pbdulasworld

[georgieluz]

i would like to report that it only took the pacific 17 minutes and 35 seconds to go gay, and whilst it doesn't quite beat band of brothers who only took 6 minutes and 20 seconds to go full i'll-take-you-to-chicago-my-love, it was a very tom hanks effort, indeed. i mean c'mon, a book of poetry and an "i wish we were going together"

[linguist-in-a-blanket]

I saw so many BBC Ghosts fans here trashing the American version that I finally gave up and watched the original.

Well, thanks, I hate it.

Some of the plots were more amusing, yes. I personally liked how the sister story played off. I mean, when in American version we see Jo from Mythic Quest show up with that "nice" smile for one episode, we know what's up from the first second. When it's a seemingly genuine woman who has a couple of episodes to actually earn Alison's and our trust, it's much better. I also liked most of the ones that didn't make it into the remake.

But the core of this premise is characters. And British characters... They're just bad, I'm sorry, they're bad. They are all one note! There is no arc for anybody! Even the most annoying one, Thomas! His whole thing is that he doesn't know what boundaries or consent are, and this goes on for five seasons! Come on, man! Trevor in the American version has charisma, and he comes a long way in just 2 and half seasons we've seen him. This all really makes up for him being a huge jerk: at least he's a lovable jerk, plus he changes. Julian is not lovable at all, Thomas never changes, he's the same since episode 1 till the finale one. Why should we care about two one-note jerks? Flower has a lot about herself aside from being not-all-here: sex-drive, pacifism, commitment issues, basketball, backstories about at least three close people from her life (two boyfriends and brother)... Kitty is just a stupid cutie who is not-all-here, nothing else.

And this drives me to my next point. Such one-note characters without any development simply cannot have a deep connection. Nobody likes each other in this show. I've seen a lot of takes that American ghosts and Sam are friends, while British ghosts and Alison are family. Well, if you mean an abusive family that you can't get away from, that never gives you any good feelings, sure. But do we really need that? Whom of the ghosts does Alison actually like? She hates Thomas and Fanny (never has this realization about her unrealized motherly feelings, and Fanny herself never realizes why she is like she is and how she can change), she doesn't understand Robin (after spending a day with him and learning what he knows, she just gives him to Fanny as a pet), at the very best she pities Kitty. The only one who actually likes Alison as a person is Kitty, but she has her own projections, she is like a duckling who saw the first person near them and said "mommy". She's actually not much better than Thomas in that way, same level of neediness and clinginess, just more lovable than him, and it's not sexual harrassment, more... platonic harrassment? Yay?..

By the way, Alison also doesn't change. Whenever she sees a new ghost in a new place, she is creeped out. This was okay in the beginning, but after living in a house with 9+ ghosts for a couple of years, she is still creeped out by others! Oh, I'm so sorry for your inconvenience, mam, this guy just, you know, didn't have anybody to see him or talk to him in a couple of centuries, but no, no big deal, sure. Sam is fascinated by her gift, she is always happy to explore and talk to new ghosts, Alison just finds it weird and unsettling, even after, what, five years? Girl, you are a fucking superhero! Talk to the invisible people, damn you!

Sure, it could be about not being able to change, especially after you're dead, but then... why? Why should we look at bad people who stay bad, and most importantly, why should we look at them for five seasons?

When Alison weighed pros and cons for staying, she put "ghosts" in both columns. I'm sorry, but why? We almost never see her enjoying their company, almost never see the ghosts helping her (which is petty, but when American ghosts did this for Sam a couple of first times, that's when she warmed up to them)... They are always an incovenience for Alison. Never do they respect any boundaries, all they can do is do one big gesture (song, dance, theater) and move on to being annoying and needy. Never can they hear "no", never can they respect what she asks of them.

Sam says a lot of times she can't leave the ghosts, and I believe her. Even Jay loves the American ghosts! Sam has this whole group of friends and enjoys their company. They all have connections with each other and with the livings. British don't, they move in a pack and look for somebody to annoy, be that Alison or that poor neighbor ghost.

[viennasneverland]

Our own little world: kierarktina.

*after my huge kierarktina breakdown yesterday, I wrote an small scene. I miss them so much 🤡*

**********************************************

Cristina was kneeling on the floor, feeling the skin of her knees covered by the soft fabric of her leggins, sitting on her legs. Her bare breasts and stomach were pressing the left side of the bed, her arms stretched in the sheets, as if trying to reach the other side, the beautiful contrast of her brown skin glowing in the dim light of sunset, and her black hair curling in her naked back and shoulders till her waist, against the cream material was enought to take anyones breath away.

She rested her chin in the silky fabric, her eyes half-closed, looking at the gold and blue eyes in the oppositive side of the bed, starting back at her. Both grinned in lazy maliciousness.

Marks hair was messy, messier than normal, the silver-blonde curls resting in his forehead, tangling in his eyelashes and covering the tip of his pointy ears. His torso was exposed, just like hers. His hands were trying to reach Cristina’s, like she was trying to reach his. If the bed was normal sized, they could touch their fingers, but it was bigger, made for the three of them.

They were stil staring at each other when she felt another hard chest pressing her back, smooth and hot skin gainst her own; still staring when strong thighs from riding infinite nights in a horses , covered in trousers, cradled the sides of hers; still staring when caloused and gentle hands runned down her shoulders, her arms, to her hands and locked their fingers together; still staring when Kieran’s cheek touched hers, his chin resting in her shoulder.

Mark’s eyes burned.

“If I was Julian I would paint this scene in the entire wall of our bedroom, so I could look at it everytime I wake up.”

Kieran chukled, his breath ghosting her cheek and nose, making the hair in her arms and in the back of her neck rise.

“You two are so beautiful.” Mark breathed, his eyes clouded, dreamy, his hands reaching for them.

“You too are not any short of beauty, golden boy.” Cristina choked when she felt Kieran’s warm mouth press a kiss in the skin under her ear, bite her lobe and lick the curve of her ear. She gasped, seeing the breath caught in Mark’s throat.

“I love the curve of her ear.” He seemed to say to Kieran, quietly. “Is so delicated and lovely.”

She heard Kieran mutter a “uhum”, his mouth still occupied kissing.

“Beautiful.” He whispered.

She shivered, closing her eyes.

Mark stared, unblinking.

She felt their attention deep down in her bones, Mark’s eyes in her face, looking as Kieran’s mouth travelled to her cheekbone and down the side of her neck; Kieran’s hands running down her naked torso to her hips, caressing her skin, the tips of his fingers sliding inside the waist of her leggins.

It was too much of two different sensations. Too hot and too soft. Burned and healed at the same time.

Finally taking her eyes off Mark, she slowly turned around to face Kieran. Her Faerie King had a soft, loving, expression on his face, his eyes dirt with desire and adoration when he also stoped staring at Mark and looked down at her.

Cristina’s heart exploded in her chest at their eyes locked. Exploded with more tenderness than any touch could offer. When you stare someone you loved in the eyes, being that close, where she could see how bright his silver eye was and how dark his black eye seemed, oh, this was an amazing felling.

She cuped his face in her hands, brushing her thumbs in his cheeks, and kissed the tip of his nose, then both his eyes, then his forehead and chin. His hands were traveling up her back, fingers fisting the hair in her nape when she, finally, kissed him on the mouth.

It was warm and soft, she could feel the corners of his lips curling in a faint smile before kissing her back, warmly. The taste of him in her mouth, his tongue exploring every inch of it, dancing with hers, left her breathless and hot. Her sensible nipples brushing the soft skin of his torso, pressing even harder when he snaked his arms around her waist and brought her closer.

When she pulled back to look into his eyes, they were on fire.

Kieran placed his head in the crook of her neck, kissing her throath, and she looked back at Mark, still looking at them with wide, discovering, eyes.

“Come here.” She said quietly, lovingly, reaching a hand for him while the other stroked Kieran’s hair.

Mark stood up and crossed the bed, crawling in his hands and knees, till he was face to face with Cristina, a soft-boy smile on the lips, his eyes full with enought adoration to make her throath tight with emotion. Smiling up at him too, she reached one hand to brush the light blonde curls back from his forehead, then behind his pointy ear, and finally cupping his cheek, the cool skin soft against her palm.

“Hi.” He said as she brushed their noses, and both breathed a soft laugh.

“What’s so funny up there?” Kieran asked against her neck, lifting his head so he could look at his loved ones faces smiling at each other.

“Mark being a dork, as always.” She answered seeing Kieran ghost a kiss in Mark’s cheek.

Cristina watched their lips meet warmly, smiling in each others mouths, and laid her head in Kieran’s shoulder, closing her eyes for a while.

She was happy. So so happy she could barely contain her emotions. Happier than she ever felt before. Those two boys were the high point of her days, the love they felt for each other was beautiful to see, and the love they felt for her was greater than she ever dared to wish, melting her heart at every word, touch and action. She felt their adoration deep down in her soul and it was perfect.

When the three of them were alone in the cottage, between Earth and Faerieland, not being one nor the other, they were in their own little world.

She opened her eyes at the silence surrounding her, the sounds the boys were making gone, and lifted her head to see what happened.

They were both staring at her. Four colors. Silver, black, blue and gold. Strange and beautiful.

“What?” she asked, her brows pinching together.

They looked at each other before looking back at her.

Faster than she could have expected, two pairs of hands lifted her from the floor, placing her quickly, but gently, in the middle of the bed. She screamed and laughed at the same time, jumping once before laying flat in the mattress. Her hair was all over the pillows, black and thick.

“What was that for?” she laughed.

“You were too quiet.” Kieran climbed to her left side, his hand trailing over her abdomen, her rib, to cup her right breast in his delicated palm.

“Quiet? She looked like she was going to sleep.” Mark did the same at her right, caressing her left breast.

She gasped.

“Just beacuse I closed my eyes didn’t mean I’m going to sleep.” She laughed breathlessly at them pinching at her nipples. “How could I?”

They laughed and laid their heads on her shoulders, their fingers still working while they pressed their noses in the sides of her neck.

“I was thinking.” Cristina said quietly, caressing their heads, her fingers throught dark blue and light blonde hair.

“About what?” Kieran asked in a low voice, his breath hot against her skin.

“About you two. About me. About us.” There was a sensual and pacific aura in the room now, the orange light of the sunset passing throught the huge window, it’s warmness reaching right above them. “About how happy I am with you two. How lucky.”

Mark lifted his head to kiss her temple and look into her eyes.

“We are the lucky ones too.” He said lovingly. “There is no person as kind, wise, brave and loving as you, Cristina.” He said fiercely. “Without you I would be lost in several moments when I came back to my family and even after. You are still what keeps me sane sometimes. Still what guides me. I could not be more grateful and honored by your love.”

“My heart goes with what Mark says.” Kieran said, kissing her cheek. “Your kindnes and caring showed me a new perspective about situations, Lady of Roses. Growing up surrounded by fairies can make everything look black and white. Still, you showed me new colors. You had faith on me and gaved me new chances when I tought I didn’t deserved it.” He caressed her hair back. “I am honored by your love as well.”

When they finished, her eyes burned with tears.

“I hate you both.” She covered her face with her hands, sounding muffled.

They laughed and took each one of her wrists, placing her hands above their hearts while kissing the tears in the corner of her eyes.

A greater love than any other emotion, indeed. She lets them kiss every inch of her face, caress every corner of her body, the three of them in a tight and loving embrace, enjoying the company and love in their small world.

[themonstrousarchives]

Hunt: White Girl Moment

Monster name [] [] [] [] [] [] [] HP, Armor: 1

Description: This young lady has fallen on hard times.

Hook, Session goals: Esquivel de Murio has reached out to the hunters and asked them to look into his friend Priscilla, who has not returned his calls nor has she been present in the public eye for a while which is concerning. Reveal more of the internal strife at Lobos Ltd.

Monster Type: Devourer- to destroy and kill people (though she remains ignorant of this)

Powers: Livingston-Clarke will always be the last one standing. Weapon attacks heal her.

