#the 'human and dog solve crimes' aspect is usually pretty good

[alicepao13]

I'm going to write a long ass thing about the Hudson and Rex show through the seasons, inspired by the rewatch posts that I've been seeing. It's not a review, though. It's just how I saw it from my point of view. Also, I reserve the right to make "The Great Hudson and Rex Rewatch of [insert year]" tag if and when I rewatch it and review episodes individually then.

So, if anyone followed this blog circa early 2020 (pre pandemic), I'd probably made a "Oh my god there is a new Rex adaptation and this time it's in English!" post. I don't remember it, but I know I'd told quite a few people online and off when I had found out. Also, so lame that I found out when they were already in S2 but anyway.

Right off the bat, I realized that the people making Hudson and Rex had not quite understood the assignment. The premise of the show and the cases were never meant to be light and fluffy like the dog. Instead, the dog was supposed to be the counterweight, the uplifting part. Most cases were supposed to be grimy and dark. Creepy. With bad guys that would make your skin crawl. Instead, Hudson and Rex mostly had bad guys that were pretty tame, aside from a few notable exceptions. And they put a guy on the helm of this show that was previously scripting kid shows, I mean, that's enough to tell me they weren't meaning to get deep into it.

It's also why for me the show got way better after S2 (when they changed showrunners). Which was, let's face it, ginormous and never ending (not having any info on when it was supposed to end also had made it seem that way from my part, as literally no tv scheduler of mine had that info back then). To be fair, another reason was because I wasn't invested at the time, and I wasn't invested because I'd seen how light the show was and how unwilling everyone involved was to go a bit deeper into it (from the writers to the producers to the cast). And I think I initially noticed a few signs that that was changing in S3, which allowed me to get more invested into it. [Note: I still maintain that the last few episodes aside from the finale of S2 were pretty good, but they aired at a point where I was already wondering where the hell the season ended.]

Onward to season 3. For a season that had been produced in a difficult period of time under difficult circumstances, with Covid and the crime shows being accused of copaganda, a few, let's say, unusual choices were made. Still, that season was better and way more interesting than the other two. And not as long, which helped. Again, the premise of the show was never supposed to be 20 episodes per season, it is very taxing on the cast, on the dog, and to everyone who has to perform and do their best in a shorter amount of time. So, S3 had 16 episodes, and it fared better. There were stakes, they played a bit more with the romance between Charlie and Sarah, things were moving. Somewhat.

Kudos to them for electing not to put Covid in their world. I'm not necessarily against that but I didn't need it to be inserted into every show I was watching. Also, kudos to them for Charlie's new house, it's really nice (although I will repeat that I'm not sure how exactly he could afford it).

And then we get to season 4, and boy oh boy, have I ever misjudged a season so much. I mean, if it hadn't been so poorly executed, I'd have said that it was all my fault for being impatient. Do you ever see how things will turn out early on, guess all the major plot points that would happen, and then say to yourself, "No, that's not it, because there's no way they'd do such and such and such to make that happen, it's so stupid"? This is what happened here. And I'm not sure what had frustrated me more back then, that I had thought I'd been wrong about where S4 was headed or that the more we were hitting the plot points that I had anticipated would happen, the more disjointed the story was becoming. Like an orchestra that was playing a known score out of tune the entire time. I'm not sure whether I'd choose the word dissonance or discordance for it, but if we were to isolate the moments, they were actually good. The angst was good. The pining, very good. But as a whole, it didn't always make sense and that was frustrating, as it made it hard to guess everyone's intentions and motive behind their actions.

A lot of my issues had to do with how they were writing Sarah's character as well in that season because as an audience, I should know whether she had actually truly tried to move on from her crush on Charlie or she was dating because she didn't think her feelings were reciprocated and Michael was just... there. That would have made a difference. But I suspect that it was very intentional to not give anything away, though that doesn't mean I have to like it or more importantly that it was executed in a sensible way. Charlie's spiral into what in other shows would have endangered his career (not here, though, no, sir) was great and I would have liked to have seen way more of that, and more of his friends worrying about him, and more of him pulling away from everyone and having that acknowledged. I'd have liked to see him more upset too. More importantly, I'd have liked to see a real reason for his character regression other than "the girl I like doesn't like me back :'( " like for example, the dozens of times he had been in a traumatizing situation. That, combined with what he assumed was unrequited feelings, would have made a perfect cocktail of explosive emotions.

To be honest, I don't understand why the perception of the fandom to this day is the same as it was when we were going through the episodes of S4 because post season clarity offers a different perspective entirely. It's understandable to be upset when you watch it unfold in real time. That's what the rewatches are for, to see the season as a whole. Yes, a few decisions on the script were hare-brained [I still don't understand how Sarah went from "I forgive you Michael for lying to me about important stuff and we're good and making headway in our relationship" to "I don't know where this is going" in two episodes, and the only logical (non-episode shuffling) explanation is that she was just waiting for Charlie to express his feelings, whom in her place I'd have punched and refuse to call a friend anymore if he had waited to find the courage, or more like the audacity, to express his feelings just as he thought he was losing the woman he wanted to another man when said woman was free a few months ago]. But to me, the emotions the episodes elicited regarding their relationship were always more like "oh these damn fools don't see what's right in front of them" and not "I want to stop watching this bullshit right now". It is actually very similar to Castle's S4, although the execution on Castle did not make me want to cuss Andrew Marlowe. With Peter Mitchell, well, I can't say the same thing.

