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fa-by · 3 years

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Hi babies and dear Anons 👋🏼🤗 Back with a new 'Q&A' post. Enjoy 🙃

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 and yes, I did. You can find it here, dear: https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648192029691691008/camren-timeline-tittle-edited.

Yes, I heard about that rumor, dear Anon, and veeery false.

I knoooow 😍😍😍 Let's cry in joy and queerness 🥺😭🌈🏳‍🌈

Yep, dear Anon. And unfortunately for us, they will continue to do so for a veeeery long time 😒🙄😔

No, dear Anon, I highly doubt it's another duet. They'd be really, but really stupid if they do 🤦🏻‍♀‍

No, dear Anon, these are just people who want attention. People who have problems in their lives and talk shit about others to feel better. This is just the work of those people who believe in black magic and want to involve as many people as possible to think like them, and if they fail, they attack you because you didn't agree with them and you didn't go to their side. They can get so desperate they even get to the point of, oh I don't know, since you've blocked them, sending an anonymous ask to your girlfriend with a death wish for you:

The funny thing for me besides thinking that maybe this person believes they're a witch and imagining them with a voodoo doll with a needle in my stomach, is that I was kind to them the first time 🤷🏻‍♀‍ I tried to make them reason, I really tried to meet them halfway, but sometimes that's not enough with people like that.

But anyway. My point is that no, management has nothing to do with it. Thank you for your ask, dear 🤗

It's okay, dear Anon, don't worry 😄 In last time’s ask you wanted my opinion on the song, right? Well, Not Killin' It Today simply talks about how not every day is a good day. It can happen to all of us not to feel 100%, and Mila says just that. For us girls it can happen even more during or just before the red sea period, if you know what I mean, and indeed, she herself sings “I'm PMSing” = PMS: premenstrual syndrome. If that's why, I think she wrote this song precisely around that period 🤣

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Don't worry, dear, I can understand you, and if I hadn't, we would have found a way to do it. English is not my first language either.

1) Yes, I do think that.

2) (I knew all this) I know she did; she's been doing it for years if that's why because Taylor is one of Camila's mentors. Taylor is what can be defined as the celebrity master with PRs. She’s always done what she was asked to do and she’s always fulfilled her PRs duties of her contracts, and indeed, look where she is now, as well as being a great songwriter. So yeah, who better than her?

Hope you're great too, dear 🤗

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 I'm sorry I'm bad with general questions like this 😅 I'm so much better when I'm asked a more specific question, and usually, when I have something in mind, I write it and create a post with my opinion about it. I'm not kidding about how bad I am at this, believe me. It’s the same thing as when I get the typical “tell me something about yourself” phrase. It's like my brain suddenly switches off 😅🤣 Can you take a look at all my posts from my archive to see which ones I’ve already responded to and maybe come back with a question? I'm really sorry, dear 😖🥺

I'm sorry but Camila can't stop anything, dear Anon. Not Camila, not Roger, and not even Shoo. I understand your frustration, believe me, I do, but you, and anyone else to which this is still not clear, need to understand that it's a contract. A contract called a relationship contract, and it's a legally binding document. I know it's hard, but the advice I can give you is to ignore the 12-year-old SS and their fantasies, and wait for it to finish without wasting your energy on the bullshit they say. Don't let them get to you and unleash your anger. You make them win this way. Rather, have a laugh at their ignorance.

Hey dear Anon, I'm good, thanks, and I hope you're doing well too 😊 They broke up for a little while, for about a month before, so more than a breakup I would call it a little break. And to answer the rest of your questions, dear, I'll sum it all up by telling you that when they're not together, or they're on a break, they have a different way of acting than when they're together. And I speak in general. It shows in the way they behave in general. Now it's much harder to see since they're no longer in the group and you could clearly see when it happened, and it’s also hard since the pandemic, but there are patterns. I’ve spent so much time analyzing them that they're quite predictable in my eyes 🤣 Forgive me if I'm not going into details, but these are personal observations that not everyone can agree on, you know? Maybe I'll do it in the future, who knows 🤷🏻‍♀‍ We'll see 😉 Have a good day/night too 😄

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼 and thank you very much 😄 and yes, of course. To answer the rest of your questions, I'll summarize everything by telling you that you have to take into account that I entered the fandom at the Work from Home's time, so they were all just rumors to me initially. Camren themselves were just a rumor to me. I had to search, analyze, and find the proofs on my own to prove to myself which ones were true or not. The first example that comes to mind and that I can give you is the kiss in the van in London that I recently explained in my ‘Inauguration’ post.

I'm sorry you think this way, dear Anon. I honestly think she doesn't even know. She has said many times that she tries to stay away from social media, and I really believe that. She did it before already, but I'm convinced that she does that even more since she was going through that bad time and she was about to give it all up. Besides, it's known that she doesn't manage her accounts, just as it's known that she doesn't even control how they’re used I would say 90% of the time. I don't know if she'll find out and eventually will say something about it. We don't even know if she has the freedom to do so. So, I'm really sorry you're making a decision based on something she didn't do.

Hey to you too, dear Anon 😄 Yeah, it's nothing new. I'd already debunked the whole Laucy story with my very first post (https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648191757219250176/there-is-a-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel), so as far as I'm concerned, she can say what she wants in future podcasts/interviews as well, but she'll never be able to convince me that she's not actually talking about Camila. This was simply a much more chill, fun, with no tears, and no mention of Camila repetition. The first podcast served to plant the seed. We know that Lucy is her main narrative and we know that she will continue to use her for a very long time. I mean, it’s convenient for her. It's the perfect cover for our Mila. But if people want to keep believing they (Laucy) were real, that's honestly their problem 🤣 Let them be convinced of their beliefs, dear, and have a laugh 😉

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Here's the thing……… Yes, to everything you said 🤣 but let me explain why.

1&2) Yes, Laur is like ‘part’ of their contract but for simple narrative, as you yourself said too. If that's why, so are 5H and all the rest of the people who are or have been involved with them. I'll give you an example. You know the bullshit they said about the Austin Mahone tour? That Sunsilk was always isolated in his bus playing guitar? That no one spoke to him outside of Camila when there are actually plenty of videos showing him spending time with the rest of 5H and the other people on the tour too? Certainly none of those people can call him out on that bullshit today and say it wasn't true. They'd blow his cover. They'd make him not credible in the general public's eyes. So everyone needs to be quiet for what they know (that's how it works in that world for every damn thing), and that's Lauren's involvement in their PR. Be quiet. Be quiet and go along with the game. Just as Camila had to during hers with Tymbal.

3) They have to, dear, or all the farces told so far would go to shit for the GP too. 4) 100%, dear Anon, 100% 😏😉 but it must also be said that they'll remain connected forever anyway because of the group.

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Welcome and thank you very much 🤗

1) Everything she's been doing lately leads us to think that the first single for the EP will arrive shortly. I think and hope it will arrive for the summer, but as far as the actual EP is concerned, it will depend on the release of the single. So if the single is out this summer, it's very likely that the EP will follow its course by arriving towards the beginning of autumn. We'll see, dear, we'll see 🤞🏼 🤞🏼 🤞🏼

2) I know that many people get upset and that they're disappointed, and while I too would like her to interact with us more, I also know and understand that it's not just up to her. Although she's much but much freer than before, she still has contracts, people, and patterns to follow.

Take it from someone who's waiting for Rihanna's new album for 5 years 😅🤣 It takes patience, and I have a lot of patience, dear. I fall into the category of those who don't mind waiting simply because I'll always support Lauren.

People forget this: we have to consider ourselves lucky that after what she went through, she decided to pursue with music.

If you love her, if you stan her, then be patient. Stay metaphorically speaking by her side no matter what. That’s what I think, dear Anon.

Do you mean the first breakup they had that lasted from late November 2014 to late December/very first days of January 2015, or do you mean the bad one that took place in October 2015? But in any case, both of your questions rejoin only one event, dear Anon: the real breakup of the group that happened in mid-October 2015. But answering you more specifically:

1) You can see with your own eyes the videos of the interviews of that period by starting with this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WqOb9qBQ_M&t=11s.

2) Camila’s unofficial departure from the group at the time was the icing on the cake, but you have to consider a lot of things, dear. The fact that they were young. The fact that they were in the spotlight and were being monitored by both fans and management. The fact that they had those same people controlling them and telling them what to do all the time. The fact that they were constantly under pressure. The fact that they couldn't be together freely as a couple. The fact that they were forced to pretend they didn't love each other. The fact that they were forced to do PRs, despite being much lighter than now. I could go on with the list, dear Anon, but I think you get the point. It's a lot of stress and a lot to digest, especially considering how young they were and the environment around them.

Have a nice day too, dear 😄

Of course I can answer you, dear Anon 😊 So, in my opinion, and always keep in mind that I could be wrong, she told every person in her clique at different times. I think Mila knew about her attraction to girls back in school, but she didn't say anything to anyone because she didn't have a reason to. In the sense that she hasn't had the opportunity to approach another girl and therefore have a reason to tell someone about her queerness. After her first kiss with Lauren on New Year's Eve, I'm willing to bet that the first person she came out to was her mom. Camila's number one best friend is and always has been Sinu, so I can feel it in my bones that she was the first one to know. Oh and, we're in early 2013 here, so Mila was still 15.

After Sinu, there were the girls (DNA) who obviously lived their story with them step by step and therefore I don't think it was a real coming out with them, and her best friends back at home, Sandra and Marielle Guzman (and maybe also Mariana Luna since she was the other one with whom she was very close immediately after the two sisters, but I'm not very convinced of it), and Jenny Runza, who despite being a little younger than Sinu, Mila has always regarded as one of her best friends.

In 2014, when Camren were official, there were more confirmations that led to her automatic coming out with the rest of her clique's friends since the word Camren had already spread around like wildfire for almost two years by then.

At the beginning of 2015, it was the moment when Laur came out to her family, so I strongly believe that that was also Alejandro's moment, although I'm convinced that like the Jaureguis, Ale knew about his daughter all along and that he was even more convinced at X-Factor. Sofi was last on the list simply for a matter of age and I'm talking about 2017. I can't tell you when she told her grandpas. I don't even know if she could have told Norberto because I don't know the kind of relationship she has with him, but Mercedes? Well, abuelita certainly knew this before 2018 because I laugh when I think about the way she looked and talked with Mattress during their PR.

It's not that simple, dear Anon. You're not considering the fact that they didn't communicate during that time. You're dwelling on only one thing and are not looking at the big picture of their relationship at the time. Okay. Let's do something. Picture a scenario that has nothing to do with Camren.

Picture a couple living together. A couple who often quarrel over even the most trivial things or who don't talk at all because they almost avoid each other. Their relationship is very unstable and they're basically at the end of it. Now picture a conversation between this couple in which the only exchanges spoken in a normal way are by then just daily information such as: “I'll be at work from 8 to 4” - “Okay. Will you come home right after?” - “Yeah, I think so” - and then that person comes home at 6 pm despite the worried calls and messages received.

They're so distant that the person who came home late didn't feel compelled to pick up the phone and tell them about the delay. Probably that person didn't even feel compelled to give an explanation and justify the delay once they got home because they're convinced that their partner doesn't really care and that they're just looking for yet another excuse to argue. That person will have felt even more trapped and suffocated by their partner who was really worried instead, but neither of them tells the other the truth because they're too busy arguing and blaming each other instead of meeting each other halfway and really talking about what they feel and makes them vulnerable. They will surely end up in bed with their backs to each other without saying a word to each other after the fight.

Now look at these phrases from the song itself and put Camren's faces in place of the couple in the example: “With no confrontation, I really wish we could talk about it instead” – “All I need from your side is for you to communicate”. Is it easier for you to understand the dynamic now, dear?

Hello to you too @camilalauren0327 👋🏼😄 [why can't I ever tag you in posts?]

No, no, no, dear. None of this happens. So. I'd like to start by saying that OCD begins when people misunderstand their own thoughts. We've all had unwelcome and intrusive thoughts at least once in our lives, right? Well, the importance of those thoughts becomes much more intense or sometimes even extreme for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Like, I'll give you a stupid example, okay?

Most of the time I park, I lock the car, and after I’ve taken a couple of steps, I ask myself: “Ma ho chiuso la macchina?” / “Did I lock the car?”. So, I turn around and lock it again with the keys' remote control even though I've already done it, but I do that anyway to be sure and because maybe I really didn't do it because it happened for real. Now. What would a person with OCD do? Most likely they would do like me, and after getting halfway, they would go back again to close it AGAIN. They would do it a couple of times, and most likely, they would do it a third time after they got home. They would leave the house to go lock the car they've already locked five times.

OCD can begin in adolescence, early adulthood, or even childhood. The onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder is typically gradual, but in some cases, it can begin suddenly. Symptoms vary in severity from time to time and this variation may be related to the occurrence of stressful events. Now. Doesn't all this rings a bell for you? No? Okay, let me explain. I'll copy a piece of my ‘Camren Timeline (Tittle edited)’ post for you: “Camila suffers from one of the variants of OCD since she was 8, and despite seeing a therapist since 2013, her OCD was diagnosed at the end of 2015. C also suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, mood disorders, and depression (all linked to her OCD).”

Why did she start suffering from it at the age of 8? Because little Mila moved back and forth between Havana and Mexico City until she was 5, almost 6, right? After that, she moved to Miami with her mom by leaving behind her family, her friends, basically everything she knew, and her dad. Her dad finally managed to rejoin them almost two years later when she was almost 8 years old. Although she had her family with her again, her little mind didn't relax. It didn’t bring peace to her. In fact, that sprang her first OCD symptoms, which gradually worsened and then fully erupted years later in the group.

What triggers OCD? Stressful life events.

Got it now? Were you able to put the pieces together, dear? I've also answered other questions on the same topic here if it may interest you: https://fa-by.tumblr.com/post/648194918161989633/%C9%9F.

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 Don't worry, nobody’s asked me to do it yet.

So, as I think we all know, The Boy was originally titled Care About Me. Ed Sheeran wrote it and gave it to Mila for her self-titled album Camila. Mila almost completely rewrote it (Ed said 90% of it) and lastly discarded it because it didn't fit well with the rest of the songs on the album, and I totally understand that.

Intro:

“Yeah, he's messed up a couple times

But he's my glass of cherry wine

And I drink and I drink 'til I'm drunk off of him

I'm in love

(Ash:) He just hit me up to come over

He said what?”

So. The song begins with Mila trying to justify the boy by saying that even though he made mistakes, she's so into him to get past it. I know she used terms like drunk off of him and in love, but she doesn't mean that she's actually in love with him in this case. Just very into him. She's jokingly explaining the situation because she's talking to Ashlee, her friend, and I don't know about you, but my friends and I often use the term in love to make people laugh and to indicate interest in someone.

Like if we see someone for the first time and they're really hot, or if one of the celebrities we like posts like a selfie, we say “I'm in love”. Or, like, another kind of example: one of my best friends has been dating this guy for a few months, and last week he surprised her with some flowers (which he paid very much by the way) and with dinner just because. Hearing her happiness since she has always had only assholes so far, when she finished telling me everything, I made fun of her by laughing and saying: “Lost in love, huh?”. Not because she's actually in love with him, but because it was such a nice thing and she's into him.

So Mila used those phrases to indicate how much she liked him and not because she was actually in love. Also because if she had really been in love with him, she wouldn't have said she didn't care about him for the rest of the song.

Then ‘Ash’ receives the text, and this leads us to understand that the boy is a player and a cheater.

Verse 1:

“Momma said, ‘Always be kind, girl’ (Girl, what's on your mind?)

But I got something I should say (Say it, girl), uh

Boy, I'm sick and done and tired (There's something on my mind)

I'm not yours to manipulate, uh-huh (Tell him girl, tell hi)”

It explains itself quite well. She can't take it anymore.

Pre-Chorus:

“Oh boy, hold your tongue, I don't want no 'pology

‘Cause we both know you're thinking wit' was under your jeans”

Mila tells him not to waste his breath on justifications derived from his member because she doesn't need them. Tsk, Tsk. Typical male behavior. 80% of their thoughts are formulated based on how and where to put their tool in 🙄

“Sent your friends over to tell them you're missing me”

He even sends his friends to her to try to change her mind, but:

“But I don't care, so tell that boy that I am fine”

But she doesn't care. She doesn't care because she's fine this way. In fact, she's better off without him.

Chorus:

“I don't care about the day he decided to leave

I won't be there when he tells another lie so”

This makes us understand how many times she's had to forgive his bullshit.

“I'm gon' use all of my words for weapons”

We know how lethal words can be.

“'Cause the boy don't care about me, lemme say it again, now, babe

I don't care about the way he thinks it's so sweet (Ah)

All that sugar cone gon' be bad for me tomorrow (Ah)”

He can try to kiss her ass as much as he wants, but she won't change her mind. Talking sweet to try to win her back doesn't work because she doesn't want to deal with a player who lies to her and messes up every time.

“I'm gon' use all of my words for weapons

'Cause the boy don't care about me”

He doesn't really care about her, so it's even useless to her that he tries to fix it.

Verse 2:

“All my girls inside the place now (Say we don't need no man)

No wonder we switch sides sometimes (We got this)”

Camilita, Camilita, Camilita 😏 No wonder many girls prefer other girls, huh?

Switching sides can mean switching sides in the true sense of the word, that is for example going from one side of a room to the other. It can mean changing your mind about something or someone. And, most interesting of all in this case, it can mean switching sides in sexual orientation.

I've said many times that she's a fucking genius, and we know how sneaky she is with her songs. She was really smart at using this hidden meaning because a lot of people took it for granted that she meant the meaning of changing her mind since we girls have this nomination about often changing our minds about something.

“Wipe that good look off your face (Say we got better plans)

Ooh, you better not act surprised (For real)”

Exactly. What would be the point? A lot of guys do that 🙄

Bridge:

“Oh, oh, don't care about me

That's fine with me, babe

You don't care about me

And that's fine with me

Fine with me, fine with me (Don't care about)

It is what I need, oh (That's fine with)

Don't care about, care about

Care about, care about me, oh”

She's fine with it simply because she doesn't care about him either.

Outro:

(Ash:) “Girl, that's old, we're done with that”

Yep. She's definitely done with that/him.

And this is my interpretation, dear Anon 😄 In my opinion, if this song really ended up on the self-titled, it would've been used to give yet another proof of her light, old PR with Michael. People were supposed to remember her last, sure, Jan, flame before meeting the love guru Matrix. It was supposed to be like: “Hey, hey, guys, I'm straight, look! I was with a boy and now with another grandpa one!”.

It's just a different version of the Cinderella song for me: she doesn't need a guy in her life. Don't wrap your head around it too much, dear Anon. There's no deep meaning behind it at all. After all, this song was given to her by her idol, and she certainly couldn't refuse. She changed it in a sassy and fun way, she saw that she couldn't fit it with the others because it wouldn't have made sense, and she then discarded it. The end. She was like: it was funny, but I actually have a story to tell. Bye-bye.

Have a good day too, dear ❤️

Hello to you too, dear Anon 👋🏼😄 and yes of course I can do both, but for what purpose am I supposed to do All Again? I mean, I can give you my interpretation of that song without any problem, but it wasn't written by them. By none of them five. That's why I'm asking you for what purpose am I supposed to do that. And that should answer your second question as well. Like No Way and many other songs, the girls may have related to them, but they didn't write them. The only songs they wrote, and not alone but with other songwriters, are:

- Me & My Girls, Don't Wanna Dance Alone, and Who Are You for Better Together,

- All in My Head (Flex) for 7/27,

- and for the self-titled album we have Sauced Up: Arlen (+ other songwriters), Make You Mad: Normally (+ other songwriters), Lonely Night: Norminah (+ other songwriters), Messy: Normally (+ other songwriters), and Bridget: Alren (+ other songwriters).

It's like you ask me to give you my interpretation on for example Who Are You. I could do it without a problem, but that song was written by 8 different heads. With the exception of the bridge that we know Lauren wrote, I can't tell you who among Camila, Dinah, Normani, Ally, Julian Bunetta, PJ Bianco, and Nasri Atweh wrote which part. Analyzing a song sung by a single artist/songwriter is completely different because the idea and concept and feelings are based on a single person. The songwriters who co-write the song together with the artist adapt to them, or maybe the idea comes to one of them, but they modify the concept together with the artist based on their personal experience, as happened for example with Consequences.

Now that you know all this, do you still want me to analyze All Again? Let me know 😄

Let's move on to More Than That.

Lauren wrote four songs in 2016, two of them were meant to be for someone else, but one of them, as we all know well, she kept it to herself. She decided to keep More Than That to herself once she modified the original lyrics along with Prince Charlez and SoundzFire, aka Hue Wayne Strother.

Intro:

“M-M-M-Murda”

This small part of the initial effect intro we hear, is simply a shoutout to Murda Beatz, one of the two producers of the song.

Verse 1:

“I see you watching so I walked into your stare

'Cause I ain't in the position to be walking over there”

She's not in the position to go there simply because she's taken, but she likes to be watched. She likes the attention she's receiving, so she puts herself in plain sight so that this person can keep looking at her.

“I got a situation, I can tell you wanna know”

This guy must have wondered: ‘Why if she's looking back at me, then she won't approach me? Is she someone who likes playing hard to get? Is she a teasing sort? Is she waiting for me to go to her? Or maybe she's in a relationship?’ Typical questions you ask yourself in that situation, and Laur summarized them all in one simple sentence.

“How you can take an honest girl and turn her to a …

If I'ma take a gamble, then you better come correct

I need more than them diamonds that you got around your neck

Shit, anybody can flex, my baby do it best

If you come with somethin' better, then we might just take it there”

The stare, the fact that this guy has the money (diamond necklace), the physical appearance, are not enough for her to push her to cheat. Because if she has to take the risk of cheating, these are certainly not the things that would drive her to do it, but she could if he had something better to offer her. [And with that, please keep in mind that Lauren is a very loyal person and that she wouldn't have done it even if this guy had gone with something better]

Pre-Chrous:

“I know I ain't right for tempting you

But I just wanna see what you would do

If I gave you a taste of what I do

Just remember that I don't belong to you”

The fact that she returned his gaze, that she spoke to him and gave him just a little taste, doesn't mean that she’s no longer taken. As I said before, she likes the attention, and although she knows that it's wrong to instigate him, she does it anyway because she's playing with him. “It's kind of more like clowning him” as she said herself.

Chrous:

“You gon' have to come stronger than this liquor

Wanna take me home, better be more convincing

It'll take more than that to get to me

More than that to get your way

Boy, you better come stronger than this liquor

Wanna take me home, better be more convincing

It'll take more than that to get to me

More than that to get your way

I'm stronger than this liquor”

During the approach in which the guy tried to ‘take her home’ for the night, Lauren easily manages to reject him despite being drunk, because her loyalty is stronger than the attraction she may have felt for him and certainly stronger than what she was drinking.

Verse 2:

“If my man notice, there’ll be some issues”

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

I'm sorry but every time I listen to this part I can literally picture Camila turning into the Incredible Hulk as we've seen many times. And shit, despite her being tiny, Mila can be scary when she's pissed off.

“But take my number down, I just might hit you

No, I'm just playing, I'm so deep in love

But the way you talkin' might just have me actin' up”

Drunken thoughts mixed with attraction/arousal blocked by common sense and loyalty.

“The way you looking at me, boy, I know what's up

I can feel how you feel without even a touch”

Let's not fool ourselves, guys. You too will have felt when a person is ready to jump your bones. To feel it in the air. To perceive it from the way they look at you, talk to you, and yes, even using excuses to innocently touch for example your arm even if the intentions are far from innocent. These kinds of things, whether you're in a relationship or not, whether you're loyal or not, and especially if you're attracted to the person in question, make you feel appreciated. They make you feel good. But:

“But don't think that's gon' make me give it up

Boy, your time is up”

But that doesn't mean, however, that you take action on it. It doesn't mean you give in to temptation. It was nice, but no thanks. Bye-bye.

Outro:

“It'll take more”

It takes more than good looks, money, and fake, shiny people from L.A.

And that's it, dear Anon 🙃 This is just a funny song about a situation that happened in a club, in which Lauren shows her flirtatious side but also her loyal side. It wasn't that good for her image, but I have an explanation for that as well.

Remember how I initially said that Lauren wrote this song to give it to someone else and then decided to keep it for herself after modifying the original lyrics? Well, in my opinion, she ‘decided to keep it’ and was even chosen as a single, simply for the narrative. It was chosen to go along with the fake love square cheating bullshit [Lauren and Ty who cheated on Lucy and Alycia to be together]. People should have believed even more that Lauren was a person capable of cheating, and this song served the purpose.

🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍🤸🏻‍♀‍

Aaand I'm done 😜 I hope I was helpful in this case too 😄 Thank you all for your asks and as usual, know that I'm available for those who have questions, so feel free to ask 😊

Always remember to be kind, to others and to yourselves. Be a good example. Be patient. Be safe and take care of yourselves. Don't let our ship sink. Keep shipping them, but please respectfully 🙏🏼 Sending you virtual love and hugs 🤗🤗🤗 I love you, babies. Always with love, F ❤️

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art-i-know-yes · 3 years

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HIIIUUHHH I'm finally ready tooooooo LISTEN TO EPISODE 67 aaaaaannnnddd mmmnnnnbhhh. So let's carry on. Also I will be doing several other things while listening so my attention is a liiiittttlllllee spread out.

SPOILERS FOR EP 67

freddiieeeeee. GLEEEEEENNNNNNN. SO WE'RE STARTING IMMEDIATELY WITH THE TEARS.

"This must be my comic retribution. My time is done. Think of my son. Wish you all well. See you in hell." It's so GOOD. And now I remember all of this.

"IT'S ACTUALLY A REALLY SAD DND PODCAST" BETH CANT EVEN GET THROUGH THE INTRO

"I DONT CARE I DONT WANT TO TALK TO YOU" "FVCK OFF ANTHONY" "You don't get to talk Anthony"

"I used to play Glenn Close"

Respect to that dude on reddit. Savin himself

THEIR FAVORITE THING ABOUT GLENN. AWH.

HE DIED THE WAY HE LIVED.

Awwwhh Henry

Awwwwh Rooon

He's fvckin chillin

Glenn got the moral victory

They TRIED. FVCK ANTHONY AND FVCK WILLY

Poor Nick Jr.

Oh you mean this episode is a speed run of their trauma responses when someone they actually care about dies

The kids are gonna have to see it eventually

Also I can't get over the fact that every single parent Nick has had is technically dead except for the Foster Morgan

NICK JR DOING CPR

Ron is about make me cry again

Grant was already suuuper fvcked up. Of course Terry is horrified, probably had the clearest mindset. Sparrow becoming a lovewolf definitely brought down his resistance to this. Lark baby bring hell.

