#the last shot. fucking spectacular. superb

[secrosss]

new dunmesh ep was so fucking awesome i am going to eat my foot

#i speaku #spoilers here in tags as i ramble so watch out if u havent read the manga/ watched the ep #BUT ITS SO FUCIKINGGG BLOOODDYYYY #the last shot. fucking spectacular. superb #reading it didnt really register to me just how bloody the whole part of this thing is and i love how fucking casual these guys are to bloo #marcy just holding onto laois severed leg w a smile on her face and just. the blood stained hands in general... #laois pulling out the Sac and the grime and shit and how you can almost imagine the smell....... #THE PIECE OF HAIR. #THE FLASHBACK........ #senshis reaction to marcille being a freak.. #laois and falin..................... uueueuuuuuwuueue #chilchuck being hit on the head twice by a piece of concrete AHKJSHKJAHS #oh fuck i just realized i think a part of it didnt get animated where marce found chil and asked if he was ok and chil got snarky w her #it was replaced w senshi and man im kinda sad they didnt include that #but hey. at least chil swearing at laois was there #ok ill shut up now #IM SO EXCITED FOR NEXT EP !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ast3ryne]

I have never requested something but I think you are writing is so good!

Would you do prompt 2 “wait a minute, are you jealous?” with sparrow!Ben Hargreeves, thank you <3

Familiar

Pairing: sparrow!ben hargreeves x umbrella!reader

Warnings: Slight angst

Word Count: 762

Summary: Ben says just what’s on his mind, after getting drunk, right before the end of life as you know it.

A/N: I don’t even typically write anything close to angst, so this is fun. Reader is, as I tend to lean towards and prefer, neutral.

With the end of life as you know it rapidly approaching, what better way to spend it than getting shitfaced with your favorite brother before, during, and after a wedding. Or better yet, your favorite brother and your dead brother’s doppelgänger who’s honestly a dick.

You were all upstairs, trying to play pool in your drunken states and being far too giggly for your own good.

“That’s another point for me-“ Klaus held up his pool cue with one hand as he dramatically bowed “-and better yet another shot.” You watched as he grabbed for his bottle, and realizing it was empty he threw it to the side.

“I’ll be back kids, don’t do anything I would do.”

With that he stumbled his way through the staircase, slowly but surely descending.

You walked over to where Ben was sitting, flopping down beside him with a sigh. “God I love him.”

Ben tensed beside you, eyes watching you carefully as you laid your head back against the cushions.

“I don’t get why, I mean sure you all grew up together but he’s so…”

“Mental?” You finished, laughing a bit. “It’s a part of his charm.”

“Nothing charming about that.” He grumbled, and you could feel him fold his arms beside you.

To that you glanced at him. “Everyone has their own charm, Ben. I mean take our Ben for example, he was-“

“Amazing, spectacular, superb, apparently superior to me in every way possible, which in itself is impossible.” The words spilled out of his mouth far too easily for them to not have been on his mind. You snorted, clearly drunk Ben was an oversharer. “I was going to say a dickhead, the sweetest most caring-“

Ben let out a loud exaggerated sigh, rolling his eyes. “For fuck’s sake he couldn’t have been that great.”

“Oh but he was. He was all that and…” You trailed off, looking him in the face and realizing just how annoyed he really was. “Wait a minute, are you jealous?”

Ben’s eyes brows furrowed as he huffed. “What? No. Why would I be jealous of him, he’s dead. I’m not. It’s just…” He held his face in his hands now, breathing unevenly.

“It’s just…what?”

“Did you know we had you? Well, a different you, our own Y/N years ago.”

No, you didn’t know that. Is that why Sloane was so eager to befriend you from the get go? Or why the other sparrows had all looked at you that way when you first appeared, Jesus.

Ben shook his head and continued. “Well we did, and you’re so much like them, but at the same time you’re nothing like them. It’s scary, watching you with the umbrella’s and knowing that could’ve been us, could’ve been me next to you,” Finally, he looked up, and you could see his eyes tearing up. The way he watched you in both awe and grieving, you could see everything he’d been hiding for the last few days.

“I just miss you so much when you’re with them, so much that it hurts.” His fingers brushed your cheek shakily, like he didn’t know what to do, like he was scared of what he might do.

“Were we close?” You said almost breathlessly, watching as he stared at you, taking in every little feature of yours.

“More than you’ll ever know.”

And with that he leaned in, pressing his lips against yours. You could taste the alcohol in his breath but you didn’t care, you couldn’t care. Not when he was pulling you into him, holding you like you were going to disappear the second his grip slipped. Kissing you in a way that told you everything he felt, every emotion he’d left unsaid over the years, every feeling and sensation overwhelmed the two of you, but neither of you wanted to pull away.

It hurt. It hurt your heart as he grasped onto you desperately, hurt your head when you realized just how tangled you’d become with each other, you burned for each other.

When you finally pulled apart you didn’t pull away, and neither did he. You just sat in silence, terrified that the slightest of moves would make the other disappear and you’d be alone again.

“Holy shit.”

And just like that the two of your heads snapped to Klaus, standing beside the pool table and holding two more bottles, you pulled yourselves apart just as quickly as you’d settled into the position, you could still feel the goosebumps on your arms as you held them against yourself.

Holy shit indeed.

#ben hargreeves #tua #ben hargreeves x reader #the sparrow academy #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy imagine #sparrow!ben #slight angst #idek if this is good

[st-louis]

i think it has to be said that when anthony sanfilippo thinks you’re being a fucking asshole about your goalie in public, you’re being a fucking asshole about your goalie in public.

specifically:

There’s no doubt that this approach can work, but the coach needs to read the room before he employs it. And here’s where I don’t think Vigneault has read the Flyers room correctly.

Because I think they despise him for it.

He’s not the first coach the players don’t like, nor will be the last. Coaches aren’t hired to come in and make friends with the players. It’s why John Stevens, an excellent hockey mind and really good assistant coach, has never been able to make it as a head coach at the highest level.

Some guys just aren’t cut out to be the hammer. Vigneault is. Like this quote after he pulled Hart because “I didn’t think he played well” after allowing three first period goals in a game against the Sabres in mid-March:

“I believe he has to battle a little bit harder in goal at this time. I’m confident that he’ll work with (goalie coach) Kim (Dillabaugh) and try and get his game where it needs to be so that our team will have a chance in every game.”

But where Vigneault may have pushed the envelope with his assessment of Hart a little too far, is in his last three starts, all of which have been varying degrees of good.

In the 4-2 loss to Boston Tuesday, a game in which Hart played well, but didn’t make the spectacular stop to save the game on Brad Marchand’s shorthanded goal, rather than say he sees progress with Hart’s return, Vigneault continued to be stoic about Hart.

“Carter’s a young goaltender playing a real tough position and he’s trying his best.”

Then, after Thursday’s shootout loss to the Islanders, where Hart looked superb, especially after New York built an early 2-0 lead, Vigneault still wouldn’t give him much credit.

At first he dismissed the notion of Hart’s progression by qualifying that Hart didn’t face too many shots. Granted he was only credited with 21 saves, but it’s not like he only saw 13 shots the entire game. Here was the entire quote:

“He didn’t get a lot of work, but he had a couple of big saves to make and he did make them.”

That’s it. Now, in a normal season, you wouldn’t make much of a short answer. They happen sometimes in press conferences. But in this year, when he’s had so much more to say about the goalie in the negative, it’s hard to just dismiss this as a quick answer.

It’s so much more than that.

The Flyers aren’t quitting. It’s obvious by their play in the last four games, even if it still amounts to missing the playoffs, this team hasn’t thrown in the towel.

But there’s a sense that they aren’t too fond of how Vigneault is pushing Hart. It’s no secret that AV had Hall of Fame goalies in Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) and New York (Henrik Lundqvist), which allowed for his systems to flourish, and he wants to push Hart to reach that echelon while still coaching the team.

Maybe there’s a different way to do it. Maybe the team needs to hear more positivity about a young goalie whose work ethic has never waned, even during his unexpected struggles this season. Hart works as hard at his craft as anyone in the sport, and remained diligent even during the roughest patch of his hockey life.

Because when you flash back to Shayne Gostisbehere’s quote about how the team is playing in front of their goalies, it now jumps out at you as it being a way to defend Hart (and to a lesser extent Elliott) and shoulder some blame, since Vigneault is the anti-Andy Reid in his press conferences and hardly ever – if at all – falls on the sword for his players.

“It’s straight not good enough right now. We’re letting guys fucking absolutely beat us up in front of the net and it makes our goaltenders look like absolute shit and it’s not fair. We have to be better as a team.”

That was a refreshingly honest statement from Ghost, but also probably an example of how sometimes shouldering responsibility is better received in the locker room than cold and vapid responses.

Some might say the 2021 athlete needs to grow a pair if they can’t handle criticism by the coach. And I tend to agree. But at the same time, the modern day athlete doesn’t just need to adjust to the old school coach. Sometimes the old school coach needs to coalesce a little bit and adjust to the modern day athlete too.

#flyers #alain vigneault #carter hart #seriously like.............. this dude's old school af and even he sees it lmao

[takerfoxx]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Season 5, Episode 13, “The Heart, Part 2,” First Impressions!

I am going to miss this show, I really am.

Well. Here we are. The final episode of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, an almost three decade later reboot of a show I’ve never seen, which in turn was a spin-off of a show I’ve never seen, and yet somehow became one of my favorite shows of all time.

