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peterstanslizzie · 4 years ago

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Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 2 Episode 1)

Episode Title: Paw of the Jaguar

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to tolerate spoilers.

1. Naturally, Season 2 picks up where things left off at the end of the first season; Kipo manages to avoid being captured by Scarlemagne by reining in (or still trying to) the Mega Flamingo that grabbed her. Wolf says that the flamingo is their best bet and so, she, Kipo, Dave, Benson and Mandu hop on it in the hopes of it leading them to Scarlemagne and Lio Oak, Kipo’s dad.

2. Back at Scarlemagne’s Court, we find the captured denizens/humans including Lio and Hoag, whom are all apparently separated from the kids of the burrow for some reason. Hoag is blaming Kipo for their kidnapping, which I have to be honest; He is right. She did unknowingly lead Scarlemagne to Site B. One of the mind-controlled mutes starts spraying the Puppet Pheromones on the humans, which includes Hoag. But Scarlemagne/Hugo doesn’t want Lio to get sprayed with the pheromones.

3. I have a prediction. I bet Lio and Scarlemagne used to be friends or co-workers and I’m pretty sure they had something to do with Kipo being part mute.

4. Before taking off, our heroes are spotted by Troy, Asher and Dahlia and they are wondering what’s up with Kipo’s arm to which she tells them she’s part mute. Troy wants to tag along to help out but Kipo says that it’s too dangerous and suggests that Wolf and Benson take them to the Timbercats while she and Dave go after Scarlemagne. Despite some push-back from Wolf, her plan is more or less agreed upon. I think not bringing Wolf along isn’t a very good idea since she’s the best fighter. Also, he has an entire army; What makes her think that only her and Dave could take them on?

5. As she makes her way over to Scarlemagne’s Court, she is making sure to leave some remnants of Dave’s exoskeleton to allow the others to know where they’re going. Suddenly, the mind-controlled Mega Monkey attacks them. Kipo tries to calm it down by singing the iconic song, ‘What We Have Is You’ again but it doesn’t seem to be working as well as before. Maybe she needs to play the guitar lol.

6. The Mega Monkey grabs Kipo and she tries singing to it one more time and thankfully, she manages to calm it down but for only a few seconds before the pheromone-infused collar it’s wearing starts to activate. Luckily, Kipo swiftly uses her huge cat arm to destroy it, freeing Mega Monkey from Scarlemagne’s control. Aww, I’m so glad because I can’t bear to see it being controlled any longer.

7. Kipo seems to understand what the Mega Monkey is saying because it tells her that it wants to come along with Kipo to stop Scarlemagne. Kipo does the right thing and convinces it to stay put because she doesn’t want it to get mind-controlled again. I agree with Dave; This moment was so cute and touching but I’m sure we will see Mega Monkey again. Plus, Kipo gave it her bracelet/wristband as a symbol of friendship. That’s so sweet.

8. Kipo tells Dave that the Mega Monkey is “special”. I’m now actually wondering if it’s somebody Kipo knows or has met before. Maybe it’s her mom, Song? But didn’t she die when Kipo was a baby or something? Hmm...

9. Meanwhile, I don’t really know what Wolf and Benson are trying to do with Troy, Asher and Dahlia. They want the three of them to learn how to wrangle Pierre in order to gain the respect of the Timbercats. They cover Asher and Dahlia’s faces with maple syrup to lure in Pierre, which catches its attention and it charges right at them. Troy tries to defend them but Benson pushes him out of the way and we get this moment:

10. STOP THE PRESS! Did y’all see this? They blushed! Not just one of them but both of them! OMG! This is lowkey confirmation that Troy is gay too. Well, we all suspected it but c’mon this blush pretty much confirms it. Plus, the little pessimist within me is fearful of one-sided crushes. But luckily, we didn’t get any of that; YASSS!

11. Anyways, back to the story hehe. Pierre starts licking Asher and Dahlia’s maple-syrup covered faces, which makes Benson and Wolf think that they’re doing a good job. Anyways, I love how Wolf doesn’t know how to fist-bump. I guess it’s because she was raised by wolves lol.

12. It’s already night time and Kipo and Dave have finally reached Scarlemagne’s Court but it’s strangely empty. We then quickly shift over to a shot of Scarlemagne and his army flying over (or is it to?) Ratland.

13. Oh, great. More lessons on how to impress the Timbercats in order to let Asher, Dahlia and Troy stay with them; Is this really necessary? Don’t they have better things to do during a time of crisis? This time, they want them to learn how to properly chop wood. They do a decent job with it but Dahlia (I think?) unexpectedly goes ham on the wood and according to Asher, it’s because it has been a long day for her.

14. Kipo eventually spots her dad inside a prison cell that is guarded by two of the primate mutes and she rushes in to attack. One of them sprays the pheromones on her but it doesn’t seem to do a thing. I wonder why? She then beats them and frees her dad.

15. More Troy and Benson moments! We basically see them talking some more and Benson comes up with an idea to have them give flapjacks to the Timbercats. He also says that he has the best recipe in the world to which Troy asks if it includes flour, milk and eggs and Benson replies yes. Don’t they know that those are the basics? LOL.

16. But please, go ahead and be your cute gay selves while you guys flirt and bond over flapjacks. And it’s pretty clear that Wolf, Asher and Dahlia can sense their chemistry.

17. We shift things over to Ratland and all of its patrons are freaking out whilst rushing to exit the theme park since Scarlemagne has arrived, without an entrance ticket for that matter. Scarlemagne reveals to Amy and Brad (two of Ratland’s personnel) that he plans to take over Las Vistas and rename it as Aurum. He envisions Aurum to be a city where mutes will reign supreme over humans. He then proceeds to order his army to dismantle Ratland, which upsets Amy and Brad. Aww, I feel so bad for them!

18. Benson, Wolf, Mandu as well as their new friends arrive at the Timbercats’ forest and they try to return Pierre back to Yumyan. Yumyan notices that Pierre is acting differently because he seems to be attached to Asher. Benson and Wolf try to convince Yumyan and the rest of the Timbercats to let them stay with them by telling them their story about losing their home and etc. And guess what? It’s working because Yumyan is in tears as he is overcome with emotion knowing how brave they’re being despite the hardships. Umm, okay??? And so, they manage to quickly win over all of them. Well, it’s mostly because they’re friends of Kipo but a win is still a win lol.

19. As Wolf and Benson are getting ready to go back to help out Kipo and Dave, Troy walks over to Benson to thank him. They then talk about what they plan to do once they hopefully reunite again; They’re basically setting up a date! And oh, before leaving, Troy gives him one of these:

20. Oh. My. God. A kiss, a gay kiss on the cheek! And it’s only the first episode? I’m screaming! I love these two; I ship these two! YASSS! I hope they meet up again soon because I need more Troyson moments. And Benson is obviously so happy about what just happened. Same here, Benson. Same here.

21. Now back to Kipo, Dave and Lio. Lio reveals to Kipo that he and Song had infused Kipo’s DNA with a mutagen in order for her to become a Mega Jaguar herself. And that is why Scarlemagne’s pheromones didn’t work on her because they only work on primates. What a revelation lol. I was kinda right; I knew that Lio had something to do with his daughter’s transformation. But why would he and Song want to experiment on their own daughter, even if it’s to save the world or whatever? That’s kind of....I don’t know, off?

22. Just as I was half-expecting for Kipo to get mad at her dad, she reacts in the complete opposite way and is excited about becoming a Mega Jaguar and wants it to happen now to get everyone to safety.

23. I have questions lol. If she becomes a Mega Jaguar, will it be permanent and she can she ever turn back to her normal human form? Or maybe switch between the two forms? Lio says that she needs to train with the Chevre Sisters (who we’ve never heard till now) in order to control her transformation or else she’ll never come back. What does that mean when he says “never come back”? Like is she supposed to learn how to switch between her human form and her Jaguar form?

24. They notice that the flamingo that flew them there is being taken away by the primate mutes and Kipo foolishly rushes to attack them to retrieve the Mega Flamingo. She is stopped by Lio but it’s too late because one of them manages to grab hold of Lio whilst trying to escape with the help of Dave who has now transformed into his flying hero mode. Kipo tries to fight back to rescue her father but there’s too many of them. Lio urges Dave to fly Kipo out to safety and the scene cuts off.

25. Back at Ratland, Amy and Brad are devastated at the destruction of Ratland by Scarlemagne and his army. He then grabs hold of two humans and sprays them with his pheromones. Here, we also find out more about Scarlemagne’s evil intentions, which is similar to how Planet of the Apes is and that is to overcome their oppression by humans for thousands of years and basically topple over them.

26. Please don’t kill the rats, please don’t. Scarlemagne wants to make an example out of Brad and Amy as he threatens to launch a bottle of explosive nectar at them. He advises them to run but unfortunately, the scene then cuts off. Oh how I hope they survived!

27. Back in the woods, Benson, Wolf and Mandu bump into Kipo and Dave. Kipo then tells them what happened and she totally regrets not thinking things through, which led to her unsuccessful rescue attempt of her dad. She feels like her instincts have betrayed her. Wolf and Benson try to console her by telling her all the good things she did in the past to which there’s a lot of them.

28. That immediately makes Kipo feel a lot better and we then get a nice group hug between all of them. But the love-fest ended quickly because they hear a loud rumbling in the background, which of course, as we know, it’s coming from Ratland. Again, I hope Amy and Brad are alright. Scarlemagne and his primate mute and human army are seeing flying away from the area, taking some of the wreckage from there.

