During a cosplay photo shoot of my friend @thesweeteastwind, we decided to give them a jigglypuff plush. Since then I haven't been able to take this shitpost idea out of my head, so...

Have this

The semi-companion piece to Kevin's one and it's all about Mads, of course. Dedicated to Kevison Nation (every single fudging one of you) and to @flythesail and @penny259 (your comments have me weeping haha 😚). Also on ao3.

A little into Madison Pearson by x (with additions) Summer 2026

I first met Madison Pearson a year ago at George Clooney’s 65th birthday celebrations in Perthshire, Scotland in a fashion closer to that of long-travelled friends who haven’t seen each other in years than that of complete strangers who just so happened to enjoy the same foodie indulgence (bacon-wrapped dates, anyone?). Despite the grandeur of the guests present at the lavish affair – politicians, laureates, philanthropists and A-list celebrities (including her own husband actor Kevin Pearson) – Madison Pearson had the kind of invigorating energy that just drew absolutely anyone in.

Perhaps it was the enchanting mix of contained excitement and understated class she exuded that will warm you upon beholding up close, or perhaps it was the charm of a more loquacious woman of California mixed with the rare intelligence of a world-traveller. Either way, despite the taxing social waltz her husband took her throughout the night bumping elbows with the elites, Madison was one of those people who truly left a lasting impression.

Squeezed next to her in the back of a cab, Madison is head-to-toe in Temperley London x Axel Arigato (vintage-inspired nautical jumpsuit and platform suedes) en route to a baking class where her five-year-old twins Nick and Franny are waiting for her to join them along with their father.

“I was supposed to get changed,” she says, lamenting on her attire worn for a meeting with some West Chester development executives that’s perhaps too luxurious for an afternoon of mixing flour and butter and sugar. “But you have to make at least a bit of an impression, right?”

Madison has been the powerhouse head honcho of the Pearson family business, Big Three Homes, since its establishment three years prior. With a solid background in business management and a surefooted ability to navigate the mores of an ever-changing property development landscape, it was no question that Madison would rise up to the challenge of breaking into the market with a business model founded on family, philanthropy and sustainability.

Despite growing up largely independent without people close enough to call family, Madison has also found the means to speak about her experiences in an effort to encourage and give hope to the younger generation of girls and young women who may be going through an ongoing battle between themselves and their self-worth.

“I never felt enough,” she says of the origins of her battle with her eating disorder that began when she was still in middle school. “I look at Franny and she’s so small and carefree and I want to give her everything I never had, but I know that even that won’t be enough unless she herself realises how worthy she is of all the good and all the love that she deserves.”

We pull up outside the baking studio and she brightens at spotting her husband and twins’ silhouettes behind the frosted glass windows. Nick and Franny almost topple over their stools as they rush to overwhelm their mother while their father scrambles to keep his heart rate down—a close call with their foreheads hitting the edge of the marble benches as they got down will just about do it.

Even with her petite frame, Madison carries the twins like she’s just holding a bag of groceries. Unsurprisingly, both Nick and Franny are as enamoured of their mother as she is of them and are on the verge of complaining when put down just as Kevin, grinning ear to ear, envelops Madison in his huge arms—to be fair, he’s always been quite remarkably chiselled but the Tom Ford sweater and those tailored jeans (chosen by his wife “of course” as Kevin credits) is a different level altogether. He leans down to give her a kiss.

Back in Perthshire a year ago at the Clooney extravaganza, I caught up with the married couple the day after the festivities over a traditional Scottish breakfast as we overlooked the highlands of the Gleneagles.

Perhaps unlike the Clooneys, who were still entertaining their guests from all over world, the Pearsons were much more relaxed within their own family bubble. Having just celebrated Kevin’s twin sister’s wedding three days prior with close family and friends, the pair was grateful to spend some quality time with each other and their twins without the need to be anything but present.

From my perch, Kevin and Madison were the kind of couple that were very much “old souls”. They held an affection for each other that is rooted from sincere fondness and adoration for each other—they converse like deep friends and trade wits like secret lovers. And despite the media attention of the adorable moments shared online (often by the social-savvy actor), Madison is uncompromising when it comes to the privacy of their children.

While the twins dipped in and out of the table pilfering scones or taking over their mother’s green juice, neither one of their parents were the least bit bothered by the constant attention they need to provide such a rumbunctious pair.

“They’re so funny,” Kevin said, a careful eye on little Nick who was staring at the whipped cream on his tiny finger like he was contemplating on wiping it on his dad’s face.

I do recall having a good laugh when I accompanied the family on a tour of a nearby 17th century castle and little Franny, a copy-and-paste of her mother, pointed at a wood-cut table decoration of what looked to be intertwined lovers and confidently yelled, “That’s mommy and daddy!”

The fierce mama bear of the Pearson household of four (Madison sometimes calls her husband “kid number three, but don’t tell him that or he’ll get ideas of trying for another!”), remarks that forging her own path away from her husband’s spotlight had been remarkably easy, and she gives much of the credit to the rest of the Pearson clan who all treasure family more than anything.

Even with the notoriety of her brother-in-law, rising political star Randall Pearson, who currently serves in the Philadelphia municipality and is on track for a career in congress, Madison says that quality time to rest and recuperate is a must.

“[My sisters-in-law] and I have a girls weekend every other month when we can where we literally book ourselves a gorgeous Airbnb and just glamp down. I’m talking sleep-ins, endless mimosas, spa sessions… you name it! It’s the kind of getaway that [our husbands] get really jealous for.”

And upon being reminded, Kevin, now sporting Franny’s tiny chef’s hat, shakes his head at his wife conspicuously as if in reprimand that he most definitely should be included in the gals’ next glamping session despite him being, well, not a gal.

While Nick proudly counts five of about a thousand sprinkles that are scattered on his side of the bench, Madison congratulates him with a warmth and pride that is infectious enough to make you think that she’s proud of you too. And despite her husband’s very obvious possessiveness over her—you could count only one occasion where the actor is not at arm’s length from her—when Madison focuses her attention on you, it’s not difficult to believe that this powerhouse woman could truly do absolutely anything.

“She is that and more,” Kevin says about his wife. “Sometimes I can’t believe that this is my life. Our life! Like, she’s mywife, and these two are our kids. It’s just wild! I’m grateful, just grateful.”

Despite the doubts and fear that had been Madison’s constant companions for most of her life and especially going into adulthood, there is a fierce resilience in her that she could only credit her dear grandmother Frances—her own daughter having been named after her.

“She always believed in me,” she recalls, an eye on the twins squatting by the oven watching their creations rise. Despite the deep grief and loss that are quite intimately shared by the married couple, Madison says that it has only made them more resolute in loving their children and each other as best as they possible can every day.

“You just don’t know when it’s your time,” she says. “So, Kev and I make sure that there are no ‘next times’ when it comes to our family.”

When I had asked Madison about Big Three Homes back in Scotland, she squealed at the origin story of its founding, which started with Kevin’s late father Jack Pearson having asked his wife Rebecca to start the business together as partners.

Although Jack’s tragic and unexpected passing put an indefinite hold to this dream, its fulfilment through his son Kevin and through Madison is a testament to the kind of legacy that Jack Pearson had begun through his kids.

“I mean, it started off as more of a passion project for Kev,” Madison says. “But we knew it was always going to be something really special. Especially because his first project was the house that Jack had wanted to build for his mom. And when Kevin had this wonderful idea of bringing the family together to start the business and he asked me to be a part of it, how could I have said no!”

Kevin makes a point to say though that even if the idea of Big Three Homes originally came from his parents, its fulfilment is as much a part of his and Madison’s own story as it is his parents’. And choosing to have Madison work alongside him wasn’t just the best choice (given how much of a boss she is), but it was the only choice he ever wanted or considered.

“I know this is cliché, but I can’t stand not being with her,” Kevin says. “I made a point of this when our twins were born, and I meant it!”

Madison and the family split their time between California and Pennsylvania both for Kevin’s work and for the business, but nowadays, it’s more of an 80-20 split in favour of the east coast.

When asked about a career path carved away from her hometown in California, Madison says fondly, “It surprises a lot of people when I say this but I’m actually an east coast girl.”

This fun fact translates quite well in Madison’s day to day. She could turn any conversation into an erudite discussion, and she will utterly beguile you with her knowledge of books and literature—her constant companions when she can sneak away to her own personal Taj Mahal, a stunning Japanese garden in the backyard of their Pennsylvania home which Kevin built especially for her.

As the Pearsons continue to make a splash in the world of construction, politics, arts and entertainment—a rare mix indeed for a family in the spotlight—Madison is determined to continue writing a story with her husband and her children that she never had growing up.

With the twins happily destroying their creations by the mouthfuls, Madison promises that another visit is a must and perhaps this time, she can show us a collection of Kevin’s baby photos coupled with her own personal commentary to boot.

And who would say no to that.

Top Yuri Anime Poll Results

Whether it is subtext or explicit, cute or sexy, school love or gay action thrillers I love yuri anime. These series either focus on or contain elements of female same-sex relationships. Pride month is the perfect time to look back and reflect on the best of this genre. I teamed up with OG Man of The Yuri Nation (yurination[dot] wordpress[dot] com/) and together we put out a poll asking what you thought the top yuri anime series were and over 1000 of you responded submitting almost 5000 different entries. We spent hours combing through the data, analyzing and commenting on the results and we would like to share our thoughts with all of you. Enjoy the reflections of me the yuri critic and OG the dedicated yuri fan!

These are the Top 20 Yuri Anime as voted by you

1. Bloom Into You - 692 Votes

OG: Be it East or West the YagaKimi took the world by storm. Citrus and BiY once again taking the top two spots remains unsurprising.There is something undeniably fascinating about our leading ladies consisting of an asexual slowly coming to love her senpai back but restraining herself for various reasons. The biggest one being said senpai having a deep case of self-loathing and a fear of romantic reciprocation, also for various reasons. She is like “I love you but please do not love me back”. Then there is one of the most popular “cursed” lesbians of all time in Sayaka, the fantastic adult side-couple (The world needs an anime starring lesbian adults/mothers) and the various other characters who have their own interesting tales to tell. The series absolutely deserves a spot in the Top 10 though it would not be in my personal Top 3. Oh and as Yurimother said the presentation was fantastic.Visually stunning from start to finish in my opinion. Special mention goes to the criminally underused first-person “camera”. So cool.

YuriMother: I agree with this series deserving a spot in the top ten even if not the number one slot. For me, it was good but not great. Moments such as the aforementioned adult couple as well as stellar art and a phenomenal score made this series enjoyable but they were not enough to overshine the problems of the narrative. For the love of the Yuri Goddess, this series is crying out for asexual representation but insists on carrying on with its confused romance. Enough complaining though, many people love Bloom Into You despite its faults and I agree. The characters are interesting and lovable and it manages to tell a yuri story more real and complex than the typical fluffy girl meets girl narratives.

2. Citrus - 452 Votes

YuriMother: The presence of Citrus and Bloom Into You prove two things to me, the importance of recency, as both anime aired only last year, and the sheer popularity of these series. Both had established and extremely successful manga runs which were adapted into English by the publishing masters of yuri, Seven Seas. Citrus is a contentious series, to say the least, as it includes elements of (non-blood related) incest and non-consensual actions as part of Mei and Yuzu’s “relationship.” However, if you possess the magical power to turn off the part of your brain screaming at you that those aspects are deeply problematic or if you seek a different interpretation then Citrus can be downright WONDERFUL. I actually loved this anime series for its characters, amazing animation, and salaciousness. As OG said, it is an operatic concussion of emotion (seriously everyone in the series needs therapy) but my is it fun to watch. The Citrus anime also holds a special place in my heart, as the first serious piece I ever wrote was a review for it over on Okazu (nice plug)! Citrus is certainly not for everyone but those that stuck with it and overlooked some of the problems ended up loving it.

OG: Here we are again with Citrus at #2. My thoughts on the series remains the same as in the previous two lists I discussed (the Akiba Research and goo Ranking Japan lists), overrated. Good soap opera/telenovela-esque series but my feelings on the cast are mixed (which I imagine was the writer’s intent). My main issue has always been the obstacles repeatedly challenging Yuzu and Mei’s feelings for each other instead of it focusing on “Hey. We like each other but our parents got married. What do we do? Can we keep our desires for each other in check?”. Instead it is one newcomer after another who want to eat either Yuzu or Mei and Yuzu repeatedly asking herself if she really wants robo-stepsister patties? I will give the anime adaptation credit. The story was easier to enjoy animated than drawn. It also helped that I grew up in a telenovela loving family. The characters’ actions, reactions and emotions were depicted better in the anime. I still consider the show’s greatest accomplishment being the humanization of Mei-Tron. In the manga it took a post-epilogue continuation to show readers “Hey everyone. Mei-Tron was human all along.” whereas in the anime I sensed the small bit of humanity quicker than in the manga where I continued seeing her as a block of wood with a brain up to the point where I dropped it. Harumin though is the greatest regardless of anime or manga adaptation. Bless her. Regardless of how I feel about the series I get its massive popularity. After all, were the rest of the story to get an animated continuation I would gladly pick it up...Not the manga though.

