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yarboyandy · 3 months

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January 2024 movie wrapped 😁 ! Thought this would be a fun thing to talk about wven if no one cares. This month I focused mainly on comedy and romance because thats what I wanna edit one day. Next month I might focus more on romance and drama.

This month I watched 20 movies total, my original goal was 25 (my current monthly goal) so I fell short by 5. Of the films I watched, I saw 8 in theaters (40%) and 12 at home (60%).

Next month I am most excited for Argylle (looks fun), Drive Away Dolls, and Lisa Frankenstien (February is a bit sparce…).

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Favorite movie this month: The Iron Claw

Literally one of the best movies I’ve seen from Zack Efron…KEEP PUTTING HIM IN SHIT LIKE THIS ‼️ oscar snub tbch.

Least Favorite: Night Swim

is January fodder…literally boring. Nothing burger to me. Only cool thing to me was the coin thing at the end.

Undercut is my full list of films and thoughts.

1. Anyone But You (1/2/2024) 🍿

I was forced to walk out of this one by friends. fake dating movie that had bad acting from a cast comprised of good actors. I liked the premise tho, pictured it with old man yaoi the whole time.

2. The Boy and the Heron (1/4/2024)🍿

Saw this with my mom! I was kinda confused by it but it was really pretty. Really good voice cast 😁❤️❤️ I understood the message the day after, I would be hesitant to say this is one of the studios best, but it’s def top five….?

3. Night Swim (1/5/2024)🍿

saw with Olivia and Becca. JANUARY FODDER AT ITS FINEST! So stupid. Wasnt that bored tho! I really liked the coin thing at the end.

4. Migration (1/6/2024)🍿

Saw with Olivia in the coldest theater Ever. Really cute and charming 😁👍🏻 probably one of Illumination’s best but I haven’t seen a ton from them recently. Wayyyy too giddy for the return of the animated short before a movie.

5. The Color Purple (1/7/2024) 🍿

I need to stop seeing 2.5 hour long movies at 10 pm. Really good, forgot it was a musical in the middle cuz they weren’t singing LOL. Didn’t love the whole part where she forgives the dude who like abused her but hey. Uhhh. Yeah thats all i got

6. Ella Enchanted (1/8/2024) 🏠

Really cute classic for me ☹️ ROMCOMS MY BELOVED ❤️❤️❤️ first movie i watched at home this year! I miss the fantasy romcom genre that was big in the 90s to the 00’s, now it’s all realistic stuff :/ GIVE ME BACK THE FAIRYTALES!!

7. Bridesmaids (1/9/2024) 🏠

Every professor has told me to watch this so i finally did. Very enjoyable!! I like this director…I liked the tail lights themeing, but I wish the main girl and her friend got to talk more.

8. Pink Panther (1/9/2024) 🏠

Dont fw french people tbh.

9. Poor Things (1/10/2024) 🍿

STUNNING AMAZING PERFECT!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful film 😁😁😁😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ ARRRRGGGGGGGGG OSCAR SWEEP IN MY HEART!! EVERY SEX SCENE WAS NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!

10. High and Low (1/11/2024) 🏠

My heterosexual friend fell asleep next to me and missed 85% of the movie. Really good though!

11. Coraline (1/13/2024) 🏠

FUCKEDDDD UPPPP and amazing 😁❤️❤️❤️ i hope Laika can like. Make a good movie again soon….what who said that.

12. Zoolander (1/14/2024) 🏠

Silly goofy fun 😁❤️ fantastic cast. Ben stiller has the range. For some reason as a kid (like age 10) i assumed this movie was racist or something? (I had never seen it. LOL) Its not.

13. Leo (1/14/2024) 🏠

Watched this and played webkinz solitaire. No notes. I don’t remember anything anyways.

14. 22 Jump Street (1/15/2024) 🏠

Olivia was not very impressed, but it got me to chuckle. Didnt like the main love plotline bro wtf. But a very influential movie for 2010’s comedy. as I’m typing this I’m realizing I look like if Chaning Tatum and Jonah Hill had a fat baby.

15. the Princess Bride (1/16/2024) 🏠

SOOOO CUTE AND FUN GIGGLE 😁 they break the 180 rule did u know that.

16. Jumanj (1/16/2024) 🏠

I’ve never seen it before and it was fun but kinda sad like damn 😭 good CGI tbh

17. The Beekeeper (1/18/2024) 🍿

THE STUPIDEST, GOOFIEST, MOST FUN MOVIE OF ALL TIME THIS MONTH. ok but genuinely fantastic choreography. I’m da bee keeper….I must protect the hive….

18. Napeolon dynamite (1/19/2024) 🏠

Really fun and cute 😁😁 classic for a reason baby! Too bad this director didn’t seem to catch on after this film, his style is great.

19. Nacho Libre (1/20/2024) 🏠

I love this film and have a soft spot for it. Watched with all my friends, the soundtrack is really fun. Jack Black is a great physical actor.

20. The Iron Claw (1/25/2024) 🍿

Oh my god. Maybe I’ll call my sister or something later.

Bonus: TV shows I watched, not many thoughts

Buffy season 3. I got bored lol. Everyone is suicidal. Whatever.

Ten Year Old Tom. Funny!

Carol and The End Of The World: kinda confused me at times but really good really awesome everyone watch it.

Star Trek: SNW (end of season 1 + season 2) OHHHH MY GOODDDDDDDDD

Star Trek Lower Decks: EVERYONE WATCH THIS NOWWWWWW

#andy watchez #what was ur guys favorite movies…..

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drummergirl231-2 · 3 years

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It’d be so much easier to get hyped if we had more speculation fodder.

In the hiatus between “The Rumble for Ragnarok!” and “The Phantom and the Sorceress!” I did a similar post about how none of my speculations had changed after the first seven episodes of the season because nothing had really happened with regards to the main plot yet.

Now we’ve had eleven more episodes... twelve if you count “Let’s Get Dangerous!” as two since it was an hour-long special. A lot happened in those episodes, especially regarding the main plot. The family knows F.O.W.L. is after them, Beakley and Scrooge (who know better than anyone else what F.O.W.L. is capable of) are freaking out, we’ve learned a lot about Bradford’s motivations (reining in chaos, trying to control everything and maintain order, etc.), and Huey’s had some more character development.

Still, I’m trying to figure out just what it is about this season that’s so different. During Season 2 we were all abuzz with speculations. “Oh my gosh, how’s Scrooge going to handle Louie turning to Goldie as a mentor? No, how’s Della going to handle Louie turning to Goldie as a maternal figure?”

We were a little off the mark about what was to come, but still, there were things in the episodes we got before going on hiatus that hinted at what was to come. Louie called Goldie and asked her to mentor him at the end of an episode. He seemed to struggle the most bonding with his mother after her return. We were able to piece some things together and speculate.

Why isn’t that happening this time? Well... a lot of these episodes end with what seem like character arcs getting neatly wrapped up. This is the last season, and the writers have a lot of side characters whose story arcs need to conclude.

“The Phantom and the Sorceress!” - Lena learns to control her powers and owns her status as a good witch. Also the episode ends with that classic cartoon let’s-all-laugh-when-nothing-was-funny-until-the-credits-roll bit which feels very much like a conclusion to anyone who’s grown up watching a lot of cartoons.

“They Put a Moonlander on the Earth!” - Penny decides to stay on Earth and take apart her rocket. She is now comfortable knowing she can live out her savior complex by saving people on Earth instead of the Moon, and she’s becoming more social. Apparently Sam King said this would be the last episode to feature Penny. Arc complete.

“The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades!” - We finally see Goldie and Scrooge kiss and it seems like they’re back together...? I think? But at any rate, Goldie having the character development to not leave without saying goodbye and to put Scrooge’s needs ahead of her wants (throwing away her youth to save him) feels like the character development in Goldie we were waiting for.

“Let’s Get Dangerous!” - Setup for a spinoff.

A few episodes hint at things to come. “Escape from the Impossibin!” lets us know that F.O.W.L. stole all the Missing Mysteries. “The Split Sword of Swanstantine!” ends with Black Heron letting Bradford know she’d obtained a feather, presumably from Scrooge.

I was curious to know what Bradford wanted with the Missing Mysteries, but “The First Adventure!” kind of answered that. He wanted the Papyrus of Binding, not to use it himself (though he eventually did), but to keep it from falling into anyone else’s hands. His whole purpose of founding F.O.W.L. was to take control of the world for control’s sake. He wants to rein in chaos, not make more of it. So it makes perfect sense he’d be after the Missing Mysteries. Also, we see this is when he learned (from Heron) to wait for Scrooge to find something and then take it when he’s not looking - a strategy he used in the present day to obtain the Missing Mysteries.

As for the feather... now that’s a mystery. But what other theories could there be besides cloning someone, or genetically engineering the ultimate spy (which @alliterative-albatross already talked about)?

One mystery we have yet to solve is Webby’s origins, and while this season will surely address this, one thing I know would certainly make me more hyped for the answer is knowing what Webby knows/thinks about her parents/origins so far. Does she believe an outright lie about them that Beakley told her? Or did Beakley tell her a half-truth? Did Webby even have parents, or was she created? Has she ever asked Beakley about why she doesn’t have a mom and dad? Did Beakley tell her anything, or did she just say it’s hard for her to talk about and then tell Webby to run along and play?

Donald had told the boys their mother was “gone.” We knew early on in Dewey’s season what they’d been told about their mother, and it wasn’t much. We’re more than two thirds of the way through the final season now and we have no clue what Webby knows or thinks or what she’s been told in the past, and she doesn’t seem at all curious to know about her parents. And with no new hints at her origin story in this last batch of episodes, I don’t know about all of you, but things feel a little stagnant.

We also haven’t been getting any hints from Frank here on Tumblr. Maybe it’s because the series is ending in a big way and he doesn’t want to spoil a thing, or maybe 2020 just did a number on him like the rest of us. Can’t blame him for that. Can’t blame him for either, really.

As sad as it is that the series is coming to a close, I hope we don’t have to wait too long to find out this incredible ending the crew can’t wait for us to see.

#ducktales 2017 #ducktales season 3 #ducktales webby #ducktales bradford #ducktales #i might add gifs to this later #but i gotta go to bed... i work early

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kookies2000 · 3 years

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My thoughts on the final. 8 out of 10 for me and here's why.

Positives first.

The villains. I love Bradford as a villain and his plan really was flawless. To me, Bradford is the scariest type of villain there is. Scrooge trusted this man for almost his whole life. Trusted him enough to be in charge of his money, and secrets. Only to get betrayed at the end. This is an actual thing that happens in real life. People we love, people we know for our whole lives, could just suddenly become horrible people and our love and trust in them breaks. And it hurts like crazy. And that's Bradford right there. He was close to Scrooge and betrayed him. Now the fact that Bradford never saw himself as the villian adds more to why these types of people are horrible. They blame others for their misfortune or for their bad traits. Like how Bradford told the family to look what they made him into after he grew into a monster. He's trying to put the blame on others instead of acknowledging that he's doing this to himself. Like at least the other villains like Glomp Gold and Magica know their villains. They're self aware unlike Bradford. Bradford doesn't like the thought of being a villain so he blames those that see him as the villain. Like dude! You imprisoned Gandra for indefinitely, trapped Ludwig Von Drake who just wanted to talk things out with you, imprisoned innocent people like Panchito and Jose. Why those two? Just because they were tricked into performing a concert at The Feast of the Flower? He straight up murdered his agents, and threw Donald in too. Not to mention he played a part in tearing the family apart once. And he keeps justifying it by saying "I'm not a villain". Which makes it worse! You can't just say you're not a villain or that others are trying to make you look like the villain. If you're not the villain then there's no need to say it. So yeah, I enjoy Bradford as a villain because he's the most realistic of the three main villains we had. Someone who has some good points but executes them poorly.