29. We then see in the distance, a group of cloaked individuals looking at the result of the explosion. I wonder if they are mutes or humans? I can’t tell. One of them does appear to have a beak and two of them have really long ears. Although, their legs looks very human-like. Maybe they’re part-mutes like Kipo? But what we do know is that they’re against Scarlemagne, which is good news.

30. Thinking back, I suspect that they’re the Chevre Sisters, Lio was talking about to Kipo. And it would make perfect sense if they’re part-mutes too because they’re supposedly going help Kipo to learn how to control her transformation.

31. Well y’all. That is the end of my review of episode 1 of Season 2 of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. This episode absolutely exceeded my expectations; It was filled with so much excitement, action and of course, love. Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of episode 2. Thanks for reading! Till then, bye!

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non-canon-central · 5 years ago

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Class 1-A's Lesbian League:

Class 1-A's Gay Squad

Tsuyu Asui:

The League's supreme leader

Has the biggest, fattest crush on her bff Ochaco Uraraka

Gives god-tier advices

Can't flirt for shit, she's way too blunt but is working on that

She and Mina practically dragged Momo and Kyoka out of the closet

Momo Yaoyorozu:

The League's voice of reason

Disaster lesbian

Her IQ literally drops to 5 when she's around cute girls

She organizes all of the league's meetings, she brings snacks and all

Is unable to notice the fact that tons of girls are crushing on her

Kyoka Jirou:

She's actually a disaster Bi, that wants to say Bye-bye

She has truth bombs and is not afraid to use them

Has made personalized musical themes for each member of the league

Her crush on Momo is the most painfully obvious thing ever but she will deny it with her dying breath

Acts as the mediator between the Lesbian League and the Gay Squad

Mina Ashido:

DON'T. EVER. FOLLOW HER ADVICE. EVER!!!!!!

Easily the smoothest one when it comes to flirting

The other league members always have to rein her in on her bullshit

Has only one braincell, which she shares with Denki, Hanta and Eijirou

Loves to tease the Gay Squad whenever the league encounters them

#tsuchako #tsuchaco #momojirou #tsuyu asui #momo yaoyorozu #kyoka jiro #jirou kyouka #mina ashido #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia

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theculturedmarxist · 5 years ago

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Idiotic “Conspiracy Theory”: John Boyega was cast as one of the leads in Star Wars because The Jews want to normalize miscegenation in an effort to effiminize American men and replace the White race!

Legitimate theory of a conspiracy: The Democrats have repeatedly stated how unpopular Bernie Sanders is with the wealthy capitalists that make up and fund their party leadership in spite of his overwhelming public support, and considering the political and professional ties of those involved and the vested interest the wealthy have in not seeing a man that wants to increase their taxes and undo some of the harm they’ve caused to the working class, the events in Iowa are at least somewhat suspicious.

The bourgeoisie get so incredibly nervous whenever people question their narrative because they are literally conspiring against the working class all the fucking time. This is in spite of the fact that they themselves admit it, boldly and openly. It’s just that when they do, they don’t use the words “conspiracy.”

Behind a Key Anti-Labor Case, a Web of Conservative Donors

In the summer of 2016, government workers in Illinois received a mailing that offered them tips on how to leave their union. By paying a so-called fair-share fee instead of standard union dues, the mailing said, they would no longer be bound by union rules and could not be punished for refusing to strike.

“To put it simply,” the document concluded, “becoming a fair-share payer means you will have more freedom.”

The mailing, sent by a group called the Illinois Policy Institute, may have seemed like disinterested advice. In fact, it was one prong of a broader campaign against public-sector unions, backed by some of the biggest donors on the right. It is an effort that will reach its apex on Monday, when the Supreme Court hears a case that could cripple public-sector unions by allowing the workers they represent to avoid paying fees.

One of the institute’s largest donors is a foundation bankrolled by Richard Uihlein, an Illinois industrialist who has spent millions backing Republican candidates in recent years, including Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois.

Tax filings show that Mr. Uihlein has also been the chief financial backer in recent years of the Liberty Justice Center, which represents Mark Janus, the Illinois child support specialist who is the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case.

And Mr. Uihlein has donated well over $1 million over the years to groups like the Federalist Society that work to orient the judiciary in a more conservative direction. They have helped produce a Supreme Court that most experts expect to rule in Mr. Janus’s favor.

The case illustrates the cohesiveness with which conservative philanthropists have taken on unions in recent decades. “It’s a mistake to look at the Janus case and earlier litigation as isolated episodes,” said Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, a Columbia University political scientist who studies conservative groups. “It’s part of a multipronged, multitiered strategy.”

Today, MLB's Owners Decide How To Wage War

MLB's 30 owners will meet in Baltimore today to elect the first new commissioner since Bud Selig took the reins in 1992—unless there is enough discord and politicking to prevent any candidate from receiving the required 23 votes. Which there almost certainly is! Today will see the first open, public battle in a vicious power struggle that promises to define MLB's relationship with its players over the coming decades, and, more immediately, the likelihood of a work stoppage in 2016.

The three finalists named by the search committee last week are MLB COO Rob Manfred, MLB VP of business Tim Brosnan, and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.

As has been reported out over recent weeks and months by The New York Times, this is a two-horse race between Manfred, Selig's underboss and presumptive successor, and Werner, a dark-horse candidate backed by a coalition of maverick owners led by White Sox boss Jerry Reinsdorf.

The battle here is not between Manfred and Werner; it's between Selig and Reinsdorf, two of the last remnants of baseball's old guard from the biliously anti-labor power structure of the 1980s, when owners illegally colluded to fix the free agency market to keep salaries down. (As always, it's important to remember that the players' strike of 1994 was really about the owners' collusion in the 1980s.)

Koch Brothers’ Internal Strategy Memo on Selling Tax Cuts: Ignore The Deficit

The billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch spent much of the eight years of the Obama presidency stoking fears about the budget deficit. Their political network aired an unending cascade of campaign advertisements against Democratic politicians, sponsored several national bus tours, and paid organizers in communities across the country to mobilize public demonstrations, all focused on the dangers of increasing the deficit.

One such ad even warned that government debt would lead to a Chinese takeover of America — which, for many voters, is a concern linked to debt. Another effort, also quietly bankrolled by the Koch network, used Justin Bieber memes to try to reach millennials about too much government borrowing.

Now that Republicans control all levers of power in Washington and the Koch brothers are poised to reap a windfall of billions of dollars through tax cuts, they have a new message: Don’t worry about the deficit.

The Intercept obtained a messaging memo from the Koch brothers’ network on how to sell tax reform legislation. The memo went out to members of the network of likeminded Republican donors, which includes dozens of wealthy investors and business executives.

“Network,” “web,” “association,” “coalition,” “group,” “foundation.” When you strip away all the corporate newspeak, they are saying that these people are engaged in a conspiracy.

Historically, anti-labor conspiracies have themselves been big business. Just take the Mohawk Valley Formula for example:

The Mohawk Valley formula is a plan for strikebreaking purportedly written by the president of the Remington Rand company James Rand, Jr. around the time of the Remington Rand strike at Ilion, New York in 1936/37.

The plan includes discrediting union leaders, frightening the public with the threat of violence, using local police and vigilantes to intimidate strikers, forming associations of "loyal employees" to influence public debate, fortifying workplaces, employing large numbers of replacement workers, and threatening to close the plant if work is not resumed.[1][2]

The authenticity of the written plan has never been clearly established. Although it was allegedly published in the National Association of Manufacturers Labor Relations Bulletin, no original copy has been found, nor does NAM list it among its pamphlets from that era.[3][non-primary source needed] Parts of the plan use language sympathetic to the views of labor organizers. The Remington Rand company did indeed ruthlessly suppress the strikes, as documented in a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, and the plan has been accepted as a guide to the methods that were used. At least one source names the strikebreaker Pearl Bergoff and his so-called "Bergoff Technique" as the origin of the formula.[4] Rand and Bergoff were both indicted by the same federal grand jury for their roles in the Remington Rand strike.

Noam Chomsky has described the formula as the result of business owners' trend away from violent strikebreaking to a "scientific" approach based on propaganda. An essential feature of this approach is the identification of the management's interests with "Americanism," while labor activism is portrayed as the work of un-American outsiders. Workers are thus persuaded to turn against the activists and toward management to demonstrate their patriotism.[5][6]

The following is the text of the Mohawk Valley formula as quoted in the labor press:

When a strike is threatened, label the union leaders as "agitators" to discredit them with the public and their own followers. Conduct balloting under the foremen to ascertain the strength of the union and to make possible misrepresentation of the strikers as a small minority. Exert economic pressure through threats to move the plant, align bankers, real estate owners and businessmen into a "Citizens' Committee".

Raise high the banner of "law and order", thereby causing the community to mass legal and police weapons against imagined violence and to forget that employees have equal rights with others in the community.

Call a "mass meeting" to coordinate public sentiment against the strike and strengthen the Citizens' Committee.

Form a large police force to intimidate the strikers and exert a psychological effect. Utilize local police, state police, vigilantes and special deputies chosen, if possible, from other neighborhoods.

Convince the strikers their cause is hopeless with a "back-to-work" movement by a puppet association of so-called "loyal employees" secretly organized by the employer.

When enough applications are on hand, set a date for opening the plant by having such opening requested by the puppet "back-to-work" association.

Stage the "opening" theatrically by throwing open the gates and having the employees march in a mass protected by squads of armed police so as to dramatize and exaggerate the opening and heighten the demoralizing effect.

Demoralize the strikers with a continuing show of force. If necessary turn the locality into a warlike camp and barricade it from the outside world.

