#when i first watched the episode i saw a native actor

[bleakbluejay]

yknow i really thought omera was going to be so much more of a bigger deal than she ended up being

the episode she was in put so much emphasis on her. she's interesting. she's not from here. of all the people in the village, she's the only one who's a crack shot. as if she's been through something significant. there was some chemistry between her and din, not a lot, but enough to where the domesticity and promise of family had din hesitate when she went to take his helmet off (and since, he has not allowed that with anyone else). he felt comfortable enough in this village to eat with his helmet off right next to a window and watch the kids play. this feels like a narratively important place.

and then neither omera nor her village ever get brought up again. like it never happened. does that not weird anyone else out?

[lacrimae23]

ANOTHER 'FELICITY-HATE' RANT. THERE ARE QUOTES SO DON'T READ IF YOU'RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH READING HATEFUL COMMENTS!!!

[quotes]

"How I hate this moron. It's been a long time since there was such a crappy [i couldn't find accurate translation for English language, sorry. in my native language it is meant to be even more insulting] character in the series."

"did you know that the actress playing that whiney felicity is only 24 years old? i would give her at least 30 some"

"Best Arrow ending so far. I was moved. It was just too good to be true. Our dear Felicity is finally up out of her wheelchair and walking on her own. She will finally be able to fall down the stairs and break her neck."

"- Oliver really needs to start killing people again.  - Starting with Felicity."

"THIS FELICITY IS THE WORST CHARACTER I HAVE EVER WATCHED SERIOUSLY AND THE ACTOR IS A COMPLETE WOOD" "Felicity's character used to be pretty cool, but after the last episode even I wouldn't mind if she flew out the window"

[quotes]

just a few "lighter" examples from my own playground (Arrow fandom from my country) (i knew i shouldn't even visit this website with films/tv shows and its Arrow page. i know this part of this website's community all too well) and i'm sorry because i usually try not to generalize but all of this was written by men of course (and i know this; in my language you're using form of verb which indicates your sex) and some other person wrote something which in this particular case i agree with: "why nobody likes felicity" thread

"Because she helped defeat Slade and that's basically where it started. HOW DARE an IT girl in a ponytail and stilettos have the nerve to humiliate the great Deathstroak like that. She started to be hated when she became more independent and strong. Annoying when her opinion actually mattered and her decisions affected the plot and the main character. And already when she put HER in the first place for the first time is already a chapel. This is no accident. Still too many guys feel threatened by "strong female characters" and that's the problem. And it's that kind of strong, in a way that can be applied more to "real" life."

there are maaanyy reasons why people can hate felicity (or every other character) but i think that in the most part these are the guys who don't like a strong female character, who actually has an opinion that affects the plot, her opinion counts, oliver or/and digg [so men of the show] listen to her opinion etc. it's somehow wrong, right? she should be just 'nerding in the corner' or something. and she's not a human being, so she's not entitled to human emotions. [BAN EMOTIONS!] she also can't make mistake, right? right.

and i know that in season 4 we can have strongly different opinions about the break up [i think we ALL can at least agree that this drama was so unnecessary ech] but i saw all too many men just hating on felicity because HOW DARE SHE DUMP A MAN WHO DIDN'T TELL HER ABOUT HIS SON KEPT SECRETS FROM HER LIED TO HER FACE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS DIDN'T LEAN ON HER WANTED TO LIVE ON AN ISLAND ALL OVER AGAIN - ALONE [...] HOW DARE SHE, STUPID WOMAN! yeah, so there's no 'okay, so i don't agree with her, but maybe she has her point. maybe he hurt her, maybe she couldn't be with him after that. or maybe she just run, because she was scared, or maybe she wanted partnership from him, she wanted to be a team [...], or maybe she's just a human and-blah blah blah". NO! she's stupid, how dare she, but at the same time - it's kinda good because now writers can un-alive her somehow, and show will be great again! yupi!

yeah, so amazing

so when i did this GIGANTIC rant yesterday or- when i wrote this rant, again? doesn't matter, anyway- i was writing about this kind of hate. maybe less insults and more "i think she shouldn't leave him because-[...] and it affects my opinion of her- blah bla blah something-something" and i would be cool with it even if felicity is your least favourite character of the series. it's cool! you don't have to love her, you don't have to like her or tolerate her, but stop hating like t h a t

//also, i wanted to apologise for the sound of my rants. i know they can be "passive-aggressive" and sarcastic (can't help myself, sorry) but i saw this hate too many times and had bottling everything up in me and now i just can't help it and be a little too much on the offensive[??] sorry about that, really. all of this is just frustrating. so sorry

AND I KNOW I SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS TO MYSELF AND READING ALL THESE COMMENTS BUT SOMETIMES MY EYES DISCONNECT FROM MY BRAIN OR SOMETHING OR MAYBE I'M A MASOCHIST IDK nevertheless, these comments exist, and this knowledge is sad for me, welp

stay safe, stay strong 💜

[the-last-rat-standing]

Tin Star (My thoughts on all 3 seasons)

There's a lot to unpack here now that I've watched it all, including how my feelings of it shifted as the seasons went on, particularly into season 3. So, pour yourself a drink. Spoilers, of course, to follow.

When I went to other sites to see discussions about this show, I came across so many posts that criticized the show for being unrealistic and over the top, and I think those viewers missed the point completely. Nearly everyone on this show is fucked up in some way; it's just a matter of where they fall on the Fucked Up scale. Jim/Jack, Angela and Anna are 3 very fucked up people and there can't possibly be a happy ending for them (can there?). I don't think this show is meant to be absorbed in a linear/tie up loose ends/believable way. You only have to see the amount of blood in the first few episodes to know you're going to be asked to suspend your disbelief for the entire ride. And if you can do that, it's one hell of a ride.

I'm not going to break down each season, because to be honest, there's a LOT going on and a lot more characters interacting than you might think. I will say, the oil company is a complete fake-out in terms of plot. Yes, Gagnon and North Stream Oil do play a part, but it is so removed from what you expect it to be. They start out as the Big Bad and that lasts for about 3 episodes until their PR spokesperson (Elizabeth) discovers -shock!- that the company is dirty. That really becomes the first domino that sets the rest of the action in motion for about half of the characters. (Angela, Elizabeth, Jacyln, then later in season 2, Johan and his family.) The other half get caught up in the people sent to Little Big Bear to kill Jim/Jack. Among those people is a  young man who has a past with Jack. That really is the gist of season 1 and 2, but jfc, it is crazy dark. And a LOT of black humour.

(GIF credits go to @timrothgifs, and let me just say, as I was perusing their blog for gifs, I saw so many that made me go, "Oh, I had blotted that scene out of my brain." Lol!)

I enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 once I got used to the Neo-Noir aspect of it and stopped looking for realism or consequence. S2 for me went a bit off the rails and not in a good way, primarily because it almost wasn't crazy enough? Like, you set me up after season 1, but season 2 was mostly Jack being a loose cannon with no real direction. Moments from season 1 didn't seem to matter in season 2 even though many of the plotlines remained. It felt convoluted and muddled and it wasn't until the big finale that things got sorted.

Season 3 leaves Canada behind and the Worth family (Jack/Angela/Anna) go to Liverpool to basically kill everyone who is a threat to them. No, really, they have a literal list. Season 3 is batshit bonkers in a way that I can only say, I bet the actors had a really good time filming it. So many moments felt like the writers had certain scenes in mind and they were going to put them in an episode even if they had to write around the scene to make it fit. And there was a sense that the actors were told to make it up as they went along, so they did and it was hilarious. Here again is the point where you have to accept none of this could ever, ever happen. The soap in the sock scene, where Jack gets bashed in the head, repeatedly, but is A-OK enough 10 minutes later to escape? Yeah no. And that's just one of many scenes that are so over the top that you can't possibly be expected to think this is remotely possible. So just sit back and enjoy it.  

Let me talk about the show in general rather than specific plot points and such. (Though I do wonder if Thomas is still running somewhere in his oversized bullet proof vest that Angela gave him.)

