#only pro was that GAWD HE'S SO PRETTY TO LOOK AT

[jinikaris]

HYUNJIN | 'SO GOOD' MAKING FILM ♡

[lizacstuff]

Hi! What did you think of ep23?I love your in depth thoughts on the episodes. I really enjoyed it, especially the EdSer moments (was smiling like an idiot during the skating scene - when Eda complained about it being hot (girl same), and also that she understood what he said in French omg). I hope the grandmother doesn't turn out to be as evil as everyone is assuming. I guess the one big con was Ayfer. She's gotten more annoying right? That's not just me? But I love me some Aydan!

Hello! Thank you for the kind words. Let's see, I did like the episode, but as I said in another ask I was a bit on edge while watching for a couple of reasons, but they're all Edser related so I'll talk about that when I talk about them at the end. As far as Ayfer is concerned, I FEEL YOU. 

Good grief, woman. Why does she have to be such a harpy? It feels like she complains about absolutely everything. Plus, she's forcing a situation where her beloved niece can't trust or confide in her, and all the girls have to hide Eda's work schedule from her. Look, if Ayfer doesn't want to spend time with Aydan, fine, but her anger towards and disapproval of Eda's job and her relationship with Serkan are completely selfish. She may tell herself she's disapproving for Eda's own good, but come on.

Because, seriously, what does Ayfer think she's protecting Eda from? Serkan is handsome, rich, successful and head over heels in love with Eda. Let's be honest, Eda could do worse. He might be a tad arrogant and controlling, but he's a very good man with a very good heart. Also he tries with Ayfer. I get the connection with Alptekin is upsetting, but Serkan and Aydan have cut him completely out of their lives and neither had anything to do with what happened. I also get that Ayfer was put off by the whole contract thing, but it took two to tango there, and Eda's entire world opened up because of that arrangement.

Maybe that's the problem? 

(more under the cut)

Maybe Ayfer can feel Eda expanding and growing and her world getting much bigger than Ayfer's and it scares her? She thinks she'll lose her, or won't recognize her? Privately, Serkan and Eda have talked about running away together, maybe Ayfer senses that's a possibility? (PRO TIP: Then don't be a negative force they have to get away from!) 

Also what's happening with this Chef Alexander thing? Is he actually going to make an appearance? Is there going to be a romance? I think that would be good, maybe that will salvage Ayfer's character and she'll get distracted and maybe even happy. I did laugh, though, at her her calling Aydan and Seyfi out on their lie about having him on board with their charity scheme. They should know better than to try that. Amateur move, kids!  But I will always applaud their matchmaking efforts when it comes to Eda and Serkan. 

I enjoyed the girls this episode. I like that they don't share Ayfer's concerns about Serkan and are ready to go to the mat for whatever Eda wants. Poor Melo is the worst detective, but she gets points for trying. Also points for picking up what Eda was putting down and skillfully sweeping Balca and her broken heel out of the way. I'd want Fifi for protection as well, girl is badass. I can't tell what this Fifi/Erdem thing is supposed to be.  Does she have a soft spot for him, she must because I don't know why she would give him the time of day otherwise. She's not one we have to worry about not being able to say no. If she wanted to rid herself of his presence, she'd do it. Ceren and Ferit are just kind of... there. I don't dislike it, but I also don't really care. They need something to spice that up.

Which is what we finally got with Engin and Piril! Holy moly, who is her dad!?! Mafia boss? Politician? Wealthy recluse? @alicekepley suggested on another post that maybe it's Aydan's first love. Now that would be interesting. Maybe he turned to a life of crime after being disappointed by Aydan? I am now looking forward to see how this plays out and how it affects them. However, there's one thing that gets me almost every episode. I love Engin and Anil, but he looks at least a decade older than Serkan, Piril, and Selin. So much so that I don't buy they could have gone to school together. This is where I'll have to call on my well honed suspension of disbelief I guess... I'll tell myself he spent a lot of time in the sun and is graying a bit prematurely. 

I did like Engin and Serkan sitting around commiserating about their relationships and hoping things were about to turn around. That's the more equal buddy talk I want to know happens. 

Speaking of Serkan, duuuuuuuuude. You're being hunted, wise up!  I'm really stuck on what he said to Sirius after Eda left his house at the top of the episode. "Don't look at me like that, everything is under control, I know perfectly well what I'm doing, this is my tactic." We know from last episode he thought Eda would show, and this episode while talking to Eda he told her that he was expecting her and the candles were for her.  So... did he purposely allow Balca in to provoke Eda's jealousy? If so, I'm not sure this is his best course of action. It's certainly not with regards to fanning Balca's dangerous pretensions, but I'm not sure he's getting his best result with Eda either. It's true that it gave him an excuse to flirt, make the bet, tease her, bask in her obvious jealousy even if she won't admit it, and get a Parisian date out of it. I suppose that's not a bad day's work. On the other hand, if he'd sent Balca on her way, he would have had a happy Eda, in his house, sitting on the couch next to him, watching a movie with him, which also could have led to a very good place for him.  

It's also a mystery to me if Serkan is really clueless about Balca's intentions, or if he's playing dumb to suit his own purposes with Eda. I'm thinking it's the middle. He probably sees it but thinks it's a whole lot more harmless than it is. Like maybe he gets Balca has a crush on him, but he has no suspicion that he's in dangerous fatal attraction territory. Which is where we are. I don't want to fling words like 'crazy' around, but... bitch be crazy! If she is capable of trying to large-scale sabotage his company in her pursuit of him, that's some seriously scary stuff. WAKE UP, SERKAN. 

I said I was uneasy while watching this episode and part of it was concern over what would happen with the tender, and worrying if Balca's sabotage was going to work, leaving Eda to blame. If that had gone the other way, the fallout would have been painful. Also storylines where a fav is falsely accused always make me antsy. I was able to handle the Serkan roof collapse one because it was at the end of the episode, and they were able to figure out that he wasn't responsible right off the top of the next. But this one had me on edge all ep.  I was especially nervous after Eda made the independent report on her recommended firm part of a trust test. Sweetie, I love you, but NOOOOO. That was not the move of a professional. Serkan, as the company principle, wanting to vet a partner or vendor is completely normal and has nothing to do with how much he trusts her. Put aside the fact that she's only been in the workforce for a few months, you always want a second set of eyes on something that important. Always. She showed some of her immaturity there, which is fine, she's young and inexperienced, but it's a sign of how desperate Serkan is for her to forgive him that he humored her. That man will do anything for her, even if it doesn't make sense or is potentially damaging. I get why the writer's did it, for the suspense of Eda being out on that limb all on her own, but it was also actually a bit of a missed opportunity for him to mentor her there. (And I love when she learns from him.)

The other reason I was uneasy watching this ep was due to some frustration with Eda. See above on the trust test, but it was also a little hard to watch her just completely succumb to Serkan's charm and be in the moment with him one moment, and then the next second shake it off and be adamant that she was going to be leaving the job and him shortly.  It felt like constant whiplash. Also if she won the bet she wanted him to leave her alone? Sure, Jan. She could have asked for something really good! We all know she doesn’t really want him to leave her alone, so that pretense has gotten harder and harder to take. However, the times she rebuffed him didn't bother me as much as when she told Melo she was leaving the job. I can chalk up the ones to Serkan as part of her act, trying to protect herself and poke holes in his pretensions, but when she said it to Melo it felt more real. Like that was really what she was still planning to do, and it's really hard to reconcile that with all the moments where she puts down her guard and it's obvious she's madly in love with him.  

On a positive note, scenes where it’s clear they’re madly in love with each other were plentiful this episode. The romantic robot used every opportunity he could find to make her melt. My GAWD she has a will of iron that she was able to back away from him after he recited all the ways he could tell if a woman (her) was in love with him. He is one smooth bastard. And boy does he know her, he knows exactly what he does to her. That scene was FIRE. Not to be crass, but how did they not do it right then and there? After the last few eps, they have to be at a 100 on a scale of 1-10 when it comes to pent up sexual energy. Hey Eda, maybe you wouldn't be so jealous if you knew he had an outlet for that. I'm just sayin'.

The lunch was pretty funny and I definitely enjoyed the kicking and the under the table conversation. After refusing to admit she was jealous, Eda totally deserved that Serkan said that whatever Balca's feelings for him were, they were between him and Balca. Eeesh. I see what he's doing, he's trying to bring her feelings out into the open, and she deserves it, but I don't think he realizes how vulnerable she is over everything. He's walking a tightrope here. However, I do appreciate that he finally just admitted that he's jealous. If he'd just done that in 18, he would have saved himself some angst. Are we to infer from Serkan asking Eda not to use emojis with Efe, that Edser likes to use emojis when they text? Or was that just a generic, "don't be cute with him?"  I think I'll take that Serkan and Eda use emojis, just because it tickles me to think of Serkan Bolat doing that. All of shipper twitter thinks that's the writers poking at the actors because of how much they use them with one another on social. Who knows, maybe that explains it, since it sort of came out of the blue. You gotta love, though, that every manipulative thing Balca did either failed or backfired spectacularly. Showing up at his place, sure she succeeded in upsetting Eda and derailing their night, but it also put Eda on her guard and brought about the flirty wager between Eda and Serkan. She left the earring, but Eda found it before she could use it as an excuse to return. She broke her heel, but that just gave her a ruined pair of shoes and Melo an excuse to get her out of there so Serkan and Eda could be alone. She and her devious friend succeeded in throwing Melo and Eda off the scent, however all that meant was that Serkan won the bet and gave him the pretense needed to get her to agree to the most romantic date on the planet. She sabotaged the report, but Eda still found out about the company's background and Eda was the hero when ArtLife won the tender. Balca: 0 percent success rate so far. 

THE ICE SKATING SCENES WERE PURE MAGIC!  It was fun to see the whole cast out there having a blast, but obviously it was the Edser scene at night that lit up the whole show. Damn was that pretty. (it's currently my ipad lock screen and home screen) The chemistry between the actors was on display all episode, but here it just exploded. When Eda said she was hot, no kidding! How could you not be? And I agree that Serkan speaking French to her was OMG. Love, love, love the date that Serkan planned for them in Paris. I'm bereft that we'll likely never see it. Damn you pandemic, look what you've taken from us! The characters, and the audience, deserve an entire episode of Paris romantic fluff. We've all earned this! 

The date sounded perfect and I found it very interesting that he had purposely never been to Montmartre. So at some point he promised himself he'd only go there with a woman he was truly in love with, makes me wonder if it was a much younger Serkan who made that promise. The Serkan we met in the pilot didn't believe in love, he was hard-hearted, he actually talked with Engin about how a contract, a bloodless business transaction, was the way to go for relationships. Robot Bolat. So I don't think he made that idealistic promise any time recently. If so, that means he's had that in the back of his mind for years, but Eda's the only woman he's ever considered taking. My heart. I love how the show keeps showing us and telling us that this is the first time Serkan has ever been in love. You could see in that scene that Eda was right there with him. She was so happy and in the moment and swept away by the romance. She was as excited for Paris as he was. I know we all wanted a kiss/declaration here, it would have been a very good moment for it. A very good one. But the show has other plans for them, so we wait.