Close the publicity barrage on the theme that the plant is in full operation and the strikers are merely a minority attempting to interfere with the right to work. With this, the campaign is over—the employer has broken the strike.[2]

A similar, although more nuanced and longer, version was published in The Nation in 1937.[1]

The louder the capitalists cry and whinge about “conspiracy theories” the more certain you can be that the capitalists are engaged in a fucking conspiracy.

#conspiracy #conspiracy theories #conspiracy theory #bernie sanders #bernie sander for president #bernie sanders for president #iowa caucus #democratic national convention #democratic party #democrats #capitalism #overthrow the bourgeoisie #down with the bourgeoisie #koch brothers #supreme court

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iuinspires · 5 years ago

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Love Poem in Singapore: My Second IU Concert

On 6 Dec 2019, I was blessed with the opportunity of seeing IU perform live for the second time at her Love Poem concert tour in Singapore.

I must confess that in some ways, things didn't go smoothly for me: ticketing was somewhat traumatic, because the tickets for the original 7 Dec Saturday show sold out within an hour of release, even before I had logged on to the site (sorry for underestimating your popularity, IU!); after I secured a Friday ticket, I couldn't help fretting about whether I could get to the concert venue from work on time; when I reached the concert hall, I realised I had missed out on collecting the SG Heart IU fan support items and the free IU postcard from the concert organizer; and towards the end of the show, my phone ran low on storage and battery so I couldn't take further audio recordings.

Yet there was a silver lining to everything: getting a Friday ticket turned out to be blessing in disguise because of a family commitment cropping up which would have made attending the Saturday show a challenge; my day at work turned out to be fairly peaceful and productive, so I did leave work on time; not having the fan support items prompted me to initiate a conversation with a fellow uaena; and not being burdened with the need to record everything allowed me to focus purely on enjoying the show. Above all, no number of minor obstacles could detract from the wonderful experience of seeing IU again. So let me try once again to document my precious memories, before they slowly fade with the passing of time.

Pre-concert

So on the fateful day of 6 Dec, I woke with a feeling of great joy and anticipation; all day at work, it took supreme discipline to rein in my feelings of excitement to concentrate on my tasks. Thankfully, I left on time and rushed down to the concert venue from my workplace by train. As I walked from the train station to Star Vista, I was quite amused to spot a number of people selling (selfmade?) IU posters and merchandise along the roadside, but refrained from stopping to avoid the risk of being late. It seemed that everyone around me was making their way to the concert as well, for they were all holding IU concert tickets or knick knacks.

As I was queuing to get to the concert hall, I took the chance to observe the profile of my fellow uaenas again. I noticed that compared to last year, where the nationalities of the concert goers were distinctly varied, this year's crowd seemed to be predominantly Singaporean - probably a direct result of IU having more Southeast Asian stops in this year's tour. It made me glad that IU did have a sizable Singaena fanbase after all, that was sufficiently large to sell out two days !

When I was seated in the hall, I realised that everyone except myself was holding on to IU postcards and fanchant guides. I was also puzzled about where the SG Heart IU fingerlights were, which I had assumed would be at the seats. I plucked up the courage to ask the fellow uaena next to me where she had got hers, and she said she had picked them at the bag check area (sorry SG Heart IU, for not reading admin instructions properly!) I spent the next few minutes feeling dismayed at the thought of not being able to being able to do my part for the fan support - but the feeling of disappointment was soon replaced by excitement when the IU band members made their way to the stage to screams from the crowd. There was no sign of IU yet though - until the fellow uaena next to me nudged me excitedly and said, "Look, I think that's her!" From our circle seats we had a fairly good view of the whole stage including the curtained areas, and there, indeed, was a familiar, petite figure peeking out from backstage. I don't think anyone else noticed though, or there would have been wild screams! My heart skipped a beat, and I was too dumbstruck with excitement to respond. (To my fellow uaena, if you are reading this, I'm sorry - I didn't mean to be rude!)

Opening segment

Before we knew it, the lights dimmed, and IU emerged on an elevated platform under a spotlight in the middle of the stage, singing the upbeat, cheery opening line of "unlucky" in her clear, sweet voice. She looked lovely and girlish with a white flower in her long, flowing tresses, clad in a soft, frilly yellow dress speckled with blue flowers (an image which for some reason was reminiscent of Lee Soon Shin to me.)

I guess for me, the opening is always one of the most emotional and special moments of an IU concert. For overseas fans like myself who hardly get to see IU, there is something incredibly surreal about seeing that familiar figure and hearing that familiar voice in person. I can still recall how overwhelmed I was when I saw IU for the first time at last year's concert - in fact I now associate the opening song "Red Shoes" with the feeling of euphoria, and for the same reason, "unlucky" will have a special place in my heart as well. The audience shared my joy too, for it went absolutely wild with rapturous screams at the sight of IU, and kept up with this energy level throughout the concert.

IU moved on to a lovely acoustic rendition of Palette, before greeting the audience in a mix of Korean and English. She introduced herself as "IU who loves so much Singapore" - an awkward turn of phrase, but all the more adorable because of that! She expressed her happiness at being in Singapore for a second time, and talked about how this was her favourite venue (because of the "atmosphere, sound, mood...and the colour of the chairs - very red"). She also made us raise our hands to indicate whether we were here last year, and when most of us did so, she marvelled at how we have "so much loyalty here in Singapore".

For the rest of the segment, she sang "Autumn Morning", "Friday" and "Secret Garden". I recall IU had mentioned in one of her concert stops in Korea that for the opening segment, she had deliberately chosen songs that would allow the audience to focus on her vocals. And indeed, the songs were perfect for showcasing the light and mellow side of her voice. Before singing Autumn Morning, she told us to imagine the following: "blue sky, the children, lovely family, lovely mum, lovely dad...lazy son" (to which everyone burst out laughing). And when she started singing the first two lines of the song acapella, her voice pure, clear and gentle, I did feel as though I had been transported to a temperate country on a crisp autumn morning with fresh air and bright sunlight.

The theme of nature continued with "Secret Garden", where IU stood in front of a gorgeous projection of lush greenery, and behind three panels of silvery light that seemed like cascading waterfalls. It was a breathtaking sight that complemented the beauty of the song and IU's voice, and created an enduring image which will always come to mind whenever I hear "Secret Garden" now. It was also a fitting end to the first segment with its mix of sweet, uplifting and lyrical ballads.

Segment two

One of things I admire most about IU as an artist is her versatility, and she demonstrated this in the second segment with a setlist that had a completely different mood and vibe from the first. If the first segment was about showcasing IU's light and sweet voice, the second part was a chance to show off the sultry and husky side of her vocals. She kickstarted the segment with "The Visitor", a slow but groovy number with edgy and sensuous vibes. It's my favourite song in IU's latest album, and hearing it live was absolutely thrilling! IU was dressed to match the mood as well, clad in a blouse with bold prints matched with a short black skirt, hidden teasingly beneath a loose, draping coat, and with a sparkly black beret and boots to complete the look.

For the rest of the segment, IU performed a mix of her more groovy tracks and lively dance numbers: "Jam Jam", "Twenty-Three", "BBIBBI", "Hold my Hand", "Last Night Story" and "Blueming". I generally gravitate towards IU's ballads, but I actually found myself enjoying this segment the most. Other than IU's charismatic and energetic stage presence, I was buoyed by the audience's infectious enthusiasm; even for a reserved person like myself, it felt exhilarating to be singing and cheering along with a huge crowd, bound by our shared love for the little bean onstage. IU commended us for our high energy level as well, commenting a number of times on how passionate and "high-tensioned" Singaenas were and how enthusiastically everyone was waving their lightsticks. At some point she teased someone for waving her lightstick at two times the speed of everyone else - "Maybe your hand will be less painful if you sway it together with the audience". Our deafening fanchants for BBIBBI also prompted her to declare Singapore as "the hometown for BBIBBI".

Another notable moment was during "Blueming", where the the SG Heart IU fan event was pulled off successfully. The audience in the stall seats turned on their colour-changing rose-shaped lights, turning the concert hall into a beautiful illuminated field of multi-coloured flowers - a perfect tribute to the million blooming roses referenced in "Blueming". IU commented later that she had initially thought that the audience was waving her official lightstick, before realising that it was a fan event, which she described as "the cutest" ever, and very pretty. Even though I was a little sad that I wasn't part of the fan event, I felt really happy seeing how nice it looked, and how it brought a smile to IU's face.

Segment three

IU started off the third segment with the heartwarming singalong favourite Meaning of You, which the audience sang with great gusto. She looked elegant in a long-sleeved, ankle-length white dress that was old fashioned but classy - my favourite outfit for the night.

The highlight of this segment came when IU announced that she had a present for us - an idea which came to her only two days ago, and which the team had to prepare in a rush. The audience stirred with excitement, and I was filled with anticipation too, expecting a local song which IU typically prepares for her overseas concerts. But we were all in for a bigger surprise when IU said: "Please don’t think of me as a singer, but think of me as Jang Man Wol". She proceeded to seranade us with a medley of Hotel Del Luna OSTs ("Lean On Me", "All About You", "Remember Me", and most notably, "Happy Ending" with her self-written lyrics) while a video montage of Jang Man Wol and Goo Chan Sung moments played in the background. I was swooning internally, and I'm sure in the rest of the audience was too - especially the few ahjummas and ahjusshis I spied in the audience, whom I guessed might have been new fans from the drama!

