#which is his favorite usa one hour drama

[tomorrowxtogether]

TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) End < ACT : SWEET MIRAGE > Tour in LA

On May 28th, 2023 at BMO stadium(LA), TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) held their last stop in the USA for their tour TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s World Tour. The were in the USA the year before and performed at a much smaller venue in LA.

Concert Begins

The concert started as soon as TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT), dressed in prince outfits with a castle on screen behind them, came out. They performed “Blue Hour” and “Can’t We Just Leave the Monster Alive?” as the first set of songs. Despite it being just the first set, these performances set the scene for the concert. Following these performances, TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) stop and introduce themselves before ripping off their jackets to show their jerseys underneath. They then went into the next set of songs that included “Drama”, “No Rules” and the English version of “Cat & Dog”. The jerseys definitely made sense for these songs as they are playful and typically on the cuter side for TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT).

As “Cat & Dog” is a track from the debut album, they made sure to ask the fans to repeat the fan chants – which meant the fans would bark during parts of the song. After showing fans tips on how to use their light sticks, the performed “9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)”, followed by HUENINGKAI’s solo dance. Fans in the audience said while watching the screen, the effects reminded them of pixie dust that surrounded him. Pixie dust and Disney comparisons makes sense as everyone in this audience being in SoCal.

We Lost The Summer!

They then performed “We Lost The Summer” which came out during COVID quarantine days- an iconic song that described what many felt after that first summer. “Can’t You See Me” was next and this performance felt very well planned – the song is edgy and the screen, where the members stood, flames shooting out, light sticks turning red – all played into the song. This would probably be my favorite of the night if only if was later in the set list with different outfits. BMO Stadium is an outdoor stadium so it wasn’t dark yet at that time.

The Story Begins

Then the first VCR began that will set the stage for the rest of the concert. The first one showed TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) in their prince outfits and various scenes of magic (very Disney like music). However, a girl appears at the end of the video that they’re trying to reach. SOOBIN reaches out his hand and as soon as he touches her, an apple with blood dripping appears. The members change outfits and perform a few more tracks including “LO$ER=LO♡ER”. They jump into an open car very much like the one in the music video.

The clip continues with very edgy and dramatic music. So we know something will be happening in the next one. The members split into unit dances with YEONJUN performing a solo and moving into the song “Opening Sequence”. The boy group introduce the next song and state that it doesn’t have a dance but focuses on the melody. It also allowed us to focus on the lyrics for “Anti-Romantic”. This performance flows into “Eternally” that continuously switches from soft and melodious to gritty and dark.

The Mood Changes

The next VCR clip states “their fleeting beautiful moment was shattered” before showing TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) with doors closing and stormy music. We see a spiral staircase and a green potion before the appearance of a dragon that seems to trigger something in the members. This set the scene for the next set of songs that included “Good Boy Gone Bad”, “Tinnitus”, and “Devil by the Window”. The VCR continues showing them more confused but definitely something is changing again before performing more upbeat tracks “Angel or Devil” and “Ice Cream”.

Before doing the “Happy Fools” challenge which member YEONJUN choreographed, they taught the audience the easy choreography. They noticed the choreographer for “magic “Magic” in the crowd and when the camera showed him, had him perform the “Happy Fools” challenge on screen with his section. TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) then actually performed the song and Coi Leray appeared on stage as a special guest!

Member and leader SOOBIN announced that it’s time for the end and so the members made a sad pile while saying “no wayyyy” before actually saying their goodbyes. TAEHYUN mentioned their are artists in the crowd that they’ve worked with and thanked them. HUENINGKAI thanked the audience for filling this huge venue before going into the supposed last song “Sugar Rush Ride” with fireworks above the stadium. Fireworks definitely forecasted the ending but it was not over yet!

Encore

Something I haven’t seen at a KPOP concert before were the continuous wave of lightsticks in the crowd as fans waited. It was continuous as the wave circled at least 4 or 5 times before ending. A clip began with “farewell to sweet sweet mirage” as they show the boys underwater. They then switch back to the castle as a memory. BEOMGYU attempts to drink the mystery green potion before SOOBIN stops him. The members return on stage in white sitting in a ship and perform “Farewell, Neverland” before running off stage again.

Last VCR clip begins and states “as long as we sing the song of the stars”. The members appear on stage now changed into concert t-shirts for “Blue spring”. The screens show a beautiful background and they ask fans to sing along. HUENINGKAI mentioned this tour is the first time where they sang blue spring. SOOBIN said they wanted to hear Moa’s (fan name) sing along. BEOMGYU mentioned that he came to LA to learn to dance when he was 20 years old! Now he’s standing in a huge stadium with his fans. YEONJUN also says that his family in the US came to see him today. TAEHYUN mentions that performing in LA feels comfortable even though it may be a different country. Also, they’ll come back with an even better album which they’ve actually already started!

The real encore and final track is “Our Summer” which included a fan banner event. Make sure to check out TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) next time they’re near you!

[crimsonblackrose]

This episode has opened like one of those youtuber videos where they do their routine and it’s a whole bunch of like sounds of them opening things and clicking things as they go about the start of their day but if they were a woodworker. 🤣 Tape measure  sounds ✔ Slapping wood down sounds ✔ Buzz saw sounds ✔ Tape measure closing sound ✔ Just waiting for the welcome to my channel opening. 😅 It’s just interesting to see how these things are older than I thought they were.

That was not what I thought they were building. And this is a Control is in danger episode. Uh oh.

They had to pick him up and drag him over there. I’ve never seen Mr. McCall treated that way. Wait a second is that Control’s scarf from teh last episode!?

It’s not, but it is similar. I got excited.

This is such an interesting set up. Everyone gets their own green lamp.

Omg first season call back. Interesting. He’s also been in the company 29 years...so Scott’s whole life I presume.

Sassy McCall. I’m not ready for the clips they showed where Control gets put in danger. Prosecutor: What was in teh envelope that Control gave you? Robert: It was a mail-order for a dozen new bowties. I had just discovered a secret source. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Robert: I refuse to tell you anything until I  know what I’m being tried for. Prosectuor: Nothing, the person being tried is over there.

What’s he charged with? Treason! But against the USA? Nope. Against the company, and they think it’s the same thing. Great. Don’t pit these husbands against each other. Whatever will Mickey do? Someone give this man an envelope with money and ticket to Bermuda.

Prosecutor: What is your relationship with this man? Robert: I could tell you, but it’d be totally beyond your comprehension.  (WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!) The way they’re saying “Friends” and “friendship” and then going through clips of the series of all the times Control has gone out of his way to rescue or save Robert. This is a clip-esq episode but it’s done very well, because it’s like you’ve probably forgotten all the times Control has shown up to save Robert. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I forgot when he broke Robert out of jail he said “Don’t call me I’m going to Bermuda”. followed by “You bloody hate bermuda”...which means every single time he buys a person a ticket somewhere he’s always sending them to his least favorite place. Who does that Control? Who?

The face of a man whose just realized he’s there to witness them put his best friend to death.

Omg so the prosecutor is one of Mr. McCall’s friends and the head of the tribunal just said “Proceed but keep in mind that if Control is found guilty that Mr. McCall will be charged with the same crime.” And his face fell and he’s faltering. Just a little.

Omg no not their son. Don’t pit their son with a plea bargain against his dad’s. Mickey nooo. Also dramatic much why are you wearing all black? He’s probably thinking you two old fools why do you always get me up and out of bed at such awful hours for such awful things? We’ve gone over a half hour into this trial and Control didn’t have a defense. Robert asked why and guess whose now Control’s defense much to his own surprise and dismay? You guessed it. Robert. 🤣

So kid what’s your opinion on what your work dad’s have been up to?

Opened a can of worms by asking an opinion and putting Robert on defense. He loves to rant.

“What are you doing? Why are you letting yourself be a sacrifical lamb?” Judge: You’re out of order. Robert: YOU ARE OUT OF ORDER JUDGE! EVERYONE ELSE IS OUT OF ORDER

I can’t tell whether Control is regretting his decision, all of them, mostly McCall related or if he’s enjoying this.

“Robert, defend me, don’t destroy me, hmm?”

I feel like Robert is in a law drama and this guy is a professor giving a lecture.

Okay, that’s fun.

Look at these two.

[welllpthisishappening]

So I just saw this post that said “if there’s no found family then what, pray tell, is the point” and it made me think of you

I mean--what is the point??? Listen, found family is the best trope. I will hear no arguments otherwise. It’s got everything you could ever want. 

People coming together for a specific reason

Usually those people have different backgrounds and personalities

But a common cause

Which means they’re ready to WORK TOGETHER

More often than not some of those people will fall in love

WITH EACH OTHER

Which means there will also be kissing 

kissing!!!!!

And that opens up the potential for snarky banter amongst friends

Friends who are way too involved in each other lives

But it’s only because they care about each other so much

FOUND FAMILIES MEAN PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER

No. Matter. What. 

Give me a found family in every piece of entertainment I consume or I do not want the entertainment. Like, I genuinely cannot think of something I read or watched or wrote that did not have a found family at its very core. I am such trash for people caring about each other, it is unreal. 

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Sept 2021 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Don’t Say No Ep 9 (Line) - It’s my corny af hurt/comfort soap opera that I watch at 1.5x and skip all the sex scenes and Fiat crying, but I like it that way, so there. Yes I am one of those people who only eats the outside of the peanut M&Ms, why do you ask? Episode recaps here. 

Bite Me Ep 5 (Viu & Viki) - sometimes I feel like this show is skipping all the important bits, or having them occur off screen intentionally, like some ancient Greek play. Still, the depth of the feeling understood between the two leads is clearly transferred to us despite that. Are they dating? Sure seems that way. Without anything being actually said about it. It’s oddly magical. I talked a bit about the north/south divide and food as a love language with regards to kao soi in this post. 

7 Project Ep 5 The Breakup Zone (iQiYi & YouTube) - another het installment, so I skipped it. Nash. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Peach of Time Ep 10 fin - A Korean BL (maybe not BL tho) featuring Thai talent that really went beyond a lot of tropes into interesting territory and allegory in a way only Korea does. I hope we get more collabs like this, perhaps happier than this one next time? RECOMMENDED only if you are prepared for The Sad. Because it is quite sad.  

x Friend or Lover (YouTube) Ep 6 - still waiting on the final of this Taiwanese indie series.  

Love is Science? (BL sub plot on Viki) Ep 14 (aired ep 15) - Taiwanese drama finally got subbed yesterday, so those of us who are waiting seem to be on a week’s delay. The BL couple actually has the most interesting story arc and the most unusual character growth. I’m enjoying how unpredictable these two are. Honestly, they could have gotten their own series with this much story - and now I really want that for after the baby comes. I’m a little sad we didn’t get the coming out in the skate park sequence (LOOK I love coming out drama, especially with sporty friends, it’s a THING), but I also get why the writers are doing what they are with these boys. And the actors sure can handle it. Taiwan at it’s finest.  

Love Is the series (YouTube) Ep 5 - continues to be fine for a V-BL but not all that actually good. 

See You After Quarantine? (Viki) Ep 6, 7 - Taiwanese gameboys with Japanese talent stuck in, what more could we ask? AND THEN they gave us some *thirsty boi* action, great kisses, and charmed the pants off... well... everyone. Taiwan, we don’t deserve you. Honestly, you spoil us. Turns out Aaron Lai is the best wingman any gay Japanese man in quarantine could ask for. Everyone should be watching this. It’s utterly charming. 

The Tasty Florida (Viki) Ep 3 & 4 - this Korean BL so fucking cute. Look it’s formless and too short but simultaneously aching and kinda special-sweet. But Korea has got to settle into something a bit longer for their BL for everyone’s sake. It’s time. Light On Me proved it was possible. I’m not asking for much, just 15 min+ of fresh content with at least a 10 ep arc. 

In Case You Missed It

Someone dropped K-BL movie cut of 2015′s The Lover series onto YouTube. The series was about 4 different couples all living in the same apartment complex, one of the 4 was a BL plot about a sunshine sweetie Japanese tourist who ends up roommates with a hot shy tsundere Korean boy. It’s 1.5 hours, proving Korea and stretch its BL when it wants to. 

Read more about it here. 

GOSSIP!

Rumors of OhmFluke to star in new Thai BL Oh! My Sunshine Night. It’s from Newsinfinity Entertainment who announced the casting and showed the couple in workshops. This is this (small) production house’s first BL and they aim to “appeal to to general audiences* with a “broader view of BL that everyone will watch.” Which is code for LOW heat, light gay, soft boys. If this happens I think we can expect this to be Thailand doing Korean-style BL. 

* GENERAL AUDIENCE? Let’s be clear no piece of media will EVER appeal to everyone. Here is the USA “general audience” is code for “families with socially conservative values and children who are still minors” AKA what used to be prime time TV watchers AKA suburbia. 

 The concept is analytically old fashioned and so fractured at this juncture (socially economically spatially politically) that “general audience” is actually impossible to target and it doesn’t really exist. But try telling that to the publicity department. 

We also call this the “Disney live action demo.” (Think Pirates of the Caribbean.) I occasionally refer to them as “the Simpsons.” And they’re about as realistic. All that to say I am VERY suspicious of Oh! My Sunshine Night‘s production house. 

To My Star does seem to be getting a second season, same director, same mains. Korea is much better about executing on its promises than Thailand, but until I see proof of filming or an honest trailer, my favorite boys are staying in the gossip section. I don’t wanna get my hopes up. (Honestly now, how many of you also want an alt reality with these two as a couple but Kim Kang Min playing his long suffering cardiologist intern character from Hospital Playlist? Just me?) 

I reported on Unforgotten Night a while ago. It seems to have been fully cast now, I still think the publicity stills make it look like a joke. But with this line-up I guess it’s even more of an alt answer to KinnPorsche. 

You know that thing that happens in media when suddenly we get multiples of the same style of movie or show at once? It’s now happening with BL. Love triangles. Restaurants. And now mafia. 

Cutie Pie (our arranged marriage Thai BL staring Zee) dropped some wardrobe fitting photo ops. Also... fancy pants sexy suits that fit, so that’s exciting. 

Starting Soon

My Mate Match from Starhunter should be starting on Line TV next Saturday. Usually, Line has subs relatively quickly and is available internationally. However the fact that the trailer is not subbed and the show is not listed on Line’s site has me nervous. No idea on length of run either. 