Something that often doesn't get pointed out by reviewers because they're not from Canada, I give the show all the credit in the world for being honest about our attitude towards the Native population in this country, and in particular, Native women. There are some painful truths spoken on this show, and when it's the Irish woman who points it out, it's even more reprehensible. Might be the only actual point of realism in the entire show, to be fair.

They had different directors for different episodes, but they were all very good at pacing and knowing when to pull the suspension like taffy and when to hit you right in the face. The opening scene in season 1 is so beautifully paced and the tension was so brilliantly drawn out that when the Moment happens, it's like someone popping a balloon. There are many scenes throughout the show that do this, all the while not undermining things by doing the fake scares/Big Scares that so many directors often do. The deaths of Whitey, Gagnon, Johan and Helen are longer scenes where you know exactly how they'll end, but the director is in no hurry to get there. Then there are scenes where you think will be drawn out that happen in the blink of an eye, and that's when you appreciate how they've quietly set you up for the shock. (Mary, Sarah, Jaclyn (!!), the priest, Jesse and his father, Lunt, just to name a handful.) Then you have the deaths we don't see but we know they happen- Frank, Rosa (!!) and Michael. Just some really good balancing to keep us involved.

As you can imagine by the amount of names listed, don't get attached to anyone. I mean it. You will have your heart fucking broken more than once if you do.

The acting is spot on, from the leads to the supporting cast. Everyone was perfect for the role they were given and even the smallest part had something important to do. The chemistry between Tim Roth and Genevieve O'Reilly was off the fucking charts, though, and their characters are so, so fucked up that they are perfect for each other. I never did warm to Anna, but that wasn't the fault of Abigail Lawrie; that was just my deep abiding annoyance of the character. 

I almost think you can watch season 3 on its own, because there is no carry over from seasons 1 or 2. Now, you'll miss the slow dawning of realization of how off the wall the characters and the plot is, and maybe you're the type of viewer who needs 5-7 episodes to get the feel of a show and what the showrunners are trying to accomplish. Season 3 only has 6 episodes, so you're not going to get that there. But if you can hop into something feet first with little lead-up and are ready for a large body count and black humour, then S3 will be right up your alley.

As for the ending -which I'm not going to spoil completely- I think we have to go back to the idea that we're not meant to view things through a 'real' lens. If we'd been given any indication that there was a semblance of realism up to the end of season 3, then sure, the end is fatalistic and that's that. But think about what they've been through up to that point. Would it be so far-fetched (for the show) for the ending to not be anything more than a, ahem, jumping off point for their new life?

I don't even know if I can recommend this show. Lol! It's so not at all what you're going to think it is going into it. I mean, here's the Google summary:

Deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, a recently emigrated police sheriff and his family try their best to survive in a charming mountain town rife with crime and corruption. Sheriff Jim Worth struggles with the ghosts of his past as he attends AA meetings, and his wife, Angela, tries to integrate in the town of Little Big Bear. At the same time, a massive oil company, North Stream Oil, opens a refinery just out of town, bringing with it a swath of migrant workers, rising crime levels, and pollution. When a friend of Jim's dies under mysterious circumstances written off as a suicide, he butts heads with representatives of the oil firm when he tries to uncover the truth of the matter.

Um… yeah but no? I mean, it would be like me summarizing 'Alien' as: "A group of space garbage collectors pick up something that could change their lives forever."

It is so barely scratching the surface of the show that I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got 4 episodes in and went, "What the fuck am I watching? I was led to believe—"  Well, don't believe it. But if you like Neo-Noir (almost) ultra-violent vengeance stories where you blindly wave away the protagonist's body count because sometimes he's actually likeable, sprinkled with a liberal dash of sex appeal and dark humour, then this is totally the show for you. Don't expect to learn much about Canada, though, (except how beautiful it is). Trust me, I'm Canadian.

Oh, and the person in charge of music has picked some perfect songs. I've made a short playlist of some of the songs, but if you want all of them, go here: https://www.tunefind.com/show/tin-star/season-1/52281

Here's a playlist of my favourites that I hope links properly:

If you give this show a shot, to let me know. I would LOVE to talk to you about it!

[thevioletscout]

So it’s refreshing to see someone talk about debunking the Esther Jones inspired Betty Boop myth but also how it ironically is also a myth about Esther Jone’s own history herself. I do wanna correct that Betty Boop is supposed to have a more defined and canon race from those who research the character more. As a French poodle she was indeed white-coded and had white features for the world’s art style, if she was specifically Jewish coded then (which is unlikely because she was originally just a throwaway Helen Kane parody and they only added distinct traits to her as she developed) that is unknown and it’s unknown when exactly her being Jewish was canonized. At some point as a human Betty Boop was actually meant to be canonically Jewish and Fleischer Studios actually officially recognizes her as one ever since, just one who isn’t so “strict” in traditions, even though they don’t represent it greatly. For example one of her parodies, Toot Braunstein, is canonically Jewish and confirmed as being as such by those who work on the show, but is shown to not be so religiously strict or kosher and ironically for a sitcom parody Toot is a well researched one. I get people on Wikipedia wanting to come across as “neutral”, with how heated Betty Boop race and ethnicity discussions can get, and try and keep things “ambiguous” out of fear of “angering one side” but aside from the fact most people who edit that place aren’t really researchers but casual fans and viewers who just grab whatever they easily see and hear, I find the “ambiguous” route quite lazy and not the most genuine. It could even simply just be a result of casual viewers who only watch the cartoons but don’t research much else and A LOT of Betty information you have to find from external sources which unfortunately are super buried and hard to come by. There were occasional “swaps” to her race, one as a Native American as a dog and another as Samoan where she was actually based off a Samoan woman in that instance, which are very minor but important to mention in online discourse where it stems from. Do know in both instances Betty still looks like Betty yet the POC who were drawn up and imagined as such were all caricatures which is already telling on its own. All POC in the animations had distinct racist features from those that were white, you can tell a character’s race just by looking at them, something that also should be mentioned more in the debate. The film with Native Betty was lost media until recently so most people only saw Samoan Betty and used it as evidence she was “black” (without even researching this was not only a later episode for the character after she was developed but also a very rare depiction, people would go as far to spread the lie that it was even how she looked in her first episodes as if completely oblivious to her originally being a dog) and this is kinda where the lie of Betty not merely just being based on someone who is black but also “is” black stems from as many popular articles spreading lies used this Betty as “proof” that she was black even though she wasn’t even black. Kinda even iffier, but these race swaps probably weren’t even actual race swaps “proper” but “behind the scenes” were characters in brownface as shown in one episode and how the characters are actually meant to be cartoon actors taking on a role for each episode. So yeah TL;DR: Betty Boop was always canonically white coded and at some point made Jewish coded when they decided to change her from “Helen Kane parody” to “Betty Boop” her own character. Very minimal times was the character “swapped” into a POC, which actually may have just been brownface, and one “race swap” was lost to time and another that wasn’t confused uneducated people that she was actually another and that confusion lead to, or at least boosted, the idea that she was “canonically black” even though she wasn’t at all.

To add on, it should also be important to mention that antisemitism has actually played a huge and important role in Betty Boop’s race and ethnicity discourse and a lot of people on the net, or wherever, have deliberately labeled her as “ambiguous” or don’t bring up her Jewish-ness at all or seek to erase it out of bigotry and antisemitism. It is pretty fucked up but both/many sides ranging from “Betty Boop is white”, “Betty Boop is black” or even “Betty Boop can be anything or has no race” people have actually been shown to be disgustingly antisemitic and have had an impact on “information” and misinformation on trying to “tone down” or “get rid” of Betty Boop being Jewish out of bigotry, dehumanization and hate. A lot of people in this race discourse have actually been quite awful and a lot of “information” you see online is also the result of many racists and racial supremacy groups trying to deliberately fuck shit up for fucked up reasons. It’s awful and there is a big history of both fake/non-fans and actual fans of Betty Boop who had done this for such reasons. Betty Boop history is such a rabbit hole you really just can’t go off the most surface level things. And unfortunately some places that discussed or shown these important bits and pieces aren’t around anymore or not easy to find or get to.

[The post this was a response to]

Ngl, this was kinda a hard read not because I disagreed but just because it's so long and I have unmedicated ADHD. So if I seemed to have misunderstood you I apologize.