Now, when this show was first announced, there was a lot of pushback. You had the usual murder’s row of so-called anti-SJW troglodytes who like to swoop in on anything that looks like it wasn’t designed with straight white guys in mind (and speaking as a straight white guy, these guys are just. So. Tiresome!), as well as fans of the original who didn’t care for the new character designs, direction, or lack of connection to Masters of the Universe. Which, okay, I get it, and to be honest the little to no He-Man business still strikes me as weird, but come on guys. It’s been almost thirty years! Times have changed, audiences have changed, and the targeted audience of kids’ shows today are very different from what they were in the eighties. 

But despite all that nontroversy, She-Ra rose above and established itself as a genuinely great show in it’s own right, becoming both a critical and commercial success. Like, okay, it wasn’t Avatar the Last Airbender or Steven Universe-level big, but it definitely established a real niche for itself and gathered a sizeable fanbase. The excellent writing, incredibly on-point comedic timing, superb voice acting, casual diversity, oodles of complex and likeable characters, tight-plotting, mature handling of difficult topics, and immaculate direction made it out to be an amazing children’s show from a decade that has had no shortage of amazing children’s shows, and expectations were insane for the final season, with the climatic final episode being under incredible scrutiny. 

I mean, it makes sense, right? For once, given the huge LGBTQ fanbase the show has, and given how many times the LGBTQ community have been burned at the last second, there is little wonder that they would be wary. And while some shows like the aforementioned Avatar the Last Airbender and Breaking Bad have remained of high quality throughout its run and delivered with an excellent finale (or so I’m told, still working my way through), others like Voltron Legendary Defender and Game of Thrones have become notorious for shitting the bed in their latter halves, and other shows like Steven Universe have had more mixed receptions. So how would She-Ra turn out? Would it end up flopping at the end, or would it stick the landing and enter the pantheon of shows that actually completed their entire story arcs and are fondly remembered?

Yes. Yes, it did. 

The final season was spectacular. It started off all right, but from the third episode on immediately turned into pure brilliance, one that seemed to constantly top itself with wonderful character development, emotional payoffs, scenes of gripping tension, ballsy writing, and fantastic action. And any finale that makes me cry gets a thumb’s up from me.

Now, obviously I have a lot of gushing to do, but before it do, I should point out that I don’t think the finale is 100% perfect. There are things that kind of bugged me, and a few others that I felt really could have done better. Of course none of them were deal breakers, only little flaws that I feel could have stood to either have had more focus or different execution. And I might as well get the negative things out of the way.

And for me, the biggest problem is Shadow Weaver’s exit. 

And to be clear, I don’t have a problem whatsoever with Shadow Weaver dying. I wanted her to die. I’m glad she died. Nor do I have a problem for her dying to save the two girls she’s spent two decades abusing. And nor do I have a problem with them mourning her death, given that they never actually forgave her, and it only made sense that they would have complicated feelings toward her. All of those are fine!

What I have a problem with is how that moment was framed and directed. It was framed like a heroic sacrifice, from the dramatic final stand moment to Shadow Weaver being suddenly acting selfless to her telling Catra how proud she was of her and finally showing her face. 

Everything about that moment was exceptionally well done, yes, but the problem I have is that it doesn’t feel earned. That’s the sort of end you give a morally complex character that has been struggling with their negative qualities throughout a long character arc. And I’m sorry, but while Shadow Weaver is a pretty great and complicated character in her own right, she as never even tried to redeem herself until that moment. With Catra, we still saw how much her actions haunted and tormented her, even when she was at her worst. We saw her wrestling with her ingrained toxic behaviors and her conscience, so that when she finally makes the decision to do something right and, as far as she knew, sacrificed her life to rescue Glimmer and save Adora, it felt all kinds of earned!

But even after defecting to the Princess Rebellion, Shadow Weaver showed no signs of wanting to change. She showed no signs of regretting her mistreatment of Adora and Catra, and still continued to demean, undercut, and gaslight them whenever she was with them, and whenever she was called out on it, she would just brush it off and/or roll her eyes. Even when she was “helping” and “praising” her golden child Adora, she still continued to try to twist her head and mold her into what she wanted Adora would be. And her treatment of Catra didn’t change at all.

So I’m sorry, but that moment just didn’t work for me. Yes, I know Noelle has said that her sacrifice was still selfishly motivated, and I believe it, but it still felt off, especially with her finally telling Catra that she was proud of her, when she was AGAIN demeaning her earlier in that same episode! It carries the unintentional implication that Catra needed Shadow Weaver’s validation in order to move on. I honestly would have preferred that she never got it but realized that she didn’t need it to begin with. And that “You’re welcome,” which is incredibly condescending, was framed as a badass final line. There’s a disconnect between her character arc and its payoff that feels off. I wish something had been handled differently. 

The second issue I had was just how rushed a lot of the character payoffs felt at the end. Yes, I know Noelle said that she doesn’t want to do an epilogue and would like us to decide for ourselves how things turned out, and that’s fine. But one day later wouldn’t hurt. Wrong Hordak was shown a couple times cowering next to Swift Wind in group shots and then straight up disappeared. And given their complicated history together, Scorpia and Catra deserved so much more than just a hi and a hug. Chipped Micah was given more time to harm and demean Glimmer than real Micah was given to love her. The Entrapdak thing got more focus and despite what I said about Hordak needing to either die or lose his memories, I’m not too upset that he didn’t do either, but instead simply broke free and got a happy ending, and Mermista’s line of, “So, are we like okay with this?” was great, but it feels like there should have been more. And I know they never had their own character arc and did all they needed to do last season, but if you’re going to bring Double Trouble back, then give us more than just one episode and a two-second cameo at the end. 

Like, just give us some kind of montage of the rebuilding stage. Show us Wrong Hordak leading his scared and confused brothers in becoming individuals. Have him meet the real Hordak and show us how they would respond to one another! Give us a proper Catra/Scorpia reconciliation! Do more with Double Trouble or don’t bring them back at all. Hell, pair them up with Wrong Hordak partway through the season so they could bounce off each other, because that would be comedy GOLD! And while I’m glad that we at least got to see Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio (and they adopted Imp!), it sucks that that was their only scene this season, and it didn’t even have any lines. I’m not so upset about Huntara, because I know her voice actress is hard to get ahold of, so I’m okay with her just getting a wordless scene, but the others kind of bug.

I understand that time was a factor, but surely something could have been done.

All right, now I got all those out my system, let the gushing BEGIN!

Catra and Adora. Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man oh man. Now, I know I said that Catra needs to leave in order for her redemption to work, but even though she didn’t and got pretty much forgiven and accepted by everyone she hurt, I’m still very happy with how her redemption arc went down. Because she made the switch early in the season, showed genuine regret for what she did, made real attempts to apologize to those she hurt without expecting forgiveness, was shown wrestling with her bad traits, sometimes falling back into them, sometimes almost succumbing to bad habits, but was also shown finally making the right decisions and rising above them. She was the best-written character in the show with the most complex character arc, and they fucking NAILED the landing. 

And that is because of her love of Adora. 

Catra and Adora, two white-hot messes of weirdly compatible issues. Catra is so afraid of abandonment that she instinctively pushes those she loves away or runs away herself rather than let them leave her, and Adora only knows how to place others before herself, to be selfless to a fault, take all the blame for everything, and not let herself be the one who’s loved and protected. The two needed each other in order to overcome their issues, to put aside the damage Shadow Weaver instilled in them.

And they finally did.

Catra came back for Adora. She stayed by her side, refused to leave, and refused to let Adora give up. And Adora rose above her feelings of failure, allowed herself to be loved by another, and became whole. 

And then we got it. We finally got the moment we’ve all been waiting for, all been praying for, all wanted so goddamned desperately. 

We got the Big Goddamn Kiss.

The love each other. They’re lovers. They’re soulmates. After everything, how could they be anything else? It’s pure, 100% romantic love, a full, no ambiguity friends-to-rivals-to-enemies-to-allies-to-lovers storyline. Not subtext, no reading between the lines. It’s real, it’s canon, it’s between the two main leaders, and it happened right on the screen and saved the goddamned world.

Catra finally reached out to someone and showed love, and Adora finally allowed herself to be brought up and loved. And it’s that love that overcame Horde Prime’s virus and destroyed the Heart of Etheria. It’s that love that freed the magic, released She-Ra, and allowed her to vanquish Horde Prime once and for all. 

And hey, two girls kissing, turning into a rainbow, and annihilating the influence of a controlling religious cult and the symbol of exploitative colonizers? Hmmm, subtle!

I love it. 

Look, after everyone talking about how much the finale made them cry, and after already sobbing my eyes out when Angella sacrificed herself in season 3, I was worried that I wouldn’t feel the same, that everything had already been spoiled for me so it wouldn’t have the same emotional impact. Hell, the kiss itself had been spoiled for me! So if I knew it was coming, how could it affect me like it did others.

I was wrong. I was so wrong. When Catra screamed at Adora that she loved her and always had, the tears came gushing out. And when they finally did kiss, it made me happier than I had been for a long time. It was such a beautiful moment, and it was so wonderful to see all the magic unleashed, turning Etheria back into the paradise it was meant to be, and the Spire into a giant floating sprig of broccoli!