Starhunter studio doesn’t have a great track record in general for narrative arcs and this one is not based on a y-novel so could get waffly. This is a roommates love triangle BL about a boy who is looking for one roommate and ends up with two vying for his home and his heart. Stars Jet as the uke lead which I’m pretty happy about as he’s got great comedic timing and is accustomed to BL. He’s opposite two friends/co-actors from Gen Y and other projects, so we know they’re comfortable with each other. They could do great things... if they get a decent script. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moment?

[oboevallis]

can you please please write one of Amelia going with Scout to LA and visit everyone but mostly scout Amelia Addison and Charlotte centered? Thanks so much

the beach

thank you so much for the prompt!!! im sorry this is sloppy and kind of rushed it’s been a hell of a day in the USA and i wanted to post to try and calm myself, not sure why i made violet kind of bitchy sorry about that i do love her, regardless i hope everyone is doing well and staying safe

You like the beach, huh?” Amelia cooed to her son as she held his hands and the waves hit his feet causing him to shriek with laughter.

“You two alright?” Addison asked as she stepped onto her deck.

“Yep.” Amelia smiled looking at back at the woman.

“I’ve got to drop Henry off at school and get to the practice. I’ll see you tonight?”

“See you tonight.” The neurosurgeon waved her sons hand for him as she walked away. Once the baby seemed to get annoyed with the waves his mother picked him up and sat down by the beach bag she brought out to apply more sunscreen onto him.

“Let’s take a picture for your dad.” She said as she snapped a picture of the baby with sunscreen on his cheeks and nose accompanied with his shark bucket hat. Once she was done sending the picture to her boyfriend she looked up to see her son about to eat a fistful of sand, which she quickly stopped.

“Babies don’t eat sand!” She dramatically exclaimed causing the baby to erupt into a fit of giggles. “Your gonna give your mommy a heart attack, do you know that?”

_______________________________________

“Did Amelia get in alright?” Charlotte asked Addison as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Amelia’s here?” Violet asked as she stirred her tea.

“Yeah, she got in last night.”

“Did she bring the baby?” Violet added.

“Yeah she did, and God he is the cutest.” Addison gushed, Amelia had to basically pry him out of her hands once they got there.

“I can’t wait to see him. Amelia’s only sent me a couple of pictures.” Charlotte complained.

“What’s she doing here?” Violet asked curiously. “Did her boyfriend accompany her,”

“No he’s still in Seattle and she just came to visit, it’s been awhile.” Addison said.

“Wait, do you think she’s running?” Charlotte asked seeing where Violet was going with her question.

“No, no I don’t think so.” Addison was taken aback, Amelia wasn’t running. The brain tumor explained that, didn’t it?

“Well people unconsciously perpetuate patterns. She’s a runner. She ran from her family, James and then she ran from that army guy.”

“She’s not running, there could be a number of reasons she didn’t bring him with her.” Addison defended, Violet just shrugged taking her tea with her as she left the kitchen.

________________________________________

“Where’s Amelia and the baby?” Naomi asked as she stepped onto her best friends deck.

“She’s putting him to sleep.” Charlotte told her as she lounged back in one of the chairs.

“I missed baby time?” Naomi sighed as she sat down next to Addison.

“He doesn’t sleep that great, so I’m sure he’ll be up in an hour.” Amelia said as she closed the sliding glass door with the baby monitor in hand. She sat down next to Charlotte, happy to be reunited with her best friend. “Where’s Violet?”

“Watching ‘American Bake Off’ with Coop.” Charlotte rolled her eyes to this, no matter how long they were together it was something she just wasn’t going to understand. “She’ll come once it’s over.”

“Not much changed around here huh?” Amelia asked.

“Except our kids growing up too fast.” Naomi remarked.

“Yeah the last time I saw Henry he was still a toddler, now he’s like a child.” Amelia chuckled.

“I’m terrified for his teen years.” Addison admitted sipping on her wine.

“You should be. Mason used to be so sweet and then he was just a ball of angst for awhile. Now with him getting older he is returning to his sweet side.” Charlotte confessed, Addison’s concerned expression saying it all. Scout’s cries then erupted through the monitor and Amelia went to go take care of it.

“I’ve missed her.” Addison smiled as the neurosurgeon walked back into the house, the two others nodding in agreement.

“I’m here, what’d I miss?” Violet asked as she walked through the gate.

“Nothing much, Amelia’s just getting the baby.” Violet nodded and sat next to Naomi.

“Sooooo, do we know if she’s running from the boyfriend?”

“No, we didn’t ask and you aren’t going to either.” Addison said as she poured the shrink a glass of wine.

“Come on.” Violet whined. “I just want some details.”

“Oh so this isn’t worry for Amelia, it’s your need for someone else’s drama? Hearing people’s problems and traumas all day isn’t enough?” Addison asked sipping from her wine glass.

“Oh there’s the baby!” Naomi cooed reaching her arms out for the child as Amelia came onto the deck with her son in tow.

“He is adorable.” Charlotte smiled as she watched Naomi interact with the baby. “Ew, when did I become one of those women.”

“Right?” Amelia agreed, there was a time where she was in a situation like this and ended up going to play poker at Sams.

“Where’s your boyfriend? Not a beach guy?” Violet innocently asked as Addison kicked her under the table.

“No he actually lived in LA for a bit. He had a big surgery and I could use the space away from him.” Amelia admitted as she laid down on the chair looking up at the night sky.

“Space away from him?” Charlotte asked laying didn’t next to the neurosurgeon.

“He’s just so....happy.”

“Happy?” Violet tried to contain her laugh, she couldn’t imagine Amelia with someone she described as happy.

“He just has a very positive outlook on life. And he whistles all the time, like all the time. I mean it’s not a bad thing it’s...”

“Just different from Owen Hunt.” Addison chuckled, she had met the trauma surgeon and worked with him a couple of times.

“Yes. Links different from him, but a good different.”

“From what you’ve told me he seems like a good guy. You just got to get used to someone being kind to you.” Addison smiled as Amelia nodded in agreement.

“Where’d he work in LA?” Naomi asked curiously as she passed the baby to Addison who had been impatiently waiting for her turn.

“A bike shop.”

“A bike shop?!” Charlotte gasped shocked. “He’s not a surgeon?”

“No, he is he just quit medicine for a minute there and worked on bikes instead of bones.”

“Well at least you can always rely on your bike being in good condition.” Charlotte playfully teased the younger woman.

“What can your husband do? Change a kids bandaid?” Amelia bit back playfully, causing everyone to laugh. As accomplished and talented as Cooper was he was the easiest to make fun of.

“You must really love him, since you let him name your child Scout.” Violet smirked to receive another kick from under the table.

“It’s a cute name!” Amelia defended.

“I agree it’s especially cute since her boyfriends name is Atticus, Atticus and Scout it’s a classic.” Charlotte smiled, when Amelia told her their sons name she thought it was absolutely adorable. “‘To kill a mockingbird’ is one of my favorite books, fun fact the author is from my home town Monroeville.”

As the woman sat and caught up with one another on there busy lives, Amelia noticed her baby had fallen asleep in Addison’s arms she carefully lifted the baby up and brought him upstairs to where they were staying, the older woman right behind her.

“You really love him don’t you?” Addison asked once the baby was comfortably asleep in his crib.

“It’s indescribable how much I love Link.”

“I’m glad you found him. I’ve never seen you this happy.” Amelia smiled and pulled the woman who had been her sister for so many years into a hug.

[romewritingshop]

30 qs - 20 blogs

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better!

Well for the record, you are not under a contractual obligation so don’t worry 😆 I offer you immunity. I would love to get to know some of you and let you guys know me so thank you @what-do-you-mean-theyre-evil @withbeautyandrage @shewillreadyou @nikki-2406

I’m gonna tag five people:

@eleanorbloom (I love you and want to know more 🧡)

@drariellevalentine (I am slowly reading Medically Inevitable and I am loving it 💕)

@ladylamrian (Writing your request is a lot of fun and I hope you’ll enjoy it 💜)

@utterlyinevitable (You’re amazing and I’m absolutely in awe of your work 💙)

@melaninnntae (I love the way you react to my fics and I am in awe of your aesthetic 💛)

Name/Nickname: I go by Rome here but if you’re close, I’ll tell you my real name 😉

Gender: female (she/her) or (They/Them)

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius ♒

Height: 5′0 to 5′1 (I actually dk)

Birthday: Feb 3 (It’s actually coming up soon 😅)

Lucky Number: 3, 14

When did you create this blog?: 18 June 2020

What do I post?: Choices fanfics, a bunch of other fanfics (Might transfer those to AO3) Memes sometimes but important stuff, fanart. I have a sideblog: @romereadingshop where I reblog fics I enjoy reading or fanarts I like, more important reblogs on there.

Last thing I googled: “The Yorkshire Ripper” 😶 “easter chocolate usa” 😄 “yt” 🤦🏽‍♀️ 

Do I get asks?: No. I’ve gotten one or two recently but that’s about it. Nothing on my other blog. I would love asks. sounds pathetic but I’m starved of conversation. Would love an anon ask,

Why did I choose my URL?: My first original blog was chroma3 which was something Tumblr suggested. I had a sideblog I wanted to start where I did writing and posted my reviews of stuff but Tumblr sucked and I wanted my writing blog to be my main. So I deleted and restarted (Had around 314 followers on there) I write stuff and technically it’s a shop where you look around for fics to try so I stuck with Rome Writing Shop. It’s diverse and not limited to a single fandom. This is the name I’ll be known by and die by 😅 I don’t have the strength to change it.

My current projects and wips: 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 I have a dissertation and essays to complete but in terms of here: Some of the titles are on my masterlist with ‘Coming Soon’. At the moment, I’m writing Baking Love which I aim to release monthly and have a completed series. My Colt series, Meeting in Paradise is going to be retconned so I’m sorry if you wanted to read it. I’ll be deleting it soon and a new story line. I have 2 - 3 requests to write and one which I hope to finish soon and post.

Favorite artist(s) (atm): 

The Weeknd, especially with his new album After Hours. 

Michele Morrone 😍 

Shawn Mendes 🥰 

Lubalin (Really love his internet drama songs) 🤩

Song stuck in my head: 

'She stole my Broccoli’ - Lubalin (SLAPS HARD)

‘Love Faces’ - Trey Songz (Slowed version 🥴🥵)

‘Honey’ - Jessica Jimenez (🥵 Her voice)

Favorite song of all time: 

‘Hard for Me' - Michele Morrone (All versions because they all hold significance in my heart. Helped me heal through tough times)

‘Fallin’ All in You’ - Shawn Mendes (It is so romantic and honest and I just want to dance with someone on that song)

Last movie: My Neighbour Totoro (Still haven’t finished it 😅)

Last show: Bridgerton on Netflix 😂 (Cannot get over Simon) and Night Stalker (It’s about the Richard Ramirez case and it freaked the fuck out of me)

Favourite food: Anything with seafood

Food I hate: Some Asian curries 😬 Other than not much, also don’t like jalapeños

Favourite colour: Black, brown, blue, purple, green and red. The dark shades the better but I do like pink, yellow. I basically named all the colours of the rainbow 😂 I like shades more than specific colours. Hate strong pinks.

Favourite animal: Don’t really have a specific fav. I prefer foxes and really got into ferrets 😂 Animals with ✨ big ‘Fuck you’ energy ✨

What I’m currently wearing: A purple iron man shirt with black leggings. If you DM me, I’ll tell you my underwear 😂 If it was upto me, I’d wear a baggy shirt and underwear with socks.

Dream job: A writer at PB (I’m still salty at their treatment of books and POC characters) or an Editor at a publishing company. Become a part - time YouTuber

Dream trip: Anywhere snowy, like Austria, Norway or Switzerland. Also want to go to Iceland. They’ve got such pretty places there.

Currently Reading: Should change that to start but I’m gonna start reading Shakespeare’s stuff: King Lear, As you like it, Much Ado about Nothing

Currently thinking about: When will my [REDACTED] jumper come?, How much of a disappointment I am (Literally most of the time) My uncompleted deadlines and goals.

Fun Facts: Despite having a licence for two years, I don’t know how to drive. (Insurance was expensive and now I’m terrified to get behind the wheel)

I’m Muslim and Pakistani. People think I’m Indian, Goan, Punjabi (One time Arab) and they think I’m Christian or Hindu but I am a fairly religious Pakistani Muslim with liberal thoughts (To an extent, most people take advantage of my liberal opinions so I have to clarify to an extent)

Never had a boyfriend, dated or kissed anyone (Alone but I’ve done dare stuff)

Top three fictional universes: 

Choices (I want to be there with all my baes)

A world with Detectives, Murder and Mafia because I love mystery so I guess would that be Scooby Doo?

Detroit: Become Human universe or Almost Human. Love Androids with cops

[urbiggestdaydream]

fear street: a review

happy spooky seasons babes!!! for every week in october, i'll be posting reviews on spooky movies and tv shows inspired by this Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/CUN2Xeth3N4/?utm_medium=copy_link attached in case you want any ideas for a spooky night in. this first review will be on the netflix original movie, fear street. one of my best friends is OBSESSED with this trilogy so it's dedicated to her. i told her someday i would watch it and today is the day :) 

fear street is a trilogy set around 1994, 1978, and 1666 respectively. for the sake of the review, i will be watching the first one. it runs for an hour and 47 mins and is rated r. the first opening line states, “it started as a prank and ended in murder” already intriguing. it sets the stage of a rebellious teenage age that could end in an accidentally murder or an supernatural circumstances that leads to murder. either one sounds good. i’m getting a little ahead of myself. the general plot is about a group of teens from the town of shadyville that try to rectify the brutal killings that plague their town. for more insight, keep on reading. it will contain major spoilers so you have been warned. 

