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#please let Sarah be faithful in the next season
keyh0use · 1 month
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gay son or thot daughter
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akajustmerry · 1 year
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Merryana, please, talk about Joel and Rick and bad comparisons 👉🏼👈🏼
alright, we're doing it. I've just taken a headache pill I'm lying under a fan - let's go.
so a lot of what I hate about these twd/tlou bad faith analysis and comparison has to do with a larger trend in social media discourse where things are discussed in tropes.
Prioritising short form media on socials means less time, less nuance and reducing things to their lowest common denominator because in a 10 second tiktok it's just quicker to say something is enemies to lovers than explain the actual premise. And I've been watching this reductive style of media discourse reshape how we discuss complex concepts and stories in real time and it fucking SUCKS.
A lot of the bad faith comparison of TWD and TLOU is built on the reduction of both these shows to Zombie Shows™ and Rick and Joel to Apocalypse Dads™. But describing them this way is kinda like saying that a shark and a puffer fish are both fish because they live in the ocean, but you've decided the puffer fish is better at being in the ocean and then high fiving yourself as if you made some poignant observation.
Starting with some basics, my guy Rickles is a literally a cop. The great irony of his character is that he's trying desperately to reclaim order in a world that has none and how this morality is constantly tested by an inherently lawless world. Joel is working class, a contractor with next to no moral claim on the world and that claim becomes zero when Sarah dies.
Reducing Joel and Rick into apocalypse Dads in the zombie shows flatten both characters into a vague concept rather than whole characters with very different worlds to navigate with very different motives. This kind of flattening of tlou and twd into zombie shows also ignores the very different world building in both shows. For one, there is no cure in TWD because everyone already has the virus and it activates when you're dead - no fuss, no muss and no hope for a fix. On the other hand, tlou is predicated on the question of whether a cure is worth it's cost. This is not even a question in TWD, so the shows are working from fundamentally different ideas. Not to mention, TWD is a show motivated by community building, tlou is.... Made by Zionists.
But I think probably the most egregious way I've seen the shows compared is culture writers comparing their first seasons (as if twd doesn't have another 10 seasons after that too). I can see why, obviously. At a surface level here's 2 shows that end their first season with "no cure" bombshells, but it's literally just surface!!! The journey the shows take to get there is so different, even in terms of time! Twd s1 is all at the start of the outbreak where Everyone is on the same page. Season 1 of tlou establishes that Joel has been living post-outbreak for 20 years. Yet another point of incomparable difference between the characters and the world of the shows.
I'm sorry but I'm just over it!! I'm over this obsession with reducing narratives to their tropes. It's bad marketing disguised as psuedo analysis! it's boring and does no justice to these stories. Like, people can just say they like tlou more than twd, you don't have to psuedo-intellectualise that opinion by copying and pasting bullet points from tvtropes.com.
There's also an element of... Gentrification to this comparison too in that tlou has a much higher budget production value and prestige marketing that, yes, means it looks a lot sleeker than TWD but also.....kinda makes it look the same as any other high budget scifi. Like the fact ppl have made parallels to the Mandolorian and Stranger Things just shows the total lack of character in the show's aesthetics itself. Its got the same gentrified scifi horror look that's become standard since about 2017. Say what you will about TWD but that make up department were forced to invent whole new techniques in practical make up because the show's low budget meant they couldn't use a lot of CGI and their innovation made the show LOOK and feel DIFFERENT.
The ONLY thing twd and tlou truly have in common is that they're both weak adaptations of their source materials. Beyond that, comparing them is just giving psy-op levels of incoherence and displaying disastrous levels of media illiteracy. Besides we all know that in a just world where TWD wasn't written by conspiracy weirdos and TLOU wasn't made by Zionists, Joel and Rick would be husbands 🥰
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orionsangel86 · 3 years
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As a fan and a shipper, this is it, Saz. Misha is done with the show, Cas is dead, Dean won't probably mention anything about this and he is canonically straight at this point. Please don't get your hopes up.
You know... Untill last night I was actually more inclined towards your thinking. I’m happy to admit it. the negativity got me down. Misha’s various comments over the past year got me down. 2020 as a year, GOT ME DOWN.
I struggled with this over and over again for a long time. I was convinced that Cas was dying, and whilst I knew he would be back in 20, I was terrified that it would be some bit part right at the very end which had little relevance and that any happy ending for Dean and Cas was hopeless.
However there was always one little glimmer of hope in my poor bruised heart, and that hope was Destiel itself, because I always figured that if they actually went there with Destiel, then there was absolutely no way that they could end the season badly. Like, NO WAY.
But even after all these years of being a positive meta writer, and writing essay after essay on the validity of the Destiel interpretation of the text and believing with every cell in my body that Destiel was a real and true love story... I was still terrified. I was terrified that it wouldn’t happen, because there were plenty of reasons why it wouldn’t happen. Reasons I have been over several times before.
And yet I could never ignore my own eyes, my own logical observations and my understanding of story narrative and storytelling tropes, of production set up, of art departments and direction, cinematography and music, and everything that makes up a TV show. EVERYTHING ALWAYS POINTED TO DESTIEL.
