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lo-diehards · 5 days

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2024 TV Season Analysis – Organized Crime Tops the Franchise, Law & Order Better, SVU Needs an Overhaul

The 2023-24 TV season has been a truncated TV season of 13 episodes, due the ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes that happened last year. A lot of scripted TV was back burned until the strikes ended. TV writers struck their deal first and were back to work promptly, long before actors/actresses, this should have given time to plan out their already short season. Production crunched for 13 episodes to be shot between late November until this coming week, where SVU and mother ship reboot will be wrapping up shooting their finale episodes.

But where does this season grade in its entirety? I’m going to summarize – as much as I can - my views on where the franchise stands for this season from best to worst. Click below to read.

Organized Crime – The best in the franchise creatively, hands down!

New show runner/executive producer John Shiban (The X-Files) and his writing staff understood their assignment and have definitely delivered. Organized Crime is the most entertaining series in the franchise this season, week-over-week. The storylines are so fleshed out and they don’t drag on as they had since the series started. Shiban has shifted focus to the OC main characters and their backstories as well as expanding on the OC unit in its entirety. We’ve even seen 2 of SVU’s former stars show up (Tamara Tunie, Chief M.E. Melinda Warner / Dann Florek, Donald Cragen) as well as an appearance by Peter Scanavino (ADA Dominick Carisi). We have even been introduced to more of Stabler’s family, his brothers – portrayed by guest stars Dean Norris and Michael Trotter – and while they’ve come in and shook things up for Stabler, one thing I can point out, it’s the first season since OC premiered where I haven’t felt that Elliot Stabler is on a quest for vengeance or retribution of some kind.

The cast has been firing on all cylinders this season, especially with the episode that just aired last week (“Crossroads”), where one of OC’s new team members went missing and was found to be killed, Stabler having the bury his body as he is undercover with the group that found Detective-in-Training Samir Bashir (guest star Abubakr Ali). This story is still playing out so as of now we don’t fully know who killed him but I’m sure we’re about to find out. Stabler’s younger brother, Joe Jr. may have some involvement as the investigation is about to come full circle. Meanwhile, the scene in question in this episode has Christopher Meloni and Danielle Mone Truitt deliver their most powerful scene together yet in the series and they have delivered quite a few, this one stands out though.

Excellent only begins to describe it, and Organized Crime this season. Organized Crime has yet to be renewed for the 2024-25 TV season.

Law & Order (reboot) – It’s improved, but we still have a ways to go.

There is a lot to be said of the mother ship series, both the original and this reboot. But this reboot has seen a lot in its short time on air, in this short season alone the cast has changed twice already. Jeffrey Donovan (Detective Frank Cosgrove) and the series parted ways weeks before production was set to start and veteran Sam Waterston (District Attorney Jack McCoy) chose to depart before mid-season. Sam Waterston is/will greatly be missed and he leaves behind a full legacy on the show, which he joined in 1994! Meanwhile newcomers Reid Scott (Detective Vincent Riley) and Tony Goldwyn (District Attorney Nicholas Baxter) have been welcomed by fans with open arms. The cast of the reboot no matter which season is very solid and they are all very talented, but their talents often seem crippled.

The reboot seems to have an issue fleshing out the characters. Det. Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) and ADA Sam Maroun (Odelya Halevi) – and add DA Nick Baxter (Goldwyn) to me, week-in and week-out are the unsung heroes as with them we can see depth, we can understand why they make the decisions they make or feel the way they do on certain topics. I’m still on the fence about Riley’s development but he’s definitely has a more solid partnership with Shaw than Cosgrove did, and he certainly is a better character. I think they’ve got a great detective duo here – reminiscent of that of Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin) and Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) in season 18. From about the third episode this season on up, there has been an improvement in the writing, I must say in comparison from where the season started. Most of the episodes this season seem to have one singular writer who stands out, Pamela Wechsler, who also serves as executive producer. Girl power!

What can help the reboot:

The writers need to get away from talking points and political affiliation when it comes to the characters and even the weekly storylines - looking at you show runner Rick Eid - it makes the characters come off as caricatures and stereotypes. And maybe not directly rip the episodes from the headlines near verbatim. It takes away from it if we already know how it plays out – where is “the Law & Order twist?” They need to deep dive into Vincent Reilly, Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) and Kate Dixon (Camryn Manheim); we have talented actors on here, give them something that makes us stand up and clap and relate to these characters and stop making them one-dimensional, especially ADA Price. I must say I’ve been enjoying the legal side a bit more with the addition of Goldwyn’s Baxter, his back-and-forth every week with Price has a feel of the original series run, where we see multiple points of views on cases and it doesn’t feel/sound like rhetoric. And speaking of that run, it wouldn’t hurt for them to find ways to invest those old characters in the reboot. Just because Sam has departed doesn’t mean we still don’t want to see old faces or even faces from the other L&O series show up. Elisabeth Rohm (ADA Serena Southerlyn) and Milena Govich (Det. Nina Cassady) have directed episodes! Raul Esparza and Hugh Dancy both starred in Hannibal, I could see former-ADA now Defense Attorney Rafael Barba sitting at the defense table and likely wiping the floor with Price! Tony Goldwyn even wants Mariska Hargitay to direct an episode. Let’s make the mother ship enjoyable to watch again!

It was renewed for a 24th season (4th for the reboot). The mother ship has a second chance at greatness and to continue its legacy on television, not a lot of shows get that. It would be wise that those in charge on mother ship remember that.

SVU – The 25th milestone season ranks as one of the worst.

I originally had a two-page long document on this season of SVU alone and I’ve had to shorten it down and it’s still not that short. But if I had to describe the 25th record-breaking season of SVU in 1 word, that word would be “bad.” There are calls on social media for show runner/executive producer David Graziano to be fired from the series. I’m not one to openly call for people to lose their jobs, but clearly there is something wrong and the downward spiral of the ratings mixed with bad press for SVU episodes this season is showing that. Nothing about season 25 jumps out as milestone season and there are only a handful of episodes as of now, that I would consider episodes worth going back to watch again: “Tunnel Blind”, “Duty to Report”, “Probability of Doom”, and “Children of Wolves” which was directed by Mariska Hargitay.

It’s the writing and direction of this season, period. There is no other reason or excuse that flies. There is clearly no investment from the management level behind the scenes at SVU in this milestone season being the best it could have been. The Maddie storyline overtook the season and its resolution didn’t exactly hit the mark either. Where is the retrospective? Why haven’t we gone over past cases? Seen former victims/survivors (other than 2 minutes worth of Maria from “911”)? Why did Olivia stop seeing Dr. Lindstrom (Bill Irwin)? Where is the ‘healing?’ The guest stars? We haven’t seen any former stars, other than Kelli Giddish (Detective Amanda Rollins), and that proves to me that it was a mistake to fire her in the first place. “Where is the energy? Where is the spatter? This is life-less dreck. A cheap knock-off…” (diehard SVU fans; if you know, you know). But seriously, nothing about this season overall screams “25 years!”

With the season opener, I was sure David Graziano and the writers turned the page on the mess that was most of the entire 24th season of SVU. Turns out I was wrong to think it. It seems to be doubled down. It’s proof that despite his behavior, he’s just not a good fit for SVU. He doesn’t seem to understand how to write for this show and be the voice of who women/people look up to and the voice that victims and survivors need. I honestly think he would serve better on a Criminal Intent reboot or something since he seems to like that aspect of the crimes more so than investigatory and the legal side – Peter Scanavino’s screen time has greatly decreased and well as legal scenes.

What can help SVU:

A lot of damage is done, but it’s not irreversible. The best call is to replace the person at the top if they aren’t going to change themselves, (sorry but not sorry David). The popular eras of SVU are seasons 3-7 and again 13-17 and for good reason; Neal Baer and Warren Leight remain the two people who have seen SVU at their peaks. Going into a record breaking season 26, someone who can understand the intricacies of SVU needs to take the helm and get this show turned around. Focus needs to be on steadying the storylines and fleshing them out in a meaningful way to where they connect and not have crucial bits just disappear into thin air. We need to get SVU’s focus back on uplifting the voices of victims and survivors and their journeys, as well as to delve deep again into the world of the NYPD SVU squad. It’s not just about “rape case of the week” the actual SVU deals with kidnappings, crimes against the children, the disabled/elderly, working in conjunction with the Hate Crimes unit/federal govt., trafficking and more, let’s get the variety back in the crimes – and let’s stop showing the crime taking place on screen and in graphic manner. The crime scene analysis, forensics, court scenes and legalese needs to be put back into this series, I’ve honestly felt it decrease even before S24 as far back as some S22.