SPOILER the movie begins with heather (maya hawke, a queen) who is working at a book store. a relatable girl with her “not like other girls” personality, she exchanges teasing banter with her friend, ryan who works near her. as the mall begins to close (named shadyside mall which serves as a foreshadow), she encounters the killer wearing a halloween skeleton mask. they wrestle around for a little bit and she is then killed afterwards. just when i started to like her. before her death, she unveils the killer and it is revealed as her friend ryan who she was just conversing with. 

the opening scene provides an inner look into shadyside and its reputation for being a murderous town. we are then told that this is a common thing. it has a neighboring town called sunnyvale. like the name suggests, it is the complete opposite. it is safe, wealthy and comfortable. it had a record breaking year of no violence as opposed to shadyside which is cursed with murders. it is dubbed “killer capital usa”. i wonder if this is used as a social commentary on how certain towns cannot be saved and are riddled with crime. but that is a discussion for another day. we are also given motifs of a witch being executed. could this be an illusion to events to come? 

we are met with a new protagonist named deena. deena is going through a breakup with someone named sam. she is heartbroken and resentful as sam is the reason she left band. we meet her friends, simon and kate, who are there to support her throughout the whole process and with that they discuss the current standing of their town with the recent murder of heather. a possible reason for the killings is considered: shadyside creates murders. certain people lose their breaking point and take it out on unsuspecting victims. it makes people go insane.

a town left in shambles once again. a candlelit vigil is held for the victims of the mall massacre hosted in sunnyvale. it is clear that the neighboring towns have animosity towards each other. it is giving pawnee vs. eagleton (shout out to parks and rec). with the rising tensions between them, a fight ensues with the two football teams. it is also revealed that the reason for sam and deena’s breakup is sam moving to sunnyvale. deena is displeased at her decision and i would be too but at the same time, i don’t blame sam. i would have left too if my life would be in danger just by being there. but that’s besides the point. enraged, everyone goes back to their respective homes with a few football players plus sam tormenting the shadyside team. several hyped up chants later, the shadyside team retaliate by throwing a cooler directed at the car. the car begins to swerve and hits a tree harming the people inside. grasping at life, sam begins to see visions which could be due to the accident, but it is assumed as the witch. 

now at home, deena sees the killer at her home and he also comes after kate. due to the events prior, they believe it is peter (one of the football players) and they visit the hospital where sam is held. deena goes on a rampage telling sam to control her psychotic boyfriend. however, peter was in the hospital the whole time and is killed right in front of their eyes thus disproving the theory. good riddance to him. they run away from him and getting away safely but like heather, they unveil him and it is revealed as the same person as before: ryan torres. they go to the police but they are disregarded because ryan was killed by sheriff goode when he killed heather. they decide to take this into their own hands. outside the station, simon encounters this girl that tries to kill him. josh, (deena’s brother) who has done research on the various shadyside killers, identifies the girl who tried to kill simon as ruby lane. the weird part is that ruby’s killings were over 30 years ago. the witch from the opening scenes, sarah fier, was executed in the 1600s (when the first shadyside killing was reported). these massacres are somehow all connected to her and it could be how normal people are suddenly becoming murderers because she is seeking revenge by inhibiting unsuspecting bodies. sam is her next victim as the killers are attracted to her blood and she is seeing the visions. they make a plan to kill kate to wane away the bad spirits and bring her back to life with an epipen. it works in the end, but simon and kate are eliminated in the process by the demons. 

the remaining survivors (deena, kate, and josh) go to the police and talk about their experiences. because they aren’t willing to give up information (which i don’t know the reason; i might have overlooked it), the murders are planted on the now deceased kate and simon. (a mild rant). what is bothering me about deena is that she didn’t properly mourn her friends killed in the crossfire. she’s so selfishly in love with kate that she completely disregarded her friends death. life just seems to be all good for her as if nothing happened because she got back together with sam. freaking josh seemed to care more than she did. he stood up for them in his online chat but deena? where’s the energy. she seemed to care a tiny bit with the police officer (because as she claimed drug use is a perfect example to blame since the two sold drugs) but not enough to clear the air about the murders. idk that just rubbed me the wrong way. 

deena and sam are back together and living their best life good for them (i’m so petty lmao) deena gets a call from c berman (the sole survivor of one of the past massacres). she tells her its a little too late for the phone call because they could have used her advice when they still were fighting the demons. berman tells her that it never goes away and sarah always comes back. we see sarah etching sam’s name under ryan torres on a gravestone. sam is now possessed with sarah’s spirit and attacks deena. she ties up sam and tells josh that she isn’t acting like herself and they need to save her. to be continued. END SPOILER. 

final thoughts: i like this. i get why this is popular.  i’m usually not the biggest horror movie fan because they are always so typical and kinda corny. however, something about this feels fresh and new. the idea of a possessed witch is nothing new but i don’t think i have heard about a witch seeking revenge on her execution by passing on her witchcraft for generations. a woman’s scorn. plus we got some teenage drama mixed into it to add more dimension. i like knowing that the story continues on because i like the direction this is going. dare i say it i would put it up with scream as part of my favorites in the horror movie genre. someday i will watch the next two. i definitely recommend this movie for horror movie fans. i will give it a 8/10. 

[thedeaditeslayer]

Bruce Campbell talks ‘Evil Dead,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Xena’

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The first time Bruce Campbell came across Sam Raimi, they were students at Michigan’s West Maple Junior High School.

“Sam was a year younger than me,” Campbell recalls, “and I remember him dressed as Sherlock Holmes playing with dolls in the middle of the floor. And I remember going way around him. And I found out later that it was Sam Raimi. We didn’t really come into contact until we got until high school.”

What a connection they made. After bonding over D.I.Y. filmmaking, Campbell and Raimi went on to do 1978 shoestring horror-short “Within the Woods” together, which they evolved into 1981 demonic thriller “Evil Dead.”

Campbell would periodically reprise signature “Evil Dead” character Ash Williams in various sequels and offshoots. And appear in Raimi-produced “Xena: Warrior Princess,” portraying slippery “king of thieves” Autolycus on that ’90s-iconic TV fantasy epic.

And then there’s Campbell’s memorable cameos in Raimi’s blockbuster, Tobey Maguire-starring “Spider-Man” film trilogy: the ring announced in the first, 2002 film, “snooty usher” in the 2004 sequel and a maître d’ in 2007′s “Spider-Man 3.”

Of course, Campbell’s made a mark outside that dynamic duo. He drew raves for his portrayal of a nursing-home-bound Elvis Presley in 2002 indie comedy-horror gem, “Bubba Ho-Tep.” Then there’s his role of Sam Axe on USA Network spy drama “Burn Notice.” Not to mention numerous other film, TV, voice acting and even video-game work.

The cult-fave actor will make his first ever trip to Huntsville this week, for Oct. 24 events at Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall featuring “Evil Dead” screenings followed by a Campbell-led chat about the film, his life as an actor and beyond. Tickets for these 3 and 7:30 p.m. events start at $32, via ticketmaster.com.

His upcoming projects include a comedy album with actor Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, called “The Lost Recordings.” Campbell also is readying a book of essays called “The Cool Side of My Pillow,” which finds him riffing on subjects ranging from noise to the environment. He hopes to have both released by the end of this year. More info at bruce-campbell.com. On a recent afternoon, Campbell checked in from his Oregon home for a phone interview. Edited excerpts are below.

Bruce, when you do an “Evil Dead” screening event, do your discussions turn up new things about the film or that you haven’t thought of in a long time?

Every show turns up something new because it puts you on the spot. Someone will say something that will then trigger something that you had forgot. I just sat down the other day before one of these shows with my guy who is my frontman and I was like, “OK, l’m just going to tell the story of making this movie.” It’s not for questions I’m just going to tell you basically what you’re about to see. But yeah, every show triggers some new thing. I’ve seen the movie. I know how it ends. But that is the challenge, finding some new, weird tidbits.

Back in high school how did you and Sam Raimi first bond? Did you share a class or something?

Basically I got into typing class, that’s what started it. I could not believe I was stuck in this stupid class where everyone around me seemed to know how to type. I’m like, “How do you know this?” It was very frustrating. So I went to a counselor for the first time ever – I’d never gone to try to get out of anything.

So I go there and I say, “Hey can I drop this dumb typing class?” She goes, "Yeah, what do you want? I go, “What do you got?” So she comes up with “radio speech.” And I’m like, “Radio speech? Wait they do the morning announcements (at school) and stuff?” and I’m like yeah let me get all over that.

So I got into a class and Sam Raimi was also in the class. And the guy who taught radio speech also directed all the plays. We didn’t know how critical that was. The first year I couldn’t get in anything in my high school. I was auditioning for everything but I didn’t have a class with this guy. By the next year I had a class with him, and then me and Sam were in basically all the plays after that. We found out how the deal worked.

So I met him in radio speech and we’d do the morning announcements together and got to talking about what we do in our neighborhoods. I was making little regular-8 (millimeter film) movies and Sam was making Super-8 movies. So we started to join forces during the course of that high school run, that two or three years in there.

We were very productive. We didn’t really get into trouble because we were too busy like filming parties. We wouldn’t go to the parties we’d film the parties and use them in some way in our little films so it was a great guerrilla filmmaking period.

A celeb or well-known person you were surprised to learn they’re an “Evil Dead” fan?

I heard Charlie Sheen, one of his favorite things was to smoke a doobie and watch “Evil Dead 2,” and Alice Cooper’s favorite horror movie is “Evil Dead.”

If it’s good enough for Alice Cooper it’s good enough for me. You host the quiz show “Last Fan Standing.” What do you make of the mainstreaming of nerd-culture?

Every generation has its deal. In the ’40s most moviegoers were in their 40s and so the actors were in their 40s. Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy and all the guys were in their 40s. You didn’t have to be 21. And then as the audience got younger the actors got younger and the people who run the companies get younger and so they’re really just catering to what’s popular.

Comic books have always been popular but now they’re really popular. Not really sure what that’s all about but yeah social media has certainly helped but I think it’s another form of escapism. Whenever times get weird, people want escapism. During The Depression they did the Busby Berkeley splashy musicals where everyone was happy all the time, when life was really miserable. And some decades where we’re really doing okay, the movies turned introspective and we go after ourselves and figure out why we’re like this and like that. And so I think we’re in a phase where we just want to be taken away to another galaxy and Marvel is very happy to help.

And you’ve been a part of that. In Sam’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, which of your cameos did you have the most fun with?

Well I don’t know it’s hard to lineate because they’re so critical. The first one I named Spider-Man. If I wasn’t in the movie a billion dollar franchise would be called The Human Spider. He wants to get in the theater in the second one, past the snooty usher who won’t let him in because he’s late, because it will spoil the illusion, so I think I’m technically the only character who’s ever defeated Spider-Man. And in part three, a superhero comes to a mortal for help. He wants me to help him propose to his girlfriend so it’s sort of a landmark case where a superhero goes to a mortal for help which is pretty rare. So I can’t delineate because they’re all critical to the “Spider-Man” universe.

Do you have any cool mementos from "Evil Dead or elsewhere from your career? Maybe something like the chainsaw from “Evil Dead 2”?

You know, it’s weird I’m not a hoarder, I’m not a collector. My brother, he has the shotgun from “Evil Dead,” but not because he loves movie trivia, he just likes guns. My brother also has I think the set of keys to the original cabin. That’s a pretty good one. Not sure how he got that one.

I have weirder ones. Like I have a prop from a 1989 movie called “Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.” I have Van Helsing’s holy bottle where he shakes the holy water at them. And I have what I call my tchotchke shelf, where most people would look at it and they couldn’t identify what importance each item is, but there’s a story for each one.

Some of your favorite actors outside the horror genre?

Oh, I l love a lot of the old time actors. William Holden, he starred in “Bridge on The River Kwai” one of my favorite movies. I like the guys who had to work a lot. In the old days and actor would finish a job on Friday he was under contract, he took two weeks off and started a new movie a couple weeks later. Actors kind of just do one or two movies a year if they’re lucky these days and it doesn’t help them refine their craft.

I feel like the guys who worked a lot got good because they got really used to the process. I’m a fan of the studio system. Not all movies were good and not every actor was happy under the studio system, but I think a busy actor’s a good actor.

For your role in “Bubba Ho-Tep,” what was your process for tapping into Elvis’s vibe?

What guy doesn’t want to be Elvis, you know? So I worked with an Elvis impersonator for about a half an hour and then he gave up on me. He goes, “Look, man, you’re never going to get it.” I’m like, “Wow either I suck or you suck as a teacher but somebody here sucks.”

No, but I watched a bunch of footage and documentaries. There’s a good one, all his Memphis Mafia who worked with him, a filmmaker basically got them all drunk one night and interviewed them all and that’s where the good stories are. You learn a little more of the human side of him. But that’s pretty much it. I’ve never been a stage performer so mercifully there wasn’t that much of it, just in quick flashbacks.

And there’s a part of me, in the back of my mind, I want to know that Elvis' descendants, somebody, a daughter, niece, somebody has watched that movie and approved. We’ll see.

I thought it was a cool creative take on that whole Elvis thing.

I agree. That’s why I did it. It was one of the weirdest scripts I’ve ever read But yet it wraps up though. It has a weird premise but it has a really interesting theme of what do you do with old people. Do we forget these old people? And are they still useful in society, old people? And I thought it had a sweet ending, that these two old guys they kind of rally themselves one more time.

What’s a well-known role you’ve turned down?

Turned down? I don’t have a lot of those. I don’t operate in that rarified air of saying, “Oh I turned ‘Titanic’ down.” I tried to get a part in a studio movie called “The Phantom” and Billy Zane wound up getting the part." And it was down to me and Billy, I was number two for the job, but I didn’t really enjoy the process very much because it seemed more political than actually acting. It was amazing how many people you had to audition for, and you had to go up the ranks and each time it got a little more tense as you move up. So I’m good doing these weirdo little movies.

I read the budget for “Within the Woods,” the predecessor of “Evil Dead,” was a princely 1,600 bucks. What was the most expensive line item, you think?

Food and probably fake blood. Tom Sullivan, who did the special effects, probably needed to mold a few things, so he probably spent a couple hundred bucks on molds. A lot of it was footage because Sam Raimi likes to shoot footage, so we probably bought a lot of rolls of film. And we did go to a cabin to shoot it, so had to get in the car and travel so maybe a little gas money in there too. That’s about it.

What can you tell us about the status of the next installment of the “Evil Dead” franchise?

