#terribly sorry this is a RF blog now

[rainbow-nijisaki]

Runey Factor 5'd some studies!

[jordanianprincesses]

Hello Dear! I enjoy your blog and I like the conversations that happen around here because other fan pages are a lil insane LOL so I’ll add my two cents:

The first point is: Rajwa is not a child, she is a woman nearing her 30s, she knew what she was getting into when marrying Hussein: The paparazzi photos are going to be a part of her life. HOWEVER, this in no-way means the cray comments by Hussein’s fan girlies are okay but I also think Rajwa stans need to stop infantilizing her… ANY woman marrying into royalty is smart, loves attention to an extent and must have a somewhat ambitious personality. Also, some people need to get over it, is not an arranged marriage.

My other point is: Jordan has a massive “honor killing” problem, which of course and sadly, mostly affects women. Adding this terrible issue to the mix, really helps to understand why people was so upset with Rajwa for wearing a bikini and why the Jordanian Royal PR team is trying to scrap those photos: Jordan is a conservative country and most likely, Rajwa will be the Queen. Probably a controversial thought: I believe Hussein miscalculated how popular his wife has made him and thought it was okay for them to relax in bathing suits. In short: If they don’t want certain photos or info out, they will have to be smarter or more discreet. This isn’t the XIX century, where royals could get away with anything and expect zero criticism. Neither of them stop being HRH just because they are on holidays and those holidays are most-likely funded by their citizens. One last thing: We can’t expect Fan Pages to protect Hussein and Rajwa by not publishing X or Y, they are not on the RHC payroll and owe no secrecy to them. We shouldn’t harass the admins that published he photos, after all, we all enjoy a bit of gossip… don’t be liars 😏 Thanks for reading and I hope to know your and your followers opinion! 🫶🏼👯‍♀️

Hellooo, sorry for being late and welcome here 💗

I think it's not about being smart , am pretty sure all of the other female members of the RF dress that way yet their privacy was highly protected by their team ! I was SO surprised we got to see these pics of H&R though. Maybe as you said, Rajwa brought much more attention to the Family and that's true! But I mainly suspect it's a political attack and theses pics were taken and leaked by Abdullah's opponents ! Because, Jordan is indeed a very conservative country, and it's a culture shock for its people to see their princess wearing that way! I think TRF is gonna be very veryyyy cautious and wary from now on. Am sooo very sorry about the honor killing though that's so sad 😔

About the fan pages : For sure we fans DO enjoy seeing private pics and all haha ... and there are fan accounts who are just publishing those pics without any bad intentions ( btw some are ) Yet , can you imagine the harm that'll be caused to Rajwa? People will HATE her more, some of them already do ! Is it necessary to add fuel to the fire just for the sake of GOSSIP?

She's dressing according to her OWN convictions and limits. I think ( as a Muslim) that no one has any right to judge her or to speak ill of her. We're not God to judge her!

Thanks for coooming ! This was my opinion and I'll publish my followers opinions on your ask as well, if there are any !

[knownlesbianalexandracabot]

i literally tagged this post as t/e/r/f/s don’t interact and yet....

[thinkpurpledrank]

Drank’s 2018 Dodgers Preview!!

Plenty more of this, please.... and by ‘this’, I mean more pictures of Chris Taylor getting his shirt ripped off in both sexual and nonsexual ways

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Guys, I apologize for being off the grid. I had an injury that put me out of typing condition for the latter part of the postseason and well past Christmas. Then, by that point, apathy had certainly settled in, for baseball reasons. After all, it was just another offseason following what last was a Dodger loss.

Except, this offseason was even worse, than usual. Literally nothing seemingly happened, which only prolonged my angst of that last Dodger loss. I mean, just give me SOME reason to not just expect some World Series-losing team, Fraudman!! ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR WINS IS NOT ENOUGH1!!!!!! NOT EVEN CLOSE YOU PERSONALLY OWE ME A WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!

Breathe

Yeah, it would have been nice to get Giancarlo Stanton, or Shohei Otani, or Yu Darvish. They better come through in some way with Bryce Harper, though. Or personally deliver Drank that World Series ring in 2018... a ring that they personally owe... me.

But I get it. It made things lame for quite a while, I’d say. And I guess there are plenty of players available for upgrades, and trades will be made. At least Matt Kemp is back!!!!