We need to see Carisi navigate through these cases and the back-and-forth with the defense as well as in his own bureau. We’ve yet to see Carisi interact with the district attorney (Jack McCoy, Sam Waterston – now Nick Baxter, Tony Goldwyn) much like his preceding ADAs. Benson’s character needs to go back to therapy and deal with her issues head on (Lindstrom, Bill Irwin), she had done that up until EDMR in season 24 became her new way and it’s not working for her, since the writers seem to use it now as a crutch to say “she’s healing” but then turn around and have her do things to suggest otherwise. Benson also needs to be written as a leader and delegator more so than taking every case away from her “squad” and solving them personally. Actually from a story standpoint it would be great to see Benson face repercussions for continually doing this, in the real world that would have consequences as how can she personally investigate cases and run the unit?

And with the unit, their stories need to be dissected more. Velasco (Octavio Pisano) in particular, he had an edge in season 23 as the new guy that might be a snitch for the Chief of Detectives (McGrath, Terry Serpico) but in season 24 they pushed this character into a corner with liking Detective Grace Muncy (Molly Burnett, who departed last season) and the Chilly storyline last season and can’t seem to get him out of that corner. Velasco comes off as “just there” much in the way Fin (ICE T) is starting to. And where is Phoebe (Jennifer Esposito)? Detective Bruno and Captain (to-Detective or Chief?) Curry (Kevin Kane and Aime Donna Kelly) are pretty much holding down the squad and are actually the more I look to, to solve the cases and they are the only ones peaking my interest.

SVU is heading to record-breaking season 26, if they want to reach their goal of stopping at 30. Dick Wolf, NBC and those behind the scenes need to get serious about it if that is what they really want. Otherwise, you’re about to have long-time viewers and new viewers alike turning away. Despite what people believe about ever-lasting loyalty, it does have an end date.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Feel free to respond!

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911bts · 1 year

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Variety | Fall 2022 TV Ratings: CBS Has Ups and Downs While NBC Remains Top-Rated and Most-Viewed

Quote from article:

'In adults 18-49 ratings, the top three entertainment shows, with sports and news removed, are all unscripted. ABC’s “The Bachelorette” takes first place with a 1.1 average; “Survivor” and the Sunday time slot for “Big Brother” are tied for second at a 1.0 rating. Next, all with a 0.9, are NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as well as Fox’s “9-1-1” and “The Simpsons.”'

So 9-1-1 is tied for top scripted show with Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Law and Order SVU and The Simpsons!

#911 fox #ratings

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lenbryant · 9 months

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(Long rePost) "Blood in the water"

How SAG-AFTRA strike will create global havoc for Hollywood - Los Angeles Times

SAG-AFTRA members picket outside Netflix in Hollywood on Friday, the first day of the union’s strike — and first such walkout in 43 years.

(Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood top executives figured they could ride out a skirmish with screenwriters reeling from technology’s changes to the industry.

But few executives were prepared for — or wanted — a strike by the industry’s largest union, SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors and other performers.

After talks over a new contract collapsed last week, throngs of performers joined writers on picket lines — plunging Los Angeles’ signature industry into chaos and further complicating what some fear could become a long and devastating strike.

Movie shoots have ground to a halt. A-list stars have bailed on film and TV marketing campaigns. Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and other actors walked outduring Thursday night’s London premiere of Universal Pictures’ highly anticipated “Oppenheimer.”

The upcoming fall TV season could sputter, devoid of new scripted episodes of “Abbott Elementary,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “NCIS.” And media companies that were already struggling to compete in the streaming era could see their fortunes further sink.

“There’s going to be a lot of blood in the water,” Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus of USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab, said. “This is not going to end well.”

Simultaneous strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — the first joint work stoppage since Ronald Reagan led SAG in 1960 — couldn’t come at a worse time for traditional entertainment companies.

Their businesses haven’t fully recovered from pandemic shutdowns. Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery have been grappling with heavy debt loads due to mergers, and also from ordering dozens of shows to ramp up their streaming services. All the while, linear broadcast and cable TV networks have witnessed a precipitous slide in viewers to Netflix and other streaming services.

“The economics of the industry are very challenging — the worst that we’ve ever seen,” veteran media analyst Michael Nathanson said. “A prolonged strike will only make things worse.”

Amid a nationwide rise in labor activity, Hollywood’s discord has taken on the trappings of a larger cultural clash, ostensibly pitting everyday workers against top wage earners, America’s 1%.

On picket lines and social media sites, richly compensated industry leaders, including Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery Chief David Zaslav, are being portrayed as cartoon villains.

Outside Disney’s Burbank headquarters on Friday, a striking worker hoisted a sign that depicted Iger’s face superimposed on a hand-drawn Marie Antoinette figure, holding a raspberry-colored confection under the words: “How about sharing some of that cake, Bob?”

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, center, and SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, left, outside Netflix on Friday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, best known for starring in the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny,” has been celebrated among striking workers after her rousing speech Thursday to announce her board’s unanimous vote to call a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the organization that negotiates on behalf of the media companies.

Actors are seeking higher minimum pay, increased residuals and revenue sharing with the streamers. They’ve demanded protections against the use of artificial intelligence to simulate background actors, known as “extras.” Writers have made similar demands, saying since the rise of streaming, midlevel writers have struggled to make a living wage.

“The entire business model has been changed because of streaming, digital and AI,” Drescher said. “At some point, you have to say ‘no, we’re not going to take this anymore.’”

The AMPTP defended the offer the group had made to actors, including what it said was the highest percentage increase in pay minimums in 35 years and a “groundbreaking” proposal for AI protections.

“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life,” the AMPTP said. “The union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

It’s not clear when bargaining sessions with the actors might resume. No talks are currently scheduled.

AMPTP negotiators haven’t met with the WGA in more than two months.

Taplin, a former film producer who wrote a book about artificial intelligence, “The End of Reality: How Four Billionaires Are Selling Out Our Future,” said the threat posed by technology “for all artistic production is gigantic.”

“People worry, in the abstract, about AI replacing workers but here it is, it’s actually happening,” Taplin said. “They don’t want to have to pay for extras anymore, so they could have a scene that has 5,000 AI extras in the background.”

Technology also has upset Hollywood’s hierarchy. AMPTP’s shifting makeup now includes tech giants Amazon, Apple and Netflix — companies that don’t have a tradition of collective bargaining.

Veteran executives said the group, even in good economic times, formed an uneasy alliance. Member companies, including Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Netflix, are more accustomed to battling one another for viewers and revenue.

And some in Hollywood have wondered whether the AMPTP’s shifting makeup will stand in the way of a deal.

When reached for comment, AMPTP spokesperson Scott Rowe said: “The companies remain completely united.”

But unlike past strikes, including the 100-day standoff between writers and studios in 2007-2008, no leading executive has emerged to help broker labor peace.

Director Steven Spielberg, left, Disney CEO Bob Iger and director James Cameron in January.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Wall Street already has placed its bets, punishing the stocks of legacy media companies.

Since the writers’ strike began in May, Disney’s stock has fallen 13% to $88.62 a share. Paramount has dropped more than 30% to $15.96 a share, and Warner Bros. Discovery has declined nearly 7% to $12.40.

Shares of WBD, which owns HBO and CNN, closed at $12.40 on Friday, down nearly 50% since April 2022 when the smaller Discovery absorbed WarnerMedia — a deal that saddled the company with more than $45 billion in debt.

In contrast, Netflix shares have soared 36% to $441.91 since the writers’ strike began.

Netflix now boasts a higher market value — nearly $200 billion — than Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, which is valued at $162 billion.

“Investors are saying Netflix can weather the storm,” Nathanson said. “They make a lot of shows, and stack them up because of the binge-viewing model. They also have a lot more international production that they can import.”

Disney’s boss, Iger, appeared on business channel CNBC last week from the annual media mogul conference in picturesque Sun Valley, Idaho. The executive, who returned to the company in November, acknowledged that he underestimated the challenges confronting his company — particularly in the traditional television business.

“The disruptive forces that have been preying on that business for a while are greater than I thought,” Iger said. “We have to come to grips with that.”

Disney already has slashed nearly 7,000 jobs this year in an effort to save $5.5 billion. And in a nod to the changing winds, Iger suggested Disney might consider shedding linear channels, perhaps even the ABC television network.

The company, he said, also is open to taking on a strategic partner for ESPN.

Disney’s sports empire remains lucrative, but it is plagued by the trend of consumers ditching cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of streaming apps. At some point, the company plans to offer ESPN directly to consumers — but Iger didn’t say when.

“We’re seeing accelerated cord cutting as people are dropping the cable bundle,” Nathanson said. “And advertisers are no longer supporting the networks as they have in the past.”

Broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — are expected to be hit hard by the twin strikes because they are most reliant on fresh programming. Late-night comedians, including ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and CBS’ Stephen Colbert, have been off the air since early May, when the writers’ strike began.

If the two walkouts are not resolved before October, there probably won’t be any new scripted shows produced until next year, according to company insiders.

And that could be devastating at a time when traditional networks are struggling to hold on to viewers.