We’re honing-in, circling the building now trying to lock in a partner. We have a couple of bidders and we’re trying to just find the correct suitor and we have a script written and a director picked. Sam Raimi hand -picked a guy named Lee Cronin, who’s a very good Irish filmmaker. And it’s got a very good modern tale. It’s a modern-day urban “Evil Dead,” it’s called “Evil Dead Rise.” And we’re hoping to do that next year.

You were a producer on 2013 “Evil Dead” remake. What’s the key to making a reboot effective?

Well rebooting can be very confusing and frustrating and not always successful. Reboot, sequel, remake we have all these crazy terms. What we’re doing now is we’re saying," Look, this is another ‘Evil Dead’ movie and that book gets around, a lot of people run into it and it’s another story." The main key with “Evil Dead” is they’re just regular people who are battling what seems to be a very unstoppable evil, and so that’s where the horror comes from. It’s not someone who’s skilled. They’re not fighting a soldier. They’re not fighting a scientist. They’re not fighting anybody more than your average neighbor. This one is going to be a similar thing. We’re going to have a heroine, a woman in charge, and she’s going to try and save her family.

Speaking of a female protagonist, when you’re at a con or meet fans somewhere, who has the most passionate superfans: “Evil Dead” or “Xena”?

“Xena” hits them at an emotional level. Like, they’ll come up to me and Lucy Lawless (the actor who played the show’s title role) and just burst into tears, because her character helped them get through a difficult time. “Xena” is more representative of overcoming your struggles in life. “Evil Dead” fans are pretty fervent but they don’t cry as much.

[script-a-world]

Pylon Bios (An Update, with New Pylons)

Hello, lovely followers of script-a-world!

Please allow us to introduce ourselves! We haven’t had any sort of about-the-bloggers page available before, and now that we’ve added more to the team, we’re seeking to remedy that!

First of all, we call ourselves Pylons. What the heck is a pylon? Well, outside of this blog, it’s an upright structure for holding up something, usually a cable or conduit. When this blog was started more than a year ago (whoa), the group chose the word Pylon to describe ourselves collectively, as a fun little nickname. Whee!

Without further ado, meet the Pylons (and Mods)! (in alphabetical order)

Brainstormed: Hey there, call me Brainstormed, and you can find me at @thunderin-brainstorm. Any pronouns will do. I'm a student, illustrator, and world traveler. My home is in America, but I'm rarely there for more than a month at a time, so feel free to ask where in the world I happen to be! Worldbuilding has been my hobby for quite a long time and I'd love to give you some tips and tricks that I've learned, or take your idea and turn it on its head to perhaps show you a new perspective. The many projects I've developed have been lifesavers for me, as they allowed me to harness my Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder and use it as a positive tool for creativity. Aside from drawing and daydreaming, I spend a lot of time biking, hunting for cool rocks and bones, binge reading any scholarly article that catches my eye, and memorising completely useless random facts that I spout at any given moment in lieu of remembering actual important information.

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Constablewrites: My name is Brittany, and I'm a California girl living in the Midwest. I use she/her pronouns. I've always loved stories with rich and detailed worlds, whether in movies, books, games, or something else entirely. I'm the kind of writer who will spend hours researching to confirm a minor detail. Naturally, I not only write SFF, but my recent projects have all required worldbuilding on more than one axis (like multiple types of magic, or time travel on top of historical) because i am apparently something of a masochist. I'm a walking TV Tropes index and a whiz at digging up random useful knowledge, both of which come in handy as a Pylon. Other random facts: I'm a trained actress and singer, I used to work at Disneyland on the Jungle Cruise (among other attractions), and a laptop held together with duct tape is responsible for my day job in tech support. I blog about writing as @constablewrites and about random things that amuse me as @operahousebookworm.

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Delta: Hi! I’m Delta and I can be found @dreaming-in-circles or @thedeclineofapollo (writeblr), and I love sci-fi. Like, a lot lol. I work in NEPA compliance for a civil engineering firm in the USA, and have a lot of experience with infrastructure, bureaucracies, biology, and space (for unrelated reasons). I spend a lot of time haunting the astrophysics wikipedia pages, and my current all-consuming project is a novel that is angling to be about 150,000 words (at current projections). Can’t wait to hear your questions!

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Ebonwing: Hi, I’m Ebonwing. I’m currently studying IT in university. I’m a writer and worldbuilder, and sometimes a worldbuilding writer or a writing worldbuilder. I gravitate towards fantasy, though I’m not going to say no to the occasional stint in scifi, and as I’m also a giant language nerd, I enjoy making conlangs for my creations. Other than that, I’m also an artist and indulge in any number of other crafting hobbies, and if I’m not doing any of those things, I can probably be found playing video games.

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Feral: Hi! I'm Feral, and you can find me @theferalcollection (if you enjoy feminism, socialism, or over-analyzed fiction) or on my writing blog theferalcollection.wordpress.com. I'm a Southern girl who likes fancy dresses, mint juleps, big hats, and using being-underestimated to my advantage. I work in the interior design industry and am currently in school for industrial design. I have previously earned degrees in comparative literature and theatre & drama. I'm a big nerd who really likes school. I've been world-building since before I knew it was a thing and writing almost as long. I’ve written mostly fantasy but the past couple projects have been science fiction. I'm ridiculously in love with the idea of being an astrophysicist but don't feel like learning calculus, so I just read about science a lot. My hobbies include martial arts, drinking too much coffee, and tabletop games.

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Lockea: Hello! I’m Lockea. You can find me all over the internet as @lockea or LockeaStone. I’m a leaf on the wind who currently enjoys the SoCal sunshine in Los Angeles where I work as an engineer and data scientist. I love street fashion (especially Lolita) and making jewelry. I have two kitties, Theodore and Cecelia, and I volunteer at the local animal shelter as a cat handler and adoption counselor. I know way too much about cat behavior, honestly, and will yap your ear off if you let me.

Worldbuilding wise, I have a deep affection for science fiction and I’ve consulted professional science fiction writers on developing technology and worlds through the explanation of science and engineering. My engineering specialization is extra-terrestrial  robotics, so if it has to do with space, planetary science, or robotics -- I got you. I’m also a fan of politics and really like developing political and socio-economic systems in fantasy and sci-fi worlds.

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Miri: Miri here, with my main tumblr @asylos and my writing tumblr @mirintala. I am a Canadian Pharmacy Technician by day and a small time ePublisher and gamer of many types by night. Mostly wandering around the Internet helping to organize events in the FFVII tumblr fandom (modding at @ff7central and @ffviifandomcalendar), and stumbling around within the Borderlands of Pandora. I use she/her pronouns.

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Symphony: Hey, I’m Symphony! Use whatever pronouns you feel like, any work. I’m currently living in Michigan with my fiance, and in-between jobs but I want to go to nursing school ASAP.  My favorite genres in fiction are horror, sci-fi, and really anything that holds my interest. In my own worldbuilding I've always felt myself most interested in developing societies on the macro level (politics, diet, customs, stuff like that), and the more esoteric, strange parts of my world. I like to make a place feel lived in, with secrets that may never be found and people who seek them out.

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Synth: I’m @chameleonsynthesis on Tumblr, but that’s a mouthful, so just call me Synth. Any pronouns work. Born and raised in Canada, but living in Norway as of autumn 2007. Looking back, I’ve been worldbuilding since at least the age of four (in my early thirties now, so yeah), with a predominantly science-fantasy bent. I’m of the artsy creative type, with way too many projects on the go at any given time, and enjoy long walks through Wikipedia and getting caught in TV Tropes. The best thing is when I stumble across some strange factoid that can justify aspects of my many weird alien species. Stupid Synth facts: I have dual Canadian and Norwegian citizenship. My legal name contains a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet. I can curl my tongue into a cloverleaf shape, and wiggle my ears. My day job is musical instrument repair. I play French horn in a concert band, trombone in a jazz band, and don’t practice my flute or piccolo near as much as I should. Outside of band rehearsals and my job, I volunteer at the local cat shelter, work out at a gym, and attend events at my city’s newly established makerspace.

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Tex: I'm Tex, and you can find me on tumblr @texasdreamer01. Most of my hobbies are centered around fandom and worldbuilding for it, though I also like cooking and reading up on fiction and non-fiction whenever I have the time. I'm currently studying biochemical engineering, with a slant in nanotechnology and its medical applications, so I need to know a bunch about the different types of sciences, as well as projecting for the development of future fields.

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Utuabzu: Hi, I’m Utuabzu, I previously was part of ScriptMyth (RIP) where I tended to take the lead on Mesopotamia and Egypt related asks. I’m most of the way through a Bachelor of Linguistics, e parlo italiano und ein bisschen Deutsch. I have a deep and enduring interest in the history of the ancient world, particularly the ancient Near East, and I’m also a bit of a nerd for politics, which is helpful when it comes to worldbuilding. My random 2am research binges have resulted in my knowing a lot of odd things. I enjoy travelling and experiencing other cultures, however as I am Australian this unfortunately requires flying, which I hate a great deal. I expect to one day be crushed beneath a pile of my books. It is a demise I am ok with.

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Wootzel: Hi, I’m Wootzel, or @wootzel-dragon! I use she/her pronouns. I’m a recent college grad trying to figure life out. My favorite thing about worldbuilding is making things as realistic or pseudo-realistic as possible, and finding a justification for everything. Sometimes, this is also my least favorite thing about myself, because it can make things very hard! But, it can also be really rewarding when I get things to work out in a way that I enjoy.

My other hobbies include reading lots of fanfic while neglecting physical books, starting ambitious sewing projects on a whim, and wondering where all my time goes on a daily basis. I have changed major a few times, and I am still unsure about what I want to do with my life, except that it’ll always have writing in it somewhere.

[thefloresgarden]

Sad tales of a 20 something. -FRIENDS AND WEIRD WAYS TO FIND THEM-

Hello! Back again from a long ass time of taking a break from this site and my 2 followers who don’t even reblog my writings.

Anyway, the reason i’m back is because i actually show this blog to one of my bestestssss friends in the world and encourage me to keep going and well here i am.

So i was thinking, maybe since a friend of mine made me come back, I should write about that. So this is it, an Ode to my friends.

I have always been sort of a friendly character, at least in my mind i am. Even when i was a kid and used to cry a lot and be a bit on the side shy, I always had a lot of friends. I even dare to say I was one of the first girls in my fifth grade class yo have actual good guy friends, not only the “popular” kids that chased girls to see under their skirts. Actual good and close friends that I’m still friends with.

So, I went to the same school from elementary until high school, meaning that i had been with the same people for around 12 years, and damn i was tired of it, not from my friends, not from a lot of people to be honest, but maybe more with myself and my lack of abilities to make new friends.

That leads me to my new found weird way to make friends. It started in college when i started as a music engineer major before switching to media and film. Engineering not always equals to men, in this case i guess it did. Some may say having all guy friends is easier no drama and shit, and is true for some part, I’m still grateful of all the guys of my Music engineering program that adopted me and ate lunch with me every day, not to the rest of engineering students that are “nice guys” by mansplaining anything on the math class board before the teacher (female) started explaining, though not gonna lie i didn’t understand shit, i still didn’t want some greasy hair guy with a weird stain on his shirt,that i pray it was toothpaste, to explain me shit. I can fail this class on my own thank you very much.

My first girl friend in college was a girl on the bus that i knew my cousins was a friend with but never formally met her before and i chatted her ear off in the way home, i was so excited i forgot i could be a chatty bitch when i feel happy. When they left the bus (her and her roommate who is lovely too) I started to replay everything we talked about and was already very much regretting living because i was so cringey. I guess i wasn’t that bad, I got a Facebook friend request and became pretty close after that.

First friend I made in my new major program (who i made before switching because of mutual clases) was a girl that i always saw in my favorite class, “Signs, symbols and significances” she was funny, very friendly and clearly friends with at least three quarters of the class. I decided that was my next mission, i left my guy friends side after an exam in our common class and went literally running towards her and another girl (amazing person too) I asked them in the most awkward way how the exam was for them and even if they thought i was weird they didn’t show it and were so nice with me.

I made a mistake though, I told the girl i had a mission on (to be close to) she seemed familiar outside class and she said i did too but we couldn’t remember where from. Until I realized she was the girl that i met in my first day of school in math class and sat next to her. That, until i didn’t hear my name while checking the list and was told that wasn’t the math class, everyone laughed i stand up and trip and yell “puta madre” so hard everyone laughed again. I then found out that story was so funny to her she actually used it as an ice breaker when meeting new people and started introducing me as the “puta madre” to everyone. At least she got me a lot of new friends, and besides having passed more than 5 years, she still reminds me of it and she still is one of my closest friends.

Another story, I was an exchange student and knew nothing about the culture (only basics, didn’t want to be rude), the language or anyone in this new country. I was so lost I literally was trying hookup apps to meet friends (never works tho, at least on me). It was my second day in Seoul and saw there was a kpop concert of one of the three groups I actually knew and my baby brother was a fan of, i checked and there were some tickets left, bought them, put on a pretty dress and left. Going to a concert alone is not that bad, going to a concert alone in a country you have been for 5 minutes and also understand shit, that is a fucking nightmare.

I met some friendly girls from USA that helped me out to figure the shit out in the venue, they told me they were living in Korea for like 5 years and still couldn’t even read, which i thought wow kinda disrespectful but anyway i wasn’t going to let go of anyone friendly anytime soon. Met some other girls that came to the country only for the concert which wow commitment. And then I was left alone again when taking the seats (standing spots to be exact). The concert was cool even if I didn’t understand shit and I’m 87% sure I even caught eyes with some of the guys in the group a few times. The concert ended and I wish I could say I captivated one of the kpop guys and that is my next friend meeting story but, nope is not and honestly i wouldn’t change it for any of the hot men that were on stage.

Fast forward the first day of school, i was lost and ask a girl for a classroom, she was very nice and told me where it was but that the class was in like 30 more minutes. We made small talk and i sat on a bench in the opposite way of her. The girl next to her was saying she had this next class that sounded kinda familiar, and I realized it was my same class so I told her to go together. Once inside the classroom I saw her phone and she had a familiar face as her screensaver, it clicked, it was one of the guys of the concert! I asked her and she said it was him and that she went to the concert too and we decided to had lunch together. From that day on we became pretty much inseparables, until she got the sleaziest guy in the world as a boyfriend but we don’t talk about shit in my safe space so that is a story for another day. Besides that terrible guy and his best friend who dated me only to dumped me weeks later to play LOL 24/7, I got my baby, my mijita who i love so very much and again, wouldn’t change a bit.