Attacks:

Hunting Rifle (2-harm far loud) (ignore armor) (empowered-Slaughter (holy))

Big Knife (1-harm) (ignore armor) (empowered-Slaughter (holy))

Final Girl Kitchen Knife (5-harm ignore armor close intimate)

Weaknesses: End-aligned energy or items. Any kind of peaceful pacification, though still requiring Dark Negotiator.

Minions:

Lily-Rose: a Spiral avatar recently freed from capture. After recuperating, she was sought out for her ability to create new and untrackable spaces. She is strong in her surreal spaces and not so strong outside of them. She’s not working for Priscilla out of any malice for the party, but does have a bit of a crush.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] HP, Armor: 0

Nightmare: 2-harm, concentration, life drain, ignore armor, magic

Target must be asleep or in an altered state

Bubble: 0-harm, forceful, magic, restraining, barrier (1-harm magic on escape)

Countdown:

Priscilla escapes her primary residence in the hills above Eureka to a vacation home

She turtles in the vacation home, setting traps. She starts hunting in the woods around her and kills another hunter while watching a not!deer. The not!deer eats the hunter.

Lobos sends men, who all die from weapon fire or traps

She attacks Lily-Rose

She carves a bloody path through Jorge and his family

She finally gets to Esquivel de Murio and chops him to pieces and eats him.

Unchecked, Priscilla whitegirls her way through the upper towns in California and heads north to Oregon, murdering those in her path.

Bystanders:

Gallery Manager Rita Schnell: the primary curator of Priscilla's art gallery. Sales are slow and the shop almost never has people in it (certainly doesn't have any when the hunters arrive). She last saw Priscilla at the start of the month, about three weeks ago. Some coordination happens over the phone but it hasn't been necessary because there hadn't been much to report.

Gallery Worker Jacqueline Roberts: a fashion student here part time. She received some deliveries meant for Priscilla once a week at the start of each month but never looked in them. They were cold to the touch though, so she’d have to put them in the break room refrigerator. She's had an experience with the eye (before the previous hunt) and is wary of some things but these boxes slipped through.

Julian Andrade: a neighbor about 10 minutes down the road who was walking his dog (Pitt bull named Ruby) who got trapped in a hedge maze and is now trying his hardest to flee and not look like a threat.

Esquivel de Murio- a Flesh avatar who has been sending packages of home-cooked meals to his dear friend Priscilla. He’s only concerned for her well-being after her traumatic incident in the woods after all. (He is trying to groom her into becoming a flesh avatar as well, or otherwise, more flesh for the pit. A former epicurean who realized that no matter what, his material good, enjoyment, comfort, came at the expense of others. He sees the world as a large chain of prey to predator until the greatest of predators, the Entities. In a world such as this, perhaps the best way to exist is then to become the most predatorlike prey he can. This is why he’s fascinated by wolf and sheep motifs.) (His deal with the deer are that they are the most dangerous animals- more people die to them than bears and bees- though in ways that tend to be very dangerous to the deer as well- primarily car collisions. His pet deer just get back up a little bit later. Further, they are extremely common and thus very expendable.)

Charlie Torres: an artefact seller who ‘inherited’ the business after Maya took out the previous proprietor, though he does not use the warehouse. Sees no moral issue with selling people “cursed artefacts” and certainly sold Priscilla the Final Girl Knife (A mundane looking carving knife that cuts through anything with ease). Would be willing to buy it back.

Locations:

The Estate: Environmental hazards, separating everyone, unpredictable corner-turning. Labyrinthine in the best of ways, the home is a tour of the Livingston-Clarke’s legacy (it is rife with stolen cultural items). There is a room full of taxidermy, though this has more to do with the family’s extravagant safari and hunting hobbies than anything else. There are secret passageways in the walls of the estate, navigating around

Caltrops: 1-harm restraining

Spike Trap: 2-harm restraining area heavy

The Gallery: a shop with an open front room and floral paintings on the walls and a small corner with sculptures. There are a couple small racks of fashionable feminine pieces- blouses, dresses, purses, scarves, most by Jacqueline. The cheapest painting is $300. Absolutely a front for the Livingston-Clarke family to recirculate their wealth. 

Cold Open:

A young doe-eyed blond woman wakes up at a late 10am from her deep depression slumber to see the cleaners left a health bar and a glass of water on her nightstand while she slept. She checks her phone and sees a message from Father- is she going to skip this season’s hunting trip as well? She looks a little forlorn and leaves the message unread. She sees a message from a Rita Schnell, asking if she’ll be coming into the shop today. She smiles, and responds saying she’ll try to make it this afternoon.

She wraps herself up in a bathrobe and starts her selfcare routine. After the incident, she was left so rattled, you see. As she drops a new bathbomb in, she hears the distant buzz of the front door. She goes stock still, and a new look of horror spreads across her face. Another package has arrived.

[mobius-prime]

143. Sonic Super Special #12 - Sonic & Knuckles

Turnabout Heroes

Writers: Ken Penders and Karl Bollers Pencils: James Fry and Andrew Pepoy Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

So this issue is a bit strange. As you can see, Zonic is up there being all sideways and whatnot, and while he doesn't actually appear in the first story, nonetheless we're invited by him to turn the book sideways to read it, as it's all rotated clockwise. We open to Sonic waking up confused in the hospital, with Dr. Quack and his friends standing over him. They ask him if he remembers anything, and he proceeds to give them a quick rundown of his life story, which seems like a strange thing to do until they hold a mirror in front of him - and, shockingly, he sees Knuckles' face! Meanwhile in Echidnaopolis a similar situation is happening with Knuckles, waking up to Julie-Su and his father and describing himself only to see Sonic's face in the mirror. Now what could have caused such a bizarre thing to occur?

Now I know what you're thinking. What the hell is original Robotnik doing up there? Well, essentially, this story exists in a really bizarre gray area in the timeline. Depending on where you look for the answer, it takes place anywhere in between StH#71 to KtE#29, which as you might have noticed, is a huge timeframe. No matter where you try to fit it in that gap, it doesn't make sense for a variety of reasons, ranging from Julie-Su's location during the plot, to Knuckles even having reunited with his father in the first place, to Sonic's growing knowledge of the new Robotnik's plans. Once Ian Flynn took over later in the comic, his opinion was that this issue couldn't have even taken place at all due to the discrepancies, but regardless, we'll be covering it and just pretending that somehow it makes sense.

The two body-swapped heroes decide they need to go to each other's homes and try to work out what has happened, so Sonic, in Knuckles' body, hops aboard a shuttle to the Floating Island with the other Freedom Fighters, while Knuckles, in Sonic's body, hops aboard a shuttle of his own with Julie-Su to Mobotropolis. However, before either of them get far, they're both shot down, Sonic's shuttle by a legion of swatbots (which look significantly upgraded from regular swatbots, but not quite like shadow-bots, though no one acknowledges their new intimidating design), and Knuckles' by the Dark Legion. Knuckles, climbing out of his downed shuttle and seeing Sonic's going down, realizes he can't glide as normal due to the body-swap, and  instead picks up Julie-Su and uses Sonic's speed to race to Sonic's rescue. Everyone groups up just in time to face the combined threat of two evil fighting forces.

WhaaAAaaAAaat? You mean to say ROBOTNIK is BACK? Come on, Sonic, you've seen several different false comebacks by now, you shouldn't even be fazed at this point. Robotnik and Dimitri give the group an ultimatum - Sonic and Knuckles must surrender immediately, or else they will never swap their minds back into the proper bodies, and they'll also kill all their friends. Well that's a choice all right! Sonic and Knuckles allow themselves to be teleported to… uh… whatever facility their enemies happen to be in. Honestly, my assumption would have been that it was the orbital platform from Robotnik's comeback or something, but Sonic didn't give any indication that he'd ever seen it before when he and the others went up there to investigate the Robians' disappearance, so who knows where they actually are right now.

Sonic and Knuckles are forced to agree to go along for the moment, and are quickly teleported into the island's Chaos Chamber, with the Master Emerald (still containing a frozen Mammoth Mogul) inside. Knuckles is loathe to hand over the emerald since removing it will cause the island to fall, whilst Sonic is mostly just irritated at the idea of Knuckles getting to be in his totally awesome body forever. Robotnik and Dimitri watch a video feed of the two from their base, but just as Sonic and Knuckles touch the emerald the screen goes to static. Robotnik and Dimitri, suspecting treachery, immediately hit the button to bring the two back, and are surprised to see them holding the emerald after all. They gleefully instruct them to insert it into their Chaos-Cannon, and activate it for a test run on the Great Forest…

Who knows how the hell they faked such a large gemstone on such short notice - hell, maybe the Brotherhood made a fake copy for just such an occasion and hid it within the chamber somewhere - but the two heroes get to work beating their enemies up. Knuckles goes for Dimitri, who vanishes in a puff of smoke, and Sonic punches Robotnik only for Robotnik to explode violently, revealing himself to be a robotic duplicate. Gee, I'm sure that means that he was just a fake, and not a literal robot version of Robotnik himself, right? Sonic and Knuckles cheerfully walk out upon their victory, amiably arguing over whether it's cooler to be a hedgehog or echidna.

Zone Wars: Giant Robotno

Writers: Dan Slott and Karl Bollers Pencils: James Fry and Nelson Ribeiro Colors: Josh and Aimee Ray

We're back to the present now, with a story that actually fits into the timeline. Sonic is taking a day off to relax and get away from freedom fighting, fishing in a pond in the forest, when suddenly a shuttle emerges from an energy portal in front of him. A strangely-dressed being within informs him that she is Sally from another zone and needs his help, but Zonic then arrives and warns Sonic that this version of Sally, called Sallactor, is evil and trying to deceive him. He calls in the rest of her zone's Freedom Fighters, the Sonicaman: Chaos Ninja Team, who are basically dressed like Super Sentai heroes (fittingly, they're from the Sentai-Zone). Zonic is surprised to see Sonic sigh and walk away from the action, as the others defeat Sallactor and drag her back to their own zone, and Sonic says he's getting sick of all this inter-zone action, that he has a hard enough time keeping track of his own zone's shenanigans. He challenges Zonic, asking how he keeps track of it all and accusing him of using others to get what he wants.

Manipulative little bastard. Sonic goes along reluctantly, and finds himself in a city full of panicking Overlanders all running away from a gigantic, mutated Bunnie, fittingly called Rabbot-zilla. Of course, as soon as Sonic tries to turn around for answers, Zonic pops out of existence.

Sonic uses his super-speed to melt the asphalt under Rabbot-zilla's feet, gluing her to the ground, and this zone's version of Robotnik, who is of course just named Julian Kintobor and wears a white coat instead of red, runs up to thank him. He explains that he tried to stop her from rampaging with a robo-virus, presumably explaining her half-roboticized state, and points to a frozen, robotic Uncle Chuck looming over a different part of the city to show its prior effectiveness. He guiltily continues to recount how he had a hand in this entire disaster…

So to be clear, Knothole Island was clearly inhabited by sapient Mobians. Those aren't ordinary animals being mutated - they're wearing gloves and shoes the same as any other Mobian from Mobius Prime. This guy knowingly detonated an atomic bomb on an inhabited island, and he's trying to pretend like it was all an accident? Sorry, Kintobor, but I don't believe you one bit. He then built giant juggernauts which basically attempted to reenact Pacific Rim against the mutated creatures, but there just wasn't enough energy to power them, as the two halves of the split Chaos Emerald used in the experiment were left on the island inhabited by the mutants. Sonic decides to go along with his plan, using his own speed on a treadmill installed in one of the doctor's Jaegers, the Giant Robotno, a name which pretty much describes how I feel about this whole thing. Clearly Sonic isn't too thrilled about working with him, however.

He blasts off, using the robot's rocket feet to fly to Knothole Island, where he encounters all his friends as mutated monsters. He has no choice but to fight them in order to search for the emeralds, and happens to spot this zone's version of himself, mutated as well, with one of the emerald halves affixed to his chest. However, at that moment he's attacked by his mutated father, also with an emerald half in his chest, and tries to shove him away and block himself from being hit at the same time, clenching his fist as he does so.

