#i wasn't planning on getting into another produce season...

[michelle-is-writing]

Interview, Matthew Gray Gubler

He's so goofy, I love him

Word Count: 2.1k~

(C/n) : Character name for the show

I think even after all the years of doing acting, I will never be able to feel completely comfortable in an interview. Over time, it's gotten easier, but the lingering feeling of nervousness still creeps up into me. I always worry I'll say something that can be taken out of context, or I'll blurt out something I wasn't supposed to reveal just yet. However, if I'm with friends or co-workers during an interview, the anxiety isn't so prevalent.

Thankfully, right now, I'm in one of the rooms on set with four of my closest friends as a reporter from a nearby magazine publishing company interviews us. Kirsten, A.J., and Shamar sit along the largest sofa while Matthew and I share the loveseat in the room. It's fitting, actually.

Over time, Matthew and I have formed a relationship with each other outside of filming Criminal Minds. It wasn't planned, of course. We met on set knowing our characters would soon be forming a romantic relationship, and so, we started a friendship to better portray the chemistry on set. However, that chemistry went farther than I could've expected in such a short time, and now we sit as two lovers who can't reveal themselves to the world just yet.

In the show, my character, (C/n), and Spencer still haven't gotten together. They're perfect for each other, my character having been written specifically for Spencer's character, but they have issues like any other two people trying to get together. It's lead to a lot of ups and downs with many fans going online to tell us to just kiss already. Luckily for them, the next episode that's next to come finally breaks through that relationship barrier and our characters get together. Because of this, the producer has told us that it was alright Matthew and I could be together off-screen - however, we must keep our relationship secret and hidden away from the public to avoid any spoilers about the episode being released.

Due to the pressure of trying not to do any of the things I would usually do with Matthew, I'm a bit scared of this interview. I know the interviewer is going to ask us questions about our ever growing on-show relationship - that's a definite. With the increasing romantic tension between our two characters, I don't even think she has to ask any questions to get the answer she wants. It's happening, and it's obvious.

Once the interviewer enters the room, she introduces herself as Lacey and greets us all with a welcoming smile. Sitting down in the only arm chair in the room, she starts off by talking about the recent season to the camera while other cameras pan around to catch video of us all. With all of us being watched and recorded, Matthew waits until the cameras are pointing away from us before sliding his hand discreetly over to mine and linking our pinkies together. The simple action, makes me a bit calmer as a smile soon makes its way to my lips.

"So, JJ And Will," The interviewer starts, facing A.J. with the same smile as before, her arm draped against the arm rest while her leg is crossed over the other. "Are they thinking about having any more kids after this recent one? Maybe another boy, or a girl for change?"

At the question, A.J. smiles with a small laugh. "I think for now, Henry and Michael are enough for Jennifer," She explains, folding her hands together and placing them in her lap. "Plus, I think Mekhai and Phoenix are enough for me at the moment too," A.J. adds, causing all to laugh with her. The boys are wonderful, but with Phoenix barely six months old at the moment, I can understand why she would be apprehensive over thinking about another baby so soon.

"They are adorable kids, A.J.," Lacy tells her, earning a warm 'thank you' back. Turning toward Kirsten and Shemar, Lacey asks them her next question. "What about your characters?" She asks, "Are there anymore developing things to soon come along?"

"Just the same ol' incessant flirting from this old woman," Shemar jokes, earning a slap to his arm from Kirsten much to our amusement. However, Shemar quickly earns his friendship back from Kirsten with a hug as she struggles to keep her angry face. "But it's the flirting that I love! I love it! I'm glad it's incessant!" He further clarifies, taking Kirsten in his arms and swaying her as she laughs at him.

With that, our laughter grows until finally quieting down as Kirsten is back to wrapping her arms around Shemar's neck in a non-threatening gesture. This time, the interviewer turns toward Matthew and me with a smirk on her lips, his hand having already left mine moments ago as we felt the questions coming.

"Now," Lacey begins, her voice slow and calculated. I can't help but feel a bit anxious under her unmoving stare. "We have seen the relationship between (C/n) and Spencer grow and have breakthroughs on-screen, but, my question is..." She then pauses, her smirk turning into a grin. "What all do you have to say about yours and Matthew's relationship off-screen?"

Her question takes me by surprise. All of the questions we've been asked before were centered around the relationship between mine and Matthew's characters - never are they about me and Matthew in real life. We always chalked it up to the fact that we make sure we're careful in not revealing that we do have a relationship, but maybe Lacey just kind of sensed it. Although, how could she not?

"Oh, well," I start, looking over at Matthew as he smiles at me. To the others, it's just a plain, nonchalant smile, but to me, I can see the corner of his lips turning up into a smirk. "Our relationship is nothing more than friends," I lie, my voice calm as I continue lightly grinning. "We play around and joke around with each other constantly. We're very close," I add, being truthful for once. I know that Matthew desperately wants to stop hiding our relationship from the public, as do I, but we can't. At least, not for another week.

Lacey hums a response with the smirk back on her lips. "So, Matthew's arm around your shoulder was just a friend thing?" She can't help but ask.

"Okay, so, we're best friends!" I exclaim, rolling my eyes before letting out a small laugh. "Two friends can put their arms around each other without it meaning anything else. Right, Shemar?" I add, hearing the man in question agree with a 'I know that's right'. Meanwhile, Matthew has his own way of dealing with the unwanted questions.

"Whoah!" Matthew states, leaning back with a blank look, his hands help up in surprise. "Did you just friendzone me, babe?" He asks in a ridiculous voice, making me stifle a laugh. He's so goofy, but I guess he's trying to help me play it off all the while calming me down too. Like anything else he does for me, he's doing it successfully.

"You're lucky I even said 'best friend,' buddy," I add, crossing my arms with a smirk as I lean back against the couch rather than Matthew's arm like before. Meanwhile, Matthew just stares at me with his mouth agape, trying not to laugh at my words.

"Bu-buddy?!" He questions, purposely stuttering the word for a dramatic effect. "My heart!" He shouts, slapping a hand to his chest. This time, everyone begins laughing at our exchange as we smile at each other and slowly settle back down.

Thankfully, realizing that she won't get the answer she was wanting, Lacey doesn't question mine and Matthew's relationship again, nor does she ask anything more about Spencer and (C/n)'s growing relationship either. In fact, her attention is so far away from me and Matthew at this point that she doesn't even notice our new position with my back against Matthew's chest and his arm lazily strewn across my lap. Any other time, this wouldn't be happening, but with us establishing that we're just "friends" like Shemar and Kristen (funny enough, the only two that actually do know about our relationship), I feel as if we're in the clear.

After the interview is over and we're all released to head back to our dressing rooms, I make my way to mine with the intention of taking my makeup off before heading home and taking a nap. Of course, when I say 'home,' I mean mine and Matthew's apartment. Unfortunately, it's yet another thing we have to hide from everyone else.

Just as I toss my used makeup wipe into the trash bin, I hear my dressing room door open behind me before shortly closing afterward with a click. Turning around to see who walked in, I'm greeted by the person whom I want to see the most, and we can't help but smile at each other as soon as our eyes meet. Barely a few seconds pass before Matthew's arms are around me and my lips are on top of his.

Despite our touches being soft and sweet, they soon turn into something more as I find myself pressed against my dressing room counter with Matthew in between my legs and his hands planted firmly on my waist. "Matthew," I murmur in between kisses as his lips move down to my jaw. I know that if we don't stop now, there will be no stopping at all.

"Matthew, we can't," I whisper, pulling myself back to look at him. Staring back at me with lust blown eyes, I watch as he tries to catch his breath while I do the same. Having to hide our relationship everywhere we go builds up a certain passion that sometimes comes out in situations like now. Although, it's usually at home and not where practically anyone can catch us. "Not here."

"Why? No one's going to hear us," He quickly points out, shrugging as if it were nothing. Diving back into my neck, Matthew presses his lips onto the skin of my collarbone, prompting me to move a hand to his head and tug his hair back. Thankfully, this brings a halt to his actions, and instead of crying out in pain, Matthew jerks his head back into my hand and sighs through his nose, smirking. "Unless you keep that up."

Resisting the urge to laugh, I shake my head at him. "That's what I'm saying!" I almost exclaim, moving my hands to the sides of his smiling face. "Besides, we haven't come out as official yet. We were told to wait until next week's episode that way we don't give away our character's relationship at the same time," I remind him, feeling my heart slowly break as his smile falters.

Knowing that I'm right, Matthew sighs before laying his head against my chest in defeat. "I know, but I'm tired of waiting," He murmurs, his voice gentle and almost in-audible. Out of the two of us, I think Matthew's the one that this affects the most.

"Me too," I agree, my hand that had previously pulled at his hair now soothingly combing through the longer locks. "But, it's just another week, just one more," I point out, reminding us both that we don't have to wait that long anymore. "And then we can finally kiss and hold hands and hug without having a finger waved at us."

Nodding with a chuckle, Matthew continues resting against my chest as I massage his scalp. Although, a flip is switched within a matter of seconds and he's back to smirking. "You know, we could always just give them a sneak peek, nothing more," He suggests, turning his head to nuzzle further into the exposed skin from my v-neck blouse.

"Matthew, you are an animal!" I quietly exclaim, laughing as I have to once again push him away. With him grinning playfully, I move to stand back up in front of him, a similar grin making its way onto my face before I lean up and press my lips to his in a soft, but quick kiss. "I do love you though."

Smiling at my comment, Matthew tightens his arms around me and holds me close, my face now pressed into his chest for a change. "I love you too, (Y/n)," He murmurs, lowering his head as I feel him press a kiss to my hair. One more week is all we have to wait before revealing anything, and honestly, I don't know if this man is going to last that long.

And to be honest, I can't blame him.

[beauty-and-passion]

Did you see Thomas Sanders' YouTube community post about his plans for videos, including Sanders Sides?

... well, it looks like something happened in the SaSi fandom. Jeez, I cannot leave for a couple months to celebrate the Gravity Falls renaissance, that Mr. Sanders decides to pull up some stunts while I wasn't looking :P

Maybe he hoped I wouldn't notice. That I was gone. Well, unfortunately for him, I am always around - and if I lose something, there are always nice people ready to give me a heads-up. So here I am again, ready to give my unrequested two cents about the latest updates.

A lot of things happened since dear anon wrote me this ask, so I will not talk about one single post (also because I have no idea what post the anon was referring to :P) but I will briefly talk about the latest info taken straight from the ts_criticism tag, which is always the most updated place regarding SaSi.

No, Mr. Sanders' updates do not count, considering they're non-existent.

_____________

Season 2 finale: to watch or not to watch?

There was a survey going on in the criticism tag regarding the season 2 finale and whether people would watch it on YouTube, another platform, or just ignore it.

Now we can tell ourselves all the stories we want, but at the end of the day, we know everyone will watch it - no matter if on Thomas' YouTube page or somewhere else.

And even though we already know it will never be worth the years of waiting, I am sure everyone will still give it a chance. The view count will be high.

But if that's true for part one, who knows what will happen for all other parts? What if part 1 is not worth the wait? Will people still be willing to give a try to the other parts? Will they be willing to wait who knows how long for them?

_____________

The hilariously bad Brei Grace situation

Is it so surprising, that Thomas lost another person working for him? It's basically a constant, considering people keep being laid off, disappearing or not getting paid enough. By now, you would think this man learned something from the past but hey, it looks like I overestimated his intelligence.

What I find incredibly funny about this situation is not that Brei herself had to tell the truth to the public because Thomas, as always, refuses to be honest about anything. It's about this specific part of his post regarding Roleslaying with Roman:

Oh my god, this is so bad it's hilarious.

So Thomas laid his last writer off, but apparently he wasn't clever enough to find a proper replacement before doing it and he openly admitted in a post, to his fans (including his investors) that he has no writer to replace Brei and will have to keep following/begging her to get more of the script, because there's no one else who can develop the story in her place.