So even though I was terrified, I still had faith in Destiel. Right up until the end. I had faith in Destiel and it was the only thing still giving me hope in a happy ending, because the way my logical brain works, I figured if they gave us canon Destiel, then a happy ending was very much on the cards. Even if Cas died after confessing, the very nature of storytelling would mean that it wouldn’t end that way, that Cas would have to come back, and that Dean and Cas would get the happy ever after they so desperately deserve.
When I went to bed last night, I was overcome with a sense of awe and fear. That the next morning I would wake up and I would know. I would know if I was right all this time, if over 6 years of obsession, passion, and dedication towards this love story was all worth it, or if we were destined for doom. Some of my friends tried to reassure me that even if it didn’t happen in this episode, it could still happen in the finale, but I’ll be honest, at that point I was adamant it was this episode, or not at all. I was TERRIFIED.
the thought occurred to me right before I closed my eyes to go to sleep, knowing the episode had already started in the states: “If it happens Sarah, then the ending will be happy. Cas will live.”
When I first saw the news this morning (I had asked my US friend Jen to send me a green and a blue heart in a text if Destiel happened so I would be prepared. No green and blue heart text would mean a social media blackout for me for another few weeks) my heart jumped into my throat. It happened. It’s canon.
Throughout the day today my emotions have been all over the place. From utter elation through to confusion and anger at some reactions, but also apprehension, because there are still so many people so negative and so certain that this was it for Cas.
But I realise now, that I do have far more hope that I thought I had, that those flutterings in my soul that awoke when I saw those wonderful green and blue heart emojis first thing this morning have now blossomed into butterflies of absolute joy. It wasn’t the scene from the actual episode that did this either, nope. It was Misha.
I thought I was so mad at him. Constantly going on about Cas’s death, and how sacrifice was the way he wanted to go out. I realised something as I scrolled through his likes on Twitter. It was all a fucking act.
Misha Collins. Troll extraordinaire. He well and truly pulled the wool over our eyes. He played up the doom and gloom to cover for the true surprise. The true secret ending that no one was allowed to even hint at. I completely and utterly fell for it, as did most die hard Cas fans. That utter bastard. :P
Nonny, please read my next words very carefully again and again if you have to, because I really hope that they sink in.
Misha is a good person. So is Bobo Berens. The two of them have been on Twitter liking Destiel tweets and effectively confirming it is canon - not that Cas is in love with Dean, no, that Destiel is canon. The difference, is that Destiel is requited love.
If it had ended in 15x18, if Cas’s confession, which left Dean stunned and unable to reciprocate, was truly the end, do you honestly think the gay man and the actor whose fanbase is massively LQBTQ, would allow one of the most beloved characters of all time, to FINALLY come out of the closet, confess his love, and then subsequently die and spend ETERNITY in SuperHell?!?
The fact that they were SO HAPPY WITH THEMSELVES. Because lets be honest here, Misha wouldn’t be liking all our dumb Destiel shitposting tweets if he didn’t know for sure that that happy feeling was gonna stick. Neither would Bobo.
This is just the start of the epic Destiel endgame. Castiel has said his part, now it’s Dean’s turn. I should have listened to my brain all this time. There is no way this ends badly. It just can’t. I refuse to believe it anymore. I’m finally stepping out of the dark and into the rainbow.
@tinkdw you were right all along.
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skullhaver · 3 years
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It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.
The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.
I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.
Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6
Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.
10. "Ted" S2E11
I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.
9. "Helpless" S3E12
When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.
8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19
Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.
7. "Who Are You?" S4E16
"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.
6. "Hush" S4E10
As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.
5. "The Wish" S3E9
Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.
4. "Restless" S4E22
This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.
3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8
Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.
2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22
I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.
1. "Becoming" S2E21-22
Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch! 
Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)
"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.
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trenchcas · 4 years
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8.22 Clip Show
Not me finally reviewing another episode because i’ve been so incredibly lazy the past few weeks-
Okay so I watched a bunch of episodes and I’m going to review them with obvious bias because I’m biased af. I’ll be focusing on Sam, Cas, and Crowley mainly. Spoilers ahead!
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So to sum it up real quick, Clip Show was about Sam and Dean trying to figure out the third task. They kind of already knew but they had no idea how to “cure a demon”. In the meantime, Crowley is killing everybody the boys ever saved starting from season one (yes, I’m super biased towards Crowley because I love him okay). Also, Castiel meets Metatron.
Crowley, in this episode, kills Tommy from Wendigo, Jenny from Shut Up, Dr. Phil, and Sarah Blake from Provenance. Confession: when I first watched the episode, I didn’t recognize the first two victims just because they were boring ig? 