So, yeah, I really liked the Edser we got, but Eda’s hot and cold act was hard to reconcile at times. However, perhaps it all came together in the end, when she's talking to Melo and Ceren about Paris. She was feeling troubled over it, probably what agreeing to go with him meant, but they both told her to listen to her heart in Paris and it seems like she was going to do it: "From now on I'll stop worrying. I'm opening a new page in life." So I think in that moment she was ready for next steps and was planning to be open with him in Paris, let's hope it carries over to the next episode even without Paris. 

Actually, that whole conversation was a bit of a window into her psyche and was more illuminating than almost anything in the episode in that regard. When Eda says she’s worried, Melo teases her that she's nervous to be alone with Serkan Bolat, and then jokes that all young women would like to have that problem, including herself.  Eda does NOT like that joke and actually verbalizes it, "Melo, at least you don't do that."  That was a huge spotlight into Eda's insecurities, like she is really discombobulated by witnessing women showing interest in him while they're in such a nebulous place. Since she is coming off of what happened with Selin, and was already feeling jealous when the first candidate set her off with (her creepy) talk of chemistry last episode, then finding Balca at Serkan's house in the opening scene, I suppose it's no surprise that all of that has had some residual effects. But that it's to the point where she can't take a joke from Melo is telling. Poor thing.  

My hope is that this is just something she's working through while she's feeling off-kilter about everything. It would be one thing if they were together, but she's in this headspace where half the time she says she's leaving and it's over between them and half the time she acting like his wife, so I think she's just discombobulated. Maybe she just wants time to figure things out, but feels like she doesn’t have it, because someone is going to swoop in and take her place and that’s feeding her jealousy? The fact that Serkan can’t see it (Selin and Balca) until it’s out of control doesn’t help. 

It's natural for her to be upset that this woman has entered the scene and is clearly trying to maneuver herself into Eda's place in Serkan's life. However, there is an easy fix to this. Just go be with him. Come on, Eda, we know you can do it! You're ready. You’re primed. Bring on the New Year's Ep!

[evans-heaven]

Notes on Defending Jacob ep.4 (for fun lol, also not spoiler free)

This post is gonna be shorter (maybe lol) than the first one cause it's just one episode this time around! Definitely not crying about that 😅

Just a reminder, I'm not a pro and this isn't really a review, but I am shoved rather far up Chris Evans' bum, soooooo that should tell you everything you need to know before you read these notes (or any I make in the future) 🤣😋

Another reminder that I'm not asking anyone to take me seriously. I make these notes because I enjoy doing them.

K I'm done let's get into it!!

I knew the swimming scene was coming in this episode but damn, right off the bat huh? I'm okay with the heart attack tho so no sweat 🤣

Laurie sitting in her car in the parking lot outside the store, immediately I knew why, and I think a lot of us did too. It was so sad to see. Really places us inside the depth of the situation, even if its such a small action, it speaks volumes. Poor thing must have been tired physically and mentally. My heart got torn in two every time I saw her on screen throughout the episode. I just wanna give her a damn hug 😩😭

The juxtaposition of Andy and Laurie's faces during the meeting with Joanna, while subtle, says a helluva lot about how they feel. It was such amazing facial acting. Its clear from their expressions alone, who knows the story is bs and probably will admit it, and who also knows the story is bs, but definitely won't admit it.

The way Jacob and Joanna bounced off of each other as he continued his (bs) story, was intense, and the score added to it. Jacob's rising nerves led to mine doing the same, and I even found myself trying to figure out how he could have told the story better. Joanna's expression, the 'this lie ain't shit' one, was also quite influential. Like, you wanna help this 14 year old kid, but he can't even help himself and shit just keeps piling up.

Andy babe I know thats your kid, you wanna protect and coddle him but the police was the appropriate choice of contact. And clearly theres some deeper shit going down. He didn't call you or anyone else because it's not as it seems.

"Our memories are often less reliable than we think, particularly in moments of stress" PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who immediately thought of Laurie's memory of Jacob at the bowling alley. Like obviously it was a 3 second scene, and it seemed pretty telling, but what if that's only part of it? Or what if shes not remembering it the way it went down? Like, her kid was accused of murder, and what she thinks would make it make sense might be plaguing her and being twisted by her, because of stress and fear.

My immediate reaction to Laurie's rant at Jacob was to yell "I'M SORRY" 😭 legit felt like sis was reading ME the riot act. Stress is just piling up on her and she will not have her kid acting like everything has no reason to be the way it is. Waiting in parking lots for groceries to open is not normal, having all your friends alienate you is not normal, being the talk of the town for negative reasons is not normal. So sit tf down, eat your unseasoned food and stop complaining.

In that one moment, for Andy, everything was okay as he and Jacob sat watching the movie. Until, he realized everything wasn't okay. He just had to remember that his kid, who sat there, care free, laughing at the film, was gonna be on trial for murder. It's as easy to forget as it is to remember. Seeing Andy's face change so subtly, from a smile to worried gaze, broke my heart.

Andy saying 'of course not' when Laurie asked if there was a part of him that thinks he might have done it. Who was he trying to convince?

👏🏽LET👏🏽ME👏🏽TELL👏🏽Y'ALL👏🏽SOME👏🏽THING👏🏽

That acting in the scene where Andy met Matthew? That perfect mix of chill and resolve (for lack of better word) in the way Andy spoke? The 'don't fuck with me' energy that radiated off of him? Where is the Emmy?? WHERE IS IT???

Andy's just getting increasingly desperate and its lowkey unsettling. Idc if hes a snacc, dude is being a little ridiculous and needs to do himself a favor and see things from his wife's perspective. I know it may be hard but I don't even wanna imagine where his denial is gonna take him. Also the protectiveness leading him to burst into his kid's room in a very embarrassing way was...cringe 😅

As much as I wanted Laurie to have felt normal for once since everything went down, even for a fucking hour or two, I lowkey was waiting for some shit to happen in the diner. It just seemed too good to be true. The heartbreak/shock on Laurie's face when she found out was too real.

I'm interested to see Andy's meeting with his dad. I know its gonna be difficult/uncomfortable and the amazing acting I know we're gonna see will convey that really well. Also lowkey some shade from Laurie in that scene, I love 🤣

A few more short notes:

Andy ffs your kid's story sucks for a reason 🤦🏾‍♀️

Needa know the conversation Derek and his mom had with Pam ��

That food looked hella unseasoned, put some butter on the bread at least lmao

Andy/Chris' laugh 😭🥰

Fuck Neal

Like seriously fuck him

The little guy playing young Andy omg 😭🥺

Fucking white kids oh my gawd y'all think I could ever tell my mother to shut up 😂🙄

That DO YOU HEAR ME with the lack of the "r" in hear...🥴

Some of those images Jacob saw in the therapist's office 😣 I know that was the point but sheesh lol

Who gets a salad with fries lmao is that normal

Did Jacob fold his pizza? Is that also normal?

Reporter lady didn’t deserve those fries smh 🙄

There was a lot of food in this episode 🤣

Jay Kobbs? Really? 🤦🏾‍♀️🤣

Whatever it takes 😭 okay Steve Rogers 😭

Amazing acting from Michelle Dockery in this episode, especially the diner scene.

Amazing acting from Jaeden in the meeting with Joanna.

Amazing acting from Chris Evans no matter the scene (are we surprised? No lol), but especially when he met Matthew.

Thats all for now, see y’all for the next episode <3

[thatbitchinsneakers]

The Bachelorette Season 16 Episode 3

And here we are again. Still watching this dumb season but what can I say? It’s addicting.

We start off this episode with all the men sitting around talking about how gorgeous their girlfriend looks. Totally normal for 8 guys to be complimenting and talking about how much they like their SHARED girlfriend. 

Here comes Yosef talking shit! But its fine cause the producers hired him from the start to be the villain of this season. So awkward that there’s literally nothing exciting about this season that Yosef has to pretend like he’s uncomfortable with guys having to strip and play dodgeball. And get this - he wasn’t even one of them! Also why is this taking like 15 minutes for him to confront her. That just shows how fucking pointless and boring this season is. He called the situation an “atrocity” like oh my god who cares get over it you loser. “You’re not setting the right example for my daughter” wait what?! Did she go on the Bachelorette to set an example?! Last time I checked, a girl dating 30 guys at one time isn’t exactly “setting an example” either?!?! Also, so hard to believe this shit is real cause Yosef just like peaces out and gets into the car like no luggage or anything. So obviously this was planned before this happened. Maybe the interns packed his bags for him. Here comes Dale to the rescue! Even though all the other men literally tried to comfort her but who cares about them when you have a Party City model/ex pro football player like Dale!

Chris Harrison, part time therapist part time Bachelor franchise icon, comes to the rescue and talks it out with Clare. She tells him her ovaries are shaking at the thought of Dale. He just straight up doesn’t care. 

Pan over to Clare apologizing to the men with her 39 year old titties out and about and explaining she just can’t go on with the night. Sorry guys but the open bar has been cut short :/ But good news is, you don’t have to talk to Clare again tonight! 

Rose ceremony time! Harvard claims he (the interns) had something sweet planned for his time with Clare and honestly I am devastated because we will never know what the interns, sorry I mean Harvard, had planned for Clare. Definitely something under $50 but truly sad I won’t be able to see it.

Dale gets the first rose, obvi. Gawd forbid she pretends like she likes the other guys too for a split second. Sorry to the guys who didnt get a rose tonight -  it’s so sad - having to leave the La Quinta AND never having to talk to Clare again for as long as you live? Darn!

Wait, who is this other bitch that is just like casually visiting Clare? And can Clare shut the fuck up about how much she likes Dale? Like we get it. We’ve known from the start that you’ve been obsessed with him. Why that actual mother fuck does Clare have a pair of Clare’s pants? Like is she mentally stable?!?!

So instead of another low budget date, Clare decides to just skip to the drinking. Smart girl. Clare brings Dale to her room (classy) and I already know where this is going, despite the 50 sneak peaks that have already showed them hooking up on a bed together. I mean honestly, I hope they have sex cause Clare’s clock is kinda running out of time. I’m guessing the producers told them to pretend like they’ve been gone for an hour and to start looking for them. Eazy knocks on her La Quinta hotel room door and Dale immediately has to hide his boner and pretend like he didn’t just dry hump the only girl within a 50 mile radius of him. 

The other guys pretend to be upset that Clare doesn’t wanna talk to them anymore. Dale interrupts someone else’s time and literally cant form an English sentence as to why he is interrupting. They’re back to making out cause Dale’s testosterone is raging after he got blue balls from the last time Eazy so rudely interrupted their steamy sesh. Then Chasen (what kind of name is that?) comes out and is like “it’s so disrespectful that she has her eyes set on one person” ....as if that’s not the entire premise of the show.....?! 

