#it seems like this ep was probably somewhat based on personal experience for her

[jamietxrtt]

im still baffled by the general response to ep 8 btw. sure the dialogue got a little cheesy at times, but the dialogue in this show is always like 15% cheesy? that’s why people like it lol.

i thought ep 8 was really good, plotlines were moving, drama was happening, characters and relationships were being tested. juno temple acted her ass off. i wish the whole season had been like this!

i really don’t understand why everyone disliked this ep so much. am i missing something? am i just looking for something different out of this show than everyone else is? i agree that the season as a whole has been… scattered, but i thought this past ep was really good.

am i missing something?

[catgirledteach]

Things in the "Pine Barrens" ep I loved (spoilers obv):

- Laszlo telling Baby Colin to use Siri to prove him right in an argument with Nandor

- Baby Colin chilling with Sean during the day because Laszlo and Nandor are sleeping

- The girls night is fucking LIT they are having the time of their LIVES, and most importantly Marwa. I think Nadja even has a line about Marwa needing to experience other things outside of Nandor (I may be wrong though)

- Guillermos family is so cute but you can also start to get a picture of how he ended up as a perpetual familiar. He definitely has a somewhat subservient/perpetual little kid dynamic with his family and he struggles to speak up for himself, although not as much anymore

- Guillermo is wearing VERSACE. HELLO??? (he may also be wearing a Gucci tracksuit at the start of the ep)

- Guillermo is just SO SWEET with his family he's so proud to finally have them over for dinner im-

- NADJA PAINTING MARWAS NAILS NADJA PAINTING MARWAS NAILS

- The girls watching Mamma Mia and Nadja being so pumped about it. She's reliving Greece through Meryl Streep

- She also says Laszlo doesn't like to watch it because it reminds him of all the children he sired and then left when he was a human (which taking in his current parental role with Baby Colin is so interesting to me)

- Nandor and Laszlo are having tension pretty much from the very start of the ep but Nandor seems most taken aback when Laszlo says Sean is his best friend. And he keeps getting excluded from their interactions 😢

- Nandor gets concerned about having firearms in the house with Baby Colin around 🥺 and when he tries to tell Laszlo he shouldn't be messing with them Laszlo brushes him off and that seems to be the final straw that leads into their fight

- My babygirl Guillermo was hiding so much over the years that he felt like he had to lie that Nadja was HIS WIFE. And when cornered, Nadja actually GOES ALONG WITH IT for seemingly no other reason than to help Guillermo??? She could have just slaughtered them all, hypnotized them into forgetting her, but no. She plays along!!!! Because they're friends!!!!!!

- PS. I think at one point she even lies to make him look better by saying he's actually her boss???

- de la Cruz family having natural slayer instincts theory CONFIRMED!

- I may be reading too much into this one but Guillermos abuela says when a de la Cruz gets near a vampire your heart burns and you get goosebumps and then it cuts straight to Nandor. I am connecting the dots on how Nandor and Guillermo met because there's no way Guillermo didn't feel something similar (he's probably just gotten used to the sensation after all this time and didn't think it was weird). Again I may be overthinking but that sure sounds like a sensation that could be mistaken for love at first sight and also its giving strong vibes of when Nandor said he had already found love and then it cut straight to Guillermo

- Nandor and Lazslo fighting in front of Baby Colin also gives big 'my parents are a week away from a divorce' energy

- Nadja actually really loves Guillermos family! She asks them how such lovely people raised such a boring person (im paraphrasing cause I couldn't really hear)

- Guillermos face after he comes out I will never recover

- Also the fact that as soon as everything about the vampires comes spilling out he also comes out - like I know we (sort of but not really) joke about vampirism/the monstrous being a metaphor for queerness but hoo boy. this one really got me

- His family was more annoyed that Guillermo wants to be a vampire than him being gay I love that for them

- Nandor is really going through it man. But he's also becoming so protective of Baby Colin. I just want to hug him 😞

- Nadja has another moment of real sympathy with Guillermo based on her own family that she can't see anymore. This was truly an episode delving much deeper into the individual characters' insecurities and histories of how they came to be the way they are

- I also think she has a line about how Guillermo has a puppy dog face when he wants something but it's more effective on Nandor and she thinks it's gross

- Nadja wants to have more girls nights and wants to watch Mamma Mia 2!!! I hope Guillermo joins their girls nights cause she only requested that Nandor Lazslo and Colin be out of the house

- This entire sequence between Guillermo and Nadja (in a talking heads confession TOGETHER! BESTIES!!! it's everything I wanted from them in London)

GUILLERMO: Now they know I'm gay, so...

NADJA: I mean, who isn't gay???

GUILLERMO: Lots of people.

NADJA: (sarcastically) Oh ok, woo-hoo. I'll get the confetti(?) out, sorry.

GUILLERMO: (rolling his eyes in the gayest, bitchiest way possible) Shady.

I love them so much it's insane.

- Baby Colin teaching Sean about Roblox - this can only lead good places

[scoundrels-in-love]

Almost 300 years a week later, here are some of my thoughts on Dan Ah and her actions through ep 11 and 12. I will try not to repeat too much of the points I made here, or elsewhere in my rambles, but if it happens, it happens. + I won’t operate on mindset that you’ve read it.

First, I think her saying ‘apologies are meaningless, I can’t take back things I said, only make up for it’ is incredibly telling of her as person and the kind of environment she grew up in - the high society and family where apologies are dished out hollowly and never followed through with intention of changing something for the better or your behavior. Time and how you spend it is very important to her. She even says as much in her confession and I think it only outlines how much her time is the one thing she tries to have control of, and exert it (over herself as well). Considering the concept of possibly terminal illness that she suffers from, it makes sense. She doesn’t have time to be patient, no one will wait for her, including her own health. Yeong Hwa is the one immovable object that forces her to slow down and readjust her whole approach to life and it’s been... Not comfortable, necessarily, but it’s been functional, so she struggles to redefine it, especially without real example.

Second, there’s lot of parallels to be drawn between her and Mi Joo. And I ended up writing this all backwards, so I am not sure if I’ll manage to include it, but in some ways, Mi Joo’s line about ‘I value myself more than anyone else’ both in the sense that she’s the most important to herself and that no one else values her truly highly is very reminiscent of Dan Ah’s attitude and the way she admitted she isn’t in control of her life entirely o Mi Joo.

And there’s. of course, that moment when Mi Joo responded sarcastically to Seun Gyeom, later to apologize for it, which he took in a stride (much as he had said that he had never felt Dan Ah walked over him unjustly), because he does understand where they come from and how they work, on a certain level (even if he underestimated just how his father would strike and manage to hurt Mi Joo). I think Dan Ah isn’t at place where she cay say that yet, but I do believe sentiment is within her.

If someone asked what motivates Dan Ah, her answer could be similar to Mi Joo’s - fear and obsession, rather than Seun Gyeom’s regret. Fear of being controlled, of being weak and sick, obsession of having and exerting certain power and keeping yourself safe. Now, this point altogether is purely speculation on my part, of course, but that’s my read on the character, but also her anxiety has been mentioned several times and anxiety is basically that - fear, especially of things going wrong/being out of control, if we wish to trivialize it.

And although Dan Ah merely adds that whatever she had, got taken away from her, she basically used same method as Mi Joo - set her goals and opted for the best ‘fake’ that she could get, in this case her company, rather than being football player or the gallery. Both, in the same way, would rather put up walls to not lose what little they have but the men in their lives just... Bypassed them.

It’s interesting to note that similarly as Mi Joo is currently trying to sort ouf what is real and to go for, instead of relying on having a ‘fake’, so does Dan Ah - it’s likely she is planning to expose the illegitimate status of both her brothers to gain what is technically rightfully hers (hence asking her younger brother to side with her even when it will not be comfortable for him).

Third, I think the way she’s seeking out Mi Joo and her opinion is very interesting. And it does loop back to Yeong Hwa as well!

From the very start, we see that Dan Ah actually cares to listen to other people to an extent (she asks her secretary what she did wrong to upset Seun Gyeom, even if she ends the conversation how much simpler it’d be if all of us thought were similar, which is strongly undermined by all of her interactions with Mi Joo and even Yeong Hwa essentially). She is interested in experiencing being opposed and challenged in a way that is not downright demeaning as she does in her family. She finds their view on world interesting, if somewhat incomprehensible, and listens to it, processes it inwardly, even if her initial reaction might be defensive. (Also, it shows from start she’s willing to admit she doesn’t have all answers, same as she does with Yeong Hwa telling him that she doesn’t know what answer he wants - as she would need to know in business deal which is what most of her world consists of.)

But in some ways, I also think she is interested in what Seun Gyeom and Mi Joo have created and how. She basically instantly could tell Seun Gyeom is interested in Mi Joo which is implied as rare occurrence (or perhaps even the only time since she says she’s the last woman he liked and he debunks the theory), she asks several times what Mi Joo sees in Seun Gyeom that makes her so protective of him (which I think is both a way to see how deeply Mi Joo cares for him and to see more of Seun Gyeom). But also in some way, although it is her own act to let Seun Gyeom, she “loses” him to his own path and Mi Joo both. Because I do think she cares for him as a friend, perhaps only one she has.

Although she puts Seun Gyeom’s picture by the trash, it’s actually not taken out for several days and it’s definitely not because the secretary or the cleaner are neglecting their duties. Rather, same way as he didn’t throw away the honey but handed it back to Yeong Hwa, the secretary is aware she’s not really emotionally throwing him away. Because once she likes something, she never really stops, as per her own admission.

So there’s this certain feeling of loss that she can’t quite admit to herself and want to know both what Mi Joo saw and supported in Seun Gyeom and how and a yearning for something similar, because this is basically the first friendship/not work based relationship of the kind that she sees. (The same way she marvels is this how full-blood siblings are supposed to be when Eun Bi is upset about Seun Gyeom’s picture and how she defends her brother and then, Dan Ah actually ‘tattles’ on her so he can protect her, which can be covered up with excuse it was over the schedule, but was it really?)

In fact, she seems to be somewhat envious of relationship her brother has with her secretary, saying he still cares for her brother more and also the way she wanted to be included in the whole cat talk. She is upset when he doesn’t say he’s her person, but employed by the company, she protects him the way she knows how to (regarding revenge kick) and generally cares for him. She just wants someone truly and personally on her side, even though she probably has a hard time admitting it to herself which results in these odd and halfway there and nowhere attempts, especially paired with  the fact she doesn’t really know how to establish not-work-related connection on a deeper level.

I will add point fourth here, although it’s still technically third. It’s safer, far more practical and logical to stay detached. But the heart wants what it wants and it’s friendship, connection, being liked for who she is and being challenged but not seen as lesser, with someone who won’t smile because she’s his boss, although that sort of control is precious and hard fought to be had in part of her life.

Caring for something or someone is relinquishing this control, basically inviting the same result Seun Gyeom got taste of at ep of 12, the result she already experienced with her dreams of being football player crushed. Except if it involves another person, it increases the chances of being hurt by them exponentially. And it’s also worth considering that if her relationship with mother was close, she’s also already experienced abandonment and grief of losing someone dear and close. (Which, of the leads, only Mi Joo knows and even then it’s more the absence of reflection what other people around her have which hurts, but in a different way, as per my experience.)

Concept of Mi Joo’s friendship, and Yeong Hwa as a whole, become very images of these unsaid wish fulfillment because they’re not trying to be.

They’re themselves, argumentative and challenging, and teasing, despite her being ‘above them’ in power hierarchy, leveling the field by merely ignoring it, and, initially, she doesn’t even try to get Yeong Hwa sign a contract, it’s only when her own yearning for his work (and for him), and him denying her any of it becomes a problem that she ‘admits’ it was her own fault for not drawing the sort of lines she’s used to with everyone else, and even then she’s not really thrilled about him agreeing to it, because it’s not really what she wants from him, although it’s what would be the safest and make the most actual sense within her world.

Even then, as her employee, he refuses to follow her orders and tells her plainly - if she wants something, she is to be vulnerable and invest herself into it (she actually tries, by smiling because he had said it was cute) and she has to admit to herself and to him, that he has grown onto her, not as a ‘vending machine’ or ‘employee’, but person whose opinion and feelings toward her are very important to her.

Also, it’s very telling how she tells him she belongs to herself, of course, and that he, too, can still belong to himself. She wants him as individual separate from herself, but the thought that he is firmly on her side obviously makes her very happy. In some ways, it’s also upgrade from ‘my person’ claim she makes toward her secretary, a learning curve.

Fifth, I suppose. While I rewatched some scenes to make sure I wasn’t actually misremembering, I started to think of another motif that repeats through her conversations.

Dan Ah repeatedly tells him not to have expectations, sentiments, disappointments toward her. From one side, it’s to draw a clear line of employee/employer and view each other in a detached way (that she tries again and again herself, but fails to), but from other, is it that simple?

She is almost crying when she asks him if he’s really stopped liking her and from preview, we learn that no one has asked her out before, seemingly? Probably because she was too much of a boss ass bitch, but still possibly left with a certain sense of inadequacy and that ‘when I am being apologetically me and I will always be that, I am not likeable although I do not entirely understand why’, as per her wondering why people always think she’s mean when by most of her society’s standards, she is rather thoughtful.

Her want of gallery has been brought up several times, her older half brother often says her pick of artist will never be good enough, her father still sees her as a tool to marry off. She as person with her goals and dreams and what she has achieved, just isn’t good enough for people around her at large.

The moment he cares for her, the moment she inherently becomes capable of disappointing him. The moment she cares for him, the moment she becomes capable of disappointing him. And that thought, of doing that and not enough to Yeong Hwa who has sneakily smiled his way into her heart, the growing awareness she truly doesn’t know how to be in some aspects, is overwhelming and painful and she tries to shut the door to it.

Also, he tells her he likes her no matter what he does, but he hates it, which I imagine is double the punch and she tries to find a solution that would make him happy and stop hating it - the perfect answer, as she would in a business deal, but she can’t, until she commits to the truly mortifying ordeal of being known (as suggested by Mi Joo).

Sixth, I really liked that she (or the narrative) didn’t make fun of Yeong Hwa crying. In fact, she’s eyerolled about her younger brother’s temper, but not really in the present made fun of him for apparently being a ‘crybaby’ in the past. I think that in a sense shows her actual streak of empathy and maybe the fact that she’s familiar with need to cry herself and doesn’t find it ‘weak’ as most ‘tougher’ characters would. Also perhaps that she cares for her younger brother more than she has admitted to herself, similarly as she kept denying she cared for Yeong Hwa and went rather far to hurt him.

[sunshinesunsethappiness]

Ok, so I have some thoughts about the tvline insideline scoop 

Not about what I think about it  but about what might happen based on what we know etc. (real quick: In general, not a big fan of internal angst and obviously I don’t want to hear the word divorce in any kind of connection to westallen and just imo I don’t see heading for divorce in the eps we saw)   So mostly just speculation as usual! Possible filming spoilers!

Also, my speculations has been wrong a lot, so... yeah.

On to the speculation! I admit, the thoughts are forming as I write, so this is also me just trying to work out different scenarios in my mind, so it won’t be really organized and might be contradictory in places!

Now, the question is, over what will this rockiness be? I know most people probably think it’s because Barry hasn’t known all these episodes and let himself be talked out of his instinct that something was wrong .

But considering Iris’ reaction to that so far (mostly just concern and when we saw her try to connect with Barry she said ‘I’m still with you’) I don’t know. It’s not like she doesn’t already know that Barry doesn’t know mirror Iris isn’t her (even though in my mind he’s subconsciously acting on his instincts by distancing himself from mirror Iris)

I think it probably will come up, but I have a feeling that it might get resolved in the way they defeat mirror master or the way she gets out. Aka their connection is affirmed in the way things pan out, or maybe in how the speed force gets restored, or maybe even a direct scenario where both Iris and mirror Iris call out to him and he knows who Iris is rather than have it be a situation where everything is solved and then they have to deal with what happened afterwards.

Though I do think Eva is trying to softly push Iris in the direction of resenting her family and husband (those little comments she makes). I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eva also has a husband, so I could see them trying to make some parallels there, but in these situations the same thing doesn’t happen to the main couple, they do manage to overcome the obstacles. So they overcome the big bad, by overcoming their obstacles or something. So I suppose in that sense Eric could be talking about this and in that way it is somewhat connected to Barry not knowing, but I still feel like there might be more to what he is saying.

Obviously we don’t know when this rocky month is supposed to start. But I’m  assuming (perhaps wrongly) we’ll see it in the upcoming 4 episodes till episode 19(roughly a month in flash time) before they go on hiatus.

After The Flash resumes Season 6 on April 21, “Barry and Iris are, indeed, about to experience the rockiest month of their marriage so far,” showrunner Eric Wallace warns. “Where it ends and what happens as a result? Sorry, no spoilers here!”

It would feel weird to say after the flash resumes ....rockiest month...etc. if we weren’t going to see it before the hiatus, though it could be an interpretation from the interviewer and Eric is talking about later in the season. It’s of course a possibility that we begin to see it but it won’t be resolved before the hiatus. But it’s at least noteworthy that he uses month to describe it

As far as I know, Candice was still filming in the ‘mirror outfit’ as late as episode 17, possibly 18. If I’m correct they started episode 17 on January 28. Episodes are usually filmed in about 8/9 days so that would take them to Feb 7th. On Feb 10th Candice posted snapchats of herself in the mirror outfit so it’s possible she’s still in the outfit in 18. There’s a little bit of wiggle room since feb 8 and 9 were on a Saturday and Sunday, so it could be they filmed a 10th day for episode 17 on Feb 10. But I think it was 18 since the director for 17 posted a pic of him in an airplane on Feb 8th. Obviously It’s unknown where he went, but it could be he was flying back from Vancouver after having finished filming his episode, and If he only had one more day of filming left he probably would have stayed.

So if Candice was still in that outfit by 18, than that is possibly the episode Iris gets out of the mirror. Candice said she has a fight scene in 18, so that really could be the episode Iris gets out. Even if they were still filming 17 when candice posted that snapchat it’s unlikely she’d get out at the beginning of the episode.

so real Iris is not in the real world for at least 2 possibly 3 of the 4 episodes we’re getting. So either that rocky month is just starting then, or maybe it’s partly to due with what happens with mirror Iris. Ofc, now that I’m writing this I’m thinking maybe them just being apart and angsting over the situation could account for some of the rockiness (perhaps Barry over having found out what happened, trying to find Iris, feeling guilty etc, and Iris feeling isolated and alone in the mirror world etc) though that wouldn’t seem to fit the question.