So the episode begins with Tommy’s death, which idgaf about sorry, and then moves to the Bunker. Dean and Cas are still bitter towards one another. I can understand Dean’s point of view, and I promise this isn’t my inner Cas girl speaking or anything, but Castiel really did think he was doing the right thing just like always. I suppose running away with the Angel Tablet wasn’t the best idea but Cas would have kept it away from Crowley and Heaven longer if it weren’t for that spy angel, I think. But I can understand both PoV’s here. Also, I think I should mention how Sam’s playing the middle here, like when he says “because it’s Cas”. Sam’s not angry because he wasn’t physically there in Goodbye, Stranger, I think.
Then they find the film they’re looking for and they see Josie Sands (who is an interesting character) and the priests performing an exorcism. The nervous MoL kid kind of got me wondering the age limits for the Men of Letters. If this kid’s nervous should they really let him do this kind of stuff? 
Okay moving on, I was kind of surprised at how the trio took watching someone get tortured, especially since they were tortured as well at some point. I think the show could do a much better job at handling trauma. 
Dean is still mad at Cas so Cas goes to buy food + other stuff that Dean likes in order to please him. Then Metatron appears and they go off on their own. I was kind of annoyed at Cas because he’s still so trusting. I’m not saying this is a bad thing or anything, I just think after a few seasons of trusting I’m surprised he hasn’t learned to be a little bit more cautious. He barely knows Metatron.
Then Dean and Sam watch the Father Priest dude perform the exorcism and decide that they’re going to resurrect Abaddon, a Knight of Hell, just to test out something they’d never done before. Abaddon, who had wiped out the entire Men of Letters previously. Real smart, guys. 
In the meantime Cas and Metatron are sitting in a cafe, where they’re greeted by the nephilim/waiter. I found it kinda weird how she basically just flirted with her,, uncle?? Also wouldn’t the angels have known if a nephilim was born? It’s probably a pretty big deal, regardless of whether it’s an archangel or not. 
Then they’re interrupted by Crowley, who says some stupid things. Abaddon recollects her body and leaves, big surprise. They go to Indiana where they find Jenny dead.
Now they go to Indiana where they find Sarah Blake who I miss and love. It changes to Cas and Metatron, and the nephilim reveals that she knows who they are. (Kinda wanna know who her parents were, I’ve seen some theories that it was Gabriel but that would have been a big thing in the supernatural world so I don’t think it was). Cas kills the nephilim which was sad.
Sarah Blake dies, Crowley kills her, they return to the bunker. We explore Sam’s grief a little bit, but it’s not touched on in later episodes which I found kind of disappointing. Sam considers giving in, which I found pretty alarming because Sam’s the one with faith. He’s the one that tries to keep going even when all seems lost, so here you can see how Sarah + Jenny + Tommy’s deaths have affected him. Dean insists they soldier on.
So overall I thought this was a pretty good episode leading up to the season finale, especially with the whole curing demons thing. The only problem I had was how stupid Abaddon’s revival was. Yeah I mean it was necessary for the next season, but it was just stupid to me. I remember the first time I watched s8′s finale I didn’t remember where Abaddon had come from because I hadn’t really watched Clip Show all that well but it makes sense now. 
I’d give this episode a 7.5/10 with points off for Abaddon being stupid. 
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Were you familiar with His Dark Materials franchise before you signed onto the project? Had you read the books before, or was the whole thing just kind of new?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was deeply in my life. It's kind of one of those jobs that when you hear about it, I had to be involved, and whether I bribed somebody to get me the job or turned up at their office, I knew I had to do it. It was with Mission Impossible. I was a massive fan and with Mission, it had been in my life for 20 years. I'd been basically subconsciously writing Fallout out in my head. Just that famous Lalo Schifrin theme, I had been trying to write it for 20-odd years. With Dark Materials, I think... When was the first one? It was in the '90s. '95, gosh, how old was I then? I'm 42 now... Oh well, I'll figure that one out and text you. However old I was, it was a long time ago.
But yes, it was the same heritage and folklore of the likes of Harry Potter and Star Wars to me. Basically, I found out about it and I just knew I had to be part of the team. It's always very intimidating, especially with literature, because the thing is that everybody has created their own soundtracks in their head when reading these books, and you don't want to mess it up.
What kind of inspiration and influences did you take into consideration when you were crafting the His Dark Materials score? Since it's the kind of source material that everyone interprets in a different way, what was kind of important for you in creating your take on it?
I always treat these books as steampunk. I was very aware of the different worlds and the fact that you weren't too sure of what the technology was, and if it's present or past. Musically, I knew right from day one I wanted it to be a mixture of organicness and electronic-ness, and have it so that the organicness was being manipulated, so sonically you don't know what you're hearing and you're not too sure if this is real or if it's not.
I also kind of wanted to always make sure that with Lyra --I'd never worked on a show where it has such a strong young female lead, and I just wanted to make sure that I wrote it so it wasn't patronizing to her age. She is the future and she's just strong. I think that I wanted to make sure that she dramatically was as strong and powerful as if it was Princess Leia, for example.
And also what I wanted to do was very clearly set out each character's themes. Before we even started, I really spent a long time just creating everybody's dramatical world. With Mrs. Coulter, it's powerful but also slightly sexy. I'm not too sure if I can say the word "sexy" for Mrs. Coulter, but the thing is that her character, the way Ruth [Wilson] plays her especially, it's very imposing.
