#this is based on my actual real life experience of watching leverage and not knowing where the fuck sophie was at any given moment

[trivalentlinks]

some leverage redemption negativity under cut (well not really negativity, just something about the way they based episodes on specific real-life people on the news that didn't work for me personally)

(also major spoilers for Season 6 Episode 13 of Elementary below cut)

So one thing that I didn't like about Leverage Redemption (which I've only partially watched) was that several times I felt like the antagonists were too similar to specific real life people, like Martin Shkreli in the Card Game Job or Elon Musk in Great Train Job)

I mean, Leverage antagonists were always based on real life villains, but they usually changed it up a little bit, or mish-mashed a few so you couldn't immediately figure out which real life person something was based on

(like the Jailhouse Job where in real life it was juvie,

or the CIA experiment (Experimental Job) where in real life it was the OSS (which later merged with the CIA) and the victims were poor college students on financial aid instead of homeless vets,

or the Double Blind Job, which was a mish-mash of different pharmaceutical scandals)

I can't really put a finger on why this overt similarity to real life situations bothers me so much.

At first, I thought it was because I like some escapism in my shows (unless I'm watching John Oliver or something like that) and don't like being reminded of specific real life current events,

But recently I've been watching Elementary (CBS) and there's an episode, Breathe (S6 E13) which is also clearly based on Martin Shkreli and that didn't bother me about Breathe at all. In fact, I quite liked that episode.

So to recap the Elementary episode:

The episode starts with Holmes and Watson investigating the death of a lawyer, Frisk. They quickly deduce that Frisk is actually a prolific and extremely competent hit man who was killed by one of his clients, over blackmail material he kept on his clients. (One file was stolen.)

After consulting with Frisk's assistant, they realize that the missing file is of the character based on Shkreli (whom I'll call Shkreli henceforth), where Shkreli had hired Frisk to kill someone who was about to create a better, cheaper treatment for cystic fibrosis (which Shkreli was price-gouging)

However, they later figure out that Shkreli never hired Frisk, nor did he kill him.

Instead Frisk realized that Shkreli had hired a different hitman to kill the researcher (using his hitman skills to see that the death wasn't an accident), tried to prove it and/or find the hitman Shkreli hired, failed, and committed suicide framing Shkreli (for both his murder and the hit); It turned out Frisk's son (with the aforementioned assistant) had cystic fibrosis and Frisk needed Shkreli to go down so that cystic fibrosis drugs would stop being price-gouged.

(Frisk's assistant (and baby mama) was in on the whole thing; Frisk was for unrelated reasons on the verge of getting caught as a hitman anyway, so he told her about his other job and they hatched the plan together.)

After deducing all this (and thus foiling Frisk's plan to take down Shkreli) Holmes and Watson manage to con the hitman Shkreli actually hired into turning on Shkreli, so Shkreli does go down for that hit, anyway.

(But Holmes and Watson's plan really used the fact that they have the police on their side, so it's not implied that it was better than Frisk's plan, they just had resources that Frisk didn't have.

Given the resources he had, Frisk and his partner's plan was brilliant, and the partner did an excellent job carrying her part, lying to the police and steering them towards Shkreli while pretending not to be Frisk's partner or know anything about his being a hitman etc.

And I loved that Frisk figured out that Shkreli had hired someone to kill the researcher when the pathologist or whoever examined the body didn't. I loved them coming up with this ambitious plan and going all in on it, I loved the son's mom playing the innocent assistant who couldn't believe her boss was secretly a hitman.

And I loved that Holmes was initially upset when he realized that he and Watson had foiled Frisk's plan to take down Shkreli, but then they come up with a way to make sure Shkreli goes down anyway.)

-

Anyway, comparing this to the Lev Red episode, I think what I really don't like about the Lev Red episode is that the actual victims of Shkreli's price-gouging had no part in taking Shkreli down

I mean, even in original Leverage, the clients almost never take part in the con (with a few exceptions like Boiler Room Job and Long Way Down Job),

but I guess when it's this close to a real life situation, it really bugs me when the actual victims are cast as helpless damsels

Anyway, I hadn't realized how much this specific aspect bothered me until I watched Breathe and realized that as long as the actual victims are portrayed as awesome and active in taking down the bad guys, I don't mind the similarity to real life as much as I thought I did

[pebblesrus]

@wolves-in-the-world has changed my life with this post about quinn being face blind

i’m making a new post as to not derail theirs bc this is my stream of consciousness that is too long for tags (i’m feeling fine and normal abt it) 

so, as far at figuring out how to recognize the team

eliot is usually okay. his voice rarely changes he’s got that scar on his.......it’s a distinctive scar even if i cannot for the life of me tell u where exactly it is. u know it when u see it. that’s the kind of guy eliot is. but sometimes things are happening a bit too quickly and you haven’t gotten used to eliot with his hair up and.....it was an accident, eliot.

hardison is easier (because there are no other black people in portland.....kidding, this is a joke from the s5 bloopers). hardison is easier because while he is a decent grifter his affect doesn’t change all that much. hardison is, and will always be, the smartest man in the room, and his grifts are entirely based on him thinking ten times faster than the mark. it’s easy enough to spot.

nate is mostly easy—u know that post that’s like nate grifting is 100% relying on him just being himself and pissing off the mark—but during the runway job quinn full on refuses to admit that this man in a....whatever the fuck he’s wearing, is actually nate.

quinn’s got zero idea how to find parker in a crowd based on sight. moves too fast. and he’s only 3% sure based on sound. moves too quietly. but eventually he figures out how air flows through a vent differently with a parker sized block in it and that he should stop looking for her in the room and start looking for her in the ceiling. if she’s on the ground tho ur guess is as good as mine—no, ur guess is accurate, mine is a shot in the dark. well, no, quinn is more accurate with a rife in a pitch black cave in serbia than picking parker out of a crowd. it gets worse over time as she gets better at grifting.  

sophie is a. fucking. nightmare. the outfit changes the hair changes the fucking ~accents~ “i’ve seen sophie devereaux play a dozen people.....drunk” ok sterling u wanna fight sophie devereaux is a dozen people

vs. after the team finds out

when eliot learns that quinn was only like 60% sure of who he was on the entire 20+ hour flight from kiev he’s floored “what kind of assassin are u. u can’t just get on a plane with someone if u haven’t verified their identify where is ur sense of personal safety” “i broke ur ribs once and i’ll do it again pal <3”  

quinn joins hardison in lucille once and that’s the last time quinn is ever allowed to watch the cameras. hardison can put up with a lot of hitter nonsense but a man can only go through “WAIT there’s a bad guy can i go shoot him” “quinn that is eliot. we talked about this…...13 seconds ago.” so many times

parker knew way before anyone else. it’s that whole parker goes to quinn to ask questions she just wants answer to not a 5 page essay and concerned looks for the next 36 hours. one day parker is trying to get quinn to describe a person he saw for secret quinn-parker-heist reasons and quinn is like.....u see people??

nate is not entirely sure who quinn is so he doesn’t care if quinn isn’t entirely sure who he is either.

sophie takes to occasionally asking quinn if he knows who she is and every time he says no and every time she doesn’t believe he means it until she pokes (metaphorically) a bit and quinn stalks off “i’m getting ms. devereaux” (but it sounds like “i’m getting my mom” (he never manages to find “ms. devereaux”))

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - Kikuta really deserved better [part 2] 277-279.

Can you tell by my title that I’m a fan of Kikuta and I have some choice words for Noda?  Chapter 277 starts out with an introduction to the regional politics of Meiji era Japan.  The entire political shift occurred with the marriage of convenience between Choushuu and Satsuma (the Sat-Chou alliance) and how that is playing out in government and the military. With Hanazawa on the Satsuma side a commanding officer is having Tsurumi deal with the damage control.  That being Lt. General Okuda (and Kikuta’s boss)

He discloses how he’s the person who helped to cover up the scandal for Hanazawa and more of the regional politics comes into play as he pulls Tsurumi into this.

Recall that Tsurumi is from Niigata and we know he is from a family that lost power and wealth due to political changes.  He assumes that of course Tsurumi would hold a grudge towards those from the Sat-Chou alliance.  Usami is also from a fallen samurai family in Niigata and we know that Ogata is from Ibaraki and also from a samurai family on the losing side.  Tsukishima is from the island of Sado where unwanted people were dumped in Niigata so he is also an outsider.  We learn of his ‘true’ feelings as the tells his core group his opinion on things.

I love how we get unhinged Tsurumi calling it all a farce and he’s over Central.  But most importantly Okuda confirmed his own intel about the gold he learned while in Russia at some point in time.  His gold plan can slowly move along.  So Tsurumi becomes in the Hanazawa scandal cover up looking for the young 2nd Lt. and Kikuta, working under Okuda’s direct orders.

Despite his best efforts, Kikuta’s plan is revealed by a secretary at the Military Academy, while we know that Sugimoto and Kikuta are en route to the engagement dinner.

Hanazawa panics and sprints out to determine what is happening. Right on his tail is Tsurumi and his key team of Ogata, Tsukishima and Usami.  Clearly this is going to become a huge mess.  The next few pages are amusing, but really don’t add value to the plot.  I am impressed that Kaeko has an excellent plot to get Sugimoto naked and I commend her efforts!  GK is never short of strong female characters.  Who enjoy sex.

This sets up a hilarious moment where he’s naked and trapped in a bedroom while she leverages the potential scandal to her advantage.  By that point Tsurumi has caught up to them.  What is most interesting is when Usami addresses Ogata as Hyakunnosuke and asks him what he thinks about meeting his brother.  It is clear this isn’t out of concern from Usami’s part, we know he hates Ogata to his very core.

But as usual, Ogata doesn’t respond and we just see only a part of his eyes, not even a glance of his lips to give us an idea of what he’s thinking.

Kaeko and Sugimoto continue to talk as she reveals what she knows from Hanazawa Hiro.  She had been a nurse during the first Sino-Japanese war so it has allowed her to reflect on the impact of war on individual soliders.

This tells us a few things;  Hiro’s patriotism is more nuanced.  If she were being selfish and just saying she doesn’t want her son to go off to war without experience it, that would be one thing.  Instead, she knows being a military spouse first hand what happens - no one could say she didn’t do her own duty and go likely above and beyond.  Ultimately, she wants to protect her son from her own experiences and observations and be a mother.

Sugimoto then realizes he needs to bail and leaves poor Kikuta confused.  And then bam! The 27th is there.

Of course this leads to the most Sugimoto situation of all time!  Tsurumi threatens Kaeko with his handgun and Ogata asks where Yuusaku is.  Of course Sugimoto flies out of the bathroom naked sans Kikuta’s hat and Ogata is just amused beyond belief.

This would be complete if he were relaxed eating a box of popcorn or something like that. 278 continues this absolute chaos and lots of fan service for Miss Kaeko!  I really don’t think the fight scene needs much meta.  Ogata just finds it amusing (and btw sucks at hand to hand combat) while Usami rumbles with Sugimoto.  Tsurumi realizes he’s not Yuusaku and Kikuta rushes in and gets shot in the shoulder by Tsukishima.

Somehow, Kikuta is able to get the rest of them to flee but not without running into the actual Hanazawa Yuusaku.  Awkward.  Tsurumi only then realizes that Kikuta was doing his job and they run out into the street.

Kaeko tries her best to convince Sugimoto to marry her.  Granted he is a very heroic figure and he fought to protect her.  However, reality wouldn’t allow that to happen and Sugimoto decides to join the army - thinking he won’t starve that way.

Kikuta looks so sad and disappointed when he hears this.

He’s definitely thinking of his younger brother who died b/c he told him to join the army with him.  I loved the fact that we learn that Kaeko got to be a successful woman who was also compassionate to others. 

There is a quick exchange that shows the first encounter between Ogata and Yuusaku.  Yuusaku notices Ogata and salutes him as a cadet.

Ogata doesn’t even return the salute and he look he gives him out of the corner of his eyes.  What is he thinking?  I’d say Yuusaku doesn’t know who Ogata even is.  But something has him very suspicious to be this leery of him.  This also makes me think of this previous encounter between Koito and Ogata in chapter 200.

This time Ogata is bolder when he walks by Koito who is also currently still in the Army Academy.  Except unlike Yuusaku who doesn’t seem to pick up on Ogata’s vibes, Koito does!  And the two of them stare each other down.  I think that this in part shows that Koito has more innate awareness of things and could be considered more of a ‘natural’ in the military.  Which Yuusaku isn’t.  We have no evidence Yuusaku has any sort of military talent or skills. 

The chapter ends with Kikuta asking Sugimoto if he’s serious about joining the military and how he’s already fated to go to hell based on what he’s done in his life.  279 continues the conversation between Kikuta and Sugimoto and he flat out tells Sugimoto about how his brother died of illness in the army during the Sino-Japanese war.

Sugimoto then becomes Kikuta’s younger brother telling him that it is time to move on.  This continues the trend in GK where a character that is speaking becomes someone else to the listener.

This is most evident with Asirpa when she becomes Yuusaku on more than one occasion to Ogata.

But this facial expression from Kikuta [sobs].

No wonder Kikuta worked so hard to save Ariko’s life!  He can’t just always be responsible for the deaths of others.

Sugimoto convinces Kikuta that he’ll be alright in the army and he relents and lets him keep the cap.  This shows that Kikuta has moved on from the death of his brother - a big deal!  In an unusual way, Sugimoto has helped Kikuta move on and take the next step in the healing process. Kikuta reports to his commander in the 1st.  Okuda wants him to keep an eye on Tsurumi.  Obviously, he knows now that Tsurumi interfered with Kikuta’s plans for Hanazawa rather heavy-handedly so he would need someone else to balance it out.

It then reveals that Ogata is also working for Okuda in the 1st.  This explains why when the two of them crossed paths in the brewery they did not engage but nor did they appear to exchange any information.

I can’t help but feel like something is still off with this.  Ogata does have skills from working in intelligence with Tsurumi.  He’s observant, makes himself invisible and can get others to talk easily.  But Ogata being a 100% willing spy - it seems like he wants something else out of this. Kikuta’s character screams secret agent - but Ogata, he’s something else.  I’m not sure if Ogata’s choice to be a spy on Tsurumi was a real choice.

When Ogata and Tsukishima had their shoot out in Yubari at Edogai’s, Tsukishima told him he was a pet cat for Central.  Ogata replied that they were part of a rebel element.  We know that Ogata was working with Tamai at the beginning of the manga.  I struggle to see how Ogata has loyalty to anyone honestly.  He seems to be moving throughout this game with again his own mysterious objective.  Ogata is cynical and has no belief in the nation state nor does he harbor any sort of deep patriotism towards Imperial Japan.