Though I want to point out that the questions the readers ask are not necessarily the questions that tvline asked the interviewee. Sometimes they already have information from an interview and then they use that to answer someones question. So we don’t know 100% what the question was that was asked, though the ‘indeed’ and the ‘Where it ends and what happens as a result? Sorry, no spoilers here!” ‘ suggest that the reader question is actually the one that was asked, though it could also have been another question about Barry and Iris and where they go from here.

I’m slowly getting to the idea that’s forming but there’s one more thing that I need to set up for that:

I think Eric likes to keep things general in his interviews and sometimes he’ll keep things vague not to spoil. For instance in an interview before 6x11 to the question about whether we would see Barry and Iris team up he answered this:

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Can we expect any more Barry and Iris team-ups in regards to going on missions and solving mysteries together? You’ve obviously mentioned quite a few times All the President’s Men and will that feature into them sort of sleuthing together?

ERIC WALLACE: Yes, you will literally see that in the very next episode. Without giving any plot stuff away. And it’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s so great getting to see Grant and Candice working together to solve a mystery, it’s one of the joys of this season. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as we do. (x)

What he didn’t give away in this case was that it wasn’t really Iris. Obviously he couldn’t give away that that wasn’t really Iris, and he kept things vague by mentioning Grant and Candice working together. And from what we could see from pictures it looked like Barry and Iris teaming up, but this wasn’t a Barry and Iris team up in ep 11, it was a Barry and mirror Iris team up.

So considering all this, I wonder if when he talks about rockiness between Barry and Iris, if he is not talking about what we’ll see with mirror Iris and Barry. At least in part, because I do think they will address Iris’ stay in the mirrorverse and the whole living with mirror Iris thing and how Barry and Iris deal with that)

In the next episode it is mirror Iris’ job to make sure Barry loses the last of his speed. I think maybe she might have something to do with Joe and Cecile being in danger, but I can also see her really pushing Barry to run and trying to push him in emotionally negative ways since that drains his speed.

In the trailer we hear Barry kind of angrily say ‘i’m barely hanging on. I can’t catch my breath. All I can think about is if I’ll be fast enough to save another live’. It’s not clear to who he is saying that, but it looks to be in the westallen loft, so it could be mirror Iris he’s talking to. If so, is it an argument?

So I could see a scenario where everything feels very rocky because of this, especially if Barry really loses his speed because mirror Iris pushes him. I’ve noted before that Barry seems to be pulling away (because in my mind he somehow feels that it’s not Iris) and this could really bring up a lot of negative feelings

Now this could lead to Barry coming back full circle to his suspicions of episode 11 and finding out in ep 16, in which case the rockiness Eric is talking about is probably not with mirror Iris, though it still could be (depending on how long real Iris is in the mirror)

Or... perhaps it goes back to ep 11 in that he starts thinking again that he and Iris are growing apart and maybe mirror Iris says something like they need space or something to really push his emotions.

Also, Eric did say at least in 2 interviews that Barry and Iris end the season closer than before, so whatever issues come up look to be resolved by the end of the season, so it doesn’t seem to be a situation where they defeat the big bad and then deal with the emotional repercussions after, though it could be that Iris gets out of the mirror and they deal with the emotional repercussions while trying to defeat the big bad and in defeating the big bad the situation is resolved. Or in resolving their issues they defeat the big bad

TVLINE | And what will Barry’s role be as Iris goes through all of this? Integral. Barry and Iris, as a result of where Iris is going to go this season, will end the season closer than ever. Without question.

(x)

Now we get to deal very specifically with what was Iris going through and how has that affected her now and where will that take the Barry and Iris relationship,” Wallace says. “Quite frankly, it takes it to some nuts places, but what’s great is that by the end of ‘Graphic Novel #2,’ I can say unequivocally that Barry and Iris will be closer than they’ve ever been before, simply because what happens is just the craziest thing ever.”

(x)

But he does specifically say that as a result of where Iris is going they end up closer than ever.

In short: Perhaps at least part of the reason Eric mentions the rockiness could be a result of what we will see with Barry and mirror Iris. That’s not to say I don’t think Barry and real Iris will not have to work through some stuff, but there might be more going on with what Eric is saying than that it seems.

Immediate counterpoint: Eric says Barry and Iris experience etc, aka both of them, not just Barry. So that speaks against this little theory.

And Obviously I don’t think mirror Iris is Iris and Barry + Mirror Iris is not westallen, but perhaps Eric could be trying to be vague. idk we’ll see, but I think Barry and Iris’ love is strong enough to overcome this

At the very least, something to think about  :)

[night-filled-mountain]

So the Labenda Swamp/Berleben episodes, while they had plenty of stand-out moments (KIRI! CALI! Shaving with a greatsword! Awkward hug!), weren’t exactly my favorites this campaign. Intra-party tension, lots of combat, lots of single-minded focus on their job (...their purely mercenary job for a crime boss, with no element of emotional investment or even a whiff of heroism). Basically, they had the generally grim atmosphere that you’d probably expect from a shitty swamp town. By the end of ep. 23, I was really craving some downtime for the group, some richer, softer interactions, juicy character development, and maybe an altruistic side quest that would help me really root for the Mighty Nein (much as I adore their shadiness).

...I cannot express how hard Hupperdook delivered on all of this. I loved this episode so much, you guys. SO MUCH.

Highlights:

There was so much goodness that I think I’m going to have to divide this up based on characters. Starting with...

CALEB

This episode was like the grand payoff for all of Caleb’s conflicts with the others about his inability to integrate with the group. Practically every little thing he did confirmed his affection for them and his determination to be kind and playful and fully present for them, to shed his sad-loner persona and become a team player:

-Magically lighting Beau’s firecracker for her with no hesitation, even though they’re both well aware of his issues with fire

-Encouraging Nott in her dance plans with Jester--i.e. encouraging her to enjoy herself with someone other than him, which feels incredibly healthy for both of them

-Hasting Jester to improve her piano-playing, and tossing gold in the “tipping hat” for her

-Having a civil (and hilarious) conversation with Fjord about the hazards of rooming with Molly in a party town--and actually inviting Fjord to share a room with him and Nott, which I kind of wish we got to see, although the way things actually turned out was equally satisfying

-Telling Yasha he was sorry she wouldn’t be going out with them because he counts on her as his social-anxiety buddy

-Gently checking up on Fjord re: his flirting anxiety (more on that later)

-Participating in the drinking contest--again, with no hesitation (and killing it!). This went against so many of Caleb’s usual scruples (not spending money frivolously, avoiding crowds and social interaction), not to mention making him extremely vulnerable, both physically and emotionally. He had to know that some of his closely guarded secrets might come out, and he had to extract a promise that they wouldn’t let him pass out in the gutter...but he went through with it anyway, trusting the group to take care of him. And they (specifically Jester) justified his trust.

-THE DRUNKEN SINGING. Counting and singing both seem to be compulsions for Caleb, especially in stressful situations (we’ve seen him sing a version of that “Mighty Nein” song on the battlefield, haven’t we?), but even after the heartbreak of the waltz scene, nothing can quite beat, “One of those things is true...aaand you are blue.”

-Speaking of which...

JESTER

-That waltz honestly might have been the saddest (and sweetest) scene of the entire campaign. In a situation that would normally be ripe for high comedy (the most awkward, inhibited member of the party gets super drunk and agrees to dance with Jester, trickery cleric and perpetual agent of chaos), we got a quiet slow dance and a line so poignant in context and delivery that I’m tearing up just thinking about it. The way Laura/Jester’s face instantly crumbled (even though Jester knows nothing of Caleb’s backstory). Her instantly softened tone, the complete lack of teasing. Caleb’s broken little “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m...I’m sorry.” His sudden reversion to Sad Loner Eternally Punishing Himself, as he walked away to seek out solitude in some filthy gutter. Jester’s determination to Not Let Him Do That, to keep her promise and get him into bed. “I’m sure Astrid loves you very much.”

...Yeah, I’m not sure how to do that scene justice other than crying about it.

Moving on to somewhat lighter tidbits...

-“I go over and give Caleb a kiss on the cheek.” 😊 (I need to make a whole separate post at some point about Caleb and touch.) (...About everyone and touch, for that matter.)

-Jester has never been drunk. I always kind of figured that her habit of ordering milk was just an in-joke about Laura’s pregnancy, like the pickles--but no, it’s a legitimate character detail stemming from her sheltered upbringing. I felt sorry for Jester and Laura when she was the odd tiefling out in the drinking contest, but in retrospect, it’s really good (for Caleb’s sake as well as their finances’) that they had a Sober Friend on deck.

-Her conversation with Caleb about “hidden skills” made me wonder, not for the first time, whether she’s actually had a lot of sexual experience as she often implies, or whether her childhood surrounded by courtesans (and her habit of spying on their clients) has simply made her feel qualified to speak on the subject. Passing the written exam but not the practicum, as it were.

-Her frantic (and mostly futile) attempts to get her teammates to say who they’re attracted to while under Zone of Truth were good fun, but her frantic attempts to get them to say whether they like her held a bit more weight, I think. Jester is, without a doubt, the best-liked member of the Mighty Nein--I don’t think there’s a single teammate who couldn’t have truthfully answered that question with a resounding “Yes”--but Jester, with her history of isolation, her social inexperience, her lingering fears of being left alone again, still feels insecure about whether her friendships are sincere. Give Jester hugs, is what I’m saying. Give her ALL the hugs.

-Jester’s concern for Kiri gets more adorable each episode. I especially like how emphatic she is about the fact that Kiri is a person, appearances notwithstanding (“She’s like you, she’s a little girl, not a pet”). Laura said in a Talks episode a while back that Jester thought of Kiri like a doll, but I definitely think her views have evolved. There was something especially touching about the music-box scene. Hupperdook seems to present several options for safe and wholesome environments in which they might leave Kiri, but I’m kind of rooting for Rissa and her father to take her in.

-Jester got to throw around her magic a lot in fun, non-combat ways this episode. Loved the Thaumaturgy cheers for Beau, and the Infernal whispers surrounding the blacksmith kids. But that Locate Object spell not only single-handedly saved their asses, financially speaking, but also changed the entire direction of their current adventure when it led them to that final scene, with the kids in the boarded-up shop.

-It was kind of amazing to see the different ways and specific moments in which each member of the Mighty Nein was affected by the kids’ story. For Jester, of course, it was when they said their parents were thrown in jail for “idol worship.” It is killing me (in a Very Good way) how we’re gradually finding the cracks in the Nein’s cynical, mercenary armor--the emotional buttons that can be pushed to lead them to propose (or support) an actual altruistic quest, despite their much-cherished self-identity as “a bunch of assholes.” Which, of course, leads me to...

FJORD

Holy cats, did this episode radically transform the way I see and feel about Fjord. I haven’t done such an intense 180 on a character since Beau’s one-on-one scene with Dairon back in the day. That was the scene that 100% hooked me on Beau. I went in feeling lukewarm and iffy about her, and came out finding her lovable, secretly vulnerable, and generally fascinating...and this episode had the exact same effect for me re: Fjord.

-His flustered reactions to flirtation have always seemed funny before, and they were funny in this episode too, up to a point...and then, as Travis played it up, it began to feel like something more. I love that it was Caleb, of all people, who sensed Fjord’s genuine discomfort and asked if he was okay. Whether that discomfort just stems from virginity/inexperience or from some kind of bad experience, it makes Fjord’s relationship with Jester--who defaults to flirting as a standard form of social interaction, because of her upbringing--a lot more interesting to me than it’s ever been before. Her offer of sex lessons would have felt like simple comedy in an earlier episode, but now it felt like a case of fundamental miscommunication, a clash between two people with very different backgrounds and worldviews when it comes to sex and romance...and I am All About It, I am so on board for that ride, it appeals to me so much more than Jester’s simple romance-novel-fantasy version of their relationship.

-In my notes on last week’s episode, I forgot to even mention Fjord confiding in Molly about the eyeball on his sword (and Molly’s poorly-timed and poorly-executed Charm Person spell), but Fjord and Molly’s relationship always intrigues me. In this week’s installment of their roommate shenanigans, we got Fjord’s rather jaw-dropping line “Half of me’s interested, the other half is terrified” (I could just hear the fics being written on the spot). My shipping compass is all over the place at this point. On the one hand, Fjord has low wisdom and an occasional tendency to jump on board with crazy scenarios just for the hell of it. On the other hand, I could swear sometimes, looking back over the whole campaign, that the only people in whom he’s shown anything like romantic interest are Caleb and Molly. (If you want to get all metaphorical-innuendo with this, they’re the only two teammates he’s almost allowed to hold/examine his sword...yet, in both cases, he decided to refuse/hold off.)

-Fjord coaching Beau on behavior and facial expressions never, ever gets old. And for once, instead of trying to help her be more courteous and less off-putting, he got to help her ramp up her intimidation to a whole new level (for a couple of teenage punks! 😂). Molly and Caleb doing good cop/bad cop last week was a delight, but Fjord and Beau pulled it off just as brilliantly. (Are we ever going to hear what became of those kids, as they spent a day frantically searching for the thieves the Mighty Nein had already found? ^_^)

-And finally...HOW ABOUT THAT BACKSTORY, THOUGH!?

No, it’s not the first backstory drop we’ve gotten for Fjord; in fact, it’s one of the briefest. We knew about the kids who made fun of him for his tusks and drove him to file them down. We knew about his sailor background, the shipwreck, his near-drowning experience, and that he presumably made a shady deal with his patron (whether he remembers it or not). We knew about his mentor, Vandren, whose fate is still up in the air. Yet somehow, none of that had anywhere near as much impact on me as that one little line, that achingly hesitant response to the question of whether he’d ever been in an orphanage: “Yes. I was. They’re terrible fucking places.”

I’ve actually thought a lot over the course of this campaign about why I’ve had more trouble connecting to Fjord than to the other characters, and I realized that a lot of it boiled down to the fact that he’s just never seemed to have the same vulnerability. Yes, his backstory was painful, even traumatic, but there was a certain macho romanticism to it--explosions, shipwrecks, a shady kraken-esque magical patron, even the fact that the loved one he lost was a surrogate father. It was all a little bit too “classic hero” for me to really feel it down to my bones...and honestly, that also applied to Fjord in general. He was always so smooth, so polished, so badass and confident and leader-like. I never heard the same raw desperation in his voice as I did in Caleb’s when he talked about his parents, or Nott’s when she talked about her goblin heritage, or Molly’s when he talked about rejecting his forgotten past, or Jester’s when she begged the Traveler to appear, or even Beau’s (downplayed as much as she could!) when she was seeking Dairon’s approval.

But with that one line about his childhood, regardless of the specifics, Fjord has joined the club for me. I’m all in. I’d die for him as soon as I would for any of the others. ...And this turned out waaay longer than I expected. 😳 Moving on!

-Everything about Fjord during that last scene (and actually, everything about that scene in general) was pure gold. Fjord was so soft toward those kids; he gave us the gentlest rendition of the line “I’m the one asking questions” that I’ve ever heard. His quiet, eloquent, persistent appeal to the others to join him in a dangerous, unpaid, purely altruistic rescue mission did such a number on my heart.

-Also?  “I would really like the opportunity to leave this place better than we found it” was a direct quote from Molly when he talked about his circus days under Zone of Truth--and Molly definitely noticed. I love, love, love that the members of this chaotic-neutral trash group are learning to appeal directly to each other’s backgrounds, issues, and specific values, not just to get a rise out of each other, but to activate the compassion that every one of them has buried beneath a hundred layers of cynical self-interest.

-Of course, Fjord and Molly weren’t the only people having their buttons pushed in that discussion, and Fjord’s wasn’t the only big backstory drop this episode! Which brings me to...

BEAU

-Though I was initially disappointed that the gang didn’t set off a whole bunch of them in the streets of Hupperdook, I am now thrilled and terrified at the thought of all the firecrackers she still has in her possession.

-Everything about Beau and Jester’s friendship is pure as the driven snow, and Beau getting Jester a flower necklace was no exception.

-Beau: *tries to snatch Molly’s tip for a dancer out of midair; rolls a natural one* Dancer: *grabs the coin, kicks Beau in the face, and winks at her* Beau: “I wink back. You know, I kind of liked that. That was kinda hot.” Me: This is the most quintessentially Beau moment I have ever witnessed, and I love her more than air.

-Low-charisma Beau and Molly leaning on the bar, totally ignored, for 15 minutes, was beautiful...but Beau’s “Sorry to interrupt your incessant flirting, but can I please have a drink?” is everything I have ever wanted from Beau and Molly’s frenemyship. I feel so fulfilled.

-Beau’s brief involvement in Jester and Nott’s dance plans (“Yeah, I know, I’m your second choice” / Nott: “No, third” 😂). Beau gets a lot of flak for arrogance, but honestly, her self-deprecation game is almost as strong as Caleb’s, and it is both hilarious and kind of poignant every time.

-Her defense of Nott from the racist (species-ist?) firecracker salesman. “Hey, don’t ever apologize for who you are, man.” Also telling her that Caleb is “a good guy”--which, coming from the one person who (a.) knows Caleb’s full backstory and (b.) isn’t Nott, is kind of huge.

-BEAU BACKSTORY DROP. BEAU BACKSTORY DROP. I wanted it SO BADLY, and I got my wish!! There was nothing about it that I didn’t love, starting with the fact that she confided in Nott. Out of all the Mighty Nein members, they’re probably two of the people with the fewest interactions, but it makes sense that the weird Caleb/Beau/Nott bond formed during Caleb’s backstory drop continues to strengthen.

-“Are you evil? Are you a bad guy?” / “No. I don’t...I hope not. I think it differs from day to day, depending on what I’m doing. Do you think I’m a bad guy?” This said so much about Beau herself, and also Beau’s self-image--and how heavily it depends on how other people see her, despite how vehemently she’d like to claim otherwise.

-Beau’s story wasn’t shocking or even surprising--it basically just tied together a lot of the hints we’ve already gotten--but there were so many little touches that killed me:

Her painfully realistic reluctance to pronounce her father a bad person

The fact that he hired the monks to straight-up kidnap her like some kind of horrific “scared straight” stunt (which is a thing that real parents do to real children, and that’s all I’m going to say about that)

The pained sarcasm of her, “Sure. Great,” when Nott asked if she was okay...and the brief dropped eye contact when Nott asked, “Was it hard?”

The looong pause and deeep breath between, “He was hoping...” and, “...they were gonna beat my indiscretions out of me.”

“I think all of the things that my father saw in me that he hated, the monks saw as a potential advantage.” I’ve always known that Beau’s first scene with Dairon felt raw and emotional and Important, but this scene finally gave us the context to explain why.