There are so many sides to it. I just wanted to start off composing and just making sure all of our characters have very clear dramatical worlds, and also their own instrumentation. I think that color-wise, I wanted to make sure that they have their own performances. In the same way, I started thinking about who was going to perform the music. And ironically with Mrs. Coulter, I got Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the drummer, to come and play on it. Because it was like "This is serious now, and this is powerful." For some reason, I just kept thinking of Chad.
On other themes, with the Egyptian theme, I was lucky to get [violinist] Lindsey Stirling involved to come and play. Everybody's theme, I wanted to get musicians that I could work with, that would also be that character sound.
I'm just remembering now, the same with [cellist] Tina Guo's playing on the soundtrack. She's the main cellist for Wonder Woman. I'm probably forgetting names. I should have practiced. KT Tunstall, the singer, is on the score. Sarah Willis is a French horn player with the Berlin Philharmonic. I was calling her a month ago in Cuba, in Havana, because she's on tour. And then Rich Harvey, one of the top recordists... Recorder players? Is that a recordist? I'm not too sure. So yeah, I wanted to get that high cast of musicians as well as the show, the cast, their actors.
What's your favorite thing about the score for His Dark Materials? Is there a certain theme or a certain sequence that you're just like, "I can't believe I was able to pull this off"?
I wish I could have more faith in my own music. Unfortunately, I don't. What we're doing with the soundtrack is that when the show starts, we're going to release two albums. The first album is going to be a musical anthology to our world, and it's all of the character's themes and the show's themes. And then the second album will be actual cues from the actual show. I'm still writing at the moment, so I want to say that the best is yet to come because I'm still at episode eight. But I think everything has been a challenge, because I think with Lyra, I think very, very aware of thinking about the fans.
To me, it's a hard job. It's very like working on games, because there's such a heritage and loyal fan base, that you can't please everybody. It's just impossible. But you've got to be loyal. I tried to do some research to see what fans would be listening to, and I found some references to the music of Algar, so I took some inspiration from that. To me, I've tried to just do my best to what people might feel with these characters. And also everybody working on the show are fans of the books -- whether it's the costume department or the makeup department or the camera department, everybody's wanted to be involved with this because of their love of the books. It's apparently a team effort.
And I think that the opening sequence has been one of the hardest jobs I think I've ever had because you're trying to write a theme and a piece of music that represents this story, which is mammoth. I think [it's like] being asked, "Who's your favorite child?" It's impossible, but I think that the journeys through it is all fun. We're recording all over the world, musically. We've been recording in Los Angeles and Cuba and Vienna, and we've been recording an amazing female choir in Bulgaria. We're recording the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra in Wales. Just the recording of the music alone is mammoth. I'd say there is no favorite, but I hope the main theme of the show gets people excited.
I'm really excited about the two different albums. I always love it when shows or movies really let people experience the music of the show, outside of them actually watching it in the moment.
I think there's a lot on the first album that's not necessarily a written picture, but it's a listening experience. And because I wanted to try to, maybe for two and a half, three minutes, be able to clearly represent who these characters are without being interrupted by people talking on top of it, selfishly. I think that's been a fun part of this journey.
[...] And then just to wrap it up, what can you tease about your future projects beyond His Dark Materials? What do you have coming up that we can look forward to?
[...] That's the plan, but also I'll start the second season of Dark Materials, probably after Christmas. There won't be much of a gap. I'm on the last episode at the moment, so there'll be a few months, and then I'll start on the next season, which I'm very, very excited about.
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truthbeetoldmedia · 5 years
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American Gods 2x04 “The Greatest Story Ever Told” Review
So much happens in every single hour of American Gods and this week’s episode is no different! We saw how Technical Boy came to be, Mr. Nancy trying to get Bilquis and Mr. Ibis to actually play their part in the war, and some weird Girl Scouts who were far scarier than an angry Mr. World or Mr. Wednesday.  
The story of how Technical Boy came to be started with a young boy who expressed minimal interest in classical music but showed great enthusiasm for all things technical. All the boy’s father wanted to do was share his love of classical music (his self-proclaimed way of praying) with his son. While the boy was talented on the piano, like any young child during the rise of computers, his interests were held elsewhere. By college, the son found a way for his computer program to write music. The boy was so proud, he showed his father. When his father found out that it was the computer, and not his son, that wrote the beautiful music, you could tell he was disappointed. This new technology encroached on the one thing he loved most. Well, the two things he loved most.  
The father ends up dying. At the funeral, Technical Boy comes into the picture. As mentioned before, music was how the father prayed. Incorporating music into tech is how the boy prays, thus Technical Boy appears above the man’s casket. For some reason, that’s not how I envisioned Technical Boy to come into being.  