I'm scream.

Reincarnation that's what I was thinking

That's the thing. The willing soul thing. I don't think he would be. All he wanted was his son, he was already thinking about staying because there's NOTHING for him in the real world, and when he's dead he gets to be with Nick, he could do magic and play. Like I don't think there would be a reason he would come back. I mean yeah the dads but like that was his reasoning

"Mmmnnhh in THIS economy"

A DRAGONBORN

I KNEW IT

RON HAS SO MUCH GUILT ABOUT THAT

I mEan Henry's right

We get to jump him FVCK YEAH SCREW HIM

The thing about Glenn's death that upsets me the most was that he figured one thing could like make him feel better was killing his dad AND NOW HE CANT

OOOHHHH Dream spell

Honestly I think it would be better if it was just Ron

"YOU READY FOR THIS BABABABUMBUM"

"Kick his fvckin azz Ron" I can't wait for them to kill Willy

We gotta reassure Terry whoops scared him

"We'll talk about this later. Omg I'm like a Wilson"

Oooooo Beth is going full force

"You're enough just as you are. And you are nothing" A. That feels like something Willy said to Ron and now is just saying back and B. Beth has had that ready for a bit.

OOOOOOOOOOO FVCK YOU WILLY

We gotta speed this up a little

You right you right Henry

3 dad try to roll their dead friend into a blunt

We smoke Glenn's anchor

Henry been done this

All or nothing AHHHHHHHHH

McRadical my dudes

PROMOTION FOR DOUG

"I knew killing those people would be worth it"

"I know you're a murderer Doug"

Always Be Grinding

I love Doug so much

Wait I thought about this last time. They can't get the car back without Glenn and with how spells work the fake car is gone too

"Darryl, Darryl slow down"

Glenn's some really did something

OOOOO WE'RE BREAKING HENRY'S ANCHOR. I'm so scared they're just releasing the Doodler.

Your inner ability is the fvcking Doodler

Also I thought they had to break their anchors once they were at the portal for some reason. I probably had reasons but now I don't remember

Henry has issues and this is why your kids probably eat mold

"You guys were judging me for not putting water in Terry Jr's oatmeal."

Everyone really I'm WATCHING you lose your insides

Mmmmm bacteria

The resistance

Henry's body bacteria literally jumps the mold

"You walked into the wrong mircobiome"

I hope Lark doesn't like hate him when they get back

The kids get to do something safe... Which is laying the explosives

RONBAT

You go Doug

I mean we basically have one (1) solid success with Ron

Darryl you're scaring me

HENRY you're scaring me

WHEEEEEWWWWW

We kill Darryl at noon

Let's hope they don't kill Doug

God they like playing fvcking VOLLEYBALL with my heart

Even Anthony seemed relieved

YEAH MURDER

It's what Glenn would've wanted

But it AINT BOMB PROOF

We love Freddie wombat facts

THEYRE FVCKING FLYING

"Sorry something in my throat"

You have operation for this

I fvcking screeched

WHIRLWIND

TRY to escape

"Dadly"

Imagine trying to figure out a noise complaint and then being slurped into the ground

I don't think Willy ate 6 month old overnight oats with the mold

Sir, you're religion was 2 kids in a trench coat that happened to be his kids

This is why Henry quit smoking

Just imagine Barry hears this explosion and is like Henry's had weed

"Is it going to explode" "no shvt"

Really gassed them

WOOO DAD SENSE

Henry is a loose cannon

Sneaky sneaky Ron

Also the switch from a heratwrenching drama to an action comedy is mwah

Oh there's 2 ad things that's why I got confused

Awwww the nunchunks

Back to the drama

Glennades

The kids? Oh yeah because they literally just want the kids for their daddy magic

Oh yeah like we kill Paedan, huh

AWWHHHH

Damn Matt

I felt that in my throat I thought it was a burp at first I hate it

AHHHHHHHHH

What did he do whatdidhedo *iheardthescream*

Gotdammit

EYE OF THE TIGER

AWWHHHHH HE GOT IT

No Glenn sorry

DOODLERS ASSEMBLE

Scam Actually

My poor damaged heart

#you could and should absolutely ignore this #random rambling #dndads #dndads spoilers #dungeons and daddies spoilers #dungeons and daddies

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sunnydaleherald · 3 years

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, May 20

Kendra: Emotions are weakness, Buffy. You shouldn't entertain them. Buffy: Kendra, my emotions give me power. They're total assets!

~~What's My Line? (Part 2)~~

[Chaptered Fiction]

And I Still Do (Love You): Epilogue (Spike/Buffy, strong R) by slaymesoftly

Devil, Slayer and Vampires, Chapter 1 (crossover with the MCU and Daredevil, Faith/Matt Murdock, Angel Investigations, T) by Aragorn_II_Elessar

counting the days, Chapter 8 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by trevino

You Don't Know What You've Got, Chapter 17 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by lex_hex

Choices, Chapter 5 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by lafillesauvage

Moonlit Nights, Chapter 6 (Spike/Buffy, R) by EllieRose101

Grace, Chapter 7 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Soulburnt

Mortal Allies Series, Episode 4: My Turn, Chapter 33 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

A Chance In Hell, Chapter 14 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

the light streams out, Chapter 1 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by trevino

Embers, Chapter 7 (Spike/Buffy/Angel, NC-17) by Dusty

[Images, Audio & Video]

Gifs: Buffy Summers: season one (worksafe) by spuffygifs

Drawing: Sunnydale Sunset (Buffy, worksafe) by joantheslayer

Drawing: Bangel (worksafe) by joantheslayer

Drawing: Spike and Drusilla (worksafe) by wyvelyn

Drawing: no- i’ll save her, then i’ll kill her! (Spike, Sweet, worksafe) by railroadz

Artwork: Pages from the BtVS coloring book (Buffy, Willow, Anya, worksafe) colored by crazyforcoloring

[Reviews & Recaps]

Beneath You truly is a top tier episode by gothic-buffy

Thoughts on season 4 by buffy-thoughts

"Doomed" makes more sense if you imagine it as being from Riley's POV: part 1 and part 2 by cosmictuesdays, buffy-thoughts

having to rewatch dead man’s party has me confident in my choice not to rewatch it previously by lqvewillow

Season 9 Overview by Stake fodder

Where Do We Go From Here? [a discussion of the Boom! comics] by PuckRobin, Priceless

Is watching Angel worth it? by multiple people

Which of the trio had the best centric ep? hosted by jdpm1991

20 Year Rewatch - s05e11 "vampHIGHER", s05e12 "Nostalgia for lost characters" [“Damage” and “You’re Welcome”] by Ohigetjokes

PODCAST: Still Pretty 156. Sleeper (S7.08)

[Recs]

Spuffy Fanfics — New Arrivals recced by flowspuffy

More Links Than A Bag Of Sausages by petzipellepingo

Links to old stories by bespangeled, flow

[Fandom Discussions]

If it's true that the soul gives Spike extra perspective that he once lacked on matters of love... by gothic-buffy, dynamiteroark-blog

Shocked that there is not a Buffy themed trash party out there, until I realized... by fuckyeah-i-read-blog, rahirah

[Re: I actually loved Cordelia and Xander] by buffy-thoughts

Spike's objectification over the course of the show by gothic-buffy

[So vampires don't have to use the bathroom???] by idabbleincrazy, highonbandcandy

[Thoughts about Catherine and Amy Madison] by all4thegram

cordelia chase is autistic and I WILL die on this hill by lesbian-gay-type-lovers

Spike Deserves Better by fangirl93

[Kennedy always felt a Lot younger to me] by emmathompsonegot

Would it be better for Buffy if Dawn disappeared? (continued) by Stake fodder

Slayer Dreams and the Dreamscape (continued) by American Aurora and others

Nightmares’ nightmares - what was built on (and what would yours be!)? (continued) by multiple people

Angel and Spike’s fates in Not Fade Away (continued) by PuckRobin, HardlyThere

Cordelia probably has the most interesting history with dating and relationships by LightBlueSky55 and others

Unpopular ships by sibshallward and others

How do you prefer your Anya? by jdpm1991 and others

Who is Angel's weakness? hosted by jdpm1991

Holtz and Angel in Benediction, did you want it to be real? hosted by PFTETOwerewolves

How did Spike sit on a chair or in Angel's car when he was a ghost? by precita and others

18 years since Buffy aired its final episode, “Chosen” by KimF29 and others

WWBD by EntMoot76, mankaded and others

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Interview: Buffy’s Charisma Carpenter: Bravery & Survival on Inside of You Podcast w/ Michael Rosenbaum

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #BOOM! Studios

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mistergrass · 3 years

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a dump of podcast thoughts/recs

I have been listening to a whole lot of podcasts in the last month, and so I thought I’d just lay out what I’ve listened to so far and my general thoughts (but I’m not gonna tag any of them because I might get too honest - which means REALLY no one is gonna care about this lmao)

I would also love some recs for both fiction and non-fiction if anyone’s got any!

Fiction:

The Magnus Archives - This is, unsurprisingly, my top top recommendation for podcasts. The story being told is so intricate and well thought-out. I love pieces of media where I can turn my brain off and trust that the creators know exactly what they’re doing. And I love anything that knows its intent from episode 1. I think I could go on for ages praising this podcast, but tldr;

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

The Penumbra Podcast (Junoverse) - I am not a fan of high fantasy, which is the main reason I haven’t listened to Second Citadel (other than the one-off eps in s1), so I’ll just focus on the Juno Steel stories. But I listened to this after catching up with TMA because so many people seemed to recommend it. Because of that, I think I might have gone into it with slightly higher-than-necessary expectations....

Here are things I like about it: the environment is well sound-scaped (especially in later eps), the universe is really cool and fun to learn about, and the romantic subplot between Juno and Peter really is a great time.

That being said, I can get a little frustrated with the writing at times. Story beats are sometimes paced oddly, and at other times the narration can over-explain what’s going on -- especially wrt character emotions. S2 I think is the biggest culprit of this “tell don’t show” method, and it can expand to hurt the individual mysteries and the set-up of the metaplot, too. Overall, S2 was a real dredge to get through. (But credit where credit is due, Juno Steel and The Monster’s Reflection were incredibly crafted episodes of that season).

But it was worth it to me for S3, which is a fun vibe and shifts from focusing on individual mysteries to character explorations in a found-family dynamic. The real strength of this podcast are the unique and engaging characters and their dynamics (which is why when Juno isolates himself in S2, it gets kind of dull). It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely been a very entertaining season.

Uhhhh, kind of recommend? Maybe only if you’re really into the noir/sci-fi/detective genre.

Death by Dying - The worst thing about this podcast is that there’s only five episodes. Oh my GOD what a gem of a show. The deadpan, absurdist humor in this show is so insanely up my alley and so well-written. But one thing I love about this podcast is that even in five episodes with a format that is mostly obituary-of-the-week, the emotional arcs of the characters are really well-maintained. Charolette, in particular, is a tragic character to follow through the MC’s eyes, but in a way that makes total sense considering the situation. This show is so clever, so fun, and finds ways to be really poignant at times, too.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Two Princes - I know I said I don’t like high fantasy, but I’m also gay and sometimes that just beats out. Who doesn’t like a light, fluffy story about two princes falling in love in some perilous magic forest? It’s a gas. Also, it’s just really well-produced and an easy listen. You very much get what’s on the tin, and that tin is some high-quality and very tasty cheese.

RECOMMEND

Limetown - God, I’m so upset about this one.

The first season is a masterpiece. WONDERFULLY produced, beautifully sound-scaped, insanely intriguing and engaging, along with a wonderful MC who is far from perfect in her endeavor for forbidden knowledge. I don’t think I can recommend it enough.

The second season... is fine! You still want to know what’s going on, so it’s easy to keep listening. But, tbh, it takes a bit of an odd turn. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but I would’ve been okay with the shift in direction if it was leading somewhere satisfying. But the S2 finale is... well. Choices were made, I guess. I’ll just say that I was really cheated out of an emotional pay-off.

If there was a promise of a 3rd season that would explain these things in more depth, I might let it off. But it looks like the production team is shifting its focus to the TV series being made out of this. I might watch it -- but I am worried now that they won’t know how to land the plane no matter how smooth the take-off is.

Despite everything, RECOMMEND

Archive 81 - (I have only finished through S2)

My feelings on this show is that I do not have the auditory processing skills required to keep up, lmao. But I don’t think I can really hold that against this podcast. This show doesn’t hold the audience’s hands, which is something I actually really like (even if I do get lost sometimes in what’s happening, lmao). This is obviously another case of the creators knowing EXACTLY where they’re going in the story, too. I also don’t think I’ve heard any other podcast with sound-scaping at this level. The biggest themes of this show are sound and ritual, and itreally follows through on that wrt how the sound is edited. The vibe of it is so mysterious and unique, it does such a good job of making you feel like you’re in a totally different world.

RECOMMEND

Wooden Overcoats - (I have only finished through S1)

This show definitely has a Fawlty Towers feel to it, and the humor is very fast-paced and British in that very specific UK-sitcom way. Because of that the humor is very dry, but definitely fun to listen to. And the characters are a real hysterical bunch.

My biggest critique, however, is that sometimes the episodes end in a way that feels like a big bummer. British sitcoms of this nature usually hinge upon an incompetent/anti-hero MC who tends to deserve the different comical misfortunes that fall upon them. Usually they get up afterwards, having learned nothing, and the cycle continues in a harmless way. But sometimes that vibe doesn’t really hit, and a few episodes will end with these big tonal shifts where the schadenfreude ends up drying out. You sort of just end up feeling bad for everyone involved instead lol. It’s what has me hesitating going into the next season, but I’ll definitely start it up eventually. It’s well produced, and honestly the characters are just too fun to keep away from (Antigone in particular is my favorite).

If you like British sitcoms, I’d recommend. Or if you’re looking for a cynical laugh.

Other podcasts I’ve started are EOS 10, and Dreamboy. I really didn’t like the first episode of Dreamboy, but I’m gonna give it another try since it’s so short. EOS 10 seems well-produced, but not really up my personal alley.

Non-Fiction

I’m not gonna give these ones as long of blurbs, just know I recommend them all highly.

You Must Remember This - Old Hollywood history that is wonderfully researched, and focuses a lot on women of the time. The recounting of these histories feels very honest and she really doesn’t pull any punches when giving detailed and accurate accounts. A truly wonderful show.

Welcome to Your Fantasy - A deep dive on the history of Chippendales that is WILDLY entertaining. I sort of can’t believe I got as sucked in as I did. The host has a wonderful humor about her, but is still great at getting to the heart of some of the heavier issues at hand.

Last Podcast on the Left - My favorite true crime/conspiracy podcast by a long mile. It’s equally hilarious and well-researched. I know a lot of people are kind of anti-true crime lately which is very understandable, but I do appreciate each of the host’s personal philosophies on the matter, which I think comes through in a lot of their episodes.

#I really hope this doesn't end up in any of the tags somehow lmao #I just wanted to vomit my thoughts out a little #and despite anything I say I love all of these creators and am very appreciative for the effort they put into their shows

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smallestclowninthecircus · 3 years

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Tma season 2 notes baybeee

I made myself take several breaks so I could give my frie d who is listening to it at the same time as me a chance to catch up. Honestly just posting them so I have them saved somewhere but whatever.

ep 41: real graham wrote keep watching before he was replaced. Jon feels like he's being watched. But they werent replaced by things related to the eye. It's the web that's on the box that replaces them. Endless hallways and doors to nowhere. I bet nicholas will have ideas what entity this relates to. If it even does. They're like the tunnels in the one with the builder guy. Tunnels closing in etc. Also like the cave diving one. He's assuming it's just one

ep 42: so 100 gecs? (IM SORRY I LIKE 100 GECS BUT LMAO) so there's some entity related to music right? There's the piper episode and the 27 w/ the calliope. Ah yes, this season is gonna be the season of Paranoid!Jon

ep 43: section 31? fucking books. god no. smashed lights? cult lady did that. covered the lights too. she mentioned a spooky clown doll. thats not random.

ep 44: is this that same circus that got mentioned before? it is! the pipe organ! pop off organ! pipe off! mouth on the stomach! yes! mouths in unusual places my beloved!

ep 45: antiques! like that one ep!

ep 46: every time books get mentioned i sigh. hhh sus smells. it got brighter. I get the vibes occasionally that the dark and the eye are sorta at odds with eachother. GRRR BARK BARK LEITNER. ayyy ex altiora. entity go brr. which entity do we thing it is? my guess is The Dark. The book buyer's name is Mike. He has scars? Electricity? The childhood friend of the guy who got it later on perhaps? The Vast? its formatted like an entity idk. This happened before the other one. He got trapped in the wood carving. a win for the web lol spiders go brr

ep 47: did i hear spiral? ITS THE NOT THING FROM THE EPISODE WITH NOT GRAHAM "it didnt move, it shifted" is like the exact same sentence as before. ay john's starting to remember. the laughing woah thats weird. is "michael" one of the entities? "you make it seem like theres a war" supports my theory that theres a struggle between a couple of the entities. I said i thought it was the eye and the dark i believe but im not sure. its whatever entity michael is vs the worms? what did nicholas say the worms were again? The Corruption? still dont know which one michael is tho.

Had to take a break after that episode. smth about the quality of michael's voice makes me feel like im gonna slip into one of those states where it feels like nothing is real, so i got a nice cold glass of water.

ep 48: jesus ok this one's kidna corny. you're telling me love made the crowd go away come on now. Ur losing it big J. also shouldnt it be more sus that "sasha" is so unaffected by the worm incident/ finding of gertrude's body

ep 49: haven't we heard hector's name before? oh is he the crime guy? fucking jared... so it's a throat? chompa chompa. (it's just a little bit hot) the good part about these episodes is that we know whoever's telling the story isn't gonna die. even if it's a close call, they're not dead. hotworth? ok not jared keay. it bothers me how theres so many repeated names, can they not come up with other names? "sasha"'s computer is breaking... sus. Elias our favorite weed man! jon ur so paranoid lmao

ep 50: robert smirk, at it again. this is like that one episode with the old dude who locked his door. who said idle beforehand? was it smirk? fingertips. thats so weird lmao. bahahah tim

ep 51: simon fairchild. im sure jon will mention the name at the end i cant remember where we've heard it. this is just like the cavediving episode. a hand? there was a hand in the last one right? the scalpel! and an eye thing. she's trying to throw them off.

ep 52: thats the guy from before! with the hearts! god i hate this guy writing the statement hh. lights blowing, and brackish water. we know how this ends but its still tense. rainer? reigner? rain man. we've seen him before

ep 53: pls not a leitner. oh boy mans scratched out his eyes. rip skelly. why would gertrude have had this statement off the books? jon stabbed himself?? bruh im? big man are you okay

ep 54: cockney boys! ayy its our favorite delivery men. she cut out their eyes. she knew that the eye was a thing?

ep 55: oily residue like the retirement home!

ep 56: worms? no. spiders?? bruhh. aaah yelling :(( aww martin anyways yeah i called it about paranoid!jon he needs to take a nap and drink some hot chocolate and calm down for once please

ep 57: just remembered, i think theres an entity called The Lonely?? This feels pretty lonely idk. fairchild, lukas/ lucas, some spooky place in norway idk. "sasha" knew he was recordinig hmm suspicious cmon jon figure it out. Sasha and tom. hm sus. for records sake i feel liek i should note here that I did have it spoiled to me simply that that's not sasha, but thats really all. i assumed it was like the thing that happened to graham in S1

ep 58: i feel like i recognize the name eustice (?) wick. someone please tell me im not just watching jon's descent into madness over the course of this podcast. im hoping it isnt so but, (and pardon the dsmp reference) im getting real wilbur vibes from this one.

ep 59: oh dear ok account from the fielding house. swirling designs? Spiral time? oh boyy. oh wait! 6 inch hole in the middle! is it not a spiderweb type design on the table? thats what i had assumed but that description sounds more like a spiral thing. cobwebs is a Web thing. ayy nicholas was right! the box goes in the table! the place that she kissed him was burning. Raymond is an avatar of The Web and agnes is the burning one. Lightless Flame! Why did she save him? i guess she was against this guy eating ppl or wtvr but why was she at the halfway house then? I think she's like michael.

ep 60: the eye go brr

ep 61: breacon and hope once again. tom. sasha's boyfriend. vampires sleep in coffins. the guy just walking in seems similar to the mind control of the vampires

ep 62: bones! its that one leitner. is this mother keay? the mom of gerard? this is what happened to her right? her skin was found on hooks? oh yeah thats what i thought the pages are made of skin. yeesh. The End!! sounds like an entity. phrased like one, and i think i remember it. are the people trapped in the pages? or... kept?

ep 63: eaten by the darkness! cavediving episode! (just like eaten by the sky) did my brain make up one called The Vast? it feels like it should be one, and all these episodes have some similar description about their feelings when they do whatever chosen hobby they have. ok now this one kinda feels like the dark. lights going out and all that. ok so not really a The Vast thing, its more of a Dark thing. feckin smirk gah.

ep 64: dice! the death guy! the death game thing! the person tricked somebody else into becoming death and then they were immortal? but if the egyptians wanted to kill him or punish him or whatever couldnt they just kill him? it worked in the end when he had the person giving the statement stab him, that did the job and actually killed him

ep 65: finally jon is actually acknowledging something is wrong.

So we know Mary Keay was revived most likely with the book by gerard.

Gertrude was way more aware of the entities than Jon. mary keay referenced The End openly and she cut the eyes out of her magazines and all that which makes me think she was aware of The Eye

ep 66: please not buried alive pleeaase not buried alive. lukas of the tundra? didnt we hear the name lukas before? she wanted it to be difficult to find important files because that way bad people couldnt find them?

ep 67: agnes... the girl in the hilltop house? agnes poppin off!! he's really not gonna question how she knew where he lived?? oh no D: the tree. were they the ones working on the house? aww they kissi- OH DEAR. why did she kiss him? it seemed like she cared about him? also she could kiss that other dude on the cheek and he was fine, but maybe it was cuz she was younger? lightless flame go brrrrr.

ep 68: oh god books. yup its bitchboy leitner. mans said "this seems supernatural, its a werd book!" bruuh.

ep 69: heh nice. aw cmon jon listen to martin. gahhh spiders. is that the class we heard about in the other doctor one with the teeth apple? some kind of psych class? oh dear. fucking spiders. aaaah. web do be goin brr. it's like the girl in the homeless shelter! who made the guy leave and she took his bed.

ep 70: is this gonna be the book that mary keay had? Most likely a leitner no matter what. Oh boy latin. Why did it start in latin then become old English? I'm guessing people put them in the book? He cant burn it. Phrophecies go brr. He says eh it's a decade in the future it's fine. Its gonna have changed. Ayy called it. Just accept it, it's a magic book. His death is getting closer. Leitner didnt make them but just collected them? Gertrude burned the book! She burned them down there so no one would know.

ep 71: oh boy tunnels. Our favorite thing /s. is The Buried a thing? Idk this seems pretty buried. Oh dear he's trapped here isnt he. "Not enough space to move, never enough to breathe" is that from the computer episode? With the guy who uploaded his consciousness? Somebody living down there. Hmmmm. Guesses: tom, sasha's boyfriend. Gertrude herself? (Though I doubt it)

ep 72: sweeney todd moment. Meat. The slaughter? Idk we'll see what the supernatural part is. Meat is meat. Similar to the slaughterhouse episode. Is it fucking Jared I swear to God it better not be. Hooligan teenagers, you know how it is. Meat is me lmao. Is the kid gonna be in the freezer. Ok that's good. OWW. Oddly textured candles. Made from people? Human fat or smth? Tom from the meat processing plant!

ep 73: outer bay shipping. Bet it's a subset of breacon and hope delivery. The Dark go brrr. Uh oh mans is gonna die. Leo or whatever. Cult ppl go brr. The people's church of the divine host. Who is the divine host? Is it reigner or whatever his name is? I dont think Jon can quit tbh. Probably an anonymous tip but from who?? One of the entities?

ep 74: fucking teeth hhh. I dont know which entity is related to teeth. Spiral. Isnt the spiral an entity. It feels like it could be related to many things idk. Yeah this sounds like the spiral. Heart attack at 29? Jesus... michael! That's kinda what I was thinking. Sasha goin in the tunnels. Hmm sus. They move the floor. Wack. Bet its tom.

ep 75: Man with a lightning scar. Has one of the leitner books. The childhood friend of the one who first introduced us to leitner. Oh my god that sounds terrifying. Michael crew.

ep 76: scalpel? Hmm spooky. NotSasha... think jon think.

ep 77: another double! NotThem, The Stranger. Not related to the table?

ep 78: what was that at the beginning? Question mark?? Oh boy more NotThem. Decker... what is the deal with the table. Does it contain the creature? Fucking Michael. Bitchboi himself.

ep 79: yes pop off martin. Ugh fucking Michael just leave man. I hate that dude. New person. Hmm. No idea who it is.

ep 80: shitener himself! Ok sir tell us the entities. Ayy The Spiral. Ok we know what that one is. The Eye is the beholding! Oooh. The Stranger. Did elias just kill leitner? Popping off honestly.

#Neptune tma notes

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drunklander · 4 years

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Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 502

Watched this episode after winning Wynonna Earp trivia (fuck yeah, The Shit Tickets!) at a bar, put on by a queer af podcast, followed by going to see a queer af movie, and was all ready to get my Beauchamp fix... And it was like oh here’s a taste and a hint that we’re gonna end up in a story line similar to what we’ve already done multiple times, but now on to the menfolk.

For real though, this episode was like an OL greatest hits clip show. It had all the stuff we’ve seen before. A time traveler who wants to go home? Check. Rape PTSD? Check. A man being a dad to a kid who isn’t/might not be his? Check. That same man being the absolute worst? Check. Claire being reckless with future medicine? Check. Townsfolk questioning Claire’s medical knowledge in favor of the local Man of Importance? Check. Jamie trying to be on both sides at once? Check. A villain who seemed to have died the previous season and should have fucking stayed dead? Check.

We’ve literally seen all of this stuff before.

For a show that spent the first part of season two claiming to be a political drama and then last season claiming that they “weren’t political” I see we’re back to just leaning hard into politics that have direct parallels today.

No fucks left to give about the system Murtz is kind of my favorite Murtz. Like this dude spent his whole life living by a code and an oath and was fucked over by the system so many fucking times that he’s ready to just burn it all down. Curious to see how they walk the domestic terrorist vs. freedom fighter line with him for the rest of the season.