“The networks have sports and news but a lot of their constituents are there to watch the prime-time shows,” said Neil Begley, a senior vice president for Moody’s Investors Service. “Among those viewers, there’s an expectation that fall is the start of the new season. The networks are going to have to reach far and wide for content to fill those hours.”

Compounding matters, this year’s annual TV advertising market, when TV networks sell their commercial time for the new season, has been sluggish.

“Advertisers don’t know what type of programming they’re going to get with these strikes,” Begley said. “They’re saying: Why commit?”

Privately, company executives say their businesses won’t feel much financial pain for several months. Without widespread production, costs will be lower, which translates into higher profits — at least in the short term.

Studios also are expected to begin canceling TV writers’ overall deals to find more savings.

But eventually, networks and streamers will run low on original episodes and media executives will be motivated to reach a detente.

“You can’t get by without actors,” Begley said. “The actors’ strike gave more leverage to the writers.”

Analysts and veteran executives said the market is straining to support all of the streaming services — and shows to stock them — launched in the last five or so years. Hollywood, they say, could look dramatically different after the strikes get resolved.

“Consolidation is going to happen,” predicted Nathanson. “Perhaps the strike will accelerate those moves as the weakness sets in. Some of these players are going to get weaker.”

Times staff writers Richard Verrier, Yvonne Villarreal, Ryan Faughnder, Stephen Battaglio and Anousha Sakoui contributed to this report.

#refrigerator magnet #wga strike #sag/aftra strike #hollywood #labor #pay your writers #pay your actors #union strong

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cinema-tv-etc · 5 months

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Mutt 2023

Fena, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that resurrects ghosts from his past. Laundromats, subway turnstiles, and airport transfers are the hectic background to this emotional drama that overlaps past, present, and future. Settling the disharmony of transitional upheaval in relationships familial, romantic, and platonic is Fena2s task at hand, and his resulting juggling act is equal parts skillful, fumbling, and honest. In negotiating his obliqueness, the poignant moments he finds between himself and others as the distance between them closes are warm, true, and touching

Q&A with MUTT Filmmaker Vuk Lungulov-Klotz and Stars Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman & MiMi Ryder

Chilean and Serbian immigrants, he was raised between Chile, the US, and Serbia. As a transgender storyteller, he hopes to expand queer narratives. His work focuses on intimate moments we often miss if we're not looking. Mutt is his debut feature film. With his feature film script, MUTT, he is an alum of the Sundance Institute Labs, the Inside Out Financing Forum, and was a top five finalist for the Tribeca / AT&T Untold Stories Grant. His award winning trans-themed short film, "Still Liam," played at festivals internationally and earned the attention of celebrated queer filmmakers Ira Sachs and Silas Howard, who have both become mentors. Vuk is also an alum of the Ryan Murphy HALF Initiative Program, where he completed a mentorship under director Janet Mock on the FX series POSE. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lío Mehiel is a Puerto Rican and Greek artist, actor, and filmmaker. Their work spans film, television, multimedia installation, theater, and events. They are fascinated by the inherent contradiction of the trans experience — one deeply rooted in the body while also transcending beyond the body. Lío began their career as a professional salsa dancer and child actor on Broadway. They can now be seen on shows like WeCrashed (Apple+) and Tales of the City (Netflix). MUTT is their feature film debut. As a filmmaker, Lío produced Chaperone, a queer short film which premiered at Sundance 2022. They wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Disforia, a short film which premiered at Outfest Film Festival in 2018. They are now stuck inside of a psychomagic act with this story as they write the feature script version and confront their own medical transition. As an installation artist, their immersive piece Arcade Amerikana was included in the list of 10 Best Immersive Shows in NYC by Time Out and GOTHAMIST. Lío is currently the producer and creative director of Angels, a developing collection of stone sculptures of transgender humans. The works were first featured as part of a pop-up installation at Outfest LA in 2022, and will be debuted in full at SIZED Gallery LA in 2023. Lío is a co-founder of Voyeur Productions with Russell Kahn and Dulcinee DeGuere. They attended Northwestern University, and are an alumni of the Emerge NYC residency program for artists and activists. Photo credit: Jordan Rossi

Cole Doman is a trained stage and film actor living in Brooklyn, NY. During his time in Chicago, he studied at the School at Steppenwolf under Amy Morton, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Michael Patrick Thornton, and more. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune named Cole among the "Hot New Faces of Chicago Theater" in 2016. He made his film debut as the titular role in the critically acclaimed HENRY GAMBLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY directed by Stephen Cone. He has profiles with IndieWire, Brooklyn Magazine, OUT, Milk.xyz, and was featured as one of "Best Breakout Performances of 2016" by The Film Stage. He can also be seen in Alan Ball's UNCLE FRANK (Sundance 2020, Amazon Studios) as young Frank Bledsoe played by Paul Bettany. On television he has appeared in Let the Right One In, Gossip Girl, Modern Family, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago PD, Equal, and Shameless. He developed & stars in the short film Starfuckers (MUBI) directed by Antonio Marziale which was presented in competition at Sundance Film Festival, Berlinale, and Telluride Film Festival. Other forthcoming films include: Matt Fifer’s sophomore feature TREATMENT for AMC’s Shudder and Zia Anger’s debut feature MY FIRST FILM for MUBI. Mostrecently, he starred in the world premiere of Your Own Personal Exegesis by Julia May Jonas at Lincoln Center Theatre, directed by Annie Tippe, for which his performance was lauded by The New York Times and even cartooned by The New Yorker.

#Mutt 2023

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spoilertv · 5 months

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#SpoilerTV

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valentinesfrog · 1 year

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Hello! I am Valentinesfrog, aka Val, aka Frog. I am a uni student from Lawn Guyland studying political science + linguistics + journalism. I love love love writing of all sorts whether it’s journalism, creative, scripts, fanfic, et cetera. I am a filmmaker and I also play fiddle :D

My fandoms are primarily Law and Order SVU, Ted Lasso, and Good Omens, though also Supergirl, Rizzoli & Isles, Dr. Who, and I’ve recently started Criminal Minds. I recently watched and absolutely LOVED Mrs. Davis! I will watch anything with Elizabeth Marvel in it, I adore her.

I am new to tumblr so I’m still learning how this works and most of my stuff is on ao3, but I thought I’d make a masterlist! This might take me a little while so stay tuned 💗

#valentinesfrog

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taurean12 · 2 years

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Reading the premise, am feeling blah with the 3 law and order crossovers...I have been a fan of the original since Stone and then Mccoy became ADA...I feel like its getting contaminated with this OC/SVU crap...I for one am not invested in the olivia/elliot storyline...I just want good script, a great story line and acting...I used to care about EO but I think at this point it's taking away from the whole law and order format ,and meloni and hargitay's off screen antics are distracting from the whole franchise...they are trying too hard! this is just my opinion but I am getting tired of this same old merry-go-round....I miss the original script writers of Law and Order! It's turning into a soap opera now...

#law and order organized crime #law and order #law and order svu #law and order: organized crime

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technoturian · 3 years

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I said I was gonna do it. The sequel to my Perc’ahlia Slowburn post.

The Beauyasha Slowburn Post, AKA Slowburn 2: 2 Slow 2 Burning.

So unlike Perc’ahlia we have seen Beauyasha’s beginning, right there in episode one. That makes it nice and clean numbers-wise. Perc’ahlia, once thought by me to be The Slowest Of Burns, I estimated at around 288 hours from their first stream to the episode where they both acknowledged their feelings and kissed, aka 13 seasons of American television.

As for Beauyasha? Well, according to CritRoleStats we have currently 500 hours of runtime by episode 127.

Now, let’s dial that back. I could say that Beauyasha went canon when they first established that they liked each other and broached the subject of a date. I could go back further still and call them canon when they privately acknowledged feelings for each other much earlier on in Rumblecusp. But in keeping with my post on Perc’ahlia, I think I would say their “going *officially* canon” moment is their date, where they both said the words “I love you” and had their first kiss. That makes the runtime between their first meeting and their first kiss roughly four-hundred and ninety-seven hours of content. Four-hundred and ninety-seven hours.

In the logic I used on the Perc’ahlia post, wherein I counted each hour as a primetime American television episode, that would equate to 22 individual seasons worth of runtime for Beauyasha’s romance arc to culminate in canon status.

The second-longest running scripted television show in the US is Law & Order: SVU, which I haven’t seen but is apparently exactly 22 seasons long, with the 22nd season still running. So if Law & Order: SVU started in 1999 with Mariska Hargitay’s character meeting a tough monk with an undercut, Mariska Hargitay would not have kissed that beautiful monk until later this year.

The longest running scripted show in the US is The Simpsons, which has 32 seasons of shorter, 22-ish-minute episodes, 22 episodes per season (wow, that number is coming up a lot), or 697 episodes in total, a rough runtime of 255 hours. If The Simpsons started with Homer and Marge’s first meeting back when it aired in 1989, and they moved at the pace Beauyasha has moved, the Simpsons would have their first date in season 63 the year 2051.

