#s16 I'd watch

[nerdynikki94]

Honestly? Did I want more from DTAMHD? Yes, I did. I wanted something signifying actual progression for Dennis' character (even just a crumb of genuine growth) , and I sincerely don't think we got that. However... we did get a fascinating insight into the process of his mind. Dennis' level of self-denial is so ironic and profound. He can't acknowledge the inevitability that he's middle-aged.

(I swear this episode honestly has given me an alt hc, that the show is based in his mind; because logistically, a man of his lifestyle and malnourishment could not commit the feats he is constantly sailing through. TGGB & DTAMHD... back-to-back? What happened to his hand? Did he even sprain it? Or is he just the most dramatic brat in the gang - clearly the latter.)

It is important to note that he didn’t fix the actual problem. He momentarily masked the symptoms, but ignore long-term help with blood pressure medicine is not going to fix the issue, nor is it going to protect him from fucking keeling over in a stressful situation (when he's not in a contained and quiet Doctor's exam room) and his blood pressure spikes.

I'm honestly a little jaded at this point (16 Fucking Seasons of crumbs, y'all), but if one were to continue 'trusting the structure' this episode conveyed a lot.

The B Plot: The pressure cooker. The metaphor parallels the building pressure Dennis quick-tempered bouts of rage. So, to toss out a little 'cat-in-the-wall' conjecture here: The pressure cooker is Dennis, but we all saw him eat that bloody diamond in the end and we all heard Mac's speech about coal turning into diamonds under massive pressure. Dennis' experience is a theory of pressure, he daydreams it all in the span of a minute or so. He's roleplaying with hypothetical obstacles. There's no risk. Maybe Dennis, isn't the pressure cooker, but the coal.

If I were to try and take anything hopeful out of this episode, it would be the way the narrative is showing us that this episode acknowledged that Dennis isn't ready yet. It's not his turn to break. It's going to take real, substantial pressure to get that diamond.

It was a hell of a misdirect (and honestly a little bit of a slap in the face), but if these characters live in the real world, where people are bound by the laws of mortality, then Dennis should have his time.

Genuinely, who fucking knows?

I'm not hating on the episode. We all know this is the trashy dick joke sitcom. I just thought that if Mac & Charlie could have moments of genuine heartbreak, culminating in deep catharsis, that maybe Dennis could have that too.... but no.

Can't wait to see the sunny dudebros miss the point & proclaim Dennis Reynolds - SA victim, traumatized individual with an emotionally tumultuous personality disorder - the new Andrew Tate.

I'm sorry, but yeah. I'm a little miffed. It was all a dream, and everything goes Dennis' way. Y'all I'm fucking tired. This was a great episode for Glenn, but a fucking frustrating episode for Dennis. I may have wanted a little macden, but all I cared about was seeing Dennis face the limitations of his mortality, to see that he's failing his body and his brain. He didn't have to actually take the medicine (I wouldn't expect him to), but Goddammit, everything seems to work out in his delusional favor. So, of course he's going to continue being delusional, and probably only change for the worse.

I'll say it: I wanted a broken Dennis, and we did not get that. He didn't even crack, the unbearble and apparently now canonical Golden God. That episode's title was intended to tease sunnyblr.

Excuse the plethora of tags. I just kept getting more irritated.

#what i take from the episode is further insight to the lengths of Dennis' repression which adds to my fic #iasip s16 #i will say this: i can't dislike this episode solely because of how phenomenal glennjamin's performance was. #I'd say I'm retracting the title of macden 'truther'. I'm still a stan. but this ep made me realize dennis is too coddled by the narrative #with TGGB he's constantly winning. even the game he doesn't stay to watch the end of. his body performing near miracles. wtf #the real reason I'm seriously bothered is the sunny dudebros. they already idolize dennis #this ep has only made it worse because the obvious point of Dennis' actual delusions will go right over their heads. #anybody with a grounded sense of reality can tell you that dennis did not solve a problem #he dreamt up a scenario in some kind of toxic meditation session. he's getting older. and his denial is metastasizing #Dennis' denial isn't sustainable. I'm kind of cutting off my investment in that regard. he's a fucking mess & he's currently being idolized #dennis reynolds #definitely not my favorite episode. not bc of lack of macden. a little bc Den needs limitations. mainly bc 'it was all a dream' is cheap #ranting.excuse me for wanting 1 of my fave characts actually have his poor health.self-destructive coping mechanism/trauma acknowledged #can't believe i was actually afraid i wouldn't be able to write because too much might happen in DTAMHD...! 🤣 #it should've all happened. but instead ended w/him getting charges pressed when he tried to break into ceo's home #ngl. this one hurt. I'm ready for Mac to give up on Dennis. i just wish this fucking show would let him. #excuse me while i go bawl like a baby watching MFHP. because I'm heartbroken that Dennis' BPD makes him push Mac away. #let's just say that realization has been bogging me down in my personal life the last couple of days. & this bummed me out. #Robert McElhenney. I'm outside the studio screaming at you to just let Mac move on & actually meet someone! #I'm not saying he deserves a relationship. but fuck... after 40 yrs of repression can he at least have a fling & fall out of love w/Den? #Dennis won't ever let him meet someone. & he'll never treat Mac like he actually cares about him.bc his own vulnerability terrifies him.😭

[panelshowsource]

dick turpin, panel show links, and random bits :)

happy sunday everyone!

there have been a ton of new releases recently, which means i've added a lot to my googledrive — so i figured i'd do a little roundup!

first of all, the first two episodes of appletv's the completely made-up adventures of dick turpin are out so i added those! let's go!!

