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do-what-the-knight-tells-you · 5 years

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Broadchurch: The Short Story Collections Volume 2 Available over here This second volume contains another four short stories, also ostensibly intended 1 per episode, but they take place at very different times. I read them interspersed, (watch ep 5, read first story, watch ep 6, read etc), but it might be fun to read them in an actual chronological order during a re-watch.

1- “Protection”, Sharon Bishop (Joe Miller’s Lawyer), During the S2 trial, specifically the night following episode 5. Serious, heavy, dramatic insight into her character over the course of a terribly busy evening that includes a dinner invite with Jocelyn and the judge, and her romantic partner surprising her at The Trader’s. Plus lots and lots of phone calls. Very interesting.

2- “One More Secret”, Beth, halfway through episode 6, this starts the evening after Tom’s testimony, and continues about 24-36 hours. Insight on Beth, how she’s coping (and Chloe), how she reacts to learning Mark’s “last secret”, that he was gonna leave her... oh, and discussion on her relationship with Ellie.

3- “The Leaving of Claire Ripley”, Claire (who would eventually marry Lee Ashworth), 10ish years before S1 maybe? This is The story of who she was before him, a relationship she got into, what she thought she wanted, and how it all went sideways, eventually forcing her to run from consequences for the first time. Basically, how she ends up in the right town/place to meet Lee, and get embroiled in the Sandbrook mess... and without any support network but him. Very interesting, totally unexpected.

4- “Thirteen Hours”, Alec Hardy, pre Series 1, specifically, One Day before Series 1. Insight on Alec, before he meets Ellie, how he’s balancing Claire, his illness, and secrecy, in the new town, in the new job. Hint: Barely. 13 hours from his life, probably 20 hours before Danny would die. Basically, the last “normal” day before Danny’s body is found and all goes to shit. Poor Sucker.

I’ve included summaries, my notes, excerpts, reactions, and other Things Of Interest under the readmore. Again, these story volumes are interesting, short, and worth the read for me!

1. Sharon bishop- during trial Before episode... 4? What morning is it she drives to see her kid? Ah, she pulls the all-night drive and sees her kid in prison in EP 3, so this takes place the night after that day in court. No, wait, after he's beaten up, so, maybe after ep 5? About to head home from the trial. Gets a phone call from her... Partner? Boyfriend? "Darroll". Not Jonah's dad, I don't think. She gets asked to dinner with Jocelyn and the judge Oh fuck, he shows up at The Trader’s when she specifically told him not to. She forgets to change, and bails out of there back for the judge’s place. Still making phonecalls about Jonah bearing beaten up. God she’s stressed. I can practically feel the anxiety and nausea drip off the page. Man, her POV on Jocelyn is cruel. Specifically, that Jocelyn is perfect and privileged, and never missed/misses an opportunity to put her down. Man, Sharon fucking hates her. The judge makes a comment about Sharon being judge material in a few years, if she's interested, perfectly polite and congenial. Sharon turns it down, privately thinking that she likes the fight too much. Judge says she didn't think it was for her, either, until she suddenly found herself the first Asian woman. And even then, her dad was still disappointed. The whole conversation makes Sharon furious and resentful, of these smug women, their perceived privilege in comparison to her, the way she had to fight to build the ladder she climbed, the way she was never even expected to take A-levels, the way she had Jonah on a great track and it was "his kindness" that got him incarcerated and stuck on the "lowest rung" you can start on. "Sonia refills the glass; Jocelyn puts a hand over hers. ‘You must’ve had offers for the bench,’ Sonia says to Jocelyn, filling a new glass with sparkling water. Jocelyn’s eyes crinkle. ‘Too many other interests I would’ve had to give up.’ Sharon nearly chokes on her salmon. Jocelyn doesn’t have interests. She’s just trying to convince everyone – including herself – that her life has had any kind of meaning since she gave up work. Sharon makes a little coughing noise and Jocelyn looks at her sharply before turning back to Sonia. ‘I’m not good at impartial,’ she says, with a little shrug of false modesty." See, we know that Jocelyn quit because she was going blind. We know that she is regretful of the life, the love she felt she wasted. No way is she out (sexuality-wise), or I think Sharon might not be as furious with her privilege. Which, like, she definitely has, but Sharon is so tired and furious right now, she's equivocating the economic privilege Jocelyn undoubtedly has with "never having had to struggle or sacrifice for your job". We of course know and are sympathetic to how Hard Jocelyn had to work, probably one of the first women in her county/area to do what she did Every Time she did it. And we are sympathetic to the fact that she did that all while remaining closeted, and how miserable and hard that must have been... But Sharon doesn’t know some of that, and she’s too furious at the system, at economic privilege... and honestly, at herself, for having chosen to work so hard she missed things with her son. maybe things that led to this situation. Which she absolutely is blaming on the system, and not at all on anything else. And they have such bitterness between them, Jocelyn probs had been a little jealous, a little "oh yeah, wear your wound on your sleeve, get everyone to cry for you", secretly angry that she never "was brave" enough to come out. At least her protege never had to lie, could be honest about who and what she was. There is a lot of shit between them on the subject of race and gender and privilege and stuff (Jocelyn did specifically mention that the decision to take Sharon on as a protege was partly a diversity hire, to “get more women”. Sharon is furious at that comment. I don’t know enough about race relations in the UK to know how contentious the fact that Sharon’s black would be... but considering the judge is also non-white, and Sharon is furious with her too, it’s clear the primary contention is money, even if race is a casual condition). And pride. I totally believe (agree with Jocelyn’s assertion) that Sharon has an issue taking blame. It must always be someone else's fault. And she doesn't care about morality a bit. She says to herself it's because justice didn't work for her kid, but I get the vibe from Jocelyn that that shit was in place long, long before. "Now they’re getting closer, thinks Sharon. ‘Not good at impartial’ is nothing but a euphemism for the fact that Jocelyn Knight is a dyed-in-the-wool prosecutor, although being her, she’s got to dress it up as a higher calling. She likes the chase, that’s what it boils down to. She might as well come into court dressed in a bearskin dress and wave a spear about. But Sharon knows that working for the Crown makes Jocelyn feel good because she can always tell herself she’s fighting the good fight. She believes her own lies, and that’s what makes her so good at her job. Defence, now that’s where the real fight is. You’ve got to have balls to speak for a defendant, run the risk they might be guilty. To take all the shit from the press and public that comes with it.

“‘You do have to bite your tongue,’ Sonia admits. ‘Mind you, when I say something, people really bloody listen.’ Now that, Sharon likes the sound of. Instant respect. The kind she thinks Sonia and Jocelyn must take for granted. ‘Speaking of which, there’s something I need to say. Off the record. Because if this was official, we’d be in court, and you’d both be in the shit.’ Without raising her voice by a decibel, Sonia has managed to change her tone; if anything it’s smoother and calmer than before, and that’s more chilling than an angry rant. Sharon feels the blood banging in her cheeks and doesn’t risk looking at Jocelyn. ‘I heard your yelling halfway across the building, earlier,’ continues Sonia. ‘I’m presuming, since it hasn’t appeared on the Broadchurch Echo Twitter feed, that members of the press and public didn’t hear it, but that’s no thanks to either of you.’

“Caught red-handed; this morning’s angry words ring in Sharon’s ears and a schoolgirl shame burns like acid in her gullet. What could this mean for the case? For her career? Sharon is rarely lost for words but she can’t begin to talk her way out of this one. She feels like the walls of a maze are clanging down around her. Sonia’s still talking as the phone in Sharon’s pocket begins to vibrate. Without looking she knows it’s the prison governor. The call that will keep Jonah safe tonight is coming through now. Answer it, screams her conscience. Sonia’s voice is a burble in the background. Answer it. The twenty-year conflict between Sharon’s motherhood and her career feels condensed into these few seconds. Her skin feels too tight all over. She puts one hand in her pocket as if her fingertips could send the message for her: wait for me. Just give me one more minute. Sharon’s instincts tell her that even to break eye contact with Sonia Sharma right now would be professional suicide, never mind taking a phone call. The phone doesn’t ring for long: four, maybe five rings, before the caller hangs up. Sonia’s words come back into focus.

“‘I told you both at the start: professionalism and dignity,’ she says, still more head girl than headmistress. ‘Keep your personal rows out of this case or it’ll be a full-scale public bollocking. Got it?’ Sharon nods as she absorbs the gist: she’s got away with it, in the broadest sense. Where she ought to feel relief there is only a crashing sense of failure and loss. In the ensuing silence, she can hear the food she’s chewing turn over in her mouth, but she can’t swallow it. She’s just about to push back her chair when Sonia comes in with what she clearly thinks is an ice-breaker.

“‘So, you were her pupil?’ It’s a loaded question and Jocelyn doesn’t give Sharon a chance to answer. ‘I found her and brought her onto a scheme I was running to bring more women into the law. Particularly from underprivileged backgrounds.’

“Sharon explodes; too late, she sees the crumbs fly everywhere. ‘I was at Oxford by this point! She tells it like she pulled me out of the gutter.’ ‘She was the best I ever had. On course to be my Head of Chambers, if she’d stayed.’ It’s a reverse flip in the conversation. Sharon is so stunned that for a few seconds she forgets about the missed call. This is the first praise she’s ever had from Jocelyn Knight. She had always presumed the admiration flowed in one direction. Jocelyn let her go without a fight.

“Resentment boils inside her and she doesn’t trust herself not to come back with sarcasm or worse. Sonia’s seen her with the gloves off now and it cannot happen again. She excuses herself to use the bathroom – beautiful, hand-painted tiles, organic handwash, only the best for the judge’s residence – and she splashes water on her face, tells herself in the mirror to get a grip. She dials her voicemail with shaking hands. There’s a message, not from the governor but from his assistant, saying that they’re waiting for her to return their call. Sod etiquette, Sonia and Jocelyn can amuse themselves for a few minutes: Sharon hits redial but she is locked out by the engaged tone. She waits one minute, then tries again. She repeats this three times with the same result. She weighs up her options – hide in the toilet for god knows how long, or make her excuses and leave? It’s an easy decision.

“Back in the dining room, she realises there will be no need for excuses; the evening is already being wrapped up. ‘Thanks for a lovely supper,’ says Jocelyn, folding her napkin and getting to her feet. ‘But I should be getting back.’ Sonia leads her guests into the hallway. ‘No rest for the wicked.’ She nods through an open doorway to a study where case files are piled high on a table. They will all be working through the night.

“Back in the car, Sharon sets her phone to hands-free and hits redial repeatedly. She is on the dual carriageway that leads into Broadchurch when at last the line is free. Hope spikes then crashes with each unanswered ring. There is nobody there. She’s missed her window. And she doesn’t know where Jonah is sleeping tonight. Reality is a punch in Sharon’s guts. She can’t save Jonah. She’s trying to remote-control his life, when the brutal truth is that it’s been out of her control, and his, since he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong colour skin. The injustice of it burns. The miles between Sharon and Jonah seem to stretch out and then snap. The road swims before her, lights blurring to amber tadpoles against the black. Sharon pulls into a lay-by and bawls until her throat is sore and her eyes are gritty." Her partner is still at the hotel when she gets there, and I thought this section was particularly beautiful: "‘Oh, babe,’ and that’s all Darroll has to say. He places his knuckle on the point between her shoulder blades, the heart of the knot. He knows where her body keeps its secrets, and with his touch, she is undone. Afterwards, she waits until he has fallen asleep, as good as drugged. In these stolen hours the Traders hotel is as silent as it gets. No phones ring. Not a floorboard creaks, not a toilet flushes. There is only Darroll, the gentle rolling snore of him. Sharon is wired. Only four hours’ sleep in two days but she can’t remember feeling more awake. Darroll’s soothing effect is only temporary. It rushes through a drain and is replaced by thoughts of Jonah, his beaten-up face and a circle of thugs closing in on him." She gets up and back to research the appeal for Jonah's case. (God, she's working so hard there, so distracted from the Miller stuff, it really is a mark of how fucked the Broadchurch investigation was, or how ruthless and rule-break-y Sharon is, that her side ends up winning) "She has a career's worth of favors to call in, and she isn't too proud to do it." Determined as fuck, and unwilling to not succeed. Heck of a character. . 2. One more secret- Beth- during trial, partway through episode 6 (where Tom lies on the stand in Joe's defence), I think after Tom's testimony, that night, before Mark's She gets home, longest she's been away from Lizzie. "‘Where are my girls?’ she calls while her key’s still in the door. Chloe emerges from the sitting room, a puke-stained muslin cloth draped over each shoulder. Chloe’s dropped out of college but she can’t get a job until the trial’s over because Beth needs her for the childcare. If Beth can’t be with Lizzie, then it’ll have to be someone else who loves her. The baby needs to be with her own blood. The time spent with the baby seems to be helping Chloe, too. It’s taken her mind off her own problems; the spoiled GCSEs, losing her nan, and the break-up with Dean (who left Dorset for the chance to shear sheep in New Zealand, only telling Chloe the evening before his flight. Beth still can’t think about him without her hands balling into fists)." She has a meeting with a social worker who has come to check on her mental health, and she gets pissed and storms off, only realizing later than that that might have tipped them to the balance of thinking she's not a fit mother. She starts to think about the checklist they gave her and how to throw it so the social decide she's fit enough, not too depressed, to take care of her kid. Next morning is the Mark’s testimony. Where she learns that there's one last secret between them after all, the mystery of the unaccounted for hour in which he drove around, and then wrote her a letter saying he was leaving her. "And then suddenly there is someone at her side. Ellie is there, dropping to her knees. Their faces are level and Beth has been brought so low she will take comfort anywhere, even here. She collapses against her old friend. ‘It’s not Mark,’ says Ellie. Her eyes shine with tears that reflect Beth’s own. ‘It’s Joe, doing this to us.’

“‘Mark was going to…’ Beth can’t get the rest of it out. She lets Ellie cry with her and it feels so good, for the first time in ages, to lean on someone the same size as her. They stay locked like that. After a few minutes, they stop crying, pull apart and look at each other. There’s a strange, almost post-coital awkwardness in the air; for all the intimacy of their embrace, they’re still essentially estranged, both unsure how heavily they can tread.