The Horde was finally defeat, and Horde Prime ripped out of his Wi-Fi network and destroyed once and for all. He will not rise again. His corrupted vision of purity is finally eradicated once and for all, and the galaxy is free again.

It was wonderful.

Other moments I want to highlight! Beginning with Bow! 

Oh Bow. I haven’t talked as much about you as I did at the start of the show, but you really are wonderful. After similar unpowered male goofball sidekicks like Xander and Sokka being big balls of toxic masculinity and ingrained misogyny caused by insecurities that they had to overcome, we get an unpowered male goofball sidekick who is a shining example of positive masculinity, someone who knows who he is and is comfortable with it, someone who more than holds his own in battle, constantly makes himself useful, and stands proud with his superpowered friends. And even then, he still feels like real person, one that gets frustrated, feels down, and gets angry at both himself and his friends, but still continues on, because he’s a soldier and that’s what he does. 

So it was wonderful that he got the Rise Up and Fight speech, because he deserved it, and oh it felt so good, seeing all those instances of people throwing off Horde Prime’s control while his words were playing. Bow really is wonderful.

And Hordak! Look, I know what I said about wanting more from his ending, but my God, that moment when he threw off Horde Prime’s control and shot Horde Prime in the back to save Entrapta and reclaim his identity was so! Fucking! Cool! I was cheering in my car when that happened! So good! 

And hey, give it up for Glimmer for not listening to Chipped Micah and refusing to back down. She overcame a brilliant sorcerer wielding dark magic through the power of sheer stubbornness! Chef kiss, beautiful!

Though I really do think she got most of her stubbornness from her mom. Miss yah, Angie. 

And Scorpia and Perfuma? Why, I think I like that quite a lot! Why yes, give Perfuma a big, strong girlfriend with a huge heart! Give Scorpia tiny, cute hippie girlfriend who will take no shit from anyone. Yes, I like this very much.

So...yeah. This really was wonderful. The world is saved, the Best Friend Squad is about to go on a space romp, and it feels good. And from there? Well, Noelle told us to come with that ourselves, so yeah, I’m sure Etheria was able to fully rebuild following the Horde’s destruction. I’m sure that Wrong Hordak became some kind of benevolent leader to his lost brothers and helped them come to grips with their individuality. I’m sure that Scorpia rebuilt the Scorpion Kingdom from the Fright Zone’s ruins and made it a haven to the lost Horde soldiers. I’m sure that Sea Hawk and Mermista burned down a boat together. I’m sure that Glimmer and Bow were married and became king and queen of Brightmoon and had a long and loving reign with lots of babies. I’m sure that Entrapta was given all the discarded Horde and First Ones tech to crack and find good uses for and remained as happy as a clam, especially considering the Hordak harem she’s built. I’m sure that Adora and Catra continued to build each other up, helped and supported one another to keep themselves from falling into bad habits, and Melog was always there as a faithful therapy magi-cat. I’m sure that Perfuma helped Catra along with meditative exercises and Catra never had the heart to tell her that she was just napping. I’m sure that Frosta grew up to be a strong and powerful queen who also founded her own iceball league. I’m sure that everyone started going to Netossa and Spinnerella’s game nights and just decided to put up with Netossa when she got like...that, because at that point she deserved to. I’m sure that Swift Wind finally did emancipate the horses and taught them to form their own weird society, but still made time to visit Madam Razz. I’m sure that Kyle and Rogelio became proud adopted fathers of little Imp, and one day while chilling at the local pub, Lonnie caught the eye of a big, strong purple woman. 

I’m sure they were all very happy from there on.

I am going to miss this show. It was a wonderful experience, one that’s given me so much. It made me laugh,it made me cry, it made me cheer, it made me shiver, it made me bite my nails, but most of all, it made me happy. 

So thank you Noelle and Molly. Thank you Chuck and Mary Elizabeth. Thank you Sunna and Aaliyah. Thank you Aimee, AJ, Karen, Marcus, Keston, Reshma, Lorraine, Christine, Adam, Genesis, Vella, Merit, Gina, and Jordan. Thank you to all the writers, animators, and directors. Thank you to everyone who worked on this show. Thank you all.

And a very special thank you to @smxmuffinpeddling​ for filling my dash with She-Ra content, which convinced me to check this show out in the first place!

#she ra and the princesses of power #she ra #spop #adora #catra #bow #glimmer #horde prime #hordak #mermista #sea hawk #swift wind #shadow weaver #scorpia #perfuma #wrong hordak #frosta #netossa #spinnerella #best friend squad #entrapta #catradora #entrapdak #glimbow #micah #etheria #all the tags! #john cena! #noelle stevenson #molly ostertag

[crystal-lillies]

A few positive things from 2020

So we all can agree 2020 was hardly much but chaos and struggle, but there were some good things I don't want to overlook on this last day. Therefore, in no particular order, here are some bright things we had this year.

-We got the finale of Steven Universe Future, the end of the SU saga, and it was full of emotions of all kinds, but ended with our boy getting love and care from all his family and friends and that's all that matters yknow?

-Infinity Train books 2 and 3 holy shit man they both slapped so hard, one at the top of 2020 and the other in the middle. Wild. I really hope we keep getting more but what we've got was spectacular.

-Continuing the line of animation, like, The Owl House? Absolutely superb??? Hello??? Finally some good fucking food??? Lumity watered my crops, cleared my acne, saved my life??? Not to mention Eda and Lilith and Hooty and Willow and Gus oh gosh they're all so great

-ATLA got added to Netflix mid-year, and a whole swarm of new fandom was brought into the mix. with this came a lot of Zukka, and honestly not bad tbh.

-we got Sonic the Hedgehog this year y'all and lemme tell you it was honestly a solid movie which we were all not expecting at all. I went to see it twice and it was the last movie I saw in theaters. Totally worth it.

-Movies kinda got shot in the foot this year, but the ones I got to see in theaters besides Sonic were Dolittle, Knives Out, and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn), along with a collection of animated short films nominated for Oscars this year. That last one was a pretty rocking experience ngl, and all of the ones in that collection were incredible.

-Speaking of that collection of short films, Hair Love won best animated short film, and even though there were so many incredible ones, Hair Love was so sweet and heartwarming and gorgeously animated, it was a deserving win.

-I think it goes without saying that Animal Crossing New Horizons has been one of the best things to come out this year, period.

-for better or worse, Hamilton proshot was released on Disney Plus in July, and In the Heights was pushed to next summer. Hey, we got to see everything from King George spit and everyone's sweat to every heart wrenching emotion and fun background actors you don't get to appreciate when watching bootlegs or listening to the album (particularly thinking of the Bullet character).

- do I need to mention the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, or the double full moon of October? Absolutely brilliant.

-Fruits Basket Reboot!!! Holy hell has it amazing this year!!

-BNHA got lots of crazy reveals and arcs coming to heads this year with all kinds of fun in store for the next season of the anime

-y'all. Y'all. TWEWY not only got an anime adaptation announced with trailers that look amazing for a drop next year, but WE ALSO GOT NEOTWEWY....TWEWY2.....AFTER ALL THESE YEARS.....

-Doctor Who season 12 went hard all the way through and was so exciting to watch weekly the old fashioned way this year

-on a personal note, I got a couple amazing art commissions from my good friend @ghoststrawberries, and while I wanted to do more, I'm so so happy with getting what I was able to this year. (And I highly recommend commissioning them)

- Also another personal note, I was able to keep in touch with a lot of my friends, even some I haven't kept in good communication with, via letters and messages this year, and I've got a sweet collection of letters and cards from everyone I've connected to this year, and it's really nice.

-I participated in Camp NaNo April and July along with regular NaNoWriMo this year. I set and reached goals of 30,000 and 40,000 words for the Camp NaNo challenges and wrote every day; while I wasn't able to hit 50,000 words for NaNo proper per my hoped plans, I wrote about 10,000 more words than I did the previous year, and I'm proud of that considering how crazy my November was this year. Even though I didn't get to finish a second draft of my middle grade novel, I was able to work through a good amount of the research and worldbuilding through NaNo, and I'm proud of that.

It's been a hell kind of year, and I don't discount any of the struggles faced. But I wanted to just touch on some good stuff before closing out 2020. There's plenty more I didn't cover bc I'm 5 minutes away from sleep and am just listing off the top of my head, but I like this tradition of taking the good and appreciating it every year before the new one comes.

I hope you all stay safe and take care ❤ happy New Year, and I wish all of you good vibes into 2021!

#flowerspeak #positive #2020 #new years eve #i was going to stay up and watch more doctor who on bbc america but i am exhausted #goodnight #2021 #happy new year #personal

[easybrieseymovies]

Top 10 Movies of this Decade –– A Biased Reflection By Conner Miller

As this hellish decade draws to a close it only felt right to list the ten films that made it a little better. Do not expect to find all critical darlings on this. This is a place for my personal top 10 –– not Joker. Lettuce Pray:

10. Short Term 12 (2013) dir. Destin Daniel Cretton

Chances are you’ve seen Captain Marvel, Atlanta, Booksmart (more to follow), Brooklyn 99 or Bohemian Rhapsody. There’s almost no chance you’ve seen this intimate 2013 SXSW selection. Before Brie Larson was terrifying alt-right women haters and winning Academy Awards she portrayed Grace, a supervisor at a group home for troubled teens. Typically in indies like this one mid tier star is all the budget can afford. Director Destin Daniel Cretton took chances on barely known actors who used this film as a launching pad to stardom. Between Brie and Rami Malek alone there’s Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor. Add in LaKeith Stanfield of Atlanta and Someone Great fame, Kaitlyn Dever of Booksmart and Unbelievable and Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn 99 and you’ve got enough to make a Knives Out sequel.