3. Sakura Trick - 342 Votes

OG: There are fans who understandably would disagree with Sakura Trick’s praise but I will always defend it and the anime as one of the very best in the genre. First off it aired at a time where animated on-screen close up kisses (specifically consensual ones) between ladies were rare. Haruka X Yuu’s relationship was believable for the most part. Even their season finale resolution, them not getting what being “in love” meant at the time, made sense though I get why it left some scratching their heads. Probably not the best “manga lure/bait” end I suppose. On the bright side Kotone X Shizuku’s story definitely did not have the two doubting their true feelings for each other. I do hope Kaede X Yuzu eventually hooked up in the manga as they too had potential to be a lovely couple.

YuriMother: Sakura Trick has no real narrative, no great insight, and offers little intellectually. As a teacher, it makes me furious, as a fan of yuri, elated. The anime is beloved for its plentiful soft service, presenting a plethora of kisses, cuddles, and awkward thigh shots (ew). However, it was one of the first anime to include this much explicit yuri service without being pornographic. All the characters were cute and fun, even if there was little in the way of development or complexity, it worked for the series. If you want something to make you think or to learn about yuri, pass over this one. But, if you want a cute and meaningless anime definitely watch it.

4. Yuru Yuri - 337 Votes

YuriMother: OG may not be a fan of Yuru Yuri but I certainly am, which is fairly obvious to anyone who observes that a solid 20% of my communications occur in the form of gifs from this series. It is hilarious, cute, and playful. Just like Sakura Trick, this anime is an easy watch with ultimately little substance. However, the part of me that is not rolling of the floor laughing every time I watch Yuru Yuri lives in a state of pained existence with the knowledge that this work of all things ended up being so popular when people are telling interesting stories about queer women and people in actual relationship that manage to still be funny and adorable while having something to say.

OG: The undisputed most mainstream friendly yuri series there is. It is also one of the funniest. My one gripe is that excluding a select few the main draw of the show besides the comedy and yuri is the ship wars, meaning (almost any girl can be shipped with each other). Not a fan of that but hey, it brought Namori the big bucks so who am I to judge? In any case not much else to add. It deserves all the adulation it gets but the free for all shipping irks me. Reminds me of how they botched Chika X Riko in the Love Live! Sunshine!! Anime. If you were going down the Riko X Yohane route from the start then why give us Chika X Riko in the first half? Ship wars yo. Tch. Hopefully I properly explained myself..

5. Kase-san and Morning Glories (Asagao to Kase-san) - 289 Votes

OG: Still wish this got a 12-13 episode anime. The glorious movie showed how much it deserves one. Whether it will happen or not remains to be seen. In any case the beauty of Kase-san X Yamada is how simple their romance is. No strings attached whatsoever. It is as straightforward as a self-proclaimed “ordinary” cutie, Yamada, having a crush on the super cool school beauty Kase-san. Said beauty is revealed to be just as “adorkable” as Yamada. The other highlight is their story not ending once they officially started dating (as is the case with many romance stories) but that being only the beginning, like real life. From then on, side-stories aside, the two biggest challenges for the two is Yamada accepting that it is okay for someone as “ordinary” as her to be the “cool babe”s girlfriend and Kase-san finding different ways to express her love/hunger for the cutie. As for the OVA, cramming the second part of the first series in an hour definitely had the downside of excluding some important moments, yes, but it at least covered some of the best moments in the manga. The first half of the story was summarized in a five-minute music video. One last thing. The animation, though a bit too brought for some, was glorious. It also had some long pauses which were effective (The bus stop scene being the most infamous) but while I did not mind them at all even I will admit some pauses went a bit too long. A small nitpick all things considered. Fingers crossed one day we either get that 12-13 episode anime for the first series, the sequel or both. That is one of my dreams.

YuriMother: At last, an anime that I do not have to react cynically to! Kase-san is one of the single greatest works of yuri animation to ever to be created and its glory is rivaled only by the manga from which it originated. Despite being only a one hour long OVA this adaption told such an engaging and realistic (finally) story of romance and personal growth. We get to skip the meatless girl meets girls arcs and get into the depth and complexity as Yamada and Kase work to further their relationship. They struggle with the fact that they are two different people who want different things out of life and love and have to actually work on their partnership. Kase-san also includes signs of physical affection and love that are never lewd, immature, or gross, I do not even think I could refer to them as “service”. However, for me, Kase-san’s greatest victory (both the anime and manga) is in its escape from school romance, which in this genre is often a shelter from reality, allowing for women to be in relationships without actually being queer. Kase and Yamada instead make an effort to continue their romance and build a life that includes their relationship once they graduate in a triumphant final act. This anime is a slap in the face to the class S stories and sloppily sexualized works which proliferate the yuri genre. Asagao to Kase-san shines as a holy beacon for the greatness that this genre can achieve.

6. Puella Magi Madoka Magica - 286 Votes

YuriMother: Hurray!! For two entries in a row, I get to talk about series that I wholeheartedly adore without having to constantly attach caveats. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is not considered by all to be yuri, and that is certainly not what it is best known for. PMMM is however famous for twisting the tropes of the magical girl genre and creating one of the most cohesive and thoughtful narratives ever put to screen. This series summoned a new era for the magical girl genre (what OG humorously referred to as the “Moepocalypse”) but no other title managed to top Madoka Magica’s runaway success. Every aspect of this work is highly polished including character designs, a phenomenal soundtrack, and superb writing. This is not only the definitive work of its genre but of all postmodern anime. Whether or not one is a fan of yuri every anime fan should give Madoka Magica a watch.

OG: Meduka Meguca. Its impact in the “Moepocalypse” (Shows where cute and sexy girls consistently suffering physically and emotionally. These are usually dark magical girl shows.) genre and legacy are undeniable. It deserves all the praise it gets. It scarred many unfortunate souls, Homura is a legend in yuridom, Kyouko X Sayaka are glorious (Especially in Rebellion), Meduka’s Mom Junko is a Top Tier Sexy Mama, Charlotte the Witch is a very strange girlfriend and of course Hitomi is a walking anti-fun meme. The animation, especially the creepy doodle like monsters known as Witches are memorable. However, it is not my favorite Moepocalypse show. That honor goes to Yuki Yuna is a Hero.

7. Strawberry Panic - 224 Votes

OG: Like it or not Strawberry Panic is a yuri classic. I have a strong feeling that like many readers around my age (31 during this writing) this was their first 100% yuri anime. The cheese is real but it is the yummy kind of cheese and I loved almost every minute of it, except Amane X Hikari. That was the weakest of the love stories going on. Poor Yaya trying too hard (Not saying this in condescending way. She literally tried too hard). It is like a young adult lesbian novel but more fun. I mean Nagisa X Shizuma might as well be “Lesbian Twilight but not crappy”. Let us be honest, Shizuma is a vampire. Chikaru is an undisputed goddess and Kagome is the cutest.

Oh and I will repeat this statement till my last breath…

#TamaoWasRobbed.

YuriMother: I may be almost a decade younger than OG but even for me Strawberry Panic was my first yuri and it more than earns its nickname as the “gateway yuri,” although last year’s Citrus and Bloom Into You may be presenting serious contenders for this title. If for no other reason than nostalgia, Strawberry Panic remains my favorite yuri works but this ridiculous soap-opera of an anime does deserve a fair amount of recognition. I see Strawberry Panic as the culmination of the S subgenre revived by Maria Watches Over Us. However, this work succeeds at both parodying many of the tropes of S and yuri while breaking a few. However, its greatest accomplishment is introducing many of the young western fans of yuri to the genre. Strawberry Panic, you are an overly dramatic mess but thank you for all you have done.

8. Revolutionary Girl Utena - 176 Votes

YuriMother: Another gem of the yuri genre, actually scratch that, if works like Kase-san are gems then Utena is the minerals from which gems form. I think that is how it works, I am not a geologist. My poor analogies and subtle nods to Steven Universe aside, Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the single most important works of yuri anime, possibly even more so than Sailor Moon. These two works were the dawn of the current age of yuri, an era spurn on by social progress and the internet into a place where more yuri works featuring honest depictions of homosexuality are flourishing. Utena laid the groundwork for queer representation in anime and for that I remain forever grateful to this masterpiece.

OG: I must confess. While I saw the movie long ago and thought it was cool I have yet to sit down and finish watching the main series. I cannot say much about this show other than it is another yuri classic. Possibly one of the biggest. I think I will leave this to Her Holiness because even if I had seen it I do not consider myself someone who possesses the sufficient intellect to properly explain why this is a legendary show.

9. Flip Flappers - 132 Votes

OG: I would need an essay to explain why this show is legendary. Let me see. It is a story of a girl who discovered her gayness thanks to her growing attraction to a lovable idiot/genki. There are references to Western media, dimension hopping (including Class S Hell), self-discovery, a sexual orientation journey, a tree, armored wedding gowns, crazy third wheels, Ku Klux Klan stand-ins…You know what? Just watch Flip Flappers. It is a hot mess of random, crazy, creative and thought provoking awesomeness with a wonderful dose of gayness. Glory be to PapiCoco. However, as Her Holiness mentioned this is essentially Ikuhara-san levels of weirdness (though not as complicated I feel) but as the plot thickens it all (sort of) starts making sense...eventually. That tree yo.

YuriMother: Flip Flappers was almost too strange and abstract even for me, and that is saying something. However, upon further examination, one of the most interesting works of yuri is revealed. This heavily stylized anime delves deep into the sexual maturation of its protagonist while examining the yuri genre and representation in media. Flip Flappers is the perfect marriage of heavy visual style and intellectual substance. Definitely give them one a.. err better make that three watches, as you will want to be sure to get everything out of this beautiful series as possible.

10. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid - 131 Votes

YuriMother: This series is the closest anime fans have to a lesbian couple having a family that we have, and that is a shame. I LOVE family narratives, outside of the yuri genre Usagi Drop is my favorite anime. To me, seeing women balance life, a relationship, and children is some of the best queer representation there is. However, for every point in Kobayashi’s favor, there is also a glaring fault. Kobayashi is a modern woman in the workforce providing for herself and her “family,” but is borderline abusive to Tohru. Kanna is an inquisitive child being raising by two women, but there are weirdly sexual scenes featuring her. As previously mentioned on this list, if one can silence the reasonable part of the brain this work becomes enjoyable, hilarious, and adorable. Unfortunately, its faults prevent it from being more than an amusement and I seriously doubt that they will fade in the second season. But hey, it sells a ton of figures so… YAY!

OG: This series is one of the closest yuri fans have to a series starring a lesbian couple with a daughter and it is wonderful. Is the tale of an eternally grateful dragon who wanted to repay the human who saved her life, albeit drunk, by becoming her live-in maid. Tohru being a dragon girl had incredible power and could easily crush everyone in sight but preferred to try and understand humanity so she could live in peace with the woman she loved. It of course was hard at times but thanks to Miss Kobayashi slowly growing to accept her back (romantically she had a ways to go) and the two raising the adorable bundle of mighty puff known as Kanna they became a happy family. How long this relationship will last and whether Miss Kobayashi would come to fully love Tohru back romantically remains to be seen. I have high hopes it can and will happen. Kanna X Riko is precious (Yes. Even that scene). We even have a potential BL couple, which is nice. Not a fan of Lucoa X Shouta the shota. Not because of the age gap but it not being my kind of romantic comedy. It is the same reason I have a hard time buying Tsubame X Misha from UzaMaid. Mya-Nee X Hana from Wataten...maybe. At least Mya-Nee showed she is patient. Back to Dragon Maid. Great series. Naughty of course but great.

11. Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana) - 119 Votes

OG: Megane girl falls for a cutie but has a hard time confessing to her to the point she gives a relationship with another girl a try. Said other girl has troubles of her own courtesy of her own views on what love. Do not get me started on the OTHER girl who likes megane’s girlfriend. I did not even mention megane girl’s first love interest who she herself eventually begins questioning her feelings for the glasses wearing maiden. While this is well known throughout the history of yuri anime Aoi Hana made it clearer than ever that Yuri + Classical Music go hand in hand. Plus the show is quite pretty. Ultimately enjoyment of this series depends heavily on viewers’ patience.

YuriMother: Aoi Hana was ahead of its time in many regards. Most yuri during the early twenty-first century was unrealistic and melodramatic, especially with the revival of S stories. Aoi Hana instead presents a calm and realistic story that we still rarely see in yuri anime today. Instead of relying on tricks like service or comedy Aoi Hana presents a serene and character-driven story which is matched by equally calming scenery. It is certainly not the most thrilling watch, but a slow and beautiful slice of real life that remains one of the all-time strongest yuri works.