“‘I’m so sorry about Tom,’ says Ellie. ‘He still doesn’t believe Joe did it.’ ‘Oh, God, no, I get it. Danny would’ve done the same.’ Saying his name changes the mood again; it brings them past embarrassment and into the hugeness of what has happened between them. Ellie meets Beth’s gaze head-on, still offering that unflinching apology and Beth understands, suddenly, that she will keep saying sorry for ever if that’s what it takes.”

[Oh god, she really would, wouldn’t she]

“Something inside her wants to draw back but there’s something stronger – a need to be understood, or perhaps the green shoots of forgiveness – that keeps her in the moment. ‘I didn’t know,’ she says. ‘About the letter.’ Ellie pulls a face. ‘I gathered that.’ Beth puts her chin on her knees and sighs deep. ‘You must want to beat the crap out of him.’

“‘I do, but it’s not just that.’ Beth hugs her knees tighter. ‘I’ve got this social worker on my back making me fill out this questionnaire to see if I’m going to top myself. As if I would, with Chloe and a new baby needing me. I’m like, don’t you think I’ve got enough shit to deal with without racing back from court to talk about my wellbeing?’ Ellie winces. Beth didn’t mean to throw a barb at her, but there’s no way around it. They can’t pussyfoot around this case, and if mentioning it hurts Ellie, well, that’s the way it’s got to be. Beth leans back against the cool wall of the stairwell.

“‘If I’m not depressed already then that’ll just tip me over the edge,’ she mutters, more for her own benefit than Ellie’s. ‘Stupid cow with her stupid drawn-on eyebrows.’ ‘Patricia Kennedy?’ Ellie wiggles her own eyebrows, but nervously, like she’s afraid to acknowledge the joke. ‘I’ve come across her before. She’s all right. She’ll only be worried about you.’ ‘Yeah, well, I feel persecuted. And I worry that they’ll … do something. Take her away from me.’ It’s the first time she’s said it out loud. ‘Why would they do that?’ says Ellie.

“‘Look at me,’ says Beth. ‘I can’t even look after myself.’ ‘Bollocks, you’re doing a brilliant job,’ says Ellie, in her old, no-nonsense way and it’s more reassuring than any platitude. Conversation grows louder in the atrium and the court doors start to swish open. Ellie gets to her feet.

“‘I need to find Tom,’ says Ellie. Her teeth are clenched in a grim determination that Beth recognises from their old lives. Tom’s in for the bollocking of his life. Beth watches her straighten up, and only when she sees her at her full height does she realise Ellie’s been stooping since this all kicked off. Ellie puts out her right hand, and for a moment Beth thinks she’s offering a formal handshake and the indignation surges again. Then, as Ellie’s set face begins to wobble, she realises she’s offering to pull her up to standing. Beth hesitates for a second but finds she doesn’t have it in her to snub the offer. Ellie’s hand is cold in hers, but her grip is tight. I’ve got you, it seems to say. The raw intimacy of it is too much, and Beth drops her hand as soon as she’s on her feet. It’s exhausting: the smallest gesture is so loaded.”

[Oh I ache for you two.]

“ ‘Right, then,’ she says, testing her legs. They seem to be holding her up. ‘I’m going back in, see what else Mark’s got to say.’ ‘You sure you’re up to that?’ asks Ellie, tilting her head to one side. ‘No,’ says Beth. Their smiles are tentative, feelers in the dark. But they don’t hug. It feels too soon for that." oh you poor girls.

She gets back home after kicking mark to the curb, only to find the bloody social worker waiting for her. Only...

"‘Just give it to me, then,’ says Beth, sitting opposite Patricia. ‘Give me the bloody questionnaire.’ Patricia smiles softly. ‘All in good time. Look, I’m sorry if I was insensitive, barging in on your trial time. We’ll work around you from now on.’ Beth brightens. ‘You mean you’ll discharge me?’

“‘No,’ says Patricia. ‘I still want to keep an eye on you. Not because I think you’re going to harm Lizzie, but because you are vulnerable, even if you don’t want to admit it. But I won’t come and see you every day while the trial’s ongoing. What I’ll do is check in every few days, and give you my mobile number. If you feel you’re not coping, there are options. Don’t be stubborn.’

“‘I’m not stubborn.’ Patricia raises her magnificent eyebrows and Beth finds a genuine laugh. ‘How come you changed your mind, then?’ she asks. Patricia closes the file on her lap and looks Beth in the eye.

“ ‘I had a call from a colleague who helped me see things from your perspective,’ she says. ‘Helen?’ ‘No,’ says Patricia. ‘Someone I worked with a while back.’ She starts to pack up her bag, putting her various sheaves of paperwork into compartments. On her way out of the door she turns and looks over your shoulder. ‘I won’t patronise you by pretending I understand what you’re going through,’ she says. ‘But you know, you’re not as alone as you think you are.’ Beth thinks she means because of Lizzie, and holds her tighter than ever. It’s only after Patricia has driven off that she realises who the old colleague was, and that she wasn’t talking about her daughter after all." And then, to conclude the chapter, "Without meaning to, she turns slowly in a half-circle to Ellie’s house. The light in the top bedroom is on and two figures move around inside. Tom is home. Jealousy swoops in, and Beth is too bitter to be happy for Ellie. That thought pulls her back to this afternoon at court, Ellie’s outstretched hand and how good it felt to take it. Beth fights the softening inside her. How can she accept friendship again? How can she trust? To survive the next twelve hours, the next few weeks, the rest of her life, she has to keep a force-field, like a shell, around herself and all her children. She turns her head away from Ellie’s house and looks up. The star that was shining so bright above her twinkles once, then disappears behind a cloud." Ugh, it's all so rough. I wanna wrap everybody in a soft blanket, Ellie, Beth, Alec, all the children, Maggie and Jocelyn, even mean Sharon and her poor kid. Wrap them up safe (and keep them out of the way while I off Joe Miller). . 3. The leaving of Claire Ripley- preseries, by a lot Takes place before claire and her husband meet. she's thirty or so, living with her grandma, more or less happy. In the town she was born in. Her friends are all getting married and having families-- she hasn't found the kind of man she wants to settle down with yet. She's looking for something more exciting than that.

She ends up dating a fellow who's kind of a small-time ecstasy dealer, but as she is more more successful at her salon and gets promoted, it makes him feel insecure.

One night he's selling more pills than normal, and she realizes that it's a cheap bad batch, gonna really hurt people, panics about how close she's been to the whole thing, ditches his pills, and runs away. For that, his family / employers put her grandma in the hospital. And tell her she has to leave town or else they'll do it again.

She tells her Grandma she's leaving, and her grandma gives her that pendant, the pendant she had been saving for her birthday. Claire thinks to herself that she's going to love that pendant out of both punishment and hope, and maybe one day give it to daughter of her own. Someone who really deserves it [again, reinforcing that she did care about Pippa, as much as she was able to care about anyone].

She finds that there's a woman selling a hair salon in Mercia, and she has just enough to buy that out of her savings from working salon in town, so she does, and she runs.

a week later she's on a plastic mattress, having forgotten to buy bedding, above the shop she now owns, bitterly ruing the day that she got in with the fella she got in with, and dreaming of a man she hasn't met yet. A strong man, an honest man, a man who works with his hands, a man muscular enough and sturdy enough to carry her upstairs throw her in bed and love her like she wants to be loved. Short, but kind of a wild ride. . 4. Thirteen hours- Alex Hardy- 17 July 2013 The day before Ellie gets back from vacation. (Or, comes back to work). The day before Danny is killed. Fuk. Hardy wakes at the traders, he's been there ten days. He takes his meds to settle his heart. "Hardy looks out over Broadchurch. Those huge cliffs everyone keeps telling him to go and look at glow amber in the distance; the sea is the same pale blue. He doesn’t like horizons. They make him feel agoraphobic, like nothing’s got edges, like everything could spill everywhere. “Now that the seagull’s gone, it’s too quiet. There is no noise apart from the chink and ting of breakfast things being laid out downstairs. You get the wrong kind of noise in the countryside. Hardy thrives on the white noise of the built environment, the comforting rumble of an A-road in the distance. He salivates at the thought of the hotel’s eggs Benedict but knows he should eat the wholegrain cereal in the dispenser, even though he’ll be charged the same price. What a waste, and a waste of police money, too. But that’s all to the good; it’s his own money he should be worrying about. Between the maintenance he pays Tess and Daisy and his other, secret expenses, he’s sliding into the red. Time now is measured in pounds and pennies as well as hours and days. “How much money he'll spend, how many nights he'll sleep in the traders..." It all depends on how quickly he can break Claire Ripley. This short story lays out the situation. Lays out his arrangement with Claire, it lays out the fact that he's doing this to punish himself and to solve the case and he doesn't feel like he can go home until he has done that. Much in the same way that, in the first collection of short stories, Ellie realized she couldn't go home to her actual house in Broadchurch without Tom, without Joe's case being done. The references to his physical state are just... He's drowning. It's so jarring after watching him halfway healthy at the end of series 2 finale. "Alec Hardy's heart skips a beat it can't afford to miss." "He's maybe half a mile from Claire's house, but the walk would ruin him for the rest of the day, and he needs the driver to get them back to Broadchurch." Something strange happened with Claire's phone, and now he's late to his shift, risking the only thing he has left, his career. "Someone behind them sounds their horn... Jolting him from anxiety into panic, and he has one of those micro crisis that happens two or three times a day now. He hasn't got time for this. What the hell is he doing? he was so sure this setup was the only way to save his sanity, but he now realizes it's just as likely to destroy it. it has put his career on the line again, and God knows his career is all he has left, now." Turns out, not that she admits to it but he puts together the pieces from observing, that Claire had herself a little tantrum and threw her phone and broke it. He's a little bit pleased by this, because it's the opportunity he needs to be able to get her a phone that he's paying for that he can monitor, under the guise of it being safer and more secure. he talks about the fact that she is suspicious, and he knows she's holding something back, that she is never the same person twice when he comes by, vacillating between very young, innocent, flirty, pouty, angry, blank.... He told her he'll be back by lunchtime with a new phone for her. " 'I've got to go, I do have another job apart from you.' “Claire nods, and Hardy wonders if she realizes just how loaded that statement is. Does she realize that she has the power to land him in the shit? Does she know what a huge transgression he has made? what he's doing is not a secret you could dump on anyone, not even your most trusted colleague. And D I Alec Hardy has no mates in Broadchurch nick." Then he heads back to the office. (there is a newspaper clipping up in the kitchen at the office, the headline is something like "copper run's 10K for charity", and it's Ellie dressed as a Bee doing a 10km fun run. just FYI. This is a thing that happened.)

Basically the whole story is just one shit-ass day in Hardy's life. His prescription runs out and he has to get a renewal, and ends up having to go pretty far abroad to get that renewal, Claire leaves the house to go get a phone herself and he catches wind when he goes to buy her a new phone and the guy mentions that someone have been there trying to do the same thing. Basically it just involves him traveling the city, fielding phone calls from one of the other detectives about some boys who stole some charity shop tins. He ends up successfully solving the case, nearly dying because of missing his medication, and ends the story worried that his boss is on to him already, that Claire will not behave right, and that today heralds Bad Things for his time in Broadchurch.

But he convinces himself today is just a blip, tomorrow they will charge some hoodlums with stealing Charity money from shops, and nothing more dramatic could possibly happen unless things get real violent at the egg and spoon race at field day at the school. He's exhausted, but he knows everything else to be done can be put off till tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better.. Oh you poor bastard.

That’s all, and I think that’s the last of the broadchurch-associated Official Publications.

(But also I’m high-key tempted to accquire the three-season box set and scour the cast interviews and commentaries and deleted scenes for additional stuff. because I have no chill over these people, apparently)

#Broadchurch #broadchurch resources #and in case readmore is still broken #long post

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stringed-dawas-blog · 5 years

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Turns out, it’s even

Turns out, it’s even more work.But what is most important is that I do not have regrets because I know what I am.I have nothing against sex work, having worked in the industry three times now, but I don’t like the idea of say my boyfriend's brother or housemate or one of my own family members opening a webpage to a moving image of my face mid-orgasm purely because well, I don’t think my family would support that decision.My chat room began to fill up and I started talking to a few guys in the group chat. "What can a member do to me? If he crosses a line or even if he is rude to me, I just click the mouse and stop it. The coach trained me on how to respond to different fetish requests, what to wear, how to do my makeup, how to pose, how to use the equipment, and just how to interact with clients in general. There is a wardrobe containing some of her clothes.Plenty are willing — particularly Americans, who for whatever reasons (Anna chalks it up to a sort of cultural shamelessness), are more "generous" than Europeans, and more likely to buy into the act — and pay for the privilege of watching something interactive.That's a tough stab at making a living, even with your clothes on.I also did yoga, livepainting with my back to the webcam in only a thong. It's easy enough to read up on pointers from veterans.Sometimes self-regulation regarding finances is the best option for some people: Ive been treated better and more fairly as a Cam Girl and nude model than I was in my last retail job where I, no word of a lie, got fired for looking sad. But there's really nothing exotic about Anna. Their loved ones definitely know this is what they're doing for a living.

Why do you think some men, and probably women as well, prefer it to porn?Her conditions at the next studio were bare at best, and at times the most personal privacy she had, while performing for strangers on live camera, were a few hanging sheets separating her from the others walking in and out of some rundown flat. I also did yoga, livepainting with my back to the webcam in only a thong. The MFC ratings battle is ruthless, as tips beget more tips: if you're being paid well, you move up the totem pole, ensuring a snowball effect of even more attention and money.Lana is a graduate who worked in real estate until the global economic crash of 2008 plunged Romania into recession. What I found out was a self discovery as much as a way of sticking it to my friend. Granted, minimum wage in America is $7.25 per hour, which is a far cry from $10, but that's still a hell of a lot better than a 40-hour work week. These women are being forced to do something they don't want to do. Basically you get to be your sex-positive self to your full potential.But that also depends on what the webcam model is like and also what the person paying is like because everyone wants something different.She started in the German porn game at 17, and moved on to cam modelling years later in Bangkok. Another camgirl, Heidi, 23, has bright blue hair and once sat on a kitchen bench and painted herself while more than 40 men – paying customers - tuned in to watch. The next step is prostitution. I see that now.It's a massive catalogue of preening women of every variety: big, skeletal, black, white, Asian, American, Greek, Czech, etc.