there have been a few new panel shows that have debuted the last couple of weeks — out of order with rosie jones, katherine ryan, and judi love; rob beckett's smart tv with captains josh widdicombe and alison hammond; and one person found this helpful, a radio show hosted by frank skinner — which are all on the masterpost. if you've checked them out lmk what you think!

all four "lost" episodes of cats does countdown are now accounted for and on the drive BLESS

i added a few requests from you guys: all of i literally just told you, the last leg episodes with victoria coren mitchell, and what i could scrape together of the mash report :')

don't forget to check out the new wilty for unseen s16 bits and i found an episode of ultimate worrier i was missing (last i need is S02E10 if anyone has it...)

as for random additions: audiobooks for help i sexted my boss + ade edmondson's berserker; the complete the keith and paddy picture show; monty python & the holy grail (1975) in 2160p (about to gif this! hehe); and the complete am i being unreasonable? (recommend!!)

wip atm is peep show in 1080p~

so much to watch!!! hope everyone has a great week :)

PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS / NON-PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS FAQ / TAGS / ASK

#p #watch link

[casdeans-pie]

Season 16 should be Dean gets himself booted out of heaven. It’s five years since he died in earth time. He has to be really careful not to disrupt the timeline so that Sam can still keep living his post-SPN apple pie blurry wife life. Some angels are trying to find Dean and drag him back to heaven, some demons are also keen to find him (to torture him for funsies.) The demons keep threatening Sam’s life so Dean has to stop them, sneakily. He’s essentially the guardian angel of Sam’s happiness in S16. Sam must never know Dean is there. We see cheesy snippets of Sam’s white picket fence life, interspersed with Dean in the background kicking ass. Sam is oblivious. It turns out Cas is also back on earth. Jack made him human and gave him a chance to earn his way into heaven as a human soul. So Cas is trying to live a life of service, volunteering at local clinics and shelters and soup kitchens. Keeping a low profile. Trying to be a good human. But he’s poor and lonely. He struggles with being human, having no powers and the knowledge that no matter how good a person he tries to be, ultimately he worries he’s only doing this so he can see Dean again in heaven (where angels are not allowed, according to the new rules.) When Dean shows up, Cas is even more conflicted. He knows he should help the angels find Dean and get him back to heaven where he’ll be safe and not at risk of disrupting the timeline, but of course he also wants nothing more than to have Dean stay. This is what he has dreamed of. Just being alive with Dean. And now he has it. (How will this be resolved? Hmm. Probably ultimately Dean does go back to heaven. But before he does.. fanfic style shenanigans can ensue! Dean and Cas will see each other again in heaven. Cas will keep leading the best life he can, doing good, helping people. Dean will see him up there soon, he knows it. Because he knows he didn’t change Cas and make him care about the world. Cas always cared. He always wanted to do the right thing. That is why Dean knows Cas will make it to heaven. Dean will tell Cas he loves him. He might kiss him. But even if he doesn’t, it will be satisfying knowing the love is mutual and Dean believes in the inherent goodness of Cas just the way Cas believed in the inherent goodness of Dean. Cas doesn’t need to worry about his intentions being impure. Dean knows his heart. It’s sweet and satisfying and we all enjoy watching it in exactly the way we did NOT enjoy watching the finale. A ten episode season, minimum. Preferably on Netflix so no ads. Sam is only featured minimally so JP can keep working on his other show (and Sam gets to keep his “perfect” ending.) Everybody’s happy.

Ooooohhhhh !!!!

This is an interesting season 16 idea!! I enjoyed that immensely. I'd watch it 👏 (said like someone who already knows they'd end up on a Netflix binge watching it all in one go)

I love how everyone has different ideas on stuff like angel!cas vs human!cas and whether to preserve what happened in The Winchesters or not and whether to keep Sam unaware or in the loop. The different paths these characters can take !!

It's soooo endlessly fascinating to me how many different ideas can be born from one really bad finale. Like, if they'd stuck the landing I don't think anyone would be too bothered but because the ending was just SO bad it's become the perfect fuel for how to try and fix the mess they made

I love hearing possible season 16 ideas if anyone has any more please send them to meeeee

#I love how all the ideas for s16 I read on here are so creative and the CW wouldnt give us anything like it for sure #thanks for sending this to me anon! #rad ideas #pie replies

[missyourflight]

some stuff i read and watched in november:

taskmaster (s16): what a delight!! what a fucking charming bunch of weirdos, sam campbell somehow everything to me now?? if you think susan wokoma is hot you should watch bbc CHEATERS etc

black swan: first rewatch for ages and it still goes so hard, Love the score, natalie as ever at her best when you can see the gears going in her head, she was perfect!!

the girl with the dragon tattoo: it's been fincher season on blank check, rewatched this for i think the first time since i saw it at the pictures and liked it much more, especially the mara/craig chemistry and all the snow and knitwear etc. it's great when she's like put your hand back in my shirt and he does it

anatomy of a fall: more snow - really liked this - between this and saint omer it's the year of french legal dramas etc. her lawyer with the hair and the chemistry and that other lawyer from 120 bpm!

saltburn: UGH. i'd heard such mixed things and i was actually having fun up until the Turn (although if they're freshers in 2006 they're not the class of 2006 are they emerald) but the ending is So stupid that it made me hate the whole thing lol. imo it's fine to criticise posh people for making shit art!! some of them make interesting art but not emerald fennell!!