Anyway, as we can probably safely assume right now, a lot of their relationship and whether it would progress or not had been hanging on a wire. The actual cliffhanger and some of the interviews pretty much confirm that theory. And I assume that probably influenced the execution too. So, I'm giving it a bit of slack.

Going on to S5, we flat-lined and I'll explain that. I'd have liked to be able to say that it was better than S4 but it wasn't. It wasn't worse either but it was really bland at times. And it gave me the impression that they were given more episodes than they could handle. I'll say it again, this show should never have 20 episodes ever again, it puts a big strain on everyone.

What was good about S5 was that it gave characters other than Charlie and Rex, mainly Joe and Jesse, a few more moments to shine. It also had one of the best season finales of the show so far. No, I don't need a character in danger of dying every time to call it a good finale, but I do need the season finale to be intense and high stakes. Which did not happen in S2, S3, and damn, I don't even know which one to call season finale in S1. Imagine that.

They wasted two perfectly good episodes for me by making up an entire set of new characters for a two-parter that I could have sworn was serving as backdoor pilot, but wasn't. I still don't know what that was. Again, the only logical explanation was that they were given episodes (and money) that they didn't know how to put to good use. Those were two pretty good episodes that could be a part of most crime shows, but they were not Hudson and Rex episodes. Not if we consider the premise of this show. Everyone was separated, Charlie was off doing his own thing (I won't get into availability issues, as a production it is most embarrassing to not be able to find a viable schedule for your main lead and I refuse to cut any production slack for that), and Rex was literally thrown to the wolves.

The most bland part for me in S5 was the middle. The pace of the episodes really struggled there. And then suddenly it moved in what I saw as an accelerated pace, the two-parter and the last four episodes seemed like they had come out of a different show or different season, if you were to look at the mellow pace of the season up to that point.

Again, I must note the lack of transferability of emotions, consequences, experiences, etc., from one season to the next. However, I must also say that they made a bit more of an effort to bring back people, characters, and storylines in S5 to remind us of past seasons, even though they mainly stuck to the small things.

For me, it was a big mistake to make Charlie be the perfect guy again after S4. He had been struggling, and no one can convince me that behaviors such as what he had exhibited before were only because he was feeling rejected and was "cured" like magic in the next season. And it shouldn't be that way, he has gone through some serious stuff, which the show is trying to downplay all the time.

Also, the cop's "white whale" case is a pretty common trope. It should be decided by the writers before the scripting of S1. Otherwise, we have them not reacting appropriately to the dozens of similar cases that they come across until the writers decide what the cop's white whale case is supposed to be. Taking a couple of seasons to write it is usual. Deciding that in S5? I've personally never seen it happen and I've been watching crime shows for more than two decades now. Retconning is a huge favorite with the writers of this show.

Charlie and Sarah's relationship development was a big feature in S5, and it was mostly good stuff. I didn't like that they didn't have one fight but their stability was also nice. And when I say one fight, I dislike manufactured drama that comes out of nowhere but there are so many significant reasons, especially when they keep getting in danger, to have a fight. Now that I'm thinking about it, the tagline of S5 should be "stability".

Jesse growing up and going for detective was something I wasn't expecting, and you can also see the progress of that storyline somewhat in S5, and Joe coming to terms with the fact that Jesse can do this. He was pretty much the last one that needed to be convinced of this, the way I see it.

I'm refraining from making comments about S6 since we've only watched 6 episodes. I want to see where that ends up. The only comment I'll make regarding that is that I don't think the production company cares much about anything other than Charlie and Rex, it's basically up to individual writers and the showrunner to write anything else, and, regardless of how fans perceive S4, we should be glad to have had someone like Peter Mitchell at the helm of the show, who made any kind of meaningful change between Charlie and Sarah, because it doesn't seem like anybody else was willing to put their ass on the line for those two.

All in all, this is a show that it seems to me like from the start, not a lot of people believed in it, despite evidence that people in the other side of the world had once loved it (and since it already had another adaptation, I'd have called it a safe bet). It's certainly in a better place now than it was when it had its first season, it terms of production, performance, and creativity, and I think that sometimes we forget that because we've watched like 90 episodes. No, it doesn't always meet my expectations but maybe I also shouldn't compare it to the dozens of shows I've watched which certainly have a bigger budget than this one, which don't depend on dog tricks to get people's attention (I don't say this to make fun of the show, dog tricks is what they do, it's like half of the show). But I also cannot refrain from criticizing mistakes that could have easily been avoided, had they made a little more effort.

[lilmajorshawty]

The 4th Wall 📰

Aries in the 4th house cusp:

Boxing ring

Everything on an instinctual level is felt with much force. There is a level of heat and passion boiling in the inner cauldron of your heart and no matter how watery your chart or how reserved you present yourself, deep down you are a force to be reckoned with and struggle with avoiding some sort of confrontation or even instigating it in some fashion especially with loved ones or when in a place you perceive as “home.” You can be demanding but also Independent. You want your love unions to be passionate and authentic but can lack a level of diplomacy and co-tactics when it comes down to actually working with your partner. Sex and some sort of drive are deep emotional needs for you and at your core you’re very much so confident and self aware of who you are.