The shocking thing is with the immense talent featured the film’s budget was under a million dollars. Larson’s performance as Grace is layered, empathetic and revelatory. She is one of the few actresses that lets you in without words. You can see the grief and longing to help her kids she mentors in her eyes. The relationship between her and troubled teen Jayden (the magnificent as always Kaitlyn Dever) forms the film’s emotional core. Grace and Jayden lean into each other and find their tribulations aren’t dissimilar. Cretton shows a deft touch in letting the actor’s play to their strengths and allowing the camera to be still and messy allowing the group home to become a character. The film crackles with humanity and everyone involved shines bright.

There’s not an excuse to miss this one. Hop on Amazon Prime and catch it!

9. The Social Network (2010) Dir. by David Fincher

Before their ill-fated runs as Lex Luthor and Spider-Man, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield headlined this snappy masterpiece about your grandmother’s favorite app to share slightly racist boomer memes. While Facebook has aged like milk, the film has only grown more relevant. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s whiplash paced dialogue is the highlight here. There’s not a day that goes by I don’t try to work my “fuck you flip-flops” into casual conversation.

For a film about such a now mainstream app, there’s more weird shit to shake a stick at. Brenda Song (withholding calling her London Tipton) as a crazy ex who likes to burn trash! Justin Timberlake with a strange haircut as Napster founder Sean Parker! Not one, but two Armie Hammers! Early career Dakota Johnson! All of these welcome turns are grounded by Sorkin’s bubbling script. Even in limited screen-time each character’s dialogue is so unique they feel lived in and real.

For all of David Fincher’s acclaimed films, I find this one the most accessible. This isn’t Fight Club or Se7en. His most human film by far TSN takes everything great about Fincher and condenses it into one highly enjoyable package. Sometimes his films become meandering and Sorkin’s dialogue helps dial this in. The result is a film that feels dangerously ominous considering its 2010 release date. In some ways it feels the film that defines and bridges the distinctly different presidential administrations this decade brought.

8. A Star is Born (2018) Dir. by Bradley Cooper

On paper this film looked like a dead on arrival disaster. Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut? A fourth remake of a classic movie? David Chapelle in a dramatic role? This movie rose above the memes and truly kicked me in the teeth. There’s so much to love so hey let’s get another look at it!

Blistering hot take, but the cinematography in this film by Matthew Libatique might be the best of the fucking decade. When he shoots scenes with Cooper’s Jackson Maine the camera is frenetic and unsteady. As he begins to let Lady Gaga’s Ally into his life the camera grows steadier and symbolic of their bond. Nearly every wide shot in this film looks like a painting. The concert scenes are slathered in lights that make the viewer feel like they’re on stage with Jackson and Ally.  Exhibit A:

Elite framing aside the songs in this film are eternal and will always loom on my Spotify waiting to strike. “Shallow” is the ultimate karaoke song and I will always attempt to howl Lady Gaga’s eternal AHHH AHHHHH AHHHH until I am lowered into the ground.

Parks and Recreation fans will be pleased to see Hippie Ron aka Sam Elliott in an utterly dominant supporting role as Jackson’s older brother. I still write angry letters to the Academy asking why he didn’t win Best Supporting Actor. I am very PASSIONATE about this film and it is on HBO. Grab a six pack and prepare to sob.

7. “The Spectacular Now” (2013) Dir. by James Ponsoldt

This originally was going to be Whiplash, but Tyler needed to take the floor on that as a young student living in Manhattan. We do stick with Miles Teller for number seven with one of god tier studio A24′s first hits: The Spectacular Now. Admittedly any film that features Brie Larson and Kaityln Dever already has me interested, but bias aside this truly is a beautiful ride.

Late film critic Roger Ebert famously gave this film a perfect 4/4 in one of his final reviews. I’ll do Roger one more and give it a 5/4. Between the grainy film stock, the small scale stakes and the authentic characters this film just feels achievable. There’s no beam in the sky or city to save, but the stakes feel just as dire. As the main character Sutter navigates alcoholism, love and trying to understand his parents you feel for him. He’s a proxy for which everyone in high school else felt. There’s a gentle innocence in how sweet the movie is. If it is ever taken off Netflix I will be ready to storm their server room.

6. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018)

You thought you were going to escape without a Marvel film and you were almost right. The various reboots and remakes of Spider-Man this decade all featured high and low points. This animated tale, however, was transcendent. Moving the character into animation and featuring a Spider-Man of color in the lead injected much needed life into the character. I never thought i’d see the day that Spider-Man won an Academy Award, but lo and behold deviating from a cis caucasian Spider-Man brought it home.

Between the film’s electric soundtrack, unique frame rate and snappy animation it truly is the closest thing to living in a comic book. Miles’ first swing sequence is by far one of the greatest scenes in cinema – animated or non-animated. The voice acting is superb and without a doubt this film will be heavily played when I have kids over Frozen. Another one right there on Netflix waiting for you to check out!

5. “Waves” (2019) Dir. by Trey Edward Shults

One of three 2019 selections on this list (it has been a hell of a year for cinema) Waves is by far the hardest film to find on this list. Despite an extremely limited release last month I was able to catch it in cinemas. I haven’t experienced a film that better captures the dynamic of a family. The vibrant colors of South Florida evoke shades of Moonlight as the viewer is introduced to son Tyler masterfully played by newcomer Kelvin Harrison Jr. We see him navigate his senior year of high school amidst the pressures of a girlfriend, competitive athletics and the constant weight of his overbearing, but layered father (a brilliant Sterling K. Brown of This is Us fame).

To say much about the plot is to spoil the film, but it is powerful to say the least. The film’s soundtrack is simply a miracle. The brilliant hues of neon and ocean pastels burn images in you mind as Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Tyler, The Creator and numerous other beloved artists weave in and out. This film literally has more than five Frank Ocean songs in it. If that isn’t convincing enough you’re on the wrong blog.

4. “Uncut Gems” (2019) Dir. by Josh and Benny Sadfie

Infinitely rewatch-able, this film is the closest simulation to living inside a pressure cooker. Adam Sandler plays the neurotic Howard Ratner with the conviction of man of his hair on fire. Even in the scenes he isn’t present his gravitas is felt in every frame. There’s really something here for everyone. Howard owes people money from his diamond store in Manhattan. As he ramps up his debt with a series of increasingly risky bets the viewer follows him night and day. Each time he seemingly as a way out the stakes only increase.

The frantic and gritty way the film is shot paired with its masterfully tense score have the film dialed up to 120 the entire runtime. It is the film equivalent of “Why are you so sweaty? I was watching Cops.” in Stepbrothers. This one just went wide release on Christmas so get out there before it leaves theaters.

3. “La La Land” (2016) Dir. by Damien Chazelle

Don’t let the infamous Best Picture swap with Moonlight fool you about the quality of this film. In his follow up to Whiplash, Chazelle takes command from the opening musical number on the overpasses of the 405 in LA. This love story of ambition between aspiring musician Seb and actress Mia has heart that few films have. It isn’t about boy meets girl. Similar to A Star is Born it is about finding the person you need to reach your dreams.

There’s few films with this level of direction. Each camera movement, lighting choice and story beat is tactile and purposeful. Emma Stone delivers a career defining performance and the Academy thankfully awarded her Best Actress. Every song on the soundtrack is an absolute banger and there’s really no excuse for not watching this one. A true gem even on my twelfth rewatch and four papers/presentations I gave on it in film school.

2. “Booksmart” (2019) Dir. by Olivia Wilde

These final two movies on the list exist on their own personal Mount Olympus. Olivia Wilde, in her directorial debut no less, creates an honest coming of age movie that’s actually a love story. Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaityln Dever) are honor roll students on their final day of high school. When they realize the kids who partied and didn’t study religiously also got into Ivy League schools they set out to correct that over one crazy night.

You really won’t find a sweeter or more hopeful film. Dever and Feldstein bring electricity to their roles and won’t fail to make you laugh and cry. In a news cycle filled with hate and fear, films like this are needed. A film that’s sexually, politically and morally progressive without getting on a soapbox is nearly impossible and that’s exactly what Wilde achieved with this instant classic. I literally only have a Hulu subscription to rewatch this endlessly. I also own two different shirts of Amy and Molly. Enjoy.

1. “Lady Bird” (2017) Dir. by Greta Gerwig

If you’re still reading this far you likely know me and know what’s number one. Gerwig’s Lady Bird is nothing short of perfection. A riveting and relatable story of titular Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson’s journey navigating her senior year of high school in Sacramento at surface, but really about parents and children.  Between Sam Levy’s grainy cinematography that makes the film feel like a memory, Jon Brion’s understated score and Saoirse Ronan’s dynamo performance as Lady Bird there’s so much to love. You’re this far. You don’t need to read anymore. Take a breath, pat yourself on the back and let’s hope the next decade is even better. Also Lady Bird is on Amazon Prime. Don’t forget that.

(P.S Larry McPherson is the best movie dad of all time –– fight me.)