the eternal daughter: meanwhile joanna hogg said posh filmmaker rights actually! i loved this, so quiet and haunting and the costumes and the hotel of it all. you can't know your parents really ever!! when i'm old nobody's going to be around to take care of me!! and so like aching as an extension of the souvenir project plus back to the evergreen joanna hogg theme of rich people having an awful time on holiday etc

napoleon: had way too much fun with this, was not prepared for it to be so funny and so full of Guys - paul rhys! tom godwin! sam troughton as robespierre??? mr segundus himself aka edward hogg!!! great year of looking at vanessa kirby's feline face between this and mission impossible. aren't we all just trying to enjoy a succulent breakfast etc

may december: my favourite thing i've seen this year maybe?? natalie and julianne having so much fun with like the monstrous performance mirrors meanwhile charles melton's performance is entirely heartbreaking?? so deeply deeply sad and moving?? goddamn todd haynes

yentl: every talks about how hot young mandy patinkin is in yentl and yet i was Entirely unprepared my god

miami vice: loved this!!! like yes it's mumble city and who knows what's going on but colin farrell and gong li going to havana in a go fast boat to drink mojitos and dance salsa and fall in love??? it's digital cinema and it's very tender!!! brb listening to numb/encore again etc

robert macfarlane, underland: a deep time journey: macfarlane is like my favourite writer on like nature and our environment and this was just so cool, caves and catacombs and nuclear waste under the ice

victoria gosling, bliss and blunder: look, some of us were deeply into and forever changed by the merlin fandom, and that's okay! this was a sort of fun modern take on arthurian legend - parts of it worked much better for me than others (morgan, wayne/gawain) but like where was merlin??? could have done with a bit more allusion to like The Past and The Myth and The Cycle but eh

anne enright, the gathering: can't think of like a better marriage of audiobook and narrator than fiona shaw's performance of this tbh - just pitch perfectly sharp and wounded. families!

michael mann & meg gardiner, heat 2: lol i had a blast with this. like the michael mann bro equivalent of an extremely purple romance novel i guess? audiobook again and the narrator does a fantastic pacino

just a note that i'm taking a bit of a step back from social media stuff for the time being due to continued bad brain/feelings about fandom/writing/self etc and also in a concerted effort to spend a lot less time staring directly into the portal. love you pals 💕

#monthly media #sophposting

[t4yce]

Hi hi hello, it might be a long shot but if you're up for a retro request, I'd love some on Club 96 from AS4 (around the 25 minute mark)

I rewatched it again because of s16 and I'm still obsessed with Valentina and Naomi.

i know you've seen these already but here you go! [x] i haven't watched as4 since it aired (..or any season after s10 really 😅) so it's fun to revisit!

#ask #petitemonde

[frogbeansss]

I’m new to Silent Witness and the loveliness that is Jack and Nikki. Trying to work through old episodes, but there’s A LOT !!!

So my question is what episodes should I absolutely watch for Jack and Nikki ???

Oh hello, welcome to the fandom!❤

Also just fyi if you're interested, we got a Silent Witness Discord sever (https://discord.gg/PpCzT4KNTG) and new people are always welcome!☺

Ofc basically every episode with Nikki and Jack is great and I might be slightly biased with my answers, but imo these are really good and/or important episodes when it comes to Nikki and Jack's relationships:

S16E01/02 - Change

This is Jack's first episode, so we see them getting to know each other and sniffing out how the other ticks so to speak.

Generally I could recommend you the whole of S16 (and every other series) because that's when they get to know each other and learn what makes them tick and in each episode they have bonded a little more.

S16E09/10 - Greater Love

The finale of S16 is pretty intense and we see many smaller moments between Nikki and Jack and, compared to the first ep of S16, we see how their relationship has already evolved.

S17E05/06 - In a Lonely Place

These eps are set in Scotland and since only Nikki and Jack go there, we see a lot of them. It also shows some important moments of Jack being vulnerable and opening up to Nikki.

S17E09/10 - Fraternity

Again, as typical for a lot of finales, there is a lot happening and here we get an insight into Jack's family and again he lets himself be vulnerable with Nikki and also how important he is to her already.

S18E09/10 - One of Our Own

There aren't too many major Jakki moments in here I'd say, but there are some that give us an insight into how they secretly feel about the other.

S19E01/02 - After the Fall

In this one we see Jack being incredibly loyal and supportive to Nikki and there are honestly some very cute moments in there.

S19E09/10 - River's Edge

We get some very cool scenes in here, a lot of Nikki and Jack investigating together and ofc there's also some tension in there! Also let me tell you, you will declare a certain set of bushes your sworn enemy in this episode!

S20E09/10 - Awakening

This one is one of the most important Jakki episodes, but I'd definitely recommend you watch some of their first episodes first, only that the angst feels even more intense!

I don't want to say too much here because idk how much you know already, but these two episodes are very intense and you should definitely pack some tissues. Also Emilia's and David's acting is incredible and they deserve an award for this!

S21E01/02 - Moment of Surrender

We see how what happened in Awakening has impacted the relationship between Nikki and Jack and how they are dealing with things.

S21E03/04 - Duty of Candour

In these episodes we still see Nikki and Jack dealing with the consequences of Awakening and also get an insight into how they respectively try to cope with what happened.

S22E05/06 - To Brighton, to Brighton

There are some terribly cute moments between Nikki and Jack in here and also some conversations that go a little deeper and show how they can communicate without needing too many words. It also shows it subtle ways how they care about each other.

S22E09/10 - Betrayal

This one is very Nikki-centric but it also shows how Jack cares about her and how the Lyell team sticks together.

S23E09/10 - The Greater Good

Again a series finale that's heavy on the angst, but very well done. We see Jack in danger and Nikki worrying about him and gosh I love them.