I also enjoyed the other villains like Phantom Bot and Pepper. I ship these two so much. 💖. Pepper being her talkative self and speaking her mind while Blot is being the strong silent type. My favorite line is also from Pepper "Look Blot! He's a full grown man with the strength of a baby!" I LOVE YOU PEPPER!!! And Blot being his aggressive self is enough for me. And thank you Lena for setting Gene free! Rockerduck being his spoiled self was also a treat. Having his servant fight for him and ordering a drink while he fought. 😂 Don Karnage was his lovable singing self, also he is dead now right? No way he survived that plane crash. Congratulations Dewey, you murdered a man while singing just like I always knew you would. Heron was also great. There's no doubt in my mind that she had some kind of attraction to Bradford after that "Oh Bradford, how villainous 😏" before dying. There's just something hilarious about Heron gracefully accepting betrayal and death like that. 😂 Steelbeaks was great. Finally using that smart ray on himself and still being the imbecile he is! Glomp Gold, Magica and the Beagles special appearance was also a treat.

Ok so our heros! I have to talk about Drake, Fenton and Launchpad! I love Drake for his balance of goofiness and heroicness. He's clearly a man who wants what's best for everyone and loves to be in the spotlight as well. Not to mention just how much fun it is to watch him being all goofy. He may have a child-like side and loves being the goofy hero he is, but he has his serious moments. Showing that just because you have a child-like personality doesn't mean you're not mature enough to handle serious situations. Just the way Drake comforted Fenton by telling him he isn't alone on this, to let others help him warms my heart. He knows Fenton so well and grew a personal connection with him. To the point where he refuses to believe Fenton is Gizmoduck. 😂 Poor guy is in denial. I feel bad for him because he's always in GizmoDucks shadow, which is why I screamed so loud when he and GizmoDuck shared the spotlight in the beginning of the fight with Steelbeaks. Great moment! And Fenton! I adore him and I love him so much more after this episode too! He was always the man with a heart of gold and always put others first. And they added even more to his character by making him such a romantic towards Gandra. I'm 100% sure she was on his mind throughout this whole adventure. Just the fact that he says it out loud that he wants to rescue her and his first reaction when they landed at the Lost Library was to rescue the prisoners was adorable. We all know he wanted to go save the prisoner's to find Gandra. Yeah I know he also cares for everyone else just as much but Gandra will always hold a special place in his heart. And then we have the moment with the two in the end credits. Just pure adorableness! Falling together, Fenton becoming GizmoDuck and catching her like he always does!!! Ah I can't help it! These two are cute!!! I also like how Fenton never did get to rescue her but it was Huey and the others that did and then she helped on rescuing the others. Breaks that whole damsel in distress cliche. I'm so sorry Fenton that you didn't get your shining armor moment, maybe next time? Then we have Launchpad. That guy finally had his shining moment. He was so insecure about not being a superhero that he couldn't see he was the one that inspired Fenton and Drake to become heros. That moment was so sweet and the fact that Launchpadpad became Gizmoduck was what made it perfect. And I loved how he crashed the suit too. 😂 and even the Gizmo Suit has an attitude "Eh, close enough."

Then we have the kids. Each one had their moment and I loved it. Violet was under used I'll admit, just wish they used her more. Like her woodchuck knowledge or her book smarts to find their way out of a maze, open a certain door to another room or help Lena out. Lena had her moment as well, making the airplane invisible showing just how powerful she has become. And let's consider that she nearly got killed by Phantom Blot in the first battle but this time she was able to battle him much better. Friendship really is her magic. Boyd is my favorite! I just love how him being just a head didn't even bother him one bit. Instead, Lil Bulb just uses his body to create a bobblehead Boyd. Let's not forget that "Take care of your brother." line. That one line made my heart sing. Louie was very realistic, "That is not at all comforting. I do not want to die." and he was also the same sharp boy we all know and love. I love the scene where he's pep talking Dewey into winning the battle against Don Karnage. And then we have Dewey flying the Sun Chaser by himself, fully embracing his talent. I'll talk about Huey and Webby later. Scrooge, Donald and Della also had their moment to shine as the original three! Loved it so much, just watching these three fight one last battle together was enough to almost make me cry. Beakly also had her moments like getting the chance to tell Webby the truth, even though it was a trick. I love how she wanted to make sure everyone was safe and went to fight F.O.W.L on her own only to learn her lesson near the end. The lesson that she can't keep secrets forever and she has to have trust in her family in order to win. And sure enough this lesson came from her oldest friend Scrooge Mcduck.

The humor was also the best! I loved the fact that Manny is actually some world ending monster and what does he have to say? "People change man! I just want to live a normal life!" 😆 I never expected Manny to talk let alone his voice sounding like that. And then we have the Gargoyles reference "I live again!..... Again!" Loved that, gold right there. Then we have Von Drake who admits that he isn't dead all because he doesn't have time to die! Oh if only life were that easy! Gyro was comedy gold as well with his line "When they do something right, they're heros! When things get too hard, we're children!" 😂 Love you Gyro!

Ok so one thing I have an issue with. You all know what it is so I'll make it as short as possible. Webbys backstory. I didn't like it. I have no issue with her being a clone and that Beakly found her, but Scrooge's daughter? It was unnecessary and here's why. Scrooge was already her father. He took care of her as his own, protected her, kept het happy, and was a wonderful role model to her. She was already his official none blood daughter. Making her Scrooge's blood related daughter does nothing to improve her character. If they wanted her as a clone, they could've done something else. Like maybe she could've been the clone of a well known F.O.W.L agent that died or disappeared. So F.O W.L tried to clone that agent by creating Webby. Nothing would need to change either, Beakly could've still found her, took her in and kept her safe with Scrooge. Webby would still have an identity crisis thinking she's the clone of a F.O.W.L agent and is destined to be a F.O.W.L agent. If they wanted to add June and May in, then use that same reason. Cloning F.O.W.L agents and raising them to be the evil like them. Or what about this? Use Beakley's story about her daughter. How Beakley wasn't there for her as much as she wanted to and maybe one day F.O.W.L talked Beakley's daughter into joining them. Making Beakley regret not being there for her daughter more. When her daughter tries to leave F.O.W.L she disappears all of a sudden. But then Beakly finds a baby clone of her daughter (Webby) and she takes this as a second chance to raise her daughter again. I'm just saying, anything would've been a better back story for Webby other than being Scrooge's clone. And as for Huey, he should've been the one to find the papyrus. Branford had him in his grasp. He had managed to manipulate Huey into helping him, so why not have him grab the papyrus. He is a direct descendent of Scrooge so why complicate things by having Huey talk to Webby? They weren't even sure if the papyrus was going to show itself to Webby!!! HUEY WAS RIGHT THERE BRADFORD!!!! It was so easy!!! Kidnap Huey, manipulate him into helping, then lock him up with Gyro, Drake and Gandra!!! I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Huey and Webby here, I did. Huey using his woodchuck knowledge allowing his brothers to find him and Webby using the skills her granny showed her made me proud. I love seeing these two using the skills they learned while living in the mansion.

Other than that, the final was great and I loved it. I just wish Webbys background was different and more unique than being Scrooge's daughter. Oh! And the end credits were wonderful! I love how the poster was basically a foreshadow of it!

8/10 I loved the finale!

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #ducktales spoilers #dt spoilers #dt #dt 2017

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thebombasticbooky · 4 years

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Flouted Traditions

I actually wrote genuine fanfic I feel confident sharing and it’s Fire Emblem. The heart cannot be controlled. Summary: Hilda's been looking forward to the Garreg March Ball year, and she is going to enjoy it. Dancing with the guys, getting favors set up for the next month, getting spoiled and adored... It's going to be perfect. And this time, she's definitely not going to get distracted by Marianne. Definitely.Probably.But she really shouldn't be standing off to the side all alone like that...Or; Hilda gets distracted by Marianne at the Garreg March ball. Very late to playing Three Houses, and probably late to this idea. But I got to the Garreg March Ball, and had the perfect storm of circumstances of seeing their supports, making Marianne a dancer, and Hilda saying she loves dancing, so this kind of just fell out. Might do more of these two expanding on some things if the mood strikes, but for now, enjoy.

AO3 FFN

This was supposed to be the most exciting night of Hilda’s month. No, year. No, life. It was everything she’s wanted! Dancing, beautiful clothes, even better looking guys… It was the annual ball! She should’ve been flying high! She should’ve been delirious off of all the boys falling at her feet eager to please, and racking up bodies for the next six months of chores. And it wasn’t like all that wasn’t happening. Even without it being tradition and all, the guys would’ve been lining up to dance with her. And she was getting helping hands for chores. She was just off her game- so far she only had enough for three months. She was distracted, and her distraction was a blue haired noble wallflower named Marianne von Edmund. True to her word, Marianne was watching from a distance. Hilda noticed her from the corner of her eye lingering in a corner of the dance hall. Her eyes were downcast, her head low, and she seemed to be so much smaller than she was, folding into herself. Hilda had to admit, had this been the start of the school year, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed her. The spell Marianne cast to blend into her environment was practically magical for how potent it was. Even as the winner of the Heron Cup, a position that would’ve guaranteed any other girl- like, say, Hilda- a legion of adoring suitors, only a few managed to find her, and all were quickly turned down. Clearly, Marianne didn’t want to be noticed. So Hilda just shouldn’t’ve noticed and gave her what she wanted. It was being courteous, really. She pulled her eyes away. Some guy was looking down at her adoringly, ready to be twisted around her finger. Focus on that.

She shouldn’t have noticed Marianne pecking away at some buns as adorably as one of the birds she was always talking to. Marianne thought she was being so subtle! Like there was some sort of subtlety to her rapid bites just because they were quick, but there was so many of them, and the dear is obviously just so hungry. It really was just like one of those birds, hopping and fly around with such grace and then just throwing all that grace away to scarf down their pieces of bread. It was so cute!

Gah! Stop noticing! I shouldn’t notice! She tore her eyes away, wondering when they even drifted over, as she switched from some guy for another guy. Nice muscles on this one… he could carry a whole section of the library for her. Not like Marianne. She’d have to lean over Marianne’s shoulder, faces inches away from each other, guiding Marianne’s trembling hand under her own to the shelf and feeling it still and relax in her grip… Marianne’s fingers looked so pretty tonight. Hilda was proud of her work. Marianne at least let her pretty her up a little before the dance, and she found the perfect blue shade that matched Marianne's hair perfectly. Wait. She was noticing again. When did that happen? She should’ve been focusing on this guy, on the dance. She just. Shouldn’t've. Noticed.

But.

This wasn’t the start of the school year. There had been too many hands brushing against each other as they sorted books and sending a nice little jolt through her system. Too many times Marianne jumped back and leaned into her for comfort at another bottle dropping in the infirmary. Too many hours spent practicing dances for the Hereon Cup, just the two of them, Marianne’s fingers on her hips as electric as any Thoron spell. Too many close calls where she was hurt and Marianne’s magic and gentle touch sent warmth trough her body, her soul, and out to her fingertips. What did this even feel like? Nothing. No jolts, no comfort, no electricity, no warmth... nothing! This guy… goddess, she didn’t even know his name… he wasn’t half as beautiful as Marianne. And yet, for all that beauty, Marianne was just letting the night- this night- pass her by. No. That just wasn’t right. If the Heron Cup proved anything, it was that Marianne was made to shine.

And that it was Hilda’s job to bring it out of her. Like it or not. Which, make no mistake, she did not like. Hilda never met a job she did like, and she wasn’t starting now, just because she was throwing away the dances she dreamed about all year… to go to Marianne instead… and do the work of drawing her out… oh, shut up, brain, you made your point.

She gave Some Guy The Third- goddess, did she switch a partner again without noticing?- a polite, apologetic smile as she told him she needed a break.

“Do you need to sit down? Lay down? I can grab a chair, or three, or a couch from the commons?” Or three? A couch? “Maybe you need to fuel up? I’d be happy to serve you as you regain your strength.” Handfeeding? Ughhh, did Marianne even know what she was giving up right now!?

Still, Hilda laughed with a charming lilt. “No, no, I’ll be fine. Please, just have a good time.” He nodded and went off to find a new partner, as Hilda went off to find hers. Marianne. Not ‘her Marianne’, her partner. Dancing partner! Shut up, brain!