Lastly in this post, not in life nor in place of my heart, is a little blessing (literally) that came to me from heaven! She didn’t even know this, but a semester before she was having her abroad year in my country I was in one my deepest holes in my life. My mind was empty but my eyes always filled with sad tears. That semester before, nothing major changed in routine, in my family, in my life as in general. But somehow it did in my brain, my heart was feeling agitated for no reason, my palms were sweaty and shaking all the time and my brain was as it was shut down. I got the big D, and not as in a big nice dick getting me fucked, but another type of fucked nonetheless. Depression, the kind of weird illness that can’t be seen but oh dude it can be felt, and felt is all i did, i felt sadness, loneliness even with a full house and a full line of friends ready to help me. Sometimes shit just happens.

Took a semester off and when I came back I decided to faked it until i made it, and it was going great. I did cry back at home a few times a week but i could hold it during classes or in front of people, great advance. I decided to focus in what made feel best, dressing in my favorite shit and letting everyone out of my arts and humanities department have a nice view of it. And then I see her, weird to say i still remember how cool she looked, tall as fuck, wearing all black, shaved head and what i got to find out were her trusty black vans. I got obsessed with her fashion style and decided my next mission, be friends with her, or at least for her to acknowledge my presence. I saw her talking to a close friend (another great meet cute story for another day) so i decided it was my moment, I said hi and was introduced to her, we chatted a few minutes and got along pretty well. Her amazing style and bad ass british accent made me feel i was in bad rom-com where we were both straight and platonically soulmates. I saw her again outside the bathroom while i was waiting some friends, we talked for an hour, she invited me to a party and we had dinner first (so romantic, I know) at dinner I thought it was going to be awkward until we both realized our mutual love for SZA and Idris Elba. We never stopped talking after that, she even went back to my hometown for 2 weeks with me, where all my family loved her and strangers treated her like a celebrity. She calls my parents tíos and we talk as much as we can now that she is back at her country.

I miss her everyday and there is not a minute I am not grateful i met her.

These are some of the stories of how I met some of my friends, my closest ones and those that are still with me in every step I take. I can tell you one million more ways of how i met friends i love so dearly, but that is for some other day my hands aren’t hurting for writing only with my thumbs in my phone.

And what I care and love most about all these, is that I would never want to change being the weird girl that catches a hunch and runs towards people that will mean the world for.

FRIENDS I LOVE YOU ALL. 

[th3okamid3mon]

Gisaengchung (Parasites) [SPOILERS]

A lovely tale on why you shouldn´t trust people!

Sinopsis: 

A family barely subsists in a basement they call home. Unemployed and at the border of misery, a job opportunity is presented to the older son Gi Woo, which consists on giving english classes to the daughter of a high class family. Step by step he gains the trust of the owner and begins to introduce his own family as workers in hopes of getting more money from them. 

Writing and characters (+some acting):

I am not very familiar of Korean movies, I´ve heard about some good movies but never actually watch any from the country. Now, I´ve heard about Bong Joon-Ho since I watch one of his previews works called Snowpiercer and even though that kind of movie is not exactly my favorite I have to admit it was really well written and the visuals were really creepy but pretty in some twisted way. 

Gisaenchung´s story is really well thought, all the details fit together like a puzzle of 500 pieces or more. It had to be meticulously written so to make some sort of sense and even then some things dont make so much sense, but Joon-Ho has a cover: this movies is a drama, suspense and dark humor movie. When you have a super dramatic rich family with their over the top reactions and mannerisms in an only drama movie it would be seen as a joke if they were trying to look serious or be taken seriously, in this case works perfectly since they are used as comic relief, specifically the rich mom being the most gullible and most dramatic of all. Their purpose is accomplish perfectly and the sheer dumb and naive nature of the mother works in favor of our bunch of vermin. 

It is a very understandable and digestible plot: you have a poor family of scammers, they get an opportunity to scam a family, they proceed to scam the rich family by pretending to be strangers to each other and working as a house keeper, a driver and 2 teachers, and then they get discovered. At the simplicity it doesnt sound that entertaining I suppose, everything in between is simple yet complex and then it goes into fucked up territory almost from 10 to 110 really quick. 

This family are assholes! Like... Complete assholes, the name of the movie is after them! They take advantage of a character that is super anxious about her children and is super naive and is really lonely because of his husband leaving for work a lot and completely destroy 2 lives in the process too! They get the husband´s driver fired by framing him as a sex addict with a kink and the housekeeper is fired by making her look like a tuberculosis patient. This people are awful! They are manipulative, dangerous, assholes! And yet... you kind of root for them? That´s how good the writing is. You know they are awful, you know they are manipulative. Hell, at the beginning they use manipulation to probably get someone fire and get money from a small pizza company they work for as box benders. AND THEY FUCKED UP AT LEAST A QUARTER OF THOSE BOXES! They are not good! 

...But who can blame them for being like that? They are living in a really bad situation, they are stealing wifi from a neighbor so they can check a WhatsApp to see if the pizza place send them a message. They were talented at sports, the daughter knows how to work with programs like photoshop and probably other types, the son is really smart reason why he was given the job as an english teacher and to be honest he is kind of good at it. They are not lazy people. The situation is not good for them and they can´t exactly get a good job due to not having a degree. It´s actually kind of sad to see their potential being wasted due to their economic situation. Of course anyone would survive in however manner they can, even if that makes them a bad person in the process. 

You have a rich family that supports and loves their children, shown as getting both of them private ¨teachers¨ (not enough love I guess, due to not fucking checking this people up in the first place and only trusting the recommendations of a college student). They aren´t bad people, they treat their workers fairly and they respect them and when there´s reason to fire someone they try to do so respectfully as not to damage their reputation or shame them (so much). You should feel sorry for them because they are so nice and are being scammed but you can´t shake the feeling that they kind of deserve it for being so naive. Well, at least not the children, those kids have 0 control over who their parents choose. THE PARENTS ARE SO DAMN DUMB! The mother specially! So anxious about your children learning and exploiting their talents but not so anxious to get the first whoever that crosses your ears? You feel bad, for them and maybe you dont get angry, they antics are not anger inducing, they are hilarious because, as i explain before, they over react A LOT. I don´t know if that was a directors decision or if the actors did what they pleased, they fit too well in the scene to not be planned.

One thing that stood out to me were the dialogues, they made sense but they became a bit descriptive in certain points.There were really good silent scenes, there was a good balance between dialogues and silence, though I don´t know why I felt certain dialogues were too much? Maybe it was with their reactions as well, Korean and older Mexican movies have a thing in common and that´s a level of exaggeration. Sometimes it´s good, sometimes it gets the spotlight and not in a good sense. With the rich family there was no problem, it was with certain characters like the daughter of the scam family that overreact in one scene. Since they were drunk it kind of made sense but it there wasn´t exactly a follow up of his outburst. it passed relatively quick so it wasn´t much of a problem. 

Sound and music: 

The dialogues were well said, there was no difference in volumes and it had no noise. The silent parts had a good sound, whether it was background noises or music, it never felt out of place. The sounds were actually relaxing at some point, specially with the rain or water flowing. It had a good crispiness on them, they sounded natural and not manufacture with materials. The music wasn´t over used or overbearing, it was mostly in the background. It wasn´t almost present in certain scenes, you could hear it but it was very low. It didn´t had weird spikes and it was kind of nice. Not exactly the most memorable. 

Photography and art: 

First... Some examples:

I mean... WOW. The different lights, the shadows, the colors, the difference in lighting from each set. EVERYTHING IS GORGEOUS. Easily identifiable, with that I mean if you see this screenshots you would probably recognize them immediately. I don´t know how original the setting is from other movies but MAN is it gorgeous. The shots are most of the time open, details are hidden in the background (even when they can be a bit blurry, sometimes there something behind), the lighting is the first thing you´ll notice. There´s so much contrast between the highlights and shadows, even though most of them are not really strong. 

The colors schemes for each place are not entirely different, I think the reason is they wanted to portray that both families have certain similarities, mostly the only difference being the living situation. It´s really interesting how you can find warm colors in both families, they all love each other, both families support each other and their interests. The parents praise their children (even though the scam family probably shouldn´t praise illegality but, meh...at that point it can be consider too late)  

The art department went OFF with this one. You can feel the filthiness and close space they live in, their living situation is bad but they manage. The other family is clean and clear and it has to be perfect that way. I think there were 2 parts where they work even harder. 

(This is a kind of Spoiler for the end) When they use blood, it tends to look fake in some movies, in here it looks really, really red and dark. The makeup for the strangled neck also was a nice touch and look really good. 

The other part I think was really well accomplish and that also might have taken FOR EVER TO MAKE IT WORK, was the flood, because it not only involved flooding and ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD, it involved a toilet spewing black water out as if it was puking. How did they manage to do all that? HOW MUCH WAS THE BUDGET? Geez, How many TAKES TOOK TO ACCOMPLISH THAT?! It look hella gross and the way it was spewing water was very realistic. 

There´s an entire sequence where three members of the family gets out of the rich house and walks towards their home and each step they take they descend even more, but that´s not all, it is raining and water is flowing and pouring, it looks fantastic and the neighborhood gets flooded and there´s stuff out getting fucked over. The makeup and the art design were crazy here, I wish and hope and pray they got paid well because MY GOD this was hard work at its finest. 

Conclusion: 

I need to watch more of this foreign movies and so do you! If you haven´t seen any movie out of Hollywood, you should do so. Maybe this one is a bit too much though. It goes well but there are certain parts that are a bit slow and then it goes fast and then slow again, it can be a rollercoaster and I´d be lying if i wasn´t expecting the movie to finally end. It is entertaining and it isn´t that long (2:12 hours), it doesn´t have any popular references. This movie was thought to be seen by an international audience. If you as an USA Citizen (´cause I´m not calling you Americans, America isn´t a country and USA is not the center of it) feel uncomfortable to be shown or for your culture be mock, well TOO BAD GET USED TO IT! Nah, I´m kidding. The kid in the movie has an obsession with indians and the family acts like USA is like high standard but in a mocking kind of way? My brother actually thought it was a Get Out situation so... 

This movie has a perfect blend of suspense and humor, the drama is palpable, it is there, the suspense and dark humor are the spotlight though. The actors are really good and the dialogues are not complicated to follow. It is pretty funny, heartwhrenching at points (specially the end) and entertaining movie, if you want to start watching foreign films you could start with this one. 

The worst part of the story is that both sides are right to react the way they did, and it´s kind of sad. 

This is what I took from it:  Poor or rich, it doesn´t matter. People are humans and they all have needs. And those needs will be satisfied one way or another. When you have a family, You will do whatever it takes to make them happy and sometimes drastic measures will be used. 

Go watch it, you won´t regret it. 

-Sincerely creeped out, T.O.D 

[ireddeadredemption2pc-blog]

Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Red Dead Redemption2 PC

The old west feels brand new again.

Oh Jesus Christ, what have you done? “Thomaschen 978 wants to know why a dozen carcasses and a couple of horse corpses are placed on rail tracks bordering the early industrial city and are the New Orleans stand-in St. Denis.” You killed half. village.” PC Games For Free

We are on round two of the recurring corpse pile. My poses got the idea to jump in front of the train after a few rounds of Lose Your Friends and Toss Them in the Sea in the Couple Friendly Strangers. Like GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 has its own bowling minima, we explain to Chen in a roundabout way that provokes his fear. Die in the shared open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 and you’ll react fast enough to move your corpse around. Best RPGs games pc

The boy is in line with us. We should make it bigger. As the train comes around again, another pose tries to take us out. The chain defends us but does not bring it back to the tracks. He goes away screaming. Death of a true warrior.

Red Dead Redemption 2 could be the biggest, most humble videogame ball pit for an annoying story about impulsive children, the forced disintegration of the community, or simply a quiet and reflective hiking simulator. It’s just about what you need it to be, and it’s good at it.

Just hours before the corpse-bowling, I was alone through the icy forests, stepping into the long shadow cast across the snow by the rising moon. I heard a gunshot from a distance. The tracks of some wolves marked snow in the same direction. I saw them who won. Anytime I pay attention and look closely, RDR2 is the result of my curiosity. Best Racing games on pc

The mind-numbing expanse that makes up the vast world of RDR2 speaks to the creative force of a development team with an intense, obsessive dedication to realism (and all the money and time needed to do so). Like how my friends’ characters flare up when I fire a gun at them, how animal carcasses disintegrate over time, how NPCs react according to a sloppy or bloody outfit, how to stir through a doorway. Scares everyone everywhere.

It is hard to believe that RDR2 is so deep and wide and is also a harmonious, playable thing. I was already playing it for days worth the console version. This is why I am particularly disappointed that it ended up on the PC to some extent.

For every non-taught multiplayer adventure, disconnect or crash on the desktop, desktop. The rock star’s best storyline and character so far has been filmed through Frame Hutches’ slideshow and addressed over the launch weekend.

RDR2, one of the best Western games and one of the best open-world games I have ever released with enough stability issues, is recommended for the hard way until everything is completely smooth.

Morgan trail

EVERY PRETTY VISTA IS SOMETHING TO LOSE THROUGH ARTHUR’S EYES.

The story genre of Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the dying days of the Wild West. The sprawling industrial world faced the bandits and social downtrodden of Arthur Morgan’s small band, an imperfect but loyal, loving and self-reliant community.

Capitalism is reducing its value as resources to humans. Indigenous USA America is driven from the plains to make way for ‘civilization’ and commerce. The forests are brought down for timber, the hills are cut down for coal, and Morgan’s chosen family is caught in the middle, forced to flee, assimilate, or respond with violent protests is done. They do all three.

This is Rockstar’s most serious drama, and it’s really, really long. If you are running, the story ends after 40 to 50 hours and then continues for 10 to 15. The main story missions of Red Dead 2 feature distinctly rockstar fare: ride to a destination that is talking to everyone, tightly scripting though, entertaining things, riding, and chatting to the final destination.

Missions are often thrilling action sequences or artificially mundane pictures of wrench labor and trade, full of long-winded Bespoke animations, and outstanding performances. They are only hopelessly harsh, to the point where it feels like I am following the stage directions rather than playing the role of a vagabond in the Old West.