Got all excited about the bread title card because yay medicinal mold, but of course, the lead character was relegated to the B story.

Old timey medicine baffles me. Like the fact that bleeding someone was like a catchall remedy boggles the mind.

I feel rull bad for Mrs. Whoeverthefuck though. She tried.

Also, shit like this makes me be like, yo Claire, you sure you wanna stay here? Jamie’s really not all that and a bag of chips. But you do you, boo.

Speaking of Jamie, his hair looks really good. A thousand fruit baskets to the new wig person.

Lulz at Knox thinking the Gathering was about being loyal to king and country. Dummy.

Srsly though, Murtz Valmurtz is really getting under their skin. Is he like the *only* Regulator leader?

The convo between Knox and Jamie is literally as relevant today as it is in the 1770s. But yeah, the show IsN’t PoLiTiCaL.

The fact that fuckers think those at the bottom should be happy with their lot because “lol it could be worse” need to be punched in the face and taken out of power. Stat.

Also any time someone in power talks about civility as a reason not to rise up against injustice, I want to punch them. Because they deserve it.

I want to punch a lot of things.

This whole episode is very Les Mis, tbh.

Literalol at Claire covering dead guy’s face and not his body cavity before Bree comes in.

Aw Bree, why you gotta be a buzzkill? We were cheated of badass Doctor!Claire in S3. Let us have this.

Also, yeah, Claire, Bree’s fucking right. Which you’d think you’d know by now what with alL THE FUCKING TIMES YOU’VE BEEN CALLED A WITCH. AND NOW YOU’RE UPPING YOUR GAME TO LIKE NECROMANCY?!

Also the more she says no one will find out the more annoying it is because *clearly* someone *is* gonna find out and we’re gonna be back on the “she’s a witch!” “I’m not a witch!” “you literally have a dead guy in your closet!” merry-go-round again.

Today in most on-the-nose shots ever: How convenient that Marsali just happens to be doing some butchering right there, right then.

Petition for the show to go full Shondaland and just turn into a backwoods medical drama with Claire and Marsali, and all the others (cough the men cough) can fuck on off.

Tarring and feathering is like the old timey version of #AlwaysPunchAFascist but dialed to 11.

Oh the baggage behind Jamie saying redcoat man will someday wear his scars with honor that none of these fuckers know about...

Ok so clearly the English know that Claire’s a doctor so whenever shit hits the witchy dead dude fan, can we please have a quick resolution and not that dumb af “Claire goes to jail and of course her cellmate is a lesbian because Diana sucks at writing queer characters” nonsense?

Man Jamie is *not* subtle with this convo at the jail. Like Knox is right there and he’s just like hey buddies, I have people and we’re Scottish and y’know how we feel about protecting people vs. obeying the English.

I AM SPARTACUS FITZGIBBONS!

Aaand, naturally, the fuckwit preaching civility is the one to kill a man in cold blood. Rise up, motherfuckers. Rise up.

THANK FUCK ROGER IS A TERRIBLE SHOT BECAUSE IF THAT SQUIRREL DIED I WOULD LEGIT QUIT THE SHOW. RUN AWAY AND BE FREEEEEE YOU PRECIOUS LIL WILDERNESS FLOOFER!

Roger is, and I cannot stress this enough, the fucking worst.

He’s like look how shitty I am at being a soldier but then bitches about having to try to learn. And then he bitches about how dumb it is to shoot at squirrels as if being able to hit a squirrel wouldn’t make hitting a much larger thing, like a man who is shooting back at you, that much easier. And also, how the fuck does he think they get meat to eat? Shooting it, you twatwaffle.

And he’s like so fucking butthurt about being left behind. Like no shit, asshat. You’re bad at being in the past and have made no real effort and you whine a lot and are generally the worst. Of *course* you were left behind. Stop being emo about it and maybe actually try.

“He doesn’t respect me, Bree.” Yeah, no shit. Because you’ve done LITERALLY NOTHING to earn his respect. WHY ARE YOU SO TERRIBLE IT’S LIKE THEY’RE INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO MAKE HIM SUCK.

He also is like butthurt that his wife is a better shot than him when she gets the turkey he misses. How the fuck are we supposed to ship this. Ugh.

#BreeDeservesBetter

Oh Bree, sweetie, Jem won’t get hit by a car, but there are like eleventy million ways to die in the past. Just stick with the “you want to stay with your family” stuff.

Roger clearly doesn’t want to stay and is gonna pull a Fred and make Bree feel bad about wanting to all season, isn’t he. Fahkin’ doucherocket.

“I want to go but I’ll stay for you and look how magnanimous I am as I whine about it and make no effort to acclimate to the time.” Take your martyr card and shove it, Rog.

Shorter Jamie Fraser: “If you stand for nothing, Knox, what’ll you fall for?”

I’m already over Roger singing all the time tbh. Mostly because it reminds me that soon he won’t be able to do that anymore and we’re gonna be subjected to like half a season of him being more insufferable than he already is.

Wait, was Joan already born last episode? Or was there another time jump? Is Marsali preggers with baby #3? I lost track.

I love this scene between Claire and Marsali with my whole heart. Marsali especially.

CAN WE PLEASE JUST HAVE A WHOLE SHOW OF THESE TWO BEING ALL BADASS AND DOCTORY TOGETHER!?

Although, quick question, how fucking long is Claire planning to keep that un-embalmed body lying around in an un-refrigerated surgery/root cellar? Just curious...

Because you know someone’s gonna find it eventually and that’s gonna be a whole to do and I really need to stop being preemptively annoyed at plot lines that haven’t actually happened yet.

And with all this talk of plowshares and swords, I really am going to be singing Les Mis for days...

How long have these biddies been living on the Ridge? The fucking Leoch folks spent like a minute with Claire before they were like yep, she knows what’s up. These folks have apparently been here for months and are like loool, pass. They live in the fucking woods. You’d think they’d be more open to Claire’s brand of medicine.

Omg are they like the accidental antivaxxers of the Ridge?

#VaccinateYourFuckingKids

I mean, Bree, I think there’s some difference between Claire pretending to be a dude doc and telling folks to wash their hands and Otter Tooth.

Season 2 Claire and Otter Tooth on the other hand...

Ok so Jamie needs more men so that means next week is AHS: Beardsley Farm and then maybe (hopefully) instead of being like lol jk you can all go home, it actually goes right into the battle thing. Still not sure if they’re gonna do Roger getting hanged as the mid-season big thingy and then do the Bonnet nonsense in the back half or keep trying to do both of those at once.

Hey, Roger, pro-tip, next time you see Morag MacKenzie, maybe don’t fuCKING MAKE OUT WITH HER YOU FUCKING DUMBASS.

Claire’s totally right about how they should go back. Honestly, they should. But instead of talking with her like Claire is now with Roger, he’s just being all moody about how he’s bad at the past and wants to go back. You’re shooting yourself in the foot, broski.

Oh hey Husband the Quaker. And is that a fellow Quaker named Hunter with him? Are we gonna get Denny and Rachel this season?! Please and thank you that’d be great, I love them.

Murtz talking to his squad is full on Enjolras being like don’t worry fam, Marius will stand and fight with us. His place is there, he’ll fight with you.

The two very different but very similar ways Murtz and Jamie approach being Laird of their squads is fun to explore.

Bree lecturing Claire about changing the future by saving a few backwater hicks like Claire didn’t spend years trying to fucking change all of Scottish history is a bit rich. Like writers, we get it, you’re trying to be like oh snap, wait for the consequences of this bread!science! But like come the fuck on. We sat through all of season two.

“You’re a good dad, you know that?” Oh man, I’m getting that déjà vu about a shitty man getting kudos for being a good dad to a kid as if that negates all of his shittiness.

Oh hey, Bonnet’s back. Clearly we couldn’t have just let him die last season. Gotta drag shit on for longer than it has to. This is the [Outlander] Way.

If they were gonna keep him around as a villain, they shouldn’t have (in addition to all the other reasons) included him raping Bree. Jamie, Murtagh and Bonnet all making choices within and outside of the law to various degrees in order to make their living in the Colonies would be a really interesting contrast. But nope, gotta just go all in. BeCaUsE tHe BoOk.

Also I hate with the passion of a thousand fiery suns the Jemmy’s paternity stuff. Le sigh.

Remember in season one when the show was about Claire and she was in episodes for longer than 10 minutes?

I miss Claire.

#*#outlander starz #outlander 5x02 #drunj!der yells about outlander

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themightynein · 5 years

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Skyjacks: A Primer

hey listen to skyjacks there’s only 19 eps rn they will make your wednesdays magicial

also! skyjacks has ORIGINAL MUSIC THAT SLAPS soooo hard

p.s. you should DEF follow the official blog @campaignskyjacks bc they will reblog your post ep shitposts and make them 10,000% funnier

(image text under the read more!)

slide one: So what is Skyjacks? well buckle up chuckleheads i’m about to tell you.a passionate presentation by themightynein

slide two: Now I know you’re thinking “Katie, you said this was about Skyjacks why does that adorable and intriguing thumbnail of a pirate ship with wings say Campaign?” Well that’s a very specific and poignant question! Much like a lot of actual play shows recently, The podcast Campaign (a spin-off of the One-Shot network) recently started their second campaign, also known as Skyjacks. Their previous campaign was a Star Wars themed game that is just so amazing and I could talk the crew of the Mynock for eight years but guys. this primer is about Skyjacks. This is about the crew of the Uhuru.

slide three: This is the Uhuru. (image description: a large pirate-looking ship is kept aloft by a red and white blimp shaped balloon, giant bird fly around the ship as it moves through clouds and heads towards the morning day sun) A FLYING pirate ship lead by the infamous Captain Orramar Vale, the Uhuru is a vessel kept aloft by the coveted material featherweave and operates in areas outside of the control of the Red Feather Syndicate. But something is amiss amongst these corsairs, the Captain has been off and whatever it is, the Uhuru hasn’t taken a job in months.

slide four: But everyone knows a corsair ship is only as strong as its crew. And its gm of course! The James D’Amato (corsair=air pirate)

slide five: Gable

the love of my life, non-binary and non-plussed, an actual Angel(™) no like for real. they’re an angel. they are seven feet tall and they have an outrageously large sword. what more do you need to know about them. played by Liz Anderson who is the funniest person to grace this planet and coincidentally also an Angel.

slide six: Jonit

the sweetest pirate captain-to-be you will ever meet, loves a good map, favorite band: Third Eye Blind, hes 15 and James. i will come for you if you hurt my boy. you hear me D’Amato? played by Tyler Davis who will rip your heart at any given moment with his roleplaying abilities

slide seven: Dref

soo anxious. so very very anxious, the crews medic and also does some necromancy on the side which either makes him a very good doctor or a very bad one, Hates. blood, a stutter and a mysterious past, played by john patrick coan but his real name is JPC. I don’t know how to explain dref better than by telling you he is played by JPC (iykyk)

slide eight: travis

a shit head, really old. like reallyyyyy old. like ask him how old he is, decent at stealing watches, really good at illimat, does NOT cheat at illimat even tho he definitely seems like the kinda guy to cheat at illimat, he’s a shapeshifter but not on purpose, played by Johnny O’Mara- chaos being

slide nine: illimat?? what is that? also what system are they using? for pirate ship?Okay illimat is an interesting card game that the band The Decemberists made that is both simple and very complicated but basically you just have to know that the Luminaries are their versions of gods sort of. You’ll just have to listen to the podcast and also watch a five min video on how to play illimat because it is also an in-canon game (that is plot relevant and Travis is very good at).But as for the actual game! They use a system very similar to Edge of the Empire which is very simple and translates well to audio!

slide ten: And not only these intriguing characters and very good worldbuilding by bicon James D’Amato, all of the players do professional improv meaning they are prone to the funniest shit in existence. Like to the point where i cannot listen to skyjacks in public because of how frequently i will cry laughing listening to these dumb dumbs. But in all seriousness, Skyjacks is one of the most captivating stories i have ever heard and there is a plot hook in legit the first five minutes that i do not want to spoil because it is So Good. So listen to skyjacks please. Thank you.

#skyjacks #critical role #taz #podcasts #actual play podcast #skyjacks brings joy to my lfe #also pls reblog this i told crewe that skyjacks getting the recognition it deserves is my dream #campaign #also haha i tried changing one fucking tag on my phone and it deleted the entire post so i will add the text descriptions after cr #tumblr hurt me and i need time to heal #also donate to their patreon if you are able or i will find you

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apassionfortranslation · 4 years

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Kiss & Cry Reloaded Ep 7 - Transcription and translation

It took almost a month because of my job and Christmas, but I finally managed to finish this. It’s a partial transcription (the whole podcast was over two hours, and it talked about Ladies’ single, Ice Dance and Pair skating too) and its translation. Feel free to share it but please add due credit: I’m happy to do this for the figure skating community, but it still took several days of hard job ^^.

Here’s the original https://www.spreaker.com/user/talk-sport/kiss-cry-reloaded-puntata-7

Time tags are added when needed.

Please message me if you spot any kind of mistake! I’ll be happy to edit it!

And many many thanks to Massimiliano Ambesi, Angelo Dolfini and Francesco Paone for their insights and company!

Kiss & Cry Reloaded – Episode 7.

Partial transcription.

Transcription and translation by Costanza Bonelli

Legend:

A: Massimiliano Ambesi

D: Angelo Dolfini

P: Francesco Paone

[Italic Text in square brackets: my notes]

Starts at roughly minute 10:30

P: ... Now, let’s get more in depth on several topics. Ok, Massimiliano, you mentioned the judgement in the Junior Ladies competition, you also mentioned Japan: let’s put it all together, because in the last three or four days there were a lot of talks and discussions about what happened in the men’s single competition, because, okay, Chen won, Hanyu got second, but looking at the scores, many people say “No, it can’t be like this.” I’ll let you talk.

A: I’ll start, but Angelo and I will go back and forth with each other, because, I mean, the topic is sensitive. Let’s put down the basis: Nathan Chen’s victory is legitimate, he got it on the field and this is not up to debate.

D: With full merit, absolutely.

A: With full merit He completed two clean skates (D: Yeah), without any major flaw, and thus this victory, considering Hanyu committed some mistakes, is right. Hanyu lost the competition when he didn’t complete the combination jump planned in the short program (D: Yes), this is a fact, because from that moment he is the one chasing after Chen, clearly with a lot in his mind, the will to make the free program so extreme to try an almost impossible come back... And after that, there’s the free skate with all we all witnessed, in my opinion with more positive sides than negative ones, to be honest.

D: I totally agree.

A: The problem is that if you go and analyse the different elements, you’ll realize that in the GOE attribution, the parameters to get +5, +4, +3 etc are not followed. I believe, and I’m utterly convinced of this, that this system cannot stand as it is, and not because the judges are incompetent or deceitful, I don’t think that, otherwise I wouldn’t be here to talk about skating, I’d be doing something else, and I’d spend my Wednesday evening with my dogs and family, but because the system is not applicable as it is.

Francesco, you are a direct witness because you’ve watched some competitions with me. Every year, I probably see 10,000 different skates, a lot of parents send me their children’s programs from when they’re 10 years old until 18 to know what I think about them, in Italy it happens a bit less, but I receive a lot of video from other countries, so I see a lot of different things. This to say that I’m used to seeing programs, to studying them and to giving scores. But in real time, when you have to judge 12 elements and to keep into consideration the PCS, you cannot objectively keep into consideration all the bullets and the detractions that you have to give to any jump with its GOE. It’s not humanly possible.

I dare the Italian judges to do this (there are some that are real “know-it-alls”), face to face, when they want, I’m here, just call me and I’ll be there. It isn’t possible to judge a skate correctly keeping that system in mind. Then, we can say that a jump is very nice: do we want to give it a +5? Then let’s do this, but the rules say a different thing. The judge is not able to apply said rules to 12 elements, one after the other. Someone will say, “OK, but after the program there’s some time to review it”. The time is not so much, though.

D: It’s a very short time.

A: Yeah, comparatively, very short time.

D: And there are the PCS to score too.

A: Exactly. And what else is there to consider? The fact that, when there’s a review, the call on the element may change.

D: Yeah.

A: And consequently, you have to, you know Use the rules, which call for a compulsory deduction on that element, based on the kind of call arrived.

D: Maybe the jump is under-rotated, or the edge is wrong.

A: Wrong edge, or dubious edge, there are a lot of cases. The consequence is that, with this system, it’s not possible to judge correctly a competition. This doesn’t mean that Nathan Chen stole something, because he deserved to win, but there are some Nathan Chen’s jumps that are judged incorrectly: the Italian Judge that gives +5 on Nathan Chen’s 3A has to explain the reason behind that +5.

For example. Or, the judges who award the 4S from Nathan Chen’s free skate with the same GOE as Hanyu Yuzuru’s one, and I encourage you to watch them both with attention starting with the take-off in both jumps, even if Hanyu simplified his free skate a lot, are - I don’t want to say incompetent - but they weren’t able to judge the element, because in that short time it’s not possible to take into consideration every single bullet that is required. What they do, then, is getting a general idea and give +5, +4, +3, but this is not what the system wants the judges to do. I’ve said these things several times about the various 3A made by Hanyu in the competitions that preceded this final. So, the judges who said [?] +4. But when you give a +4, it means that you didn’t see two of the three available requirements to raise to +5.

What didn’t you see in Hanyu’s 3A? Doesn’t it match the music? It’s a joke, because he’s so insane about it that if it didn’t match the music, he’d rather fall on the ground, angry because he didn’t execute it as he wanted, so that jump does match the music: no.1. Isn’t the take-off preceded by an unexpected or difficult entry? Because if it isn’t so we can go home now. I’m talking about the short program. Isn’t the position in flight correct, perfect? It may have happened once that he was slightly off centre, but not enough to justify a deduction in the GOE. It’s a +5 for sure, and when you give a +4 instead, you have to explain why you didn’t see two of those three bullets. But I don’t want to think that the judge didn’t see them, I think that the judge didn’t even get to consider the bullets, because in their head it’s impossible to do that in that moment, so they say +4. But this is not what the rules say. And as we’re seeing a lot of cases like this...

D: Yeah, and I’d add, in this specific case, they judge, they see that something is missing, because they say “It’s slightly off centre”, from +5 I’ll go to +4, but it shouldn’t be like that, they should remember that the bullets are six and the skater might have fulfilled five of them, and as you correctly explained, it becomes very complicated to do all this.

A: Why does it become complicated? Because I feel it myself without the pressure of being in a technical panel...

D: Yeah, that too...

A: ... And I see how it works. +

D: It’s very complicated.

A: I mean, either we find a way to simplify the score attribution, or this cannot go on. Because the GOE assigned during the competition doesn’t match what the athlete did. This said, Nathan Chen did an exceptional performance from the athletic point of view, okay? But the fact that he completed all his jumps doesn’t mean that all his elements deserve the maximum GOE available, and that there are only positive aspects without any negative ones, this is what I mean. So, if we cannot evaluate the quality of the element for what it is, it becomes difficult to assist to a competition with a correct judgement, and thus a competition that mirrors the real values on the field. Hanyu did lose the competition for other reasons, and we said that everything starts from that failed jump, the missed combination jumps in the short program.

Because everything starts there. But, if you go and see the panel of the elements in the short program, you’ll see that elements that Hanyu executed perfectly, and I mean the triple Axel and quadruple Salchow, didn’t get the maximum GOE possible. And this needs to be explained too: the judge who was there has to explain “why +3?” Or “why +4?”, tell me what’s missing. And this is something that applies to Hanyu Yuzuru, or to Nathan Chen, or to a thousand other athletes. I want to stress and highlight that this system, as it’s thought out, is not good to judge the competitions of this speciality. And I mean Figure Skating. On the Ice Dance, I don’t even want to start the discussion, I’m not really interested in it and it’s based on a completely different approach, but it’s not possible to judge instantly 12 elements and to follow, thoroughly, as it should be, the current rules.

D: And it is complicated, really complicated.

A: Exactly. And I stop here, it’s your turn. It was better in the past, with the +3, because judging the elements was simpler, and then, even then you could get confused, and it was again “very good” = +3, “good” = +2, “good but with something off” = +1, “so and so” = 0 and so on, because the same exact thing happened to Plushenko too.

D: With more nuances, if you want.

A: Exactly, it was more believable, in the past, and now it’s your turn.

D: Yeah, I mean, beside the objective difficulty in correctly evaluating and judging the elements with this score system, that is quite beautiful and thought out, but very complex, and so it’s difficult to judge in such a short time, etc, I’d like to add another concept, in my opinion, that must be explained, and I mean: a lot of judges, especially judges who used to use the old system, a bit less with the newer ones, have always been used to comparing the skaters in front of them (and it still happens when you look at a skating competition), with the aim of saying... What’s your first goal?

The goal is to make a correct classification of the competition they’re evaluating in that moment, and it’s also understandable and right that it’s one of the goals. But, for how this system is thought out and built, it constitutes a more or less absolute judgement system, where competitions are comparable with each other, it’s possible to have and consider a “World record”, and it’s possible to have, let’s say, absolute scores, so they should be able to judge an athlete independently from their competitor, focusing only on what they see on the ice in that moment. Once, with the old system, it wasn’t like this, the comparison was explicit, so they only had to choose, as a judge, who to put first and who to put behind. It was simpler, if you want, but it was less precise, and more arbitrary. In this moment, in the moment when they have to go and judge the single elements, it’s simple to say “Ok, look, he executed it impeccably, it’s the most beautiful triple Axel I've ever seen.” Hanyu made it single in the free skate, for example… +4, +5. I understand this point of view, but then, reading the rules, it’s possible to say, “But... Maybe the entry is not that difficult”, it could still be a +5, we said so earlier, but let’s see, is the landing smooth enough? Are there /have there been smoother landings? Then they analyse it, but this is all in the space of a few seconds and it’s so difficult to do, it is then easier to go on the emotional wave of what one sees: Nathan Chen’s performance was astonishing because he was impeccable on everything, the flaws were really just minor, maybe some landings were not very smooth, but that’s all, and we’re talking about extremely difficult jumps, it’s obvious that something like that brings people to give very high marks, and it is also partially correct, obviously. Then, with a colder mind, maybe alone, you see that program, and you’re not evaluating it in the context of a Grand Prix Final, with the huge tension that was there, and you can make different analyses. In that moment, with that tension, with what they were competing for, it’s easy to evaluate a performance like that in an extremely positive way, and we could ask if it’s correct or not, it might not be that wrong, it’s not easy to weigh everything.

We can discuss about one element, we’re here to do that, we also like to try to understand what an athlete or the other is doing. For us, Hanyu presented excellent elements, and there were a lot of positive notes that he brings home from this final, the quadruple Lutz above everything else, we can say that, but quadruple Loop was great too, but the GOE accounts for a lot in this moment, and if you analyse the required bullets with attention, and you see that in any case the difficult entry is only one of those, but you have 6 of them total. Sometimes a difficult entry makes so that the skater misses everything else and gets less points, and this lets you understand how the judges judge a certain type of skating, and then we would need to see different scores on the PCS, especially on transitions, but even at a strategic level, if you analyse the new rules with attention, and the new bullets, you can see that a jump done with a good speed, very wide and with a good position in air can take a +4 if you get it on the music beat, and maybe even a +5.

A: And then, the analysis of the men’s competition is very complex because everyone will ask why Hanyu ends up creating a program with those characteristics. Because the difficulty of that program is absurd, out of the normal range. Because it’s for all these reasons, for the lack of compression of the GOE given to a series of elements, that, for the skaters that can afford to do that, the idea becomes raising the base value as much as possible. And so, if you sum the elements that Hanyu had planned for the free skate up and compare them with Nathan Chen’s, you can see that Hanyu’s base value would have been higher, in a “clean program vs clean program” scenario. Then, Chen would have gained something in case of maximum GOE he could get, because he has a margin of 0.20 point on the base value of the spins, and that means 0.10 on the GOE, with a perfect program, and then he has a quadruple Flip instead of a quadruple Loop, those have half a point of difference, and it’s another 0.25 potential GOE.

Fact is that, putting all these elements together, Hanyu’s perfect program vs Nathan Chen’s perfect program would have given Hanyu 0.8 points. This just to silence some things that you can read around and that are wrong on this part. Hanyu knew this, because he calculates every part of his program, he had to catch up, and he decided to go all in, but what remains, beyond what some people might say (and I can’t understand why these people say falsehoods), is that Hanyu Yuzuru, in the practice programs and during the practice sessions, has almost always completed the quads he presented, on the short program run-through he make a mistake on the combination, as he did during the competition too, but after a couple of minutes he tried it again and executed it perfectly. He had wonderful completion percentages on every quad. Quadruple Lutz included, which he didn’t practice as much, but when he did, he completed it, as we can see on the free program day: he got it perfectly in the run-through, caught by the camera too, and it was one of the most beautiful quadruple Lutz ever seen, and then he repeats it, almost of the same level, even during the competition.

He had the amazing ability to raise the bar in the most important moment, he failed on the athletic point of view, there’s not much to say, because after two and half minutes he was objectively in difficulty, even though, and this needs to be said, he had simplified his program compared to his normal one, you can see some more crossovers, a bit more skating on two feet, but it’s clear that as he had to go all in with a different program than in the other competitions, he had to risk some more. This said, in practice probably, not here, but in Toronto, he proposes something similar, because his objective is bringing 5 quadruples of four different kinds as per rules with his free program, because he can repeat one, and he still had the satisfaction to complete all those jumps. He will surely need to grow in quality for the rest, and to get the ability to complete every planned elements, so, in this moment to beat an athlete as solid as Nathan Chen, you need perfection, you can’t escape this, but I cannot think that Nathan Chen could still be ahead of Hanyu Yuzuru if both of them skate a clean program, because if this was the case, there would be a problem with the rules. I heard someone saying “Well, on the skating skills and transitions, Nathan Chen is at Hanyu’s level now.”

D and P: embarrassed laughter.

A: You have to explain it to me, though.

P: But... Massimiliano, please allow me, there are a lot of questions about a certain topic, I mean... We all appreciate the way you’re trying to calm the situation down, but the impression is, from what we can also read on the Spreaker chat, that the blown up GOE are getting annoying, a lot of people is asking “but why are the mistakes always on the same person, is the system broken?”, and okay, they could be wrong, we could be wrong, but the mistakes always seem to be oriented in one direction. Shouldn’t this be a reason to reflect on: is there one more problem beyond all that we said until now?