Regardless, yeah, I can definitely admit I was wrong to include this line;

"Also, the topic of Betty Boop's intended race gets a little silly regardless given that she was first conceptualized as an anthropomorphic poodle. While it's not exactly unheard of for the 1930s, I don't think they were really focusing on coding her as a specific race at that moment."

That was a stupid way to work in that she was originally a dog and if they were basing her off Helen Kane, she was definitely supposed to be white. Also, it's more accurate to say that typically when someone's "not intending to code a specific race" that really just means the character is white by default.

As for the thing about antisemitism and brownface, I admittedly just don't feel qualified to talk about it? So take everything I do say here with a grain of salt from the gentile cracker that I am.

(I hope I used "gentile" right, I have like one Jewish friend and he doesn't use a lot of the terminology)

I included the Jewish/German coding of Betty Boop in Minnie the Moocher because I did feel it was important information regarding Betty Boop's intended ethnicity, and that even if she wasn't Jewish herself it was important to note that her creators and actress were. Now that you point it out I can see how the black Betty Boop myth contributes to antisemitism.

Obviously I didn't see that Fleischer Studios officially recognized her as Jewish, and I would admittedly like a source for that. Not because I don't necessarily believe you, but I would just like to know for sure.

When I said that I think Betty Boop can work as any race, that was more of a personal philosophy than anything I got from Wikipedia. It's kinda like how I don't care about a black Ariel, if modern artists or cosplayers of color want to make their own portrayal of Betty Boop coming from a pride in their race I think that's all fine and dandy.

At the end of the day, Betty is a monochrome cartoon character, I sort of just don't care whether someone sees her as black or white. But people should really be talking about the Jewish stuff more.

Also I didn't even know about "Samoan Betty" before this, otherwise I would have included it somewhere. As you said, this is a rabbit hole and a lot of our information is just straight up missing. This stuff is really hard to research, especially with the floods of "Betty Boop is based off Esther Jones!" bullshit. Kinda why I stuck to Wikipedia as a primary source.

[perelka-l]

Which do you think will give voice acting to Kieran and Drayton first, anipoke, pokemas or another episode of Paldean Winds?

I'm really curious about how Drayton sounds.

Twilight Wings doesn't seem to have a continuation so I wouldn't count on that. Considering both Pokemas and Pokeani are bringing over Paldean cast, it's hard to say which one will be first. I think Pokemas still has Arven to cover (who is mentioned by name so it could be foreshadowing) while focusing a bit on Volo (my bet is he'll be in Anni) while Pokeani seems to not focus that much on game characters and they barely entered whichever Paldean Academy (I don't watch it but osmosis is plentiful, I gotta make an attempt and take a look though bc I heard Zygarde is here...) so that's also quite a distance away.

For now TCG is winning with catching up game :Da

I had once a terrifying thought of someone getting the idea of Kieran being voiced by Ikue Ohtani because I would probably just die on the spot, I'd just get a stroke and collapse on point and die but I don't think they would do it... At least for sake of my continuous existence.

I don't know voice actors, but I would really love for Kieran VA to have a gentle voice, more on meek side but capable of immediately gaining edge and maybe even getting throaty in most intense moments... It's how I imagine that. I really wanna hear his wayaja one day...

In terms of Drayton... As far as I know he has the most deranged accent in Japanese??? I am not 100% sure but he seems to slur his speech plenty, like sometimes he doesn't bother pronouncing things even? That or maybe it's a visual cue he's pronouncing things in an accent (it feels like a typical foreigner speech when you get an American in an anime, yanno??) and gives zero shit to hide it. At least I think?? But i saw some native speakers laugh bc srsly wtf are his speech patterns. His pronoun is oira for fucks sake........ Shoutout to someone pointing out he sometimes pronounces na as nya, 10/10. He also loses that entirely when he gets serious, so that's another interesting thing... I am dying to hear recreated, fr. On a side note I'm really sad it seems to not be carried over to English translation. Maybe someone would have really accented speech in English...

(I am willing to commission someone to write me a meta about his speech patterns fr)

[caribouv]

Watch a ton of shit last week because didn't feel good.

The Girl With All The Gifts One of the best "go in blind" recommendations in a long, long time.

It came from a short story named Iphigenia In Aulis later turned into a full novel. Ray Bradbury system if I've ever seen one.

It seemed like everyone was doing fungus zombies after the 2008 PLANET EARTH episode on zombie ants. Last of Us is better, but this is still good even if the ending sucks.

Studio 666 I had to turn it off. You dudes are musicians, not actors. The ego of trying to do this was a bit too much for me to handle.

Outlast s01 I absolutely despised this shit. There were no clearly defined rules of interacting with other teams. Turns out, completely randomly, you're allowed to go into someone's camp and destroy their shit right in front of them and the other person had to sit back and watch you. Even though I pirated it, I want to sue Netflix for how bullshit this was.

All Things Must Pass It's a very cool documentary and extremely thought provoking. Also, I don't feel sorry for these fucking shitheads. It's plainly clear they should've got into the business of producing alongside distributing, had not been so greedy, but whatever.

The greedy businessman bullshit like stopping the sell of singles to force people to buy albums, pushing CDs because larger profit margin, not realizing what the fuck an mp3 was, and endless expansion (debt) because "muh growth."

I'm not super down for live music because I generally don't like it, but I'm not going to ignore how important live music is and a space for live music. I just love how these greedy fucks were directly responsible for napster and later itunes and then spotify and now back to napster.

STATION ELEVEN The theme of art and humanity transcending time, place, and generations.

The use of color to help the viewer understand where in time they were: before, during, after.

The perfection and blend of a clockwork and puzzle plot with a braided narrative. I was, quite literally, losing my mind the final two episodes.

I want to pinpoint the brilliant and wonderful winter solstice episode exploring the concept of 9 months after lockdown when all these women were giving birth at the same time.

I could write about this endlessly.

The only bad thing I will say is that it dragged at times, but I feel like that is me being too ignorant of Shakespeare's work to be realizing analogies / the adaptation from same.

SWARM. I'm not privy enough with Beyonce lore fully understand it, but it's still really, really good. The Billie Eilish episode was just utterly insane.

I almost turned it off so many times in the first two episodes because of how uncomfortable it made me feel and how creepy it seemed. I'm glad I kept at it and fought through my cringe. I wish I had someone to tell me the soft spoiler of "she's a butch lesbian and Marissa is her foster sister." It would have helped to put into context what erroneously seemed to be incredibly weird and creepy scenes otherwise.

Blood Quantum The sweet justice of American fracking ruining Native American's water supply causing all the Americans who drink it to turn into zombies while Native Americans remain immune. There's so many layers to that. Hell, that sounds like real life right now.

Blending that with the newfound Native American power of fuck the white man v. no lets help them a la Xavier v. Magneto split.

It was a great idea and concept, but those unique parts were not leaned into hard enough while dumb shit zombie fight sequences we've seen a million times took center stage instead.

Run Lola Run I haven't seen this since 8th grade. It's a short and sweet movie that gives another great take on the Chaos Theory. The soundtrack is phenomenally good. Not minimalist, but still 90s german techno af.

Doom Patrol I saw the DC logo on the opener and almost turned it off. "No no no I heard Brendan Fraser is in it give it a shot." Kept watching, opening sequences talking about "You're sick of comic book heroes we know! So we made comic book heroes who are SCREW UPS!" And I thought… Misfits? Misfits was great…

15 minutes later: It's just more comic book hero bullshit. Fuck that.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post I can't relate to this at all other than to endlessly bang my head against the wall and again point out how fucking incongruent these religious fuckers are and what they do to people. I kept thinking back over and over to Dead Poets Society.

[mostly-mundane-atla]

i realize you probably dont care about the upcoming netflix adaptation but the cast pretty much got confirmed and people are talking about it again so, whats your take? are you lookin forward to it or dont care for it?

Usually I wouldn't care about this, and I have said before to please not involve me in discourse i haven't already talked about, but I was going to make this post anyway so

*cracks knuckles*

Alright children, it's come to my attention that some people don't know their etiquette regarding Indigenous peoples and are making themselves look a fool.