“Marianne!” she greeted, with a smile. Marianne looked up, like a deer caught in an archery course. She obviously wasn’t expecting any attention tonight, which was ridiculous. If she wasn’t trying to hide, every eye would be on her. She looked even more surprised than she usually would be, though, and her next words confirmed why.

“H-Hilda? What are you doing here?” With me, was left unsaid, but to Hilda, it echoed off the walls. She turned up her smile, trying to radiate safety.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” “...B-because there’s gentlemen? And dancing?”

A remorseful sigh escaped her lips, try as she might to hide it, and judging by Marianne’s little giggle, she failed. Still, the sound lessened the sting somehow. “Don’t remind me…” In an instant, the smile was back on. “But I’ve danced enough with them! I’m allowed to check in on a friend, aren’t I?”

Marianne’s smile alone made the detour worth it. “I suppose…”

“It’s the Garreg March Ball, Marianne. And you’re the winner of the Heron Cup! So I know you can dance, especially after all my expert tutoring.”

Her eyes darted away, and a blush spread through her cheeks, even brighter for how pale her skin was. She fiddled with her dress as she answered, “There’s no boys I want to dance with,” and there it was. Hilda was going to have to take the lead again. What was it about Marianne that brought out this side of her? That made her do things against her very core? Hilda did not work, not when she didn’t absolutely have to. Hilda did not go the extra mile- the extra foot- to spoil someone else. Hilda was the spoiled, the chased, the one to be worried over and taken care of. That was a fact, a Garreg March tenet. And yet, somehow along the way, another fact was established.

Hilda does the work for Marianne. Hilda takes care of Marianne.

Ah, well. It was what it was. No use fighting it now.

“And what did I say, Marianne? If a boy asks, you must accept. It’s polite.” “I-I know, I’m sorry, but…”

She sighed, fondly, as if there just wasn’t any other choice in the matter, and held out her hand. “Dance with me.”

Marianne’s eyes were even wider than usual, her blush even deeper. “E-eh? B-but I said I’d watch…” “And you said that about dancing with boys. I’m not a boy. Obviously.”

“...B-but tradition…” “It’s tradition, Marianne, not a rule. Heck, just look at Dorothea and Mercedes, they’ve already made their way through most of the girls. I’m a little offended they haven’t gotten to me,” she grumbled to the side, affronted, before fixing the charming smile back onto place and aiming it at Marianne. “C’mon!”

“…” Marianne’s eyes met hers with a surprising strength, and Hilda was short of breath all of a sudden. “You don’t have to. D-do something you don’t want to. I know you were looking forward to this, so you don’t have to waste time helping Marianne again. You do that so much already, but tonight… t-tonight should be for you.” Oh… oh, sweet thing… that was sweeter than anything any of the guys had said to her tonight. She really thought this was just an obligation for Hilda.

Hilda let her smile soften with her tone, and tried to convey just how much she genuinely wanted this. “Marianne. I want to. I promise. It’ll be just like I said before you danced in the Heron Cup, remember?”

‘…” Marianne nodded, and recited almost blissfully, “’Imagine I’m dancing with you. Just like our lessons. Just the two of us, nobody else, and you’ll do great’.”

“And you did! This time, I’ll actually be dancing with you, too. It’ll be nice to have a partner with talent this time…” Marianne looked at her for just a moment more, as if scanning for any sign of pity or hesitance. And then… then the little witch smiled, mischievous, a twinkle in her eye. “I-is it still rude to turn down a girl? If we’re already flouting tradition?”

Hilda gasped, playfully, hand to her chest, and the delight in Marianne’s laugh was worth a hundred chairs Some Guy the Third could’ve brought her to lounge on. “Marianne! That’s it, now you don’t get a choice.” She grabbed onto Marianne’s hand, and took a moment to note how much better theirs fit together than any of the other partners she’s had tonight. She began dragging Marianne to the dance floor.

“H-Hilda…”

“I’ve got you. Remember,” she assured, with a little quirk of her lips. “Just the two of us.”

And Marianne nodded, slowly. “Just the two of us.”

Then, effortlessly, the dance began. They already knew each other’s movements, their grips, so well after those hours of practice for the Cup. Hilda was shocked, and honestly a bit offended, when their professor chose Marianne over her. She was the best dancer in the house, everyone knew it. Then Marianne had come to her room, hair frayed and sweat pouring down her skin, begging for help. Like always, Hilda couldn’t say no. And the thing Hilda learned in those lessons was… Marianne listened. So many dancers want to enforce their will onto the dance, make their own rhythm, and drag their partner along. But Marianne went with you. If you stepped a little too early, she’d adjust effortlessly. If you lost your balance a little during a twirl, she’d support your weight and guide you to the landing without a second thought. And with a little of Hilda’s confidence and experience, Marianne swept the cup.

She wondered if the professor planned for Hilda helping. Not just for Marianne becoming such an incredible dancer, or for getting her moment to shine and bask in a win. That alone would’ve been good enough- she still remembered Marianne telling her, breathless and disbelieving but so overjoyed her voice was laced with it instead of anxiety for a change, “I... I still can't believe it. How could someone like me have possibly won?" But the way Hilda’s heart soared with pride seeing Marianne up there, and how Marianne’s eyes looked for her in the crowd- not that she was hard to find with how loud she was cheering- and she broke into the softest smile Hilda ever saw… it was their moment. A moment between them, just like now. She wondered if the professor planned for that. It wouldn’t surprise her; it seemed like the professor thing to do.

“Are you… having fun?” Marianne asked, with a touch of concern. It was so sweet of her to check in. Talk with the boys had been so one note, almost like a script. A flutter of the eyelashes here, a compliment there, oh someone like you would be such a big help for that… same script, different guy.

“It’s the annual ball, of course I’m having fun!” She definitely was now. This was more like she dreamed. The perfect dance, the perfect partner… for dance...

“Oh. You just… didn’t look it before…”

Geeze. Even Marianne could tell, huh? “I didn’t?”

“N-not that you have to explain anything to me! Just… it looked like you were going through the motions…” It was so sweet of her to care, to worry over her.

“I’m having fun now,” she amended, and Marianne’s smile deepened as they danced.

Goddess, this felt right. Hilda took the lead, like always. Marianne’s hand on her shoulder… hers on the curve of Marianne’s back… those light brown eyes looking just a bit more vibrant, all for Hilda… It was just like practice, but even better. The romantic lighting, the swelling music, and Marianne, happy, for once, for just a moment or two. Because of her. Screw tradition. Let everyone see Hilda passing up the perfect chance to dance with every boy from every house, because all she could see was the quirk of Marianne’s lips, and the spark in her eyes, like the ripple of life in a quiet pond.

Emphasis on the ‘all’, because she got so caught up in the Marianne of it all, she could feel her feet slip. Whoops. Ah well, what was a little embarrassment on the biggest night of the year? Marianne’ll probably be more mortified than she would be. It was going so well, too. She closed her eyes and prepped herself for a fall, and… nothing.

She opened her eyes to find Marianne, peering down at her, resolute. Her hand had slid down in an instant and was on her back with a certainty like Hilda had never felt from her before. Just as the song had ended too. That was her partn… her dance partn… her Marianne for you. Always listening. And here she was, holding her up.

Taking care of her.

“I’ve got you,” Marianne whispered, without a stutter, without a trace of doubt or hesitance, like this was the one thing Marianne was absolutely sure she could do.

Oh.

She was blushing, wasn’t she? She was blushing so hard… As Marianne pulled her back up, there was some clapping from the other dancers. Hilda cleared her throat, straightened her hair, and tried to get back some control. “G-guess it’s not the two of us now, is it?” she got out, with a forced casualness. Goddess, now she was stuttering. At least Marianne was looking her usual anxious self at the attention, and that brought a resurgence of Hilda’s confidence. It was Marianne’s turn to be taken care of. “You know, a dip like that isn’t exactly traditional…” she teased.

“O-oh, I didn’t… I wasn’t…” So. Cute. How could Hilda resist? Fortune favors the bold, right?

She leaned in and gave Marianne a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry,” she reassured, lips mischievously curled, “I liked it.”

Marianne seemed to blank for a second, face now brighter than any of the lights. Heck, it’d give the sun a run for its money. For a moment, Hilda thought she went too far, and that Marianne was about to bolt. But instead, she swallowed, and managed an, “O-oh. Good. I wanted…” Her hand squeezed Hilda’s even as her eyes stayed on the floor. “I wanted you to like… at least my dance tonight… i-if that’s not egotistical to say…You deserve the night you were hoping for... ” Hilda could put it together. While Hilda was trying to make this good for Marianne… Marianne was trying to make this dance better than Hilda’s others too. She was trying to spoil her. Was that why she said yes? For Hilda’s sake, as much as Hilda asked for hers? Hilda couldn’t keep herself from grinning as she started to drag Marianne once again, now to the food table. “C’mon! I want some of those buns you were digging into.” Marianne was still red from before, so this just wasn’t fair, but Hilda couldn’t help such prime opportunities to tease. “Y-you saw…” “Marianne von Edmund. I always see you.” She beamed at her, and after a moment of staring at Hilda, jaw dropped, Marianne beamed back. “Now, let’s eat up. We have to refuel for our next dance. I think you should take lead next time.”

“N-next… B-but you said it’s tradition not to dance with the same partner…”

Hilda smirked. “What’s one more flouted tradition tonight? It’s just us anyway.”

Marianne chuckled, lightly, and gave her the softest smile Hilda had ever seen. Lindhart’s pillows would envy this softness. “Just us.”

“Right. Now…” She held out a bun to Marianne’s mouth. “Say ‘ah’~”

And as Marianne actually took a trembling bite, both of their faces radiating more steam than the sauna, Hilda couldn’t help but think:

This was the most exciting night of her life.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #hilda valentine goneril #marianne von edmund #marihilda #my posts #my writing

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Ducktales 87 Reviews: Working for Scales (CACC Finale): Islands in the Sky, Stereotypes on the Ground

The grand finale to Catch as Cash Can as commissioned by @weirdkev27! It’s a race to the finish as Scrooge, The Boys, Gyro and Launchpad hurry to get a now floating Atlantis to Macaroon before the deadline while Glomgold sets the Beagle Boys against them to stop them! Sterotyping, mother trucking balloons, Scrooge being a jerkhole again and one hell of a climax are floating on by under the cut along with the full review!

I made it! A full week almost of reviews, 4 episodes, and one big commission and with this it’s finally done. And it’s been a heck of a ride and i’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing it and hope to get more commissions in the future. For now though the Goal Line is in sight, let’s get going.

Previously on Ducktales:

And as for this series, if you haven’t been following along at this point, Scrooge is in a contest with Glomgold to get his fortune to Macaroon to be weighed in order to get marketing rights to the Lightbulb replacing world changing Firefly Fruit. He’s had to deal with Beagle Boys, Sea Monsters eating his ice cream that turn out to be robotic whales driven by smart morons, and a bunch of asshole frogs with on sense of anything in a really boring adventure best forgotten. Point is Scrooge found atlantis, that’s where his gold is and the contest is almost up. Everybody ready?

We open with Disney Plus giving me a very nice message.

I’d heard about this but it was my first time seeing it.. and I prefer this to the previous content warnings as instead it just flat out apologizes for it and tries to use this racist bollocks as a learning tool instead of just covering their ears and pretending they weren’t racist. Granted it took them a few months and is clearly to cover their own ass, but even an ass covering disclaimer can still have some good intentions behind it and given how big and unwieldly disney is it’s not suprising it took 6 months to put this on there. They still haven’t put House of Mouse, Wonder Over Yonder, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero or American Dragon: Jake Long on here after a year, Disney can be slow sometimes. Dosen’t mean there isn’t some good that can come from this or that I don’t appricate them going as far as to put this one one of their tv shows. And given how they’ve basically had to be fought to get full gay content into one of their shows and they shot in a region of china where there’s concentration camps, I think there are bigger issues with disney than “oh no they took a bit to decide on how to readress their racist content oh no”. It was a nice gesture, I can give them that while still booing them for the other things.