-Conner

IG and Twitter: @connerjmill9

#moviesofthedecade #easybreiseymovies #ladybird #booksmart a24 uncutgems lalaland moviereviews waves spectacularnow spiderman starisborn

[atrophiedcompassion]

the last jedi review

spoiler free: it was overall good, but not as good as it could’ve been. it had about 30 mins of filler and some of the plots execution was less than desirable. certainly needs at least one more viewing for a proper opinion

spoiler full review under the cut

what they did well was near perfection: Luke, Leia, Kylo and Rey were beautifully characterized, their arcs clear, well done, exceptionally emotional and powerful.

First of all, they finally gave Leia the standing she deserved in the new trilogy. it was like Rian Johnson heard my criticism of TFA Leia (no force sensitive mentions, just an old hag they had no clue how to use. it was and remains one of the most disappointing things about TFA) and finally gave her a meaty role, in a way, the perfect way to end Carrie’s work with Star Wars. sure, the travel through space scene was a bit cartoonish, but finally, FINALLY, we were given, shown, FORCE SENSITIVE LEIA. it was emotional, especially that it came after the very clear moment between her and Kylo, when he hesitated in shooting at her ship. it was very clear that they were sensing each other and Kylo’s reaction when the ship was shot after all was also amazing.

her whole role was great, finally the General i had always expected from post ROTJ Leia to be. and even if they didn’t kill her on screen, and it’ll have to be an offscreen death (or who knows...who knows), i think they did conclude her arc remarkably and whatever happens in episode IX it can only finish her participation in a great way. 

the final meeting with Luke, the forgiveness, the closeness, i am so glad they gave us that. the space twins live on, and we were given true closure.

second of all, Luke. LUKE WAS PERFECT. the guilt, the wisdom, the cranky old master behaviour a la yoda in ESB, it was miraculous. every time he was on screen it was emotional and powerful. the awe and fright at Rey’s abilities. his disappointment that she went straight to the dark, that she didn’t fight temptation at all, when it was clear that he had done that all his life and it had cost him so much! i mean, it’s clear that Luke’s resolve in ROTJ is strong, and that he will certainly not cave in to the Emperor’s requests. but now, with his anger at Rey’s easy temptation, it becomes clear to me how much it had cost him to say no to Vader in ESB. at his lowest moment, having just been mutilated, having just learned that his great mentor Obi Wan had lied to him, at the very revelation that the long sought after father was finally before him offering him the world, he still found the courage, the strength and maybe even the weakness to say no. to allow himself to die rather than to fall to the dark side. and then this kid, with enormous grasp of the Force, dives right into the darkness on the first occasion!! the fact that they gave us that on screen was immense.

and then, the final battle, when he displays the most stupendous command of the Force, when he shows Kylo off in a spectacular fashion, that was amazing, it was one of the best moments in the whole SW saga.

the death moment was perhaps a little sudden, because it clearly stemmed from the fight with Kylo, and not later, but it still comes peacefully, and not at the actual, real hand of his nephew.

Now, Rey, her journey was not as spectacular as it was in TFA, but she was the emotional core of the film and in many ways, the only true pure Force sensitive person in the saga. sure, Leia was as pure and free of temptation as possible, but there is something murky about the relationship between her, Ben/Kylo and Han. something happened to Ben to have all that great darkness inside him, and as a comic panel once said, it surely came from her side of the family. Rey can and did dive into the darkness and came out unscathed. she not for one second yields to Snoke nor is she willing to accept Kylo’s offer of joining him to rule the galaxy (at some point in these movies, this has to stop tho. it’s the worst offer in the galaxy ffs! no-one seems to take up on it). she is the voice of reason and the hope the galaxy needs.

the big family reveal is underwhelming for a reason. it’s something Kylo says, it’s her biggest fears that he’s voicing, trying to play with her mind. it may be a misdirection, my dad says, and he’s been right about this (after snape’s “treason” in HP6, he was the first to point out that it may play out differently in the end. plus, should her true, actual, shocking parentage be revealed in the middle film, it’d be too much on the nose copying of ESB. we already had the offer scene and the moment between the dark and the light characters.

Finally, Kylo Ren. first of all, what a pleasure it is to watch Adam Driver perform!! he is magnetic in every scene and you can literally see the conflict in his face. his weirdly beautiful face. i love the guy (i mean, i went to see Silence in the theater, a religious film! starring Andrew Garfield!). i think his arc is tremendous and if my gut feeling is right, they might actually make him the big bad. no redemption. he just follows the darkness through and through. at the start of the movie, he has that moment with Leia, he hesitates, he takes the finger off the button. at the end, he barges full on, take no prisoners kinda way, totally willing to kill every single person in the mine/bunker, his mother included. it’s interesting, because so far it seems that killing Snoke (and not his father or Rey) finally completed his apprenticeship in the dark side, killing the puppet master finally allowed him to go completely dark.

@winteredfall believes there’s the parallel with Anakin, who also made the offer to Padme, to kill the emperor & take over, and in the end he was still redeemed.  but....that was the third movie. this is just the second movie. i think it’d be much more interesting if this guy didn’t get redemption and if he was simply the bad guy. it’d make the character richer, it’d be a departure from the classic SW and it’d show that some people cannot be redeemed. it’d finally take Nu SW into a new direction and the following trilogy wouldn’t have the baggage. (side note: for me, after learning in the prequels what Vader did to access the dark side, aka kill 30 kids, Vader’s redemption in ROTJ is meaningless and unacceptable. for me, Vader cannot be redeemed after we know what he did. he can be forgiven by his son, who doesn’t exactly know the details. but me as the viewer, i cannot forgive him anymore. his son saving is nearly an empty gesture given his actual really heinous crimes. and this is why i hate the prequels, because they ruined Vader for me, arguably the most interesting character of the OT)

the offer to Rey immediately after offing Snoke shows that he never really wanted to be good. he just wanted to stop being manipulated and used. his rage after she rebukes him and takes off is not brattisness, but simply the dark side finally taking over. rage fuels the dark side, anger is the prime motivator, so it all works. and Kylo is a better character for it. and the movie could take the SW saga into a whole new direction. but we shall see.

The Force was finally restored to its original meaning, fuck the midicloridians. Sure, luke’s explanation seems a rehash of Obi Wan’s but it had to be done. also perfect was Luke’s put down of the Jedi and their hubris, it was amazing to see the concerns people had with the prequels, namely the sith emerging during the Jedi’s highest power, addressed and put to bed.

the Kylo - Rey relationship was intense, and heightened, but unlike in TFA, where it did have some dark sexual undertones (Kylo does mind rape Rey and the sexual overtones of that scene cannot be overlooked), this time it had a very sibling vibe. Rian Johnson took note of the unholy Reylo shippers and of the effects of that scene in TFA and turned it around. sure, it was weird that Rey was bashful to see Kylo shirtless (but thank you for the scene nonetheless), but all that malefic sexual energy from TFA was gone here and it felt great.

all their scenes together, be it in the Force, or actually side by side fighting were superb. they have immense chemistry and made it all seem very palpable. also, at the end, where Rey’s leaving in the Falcon and they communicate once more, that was not Snoke’s doing, so their connection IS real, and not “forced” by a higher power.

now, what they did wrong may actually be not that bad on a second viewing, perhaps it needs a little more attention to detail. but so far, the whole Casino plot, get them on the FO ship, Benicio del Toro char, all of that was awful. i understand the political aspect of the plot, of showing the war profiteering and the real reason why the galaxy is still at war, which is highlighted by the fact that at the end, no-one comes to the aid of the Resistance. but the tone of those scenes was all wrong. it was choc full of species, of way too much slapstick humour, cutting away from Resistance cannot get a moment’s respite really awful situation, to Rose & Finn riding blissfully, almost forgetting their mission, on those animals?! it was worth it now that they saved those animals, even if they were about to die and leave their Resistance with no actual hope?! WHAT THE FUCK!! i get why it was liberating for characters like Rose & Finn, who had lost everything and had always been downtrodden, to finally do something rebellious and for themselves, but in the bigger picture of what was happening with the remaining Resistance crew, it was very offputting.

i liked Rose a lot, because she had heart and seemed sharply focused, but then..they gave her some really weird choices. it was almost like let’s give the POC characters something meaningless to do (because they eventually not only fail their mission, but they bring into Resistance secrets a third party who betrays them, leading to a near disaster for the Resistance), while the white characters were given the actual plot, and actual plot resolution. remember, Poe is also mistaken in his plans, and eventually, the white woman Holdo was right all along.

now, let’s get into the open misogyny of Poe Dameron’s character. undercutting even Leia, and causing massive loss (all the bombers!!!) in the opening battle and acting like he was right. disbelief that the heroic Vice Admiral Holdo is a woman (that was such a jarring moment, wtf!!) and not trusting her, and her cautious ways. of course, the plot is awfully trying to make us think Holdo is a bad guy, simply by having her not relay her every decision to an underling, which she should do why!??! (because he is the man right?) the reveal is just awful and even if i read somewhere that some folk like how the second in command is bad trope was subverted, Holdo was highly mistreated by her inferior and we can only understand that it was because she was a woman.

why they chose to portray Poe this way, i don’t know. but the whole plot was very very poor and even if the end is quite satisfying, as Holdo’s cautious, womanly plan actually works, she saves the day, and Poe’s manly action plan fails, it still begs the question why was this whole plot necessary!?