Another one on one date with a guy she simply does not care to talk to! But they get pedicures ($50 per person I’d assume?) which is another - you guessed it - low budget date! And this conversation is absolutely cringe. This entire date is just so awkward and nothing is happening at all whatsoever. Ok lets talk about that kiss situation in the pool - that was so mother fucking awkward I want to turn the TV off right now. He literally tried to kiss her and she just stopped and was like aw nevermind I’m gonna turn this around and pretend like he doesn’t like me. Now Chris Harrison is telling him that Clare isn’t coming to dinner cause shes so dramatic. And now shes making Chris Harrison send him home?! Like why can’t you be the old ass adult that you are and talk about what happened and what you’re feeling like wtf. ABC intern 1 walks into the common room where all the men just haaaaappen to all be and takes Zac’s bags away. Bye Zac! 

Time for a roast! Can’t wait to see how this goes. Our first “celebrity” has arrived and I am not surprised to see that I have never heard of her. Once again, low budget. Honestly shocked to see that half of these guys know how to read so that’s a great sign! Everyone shits on Dale, obviously, cause he’s the only one that Clare actually likes. Harvard absolutely ruins Dale and I am HERE for it. 

I honestly do feel bad for these other guys. Like all she does is ask them about Dale. Like at least pretend like you want to know more about them? Here comes Clare telling the guys she can’t give anyone a rose. This season is literally pointless. Wait but Clare calling Dale her fiancé already?! Slow down girl you haven’t even seen each other naked!! What if she has inverted nipples and that’s his biggest fear? What if he has a pierced penis? Or a huge and incredibly realistic tattoo on his upper thigh of Jesus Christ? Idk like that’s a dealbreaker for me. 

End of episode but I’m pretty shocked that the producers found a way to make 3 full episodes of footage from this disaster. Please, God, just send in Tayshia already.

[coredrill]

imagine getting to work with studio trigger and handing them that script 💀 couldn’t be me

anyways, eps9&10!

btw i want to clarify the above comment. the story’s not bad, per se. i personally don’t find it particularly compelling nor creative, nor worth my time were it divorced from the animation, and i think the timeskip was especially poorly executed and set the remainder of the story off kilter. the characters are also pretty flat all things considered, which is especially an offense w lucy and david. but it’s not beyond salvaging (cough kzn), on the whole, and my comment isn’t really abt quality. it’s about how the video game company gave trigger the WRONG SCRIPT

like, okay. trigger’s entire catalogue of shows and films is about hope and human connection and rising up against what keeps you down to become your true self. the foundations of the company rest largely on a show that has literal optimism punches to the face, and in which love changes the universe. imagine showing your ass and admitting that you didn’t pay attention to any of those themes and that you just focused on the pretty drawings. this is the studio that made a whole meta show about how it doesn’t matter how dumb and hopeful you may be, because if something has meaning to you, and if you can find something of value in it, it’s worthwhile loving, no matter what it is!! imagine going up to that company - the company which DISNEY gave more creative freedom to - and asking them to make a GRIMDARK SHOW. i have to laugh!

anyways, i hope trigger made a billion dollars from the collab so that whenever nakashima and imaishi team up next it’s balls to the wall again!!!

ep9:

kiwi back w the group 🤔

ohhhhhh so david doesn’t have the skeleton already LMAO. so is he really just special????? is that it?????

the dub saying yeehaw 💀 

REBECCA’S FACE AFTER DAVID ASKS HER FOR THE FAVOR LMFAO

the animation of rebecca throwing the charge VERY GOOD

HARPOON ANIMATION I LOVE IT

YES TRUCK FLYING ANIMATION I LOVE TRIGGER

LMAO DOES KIWI EVEN HAVE A TONGUE?????

fdhsjaklfdjkknd rebecca flyin off the rock

i feel bad for rebecca :(

LMAO TRIGGER BE LIKE IF WE DON’T PUT A MECH IN EVERY SHOW WE’LL SIMPLY DIE

they finally let trigger do their thing thank FUCK

the super line heavy shot looking up at david in the skeleton YES GOOD

ep10:

SUSHIOOOOOOOOOOOOO

not them saying “atom smasher” so seriously 💀 

i still want a kiwi and lucy backstory tbh. i feel like that would’ve actually done more to give lucy some sort of character beyond david/moon/arasaka. w the benefit of hindsight the mystery really all there was to her, once that was revealed she fell rather flat imo

16:51 THANK YOU FOR MY LIFE

the fucking pink highlights on the cyberskeletons GAWD

OH SHIT sushio AND imaishi AND yoshinari??? on storyboard AND keys??? no wonder this ep was the best lookin LMAO (ep3 is the next best still)

is atom smasher like. a guy??? relevant??? who was that LMAO. felt very unearned imo

also david you had such potential but also ended up being rather flat LMAO. like immediately post timeskip i feel like he could’ve done what he did in this last ep and the reason it was stretched out so long was just to get to the point where his body broke (especially cause he really was just “special” there was no reason for it)

like idk ppl are all saying this episode “destroyed” them but the ending was predictable right from the start and david and lucy were not so compelling as to get me to invest in their relationship anyway so. HOW?????? bro i was just vibing and enjoying the pretty pictures lksdjflnkjfdb

HOWEVER IMAISHI IS THE FUNNIEST DIRECTOR ALIVE, THAT MAN REALLY SAID ONLY GAY PPL GET HAPPY ENDINGS SLKDJGNLFKDJGB

overall pros: GORGEOUS ANIMATION OFC NO SURPRISES THERE, COLORS, the lyrical music choices i found to be quite suitable

overall cons: the plot, like what was that about 🤨 also the characters relied SO HEAVILY on their designs and animation that they fell completely flat for me in the end on personality/development alone

OH ALSO i REALLY didn’t like the reliance on the HUDs which i assume are from the game. every time there’s text i can read on screen my eyes just default to reading it (which is why i struggle a lot w watching subs) and i zero in on that rather than watching the animation so.

tldr: not a complete waste of time like arcane, i do recommend for anyone looking for something pretty but don’t go in expecting trigger’s usual depth and heart of story and characters!!!! also i think video game companies should stay in their lanes LMAO. now everyone go watch promare (2019)

[imnevergonnagiveyouup]

( casually peering through binocular. ) " Wow!! Check out those Cloud Cakes! Gawd, I wanna look like that. " What do you mean it's weird to admire something like that? It's totally normal. Your head must be in the gutter. Grossness.

@jjillekkot

This assignment is crucial to his delivery. It isn’t common for him to pick up requests like these given the time they take up which is almost double the amount a delivery should take, but boy does it pay well. The cause is pretty black and white, some no good doers took what was not theirs, the original owners simply wish what’s taken from them back so cue Cloud along with an assistant to make up for time: Yuffie; who, all in good reason, wants a small break from the politics of her land. Cloud’s slowly been getting better with answering and responding to texts. Record? Sending a text after a day.

“Y’know how to sneak into places without a hitch so I’ll leave the sneakin’ to you. I’ll deal with the ones outside” he speaks of his master plan from behind the tree that conceals the tower of his figure at dusk. She might be growing older but admittedly he acknowledges she hasn’t lost that ghost touch at all, even with his sensitivity towards his surroundings he sometimes can’t sense her until she makes her presence obvious. A pro and con dependent on the situation at hand. “G’it Yuffie?” He waits and instead gets the chilly whistling of the night breeze following by nothing. “Yuff-?” The suffix of her name gets caught in his throat at the comments that come afterwards. Just what in Gaia is that girl doing? He looks over his shoulder at her, mako eyes dimly glow amidst the cloak of shadows veiling over them, stars glow dimly above every so often peeking through clouds to greet them in this already growing to-be eventful night.

He narrows his eyes, incredulous his expression with light specks of red dusting his cheeks. She’s taken it upon herself to get his binoculars that rest on Fenrir and use them against him per say. “Yuffie.” Her name drips off his mouth in a warning tone, only as he approaches her does the ridiculous nickname she gave his ass sinks in. Forget the fact that she’s checking him out what’s up with that name? Once before her does he snatch the device away from her. “Yuffie, listen..”

An introduction to the dialogue, he rests his arms on hers. “..I need you to focus. And if you call my ass cloud cakes again it’ll be the last thing you’ll ever say you got it?” 

“Who goes there!?” Cover blown, great.

Looks like it’s plan B from here on out: make lemonade out of this lemon stand.

[popwasabi]

My Top 10 Favorite Giant Monster Movies

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that I love so much about the giant monster movie genre.

Perhaps it was my early fascination with dinosaurs and big animals at the zoo, or simply the idea of smashing model buildings and miniature cities growing up but giant monster flicks have stood the test of time for me more so than most of my childhood fascinations.

It’s a genre that can be both deeply thematic and even at the same time joyfully cheesy in the best way. It’s like watching your action figures come to life on the big screen and your imagination taking a larger than life form.

(And of course can be really entertaining on a “So bad it’s good” level too.)

So it has truly pleased me as a longtime fan of this crazy genre that giant monster flicks appear to be making a comeback these past five years with beautifully rendered and fully realized Hollywood re-imagining’s and with the new “Pacific Rim” film set to come out today I felt it would be great to share with you some of my all-time favorite monster flicks and why you should all make time to watch them.

I haven’t seen every kaiju-sized monster film blockbuster (you won’t find any of the “Cloverfield” films on here) but I have watched most all of the major ones that have appeared. So without further ado here are my top 10 favorite giant monster movies of all-time.

  10. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla

There have been five total movies and three different costumes involving this particular nemesis of Godzilla but 2002’s “Godzilla against Mechagodzilla” is the best one of them all.

First of all, it’s the only version of Mechagodzilla that actually looks like the actual G-man himself (set to make an appearance in this month’s “Ready Player One” btw) and secondly there’s a fairly decent story going on in the middle of all of it.

It’s basically your typical soldier’s redemption arc but with a kaiju-sized plot point. Yumiko Shaku plays an ex pilot who’s run in with Godzilla during a mission costs the lives of her fellow service men some years ago and now she’s been recruited to pilot a great new weapon built on the bones of the original 1954 Godzilla (Godzilla timelines and realities are more all over the place than the X-Men franchise btw). Its dark at times but the cast plays well off each other and when the monster suit action goes down it’s a real blast to watch Godzilla and his mechanical doppelganger throw down.

Best Moment: 

When Mechagodzilla arrives in the final act to beat up on Godzilla he hilariously flies down from the sky and bumps him out of the way from fire-balling a children’s hospital in this hilariously dated visual shot. I can’t tell you how many times me and my friend rewound this scene to watch and laugh at it again and again as middle-schoolers back in the day.

 9. Kong: Skull Island

The first of the new era of kaiju films on this list, this movie gets more and more fun each time I watch it. It has very little resemblance to any of the previous American King Kong films and frankly is more in line with Toho’s recreation of the character in the 60s and 70s in the best way.

After the so-so reimagining of “Godzilla” in 2014 I wondered if Hollywood would understand why there were mixed reactions to that film. Giant monster films really only work on two ends of a very extreme spectrum. You can only do them super dark and serious with heavy handed metaphors and minimal approaches to revealing the monster OR you show the monster all the time in the most ridiculous, action-packed, over-the-top, cheesy fashion. “Godzilla 2014” tried to have it both ways, trying some metaphorical shit about Godzilla (that really never applied to him) while also having a Showa era style monster throwdown.

“Kong” doesn’t make this mistake, instead opting for the latter in one ridiculous monster fight sequence after another. The big ape goes full pro-wrestler in this film and layeths the smacketh down on these Skull Island monster’s candy ass’s and it’s a total blast.