12. Yurikuma Arashi - 99 Votes

YuriMother: Yurikuma Arashi is strange, to say the least, but this is not out of the ordinary for legendary director Ikuhara, who also directed Utena. Parallels are easily drawn between this work and Flip Flappers, as they are both complex and encoded with enough symbolism to drown a bear. Yurikuma is one of my favorite works in the yuri genre and I have had more than a few heated discussions about interpretations of the work, including one memorable occasion when I was visiting a college professor and we ended up in a shouting match in the middle of the hall. However, while Flip Flappers holds a high degree of polish the same can, unfortunately, not be said here. Yurikuma Arashi has more than a few scenes of fanservice many of which overly fetishize the characters and relationship and some of the symbols, particularly lily flowers and the word “yuri” are practically beaten to death with an object I refuse to come up with because I am starting to have my fill of symbolism. However, despite some of its sloppiness, Yurikuma is one of the single most interesting and well-formed anime out there and analyzing it is practically a right of passage for seasoned yuri fans.

OG: Yurikuma Arashi is my favorite of Ikuhara-san’s series. To me it was the least complicated of his works but even so I needed help to understand the show. Luckily I had plenty of assistance. The meat of the story is more complicated but put simply it is about a war between a group of bear girls (and some human girls) who want to freely express their love and/or desire/hunger for each other and another group that amounts to Right to Censor from WWF. Like I said it is far more complex than that but that is the gist. The anime is quite ecchi and it has good reason for it. Again the gay bears are the more liberated of the groups and them getting more sexy scenes is meant to showcase that. Our heroine has good reason to be grumpy and a divine entity was introduced alongside a certain someone from a certain dark anime we already discussed.

In the end it is a show starring lesbian bear girls. I love love stories between women and i love bears. It was obvious I would end up enjoying this one. Like other complex stories it is not for everyone. Shows like Flip Flappers, Utena and Yurikuma have something of a learning people will have to get accustomed to in order to enjoy them.

13. Whispered Words (Sasameki Koto) - 88 Votes

OG: To me Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto were always connected despite the former being a drama and the latter a comedy. Both star a female protagonist struggling with how to best tell the girl she likes her true feelings whereas their love interest for one reason or another makes it all the more challenging to get their feelings across. Both shows aired during a time yuri was not as popular of a genre as it would become over time. Perhaps if they had come out a little later when yuri was becoming more popular in the mainstream they would have fared better…Then again they may have helped set the groundwork for future yuri shows so it’s just as well they came out when they did. In any case both good shows worthy of “best of yuri” lists. SK has the dynamic of the megane in love and her somewhat airheaded love interest who specifically likes “cute girls”. Poor megane has a hard time figuring out what the airhead defines as “cute”. The show also features an amusing side-couple of an ojou-sama and her tsundere girlfriend. Not to mention the somewhat controversial side-girl who plays a more prominent role in the 2nd half of the anime. Heck, even Mr Crossdresser himself is cool. Let us not forget Miss “Ha Ha Ha!” Another really good show that I would love to see the rest of the manga get animated someday but considering most anime are essentially manga commercials and the SK manga ended the odds of a 2nd season are close to 0.

YuriMother: 2009 was a great year for yuri anime, with both Sasameki Koto and Aoi Hana, among other works, airing. But while Aoi Hana sought to resist many of the common tropes of the genre and tell a simple grounded story Sasameki Koto appears to have looked a the list of every convention possible and say “yeah I can do that.” It has melodrama, comedy, one-sided love, friend love stories, I worship this genre but even I think there is a limit. However, Sasameki Koto is one of the most competent yuri anime works of the current era. While all the tropes are present most of the problematic aspects of the genre are not. The story is well written, characters enjoyable, and art that is really well done for the time. I enjoy every watch and if I ever want to quickly download the genre’s tropes into another person's head I need only duct tape them to a chair and throw on Sasameki Koto.

14. Riddle Story of Devil (Akuma no Riddle) - 77 Votes

YuriMother: Akuma no Riddle was highly anticipated back in 2014, sporting a premise of student assassins that, while certainly not unique, was outside the norms for the yuri genre. It promised a dark and thrilling take on the yuri genre that would not become popular until the yuri horror trend a few years later. At first, it looked like this would be successful with an excellent setup and some pretty compelling characters but ultimately Akuma no Riddle fell flat and became more derailed as it continued. The monster of the week style of episodes left little room for complex plots and plans or proper character development, which is a shame because of how engaging so many of the assassins were upon original presentation. However, this show still has some of the best action in the yuri genre, placing it alongside series like Cannan and Utena despite its flawed storytelling. If nothing else, the anime may compel one to read the manga, which expands the story and characters more than the show was given time to.

OG: Professional assassins secretly gathered at an academy in an attempt to take the life of a seemingly innocent cutie to win the ultimate prize, one of whom wishes to protect the adorable redhead. Yes the manga, which is pretty much a Director’s Cut, is better and the anime would have benefited from having 20+ episodes instead of 12 and a delightful beach OVA but the show did a good job of showing viewers what each assassin was like, their motivations (though many of their origin stories were summarized in written biographies during commercial breaks viewers needed to pause to read) were clear enough and the duels, as brief as some of them were, had enough spicy goodness in them to be memorable, especially the ones in the latter half of the show. Oh, and although the manga wrapped up after the anime it had a very similar ending.

15. Revue Starlight - 72 Votes

OG: Gay theater girls who strive to become the top star, meaning the best actress or lead actor of the cast. How do they do it? By working hard and overcoming their personal hardships? Yes. That. What makes this show so wonderful despite being almost a year old as of this writing is not only do the ladies all have interesting stories to tell but so does the stage. Every song, prop, movement, dance, gesture etc. It is like the performers and performances are united. It is like in Spongebob where not only does the person in the boots tell a story but the boots as well.

Oh yes. I almost forgot to mention the mysterious underground theater and talking giraffe. Never forget the talking giraffe from Hell. #Wakarimasu.

Super cool and super gay.

YuriMother: Bushiroad continuously gets better at what they do, creating media franchises of cute girls filled with music and making mountains of cash from smartphone games. Inspired by the likes of Love Live, they created BanG Dream and last year Revue Starlight. However, where these franchises fell short Revue Starlight success. It never twists its characters to tell a story but rather creates compelling arcs around them. I thoroughly enjoyed and agree with its place on this list.

16. Konohana Kitan - 68 Votes

YuriMother: I know of Konohana Kitan for its constant presence at yuri events more so than the anime or even the manga. It is adorable, relaxing, simple, and fun. While it does not add anything super substantial to the genre it does not take anything either or present any objectionable material. The “plot” is nonexistent but that does not matter, as it is not trying to tell a story or make commentary, just be fluffy and simple.

OG: Konohana Kitan to me is a Girls Club (Cute girls doing cute things) and iyashikei hybrid anime. It is visually stunning as it is relaxing with Yuzu pretty much one of the cutest demigoddesses in existence. She of course is a chick magnet but her heart will forever belong to Satsuki.

17. Destiny of the Shrine Maiden (Kannazuki no Miko) - 65 Votes

OG: The other stuff on the show is still not that great but ChiMeko will forever stand the test of time as far as I’m concerned. Top 10 for their love story alone. Yes. I know THAT ONE SCENE continues being controversial and talked about every time curious new yuri fans witness greatness…but I will forever defend Chikane because I get where she was coming from. Would I have done something different? Yes. The thing is you need to put yourself in her shoes and understand what she wanted to accomplish and how far she would go to get it done. Kotoha is best side-character and Souma Ogami is real man’s man who does not deserve the hate. He was an honorable warrior to the end. He fought well and accepted defeat like a man. Plus his yell is inspirational.

YuriMother: My feelings on Kannazuki no Miko are incredibly mixed. It has many of the worst facets of early current era yuri anime, tropes include S, rape and… am I reading this correctly, demon mechs? Worst of all it presents a cycle, a never-ending loop that haunts the characters in the overarching plot and it does not resolve it. If a work ever presents such an element, like Puella Magi did, it must be overcome or confronted at least. Its presence makes the already cringy story feels cheap and lazy. However, I love the two female leads and their difficult relationship. I love the music, especially the hauntingly beautiful ending theme, and the final moments of episode 11 are some of the greatest seconds I have ever seen in an anime. I cannot wrap my mind around my view of this series but at the end of the day, I understand it. I do not believe that work like it would ever be warmly accepted today but for its time it does stand as a breakout piece of yuri anime.

18. Princess Principal - 61 Votes

YuriMother: Princess Principal is one of the best anime of the past few years. It had everything, an interesting premise, great characters, an incredible soundtrack. Alongside all this is the sharp writing and thrilling story. Princess Principal did everything Akuma no Riddle wanted to with an intriguing and action-packed story featuring strong characters. On top of all this, the animation is top notch. A six-part movie sequel is planned which has me somewhat concerned, but I am glad to see that it is being continued as the ending to the series was one of its weakest aspects. Now if you will excuse me, I need to listen to some jazz.

OG: Cute and sexy gay spies in a dramatic British Steampunk setting. What more do readers need? Allow Her Holiness to elaborate a bit further. Currently waiting for the multi-part cinematic continuation.

19. Izetta: The Last Witch - 60 Votes

OG: I am known for loving shows people do not think as highly of. Izetta: The Last Witch is no different. I love this show so much. Besides how certain events transpired some complained about the depiction of WW2. Basically think about people ranting about storylines and content featured in certain Call of Duty and Battlefield games. Here however, it is clearly a fictional great war inspired by WW2. I was invested in the following:

-The cute and sexy ladies.

-Seeing two badass lesbians lead an army against an evil empire.

-FiZetta’s romance. This of course being the major highlight. I love FiZetta so much. My sexy lesbian babies and Anne X Grea’s mentors. They taught them everything they know after all.

It is similar to how I felt watching Kannazuki no Miko where my focus was primarily on the leading ladies’ developing romance. The difference is that unlike Kannazuki I was also somewhat entertained by our heroines’ enemies along with their allies. Basically viewers’ enjoyment of the show depends on how seriously they take their history and are willing to overlook the liberties this story takes with its depictions of the weapons, military and the familiar evil empire. FiZetta are one of my favorite lesbian couples of all time.

By the way, in that famous scene, yes they did. Viewers just have to squint their eyes to see “it”.

YuriMother: Another show that I consider to have squandered its potential. I know that lots of people enjoyed this one, including OG but I could not bring myself to finish this constantly mediocre series. Perhaps I am tired of alternative light-fantasy European-war inspired plots. Trying to stand out in this bloated genre is difficult and Izetta fails. Izetta started strong and hooked many viewers with its amazing visual and auditory polish but this was quickly lost in the plot which, while set up well, struggle to gain any ground of pay off what had been established. On the yuri side, it did not really do anything interesting or satisfying, with plenty of scenes feature the character’s standing next to each other looking cute and one or two moments of actual yuri. I am glad that some of you were able to enjoy this one more than me at least.

20. Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru) - 57 Votes

OG: Like Strawberry Panic this is a “Like it or not” classic. Despite being a Class S show it did its own thing and became a pioneer for . It’s also responsible for the many yuri jokes related to all-girl schools in anime.Shimako X Noriko best Grande and Petite Souer! Yumiko X Sachiko were great too as the two grew to better understand each other. Most memorable scene for me was the panda costume. Even Sei is a sleeper icon in all yuridom. Yoshino X Rei had a very interesting dynamic. I actually think they are the real pioneers of relationships between cousins. Thank you YoshiRei. HaruKana, Kaede X Sara and several others owe you two much appreciation.

YuriMother: Another great and significant series, Maria Watches Over Us, took the tropes of early yuri works, Catholic schools, a lack of men, piano scenes, and emotional relationship rather than physical ones and turned the dial up to 11. For better or worse, it single-handedly revived the Class S genre and was copied (and parodied) endlessly for over a decade. However much I complain about S I actually do not think that we would have the current age of yuri without its popularity and proliferation at the beginning of the century so I owe a big thank you to Maria Watches Over Us for that. Ignoring its historical importance and literary significance the anime still presents an engaging plot with wonderful characters and more butchered French than my last trip to Europe. It is certainly worth a watch and worthy of a place on this list.

What do you think should be on this list?:

YuriMother: As I previously said, this is a pretty perfect list. As far as missing titles I can think of the following.

Simoun - not the greatest in terms of plot or animation but it had cute service and a fun action-packed plot.

Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl - This series may be strange and present the dreaded love triangle but it did its best to tell a transgender narrative in 2006, naturally this involved aliens, and I applaud it for its attempts.

Cannan - This series is light on the yuri but heavy on the suspense, action, and amazing character designs. The terrorist plot is exciting and the final train fight featured in the series is one of the greatest action spectacles in anime that somehow manages to remain grounded.

OG:

-Harukana Receive: Best all-female sports anime ever made. Plus the gayness is not subtle at all.

-Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku: Eruna Ichinomiya is an underrated yuri icon. While not the first of her kind (That honor, I think, goes to Galaxy Fraulein Yuna) she set the standard of cool and inspirational badass lesbian protagonists who are proud of who they are and...also happen to be super perverts. Eruna made it cool to be such a protagonist. It is nice seeing a lesbian lead who does not care what anyone else thinks. She is hungry for cute girl booties. While she often loses her control in the presence of pure beauty she, as an inspiration for others like her, has enough self-control to not go overboard (most of the time).

-Symphogear: Symphogear is love, Symphogear is life. Hopefully Season 5 will keep up the good work.