Since Okuda is friends with Hanazawa and is based in Tokyo, he may have known Ogata since his birth and has kept tabs on him after the Ogata grandparents took him back to Ibaraki with his mom.  Ogata’s existence might be a sort of trump card that Okuda is keeping . . . but others found out as well like Tsurumi.  Did Okuda have Ogata tell or leak information that Ogata is Hanazawa’s first son? The chapter jumps to the 203 meter hill in the war and we see Yuusaku fallen on the battlefield.  Ogata watches from distance, his face cut off while other members of the 27th run out to help Yuusaku.

This finally reveals Yuusaku’s eyes!  Not the anticipated reveal - I kept thinking this was something that Ogata was going to see but it shows us clear eyes.  Which look sort of similar to Asirpa’s eyes.

So many thoughts are jumping around in my brain about this reveal.

1.) These eyes are not the ‘trademark’ Hanazawa eyes.  Dark black orbs with those eyebrows!  This indicates his eyes aren’t from his father.

Seeing this, I can’t help but think that Yuusaku is not Hanazawa’s son.  Instead, Hiro had an affair with someone else.  A major theme in GK is that the children inherit the skills of their parents.  Asirpa is able to do many things as she inherited the intelligence of Wilk.  And that Ogata is the true inheritor of Hanazawa’s military skills.

Recall this from chapter 58.  Ogata leads the crappy local gang against Hijikata and acts like a commander.

We know that Tsurumi’s lie about Ogata wanting to avenge Hanazawa is to keep Nikaido in the dark.

This would also explain why everything we learn about Yuusaku is terrible at military things.  If he also isn’t Hanazawa’s son it would make it even more reason for Hiro to try to prevent him from entering the military since he’s not even genetically related to this great line of Hanazawas.  I wish we knew more about the Ogata side of things - I think we’ll also learn that the Ogata side had competent military men on it as well.  2.) Yuusaku’s eyes are the same as Asirpa’s and indicate their sort of innocence.  In this case, it would perfectly explain why Ogata sees Yuusaku instead of Asirpa when he has the fever and then the melt down on the ice floe.  Yuusaku kept himself naive and innocent to meet his father’s expectations.  A man who I don’t think is even his father at this moment.  Therefore, Ogata’s guilt on killing Yuusaku is tied to his sort of innocence in these situations and why he can’t seem to shake his mental confusion when it comes to Asirpa.  However, unlike Yuusaku, Asirpa has never forced herself on him to do things or guilt tripped him so it leaves things open for him to not link her to Yuusaku.

3.) Yuusaku was going to blow Ogata’s cover working for Okuda.  Now that we know that Ogata was working for Okuda while in the 27th it means he’d have to keep his role quiet.  If Yuusaku found out that Ogata was working for Okuda, I could see him going to Tsurumi and telling him this information.  Therefore, to protect his status, Ogata used this as his rationale to kill Yuusaku on the battle field.  I have never figured out if Ogata was nudged to kill Tsurumi by his ‘don’t kill him right now.’ comment as one of Tsurumi’s backwards motivations that lead Ogata to directly killing him. So many possibilities!  I want more Ogata backstory dammit!

Anyhoo, to not make this meta super long let’s get back to the action. Asirpa begins working out how to try to break the code.  Hijikata notes that Wilk could have used something other than kanji, since he’d know the Latin alphabet for Polish and Cyrillic for Russian.  Shiraishi makes a clear point that this could be a message from Wilk towards her, though it feels like he’s channeling Kiro.  Out of many of the Japanese characters Shiraishi time and time again comes out much more sympathetic to the minorities than others.

Asirpa begins to wonder how the coin is linked to the skins. She’s thinking things through and is on her way to solving the puzzle.

After saving Ariko, Kikuta is returning to Tsurumi’s group in the church.  Oh Roger, this is why I love you so much.

Look at that smirk with a slightly watery eye.  At the same time Tsurumi is also looking at the coin and realizes he’s figured it out.

Kikuta approaches the rest of the group and comments on if he’s found the location.  Tsurumi states that things are just getting started.  He casually pulls out his gun and fires two shots into Kikuta at point blank range.

And with this I am deeply saddened and shocked.  How dare you do that to Kikuta!!!  He was my Kiro replacement and now he’s also going to die.

First Boutarou died and now Kikuta.  [cries].  We know that Tsurumi is a shinigami but this is just brutal.  The bear death trio died early on in the manga.  Ogata escaped.  Kikuta now is the next link to Central that goes down.

[talenlee]

The Johnlock Conspiracy Conspiracy

First of all this is going to be building off a point first cast into relief for me by Sarah Z’s video on The Johnlock Conspiracy. She is both directly connected with the experience of this space and did the research into the actual history of the people involved, a sort of on-the-spot observer recounting her experiences ethnographically. If you want a longer form deep dive on what The Johnlock Conspiracy is, check out that video. I will be providing a quick summary.

I’m also going to talk about fanagement, which I wrote about last year, which is about the way that fan engagement was seen as being a thing that corporate entities could deliberately engage for commercial ends. Fanagement isn’t necessarily an inherently evil or corrupting thing, but it’s something to know about as something that exists, and knowing it exists can colour your relationship to the media created in response to fanagement.

There’s this idea of ‘The Johnlock conspiracy.’

In the agonisingly mediocre BBC mystery drama Sherlock that ran from who cares to also who cares, starring in the loosest sense of the word Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (a man ‘renowned’ for this, The Office and the Hobbit trilogy, on a scale of poisonous influence to actual outright evil), as a modern day re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson that has some interesting ideas that it absolutely does not use well, mysteries that are not interesting and a relationship tension that was making itself up as it went along. Much ink has been spilled about how this series is not very good, and that’s good, because it’s a very expensively made bad series that banks on the reliable draw of the same fistful of boring privilege.

Part of what made it popular, sort of, was the tension of the relationship between John and Sherlock. See, they were both men, you see, and what if they kissed.

Now, tumblr is, by volume, mostly connections to other parts of tumblr. If you make something popular, it becomes amplified and exploded and brought to the attention of others and curated into lists. Content that gets shared is the very sinew of what Tumblr is, which means that doing things people share around is a strange form of primacy on the site. Making content is powerful, heady, druglike. Commanding curation where you determine what does and does not get shared is even moreso. It is a space for an audience that is engaged deeply with the concept of being engaged, and in this space, fandom happened.

There’s not a lot of Sherlock. There were big gaps between the seasons. When a season came out, it did not explain itself or deliver on its promise at all. It is, as I’ve said, bad. But it was well made and used actors you’d heard of and was treated as being prestigious and so, when the show came out, and because people liked the idea of what it could be, fandom struck on a conspiracy:

What if this terrible show is secretly great?

And I understand the impulse. It’s heart to a lot of fandom. I can’t possibly have spent this time and energy on something I don’t like, it must be that the thing I like is secretly this thing I really like. And so scaffolding comes out to buttress the idea. We’re not taught that fandom is right – we’re taught that fandom is something that justifies itself by being right. If you have a story in your heart about a Dark Fuckprince and his soft bean injured Watson, that story is real and right, and doesn’t need the official endorsement of the BBC to be good.

Without that armour of love, though, instead the fandom turned into this endless oroborous of hostility centered around three people, who seem to just be total dickheads, great job you. This resulted in the blossoming of what was known as ‘the Johnlock Conspiracy,’ where through thousands of pages of well intentioned fumes, these fans huffed themselves into believing that Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis were secretly building up to exactly what they wanted, and they were the smartest people ever for noticing it. The lack of payoff of their beliefs and the active hostility Moffat had to their ideas and positions in person, that was all part of the conspiracy.

Oh, by the way, that idea – conspiracy – is when you have an unfalsifiable conjecture. If you can’t prove it false, no matter what, that’s when you’re dealing with a conspiracy theory.

The dramatic conclusion to all this was the series ended, their conspiracy was wrong, they theorycrafted themselves a few more months of content, and then most people let it drop.

But what if I told you there was a conspiracy?

Because there was. It just wasn’t the conspiracy they thought.

See, a conspiracy is a real thing: it’s a secret plan to do something harmful. And the BBC, since they published the work that Matt Hill described in Torchwoods Trans-Transmedia: Media Tie-Ins and Brand Fanagement, worked with the parameters of their experiment aggressively.

The idea, as I outlined in my article about Fanagement was that making the program so it could engage fans directly, and give fans feelings of creative ownership over the work would drive viewership and the kinds of engagement they liked (like, paying for things). Fanagement sought to make media ‘gifable’ – low saturation backgrounds with cuts of under a second so you could break a scene apart easily and conveniently. It wanted to make fan media easy to make, and to minimise hard declarative statements.

The lessons learned from this paper included things like ship teasing as a deliberate task – and I do mean teasing, with the idea that you had to do it in deniable and ambiguous ways. Making things definite wouldn’t get you as much fan engagement as keeping things ambiguous, because fans would make an inference based on what you show them, talk about it, then other fans would watch it again to make sure they could argue with you about it.

A mystery show like Sherlock was perfect for this kind of treatment. Treating the series as if there was some really deep, thoughtful question at the heart of it meant that there was always a reason to keep from ‘revealing’ the secret of the story, to string the audience along, like they’d believe or tolerate it, if it was all in service of a clever explanation. You get it, right? After all, we gave you all the clues.

The toxic fandom of Sherlock did not form as much as it was fostered.

A lesson from this experience, a lesson easily escaping notice, is that it’s not that ‘fandoms are all the same.’ They really aren’t. They are wildly varying in the terms of their problems and those problems root causes. What they tend to have in common is dynamics, but those dynamics are expressed in a lot of different ways. It’s not that ‘fandoms’ naturally become toxic and awful. There are fandoms that are generally, quite nice, and they tend to be that way because of the values of the central movers and shakers and the conscious willingness of people who perceive themselves as part of the fandom as taking care of it. The dynamic is the same – you have common nexuses of community that people interact with – and the kind of behaviour that’s acceptable and reasonable is filtered through them. If the idea of asking people to modify their behaviour or respect people’s boundaries is seen as unreasonable, then you can get a toxic space.

Also, as I talk about ‘toxic fandoms,’ understand toxicity is relative. There is, after all, a very real, very unironic Hitler Fandom, and they are probably one of the worst fandoms out there. Being a mean lawyer on the internet is bad, and I’ve no doubt the fandom curators known now as the Powerpuff Girls absolutely wrecked some teenagers’ lives – like, there are definitely people with, I am not joking or being hyperbolic, some PTSD triggers about (say) Tumblr or whatnot, based on the kind of social force these people were leveraging.

And then remember that holding that lever at the high end, right at the top with the most power over it was a company that made TV shows that was trying to make sure you watched their shows.

Also: The tools for doing this are available to all the companies that read the paper.

My advice? Exhort and uplift queer creators. Be positive about it, not negative. Don’t make your time about attacking other people’s dark fuckprince. Bring what you like to life, and bring that life into the light. Share and love each other, rather than find reasons to be mad at one another for how you’re all playing with toys a corporation wants you to treat with respect and only play properly. And as always, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept – so make sure your fandom circles aren’t putting up with some Powerpuff Girls.

Originally posted on my Blog.

[theparanormalperiodical]

Top 10 Scariest Horror Films You Didn't Know Were Based On A TRUE Story feat. Trailers + Where To Watch

There’s something about horror films that are based on real events that just make me weak.

So weak, in fact, I’ve decided to spend the last *checks watch* one and a half years of my early 20s delving into the facts and the fiction haunting the horror genre. 

My parents must be so proud.

Most of these films wear the badge of ‘this is reality or close enough to it, anyway’ with dignity, leveraging gullible paranormalists like me to drive ticket sales. The Conjuring (2013) is just one of these films that is explicit in its basis in reality, going on to rake in 16 times its budget and inspiring me to delve deeper into my occultist journey.

(No, really, they’re so proud.)

But the ventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren are not the only experiences of horrifying and haunting events to be reinterpreted via the silver screen. There are some horror films you wouldn’t expect to have reality flushing through their veins.

Some of horror’s biggest hitters aren’t just living in your nightmares. They actually happened IRL.

Which is, ummm, fine, yeah, it’s not like I need to sleep anyway.

*Stay tuned to discover the horror films you didn’t know were based on true stories and the real accounts that inspired them.*

Jaws (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fu_sA7XhE 

This cinematic classic follows the adventures of a great white shark as it terrorises the summer resort town of Amity. A couple of corpses later, and the local police chief, rookie marine biologist, and wild-card shark hunter track the beast down themselves.

Most horror films use a person or a story as a basis for a film. Jaws, however, is an amalgamation of experiences recorded by the writer of the novel inspiring the film, Peter Benchley.

Benchley admittedly had a life-long obsession with sharks and was inspired to write a book on a rogue great white after reading about a bloke called Frank Mundus.

"...in 1964, I read an item in a newspaper about a fisherman who harpooned a 4,500-pound great white shark off Long Island. I remember thinking at the time, Lord! What would happen if one of those monsters came into a resort community and wouldn't go away?”

Quint, the wild card shark hunter, was based directly on Mundus.

Another influence, although not referenced by Benchley, was the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks.

In high summer, five Americans were attacked by a great white off the coast of the Jersey Shore with 4 falling victim to their wounds. For the next 11 days, the same shark cruised along the 70 miles of the beach towns and small villages. The shark even performed the first shark attack reported in US history, countering the long-standing belief that sharks couldn’t bite through human bone.

(Spoiler alert: they can.)

When beach goers came to the beach early morning to discover the 3rd victim bitten in half, this was disproven. After that discovery - which bares a striking resemblance to the opening scenes of Jaws - the story hit The New York Times front page.

Just like the film the mayors tried to deny there was a deadly shark making the rounds to secure profit to their seaside resorts. And just like the film a swimmer was even mauled in an estuary.

It wasn’t long before they settled on the identity of the perpetrator and the locals set off with rifles and pitchforks.

(Not sure how useful they’d be against a shark, but okay.)

The shark met its end after it attacked one of the hunters’ boats, a scene we also witness in the film.

You can rent it for £2.50 on Amazon Prime.

Deliver Us From Evil (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWDM_p68HAQ

We follow a policeman who has a side gig as an exorcist as he encounters strange goings on in the Bronx. Ralph Sarchie chases up the paranormal activity and attempts to untangle why possessed people are painting ancient messages and images in various places.

Here’s the thing: none of this actually happened. As far as we know, anyway.

What this film is based on is the real Ralph Sarchie who wrote the memoir Beware The Night as an ode to his work as a demonologist. It’s based on his character, his tone of voice, and how he carried out his work.

Sarchie presents his work as his destiny, as some form of divine intervention he believes was signalled by his survival of a severe illness he contracted when he was 10.