Horrified, Sonic flies away from his dead father, as the mutant Sonic approaches and cries in grief. That's right! Sonic was accidentally forced to kill an alternate zone version of his own father to save everyone. That is brutal. Later that night, Sonic stands quietly and sadly next to Kintobor as he celebrates the acquisition of the emerald, saying he can finally protect his city properly, when Zonic shows back up to check on Sonic.

Zonic congratulates Sonic on a job well done as he drops him off back in his home zone, but Sonic angrily confronts him about having known all along that he would have had to kill his own father (albeit from a different zone) to save everyone, accusing him of not understanding how it feels to him right now. In response, Zonic simply takes off his helmet.

Is anyone surprised? Anyone? Did anyone not see it coming that the hedgehog-sized being named Zonic who constantly involves himself with, well, himself, was an alternate version of Sonic? He vanishes, leaving Sonic with even more questions, but alas, we'll have to delay those for now, as it's time to jump into the comic's adaptation of Sonic Adventure!

[aratilightwood]

Kitty and Blackstar’s double date.

This idea was suggested by, @proudnerd7.

Thank you for this lovely request.

...

- Ash and Kit planned a two-part date for Drusilla and Ty: (1) a picnic by the sunset on Santa Monica pier, and (2) a horror movie show late at night in the institute.

- They wanted it to be a surprise, so instead of telling their significant others it was a date, Ash and Kit said they were going on patrol.

- Even though Drusilla was oblivious to their plans, Ty had an idea because Kit was more conspicuous compared to Ash.

- During the morning of the date, Kit sneakily placed a basket filled with a blanket and snacks he and Ash prepared the day before, in the trunk of the car.

- It was one of the early summer days and the sun set around 18:30pm, so Ash and Kit ensured they left the institute by 17:30pm.

- They stepped out of the institute in gear, instead of the typical outfit someone might’ve worn to impress their girlfriend or boyfriend.

- Ash opened the car door for Drusilla in a chivalrous manner, but when Kit tried to do the same thing for Ty, he just looked at him in a funny way.

- The drive to the pier only took fifteen minutes, and they listened to songs by ‘Bastille’ on the way there. When they arrived, they parked on the road opposite the pier.

- When all four of them got out of the car and walked towards the trunk, Drusilla expected to see weapons. As soon as the basket was revealed, she exclaimed in excitement and hugged Ash while Ty gave Kit a knowing smile.

- They walked in groups of two towards the pier. Kit and Ty held hands, as Ash kept one arm around Drusilla’s waist while his other held onto the basket.

- Tourists and local goers headed back to the beach, having left ‘Pacific park’ because it was the end of the day.

- But the shadowhunters glamoured themselves so no one noticed them on the pier after hours, and they preferred to be left undisturbed.

- After they walked passed the Ferris wheel and continued along the dock, they finally reached the water’s edge.

- Ty noticed a baby octopus that was washed onto the docks and prevented everyone from stepping on it, before he picked it up tenderly and lowered it down to the ocean.

- The blanket was laid out soon after. Ash and Drusilla sat on one side, while Kit and Ty sat on the other. The basket was positioned between the couples.

- They picked at the snacks. There were twelve cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, a box full of fresh blueberries and fizzy drinks.

- Kit leaned back while Ty attempted to throw fruit in his open mouth, and Ash scolded Drusilla for licking chocolate off the strawberries without eating them together.

- Hours passed and they watched the sun set in awe. The sky provided a beautiful amalgamation of colours: blue, pink, orange and yellow splattered like one of Julian’s paintings.

- The later it became, the colder it got. They cuddled together, not letting go, like survivors on a voyage heading through a storm surge of disaster.

- Once they finally decided to leave, they packed up and made their way to the car. The pier looked a lot different in the night, and a little intimidating. They would’ve found it difficult to navigate themselves if they didn’t have their night vision runes.

- When they returned home, they agreed to change into their pyjamas before they regrouped for the second half of their date.

- Kit set himself the task of preparing the popcorn, after Ash burnt it last time. He couldn’t decide between salted or sweetened, so he settled with two separate bowls of both.

- Ash chose the film they were watching for the evening. Horror was Drusilla’s favourite genre, so he picked the film adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Cujo.’

- When everyone gathered together in the sitting room, the movie was placed in the DVD player, and they sat on the sofa with a duvet for comfort.

- Ash and Kit shared the salted popcorn, while Drusilla and Ty shared their preferred sweetened. The popcorn was finished quickly.

- It wasn’t long before Kit took the remote and pressed play. Ty wasn’t fond of the movie, because the plot entailed a dog going on a killing spree after he was bitten by a rabbit. Ty loved all animals, especially dogs. But Kit convinced him to stay.

- The film had a few jump scares, such as, when the mother and son were trapped in a hot car while Cujo attempted to attack them. Everyone, except Drusilla, were hiding behind their pillows.

- After the movie was finished, they fell asleep on the couch. Ash lightly snored while Drusilla leaned her head on his shoulder, and Kit drooled down Ty’s t-shirt silently.

- In the morning, Julian took an adorable picture of them, while Tavvy and Helen scared them awake.

- Aline shouted at them for missing breakfast, as Diana shook her head with a wide smile because it wasn’t the first time they were late to class.

...

I honestly want a picture of Kitty and Blackstar sitting on a blanket by the pier, with the picnic basket.

Or a picture of the four of them asleep on the sofa, when everyone else finds them in the morning.

Any takers?

[superrichlads]

“I always work off the motto of, ‘if you think you’re working hard, there’s always someone else who’s working harder’… there is nothing easy about the sport or music industries, and you have to work so hard to be successful.” - Niall Horan

On The Loose: released official fourth single from Flicker, including a radio edit, lyric video (rip), official video, behind the scenes video, Basic Tape remix, Slenderbodies remix, acoustic version, acoustic video, and vertical video So Long: performed unreleased song on piano throughout Flicker World Tour dates Mirrors EP: released on vinyl for Record Store Day 2018 Seeing Blind: released acoustic video, live video, and radio single in Australia Finally Free: released song for Smallfoot soundtrack and live video recorded at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles Flicker (song): released as a radio single in the Netherlands Flicker featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra: released live album in Ireland, featuring nine songs including an official live version of previously unreleased song So Long

81 tour dates: across Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, playing arenas, amphitheatres, state/regional fairs, and large theatres Featured opening acts & special guests: including Wild Youth (Killarney), Julia Michaels (Europe), RuthAnne (Dublin), Lewis Capaldi (Glasgow), Hailee Steinfeld (London), Maren Morris (NZ, Australia, the Americas), Jayda (Manila), Ming Bridges (Singapore), Sugar Me (Tokyo) Setlist: featured 14-15 original songs and 3-4 covers Regular covers: Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen), Crying in the Club (Camila Cabello), Drag Me Down and Fool’s Gold (One Direction) Covers for select tour dates: Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy - Dublin night 1), Where the Street’s Have No Name (U2 - Dublin night 2), Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty - Greek Theatre LA, Red Rocks & others), New York State of Mind (Billy Joel - Jones Beach Theater, Long Island), Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles - final September tour dates) Filmed Red Rocks show: for potential future release Top 50 worldwide tours of 2018: selling more than 445,000 tickets

BBC Biggest Weekend: played a six-song set on the second day of the festival in Swansea Reputation Tour: special guest for Taylor Swift’s first night at Wembley Stadium, performing Slow Hands together RTÉ Concert Orchestra special: performed nine songs from the Flicker album for broadcast in Ireland, later broadcast in France & South Africa Sounds Like Friday Night: performed acoustic version of On The Loose & interview  New York State Fair: played the headline show on the final day of the fair Official livestream: of Flicker World Tour Amsterdam show, in partnership with Live Nation, for a global streaming audience Late Late Show: performed Slow Hands on London episode Virtual reality concert: made London Flicker Sessions show available on MelodyVR platform

Sounds Like Friday Night: interview on BBC RTE: interview with Eoghan McDermott, as part of RTE Concert Orchestra Special The Project: interview on Australian TV The Voice Australia: guest mentor with Delta Goodrem Today Show: interview on Australian TV Sunrise: interview on Australian TV Studio 10: interview on Australian TV Late Late Show: guest on London show, brief appearance on show in October

TalkSport: co-hosted breakfast radio show in January & September Dubai Desert Classic: played in Pro-Am with Rory McIlroy and a competition winner, and participated in a golf clinic, helping two of his Modest! Golf clients gain entry to the pro event US Golf Masters: ambassador for Drive, Chip & Putt competition Ladies golf: signed Maguire sisters to Modest! Golf, announced Ladies event for NI Open in 2019 Ryder Cup: played in celebrity match & Team Europe ambassador BMW PGA Championship: played in Pro-Am with the winner of a BBC Children in Need charity auction Sky Sports British Masters: played in Pro-Am Interviews: ESPN, SkySports, BBC Radio 5, Golf Channel, Bunkered, Ladies European Tour, The Irish Times, Golf Magic, among others LUFC: provoked an infamous Twitter clapback from Leeds United Modest! Golf: supported four players who have secured tour cards for 2019

Irish referendum: supported the yes vote to legalise abortion March for Our Lives: supported cousin’s participation in march for gun control US politics: publicly denounced Trump (again) US mid-term elections: urged US citizens to vote

Horan & Rose: hosted the second edition of the charity gala & golf event, upping the total money raised for charity to £1.5 million to date Charity t-shirt: released second charity t-shirt raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Rays of Sunshine: hosted teens at Flicker World Tour London soundcheck & show, donated Jingle Bell Ball Santa shirt for charity raffle Charity auctions: donated items for multiple fundraisers, including a signed guitar & VIP concert experience for a Grammy auction raising $4,500 for Musicares Foundation; signed boots to a Small Steps charity auction, raising £1,130; signed artwork; signed guitar to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation auction, raising €4,000 Anti-bullying Week: supported efforts to stop cyber-bullying on Twitter Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr: supported Brazilian football superstar’s work providing education for kids in Praia Grande, Brazil World Cancer Day: supported Cancer Research UK’s Unity Band initiative LauraLynn Hospice: spent time with kids in hospice care before Flicker World Tour Dublin show

BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw: how real are these Niall Horan ‘facts’?, can Niall Horan remember his own lyrics? BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend: when Niall Horan met Shawn Mendes BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend with Matt & Mollie: Niall Horan answers questions he’s never been asked before EW: Niall Horan listens to Dua Lipa, Springsteen and more on tour - check out his exclusive playlist Billboard Pop Shop podcast: Niall Horan on new song 'Finally Free,' 'disappearing' after tour to work on next album & 8 Years of One Direction MORE FM: Niall Horan talks about his “intimate” connection with NZ The Edge afternoons with Jono, Ben & Sharon: Niall Horan talks about being mates with Dan Carter The Edge 30: Niall Horan says NZ is his favourite country to perform in Nova 969 Smallzy’s Surgery: could new Niall Horan music be on the way? Nova 969 Smallzy's Surgery: Smallzy’s backstage tour with Niall Horan Nova 969 Fitzy & Wippa: exclusive chat On Air with Ryan Seacrest: Niall Horan recalls best Flicker World Tour moments so far FUN 107 The Michael Rock Show: Niall Horan surprising secret to great hair Walk 97.5 Christina Kay: interview Coup de Main: interview - Niall Horan on his upcoming NZ show, recording live, and honesty in writing ‘Flicker’  Coup de Main cover story: interview - eye to eye with Niall Horan GQ Italia cover story: Niall Horan: my life after One Direction George Ezra & Friends the podcast: Series 2, Episode 1 Zeit Leo: "I get restless very quickly." Singer Niall Horan has a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder. How music helps him, he tells here.

