#them and The Lords mvp teams this event

[tomfrogisblue]

I'm still so stoked at scar and phil finally being teamed together

they both got that goofy energy that bounces perfectly off each other ❤️

(also a dream come true with hotguy and the crowfather absolutely OWNING at meltdown)

[sillyname30]

I just listened to the latest episode of and that's what you really missed on Glee.

Jenna enjoyed working with Lord Tubbington.

Kevin on the scene in the choir room after they heard the shots: Buecker was like let's not worry about what's on the page at all. Let's walk through the series of events. And so the rehearsal was much longer than it normaly would have been because we'd never done anything like this and once we sort of figured that out, he worked with Andrew to figure out where is everybody going to go and how do we cover them. We filmed that whole scene in one take. There were special shots setups afterwards. But for what's called the master we did it all the way through. It felt like we were challenging ourselves on an acting level, on a crew level, on a directing level to do something we had never done as a team before.

Some things were scripted, but others were ad-libbed.

For the goodbyes the camera operator got dressed in Artie's clothes and Kevin was standing behind him talking.

Jenna: When I went  into rehearsal for the scene with Darren in the hallway at the end and I was so emotional that usually they shoot the wide first the master and then move in for coverage. Brad Buecker saw how emotinal I was he was like we have to go for coverage right now. He's like I don't want to loose this moment that feels very real. So we did that first and then we did wide and then Darren''s coverage as well.

Cringe moment: the whole episode

best song: Say (Jenna), More Than Words (Kevin)

performance mvp: Heather

[butwhatifidothis]

Finally finished AG and here’re my thoughts:

under the cut it goes

Seeing Dimitri and the Lions hold a deep trust in one another and seeing the lengths everyone's willing to go to to keep each other safe was very refreshing to see after both GW and 3H proper. The non-lord Lions feel less like the peanut gallery and more like actual proper characters, and seeing their bonds be able to blossom here is just nice to see

The suspicions thrown towards Claude in this route are the one time in this whole game where they feel not only unwarranted, but at times straight up random. He never does anything to earn this much ire from so many in AG, and the one thing he could have possibly done - Sreng, in Sylvain's paralogue - couldn't possibly be known to have been done by Claude to anyone in AG, so it's just kinda jarring. And that's even if it's meant to be the case that Claude did do the Sreng shit in AG too, because either 1) it arbitrarily doesn't work in AG, or 2) he arbitrarily doesn't do it. But saying all this:

Seeing Claude act like Claude is sooooo nice. I know I know that he's probably meant to not be trusted or whatever but AG does legit nothing to make me distrust him so I get to say that the Hopes' janitorial team managed to sneak in 3H!Claude in AG under the writers' notice. The stank-eye he throws at Rhea at the end was just his regular level of sus and he stops once he learns some truth from her and he doesn't try to kill innocents to murder her for no reason lmaoooo that's my AU happy ending.

My by-far biggest gripe with AG is my gripe with Hopes in general: how much Edelgard gets away with so much shit. No guys, Edelgard didn't start the war, DIMITRI did when he took in the Church! See guys, Dimitri is praising Edelgard's reforms, look how good she is!! Look guys, Adrestia gets SO BAD when Edelgard's not the one in charge, she was running things so well!! And you can't do anything to Edelgard to bring her to justice - look at the poor girl, reduced to nothing but a child! How could you ever wish more harm on her? :( This is a foundational problem with all of Hopes, but man does is hurt more in AG considering how well it manages to to most of the other stuff.

Dimitri being able to (purposefully) take down the true perpetrators of the Tragedy, being able to directly help Duscur, and gain some semblance of peace because of it? That was nice lmao, actually felt like something was happening looking through the supports/exploration dialogue/story events pertaining to that.

Do NOT appreciate how AG deadass tries to gaslight the player about certain things that happened. No AG, I didn't learn shit all about Shez or their powers; knowing the name of the source of them doesn't do jack about the why's or the what's or the how's. No AG, the war isn't still ongoing (at least on the good end, which is the only one I've seen so far); Lobotogard ain't doin' shit, Ferdinand and Hubert are still missing, Aegir's dead, Varley's dead, Bergliez and Hevring couldn't do shit against the Kingdom or Alliance individually let alone as a combined force, Thales and all of his TWS lackeys are dead, there is no one left to fight and the war is over. Like with the suspicion thrown at Claude, it just feels so forced on the player so that they leave the game feeling unfinished, when in fact everything is... finished. You can really feel the “noooo but no one can be happy without Byleth as a teacher :(” thing the devs had goin’ on here; it’s just too bad they forgot to like. Make that true to the story of AG lmao, so it’s not dissatisfaction I feel but dissonance.

JUICEGRID BEEFGRID ALL-MIGHTY ALL-POWERFUL INGRID FLYING IN TO SMITE HER FOES. She ended the game at Level 64. Shez was the closest at 55. The next highest was in their 40's. Her highest MVP streak at the credits was 7 in a row. Hilariously fun to play as her, and unironically became a big factor in my - and my sis' - enjoyment of AG because of how big of an inside-joke she became. Literally all of the stat boosters went to her. She had 97 Spd. Her sensitivity training paid off big time.

I have mixed feelings, as you can see lmao. Overall, I did very much enjoy AG, even with my negatives regarding it and Hopes in general. In a way it's gonna make my SB playthrough even harder to sit through, knowing that this isn't just the peak of the game, but the only real enjoyment period I'll get from it (other than the first 8 chapters of GW). Or maybe since my expectations for SB are so low now it can't possibly match it, and thus it'll be better than I think it will be lmaoooo only one way to find out

[fireemblems24]

Azure Moon: Chapter 17

I'm an emotional wreck right now.

If you're looking for a coherent review of events - this isn't it. I'm going to need to cry in a corner for a bit first.

Pre Battle:

Oh, right. Now Gilbert and Rodrigue are talking about fog. Did they just forget to make this Fog or War or something? Not that I'm complaining.

Oh, boy, Duscur talk. Poor Rodrigue. He lost a best friend and two sons that day 😭I still hope Felix forgives him. I really don't think Rodrigue did anything wrong.

So I had to look up who Lady Patricia was again, and please, dear God, no. Please tell me Dimitri's step-mother didn't arrange that.

The writers are like - how much trauma can we shove into one character: all of it. Oh, wait, oh wait, let's have his step-mother arrange his brutal death too! Oh, great idea. 😑

HOLY SHIT - DIMITRI ALMOST DIED AT DUSCUR. HE DIDN'T TELL ME THAT. OMG. All this time.

So he spent the whole time talking about how everyone else got hurt and didn't even mention he ALMOST DIED 😭😭😭😭. This character makes my heart hurt.

So are we gonna see Patricia again? Is she part of that evil mage group?? God I hope not.

Oh, no, the messenger to the Alliance got killed. That explains how the game is going to be like - no two lords for you! - even when it makes more sense to team up in AM. Did this happen in VW too? That would explain why Dimitri didn't want to join Claude tbh.

Sounds like a pretty brutal death too. 100% picked it was the Empire. Dimitri's all about it lol.

Oh, "Maiden" Fleche is back.

Good God this feels 100x more epic on AM than VW. I'm honestly starting to feel sorry for Claude. He got done dirty compared to the other two.

And now it's Ferdinand's birthday. Now is not the time, bro.

I'm betting it's the same cut scene? I get to see Dimitri say "Kill every last one of them again" lol.

Edelgard be like - last time we were classmates fighting, this time I'm here to kill all of you and take over your lands.

Battle:

Alright - the battle. Thankfully I have Bernie recruited so no more fires for her, poor thing.

Lysithea and Ignatz are on here though. I'm assuming Claude retreats? Probably not the other two. But I'm trying to stick to the "kill everyone" (or I guess I should say "Kill every last one of them!" lol).

Gotta have Dimitri fight Claude and Edelgard to get that sweet-sweet dialogue.

Dimitri's just going to solo the alliance troops. Batallion Wrath/Vantage/Retribution is one hell of a drug. Just gotta watch out for gambits, but only really worried about Claude tbh.

Claude's range is too big, which is why Dimitri's taking that route. Thematically I'd love to watch him just solo all the Empire troops, but I can't risk Claude flying around if I want that unique battle dialogue.

LAMO - Byleth crit Hubert. Though, interesting note. In VW, Dedue insists he can still fight when he's defeated, and Dimitri tells him to get off the battlefield and live (rudely). Hubert says he needs to retreat, and Edelgard says nothing about his injuries.

Oh, shit, Petra too. Didn't see her there.

And now Leonie and Hilda too. Does Hilda retreat like Hubert and Dedue?

So Leonie, Lysithea, and Ignatz are dead. Hilda, Petra, and Hubert retreated. Hubert really likes to show up, get his ass handed to him, and then retreat. Who do you end up doing this to more, Hubert or the Death Knight?

Guys, I think Dimitri might have an issue with Edelgard. If you let them fight each other in VW, does he say the same thing?

OMG Edelgard philosophizing about death after Dimitri's like - pick a way to die. For some reason this is amusing.

And then he crits. Dimitri likes doing that.

Oh, shocking, she retreats too.

OMG Dimitri was MVP (shocking, I know), but it's so amusing to see "Dimitri's motivation is maxed out" right after criting Edelgard.

Post Battle:

So Dimitri goes to chase after Edelgard, which kills him in VW.

Man he sounds so enraged - like a setback after the progress. And yelling at Rodrigue 😭

Oh, shit, what is Fleche doing here.

Man, this is so much more intense than VW.

Oh shit - Fleche stabbed Dimitri. OMG. Saw that coming. Rodrgue's so worried.

Oh shit. Oh God. Rodrigue just died saving Dimitri, didn't he? Dimitri wasn't even going to fight back, was he?

OMG 😭😭😭😭😭😭

He's really dying guys. Why.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

WHY DID HE DIE THOUGH?

"Live for what you believe in. Your life is your own."

If I ever hear anyone shit-talk Rodrigue, I'm going to have words.

Oh, shit Felix. Felix never made up with his father.

Nevermind, I want VW back. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

(Oh, wait, nevermind, Dimitri just died in VW. I take that back)

Chris Hackey though. (I get the feeling he really liked Dimitri. How could you not, though?)

Oh shit guys, I'm getting watery-eyed.

Rodrigue just fucking died saving Dimitri.

Yo - Lambert is hot though. WHY DO ALL THAT HOT OLDER GUYS DIE? Please someone look out for Seteth.

Oh, shit Lambert should've listened to Rodrigue.

Rodrigue is so loyal and good. Fuck any haters.

On a side note - Byleth pretty badass taking Fleche out.

Ok - here comes the Byleth part.

Dimitri's "I haven't slept in a week" look is gone.

Oh, shit, where is he going? He's going to leave, isn't he?

C'mon, Byleth, don't let him leave. 😭😭😭

Dimitri thinks he'd just too far gone 😭😭😭😭😭😭

There's Survivor's Guilt, and then there's Dimitri, holy shit.

OMG his little voice wavers asking the professor for answers. Dimitri's going to be the end of me.

Also - Chris Hackney is a gem. Like, all the VAs are pretty good with a few exceptions, but Dimitri demands more range than most of them, and he sells all of it. It's what Dimitri deserves though.

