at sheep because sheep just follow the one in front. We humans have out-sheeped the sheep, because at least the sheep need a sheep dog to keep them in line. Humans keep each other in line. And they do it by ridiculing or condemning anyone who commits the crime, and that’s what it’s become, of being different."

"The reason we are so controlled is not that we don't have the power to decide our own destiny, it is that we give that power away every minute of our lives. When something happens that we don't like, we look for someone else to blame. When there is a problem in the world, we say "What are they going to do about it". At which point they, who have secretly created the problem in the first place, respond to this demand by introducing a 'solution' - more centralisation of power and erosion of freedom. If you want to give more powers to the police, security agencies and military, and you want the public to demand you do it, then ensure there is more crime, violence and terrorism, and then it's a cinch to achieve your aims. Once the people are in fear of being burgled, mugged or bombed, they will demand that you take their freedom away to protect them from what they have been manipulated to fear. The Oklahoma bombing is a classic of this kind, as I detail in ..And The Truth Shall Set You Free. I call this technique problem-reaction-solution."

"Create the problem, encourage the reaction "something must be done", and then offer the solution. It is summed up by the Freemason motto 'Ordo Ab Chao' -order out of chaos. Create the chaos and then offer the way to restore order. Your order. The masses are herded and directed by many and various forms of emotional and mental control. It is the only way it could be done"

"When we give our minds and our responsibility away, we give our lives away. If enough of us do it, we give the world away and that is precisely what we have been doing throughout known human history. This is why the few have always controlled the masses. The only difference today is that the few are now manipulating the entire planet because of the globalisation of business, banking and communications. The foundation of that control has always been the same : keep the people in ignorance, fear and at war with themselves,. Divide, rule and conquer while keeping the most important knowledge to yourself."

"If you want to know the outcome of a game before the game has even started, you need to control each side."

[d2kvirus]

Dickheads of the Month: September 2020

As it seems that there are people who say or do things that are remarkably dickheaded yet somehow people try to make excuses for them or pretend it never happened, here is a collection of some of the dickheaded actions we saw in the month of September 2020 to make sure that they are never forgotten.

Remember how proven liar Boris Johnson said he had a world-beating oven-ready Britait deal, which was also the basis of his election slogan campaign of “Get Britait done” and the lack of support for the deal is the reason he sacked 21 of his own MPs?  Just asking, because he tore the whole thing up and said it was unworkable - which also led to Brandon Lewis saying in Parliament, so it is now forever enshrined in the Hansard, that De Pfeffel merely broke international law “in a very specific and limited way” - you know, sort of like how the Manson Family broke the law in a very specific and limited way

The bold vision of a new BBC shared by Tim Davie was revealed when he threatened comedy shows with the axe if they kept making jokes about Britait, the Tory Party or Donald Trump on his first day on the job, because as we all know the best form of comedy comes from punching down rather than up, which is why Little Britain definitely hasn’t aged appallingly

Master of decorum Donald Trump couldn’t even wait a few short hours after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death before he started rallying the foot soldiers about cramming somebody more fitting with what he wanted into the Supreme Court

Mayor of Amity Island governor of Florida Ron DeSantis continued his bid to be recognised for having the worst response to the Covid pandemic in the congress of having the worst possible response to the Covid pandemic by deciding that, actually, the state of Florida needs to lessen its Covid restrictions at a time when cases of Covid have begun to rise alarmingly in the state

It’s no surprise that proven liar Boris Johnson lied in Parliament by referring to Serco’s failing test & trace app as “NHS Test & Trace” - however the biggest issue is that the BBC had been using the exact same phrase for at least two weeks before that

Nobody was surprised to hear smirking cretin Priti Patel personally using the term “activist lawyers” that the Home Office (headed by P. Patel) had previously used to dehumanise and demean people upholding those pesky immigration laws that the Tory Party really don’t like getting in the way

Tax dodging orange goblin Donald Trump was asked a simple question: Do you think that white supremacists are a problem?  We are still waiting for an answer to that question...

Okay, so now the Conservative Party are cracking down on people breaking lockdown, with threats of a £10,000 fine - rather than circling the wagons around them and throwing out one cock and bull excuse after another like they did when Dominic Cummings broke lockdown to nip off to Durham after testing positive for Covid on what just so happened to be his wife’s birthday

You know that Matt Hancock is good at his job when, having been sent out in front of the cameras to defend The Tory Party appointing ex-Australian PM and all-around arsehole Tony Abbott as a trade advisor in spite his history of misogynistic, homophobic and “Let’s kill the elderly so we can survive Covid” comments the best he could do was say he was a good negotiator...which promptly led to all manner of comments about Harold Shipman being a good GP and Fred West laying one hell of a patio 

According to Jacob Rees Mogg the public having a legitimate complaint about it being damn near impossible to have a Covid test is nothing more than “endless carping” and not, say, legitimate criticism of a woefully underprepared government trying to coast by on the bare minimum who have the gall to try and blame the public for their long list of catestrophic fuckups

It was no surprise to hear proven liar Boris Johnson hand-wringing about “the freedom of the press” after Extinction Rebellion finally realised that being annoying idiots is far more likely to gain support if you’re being annoying idiots with a purpose - just as it was no surprise to hear that proven liar Boris Johnson had no opinion whatsoever of Tim Davie telling BBC newsreaders to fall in line with the corporation (read: Tory) line or they’d be sacked

Once again there was a chance for Keir Starmer to show that his talk of being “true Opposition” is more than a soundbite and, once again, he wimped out on it when ordering Labour MPs to abstain from voting on the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill for fear of being accused of being “anti-British” by voting for a bill created to stop prosecution of British troops for using torture instead of voting against it - and then sacking Nadia Whittome, Beth Winter, and Olivia Blake from their junior ministerial positions when they were three of the 18 Labour MPs who voted against it

It clearly never occurred to Marsha Blackburn when she was browbeating people about the Constitution of the US never being rewritten that the Constitution of the US has been rewritten several times already.  There’s a reason they’re called “Amendments” and not “Footnotes” you know...