There's not much point in digging, anyway — Domino is, for my purposes, more a brand and personality than a fragile and finite person like you or me. I've never felt like I had to do that, but then again, it's the same when people stay in the wrong job for so long because they're scared of leaving and losing that financial security. To investigate, I visited the biggest camming studio in the US, Studio 20 in Hollywood. She hopped from studio to studio, at times living with her employers (and their unwanted advances), still far enough from self-sufficiency that she had to depend on them for support. Maybe a friend suggested you try it out. She went on to work as a prostitute in Germany, until she found the courage to return to Bucharest and a new life. Inside the building, Studio 20 occupies the first and second floors. Maybe you're working in a brothel where web camming is just another expectation. But we sell our souls for money all the time, why not our body? Why wouldn't you have a bit of sexual fun at the same time?For my first show I applied some makeup, did my hair and put on a deep v-neck leotard. I had the opportunity to watch her cam, and I realized that she has a persona when she’s camming—in the same way that a lot of media people do. It's just personally what I want to do. As people have started watching and uploading porn on tube sites for free, the days of big-budget porn and making a lot of money as a porn star are fading away. Thats usually how these things go.

CONTINUED BELOW...

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jahishon · 5 years

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In 2019, I made a goal to start putting my content skills to better use. Giving a home to the photos that overload my phone and getting my crazy thoughts out of my head. ( the thoughts include swear words. Consider this your WARNING! Sorry Mum!)

For those that don’t know me, I am Jennifa, a thirtyish gypsy who recently moved to from Ontario to Halifax, Nova Scotia. My partner got his dream job, so we decided to move our two children across the country on the pursuit of happiness and Cannabis.

I have the privilege of having too much time on my hands, having quit my job to stay home with my babies. This has given me the opportunity to explore my new city, talk to random strangers and see cool shit.

9 THINGS THAT HAVE STOOD OUT TO SOME RANDOM GIRL FROM ONTARIO.

9 – EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT YET THE SAME-

I feel like I did TONS of research, on what it takes to move 4 people from point A to point B. I took into consideration normal things, I believed would come in handy. From finding a new home, registering my kid in school, Insurance, ETC. But nothing will ever prepare you, for feeling like a complete moron, getting lost 24/7 and causing a lot of scenes.

For the record, I would like to say I am medium in the planning and organizing department. I really, really try, but sometimes I fall short in this department of being an adult.

So, I may have overlooked a few things in the move….Such as the first day of school. For the record no one directly told me the date . And I know you are thinking, “isn’t that important Information”?! Well it is, but I assumed it would be the same. The day after labour day, Kids across the country go to school.

We showed up at school bright and early, on time . For a tiny second, I was proud of us… WRONG DAY. A teacher in the parking lot; told us, school in fact started the next day. The Wednesday after the LABOUR DAY!

This moment will never be forgotten. As much as you can plan every detail of life, you can miss somethings. We need to have space in our life for these moments. We need to laugh at the fuck up and move on. Lesson learned. TRIPLE CHECK DATES. WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN. BE A GOOD GROWN-UP!

The Maritimes is a very distinct place in Canada. They have a different landscape, culture, weather, attitude. When we left Ontario, I didn’t realize we were leaving a huge part of what we were comfortable doing. Our brains in “autopilot”.

I can now say, things have settled down and I am in the driver seat ready for what is next. Change is good, we just need to be open and I don’t get lost as much.

8-LAND OF THE DOUBLE DOUBLE-

Tim Horton, must have been from Nova Scotia.

I think all Canadians love the coffee of our homeland. Tim’s is even MORE loved here. The Scotians, have additional language for their coffees. This is something, I have not even experienced in Orillia, ON, (which I thought was the Tim Horton Capital)

So I think, we all know a DOUBLE, DOUBLE and TRIPLE, TRIPLE…

HAVE YOU HEARD of the DOUBLE SINGLE?

Two cream, one sugar. WORD…

7-DONAIR-

Nova scotia loves donair. FYI: Donair is a meat. You can find in a wrap, on a plate, pizza, or egg roll. I have even seen on a DONAIR cupcake on TV. (I am just really into the sauce. It comes in a CUP!

DONAIR SAUCE goes with the meat. It’s soooo fucking good. Dipping pizza in it….is LIFE CHANGING.

I am currently on a pizza jurney, ordering pizza from a new shop each chance I get. There are a TON of pizza shops. All privately owned and amazing!!!! I would not even eat dominos again, if you paid for it.

6- PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY NICE-

Soo, what the FUCK is your problem ONTARIO?! Just kidding 😆

Get this, random people will smile and say hello to you in the streets, elevator and stores. EVEN if they don’t know YOU!!!! Crazy right!?

I can sense that people genuinely care about each here, they are nice, just because. There is no reason, no motive. They are just KIND. It’s a simple fact that the entire province, loves the Pittsburgh Penguins, only because Mr. Crosby is the CAPTAIN.

I guess I feel the warmth of the people, because I am loner.You know those weird people that talk to you for no reason in public. And you think…whhhyyyy me?! Well, I have become that annoying person…

Lucky for me, people enjoy having random conversations about nothing all the time. They will even start one with me out of nowhere, it does help my baby is the cutest ever.People have been so kind to me,

I make friends all the time. Especially when I take the bus; simple smiles and conversations. It is nice to be acknowledged by someone. It can turn a really annoying long bus ride with an out of control toddler, into bearable.

Without going too deep, maybe you have felt this if you have lost someone. When I talk to a Senior; that would’ve been my grandparents age. I feel them with me. That connection may seem crazy, but it helps with being homesick in a weird way.

So, talk to weird-o’s, like me and the 90-year-old at the grocery store, because you should. WHY NOT? Are you to cool to to talk about nothing?

5-WEATHER-

I have become an avid weather watcher these days. The weather predictions here are very accurate for the most part, thank you CTV Atlantic. When they say it’s going to rain like crazy… it rains HARD and at almost the exact time they say it will. You actually need to purchase proper equipment to handle the weather here. Like umbrellas and raincoats!

As for the winter, I was warned from everyone about it. WELL , I am still waiting for the bad shit to arrive. I mean it is wintery but nowhere near as bad as I thought, (I have most likely cursed myself). Or being from the Snow belt of Ontario has really prepared me to face CANADIAN WINTERS.

I have a feeling this bad winter weather curse, is really a trick to keep the others out. Ssshhh don’t tell anyone. Apparently, it is longer, then Ontario’s but we will see, it is March.

New Brunswick, different story. Go there for the SNOW! And a true CANADIAN winter if you DARE.

4-CULTURE!!!!!-

NO offence, Barrie, but culture does not really exist here. I mean, you try. However, you will always be to me, the white trash capital of Ontario. I can say this, because I am from HERE. I escaped, but Barrie has shaped me into the white trash gypsy I am today. And for the record, in my new chapter, I say I am from, North of TORONTO. It’s weird because a lot of people know, Barrie too well. So it will never leave me.

Now back to CULTURE, it’s very beautiful to see all different types of people, cultures living in one place. I love it. I love to people watch (not stare), and I truly believe our differences can really bring us closer.

My son has more knowledge of other cultures than I ever did, till maybe University (I was dumb). At almost 8 years old. My son has a classroom of friends that speak languages, other than English. The children learn and grow together and share about their faiths and cultures. My son knows, that some people believe in Allah, as their god. And some families speak Arabic at home, or Mandarin.

FACT: Our friend just celebrated the Lunar New year. The school shared the importance removing “Chinese” from the phrase. This is because in fact many Asian cultures celebrated this holiday, not just CHINA. DUH!

mind blown…Barrie Jennifa says THANK YOU!!!!!

3-CANADA’S WORST DRIVERS LIVE HERE-

They really do, me included. A lot of the drivers make me look good on a regular basis. I tend to naturally drive like a 98 year old with road rage. The things I have seen, keep it real and hands are always at ten and two.

The roundabouts are interesting for me, considering Park Place is a mini roundabout; and my only first hand experience. I have had to learn how these “real” roundabouts go. I believe the best way to approach them, is the “follower” approach and copy the car directly beside you .( if you can) And yell OH FUCK , WHILE you do it. You should be fine.

Highways: the exit lanes are the same as the entrance lanes here…and NO lights , it’s dark. 😒

It seems for the most part, people do what they want, when they want while driving motorized vehicles. SO move bitch, get out the WAY!

2- CANADA IS BEAUTIFUL-

Duhh, right… I honestly had not seen the true beauty of Canada, until recently. I mean Ontario, is pretty medium when you compare it, to what’s on either side if the coast. Before this past summer I had never made it past the Eastern Townships in Quebec. FUN FACT: The first time I ever visited the East coast, was when I moved my family here in August.

The east coast is stunning, I try and capture the landscape, my phone can’t even do it justice. The historical and environmental views can take your breath away. Literally, its’ windy as fuck here.

I love this amazing country even more, I feel prouder to be Canadian in a non-weird cheesy way. Having had the opportunity to see and show my children the other provinces that make up our great country. New Brunswick, PEI, I see you other beautiful places. (NFND to come)

Grade 9 geography comes to life, it’s magical. I encourage ALL CANADIANS to travel within our country; at one point in your life. You will not be disappointed.

1-CALL YOUR MUM , DAD, FRIEND……FIRST!!! –

Don’t wait for them to call or message because it’s not your turn or whatever bullshit you feed yourself.

I did it too, trust me. I actually don’t really like talking on the phone, it can be annoying. Hearing someone’s voice you love, is something very special. It has taken me a move across the country, to stop being an asshole and pick up the dang phone from time to time

When you think of someone you love, I believe, it is the universe telling that you are lucky enough to have these amazing people in your life. Like your Best friend or Mum. There are so many ways to connect but we are lazy or just waiting for the other person to do it, but they are waiting for YOU!

An unexpected text or phone call from an old friend is a magical thing. It makes your heart smile and can change your day or even week. We live at a time with greatest ability to connect to the people we love, however, many of us feel lonely. Stop being an asshole and call your mum, I know she would love to hear your voice.

Events happen in our journeys at different time for different reasons. I am very grateful for where my journey has taken me and looking forward to what is next.

I am accepting new friend applications- HOLLA At your girl – MUST LIVE IN NOVA-

.the nova way. In 2019, I made a goal to start putting my content skills to better use. Giving a home to the photos that overload my phone and getting my crazy thoughts out of my head.

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miranda-postgrad · 5 years

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Mitski Concert @ Union Transfer 11.18.2018

I had the immense privilege of attending my first Mitski concert last Sunday. After completing a good chunk of homework and suddenly being free after my scheduled dance rehearsal was rescheduled to Friday night instead of Sunday night, I jumped on the last opportunity to buy a ticket off a friend of a friend. My friend had offered me the ticket a week before, but I was so stressed out about nursing school stuff that I had said no at the time. Thankfully, the ticket was still available, and I grabbed it and went to the concert.

If you listen to my music podcast/radio show, then you know I’m a huge fan of Mitski. She ranks among my absolute favorite artists, and her music has been formative throughout my life events. I first followed her when my uncle shared a Pitchfork article about up-and-coming Asian American female artists back in 2014. (As an early fan follower, I’m proud to say that Mitski follows me on Twitter!!!) Ever since then, I’ve enjoyed watching her career and fame quite literally sky rocket. Soon it seemed like if you were any combination of: female, liberal, queer, Asian American, emo, indie rock fan, poetry lover, angsty, chances were high that you loved Mitski too.

Let me say that a live Mitski concert is not to be missed. I know, I know, I’ve missed plenty of her concerts while in undergrad whether it was my own dance performance or an upcoming exam/project. I think a part of me just wanted to bask in Mitski’s voice alone and away from the millions of other Bryn Mawr students who were also fans. If I’m being completely honest with myself, Mitski music is best enjoyed when alone because a lot of the lyrics are about being alone. Lucky me -- I was alone that night. This was my first concert I paid for that I attended alone. I sang along to all the new and old songs as loud as I wanted and held back emotional tears that no one would care to see anyway. I didn’t have to worry if my companion was having just as much fun as I was and didn’t have to make small talk if I didn’t know my companion that well. All I wanted to do was get up on that stage and join in on Mitski’s interpretive dances.

--------------------------------

Something else that’s also been on my mind lately is the “Asian American sound.”

A few weeks ago, I attended the Music of Asian America Conference in Philadelphia (I also performed with my Filipino dance group at this conference). One of the academic papers being presented was by Dan Wang (University of Pittsburgh) on “What is an Asian American style? Superorganism in the Assimilated Public.” Superorganism could justifiably be in its own separate genre, but Wang questioned whether it was possible for Asian American to recognize each other in public without the visual appearance of being Asian American. Was there an “Asian American sound” that could just be heard but not seen? Wang argued that there was not such a sound using Superorganism as the evidence. I wish I remember more about his paper, but I was too caught up in my own thoughts of whether there was an “Asian American sound.”

I agree that there's no “Asian American sound.” But there's an "Asian American listening experience." It is not heard, nor seen. It is felt.

By being made aware of the fact that this music is a product of an Asian American artist, other Asian Americans “recognize” it as their own by projecting their own lived experiences onto that work of art, assuming (perhaps falsely) that the creator also shared those experiences simply by also being Asian American in America. Therefore, it is harder for Asian American artists to cleanly disassociate their identities from their art when their Asian American audience may actually want to make these connections. These associations can be both negative and positive for the artist. Americans supposedly cannot distinguish Asians from other Asians, so where is the uniqueness and due respect/recognition when some other Asian American artist comes along and is by default compared to the next Asian American artist? Ever wonder why Zhu is so hush-hush about his identity?