A: Guys... What can I say, it’s from the start of this season that I’m trying to bring some situations to light. Not even from the start of the senior Grand Prix season, it’s from the Junior Grand Prix circuit, where we saw a ladies’ skater, Alyssa Liu, getting huge GOEs, out of proportion with the quality of the elements she presented. Sincerely I haven’t ever seen something like this happen. The nationality is the same as the one above mentioned, the origins are the same as him, we all know where the 2022 Olympics will be, these are factual data that cannot be denied. Still, you have to go on the ice and complete the elements. But I don’t want to call politics on this, because I’m not interested in that. Also, Nathan Chen didn’t steal anything, I don’t want to think that he’s stealing anything, but I want to point out that if I analyse element per element what Nathan Chen does between his elements in the short program, I see something different from what Hanyu Yuzuru does. And careful here, Hanyu Yuzuru might be wrong. How? I mean, when for the judges the “best that there is” is what Nathan Chen does, and that it has to be done that way, probably Hanyu Yuzuru takes risks and uses a kind of skating that is too demanding to be able to win. Because, okay, we can say that Nathan Chen, athletically speaking, is in better shape than him, he was more prepared, he has more resistance, etc... But Nathan Chen’s skating is half as tiring as Hanyu’s.

D: Yeah, these are all elements to be considered, it’s also right to underline how even Hanyu had to simplify his programs, going a bit that same route, but it was necessary because

A: In the free skate, Angelo.

D: In the free skate. In the short program, you know what I think about the short program, in a condition of clean skate vs clean skate, I don’t think we can put up any kind of discussion, although the score makes you think because even Nathan Chen got over 110, and it’s true, he had a higher base value in the short program.

A: It’s true. In the short program, yes. I’ll explain: Hanyu presents a quadruple Salchow that has BV 9.7, correct me if I’m wrong, the other presents a quadruple Lutz, that has a higher value: 11.5, e, careful, the advantage is not only on the BV, but also on the GOE, because Nathan Chen can get a 5.75, which is half of 11.75, Yuzuru Hanyu must stop at half of 9.7 which is 4.85. But if the two programs are skated perfectly, Hanyu has objectively something more, and let’s explain what: the triple Axel. Hanyu’s triple Axel is worth +5. And you cannot dispute it, if you dispute it you shouldn’t be sitting in the judging panel. Of any competition, a regional one or the Olympic final, the free program at the Olympics, it’s the same. This is not disputable. And if we consider the program components, in my opinion there’s a huge difference. Beyond the fact that some experts tell me “Eh, but Nathan Chen’s choreography is brilliant.”

P: Massimiliano, regarding what you said before, and I mean that in case of clean program vs clean program Yuzuru Hanyu would beat Nathan Chen in any case, we got a question on the Spreaker chat, in which... And I quote: “In a well-known Facebook group, an expert with experience on the ice, the same that said several times that Hanyu’s triple Axel is preceded by a bracket turn, has said that clean free skate vs clean free skate, Chen would beat Hanyu for 15 points”. I’m asking you to explain this.

A: Well... Angelo, this question seems a bit confused to me, sincerely, because an expert who skated that says that the Hanyu’s famous triple Axel is preceded by a bracket turn... They cannot be an expert who skated.

D: Heh, no, they can’t.

A: We’re talking about entirely another thing.

D: Exactly. It’s possible to do a bracket turn before the triple Axel, but it’s not what Hanyu does.

A: He did a different thing, that is called backward outside counter, we could define it this way, that has nothing to do with a bracket turn, so we have two possibilities here: either the quoted person committed a typo, but here they say that “they said several times”, or... I don’t know, really... For example, it’s like if someone wrote me... [okay, here Massimiliano made a Tennis reference to Roger Federer which would probably take me ages to understand because I don’t know Tennis enough, I trust what he says. What I got from it, it’s that although a thing might be similar to another in a very superficial way, it’s very easy to see that they’re not the same].

Angelo, please, explain the difference between bracket turn and backward outside counter, I’ll go over the 15-point topic, that I believe might be my fault, because I didn’t really face this topic on Facebook, I was more on Twitter while explaining. No! There weren’t 15 points of difference, because, I repeat, the BV + GOE of Hanyu’s planned free skate was 0.8 points above Nathan Chen’s, go and sum the values up and you’ll see, if we only look at the BV, it was a bit higher still, as you [Angelo] explained earlier, Nathan Chen took something back with the maximum GOE, the Flip and a spin, I believe. Because I think that Hanyu does a Flying combination spin, a classic combination spin with change of foot and another flying

D: sit spin, yes,

A: flying sit spin.

D: A sit spin, yes.

A: that is worth 3 vs the camel change foot camel or change foot camel spin, call it as you wish,

D: That is worth, 3.20.

A: Exactly, Nathan Chen’s one, so 0.20 points are there, and then there’s the difference between Flip and Loop, so it’s not possible to have 15 points of difference. Maybe I should have written specific posts on the topic, explaining the score of every single element. Hanyu reasoned like this, most probably: he went and skated a free program that has higher Bv+max GOE because he needed it. I want to be very clear: I would have liked to see a different competition, I would have liked to see Hanyu skate a clean short program, being in front of Chen for one point or so (as Nathan Chen get very high scores), and then go for his classic program, clean.

D: he can do it.

A. to bring the maximum he could in the free skate, that was my dream for the final, because it would have been a fantastic competition from any point of view. Hanyu made a mistake in the short, mistakes are part of the competitions, and it ended as it did, but... The result is right, what is the base concept though? That 334, right? New World record, that, for what I think, it’s not valid, it’s not confirmed by what has been done on the ice. I mean, we need to detract a lot of points. Even in this case, Nathan Chen would have won the competition.

D: There no doubt about it.

A: I hope I answered the question, you tell me... For Bracket/counter is something not possible, this leaves me speechless.

D: No, I mean

A: I mean, I think the question is wrong.

D: Yeah, they’re very different things, and I’m going to try to explain this as simply as I can: the peculiarity of the triple Axel that comes from a backward outside counter is the fact that the exiting edge of the counter, and I mean after the turn, after the difficult step that brings you from going backward to going forward, is the same edge where you have to start the Axel. It is possible to execute a bracket before the triple Axel, but it’s not on the foot from where the Axel starts, but on the other foot. When you have a bracket, you usually do it on a forward inner edge that puts you on the same curve, switching to the back outer edge, that is the typical preparation for the Axel, the one we all see, and then you turn and do your Axel, and it would still be a difficult entry, maybe Alex Takahashi, if I remember well, did this, so it’s possible to do that, but it’s a different thing. It’s very difficult, but maybe a little less difficult [than what Hanyu does] in my opinion. Just to explain this part.

P: And... Regarding Hanyu, people are asking if it’s true that he wants to change his technical staff, as he was alone in the Kiss&Cry.

A: No, okay, this must be explained. okay ay, for the Grand Prix final, each skater can be accompanied by only one person of his technical staff, so only one will be accredited. What happens? From Toronto, considering that there weren’t other Hanyu’s rinkmates qualified for the final, only one coach could leave, and the Japanese Federation didn’t put Orser’s name but Briand’s, who is, by the way, a person who is very close to Hanyu, he’s the person he probably spends most time with in Toronto, sort of a mentor. Orser explained this situation saying “I didn’t go, he (Briand) went because Yuzuru wanted to up the difficulty of the program, to up the technical score with more jumps, and Briand is the jump-specialist.

D: Yeah, he is.

A: You know it well, Angelo, you also did some stage with him, didn’t you?

D: Yes, I met Briand.

A: So, Orser not being there is linked to this situation, if Brown had got his qualification, as it would have been normal, Orser would have been with Briand, and it would have been better for everyone, because the coach’s role there is fundamental for the logistics and a lot of other small things. Then, Briand had problems with the flights, and he was stuck in Frankfurt, I think, and he arrived late, and Hanyu found himself alone to face the short program and the previous practice session, he made that mistakes, etc. The problem is that he was alone even for the successive practice session, the one of the day after the short program, and there, in the last fifteen minutes, he started trying quadruple Axels on top of each other, in some cases he was even able to complete the rotation and ended up falling badly, and those are not trivial, you can get hurt. If Brian Orser had been there, or Briand, probably nothing of that would have happened.

D: No…

A: He wouldn’t have started to practice the quadruple Axel at full speed, I don’t think the strategy for the free skate would have changed, because at that point he needed to go all in, he was 10 points behind, or something like that, and he had to risk everything he could. But probably, had Orser been there, some small situations would have been handled better but they’re not planning a change in the technical staff. Then, it’s clear that when a relationship lasts for a lot of years, there are highs and lows, aren’t there? It’s normal, but, as far as I know now [December 11th, 2019 TN] there’s nothing more than what I explained, we’ll see in the Japanese nationals who will be with Hanyu (who, by the way, hasn’t participated in the Japanese Nationals for quite a long time, for various reasons). Being there, alone, for such an important event, in a country you don’t know, and God knows what more, isn’t easy... No... Please, add something Angelo.

D: Yes, look, for sure we were all surprised to see him alone at the Kiss & Cry, but then it went exactly as you explained it. The problem is that it’s not easy to handle the emotions in these situations, and we all know Hanyu, and it’s true, what we saw at the practice at Palavela wouldn’t have happened if he had had his staff there. It’s a pity that things went that way, but we cannot go back. In the end Briand arrived, and he managed to fix some things, surely the Plan B had already been prepared, I honestly don’t think that the quadruple Axel had been, the one attempted in the practice, but, you know, those things can happen, but I think that Hanyu, in his interviews, has demonstrated times and times again his complete trust in the Toronto coaching staff, and I cannot see, or at least I don’t know of, problems in this sense. Besides, this union between Hanyu and the Toronto Cricket Club has surely bore fruits until now.

A: well, you know, we’re talking about two Olympic titles, besides two World championships titles, four Grand Prix Finals, etc, etc, etc. It is to be said, for those who are worried, that Hanyu lived the situation in a very serene manner, it’s sufficient to see his behaviour during the gala, when, at the end, he was one of the main protagonists, the pranks he did to the other skaters, the gags with the Russian female skaters, and more and more, but Hanyu is also this, and pay attention, because now a whole new game opens up, because what is to be tried, and I know Angelo won’t like this, it’s raising the BV of the short program. Because when that quadruple Lutz becomes a solid jump, everything changes. When the quadruple Loop is done smoothly, as it was, several times in practice, everything changes two times. Translated: we cannot imagine what’s in his mind, and this defeat, the second in a row against Nathan Chen, hurts, and he’ll probably do whatever he can not to have another one at the World Championship, where he is, “home”, as it’s in Canada. That Canada where finally he broke the taboo of the victory in the Grand Prix competition, in this season.

We can expect changes, that that free skate, as it’s planned, might become more stable in time, so that he may be able to skate properly the last part too, and I would like to make you think about the construction of the two programs, and I’d like to do this all together, because I think that from this point of view Nathan Chen is brilliant. Nathan Chen is score-machine. Why? Because it’s true that both Nathan Chen and Hanyu have five quadruple jumps, but Nathan Chen builds his free skate so that the most valuable elements, without the bonus, are all in the first part. Look at which the first three elements presented by Chen are, and look at the value of those elements. He starts with three big jumps, which he faces fresh, there’s not much between these elements because, I mean, doing a quadruple requires a lot of physical effort, mental too, but he completes them all. Sum up Nathan Chen’s first three elements: they are three absolutely difficult elements, and he manages to complete them, as they were nothing.

D: Fifty points.

A: more than fifty points, and from this point of view, the strategy is brilliant. What does Yuzuru do? Yuzuru is very attentive to everything regarding the BV, and he knows that his premise is that he hasn’t the quadruple Flip, so he backloads the programs, so that he can have all his combination jumps in the second part. For sure, though, when you get around the 3-minute mark, or beyond, and you have to jump a combination of quadruple Toeloop, Euler, triple Flip, (that Nathan Chen does too, but after 45 seconds); and a never-seen before in competition sequence of two triple Axels, which is terribly difficult (and yes, he is able to do even four of them in a row, but when he’s rested)

D: For sure!

A: And then that quadruple Toeloop, triple Toeloop that sometimes gives him problems. One day, I’d really like to tell you Hanyu’s story starting from the Junior competitions. The combination with the triple has always given him a few problems, even when he was younger. When he was young, very young, a child, 15/14 years old, he didn’t do it with a quadruple

D: Lutz, Toeloop

A: I remember when he competed in Italy in the Grand Prix, and we’re talking back of an era, he was constantly working in practice on Salchow/Toeloop, Flip/Toeloop.

D: Yes,

A: Because that year at Junior level I think [here the voices were too mixed, I didn’t get it, but I imagine they were talking about the compulsory jumps in Junior].

D: It was the Lutz

A: Exactly, so, that was his first Junior season, but in general, that is the element that, more or less, has often given him problems in several occasions. This does not mean that he can’t do a combination quadruple Toeloop/triple Toeloop, because when he does that, I mean, it’s exceptional. It’s clear that presenting it after three minutes is difficult. In Turin he did a quadruple Toeloop/double Toeloop, but he had other intentions. What I want to show you, though, is that if we analyse how the programs are built, we realize how much easier it is to get points with Nathan Chen’s program, isn’t it? Hanyu has a triple Lutz as third element in this moment, and he has a lot of elements in the last two minutes, while Nathan Chen’s distribution of the elements is much more balanced, and allows him to get more breath between a part and the other of the program, between an element and the other. This is where the people making the program for Nathan Chen are very good at it, don’t forget that. It’s clear that Yuzuru risks so much that when he completes everything, he is automatically ahead. So, when we think about the programs, let’s think that these little parts regarding how they’re built, especially in a moment when only the last three elements get the bonus.

D: Exactly, so it changed the game a lot.

A: Someone asked why Nathan Chen doesn’t do two triple Axels, he could gain more points with two triple Axels. The answer is no, he cannot get more points with two triple Axels, before the final he did two triple Axels and had one less quadruple, do you remember it? He gives the second triple Axel up, that would be the last jump in combination, probably with a double Toeloop. Why? And he cannot do that with a triple Toeloop, because that would mean repeating the triple Axel, that he is already doing as fourth element, what is his reasoning? I do, as first element, the quadruple with the triple, right? This quadruple is the Flip, in this case. Then I repeat two quadruple Toeloops, then I go to the last element: I have two options: Option A, very risky, triple Axel/double Toeloop, BV: 9.3? Something like that?

D: Yes, 9.3.

A: And then there’s the bonus

D: there’s the bonus

A: Option B: triple Lutz, that I haven’t done yet, and I get to repeat the triple Toeloop. BV, let’s sum it up: 5.9 + 4.2 or 4.3, whatever: it’s more than 10 points already. And there the brilliance of how the program is built is evident, why? Because of Nathan Chen’s qualities, this program with five quadruple jumps completed, is the one that can get as many points as possible.

D: in relation to how difficult the elements are, too.

A: And even regarding the difficulty, because doing a triple Lutz/triple Toeloop for Nathan Chen [both voices at the same time].

D: It’s easy as pie

A: after two and half minutes, it’s like playing. And that triple/triple becomes, considering the bonus, one of the most valuable elements in his program.

D: Exactly. It’s a paradox.

A: So, this is one of Nathan Chen’s great qualities. In order to defeat Nathan Chen, you have to surpass yourself. Then, if the judgement is fair [he used the English here], a lot of things can be different [both voices at the same time].

D: But it’s right to highlight the strategy. Nathan Chen’s strategy and program-building, they are studied in every detail, fit to their skater, and you have to tip your hat in front of a skater that is able to complete cleanly a program with five quadruple jumps, it’s not easy.

A: Sure. Come on, Francesco, go on with the questions, I think there are a few on this topic.

P: Well, I’d say that on the Men’s competition there’s not much more to say, there’s a lot on the Ladies’ skate, if we want to close.

D: it was magnificent.

P: Well, yeah, it was magnificent.

A: Well, on the Men’s skate, I’d like to go back for a few on the program components we talked about earlier. If we talk about the short program, I cannot think for Hanyu to be considered at the same level of Nathan Chen, on skating skills and transitions there’s no competition. Beyond the fact that in Turin he may have skated at the 80% of his potential and not at the 100%, you cannot even compare them, I don’t know what you think about it, Angelo. And those two voices are the not subjective ones, okay?

D: Exactly. Yes, we’ve talked a lot of times about this: there’s less room for subjectivity, if you may.

A: On the other scores, you can call subjectivity in question, someone may like Nathan Chen, someone might say “Mi arriva” [this is something along the line of “he moves me” and “I get him”], which is a term that... When I hear “Mi arriva”, I immediately get angry, okay ay? I don’t say it, other people do. In my opinion, that depends on the genre, on the style, depends on whatever you want... Maybe Hanyu has more room compared to Nathan Chen, so much that with a big mistake, still he’s ahead in all the components of the short program. Then, the difference should probably be higher. In the free skate in Turin, Hanyu simplified a lot.

D: Yes, this is to be underlined.

A: We need to remark this, and simplify a lot means going on the same level of the other, though.

D: And sure, sure, this might be a strategic mistake, even though, I don’t know, it’s difficult to evaluate, because in the end you need to complete a program with 4 or 5 quadruples, otherwise you have no ammo, you’re helpless. Hanyu has a big problem in this moment. The quadruple Lutz was exceptional, but he is usually less reliable on Lutz and Loop than Nathan Chen is (and demonstrated to be) on Flip and Lutz, and the game is there. Then, on whatever is left, you’re taking a risk, you’re raising the difficulty and start putting difficult entries left and right, it really risks to become too tiring, it’s a very subtle balance, but how Hanyu simplified his program on the transitions is evident to everyone, but he raised the technical difficulty really really a lot.

A: But this does not mean that he is behind Nathan Chen on this.

D: No, not behind. But the difference is not as much.

A: Exactly. Then, the transitions are not only about what you do with your feet

D: no, for sure.

Until 53:13

Min: 1:52:00

P. There was a question getting back to Hanyu

A: uh, let’s go back to Hanyu

P: Let’s go back to Hanyu: they’re asking what is the BV difference between the Free skate in Turin and the one in NHK [this was my question actually].

A: Okay, let’s talk about the Turin’s program he had in his mind, what he wanted to skate and couldn’t because there were some small mistakes. I’d say there were... Almost ten points between BV and GOE, I only take into consideration the maximum you can get by summing the BV and GOE with all +5. So, there were 10 point, 9.70/9.50, something like that. The BV + GOE in Turin was, I think, 142.23, go and check, but from what I remember, it was something like that, while in the Grand Prix competitions it was slightly less than 133, so that’s the different, and it was a fundamental difference to catch up with Nathan Chen, he knew that Nathan Chen would be going from four quadruples to five, and so to balance the situation, he needed to create that program, and its difficulty is completely crazy.

Min 1:54:35

P: I have also seen... this is a consideration more than a question. Having seen them skating live, I have to say that Trusova’s jumps are not only definitely higher than Chen’s, the Toeloop is basically as high as Hanyu’s, but she also has a way better ice coverage, plus she skates on one foot.

A: Oh, they, this is an interesting thing I wanted to day: when we talked about Hanyu’s skating being more tiring, in general, it’s because, yes, there are more segments on one foot only, but there’s also a bigger ice coverage that, in theory, should be considered for the composition score.

D: Yes.

A: Someone consider it in the skating skills, but in my opinion

D: it’s not correct.

A: I’d say no, rather than yes, but it’s in Composition that you have to judge that score. Chen is not the only one to have limits of that kind, even if he improved, if you look with attention at Zagitova’s, I’d say Medvedeva’s too, it’s not like they have a lot of ice coverage. A ladies’ skater who has an important ice coverage is Miyahara, and Rika Kihira too, I’d say. Kostornaia, Hanyu, and, okay Hanyu is so... Hanyu takes care of this kind of details on his own, he calculates everything, the contrary would be surprising, but this is a very intelligent consideration, I’m happy that we have such a profound audience following us, I mean, it makes us proud.

#figure skating #yuzuru hanyu #massimiliano ambesi #angelo dolfini #transcription #translation #grand prix final 2019 #ISU Judging System

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incarnateirony · 5 years

Text

S15 Spec/Discussion

So when the SPHT came out we all got to talking and I had some Thoughts(tm). Some of it is wildly speculatory but potential and interesting. I love the thinkie beans in my server.

I love our little roundtable of speculation and meta that routinely crops up, sometimes I feel like we should record it and make a podcast.

Charlie BreadbutteryYesterday at 9:34 PM

IM YELLING SO MUCH YELLING “you cant do this to the fans!” ��i can do anything. im a writer.” FUCKING CHILLS

Leaf is a kittyYesterday at 9:36 PM

Jared's evil smirk has murdered me

Charlie BreadbutteryYesterday at 9:38 PM

yesssss

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:38 PM

So we have Sam in a white suit MoC

Charlie BreadbutteryYesterday at 9:38 PM

btw chucks lame ending is hilarious

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:38 PM

The colt

CastielYesterday at 9:39 PM

THAT WAS A THIng

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:39 PM

G L O R I F I E D F A N B O Y

CastielYesterday at 9:39 PM

I came out of aladdin to that

Charlie BreadbutteryYesterday at 9:39 PM

IM SCREAMING

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:39 PM

Adam and most likely Michael taking in a diner Talking

CastielYesterday at 9:39 PM

Psfuck what anybody says the new aladdin is amazing

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:39 PM

Scruffy endverse Dean

CastielYesterday at 9:40 PM

I jave never Ever Seen such masterful seaming of cartoonverse cgi To real actorsHoly fuck me

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:40 PM

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT ALADDIN RIGHT NOW

Leaf is a kittyYesterday at 9:40 PM

LMAO

CastielYesterday at 9:40 PM

I CAN DO BOTH LOOK

Leaf is a kittyYesterday at 9:40 PM

I AGREE ABOUT ALADDIN

CastielYesterday at 9:40 PM

YOU DONT UNDERSTAND I WISH I WENT TO THAT SHIT HIGH

Leaf is a kittyYesterday at 9:41 PM

but JARED SMIRK IS MURDERING MEI CAN'T STOP LOOKING BACK AT THE VIDEO FOR IT

CastielYesterday at 9:41 PM

Yeah i intend to watch on pc when i canIm mobile rn

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:41 PM

And of course the crypt door being held shut with a screwdriver As direct14.10 parallel

CastielYesterday at 9:41 PM

Like we literally just left aladdin hence the yelling Yes yes Ive got him Im the cage Etc

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:42 PM

GlorifiedFanboy Is that not what I said friggin months ago?!

CastielYesterday at 9:42 PM

On brand a+ dean from whoever wrote that Ill guess Bobo or buckner For glorified fanboy line

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:43 PM

What? Do they read our tweets?

Charlie BreadbutteryYesterday at 9:43 PM

lol

CastielYesterday at 9:43 PM

Bobo reads mine a lot?

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:43 PM

I stg I heard that line and almost screamed

CastielYesterday at 9:43 PM

I never did upload his nerdy video to me in hindsight

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:44 PM

Interesting that they didn't use a single shot of Alex

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:44 PM

No AlexAt all

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:44 PM

So it's not gonna be just a hallucination with burnt out eyes No Billie either

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:45 PM

No empty

CastielYesterday at 9:45 PM

No its full on chuck villain framing its my sound of war vid with s15 footage dhdhdhd

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:46 PM

Yeah well it all blended into inky black at the end But that's hardly conclusive

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:46 PM

True

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:46 PM

Since that happens a lot in trailers

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:46 PM

Maybe that’s for later in the season Or Maybe it’s a big secret

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:46 PM

10 bucks says they abandoned the Cas deal And that's the hill I die on

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:47 PM

Bc that’s how they fight Chuck? They can’t abandon that already It’s too fresh

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:48 PM

To me it read as a gateway to the Empty getting Jack

CastielYesterday at 9:48 PM

Placing bets now. Ep 1-3 is deancas tension over mary and jack and feeling distanced from the winchesters leaves eps 4 and 5. We know he works with sam at least briefly in 6. Deancas reunion in 7 midseason scheduled for 8 or 9. Deancas resolution then

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:48 PM

Before they knew for sure

CastielYesterday at 9:48 PM

Midseason finale whatever theyre keeping in the door

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:48 PM

That it was their final season To possibly stretch the plot accordeon

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:49 PM

Maybe final battle is with the empty and not chuck

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:49 PM

But now they've lost the need for a middle man ie Cas Nah

CastielYesterday at 9:49 PM

Id need more than a promo trailer to figure out if resolving cas is midseason or endgame

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:49 PM

Is amara coming back?

CastielYesterday at 9:49 PM

Yes

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:50 PM

Dabb confirmed it's early

CastielYesterday at 9:50 PM

And deans weird old friend

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:50 PM

She wasn’t there either

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:50 PM

Yeah 15.02 I think Or 04? Very early

CastielYesterday at 9:50 PM

Its as much a mood piece as a trailer

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:50 PM

Was that Becky talking to Chuck?

CastielYesterday at 9:51 PM

Yes

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:51 PM

I think so

CastielYesterday at 9:51 PM

You cant do this to the fans

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:51 PM

ITS GLORIOUS

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:51 PM

It sounded like her

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:51 PM

It’s her

CastielYesterday at 9:51 PM

We knew she was coming back Well

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:51 PM

Yea

CastielYesterday at 9:51 PM

Speculated educatedly

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:51 PM

I’m so mad! I was just about to go to bed!

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:51 PM

When even the crazed fangirl looks sane by comparison

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:52 PM

And they dropped this

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:52 PM

Yeah I’ll never sleep now

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:52 PM

I HAVE TO

CastielYesterday at 9:52 PM

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:52 PM

Nah I'll head to bed in a few

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:52 PM

No. No sleep

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:52 PM

I’ve gotten no sleep the past three days

CastielYesterday at 9:52 PM

Points if they still frame it for a swipe at the bronlies like all the other becky jokes

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:52 PM

I find the fixation on the fan angle a bit weird

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:52 PM

Yaaaaassssss

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:53 PM

It seemed framed that way to me Min

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:53 PM

All the bronly jokes pls

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:53 PM

But maybe I’m just reading it with my own bias

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 9:53 PM

But it's only 2 pieces of Chuck dialogue so

CastielYesterday at 9:53 PM

Yeah

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 9:54 PM

And he’s a melodramatic fuck

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:54 PM

I’ll forever want to refer to him as “glorified fanboy” Put it on a shirt

CastielYesterday at 9:55 PM

God imagine chuck bringing back kevin as his prophet to take down his word as the gospel of winchester is designed to end only in being felled, and only by the glory of god. He cant finish off his own book to print the new gospel

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:56 PM

Here to say fuck you chuck

CastielYesterday at 9:57 PM

What if we big bounce and he dubs adam the new michael since we saw jack. Can convert humans to angels

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:57 PM

Megalomaniacal Michael?