First: you are not entitled to anyone's family history under any circumstances, save perhaps them paying you to do a family tree.

There is an aspect of this specific to Native people. I don't know how it works for Native folks in Canada but in the United States, when you are born Native your parents do some paperwork and the Beaureu of Indian Affairs gives you a Certificate of Indian Blood, stating exactly how Native you can be proven to be based on how Native your parents can be proven to be. The Certificate of Indian Blood is often called a pedigree with bitter irony because in essence, that's what it is. We come with papers like fancy show dogs, just instead of it qualifying our "breed" it's qualifying our right to be enrolled in tribal membership.

I keep my pedigree with all my other important documents, like tax information, birth certificate, social security card, that sort of thing. I inherited a total blood degree of 1/4 Eskimo from my mom and thus qualify for tribal membership. Past a certain point, I wouldn't be considered "Native Enough" based on blood alone and i'd have to get a special dispensation to be legally recognized as an Indigenous descendant. It doesn't matter what my tribe or nation's traditional customs regarding kinship and identity were, by United States law, I could be declared "Not Native Enough" no matter my connection to my culture, no matter how accepted I was by my Native family. Kinda fucked up, isn't it?

Oh, and the Beaureu of Indian Affairs is part of the US government. They ran the schools where kids got beat for not speaking English. We have to tell them we are members of this marginalized group that seems to keep demanding safe drinking water and the right to not be kicked out of our homes at the expense of oil companies if we want access to healthcare and scholarships we may not otherwise have access to because of our "unique situation" (systemic disadvantage). This marginalized group that faces police brutality and wrongful arrests for peacefully protesting our right to live in the few places we have been allowed to live. So if the US government decides Native people are a problem, they have a registry of us. Kinda fucked up, don't you think?

So with that all in mind, do you see how uncouth and just plain nasty it is to demand proof of someone being "Native Enough" or "The Right Kind of Native"? If some freak tries to dig up this info and he's more mixed than some have deemed acceptable (so 1/4 or less) or god forbid doesn't even have his papers or tribal membership for any reason (justified paranoia, clerical error, any degree of negligence on the parents' part) he gets to look forward to being treated even more like a pretendian than the fans have already seen fit to treat him as. How fun.

Every day I wake up I am made to remember that I'll never look "Native Enough" to a huge swath of people who may not have even talked to one of us face-to-face. And it's only a matter of time before one of them sends me a message, written to sound like they're crawling on their belly because they have nothing but respect for "Real Natives" but if they saw me in the regalia my older cousin in Nome made for me so I could graduate high school in regalia, they'd throw a fit. If they saw me after I eventually get my tavlaģun, all pale skinned and blue-eyed, they'd treat me as a study in cultural appropriation, as if i'm not trying to learn whatever variation of my ancestral tongue I can get my hands on.

I can totally understand why he or anyone else might have thought it was better not to specify. Like my first reaction (and this isn't necessarily correct nor something i'm proud of, just the first thing that came to my mind) to seeing Katara was cast as that Mohawk girl from Anne with an E was "they couldn't even get a real eskimo?" I'm guessing others felt similarly. If he didn't wanna deal with that, I can't blame him.

If you think he doesn't look brown enough to convincingly play someone native to the tundra, i recommend the following: go on youtube, look up "inupiaq" and watch at least five of the videos that come up to see how varied we are.

Don't watch this live action adaptation if you don't want to, but if you refuse on the grounds of "the actor's not native enough :/" and go on to ignore actual Native media, that's some performative shit if I've ever seen it. Seriously, how many of the people complaining have watched Smoke Signals? Dance Me Outside? On the Ice? How many were hyped over Reservation Dogs (first two episodes are on Hulu as I'm writing this post)?

Anyway, I'm tired. I'm probably not gonna watch the live action series, but that has nothing to do with Sokka's actor not being "brown enough" to be seen as one of the red and brown. I'll finish off this post with a 1491s video so everyone can get a taste of Native media and maybe elevate it more than discourse over who gets to play a Fantasy Eskimo who was originally written and played by white guys with no Actual Eskimo input:

[moonysmovies]

afterthoughts💜 - Druck

It's time to get back to cringey German dialogue & the big yellow letters - Druck Mailin aired the first episode yesterday & I am here to share my thoughts on it.

aesthetically, this episode reminded me more of the original version, Skam, than any other Druck episode before! i thought the shots were very beautiful, especially the one with Mailin & Finn at the party - it reminded me a lot of Noora & William watching penetrator Chris in season 2 of Skam. major throwback to 16-year-old me.

speaking of Skam, i'm guilty of scrolling through the comment section while watching youtube. i thought, maybe i'd find someone also being reminded of the original skam aesthetic but i was a bit disappointed since i saw now reference at all. has anyone who watches Druck seen Skam? if so, reach out to me, i'd love to chat about it :)

i'm excited to see where the plot is going with Mailin - i liked that they showed her clearly being uncomfortable when the other girls started talking about sex, whether she might be asexual or not, i think it is generally really refreshing to see characters who are not "all about" dating or hook up culture, we see enough of it on tv already!

while i see a lot of people highly praising the actors' performances, i'm really not sure about it yet - i like the "one on one" scenes, for example Fatou & Mailin before they go to the party, but something is off about the group scenes, but that also might be because i'm really bad at enjoying german dialogue; for me as a native speaker, it just always sounds unnatural & somewhat stelted

hopefully, this season won't focus on whatever is going on between Mailin & Finn - until now, Druck (& Skam, too, but they only had 4 seasons) always told the story around a potential love interest. it would be really cool to see them moving away from that, but i probably should not have that high hopes.

i loved the football scene! i mean- was that an action scene? in Druck? it was really different to how they usually shoot the show & they did a great show in making the other players being fond of Mailin in contrast to them being like oh shit a girl is better than me in football, how come? - so yeah, thanks, Druck, loved it!

however, why did Mailin just straight up run away? she could have said something to them? things like that always take me out of a show immediately & i'm like why? why did you do this?

Mailin is literally me at any social event ever.

in general, i am looking forward to next week. fingers crossed, they might not only focus on a relationship this time. 🤞

also, if you have not seen Skam but you like Druck, oh boy do i recommend it to you!

[dark-door]

My fictional crushes over the years

I have no idea who needs to see this, just thought it might be fun and a trip down memory lane for me 😅 please don’t judge too much

1. Age 6-7sih

Kisshu-Tokyo Mew Mew

Just look at him! He was sexy and cute! I’ll never understand Ichigo...

2. Age 7ish

Leon Oswald-Kaleido Star

The episode where he climbed up to bring Sora to the stage...I’m not the same since then...

4. Age 8

Koji- Digimons 3

He’s just like some other characters on the list, maybe just a bit more sweet

4.Age 8-9

Hiei- Yuyu Hakusho

He stole the show for me, and every time he wasn’t in the scene I got mad, so sexy...and that voice! ( but frankly didn’t know he could be shipped with Botan)

5. Age 10

Uchiha Sasuke-Naruto

Well...after Hiei, it shouldn’t be surprising...

Sasuke was cool and sexy as hell for a 10 year old, but man, when I saw this:

It was another sexual awakening...

6. Age 12

Haku-Spirited away

Yeah, he was a strong contender then, how I wished to be Chihiro...

7.Age 14

Rem-Death Note

I saw the movie first, before the anime, and also I watched in dub in my native language, where they essentially gave him the same sounding voice actor as for Haku and Sasuke...So...until like I was 20, I thought she was a he...still sexy though

8. Age 16

Ulquiorra Shiffer- Bleach

Pretty much watched Bleach only for him...and I’m still having a hard time accepting that he’s dead

9. Age 17

Sanji-One Piece

Man, I was in love with this man...to the point that my walls were covered in images of him

10. Age 17-18ish

Jem Cartsairs-Mortal Instruments

First non anime character on the list...I didn’t and since then still don’t understand the hype about Will when there was Jem...

11.Age 23

I took a small brake from fandoms, but as it goes, people always go back

Gaara-Naruto

He’s like everything...and I’m so glad the Gaasaku ship and fandom is so great, in cannon he was so great and in fannon even greater :D

And we caught up...No more crushes since the beginning of this year, since I also have to maintain these :D

I’d like to see other’s take on this!