Taurus in the 4th house cusp:

Camp fire

Often quiet and obstinate you carry yourself with a inner level of stability and calm. You hate loud and obnoxious energy no matter how much of a fun and outgoing soul you may be. To you reliability and security are FIRST and FOREMOST in life, anything lacking isn’t worth your true emotional involvement. Often you adore the mundane and more sensual aspects of life, be it waking up in the early morning to the smell of breakfast or the soft touches of your dogs wet nose on your cheeks. Intimacy as well as depth matter a great deal to you and no matter how detached of a chart you may have a part of you( a very big part of you) will always crave some sort of authentic and genuine level of closeness and touch. More than most touch starvation can be hard for you and you often need intimate contact both platonic and romantic in some way. Romantically you’re extremely patient and loyal to whom you choose to stay with. Often you value solitude with your lover and can grow very possessive over them once you let your guard down. Deep down you’re tremendously stable and mature.

Gemini in the 4th house cusp:

See-Saw

There’s always this scattered nature to you, as if your mind is nine places at once only stopping to jump to a 10th sphere of fascination. Deep down life is a come and go experience for you and you likely grew up in a communicative upbringing for better or worse, wether it was communicating with your probation officer, wether it was with your parents who valued more detached intimacy, whether it might’ve been learning to survive on your own through means of “communication” you often learned to talk as a means to cope and express. You need a level of mental connectivity in your life and often anything lacking that can push you away greatly. For you it’s about the spark, the ease of communicating with someone on and on without feeling or questioning in your mind wether or not you should laugh or not. At a deep level your anxious and ungrounded and can feel a bit intimidated by the more committed aspects of life. To you a lack of restraint or responsibility even if your mercury sits in the 10th can make you feel at ease. You tend to be very active when at home and for a lover they may feel a bit overwhelmed by your vast mental energy. You often need a best friend in a lover before you let them in emotionally and usually you get very attached to someone who you feel as though you can speak with easily without much strain.

Cancer in the 4th house cusp:

The dinner Table

In some ways you are private, in others you’re warm and welcoming depending on the way the wind blows. You like a level of mystery when it comes to your personal life but can also struggle with being to smothering to others due to your deep need to protect and care for others. At your core you’re a mother. Man or female the divine feminine energy runs deeply within you. Your mom has a great impact on your life and you often take after her in the looks department and in the tendencies department. Your mothers chart has a lot of you in it as well. You can be very moody and often try to hide this part of yourself as you yourself don’t always know how to handle these emotions. Family and sympathy a strong values for you and you’re often attracted to people who are strong but gentle hearted. Romantically you’re so sweet and put everything on the line for the lover albeit you hide them like no bodies business due to your intensely private nature. Deep down you’re as emotional as any crab but also with a level of compassion that many can only admire.

Leo In the 4th house cusp:

The carnival

Often a level of playfulness and childishness characterizes who you really are. You love to enjoy yourself and often find a means of stimulation no matter what the circumstance. You think of yourself quite a bit(which isn’t a bad thing) but it makes it pretty hard to roommate with you of course 😂. You often have a very diva-like persona and a very high sense of your worth in this World. For you the most important thing is feeling as though your interactions and your life choices are always a reflection of your true desires and self. It’s honestly not in your nature to pretend and it can be hard to be around a superficial lot. You put your heart and soul into all you do, which at times can cause you to feel slighted when the same level of enthusiasm is not returned at least one trillion fold. No matter how earthy your chart you have a level of flamboyance and impulsivity that is engrained deep in your heart. You can lack the ability to see past your own pains and woes at times which makes it hard for you to sympathize with others but In that regard you have a huge heart and tend to do anything and everything for those you love! Even if you might complain about it at a later date! Romantically you’re a simple one to please! You just crave a high level of devotion and to be the center of your lovers world and anything lacking in that intensity is not for you.

Virgo in the 4th house cusp:

The Ironing board

You’re a bit more on the soft and passive side deep down. Most people may be a bit taken a back by your reserved nature especially if your have a more fiery chart or even surprised by your lack of emotional readability even if you have a watery chart. You tend to be brutally analytical of your emotions and can be a

Very intense crier because of how much of what you feel that is ignored or pushed away as being childish or unnecessary as deemed by your own mind. In truth you’re very sensitive and have a tremendous soft side for everyone in the world no matter how detached you may seem to those who get to know you better. You make light of tragedies in your life and tend to deal with your trauma by dry humor or even just laughing it off. You don’t like to linger on sadness and aren’t one to speak on your own woes in life so people who are constantly preaching about their angst tend to make you uncomfortable. In a way you view emotions as a weakness so you tend to withhold a great deal of your emotions. A level of depth and mystery surrounds you and your family and you may come from a family that shares a pattern of addiction or OCD in some way. Cleanliness and perfection are themes you live by and you might unfairly hold yourself to unrealistically high standards. Despite high standards you’ve programmed yourself to meet you’re often limitless in your potential and capability and have likely already reached these outrageously high standards you’ve set for yourself which is often why no matter how welcoming and sweet you may be there is always a level of intimidation and awe people feel when in your presence even without knowing you, people already know you’re someone to respect. Romantically you hold back really opening up for quite some time. You need to know they can handle your pain, your rage, your hurt and sadness before you truly open up to them otherwise it’s a waste to you. Animals tend to adore you albeit dogs especially, all animals look to you as if you’re their mother and may act infantile or clingy when in your presence, children as well.