(BAW GAWD!)

It also helps that unlike “Godzilla 2014,” while characters are fairly one-dimensional in this too, they are at least fun to watch and the script seems self-aware that they are in a big cheesy monster film between the bantering of the soldiers and John C. Reilly’s delightful WWII Dr. Bruhl routine.

“Kong” was one of the films that was quietly one of the best, in my opinion, in 2017 and I’m looking forward to the next Giant Monster shared universe film because of it.

Best Moment: 

When Kong starts flinging old boat propeller chains at the big Skull Crawler in the final act like fucking Kratos from “God of War.” It’s again such an awesomely, ridiculous sequence that harkens back to the cheesy films it pays homage to in the best way. Not to mention tearing the monster’s throat out was gnarly as hell too.

 8. Gamera: Attack of Legion

Godzilla is obviously the most popular kaiju to emerge from the Pacific Ocean to attack Japan but not enough fans worldwide pay tribute to the big flying, fire-breathing, turtle that often protects it, from Toho’s rival studio Daiei.

Gamera is probably my second favorite all-time kaiju and his films in the 90s were arguably better and definitely darker than the Godzilla films that came out during the Hesei era. The giant turtle had some truly violent confrontations, for kids movies, during this time and “Attack of Legion” almost gave me nightmares as a child.

If you like “Starship Troopers” or “Aliens” this is a good one to watch as Gamera takes on a hive of space-faring, plant-based(?) insects and the smalls ones rip apart the humans in often grisly fashion in this film.

The costumed fight sequences are a lot of fun to watch and Legion herself(?) is a really well designed monster that plays a worthy adversary for the Guardian of Earth.

Best Moment: 

When Gamera unleashes his big new weapon when his chest opens up and puts out a giant chest fireball powered from ancient energies from a far (I know right?). It kind of reminds me of Guyver’s own chest busting weapon in his manga series (ask your weeaboo friends) and it leaves behind an anime sized crater where Legion once stood. Few of the Godzilla films have a sequence as jaw-dropping as this one and even if it was a big cheesy monster flick it’s still quite a cinematic moment when it goes down.

 7. Gamera: Revenge of Iris

This one by far is probably the darkest of the Heisei era monster flicks.

There’s a small element of Cronenberg level horror in this film and some more grissly death scenes the Gamera franchise is known for in the 90s. At its core though it has a pretty decent thematic story about revenge and how it consumes us all, leading to in this case literal big consequences as a Japanese school girl name Ayana, who’s family was crushed accidentally by Gamera in the first film of this series (“Guardian of the Universe”) vows revenge by calling on an ancient evil beast to kill the big turtle.

The cinematography, even for a costumed monster flick is really solid in this film and even today has aged fairly well. The dark hues of Japan during a stormy night, the updated more vicious look of Gamera and the new enemy Iris all look the part in this big revenge-filled throwdown.

It’s the type of spectacle that makes these Gamera films stand apart from the rest of the costume monster genre as being one of the few that manages to be cheesy with giant rubber suit but also dark and thematic at the same time.

It’s still such a damn shame though we never got to see this giant turtle lock horns with the King of Monsters though =/.

Best Moment: 

When Gamera his own hand off, which was pinned to the Kyoto Bullet Train station by Iris’s claw, to save himself and Ayana, and goes full G Gundam shining finger on its ass. Yeah, it’s a pretty insane sequence but it’s so fucking cool when it happens!

 6. King Kong (1933)

If this was a list based purely on level of importance to the genre the original “King Kong” is easily number one on here. But we’re rating this purely on my own personal aesthetic taste because if we rated films only on their importance to filmmaking everyone would have “Birth of a Nation” and “The Jazz Singer” on their top 10 lists and I’m preeeety sure no one wants that (seriously look it up).

Anyways, “King Kong” despite being made almost 100 years ago now is the most important film in this genre by a mile and has a pretty awesome amount of giant monster action that holds up on the fun scale even after all this time. The stop motion animation used in this film was revolutionary for its time and still visually entertaining to watch between the man eating brontosaurs (yeah, I know) and Kong beating the shit out of other large beasts on the island all while just wanting to spend some quiet time with his special lady friend.

It’s one of the first major blockbusters too in Hollywood history, hugely influential on a host of a big-time directors and virtually all giant monster fans will tell you their first love was this movie.

I guess it’s only because I’m such a Godzilla/Tokusatsu fanboy “King Kong” isn’t higher on this list but regardless, this big great ape will always have a spot in my kaiju-shaped heart.

Hail to the King, baby.

Best Moment:  

After all this time it’s still Kong breaking the jaw of the tyrannosaur while saving Ann from being eaten. It’s a scene that has been recreated in other monster films multiple times but the original is still a classic moment.

 5. Godzilla: GMK

Short for “Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah” (which is funny because it completely leaves out Baragon from this title who is also in it), “GMK” is far and away the best of the Millennium era of the giant monster films and unsurprisingly the man behind the greatness of this kaiju flick also made the three bad ass Gamera films of the 90s: Shusuke Kaneko.

Kaneko, much like his Gamera films, mixes in the cheese of your typical rubber suit monster film with the darker tone his films of the past take on.

Generally speaking the closer the story of a Godzilla film relates to the original 1954 movie the stronger the story is and this one builds on the themes of the atomic bomb while also addressing a topic relevant to Japanese politics.

This has been ongoing for a while in Japanese society but for those who don’t already know Japan has no army. It has a defense force that is in many ways under the jurisdiction of the United States and the rest of the world. Japan pretty much lost its sovereignty to defend itself after WWII and this has not sat well with much of the country. Another film, that you’ll see soon on this list, also addresses this topic but the position Kaneko takes is that Japan has forgotten the horrible the sins it committed in the wake of WWII and must understand why it has lost its right to have an active military.

Godzilla works best when he’s a big walking metaphor for something terrible and in this way Godzilla assumes the visage of a vengeful God coming to punish Japan for those sins it committed during the war. In this film Godzilla is the accumulation of dead souls from the pacific campaign and Imperial occupation of Asia and it’s an appropriate way of reminding the Japanese audience of this film “Don’t you ever fucking forget what you did.”

Now, there’s a strong debate to be had about giving Japan back its military. Afterall, if the US can invade other countries and commit war crimes why the hell should we be able to tell Japan (an ally) they can’t either? BUT it’s still important that Japan understands why such a declaration was made in the first place and certainly promoting revisionist history of their time occupying Asia is NOT a good look and this film expresses that loudly.

Best Moment: 

A little Easter egg moment is honestly my favorite among all the giant monster action and heavy metaphors of the story. Basically the cast of characters are discussing other strange monster sized occurrences across the world and one of them remarks there was an attack in New York in 1998 and how the Americans think it was Godzilla. Then one of the characters more or less says “Nah that can’t be true” and it’s pretty amusing of course if you know what that’s referencing.

 4. Godzilla vs Destoryah

Other fanboys in the 90s had “The Death Superman” that rocked their childhoods and put them into a depressed stupor. Well, for me in my childhood it was “Godzilla vs Destoryah” aka “The one where Godzilla finally dies.”

I remember picking that VHS tape up from my local video rental shack as a kid with both giddy excitement and somber acceptance. First of all the name “Destoryah” as a kid that sounded totally bad ass and I couldn’t wait to see my favorite giant reptile throw down with him but knowing this would be his last film (for now) made me sad and depressed.

Set a truly beautiful and dark score by the original “Gojira” composer Akira Ifukube the thrills and destruction of Godzilla is fully realized in its rubber costume glory. I don’t think there was a better looking suit than this volcano inspired visage the G-man rocks here.

Destoryah himself is a really neat looking monster too. Part prehistoric crustacean and part demon from the underworld, this beast was real eye candy for me as a kid and paid homage to original film’s big plot device. The Oxygen Destroyer, which is the device that killed “Gojira” in the first film, is what mutates Precambrian era lifeforms into this beast that ultimately does battle with Godzilla and it’s a glorious throwdown.

There’s also a light homage to “Aliens” in this film too when the Japanese equivalent of SWAT gets whacked in a refinery by a bunch of smaller Destroyahs and it’s actually a pretty tension filled sequence.

But it was knowing that the film was the end of an era that made it so great, as the actors behind the characters seem to be self-aware of this being Godzilla’s final curtain call (again, for now). It’s like watching a liftetime achievement award in action almost as the kaiju mayhem is upped to 11 and Godzilla’s ultimate death is both cinematic and mesmerizing to watch all while Ifukube’s score plays softly in the background.

Best Moment: 

As the dust settles from Godzilla’s meltdown, we suddenly see a large silhouette in the smoke where Godzilla Jr’s body once lay, Destoryah had presumably killed him earlier but now a fully grown new Goji stands there triumphantly roaring into the night.

As a kid this made me tear up, not just because I was attached to Jr. and was glad he was ok but because it was like the film was saying to its fans “This isn’t good bye. We’ll be back.”

I had gone into watching this movie as a kid thinking this would be the last Godzilla film I would ever watch and it had made me sad but seeing the new Godzilla emerge from old one’s shadow made me hopeful I would see my favorite childhood, atomic breathing dinosaur once more.

And sure enough I did.

 3. Pacific Rim

This movie isn’t so much a film as it is a love letter to the Tokusatsu genre. If you grew up on giant monster flicks and mech anime this was the film that was made for you and the childlike joy Guillermo Del Toro directs this film with is just perfect.

No, the story isn’t particularly deep and neither are the characters as it has a bit of “Top Gun” mixed in with “Neon Genesis Evangelion” but the film is so colorful and fun that who gives a shit?

A giant mech, that looks like a football player, uses an elbow rocket to punch a gorilla shaped giant monster in the face and later uses an oil tanker like a baseball bat to club another one. It’s awesome!

What was truly great about the film though is that it feels like a cheesy monster flick from the 60s but simply with updated graphics. Unlike the failed 1998 “Godzilla” film these monsters don’t move around like fucking T-Rexes. They lumber, they throw fists with exaggerated motions, and heave themselves around without any sense of grace, just like dude’s in rubber suits do. It looks like how I would imagine those old monster flicks would look with better CGI.

And of course Charlie Day and Ron Pearlman are just delightful as Newt and Hannibal Chau as they are in everything they are a part of. The cast in general seems to have blast in this movie and it’s part of what makes the film so perfect.

Best Moment: 

Nearing the end of the battle in China, Raleigh and Mako are out of options as a winged kaiju flies them up into space to drop them down from up high but just as all hope seems lost Mako unlocks the last weapon on Gypsy Danger; A FUCKING SWORD! And just to put icing on the cake before slicing the kaiju in half, Mako delivers the most badass line of film triumphantly declaring in Japanese “For my Family!” I lost my damn mind in theaters when she dropped that line. Who cares if they didn’t use the damn sword earlier; that was fucking awesome!

 2. Shin Gojira

“Shin Gojira” is basically what I thought/wanted “Godzilla 2014” to be.

I felt it had been too long since we had a truly evil Godzilla film (GMK being one of the few outliers really in about 60 plus years of Godzilla films). The big guy had been a Face for too long and desperately needed to revert back to being a Heel and “Shin Gojira” takes the big guy back to his grim, dark, metaphorical roots.