[k00257586]

Pendleton Ward

Pendleton Ward is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor who works for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios and Netflix Animation. He created the Emmy Award-winning series Adventure Time, the Internet series Bravest Warriors, and the adult animated interview series The Midnight Gospel. Ward is a graduate of the CalArts (California Institue of theArts) Animation Program. Ward became interested in animation at an early age, inspired by his mother, who is an artist and worked with animators. He started drawing flipbooks in first grade. Ward attended CalArts, where he became friends with J. G. Quintel and Alex Hirsch. They later worked on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack together. Eric Homan, vice president of Frederator Studios, offered Ward a job at the studios after watching one of his films at the annual CalArts animation screenings. Ward created two shorts called The Bravest Warriors and the Adventure Time animated short. The Adventure Time short was made in 2006 and went on to become an internet phenomenon in 2007, with over a million views by November of that year. Ward initially pitched Adventure Time to Nickelodeon but was rejected. It also took some time before Cartoon Network decided to pick it up. Sometime during the fifth season of Adventure Time, Ward abruptly stepped down from running the show, explaining it was negatively affecting his "quality of life". In the October 2, 2014 edition of the Rolling Stone magazine, Ward stated "I quit because it was driving me nuts". However, he continued to work as one of the show's writers and storyboard artists until the end of season six, and still served as an executive producer up until the series finale. Now Ward had stopped writing episode outlines at the beginning of season 7 but still looked over them and provided input. Now Ward works on an adult animated Netflix original show called The Midnight Gospel, about a guy called Clancy who is a space-caster who uses a multiverse simulator to interview beings living in other worlds.

For this project, I thought there was no better artist than Pendleton Ward to look at. Especially since he has worked as one of my greatest influences for this project which is Adventure Time. When I began this project Adventure Time was one of the first story items I picked. I think this show teaches a lot of lessons to children or to anyone who watches it. Adventure time is a very uplifting happy cosy show to watch. When looking at what it teaches to its viewers I saw bravery, loyalty, doing the right thing, acceptance and tolerance which you may not see directly but let me explain.

Adventure Time takes place on post-apocalyptic Earth where mutations occurred in humans. Everyone has these mutations, so everyone looks different. The entire population is a mix of different shapes, sizes, and colours. The things are, these mutations are not seen as mutations, really, because the people in Adventure Time don't know of a world where anyone was uniform. In the show, people are generally accepted how they are, no matter what "flaws" they may have.

In our time, this can be related to social judgements or prejudices of any kind. These can be based on race, ethnicity, religion, economic status, and more. The acceptance promoted in Adventure Time teaches kids how to accept others around them, no matter if they have qualities that make them different.

Here are the ceramic works I have made influenced by Wards work:

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Ward

https://time.com/66262/adventure-time-season-six-preview/

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/adventure-time-the-trippiest-show-on-television-84180/

https://twitter.com/catsuka/status/1108123185613078528

https://www.rotoscopers.com/2015/11/10/adventure-time-movie-will-happen-when-pendleton-ward-finds-a-premise/

https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2019/12/20/netflix-announces-new-animated-series-from-adventure-time-creator-and-san-antonio-native-pendleton-ward

[a-darling-thing]

when you finish watching word of honor, could you tell us (without spoilers for the rest of the plot) how the mlm relationship ends? does it end like cql or more into canon gay or less into canon gay?

Hello Friend!

I have good news for you.  I’ve already finished Word of Honor, because I was watching via Youku VIP.

This is a bit difficult to answer without spoilers and I would need to know how you judged cql on a scale of gay to know how to properly scale WoH, but I will do my best.

Firstly, I feel like WoH is more overtly gay than cql from the very start of their relationship.  More overt flirtation (which both parties recognize and acknowledge as such), much more physical displays of affection, and after a point a very clear commitment to one another, and to spending a life together.

Now, here’s where it gets tricky to explain without spoilers, but I will say this:  The series ends with an ambiguous ending which is then followed up by a mini episode which is almost more like what I would consider a post credit scene, that gives you your happy ending.  This mini episode is like a music video romantically summing up the entirety of wenzhou’s relationship, and then about a 2-3 min new scene which essentially shows you where they ended up after the penultimate scene of Ep 36.  The two romantic leads end up together, presumably forever.  So, it is definitely canon gay.

Now how happy you consider the ending depends on your interpretation of happy, because there is a price to pay for them being together forever (though it seems as though they consider it a happy ending for themselves, in the sense that they appear very happy to be together under those conditions).  

Also, I don’t know how YouTube is going to handle this, but for Youku VIP users, you had to pay an extra dollar to access the bonus ending.  My assumption is that they broke the happy ending away from the actual show itself in order to get the show past censorship (which was smart, imo), and then the entertainment industry being what it is, they saw an opportunity to make an extra buck by charging for the real ending. 

Also, as a bit of an aside, there are also posts/youtube videos out there on what was originally said by one of the characters at the end of ep 36, versus what they dubbed over in post-production, and the original lines (which native Chinese speakers interpreted by reading the lips of the actor) make the ending of Ep 36 much less ambiguous, so I think the intention of the original script writer was 100% gay and not at all ambiguous happy ending, however, the producer and director had to change a few things in order to get the show past censorship.

Anyhoo...  It’s good.  It’s really, really good.  And the general consensus amongst the Chinese Wuxia and BL fans that I’ve seen, seems to be that it feels like a goddamned gift, because it is probably the gayest thing to get past Chinese censorship in years.  Wenzhou are very much in love with one another, and are very committed and affectionate (to me they absolutely read like committed life partners), so I would highly recommend.  

Just bear in mind that this is a Chinese Wuxia drama, first and foremost, with the focus on martial family (which I admittedly have a huge soft spot for), political intrigue, lots of cool martial arts sparring, etc. and BL second, so you’re not going to see the kind of overt gay content you would get in something like a modern day set Taiwanese BL drama, for instance (no kissing or sex).

p.s. - another thing I loved about this series was the amazing female characters.  There are a lot of them, some of them that didn’t exist in the novel and were added in by the script writer to great effect, imo.  The scriptwriter did a great job of expanding and deepening the role of women that you usually get in Wuxia.  She even talked about it in an interview which I reblogged here weeks ago, and can’t find atm.  

p.p.s. - If you want to really, fully, appreciate this show, and all the fun little tidbits that a Western viewer with little or no knowledge of Chinese culture and/or language might miss, then I highly recommend AvenueX’s Word of Honor videos on YouTube. Please be aware that these contain major spoilers, so watch after you have viewed the show.

Lip Reading for SUGAR! Word of Honor's REAL Lines! by Episode 15

Flirt Like Wen Kexing! Word of Honor's Literature/Poetry/Cultural References Ep.1-14

MORE Lip Reading for SUGAR! Word of Honor's REAL Lines! Full Drama

SO MUCH Hidden Meaning in Their NAMES! Characters' Names Explained -Word of Honor

Word of Honor Special #20 - Live Stream

Word of Honor Finale Talk #21 - Live Stream

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

The Magnus Archives #3-Across the Street

This one is disturbing. There was no place to rest your sanity and the monster is truly fucked up. Introducing the Not-Them and I’m glad it was Tim doing research rather than Sacha or I might not have been able to take it. Tim is wooing filling clerks and using company funds for dubiously legal reasons. I respect that.

Hearing Jon again is startling I fucking jumped when Jonathan started talking again. I think that Johnny Simms is such an amazing voice actor. It's objectively the same voice and yet they sound completely different. We get an entire episode of Amy Patel and you almost forget that Jon the Archivist is even there. And then he speaks and it's a shock to the system. The play between the statement and the present and how the plot meanders through both. Something other than Jonatahn is driving the statements. We just don���t know what yet.

Amy

Amy Patel gave her statement in 2007. Nathan and Joshua were relatively normal people, you could grapes on to their normalcy in bizarre situations. Amy on the other hand is just bizarre. Amy is a watching creeper. Amy has serial killer vibes. This might be early infection signs from the table but she might just be like that.