GQ Italia: Music Issue cover shoot Paul Smith: guest at Paris fashion show and spent time with the designer in his studio Revista GQ: Niall Horan is, right now, the only person who knows how to wear a shirt with undershirt as it’s done in 2018 Fashion Bean: best-dressed men of the week

US RIAA certifications: Slow Hands 3 x platinum, This Town 2 x platinum UK Official Charts certifications: Flicker x gold Australia ARIA certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Flicker x gold Canada Gold/Platinum certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Too Much To Ask x platinum Chile certification: Flicker x platinum Songwriting awards: BMI London Pop Awards Song for Slow Hands, BMI Los Angeles Award Winning Songs for Slow Hands & This Town  Spotify milestone: Flicker surpassed 1 billion streams in June 2018 Billboard #1s: achieved his 9th solo Billboard chart number 1, with Too Much To Ask reaching #1 on the Dance Club Songs Chart Billboard Year-End 2018: achieved album, song, radio, social and artist entries on the year-end charts US radio: On the Loose became Niall's fourth Top 20 single on Hot AC radio, and fourth single to chart on Mainstream Pop, Hot AC & AC radio formats, reaching #22 on pop radio Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Finally Free nominated for Original Song - Animated Film RTE Choice Music Prize: Slow Hands nominated for Irish Song of the Year iHeartRadio Awards 2018: winner of Best New Pop Artist & Best Lyrics (Slow Hands)

April: using soundchecks to come up with ideas October: wrote a tune on the piano November: ‘3 days into making tunes and it’s feeling good !!!!!’, ‘exciting watching ideas come to life in the studio’, in the studio with Julian Bunetta & John Ryan in Los Angeles I / II / III / IV, RuthAnne Cunningham tells CelebMix she will be writing with Niall for NH2 December: ‘exciting week of writing’, writing session with Jamie Scott, Mike Needle & Dan Bryer in London, ‘very much in writing mode’

Everyone loved Niall: and Niall loved everyone, but especially Hailee Steinfeld, whom he quietly dated while avoiding the media circus which often surrounds celeb relationships.

Soundcheck Q&A and Meet & Greets: made fan engagement a central part of his Flicker World Tour experience Golf events: made time for fans who came out to see him play at pro-am events Maintained boundaries: called out fans for taking creep shots & obnoxious behaviour Calmed audiences: and looked out for the wellbeing of fans at his shows, especially in Latin America Twitter & Instagram: read and responded to fan tweets and questions with a mixture of sincerity, gratitude, brutal honesty, and humour Jade: made one young fan’s night (/life) by inviting her up on stage to dance at the Allentown Fair show

Baby Marit: melted hearts everywhere offering reassurance to two new dads

[georgieluz]

oh god turns out my type is just men who shout during movies.. the george luz to hoosier pipeline is real

[csnews]

Dolphin swimming ban under final review

Chelsea Jensen -  May 22, 2019

Approaching and swimming with Hawaiian spinner dolphins is moving closer to being a thing of the past as federal officials work toward finalizing a rule outlawing the practice that’s created a booming tourism industry in West Hawaii and around the state.

Regulations proposed nearly three years ago by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that would create a 50-yard barrier around Hawaiian spinner dolphins, or naia, for swimmers, vessels and objects, with a few specific exceptions, are nearing completion, said Ann Garrett, assistant regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office Protected Resources Division.

More than 22,000 comments were received on the rule proposed back in August 2016, she said. Over 2,000 of them were unique and 145 made via oral testimony during a half-dozen meetings held around the state, two of which were held on Hawaii Island.

If all goes smoothly, the final rule and EIS could be published by the end of this year, Garrett told attendees of the Marine Mammal Commission’s three-day annual meeting that kicked off Tuesday. Typically, a final rule goes into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, unless otherwise noted.

“It’s difficult to predict, particularly as we move across administrations,” said Garrett, who noted that certain rules and actions not “regulatorily required” have “slowed down” during the current Trump administration. “But, with luck, by the end of the calendar year, we’ll have a final rule.”

If finalized, being within 50 yards of a Hawaiian spinner dolphin, by any means, including swimming or intercepting by boat the mammal’s path, would be outlawed. The prohibition would cover all persons, vessels and objects, and extend 2 nautical miles outward island coastlines, including waters bounded by Maui, Lanai and Kahoolawe.

There are exceptions to the regulations, including when dolphins approach swimmers or boats, when a 50-yard limit doesn’t allow for safe navigation and when the safety of a person or a vessel is in question, among others.

“We do recognize that they are very social creatures and they may approach vessels themselves. Purposefully, the exception doesn’t provide for anyone to engage or pursue those animals,” said Garrett.

The update on the proposed rule came during the Marine Mammal Commission’s annual meeting being held through Thursday at Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay’s Kaleiopapa Convention Center. The event is open to the public. For more information, visit www.mmc.gov.

The commission is an independent government agency charged by the Marine Mammal Protection Act to further the conservation of marine mammals and their environment. It is the only such U.S. government agency that provides comprehensive oversight of all science, policy, and management actions affecting marine mammals.

Last held in Hawaii in 2009, the annual meeting features guest speakers and panelists addressing several key species, including Hawaiian spinner dolphins, monk seals and humpback whales, with discussion organized around general topics: stock assessments and population trends, threats and mitigation actions, monitoring techniques, management progress, and policy recommendations.

An estimated 630 to 670 Hawaiian spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris, reside in waters around the Hawaiian islands, said Erin Oleson, lead scientist with the National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.

The NOAA proposal for spinner dolphins is predicated on studies contending that increased human activity in dolphin-resting habitats disrupts resting behavior and may be contributing to displacement of dolphins. Hawaiian spinner dolphins are nocturnal, hunting at night and coming into shallow, near-shore waters to rest during the day.

Those daylight hours, however, are when dolphin-directed activities take place, and according to NOAA, those activities have grown dramatically in recent years as more and more people seek a dolphin experience.

The spinner dolphin tourism industry topped $100 million in 2013 on just Hawaii Island and Oahu, with about $44 million of that coming from the Big Island alone, University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Maine Mammal Research Program Director Lars Bejder said Tuesday referencing a paper by Carlie Wiener that’s still under review.

An estimated three million visitors coming to the state each year seek out whale- or dolphin-related activities, he added.

Bejder also noted recent work by doctoral student Julian Tyne assessing the impact human exposure is having on cetaceans off the Big Island’s leeward coast.

“The spinner dolphins off the Kona Coast of Hawaii have the highest human exposure rates than anywhere in the world — 83 percent of the time, when they are in their resting bays, they have humans within 100 meters,” he said. The average time between exposure is just 9.6 minutes.

Rick Wilson, a 50-year user of the ocean in the islands, watches the interaction happen every single day. He pushed commissioners and every one in attendance to go down to Kailua Bay around 7:30-8 a.m. to witness 10 to 15 boats following and surrounding the dolphins.

“If we continue to harass the dolphins, keep them from resting, then at some point in time, the population is going to probably start declining,” Wilson said during a question and answer session between topics. “Whether it’s 15 years from now or 50 years from now, do you turn around and say, ‘oh my God, we made a mistake the dolphin populations have crashed and what are we gonna do.’”

[ti-bae-rius]

Aquarium days - Kitty oneshot

Based on the headcanon list by @kittrook. Thanks to @kittrook for the inspired base material and also to the Aquarium of the Pacific for being autism-friendly enough to make this easy. 

Birthdays were difficult. Last year, when Ty had turned sixteen, he’d locked himself in his room all day. He’d announced, a week before the big day, that he didn’t want cards or presents, didn’t want a birthday at all. No one had to ask why, not even Tavvy. There was no birthday for Ty without Livvy. It would never be a happy occasion again, but always a bittersweet one. He’d written Livvy a card, one she’d have really liked. No one else had read it. He’d simply put it on the dresser in her now-abandoned room next to his own and closed the door again, preserving the memorial to her that her room acted as. The only time Kit had seen anyone else go in, it had ended disastrously. Julian had been there, stroking her pillow, breathing in the sweet smell of her through the must of long-unwashed bedding. When Ty walked past and saw the door ajar, he’d been furious, yanked Julian away angrily. 

“You’re ruining it! You’re ruining everything!” he yelled,  shoving Julian out of the room and pulling the door shut behind them both. “Now it isn’t just as Livvy left it! Now it’ll never be exactly the same again!”

“Ty, it’s okay,” Emma had begun, summoned by the yelling, trying to catch at him before he ran. But Ty was fast and lithe, if awkward. He ducked under her reaching arms and took off. 

“Should we go after him?” Mark asked and Jules shook his head.

“Leave him be.”

Now, on his seventeenth birthday, Kit was determined to make the day a success, to reclaim the date as a new opportunity rather than a number on a calendar forever to be marked by mourning. One day, Kit thought, he would make this a day of celebration of Livvy’s life, not of sadness for her death.

Only the second year without her was probably a bit soon to fully turn things around, Kit thought. The day itself, Ty would be left alone as he wished. But the day after, Kit was claiming as their own. He knocked on Ty’s door and handed him a card.

“I said I didn’t want cards,” he muttered. His eyes were ringed purple and red with bruises of exhaustion and what looked like the irritated aftermath of tears. Kit felt his chest twist.

“It’s not for you. It’s for Livvy.”

Ty gave him a mystified look and took the envelope gently, turning it over. Sure enough, on the front, in Kit’s scrawling hand, was Livvy’s name, the Vs too close and looking like a W. 

“Can I read it?” Ty asked and Kit blushed. 

“It isn’t your card,” he pointed out. “You can’t read it. It’s for Livvy. Will you put it in her room for me?”

Ty nodded and went into Livvy’s room, placing it beside his own cards to her from the last two years. When he returned, he looked at Kit, who had a backpack hanging casually off one shoulder. 

“We’re going to the aquarium,” Kit announced, indicating the backpack.

“I’ve never been to the aquarium,” Ty said, looking a mixture of nervous and excitement. “I...I need time to prepare, to research, and...”

“Which is why I’ve brought you these to read on the way,” Kit interrupted, handing Ty a plastic wallet from inside the backpack filled with sheets of paper. “Maps, times of all the different stuff I thought you’d want to go to, and tickets to jump the queue.”

Ty looked overwhelmed but grateful. “I’ll get ready.”

“Okay, I’ll take these,” he said, taking the wallet back and replacing it in the bag. “I’ll meet you by the door in ten minutes.”

Ty nodded and watched Kit go as he hurried to find what he needed. Once he heard Kit’s footsteps retreat downstairs, he made one last trip to Livvy’s room to say goodbye before heading to the door. 

“Do you think they’ll look like the actual tigers?”

Ty looked bemused and shook his head. “No.”

The two of them came to the glass mouth of the tube through the shark tank and Ty grabbed Kit’s hand to pull him through, weaving past a group of parents with toddlers. His hands were shaking and Kit let his hand go limp in Ty’s so as not to inhibit the movement. When Ty finally did let go, it was to press his hands against the tank in fascination. A white reef shark was coasting past and Ty put his forehead against the glass so it felt as if there was nothing between him and the creature. The rest of the aquarium melted away, the sound of children babbling muted by the deep blue and the cool glass under his hands. The surface felt like the water itself, like Ty could reach out and touch the shark.

Kit was happy just to stand back and watch, but there was something about the way Ty looked when he felt unobserved that made Kit feel like he’d been thrown in to the sharks. His heart was racing and he felt breathless, like he was floundering. Eventually, he got a grip on himself, pulled himself out onto the metaphorical dry land before he focused on Ty again and lost all resolve. Ty was bent down, his hand over a little girl’s, pressing it to the cool glass.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, see?” he said and the girl giggled. The woman with them that Kit assumed was the girl’s mother shook her head, bemused. 

“I don’t know how you did that but thank you. She’s been refusing to go through here all day. There’s no use reasoning with her that this is the only way out.”

“More people get bitten by New Yorkers than sharks every year,” Ty pointed out and the woman gave a puzzled look before Ty stood up and walked back over to Kit.

Kit, unsure quite what it was - perhaps the way Ty extended a hand of help, or the way he loved animals enough to make even the people afraid of them as passionate as he himself - but with a helpless surrender, Kit felt himself fall. Ty, oblivious to Kit’s situation, was already reading from the aquarium’s app on his phone. 

“There’s a touch pool!” he exclaimed in glee. “Kit, did you hear me?”

“Yeah...touch pool...” Kit mumbled distractedly and let Ty tug him by the hand down the labyrinthine halls of the aquarium. Regardless of the fact Kit knew Ty was holding his hand only to pull him along, his whole hand burnt with the contact and he could feel himself blushing. 