Libra in the 4th house cusp:

The Salon

There’s a huge difference between your sociability and actually “knowing” you. Most people may struggle to have a actual bond with you because of how neatly and politely you keep them at a distance. The deep part of you loves to keep things surface level out of a deep seated fear of “needing” others. You prefer to be alone as opposed to approaching things with a “partner in crime” mentality. Libra here doesn’t incline you as a person who’s highly co-dependent. On the contrary this placement can make someone highly intent on maintaining a level of objectivity and a lack of bias in their dealings with others. At your core you believe in respect and at a deep level you adore and value the opinions of others and freedom is speech! You often have strong beliefs and values spiritually and politically even if in a sense you prefer to keep you mouth shut on more controversial issues. To outsiders you have the perfect family, the easy life, the perfect smile, the easiest of lovers to be with. The reality of these statements is that you suffer internally from being “seen” as what surrounds you rather than what you “are” romantically you prefer a down to earth lover who has a strong desire to build and nurture your bond with one another-always digging to decode who you are and vice versa, for you love is like a puzzle you earnestly seek to solve.

Scorpio on the 4th house cusp:

Crime scene

Deep down at your core you carry a heavy weight, one that shrouds the sun and tenses the seas. You have a highly attuned 7th sense and see the world for its good, bad and ugly. A level of real-ness exist for you when it comes to the world as a whole as you tend to dance with the darkest sides of humanity more than the most. Scorpio here sadly can manifest as very malefic and dark childhood experience for most especially if Pluto is afflicted but once more this is not a common theme. Their is a certain level of darkness to you and those who may meet you may be a bit unnerved or immersed by how poetic and profound you intimate nature really is. You love to play with fire and find that investigation, crime, psychology, layers all of these things excite you more so because it invites a level of authenticity to the human experience-a min-ute moment in time to truly connect and immerse into the emotional sanctum of others without the mask and farces many is wear everyday. You might have a mental block or complex surrounding sex that creates a level of intensity and restriction to the act for you. Romantically you want someone for all they are, their weaknesses, their faults, their ups and downs and want the same in return. It’s hard for you to let go of lovers and if they fall in your 8th house this is doubled. You usually struggle with opening up which causes you problems in the more lighthearted stages of romances but as you get deeper into it and with a more patient partner you’re well worth the wait.

Sagittarius on the 4th house cusp:

The airport

Something is inviting to you about the world, you envy the seemingly untethered nature of the world around you. You’re easily distracted by life itself, and have an inner gravitation to the many philosophies of the world religious or not. You can’t help but want to learn and study and see everything and anything you can. You hate stagnate situations and even more so people who are to heavily materialistic. Having this ic offsets a lot of even the most earthiest people as it creates an inner almost soulful need to be completely and soulful disconnected from everything that is tied down to the world of the physical. At your heart you’re so fill of life-endlessly and wholeheartedly! Your home life was often full of its fair share of ups and downs but you always managed to find the shining light above it all. Your family may have been big or just very protective and loving. Often one of the parents was absent minded but a very soulful person. Unlike a sag moon most with this position have a profound level of intimacy imbedded in them, they live for those close moments because Sagittarius expands their inner need for nurture. Romantically they’re babies and enjoy a good cuisine and good love.

Capricorn on the 4th house cusp:

Wallstreet journal

A stark coldness exist on the outset with you but it’s mainly because your home life was one raised with seriousness and intensity. One or both of the parents where very frugal and often made sure to instill a fear of mediocrity in the child. Because of this as a person you’re very mature, the world weighs heavily on your shoulders but as you’ve aged that burden as gotten much lighter. These natives hold a huge reserve of loyalty and tenacity in their heart as they’re often the ones to work tirelessly on a dead cause only to revive it beyond what it even was before it had given out. These natives are not firm believes in handouts earthly or spiritual in nature unless they have a highly attuned 9th house. Often these natives struggle with battling moments of depression or emotional exhaustion that many wouldn’t even be able to tell especially if they have a more optimistic personality on the surface. They take commitment and bonds very seriously, very scarcely extending out that hand for continued intimacy. They often have a cold but long lasting bond with their family albeit one that is lacking in its warmth(which is not always the case) romantically these natives want someone who is willing to live life in a way they cannot, with freedom. They strongly crave someone who understands the seriousness of this world but who still finds a way to look beyond the mechanism of society, to take them down highway 49 in the dead of night and blast chancla in the car singing along without a care in the world.