She has the inherent fear of a man alone with a woman, not wanting him to know where she lives. A sadly all to rational fear. Even if the table hadn't turned out to be a much more intense monster, Amy being lured into a stranger house while partially concussed could very well have been the entirety of a statement. But the writers go far above and beyond that laying fear over fear for a deep slowburn of terror.

Once the monster is there it stares back at her. Before that she stares at Graham, a silent yet willing witness to his slow death. She is vitcim, witness and perpetrator. It is only because of her Graham is remembered at all. She takes part in hurting him and does not try to save him. She is a victim of something much greater and stranger. There is not the option of being only one thing. To live in this world means being a small part of a much larger system. You are both above and below the horrors happening. What you can never be is safe.

Graham

Not-Them spent years watching and waiting before striking. Graham has been living under the influence of the table for so long and it has wrapped him to only barely be human by the time we meet him. There were times I wasn’t sure if he’d been replaced by something else already or if he was just like that. This man eats his notebooks. So many notebooks. He is alone and aimless with no one to balance him or native him going missing.

He feels almost like a direct response to Joshua last episode. Joshua managed to keep the artifact in his house for a year and keep it together without being consumed. Graham kept it together year after year but it did him no good. Just keeping it in proximity chips away at him piece by piece till he’s scattered and worn down to near nothing. We saw a triumph only for it to be followed by a situation where you cannot win.

Not-Them

Not-Them will go on to become a major problem in this series and they are the scariest monster yet. Stalking Graham for years in a variety of forms. Mimicking things seen just out of the corner of your eye. The monster doesn’t move so much as your perception of it changes from place to place, never able to trust your perception. Coming from the table Graham brought into his life, one of the few things authentically driven by joy, ultimately destroying every trace of him except an uncaring womens memory and few old polaroids .

This is the first time  we’ve seen the monster succeed thus far. Nathan avoided getting pulled in. Joshua outlasted the monster and got off scot free. Graham dies. Amy would probably have died if she hadn't ran. Not-Them destroys Graham piece by piece and then torments Amy for months. Not-Graham destroys the note books, the thing that Graham was using to keep himself safe, the thing that kept him anchored to an increasingly small definition of humanity.

The journals want you to keep watching. Keep watching, keep watching, keep watching. Is it Graham, trying to keep the monster away? Is it a message to Amy, fueling her fear? Is it what the table says, pulling you deeper and deeper? Is it a message to Jon, the eventual ceaseless watcher? Perhaps it's for the audience, who will keep watching all the suffering till the very end.

Keep watching.

[elledelajoie]

hope you don't mind me asking!! but is there any reason why do you hate 'Previously Unaired Christmas'? (just curious, you don't have to answer if you don't want to!)

I re-watched the episode to be able to better answer this question.

The main reason I dislike the “Previously Unaired Christmas Special” is that it is particularly mean to Kurt. I also don’t see it fitting into canon. There are things that happen and that are said that just don’t fit into canon.

This is a long answer...

To start, I lost track of the effeminophobic names Santana uses. To name two, she calls Kurt “Lady Hummel” and “Joyce DeWitt”. (An actress popular in the '70s - I looked her up.) Later in the episode, she suggests that Kurt play Mrs. Claus, which again, is very effeminophobic. If Kurt were going to fill in for someone, it would be for Santa since he is a man.

Santana buys Kurt a useless child’s toy for Christmas, which is so condescending. Of all of the things in the world for Santana to sink money into, why that? It’s just “comedy” at Kurt’s expense. And Chris has to act this is this best gift that Kurt’s gotten since his Navigator for his 16th birthday. No adult would be that excited about getting a toy they played with when they were ten. I can absolutely see having Kurt see one in a second-hand store window as they walk by and having him say that line about giving the doll head smoky eyes every day after school when he was ten. That would have been fine. But to make Chris act like it’s something that Kurt would want in the loft, where he doesn’t even have a closet or wardrobe to hang his clothes in, is just nonsensical. Something thoughtful, like a new pair of Docs would have been a good use of her money, and it would have shown that she actually had some idea what Kurt would actually use and appreciate.

She also mentions a vacation to Dildo Island, which is actually in Canada. Other than for a laugh at his expense, I have no idea why she would do this. Buying him tickets to local NYC attractions like MOMA or the MET or tickets to Broadway shows would make sense. A trip to Canada, not so much, since, by this point in canon, Kurt had gotten into NYADA. Why would she give him a trip out of the country when he’s getting ready to start college?

I hate Santana’s behavior once she gets to the mall to play Mrs. Claus. She is extremely rude to those children. I don’t find that humorous at all.

I think they way they had Kurt behave when he saw Cody was completely out of character for Kurt at that point in canon. I realize that Kurt is older and I have no issues with him being a man, finding other men attractive. and acting on that attraction. But to be so blatant about it when he was still torn up about Blaine in canon? He was taking Ambien because he couldn’t sleep. The version of Kurt in this episode did not appear at all like he was losing sleep over his breakup with Blaine.

When Cody arrives at the loft, things just go downhill. I know that the actors on Glee sang along with their recordings or performed live on set, and then the studio version of the songs were overlaid on the audio track for the episode, but having the three of them perform a Chipmunks song was just so ridiculous. There is no way that huffing helium will let anyone sing like that. And unfortunately, none of them did a very good job of lip-synching. It was just an awful scene.

I have no issues with Kurt making out with Cody if that’s what he wants to do. What I have issues with is the fact that, yet again, Kurt is not being sought after for himself. He’s a means to an end, like he was in “The First Time”. Cody just pretends to find him attractive so that he can get Kurt into a vulnerable position to tie him up so he can rob their place.

I hate that Chris was forced to insult his own physical attributes when Kurt said that line about Cody saying something about his small teeth. Enough with the teeth jokes. They aren’t funny or even true. It’s just been in the last few months that we’ve seen Chris actually smiling and showing his teeth. He has always had a perfectly normal smile. (Watch the episode where he goes and asks Holly Holiday to be their substitute. The moment she agreed, Chris/Kurt flashed a huge smile in excitement – showing his completely normal-sized teeth.)

When they look around after they’ve been robbed, it’s Kurt who is hurt the most. Nothing is mentioned about Santana or Rachel missing anything personal, but Kurt’s Broadway playbill collection was stolen.

An issue of continuity is that Santana supposedly spends half of the graduation money her mother gave her on “post-breakup” gifts and the Christmas gifts, but in “Diva”, when she’s talking to Sue, she says that she still has all of the money her mother had given her and that she could afford a McMansion in Lima Heights.

Another continuity issue is that during “Grilled Cheesus”, Sue made it so that religious songs weren’t even an option in a school club, but then in this episode, there’s a nativity on school property, which turns into a live nativity where the students all sing a religious song together.

I also think the story line of Becky misunderstanding what “green” meant is mean. Sue should have explained it to her. It’s just done for “comedy”, but making fun of someone with a disability isn’t really funny. I also find Tina to be at an all-time low with how over-the-top she is about winning the angel. (This ties with the vapo-rub scene for all-time-low.)

Where is Puck’s sister? They have this family meal at Breadstix, but Puck’s sister isn’t there.

The only thing I actually like about the episode is that Sue helps out Millie and Marley, but the house they chose to use for that set is ridiculous. They don’t have any money for Christmas, but they live in a huge house that is amazingly beautiful? That makes no sense whatsoever. It would have made a lot more sense to show them living in a small efficiency with two beds in it and no sofa, similar to a hotel room, but with a small kitchenette.

Overall, I guess as far as episodes go, this one is just excessively mean to Kurt, even more so than “Bash” and the bullying he endured at McKinley because it targets Kurt (and Chris) personally just like Santana’s rant in S6.

[charnelhouse]

The link to the article about the Yellowstone actress is below. That's one of the many reasons why I stopped watching the show. It takes $0 to check to see if that information was accurate but they didn't. They just went along with it and what fucking kills me is they have actual Native American actors on the show and they couldnt get the main actress right???

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/arianelange/yellowstone-native-representation-controversy

On top of that, like either the women on the show are like super nice or super mean. There is no depth to Beth, there is just anger. And having that kind of anger is exhausting. There is no healing, its just rage.

Idk, I had high hopes for the show but it's just turned into a soap opera.