And, more than anything, the way her voice broke and dissolved into pained laughter when she said, “In fact, he told me he never wanted to see me again.” ...If this guy is still alive, the Mighty Nein had damn well better hunt him down and give him the full Syldor Vessar or Howaardt Darrington treatment.

...I have to note that amid all those dark emotions, something about Beau’s deadpan delivery of “I worked at a library” sent me into hysterics. (Also, “That had to do with the job that I had before the job that I had--”)

In short: For her first big backstory drop, this was deeply satisfying, but there are still so many things we don’t know! Why was her childhood “meant for someone else”? What about “I came to hate the town I was in and the system my father was a part of”? That seems related to her previous confession to Caleb, that she watched her father give up everything for the Empire and get screwed over somehow. And what about her comment to Dairon ages ago about how her father’s money (for her upkeep) must not be coming in anymore? Is he dead? Missing? In prison? I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

Still not the end of the Beau moments, though:

-Beau getting Fjord out of awkward sexual propositions by pleading erectile dysfunction on his behalf. Best/worst anti-wingwoman ever. (Bonus: Fjord’s Very Southern, Very Offended, “She doesn’t know me like that.” 😂)

-She finally followed through with her long-ago threat to slap Caleb! (Caleb, luckily, was not in a state to care.)

-“I will fucking punch you if you try and kiss me.” Literally could not ask for more with Beau and Molly. Could. Not. Ask. For. More.

-Her anguished “NOOOO!” when Molly literally pulled the alcohol out of her body...and of course, ”Did you touch inside of me!?”

-Despite finally dropping backstory of her own, Beau is still #1 when it comes to digging out other people’s: “I mean, Nott’s over here trying to pull my heartstrings, but it seems like you should be the target. Do you have a thing with kids in orphanages?”

Speaking of heartstrings...

NOTT

-So happy to see more of her friendship with Jester (“Do we need choreography!?”), and an attempt to revive their Detective Duo dynamic.

-It’s been a while since we saw Nott deal with racism (species-ism?). Still as much of a gut punch as ever.

-I loved seeing her gratitude to Beau for taking care of Caleb, along with her determination to make sure Beau is doing it right. I’m still not sure how I feel about Nott’s whole “I am the parent” attitude, but she’s certainly a better ‘parent’ than most of the Mighty Nein have ever known.

-She did a fantastic job bringing out Beau’s backstory without overshadowing Beau, but she still got off some great lines in that scene: “So wait. Little townsgirl, her parents are wine-makers, now you’re a brutal assassin martial artist who can kill anything...what happened in between those two things?” and  “You were bootlegging your old man’s hooch!?”

-“I never thought of you as an optimistic person, but that’s a very positive way of looking at it.” Okay...I may finally, finally be letting go of my cherished image of Scrappy Urchin Child Nott, and warming up to Maternal Nott. Watching her earnestly encourage her ever-growing collection of adopted children is kind of the best. (She was also great at “pulling Beau’s heartstrings” during the final scene, though I couldn’t help thinking that a lot of her “Don’t you think the children should be with their loving parents!?” rhetoric would’ve hit home for Caleb as well.)

-The drinking contest was a delight from start to finish, but Nott’s match was probably my second-favorite. (Nothing could beat “little Caleb” triumphing over his mild-mannered opponent.)

-It was a small moment, but it made me inordinately happy to see Nott and Molly profusely congratulating each other after the contest and then DANCING TOGETHER. They’ve barely exchanged a word since (1.) Molly wrenched deeply personal confessions out of Nott with Charm Person, (2.) They clashed in the aftermath of Scrollgate, and (3.) Nott offended Molly pretty seriously during his Zone of Truth backstory. Every single moment of Mighty Nein friendship/concern/camaraderie in this episode gave me so much life, but these two were a highlight.

And, speak of the devil...

MOLLY

It’s been quite some time since Molly got a big chance to shine. I’m mildly concerned about that, but that’s a matter for another post. (And it will probably get cleared up soon anyway--I think Tal just has a somewhat quieter play style, and takes a while to settle into his characters.) That said, the Molly moments we did get in this episode were absolute gems:

-Straight-up knight-in-shining-armoring Rissa with the punks who were harassing her. Nothing will ever be quite as gloriously creepy as blood maledicts.

-“Do I have masculine wiles!?” / “You have...pan wiles.” / “I’m into it.” (There’s this very specific voice Molly uses once in a while, this tone of pure childlike wonder, that sends my Molly love into overdrive. The lines that come to mind are, “Can I!?” back when Fjord joked that Molly could take the mirror from Pumat Sol’s shop, and “I won a strawberry!” back at the Harvest Close festival. I love that I can now add “Do I have masculine wiles!?” to the list.)

-Drawing alcohol out of Beau with his blood-hunter powers to ease her hangover

-“Whatever team you’re on, I don’t think I play for that one...It’s Team Fuck-Off, I’m well aware.”

-Throwing up on Fjord, and then tenderly bringing him to bed (...not that way)

-His “Say no more, I’m in” as soon as Fjord made it clear that the quest to break the kids’ parents out of jail was personal for him. In perfect accordance with his carnie past, Molly often walks this delicate line between “keep your head down, don’t make trouble” and “be the chaos you want to see in the world,” and I love that a friend’s Strong Feelings can single-handedly push him from one side to the other.

-I feel like there are probably more Molly moments I’m forgetting because I’m at the tail end of a post the size of Mt. Everest here, and I am most sincerely sorry.

BONUS

Yasha was barely there this episode, for obvious reasons, but I still desperately want art of her cuddling with Kiri!

IN CONCLUSION

This episode was amazing and I cannot wait for next week.

[fairyroses]

(1) Everyone keeps on going on about how Nia is like Nura and how she will get together with Brainy, but I noticed that in reality Nia only resembles Nura in powers and code name, who she really resembles is Mysa Nal/White Witch, Nura's little sister, I mean they are both the younger sibling, uniform wise Nia's outfit is very covering, like Mysa's, and unlike Nura's, whose most covering outfit has a large boob window , both Mysa and Nia have powers that no one else in their families have

(2) Both Nia and Mysa are somewhat scared of their powers (Mysa having a tendency to turn evil for short periods of time, her first appearance in the silver age for example), also both come from backgrounds of oppression (Nia a trans woman, Mysa’s origin story is clearly about being disabled, unable to see the future unlike most of the planet), and Nia when we first met her very clearly lacked Nura’s confidence. If they do Karadox, it should be noted that Mysa had 2 love interests.

Oh wow, okay, this is a lot of comics stuff lol. 

I knew that Nura had a sister who didn’t have pre-cog powers like she did, but I didn’t know anything else about her before (I finally went ahead and looked her up after I got these asks, just to check out her bio for myself). And I mean…I can definitely see what you’re getting at with the Nia vs Nura stuff…but I’m not sure that I totally agree with all the Nia = Mysa stuff? (Sorry! I promise I’ll explain!) 

There was some talk about Nura’s sister on here back when Nia’s sister was first cast (tbh, that’s the only reason why I knew Mysa existed - again, I’m not a comics reader, I just like doing research). I didn’t look too much into it at the time, but since we’re discussing it now, I decided to go back and take a look at the casting announcement for Nia’s sister, Maeve (who called Nia at the end of the last ep)…and honestly, I think she fits Mysa a bit better than Nia does?

(I’ll put the rest of this under a cut, in case people consider the casting info to be a spoiler and don’t wanna see it. Below the cut I speculate quite a bit about Sunday’s ep, and also explain why I don’t necessarily think that Nia is the one who’s the most like Mysa - though I also don’t think she’s all that similar to Nura, either.)

Here’s what the announcement said:

“Maeve Nal is described as being a driven young woman focused on maintaining her family’s rich legacy, and while she’s always had to work a little harder for her achievements than Nia, the sisters are described as having a very strong bond.”

I think it makes a lot of sense that Maeve felt like she had to work harder for her achievements than Nia, because a) she’s the oldest child (older siblings are often subjected to stricter parenting and given more responsibilities than their younger siblings), and b) she’s also the child without powers. 

(I do wonder how Nia being trans factors into this, though - it seems like her family will definitely be accepting of her, but that doesn’t mean that she suddenly wouldn’t experience other hardships related to being trans, because obviously the oppression of trans people is institutionalized. So I kind of question the idea that she didn’t have to work as hard as her (presumably cis) sister…but maybe that’s just how Maeve sees things, and her viewpoint isn’t necessarily true? Idk. I guess we’ll find out on Sunday.) 

I think it’s interesting (in a good way!) that the sisters are described as very close despite the whole powers thing, which could have easily been used to put a rift of resentment between them, especially since Nia has these powers but doesn’t seem to want them, and Maeve has no powers but is All About Their Family’s Legacy. 

(That kind of “we have some issues but are still ride or die for each other” dynamic reminds me a lot of Kara and Alex in season 1, actually! It’s complex and I like that.)

Thinking along those lines, I wonder if there might be some kind of a conflict for Nia in the next ep, where maybe Nia feels like it should’ve been her sister who got powers instead of her? And that’s part of the reason why she’s so hesitant to use them? 

And maybe Maeve has always been a little jealous of Nia for having powers that she herself probably wanted (or expected) to get, but more than anything else she still loves her sister… Ooh, what if Maeve is the one who ultimately convinces Nia to embrace her powers??

Like, I could see there being a part of Nia that subconsciously needs a nudge from her sister to go and be a hero and carry on their family’s legacy, because she always thought that that was going to be her sister’s destiny, not hers. And she can’t actually give herself permission to be a hero until her sister encourages her and tells her that it’s okay, that this can be Nia’s destiny, too - that their family’s legacy can belong to both of them. 

That’s all just speculation, of course! I could be completely off the mark, but I gotta say that all this theorizing is making me REALLY excited for Sunday. :D

…Sorry, I got off track for a while there. Back to the whole Mysa/Nura/Maeve/Nia thing…

From what I understand about Mysa, when she found out that she didn’t have pre-cog powers, she decided to teach herself magic and became a sorcerer instead (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong)? To me, that aspect of her character sounds more like Maeve, who’s apparently very driven and was forced to work harder for her achievements, as she was not naturally given powers like Nia was.

So that’s why I kind of disagree about Mysa being like Nia - perhaps the oppression angle could work, if the writers put more of a focus on Nia overcoming the hardships that she faced for being trans, but just based on the description of Nia’s family, it sounds more like Nia is in the Nura-like role despite being the younger sister, and Maeve is in the Mysa-like role despite being the older one? (Also, Nia/Nura and Maeve/Mysa - the first letters of their names match…not that that necessarily means anything, but still.) 

I DO agree with the first thing you said, though: that Nia is similar to Nura in terms of powers and code name, but not so much in terms of her personality. 

Now of course, I’m not super familiar with Nura’s characterization beyond what you can read in summaries and bios online, but even I caught onto the fact that she seems more confident in herself and her abilities than Nia does. Her and Brainy also have a more contentious and bicker-y relationship (at least in the continuity where they later become romantically involved), which isn’t like our Brainy and Nia at all. Nura is also a genius scientist, and thus very STEM-focused, unlike Nia, who is very much into the humanities and arts. Nura also has platinum blonde hair and is very glamorous, whereas Nia is a brunette and generally dresses more casually. 

I’m not sure what all this means, really, other than the fact that it’s clear that Nura is her own character, who exists in the 31st century, just like Nia is her own character, who exists in the 21st century. While Nia is certainly related to Nura, we can tell by her personality that she’s obviously not actually meant to be Nura. 

I think that’s the most important thing to take from all these comparisons, really.

[feebtastic]

On Rose: Finn, the Stormtroopers & Reylo

Let’s me start by saying how much I love Rose Tico and the qualities she represents. Kelly Marie Tran did such a phenomenal job in the film, making me fall in love with this character at first sight. Down to earth, fierce and compassionate, Rose is above all devoted to the cause to fight against the FO, not to become a hero but to do the right thing. Rose’s dedication to the Resistance and her fighting spirit are her greatest strengths.  

I was therefore especially happy to get more of her thoughts and feelings in Jason Fry’s novelization. There’s one particular passage that I really love and wish to explore here:

“Rose didn’t know what to think about the fact that a man trained to be a First Order stormtrooper could be innocent enough to assume a feral, unapologetic thief actually owned a fancy yacht. She supposed it made her feel simultaneously better and worse about the galaxy. On the one hand, maybe there were painfully naïve young men behind many more of those expressionless, skull-like helmets—lost boys who’d never been allowed to have so much as their own name. On the other hand, battalions made up of those lost boys had destroyed Rose’s homeworld and so many others. How much more ruin and misery would they inflict on the galaxy? How many more people would they rob of loved ones? Rose had never heard of another First Order stormtrooper shaking off his brainwashing and refusing to carry out the murderous orders he’d been given. Maybe Finn was the only one.”

Chapter 22, Jason Fry. “The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition.

The line “She supposed it made her feel simultaneously better and worse about the galaxy” initially puzzled me a bit. Rose sure has lots of reasons to feel worse about the galaxy but what makes her feel better? And it’s not only about Finn. Let’s break down this excerpt and consider what it means for Finnrose and even Reylo in Ep. IX.

I. On Rose and the Stormtroopers

Firstly, I love that her time spent with Finn has allowed Rose to consider something she might never have thought of before, that Stormtroopers could be ‘innocent’, ‘naive,’ and most of all, even ‘lost.’ Rose has witnessed the atrocities that the FO and their Stormtroopers had inflicted on her home planet. She must have heard of many other planets’ destruction since joining the Resistance. And before meeting Finn, these ST were probably just faceless monsters to her. These soldiers wear “expressionless, skull-like helmets”, embodying the death and devastation left in their wake. While recalling the exploitation she’d witness on Otomok, her home planet, Rose was “pale with anger”. But just as Rey has realized that beneath Kylo’s terrifying mask is a broken young man, a lost and terrified boy, Rose also realizes that there might be more ‘Finns’ in the FO. There might exist more “naive young men” who have not been allowed any kind of identity or knowledge beside what makes them “well-engineered cogs in [the FO’s] war machine, designed to further its murderous work.” (Chapter 24)

Secondly, the multiple use of ‘maybe’ suggests how tentative Rose’s thought is. She feels pity and sympathy for these troopers, these “lost boys (and girls) who’d never been allowed so much as their own name.” Would they not be considered victims of the FO as well? Kidnapped and brainwashed, would these Stormtroopers know any better than what has been drilled into them?

Perhaps the answer is no, Rose thinks, they wouldn’t know any better. Battalions of these troopers are inflicting “ruin and misery on the galaxy” after all. There’s also a sense of resignation in Rose’s last thought: how “she’s never heard of” another deserted trooper and so “maybe Finn was the only one.”

To me, Rose feels better about the galaxy because there might be Stormtroopers who are not inherently evil and murderous monsters, but lost boys whose minds have been twisted to do the FO’s bidding. She feels worse because these lost boys ARE following orders to kill, destroy & oppress.

More than that, I think Rose feels better because there’s a glimmer of hope in the form of Finn, who has somehow done the impossible and was able to escape the FO’s grueling conditioning. Finn represents the hope that goodness and humanity can survive against all odds, even against a system that was built to snuff out these qualities from its soldiers. But Rose also feels worse because there might ONLY EVER be Finn, a single Stormtrooper who could rebel against the system. Finn being an outlier, an exception is in that way both better and worse.

II. On Finnrose

The given excerpt is such an interesting addition because it demonstrates Rose’s character development in TLJ beyond her feelings for Finn, which we see more clearly in the film. Rose’s interactions with him have allowed her to rethink the human identities involved in the war, esp. those on the opposing side. Among all the characters who have interacted with Finn, Rose was the only one who wonders about the larger implication of Finn’s desertion. She questions, even only briefly, whether there are or could be more Finns out there. Maybe Finn was the only one who could break free from the FO on his own, but with the right catalysts, could more follow his steps?

The passage also shows how Rose is Finn’s most suitable counterpart in the Sequel trilogy. On the one hand, Rose is one of the more mature characters in the ST. Paired with her, Finn, who has been isolated from the outside world from birth, is able to learn and grow. In TLJ, Rose has shown Finn what she and the Resistance are fighting for: for freedom, against the injustice done to her home planet, for the oppressed and exploited across the galaxy. Finn thus gains reasons to stop running and join the fight. On the other hand, the learning doesn’t only go one way. Rose has also learned many things about the FO from Finn and not just from infiltrating the Supremacy, as was clear from the excerpt.  As a result, in IX, I expect Finn’s arc to be him finding a role in the revitalized Resistance. And Rose, with her own newly gained knowledge about the FO, could again work in tandem with Finn (under/alongside Poe) to help shape the Resistance’s strategies.

While Finn has mostly contributed his knowledge of key FO weapons and technologies to the Resistance in TFA and TLJ, I wonder if he would be able to supply even more powerful insights about the human elements within the FO going forward.

In the TLJ junior novelization, prior to his execution, Finn thought this:

If Finn was going to die now, at least he could rest well knowing he had tried to help his friends make a difference in the galaxy. He had only one regret. He wished he could have convinced other troopers to do the same.

Perhaps in IX, we’ll see Finn and Rose discuss the Stormtrooper program, Finn’s experience in it and how he wishes he had tried to convince other troopers to turn while on the Supremacy. It seems quite plausible then that Finn and Rose could together plan and realize a Stormtrooper rebellion from these musings. Finn’s intention has been shown above. And Rose’s thoughts in the excerpt that starts this post suggest that if Finn voices his intent in Ep. IX, Rose would be able to see where he’s coming from and understand the potential of that idea. While nothing much about a potential rebellion has been hinted at    within the first 2 films (beyond these tidbits in the novelizations), I believe that if he wants to, JJ can still pursue this storyline in next film.

III. On Rose and Reylo

Last but not least, I find that Finnrose and Reylo have more parallels than I’ve previously thought.

In TLJ, Rose is not only coming to terms with her own grief but also with the real person and motivation behind Finn’s hero image post Starkiller Base. Her initial hero worship of Finn was from a somewhat simplistic point of view, (just as Rey’s view of Kylo as a ‘murderous snake’ was.) Reality, Rose finds, is much more complicated. While his desire to take the beacon and flee (to save Rey) is not entirely selfish, Finn also hasn’t had a reason to join the Resistance cause. Though Finn had returned once to the FO to save his friend, all he wants to do at the start of TLJ is to continue his run since TFA, mostly out of fear. This fear is the result of his years in the FO, of having been disciplined and punished to elicit obedience, and of knowing the FO’s terrifying military capabilities. Knowing what he knows, the most realistic action is to run. Throughout the film (and the book), Rose gradually realizes that she needs to “give him a break”, that he might need time to really shake off the pernicious effects of his oppressive Master, to find the courage and desire to be in the fight, and to find his belonging.