He claims to carry a splinter of the ‘true cross’ - I guess the one Jesus actually died on - and considers himself more of a priestly figure armed with relics and holy water than a paranormal investigator.

Sarchie has worked on many possessions and hauntings, claiming he didn’t charge a cent despite the high fee he probably got from the book sales and the film’s debut. The most famous tale is that of the ‘Halloween Horror’:

A woman named Gabby began to see a woman floating in a cloud of white smoke in the corner of her bedroom. It wasn’t long before this smoky woman began to speak through Gabby according to her partner Dominick.

Gabby’s friend then says this was the ghost of a woman murdered on her wedding night. She then apparently saw the spirit of her father. Activity followed with flying books, moans and growls, and the word ‘HELP’ written on the mirror. Eventually an incubus rocks up and is hell bent on attacking various family members.

When Gabby gets possessed in the presence of Sarchie and his paranormal-busting-partner, he exorcises her of the spirit.

In total, Sarchie has assisted in 25 exorcisms and hundreds of ‘house exorcisms’.

You can watch it for free on Netflix.

The Blob (1958/1988)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUsyXQ8Wrs

*cue the canned screams*

In some rural town in America, a meteorite crashes to the ground. Someone investigates and a jelly globule attaches itself to their hand before consuming it. It then begins to consume their entire body. It’s not long before it starts to consume, well, everyone and everything in its path.

8 years before the horror icon first became a cult classic, two police officers in Philadelphia saw something float down from the sky. They thought it was a parachute and decided to investigate.

What they discovered was a six feet wide purple glob of odourless gloop. It was filled with crystals and gave off a mist. One of the police officers took the plunge - quite literally - and dipped a hand in. He kept the hand, but noticed the sticky residue left on his hands.

The gloop quickly disappeared and left the grass underneath it unbent. It was allegedly only there for 25 minutes. They were the only ones that saw it. It soon made its way into the press and the FBI asked the Air Force to investigate. They declined.

You can watch it for £3.50 on Amazon Prime.

Wolf Creek (2005)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S13W69FQhs

Two British tourists are backpacking across Australia when they run into trouble in Wolf Creek National Park. A helpful local offers to help fix their broken down car and provide some shelter. Turns out the helpful local is actually a psychopathic xenophobic murderer. He entraps tourists, lures them to his shelter, and tortures/kills them.

Most gory horror films can be compared to real life murders and other crimes. Unfortunately, even the most imaginative forms of torture or murder has probably already happened. But the film was directly based on the backpacker murders committed by Ivan Milat in the 90s.

Milat murdered 7 people aged 19 to 22, preying on those encouraged to backpack across Australia after several tourism campaigns revealed how cheap and easy it was. In ‘92 and ‘93 the bodies were discovered in Belanglo State Forest with the wounds and injuries suggesting the scenes played out in film were similar to those Milat committed.

In late ‘93 a force dedicated to hunting the unknown killer emerged. It used gym memberships, gun licensing, and police records to narrow down a list of 32 suspects.

It was only when Paul Onions, a British backpacker reported he was nearly murdered near Belanglo State Forest that the police could pinpoint that Milat.

You can watch it for £2 on Amazon Prime.

Open Water (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9q1qJi1nMs

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare: being left in the middle of the ocean. A distant couple decide to take a relaxing break and head out for a scuba-diving vacation. Their holiday is ruined, however, when the guy driving the boat f*cks up the head count and thinks everyone is back on board after a diving sesh. The couple come back to the surface and discover the boat is gone.

Yep, this all happened in real life.

In 1998, Thomas and Eileen Lonergan went on a scuba diving trip to Australia’s Coral Sea. They were mistakenly stranded by the boat crew leading the dive and their absence wasn’t noticed until 2 days later when a bag containing their belongings was discovered.

The crew and other rescue teams searched the area but did not discover their bodies. Personal belongings were found.

A diver’s slate - a device for communicating underwater - was one of these items.

"Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am. To anyone who can help us: We have been abandoned on A[gin]court Reef by MV Outer Edge 25 Jan 1998 3pm. Please help to rescue us before we die. Help!!!"

The other items that washed up, including a wetsuit, suggested they had probably not fallen victim to shark attacks but had become disoriented, dehydrated, or injured by coral. Alternate theories claim it may have been a murder-suicide to avoid the slow, distressing death of being left at sea, or that it was a faked death/disappearance. No bank accounts had been tampered with, however.

Tougher regulations for scuba-diving in Australia shortly followed their disappearance.

You can watch it for free on Amazon Prime.

The Rite (2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hG3ktopqv8

We follow exorcist-in-training Father Gary Thomas as he navigates the loss of this faith. When the opportunity for fighting growing demonic possessions arises, Thomas decides to become an exorcist. We see Thomas as he is confronted by evil and reaffirms his devotion to God.

Portrayed by veteran actor Anthony Hopkins, Father Gary Thomas is a real American exorcist - one of the 14 Vatican-verified exorcists working State-side. He did in fact study in the Vatican to become an exorcist, and another student he met there would chronicle his experiences in the book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist.

Thomas even spent a week on set advising the director, utilising his experiences of the 100 odd people he had seen possessed in his career.

Just like in the film, Thomas echoes that most people that come to him for an exorcism have been abused in their past, linking mental health issues to demonic attachment. Thomas also has a lot of praise for the film, claiming the way those possessed moved in a serpentine way is accurate to those he has seen:

“I was beginning to do some deliverance prayers. Within a few minutes she began to tremor and her facial countenance began to change. You saw a snake. She began sticking her tongue out like a snake and hissing and rolling her eyes. She coiled herself up.”

- Father Gary Thomas on a possessed Venezualan woman

You can watch this on Amazon Prime for £2.50.

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Mm8Sbe__o

Anthony Hopkins refers to a staple horror film - a film with truth spilling like blood from a bloated corpse…

This psychological horror sees an FBI trainee as they work with an imprisoned serial killer to hunt down a murderer, Buffalo Bill. Add in just a dash of transphobia and we arrive at the film that made my parents actually walk out of the cinema when they first saw it.

First, let’s talk about Hannibal Lecter and his role as an advisor to the FBI: this has actually happened, using a seasoned killer to catch another. The most famous example of this is none other than Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous in history. Bundy told investigators to stake out the graves of victims or the places where bodies had been dumped as necrophiles like himself would return to the site.

Bundy actually helped them catch Gary Ridgeway who killed an estimated 90 people.

Now let’s turn to Buffalo Bill. The characters were never directly inspired by real people but their crimes were. He was an amalgamation of other crimes with Ed Gein serving as the main inspiration. Ed Gein, most known for skinning his victims and wearing the skins, took 9 lives and would also inspire the character Norman Bates.

He would make clothing out of body parts, make soup bowls from dug-up skulls, and build chairs from human bones.

Ted Bundy even made another appearance in Buffalo Bill’s character in terms of how he lures his victims, acting hurt and helpless until the victim was just within reach.

You can buy this film on Amazon Prime for £8.

Scream (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWm_mkbdpCA

This satirical slasher redefined the genre, putting comedy firmly into horror as we know it. It follows Sidney Prescott, a preppy high school student, as she navigates high school drama and a rampant serial killer.

Just like The Silence Of The Lambs, the crimes witnessed in Scream had basis in reality. Daniel Rolling - the Gainesville Ripper - was an American serial killer who murdered 5 students in Florida within the short span of 4 days back in 1990.

Rolling would sexually assault, rape, threaten, and kill his young victims before leaving them in ‘sexual’ positions. He even decapitated one of those murdered and left the head on the shelf opposite the rest of the body amongst other vile acts. He later claimed his motive was to become a ‘superstar’ like Ted Bundy.

Yeah, that’s enough of that.

You can watch this on Amazon Prime for £2.50.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977/2006)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUQd9OB75dw

It’s time to hear about another vacay gone cray-cray. In the middle of a roadtrip to California, a family’s car breaks down in a mysterious area closed off to the public and they encounter a strange community of cannibals.

Instead of being based on modern crimes that hit far too close to home, this film is based on a historic event - or the legend of Sawney Bean.

Bean was a mythical leader of a cannibalistic group of insurgents in the 16th century. He grew up in a community of witches and later began his own community full of his children which he expanded with rampant incest. They would leave traps and eat their prey in a cave.

The King of Scotland, James VI, even led a team to root the family out of their lair. According to legend they were burnt at the stake while others were hung.

This tale also bears similarities to urban legends from Russia: there is a trope in the Southern Urals which claims after the Chernobyl accident irradiated peoples would become savage peoples, echoing the nuclear testing themes shown by the film.

You can watch this on Amazon Prime for £2.50.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1978)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKn9QIaMgtQ

In this cult class gore-fest we see a group of friends visit an old homestead but instead run into a family of murderous cannibals.

Yet again the crimes of Ed Gein make an appearance. The friends walk in on a home full of furniture made of human remains and meet a man - Leatherface - wearing a mask made of human skin. We also witness various people butchered in different brutal ways.

But this film also has a more political inspiration. Tobe Hooper - the director, producer, and writer - pinned his inspiration on changes in the cultural and political landscape, focusing on misinformation that overran America during the 70s.

*looks into camera a la Jim from The Office*

Hooper pinned the claims of a true story onto the film, responding to how he felt he was being lied to by the government regarding things like Watergate, the 1973 Oil Crisis, and the Vietnam War. The news only confirmed the brutal acts of humanity.

"man was the real monster here, just wearing a different face, so I put a literal mask on the monster in my film".

You can watch this for free on Amazon Prime.

Well that was, uhh, fun?

If you enjoyed these traumatic discoveries - you know, that some of the most terrifying horror films of all time are based on real people and crimes - then make sure you like ‘n’ reblog to let me know.

I post a new article on horror and the paranormal every Saturday + a new real ghost story everyday so make sure you hit follow to tag along for the ride!

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Episode 10)

This is it people! The series finale of Kipo; Let’s get to it.

Episode Title: Age of Wonderbeasts

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

Hopefully she’s getting dressed for her funeral lol

1. Continuing on from last episode, the fireworks rigged with the cure goes off and a bunch of embers start falling from the sky. One of the Humming Bombers got into contact with one of them while attempting to flee and immediately de-mutes. I thought the cure needed to go into their bloodstream? Unless, the ember actually burned through their skin. It that’s the case, wow that’s dark....

It’s awesome that Earl and Lily are helping Molly since Molly saved their children awhile back. 

2. With her quick thinking, Kipo asks everyone to find shelter underneath her as she transforms into her Mega Jaguar form. However, that’s still not enough to protect everyone but luckily, the good humans step up to shield them with table cloths, which was heartwarming to see. 

The mutes are thanking the humans for their act of kindness

OMG. Lio and Song hugging Scarlemagne? I’m here for it.

3. Thankfully, the fireworks ended and Kipo then pleads with Emilia one last time to stop what she’s doing. Emilia, hard-headed as ever isn’t one to back down at all and makes a drastic decision to inject herself with the mutagen she sourced from the Mega Walrus, transforming herself into one ugly Mega Mute. 

Imagine seeing this in real life...shudders

4. I thought she was going to use the Mega Walrus’s DNA to make another cure that would affect Kipo. I didn’t think she would do this to herself. Kipo transforms back to her Mega form to take on Emilia before she could potentially hurt anyone. 

How many Troyson kisses do we want? Yes...hehe

5. Troy and Benson are directing everyone back to find safety inside the old burrow while Wolf joins Kipo to assist her in battling Emilia. Kipo has the upper hand at first because Emilia isn’t used to being a Mega Mute. However, as the fight progresses, Emilia is starting to get better and is landing some solid hits on Kipo. But I feel like Kipo shouldn’t be losing to Emilia since she has much more experience fighting as a Mega. I guess they want us to feel like the stakes are high.

Man, this fight is actually pretty brutal. Emilia is whooping major jaguar ass here.

6. During the battle, Wolf notices Greta nearby and thinks that she has the cure to turn back Emilia into a human. So, hopefully they can steal the cure from Greta and use it as leverage to get Emilia to stop. They split up with Wolf going after Greta and Kipo continuing to fight off Emilia. 

7. After taking a couple more punches, we see three of the Mega Dogs, the Mega Pigeon and the Mega Beaver heading their way towards the fight, with Jamack, Molly, Hoag, Amy, Zane, Label, Lio, Song, Scarlemagne, Dave, Benson and Mandu riding on them. I stan such supportive friends!

8. They each take turns kicking Emilia’s butt to buy Kipo some time to recover. Side note: It’s so cool that Jamack tells Emilia to do some “soul searching”! That’s literally the same line Kipo used on Jamack in Season 1 when he was an antagonist back then. During all of this, we see Emilia beginning to have some inner turmoil; It looks like she’s starting to lose herself in her current form.

9. We get to round 2 of Wolf vs Greta and it looks like the tables might turn in favor of Wolf but Greta is just too beefy for her to take on. While being held down in a pin, Wolf tries to butter her up with words by telling her that she’s not an idiot and she can think for herself, without the influence of Emilia. She also bribes her with all the pancakes she can eat if she hands over the cure to her and just like that, she agrees to hand it over. It’s so ironic that Greta is one of Emilia’s last followers but she’s so easily influenced to switch sides. 

Again, I don’t get why Kipo is losing to Emilia so badly

10. Kipo is down for the count and Emilia turns her attention to her friends/family. As she’s about to crush Lio and Song, Kipo charges in last minute to take the devastating blow for them; She then falls unconscious. However, Emilia’s not done yet.

Scarlemagne’s death in 3...2...1

11. Oh no...here we go. Scarlemagne decides to play hero by making his attempt at saving Kipo. He basically gives his swan song to Lio and Song. I have a bad feeling he’s going to die and I’m not at all prepared to watch. He takes off on his favorite Flamingo vehicle from Season 1 and 2 and flies towards Emilia to distract her.

We haven’t heard this laugh in ages. Also, did anyone get chills when he tells Emilia to “leave her sister alone”?

12. He crashes his vehicle into Emilia causing her to lose focus and it sets off her ‘losing herself to the mega mute’ phase. This in turn, causes Scarlemagne to crash land somewhere in Skyscraper Ridge. Was it necessary for him to crash like that? If that’s the way he goes out, I’m gonna be honest here and say I would be very disappointed with that. 

13. Emilia, who clearly is out of it runs off somewhere and Kipo, Wolf, Dave, Benson and Mandu all go after her with Lio and Song heading towards where Hugo/Scarlemagne crash landed. We then see the artistic representation of Emilia losing her mind to the mute, where her human form is quickly sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. 