I picked "You must forgive yourself," because holy hell 😭😭😭

He really just thinks he has no value, doesn't he. 😭😭😭

"As the sole survivor of that day, do I . . . Do I have the right to live for myself?" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

And Byleth just reaches out her hand again 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Your hands are so warm . . . have they always ben" 😭😭😭

Shit, man, I don't like Byleth much, but this is good shit. Maybe I like Byleth a little.

Next Chapter title is "The King's Triumphant Return" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hell yeah, we're going to free the Kingdom!

Does this mean I get Dimitri's supports now?

Oh, boy, Dimitri's here. And Dedue's worried about his wounds. OFC he is.

He sounds so normal now.

Dimitri's apologizing. Is it weird to feel proud of a character? Because I feel proud of a character.

"I wish to do the right thing from now on." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OMG, Dimitri, this route is an emotional ride.

Hell yeah, let's go kick the Empire out of the Kingdom!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

He's finally going to start living for himself, I'm just feel like a proud mom.

OMG FELIX CALLED HIM DIMITRI. WHY IS THIS ROUTE LIKE THIS?😭😭😭

I love all the Blue Lions so much. They're all precious.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E16 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 352 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 338 Responses

This episode gained a lot of positive responses with 87.6% rating it at a 5, with only a couple people not so impressed. Hopefully future episodes will keep up the high streak!

As it stands right now, this is my favorite episode from the anime. How the Beast Titan's rampage was animated was so much more horrific and impactful than the manga, I felt more sympathy with Erwin than I did when I read the manga, and the final series of scenes that depict the suicide charge were so masterfully done I felt my heart grow heavy. Absolutely spectacular. I hope the next episode is even better <3

It was fucking amazing. Perfect game, more like perfect episode

Great job all around the board imo. The rock throwing was truly horrifying either the red mist, and the screams were done perfectly

So far easily the most harrowing, depressing episode of the anime :/

Even though I knew what it is going to happen in this ep, wit has managed to surprise me. Best episode of the season so far with the first one.

Favorite episode of the series so far

It was great, but the poor animation quality really ruins some serious moments in this arc, as many people are dying

Just Perfect, the tension and release were just on point 👌

Took the crown from S2EP6 as the best of the series for me.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 349 Responses

A lot of attention was on Erwin this chapter and many were moved by his scenes. Most notably, his charge with his soldiers at the Beast Titan led with 28.9% respondents picking it as their favorite moment. 17.8% respondents said Levi kneeling in front of Erwin and vowing to take down Zeke was their favorite, followed by Erwin’s motivational speech at 14.3%.

Bombardment scene was made 30 times better in the anime.

It was the moment we were all waiting for, and it happened and now I'm like a deflated balloon of emotion. Thank you, Erwin.

The imagery of the fallen scouts chilled me and I loved that included Isabel, Farlan, Isle Lagnar etc but my anger towards Annie has been resurged seeing Petra's face. Female titan I'll never forgive you for wrecking Levi Squad!

Erwin and Levi's relationship is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen, and I was happy seeing how it was portrayed, finally. With them having cut so many of the moments that showed Erwin as human, I'm glad they took the time to draw the moment of his smile so much. Long live my Commander, I would have followed him to hell.

I was astonished at how well they adapted Levi and Erwin's scenes.  Bravo, the animation was top notch, the voice acting was stellar, like wow.

The bodies on the red background was really dark & was the part that had the most impact on me (as opposed to the manga)

erwin and levi's talk made me a lot more emotional than it did in the manga. the whole team did a pretty damn good job with this episode.

WHO WAS THE EPISODE'S MVP? 348 Responses

Unsurprisingly, Erwin gains the MVP award for this episode. Some think Levi stands out as well.

Erwin is humanity"s greatest soldier. Rest in peace, Commander.

Ono Daisuke is the goddamn mvp

Erwin made me gay

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CONNIE MAKING A PUN ABOUT THE FALLING HOUSES? 346 Responses

28% of respondents can relate to Connie’s stressful comedic moment, with 27.5% believe he has the right to make jokes. Some are rolling their eyes or think this isn’t quite an appropriate time.

I think Connie´s joke was his own form of mental breakdown. It makes him all the more relatable to me.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF YOU WERE ASKED TO JOIN THE SUICIDE CHARGE? 345 Responses

If asked to join Erwin on the suicide charge, a majority at 38.8% of respondents would have faith in the commander and hope to survive. 30.1% of participants aren’t sure what they would do, while an equal amount of people are between retreating or surrendering on the spot.

Crack a joke like Connie

If Erwin throw himself from a bridge, I would too! The fuck. Ok but being serious, being in that horrible scenario without a chance to survive, just nod and fight until the end.

Fuck it. I'm going die anyway; might as well go out swingin

cry, disassociate, and die. in that order.

Lads you would not catch me within 1000 miles of a battlefield. I'm less useful than Reiner on a battlefield, and that's saying something.

Pull a Floch and shit myself while crying

I would actually with all my heart follow Commander Erwin fucking Smith with no expectations of survival. Never have I ever encountered a man as compelling as him, real or fictional.

Sorry Erwin but... someone’s gotta keep Floch from being an ass. I’m sure you understand.

Not really but what about trying to hide closer to the wall since zeke will be throwing rocks at erwin and the others... then wait until levi is done with the monkey.

I would have never been stupid enough to join the survey corps to begin with lol

DO YOU THINK LEVI MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE TO FOLLOW ERWIN’S PLAN OVER HIS OWN? 346 Responses

41.3% of respondents believe that there was no other choice Levi could have made except to defeat the Beast Titan. 39.9% think the plan was the better of the two strategies.

It was the only viable narrative choice, but if it was a real battle retreating with as many survivors as possible might have been sensible.

Levi gave Erwin salvation by making the choice for him and gladly transferred Erwin's own burden of guilt and responsibilities onto his own shoulders. Which also why the word choice of "follow" seems iffy. Erwin is a proven master strategist and brilliant tactician, so of course you always go with his plan. BUT Levi didn't just 'follow' his plan, he made an active *choice* to implement the plan. It is Levi's plan as much as it is Erwin's.

Levi let his personal feelings get in the way of determining what would be the best hope for Humanity's survival.

I sincerely doubt Beastie would have let the survivors go unmolested all the way back to Wall Rose, and Levi knew it which was why he said he doesn't really expect anyone to survive this situation. Erwin had to make his last contribution to humanity in that moment, and they both knew that.

i think the plan should have been to stunt the beast, as we know that he doesn't get killed here anyway (obvs they don't know that), just buy some time ans save as many souls as possible.

HOW MUCH DID ERWIN’S INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH MOTIVATE YOU? 345 Responses

A large majority of voters are willing to believe in Erwin’s encouraging words and die by them no matter the risk.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE GRAVE COMMANDER ERWIN!!

ERRRRWWWIIIINNN!

WHO YELLED THE BEST INSULT TO BERTOLT? 345 Responses

Out of the few distracting insults, Sasha calling Bertolt a “massive pervert lord” was the best out of the three for 69.6% of respondents.

BEST SHOCKED FACE THIS EPISODE? 348 Responses

It isn’t often Levi is caught off-guard, so his shocked expression this episode was favored by 41.1% of voters. 23.3% of people thought Erwin had an expressive reaction as well.

Erwin’s face when he got hit... Wish we could’ve seen the gore though.

HOW WELL DID WIT ADAPT THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTERS? 343 Responses

There were a couple unsatisfied viewers, but overall a majority of participants believe the episode was fairly accurate to the manga.

the suicide charge was perfectly done.

that slow mo scene of the first boulder shower was amazing! and then the red mist of blood, the screams and cries of fear, pain, and death of the soldiers, the shock, despair, the ghosts of the dead soldiers, the emotion of Erwin and Levi’s last conversation, gosh this episode was beautiful in a morbid and heartbreaking way

It was very well done. It hurt, but not quite as much as the manga did.

Incredible adaptation. I’m tempted to call it flawless.

erwins soft smile after levi confirms what they must do was so special, especially since they hung on erwins face for a while

This episode was far more horrific than the manga version - the blood mist and the screams really upped the fear.

WHICH VERSION OF CONNIE'S JOKE DID YOU LIKE BEST? 346 Responses

There were a few different translations of Connie’s joke depending on the medium. 43.9% preferred Connie’s pun in the manga about Eren having a roof over his head again, while 31.8% thought Connie’s “Yeager” pun in Japanese was the funniest.

The only funny version of connie's joke is the japanese one...

HOW DID THE ADAPTATION OF ERWIN’S MOMENT OF GRIEF AFFECT YOU? 340 Responses

Erwin’s moment of grief was a somber scene for many, and over half of participants feel the adaptation tugged on their heart strings more than when they read the manga. Less than a quarter felt more sympathetic, with quite a number preferring the original manga version better.

There’s something about actually hearing his voice that made me want to cry again

I dunno, I think both mediums had different but equal impact in terms of the actual speech. The anime is very emotionally and viscerally effective, whereas with the manga you take longer to process what's in front of you at your own pace, in the privacy of your own skull. Both very moving.

Can't reproduce reading it for the first time but this was great.

I really liked it, but the manga is still more powerful for me.

Doesn't matter to me. I felt the same sorrow and overwhelmed like in the manga was a couple years ago. Great job WIT, absolutely!

I prefer the scene in the manga because of Erwin having more moments of being himself instead of colder than a summer day in Colorado, as the manga clues in more to him being a sad old man. However, Ono Daisuke’s voice acting was ON POINT. Erwin’s voice cracks like he was going to cry, the distance in his voice, it just made me cry.

I was practically sobbing on the floor, take from that what you will.

The hidden option of: Both were heartbreaking to me

KNOWING FLOCH NOW, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HIS BREAKDOWN? 348 Responses

Since RtS, Floch has become a paramount character in the current manga arc. Viewing his breakdown in the episode, 37.1% respondents think the moment was great in humanizing him. 18.4% respondents are less moved and found pleasure in his despair. Several were reminded why they used to like Floch and some gave praise to his seiyuu’s performance.

Back when I read the chapters, I found Floch to be annoying, now with the recent ones I really dislike him more. I still felt the same watching the episode but the seiyuu did a good job

Um, a combination of the above options I think. I was always 'meh' about Floch until his jerkface side began to show. So I never actually 'liked' him, but I certainly empathised with him at this point, and his seiyuu was definitely brilliant!

I have never liked him, really

I don't agree with his mindset in the current chapters of the manga but seeing the fucked up shit that he went through being the sole survivor and even then not being able to revive the Commander. I can see that trauma changed him to just follow Eren's instructions that he would let someone like Zeke live on but give far lesser thoughts to his actual saviour, Levi. As such, in the particular episode and the extent of the anime, I pity him and his VA did an amazing job of displaying a normal soldier's reaction.

Independently from his future actions, I think his breakdown is irresponsible and it doesn't help, given the circumstances.

Floch's a prick, but his VA was fantastic here and actually made me sympathize with him quite a bit. Can't wait to hate him again in a few eps though.

I had a lot of sympathy for him at the time in the manga, and seeing it again has made me think about how he's come to the point he has in the current story. PTSD and survivor's guilt explain a lot.

Hate him with a passion. I had forgotten that Levi actually kinda saved him, and now knowing how he wanted to kill Levi in recent chapters made me hate him even more.

I don’t give a floch

I think there still a hidden motive that Floch has since he is definitely following Eren now. I predict that in his mind he is honoring his fallen comrades by acting the way he is in recent chapters. Might be messed up externally, but I think there is more to Floch since his motives likely match Eren’s who we still haven’t quite figured just yet.