Do I really have to explain why everything about this is so stupid? Do I? Okay, then:

Thomas was apparently very quick at firing Brei, but not quick enough in finding another writer before doing it. That's not how any competent person works: when I left my last job, my boss asked me to stay for a couple more days, just enough to get a replacement. But hey, I suppose "finding a replacement" and "not leaving a vacant position" were too complex, too difficult thoughts for Mr. Sanders.

Mr. Sanders showed his investors he's so disorganized and impulsive, he fired someone with no backup plan and, as a result, had to put the series on hold. One of the series people are paying him to produce. If I were still paying him, I would stop immediately after this: if you're this unprofessional, you don't deserve money.

After laying Brei off, Thomas still wants to reach her for details regarding the story. The same story he fired her from. If he was so desperate for more of her work, he should've found a way to keep her around, not laid her off, then waste more time trying to find a way to get more of her.

If I were Brei, I would ignore Thomas forever and refuse to write even one more word regarding Roleslaying. But I'm a cold, heartless person, so I don't count. Still hope Brei will have some self-respect and refuse to share her work for free just because he's begging.

Or, at least, I hope she will ask for pre-payments first.

Thomas thought it was a great idea to show how unprofessional and disorganized he is via Twitter post. And refused to say the whole truth too. And no one was in the room to tell him: "Hey, what if you get a replacement first, so at least you won't have to admit you are dropping a series because you have no writer left?".

That's so stupid it doesn't even make me mad. It simply goes all the way around and becomes pure genius.

It also (involuntarily?) reconfirms a thought I had long ago, when Joan left. When I watched the goodbye video, I expected Thomas and/or Joan to tell us: "Hey, Joan is leaving, but here is the person who will replace them!".

But nope, no introduction of a new writer, no update post. Literally nothing. Joan left and no one came in. Only vague mentions of other people and names, but mostly Thomas confirming he was the main SaSi writer.

Thomas. Who is not a writer - let alone a competent one.

That's so stupid it's hilarious.

So, since now Thomas got rid of his last writer, what will he do? Learn how to become one? Considering his lack of progress in general, I suppose not.

So what? Will he hire another one of his friends? Will he think he can do anything and write RwR himself? Or will he keep trying on SaSi, a series that is so difficult to handle and with so many stakes, that even a competent writer would have problems with?

The incompetence has just reached a new level and I can't wait to see how deeper we can go.

_____________

The spoilers for the next SaSi episode

Thanks to @t-slanders, who appeared out of nowhere and decided to feed us something more than the absolute nothing Thomas gave us for years, we know what the next SaSi episode will be about.

And look, it's a plot in which:

The main topic of discussion is Thomas and Nico's relationship

Roman is ready to push things further

Janus and Virgil are not

Virgil is hiding he's on Janus' side

Wow. Wow. That's what Thomas came up with, this is what he's working on for 4+ years and hasn't finished writing yet.

Now, I'm not saying he should've created another plot: that's the only possible plot he could've developed. The only one that made sense, considering how WTIT ended and what was hinted during the 5 year anniversary special.

Why am I so sure of that? Because those are the exact same plot points for the season 2 finale - part 1 I came up with: in my version, Thomas was questioning if he was ready to have a relationship with Nico, Roman wanted to push things further, Janus wanted Thomas to be more cautious, Virgil was siding with Janus but refused to admit it.

Sure, some elements are different of course, but the plot points are the same. The biggest difference is that it took me a few months to develop them into a plot, not 4+ years.

And since those are the plot points, I already know how they will develop too. And not because I'm a genius but, again, they can only go in one direction: Thomas will eventually agree with Janus, it will become obvious Virgil is siding with him, Roman will feel betrayed and his arc will start in the next parts. It's already all written here, it can only go this way. The time travel idea is an "embellishment", but the plot can only go one way.

However, that doesn't mean the season finale will be automatically bad. A lot of stories I can predict end up being great anyway. So no, I won't judge it for its predictability. I will judge it for the production time and the characters' personalities.

And speaking of personalities...

_____________

The tweet video

I watched it at 2x speed, because didn't want to waste too much time on it.

It was... okay. Just okay. The characters' personalities are just okay. Everything is just okay.

Sigh. I'm tired of everything being "just okay".

And no, I cannot shake the feeling that Thomas pulled out this video in 0.2 seconds, only because he had a sponsorship to do.

One last thing I want to tell now, so consider it a warning: if the next episode and/or eventual season finale part 1 are "just okay", I will consider it negatively. From a canonical episode, I expect more than to feel "meh" while watching it.

_____________

And now?

We do the same thing we do every night, my dears: we wait forever for Mr. Sanders to finally decide to update us, to work on SaSi, or to do some stupid shit worthy of a discussion.

Of course, that doesn't mean we should burn him at the stake or cancel SaSi: we are all adults here, so we will simply highlight the shit Thomas does, because if you do stupid shit, you deserve to be criticized. That's not a personal attack, that's just being objective. I hope, one day, he will learn that too.

And maybe, who knows? He will also learn from his mistakes, hire someone competent, pay them properly and not lay them off without finding a replacement first.

Or, maybe, he will just find the perfect excuse to drop SaSi/put the finale on hold forever, so he will be finally free from the burden he clearly feels. When that day comes, I wish him to find a series he will be truly passionate enough, to keep it on until the end.

And sure, of course I will be around when the supposed next episode will supposedly come out: one part of me hopes it will be good, while the other part loves shooting a fish in a barrel. So... well, at least I will be satisfied either way ;P

[justchillandshipit]

A Little Buddie Hope in all that Trama?

Last week, I had a mopey post about my worries that the show would erase Buddie from previous seasons in order to make the new storylines work with what the actors and producers are saying about the characters. i.e. Eddie is heterosexual. I'm still not sure we will get canon, but I'm hopeful because one, I found a flaw in my reasoning for that post. And two, I remembered Athena's relationship with her first husband, Michael.

In season one, Michael came out as a gay man. Not bi. He was married to Athena with two kids. He loved her. He never stopped saying that he loved her. But he wasn't "IN" love with her. At one time, he said he hoped Athena would fix him. When he learned that she had been attacked in season three, he ran to be with her when he got the call. He was in mid-conversation with the man he eventually married, and he didn't even stop to tell him why he was leaving.

If we look at Eddie, he may or may not be as self-aware as Michael. I'm hoping he is because the show has given us clues in previous seasons that would fit with this interpretation of Eddie. Within the first few episodes that Eddie is in, he talks about how he isn't dating, how the girls they met on a call weren't his type, etc. Later, Buck finds help for Christopher through Carla. He tricks Eddie into coming to his place by saying he needs help to move Maddie. When Eddie learns it was a lie, his expression is a little annoyed at first and then filters to dread. He asks Buck if he is trying to set him up. Buck doesn't quite answer, he goes to answer the door and it's Carla. The expressions that go across Eddie's face, to me, were telling. Relief, surprise, and a new look just for Buck. [I feel this is the moment he fell in love or began to fall in love with Buck.-- There is also a whole other side to those first episodes after Buck starts to accept Eddie. In those episodes, he tries to please Eddie, and he stutters when he talks. He is shy and flirty, but that's a whole different thing.]

Anyway, back to Eddie. When he was with Ana, he almost mirrored Michael by admitting that he thought things would work with them, the "idea" of them. Chris loved her so much, that Eddie thought he would too. In another episode, he talks about feeling as though he were performing. Hen gives him a look that matches the one she gave Tommy & Buck in season 7 when Buck had soot on his face. The scene moves quickly so you can easily miss it, but it's there. There are more moments than I've named here that speak to Eddie's feelings, and these are the moments I felt would have to be erased if we believed Ryan Guzman about Eddie's heterosexuality. In my previous post, I was mopey about that until I realized a flaw in my thinking.

Tim has known his plans for Buck for a while. He actually wasn't sure if it was going to be Eddie instead. (most of us know that already) Either way, he knew as the episodes were being written for season 7 what would happen for Buck and that people would be paying close attention to Eddie. Within those first episodes, Eddie talks to Bobby and admits that he married Shannon because she got pregnant and they both felt pressured into it, but he never regretted it. Even when things got bad, he loved being married to her. (again the "idea" of it, just like what he said to Ana. Also, he said, that he loved being married- he didn't say he loved Shannon.) [I need help here. Someone to meta it for me-I have a big disconnect from the way Ryan nailed that scene with Kim in the most recent episode. To bring that much emotion and tears to this scene doesn't match with what he said to Bobby earlier in the season.]

Also in this season, we have Eddie referring to his Catholic past. The church, as most of us know has a long-established history of homophobia. Eddie talks about how deeply his family was into Latin-based Catholicism. While there is no direct mention of homophobia, there doesn't have to be. He talks about reaching a certain age and saying it wasn't for him. I think an awareness of his sexuality could have prevented him from fully buying into religion. However, rejecting religion doesn't mean those toxic messages weren't still there. Those messages were alongside the pressures he received from his father as young as 10 to be a man.

** Edit ** There is a space here for Eddie's reaction to Buck coming out. Based on this interpretation, it still makes sense for him to accept Buck. This is who Eddie is. He can accept Buck for everything he is without question. Despite the hold that the church and toxic masculinity have on him, Eddie doesn't hold anyone to that same standard. He rejected it when he rejected religion, but he is holding himself to that standard, and I believe this is the main part of the story that the show has not revealed to us yet. Eddie is not homophobic. Why can't he accept himself if he can accept others? (assuming this interpretation is the correct one.) Is Eddie so desperate to have his father's love? Is it that deep well of Catholic guilt he talked about? [Will Eddie, at some point, end up in a confessional, giving us all the canon we long for? I'd personally, love to see him alone by Bobby's bedside, holding that prayer book, and confessing to him the truth. That would slap. lol]

I had forgotten that these scenes were in season 7 when Tim knew full well what was coming with Buck. This doesn't mean that he will definitely write Eddie into a coming-out story, but it does mean that he is not likely to erase the stories that made me ship Buddie in the first place. If he were planning to erase those stories, he would not still be adding little pieces to that story.

TL;DR - My logic was flawed in my last post. Buddie isn't canon, and I do vacillate back and forth about this subject but hope is not completely gone for a Buddie endgame.

** edited to add ^ ^ ^

[oonajaeadira]

people i want to get to know better

Aw, @ace-turned-confused! Thank you for the tag!!!

last song: Pleasant Valley Sunday by The Monkees. I dunno, it got stuck in my head the other day and I haven't listened to it in years.

favourite colour: lemon yellow

currently watching: I started watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, while I'm cleaning or crafting, so I'm not way into it.

last movie: The Craft. Tis the season where horror films get played pretty much constantly in our house and I came home to find the SO watching it for the first time in his life and I was like how. How is this the first time. You are kidding me. And he was like, now I understand why girls who grew up in the 90s are all into witchy shit. And I'm like, listen. Witchy shit was cool before The Craft and waaaayyyyyy after it. You do not get to base your judgments on my choice of decor and orientation just because Faruzia Balk is a psychotic hotsauce. Witch Girl Autumn predated The Craft. The Craft was made BECAUSE of Witch Girl Autumn. Also, because Satanic Panic backlash and nth wave feminism and because it was written and directed and produced by men that wanted to "explore young female sexuality" like that wasn't a weird thing to say in your making of video, but that's another debate for another day. Oh, also, they cut out a lot of said sexuality to get a PG rating, but every cut they sent kept coming back PG13 and the director's like why and the review board (which always has a priest, a rabbi, and a minister on it like a damn joke) deemed it PG13 not for swears or boobies, but because it was about witches. So yeah.

current obsessions: Boiled egg on nine-grain bread with mustard dill sauce. Sibyls. The Chaldean Mysteries. Trying to beat off Acacius with a stick until November. Planning 2025 vacations. Halloween gear at Target, Michaels, Spirit Halloween, Marshalls. Sir Gortimer Donut von Doorhinge. Pedro Pascal's arms. Pedro Pascal's beard. Pedro Pascal's smile. Pedro Pascal's curls.

relationship status: LTR

last thing i googled: "how do I find my viewing history on Disney+" The answer is...you don't.