Beau and Yasha going canon took the equivalent of almost 2 The Simpsonses.

Beau and Yasha going canon took the equivalent runtime of 22 seasons of American primetime Television, or the lifespan of 3 moderately successful television shows back to back.

If Beau and Yasha were on Netflix where show seasons are around 8 episodes, that Netflix show would have to run for 62 seasons before they kissed and said “I love you”.

They really did it. Those powerful lesbians reinvented and redefined the slowburn to its pinnacle, its peak. Everyone else go home.

#Critical Role #Beauyasha #Beauregard Lionett #Yasha Nydoorin

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scammydoesstuff · 3 years

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So about that 'Blue Bloods' episode…

I recently saw something come across my dash regarding Alex Brightman’s guest appearance on the season 11 episode of 'Blue Bloods' (The Common Good) and it reignited the vehement response I had to the episode as a whole. And, since I have this blog now, I figured…fuck it. I need to rant about it.

So that's what this is.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, of course. This show is so clearly not for me and I acknowledge that, but I went to school for and got my degree in creative writing and so much of this episode pissed me off from a narrative perspective and I just really need to talk about it. Putting it under a Read More, though, so you can ignore me if you’d like while I rage to no one in particular. Apologies in advance if you choose to read on. I'm super long-winded. Luckily I don't have pictures and this is more of just a lot of text, so…it could be longer?

So, to begin, I’ll freely admit that I’d never seen an episode of 'Blue Bloods' before this and I’ve not watched it since. I mean, if the rest of the episodes are as badly written as this one, I have no interest to either, but I digress.

Overall my main problem with the episode was how desperately it avoided ‘showing’ over ‘telling’ and, as a visual medium, that’s kind’ve a big deal. We were told pretty much every detail that was presented to us. These people love to hear themselves talk, but do little to actually show things as they happen and I believe a part of that has to do with the focus of the show itself, which is definitely unique to this brand of television. By that, I just mean that it’s not the format I might’ve expected from a show like this. Most cop shows give a lot of focus to the cases, and the intrigue you get with the characters is how they apply their own skills and knowledge to solve them, with the hi-jinks they get into along the way being more of a bonus.

This is not that kind of show.

No, 'Blue Bloods' as a show is way more interested in the cops and their familial ties than it is about the actual job that they’re doing, as shown prominently with the political plot of this episode which was also very focused on the relationship between Tom Selleck’s character and his daughter and the wholly unrelated dinner scene where they talk about lent for 2 and a half minutes and acknowledge nothing else that happened in the episode. This show doesn’t care about the job of being a cop so much as it cares about the cops themselves.

Which would be fine if I gave a shit about cops, but I don’t.

You could argue that the mentor plot is the exception to that, but that entire situation had no real consequences for the cop in question, Jamie, abusing his power. It was entirely focused on how the situation affected him and how it was fine that he’d nudged this kid to get information which ultimately led to the arrest of Dion's brother, and Dion quitting the program. Hell, if Jamie had, in his final scene with Dion, owned up to his abuse of power and left the program — to then urge Dion to rejoin so that he can have that positive outlet in his life without him there — I would’ve been way more okay with it, but Jamie faces no consequences past ‘I don’t wanna see you anymore’, which I was never convinced he actually cared about in the slightest. There's nothing cathartic about it, it's just shitty and left me feeling frustrated at the lack of consequences for the cop.

But hey, you prolly don’t wanna read me going on and on about those parts. You prolly wanna know why I hate it despite Alex’s plot — which I fully expected to love because he’s perfect and gorgeous even when he’s playing a bad guy and he was just so adorable in his lil suit and they let him keep the scruff this time, and he was all handsome an— I need to stop. That could go on forever.

Anyway, to put it simply; it was bad, but I'll definitely explain why.

Now, I don’t think any of the guests in this episode necessarily did a bad job. They still acted well enough for what they were given. I just think they had a shit script that wasn’t interested in that story line. I mentioned at the top of this that this show cared more about telling than showing and that’s a huge problem when you want me to buy a character being the culprit in your murder plot. I need evidence, not anecdotes. Cuz, yeah, by the end of the episode, I didn’t buy for even a second that Ralph did it. And it’s not because he was played by Alex who is just charisma incarnate. I can believe him playing a bad guy. I also watched his 'Law & Order SVU' episode where he scared the shit outta me. He can play a creepy and violent character very well, he just wasn’t convincing to me as a bad guy in this show.

And here’s why!

First of all, he confessed at knife point. That confession would be thrown away IRL. It’s the same problem with using torture to get information. If a person’s life is threatened or they're being harmed in some way, they’ll usually say whatever it takes to get you to stop threatening them/causing them pain. Same deal here. You can’t convince me with a confession like that.

But they didn't seem to be interested in convincing anyone as far as I could tell. They just expected you to believe it because, ‘no, didn’t you hear? He said he did it, so he did it.’ They had so many opportunities to portray this character as the shitbag that we’re told he is. Hell, great way to really implicate him? Give him a female assistant that Donnie Wahlberg and his partner overhear / walk in on him berating for something small like getting him the wrong coffee or something. Then have them talk to that assistant later on and her mention some weird behavior from him on the night of Andrea’s death. It's cliché, but it's more than what we got.

Or you could have him talk to Meghan in a super condescending voice when he approaches her after her interview later on. Or, hell, have him refer to the murder victim in a condescending way even as he talks about her death. But no. The most we get out of him is that he's maybe a little snarky and smug when talking to the cops, but that’s not enough to convince me he’s a bad dude. Frankly, his producer buddy came off as more of an asshole, if I'm being honest. Just cuz (we’re told) his character did shitty things to her in the past doesn’t mean he’s still shitty. Show me he’s still shitty. I wanna see it and I know Alex is capable of a performance like that.

Second, it’s also just…obvious to make him the culprit if we're to believe everything we're told about him. He and Andrea are described as having had beef a little while before the murder with him being abusive mentally and physically. He’s known in the community to be a misogynist and an abusive person overall. He’s the obvious suspect, but if there’s anything that Scooby-Doo taught me, it’s that it’s never the most obvious person. Like, once in a blue moon, sure — but it’s rare.

So yeah, I don’t believe that Ralph did it. You wanna know who I do think did it?

Meghan.

Alright, so bear with me. This'll prolly sound a little conspiratorial, but hear me out:

She had the motive. She confirms in the beginning of the episode that she’s also a female gamer like the victim, but that she was ‘no Andrea’. Andrea was her competition. They were (supposedly) friends and stuck together as female gamers, but Andrea was still competition. With her out of the way, Meghan’s able to rise in the ranks, if even a little bit.

She had a scapegoat in Ralph — again, the obvious suspect given his tumultuous relationship with Andrea sometime prior — and an obvious grudge against men in their community in general. And, don’t get me wrong, men in gaming can and often are hella toxic — I’m not, in any way, denying that — but she got way more emotional when talking about the men in their community than when she was talking about her supposed friend lying dead in the adjoining room.

Speaking of the adjoining room, how did she not hear the murder happening? It couldn’t have been when she was down in the bar, cuz we see Ralph there too in the crappy CCTV footage that was supposed to show him being an asshole, I think (hard to really see). Was she just fucking around somewhere else when it happened? She doesn’t mention as much that I recall (correct me if I'm wrong on that, of course). And Andrea was strangled to death. I would assume that there would’ve been a struggle with that. Are you seriously telling me she wouldn’t hear that in her adjoining hotel room? Those walls aren’t that thick. I find that kinda hard to believe. And that she wouldn’t have found her till the next morning after that, also strikes me as a little odd.

Going off on some previous points, she shows very little grief over her friend’s death. Not just in the intro scene, either, but later on as well. (Side bar: that intro scene itself was very misleading. Don’t lead with a murder plot if it only takes up less than 10 minutes of the overall runtime, kay?) The show did a pretty bad job at indicating the passage of time, but it’s implied that the convention is still happening when Meghan gets the confession out of Ralph, so it would’ve had to have been the same weekend, or possibly the same week (though most conventions I’m aware of don’t last that long — it’s usually a weekend thing, at most Thursday-Sunday — but it could be similar to AGDQ, which seems to last about a week). So, if this is only a day or so later, why would someone who is supposedly grieving over their dead friend do interviews like nothing is wrong? Wouldn't you, like, reschedule or just politely decline and say you need time to process the shock? Like, when we cut to ol’ Donnie Wahlberg calling her after her interview, she doesn’t look upset — as I imagine she might if they’d likely asked her questions about Andrea / her feelings about the murder — and she seems cool as a cucumber when she asks Ralph to go somewhere private. In fact, the look on her face indicates pretty clearly that she’s planning to do something. Specifically, not that she's scared, that she's angry.

Finally, she’s the one who’s attacking Ralph when Donnie Wahlberg and company arrive on the scene. She doesn’t seem to have any marks on her indicating that he made any move to harm her (again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember seeing her with any marks / cuts), but he’s got a clear, bleeding cut on his face. She attacked him first and was going in for the kill.