Of course we can have sympathy for someone without justifying their actions. I do sympathise terribly with Floch's trauma as the sole survivor of the suicide charge, but I do NOT accept it as a reason to become a militant ethno-nationalist. (His seiyuu was beyond amazing tho, props)

who the fuck is floch?

MARLOWE AND MOBLIT’S DEATHS ARE COMING UP AND SOME HAVE EXPRESSED THAT THEY WOULD LIKE SOME ADDITIONAL ANIME ORIGINAL SCENES FOR THEM - THOUGHTS? 347 Responses

Sadly, Marlowe and Moblit’s death scenes will be shown within the next couple episodes. 50.1% of respondents believe these scenes are impactful enough to stick with the manga while 36% would want to see the anime had something more.

Additional scene definitely for Moblit!! Poor boi is so underrated :'-(

Marlowe :( :( :(

I would definitely like to see more of Moblit, we have barely seen him this season. I feel like the only scenes we'll see him in are pre-death and post-death (we could see him as a ghost in Erwin's grief scene). Moblit deserves way more than this. Marlowe is adorable and seeing him die will be enough to break my heart, especially when you think that the only person surviving that suicide charge was not a great person like him, but the disgusting scumbag that Floch is.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 348 Responses

A majority of readers at 69.8% can’t wait to see the infamous first battle between Humanity’s Strongest and the War Chief. 23.3% are more enthusiastic for Armin’s face-off against Bertolt. Needless to say, it’s going to be an eventful episode.

I AM NOT READY FOR SHINGANSHINA FRIED ARMIN.

Isn’t it wild that next episode we’ll likely see the defeat of all three of the Warriors? Bye Zeke, Bye Reiner, Super-Bye Bertholdt.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

This was the best episode so far that has been aired. The emotions were high, the soundtrack was impeccable, the animation/drawings were fantastic (aka Levi had emotions!!!), and it really did a good job manifesting the hopelessness of the situation to the audience.

I forgot how hopeless the situation was during all of this. The constant narrating on stones in the background and the recruits screams really showed that

My only gripes were the music choice and lack of proper facial expression (Although, maybe that's just because Isayama is amazing at expressions)

That red mist was so horrible and made everything look so gruesome, I was in shock. This episode really hit me hard, I wasn't ready to watch it and now that I have, I'm having a hard time recovering

I was HEARTBROKEN at the end of this episode. Hard enough to read the chapter, worse still to see it on screen. So much sorrow and regret for poor Erwin.

I need that piano ost

Rip Erwin. Shinzou'ed his last sasageyo.

I've never felt something watching SnK until this episode. Erwin's face during the suicide charge was something... That was the real face of fear. He knew he had to let go his dreams for the sake of humanity, unlike previous times where he used this excuse to move forward his dream.

The music and Erwins’s voice actor made it nearly perfect

WIT is playing a dangerous game with the amount of CGI they're using. It hasn't really "ruined" anything for me yet, but they're getting close.

I cried even though i already knew what would happen. Is it normal doctor ?

The episodes have just gotten better and better, and this one might just be my favorite in the series. Definitely top 3. Just fantastic execution all around. It truly managed to bring back that feeling of hopelessness. Daisuke Onoue is an absolute legend. Not ashamed to say I cried about 3 times opon rewatches.

This episode broke me. Literally. I was mourning for Erwin for a while after, still am. I thought having read the manga would prepare me somewhat for the Vow™ conversation, but holy shit. I dunno if this is in the manga but Erwin had tears in his eyes when he sat on the crate. Erwin Smith was *crying*. And his voice (kudos to Daisuke Ono!!!) just. Absolutely wrecked me. Amazing, amazing episode. The kind you badly want to rewatch again and again but can't without bolstering up your emotional strength each goddamn time.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 332 Responses

Thanks to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

[teenybeanielinguine]

Outlander S4 - A Reflection

With that explosive finale behind us and a long Droughtlander ahead, I’m taking a moment to look back on this season and reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly.

(I’ve had some time to unpack and process, so be warned: this is a LONG review, with mild spoilers for The Fiery Cross.)

The Good:

I understand that this was a divisive season for many fans, but I personally loved it!  I could write a whole book about everything I loved, but for the sake of time, I’ll confine my praise to the best part of this season: the amazing cast of actors who bring my favorite characters to life.

Caitriona Balfe reprised her role as Claire Fraser with stunning success, and really sparkled when she shared the screen with her fellow cast members; her most powerful moments this season were definitely the mother/daughter conversations she had with Bree and Marsali.  Though she handles tragic scenes with ease, I hope she is given a chance to enact lighter, happier sequences in Season 5; Jamie and Claire need more laughter and teasing, less heart-felt speeches and drama.

As our leading man, Sam Heughan played Jamie to perfection; he managed to tell entire stories with his eyes alone.  Same as with Balfe, he captures tragedy easily, but I want him to stretch out a little and show off his acting chops.  There will always be drama in Claire and Jamie’s lives, but please sprinkle in some more fluffy moments, so we can see Heughan laugh!  Jamie’s roles as patriarch and leader are also going to be significantly expanded in the next season (the last few moments of the finale teased that a bit), and I can’t wait to see Heughan tackle that challenge.

I’ve been tentative about Sophie Skelton in the past; after all, Brianna is one of my favorite characters, despite her polarizing nature, and I was worried about her portrayal.  But Skelton nailed everything (the rape scene and its aftermath, in particular, were deeply chilling), and I have complete confidence that Bree is in safe hands.  In the finale, we saw Bree finally become a mother and reunite with her husband (not gonna lie, I’ve had that reunion on a loop ever since it aired); these two events are going to play major roles in her character growth (so excited for next season!).

Richard Rankin was a tour-de-force as Roger; I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen every time he appeared.  Any issues I had with his character were purely a result of writing and production choices, and despite those issues, Rankin still managed to make the character wonderfully, emotionally, lovably human (for further evidence, please refer to the idiot hut).  Roger’s journey is one of the most difficult transformations in the series, and next season will be challenging for Rankin; I’m particularly interested to see how he handles Roger’s growing relationship with Jamie.

All the leads were supported by a strong set of secondary characters, from Duncan Lacroix as the miraculously resurrected Murtagh to David Berry as the fabulous Lord John Grey.  John Bell was one of my absolute favorites, with his spot-on portrayal of Young Ian (that proposal! the emotional goodbye!! running the gauntlet!!!).  Ed Speelers played Stephen Bonnet in a way that brought back shivery memories of Black Jack.  Honestly, there was no weak link in this cast.  Special shoutout to Braeden Clarke (Kaheroton) and Tantoo Cardinal (Adawehi/Nayawenne in the books); hopefully we’ll be able to see even more powerful and complex First Nations characters in the coming season (to this effect, may I humbly suggest showing Young Ian’s time among the Mohawk?  Would love to see that first-hand rather than having the character describe it after the fact; also, you can never have too much John Bell).

This Season’s MVPs: Lauren Lyle and César Domboy.  Marsali and Fergus are never more than side characters in the books; you never hear the story from their POV.  Thankfully, the show saw a chance to expand their roles and took it.  And oh boy, did Domboy and Lyle deliver! Their nuanced performances just blew me away (”If Not For Hope” comes to mind).  I hope that we see even more of them going forward.

The Bad:

No adaptation is perfect (although if you have found one that is, please message me immediately).  It is especially difficult when the adaptation in question has to fit an 880-page book into a mere 13 hours; to put it into perspective, the audiobook version of Drums of Autumn is a whopping 45 hours long!  Though I like to nitpick and criticize, I am not so arrogant as to think that I could have done a better job, and I am very grateful to the writing and production teams who tackle this impossible task. I am also strangely content with most of the deviations they’ve made from the source material (Murtagh as a regulator is particularly genius, with really interesting implications for next season).

That being said, there is some room for improvement.  And one area that definitely needs some fine tuning is Claire and Jamie.  This year, some very vocal fans found issue with the fact that we didn’t see our main lovebirds enough, and there weren’t enough sex scenes, and why weren’t they in this episode?!  For me, none of those things were an issue, especially given that we saw Jamie and Claire way more than any other characters this season.  I don’t think we need more J/C time; I think we need better J/C time.

I wish the show would stop beating us over the head with Jamie and Claire’s epic love; we know their love is deep and everlasting, that’s why we keep coming back! (That, and the kilts.)  But we need to move on from soap-operatic speeches and tender love-making; those were more interesting in the early days of their marriage, when their love was a new, fragile thing.  Show me instead the easy comfort of a long-married couple: the teasing, the laughter, the bone-deep happiness.  Balfe and Heughan have such great chemistry when it comes to that kind of thing, but we’ve only gotten snippets of it this season!  Rather than another over-the-top, tear-jerking scene where Jamie and Claire reassure each other and reaffirm their love (again), give me Claire cuddling up to Jamie under a snowbank after his back gives out and telling him stories.  Or exchanging amused looks with him when Young Ian does/says something silly.  Or Jamie teasing Claire about that time she hit him in the head with a fish while he was trying to fight off a bear (true story).  Or Claire teasing Jamie with her new breeches (I’m not going to say no to sex scenes entirely).  Get rid of the excessive drama (this couple already has more drama than they know what to do with); bring on the fluff!

Speaking of moving on, the show needs to let Frank Randall go.  By this point in the series, he’s been dead for a few years, and quite frankly, good riddance (pardon the pun).  His character was cast in a sympathetic light for narrative purposes; the producers wanted to make him the antithesis of his ancestor, Black Jack Randall, so they carefully omitted the fact that he was at times a racist ass with a string of mistresses (my apologies to any Frank fans; as you can see, he’s not one of my favorite characters).  The problem is that they took it too far, painting Frank as a martyr and putting first Claire, then Jamie, at a big disadvantage.  Despite this mistake, I’m fine with using Frank to flesh out Brianna’s character (his only redeeming quality is his aptitude for fatherhood), but that should have happened very early on in the season, before Bree makes the journey through the stones.  That journey is a pivotal point for Bree; she is driven not only by a need to save her mother, but also by a deep curiosity and longing for this birth father that she’s never met.  In the book, she even goes so far as to abandon the name “Randall” and adopt “Fraser” for the journey.  But that sentiment was lost entirely by the decision to have Frank accompany her on the voyage, narratively speaking.  We no longer get the feeling that she’s eager to meet/bond with Jamie; even worse, the writers had her casually dropping Frank’s name into every conversation!  No matter how great Tobias Menzies is, we have neither the time nor the will to keep devoting so much energy to a deceased character (who isn’t that critical to the future story, btw).  Heading into Season 5, we need to make our final, belated goodbyes to Frank Randall.

One 20th century man we should have seen more of instead was Roger Mackenzie.  As we dove into Season 4, I was so excited to see his developing relationship with Brianna; remember when they were super cute together, a million years ago in Season 3?  But too much focus on exposition meant that we didn’t see them until three episodes in, and instead of the slow burn I had anticipated, we got a lot of unnecessary drama.  Why on Earth is Roger a misogynist all of a sudden?  What happened to the sweet proposal where they both decide they’re not yet ready for marriage?  The lack of screen time meant that Bree and Roger’s entire relationship development was crammed into one episode; coupled with poor writing choices, the result was a shaky romance that was hard to root for.  I was lucky enough to have the books as a safety net; I know exactly how deeply they love and respect each other, despite the mayhem onscreen.  But the fans who hadn’t read the series (and even some who had) didn’t understand why these two were an endgame couple, and I don’t blame them.  That last reunion scene helped cement their relationship a little, but not enough; unfortunately, Season 5 is going to have to waste some of its precious time rectifying this misstep.