-Rinne no Lagrange: My favorite mecha anime and the reason I embrace OT3s when the signs are there. Not the greatest but man was it fun. Plus Madoka Kyouno is still sexy.

-Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de Aru: My favorite Moepocalypse anime of all time. Yuna X Togo taught me to love and trust some people outside my closest family again.

-Mouretsu Pirates: If someone were to ask me “Hey OG. What to you is the perfect anime?”. I would tell them Mouretsu/Bodacious Space Pirates.

-Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. Thanks to the first fan commenting and reminding me of it. Definitely worthy of a spot. #HazumuWasAlwaysFemale

Final Thoughts:

OG: Pretty good list and close to what mine would look like were I to make one. Reason I have yet to do so is because I do not feel confident enough to pick a favorite yuri anime of all time. Favorite yuri manga and couples? That I can do, but anime always seems to give me a hard time choosing my absolute favorites. Like I said though, a potential yuri list of mine would look something like this. I also found it interesting how similar the Top 10 are among both our respective fanbases and visitors to the poll conducted by the Akiba Research Institute.

YuriMother: I may have done most the complaining and left the praise to OG but I actually and really happy with this list. I think that every title presented is a worthy addition and while I would certainly move some higher or lower than their current placing I do not believe that these are too far off from my own opinions, which is surprising for a popularity poll. More than anything I am thrilled to see that works I dislike that I thought to be popular did not make this list. Perhaps I should have more faith in people and their opinions. Everyone did such a wonderful job voting and I am so grateful!

Thank you so much everyone for reading and for voting in the top yuri anime poll. To see the full results of the poll and to support yuri news, reviews, and content, check out the YuriMother Patreon. Happy Pride Month

Fallen Idols: Part Three

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1,721

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

If being at this place during the day was creepy enough, at night was a total nightmare. The figures seemed to be bigger than they were, and you could have sworn you saw Gandhi blink when you passed by him. Sam went to go fetch a metal trashcan to burn the items while Dean picked Lincoln’s top hat off the figure and placed it on his own head.

“Check it out,” he grinned before lowering his voice to imitate the president. “Four score and seven years ago, I had a funny hat.”

“Dean,” Sam sighed as he held out his hand for the hat.

“We can't have any fun with this?” he scoffed before tossing the hat in the trash can.

“Let's just torch the objects, torch the ghosts, get outta here. Okay?”

“I'll go grab East of Eden's keychain,” Dean smiled before leaving the room through big double doors.

“Better go with him in case he tries to mess around,” you said as you patted Sam’s shoulder before you left. “Dean?”

“Over here,” he grinned as he stared at the replica of Little Bastard with James Dean next to it. He had the keychain in his hand, but he was staring at the wax figure.

“Don’t these creep you out?”

“You’re creeped out? This is awesome,” he chuckled.

“Come on, Sam is waiting for us,” you shook your head. 

Leaving his side, you were about to go back into the other room when the double doors slammed and locked on their own. Quickly glancing back at Dean, you rushed over to the doors and tried to open them.

“Dean? Y/N!” Sam exclaimed as he tried to open the doors. They wouldn’t budge for him and they wouldn’t budge for you either.

“Sam!” you yelled as you rammed your shoulder against the doors to see if that technique would work.

“You’re going to dislocate your shoulder before getting those doors open,” Dean said as he tried to pick the lock.

“No time. Move,” you instructed before blue magic shot from your hands like blue flames. Placing your hands on the door, you gave it a hard shove and they opened with ease.

“Next time start with that,” Dean commented as he rushed inside. Where the Gandhi figure was, Sam and a real-life Gandhi were on the floor with Gandhi’s arms around his neck.

“Is that Gandhi?” Dean gasped. “Dude, he's squirrelly.”

“Get the—” Gandhi elbowed Sam in the chest, momentarily winding him.

“Glasses!” you exclaimed as you snatched the glasses from the figure and tossed it into the trashcan while Dean poured salt and lighter fluid in it. 

As soon as he dropped the lighter in it, Gandhi disappeared in a black poof. Frowning, you rushed over to Sam to help him up.

“You couldn't have been a fan of someone cool?” Dean scoffed as his brother stared at him with his eyes narrowed. “Really? Gandhi?”

Since technically you torched the items, then you should be clear to leave town, but there has been something that was bugging you about the whole thing. Ghosts go up in flames and screams when they get torched, but not this one. This one just… vanished.

“Ready to blow this joint?” Dean asked his brother and his girlfriend.

“Dean, didn't it strike you as strange the way Gandhi just... vanished?” you asked as Sam came out of the bathroom with a frown on his face.

“Strange how?”

“No screaming, no big flame-out, I mean, that isn't the way ghosts usually go,” Sam answered for you.

“Still, I torched, he vanished.”

“I feel like he was...trying to take a bite out of me.”

“A bite?” you asked.

“Yeah, like he was hungry. But the thing is, Gandhi—the real Gandhi—he was a fruitarian.”

“Let me get this straight,” Dean laughed. “Your, uh, ultimate hero was not only a short man in diapers, but he was also a fruitarian?”

“That's not the point.”

“That is good. That is—even for you, that is good.”

“Look, I'm just saying, I'm not so sure this thing is over.”

“It was a ghost. It was a weirdly super-charged fruitarian ghost, but it was still a ghost. Now let's go,” Dean said as he picked up his bag.

“So first you drag me into town, and now you're dragging me back out.”

“You ain't steering this boat. Let's go, chop chop.”

“You know, this isn't gonna work,” Sam sighed as he set his toiletries bag down.

“What isn't?”

“Us. You, me, Y/N, together, I—I thought it could, but it can't.”

“You're the one that wanted back in, chief.”

“And you're the one who called me back in.”

“I still think we got some trust building to do,” Dean said while you silently packed your bag.

“How long am I gonna be on double-secret probation?”

“Till I say so.”

“Look. I know what I did and what I've done. I am trying to climb out of that hole, I am, but you're not making it any easier.”

“So, what am I supposed to do, just let you off the hook?”

“No. You can think whatever you want. I deserve it, and worse. Hell, you'll never punish me as much as I'm punishing myself, but the point is, if we're gonna be a team—you, Y/N, and I—it has to be a two-way street.”

“So, we just go back to the way we were before?”

“It didn’t really work that way before,” you sighed as you added your input.

“What does that mean?”

“How do you think we got here?” Sam asked. “One of the reasons I went off with Ruby... was to get away from you. It made me feel strong. Like I wasn't yours or Y/N’s kid brother.”

“Are you saying this is our fault?” Dean scoffed.

“No, it's my fault. All I'm saying is that, if we're gonna do this, we have to do it different, we can't just fall into the same rut.”

“What do you want us to do?” you asked as you joined Dean’s side and faced Sam.

“You two are gonna have to let me grow up, for starters.” Dean’s phone rang which cut the tension like a knife, and Dean answered it even if he wasn’t in the mood.

“Yeah?” he looked at you and Sam before looking away. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

“What is it?” you asked once he hung up.

“I guess you two were right about this not being over.”

The Sheriff called Dean when another group came to report a missing person in the same way that Cal or even William was reported. Walking into the station, you immediately went over to Rick who seemed at a loss for words.

“Sheriff Carnegie? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” he stuttered with a shake of his head. He indicated to an interview room where two young women were sitting and crying. Frowning, you walked over to the room with the brothers before entering it.

“Excuse me, ladies. We’re with the FBI. Can you tell us what happened?” you asked in a nice voice.

“It was horrible!”

“Way horrible.”

“What was?” Sam asked.

“I thought she'd be nice!” the first girl gasped.

“I still can't believe it.”

“Believe what?” Dean asked.

“She took Danielle!” the first girl exclaimed.

“Ladies take a deep breath and just tell us who took your friend. You’re safe in here,” you tried the soothing tone of voice for their sake.

“It was... Paris Hilton.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Sam gasped.

“Where did… Paris… take your friend?” you wondered.

“We don’t know. They just vanished!”

“Would you excuse us for just a minute?” Dean chuckled as he took you and Sam out of the room

“Paris Hilton's not dead as far as we know, right?”

“No, she isn’t. Which means it’s not a ghost. Either she’s a homicidal maniac or we missed something completely,” you sighed.

“What do you want to do?”

“I think we need to check out the victims.”

“Not it,” Dean said quickly before putting his finger on his nose. “Have fun with that.”

“Did you find anything in there?” you asked as Sam looked through Cal’s file.

“There was a substance in his stomach that they didn’t remove.”

“Are you going to go digging, or am I?” you asked as you snapped on some white latex gloves with a smile.

“Ladies first…?”

“Wimp,” you smirked as you grabbed the scalpel. Taking a deep breath, you started to cut the man’s chest so you could go digging for gold. “Don’t take Dean so seriously.”

“What?”

“He’s just… overwhelmed, I guess. Zachariah sent me and Dean five years into the future, and we saw some pretty terrible things. Just don’t say yes to Lucifer, okay? Whatever you do, don’t say yes,” you whispered as you stuck your hand inside his chest before feeling your way around.

“You find anything?”

“Yeah, actually,” you frowned before grasping the two small hard objects. Pulling them out, you stared at the seeds that were in his stomach. “Are these seeds? And there should have been a lot more blood here.”

“I think we need to check out William,” Sam declared.

“Alright, but it’s your turn to go into the deep, dark, abyss,” you smirked. After Sam had checked William out and found the same exact seed in his stomach, you two quickly bagged the items and left the place to meet Dean who was waiting outside.

“I can't believe we missed it,” Sam sighed.

“Missed what?” Dean asked as he stood up and started to head back to the Impala.

“We went back over the other two vics. There was blood loss. Major. More blood loss than a car crash or a GSW should cause.”

“It’s like something is feeding,” you finished.

“And then,” Sam took out the baggie with the seeds in it, “there were these.”

“What are those, seeds?”

“Yeah. They were in both vics' bellies.”

“I hope you two washed your hands,” Dean shuddered.

“They're unlike any seed I've ever seen before, Dean.”

“Wow, just when I thought you couldn't get any geekier,” he chuckled before walking to the driver’s side of the car. Patting Sam on the shoulder, you got in the back so that more research could be done at the motel.

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sappy "i've loved my spesh for a year now" post

[[MORE]]

one year ago today, i got into twrp.

that's not to say i wasnt familiar with them before june 3rd, 2019. my big love was nsp, so i very much knew and appreciated them! i remember when nsp played on conan i was so happy for all of them and hoped twrp was getting just as much credit as nsp because they totally deserve it! i remember listening to guardians of the zone a couple years back in david's car and latching onto rock n roll best friends (my first favorite twrp song and still one of my faves!) and listening to that a lot. i remember the third starbomb album coming out last april and thinking, wow, this is definitely their best album musically because of twrp's instrumentation! and of course, like everyone else, i was obsessed with starlight brigade when the video came out, and recognized it was twrp's song featuring dan, not just a dan project. but i didn't have their names memorized, and for whatever reason, i thought they were all silent performers? like, i thought none of them talked and sung only talked/performed with talkbox. (i mean, i was like 60% right? at least at the time.)

on this day last year, i was showing my best friend arin and suzy's (gg) hot pepper gaming videos and then i noticed twrp's in the related videos. i was like oh my gosh! i didn't know twrp did one of these! and you can imagine my surprise when sung and meouch started talking fhfhdjdlfj i was literally like WAIT THEY TALK??? I REALLY THOUGHT NONE OF THEM TALKED. it's always really funny to look back on. and even though they spent most of that video suffering i thought they were so funny and likeable that i was like. maybe i should finally actually get into twrp.

and holy shit.

there's so much to twrp that i know i didn't do it all in a day. it's hard for me to get used to a band by listening to all their music once, so i took it album by album. i started with guardians of the zone, because i was already very familiar with it. listened to that on loop for a while, then moved onto together through time since it was their most recent album at the time. then, i went backwards from there.

i searched for all the lore i could. i read wiki pages, spent literal hours reading reddit AMAs, watched every video on their youtube channel and the hour long compilation of their instagram videos. this all took place over the span of like? a few days? a week? it's hard to say really. i fell so fast.

from that point on, i have so many stories, we would be here all day. i remember listening to believe in your dreams on repeat the day i became a d*sney trainer, and the literal day after that, they released hidden potential. then of course, the release of return to wherever, which i listened to nonstop for ages. the album is my jam because i love albums with a cohesive theme and songs that blend into each other. it's hard to beat together through time, but rtw comes really close.

i saw them for the first time live on july 30th, 2019. unfortunately, something happened that night that changed my life for the worse. but that wasn't twrp's fault at all. the show itself was incredible. i'd never been to a general admission concert of one of my faves, it was absolutely surreal that they were all right in front of me. and of course, they put on a hell of a show. they always do. god, i love them.

on august 9th 2019, i went to my first sung stream. it was a party stream and i'm on the east coast, so i stayed up until 3 AM to hear sung give me my first talkbox shoutout. i recorded it and still have the video. it made me smile in the early part of a very dark time in my life.