CastielYesterday at 9:58 PM

Kicking down the castles in his own sandbox as revelations told before, before men found the new gospel of the glory of god. Revelations might not be a prophecy. It may be history.

Lissa JoYesterday at 9:59 PM

Interesting

CastielYesterday at 9:59 PM

Wildly speculatory and just playing but

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:00 PM

Oh the adam Michael idea

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:01 PM

I'm very glad about Chuck being in early episodes Adam is 100% gonna be Michael Cause all the summaries made it sound Like they weren't utilizing him

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:03 PM

It does sound like OG Michael is gonna be a real issue and it makes sense for it to be Adam

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:03 PM

CastielYesterday at 10:09 PM

WHICH THEY MYSTERIOUSLY PLUGGED AT THE END OF THE SEASON

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:10 PM

Yeah but he'd still be Adam and not Michael Just

CastielYesterday at 10:10 PM

if michael is useless to chuck as is, which he may or may not have been lying about MAKEA NEW

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:10 PM

Archangel Adam

CastielYesterday at 10:10 PM

MICHAEL YES

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:10 PM

Oh Doesn't fit with the pic above tho

CastielYesterday at 10:10 PM

Find another Eve. Oh look universal big bounce and I have a new mythology jazz hands Or better a Lilith Also this is literally unstoppable force immovable object logic if chuck can't destroy the human soulzapping the winchesters to death is just a stall game of exhausting futility they've proven they will inevitably doorkick down every afterlife or wherever they're cycled to what if there's like a hilariously extreme mystery spot where you see mini adventures out of whatever afterlife but eventually justtruncated to ridiculous extremes Chuck: -_-

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:18 PM

Like that's a given with all the scattered bits. Either Lucifer Sam and MoC Dean etc become big plot points Or they're part of Redux Mystery Spot

CastielYesterday at 10:18 PM

side eyes hidden mytharc uh

CastielYesterday at 10:18 PM

I really hope we didn't get the MOC Dean thing too close rip

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:19 PM

Why did you have to connect those two promo subplots for meW h y

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:20 PM

Also Cas next to that burnt up body I hope it isn't just Victim Of The Week

CastielYesterday at 10:20 PM

I'm wondering about the "arrogant betrayal" promo line on ep... 3 is it?

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:21 PM

Yeah

CastielYesterday at 10:21 PM

Is it gonna be meaningful or is this like

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:21 PM

Nah

CastielYesterday at 10:21 PM

bringing back Sergei

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:21 PM

PR vagueblog

CastielYesterday at 10:21 PM

from his Byzantium bullshit

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:21 PM

The BL ep is 15.02 tho

CastielYesterday at 10:22 PM

authors sometimes soak up impact of -- oh no

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:22 PM

What

CastielYesterday at 10:23 PM

okay so let's pretend say, bobo or whoever wanted to finish up buckleming's plot point, or at least partially since it's the tie up season, but they knew they had to write misha out for a few episodes and with deancas tensions driving Cas away already, throwing out a Going For Revenge That Will Backfire spin before storming out for a few eps

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:24 PM

But then it would be Dean not being able to forgive the "betrayal"It's gotta be something else Watch it be like

CastielYesterday at 10:24 PM

the betrayal vague blog is about sergei in that thing

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:24 PM

Kevin working for Chuck

CastielYesterday at 10:24 PM

it's the phrasing "arrogant" that catches me

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:25 PM

Most vague summaries hardly fit the actual plot points anyway It's just to sound mysterious

CastielYesterday at 10:25 PM

no but it would be easier to simply not apply an adjective "Castiel deals with a betrayal" is still vague

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:25 PM

Yeah but adjectives give oomph

CastielYesterday at 10:26 PM

arrogant is an odd idea for even the vague bloggiest vague blogger to tilt towards after skimming the content so I really doubt it's like kevin being forced to betray them or something like thatso unless it's about chuck himself, unlikely just too early for that level of RAAA

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:28 PM

Oh right didn't Misha say Cas struggles with this new Chuck reveal

CastielYesterday at 10:28 PM

well yeah thats kinda a duh

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:28 PM

I think the arrogant betrayal is in reference to Chuck

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:29 PM

So maybe it's just oddly phrasing that Yea

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:29 PM

It’s a kinda weird phrasing imo

CastielYesterday at 10:29 PM

like on the one hand cas knows Chuck isn't father of the year so I think on a personal level it's not surprising, it's more the existential level for him previously chuck was a shit dad that was just trying his best in a world far too easy to do his worst, even as god, thinking he was generally trying to be inherently good

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:30 PM

I hope Megatron comes back :)

CastielYesterday at 10:30 PM

that last scrap of faith is also kind of critically attached to his very existance because if god is evil and part of this cruel design what has his entire pre-winchester existence been, and even waxing and waning through it in his time with them

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:31 PM

Yeah I think deep down part of his core sense of self is the idea that he comes from the side of good

CastielYesterday at 10:31 PM

the fundamental loss of "god is good" is kinda quantifiably huger to him, whereas the humans more will have to grapple with "What is free will, did we ever have it"

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:31 PM

And this rips that away

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:32 PM

Unrelated but the promo sorta Nulls the early human Cas idea

CastielYesterday at 10:32 PM

yeah I noticed that, but it was odd

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:33 PM

Yeah I agree

CastielYesterday at 10:33 PM

i'm putting down at least foreshadowing then

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:33 PM

Unless they pulled all of the Misha footage From like ep 1 and 2

CastielYesterday at 10:33 PM

or chuck playing with the light switch for shits and giggles

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:33 PM

He does still have that shotgun

CastielYesterday at 10:33 PM

we know cas has his coat back in like

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:33 PM

Watch Cas come back from his sabbatical

CastielYesterday at 10:33 PM

idkwe've seen him with it back

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:33 PM

With his grace ripped out

CastielYesterday at 10:34 PM

put it in a karambit i mean what

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:34 PM

Snort

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:34 PM

NOT SURE MISHA CAN HANDLE THAT Like on a pure choreography level

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:34 PM

Are you suggesting Misha isnt grace itself?For shame

Dean WinchesterYesterday at 10:35 PM

Not at all COUGH He has a cat-like agility

Mary BADASS WinchesterYesterday at 10:35 PM

LIKE A CAT

CastielYesterday at 10:38 PM

KSJDFksjdf I think younger misha could have but knowing he's always at risk of blowing out his hip probably not so much now like I feel that limitation in my soul

GarthToday at 6:17 AM

Okay so I don't think Amara is a made up character. I think she is Chuck's sister for real (or whatever they claim as siblings) but he used his story to trap her. Help fuel his plot.

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:17 AM

Like to me personally the option of Amara being made up has the best potential for an IC Chuck plot twist Esp since I still hold the idea that he lied about the universe going splat with his death"Writers lie"/"I'm a writer, I can do anything"

GarthToday at 6:18 AM

Well he did admit he's a liar rubs hands together This is gonna be so much fun

Charlie BreadbutteryToday at 6:19 AM

GOD THAT LINE THO

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:19 AM

And that would be a Dabb level retroactive canon ramification Which is sorta his thing

GarthToday at 6:19 AM

Mwahahahaha and he said said to Becky while she went on about "you can't do this to the fans!"

Charlie BreadbutteryToday at 6:19 AM

they make sense at least

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:20 AM

But I'm not sure they wanna go the route of Stripping a female character of her entire agency for male pleasure But I don't see a whole lot of options on how they take Amara out of the playing field Unless Chuck deadass eats her for the joint Godhead

GarthToday at 6:21 AM

Honestly he just might

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:22 AM

But that's like DBZ power level bullshit

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:26 AM

AU!Dean who's a baddy pls

GarthToday at 6:26 AM

Damn trailer successfully tripping us up

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:27 AM

Deadass just have pull the jackass from the 5.04 reality Maybe that's why Lucifer Sam is tied to a chair as well Like Chuck just put him in white clothes to paint a big target for endverse!Dean And it's actually just Sam

Charlie BreadbutteryToday at 6:28 AM

yeah that was my thought too

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:28 AM

BUT THAT IS THE SORTA SPECC THAT'S USUALLY TOO VAGUE FOR ME ALREADY And was that Singer Salvage?

GarthToday at 6:28 AM

We're just throwing things out there and laughing It looked like it might be

Charlie BreadbutteryToday at 6:29 AM

BEN JUST LET LOOSE BUD ITS OK

GarthToday at 6:29 AM

But the new building is throwing it off

Charlie BreadbutteryToday at 6:29 AM

THE CRACKIEST SPEC THE BETTER

GarthToday at 6:29 AM

Something else could have been built thoIt's been yrs

Dean WinchesterToday at 6:29 AM

LOOK MY WHOLE THING IS DOING ANALYSES BY GATHERING EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS MY ARGUMENT IT'S SEARED INTO MY BRAIN More cage imagery

12 notes · View notes

nicol3houghts · 5 years

Text

STOP WATCHING THE OFFICE: other things to watch this summer

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ZIE OFFICE!! But as much as it pains me to say, the office isn’t a personality trait, so I’ve decided to make a list (e.g. Buzzfeed lists) of my top 16 recommendations for TV and podcasts to watch and listen to—since we all need to stop being basic bitches and FOCUS!

I hope you listen to me when I say these shows are amazing and actually watch them if you have the time. I'm doing this because I care about you and your TV preferences.

I'll break it up by streaming service, starting with Netflix then Hulu, YouTube, then Podcasts last.

*I apologize in advance for the lousy grammar and lack of editing, but also not really sorry bout it.

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

On NETFLIX:

1. Arrested Development

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 91

Hours to Binge: 35

Okay, number one on my list is Arrested development. A lot of people I talk to, especially in my age range, don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, but this show is GENIUS... on G*D. I’ve watched it around four times now, and each time it gets better and better. I read somewhere that it was created as a satire of Bush-era incompetence and idiotic hanky-panky during the Iraq war. But at its heart, the show’s about a rich family with four adult children—who are all goofy and quirky. Their dad get’s thrown in jail for doing business with terrorists or something like that and Micheal Bluth (Jason Bateman) has to get them out of weird ass situations.

youtube

Above is one of my favorite scenes (Best clip I could find on youtube!!).

This show has a LOT of jokes and long running bits that you kind of have to pay attention to to get the storyline. It’s hella META, and at times, can be really weird (see George Micheal Bluth and Maeby Fünke’s little Les Cousins Dangereux). In conclusion, however, Jason Bateman is hot, Micheal Cera is hot, and Tony Hale is ~super~ hot.

P.S. a lot of memes come from this show that you would know but don’t know that it’s from this show.

2. The Haunting of Hill House

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 10

Hours to binge: 9

youtube

Scary as f*ck! Do not watch yourself or u will die. I warned you.

I'm not going to spoil it too much, but it's about a family living in a spooky house and crazy ass shit keeps happening to them. They eventually move out, but even 20 years after--when the kids are all adults--the haunting of the house follows them.

There's even a 17 min scene that they shot in one shot!!!!!!!! That's wiLD.

3. Schitt's Creek

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 66

Hours to binge: 25

Yet another show about a rich family loosing all their money. A bit different than Arrested Development. This show is about a rich ass family loosing all their money and resorting to live in Schitt's Creek--a town in Nowhere, U.S.A. the family bought as a JOKE. It's a really easy watch. The characters in this show are SO un-relatable and mean it's hilarious--only if u f*ck wit dry humor tho.

Here's my favorite character, Alexis Rose just being iconic:

youtube

Give it a try, the first few episodes are rocky, but it gets better. That's a guarantee.

4. American Vandal

Number of Seasons: 2

Number of Episodes: 16

Hours to binge: 9

A lot of people already probs watch this show, but it's honestly so beautifully written. The show is an homage to Making a Murderer, a true crime mockumentary of sorts. It follows two guys, Sam and Peter as they try to figure out a mystery: WHO DREW D*CKS ON THE TEACHER'S CARS?

Also, JIMMY TATRO!!!!!

Season 2 follows a different crime and it's... it's poopy.

5. Mindhunter

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 10

Hours to binge: 9

YUH. Just started this, already on ep. 8, very interesting. Mindhunter is about the first FBI agents to use profiling to catch serial killers. THE CHARACTERS IN THIS SHOW WALKED SO THAT HOTCH AND REID COULD RUN.

This show is no joke and based on true serial killers like the coed killer, the shoe fetish killer, and BTK, it's very.... very creepy.

ALWAYS carry pepper spray on ya, that's fer sher.

6. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

pinot noir, caviar

7. John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid

eat ass, suck a dick, and sell drugs

8. The Good Place

is it really the good place?

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

On Hulu:

9. Broad City

Number of Seasons: 5

Number of Episodes: 50

Hours to binge: 18

One of the greatest television series of all time about two baller best fraaands who get into the schemes of the century in New York City. Illana, a ferocious kween wit ZERO f*cks, and Abbi, an aspiring artiste with a great ass. The two work min-wage jobs in NYC (so they're broke) and they're just trying to find luv and a good bacon egg and cheese.

Think Sex and the City but fresh and new and wild. Abbi and Ilana's dialogue and schemes are relatable af, it makes it seem like you're there with them. Their co-dependency is so powerful... yet at moments, a lil destructive. I once had a friendship like this.. and let me tell you... co-dependency is a wild ride.

youtube

Some of the funniest scenes in this show is just of them talking on the street. Sometimes, when I'm walking with my friends, I pretend like I'm in the show lol.

I recommend you start from beginning to end because of the endless callbacks and running gags, but if not start with season 3, episode 7 B&B-NYC. Blake Griffin is in it.

10. Community

Number of Seasons: 6

Number of Episodes: 110

Hours to binge: 41

What can I say about this show to make you watch it? Well first of all the fact that Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) is in it should already have you clicking over to Hulu by now.

Community is about seven quirky misfits: a disbarred lawyer, a failed housewife, an activist everyone hates, a racist old man, a stupid jock who lost his sports scholarship, a high-strung know-it-all who took too much adderall, and abed. They all end up at Greendale Community College with a phsyco spanish teacher and a colorful dean.

This show is kind of a parody of a sitcom, and it is VERY meta--often referring to themselves as TV show characters. The seven get into hilarious adventures and obstacles along the way. The show also genre hops from time to time. For example, they have a whole pillow fort vs. blanket fort episode (Pillows and Blankets, season 3, episode 4) in a Ken Burns documentary style, an episode in claymation for Christmas (Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas, season 2, episode 11), and a bunch of paintball episodes in style of Quentin Tarantino and StarWars.

Again, you should start at the beginning, but if you want to get into it quickly, I really loved Pillows and Blankets (season 3, episode 4).

11. The Mindy Project

As a "petite asian woman" who is not petite, this show is very relatable. About finding love and eating good in the big apple.

P.S. If you don't like Kelly from the office, you're dead 2 m3.

12. Brooklyn 99

Cool. coolcoolcoolcool. Jake Peralta is the greatest detective/genius.

13. Superstore

If Walmart and the office had a baby and it was incompetent.

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

On YouTube and Facebook Watch:

14. The Real Bros of Simi Valley

Number of Seasons: 2

Number of Episodes: 14

Hours to binge: 4

You straight up know these guys, fool. Four stoner/burn-outs who think your hometown's Mexican food is the best in the world. Amazingly written and surprisingly good acting. Lightweight lowkey thought they were speaking another language at first.

Jimmy Tatro, Cody Ko, Getter, and Nick Colletti. What more do you want? LITERALLY WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?

The unnecessary drama and endless quotable jokes in this show leads you wanting more with only 14 episodes totaling at around four hours.

Watch the first season YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcPQVipNAw

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

Podcasts:

15. Tiny Meat Gang

Aha hah bro last night was a movie bro ON GOD.

Noel Miller and Cody Ko talk about literally anything, but goofy. I can listen to them talk for straight up hours.

I usually listen on Apple Podcasts, but you can also watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/ZCMs4FrC_c0

Just start listening, bro.

16. My Favorite Murder

No shade to Codel, but My Favorite Murder is my all time favorite podcast. Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark are two hilarious women who love murder. Not murdering, but the psychology of murderers and survivors. Each Thursdays each of them tell a story about a murder. They don't make fun of murders, but it's their banter that makes it fun to listen to.

If you're a fan of true crime at all, please listen so I have more people to talk about it with. shouts outs Jenna for putting me on to the show!

Here are my favorite episodes!

*tip: skip the first 15-20 min to the first murder when first listening.

150: How Dare You Kill Kelli

The Hanging of Alice Riley and The Murder of Reyena Marroquin

131: The Uninhibited

The Murder of Standford White and The Case of the Boys on the Tracks

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paperclipninja · 5 years

Text

Younger post-ep ramble 6x03

This week’s episode of Younger, ‘The Unusual Suspect’, was a big one. No scenes felt wasted, each one moving the story along and it all felt very purposeful. Despite some capital H hotness and really light and funny moments being scattered throughout, mostly thanks to fave (and only) NYC agent Redmond and the resurrection of some truly classic Diana Trout, there was definitely the sense of tension on the rise. It’s been simmering since the end of this season’s first episode and I feel like this week we have hit an apex.

We open with brunch at Maggie’s and what one can only assume is a time jump (either that or Clare has recovered remarkably well from birthing a baby the size of a four month old) and right away an overarching theme for this episode is established, as Lauren enters raving about the latest hit podcast, Exonerated. I’m gonna come straight out and say that I am so into this premise. The excitement around the table sounded like the break room in my office most days, they definitely nailed the trend of true crime fixation. It immediately allowed for Maggie’s quip about white women loving murder, a delightful array of OTT facial expressions from Liza and Kelsey dropping in that Millennial will be meeting with Audrey Colbert, subject of the podcast, to nab her book before anyone else does. Of course the other big news is that Josh and Clare appear to be happily family-ing it up (though mommy wipes, daddy dipes = vom in my mouth a little bit) and Maggie is dealing with unresolved BoUBT (Back of Uber Birth Trauma). Lauren’s vow to help get Maggie back on the ‘h for hunt’ once again epitomises why I love her character so and I want to record her sympathetic ‘oh Divaaa’ as my ringtone. I just love that Maggie, of all characters, is the one who seems like she should be the most pragmatic when it comes to something like birth yet her coping level is zero here.

You know who else wasn’t coping? Me and my Liza and Charles loving heart as Liza suddenly up and left the brunch because she ‘was late for a thing’, cue the scene that was released as a sneak peek last week that I have definitely only watched a normal number of times *cough*. The set up for The Rubin Museum from the opening conversation was fab and the fact that Charles and Liza are using the podcast to frame up a role play situation is just too much. Obviously I had seen the scene prior to the ep and while it is certainly *insert flames here*, I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like not to have expected it (actual combustion probable). I mean regardless, I will never think about a trip to the museum in the same way again. The voice-over narrating what we were seeing was such a great device that is really different to anything the show has done before, it built the anticipation of what was playing out and it felt like a scene from a movie. The moment when Charles turned and came face to face with Liza was a great reminder of how electric the chemistry between these two can be (actual lightening bolts were sighted) and quite frankly, seeing these characters being adventurous and lustful in their relationship is a yes on all fronts. I think the fact it all took place in a place of intellect and culture was extra fitting, it somehow kept the whole thing true to the characters and I am here for the #nerdlove.

The office drama was amped this whole ep and that of course was largely due to the ever growing reign of our season 6 villain, Quinn. With the time jump since last episode confirmed by the fact that Quinn’s book is both published and sitting on the best seller list, Kelsey and Diana’s first encounter with Quinn as she uses the WiFi for a conference call included a) Diana saying goodbye in Mandarin, which was yet another lovely tidbit to add to this character while also setting up the classic Diana we got throughout this ep and; b) some of the best fashion and hairstyles all in one scene (and episode as a whole) ever. I mean the fashion on this show is always next level but this episode in particular took it up a notch: Diana’s high-neck printed electric blue top and Kelsey’s hair/makeup/outfit in the conference room were so stunning I was actually distracted by them.

Kelsey’s office refurb was also noted, loved Liza’s ‘set it (Claw) on fire’ comment and of course, Diana telling Kelsey that now she is publisher, maybe she should stop speaking like a trucker was D. Trout golden line no.1 for this episode. Even better was seeing Kelsey, Diana and Liza settling into this new way of working. I adore the dynamic between these three and the way we’re seeing Diana adjust to her former assistant now being a peer without a fuss is why this show is so wonderful. It would have been easy to have Diana trying to assert herself and maintain some sort of authority, but to see her just want to get on with the work and do the best job she can gives a great credibility to the notion that this character is the best in the industry. I could pretty much write out every Diana Trout line from ‘The Unusual Suspect’ and leave this entire ramble at that (’why is everybody in this country obsessed with true crime? Actual people have died and they’re selling branded beanies on Etsy’ LOLLLLL) but I would then need to do that for Redmond because the fave one and only agent in NYC was back this week and as always, he was in fine form.

The pitch of Audrey Colbert’s book is up there with the funniest scenes of this series, from the creepy af Audrey (A+ casting of Willa Fitzgerald) to Liza and Kelsey trying to play it cool while being hella freaked out to Redmond’s attempt to present a compelling pitch being railroaded by Audrey’s ‘crippling lack of media training’, it was Younger writing and delivery at its finest from start to finish. Seeing Redmond so unnerved by Audrey was unnerving in itself and really, I am so happy with the amount of Michael Urie in this episode. Our next encounter was of course when Kelsey and Liza interrupt his infrared sauna treatment (again, so many hilarious lines, I really feel that a transcript of the entire episode is about the only way to do it justice but may be problematic to pass off as a recap/review…or would it?) and discover that Audrey’s book is being shopped around thanks to the dagger next to Claw on the bestseller list, which = bulk sales = dodgy business = Chinese bots tweeting = Quinn is the worst (math doesn’t lie) = Audrey doesn’t want to be associated with anything suspicious on account of the fact she’s been accused of murdering two ppl (fair). I do want to back this truck up a little though to the way Kelsey and Liza discovered their next big hit was being pitched to half the major publishing houses around town.

Diana Trout hobbling into the office on crutches before dropping the bomb that her injury was the result of being so frazzled upon hearing the news re: Audrey going elsewhere, that she got caught up in her reformer (just go and re-watch this scene, you will not be sorry) is everything I never knew I wanted to see. The reference to Jackie Dunn, who you may remember has been a longstanding nemesis of sorts of Diana’s, was such an utter delight as a long time fan and once again, seeing Kelsey, Liza and Diana all equally vexed by the news was so great and continued to solidify them as a team. I promise no more direct quotes* (*this is a very loose promise), but ‘postpone the power-trip Kelsey, I am handicapped’ in response to Kelsey’s stunned expression upon Diana’s request for espresso, is so outrageously funny and makes this whole scene an absolute stand out on account of its hilarity.

I missed Lauren and Diana interacting this week, however I appreciated seeing Lauren be the wonderful friend she is to Maggie and Josh. Taking Maggie to the support group obviously allowed us to meet Beth, who Maggie engaged for some one on one tutoring (looking forward to seeing where that goes this season) after returning to the store to apologise for running out during the group session. While Maggie was lining up her ongoing therapy, Lauren and Josh shared a sweet and heartfelt moment that highlights why their friendship is such a lovely one on this show. Obviously Josh had told Lauren that he and Clare had a moment that made him think, ‘maybe we should make this relationship work’ and Lauren is following up to see where his head and heart are at.

I absolutely loved said scene between Clare and Josh, when he had finally settled the baby, asks Clare if she wants to go to her bed and then joins her on the floor when she says she sleeps where she can now. There was such a sense of unity and care and it made my heart swell. So in his discussion with Lauren we also find out the baby is named Gemma (last name TBC, for both father and daughter) and when pressed about what he actually wants, Josh reveals that he doesn’t think he and Clare are right for each other. I have said it before, but for all the wacky that Lauren can be, she is the most incredible friend who only wants the best for those around her in such a relentless and genuine way and this scene really highlighted that once again (the line about her dad having such a little bottom though brought us straight back to Lauren light in the best possible way).

The divorce proposal was such a great scene and while I was hoping that perhaps Clare and Josh could work things out, I am thrilled to see that the writers put both these characters on the same page right from the get go. I love that this show constantly bucks stereotypes and expectations of how certain characters and relationships will play out, so to see two adults who have an agreed desire to put their child first but know they need to do so outside a romantic relationship is something really unique on television. I have always enjoyed Josh and Clare’s dynamic and I hope we get to see a real, loving co-parenting arrangement play out.

Kelsey’s interaction with Zane when she is buying a bottle of Dom Perignon to celebrate scoring Audrey’s book (eek!) is my favourite interaction of theirs this season. Their banter was really effortless, Zane’s, ‘you’re not listening’, as he pulled out the cash to pay for the one remaining bottle smooth and a little bit over confident, but really played up that he has something in the works that is legit. I especially love that we later discover both are buying champagne to celebrate the same win. I feel like we also need to stop and appreciate that they were about to drop $400 between them on two bottles of bubbles like it was no big deal. What is this life? How do I get it?

Though admittedly Kelsey deserves a nice glass of something this ep considering all that she is dealing with. I have made no secret that I have struggled with Kelsey’s character these past couple of seasons and no one is more surprised than me at how much I am getting on board with her this season. Kelsey calling out Quinn point blank that she faked her best seller was so good to watch and seeing Liza backing her up and standing her own ground made this extra satisfying. Gah, I just LOVE how Laura Benanti plays Quinn and her stating that ‘the money is real, what else do you need?’ is so cold and matter-of-fact. What I love most about this whole confrontation is that it immediately made me think back to the first time we met Quinn - her whole presentation was about the fact that no one wants your success more than you do and that women helping women is actually holding women back. That right there should’ve been the red flag that her “helping” Liza and Kelsey was not legit.

And so her true motivation for investing in Empirical becomes evident. It had nothing to do with saving an ailing publishing house, it was to ensure her book would be published, she could have some control over how big it would become and be seen to have the support of a reputable publishing house, all in order to gain name recognition so she could successfully run for Senate. In her mind, Kelsey and Liza benefit from the whole thing financially so it’s a win win but she also holds the power so feels like she has the upper hand. Which is why the scene at The Cut (which is so fab, the looks Quinn shoots Kelsey are searing), when audience members question the dagger next to her book, is so damn satisfying. Kelsey’s move to announce Quinn’s run for Senate is so bold, I am very on board and boy oh boy Kels, I think you’ve got yourself quite the adversary. I was very much Liza watching this all unfold, shocked, impressed and a little bit scared for and of Kelsey and what this all means.