14. They catch up to Emilia and they could see her being distraught. We also know the reason why she’s this way and it’s because she doesn’t have an anchor. I love it how whatever explanation we’re being told by the characters is something that the audience should know based on past episodes. Now that’s good storytelling. 

15. Anyways, Kipo makes the decision to cure her because she thinks she doesn’t deserve to be punished this way. Really now? After all that she’s done? Maybe what Kipo means is that she deserves get whopped in her human form lol. After curing her, Kipo makes ANOTHER ATTEMPT (for the 3rd time) to convince her to make a change but of course this bitch isn’t going to change; She takes a shard of glass and tries to stab Kipo:

16. But our girl, Mandu quickly reacts and bites Emilia’s arm. She then loses her balance and falls stories high in the exact burrow her lab was located because we then see Fun Gus capturing her and taking her in as her “playdate”. Emilia is basically history. 

17. Yesss! And this punishment is fitting since she will probably be Fun Gus’s plaything till she goes insane and dies. Not to mention she despises mutes. So, it’s a great way for her to go out. Bye!!! That’s what you get for killing your brother, you heartless monster. Can I also point out that once again, Mandu is the one to take out Emilia. She did beat her in season 2 when Wolf, Dave and Benson couldn’t and now in season 3, she’s the one to finish the job. Don’t mess with Mandu lol. 

18. They head back to find where Scarlemagne, Lio and Song are but it’s almost too late because Hugo is dying. Kipo is in tears and I’m in tears too. Again, was it really necessary to kill him off? I felt like he’s more or less already redeemed as a character before this. He didn’t have to commit such a heroic act, which had cost his life. Ugh....And just like that, Hugo dies.....UGHHHHHH. I really don’t think he needed to die. If Catra (who committed just as many heinous acts, if not more than Hugo) got to live in She-Ra & The Princesses of Power, Hugo deserves to live too. I’m sorry...

19. Now it’s time for the epilogue set 5 years later, as told by an older Kipo. Let’s break it down:

Wolf’s Mega Corgi gave birth to a litter of puppies. Awww cuteness...

Wolf let her hair grow out and she looks AMAZING!!! Dayummmm

Benson and Troy own a successful restaurant together and they’re living the dream. Such domestic goals!

I got chills seeing Wolf and Benson walking side by side like that. They’ve grown up so much. It looks like they’re own their way to a picnic

Label and Zane is also running a gym together. Sweet!

Jamack is conductor for Las Vistas’s new transport system. 

Dave is now a guest lecturer at what is seems to be Lio and Song’s new research lab, where he talks about some of his research findings and theories. Well, mostly theories.

I love Kipo’s new do’

20. We find out that Kipo is updating Hugo (spiritually) what has everybody been up to on his birthday. 

Hugo gets a statue made in his honor, which is very fitting and Mandu...WOW MANDU has grown into an ADULT boar, with tusks and everything just like Bornak and Webber. 

21. Kipo meets up with her besties and her family and they have their wonderful picnic in commemoration of Hugo’s birthday. 

22. The scene cuts off to all of them having the time of their life riding on their Mega mutes. And that’s the official ending to the series. TEARS...

23. This has been an amazing show to watch, react and review. I can’t believe it only had 30 episodes but the story was so cohesive and felt complete on the most part. So you could say that this show wrapped up nicely. There are some loose ends that weren’t addressed/resolved at the end like the vaccine that Song and Lio were working on but I guess that could be something that’s explored further in future films hopefully. 

24. I will also be making a couple of video essays that will be posted to my YouTube channel, PeterSaidWhat; The first one will be my full spoiler review of the final season and the second video will be Troyson-focused. I can’t wait for all of you to watch them. And finally, I want to thank you all for reading my episodic reviews and going on this incredible journey with me. It’s been a pleasure to have Kipo be a part of my life and I’m sure yours as well. 

Much love,

Peter

[septiembrre]

Rio Headcanons

Tagged by the wonderful @foxmagpie

What are your headcanons about Rio’s family? Siblings? Parents? Lifestyle growing up?

I really love the idea of Rio having been raised by a supportive, healthy, loving, beautiful nuclear family. I personally have imagined him with siblings -- sisters! Cousins! I think his respect for women and their power has to come from somewhere and it’s probably a matriarch. He has a strong handle on parenting and I think he must be modeling his own caregivers... 

But, @foxmagpie pointed out the black & white vintage photos in his closet...  Obviously, I had seen them but I just understood them to be like my family’s own old photographs. I had thought -- they’re just his ancestors, probably his grandparents or bisabuelos. But, then I realized there’s no sign of sisters, any siblings or of his parents in his apartment.  The Good Girls set design team loves a ridiculously terrible photo prop (hello old Dean/Beth family photos) and you know they would have been down to make the same thing for Rio... but alas. All we have are those photos of Rio + Marcus, an ambiguous baby picture and the black & white photo and it’s probably intentional. 

I come from a small, atypical Mexican-American family structure myself, but I feel for him. I always headcanoned that he had a dad who had died when he was a kid or a teenager and that maybe his mom was still around and involved in his & Marcus’ life. But, quizas no? 

I’m curious about how much Beth knows now about Rio’s family structure from Rhea. She knows Rhea’s a single mom, and her co-parent was out of the picture for a spell. But, I think Rhea would have also mentioned involvement or support from Marcus’s other set of abuelos/her former in-laws? 

So... who were Rio’s caregivers? His grandparents? No sisters??? We should all collectively DM Manny and ask him to share his own Rio backstory headcanons. Haha, watch -- the show is totally going to ret-con this in Season 4. 

It’s interesting overall how the writer’s deploy family world-building for the characters. Dean’s mom is the only one on-screen -- and Dean’s parents overall have gotten more build out than any other family history combined (wild!). I know that’s influenced by them casting Jessica Walter who is phenom, but expanding out the family histories is such a rich area for the show creators to play in if they choose to go there. All of our main protagonists have deceased parents. I think it’s been a choice on the show to play into a lack of safety net and support for the women. For better or for worse, Beth, Ruby & Annie are at a point where they are it for their children.  

That being said -- I would love to meet Stan’s parents! And I would love to get information about Rio’s coming-into-crime especially as a parallel to Beth’s experience. It’s the parallel we would all want and the parallel we deserve. (Dear show, Stop with the Boland family parallels, PLEASE! If I have to hear about Dean’s scummy dad one more time--). 

But, yes, I’m very invested in Beth & Annie’s, Ruby’s, Stan’s, and, of course, Rio’s families and hope we get to see more characterization unfold over the next seasons.

What are your headcanons for Rio and Rhea’s relationship? How do you think they met, at what point did Rhea learn about his work, was Rio in love with her, etc.?

I’m so curious about what attracts Rio to people/his love interests. It’s becoming clear what attracts him to Beth...  But, I wonder about has attracted him to others. 

While Beth & Rhea are both moms (haha, and beautiful, and well-endowed with the boobs), that’s in the present time on the show -- Rio was attracted to Rhea before she was a mom. I wonder what he looks for? What did he see in Dylan? 

Hmmm. 

What are your headcanons about Rio’s and Mick’s relationship? Did they meet through crime? Are they lifelong friends?

I want them to be childhood friends!!!! I want that so badddddd!!! 

Oh, god, can you imagine a flashback to them young in crime?! Like late teens or early 20s? Ha, as a parallel to the Beth + Ruby scene/origin story? I would die. DIE.

Do you think Rio’s been arrested before Beth got him arrested in 1.10? When, and what for?

Ha, I don’t think he’s been arrested for anything significant.  He’s plenty sanctimonious about keeping his name out of everything. 

If Rio weren’t a crime boss, what jobs do you think he’d be good at? Why?

I mean he’s probably great a math, phenom at managing a huge team/multiple business ventures, and super charismatic. What couldn’t he do? 

I think he was probably pushed to crime because of lack of opportunity for MOC and the need for money. This does make me think he came up poor. But, I think he stayed in crime because he’s so good at it, and likes the flexibility, the creativity, the $$$, and the power. 

I think he could go legit and still be pulling in decent buck with all of his business fronts but he doesn’t choose to. 

What are Rio’s hobbies outside of work and Marcus? What do you think he’d get up to on a day with absolutely no responsibilities?

He’s obviously an art heaux. The real question is WHAT’S HIS MEDIUM???? If he actually produces art like the abstract stuff up in his house, I would scream. I can see him being into photography when the mood strikes him and he has time. #hipster

I like the idea of Rio taking cooking classes in some sort of exclusive, foodie way (1:1 with a chef, or a compa who is a fly line cook). 

We know he plays tennis and I also imagine he boxes and works out at the type of high-end gym I could only dream of. It probably never smells of sweat, and all the machines are top-end, brand new. I mentioned in a post a while ago that I wasn’t sure if I wanted Rio to be my boyfriend, my bff, or to adopt me -- and I stand by it.  

Who do you think Dylan is to Rio (a friend, an associate, someone he was dating?) and why?

I do lean towards friend/associate/some one he’s fucked. Rio was very handsy with Dylan’s person. Obviously, in real life Manny & Adelfa are married, and I think they were leaning heavily on that intimacy in the scene. 

But Rio also didn’t kiss Dylan? Which leads me back to -- damn, Rio. You were fronting so hard. Like... that was high-school-level showmanship. 

What do you think Rio’s goals for the future are?

I think he wants to be his own boss, I think he likes being at the top of the food chain, and I think he wants to stay in crime because he still sees opportunities. 

I’m so curious as to what his $$$ bench marks are?

Beth’s are current financial security and probably college for all of her little ones. So what it for Rio?

- College for Marcus? 

- Inheritance for Marcus?

- Inheritance for all of his (nonexistent) family?

It has to be more than that. He’s already hit these benchmarks based off of the status symbols in the show (the G-Wagon, the quality of furniture in his loft, Rhea’s offer of maybe like a $5-10k check to Beth. Beth’s not family!).

What do you think Rio is bad at (cooking, dancing, singing, etc.)? How come?

I don’t think he can bake.

I also don’t seem him being good at boldly lying to people? It’s definitely not his style. He’s more of a lying by omission type of person. I don’t see him being able to spin a tale like Beth, but he also doesn’t have her white privilege/whole suburban mom aesthetic. 

Hm, I haven’t rewatched the show in a minute but I think the only time we’ve seen him boldly lie is to Beth -- when he lies about the nature of their relationship. Haha, and he’s really bad at it. Maybe this isn’t the fairest thing to judge him on. But, I think his lying relies on purposeful silence. 

Why do you think Rio is drawn to Beth?

I think Rio was drawn to Beth because she’s a survivor, she’s scrappy and she’s smart. I think he’s drawn to how quick she is on her feet. Beth has limited awareness but she can be really good at navigating what’s going for her and leveraging it for her gain (and Rio’s). I think he’s also been drawn to her because she’s a parent, and she can be really brave (I would say reckless!! Beth, stop endangering yourself!).

Beth’s also like absurdly beautiful. Christina is ethereal and they try to make her ... frumpy or something in the show. But... we have eyes. And Rio certainly has eyes for her figure, and her face, and like all the attributes and isn’t shy about letting her know. 

Why do you think Rio didn’t kill Beth? Was it their past, his present feelings for her, because he needed her business? Some combination?

I think Rio sees a kindred spirit in Beth and at this point (post-Season 3), she’s in his life now. Despite all that she’s done to him, he seems completely unable to extricate himself from her. I think this due to his present past feelings for her. The business is a bonus, a front if you will. 

In Season 2, there were these questions for Beth about whether all of it was real -- if she meant something to Rio, if Beth could walk back all of her crimes so far and retreat into anonymity. In Season 3, we know that Beth can’t let go of crime, and that she’s capable of the same dark deeds as Rio, and we know that Rio did care for her, cares for her still apparently because he’s very much in his feelings. Those Season 3 picnic table scenes? Wow. 

Ah, can you believe these two are going to like... have some sort of development in their relationship again? Obviously, it will be full of strife and conflict. But isn’t it wild that we have another Brio sex scene in store for us one day? Jenna Ban’s comment, “You don't go from having the hottest sex of your life to wanting someone dead without conflicted feelings” is just the BIGGEST TEASE.  How are our bbs going to be intimate with each other again? 

OKAY THIS ENDED UP BEING SUPER LONG. Jeez... If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for engaging with my headcanons. Lmk what you think :-) 

[ivy-miranda-2390]

In Defense of Anakin Skywalker (and Hayden Christensen)

I grew up with Star Wars, my whole family loves Star Wars. I was 8 when I saw Episode I and afterwards, I was completely immersed in the Star Wars universe. Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi was probably my first fictional boyfriend and I'm unashamedly still in love with him too.

Episode II: The Attack of the Clones came out when I was 11 and so naturally I was excited to see the continuation of the Star Wars prequel universe. However, nothing could have prepared me for the absolute utter gorgeousness of Canadian actor, Hayden Christensen who was cast to play the adolescent Anakin Skywalker.

My memories of first seeing Episode II are fond because I got to see the movies with my older siblings while on vacation in Myrtle Beach. It was probably my first experience of being accepted among my older adult brothers and sisters or the feeling of 'grownupness' as I like to call it.

So Attack of the Clones has always been an special film to me because I saw it at a time when I was no longer being viewed as a child, but as a growing teenager.

It's also why I've always been rather defensive of the film too. While the film was titled Attack of the Clones, it may as well have been re-titled, "Attack of Anakin Skywalker (and subsequently, Hayden Christensen)". For over 20 years, there has been an absolute and indescribable hatred of Anakin Skywalker and many people blamed both Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen's supposed poor acting as the result of a badly done Anakin.

And to be honest even though I had a massive crush on Hayden Christensen and was hardly a movie critic at the time, I felt that at times that Anakin could have been better acted. However, I was young and didn't care about the script or the acting. Yet, for years I constantly defended, Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker and Hayden Christensen. Partly due to nostalgia, partly to being a teenage girl and most of all partly to do with understanding the character of Anakin as being misunderstood, misinterpreted and not being treated as an adult by the elders in his life.

Did Anakin have problems? Yes.

Were most of these problems his fault? No.

Did Anakin ever try to fix these problems and better himself? Everyday of his life.

He had nothing, but he gave everything

 The prequels were written as a timeline of a boy's journey from goodness into darkness. Anakin's life is a story arch of sacrifice and redemption. Life has not always been good to Anakin. He was born a slave with no father. He was raised in the strong love of wonderful mother Shmi Skywalker. While Shmi may have been scared and confused as to how she conceived a child without a man, she raised her son in love and simple contentment.

Chances are Anakin and his mother probably faced terrible abuse in their time as slaves and more than once, Anakin may have been separated from Shmi as leverage for greedy slave owners. Although a slave, Anakin was never a victim. He may have been physically owned, but his heart and mind were free. He was his own person, always thinking outside of the box, building, creating, questioning everything and everyone. Not to mention a little wild and rather reckless.