After the medley ended, IU said her Korean fans would be really sad as she had never sung "Happy Ending" for them even when she requested it, and made us promise to keep this a secret from her K-uaenas. (Nice try, IU!) She also shared how close she was to the HDL team, whom she had watched Frozen 2 with recently, as well as her love and respect for Gummy (singer of Remember Me) - which hilariously created some confusion with the translation initially as the Korean pronunciation for "Gummy" also sounds like "spider".

IU then wrapped up this segment with two sentimental ballads - "Lullaby", and "Through the Night", another crowd favourite which I enjoyed singing along to as well. Before the last line - "I hope its a good dream", IU gently murmured "Singapore" - and for some reason that triggered a sudden surge of emotions in me. It brought to mind how two years ago, as a new fan, I wasn't sure if IU was even aware that she had fans in Singapore, and seeing her seemed all but a distant dream - and reminded me how lucky I was to have her here now, acknowledging our presence as fans.

Segment Four + Encore

IU returned in a sparkly dark coloured dress for the fourth segment, which began with "Sogyeokdong". IU commented that this was a song with underlying sadness, but Singaenas were still so excited that she coud not help excitedly waving her hands too - "I'm not a pro...Even when I'm singing ballads, I can't control myself". (It's ok to be slightly unprofessional at times IU, it makes us even happier when you are happy!)

"Sogyeokdong" was followed by "Red Shoes", which evoked a wave of nostalgia in me as it brought to mind the exciting opening for last year's concert. IU then said she would have to move on to the last song - eliciting loud groans from the audience - to which IU chuckled and teased us for our "pro reaction". The purported last song was "Above the Time" - a song which I didn't like immediately when it was first released, but which I grew to love the more I listened to it. I have to add too, that it's a song that sounds absolutely amazing live, and gave me goosebumps listening to it then!

After IU left the stage, the audience promptly began to chant "encore" repeatedly. IU returned shortly after in a long gem-studded pink dress, laughing at how she didn't even have time to go to the washroom because of our immediate chants. She ended off with "Good Day" and her titular song "Love Poem", before leaving the stage.

Re-encore

A few audience members began to leave, but the vast majority were clearly seasoned fans who knew what to expect, for the loud chants for encore started again. After a brief interlude, the IU band members returned onstage, followed by IU, to wild cheers from the crowd. Being used to seeing IU's characteristically baggy shirts and oversized sweaters for her re-encores, I was surprised to see her dressed girlishly in a sweet cream-coloured sweater pulled over a pretty floral dress.

The re-encore started with "Heart", which IU sung with the audience, in keeping with uaena tradition. IU quipped that at overseas concerts, she enjoyed hearing the imperfect pronunciation of her international fans, but Singaenas were just too good in Korean. IU continued asking for song requests thereafter - but the screams were so loud I couldn't hear a thing! She settled on "Sleepless Rainy Night" (which I was delighted to hear), "Night of the First Breakup", before wrapping up with "Someday".

Post-concert reflections

The 2018 dlwlrma concert will always have a special place in my heart as my inaugural IU concert, but I think this year's Love Poem concert experience was even better.

For one, it felt more fun and intimate because IU was even more interactive with the audience this year. There were many hilarious moments - like when she teased a male fan for dancing very animatedly throughout the concert, and pronounced him the cutest guy in Singapore - or when she laughed at how a female fan responded to her in Korean when she spoke in English. The rapport between IU and the audience also felt even stronger this year - the audience demonstrated an energy level that seemed to surpass last year's - and you could see how IU in turn radiated with joy to see our enthusiasm. She regularly teased us about how loud we were, and at one point, also commented on how there seemed to be "no shade" in Singapore - meaning that everyone here seemed really happy. My heart was also full hearing her express her love for Singapore - she talked about her family holiday here in January this year, and how her brother liked it so much that he was seriously considering doing his exchange studies here (please do so, IU's brother!)

But above all, what I found most moving and meaningful was IU's introspective musings on sadness, happiness and love. She spoke of how during this year's concert tour, there was a bit of underlying sadness during each of her concert, but in today's concert, she was laughing all the way even for the sad songs, and there was no single space for sadness to come in. I felt a sense of relief hearing that - for prior to the concert, a part of me was worrying about how IU was coping with recent events - and whether she would be reining in her sadness to deliver the smiles and energy expected from her as a performer.

But I guess IU has always been a strong and resilient person, and one to give love and provide healing words of comfort, as she did during my favourite part of her concert talk. I think paraphrasing her words might not do her justice, so let me just reproduce her words here:

"I come here only once a year so I don’t know in detail what kind of troubles you’re living with and what makes you sad, but I think that all people live with similar problems, similar troubles. Right? Anyway, when you feel dispirited and want to end everything, I wish that you think of our promise today: to meet me here next year. You have to remember! We promise. To meet here again next year, we will right? All promises are truly important right? Keep your promise! Day by day, if you live on breathing slowly, it will soon be next year, right? And I’ll come back again to make another promise, to meet here next year, and we keep our promise again, and again, and again, and again. Right? This will be easy. I’ll do it as well. Promise. I hope that today was a good day. I.. (hesitantly) love you."

IU went on to say that this was her first time saying I love you in English, and added, almost bashfully: "I adore you. I cherish you." When she said this, I felt my heart expand with a warm, fuzzy feeling of peace and joy.

Perhaps it was because of these uplifting words and IU's repeated reassurance that she would be back - and perhaps because the adrenaline from the infectious enthusiasm of my fellow uaenas had yet to subside - the post-concert blues didn't hit me immediately after the concert ended. I recall last year I had remained in my seat, feeling lost and empty, but this year, I left beaming as I made my way out of the concert hall with the rest of the crowd.

The post-concert blues did sink in a little the next day, as I relived my memories looking at other fancams - but mixed with this was a feeling of gratitude and joy at how blessed I had been.

Thank you IU, for giving love through your Love Poem concert, and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

#iu #Lee Jieun #iu concert account #uaena #love poem #iu in singapore #iu singapore concert #love poem concert

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years ago

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04/28/2020 DAB Transcript

Today is the 28th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today. Wow…just a couple more days left in this month. What an interesting month it has been. So, let's take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And today we will…well…we will continue the story of Gideon one of the judges of Israel and we’re reading from the book of Judges. So, this week we’re reading from the Common English Bible. Today Judges chapter 8 verse 18 through 9 verse 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, I guess…I guess if there was like some sort of theme that would emerge from today's reading, it’s gotta be injustice. So, we concluded the story of Gideon the judge today and the way the story ends gives us significant clues into the times of the judges, like how things had become in Israel, how tribal it had become and disunified things had become. So, after this triumph over the Midianites they want Gideon to be their king, their supreme leader. He doesn't want it, doesn't want it for his family. He basically knows how it goes with Kings and trying to hold onto power at this time in the world. And, so, while Gideon is the judge for 40 more years than there’s peace around the land and soon as He dies then everyone begins to go back to worshiping Baal again. I mean Gideon had a big family, 70 sons. And one of his sons was a son from a concubine in Shechem. His name was Abimelech who was like basically, “you know, if my dad didn’t want to be king, I do.” Like, “and do you want 70 judges now. Gideon's dead. You want 70 judges, or do you want one king?” And the result is that all of Abimelech's brothers are murdered so that Abimelech has this claim. Like, you see how barbaric of a time this is.

But we can move forward a thousand years as we flip to the book of Luke and see that barbarity still exists because we’re seeing Jesus hanging from a cross, which is a very barbaric way to be executed, giving His life in so many ways to put an end that. And, you know, barbaric things still exist in our world today as we well know. So, just in today's reading along, we can look back thousands of years and see the state of mankind and zoom all the way through the New Testament and then get all the way to where we are today and see that the struggles just look different. They’re still heart issues. They’re still the problems that have always existed when we try to do life separate from God. So, whether it be from the Old Testament or the New Testament or from yesterday, when we drift, when we walk away and we turn to false comforters and walk the path that leads us away from the narrow path, then destruction does come, which is what Bible says. But…but Jesus removed the separation allowing us to unite with God. If there was ever a time for us to…like…for that to finally catch flame within us it's now.

Prayer:

Father, we invite you into that. We keep trying to trust you until what we see seems as if it's going in a different direction and so we take the reins back and trust ourselves when you are often counterintuitive. You often force us into a place of faith because it is perhaps like the most important…I don’t know…muscle that we need to be able to live in this world. And yet it’s the one we’re not continually exercising. It gets use when there’s no other choice. You're inviting us to flip that around and understand that faith is what leads us forward, our complete and utter trust in you for all things knowing that you are the author and finisher of our faith, that you are the author and finisher of our lives, and our lives with you never end. And, so, we get so obsessed about momentary things when there is forever together with you. Help us to have the eyes of faith today we ask in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

There is another update to the app to the most recent additions which were a couple weeks ago, major update to the app. And, so, after week one, we kind of had sort of a game plan. I mean, when you release something, there's always gonna be something that goes wrong and like maybe 20% of people were experiencing some certain kinds of issues. So then dividing that in half got us another version out last week. And now there is another version, which is 1.1.70. And that should pretty much take care of just about all of the problems that we’ve seen crop up, some of those little pesky things like certain days not appearing or that kind of thing. Looks like we’ve got these issues mostly ironed out, which is pretty remarkable based on how much new technology was put into that last major update. So, yup, if you haven’t updated yet, update to the latest version of the app as we continue to grow and expand together.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. That's how any of this is even happening. It's how there even is an app to update, that’s how there even is a website to go to, that's how there is…even is a Prayer Wall like, that we have been in this together for these years, day by day, step-by-step, just being faithful. And, so, thank you…thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren't in this together. So, there's a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you're using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

My DAB Family this is __ in __ Africa and I’m just phoning in to thank everyone who prayed today and just shared. It’s Friday the 24th of April. It touched my heart so, so much. This community is so authentic and so special because I personally don’t find this authenticity in churches. We are all so busy almost just walking around with a mask on and not…not being our true selves and not showing our brokenness and this community allows us to…to feel vulnerable and to phone in to…to share our hearts and that is that is real and that’s authentic, that is…it’s beautiful and I want to thank each and every one of you. I want to thank especially Saria. Thank you so much for phoning in. I’m so proud of you. You said you were proud of Brian and China. I’m proud of you that you’re listening to DAB at such a young age. You said your 10 ½. I think it’s so amazing and God loves you and I just want to encourage you to continue listening. It was so wonderful to hear your voice and just, yeah, I love you and just take care of yourself and…and stay in God’s word. And just thank you again Brian and the whole Hardin family. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your faithfulness and doing this every day. You’re helping people in ways you can even begin to imagine. I just thank you so much and God bless all of you.