Tagging: @galaxyedging @prolix-yuy @stealyourblorbos @littlemisspascal @blueeyesatnight

[senkusphone]

@aresagainstthemachine asked so this one is for you. Video of it working at the end.

Here's the one project I am so proud of I named my entire blog after it.

Back in 2020, while I was stuck at home with few pleasant things to do, I decided to bring this contraption to life.

Only recently had I gotten into this inspiring series called Dr. Stone, and when I saw them make this device in the anime, I knew it was my divine calling to build it, for I had prior experience building circuits with vacuum tubes, an interest that was fostered greatly by my late grandfather when I was a boy. It had been because of the stories he'd tell me that I built my first crystal radio back then (which took me about 4 years of trial and error). Now, people had ''built'' the phone on youtube at least once before, but I was not satisfied with what they did, when they used parts that were too advanced and didn't even get it to transmit a voice, only to pick up radio stations. So I tried to go beyond while being as accurate as possible to the level of technology they had, I was seeking to achieve more with less

Making something that picks a radio signal is relatively easy, the challenge was making it also produce its own signal so it could truly be used as a phone (or more accurately, like a walkie talkie), and I restricted myself to use the most primitive tubes I had, the ones most similar to what old Kaseki would have made.

(Happy birthday to Kaseki by the way, February 9th) I started out using this beautiful Western Electric 262-A tube. This general purpose triode was developed around 1928 by the Bell Telephone company and one of the things it was known to be used for, was in cinema projectors to amplify the sound from the early talkie films. I think that's interesting enough to mention.

It wasn't long until my experiments showed great promise, eventually I moved on to a type 45 vacuum tube, another triode which is more powerful as a transmitter than the 262-A yet its construction is much more primitive. This tube is very similar to what Senku & Co. would've had.

I started building the definitive device, simultaneously laying a plan to combine a transmitter and receiver in the same unit using just one tube, a task that required this one part to perform four different duties (because I hadn't read the manga, and I didn't know the final unit they dispatched used two tubes instead of just one). On new year's eve at the end of 2020, the circuit was broadcasting One Small Step by Lillian Weinberg, loud and clear to a radio across the room.

You can get a recording of that in the link below as Tumblr won't let me upload it (yes I am using discord to host files, it also works for hosting images for your fanfics on Ao3, you're welcome).

The wooden circuit board was wired with homemade wires, made by cutting a sheet of copper into strips, and wrapping them in cotton and thread. A relay is used to switch the phone from receiver mode to transmitter mode with the push of a button.

Then the coils were calculated and wound, including the iconic large transmit coil

but would this coil that was made to look like the one in the series, be suitable to repeat what I had achieved in my experiments, would it resonate and produce the signal?

yes

I intended originally to have this project done before season 2 of Dr. Stone started, and put out a youtube video, but that ended up not happening. Still, the unit finally came together, and the plastic housing was a tupper with the rim cut off, painted orange and applied lettering.

By now season 2 had already ended, I believe, or it was soon to. Before I painted the case, I had to have one definitive test, to see that my creation demonstrated the functionality it promised, and now I had just the right voice to do it.

The final circuit was based on the work of radio pioneer Edwin Howard Armstrong, who was one of the fellows who invented the wireless world we know it today.

I turned the switch, and watched as the tungsten filament in the tube started glowing red. First I adjusted the receive coil and a radio station came in on the crystal earpiece, then, with a radio receiver in tune nearby, I started the sound I wanted to send over the air, and I pressed the transmit button...

It's true, it can be done. Today, there are people still alive who saw the day when the cutting edge of electronics was at this level. How far we've come from these baby steps, over such a short time.

Isn't science awesome?

I still haven't built a second unit.

[actual-changeling]

I remember reading somewhere that Neil said the kiss wasn't about lust and I disagree, at least in part, because there is plenty of love-emotional lust between these two. What do you think? Is there physical lust as well ? Also, do you think by the end of S3 we could see Aziraphale Fall (could he actually choose to Fall?), and become a demon ?

Even though some people treat it as such, Neil's opinions aren't the gospel truth and not canon either. The show as it is—everything we can see and hear on screen—is our canon to work with, and while Neil definitely has a unique position when it comes to interpretation and analysis, his thoughts aren't automatically the only correct option.

In short, whatever he retrospectively says about the kiss is simply another possible interpretation of that scene.

'Show not tell' is an important principle in writing, and I think in a way it also applies to here; we have what we see, and telling us what supposedly happened is not the same as writing and producing the episodes.

Personally, I do think their attraction has a sexual & physical aspect to it, and the kiss is an expression of everything Crowley feels towards Aziraphale, including lust/desire/whatever you wanna call it.

Regarding Aziraphale's celestial status—I really hope that we do not get a "he chooses to fall" situation since it would cheapen not just Crowley's traumatic fall but that of every single fallen angel. The point is that falling was not a choice, it was a punishment, and going against heaven does not automatically degrades you or changes your (metaphysical) nature.

Making Aziraphale fall now would also serve no actual purpose. Heaven has ways of punishing angels just like hell does, and while the fall was definitely a deeply physically painful experience, the symbolism of it was just as important.

Make one angel fall and the most you get is that one angel now being in hell.

Make millions of angels fall after forcing them to fight in a war against the other half of the family and effectively remove them from their home & God's love, and you get not just collective punishment but a heaven full of angels absolutely terrified of being subjected to the same thing.

The control heaven has is largely based on fear—a fear that was justified, but is no longer validated by actual experience. Consorting with hell is second nature to the Archangels, that has never been the problem, it's breaking the rules & going against the Great Plan that angers them.

Honestly, I am not entirely sure that Neil will be able to fix the fallout of season two in six episodes, and I wouldn't want him to cheapen the story by trying to rush a fairytale ending. If Aziraphale falls, I want it to be a punishment, not a choice. I want him to go through the exact same pain as everyone else because contrary to popular believe, he is not God's Special Boy; he's an average angel with average status and a shitton of luck and time on earth that he didn't use.

Aziraphale had six thousand years to choose to fall, but he never did. He prioritized his personal comfort and heaven's opinion of him over everything else, and Crowley should have drawn a line so much earlier than he did. If Aziraphale wanted to choose Crowley over heaven, he would have by now, but he hasn't, and everything he does now is something he COULD have done earlier—but Crowley was simply not important enough to him to do it while he was still co-dependent on Aziraphale.

This is a situation of "I asked you to stop hurting me but you never did & now suddenly after the break-up you are doing all the things I have been asking you to do for years".

To quote the Good Place once again: [They were] always capable of change, [Crowley] just wasn't worth changing for.

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase Screener DVD and Press Kit (2009)

Here's something a little different. I found a screener DVD and some press kits materials from Cyberchase on eBay.

For Review Purposes Only

"Weather Watchers"

Four New Cyberchase Episodes"

(check local listings)

The DVD is question is a DVD-R. It covers the first four episodes of Season 7

Season 7 Episode 1 "Gone with the Fog" (initial airing 04/20/2009)

Season 7 Episode 2 "The Emperor Has Snow Clothes" (initial airing 04/21/2009)

Season 7 Episode 3 "The X-Factor" (initial airing 04/22/2009)

Season 7 Episode 4 "Blowin' in the Wind" (initial airing 04/23/2009)

I was hoping for a cool little custom menu for internal use only, but it ended up being a basic default menu. We don't even get titles. We just get the numbers 701 through 704. The 03/24 is the date when these were burned. So, this disk was produced roughly one month before the initial airing of the episodes.

These discs were burned after the coloring and animation was done, so they aren't storyboards or animatics.

I haven't watched the episodes from beginning to end yet, to see how they compare with the versions that were aired. It would be amazing to find deleted scenes, but I doubt that's going to happen. With only a month to go before they aired, I bet these were pretty much final.

There were a few pages of promotional material that came with this disc.

So, this promotional page talks about the upcoming premiere of four episodes dealing with the connections between math and the weather. It talks about NBC meteorologist Janice Huff, who guest-starred as Stormy Gale in the animated portion and also joined the Cyberchase For Real segments.

The second page talks more about the online games. I believe the "new immersive game" that goes unnamed here is "Cyberchase: The Quest 4: Stop the Stormerator".

We also learn about "The Misadventures of Buzz and Delete" animated series and the "Lucky Star Game Show", both of which are pretty well known. I also see a mention of "Math Magic" with Harry from Cyberchase for Real, but I don't remember what that was. And I preserved stuff like "Cyberchase Around Town", so if I don't know what it is, we're in trouble.

This page gives us descriptions of each of the four premiere episodes. It also includes the episode "Digit's B-day Surprise", which wasn't new at the time. I guess working with evaporative cooling does fit with the new episodes. Plus, they needed a fifth episode to fill out the week.

Well, that's about it. I doubt I'll see another one of these screeners pop up. I'm not sure how this one managed to escape. I'm happy to have it in my collection. The high-resolution scans of the document are over here.

I'm not currently planning on dumping the disc content online. As far as I've watched the content, there isn't anything unique on there. It's just the four episodes on the label. If I do find something weird like storyboard content or a deleted scene, I'll share that.

[completely-zoned-out]

hehe im coming to say hi here instead of the other way around :3 but omg i think it just hit me now that.... w gwangil gone that's gonna be a very long time without an ot4 comeback and part of me just wants wonsang to enlist as soon as possible so that the time will be shorter until theyre back :( but i wonder if hes working on a lot of songs to put out while theyre enlisted since hes the producer.... i could def see yechan and sangyeop doing some type of comeback or putting out new music and maybe even collabing w other kbands like they did with daybreak. i honestly just hope we still get some new music cause idk how ill survive 2 years with no new lucy music (ik ill survive somehow but ive consistently been able to look forward to amazing comebacks from lucy since i stanned in 2022 during play era so... it'll def be a change of pace) BUT YEAH EMO HOURS HERE I COME 🫠

id be interested to know what you think their plan is for enlistment era. whether wonsang is gonna enlist sooner or later and new music timeline etc!! recently also been thinking about what type of songs lucy would write for you...

yechan would make a super emotional song and ofc its gonna have a beautiful violin section in it, i feel like he could even incorporate some classical music into it and it'd be soooo pretty. but more frequently than writing his own songs for you he'd always take your requests for anything you want him to play

sangyeop would probably put you through some emotions like he'd be singing his heart out to you and after hes done he'd be his usual bright cheery self acting like he didn't just make you cry from his pretty voice

wonsang 100% gonna write an admiration song about you like he did with holly LMAO and would poke fun at your habits or your relationship together, would prob sound like an anime opening too CAUSE HES WONSANG <//3 (my bias rly showing through damn why do i have so many thoughts abt this) but knowing how many songs he writes he'd prob have a range as well with some sadder or just more emotional romantic songs

gwangil is gonna write you the cutest and most heartwarming song ever just like his song would you dance with me !! i feel like hes really into the bright and fun side of love and while his voice is rly suited for slower softer songs, he would want to make you smile with his song, not cry so he'd stray away from that vibe skdjks

man i rly love them so much 💔💔💔 lucy are the best !!