S24, 25 & what we have so far of S26

Honestly from S24 onwards I can recommend you watch pretty much every episode because they really feed us there!

These are just what I consider significant Jakki episodes and I can really recommend you watch them all because SW is just an amazing show, but I hope my little list helps you get into them a bit!☺

Happy watching and thank you for your message!❤

#silent witness #nikki alexander #jack hodgson

[redriotinggg]

TAG GAME: people I'd like to get to know better

Last song I listened to: TUCA TUCA DO BAILE by Kells

Currently watching: One Piece (Enies Lobby...... for research), Drag Race s16

Sweet/Savoury/Spicy: ALL OF THEM!!!!! Get me a savoury spicy meal and ice cream to finish it off and I'm happy

Relationship Status: Single and Trying My Best <3

Current obsession: One Piece, duh

Thank you @fawnnbinary for tagging me!!

Tagging @strawberrycamel @lunaticus @bunitivity @mangokabuto @cityboys-modelgirls @sugarbear2001 to participate if you'd like!!

#thank you for tagging me i'm flattered #ask game #red's asks

[lalunameli]

Nine people I'd like to know better

I was tagged by @isleofair thank you!!

Last Song: One Flower, One Sword by Li Xingyi from TGCF S1. I love the TGCF OST. So beautiful 🥰

Favorite Color: Green. I love emerald green best because of my birthstone, but I also love other shades of green like seafoam green and mint. My husband loves blue, so together we like the colours of Luna's flames 🤭

Currently Watching: RPDR UK vs The World (goooo Marina, my Pinay sis!!!!), RPDR S16, TGCF S2 Japanese Dub, and may start Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (Toronto Represent!!)

Spicy/Savoury/Sweet: Sweet. Lol I'm Type 2 Diabetic though...

Relationship Status: Married - 12+ yrs with this fool!🫡 Love him most days though 🤪🤣

Current Obsession: YuriPe, YuriPe, YuriPe! Gimme all of the Yuri/Luna materials 🫡🫶🏼 I'm also a massive 月受け fan (Tsuki-uke, Yuri bottoms 🍆🍑). Don't really care with whom though. 虎月 (ToraTsuki - KoteYuri) is probably the most popular, but I personally have no preference who tops him (unashamedly likes モブ月 - mobYuri a lot aka Yuri and rando(s)). Sorry not sorry 😎😎😎

Not tagging anyone, but feel free to do if you like!

#about me #it me #i love red moon and funny hand man #ユリぺ #ゆりぺ #月受け #i like all 月受け #虎月 #toratsuki #tsuki uke #give me all of the tsuki uke #モブ月

[translesbianvampire]

Hey! I like your posts so I thought I'd send you an ask :) what are you most excited about for s16?

(ty!! 'preciate it) even just from the trailer with the too-conventional whimsical trailerhouse cut, the tone & quality writing feels like a return to form imo. shit, the very first scene of the trailer is fucking amazing AND meta as shit lmao; they're exploring corners that haven't been explored before, literally and metaphorically!!! also, because of the whole pandemic thing, they've re-watched a lot of their earlier episodes. while the show is no longer (and shouldn't re-aspire to be) "classic sunny" in tone, i think it's going to return to the QUALITY of peak sunny also we all know that the REAL best thing for dennis' mental health is to raw-dog mac for 2 hours. no hesitation, no surrender, no ass left behind, ya feel me? just sayin :o)

#translesbianvampire #text post #always sunny #its always sunny #it's always sunny in philadelphia #sunnys super sweet 16 #save the dong

[vicvinegarandhughhoney]

Question: As someone in the UK, where will I be able to watch S16, and when? I kind of just assumed I'd be able to watch it on Disney + or something but after checking, I'm getting kinda worried that I'm going to have to wait months to see it (AND I REALLY DONT WANT TO DO THAT).

Any ideas?

#its always sunny in philadelphia #iasip #iasip s16

[panelshowsource]

ok i finally listened and i watched taskmaster nz series 2...8 times

and i'm ready to offer my reaction & thoughts but please understand this is over 3000 words (which means it is too long to proofread) and it is so bc i do not know how to be concise but also bc i decided to a PROPER brain dump so if you like reading this kind of thing enjoy and if you don't do not click keep reading!!!

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS WORD VOMIT INCOMING

i KNOW what i said. i KNOW i said i'd kinda watched s1 of taskmaster nz and it was okay and jeremy and paul were okay and guy william's outfit scarred me for life but all in all it was okay, and i can't say nz humour (which, and i stand by this, is a bit monotonous) is my fave, and i wasn't that excited about watching international taskmasters in general so i wasn't prioritising it. i know what i said!!!!!!!!!

but

i did what i was told incessantly to do and i watched taskmaster nz series 2. it's...it is. it is what everyone said it is. it's fucking hilarious. it's so good. it's one of it not the example of a perfect cast with perfect energy and synergy and banter and friendship and competition. everyone tried so hard and succeeded and failed in their own hilarious ways. the tasks are half-original, kinda-inspired (if not appropriated), simple even when they're cerebral, and very core-of-taskmaster-y. CHEF'S KISS — by tm nz standards

i watched the entire series...8 times? i have A LOT of opinions and i wasn't gonna get into all of them because i don't love to debate and am scared of being roasted lmao, but i'm being brave!!