“Mitski Is Much More Than Another Sad Asian American Girl”

“But in the lead-up to Be The Cowboy, Mitski consistently rejected the notion that she should be elevated as some kind of spokesperson for her race or gender. “My lyrics are about being fucked up,” she told GQ. “I'm not a Power Ranger. I've been stronger than I'm expected to be because I'm a woman. I'm weak and I'm not allowed to be, because then I lose my ability to control my destiny or whatever. Also, I'm Asian so suddenly I also have to be every single Asian woman. Which is half the world.” She seemed to recognize and mistrust the forces that make celebrities and idols and archetypes and role models out of regular people, just because they wrote a song, and the way that those forces would cynically diminish her art and the art of others out of convenience.”

“I don’t assume I’m going to be okay, and maybe that’s who I am because maybe it’s being an Asian woman, but I’m very aware of the fact that my position in the world is not secure,” she says, “I have to secure it for myself.”

It’s okay for music to be interpreted and reclaimed in a way not originally intended by the original creator. It’s not okay for the creator to feel like they must conform to what their listeners want or how they think. Mitski is one of a kind, and she does it wonderfully.

#mitski #asian #asian american #music #be the cowboy #indie #indie rock #rock #concerts #union transfer #art

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perfectackeracy · 6 years

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Shingeki no Kyojin chapter 99 review (+ theories)

This is it: the beginning of the end.

This chapter kickstarts the current objectives of the warriors through Zeke’s plan and Eren’s intrusion at the festival. Throughout the chapter, there was a current feeling of uneasiness running through my spine. I knew this chapter wasn’t going to be pleasant, but I really fear someone is going to die next chapter. Be it Falco who lived his usefulness to Eren, Pieck or Porco who fell into a trap by some sort of mysterious enemy, or anybody in the crowd.

Why yes, I feel that at the end of chapter 100, several people are going to pull out their titan form. Welcome to the Eldian wars 2.0!

Content-wise, it was rich: the true History of the world came to light, so did Eren’s identity. The situation of the deceased or dying warriors’ parents was revealed, Pieck’s unit has a fanclub, some mysterious soldier has been spotted and the warriors are currently being targeted.

Eren and Reiner’s meeting

Before the play

During the speech

The History of the World

Summary

Follow me under the cut!

Not doing any WTF CR because we all know there’s a grammatical fuckup elsewhere that gets fixed in the Kodansha version.

Eren and Reiner’s meeting

Eren rubbing salt in Reiner’s wounds - Ch. 99

That was my worst fear from last month and it turned out to be more awful than I thought: what Eren is doing is not only preventing Reiner to pull out his titan: he’s holding the Marleans in the building as hostages and making Reiner listen to the whole story, just to give him a taste of his own medicine.

The chapter doesn’t start immediately on their dialogue. As unexpected as it was, we’ve got a flashback continuing from Bertolt’s theory about that hanged man. It ended on Bertolt’s gut telling the hanged man wanted some judgement on his actions, right when we’re cutting back to the present time. That still doesn’t confirm whether Reiner or Annie killed the hanged man, but it nails us on Bertolt’s interpretation being correct and Reiner becoming this man for a short moment. Before being found dead, he told the warrior trio his sin: running away and leaving up three kids. This is what Reiner did on a bigger scale: he left his three companions on Paradis, and he’s constantly fearing someone might come at him for that. That’s why Reiner kept torturing himself over unconsciously helping Eren up. That’s why he tried to kill himself two chapters ago. And now that Eren is right in front of him, he’s having a mental breakdown, trembling and shaking.

Reiner losing control - Ch. 99

Eren, well, as I suspected, didn’t let his rage go. I’m very pleased with what Isayama is doing with him as an antagonist. First of all, he doesn’t let suspicions up and is exploiting Falco’s naivety, so he can become his aide. Then, upset at his grandpa because he asked Eren to leave Falco alone, he brought up his regrets, as a jab against him. Lastly, in this chapter, he’s parroting Reiner’s previous wishes (making it home) and words (“We were only children, we didn’t know anything”) as a twist of the knife in the wound, while holding him and Falco hostages and implying the reason as to why he came here (wiping all his enemies out).

Such hatred in his eyes – Ch. 99

He doesn’t let out a single sweat drop, not even after Willy’s extra lines. He’s pretty much determined. I couldn’t help but think he was pissed to be ratted out like that, but that just means he’s going to unleash the rage of his titan very soon. Of course, the whole history doesn’t come at any surprise to him: he got it from Grisha’s memories and Kruger’s. The history, the Great War, the king fleeing to Paradis, the reason why Marley sent warriors on Paradis… the extra segment however was supported by two sources: Dina’s testimony about her line disagreeing with Karl Fritz’s and… this.

“How dare she tell me to bow down like that?“ - Ch. 90

Now we’ve got an explanation for Eren’s reaction in chapter 90. The words said on stage were Karl Fritz’ vow, heard four years ago from Frieda’s mouth. Frieda was basically telling Grisha to accept their fate, because no one can atone enough for the sins Paradis went through. Grisha and Eren, whose mindset was incompatible with the King’s got pissed and swore revenge on the ones humiliating them: be it the King, Marley or the whole world. That’s how they intend to regain their dignity but doing so would wake the Eldian Empire up. No matter how advances technology is now, the threat of wall titans steamrolling the world is real.

My only wish for Eren at this point is to become… fucking brutal. Throughout his journey on Paradis, he was mostly kidnapped and was often assisted in his battles. Now that he awoken the Coordinate, I’m pretty much expecting him to steamroll a whole crowd with his titan limbs alone. I want his threat in chapter 90 to have weight or else he’s going to be just a joke instead of a lethal joke who should’ve never been granted divine powers.

Before the play

The actors’ lodge - Ch. 99

Willy’s personality gets even more fleshed as, not only a charismatic man, but a nervous one. To be frank, in his situation, anybody would be: he was about to reveal the truth to the whole world, with a high chance of failure if he wasn’t convincing enough. That and adding the truth according to the memories inherited by the Tybur family puts on more weight.

Kiyomi cheering for Willy - Ch. 99

It was nice to see that the Asian lady, Kiyomi Azumabito, came to encourage him. I didn’t expect her to gain any more relevance after her incident with Udo, but it turns out that yes. And while she remains polite she doesn’t seem to support Marley fully, aware that the contents of the play are made to restore the Eldians’ dignity. She knows they’re treated like dirt. She doesn’t need to hear more: her visit is over.

Another surprise from the side of the privileged guests:

This man - Ch. 99

Seriously, it’s been years we were waiting for him and he’s finally appearing in the flesh. Annie’s father. The main reason why she wanted to come back. And the only resemblance they share is the size (he’s smaller than Karina) and the eye shape. He’s walking with a cane which is pretty like Annie’s story in her VN. I guess it’s considered as canon evidence, then? He’s living up to his prestige, but still pretty much in denial about his daughter not coming back. I guess that solidifies the possibility that Annie’s crystal is a death seal, then.

Also, can Bertolt’s family get any more depressing? We’ve got indications of his family and one of his parents (referred as male in the CR translation) was bedridden and passed away. The popular theory is Bertolt becoming an honorary Marlean to help his sick parent at first. That would imply he was a Gabi-type of prodigy: the ones you don’t see for decades. It’s likely they passed away, giving up any hopes their son would show up again. I’d still love to have a picture though. Maybe in a future flashback, because the families met for Reiner’s return from Paradis, alone.

I gotta add: the Hoovers and the Leonharts are the perfect representations of their fanbase. Papa Leonhart deeply believes Annie is alive and is desperate for her return with every day passing, while Hoover-san was proud of his caring son and ended up dying (inside and out).

The warriors’ on their seats - Ch. 99

We also have a look at the general assembly. The army, the politicians, the diplomats… everybody assisted at Willy’s public declaration. With many people of importance, the security must be airtight. Indeed, it’s the perfect opportunity to launch an attack and make a maximum of damages.

And then the curtain rises, things are already off…

During the speech

The end of the original speech - Ch. 99

Just as the curtain rose, the cadets noticed Reiner and Falco’s absence. And shortly after that, some mysterious soldier appears to separate the warriors from the main scene. Clearly, this can’t be a coincidence: Eren wanted Reiner to listen to the speech in a basement full of people, this soldier appears as the trumpets were blown to separate Zeke, Pieck and Porco from the cadets. The latter is a signal. It’s a coup planned. By who is an excellent question.

Magath ordered reports from the most insignificant anomaly because his suspicions were high as soon as Zeke warned him about Eren. And not just Eren: the same “mice” from his colony. General Calvi was quickly alerted at the end of Willy’s speech.

Then, this fake soldier called Zeke “Yeager” and ordered him to go at the front gate. Pieck recognizing him and Zeke being called that way already ticked these two off. Something is up.

Pieck’s panzer unit - Ch. 99

And because something is up, Pieck let a warning sign to her dear panzer unit. Best girl has a fanclub even in this dark, dark world. That’s lovely. What I noticed is this soldier trapping Porco and Pieck right before Willy begins his second and unexpected segment. The one ratting Eren publicly and explicitly.

My question is: who is Eren’s ally? Someone from Paradis or someone from Kruger’s old network of restorationists?

I still have trouble believing it’s someone from Paradis. Namely someone from the SC. Many people argued about him being Connie, but considering how people grow in this manga, you can’t expect him to be suddenly 20 cm taller in four years, when the growth spurt goes at 4 cm at best. Besides, it’s not the correct eye color. Connie has lighter eyes; this guy has darker eyes. Plus joining Eren at this point implies he would’ve gotten some edge during the timeskip and that guard feels very OOC for him.

It’s hard to think it can be someone from Paradis at all: until the whole colonization of Paradis took place, their inhabitants had no contact with the outside world. And even then, the island is isolated. You can’t just enter the country and organize a plan with tight surveillance around when you barely know how the underground networks in Marley function. Even the warriors needed some time before acting. The SC? They’re a mess: it’s going to be hard for Eren to find people in there who agree with him. The only exception I can see is Levi because it gives him an excuse to die. Otherwise, with Hange at command, fat chances.

The best bet is someone from Kruger’s old network. I doubt the restorationist movement died with how Marley treats Eldians, currently. The last purge with Grisha made it more quiet, but some people just wait for the messiah to come back to deliver them and make Eldia great again. What if this person was the one piloting one of the missing ships and simply took Eren with him? He doesn’t even have to report his arrival. Just sail somewhere where he can’t be found. The only hints I have of him belonging to the restorationists are A) calling Zeke “Yeager” because Zeke is well-known for destroying their movement 20 years ago, on top of being their former leader’s son and B) Him having no interest to chat with the Eldians, as a reflection of Marley’s mentality on Eldians in the restorationists’ point of view.

I’m willing to buy the hypothesis Eren found his own fanclub, thirsting on freedom and restoring Eldia’s pride. Would be an interesting turn of events to see Eren becoming the leader of his own party.

Lastly, I want to talk about the contents of Willy’s piece itself.

The History of the World

King Karl Fritz CXLV - Ch. 99

From Zeke’s plan, Willy originally had to mention about how much of a threat the island of Paradis was, so the reputation of Eldians would be preserved. However, there was one pebble slipping in Zeke’s plan while he was making an announcement: Eren. Hence why Zeke modified the plan with Magath’s help, to target his younger brother, specifically.

The play goes exactly as the books say: the Eldian Empire rose from Ymir Fritz’s ascension to power and escalated to the Great War after subjecting the world and inflict damages upon damages, with an extremely high body count from two thousand years ago: three times the current human population. Then, the houses holding each titan power began to fight each other for dominance.

What the books didn’t mention is how the civil war began. The first part of the play told us the legend of Helos: the Marlean hero who trampled the houses and made them destroy each other. He joined himself to the Tybur family and exiled Karl Fritz on Paradis. You have some symbolism between the legend and the reality: the reality features Magath, the new Helos, and Willy, the Tybur, fighting hand to hand to change Marley’s future and improve Eldians’ lives, through interior renovations. Add Zeke Fritz Yeager -who didn’t need to be tamed, he joined hands with these two- to the mix and you have the Peace trio (ZMW).

As the story goes, King Fritz took as many Eldians as he could and retreated to Paradis, where he forged the present society of the walls with his giant titans. Willy’s concluding his speech on a flashforward to the present. He omitted the part where the restorationists tried to crush Marley.

Willy taking a break - Ch. 99

Of course, he’s saving it for the second part.

The second part, the truth, is revealed to the world. The one saying King Karl Fritz CXLV gave up on the Eldian Empire. He took pity of the oppressed, conspired with the Tyburs and gave up on his functions, to live a life with his people on Paradis, to atone for his sins, and enjoy his peace with people who knew nothing of the world, enclosed in these walls till either his power gets taken away or the people inside the walls die.

“Along with the liberation of Marley from its many years of persecution. If Marley grows strong and attempts to take the lives of the royal family or its Founding Titan… I will accept it. If Marley wishes to exterminate all Eldians… I will accept it. That is how the Eldians’ crimes were. They could never be atoned for. Eldians… Titans… They never should have existed in the first place. I will accept the responsibility of righting this wrong. But. Until the day that this retribution comes, I want to live inside the walls… I want to enjoy this brief paradise, this world without conflict. Please, I ask that you only grant me this.”

He’s kinda like a saint. Except he’s condemning now ignorant people to death, these “fools” unaware of their past sins. And this is where he clashes with the beliefs of the Attack Titan, who would never accept such a thing: Kruger didn’t consider him as a true king because he abandoned his people, Grisha neither and he ended up eating Frieda and killing the whole Reiss family, Eren even less and that’s why he’s here.

The other people have trouble swallowing this. Reiner is aware of this because of the Tybur’s information and Annie’s infiltration job. Gabi and the others are quite shocked by that, so is Karina. Calvi is staring at the scene without frowning his eyebrows while other diplomats like Ogweno are perturbed. The chapter ends on Willy pointing out the real threat: the current holder of the Attack and Founding titans, Eren Yeager. He’s now framed as the world’s public enemy and can no longer hide in safety. Zeke cornered him all along.