what was also filler was the minute rivalry between Phasma and Finn, absolutely pointless. also, i know Finn / John Boyega is a main character, but after giving him a horrible plot, him sacrificing himself would’ve been a little more satisfying than him being “saved” by Rose out of love. that whole romance came out of nowhere! of course, with Finn sacrificing himself we wouldn’t have the epic Kylo - Luke confrontation, still the resolution of Finn’s sacrifice could’ve been better. Also, this romance feels made up just so they wouldn’t have to “ship” Finn with Rey, even if for sure, they have far better chemistry, an actual story together and real feelings for each other. maybe i am just looking into this from an inappropriate angle, but it did somehow bothered me that they aren’t willing to let Finn/Rey happen. while i certainly don’t ship anyone in the new movies, some chars have obvious chemistry together while some don’t!

finally, who is Snoke!? his death probably robs us of any possibility of finding out who he was. i mean, this guy seems far more powerful than the Emperor even, so where did he come from? was he another hidden apprentice!? was he the emperor in a new disguise!? was he just some random dude who happened to be exceptionally good with the Force? how could he come to power when Luke/Vader ended the sith in ROTJ!?! all these questions might never receive an answer. i mean, the whole Casino scene proves why an organization like the First Order can prosper and exist in the first place, as war is profitable as fuck. but there’s no explanation for this Force sensitive ultimate bad guy. ugh!

now what was truly atrocious: all the animals, the 4 tittieded animal Luke milks (blue milk! but are they telling me this is where Beru also got the milk? because for sure those creatures didn’t look like desert dwellers. and if it was imported, no wonder they were poor LOL), the island caretakers, the porgs, the animals Rose & Finn ride, all the Casino creatures. filler filler filler. this is pure disnification and it sucks

BB8 was also just awful. he was given R2D2 in ROTS powers, remember how bad it was when R2 started flying?!? BB8 showing up in the Imperial pacer was worse!! a true great reveal would’ve been if it was the BDT char coming to an unlikely rescue minutes after selling Rose & Finn out, but no. it had to be the wonder robot! how did he get up there in the first place!? that was horrendous. and i will finally say it. i hate BB8. i didn’t like it in TFA, but here i hated it. god!

and finally, the marvel type jokes seconds away from a highly emotional/intense moment. i understand the technique and even in marvel movies it is sometimes hit and miss, but in the tonally dark TLJ, where the resistance cannot catch a break, are taking loss after loss, with less and less hope and more and more deaths, these cute moments don’t fit at all. SW needs humour, even in its darkest movies, but not this type of humour. give us something else. or at least, give us the joke after the tears have started flowing, and not when they’re just still brimming in the eyes, that is not too much to ask!

overall, this is a 8.5 i would say, even if i have a lot of criticisms, the action scenes are brilliant and it has some real, amazing, SW-like moments.

#the last jedi #the last jedi spoilers #star wars the last jedi #tlj #star wars tlj

[the-prophet-lemonade]

I was tagged by @lionheartedghost!

List 5 TV shows and answer the following questions, then tag 10 people to do the same.

i. Shadowhunters ii. Game of Thrones iii. Fullmetal Alchemist iv. The 100 v. Law and Order SVU

Who is your favourite character in 2? 

Jamie Lannister, colossal dumbass. I’m obsessed with his redemption arc (or the arc as it should’ve been, and yes, I still have faith in GRRM to correct the wrongs of 8x04 and 8x05). For me, he is the embodiment of a classic Greek tragedy and there’s something incredibly compelling about that - the tragedy, the familial trauma, the knightly values, the battle between right and wrong, between love and duty ... all the good stuff. 

My other favourite character is Sansa Stark because she is beautiful and intelligent and powerful and kind and a Survivor. 

Who is your favourite character in 1? 

Alec Lightwood. I love characters whose personal journeys involve chasing their own happiness and coming into their own as a leader, especially when they show their detractors wrong. Seeing Alec grow in confidence is special to me. And I love a powerful coming-out story. 

What is your favourite episode of 4? 

This implies that I can differentiate between any episodes of this God forsaken show. I did enjoy the season finale of season 2, with Bellamy and Clarke forced to make the impossible choice to save their people, together, but at the expense of so many others. I also really liked the episode in season 5 where they reunited after the 6 years apart ... my heart is weak.  

What is your favourite season of 5? 

Season 17. The eye contact. The shrewd and crooked smiles. The holy grail of Barisi episodes. The overflowing potential for more that was then cruelly dashed upon the rocks in seasons 18 and 19.

Who is your favourite couple in 3?  

Royai is the og pairing for me. Doesn’t get better than “I will follow you, even into Hell”. Doesn’t get better than “Can I trust my back to that?”. Doesn’t get better than “Don’t go where I can’t follow”. The trust they share is Profound.™

Who is your favourite couple in 2? 

Romantically, I’m a sucker for Braime, but we all know this. I love two people who bring out the best in each other, especially when that best is seen and understood by so few others. Jamie’s redemption arc is superb, and it’s because of Brienne that he is able to see his own self-worth and finally reacquaint himself with that vision of knighthood he sacrificed at age 17 in order to save King’s Landing. The respect they have for each other is paramount to why I enjoy them together. 

Theonsa is my other favourite ship because I love a pairing built on shared tragedy, and who manage to overcome trauma together - that’s very beautiful and powerful to me, and Sophie and Alfie have brilliant yet subtle chemistry, all spoken in the eyes. I also enjoy the Jon/Sansa dynamic a lot, but then Jon’s characterisation was shot in the head in season 8.

What is your favourite episode of 1? 

2x06 - Malec’s first date. The tentative flirting and the nervous energy and the Superior Kiss. 2x18 - the breakup episode because the flashbacks are gorgeous and the angst is THE GOOD STUFF. 2x10 is also a favourite because it’s very well acted and has more gravitas and consequence than a lot of episodes on this show. Honorary mentions to the end of 3x20 (spectacular), the Edom sequence in 3x21 (the hug! the surprise Jace/Meliorn! Izzy saving the day!), and the wedding scene in 1x12 (iconic).

What is your favourite episode of 5? 

Heartfelt Passages (17x23) is probably my fave because (a) I love some pain and Dodds’ death on his very last day on the job hurts like a mf and (b) it has that 2 second scene of Barba and Carisi at the bar after the funeral, toasting their drinks, and the look in Barba’s eyes is ... something else, okay? It’s so soft and curious and you can feel how safe he feels with Carisi and ... it should’ve been a stepping stone for something more in season 18. 

Some other episodes I like are Manhattan Transfer/Unholiest Alliance (good Carisi character development), 911 (first time I watched it, I was on the edge of my seat), and literally any episode that is Benson-focused, like the William Lewis arc (Liv seems to get kidnapped or caught in hostage situations so often but they’re always SO GOOD).

What is your favourite season of 2? 

Season 6 was some good stuff (especially coming out of the shithole of season 5). It had a lot of fan service (the R+L=J reveal, Bran’s time travelling, Hodor, Jamie and Brienne reuniting, Sansa finally escaping and finding Jon, Cersei pulling out all the stops to get rid of the Tyrells at fucking last, Yara flirting with Dany, and the entire BOTB sequence), but the writing still made sense and I still had hope for some clever twists hahahahaha

How long have you watched 1? 

I binge watched season 1 in May 2016 when I was living abroad and feeling a little lonely. The show really came into my life at the perfect time.

How did you become interested in 3? 

I watched the ‘03 series way back when (around 2007, I think?) and then got heavily invested in the manga, followed by Brotherhood. Honestly, it is without a doubt the best and most pitch-perfect story that has ever been told. I was immediately absorbed in Team Mustang and their dynamic, and who doesn’t love some political subterfuge with a large splash of religious symbolism that ends with a fist fight against God?

Who is your favourite actor in 4? 

Bob Morley. He’s so endearing in real life and he is such a good role model in terms of mental health activism and surviving depression/anxiety.

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? 

Ask me three years ago, and it would’ve been GOT. Sadly, season 8 happened.

Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3? 

Purely because there are more FMA episodes in existence ... 

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? 

I feel like I connect most with Clarke, but if I could be anyone, I’d be Raven because she’s hot and smart and is played by Lindsey Morgan and what more is there tbh

But also, all the characters have fucking terrible lives, so I don’t really want to be any of them.

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? 

I can’t really imagine it, but that’s because I always find it hard to make AUs and crossovers with FMA because the story is absolutely perfect the way it is and any way you change it detracts from its perfection. If you put other characters into the FMA universe, it loses some of its meaning, yknow? Same with taking the FMA characters out of their universe, because who they are is so inherently tied to their in-universe experiences and their development with the story.

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? 

Unlikely but strangely okay ... I mean, I’m a sucker for Jimon, but that’s not all that unusual. I like Izzy with literally any of the girls (Clary and Aline, especially). But I feel like Magnus and Izzy would fit “unlikely but strangely okay” - I can imagine them flirting if Malec was never a thing, and they would look hot together, let’s be honest. A power dressing couple. Very intimidating. I’m into it.

Overall, which show has the better story line, 3 or 5?#

Clearly FMA because (a) it’s FMA and its narrative themes and characterisation are Absolute Perfection, and (b) FMA actually *has* a story line. SVU does not have a story line. SVU barely has coherent writing. 

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? 

The GOT soundtrack is iconic, so there’s no question here. The use of leitmotifs for individual characters, and hearing how those are combined and overlapped and developed with the story? Spectacular. 