Aquarius on the 4th house cusp:

The space ship

You’re often someone who views the world in a wide lens, a glass always half filled. To you the world is meant to be questioned, never taken as is. You enjoy the more detached and mental aspects of your surroundings especially at home and can be a bit harder to read once you’re in a place you feel comfy. You aren’t the type heavily tied to your roots which shows in your rather impersonal dealings with family(not any less lacking in warmth mind you :)) you tend to adore a close knit buddy system when it comes to intimacy and family life but due to this lack a practical and grounded tug towards home. In many ways you’re a drifter or a nomad constantly shifting from scene to scene never truly feeling like home is any one place. Your mind moves like clock work and you’re genius can really show when you’re in a place of comfort. Mentally you’re unlike any other and have a bountiful love for humanity and those feelings created and fostered through such interactions. Unlike Aquarius moods you’re not the type to alienate you’re emotions rather you’re more apt to keep your emotional issues away from home and much rather handle you’re emotions albeit rationally, fairly head on. Romantically it’s the brains not the brawns that entice you. A lover who is a bit of a casual rider in life whilst keeping a genuine lust to explore and transverse the human psyche as you do is the one for you.

Pisces on the 4th house cusp:

The lake

The winds are constantly sweeping you across your feet. In some ways you’re soft hearted, constantly putting yourself in everyone’s shoes but on the other hand you maintain a good distance from letting anyone really see what’s going on. You tend to play with the dark here and there which gives you a more mysterious, uncharted type of energy. In many ways you’re irroestiable but also fragile and innocent. Your heart is vast and full of many strings all leading to different repressed and often glossed over childhood upbringing. In most cases these are people who hold on to figments and pieces of memories altering them in a way that shadows and past hurt in their lives. They adore nature and the more simplistic or rather subtle parts of the world. Most times they are reclusive and hidden always preferring to be the forgotten soul who just so happened to pass right by you without a sound. Men and women here tend to have a rather up/down relationship with their family or parents be it to obsessive, to unpredictable, to unstable, to manipulative, to ambiguous, to close, to detached and so on. Most cases the family is extremely tight knit and close but may lack a actually fundamental stability that holds most things together because of Neptune. Most natives with this tend to attract animals who were once humans in their past life or whom have a highly keen spiritual awareness making pets a more trying experience for these natives due to the strong personalities. You tend to have a deep set emotionally connected spiritual side and can pick up small and even minuscule changes in vibrations or feelings in the air. Energy is your 2nd language and you find it incredibly hard especially in the young years to follow your intuition. On a deep level you’re spiritually powerful and have an ability to understand and heal many of the burdens people carry heavy on their heart. Romantically you need someone who can dance with you in the spirit world. Most of these natives end up with rather powerful people mainly because they need someone who can match their inner level of emotional intensity.

[galarian-varian]

(For the get-to-know-my-character post) the main team (plus Jack and Alex) - 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 20, 23, 27, 28, 43, and 49

holy stuuuuff brooooo thank you ;3;

this is a long one, bare with me XD

6.  Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying?

Ricky collects stuffed animals/plushies, which kinda weirds Selena out….a lot :3…Jazz’s hobby includes swooning over Mac, which he absolutely hates and constantly tells her to stop XDSelena has an obsessive need to correct people, even if it means cutting them off when they’re talking. Ricky’s polite and lets her do so, but he’s kinda hurt each time she cuts him off, but he doesn’t have he heart to tell her to kindly knock it off :’3Mac’s pretty normal and doesn’t have any hobbies that would bother Jazz (she loves everything he does…except she wishes he’d warm up to her faster already)Jack actually is completely repulsive to Hex, so she hates everything about hiiim. Jack having grown up in demon world had to eat a lot of gross things to survive like bugs and dirt, which sometimes he reverts back to in the human world if he’s desperate. Daphne is kinda grossed out by this and feels bad for the bugs…Alex…doesn’t have a lover…but she can be rather irritating. Trent sees her as competition, so he wants to break her oh-so annoying pride. Ricky’s not a fan of how she’s so outwardly aggressive and constantly tries to control his life, but again, he’s too sweet to say anything to her. Jazz is not as annoyed as Ricky about that stuff, but she does notice it and just hopes it’ll help Ricky in the long run. Selena and Mac don’t really interact with Alex, but they’d both probably be annoyed with her forwardness and bluntness. 

8.  What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

Ricky’s faith in his friends. He’s pretty oblivious to it because he’s too trusting.Jazz’s big mouth. She can be aware of it sometimes, but not often ;;Selena’s is that she wants to solve everyone’s problems, which means getting all up in their business. She’s not aware of it at all until Jazz and Mac start to yell at her for it.Mac’s is probably his temper and the fact he worries too much about what others think about him. That’s what got him in trouble in the first place with Hex, and it causes a lot of conflict with the team :’3 He’s slowly becoming aware of itJack’s is probably his narrow-mindedness.He’s so absorbed in his own goals it consumes him, and he puts waaaay too much faith in Hex. He has nooo clue.Alex’s is her overconfidence definitely, but she’s not aware of it at all.

9.  Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday?