Now Liza was late to the event because she was living out the next chapter of the podcast at the Brownstone which we need to discuss, however I first owe some of you an apology. At the end of last week’s ramble I suggested you may need a fire blanket at the ready after seeing the museum scene sneak peek to you know, contain the flames. I fear some of you may have deployed it prematurely (this is not a euphemism though I am very aware it sounds like one) in response to how damn hot that scene was, but I was not to know that we were going to get this later scene, in which Liza just wanders into the townhouse BECAUSE SHE HAS A FREAKING KEY (suspected ep 2, confirmed ep 3, appreciated always) and decides to have a good old snoop at her bf’s mail. Similar to the museum scene, this set up felt more like a movie than a typical Younger episode. There was an ominous weight to it; the music, the lighting, the Charles padding silently up behind her (barefoot again?) and the tension was palpable.

Liza asks Charles about what’s going on, he provides a vague answer about moving some things around before asking her if she’s listened to chapter 7 of Exonerated, which conveniently mirrors almost exactly what just occurred, with Audrey’s ex finding her going through his things. Ok, so this is where it gets tricky for me. This entire exchange, from the way these two fall into that speaking in third person and wrapping a narrative around themselves, the way Charles wraps his arms around her, the way they look at each other, I mean, this whole thing makes my heart spontaneously combust because it is sexy and flirty, dripping with desire and just really really hot *reaches for backup fire blanket*. But then Liza is clearly distracted by that letter and Charles’ deflection and part of me is wondering why on Earth she isn’t pressing him harder for an answer or following up, I mean, we saw how open they were with one another last season, but then the other part of me looks at Liza and thinks, you are a person who has eyes and that whole situation is right there in front of you so I get it, go with it and worry about it later.

I am aware of how long this ramble already is, but I am going to do something a little different here and digress slightly away from the episode itself and put out some conjecture on my part. It could well be completely over-analysing (lol, I’m neck deep into a freaking novella about a 25 min episode of TV, I think that’s a given) but I know that there is concern about Charles behaving secretively and I have seen some people expressing disappointment in this season so far.

For what it’s worth, my take on it is that it might seem as though some of the characters are behaving a little out of character but I feel that actually, the characters are behaving in ways we haven’t seen before because they’re in situations we haven’t seen them in before. As invested viewers we feel like we know these characters as whole people in every aspect of their lives when in fact, we’ve not seen Liza at the top of her game in her career or Josh as a parent or Charles in a romantic relationship or away from the office. So while the way they behave might not be the way we imagined it, to me it isn’t so much out of character as seeing a new dimension of the character. Also, the addition of flaws does not necessarily equate to destroying a character, it builds them out and makes them more real, if anything.

In relation to Charles and Liza’s relationship and the ‘Charles is being shady’ concern, IMO the key purpose of that is to create tension and you can FEEL it building. As crazy as it may sound, I think the Liza/Charles dynamic thrives in the build and resolution of tension and that’s why their moments in this episode felt so electric and hot, it’s like those unspoken, unresolved tension points charge their chemistry. As much as I think I would love to have Charles and Liza sitting around blissfully happy (I mean, I would obvs), the reality is, it’s not that fun to watch. I believe the tension is building towards a resolution of sorts that will actually put them in a better place and move the relationship forward. (*Full disclosure: since writing this I listened to the podcast from ATX fest and Joe Murphy, one of the writers for Younger, said very similar things so if you listened to that podcast I promise I have not just taken what Joe said and pretended they’re my thoughts, I legit had this written and then heard (ngl, I may be feeling a little smug as a result). I’m putting it down to us both being Australian because clearly that is a thing that makes sense).

I also think there is an unsettled feeling this season because the entire premise of this show, the roles these characters played, the interactions we have grown accustomed to week after week, has been completely flipped upside down. As viewers we garner comfort from the routine of watching a show but also from knowing where the players are positioned, how they will behave and what it looks and feels like. I think the writers know exactly what they’re doing and are achieving exactly what they would’ve hoped (apologies writers if this is wildly inaccurate and I’m just assuming things incorrectly left, right and centre) - everyone is sitting in discomfort and it’s largely due to the unfamiliarity of it all. The set up, the way we’re seeing characters etc, it reflects what the characters themselves are experiencing on our screens, which is all kinds of meta and actually pretty cool. But the further you push that discomfort and make viewers sit in it, the greater the impact and more satisfying the resolution. It’s like waiting for a beat to drop in a song, the build up can become almost unbearable but damn it’s good when it lands. That’s how I feel this is all going to go.

That is what I meant by this episode feeling like an apex, it feels as though there’s a limit to how far an audience can be taken in a state of flux without some resolve somewhere. And the writers know this, it’s what they do, it’s WHY we tune in. I’m not suggesting that everything is going to go back to the way it was, the evolution of a show like Younger is exciting and part of the fun is seeing where it goes, but we are three episodes in to a twelve episode season and while we consume it week to week, it ultimately has to make narrative sense across the whole season. It’s as though we’re at the end of an ‘establishing’ phase right now. So I am reserving any judgement until I see how it all comes together, but have no doubt there will be many resolutions and many new points of tension throughout.

Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying all that we’re getting and I think the writing this season has been excellent so far, with moments like the final scene of ‘The Unusual Suspect’ providing us with the first true cliffhanger of the season. Our last bit of Redmond for the ep was peak Redmond (I love that he dashed off to a better table uptown), and of course the big Mercury reveal, YESSS. That moment of realisation washing over Liza’s face, props to Sutton Foster, and I cannot WAIT to see how this all goes down. The prospect of inter-generational team ups of Kelsey/Liza vs. Zane/Charles while members of each team are in relationships with one another is the kind of set up I live for in a TV show. Is it July 10th yet?

#original post #incorrect spelling in link

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latinalesbi · 5 years

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Bradley and Peter admitted they knew in October re cancellation and spinoff. Awkward chat on the tv insider podcast. You were right!! Poor Sherri et al still pushing for season 6 back then. It was all money related apparently.

I keep losing the replies to these questions. I am going to probably be brief.

Yeah, these guys are liars. And it breaks my heart to think of Sherri still trying to get this renewed in January. They were committed to the show and I am happy to see them working because their talent was too good for all involved.

Anonymous said: I’m excited for the eps the moms will be in. I haven’t watched the spinoff so far so i have no real context re storylines but I don’t care, just to see them back will be awesome. Maybe certain people will realise just how great and missed they are 😜

I mean, I am not one who thinks that anything we do will bring them back more often or at all. But yes, I look forward to them being on and getting any kind of recognition. They deserve it. The problem I fear is that they have probably shared the best scenes. All we are going to be left with is the moms propping up this shitty cast. I think they will especially be targeted to prop up the new lesbian icon.

Anonymous said: Why wasn’t Freeform and the producers of the Fosters not called out for the blatant ageism that took place? Older women clearly not welcome on the network even though their characters probably had more effect socially than anything else they produced. The Stef and Lena characters were groundbreaking imo. There was no reason for the cancellation as the ratings were good. The network won’t survive much longer with whomever makes the decisions in charge.

It was blatant, and I tried to point that out. I read recently that Gen Xers are ignored by media, so this would def. fit that narrative. We are silenced. Stef and Lena were absolutely groundbreaking and for a couple to be the lead, married, solid for 5 years. You aren’t going to see that for a long time. Freeform is in a freedive to hell. No one there can run a business. The thing about Stef and Lena is that they were so socially relevant that they hit the nail on the head. Since then, they’ve been trying to be socially relevant and they just are pathetic doing it. Trying so hard, ticking all the boxes.

Anonymous said: Upsetting your fan base that you took five years to build up was never going to be a sensible idea. Then in promoting your new show you dismiss your old show by making it sound like it was for children. Madness.

Absolute madness, where do they think they were going to get an audience? They had a base, but they just insulted everyone. Idiots.

Anonymous said: I watched an interview Maia and Cierra did on KTLA re GT- They basically admitted they knew before it was going to happen ‘ we had an idea’ ‘we knew it was in the works’ ‘the opportunity had popped up’ lol… all the lies we were told this time last year, it’s funny now. The creators have been the same too. They just handled the whole thing so badly, was it worth it considering how their ratings are tanking - I’m sure they’ll put a ‘spin’ on it but nope!

More proof. People doubted me when I said it but basically they were planning it from late summer, then they signed deals in October. Sherri is still tweeting about renewal in January, while the cows had stopped doing so. Then came both news and they announced it in the worst possible way. I hate them. I am glad it’s not looking good. Freeform has released a press release for every premiere this year, not for GT. There is nothing they can spin to look good. And they would if they could. Yesterday showed the precious demo dropping again, 12%. Awful.

Anonymous said: Hypothetical question but if and it’s a big if GT gets cancelled (don’t think it will as it would be a big dud for Freeform) I wonder if the producers would regret having started the whole thing. I guess it’s a business at the end of the day and they get paid but all the sh*t it caused and still is they must have been affected by it I think. They had a lovely little fandom in comparison to other shows and they kinda ruined it. There is still so much animosity a year on from the decision.

I think Freeform already has regrets about Noah. They should have signed him when they had the chance. They really hung their coats on the worst of the cast. Idiots. The producers won’t ever admit it. According to Joanna, I am not really gay, Johnson, working with the judge actor is the highlight of her career. Ok girl. Yeah our fandom was nice and small but active. GT can’t get GT trending at all. Not top 20 nationally, nothing.

Anonymous said: The Fosters ratings were always good for Freeform that’s why it was so weird the cancelled it. They were always so stable. For a network struggling it was a strange thing to do. I’ve heard money was an issue, but apart from the casts wages they didn’t seem to spend anywhere near as much as they have done on the spinoff. Look at the director they chose for the pilot. Do Freeform hate family dramas that much?

I think part of it was that Freeform didn’t own the show so they didn’t get as much money. The other part was that it was on Netflix, they didn’t have a deal with Hulu and it seems Freeform is exclusively on Hulu. They dumped us and shadowhunters, which was also on Netflix. I think that they would eat the loss if it meant the ratings and critics favor that the Fosters generated. But it’s clear, whoever runs freeform doesn’t know anything at all.

Anonymous said: They can’t spin those ratings, they are sooo bad. All the money they spent on promotion I got sick of seeing it. Will people really not watch the moms episodes live do you think? I’m torn, I don’t want to give the show ratings considering how they treated the rest of the cast but I also want the ratings to go up to say ‘see look what you lost getting rid of the moms’ I have seen that those who have had advanced previews of the first 5 ep’s of Good Trouble says the moms episode is the best!!!!

The ratings are so bad. And they spent tons on promotion. I think it doesn’t hurt the moms but if it goes up, it’s good things for Sherri and Teri. I am sure when they come in, they will give the show heart and then when they’re gone it will go.

Anonymous said: Hated it too how they belittle The Fosters. If FF were so willingly to give them free reign for GT why not The Fosters. You chose the storylines. Instead we had repetitive Callie getting in trouble whilst trying to save the world-yawn! Weirdly the tweet that pissed me off was back in Dec, Joanna- Smthg along the lines of ‘didn’t think I could love a cast more than the Fosters but I do’ -you worked with those people, ur family for 5seasons you’ve been with those people a few months -fickle as f!

Yeah, it sucks that they have chosen to bad mouth the fosters. It’s not helping them. There’s no need to do that. I think it just shows how all of them hated writing for Stef and Lena. Joanna is a traitor and a liar. No wonder she’s in such a frigid marriage. I don’t think it’s being fickle though, it’s more like fake. They haven’t worked for long and already a family. You want to hear Hollywood honesty? Listen to Teri and Sherri. Sherri will tell you that she didn’t know what to do with Teri for a long time, then it was like. bam, forever love.

Anonymous said: I made an effort to watch the first good trouble episode but honestly made literally no effort to watch the second. I might watch it, if there’s nothing on tv that sounds good, but I’m not exactly planning on it.

I am like on a forever boycott of Freeform. So, yeah, I would rather watch youtube than Freeform.

#Anonymous #gt

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sunyoonandstars · 6 years

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Hi! I'm also new to the family and I'm already in love with all of them, they're all so amazing , generous and gorgeous, that sometimes I wonder if they're even real ,you know? And I was wondering if there's something I should definitely know about the boys? Or something you think I should know? Thank you for being so sweet and kind to us all, you're the best!!

I can totally understand that you already have them in your heart! 💜 I was lost the very second I started researching interviews. They’re all just so genuine and amazing in their own ways.

What you should definitely know about the boys … In general? They’re incredibly hard-working and dedicated to their work and fandom. They love us, their fans, and miss no chance to let us know how grateful they are for our continuing support. They started out pretty young, especially Jungkook, and have been living together since their trainee days (over 7 years ago). They also repeatedly stated – a fact that seems especially important to Yoongi – that they don’t plan on changing that anytime soon, even though by now they are surely old and ‘rich’ enough to be living by themselves. They consider each other family, they deeply care about, rely upon and are always there for each other. There is so, so, so much more, what I’m sure you’ll find out through watching interviews or videos like Run BTS!, Bts Gayo, Bangtan Bomb …

And what I personally think you should know about each of the members for starters:

1. Kim Seokjin / Jin

the ‘mother’ of BTS

mentioned that he doesn’t like being misgendered, so it’s not intended as a nickname but merely as a description of the role he occupies within the group (he protectively cares for the members in an almost mother-like way [e.g. loves to cook for them] especially, the younger ones, and never misses out on a chance to jokingly lament over the fact that he virtually ‘raised Jungkook on his back’)

DO NOT call him eomma/mom or ‘princess Jin’, as some fans used to because he does not feel comfortable about it!

is mostly responsible for/adamant about keeping the dorm clean (or at least that was the case in their first dorm, back when they used to share a room and sleep in bunk beds. Now they have staff who regularly cleans their new, more luxurious apartment, I believe. Or at least I think Yoongi mentioned something similar in a radio interview/podcast once.)

king of nagging

DAD JOKES

he has a driver’s license

family: parents + older brother

Yoongi once called him a “family man” and an “ideal husband” in an interview

Jin once stated that he would want his firstborn to be a girl and the second child to be a boy so his son would have a noona (older sister) that would treat him kindly and that the boy could look up to since he was often being teased by his hyung (older brother)

last year his parents gifted him the most adorable pet sugar gliders

WORLDWIDE HANDSOME

BROAD SHOULDERS (especially for Korean standards apparently)

considers his face (jokingly?) his greatest asset

but underneath it all he is still very insecure (I believe)

likes hearing others call him cute or handsome

loves doing aegyo

actually needs (rather strong) glasses but doesn’t like wearing them because he can’t feel confident when doing so

recently seems to ponder beginning his a career as a hairstylist??? 😳

should stay away from scissors in the future …

has the most genuine, beautiful, infectious, hilarious windshield laugh

often laughs until he literally tears up

because he freaking loves to laugh

and even more to make others laugh

does not mind making a fool of himself in doing so

was literally cast off the street

a member of the staff spotted him walking by and reportedly started running after him because he was so handsome even back then

graduated from college (majored in acting)

alongside RM (Namjoon), he is considered the worst dancer of BTS

yet he is among the hardest-working members because he previously didn't have any kind of background/experience in either dancing or singing (was cast as a ‘visual’)

and because of that he is very hard on himself

has improved a lot since debut

but is not being given enough credit, appreciation, and lines

he loves cooking and food and eating

EAT JIN 🍜

and once was put on a heartbreaking diet (like all idols at some point, probably, but still, it must’ve been incredibly hard on him) and was repeatedly told by his managers he was fat/chubby 😤 (WHERE? I demand to know…)

SIGNATURE: enthusiastically blowing kisses upon kisses upon kisses + HEART EVENTS

because he is simply the sweetest angel there is

2. Min Yoongi / Suga

the grumpy grandpa of BTS

but also more of a ‘father’

because he is practically the dorm’s handyman (usually responsible for changing light bulbs and stuff)

good at working with his hands and fixing things (which RM previously broke …)

MOTIONLESS MIN (because on his [rare] days off he likes to do literally nothing)

strives to be stone in his next lifetime

likes to sleep (A LOT) and is always tired

can literally sleep anywhere

probably because he likes to work/is especially creative at night (once said most his songs are produced between midnight and 6:00am)

insanely talented lyricist/rapper/producer

actually did not audition to become an idol but to become a producer at Big Hit and work behind the scenes

AGUST D ❗️

claims he got his stage/nickname ‘Suga’ because of his pale complexion and his sweet smile (’wanted to promote sweetly’)

despite his ‘bad boy’ image/attitude (especially on-stage)

his hometown is Daegu (which is what the ‘D’ in AGUST D stands for)

his family also consist of parents + older brother

he moved to Seoul on his own back pre-debut

starved for a few months so he could keep on producing/working on his music and career while living off of under-payed part-time jobs

during that time he developed anxiety (suffered several attacks, even in BTS’ earlier days after debut) and depression (which he openly addresses on his AGUST D mixtape. If you haven’t already you should really give it a listen and study the translated lyrics.)

writes/composes songs every day and can do so everywhere, even in crowded public places

he relieves stress through writing/composing songs

doesn’t like going outside and repeatedly stated he ‘doesn’t like people’ (I believe he refers to being around many strangers/in crowded and loud places)

prefers to stay at home

so his ideal date would also be a comfortable night in

Yoongi is usually on the quieter side

but when he speaks up, damn, you can be sure he has something to say

wise beyond his age

great common/general knowledge

very outspoken and straightforward (’savage Suga’/’savage Yoongi’)

so it’s his task to openly scold the younger members and call them out on their questionable behavior

does have his silly/hyped-up moments, though

and they are priceless

can occasionally actually let loose

but it happens rather rarely

always seems to be very observant and contemplative

GUMMY SMILE

HIS SHRUG

MIN GENIUS

workaholic

tends to overwork himself and neglect self-care/sleep/his health (forgets to eat/skips a lot of meals)

his studio is called the ‘Genius Lab’

seems to regularly put himself on a diet?? he seems to be getting skinnier and skinnier, or is it only me, guys??

claims he doesn’t give a shit

but he actually does

cares a lot about the people close to him, simply doesn’t show it so obviously

does not seem too big on showing it through physical contact, too (once said himself in an interview that he wouldn’t be the kind of boyfriend to hold hands or put his arm around his s/o’s shoulder in public because he isn’t the sweet kind of boyfriend like that)

takes care of them ‘behind the scenes’/’in secret’

beneath the gruff exterior, he’s just a huge softie

used to play basketball in high school and was quite good at it, too

he is second smallest in the group (a few centimeters taller than our mochi Jimin)

which sometimes leads him to jump in order to get into the frame when they are taking group shots at award shows and such (it’s adorable)

does not particularly enjoy physical activities and the way they tire him out

loves meat

can actually cook quite well but isn’t as vocal about it as Jin

also takes cooking very seriously (see Run BTS! Ep. 36, for example)

tends to speak in Satoori dialect when he’s nervous

doesn’t consider himself handsome/charming

wants to become even more successful and for his music to reach as many people as possible

Waaaah ….. These turned out longer than expected. I’ll do the other members, too, later on, sweet anon. And maybe repost this as a real headcanon or something tomorrow. For now I, unfortunately, have to go to sleep because it’s 02:30am here and I have to get up in 4 hours … 😁

I hope this helped/was at least close to what you imagined, anon! Take care and feel free to message me anytime!! 💜

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staircasttext · 3 years

Text

Ep 14 Transcript: Brokenstar's Polycule

Episode 14

[intro music]

PAZ: Hi, everybody, welcome back to Stairway to StarClan, a Warriors cat reread pawdcast. I'm Paz.

JULIAN: I'm Julian.

LIZ: And I'm Craig.

PAZ: No, you're not.

LIZ: I'm Liz. Just a little joke, a little humor, you know, from me to the listener.

PAZ: Well, I'll probably put-- that'll probably be at the end, the context. Well, look forward to that, I guess.

JULIAN: The end of the episode where we explain the joke at the beginning.

PAZ: Well, no, just where I put the beginning pre-intro. Sorry. This is gonna be another late episode. I have been having computer issues. But hopefully nothing will happen to this recording. And if not, we have Craig. That's why Craig is here. Thank you, Craig.

JULIAN: Thank you Craig.

LIZ: Thank you Craig, but with a caveat.

PAZ: O-oh.

LIZ: Craig, if you-- look at me, Craig. If you fuck up, I'm gonna kick you. We'll ban you from this exclusive podcast server.

PAZ: I didn't realize Craig was like on a probationary period.

LIZ: Listen, podcasting is cutthroat, man.

PAZ: Yeah, that's true.

JULIAN: Craig's on thin fucking ice. Just like the cats of ThunderClan.

PAZ: Yeah.

LIZ: Eyy.

PAZ: Yeah. Uh huh. Wow, look at that segue. That's some professional podcasting.

LIZ: Seamless.

JULIAN: Thank you. Thank you.

LIZ: Craig, that's what you have to live up to.

PAZ: Yeah, so we're continuing Fire and Ice. Shit's getting real. We read chapters...

JULIAN: 22 through 25?

PAZ: Yeah.

JULIAN: They were a doozy. A lot happened.

PAZ: They sure were. All right. Let's hop into these summaries. So chapter 22, patrols keep reporting that RiverClan and ShadowClan have been scented in ThunderClan territory. Meanwhile, Fireheart is busy hunting, trying to look after Cloudkit, Cinderpaw, and Brackenpaw. Graystripe is Brackenpaw's mentor again but is still slipping way to see Silverstream often. The camp no longer has greencough.

Fireheart goes to visit Cinderpaw who is staying with Yellowfang. She tells him the exercises for her injured leg hurt a lot, though she is still cheerful. Fireheart says he likes spending time with her and he misses their training sessions, which makes Cinderpaw sad. She says she probably can't be a warrior anymore. And Fireheart says no instead of anything supportive or even offering any alternatives. No editorializing here.

Then Fireheart asks about what happened when the monster hit her, fearing that Tigerclaw had something to do with it, but Cinderpaw can't remember. They talk about Cloudkit instead, and Fireheart expresses how worried he is about Cloudkit being bullied in the future for being born a kittypet. Cinderpaw reassures Fireheart, even though he hasn't done much of the same for her.

Fireheart asks Bluestar if he can go to the next gathering, and she agrees. He then goes to see Cloudkit, and Brindleface tells him he might have a fever, which worries Fireheart. He overhears the other apprentices mocking Cloudkit for this. Then he meets Sandpaw, who is also going to the gathering. They talk about how it's odd she hasn't been made a warrior yet. And she reassures them about Cloudkit's future. Later they all leave for the gathering.

At the gathering, Fireheart greets some cats from WindClan as they wait for RiverClan and ShadowClan to arrive. Bluestar doesn't wait for the normal introductions and announces immediately that RiverClan has been hunting in ThunderClan territory. There is more arguing, and Crookedstar, the RiverClan leader, says an unknown ThunderClan warrior has been scented in RiverClan. Both Fireheart and Graystripe realize he must mean Graystripe. Whoopsie.

Tigerclaw accuses RiverClan and ShadowClan of joining together against them and Crookedstar accuses ThunderClan of doing the same with WindClan. The leaders keep arguing until a cloud passes over the moon. Runningnose, the ShadowClan medicine cat, and Yellowfang say the StarClan is angry they fought at the gathering and that the darkness is a sign to stop.

Chapter 24, Tallstar ends the gathering because of the sign from StarClan, and all the clans leave. Fireheart hopes Graystripe will be willing to talk, but he only agrees to meet Silverstream at Fourtrees instead of in RiverClan territory. Graystripe is still upset with him. They return from the gathering, and Fireheart checks on Cloudkit. Bluestar tells everyone that RiverClan and ShadowClan have joined together and are now a threat. Fireheart is uneasy, thinking of RiverClan's difficulty and ShadowClan's reduced numbers.

The next day, Cloudkit is recovered from his fever. Fireheart watches Cloudkit happily as he play-hunts a ball of moss. Then he sees a scary leg.

Unknown Speaker

[laughter]

PAZ: Liz wrote these summaries. I'm reading them for the first time.

LIZ: Well, he does.

JULIAN: No, that's exactly what happens.

PAZ: Yeah, I really can't argue with that. Woo. Then he sees a scary leg and tells Cloudkit to stop. It's actually Tigerclaw, who gives the moss ball back and says to Fireheart that he should be careful with his quote unquote "playthings."

Chapter 25, Brindleface calls Cloudkit away and Tigerclaw leaves ominously. Then Whitestorm, Mousefur, Sandpaw, and Fireheart go patrol the ShadowClan border, but smell the other clan before reaching it. Fireheart recognizes the scent but can't remember which ShadowClan warrior it's from. The patrol also finds rabbit bones, which were apparently left by the ShadowClan as a sign of disrespect. Whitestorm is angry and says they have to tell Bluestar and punish ShadowClan.

When the patrol returns, Bluestar has already left for her own patrol. Whitestorm tells Tigerclaw about the rabbit bones, and they quickly decide to retaliate against ShadowClan. Sandpaw isn't allowed to go, and Tigerclaw tells Fireheart to stay behind, leaving him as the only warrior in the entire camp.

Yellowfang recognizes the scent on Fireheart as Brokenstar's, and he realizes that was who he was smelling earlier. She says Brokenstar and his friends must be the ones trespassing on the territory, and not ShadowClan, and that Fireheart has to stop Tigerclaw before he attacks ShadowClan. Fireheart can't leave the camp undefended in case Brokenstar attacks. So he sends Brackenpaw instead. He manages to tell the rest of clan all of this right before Brokenstar shows up. And that's the end of our reading.

JULIAN: It's a very dramatic place to leave off.

PAZ: Yeah, this was a very dramatic set of chapters.

JULIAN: Especially like the first-- like chapter 22 is just beat after beat. The stuff starts coming and it don't stop coming.

PAZ: Yeah, I mean, it sure is a set of chapters in terms of poorly thought out writing decisions, but also then good writing. You get both.

JULIAN: Yeah, you really do. It's a little of, uh... you get a little ableism, you get a little cat racism, you get a little excellent plot beats.

PAZ: This is what Warrior Cats is about, baby.

LIZ: A tasting platter.

PAZ: Um, let's take... where should we start?

JULIAN: Let's just start from the beginning. Um, Graystripe continues to not be shit.

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Makes me so mad.

JULIAN: I don't know what 10 year old me was thinking when I was like, Yeah, Graystripe is cool.

PAZ: Okay, I also feel like I remember Graystripe being cool, but I only knew him from like A New Prophecy onwards.

JULIAN: Yeah, I think he does some cool stuff maybe in later books, but uh....he's struggling.

LIZ: He's a shitty teen now.

PAZ: This is really clouding my perception of him.

JULIAN: Like Brackenpaw's sad little oh, I guess he just doesn't have time for me or whatever.

PAZ: I know.

JULIAN: It's just awful.

LIZ: It's so sad.

PAZ: Sort of to set up what we're talking about, it starts off with Graystripe's missing again, and Fireheart's basically asking Brackenpaw like, oh, where'd he go. And Brackenpaw's like, he went hunting without me. So sad.