Out of all the Godzilla films that have come out this one most closely resembles the tone and themes of the original, though with some differences in the messaging. This film takes the opposite side of “GMK” in that it’s all about the Japanese need for national sovereignty again. It’s openly critical of the US and of the Japanese government’s failure of bureaucracy. If anything, it’s almost a conservative film railing against the dangers of big government.

More than half the film is really just board room meetings within the Japanese government where that failure of politics really becomes heavy and sometimes even feels a bit like “Dr. Strangelove” with the dry, dark humor as the politicians fail again and again to address the problem.

I don’t believe either “Shin Gojira” or “GMK” make stronger points on Japanese politics but rather they both make good ones and this film illustrates well that Japan is in many ways defenseless toward attack without the rest of the world getting involved. In this way Godzilla becomes a big walking metaphor for any number of threats that could attack Japan, from North Korea to Russia and hell even an allegory for the US’s own meddling in this regard.

There’s a real sense of dread with each step Godzilla takes in this film, leaving a large path of destruction in his way. He plods slowly but you get the sense that despite this there is truly nothing Japan can or is even prepared to do and it adds to the somber reality of the story’s theme. There’s pretty obvious callbacks to the Fukushima disaster too as we see tidal waves wash over the cities and nuclear waste left behind by Godzilla and it adds to the film’s relevant messaging.

A lot of fans have mixed opinions on Godzilla’s, let’s say, crusty appearance but personally I liked it. There’s a nice horror element to this design as this particular Godzilla is made out millions of mutated creatures in the ocean coming together and his cold, dead, listless eyes are pure nightmare fuel. It’s in my opinion one of the best looks the big reptile has ever had and it especially works well to again add to this image of Godzilla as less a creature and more a demonic God coming to punish the non-believers.

Best Moment: 

When Godzilla unhinges his mandibles (Holy shit! What the fuck!?) and unloads a giant anime sized atomic blast upon Tokyo in honestly my favorite giant monster sequence of all-time.

Unlike “Godzilla 2014’s” big atomic blast sequence which plays more like cheap fan service, there’s a clear build-up to this moment in the film. Things had been steadily getting worse with each scene in this movie up until this point for the Japanese and the main characters are all on the ropes at this point as they just try to escape Godzilla’s wrath, giving in to defeat as they run for safety. Then Godzilla’s fins begin lighting up and it’s like “Oh shit what now?” for these characters and the entire sequence plays like the gates of the Rapture opening up. It’s terrifying and if you didn’t get to see this cinematic scene on the big screen while it was in select theaters, you truly missed out.

 1. Gojira

You didn’t actually think this list wouldn’t end with this at number one, right?

Yup, the original 1954 classic is my all-time favorite monster movie and while the genre is largely just fun, campy schlocke, “Gojira” even with its dated special affects is not that type of movie.

It’s somber, dark, depressing and was a hugely important film at the time for Japan. Up until this point there wasn’t a whole lot of post war or atomic bomb discussion or expression among the Japanese and it made it hard to cope with what happened. “Gojira” was the first time the people of Japan kind of got to confront what happened and it was both terrifying and cathartic for them.

“Gojira” though is a story that ultimately is about the failure of humanity. The film was created less than a year after an off shore atomic bomb test unintentionally killed Japanese Fishermen in the pacific causing another panic amongst the Japanese populace reminding them of what had happened just a decade before. Godzilla in this film becomes a metaphor for that failure to not learn from the mistake of creating such a terrible weapon. He becomes less a “force of nature” metaphor as King Kong is and more egregiously how the 2014 film made him out to be but rather again a vengeful God coming to punish the human race for their hubris and sins.

The creation of Godzilla in this story, an ancient subterranean dinosaur awakened and mutated by atomic bomb testing, harkens back to the themes of Mary Shelley’s classic “Frankenstein” and how we humans often meddle with forces beyond our understanding to the point of our own undoing. The film makes this point effectively with each step Godzilla takes as he levels Tokyo and the despair and dread of the characters and the citizens of Japan can be heavily felt on screen. It’s a darkly, beautiful film because of it and it’s kind of ironic when you think such a thematic and message driven story could give birth to such a cheesy and over the top genre of movies for decades to come.

Nonetheless “Gojira” stands alone as not just the King of Monsters but the King of all Monster Films.

Best Moment:

In the aftermath of Godzilla’s destruction we cut to the next day where the citizens pick up the fallen pieces of their city and its people. There’s hospitals full of the wounded and dead and shots of children with Geiger counters beeping all over them. This is really where the film really emphasizes the pure terrible destruction the atomic bomb and how we all are doomed to repeat this tragedy if we don’t learn to coexist better. As school children sing a “Prayer For Peace” over these images it’s truly hard not to get misty eyed during this sequence.

Anyways that’s my list, hope you enjoyed reading it! Let me know what your favorite giant monster film is in the comments! Cya at the Miracle Mile tonight when we cancel the Apocalypse again!

War ready, mother fuckers!

[hotarla]

My Thoughts: More “Quan Zhi Gao Shou” (”The King’s Avatar”)

Giving all ya’ll a heads up, this review includes spoilers from all current episodes released, all manwha chapters released and all current light novel chapters released. You have been warned! 

So the anime is literally speeding along at a breakneck pace and, to be honest, if it were not for my knowledge from reading the light novel, I would be totally lost! Episode 5 starts off with the captain and vice captain of Club Tyranny finding out about Frost Forest dungeon’s record being broken by Excellent Dynasty (which we later find out was probably set by at least three pro players from Club Excellent Era - remember, the guild in-game and the clubs are two different entities with different names; the big guilds in-game are merely being backed by their rl clubs), followed by the team match between Excellent Era and 301 (where Excellent Era loses, 7-3).

After a mild altercation irl with Ye Xiu and his former teammate Liu Hao (who is now vice captain of Club Excellent Era), we switch to the game, where Tyrannical Ambition’s 10th server guild leader, Cold Night, is waiting outside of the Frost Forest dungeon for Lord Grim (Ye Xiu), along with the one player from his own guild, an Elementalist called Crowd Lover. Unbeknownst to the others (and only hinted at to the audience), Crowd Lover is, in fact, the main guild leader of Tyrannical Ambition, brought over from the Heavenly Domain, Jiang You. 

Sneaky, sneaky, Jiang You is here to access the true skill level of Lord Grim ans Co. but he is genuinely surprised to see a bunch of “noobs” being brought in to help them set a record. 

As the members slowly arrive, we see Steamed Bun Invasion come sauntering in, just being his totally precious, adorable self. 

Suddenly, we see a surprise face approaching from the distance...

It’s Su Mucheng! She’s made a side account in the 10th server, Cleansing Mist, so that she can play and help Ye Xiu out! These two, Mucheng and Ye Xiu seem to have some kind of past together, given the fact that it was Mucheng who originally named Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim account (refer to ep. 1) and the way she looks at him...and his Thousand Chance Umbrella...

Now that all the members have arrived, it’s time to dungeon! I have to admit, Tang Rou’s Battle Mage, Soft Mist and Steamed Bun have some kickin’ battle moves!

Now, will they be able to beat the record? Guess we’ll find out in the next episode!

Now, to talk a bit about the manwha/manga. I’m finally caught up and, in recent chapters, I found several interesting things to discuss. In my previous post, I talked a bit about my current OTP, Changing Spring and Blue Bridge Spring Snow (Blue River in the 10th server). The chapters I read today further cements my OTP. 

I actually got a bit teary-eyed when I saw this, not even gonna lie. Aaaand I still think long-haired Blue River looks waaay better than the short-haired anime version.

Ahhh, I love the design! And, do you remember Sun Xiang? In the anime, he’s pretty good looking!

But, in the manwha, he started off as a delinquent-y, bad-ass kind of guy who later underwent an extreme makeover! The difference is astounding! From not-my-type to hottie!

Another art comparison: manwha vs anime versions of Samsara’s captain, Zhou Zekai, the “Great Gunner” Cloud Piercer. I was a bit more pleased about this one, didn’t really have any complaints between the two. 

I just hope that they don’t change his personality from how the light novel depicts him because gawd that would be disappointing!

Now, its time to truly get into the nitty gritty part of the light novel. Some of us would probably know that Ye Qiu’s real name is Ye Xiu. The reason for having two names...well I’ll let you guys figure THAT one out yourselves! All you need to know now is the fact that Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim was originally created by Su Mucheng (or, at the very least, the character was name by her). This can only mean one thing: given the fact that Lord Grim’s account was created on a first edition card, this would mean that Ye Xiu has known Mucheng for at least 10 years, as Glory was created 10 years ago. Also, thanks to some flashbacks, we see Ye Xiu playing games with a mysterious boy...

So now the question is: who created the Thousand Chance Umbrella? This weapon was already on the Lord Grim account when Ye Xiu first started using it. And, why did Mucheng look at Ye Xiu/Lord Grim with such happiness...tinged with sadness when she saw the Umbrella? Maybe this picture helps answer some questions?

A picture of Ye Xiu, Mucheng and a mysterious boy. Hmm is it just me or does he look a bit like Su Mucheng? Could this mystery boy be Mucheng’s brother and the boy who not only was the one who played with Ye Xiu when they were younger, but also the one who created the Thousand Chance Umbrella? And, in the teaser for the next chapter of the light novel, could the grave that Ye Xiu be visiting for Qingming also be him? Sighhh, guess we’ll find out soon enough!

P.S: character summary for Tang Rou’s Battle Mage, Soft Mist.