Hi :3

Seeing the photos from their schedules really made it hit home that he isn't there. Stoppp it hadn't even occurred to me that we won't be getting ot4 comeback for a while. I do hope that Wonsang goes soon, but you're right he's probably busy working on stuff that they can put out while he's gone. That would make most sense anyway. I think he'd maybe go around Dec/early next year? I'd imagine they'd want him to be there for award show season if they perform and then he'd go after that? I really hope Yechan and Sangyeop put out music or at least just do schedules while the others are away. Alot of the videos that I had seen when villain came out were just Yechan and Sangyeop, so I wasn't sure if that was them preparing us for how it will be over the next couple of years lol. I think they'll continue to thrive even as a duo, isn't N.Flying still doing well despite being down 3 members? (I haven't kept up to date with them, so I genuinely don't know. All I know is Seunghyub has been in a couple of dramas lol)

I do think we'll get another cb before Wonsang goes! Wasn't boogie man released in Dec? Maybe they'll do another one then?

Yes!! Yechan would definitely have classical or Ghibli vibes in his song! All I can think of is my warm loneliness with it's soft sound and beautiful violin solo in the middle of it. I agree, I think it would be super emotional but also really cute, I think I'd cry if he wrote me a song ahaha. I think Yechan may regret taking requests lol, I definitely would have a few

Sangyeop would be such a menace, writing such an emotional song that makes you bawl and then he'd probably have the audacity to tease you for crying after. I think his would definitely be acoustic (so that you can focus on his voice more) . I think the lyrics would be so beautiful, I NEED him to write me a song lol. I would cry if there was a key change in it, I am a sucker for a key change

Wonsang's song for Holly was so cute oh my goodness. Another song like domino would be so funny. It's such a funny song, especially with the intro ahaha. Maybe he would put funny sound bites from videos of you both in the intro, from clips of you doing the most stupid things (but he finds it endearing because he is so in love with you). Oh and the bit between the verse and chorus could be him listening off things that he loves about you (in his really cute voice 🥺)

I feel like Gwangil would write such a goofy song. I definitely think he would be able to write a really emotional song like Sangyeop, but he's not gonna show you that yet (he's waiting for the right moment because he's going to ask for your hand after, I need to stop lol). I could see it being a really cheesy song or one that's filled with stupid puns because he knows that you hate them but you love him and he's going to be annoying about it. I love how you said that he's "into the bright and fun side of love", I definitely agree with that. I agree that he wouldn't want to make you cry, I feel like his is the only one who wouldn't make you cry with his song (Wonsang wouldn't want to make you cry, but he writes such beautiful songs that I think he would do it accidentally lol)

I think I'm getting a little to in to this, I need to stop (but this will definitely be all I think about for the rest of the day lol). That was very fun to think about

How's life treating you now that it's September? Has your schedule become really busy or is it not too bad? It's definitely been weird to not be in any form of school this year, this is the first time in like 19yrs that I haven't done this (that make me feel so disgusting and old to say that ahaha). Hope you aren't too busy or overwhelmed!

[tame-a-messenger]

just read the ask about what the announcement could be and how you said it wouldn't take long to organise SSG.

I work in immersive theatre and events, an undertaking like SSG even within an internal company would be a massive undertaking and could take between 3 months to 6 months to plan properly depending on where it's taking place.

You have to book the site where it's taking place, making sure no one else is around because Smosh are notoriously loud while filming. You have to make sure everyone is available, as a business they need to transport everyone out to the site and if it's far enough away put the cast and crew up in hotels as it's going to be a multi-day shoot and it may be too far for them to get back home. You also have to advertise it well in advance to maximise the excitement and views of SSG. There are also a ton of other details that I have no clue about because I don't work within film/TV/digital content. (Also call me stupid, but I think a sleepaway camp themed SSG would be hilarious)

I'm glad we can talk about this!

I also was taking into account most of the things you mentioned (booking a site that would be unbothersome, the hotels/lodging, everyone being available for at least a week straight(?), and the actual process of getting all the cast and crew to location) and I still believe that is something they could get done, with a lot of hard work.

My biggest worries regarding it (and the biggest reasons I feel they haven't done it already) are making sure everyone gets to go, with most of the cast being freelance and therefore busy.

Another BIG thing is having enough crew to film IRL content. Since most of the crew works with 3 steady-cams and the occasional hand-cam, it is a big undertaking if they tried to film anything as chaotic as SSG Wild West or any of the other Games versions.

I don't think they currently have enough people to film it well. (meaning they would have to hire on more camera operators and everything else) Which I'm imagining is not only a big chunk of change $ but also hiring new people could make for an uncomfortable atmosphere.

As for them advertising it- I haven't seen ONE person that's in the Smosh fanbase not want them to continue doing SSG/SWG. I'm EXREMELY CONFIDENT that if they did some crowd funding they would hit the goal. No question. Which leads me onto the next big thing-

I'm curious if they haven't done it because of legal issues regarding health and safety.

Most of the games they would do involved a lot of potentially harmful 'stunts' that the cast did themselves (obviously), like the mouse trap blindfolded thing they did in SSG Camp, or the mechanical bull riding in Wild West (pretty much every season had some sort of dangerous activity) so I could see them not wanting to have someone get hurt and have legal action taken. (obviously I wouldn't want someone to get hurt regardless, but we're talking about absolutes)

I still think it's possible for them to do it, it would just take someone with gusto to head the whole thing (something Smosh has been missing recently). It makes me really miss some of the old producers.

I think I mentioned that if they were going to do SSG they would have already been planning it for at least a month (so that would be the minimum you said- 3 months) so I'm starting to think because that wasn't what they were teasing today that we aren't going to get SSG but SWG is still on the table?... maybe...?

So biggest things I can see causing trouble-

Not enough crew

Cast having enough freetime for a week(?) of videos

Legal is scary

Not having someone willing to lead the charge (it is a big undertaking)(but not impossible)

If they wanted to they would. But benefit of the doubt says timing is a cold hearted bitch.

[luvyeni]

Season 3 is definitely the best, but I will say to me at least, season 6 is the worst. Like Dylan wasn't in some of the season since that was when he has that really bad accident while filming Maze Runner and he was also filming another movie. The first half of the season is pretty good, but the second half it just felt like they kinda gave up. Like the second half's main plot line could have amazing, but the writers just gave up, like it was just like they didn't care anymore since it was ending. Like 1 and 2 are mid, 3 is the best, and then it just goes kinda downhill. I know the writer initially said he had stuff prepared for 7+ seasons, but then we ended up with like 5.5 solid seasons and half a season that was rushed to get to an end point.

Like what really bothered me is you can tell they had a clear plan for each character, then people started leaving. Like Crystal left since she didn't want to play a teenager anymore since she was like 30, Tyler and Daniel and Adelaide and Colton left for other projects, Arden and Kaehu were just dropped so basically fired, like a lot of others left since they were offered bigger projects too and some left since their characters just got cut. Teen Wolf seemed like a foot in the door for a lot of actors, so they got a little exposure and then either left or the producers just felt their characters were useless and cut them. Like I know Arden specifically was apparently super excited for season 6, then they were just like well you aren't gonna be in, I also know she refused to come back for the movie since they weren't going to pay her as much as her white costars for the same amount of work.

most shows are like that , I mean look at Riverdale , everything was good until the third season , people might argue and say that only 1 and 2 of riverdale was good , but 3 was okay , that damn farm and game was a bit confusing but it was still good, stranger things as well , then fourth season made no sense and seem like a filler episode, I guess some shows only need 3 seasons , but I'm excited to see where teen wolf goes cause i really like it , derek dying every episode is stressing me tho😭

[taiyaki-translations]

Happy Charm - Educe 2

Season: Spring Characters: Midori, Tatsumi, Eichi Translators & Proofreaders: taiyaki-translations, citrinesea, toujokaname

Midori: (Tenshouin-senpai called for me out of nowhere, but I have to wonder what on earth he could want with me.)

(On top of that, it's not RYUSEITAI being summoned as a whole, it's just me… I’ve got a real bad feeling about this.)

(Did I do something to make him angry? Did I make a huge mistake on a job or something…?)

(Uwaa, I've already gotten to the door… This is bad, I don't wanna open it.)

(At this rate, I'm just gonna go home… No, that's no good, it'd just be an even bigger problem later.)

(Uu. I know what I have to do, but my hand just won't move…!)

Wahh!?

Tatsumi: Oh, dear, please excuse me. You were right in front of the door... You're not hurt, are you?

Midori: Y-Yeah, I'm okay, but…

Rather, Kazehaya-senpai…? Why are you in the conference room?

Eichi: That would be because I called him here. Thanks to both of you for arriving on time.

Tatsumi: Midori-san, please take a seat. I'll bring some drinks.

Midori: S-... Sorry for the trouble, thanks…

(Huh? The atmosphere's surprisingly tranquil? Wasn't I gonna get scolded?)

Eichi: You don't need to be so nervous. It's not like I'm going to eat you or something. (1)

Midori: I don't know, even if you say that, I'm still a little nervous… Tenshouin-senpai's the representative of StarPro after all…

Tatsumi: I understand how you feel. It's natural to feel bewildered when the head of an agency calls for you out of the blue.

Fufu, I'm reminded of the day I was also summoned by Eichi-san as a part of ALKALOID.

Eichi: I'm used to people being intimidated by me due to my position, but you being this nervous is a problem.

Well, if you were as fearless around me as Hokuto is, that wouldn't be cute either.

Midori: Err…. Could you tell us why you called us here?

Eichi: Certainly. I have another appointment, so I'll get to the point. First, I'd like for you to look over this proposal.

Tatsumi: Hmm... Is this a proposal for a town-walking program?

Eichi: I was contacted by a program producer I'm acquainted with. There was an offer for StarPro's idols to appear on the show.

The job site is in an area where they're making efforts to revitalize the town, where various other projects seem to be in the works.

Wherein, this program will lead the way towards those projects.

If the program is successful, StarPro's idols may be chosen for future projects as well. It's an important job.

I want to entrust this to the two of you.

Tatsumi: I see. So it's a rather significant responsibility.

Midori: Err… setting Kazehaya-senpai aside, why are you selecting me for this?

Bantering is the main part of a town-walking program, right…? But I can't say talking's my strong suit.

Tatsumi: Hm. I'm certainly curious about the reasoning behind the casting choices. Was it a specific request by the other party?

Eichi: Fufu, that's a good question. It was my decision to choose you for this job.

Apparently, they're planning to visit a café that specializes in vegetable dishes during this town-walking tour.

It seems to be an authentic store that grows vegetables in its own garden, paying mind to even the quality of the soil.

The producer wants to focus on filming at this café as one of the highlights of the show.

So, I thought I'd leave it to you two, who grow vegetables and herbs at the Starmony Dorms.

You both belong to the Gardenia circle, so you probably have more knowledge about crops than the average person, right?

Moreover, Takamine-kun, your family runs a produce store. Even if you’re not good at speaking, you can talk about your field of expertise, can’t you?

Midori: You're giving me too much credit… I don't think I know nearly as much as farmers do about stuff.

Tatsumi: But I've relied on your wisdom several times in Gardenia's activities, Midori-san.

You may not be aware of it yourself, but you most certainly have more knowledge than I do.

Midori: That's just because I was born as the son of a greengrocer. I just had opportunities to know those things, that's all…

Eichi: Wouldn't the knowledge you've acquired naturally be your own unique charm?

Though, as Kazehaya-kun said, you're probably unaware of the amount of knowledge you have...

Compared to people who don't garden regularly, I think you're the person most suitable for this job, Takamine-kun ♪

How about it? Will you accept?

Tatsumi: I understand why I was chosen. Since there's no reason to refuse either, I think I’ll gladly accept.

I might gain new insights that could be useful for Gardenia.

How about you, Midori-san?

Midori: …I'm sorry, Tenshouin-senpai, I'm having trouble deciding what to do about this…

Eichi: Are you still worried about the talking part? You don't have to get so worked up about it.

You're saying you can't do it, but you've hosted events before (2), right? I don't think you made any major mistakes there either.

Tatsumi: Conversation does require suitable skills, so I understand why you feel anxious.

But as Eichi-san said, there's no need to be overly worried.

Midori: I appreciate the sentiment, but in that case, it makes me feel bad for a different reason... 