Which brings me to my last point: the pacing.  With so many new characters and so little time, it is more important than ever that the show learn to juggle all the storylines more smoothly.  The pacing of this season was so uneven, it gave me whiplash.  Gone are the days when Claire and Jamie were the only focus; from now on, their ever-growing family is going to continue complicating matters.  Outlander needs to evolve to meet this need if it wants to keep up. (Also, could we revert back to a 16-episode format, like in Season 1?  Please and thank you.)

The Ugly:

I will readily admit that I am new to this fandom.  I got hooked on the show during summer 2018 and devoured the books shortly thereafter.  When I joined Tumblr in the fall, it was because I wanted to celebrate this story with likeminded people and geek out over the upcoming season.

The actual experience was a bit more jarring (suffice it to say, I didn’t know hate-watching was a real thing that people did).  I don’t want to chastise or implore certain fans to adopt a more positive outlook; I’ve seen a lot of posts about that already, and I’m not inclined to add to them.  Instead, I’d like to share some of the guidelines I impose on myself when I contribute to any fandom (I’m not saying these will or should work for everyone, but they have worked for me):

Love, not hate.  To me, a fandom is a community that comes together out of love.  Knowing this, I try my best not to express any feelings of hate within that community; I don’t think it’s an appropriate place to share those feelings, and I don’t want to diminish the fandom experience for anyone else.  If I find that I no longer love or even like the show/book/movie that the fandom is centered on, I disengage from the community entirely, because I no longer consider myself a fan.  And that’s perfectly fine; there is no rule that says that once you’re in a fandom, you’re in it for life.

If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.  Despite the fact that I love the subject matter, it is not an absolute, unconditional sort of love.  I often find myself disliking certain aspects or getting frustrated by opposing views (this is doubly true when it comes to adaptations).  I let myself express these dislikes and frustrations only if I can see the silver lining; in other words, I allow myself to say a few negative things about a character/scene only if I can supplement them with a good dose of positivity as well.  Too much uninterrupted negativity borders on hate.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  I’m a very anxious person with self-confidence issues, so I have a hard time expressing my opinion online, even anonymously.  That’s why I’m never going to tear anyone else down for doing so.  I may disagree with you, or dislike the way you expressed yourself, but I’m going to be respectful even if it kills me, because that’s how I would want other people to interact with me.  Even with the Internet as a buffer, I think it’s important to remember that we are all human, and all equally capable of hurting others and being hurt ourselves.

Again, these guidelines work for me, but it’s completely subjective.  And even though my experience in the OL fandom hasn’t been a bed of roses so far, I’ve still met some amazing people with incredible things to say.  My favorite fandom moments of the season? @futurelounging‘s beautiful thoughts on episode 12 and @breefraser‘s hilarious criticism of Roger’s sartorial choices.

I’d love to hear from other fans!  What worked for you this season?  What would you have changed?  Favorite fandom moments?  If you choose to reply, please be kind and respectful.

[exilesofembermark]

Game Dev Update | 4.19.18

“That’s my father’s skull back there, isn’t it, wolf?” - Julius NeoMeirus, Tester Warrior Level 8

The new cave background shown here is coming along nicely, and I only used the wolf again so as not to ruin the surprise-- there’s a bunch of new NPCs rolling off the line, as you’ll see in this latest packed Dev Update. 

Last update, we highlighted gameplay and crafting updates, took a look at Edyrin’s cohort and warcaster friend Elle Manigold, shared info on our coming First-Time-User-Experience and took a look at how we’re going to try and quickly tell you story elements as you pass through this fantasy world we’re working on. This time, we’re focusing on the Narrative System in action, working tutorials, our visit with TouchArcade a GDC, the way we’re organizing visual tiers of gear and a whole mess of NPCs. Read on...

THE NARRATIVE SYSTEM

We’ve gone from concept to implementation on our narrative system since last time, and the features shared are going into the game. We’ll mix up the tells and formats a little, and for the most part present them the way you’ve seen in other games:

Above, you’ll be able to go back and skip out of this (if you don’t care about it) to get back to the action. However, for you narrative Lore Lords, you can scour through any of the longer expositions the way you would a text thread and search for hints, pokes and secrets and such before heading into the next bit of PVE or Event activity:

WORKING TUTORIALS

Don’t worry-- the Exiles tutorials won’t be onerous (or else I imagine you’ll tell us that when testing begins). If you don’t plan to get in on the test, then you will have to rely on your fellow players to guide the Gunslingers toward a healthy balance of learning and freedom. That said, we’re excited about how it’s coming along-- the classic pointers, help text and dimming of things you can’t do will speed you through the early experiences, but we’re trying to throw players in the deep end quickly. Time-to-freedom will be heavily scrutinized...

EXILES WITH TOUCHARCADE AT GDC

A few weeks ago, we headed out to GDC for our annual shenanigans with friends, developers, partners and press. We caught up with TouchArcade during the trip and did a demo of the latest Exiles build. Despite my awful strategic performance, you can see a ton of new content and action in their article and the session’s video posted soon afterward:

A VERY. LARGE. FIREBALL.

We show this guy often, because we dig him (and he will be blasting your face a lot). Here’s the latest VFX going into the Ethereal NPC:

GEAR TIERS

Several iterations of gear tiering and organization have led us to what we hope is a pretty succinct visual hierarchy of gear for your adventuring/gathering/fighting pleasure. As part of the MVP process we’re going through now, we’ve decided to formalize it a bit to show what kinds of details will merit including in any of the 4 visual tiers of loot (from the lowly, dinged up Tier 1 all the way to effects-laden super beautiful-- and sometimes super ugly-- Legendary). 

With that guide comes a bunch of new weapons of various shapes and sizes as we fill in the blanks of missing gear (I’m partial to the wooden mallet though I doubt we’ll make it Legendary...)

FIGHTING ON THE BEACH

Locations within Embermark are rolling off the line, and we’re focusing right now on Wildewoods, the current starting Zone. It’s got a decent amount of coastline, so we’re getting some beachfront battling going (and no, you probably won’t encounter a Beach Wolf, this is just for creation purposes):  

ENEMIES OF MANY SHADES AND NASTINESS

Last Update, I referred to this nasty flying fellow as the Not-A-Bat. And it’s not. But it has moved beyond the sketch you saw then into a fully articulated, vicious monster, with multiple attacks.

He’ll bite and buffet, but I’m really liking this claw attack and would want no part of it were I an exile (in Embermark):

Likewise, our Spider NPC got his animations rolling (we shared a video of his rig last time). Here, for your preview is his twitchy idle:

As well as his Spit attack (more on that later):

And here’s the early preview on the bulky Bear enemy, who will form the basis of quite a few of our four-legged monsters on the girthier side: 

DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER…

We’ll keep sharing details as we head toward testing (go here to sign up for testing and be among The First), and you can count on early impressions from the testers throughout our various channels.

If you haven’t already, follow along with Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you haven’t, I’ll find you. And SMITE you.

CONNECT WITH OTHER EXILES

If you want to hear about the game, ask questions or connect with others who are helping the development team think about features, design and narrative, hop into the Discord Channel for live chat and say hi– it’s a friendly crew with plenty of daily/weekly/sometimes-planned shenanigans.

BONUS: A SSSSSERPENT

The art pipeline for Exiles has progressed to the point where we often concept enemy characters right in 3D and move into production, but sometimes we need to nail down a look, some character, some attitude. This serpent is a good example of that, and I really hope we can maintain this look as we move him into the game, because I want to slice his face off. 

[fromtheringapron]

WWE Survivor Series 2006

Date: November 26, 2006.

Location: Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Attendance: 15,400.

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield (SmackDown!).

Results: 

1. Survivor Series Elimination Match: Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons, and Sgt. Slaughter (with Arn Anderson) defeated The Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Nicky, and Mikey) (with Mitch). Flair was the sole survivor. 

2. WWE United States Championship Match: Chris Benoit (champion) defeated Chavo Guerrero (with Vickie Guerrero). 

3. WWE Women’s Championship Match: Mickie James defeated Lita (champion). 

4. Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and CM Punk) defeated Team RKO (Edge, Randy Orton, Gregory Helms, Johnny Nitro, and Mike Knox) (with Melina and Kelly Kelly). All of Team DX survived. 

5. First Blood Match: Mr. Kennedy defeated The Undertaker. 

6. Survivor Series Elimination Match: John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Sabu defeated Big Show, MVP, Test, and Finlay (with Armando Alejandro Estrada). Cena and Lashley were the survivors. 

7. World Heavyweight Championship Match: Batista defeated King Booker (champion) (with Queen Sharmell).

My Review

I remember ordering Survivor Series 2006 on pay-per-view being weirdly hyped for it. I don’t know why; I just saw a lot of potential in the card, I guess. Sure enough, the show fell well below my expectations and I quickly disavowed it and never rewatched it again until recently. So how do I feel about it in 2020, our year of the Lord? Well, it’s not horrendous or anything, but it’s still not good. Some important-ish things happen and I still think there was potential here for this show to be so much better; it just feels like not a whole lot of effort was put into it.

If the show can’t shake its staidness, it’s certainly not done any favors by its main event. The feud between Batista and King Booker was WWE’s attempt at cashing in on the real-life heat between the two, but it never caught fire in translation. By all means, it should’ve worked. Batista was in his prime and Booker was enjoying one of the best stretches of his career yet it ultimately became a case of the two guys simply not meshing. Their match here is just a whole bunch of whatever to me. What should be the satisfying culmination of Batista’s year-long road back to the World Heavyweight title is instead anticlimactic. It feels more like an epilogue tacked on to a novel than an epic final chapter.

The most enjoyable part of the show is easily Team DX vs. Team RKO, which is a squash match single-handedly elevated by the charisma of its participants. Team DX —Triple H, HBK, CM Punk, and The Hardy Boyz — is often mentioned in the discussion of greatest Survivor Series teams of all time and that’s pretty difficult to argue against. It’s such an iconic group overflowing with star power that watching them share a ring together feels truly special. The Philly crowd is well-aware of the moment too and they don’t let it go to waste. A part of me would’ve wanted to see a more competitive match, and the potential was definitely there, but the trade-off is a surge of energy that’s much needed at the midpoint of the show.

The remainder of the card mostly ranges from forgettable to downright offensive. The other elimination matches here are fun sprints, but they embrace the worst qualities of the match’s modern iterations. Granted, I’m a traditionalist who thinks the elimination matches should always be the focus of the Survivor Series, but I do think at a baseline they shouldn’t feel like everyone is trying to get it over with as fast as possible and that’s the vibe I get here. Elsewhere, Chris Benoit and Chavo Guerrero square off over Eddie Guerrero’s namesake, whose death is still being sadly exploited for storylines a full year after the fact. The lowest moment, though, is the tasteless sendoff for Lita in her retirement match. In a way, there’s something admirable about Lita wanting to go out like a complete heel, but having her slut-shamed and her items put up for grabs in a “Hoe Sale” isn’t it, and it’s ultimately flat-out disrespectful to one of the most influential women in WWE history.