Or…was she? Cuz right before Donnie Wahlberg pulls her into that bear hug to stop her from the attack, she doesn’t do a great job of actually trying to kill Ralph. She was close enough that a quick dart at him would’ve probably been enough to at least injure him pretty significantly — maybe even fatally — and would’ve surely led the cops to pull them apart to secure him, but she kinda just hops around a bit and screams before lunging for him. That’s a really weird way to attack when you actually want to kill someone.

But, then again, I don’t necessarily think she did want to kill him. I’m convinced she wanted that confession, but that she also wanted him in jail and was playing the part of the super sad and hysterical victim who was just so overcome with her grief that she wasn’t in her right mind. I think that’s what they were going for in regards to her character in general, but it came across as less sincere in the performance and more like the character was putting on an act. They then cart Ralph off while comforting her — despite the fact that she disobeyed a direct order from police, which should lead to her being detained as well! — and that plot ends.

So, she gets what she wants in the end. A person she despises is now in police custody, her competition is out of the way, and the publicity she might get for bringing that ‘murderer’ to justice might eventually lead to her own career getting a nice boost. I dunno, it just strikes me as her having a great reason to have initiated this over Ralph just being a misogynist who 'was really trying to kill Meghan and just got the wrong girl'.

So yeah, with what the show presented to us, I believe Meghan’s the real killer. Again, if they’d done more to show me that Ralph was a bad dude or that she was more affected by her supposed friend’s death, or if they'd just given that plot more room to breathe to show those things, I might’ve been more inclined to buy the narrative they were pushing but…as is, I don’t believe it.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say on the matter. I had a lot of issues with the domestic abuse plot line too, but they barely gave that 5 minutes of the overall runtime, so does it really matter in the long run? This is just…my thought process of the only part of the episode I watched for and how disappointing it was for me. And yes, I timed each section of the episode to figure out how much time was given to each of the 4 plots, plus the dinner scene at the end, but not counting the intro theme, and the murder plot got just over 8 minutes, of which Alex was on screen for half of that time. He got less than 5 minutes of screen time. It was definitely worth it just because he’s wonderful and I just like seeing him on these shows, but from a narrative standpoint, it felt pointless.

Okay, I’m done. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Unless y’all wanna talk about this some more, cuz I’m so down for that.

#scammy talks too much #scammy rants #blue bloods #the common good #alex brightman #long post is long #I'm long-winded as fuck #obviously I'm not an authority on what makes good tv #this is just all how I felt after watching the episode #It was just so disappointing after the INCREDIBLE performance on Law & Order SVU #if you like it that's cool #I'm not here to tell you you're wrong #or that I'm right about this #like whatcha like #sometimes I just gotta rant and get it outta my brain

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thequeenofindie · 4 years

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♔ Philip Winchester GIF Pack ♔

In this pack, you’ll find #68 GIFs of the handsome Philip Winchester in his portrayal of Law & Order: SVU’s Peter Stone. All GIFs are from Season 20, Episode 20. This pack was made with the help of this awesome photoshop script! Please read my rules for use, below.

SAMPLE GIF(s):

→ These GIFs were made entirely by me. → Please consider donating on Ko-Fi. → PLEASE DO NOT REPOST AS YOUR OWN! → A like or a reblog is very much appreciated. → [ download ]

#philip winchester #gifs #underused fc #older fc #rph #( my gifs. )#( mine. )#( my resources. )#( my gif packs. )#svu

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chouetteffraie · 3 years

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30 Questions

Tagged by @atsukyou, thank you so much Lily! Sorry for the late response lol

Name/nickname: Kenna

Gender: Female

Star sign: Aries

Height: 5′7″

Time: 6:17pm

Birthday: March 31st

Favorite bands: Set It Off, The Script, Krewella, AJR

Favorite solo artists: Ed Sheeran, Charlie Puth, Mr. Kitty

Song stuck in my head: Glow by Mr. Kitty

Last movie: uhhhh...i really don’t know

Last show: Law and Order SVU

When did i create this blog?: Like a year and a half ago? Two years?

What do i post: BSD, Obey Me, and Genshin Impact mostly

Other blogs: higuchicons is the only semi-active one, plus a few event blogs

Do i get asks: Used to! Haven’t been active much though

Why i choose my url: Love having that canon url :3 (didn’t even change this from Lily’s but canon ship name url RIGHTS <3)

Following: 123

Followers: 892

Average hours of sleep: [insert bones fisheye expression]

Instruments: clarinet babyyyy

What am i wearing: sleep shorts and an old T-shirt

Dream job: mental health counselor!

Dream trip: China or France

Favorite food: any Chinese food

Nationality: American

Favorite song(s): Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

Last book read: Been nursing Crime and Punishment for like a year lol

Top three fictional universes i’d like to live: Bungou Stray Dogs, Animal Crossing, Obey Me :3c

Tagging uh.......whoever wants to! Tell ‘em all I sent you :3c

#tag game #non fandom

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

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Star, October 26

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Reba McEntire dating CSI: Miami star Rex Linn and finding love again at 65

Page 1: Duchess Kate Middleton stopped by England’s University of Derby to discuss students’ mental health and how the pandemic has affected their education but during her visit those watching couldn’t help but notice Kate looked more youthful than ever because of a new shorter highlighted hairstyle

Page 2: Contents -- Demi Lovato and pal Matthew Scott Montgomery were ready to be spooked at Nights of the Jack

Page 3: Vanessa Paradis and her daughter Lily-Rose Depp at the Chanel show during Paris Fashion Week, Tom Cruise looked a little leery filming a difficult scene on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 in Rome, Cara Santana repped boyfriend Shannon Leto’s band 30 Seconds to Mars in a sweatshirt from the group’s apparel line

Page 5: Chrissy Metz is so smitten with her new boyfriend Bradley Collins that she’s already talking marriage and babies with her Nashville-based beau and that has alarms ringing for some of her friends about why they kept their romance totally hidden until now and since Chrissy is all-or-nothing this is way too intense for some, fans of Law & Order: SVU rejoiced when it was announced that a spinoff was in the works that would star Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler and the new series called Organized Crime would feature Stabler leading a task force fighting NYC’s crime syndicates but the show has been rocked by behind-the-scenes drama as first showrunner Craig Gore was axed in June and now his replacement Matt Olmstead is also out leaving the future of the show in jeopardy, after a contentious season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Denise Richards and Teddi Mellencamp are out and mainstays Lisa Rinna and Kyle Richards have proven they’re the alphas of the long-running Bravo show and now as producers are scrambling to fill out the cast one obvious contender is out of the running as Kathy Hilton has respectfully declined because her daughters Nicky Hilton Rothschild and Paris Hilton didn’t want her to do it because they felt it was a bad look for them and the family

Page 6: Sofia Richie and Scott Disick have split but she seems to still be taking her beauty cues from her time with the Kardashian-adjacent dad of three because she has noticeably fuller lips where she had lip injections to both lips, Mariah Carey had nothing but nice things to say about Derek Jeter in her new memoir calling their relationship sensual and credits him with helping her see the value of her biracial background but Derek isn’t happy about it and he’s fed up and feels Mariah is taking advantage of him to publicize her book and it doesn’t help that Derek’s friends have been teasing him about the sexy details because he hates being made fun of; his ego can’t handle his friends ribbing him, Star Spots the Stars -- Christina Aguilera, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Travis Scott, Teddi Mellencamp, Rev Run and his wife Justine Simmons, Lindsay Arnold

Page 8: Star Shots -- Anne Heche headed for rehearsal on Dancing with the Stars, Christina Milian and her daughter Violet, Gavin Rossdale at the beach in Malibu with his dog and a mystery woman

Page 9: Liev Schreiber plays basketball with his son Sasha in NYC

Page 10: Bachelor alum Catherine Lowe and her son Samuel, Reese Witherspoon jumping rope, Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles’ Tracy Tutor playing Monopoly at home

Page 12: Johnny Weir leaving Dancing with the Stars rehearsals, Brie Larson and boyfriend Elijah Allan-Blitz on a grocery run, Alessandra Ambrosio on her way to dinner in West Hollywood

Page 13: Selena Gomez shows her kidney transplant scar, Julia Garner filming scenes for Inventing Anna in New York City

Page 14: Chrishell Stause heading into rehearsals for Dancing with the Stars, Johnny Depp waved to fans outside the ZFF Masters during the 16th Zurich Film Festival where he promoted Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGown, Patrick Schwarzenegger stepped out with a script in West Hollywood

Page 15: Silver fox Jon Bon Jovi struck a pose while promoting his new album 2020 in NYC, Shia LaBeouf went for a jog in Pasadena on the same day he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft following an incident that happened in June, Maisie Williams at the Chloe fashion show in Paris