JULIAN: Brackenpaw's like, he said I could go tomorrow and like, of course--

LIZ: God.

JULIAN: We all know that tomorrow's never going to come.

LIZ: It has such the tone of like, tiny child says, oh, my dad just went out to get milk.

PAZ: No.

JULIAN: Like, kid waiting for their parents to come pick them up, like, oh, I'm sure they'll be here soon.

PAZ: I don't know why. Why is Graystripe not being like reprimanded more? It's pretty obviously he's not trading his apprentice.

JULIAN: Right? Well, Fireheart has this moment where he's like, Oh, "Fireheart knew that Tigerclaw wouldn't accept Brackenpaw's answer so easily." It's like well, Tigerclaw, do your job. Be menacing. Graystripe should be menaced a bit.

PAZ: He should have been menaced like two weeks ago.

LIZ: He needs to have I guess like a disciplinary meeting with the manager that is Tigerclaw.

PAZ: Yeah, there was also like a apparently like a vague timeskip or something, because it mentioned like the last gathering didn't happen because it was cloudy, which was very funny. A very funny note. So that means like at least one moon cycle has passed by or something.

JULIAN: I'm like a little-- this makes a lot of sense actually for why the clans are in such like political disarray, if they can only meet once a month if it's not cloudy, and they live in England.

PAZ: Oh god.

LIZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: Really setting themselves up for failure.

LIZ: It's that seasonal whatever thing, right?

PAZ: I was gonna say like, like oh, what happens if there's a gathering and there's like an eclipse, but I'm fairly certain that's a plot point that happens later. So, you know.

LIZ: They're cats. They like it to be sunny when they go. They wanna, you know, soak in the vitamin D.

PAZ: It's not even the sun. It's the moon.

JULIAN: It happens at night.

LIZ: Oh, um, well, fuck if I know.

JULIAN: It's also like... not to criticize the world building here but like when there's a full moon out, it's much harder to see the stars.

PAZ: Yeah. It's not fucking MoonClan.

JULIAN: Like I get the whole cyclical nature or whatever.

PAZ: Do it on the new moon.

JULIAN: And if it's the new moon, you probably won't even notice if there's clouds.

PAZ: Yeah. I don't know who came up with that rule, but I think they planted the seeds for a lot of political problems.

LIZ: Imagine if they were just like, yeah, let's meet every two weeks.

PAZ: Cats don't have calendars.

LIZ: Let's meet every eight days, which is how many paws we have on two front legs, I think.

PAZ: What? What?

LIZ: Wait.

PAZ: How many paws? Hold on.

JULIAN: Liz, what kind of cats you been looking at?

LIZ: Paws? How many beans? How many toes? I didn't want to say toes.

PAZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: I was imagining like a fucking Sleipnir.

PAZ: Yeah, like fucking catbus from My Neighbor Totoro. Oh god. That's actually how all the cats look. It's just not mentioned.

JULIAN: That's where they keep all their magic. In their eight legs. Maybe it's just the leaders who have eight legs where they keep their lives.

PAZ: Wow.

LIZ: You become president, you just pop out four extra legs.

PAZ: Oh god.

JULIAN: I hate this actually.

PAZ: Yeah.

JULIAN: I know I suggested it, but it's very bad.

LIZ: I know the sound it makes. It's like [pops lips]

JULIAN: Ahh!

PAZ: Stop. Okay, we're gonna move on from that. I mean, speaking of legs, the next part in this chapter is Cinderpaw makes her speaking debut again.

JULIAN: Ugh.

LIZ: Ugh.

PAZ: Um, yeah, and there-- I-- this is time to really talk about like, the problems that come up with her character and honestly continue to be a theme throughout Warriors to this day, apparently, based on what I've seen on like Twitter and forums and stuff.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's--

LIZ: Like-- no, go ahead.

JULIAN: It's really great to like, see her as a speaking character again, and it really sucks that like, they have apparently have cat physical therapy. But it's like, well, nothing can be done.

PAZ: Yeah. I mean, like, it's nice that she's like, not like, deeply depressed and like, she's... like, it hasn't like, destroyed her character. Not destroyed her character, but like, I don't know how to word it.

JULIAN: She still has the same personality.

PAZ: Yeah, like, it hasn't like completely changed the personality and purpose of like her as a character in the book. Um, I mean that's really about all I can say for it.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's, uh... it sucks. I mean, I guess like, kind of brief spoilers, but she ends up becoming a medicine cat, which is sort of the thing that happens to any disabled cat is like, well, you're a medicine cat now. Which is just like, cool. Like, that's all you can do.

PAZ: Yeah. And them getting that position is like 95% of the time, like, against their choice in some way or form, because it's just like, no, you cannot be a warrior at all.

JULIAN: Yeah, and it's especially like... in literally the next chapter we meet Deadfoot.

PAZ: Yeah, that was a really egregious, like... the scene kind of like right after this is is Deadfoot showing up. And his physical disability is even pointed out because it says like, oh, he's limping. And there he is being a deputy. And it's like, it literally doesn't make sense, doing that to Cinderpaw's character.

LIZ: It's not even like, I don't know. What you said before about how so many, like, of the disabled characters are forced to become medicine cat. That's not even a case of like, oh, this one became a medicine cat and now like, can give perspective on you know, better care for other disabled characters. It's not like that. It's just like, you cannot have the job you want anymore. Ugh.

PAZ: Yeah. I mean, like, cat physical therapy exists, which is nice to see. But like, that really doesn't get utilized in any good way going forward or in this scene really.

JULIAN: Yeah, and there's no like, oh, you should like, you know, do your exercises so that like, you can regain some motion and like, you know, it'll be easier for you to be a w-- you know, that's not even like presented as an option.

LIZ: No.

PAZ: Yeah, um, I was reading around a bit and watched some videos on this topic that I figured I would shout out and like, quote from. So there's a really good video on YouTube by transredtail. Great name. Just called "Disability in Warrior Cats" if you want to check it out.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's really good.

PAZ: But yeah, it's a good video, and he's disabled himself. So he was speaking from that perspective about disability in the video. And kind of like the three main points in the video, were like, one, any disabled cat cannot become a warrior is like a running theme. And two, when writing a disabled character, the Erins frequently choose to have the surrounding characters make decisions for them, often unwanted decisions. And then three was like indications that life as a disabled person is less than life as an abled person is kind of like the reoccurring themes when it comes to how disabled characters are written in Warriors. And then also points out that like, disabled characters exist as plot points or as a way to create pity or guilt in the surrounding cast of characters, which is also definitely true.

JULIAN: Yeah, that's definitely happening here with like, Cinderpaw as sort of fuel for Fireheart's manpain.

LIZ: God. The scene where he goes to see her is like so... so frustrating because here's his, like, young apprentice who had like... who's really cheerful and enthusiastic and so clearly happy to see him cause she's bored out of her mind. And the scene just becomes about like, how sad he is that she doesn't have a future, and how it's his fault, and how suddenly he's worried that the same thing will happen to his nephew. And she-- this kid is the one who ends up comforting him about his nephew and all of his worries about Cloudkit that he doesn't really have for her anymore.

JULIAN: Yeah, it sucks that like he has immediately jumped from being worried about her to like, being worried about Cloudkit, as though he's just completely given up on her as like a person that he needs to care about her future.

PAZ: Yeah, it's so weird that he doesn't like, fight for her at all, or, like, encourage her at all. Like, it's just like, her fate is sealed without really any discussion.

LIZ: The thing he says about like, oh, well, maybe we can go hunting again and we'll find you the slowest prey possible. And she just like laughs, instead of like, being sad because that's, it's so patronizing. And it makes all these assumptions about-- it's not like being accommodating towards her because she didn't ask for any of that.

JULIAN: Yeah, like she wants to be a warrior. And like, I just, I can see a way that it could have been... like, transredtail talks about this and has like a lot of really good videos of like, how disabled kits actually move, that's really like, helpful for the well, what about the realism? crowd. Because like, spoiler alert, it turns out that cats that like lose the use of their back legs can actually scamper around pretty well.

PAZ: Yeah, like, even cats are like completely paralyzed in their back legs still move around pretty good.

JULIAN: But like, I can see, like an alternative where like, Fireheart is like, yeah, I'm going to help you with your physical therapy. And we're going to, like, figure out ways for you to hunt that are different. And maybe you'll have a slightly different role as a warrior, but you'll still be able to, like, hunt and do patrols. And it's just-- it sucks to see him completely give up on her. And it also, I wish-- I know that this would require like an acknowledgment of the fact that Fireheart is being ableist, but I wish she got to be angry about it.

PAZ: Yeah, it's like, the book doesn't.... the framing of this is just like nonexistent in the book. Like it doesn't-- there is no like self awareness of what it's doing. And like, it's kind of just presented as-is, like, yep, this is what's happening now. And Fireheart's reaction to it is not portrayed as bad or anything. It's just...

LIZ: Yeah, it's so like, thoughtless and lazy, I don't know. Someone mentioned before how in the next chapter, we see Deadfoot again. And also like, just to note, still the worst name possible to give to your--

PAZ: Absolutely.

JULIAN: Yeah. Oh, God, it sucks.

LIZ: God.

PAZ: That's, um, that is another thing in Warriors is like once cats get like injured or physically disabled in a way, they get renamed. It's very weird.

LIZ: I think they should be able to choose better ones for themselves. God. Um, but yeah. It's such a missed opportunity, too, because one, there's like the precedent of mentors taking their apprentices to gatherings. Why not just have Fireheart take Cinderpaw there and meet this extremely, like, respected, perfectly happy other warrior, who is very much in the-- who has like a very similar experience to her?

JULIAN: Yeah. Like they're on good terms with WindClan.

PAZ: Yeah, I just-- I don't know, like, it was just like non-thinking on the part of the authors, I think. But like the juxtaposition, cause Deadfoot being like, mentioned again in the story come so soon after that Cinderpaw stuff. And it's like you're not even like making sense within your own narrative.

LIZ: It's like wow, that's just-- it's extremely... it's bad. On the subject of disability, it's bad, and also on the subject of like, just plotting, it's real bad.

JULIAN: Yeah, yeah. And like, I don't know. I like, I think the name thing is awful. I don't think it's like... I don't hate the idea of like taking a new name when something like as life-changing as like a major disability happens to you, because that does like... like disability does change the way you identify for a lot of people. But like the fact that it's not anyone's choice is... that it's like the leader giving you this like... Oh, well, your foot is dead now. And that's who you are, like euaaaagh. Bad.

Yeah, I don't know. I also like, obviously, I have thought a lot about disability recently, because like, I just got out of-- the reason we didn't record for like, a month and change was because I had surgery on my arm that I couldn't use for six months. And like, that's definitely not the same as like a permanent disability. But like, I thought a lot about what it means to like, lose the use of one of your limbs. And I wish they had handled this differently.

PAZ: Yeah, um, another good point that came up on a thread I was looking on the same forum as last time. What was it again? WCRPforums.com, which is like the most active big Warriors forum right now, there was a thread about Warriors Cat ableism, and this was a post made by a deleted member, but they made a really good point. I'll just read part of it.

"I think this is the thing that's forgotten a lot when adults argue about this stuff. These are books for kids. The cats already have superpowers. There's already magic out the ass with StarClan sending mystical prophecies that foretell the future and manipulating the weather. And saying that there wouldn't be physically disabled characters with positive life as a warrior because it's an unrealistic is just oof.

I think people forget just how much positivity good rep brings into the life of kids, and good physical disabled rep in popular kids media isn't common enough for my liking. A three-legged warrior will not break my immersion. A warrior without a tail shouldn't break my immersion. Blind and Deaf warriors are not immersion breaking for me. If kittens talk fairly well when they're a month old, I can easily buy lip reading.

With all the series has thrown at us--" here's a great list. "With all the series has thrown at us-- ghost badgers, super powers, future telling prophecies, cat Heaven and Hell invading the real world, being able to kill ghosts, magic spirit weather, miracle plant medicine, cat farming, cats amputating with rocks, magic water that lets you visit the afterlife and talk to ghosts, cats literally dying and coming back from the dead and more-- I can live with disabled characters. And I'm not sure why it's such a big deal that would absolutely destroy the immersion for other people."

But yeah, the main point in this that like, this is a kid series and like kids are reading this and seeing this stuff, and how like that could like negatively impact a disabled kid reading this is like, really important to think about.

LIZ: I don't know. I like--

JULIAN: And--

LIZ: Oh, no, go ahead.

JULIAN: Oh no, it's OK. I think like, there was-- a lot of the Twitter threads that we're talking about have come out of a hashtag. I think it's #warriorcatsableism?

LIZ: Mm-hmm.

JULIAN: And there was a recent discussion of something that happened in like one of the most recent books, and it does sound like someone wrote a letter, and Harper Collins said that they would like work on doing better in future books.

PAZ: I think they actually like, edited a line out in like future like, releases, whatever book editions you said. Gosh, I wish I could find that again.

JULIAN: I think it was, like... yeah.

PAZ: I don't know where the fuck I saw it when I was reading all this stuff. So, I mean, the hashtag is great. And I think it has brought some awareness of the issue hopefully. So I'm hoping the series like improves on that front going forward.

LIZ: Yeah, it's, it's so much a thing that's like... it's been going on for so long. It's still so popular. And it's still a pretty recent, like, fumble or just thoughtlessness that's happened, and that it's even recently corrected. They must have the budget now for like, a sensitivity reader. I don't know.

PAZ: Yeah. Yes. I sincerely hope they--

LIZ: Better to catch that early.

PAZ: --they find one.

LIZ: Find several, please.

JULIAN: You know, it's already like... it's a team book already.

LIZ: Yeah, exactly.

PAZ: Another point transredtail made in his video was that like, just like have more disabled characters so that representing like, a plethora of experiences means like, if a disabled character dies or something, if there's a lot of other disabled characters, it's less egregious. But the fact that like, there's so few disabled characters, and they frequently go through like the same sorts of plot points, yeah, it's like not... it's bad. It's not good representation. And it needs to be fixed.

JULIAN: Like, if you have multiple disabled characters, you can show characters having conflicting ideas about their own disability and like, you know, you have-- because there is a diversity of like, how people feel about their own disabilities, like within the disabled community. And if you have a lot of cats, then like, if one of them dies, it's not, well, that was the only disabled character who had any agency and now they're dead.

PAZ: I mean, it's a similar principle as like writing the queer characters. It's like, if you have, if you have more than like, one or two of like, the minority group you're representing then like, you can just represent more experiences that way. And they don't have to carry the whole group on their shoulders. And it's just realistic to have a variety of characters.

LIZ: It would also be good to have like, disabled characters talk to each other instead of just having them only talk to abled characters and be their comforting, like soothing whatever.

PAZ: I feel like that might happen in A Power of Three, but it is not necessarily done well.

JULIAN: Oh.

LIZ: Okay...

PAZ: We'll see when we get there.

LIZ: Rough times ahead. Oh god, there's an airplane flying.

PAZ: Oh no.

LIZ: Do you hear it?

PAZ: Yes.

JULIAN: Yeah, I do.

LIZ: This is where I live. I am sorry. Oh, my God, my Audacity waves. Go away.

PAZ: I'll silence them with a stroke of my mouse.

LIZ: I'll mute. This is terrible.

PAZ: Okay, and another point transredtail brought up was the fact that like, a lot of disabled characters are forced into the medicine cat position, and then like, that's a position where you aren't allowed to have children.

LIZ: Yeah.

JULIAN: [gasps] Aw geez.

LIZ: I forgot about that.

PAZ: Which is a very-- like, it's definitely unintentional, but like, the parallels to real world eugenics and like, how like real world disabled people like, often have trouble starting a family because the way the government like, doesn't provide good like support or money. And like you kind of can't marry--

JULIAN: You can't get married. You'll lose your benefits.

PAZ: So... yeah, the fact that like, no children kind of happens to a lot of disabled characters through this medicine cat position is... yikes.

JULIAN: It also-- like you were talking about where it's like the disabled character takes on this role of like, comforting the abled character about their own disability is like... the medicine cat role is in some ways kind of an extension of that where it's like, okay, well, you have to be the caretaker now for everyone. That's your job. Like, oooh.

LIZ: It's so patronizing and also just bitter, because we won't provide you the care that you need. But please give it to me.

PAZ: And this is in later books, but Jayfeather, like being a blind protagonist, lots of people have also raised the point of like, you also get the weird disabilities as like superpowers or like the trope of disabled character whose like disabilities, quote, unquote, like... God, what is the phrase I'm looking for? My brain is empty. It's like counteracted. Counteracted by their supernatural abilities.

JULIAN: It's like, oh, he's blind. But oh, don't worry, he's not really blind. He can still see via the magic of StarClan. And it's like, well, cowards.

PAZ: Yeah. There's also-- I can't remember if it was just in Twitter threads or in the YouTube video of like, blind cats hunting flies, which was very cute. So like, screw realism, because these books don't have realism. But once again, like, cats with disabilities are very capable.

JULIAN: Yeah, I mean, the realism argument feels a lot like the same kind of discussions that come up any time that like, there's characters of color in like fantasy, or like, medieval novels, where it's like, oh, it's not realistic. And it's like, God, there's dragons.

PAZ: And also, like, it is realistic.

JULIAN: And also Black people existed in medieval Europe. But like.

PAZ: Yeah, it's literally the same exact same sort of...

JULIAN: Yeah, it's the same thing where it's like, A, it is realistic. And B, it shouldn't matter if it's realistic or not, because magic.

PAZ: Were you gonna say something else, Liz?

LIZ: Um, yeah, just on the subject of realism, like, it does matter a lot that there are, like Julian said, people of color in medieval settings already existing and people in so and so places already existing, like, in actuality. And, like, it sounds silly to talk about cats, but like, yes, disabled cats are like real. And they're doing fine. Whether it's like, even stray cats versus like, you know, domestic cats. And if you're gonna take the metaphor of the cats in the books being people, then of course, disabled people are just out there living their lives. And I don't know, it's also patronizing the way that the books have done it so far.

PAZ: Yeah. But, yeah, unfortunately this will probably be discussion that keeps coming up because it is an issue that keeps coming up in the books to this day, so.

JULIAN: God, there's one, like-- I know we're moving on. There's one like throwaway line where Cinderpaw says something about like... or like, I think Fireheart mentions that-- oh, he's like, when did you get so smart? Because she is like, angry at the other apprentices' cat racism. And she goes, "suffering can do that to a cat."

LIZ: Ugh.

JULIAN: And it's kind of a joke, but it's also like, the whole trope of like, oh, she's stronger because of what she's gone through. And it's like, awwwww.

LIZ: It's also interesting, because suddenly she has the emotional intelligence of an adult. And she has to comfort another adult because she has suffered, and that means the adult doesn't have to do anything for her?

JULIAN: Yeah, it's like her disability erased the fact that she's still a child. And she's suddenly like a little, little wise adult.

LIZ: A little wise adult who also doesn't get the privileges of being an adult, which is, you know, choosing what you want to do with your life, or having like bodily autonomy.

PAZ: Yeah, I wish she was like, allowed to be like angry, like, at the people around her for treating her so poorly. But.

JULIAN: I wouldn't even like-- you know, I'm glad that she's like still... she's always been like a very like kind of spunky, like, I'm going to do it no matter what kind of character. And so it kind of sucks to see her completely give up on being a warrior so quickly. But also, like, I wish that we did get to see her be upset, or more upset about like, her life path completely being cut off by the people around her.

PAZ: I mean, the really weird thing is like, that didn't happen on screen, like that conversation.

LIZ: Yeah, exactly.

PAZ: She was just like recovering and like, not awake. And then we skipped to her like, being awake. And it seems that conversation, to her, has happened somewhere offscreen, which is really weird.

LIZ: I think what it says about I guess the writing is that we didn't see it, because the authors didn't think it was important to see it, which is [heavy sigh].

JULIAN: I mean, it kind of feels like we do see it though, because she's like, oh, when am I going to go back to training? And Fireheart's like, uhhhhhhh. And then she goes, Oh, I'm never gonna be a warrior. And that's like, the sum total of the conversation.

PAZ: Yeah. I kind of read it as like the final conversation on that topic.

JULIAN: That makes more sense.

PAZ: Um, it's still weird. And there's no real, like-- Fireheart doesn't have much like internal thought going on in that moment, so he doesn't really offer much perspective on that choice.

JULIAN: Yeah, and like I get, you know, it's Fireheart's POV or whatever. But a lot of the other characters clearly have so much going on internally that like, we do kind of see through Fireheart's eyes that it's... I don't know, it's weird that we don't know what--

PAZ: If you want to your POV character to be in the scene, you just do it. You make up any excuse.

LIZ: We saw, um, Sandpaw for like, a much shorter amount of time. And like, it was easy to get a sense like, oh, she's really unsatisfied with what's happening to her. And why hasn't she been cat promoted yet? And she's really frustrated. And that didn't take very long at all. And you get-- there is a sense of sympathy there. And he sympathizes with her. And he doesn't really do that for his own apprentice who he's just-- he's known for much longer, or I mean, known more, I guess, like closely.

JULIAN: Yeah, like, he's very sad, but it's all like guilt. It's all about him.

LIZ: Yeah. It's not frustration for her. It's like, oh, I fucked up.

PAZ: Yeah. I really think it just comes down to like, the writing was thoughtless. And it was like, not a proper way to handle a disabled character and leads to this kind of, like lack of care given to her arc.

JULIAN: And then we get the cat racism.

LIZ: Double whammy.

PAZ: Yeah. I guess we will be moving on from that topic for now. Because yeah, then it goes right into the cat racism.

LIZ: God.

PAZ: Which I-- it's handled a bit better, because it's actually intentional is what I will say.

JULIAN: Like, it's intentional and it's framed as bad, even if it's like a little, you know, it's cat racism in a kid's book.

LIZ: It is the metaphor that the kids will understand.

JULIAN: Um, I wrote like three different times, "Cloudkit is a child." In all caps.

PAZ: Yeah, they're being like, really cat racist, like worse than we saw with like, Fireheart, honestly.

LIZ: He's just a baby.

PAZ: I'm like, this is a two week old baby.

LIZ: Listen, since it is-- I know it's cat racism. But I do think it's very funny that these British ladies wrote about-- made a metaphor about racism, and had it be like racism against the white cat.

PAZ: Oh god.

LIZ: Just a fun little note.

PAZ: That's extremely funny. I guess they were trying to be like what coat colors would a house cat have. Oh my god.

LIZ: It could have been like a fancy one instead of... like white stray cats are pretty common too.

PAZ: You know what I was thinking that whole time? I'm like, Yellowfang's a Persian cat.

LIZ: Yeah, what the fuck?

PAZ: I'm like, why? I don't think--

LIZ: Yellowfang's a purebred cat.

PAZ: I know. Oh my god.

LIZ: She's an escaped show cat. That's the secret.

PAZ: It's so funny.

LIZ: Yellowfang's living like the Anastasia movie or whatever.

JULIAN: Oh my god.

PAZ: Oh, my God. I was just picturing my cat Kip though.

LIZ: Mm.

JULIAN: Just a little guy.

LIZ: Just a little guy.

PAZ: Just a little fluffy guy, but everyone is like, I want this child to die.

JULIAN: I am glad that we do get to see-- I mean, obviously it's not great. But I'm glad that we get to see Tigerclaw back at it again with the kit murder, the threatening to kit murder.

PAZ: Yeah, that's like a couple chapters away but--

JULIAN: It is.

PAZ: Damn.

LIZ: I love the scene where he shows up cause it's so like just over the top, and it's the fucking funniest thing I've ever seen.

PAZ: I was like, this rules. Wait, I should go find it.

JULIAN: He's like twirling his metaphorical mustache.

LIZ: Oh, you didn't know? Tigerclaw has been a mustache cat this whole time.

PAZ: I'm still trying to find it.

JULIAN: It's in chapter 24 at the very end. You're right. It is an evil leg.

LIZ: The way he shows up is you just picture, like, stage lighting, and the spotlight shows up, and like a leg just sticks out from behind the curtain.

[ominous music]

PAZ: Okay, I found it. The scene is Cloudkit playing with a little moss ball, which is very cute.

LIZ: Adorable.

PAZ: "He rolled onto his back, threw the ball up with his four paws, and kicked it away with his hind legs. It landed next to the nursery. Cloudkit scrambled up and scooted after it. He crouched a rabbit leap away, his hind quarters bunched in the air. Fireheart watched as the kit prepared to pounce. Suddenly his fur prickled. A long dark foreleg was reaching towards the moss ball from behind the nursery. 'Cloudkit,' Fireheart called. 'Wait!' Shadowy images of rogue cats were still fresh in his mind. Cloudkit sat up and looked around at him, puzzled."

[drum roll, dramatic organ music]

"Tigerclaw emerged from behind the kit, holding the moss ball between the teeth. He carried the ball over to the kit and dropped it by Cloudkit's fluffy white paws. 'Be careful,' he growled. 'You wouldn't want to lose such a precious plaything.' As he spoke, the dark warrior stared at Fireheart over Cloudkit's head."

JULIAN: Literal like children's cartoon villain out here like, oooh.

PAZ: It's so funny.

LIZ: You'd better not lose your moss ball. [evil laugh]

JULIAN: Like literally the mafioso like, [deep voice] nice kit you got here. Shame if anything were to happen to it.

PAZ: This is the next little part. "Fireheart shivered. What did Tigerclaw mean by that? He seemed to be talking about the moss ball. But did he really mean that Cloudkit was a plaything?"

LIZ: Yes.

PAZ: Yeah, he's threatening your two days old nephew.

LIZ: You know he loves baby murder. He's trying so hard.

JULIAN: He loooves baby murder.

LIZ: He's gonna send your nephew to snake hell.

JULIAN: Well, and then there is the whole plotline of like Fireheart suspects that Tigerclaw was responsible for like Cinderpaw's accident. So he's really up on the the child murder or attempted murder.

LIZ: His rate of success is so-so, but boy is he determined. Yeah, it's not for lack of trying. Do you think like Tigerclaw goes back to his den every time he fails? It's like [clicks teeth] if it weren't for those darn kids. Next time I'll surely succeed.

JULIAN: That meddling kittypet.

LIZ: All I need is a big cliff and a long trail of Temptations treats. And when Cloudkit has the final treat, then I'll appear. Okay, I think of all the cats that I could see standing twolegged, Tigerclaw could be one, because that seems like the most evil. He's walking like a man towards--

PAZ: I think he should be one of his cats whose like, fur patterns make it look like he has a little mustache.

LIZ: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: Um--

JULIAN: God. Sorry, go ahead.