Now that’s out of the way the episdoe itself opens in Macaroon where Glomgold is already there and at the scale and naturally is trying to get the Kishke to just end it already. The Kishke being a fair man though refuses as Scrooge still has an hour to get there and refuses to budge. And that’s ALL I can say good about this character. I already thought he was bad and racist in part one and let them know it but since Disney has acknowledged via this blanket statement that “It was wrong then and it’s wrong now” and he’s even worse now, I feel it’s my duty to lay the hell into this awful, obnoxious, annoying stereotype of a character who, as I must remind you, was played by a white dude. And unlike last time i’m not giving Hamilton Camp credit because I did my homework: This guy had plenty of rolls at this point, was an accomplished singer and song writer and could’ve walked away from the roll if he genuinely wanted to or put his foot down but clearly had no issue playing a “waccccckyyyy” foreign stereotype for a little extra dough. It’s just obnoxious to watch this outdated even by 1987 standards stereotype of an indian leader with a bit of a sultan thrown in because why not piss off the middle east too? Just make everybody good and justifably pissed off at this bullshit. The Kishki repeats words, is dumb enough to think glomgold’s coat is talking to him, and is just unplesant to watch. As Disney themselves said “It was wrong then and it was wrong now”, their own words. This character is terrible, obnoxious, offensive even for the 80s and think about that for a second and it’ll get worse for you and drags the episode down considerably any time he’s on screen. Scre the Kishke, screw hamilton camp for agreeing to this, screw the writers for thinking this was REMOTELY okay, and screw anyone who thinks i’m taking out unecessary time to bitch about this. It was bad then, it’s bad now. Nuff said.

SO yeah as you can tell i’ll be glossing over the bits of him and glomgold.. basically over the episode the beagle boys, we’ll get to them in amoment, will raido glomgold, the kishke will think his coat is talking.. it’s a whole thing and I’m not giving this uttelry stupid and offensive bit any more time than I have to and I just did.

Back to the main story, Glomgold , while publicly sure Scrooge lost, continues to be a good villain here: while I still prefer Keith Fergueson as his delivery’s are a lot more lively and he’s a lot more 3 dimensional, i’ve REALLY grown to like the original 2: He’s a clever mastermind who always has some trick up his sleeve and spends most of the four parter ahead of scrooge: None of his schemes link back to him in a meaningful way, and he basically has a straight shot to the Kishke and getting his gold there since Scrooge is too busy protecting his gold from Glommy’s Goons to retaliate and too honest to do so if he could anyway. He’s a fun villain to watch and is easily the best of this four parter and my opinion on him has gone up since the last few parts. He’s still not AS interesting as Magica or the boys, but he’s far more compelling than I gave him credit for .

Naturally he brought the beagles to Macaroon via air mail, a nice gag, though Burger quickly gets old fast as every sentence is some sort of “He likes food joke’ Get it...

It’s annoying it’s outdated and i’ts obnoxious. And frankly Fresh Price of Bell Air also took part in a lot of fat jokes.. but they still work on some level since they mostly come from Will, a snarky teenager who doesn’t know better and Geoffry, a snarky butler who probably has to put up with a LOT even with a healthy paycheck and thus has every reason to get his tiny digs in where he can. Here it’s just.. the joke is he’s a fat guy. This must be where a young Kevin James learned his schitck from.

But yeah the Beagles are there to watch for Scrooge since Glomgold can’t without giving away the fact he’s you know, tried to actively sabotage scrooge through most of this 4 parter. I almost typed 3 because I still wish Aqua Ducks never happened, though he somehow set up a radar station in the country without the Kishke knowing. Maybe it’s because the episode portrays him as “stupid because foreign”.. actually it’s exactly that *sigh* But Scrooge is Scrooge so he already has a clever plan.. since the gold was left on a now risen Atlantis he’s turned Atlantis into a makeshift airship, likely makeshift because he’s short on time and gyro had to rig something up fast. But it’s damn impressive and nicely wacky: Using a bunch of balloons tied to strings, a bike powered propeller and a small steering column, scrooge is floating his way to macaroon and can dump his fortune directly on the scale if he can find it. Launchpad is steering which makes perfect sense: He’s an ace pilot and in this series can steer anything especially planes, and has the best trained eyes to spot any last minute attacks by Glomgold or any sudden turbulence and adjust accordingly. Gyro is manning the bike and is near dead but the boys are supposed to swap out.. though Scrooge says their too busy working the cloud generator.. only for it to turn out their not there. Oh no! Scrooge panics and tries to get it going but it’s too late: The boys spot them on radar and after conferring with Glomgold, head out in some jets he also sneaked in to stop them.. with his logo on them. Looks like Heron isn’t the only one with issues about when and when not to use branding. But since their taking on scrooge their heading right into the

As for where the boys are they’ve been investigating the lost treasure of Atlantis after their bizarre absence last episode and soon realize OH CRAP WE LEFT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THIS AIRSHIP MADE OUT OF THE RUINS OF ATLANTIS OFF! They rush off to apologize while Launchpad bemoans that he can’t counter attack. Gyro however naturally came prepared and has a miniture biplane hidden inside a briefcase, iron man style It’s neat even if it sadly is too slow for Launchpad to do anything. We then get .. this scene. The boys go to scrooge to apologize and explain themselves but Scrooge rather than hear it or understand their you know, ten year old or younger boys who just made a mistake, as big as it was and were still trying to help, berates them, refuses to hear it and tells them he thought they’d take up after him one day but probably not anymore. It’s just an unnecessarily cruel and harsh bit from him and I’ve started to notice that pattern of this scrooge being colder and meaner to people, and it’s not an isolated thing. I’d forgotten just how many episodes hinged on him firing or threatening to fire launchpad. This Scrooge isn’t bad, but the best scrooge stories hinge on a nice balance between his more jackass qualities and his underlying goodness. He is supposed to be gruff, mean and stingy, but not you know.. needlessly cruel with no regret shown at all till the very end after they already helped him. It would’ve worked better if the episode had just one bit of him regretting it before the boys proved to be useful. Both episodes now he’s been cruel to people, even if they’ve screwed up he’s gone beyond it and only turned around when they proved useful> This is the badly written scrooge of the comics, even under masters like rosa and barks, I get annoyed with: the one whose just cruel, mean and selfish and isn’t charismatic or interesting enough to override that. However the obvious solution, the boys popping the Ballons, fails, as Gyro steelbelted them.. somehow. I’ve learned not to ask at this point. But it’s clever and he also likely altitude protected them given how high up there are but that’s just as likely toon physics. Either way it’s neat. Glomgold has the boys do a plan b: anchor the island with some hooks and pull it in the wrong direction. While Gyro struggles to stop them, the boys decide to redeem themselves with an idea by Louie.. but since there’s no c4 or knives aboard he’ll have to go with his second plan which is improvise a slingshot and knock a rock into the hook freeing it and sending the beagles spinning. Naturally though this can’t go easy for them and the sudden jolt from the island being freed causes gyro’s bike to break off the hinges and knock him and scrooge off the island to what the boys assume is their deaths because their apparently both clever this episode and really really dumb. Launchpad catches them but accidently disengages the plane into a breif case, but luckily gyro, after a funny gag where he pulls out random stuff as they fall, always a classic, finds some napkins that turn into parachutes and the three float to the ground safety. Back on Atlantis, I do not get to say that enough, the boys decide to carry on and make sure Scrooge wins since it’s what he’d want and start steering the island into Macaroon. The Beagles land as a last ditch effort, Glomgold is pisseeeed and Scrooge is relieved and comes up with a clever way to mark where to drop the loot: he politely asks for some firefly fruit and makes a landing strip. It’d be a nice contrast moment with Glomgold if Scrooge wasn’t such a dick to everyone and thing except when it benefits him. But the episode frames it like some big character difference and not scrooge just being polite for one second to get what he wants. But the boys start dumping the cash by releasing some balloons, with the beagles doing the same with some others to dump it in glomgold’s pile, but the boys are able to do the trick one more time and thus the fortune’s are tied. Scrooge however cleverly wins for the moment by using his number one dime to tip the scales. Naturally though Glomgold is one step ahead, and has a dump truck full of money ready. Guess we know who made Kamp Krusty.

And now has more with only a minute left though the Kishke being good for this at least refuses to call it and the boys naturally decide to hunt for the lost treasure of atlantis. The beagles naturally follow, leading to the human chain moment above, but the boys find the fish, trick the beagles into coming down so they can get to the other fish, and dump all the money right onto scrooge’s side. And after four LONNNNNG episodes of adventure and stupidity, Scrooge wins. It’s also revealed the dumptruck was mostly lead bricks to the suprise of no one. Scrooge has won, he reconciles with the boys thanking them having leanred nothing, and the Kishke picks up the unfunny coat gag one last time while everyone laughs, at last, mercefully the end.

Final Thoughts on this one episode: This was a decent finale. Scrooge was a bit cruel to the boys but understandably enough that while it bothered me , didn’t make the episode actively worse like last time, they just laid it on a bit too thick is all. But the action is great and the pacing, minus the utterly grating Kishke bits, is top notch, with a tense flight to get to the kishke, tons of fun twists to it and the final push itslef being really thrilling as the boys dangle and then use the chekovs gun to win. It feels earned and it was a nice subversion with the dime bit which itself would’ve been a fine ending. It’s a thrilling and fun episode.. it’s just dragged down from excellent to decent by the utterly loathsome racist characture that is the Kishke who has I covered up top, is far more present here and far more stereotype and far less tolerable. It drags down the pacing and what’s otherwise a fun well paced episode and a good climax to a not so great 4 parter. Speaking of which. Final Thoughts on Catch as Cash Can:

This four parter was pretty lackluster all things considered. While it started off hot with “A Drain on the Economy” easily one of the best 87 Ducktales episodes i’ve seen, it quickly wore out it’s good will with the enjoyably bad “A Whale of A Bad Time”, Sea Monster Ate My Ice Cream Scene notwithstanding, the utterly dreadful “Aqua Ducks”, and the thrilling but also annoyingly racist “Working for Scales”. It started fine but it’s clear they didn’t have enough material for four full episodes here as the latter three ALL suffer from padding and it’s very noticable, with Whale of a Bad Time at least covering it up better with it’s convoluted plot. This plot REALLY didn’t need to be this long and would’ve been better, if still annoyingly racist, with just two, just having another expiation for the air ship which was awesome. Instead it’s just an overpadded mess with one excellent episode and one utterly masterful scene, and some good action in the last half and I can easily see why they only did serials for big events from then on out. It was a good idea to have more serials they just executed it really badly and it’s better this was the ONLY mid-season one from then on out if this was the best they can do. Truly disapointing.

Well that closes the book on Catch as Cash Can. I’d like to thank @weirdkev27 for commissioning these. While it wasn’t a fun sit sadly, I did get some good material out of them and it was a pleasure to dive into the original series and I plan to again some day. If you liked this review follow me for more as I review a new ducktales episode every monday and plan to still do at least one a week once the hiatus kicks in again, as well as loud house whenever new episodes come out and I can watch them and new amphibia when it comes back next year, as well as scattered reviews throughout the week. If you’d like to comission your own review, simply send me an ask or personal message or send an ask for my discord and we can get started. IT’s 5 dollars for one episode, 15 for movies and 5 dollars off when you order 3 or more. Until we meet again check your house for gary buseys and stay safe!