i made a lot of friends in that stream, we all shared twitters and i'm still friends/mutuals with all of them! and i've only made more friends since, especially at nsp10. nsp10 was incredible for many reasons, but a big one was that the three hours my fiancé and i were waiting outside the venue to be let in, we were just walking around saying hi to my twrp friends, meeting a bunch of them for the first time. and i made new friends! i remember standing in a group, shivering in my heart boner cosplay, and one of the guys saying "you're artie, right? i follow you on twitter, i love your cosplay!" he seemed like he was really gathering the courage to say it to me, he had no idea how happy it would make me! (shoutout to logan! you're awesome!)

really, if any of my twrp friends are reading this, i love you to pieces. meeting you has definitely been a high point of the last 365 days.

again, i have so many stories. but since this is already so long i'm just gonna cut to march 5th, 2020. that was the night i met them. now, i'm not a shy person at all, and over the past few years i haven't really been very socially anxious. i'm able to carry myself in conversation, even with strangers. but i've never met a fave before. let alone four faves at once. so, naturally, everything i had planned on saying completely left my brain. but they're literally the best, so it was still an absolute dream. the first thing sung said when he saw me was "hey you look great!" (my outfit was clearly inspired by his own, fancy orange hat and all, so he probs wanted to Respect The Drip but he was right regardless and also HOLY SHIT) and i had my baby porg gary with me (the sunshine of my life) and they all interacted with him and it was super wholesome.

they played two nights in orlando, and i went to both shows because of course i did. first night was great, second night was even better even though that was my GA show. they played life party on night 2, which might as well be my favorite song of all time. it has carried me through every bad moment since i first heard it. big and small. i have a lyric from it tattoo'd on my arm as a constant reminder that i'm alive, and that is something to be ecstatic about. i also had more room to dance and move around on night 2, and dance and move around i did. then, when the show was over and scatman played, i got out everything else i had. august-november 2019 was actual hell for me, and i was still dealing with the aftermath of it all. but that concert high made me realize, holy shit! all of it is over! it doesn't matter anymore! twrp carried me through one of the roughest periods of my life, and met me at the finish line with a fucking gold medal. i fucking did it. now i have none of the bad, and all of the good. it was one of the best feelings i've ever had, and one of the happiest nights of my life.

since then, twrp continues to keep me going. of course the world has been a total shitshow, but everyone's streams (especially the twrp show) have been the highlight of my week every week.

i've always considered myself a very positive person, but last year was a very bad year for my depression, as well as traumatic at times. and i've always had problems feeling understood. i still do. but twrp said hey! literally nobody understands us. not even ourselves! but that's okay! we want you to be happy and feel loved and supported no matter what. and i really can't thank them enough for it.

this part is mostly for another longer post, but i wanted to mention it since it's also really important. i fully came to terms with being a mlm last year after years of compulsory heterosexuality, and twrp played a big part in me exploring and accepting that about myself. and i was already very secure in my gender identity when i found them, but hearing "this song goes out to all the ladies, fellas, and everyone in between" shook me to my very core. i've never loved a band that literally said "shoutout to trans/nb people" at every concert. god. i love them so fucking much.

so this was even longer than i expected (and i expected it to be long bc yknow. spesh.) but i just have so much love and gratitude for this band. every day of my life i'm so thankful that doctor sung, commander meouch, lord phobos, and havve hogan exist and are spreading all this love and positivity to their fans every day. i've never loved a band like this, and i probably never will. they are truly special.

and it's only been a year!!!!

The Disney Channel Original movie ‘High School Musical’, reviewed

Upon further review, ‘High School Musical’ still slaps today.

Hello. I, Harry Lyles Jr., will review a different Disney Channel sports movie every Thursday on SB Nation. For the purpose of nostalgia and saving you time so you don’t have to watch these movies yourself (though I encourage you watch them anyway for your own entertainment), I’ll briefly run down my favorite moments.

High School Musical is about Troy Bolton — the best basketball player at East High — and an intelligent new girl at school, Gabriella Montez. The two meet on vacation, where they sing a duet together, and exchange numbers before meeting again on the first day of school.

Their friendship, and Troy’s new interest in singing, creates a divide among all the students in the school. In the film, Troy and Gabriella are pegged against popular theatre kids Sharpay Evans and her twin brother Ryan in auditioning for the school play.

The movie doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in the beginning in terms of Could This Happen, but it’s fine because it’s funny that way

In the opening scene of the movie, Troy and Gabriella are both conveniently chosen to sing at a New Year’s Eve party while on vacation. That seems really odd because do people actually do karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party?

A hilariously bad moment that was also good was Troy turning around when she starts singing, because he immediately thought she was going to leave him in the dust.

It was kind of like the IRL version of getting salty when you send a text and don’t get a reply within the first minute. Give her a second, chief.

Disney could have set up the backstory of their singing ability in a better way than they did. They later explain that Gabriella sang in church choir, but the most Troy had ever sung was in the shower. You don’t just learn you got pipes by randomly being selected to sing karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party on vacation.

Also, his shirt is awful. Disney stays letting these young actors down.

All that said, it was a good opening song to set the scene for the movie, though.

The way that the characters were set up is hilarious

These introductions on the first day of school could not have been more typical of a movie based at a high school, and I honestly loved it. Troy comes off the bus, and is immediately met with dap and excessive cheers, because everybody is happy to see their favorite mid-mid-range (no error on the double-mid, more on that later) shooter back on campus.

Then there’s Sharpay walking between the jocks with her phone, with no regard for anybody’s space.

Then the smart students/brainiacs/whatever you wish to call them are disgusted with the jocks. This all checks out.

And of course it’s not complete without the shy new student who is very nervous to start at a new school, and that’s where Gabriella comes in.

“I don’t want to be the school’s freaky genius girl again,” were her exact words.

Textbook, Disney. Textbook.

These Eastbay-ass lookin’ uniforms

This movie was made in 2006, right when we were somewhat in the middle of basketball uniforms having wider shoulder sleeves. But this is just a poorly fitting t-shirt with incredibly basic numbers and letters.

Disney came up with the Mighty Ducks uniforms, right? East High could have at least gotten a Russell Athletic sponsorship.

Search the Internet

Sharpay and Ryan are trying to find “dirt” on Gabriella, and simply find that she is a “whiz kid.”

Here is their version of Google.

I’ve always been a big fan of simply Saying The Thing. We need more Search the Internet websites online.

Stick to the Status Quo was essentially “shut up and dribble”

In a key scene in the movie, many of the school’s students are expressing their true passions after learning Troy likes to sing. That includes another basketball player, Zeke (the result of Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Jermaine Jackson in a blender), admitting he loves to cook.

That’s where the “shut up and dribble” was delivered in song-form.

Another student admits she loves hip-hop dancing, and another student asks “is that even legal?” [glares at Disney yet again for casual racism]

“Skater #1” as he’s called in the movie credits admits to playing the cello, and his stoner friend has no idea what it is.

But the best part about this song was the few seconds where the students who spoke their truths got up on the lunch table and danced. It’s kind of odd how the message of the song is to stay in your lane, but I suppose it kind of worked since everyone still spoke their truth?

What the hell is this lunch?

It appears that Gabriella eating chili cheese fries with milk and an orange with some apple sauce?

Michelle Obama would never let that happen.

Lmaoooooooo

I don’t know what this move is that Ryan is doing, but it’s hilarious.

I’m sure it looks less awkward from other angles but this is the one we got. Sometimes you can’t overturn the call on the field.

Go hard or go home

Troy does some half-ass Michael Jackson move during his Breaking Free performance with Gabriella.

Either you lean into it (you probably shouldn’t!) or you don’t do it at all. This was a case where you don’t do it at all, since the song wasn’t up to that kind of speed.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

I’m just going to slap the entire video in here, because you should watch the whole thing and watch it closely. I could make an entire blog based on just this performance — the grand musical finale of this movie — but I’m going to let you cast your own judgements and observations, for the most part.

However, I would like to point out Macaulay Culkin Lite/Joe Burrow Without A Barber Ryan in the crowd. He was very into all of his performances in the movie, and deserved these five seconds of being the guy without Sharpay.

We’re All in This Together won’t be the same for you after you notice this young king

Disney tried to help y’all out at the beginning of the song. The best character in the movie daps up Troy early in the song, showing the actual star of this here production.

And he just kills it from there on out. In that baggy dress shirt, jeans that could fit two grown adults in them, and tie flailing everywhere, he owned the floor.

Much like Buckhead bars and clubs in Atlanta did for people of color during the ‘90s and early 2000s, Disney gave him his time at the end credits when they thought no one was around to watch him shine.

Brother, I see you.

Troy never took a shot beyond the free throw line

His shot chart would be hilarious. Troy’s game is like Bob Cousy’s — he’s got awful handles and takes jumpers seven feet from the basket. I took a screenshot of every shot he took, except for the ones he shot in his driveway when Gabriella was mad at him for being a Typical Dumb Jock.

Also, we never got to see the high school’s musical

We saw the auditions! But we never actually saw East High’s production. Bet it was fire, though.

Movie rating based on all things good and bad: 9.5/10

Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant. Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college. Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first. The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton Publisher: Page Street Kids Release Date: May 5th 2020 Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44779658-the-life-and-medieval-times-of-kit-sweetly Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WwyYVN B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-life-and-medieval-times-of-kit-sweetly-jamie-pacton/1132911545?ean=9781624149528 iTunes: https://books.apple.com/br/book/the-life-and-medieval-times-of-kit-sweetly/id1477062480 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-life-and-medieval-times-of-kit-sweetly Google Books: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Life_and_Medieval_Times_of_Kit_Sweet.html?id=NICoDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y Review: The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton is a fun filled ride. This story is a gender bent take on A Knight's Tale. This story is very pro feminist so because of this, I feel like a lot of things got put on the wayside if it wasn't directly related to the feminist plot line. I found the book to be quite entertaining, I just felt like it was missing a lot of things. The characters felt really undeveloped. I just wish they were more fleshed out. They were just missing that spark for me. One of the things that really bothered me is it felt like the reader didn't really have a reason to care about Kit's situation. Kit talked about wanting to leave and get out of the job. The patrons and co-workers are mean so why would the reader want her to continue to work at the restaurant. This book is overly preachy. I don't think it is Kit's privilege that makes her stand up for herself but her bravery. There are plenty of people out there that have privilege and don't stand up. There are people that don't have privilege and they stand up for themselves. That is bravery. I think this book discounts that. I think people are trying to label something it isn't and that really bothers me. I think Kit deserves more credit than "white privilege". Coming from experience it takes a lot of guts to stand up for something no matter the color of your skin. I think people forget that not all white people have had life easy. I think the world has tried so hard to discount things that people go through based on the color of their skin and that is wrong. I would have really liked this book if the author would have focused more on writing a good book with great characters vs writing their political agendas and pushing feminism and white privilege on the readers. I really liked the idea of this book but it just wasn't executed very well. It was a bit of a disappointment to me. The story could have been handled better.  Don't stop reading now, I do have some positive things to point out. The book had a bit of a fun tone to it. Sometimes we need that especially during this time. It was definitely entertaining. I loved that the restaurant had a medieval theme. I enjoy Renaissance fairs so I thought this was fun theme for a book. The history facts throughout the book was quite fun as well. There was quite a diverse cast in the book. There were some great things. This just was not the book for me. About the Author: Jamie Pacton writes all sorts of books: dark, feminist YA fantasy; contemporary YA stories with a funny + geeky bent; funny MG adventure-fantasy; and, even the occasional adult rom-com. She was a Pitch Wars mentee in 2015 and she mentored YA in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She grew up minutes away from the National Storytelling Center in the mountains of East Tennessee; she’s the oldest of ten kids; and, she currently lives in rural Wisconsin with her husband, their two kids, and a dog named Lego. The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly (forthcoming May 5, 2020) is her Young Adult debut. Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19025294.Jamie_Pacton Website: https://www.jamiepacton.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiepacton Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiepacton/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/jamie_pacton/ Giveaway: Prize: Win a copy of THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY by Jamie Pacton (US/CAN Only) Starts: May 5th 2020 Ends: May 19th 2020 a Rafflecopter giveaway Tour Schedule: http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2020/03/tour-schedule-life-and-medieval-times.html May 5th The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Welcome Post May 6th The Reading Life - Meet The Characters The Shelf Life Chronicles - Review Write, Read, Repeat - Review Ya It’s Lit - Review + Favourite Quotes Fangirl Pixie Blog  Review + Favourite Quotes + Playlist May 7th NovelKnight - Top 5 or 10 List PopTheButterfly Reads - Review Lauren's Boookshelf - Review + Favourite Quotes + Playlist Books Over Everything - Review We Live and Breathe Books - Review May 8th Emelies Books - Mood Board Booked J - Review + Playlist Dazzled by Books - Review Moonlight Rendezvous - Review Book-Keeping - Review May 9th Bookish Looks - Official Dream Cast Colbywilkens - Review My Fangirl Chronicles - Review + Playlist + Favourite Quotes book briefs - Review Odd and Bookish - Review My Bookish Escapades - Review + Favourite Quotes May 10th Annej Reads - Story Behind The Cover Bookmark Lit - Review Magical Reads - Review + Playlist @onemused - Review Confessions of a YA Reader - Review + Favourite Quotes May 11th Utopia State of Mind - Tell your story in GIFs A Book Addict's Bookshelves - Interview The Little Mouse That Reads - Review Shelf-Rated - Review + Favourite Quotes The Reading Corner for All - Review Instagram Schedule: May 5th TUABFC May 6th The Shelf Life Chronicles Write, Read, Repeat Ya It’s Lit Fangirl Pixie Blog May 7th NovelKnight PopTheButterfly Reads Lauren's Boookshelf Books Over Everything May 8th Emelies Books Booked J Dazzled by Books Moonlight Rendezvous Book-Keeping May 9th Bookish Looks Colbywilkens My Fangirl Chronicles book briefs Odd and Bookish My Bookish Escapades May 10th Annej Reads Magical Reads @onemused Confessions of a YA Reader May 11th The Little Mouse That Reads Shelf-Rated The Reading Corner for All

http://www.dazzledbybooks.com/2020/05/the-life-and-medieval-times-of-kit.html

Reviving my youth

I was on plane from Jakarta to Jogja, or maybe the other way around. or maybe to or from Pontianak. I was traveling a lot on those days. Neither for business, nor for leisure. But to reconnect to my old networks, the people that had supported me throughout the roller-coaster ride of master study.