PAZ: I was just gonna say, but like, yeah, like other cats in the clan are also just being like, I want this child to die. Because like Longtail says at one point like, when Cloudkit gets a fever like, he won't last through Leafbare, like, happily.

JULIAN: They're like, joking about how long this child is gonna survive.

LIZ: Hey, y'all have a low birth rate, low infant survival rate. Shut up. Jesus.

JULIAN: It's like, are they so numb to child death? Like does it happen so often that they're just like, whatever?

LIZ: This is like the cat xenophobia.

JULIAN: God. Speaking of-- this is a terrible segue, but speaking of bad leadership decisions, what's up with Bluestar?

LIZ: She's so--

PAZ: Yeah, the scene with Sandpaw.

LIZ: What happened to her?

JULIAN: The scene even right before Sandpaw, where Fireheart is like, oh, I want to go to the gathering, cause I want to like see how WindClan is doing. And she's like, I don't need reminding of what you did for WindClan. It's like, what? She sounds like she's like, she thinks he's trying to like curry favor with her or something. And it's like, no, he's like, being normal. What's your damage?

LIZ: I guess like, is this gonna be a plot point?

PAZ: Is she that upset about him bringing a kitten when she's been saying over and over again, we don't have enough warriors?

LIZ: She's the one who brought him in for that express purpose.

PAZ: Right? He was just going by example.

JULIAN: And like, do I think it was a good idea? No. Do I think he should have checked? Yes. But also like, you deal with what you're given.

LIZ: There's been many worse decisions made in this clan recently, too. This isn't the worst one. It's just, well, it's a baby. We did need one.

JULIAN: ThunderClan is a smorgasbord of bad decisions.

LIZ: I wouldn't want to be there.

JULIAN: No, if I had to choose a clan...

PAZ: WindClan.

JULIAN: I would choose WindClan. They seem normal.

LIZ: They seem fine.

PAZ: This is jumping ahead again. But at the gathering like, Tallstar is like, we've been minding our fucking business. Like I don't know what all the rest of you are doing, but. We're just chilling. Leave us out of this.

LIZ: Tallstar is just like, he gets there late with like Starbucks or whatever. Sorry. That's an old meme, but he's like, hey, what's happening?

PAZ: The room's on fire.

JULIAN: Tallstar like, we're really busy hunting rabbits. Y'all figure this out yourselves.

LIZ: Like, I have to go now. My mom's calling me. Bye.

PAZ: But, um, yeah, there's a scene with Sandpaw at the end of chapter 22 that was nice. I like them building up the relationship between Fireheart and Sandpaw, since he like, saved her life. I like that it's like playing out over the long term. It's also cute that Fireheart keys to being like surprised, like why is she being so nice to me?

JULIAN: It's very fun.

LIZ: I think it's also good that he's like--

JULIAN: I also--

LIZ: Oh, no, go ahead.

JULIAN: No, no, no, go ahead.

LIZ: No, he's like, why haven't you been a warrior yet? You're like, so competent.

JULIAN: Yeah, Graystripe is a warrior. Mr. Chucklefuck himself.

PAZ: Yeah, can he be demoted and like, give it to Sandpaw?

LIZ: Yeah, can they switch?

JULIAN: I also do like that Sandpaw like, criticizes Bluestar's decisions.

PAZ: Yeah. She is right, too.

JULIAN: Also, she's nice about Cloudkit, which gains her points.

LIZ: It is.

JULIAN: She's like, oh, he's gonna be fine and his fur is really thick, so it's really helpful in the winter.

PAZ: Yeah, she's like, oh, he'll blend in.

LIZ: He's so fluffy, he'll be-- he'll never be cold.

JULIAN: Ugh, the gathering is just a mess.

PAZ: Yeah, so then the next chapter is the gathering. It is indeed a mess.

JULIAN: I have written on three lines in a row, "Graystripe, oh my god. Graystripe please."

PAZ: Graystripe is gonna cause like an international incident. He's caused like two indirect manslaughters, and now he's going to cause a war. He is, this one cat.

LIZ: He's not doing anything to hide it either.

PAZ: No.

LIZ: Cause he has no plans to stop. He's not even like, oh, I'm gonna roll in some garlic so they don't know it's me or something.

JULIAN: Right? He's not even trying to disguise his smell.

PAZ: I cannot believe that.

LIZ: That's the only thing you guys got. You're cats. Do something. Oh god, there's another airplane.

JULIAN: It's like he's trying to sneak into a building, but he's using his employee ID badge to do it.

LIZ: They'll never know it's me. How? It could be another Graystripe.

PAZ: Yeah, all that anyone has to do is come up and like sniff him a bit.

JULIAN: Like, why did he come to the gathering? They're gonna smell him.

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Why did he come? He's clearly not interested. He's like so checked out. He's just... he's wifeguy (derogatory.)

JULIAN: We also-- and I know this is partly like Fireheart POV. But like, because we don't see anything of like the relationship between Graystripe and Silverstream, we don't see them interact ever, it really is just like, why is he doing this?

PAZ: Yeah, it's like I don't... why are you so like, adamant about this, bro?

LIZ: We have seen a lot of Graystripe, though. And if I was Silverstream, I wouldn't be risking it all for this guy. I don't know.

PAZ: Yeah, Silverstream also sucks in this instance, frankly.

JULIAN: No, that's true. We see Graystripe sucking directly, but she is also like putting her clan at risk, and...

PAZ: It takes two.

LIZ: At least they are with each other so they don't have to be with anyone else?

PAZ: Thank God, they're out of the dating pool.

JULIAN: I know this would cause more problems. But how come she never comes and visits Graystripe?

LIZ: Yeah.

PAZ: There's already RiverClan cats on ThunderClan territory, apparently.

JULIAN: It wouldn't even cause an incident.

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: Why are they meeting each other in like one territory instead of like starting to meet like somewhere neutral? It seems really short sighted.

JULIAN: Why don't they go meet in kittypet territory? No one will care.

PAZ: God, right?

LIZ: Yeah. You just go back home, and Bluestar is like why do you smell so much like catnip?

JULIAN: Like, oh, Yellowfang told me to go get some. Boom. We're so much smarter than Graystripe.

LIZ: Graystripe, why do you smell like garlic? Oh, just love the taste.

PAZ: Aside from Graystripe, I have to put an alert on our Fireheart/Onewhisker watch.

JULIAN: Oh, I forgot about that.

PAZ: Yeah, we're on Fireheart/Onewhisker watch.

LIZ: Oh, it's real.

PAZ: It's going, it's happening. It's out there. It's real.

JULIAN: Onewhisker does glance at Fireheart with an amused gleam in his eyes.

PAZ: You wanna talk about cross-clan romance blooming.

LIZ: Where's the Fireheart/Onewhisker marriage of convenience--

PAZ: Oh my god.

LIZ: --to cement the allegiance between their two clans?

PAZ: Liz, you're so smart.

JULIAN: [typing] Archiveofourown.org.

PAZ: Yeah, I think Onewhisker like comes up to Fireheart during the gathering, and they're just like excited to see each other again. It's a cute scene.

LIZ: Isn't he also like oh, wow, Deadfoot said hi to you. What an honor. So like clan dad approval or whatever. You've met my family.

PAZ: Deadfoot's the dad who wears the shirt like, you can't date my daughter.

JULIAN: Great news.

PAZ: Oh yes?

LIZ: Oh?

JULIAN: There's 25 works.

PAZ: Oh fuck yes.

JULIAN: In the tag, which is kind of a lot. There's not like that that many Warrior Cats fics.

PAZ: Damn.

JULIAN: There's 3000 of them. So 25 for like a pretty obscure rarepair is not bad. Um, the first fic, or the most recent fic in the tag is a Peter Pan crossover.

LIZ: Huh.

PAZ: [snorts]

JULIAN: In which Fireheart is Peter Pan.

PAZ: Okay.

JULIAN: I don't know which character Onewhisker is. This is orphaned.

LIZ: Is it because he has red hair?

JULIAN: Maybe? Um, oh boy. Warrior Cats lemons. Discontinued until further notice.

PAZ: No...

LIZ: My god. No!

PAZ: No, you can't do that.

LIZ: No.

JULIAN: Oh my god, I think um, whoever wrote the Peter Pan-- who orphaned their Peter Pan account, I think they probably wrote this other one too.

PAZ: Oh no.

JULIAN: Because this seems... no, no, no, not the lemon. It's not the lemon This one that I'm about to describe, which is a Warriors/Cyrano de Bergerac crossover.

PAZ: A what crossover?

LIZ: Oh my god.

JULIAN: Cyrano de Bergerac, which is the... it's like She's the Man type of like, uh, story where it's like, oh, this person has a crush on the other guy-- or on a girl and I'm going to like write letters.

LIZ: Oh, it's a Half of It situation, Paz.

PAZ: Yes, okay, I see.

JULIAN: Yes, not She's the Man. That's a different...

PAZ: Maybe this person has a big brain, I think.

JULIAN: I think this person has a gigantic brain.

LIZ: I'm so happy for them. What a great, completely unexpected AU.

PAZ: Yeah, I don't know what else happened in the gathering besides Graystripe being the source of all conflict.

JULIAN: Tigerclaw was being pretty aggressive and like, making things worse than they needed to be. And I wish Bluestar would tell him to shut up.

PAZ: Yeah, was he about to like fucking attack clan leaders or something?

JULIAN: He like... I don't know if he like got close to attacking, but he got close. Like he's definitely doing a lot of yelling. I'm glad that StarClan sent a cloud to defuse the situation.

PAZ: Thanks, StarClan, I guess.

LIZ: You know cats hate clouds.

JULIAN: I mean, listen, my cat Chickpea has spent the last two days like hiding under various objects because she hates rain so much.

LIZ: Aw, Chickpea.

JULIAN: Aw, her traumas.

LIZ: StarClan sends one cloud to pass over the moon. All of the cats, all of them, they just like fluff up. They're like, ah fuck, we gotta go home.

PAZ: Cute.

JULIAN: Yellowfang is right. They shouldn't be fighting among themselves, especially during Leafbare. They should be worrying about keeping their clans safe.

PAZ: Yeah, she's right. Yellowfang has like the one brain in this whole book, maybe.

LIZ: Yellowfang should leave and join a better clan. It's real fucked up here.

PAZ: Yeah, just go make your own clan, Yellowfang.

LIZ: Maybe she should make like-- okay, here's a clan where you can have more than one doctor so I can like sleep once in a while.

OLIVER: [yowl]

LIZ: I'm so old. I'm a cat. I'm so old.

PAZ: Oh hold on, Oliver wants to go out. Be right back.

JULIAN: I think it's really good when our podcast is interrupted by our actual cats.

LIZ: Yeah, it's a little bit of flavor, I think. Makes you think like, hey, who's the real kittypet? Oliver, Chickpea, or us?

PAZ: Okay, I'm back.

LIZ: Hi.

JULIAN: Hello.

PAZ: Hello. Um, I don't know. I guess the next like, stuff that-- we've already talked about the evil leg scene. So the next stuff is like the ShadowClan stuff. I think that was all chapter 25. It was a really fun chapter to read.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's like very fast-paced. Oh, I thought there was a nice little detail. When they find the rabbit bones that they're like, oh, this is ShadowClan, there's a bit about like "Clan cats normally buried the bones of their prey as a sign of respect for the life they had taken." Which is you know, that's a nice little world building detail. I'm sure it will never come up again.

PAZ: Yeah, I'm like, wow, this showed up out of nowhere and just for this one plot beat, but okay.

LIZ: You know, there's like 100 more books. Might show up again.

PAZ: Maybe.

LIZ: Would be nice. Would love to know about, you know, burials and... what is the relation between like, animals that aren't cats and aren't other carnivores?

PAZ: I don't know.

LIZ: And what's the spectrum of like sentience and respect there? I don't know.

JULIAN: Like I knew we talked a little bit way back when about how dogs are maybe semi-sentient in this universe, but this is not a Redwall situation.

PAZ: I think badgers are also sentient? I don't 100% remember.

LIZ: Badgers are always sentient in any animal thing.

PAZ: So true.

LIZ: They're just like fun guys.

PAZ: Yeah, cause I'm pretty--

JULIAN: They really do have like an outsized impact in children's literature for how many badgers actually exist.

PAZ: Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen--

LIZ: I've never seen one.

PAZ: Yeah, not even like in a zoo, I don't think.

LIZ: Mm-mm.

JULIAN: When I click on the Wikipedia page for badgers, which we've done before on the podcast, one of the suggestions is List of fictional badgers.

LIZ: It's very big.

PAZ: Yeah, so the ShadowClan stuff is like Tigerclaw gets all gung ho about rushing off to deal with ShadowClan, leaves the camp completely undefended. And it turns out it's not ShadowClan. It's like Brokenstar and his posse, who basically just set up like a ambush.

LIZ: They're his friends. Please, the text calls them his friends.

PAZ: Sorry. Brokenstar's polycule.

LIZ: [laughing] No!

PAZ: Sorry, sorry. Okay, I just had to get that out.

JULIAN: No, you're... listen, who's to say? Who's to say it couldn't be?

LIZ: You're right. Just completely got me-- just threw me off. Not just the track, but just like the region. I'm in another area code.

JULIAN: Hard left.

LIZ: There's a part where it's pointed out that no one is telling Bluestar before they go attack. And then Tigerclaw's like, well, you go tell her, to Fireheart. And I don't know. I think it brings up an interesting like question like, how much of this is Tigerclaw just acting the way he wants because he thinks that's like the right thing? And how much of it is like pre planned or part of his like, grand evil, usurping murder scheme?

JULIAN: Yeah, it is-- because like, it is very clear that like he thinks he's acting in the best interest of the clan. But also it happens to be that he thinks that the best interest of the clan is for him to be in power absolutely. And like, I think that's a good point. Like, how much of this is him scheming and how much of this is him being like, well, I know what's right, and I'm not gonna listen to anyone else?

PAZ: Yeah, I mean, that's something we will presumably find out.

LIZ: I am kind of surprised like, at almost the end of the book, how much he's been like an enjoyable antagonist because he does like seesaw between like, I'm your mean teacher. I'm your comically evil teacher. And then I'm your comically evil king killer.

PAZ: He's so fun.

JULIAN: Tigerclaw really is like, he's a great character. Like, he does some wild shit later. Uh, but he's one of like, you know, I didn't read a lot of the later books, but he's one of my favorite characters in the series.

PAZ: Yeah, I'm excited to be reading and like actually seeing him on screen because I mean, he's mentioned a lot in later books. But here he is doing his thing.

LIZ: Doing his evil leg reaching out to take your basketball.

JULIAN: You know, I guess the Brokenstar like reveal is... cause we were talking in the first book that we were like, yeah, the Brokenstar stuff seemed to get resolved like way too quickly.

PAZ: It wasn't resolved.

JULIAN: And I guess this is why.

LIZ: Makes sense.

PAZ: Which makes sense. Yeah, cause he wasn't killed or anything.

LIZ: No, he just got Team Rocket blasted off. He's back now. He's here to steal your Pikachu.

PAZ: Yeah, I mean this chapter is just like good, like, rising tensions and then also like Fireheart like making like decisions on the fly. And there's like a scene where he like gets on top of Highrock, which was fun. Kind of had to take like de facto leadership in like this situation where literally everyone else left.

JULIAN: Yeah, One-eye, great name, the oldest ThunderClan cat--

PAZ: Okay, One-eye's name is like One, and then there's like a little dash, eye. Why is he allowed to...

JULIAN: I guess he has a hyphen because otherwise it would be two E's in a row, which is awkward to read.

PAZ: Maybe. Maybe.

LIZ: Or maybe it's his surname, and he double barreled with...

PAZ: Why does he get a special name?

LIZ: He's the oldest one.

PAZ: Okay, true.

JULIAN: When you get old enough, you get bestowed a hyphen.

LIZ: Yeah. You have to-- with every decade, you get access to one more piece of punctuation.

PAZ: Oh shit.

JULIAN: But he goes like, oh, what do you think you're doing up there?

LIZ: Well, he is very old, so it would sound like [creaky voice] What do you think you're doing up there, young man?

JULIAN: You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't do a good voice. [creaky voice] Warriors these days.

PAZ: Could be a little bit of foreshadowing, you could say.

LIZ: You could say.

PAZ: You could say. Well, you know, at least Sandpaw-- okay, I said everyone was gone. But Sandpaw is still there.

JULIAN: That's true.

PAZ: Even though Bluestar refuses to make her a warrior for some reason, she's very competent, so.

JULIAN: When one girlboss falls, another must rise to take her place.

LIZ: It's like, oh, god, that's the episode title.

PAZ: It's very long.

JULIAN: The law of conservation of girlbosses? Is that shorter?

PAZ: Yes, thank you.

LIZ: Is there cat sexism?

PAZ: I don't think so. I don't really remember that.

JULIAN: I don't think so.

LIZ: Maybe not. Maybe there's like--

JULIAN: There's not really in-world sexism aside-- like there's not sexism. There is like un... the role of queens is...

LIZ: The biological essentialism.

PAZ: But yeah, there's not like, like, like, sexism really. I feel like--

JULIAN: No one's like, oh, Bluestar's a girl.

LIZ: No.

PAZ: I feel like there's a lot of male leaders but I think-- I don't know, that's just like, what happened, I guess.

JULIAN: I think that's the bias of the authors and like not any intentional in-world...

LIZ: That's an author.

JULIAN: And like, you know, the authors are all women. But, you know, we live in a society.

LIZ: Yeah. It is very funny that like, girl character, plucky girl student character does not get promoted, just as a consequence.

PAZ: I need to know if there's an explanation for why this is happening, because it's so funny.

LIZ: There has to be because it keeps getting pointed out.

JULIAN: I think we're gonna get to it. There's certainly an explanation for like, why Bluestar is, um...

PAZ: Yeah, I sort of know about that.

LIZ: Well, I don't cause I haven't read this yet. But okay.

JULIAN: Sorry to be like heh heh heh.

PAZ: That's the basis of our podcast though.

LIZ: It is.

JULIAN: Girlboss starts to behave weirdly. You'll never guess what happens next.

LIZ: Can I give you some theories?

PAZ: Oh, sure.

JULIAN: Yes, please.

LIZ: Um, so have you ever seen Men in Black?

PAZ: Yes.

JULIAN: Yes.

LIZ: So you know the alien that's like a guy, but it's actually a very little guy in a human guy suit.

PAZ: Yes.

LIZ: I think Bluestar, in the middle, was abducted for political reasons, and they replaced her with a little Bluestar replicant.

PAZ: Damn.

LIZ: Another reason may be that she's being mind... well, actually that's the same thing. I was gonna say like by a weird cat parasite, but that's kind of the same premise. Evil twin?

JULIAN: I was gonna say Bluestar's toxoplasmosis. But um.

PAZ: Yeah, they do that to us, not.

JULIAN: Yeah, I don't think it goes the other way around.

LIZ: Yes, that's it. I think that's it.

PAZ: Great, thank you.

LIZ: Evil twin or teeny alien.

PAZ: That's the only explanations. I don't know. I don't know if I have much else to add.

JULIAN: Yeah, I think we really kind of, we covered it.

LIZ: Join us next week to see Fireheart flush out the alien controlling Bluestar's politics.

PAZ: I'm trying to decide if we'll just finish out the book next time or what.

LIZ: I think it's five chapters, right? We could just finish it.

JULIAN: Yeah, I mean, if it ends up like... it's five chapters. If we go through it chronologically and it ends up being like a super long episode, we can...

PAZ: Roll with it or do something. I don't know.

JULIAN: Yeah it seems like we've hit the--

PAZ: Climax, kind of.

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: Okay. Well, yeah.

LIZ: Just be special extra long for a finale.

JULIAN: Yeah, there you go. Big finale episode.

PAZ: That's what we planned.

LIZ: FATT-style, join us for a four-hour long finale.

PAZ: No. Yeah, I don't have a segment planned because I knew we were gonna have a long discussion this week.

JULIAN: Yeah. I think we kind of talked about a lot this week.

PAZ: Did you-- did you have something?

LIZ: [emphatically] No.

PAZ: Okay. Well then.

LIZ: We could plan out some more of my Onewhisker/Fireheart political marriage of convenience AU.

PAZ: Yeah, you wanna end on that? You wanna give us some thoughts?

LIZ: I mean, just going from canon characterization, I think Fireheart's going to spend a lot of time being like wow, Onewhisker's really friendly and competent. What a good acquaintance.

PAZ: Oh no. Fireheart oblivious in this case.

LIZ: I also think he'll have some sort of major political social faux pas in the middle.

PAZ: Of course.

LIZ: Which is the crux of the conflict. But he's so darn personable because he's got that protagonist personality.

JULIAN: Onewhisker and his charming himbo spouse.

PAZ: Tallstar orchestrates this, of course.

JULIAN: Yes, of course.

LIZ: Tallstar's like okay, you guys need to have a conference about fish trade right now. The two of you only, in the idyllic meadow. Here's a picnic basket.

PAZ: Oh my god, there was only one cat bed.

LIZ: There was only one pile of leaves.

JULIAN: Oh, I love it.

LIZ: There was only one emergency rat sewer.

JULIAN: Oh. Fireheart trying to prove that he's gonna be a good member of his new clan and just hunting a lot. Bringing back a lot of rabbits.

LIZ: Onewhisker finds just like, oh my god, what's something comically large? Like a deer at the foot of his door or whatever. What do you do with this?

PAZ: Okay, is there cat royalty in this au? Or what's the political situation?

LIZ: We could go--

JULIAN: Onewhisker is the deputy, so he's like the heir. Not really, but you know.

LIZ: Maybe they're just like high ranking diplomats.

PAZ: I see.

JULIAN: Yeah, it's like Tallstar can't marry a cat from another clan because that would be too, like, too much.

PAZ: Also Tallstar still pining after his star-crossed romance with Jake, of course.

JULIAN: Of course.

PAZ: He sees--

JULIAN: So two reasons.

PAZ: He sees himself in Fireheart and Onewhisker's relationship.

LIZ: Oh, I see. Also, Bluestar is a lesbian, despite her girlbossification.

JULIAN: Yeah. Lesbians can be girlbosses.

LIZ: You're right, you're right.

PAZ: That's so true.

LIZ: It's equality.

JULIAN: We can be just as bad as straight people.

PAZ: Heard it here first, folks. Proud of it. Maybe Bluestar's parents were killed by dalmations. That explains--

[laughter]

That explains her situation.

LIZ: God.

JULIAN: I think Tallstar should get to have a good heart to heart in which he explains to Fireheart that Onewhisker is in love with him.

PAZ: So true.

JULIAN: Cause Fireheart is too dumb to see it himself. And Tallstar is like this can't happen again. We can't have another Jake.

PAZ: Fireheart's like, surely there's no feelings here because of our arranged marriage. Oh, I'm so sad.

LIZ: How can Onewhisker possibly fall for me, a protagonist cat with anime hero hair that everyone admires, and who's extremely accomplished, and apparently friends with everyone unless they super hate me?

PAZ: No, but he's a kittypet, Liz.

LIZ: You're right. He's like, but I'm just a kittypet.

JULIAN: Does Onewhisker also have anime bangs?

PAZ: Of course.

JULIAN: Okay, good.

LIZ: Oh, they're in the other direction. So it's like parallels.

JULIAN: Oh, so they match.

PAZ: I see.

JULIAN: [laughing] So when they kiss it forms a perfect bowlcut.

PAZ: Wow. Love is real.

LIZ: You complete my stylish fringe.

JULIAN: I'm imagining like, I don't know if y'all have seen Taemin's like perfect circle bowl cut from like, early Shinee era.

PAZ: I feel like I remember seeing it.

JULIAN: You may have seen-- I think one of our friends has posted pictures of it. It's just a real circle.

LIZ: Oh my god. I see it.

JULIAN: Yeah, if you just search Taemin bowlcut, it'll come up.

LIZ: Oh my god, it's seamless.

JULIAN: Yeah, just a perfect orb.

LIZ: I'm just gonna paste it in chat.

JULIAN: That's what I'm imagining when they come together.

LIZ: This is a child. It's a young lad.

PAZ: Oh my god. It looks fake. It looks fake. That cannot be his real hair.

LIZ: It's a mushroom.

JULIAN: Sorry, for people who are not in our Discord server, Liz has just posted this in our critiques-to-read channel.

PAZ: Makes you think.

JULIAN: It really does make you think. Also I'm sorry if I'm blowing out the audio by laughing too hard.

PAZ: Yeah, same. Ooh, boy. Maybe we should call it there.

JULIAN: What a note to end on.

PAZ: Thanks for joining us this week, everyone. As always, you can listen-- wait, you're listening to the show right now. You don't need to know how to do that. You can find the show @staircast on Twitter.

LIZ: Well, what if they want to switch apps?

PAZ: Yeah, we're on other apps. If you want to switch it up, go ahead. You can find the show @staircast on Twitter. You can send questions and stuff to [email protected]. Join us next week. We'll be finishing out Fire and Ice. Who knows what will happen? But until next time, may StarClan light your path. Bye.

LIZ: Bye.

JULIAN: Bye.

PAZ: [outro music]

LIZ: Need to Photoshop this onto Fireheart.

JULIAN: Please do so that we can tweet it.

LIZ: It'll be really easy. It's just one shape.

PAZ: Let's clap.

LIZ: No gaps.

JULIAN: Should I have Craig join?

PAZ: Oh yeah, maybe.

JULIAN: Just in case.

PAZ: Yeah, we can see how it works, too.

JULIAN: Yeah.

PAZ: [startled] Ah!

JULIAN: Oh, geez, hi Craig.

LIZ: Oh my God.

PAZ: Craig, that is scary.

LIZ: I think Craig's gonna betray us because he's an evil AI.

PAZ: Yeah we're about to be in 2000: A Space Odyssey.

JULIAN: Craig was Tigerclaw this whole time.

PAZ: Oh shit.

LIZ: Oh god.

PAZ: What if Tigerclaw's name was just Craig?

LIZ: That has like evil manager energy.

PAZ: That's basically what he is in this book. That is his vibes in Fire and Ice.

JULIAN: Craig-- or Tigerclaw, loudly: if you have time to lean, you have time to clean!

PAZ: God.

JULIAN: Enemy of the people, Craig.

LIZ: Craigslist, but it's his list of murder victims.

PAZ: Well, his list of attempted murder victims would be pretty high, pretty long.

LIZ: God.

PAZ: Okay, but I will do the intro.

JULIAN: Oh, should we do time.is?

PAZ: Oh fuck.

#ep 14 #fire and ice ep #transcript #brokenstars polycule

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