I can't help but feel like if you asked someone more cut out for this from the start, Kazehaya-senpai wouldn’t be inconvenienced…

Tatsumi: Fufu. Everyone has things they are suited for and things they are not.

Embarrassingly, there have been times when I've stayed late on site because things didn't go well.

During those times, I relied on the help of my unit members and co-stars to successfully complete the job.

Midori-san, you and I aren't in the same unit, but that doesn't mean we're strangers.

If we're going to appear together in this program, it's only natural for us to help each other. So, please don't hesitate to rely on me.

But if you truly don't wish to take on this job, I won't force you to do so...

Eichi: I believe you're capable of handling it too, Takamine-kun. That's why I called you.

As the agency's representative, I'd be grateful if you could trust the decision I spent a lot of consideration making.

Midori: (Uu, it's getting to the point where it's hard to say no…)

(I don't wanna take on this job at all, but… he did go out of his way to pick me for this.)

(Well, it’s more like it'd suck if I turned this one down, and got left an even more troublesome job because of it…) 

…Got it. I’ll try the best I can...

Eichi: Fufu. Thank you. I thought you'd say that ♪

Tatsumi: Midori-san, do you have time after this?

If you'd like, how about we go together and study the site beforehand? Knowing about the town in advance might make it easier to find topics to talk about.

Midori: Eh? …I guess I don’t have any plans, but…

Tatsumi: Wonderful. Would it be alright for us to continue using this meeting room, Eichi-san?

Eichi: Sure. There's nothing scheduled for this room after this, so feel free to use it as you like.

Now I just need to do something about the proposal.

Tatsumi: ...? Is there something wrong with it?

Eichi: Did I make you uneasy? Don't worry. It's not that big a deal.

It was made in a hurry, so it's a little rough around the edges. I just want to discuss a few things with the other party.

Depending on the discussion, the stores and routes we introduce might change. Please be understanding of that.

Translation Notes: 1. Eichi says "取って食うは食べる" (to grasp and devour), which evokes the image of a predator catching prey; to act cruelly towards someone.  2. This refers to the time Midori hosted an event during his FS1 story. You can read it here.

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[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 078 - Slave Market Rescue

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 4 - Borderland

We start this one with a cold open on a Klingon War Ship, which picks up two humans, who then precede to kill everyone aboard.

After the intro, we cut to a Starfleet prison, where Archer is visiting someone, specifically a prisoner who is apparently a genius for genetic modification. This guy and archer have the start of pretty interesting philosophical discussion about how inventions can bring both positives and negatives into the world, and the inventor's responsibility over those consiquences.. It's pretty on the nose way to bring an episode's theme into play, but it is an amazing theme to cover. The episode is about genetic engineering, and uses the example of nuclear science as a comparison example, but I'm also kind of reminded of another example in the Haber Process, a chemical process that can be used to make Fertiliser for crops really cheaply, but was also used to produce poison gas in World War 1.

Apparently, the humans who massacred that Klingon ship were genetically enhanced humans stolen by this prisoner. Archer is tasked with finding them, and bringing them back to earth. The Prisoner, his name Arik Soong, brings fantastic energy as a villain. I love his small innocent jabs at everyone, like telling Malcolm he "hasn't been seeing his share of the publicity". The way he delights getting under everyone's skin is just great, and I love that he seems to have some genuine parental love for the Augments. He is a fascinating villain.

It's lovely seeing Enterprise finally fixed up from the Damage the Xindi put in it. T'Pol has now officially joined Starfleet, and it's kinda cute that he got her a gift for signing up. I love the slight redesign that the bridge has received. The blue really makes it look a lot nicer than just the cold grey over the previous seasons had. A lot less utilitarian, and more homely.

While hunting the Augments, Enterprise is hit and Run by an alien group called The Orion Syndicate, apparently slavers, who transport 9 people off of Enterprise, so Enterprise's current mission is diverted to rescue them.

Luckily, Soong has access to the slave market planet, so he and Archer transport down together for the rescue. Archer's plan is to buy out the prisoners, which works for most of the captives, but T'pol was already sold. The plan to save her involved starting a full blown Riot. However during the process Soong attempts an escape of his own. Archer does successfully bring him back to Enterprise however.

Throughout the episode, we keep cutting back to the augments, and while I'm sure the whole power struggle between Malik and Raakin is plot important, I didn't really care much for them at all, at least until the end. Malik's ruthless takeover and murder of Raakin though was great at setting him up as a villain.

During the escape, some Orions open a firefight with Enterprise, but the Augments show up in their Klingon ship. They fight their way through enterprise, take archer hostage all for rescuing Soong, then make their escape.

This episode was a good set up for the coming story arc. We've got a phenomenal pair of villains, an amazing theme to play with and one hell of a cliffhanger. I'm excited for this arc.

Also, just because of how my day worked out, I ended up watching this one with my Partner, who has never watched an episode of Star Trek before and I'm still taking through Doctor Who. His review is that it "wasn't bad"

[tvmigraine]

FORGOTTEN LIVES: Philip Hinchcliffe (Plus Kara Dennison Interview)

Before we begin! Remember to get a copy of the Forgotten Lives Omnibus at this link! I've been busy so you've only got five days to purchase a copy, get yourself one before you miss out!

For this section, for once, I'll be keeping it brief - there's little I want to say on this Doctor as they feel much easier to give across to an audience. Philip Hinchcliffe (1944) needs no introduction to a Classic Who fan, having led the show from The Ark in Space to the more controversial Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Whether intentional or not, there is a reflection in this Doctor's era to the 4th Doctor portrayed by Tom Baker. This eccentric incarnation hides a serious and powerful side behind his bravado and swashbuckler personality, with a combative companion that he's trying to teach to be better a la Leela. Rue makes a grand introduction with "Gauntlet of Absolution" and, currently, is the Hinchcliffe Doctor's only companion which brings up an interesting point. For the most part, each Doctor either has one companion established or mostly adventures on their own. This Doctor falls into that category, but I feel that he isn't the type to take another companion. Where he's building this relationship with Rue, he's also seemingly seeking validation from her in these travels.

Where we have yet to see the definitive finale for Hinchcliffe's Doctor, we see what could be coming. The original art by Paul Hanley lists that this Doctor meets a premature end at the hands of a villain called "The Witch of the White House", a character we see the origins of in the second story. Although the character has yet to be seen through fully, I personally interpret this character to live a lot like the 10th Doctor in that they burn bright but fast. While there's no announcement about any future plans, it would be interesting to see the relationship between these three core characters - the Doctor, the Witch and Rue - develop in the future.

Paul Hanley's design for the Hinchcliffe Doctor's TARDIS is up there in my personal taste, but that's for a good reason - how it references Hinchcliffe's era of the show. During Season 14 of the show (Hinchcliffe's final season as producer), Tom Baker spent that time using the secondary control room as opposed to the usual. Here, Paul Hanley builds a history behind this by making it the main console room for Hinchcliffe's Doctor, giving this interior more history by tying it into its own stories. In a meta way, it keeps a connection between Hinchcliffe and Baker's era even here.

Now that we've covered everything I intended to, let's get to the main chunk of this post - I had the opportunity to interview @the-last-teabender about her Doctor. To give more of an idea of Kara Dennison's work, she's in charge of Altrix Books alongside Paul Driscoll (a name we'll see again with the Gallaccio Doctor) who have released their own charity novels like Master Pieces and Master Switches, both focusing on the Doctor's oldest friend/enemy. She's also working on a series called Owl's Flower, alongside artist Ginger Hoesly.

I tried to keep it in the same vein as the self conducted interviews for Forgotten Lives by focusing on five questions. Read below!

You've written two stories for Hinchcliffe now, "The Gauntlet of Absolution" and "The Demons of Dog Street", and I would personally say that this Doctor does feel somewhat cut from the same cloth as the Tom Baker 4th Doctor. Would you say that his era influenced either story at all when it came to writing for this incarnation? While it wasn't something I intentionally sought out, I'm sure that came into play subconsciously. Everything we experience becomes part of our inspiration, and Tom Baker really is the definitive "Classic Doctor." The comparisons I've seen between Leela and Rue are apt, and Leela is a favorite companion - so as much as I made sure to separate Rue where I could, I can definitely see the broader similarities between the two TARDIS teams. When I've described this Doctor through the lens of other Doctors, 4 has never figured in, but perhaps he should. I tend to describe the Hinchcliffe Doctor as having the humility of 6 and the poise of 11. But again, that's on the outside. If anything, I'm flattered that people see my Doctor and think of someone so iconic and beloved!

In the first interview you gave with Forgotten Lives' page, you mentioned wanting to approach the prehistory from a literary and stylistic angle. Was there any stories or authors that influenced you when finding that style? You did mention the era this hypothetically would've been released was during the revival of sword-and-planet fiction. When I was first asked about being in Forgotten Lives, I'd just finished Renegade Swords, a sword-and-sorcery anthology curated by D.M. Ritzlin. It was the first book I featured during my tenure as book reviewer for Sci Fi Magazine before the mag folded, and it's an excellent introduction to the genre and its many offshoots. Bryce Walton's sword-and-planet story "Princess of Chaos" (which you can find in Renegade Swords or on Project Gutenberg) spurred a lot of the central concept of "Gauntlet of Absolution." In terms of overarching atmosphere, Edgar Rice Burroughs and his John Carter novels were a natural go-to. I wanted to give the sense that this Doctor's adventures played out in pulp sci-fi magazines. The kind with the big illustration on the first two pages. Hence the blurb at the beginning of each story.

You have taken part in other stories for Obverse before, such as City of the Saved and Iris Wildthyme, along with your own works at Altrix Books alongside Paul Driscoll. Does working on this Doctor feel different to how you'd work on other stories? Are there any similarities you've noticed? So far, my stories have either been fully in my own universe or fully in someone else's. Both of which are unique experiences in themselves. I love creating a character from the ground up; at the same time, I love studying, say, Katy Manning's dialogue as Iris and seeing how well I can "impersonate" her in text. Both are great challenges. With the Doctor, it was a sort of in-between experience. Creating a Doctor doesn't fall into one camp or the other. You're working off a template, but you're also not. You're making your own character, but they still have to have those touchstones that make them the Doctor, and people have extremely strong opinions about what those touchstones are. It was a little scary to think about - I dreaded hearing "He's all right, but he's not really the Doctor, is he?" In the end, I was a bit Mel Brooks about it: I wrote something that I knew my friends and I would enjoy, and hoped that would get me there. Judging by the response, it seems to have done the trick, for which I'm very grateful.

Some authors, when returning to Forgotten Lives 2, chose to write a definitive end to their Doctors that leads into the next era. I was curious if the temptation to do that was there when you were planning ahead? Or if you've considered how this Doctor might meet their final story? Funnily enough, the original pitch for FL2 was actually to write their regenerations! As is the case in publishing, that changed as the scope of the anthology changed. And with the addition of more writers (and possibly the realization that the idea has legs), we were invited to write the regeneration if we wanted, but we weren't under any obligation to. I know exactly how this Doctor will go out, and there are pieces already in place. But even though writing the regeneration wouldn't necessarily mean I could never write the character again, I didn't feel ready to go there. I had a lot of pieces I wanted to lay out first. "Demons of Dog Street" is one of those pieces. Whether the others will ever see the light of day is anyone's guess, but I hope so. Suffice to say, I have the whole scenario planned out in my mind, and I think it's the sort of heroic and cool end this Doctor would refuse to admit he's hoping for.