BUCKLE UP FOR MY BRAIN

➜ imo there is no standout contestant, it's a matter of taste and they're GREAT, but all in all i think the season wouldn't have a single chance of being what it was — in its total chaos, moments of innocence, moments of genuine friendship — without david correos, who was more or less the heart of the season. it's very obvious and very cute he is friends with paul, laura, and guy irl (guy mentioned their team is actually in an improv group together he's very close to laura and presumably david), and real-life friendships bring out a series panel's comfortable dynamic much faster than if they're meeting for the first time. and on that note —

➜ as much as i enjoy non-comedians on the show, especially when they're people i really like, the cold hard truth is that the very very very best series of taskmaster are comedian-only lineups. pls do not come into my inbox rn with your recency bias and yell about s16 this is a dead serious, studied fact: series 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 (i am excluding recent-ish series because legacy takes time to establish itself but imo 12–14 were very strong) being the epitome of tm, it's not a coincidence these lineups are more or less ALL standup comedians (richard osman gets a pass for producing cats does countdown and being, arguably, the ultimate comedy superfan). a big reason for this is that non-comedians — and they almost always admit this, in interviews or on the podcast — are very aware that they're out of their element, are the odd ones out, feel the additional responsibility of having to find their place and suss out the dynamic and be funny and fit in. sometimes they're not really that funny and it is what it is (and it's the show's job to edit them and encourage them in a way that will = entertainment; they know what they're signing up for, or the risk of them not fitting in well, when they cast these people). other times, it's not that they're not funny or capable, but that these overwhelming feelings hold them back: they don't pipe up, they don't speak when it's not their turn, they don't challenge greg or the other contestants, they don't fight, they don't tease. yes, when it's their turns to speak, they're often silly and fun, and when they do the tasks, they're often silly and fun, but they just don't hit their comedic potential — because they don't know how or they don't let themselves try. very understandable! it's very intimidating being on TASKMASTER with PROFESSIONAL FUNNY PEOPLE including GREG AND ALEX who are LEGENDS. but the best thing about comedian contestants other than their comedy is that they want spotlight and they want to be the centres of attention and they will take risks, so they (usually) make the most of their time, whether it's the recorded tasks or in the studio. THE POINT, IF I MAY BRING IT BACK, BEING TASKMASTER NZ SERIES 2 — matt heath not being a standup but being 1) an extrovert, 2) your standard entertainment industry attention seeker, and 3) very good friends with jeremy means we didn't get these obstacles from him. if anything, he was more relaxed and game than everyone else in the room at the start of episode 1 because he is already in the accepted graces of the literal taskmaster. he tried really hard, he fought hard, he teased hard, he laughed a lot. i get that being a funny guy radio dj may not seem that different to being a comedian, but it is, and he was SO good! —and every contestant who is a friend of a taskmaster is always good, that's another studied conclusion

➜ why was david naked all the time lmfaooo body positive KING his haircut is also adorable. speaking of a lack of clothes guy's shorts length was lovely for the eyes

➜ momentary disgression: i'm SO interested in the story david told on the podcast about russell howard going to one of his shows and then, like, immediately leaving as fast as possible when it was over because he cringed to death or was scandalised or something—imo it wasn't very clear just what david was implying russell said/felt and i'm really curious. if anyone has insight into this pls send it to me

➜ i don't think jeremy or paul get much better than season 1 and ultimately they're both just okay, and they will always be what holds tm nz back from reaching tm uk-levels of god-tier tm. i know a lot of people will like paul because he's attractive and he is friends with rose (and others) and from time to time he is amusing. sometimes that's all it takes, and if that's all it takes for you, that is well and nice. but...personally...i can't get over how QUIET paul is...alex isn't half as quiet as paul, very often asking questions throughout the tasks and making little passive-aggressive comments at someone's effort or even just looking at the camera...paul is so often just there doing and saying absolutely nothing, EVEN when he's involved in the task, and a healthy 60% of the time he's asked a question he does a very forced deadpan "okay" that just...like it's not funny — it doesn't hit that comedic beat — after the first hundred times. he may just not be a lightning quick improv kinda guy, and i think the inherent one-dimensionalness of his character hinders him, but idk he could offer SO much more during the tasks, especially when he already has a good irl dynamic with so many of them. there are times, during the tasks, he could just not be there. i also don't necessarily understand his character in that during the tasks he's exceptionally shy/reserved to the point of being mostly silent but then in the studio will pipe up and act "normal" in a way that seems like the real paul and not the character paul. idk. i just think...why isn't he more present and also more consistent. (and i'm gonna say something controversial here but i also watched guy mont spelling bee and paul was not very funny on that — again, quiet — and i think the truth is he might be a little boring at times. i said it. im sorry to everyone :() i think this is a common criticism of jeremy but i will agree that, while i do like him especially when he actually lets himself be silly and banter-y, it is BEYOND ME how he just flies through the prize tasks and the scoring. the prize task is practically show and tell with no comment at all from jeremy instead of a dialogue between the contestants and the taskmaster, and then half the time jeremy doesn't explain his scoring for anything. often i'm left thinking "how could someone show up with this bone-shakingly good prize and jeremy just nods and smiles and goes 'okay who's next'?" and maybe it's not jeremy, maybe it's the editors, but it drives me INSANE when that happens. greg would spend the whole hour going over the prize tasks if he could, just cuz he loves the banter and ragging on people — and the show is noticeably weaker when the banter is lost. hence my issue with, to bring it back around, banter-avoidant paul. (also sorry if it's annoying when i compare taksmaster uk and taskmaster nz, i don't mean to do it tooooo much but it's unavoidable at times, pls understand...) (also, i'm saying all of this without even commenting on the actual dynamic between the taskmaster and his assistant, but i'm not gonna touch that — despite the fact the greg/alex dynamic is the heart of tm and what every single contestant ever praises most about the show.) SO i do think the series having matt for jeremy and david (at least) for paul did help encourage them in being funnier than they may have been otherwise. (was guy williams being on series 1 why paul was..idk...like he was...on series 1? i also recently learned a lot of people don't like guy williams lmao very interesting...)