It’s admittedly getting difficult for me to accept the fact that he’s going to be leaving soon.

Anyhoo, your 2018 Dodgers Preview by Purple Drank! Enjoy it, because apparently my yearly quota for this blog is about 3 times per year.

Starting Pitching

I will admit that I went into November almost.... almost off of the Clayton Kershaw bandwagon. I thought his Game 5 performance was inexcusable, and it made Drank incredibly sad. Well, some short time later, all these incredibly adorable cute pictures started popping up on the Twitter feed, and how could you be mad?!?

Wait, what? How did that picture of Corey Seager get in there? Weird.

Anyway, I decided that I could never be THAT mad at Kershaw... well, not to the extent that you all were mad at Yu Darvish, anyway. But I forgive Kershaw. I just want that dinger problem from last year to go away.

Are you worried about the rest of the rotation? Because, you shouldn’t! Why not, you ask?

Pretty intimidating pair, right? It kind of has that 19th Century feel going on, and Alex Wood is afraid that all the oxen are going to scramble away.

But really, you should be a little bit concerned about the rotation, particularly with its depth. Kenta Maeda will start, and figures to be a really underrated performer, given that his elbow will hold up again. You know about Rich Hill and Alex Wood’s concerns, by now. You know that Hyun-Jin Ryu is a relative weak link, but he should be solid as he continues to get healthy in this extended-break rotation.

But the man I am most excited to see in 2018 is Walker Buehler. The “Tim Lincecum (when he was good and not terrible)” comparisons are probably the one ‘new’ thing that will get me excited for 2018. I know he was not good in September, but I have learned not to judge a player of immense talent after 4 weeks. I am expecting Buehler to take charge. The movie references are going to get very tiresome.

I do expect the Dodgers to make a trade here, or use some of that extra precious salary cap space to sign a very cheap arm. You know the Dodgers are going to go 10-deep in the rotation this year.

The Bullpen

If there is any lesson that I have come to learn with this front office, it is that they really know what they are doing with relief pitchers. The Dodgers mine for gold in the NRI and waiver wire like every team does, but they pick out golf-sized diamonds with relative success.

This year, the first contestant is Tom Koehler, who just sounds like he played for the Marlins and the Blue Jays. Well, apparently, that spin rate plays up with his velo, and that’s more than enough to convince me that this guy is going to wind up with a 7-year, $149 million contract as a long reliever next year.

The second contestant really does not qualify as a contestant, because the Dodgers actually gave up fairly significant value to get him. His name is Scott Alexander, and don’t you worry, because his story is wayyyy more interesting than you would think for somebody named “Scott Alexander.”

I have read so much about Scott Alexander’s sinker and all the comparisons to Zach Britton that I think he is honestly just Zach Britton. Well, Alexander is Zach Britton-lite, which I choose to accept as like Zach Britton, but will actually pitch in a playoff game.

We better hope that one of these two guys wind up being that underrated relief pitching story sensation this year, because otherwise it’s going to be Pedro Baez.

The Offense

Against RHP: Taylor (CF), Seager (SS), Turner (3B), Bellinger (1B), Puig (RF), Grandal (C), Forsythe (2B), Pederson (LF)

Against LHP: Taylor (CF), Turner (3B), Seager (SS), Bellinger (1B), Kiké (LF), Puig (RF), Barnes (C), Forsythe (2B)

Sorry Matt Kemp, fans. I just do not see an avenue for Matt Kemp to be a regular play... not over Kiké at least (check the numbers against LHP).

But he will make the roster, and he will start a few games in LF. No team is making a play for Matt Kemp when 48 other free agent outfielders exist, but remember that this is the same team a year ago who let Franklin Gutierrez play LF against LHP every day. But just the shots of Matt Kemp in Camelback Ranch again... it’s pretty glorious.

The offense is pretty much as is last year. You might expect Taylor to regress, but I could argue for Forsythe to bounce back the other way. You could argue that Bellinger will regress, but Seager should certainly play better offensively than he did last year. Whatever the case, the offense figures to still be very, very good.

Ugh, you see why this is so boring? I mean, it’s exciting in that it’s going to be good. But it’s the same! But it will be good! I say this as a spoiled fan. Everybody loves each other, nobody is chewing off other people’s ears, there’s no story about Zack Greinke throwing luggage into the street, there’s no drama.