Ricky loves all the seasons and all the holidays. He doesn’t want any day or season to feel unwanted (yes, even you, Arbor Day!)Jazz loves warmth, so she’s a summer babe, and her favorite holiday is her birthday Fourth of JulySelena’s favorite season is either spring or fall. She likes transitions, but not extremes. Her favorite holiday is probably ThanksgivingMac’s favorite season would also be fall, and I wanna say his favorite holiday is New YearsJack’s favorite season would be winter (more dark = more demon power), and his favorite holiday is HalloweenAlex loves spring and summer, but her favorite holiday is Winter Solstice

11.  What is something that would make your character fly into a rage?

Ricky’s is gonna be on another ask~Jazz can be set off very easily. She doesn’t like being corrected, or when someone points out her size, or if she doesn’t get to eat.Selena’s a bit temperamental and can get set off by a number of things. Some include her own beliefs being challenged, racial topics, anti-feminism stuff, and anything Jazz has to say about herMac is set off by pretty much anything :3c Mostly Hex, magic, anything involving both of those things, and being referred to as a “monster”.Jack is just a ticking time bomb of anger. He has a lot of rage towards the Logans for multiple reasons, so usually anything having to do with them can set him off in a heartbeat. He also hates being reminded he’s “half human”Alex is another character that isn’t quiet about her rage XD Trent is a biiig instigator of her anger. She’s usually set off by him because he pushes her buttons and challengers her a lot.

12.  Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up?

Ricky likes to whistle, so that might be something he wouldn’t wan to give up. He’s not very talented in other stuff ;;Jazz couldn’t give up flying. She loves that too much, and she would be very upset if she had to like actually walk to get to places :PSelena’s is gonna be in another ask too~Mac couldn’t give up archery or violin. Both mean too much to him and he’s a sentimental jerkJack can’t give up his demon abilities. He’s lived with them his whole life, so taking those away from him would probably do a lot of damage on his body, and he could end up being pretty sickly without them. Also, flying is cool. Why would anyone give that power up?Alex can’t give up monster hunting. She’s good at it, and she’s trained her whole life to do it. It would be a shame if….she…lost an arm and….couldn’t hunt anymore…. 

13.  What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor?  Sleep talker or walker?

Ricky can just curl up in a little ball and sleep anywhere, but he’s a light sleeperJazz is the wooorst bed hog. Despite being a tiny thing, she WILL take up an entire human-sized bed and kick anyone else off. She’s a super heavy sleeper, a blanket stealer, a sleep talker, and sometimes a sleep walker/flyerSelena’s a heavy sleeper, but won’t sleep through an alarm clock. She tosses and turns a lot, and quite possibly would roll off the bed. Selena also talks in her sleep, but it’s in Spanish most of the time. Ricky will still stay up and listen to what she has to say and has a conversation with her.Mac is a light sleeper too who will try really hard to steal blankets back. If anyone is sleeping with him, he will make sure that they are as faaar away from him as possible. There will be no snuggling with this chimera (even if someone wanted to, he might stab them with his horns oops)Jack’s sleeping habits are similar to Ricky’s. He can curl up and sleep anywhere too, and he’s a light sleeper. He needs to sleep in complete darkness tho. He WILL steal blankets, and he will push others out of the bed.Alex is a light sleeper, blanket stealer, and kicks others out of bed~

20.  Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures?

Ricky is a friend to all, be it bird or fish or tiny mole! 8DJazz does noooot like other animals, especially anything bigger than she is. Dragons are her favorite~Selena’s not a big animal person, but she can warm up to friendlier ones (so long as they’re not crazy shedders). She thinks sloths and mules are really cuteMac isn’t really an animal person either, and he especially doesn’t like mythological creatures (sorry Jazz). He hates snakes and horses, but he likes dogsJack is noooot an animal person either, but he likes the idea of a pet, someone who is subservient to him and will obey him. He would probably own a cat and then realize the cat has him trained instead. He likes the ideas of mythological creatures, but he doesn’t like the idea of things out there that are stronger than him.Alex is an animal lover, and of course she’s a big fan of dragons. She also loves big cats especially lions and panthers. If she had a pet though, she would have a snake and not just a little one, I’m taking like a full out python

23.  What is your character like when it comes to school? What subjects are they good/bad at? Do they get in trouble a lot or are well behaved?

Ricky sucks at everything except lunch, but he’s a good kid. He only gets in trouble for his grades or with bulliesJazz is the same as Ricky, but she’s also good at her Monster Skills class. She’s a trouble maker though and often gets herself in trouble at school for picking fights with students (that normally start the fight by picking on her or Ricky)Selena is good at history, english, and art to an extent. She’s not very good at math or science, and she’s well behaved other than the instances she first had access to her abilities and accidentally injured a studentMac was an average student who excelled in physical ed, music, math, and languages other than english. He was terrible at history and english, and he was a trouble maker, most of the time it was because of his friend ChessJack hasn’t had any schooling, but he would probably be good at vocab…everything else he wouldn’t care about (he just wants to know all the synonyms for words like ‘murder’ and ‘maim’). He’d get in trouble…a lot…Alex is an ideal student. She was top at all her classes, but her favorite were phys ed hunter classes and science. She wasn’t the best at math, and she was very well behaved

27.  If your character was going to get arrested, what would be the most likely reason for it?

Ricky would be arrested for a crime against fashiooooonJazz would be arrested for theftSelena- traffic related crimeMac’s is on a different ask~Jack for murderAlex- aggravated assault 

28.  If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for?

Ricky is already famous for being the worst hunter everrrJazz too is already famous for being the tiniest dragon ever :’3Selena would be famous for writing some kind of big feminist book or somethingMac for archery I would think. He wanted to be in the Olympics when he was younger :’3Jack would be infamous for murderAlex is already famous for being the best hunter in her class xD

43.  Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self?