Overall, Survivor Series 2006 has all the ingredients yet it can’t bring them all together to make a great show. One look at the card may have you think otherwise but in the history of WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition, this is the equivalent of a fake colorful gourd you stuff in a cornucopia⏤it looks good, but don’t be fooled; the taste is underwhelming.

My Random Notes

I’d like to reject the notion that JBL was ever funny on color commentary. Maybe I’m alone here, but I find him super obnoxious? I get that’s he’s trying to channel Jesse Ventura; it’s just that he unfortunately translates that into yelling a lot without saying any good soundbites.

It’s hard to not look at Test here and feel sad. There’s the steroid bloat, yeah, but he just seems tired, almost like he’s phoning it in at some indy show.

Vickie Guerrero is pretty early into her heel run at this point so she’s nowhere near as over-the-top as she’d later become, but I do like her cold Real Housewives energy here. There’s that one moment in the video package where she says “Hi, Chris” so frigidly that I had to check my nose for frostbite.

Speaking of Chris, it’s already tough to stomach watching Eddie Guerrero’s death exploited for storylines, but it’s especially so to watch Benoit get involved when you know how badly Eddie’s death fucked him up. And, yes, I do have that Dark Side of the Ring episode on my mind. That was some seriously haunting shit. 

Fun fact: Ric Flair is undefeated in Survivor Series elimination matches, having been the sole survivor in two of them 15 years apart. The more you know!

Dusty Rhodes pinned Dolph Ziggler on a pay-per-view in 2006. Also the more you know!

A huge yikes @ the chair shot Taker gives Mr. Kennedy. No way that would fly now. Hell, it wouldn’t even fly less than year after this.

The Mickie James face turn truly happened outta nowhere, huh? I just remember there was one episode of Raw when she lost the Women’s title to Lita and — bam! — suddenly she’s a face, as if she wasn’t threatening Trish Stratus that she’d dismember Ashley Massaro less than six months prior.

I have little recollection of an MVP/Mr. Kennedy alliance, but it does seem like the most mid ‘00s WWE thing to happen. Remember when these two guys absolutely felt like the future faces of the company? The lost generation, indeed.

Alas, here we bare witness to the final days of The Spirit Squad. A night later, they’d be squashed by DX and literally sent back to OVW in a crate. To this day, I’ve never got the hate for them, other than it’s clearly a mid ‘90s WWF gimmick stuck in a mid ‘00s WWE. I used to think was the most obnoxious person on the roster, which I guess means they did their job well.

[junker-town]

Can a team of 25 Ichiros win the World Series?

If you were to build a team with nothing but clones of a single player, which player would you choose? The correct answer is Ichiro Suzuki, and Kofie Yeboah is going to prove it.

When people talk about MVP Baseball 2005, two words always come out of their mouths.

“Jon Dowd.”

Yes, the EA Sports counter to Barry Bonds turned into a cult icon for many years after the series ended. The character became something people can talk about at networking events and water coolers to prove that they, in fact, also had a childhood. The reason why the 40-year-old wasn’t in the game was due to the fact that Bonds decided to individually license his likeness, rather than work with the MLBPA. So instead of getting dude with an iconic cross earring and a batting stance that oozes swagger, we got a guy that you can’t pick out of an Imagine Dragons lineup with the most generic batting stance.

Seriously, it literally says generic.

I used to do this anyway.

If you ask me, the best player in the game was not Jon Dowd, but Ichiro Suzuki.

While there aren’t official overall rating numbers in this game, Ichiro is listed as the 13th best player in the game behind Jon Dowd, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Scott Rolen, Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana, Adrian Beltre, Randy Johnson and David Ortiz.

It makes sense when you look at this on screen, but when you actually play the video game it’s clear that Ichiro is even better than his already high overall ranking.

To showcase Ichiro’s talents and abilities, I’ve decided to make a team comprised of Ichiro clones to see if they can win the World Series.

But before I do that, let’s take a closer look at the elements that make Ichiro an absolute nightmare for the other team.

Hitting

First, I want to address the hitting mechanics in MVP Baseball 2005. As is the case with many of today’s video games, hitting is separated into contact and power. A hitter with good contact and bad power can theoretically launch the ball into orbit if the pitch is juicy enough. A big power hitter with bad contact can launch many balls into space, but have a higher risk of pop ups and long fly ball outs.

This isn’t the case with Ichiro.

Ichiro is so good at contact hitting that he could also in turn hit for power. Against left-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 69 and a contact rating of 99. Against right-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 58 and a contact rating of 97.

The power rating doesn’t seem that impressive until you look at some of the other players in the game. Miguel Cabrera, a player with 33 home runs in 2004, was given a 74 power rating against lefties.

Adrian Beltre — who hit 48 home runs in 2004, but only six against left-handed pitching — was given a 71 overall power rating against lefties. This decent power rating paired with godlike contact skill allowed Ichiro to have a different play style in the video game. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Ichiro had a home run to fly ball ratio of 3.8%. Let’s compare that to Barry Bo … I mean Jon Dowd, whose ratio was 24.5% in that same season.

Ratings aside, you could hit many home runs with Ichiro if you wanted. Of all the hot and cold zone displays in the game, Ichiro is one of the few players with more than 9 total hot zones out of the 18 possible.

Of those few, most are all-stars or legends who have to be unlocked in the game, so that puts Ichiro in elite company. If you gave Ichiro a high 2-seam or 4-seam fastball, there was a good chance he would tag it out of the park.

Ichiro’s power potential isn’t far-fetched either. His longest homer in the Statcast era is 432 feet. There’s even a dope video from the YouTube channel Foolish Baseball that investigates Ichiro’s power-hitting potential.

However, doing so would be disrespectful to real life Ichiro, a player who once said, “chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique.”

With this newfound power, Ichiro could also hit the ball over the outfielders, who would play shallow against him on certain occasions. This allowed for normal fly balls to drop in for a hit, and gave Ichiro another chance to showcase his speed. In his case, if a ball hit the wall, it was almost always a guaranteed triple. Depending on the dimensions of the ballpark, it could be an instant home run.

My favorite part of the game was choosing a retro ballpark with absolutely wonky dimensions and watching Ichiro just go to town with his speed. It was amazing to watch. Let’s look at the Polo Grounds as an example. You see how the center field fence is 483 feet away from home plate? Trust me, this will come up later.

To test Ichiro’s power potential, I put him against Albert Pujols in the home run showdown. Even thought he lost most of the showdowns, Ichiro would often hit the same number of home runs as Albert Pujols. Here is one of the attempts. Yes, Albert won, but it shouldn’t be this close. At all.

This result had me convinced that Ichiro could actually win.

So close.

19 POINTS?! OH COME ON!

It took over 20+ tries, but Ichiro finally beat Albert in a Home Run Showdown.

Even if you didn’t want to go for the long ball, you could still wreck all kinds of havoc on the diamond. Because at the end of the day ...

Ichiro is still fast as hell.

Ichiro’s speed rating is a 97, which is a freaking nightmare for catchers, pitchers and the entire defense at the same time. The only players faster than Ichiro in this game are:

Lou Brock, and that’s it. Power didn’t dominate MVP Baseball 2005. Speed did.

If you started a fantasy dynasty of fast players, such as Scott Podsednik, Rafael Furcal, Chone Figgins, Carl Crawford and Juan Pierre, you could construct the most irritating lineup of all time.

With players like these, you were damn near guaranteed to make it to second after bunting, making it to first and then stealing. If the catcher wasn’t a top-tier thrower, they were screwed. If the pitcher took a long time delivering the ball out of the stretch, they were out of luck.

To put his speed to the test, we had Ichiro attempt to steal 100 bases against the best-throwing catcher in the game, Ivan Rodriguez (Henry Blanco was also an option). Here’s what we found whenever Ichiro tried to steal second base against the best.

If you didn’t throw your hardest fastball or pitch out, you weren’t likely to catch Ichiro. Now, a 57% steal success rate seems pretty pedestrian. Ichiro’s career steal success rate was 81%, including a whopping 85% of his attempts of third base. However, keep in mind that all of this data involves the fastest, most accurate catchers arm in the game.

Imagine if I’d used Mike Piazza.

Let’s not forget about bunting, either

The MVP Baseball drag bunt animation was quick and came out of nowhere, so there really wasn’t any tip-off to what the speedster was up to. When you give that quick of an animation to a player with a bunting rating of 99 and a speed rating of 97, you’re going to see some serious shit. Just look at this.

When you pair Ichiro’s speed with his insane hitting power, he could make some incredible plays. He could bunt for a hit and get down the line so fast that the defender wouldn’t even bother making the throw. They just gave up.

Let’s talk defense.

When you have all that speed, that’s one thing. When you have speed and an arm chiseled personally by God, there’s nothing that can stop you. On April 11th, 2001, Ichiro threw a perfect strike from right field to put the entire league on notice.

Anyone who has seen this clip should know better than to challenge Ichiro, but for some reason people kept testing this man.

Here are Ichiro’s fielding stats.

Remember when I said the Polo Grounds center field fence was 483 feet away from home plate? Here’s Ichiro throwing to home from that exact spot like it’s no big deal.

I think this speaks for itself.

Now, I had the idea to make a team full of Ichiros and see how far I could take them. (The first initials are there because the game forced me to enter a first name, and I wanted to tell them apart for statistical purposes.)

This leaves one unanswered question.

What about pitching?

Can Ichiro pitch? He was a pitcher in high school, but what about the professional level? The answer is yes! Luckily I had two frames of reference.

There is the time he pitched in 2015.

And the time he pitched in the 1996 Japanese All-Star Game.

Ichiro mainly sticks with the simple fastball-changeup combination, but the occasional breaking ball shows up.

So we have a three-pitch arsenal that we’re going to have to stick with for 162+ games. While it’s serviceable, I’m not expecting any Barry Zito-level performances.

Are we ready? I’m ready. Let’s do this.

Dynasty Time!

These are our team goals. I think we’re going to win more than 2 Silver Slugger awards and score the most runs in baseball.

April 2005: 16-8 (first in A.L. West)

After one month of play, the Seattle Ichiros are 16-8. In 24 games, three Ichiro clones are hitting .400 or higher, and seven are batting over .300.

SEVEN OF THE TOP 11 players in the stolen base category are Ichiros. Another Ichiro is leading the team with six wins and two saves already. He’s also 7th in the league in strikeouts. WHAT.

The team has combined for 72 stolen bases and has been caught stealing only 6 times. GOOD LORD. As expected, the pitching staff is marginally mediocre.

For this team however, that’s more than good enough.

May: 19-8 (35-16 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

For some reason, the Seattle Ichiros have regressed into the 29th-best pitching team in the league, but thanks to incredible hitting and fielding, we are tied for the best record in baseball. Nine Ichiros are in the top 10 for stolen bases. Everything is going well, except for R. Ichiro. We also had a trade offer for Ray Durham. Do we make a deal?

Hell no. We’re the Seattle Ichiros. All or nothing.

June: 17-9 (52-25 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

The Seattle Ichiros have the best record in baseball at 52-25. Seven Ichiros are hitting over .300, and eight have over 20 stolen bases. The only other players in the league with more than 20 are Carl Crawford and Bobby Abreu.