I was shocked re monica and did a whole deep dive lmao

The first few episodes were great and then it just devolved into this dramatic, crazy show. I can appreciate a wild vibe, but it's not what they're doing here.

I loved Beth at the beginning, but she has continued to be UNHINGED. She has had zero growth and it gets utterly exhausting. It feels completely unrealistic/total caricature. Get a fucking therapist. Kayce is useless and Monica is annoying as hell.

Remember when Jamie just kills that woman? Remember when Rip tosses a rattlesnake at Sawyer and kills him when i don't think he even knew who had been responsible for the explosion at beth's office. No one thinks in this show.

Succession does a stubborn patriarch refusing to give up his empire far better.

I saw an article today that was like WHY AWARD SHOWS WONT NOMINATE YELLOWSTONE LIKE SUCCESSION and the reason was it was just NOT WOKE

like whut

nah - maybe it's just not well written

[my-sherlock221b]

Supernatural Rewatch Ramblings: Wendigo

Wendigo

The long line of the MoTW series in Supernatural starts off with the Woman in White which is fairly well- known legend/ myth in most countries.  Then we get this one next which claims origin from the Native American mythology.

Here is a review of the Wendigo episode with thoughts from me and @soulmates-for-real​

I have always wondered why they were not so inclusive or better at being inclusive as a show. Yes, they did have many women and people of colour in important and strong roles, both positive and negative (though they could have done so much better!). But they steered clear from some of the huge mythology lores like that from Native Americans, Hindu, Latin American cultures. This may have been a wise political strategy to avoid conflict and so they stuck to the Judeo- Christian core but still managed a rather radical take on it!

Spoiler alert:

*God was the final villain?! Who would have guessed? And that the angels were dicks, relentlessly, and demons were in fact ex-humans.*

So back to Wendigo.

What a monster the Wendigo is!! In later seasons when we got only angels and demons and some vampires etc the other monsters were monsters in and of themselves. Like they were born that way—needing to eat human pituitary glands or whatever.

But Woman in White and Wendigo, and even Dead in the Water, or the Shapeshifter --the monster was created by circumstances. Betrayal and infidelity leading to murder suicides, extreme starvation leading to cannibalism and eternal hunger.

Far more terrifying than someone who is born a ghoul perhaps.

So here we are in Wendigo, at the forest/camp site with these fake, charming, rather useless camp rangers who carry M&Ms (nice touch and throwback to E.T. !), don’t wear shorts ( which anyway seems like a weird thing to wear when there is grass and stuff—why would you want to expose your legs?!), can’t see bear traps ( Seriously Dean?! ).

Sam is still restless and bristling at Jess’s death, as well as angry at Dad. All those years of separation do not seem to have given him any peace in his relationship with his father. Now to add massive insult to his already injured sense of self—he has lost his girlfriend in exactly the same way as his father lost his wife—making them even more identical.

So he is cranky and unwilling to give in to any of Dean’s suggestions. He denies his own nightmares, refuses good advice and food and is generally misanthropic. While Dean on the other hand seems to be enjoying this like a happy jolly road trip. The monster is almost like a secondary priority now.

What is most important, (and this becomes even more obvious in a re-watch post finale)—what is THE most important thing is that Sammy is riding shotgun, is in front of his eyes and safe.

Miserable and bitchy but safe.

That allows Dean to dial back a bit and bring into focus what has always been, for him, the really important part of their lives—saving people. This is always more important to him that hunting things. So, when he finds out about someone’s brother being lost and the coordinates match what his dad has left, well there is no choice really.

They have to find a way to save him.

If they find Dad there, well, good, but that is suddenly not a priority for him at all. He turned up at Sam’s doorstep, and as we know from the finale, waited there for HOURS since he was unsure of his welcome, then broke in at 3 am or something like an idiot….but anyway…..all that was because Dad had been away on a hunting trip and hadn’t been home in a few days…blah blah blah.

The first contact Dean makes with Sam who left home to go to college is to recruit him to help find Dad—the same guy who told Sam that if he went away to stay away.

And then suddenly now that Sam is with him, finding Dad is like meh. If we find him somewhere by the wayside while you and I hunt monsters Sammy, then yeah sure, great.

If not…well….we have stuff to do you and I…saving people, hunting things. The family business. 

And John Winchester….well, what can I possibly say about him without taking up pages in ranting?! Why did he ditch the first monster? Why was he in SUCH a hurry to leave that he left his journal behind??

My theory of course is that he had to run away from the Woman in White since he had been unfaithful to Mary ( yes yes I know it had been YEARS at that point, but hello, this man made his life a crusade for revenge and sacrificed his kids’ lives also to that darkness, so…yes, being with Adam’s mother was an infidelity and you can’t change my mind on that !).

So naturally John was afraid he would be killed.

But still….he left coordinates for the next hunt in the journal and just ran off?!

The other question is what the hell is happening in motels across USA? Guys like these can just check- in on fake credit cards, leave a room full of satanic and serial killer-y documents, sometimes dead bodies, lots of salt at the door and windows, and just disappear without checking out….

Though the police do seem quite alert and swift in action in the Pilot compared to some of the laidback and clueless ones we see later.

What is most interesting is to see the character of season 1 Dean emerge.

He sass, he boss, he flirt, he lie, he charm, he fight, he save.

In fact, the very first time I saw Supernatural, it seemed that Dean occupied so much of the narrative space that I barely noticed Sam except as a foil to and a brother to Dean.

Now in the re-watch what is fascinating in retrospect is to watch Sam slide into ‘the life’ without a hiccup. He reads the journal, he figures out it’s a wendigo, he gets the civilians to cooperate, he also fights and saves.

And that look he gives Dean in the car?

Well, those who missed the signs in Pilot and didn’t ship Wincest from day one, surely started doing it then!

https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/supernatural-rewatch-s01e02-wendigo/

This is also the first episode that gives a clear parallel to the Sam and Dean relationship through the B plot. When Haley says she MUST go to find her brother –Dean nods in instant understanding while Sam is pissed off at having to ‘babysit.’

We see this in many more episodes in the future, and what is fascinating is to see Sam gain insights into his brother with every such parallel. To recognize what being the big brother has meant to Dean and how much he has done and given and even suffered for that. We will discuss this in more detail in the next episode review! ( Dead in the Water)

The chemistry and ease, almost a fluid sense of flow between the two actors is unmistakable in this episode. Even as Sam is really being a bitch and Dean is being a jerk, there is a definite undercurrent of something holding them together. It may be all about revenge for Jess’s death and finding Dad for Sam, but he will still stick with Dean and want to protect him as fiercely as Dean wants to protect Sam.

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Sheila O’Malley has given a detailed explanation for the acting styles of Jared and Jensen and what she said about Jared is spot on and brilliant. He does what she calls active listening.

It is amazing how once you realize that you notice it all the time.

The reason why Dean can manage such perfect comedic timing or non- verbal communication is because Sam is always ALWAYS tuned into him. Listening, watching, reacting, observing.

Once again, for those of you interested in the meta and more erudite and informed reviews that this one 😊 do read what Sheila O’Malley has written.

Here are some excerpts which will entice you!

“David Nutter, who directed the pilot, also directed episode 2, and there’s a new DP here, the phenomenally talented Serge Ladouceur, who is still shooting the show. If the DP for the pilot, Aaron Schneider, helped establish the dark mood and horror-movie feel of the series, then Ladouceur just helped deepen and strengthen that continuum. The look of the show has changed, by Season 9. I would say that it has a more glamorous look now, more colorful, while certainly still very dramatic (even melodramatic). Supernatural is (and has been) one of the best looking shows on television.”

“The ranger comes in to talk to them, and they pose as environmental studies majors at the university in Boulder. Sam says they are “working on a paper”, clearly improvising, and you can watch the glorious schtick of Jensen Ackles as he adjusts to the new information of who he is supposed to be pretending to be. God is in the details, people, and it’s the detailed scene work of both Ackles and Padalecki that keeps this show going. David Nutter referred to Jensen Ackles once as a “meticulous actor” in terms of his preparation for every scene, no matter how small, and it pays off. He knows what the fuck he is doing. So does Padalecki. I couldn’t give two shits about the demons. It’s that DYNAMIC that is so entertaining and watch-able.”