Even as a child Anakin was a little strange to people. For a slave to have such a hopeful and positive attitude may have seemed bizarre to outsiders, but that was just the norm for him. Shmi once remarked that her son knew nothing of greed. For a boy raised with nothing, all he had were his talents as an inventor and growing pilot. And he used his talents for other people. He built C-3PO to help his mom, he entered the podrace to help Qui-Gon Jinn, he always gave without any expectation of being thanked.

A spirit that refused to surrender

After Anakin is freed and sent to train as a Jedi, that wild spirit was still intact. Much to his by-the-book master's dismay. Anakin didn't have the opportunity to grow up in the strict Jedi Temple that was built on order, rules and tradition. As a child, Anakin was use to being himself and not fitting into anyone's mold. His original dream was to be a pilot, not a Jedi. No one asked him if he wanted to be a Jedi, no one asked him if he wanted to be trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

While Anakin may have been grateful for both opportunities presented to him, overtime he may have seen this new life as not to different from the one he left. A life run by others. Telling him what to do, where to go, how to dress, how to behave. He survived as a slave because he dared to dream and imagine and refused to be defined by others.

Now he's thrown into a culture where individuality is looked down upon. He lived through the stifling Jedi order because he still held onto those qualities. He was going to be himself on his terms. He would nod his head and say yes when he needed to, but off the clock he would live by his own rules. Something that Obi-Wan and the Jedi order could not understand. And Anakin is getting frustrated by this.

So now we get to Attack of the Clones (and the Attack of Hayden Christensen). Critics came down hard on both Anakin and Hayden. Constantly complaining about Anakin's constant complaining, his tantrums, broodiness and being a crybaby about everything. Critics blamed the disaster of Anakin Skywalker on the terrible miscasting of Hayden Christensen. The only redeeming quality Hayden Christensen had that saved him was the fact he was so easy to look at.

For years, fans were desperate to know who Anakin Skywalker was. And so the pressure to deliver a good character that could measure up to the icon of Darth Vader may have seemed insurmountable. And so when people got this confused, overemotional 19 year old, who has no experience in love or sex, but is madly in love with a beautiful young women; and who wants to be respected in a highly established culture, without losing himself or conforming, well people were just disappointed. The disappointment can be explained in one of Anakin's most famous lines.

"HE'S HOLDING ME BACK!"

He, being George Lucas who was holding back Hayden's actual talent to create a good three dimensional character. Plus his bad script writing. Poor Hayden was just made to read lines on a page and somehow make this sad character somebody that people can root for. Unfortunately fans and critics ate him alive. It's only in recent years that people have begun to realize that they were blaming the wrong person. And by blaming Hayden, they were completely misunderstanding Anakin as a character.

His most beautiful gift, his most fatal flaw

Of all of Anakin's gifts, his ability to love deeply was probably his most profound and his most dangerous. The Jedi Temple forbade romantic attachments to others and for good reason. When you become attached to or love someone beyond the boundaries of platonic friendship you become afraid of losing them. The end of my review for the Star Wars prequels sums it up the best:

In The Phantom Menace, Yoda warns Anakin about the dangers of being afraid. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Anakin's most beautiful attribute is also his most fatal flaw. His ability to love deeply. Yet, if you love someone you will always live in fear of losing them. Anakin was created by darkness, but raised in the light of his mother's love. His own love was made manifest by Padme and then by their unborn child/children. However, Love no matter how strong can be weakened and even be destroyed by the evil of fear. If the prequels taught anything about life, it taught how fear (even in its smallest form) can be be our most detrimental enemy. Living alone in fear and not seeking help is a signing of our own death warrants. What might have happened if Anakin had gone to Obi-Wan and seek his help? Would things have been different? The prequels were not meant to tell a happy story. They were written as a timeline of a boy's journey from goodness into darkness. No, they don't have the silliness or humor of the Originals, because there is nothing humorous about someone's self-destruction. Yet, the story of Anakin Skywalker's transformation had to be told in a way that was real and heartbreaking. To take Darth Vader and make him a human who could feel and understand and love could be an insurmountable task. Yet, you only need to watch his death scene at the end of Return of The Jedi to see that the humane part of Anakin Skywalker had always been there. The prequels were made to be built on that final scene of redemption and human love. A husband's love to save his wife became a father's love that could overcome darkness and hate. An extreme love that defied fear and held on to hope. That was the love of Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin could be a bratty and immature young adult. However, to only base a character by his few annoying flaws is overlooking the bigger and better picture. Anakin was an outsider his whole life and yet that never seemed to bother him. He never cared about fitting in. He was content being himself and he refused to let Obi-Wan or the Jedi Order or even Padme change him. He held onto who he was for as long as he was able to. Then the tragedy of losing his wife changed that. The indomitable spirit wasn't broken, it was destroyed. Anakin re-entered a life of slavery for over 20 years.

And he was ultimately freed by one person. An orphan who once had nothing but a talent as an inventor and dreams of being a pilot. A young Jedi with an unbreakable spirit that refused to surrender to evil or fear or pain or loss. A son who loved his father so deeply that he would fight to the death to free Anakin Skywalker forever.

[sciencespies]

Synthetic aperture radar finally shedding its mystique

https://sciencespies.com/space/synthetic-aperture-radar-finally-shedding-its-mystique/

Synthetic aperture radar finally shedding its mystique

When Capella Space’s first operational synthetic aperture radar satellite launched from New Zealand last month on a Rocket Lab Electron, a team of agriculture specialists at The Climate Corporation watched with excitement.

“We were really happy,” said Steven Ward, the director of geospatial sciences at The Climate Corporation, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of life sciences and pharmaceutical giant Bayer that leverages satellite imagery to help farmers boost crop yields and insure against weather-driven losses. “We actually had a Slack channel where we were celebrating that launch.”

The Climate Corporation processed 600 million satellite images in 2019, most of it optical, Ward said. The company hasn’t integrated synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, imagery into its Climate FieldView product line yet, but is studying how radar, which can peer through clouds, could fill gaps left by optical satellites over notoriously cloudy regions like Brazil, Indonesia and the Niger delta, he said.

“We’re getting bits and pieces of the story of the field,” Ward said. “What adding SAR data into the mix does is it fills in the gaps. We’re missing chapters, and it’s filling in those chapters.”

The Climate Corporation integrates satellite imagery with other data sources, streaming mapped progress directly to computer-equipped farming machinery. Farmers are able to see and analyze the progress of planting, crop protection, and harvesting in real time using satellite imagery. Credit: The Climate Corporation

SAR satellites can gather data day and night, and through all weather conditions, but the resultant imagery is typically more expensive, less available, and more difficult to use than optical imagery.

Technological advances, as much on the ground as in space, are breaking down those barriers, positioning SAR for much more widespread adoption, according to experts.

“For the first time in history, the ground segment is ready, the cloud computing is ready, and the SAR satellite systems are ready,” said Alexis Conte, a Euroconsult analyst specialized in the geospatial sector. “It is promising.”

Before joining Euroconsult in 2017, Conte worked for France’s agriculture ministry where it proved challenging to get SAR imagery quickly because cloud computing was still nascent, he said. Now, SAR customers can easily use cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Conte said, or access imagery through web portals from SAR providers Maxar Technologies and Airbus Defence and Space that include analytical tools to process SAR data.

A wave of startups including Capella Space, Iceye, iQPS Inc., PredaSAR, Umbra Labs and Synspective have launched or are preparing to launch SAR smallsats that promise faster revisit times and lower costs, he said.

“They are going to drive the market,” Conte said of the several smallsat SAR constellations in the offing. “They are lowering the price because the [capital expenditure for] each satellite is very low.”

SAR DEMAND ON THE INCREASE

So many new constellations are in development that the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency conducted a study this year to better understand the state of commercial SAR, said Jared Newton, the special projects officer for NGA’s source commercial and business operations group.

“The U.S. commercial market has really sprung up hot and heavy in the last couple of years, so we had to go back and re-look at opportunities that we think we could apply SAR commercial capabilities,” he said.

That internal study concluded that commercial SAR can help meet U.S. geospatial intelligence needs, Newton said.

“We definitely see expanded opportunities for private sector SAR, particularly RADAR LOVE as that demand for unclassified and sharable geoint has increased,” he said.

NGA will use those findings to inform requirements for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. spy satellite agency responsible for acquiring imagery needed for military and intelligence operations.

The European Union’s maritime safety agency, EMSA, also sees an increasing need for SAR data, particularly for its Copernicus Maritime Surveillance program, which provides Earth-observation products to member governments for law enforcement, fishery management, pollution monitoring, and other applications. The European Union’s 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are entitled to use the agency’s SAR-derived products, EMSA said in a written response to questions from SpaceNews.

“The demand for [SAR] services has been increasing as users acknowledge the added value of this tool for maritime surveillance when offered in near real time,” EMSA said.

EMSA’s Copernicus Maritime Surveillance program is driving much of that growth, EMSA said, by buying Radarsat-2 data through MDA and TerraSAR-X data through Airbus. EMSA also relies on free SAR data from Europe’s Sentinel-1 satellite to detect oil spills under a separate program called CleanSeaNet.

“The objective of EMSA is to maintain access to as many missions as possible and a portfolio of providers as large as possible to be able to address all requests at any time,” the agency said.

THE NORMALIZATION OF SAR

While defense and intelligence agencies remain the largest consumers of SAR imagery, commercial applications are the fastest growing segment of the market, Conte said. Customers in agriculture, energy, finance, infrastructure and other sectors are all adopting SAR, which they often use in ways that are complementary to optical imagery, he said.

Geospatial data customers accustomed to optical imagery often view SAR as an add-on, not a substitute, for other information sources. The Climate Corporation hopes to add SAR to infotech products that already incorporate data from weather instruments, farm machinery and optical satellites to provide an even fuller understanding of crop health, Ward said. No single source of data provides the whole picture, he said.

Ursa Space Systems, a geospatial analytics company that specializes in SAR, has blended SAR images with optical photos from BlackSky’s nascent satellite fleet and ship-tracking data from Spire’s sizable cubesat constellation to provide more comprehensive maritime products, Ursa CEO Adam Maher said.

Combining SAR with other data helps Ursa sell imagery products to customers in a wide variety of industries, many of which weren’t familiar with SAR until recently, he said.

“In oil and gas, our customers were very used to optical, but now having SAR has become a selling point,” said Maher.

SAR satellite operators face the two-pronged challenge of making potential customers aware of their imagery, and making their imagery readily usable for those customers.

SAR is not as big a business as optical imagery, but it is projected to grow steadily in the years ahead. Credit: Euroconsult

Ursa is one of the “larger consumers” of SAR data, Maher said, relying on e-Geos, SI Imaging Services, Iceye and others for imagery that it feeds into analytics dashboards for provide rapid change detection alerts.

Maher said demand for SAR is coming from virtually every industry. “Being able to understand what’s going on in parts of the world that are not easily accessible to optical satellites is really important,” he said.

Putting SAR imagery to work does come with challenges, Maher added. Details that are obvious in optical images are easy to miss in SAR images without special training or software designed to interpret the data, he said.

To the untrained eye, a SAR image looks like a “bunch of black and white speckled dots,” Maher said. Ursa focuses heavily on training computer algorithms to detect objects of interest from those images, he said.

Even geospatial specialists at The Climate Corporation had a tough time interpreting radar imagery they were working with as part of the company’s recent SAR suitability study, Ward said.

“The data is big and unwieldy, and it doesn’t come cleanly packaged. Even some of my most well versed and best remote sensing scientists didn’t have a lot of experience working with radar data,” he said. “There was a learning curve there because so many institutions focused on teaching purely optical imaging, but we’re seeing a bit of a shift there.”

When it comes to understanding SAR, Euroconsult’s Conte said the onus should lay more heavily on SAR providers to deliver data products their customers understand.

“The operator will have to be educated about end-user expectations and first get a good knowledge about their world in order to deliver the appropriate services,” he said.

Getting familiar with new customers and their markets will help the satellite industry communicate about SAR to an even larger audience, Ursa’s Maher said.

“It’s really important to make sure when we’re educating other folks that we’re educating them in the languages and industry knowledge that they know,” he said.

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 14, 2020 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

#Space

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Downey and Vetinari for: Starlings in Winter: I want to think again of dangerous and noble things :'D

Ah! Thank you! Here we go. 

For what it’s worth, takes place within Thus, Always timeline. But you know, there’s no need to be familiar with it at all. Very much a standalone. 

(Mary Oliver Prompt Ask)

(this is also up on AO3)

* * *

‘It’s terribly dull,’ Downey declares. He sits then he’s up then he’s sitting again then he’s walking around the room in circles then he’s standing by the hearth perfectly still then he’s looking out a window then he’s petting Mr. Fusspot and Alsace - and so on. 

‘Please stop,’ Vetinari asks. ‘You’re making the dogs nervous.’ 

The dogs are not nervous. 

But Downey does stop. He sits, drinks a small glass of sherry then pours himself another. He is in a state of mild undress - shirtsleeves rolled up, neck-cloth loose, hair disheveled. 

Grief, as Vetinari understands, has an emptying effect. It pours everything out then keeps pouring. You’re dousing the fire of life with water from an empty vessel. 

Sometimes, it leaves you gasping. Other times, it leaves you as a pendulum swinging between tender and numb, full and empty of thoughts and self. 

Vetinari isn’t entirely sure how to best approach this situation. He wishes Madam were present to advise. She’s walked enough people through death to have insight into what is needed and what isn’t. 

What he does know: Provide no advice. 

(Downey said this on arrival: I don’t want you to fix things. No fixing things. Vetinari replied: I don’t fix things, Downey. And Downey said: You proffer advice because you find it easier to try and fix than to let things mend themselves while you watch and do nothing. Vetinari thought this unfair, Downey pointed at him: Not the time.) 

Listen. Try and offer comfort. But words are awkward and he doesn’t know how to put them in the right order. Especially in this case for the usual phrases do not apply. He is not sorry for Downey’s loss. He doesn’t think Downey is very sorry either. 

‘I didn’t think the old man would actually die. I assumed he wouldn’t find the afterlife up to his standards. Gods know, nothing was ever up to his standards.’ 

‘I suspect he didn’t have a choice in the matter.’ 

Downey’s humourless smile. ‘It is surprising, what my father viewed as within his purview. I believe he thought he had a say in his own death.’ 

Vetinari repeats what he has said already, ‘I believe it is expected, in these circumstances, to not be fine.’ 

But Downey is fine. Downey has informed Vetinari of this already. Downey is a bottle of wine and two sherries fine. He is pouring water from an empty cup fine. He is pack of cigarettes from a corner news stand fine. He is making jokes about the dead fine. 