The pitching has not produced a single shutout win the entire season so far, but it looks like what’s working is working. Score a lot of runs, tank pitching, win, repeat. My manager grade is also an A- which is weird because I’m not even watching the games. Maybe I should watch a game.

*The Ichiros won 11-5*

This is a baseball game unlike any I’ve seen before. I’ve never seen such aggressive baserunning spread all throughout the roster. The Ichiros stole 6 bases and never got caught. It’s like watching all the racers in Mario Kart with endless speed mushrooms. I wish real baseball was like this. Watching this team field is similar to watching superheroes do pedestrian tasks with their powers like it’s no big deal.

This is definitely a championship team. Can the Ichiros really bring Seattle their first World Series title ever?

July: 15-11 (67-36 for the season, second in the A.L. West and 1st in the Wild Card race)

So. Apparently the Angels are really freakin’ good. See what happens when you have good pitching? Wow.

Even still, the Ichiro collective is doing their best to rectify this with some solid hitting. By the way, nine Ichiros made the All-Star Team, which if I had to guess would be the first time that’s ever happened? Nine All-Stars and they’re not even leading the division. Incredible.

Meanwhile, don’t look now but Jon Dowd is going for a Triple Crown.

August: 17-11 (85-47 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Jesus Christ, what happened to the Angels?

Even though the Ichiros didn’t have a weird surge, the Angels seem to be going through it. Seattle has opened up a seven-game lead on the Angels. Luckily, the Angels have a chance to make up ground in September, as they have six games against the Ichiros.

The Ichiros have scored 931 runs this season; the next closest team has 767. That’s wild. They also have six players with at least 15 home runs or more, which is of note because Ichiro’s season high in the real world is 15 home runs.

We have 30 games left.

(I’m very impressed with the fact that none of the Ichiros have sustained an injury yet. I’m lying I turned injuries off.)

September-October: 16-12 (102-60 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Thanks to four head-to-head wins over the Angels, the Ichiros were able to clinch the division and finish with 102 wins and 1,135 runs scored — 4th-most in baseball history, and most since 1894. Did they win the most games this season? Nope, the Boston Red Sox netted 106 Ws thanks to a solid lineup and *cough* good pitching *cough*

Despite being walked 139 times. Jon Dowd hit for the Triple Crown. Thanks for putting a potential hole in my argument, EA.

One of the Ichiro clones finished with a whopping 70 stolen bases. The team as a whole combined for 452 stolen bases while being caught 101 times. That’s a whopping 82% success rate as a TEAM. These were the next teams that came close.

Two Ichiros had more 200 hits while everyone in the starting lineup hit more than 170. We also achieved two of the five team goals. The two realistic goals!

ONE OF THEM ALSO WON AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP!

PLAYOFFS, BABY! My only rule going into this is that all the elimination games will be a live gameplay sim.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Yankees

Off-screen computer simulations:

Game 1: Yankees 13, Ichiros 11

Game 2: Yankees 14, Ichiros 11

On-screen simulations:

Game 3: Ichiros 14, Yankees 5

Game 4: Ichiros 12, Yankees 3

Game 5: Ichiros 11, Yankees 3

So, something of importance that I should note: there are two types of simulations in this game. There is the quick sim that doesn’t show any gameplay, and then there is the longer simulation that showcases gameplay. Now, the quick sim was for most of the regular season and held true to the ratings and what each player would theoretically do. However, the gameplay sims showcase a different element of all of these things. You get to see just how much chaos this team can cause. I also think this sim does a better job of highlighting just how many runs a team full of Ichiros can score on offense and prevent on defense. This is the main difference between the two types of simulations.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Red Sox

This is going to be the toughest challenge yet for the Ichiros. Not only will they have to face the best-pitching team in the league, they also have to go up against some fearsome left-handed hitters. Since all the Ichiros throw right-handed, there is no way to neutralize David Ortiz, Johnny Damon or Trot Nixon.

Game 1: Ichiros 12, Red Sox 6

The Ichiros went to town on Curt Schilling in spurts and it got so bad that Bronson Arroyo had to relieve him in the 3rd inning. You hate to see it.

Game 2: Ichiros 18, Red Sox 2

Going up against David Wells was easy pickings for the Ichiros, who absolutely destroy left-handed pitching. The dimensions of Fenway are also advantageous to the Ichiros. Normal flyouts in other parks turn into off the wall doubles/triples.

David Wells only lasted 5 outs. These Ichiros do a great job getting out on these hot starts and then jumping all over the relief pitching. It’s a magical strategy.

Game 3: Ichiros 6, Red Sox 5

After the Sox take a 5-0 lead by the 3rd inning, the Ichiros face their first test of adversity in the series, but answer back with three runs in the 3rd and three more in the 6th. The Ichiros leaned on their mediocre pitching and great defense to move one win away from the World Series.

Game 4: Ichiros 13, Red Sox 8

After scoring EIGHT runs in the third inning, the Red Sox give up 13 unanswered runs thanks to Ichiro, Ichiro and Ichiro. The Ichiros hit three home runs and six triples to keep putting pressure on the Red Sox pitching staff. Honestly, if Boston hadn’t won the World Series in 2004, I would think this was some part of a curse or something.

This was an unreal fight from the Ichiros. It’s a shame we never got to see them face off against knuckleball god Tim Wakefield. But now the Ichiros are heading to the World Series to face off against. Jon Dowd and the Giants. THIS IS OCTOBER!

World Series: Ichiros vs. Giants

Here we go. A team full of Ichiros vs. Jon Dowd and friends. Statistically speaking, the Yankees and Red Sox were both better opponents, but the Giants are still ranked higher than the Mariners because of our team’s lack of pitching. However, the Giants are one of the slowest teams in the league. It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.

Game 1: Ichiros 6, Giants 2

Jon Dowd went 0-4. YOU LOVE TO SEE IT.

Game 2: Ichiros 17, Giants 6

A Jon Dowd grand slam couldn’t stop the Ichiro task force, which hit 5 home runs.

Game 3: Ichiros 12, Giants 1

A Jon Dowd solo home run was nowhere close to enough to stop the flurry. I never thought I would say this, but get Jon Dowd some help!

Game 4: Ichiros 9, Giants 3

GO CRAZY SEATTLE! THE ICHIRO CLONES HAVE TAKEN HOME THE WORLD SERIES TITLE!

ABSOLUTE PLAYOFF DOMINATION!

Offseason

Because we won the World Series, I have been rewarded with a team budget increase of 3.6 million dollars. However, since I put every create-a-player on a one-year contract, nearly the entire team is asking for a new deal.

I really didn’t think this through. Let’s see if I can re-sign them all.

DYNASTY TIME BABY! We made it to spring training with all of the Ichiros intact. On that note, we will end our simulation. We’ve had a hell of a run, but now it’s time to conclude and debrief.

Conclusion

When we used the non-gameplay simulation, the game stayed true to the stats that Ichiro was capable of producing. Those stats added up and allowed us to win dependently. Now, the hitting side sounds believable to a sense. When you duplicate someone that possessed a league-leading .372 batting average, you’re in for a lot of baserunners and scoring opportunities.

The shakiest part of the non-gameplay simulation has to be the pitching. A team of Ichiros giving up only five runs a game doesn’t sound that believable to me, especially when other teams full of actual pitchers in the game gave up more runs. It’s hard to tell whether the defensive prowess of the Ichiros was accounted for in these simulations.

The gameplay simulations were a different story, however, as you can see just how dominant the Ichiro squad was on offense and defense. On offense, the Ichiros barely struck out and every single ball put in play looked like it could be a hit. The Ichiros preyed on slow outfielders like Jon Dowd and middle-tier arms like Johnny Damon. Using these two advantages, the Ichiro squad could turn doubles into triples whenever they wanted. Every time an Ichiro walked, a steal seemed imminent and there was little you could do to stop it.

Now, watching Ichiro pitch in real-time made me nervous, but he does just enough to mitigate the damage. When the pitchers were in a jam, they would often get bailed out by the amazing speed and glove of an Ichiro. It’s nice to have someone with 10 career gold gloves at every position on the field.

The gameplay sims took everything that Ichiro was good at on paper and amplified them to a point where they looked absolutely unbeatable. When they faced elimination against the Yankees, I switched gameplay simulations to “document the end” but I realized that these sims make the Ichiros seem like gods. I do wish that I had done gameplay simulations of the entire playoffs so that those two Yankees losses wouldn’t be there, but at least I switched over before it was too late.

If I had done real gameplay simulations for all 162 games in the regular season, I think that the Ichiros could have won 140+ games easily. There was no way I was going to do that because that would be way too much time put into this project. I barely watch real baseball right now, you think I was going to watch weeks of virtual baseball? Hell no.

The regular season simulation allowed us to make the playoffs and that’s all that mattered to me at the end of the day. The chance to have a chance.

Ichiro is one of the greatest players in baseball history, but he’s overshadowed by most video games he’s featured in. In MVP Baseball there’s Jon Dowd, in Backyard Baseball there’s Pablo Sanchez and Pete Wheeler. In The Bigs, it was basically every power hitter in the game.

He never was a cover athlete for MVP Baseball, Triple Play Baseball, MLB 2K, The Bigs, or MLB: The Show. He never got the recognition he deserved for being OP in multiple video games. So the next time you hear MVP Baseball 2005 and someone mentioning Jon Dowd, bring up Ichiro. Bring up this article that I spent way too much on to show a video game legend the respect he deserves.

Finally, as a reward for making it through this article, here is a wholesome picture of Ichiro smiling.

Getty Images

You’re welcome.

[insideazusapacific]

Night of Champions

Every year, APU hosts what is called The Night of Champions. It is a very exciting and powerful one-night ministry event put on annually by the university and sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This ministry focuses on reaching unchurched youth by offering them an opportunity to meet sports and entertainment heroes, and listen to their personal testimonies concerning their relationship with Jesus Christ. 

The aim of the event is to create a Christian environment that is not intimidating, as well as a program of activities that are attractive to non-Christian teenagers. This year, the university was proud to host Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, among others. He delivered an incredible message that focused on something bigger in his career than the NFL, his life and faith in Christ. 

It was a night of incredible motivation and deep calling. Many people accepted Christ for the first time and countless others made the commitment to follow him more intentionally. I even had the humbling opportunity to be part of a prayer team which was available for those who desired personal prayer after this time of devotion and commitment. I can honestly say it was one of the most impactful and powerful nights of my life, and it just so happens that it was put together by my favorite university! I continue to be blessed by people and opportunities that the Lord places in my life here at APU

-Brian R. 

[daleisgreat]

2017-18 TV Season Recap, Part One

Previous TV Season Recaps – (2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17) 2017-18 TV Season Recap - Part 2 (South Park, Roseanne, Evil Genius, Orville, Riverdale)

Greetings and welcome to my annual TV season recap! Enjoy as I ramble on about nearly a dozen of the TV shows I attempted to keep up with throughout the television year. Please check out the links above for past installments of my TV recaps. I am splitting this year’s installment into two parts for now. Part one here will feature my breakdowns of the six shows based on comic books I followed while part two will feature everything else! In a few months like last year I will add a bonus part covering three or four more shows I plan to binge throughout the summer. Enough with the intro, let us get onto the year of television that was 2017-18. Gotham – I have no idea where to begin on the fourth season of Gotham. Like I mentioned in past annual recaps, since season two Gotham went kind of bonkers and dove deep bringing in a wide array of vintage Batman villains. A lot of them you may have seen from prior cartoons and films, while many others are getting their on-screen debut in Gotham. Plenty of past recurring villains return along with some new ones to keep me on my toes for each episode. The primary villains this season after Gordon and Harvey put away early filler head villain ‘The Pyg’ in a enjoyable several episode arc early in the season are Ra’s al Ghul and the Jerome/Jeremiah brothers that many of us know better as The Joker, even though the show does not officially label them as such. Gordon’s old love interests Barb and Lee both get some sadistic twists this season with Barb getting some unexpected powers as she clashes with Ra’s and Lee becoming a crime lord of sorts when she teams up with The Riddler and becomes known as the ‘Queen of the Narrows.’