You've obviously worked with the Hinchcliffe Doctor, stepping into Doctors outside of the main canon most people know. Are there any other Doctors that you've wanted to write for? (Things like the Cushing, Unbound, Shalka, any other Doctor out there, etc) I love what Obverse is doing with the Cushing Doctor and hope to be a part of that someday. (I'm sure I'm not the only one!) It's funny you mention the Shalka Doctor, as I actually wrote a Shalka Doctor story for a charity anthology quite a while back. My writing has evolved a lot since then, but for what it was at the time, I'm still rather fond of it. Frankly, I'd consider it a treat to get to write for any Doctor from any period - especially the process of finding their voice for myself. One day, I'd love to see the Forgotten Lives writers trade Doctors and see what comes of it! The Hinchcliffe Doctor's portions of "Retrogenesis" and "The Hive Minders" were so fun to read, because there's something about seeing someone else get your character Just Right. It would be a lot of fun to trade off Doctors within the group and see what we make of each other's work.

You can find more information on what went into Building the Doctor at Kara Dennison's blog. For more insight into the creative process of every author that worked on Forgotten Lives, you can go to @forgottenlivesobverse and find interviews from everyone involved across the books. If you're looking for insight on how the outfits were designed, you can go to Paul Hanley's Patreon and find what went into designing each Doctor.

The adventures of the Hinchcliffe Doctor and Rue start with Gaunlet of Absolution, continuing as we see below - we'll discuss The Hive Minders in the future, but look forward to these stories.

GAUNTLET OF ABSOLUTION by Kara Dennison

THE DEMONS OF DOG STREET by Kara Dennison

RETROGENESIS (Part Four) by Philip Purser-Hallard

THE HIVE MINDERS (Part One) by Ian McIntre

Tomorrow we'll pass the halfway mark and cover the Douglas Camfield Doctor, the only Doctor to make a further appearance in Doctor Who canon.

[popculturebuffet]

Evil Dead Rise: Mommy's with the Maggots Now (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hail to the king baby! It's halloween, it's this blog and that mean's it's time for me to pull out my volume of the Necronimcon Demento and review another chapter of the evil dead.

So for those new here

I'm Jake, I review stuff and things, and two years ago I did an evil dead retrospective, covering all 4 films. From that stupid bitch scotty to ash laughing madly, to the film of a thousand catchphrases to that one that had Jane Levy, some good gore and little else, it was a fun ride.

So naturally with a new evil dead film out, it's only natural that I returned to review the latest film in the franchise: Evil Dead Rise. It's also a special review as it's my belated reviewversry with friend of the blog and over time of the me, WeirdKev27.

Kevin was my first client and the one who made me able to make a living doing this, and while he has zero interest in ever seeing Evil Dead Rise, he's more an horror-action and horror-comedy kind of guy, this gives him a chance to see what it has. Plus really after covering the last 4 even if he didn't agree to sponsor it, I'd be doing this anyway as I both love this film and hate not having the complete set. It's thanks to kev I have all I do now, so thanks man.

Evil Dead Rise is the franchises second attempt at a soft reboot after Evil Dead 2013. The plan after that one was to do two sequels: Evil Dead 2, which would follow Mia, Jane Levy's final girl from the requel and the only character who wasn't huffing paint thinner the whole film, and Army of Darkness 2. This ended up falling through, with Alvarez moving on to other projects and AOD2 being retooled into Ash Vs the Evil Dead, a three season tv series on stars that sadly got cancelled but from all accounts fucking rocked and I definitely want to cover at some point.

From there Ash's story was seemingly done on screen. While Dynamite will likely publish army of darkness comics till the end of time, Bruce Campbell had decided he was aging out of the part and wanted to pass the chainsaw on. That said while Campbell was seemingly done playing Ashy Slashy, he wasn't done with the franchise, staying on as a producer alongside Sam Rami and Robert Tapert. Rami and Campbell were done MAKING the films, but still wanted the franchise to live on.

So in 2019 a new film got the greenlight, with Rami handpicking rookie director Lee Cronin for the part, having impressed rami while working on the short lived quibi series 50 States of Fright. Cronin easily took to the cast and once filming COULD kick off in 2021, he hit the ground running. The result is a fresh take on the franchise that was so well done that WBD decided it was too good to just pop on streaming and much like Blue Beetle, bumped it up to theaters. The result was a 19 million dollar film.. scoring nearly 150 million in the box office, a huge success that , unlike most films only GREW it's audience as the weeks went on, always a great sign.

As a result the franchise's future seems secure, with Cronin not only already having 4 ideas for a sequel, which i'll get to later, but the results were so Groovy Bruce decided he wasn't finished yet, meaning an ash film is also in the cards.

So the question is how groovy is this film and how does the franchise fair without it's iconic cabin setting or iconic catchphrase spewing chainsaw man? The answers to all of this is under the cut. So turn the page, wash your hands, and prepare for 1717 Gallons of Bloodshed as I look at Evil Dead Rise.

Evil Dead Rise starts off a day after the main plot, with three 20 somethings having gone to a cabin in the woods woooooooooooooo not realizing what franchise their in. They are Jessica, Teresa, Jessica's cousin and Caleb, Jessica's douchey boyfriend. Caleb annoys Teresa with a drone, nearly clipping her with it and mansplaning after she says it nearly clipped her head off that it would've ground her face up instead.

Teresa proves to be just as obnoxious as Caleb, berating Jessica for leaving her alone with him, fair.. but then also being mad at her for being sick, laid up in bed and thus unable to give her the keys.

Thankfully this is an evil dead movie so Jessica quickly ends our suffering as she wants to swallow souls, taking off Teressa's scalp in a gory, horrifying and awesome practical effect before putting the drone to her own face and jumping into the lake. Caleb proves he's both not a COMPLETE asshole but still a complete idiot by diving in after her and we get the films awesome opening shot: Jessica rising from the lake, drenched in water and blood as the title rises behind her.

While I do like that TITLE CARRRD and scalping, overall i'm not a big fan of this opening. While it's well shot like the rest of the film, it's too short to really make me care and feels like it was thrown in there because the main plot ran a tad short and was too tightly paced to add to. It's a how we got here sort of thing that dosen't really work and feels like i'ts just there so we can have a sequel.. depsite the film having MULTIPLE other valuable sequel hooks dangling around. It's unnecessary in a film that otherwise really dosen't DO unnecessary. It also feels tonally off, feeling like a 2000's era "Kill the douchebags" sort of film than the tightly paced well characterized film we get after.

Thankfully we soon meet our actual protagnist, Beth. Beth, played by Australian Actor Alyssa Sulivan, gets a great introduction that does a lot of nice exposition without actually saying any: we quickly find out from her being sick in a stall and having some douche she works with who can't do his job himself and just let her go to the bathroom for five minutes knock on it that sh'es a roadie, her hiding it tells us she's pregnant and doesn't want anyone else to know, and Suilivan's awesome facial acting tells us she has no idea how to process this.

We soon cut to LA in a high rise, a setting change I utterly love. Before this most evil dead works were in a rural setting: a cabin in the woods for the first, second and fourth films, artuhrian times for the third, and some small towns for ash vs the evil dead. We haven't seen the deadites in an urban setting before this and LA was a great set.

The choice of setting within is also great: an old crumbling high rise in the middle of a busy city no one would give two shits about or really investigate in the middle of the night. It keeps the isolation of the cabin but puts a new spin on it that allows for new set pieces.

The main one of these is Ellie's Apartment. Ellie is played by the stunning and talented Alyssa Sutherland, previously known for Vikings, which I haven't seen. Sutherland is the easy breakout of the film, the center of most of it's marketing and the most terrifying part about it... eventually.

Part of that terror is we see her first as a fun, responsible mom and tattoo artist dealing with three children, all creatives themselves in some way: Bridget (Gabrille Echoles) is an activist, her brother Danny (Morgan Davies) is a dj and their young sister Cassie cuts up her dolls to create staves to body check her sister with.

This family, which doesn't have a last name, is the core of the film and the first 20 minutes are really just setting them up as people: Beth is a tad snarky but clearly loves her kids and is tough but fair with them, Bridget is sarcastic to just about everyone but her aunt, Danny is a bit of a reckless fuckwit but has a good heart, more on the former later, and Cassie is a sweetie pie. Their not super deep characterizations, but the talented actors give them a lot of character simply by action, and one of the films best asset is how great these people are at facial acting.

Beth flies in and after scaring the shit out of Ellie. The two actresses have great chemistry and you can feel the tension as the two clearly haven't talked.. and Beth missed a lot as Ellie's ex husband abandoned the family and this high rise is condemned, with the family only having a month. So naturally Ellie isn't that excited to see Beth, both for Beth dodging her calls, despite getting her messages, and showing up at the worst possible time.

That said the film also does a really good job with the sibling dynamic: like me with my own brother Ellie may be annoyed with Beth.. but she's there for her, getting this visit wasn't just out of the blue and her sister really needs her and waits till the kids have left to pick up pizza to ask, but does so gently yet firmly. These characters feel like family and building up this empathy and character is key to everything being as horrifying as it is. It's something many horror films, including this very film in it's opening and the previous film fail to grasp: just because

Dosen't mean we should WANT them too. It's fine to throw in a few assholes to kill so not EVERY death is a downer, depending on the film, but when you can't empathize with most of your cast it makes the wait for the bloodshed tedious. It's why the previous film REALLY didn't work for me: outside of mia NONE of these idiots were likeable and as such having to spend a film with them being stupid and waiting for them to die while the only likeable one was turned into a deadite wasn't fun. Here by making everyone we encounter likeable, grounded, and interesting.. it makes the horrifying slaughter we're about to witness that much more tragic. It makes us WANT these characters not to be dead by dawn.

Anyways we're soon reminded this is LA as we get an EARTHQUAKKKEEEE, with the bathroom set our sisters are in having been rigged to shake really well. The kids thankfulyl weren't driving at the time and instead are trying to take the pizza back up when it hits. They drop it, but do live.

Sadly for them and everyone else on their floor Danny suffers from a terminal case of dumbass and upon seeing a giant crack in the ground leading to a mysterious old bank vault just HAS to investigate in the dark. He finds some old records, which.. fair enough, it's some neat historical stuff, could be fun to paly with soundwise and could help them fincally. Him taking stuff romt he hole is mildly stupid.. but I get it and I probably would. What I wouldn't do is upon finding a room guarded by a bunch of hanging crucafixes and seeing a book with teeth and bound in human flesh, take it with me. And I mean teeth as this Necronomicon has a nasty but awesome set of chompers. I praise the set design here on this, it's iconic as the original, still recognizable as being it's sibling, but the teeth give it it's own flair.

Anyways the kids get back to the apartment and Danny decides the best thing he can do during a dark night with quakes a poppin.. is to pry open his new book. Which granted is what i'd do, but my recent book is about a trans woman's first year post transition and is damn good...

Highly recommend it and it's sequel, which I got first. Also guarnateed not to summon the evil dead.. which I understand is a dealbreaker for some of you. Good news i'm pretty sure that manga about Joker raising a baby batman does, so have at it if that's what your after.

Sadly Danny is not taking my book recommendations and opens the things finding a bunch of spooky pictures and... being genuinely horrified. He's a LITTLE fascinated but it's clear his reaction is "shit this thing isn't good is it. Not hleped is that when he pricks his finger on the books mighty jaws, it drinks some blood Audrey II styles. Bridget sees this and has the right reaction.

Or rather chuck it back down the hole they got it from. Danny can't because their mom won't let them out of the apartment after the quake which is fair.. what's less fair is that he dosen't wrap the book in something or hide it. Keep it from trying to nible on some face. You have 4 other people in the house Dan be considerate!

That said Dan still takes the darwin award winning step of playing the wax records he got. NOw on paper Danny being this dumb shoudln't work.. but in practice Rise does an excellent job showing why Danny would be like this: we've seen he's an audophile, that he's reckless as he went down a crevice in an earthquake, and that he's curious to a fault, willing to take the book in a first place. So he's being stupid.. but it's in a way where it's a character flaw and not just bad writing.

It also helps that while playing the records is risky.. you can kinda see why. He found a creepy vampiric book in the basement. He probably gets he might not be able to just chuck it in a hole and have it not come back or have already infected them or something. it didn't, but he can't know that. So knowing what the FUCK this thing is might be a good idea.