Seeing Technical Boy come to be and seeing him lose usefulness to Mr. World in the same episode is kind of fascinating. As New Media said in the last episode, the two of them existing at the same time is kind of redundant. With Technical Boy letting Laura kill Argos in the last episode, Mr. World is beyond pissed. Technical Boy not getting the job Mr. World sent him out to do isn’t exactly doing him any favors. New Media is coming across as the favorite child with the big boss, while Technical Boy is sent into a time-out. (I’m taking it as a time-out. Whatever that ball that ate him is, I don’t think it destroyed him, so I’m calling it a time-out.) Technical Boy went to the young boy-turned-CEO for help in this war. This ended up being his downfall. For the longest time, Technical Boy was this man’s only friend. However, this man’s attention is fickle. New Media is easy to distract him with her technology and Mr. World essentially shows Technical Boy that he’s no longer essential and that he’s replaceable, which isn’t an easy thing for a god to hear.  
The first scene with Shadow picks up right where the last episode left off. He had the stuffing kicked out of him and he was FEELING it. Mr. Wednesday made him a deal that if Shadow wasn’t feeling better in the morning, then he could ride off with Better (his car) and leave Mr. Wednesday behind. You see, Shadow’s been feeling beyond frustrated with Mr. Wednesday lately and I can’t blame him. The man is keeping him in the dark about why he even chose Shadow to begin with. He wants to leave. He wants to find Laura and do what? Well, I’m not sure. You can’t very well go back to a life before you found out gods were real with a walking, talking corpse of a wife.  
Anyways, it’s nighttime and Shadow is in bed. A naked woman is sitting right on top of him. Her name is Bast and she’s an old warrior goddess, who also happened to be the goddess of cats. They start having sex, because apparently now Shadow has sex with random women who just find him in the middle of the night. (I’m not slut-shaming Shadow. I’m just saying that that’s not exactly practicing safe sex there, pal.) While they’re doing the dirty, she starts clawing at his skin...like a cat. She licks his open wounds from when he was beat up and then she starts leaving actual cuts on his chest and back. In the morning, Shadow wakes up and the woman has vanished. There is, however, a cat in Shadow’s room.  
Shadow goes down and speaks with Mr. Ibis and Mr. Wednesday. Wednesday wants to head out to St. Louis, where they find themselves at a diner. Mama-ji is there because she works at every Motel America, apparently. (Hope the paycheck is worth it, Mama-ji!) Tensions continue to run high between Mr. Wednesday and Shadow because Mr. Wednesday, as I previously mentioned, refuses to key Shadow into the reason he was chosen for this job. Mr. Wednesday tells him it’s because he’s essentially a nobody to everyone and, let me tell YOU, Shadow is EVERYTHING to ME.  
They end up meeting with these creepy girl scouts, who ask them if they want to buy candy and if they’d like to use debit or credit. It’s code for a meeting between Mr. World and a bookkeeper, but it’s the weirdest thing to actually witness. Whatever exactly this meeting was, because I’m still a tad confused to be honest, it ends in a draw because the bookkeeper isn’t making any decisions. I take it to mean that it’s really anybody’s war.  
While Shadow and Mr. Wednesday are in St. Louis, Mr. Ibis is attending to a dead woman’s body at his funeral parlor. Bilquis happens upon the deceased woman’s granddaughter in the chapel. One can only assume that Bilquis was searching out the old gods because maybe she’s finally chosen a side after Mr. World confronted her in last week’s episode. Anyways, Bilquis is all about human connections, so she starts speaking with the granddaughter, whose name we find out is Ruby. The topic of discussion is all about faith, of course. Ruby speaks of how her grandmother believed in Jesus and the sense of community that faith brought her. Ruby seems to appreciate the community, as well.  
Mr. Nancy shows up at the funeral parlor as well to deliver some much needed truth. Mr. Ibis and Bilquis have made it clear so far that they aren’t on any side. Well, Mr. Nancy wants them to decide. All three of them are some of the oldest gods out there. They are three powerful African gods. While it’s nice that Mr. Ibis and Bilquis don’t want to choose a side because they just want peace, they’re going to have to actually participate in order to reach that peace. The death of Zorya Vechernyaya brought Czernobog into the fight. To paraphrase Mr. Nancy, it took the death of an old white lady for Czernobog to swing his hammer. If it had been an old black lady, who’s to say Czernobog would’ve taken a stance? Like last season when we were introduced to Mr. Nancy, what he says speaks truths about America’s politics today. I believe that may have been enough for these three to show a united front, especially between Mr. Nancy and Bilquis with their steamy lip-locking.  
While this episode left me questioning some things, I was overall very pleased with it. I’m hoping Shadow gets more answers soon. I hate seeing him so confused and torn on his place by Mr. Wednesday’s side. I also want to see more Nancy/Bilquis/Ibis. I’m looking forward to their next interaction with Wednesday. One thing I’m hoping is explored more is New Media’s power and her new personality. We caught glimpses with Technical Boy, but there’s still so much more they could be showing us.