Step out of line in these campaigns and this is a failed situation. As opposed to Red Dead Online, there are very few of them that encourage players to think for themselves, each designed to advance the story. The RDR2 show is at least a spectacle of the slow pace of life in the Old West.

This is not the death and theatricality of a lifetime; My favorite missions include shoveling, drinking wine with a friend, proposing an old romance and riding a hot air balloon. Working through a greater rut, stricter tasks are considered meaningful in the end anyway, inspired by extraordinary, ambient world-building and characterization.

Side missions, minigames, small activities, and random world events — whether they hunt great guns, capture a play, or stumble upon a woman trapped under a horse — all set Arthur’s character and setting in subtle, rich ways. Please inform.

Nested in the third act of a fully animated and voice theatrical performance, something like 10 minutes, it is possible that the response button is pressed after an artist has included a telephone. Arthur would shout, “Hell with the telephone!” It is an optional activity, a long one, and an option is to react in that short window. I think most players will remember this, but this is Canad Response 1 through 3 because this is something Arthur would say, a rageless goofy set his way in the right way.

He would write complete, real diary entries about the 50-hour campaign, sketching memorable scenes and depicting the state of affairs of his chosen family, which people once knew changed their fortunes between hope and despair. It is meant to be a completely alternative reading, but a refreshingly intimate take on a masculine figure that unsettles many doubts and hopes as to the next person.

He sings himself on a lonely ride and lowers his old body in the mirror. He will have an exciting conversation with the horseshoe woman as he gives her a ride into town, both commenting on the troubles of working for wealthy, ungrateful men as a growing necessity. I feel it all. Best horror games on pc free

Hillbillies can capture him after making the camp, a couple may try to rob him after inviting him to dinner, a man with snakebite can come out of the forest by stumbling and tell him to suck venom is. These haphazard encounters portray brutal life on the fading frontier, as nature pushes back against inner poppers who want to change it. Arthur is the perfect vessel to see it

This is because Arthur Morgan is one of the darkest human characters I have played during a great turning point in American history, playing a playful, cruel and compassionate role according to differing theories.

The game world, beautiful as it is, is made more beautiful and tragic by how it is ready to play it on every occasion. Every beautiful vista has something to lose through Arthur’s eyes, power lines and train tracks, cut through the skies, and the rest of his life is slowly filling with factory smoke. Just about everyone sees a sad end in RDR2, too. This is a story that I might not sustain every moment, but I will not forget its brutal arc or the man in the middle of it all. God damn is it sad? An apocalypse that led to this.

Ren Der Reflection

Assuming that you are able to run it at high settings, the biggest strength of RDR2 is how it exquisitely renders the Old West setting on PC, drawing more attention to the nuanced details that make it. This is one of the best looking games I’ve seen and a rare experience that justifies a new GPU or CPU.

Better draw distance and a greater range of vegetation detail were added, making some vistas look photographic. Long shadows vary from walking or roaming between places to rides, to cute nature tours. Due to animal attacks, bullet holes, rain, mud, or rapid flow of blood, the markings on the clothes are caused by very high-resolution textures, which tell a very little story about your friends.

A new photo mode makes it easy to share those moments of amazement. The way the player rides on RDR2 for just sightseeing and sounds is an important feature. I am desperately trying to get an artistic portrait of my horse’s silhouette to sit against the moon, yet another self-proclaimed goal was tolerated by this ridiculously large complex game.

With 2080, i9-9900K and 32GB of RAM, I can run RDR2 mostly on ultra settings with some resource-intensive settings completely off or switched off. But some hardware combinations are proving troublesome for RDR2, leading to random crashes in some APIs and, more recently, to a hotfix, leading to hitching problems for some 4-core CPUs.

During the first weekend, I couldn’t spend more than an hour without crashing on the desktop, though Vulcan switched from DX12 (which gives me better framerates) back to static stuff. Sometimes the UI malfunctions and I cannot select a select or purchase option, the map fails to appear, or I get paged unexpectedly from game servers.

The graphics settings are almost too much as well, and probably confusing. In our test, only a handful of settings affected performance by more than 1-2 percent. Large residuals, the mapping between MSAA, volumetric lighting, and parallax occlusion, affect performance by 5 to 25 percent. Most of them don’t make a big visual difference anyway and are best left out.

The way the settings are presented is made to feel underdeveloped: a huge list with unclear presets that require tinkering to make RDR2 run in a satisfactory framerate. It is hard. The PC should be the best place to play, not the best place to play, after all, after a few patches. It’s a shame for a game to look good. upcoming pc games

Cowboy poetry Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Like in singleplayer mode, in Red Dead Online I can make my goals reasonable and watch them. The problem is, it is basically hamstrung by a frustrating multiplayer leveling system that locks basic equipment and cosmetics behind long XP requirements that can meet hours, perhaps days,

The option is spending gold, premium currency, items and clothing to unlock them immediately. A fishing pole is not available until level 14. A damn fishing pole in an outdoor recreation game. This is not spectacular and is a terrible way to invest players.

out a basic suite of tools (fishing rod, bow, varmint rifle, nice hat, etc.), Red Dead Online opened up widely. I have largely ignored traditional matchmaking modes such as gunfights and horse races, cheap thrills, I will play much better versions in different games, to have fun. It led to the most inventive, serene, real, and sometimes buzzing echo I’ve ever had.

I once walked into the middle of a fire in Blackwater and took the player corpses one by one to the church cemetery. Some were captured and participated in the ‘burial’ of their friends. A corpse thanked me for the gesture. Later, in an extended streak of criminal activity, my pose and I caught another player and instead of killing them on the spot, we rode into the swamp and threw them into the garter infected waters. I got the idea to act like a friend. Best pc games 2017

On a less absurd note, I set myself a constant goal of earning strictly enough money from hunting to buy cool-weather gear and a fine rifle. I am going to hike in the mountains and find the best way to hide there, a wild mountain man adorned with animal skins, which almost touches the floor.

In the meantime, I’m stopping gunmen across the city by running through the streets and calling for a parley. I am participating in an eight-player ballroom. I am living the life of a normal cowboy in the best shepherd game. I hope it clears up soon.

RDR2 PC System Requirements

OS : Windows 7 SP1 64bit

Graphics   Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280

Processor:   Intel Core i5-2500K / AMD FX-6300

Memory:    8 GB RAM

DirectX:   Version 11 Or 12 Support

Storage: 150 GB

[ihaveimpeccabletaste]

Happy b-b-b-b-b-b-b (go Bayside!) birthday Mark-Paul Gosselaar! The actor perhaps immortalized as scheming high school student Zack Morris turned 45 Friday. Though maybe take a "time out" before reminding him of that. When this reporter said in light of the milestone USA TODAY wanted to talk about all his years in the biz, he deadpanned, "You're making me feel great about my age.”

Gosselaar says his time in front of the camera began when he was just 4 years old. A friend of his mother's, who was a model, encouraged her to have photos taken of him and get an agent. Gosselaar says local print work led to commercials, which led to appearances in the '80s on series like "The Twilight Zone," "Punky Brewster" and "Charles in Charge." Gosselaar then booked the role of Zack Morris on the series "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" with Hayley Mills, which lasted just one season before it was re-imagined as "Saved by the Bell."

Still, it wasn't until "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" (1993-1994) provided "prime time money" that Gosselaar really thought of acting as his job.

"I saw how much money I was getting paid to do something that I really loved and made the decision that... I could categorize (my occupation) as being an actor."

Gosselaar didn't even take "Saved by the Bell" seriously, predicting each season the show would be cancelled. It premiered in 1989 and lasted for four seasons, plus a single season for the college spinoff.

"Every season it was like, ‘OK, we had our run and we’ll see each other at some point,' " he said. "And then we were always surprised to come back."

Gosselaar says he doesn't think the show "had that big of a coolness factor" while filming.

The "cool show" Gosselaar says was another about California teens: (the soon-to-be rebooted) "Beverly Hills, 90210."

"That was high school," he said. "They were really doing some edgy things for young adults."

Edgy wouldn't necessarily be the way to describe the caffeine pill addiction Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) had, which makes Gosselaar laugh when it's brought up.

"If I were to be in that position now, I would seriously look at the producers and writers and go, 'Really, caffeine pills? That’s what were hooked on?'" he admitted. "But at the time, we were just having fun with each other; we were having fun being actors."

Perhaps a little too much fun behind the scenes. Gosselaar made headlines in January when he revealed he and Berkley – dated. To USA TODAY, Gosselaar described the behind-the-scenes romances as very intertwined.

"It was very incestuous," There was so much fraternizing Gosselaar says they were spoken to by the series' executive producer.

"Peter Engel at one point had to sit us all down and say, 'Hey we have a show to do, you guys need to calm down,' because at some point one person wasn’t talking to the other one. One person was friends with the other person who wasn’t talking so they weren’t talking to you. It was high school in a very sort of small, micro bubble."

"We were in very close quarters for nine months out of the year," he explained, "and there’s a little bleed-over from your characters – I mean you see it on films all the time, you see it on TV shows all the time with adults. Inevitably kids are gonna do something."

After Zack Morris, Gosselaar continued to work steadily. From 2001-2005 he portrayed his favorite character, Detective John Clark, Jr. on "NYPD Blue" and also found success with the series "Franklin & Bash" (2011-2014). While he wishes he could've played Mike Lawson longer on Fox's "Pitch" (2016), he now stars on "The Passage" from the same network. The sci-fi drama, which USA TODAY gave ★★★ out of four, is based on Justin Cronin's trilogy: "The Passage," "The Twelve" and "The City of Mirrors."

Saniyya Sidney and Mark-Paul Gosselaar in "The Passage." (Photo: Eliza Morse/Fox)

Gosselaar said he enjoys playing the role of government agent Brad Wolgast, who meets Amy Bellafonte (Saniyya Sidney) and refuses to give her up to the government for testing to ward off a global pandemic.

"It’s a challenging role for me. It’s physical," Gosselaar said. "It’s got pretty much all the elements that I’m always looking for and a role that will sustain your interest for hopefully the run of a few years."

Gosselaar described the first part of the two-hour finale airing March 11 as "unbelievably ambitious."

"What we are able to accomplish in the eight days that we had to film that episode arguably could’ve taken a month on a film," he said. He adds the second half of the finale is "a bit of a departure from what we’ve shown you through the rest of the season."

From "Preppy" to "The Passage." Gosselaar's current show airs Monday (9 EST/PST).

[sharperthewriter]

Chapter 14 of SFV

Chapter 14: Day 1: The Bumblebees Incident

(4:45pm)

The van finally reached the exit to North Platte, NE, but not without suffering more damage. The right side of the van had a couple more dents and scrapes, the hubcap on the right rear wheel was gone, the rear windshield was cracked in the rear, half of the front grille was gone, and the front bumper coming loose and flapping. The car was also covered in syrup, dirt, and prairie grass. This was in addition to the damage of the driver side mirror and the scraping of the left side of the vehicle against the SUV at the Bueno Nacho from earlier. The trailer also had dents on the top and both sides as well.

The clouds, in the meantime, were starting to gather.

"And here we are, Stoppables, North Platte, Nebraska!" Ron exclaimed. "Remind me never to say that phrase 'And nothing will go wrong' ever again!"

Rufus groaned over his owner's poor driving and trashing of the car. Though...the worst was yet to come.

Kim observed the place and said, "Looks like a smaller version of Middleton."

"So now that it's close to five pm, what do you want to do?" Ron asked.

"We'll check into the hotel first and get two rooms. A suite for us and the kids and a room for Mary and Canna" Kim insisted, . "And then we'll get ready to eat at the Bumblebees here."

"I'm right with ya on that strategy, KS!" Ron replied before turning to Rufus. "Now Rufus, watch the kids while Kim and I check in the hotel."

Rufus saluted while his owners went into the hotel lobby.

"We're here for our room." Ron said.

The hotel clerk said to them. "It's room 296, on the other end of the property. As for your other room it's going to be room 294 right next door"

Kim grabbed the hotel key and said, "Thanks! It's so not the drama!"

They parked the van right at the end of the property. Mary and Canna got out of the camper. They also got their suitcases out and, like Kim, they were filled with long denim overalls.

(6:45pm)

The room was actually a suite in which there was a pull-out couch and the kitchenette in one room and the bedroom in the other. The kids were going to occupy the couch while the Stoppable parents had the bedroom. Mary and Canna had a normal hotel room with two twin beds.

Ron and Kim chose the suite for more extra...privacy. As for Rufus, they brought along a small naked mole rat bed for him. Rufus got a little apron bib ready to take on the nachos.

"Okay, Ron." Kim called out from the bathroom. "I'm going to make some changes to my button-down shirt and then we'll go with the kids to the restaurant."

"Alright, KS! Let's see what you look like!" Ron said with anticipation.

Kim loosened the top two buttons to show off a little more cleavage and a b. She also added a couple of long gold and silver chain necklaces to her jewelry and replaced her teardrop earrings with gold hoops. She also swapped out her flats for black booties with a heel on them.

Kim also removed the top side buttons on both side to the leather overalls she was wearing.

Rufus gave a wolf-whistle as well.

"Ooooo! Very nicey! Me like!" Ron grinned devilishly, "The looks are just one thing of your complete package, KS!"

"Why thanks, Ron! Round up the kids and get to the van!" Kim replied "We're going to head to Bumblebees!"

Alexa and Justin were watching Baloney on the TV on their side of the suite before Kim instructed them to turn it off.

Mary and Canna also came out of their hotel room next door. They were in the same outfits as before, but decided together that they were going to wear their dark denim overalls with the bib down but straps attached route and a belt to hold them up and wear simple white tennis shoes.

"You know..." Kim remarked at the way the two women were wearing the overalls. "...I could go for that look on one of the days."

"As long as the belt doesn't fail on you, Kim, you should be good!" Mary remarked.

(15 minutes later)

The sky above them was slowly growing more dark and ominous. The storms were going to appear within a matter of hours.

Kim was at the drivers' seat of the Stoppable-mobile, starting up the engine.

The NWS broadcast was on the radio, informing the two heroes of what was to come.

The National Weather Service of Hastings Nebraska, has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the eastern portion of Nebraska until 2:30am. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph, rain up to 2-3 inches, and hail up to the size of golf balls is expected with this line of system of storms. Stay weather-alert.