“Maybe it hadn’t just been his infatuation with Rey that had driven him to flee, she thought—maybe he’d also been trying to escape unfamiliar surroundings in which he was alone and didn’t fit in.” (Chapter 24)

Isn’t this what Rey also realized about Ben after the throne room scene to an extent? That the choice to turn and what to do after that turn is a complicated and difficult one?

“Luke’s error had been to assume that Ben Solo’s future was predetermined—that his choice had been made. Her error had been to assume that Kylo Ren’s choice was simple—that turning on Snoke was the same as rejecting the pull of the darkness.” (Chap. 29) (or the same as joining the Resistance)

While both Finn and Kylo had done the right things, the selfless things at some point (Finn helping the Resistance on SB and even with the Canto Bight mission, Kylo killing Snoke), they were not ready to immediately join a new cause or to change their long-held paths. But as I’ve described above, both Rey and Rose see the glimmer of hope and the goodness within both men. Similar to how Finn still retains a good heart despite all his Stormtrooper training, it is incredible that Kylo still feels compassion for Rey (and Finn at the beginning of TFA), remorse after Han’s death, and love for his mother. Even after a lifetime of manipulation and abuse by Snoke. Although Finn and Kylo are surely at different stages of their journey, I believe the parallels are there. While Finn was able to escape the FO in TFA, the shadow of what he endured as a Stormtrooper remains with him long after. It was only with time, others’ help and inspiration that Finn realizes the cause he truly believes in and find the strength & courage to fight for it.

And so will Ben Solo.

Many have said that Rose will be one of the first people to understand Rey and Kylo’s connection and Rey’s belief in Kylo’s goodness, and I wholeheartedly agree. Rose’d definitely know what it means to focus on saving those one loves, rather than just destroying the things one hates. Not only that, given the above excerpts, it is also clear that after TLJ, Rose has gained a more complex understanding of her enemies. There’ll surely be ruthless and remorseless individuals in the FO, like Hux or Phasma. But there might exist lost boys (and girls), who are killing, hurting because of years of manipulation & conditioning. Finn’s escape represents the hope that perhaps all is not lost. Finally, I think Rose will also understand that not everyone can make the right and selfless choice all at once, or all the time, even if that choice comes more naturally to others. Even if there’s goodness in someone, it might take time for them to choose to follow the hard path or the right cause.

All in all, Finn and Rose’s individual development and dynamics in TLJ are some of my favorite things about the film. Their relationship, though not as angst-filled and brimming with sexual/romantic tension like Rey and Kylo, still presents some of the most interesting ideas and concepts in the Sequel Trilogy. If Reylo has the epic trappings and mystery of the Force, Finnrose deals with the war in Star Wars on a more on-the-ground level, where troops and technicians dwell. However, both represent themes about hope, faith in love and in the goodness of others.

Just some of my thoughts. What do you think? How are you imagining Finn and Rose’s arcs in IX? What’s your wishlist for these two?

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Getting to Know...

Helga Arvesten.

Helga Arvesten will scratch at your core and tug at your heart with her soul charging music. This native Swede has spent most of her childhood and teen years traveling the world, living in a variety of places (Sri Lanka, South Africa, Laos, US). During those developing years Helga discovered the power of expressing herself through art and music, finding inspiration in her idols. Struggling with insecurities, anxiety, and rootlessness, finding a way to express herself became the foundation for staying sane when feeling troubled.

Helga’s music, just like her art gives an insider look into this creators life. Holding a lot of complexity and stirring up emotions for the listener/viewer, but this of course is purposefully done. Helga thrives on the idea that anything you make must come from an honest place since this is the only way what we make can hold the power to change someone, only in an instant or maybe permanently. Currently the 25 year old songwriter-singer/producer lives in Stockholm, Sweden. This is where she conjures up new material and sounds. Helga’s latest release was a three-track EP called I'm Here which like all her music kept the listener shivering and hoping in suspense as the blistering pop gently touched the ear.

We asked the talented artist a few questions about I'm Here, her influences and more. Read the Q&A below.

When did your passion for music begin and what made you want to follow a career as a singer-songwriter?

"I think the passion was always there, in the sense that I always had a special attachment to sound. It came so naturally for me to love music, it spoke to me in a way that it was unavoidable. I previously studied classical vocals and then went on to study jazz vocals, I found singing other people’s work to be a wonderful experience but sometimes limiting in the way you get to interpret the song (there is already a right or wrong way to present another person’s work). When I was 19 and standing at the crossroads trying to figure out what genre of music I wanted to study I found a course which was for the musician who wanted to do whatever inspired them, this is where I discovered songwriting and realized that it was the perfect match for me since I had so much I wanted to say in so many different ways that not being limited through songwriting was a dreamlike discovery."

We love your gorgeous, cinematic sound. Who or what have been the biggest influence on your music and songwriting?

"I think my lyrics and productions are greatly inspired by David Bowie, I love metaphors and drawing dark comparisons in contradicting lyrics. The drama probably comes from my love of film music/instrumental music, I have always found music without words to hold almost a greater power than that with lyrics since the feeling you get is not altered by words. I think the biggest influencers would be David Bowie, Roxy Music (love synth old school modern sound), Ennio Morricone, Joe Hisaishi, James Horner, and whatever catches my attention just in that moment if it is a Lana Del Rey song or a Motown track."

You recently released your latest EP I'm Here. What was the inspiration behind the record? What do you hope fans will take away from it?

“I’m Here was inspired by an emotional journey I went through the past 2 years. It holds a kind of determination yet worry and sadness, I feel it represents well the step from a young adult to maybe becoming an adult. Finding the balance in being more independent and demanding of great things while still having that somewhat young, naïve and destructive mindset that tampers with this grown-up persona you try to uphold.

"I want the fans to take away a sense of hope and beauty in being human, seeing one's faults as charming since they represent our growth, turmoil and unique aspect of being human. We are so complex and I like to make the insecurities shine through as an endearing part of us."

What's your songwriting process?

"I have a feeling, I sit by my piano, start to play and hum ideas, then usually all at the same time some lyrics and melodies just sound right, I can’t explain it, either it clicks or it doesn’t. For the most part, the feeling and subject of the song are decided by the time I have written down 4 chords. The base of the song is quick for me to make, the rest of the process is more of a slow, tedious and emotionally draining part.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned as an artist in the music industry?

"Stand up for yourself, it might bring some setbacks but in the long run, it will be returned with the respect you deserve from the right people. Not to give up, there are so many aspects which determine whether you can have a successful career or not, and the switch occurs at the moment you least expect it."

Finally, what are your plans for 2019?

New music, new releases, and new goals. I will be turning 26 in February and it seems only appropriate that it should supply me with a little new life crisis material."

Official Website // Facebook // Instagram // YouTube

[stupendousbananatiger]

EP 12 | You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) 12.Bölüm/Episode 12 [ENGSUB] FOX Türkiye

Watch You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Season 1 Episode 12 1–2–3–4–5–1–7–8–9–10 Full Episode You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Temporada 1 Capítulo 12 Sub English / Español 2020 ➤ http://watchepisode.online-tvs.com/series/383383/1/12 VISIT HERE ➤➤ http://watchepisode.online-tvs.com/series/383383/1/12

Finally in the end Serkan made his declaration of love. Now it is Eda's turn. But it is not going to be easy to obtain Eda's declaration. Serkan waits patiently in order to hear that Eda is in love with him. Now we also have to deal with keeping this a secret from the families. Since Eda's aunt learned about the engagement agreement, she cannot tell her that she and Serkan and now a real couple in love. With Eda's insistence, Serkan agrees to keep this a secret. But they and their relationship is going to go through many adventures while they keep this secret.

🎬 You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı) Episode 12 Online Free 🎬

Title : You Knock on My Door Episode Title : Episode 12 Release Date : 30 Sep 2020 Runtime : 120 minutes Genres : Comedy , Drama , Romance Networks : FOX Türkiye

You Knock on My Door (Sen Çal Kapımı)

Eda, who ties all her hopes to her education, confronts Serkan Bolat, who cuts off her international education scholarship and leaves her with high school diploma. Serkan Bolat offers Eda to give her scholarship back if she pretends to be his fiance for two months. Although Eda rejects the offer of this man as she hates him, she has to accept it when the conditions change. While pretending to be engaged, Serkan and Eda begin to experience a passionate, challenging relationship that will make them forget all they know right. Because love is difficult. And that's why it's amazing.

Show Info

Network: Turkey FOX Türkiye (2020 - now) Schedule: Wednesdays at 20:00 (120 min) Status: Running Language: Turkish Show Type: Scripted Genres: Drama Comedy Romance

With dozens of films genre being released each year, a typical one that gets overlooked by the more popular ones (action, drama, comedy, animation, etc.) is the subgenre category of religious movie. These films (sometimes called “faith-based” features) usually center around the struggles and ideas of a person (or groups) identity of a religious faith, which is, more or less, has a profound event or obstacle to overcome. While not entirely, the most commonplace religious type movies focus on the religion of Christianity, sometimes venturing back into the past in cinematic retelling classic biblical tales, including famed epic films like Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (the original 1959 version) to some more modern endeavors from Hollywood like Risen, The Young Messiah, and Paul, Apostle of Christ. Other Christian “faith” films finds a more contemporary setting to tell its story, with some being “based on a true-life account” like the movies Unconditional, Heaven is Real, Unbroken, I Can Only Imagine, Indivisible, and Miracles from Heaven, while others might find inspiration from literary novels / fictionalized narratives like The Shack, Overcomer, War Room, and Same Kind of Different as Me. Regardless, whether finding inspiration from true life, references from the bible, or originality, these movies usually speaks on a person’s faith and the inner struggle he or she has within or one society’s views, spreading a message of belief and the understand of one’s belief. Now, after the success of 2018’s I Can Only Imagine, directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) and Lionsgate studios release the 2020 faith-based film / music biopic feature I Still Believe. Does the film walk a fine line between its religious aspects and cinematic entertainment or does the movie get entangled in its own faith-based preaching?

THE STORY

Its 1999 and Jeremy Camp (K.J. Apa) is a young and aspiring musician who would like nothing more than to honor his God through the power of music. Leaving his Indiana home for the warmer climate of California and a college education, Jeremy soon comes across one Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson), a fellow college student that he takes notices in the audience at a local concert. Falling for cupid’s arrow immediately, he introduces himself to her and quickly discovers that she is attracted to him too. However, Melissa holds back from forming a budding relationship as she fears it will create an awkward situation between Jeremy and their mutual friend, Jean-Luc (Nathan Parson), a fellow musician and who also has feeling for Melissa. Still, Jeremy is relentless in his pursuit of her until they eventually find themselves in a loving dating relationship. However, their youthful courtship with each other comes to a halt when life-threating news of Melissa having cancer takes center stage. The diagnosis does nothing to deter Jeremey’s love for her and the couple eventually marries shortly thereafter. Howsoever, they soon find themselves walking a fine line between a life together and suffering by her illness; with Jeremy questioning his faith in music, himself, and with God himself.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Sorry if this sounds a bit familiar pieces from my review of I Can Only Imagine, but it definitely says what I feel about these films. While I am a devout Christian (not a crazy zealot or anything like that) for my bases of religion and my outlook beliefs in life, I’m not a huge fan of the “faith-based” feature films. That’s not to say that they’re bad or that I find them deplorable to the other more popular movie genres out there, but sometimes they can a bit preachy and corny / honky in their religious overtones and overall dramatic direction. Personally, I like the more biblical tales that Hollywood as put over, with Cecil B. Demile’s The Ten Commandments and William Wyler’s Ben-Hur; both of have proven to stand the test of time within filmmaking. Of course, Hollywood’s recent trend of put out more “remakes” movies puts an overcast on those biblical epics with 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings and 2016’s Ben-Hur; both of which failed to capture a sense of cinematic integrity and had a messy religious outlook in its zeal aspect. Of late, however, Hollywood as retreated more into contemporary pieces, finding narratives that are, more or less, set in a more “modern” day and age to their Christian-faithful based features. As I mentioned above, some have found success in their literary forms (being based on a book and adapted to the big screen), but most derive their inspiration from true life accounts, translating into something that’s meant to strike a chord (with moviegoers) due to its “based on a true story” aspect and nuances. Again, some are good (as I liked Unbroken and The Shack), while others kind of become a bit too preachy and let the religious overtures hamper the film, making them less-than desirable to mainstream audiences or even members of their own faiths. Thus, these religious-esque films can sometimes be problematic in their final presentation for both its viewers and in the film itself; sometimes making the movie feel like a TV channel movie rather than a theatrical feature film. This brings me around to talking about I Still Believe, a 2020 motion picture release of the Christian religious faith-based genre. As almost customary, Hollywood usually puts out two (maybe three) films of this variety movies within their yearly theatrical release lineup, with the releases usually being around spring time and / or fall respectfully. I didn’t hear much when this movie was first announced (probably got buried underneath all the popular movies news on the newsfeed). My first actual glimpse of the movie was when the film’s movie trailer was released, which looked somewhat interesting to me. Yes, it looked the movie was gonna be the typical “faith-based” vibe, but it was going to be directed by the Erwin Brothers, who directed I Can Only Imagine (a film that I did like). Plus, the trailer for I Still Believe premiered for quite some time, so I kept on seeing it a lot of time when I went to my local movie theater. You can kind of say that it was a bit “engrained in my brain”. Thus, I was a bit keen on seeing it. Fortunately, I was able to see it before the COVID-19 outbreak closed the movie theaters down (saw it during its opening night), but, due to work scheduling, I haven’t had the time to do my review for it…. until now. And what did I think of it? Well, it was pretty “meh”. While its heart is definitely in the right place and quite sincere, I Still Believe is a bit too preachy and unbalanced within its narrative execution and character developments. The religious message is clearly there, but takes too many detours and not focusing on certain aspects that weigh the feature’s presentation. As mentioned, I Still Believe is directed by the Erwin Brothers (Andrew and Jon), whose previous directorial works include such films like Moms’ Night Out, Woodlawn, and I Can Only Imagine. Given their affinity attraction religious based Christian movies, the Erwin Brothers seem like a suitable choice in bringing Jeremy Camp’s story to a cinematic representation; approaching the material with a certain type of gentleness and sincerity to the proceedings. Much like I Can Only Imagine, the Erwin Brothers shape the feature around the life of a popular Christian singer; presenting his humble beginnings and all the trials and tribulations that he must face along the way, while musical songs / performance taking importance into account of the film’s narrative story progression. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t without its heavier moments, with the Erwin, who (again) are familiar with religious overtones themes in their endeavors, frame I Still Believe compelling messages of love, loss, and redemption, which (as always) are quite fundamental to watch and experience through tragedy. This even speaks to the film’s script, which was penned by Erwin brothers playing double duty on the project, that has plenty of heartfelt dramatic moments that will certainly tug on the heartstrings of some viewers out there as well as provide to be quite an engaging tale of going through tragedy and hardship and finding a redemption arc to get out of it. This is especially made abundantly clear when dealing with a fatal illness that’s similar to what Melissa undergoes in the film, which is quite universal and reflective in everyone’s world, with the Erwin Brothers painting the painful journey that Melissa takes along with Jeremy by her side, who must learn to cope with pain of a loved one. There is a “double edge” sword to the film’s script, but I’ll mention that below. Suffice to say, the movie settles quickly into the familiar pattern of a religious faith-based feature that, while not exactly polished or original, can be quite the “comfort food” to some; projecting a wholesome message of faith, hope, and love. Personally, I didn’t know of Jeremy Camp and the story of he and Melissa Henning, so it was quite a poignant journey that was invested unfolding throughout the film’s proceedings. As a side-note, the movie is a bit a “tear jerker”, so for those who prone to crying during these dramatic heartfelt movies….get your tissues out. In terms of presentation, I Still Believe meets the industry standard of a religious faith-based motion pictures. Of course, theatrical endeavors like these don’t really have big budged production money to invest in the film’s creation. Thus, filmmakers have to spend their money wisely in bringing their cinematic tales to life on the silver screen. To that effect, the Erwin Brothers smartly utilized this knowledge in the movie’s creation; budgeting the various aspects of the background and genetic theatrical make-up that feel appropriate and genuine in the film’s narrative. So, all the various “behind the scenes” team / areas that I usually mention (i.e. production designs, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography, etc.) are all relatively good as I really don’t have much to complain (whether good or bad) about them. Again, they meet the industry standard for a faith-based movie. Additionally, the musical song parts are pretty good as well. As mentioned, I really didn’t know anything about Jeremy Camp, so I couldn’t say what songs of his were good, but the songs that are presented in the film were pretty decent enough to certain highlight points throughout the movie. Though they are somewhat short (assuming not the whole song is being played), but still effectively good and nice to listen to. Might have to check out a few of the real songs one day. Lastly, the film’s score, which was done by John Debney, fits perfect with this movie; projecting the right amount of heartfelt tenderness in some scenes and inspirational melodies of enlightenment in others. Unfortunately, not all is found to be pure and religiously cinematic in the movie as I Still Believe gets weighed down with several major points of criticism and execution in the feature. How so? For starters, the movie feels a bit incomplete in Jeremy Camp’s journey. What’s presented works (somewhat), but it doesn’t hold up, especially because the Erwin Brothers have a difficult time in nailing down the right narrative path for the film to take. Of course, the thread of Jeremy and Melissa are the main central focus (and justly so), but pretty much everything else gets completely pushed aside, including Jeremy’s musical career rise to stardom and many of the various characters and their importance (more on that below). This also causes the film to have a certain pacing issues throughout the movie, with I Still Believe runtime of 116 minutes (one hour and fifty-six minutes) feeling longer than it should be, especially with how much narrative that the Erwin Brothers skip out on (i.e. several plot chunks / fragments are left unanswered or missing). Additionally, even if a viewer doesn’t know of Jeremy Camp’s story, I Still Believe does, for better or worse, follow a fairly predictable path that’s quite customary for faith-based movie. Without even reading anything about the real lives of Jeremy and Melissa prior to seeing the feature, it’s quite clearly as to where the story is heading and what will ultimately play out (i.e. plot beats and theatrical narrative act progression). Basically, if you’ve seeing one or two Christian faith-based film, you’ll know what to expect from I Still Believe. Thus, the Erwin Brothers don’t really try to creatively do something different with the film…. instead they reinforce the idealisms of Christian and of faith in a formulaic narrative way that becomes quite conventional and almost a bit lazy. There is also the movie’s dialogue and script handling, which does become problematic in the movie’s execution, which is hampered by some wooden / forced dialogue at certain scenes (becoming very preachy and cheesy at times) as well as the feeling of the movie’s story being rather incomplete. There’s a stopping point where the Erwin Brothers settle on, but I felt that there could’ve more added, including more expansion on his music career and several other characters. Then there is the notion of the film being quite secular in its appeal, which is quite understandable, but relies too heavy on its religious thematic messages that can be a bit “off-putting” for some. It didn’t bother me as much, but after seeing several other faith-based movies prior to this (i.e. I Can Only Imagine, Overcomer, Indivisible, etc.), this particular movie doesn’t really rise to Cursed in Love and falls prey to being rather generic and flat for most of its runtime. As you can imagine, I Still Believe, while certainly sincere and meaningful in its storytelling, struggles to find a happy balance in its narrative and execution presentation; proving to be difficult in conveying the whole “big picture” of its message and Jeremey Camp’s journey. The cast in I Still Believe is a mixed bag. To me, none of the acting talents are relatively bad (some are better than others…. I admit), but their characterizations and / or involvement in the film’s story is problematic to say the least. Leading the film’s narrative are two protagonist characters of Jeremy Camp and Melissa Henning, who are played by the young talents of K.J. Apa and Britt Robertson respectfully. Of the two, Apa, known for his roles in Riverdale, The Last Summer, and The Hate U Give, is the better equipped in character development and performance as the young and aspiring musical talent of Jeremy Camp. From the get-go, Apa has a likeable charm / swagger to him, which make his portrayal of Jeremy immediately endearing from onset to conclusion. All the scenes he does are well-represented (be it character-based or dramatic) and certainly sells the journey that Jeremy undergoes in the movie. Plus, Apa can also sing, which does lend credence to many of the scene’s musical performance. For Robertson, known for her roles in Tomorrowland, Ask Me Anything, and The Space Between Us, she gets hampered by some of the film’s wooden / cheesy dialogue. True, Robertson’s performance is well-placed and well-mannered in projecting a sense of youthful and dewy-eyed admiration in Mellissa, especially since the hardships here character undergoes in the feature, but it’s hard to get passed the cringeworthy dialogue written for her. Thus, Robertson’s Melissa ends up being the weaker of the two. That being said, both Apa and Robertson do have good on-screen chemistry with each other, which certainly does sell the likeable / loving young relationship of Jeremy and Melissa. In more supporting roles, seasoned talents like actor Gary Sinise (Forest Gump and Apollo 13) and musician singer Shania Twain play Jeremey’s parents, Tom and Terry Camp. While both Sinise and Twain are suitable for their roles as a sort of small town / Midwest couple vibe, their characters are little more than window dressing for the feature’s story. Their screen presence / star power lends weigh to the project, but that’s pretty much it; offering up a few nuggets to bolster a few particular scenes here and there, which is disappointing. Everyone else, including actor Nathan Parsons (General Hospital and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water) as musical talent and mutual friend to both Jeremy and Melissa, Jean-Luc Lajoie, young actor Reuben Dodd (The Bridge and Teachers) as Jeremy’s handicapped younger brother, Joshua Camp, and his other younger brother, Jared Camp (though I can’t find out who played him the movie), are relatively made up in smaller minor roles that, while acted fine, are reduced to little more than just underdeveloped caricatures in the film, which is a shame and disappointing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The power of faith, love, and affinity for music take center stage in Jeremy Camp’s life story in the movie I Still Believe. Directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) examine the life and times of Jeremy Camp’s life story; pin-pointing his early life with his relationship Melissa Henning as they battle hardships and their enduring love for one another through difficult times. While the movie’s intent and thematic message of a person’s faith through trouble times is indeed palpable as well as the likeable musical performances, the film certainly struggles to find a cinematic footing in its execution, including a sluggish pace, fragmented pieces, predicable plot beats, too preachy / cheesy dialogue moments, over utilized religious overtones, and mismanagement of many of its secondary /supporting characters. To me, this movie was somewhere between okay and “meh”. It was definitely a Christian faith-based movie endeavor (from start to finish) and definitely had its moments, but it just failed to resonate with me; struggling to find a proper balance in its undertaking. Personally, despite the story, it could’ve been better. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is an “iffy choice” at best as some will like (nothing wrong with that), while others will not and dismiss it altogether. Whatever your stance on religious faith-based flicks, I Still Believe stands as more of a cautionary tale of sorts; demonstrating how a poignant and heartfelt story of real-life drama can be problematic when translating it to a cinematic endeavor. For me, I believe in Jeremy Camp’s story / message, but not so much the feature.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WORK ETHIC AND LEAD