It was almost a shame when they arrived at the touch pool and Ty let go of his hand to lock his hands against the tank edge. Where the other visitors reached out impatient hands to stroke the epaulette and bamboo sharks, Ty watched with a quiet air of observation before slowly dipping his hand into the water and running a gentle hand along the back of the cownose ray. He beamed, eyes wide and looked back at Kit in amazement. 

“Look, I made a friend!” he whispered and Kit laughed and snapped a quick photo of Ty, pretending like he hadn’t been taking subtle pictures on his phone all day. “Come and try!”

“No way,” Kit said, with a vehement shake of his head. “Those things are deadly.”

“They’re harmless,” Ty replied and reached a hand out to take Kit’s. Immediately, Kit’s resolve broke and he let Ty plunge their joined hands into the water. ��God, is that really all it takes for me to acquiesce?’ Kit thought. “Stop worrying. It’s okay,” Ty said and Kit leaned against him gently as Ty guided their hands toward a passing fiddler ray. The unusual texture made Kit startle but ty held their hands still and the ray circled back. “See, gentle,” Ty said softly and Kit nodded.

“Beautiful,” he mumbled and wondered what exactly he was talking about. 

The rest of the day passed in a similar cloud of bliss. Ty had spent a good half hour befriending a seal cub that rolled around happily on the rock enclosure in Ty’s presence. The seal mirrored Ty’s own flapping hands with its flippers, much to Ty’s delight. He’d spent a while playing peekaboo with it and Kit could’ve melted at how cute he could the whole thing. 

The octopus exhibit had brought a whole new wave of Ty’s excitement that Kit found adorable. Ty was making happy little humming noises and tapping his hands on any nearby surface, including - but not limited to - Kit’s arms, his own legs, and whatever wall was closest. Kit was enamoured. 

“Octopodes are so amazing. I want 12 of them,” Ty said and Kit laughed. 

“Octopodes?”

“Well, ‘octopuses’ technically. But it’s from Greek and it feels like a real disservice to them not to at least use their pluralisation.”

“Talk etymology to me,” Kit grinned.

“Well, it comes from the Greek meaning ‘8 feet’, which makes sense. A lot of people think it comes from Latin but that just isn’t true and...”

Kit rested his chin on his hand and listened. It was his own fault for the wording of his teasing but he didn’t mind. Hearing Ty talk about things he loved felt like a very special privilege. He knew Ty must have been made fun of in the past for this kind of intensity of passion, knew the way Ty was inclined to give him a wide-eyed look of worry and ask ‘am I talking too much?’ ‘Never,’ Kit wanted to say. ‘Octopodes or octopuses or whatever have never been more fascinating.’

“I think Julian would cry if we brought home an octopus,” Kit commented.

“Happy tears?” Ty tried hopefully and Kit smirked. 

“Can’t they open jars and stuff?”

“They can do all sorts of things.”

“Tell me about them,” Kit said and took the opportunity of Ty’s distracted joy to take his hand.

That afternoon, Ty waited outside the gift shop on Kit’s instruction and Kit knew he wouldn’t hear him approaching with his headphones on. He lightly smacked Ty on the cheek from over his shoulder with the plush tentacles of the toy octopus he’d bought. Ty spun and gasped as Kit pressed the toy into his hands.

“Is this for me?” Ty asked and Kit nodded. “Is it a birthday present?”

“Nope. It’s just a...today present.”

Ty hugged it hard, then tucked it under one arm and took Kit’s hand. “Home?”

Kit sighed. “Yes. My feet are killing me.”

Ty laid his octopus - who’d been named Archibald on the way home - on his bed and went into Livvy’s room. Kit had brought her a ticket to the aquarium too and Ty pinned it neatly on her corkboard. On her dresser, the birthday cards stood in a line like soldiers. He’d been very careful to put Kit’s card up without reading it but he felt himself drawn to it now. Sure it was a secret, just for Livvy, but they always told each other everything. Surely there was nothing in there Livvy wouldn’t have told him? On this logic that Ty admitted to himself was of questionable morality, he took the card from the dresser and sat on the floor to read it. 

‘Livs,’ Kit’s messy writing read. ‘Happy 17th. I miss you really badly. I know that’s weird because we barely got to know each other, but I seriously think of you and Ty as my closest friends. I think you knew me better than anyone, maybe better than I know me.’

Ty rubbed his hand across his face. He knew what kit meant. Livvy had a special ability to make everyone feel understood, like even if you didn’t know what you meant, she did. That was always enough for Ty, to be understood by Livvy. 

‘And, because of that, I have a feeling you already knew - maybe before I did - what I’m going to tell you,’ Kit’s card continued. ‘It feels weird thinking it without having you to talk about it with. I think about Ty a lot. Do you remember that I was your first kiss?’

Ty pushed down a strange curl of jealousy unfurling in his gut. Livvy and Kit had kissed? Livvy had her first kiss at 15? He forced himself to continue through the strange nausea he felt. What was wrong with him? Maybe he was just protective of Livvy? But that didn’t feel like it. It just...felt bad that Livvy and Kit had kissed. 

‘And Ty was stood on that rock like something from Titanic?’

And he’d been there? Ty’s stomach turned over. Maybe this was a mistake, reading Livvy’s letter. It was private for a reason, because it was some kind of reminiscence of their romantic escapades, clearly. He kept reading out of a sheer need to get to the end, for some kind of closure. 

‘I always kinda thought you knew how I felt. In fact, I’m sure you did. You were always watching Ty, and so was I. So give me some kind of sign you approve before I tell him. Give me some kind of sign I’m doing the right thing. You always knew him best, so give me some sign that he feels the same way. I’m taking him to the aquarium tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do this, Livvy. So I’m setting a deadline. It’s tomorrow night or nothing. Wish me luck. He misses you. We all do. But I’ll look after him. I promise. I won’t leave his side. I won’t let you down. I love you, Livs. Happy birthday.’

Ty’s heart was pounding and he could feel his own shallow breathing. He had to come clean about reading the card. He had to tell him. Placing the card back on the dressing table, he apologised to Livvy for reading it, and set off down the hall to Kit’s room. 

[survivormanhattanbeach]

Episode 2: “Hopefully my hunch is wrong!” -Ruthie

scratch whatever I said 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JuVOzz-xvE

I’ve been vibing with a lot of these thots and the first few days have probably been the most fun I’ve had in my Tumblr Survivor career. Sarah and I are very close and locked down a final 2 from day one and I’m feeling it but also I’m gay so I’m going to try to keep my options as open as I can while trying to use my [insert witty catchphrase here] to get people to open up to me 😊. It seems to be working so far - I seem to be generally well liked and I’ve had multiple people spill very personal things about themselves to me so it’s a wig and a half. 

So....Isaiah is gone, which sucks personally but strategically it's good. I really want Joey out but if he leaves it'll just be me Jake and Kevin and even though threesomes are hot, three tribe members are NOT. I also feel like I can work with Jake and Kevin more in the long run, and Sarah and Tom have been bonding with me on the one world calls which is great because the more numbers I have the better

I trust Keaton about as much as I trust R. Kelly.

Hello again. So first, it didn't surprise me that Isaiah was voted out first. He wasn't nearly as social as most of the cast during the first day, got picked last for his tribe and stuck out that way. GG. And now let's talk about this challenge. My tribe sucks on a social level and this challenge - a fine challenge to make some big social moves on to team up with other tribes via One World - just blows stinky fucking ass. I feel safe right now, but I don't even want to risk alienating myself by even spilling a tiny bit of information to other tribes. So essentially, we're stanning protectionism and hoping that we luck out! I haven't heard about any plans from my allies from other tribes, so it looks like this will be a boring cointoss challenge in the end. This is a big missed opportunity. IF I get played here, I have faith in Ruthie and Lucity to vote out Julian. That's all you get for now. Hugs and kisses!

yaaas bitches im finally immune! i went to the blue tribe for this challenge because Dani and Ryan were on it and i knew we could trust them to keep us safe. Dani told me that Sarah was helping their tribe and wanted to target pacific, so I went to Sarah about making a deal between our teams as well... and it worked because Pacific got crushed LOL. So I'm glad we won, and I'm really hoping that there's a tribe swap next round because I do not like small tribes. I also want to be on a tribe with Ryan or Dani. Right now I trust Ryan, Dani, Joey, & Kevin the most. I trust Madison too but, her conflict with Joey will never work out long term. I'm starting to bond with Andreas a little bit, so I do hope he stays. Mark seems nice too but Ryan told me that he stirs shit up for fun and everyone likes him so I'm not sure how much I should actually trust him. There's no one that I want out right now, and I'm hoping that my social game is decent enough right now. I'm not bothering to talk to those who don't speak to me (aka like 1/4 of the cast) but I'm hoping that the connections I do have are strong enough to keep me in a good position moving forward. 

https://youtu.be/0o7Eag7sDng Personally I think that I am at the bottom of this alliance but thats fine for now

God, I am pissed. Not actually pissed, but pissed off, you know? We lost the challenge ans I pushed our tribe a little to reach out to other tribes to pile up on either Meadows or Robinson, but BRANDAN was against it - and the result speaks for itself. I really like Brandan as a player, but I know I can't trust him too far, and oh boy, did he make himself vulnerable at this vote. If we had just lost like that, I have no doubt that JULIAN would have just been voted out, but now his name is on the plate, and I am not opposed to voting out Brandan here. LUCY seems to agree with me. It all depends on what RUTHIE is comfortable with. I hope we just go for Julian. Next question: Does Brandan have an idol, and would he use it on Julian? I am sure that Brandan is more dangerous right now, so getting him out here would be the smart move, since we might swap at 18. I'd usurp my Kuang Si heritage and a guy who might vote for me at FTC, but I honestly feel that as long as Ruthie is open for it, we should go for him. Julian will probably suck at swap too, and would be a safe and easy vote at any TC while Brandan would fight for his life in any way possible. Enough rambling, tldr: Head says "Vote Brandan", Heart says " Vote Julian". I doubt that Ruthie would blindside me, and I think Lucy would know that she's in the hot seat if she goes after me, but you never know in Survivor.

I got myself into my very first TS alliance!!! Currently Ruthie, Andreas and I are a threesome, and hopefully we can stick together this vote. I personally would've preferred voting Brandan out, since come a swap he will most likely have more social ties with people from the other tribes over Julian, who seems to not be that talkative. But then again we don't even know if a swap is coming yet. Andreas seems to want Julian out, and Ruthie agrees with him. I'm currently fine writing his name down, mainly because I don't think it's something I need to make a fuss about right at the start. I'd rather have Julian go home and be more secure about my position in the game than pushing for Brandan and possibly having this whole thing turned around against me.

I'm kind of bored. We won again. A lot of people want to work with me. Ryan wants to be my F2, Dan and Billy both said they want to go to the end. I'm in an alliance with Dani Isaac Tom and Sarah. I kind of want like a swap or something to shake the game up. But then again my goal is to get single digits at least so not going to tribal and being bored is good I guess.

It seems like we're set on Julian. My heart is telling me to go for Brandan, but I know it's not the right move right now. I think I just kind of feel for Julian since we've both been talking about how we just want to get a redemption and do any better. I just have to remind myself of how easy people were in lying to me and voting me out last season. Most of these people have had 3, 4 or even 5 chances to play. This is my shot at redemption, not theirs.

SOOOO. The alliance is going great I think. We teamed up with two other tribes (I forget their names sorry) to get the pacific (I think) tribe out. So far I really like Ryan and Mark even if Mark seems a little iffy. People are very call orientated in this game and I have to start being on calls more! I also think I’m good with joey. We called and had a good convo! I don’t really remember much of it but he kinda admitted to liking Madison ooops

Brandan and Julian have now approached me and they, or at least Brandan, knows about the vote being on Julian. I wouldn't be suprised if Andreas told him about that. They seem to want to put the vote on RUTHIE. I can't just let that happen! It does make me feel a bit more comfortable because being in this split vote position means that my chances of surviving this tribal have gone up, however I am the one who decides who goes home basically, and I'll probably get a fair amount of backlash from doing so from Brandan. Especially if Andreas let Brandan know that he's voting for Julian, all the blame would be put on me. I'm still comfortable with my vote for Julian and it should feel good knowing I'm in the middle, but I still have to pick a side and let either Ruthie or Julian go which really is a sticky situation to be in.