Downey has generally been a predictable person. Until he isn’t. But those occasions are rare, spontaneous, and usually comprehensible in hind-sight. Vetinari appreciates that Downey is regular in his habits. He reacts as one would expect. He is stalwart and, usually, simple in his wants and needs. 

And, he’s seen Downey grieve in the past. He knows Downey visits Ludo twice a year to leave a new stone on grave top. Give everything a little tidy. Talk to him. Provide updates on guild gossip and pass on Vetinari’s general well-wishes to the memory of Ludo. 

(‘Downey, I’m not sure I have anything to say to Ludo. He is dead.’ ‘I’ll tell him you send your love and say hello, shall I?’ ‘If that will best please you.’) 

Ludo has no ghost. He doesn’t haunt Downey. Downey, in his classically stubborn and perverse fashion, haunts Ludo. 

Vetinari watches Downey pour himself another glass of sherry, considers his plans for the evening then holds out his for a top-up. 

‘It’s on Wednesday though I’ve yet to decide if I’m to attend.’ 

‘The funeral?’ Vetinari asks. 

‘Yes. I know it’s two days after he died and so not strictly to form. That would annoy my father which is a fact I take some small pleasure in.’ 

‘And who is sitting with him until then?’ 

‘My mother and Magda. I believe a few family friends have offered. The coffin arrived today. My father is one for tradition so it’s unbelievably plain.’ 

Vetinari watches Downey who alternates between sitting back and leaning forward, resting elbows on knees. Downey continues, ‘Magda says our mother intends to do the full seven days of mourning though it’s rather old fashioned. I informed her that four is common. Indeed, three days is not unheard of.’ 

‘Will you sit with her for any of it?’ Vetinari suspects he will, if only because it is the proper thing to do. He notes the grimace at the suggestion.

‘For the first day or two, perhaps. I’m still working, for Guild matters do not rest and I’m certain the one upstairs understands. Though, I have received a good many rude looks from my mother’s friends when they discovered this. That said, quite a few of them didn’t know I existed until he died. Or, rather, that Lord Downey and Amos Downey were related.’ 

Vetinari hates that Downey does this. Drops these lead-brick statements then carries on as if they mean nothing. Oh yes, my father has spent the last thirty years telling everyone he has no son, or his son is dead, or some iteration of the above. That is entirely normal and hardly worth a comment. 

Deciding it needs to be said, Vetinari puts this out into the night air: ‘It may not be my place to comment, but I don’t think your father is necessarily worth the effort of a full mourning period, let alone rending of clothes, thrice-daily prayers, forgoing the purchase of new clothes and so on.’  

Downey smiles, a full and real one. Face softens, there is something like affection on it. ‘It’s not that simple.’ 

‘I fail to how.’

‘I appreciate the sentiment though. You and Ludo may unite in your everlasting dislike of him.’ 

Vetinari owns that perhaps he is being unkind. ‘I have not had the experience of being disowned at twenty-one and then my existence denied by my parents for the next thirty years.’ 

‘He tried his best,’ Downey shrugs. ‘He wasn’t made of the stuff for fatherhood.’ 

Vetinari stares at him. Downey stares back. Vetinari wonders how, exactly, he can say this in a way that Downey will hear and understand. Indeed, how does one tell their - he falters on the word, bypasses the descriptor - that their grief over a person, no matter how deep or shallow, complex or simple, is not deserved? That the person is not worthy of the effort? 

The fire makes fire noises, crackles and hums, a log breaks so a few sparks skitter out onto stone and fade into charred remains of tree.

But, perhaps Downey is right, and it isn’t that simple. He has relatively little lived experience in this department to base his analysis on. 

As Downey is making thorough work of the sherry, and acquiring the blur-eyed expression he wears when drunk, Vetinari decides to forgo that particular conversation.

‘Mostly, it’s boring,’ Downey says suddenly. Without prompting he fills up Vetinari’s glass. ‘I am going to be a bad influence tonight.’ 

Vetinari looks at the glass and thinks about tomorrow’s council meeting which, currently, is scheduled for half-nine in the morning. He assumes Downey will develop a sudden and convenient cold between now and then. 

‘Pray tell, what is boring?’ 

A gesture that is meant to convey: all that. ‘Grief. It’s terribly dull. Such a pedestrian emotion, when all is said and done.’ 

‘Did you just describe grief as pedestrian?’ Vetinari adds that sentence to his growing collection of Moments of Surprise with William A. Downey, Assassin. 

‘Yes,’ Downey points at him. ‘It t’is. There was a poem one of my mistakes sent to me years ago.’ He taps his lip then sits back and takes a few sips of sherry. ‘It was about birds. The poem. Starlings. Have you seen a starling up close? They’re remarkably beautiful birds. Iridescent plumage, glossy, glamorous,’ he waves on and on. 

‘I see.’ Vetinari says, not seeing. He mimics Downey in making short work of the sherry. 

‘The poem, the line, something something I am now thinking of grief, and of getting past it; something something - many variations of green and purple words - then, I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. See, that is part of why it’s rather uninteresting. Grief makes it so you cannot ponder dangerous and noble things. Which, coincidentally, are golden colours which are my favourite colours.’ 

Vetinari blinks through this. One day, he makes a mental note, he will ask about colours.

‘If it gives you any comfort,’ Vetinari says. ‘You are, technically speaking, a dangerous and noble thing.’ 

Downey smiles. ‘I am, that is correct. Thank you.’ Abruptly, he becomes somber. Face falling into itself, part shadowed, part illuminated in dancing firelight. 

Vetinari thinks that either they should finish the sherry or Downey should be distracted or both. He decides it should be both and, leaning forward, plucks up the decanter from where it rests by Downey’s feet. He pours himself a glass then Downey. There is, perhaps, one left. The contents are swirled, catching in firelight. 

‘You know,’ Downey says, slouching down in his chair, legs extended out towards fire and crossed at the ankles. ‘I am beginning to suspect that I’m not fine.’ 

Eyebrows lift, only now? He’s only now suspecting this? Gods preserve this man from himself. Changing his plans, Vetinari sets his sherry aside, leans forward and takes Downey’s glass and sets it on the small table between chairs. Taking cane Vetinari leverages himself up, leg complaining at the movement, the sitting all day, the lack of stretching. 

‘Come,’ Vetinari says. Downey looks up at him with his very dark eyes that are pools of night. ‘I think it’s long past time to retire for the evening.’ 

Downey gives a sloppy grin, ‘I’m terribly drunk.’ 

‘I am aware.’ 

‘Absolutely in the cups, old boy.’ 

‘You have graduated to referring to me as old boy, consider me well appraised of your lack of sobriety.’ 

Downey pulls his legs in and pushes himself upward. He rubs his eyes, murmurs that perhaps he didn’t need that much sherry. Vetinari shrugs, reasoning aloud that there are times when such things are necessary. Downey readily agrees. Oh yes, absolutely. Sometimes this is precisely what is needed. 

Ducking into a passage connecting office to bedroom Vetinari leads the way as Downey makes a gentle weaving pattern behind him then further weaving as he partially undresses and face-plants onto the bed. Vetinari waits for Mr. Fusspot and Alsace to follow them in then slides the wall panel closed.

Seating himself at the edge of the bed Vetinari pries off boots then trousers. Massages leg, leans forward to stretch muscles, ponders the benefits of moving the council meeting to the early afternoon considering he did his own share of damage to the office sherry supply. 

Something muffled from Downey. Vetinari partially twists to see him, ‘You will have to repeat that.’ 

Downey rolls over, winces, ‘I said that I’m glad you’re here.’ 

Vetinari presses lips into thin line. This relationship of theirs, if one may call it that, is a delicate balancing act. Vetinari has plans for how it is to play out and this sort of confession isn’t necessarily part of said plans. 

Downey, being Downey, of course, appears to be flinging himself head first off the cliff without much thought. 

‘I am glad I could be of help.’ 

‘Nonono,’ hand flapping before it lands on the bed with soft thump. ‘I am glad you’re here in general. You’re inconvenient sixty-seven percent of the time and your face is stupid–’ 

‘A fact you spent much of our youth informing me about.’ 

‘I stand by it. It is stupid and that is why I should kiss it right now except I don’t think sitting up is happening anytime soon. All of this is to say, you are a good thing.’ 

‘Dangerous and noble?’ Vetinari ventures with half-smile. 

‘Yes,’ Downey nods sagely. ‘Very dangerous, terribly noble. I like thinking about dangerous and noble things–’ 

‘I hear they are your favourite colour.’  

‘Indeed, they are. So I like thinking about you. Now, excuse me, I am going to pass out and will haul my desiccated carcass out of your rooms in four hours from now.’ 

Vetinari watches as Downey does as he says, rolling onto side and falling asleep in minutes. The palace is quiet. A warm August night and the sky is velvet with dim stars, obscured by clouds and smoke of city life. Vetinari finishes changing for bed, budges Downey over to make room, and slides beneath covers. He listens to the dogs snuffling in their sleep, the slow, steady breathing of Downey, the nighttime noises of city as they float up. 

He decides he doesn’t mind if Downey thinks of him in terms of words he associates with the colour gold and incandescent birds. Despite innate desire to keep everything contained and controlled and cautious, there is a part of him that is immeasurably pleased to be considered something worth thinking about. To be considered someone’s favourite colour.  

[vicisse]

on the darkling

listen. i totally understand the mixed opinions on this guy. i’ve pretty much resigned myself the fact that my opinion is and should be mixed. the darkling is the kind of character that is equal parts despicable and almost relatable—relatable and not redeemable. 

the man is a walking contradiction, and so is my opinion of him: i love to hate him, and i hate to love him. 

this post is meant to take a crack at the utter enigma that is the darkling and really break down his character. 

“The Darkling is a manipulative person, so why do so many people like him?”

i can’t speak on behalf of the whole fandom, but for me personality, i like TD in the sense that he is a complex character. does that mean i excuse the atrocious things he did? absolutely not. he is still an abject and detestable character. but i can still analyze and delve into the intricacies and reasoning behind his actions and find it interesting. 

(and besides, from a purely leisure-based perspective, TD is an entertaining character! i mean, he’s awful, but he’s also awfully petty. for a supposedly intelligent character with a vast amount of experience, he sure gets tripped up on the words and actions of a mousy teenage girl.)

some people, though, like to reduce TD to the bad boy/asshole who goes “soft” after meeting the girl of his dreams. not only does that trope grate on my nerves, it is also a far cry from the actual dynamics at work. 

not only has leigh commented on how she wanted to subvert the trope that a female love interest can make a bad man better (in regards to the relationship between alina and TD, at least), but she has also made it clear that TD would not change for alina. 

for all the times he reveals a little bit of truth to alina... well? it’s just that. a little bit of truth. it’s really another manipulative tactic: lies mixed with a little bit of truth, a classic TD move. he knows that alina is lonely and preys on that loneliness, talking on and on about how she isn’t like her friends, how none of them will ever understand her the way he can. 

“I’ve seen what you truly are,” said the Darkling, “and I’ve never turned away. I never will. Can he say the same?”

another reason why TD is fascinating to me is because he is so good at what he does that he manages to manipulate readers, too. they think he’s good for alina, or that alina will change him, that she was stupid for turning down a chance to step into power. 

(i beg to differ, though that is a whole other meta—on alina. this is about TD.)

TD is a compelling character because his very existence elicits so many questions: 

Why is he so obsessed with Alina? Does he actually feel anything for her? If he wants her so badly, why doesn’t he stop his quest for world domination and have a little more compassion for humanity?

Why did he make the Fold?

Why is he—well—Like That?

let’s go backwards, starting with Why is he Like That? well, the answer is easily: Baghra. 

her parenting is questionable, to say the least. i don’t doubt that she loves her son and genuinely wants the best for him, but “the best” gets warped with the times. in the early years, “the best” meant heeding her lessons, accumulating fear and power so no one could hurt them—hurt him. 

it isn’t until after the whole shadow fold debacle that baghra’s all “maybe the best is seeing my son come home,” because the monster who was peeling away strips of his humanity year after year is no longer her son. i mean, TD spent a good part of his formative years learning at her knee, truly heeding her words:

“I taught him that he had no equal, that he was destined to bow before no man. I wanted him to be hard, to be strong. I taught him the lesson my mother and father taught me: to rely on no one. That love—fragile and fickle and raw—was nothing compared to power.”

at the time, the latter certainly holds true. TD scarcely made friends, as baghra also warned him to be wary of touch (they’re amplifiers, after all), which is a pretty big part of socializing and human interaction. what does he need love for?

in order to make a difference, make the impact he desired, TD would have to climb a lot of rungs to step into a position powerful enough to commit to reality the dream he’s carried: to make a safe haven for grisha. 

but now his dreams have since been warped by time. 

it’s hard to fathom just how long TD has lived because we don’t know how long he’s been around. still, factoring time into the equation is helpful when it comes to understanding TD’s motivation. 

anger is certainly a huge motivator, and something that only festers on and grows with time, twining itself with resentment and bitterness and underneath it all: loneliness. anger, directed at a world that spurned him and people like him. anger, at a world that always, always took from him—because he must have loved someone at some point. he tells alina, 

“I have lived a long life, rich in grief. My tears are long since spent. If I still felt as you do, if I ached as you do, I could not have borne this eternity.”

and the loneliness, the burden of immortality, the curse of it. to watch the people you love taken by a world that spurned grisha, or worse: to watch them live long enough to die of old age while you remained unblemished by time, to repeat that cycle over and over again and bear the brunt of loneliness each and every time. 

“But wait,” you might be thinking, “doesn’t he have his mom?”

well, yeah. there is baghra, but... you have to understand: she’s the one who taught him to be that way. she was the one who taught him to rely on nothing and no one but himself. and also? who would want to spend eternity with a cold and distant mother? 