The reason why Willy revealed Karl Fritz’s agenda is to paint him in a positive light, because his goals align with the world’s and the Mainland Eldians’ for atoning for their sins in war. However, it was only a matter of time before a bunch of people become so dissatisfied with his choice, they’re choosing to face the world, to stand up against it.

Summary

I find this clash of ideologies interesting. The King had initially good intentions, but the population would meet the enemy with utter incomprehension and clash with it. Zeke commented the King unfortunately played his people like a fiddle. Kruger, Grisha and Dina found the King shameful for abandoning its people outside and keeping them ignorant inside. Meanwhile, you have Marley who grew power-hungry and built its empire on the remnant of their Eldian soldiers and titan powers at disposition. While 6 -7 with the Attack- of the 9 houses were no more, it was their main weapon to crush their enemies. It even came to the point where they need to crush Paradis to gain resources. The Mainland Eldians accept their fate as a way of atonement and some are happy with it, despite Marley turning into the oppressor. Of course, Magath isn’t happy with it and wishes to reform the army. Willy also wishes to advance things and try to improve the Mainland Eldians’ lives. Zeke, the warchief, helps them. The third party is the restorationists, sick of being treated like martyrs and having to bow like dogs in front of their masters, so they conspire to overthrow the authority and honor their freedom, completely ignoring why they are in this situation. Of course, Zeke denounced them before they even tempted anything, but Paradis had to pay for it instead. And now Marley is under threat.

Considering what might happen… a Clash of Titans 2.0? Eren has now a couple of witnesses who spotted him and Falco became more than inconvenient. Wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to kill him. Him positioning just in the backstage is of no coincidence, especially when the warriors are separated. If anything, I think Eren is trying to kill/eat Willy. That’s the most reasonable conclusion I can make. He knows Reiner isn’t going to attempt anything because of the innocent civilians above their heads.

Listed the key points here.

Can you feel the death toll rising for next chapter? I sure can.

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chaoticlamphoagietaco · 3 years

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Dance post

I remember this one interview that I had around my junior to senior year,

It was impromptu and short, but some things really stuck with me, and I can’t seem to figure out why.

If I recall, he asked me about the characters I played, and how I felt about them...

I remember playing roles of malevolence, evil, or corrupt. In mike Esperanza I was this weird cropper, in a senior piece I was a demon, in another I was a crack addict, in another I wa...

I remember not realizing and even know still not seeing the collection of roles I played. Was I experiencing covert racism, and I didn’t have the words to say it? Was I blind to the racism the faculty perpetuated on me? I remember being both like I had been punched and squeezed real tight, like I just couldn’t make sense of the situation. I started to repress this, and I think that’s why I went to sociology... maybe my subconscious wanted to understand the issues I was facings, because others had callled out the faculty, but I was so blind to everything because of my male privilege, maybe I accept this racism because I was given a male pedastal, but how far did that pedestal reach? It did go far, even as a male student I went to nyc twice, dc, va, and by junior year pretty professional, I was on my way. But I must have seemed selfish to my faculty, tiffanie had made me the star of one of her pieces, and I said nothing back to her, not even thank you. But I had spent so many years watching her pieces , working with her even as a freshmen, and by the time I was in her piece it was conditional. It wasn’t the same music we both loved like James Blake’s or James Vincent, and I think we missed each other in communication. I was bad at communicating, and my senior group piece had been cut for a number of reasons. I used masks in my piece, and she decided to incorporate that into her piece that I was the lead in.... was she trying to work with me on a piece without me realizing or was she leveraging my own ideas for her own success? Now it’s too late to understand, even asking it would be hard to tell, she’s done it probably five times over by now.... but male privilege and covert racism, I mean covert is always hard to snuff out... I had definitely evil characters but I also had opportunities that some people actually never had and never will have. Faculty changed and I’m not sure if they even take students outside of VA.....I guess my faculty was so diverse I thought racism couldn’t affect me.... the white teachers were lesbians, the others were Asian, the Spanish teacher gave me a chance, and the only white teacher was the one who sent me to nyc twice.... I guess it was also the others in the room talking about the injustice, no my roommate didn’t feel or rather we didn’t discuss racism and we didn’t feel burdened because of our scholarship. But my female friends had a completely different life, one was bigger and was ruthlessly denied and scolded for it, one was asked to play a dog and she was black, and one felt that she wasn’t offered pieces because of her skin..... I saw in front my eyes opal keast once being told not to eat....

it’s weird because the classes above me or the seniors and juniors above me that were black didn’t speak of racism, just rather lack of diversity. Maybe I didn’t hear them clearly before I entered sociology, but my recollection of their experience was bright. One black student went back home and is slowly making an empire, others went back home and are still dancing, but I wonder if I had. A conversation with them, would they feel like they experienced racism within the faculty. Obviously living in VA it’s going to be around u in the people, but I really don’t recall someone saying I didn’t get in this piece because I was black! You know? But people in my class, or people under me as well... although weight was still an issue both times..,, the girl called a dog became a nurse, the other transferred to Ailey, another male or who fucked around with transferred to Joffrey, and the other one below me i don’t see anymore so I think he transferred, for my classmate that I also fucked that was in my class I know he graduated, but again I didn’t hear him say he experienced racism either. I doubt he would even say that if I tried and asked..... so we’re they racist? Or were they sexist? Or were they just blind to societal changes in the south? I feel a clearing.... maybe

Maybe they were sexist, but didn’t realize it, maybe they were slightly racist and dint see it. Maybe they were, or are becoming more racist and didn’t see it. I had evil characters, I also traveled to NYC that 4 out of 60 kids went too, I am seeing things differently.... was it racism or lack of diversity? Was my dance experience at SU bad or good? Was I being categorized by my race or just by my sex? Was I being used just by being a male, but slowly worked my way up? Was I just sexual in nature and they didn’t know how to utilize that? Did I get into deviant behavior, and that was used in a way I didn’t like? Hmmm I’m going to try to honor SU more... because you can’t blame the faculty for the environment around them... lus change happens slow, sexism is a touchy subject, when dancing has taught us being a stick is what you need to be, but they made valiant attempts to make sure I was suited for success. I stipend that fit me, until I double majored, travel opportunities, choreographic opportunities, I mean they gave me a lot of things to be successful, did I experience racism or sexism? I think I experienced sexism and that’s hard to work with... was it just the times and they needed to understand that a man doesn’t just partner a female? Or that financially, I was completely different that females? Or that no matter if I gained any weight, I know I wouldn’t be in any hardship for it?

I concur feeling remorseful for my SU days, knowing that the school was sexist, and the racist parts I experienced was not from the faculty but from people attending the school and the south environment in VA. I concur that I was a part of reason me too movement started, and that I was sexist for not saying anything to faculty regarding women’s weight and my scholarship. I guess when I had to resubmit scholarship for sociology, and I took out more loans, I felt I was more equal to them, but that was a facade. Man my life feels so scripted....

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smokeybrand · 3 years

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California State of Mind

I grew up in Meadowview, which was kind of a melting pot of a neighborhood, in a melting pot of a state. My first grade class was filled with every ethnicity you can imagine. White, Asian, Black, Indian, Mexican, and a few islanders. I say islanders because they ran the gambit from Hawaiian to Samoan to Tongan to Fijian and even a few Haitians We also had a couple Portuguese in there, too. Like, Meadowview had a surprisingly large Portuguese community. Looking back, that sh*t is kind of staggering how many of them there were. I didn't notice as a kid because who cares but, looking back as an adult, it was really a substantial amount. But this crop of kids, that first grade class, would be people i would call peers for the next twelve years of my life. Some of them, even more so. My best friend from grade school was an Asian kid named Peter. We used to larp out in the football field during recess and wanted to make games together. How big of a geek was I that I wanted to make video games with my best friend at eight years old? I used to go to his house and play DnD with him. Our other friend, Trevero, has a crush on Pete's older sister. It was weird. This was LONG before i met B, which is weird because he literally went to the elementary school a street over. It's odd how segregated we are as kids until we're not. It's like we were exposed to the world in incremental stages, which leads me to the next step in my exposure; The seventh grade.

When i got to seventh grade, i went to a different middle school than most of my classmates. I said farewell to these kids i spent my entire life with up to that point, and got bused to the rich middle school because the one in my neighborhood had a bad reputation. Surprisingly, that didn't matter because i was still put in remedial classes anyway. When i left grade school, i was doing algebra. Everyone thought this particular middle school would facilitate that but, because i bused in from the ghetto, they did not. It was mad surreal doing sh*t i had already mastered in, like, the second grade, because motherf*ckers thought less of me. For living in a poorer neighborhood. Still, Sam Brannan was good to me. I met a lot of dope motherf*ckers that i still talk to today. More to the point, this school as chock full of Asian kids. Like, SO many, man. It was insane how many Asians were in this joint. I mean, there were other kids, of course, but the vast majority of that school's student body was definitely Asian. Coming from my grade school where they were the minority, seeing this many Asian kids was captivating. I made friends with a lot of people that I didn't think i would ever have the opportunity to do so with, and it went a long way for broadening my already healthy cultural horizons. I was introduced to a plethora of Asian cuisine and philosophy. I met my first Buddhist there which sparked my interest in learning about the world's religions, not just Christianity. I didn't return to Brannan for my 8th grade year though. That school was kind of whack for the scholastic aspects. Instead, I went to Goethe, the school no one wanted me to go to in the first place.

Goethe was interesting. I met a lot of my oldest friends there. I met Kellen there. I met my first real crush, Melisandra, there. I met B there. That motherf*cker ended up being family and I miss him everyday. Tamika, David, Jay, Brittney, Shameka, Chris, and Alaina. I mean, not s much Alaina. She was my Dad's best friend's niece so I kind of knew her from other things. I met a chick named Sparkle and another one named Star. I met a neighborhood bicycle name Tawana, i think. A friend of mine from that first grade class knocked her up that year. I met my first chola named Anneletta who tried to stab a b*tch in my first period history class. Mr. Varner, the teacher, straight up kicked the victim out into the wild to fend for herself when she ran into our class for help. Coldest sh*t, ever! That was wild. I went to my first school dance there and ended up slow grinding with my homey's ex. That was fun and later, real problematic. I came back to a school where the majority of kids were once again, black, where i knew so many people and was still able to meet so many more. There were definitively more of us but the ethnic mix was still pretty eclectic. So many races, so much cultural melding. And then i got to high school. That sh*t was wild.

I went to, statistically, the best high school in South Sacramento. All those overachieving Asian kids from Sam Brannan? They went to my high school. Everyone from 21st street up to Freeport, the f*cking ghetto i grew up in, went to my high school. That was basically everyone from my elementary and middle schools, all in one place. These two, independent worlds that i lived in, collided for the first time, and it was a little overwhelming at first. Mostly because the high school, Kennedy, wasn't just MY schools. Cats that I met when I stayed in G Parkway for that year, motherf*ckers I met when I went to the worst school ever, Parkway Elementary, found there way to my high school. So many people i didn't know, went to this school. Cats that came from super affluent areas. Motherf*ckers from straight up hoods. All of these people, so many different cultures and ethnicities, so many different financial and living situations, all trying to figure out who they are, who they are going to be, all at once; It was an experience. Looking back, it was actually kind of intense. Beautiful, but intense. Kennedy, for me, and I can only speak from my personal experience here, was like that first grade class but blown up to, like, thousands of kids, not just the thirty-three I started school with. I loved that part of it. Not so much the actual schooling. I stopped actually learning sh*t in class when I was in, like, the third grade. One I had the fundamental sh*t, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, everything else was that an exercise in fact memorization. That's all the US education system is, memorizing mundane facts or tasks, and then regurgitating them on tests for grades. School is dumb.

The first time i saw a complete lack of diversity, was my first day of college. That was the whitest day of school i ever had in my entire life. It was surreal. I had just the last two decades surrounded by a rainbow of color, of culture, of perspective, and now it's all milky white. That was the first day that i really understood, on tangible, conscious level, what it meant to be white and privileged. You hear all of the statistic and the numbers about how minorities don't make it to higher education, how hard it is for black kids in particular, to make it out of high school without a rap sheet or even f*cking alive, but to see it in real time like that? To experience that sh*t on your first day of real school? It's mad disheartening. Of course there was a semblance of diversity on my college campus, it is a college, but i knew i was definitely a minority at that point. I knew for a fact that there was less people who looked like me, at this level, and it kind of hurt. It hurt even more as i got older and learned that was the norm, not the exception. I mean, you always know. I can only speak for black folks, but you're taught at an early age that you, as a colored person, are an endangered species in the US. That you have to be twice as good at everything just to get half of what my white friends would have. But to see it as an adult? To actually witness that sh*t firsthand? There's no amount of preparation that can prepare you for that rude awakening. Reality hits you like a ton of bricks once you finally get outside of that social bubble you grew up within. And it gets worse the farther away from the scholastic world you get. The last job I held had maybe ten black people there at any one time. Ten. Realistically, less than that. Usually around five. I have held about seven jobs in my life and at three of them, I was the only black dude. That's my reality.

I said all of that to give perspective on this: I've never not been surrounded by diversity until i was grown. The formative years of my life were spent exposed to almost every major culture and race of the world. I didn't grow up with a lot of white kids in my neighborhood but they were there. I was able to get their perspective, to understand what it was like to be white in a world of color. I was able to see that the ones who lived with us, were just like us. I didn't grow up segregated in our own, little, Negro areas, I grew up in a cornucopia of different people. The crew i rolled with in high school was full of black kids, sure, but these were cats I've known since i was, like, twelve. We were tight going nto Kennedy but that doesn't mean were weren't inclusive when we got there. We never discriminated against anyone, ever. We made friends with everyone. Our locker was opened to anybody who was chill and could play dominoes. Hell, there was this little Asian kid that Bryan brought once and he just never went away. Motherf*cker never talked but dude was chill as f*ck. Cats would give him sh*t but that stopped when he started posting up with us. That's the energy of California. That's the energy i learned growing up. That's the energy i carry to this day.