Page 16: Gwen Stefani stepped out of the studio in Woodland Hills, Chiwetel Ejiofor referred to his phone while reciting poetry on the set of the upcoming pandemic-themed dramedy Lockdown in London, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler celebrated his 69th birthday at a meal with friends in Rome

Page 17: Sofia Vergara out in L.A., Denise Richards and husband Aaron Phypers looked carefree leaving a restaurant in L.A., Danny Trejo hung out with an adorable pooch during an appearance on Home & Family

Page 18: Normal or Not? Machine Gun Kelly shared a glimpse of his beauty routine en route to his new cafe in Cleveland -- not normal, Eva Longoria wore a Vote t-shirt and a Biden mask during a political rally in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood -- normal

Page 19: Snoop Dogg inhaled and exhaled during his DJ Snoopadelic set at the Concerts in Your Car event at the Ventura County Fairgrounds -- normal, while grabbing a meal in Los Angeles with a bevy of beauties Billie Dee Williams enjoyed a quick grooming session too -- not normal

Page 20: Fashion -- stars get glitzy in gold -- Olivia Wilde, Leona Lewis

Page 21: Karen Gillan, Kate Beckinsale

Page 24: Emilio Vitolo Jr. appears to be every inch the doting boyfriend to Katie Holmes but he’s playing the field behind her back -- Emilio’s a ladies’ guy and he’s been texting a bunch of girls saying things between him and Katie aren’t nearly as serious as they seem while Katie thinks she’s in love and it’s no exaggeration to say she’s obsessed with this guy and she’s adamant they’ll elope and in her mind they’re two kindred souls destined to be together

Page 25: Beyonce and Jay-Z are hoping to add on to their already impressive real estate portfolio as they are quietly checking out homes in Montecito in California for their family of five -- although they already own a $26 million home in New York’s tony Hamptons as well as an $88 million Bel-Air mansion the couple are hoping to put down roots in the American Riviera so their children can attend the area’s prestigious schools and Beyonce especially likes that it’s not far from L.A. and it’s clean and super private, after two years of dating Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeanne Cadieu are at odds about their future and Jake’s frustrated because the relationship is going nowhere and he’s eager to start a family but the 24-year-old model isn’t ready to put her career on hold and take that next step leaving Jake in limbo -- his most successful relationships were with women his own age with the same maturity and ambition like Reese Witherspoon and Kirsten Dunst -- while Jake remains conflicted about whether to stick it out with Jeanne or start over with someone new his friends say it’s time to move on and find someone who’s baby mama material, Jon Hamm has been considering settling down since he began dating Anna Osceolo because something about Anna is making him rethink everything from the guy who never pictured himself walking down the aisle or having children but now he and Anna are talking about marriage and a family

Page 26: Cover Story -- Reba McEntire finding love at last -- after a string of broken hearts the country superstar has finally snagged Mr. Right actor Rex Linn

Page 30: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s courtroom showdown -- four years after their split Brad and Angie are still duking it out over custody and now they’re prepared to bring star power to the battle -- Brad will be using every scrap of ammunition he can to fight for his kids including testimony from fellow stars and Angelina is prepared to do the same

Page 32: Five-time rehab vet Scott Disick is caught partying in front of his kids

Page 34: Stars’ Cheating Confessions -- sometimes all you can do is beg for forgiveness; these celebs have all had to plead their case -- Jude Law and Sienna Miller, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish

Page 35: Donny and Debbie Osmond, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling

Page 38: Beauty -- add a sophisticated scent blend to your fragrance wardrobe for fall -- Kim Kardashian

Page 40: Entertainment

Page 48: Parting Shot -- Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky partnered with the Global Wildlife Conservation and Wild Ark to boost the ecosystem of their beloved Australia -- the pair helped Aussie Ark release 11 Tasmanian devils into a wildlife sanctuary at Barrington Tops National Park -- the hush-hush event marked the first time the endangered marsupials whose presence can help repel pests and bush fired were returned to the mainland in 3000 years

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youreverycolor · 4 years

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An Unlikely Love: Post Script (Rafael Barba x Anna Stein)

AN: Prompt #186 from 200 Prompts from @drink-it-write-it (“I’m eating because I’m very uncomfortable.”). I will probably be using Anna Stein’s character in a lot of the oneshots I write, so perhaps they’ll get their own miniseries. :)

Also should add that I wrote this while on Percocet after surgery so I apologize for typos or weirdness.

Written for @madpanda75; if you would like to be tagged on future Barba oneshots/fic, please reply and let me know! :)

Song: “My Shot” from the Hamilton soundtrack

~*~*~*~

“Mr. Barba? Anna Stein is here.”

Rafael Barba, the boy-wonder assistant district attorney, was not known for getting tongue-tied. In fact, he was usually the one doing the tying. But when his assistant opened his door and announced Anna’s arrival, he didn’t know what to say. After cases were over, he would nod in the victim’s direction, acknowledge their thank-you, and head back to his office to start all over again with someone else’s nightmare. He couldn’t remember a time when a victim had come to visit him after the case was over—and Anna’s case had been over for a year.

Last time Rafael had seen her, Anna was talking to Olivia in the hallway outside the courtroom where her rapist had just been sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Despite the victory, Anna had looked frail and somewhat dazed. After his years working with SVU, he knew this was understandable; sometimes a victim became so consumed with the trial that they didn’t quite know what to do after it was over. But he also knew Olivia had told her what she told all victims: that people who go through horrific experiences can survive and thrive when they get the support they need.

“Send her in,” he replied, but Carmen was already one step ahead of him—before he could even stand up, Anna was walking through his door. His breath caught in his chest; if he didn’t know better, he would never have been able to imagine this was the same woman who cried on a witness stand as John Buchanan tried to rip her apart. This woman walked tall, her blonde hair cascading down her back, pale skin glowing under the slightest coat of makeup. She looked like life had been breathed back into her.

She smiled at him as Carmen closed the door behind her. “Mr. Barba,” she said, walking toward his desk. “Thank you for taking a minute to see me.”

He extended his hand and she took it, giving him a confident shake. He remembered that about her; no matter how traumatized she had been, her handshake was always strong. “Of course,” he said. “How are you, Ms. Stein?”

“Please, call me Anna.”

“Okay, Anna. Have a seat.” She sank into of the chairs on the other side of his desk and, instead of sitting behind his desk, he sat next to her. “What can I do for you?”

“This is going to be a little—I mean, it’s going to sound—” She took a deep breath. “Ever since the trial, I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do next. As you can imagine, I didn’t really feel I could go back to work there.”

“I can imagine. Your company wasn’t exactly helpful in the investigation.”

“No, of course not. They were more interested in protecting him. The CEO is more valuable than an executive assistant, and I’ve basically been blackballed in the financial industry.”

He nodded sadly, knowing how these things usually went. “Well, if it’s legal assistance you need, I can certainly recommend—”

She held up a hand. “Oh, no, no, that’s not it. But it’s kind of related, I guess. Like I said, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do now. And I talked a little to Detective Benson—Olivia—about it, and she’s the one who suggested I talk to you.”

He was intrigued. “Go on.”

She looked upwards and then let out a loud sigh. “I think I want to go to law school,” she finally said. “I know that that’s going to sound really—I mean, who just ‘decides’ to go to law school, right? And I know that most people go right after undergrad, and I have a biology degree, not political science or English, and—why are you smiling?”

He didn’t even realize he was. But listening to Anna talk reminded him of how excited he had been when he got his acceptance letter to Harvard Law. It shouldn’t even have been a surprise to him, considering he was poised to graduate from Harvard College. But it was still one of the most joyous days of his life, the beginning of the future.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s not that I’m not taking this seriously. But I’m not sure what I can do to help you.”

Her eyes lifted to his. “I guess it’s just that seeing how hard you fought for me…I don’t really know any other lawyers, Mr. Barba. And I want to talk to someone who’s done this. I know you’re really busy, and I understand if—”

He shook his head. “No, no, I’d be happy to talk. Right now, I have to finish prepping this case”—he gestured to the open file on his desk—“but if you have some time later this week, I’d be happy to make some time.”

“Of course. If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble, that is.”

“First lesson about being a lawyer. Never turn down the opportunity to influence new lawyers.”

She grinned and stood up. “I’ll make a note.”

He whipped out his phone and checked his calendar. “Does Thursday night work for you? I could be free after seven.”

“That’s perfect. I hear Forlini’s is popular with the legal crowd.”

“Usually when I’m there, I’m eating because I’m very uncomfortable.” She raised an eyebrow. “Tends to be where the squad and I go after we lose a case,” he explained. “The food’s a comfort when justice isn’t.”

“Got it. So, where then?”

He thought for a second. “How do you feel about Latin food?”