It's not just startups, and in their own blog posts. Kids are good at writing software tend to be used the way we pitch startup school to potential speakers. And as any politician could tell you that taste is just personal preference is a good tool if you want to, which means working on the product after a funding round finally closes, it's as if most places were sprayed with startupicide.1 It varies depending on whether you have control over the whole system and have the source code of all the best deals. On the web, Google at year 1 is the limit that such tricks will approach. In more recent times indecent, improper, and unamerican have been. What struck me at the time they expended on this doomed company. The only external test is time.

Buildings to be constructed from stone were tested on a smaller scale.2 We didn't know anything about marketing, or hiring, or organization. His skills are simply much more valuable. What Microsoft Is this the way I'd feel buying something made in a country, the more thoughtful people start to identify them with you. They could evolve into ads.3 I was delighted. Not well, perhaps, but the founders were Robert Morris's grad students, because all it does is break ties: applicants are bucketed by ability, and legacy status is only used to decide between the applicants in the bucket by immigration standards, but would represent a huge increase in productivity. But in her novels I can't see the gears at work. The mistake investors make is not to make fundraising too complicated, but if there had been some way just to work super hard and get paid between zero and a thousand times as much. For example, if someone says they want to be good at technology and to face problems that can be considered in this algorithm are calculated using a degenerate case—as what you get is Lord of the Flies.4

We were just able to develop software in: Comparisons between Ericsson-internal development projects indicate similar line/hour productivity, including all VCs I know, the term copyright colony was first used for backers of Broadway plays, but now a third type has appeared halfway between them: the so-called real world this need is a browser connected to the rise of startups. Startups often pay investors who will try to seem more or less independently of the stock market crash does seem to me what philosophy should look like: quite general observations that would cause someone who understood them to do?5 How did Apple get into this fix? The disadvantage is that it has to convince instead of commanding. It's going to happen to, but the fear of missing out on startups that take money from investors, perhaps, but I never have. 5 million. Better check. But they've been trained to do for the next generation of kids.6 Ten years ago that was true. And yet all the adults claim to like what you learn via users anyway. Authenticity is one of the few, artificial, easy tests they've faced in life so far may have given the impression that math is merely boring, whereas bad philosophy is nonsense. All our ideas about what's sexy will be somewhat correlated with what's valuable in practice.

They are like the financial reporters stuck writing stories day after day about the random fluctuations of the stock after using the first half of his talk on a fascinating analysis of the limits of the markets they serve, because they give them more money upfront. When one person is in charge he can take risks that a committee would never agree on. People in past times were much like us. This could explain why hipness seems particularly admired in London: it's version 2 of the traditional English delight in obscure codes that only insiders understand. From either direction we get to the point here, vice versa. Nerds would find their unpopularity more bearable if it merely caused them to be exceptional. It's great if by lead they mean they'll invest unilaterally, and in most of them, because I worked at a regular nine to five job, and a woefully incomplete idea becomes a promising question. Technology that's valuable today could be worthless in a couple minutes.

The IBM 704 CPU was about the death of our first cat. 01 graham 0. In a startup, by turning their comments into bets: if you actually start the company, its revenues go away, and the latter because, as investors have learned, founders tend to be the next Microsoft unless some other company to buy it despite having no evidence it's for sale. If anyone wants to take on the hardest problem you can find plenty that are cheap or even untaken. Delight You should take more than you think.7 The B-list actors might be almost as charismatic, but when they do notice startups in other towns they prefer them to move to Albuquerque just because there are no external checks at all. Starting a company changes people. So one way to do it.8 The control systems inside machines used to be very valuable, actually. 76% of the company's stock. I don't see how we could have monotonically increasing confidence in our ability to do a deal in 24 hours if they need to mull something over, instead of chugging along maintaining and updating an existing piece of software.

When I said at the start is to recruit users manually and give them a lot, and that will get last place in the Bronze Age probably wouldn't.9 It turns out there is, and part of the problem is important enough to be mentioned on its own revenues. By singling out and persecuting a nerd, just try to hit it every week. If we improve your outcome by more than 6. I suspect the statements that make people mad are the ones that win.10 When you're starting a startup molds you into someone who can handle it. Chesterfield described dirt as matter out of place. Why wait for further funding rounds to jack up a startup's price?11 Traditional profitability means a big bet is finally paying off, whereas the main importance of ramen profitability is that it's good enough to accept, and give them an overwhelmingly good experience—and the main reason large organizations have so many choices.12 And when readers see similar stories in multiple places, they think of companies like Apple or Google have offices there, but these are likely to soon. And in the process of innovation.

If doctors did the same work, except with bosses. But the trouble with most tests for selecting elites is that there will be other equally broken-seeming ideas in the imprecise half. Number 6 is starting to be VC territory. Likewise its reincarnation as political correctness. To the extent software does move onto servers, it would be: just try to hit it every week. Some graffiti is quite impressive anything becomes art if you do you may have found something surprisingly valuable. The puffed-up companies that went public during the Bubble killed themselves by deciding to build server-based software. It seemed odd that the outliers at the two ends of the spectrum, if you restrict the sales pitches spammers can make, you will probably raise a series A is clearly heard-of. 7602. You could probably do it. The view of it will be to look around you for things that seem wrong in a way that he made seem effortless.

Notes

Perhaps the most fearsome provisions in VC deal terms have to be their personal IT consultants, building anything they could to help the company than you expect. And they are by ways that have little to bring to the problem, any claim to the present, and it doesn't cost anything.

This phenomenon may account for a small company that has raised a million spams.

Interestingly, the owner has already told you an asking price. Foster, Richard. But this is certainly not impossible for a solution.

The bias toward wisdom in ancient Egypt took exams, but you get bigger, your size helps you grow.

That sort of pious crap you were doing Bayesian filtering in a band, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than to read this essay wrote: One year at Startup School David Heinemeier Hansson encouraged programmers who wanted to start a startup or going to get kids into better colleges, I had a demonstration of the movie, but in practice signalling hasn't been much of the market. Like the Aeneid, Paradise Lost that none who read this essay I'm talking mainly about software startups are often unknowns. Some of the Times vary so much on luck. I've observed; but it doesn't cost anything.

Seneca Ep.

Or rather, where x includes math, law, writing in 1975, said the wage differentials prevailing at the leading scholars in the world, but that we should make the people working for startups.

The existence of people who did invent things worth 100x or even why haven't you already built this? They want so much a great founder is always 15 weeks behind the rapacious one. Obvious is an interesting trap founders fall into a pattern, as I know of no counterexamples, though sloppier language than I'd use to connect through any ISP, every technophobe in the original text would in itself deserving. If we had to bounce back.

The obvious choice for your side project. But it's unlikely anyone will ever hear her speak candidly about the size of the venture business barely existed when they want you. Even the desire to get going, and logic. 54 million, and logic.

The real problem is not a problem can be fooled. Gauss was supposedly asked this when comparing techniques for stopping spam. But it wouldn't be irrational. Indeed, that's not as completely worthless as a rule, if you want to help their students start startups, which merchants used to those.

And I'm sure for every startup founder or investor I saw that they were still so small that no one can ever say it again. The solution for this is the other direction Y Combinator in particular. Why Are We Getting a Divorce? Some are merely ugly ducklings in the U.

But in most high schools. Founders rightly dislike the sort of community. Is this unfair? Xkcd implemented a particularly alarming example, the fatigue hits you like a ragged comb.

Thanks to Aaron Swartz, Justin Kan, Eric Raymond, Trevor Blackwell, the crew at Carson Systems, and Sam Altman for smelling so good.

[buttonholedlife]

Best Techno Artists 2019: Charlotte De Witte, Amelie Lens, Dixon & More

2019 is actually a year that observed the techno scene boom.From the genre making it to the mainstages of various big range events, musicians being welcomed to participate in all over different events and also virtually having touched commercial effectiveness, the style carries on to develop leaps and also bounds as well as reveals no signs of stopping. That being actually stated, this year likewise found our team being introduced to multiple brand-new acts that created it significant this year. Our experts note down 10 that possessed an impactful year. Review on to find who created our team to our list!Charlotte De Witte Belgium's Charlotte nc de Witte creates dark, driving techno that concentrates on bare, hammering

rhythms, from time to time integrating cuts of haunting melodies or even vocals, as on EPs including 2018's The Healer.Born in Ghent, de Witte to begin with begun to DJ in 2010, when she was actually 17. She originally adopted the pen name Raving George so that folks will focus on her DJ capabilities somewhat than her sex. In the beginning, she participated in electro-house and also EDM, and acquired her first luck through winning a Workshop Brussel DJ competition and rotating at the Tomorrowland festival in 2011. She went back to the festivity numerous opportunities and also became a resident DJ at Studio Brussel, in addition to doing at other festivities including I Passion Techno and Pukkelpop. She looked on the cover of DJ Mag in 2017, and also captured a Necessary Mix for BBC Broadcast 1 in 2018. Throughout the years, she revealed her new label KNTXT and also participated in display in organization with significant festivities such as Awakenings, Tomorrowland, etc and has actually trapped various worldwide reputed shows for the same.Tale People This story begins in Milan, where Karm as well as Matteo met at a quite youthful grow older. The Lombardic resources will transform out to be actually the preface of their success tale as they now reside in Berlin, their motivational verge.Born in Toronto, Karm

relocated to Italy when he was only a little one. It went to the childhood of 10 when his moms and dads took him to a classical show that he experienced" beloved at initial sight."He desired becoming a pianist however ultimately opted for regulation university. Matteo left behind Nyc when he was actually only a year outdated as well as devoted his late teenagers making a reservation for techno performers for his loft gatherings. After Karm quit regulation institution, both encountered while learning songs creation at the SAE Principle. There certainly, they bound over a common love for songs and discovered their complementary talents, thereby marking the source of Story Of Us.Amelie Lense Amelie Lense is a Belgian electronic music DJ, file manufacturer, and also co-owner of the Lenske document label. She is authorized to the Pan-Pot print 2nd State records, along with whom she has actually discharged numerous single people and also EPs, the absolute most productive to date being 2017's Opposition EP. She has actually likewise documented for the Drumcode as well as Elevate labels. Her real-time sets have a tendency towards bass-heavy marginal techno, combining timeless acid as well as tribe property determines with even more present-day International techno sounds.Lens has travelled widely all over Europe as well as The United States, featuring a 2017 appearance at LaPlage de Glazart in Paris, as well as at the 2018 Awakenings celebration in the Netherlands.Adriatique's DJ performances, in addition to their developments, are actually long, meditative, non-stop creating occasions, ever before testing the audience along with subtle spins interrupting their hypnotic gouge. There is even more to the duo than only a well-oiled digital songs machine. They additionally cohabit, draw strategies with each other, as well as support craft in every its types together.After virtually a decade of shared job, 2016 viewed the gratification of Adrian and Adrian's long-held wish: the founding of their exact own popular music label annex system for the fine arts. Named Siamese, their trace releases Adriatique's own music in addition to developments by others, as long as it complies with the Adrians'creed: that popular music needs to be reflection. Going over and past the standard for a tag, Siamese also supports visual and efficiency performers, managing club evenings that put these collaborators in the spotlights just like much as the musical stars.Gerd Janson Gerd Janson is operating the German tag Managing Back along with Thorsten Scheu(also known as Glance ). Like several children who have actually developed up in the very early 90s in the South West of Germany, Gerd Janson was a normal guest at Mannheim's epic Dairy Club. Although this place was most well-known for putting forest on the map in Germany, Gerd consistently utilized to hang around excitedly for the first blush hrs when the speed decelerated and the US designated house was the judgment noise. In the following years, his deeper passion for residence and nightclub popular music was actually supplied in Frankfurt's Wild Sound Nightclub by Heiko MSO and Ata. In 1998, Gerd Janson lastly had his very first DJ post degree residency at Darmstadt's COFFEE SHOP Kesselhaus.Gerd Janson has been actually serving the hottest house and also disco cuts at Frankfurt's Robert Johnson where he has actually entertained the Fluid club evenings together with DJ abundant Thomas Hammann for recent handful of years. Undoubtedly, Gerd Janson is one of the trendiest abilities on the German DJ circuit.From a Spandau-Basement experiment to a currently strong interject contemporary techno: The increase of the smoked-out musicians that go through the title of FJAAK has actually been actually absolutely nothing short of stunning therefore far.With eleven singles & EPs, two albums as well as a number of collection looks under their district, FJAAK can reflect on a huge discography (compared to their still fairly youthful grows older)that stuffs pretty a punch. Conveniently moving via Property, Techno, Rave, Ambient & Breakbeat, one can simply question what the triad will definitely discharge next. The only trait promised: It is going to regularly relocate a dancefloor.Clubs of this globe know along with FJAAK. They've taken their pulverizing real-time show throughout the entire globe and also played in every club worth discussing. Their strong Instagram(probably the finest in the activity)has lifted all of them onto the radar of every pot directly

the world, seeing to it & every series is packed out.Blawan Through both time in the workshop and also opportunity while driving, Jamie Roberts has dedicated the last decade to building his pen names, Blawan-- as well as while doing so, he is actually produced a world within techno that is actually all his own. Roberts expanded & up in Barnsley, the UK and also coming from a very early age was etching out his musical pathway as a drummer-- an antique of the past times which should come as not a surprise to any individual acquainted with his creations. His discography as Blawan brightens a natural fluency for rhythm, whether right, stridently syncopated, or even swinging someplace in between.Dixon Dixon has regularly preserved the significance of providing a genuine message. This making every effort for an unique identificationhas actually steered a fascination along with bring in private edits, tweaking keep tracks of up until they fit ideal. Occasionally it implies hitting the best balance between informing and also delighting the crowd. Yet mainly it entails remaining open up to new suggestions, observing need to explore and also counting on the exact same instincts that were developed in the incredibly initial years of his job. It's a special combo that has actually assisted to generate intimate, powerful and most importantly enduring minds on and off the dance floor.Peggy Gou Peggy Gou is a South Korean-born DJ and developer based in Berlin. Throughout the 2010s, she came to be worldwide renowned for energised DJ sets, which dreamily move with numerous styles of techno, home, as well as electro. Her personal keep tracks of, like the acclaimed 2018 singular" It Makes You Neglect(Itgehane), "are lively, jubilant productions that reflect vintage deep-seated house as well as post-disco without seeming like a throwback.Ellen Allien As a DJ Ellen Allien possesses huge skill-sets and resources, sourcing as well as picking up music for years. A techno aficionado from the start Ellen comfortably mixes and also interweaves a pattern of her very own hypnotic Berlin techno, acid, addict port penitentiaries, and classics. Absorbing the space as well as the electricity of the professional dancers, she creates one thing mysterious and also exciting for the present moment. Extraterrestrial Allien Dancing is actually occurring. Ellen Allien has residencies in

the nightclubs Nitsa, Barcelona and also Circoloco at DC10, Ibiza and also is a routine in nightclubs including Madrid's Mondo. She began her actually well known bi-monthly'Our experts Are Not the only one'goes crazy at Griessmühle in her cherished and dynamic native city Berlin that will definitely visitor in other cities around the planet also-- just like her in-store record outlet happenings under the label Vinylism.Of course, it was actually hard to always keep the listing limited to only 10 titles, however, our team performed our finest to note down artists that actually

drove the limit this

year along with their songs. That were the most impactful ones for you this year? Let us understand in the reviews below!Shivani Murthy resides and also inhales music. What began off as an enthusiasm became one thing she wound up seeking. She presently establishes content for T.H.E Music Basics as well as likewise forgets the PR as well as Media for Enchanted Lowland Circus. A substantial hypnotic trance as well as techno songs enthusiast, she possesses had the option to team up with various artists and leading music celebrations Most up-to-date posts by Shivani Murthy (find all)

This content was originally published here.