I've definitely shot myself in the foot by thinking too much about the vote. I doubt Ruthie will flip on me, I really don't think Lucity will flip on me, I don't expect Julian or Brandan to have an idol, but if they do, I'm gone. This is me in paranoid mode and I hate it. :D

I can't with this vote. Brandan and Julian are acting so shady and I just hope I'm not the back up plan if one of them has an idol. I KNOW I can trust Andreas and I hope I can trust Lucy but I don't know, I'm scared that the three of them are in cahoots and that it's going to be me. Hopefully my hunch is wrong! 

[eggymovies]

Movies Watched in 2018

Here’s a list of every movie I watched in 2018 at home or in theaters, in order. Re-watches are listed as well so some things will appear move than one.

Mr. Roosevelt (Noel Wells) Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino) Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson) Jumanji (Jake Kasdan) Split (M. Night Shyamalan) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (David Yates) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (David Yates) The Post (Steven Spielberg) Good Time (Josh and Ben Safdie) I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie) Paddington 2 (Paul King) The Big Sick (Michael Showalter) Get Out (Jordan Peele) The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey) Coco (Lee Unkrich) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) Creed (Ryan Coogler) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson) Annihilation (Alex Garland) Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley) Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) A Wrinkle In Time (Ava Duvernay) Tomb Raider (Roar Uthaug) Justice League (Abrams/Snyder) Before Midnight (Richard Linklater) Game Night (John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein) Love, Simon (Greg Berlanti) Columbus (Kagonada) Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson) Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg) Pacific Rim: Uprising (Steve S. DeKnight) A Quiet Place (John Krasinski) Free Fire (Ben Wheatley) The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthamos) The Lovers (Azazel Jacobs) Blockers (Kay Cannon) Home Again (Hallie Meyers-Shyer) You Were Never Really Here (Lynn Ramsay) Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh) It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shultz) Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) Beirut (Tony Gilroy) Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony and Joseph Russo) The Rider (Chloé Zhao) Kodachrome (Mark Raso) Tully (Jason Reitman) Rampage (Brad Peyton) Breaking In (James McTeigue) Life of the Party (Ben Falcone) Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis) Book Club (Bill Holderman) Beast (Michael Pierce) Deadpool 2 (David Leitch) First Reformed (Paul Schader) Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard) The Seagull (Michael Mayer) On Chesil Beach (Dominic Cooke) Training Day (Antoine Fuqua) Upgrade (Leigh Whannell) Tully (Jason Reitman) The Beguiled (Sophia Coppola) The Social Network (David Fincher) Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta) Burnt (John Wells) Hereditary (Ari Aster) Ocean’s 8 (Gary Ross) Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Morgan Nelville) American Animals (Bart Layton) Hearts Beat Loud (Brett Haley) Incredibles 2 (Brad Bird) Tag (Jeff Tomsic) Faces Places (Agnes Varda, JR) Set It Up (Claire Scanlon) Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (J.A. Bayona) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick) Sicaro:Day of the Soldado (Stefano Sollima) Mamma Mia (Phyllida Lloyd) The Last Movie Star (Adam Rifkin) The First Purge (Gerard McMurray) Uncle Drew (Charles Stone III) Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell) Leave No Trace (Debra Granik) Ant Man and the Wasp (Peyton Reed) Coco (Lee Unkrich) Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley) Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wandel) Skyscraper (Rawson Marshall Thurber) Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird) The Equalizer 2 (Antoine Fuqua) Mamma Mia 2 (Ol Parker) Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (Gus Van Sant) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie) Hot Summer Nights (Elijah Bynum) Sleeping With Other People (Leslye Headland) Mission: Impossible 3 (JJ Abrams) Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach) Jaws (Steven Spielberg) Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie) A Star Is Born (Frank Pierson) Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener) Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) Christopher Robin (Marc Forster) Set It Up (Claire Scanlon) The Witch (David Eggers) The Spy Who Dumped Me( Susanna Fogel) Under The Tuscan Sun (Audrey Wells) Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Desiree Akhavan) Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach) Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh) Puzzle (Marc Turletaub) Never Goin’ Back (Augustine Frizzle) Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu) Like Father (Lauren Miller Rogen) Reality Bites (Ben Stiller) Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater) Gattaca (Andrew Niccol) Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie) Please Give (Nicole Holofcener) Everybody Wants Some (Richard Linklater) We The Animals (Jeremiah Zagar) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski) Juliet, Naked (Jesse Peretz) Operation Finale (Chris Weitz) Searching (Aneesh Chaganty) Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón) The Wife (Björn Runge) Before Midnight (Richard Linklater) Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) Columbus (Koganada) The Predator (Shane Black) Girls Trip (Malcolm D. Lee) Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker) Black Panther (Ryan Cooler) The Land of Steady Habits (Nicole Holofcener) Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig) Slice (Austin Vesely) Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins) True Romance (Tony Scott) Blaze (Ethan Hawke) 20th Century Women (Mike Mills) A Simple Favor (Paul Feig) Colette (Wash Westmoreland) A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper) The Old Man and the Gun (David Lowery) Free Solo (Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi) Private Life (Tamara Jenkins) Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuarón) Venom (Ruben Fleischer) First Man (Damien Chazelle) Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance) Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard) Wildlife (Paul Dano) Beautiful Boy (Felix Van Groeningen) Halloween (David Gordon Green) Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen) mid90s (Jonah Hill) Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino) Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller) Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer) Boy Erased (Joel Edgerton) A Private War (Matthew Heineman) Burning (Lee Chang-dong) Green Book (Peter Farrelly) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen) Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen) Border (Ali Abbasi) Widows (Steve McQueen) First Reformed (Paul Schrader) Hail Caesar (Joel and Ethan Coen) Creed II (Steven Caple Jr.) The Front Runner (Jason Reitman) A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen) Thunder Road (Jim Cummings) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen) Ralph Breaks The Internet (Rich Moore, Phil Johnston) At Eternity’s Gate (Julian Schnabel) The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos) Copenhagen (Mark Raso) Roma (Alfonso Cuarón) Brad’s Status (Mike White) Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda) Minding The Gap (Bing Liu) La La Land (Damien Chazelle) Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke) The Mule (Clint Eastwood) Minding The Gap (Bing Liu) Bumblebee (Travis Knight) Let The Sunshine In (Claire Denis) Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse (Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman) Crazy, Stupid, Love (Glenn Ficarra) Love, Actually (Richard Curtis) In Bruges (Martin McDonaugh) Momentum Generation (Jeff and Michael Zimbalist) If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) Aquaman (James Wan) Before We Go (Chris Evans) Vice (Adam McKay) Jackass 2 (Jeff Tremaine)

[pavlovers]

i was tagged by loveliest person ever @britneyshakespeare to list 10 songs i’m obsessed with at the moment and tag 10 people, tysm diana

1. Days Like Masquerades by the Academy Is (why the fuck is the lost in pacific time ep so good like??)

2. Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine (saw it on my dash and decided to listen to it, and man this song is moody with its distorted guitars with barely audible dreamy vocals but i really fucking like it)

3. Exit Music (For A Film) by Radiohead (i recently watched the episode of black mirror where they played this at the twist ending and oh my god? it worked so well and now i get chills whenever i listen to it, it really is perfect exit music)

4. Get Out by CHVRCHES (whooaa they’re back and yeah this song is a bop that’s all)

5. Kathleen by Catfish and the Bottlemen (tbh i was at first indifferent to them because sometimes they can sound like a mediocre mish-mash of stuff i’ve already heard before, but this song is cool, i love when he starts like almost-screaming, it reminds me so much of julian casablancas’ voice)

6. Drugstore Perfume by Gerard Way (i recently re-listened to hesitant alien and holy hell gerard is? so talented? i really hope he does another music project someday)

7. I Saw Her Standing There by the Beatles (ok i know this is kind of a well-known song because like it’s literally their first one, but as i was listening to more early beatles songs, i swear i didn’t know why this sounded so familiar and then i realized that if you’ve ever watched those animated the adventurous adventures of one direction videos on youtube like i did when i was 10 and they sort of blew up, when louis goes to paul mccartney to get the pussy magnet, that’s what he sings to get the machine to work… oh and yeah it’s a total jam too)

8. Gloom Boys by Waterparks (i finally listened to waterparks which i’ve always been hesitant to listen to because i’m not a huge fan of pop punk but all their stuff is stupid catchy?)

9. Angry Me by Graham Coxon (i want this to play through my headphones while i’m eating lunch only to be interrupted when a pretty girl comes up and insults my skating alright?)

10. GOLD by BROCKHAMPTON (the first brockhampton song i heard and i was immediately hooked? like idk what it is but they way the production and their verses work together is just… really really good idk?)

umm i’ll tag @glowinginahuddle @beetlebun @explorerof-theunknown @theo-the-charismatic @blondosonic @en-plein-amour @cemeterysoup @heartbreakhotelsuite505@home-in-orbis if they want to 

[aion-rsa]

New Netflix Christmas Movies in 2020 Ranked from Best to Worst

https://ift.tt/3q2Rba0

Netflix is doing its level best to eat everyone else’s entertainment lunch, and the holiday movie game is no exception. Just a few short years after planting the flag that was the cult megahit A Christmas Prince, the streamer has more offerings than ever, including some sequels to their top-notch 2018 productions. We break down some of this winter’s already released heavy hitters so you know what to watch and what to skip.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Available Now

This star-studded Christmas musical is the most magical of the bunch. Picture The Wiz meets Willy Wonka, with John Legend as a producer. Forest Whitaker stars as a down-and-out toymaker who has lost his touch and everything else that makes life special: his wife (Sharon Rose) has passed and his daughter (Tony winner Anika Noni Rose, Little Fires Everywhere, The Princess and the Frog) moved away, estranged. Years earlier he created a unique matador toy that comes to life (voiced by a delightfully villainous Ricky Martin, who has a lot of fun with a wandering accent). The naughty toy and the toymaker’s apprentice (Kegan-Michael Key) left with the toymaker’s book of ideas, putting him out of business and making themselves mega-rich.

Things really get going when the toymaker’s granddaughter (bonafide star Madalen Mills, who I can’t believe is a newcomer) comes to town and she, along with a neighborhood boy with aspirations of being a great toy inventor, try to save the toymaker from himself. There’s singing, dancing, baroque steampunk galore, earnest lessons learned, and magic that’s something like science. It’s the kind of movie the phrase “family fun adventure” was invented to describe.

Clocking in at more than two hours, this one could tighten up the runtime a bit, but that just means there are plenty of safe opportunities to refill your eggnog or run to the restroom. I dare you to watch this movie and not feel the holiday spirit.

Operation Christmas Drop

Available Now

In order to protect her boss’ interests, congressional aide Erica (our girl Kat Graham/Bonnie Bennet from Vampire Diaries!) is sent to a military base in the Pacific over Christmas to find excess spending in order to justify budget cuts. Her biggest target is Operation Christmas Drop, a real-life program where service members from the U.S., Japan, and Australia drop presents (and life-saving supplies) to remote surrounding islands. Hyper-focused Erica knows there’s a possible promotion on the line and she has to work harder than a bunch of white dudes named Matt back in DC in order to get it, putting her at odds with the base’s own Santa, Capt. Andrew Jantz (Andrew Ludwid, Vikings, The Hunger Games). 

Any time one of these movies has a protagonist of color, it’s unfortunately notable, though Netflix (with the exception of the Christmas Prince franchise) creates more diverse offerings than just about anyone else. In addition to directly engaging with how much harder the Ericas of the world have to work to get their due, Operation Christmas Drop also highlights the people who live on Guam and the surrounding islands, as the first full-length major studio movie filmed there. 

Featuring the old favorite romance trope “enemies to lovers,” a tropical Christmas, and some of the real-life people who make the actual Christmas Drop possible, Operation Christmas Drop is an ideal holiday romcom. It’s still goofy at times and heart-fluttery at others, and of course everything will work out in the end, but it’s better written than most of what’s on TV and casting Kat Graham is always a good choice.