Good afternoon family it is Friday the 24th of April and it is the first day of Ramadan. So, yeah, let’s pray. Father God thank You so much that we can come together and pray for…and pray for all things but to pray for Muslims, that we can be united to this, that we are the body of Christ and that we be brought together in unity so that the world will know the love of Christ because of how it’s displayed in us. Father God, thank You for all of the Muslims who have relationships with Christians whether they be neighbors, friends, work colleagues. Thank You, Lord that those links exist, and I pray You’ll be helping us to be shining examples of You. Help us to be good ambassadors, help us to display Your love and so that Muslims would be able to see Jesus in us and be curious and want to know more. And Father God thank You that Jesus Esa is an important figure to Muslims. And we pray Lord that they know to experience a revelation of Jesus during this time of prayer and fasting, that they would come to know who Esa really is and that they can have a relationship with Him. Father God we pray Your protection over Muslims who are celebrating Ramadan at this time. I pray Lord You’d be giving them wisdom as they might have to celebrate it a bit differently than normal in the current crisis. In Jesus’ holy and precious name…

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible this is Tracy Baker calling out of Arlington Texas. Blessed be, Blessed be. I know we’re in strange times right now with this COVID virus but fear not, fear not. God has just given us a little time out. I know a lot of us don’t understand what…what or why this is going on but it’s not for us to understand. Trust him. He’s got this. You know, like I said, a little time out. Give us time to take a breath, get back to the basics. So, it’s…it’s…it’s rough, don’t get me wrong. It’s rough. I can’t get out to play tennis like I want to but I’m fine, I’m happy, I’m…I’m…I’m blessed to be here, you know, as it is. But I called in. I haven’t called in a while and my bad, but I am listening every day. I don’t know if I could live without this thing. Brian, where was this 20, 40, 50 years ago? Do you know how much a difference this could be made…have made in people’s lives, if I could have had this 20 years ago? For those of you young people, you guys are blessed to be a part of this. This will make a life changing difference in your life. Real quick the sister who called on the 20th, oh, oh, oh, oh I love you for that. You’re in…you’re in pain but what you’re doing helps others and God’s got you. So, fear not. Love you all.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Rebecca Joy from Illinois calling for the first time ever due to God’s prompting in my heart, which I cannot ignore any longer. I have been a listener of Daily Audio Bible ever since I was a kid, but this is the first year that I decided to go to the whole Bible on my own accord. And so far, I’ve been keeping it up. I decided to call and because of the prompting of three different women. The first one was a woman from the 20th of April who called in suffering from extreme emotional distress. The second is from today’s reading, Mother Lioness with her two daughters that she is struggling with, and finally another woman who called in from Florida just breathlessly asking for prayer. And…oh man I…I need a…I just needed to call in. So, dear God, I am no stranger to emotional distress whether it be anxiety, depression, anything…just fear in general and I can tell that all of these women are in such fear right now and it can be such a lonely thing to be in. But I pray that You would just lay Your hands on them and that they would know…they would know that they don’t have to be strong enough. Everything that You offer to them is right there and You are strong enough. I pray for the woman in emotional turmoil, that she would find peace, that she would hold on. I pray for Mother Lioness, that she would know that You have her daughters in Your hands. You have a good plan even though she can see it right now. And I pray for that woman in Florida. I pray whatever she needs let her be with You. Be blessed.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, To Be A Blessing in California. Hope this finds everyone doing well. I am in the process of waiting to see what a new work organizational chart is going to look like and am trying not to project my fears on my position being demoted or eliminated. The whole organization is going through a process of looking at what it’s going to be like in the future. So, it brings up all kinds of old stuff. But I don’t want old stuff to get in the way. I wanted to throw myself on the floor and have a temper tantrum. And God is sweetly singing, God will take care of you in my mind. And, so, I know that that will take place, and He is. He always has. So, I need prayer to just be more than being an adult about this because the temper tantrum to being an adult, that just masks pouting and upset inside. I’d like to have Jesus show up in the meeting and in the midst of coronavirus and all that everyone is going through, you know, I’m just…my heart breaks for people. It might be you who’s listening who has lost a job or a family member or you’re sick yourself. So, know I’m praying for you and know that I thank you for your prayers.

This is Caribbean Joy saying hi to you from the dark side of the tiny, tiny island of St. Martin in the Caribbean. I have been a listener for many years and have encouraged many others to listen as well. One of my greatest joys is to learn that family and friends have become listeners as well and that they are enjoying it. I have also encouraged people in different languages, for example I have a chat group that is called friends of DAB and that is…those are my English friends, and I’ve also encouraged friends to listen in the Spanish language and also in French. __ [speaking Spanish] I’d also like to give a shout out to one of my special, special encouragers here on DAB which is Victoria Soldier. I love to listen to you, and you are really an encourager. May God continue to bless you. Thank you Brian and I guess I have to say goodbye now. Bye-bye until the next time.

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eddycurrents · 6 years ago

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For the week of 25 March 2019

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1009 takes a moment to assess the damage caused by Leviathan as Superman, Lois, Jimmy, and Waller try to put the pieces together in the Fortress of Solitude. More inventive use of Superman’s x-ray vision from Steve Epting and Brad Anderson.

| Published by DC Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #18 continues “Hunted” unveiling the Kraven-bots and plan for rich folks to hunt the animal-themed villains (and Spider-Man), but not exactly why. This one also falls into the clichéd trap of bringing back obscure z-list characters only to kill them in order to show the stakes. I’m kind of getting tired of that, but otherwise this is still entertaining. Great art from Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, and Erick Arciniega.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: No Road Home #7 takes us inside Spectrum’s worries and fears about what she’s becoming as the team tries to prevent Nyx from reclaiming the shards. It really feels like the entire creative team have been stepping up their game these past few issues, but as Paco Medina and Jesus Aburtov take over the art reins again this issue, it feels like the bar has been raised again. Beautiful artwork.

| Published by Marvel

Bad Luck Chuck #1 is an entertaining and unique debut from Lela Gwenn, Matthew Dow Smith, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Frank Cvetkovic. It stars Charlene Manchester, a seeming walking disaster, who has started up a business for the chaos her mere presence causes. It’s different, there’s some nice incidental humour and a hook for a broader story involving an insurance investigator tailing her, all with some wonderful art from Smith and Fitzpatrick.

| Published by Dark Horse

Batgirl #33 is pretty heavy as Babs deals with James being released. Great work all around from Mairghread Scott, Elena Casagrande, Scott Godlewski, John Kalisz, and Andworld Design really delivering on the heightened emotions Babs is going through with the release of her serial killer brother. Particularly the switch between blue and red washes Kalisz uses when Babs confronts her father.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #9 continues through this bleak new world where almost everyone has forgotten who they were and there’s apparently a lot of gay panic, on Earth and Mars. It’s rather disturbing. Dean Ormston and Dave Stewart deliver some great moody art.

| Published by Dark Horse

Black Science #39 gives us a heartfelt and humorous reunion, possibly one of the final good moments before the series is going to pivot to the end. I get the feeling that Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Moreno Dinisio, and Rus Wooton are going to put us through hell reading the final arc, so this bit of happiness with some funny stories and at least a bit of retribution, is great to see.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Coda #10 is huge as Si Spurrier, Matías Bergara, Michael Doig, and Jim Campbell work through some of the truth of what’s been driving this entire story. It’s damn good, with some of the best storytelling in comics right now.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Crimson Lotus #5 is one of two finales this week for a Hellboy universe mini-series, seeing the end to John Arcudi, Mindy Lee, Michelle Madsen, and Clem Robins’ tale of Crimson Lotus’ early days. I’ve loved the set up for Dai and Shengli in this series and definitely would not be averse to seeing more, there’s a nice feel of pulp action and mystery from a different perspective than what we’ve seen in Lobster Johnson. Also, there’s a great surprise appearance.

| Published by Dark Horse

Daredevil #3 is proving that Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles’ excellent first two issues are no fluke, “Know Fear” is easily shaping up to be one of the best Daredevil stories in decades. There’s a wonderful depth and complexity to the characters, the tension of a broken and beaten Daredevil coming into conflict with the police is taut, there are some amazing surprises, and the art is phenomenal.

| Published by Marvel

Dial H for Hero #1 is some ridiculous fun from Sam Humphries, Joe Quinones, and Dave Sharpe. We’re introduced to the new guardian of the H Dial, Miguel, an average boy forced to work his Uncle’s Mayo Madness food truck after what’s possibly the death of his parents (it’s not made explicit, so something else could have happened), searching for another thrill after being saved by Superman. Quinones’ art is one of the main drawing factors, with an incredible shift in style during the hero portion, both he and Humphries do an incredible job poking fun at the approach.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Doctor Strange #12 reunites Mark Waid and Barry Kitson for part one of “Herald Supreme” as a pushy, obnoxious alien steamrolls Strange in an attempt to stop Galactus from destroying his homeworld. It’s weird to see Strange brought low again so soon after the first arc, along with the destruction of all of the magic his artifacts house, but it is an interesting predicament he finds himself in struggling to stop Galactus from devouring the mystic planes.