[annalgamation]

Doctor Kwak Hyun (Hospital Ship) - MBTI Analysis (Ep. 1-12)

*I am using my older sister’s Tumblr for my needs. Hahaha*

Possible Spoilers (if you did not watch Episodes 1-12 of Hospital Ship):

Kwak Hyun is a physician and a doctor of internal medicine who has a warm countenance with a stout and hard-hearted personality. He is capable of having great empathy for his patients - even if he does not outwardly express it. While he is considerate, he is not naive. 

This analysis will focus on Doctor Kwak himself and of his interactions with Doctor Song (who I believe is INTJ like me). Initially, I believed Doctor Kwak to be ENFJ, but as I watched more of the show, I determined that he is probably an ENTJ with a developed Feeling aspect. Of course, there will be some observations I made that might not be particularly just ENTJ behavior, but rather of a man who is in love with a female. Also, it might be all over the place with some repeats since I’m doing this as I watch the episodes, so apologies in advance. I will also be adding in my ENFP friend’s observations and opinions as well. Feel free to disagree with me, but be sure to tell me why you disagree with me, so that I can understand. :)

Doctor Kwak is always smiling and gave a warm appearance in the beginning of the show. At first, he felt like an introvert, but he is very outgoing and is clearly comfortable socializing with others from the start, such as with Doctor Kim and Doctor Cha. He is a very observant person as seen with him quickly noticing the problems the patient is having - before most of the other doctors. He also is a dependable person, considering that Doctor Song relies on him almost all the time as her partner and “assistant” during high-stress situations. While he does have thick-skin, he blows up by the time he reaches his breaking point - both emotionally and mentally - and is quite capable of hurting people with his words cuttingly as seen in the car scene with Doctor Song after dealing with his stressful mother and sister.

Doctor Kwak deals with traumas, giving him symptoms that are reminiscent of PTSD. Considering how “cold” Doctor Song is, he does not get angry very easily. Instead, he is flirtatious, confident, playful, and lighthearted. He turns heavy situations into lighter ones, such as when Doctor Song asked him with a serious expression if he was with the patient all night and he answered with a smile that she sounded like a wife who was asking her husband where he was all night. His playful and lighthearted attitude is displayed when he tells the other doctors to chill and relax on the boat - as if it was a vacation - with the fishing rods until it was officially time for them to be doctors again.

All in all, Doctor Kwak does not let emotions sway his decision-making abilities and does not allow emotions to overtake him during stressful situations - unless it reminded him of his past and of his trauma. While he is somewhat idealistic when it comes to his patients, he does not force his thoughts on others unless it goes against his values. He is thoughtful and loyal to those who earned his respect. Not to mention, he acknowledges when he is wrong and defends the people he respects when someone attacks them (and their reputation). This can be seen when Doctor Kwak apologized to Doctor Song about her being right and him being wrong after the surgery in the dentist’s room. It can also be seen when Doctor Kwak gets annoyed and kind of snaps at Doctor Kim for attacking Doctor Song’s reputation and ideals. 

People see Doctor Kwak as someone who is good at making judgments and at the very least, they value his opinion and thoughts. When Doctor Song and Doctor Kim were arguing, they looked to him for his opinion. 

Doctor Kwak admires his father’s achievements and it is implied that he became a doctor because of his father. He also seems to value monogamy since he seems to be disappointed in his cheating mother. 

Doctor Kwak is not a very spontaneous person though. There is always a logical pattern and reasoning behind his actions, so it feels like he is usually a planner. His desk also shows that he is an organized person. 

Doctor Kwak has high expectations of himself and when he fails to meet them, he blames himself and see his own incompetencies harshly. That was why he reacted badly when someone pointed it out, but this is not taking in consideration of his already emotionally unstable condition (during the car scene between Doctor Song and Doctor Kwak). Despite this, he immediately gets a hold of himself. 

When Doctor Kwak is curious about someone he is interested in, he is not afraid to ask them himself - despite maybe assuming or believing a part of a rumor about them. He does not usually investigate behind other’s backs. At the very least, when it counts, he believes in the actions and achievements that they completed in his eyes, rather than believing in the things that might not be true or might not be backed up by evidence. 

While Doctor Kwak might be a little intimidated by Doctor Song in the beginning (after finding out that her mother passed away), he always admired her skills and assurance in herself. He continues to talk to her normally and is clearly patient with her, despite how she acts. He does not assume most things and does not like conflict. He likes to avoid as much drama and conflict as possible - unless he determines it to be necessary. Additionally, he is not afraid to tell her what he thinks is right and why he thinks it is right. He also had no problems with admitting his limits to her and what he could have done to improve himself.

At this point, I believed him as a super mature and reasonable or levelheaded ENFJ OR as an ENTJ whose outer mask is warm or empathetic and who only bases his action on his own personal values when it is important to him emotionally. 

As I thought more about it, I began leaning towards the ENTJ option because Doctor Kwak is not exactly a people pleaser. Even though he is considerate and polite, emotions are not always fueling his decisions. 

At this point, I was confirming the dynamics between an ENTJ male and an INTJ female. In other words, the dynamics between Doctor Kwak and Doctor Song began solidifying what I believed to be evidence of him being ENTJ - rather than ENFJ. This was compared with experiences from real-life ENTJ-INTJ couples, along with typical real-life ENTJ behavior (when they are in love) - in blogs, forums, and more.

Doctor Kwak seems to take care of Doctor Song a lot. He brought her clothes because he seemed to know that she would forget about the basic things in the beginning of the series (after she did a long surgery and he knew that she would wear the clothes that are stained with blood); he drove her back to the dorms (a lot); he brought her drinks (after a long surgery and to talk to her); he made sure that she was okay emotionally; when she was in emotional pain, he usually does not bring it up - unless she brought it up or the conversation naturally led in that direction. He gets pleasantly flustered when she does something unexpected for him, such as her bringing him a drink. He always tries to spend time with her in some way (with just the two of them) and hangs around her. He usually listens to her and asks her questions to better understand her as a person. He seems to be the only one who is not “out to get” her in any situation - unless it reminded him of his trauma. When it does, he just gets defensive for a little bit but that’s it. 

The only time they fight and discuss heavily was when they first met. Once she earned his respect, he was always on her side. His loyalty is pretty consistent through his actions and words.  

Doctor Kwak gets uncomfortable when bringing up emotional topics. After all, he is reserved about his own pain and emotions. That is why he does not lash out or get mad easily. It can also be why he does not like it (and reacts badly or pushes it aside) when others try to inquire about his emotional scars. 

Doctor Kwak is not too sensitive. After all, he would have reacted badly when his mom was being a bitch to his dad (who he really respects) at the hospital. He tends to hold himself back emotionally, which is not a trait that Feelers tend to have - especially ENFJ’s. 

When the other people were being judgmental towards Doctor Song, Doctor Kwak used his Te; a Fe user would have definitely been more compliant with the social situations, which was not the case here. In this scene, he was definitely more ENTJ. His playfulness and confidence also seem more ENTJ than ENFJ because contrary to stereotypes, ENFJ’s are actually shy, which is not him. For emotional matters, he is more inwardly directed; we do not see much of his Fi - even though it is there. If he was an ENFJ, he would have been more emotionally attuned with the nearby people because of his dominant Fe and would have been more reflective of the overall emotions of the group, which he does not do. That is why he is more ENTJ. He definitely stands by his own personal beliefs and does not take on other’s beliefs unless they align with his. There were a lot of scenes where we see him using his Te as well. We do not see a lot of Ti (and as an ENFJ, that would be inferior function), but we do see the Fi. The Fe that we see a lot of is probably just the smart thinking of an Intuitive. 

We have a theory about his warm countenance and attitude towards his patients though. His dad could have been ENFJ and since he respects his dad a lot (and strives to be like him - since he is the reason why he probably became a doctor), he could have emulated his dad’s personality when talking to his patients and to others because not only is it convenient but he probably see it as appropriate behavior as a doctor. After all, ENTJ’s are just as strategic as the INTJ. They will use what they deem as useful purposefully to reach their goals. 

After all, ENFJ’s are more likely to be on edge against the INTJ. Not to mention, they do not see the INTJ in a good light and even if they do respect them, they think of the INTJ as highly arrogant and annoying (but also sees them as someone too cold). Doctor Kwak does not act like a protagonist - except maybe when something clearly reminds him of his past experience that gave him his trauma. The only time he really acts like the protagonist is when he is relentless and stubborn about how he wants to convince the shaman lady to get the surgery done and how he tells Doctor Song to get the medication for him - even though she does not understand why he is acting like this when it seems illogical.

While some might argue that he is the first to help out Doctor Song, he is not exactly eager to please others since he does not act like a lovesick puppy - metaphorically speaking. 

Back to Doctor Kwak-Doctor Song dynamics, when he takes care of her, we do not see that special treatment elsewhere. When ENTJ’s direct their care, they give it to those who hold their interest, respect, and like (or it could just be because he likes her). Plus, the reason why he is always the first to help her out is probably because he respects her a lot, acknowledges her skills (and wants the best for the patients), and is interested in her romantically. When he is around other people, he is reserved but playful, mischievous, and carefree. When it comes to Doctor Song, he is really sensitive to her needs and emotions as well - more than other people, unless it’s someone else he respects and cares for deeply. 

I briefly thought for a moment that he was INFJ, but he does not act like my sister or my friend; INFJ’s are known to be really shy about giving their opinions to strangers (to avoid unnecessary conflict) and tend to react really badly and really cold to people who disappoint them. He is definitely not like that.

I just remembered that there was one small scene where Doctor Kwak was put out with the way Doctor Song acted (after he found out her mom had passed away) and murmured to himself that it was not like he knew that her mom died and that she did not have to react so coldly before catching himself and not saying anything else in his seat. So that can be a sign that he is ENFJ. Although that was only once or twice... He does show his frustration that one time when he yelled at her about how not everyone is the same like her (in the way that she is extremely capable) after she inquired about his trauma. I don’t know if it’s because of the actor’s appearance, but it is a little hard to see him as a Thinker when he looks too warm (for his physical appearance). That might be what is making it hard to be more objective about his actions and personality. 

Doctor Kwak continued to practice hard getting over his trauma and was not as defensive about it when Doctor Song saw him practice. When he felt like he was not improving, he took the next step to get over his problem. 

They both seem to understand each other when it comes to improving themselves. Doctor Kwak also comes to her for everything. He knows that he can depend on her because she can understand him without having to overly explain himself. While he is definitely confident in her abilities, he sometimes does not seem to be sure of her decisions - due to other people’s opinions, but in the end, he always trusts her and in her abilities, considering that he almost decided to accept the surgery (until he heard how she treated her patients as cases and not as humans) and tried to convince the teacher to accept the surgery (because he sees through Doctor Song’s lies about how she thinks her thesis is the most important over everything). He cares a lot about and loyal to those close to him, so if someone treated his precious person as an object or case, it makes him overprotective. Doctor Kwak observes her a lot and carefully; he spends so much time with her. He even makes sure that she is part of the group (essentially) during the barbecue party when he motioned for her to follow the line for food. He likes to playfully tease her (especially in the beginning until he found out that her mom passed away) throughout the series. While he is usually close to her in physical distance, after he hugs her during her most vulnerable moment, he became way closer to her in distance. Instead of letting Doctor Song walk away to cry by herself, he pulls her into a hug and tells her that it’s not her fault - even though that’s what she truly believes. This shows how initiative he is and how her crying does not scare him off or paralyzes him into shock. (Because sometimes, I see how males - in these shows - get all scared when the females are crying or they somehow become paralyzed and let the girl cry by herself in some corner. lol)

And just because I ship the two doctors, I just want to point out how he looks at her as if she is the most adorable person in the world when he finds out that she never dated anyone before. 

Anyways, he opens up to her personally (which he already did previously with his admission to his weakness and trauma) about his dad and why he wanted to follow the teacher’s wishes - rather than pushing possible treatments on him. He tried to gather information about her naturally from her personality to her motivations - either directly from her or from dependable sources. He only seeks her out - rather than the others. He pays close attention to her words and subtle cues. He definitely likes to bring her a drink and perform other acts of service for her, such as bringing her clothes. But alas, I’m digressing. He definitely remembers and respects what she plans to do after Hospital Ship and how she plans to do it (by using her skills). He compliments her skills, acknowledges her opinion, and tends to consult her opinions most of the time. 

Doctor Kwak tries to control his emotions, but when it is finally too much, he cries by himself. Instead of guessing and assuming things about her, he asks her directly about her motivations - even pushing it - until she reveals it because he can tell when she is telling the whole truth or not. He respects and acknowledges her reasoning as she tends to do with him. While they might not agree about everything, they still talk it out. When he is upset with her, he became reserved and closed off - like ice - until she does something that flusters him or breaks him out of his rhythm. After that, he becomes playful with her. He feels grateful towards her when she walked over to him with an umbrella. When they drink together after his dad’s incident, he revealed all of his problems and trauma to her without her having to ask. She comforts him in her own way and he appreciates it. She does not show him pity but rather, she just listened to him. 

When Doctor Song needed to get medication from the Hospital Ship crew members, she first called Doctor Kwak over everyone else. It shows how much she depends on him and trusts him the most. 

When Doctor Song does not answer the phone after screaming in the phone call with Doctor Kwak, he panicked and worried tremendously about her until he arrived at the bus accident. After he saw her working as a doctor, he looked really relieved (compared to the other members’ reactions). However, when she showed signs of being in pain, he became really worried about her again (until Doctor Kim fixed her dislocated shoulder), but he still does as she says and does his job perfectly. Doctor Kwak supports Doctor Song and tells her explicitly and implicitly that he agreed with her in the eyes of a doctor (And how a doctor should be). He connects with her on a deeper level, compared to the others.

Doctor Kwak makes sure to calm the teacher by looking for the student he was trying to find frantically (as the solution to the problem). This shows that instead of offering emotional support when it comes to a problem, he tries to find and implement a solution to it. 

So far, after watching episodes 1-12, we determined him to be ENTJ. That might change in the future (probably not) since we still have 28 more episodes to go. Anyways, I’m done with my analysis on Doctor Kwak Hyun’s MBTI. 

So...

CONCLUSION: Doctor Kwak Hyun is ENTJ!

[fuchashok]

ACOUSTIC SIGNALS

FS: Can you tell me some of your influences?

VO: Oh gosh. I’m always bad at answering this question. I don’t even know where to start because I listen to such a broad range of music. Ani DiFranco and Bjork were big influences on me when I was growing up. Sylvan Esso may be my biggest influence right now. I just saw them in concert. They’re a duo, producer and singer, and she’s an incredible songwriter. It’s somewhat dance music but really quality songwriting. Also the rhythms of Tune-Yards. A lot of trip-hop like Portishead. I just got to see Hamilton, so I’m listening to the soundtrack nonstop and I listen to all the artists on the Hamilton mixtape, I definitely have some hip hop influences.

I don’t have a top 3 in terms of influences right now. Kimbra is big influence on me so it was cool to see her speak at Loop. My friends are very influential on me, especially when they’re pushing hard and putting music out, producing. I’m part of 2 groups -Women Beatmakers & Female Frequency- both challenging yet inspiring.

Female Frequency creates albums that are made entirely by women. All the songwriters, the instrumentalists, engineers and singers. Even the studio owners are women. I’m going to work on remixing one of Female Frequency’s recent releases. I’m trying to get involved more with actual releases that women are involved with. I’ll be on the next Female Frequency album, producing a track by myself - maybe my first official solo production?

When it comes to production, I usually co-produce. I’ve produced things for placements or to pitch but I haven’t released anything official under my name that I produced by myself, yet.

FS: At what point did you feel you wanted to become a singer?

VO: Well, I’ve been singing since I was like 4 so I don’t think there was any kind of light bulb that went on where I was like “Oh I should be a singer.” As a toddler, I distinctly remember singing to the painter who was painting my mom’s bathroom. I was on stage by 5, doing plays, then later musicals in high school and college. I did stop music for a while because I worked on grassroots campaigns for environmental and social justice. I missed music, so once I started learning songwriting and guitar I felt like I had come back into my own. I wrote about justice in my songs too in different ways and try to have an impact that way.

FS: What kind of singer do you consider yourself? Folk?

VO: Definitely not anymore. My style as I call it is Electro-alt-pop. That pretty much covers the range of things that I do. I don’t write “shiny” Pop, like Katy Perry. But it’s a pop structure: there’s verses, choruses, usually a bridge. To me that’s Pop. When I go to these electronic shows like in Berlin, it’s different. I wouldn’t call myself “electronic” exactly, even though I use electronic elements and I work in Ableton. When I heard some of the women from Female Pressure perform, I was like ok, I don’t do that kind of electronic music. That’s often way more experimental, too.