The Princess Switch, Switched Again

Available Now

It’s not Christmas until you’ve seen Vanessa Hudgens chloroform herself. The sequel to 2018’s The Princess Switch, The Princess Switch, Switched Again, rightly knows that Kevin (Nick Sagar) is a better leading man than the walking melba toast that is Prince Edward (Sam Palladio). When we last saw the sous chef dad with the six-pack abs who likes sappy Christmas movies and wearing the hell out of sweaters, he was making out with Lady Margaret. In the two years since then, they’ve split up, the king of Montenaro has passed away, and Margaret’s cousin who was next in line for the throne has abdicated, which means Lady Margaret will be crowned on Christmas. Naturally. 

The Princess Switch franchise has found the sweet spot between “painfully bad” and “so bad it’s good.” The latest iteration adds what the first lacked – a worthy villain. Vanessa Hudgens gleefully vamps around as a Kardashian-esque cousin of Lady Margaret’s who goes after the Montenaran crown. It’s fun to watch Hudgens be bad, and it adds a requisite layer of novelty to the proceedings. 

There’s also a little crossover moment from the Christmas Prince franchise. It’s very quick and I don’t think anyone even says a word, but it’s a fun one for fans. It also probably means that in the world of the NCCU (Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe), The Christmas Prince movies are documentaries, which is more than I can handle. 

It’s a rarity, but with The Princes Switch, the sequel is even better than the original. The Princess Switch 2 knows exactly what kind of movie it is – fun, silly, romantic, distracting, a purveyor of both great and terrible fashion, and maybe a little eye roll-inducing. Perfection. 

Holidate

Available Now

If you like a little spice with your sugar, Holidate is the right holiday rom-com. Netflix is already the anti-Hallmark in this category, trading judgey and Jesus-y for a sense of humor and soundtracks worth bookmarking on Spotify. And Holidate doubles down on the snark and PG-13-ness of it all.

Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey star as Sloane and Jackson, two singles sick of shrugging off a million questions and setups throughout the holiday season. The cast is rounded out with Frances Fisher (Watchmen, Titanic), Jessica Capshaw from Grey’s Anatomy, SNL’s Alex Moffat, Jake Manley from The Order, and Manish Dayal of Halt and Catch Fire and The Hundred-Foot Journey, proving he deserves to play a romantic lead.

Taking inspiration from Sloane’s perpetually single Aunt Susan (Kristin Chenoweth, who gets away with being so much weirder than anyone else ever could thanks to her many charms), Luke and Sloane go out as platonic dates to a year’s worth of holidays, starting with New Year’s. That also means that while we see two Christmas’, the movie spends a large chunk of time on the other holidays – St. Patrick’s Day, the Fourth of July, Halloween, etc – so this one doesn’t always feel the most Christmas-y. 

Read more

TV

Christmas Movies and TV Specials: Full 2020 Schedule

By Den of Geek Staff

Movies

The Best Alternative Christmas movies

By Mark Harrison

This flick may end up being too tart (or just plain awkward) for some, and the repeated use of the word “pussy” during what’s ostensibly a Christmas movie is not for everyone. But if all the sappiness of the season is feeling too saccharine and you’re sick of being seated at the kids table or getting grilled about when you’ll finally get married, Holidate might just hit the spot.

The Christmas Chronicles 2

Available Now

The follow-up to one of Netflix’s best family holiday offerings, The Christmas Chronicles 2 brings back Kurt Russell’s cool Santa for a sequel that has 100 percent more wormholes and time travel than fun side characters and snappy jokes. There’s a much larger role for Goldie Hawn’s Mrs. Claus, who is something of a kind-hearted Christmas sorceress. Kate (Darby Camp, Big Little Lies) is now staring down the barrel of teenagerhood and spending Christmas in Cancun while her mom makes heart-eyes at a new guy, who brings with him his 10 year-old son, Jack (Jahzir Bruno).

Big brother Teddy (Judah Lewis) moves into the backdrop as Kate and Jack go on an adventure in the North Pole, squaring off with one of Santa’s former elves, Belsnickel (Julian Dennison, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Deadpool 2).

While it’s always nice to revisit a favorite – and Christmas Chronicles is so much about the best aspects of a family movie – the sequel loses a lot of that appeal. Without a clear and compelling story to drive the plot forward like the original had, Christmas Chronicles 2 lags significantly throughout and it’s unclear when the adventure starts, what it’s goals are, and then the movie even struggles to wrap up as a result.

It doesn’t help that this movie is bogged down by some convoluted mythology tying the elves to Christianity via the Star of Bethlehem that low-key paints Santa as a Moses-like figure.

The musical number does bring things back to life for a while. This time it’s in a 1990-era Logan airport in Boston with Darlene Love singing a duet with Santa instead of Stevie Van Zandt, though they are singing his song, “The Spirit of Christmas.”

This makes for Darlene Love’s second appearance in the NCCU; The first was Holiday Rush, where she played Rush’s Aunt Jo. I’m ignoring the fact that she’s credited as “Denise” in Christmas Chronicles 2 and choosing to believe that Aunt Jo worked a desk for Pan Am, TSA or whoever in the ‘90s to pay the bills while waiting for her true calling as a singer to take off.

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square

Available Now

In between funding a possible cure for the coronavirus and trying to solve illiteracy, Dolly Parton found time to star in and write 14 original songs for a Christmas special. The great Debbie Allen of Fame fame (more recently, Dr. Catherine Avery on Grey’s Anatomy) directs this all-singing, all-dancing Christmas musical, bringing her multi-talented prowess to bear. That means this thing follows the musical tropes more closely than those of a typical Christmas TV movie, even though it also falls into the Hallmark penchant for religiosity that feels a bit off.

The best parts of Christmas on the Square are all the toe-tapping small-town songs about the townsfolk banding together to stop local Scrooge named Regina (played with adroit dry wit by Christine Baranski) from selling off their town. There’s a pastor named Christian (obviously) and a cute kid who gets hurt but only in a way that’s dramatic and leaves her still very cute and able to join in the final town celebration. That’s the kind of silly holiday fun we all signed up for. 

Regina’s best friend Margeline (Jenifer Lewis, The Princess and The Frog, Black-ish) is a scene-stealer and the back half of the movie is lesser for her relative absence. The numbers get a little less zippy and the movie feels a lot longer than roughly an hour and a half. Somewhere along the way, we get the sort of slutshame-y backstory of Baranski’s character, whose first-ever high school dance resulted in a pregnancy which she (obviously) carried to term. Her father took her baby away from her while she was crying in the delivery room, giving it up for adoption. Pretty intense for the genre! 

It’s not like the movie becomes a portrait of gritty realism from there–Dolly Parton is definitely a floating, glowing, rhinestone-encrusted angel, although that’s closer to what folks come for. An underutilized Jeanine Mason (Roswell, NM) and Matthew Johnson (Songland) – whose voice is arresting – add to the fun, but there’s no two ways around it: It’s an odd little movie.

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The post New Netflix Christmas Movies in 2020 Ranked from Best to Worst appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2JfbM9T

[survivor-mesopotamia]

Ep. #3 - "I'm just throwing stuff at things that I don't even know exists" (Isabelle)

I'm pretty nervous for this immunity challenge. Given that its a flash game roulette, I fully expect the other returnee tribe to get the highest score, so we have to strategize our point values for each game. I decided to play winterbells since no one else wanted to, but we need to put the lowest value there because I know there's no chance I will win it with people like Monty and Johnny who could end up playing it. If we strategize the points right, we could stay safe as well. I really don't want to vote anyone from our tribe off.

praying jj is the cheater

i was gonna make a real confessional, but ill save it for tomorrow. i'd just like to say i literally look like a CRAZY person scoring 2 billion in winterbells and not thinking it was enough when the other scores were 300k and 2 million. i gtg

YES We've won our third immunity challenge and it feels pretty good. I will say that right now I do feel kinda stagnant because you know we have yet to go to tribal council but yet at the same time I don't want to go. Honestly I've been loving the tribe Michael is truely the only one I question like their whole demanor becuase they felt almost like they where constantly trying to hand off their part of the challenge to literally anyone else but also with Collin mostly because he seems to be coming off kinda................forced is probably the best word for it. Well I don't know till next time ttyl

C7: https://youtu.be/fCmPRxLuFv8 C8: https://youtu.be/HH8tYuHGDFg

Going into tribal tonight SUCKS. I don't want any of us 6 going, but it has to be done. So far the discussion seems to be all about voting Chrissa out. My personal opinion on it is indifferent. Our conversations were pretty short and I was usually the one to initiate it. I feel more bonded with the other players on my tribe. I discussed it with Julian and it looks like that's the plan in execution at the moment. We have an alliance with JJ and I'm not sure if JJ knows yet because he hasn't said anything yet. As for Will, who I consider a really close ally, he had the same thoughts. Basically there's a lot of as long as it isn't me mindsets because it's a really difficult vote. Megan approached me about making a chat with us three together which is pretty interesting. It looks as though I'm in two chats now. One with JJ and Julian and another with Megan and Will. I'd like to think that's a good sign but the only good sign in a game is when the person who everyone said was going home goes home, so fingers crossed.

https://soundcloud.com/collin-vodicka-771937060/enlil-tribe-sucks

So once again, the Enki tribe has slayed the immunity challenges, however, I am one of the weaker people when playing comps. I am predicting a tribe swap next round though, but I'm also prepping for the possibility we have to go to tribal. I have made a really strong bond with Zach, and I am extremely close with Grace. I have started to get to know Adam, and I think Collin likes the "Team Grocery Store" thing we have going on since we are both baggers at grocery stores. I'm not that close with Michael or Cameron, so I wouldn't mind if one of them left if we had to vote someone out. But as of now, I am continuing to serve as a mentor to these new players and trying to give the full truth to them so that I have good relationships with them going forward. Also, last night I discovered a youtube link in the Idol System page of the Tumblr blog. It showed dancing crabs and the URL says "Step One." I did notice however that there were 140 views already when i found it the first time. So I assume someone already knows about the video on my tribe and has figured it out already. But it still does not hurt to try to get an idol. It at least gives me closure and gives me something to do while I let these newbies overplay the game like Zach is. Concerning the future of this game, if there is a tribe swap, I need to figure out how to get in good with these returnees. The newbie players are in a minority, however I am familiar with Megan Julian and JJ. I don't know anyone on the An tribe, but I guess thats the fun in getting to know people. I just have to be as nice as possible and try not to come off as a douche to them because they have played this game before. I haven't. The last thing I want is for people to think I am an entitled asshole. I want to stay civil and let people want to work with me instead of me forcing myself onto them. Finally I have a legit confessional LMFAO

https://youtu.be/ejn4YyJogo0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POLT6aOiJZs&feature=youtu.be

We won immunity! I was worried for a moment my score wouldn't be good enough cause I hurt my hand a couple days ago so I had to take lots of breaks to ice it. And i mean it was close...between first and second. Like damnnnn they got 0 points. That really has to be a hit to their tribe morale. But speaking of tribe morale, I really feel connected to my tribe. I've had a good time just talking to everyone. I think the person I've talked to the least is Abby but even then I really like her. I think there's a really good chance we swap after tonight's tribal, even though Johnny thinks it'll happen at 16. If we do swap, the person I want most on my tribe is Benji. Obviously since he's been gone from the community for ages, there's nothing linking us together so obviously like playing Malaysia with Isabelle, hosting Johnny in Flops, and hosting Lazio with Monty, not to mention the amount of seasons he hosted me in Pacific Islands (RIP). He's also very personable so I think he could gain us new allies. P.S. Prayer circle for Chrissa and Eric tonight, if I can swap with either one of them that would be a MIRACLE

me in my mesopotamia application: i dont want to end up in a ride-or-die pair. i always get fucked over and do worse than the person im aligned close with. benji: also if i didnt make it clear already you're my #1 in this game and the only way id write your name down is to win like im not going on call with the other tribemates and comparing notes i feel like im a lot more reserved around the others this was the first alliance i made and im sticking to it! me: you're my #1 too! no way i could write your name down either just in case that was not clear oifjeoijrf history repeats itself, baby! honestly its too early to tell if ill meet the same fate as i have in the past with my close 2s/3s (shoutout ash, sara, nick w + christine), but here we are. god as i sent that message i knew immediately it's gonna bite me in the butt later on. like i wasn't lying, i do really trust benji more than anyone else in this game BUT I NEED TO PLAY FOR ME this time! woof.

so i don't wanna talk to my host chat because drew is gonna not be proud of me and that's not okay I knew it from last night and today no one talking to me it's gonna be me no one ever wants me at merge so it's fine I could fight for it but JJ has given up so i guess that's it.