| Published by Marvel

The Flash #67 builds off of last issue’s Rogues spotlight on the Trickster and the previous sub-plot of Commander Cold’s investigation as Joshua Williamson, Scott Kolins, Luis Guerrero, and Steve Wands kick off part one of “The Greatest Trick of All”. Kolins reminds us why he’s one of the best Flash artists of the past few decades amidst a story that is bizarrely happy.

| Published by DC Comics

The Forgotten Queen #2 reveals more of War-Monger’s history, as she navigates the possibility of feelings of love for what seems to be the first time. Really intriguing character-building here from Tini Howard, Amilcar Pinna, Ulises Arreola, and Jeff Powell.

| Published by Valiant

Friendo #5 concludes with what feels like one of the weirdest interpretations of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I’ve ever read. The horror story of rampant consumerism mixed with reality television comes to a head as Leo finally gets his Action Joe action figure in possibly the most extreme way. Alex Paknadel, Martin Simmonds, Dee Cunniffe, and Taylor Esposito end this wild ride on a high note.

| Published by Vault

Go-Bots #5 is the incredible end to what has been an excellent series reinterpreting the Go-Bots by Tom Scioli. It started as a relatively normal interpretation of the property, working well with nostalgia while still presenting a unique rumination on free will and robot ethics, then elevated into all out insanity pushing the Go-Bots in new and frightening directions as the bots took over. This final issue explores that post-apocalypse further and cleverly seeds the idea that the Go-Bots were the progenitors to the Transformers.

| Published by IDW

Hellboy and the BPRD: 1956 #5 is the other conclusion in the Hellboy universe this week, detailing a bit more of Hellboy’s time in Mexico, particular after Esteban’s death and he was filming wrestling movies. There’s some wonderful character moments as he laments Esteban’s loss and the even more personal loss of his best friend and dog, Mac. It also underlines Bruttenholm’s lack of soft skills and empathy, not noticing either Margaret and Archie’s romance or how bad Hellboy is hurting emotionally right now. Great work from Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Mike Norton, Michael Avon Oeming, Yishan Li, Dave Stewart, and Clem Robins.

| Published by Dark Horse

Invaders #3 adds more fuel to the fire with an uncaring American military moving forward on a perceived and actual threat from Atlantis and more questions about Namor’s past and possible mental instability. Chip Zdarsky is doing some very interesting things with plot threads spilling out of Secret Empire and acting as essentially a bridge between Avengers and Captain America.

| Published by Marvel

Isola #7 sees our duo come across a quarry town full of women who’ve had their children and men snatched up by the war or worse. It’s an interesting development of the real human cost of war, but it also opens up a mystery as to what or who is really taking the kids, and what they’re possibly becoming. Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Msassyk, and Aditya Bidikar continue to produce one of the most beautiful, intriguing, and entertaining comics on the shelves right now.

| Published by Image

The Lollipop Kids #4 has some absolutely stunning artwork from Diego Yapur and DC Alonso. Previous issues have been incredibly impressive, but some of the compositions in this one take it to a whole other level.

| Published by AfterShock

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #3 reveals just how thoroughly insane the Ozymandias-styled, world-“saving”, alternate Cannon is as Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou continue to push this story in intriguing directions. It’s funny, because the conflict, the superhero battles, feel like window-dressing for something else still. Especially as the “good” Cannon traverses panels.

| Published by Dynamite

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 is another entertaining debut under the new “Archie Forever” initiative, from Kelly Thompson, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish, and Jack Morelli. Like the previous titles, it appears as though there isn’t a lot (or possibly any) of overlap with the other series, introducing us to this rebooted Sabrina’s family. It’s off to a good start, familiar faces in play, humour abounding, Salem being a little bellend, and the mystery of a wendigo.

| Published by Archie

Sharkey: The Bounty Hunter #2 is worth it for Simone Bianchi’s gorgeous artwork alone. Bianchi has always been an interesting artist, with inventive layouts and character designs, rich colour choices, and a beautiful soft-focus, painted style, all of that on display here for this story.

| Published by Image

The Silencer #15 is a bit bittersweet since we know that it’s ending now, I would have hoped given how tied to Leviathan that it is that the series would at least see a tie-in to the forthcoming Event Leviathan, but sadly no. In the mean time, we’re still getting an excellent action comic from Dan Abnett, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Mike Spicer, and Tom Napolitano.

| Published by DC Comics

Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #2 is another excellent self-contained story exploring Darth Vader’s effect on others, from Dennis Hallum, Brian Level, Jordan Boyd, and Joe Caramagna. This one takes a look at the desperation and recklessness that fear of Vader’s wrath can have on someone. The layouts from Level are phenomenal.

| Published by Marvel

Stone Star #1 is a great digital original debut from Jim Zub, Max Dunbar, Espen Grundetjern, and Marshall Dillon. It introduces us to a pair of scavengers on a planet being visited by a travelling battle arena ship, kind of taking its cue from hero shooters like Overwatch and more traditional fighting games like Mortal Kombat. There’s an interesting hook of human (or alien) trafficking to go along with the coming-of-age tale that’s set up as one of the scavengers, Dail, is offered a chance to possibly study and train with the gladiators. Great art and character designs from Dunbar and Grundetjern.

| Published by Swords & Sassery

Transformers #2 engaged me a bit more than the first issue. It’s still very methodical and slow in its pacing and revelations, but there are some interesting hooks in the mystery of who murdered Brainstorm and in who was taking potshots at the Ascenticon rally. The mix of politics and self-determination through will to power is certainly an interesting concept from Brian Ruckley.

| Published by IDW

William Gibson’s Alien 3 #5 concludes what has been an excellent adaptation of Gibson’s screenplay by Johnnie Christmas, Tamra Bonvillain, and Nate Piekos. This final chapter ramps up the action and the stakes as the remaining survivors try to flee the station before blowing it and the aliens inside up. Tons of great horrific art from Christmas and Bonvillain.

| Published by Dark Horse

Wonder Woman #67 continues “Giants War”, with G. Willow Wilson doing a decent job of further rehabilitating Giganta. Also some interesting developments regarding the titans that may not be titans.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: 30 Days of Night 100 Page Giant, The Avant-Guards #3, Beyonders #5, Black Panther #10, Black Widow #3, Bone Parish #8, Books of Magic #6, Breakneck #4, Cinema Purgatorio #17, Detective Comics #1000, DuckTales #19, Fantastic Four #8, Femme Magnifique: 10 Magnificent Women who Changed the World, Fight Club 3 #3, Freedom Fighters #4, GI Joe: Sierra Muerte #2, GLOW #1, Goddess Mode #4, Hardcore #4, Hex Wives #6, Ice Cream Man #11, Invader Zim #41, Ironheart #4, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal #8, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Coronation #12, Jughead: The Hunger #13, Justice League Odyssey #7, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest #5, Martian Manhunter #4, Marvel Comics Presents #3, Marvel Rising #1, Mera: Tidebreaker, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #37, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #41, Outcast #40, Punks Not Dead: London Calling #2, Quincredible #5, The Realm #12, Rick & Morty #48, Rick & Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Director’s Cut #1, Sabrina: The Teenage Witch #1, These Savage Shores #1 - Black & White Edition, Spawn #295, Spider-Man/Deadpool #48, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #30, Star Wars Adventures #19, Super Sons: The Polarshield Project, Superior Spider-Man #4, TMNT: Urban Legends #11, The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #5, Viking Queen, Wasted Space #8

Recommended Collections: Animosity: Evolution - Volume 2: Lex Machina, Asgardians of the Galaxy - Volume 1: Infinity Armada, The Ballad of Sang, Barrier - Limited Edition Slipcase Set, Charlie’s Angels - Volume 1, Cloak & Dagger: Negative Exposure, Coda - Volume 1, Flash - Volume 9: Reckoning of the Forces, Mind MGMT Omnibus - Volume 1, Ms. Marvel - Volume 10: Time and Again, Regression - Volume 3, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle - Volume 2, TMNT: Rise of the TMNT - Volume 1, War Bears

d. emerson eddy is just a worthless liar. He is just an imbecile. He will only complicate you. Trust in him and fall as well.

#This Week in Comics

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15-dollars-and-a-dream · 6 years ago

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Just Call Me Magic Dragon [EDH]

[Full List Here]

We received an Anonymous request to build a $50 Silumgar list. The final list ended up coming in just under budget at $49.60 going off the lowest current prices on TCG Player.

Silumgar is a fun commander who makes use of your opponents resources. I thought about taking Silumgar in more of a good-stuff direction, but UB is tough on a budget. So instead I leaned into the theft theme and built a deck that’s main win-con is other peoples decks.

Remember, if you’ve got a request for a deck send us an ask!

At its heart this is a control deck. Utilizing card draw like Notion Theif and Mystic Confluence to keep your hand full while either countering threats with cards like Disallow and Supreme Will, or by stealing them with cards like Control Magic and Volition Reins. Things can also be preemptively dealt with by cards like Nightveil Specter and Silent-Blade Oni.