I was bored and not sleepy enough to shut my eyes and spend the rest of the flight in other world. So I decided to take the magazine and flick through it. I thought, If only I were flying with RyanAir, reading an in-flight magazine was a privilege not everyone could have. I should have been grateful. In fact I was. For that I found an inspiration for my end-of-year holiday which has revived my youth. It was a trip to Banyuwangi.

I hadn't planned for this trip. It was completely impromptu. The articles on that magazine have indeed inspired me. As I was reading, I found myself going for a hike in Ijen, witnessing the rare and phenomenal blue-fire, watching the bright and dreamy sunset at Pantai Merah, and of course running on the savannah at Baluran National Park. That sounded like a plan. But not one that I would experience anytime soon. Not this December at the earliest.

But thanks to Papau for having brought up this idea and “sort of” forced me into agreeing for a four day trip in Banyuwangi at the end of December. I was just starting my work in Yogyakarta. They weren’t so demanding that I needed a holiday or anything. In fact I found my life and current job is rather satisfying, though I was not so much lively as I used to be. But I dont think anything is wrong with that, it was just becoming an adult. I read it somewhere that when you become an adult, life becomes less exciting. Which was kinda true at some point.

Anyway, thanks to Papau persuasive proposal and my not-so demanding job, I bought the ticket to Banyuwangi and arranged the plan for our four days trip which included all the places that I had been having in my mind. All were set and I was ready to leave.

I was leaving from Yogyakarta to Banyuwangi by train, 13-hour long ride. I almost missed the train, because I spent too much time watching Youtube (i know it’s stupid). I was ready to accept “my fate” which technically put the blame on God. I thought maybe I didnt deserve this trip cos I barely worked beside I didnt ask for my boss permission for that trip. I find it easier for me to accept anything that happened in my life, especially something that I dont desire, if I think of it as a fate. I don't think it is because I am so religious. I am just a irresponsible and coward human that doesn’t want to take any blame.

Nevertheless. I managed to catch the train. 5 minutes when it was about to leave. Thanks God. Now I find it funny. All the good and the bad in life, I give the credit to God. Oh I cant believe that I am such a ..... (should find the word).

Anyway I sat next to a guy in this train, He helped me to put my hefty carrier. He initiated small talks, but i didnt give much respond. I didnt know at what point but somehow I engaged in a conversation, a deep talk in fact. I was never the kind of person who talked to stranger, let alone a personal and detail discussion. But that particular moment, I was eager to have a discussion about life especially being a twenty-something individual who is struggling to figure out the seemingly long journey ahead.

He went off three hour later. Since it was already late and the train was swinging me away from the real life, I dozed off. I surprisingly had a good sleep that night. It almost felt like sleeping on a real bed. Since I sat on the east side, I was awakened with the blistering sunlight from the window. It felt hot but nice.

Trending Topics: Where are the Golden Knights' hockey gods now?

This whole playoff run, and indeed, the entire season, was a collection of good bounces for Vegas.

Until three games ago.

Early in this postseason, every time an opponent made a mistake against Vegas, it was in the back of their net pretty quickly. And every mistake that the Golden Knights made, Marc-Andre Fleury was there to clean up the mess, even when it seemed impossible.

This is simply no longer the case, and all the evidence needed to prove that came, conveniently, in the first period last night.

The play people immediately — and unfortunately — dubbed “The Post,” not to be confused with the overwrought Spielberg pablum, shows why the Vegas offense has seemingly “dried up.” Approximately 999 times out of 1,000, a guy like James Neal getting the puck six feet from a wide open net means it’s a goal for Vegas, but the number didn’t come up this time around.

Few are giving Matt Niskanen the credit for Neal’s hesitation and eventual miss, but he deserves pretty much all of it. He was at the outside of the net, sure, but he extended his leg just enough to give Neal something to think about, and that was all the occupied space needed to get the shot to bounce harmlessly off the post (and Braden Holtby).

This is the kind of play that went in for Vegas pretty much all season, especially through a guy like Neal, whose whole calling card is scoring goals.

Then at the other end, just 5:23 later, the Caps scored through TJ Oshie on the kind of bounce that frankly hasn’t happened to Vegas all year. Evgeny Kuznetsov put a shot off Fleury from in front of the net and it bounced right into Oshie’s skates, dropped onto his blade, and went back up and over Fleury by just a few inches. It was 1-0 less than 10 minutes in and the game felt weirdly like an academic exercise.

After an unbelievable expansion season, the Vegas Golden Knights may have met their match in the Stanley Cup Final.

By the time Tom Wilson, all of a sudden looking like Wayne Gretzky, weaved with Kuznetsov through the freakin’ Smith-Karlsson-Marchessault line on an offensive-zone faceoff play like it wasn’t even there, people were already making jokes about scuttling parade plans in Vegas.

And when Devante Smith-Pelly made a similar play to Oshie’s — a blocked shot ended up in his skates and right onto his stick, which put the puck in the back of the net with shocking ease — with 20.5 seconds left in the period, Vegas’s charter jet was already preparing for takeoff on the tarmac a few miles away.

Put simply, Vegas went from getting every bounce to suffering on every one. The Neal miss will haunt his dreams forever. Fleury will mentally replay the Oshie and Smith-Pelly goals for quite awhile as well.

With those three goals, and the Caps now holding a 3-1 lead in the series after losing Game 1, the Hockey Gods Barry Trotz loves so dearly to invoke highlighted a lot of issues with the talk around the Golden Knights’ success over the past few months.

Yo hockey gods, we do something to upset you or what?

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 5, 2018

Make no mistake: This was a game Vegas dominated. Some of that is score effects, but some of it too is the fact that Washington packed it in around the net, and Holtby has been awesome. Maybe you want to call the goalposts the Game 4 co-MVPs, I’ll give that to ya, but again, how long did we go attribtuing Vegas getting 75 percent of the bounces in their games to go their way to something other than luck? Sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve in this sport and if Vegas deserves better than to be going back home down 3-1, well, maybe the Kings or Jets deserved to come out of their combined nine games against this team with more than one solitary win.

Weirdly absent from the talk about “Vegas is so resilient” was the fact that a .947 goalie makes it really easy to look resilient because you’re only going to give up a goal on every 20 shots or so.

Weirdly absent from the talk about “What’s wrong with Vegas” is the fact that Fleury has only turned in a .845 save percentage in this Cup Final.

There are, of course, mitigating factors. Vegas’s scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey (of which fewer than half were from high-danger areas) ballooned from 24.5 before the Cup final to 35.4 against the Capitals. But that doesn’t explain what is now a 102-point drop in save percentage, at least not mathematically.

I guess my point is that it’s really easy to play with a lead, and to bounce back from a bad shift or a goofy turnover when your goalie never gives up a goal. When he starts giving up goals (16 in four games all of a sudden, after just 27 against in the previous 15) boy it’s a lot harder to grind out your dozenth one-goal win of the playoffs, huh?

Did they stop being resilient? Did all that calm in the face of calamity just evaporate between Games 1 and 2 in Vegas? Did their confidence go away somewhere over Nebraska on the trip out east?

The real reason for this — “there’s no reason for this” — is, like I’ve said a million times before, not something people want to hear. People want The Reasons Why. And if there are none that can adequately explain these bounces, well, that’s hockey isn’t it?

Late in the second period the NBC broadcast started talking about the need for Gerard Gallant to do “something.” What that could be, to make Fleury start making saves again, to get someone other than the top line to generate offense (though they hadn’t actually scored in any of these three losses until late in the third period last night, meaning they have half as many goals as Smith-Pelly in that stretch), to ensure Neal doesn’t hit the twoish-inch post instead of about 23 square feet of net, to make not one but two pucks go off a Caps forward’s skate and end up literally anywhere but right on their blades.

You don’t like to think of Future Jack Adams Winner Gerard Gallant as not really having any recourse here. Maybe you swap out someone other than 66-point man David Perron for Tomas Tatar (maybe career-61-point-man Ryan Reaves??? and maybe stop giving Deryk Engelland 22 minutes a night???). But a team with this much success really hasn’t been given a good enough reason to start tinkering now. Especially because, apart from the blowout on the scoreboard — and some dubious special teams play — Vegas deserved far better than it got last night, and now maybe none of that matters.

What good is a moral victory at this time of year?

On the other hand, if you’re Vegas you can’t just pack up the tents and hit the golf course. After all, if your belief in the Hockey Gods got you this far, is it not conceivable that those same deities would also find it extremely funny to have the Caps blow a 3-1 series lead? Nothing would be more Caps-y than that.

Ya gotta believe. Because that’s really all you have left.

More Stanley Cup coverage on Yahoo Sports:

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.

[C-1 / M-18] Text One

i tried to write a short bio about myself and my music project

but

Bio

Kharkiv

13

too yolo for being a DJ

ambient, noise

Weaponized naivness, helpless attack

Kanye West, PJ Harvey

Bee Pole EP

Pure EP

Love LP

NII, Powerhouse, Plivka, Zhyvot

A/V

CHSZM - experimental electronic project of Aleksei Podat, based in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Started producing music at the age of 13 after being an EDM DJ at St. Petersburg pirate radiostation for 2 years.

Now he creates melodic noise which he describes as sound of “pure naviete weaponized by haunting helplessness of logic&QUITE-EMOTIONAL-APPROACH-TO-ANYTHING&O - V - E -R -R RE-ACTING"T[M]. His greatest influences were Kanye West and PJ Harvey, as for now among them appeared some Kyiv(NO)-meta-based artists like (Ivan Skoryna) - is - (actual artist name) John Object, and Moscow (Still-NO;still-meta) based media-artists AWN-naw

(wowww, an artist doesn’t have a PAGE, HOW’S THAT, MR. Цукерберг, Марк, Mr TAG EVERYONE ON EVERY BIT OF YOUR tinyDaATa ttmmm] soundcloud.com/awn_naw

so: and Zurkas Tepla

[the..articles are so difficult, I know how journalists may feel, sometimes, about posting a klikByte-headed material about poverty, war, or numerous G20 Ideologic rave party, I AM CHARLIE, CHARLIE SHEEN CAUGHT ROBBING WALLtm-MART NEAR THE FREEDOM ST., BUT luckily, the casser worker! had called the police last night, when they! heard some "sounds of (violent) noise.. haha great my friend got a vynil of this, which i have no possibility to actually hear, my sounds of noise are shaped by the bloodstream of mine and the clone of Mine[tm] who hopes, i hust buy it as fast as he could be tauht, at their trial lol trial, you have noone to feed, don’t you, family-less, dropped out of nowhere worker huhhh]

NEXT PARAGRAPH is/was/will be ABOUT - ( WHINNING ABIOUT UKRAINIAN BANK ACCOUNTS NOT ACCEPTING BANDCAMP TRANSACTIONS TRHOUIG PAY PAL DAM)….