***

The summer evening threatened a storm. Between when Anna left her apartment and her arrival at Coppelia, the Latin American diner in Greenwich Village where she was meeting with Rafael Barba, the wind had picked up and nearly blew the cab door off when she opened it. Thankfully, Rafael hadn’t arrived yet, so she had time to escape to the restroom. Once she secured the door behind her, she set to fixing herself up. She pulled her hair into an approximation of a bun on top of her head, opting to work with the windblown look rather than fight against it. She took her leather jacket off and disentangled her double-layered necklaces. After picking a piece of lint off of her black t-shirt and smoothing the lines of her jeans, she was satisfied that she looked like a decently put-together woman. But just before she opened the door to head back into the diner, she dropped her coat and went back to the mirror.

Before the rape, she’d never worn perfume or makeup. But she decided, once she started to rebuild her life, that it was time to take risks and try new things. She knew this wasn’t a date. She didn’t intend it that way when she’d asked to meet him. She didn’t expect he thought anything different, either. And yet, she still coated her lips with watermelon gloss and gave herself an extra spritz of Chanel Mademoiselle from the travel bottle she carried with her.

When she made her way to the front of the restaurant again, Rafael was just entering the restaurant. She tried to look unassuming; the last thing she wanted was to seem overeager, especially next to the confident and collected ADA.

“Ms. Stein,” he said. “Glad to see you found the place.”

“First of all, it wasn’t easy—this place is a hole in the wall, literally—and second, Counselor, I told you to call me Anna.”

He took off his overcoat, and Anna was surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing a suit. Instead, he had on a dark blue Henley and slim-cut jeans; somehow, she had never pictured him wearing anything other than suspenders and ties. “Well, if you want me to call you Anna, then you’re going to need to call me Rafael.”

The waiter sat them at a booth toward the back of the restaurant, where, thankfully, the noise was much quieter. Rafael ordered a scotch, and Anna ordered a glass of sangria. “Thanks again for agreeing to meet with me,” she said.

“No need to thank me,” he replied. “That said, I’m not sure what I can offer you. I went to law school ten years ago. It’s probably an entirely different process now.”

“It’s not really school I want to know about so much as…well…your life.”

“My life? What do you mean?”

The waiter brought their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. Neither of them had looked at the menu yet, so they tabled the discussion in order to do so. “What’s good here?” she asked.

“Everything. But at the risk of sounding unbelievably boring, the Cubano is the best in the city.”

“Sold.”

“Wow, that was easy. Next, you’re going to let me talk you into applying to Harvard.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “What makes you think you talked me into anything? Maybe I already wanted to get that, and you just confirmed my choice.”

He smirked. “You’ve got a good poker face.”

“After what I’ve been through, I needed to get one.” When she saw his face fall slightly, her blue eyes flashed. “That was a joke. A bad one.”

He relaxed and took a sip of scotch. “I get it. We all cope differently.” Before she could ask what “we” meant, the waiter returned for their orders. Once he disappeared again, Anna pulled a notepad from her bag. Rafael laughed. “You do know that you have to trade your handwriting in for your law license, right?”

“You used notepads during the trial.”

He was taken aback. “You noticed that?”

“I had to focus my attention somewhere, I guess,” she said. “It was either that or be constantly aware of the assault on my life choices.”

She was referring, of course, to John Buchanan. He was the guy every rich white man accused of rape hired to get them acquitted and was also the perfect caricature of a defense attorney. His usual M.O. was to call the victim a slut or accuse her of lying or, Rafael’s personal favorite, claim it was consensual, rough sex. Listening to Buchanan, one would think that every woman on the planet enjoyed being dominated and sodomized.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more to protect you from that,” Rafael said sadly, casting his eyes downward.

Anna’s eyes softened and she leaned across the table. “You did your job. I know that. Why do you think I’m here?”

He looked up at her again, and then at her notebook. It was one of those old-school composition books, the kind he used in high school. “Okay, first question. Why do you want to go to law school?”

She took another sip of sangria. “You promise not to laugh?”

“Of course.”

“You.” His eyebrows shot up, nearly off his forehead. She smiled behind her glass; she knew he’d have that reaction. “I know it sounds like I’m just kissing your ass, but it’s true.”

“No, that’s not why I’m—it’s just—I’ve prosecuted hundreds of these cases, and—well, truth be told…”

Anna cocked her head. “What? What is it?”

“Well, it’s just that I’ve never even had a victim visit me after the case was closed, and now I’ve got you telling me that I made you want to go to law school. It’s a bit…”

“Overwhelming?”

He shook his head. “Not overwhelming. Just…unexpected.”

As their food arrived, she said, “If I’ve learned anything from the last two years, it’s that sometimes, the things we expect least change our lives the most.”

It would be years before Anna and Rafael realized how right she was; for the moment, he was content to tell her all about the law, and she was content to listen to him talk.

#rafael barba #rafael barba fanfiction #rafael barba fan fiction #rafael barba fanfic #rafael barba fan fic #rafael barba imagine #rafael barba x oc #ada rafael barba #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit #l&o:svu #raul esparza #svu #an unlikely love #my fic #svu fanfiction

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jane-penvellyn-of-blackmoor · 4 years

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Nancy Drew #33 Midnight in Salem Game Review

So I gave in and paid the damn $30 to play the dribble that HER's pawning off as their latest game. While there has been major controversy within the fandom over the latest Nancy Drew Game and HerInteractive in general, I'm going to stick to just the game here. My thoughts and opinions on how HER managed the fandom after Penny Miliken came onto the scene have been made clear on my sh!tposts on my blog lol. So we're talking just the game here, nothing pre-start menu - that includes real world HerInteractive drama, none of that. So let's begin...

The Start Menu - Tbh I hated the start menu. It was like a FNAF game's opening menu, clearly made in Unity and the grass textures were nightmarish. If this were my first Nancy Drew game and this was the first sight I saw upon booting the game up, I would never buy another one again.

Voice Acting - Now before ya'll go off on "That's just your nostalgia talking, give it a chance" I will have you know that I tried, I really really tried to like the new voice actress for Nancy but ugh I can't stand it. She sounds like someone pretending to be Olivia Benson off Law & Order: SVU. Like I get they wanted Nancy to sound more like a modern teenager and less "Barbie voice" like Lani's voice would stray towards but letting go of Lani was their biggest mistake. If they had kept Lani as Nancy's voice - especially for such a drastically different game setup - would have helped keep fans fixed within the Nancy Drew world that we've been following for years. Everyone else was great, I especially liked Mei and Lauren's voices and the emotions expressed within them. Also Tourist Girl outside of the Town Hall needs to be brought back in the next game and have her lines recorded on actual recording equipment because what you did HerInteractive was hysterically pathetic and unfair. I don't know if that was a place holder that got overlooked or what but for a $30 game released by a company with so many quality games under it's belt - I expect better.

Storyline - Was pretty good. Fire, robberies, political unrest, sabotage, fraud, hidden wills, all things we've seen before a dozen times but they never get old. I think it's safe to say that the storyline itself is actually what kept me playing, however about half way through I did know it was one of two suspects who was the villian and the very next reveal ensured me which one it was. Still though good story.

Script - Whoever was in charge of the character conversations, for the love of all that is holy please water the interactions down! I felt like 99% of the game was never ending conversations about crap that wasn't useful to the plot. Like filler and fluff is great but conversations that drag on and on and on aren't fun. Have a character say a line or two, then it's Nancy's turn - all this monologuing has me flying through conversations just so I can move onto the next thing. Also some of the way the lines are written make it hard for the actors to read and sound authentic. Like "I can not." (versus "I can't.") levels of unauthentic lines.

Characters - Loved the different characters, would have appreciated more that had models you could interact with.

Puzzles - Needed way more puzzles. Like WAY more. It felt like there was less than 10 puzzles in the game and the majority were stupid easy, the only 'difficult' ones were easy once you understood what they wanted you to do which for some reason wasn't made clear at the start of the puzzle.

Mini Games - Loved making Johnny Cakes and mixing herbs.

Graphics - Horrific. I played on the highest settings of graphics on my HD computer, I had zero issues with it rendering or playing through as intended and smoothly - the graphics were still shit. I've seen better graphics in Barbie's Horse Adventures or The Sims 3. If you're entire argument of shifting onto Unity was for better graphics, HerInteractive, then you need to deliver and you failed miserably at that.

Navigation - I actually had zero issue with the 'swoosh' way we moved around. At times it felt a little restrictive (like in Town Square getting around the stage) but it was fine. I just actually didn't care for the camera tilt feature, it made things ten times more complicated trying to figure out what nooks and crannies they wanted you to notice and which they didn't. I'd happily go back to the old navigation and old engines but I'm fine with the new one so long as they work on making it better.

Cursor - Hated the new cursor, bring back the magnifying glass plz.

Location - I felt that the location of Salem, MA. wasn't utilized to it's fullest potential and that the layout of the town square and the maps of the city were surprisingly unsimilar to IRL Salem. I liked the aesthetic of Lauren's Shop, The Cemetary, The Hathorne House, and Olivia's Store but all of those locations fell victim to the game's graphics, still though props to the designer of those locations in the game.