What I find interesting about this deck is that its strength directly scales to the power of opponents decks. If they have a really weak deck the things you are stealing will not be worth it but if they’re throwing down stuff like Avacyn or Elesh Norn then suddenly these effects become much stronger. Inversely, if everyone is playing Terezi Foodchain and comboing off on turn 1 then it probably isn’t very effective at all.

Stay chill, stay hydrated. Love you. -IZ

#mtg #magic the gathering #edh #commander #iz #theft #clone #control

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berniesrevolution · 6 years ago

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THE INTERCEPT

Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, will face hostile opposition from many Democratic senators during his confirmation process. This will not be a first-time experience for him: When George W. Bush nominated Kavanaugh in 2003 to be a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, he was regarded as such a controversial and extremist choice that his nomination lingered for three full years, until he was finally confirmed in 2006.

In the final Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s 2006 confirmation, every Democratic senator voted against him except for four — three of them from deep red states (Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, and West Virginia’s Robert Byrd). But the fourth Democratic vote for Kavanaugh came from a senator from a deeply blue state: Delaware’s Tom Carper. Carper is the only Democrat still in the U.S. Senate who voted to confirm Kavanaugh in 2006; all the others voted against.

“If I had known 12 years ago how Judge Kavanaugh would have ruled on any number of issues, including health care and the environment, I never would have voted for him in 2006,” he said in a statement. “I have no intention of voting for him now.” Immediately after Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement was announced, Carper said he would not support any nominee until after November.

Carper’s 2006 vote is particularly relevant now, as the three-term Democratic incumbent faces a primary challenge from Kerri Evelyn Harris, a U.S. Air Force veteran and community organizer whose campaign is based on the argument that Carper has served the corporate and militarized interests that have funded his campaigns over the people of Delaware. She would be a more progressive, less militaristic, and less corporatist senator than Carper.

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The first serious challenge to a Democratic incumbent this cycle came against Rep. Dan Lipinski, an Illinois Democrat who bucks the party on most of its key issues, on everything from the minimum wage to abortion rights to marriage equality. Neither Rep. Joe Crowley, defeated in June, nor Carper fit that mold — both are broadly in line with the party on social policy and on issues such as environmental protection. Indeed, despite his support for some Trump nominees, Carper, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has gone to war against this administration’s environmental policy and has been out front in opposing Environmental Protection Agency boss Scott Pruitt, who Carper helped force out, and several of his cronies. As The Intercept reported at the time, Carper’s good relations with Republicans, combined with his aggressive opposition to some nominees, helped sink a number of Trump appointments.

He has the backing of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Delaware AFL-CIO, Delaware Laborers, Delaware State Education Association, Delaware Stonewall political action committee, and the state Democratic Party. But the question for Delaware Democrats will come down to whether that’s good enough in an era defined by fierce resistance and a concern that big money has rendered the party unable to champion the working class.

Harris, meanwhile, would also be the first woman, the first African-American, and the first openly LGBT candidate to be elected as a U.S. senator for Delaware. She grew up in Peekskill, in Westchester County, New York, then moved to Fullerton, California, and was raised by a biracial couple involved in civil rights work. The Air Force took her to Dover, Delaware, and she has made it her home ever since.

The similarities between this race and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s win over Crowley last month are obvious. Ahead of the New York election, Harris went to Queens to canvass for Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign, and Ocasio-Cortez recently urged support for Harris, who’s running on a platform that includes “Medicare for All,” demilitarizing the police, decriminalizing drugs, reining in the surveillance state, and abolishing cash bail.

And the organization that recruited and most heavily backed Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, is preparing to throw its full weight behind Harris, organizers there tell The Intercept.

One of Harris’s unique attributes is that — unlike the military veterans the Democratic Party is now fond of recruiting in order to make the party awash in themes of militarism and war glorification — she has a vehement peace platform that could have added potency because of her military background. From the war on terror and military spending to Israel and Yemen, Harris’s positions are assertively anti-war and pro-peace, including her argument, rarely heard in Democratic politics, that bombing other countries creates the kind of turmoil that can blowback on the United States. As she said in her kickoff speech:

As an air crew member transporting troops and equipment from Dover Air Force Base across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, I witnessed the costs of war. I saw soldiers suffering from PTSD and other physical ailments. And I can tell you, I have seen what our current policies do to our veterans and it is unacceptable.

When our current legislators fail to properly consider the consequences of their decisions, they risk American and foreign lives, our national security, and the balance of power throughout the world. Our leaders need to exhaust all diplomatic solutions before resorting to military action because all too often the unintended consequences of military conflict leave behind remnants of crumbling infrastructure and human lives in need of repair — broken governments and feelings of resentment which create breeding grounds for terrorist ideology.

There are, to be sure, meaningful differences between the Delaware primary and the race won by Ocasio-Cortez, beginning with the fact that Carper is far better known, and a far more devoted retail politician, than Crowley was. Crowley didn’t live in the district, while Carper takes the train home to Delaware each night. And Delaware is not New York City. While its population isn’t much greater, the time it takes to travel from top to bottom adds a challenging element to the organizing. Wilmington, where the most voters live, has a high population of black and brown Democrats the Harris campaign hopes it can turn out, while not ignoring the more rural and suburban parts of the state.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #the intercept #alexandria ocasio cortez #kerri harris #deleware #2018 elections #Justice Democrats #progressive #progressive movement

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padawanlost · 6 years ago

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I don't know about you but I found it always really weird how the prequel senators are all ~**uuh democracy~** when they were never elected and most planets aren't democracys and even the posterchild (and one of the only ones i can think of) elects little kids which honestly screams of puppet leaders (padme being the exception) and their anger over the empire seems more as anger over loosing power more than anything else

I agreewith you on the general hypocrisy of the Senate but before we get into that it’simportant to keep in mind that the GFFA’s democracy doesn’t work the same way asours. Their Republic existed to organizeand control everything involving the entire galaxy like trade between planets.They defended democracy as the notion that everyone in the senate had a voice,it was not about every citizen on every planet. Each planet had it’s ownculture and history when it comes to pick rulers and their representatives inthe Senate. Padmé was big on thedemocracy all around. Naboo’s rulers were all elected by popular vote (I’m notgetting into the Gungans situations right now, okay?) and it was considered avery democratic planet (their rules being called Queens/Kings were more aboutGeorge keeping his princesses/knights themes than an actual parallel to monarchy).Alderaan, on the other hand, was constitutional monarchy with the rulers beingchosen only from between the ruling families.

The Galactic Republic was a representative democracy, composed ofvarious star systems, sectorsand member worlds throughout most of the known galaxy. Its central governmentconsisted of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The first wasthe Galactic Senate, a bodyof elected or appointed representatives. Its main duties included mediating disputes over issues ranging fromplanetary to galactic-scale, regulating trade routes between star systems, and INTHEORY, represented the interests of Republic citizens. The Office of the Supreme Chancellorwas the Senate’s executive counterpart. The Supreme Chancellor was elected from theranks of the Senate by its members. As the leader of the Senate and the overallrepresentative of the Republic, the Chancellor also held the titles Head of State and President. The judicial branch consistedof the Supreme Court and the lower Regional Courts. TheSupreme Court was composed of twelve justices, oneof whom held the leadership position of Chief Justice. Throughoutmost of its history as the dominant galactic power, the Republic did not styleitself as a strong centralized government, but rather as a union of sovereignplanets for the purposes of collective security and economic prosperity. [x]

The Republic was not agroup of politicians who directly ruled over the planets. It was a group ofrulers (democratically elected or not) who decided on the best interests of itsmembers. As @redrikki mentioned here,the Republic is more like our UN than an actual country. Padmé’s love fordemocracy in general makes sense when we consider her background but for manysenator the democracy they defended was nothing more than the right to protecttheir planet’s interest on a larger scale. Which makes so much sense when wethink about how disconnected the Senate was from the rest of the population.

And, yes, they wereabsolutely more worried about losing THEIR power and influence than they wereabout democracy itself. They were okay with Palpatine slowly stripping away everyone’srights until he decided to take it from senators and the jedi then, and onlythen, they decided he was taking too much.

“I am no happier than the rest of you about this,” Padmé said, gesturingat the flimsiplast of the Sector Governance Decree on Bail Organa’s desk. “ButI’ve known Palpatine for years; he was my most trusted adviser. I’m notprepared to believe his intent is to dismantle the Senate.” “Why should he bother?”Mon Mothma countered. “As a practicalmatter—as of this morning—the Senate no longer exists.” Padmé looked fromone grim face to another. Giddean Danu nodded his agreement. Terr Taneel kepther eyes down, pretending to be adjusting her robes. Fang Zar ran a hand overhis unruly gray-streaked topknot. Bail leaned forward. His eyes were hard aschips of stone. “Palpatine no longer has to worry about controlling the Senate.By placing his own lackeys as governors over every planet in the Republic, hecontrols our systems directly.” He folded his hands, and squeezed them togetheruntil his knuckles hurt. “He’s become adictator. We made him a dictator.” And he’s my husband’s friend, and mentor,Padmé thought. I shouldn’t even be listening to this. [Matthew Stover’s Revengeof the Sith]

“A fight?” Padmé said. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing—Bail, yousound like a Separatist!” “I—” Bail sank back into his seat. “I apologize.That was not my intent. I asked you all here because of all the Senators in thegalaxy, you four have been the most consistent—and influential—voices of reasonand restraint, doing all you could to preserve our poor, tattered Constitution.We don’t want to hurt the Republic. Withyour help, we hope to save it.” “It has become increasingly clear,” MonMothma said, “that Palpatine has become an enemy of democracy. He must bestopped.” “The Senate gave him thesepowers,” Padmé said. “The Senate can rein him in.” Giddean Danu satforward. “I fear you underestimate just how deeply the Senate’s corruption hastaken hold. Who will vote against Palpatine now?” “I will,” Padmé said. Shediscovered that she meant it. “And I’ll find others, too.” [Matthew Stover’s Revengeof the Sith]

If Padmé herself had suchtrouble even accepting what was happening and saw any attempt to removePalpatine as “treason”, it’s safe to assume so did most people. Until she wastold her powers (as a senator) no longer mattered she was stanning Palpatine asChancellor even when she disagreed with him. this is a result of Padmé’s blindfaith in the system but it’s also result of her (every senator) extremely privilegedbackground. The Senate and the Jedi Order suffered from the same problem: theygot so comfortable in their power and position they didn’t realize what washappening until their power was directly threatened. The Chancellorwants to use a slave army to fight a war that’s consuming all the Republicresources and leaving its citizens in poverty and fear? Okay, fair enough. Thechancellor wants to diminish the power of the senate and the Jedi Order? Sedition!