[marktuanlogy-blog]

RECAP OF GOT7 FANMEET 1/29/2017

RECAP OF GOT7 FANMEET/CONCERT Sorry I'm still a bit hyped and excuse my language OMG HOW DO I EVEN START ON THIS SMH. GOT7 WAS SO FREAKING PERFECT UP ON STAGE ;-; WE CHEERED AND SCREAMED FOR EVERY THING THEY SAID CUS WHY NOT ... RETURN MY SOUL, LIFE, AND VOICE NOW .-. i recorded the entire 2hour thing with one arm smh give me my arm back too got7 First of all, we went to go get our merch (poster, jacket, shirt, and light stick) and got to our seats and all... and then we were just waiting for GOT7. Mark's family came exactly 16 minutes before the fanmeet started and we all went wild for a good 3 minutes. So I just went crazy on my Snapchat story and uh spammed it :O THEN it was 7pm and HARD CARRY started playing and we all were just screaming got7 got7 got7 got7 got7 GOT7 CAME OUT LIKE WTFWTFWT I WAS NOT READY i screamed so much with this girl next to me haha she's a jackson bias <3 IT GOT LIT AF. So they sang Let Me I SWEAR THEIR VOCALS ARE BETTER IN REAL LIFE OMG MY EARS GOT BLESSED MARKS RAPPING WAS SO FREAKING PURIFYING OHHHHHHHHHH YOUNGJAES VOCAL BLESSED MY LIFE LIKE WTF MAN They were sitting in the chairs from left to right: Jackson, Jinyoung, Mark, Jaebum, Youngjae, Bambam, and then Yugyeom. THEN THEY SANG Prove It I SWEAR JAEBUMMIES VOICE IS SO SEXYYY AND CHICCCCC X1000000 I LOVE BAMBAMS RAPS IN THIS SONG IDK WHY I JUST DO OK. AND MARKS OMG THOSE DEEP VOICES ARE JUST SE(ductive)XY AF. (NEW FAVORITE SONG IN TURBULENCE) hey all did self introductions (ALL IN ENGRISH YUS IM SO PROUD) and all seemed pretty shy at first OMG HOW COULD U BE SO CUTEEEEE Bambam (ATTEMPTED TO) get us lit but then it got awkward af. Like he told us to say Got7 everytime he says Ay and the third time he didnt even realize we said GOT7 and he just kept looking at us like SMH BOI SMH. idk their host was annoying af BUT I MEAN HE WAS THE ONE THAT ENCOURAGED THE SEXY DANCE FROM THE MEMBERS SO NO COMPLAINTS THERE. Q&A started .... Jackson's Question: What's your ideal type? Yugyeom: Sexy cutie IGOT7 (I swear I heard someone from the back saying ILL BE SEXY AND CUTIE FOR YOU YUGYEOM) it was super cute when the host was like raise your hand if your a sexy cutie IGOT7 :3 WE ALL RAISED OUR HANDS haha and yugyeom was like "so many heh *nervous laugh*" Bambam: a girl who is cute, but when you get to know her, she's sexy. I'd like a girl with a sexy side. BOI U NEED A GIRL TO DAB WITH U EVERY MORNING. Youngjae: ummm.. ummmm...... OKAY YOU *points to girl* *breaks everyone else's hearts in the crowd* "BECAUSE YOU ARE AN AHGASE" *HYPES UP CROWD MORE SCREAMING* -everyone else starts saying IGOT7/Ahgases- *Bambam trying to calm us down lmao no it didn't work because Youngjae basically just told us he loves us all* Jaebum: I don't really have an ideal type... (he was nervous af) Host: So you like all AHGASES? Jaebum: yeahhhh.... Host: YEAHHHHH... * I THINK I ACCIDENTALLY STOPPED RECORDING HERE OOPS * MARK: (MINDY IS MY IDEAL TYPE) YOU... I love all AHGASES (boi) Jinyoung: I love IGOT7s <3 Jackson: I love everyone, I love you, I love IGOT7 (love me jackson) Next question: Can the members do a sexy dance? Jackson: Yugyeom Yugyeom you first <3 Yugyeom does sexy dance to Prove It (inappropriate content pm me for those details :3) i will never think of that song the same way again. nope nope nope yugyeomie yah. Mark turns around like no i aint seeing this shit again (even though ur hyung man) Jackson looks down at Yugyeom doing his uh-sexy dance- and is very proud of his work. After Yugyeom was done with the sexy dance Jaebum reached out his hand and took it back and made Yugyeom fall again (savageee) but yes, he did help him up afterwards Yugyeoms face was like why am i even living rn Question: What inspires you in writing a song? Jaebum's: Experience and imagination (DEEP) Host: OH AND JAEBUM READS A LOT (JAEBUMBUMBUMBUM) and watches lots of movies... what kind of movies? -Jaebum's face: wtf is he saying...- Jaebum gets translation: La la land (what is that...) -sings a song from that movie SEXY AF VOICE- Question: What do you like the most of the MV music? Youngjae: i like the small parts and the really strong beat and you can bounce around to the music Question: You (meaning Bambam) and Yugyeom.. can you dance to (???some lit af american music which i clearly dont know of since i got into kpop but it was lit i mean yehhhhh...) music Bambam: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASYYYYYYYYYYY *Insert note: YUGYEOM IS SUCH A CUTE BABY OMG I WANNA ADOPT HIM* Question: If you were an American artist who would you be? Yugyeom: *asks crowd* Yugyeom: Kendrick Lamar? someone from crowd: DONALD TRUMP DONALD TRUMP Bambam: oh? what are u guys saying *laughs* Bambam getting ready for a dab like its his routine DABDAB dabs* crowd goes wild* DABDAB IS VERY PROUD OF SELF* MOMMA JINYOUNG SHAKES HEAD* bambam ur ded. BOOM BOOM BOOM (BOOMX3) PLAYS* G7 TURN UP <33333333333 *me singing to the song but rly i probably pronounced everything WRONG BUT NO REGRETS) HIP THRUST DURING BOOM BOOM BOOM PART YUGYEOM AND BAMBAM CALM DOWNNNNNN When bambam sang "turn all the lights on" MARK LOOKED AT HIM AND NODDED AND WINKED WTF YO I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW GOOD THEIR VOICES ARE IT JUST SOUNDS SO GOOD LIKE UGHHHHHHHHHHAAAHHHHHH PARK JINYOUNG IS LIKE A FREAKING PRINCE IN THAT BLACK JACKET WITH SILVER LINING AND RED UNDERSHIRT OMG HE IS A TRUE PRINCE HIS PERM IS JUST HUKUHKHUHKUH then... JUST RIGHT PLAYS CROWD GOES CRAYCRAY AGAIN *MINDY'S NONSTOP SHAKING YO* THIS ENTIRE SONG IS SO WARMING I LOVE THE WORLD NOW lol thats funny. YOUNGJAE SWITCHING UP THOSE VOCALS MADE US DRUNK AF BAMBAM IS BEING EXTRA AF LET ME TELL U WITH THOSE LONG LEGS HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS READY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD (JACKSON). IN HIS RAPPING PART JACKSON WAS very inappropro lets make this less inappropro and just say he was like "SAY OHHHH YEAHHH.... SAY OHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH... SAY OHHHHHH YEAHHHHHH. SAY OHHHHHH YEAHHHHH." BAMBAM: "SAY OHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (voice cracks* smh boi) SAY OHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH (voice cracks again*) SAY OHHHHHHH YEAHHHHH (now imagine this in a deep deep voice) SAY OHHHHH YEAHHHHH (this was even deeper) ++++++++++++++++++++++++ GAMES ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Game #1: Guess the Song Game #2: Hacky Sack (each member from GOT7 plays with someone from the audience) Everyone chooses who they partner with MINDY WAS 2 NUMBERS AWAY FROM MARKS NUMBER SMH MARK MARK MARK IF YOU ONLY ADDED 2 TO THAT LAST DIGIT I WOULDVE GONE UP .-. you wouldve hugged meh <3 (that's for lataaa) mindy's heart breaks NO BUT I FEEL HAPPY FOR THOSE IGOT7 WHO WENT UP STAGE MAN NONE CRIED??? I WOULDVE FLIPPED HELL (sorry sab's natural habitat) GOT7'S COMPETITIVENESS IS CRAZY EVERY ONE WAS SCREAMING AND DYING AND KILLING EACHOTHER TO GET THE RIGHT ANSWER OMG But overall, Youngjae won the first round after guessing the most amount of songs correct <3 He even went on his knees for "Beggin' on My Knees" *lowkey feels like Jinyoung, Yugyeom, and Mark were pretty ignored... almost never got called on...* Game #2 begins and the people who were chosen gets up stage :D Every IGOT7 does their self introduction Yugyeom's partner: Amy, favorite GOT7 song is Fly Bambam's partner: Molly, 24 years old *PAUSE HERE FOR A SEC* Bambam: ohhh.... NOONA *continue* Bambam's partner: favorite GOT7 song is If You Do Youngjae's partner: Arianna Youngjae: Arianna, ah, yea, WOAWWWW Youngjae: How old are you? Arianna: Who's that Youngjae: I asked how old are you. Who I am? I'm Youngjae HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH Youngjae: What's your favorite song? Arianna: Who's That Youngjae: You don't like Home Run? Jaebum's partner: C(K?)at Jaebum: Cat? Oh wow oh oh uhhhhh okay What's your favorite song? Cat: Just Tonight Mark's partner: (mindy ;-; jk) Serena, favorite song is Fly Jinyoung's partner: Vivian, favorite song is Mayday Jackson: Sussy, from China, favorite GOT7 song is IDK because she doesn't understand engrish. and her favorite member is Jinyoung (BETRAYALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL) Jackson: Can you be more confident? *HUGS* (i need a man like jackson ;-;) JACKSON SAYS HIS PARTNER IS PRO AND WEARS HER COAT SO SHE CAN KICK THE THINGY JACKSON YOOOO GIRL WANNA TRADE (wait but mark) Scores for the second game: Youngjae team: 5 Jaebum team: *Jaebum trying to be calm but almost trips smh* 3 Bambam team: *STARTS MAKING SHIPS OF HIM AND HIS PARTNER* "Holly, Bambam... Hollybam.... Bamlly. Bamlly you go first" 4 Jinyoung team: *JINYOUNG IS SUPER GOOD AT THIS* 15 (Jinyoung made like 12 im so proud of this mother) MARK TEAM: (mark im so proud) gets 16 ---- PRAISES THE KICKY THINGY hugs the girl up in the air .... mindy is reminded that her last digit was only 2 numbers away sad face XD Yugyeom team: *hits his partner and she fake dies lol* 8 Jackson team: "She's pro" *CONFIDENT HES GONNA WIN* *TAKES OFF HER JACKET AND HOLDS IT FOR HER* *AFTER HIS PARTNER IS DONE PUTS JACKET BACK ON HER* 5 WINNER IS TEAM MARKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK the girl gets marks jacket LUCKYYYYYYYYY WE GOT TO SEE THE "SECRET" BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MAKING OF HARD CARRY'S MV THEY ARE SO SEXY IN THEM. THEY START PERFORMING FLY JB IS BACK TO HIS EXTRA SELF AND THIS TIME ALSO BRINGS IN YUGYEOM SMH. MARKS RAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP HOW CAN MY HEART TAKE THIS LOL NO I DIDNT I DIED. JINYOUNG'S VOICE IS SO SOFT WTF MANNN even mark screaming at the end was sexy af everything got7 does is sexy af SMIRK FACE INSERTED NEXT THEY PERFORMED IF YOU DO THEIR PERFORMANCES ARE SO GOOD I FEEL LIKE IM REPEATING SO MUCH BUT ITS RLY RLY AMAZING IM SO PROUD OF THEM GAWD GOT7 IS SO AMOOZHING GOT7 say their thank yous and YUGYEOM WIPES HIS SWEAT uughgghhghghg and its sexy af THEY SAID THEY WILL COME BACK JINYOUNG SAID THEY WILL COME BACK THIS YEAR. JINYOUNG SAYS KCON JINYOUNG SAYS SO. *MINDY STARTS SAVING NEW YEARS MONEY THEY START PERFORMING HARD CARRY HARD CARRY HEH WOH HARD CARRY HEH *no jackson did not lift up his shirt like i expected* Jaebum wraps HIMSELF IN A HOODIE AND IT LOOKS SO DARK BUT SO CUTEEEEEE THEN THEY PERFORMED HOME RUN ONE OF MY FAVS <3 JINYOUNG AND HIS SASS OMG JINYOUNGGGGGGGGG BAMBAM TAKES SOMEONES PHONE AND RECORDS HIMSELF BAMBAM KNOWS HOW TO KILL FANS. BEWARE OF THE BAMBAM.. SO DOES JINYOUNG. BEWARE OF BOTH JINYOUNG AND BAMBAM. THEY SAID THEIR GOODBYES AND LEFT </3 -------------------------------------- overall this fanmeeting was a very very very amazing experience and I got to see GOT7 in real life, not through the screen bUT IN REAL LIFE ive been crying since 11 smh i need help it's so surreal I can't even believe it's already over like. HUKKKK. Got7 is probably at Mark's house right now and Mark finally gets to reunite with his parents that he hasn't seen since summer. got7 is probably resting up for their next comeback

[jodyedgarus]

Can The Eagles Beat The Bears? Can Houston Stop Andrew Luck?

sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, assistant sports editor): The NFL’s 2018 regular season is finally in the books. Before the playoffs get rolling, let’s look back on an interesting Week 17 and preview next weekend’s wild-card round. We’ll end with giving our Super Bowl predictions again, just to keep us honest.