Some thoughts on the episode:
I’m actually really mad with how that father reacted to his son’s way of writing music. The boy was so proud of his creation, but his father didn’t see that. He just saw technology “ruining” something he loved so much. There’s definitely a generational divide with something like that. I can see both sides to the issue at hand, but I can’t help but be on the boy’s side with this one. Technology is AMAZING. It can do SO MUCH with just pressing a few keys on a keyboard. It was a real shame the boy’s father couldn’t take pride in something his son made because while the computer technically wrote the music, the son made it all possible to begin with.  
Can’t anyone have any normal sex on this show? First, the human-eating vagina. Then, the technical tentacle sex. Now, Shadow has sex with the cat-lady. I am DISTURBED.  
I’m shipping Mr. Nancy and Bilquis! They’re stunning! Mr. Ibis is their supportive mom friend.  
I actually felt really bad for Technical Boy by the end of the episode, which is something I never thought I’d do, considering I find Technical Boy to be awfully bratty.  
I like Mr. Wednesday more than Mr. World just for the record!
American Gods airs on Sundays at 8/7c on Starz.
Sarah’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝
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Runaway
Dacre/female character fanfic
Chapter one
Flash back
Sarah was pacing the floor of the airport,
"I can't do this Chlo!" The past week final hitting her, "I auditioned for a role I thought I never had a shot at, and now I'm leaving all this....." waving her hands in front of her "..shit show behind. What am I doing!" Her best friend Chloe grabbed her face in her hands "Hey! yes you can! You have to now it's not just you, plus the worst part is over now your free! And don't you ever think you are alone! I'm here with you all the way! And look at Katie! She needs you" Chloe said looking down at the baby.
I'm a wreck Chloe, he ruined me, I used to laugh all the time, you remember me in high school, I was popular, Happy and I had goals, look at me now, a broken mother running off to the other side of the country away from him in hopes of finding myself again" she began sobbing again, "yes, while all that is true this is a fresh start for you and Katie! You go on that set tomorrow and be the old Sarah, you have no baggage now you can be you again, and who knows Atlanta may be the home of a hottie that restores your faith in men!".
Sarah rolled her eyes at her friends comment "thank you so much! I 100% could not have done this without you! ... and as for the hottie, He can wait I'm done with men thank you!".
Sarah picked up her 1 year old daughter in her car seat, Chloe grabbed the bags and they headed for the plane without looking back.
Over the next year the girls settle in the apartment across the hall from the rest of the cast, while Sarah is filming Chloe looks after Katie for her, the whole cast love Katie, she has so many aunt and uncles!.
Sarah feels so happy and blessed to have these people in her and Katie's life, she has come to the realisation that Katie has more of a social life than she has! She is always going on days out with her Aunts and uncles!.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Stranger things group chat
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sarebear - Sarah
Lowlow-Chloe
Hair - Joe
Charles - Charlie
Gatman - Gaten
Natsprat - Natalie
NoNo - Noah
Wolfie - Finn
Milz - Millie
McCaleb - Caleb
—— season 2 Bitches! ——
Hair- so I decided to make a group seen as you guys weren't going to 😒
Gatman- wow Joe! Give us chance bro!
Milz- yeah JOE!
Sarebear - aww can't you get enough
Of us Joe!
Hair- Hmm I like some of you... not all!, anyway have you all seen the email about new cast members?!
Natsprat- oh yes I have! How exciting we meet them on Saturday! Their number are on the email, il add them!
Hair- yeah take the glory for my group Nat!
Lowlow- Jeez I have missed your dramatic ass Joe!
Hair- Chloe! You missed my ass, how cute 😍
Lowlow- oh Jesus 🙈I walked in to that one huh!?
Sarebear- ha kinda did chlo!
Wolfie- Keery you have no shame man!
NoNo- ^^^
Natsprat added 2 to the group chat
Number 1- Hiii it's Sadie
Number 2- hey guys Dacre here.
Natsprat- hey guys everyone say hi and introduce yourselves!
Sarebear- Hi Guys can't wait
to meet you on Saturday!
Welcome to the group chat!
it's Sarah by the way
Hair- sup guys. Joe Keery here!
Lowlow- hey guys I'm not cast but you will see me everyday, aren't you lucky! I'm chloe!
Gatman- welcome! I'm Gaten !
Wolfie- nice to meet you
I'm Finn
NoNo- hey guys I'm Noah it's nice to meet you!
Milz- hellooo, so exciting! I'm Millie 😊
McCaleb- yo I'm Caleb, exciting to meet u!
Charles- welcome! It's Charlie!
Sarebear changed names to DownUnder and Sadiebaby.
Sarebear- my welcome gift 🎁😘
Sadiebaby- thanks cutie 😘
DownUnder- ha! Thanks doll!
Natsprat- yeah she named us all ...can you tell 😒
So what time you guys in to Atlanta?
DownUnder- I actually land first thing Saturday 5am 😒
SadieBaby- I'm in at lunch time I'm so excited!
Wolfie- We're all excited too.
NoNo- most of us are in late afternoon but Sarah is already in Atlanta so she will meet you when you get in I'm sure.
Sarebear- Yeah just give me a text when you're here!
SadieBaby- where do we all stay?