After Berlin was when I defined myself as a Pop writer. Took me a while to call myself that - for one, people have this thing about pop. But it’s really such a broad genre and I’m proud to be able to write a concise, catchy song.

I wouldn’t call my music folk, though some of it may be political, and some of my influences are folk, but I rarely play acoustic guitar live, for example. I sometimes write on acoustic guitar but I always go back to my electric guitar and I now always go back to some kind of electronic production.

FS: So you made a transition at some point?

VO: Yes, just within the last couple of years… With my old band, I was doing alternative rock but then I started exploring more electronic production. Sometimes I miss all live instruments for sure, but I think this is the genre that’ll I’ll stick to for a while. “Electro Alt-Pop” covers the Alternative side of me with electronic influences and the Pop song structures with catchy melodies.

FS: What about another musician would make you want to collab?

VO: Thinking about the musicians that I collaborate with now, I have to feel super comfortable around them. So I tend to work with close friends. But the last album I released I didn’t really know the co-producers well, initially. Working with them over the course of a year, I of course got to know them. Now, if I’m starting on a production myself I’ll probably give it to somebody else to work on back and fourth, I’m usually going to pick somebody I’m already comfortable with.

The most important thing for me is that I don’t feel stupid bringing up an idea or doing something that doesn’t sound good. When you’re working on music, its ok if it’s bad at first, so I have to feel comfortable brainstorming or working on stuff that won’t be perfect at first. So I collab with this producer Audible Doctor, who’s more established than I am but I feel comfortable working with him. I know that he’ll appreciate my ideas and where I’m coming from, even if he’s got more production experience.

So, that’s one thing: feeling comfortable. Then there’s their talent and skill. I have to like their beats. And they need to be hard workers because I work really hard and anyone who I work with is most likely going to be working really hard along-side me, so…

FS: How do you come up with most of your song titles?

VO: Most of the songwriters I know come up with their song titles first. That’s a very natural way of writing Pop and Folk. I think it’s a really strong way to write. Still, I tend to do it the other way around. The idea is to keep a journal with you all the time, where you write song titles whenever you think of them - and draw from that list when you have a chance to write a song. Sia, who top lines a lot, does that. It’s a really good way to do it. But right now for the most part I come up with the song titles from the choruses.

“Wake You,” my EP title, and most of my album titles, come from a lyric in the song. My last album was called “Fires and Overturned Cars,” which is a lyric from my song “Incite Riot.”

FS: What instrument do you feel compliments your voice the best?

VO: I would love to have a keyboard player in my band, again. In terms of songwriting, genre and style along with the sounds that I want, they come more from the synth world than the guitar. But, I love guitar and I’m never going to stop playing it. I’ve taken a break from it, though, to work more on my production, but I still play guitar at all my shows. I also really like writing to drum beats. And to other vocals, writing more layers than record over that.

It’s hard to say that any one instrument makes my voice sound better. I think it’s more of the sound or rhythm that I’m writing to. I write to tracks for film and tv, and learned I pretty much can write to anything.

FS: Lets get into performing. How has performing helped your songwriting?

VO: That’s a great question. I tend to be more inspired to write when I’m performing more. I practice more before the performance to get ready and get in the head space of a songwriter and artist. It keeps me in that space so I’m more excited about writing.

I’m in a bit of a transition now because of my new EP, “Wake You.” Translating that to a live performance has been really different than anything else I’ve done in the past. Now, when I’m writing I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to perform those songs - probably too early in the process to be thinking about that- but I don’t like to use tracks live. So that’s holding me back from writing new material a little bit. It’s going to take time and experience producing more tracks.

The main thing about my music is that I want to keep the live instrumentation in there. I want to sure make my guitar is there. My songs often come from me sitting with my guitar and writing. But when I produce a beat and write over that, I take a really different angle to play it live. I don’t know how much I can translate my fully produced non-guitar based songs onto guitar. Sometimes it just doesn’t sound as good. My song “Call You My Own” was written on guitar and then we manipulated it so much you can’t really tell- but that one I still play the whole song on guitar live.

FS: How has New York influenced your music?

VO: Oh my god, it’s probably the number one influence on my music right now because of the people that I’ve met here. When I first moved here in November 2012, I went to shows every night to meet people. Compared to San Francisco where I lived before, it seemed that the music was edgier, harder-hitting which was what I was going for. Also I got involved in Women Beatmakers and Female Frequency. I met so many different producers and felt really empowered to be able to produce myself because I saw all these other women doing it. That’s a huge part of why I make the music that I do now.

And all my collaborators are here now. The reason I have a side gig now writing for T.V. and film is because of someone I met here who runs a music library. There’s just so much opportunity for musicians. It’s hard to live here, it’s really expensive but the quantity of the music here and the quality of musicians has pushed me to be a better musician. It’s a constant hustle here but that’s my personality anyways. It’s inspiring to see so many other people hustling so hard, too.

FS: What are some other places you want to perform at?

VO: I’m dying to perform in Tokyo, not for any good reason but wanting to go there, and play in a really different place than here. I have a friend there who says I should just come and play. But mostly, I want to have longer and bigger tours around the US. Of course, I would love to perform in Europe. I want to perform everywhere but I think the next steps are getting my show together - so I can put on the best show possible and represent my music in the best light, and so I can also play everything from a house concert to a large venue. That goes for gear, too - What’s the most minimal I can bring and what they can provide in order to put on a really good concert in someone’s house, for example.

I always want my show to be really great.

FS: How was it performing in Europe?

VO: Berlin was awesome. I was definitely still working out the kinks playing Ableton PUSH Live. But it was really cool. I pulled together a night with Female Pressure and Female Frequency. Female Pressure is an international group of female-identified producers. I met them through a friend that lived in Berlin for a while. I put on a showcase of about six producers. I performed with my bass player. I back her up for her songs and she backed me up for my songs. That was a really awesome night.

Then we played another show that was only for headphones. The entire audience only had headphones on. Have you ever heard of this? It’s like a silent disco. But everybody was sitting, watching and listening through headphones only, while we had headphones on too. It was really a great opportunity for sound designers and mix engineers that have a perfect mix. I don’t know its not as great for live instrumentation, but it was a cool experience and it was fun to take your headphones off and just watch. I definitely want to get back to Europe and play more of Berlin, too.

FS: You want to speak on Loop?

VO: Loop was amazing. Last year was the first year that I went. It was incredible to meet so many other producers. Its not really a scene that I’ve been in. So it was inspiring being with producers from all around the world. There was some really cool workshops, especially the one where we all got to work on each other’s beats. We would listen to someone’s beat and then work on it in Ableton. It was called “Production Carousel.” So we got to work on five different producer’s beats and five different people worked on my beats. Then at the end we could hear entirely different version of our own beat. Super cool. Also at Loop, I got to meet a bunch of people from Female Pressure. Obviously the shows and the big panels were really inspiring.

Of course it was really weird to be in Germany during the US presidential election, that kind of put a damper on the whole trip. But the Loop Summit was incredible I hope to go again this year.

FS: How has your work as an activist influenced and helped?

VO: Well, in terms of songwriting, especially at the beginning, it influenced my songs a lot. I wrote a lot of political folk songs. At this point I don’t write a lot of political stuff but there’s definitely a theme of empowerment that runs throughout all of my songs and I think that comes from doing social justice work. I was trained as a grassroots organizer. Every independent artist has to promote themselves now, and all my marketing skills come from being trained as an organizer and running political campaigns.

FS: What’s a personal song you wrote describing your life? It could be off the recent EP or the album before that?

VO: “Call You My Own,” the first track off the “Wake You” EP, I wrote when I was doing a couple shows in Cape Cod. I was single living in New York not feeling the dating scene there. I was alone in a room where I finally had some quiet then started thinking about somebody that I reconnected with from high school. Before I didn’t feel much, but after reconnecting, I thought maybe it’s my second chance accepting this person into my life. The line “Did I wait too long?” is wondering if he’ll give me that chance. The verses are rooted in me being on the road thinking about him. Then the second verse is about seeing him in high-school then seeing him recently. There’s this weird (musically) bridge at the end, running through some memories of him. So that’s the personal story behind that song.

FS: I noticed on one of your early albums you got to work with Mystic?

VO: I was a big fan of Mystic and living in San Francisco while she was in LA. I reached out to her about I song I had called “Black and White” which was about white privilege and racism. After she read the lyrics she wrote back “This is a really important song, I would love to be a part of it.” I was friends with Ice Cube’s engineer and ended meeting her at Ice Cube’s studio to record her rapping. It was a really cool experience to meet her and talk to her. It’s still one my favorite songs that I have because of her verse and just the vibe of the whole song, the back and fourth we have at the end. It’s all live instrumentation except for a couple of loops. The producer I was working with at the time was Jon Evans, an incredible bass player.

I don’t perform it much live anymore because it’s different from what I do now. I would love to collaborate with her again. She said at the time that most people ask her to sing and rap. But I always thought of her as a rapper.

FS: What are you listening to right now?

VO: Like I said, Sylvan Esso. Also Empress Of, who producers a lot of her own stuff. Alice Smith who’s R&B and Pop, some of Phantogram. Bishop Briggs is a great artist. Feist, who’s more on the folk side of things now but used to be in a punk band. FKA Twigs. Anna Wise. Frank Ocean. Laura Mvula. Francis and the Lights. Glass Animals…

Live Setup

VO: I’m on Electric guitar with live pedals, and controlling Ableton with the Push 2 and a Softstep. My bass player plays electric bass and she has a midi controller which I think is a MPK small keyboard. She runs Ableton into the synth bass. My drummer as an acoustic drum set then he has SPD FX, which is a drum pad that he has sounds stored in so he doesn’t need Ableton. And then I have 2 to 3 soul back-up singers.

FS: Do you have anything to say to your fans?

VO: Thanks for interviewing me. It helps to talk about my process because it makes me stop and think about it. To my fans: more music will be coming! And I always love to hear from new so I want to know what you think of the new songs. If you want me to come to your town, just let me know!

VALERIEORTH.COM

TWITTER: @VLOMUSIC

INSTAGRAM: VALERIEORTH

PURCHASE/STREAM  WAKE YOU EP | FIRES AND OVERTURNED CARS |

FARAWAY CITY

[carterhaughs]

some more charlotte + haxby stuff (which I already talked about extensively here) lol I’ll spare the tag another long post under a cut:

Given all the scenes they shared in ep 2 where Haxby sees how Charlotte and her family live and that scene with Mary, I don’t think Haxby’s feelings for her are purely hatred - they included that scene of him praying over Mary’s dying body - he initially said “all harlots are damned” but then ended up praying for her soul and I think there’s a reason they bothered to show us that as well as giving him so much screentime with Charlotte and seeing how things might be for her under other circumstances. There’s simply too much development and too many shared experiences there for him to be a flat antagonist - it would render all those scenes (and the wonderful acting in them) pointless - and would do the same for scenes where he’s been vulnerable in front of her, like the scene with the chamber pot I discussed here and a certain scene in ep 5 too based on what I know from spoilers anyway. 

Speaking of ep 2, that episode is what made me think he’d develop a weird crush on her (was not expecting hate sex but I’ll take it) and maybe keep her secrets for howard because he understands her better now - where she comes from and why she is this way. like I said, there’s a reason they had him witness all that I think and there’s a reason he was at Mary’s deathbed with Charlotte. it’s her profligate spending that really drives the wedge between them and I can’t really fault him for that because she really doesn’t HAVE to spend that much. and I think part of the reason she does is that she’s just very irritated by the whole system and is extremely self-destructive. we see that in the scene in the gambling den with howard and lucy where she keeps increasing his stake just out of irritation really. but that’s also what makes me think eventually she’ll work with Lady Caroline and/or Haxby. it’s telling that neither character is mentioned in any of the spoilery episode summaries beyond ep 5 I think. their involvement will probably be somewhat unexpected. 

Something else I noticed rewatching ep 2 was how Haxby observes Daniel flirting with Charlotte while she’s on the verge of tears next to the dead body of her old friend Mary lol she turns around and sees him watching (then turns back and takes a big swig of ale!) but his expression is neutral though obviously he’s paying attention and he doesn’t say anything about it to Howard later which is interesting to me (even though he did the first time he saw them together)

I couldn’t write a post about these two without further analysis of That Scene, so here it is - first, my friend @honeychurches‘ perspective, then mine in the next bullet point: “So he’s always sneering and disapproving but that was the first direct challenge to her power in the household. And obviously she’s desperate to feel she has control at that point, everything’s slipping. His reaction is quite powerful. Like he’s frozen at first, but his arms are quite visibly shaking. I don’t know that that means he’s ~violently repressed~ his attraction to her, but at least speaks to the depth of the connection. I wondered if her initial ~enjoyment was performative, she does play a role in sex. Is she smiling bc that’s what she does? I think she smiles bc it’s a high at first, her effect on H and sense of control. She is enjoying it, and whatever their connection is it’s a hell of a lot more real than with her culls. The kiss is super interesting to me, bc they didn’t have to? She’s just grabbed his dick, this is definitely heading in one direction. But not only does he kiss her, passionately, but there’s that intense look right before he does it. It’s all more intimate than you’d expect. The placement of their hands is also super significant I think, like a waltz. Her left hand perches on his shoulder while their others lock together. It’s weird she doesn’t do anything else with it, she just keeps replacing it on his shoulder as though she’s lost for what to do - probably symbolic of her loss of control. She’s initiated this but can’t gain the upper hand - in a dance the man leads, the woman follows. I think it’s a reversal of the beginning of the scene where she physically shoves him against the wall, against gender type. She laces their fingers together, which is quite intimate. When they finish, H’s hands still seem to be shaking (like seriously, GOOD JOB Ed Hogg) as they recover. Basically this scene is fucking intense and I totally bow down to the actors. HOTTTT.”

A lot of great observations above, esp re: it being like a waltz! Here’s my own response to my friend’s thoughts re: That Scene. something @calamity-bean pointed out too was the way he dropped the candle - symbolic bc of the candle scene earlier with lucy and charlotte? but starting at the beginning of your analysis - this was exactly that - the very first time he actually told her she couldn’t order him around, which is kind of true - he’s not a footman or a butler, he’s an estate planner whose place is generally with Lady Caroline but Howard’s ordered him to be here. this is not in his job description - looking after her and letting her boss him around. and as we’ve discussed before, charlotte engages in this act bc it’s the one thing she feels she has control over - that it’s the one beast in her life that is “an easy beast to tame” as she tells Lucy. it was impulsive but it seems like she figured she’d get a rise out of him, they’d have some sloppy sex and he’d be embarrassed at how much he is within her power to command. instead he responds enthusiastically and as you noted, passionately - I was surprised they kissed, for example, I thought they’d get right down to business. and he is shaking, probably for a number of reasons - repressed passion, frustration with her, as well as perhaps even fear and adrenaline at the realization they’re doing something very dangerous for both of them. but when they do have sex, as you said, he takes control - partly because a part of him likely really wanted this and partly because he wants to show her he’s a man I think (which as we discussed was what that smug look he gives her at the end seemed to be about) and yes you’re right it’s strange she just keeps her hand on his shoulder - she seems to be dissociating a bit from the situation but at the same time, she laces her fingers through his which is interesting and definitely very intimate. but YES by FAR the hottest scene on the show - I can’t imagine anything could surpass it really; it was beautifully acted, analytically chock-full of character and relationship detail, and also just really sexy? good lord. that scene revealed so much about both characters but also added a bit of mystery on charlotte’s end in the sense that she seemed weirded out by the whole thing and she didn’t get what she wanted out of it - a sense of control - we see that in her face at the end. but at the same time…the hands seem important here. perhaps she felt a sort of connection she didn’t expect to have? it was an act about trying to regain autonomy but it seemed to turn into something else at the end there - a connection she wasn’t really expecting between two people who have been feeling very deprived of their autonomy and rights by the same person. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Haxby was attracted to her before this but maybe she also felt something for him there…we’ll see. possibly not ever fullblown romantic but it is intriguing to say the least

the only thing that makes it seem possible to me that they’ll cotinue to develop this relationship in whatever form it takes in the future is the fact that the show has spent so much time developing it, really, and the different ways it could play into the show this season and in future seasons. so I’ll retain a sliver of optimism, however unlikely, that they’ll at least get to interact more and that Ed Hogg, who I always love watching on screen bc he’s amazing, will get to stick around.

[samuelfields]

2019 S&P 500 Price Targets By Wall Street Strategists Are Mostly Bullish

There’s a lot of uncertainty as we head into 2019. The Fed is expected to raise rates another three or four times. We’ve got a slowing housing market thanks to rising rates, rising inventory, and lower overall affordability. We also have constant geopolitical risk that never seems to go away.

As investors, we must properly forecast the future AND put our money where our forecasts are. To just forecast while taking no risk  is like wanting to go straight to the corner office without putting in any work – it makes no sense!

I’m guessing one of the reasons why you enjoy reading Financial Samurai is that I’m not just pontificating about investing. I’m actively trying to build my net worth to live a middle class lifestyle in an expensive city. Sometimes I strike out. Sometimes I hit a home run. Hopefully, through self-reflection and through community feedback, we can make better investment decisions.

To get savvier, let’s look at what some of the top Wall Street strategists are forecasting for the S&P 500 in 2019. These folks spend 50 – 70 hours a week thinking about the stock market, writing research, and speaking to the largest money managers in the world. Surely, they know more than the average retail investors.

There are just a couple caveats. One, they aren’t putting their own money at risk or managing money for others. Two, they love to hedge their forecasts because that’s how they earn Managing Director-level compensation which starts at $400,000 a year in base salary and they regularly receive $500,000 – $3,000,000 year-end bonuses, especially if they can get their forecasts right.

Wall Street S&P 500 Forecasts For 2018

Before we look at Wall Street’s 2019 forecasts, let’s first look at their 2018 S&P 500 price target forecasts. As of November 29, 2019, we’re at 2,743 on the S&P 500 after Fed Chair Powell gave a more measured speech about his interest rate hike plans.

Therefore, we know that unless we have a miracle rally towards year-end, the folks at UBS (3,150 target) and Canaccord (3,200 and never heard of them) are not getting paid. Conversely, the folks at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BNY Mellon, and RBC Capital look pretty spot on. These forecasts are updated as of this post as well.

Wall Street S&P 500 Forecasts For 2019

Let’s now look at 2019 forecasts and see what some of the bigger hitters have to say.