Salfino (Michael Salfino, contributor): I will have to revise my Saints-Steelers Super Bowl pick.

sara.ziegler: LOL

The AFC had all the drama yesterday, so let’s start with the Ravens/Steelers/Colts/Titans business.

neil (Neil Paine, senior sportswriter): I was very much hoping for that Colts-Titans tie. But alas.

sara.ziegler: If the NFL were scripted, we would have ended the regular season on a tie.

neil: Particularly this of all regular seasons.

Salfino: What’s interesting to me about the Ravens is that teams are not punishing Lamar Jackson for running.

joshua.hermsmeyer (Josh Hermsmeyer, NFL analyst): I’m unclear on why teams don’t force Jackson to beat them with his arm as well. It’s worked in the past against other highly mobile QBs, and there seems to be no great reason why it won’t work again.

neil: That’s part of what makes the Ravens so interesting, that their second-half playoff push basically coincided with the QB change and this rush-heavy identity that seems so different in a league that set new records for passing in 2018.

Salfino: Yes, the Ravens and the Chiefs are the offenses you really can’t prepare for in a week, IMO. I have no idea how a team can prepare for Jackson in one week. But LAC at least just faced him. Is that advantage Chargers? To me this is the most interesting game of the wild-card round.

sara.ziegler: The Ravens nearly let Sunday’s game slip away, though.

Salfino: The problem is that it’s so hard to stay disciplined and not chase him. Defenses are taught to be aggressive.

Jackson allows the offense to play 11 on 11, and all of defense is predicated on the defense playing 11 on 10.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Also strange is that we can make legit comps between Jackson and Josh Allen. Bill Belichick kept Allen in the pocket during Week 16 knowing the main danger he poses is from his legs. And New England won.

Salfino: Yes, the Patriots are just taught to be super disciplined so they can counter that probably better than most teams.

sara.ziegler: Did the Browns figure that out a little bit too against Jackson? The Ravens rushed for 8.5 yards per carry in the first half and just 4.5 in the second.

Salfino: Maybe as the game wore on, but by then the damage was done. The Browns were just getting gashed. The Ravens were running on 3rd-and-long and converting. It was like a college game — old-school college before the passing explosion.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Credit as well to the play-calling, I think. It’s a very creative scheme the Ravens are rolling out.

Salfino: Is the Ravens defense overrated? Where are the blue chip players? They are just coached so well. Wink Martindale should get interviews.

neil: And Jackson’s own speed is really something to behold. On that first TD Jackson scored, it looked like he was shot out of a cannon.

Salfino: Jackson also looked like he was playing at video game speed even on the shorter second TD run. He just darted into the end zone like everyone was standing still.

I think the Ravens offense is underrated and their defense is overrated.

sara.ziegler: In the other afternoon AFC game of note, the Steelers came out incredibly flat before rallying for the win, which wasn’t quite enough.

neil: Pittsburgh’s season will go down as one of the all-time collapses, I think?

Salfino: The Steelers have to be the most disappointing team in recent memory. They were top 10 in all the key defensive stats except interception percentage — which is fluky, but man that killed them. They have Ben Roethlisberger throwing for 5,000 yards, two All-Pro WRs, and the running game was fine. Yet they just blew one game after the other.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Antonio Brown has been inefficient this year, but he was missed.

Salfino: The Steelers were sixth in yards per play and sixth in yards allowed per play and didn’t make the playoffs. This is almost impossible. I thought it was impossible.

neil: After Week 11, we gave them a 97 percent chance of making the playoffs.

sara.ziegler: I was surprised all season that they were as high in Elo as they were.

Salfino: Being third in sack rate and 28th in interception rate defies conventional wisdom that pressure creates turnovers. Maybe PIT was super unlucky, too.

sara.ziegler: They reeled off six wins in a row, but they never looked dominant.

neil: Some of that was probably residual, Sara, from last year, when they had Le’Veon Bell, etc. But the narrative all first half was how they didn’t need Bell.

sara.ziegler: Yeah, and James Conner filled in well for them!

Salfino: Is MIN more disappointing than PIT? This is going to be a brutal offseason for Kirk Cousins. No player in memory is going to be under more pressure than he will be next year.

neil: This is a fraught question for Sara ….

sara.ziegler: I can’t even talk about it.

neil: Yep.

sara.ziegler: Well, Mike, we all know how well Cousins does with pressure.

neil:

Salfino: I really thought Cousins was a franchise QB. He did pretty well with just garbage offensive talent in 2017 in WAS, and this year he just never really could get it going. He played so tight.

neil: Sunday was sort of symbolic of the whole 2018 Vikings.

They controlled their destiny at home (granted against the Bears).

Cousins goes 4-for-11 for 2.1 yards per attempt and two sacks on third and fourth down.

Terrible overall performance.

Salfino: It seemed like Cousins averaged about a yard per attempt. If I were the coach of the Vikings, I’d tell him to take chances and not care about INTs. They’re overrated.

neil: The Minnesota defense was uncharacteristically bad on third down, too. Allowed 57 percent conversions after giving up only 28 percent all season before Sunday.

sara.ziegler:

Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen trying to get on the same page.

: FOX #CHIvsMINpic.twitter.com/7xNOzuqTyu

— ESPN (@espn) December 30, 2018

This will be the defining image of the season for me.

Salfino: Cousins showing Thielen how to run routes was both hilarious and sad.

joshua.hermsmeyer: One silver lining for the Vikings is that the situational football we typically use to judge Cousins as a disappointment is among the least predictive of future performance in all of football: throws under pressure, third-down conversions. Kirk deserves his share of the blame, but the entire offense looked out of sync yesterday and for a lot of the second half of the season.

sara.ziegler: Cousins has his redemption narrative all set for next season, LOL.

Salfino: The Eagles benefit from the Vikings’ struggles. I can’t believe that the Bears are only 6-point favorites.

neil: Particularly with Nick Foles not necessarily 100 percent.

sara.ziegler: The Eagles don’t even need Foles, Neil!

neil: Carson Wentz? Nick Foles? Nate Sudfeld? No problem.

sara.ziegler: Well … Wentz? Some problems.

Everyone else? Fine.

neil: Philly was always a backup QB’s dream city during the McNabb era. Some of that has carried over, I guess.

Salfino: Foles has got to be the most volatile QB in NFL history. We should quantify that. He’s below average for his career and is treated like a franchise QB based on about 16 games, if we include all of 2013.

neil: Yeah, the gap between his best 16 and worst 16 starts has to be one of the biggest ever.

Salfino: I can’t even imagine the Bears losing to the Eagles. They are just going to chew Philly up. The Eagles’ best playmaker is still 100-year-old Darren Sproles, who is amazing, but come on.

joshua.hermsmeyer: I can’t think of Foles without wincing that he lost $1 million because of four snaps.

This is just brutal.

sara.ziegler: Ooof.

Salfino: Foles is going to get $100 million in about three months, so I will not feel sorry for him.

joshua.hermsmeyer: hah

sara.ziegler: LOL

The one other meaningful game yesterday — aside from the games that cost coaches their jobs — was Colts-Titans. Anyone surprised that the Colts dominated that one?

neil: I mean, Blaine Gabbert was starting for Tennessee, Sara

sara.ziegler: Fair

Salfino: Titans-Colts is QB wins to me. Luck vs. Gabbert. Come on. Murder. She. Wrote.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Oh gawd not QB Winz

Salfino: YES!!!

Give me the better QB, and I’ll take my chances.

joshua.hermsmeyer: smh

Marlon Mack outrushed Derrick Henry, so why not RB winz?

Salfino: No RB winz because winning yards per carry gets you nothing in win probability.

Josh, you and I agree broadly but just quibble about how much credit quarterbacks get in the passing game.

joshua.hermsmeyer: This is true.

neil: Either way, it’s been great to see Andrew Luck bounce back from the injury and lost season to play well and lead a playoff push.

sara.ziegler: I’m still amazed by the Colts’ turnaround.

They were at 4 percent to make the playoffs on Oct. 15.

Salfino: Luck should be in the MVP conversation. I understand it’s Patrick Mahomes. But Luck has done a lot with a lot less than Mahomes. Luck does seemingly have great coaching now though. Frank Reich, who the Colts backed into, was the hire of the offseason. I think better than Matt Nagy even.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Luck truly played himself back into game shape. Early on, his throws were routinely Derek Carr short, and by the end of the season he was mostly back to the old Luck.

sara.ziegler: So let’s turn to this weekend’s games.

Colts-Texans and Seahawks-Cowboys on Saturday, Chargers-Ravens and Eagles-Bears on Sunday.

Which underdog has the best chance?

neil: Three of the 4 underdogs are +2.5 per Vegas.

Salfino: Colts-Texans is the game of the week to me in terms of having no idea who will win. The Texans are a strange team with great strengths (QB, pass rush) and crippling weaknesses (offensive line, pass coverage).

On paper, the Colts are a terrible matchup for the Texans because Luck led the league in lowest sack rate as he completely transformed his game to protect his health. So smart.

neil: Indy also also beat Houston in Houston less than a month ago.

Salfino: I am going to fade the Seahawks: 25th in yards allowed per play and 31st in sack rate allowed. That’s so bad. I can’t believe they even made the playoffs.

neil: Ironically, our Elo gives Seattle the best chance of any wild card weekend team.

Elo has a tendency to react strongly to recent hot streaks, for better or worse.

Seattle has won six of its past seven, including a win over Kansas City.

Salfino: If you have Russell Wilson, anything is possible. I will stipulate.

joshua.hermsmeyer: I like Seattle for my part. Turnovers are wildly unpredictable, and that drove their defensive Defense-adjusted Value Over Average for much of the season, but they are built to win close games like this one where both teams appear to want to “establish the run.”

Salfino: The football story of the week when it comes to the chess aspect of the game and coaching is whether the Chargers having experienced the Ravens offense can now shut it down. But they don’t really do much on defense except play that Seattle, straight-up style. So do they even have a bag of tricks?

sara.ziegler: Seems strange to me that the Ravens are favorites over the Chargers.

Baltimore is hot right now, but L.A. has been solid all season.

Salfino: Well, Baltimore has had the best home-field advantage in football when you factor in road vs. home record. So LAC are up against it.

neil: Never underestimate the extra value of home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs, too.

sara.ziegler: Yeah, that all makes sense.