➜ it's hilarious to me that jeremy is OBSESSED with sports and greg LOATHES sports (except the darts lmfao)

➜ ngl i have always wondered why taskmaster uk didn't use their increased budget to do, like, 10% more landscaping — i get not wanting to make the place look TOO manicured but would it really kill them to just fix the cracks in the driveway? idk — but then i watch nz and do feel like it's a little too much of a set hahahah but i like the outdoors they really have a nice big yard to play in (the sewage ("legally it's not ☝️") pond is a choice tho...)

➜ i read about 100 reddit threads about te reo māori, how prevalent it is in school and culture, how many people speak it or even want to speak it, its roots, its appropriations — and the majority of new zealanders said they don't really care about it, it's not actual practical in the way chinese or german or whatever is, they don't think it should be mandatory in schools over other languages, etc. i found these reactions 1) mildly suspicious but idk how conservative the nz sub is but also 2) really surprising! BECAUSE there is WAY more te reo in the every day language of, at least, the new zealand convo i have witnessed on a few nz panel shows than i think they realise. the ones i've heard the most are a few different greeting lines to open episodes, pākehā, whanau, and kai, but there are TONS of te reo words and phrases sprinkled into everyday language and i felt like i was googling so much (even if the meanings were relatively obvious from the contexts). very interesting! off the back of that i had absolutely no idea people in new zealand said "en zed" to refer to nz in any capacity but it makes sense i just never thought about it before

➜ something i adored about the series — that we see less and less of each series from series 1 of tm uk — is editing in reactions from the panel in the studio while they're watching the task vt. it's HILARIOUS watching, say, tm uk s1 and seeing romesh smacking tim on the back, josh pointing fingers, roisin with her hands in her head, etc in real time as they're watching the tasks for the first time. editing this way also helps express the group friendship and harmony, which is so important to a successful season. tm uk NEVER does this anymore and it's one of my biggest criticisms of the show — but this series of tm nz did it so much and it was HILARIOUS watching the panel falling all over each other laughing at everything. they're so goofy

➜ the fake paul with the moustache was, in fact, a dish, whoever he is congrats on being hot

➜ very random moments i liked:

"you think she's doing great things for women in those boots? 🤨💅"

it was so underrated that guy's idea to transform a room was to turn it into a farm and he had people in animal costumes being sheep or whatever that shit was HILARIOUS

matt ziptying a brush to a helmet to look like an ancient roman cracked me up so hard "husband to a murdered child" ??? smh

when laura was trying to rope the cameramen into american pie-ing her wedding cake and paul went "don't ask them...because one of them WILL do it"

"a tongue kiss with an extra 10%? i'm not sure—" "10% extra, maybe thumb up bum" ????

matt forgetting his hometown and saying "i was born in oxford in england! i forgot… that was fucking ages ago!"

"because david eats something doesn't make it food :|"

"this reminds me of my mother's music group ...i hated every one of those bitches" like?? LMAO i NEED the story behind this comment

"one is south african, one is filipino...but they both like their balls...swiss"

"i'm fairly certain i'm not gonna crush this challenge, but i know at some point you and i are gonna box and/or wrestle, and i'm gonna crush that one"

matt being so serious that his dream animal is a horse

"i probably won’t even need the other food colouring but how good is it not to have paul in the room?"

why was jeremy so into those urinal cakes?? like okay jeremy hmm

every time jeremy and urzila flirted

when paul was convincing laura to go through with the sabotage and they agreed david probably wouldn't fuck over his team but guy definitely would lmfao

"tell me a little about yourself" "i'm paul" "...interesting. i love that about you"

it's hard to top david and guy being actually naked for the tie task but i actually think guy's farmer's tan stole the show

when guy was looking for paul in the rain and said "the irony is if paul was here we could talk about this weather, he loves that sort of shit" LMAO

urzila being the ghost of abe lincoln was actually genius and she deserved more flowers for that lateral thinking

♪im gonna gonna drown you / in your own blood♪ why is that so catchy?? "matt matt run him over like a cat" "david you shouldnt run over cats" but fr during the diss track task when matt said he was gonna eat their asses and also while they were dissing guy matt went "he's good looking though" 💀

in the secret shoelace task david said "i take solace in knowing that everyone else has go through this as well" was like a fucking mirror of the time josh widdicombe did a secret task and was like "i'm not the one who has to watch this five times" hahahaha also when they had so much time to kill paul was just reading the entire story of rumpelstiltskin please

when guy realised, during the milk/microwave task, that he should have listened to paul and like angrily laughed "i'm furious! i'm furious with everyone! this is a disaster!" you don't see that side of him often and it was so funny

➜ regardless of whether these yielded funny results (they did anyways of course), these were most of my favourite ideas for tasks:

transform this room when the lights go out

shoot a chocolate fish into the fishbowl and say the name of a different animal with each shot, most powerful animal wins

create a diss track about the members of the other team

the fucking abe lincoln one

the milk/microwave task (hilarious on both tm nz and tm uk)

also i personally want to play the celebrity name game from that one live task

➜ all in all the series had quite a few very simple tasks — build a tower of onions, squirt the sunscreen, fly, make the loudest noise — and that's something i really cherish and appreciate and feel is at the heart of what taskmaster is all about. i'd say tm nz, being in its baby era, is able to get away with having a lot more simple, straightforward tasks, which are far superior to some of the incredibly convoluted ones we see on tm uk. i see people say alllllll the timeeeeeee "it's not the tasks that matter it's how to contestants react to them + the editing" but i do not agree — plenty of tasks are duds because they are duds and not because everyone else failed to find the entertainment value in them. i would love to see tm uk work harder to bring the tasks back down in scale and convolution bc tm nz has been able to come up with quite a few that have never been done before so i know they can too