#ducktales #scrooge mcduck #flintheart glomgold #disney plus #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #launchpad mcquack #gyro gearloose #working for scales #catch as cash can

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nowweareunstoppable · 5 years

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my last summer

just wanted to do a quick jot of some memories from my last summer ever as a student. my clinical year goes through the summer next year so these last four months have truly been the last summer of my young adult life.

and it’s been the best summer i’ve ever had (except maybe for those early ones, with dad and my little brother roaming around the creek and the woods and the local pool all day)

new friends from roller derby, outdoor skating, learning from t & j, and then going outdoor skating with bri. bombing hills just to follow her, getting super sweaty with laura and daph, meeting inline skaters with zoe and sean.

longboarding in the culvers parking lot, and then on a real trail. bri busting her knee but rallying for the bar across the lake anyway. flying back in the pitch dark on the way back, bats swooping over head, the sunset and the heron in the tree. getting to ride in a convertible for the first time

tubing with the derby gals, making new connections, going again during a thunderstorm, and then with the vet kids.

so many dogs. so many. working in ultrasound and enjoying my job for the first time ever (?!)

movie nights at zoie’s, godzilla, 7hr hang session at jenas watching shitty movies all day. that one night out at the bars with kim n zoie and jena, flipping rocks and zo dead ass laying on the sidewalk.

ultimate frisbee, winning championship in our bracket after a huge roller coaster of a semi final match. being down 2-7 and coming back to win it. the first game my parents came to this season and it was AMAZING. scoring goals, laughing with my friends. dr. C coming to see us

doing the paper with laura. long lazy days in the sun on the couch, burger king and reading on her rug, mcdonalds drive thru over and over and over again

all my classmates coming over for dinner, playing secret hitler, then going to zoies cabin. boat rides and trying to all stand on the paddle board at once.

binging shows with kim, that secret old south american bookstore. terrace day with her on the docks.

all the dates, even the ones that didn’t work out. kissing girls. kissing some boys too.

4th of july with my cousins, my forever family on the 40

sitting on norman’s roof, house parties and boom cup and chesties champs for life. shirtfaced party and a marker crab i still cannot get off of my arm.

dad’s screened in porch, smoking with the twins with the trees waving and the dogs laying in the sun, telling old stories and laughing about new ones. blueberries!!

sushi at the waterpark, feeling nostalgia for all the waterpark days of my youth

disc golfing today, summer’s last gasp, in the sun and in the forest with the dogs running and ultimate friends, finding a tye dye disc of my very own, beating the boys on the one hole. mango smoothie and rasberry donuts at the gas station after.

and right now. the cicadas whining outside my window. charlie just chilling and not eating my plants for once in his dumb cat life. about to head home for dinner with my family.

so thankful for my people, my city, my sports and hobbies and all the fun energies i’ve gotten to take part in this summer. i love my life, i really fuckin do. it’s not all perfect and there’s stress looming ahead as school rockets to a start once again but holy shit - holy SHIT have i had a fuckin blast. What a wild ride this all is.

#my actual life #me #summer 2019 #goodbye my friend you treated me damn well #i hope i lived up to it as much as i could #i'm so happy #truly #and so so lucky

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dornishsphinx · 5 years

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T, U, and Y!

T: Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Hmmm hard and fast headcanons that I’d die defending

From SOV, Conrad’s mother was a lady-in-waiting and close friend to Berkut’s mother who came with her to the capital when she married into the royal family. Lima was invited to the capital during the famine because the Rigelians were desperate. He saw her there and demanded she come with him in exchange for aid. (I may also be writing a fic on Conrad’s mother, watch this space ^_^)

Wrt Tellius, the United Bird Tribes eventually fall apart, the specific breaking point coming about due to arguments about over succession. The ravens end up putting forward Naesala and Leanne’s raven son and the hawk population are adamant that he not be considered (some going as far as to say that ravens in general shouldn’t be considered) due to lingering anger, the ravens getting angry in turn and moving to once again declare the independence of Kilvas (and taking a bit more territory with them this time since they’re in a stronger position.)

When it comes to Naesala and Leanne’s kids, the heron girl mostly takes after Naesala in personality, though the raven boy is more similar to Reyson than either of his parents (both also have traits from Leanne, but they’re less noticeable on first impression.) Both can sing galdr due to their mother but, especially for the raven boy, its effects are far weaker. (Maybe let’s say in gameplay terms that raven boy can buff and not actually refresh.)

Their heron daughter on one occasion also accompanies Naesala on a diplomatic mission to Begnion, where she decides to learn beorc magic—with Sanaki’s blessing and occasional direct tutelage—as a way to bypass herons’ inability to fight the laguz way, even staying there for a while when he leaves for his next destination. This is a major scandal in the laguz world.

U: Three favourite characters from three different fandoms and why they’re your favourites.

Oh man, it took me a while to settle on who to talk about, but:

Jason Todd (DC Comics)

Jason is the reason I got into DC generally, so I was already biased, but Jason is interesting because he’s a counterpoint to the idea that Batman knows Gotham City better than anyone, as someone who actively grew up on its streets rather than in the safety of a mansion, and someone who came to a vastly different conclusion on what had to be done to make it safer without being painted (mostly) as a clear-cut villain. Also, he’s a literary nerd and it’s such a cute little detail which is never really brought up explicitly on page but is a recurring thing in the background. The antique book collection in UTRH, reading Pride and Prejudice while in jail, really liking school as Robin, and in other bits I can’t remember the context of.

Where he gets fascinating is on a meta level though. We have the juxtaposition between what modern writers want Jason’s Robin to have been (I really love his run as Robin too, he’s such a cutie in comparison to what he becomes later) and how he actually was written, which kinda comes off as the characters themselves trying to convince themselves of something that isn’t true. And I’ve seen complaints about how people treat his death as being so much more important than others’ deaths when he’d hardly the only DC character to die, but it’s precisely because of real-world circumstances that it’s such a big deal–killed off by poll, left untouched for decades, his costume an ever-present ghost in the Batcave and for the Batfamily–it’s one of those things that can only happen in a big shared comicsverse medium.

I’ll never forgive the New 52 for being the reason we never saw, and can never see now, the Batfamily and Red Hood’s relationship develop.

He just became an ally again randomly in a way that screams editorial mandating “make them get along now, we don’t care how.” They just made everyone do a 180 without bothering to explain why or how and I hate it.

(Also, imo, grey morality Red Hood>outright villain Red Hood AND outright hero Red Hood.)

Laurent (Captive Prince)

Man, I know Captive Prince is controversial, but the story is just so good and even though it’s been a while since I read them, Laurent as a character has stuck with me. (I mean, I adore Damen too, but so many of the character concepts

I’ve come up with since reading the books have been Machiavellian princes shutting themselves off from their emotions, I’m pretty sure Laurent is the source.)

He’s had to adapt to survive the personal hell his uncle transformed the Veretian court into when he (and Damen) got the rest of their family killed—and, at the same time, anyone with the power or desire to protect Laurent from him—when he was just a little kid, and has just built up all the walls around himself. Seeing them slowly peel back and reveal the other sides to him he’s been forced to keep hidden for so long is one of the great things about the series. He’s such a well-realised character, and as you read along, you get to the point where you just need to see him succeed in taking Vere back from his uncle.

He always has the best comebacks too. Nearly everything he says when he’s not awkwardly trying to work his way around emotions he can’t properly express, usually when around Damen, is just pitch-perfect sarcasm even in dire circumstances.

Just a great character overall.

Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)

Last time I talked about a favourite Ace Attorney character it ended up being Ema, but I did say she only just beat out Franziska, so it’s her turn now. I’m so sad she’s not reappeared in any of the main games since the original trilogy, though at least we have Investigations. She still has to give Phoenix that card back!

But yes, I just love Franziska. She is very much part of the running theme of legacy families in Ace Attorney with her need to attain perfection and measure up to the Von Karma name, and her relationship with Edgeworth is sweet in a super competitive way. When she comes back later and spends the night trying to solve the puzzle locks to save Maya, you can also see that she has gone through a lot of development over the course of JFA and T&T.

(I maintain that 6-5 would have been vastly improved if she’d taken Edgeworth’s place, and am not entirely convinced it wasn’t originally written with her in mind. I mean, last time she appeared she was undergoing character development and trying to save Maya in a spirit medium-related setting, and this time had Maya being in a perilous situation in a spirit medium-related setting in a foreign country AND she has a history of working with Interpol. It would have actually made sense for her to show up as opposed to the Chief Prosecutor of a foreign country.)

(Also her design is amazing)

(Foolish fool)

Y: What are your second-hand fandoms (i.e. fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Dragon Age is the big one I can think of. I played a little of Dragon Age Origins before Redcliffe became a never-ending zombie nightmare and I wasn’t able to progress, so I don’t count myself as having really played, but I pretty much know all the spoilers. And have even plotted out who I’m gonna romance when I finally do get around to it. Current plan: Alistair (while pouring one out for the F/F romance with Morrigan that could never be), Fenris and Josephine.

Also Marvel, kinda? I don’t really buy or keep up with Marvel comics anymore aside from going to see the movies. I’ll check it out, but usually it’s only on a whim. (If Agent of Asgard/JiM Loki ever get a run again, you can count on me jumping back in.)

#haha i didn't realise how long the jason bit got oops #my biases are clear #asks

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chrishansler · 5 years

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24604

This is my last night in this house. It is empty. It is quiet. And it has the same peace, the same sense of “home” it always has. We’ve lived in this house for 24 ½ years. Nine months after moving our young family back here from California, nine months into a new church plant, we bought this brand new home in “Orchard Park” at 24604 57th Ave. E. in Graham. Lisa and I were 30. Bobby was 5, Johnathan was 3 and Annie was 2. It was exciting. The paint was fresh, the front lawn was new and the yard was big! We had no plants, no trees, no back or side yards, no fence – just a nice patch of grass in the front of the house and a vision for what could be.

The yard was full of rocks like all of Graham soil, so we paid our kids 1 cent per rock if they picked them out of the back yard and piled them in the back. 😊 We didn’t have any money so I build a dirt sifter and I raked and sifted rocks out. Raking and sifting, raking and sifting. I was occasionally able to buy a truck load of sandy loam soil to spread in the back yard, and our friend and new church board member, Duane Nelson worked for Emerald Turf farms. So sometimes at the end of the work day he would take a pallet of sod that they were throwing out and bring it to me. So I would plant some seed, lay some sod and do what we had to do to create a back yard we would love. For a long time it wasn’t pretty. It was like a patchwork quilt of every shade of green and brown throughout the back yard. And we still didn’t have any trees. But that would soon change.

Mom and Dad were selling their house on Golden Given so I took their young Northern Spy apple tree. They had some wild evergreen starts growing in their back woods, so I took some 3’ Douglas fir, a couple of Cedar tree sprouts and a little pine tree. Working for Northwest Building services I had the opportunity to take a couple of beautiful Sunset Red maple trees out of a strip mall that was renovating and getting rid of them. It took a flatbed and six guys to move those trees. One went in the front yard, and one in the back corner on top of an area that had been raised by all the rocks we raked and moved. I took one of Debi’s rhododendrons that Mom Hansler had planted when she lived in that house. Eventually our yard began to take shape with vine maples from mom & dad’s new property, as well as a dark red ornamental hazelnut tree and a beautiful mountain ash that mom gave me. We built our cedar fence and we planted pear, apple, peach, cherry, and Asian pear trees.

I built a play house with an attached swing set for the kids. The neighbor boy Torsten peed in that play house. That will forever be his legacy in our minds. I put a little pond in the raised area in the back with little goldfish and koi. We had a little garden on the side of the house. It was the perfect yard for wiffle ball. We would have neighborhood home-run derbies with awards. We played volleyball, badminton and I hit plastic golf balls back there. One time Annie had a party and we played kickball with her friends but one of her big high school friends ran me over at home plate. We had so many great times around the fire out there, looking at the stars, roasting marshmallows, watching movies projected on the back of the house, and even having a live backyard barbecue concert by Rod Nash one time back there!

We had church gatherings in our home. In the early days of our church we had a “small group” at our house with 17 adults and 24 kids. It was nuts, but it was so beautiful and fun. We’d have friends over and play games into the late hours of the night. Our kids played hard – sometimes too hard, sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags and leaving dents in the front door that I can still see as a glance over there – happy little memory dents.