"I think we still should head on over to Bumblebees!." Kim said, "The kids are starting to get cranky for their food."

"As long as they have a vegan menu, we'll be good!" Canna replied.

"Vegan and gluten-free too!" Mary agreed.

(7:15pm)

The Stoppables, Mary and Canna entered into the restaurant. Kim's overall strap was barely hanging onto her shoulder.

She asked the waitress, "Do you have a table for six?"

"Plus one naked mole rat?" Ron asked with Rufus popping out of his pocket.

"Food!" he squeaked.

"We do, Mrs. Stoppable, yes!" the waitress said, "Would you like a table or booth?"

"We prefer the booth!" Kim replied.

"Right this way." the waitress replied to them while getting coloring books and crayons for both Alexa and Justin. She then escorted them to a booth in the middle of the restaurant.

Kim, Ron, and Justin sat on the left side of the booth while Mary, Canna, and Alexa sat on the right.

"Here we are! Your server will be out in a few minutes!" she said before leaving the Stoppables.

(5 more minutes later)

"So what's the general game plan that you're suggesting, Ron?" Kim asked her husband.

"I'd say that once we get to Rapid City, we're going to go for Mt. Rushmore first." Ron replied, pulling up the map of South Dakota on his smart phone.

"But that is a good almost-ten-hour round-trip across almost the entire state!" Kim countered. "Justin and Alexa really do want to see the bears at Bear Country USA.

"Don't worry, KS. We'll stop and get some food and gas on the way there." Ron said as the waitress came to their table.

"Welcome to Bumblebees! What can I get you two to drink?"

"I'll have a cola and my bon-diggety wife here will have a diet tea." Ron said, "The oldest one will have a fruity soda as well."

"Okay, I'll be right out there with your drinks!" the server said.

"So where is the Oh Boyz concert going to be at?" Mary asked.

"Sanford Premiere Center in Sioux Falls!" Kim replied, "It's even got a wine bar!"

"So that's another reason why you wanna go to the concert!" Ron slyly replied.

"Who was your favorite Oh Boyz member?" Canna questioned.

"Hands down, Dexter for his...smarts!" Kim recalled. "It was the time that we saved them from the Senors and that weasel of a manager of theirs."

(10 more minutes later)

"Oooh, it seems that Sheila has sent me a text!" Kim said when she felt a buzz on her phone. She went through her handbag and as she did so, her overalls strap slipped off her shoulder.

It read the following:

Princess,

I found something on PictoGram that you may would want to see. The directors of that live-action movie about you is going to drop some big news tomorrow.

Your friend

Sheila.

"Hmm...it's about time someone released something for that live-action movie." she said, "It's been three months since there was any news about it."

"Maybe they'll keep her plasma powers intact." Ron wondered.

"I think they'll maybe keep the blue skin of Drakken." Kim laughed as the strap was now on her elbow. "Ah, here are our drinks right now!"

The server came to their table and awaited their orders.

"My husband would have the nachos supreme, same with our naked mole rat here, and I would like a Caesar salad." Kim said, "The kids would like to have two grilled cheese sandwiches. As for Canna and Mary, they'll both have the casesar salad too."

"Coming right up." the server said, leaving the table.

"So what else do you wanna talk about?" she asked, pulling the overalls strap back up.

"Maybe the weather?" Ron said while looking out the window.

"That's so the oldest conversation starter in the book!" Kim chuckled.

"No, KS. The weather's gonna go south in a few hours." Ron exclaimed while pointing it out on the doppler. He could see a lot of red associated with the storm, which meant really heavy rainfall. "A really bad storm's headed our way! With big hail and everything! That's what the NWS says!"

"It's so not the drama!" Kim said, blowing off the storm.

"What about the Stoppable-mobile?" Ron asked.

"Rest assured, Ron." Kim reassured him, "The van will make it to the Lipskys!"

(30 more minutes later)

"Oh man... I am stuffed!" Ron exclaimed, holding his stomach. He had already paid for the food.

"I'm glad that I brought along my baggy overalls for the trip." Kim said. "That'll offset whatever pounds I'll put on at the Lipskys."

Kim added as she was standing up. "I'm going to use the ladies' room, Ron. You and Rufus watch the kids!"

"Sure do, KS!" Ron replied.

"Uh-huh!" Rufus squeaked.

Kim left the booth, grabbed her purse, and headed towards the ladies restroom.

(4 more minutes later)

Kim got out of the restroom and she was somewhere between the borderline of angry and embarassed. The rest of the restaurant's patrons were laughing and pointing at her. The servers couldn't help but chortle at her predictament. Even worse was that some of the said patrons were holding up their smartphones, taking pictures and video.

Three of the waiters were then tripped by one occupant of the restaurant near where the Stoppables were at. This resulted in her being drenched with soda and covered in ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue ribs, chocolate and ice cream all over the front of her one-strap black leather overalls.

"Oh hey...uhm...KS! You look more scrumptious than usual." Ron chuckled nervously.

"Ron...this is so the most embarassing moment of my life!" Kim growled. "I want you to cover my back!"

"Covering your back? I thought you only said that on missions!" Ron said.

Kim groaned and turned her back to Ron to point out the reason why. The right back pocket of the overalls was torn out, showing off Kim's Pandaroo panties and a bit of her back leg.

Rufus, Justin and Alexa couldn't help but laugh. Mary and Canna also joined in on the fun by also taking pictures and video.

"Why couldn't we do that?" Justin asked.

"You're doing what Daddy does!" Alexa giggled.

Ron gasped and asked, "How did that happen?"

"Bathroom door lever got caught against my pocket and...this happened!" Kim grunted with all the chocolate syrup and ice cream dripping off of her.

Rufus was even taking video of this too on his very small smartphone. Ron sighed at his mole rat and said "Why do they even sell small smartphones to mole rats is even beyond me."

"Let's just get out of here before I make a bigger joke of myself!" Kim insisted.

Ron covered up the damaged part of her overalls by him grabbing her behind with his left hand.

Kim sighed, "Why do I even bother?"

"Sorry, show's over! Turn off your smartphones! Nothing to see here!" Ron exclaimed.

Justin, Mary, Canna, Alexa and Rufus followed them out of the restaurant.

"Do you have any duct tape, Ron?" Kim asked when they got in the van.

"I do, in the glove compartment." Ron replied while going to the glove compartment and pulling out the duct tape.

"These overalls cost me $800 from Country CB and now they're ruined!" Kim complained, "I'll have to sew them when we get back home..."

Kim then applied the duct tape to her behind and started the car. The damaged van crept out of the parking lot and headed back to the hotel.

Flashes of lightning were seen in the distance as the storms were heading this way to make the family's night even worse.

The man who tripped over the waiters grinned and spoke through a microphone.

"My Queen, the show has just begun!"

About 200 miles away, Bonnie was enjoying the misery of the Stoppable through her big screen at her mansion.

"Good! Very good!" the Queen snickered, "We'll let the Vacation Curse take its full effect on the family!

"What of the Stoppable-mobile, though?" the man asked.

"We'll put that piece of shit of a minivan through the coals soon enough!" Bonnie grinned, "Now, you will await further orders for the next phase of my plan!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the man obeyed.

[thebachelordiaries]

Cougars vs. Cubs: ‘The Bachelor’ Ep. 2 Recap

Remember the good ‘ol days when The Bachelor just had connotations of sex and never talked about it outright? I miss it.

Now I have to sit through two hours of the sex talk with my mom every Monday night. This is supposed to be my time to relax, but instead I just get nervous that she’s going to gain the courage to ask me about my [nonexistent] sex life. I didn’t sign up for this.

With that being said, I’m going to get through this entire recap without mentioning Colton’s lack of experience. I, for one, have heard the v-word enough. Why does he need to explain his life choices every episode?

This just about explains it. Moving on...

Cougars vs Cubs Group Date

“When people get a little too chummy with me, I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don't really care about them.”  —my favorite Ron Swanson quote from “Parks & Rec”

Ron Swanson would never agree to go on “The Bachelor.” His ex-wife Tami is probably holding him against his will.

Hello, where is Leslie Knope? 

Possibly one of the best couples of all time, Nick Offerman aka Ron Swanson and his IRL wife (and on-screen ex-wife) Megan Mullally, hosted a group date where the contestants had to tell an audience of 200 people about their “first time.” The words “first time” are up for interpretation. 

Here’s who went on the date: Hannah G., Onyaka, Elisa, Demi, Tracey, Bri, Nicole and Catherine.

Elyse, who is 31 and apparently considered geriatric to these 23 year olds, talked about her “first time” dating a younger man—Colton. I’d say she’s getting “America’s Sweetheart” edit, which I’m thankful for because nobody wants a 23-year-old Bachelorette unless they’re R-Kelly.

Demi— well, I don’t remember what she talked about— but she did go up to Colton and kiss him in front of all the other girls. The chick has some brass balls. I respect it.

Catherine and Onyeka tried to start drama for attention but nobody cared. Tracy got offended by everything Demi did, and every viewer just wanted Tracey to shut up.

During the cocktail hour portion of the date, Colton had a strong connection with Elyse, the leader of the Cougar Den. 

”I can tell you have this presence, this confidence that not everybody has” -Colton to Elyse

Wait— I just realized her body language in this scene. Yikes.

Apparently all the women age 27 and up in the Bachelor Mansion share a room they call the “Cougar Den.” I don’t really consider someone in their late 20s or early 30s a “cougar” but I guess it’s all relative when the majority of the women are 23. Anyway, I’m going to jump off the nearest cliff. 

What was I doing when I was 23? I’m pretty sure I was an intern and getting paid $10 an hour, but sure, these girls are ready for marriage. Whatever you say, ABC.

Colton is obsessed with Hannah G. He basically admitted to her that she’s one of his top girls. They looked like two lions cuddling:

Colton is the kind of guy to ask Hannah G. to take a nap with him and then actually take a nap.

Nicole talked about her autistic brother. I think she’s going to be a viewer favorite but not necessarily one of Colton’s top girls.

Elyse, the leader of the Cougar Den, got the group date rose.

Team leader board:

Cougars-1 

Cubs- 0

Hannah B.’s Birthday 1-on-1

The “B” in Hannah B. stands for “birthday,” because in case you happened to become deaf, dumb and blind when watching this show, it was Hannah B.’s birthday the day she had her 1-on-1. 

There’s something maniacal about the way Hannah B. smiles. It’s like she’s one big disappointment away from keying your car or poisoning your food. I do feel bad for her in a way: she’s a beauty queen, but Caelynn is a better one. She’s named Hannah and is from Alabama, but Hannah G. is from Alabama and Colton’s basically already in love with her. She’s “Miss Second Best.”

But hey, at least she still has her birthday. 

I think Colton also sensed Hannah B.’s craziness because he gave her a date rose despite them having a very silence-filled, awkward time. Colton is a lot smarter than we think. imagine Hannah didn't get a rose on her birthday?! I do NOT want to see her reaction. No thank you. She’s gonna need a straight jacket when it’s her time to leave. Maybe that’s why Colton jumps a fence this season: to escape Hannah B.

Summer Camp Group Date

So this group date had another Parks & Rec guest host: Billy Eichner.

A small anecdote: 

Please respect my privacy during this difficult time.

The girls (everyone else who wasn’t on the prior dates) had to do summer camp activities to see which group would prevail. In the end it came down to a tug-o-war competition and the losing team had to go home.

Surprise, surprise...the group with all of Colton’s favorite girls won: Cassie, Heather, Katie, Caelynn, Tayshia and Alex.

Katie, similar to night one, got so close to Colton that he was basically forced to make out with her.

Caelynn did her charming beauty pageant thing to make Colton become obsessed with her. Viewers also came to find out this episode there is some sort of drama between her and Hannah B. They were roommates at Miss USA and now they don’t talk. Caelynn thinks Hannah B. is jealous of her first runner-up status. But what is the truth? Is it too much for them to have a Mean Girls-style brawl? It’s what we all want. I feel like Caelynn would win, but Hannah does have craziness on her side.

Heather told Colton she has never been kissed before and I think Colton enjoyed the balance of power. 

The way Colton said “really?” after Heather said she never kissed anyone was hilarious to me. You can really tell he likes having someone here with even less experience than him. I feel like he keeps her around for this reason.

Heather got the group date rose.

Rose Ceremony

Demi, dressed in a bathrobe, took Colton to the “Fantasy Closet” and gave him a massage as the other girls looked on.

Line of the night goes to Kaitlyn: “Does she not have parents? I’m just confused.” Well, her mom is in prison so does that explain a few things for ya?

Tracy was so offended by Demi’s “fantasy closet” that she cried, which was honestly kind of pathetic. Just let Demi entertain us and mind your own business, Tracey. Ugh, her eyebrow arch gives me a migraine.

I want to love Demi, but I don’t. I want this little pipsqueak to tell me to my face that I’m an “older woman.” Demi, I don’t have a lot of confidence you will look as good as Elyse when you’re 31. I mean, it’s not her fault that her mom probably didn’t teach her to wear sunscreen and she looks like she’s been substituting Monster Energy drinks for water since she was 12.

I will, however, credit her for owning Tracey this rose ceremony. Tracey is just extremely unlikeable.

Team leader board:

Cougars-1

Cubs- 1

Alex, Annie, Erika and Angelique were sent home. Sounds about right: at this point you either need to be perfect looking or an absolute psycho. If you’re a 9.5 looks-wise and normal, you have to go. Sorry I don’t make the rules.

What age does someone become an “older woman” anyway?

[papermoonloveslucy]

SALUTE TO STAN LAUREL

November 23, 1965 on CBS

Directed by Seymour Berns

Produced by Henry Jaffe, Seymour Berns

Written by Hugh Wedlock Jr., Charles Isaacs, Alan Manings with Carl Reiner and Aaron Ruben

Cast (in order of appearance)

Dick Van Dyke (Host, Himself) was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, in 1925. Although he’d had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to stardom in the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, for which he won a Tony Award. He reprised his role in the 1963 film. He has starred in a number of other films throughout the years including Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). From 1961 to 1966 he played TV writer Rob Petrie in “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” He also starred in “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” (1971-74), “Van Dyke & Company” (1976), on which Lucille Ball guest-starred. Van Dyke was often compared physically to Stan Laurel.