Most Bearish Target: Morgan Stanley, Michael Wilson

S&P 500 Price Target: 2,750; EPS: $176 = 15.62X P/E

Michael has gotten 2018 right so far with a 2018 S&P 500 target of 2,750 – or no change versus 2017. Given Michael has the closest forecast amongst his peers, he deserves the most amount of attention.

Wilson is on record as saying that “we are in a rolling bear market.” As a result, he forecasts no change again in the S&P 500 for 2019. Two years of dead money folks! Suddenly, earning 2% – 2.5% on a 12-month CD or 12-month Treasury sounds quite appealing. Besides my public REITs and private real estate crowdfunding investments, my next best performing asset in 4Q2018 is my money market account.

Despite having a 2,750 S&P 500 price target for 2019, he does have a bull and bear case of 3,000 and 2,400, respectively.

Most Volatile Target: Bank of America, Savita Subramanian

S&P 500 Target: 2,900; EPS $170 = 17X P/E

Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief U.S. equity strategist Savita Subramanian believes the S&P 500 will climb to 3,000 in 2018 and then drop by 2,900.

I’m sure most of us would love for the S&P 500 to rally to 3,000 in such a short time period. However, if we were Las Vegas oddsmakers, we’d probably have to give 2:1 odds for anybody to take that type of bet. That’s almost a 10% rally required by year-end.

If Savita’s 2019 forecasts come true, then despite a drop, 2,900 is still 2019 a 6% return from current levels. Her 2019 concerns include trade, geopolitics, a widening federal deficit, increased Federal Reserve tightening, increased volatility, and a peak in homebuilders in late 2017, which tends to lead equities by about two years. This two year lag is the most interesting datapoint from her research note. 

I commend Savita’s steadfast bullishness for 2018, followed by a let down in 2019. Unfortunately, it seems like Savita won’t be getting a nice year-end bonus because 3,000 by year-end is unlikely to happen.

Moderate Target: Goldman Sachs, David Kostin

S&P 500 Target: 3,000; EPS: $173 = 17.34X P/E

David has what I think is the most realistic target for 2018 (2,850), followed by a reasonable 5.3% return in 2019 based on a 3,000 target.

“A higher U.S. equity market, a lower recommended allocation to stocks and a shift to higher quality companies summarizes our forecast for 2019,” Kostin said. He characterized “high quality” stocks as those carrying strong balance sheets, stable sales growth, low EBIT deviation, high return on equity and low drawdown experience. In other words, large-cap dividend aristocrat stocks are at the top of his list.

David won’t get as much TV time as Savita from BoA due to her bullishness or Michael, his arch nemesis from Morgan Stanley due to his bearishness. However, by not sticking his neck out there, David will likely get paid handsomely once again this year and next year. David realizes that the key to great personal wealth is surviving as long as possible on Wall Street.

Here is how David Kostin hedges his forecast for 2019 and keeps himself paid.

Base case: predicts with a 50% probability the S&P 500 rises 5% to 3,000 from 2,850 at the end of 2018. A 50% probability is like rating a stock a market perform or neutral. So weak!

Bear case: predicts with a 30% probability the S&P 500 falling to 2,500 at the end of 2019 on fears of a likely recession in 2020.

Bull case: predicts with a 20% probability the S&P 500 closes 2019 at 3,400.

Bullish Target: Citigroup, Tobias Levkovich

S&P 500 Target: 3,100; EPS: $172.50 = 18X

I like Citigroup because they’re been my main bank for 20 years. Tobias’ model is saying that there is a “near 90% probability that the S&P 500 is higher in a year’s time.” Those odds make me want to go all-in, but I won’t.

Tobias believes companies have sufficiently guided 2019 earnings low enough that they can be more easily met or beaten. He also believes investor expectations have been reset low enough as well for there to be positive surprises on the upside.

With a 2018 S&P 500 price target of 2,800, Tobias has been on target so far. But going from 2,800 to 3,100 in 2019 requires a 10.7% return, which doesn’t seem likely. But at least his forecast gives us hope, and for that, Tobias will get a nice year-end bonus. All Tobias has to do is downgrade his S&P 500 price target for 2019 after he gets paid his 2018 bonus in spring.

Super Bullish: Credit Suisse, Jonathan Golub

S&P 500 Target: 3,350; EPS $174 = 19.25X P/E

Jonathan Golub is looking for P/E multiple expansion in 2019, despite EPS growth decelerating to 7.7% in 2019. I truly wonder whether legalizing marijuana in so many states is a good thing. We should make a law that financial strategists must take a sobriety test before writing any research forecasts.

First, it’s unlikely the S&P 500 will hit Jonathan’s 2018 target of 3,000. Meanwhile, he highlights that the fading tax impacts and the threat of a yield curve inversion pose risk to earnings growth in 2019. Therefore, with so many headwinds, I don’t understand how Jonathan can assume a forward P/E multiple expansion.

Despite the aggressiveness of his S&P 500 price target for 2019, I commend Jonathan for sticking his neck out. He’ll get a lot more attention from the press and from clients. Further, if the S&P 500 does come close to 3,350, he’s going to look like a hero and get paid a fat bonus that will more than makes up for a bad 2018 bonus.

Here is a handy dandy chart I compiled of the major Wall Street analyst forecasts for your review. Now let’s look at historical valuations.

Historical S&P 500 P/E Valuations

Now that we know what some of the best strategist’s S&P 500 price targets for 2019 are, let’s get a little educated about how based on historical P/E valuations for the S&P 500, they determine such targets.

We must look at historical current (this year) and forward (next year) P/E valuation multiples. Remember, the value of a stock depends on its earnings, its projections, and valuations at the end of the day.

Current P/E Valuations

As you can see from the chart below, current P/E multiples have been creeping higher since 2011, but they are nowhere near as egregious as the P/E multiples achieved in 2001 (48X) and 2007 (120X). At somewhere around 20-21X current P/E, current valuations are somewhere in the middle of the past 20 years.

Forward P/E Valuations For The S&P 500

We’ve thus seen a great compression in forward P/E multiples – down from ~22X at the beginning of 1Q2018 to now ~17X at the end of 2018. A 23% decline in valuations is quite significant.

Meanwhile, FactSet puts current forward 12-month P/E ratio for the S&P 500 at closer to 16X after the big rally on Nov 28, below the 5-year average of 16.4X, but above the 10-year average of 14.5X.

As you can see, consensus forecasts are somewhat all over the place. The point is that the current and forward P/E multiples have come way down.

This large decline in earnings expectations goes back to what Tobias from Citigroup says about 2019 being the year of “meet or beat.” The more companies can beat earnings expectations, the higher their stock prices will go.

Based on historical current and forward P/E multiples, it doesn’t seem like a price target of 3,000 – 3,100 for the S&P 500 in 2019 is unreasonable. Consensus forward earnings for the S&P 500 is ~$173, which means a 17.34X – 17.9X multiple. However, if earnings are only growing by ~8% in 2019 as strategists are forecasting, the multiples seem elevated.

Jonathan Golub’s S&P 500 price target of 3,350 based on 19.25X forward earnings could come true since we were just at 21X-22X forward earnings. But I don’t think any reasonable investor would pay 19.25X forward earnings when earnings are expected to decelerate and only grow by half the multiple rate. Besides, by the middle of 2019 investors will start looking at 2020 earnings to make their investment decisions.

I’m hopeful the market sees rising interest rates in 2019 as a bullish sign the economy is still growing strong. Yes, rising interest rates negatively hurt affordability and slow down investment growth as investors decide whether or not to park their assets in cash. But based on historical rates, a 2.5% – 3% Fed Funds target is still low.

It’s interesting to note that none of the major firms forecast a decline in the S&P 500 in 2019. I guess the good times will continue to roll! But I’m not holding my breath and would rather be working on building my net worth primarily through my business and partially through various private real estate investments than through equities.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, my crystal ball says the S&P 500 finishes the year at 2,838. I expect Xi and Trump to agree to a trade war deescalation roadmap. I also expect a feel good rally into the new year as consumers spend like there’s no tomorrow this holiday season.

Readers, where do you think the S&P 500 finishes for 2018 and 2019? What do you think is a fair current and forward P/E multiple for the S&P 500? 

https://www.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2019-SP-500-Price-Targets.m4a

The post 2019 S&P 500 Price Targets By Wall Street Strategists Are Mostly Bullish appeared first on Financial Samurai.

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2019 S&P 500 Price Targets By Wall Street Strategists Are Mostly Bullish

There’s a lot of uncertainty as we head into 2019. The Fed is expected to raise rates another three or four times. We’ve got a slowing housing market thanks to rising rates, rising inventory, and lower overall affordability. We also have constant geopolitical risk that never seems to go away.

As investors, we must properly forecast the future AND put our money where our forecasts are. To just forecast while taking no risk  is like wanting to go straight to the corner office without putting in any work – it makes no sense!

I’m guessing one of the reasons why you enjoy reading Financial Samurai is that I’m not just pontificating about investing. I’m actively trying to build my net worth to live a middle class lifestyle in an expensive city. Sometimes I strike out. Sometimes I hit a home run. Hopefully, through self-reflection and through community feedback, we can make better investment decisions.

To get savvier, let’s look at what some of the top Wall Street strategists are forecasting for the S&P 500 in 2019. These folks spend 50 – 70 hours a week thinking about the stock market, writing research, and speaking to the largest money managers in the world. Surely, they know more than the average retail investors.

There are just a couple caveats. One, they aren’t putting their own money at risk or managing money for others. Two, they love to hedge their forecasts because that’s how they earn Managing Director-level compensation which starts at $400,000 a year in base salary and they regularly receive $500,000 – $3,000,000 year-end bonuses, especially if they can get their forecasts right.

Wall Street S&P 500 Forecasts For 2018

Before we look at Wall Street’s 2019 forecasts, let’s first look at their 2018 S&P 500 price target forecasts. As of November 29, 2019, we’re at 2,743 on the S&P 500 after Fed Chair Powell gave a more measured speech about his interest rate hike plans.

Therefore, we know that unless we have a miracle rally towards year-end, the folks at UBS (3,150 target) and Canaccord (3,200 and never heard of them) are not getting paid. Conversely, the folks at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BNY Mellon, and RBC Capital look pretty spot on. These forecasts are updated as of this post as well.

Wall Street S&P 500 Forecasts For 2019

Let’s now look at 2019 forecasts and see what some of the bigger hitters have to say.

Most Bearish Target: Morgan Stanley, Michael Wilson

S&P 500 Price Target: 2,750; EPS: $176 = 15.62X P/E

Michael has gotten 2018 right so far with a 2018 S&P 500 target of 2,750 – or no change versus 2017. Given Michael has the closest forecast amongst his peers, he deserves the most amount of attention.

Wilson is on record as saying that “we are in a rolling bear market.” As a result, he forecasts no change again in the S&P 500 for 2019. Two years of dead money folks! Suddenly, earning 2% – 2.5% on a 12-month CD or 12-month Treasury sounds quite appealing. Besides my public REITs and private real estate crowdfunding investments, my next best performing asset in 4Q2018 is my money market account.

Despite having a 2,750 S&P 500 price target for 2019, he does have a bull and bear case of 3,000 and 2,400, respectively.

Most Volatile Target: Bank of America, Savita Subramanian

S&P 500 Target: 2,900; EPS $170 = 17X P/E

Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief U.S. equity strategist Savita Subramanian believes the S&P 500 will climb to 3,000 in 2018 and then drop by 2,900.

I’m sure most of us would love for the S&P 500 to rally to 3,000 in such a short time period. However, if we were Las Vegas oddsmakers, we’d probably have to give 2:1 odds for anybody to take that type of bet. That’s almost a 10% rally required by year-end.

If Savita’s 2019 forecasts come true, then despite a drop, 2,900 is still 2019 a 6% return from current levels. Her 2019 concerns include trade, geopolitics, a widening federal deficit, increased Federal Reserve tightening, increased volatility, and a peak in homebuilders in late 2017, which tends to lead equities by about two years. This two year lag is the most interesting datapoint from her research note. 

I commend Savita’s steadfast bullishness for 2018, followed by a let down in 2019. Unfortunately, it seems like Savita won’t be getting a nice year-end bonus because 3,000 by year-end is unlikely to happen.

Moderate Target: Goldman Sachs, David Kostin

S&P 500 Target: 3,000; EPS: $173 = 17.34X P/E

David has what I think is the most realistic target for 2018 (2,850), followed by a reasonable 5.3% return in 2019 based on a 3,000 target.

“A higher U.S. equity market, a lower recommended allocation to stocks and a shift to higher quality companies summarizes our forecast for 2019,” Kostin said. He characterized “high quality” stocks as those carrying strong balance sheets, stable sales growth, low EBIT deviation, high return on equity and low drawdown experience. In other words, large-cap dividend aristocrat stocks are at the top of his list.

David won’t get as much TV time as Savita from BoA due to her bullishness or Michael, his arch nemesis from Morgan Stanley due to his bearishness. However, by not sticking his neck out there, David will likely get paid handsomely once again this year and next year. David realizes that the key to great personal wealth is surviving as long as possible on Wall Street.

Here is how David Kostin hedges his forecast for 2019 and keeps himself paid.

Base case: predicts with a 50% probability the S&P 500 rises 5% to 3,000 from 2,850 at the end of 2018. A 50% probability is like rating a stock a market perform or neutral. So weak!

Bear case: predicts with a 30% probability the S&P 500 falling to 2,500 at the end of 2019 on fears of a likely recession in 2020.

Bull case: predicts with a 20% probability the S&P 500 closes 2019 at 3,400.

Bullish Target: Citigroup, Tobias Levkovich

S&P 500 Target: 3,100; EPS: $172.50 = 18X

I like Citigroup because they’re been my main bank for 20 years. Tobias’ model is saying that there is a “near 90% probability that the S&P 500 is higher in a year’s time.” Those odds make me want to go all-in, but I won’t.

Tobias believes companies have sufficiently guided 2019 earnings low enough that they can be more easily met or beaten. He also believes investor expectations have been reset low enough as well for there to be positive surprises on the upside.

With a 2018 S&P 500 price target of 2,800, Tobias has been on target so far. But going from 2,800 to 3,100 in 2019 requires a 10.7% return, which doesn’t seem likely. But at least his forecast gives us hope, and for that, Tobias will get a nice year-end bonus. All Tobias has to do is downgrade his S&P 500 price target for 2019 after he gets paid his 2018 bonus in spring.

Super Bullish: Credit Suisse, Jonathan Golub

S&P 500 Target: 3,350; EPS $174 = 19.25X P/E

Jonathan Golub is looking for P/E multiple expansion in 2019, despite EPS growth decelerating to 7.7% in 2019. I truly wonder whether legalizing marijuana in so many states is a good thing. We should make a law that financial strategists must take a sobriety test before writing any research forecasts.

First, it’s unlikely the S&P 500 will hit Jonathan’s 2018 target of 3,000. Meanwhile, he highlights that the fading tax impacts and the threat of a yield curve inversion pose risk to earnings growth in 2019. Therefore, with so many headwinds, I don’t understand how Jonathan can assume a forward P/E multiple expansion.

Despite the aggressiveness of his S&P 500 price target for 2019, I commend Jonathan for sticking his neck out. He’ll get a lot more attention from the press and from clients. Further, if the S&P 500 does come close to 3,350, he’s going to look like a hero and get paid a fat bonus that will more than makes up for a bad 2018 bonus.

Here is a handy dandy chart I compiled of the major Wall Street analyst forecasts for your review. Now let’s look at historical valuations.

Historical S&P 500 P/E Valuations

Now that we know what some of the best strategist’s S&P 500 price targets for 2019 are, let’s get a little educated about how based on historical P/E valuations for the S&P 500, they determine such targets.

We must look at historical current (this year) and forward (next year) P/E valuation multiples. Remember, the value of a stock depends on its earnings, its projections, and valuations at the end of the day.

Current P/E Valuations

As you can see from the chart below, current P/E multiples have been creeping higher since 2011, but they are nowhere near as egregious as the P/E multiples achieved in 2001 (48X) and 2007 (120X). At somewhere around 20-21X current P/E, current valuations are somewhere in the middle of the past 20 years.

Forward P/E Valuations For The S&P 500

We’ve thus seen a great compression in forward P/E multiples – down from ~22X at the beginning of 1Q2018 to now ~17X at the end of 2018. A 23% decline in valuations is quite significant.

Meanwhile, FactSet puts current forward 12-month P/E ratio for the S&P 500 at closer to 16X after the big rally on Nov 28, below the 5-year average of 16.4X, but above the 10-year average of 14.5X.

As you can see, consensus forecasts are somewhat all over the place. The point is that the current and forward P/E multiples have come way down.

This large decline in earnings expectations goes back to what Tobias from Citigroup says about 2019 being the year of “meet or beat.” The more companies can beat earnings expectations, the higher their stock prices will go.

Based on historical current and forward P/E multiples, it doesn’t seem like a price target of 3,000 – 3,100 for the S&P 500 in 2019 is unreasonable. Consensus forward earnings for the S&P 500 is ~$173, which means a 17.34X – 17.9X multiple. However, if earnings are only growing by ~8% in 2019 as strategists are forecasting, the multiples seem elevated.

Jonathan Golub’s S&P 500 price target of 3,350 based on 19.25X forward earnings could come true since we were just at 21X-22X forward earnings. But I don’t think any reasonable investor would pay 19.25X forward earnings when earnings are expected to decelerate and only grow by half the multiple rate. Besides, by the middle of 2019 investors will start looking at 2020 earnings to make their investment decisions.

I’m hopeful the market sees rising interest rates in 2019 as a bullish sign the economy is still growing strong. Yes, rising interest rates negatively hurt affordability and slow down investment growth as investors decide whether or not to park their assets in cash. But based on historical rates, a 2.5% – 3% Fed Funds target is still low.

It’s interesting to note that none of the major firms forecast a decline in the S&P 500 in 2019. I guess the good times will continue to roll! But I’m not holding my breath and would rather be working on building my net worth primarily through my business and partially through various private real estate investments than through equities.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, my crystal ball says the S&P 500 finishes the year at 2,838. I expect Xi and Trump to agree to a trade war deescalation roadmap. I also expect a feel good rally into the new year as consumers spend like there’s no tomorrow this holiday season.

Readers, where do you think the S&P 500 finishes for 2018 and 2019? What do you think is a fair current and forward P/E multiple for the S&P 500? 

https://www.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2019-SP-500-Price-Targets.m4a

The post 2019 S&P 500 Price Targets By Wall Street Strategists Are Mostly Bullish appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from Money https://www.financialsamurai.com/2019-sp-500-price-targets-and-earnings-forecast-by-wall-street-strategists/ via http://www.rssmix.com/