We had the perfect yard for dogs – large and fully fenced. But it wasn’t enough for Dottie, our first Springer Spaniel. She was fast, she could jump high, and she was naughty. She would jump the 4’ fence like it was nothing and she wasn’t always nice to the neighbors so I had to build her a dog house to try to contain her. It didn’t. She got out and had a one-night stand with a stray neighbor dog, horrifying all of the neighborhood children who witnessed it. Dottie went to live with a nice elderly couple who would let her live inside their house. So we got Jill. Jill was a good dog, but mom and dad needed a dog so Jill became dad’s dog. Jack was the first black lab I ever owned. He was also the first big dog I ever let live inside the house. Jack was a big, lumbering, always-panting friend to everyone. He was truly the “best dog of all the dogs.” He loved the back yard. And now, no dog has ever loved our yard like JJ loves our yard – chasing squirrels, driving out crows and catching frisbees. It is his domain.

But it wasn’t only dogs at this home. We had Misty – the beautiful, albeit sometimes cranky, cat. Skitty – a stray neighborhood cat that we sort of adopted. Furball was a great little gray cat. But he liked to be inside and outside. He always got excited when we came home, until that fateful day when I didn’t seem him as I pulled in the garage with all of the kids in the suburban. It was terrible to lose him. We buried him near Misty in the back yard. That loss resulted in getting two half-brothers, Shadow and Fuzzball – loving, independent cats. Fuzzball is sitting next to me on one side and JJ on the other on this last night in the house. We have also had fish in the pond, and those fish attracted raccoons, a big grey heron and a bald eagle! And I have loved watching the countless chickadees, finches, pine-siskins, sparrows and swallows. John always had swallow babies in the birdhouse mounted next to his bedroom window.

And on Christmas our house stole the neighborhood show. The streaming lights down from the star, the driveway lights, the post lights, the light-post Christmas tree, the snowman, the outdoor music and the nativity from Pastor Gene. Sometimes God would even give us a little snow to make it really pop.

The kids grew up here. The house was literally their classroom for many years. They each had their own space and they made it their own. John with his video games, K’nex and candy; Bob with his music, maps and reading; and Annie with her entrepreneurial spirit – with ever changing wall colors, clothing designs and even selling candy out of her room to the boys for a profit one time. So much laughter rang through these walls.

When we bought the house Lisa and I thought it was significant that we were right in the center – perhaps to make a little difference in the neighbor’s lives around us. Lisa quickly made a best friend in Pam Davis, and our kids played together. We remember Blain & Cindy, Luke and the twins; Gary & Kim across the street, Jim & Sharon and Kelly & Iris. Kelly still lives here too, and I said goodbye to him today. I married Steve & Brenda in their home. We tried to show love to Jeff & crazy Wendy behind us – even paying for and building a fence for them with some church friends. I used to walk the neighborhood and pray with Len Phillips. Adam & Nikke, Chloe, Lila, Amelia and now Josiah have been such great neighbors – taking care of our animals when we’re gone; sharing sugar, eggs, flour; letting each other in countless times when we locked ourselves out, and always shouting “hi” from wherever they were. We’re really going to miss them. Maybe we made a little difference here. I hope so.

I’ve prayed every day in this house. I’ve prayed for Lisa and each of our kids. I’ve drafted vision here for new adventures that have become reality. I’ve wept over heartache, disappointment and loss. I’ve sat by the pond and just listened so many times. I’ll miss walking my dog to Centennial, talking to God, listening to scripture as I go.

This year has been really, really tough. When dad died I came home and walked through these trees that grew in his yard originally, and they reminded me of his deep roots, his love for outdoors and beauty, and his quiet strength. Mom needs help – she needs to be with family. And this week, as we were preparing for our move, Bonnie died of cancer. Then, within the hour of Bonnie’s passing, Lisa received biopsy results confirming breast cancer. We haven’t really been able to savor these last days here because we are trying to survive some pretty devastating news. But we will miss it here. It has always been a place I couldn’t wait to get to. I’m so grateful for that.

Tomorrow we will begin new dreams in a new place. There will be new trees to plant, new fruit to harvest, new friends and new places to walk, run and ride our bikes to. Maybe this will be a place where our kids-in-law come and grandkids. That place will ring with love and laughter to. We will share life with mom there for a while. I will walk with Lisa as she beats cancer in a new neighborhood. She says that in that community it “always feels like a vacation.” That is my hope – that it will be a refuge for us, for our kids and family and for our friends.

Now I’m 55, Lisa is 54, Bobby is 29, John is 28 and Annie is 26. The house I sit in tonight is older, the carpets are worn, but the yard is mature and beautiful – full of life and growth. I hope the new owner loves it and enjoys it as much as I have. I hope they mow straight lines in the lawn and put up Christmas lights. I hope they sense the peace here. Thank you God for our home.

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keepingupwithfundies · 6 years

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Bringing Up Bates Season 7 Episode 14: Beach Blanket Bachelorette

It the Bates 100th Episode and they are excited to show us behind the scenes extras as well as Tori’s Bachelorette and Bobby moving out of the camper.

it is also over an hour long. brace yourselves

-T

It’s Fall Break, the perfect time for a Bachelorette party on the beach on the Gulf. All of the sisters are there, including Michael & Alyssa. Whitney couldn’t make it but Carson could, the only boy on the trip.

They arrive at the little beach house Kelly found, it is cute and has a bunch of bedrooms and a little gathering area and a pool. Kelly assigns rooms as they freshen up and head to the marina for a boat ride. They take a tour of the Bay and head towards the ocean. Callie is on the look out for dolphins. On the boat, Kelly, Alyssa and Erin are planning Tori’s wedding. Kelly says they want to do sand instead of candles, which Erin says doesn't fit with the theme. They call Tori over, and she says she will think about it. Tori is tired from driving and just wanted to relax and not talk about the wedding but she is glad they were enjoying it. Allie Jane spots a blue heron and we get the first dolphin spotting. They’re so excited and to watch them. They all yell as the pod of dolphins swims and jumps up for air. A song plays over a montage of the Bates taking in the wildlife and enjoying their boat ride. They stop at sandbar to get off and walk around. Carson and Erin go walk around in the water while the others watch. Erin says she couldn’t leave Carson behind, they do everything together and so he was the only boy on the trip. “He loved it,” she concludes. More girls go walk around as well. Tori says she really enjoyed the boat ride and is looking forward to the rest of the week.

At the commercial, the executive producer talks with GIl and Kelly about how they work together well, a great network, an amazing, entertaining family and a talented crew. He introduces the crew, one gets a shout out for bringing them donuts and another, the new guy, is “single and available” Kelly proclaims. The Bates all laugh and Gil says they are incurable matchmakers.

At the beach house, it is time to walk to the beach. Carson pulls a wagon of beach toys and is so cute. Michael was so happy to be on the beach with her sisters since she hadn’t been able to go since her wedding. There are jelly fish on the beach, Tori warns not to step on them but it turns out to be dead. They get bigger closer to the ocean, and the Bates are worried about getting in because of the jellys. Michael says they’re neat and gets a good look of one.

They sit on a blanket and Kelly asks if Tori has thought about how soon this is. Tori says she wishes it was sooner. Kelly asks for marriage advice from the sisters. Alyssa: It’s survival of the fittest. There is no advice. Do your best to survive. Erin: I think you will be shocked. You’ve been living in a room with your sisters for 20 years. It’s great, it’s like college life all your life. But then you move in with your husband. It’s so quiet. It’s a big change. In Talking Heads, Michael says Tori has the same worries every girl goes through, Erin says she destroyed a lot of meals, Chad says it wasn’t that bad but Erin says she once made chicken so hard it was like cardboard. Michael says it is like a roller coaster. Tori tells them about the apartment they found- 900sq ft, two bedroom. Michael says a little place is fun when you first get married. Bobby will move in while they’re on the trip. Michael says this brings back sweet memories of the beginning of her marriage. Kelly jokes they’ll have a party when she gets back from the honeymoon at her apartment.

In TN, Bobby arrives at the big house to recruit some boys to help him move. They head over to the camper first to pack everything up. Warden says Bobby was excited to be moving from the camper to an apartment. They start helping him move stuff out of the camper. Judson says he has a lot of stuff. They arrive at the apartment, which Bobby says they liked the location, in the middle of everything. The guys remark how much bigger it is than the camper as they look around. Gil says when they first got married they could fit everything they owned in one closet. Bobby jokes that it’ll be just him and the boys until he gets married. They carry the table in that Meema gave them. The apartment is on the second level so it isn’t super easy for Judson to help.

Back at the beach, the girls are in a cute little shop where you can paint sand dollars. They put painting skirts on and Tori doesn’t want to paint one. Callie calls her a party pooper, but Tori says she isn’t an artistic person and nothing she makes comes together. Tori and Katie sit on their phones on the coach while the others paint. Michael says she loves holding Carson- “I’m not supposed to have favorites but he likes to be held!” Alyssa finishes painting and talks to Tori about registering which Tori hasn’t done yet and what to register for- Alyssa recommends brooms and dustpans and mops. Tori says she needs to figure out kitchen stuff. Kelly says art is not her talent, Josie paints a hippie van on the beach. Kelly says it gets competitive. The shop owner seals and glitters them and adds ribbons so they are christmas tree ornaments. They go get ice cream. The Bates are excited about all the kinds and try a bunch of them. They pick their kinds. Kelly reminds us that Katie is an ice cream fiend. Katie jokes she’ll name her kid ice cream so that she knows she’ll always love them. Alyssa suggests naming her kids ice cream flavors. Katie thinks that is an excellent idea. Kelly then delegates duties for getting ready for dinner. Allie Jane doesn’t want to leave the ice cream place, and who can blame her?

Back at the 100th Episode Party, the producer talks about how long ago the first episode was and shows them pictures of them at the first episode. They show the the pictures- Lawson doesn’t look super different to me but Carlin does look quite a bit older. They show Jackson and Zach theirs- Jackson was so little and Zach has lost a fair amount of weight since their. Jeb and Callie are next- they were particularly small in these first pictures. Warden and Katie are next- Katie acts embarrassed and warden is missing a tooth in the old picture.

The guys are going go kart racing with Bobby and Kelton back in TN. These karts go over 50 miles an hour. They go over the rules- no contact and the time is based on laps. They give them a “fireproof hat” and a helmet. They get into their carts and put onto the track and once you hit the track you start moving. They are fast as they wind through the track. Lawson and Nathan, of course get in trouble on the track with Lawson trying to pass him and Nathan not letting him.

At the 100th episode party, Erin (still pregnant) has them play the mummy game- Carlin wraps Tori, Zach wraps Lawson and Addee wrapping Callie.

Back at the gokarts, Lawson hits Nathan into the wall. They all stop and there are sparks and the smell of burned rubber. Lawson denies hitting him and says Nathan caused it. They damage the karts and Nathan gets a new one as they keep going. They conclude racing and it is time for the lap results. Lawson comes in third, Bobby gets 2nd and Kelton gets first. Somehow they decide this is because he is a plumber who drives quickly to service calls. They discuss what the Bachelor Party will be- Nathan wants it dangerous but Kelton wants it to be fun. Kelton suggests an escape room and some flag football. Gil and Bobby approve. Kelton can’t believe he is getting married.

At the 100 episode party, they blow out candles on the cake and have noisemakers and then show pictures of all the siblings.

Back in Florida, it is time for Tori to get a few little gifts. Alyssa gives her a bag, she gets some bath stuff, a straightener for her hair and a hair dryer, and a basket of toiletries. Tori says it was so sweet and she is terrible being the center of attention. Erin has them adding a line of the story and passing it around and each person adding on after only reading one line of the story. It is a story- half accurate about Tori and Bobby and half silly about his feet and nostril from the younger ones. Michael is excited to all eat dinner together. The sister say they will miss having Tori around all the time. Carlin says it was so fun to all get together because it doesn’t happen all the time and they will treasure the memories.

Now we have interviews. The producer [hereafter referred to as P] asks what were their concerns about the show? Gil says How it would impact their family but it was worth a try. P says their honesty comes across, did you reach a peace and say if we’re gonna be real we need to be as real as possible? Kelly says the crew makes it easy, you feel comfortable around them and encourages them and it is easy to share in that atmosphere. P reads some viewer comments about how they encourage someone who lost their mom and watches their show for a smile. Gil says its all about encouraging somebody, he can’t imagine what that would be like. P mentions another that it is all good clean fun. Kelly says that is why they decided to film with Up because they’re family oriented. Gil says it has been a great experience and they are so grateful for those who take time to encourage them.