My best friend was an Asian kid until i got to the tenth grade where B and i shared that English class and got super tight. The person i was closest with in seventh grade, was a Japanese girl that i met in PE named Jamie Hom. My first, real, girlfriend was named Maristella Cordova and she was Brazilian. The first girl i ever danced with in eighth grade, Tina, was Hmong. I played football with all of the giant Samoans and Magic with the nerdy Asian kids. I was in BSU and a ghost member of the Anime club. My kid sister is Desi, one of my closest friends is Puerto Rican, my baby sister is white, and my chick is Mexican. I can't fathom what it's like to not have that diverse perspective but, statistically, my experience is rare as f*ck. The experiences my friends and i shared growing up here, in California, are rare as f*ck. Our diversity isn't the norm, it's the exception. There are more places like Idaho, where ninety-three percent of that population is white, than there are places like California. Its not that we're super liberal, it's that we don't exist in an entitled echo chamber. We don't have xenophobia because we were constantly surrounded by the xenos. We have so many different voices, so many different perspectives, that we can't help but be progressive. It takes a diverse perspective to think forward and we have diversity in spades out here. If the majority of the people who live here, grew up like i did, then of course we'd be the most progressive state in the union. How can we not be?

I don't have a point of reference for alienating the Other. We were all Others. I grew up in a neighborhood of Others. I went to school with a peer group of Others. My family is made up of Others. Being different, being the Other, has never mattered to me. It doesn't matter, period. People are people, regardless of race, creed, or sexuality. That's why California is different. We celebrate that diversity here. We make it a point to use our differences as strengths, always have. That's why i don't understand all of that MAGA sh*t. I mean, go off with your ignorance but it doesn't matter. You can't make America great again because you've conflated whiteness for greatness and there are too many people with melanin for that to ever be a thing again. You can march and scream and gerrymander and voter suppress and poll watch and whatever else but it's all for not. There are more of us than there are of you. There re more people like me, who grew up like me, than there are of you, here, in California. Rail against the Others all you want. Vilify those who champion diversity. Try and force your witness on these who aren't white. Heep on with that wild, embarrassing ignorant sh*t. I'm just going to be over here, with my Desi sister, my Mexican lady, and black homeys, laughing at your narrow ass life choices. How sad is it people choose to deny themselves so much rich dopeness and shine because of some misplaced idea of supremacy? Segregation is stagnation, man. That sh*t is how you become irrelevant. That sh*t is how you go extinct.

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madstars-festival · 4 years

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GRAHAM DREW ON MICROPLASTICS, ADOPTING KEGS & LIFE AFTER LOCKDOWN

We are delighted to welcome Graham Drew, Executive Creative Director at Grey Malaysia, to our Final Jury.

It’s been a busy year for Graham Drew, ECD at Grey Malaysia. Following the global success of ‘Your Plastic Diet’ for WWF – a campaign that prompted millions of people to petition against microplastics in our food chain – Drew has been appointed Global ECD for Carlsberg, a role he is juggling from his home base in Kuala Lumpur.

Before upping sticks from London to KL, where he is also a member of the Grey Global Creative Council, Drew founded VCCP Kin, the branded content arm of VCCP. He also founded Resonate, the consumer PR offering of Chime Communications.

At AD STARS 2020, Drew will judge the Diverse Insights, Outdoor, Public Service Advertising, Place Brand, Radio & Audio categories.

You’re joining the jury at AD STARS 2020. What are you most looking forward to?

Seeing things from places you don’t expect doing things you’d never thought of. It’s always a frustration that we never have enough time to look at all the great work going on – you see the headlines in AdWeek….you know it’s great…then never actually read it. Being on a jury forces you to see great work and think about it – it’s often the only time we are really able do it. Then maybe someday finding a way to apply that to my own work to make it better.

It’s been five years since you took the creative reins at Grey Malaysia. What are the biggest challenges you’ve overcome? What is the culture like there?

I think the biggest challenge in any agency is trying to retain a sense of perspective about what it is we actually do. We don’t make ads, we solve problems. We do this by coming up with ideas and bringing them to life. That’s not for a second to say that it isn’t sometimes really stressful, often all-consuming and daylight sapping – it absolutely is. When your nose is at the grindstone it’s hard to appreciate that we get to pull stuff out of our heads and use craft and talent to make them real. Too often it feels like a production line and it’s just ‘on to the next one…’

Trying to create a culture where people are given the space and the fuel to feel inspired enough so they can surprise themselves with something to be proud of – it’s an ongoing battle that every ECD wakes up to.

You once said that you’re “making the most exciting work of my career here”. Any achievements/campaigns you’re proudest of?

I’m most proud of what my team is becoming, bit by bit we’re getting better. Our ‘Your Plastic Diet’ project with WWF is something that grew bigger and wider than any of us could have imagined. It’s a campaign that has turned into a genuine force for change – it’s not just clever or well crafted – it’s made millions of people from over 180 countries get up and do something. You can’t ask for anything more.

Why do you think KL is such an exciting market to be working in: what are your biggest opportunities as an agency?

When I tell people I’m in KL I often get a quizzical look. It’s not Hong Kong or Singapore or Tokyo? It’s not the traditional Asian hub and I won’t lie, that makes attracting talent an issue. But that means that we’ve had to grow and evolve from within, in our own way. It’s made us really tight as a team, and not just the creatives. Irene (CEO) and Sam (CFO) have had my back on countless occasions, that’s rare and valuable and vital. It’s also working – our work is increasingly punching above its weight on the global stage.

Outside of work, I just love it here – it strikes the right balance of rough edges, inspiring street corners and amazing locations an hour away. We have a young family and being able to give my girls exposure to such a rich and diverse part of the world is priceless. And the food. Of course.

Are you working on anything interesting right now (personally or professionally)?

We’ve all experienced the vital nature of digital in the past few months so it’s great to be working with Telekom Malaysia – they are the digital backbone of the country, what they do and the role they play in society is more vital than ever. I also recently became the Global ECD on Carlsberg. The opportunity to work on such an icon of our industry is a real privilege. This week, I’m remote directing a new film in Copenhagen via live feeds – Covid sucks, but it’s forcing out all these new ways of doing things that we’d never have considered before.

You began your career in PR. How do you think this has shaped your perspective as an ECD?

When you’re in PR you learn to sell a story. There is no paid media, so if it’s not compelling, if people don’t want to talk about it, it doesn’t exist. My first boss, Daniel Cohen, gave me such a good foundation in how to build in the elements of a story, a proper education. We’d spend days with lists of journalists’ numbers, calling them up and trying to convince them – ask any PR person, it’s bloody brutal. Today it’s called ‘Earned Media’ and it’s everything. When I first went to Cannes in 2009….all the big winners are actually PR campaigns, but better polished. That’s even more true today. If you assume your work can’t be paid to be looked at, it’s always going to be stronger.

Were you always creative, even as a kid?

Isn’t everyone? I think some of us just learn to express it better. The creative is the child that survived….which probably also explains how messy our desks are.

Do you have a creative process: is there a way that you tackle a brief?

It’s totally random really – but if I think about it, maybe three things:

1) I’m a firm believer in getting down your instant reaction to a brief – so many times, it’s right. It’s easy to get seduced into two weeks of chin-stroking, but if you can create some internal urgency when you first see the problem – it’s precious. Find a place, on your own, take 30 mins and scribble furiously in your notebook. Then go talk to your partner.

2) Subconsciously I think I always look for the angle of ‘why would anyone talk about this?’ It’s a great stress test of an idea.

3) The best ideas never happen in a meeting room. They happen when you are talking about something else, when someone says something totally unrelated that sparks a fuse you never saw coming. Go somewhere without a ceiling, talk about anything, that brief is in your head anyway, go off on tangents – meanwhile your brain will be working on it without you knowing and maybe spit out some sparks.

Malaysia has emerged from lockdown. Did you learn or discover anything new while working from home – any new hobbies or epiphanies?

I heard a great quote: ‘It’s a tragedy to waste a crisis’. Amongst the tragedy and awfulness – which is very real – I also think that it feels like a moment not to waste wishing for things to go back to exactly as they were. All this forced introspection has exposed a lot of cracks and behaviours that were hiding in habit. Hugely overdue on a society level, but to be specific about our industry, there’s not a single CFO or CEO not thinking, ‘Hummmm, so maybe we don’t need everyone to be in the same building all the time. Nor do I really need to fly for that meeting. Maybe all my staff don’t all have to burn 60% of their salary to live in the centre of the city…’

The only new hobby is the joy of doing a full day’s work in pyjamas.

AD STARS has launched a category called ‘Pivot’ to recognise covid-inspired creativity. Are there any interesting projects taking place at Grey / in Malaysia in response to the coronavirus pandemic?

One of the most arresting things about the pandemic has been the speed of change in public sentiment. What was an amazing agile and insightful script that made the client actually clap over Zoom one day feels old and cliché by the time you make it the next week. It’s forcing us all to up our game.

The good side of that is Adopt a Keg for Carlsberg. It was born of an idea we were already developing in Malaysia that was on pause due to Covid. Then, on a call with Javi ( Global CCO for Carlsberg) we repurposed it from an eCommerce idea into something to genuinely help bars stay strong during lockdown. We shot, built and launched it in two weeks, it then went live from Denmark to Malaysia to Australia.

What’s cool is that we are continuing to evolve it. Recently, we turned it into a ‘Champions Keg’ to celebrate Liverpool winning the championship – now you can buy 100 beers and store your own keg on your phone. We’ve reversed into our original idea and now it’s even better.

youtube

#grey

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losreviews · 6 years

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A Wandering Best Comics of 2017 List

Well hello! It’s this blog, the thing I put on hiatus in order to focus on my degree and then did not check into all year!

If you don’t follow me on any other social media, I have some good news: I have, in fact, finished my library degree! Goal accomplished! I’m in this funny place right now where I was working hard and was completely burned out, and then suddenly wasn’t working, and now I’m enjoying relaxing but also realizing I need to get back to a place where I can work on things again. Write things again. Be focused and productive and not on a mental vacation. Oof.

First, before getting to the fun stuff, I am going to officially announce that I won’t be formally returning to this blog. I may use it as a space to write reviews that are more serious than a quick goodreads review and not serious enough to fit with Women Write About Comics or another venue, but I’m not going to follow a this-many-a-month goal. I want to focus on other projects, so while this blog has served me well, I think I’ve found other ways to discover, support, and signal-boost diverse media that require I step aside from LOS Reviews.

That aside - year end lists! They can be fun! Last year I wrote about comics I love in which ladies smooch other ladies, but this year I am going to do something much more disorganized. A consequence of focusing heavily on school is that my to-read pile has become wild and unruly. As I let things I wanted to read pile up over the year, I did read a few things that were just too good or too exciting - or that I could easily access during a break. My #1 favorite thing that I read this year was Soolagna Majumdar’s Marge Simpson Anime zine, which I wrote about for WWAC’s Small Press Faves of 2017 list. In addition, here are some random titles that helped me stay afloat through a grueling final year of graduate school.

Print Comics

Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez

This big, gorgeous comic released by Nobrow Press contains some of the best art I was privileged to ogle in 2017. Sandy, a young artist, has the unique ability to bring the lush fantasy world of her mind to life. Or, perhaps, she can take aspects of her own imagination and gift them to existing magic within the world, and build a warm, vibrant, safe fantasy space. When the new girl at school takes dangerous interest in Sandy’s abilities, she must learn to own and harness her inner power. If, like me, you are feeling very burdened by work, know that this is a quick read meant for middle or elementary-aged readers. It’s sort of like coming across a stunningly delicious appetizer at a fancy party; it’s brief, but so good that you immediately want to eat another (or read it all over again.)

Space Battle Lunchtime Volume Two: A Recipe for Disaster by Natalie Riess

I reviewed volume one last year so I won’t spend much time giving you plot synopsis etc., but volume two came out this year and wraps up the story. I LOVE these comics; Riess creates a very pretty, kooky alien world in which each creature’s species-specific traits and personality feels immediately well-developed. Riess’ skillful use of visuals to give her characters - human and alien alike - unique personas appeals to me because I quickly feel exhausted when reading lengthy high fantasy that spends ages detailing all the aspects of a culture or society. This is really how I prefer to learn about an entirely made-up world: as quickly and efficiently as possible, with all emphasis on character development. These comics are light hearted, queer, action-filled and fun, Riess just knows how to press all my buttons!

The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke

I read the first two (only two? no idea) volumes of this series this year, and IT IS SO FREAKING GREAT! The comics follow the spooky exploits of Grunhilda, an older witch who finds herself in need of a job, and ends up working as a lunch lady at a nearby elementary school. Grunhilda is NOT a good witch, or at least doesn’t intend to be, and she doesn’t really like children. The books are fairly dark for a middle grade series, excitingly creative - there’s a page that is actually burned and missing 1/4 of itself - and tackle morality and the value of helping others out of a sense of compassion and desire for companionship versus seeking selfish reward. They are fun, surprisingly deep, and supported by a really cool website that has things like recipes for Engorged-Tick Scones and a Bad Advice column! Love love love it.

So Pretty/So Very Rotten by Jane Mai and An Nguyen

I was lucky to randomly pick up the preview zine for this book at CAKE last year, and as a huge fan of Jane Mai’s comics - I maybe wrote an article about her that feels somewhat like an embarrassing love confessional - I was super excited for this book to come out! So Pretty/So Very Rotten is a mix of comics, essays and interviews about Lolita subculture, from the perspective of two Asian-North American cartoonists (I’m pretty sure Nguyen is Canadian? Correct me if I’m wrong, I have been known to not realize people were Canadian. See: Ellen Page) who either have been or still are very much participating in and deeply connected to Lolita. It is well-researched, accessible and totally engrossing. I am not a femme person and have been on a sort of slow burn, low-key journey in which I try to de-couple gender from clothing in order to feel more comfortable in how I present, and this book hit me at just the right moment. Through interviews and essays, Nguyen and Mai dive into how many view Lolita as a genderless (or perhaps gender-full?) exploration of the feelings the clothing can create both for individuals and communities. The comics get quite dark and often lean into the rottenness Lolita allows; in some ways, that rottenness feels like an opportunity to let the truth of the darkness of ourselves out, or to reveal how tough and ferocious those who dare to dawn frills truly are. I cannot recommend it enough.