Ricky’s super outgoing with his dad and friends, but he’s completely submissive around his mom, sister, and teachers. When it’s just him by himself though, he’s completely quiet and reclusive Jazz is snappy pretty much all the time especially to people outside her family/the LogansSelena’s the same around everyone pretty much, but she’s definitely more polite to adultsMac’s a completely different person to his mother. He’s sweet and a huge mama’s boy. When he was around Chess, that was when his uglier colors showed. He was self-centered and a huge snot-nosed punk. After the situation with Hex, he just became a big angry furball to everything and everyone (until he warms up to the squad c: ). He’s a softy on the inside tho~Jack is the same to everyone except to Zephia who he looked up to, and to Hex, who he thinks he’s in love with.Alex is suuuper aggressive towards Ricky, but she’s a rather decent person to everyone else.

49.  What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood?

Ricky’s fear is of disappointing his mom and failing his final hunting exam, so he’s constantly worrying about that. He tries not to let it show and continues to smile despite them being so frequentJazz has a fear of being replaced/forgotten, so she’ll often have nightmares of Ricky leaving her. She reflects this by not letting anyone else come close to Ricky, which becomes more frequent as Selena joins the groupSelena has nightmares of her mother being upset with her for leaving home without telling her. She keeps it hidden from the others rather easily as they’re not too frequentMac’s pretty much already lived his worst nightmare, so his dreams are usually instant replays of that. It’s no secret to the others and they are rather frequent Jack’s nightmares aren’t frequent and they’re just of him not being able to kill Ricky like he really wants too (oh boy do I have a surprise for you Jackie)Alex doesn’t have nightmares until I brutally rip her arm off and she’s then reminded of her failure and becomes a secluded hermit who never wants to do anything again everrr

[yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog]

Sorry Six: What's the best game day football food?

Welcome to the SORRY SIX, where each week we rank the NFL’s six ugliest teams. But first, a moment to talk about in-game dining. This week, pizza joined the cast of the ongoing NFL Protest Drama, and—hold on, you’ll get your chance to rant at me in the comments in a moment—that gives us the chance to discuss what foods belong on your coffee table, and later perhaps your floor or wall, during your home football viewing. Here’s the definitive order:

1. Pizza: The New England Patriots of in-game eating. Ol’ Papa John kicked up quite the ruckus Wednesday when he suggested that the NFL’s ratings woes were responsible for his pizza chain’s depressed sales; fewer people watching means fewer people ordering, in theory. Putting aside the political aspect of this for a second, we can all agree that there’s simply no finer gameday food than pizza. It gets delivered right to your door, everyone can shove their grimy hands into the box and get a slice, even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good, it fills you up just fine, and when you’re done you can pitch the box. Nobody’s touching pizza as a gameday staple.

(Semi-political detour: My problem with Papa John’s argument isn’t because I’m shilling for the NFL. Goodell has botched this entire mess worse than the Lions in a decade’s worth of red zones. No, I’m strongly against loud, simplistic solutions to complex problems; everyone who’s got an easy fix to the protest deal is like the clown in the stands bellowing THROW IT LOOOOONGGGGGG on every play. If it was that easy, they’d have already done it, champ.) Anyway, pizza rules. And you can eat it and feel American whether you’re standing or kneeling.

2. Wings: This is a tricky one, because if you have a modicum of talent and can make your own wings, they can give pizza a run. Ever had home-cooked, bourbon-and-Coke-glazed wings right off a grill? Damn, that’ll give you religion. The problem is that in most cases, you’re ordering wings from a restaurant, and that crucial ten minutes from restaurant’s kitchen to your hungry maw gives the wings time to calcify. You can go full Baby Driver and you’re still going to have a cool barbecue sauce exterior on your wings. Plus, they’re messy as hell, which is a real problem if you’re in your own house but no big deal if you’re at a friend’s and can just wipe your hand on the backside of a couch cushion.

3. Grilled meats: Always a hit; burgers with any cheese but American, hot dogs with or without ketchup (or crickets) are as perfect a food as you’ll find in these here United States. The problem is that grilling requires you to be away from the TV for stretches of time, and the burning meat doesn’t much care if your team is going for it on a crucial fourth-and-one. Plus, if you’re watching Red Zone, you’ll miss like 17 touchdowns in the time it takes to light the grill. Points off for in-game maintenance required for grill food.

4. A damn good sandwich: Don’t underestimate the power of a well-constructed sandwich. I’m not talking about one of those slapdash sawdust-and-Vaseline-tasting jobs from [Sandwich chain deleted to avoid angering possible sponsor], I’m talking a real, honest, fresh-cut deli meat and gossamer-thin cheese sandwich on bread that could double as a high-end king-size bed. Find a sandwich joint near you that brings some serious hero (or grinder, or muffaletta, or banh mi, or whatever) game, and pick up twice as much as you think you’ll need. You’re welcome.

5. Chips & salsa: All the messiness of wings with the added drama of a circus balancing act. Unless you’re a grounded eight-year-old sitting in the kitchen, nobody at home watches games at a full table; you’re always leaning forward on your couch and trying to cantilever the salsa down your throat while dodging the random dog that may be skulking around. Plus, everybody gets all upset when you double-dip even though we’re all breathing the same air.