#ask #anon #gffa politics #sw meta #txt

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themonsterblogofmonsters · 6 years ago

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Monsterblog Recommends: Westworld

So Westworld grabbed me by the shoulders when it came out the other year, pushed my face into their glorious sets and beautiful story and complex characters and went “I DID THIS THING, DO YOU LIKE IT.”

Yes. Yes I do.

Westworld [I don’t think I even can spoiler this thing]

[yes it is playing with vitruvian man-esque imagery there]

1. What is Westworld?

It’s a HBO TV series also available on Amazon, if I recall rightly, about a Wild West themed park with humanlike androids called “hosts” fulfilling what are basically NPC roles within it. These hosts are exceptional AIs who’ve passed over the uncanny valley - they look, act and feel as real as any actual human, the only difference is they can’t do you any actual harm even if they wished to.

As the story goes on it covers the potential for self-aware and truly sapient hosts, the morality and ethical questions of murdering or otherwise harming hosts, the ease with which human beings will dehumanise or erase the personhood of other creatures and all of this done without rendering every last human a horrible person.

2. Why I’m Recommending It

And there’s the reason why I’m recommending it: “and all of this done without rendering every last human a horrible person.”

I mean, some of them are horrible people but that’s not the point. The point is that they are also people. Living, breathing, thinking people with their own emotions and drives and while they may do heinous things you are ALSO allowed to see why they do this, see the times when they are more than just the evil they commit - you get to see the times they can be kind or gentle or caring too.

You get to see characters dehumanise someone horribly in one scene and be capable of supreme empathy in the next and this isn’t bad characterisation! This is because this is how humans are. We can love hugely, but so too can we hate or dismiss or simply not care, and so too in Westworld. We see human characters dehumanising or dismissing hosts only to show incredible care and sympathy to other humans later that same episode - sometimes even that same scene.

It reminds us, I think, of one of the most important things: we too can be awful. We can know why we’re awful, and not even think of it as awful but that doesn’t mean we aren’t awful. And at the same time: it doesn’t mean we’re necessarily less. We just have to remember to extend the same level of care to more people and try to rein in our awful habits.

Can you tell I’m big on empathy and being nice to people?

Other reasons to watch this show are just... the cast, I mean damn the cast is excellent. There’s a good mix if generally attractive faces and actually interesting faces, and the costuming department is excellent which makes it easier to keep track of who’s who if you have trouble with that, but also the entire cast is phenomenal and can make you really feel with them. I genuinely can’t think of a single character who is poorly portrayed.

Further: the story has four main leads for the two big main storylines. Of these two are women and two are people of colour. Maeve and Dolores are both within the park for the majority of the story, Ford and Bernard are in the facility. The main antagonist - who is arguably a secondary character because while he helps drive the plot he’s not the focus in the first season so much as the other four are - is an old white guy who reads as seeming extremely entitled... but also remains human in some really unexpected ways.

[this is dolores - left - and maeve - right. both are EXCELLENT characters with far more depth than you’d ever think]

All of these characters are excellent and full of depth and will tug at you in different ways. We all have our particular favourites - of the main four mine is probably Maeve with Dolores and Bernard tied for second which says a lot as that means last place is Ford who is played by Anthony goddamn Hopkins.

[ford - left - and bernard - right. i adore bernard he’s deeply endearing to me while ford is just a bastard but one which is incredibly intricately fascinating]

The costuming and sets are amazing throughout as are special effects when they use them.

And the last thing really is the best and most important thing here which is the story:

God Fucking Damn, That Story.

Not a scene is wasted, not a line. Everything has it’s part to play every single thing will come back later one way or another. Not in the main action necessarily, not even necessarily with the same characters but a comment will reoccur in a way as to cause you pain, an implication will circle back around to bite you when you least expect it, something from one scene will... echo in another and you will just.

There is A Lot going on and A Lot being juggled but they do so perfectly so that when the climax hits, when all of the plot threads spiral back in from the far web they’ve been spun out into it makes sense. It makes perfect sense. Suddenly everything clicks, sometimes in ways you didn’t expect, sometimes in ways you did, but all of it in a way that leaves you half reeling as you go Oh. Oh that’s what was going on.

It finds you, it takes your heart in it’s hands and it squeezes and as the story coalesces in your head it just leaves you shocked and amazed in front of your screen.

3. Less Good Things / Trigger Warnings

Now, I’m gonna preface this with the fact that I can be a) kind of oblivious to some stuff unless it’s pretty blatantly in my face and b) I always end up caught up in what the thing is making me think about which distracts me from stuff which could be more triggering. I may be missing stuff. I’ve asked some friends to look this over and point out if there’s more stuff I should add, but like. GENERAL FOREWARNING FIRST.

Anyway, onwards:

It’s a HBO show, so there is some stuff reminiscent or at least indicating towards rape and sexual assault. A couple of pretty outright bits and some stuff that’s more just... a general suggestion. So far as I recall you don’t actually see it clearly, barring... maybe one scene? That said if you’re a thinky person, you may take issue with more than just the outright stuff, because when it comes to the hosts the nature of their ability to give consent is really really questionable, so when you get to there just... be aware if that’s likely to be hard for you to handle.

But yeah. Rape and sexual assault are things in this both more and less explicit and thats something to be aware of. Do feel free to skip ahead of those scenes if you think you can’t handle it. Do feel free to not watch if you don’t think you can handle it in any context.

There’s gore. Quite a bit of it. Blood all over the show, brains blown out, heads scalped, and the scalp kept to be used as a map, of sorts. There’s some stuff which is kind of ...creepy with how the tech’s mess with the hosts and also host construction and all that.

There’s also a fair bit of nudity though it has two things going for it: it’s very... casual? most of the time, the nudity is NOT the focus, and the other thing is that it’s very equal opportunity. As with Altered Carbon there are times it could be MORE equal opportunity but it does a pretty damn good job as-is.

It has a fair bit of just general sex as well like. If that’s not your thing (its not really mine, I tend to skim those scenes most of the time) forewarning, though I will say that I do think this series is worth sitting through that for sake of what it does. Like Devilman Crybaby it does a great deal that elevates it beyond just the show of sex and gore.

Oh, and two characters burn to death while having excellent vicious yet somehow deeply affectionate sex in what is possibly one of my favourite scenes of the entire show and note that I am ace and don’t usually care for sex scenes at all.

Like, its a horrible scene on one level because they are burning to death but ALSO it’s a moment of incredible character culmination and plot moments peaking together and it’s phenomenal on a level which - for me at least - took away the horror. I don’t know if it will for you, though, so: warning.

4. SPoILERS And Further Points

[there’s no spoilers in this section. instead, have this lovely eerie picture from the opening]

I flatly refuse to spoiler this show. I may talk about stuff that happens later on but the thing is half of the individual events that happen aren’t the plot. The plot is more than that. The plot makes you think. The plot demands of you that you question. The things that happen are simply the external result of internal character action and development and they can be beautiful and they can be horrifying and they can destroy your heart and soul in the best way, but more often than not the acts are not the point.

The point is what those acts mean.

I did the guide on Think for a reason. Because for some of the stuff I’ll be recommending it demands it of you, to question and wonder and dig in with both hands and possibly a team of excavators. If you’re not up for thinking to that degree, no worries, just skip this for now. If you don’t have the spoons, I understand. If you want to get a head start on this kind of thing I’d instead direct you... probably to my rec of Discworld, to be honest, as that purposefully pulls at and directs your thinking as it goes, rather than simply requiring and expecting it of you.

This one asks you to think from the very start. It has multiple plot threads across time that demands you figure out placement and moments as you go which isn’t the easiest with all of the other stuff it’s making you ask and question about the story and even your own assumptions.

So... no spoilers here, but just further points - go into this with your thinking caps on, and be prepared for a lot of stuff to be thrown at you from unexpected directions.

5. Further Reading

I only have one big recommendation for further reading that I think is arguably essential reading once you’ve watched the show and that would be a meta. Now, this meta is not filled with spoilers, but it does assume you’ve watched what there is of season 2 - please go Here to read @circuitbird’s excellent meta.

For stuff where you don’t have to watch the show, then This list provides a good set of things he show pokes into.

I’m also going to give you a piece of the soundtrack to listen to because Ramin Djawadi knocked it out of the park with his choices for this thing, both original composition and covers and classical choices. This is the cover of Paint it, Black that was used during an absolutely excellent scene in Season 1 and I honestly just think that everyone needs it in their life? There’s also This, which is likewise excellent.

I hope you guys watch this show, because it is genuinely superb.

#monsterblog recommends #westworld #westworld season 1 #westworld season 2

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