P then speaks to the married couples- Erin & Chad, Zach & Whit and Tori & Bobby. P: who are these new people? Zach: this is my sister Tori. Tori: I KNEW he was gonna do that! P: what is it like for the spouses to be exposed to this? Chad: I always admired the Bates and their enthusiasm and he’s had a lot of fun doing it. P: What’s it like having the birth episodes available to watch when you want? Erin: I cry everytime, and I relieve that, and a lot of people don’t have the privilege to have and for the kids to have. Zach: and those moments are captured perfectly. Whitney: We get a lot of opportunities and we are so grateful. P: There are 3 episodes left- Papa Bill’s thanksgiving and the wedding are included in those. Tell us about those? Bobby: everyone is looking forward to the wedding but what is so crazy is getting to see everything going into it along the way and then getting to see God bring it all together in the last moment. Tori says I’m going to see what went wrong that she didn’t know that happened and thanking people for all they did. P: Elijah was the winner of that- he was completely covered in white paint. Bobby: the unsung heroes will be sung.

Finally, he talks to Josie, Carlin, Lawson, and Katie. P says these are the oldest who are yet to be married who are in the United States. P: what’s it like starting out in these relationships that are filmed? Carlin: when we started out, we wanted to make sure everyone was on board. And it is nice having it saved to potentially show future kids. P: Katie, do you watch the episodes? Katie: No. Josie: it makes us self conscious so a lot of us don’t watch very often. P: What’s a favorite moment? Katie: all the ice cream shops I get to visit. That’s the best part for me. Carlin: any episode with Evan. Lawson: You’ve gotta say that, he’s watching. P: reads a couple of comments from viewers- “Nathan’s birthday party touched my heart. I’m praying for something special for him (and Lawson too). Also praying for the boys. I just hope we won’t have to wait until Jeb to see one of the boys get married.” P: ask me a question. Carlin: who is your favorite Bates? P: that would be like Katie picking her favorite flavor of ice cream. P: Can you imagine your life in another 100 episodes? Lawson: it’s up to the viewers- we’re up for it! P: The Bates would thank the fans and we look forward to the 200th episode in the future!

#recap #BuB season 7

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dherzogblog · 6 years

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songs/17

Hey everyone. Welcome back. In a break with tradition I expanded this year’s playlist well beyond the 80 minute limit of a CD. in addition, and let’s be honest here, I did have some extra time on my hands to listen to music in 2017. So for your listening (and reading ) pleasure I present 1 hour and 50 minutes of the good stuff from the past year. I know, I know, it’s a lot. So is this blog for anyone who actually tries to read it. I’ll promise to try and get it back under control next year, but in the meantime…. enjoy! PS- Click on the bold type below for the music, extras and surprises.

Ride with Me- The Mavericks My theme song for 2017. This year was all about travel and figuring out what I was going to when I grow up. I checked ALL the boxes on the travel end, while the latter remains a work in progress. As the year began and I found myself “unencumbered”, I literally told Noreen to keep her bags packed. A few weeks later the always dependable Mavericks echoed my thoughts with this tune singing: “I gotta go… a whole world to see. So pack your bags up baby, Come along and ride with me “. And ride we did. From Havana to The Grand Canyon, Tokyo to Tel Aviv, Motown to Muscle Shoals and many places in between, It was trains, planes, and automobile’s across thousands of miles with Noreen and as well as some good friends. It was nothing but good times, and I was so grateful for the opportunity.

No Particular Place To Go- Chuck Berry In 1973 a concert film entitled “Let The Good Times Roll” was released. It was a document of the then popular Richard Nader Rock & Roll revival shows that filled Madison Square Garden regularly. The film featured performances by Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Shirelles, and Chuck Berry. It was an era of great popularity for the vintage rock sounds of the 50′s. American Graffiti, Happy Days, Sha Na Na, and even The Beach Boys had helped usher in a “oldies” music revival. It was “retro” and” throwback” before anyone coined those terms. And it proved that music that was once considered disposable as well as the exclusive domain of pimply teenagers had true enduring appeal. At the time Chuck Berry was riding the wave of his somewhat regrettable “My Ding A Long” novelty single. That song, as well as the 50’s/60’s revival in general is probably what got my 12 year old self into the theater. It was incredible to watch Little Richard climb all over the stage in a frenzy, his androgynous image predating Bowie, and his frenzied stage antics providing a blue print for Prince. Then there was Bo Diddley all in black, strutting the stage with his signature guitar chugging like a freight train, and Chuck Berry duck walking the crowd into a frenzy, it all had me mesmerized. Upon seeing the film, I was so blown away I went back to see it a second time just days later. It was the only way to see it again back then. The acts were all well past their prime and were considered mere “oldies” acts at the time. Berry was not yet 50. (He wouldn’t have been old enough to play Desert Trip) For me, it was a crash course in rock history helping me understand and process almost everything I heard after.

Champagne Corolla- Justin Townes Earle More Songs About Cars And Girls. JTE covers a lot of ground on this outing. He’s 8 albums into his career, and stepping out of the long shadow of his father.

How to Boil An Egg- Courtney Barnett One off single from Australian singer songwriter making her return to the list. More messy, jangly musings on Millenial angst. She returned later in the year with a full length album with in partnership with Kurt Vile.

On The Rock- Bash & Pop Speaking of jangly and messy, Replacement Tommy Stinson delivers one of my favorite songs of the year. Good fun.

Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas (Quiet Slang)- Beach Slang The original version of this song appeared on the songs/15 list. James Alex the band’s leader starting touring under the moniker Quiet Slang last year. This EP contains some remakes as well as covers recorded in a “Quiet Slang” setting that includes strings. I loved this song the first time around, and even more so now.

Slow Me Down- Jess Ware This year’s model. Yet another of the UK’s seemingly endless supply of soulful female vocalists. I love a good torch ballad.

Brand New Me- Aretha Franklin and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra I’m normally suspect of these types of projects. Too gimmicky. Messing with these seminal records borders on sacrilege, But it being Lady Soul, along with some of my very favorite songs I gave a listen. Pairing classic Aretha vocals with brand new backing from London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra these reboots seem to reach for something else. Imagine them as part of an Aretha Franklin Broadway jukebox musical or the lush soundtrack to an Aretha biopic. And while this particular cut doesn’t have the low key swing of the original, it does have it’s own big, brassy charm. Cinematic orchestration aside, these Aretha vocals remain stone cold classics in any settings.

At The Breaking Point- Zeshan B Remarkable debut from an Indian Muslim soul singer out of Chicago. The album, recorded in Memphis, is a mixture of obscure R&B , and retro feel originals expertly capturing a mid sixties soul vibe. Sung in three different languages , including Punjabi, the disc also features a great rendition of George Perkins Civil rights song “Cryin In The Streets”

Feeling Alive- Earl St. Clair This young man from Alabama delivers a positive and upbeat message in a modern R&B setting. Plus, I am totally down with the sentiment: “My friends say I should live a little, gotta say yes more”. From his gospel influenced singing to the fiddle heard near the end, their are echos of the deep south felt throughout.

Sweet Love- Wizkid Slinky exotic riddims from this Nigerian hip hop artist

Skin and Bone- Phil Cook I don’t know much about this guy. From north Carolina by way of Wisconsin. His previous record (this was a one off single) was mostly performed in an acoustic country blues/gospel vein. This track reminds me of a late era Sly Stone groove meeting conscious hip hop. The message is right on time, so “clap your hands”.

Birds Of A Feather, We Rock Together- Vulfpeck Vulpeck are back with all their funky, eclectic, quirky charm intact. You not be be able to get the title refrain out of your head after hearing it once.

Brutal- the Expanders “Man say it brutal out deh”. Perfect description for the world at large in 2017. This Southern California unit specializes in rekindling the spirit of 70’s roots reggae, specifically the unique sounds of the eras classic vocal trios. This is a faithful remake of the Itals track from 1981. Original Ital Ronnie Davis died earlier this year.

Ladies Nite- Bootsy Collins It’s ladies night in America folks. Bootsy always knows what time it is. O.G.Funk style.

My Old School- Steely Dan (Walter Becker) When I got to college in the fall of 1977, Steely Dan’s Aja was just about to hit record shops. It was an immediate smash upon being released. Prior to that release I knew their pop hits, but not the LP’s to a large degree. I really loved Aja. I was a big jazz funk fan and it had a lot of that influence. Later that school year, during the blizzard of 78, I have vivid memories of that record blasting from nearly every dorm room stereo and radio as we were cooped up for days on end. My next door neighbor in the dorm (from Worcester/“"Woostah" Mass) was a true Steely Dan fanatic. He considered Aja a bit of a sell out on their part. He insisted I listen to the 5 albums in their catalogue that proceeded it. So I did, borrowing from his collection one LP at a time. I liked them all, especially the magnificent Katy Lied. But the song that always stayed with me was My Old School. A funky (and and not a bit bitter) anthem with a blast of horns straight from E Street topped off with an unforgettable sing a long chorus. As of this printing the Becker estate is now suing Fagen. California might fall into the sea just yet, and but no one is gong back to their old school.

Heart Of The City- Los Straitjackets In 17 years I’m not sure I’ve ever included a rock instrumental. Los Straitjackets remain the premier purveyors of that long forgotten genre. On their latest the band tackle’s the great Nick Lowe’s canon. Super rockin fun all the way through.

Jackpot- Nikki Lane Stylish Nashville rebel with a great voice, rolls the dice and comes with a twangy and rocking winner

A Little Pain- Margo Price A slice of country soul heaven from alt country’s it girl.

Living In The City- Hurray For The Riff Raff On her latest outing band leader Alynda Lee Segarra embraces her Bronx bred Hispanic roots moving ever so slightly away from the alt country sound of previous albums. This track splits the difference nicely.

Here Comes My Girl- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers I vividly remember both the first time I saw Tom Petty perform, as well as the last time. The first was in Madison Square Garden as part of a tremendous line up at one of The No Nukes Shows headlined by Bruce Springsteen. The under card was pretty strong that night. Bonnie Raitt, Peter Tosh, and Gil Scott- Heron. I was a fan of all the acts and had seen them all play live, save Petty. I was not sure what to expect from Petty that night. At that time he had three songs garnering airplay and scratching the Top 40. There was the Byrds like “American Girl”, the AOR ready “Breakdown”, and the taught, urgent energy of “I Need to Know”. That track had me wondering if The Heartbreakers might just be another skinny tie band. In addition there was the slight confusion because punk rocker Johnny Thunders band was also named The Heartbreakers . So I wasn’t exactly sure what I was about to see. His short dispelled any notions of a the act being new wave flash in the pan. It was clear Petty was more straight ahead rock classicist. The release of Damn The Torpedoes just a few weeks later would confirm that. Petty had arrived and was thrust onto the charts and into the big leagues. I was never a huge fan. I loved the best albums and ignored the others. I never found him a great live performer, but always left his shows happy. The songs were great and the band was top notch. Somehow despite his nuanced low key approach he became an unlikely MTV video star. He made continually great clips and they dominated the channel. Despite that, he never did promotions and contests, was rarely interviewed, and his managers did not work us nearly as much as his superstar peers. He toured regularly and always seemed to have a clip in rotation. He was the every man rock star, not bigger than life, not overly political, just writing great songs, hanging with The Wilbury’s and doing his thing. It felt like he was was always there, but he never was. A huge star, yet somehow in the shadows. Hence I rarely ever came face to face. My one memory is standing on stage at Live Aid next to him, and then Heartbreaker drummer Stan Lynch as they waited like anxious school boys to see the reunited Led Zeppelin. They could not have been more excited, anxiously awaiting the set to begin. The band hit the stage and started too play. It was a disaster, just awful. Half way through the second song Petty threw Lynch a sour look. In a flash they were gone, back to the artist compound. They could not bear to watch. I saw Petty perform for the last time just ten days before he passed. I was in the first row at The Hollywood Bowl. Early on I remarked to my wife “He doesn’t look good” (although truthfully, did he ever?). His energy seemed good, and his demeanor upbeat, but he was pasty and wan. He stumbled crossing the stage a few times, took some quiet puff of a cigarette hidden on the drum riser. And he was doing a weird thing with his mouth/lips/teeth. But honestly my reaction was not unlike running into a friend you haven’t seen in a bit where they did not look their best. Like everyone else, I was shocked when I heard the news. When all is said and done for me, it was the songs. Lyrics clear and concise, monster melodic hooks, classic influences and great production. Petty had a chip on his shoulder for sure, but it fueled the hope, ambition, and longing in his best songs and allowed him to achieve pop perfection over and over.