Natsprat- well we have a huge apartment, the girls have one floor and the guys have the another, then Sarah and Chloe are across the hall in a smaller apartment.
DownUnder- cool, anyway guys I'm going to bed it's mega late here! see you in 2 days!
Charles- shit forgot he's in a totally different time zone!
Natsprat- night guys!
Wolfie- Night!
Hope you all like the first Chapters please let me know if I should post more, I’m currently up to chapter 24 on whattpad
This was actually 2 but posted them as one.
Thank you 🥰
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moriartysqueen · 5 years
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“Are you really a doctor?” - TJLC META / Scene Analysis
Today I would like to discuss a scene from Sherlock season 4 that has really stuck with me, because it seemed so unnatural. I am talking about the scene in Culverton’s “favorite room” before Faith appears.
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In TJLC, which by the way got basically completely destroyed by season 4, it was believed that John’s profession as an army-doctor stood in as a metaphor for his bisexuality.
Unfortunately I do not recall who first mentioned/developed this theory, but to quickly summarize:
His profession as a doctor is a metaphor for being attracted to women.
His profession as a soldier/army-man is a metaphor for being attracted to men.
But John is an army-doctor, read attracted to both. And we have seen in many scenes that John is only his most authentic self when he can be an army-doctor, not reduced to just one of the two professions. The most memorable scenes to underline this theory are
1) the scene in The Abominable Bride, after John finds Sherlock in 221b.
“You’re not a soldier, you’re a doctor.” – “NO, I’m an army-doctor.”
 2) when he tries to appeal to Sarah in The Blind Banker, clearly disregarding the side of him that is attracted to men
“Might be a bit mundane for you. Since you are… a soldier.” – “…And a doctor.”
 and finally
3) when Sherlock returns for John in the beginning of A Study in Pink
“You’re a doctor… in fact you are an army-doctor.” – “Yes.”
 Clearly, John is only his truest self when he can embrace every part of who he is, including his bisexuality and often times, the only person her can be this with is Sherlock.
For our analysis today I will be going off of the belief that the entire episode of The Lying Detective is actually just happening in Sherlock’s (drugged) mind palace, which makes a proper reading of this scene a lot easier.
The scene of course starts off with Culverton, John and Sherlock entering the morgue, and then Culverton and John conversing about Culverton’s crimes, which Sherlock just observes.
It is notable that in Sherlock’s mind, John is figuring out everything that is going on without any help, since Sherlock is just standing off on the side waiting for Faith Smith. This supports the reading that Sherlock clearly sees John as a lot smarter than other people.
But let’s get right into the important stuff: Sherlock of course feels like he has disappointed John, since he couldn’t protect Mary like he had promised. Therefore, in Sherlock’s mind, any chance he could have possibly had to be with John seems to have disappeared. This makes what comes next very blatant.
Looking at Sherlock’s effort from The Six Thatchers to reunite with John; it clearly shows that Sherlock was hoping to continue a life with John. Maybe even now, possibly after a mourning period, he could finally be with John in a romantic way.
But since Sherlock had experienced nothing but rejection after Mary’s death, he now believes in his sub-conscience that all hope is gone and John isn’t (and possibly never has been) in love with him.
Because I go off of a reading where everything in The Lying Detective happens in Sherlock’s head, I read Culverton Smith as the embodiment of everything negative and vile in Sherlock’s head.
Culverton is a murderer, and this is how Sherlock sees himself after shooting Charles Augustus Magnussen. Culverton is witty, clever but also very eccentric. Remind you of someone? But also, since Culverton is very frank and sometimes even intrusive, Sherlock pictures him having a conversation with John the way he never could have, confronting him about his sexuality and his feelings.
The conversation goes as follows:
Culverton: “Let me ask you this… are you really a doctor?”
John: “Of course I am.”
John answered without a moment’s hesitation. This symbolizes how sure Sherlock is that John isn’t (and possibly never has been) in love with him. While John is answering, his eyes stay on Culverton; in fact he isn’t looking at Sherlock at all throughout the entire conversation. Which is very telling; Sherlock and his feelings obviously get ignored by John.
Culverton: “No a medical doctor. Not […] media studies or anything…”
John: “I’m a doctor.”
Culverton mentioning “media studies” is a metaphor for the fact that John and Sherlock just present themselves as “straight” for the public eye. So Culverton is basically accusing John of putting on his straight persona just for the media. Read: “He’s just a doctor in media”. In The Reichenbachfall we have the iconic scene of John reading a newspaper, which names him “a confirmed bachelor”, after which he tells Sherlock that they “need to be more careful”, clearly implying that there is something to hide and they need to change their public image.
Being a “medical doctor” of course has a practical/physical connotation to it, which can be interpreted as “are you also physically straight?”. So Culverton is basically asking John whether he is celebrating his heterosexuality physically (sex, kissing,etc.) or if he is just putting on a “theoretical” act for the media.
John just answers with “I’m a doctor”, after which he nervously laughs.