Lucille Ball (Woman in the Park) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Ball has no spoken dialogue in her sketch.

Buster Keaton (Painter in the Park) was born in 1895 to parents who were vaudevillians. His legendary film career began in 1917.  He became a star known for his slapstick comedy, pork pie hat, slapshoes, and deadpan expression. In 1960 he was given an honorary Oscar. Lucille Ball worked with Keaton on the 1946 film Easy To Wed. He died in February 1966, just two months after this special aired.

Keaton has no spoken dialogue in his sketch.

Harvey Korman (Policeman in the Park) is best known as part of “The Carol Burnett Show” (1967-77).  He made five appearance on “The Lucy Show” as various characters. In 1977 he had his own show on ABC which lasted just one season. At the time of this episode he was a regular on “The Danny Kaye Show” (1963-67) which aired Friday nights on CBS. He died in May 2008. 

Korman has no spoken dialogue in his sketch.

Bob Newhart (Himself / Uncle Freddy) is a stand-up comic with a deadpan delivery who headed two eponymous  television sitcoms: “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972-78) and “Newhart” (1982-90).  

Audrey Meadows (Pearl) is best remembered as Alice Kramden on “The Honeymooners” (1955-56), a role that won her an Emmy in 1955, against Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” She also played Lucy's sister on an episode of “Life With Lucy” (1986). Meadows died in 1996 at age 73.

Meadows has no spoken dialogue in her sketch “The Perils of Pearl.”  

Cesar Romero (Rod, Leading Man) was born in 1907 in New York City to Cuban parents. Despite earning more than 200 screen credits, Romero is perhaps best remembered for playing the Joker on TV’s “Batman” (1966-68) and in a Batman film in 1966. He played Ricky Ricardo’s buddy Carlos when “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (LDCH 1957), the very first hour-long episode of “I Love Lucy” set in Cuba in 1940, as well as Lucy Carmichael's date in “A Date for Lucy” (TLS S1;E19).  He died on New Year’s Day 1994 at age 86.

Tina Louise (Wilma, Leading Lady) is best known as 'the movie star' Ginger Grant on “Gilligan's Island” (1964-67).  This is only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Louise has no spoken dialogue in her sketch.

Leonid Kinskey (Silent Movie Director) was born in Russia in 1903. He played a variety of Russian and middle-European characters. One of the few to share film credits with Stan Laurel, they were both seen in Hollywood Party in 1936. He died in 1998 at age 95.

Louis Nye (Mood Music Musician) was a character actor skilled in accents and voices. He appeared with Lucille Ball in the films The Facts of Life (1960) and A Guide for the Married Man (1967). He died in 2005 at age 92.

Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster) was the star of two iconic television series: “Car 54 Where Are You” (1961-63) and “The Munsters” (1964-66), the role he reprises here. This is his only time working on the same show as Lucille Ball (although the two TV icons share no scenes together). He died in 1993 at age 66.

Gwynne has no dialogue in the sketch.

Danny Kaye (Himself) was born David Kaminsky in 1911 and left school at the age of 13 to work in the Borscht Belt of Jewish resorts in the Catskill Mountains. It was there he learned the basics of show biz. In 1939, he made his Broadway debut in Straw Hat Revue, but it was the stage production of the musical Lady in the Dark in 1940 that brought him acclaim and notice from agents. Also in 1940, he married Sylvia Fine, who went on to manage his career. She helped create the routines and gags, and wrote most of the songs that he performed. Danny could sing and dance like many others, but his specialty was reciting tongue-twisting songs and monologues. In 1964 he appeared on “The Lucy Show” as himself and Lucy appeared on his special in return. He died in 1987.

Phil Silvers (Himself) was born Philip Silversmith in 1911 (the same year as Lucille Ball). He started entertaining at age 11. He made his Broadway debut in 1939. In 1952 he won a Tony Award in the Broadway musical Top Banana in which he played a TV star modeled on Milton Berle. His feature film debut came in 1940. Silvers became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko. In 1963, Ball and Silvers performed the classic ‘Slowly I Turn’ sketch for “CBS Opening Night.” In December 1966 Silver guest-starred in “Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (TLS S5;E13). A year later Ball and Silvers both had bit parts in the film A Guide for the Married Man (1967). He died at the age of 74.

Bern Hoffman (Pop / Street Bully / Cop) was a burly character actor seen with Lucille Ball on the first season of “The Lucy Show” and in the film The Facts of Life (1960). He was seen on Broadway in the original casts of the musicals Guys and Dolls (1950) as Joey Biltmore and Li'L Abner (1956) as Earthquake McGoon, a role he recreated in the 1959 film version.  

None of Hoffman's characters speak.

Mary Foran (Mom / Tango Dancer) was a heavyset character actor usually cast for her size. She appeared as one of the women at the health club in “Lucy and the Countess Lose Weight” (TLS S3;E21) earlier in 1965.

Foran does not have any dialogue.

Gregory Peck (Himself) was one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s. Peck received five Academy Award nominations winning for his performance as Atticus Finch in the 1962 drama film To Kill a Mockingbird. Although Peck and Lucille Ball never appeared together professionally, his name was mentioned several times on “Lucy” sitcoms.  He also never worked with Stan Laurel.  Peck died in 2003 at age 87.

Archival Footage

Stan Laurel (Archive Footage) was born as Arthur Stanley Jefferson in England in 1890. Laurel began his career in music hall, where he developed a number of his standard comic devices: the bowler hat, the deep comic gravity, and the nonsensical understatement. He began his film career in 1917 and made his final appearance in 1951. From 1928 onward, he appeared exclusively with Oliver Hardy (1892-57). Known simply as Laurel and Hardy, the pair became one of the most recognizable comic duos in history. Stan Laurel passed away in February 1965, eight months prior to this tribute show.  He was 74 years old.

Oliver Hardy (archive footage) was born Norvell Hardy in Georgia USA in 1892. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In some of his early works, he was billed as "Babe Hardy". He died in 1957 at age 65.

Dorothy Coburn (Nurse in “The Finishing Touch” Archive Footage) was ideally cast as a perennial foil for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in films like The Second 100 Years (1927) where Stan inadvertently covers her bottom with white paint; Putting Pants on Philip (1927) in which she is being chased by an over-amorous, kilt-wearing Stan Laurel around town; and as a dentist's nurse in Leave 'Em Laughing (1928). She died in 1978 at age 72.

Edgar Kennedy (Cop in “The Finishing Touch” Archive Footage) was seen with Laurel and Hardy in more than a dozen films. He was also seen in three RKO films with Lucille Ball in the early 1930s. He died in 1948 and his final film was released posthumously.  

Betty Grable (Pat Lambert in Footlight Serenade Archive Footage) was a starlet who did three films with Lucille Ball from 1933 to 1936. In 1958 she appeared with her husband bandleader Harry James as themselves on an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Footlight Serenade (1942) was also supposed to feature Lucille Ball, but she refused to be loaned out to Fox to play a secondary role. 

Stan Salute Trivia

The tribute was not well-received by critics, who opined that the program felt less like a celebration of Laurel's career than a promo for the new fall shows; the same critics were, however, in general agreement that Van Dyke's devotion was palpable and heartfelt. Consequently Laurel and Hardy biographers tend to regard it as well-intentioned, but ultimately inconsequential. Wrapping up the season in April 1966, TV Chronicle's Neil Compton would dismiss the special’

"Not much of a tribute to the late comedian (who appeared briefly in a number of film clips brutally hacked out of their original context), and did not enhance the reputations of participants such as Dick Van Dyke, Lucille Ball, or Phil Silvers."

Dick Van Dyke (who was also one of the producers) reportedly complained that his vision for the Salute had itself been hacked to pieces by network corporate types. Van Dyke had delivered the eulogy and Stan Laurel's funeral. An appearance by Fred Gwynne in full Herman Munster regalia clearly had more to do with CBS (home of “The Munsters”) than with Laurel. A lengthy biography of Phil Silvers in the show's second half also has little to do with Laurel. On the whole, the special is a tribute to both Laurel AND Hardy, who passed away eight years earlier.

The Salute aired opposite new episodes of “McHale's Navy” and “F-Troop” on ABC and “Dr. Kildare” on NBC. It was preceded on CBS by “Rawhide” (starring Clint Eastwood) and followed by “Petticoat Junction.”  

The day before (Monday, November 22), “Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (TLS S4;E10) was aired for the first time.  In the episode, Mrs. Carmichael goes undercover as Carol Channing to break into a government installation! 

One year after this special aired, Lucy Carmichael and Mr. Mooney were put under hypnosis by Miss Pat, “the hip hypnotist” (a nightclub entertainer). Their hypnotic suggestion was to imitate Laurel and Hardy. Lucy, naturally, was Stan Laurel.  

The underscoring of the Salute makes liberal use of “Dance of the Cuckoos” which was Laurel and Hardy's theme music. It was written by Marvin Hartley as the 'hour chime' for a radio station. It was first heard during a Laurel and Hardy film in 1930.  

This was the last comedy performance of Buster Keaton, who had been diagnosed as terminally ill and would die a few months later. Lucy and Keaton were there own mutual admiration society, Lucy considering him her mentor and Keaton championing Ball's talents, even before her TV fame.  In the above photo, Keaton and Ball watch the dailies from their sketch on the Salute. 

Although Buster Keaton never guest-starred on a “Lucy” sitcom, he did visit the set of “I Love Lucy” to see his now successful protege.

The Salute begins with a production number called “Stanley” featuring singer / dancers dressed as Laurel and Hardy inter-cut with film footage of the pair and the opening credits. 

After the first commercial Dick Van Dyke introduces the show. He says that he never got to meet Oliver Hardy, but did know Stan Laurel. Film excerpts from “Wrong Again” (1929), which was re-released by MGM as “Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20s”, a compilation of Laurel and Hardy shorts.  

Lucille Ball and Buster Keaton perform a silent sketch set on a park bench. Harvey Korman plays a cop. The sketch is without words, but includes background music, exaggerated sound effects, and the ubiquitous laugh track. 

After a brief clip from the Laurel and Hardy short “Putting Pants on Philip” (1927), Dick Van Dyke gives a lecture on comedy rooted in observing physical pain in others. He notes how comedy has changed, all the while having a series of funny accidents. This “comedy lecture” was specially written by Carl Reiner and Aaron Ruben.

Blooper Alert! When Van Dyke gets a waste paper basket stuck on his foot, he kicks it offstage. It apparently collides with someone off-camera, which makes Van Dyke laugh and apologize. Just before this happened, the boom microphone dips down into the frame.  

The 'lecture' ends with Van Dyke tripping over a footstool on his way out, something he did in the opening credits of his show.  

Bob Newhart talks about his research on Laurel and Hardy.  He does his impression of a stereotypical kiddie show host named Uncle Freddy. Such TV kiddie shows were often the outlet for showing Laurel and Hardy shorts.

After a clip from “Call of the Cuckoo” (1927), an audience at an old time cinema sings about seeing ‘The Perils of Pearl’, the type of serial melodrama that typically played alongside a comedy feature by Laurel and Hardy. 

Audrey Meadows plays Pearl, in a variety of her 'perils':  As a women about to be bisected by a mill saw, a harem dancer pursued by an over-amorous Calif, a cowgirl burned at the stake by Indians, and a woman sitting atop a giant time bomb.

Movie-Goers: “Will they blow up little Pearl?  Is her life at stake?  To be continued [the look into the camera] ... after station break!”

After the commercial break, the movie-goers are still looking at the camera. They look back at the movie screen where Pearl is still atop the bomb.  

Pearl laughs and her hat falls off.  The matinee audience is suddenly onstage in a full out dance number! 

Dick Van Dyke introduces a comedy sketch about the filming of a silent movie. 

It stars Cesar Romero as The Leading Man, Tina Louise as The Leading Lady, Leonid Kinsky as The Director, and Louis Nye as The Mood Music Musician (aka violinist). 

The comedy comes from Nye trying to stay out of the pantomimed action while providing the mood music to help the actors emote. After destroying several violins, Nye himself falls out the window.

Crashing through the door comes his replacement, Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne) playing the fiddle!  This is the first time a 1865 TV audience has seen Gwynne in color, although his green complexion would be on display in a 1966  Munsters movie.

Danny Kaye is sitting beside Stan Laurel's honorary Oscar, which Kaye accepted for Laurel in 1961. A clip of “The Finishing Touch” (1928) shows Laurel installing a window. 

Color (but silent) footage shows Laurel polishing his Oscar from his home in 1961.  

Sitting among a stack of film reels, Dick Van Dyke introduces another clip from “The Finishing Touch” (1928) in which Laurel and Hardy are renovating a house.

Phil Silvers compares Laurel's youth as “a little man” to his own life story.  A sketch shows a bespectacled Silvers in a baby bonnet and crib with his mother and father beside him. His teen years (in a page boy wig) feature his cracking voice singing “Shine On Harvest Moon.”  

The mini-biography tracks Silvers' career from street performer to vaudeville. 

In Burlesque, he plays Linksy's theatre (a pun on the real-life Minsky's Burlesque) wearing the same huge plaid cap that he wore onstage and screen in the musical Top Banana ten years earlier.  

Actual footage from his big break in movies shows Silvers and Betty Grable in Footlight Serenade (1942).  Silvers finally brings his story back to Stan Laurel, but not without a few quick clips of him in “Sergeant Bilko”!  

Gregory Peck closes the program by thanking everyone and giving a last pitch for the new MGM film compilation of Laurel and Hardy's shorts.

The singers and dancers who opened the show return for a final chorus of “Stanley.”  The number ends on a shot of a painting of Stan Laurel.  This same painting inspired the creation of the show.  

Dick Van Dyke returns for yet another pitch for the MGM film compilation “Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20s”. Van Dyke gets a face full of cake at the very end, inter-cut with Oliver Hardy slipping on a banana peel while carrying a huge cake excerpted from 1928's “From Soup To Nuts.”  

This Date in Lucy History – November 23

"Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment" (ILL S3;E8) – November 23, 1953

"Lucy's Contact Lenses" (TLS S3;E10) – November 23, 1964

“Lucy and Jack Benny's Biography” (HL S3;E11) – November 23, 1970