I GOTTA MAKE THOSE FUCKING CASSETTES NOBODY REALLY NEADS, EXCEPT ONE ( you are dramqueened, lolll) Ph.D of USA University, which i respect, for the interest in New East culture. [I’d like them to show me. where’s the new east, so i could finally show em the old one]

Me Respect Professos, what’s wrong with that huh?)))), I am studying at Karazin University, I AM studying political sciences, without a bit of post-truth politics, just post-truth patriot-oriented education, it’s quite depressing. (UBA - shorter, smarter look, more modern than the actual modern term Ukrainian Bank Accounts, and it sounds like UBER, like not the taxi service, which robs every piece of his stuff, including the clever-auto-routed-cars. of course. If they are clever, they are good enough to be credited as stuff, AND BE TAKEN SERIOUS SUPPOSEDLY I GUESS MAYBE i don’t kno, tho, lo ve16/03/18 first LP has been self-released you kno, i gottaa promote it, and i do my best at it, since i left label with audience in Facebook of 3k people - next kp - k people, not k-pop,; Soundcloud like 7+kp (non k-pop also, they don’t even use it, u must be kidding, kidDO - kidDO - essential mobile app just for YOUR smartphone, to get you a proper kid. Look at you(r,) "kid” and look at “kidDO"TM!!! - exclamaiton marks are here to gain psychical pressure on our deer, hi that’s was bad jokey…like your kiddo, dear, dear, very dear, and precious customers, not to exclaim that we have registered this trademark with absolutely obvious "misunderstandings” with law, and fully understanding with the power….forces..FORCES OF POWER, OF

LOVE,

U

KNO, TO OUR CUSTOMERS…so, not to seem a little bit weird but I don’t feel lonely, I have a great support of my family and friends, I sometimes do just awful things to them, like…idk…being an artist with great not only the creative potential, but a POT(i’d smoke this sh1t on 3v3ryday bas1s in case I would have agreed on following the path of using potential #2, it’d be weird if i liked a chance to be a person like in example NUMBER TWO, u kno, TWO, 2, LOSER, FUCKING LOOSER,) ential of sitting my ass out near shitty PC on windows XP (Mhhmhmm, safety, in Ukrainian IT companies… is quite interesting quiestion, wee(d) n(w)eed to look at it from different perspectives, different angles…) (actually i do the same at my dorm, or at mama-house(TM haha, no, sry, i’m not THAT misogynistic human being, to EVEN Imagine™ my mother, as a woman, first of all (fck offff my “i-understood-Freud-wrong-but-1-read-it-ironically-so-fuckk-you”-mates, I understand these great postmod(ern)(ehhh)(snobbyy)(but i like it) possibilities that came out as a pale garbage, like from the corpse, the corpse of a most pale kidDO (of course if our company be mistakeyy just a lil bit, like “oops”), as soon as you got a thought in you head like “Oh, over-using (that small dash as a reminder - if you misread oversueing somehow, goto "mylawyer” and think a bit once, than a little bit more, and than turn your MINDPOWER [LP3, 2026 new demos never, I know, I’m a bit of paranoid about showing my stuff to anonymouses like ISIS or Presidents, like very very bad presidents, like, I even don’t kno who to mention, but you’ve got the point, they could rip off my MASTERPOWER [LP0 It was already released, and you are not talanted in googling enough to find it eat my t-shirts, to be more accurate, not shirts, i’m not that “kid” if he could be reffered like this too, since 29 years of struggle through average mid-class family “oopsey-woopseys”, Hey, CC [NoN-creative-commoned-Comedy-Central, so “™”], wanna see an episode dated 1999 where Bart SimpsonS, using his MINDPOWER, obviously"TM", becomes a high-school breakbit-techno-house-electro DJ BioSex [in reversed order, please, mix, but do not shake, please, to make a cocktail which our modern “underground electroni#css” music scene like really deserves

ADVERTPERVERT ROUBRIQUE [le]

Fill a collins glass with ice. Add tequila and midori, fill rest of glass with sour mix, and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. Then drink it by yourself if you truly believe, that you are great at mixing 4/4 tracks, OH GOSH HOW MEAN I AM, I WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE MEAN TO A PERSON WHO JUST MAKES A LIVING ON DOING EVERYTHING HE WANTS, LIKE VINYLL FLIP-FLOPS, AND CD’S CHANGINGGGG [REALLY HOT DOWN HERE, YOU NOW, HEATING IS GOING LIKE SHUSH, ITS JUST SO HOT UNDER THE DJ TABLE FUCK IT, IKEA, YOU GOTTA DO SMTH WITH IT]..sorry,..fck, almost forgot about this phoney thingy [IKEAtm - more than trade, more than marks, IKEA rules, here are scandinavian workers tired sparks (around head) (from amusement, how GOOD, it TASTES, to eat CHICKEN, at the TABLE, you know you PRODUCED, but you DON’T CARE [mArXXXattention - marxists fukof, i know i’m using some kind of “not really accurate” info!! about your DAD’S BOOK, i’m sorry, I never gonna touch it again, I promise, peace] [Fuck xxxtentaciwho, i don’t stand public image of a talented musician to be spoiled with so fucked up facts, like beating someone for a long time, or having sex with a person against their will, and that’s not a joke. Pretty sad that talented freshmen will never be a talented human being for me, but he still is for someone, and those are might be fucked up as hell also, not as much as a person, who fucks another with a fork, or other objects [even if he does it in postmod, that’s cruel to kids, think about what happend to WW2 kids, and X it on the quantity of eyes that never seen the damn piece of war [lucky ones, would be like to feel a bit like that] [i’m lucky too, but not that much, you kno, “Sloviansk"TM, or how it frequently was trasliterated from "local-pronounciation” - Slavinsk [CC license] - [src: telegraph.co.uk/…/Donetsk-police-chief-forced-out-as-Ukrain…, BTW! using a chance of such a productivity FUCK Telegraph, and probably fUcK BBC News [can’t find a source, but i remember this LE GOOGLE-LESS JOURNALIST REPORTAGE for not having a MINDPOWER, and what’s more important, for them, as professionals, of “dividing"TM "bad people"TM and "good people"TM - a MASTERPOWER ability. Purchase Love LP. LP is for Pl which is for [sorry, my polish friends, and people who don’t understand slavic-english-writing-stYLO [stereotype], sorry, I’m very very sorry, that IT HAPPENED[TM], yeas, Pl - which is for Please! Sorry! I admit, I took you to the really dark place, but I Love you, and I really want you to survive. [really enjoying’ my time with those funny Latin letters, playing with them, omg, i don’t even kno what doessss the DAMN.[really liked it, but TPAB was way better, please take a note, Kendrick, i’m your fan for 3 yrs, my opinion weighs smth, huh? I don’t even have fans which are able to notice when i delete a bunch of my “First Relaeses” from bandcamp. That’s for good, actually, I’d like not to get any messages containg things like “Hei Aleksei! Your first release Ножові was great and thought-provoking, and your last LP called..let me think, Laugh? Life? Ah, I remembered it’s called] half of my words mean

And yeah

Love / OUT NOW

CHSZM - noise music project of Kharkiv based media-artist Aleksei Podat.

Hometown: Sloviansk

Birthdate: 25/08/1996

gosh, i got these voices sequenced to 4/4 again, moom. I need a PROFESSIONAL HERE

if you got some psychologist help to advice, i’d be shy, but greatful

__________________________________________________________

Telegram Channel

If you are not a blogger it’s possible you may not know what bloggers do exactly. If you are a blogger, that’s equally possible. (Or is that just me?) There’s one thing I’ve noticed that seems to be the common trend amongst my fellow blog people, is that we all want to learn more about this invisible world and very few are where they would like to be but most are passionate about what they do and just about all are very supportive of one another.

Spurred on by a generous helping of my fellow bloggers with a side dish of personal angst I am starting a new series of interviews with other bloggers on what it means to be SUCCESSFUL. Success means a million different things to everyone and in the blogging world one may be tempted to measured by numbers (stats, followers, income). While analysing data in order to strategise your business marketing budget is wise, numbers are not a true measure of your blog’s worth.

It’s a bad idea to draw comparisons and become disheartened by what others seem to have achieved, what’s more important is to determine the reason why you blog, what your goals are for the future and what you need to learn/improve on in order to achieve them.

Some bloggers write simply because they love it or they wish to inspire and encourage others, some are authors who are blogging to showcase their books, others blog as a full time occupation and earn an income from their work. What makes each individual get up every morning and want to write? Every interviewee will be different and as we catch a glimpse of the person behind the image I hope you will be inspired by their stories.

The aim of  this series is to help you re-evaluate why you do what you do, teach you some new tips as well as motivate you to focus on your own goals. Because we could all do with a bit of help now and then!

If you’d like to be featured in this series, please feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you, don’t be shy! 🙂

So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I’d love you to put your hands together and welcome my first guest:

Debbie Stansil

It’s my mission to show women who feel stuck in a rut that it’s not too late to chase the dream. I want to show them that they CAN succeed, no matter how little confidence they may have right now.

Through my helpful guides and motivational posts, my readers will come to see that they DO deserve success, they ARE good enough and they WILL make it

How do you define a ‘successful’ blogger?

For me, a successful blogger is someone who knows what they want from their blogs, and how to get it, whatever it might be. It doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of money or fame – it could be just knowing that one post helped one person.

What were your reasons for setting up a blog? 

I’d been toying with the idea for a while. I mainly jumped in because I wanted to develop my writing style and put my words out there because I wanted to write a novel and my writing was rusty to say the least.

Initially, I planned on blogging for a few weeks and then closing it down. Two and a half years later, I’m still blogging and now I just can’t imagine not blogging.

What is the purpose of your blog now?

Although I talk about a wide range of subjects on my blog, my main focus is showing other people that they can live their dream.

For a long time, I wanted to be a writer, and last October, I quit my day job to become a full time writer. It wasn’t until after I was making a good, full time income from writing, that I learned it’s “impossible” to write for a living successfully.

It made me see that nothing is impossible if you’re willing to put the work in, and I want to share that with others. It frustrates me that people are being put off following their dreams because of other people’s negativity.

All of the people you see saying it’s impossible? They haven’t put the work in.

Debbie’s Blogging Journey

I started my blog in March 2015, although it was a fair few months before I got serious about it. I didn’t even have a Twitter account for the first month!

Once I realised how much blogging had grabbed me, I made the decision to go self-hosted and I made the leap in November 2015. Since then, my blog has been re-branded and become more focused.

I still wouldn’t like to label myself as a one category only blog – although many people blog successfully in a really tight niche, it’s not me. I know I would get bored only ever talking about one thing, and if I’m bored, then surely my readers would be too.

The way I see it, my blog’s niche is me, my voice, my take on things, and everyone is their own blog’s niche.

Blogging is a steep learning curve and I’ve made more than a few mistakes along the way:

I once decided to play with my blog’s CSS code with no idea what I was doing. I lost posts, images and the layout was awful. I hadn’t thought to back up anything, or even take a screen shot of what the code looked like before I changed it. It took me a long time and a lot of curse words to get it back to normal, but those posts where lost forever.

I once submitted my blog for a review. Amongst other things, the main feedback was “good strong writing but the theming is awful”. Rather than focusing on the good, because the writing is surely what it’s all about, I fixated on the awful theming. I almost shut the blog down, thinking I wasn’t cut out for it. I calmed down and saw that actually, that comment was spot on. My theming at the time had a very cartoonish feel about it and it wasn’t right for the things I was talking about. It turned out to be the best thing anyone could have said to me and I rebranded everything.

Something I’ve always struggled with, and still do, is that I can’t go “all in” on my blog. I would love to be able to dedicate the thirty plus hours a week it deserves to it, but it’s just not going to happen. I have bills to pay and although I do write for a living, my main income doesn’t come from my blog and I’m not sure I’d ever want it to. I have to prioritise, and writing my novels is always going to come first. I’ve made my peace with that for the most part, but sometimes I still get frustrated about it.

But the good by far outweighs the struggles. Some high points for me have been:

Hitting one hundred Twitter followers. I don’t think it matters how many followers I have now, or will have in the future, the feeling of hitting that first goal was out of this world.

The moment I held a physical copy of my first novel in my hands. I’ve now got six books out and each one makes me excited, but again, nothing beats that feeling that came from the very first one.

Writing controversial posts and just waiting for the backlash, only to find that the vast majority of people commenting either agreed with me, or voiced their different opinions in a civil manner. I’m happy to debate things, I enjoy seeing the other side of arguments, but when it degenerates into name calling and all of that ridiculousness, I just can’t be bothered with it.

I know it sounds cheesy, but blogging has truly changed my life. I can say with 100% certainty, that without starting my blog, I would still be stuck working for someone else in a job I liked but didn’t love.

Instead, because of my blog, I am writing for a living. My blog gave me the confidence to put myself out there with both my own books and as a freelance ghost writer.

I have a definite five-year plan – there are lots of little milestones along the way, but the main goal for me is to be making a good income from my own books to the extent that I can concentrate fully on my own projects and step away from the freelancing.

So there you have it; living your dream is possible – I’m the living proof of that. Work hard, and keep going through the low points and the rejections. It will all be worth it in the end.

Debbie has kindly shared a helpful post on her blog on growing a following on Facebook: Grow Your Facebook Page: 4 Simple Steps to Go from 0-1000 Followers in 4 Weeks.

Debbie’s Bio:

Born in 1982 in North East England, Debbie knew from an early age she wanted to be a writer. Life got in the way, and the dream was put on the back burner, although never forgotten. She am now a full time author and freelance writer and writes her own blog, My Random Musings. She has published two novels, two short story collections, a non-fiction book and a collection of funny poems.

Links: Blog   Twitter  Facebook  Instagram  Amazon Author Page

  Don’t forget to e-mail me with your story now 🙂 !

The Successful Blogger Series If you are not a blogger it's possible you may not know what bloggers do exactly. If you…

The British public loves a good police show. Here are some of the best!

The TV police procedural has been a stalwart of British television since Dixon of Dock Green first walked the beat in 1955.  The genre has evolved and developed over the years, but the British TV bobby has never been too far from our hearts as we have tuned in en mass to watch their adventures.