I will nitpick a little bit because season three ended with a tease of Bruce donning his first set of the classic caped crusader costume as he sought out vigilante justice. The fourth season quickly backtracks away from that within a couple episodes as Bruce realizes he is in over his head after some early failures and he winds up going on a depressing party binge for several episodes and betraying the love-able Alfred to go out and party before finally coming to his senses. That said I am amazed at how Gotham managed to juggle its mammoth ensemble cast with almost something to do for every character this season. On almost any other show I would be irate for the lame explanations for characters cheating death and constantly coming back. I can get on board with the unbelievable returns in Gotham due to how off the rails the show has become by this point. Only way a person stays dead in Gotham is via bazooka. I was disheartened to see FOX announce that Bruce Wayne’s version of Smallville will come to an end with this fall’s fifth season being the last, and being only a half season at that. At least that gives the writers several episodes to wrap up this insanely awesome Batman project. Grade: A- Arrow – Season six of The Arrow means it is time to rejoice since there are no longer any more flashback periphery story arcs. Since Oliver is now the mayor of Star City, that means there are numerous enemies constantly trying to frame him and remove him from office, and while they are at it continue the laughable annual trend of trying to expose Oliver as the Green Arrow. The season gets a little messy with the core of Team Arrow splitting up for more than half the season and constantly being at odds with each other while the primary antagonists have some surprising twists of their own. I will give my supporting character MVP this season to Quentin Lance as the only one who stood loyal to Oliver through thick and thin this season while nearly the rest of the entire cast was at odds with Olly at one point or another this season.

That is saying a ton too as Quentin has his own season-spanning arc where he encounters another Earth’s version of his daughter, Laurel and never gives up on her despite her sinister ways and it seems like a laughably lost cause from the get go, but Quentin’s resilience and perseverance paid off after many weeks of effort in a way I was not anticipating. Arrow featured a dramatic season finale which will surely have profound changes for the series going into next season. There were a few missteps during the course of this season, but it managed to find its footing by the end and got me back on board again. Grade: B+ The Flash – I hate to see this trend, but the fourth season of The Flash continues the downward trajectory of the series after an underwhelming third season. The problem here is with the season-spanning villain Clifford DeVoe, aka, The Thinker. Thinker is after the unique energy force from a group of metas that got their powers on a mysterious explosion on a bus. So the whole season sees Team Flash try to track down each ‘bus meta’ one-by-one, but only consistently fail to protect them and see them fall victim to having their life force harvested by The Thinker. Most of these battles that play out are depressing to watch to see the Flash regularly disposed of with ease. One of the bus metas, Ralph, winds up joining Team Flash, but his forced humor is cringe-inducing and his run on the show went far longer than it had any right to be. The only reason this managed to stay above the ‘D’ range is because the series continues one of its positive trends of a great Christmas party scene and an awesome wedding between Barry and Iris that was at the core of a fun four-part crossover event with all four CW DC shows. Grade:C-

Legends of Tomorrow – Legends of Tomorrow was the surprise hit of the DC Arrow-verse this year. Its first two seasons were decent with their fair share of highs and lows, but ultimately suffered with a huge cast that stretched episodes thin to cram everyone in. The team on Legends got it right for season three by dialing back the cast a little (which means some heartbreaking moments this season) and somehow achieving the impossible by making Steel marginally less of a dope and even having an episode he excelled in what was my favorite episode of the season with its take on the classic film, Groundhog’s Day. CW must have had a serious makeover to the writer staff this season because at first I grimaced when they added the insufferable Wally West from Flash to the Legends team halfway through the season, but his personality surprisingly meshed well with the team and he blended right in! Sarah Lance is also coming into her own now as the group leader, and the intentionally campy-yet-amazing Damien Darhk and his daughter are the perfect season-long foils for the legends. A throwaway gag in a midseason episode in the form of a cuddly stuffed animal called, Beebo, returns in a memorable way for a surprisingly awesome season finale! Having its season not as padded out and several episodes shorter compared to the other CW DC shows also significantly helps. Grade: A- Jessica Jones – The second season of JJ on Netflix was a surprise step down from its unforgettable debut season. It is still one of the stronger Marvel Netflix series, and a big step up from Defenders and Iron Fist. The second season starts out strong with Jess meeting some new neighborhood characters setting up the season and the affable Malcom stepping up his role as Jessica’s assistant. After a few episodes things start to gradually unravel though with Trish relapsing and her arc slowly evolving from curious to cringe-worthy by the end of the season. Jeri’s periphery arc is also frustratingly inconclusive and vague and seems to be there for more shock than substance. The season shapes up midway through when Jones reconnects with figures from her past that the show does not paint in a bright light. Jessica Jones does not seem to care to drive home the destination point of this season and I could not help but feel the undertones from the cast this season in their body language read something like, “you are not going to particularly care how this season wraps up, it is just going to be there.” And that is exactly what happened, with the show doubling down on new characters this season that are not fun to root for or against and are essentially a nonfactor by the end of the season.

One last nagging point I have to touch on is Jess is her usual badass self most of this season threatening to rip people’s spines out for not divulging her info. However, at a couple crisis points this season she uncharacteristically gets pouty when it comes time to walk past the metaphorical ‘line’ she bemoans “I’m not a killer” before offing some painfully stereotypical antagonizing prison guard in one of the low points of the season. The second season feels like a wash by the end to wipeout all the good momentum established in the first half, including an awesome prequel episode set several years before the first season that wound up as one of the season’s few saving graces combined with a few other strong early episodes to prevent this from hitting the C range. Grade: B- The Punisher - If you know me, I am a huge Punisher mark, so this summary is admittedly a bit biased. Season two of Daredevil was a great introduction of the character, but Punisher’s own self-titled Netflix exclusive series dives deep into his psyche. As expected, a lot about his origin is constantly referenced throughout for the impetus for him going on his crusade. The PMC group Punisher squares off against is a formidable foe for Frank to go to war with, and I also thought the producers managed to walk that fine line for a secondary villain this season who is a middle east veteran suffering from PTSD who gradually loses before taking matters into his own hands. Rest assured there is plenty of action in each episode, and easily more than any of the other Marvel Netflix series.

They still sprinkle in a good back story for some breathing room, and Franks does not waste a word of his intentional limited dialogue as every word he speaks means business. The person Frank interacts with for his tech-backup is a good sidekick, but not worthy of the Micro name as the Netflix version veers off in some significant ways than how he was portrayed in the comics, but they capture the core of Micro’s role providing tech support for Frank. Micro’s family played a little more into the overall plot than I thought they would, but by the end of the season I thought they all earned their spot on the show and I was invested in their arc. As a die-hard Punisher fan this is a near-flawless portrayal of him, and this debut season easily surpasses all prior on-screen representations of him and I loving the tease for the villain they have in store for Frank in season two. Grade: A Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Angry Videogame Nerd Volumes 7-9 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld Final Season Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

[flauntpage]

Your Thursday Morning Roundup

The Eagles don’t need another quarterback.

With Nick Foles jumping into the starting role, now that Carson Wentz is done for the season, that makes Nate Sudfeld QB2 on the Eagles’ depth chart. However, many around the league and the Philly fanbase in particular are suggesting the birds sign Colin Kaepernick as the backup. The suggestion is laughable.

Yes, Kaepernick is good enough as a football player to at least be a back-up in this league, but the circus around him would not be something the Eagles should be willing to do. Why add someone new, who would bring tons of media attention, to a locker room with a special chemistry? Having Sudfeld would be better than having Kaepernick as the back-up and, in my opinion, there are better options out there before even thinking about bringing in the former 49ers quarterback.

The media thinks otherwise.

Martin Frank:

Yes, Colin Kaepernick. It makes sense for a lot of reasons, assuming the Eagles and perhaps their fans can get past the national anthem protests.

For one, Kaepernick was a starting quarterback in the NFL for the previous five seasons, and he had taken the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012-13. Even last season, on a 2-14 team, Kaepernick threw just four interceptions in 12 games.

He can throw, he can run, and he doesn’t turn the ball over – all prerequisites for a successful playoff quarterback.

Marcus Hayes:

Sign Kaep.

The Eagles could have Colin Kaepernick.

The Eagles should have Colin Kaepernick.

Instead, they have Nate Sudfeld. The Eagles are in position to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years, and for the third time ever. The Eagles also are in position to have to play Nate Sudfeld.

One big hit to Nick Foles — a sprained ankle, a cracked collarbone, a concussion — and it’s Nate’s show.

It could be Kaep’s. It should be Kaep’s.

Thankfully, the Eagles aren’t interested:

Per a league source, the Eagles have shown no interest in Kaepernick, and they’re not currently expected to do so.

Kap does not give you a better chance to win a Super Bowl this season, in the event that Foles goes down. He will just be a distraction for a locker room with the capability to do something no Philly team has ever done before.

Stick with Nick.

The Roundup:

Continuing with the birds, it’s a little concerning that Stefen Wisniewski is still out, but Zach Ertz is cleared and back:

TE Brent Celek also did not participate in practice (not injury related).

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 13, 2017

Celek missed practice because his wife went into labor.

Former Eagle Brian Westbrook has confidence in Foles:

Can Nick Foles lead the @Eagles to victory? @36westbrook gives his thoughts on Philadelphia's Super Bowl chances without Wentz http://pic.twitter.com/G9YDHBTkBZ

— GMFB (@gmfb) December 13, 2017

After the offensive line learned that Foles was heading into the game against LA last week, they needed to hear his cadence:

"@NFoles_9 is just a little bit different than @cj_wentz ."@Eagles #FlyEaglesFly #InsideTheNFL http://pic.twitter.com/FB8UrVfQDL

— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) December 13, 2017

MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas spent the week in LA with the Eagles and has a GREAT story about her time with the birds:

The adrenaline carried the Eagles while the game was still going on, and up the Coliseum tunnel, and into the locker room. But when they enter the locker room—where Wentz is waiting to congratulate them—reality sets in: They’ll have to try to achieve the rest of their goals, beyond a division title, without not only their MVP, but “arguably the MVP of the league,” says receiver Torrey Smith. In a quiet moment, McLeod finds his quarterback. “We did that for you, man,” he tells him. Wentz smiles back and tells him, good job.

Kevin Kinkead gives a brief history on Nick Foles and what he did between Eagles: Act 1 and Act 2 in his career.

Carson Wentz officially had his ACL surgery yesterday. Let the rehab, and anxious countdown until his return, begin:

Surgery the comeback officially begins now! The Lord truly blessed me with this beautiful young lady to walk by my side and support me through all of this! #comeback #grateful http://pic.twitter.com/enMa1B8dyb

— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) December 14, 2017

Chris Long made a name for himself with his nice guy moves this year, but he took a shot at the LA Rams yesterday.