➜ something else this series does VERY well is little morsels on top of the established format: laura's sabotage, the brussell sprouts that kept floating throughout other tasks and then appear in another task!!!, paul and david's trip to christchurch, laura rounding up their girlfriends, the shoelace secret task, paul lying and fucking with the magnet, the crew "accidentally" (though i do believe it was an accident idk if we'll ever know) turning the lights off on david, even the abe lincoln task that took place outside of the taskmaster ranch — all of these things contributed to the format being more than just task/score, task/score, task/score. they felt like little cherries on top, extra content, at times extra suspense. felt like every episode had something a little extra funny in this way. very impressed by this stuff!

➜ task complaints:

alex has talked before about one of the central concerns of post-production being the ordering of the tasks and particularly choosing the very first task they show, which sets the stage for the panel. i actually feel like this series didn't do a good job in choosing their very first task, which surprises me bc that seems like an easy thing to get right with this series' group + task lineup. not a big deal but something to consider!

in the live task when they had to choose a weapon and half something (which i LOVE the idea of), it bothered me that they didn't measure by percentage and instead by actual kilo

is it just me or does tm nz feel like it sends a LOT of balloons into the air? have they ever specifically confirmed they retrieve all of the balloons they let go? ngl the amount of balloons they send off + the amount of food waste can sometimes be distracting

the piggy bank live task was totally fucked like the length of time it look paul to get the pictures of the piggies to jeremy was ridiculous and heavily disadvantaged everyone — and they didn't even show us all the piggie drawings????? HELLO I WANNA SEE THE PIGGIES??

jeremy giving guy's new zealand pillow 3 points was the worst scoring decision of the series

frankly it was GROSS when david sucked all of the room temperature tomato juice cans. but one thing i've noticed is — it may be a me problem? maybe an american problem bc we don't eat beans the way brits do? do nzers eat beans on toast? anyways — when it comes to people licking/eating cold/room temp canned goods. because i can name 10 different times i've seen contestants lick baked bean juice or spaghetti hoop sauce off their fingers and i just cannot imagine eating those things in any amount not heated up. cold bean juice? BLEGH

okay i'll wrap this up now because i wrote an incoherent outline of a thesis on this series but it was FUN as HECK and i'm so happy that funny people get to enjoy the legacy of a fan favourite series (on the tm podcast, guy seemed to take a lot of pride in this when ed mentioned it<3) and i like them all and i wish they would come back and do another 10 episodes. paul if ur reading this make it happen

#p

[pseudophan]

the way i finished my first sunny watch a year ago today and thought i'd get normal about it quickly but NOOOO i've never felt more insane about anything as i do about sunny and macdennis over the past few months and ESPECIALLY now after the live shows. its take over my whole life I NEEEDD S16.

its actually so fucking funny cause on the surface theres ZERO apparent reason why we should lose our fucking minds this hard over.... the peepeepoopoo danny devito satire show ? half the show is just like piss jokes and yet 😭 but fr i think it's cause it's so unpredictable and they will just randomly pull a heart wrenching moment out their ass and you never know when and also for a sitcom jesus fucking christ do they love symbolism and subtext why are they INSANEEEEEE. and then also its just, yknow. really mean gay people. always a hit

#answered

[texas-hates-taxes-too]

Finally watched the PSA!!

Thoughts:

(Sorry this is longer than it ough to be 😭)

I got distracted by people's voices through like 90% of it

I didnt think I'd care about Lopez but it just sounds too different, I think they should maybe get Shannon to do lopez now bc I honestly didn't notice a difference between lopez and dos.0 through most of s11

I tried with caboose but ending up turning the volume down so I could only sort of hear him which made it better. I'd still like them to find someone closer to his actual voice

Tuckers voice is weird right now, I think maybe Jason was pitching his voice up before and he isn't doing that now? Ik he can't be forced to do anything but it just sounds so off and I want him to go back to the higher pitch 😭

Edit: I had to watch the psa like 5 times while making this post and I'm slowly getting used to caboose and tucker

O'malleys voice also sounds weird, just gonna chalk that up to Matt being out of practice with the omalley voice since or smth

My favourite part was the mullet part, I actually laughed out loud at "remember Tom in IT? He has a mullet now. Stacy who runs payroll? Also a mullet.". Shannon's delivery here was top tier

Also "im glad to see you guys!" "You are?....why?" Lmao

I dont like carolina and wash being apart from the others but tbh I think the room theyre in looked like Carolina's apartment on chorus from s16 which i'm more okay with than anything to do with zero

Overall, it was enjoyable, but only after I watched it a few times, the first watch through I got distracted by voices a lot and so I either missed the jokes or they fell through, but after a few times I noticed lots of great and funny jokes and interactions. I think Wash was the shining star of the episode, I enjoyed his parts more than anything

#rvb #red vs blue

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

Thought I'd be able to get back to Sunnyposting last weekend but it looks like I'll still be travelling around a lot with spotty internet access for the next couple of weeks too. I wish it wasn't happening right as S16 was airing, in particular because of how good this season has been, but it gives me something to look forward to, I suppose.

I had to watch S16E4 on my phone off a sketchy website on really bad WiFi (so it kept buffering every minute or so) and with the sound turned way way down because there were people around. Still made me laugh more than any episode should under those conditions and I definitely got some side-eye for being so loud. I can't wait to rewatch it properly when I finally get back home!