Thanks a lot, front office!

Prediction

You all know that as a Purple Drank, I do not think like humans typically do. I go by a savvy blend of emotion and analytical facts, and my ego is so damn big that I will never ever be proven wrong on the internet. With that said, the Dodgers are virtually the same team as last year, with maybe some regression here or there. The division will be as competitive as it was last year, but here’s hoping that the regular season winds up being just as fun as last year. Seriously, last year was utterly nuts.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (96-66)

2. Arizona Diamondbacks (90-72)

3. San Francisco Giants (85-77)

4. Colorado Rockies (82-80)

5. San Diego Padres (68-94)

[tracey1302]

So it’s been a while... it’s taken a while...

As I begin to write this, I wonder if there’s anyone there to hear it.

Those who watched and loved Homeland as I did will know that there are a substantial number of people who have a) left the fandom b) chosen to bask in the glory of Season Four or c) are still in mourning over the loss of Peter Quinn and don’t quite know where that leaves them when it comes to Homeland.

I am somewhere between a) and c).

As many of you know, I was in China on a work trip when it happened. I can’t even remember whether it was the morning or the evening, but I remember going on WTH forums, sleepily scrolling through my phone and coming across a preview summary that read ‘Girls, Quinn dies about halfway through the episode.’ I felt a rock in my stomach, squinted at my phone, a nervous laugh stuck on a sob.

It was well over an hour before I sifted through enough posts on the forum to know that it wasn’t a joke.They had actually done it. They had actually killed off Peter Quinn. There was no hashtag PrayforQuinn. There was no ambiguity this time. There was no Carrie poised over his body. There was no mysterious ‘light’. There was just nothing.

There were some stunning interviews with RF, in which he, much like his hordes of distraught fans, tried to come to terms with what the fuck had just happened to his character, and more importantly, why it had happened.

I thought that these last few months would allow me some time to get closure on Season Six of Homeland. They haven’t. I remain utterly devastated that in one episode (which I will admit, I still haven’t even been able to watch) Alex Gansa and his motley crew have killed both my favourite character and my deep love for a show that was once intelligent, emotional, relevant, poignant and beautiful. Emphasis on the once.

Killing off Peter Quinn doesn’t make sense for three reasons for me.

1) It doesn’t make sense for Peter Quinn.

Throughout every season of Homeland, Quinn has endured more pain and suffering than perhaps any other character. Yet he has a heart of gold. More importantly, he spent the best part of his Homeland narrative head over heels in love with the female protagonist. It consumed him. It practically defined him. Most of his actions and his position in the plot centred around his relationship with Carrie. 

Due to the regular laws of story telling, we were under the impression that because he has a heart of gold, his suffering would be, to a certain extent, paid off. We thought that he would get some kind of closure, or happiness, or an end to his suffering. He deserved it more than any other character on the show.

When they ‘killed’ off his character at the end of Season Five, and then brought him back, I wasn’t in the slightest bit worried about Quinn surviving the Season Six finale. That’s why I basically laughed when news of his death filtered through. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t understand it. Why would the writers bring back a character, give him no emotional pay off, literally go nowhere with his story apart from pose more questions, and then kill him again? 

Why did I laugh? Because it’s laughably bad writing.

Peter Quinn’s character went nowhere this season.There was no emotional pay off. Instead, he lost one of the women he cared very deeply about, we uncovered sexual abuse in his past (which wasn’t explored either - I mean... what?). Yes, he died in service of his country, blah blah blah, but sorry after five seasons of investment in this character who was so much more than just a patriot, that’s not enough. It’s just not. 

That’s not to mention that Quinn really hated his job, and the work that they did for a great deal of his story on Homeland. He struggled against his own morality, with his feelings for Carrie, with his duty to Saul and to the agency, and through his loyalty and deep history with Dar. This makes his death even less satisfying than it would have been anyway.

I didn’t want him to die. But I definitely didn’t want him to die not getting any of the emotional closure that he deserved. He deserved to know that Carrie loved him. Even though her own work for the agency left her too emotionally stunted to actually say she loved him.