TheScore dropped the Eagles out of top 10 of its Power Rankings and Kyle wouldn’t let it go unnoticed. His response, in part:

“Go fuck yourself.”

—

In case you didn’t stay up for it, the Sixers earned a 118-112 win in OT over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Kinkead has his observations:

Alright, back to the Sixers, who got some energy off the bench from T.J. McConnell and Trevor Booker last night.

McConnell finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 26 minutes of play, though he did turn it over three times. He just looked more comfortable out there, mashing around the rim and doing his typical up-tempo thing. You could tell he wasn’t 100% when he tried to come back from the shoulder injury last week.

Booker, I think, has been a really nice addition to the squad. He contributed 12, 5, and 5 with a pair of blocks and 1 steal in just 20 minutes.

Joel Embiid keeps impressing.

The team hosts the Thunder on Friday night at 7pm in the culmination of ESPN’s Philadelphia All-Access day.

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The Flyers are on a four-game winning streak, a badly needed one to catch up in the standings after a dreadful November. Philly earned a 4-2 win over Toronto on Tuesday night. Anthony SanFilippo’s takeaways are always a must-read:

To the Flyers credit, they played perhaps their most complete game of the NHL season to this point last night, defeating the Maple Leafs 4-2 and extending their winning streak to four games  – the first time they have won four straight in regulation since February, 2014. Yeah… almost four years.

They continue to get great goaltending from Brian Elliott (although the first Leafs goal was as unsightly as a big juicy whitehead on the side of your nose), Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier keep dazzling and production keeps coming from further down the lineup.

And for once, they won the possession battle, something that’s been eluding them for some time.

The team hosts the Sabres tonight at 7pm.

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Our Tim Reilly opines about the issues within the “business” of college football:

Money has influenced every aspect of the operation, from the teams on the schedule and the coaches on the sideline to the apparel and equipment that the athletes wear. The system will eventually buckle under the weight of its own hypocrisy. Feel free to continue burying your head in the sand, but be careful: the tide is rapidly approaching the shoreline, threatening what little beachhead you have remaining under your feet.

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Speaking of college football, Darren Rovell may have publicized a recruiting violation committed by Pitt.

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SI’s Richard Deitsch has a TREMENDOUS interview with Tony Romo about his broadcasting career and more.

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The 700 Level Show turned the tables on John Clark.

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In non-sports news…

A flight was forced to turn around after a man started biting other passengers.

Wal-Mart is allowing its employees to get an advance of their pay.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates.

Lastly, a follow up to a story yesterday about a local house fire with the loss of life. It hits close to home for one of our staff members. Consider donating, please.

        Your Thursday Morning Roundup published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[junker-town]

The Seahawks turned Frank Clark and 4 draft picks into a scary reload

In a two-week span, Seattle made sure Russell Wilson stuck around and then gave him enough new talent to keep him happy.

Two weeks before the 2019 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks had plenty on their to-do list. Russell Wilson set an April 15 deadline for a market-resetting contract extension with a potential trip to free agency looming. Frank Clark’s future with the team beyond 2019 was unclear after being saddled with the franchise tag. Doug Baldwin’s future was unsure too, thanks to injury.

That wasn’t all this offseason threw at the Seahawks. The once-fearsome Legion of Boom defense lost one of its final remaining members when Earl Thomas signed with Baltimore, making a rebuild on that side of the ball a priority. Locking in Wilson would also mean needing to give him the blocking he’s never had and the targets he’s been missing in recent years, but money would be tight. The draft would help, but the franchise only had four picks to work with.

And in two weeks, Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider have solved most of those problems.

The Seahawks were one of the NFL’s busiest teams in April, transforming their roster with a combination of trades and draft picks that should help them fend off the slide that once seemed inevitable after 2017. They extended Wilson, shipped out Clark, and built one of the league’s biggest draft chests over the course of 10 days, strengthening the team well into the future in the process. As a result, the Seahawks look like a problem-causer in the NFC West for years to come.

Here’s how they did it.

Before the draft: locking in Russell Wilson, locking out Frank Clark

Seattle lined up its dominoes before the three-day event in Nashville. First came a well-deserved megadeal for Wilson. The perennial MVP candidate became the game’s highest-salaried player after signing a four-year, $140 million extension that will keep him in the Pacific Northwest through 2023.

Next came a deal that stripped the team of its strongest pass rusher but replenished a dry basin of draft picks. Rather than offer Clark a similar extension, Seattle let the Chiefs worry about that instead. The Seahawks sent their leading sacker (and a 2019 third-rounder) to Kansas City, where he immediately inked a five-year, $104 million extension. In return, they got the Chiefs’ first- and third-round picks this year and next year’s third-rounder.

While this move depleted an already-shaky roster, it was also a financial boon for a team without much cap space and a distinct need for veteran talent. Extending Clark would have left the Seahawks with only about $33 million in spending money next spring. That was a tough sell for a club that will have to make decisions on new contracts for K.J. Wright, Jarran Reed, and to a lesser extent, Mike Iupati and George Fant. Instead, Seattle decided to sell high on Clark, bringing back the opportunity to draft two additional low-cost playmakers in his place.

As it turned out, trading away Clark was the echoing shout that gave way to an avalanche of draft trades aimed at replenishing the Seahawks’ roster with young, inexpensive talent.

At the draft: the trades. Good lord, the trades

Schneider and Carroll worked the phones throughout the draft to prove the team’s commitment to Wilson went beyond money. The Seahawk turned their small cache of picks into a mid-round war chest and then pounced on the players who slid through the early rounds to present great value on Days 2 and 3.

2019 saw a record-setting number of trades:

40 trades were completed during 2019 #NFLDraft, breaking the record of 38 established during the 2017 and 2018 drafts.

— NFL345 (@NFL345) April 29, 2019

And the Seahawks were responsible for much more than their share of the chaos:

Traded DE Frank Clark and the No. 84 pick to the Chiefs for Nos. 29, 92, and a 2020 third-round pick

Traded No. 21 to the Packers for Nos. 30, 114, and 118

Traded No. 30 to the Giants for Nos. 37, 132, 142

Traded No. 37 to the Panthers for Nos. 47 and 77

Traded Nos. 77 and 118 to the Patriots for No. 64 (drafted D.K. Metcalf)

Traded Nos. 92 and 159 to the Vikings for Nos. 88 and 209 (drafted Cody Barton and Demarcus Christmas)

Traded No. 114 to the Vikings for Nos. 120 and 204

Traded a future sixth-round pick to the Jaguars for No. 236 (drafted John Ursua)

Or, as SB Nation’s draft expert Dan Kadar put it:

Messed this one up. Through a series of trades, Seattle turned No. 21 (S Darnell Savage by GB) into this: 47 - Marquise Blair, S 64 - DK Metcalf, WR 120 - Gary Jennings, WR 131 - Ugo Amadi, DB 143 - Ben Burr-Kirven, LB 204 - Travis Homer, RB (John Schneider is a madman)

— Dan Kadar (@MockingTheDraft) April 27, 2019

Ye gods. Over the course of eight trades, Seattle went from having four picks in the 2019 draft to making 11 selections. And the picks the team made:

a) made sense, and b) presented some very real value.

So who did the Seahawks draft, and what can they do?

First-round pick L.J. Collier was Schneider’s choice to replace the pass rushing Clark left behind. He’s not a can’t-miss prospect, but he’s a versatile defensive lineman whose college profile looks a lot like Trey Flowers’.

The Seahawks’ first pick of the second round was safety Marquise Blair, a free-roaming centerfielder who, as a rookie, will be tasked with replacing 80 percent of the punch Earl Thomas once brought to Washington state.

Then came the guys who can boost the Seattle offense. If Wilson was happy enough with his extension that he bought each of his offensive linemen $12,000 in Amazon stock as a thank you for (checks stats) only allowing him to be sacked 51 times last year, he should be prepping to buy his coach and GM a distribution center this May.

The Seahawks traded up to snag potential first-rounder D.K. Metcalf by using a pair of picks acquired in trades down earlier in the draft. The Metcalf pick coincided with reports Baldwin’s career might be over due to injury, which only served to hype up the selection of Ole Miss’ building-sized deep threat with 4.3-second 40 speed.

Then Gary Jennings Jr., an uber-productive slot receiver from West Virginia who advanced stats rate as the biggest steal at wideout this spring (and who once played youth basketball for noted hardwood head coach Russell Wilson). Four spots later, Seattle picked up Wake Forest’s Phil Haynes, a 322-pound guard who also played tackle against FBS defenses in an All-ACC career. With Ethan Pocic failing to live up to his potential, D.J. Fluker playing like Pro Football Focus’s 69th-best guard, and Mike Iupati only signed through 2019, the Day 3 rookie could find his way into the lineup sooner rather than later.

In the middle of that came a linebacker, Utah’s Cody Barton. He can help the Seahawks forget they got so desperate at the position they twice signed a player — Mychal Kendricks — who’s facing a significant jail sentence after pleading guilty to insider trading.

Two more defenders followed Haynes — Oregon defensive back Ugo Amadi, who can handle duties at both corner and safety, and Ben Burr-Kirven, who was one of the NFL’s most prolific tacklers over four seasons at Washington. Burr-Kirven is small for the position, but he plays like a rabid wolverine and adds an extra layer of security in the second level. Both players have their warts, but in Rounds 4 and 5 they present good value at positions of definite need.

Even the team’s Round 6 and 7 picks — Travis Homer, Demarcus Christmas, and John Ursua — were productive college players who could stick on the depth chart. Ursua, a wideout from Hawaii who averaged more than 103 receiving yards and a touchdown per game, could be another weapon to reward Wilson’s consistency in Seattle.

Through trades, the Seahawks turned their first-round pick (No. 21) into six players at this year’s draft, five of which are highly likely to make their 2019 53-man roster. The Cardinals, on the other hand, turned 2018’s No. 10 pick into:

Here's what the Cardinals turned Josh Rosen into: 62 - Andy Isabaella, WR A 2020 5th round pick

— Dan Kadar (@MockingTheDraft) April 28, 2019

If you’re wondering how Seattle has remained a power in the NFC West for so long, look no further. Carroll and Schneider put together a virtuoso performance to transform their team through draft season. Now the Seahawks are ready to rebuild without suffering through a Cardinals-esque decline.

And they weren’t done! A seventh-round pick pried project tight end Jacob Hollister from the Patriots — although if the position-needy Pats are willing to part with him, that’s probably not a great sign.

More help could be on the way as well. Edge rusher Ezekiel Ansah visited the club this week and could wind up signing in Seattle. The oft-injured defensive end is a risk, but when healthy he can replace Clark’s production at a fraction of the price on what will likely be a prove-it one-year deal. It’s a big if, but a full-strength Ansah would be a major boon for a defense that needs a pass rushing marvel as well as a veteran presence in the locker room.

In one two-week span, Seattle made sure its quarterback stayed on board, then surrounded him with high-ceiling players who could keep him happy for years to come. History suggests the bulk of the team’s 11 2019 draft picks will fail to stick around on the roster beyond 2020, but a few big hits is all that’s needed to sustain a proud tradition of success under Wilson.

The Seahawks made the playoffs in 2018 despite losing big chunks of talent. Now they’re reloaded for 2019 — and that should scare the rest of the NFC.