As it turns out we get some exposition from a preist long ago: he found the book and proposed to his fellow preists to explore it. His Fellow preists didn't want to die today and loudly decired it as blasphemous.

So he decided to take it and study it because that's never gone horribly wrong and lead to about a dozen deaths in this franchise, along with cameo Bruce Campbell and some other guy. He also decides to read it and to Danny's credit, he tries to stop the record there... only for it to keep playing. The Evil Dead have come baby.

Before we move on I need to talk about the danny thing a bit more, mostly because not only was this whole inciting incident well done, being rooted in character stupidity instead of just bad writing.. but it also feels like a direct response to the last film. For those who either haven't seen it, you blessed people you, or need a refresher, in Evil Dead 2013 the Necronomicon was found in a basement full of rotting corpses and next to a shot gun. it was packed in a garbage back, covered with barb wire, and had bright red writing implicitly from ash telling you NOT TO FUCKING READ IT OUTLOUD.

So enter Eric, full time teacher part time fuckwit who hears about the corpses, sees all of this and not only cuts the barbed wire but READS THE BOOK.

So it's nice the followup decided to use the same plot device.. but actually use it instead of making a character brain dead.

So with that the evil dead has risen and the nightmare time has arrived. And the first victim of the Evil Dead is Ellie, whose experincing some ELEVATED horror while taking the elevated when some cables grab her.

The sequence is quick horrifying and also has her trying in vain to fight off the possesion before the evil dead kills her, and she returns as a deadite.. and as the real breakout of the piece. While Beth is the lead and Lily Sullivan does greath, it's Sutherland whose the main attraction.. and not just because a good half of the audience's reactoin to Deadite Ellie was

Which isn't me, but I entirely get. It's also intresting to have a horror film where the deadite is the real hammy star instead of our hero. Sutherland is iconic in this roll, from the creepy smiles to how unsettling she plays possesed elly: the pitched down voice HELPS.. but it's the unceasing smile, creepy grins and offputting behavior that make Deadite Elly so awesome and so electric to watch. There's good reason her possesion was spoiled int he marketing: She's the center of this film's horror. She's not the only deadite, we'll get a few more, but she's the main threat, the main focus and the main thing fucking with our heroes heads, starting with the brilliant egg sequence where Cronin and Sutherland make simply making eggs fucking unerving.

She's also the main source of black comedy in the film, from calling her children titty sucking parasites, to her game of eeny meeny miney you, to later making her daughter repeat the eyeball gag from 2, her haminess is well played: enough to keep the film from getting TOO bleak but not so overplayed it takes you out of how horrifying thigns are.

Deadite ellie is the biggest symbol of the films tone: Cronin keeps it pitch black like the requel, but unlike that film Cronin realizes that too MUCH bleakness overrides everything else. But giving us characters to root for and want to live through the night and some dark humor, it helps contrast the utterly bleak situation. It gives us something to go what the fuck at with the humor and something to cling on to. I hate that I keep making this review "Whyt his one works and why the remake didn't" as Fede Alvarez seems like a genuinely nice person. This film is good on it's own, not just because I like it more than the other... but it's also impossible to not bring up the two as they tried to do the same thing: bring back the franchise without ash, without contiuing the original story. I don't WANT to keep using the 2013 film as a punching bag... but it's hard not to when this feels like the better version of it, making an evil dead that's closer to straight horror.. but still gets what the franchise is. It keeps the frantic pacing of 2, it just makes it less of an over the top comedy and more an over the top nightmare our heroes can't escape. it's frantic out of urgency rather than out of throwing weird, hilaroius or horrifying shit at y ou constantly. Well except the last part.

Anyways at first everyone just assumes Deadite elly is sick, and they turn to their neighbors, Gabriel (Jayden Daniels) and his father Mr. Fonda (Mick Michelson). Gabe is a kind man implied to have a thing for elly while his father is very mildly crotchety but a kind cat owner , both helping: Gabe tries to treat Elly while his pop pop tries to figure out HOW to get her to help. As it did with the bridge, the Evil has taken out the stairs and already trashed the elvator, leaving a fire escape through a conedemed apartment as thier only escape.

So while gabe and his dad plan to run through, everyone else is left with Elly. We also get a really nice use of modren tech: in most films they usually have to do the "cellphones out" dance, which I understand but got old. Here... what we know about the evil dead from other films provides a nice way... they get no signal.. because it can control that because it can control anything in it's radius. If it can posses a moose head working the wifi shoudln't be that hard.And it thus has Ellie, trapped inside her deadite counterprat clal her sister for help before convulsing.... and whne put inj a tub crawwling out of it

Mayhem ensues as the family has to ward off Deadite Ellie, and we get a lot of nice iconic bits of violence: Ellie's now iconic line of "mommy's with the maggots now", going "eeneie meanie miney you" and using a CHEESE GRATER on her daughter while attacking her in the kitchen. Which while Cronin overhyped it before release, it's a nasty wound but in a film caked in blood, it's still a very creative gore moment in a film packed with them. The gallons of blood I listed before the cut were how many it actually took to make this film. It's another way the film works: it keeps the over the top nature of the series, it just emphasises the horror more, a way to keep the series fredsh but not ignore what made it good.

Our heroes are barely able to lock Ellie out and we get one of the best sequence sin the film: our heroes look in the peep hole.. and we see bits and pieces as Ellie masacres Mr. Fonda, gabriel and two local teens I didn't mention because they literally just hit on Bridget once and then die horribly here. Even Mr. F having a boomstick dosne't save him. And it's stuff like this that works: the high rise on paper is safter, less isolated... but in practice our heroes are nwo trapped in a cramped space, no way out with a bloodthirsty monster wearing their loved one's face. It's a brilliant take.

Naturally as is Evil Dead tradition, the group falls apart a bit: Danny is in tears taking the blame for this and it's again why I like him: he may be stupid.. but while eric just kinda hid we see the toll casuing this put on Danny. Bridget rips him apart for it and normally you'd think one would go outside and die.. but in a nice twist on the old formula Beth stops them: Danny MAY of caused this but they CANNOT turn on each other. It's what's out there that they need to fight.

Speaking of which Deadite Ellie prays on her youngest, gaslighting cassie by pretending to be "all better now"

Though i'll give them points for style. This force Beth and Danny to save her.. and thus leaving them open for Bridget as in a horrifying sequence we see the dead slowly flow thorugh her before she startsb leading black blood out her nose... and becomes the dead.

Another horrifying scuffle insues with her targeting danny and barfing blood on him and nearly killing him before cassie FUCKING IMPALES HER. God damn kid.

They tie bridget up in a sack and Beth finally gets Danny to spill about the book and comes up with a plan: since playing the record got them into this, playing the record will get them out of this.

It's a desperation move.. but like Danny's earlier shenanigans that lead to this blood party.. it makes some sense: they can't read the book, and frankly trying to may just make MORE deadites, and if the guy actually survived long enough to make a third album, it means they MIGHT have a way out. We also get a nice ash style montage of her getting the DJ equipment to work as at this point the power is out. It also nicely makes her music career into a hell of a chekovs gun.

Tragically.. they don't. HIs album simply outlines the horrors idiot priest man faced, what he's lost and how only complete and total dismemberment works. Granted we knew from the intro they probably wouldn't' make it but by this point, the film's got us too invested to care. I still dont' LIKE the intro making it clear this doesn't work from the get go, but at least the films well paced enough to compensate.

Things then get somehow worse as Bridget rises and stabs danny to death, coughing up blood and everything. It's brutal as it is amazingly designed. He does manage to fire her out of the impartment... with fire, while Ellie sneaks in through the vents, something set up by the old man's lost cast earlier.

Ellie attacks Beth and in a VERY unerving moment detects she has a baby inside her, mocks her as deadites do then tries to rip it out.

But before she can get that fetus, kill that feetus and before I can go to hell for that joke, Bridget saves her. And props to Gabrille Echoles for her excellent child acting, an alex vincent level performance.

With our party down to 2 1/3, our heroes ventur eotuside and now EVERYONE'S a deadite. Highlights include Mr Fonda grabbing Ellie's leg as she grabs his boomstick

And my favorite bit.. the two deadite children hovering over a seemingly prone deadite ellie, seemingly crying for thie rmom.. before it turns into dark.. piercing laughter. It's one of the most effective scares in the film and all the deaddites joining in is just chilling. It's a scaled back but effective version of the entire cabin laughing from evil Dead 2

The final girls hide in the elevator as what's left of their family fuses into The Marauder, our final deadite for the evening and a grotesque combination of their family, a grim reminder of what's happened and just a gross thing to look at. As is standard for this film, it's awesome and I love it.

SPeaking of awesome and I love it we then get another destined to be iconic bit: the elevator fills with BLOOD. What's more impressive is they got the scene in one: had they failed they would've had to clean up and start again, which given this scene involves a GIANT pool of pracitcal blood and leaves both characters drenched in it for the rest of the film, is a LOT to as and is a LOT of moving parts to nail on your first try. But they did and the result is a horrifying sequence as the elevator fills, our heroines barely survive..a nd then get tosse dinto the parking garage drenched.

The good news: now they can escape. The bad news is Deadites love final boss fights, so The Marauder is there to oand stalking them. The final fight is a tense sequence as Elly ducks it but thankfully noticces some landscaping equipment. You know what that means... CHAINSAW BLOOD MOTHERFUCKERS

So Elly takeas a fucking chainsaw to it, which gives her an edge, and later uses her fucking boom stick and tells it to "come get some". I like these little nods, obvious enough to notice btu not distracting enough if you haven't seen the other films.

What finally does it in is fucking aawesome though: a goddamn woodchipper. look is a woodchipper being here convient? yes. is the fact the deadites only sent one convient? yes. is Ellie putting a deadite through a goodamn woodchipper with her niece and now adopted daughter turning it on fucking glorious and goryious?

It's a great finale and with that Ellie, her unborn child and her niece head off into the sunset.. while our opening deadite comes into being.

Evil Dead Rise is a glorious new chapter in the franchise: still very much evil dead, but with a darker and somehow even bloodier spin on things. It's a worhty sucessor and very worthy of being the highest grossing film in the franchise, and with that acolade a sequel is hopefully inevitble.

LIke I said Cronin had four ideas, all of them brillian 1. Returning to the Cabin: While admitely I dont' care about those characters, a new cabin in the woods would be neat. This is my least faviorite as the NEXT one.. but I woudln't mind it eventually. 2. Focusing on Ellie: Seeing where she goes next, which I badly want. 3. A prequeL: focusing on the preist. another solid idea. And my faviorite 4. The cleanup crew: returning to the high rise to ask "how the hell would people react to the leftovers of the carnage we just saw".

their all great and with Bruce wanting to return now after this entry, the future is bright and this will likely not be the last time we read from the book of the dead. But it was a great return of it and I can't wait to read the next chapter. Until then hail to the king baby.. and thanks for reading

[ajmargera]

anniversary Johnny Knoxville x reader

Authors note: Hi guys, first fic here I know its not the best but I'm trying to improve. please tell me how I did though. thanks for your time enjoy - Aj

swearing, fluff

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It was in not way abnormal to be awoken by loud noises in the early hours of the morning at castle bam. However something was different about it.

It was loud outside and you heard multiple people talking and laughing. You rolled over in your pit of a bed to look at the old clock on the bed side table. it read '08:43' Fucking bastards you mutter out pulling the doves over your head in a pathetic attempt to drown out what noise you could.