2) It didn’t make sense for Carrie Mathison

Maybe they did it because they didn’t want a romance. Maybe it was because they wanted to be ‘edgy’. Maybe they got well and truly caught up in Jon Snow syndrome but wanted to go the whole hog. But in my opinion, by killing off Quinn, they’ve also made Carrie’s future story exceptionally uninteresting. 

I’m not one of those people that needs a female protagonist to have a love interest. I was really quite happy that Buffy didn’t end up with anyone, for example. But in building and progressing Carrie’s story in Homeland, and particularly in her direction this season, her character was tied up in her complicated relationship with Quinn.

The romantic undertones to their relationship were always there, particularly from Quinn’s side, and we eventually got them from Carrie at the end of Season Four, and when Quinn was on death’s door at the end of Season Five. These romantic undertones were confirmed by the writers.

So, we go into Season Six, where Quinn is a lot (if not all) of the reason behind Carrie being where she is and doing what she’s doing. She is being rejected by him, time and time again, but she keeps going back, she stays with him. She is there for him, when he has no-one.

You saved me. Why? We never got an explicit answer to this question. We can guess. The ‘why’ scene is still so damned emotional and is the only scene in the whole season where these two actually communicate properly and barely anything is said.

Carrie’s relationship with Quinn, is as she describes, intense, and she values it very highly. She can’t lose him. Why? Because, as I’ve mentioned so many times before, Quinn is the only person that loves her unconditionally. He was the only person, and I stand by this, with whom she could have found happiness. He challenged her when she needed to be challenged, he comforted her when she needed comfort, he saved her when she needed saving.

‘There is no one who understands and accepts Carrie for exactly who she is, other than Quinn.’  Thank you, Meredith.

How can they possibly hope to continue Carrie’s character, Carrie’s journey through Homeland, without that person? The ultimate conclusion to Homeland should have been Carrie realising the value in that person (which she did) and telling him that she loved him (which she did), because recognising this was a massive part of her journey.

This makes Carrie’s story, from now on, very very unsatisfying. I’m just not interested in what she does anymore. Her character arc makes no sense. It has no possible end that I would be happy with.

3) It makes no sense for Homeland, as a whole.

They built this story, both the romance between Carrie and Quinn, and their separate character journeys. They’ve ended the romance, they’ve ended Quinn’s journey (and Carrie’s for me, as well) in the most unsatisfying way possible.

The first few episodes really showed a beautiful build up of the C/Q relationship. Quinn coming to terms with his disabilities, Carrie coming to terms with how she felt about him, and how she felt about him being in her house, with her daughter.

They did this, for no reason.

They built up this beautiful relationship between Quinn and Frannie... for no reason.

We’re getting to the stage where, as many have said, we are thinking that there is going to be some sort of love declaration, or sex. Or something. Something had to give.....

As we know, there were rewrites half way through Season Six. It shows. The whole direction of the show changes. 

Instead of including more intimate scenes between C/Q, we get distance, rejection and uncomfortable confrontations, mixed in with a few random hugs, and a truly stoic reaction from Carrie to Quinn’s eventual death. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t follow. It doesn’t work. 

They sacrificed the story they have crafted on the altar of political relevance. It’s bad writing and it’s going to be terrible for the show going forward. You can stomach a different plot or a different vibe for a show if they keep the character drama going. It worked for the first half of the season, it didn’t work for the second half of the season.  

I think Alex Gansa is going to be shocked to see that his show isn’t going to work without Rupert Friend. Rupert proved himself a sensational actor in Season Six.... he is Emmy worthy... without a doubt... and they sack him off the show? Yes, of course, that makes sense. Not.

Carrie has no one of her age, and on her level that she can interact with. Anyone else they put in the show will be a devastatingly poor Quinn substitute. Carrie, Saul and Dar can’t hold this show on their own. Again, not saying Carrie needs a love interest, but if she did have one, everyone would be looking at them and thinking, ‘You’re a poor man’s Quinn.’

Sorry this wasn’t as clear and eloquent as my usual posts, I didn’t plan it like I usually do these blog posts. I’m not quite sure if this will be my last post. Maybe it will be, maybe it won’t. But I had to try and get it off my chest, and hopefully let go, and move on.

But truth be told, even though it has felt good to talk about it, I still can’t understand it.

This was quite simply the worst writing decision I have ever seen on a television show. It was abrupt, it was senseless, and it was downright stupid.