Wuvable Oaf Volume 1 by Ed Luce

I purchase-requested this baby from the library and was deeply pleased when they bought it and when, recently, I saw that the cover was beat up a bit, indicating that I truly am not the only one who wanted it! Huzzah! I’ve been meaning to read Luce’s comic since I bought a Divine poster from him a couple CAKE’s ago, and it did not disappoint. This giant tome tells the story of Oaf, a hairy, scary-looking ex-wrestler who is in fact quite squishy, loves cats, and wants romance. It’s a gay subculture-y comic that is strange enough to border on being fantasy (Oaf can do some wild shit with his hair, and one of the cats SEES THINGS) and loaded full with comics/pop culture Easter eggs. The wrestling flashbacks are maybe the best bits, so I’m excited to get my hands on volume two, which looks more focused on the wrestling.

The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amal + Five Years Ago and Three Thousand Miles Away by EK Weaver

OK confession: I read the webcomic and this was actually a reread prompted by my inability to walk past the big, gorgeous softcover collection on the Iron Circus table at C2E2. “I think it’s time I buy TJ & Amal” is I think exactly what I said to Spike Trotman, whose response was something like “of course it is!” (Shout out to Sheika Lugtu who was walking the floor with me and also was like, um yes, buy it, dummy.) I had not read the follow-up short comic previously, in which Weaver posits three possible endings for the boys, two of which keep them together, one in which they break up. It was a perfect, bittersweet tease/companion to a beautiful book about two queer men who kind of fall in love over the course of an emotionally tumultuous road trip. Weaver digs so deeply into her characters, exposing all their weaknesses, failings and fears, and watching these two boys who are strangers at the beginning of the story be completely vulnerable with each other is a gift. I often longingly look at the softcover on my bookshelf and consider rereading it, only to remind myself that no, I need to finish that paper! Except I don’t now, because I did finish school... hmm...

Tabula Idem: A Queer Tarot Comic Anthology edited by Iris Jay and Hye M

I’ve been working through some kickstarter rewards I haven’t yet had time to read, so because I’ve got this big pile I’ve of course had some mediocre reading experiences and some surprisingly stunning ones. This anthology falls into the latter category; while I was interested in it enough to fund the kickstarter, I didn’t expect to love it so deeply upon reading. I only just became interested in tarot this year and there’s so much to learn, but Tabula Idem felt like a perfect way to start considering how to interpret cards on my own, and how to go beyond what might be traditional readings and factor in aspects that account for being a queer person. Each story in the anthology focuses on one aspect of a Major Arcana tarot card, and they range across genres with queer and trans characters of all kinds of identities. I read a lot of anthologies and sometimes they can feel tedious, but this one slowed me down and made me savor each tale, wanting to experience the affect each artist pulled out of each card.

Girls’ Last Tour by Tsukumizu

I’m pretty sure this manga series was recommended to me by the inimitable Claire Napier, and I did not expect to love it as deeply as I do. In this time of high-energy, high-action, sometimes trashy but generally fun dystopian literature, Tsukumizu offers a slow, gay, philosophical exploration of a post-apocalyptic world in which mammoth city structures vastly outnumber humans. The young girl protagonists initially are unsure if they are the only humans left in their world, and slowly make their way through a strange, towering, layered city largely in search of food so that they can continue to survive. They contemplate the value of being alive and sometimes ask big questions, but also generally enjoy each other’s company, get excited about rare opportunities to take warm baths, and recall distant memories or known concepts from the pre-apocalyptic world. It’s definitely not a series for everyone as the pacing is so slow, but Tsukumizu’s rendering of the very tall, very brutalistically designed city is engrossing and makes the pacing worth it. Really, it’s a story about two girls asking deep questions and pondering them over an unlimited amount of time, and that feels just right.

Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura

I think I started reading this series last year but really got into it this year; I binged volumes 4, 5, and 6 in a single night, and 7 is currently waiting for me in my backpack. It’s kind of the antithesis of Girls’ Last Tour in that the tone is always frantic and wild, in accordance with the high energy of the otaku girls the series celebrates. I love that Higashimura offers up a variety of characters who are obsessed with different things - I always think of mega nerdy people as being into things like games and comics, but of course Tsukimi is a jellyfish otaku. Kuranosuke’s character development has been particularly interesting, as he becomes a sort of emotional-connection otaku, obsessed both with pursuing a fashion career that allows him to submerge himself in the feminine clothing that connects him to his mother and won his heart at a young age, and with being emotionally tied to a group of friends who are actually passionate about things. (We get some glimpses of Kuranosuke’s other friends and they all seem pretty shallow.) The series is very fun, and I love Higashimura’s autobio author comics in which she basically exposes lots of embarrassing things about herself and how nerdy she is.

Webcomics

I read a LOT of webcomics and several ongoing series that I’ve been reading for eons have been faithful comforts this year, including Strong Female Protagonist, Gunnerkrigg Court, Questionable Content and Monster Pulse. I wanted to talk about some comics I don’t think I’ve ever plugged before, so these in theory are all things I started reading this year.

Manners’ Magical Monster School by Jessica and Jacinta Wibowo

This cute comic follows Wilbur, the lone human at a magic school for monsters, and his roommate, Amira, who’s big secret is that she is a demon. The pair are a sort of odd-couple; Wilbur is a sweet, chubby kid who got bullied before the frankly terrifying Amira became his best bud, while Amira is an over-confident punk who isn’t super great at having feeeeeelings. I first discovered Jes n Cin via their webcomic Tales from the Well, which is also very good, but is a bit more serious in tone. I particularly like the coloring - it’s all this warm, sort of watercolor-ish wash (I have no idea what materials they actually use, sorry!) and always look forward to the next update.

Barbarous by Yuko Ota and Ananth Hirsh

I am fairly certain I’ve raved about how much I love the Johnny Wander autobio comics before, but Yuko and Ananth’s forays into fiction are always fantastic and I am especially in love with Barbarous. The series’ protagonist is Percy, a magic-user who was studying magic but maybe dropped out of school (there was some kind of mysterious incident that pushed her to start couch-surfing around) and is sort of OK at using it but also still has a lot to learn. She is hired to do maintenance work by mysterious but classy landlord Cecillia, and her immediate supervisor, Leeds, is a sort of blunt but kind... giant dinosaur? He’s very cute. Anyway, Yuko and Ananth are building a cool magical world that is close to our own but also includes lots of really great, modern fashion/costuming. Percy and Leeds’ friendship is like a baby goat or a calf; its legs are not strong and it stumbles a lot, but it’s really cute. I love it.

Quiet Brain! by Samantha Davies

This isn’t so much a comic as it is a series of illustrations of adorable, sort of anthropomorphic animals saying inspiring, sometimes kinda brutally honest and deep shit. I read nearly all of them in one go on a long train ride and while I’m normally not the kind of person who is into like, inspirational feminist cross stitches and shit like that, something about this struck a chord. Davies has a panel-less comic called Stutterhug that is all about movement, emotion and moments of connection between (anthropomorphic animal) creatures. Quiet Brain! emphasizes how skilled the artist is at communicating emotion through facial expressions; it’s a simple thing that I didn’t know I needed until I read it.

Ascent by Kevin Lam

I’ve been reading this series since probably before 2017, but I found this year that I particularly looked forward to the new comics. Ascent is, simply, the story of a diver lost in the sea, making a mostly lonely journey to the surface. Given an endless amount of time to contemplate general concepts about life, the diver does so. They consider the purpose of making a journey that may never yield a successful end, the point of accepting a friend that literally attaches themself to you - it’s a very cute baby squid - and the merit of just giving into exhaustion. Retrospectively, I think this comic really embedded itself into my psyche this year because my graduate school journey felt similar. I climbed up several difficult hills which were small enough that I could see the top, but knew another hill awaited me. Recently there have been some spooky happenings in the comic, and I’m excited to see where Lam takes the diver next.

Girls Have a Blog by Sarah Bollinger and Tara Kurtzhals

I don’t actually read this creator pair’s main comic, but I’ve really enjoyed this autobio dive into their post-art school life, trying to make comics as a career work. They go through many ups and downs but perhaps uniquely do much of it together, and the act of processing both with each other and via comic is very satisfying. I especially enjoyed the arc where Tara found herself unable (emotionally) to attend a school reunion, because I found myself in the same position when my five year college reunion happened last summer. Often relatable but perhaps foremost a look into how making life work as a freelance cartoonist is TOUGH, this is some really enjoyable autobio! I’m excited for season two to start in 2018.

Everything Shing Yin Khor makes

OK so Shing has some webcomic short stories and projects going on, but I wanted to do kind of a blanket shout-out because I’ve enjoyed everything she’s shared this year, from her delightful watercolor comics to her installation work. I first encountered Shing when I picked up the Blood Root horror anthologies she produced out of Sawdust Press, and reviewed the third issue in one of my first ever pieces for WWAC. This year I was surprisingly and suddenly blessed to briefly attend the American Library Association conference, and the highlight was meeting Shing in person. She was there promoting her graphic memoir The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 which Zest Books will release in February 2018, and it was such a delightful meeting that I re-engaged with her other work. Whether it’s building art installations and twitter bots that use oracles and fortune telling to explore kindness, or watercoloring stunning sci fi/fantasy worlds that contemplate workplace dynamics, immigration and travel, everything Shing creates takes on a journey that tilts your perspective, makes you gasp in wonder, and gives you a hug. If I were to make a list of creators whose work I’m super excited about in the coming years - it would be a very long list, and honestly I’m sort of constantly making that list through my critical/review work - Shing would be at the top. Funding her patreon will ensure you keep up with all her incredible creations.

2017 was certainly a year but there is always great art coming of the indie self-pub world. I will do my best to keep you informed about all of it.

#Webcomic review #comic review #best of 2017

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p101recaps · 7 years

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Broduce 101: Episode 9 (Quick Livestream Recap)

Firstly, I want to apologise for the lateness of this recap. I’ll try to be more timely for the remaining two episodes, I’m sorry.

This episode is all about the concept evaluations and the live performances for the next eliminations.

We start off in the Produce prison mansion, where BoA visits the waiting trainees. They’re always a bit starstruck with her lol

She reminds them this is the last elims before final 11, casts a degree of doubt about whether the cut off will be the top 22 ranks, then explains the voting system and benefits.

Although at this stage, these godawful live voting stages are increasingly important for the rankings, they continue to be stupid and easily manipulated in favour of the popular trainees regardless of their performances. I know this is supposed to be a true reality show or whatever, but the idea of giving a young audience more organised than Mnet so much power gives me a stress headache.

Anyway. The team that gets the most votes for their performance gets a 20,000 vote benefit and the trainee with the most votes gets a 100,000 vote benefit. The team with the most votes gets to perform at M!Countdown.

Each song has to have 7 members, and since Mnet’s crappy planning meant the trainees got split into teams before elims, they have to be reshuffled so every song has the same number of performers.

In true Lord of the Flies fashion, the boys have the privilege of kicking out their own teammate by ranking their group from first to last. This means a chunk of them have spent a week rehearsing for a song they won’t perform

The teams short of members pick from those trainees in order of highest ranking. Open, which has the most missing members has Kang Daniel pick first, followed by Showtime’s Yoon Jisung and finally I Know You Know Kim Taedong.

The kids from Oh Little Girl and Never get together to beg appeal to not be kicked out from their song

Never has Haknyeon saying he’ll work hard to keep his spot and not hold back the team

Minhyun says, flatly, ‘Yes. Hwaiting.’

Dead.

Most of them want to vote themselves as best to help their odds lol

Yoo Seonho, who is self aware: I don’t want to be first, I just want to be 7th. No wait. 6th? I should be confident.

Open has lost most of their team. They went from having Kim Seonglee to not having any main vocals to carry the song. They retained Baekho and Yongguk, so still not too shabby.

Sidenote: Little Lee Woojin is so smol amongst his hyungs with that little yellow beanie.

Oh Little Girl keeps their visuals and token singers Sewoon and Gunhee, which is smart considering how average the song is. They’ll need their fanvotes to win the Mnet performance so they kick out Moonbok.

Sacrilege but c’est la vie.

Never retains their strengths with a good mix of popular and talented boys. This group had way too many competent trainees so it was a closer battle, I reckon. Emperor Hwang Minhyun’s picks in almost the exact order stay.

Sungwoon and Lai Guanlin tie for 7th, and the top 6 vote between the two.

It ends with Sungwoon joining Seonho, Haknyeon, Youngmin for the cast out kids.

He’s embarrassed because he’s efficient and skilled but I’m significantly more bitter. As much as I like Guanlin, this is a bit disrespectful for someone like Sungwoon, who’s literally known for having everything but height. Even though Never doesn’t need too many vocally adept trainees, it’s the bandwagon song and therefore likely to have public appeal.

He’s cute though, straight up pandering to the Open team when they have to pick their new members by singing the song.

Open picks up Im Youngmin, Seonho and Hakneyon leaving Moonbok and Sungwoon for the next team.

Disrespectful, straight up.

Showtime has Yoon Jisung doing a startlingly accurate impression of Daniel before they chose Sungwoon for the high pitched vocals.

Moonbok makes his way to IKYK’s practice room to join the underdogs, who’re excited to see Pocahontas hyung.

Oh Little Girl has a mournful bgm at rehearsals as they have to decide on final positions after eliminations.

Minki has to work to secure broadcast minutes that Mnet has carefully avoided giving him by trying out for centre, and his teammates vote him in place, unseating Jihoon.

Main vocal has Gunhee and Sewoon battling it out for the position. They’re both good choices - the demo singer even sounded like Sewoon, who hasn’t been main vocal even once despite strengthening the background vocals every mission. The team does pick Sewoon this time, fortunately.