With the recent death of Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter, and the highly anticipated 4th series of the amazing Line of Duty starting later today, Snooty Ushers Dave and James have put their heads together to make a list of our favourite British TV cop shows.  The only rule was that it had to be about actual British police (so no Sherlock, Cracker, or any of those amateur sleuth shows). So, in no particular order, let us begin

Just missing out: New Tricks, The Fall, Ripper Street, Between The Lines, Rebus (with Ken Stott, not John Hannah),  Maigret (because it is French!), A Touch of Cloth

Line of Duty (BBC, 2012-)

Dave: What better place to start than with the original inspiration for this list, the brilliant Line of Duty.  The show focuses on AC-12, a special team of elite officers who investigate the police. While this echoes the similarly themed Between The Lines from the 90s, it stands on its own as one of the best British police procedural dramas.  About to enter its 4th season, each series focuses on a different, but interconnected case, fronted by a high profile British actor.  The AC-12 team recur throughout.  It is grounded firmly in reality and it so brilliantly written, intricately plotted and tightly directed that something as simple as 3 people sitting in a room having a conversation can deliver such incredible tension.  The cast to deserve so much credit, the AC-12 officers led by Irish stalwart Adrian Dunbar’s damaged every-man Superintendent, Martin Compston is instantly relatable as the terrier like DS Steve Arnott (although I do take issue with him not using his Scottish accent), but it is Vicky McClure as DC Kate Flemming who is the real star.  The 3 series so far have weaved such a tight web of intrigue and tension that I wouldn’t dare revel any plot points here, I would just implore you all to catch up before the new series starts.  If you need another reason, Keeley Hawes, in Series 2, gives one of the most devastating, intense and down right brilliant performances in recent memory.

James: This is a show that proves that British TV can match anything from around the world. It’s also my favourite ongoing British show of any genre. One mistake seemingly ruins a promising young police officer’s career, and he is shunted to the AC-12 (“Internal Affairs” if we were in America), in an attempt to push him out of the force. But instead, DS Arnott truly finds his niche, as does the show itself. There are loads of police shows with conflicted and morally ambiguous lead characters, but Line Of Duty focuses almost entirely on their feet of clay, yet never falls into witch-hunt territory. Lennie James, Keeley Hawes, and Daniel Mays have given three different performances as heroic cops who come under AC-12’s gaze, and the three series so far have all taken different paths, never covering the same ground. And the interrogation room scenes are the high point of the show as weeks, sometimes years worth of story lines are brought together. A truly great show.

Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-07)

Dave:  If Line of Duty is grounded in reality, this is something different all together.  Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a DCI working in Manchester.  When he is involved in a car accident, he wakes up in 1975.  He is still a cop, but a rank lower and finds himself working for the oafish DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister).  This just worked on every level.  The ambiguity surrounding Sam’s predicament kept us guessing.  Is he dead? crazy? In a coma? Or has he actually traveled back in time?  The world of modern policing contrast with the good old days of the 70s made for some thrilling moments and some genuinely funny moments too, with the chemistry between Simm’s straight laced, lateral thinking, by the book cooper and Glenister’s blunt instrument works a treat.  The ambiguity continued after the conclusion of the series, with the story continuing on the 80s set sequel series Ashes To Ashes, which saw Gene Hunt move to London and paired with a female detective (Keeley Hawes).  While never hitting the heights of Life On Mars, it ran for 3 seasons and gave us a satisfyingly heart-breaking conclusion.  This will be forever remembered for giving us immortal and unforgettable DCI Gene Hunt.

James: Whether it was their intention from the very beginning or not, the makers of Life On Mars got to cherry pick all of the best bits out of 70s cop shows. We got a modern piece of television – Sam Tyler struggling with the nature of his reality and Gene Hunt getting into car chases and punching criminals. And as someone who lived in Manchester it was great to see how they shot around the city to get that Seventies feel.

Also, the third series of Ashes To Ashes also deserves a mention, as Daniel Mays (who featured in Line Of Duty as well) gave a fantastic performance that shepherded the whole saga to a great conclusion.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #711 – The American version of Life On Mars (with Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt) ended after one season, and being years away from wrapping their own version, the original writers gave their US counterparts free reign, and they came up with a doozy. Both the “modern day” and 1970’s realities were both just a simulation to keep astronauts minds active on a mission to Mars, and a glitch had causes Sam’s program to jump from one simulation to another.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #712 – There are currently Czech and Russian versions running in those countries that take their Sam Tyler character back to Soviet-era police, giving another level to the show.

Inspector Morse/Lewis (ITV, 1987-2015)

Dave: Based on the novels of Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse ran for 33 episodes across 13 years, becoming one of the nations favourite detectives.  He was the epitome of the gentleman detective, a middle class bachelor with middle class interests, he drove a classic Jaguar, listens to opera and has a fondness for real ale, this was contrast in his relationship with his partner DS Lewis, a working class family man from the North East.  Set in the beautiful city of Oxford, with the various colleges and classic architecture used as a stunning back drop.  Now, the term national treasure is banded about a little too often for my tastes, but is there a better way to describe John Thaw?  His gruff nature embodies Morse with an every-man quality that masks his vast intellect.  Kevin Whately’s Lewis is perfect foil as his put upon Sergeant.  Their relationship is central to the show’s success and longevity.  The series ended in 2000, when Morse collapse and died of a heart attack, his legacy would live on however when in 2006, when Kevin Whatley’s Lewis would return.

Robbie Lewis is now a Detective Inspector, he is widowed and his kids are grown. Paired with a new DS, James Hathaway played by Lawrence Fox.  Hathaway is a chain-smoking, emotionally detached intellectual. Lewis is Colombo like, in as much as his scruffy appearance and the fact that is not an Oxford man, means he is constantly under estimated by the high brow university community.  While he relies of Hathaway’s classic education at times, he is more than a match for Oxfords criminal element.  Lewis and Hathaway’s chemistry would rival but not quite eclipse that of Morse and Lewis, but was the driving force behind this shows success, it was baffling when after 7 series and a natural conclusion, they brought the show back for 2 more years, changing the dynamic of the leads and for the first time in nearly 30 years, the show began oustay its welcome.

The conclusion of Lewis was not the end for the franchise.  In 2011, ITV turned back the clock with the prequel series Endeavour.  Set in 1965, it focuses on Morse’s early years as a DC.  Shaun Evans does a great job of honouring Thaw and giving us a believable young Morse and Roger Allam adds a touch of class as Morse’s noble DI, Fred Thursday.

James: Morse is a national treasure. It really is the gold standard that all detective shows are aiming for. The character work between Morse and Lewis was brilliant, and they knew when to inject some levity and humour into what was a serious drama. Decades before Sherlock, theses were basically films that were shown on ITV, and we got thirty three of them. Although Lewis is slightly in its predecessors shadow, it featured a nice change of dynamic with the two leads, and in a nice touch of symmetry, there were also thirty three episodes of Lewis.

I would echo Dave to say that Endeavour really does uphold the quality of the shows that came before it. There’s the same sheen of quality, and Shaun Evans portrays Morse’s traits without simply mimicking John Thaw.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #713 – Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter made a cameo in all but three of the Morse episodes.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #714 – In the pilot episode of Endeavour, Morse questions a newspaper editor.  The editor asks if they have met, as he seems familiar to her.  The editor is played by John Thaw’s daughter Abigail. She recurs throughout the series

Luther (BBC, 2010-16)

James: Neil Cross wrote for Spooks and Doctor Who before being Luther, and his writing deserves a lot of credit. He has created a conflicted detective haunted by his past, and set him in a harsh, yet real-feeling London. However, in this could be the set up for almost any detective show – Idris Elba makes Luther into a great piece of work. His performance really nails the complex character, making him sympathetic but still hard as nails. He will make a great next Bond… or Doctor Who!

The show also stands out by giving Luther a full-on nemesis. Ruth Wilson play Alice Morgan, a character who comes in and out of the show. Cross has always said Luther is inspired by Sherlock Holmes and Columbo, and by giving the detective his own Moriaty, Luther raises the bar again.

I truly hope that we get more episodes of Luther. The most recent series was only two episodes, and surely it would be possible to squeeze another couple into Elba’s (and Cross’) increasingly busy schedule. Perhaps just even a one-off to finally wrap up the series, although the end of the third series seemed to do that quite well – coat and all – before it was brought back. Maybe Netflx or Amazon Prime could throw enough money at it to get another go around.

Taggart (STV 1983-2010)

Dave:  Now, I am a Scotsman who has lived in England for the better part of 10 years and this show has a lot to answer for.  The amount of times I have been asked to utter the phrase “Thurs bin a murder”, well let’s just say it is more than once.

Set in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Taggart was and remains the UK’s longest running TV police series.  The show survived the death of its title character, when the great Mark McManus died in 1994.

Jim Taggart, was a gruff no nonsense Glaswegian, with little time for sensitivity.  The show was just so brilliantly Glaswegian, the best part of watching this growing up was trying to spot the locations where it was filmed.  The show declined in quality following McManus’s death, relying on the more gruesome elements to attract viewers, (I recall one episode where 6 people were murdered, too much!!).  Those early years though gave us something so intrinsically Scottish that DCI Jim Taggart will forever be one of my all time favourite TV cops.

Heartbeat (ITV, 1992-2010)

James: Trips to Aidenfield were a staple of Sunday nights when I was growing up. It started out with Nick Berry was Nick Rowan, a London police officer who moves to North Yorkshire with his wife , Dr Kate Rowan (Niamh Cusack). The two of them have to deal with small town life, as well as some pretty hard hitting storylines. Bill Maynard’s turn as lovable rogue Greengrass provided the  light relief, and the policing team of Ventress, Bradley, and Blakeston were always welcome.

Later series broadened the focus from a single lead character when Rowan transferred to the Mounties in Canada after Berry decided to leave. Jason Durr came in as Mike Bradley, and it became more of an ensemble show, with the storylines moving into the more usual Sunday night territory that. But those early shows left and indelible mark on this Snooty Usher.

Messiah (BBC, 2001-2008)

Dave:  The first series of Messiah was one of those shows that just blew me away.  It was dark, it was scary, it was gruesome.  Ken Stott is DCI Red Metcalfe, he and his team are faced with series of brutal killings.  As they delve deeper, they find that someone is killing people, mimicking how Jesus’s apostles died. Now, I am a sucker for serial killers with a religious motive and this is one of the finest examples of it.

Red and his team returned for 3 more series and new cast taking over in 2008 for a further 1 series, with Marc Warren taking over from Stott in the lead.  While they were suitably gruesome, it never quite hit the heights of this ground breaking first case.

James: My sister and I used to buy cheap books from charity shops when we went on holiday. One of these books was about a series of gruesome murders that wove religious themes into plot. We talked about how it would make a great film or TV show – and when we got home we found out that it did! Ken Stott was just perfect as the detective trying to get to the bottom of these horrific crimes. He played the role like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, like he constantly had a splitting headache. The supporting characters were excellently cast as well.

A Touch of Frost (ITV, 1992-2010)

Dave: I love Del Boy Trotter as much as anyone, but for me at least, this is David Jason’s finest hour.  The gruff, empathetic Detective Edward ‘Jack’ Frost.  Based on the novels of R.D Wingfield, A Touch of Frost was a firm favourite in the McKee household.  This is set in the fictional town of Denton, in the south midlands and while they are completely different, it is difficult not to compare Frost with ITV other long running Detective series Inspector Morse.

Frost never had an established DS like Lewis, working with a series of different sidekicks which really worked.  The humour in the show came from Frost’s interactions with his boss Superintendent Norman “Horn Rimmed Harry” Mullett.

James: A Touch of Frost was great. David Jason knew just how much comedy business to put into his performance. I think everyone was surprised just how good he was in the more serious role, and I remember trying to find out if Denton FC was a real football team.

Prime Suspect (ITV, 1991-2006)

Dave: While I enjoyed the early episodes of Prime Suspect, I was never a massive fan of it, mainly down to the fact that I don’t really like writer Lynda La Plante’s work.

Having said that, the quality of this show and the performance of Helen Mirren demands attention.  Ground breaking and harrowing at times, this gave us a really believable, flawed female lead. Tennison has been oft imitated and never, to date, bettered.

The Bill (ITV, 1984-2010)

Dave: And finally, no list of police shows would be complete without this long running series.  Set in the fictional Sun Hill Police station, this gave us a load of memorable characters. Remember PC Reg Hollis? WPC June Ackland? DCI Frank Burnside? The list goes on.  It lost something for me when it changed from the 30 minute episode format, but I still hold many fond memories of this show

James: I love shows that are truly episodic. Whether it is the monster of the week episodes of shows like Buffy or The X-Files, or the half an hour episodes of The Bill that were on every Tuesday and Thursday. The ongoing tales from Sun Hill lost something when it went to an hour long, but those early episodes will last a long time in my memory.

Until next time, thanks for reading. Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold, and catch ya later on down the trail.

10 Of The Best British Cop Shows The British public loves a good police show. Here are some of the best!