I still like the Chargers. I’m being obstinate, LOL.

neil: Well, this is a little bit of a counter to the QB Winz debate from above. L.A. clearly has the better QB.

joshua.hermsmeyer: I like Philip Rivers and the Chargers as well. Particularly if the Chargers keep Jackson in the pocket.

Salfino: No Super Bowl team has won a road game since the 2012 season. But I’ll say that the most likely road winners this week in order are the Colts (they win), Chargers (I can see it but don’t think they adjust defensively), Seattle (Wilson gives them a chance) and Eagles (no chance unless Mitch Trubisky craps the bed).

sara.ziegler:

joshua.hermsmeyer: The Baltimore defense prevents completions, that’s their best skill. But Rivers has completed passes at 1.8 percent over expected this season.

Salfino: New England really gets tested if the Colts win. (They would have to play the winner of Baltimore-LAC.) If the Texans win, Houston is just made for an easy Patriots victory in the divisional round.

Little worried about how Rivers has looked of late. But probably just random variance. There’s not much data on QBs this old late in the season and into the postseason other than Brady.

sara.ziegler: I’m worried about how Rivers looks, too — at least in this Mina Kimes drawing:

tried to paint philip rivers this morning but I made him look like a beavis and butthead character

pic.twitter.com/TIglC9AyGs

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) December 29, 2018

joshua.hermsmeyer: loool

neil: That’s still accurate.

I loved that segment on NFL Countdown Sunday, where they talked about Rivers’ trash talk. Which somehow never includes swearing.

sara.ziegler: I’ve always really liked him. A perfect fantasy football QB.

Salfino: Philip Rivers is great. A Hall-of-Famer IMO. But unbelievably he has as many career playoff wins as Mark Sanchez. He needs more pelts on the wall.

sara.ziegler: Very fair.

Is anyone taking the Eagles over the Bears?

neil: I recuse myself.

LOL

sara.ziegler: Wait, we can’t make predictions about our favorite teams?

I’ve literally been picking the Vikings to lose all season.

neil: I gotta hand it to you, those were accurate predictions.

sara.ziegler: LOL

neil: As opposed to this one:

sara.ziegler:

Salfino: I think the Bears just crush the Eagles. This spread is all Foles-narrative-driven, and I don’t believe in fairy tales.

sara.ziegler: Wow, Mike.

LOL

neil: Anybody picking the Eagles probably does have visions of this being yet another Bears team that got into the playoffs on defense with a weak QB performance

And promptly lost. But that’s not really this team. Trubisky has been progressing.

(The defense is still amazing, of course)

joshua.hermsmeyer: You can dink and dunk on Chicago.

Salfino: Remember, Foles was LUCKY to beat the Falcons last year. He had a ball go off a Falcon’s knee, or they probably lose that game. Then he turned into Cinderella, and I have no idea how or why.

sara.ziegler: He did get to face the Vikings last year — that undoubtedly helped.

joshua.hermsmeyer: If Foles can be efficient and healthy, and the Eagles are patient, I can totally imagine a game where Biscuit implodes and the Eagles move on. I think the spread has some of that in it.

Salfino: I do not believe in the Eagles defense at all. But I also don’t like how Nagy hasn’t given Tarik Cohen consistently more touches than Jordan Howard. And the Bears are all banged up now at WR.

I agree with Josh on Trubisky, but the Bears and Nagy can’t put him in a position to lose that game. The Eagles have no playmakers. Dare them to score.

sara.ziegler: Yeah, it could be closer than it seems. Of course, if Foles can’t play, then the Eagles will REALLY need a fairy tale.

All right, let’s wrap this up with our Super Bowl predictions, so we can continue to look ridiculous when our picks all lose.

Salfino: I’m going Saints-Chiefs, but that’s predicated on the Colts beating the Texans and giving the Patriots a nightmare matchup in the divisional round. It’s so public to fade the Chiefs that I’m fading the public. Offense!

Mahomes wins MVP and Brees wins Super Bowl MVP. Seems fair.

neil: I’ve been saying New Orleans over K.C. for these past few chats, and that’s still possible, so I’m sticking with it. (Despite the defensive concerns!)

sara.ziegler: I took the Bears last time, and now having watched them flatten my own team, I probably need to keep them. Bears-Chiefs, Chiefs take it down.

joshua.hermsmeyer: Chiefs-Rams rematch, Chiefs win. Because that would be the best ending to the best offensive season in the NFL probably ever.

neil: What’s the score on that one, Josh? Is it the first Super Bowl whose score will be mistaken for an Arena Bowl?

joshua.hermsmeyer: 36-35 with the game decided on a 2-point conversion.

neil: Ooh, going low. I like it.

Check out our latest NFL predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/can-the-eagles-beat-the-bears-can-houston-stop-andrew-luck/

[junker-town]

Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2018: Schedule, tee times, TV/live stream info, and scores

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson tries to go back-to-back while Rory McIlroy makes his 2018 debut after three months completely off the golf grid. Let’s get weird and watch late night golf.

The European Tour is golf’s version of MACtion or FunBelt football. It’s often played at weird times, in weird locales, and sometimes not always with the most loaded roster of players. If you’re a golf diehard though, you’ve come to love this alt-golf option and the quirky opportunities the second biggest Tour in the world presents.

This week begins one on of the Euro Tour’s more important stretches on the schedule -- the annual Middle East swing to start the year. The heart of the MidEast swing is made up of two events in oil-rich spots that have quickly risen in prominence and become traditions on the Euro Tour. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is first up, followed by the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next week. The Qatar Masters has fallen in this set in prior years, but that has now been bumped back a month and paired with a new event in the Oman Open (Oman!).

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship does a strong job of attracting top players from all over the world. It annually gets a set of highly rated PGA Tour names to make the trip, dangling that sweet appearance fee cash. Those payoffs are forbidden on the PGA Tour but these events in the UAE have plenty of money to throw around and bring in some big names and the Euro Tour allows it. Tiger Woods has patronized both the Abu Dhabi event and the Dubai Desert Classic, where he showed up last year before withdrawing after one round and disappearing again for the entire season.

The 2018 Abu Dhabi HSBC has a strong mix of PGA Tour and Euro Tour stars. From the stateside circuit, they got world No. 1 Dustin Johnson to come over following his dominant win in Hawaii. Matt Kuchar and Bryson Dechambeau, the gawd, are also here. But it’s not as strong a haul as in previous years, which have included Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, and that Tiger guy.

On the Euro side, however, pretty much everyone has made the trip and the broadcast will have plenty of stars to feature. Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Tommy Pieters are just a few of the Euro Tour members, and prospective Ryder Cuppers, playing this week. Here’s why to watch this week as well as the nuts and bolts for one of the Euro Tour’s premier events.

Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Rory and a friend in Abu Dhabi.

Why Watch

1) Rory McIlroy. It’s the 2018 debut of Rory McIlroy, the centerpiece star of the European Tour and the most exciting player in the world to watch ... when he’s got it all working. Rory has been off the grid since the Dunhill Links the first week of October. After spending much of 2017 in some sort of pain or discomfort, Rory finally shut it down for good and went away to get right.

Now he’s back at his customary starting point in the Middle East. He says he’s rejuvenated and refocused — the usual kind of babble you get from athletes after an offseason. Except with Rory it seems real, simply because it has to be. He had to figure out his health and put in some serious short game work after a couple disappointing (in relative Rory terms) major-less seasons. He’s also changing the way he approaches his schedule, saying he may make as many as 30 starts this year. There are eight already officially on his schedule in Q1 before the Masters.

This is just a first look at Rory, so it doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme, but the anticipation has been naturally building. In our West Coast swing discussion, I wrote that we seem to start every recent season with “This is gonna be the Year of Rory” hype. It’s about to start again. Let’s see how he looks and watch him nuke drives off the tee after a few months out of the public eye.

2) Dustin Johnson. You try not to get too caught up in focusing on just a couple stars in a massive field of world-class pros. But Rory and DJ are reason alone to watch this thing. DJ is far and away the best player in the world right now. He’s also just different to watch, getting it done in a way that probably everyone else, save for Rory, can’t really approach. He’s got a chance to pile up the wins before Augusta and roll in there again as the heavy favorite.

Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

DJ brings his talents to an international audience this week.

DJ overwhelmed a field of last year’s PGA Tour winners to start 2018 with an 8-shot win in Maui. He hit what Brandel Chamblee, another gawd, called the greatest shot in the history of golf. That may be madness, but that is the kind of stuff that makes DJ worth watching on his own. Even if it is the middle of the night in January on a random Euro Tour event.

3) Desert primetime golf. This is not the Masters, but primetime and late night golf is still always a /would watch. Have your nightcap with it. Fall asleep to it. Wake up and rock your screaming baby in the middle of the night with it. The point is, it’s there and it’s rare and it’s a nice comfort to have.

How to Watch

I’m going to let you in on a lesser-known reality that only the closest golf-watchers have come to recognize. The Euro Tour production and broadcasts are so much better than the PGA Tour coverage we get in the States each week. There are fewer commercials, a lot less (or none) of those paid segments that interrupt the actual tournament to show you how Nick Faldo works out, and there are many many many more actual golf shots shown.

Golf Channel again has the Euro Tour coverage this year. As I noted in the open, this is fantastic alt-golf stuff. Here’s your schedule for the week in Abu Dhabi. It’s targeted around the tee times of Rory and DJ (ALL TIMES EST!)

Wednesday/Thursday 1st round coverage

Television:

10:30 p.m. Weds to 3:30 a.m. Thurs — Golf Channel

6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thurs — Golf Channel

Online streams:

10:30 p.m. Weds to 3:30 a.m. Thurs — Golf Channel simulcast stream

6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thurs — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Friday’s 2nd round coverage

Television:

3 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

3 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Saturday’s third round coverage

Television:

3:30 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

3:30 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Sunday’s final round coverage

Television:

3:30 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

3:30 to 8 a.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Tee Times

Abu Dhabi is nine hours ahead of the eastern United States. The Euro Tour gets them going just after 7 a.m. local, which translates to a Wednesday night start for the American audience. The big hitters are out early on Thursday. Here are some of your marquee groups (All Times ET!):

10:30 p.m. Weds — Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar

10:40 p.m. Weds — Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood

11 p.m. Weds — Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bryson DeChambeau, Graeme McDowell

2:45 a..m. Thurs — Thomas Pieters, Ross Fisher, Robert Karlsson

2:55 a.m. Thurs — Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Tyrrell Hatton

3:05 a.m. Thurs — Ian Poulter, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thomas Bjorn

3:15 a.m. Thurs — Martin Kaymer, Branden Grace, Bernd Wiesberger

3:25 a.m. Thurs — Ernie Els, Haotong Li, Alex Levy

There are some good players on the Euro circuit -- the diehards will probably recognize at least one name in every group. The casual watchers will definitely not know more than a handful, and maybe even just a handful from the smaller set of marquee groups listed above. But there’s talent all over the tee sheet. Here’s your full tee sheet for the opening round.

Scores

We’ll keep this post updated each day with scores as the tournament progresses in Abu Dhabi.