6. Uber Eats: I got a lot of blowback from my line in Wednesday’s Papa John’s story about the rise of Uber Eats and other deliver-anything services; I can only assume that these poor benighted emailers don’t have the option to get their favorite tacos or pasta delivered into their waiting hands. If they did, they would’ve known just how much trouble every pizza place now faces.

7. Anything remotely healthy: Yes, yes, cucumbers and hummus are a delightful and healthy snack, and fresh avocado rolled in a turkey slice can taste damn good. But football food needs to be a month’s worth of cheat days on a plate, and that plate better be deep-fried, too. Serving healthy food during football games is a war crime. It’s true, I looked it up.

There you go. Have your own say in the comments below, if you can find space amongst all the people telling you how they’re not watching football anymore. Onward!

Not a great week for Tampa Bay. (Getty)

The Sorry Six Here’s our weekly roundup of the week’s six ugliest NFL teams. Note that this isn’t just a list of the worst teams, though being terrible is a fast route to the list. Also note that the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants are ineligible for the list until further notice due to extreme sorriness. And now, onward.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: What the hell has gone wrong with Tampa Bay? The men in pewter suddenly can’t run, can’t pass, can’t defend. Everybody’s favorite sleeper NFC team is now just sleeping, and everyone who picked Tampa Bay to make noise is running from that pick like rats abandoning a sinking pirate ship.

2. Miami Dolphins: So, last week Miami was lining up against the league’s second-worst offense in the Baltimore Ravens. Good chance for a win, right? Problem: the league’s worst offense is, yep, the Dolphins. Result? A 40-0 Ravens win. Miami misses Jay Cutler under center, and that’s not a sentence ever typed before in human history. On the plus side, Jay Ajayi went from four wins to seven in a matter of moments on Halloween, just like that fantasy football commissioner who suddenly “discovered” a few extra points he forgot to calculate a few weeks back.

3. Washington Redskins: For Kirk Cousins, seeing Jimmy Garoppolo go to the 49ers had to be like seeing someone else ask out the prom date you’ve had your eye on for months. Hang in there, Kirk. We’re sure a turnaround is right around the corner in D.C., just like it’s been for the last 25 years. (Related reading: this great story on Cousins and the Redskins by Kevin Van Valkenburg; turns out all of this could’ve been avoided if Daniel Snyder hadn’t been an RG3-obsessed glory-hunter in the locker room.)

4. Oakland Raiders: Nothing’s going right in Oakland right now; the team’s 3-5 and drifting farther and farther behind the Chiefs, despite that rousing victory over KC a couple weeks back. But conveniently enough, the Raiders have a big trip to Vegas planned for the future. That ALWAYS solves problems!

5. Denver Broncos: So, it looks like the Denver Broncos are in need of some better quarterback play. Let’s run through some possibilities:

(Getty Images)

No. The man’s neck is papier mache. Let him have his peace.

(Getty Images)

Hoo boy. Sure, he’s qualified, but – you know what, let’s move on.

(Getty Images)

That’d be fun as hell to see, but no, not him either.

(Getty Images)

There it is. That’s the stuff. Come on, Elway. Do the right thing. Bring him home.

6. Detroit Lions: Greatest possible home-security system in the Motor City: paint an end zone in front of your house. Nobody in Detroit will come anywhere near it! Zing!

Sorry Six Tailgate of the Week

@barstoolsports bills mafia birthday pic.twitter.com/4u0xgTpUjw

— Post Cole-lone (@colejrepka) October 29, 2017

Why? Why would you bring a birthday cake to a tailgate, especially a Bills tailgate? That’s like bringing … well, anything else to a Bills tailgate. It’s going to get smashed, thrown, stomped, desecrated … anything but eaten. Happy birthday, Bills tailgate-goer. Hopefully this serves in place of your memories of Sunday.

Sorry that Happened to You

Yes, it was a nasty, slippery day at MetLife Stadium. But still: Atlanta Falcons QB and reigning MVP Matt Ryan fumbled snaps three times, losing two, as the Falcons just barely hung on to beat the freaking Jets. Seems like the Falcons have stumbled onto a winning formula for handling a near-championship hangover: can’t blow a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl if you don’t reach the Super Bowl.

  Sorry Six Fan of the Week

Really? (Getty)

“Rain with a chance of Wentz”? What the hell does that even mean? We get it, Philly, you’re excited—and justifiably so—that your team is leading the NFL at the halfway mark. But that’s no excuse for weak-ass signs like this one. “Wentz” sounds like something yellow and crusty your dentist would discover between your teeth—“You’ve got an awful lot of Wentz buildup in here”—and you’d nod your head solemnly and promise to floss and then never do it.

Sorry Matchup of Week 9 Raiders vs. Dolphins, Sunday night: Sweet mother of mercy, would you look at this? Two of our very own Sorry Six meeting under the lights of Miami on Sunday night! When the ratings come out for this and aren’t exactly stellar—and they won’t be—don’t buy the usual “we’re boycotting the NFL” excuse. No, this is a flat-out stinkburger of a matchup, one that nobody except those with fantasy implications on the line should watch. Go spend time with your family. Or maybe see if the Dodgers and Astros will play another game.

That’ll do it for this week. Thanks for hanging; drop me an email at jay.busbee@yahoo.com if you want to yell, preach, rant, or just say howdy. Enjoy Week 9, and remember: never be sorry! ____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.