“Boo hoo, poor immortal character is stuck being lonely. Is that supposed to excuse the horrors he committed? I get lonely, too, but you don’t see me annihilating a whole town.”

no, not at all! this is just providing a reason behind it, not excusing it. understanding does not equal tolerance. TD is despicable, true, but i’m just pointing out:

a life in isolation + immortal life + grand ambition to change the world = disaster

it isn’t enough just to be grisha; TD is also an amplifier, so he was hunted by other grisha. that isolating existence combined with the long stretch of time he can live is already enough to strip you of what little humanity you have. add on the fact that TD once dreamed of changing the world, to make a safe haven for people like him, grisha, and the fact that baghra essentially raised him to rely on power and believe that the world is his birthright... yeah. disaster.��

of course, the real disaster here is TD, but apparently, disaster spur more disasters because he also made the shadow fold. so, Why did he make the Fold? honestly, it confuses me, too. 

see, when alina asks that, baghra tells her that the fold is no accident, which leads me, the reader, to believe that TD planned on splitting ravka in two in order to sanction fold crossings, which would get the king to rely on his second army, his grisha. buuut, leigh has also said in a couple Q&As that the fold was merzost gone wrong... to be honest, it’s probably both?

like yes, TD tried his hand at merzost and failed on a scale of epic proportions, but leave it to him to figure out a way around his mess. like sure, he wasn’t able to make his own amplifier (though why he would need more amplifiers when he is himself is an amplifier is beyond me), but he probably figures, hey, i can use this, and does. which brings me to the last stretch of questions:

Why is he so obsessed with Alina? Does he actually feel anything for her? If he wants her so badly, why doesn’t he stop his quest for world domination and have a little more compassion for humanity?

he’s obsessed with alina because she’s literally his answer. to everything. 

if he wants to cross the fold? alina. if he takes over ravka for many centuries and the people start to protest? alina, the revered sun saint, will subdue them.

so what if alina isn’t as powerful as he is, won’t live as long as he does? he supposes now is as good a time as any to whip out old grandpa ilya’s journals to get his set of amplifiers on her. 

she’s the amalgamation of everything he has ever searched for, ever wanted. and maybe that’s why a lot of people conflate those strong feelings for love, but the thing is... TD? loving someone? feeling anything? i have to laugh. 

that’s another thing about TD. when it comes to emotions, he’s not as emotionally stunted as some people make him out to be. 

he strikes me as a very introspective character. it doesn’t make sense to me that someone who’s lived so long is so out of touch with their emotions. he is, in a way, but i also think he is aware and merely chooses to ignore, push down, or disguise it as something else entirely. he’s not emotionally stunted, he just thinks some emotions are inconvenient. unpleasant. annoying, even.

the thing is, TD has lived a really loooong life. he doesn’t feel loneliness the same way any of the other non-immortal characters do. no, his kind of loneliness manifests itself without feeling, numb from the centuries of having nothing and no one to depend on but himself. 

i’m not saying that TD doesn’t love alina—though honestly, i could never imagine a world where he acknowledges he does. besides, it doesn’t look like what is the ideal definition of love as we see it, but it’s as close as he’s gonna get.

love is a tricky, flexible thing; and it isn’t always good or bad. ideally, love should be good, but. it’s like a friend pointed out to me: a controlling mother can tell her child, “i love you, so you have to do what i say,” but she isn’t necessarily lying. she does love her child, but she uses it as leverage to manipulate—another classic TD move. 

now, i never quite answered why, then, if he wants alina so badly, doesn’t he stop his quest for world domination and have a little more compassion for humanity? short answer is: it’s impossible. 

i’ve answered an ask before, on TD and the possibility of a redemption arc, but again: it’s impossible. i mean, imagine holding onto a grudge for years. years. at some point, it’s not just a grudge, it’s just you, holding onto your anger, some kind of injustice you feel but can no longer identify. 

it’s like that with TD, but x100000000000000000000. i might even be missing a few more zeroes, to be honest. 

TD is many things. stubborn, selfish, arrogant. arrogance plays a big role, because his ego is, frankly, the size of the shadow fold. someone who’s as self-righteous as TD isn’t going to readily admit he was wrong this whole time. 

the fold is one thing—but that mistake he could rectify, work around. if he were to admit that he was wrong for doing all this grand planning, plans he spent centuries building up to and waiting for, it would all go to waste. it would all be for nothing. at the very least, he has to see some follow through. 

and another thing: he’s not about to give up a centuries’ long ambition for one (1) mousy girl who is too stubborn to acknowledge her own potential. forget it! 

he might love alina, but he will always love power more.

[pomrania]

I honestly don't know whether there's anyone following my blog who both a) has watched Leverage and b) is familiar with one of the Powered By The Apocalypse games (like Monster of the Week), but I'm going to post this anyways in hopes.

So: game based on Leverage. Looking up various synonyms for that word.... "Advantage" and "edge" might work as a title, with "influence" and "levers" being other possibilities. Or anything that plays off of "sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get".

Roles/playbooks, that's EASY. Mastermind - grifter - hacker - hitter - thief. (Also one of the things that can make Leverage AUs so tempting, but only when you're working with five characters.)

Stats. I have a rough schema in mind, but one thing that I absolutely want to be a stat in here, is "life experience", or simply "life". This covers stuff not only outside of the character's role, but outside of crime in general. Mostly because this is how to model Eliot Spencer, who seems to know a bit about pretty much anything, and has lots of unrelated skills. So, life-1 is sheltered, life=0 is more or less average, and life+2 means that although you haven't been everywhere and done everything, you're pretty close to it.

For other stats, I had an idea that they'd all be body parts with one syllable. This is pretty much because I started with "face" as a stat name -- charisma, giving off the desired presentation, interacting with people -- and I couldn't think of a better theme.

"Guts" is resilience, both physical and mental; keeping going even when things are difficult for whatever reason/s. "Brains" is, well, pretty obvious.

These two I'm not so sure about; both the division, and the names. "Limb" is general physical strength and ability, like for melee combat. "Hand" is fine motor control and dexterity, and ranged combat.

One of the main premises of Leverage, is that these characters are all skilled con artists. Going off of that, there's certain things that characters wouldn't need to roll for; it's just assumed that they can do this stuff easily. Two things going off of that: a) certain roles would add more things to the "no need to roll" list; and b) certain circumstances would force a character to roll even for this stuff.

So, example: it's assumed that all of the characters can pick someone's pocket, if no precautions have been taken, and it's a normal environment. So like, just walking through a crowd, the character can grab a wallet. However, if the potential target is wary, or if the character is injured, then it's not so much of a sure thing.

So, listing some things that, unless there's a problem, characters can do without having to roll: - pickpocket, to remove or add a small item - open a standard lock when unobserved and not rushed - get access to any building that isn't exclusive or on lockdown, with proper disguises - get away with a believable lie to someone who isn't suspicious of them - disguise themself as a particular role (tourist, maintenance worker, police, homeless person, etc)

At the beginning of an adventure -- there should be a setting-specific term for this, but I don't feel like coming up with one -- the Hacker rolls for intel on the case, using the relevant ability. Like how the Chosen One rolls for their vision at the start of a MotW adventure.

At certain points, when there's enough time to plan, the Mastermind can roll to get some holds that can be spent when following the plan. "Following the plan" does not necessarily have to be doing things that the PLAYERS think is the plan; it can be revealed that the team was doing a deception, with a flashback to what the REAL (new) plan is, but it'd cost more.

To get in contact with somebody who has a relevant specific skill or knowledge, that'd be a +life roll. 10+, they're available and are on good terms with you; they may want payment for anything they do, but it would only be standard compensation. On a 7-9, pick two: - they aren't available right at the moment (busy? kidnapped? long travel time to get to where you are?) - their field of expertise isn't quite what you wanted - they don't have good personal connections with you (total stranger? on bad terms?) - they bring added complications with them - they require additional compensation - your enemies hear that you wanted someone from that field On a 6-, pick one that does NOT apply; the rest might or might not apply, as the GM sees fit.

Characters mark experience when they take down a bad guy, when they do The Gloat at a bad guy they've taken down, when they can give compensation to the victim/s, when their personal flaws/problems cause trouble, and when they roll a miss.

Like, since The Gloat was one of the actual RULES for the show when they were writing it, I feel like it should be built into the mechanics as well.

Combat wouldn't be a big part of the system, since the goal is to humiliate your enemies and destroy their financial and social power; however, it does need to be accounted for, since enemies are more likely to go "kill these people". Most of the "default" weapons presented would be treated as non-lethal, or have effects other than causing harm; there should be more options for AVOIDING direct violence than INFLICTING violence. (This does NOT mean that the characters are pacifists, although they might choose to be; just that, given a choice between "attack this person" and "get this person to chase after someone else", the latter is generally preferable.) Also, things where the enemy only gets hurt if they choose to attack you, like standing by a hazard and ducking out of the way in time.

I'll want to come back to this later, but that's what I have at the moment.

[ibeati]

2008 Internet Real Estate Agent

Happy New Year! Here's to 08 being the year for taking your business and personal life in their highest level. The need for people to connect and exchange things and services has been one of civilization's ongoing themes. Currently, the need for people to get on the internet and search for real estate advice is going to increase exponentially. The big question is, not even how technology will advance the real estate industry, but rather how will you use it. 2008 poses many challenges for those real estate industry and its irrevocable relationship with the internet. Ways are you positioned to garner your share of particular real estate leads and marketing potential of the internet? Presently investing in old traditional training techniques of sending through post cards, fancy listing presentation displays and a creative tag line? You already know that marketing to your sphere regarding influence and past clients is essential. But what other enterprise systems have you implemented for seller or buyer brings? How are you spending your education dollars and instance? Now is the time to take action. Search engine optimization and online lead generation is a cut-throat game, and it is growing more competitive by the day. You've see the articles, watched it on the news and read the press releases. The biggest companies in real estate are investing any lion share of their resources to the internet. No more good old traditional training, old school marketing or ideas. Big corporations are dumping money into their internet business in order to contend in the networked society we live in. What are you going through now to further your education and online real estate leads business? That's your challenge in 2008 and outside of. As I've stated before, you can still create a highly successful online real estate lead-generation business. However , these days will be numbered. The Web is big, but it's a finite reference. Well, more accurately said, cyberspace is infinite, and yet people will only dig so deep. Real estate Web sites who capture the top spots in the search engines are garnering premium quality leads and massive lists of interested buyers along with sellers. But, as more and more big-brand companies compete and even figure out how to grab high ranking search engine positions, they will slowly but surely elbow out the little guy. It's the nature of an market place to be "open" to early adopters at the beginning and then gradually close to only those that can afford the great investment of time not to mention money needed to stay competitive. As more and more buyers and also sellers use the Internet for real estate research, the "evening plus weekend traditional real estate agent marketing model" is fast staying extinct. If you want to stay competitive in the period ahead, you will have to grab a piece of the Internet action, and now is the time to grow your foothold. You CAN still create a successful real estate over the internet lead-generating business. You CAN still get top spots from the search engines. It's not too late, but I guarantee any time you wait, it soon will be. More and more, I get enquiries from companies selling real estate leads. They notice Now i'm everywhere on the internet. My sites rank very high organically just for specific real estate search terms and cpc. I also personally own the right spots on other real estate portals that travel targeted traffic to my listings, my sites and sure..... generate high quality, exclusive leads. I just received a label from a company selling real estate leads. As published into my book, Internet Real Estate Agent: A Guide To Dominating Internet Realty Leads and Marketing, there are specific questions you must ask in avoiding wasting money and time. After going back and to fruition with the skilled sales rep., I was able to hone down the fundamentals of how the program works. Here's how their direct program works: 1 . A person is watching television, listening to the radio and / or sees a banner ad online. The add is expecting the person to call a phone number to learn about a real estate place a burden on advantage and commission rebate back to them if they obtain or sell real estate. 2 . Pay $60 a month for just a zip code. 3. Pay 19% referral fee within closing (this gets split between the "lead company" as well as customer at closing). 4. Here's the kicker.... the particular leads are given to 7 other agents as well. The real estate sales lead business model isn't new and many providers have a slight variation to it. Personally, I would never order leads from this business model. I prefer to create my own exclusive cause systems. Here's some of the pitfalls with the real estate lead business design you're being sold. 1 . Leads coming from TV, Print, r / c or the internet that rely on some form of incentive offer are likely to be very low quality leads. One of the incentive offers is a "commission rebate program". Need I say more? 2 . The reason pay a monthly fee so you can compete for the result? Why not get EXCLUSIVE leads that are not incentive qualified prospects. You can't do every lead program on earth, so find and chose how you spend your money and time. 3. I have a hard time paying a referral fee to a professional when I'm competing with other agents, given the minimum quality lead and there's no personal relationship. That's not the referral, it's a lead. No relationship, no history rarely are commitment from the potential customer to use me. I like paying reference fees to agents that have personal relationships with their authentic clients. When I get a referral call from another professional, they know the person being referred to me and When i get the client. That's a real referral and qualifies towards the big referral fee. 4. There are so many ways to produce leads. You should pick and chose the best ways to spend your time and money. After reading Internet Real Estate Agent, you won't come prey to poor Internet business models. You may make a mistake or perhaps two--I do from time to time when trying something new--but, all these mistakes are quickly remedied. You will understand exactly how to extend your real estate website, what to know before buying a properties website, advanced concepts for Google AdWords, how to current market your listings online for more leads, the shifting Broker/Agent model and much more. Discover how to set up your own internet realty lead generation machine. Don't be dependent on any one company for sales opportunities. Get educated and become independent! The book will draw you through a tremendous amount of information and facts, not hype, regarding Word wide web real estate lead generation and Internet marketing. It's the lowest cost real estate instruction and education you will ever spend. It's all about word wide web real estate lead and marketing. Keep this book with you and use it as a trusted reference guide. Start working with your Web site, and then move onto the other areas of online list size and Internet marketing. Once you have your online real estate lead-generation business put in place, it really will run 24 X 7, by positioning the right message in front of the right people, at the right occasion. Agents and Brokers already know they need to market to history clients and their sphere, but it only gets you will so far. They also know the urgent need to embrace the world wide web. The value of traditional farming techniques is diminishing. It's a fact, everyone is mailing something; everyone is doing longer open properties; and everyone is getting into the real estate business. But, rarely anyone is doing online advertising. Even fewer are doing it ideal. In fact , most agents and brokers attempting to do web based lead generation and property marketing are doing it totally erroneous. Don't waste money and time by buying leads originating from a company that sells false dreams of Internet riches. Take control of your business lead systems and start implementing your prepare today. Here's a short sample from the book: Marketing Your own Listings for Leads The majority of this book has been regarding creating a real business Web site, driving quality traffic with your Web site, and converting that traffic into leads. At this time let's focus on how to create more business by online marketing your listing online. You've worked long and very hard to get the listing, now let's leverage that listing to set-up more business. For most of the homes I've sold, typically the buyers began by viewing the pictures and information online and then contacted me about a private showing. Any time you market the property correctly, you will get leads. Using the list of selling resources below, I average over 2, 500 precise property views for each listing. I get highly capable internet buyer and seller leads when marketing a home online. Think about that for a second. Online, people are hunting for a specific home, in a specific area, in a specific college district, in a certain price range, etc .... and my entries are showing up. That's a ton of quality traffic the majority it was free. I just read the other day about a Home of Technology who serves on a major MLS panel who said the traditional business model of getting leads from sustaining open houses is almost dead. People are using the Internet for researching, and they are contacting an agent long before they enter the house. Dependant on my personal experience, I agree with this assessment. Having expended many Sunday's working at open houses, I think it's very rare for someone to walk through the door as well as say "I don't have an agent. " The following list of strategies will put you in a position to actually make more money from each one listing you have. If you don't have any listings or are having their first go real estate, I suggest approaching an agent in your office that has a list of and ask if you can do some Internet advertising for him or her. Be sure that you abide by any local MLS rules you have...