Gentle On My Mind- Glen Campbell 1968. I listened to what ever WABC played on the radio. Around that time there were three sappy and saccharine pop hits that always managed to make my cynicism free, nine year old heart ache with melancholy. The country soul of “O.C Smith’s. “Little Green Apples”, the maudlin mush of Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey”, and the gorgeous,”Gentle on My Mind”. 1968 turned dark quickly with the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the simmering controversy around the Vietnam War, and a divisive presidential election. The bright sunlight of The Summer Of Love disappeared as quickly, as did this type of 60′s pop (and psychedelia for that matter). Campbell continued to write mainstream and country hits, star in his own prime tine TV series (”Hello, I’m Glen Campbell!”), and later become tabloid fodder with his drama and drug fueled marriage to country bad girl Tanya Tucker. All of this conspiring to obscure the fact that he was a truly a tremendous songwriter and performer. I was moved recently watching the heartbreaking documentary “I’ll Be Me” which chronicles his battle with Alzhiemers on his final tour. Its well worth a watch and adds to the story of this somewhat overlooked legend.

Tupelo- Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit Beautiful ballad from the ex Drive By Trucker. A great album overall as well.

Transformation- Van Morrison If this sounds familiar, that’s probably the point. This track echoes back to Van’s great mid 70′s albums. It’’s smothered in enough tupelo honey, crazy love and celtic soul to turn on your electric light and send you into the mystic. I’m gonna guess you’re all ok with that.

Midnight Rider- Allman Brothers Band (Greg Allman) CLICK HERE for my earlier Greg Allman post (REVISED AND UPDATED)

Find Yourself- Lukas Nelson and The Promise of The Real Willie’s son and band fresh off the road deliver a promising set. This southern soul track recalls classic’s like William Bell’s “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”, and Delaney and Bonnie’s version of “Everybody Loves A Winner. That plus the pedigree gets my interest. Willie clearly raised him right.

What Would I Do- Lizz Wright The elegant and soulful Lizz Wright delivers plenty of grace on her latest set of well chosen covers like this Ray Charles gem.

Have You Heard Anything From The Lord Today- Cody Chestnutt Elusive and genre hopping Cody Chestnutt returns with only his fifth album in over 15 years. Better known within the industry than out, he always delivers something interesting. This time it’s a little bit of a little bit of faith.

Not Dark Yet- Shelby Lynne& Alison Moorer Two of country’s finest voices, and sisters, finally team up for an entire album. This is one of my very favorite latter day Dylan tunes, and they sing it beautifully. I was haunted by their version the very first time I heard it and have played it quite a bit since. I’ve always interpreted the lyrics to be the final reflections of someone getting ready to meet their maker. As 2017 brought some very tough days, there were times I couldn’t help thinking of it as a reflection of the state of our union and the planet. “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there” I thought to myself once too often. Here’s to a better 2018. Here’s the whole thing on Spotify: songs/17 The Herzogs wish you and all of yours the very best. Look forward to seeing you in the new year. xo dh Los Angeles, December 2017

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dailyurbine · 7 years

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Fic: The Old Man and the Frat Boy

#urbine #urbine rpf #fanfic #author: thalialunacy

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islandadventureswhales · 5 years

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Anacortes and Port Angeles

Anacortes

We had an adventure of epic proportions today as we headed into the Salish sea. The storms from the day before had passed through the area and the precipitation chances were very low. We headed out down Guemes channel and took a nice cruise through the heart of the San Juan islands. Our first wildlife stop was at Flat top island and found a bunch of harbor seals hauled out of the water and warming up underneath the beautiful blue skies that had snuck into the area. We even saw a few youngsters that were most likely experiencing their first year in the islands. From there we headed up Plumper pass and through active channel following reports of animals in the Strait of Georgia. As we left Active pass we joined the T100’s as they were headed east passed a BC ferry boat. We had some great looks and were also called by some friends to the south who were traveling in our direction with more orca whales. Out of nowhere Captain Tyler spotted a humpback off our bow and it was headed our way. The humpback cruised right into the middle our the T100 orcas without hesitation which was absolutely insane!!! The orcas paid no mind to the humpback however and continued heading north east. After the first pod of orcas headed of the humpback, which is known as MMX0014 “Nike,” began to check us out. The whale began to do something we call mugging and would not leave the sides of our boat. He would pop up on one side of the boat and give some looks before making it over to the opposite side and doing the same thing. Back and forth we went as Nike played a well planned game of whale ping pong, circling the boat without a care in the world. It was so amazing to be that close to such a giant animal!!! We spent the rest of the day with Nike as he was very interested in us and just kept showing off!!! After time ran short we had to move on but we didn’t get far before finding two more humpbacks near east point. We stopped at Patos island for some looks at the light house before we went to Sucia island and found a big group of Steller sea lions on Clements reef. An adult bald eagle was perched in the trees of Ewing island and even took flight as we cruised by. We continued cruising in getting looks at a distant humpback near Orcas island before finishing our perfect whale watch adventure into the Salish sea!!! -Tyson

Port Angeles

What a day it looked to be with the Olympics socked in and reports of rain in the forecast. Fog was everywhere but right before we loaded up passengers the fog looked to be clearing. We started our journey under slowly clearing skies and glassy calm water. We checked out Ediz Hook and as we rounded the hook we saw a great blue heron and a large group of harbor seals on the beach. Our one lone California sea lion was snoozing on the red bouy and a Steller sea lion popped up too. What a great start to our day. We traveled out into the straits and it wasn't too long before another Steller sea lion popped up thrashing around his lunch that turned out to be a HUGE skate. The gulls were trying to snatch little morsels as he worked to break off pieces small enough for him to swallow. It wasn't long after that that Captain Carl got a call about some westbound orcas moving fast so we headed west in hopes they would slow down and we could catch them. We spotted a few harbor porpoise along the way . We had quite a long ride out west and then we found out the orcas were really moving to fast to catch them but there were a massive amount of humpbacks a few miles ahead so we headed towards Pillar point and found the humpbacks. They were feeding deep so they spent a fair amount of time on the surface reoxygenating in groups of 3' , and 4's . We ID' one humpback as BCZ0366 Caspian even from the distance because of the unusual skin coloration on him. He is a whale that has been seen in this are since at least 2009 that we know of. A call to the captain changed our plans once again as the Bigg's or marine mammal eating orcas had done an about face and were now heading right towards us. It was under blue skies that we met up with T18 Esperanza ,T19 Nootka, T19B Galiano and T19C Spouter. Nootka is the mom to T19B born in 1995 and T19C born in 2001. Since they were heading east we got to ride along side them for quite a way. We had some excitement as the two big boys popped up next to us in the tide line possibly spotting a seal. Along with all the whales we saw we had lots of bird sightings too including common murres, brant's cormorants and quite a few red necked phalaropes. We eventually had to leave this orca family as we would already be coming home a little late but it was a gorgeous day with no rain , blue skies and a double header. Our lazy sea lion greeted us at the mouth of the harbor still snoozing the day away as we came back into port. -Lee

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islandadventureswhales · 5 years

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Anacortes and Port Angeles

10 AM Anacortes Tour

Another beautiful day was upon us as we began to prepare for our guests. Like previous days this week the morning started out with a bit of a chill in the air but as the day went on the clouds parted ways and it began to get very pleasant outside. We headed out of Cap Sante and began to enjoy the calm seas and beautiful weather that was beginning to stretch across the area. Our first stop was at Pointer island where we found a nice group of some very happy harbor seals. They were subbing themselves in the rocks and taking full advantage of the nice weather and sunshine. We headed inner island from there passed Lopez and Bell island to Pole pass. Here we found a couple of great blue herons out on the morning prowl. We continued west to the back side of Spieden island where we found a fallow deer standing in a sunny patch amongst all the forest. From there we pushed even further west along the south side of Moresby island and we joined up with T77A. When we got on scene it seemed as though he was playing with a prawn pot or at least the small buoy to mark the pots location. The buoy would disappear almost every time the whale dove and for a while concerns came out that he might be entangled. A call had been made long before we arrived and a trained team was on scene to assess the situation. As they moved in to investigate T77A did a huge tail throw and it became clear he was definitely free of the prawn pot. He the celebrated a bit with a breach and a lot of tail slaps. It was clear that he was a very happy whale and very proud of himself. We waved goodbye to T77A “Eva” and headed just a little to the north where we found Divot and Stitch. They gave us some great fluke shots and Stitch even breached out of the water! It was quite a sight to take in and the days weather was only helping the cause. After sometime we did have to say goodbye to these whales and head for home. On our way we stopped at Puffin island and found a few bald eagles and another big group of seals. From there it was a nice cruise home with flat calm seas and blue skies all around!!!

4 PM Anacortes Tour

This evening was perfect for an adventure into the Salish sea. As we made our way passed Guemes island and up Bellingham channel we began to see many groups of harbor porpoise feeding in the current lines. We headed up to Pea pod rocks where we found a nice little group of harbor seal warming themselves up and a bald eagle out on an evening hunt. We continued north from there through Barns and Clark Island toward Canada. When we got to Ewing island, near Sucia, we found an adult bald eagle perched high in a tree awaiting its next meal. We also got to check out the eagles nests on the island which was really neat! Reports of animals moving north meant it was time to put the hammer down and so we charged north into Canada. Just north of Active pass we joined up with T77A and boy was he excited to see us! As we watched he rolled around in the water and slapped his flukes many times. He began waving at the boat with his pec fin and even breached for us which was so amazing to see. Sadly our time ran out and we had to start heading home. As we neared East Point and US waters captain Scott found us two humpback whales. We were able to figure out they were Stitch and Divot two humpbacks that have been hanging out together for the last few days. They gave us some very beautiful views as they headed off into the sunset. After that we made the cruise home enjoying the beautiful waters and warm evening that we had all around!

9:30 AM Port Angeles Tour

During boarding this morning, we were treated to a little land based wildlife as one of the occasionally seen intertidal racoons made it's way around the rocks at low tide! Once all our guests were aboard, we pushed off the dock and cruised slowly out in the direction of Ediz Hook. There were several habor seals hauled on the point, giving us our first marine wildlife sighting of the day. From there, we cruised across the strait and saw a pilot boat transfer from a cargo ship, in action! Race Rocks Ecological Reserve in British Columbia, Canada was our next stop. As we sailed through the rocks we came across several more harbor seals, pigeon guillemots, a bald eagle and a young California sea lion further out as well as THE BIGGEST elephant seal EVER!! He was lying in the shallows near the old cement staircase but trying to be stealthy by poking his head up only very occasionally and then submerging, out of sight. Last, but certainly not least, we got to see "Ollie" the sea otter lounging in the kelp again! This sea otter can often blend in so well, making him difficult to spot, but with Captian Tyler and his eagle eye skills, we knew he'd find "Ollie" if he was there! After the wildlife bonanza of Race Rocks, we made our turn back to the south and came across an active but elusive humpback whale, known as MMZ0041, a little closer to Port Angeles. This whale "cartwheeled" more than once and raised his/her flukes a few times too, which gave us a chance to identify it! After getting a few great looks at MMZ0041, we headed back to the dock and it was just in time as the wind began to pick up.

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