Tags: if you see this and want to do it, please go ahead (and you can tag me too, if you like)! 

#personal

[multipleworldscollided]

Luke Cage: S1E05 - Just to Get a Rep

YES. FINALLY. CLAIRE TEMPLE IS IN TOWN! And for those of you who had never seen the Daredevil show, or her brief appearance in Jessica Jones, wasn’t that opening just the best introduction to her character?

She’s just walking around, smiling, happy to be home, when suddenly a guy snatches her bag and makes a run for it. And what does she do? Does she cry for help? Does she wait for others to help her? HELL NO. She goes and runs after him. Once she’s caught up, she pretty much beat the guy to a pulp and it was just the best Claire Temple scene I have ever seen in the history of Marvel-Netflix TV shows.

So last episode, we Luke revealed himself to the people of Harlem, and now he’s not afraid to show what he can really do in public. This also causes some people to go and ask for his help, and the montage was just superb and hilarious. I didn’t think a little violence could be so funny.

Sorry for the lack of discussion on this post. I watched the episode about a week ago and I only started writing this now so my mind’s a bit blurry about what ensued in the episode. I made some notes, but they weren’t enough to remind me.

I did write down that Thor was a very common reference for people, but even that doesn’t budge anything out of me. So we’ll leave this one at that.

Next, we see Cottonmouth with Shades and they discuss how to “take care” of Luke. Shades shows Cottonmouth a video of some kind of weapon that’s able to go through even a freaking bulletproof vest—that pretty much killed the guy who became the guinea pig. If I remember right, one of them promptly explained where the kind of metal came from: nothing from this earth. The other proceeds by asking, “The incident?”, and this makes me wonder what the hell they were referring to. Was it New York? Was it Sokovia? Those are pretty much the only incidents that I feel really impacted the Marvel universe.

Rafael continues to do his dirty cop work, but at the last minute, decides not to go through with it. I wonder what that’s all about.

The one memorable thing from this episode was definitely the climax. It’s Pop’s funeral, and the churched is almost packed with all the people that he influenced. We get a shot of Misty, and then that chick (whom I can’t remember her name) that’s obsessed with her father’s ring, Cottonmouth and Shades, and finally Luke. Someone up at the podium asks if there is anyone who wants to say a few words, and Luke is about ready to walk up, but Cottonmouth goes first because he spoke up. Luke is then forced to sit down, and decides to talk the chick out of murdering whoever the fuck she was going to murder. During this time, Cottonmouth is giving his amazing speech—amazing, because everybody at the church seems to agree with him. This gets a lot of applause, and now it’s Luke’s turn. But before he goes over the podium, he squeezes the gun that the chick had, and her face when she discovered this was priceless.

Back to Luke. He’s at the podium, he makes his speech, and you’re probably wondering what he’s going to say to top Cottonmouth. Well, he said some stuff that were pretty spectacular and garnered a lot more response from the attendees. When he’s finished, everybody gave him a standing ovation—indicating that Luke wins this round.

The ceremony is over, everybody is out of the building, and Luke goes and meets Cottonmouth. They have a conversation, and the end of this conversation suggested that hell is about to break loose if no one starts winning the war.

[scraprecap]

UFC WICHITA RECAP

The UFC’s inaugural event in Kansas, and for all the people who’ve never been – Kansas is actually pretty dope in my opinion. Nothing like getting fucked up in Flatland.

(Editor’s note: in my continuing incompetence, I missed the first four fights and the first round of Dawson-Erosa).

Grant Dawson v. Julian Erosa (FEATHERWEIGHT)

Winner: DAWSON BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

Maybe I’m way off here, but I’d like to see Erosa move up in weight – and I’m not trying to knock Dawson in any way with this, his pace was spectacular – his frame looks to me like he could move up without problems. Tactically, Dawson’s ability to shut down Erosa’s muay thai and continually close the distance proved the difference. Erosa had some good moments here and there on the feet but couldn’t keep Dawson at range. Dawson was just superb closing it out in the third round, and I’m interested in seeing what tools he’ll add to his game before his next fight.

 Yana Kunitskaya v. Marion Reneau

Bantamweight

Winner: KUNITSKAYA BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

The crowd was particularly unhappy with this decision and I thought that was fair. This card’s judging left much to be desired, and the PRIDE’s concept of scoring the fight as a whole kept coming to mind. You could make the case that Kunitskaya won the first two rounds and that the last round wasn’t necessarily a 10-8, but I’m not convinced – while Yana had some successs early Reneau finished the round in a dominant position.

At the same time, if two people fight for fifteen minutes and one person has a broken nose and is covered in blood and the other’s leg is chewed up – how do we score damage? Some fighters wear damage worse than others, while some (Anderson Silva) have ironskin that betrays no hurt. Personally, I don’t mind rematches and if a fight goes to a decision I never mind running it back, because I’d like to see a definitive result. This was one of the better fights on the card. Kunitskaya is absolute warrior for battling with a smashed nose – Reneau’s boxing was very, very crisp. Enjoy her before she retires!

 Anthony “Rocco” Martin v. Sergio Morales

Welterweight

Winner: MARTIN BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

The big homie Paul Felder alluded to the possibility of Morales having a rough cut for this fight, and he certainly did not look his best on the night. (Side note: I thought the standup in the first round wasn’t prompt enough). Conversely, Rocco Martin looked sharp – he was able to continually score with boxing and kicks to the calf and thigh. It’s hard to criticize any part of Martin’s game – although I’d like him to have gone inside with the leg kick and been more aggressive looking for the finish, it probably has more to do with five straight decisions in the middle of this card. Give Rocco a bigger name next, he deserves it.

 Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch vs. Omari Akhmedov

Middleweight

Winner: AKHMEDOV BY UNAMINOUS DECISION

Another fight, another decision, another smashed nose. This was one of those fights with two smashing machines that don’t quite live up to your expectations. Akhmedov was criticized for not engaging enough. Did I want them to stand and trade? Yes, but I wouldn’t ever advise it. Boetsch was cut up bad by the end of the fight, but he didn’t seem close to being out. It doesn’t matter how much damage you deal to the Barbarian – if he’s standing, he’s a finisher. Just ask Okami.

 Drew Dober vs. Beneil Dariush

Lightweight

WINNER: DARIUSH BY ARMBAR

This was excellent. Dober looked prodigious on the feet, cracking Dariush several times. His main mistake in my opinion, was tactical. Specifically, his willingness to grapple with Dariush, who is unbelievably slick on the ground. Prior to the sequence that led to Dariush’s finish, Dober had the opportunity to separate but fatefully declined. Absolute class from Dariush on his release of the submission, who showed great chin and heart in this one.

 Blagoy Ivanov vs. Ben Rothwell

Heavyweight

Winner: IVANOV BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

Good to see Rothwell back, and although I personally thought Ivanov landed the better shots in this one I can see the crowd/commentator’s confusion with judges’ decision. Rothwell certainly dictated the pace of this fight and honest to god might be an action movie villain come to life; his whole persona: the walkout, the curious footwork, the relentless forward pressure, his dead yet menacing expression is just fucking excellent. He’s honestly a fucking Jason out there. Ivanov has had to deal with some tough matchups during his time in the UFC so far, and I’d like to see where he goes from here.

 Interlude: this curly haired Kansasian goddess is doing something to me.

 Tim “Dirty Bird” Means vs. Niko Price

Welterweight

Winner: YOU, THE VIEWER; PRICE BY KNOCKOUT

HOLY SHIT YOU NERDS

WORDS CAN’T DO THIS ONE JUSTICE GO FIND IT ON THE INTERWEBS. READER, THIS WAS PURE FUCKING BLOODSPORT DID YOU EVEN SEE THIS SHIT LIVE PRICE CAME OUT WITH THE HEAT AND LOOKED LIKE HE WAS GOING TO STEAMROLL THE DIRTYBIRD BUT GODDAMN THE BIRD IS DIRTY AND PULLED A TAKEDOWN OUT OF HIS VETERAN BAG OF TRICKS NEXT THING YOU KNOW HE’S LOOKING LIKE FUCKING IP MAN WITH THESE COMBINATIONS BUT DON’T THINK FOR A MINUTE THAT NIKO PRICE WASN’T GOING TO TURN THAT SHIT AROUND WITH SOME THUNDER

Bullshit this was the REAL fight of the night you and I both know the dirty bird deserves that FOTN$$$$$

 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Curtis Millender

Welterweight

Winner: DOS SANTOS BY REAR NAKED CHOKE

This EZDS looks like the real deal; he got Millender’s attention on the feet with a quick combination and a flawless shot. I would have liked to see more of dos Santos’ striking but it’ll come soon – he took no damage and showed himself ready for the next level of competition. While this sucks for Millender, who should have exploded with everything he had right before dos Santos zoomed on his back like a cat, he also didn’t take any significant damage, and this fight showed him exactly what he himself needs to make the leap.

 MAIN EVENT: Derrick “the Black Beast” Lewis vs. “Cigano” Junior dos Santos

Can every fight be at heavyweight? Some days you only want that heavy leather.

This was an intriguing matchup between the former Heavyweight Champ (JDS) and the Scrap Recap’s endorsed candidate for the 2020 election (Black Beast for President). This one had me on the edge of my seat until Lewis ate that kick to the body. Even compromised, Lewis remained a danger, but JDS has been in the game long enough to know how to manage that risk.