Things are... still good! We continue to do well enough in challenges that all strategic talk has been pretty much confined to agreeing to stay united and get everyone in the tribe as far as we can. It’s been surprisingly relaxed so far.

RIP Chrissa she didn't deserve this 

from chrissa's boot ep https://youtu.be/02a8QiaQG8M

Chrissa voted out 5-1

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 12: Invasion of Imperial Territory

August 796/487. Yang, Sitolet, and Cazellnu get stuck in traffic. They run into Lebello and give him a lift in their handy military zip-helicopter. At the High Council meeting, Royal Sanford and Cornelia Windsor convince all council members except for Lebello, Huang, and Trunicht to vote in favor of the military’s proposed invasion of Imperial territory. With the operation approved by the government, Sitolet convenes a meeting at which he appoints Lobos to command the mission of eight fleets totaling 30,227,400 soldiers, with Greenhill his second in command. Andrew Fork, who crafted the invasion plan, accuses Yang of aiding the enemy. Meanwhile Rubinsky and von Remscheid go on a....date? No, okay, they’re probably just talking politics. Probably.

...Okay, got all that? We’ve been focused on laying the groundwork of the main themes and relationships that we’ll be following throughout the series, which means that many of the little plot details and secondary characters that have flitted by so far haven’t figured heavily in our posts. Since this episode is less like an iceberg and more like an ice floe that’s mostly above the water, I’m gonna take this opportunity to formally introduce us to some of these (many, many, many) characters. 

Alex Cazellnu

Pictured here with his characteristic “I’m not quite sure what’s happening around me” expression, Cazellnu is Yang’s friend and former upperclassman from the military academy. Many mysteries surround this man, as we’ll talk much more about later. For example, how did he land such a smoking hot and kickass wife? (We’ll see her soon, don’t worry.) What made him think Yang was fit to be anyone’s legal guardian? (Yes, that was his brilliant idea.) And what the fuck kind of name is Cazellnu? (Actually my guess is that it’s based on the word caserne meaning military barracks, which is a bit on the nose honestly since his job has to do with supplies and housing…)

More seriously, Cazellnu plays an interesting and important role in the show: He personifies the heteronormative societal structures and assumptions both of the in-universe world and the world of the audience. Like so much in LoGH this has a dual purpose. For the characters around him, the normative crap he says applies concrete pressure on them to meet the expectations of their society. For the audience, he explicitly articulates some of the (incorrect) "surface readings" that help the show pass as way straighter than it is. We will of course be keeping an eye out for these moments as we get to know him better.

Another Cazellnu mystery: Why didn’t he bother to give his younger daughter a name? Did he use up all the female names he could think of on Charlotte Phyllis??

Sidney Sitolet

We’ve seen Fleet Admiral Sitolet (or Sithole, as it’s sometimes spelled, but come on, have some respect…) before, most recently when he was laying a major guilt trip on Yang about trying to resign from the military. In this episode he intensifies that guilt trip even further, telling Yang that he’s the literal only hope for preventing the whole military from falling into the hands of over-ambitious zealots eager to get everyone gloriously killed. Sheesh. I know that Sitolet is clearly demarcated as one of the Good Guys here—an older, more powerful, slightly sterner version of Yang who is also extremely practical about using his resources to try to minimize the damage caused by the continuing war. And Yang is one of those resources. I get it, but...this scene at the end of this episode just makes me want to write AU fanfic where Yang tells him to go to hell and moves to a nice mountain villa where he writes history books all day while Julian goes shopping at the local market for the best deals on high quality tea.

...What, a girl can dream, can’t she? (From episode 3.)

Anyway, platitudes about patriotism and duty to crush the Evil Empire etc. won’t keep Yang in the military, but Sitolet is the one who knows exactly the kind of logic Yang finds inescapable. As much as it obviously frustrates and saddens him, Yang feels the burden of Sitolet’s expectations. 

João Lebello

Or Joanne, sure, why not.

This is the first time we’re seeing Lebello, the current secretary of the treasury serving on the Alliance High Council. He’s a childhood friend of Sitolet’s, and their banter reminds me a bit of Yang and Cazellnu’s friendship. 

In the council’s deliberations, he’s the loudest voice speaking up against the invasion, on the grounds that their economy is already being stretched thin by the ongoing warfare and further military spending could lead to collapse. Unfortunately the counter of “eh we’ll just print more money” is persuasive to most of the council, who vote in favor of the invasion in hopes that a victory will improve their polling numbers. Let’s hear it for democracy! 

Huang Louis

Like Yang, his family name is first; his given name is ルイ in Japanese, and I’ve seen it rendered as Rui, Lewi, or Louis.

The only other council member to speak against the invasion plan. Huang is quietly awesome; I don’t have a ton to say about him yet other than that, and the fact that I totally ship him and Lebello. 

Huang/Lebello is pretty high up there on the LoGH Ships expanding brain meme.

Cornelia Windsor

The token woman on the council, Windsor does a great job smashing the sexist stereotype that women are less likely than men to warmonger and advocate the deaths of millions of citizens. And she does so while reminding me so strongly of Dolores Umbridge that I’ve been trying to convince myself that J.K. Rowling must have watched at least the first twelve episodes of this show somehow. 

I mean, just look at that giggle.

There are three philosophies put forward in the council discussion: Lebello and Huang making practical arguments about the toll the war is taking on the Alliance economically and socially; Sanford, the head of the council, arguing that inaction is less likely to get them re-elected than a potential victory; and Windsor making the ideological case that war against the Empire is so righteous that no cost is too great to pay.

I’ll go out on a limb and say this show hasn’t been very subtle from the beginning about its distaste for people making arguments in favor of war and destruction on purely ideological or dogma-driven grounds. This stance seems mostly uncomplicated for now—pragmatism: good; blind idealism: bad—but so far the stars have aligned so that the characters spewing the dogmatic rhetoric are using it to push for increased death. It’s easy to roll our eyes at ideals of honor and glory in war; what about ideals like “try not to kill people if you don’t have to”? What if those go against the pragmatic arguments? We’ve already seen this tension a bit between Yang and Jessica, with his willingness to work within the military clashing with her ideals of pacifism, even though their ultimate goals align. In those cases there’s much less of a clear cut answer.  

...But for now at least, we can all agree this Umbridge-wannabe person sucks.

Job Trunicht

(From episode 6.)

We’ve already heard plenty about Trunicht and we’ll hear plenty more, so I won’t dwell on him here. But a quick Fun Fact*: Yang, being generally a luddite, refused to even get a remote control for his TV (er sorry, SolidVision) for a long time, until Trunicht started appearing regularly on the news. Yang hated seeing Trunicht’s face for even a split second so much that he would bound up off the couch to turn it off as soon as Trunicht showed up. Of course Yang is incredibly lazy, and he finally realized that with a remote control he could remain on the couch and have to see Trunicht’s face for even less time, so he caved and bought one; and now he sits eagerly watching the news with the remote clutched in one hand, hoping he’ll have the chance to turn it off in disgust.

...Relatable.

*Source: Julian’s Iserlohn Diary, one of the side stories written by Tanaka. Yes yes our canon here is the anime not the books; but we get to pick and choose adorable details that we like, and I hereby make this one Official Icebergs Canon.

Andrew Fork

Speaking of characters spewing pompous platitudes about war, meet Andrew Fork, who I really really wish I could say was a hyperbolic caricature who could never exist or gain actual power in real life but………..*looks around* here we are I guess. Fork must be a historian who wrote his thesis on early 21st century Earth internet message boards, since he employs tactics like accusing anyone who questions the practical implementation of his ideas of Aiding the Other Side. I again can’t resist sharing a passage from the novel of another character describing Fork:

*thinking emoji* *thinking emoji* *thinking emoji* I dunno it sounds familiar but I can’t place it...

Alexander Bucock

As you can tell by him giving Fork shit, Bucock is one of the more level-headed of the admirals. We’ll get to know him better in the future, so for now I’ll just mention that he’s awesome and him telling Fork that he’s impolite makes me happy. And that you shouldn’t get him mixed up with Lobos just because they both have white/gray hair and a mustache, as I may have done through pretty much the whole first season...

Quick Aside: Names

Cazellnu/Caserne/Caselnes? João/Joanne Rebelo/Lebello? Sitolet/Sithole/Shithole? Rui/Lewi/Louis? Fork/Falk? Bucock/Bewcock? Mittermeyer/Mittermeier, Reuental/Reuenthal, Mintz/Minci, Lap/Lapp/Shithole…??? It might have come to your attention by now that there is complete consensus about the spelling of essentially zero LoGH names.

You’d think “Jessica Edwards” would at least be free from controversy, but….. (From episode 2.)

Given that there doesn’t seem to be one clearly “official” source, and that it’s 1600 years in the future, we’re not especially hung up on trying to be super authentic and picky with our spellings. Maybe Cazellnu’s distant ancestors who also managed military barracks were named Caserne, but the spelling got modified as humanity emigrated to the stars; it happens. Generally our policy is to spell things however we happen to feel like it, based on some combination of aesthetics and just what we’re used to, and to be as consistent as we can once we pick a spelling; but we’re not really in the business of trying to arbitrate which spellings are “correct.” There’s too much about LoGH that’s worth caring passionately about to spend that much energy on the names. 

...Except Minci is still wrong, sorry animation notes that came with the laserdiscs.

Okay now, where were we…

Lazzll Lobos

...What, really? Lazzll, that’s what the subbers went with? Is that even a name? *quick Google search* No, no it’s not. Well, apparently it’s more commonly spelled Lassalle, but y’know what, I’m sticking with Lazzll god dammit. I make the rules here.

I don’t have anything to say about him beyond his name and that he is different from Bucock apparently.

And last but not...well okay maybe also least?

Adrian Rubinsky

When we last mentioned Rubinsky he was musing about how to use Reinhard and Kircheis’s relationship to his advantage somehow; here we find him informing the Imperial High Commissioner to Phezzan about the Alliance’s impending invasion, which he learned about...somehow. His air is constantly that of one attempting to play puppet-master and sculpt the situation to his own advantage, although ostensibly he is only doing his duty here as an Imperial subject, Phezzan being officially a territory of the Empire. It’s on his information that the Imperial nobles set Reinhard’s fleet in motion to meet the Alliance invasion force, as Yang was afraid they would do.

We also very very briefly meet Dominique Saint-Pierré, a mistress of Rubinsky's, seen here pouring wine while both men leer at her; she has more power than this glimpse suggests, though, and the power struggles between her and Rubinsky are definitely the most interesting aspect of Rubinsky’s role in the story.

Phew! And with this we conclude the entry that will probably mention the highest number of canonically straight characters by name of any Icebergs post. I hope you got all that; yes this will be on the exam. 

Stray Tidbits

I love the four-hour traffic jam caused by some intern feeding a corrupt string into a computer. I’ve mentioned how realistic the self-driving car system on Heinessen feels, and having it break down only adds to the realism.

So much for Yang’s optimism that capturing Iserlohn would lead to peace negotiations rather than an escalation of the war. Cracks are starting to show in Yang’s admiration of this whole “let the people control the government” thing, and I don’t blame him; especially since the Alliance “democracy” seems to involve decisions made by simple majority vote by an eleven-person High Council?? Umm? 

The subs tried to make sense of this line by drawing a distinction that I don't think is there in the Japanese: Yang uses the same verb, "akusei o shite iru," for both governments, where akusei (悪政) is literally bad+government. My interpretation is that Yang is expressing frustration at the irony of people choosing to elect a government that nevertheless governs against their interest...but I guess I might be projecting.

I love this random shot of a Phezzani street. Most Obscure LoGH Love Triangle Award goes to the three teenagers on the right; I wonder which of them is the vertex?? This is the fanfiction the world demands.