Today of all days. Today was the day of johhny and yours 3 year anniversary, but could you see him? course not. Ever since this show started you and johnny have no time for each other. The day after the finale of season one of viva la bam the MTV producers were on set. After you'd had finished filming they spoke to everyone about what they had planned for season 2 . They wanted you to return as a frequent character. You didn't agree straight away as you weren't keen on the idea of it. But after talking with Johnny ,and allot of begging by bam, You and johnny agreed youd stay in Westchester for filming and go back to la the second the series is over. You couldn't really complain about the job, you got decently payed and got to spend time with your family. But you couldn't see the one person who meant the most to you in the world for another good few weeks.

'yo dude why don't we-' was all you heard before Ryan began to whisper. * Bastard* you thought to myself . After some more childish giggles from the people outside, the noise if the chainsaw starting echoed throigh the house.. 'Dunn give it hear you dick' you heard a familiar voice from outside. * was that. no. PJ??* you quickly thought. You jumped out of bed and put one of your brothers hoodies on. You rushed down the stairs of castle bam nearly tripping over whatever hazards where lying everywhere.

You ran down the stairs to be met by Vito and your dad sat at the dinning room table eating breakfast. 'Why the fuck you rushing round for you Dick, its not even 9 and your awake!' Vito said. ' leave her alone Vito' phil jumped in. ' fuck you Vito its too early for your shit' you hissed at him making my way to the front door. ' if its too early why you up?' Vito asked buttering more of his toast. ' cos those dickheads outside' you said rolling my eyes. ' oh yeah your boyfriend out there' he said but your dad kicked him. ' shut up Vito, she wasn't supposed to know' 'IT IS PJ' you said walking quicker to the door. ' How was I supposed to know that it was a secret?' was the last thing you heard from Vito before you ran out the house'

' Dude I don't see this man in a year and then I wake up to him destroying my hummer' you heard your brother shout. You walk round from the side of the house to look up and see your brother shirtless in the window. ' johnny your girlfriends here' Ryan shouted. You turned to the direction his voice came from and too your surprise him and johnny were stood on bams ,now destroyed, hummer. ' PJ' you shouted running from my position. 'y/n' he said getting off the roof of the destroyed car as you quickly made your way over to him. You jumped into his embrace taking in everything and forgetting that there was a camera crew recording your every move. ' happy 3 years baby' he mutters into your hair. ' happy 3 years pj' you mumble into his chest earing a smirk from him. 'CUT'

'So first you wake me up by destroying my hummer, start a prank war, then just sit there fondling my sister in MY driveway!' Bam shouted at johnny. Dico, raab, Ryan and you were sat round the kitchen counter when your brother and johnny walked in. ' grow up bam, I wasn't fondling your sister I was wishing MY girlfriend a happy anniversary.' he said back putting his arm around you and kissing your head. ' its your guys anniversary?' Dico questioned. ' yeah 3 years' you groggily replied. ' don't care if it's your anniversary or not Knoxville you've pissed me off' bam said storming out of the room. ' better go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid' Ryan said putting his dishes in the sink. ' ry, he is the walking definition of stupid' you said getting a smack off of your best friend and a laugh out of the other boys. Ryan left to catch up to bam. ' Brat' you muttered into your coffee. ' going to tell him you said that' raab hummed. ' fuck you ' you replied ' fuck you to dickhead' Raab that's Johnny's job' dico replied with a smirk on his lips. The boys started pissing themseves and so did johnny. ' johnny shut up' you whined. ' make him' Dico replied. You look at him disgusted. ' you better fucking run' you shout and kicking your chair out of the way. Dico and raab ran to the back door but before you can go after them you feel a strong hand on your arm keeping you in place. ' and where do you think your going princess' Johnny says hugging you and placing a kiss on your head. ' to kill them bastards' you replied kissing him on the lips. ' leave them alone baby there only having fun' he replied deepening the hug. You leaned into him more to feel more of his body heat. ' aww is my baby tired?' He questioned but got no repliey. You where too tired to reply, feeling how heavy your eyelids where getting, you just nodded into his chest. 'C'mon then' he cooed into your ear picking you up by the legs and began to carry you bridal style up to your room.

' ignore bam, he's just being a dickhead cos he's moody. think he's on his period or something' you mumbled Johnny laughed. ' never do pay attention to him doll face' he replied still walking up the stairs.

By the time yous too got to your room, you were nearly asleep. He placed you down on your bed and tucked you in. ' Get some rest princess' he said turning his back to leave. ' Pj don't go' you whined. ' I wasn't I was just shutting the door' he shut the door and then took his shirt off showing his beautifully toned chest. You put your arms out as an indication for him to hurry up. When he's done messing about he climbs into bed and puts his arms around you. ' happy anniversary Pj' you say warming into his touch. ' Happy anniversary baby' he says and kisses your head.

^END^

wow that was fun, requests are open if you have any and please tell me how I did. have a good day :) - aj

[greatwyrmgold]

There's an anime this season that I tried almost entirely because of a character named Magical Girl Anarchy. She has a punk aesthetic, and she's named Magical Girl Anarchy. Unfortunately, she took a back seat to some guy, and the plot felt like a YA dystopia which was trying to cater to privileged nerds' persecution complexes. Maybe it gets better, maybe the Otaku Hero dies at the end of episode 1 and it turns into a proper punk magical girl series, I dunno; I wasn't enjoying it, so I moved on.

That's not important right now. What's important is the name "Magical Girl Anarchy" and the magical girl team I've written to contain it.

Magical Girl Anarchy

The Lancer. Glam punk aesthetic, fire magic. The one who drives the team forward.

Anarchy has a strong sense of justice, and a stronger hatred of injustice (fostered in part by having been a direct target of great injustice in the past). She cannot abide unjust actions or institutions; living in a world full of both makes her restless, often to the frustration of her teammates.

You know how a lot of action heroes will encounter someone being attacked in a back alley by a corrupt cop or something, intervene, and then start a fight scene after the cop refuses his offer to back down? Kinda like that, except that (for better or worse) Anarchy doesn't give them a chance to back down. She gets into trouble pretty often, but usually manages to bail herself out before her friends get dragged into it.

She doesn't just pick fights with random assholes, though; she does that when she sees the opportunity, but most of her focus is on the villains (see below). Dealing with the source of the injustice is the best way to restore justice. And she desperately wants to do that. She gets frustrated when her friends don't seem as motivated to deal with them.

Anarchy's magical talent is to disrupt other magic, making it misfire; her loner tendencies are driven in part by disagreements on what the team should do, and in part by her feeling like she makes things worse for the others.

(She can do other magic stuff, too. It's just stuff all the magical girls can do, one way or another.)

Anarchy has tried to convince the other magical girls to start the band. (Anarchy plays bass guitar.) Unfortunately, she's the only one with any interest in music, and until Magical Girl Liberty joined she was the only one with musical skill.

Magical Girl Acuity

The Smart Guy, obviously. Goth/Business casual aesthetic, metal magic. The one who checks the team's route.

Acuity has made mistakes in the past. She's always tried to do what's right, but sometimes that lead her to doing something terribly wrong (possibly even being an ex-member of the villains' faction). She's driven primarily by a desire not to make those mistakes again, which means carefully planning, preparing, and of course analyzing those plans and preparations and her own mindset and anything else that seems relevant.

Acuity and Affinity get along well, with Affinity bringing up problems that Acuity can consider and work into her plans. These plans cover every base, but tend to be time-consuming (to Anarchy's irritation) and rigid (to Agency's).

Acuity's primary magical talent is healing, but she also has a knack for enchanted items, particularly ofuda. These are useful as a way of extending her relatively shallow magical endurance, but they're less flexible than spells cast on the fly, and obviously she can't use any if she didn't prepare and bring the right talisman.

Magical Girl Agency

(The "control over actions and their consequences" definition, with a dash of "action or intervention, especially such as to produce a particular effect".)

The Big Guy. Himekaji gyaru aesthetic, wind magic. The one who keeps the team moving.

Agency sympathizes with Anarchy more than the rest of the team, because they have similar backgrounds. While Agency wasn't the victim of as much violent injustice as Anarchy, she has more experience with the banal injustices inflicted on entire communities, partly because she's older and partly because Anarchy spends more time getting into trouble than talking with other

True to her name, Magical Girl Agency wants everyone to have control of their own lives. This ideal drives both her overall goals (such as opposing the villains) and her methodology. She dislikes micromanagement and detailed plans, believing that it's better to give each team member the flexibility needed to make decisions based on their immediate circumstances and self-understanding.

Her magical talent is celerity. She powers up fast, casts her spells fast, and recovers her magic fast. It lacks the intricacy of her teammates' powers, but it works; she can't do much that the others can't, but she can do more of it, with more force behind it.

Agency has an interest in meteorology. She hopes to be a meteorologist when she retires from magical girl-ing...unless she can master both magic and meteorology to the point of controlling the weather, which she thinks would be a more productive use of her talents than simple research.

Magical Girl Affinity

The Heart. Shiro lolita aesthetic, ice magic. The one who keeps the team on track.

Affinity comes from a moderately wealthy family—not the 1%, but people who are doing pretty well in this society. She was a sheltered child, growing up ignorant to the evils of the world. She had the wool torn from her eyes in her adolescence, and joined the magical girl team shortly thereafter.

Affinity doesn't have as well-defined a motivation as the other girls; she wants to help people and make the world more like the ideal world she thought existed. This dispassionate hope means that she's the most likely to balk at the group's plans, particularly when they risk compromising the girls' ethics or safety.

Sometimes this means pointing out genuine problems with their plan, sometimes it means groundless anxiety about things the girls have to do, and it's not always clear which is which until it's too late. Every angel needs a devil's advocate, but that necessity doesn't mean her teammates appreciate all Affinity's worries. Anarchy in particular is prone to seeing them as excuses, and even Acuity gets irritated when Affinity prods at a plan they all spent hours or days working on.

Her magical talent is to connect other magical girls, letting them combine their strength to be more powerful than they could ever be apart.

Affinity frequently gets into arguments with Anarchy, which is symbolized by the fact that Anarchy's talent does not work well with Affinity's. Anarchy has to be left out of the Affinity-facilitated team moves to keep them from going out of control, until the two of them undergo some character development together.

Magical Girl Amity

The Hero. Magical girl seifuku aesthetic, earth magic. The new one.

Every team needs a new, comparatively generic member so the audience has someone they can relate to and who needs stuff explained to them. Moreover, that member can act as a straight man. And Amity is that.

On the team, Amity has two important roles. First is her magical talent, which ties into her narrative role more than her personality. Amity has some power that's either critical for the heroes (leading to them reaching out and recruiting Amity) or dangerous to the villains (leading to them targeting Amity, forcing her to join the team for her own safety).

Second is her role as a mediator. She finds compromises between the other girls' different approaches and opinions. Sometimes this means being the tiebreaker when the rest of the team gets divided over something dumb; sometimes it means wrangling a dialogue between the two sides as they collectively try to decide what the best course of action is.

Amity herself isn't as strong a personality as her teammates, and that's okay.

Villains

What would this magical girl team fight? I haven't put much thought into it, but I feel like a character named Magical Girl Anarchy shouldn't just fight generic bad-vibes monsters. She deserves an antagonist who directly opposes her values. Something human, yet omnipresent. Something obsessed with control. Something...institutional.

(Which is, to be fair, what the Magical Girl Anarchy from Magical Destroyers fought. I just don't think it's an interesting institution, or that it's fought in an interesting way.)

Maybe a secret cabal of powerful businessmen, rentiers, and politicians who use magic covertly to secure their investments. Maybe a council of warlocks who rule society openly, using their sorcery to legitimize their power and their power to strengthen their sorcery. Maybe the plutocrats of a cyberpunk-tinted world, to which magical girls are as disruptive as anarchists. And these figures shouldn't be The Big Bad, so much as manifestations of social forces that can never be fought directly.

But those forces can be opposed. And the individuals are causing harm, of course, so they should be individually stopped. The balance between stopping villainous plans, opposing the institutions which enable those villains, and directly helping the people hurt by villainy is probably one of those things the team spends a lot of time arguing about.