But it was so good and brain-destroying that I have to do a big post immediately from Bi Dennis to chess to Frank's final scene (Danny DeVito EMMY when?!) to SINNED to Meg to the directing to ... because the brain worms won't let me function at all if I can't unleash them... so that's incoming.

Deeper and more refined thoughts will prevail (will they though?) when I get to do a rewatch under better circumstances.

In the meantime, here's to hoping I can catch enough signal to self-soothe with macdennis ao3 injections straight into the bloodstream right now after the stressball that was the lead up to episode.

#now let me go scream about how funny that was and how right it was for mac and dennis to get into a double relationship #somebody show me those texts! they definitely sexted and dennis totally got off! they had a relationship! #i mean. they're already in a relationship. but they had another one while already being in one. because one is not enough for them. #just gonna go get a frying pan and hit myself over the head rn #iasip #frank vs russia #iasip s16 #sur #housekeeping

[neverrcry]

what I'd give to watch s16 of sunny for the first time again......

#landis speaks.

[polkadotpatterson]

Ooh 11, 22, 23, or 32!! 🤝

you didn't specify but of course I had to write Them! have a post-s16 interdimensional incident <3

22 + 32: grabbing the other’s hand to pull them back from something + not really paying attention, both doing something else, but still holding hands

Workman Gloom should be more than used to weird occurrences by now. They've witnessed their teammate shatter reality into a million fragments. They’ve rounded the bases while disintegrating into ash. Their spirit has sunk deep beneath the waves and risen again, brought back to life by a giant squid to go kill a giant peanut. What could faze them after that?

A lot, it turns out. They'd be lying if they said it didn't scare the hell out of them every time Dot loses their grip on this world and starts to slip away; it could happen when Workman’s not around to help pull them back. So when they wake one night to Beasley barking frantically and Dot nowhere to be seen, they waste no time in scrambling out of bed and skidding down the hall towards the source of the alarm. 

Dot is disappearing into the fridge. Or, more accurately, Dot is disappearing into a dimensional rift in what was once their fridge, which seems to have already taken their leftovers, their yogurt, and most of their vegetables. Beasley is tugging valiantly on the leg of their pajamas, but to no avail.

Workman leaps forward, grabs their partner’s nearest hand, and pulls as hard as they can. As Dot stumbles back into the apartment, Workman gets a glimpse of a volcanic-looking place, grim and fiery, with dark beasts howling and gnashing their teeth. With their other hand they grab Beasley's collar and pull him back too, not taking any chances. 

The rift closes with a sound like a piece of paper being torn in reverse, and then it's just the three of them standing in the suddenly-quiet kitchen, until Workman slams the fridge door shut for good measure.

“It's okay,” Dot says after a moment, reaching a tentacle-hand down to calm an anxious Beasley. “Everything has stabilized. The fridge should be back to normal.” They pause. “Well. Minus half its contents.”

“What were you doing?”

“I wanted a snack.”

“From the evil fiery flesh-eating beasts hell dimension?”

Dot casts their eyes downward. “I may have gotten a little lost while reaching for the yogurt.”

“No kidding.” Workman sighs. “Well, we went almost a whole day without any interdimensional incidents. It’s getting better, at least.”

“Not better enough,” Dot says quietly. “I never mean to scare you.” Beasley whines, and they give him an extra scratch behind the ears.

“It's not your fault,” Workman says automatically, because of course it isn't. “You’re still here, and that's a lot more than what most people get from alternation. I'd pull you back as many times as it takes, you know I would. I just wish you didn't have to go through that.”

“You were right, though. It is getting better.” Dot gives them a tentative smile. “I am learning. One day I will master it, and stop you from worrying.”

“Not sure I'll ever really stop worrying,” Workman admits. “It's kind of part of the job description, y’know? Wouldn't be much of a partner if I started being like ‘oh, I'm sure Dot will be fine in the evil fiery flesh-eating beasts hell dimension, I’ll just chill here and watch TV until they get back’.”

“I really would have been fine,” Dot insists. “But your help is always appreciated, of course.”

Workman looks back at the fridge. “Speaking of help, how about you help me replace the groceries tomorrow?”

“That hardly seems a fair trade for pulling me back from the evil fiery flesh-eating beasts hell dimension.”

“Maybe I just want to go to the grocery store dimension with you.” They grin. “Also known as the Sobey’s down the road. Maybe stop for coffee first. Hold hands a bit.”

“Oh, well, in that case, how can I refuse?”

Beasley, sensing that things are okay now, sits down and gives his tail a couple of wags.

“You never did get that snack, huh?”

Dot eyes the fridge suspiciously. “Maybe I'll just have some tea.” They move towards the kettle, and Workman is pulled along with them; they hadn't even registered the death grip they're still clinging to, and they’re not sure Dot had either. At this point it’s second nature for the two of them to reach for each other, to hold each other tight. 

Maybe not quite that tight, though. They relax their fingers a little, but still don't let go.

“Put on enough water for me, too,” Workman says, and Dot nods, turning on the tap with one of their many free hands and opening the cupboard with another. Curling up together on the couch with a hot beverage maybe can't quite make up for the interdimensional terrors, but it certainly can't hurt, either. 

#blaseball #canada moist talkers #polkadot patterson #workman gloom #beasley gloom #fic #my fic #prompt fic #I need to have them say they're partners more often. I've learned how wonderful it is to say someone is your partner #soon we can go to the grocery store dimension together and h*ld h*nds <3 #mossy-kit