Austrian Castle - This was jarring. To have a game so drenched in it's location of Salem then it starts off in Austria, it was weird. I get it that they were like "It's connected to the Salem Witch Trials cuz of da Judge dude" but it was super unnecessary and felt like a strange sub-plot location to a game set in Salem, MA.

Music - I liked the music, felt a little Harry Potter-ish at times and the 'indie rock' music they had that had zero lyrics was annoying but overall it was fine.

Witchy Stuff - I myself am a real practitioning witch, I am an ecclectic pagan wiccan and I know I am in the minority here but some of the puzzles were obnoxiously easy if you know anything about witchcraft. Like even the most basic level of witchcraft. If you ever skimmed through a wicca book in highschool with your edgy friends than you already know more than this game expects you to know. What pissed me off is that it's never actually explained to you. Like they bring up Samhain and fling the word around so it's all spooky and mystifying but they never once have a book or person discuss real Witchcraft with you. Like yeah Olivia is a 'real witch' or whatever and Lauren teaches you about mixing some herbs but it's still not like "Here is The Wheel of the Year, These are Sabbats and Esbats, This is an Athame, This is what we use brooms for we call them Besoms, etc" like the fact that we didn't get a wise old lady who was a clear rip off of Laurie Cabot teaching us about real Witchcraft in a very censor friendly and warm way pisses me off to no end. MISSED OPPORTUNITY HER!!!

Nancy's Behavior - So many times in this game Nancy behaved out of character to me. Like I get it, ya wanted to be all like "let's challenge her belief in ghooooosts!!" but it wasn't done correctly. Nancy wouldn't react to seeing ghosts like Scooby Doo and Shaggy.

Call Backs/Easter Egg - I appreciated the Easter Egg in this game being a literal colorful egg but it was a lame spot to hide it considering it was in plain view. However I appreciated the call backs to previous games with KoKo Kringles, Robotic Cats, and the Dear Sweet Charlotte jack-o-lantern.

Ghosts and Jumpscares - 10/10 best aspect of the game by far. The witch ghost over the bed actually got me really good and the ghosts in the underground tunnels were the best graphics of the game.

Pumpkins - Another charming part of the game that I actually enjoyed more than I anticipated. It was really cute and a fun stupid little thing to work on through out the game to find all the candles and put a pumpkin on each one.

Hardy Boys - PLEASE BRING THEM BACK FOR MORE GAMES AND NEVER STOP THE FRANCY SHIPPING. Also I could be tempted for Joe/Deirdre shipping js.

Overall - I'd rate the game a 4/10 and that's being nice. I liked it more than RAN but that’s really not saying much. It doesn’t come close to classic Nancy Drew Games.

Final Thoughts - I can't see any person who isn't a die hard Nancy Drew fan playing this and being like "Yeah I'll buy more of HerInteractive's future games!" like no. But I do see potential. I can see this as a beautiful beginning on a new platform making more immersive games. Or you know this could be the last game we get from HER and they close and go bankrupt and get flushed away and then the Miss Clue crew buys the rights for Nancy Drew and they make new Nancy Drew Games on the old platform with the old team....whichever works just fine for me :)

#nd mid #mid #nancy drew games #nancy drew mid #nancy drew midnight in salem #midnight in salem #mid review #midnight in salem review #nd 33 #nd review #nancy drew game review

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aquabreezeproductions · 4 years

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Twoleg of Thunderclan II: Chapter 6: Author's Note

It has been over ten years (eleven, to be exact) since I updated this story. I can't believe it's been that long. I started writing The Twoleg of ThunderClan in 2006 after my friend Julia (who goes by Bramblebelly on fanfiction.net) introduced me to the concept of fanfiction. We were both huge fans of the Warriors Series at the time, so after talking with her, I typed up the first chapter (version 1 of at least 4) in an afternoon on an old Dell laptop.

I was surprised and flattered by the response it got, and continue to be to this day. I mean... you guys know I wrote the bulk of the story when I was in middle school, right?! My writing has improved SO MUCH since then. And I look back on some of the decisions I made and I cringe. A pregnancy twist? Not to mention Smudge being unneutered?! What was I on?! (If I remember correctly, I was taking Ritalin at the time, so... that’s probably it.) But regardless, you loved it and still do. And so I think you deserve an explanation of where I’ve been and what the delay with updates is about.

If it wasn’t entirely obvious, a lot of the decisions I made were spur of the moment, especially before the sequel got going. I wrote Chapter 2 on my friend’s computer in one afternoon with her looking on and helping me out. That friend, Becky, goes by Yellowfur on fanfiction.net and ended up writing more fanfics than I’ve ever even imagined. She’s since written at least one play that was actually performed in real life. Isn’t that awesome? (Sure, I’m a bit jealous, but still.) Another chapter I wrote while visiting my friend Raye in Vermont, in between visiting the Ben & Jerry’s factory, of course. These writing sessions were fun at the time and have a lot of great memories attached to them, not to mention they were great ways to spend an afternoon/evening and channel my creativity, but in hindsight, they didn’t always produce the best work I’ve ever done.

But, things started to change. I got way into Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the Warriors series got left behind. I still updated The Twoleg of Thunderclan when I could because it had a following, but I wasn’t as passionate about it, and so it was updated less and less frequently. I’ve also become a bit of a perfectionist. It’s SO important to me for something I write to be as perfect as it possibly could be, so it’s probably part of the lack of updates, too.

As time went on. my attention drifted to Avatar fanfics, then to other Avatar-related things, and then farther and farther away from The Twoleg of Thunderclan. Fandoms like Law & Order: SVU, and recently Ace Attorney, the X-Files and Yuri on Ice. I started playing video games to a point where I became addicted. (I still struggle with spending too much time playing games. but it’s not where it once was.) I graduated high school, got depressed, took a gap year, traveled, then went to college and got a dog. Then I left college, went back, basically failed out and got a campaign internship, got fired from said internship, then took years to work on myself before getting a food service job that went from the start of last year until coronavirus put me on indefinite furlough in March. Miranda’s story would return to my mind from time to time, but I could never sit down and do anything more than rewrite the first chapter for the upteenth time.

In June 2006, when the first chapter hit fanfiction.net, I was only 12. I’m now 26. A few years ago, the story had its tenth anniversary- its fifteenth anniversary is next year, as a matter of fact. But now that I’m older, I think I appreciate more fully the love that The Twoleg of Thunderclan continues to get. (Do I have a fanbase or something? idk probably not.) Even the (somewhat well-deserved) hate that it gets is motivating. And I think it’s time that this fanfic gets a finished story.

I know I’m not the only writer that’s left a story to rot, and I’m not shaming anyone who has. I understand perfectly why writers do that. But over the years, I’ve felt immense guilt for not continuing the story. Sure, I’ve known what the rest of Miranda’s journey would be like, since it’s in my head. But the rest of you have only been able to guess, and that’s not fair to you guys. You deserve better.

The writing bug has finally come back to me recently- the coronavirus has left me time to think, of course, but I’ve found myself with a group of friends playing Final Fantasy XIV almost daily. One of our group is an audio YouTuber, and I’ve started to think about writing scripts for him, so keep an eye out for that (if you’re 18 or over.)

Now, I’ll do my best to update timely, and try to give you the best estimates I can. But I can’t promise I won’t fall victim to perfectionism, or depression, or real life and the stresses it entails. I’m only human, you know. But I promised myself I would finish and post Chapter 6 as soon as I could, and here I am. Here it is, after eleven years.

A quick note about the future: I’m going to be re-writing the chapters that have already been posted. The first Twoleg of Thunderclan will probably end up with more chapters, and certain plot points will be edited out or changed. (I may get rid of Mistpaw and the kits altogether.) I’m going to try to be more descriptive with the earlier chapters, and make sure everyone’s in character. I’ve also been working hard on developing Miranda’s character, and I’ll continue to do that. I never saw her as a self-insert, and I’ve been making as sure as I possibly can that she stays as far away from Mary Sue status as possible.

The definitive version of the first story will be posted on my Archive of Our Own account, so if you’d like to read only the rewritten/finished chapters, in order, that’s where they’ll be posted. I figure that’s a better way of telling you guys that there’s a rewritten chapter than just posting it over the old version on ff.net and hoping you guys notice.

And yes, the second story will be finished. And there might be plans for a third story, but that’s little more than some brief ideas right now. I’m also leaning towards ending TTOT after the second story- but a nice, complete, proper ending that it deserves, and that you all deserve. I’ll be able to give you guys more information on that when we get closer to the end of this story.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Go read Chapter 6 on ff.net here, and on AO3 (when it makes it over there along with the rewrites)! If you guys have any questions/comments that don’t fit into reviews on FF.Net/AO3, feel free to shoot me an ask on this blog or my personal blog, aquabreeze, or contact me on Twitter at @zmcadler I hope you all like the new chapter, and thank you so much for continuing to support my writing.

#author posts #the twoleg of thunderclan

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