Smirking cretin Priti Patel proudly stated that, if she saw her neighbours, she’d gladly call the police due to them breaking the law.  This was around 14 hours after she’d voted to break international law in the Commons, or a few short years after she broke ministerial code by nipping over to Israel to have undisclosed meetings with israeli officials, which begs the question about whether her neighbours are just as willing, doesn’t it?

Judging by Alan Sugar tweeting out conspiracy theories about Covid being created in a Wuhan lab, I think it's safe to say that no Apprentice game show host is capable of not acting like a complete arse on Twitter.  Luckily for the UK, Sugar isn’t Prime Minister - he’s merely a member of the House of Lords...

It’s been a while since WWE acted like totalitarian dicks to the wrestlers employed independently contracted to them but they managed to find one by telling every single one of their employees independent contractors that they could no longer use Twitch or Cameo as it was decided this was being “detrimental” to the company...you know, the bunch of carnies who sign billion dollar deals with our journalist-murdering, woman-oppressing, Yemeni-slaughtering, 9/11-planning “allies” Saudi Arabia, don’t have any for of healthcare for their employees independent contractors, continued a pay per view even though one of their employees independent contractors died due to a stunt going wrong that was linked to the company cheaping out on a safety harness, and apparently not knowing that the term “independent contractor” doesn’t mean the company can sign them to five year deals but sack them at any point - and then prevent them from working anywhere else for 90 days

We had confirmation of Alison Pearson possessing a terrifying combination of pig ignorance and outright sociopathy when she began a Telegraph article with the following: “My son has Covid-19.  Good.”

Sour grapes from Lisa Nandy over people forgetting she was in the Labour leadership race judging by how she apparently didn’t listen to a party pledge to tax corporations and instead spout off a bunch of nonsensical gibberish that sounded uncannily like Britain First rhetoric under the belief that sounding like Britain First is guaranteed to win back working class Northern voters

Litigious TERF JK Rowling revealed her latest book is about a man who murders people while dressed as a woman, which definitely hasn’t drawn any form of comment whatsoever...

You would like to believe that reports of Limestone Games not only effectively stealing the game Aeon Must Die! from the actual dev team who were forced out of the company by a culture of abuse and harassment by a shady cabal who took over the studio would have eld to the game’s release being postponed, especially after it emerged that assets used in the game’s trailer were infringing on various copyrights - but instead Focus Home Entertainment responded by twiddling their thumbs and doing nothing

I’m sure there’s no connection between Alan Sugar demanding people go back to work as if the number of Covid cases has been rising to an alarming degree and how Alan Sugar is bemoaning that his commercial property portfolio is not making him “enough” money due to people staying at home.  None whatsoever...

The fact that those moron parents in California started a wildfire after setting off fireworks for their baby’s gender reveal party that led to over 20,000 people having to evacuate their homes is dickheaded enough - but the fact that it’s not the first case of this happening, as a similar incident happened in Arizona back in 2018, makes them look even more dickheaded

If you want to say you put Britain before anything else, like Andrea Jenkyns did in her latest Twitter tsunami of childishness and spite, it doesn't look good when you say you're pro-Trump before pre-De Pfeffel as it defeats your own argument almost as fast as being Andrea Jenkyns - or, you know, failing to spell the word “British” correctly when accusing people of being anti-British

It would have been wise if West Ham announced that manager David Moyes and two players had tested positive for Covid before their match with Hull - not after the match had kicked off, leading to Moyes legging it out of the stadium

Whatever it is in the mind of DeAnna Lorraine that snapped and had her babbling insane nonsense that The Masked Singer is part of a covert plot to have people wearing masks probably can’t be repaired, and appears to have also caused her to accuse anyone who thinks she does sound insane of being acolytes of George Soros

Professional victim Laurence Fox somehow believed that posting a chat log of a conversation between himself and Rebecca Front and then howling about being “cancelled” - and then a few hours later had to very publicly backtrack, no doubt because his agent had several dozen words with him

I have no idea why David Cameron convinced himself that showing himself helping out in the Chipping Norton food bank was a good idea, considering he’s the reason why food banks exist in the first place

How nice of Manchester Metropolitan University to tell the students who were confined to accomodation so unable to go out and buy food, who were paying £9000 tuition fees for face-to-face tutoring that was done via Zoom that makes such good value of the hundreds of pounds of rent they have to pay per month when they could have had those same lectures from home, that they’re not allowed to protest about this situation and had to take any signs posted on their windows critical of the government down immediately

In normal circumstances Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden sneaking girls into the England team hotel would look pretty stupid, especially in Foden’s case considering the odds of his live-in girlfriend not finding out about this are practically nil, but during a global pandemic it looked so incredibly boneheaded it’s lucky they play for the Manchester clubs otherwise the front pages would be calling them ignorant traitors or some such bullshit

Nothing sums up Premier League referees quite like them clearly not understanding the current definition of the handball rule, but rather than actually look it up they make it up as they go alone leading to more penalties being awarded for handball in the first four rounds of Premier League fixtures than in entire seasons - not helped by Premier League referees also operating VAR, where they seem to have a policy of “If you ignore my cock up, I’ll ignore yours”

And finally, inventing yet another terror atrocity, is Donald Trump and his batshit insane proclamations about cans of soup being a much bigger threat to American lives than, say, and AR-15.  But then again, it’s not like his support base has a habit of throwing cans of soup at crowds of people