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And here are some thoughts on the episode from @soulmates-for-real, my partner in crime for the rewatch 😊

Except the fact that Sam is quite secretive about his nightmares but his body language is quite open and his expressions easy to read. On the contrary, I saw Dean posturing a lot with other people, pouting, flirting, making eyes...trying to be all nonchalant. But when it comes to Sam we see a different Dean - the more antsy and angsty Sam gets, the more intensely Dean reacts to him and you can see Dean's concern shining through. Leading to Sam coming to some kind of resolution and giving Dean 'that look' at the end! 

[ncisladaily]

With her NCIS: Los Angeles run having come to an end, Renée Felice Smith is ready for her next chapter — somewhat literally, being an author as well as an actress.

In the CBS drama’s Season 12 finale, Smith’s Nell Jones made the decision to not officially sign on as the “new Hetty”/Operations Manager, but instead join partner Eric Beale on an adventure to Tokyo, to head up his tech venture. But before driving off into the sunset, Nell briefly reunited with long-MIA Hetty herself, in costar Linda Hunt’s first on-set appearance of the season.

With NCIS: LA bidding adieu to both her and scene partner Barrett Foa, Smith — who joined the show early in Season 2 — spoke with TVLine exclusively about that emotional if bittersweet Nell/Hetty reunion, being an inspiration to smart girls, and what’s next for her as a legit storyteller herself.

TVLINE | How did you learn that this would be your swan song, and what was your initial reaction? Well, I think it’s complicated. I mean, I think that I’ve been ready for my next chapter for a while now, in whatever form it will take. But it’s surely to be centered around storytelling. I hesitate to be part of the “cliché actress” calling herself a storyteller, but I really am one. I’m a writer. I’m a director. We are developing television currently. We have another indie in the works. I want to tell compelling stories, poignant stories that offer an escape and chance of reflection for the viewer, so that’s where my focus is.

TVLINE | But as far as Nell leaving, I for one was quite surprised, because I felt like this season was such a journey for the character. They’d really been shaping her to assume this position of authority. It’s so true. I absolutely loved Nell’s journey this season. She really got to stand in her power. She really found her voice, and as a young woman it was empowering to play that side of the scene. Nell, I think, is a natural leader, and I really do think her strength as a leader is her vulnerability. I think that Nell has empathy for all players involved in the story. She can see multiple sides of the story. She’s a person that’s not only intelligent but she has emotional intelligence, and that has been such a gift for me as an actor to play. I’ve just loved her evolution, really. She started as a sidekick and she really, quite effectively, was the boss this year, and I had a fantastic time playing it.

Kilbride (played by Gerald McRaney) recently spoke to her unique strengths, saying to “stop asking yourself what would Hetty do” and just be Nell. And that really is such a necessary message. There’s a scene that I absolutely love with Miguel Ferrer, my dear Miguel, from a while back, and it was a similar sort of scene where he was trying to instill confidence in her as a leader. I actually have the quote: Miguel’s character, Granger, says to Nell, “Never belittle yourself or your accomplishments. You deserve the respect you’ve gotten. You’ve earned it.” I remember feeling so choked up in that scene, and I’ll get choked up now thinking about it.

Kilbride, similarly to Granger, has a real kind of affection for Nell and saw that potential in Nell. He wanted to foster her confidence in herself, and it was very moving to play those scenes. I feel like as a young woman we are often in a position where we may doubt ourselves just because of the social climate, but in the end I think it’s about trusting yourself. Nell really grew into a person who started trusting herself and making decisions for her, rather than trying to please. I’m a natural-born people pleasure, and I think Nell is, too. High-functioning overachievers always are. So, I think Nell’s decision at the close of the season really is her ultimately finding her voice and really having agency over her future and what it is she wants to do.

I know how difficult that is. It is reflective of my own journey and my own life. So, to be able to step forward and say, “You know what, this is the path I want to take now and I’ll potentially disappoint people while doing it, I commend Nell for her bravery in that.

What did it mean to you have Linda Hunt back for one final scene with you? Oh, my God…. My heart. Linda is just a magical creature. To have her back was really quite emotional. She was essentially sidelined by the pandemic, as you could imagine, so to even see her in the flesh, let alone share a scene with her

TVLINE | And a hug. And a hug, come onnnn! Chef’s kiss, you know? And the scene is really a bittersweet reunion. Nell really wants nothing more than to stay and catch up with her mentor, but she can’t. So, it’s kind of this “goodbye for now” scene.

TVLINE | [Showrunner] Scott [Gemmill] told me that Linda was thrilled to be back on set. She was like a kid in a candy shop. She was glowing. She was crackling. She was so alive in the scene. Whenever I’m in a scene with Linda, I’m a student. She really is such a master of the craft, and I’m a little sponge. I’m soaking it all up, and really, truly watching her work has been the most educational process for me. I just feel like truly I’ve been attending the MasterClass with one of the best, one of the greats, and I’m so grateful for my friendship with her as well. She’s my bud. She texts me lots of emojis.

TVLINE | You once told me about how you would go to lunch and you’d get all these Hollywood stories, including about her “Mary Tyler Moore moment” when she first went to live in New York…. My God, she dropped that story on me right before a walk-and-talk where I had tons of technical jargon, and I remember I was welling up just at the image of 16 or 18-year-old Linda Hunt getting into a cab and drinking in the big city and the possibilities that it held for her. She’s such a gift.

How nervous were you to shave Barrett’s mustache? I knew we only had one take and I knew it had to be good. My mom is a hairdresser and I watched her kind of do all of that kind of beard shaping for years, so I just kind of channeled my mom. I knew I needed a steady hand, and I just went for it. But I think he was a little nervous.

TVLINE | Would you like to be a part of Episode 300 (airing late next season), if asked? Of. Course.

TVLINE | What’s next for you? Like I said, storytelling. We just released our first children’s book, Hugo and the Impossible Thing, which is inspired by our canine son Hugo. Chris [Gabriel] — my partner, my other half, my creative partner — and I wrote the book about our dog who recovered from a really life-threatening illness. It was an inoperable brain tumor that most everyone told us would be impossible to beat. But through the help of some truly brilliant doctors and Hugo’s own determination, he made it to the other side and he lived a full life. It was this miracle that we witnessed, and we knew we needed to pass on Hugo’s message and let it inspire others.

I think oftentimes challenges in life are labeled as “impossible” when in reality they’re just extremely difficult. Of course, yes, certain things are impossible — I’m not going to be 6-foot-2 any time soon — but most of the time an obstacle or a challenge is just something we have to work our way around. So, we created the metaphor of the impossible thing.  It’s out in the world now.

TVLINE | Lastly, any message for the fans? Oh, for sure. Ultimately, I could say something profound but I just want to say thank you. Thank you for respecting Nell. Thank you for embracing Nell, for embracing her intelligence. I’ve always been cast as kind of the “funny friend,” the quirky turkey. I was the nurse in Romeo & Juliet when I auditioned for Juliet in high school. But with Nell, I really got to play so much more, and I am just so grateful to have been able to play the “smart girl,” quite frankly.

Someone actually shared a really touching story with me not long ago, actually. I was standing in line at a coffee shop in New York, and I heard this kind of grumble behind me. Someone asked, “Are you Nell Jones from NCIS: LA?,” and I kind of winced, afraid to turn around. I know native New Yorkers, I was thinking, “What did I do wrong? Did I accidentally cut the line or not cover my mouth when I sneezed?” So, I turned around to face this person and they proceeded to tell me about their 12-year-old daughter who wasn’t like the other girls in her class. She was interested in science and forensics and computers. This woman told me that a lot of times as a mother, she didn’t know what to do with her daughter, and that Nell and the character that I played for the last 10 years had helped her daughter to find some confidence in who she was and what she wanted to be.

So, if my time at NCIS: LA helped a young girl to see the possibility in pursuing a career in intelligence or technology… visibility is everything. If the image of Nell Jones as the brightest bulb in the room can instill confidence in a 12-year-old girl and affect her future, I mean, that’s the ultimate win. That’s it. That’s truly more than I ever could have asked for.