This was an excellent performance by the former champ. Cigano’s bodywork is some of the best in the division and he was smart to employ it against Lewis. Even more devastating for the heavyweight division was his singing of happy birthday to his son during the post-fight interview, making him undeniable threat to Daniel Cormier’s reign as Daddest Man on the Planet.

#ufc fight night #lewis dos santos #fight night wichita #mma #fight recap #fight talk #scraprecap #scrap recap

[writinguphill]

THE FRENCH ALPS: 3 days. 9 climbs.

On a trip where metres climbed was only topped by Office quotes, it seems fitting that this post be riddled with them. So...

The Alps. You’ve got D'huez, Glandon, Sarenne, you know, there’s Croix de Fer, Télégraphe.. and because they are all nearby - Galibier. 

With so many renowned climbs to choose from, route planning online can be fairly overwhelming, so I’ve broken it down into the 3 rides we did, taking in 9 lovely climbs over 3 epic days. 

Let’s, rock. 

Day 1: Duez, Sarenne, Oulles, Ornon (100km, 3300m)

This was a great first day in the saddle, heading straight up the infamous Alp D’huez then looping back round to take on 2 lesser-known climbs to the west, both of which were superb. In fact, if you were to ask me to name my favourite climb of the day I probably wouldn’t say Alp D’Huez - I’d go Sarenne Oulles Ornon… 

Here’s a bit about each: 

Alp D'huez (11.9km, 9% avg)

For such a renowned climb, I have to say it was a little underwhelming. There are 21 switchbacks, sure, but it’s a fairly main road with no real views to speak of, and summiting in a ski resort meant it lacked any real sense of achievement at the top. That being said, it’s a named climb and a bloody big bugger - so it has to be done. 

Kicking up to 10% right from the off, D’huez immediately reminds you why you’re in the Alps. It remains at this gradient for the first 2km then flattens to around 8%, making it very tempting to push on - but just be cautious not to go into the red too early as there’s still a good 10km of fairly consistent ramp to go. 

The switchback markers help to break the climb up into short segments, so you can just get into a nice rhythm and tick it off one bend at a time. 

That’s all there is to say about it really. 

Alp D’huez. It’s rubbish. Next.  

Col du Sarenne, Ouest (3km, 7% avg)

Once you leave the D’huez resort the landscape opens up and the views are spectacular. We followed the road round to climb the shorter side of Col du Sarenne - not as steep as D’huez, I don’t think, but pleasant enough to spin up.

Once you summit Sarenne, the 20km descent begins - and it’s fast (50mph plus, 50mph tops). 

It’s also quite technical, with a bumpy road surface and some seriously tight switchbacks, so we just took it steady and enjoyed the sweet sweet Alpine views. 

Then it’s back along the valley through Bourg D’Oisans and onto number two.

Oulles (5.8km, 10% avg)

If you want a really good climb - Oulles. In the heat of the day, its 15% sections came close to breaking us, but it’s definitely worth the burn. 

On seeing this sign you swing a right and start the ascent, up a narrow tree-lined road which snakes gloriously up the mountainside. 

We didn’t pass a soul on the way up, and other than the panting and effing and jeffing, it was absolute bliss. There’s even a freshwater fountain at the summit to dunk your head and replenish the gallon of sweat you just left on the road. RESOLVE.

After wetting our heads we headed back down the super-fast descent, doing our best to avoid the stray pines scattered on the corners. 

Terrifying innit, slipping of the old back wheel. 

Col de Ornon (6km, 6% avg)

After the beautiful Oulles descent, you arrive back at the sign and turn right to begin the longer, slightly flatter climb up to Ornon. 

It’s not as picturesque as Oulles, and the straight-ish road (with a shitty headwind) made it a bit of a slog - but the road surface is great and there’s a lovely café at the top where you can sit in the sun and enjoy an ice-cold glass bottle of coke. Then it’s just the rapid descent back down to base. And beer. 

And that’s…

via GIPHY

Day 2: Croix de fer, Télégraphe, Galibier (170km, 5200m)

5200m climbing? That is a lot.  

This was a serious day in the saddle, taking on three infamous mountain passes in what was very much Stage 17 of this year’s TDF. 

We were up at the crack of Dawn, riding the first 18km flat section in the shadow of the mountains we were about to scale. It was bloody cold - mine shrivelled - but the flat gave us a good chance to get the legs warm before the climbing began. 

Col de la Croix de Fer (24.3km, 5% avg)

Starting out on steep silent roads, covered by pine trees and with the morning mist still hanging low, Croix de Fer was atmospheric AF - and from start to finish, undoubtedly the most beautiful climb I’ve done.

It’s long, but descents at 7km and 18km break it up nicely into 3 sections. This does of course mean the 5% average gradient is deceptively low, and along with some 10% stretches, it’s probably closer to averaging 7% on the up bits. More honest.  

Each of the 3 uphill sections feel properly different too, as the landscape and scenery transform completely for each one. After that first forest section, everything opens up and takes you through valleys and past lakes and dams…

The third section then opens out even more, to reveal sprawling terrain and big magnificent mountains. A.K.A.

When you reach the Croix de Fer (the Iron Cross), you celebrate, nail a coffee and wrap up for the seriously fast descent down to Saint Jean De Maurienne. Too bloody fast sometimes. 

Then it’s 15km of flat along to Saint Michel De Maurienne, where we found an ace boulangerie to load up before starting climb number two. Might be Télégraphe actually.

Col du Télégraphe (12km, 7% avg)

As far as pure climbing goes, Télégraphe is up there with the best. The smooth road, switchbacks and steady gradient make it easy to get into a rhythm, and before you know it you’re at the top having forgotten to take any shots whatsoever.

I just got this one at the summit.

Get one of you as well.

After a coffee and a toilet, another knuckle-numbing 5km descent leads to the final climb of the day - and the toughest. Galibier.  

Galibier (13.4km, 8% avg)

Unlike Télégraphe, which winds up through forest, Galibier sits above the tree line, giving it a more open moonscape - not dissimilar to Ventoux. And while nowhere near as long as any of the Ventoux ascents, the climb is just as tough. 

The first few kms ease things in nicely, alternating between steeper parts and flatter sections. But then with about 8km to go, you glance right to see an absolute shit of a ramp, and a mile-marker signals that things are about to change to an average of 9%. 

A sweeping righthand hairpin takes you onto this steep straight section - the road covered with Tour daubings - and you just look up there, at it. 

From there till the summit, things don’t let up, and the final few kms ramp to 10% to really make you question your life decisions.    

But I mean just look at it. 

The air gets noticeably thinner as you near the top, so actually the toughest bit for me wasn’t the 12% gradients, or the lack of water. No. It was when a little northern bloke, hardly spoke a word of English, kept coming up behind me and chuntering Office quotes in my ear. 

But just one last push up to the top and you are literally on top of the world, at some 2645m. Then it’s 50km of the most epic descent of your life back to base. And more beers.

Look quite young there. 

Day 3: Maronne + Auris (46km, 1800m) 

Painful innit, chafing of the old testicles, which is why day 3 was such a short one. Just two lovely climbs to round off the trip before we headed to the airport.

Maronne (7.6km, 7%)

I didn’t think Oulles could be topped, but the climb up to the little ski station of Maronne came close.

To reach it, we headed back up the first 5 steep switchbacks of D’huez, then down a short descent to the base of the climb. It starts off fairly steady - between 4-7% - then steepens to 11% as you weave through the sweet-smelling pine forest. 

After about 5km, you reach L’Artmentier le Haut and take the left up to Maronne, where for the the next 3km you climb through the forest in absolute silence, with nothing but the crunch of pines under your wheels. Bliss. Apart from the 12% pain in the bollards. 

Then it’s back down to L’Artmentier le Haut and a left, along to the final climb of the weekend. Straight up the Auris. 

Auris (9km, 6% ish)

Riding along the narrow road and through tunnels carved in the mountainside, the views up Auris are something else. It’s a great climb to round things off, with steady gradients and a couple of descents along the way to break it up. 

We were joined by an old boy towards the top who effortlessly rotated with us for the final stretch. Seeing seniors cycling has to be one of my favourite things about the sport - and that’s [hopefully] something we’ve all got to look forward to. 

The top (albeit in a car park) provides one of the most picturesque views of the trip, and a perfect spot to reflect on just how fucking sweet cycling is. 

And finally, it’s back down to Bourg along a couple of straight sections that’ll be sure to have your front wheel wobbling.

Descend fast. Die old. 

Recommendations:

Accommodation

Bourg D’Oisans - The perfect base to tackle The Alps. It’s a proper little French town with plenty of pizza and beer, and sits right at the foot of the D’huez ascent. We got a great Airbnb just a 5 minute ride from the town centre. That’s where I’d be.

Bike hire

We hired our carbon Giant TCRs from Bleach Xtreme Sports, which is in the town centre. Good bikes and bloody good blokes. 

Kit

We went in August so the weather was glorious, but as always with the mountains you need a good few removable layers for the early starts and the descents. Arm warmers, gilet and sunnies are essential. Always the same. 

Eating

All of the climbs are essentially baron til the top, where you’ll find small cafés to refuel. There are towns in most of the valleys but don’t rely on shops being open in France during the afternoon - lazy - so pack enough to see you through. Can’t take chances.