Bae Jinyoung wants to be sub-vocal, and is worried about his falling rank. He’s not ambitious enough to try to be main vocal at least, but those vocal techniques confuse me with that inherent smooth tone. The kid is young, and can be easily improved though, maybe a few months of SM styled vocal boot camp?

Showtime has a still (rightly) pouty Sungwoon want to be centre in his new team. His whole team laughs, with co-HOTSHOT member Noh Taehyun cackling particularly loudly at his sheepish announcement.

Auntie Jisung references Jessi from Unpretty Rapstar, yelling, ‘THIS IS COMPETITION,’ and pinches his nose bridge like the drama queen he is.

Centre nominees try the guitar stringing ‘killing part’ to appeal for the spot and Brave’s Samuel wins the spot.

Sungwoon tries stealing the sticker out of sheer desperation OTL

Ah, I don’t like the song so much but this group has so many of my faves.

They actually start rehearsing and come to a realisation.

Noh Taehyun: The centre needs to be able to sing well too.

Kim Samuel, who is an extremely competent dancer by anyone’s standards, can’t sing above his speaking range. Again, easily fixed by a year or two of concentrated training. He’s only sixteen and his voice must have dropped like a summer ago

IKYK’s Kwon Hyunbin wants to be leader. The team votes him in over BNM Donhyun and he does Auntie Jisung’s clapping in celebration

Mnet, how many kids are you going to give the Sohye edit, this is getting out of fucking control.

Picking centre is particularly sad with most of the contenders well aware they’re going to be eliminated. They vote Taedong in, displacing poor Donghan.

Open team has Kenta, Seonho and Haknyeon do expression acting to appeal for centre. Kenta pulls a face to loosen his facial muscles before trying, and is embarrassed although he’s not bad. Haknyeon is good too.

Seonho can’t hit the notes and tries a vocal trick Shin Yumi taught the kids. This sort of stuff about the Cube chicks impresses me because they’ve really absorbed every learning opportunity on this show like sponges. They’re still far from debut ready and I wouldn’t want them to debut in BOI over the older trainees but it appeals to my Asian sensibilities to see them working hard if nothing else.

Baekho: You can’t ask someone to press down on your forehead on stage.

So it comes down to Jeju pig boy and Japanese puppy.

Joo Haknyeon gets voted as centre and then struggles with everything.

Pledis Dongho gets GodJonghyun edit, practicing with the kid to help him improve. He points out that Haknyeon’s confidence is far from being at par with his skill level.

Never team votes Emperor Hwang as centre over Guanlin. Not shocking, considering the difference in ability.

Ong-ssi hits the nail on the head as always as they practice, pointing out that they don’t really have to deal with shuffling and learning of the song so rehearsals are smooth and quick. It also helps that most of them are highly competent.

There’s a bit about Ong Sungwoo being Mnet’s human slate. Cute.

Also cute is Brand New Music’s Park Woojin finally being comfortable enough to be the kid he is, surrounded by hyungs. I found a subbed cut, which you can see here because I can’t do justice to this positive filler bit that I would be happy to see more of @mnet.

Important takeaway - Sweet puppy Park Woojin and gang are being taught variety by Ong-ssi

Final concept performance day!

Far out, look at the bank the show is making with those crowds. Girls are easily the backbone of capitalism. It’s amazing considering how much effort the industry puts into putting women down.

Anyway, kpop legend tiny Queen BoA looks fire emoji in her red pantsuit.

Aw seeing the eliminated trainees always makes my soul ache.

The composers are attending too. You gotta have all those unnecessary reaction shots am I right ha ha HA

The composers visit during rehearsals for a check in. Not many women there either lol Hashtag bitter female tears

Showtime gets primarily positive reactions at the check in. They have high energy while performing which suits the song’s up tempo disco vibe. Samuel’s vocal get a boost because his voice doesn’t waver.

The team’s live performance is enjoyable. The average skill ability in this group of trainees is also rather high. It looks very polished, and they all look like they’re enjoying the stage, which always makes me happy to see.

Sanggyun, who receives his usual amount of absolutely no screentime, is memorable in my opinion. So handsome.

The choreo is fun more than complicated. Easy standouts are Auntie Jisung dancing Pick Me and the inclusion of RBW puppy Dongmyung’s warming up limb flapping dance. Samuel does well with the dance break, the Ardor and Able trainees remain excellent performers as always.

They all keep calling it their possible last stage and Auntie Jisung looks like he’s going to cry again. It hurts because it could be true.

Probably the shortest screentime for the group with my personal faves. Deeply grateful as always, Mnet.

Next up is my top song pick for Concept evals, I Know You Know.

Their wardrobes are particularly pretty. Thank you stylists for Moonbok’s look.

At check in with the composers, they get a bit of shake down because of their lack lustre initial performance. I’m not surprised because Joombas is really high profile, someone who works with famous singers. The team has competent but not excellent trainees.

Hyunbin’s been getting a good edit as he makes up for the effort for the first evals where Mnet basically shoved him off a cliff, with a GodJonghyun inspired leader attitude.

It’s a bit annoying because good god don’t we have enough Brohyes.

Still, I’d rather this than kids being thrown sacrificed to the netizen flames.

Product placement.

The final performance is good. Kim Yehyun’s voice wavers out of place at parts but sweet boy Seo Sunghyuk is unexpectedly very stable considering the very energetic choreo. Donghyun, Donghan and Taedong remain reassuringly good and completely ignored. Hyunbin’s voice doesn’t sound as out of place as it did last mission while Moonbok proves he’s capable of idol rap with his smooth delivery. The choreo is exhausting but none of their voices are strained (they also probably have their studio recorded tracks playing so this may not be a matter of skill)

Open is next up, with the boys looking unreasonably good in their black suits.

Well, Daniel, Dongho and Kenta anyway. I take a minute to pray to the wardrobe team again. I’m not a Daniel fan in particular but my word, the boy looks fine.

Haknyeon messes up with typical Mnet camera focus at pre-performance check in. The composers can’t even pick one standout trainee.

The team convene to re-discuss centre with Haknyeon not being about to live up to his desire and confidence. Again, lack of training and age comes into play here, but wanting to take on things he can’t handle yet is not helping him.

Center swaps to Kim Yongguk, who doesn’t even get a clear shot of his face for the occasion.

Haknyeon gets Sexy Bandit’s thumbs up of approval at recording, after working hard for his second consecutive redemption arc.

It could be the editing, but Daniel hasn’t been a very effective leader this mission either.

Product placement.

They come to check out the stage during dress rehearsal with the bed and slick set.

Kenta: It’s rather adult (as far as I know, the word can mean dirty or sexy depending on context but I think adult sounds appropriate here).

I agree. Seonho’s too young for this one.

With the song and choreo being handed to them being what it is, this performance was looking to be one of my more anticipated ones, but the boys do a great job too. Daniel comes off more as centre than Yongguk but I can’t fault him because he does a really good job. Kenta is a visual standout too

It could be the editing, but Yongguk fades among the others although he keeps up well enough. Seonho’s vocals are satisfactory considering where he started out, there are bits where his dancing is still slightly awkward though. Same with Haknyeon, which is strange because I thought that was his strongest field. He’s visibly out of sync at times, even to my tired eyes. Maybe he doesn’t practice to beats, because he had the same issue in Right Round

This may be Sexy Bandit Pledis Baekho’s stage though. He’s beyond reproach. I’d call him oppa if he wanted me to.

They get an encore chant!

Fully deserved, because both the song and their performance of it was debut group level.

Oh Little Girl next

A lot of visual hype kids here. Costumes are terrible though, bits and pieces from earlier performances and maybe Park Jihoon’s personal closet?

That song name though....

Jihoon does the aegyo I’ve seen from the cute Monsta X rapper. It’s cringey on him too.

At performance check in, the producers acknowledge that the song may well have been tailored to Sewoon. Bae Jinyoung makes a few mistakes though.

Cue mournful music and cuts of his confidence issues.

Sewoon helps him practice and he’s better at recording. Kids like this usually are. He definitely could be a competent idol singer if someone gives him focused help.

In the practice rooms, Minki has some issues while rehearsing, and there’s friction between him and the younger kids. Jihoon leaves the room with a door slam that freezes the others, and they have to gather to talk because Jihoon feels like Minki is upset with him.

This time Minki slams the door behind him as he exits.

Sewoon is getting visibly worked up at this conflict.

Is Mnet finally getting genuine drama footage without manipulative editing?

No. It’s another one of those birthday camera pranks that Korean variety producers still think are entertaining.

Gunhee comes in with a cake and you can see the tension melt out of Jihoon’s face and he smiles the most genuine smile I’ve seen since his first time ranking first.

Lol Sewoon thinks the cake’s just for Jihoon and starts clapping until the trainees sing his name too. Cute.

Minki does his shoulder expanding thing for dress rehearsals at coach Shin Yumi’s request. Sewoon gets well deserved praise for his vocals and Bae Jinyoung gets his confidence boost since this is probably his team mission individual edit for the season.

The final performance is cute, easily carried vocally by Sewoon and Gunhee. The others are also good, no visible mistakes. The song is still rather average, the choreo elevated by the boys performing it. They’re all adorable, their good looks helping save the tragic outfits. Minki was an appropriate centre. Hyungseob pulled out a rose out of nowhere mid performance, which seems perfectly in character for the kid.

I wouldn’t seek the song out to listen to, it’s one of those throwaway b-sides on mini albums, but watching it this one time was really fun. This truly was Sewoon’s performance, it fit him well.

Kahi: Ai, cute~

Pretty much.

We get to the final performance, Never.

Hyuna visits the team to cheer them up at rehearsals and the boys are instantly distracted at the sight of her. Minhyun keeps practising while the boys start to greet, but later reassures the camera that he was excited too.

He’s probably seen all of SNSD and other prolific girl groups while promoting the last few years, it makes sense for him to be less fazed. He’s also from the company that (miraculously still) houses Nana.

But its Hyuna.

Meanwhile, the trainees outside gather outside, pressing their faces to the glass door to stare at Hyuna.

Baby chick Seonho: Oh, they’re from our company! :D

She turns to look at them and they almost faint in excitement. She cutely greets them as she exits, leaving behind an echo of longing sighs as she tends to do

At check in with all the composers, they do well enough. Kenta in particular is appreciative. A lot of trainees proceed to hype them up.

There’s something awkward about the blond Pentagon kid talking like an authority in front of the Nu’est members. I’m not the kind to go in for hierarchy over achievement but I’d be annoyed, like who are you brat lol

They go to visit Cube, and see Guanlin’s untidy locker with his Korean books

AND THE EPISODE HIGHLIGHT

THE CUBE CHICKS WERE ORIGINALLY GOING TO AUDITION FOR P101 WITH TROUBLEMAKER

Why didn’t they? I loved it! I’d have rooted for them earlier on!

Guanlin’s excited to practice a routine that requires skills he didn’t have earlier, at his company with his hyungs, who coo at him.

Every time Hyuna says something nice at studio recording, the boys flush with happiness.

Daehwi’s smile spilts his face when she praises his tone

The words “Guanlin sounds like a native Korean” are said, which make my eyes roll out of my head. I’ve said multiple times I love how much the chicks improved and it’s clear that Guanlin is finding his groove as a trainee, but let’s not exaggerate because he’s handsome. It is, however, true that his words are getting clearer and less obviously accented.

Jaehwanie can rap too! I look forward to seeing him get signed to a good company after this (@Starship, you don’t have any worthy female groups anymore so you might as well add to your male talents)

Park Woojin’s rapping is really good but he can’t sigh?? It’s endearing too. He re-tries at his interview. A true cutie. I hope he recovers quickly and gets to debut. This episode has made me triply fond of him.

The final performance begins after this extreme hyping and screentime allocation.

Three seconds in, Sunghyuk, calmly: It’s over (for us).

I’ve said multiple times I don’t like the song (I still can’t remember it as being anything special and the fuss around it makes me resent EDM even more), but I can admit that the performance was great. The collection of talent and visuals make the choreo work smoothly, a stage that could easily be an M!Countdown performance. Jaehwan and Woojin were particularly spectacular, specially considering that Woojin was ill. Daehwi and Minhyun deliver, as always.

The only negatives I have are that the while the costumes looked nice, they seemed ill suited to the concept and not the colours you usually see on broadcast performances. Beige? Come on. How do you work lighting for something like that? Green or a dark red would have been so nice.

We see a shot of Mnet staff counting the votes. Don’t worry, we don’t suspect you of anything here, Mnet. I’m blaming the live audience.

The results bring over the sheer shameless fuckery of the last mission.

5. I Know You Know 83 (Did I not call this?)

4. Showtime 135

3. Oh Little Girl 398

Totally warranted considering the number of popular trainees in each team.

BoA references Ong-ssi’s hyperbole speech when asking about his chances about winning, and he uses every single adjective again to express his confidence about his team placing first.

She then asks Baekho, and he one ups Ong-ssi by adding the Japanese adjective for ‘very’ (cut to Kenta laughing) as well as the Mandarin.

2. Never 443 1. Open 552

So there is some sort of fairness in the world! Thank you, good lord in heaven!

....female fans really like sexy concepts.

Kenta and Seonho’s handsome faces reach new levels of meme

Daniel is stunned. Getting banned from Never was an act of god for him and his fans.

Nation’s Leader Angel GodJonghyun makes an appropriately congratulatory comment.

Live vote rankings without benefits for individual trainee rankings are below:

Unrevealed

Maroo Park Jihoon

Brand New Music Park Woojin

Pledis Hwang Minhyun

C9 Bae Jinyoung

Unrevealed

Cre.Ker Joo Haknyeon

Brand New Music Lee Daehwi

CUBE Yoo Seonho

Chun Kim Yongguk

Brand New Music Im Youngmin

Next week, feel good fillers and third eliminations before heading into finale for top 11! Man, is this nonsense getting increasingly, unpredictably intense.

#p101 #p101 recaps #p101s2 #produce 101 season 2 #produce 101 #produce 101 recaps #broduce 101 #broduce 101 recaps #p101 spoilers #p101se2 spoilers #broduce 101 spoilers

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