[wicca-and-astrology]

2008 Internet Real Estate Agent

Happy New Year! Here's to 08 being the year for taking your business and personal life in their highest level. The need for people to connect and exchange things and services has been one of civilization's ongoing themes. Currently, the need for people to get on the internet and search for real estate advice is going to increase exponentially. The big question is, not even how technology will advance the real estate industry, but rather how will you use it. 2008 poses many challenges for those real estate industry and its irrevocable relationship with the internet. Ways are you positioned to garner your share of particular real estate leads and marketing potential of the internet? Presently investing in old traditional training techniques of sending through post cards, fancy listing presentation displays and a creative tag line? You already know that marketing to your sphere regarding influence and past clients is essential. But what other enterprise systems have you implemented for seller or buyer brings? How are you spending your education dollars and instance? Now is the time to take action. Search engine optimization and online lead generation is a cut-throat game, and it is growing more competitive by the day. You've see the articles, watched it on the news and read the press releases. The biggest companies in real estate are investing any lion share of their resources to the internet. No more good old traditional training, old school marketing or ideas. Big corporations are dumping money into their internet business in order to contend in the networked society we live in. What are you going through now to further your education and online real estate leads business? That's your challenge in 2008 and outside of. As I've stated before, you can still create a highly successful online real estate lead-generation business. However , these days will be numbered. The Web is big, but it's a finite reference. Well, more accurately said, cyberspace is infinite, and yet people will only dig so deep. Real estate Web sites who capture the top spots in the search engines are garnering premium quality leads and massive lists of interested buyers along with sellers. But, as more and more big-brand companies compete and even figure out how to grab high ranking search engine positions, they will slowly but surely elbow out the little guy. It's the nature of an market place to be "open" to early adopters at the beginning and then gradually close to only those that can afford the great investment of time not to mention money needed to stay competitive. As more and more buyers and also sellers use the Internet for real estate research, the "evening plus weekend traditional real estate agent marketing model" is fast staying extinct. If you want to stay competitive in the period ahead, you will have to grab a piece of the Internet action, and now is the time to grow your foothold. You CAN still create a successful real estate over the internet lead-generating business. You CAN still get top spots from the search engines. It's not too late, but I guarantee any time you wait, it soon will be. More and more, I get enquiries from companies selling real estate leads. They notice Now i'm everywhere on the internet. My sites rank very high organically just for specific real estate search terms and cpc. I also personally own the right spots on other real estate portals that travel targeted traffic to my listings, my sites and sure..... generate high quality, exclusive leads. I just received a label from a company selling real estate leads. As published into my book, Internet Real Estate Agent: A Guide To Dominating Internet Realty Leads and Marketing, there are specific questions you must ask in avoiding wasting money and time. After going back and to fruition with the skilled sales rep., I was able to hone down the fundamentals of how the program works. Here's how their direct program works: 1 . A person is watching television, listening to the radio and / or sees a banner ad online. The add is expecting the person to call a phone number to learn about a real estate place a burden on advantage and commission rebate back to them if they obtain or sell real estate. 2 . Pay $60 a month for just a zip code. 3. Pay 19% referral fee within closing (this gets split between the "lead company" as well as customer at closing). 4. Here's the kicker.... the particular leads are given to 7 other agents as well. The real estate sales lead business model isn't new and many providers have a slight variation to it. Personally, I would never order leads from this business model. I prefer to create my own exclusive cause systems. Here's some of the pitfalls with the real estate lead business design you're being sold. 1 . Leads coming from TV, Print, r / c or the internet that rely on some form of incentive offer are likely to be very low quality leads. One of the incentive offers is a "commission rebate program". Need I say more? 2 . The reason pay a monthly fee so you can compete for the result? Why not get EXCLUSIVE leads that are not incentive qualified prospects. You can't do every lead program on earth, so find and chose how you spend your money and time. 3. I have a hard time paying a referral fee to a professional when I'm competing with other agents, given the minimum quality lead and there's no personal relationship. That's not the referral, it's a lead. No relationship, no history rarely are commitment from the potential customer to use me. I like paying reference fees to agents that have personal relationships with their authentic clients. When I get a referral call from another professional, they know the person being referred to me and When i get the client. That's a real referral and qualifies towards the big referral fee. 4. There are so many ways to produce leads. You should pick and chose the best ways to spend your time and money. After reading Internet Real Estate Agent, you won't come prey to poor Internet business models. You may make a mistake or perhaps two--I do from time to time when trying something new--but, all these mistakes are quickly remedied. You will understand exactly how to extend your real estate website, what to know before buying a properties website, advanced concepts for Google AdWords, how to current market your listings online for more leads, the shifting Broker/Agent model and much more. Discover how to set up your own internet realty lead generation machine. Don't be dependent on any one company for sales opportunities. Get educated and become independent! The book will draw you through a tremendous amount of information and facts, not hype, regarding Word wide web real estate lead generation and Internet marketing. It's the lowest cost real estate instruction and education you will ever spend. It's all about word wide web real estate lead and marketing. Keep this book with you and use it as a trusted reference guide. Start working with your Web site, and then move onto the other areas of online list size and Internet marketing. Once you have your online real estate lead-generation business put in place, it really will run 24 X 7, by positioning the right message in front of the right people, at the right occasion. Agents and Brokers already know they need to market to history clients and their sphere, but it only gets you will so far. They also know the urgent need to embrace the world wide web. The value of traditional farming techniques is diminishing. It's a fact, everyone is mailing something; everyone is doing longer open properties; and everyone is getting into the real estate business. But, rarely anyone is doing online advertising. Even fewer are doing it ideal. In fact , most agents and brokers attempting to do web based lead generation and property marketing are doing it totally erroneous. Don't waste money and time by buying leads originating from a company that sells false dreams of Internet riches. Take control of your business lead systems and start implementing your prepare today. Here's a short sample from the book: Marketing Your own Listings for Leads The majority of this book has been regarding creating a real business Web site, driving quality traffic with your Web site, and converting that traffic into leads. At this time let's focus on how to create more business by online marketing your listing online. You've worked long and very hard to get the listing, now let's leverage that listing to set-up more business. For most of the homes I've sold, typically the buyers began by viewing the pictures and information online and then contacted me about a private showing. Any time you market the property correctly, you will get leads. Using the list of selling resources below, I average over 2, 500 precise property views for each listing. I get highly capable internet buyer and seller leads when marketing a home online. Think about that for a second. Online, people are hunting for a specific home, in a specific area, in a specific college district, in a certain price range, etc .... and my entries are showing up. That's a ton of quality traffic the majority it was free. I just read the other day about a Home of Technology who serves on a major MLS panel who said the traditional business model of getting leads from sustaining open houses is almost dead. People are using the Internet for researching, and they are contacting an agent long before they enter the house. Dependant on my personal experience, I agree with this assessment. Having expended many Sunday's working at open houses, I think it's very rare for someone to walk through the door as well as say "I don't have an agent. " The following list of strategies will put you in a position to actually make more money from each one listing you have. If you don't have any listings or are having their first go real estate, I suggest approaching an agent in your office that has a list of and ask if you can do some Internet advertising for him or her. Be sure that you abide by any local MLS rules you have...

[thirdorgan]

2008 Internet Real Estate Agent

Happy New Year! Here's to 08 being the year for taking your business and personal life in their highest level. The need for people to connect and exchange things and services has been one of civilization's ongoing themes. Currently, the need for people to get on the internet and search for real estate advice is going to increase exponentially. The big question is, not even how technology will advance the real estate industry, but rather how will you use it. 2008 poses many challenges for those real estate industry and its irrevocable relationship with the internet. Ways are you positioned to garner your share of particular real estate leads and marketing potential of the internet? Presently investing in old traditional training techniques of sending through post cards, fancy listing presentation displays and a creative tag line? You already know that marketing to your sphere regarding influence and past clients is essential. But what other enterprise systems have you implemented for seller or buyer brings? How are you spending your education dollars and instance? Now is the time to take action. Search engine optimization and online lead generation is a cut-throat game, and it is growing more competitive by the day. You've see the articles, watched it on the news and read the press releases. The biggest companies in real estate are investing any lion share of their resources to the internet. No more good old traditional training, old school marketing or ideas. Big corporations are dumping money into their internet business in order to contend in the networked society we live in. What are you going through now to further your education and online real estate leads business? That's your challenge in 2008 and outside of. As I've stated before, you can still create a highly successful online real estate lead-generation business. However , these days will be numbered. The Web is big, but it's a finite reference. Well, more accurately said, cyberspace is infinite, and yet people will only dig so deep. Real estate Web sites who capture the top spots in the search engines are garnering premium quality leads and massive lists of interested buyers along with sellers. But, as more and more big-brand companies compete and even figure out how to grab high ranking search engine positions, they will slowly but surely elbow out the little guy. It's the nature of an market place to be "open" to early adopters at the beginning and then gradually close to only those that can afford the great investment of time not to mention money needed to stay competitive. As more and more buyers and also sellers use the Internet for real estate research, the "evening plus weekend traditional real estate agent marketing model" is fast staying extinct. If you want to stay competitive in the period ahead, you will have to grab a piece of the Internet action, and now is the time to grow your foothold. You CAN still create a successful real estate over the internet lead-generating business. You CAN still get top spots from the search engines. It's not too late, but I guarantee any time you wait, it soon will be. More and more, I get enquiries from companies selling real estate leads. They notice Now i'm everywhere on the internet. My sites rank very high organically just for specific real estate search terms and cpc. I also personally own the right spots on other real estate portals that travel targeted traffic to my listings, my sites and sure..... generate high quality, exclusive leads. I just received a label from a company selling real estate leads. As published into my book, Internet Real Estate Agent: A Guide To Dominating Internet Realty Leads and Marketing, there are specific questions you must ask in avoiding wasting money and time. After going back and to fruition with the skilled sales rep., I was able to hone down the fundamentals of how the program works. Here's how their direct program works: 1 . A person is watching television, listening to the radio and / or sees a banner ad online. The add is expecting the person to call a phone number to learn about a real estate place a burden on advantage and commission rebate back to them if they obtain or sell real estate. 2 . Pay $60 a month for just a zip code. 3. Pay 19% referral fee within closing (this gets split between the "lead company" as well as customer at closing). 4. Here's the kicker.... the particular leads are given to 7 other agents as well. The real estate sales lead business model isn't new and many providers have a slight variation to it. Personally, I would never order leads from this business model. I prefer to create my own exclusive cause systems. Here's some of the pitfalls with the real estate lead business design you're being sold. 1 . Leads coming from TV, Print, r / c or the internet that rely on some form of incentive offer are likely to be very low quality leads. One of the incentive offers is a "commission rebate program". Need I say more? 2 . The reason pay a monthly fee so you can compete for the result? Why not get EXCLUSIVE leads that are not incentive qualified prospects. You can't do every lead program on earth, so find and chose how you spend your money and time. 3. I have a hard time paying a referral fee to a professional when I'm competing with other agents, given the minimum quality lead and there's no personal relationship. That's not the referral, it's a lead. No relationship, no history rarely are commitment from the potential customer to use me. I like paying reference fees to agents that have personal relationships with their authentic clients. When I get a referral call from another professional, they know the person being referred to me and When i get the client. That's a real referral and qualifies towards the big referral fee. 4. There are so many ways to produce leads. You should pick and chose the best ways to spend your time and money. After reading Internet Real Estate Agent, you won't come prey to poor Internet business models. You may make a mistake or perhaps two--I do from time to time when trying something new--but, all these mistakes are quickly remedied. You will understand exactly how to extend your real estate website, what to know before buying a properties website, advanced concepts for Google AdWords, how to current market your listings online for more leads, the shifting Broker/Agent model and much more. Discover how to set up your own internet realty lead generation machine. Don't be dependent on any one company for sales opportunities. Get educated and become independent! The book will draw you through a tremendous amount of information and facts, not hype, regarding Word wide web real estate lead generation and Internet marketing. It's the lowest cost real estate instruction and education you will ever spend. It's all about word wide web real estate lead and marketing. Keep this book with you and use it as a trusted reference guide. Start working with your Web site, and then move onto the other areas of online list size and Internet marketing. Once you have your online real estate lead-generation business put in place, it really will run 24 X 7, by positioning the right message in front of the right people, at the right occasion. Agents and Brokers already know they need to market to history clients and their sphere, but it only gets you will so far. They also know the urgent need to embrace the world wide web. The value of traditional farming techniques is diminishing. It's a fact, everyone is mailing something; everyone is doing longer open properties; and everyone is getting into the real estate business. But, rarely anyone is doing online advertising. Even fewer are doing it ideal. In fact , most agents and brokers attempting to do web based lead generation and property marketing are doing it totally erroneous. Don't waste money and time by buying leads originating from a company that sells false dreams of Internet riches. Take control of your business lead systems and start implementing your prepare today. Here's a short sample from the book: Marketing Your own Listings for Leads The majority of this book has been regarding creating a real business Web site, driving quality traffic with your Web site, and converting that traffic into leads. At this time let's focus on how to create more business by online marketing your listing online. You've worked long and very hard to get the listing, now let's leverage that listing to set-up more business. For most of the homes I've sold, typically the buyers began by viewing the pictures and information online and then contacted me about a private showing. Any time you market the property correctly, you will get leads. Using the list of selling resources below, I average over 2, 500 precise property views for each listing. I get highly capable internet buyer and seller leads when marketing a home online. Think about that for a second. Online, people are hunting for a specific home, in a specific area, in a specific college district, in a certain price range, etc .... and my entries are showing up. That's a ton of quality traffic the majority it was free. I just read the other day about a Home of Technology who serves on a major MLS panel who said the traditional business model of getting leads from sustaining open houses is almost dead. People are using the Internet for researching, and they are contacting an agent long before they enter the house. Dependant on my personal experience, I agree with this assessment. Having expended many Sunday's working at open houses, I think it's very rare for someone to walk through the door as well as say "I don't have an agent. " The following list of strategies will put you in a position to actually make more money from each one listing you have. If you don't have any listings or are having their first go real estate, I suggest approaching an agent in your office that has a list of and ask if you can do some Internet advertising for him or her. Be sure that you abide by any local MLS rules you have...