Sherlock obviously knows who John really is; he has always accepted him as his most authentic bisexual self. But he has also seen John try to convince others of his heterosexuality, which of course isn’t entirely true. This is why Sherlock imagines John to nervously chuckle, afraid that someone could catch his lie. Clearly neither John nor Sherlock are convinced of John being just a doctor.
Culverton: “Are you serious? Are you? Are you ACTUALLY serious?”
Whenever I watch this scene, this is where it always seems so over-the-top for me, almost like they are hitting you over the head with it. They WANT us to question John’s sexuality. Culverton questions his sexuality and therefore, Sherlock does.
Why would they put this scene in, with a character repeatedly asking John if he is serious about being straight, if we aren’t meant to doubt John’s sexuality and attractions?
While Culverton is asking this question, John’s expression changes from a confused one to a sad one.
Firstly, John might be confused because he thought he had already “proven” his sexuality (by marrying a woman and having a child) and therefore there shouldn’t be any doubt. But we all know that John isn’t 100% straight, he HIMSELF knows this, so he is worried/sad that someone could find out about that.
Culverton: “I’ve played along with this joke. It’s not funny anymore.”
…meaning that Culverton (Sherlock) is done trying to keep up a fake public persona (=joke). The whole joking in the earlier seasons of “is he your boyfriend?”, “[…] for you and your date.”, “Will you need two bedrooms?”, “live-in p.a.” is not funny anymore. It’s real, it’s happening. John’s and Sherlock’s feelings for each other are not a joke. And they have both played along with it for too long.
Culverton: “Look at [Sherlock]. Go ahead, look at him Doctor Watson.”
Culverton comically emphasizes on the word “doctor”, once again implying that John isn’t just a doctor. But also, Sherlock wants John to look him in the eye and realize it. And eventually decide – is there really nothing he feels for him?
I wanted to stop my analysis right here, because the rest of the scene is still too hard for me to read, I am working on it though.
The last quote I want to leave you with is the following, where Culverton addresses Sherlock directly (after avoiding him for the entire scene so far):
Culverton: “I think you need to tell your faithful little friend how you’re wasting his time because you’re too high to know what’s real anymore.”
There is two ways I’m reading this quote.
The first way: it’s a fourth-wall break. The writers want to endear us, the audience, with “faithful little friend” and tell us that because Sherlock Holmes is on drugs, we should be questioning what is actually true (in this episode/season) and what isn’t. They don’t want us to waste our time by trying to read these scenes literally; we get encouraged to read between the lines.
The second way, and probably the more likely one, is Sherlock telling himself how much he has wasted their (John & Sherlock) time together. We have seen time and time again how Sherlock tried to cope with/repress his feelings using drugs. If Sherlock would have instead opened up to his “faithful (read: always by his side, believing in Sherlock) little friend” earlier, they could have avoided so many things. They could have avoided John’s heartbreak when Sherlock committed suicide, they could have avoided John’s engagement and marriage to Mary and eventually John’s heartbreak at her loss. If Sherlock wouldn’t have relied on drugs as much as he had, maybe this all would have turned out differently.
But to summarize, John clearly looks miserable in the entire scene. Because both John and Sherlock know that John being a doctor is not his most authentic self. While the part of him that is attracted to women isn’t made up (not “media studies”), it’s not all there is to him. But his attraction to men (soldier) or moreover his attraction to both genders (army-doctor) isn’t mentioned at all in this scene, clearly showing how Sherlock has lost all hope that John could actually still be in love with him after everything that went down.
 Thank you all so much for reading. Season 4 has been tough on all of us but this is my attempt on reading this scene. Also as you probably noticed, I am still quite new at writing meta, so please excuse. 
If you agree, disagree or have anything to add, let me know.
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Game of Thrones 8.2 “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
So, we’ve come to the “calm before the storm” episode.
Literally, I guess, considering winter is finally here. 
Taking bets now on who bites the big one in the Battle of Winterfell next week. A Stark is probably going to fall because it’s been quite a while since we lost one.
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Sorry, Rickon.
Sansa is probably safe, since she’s not fighting, but GoT likes to fuck with us. I call 50/50 equally between Arya and Bran in Westerosi Woulette. If I had to pick one, I’d pick Bran because he is now a robot and Arya breaks my heart but...
As for the remaining players, well, Jaime always said he’d die in the arms of the woman he loved, and we all know he loves Brienne so it’d be a fitting end to his character arc. Started out as a Kingslayer, ended up dying fighting for his daughter in the arms of a woman he derided until now.
Lo how many of us would be so sad panda over the premature exit of Nickolaj Coster-Waldau from the show.
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He could just as easily survive, tho! Remember, Maggy the Frog’s prediction was that one of Cersei’s brothers would kill her, and how boring and predictable would it be if it were Tyrion? Besides, he already slew Tywin.
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That was only mentioned in the books, however, not on the series. Gah! All so complicated, this mythos.
Furthermore, Brienne could potentially fall in battle. Dany I see surviving just because she’s gotta kick Cersei’s butt. Or at least march on King’s Landing. Jon will probably make it, too. Gendry is up in the air.
Theon is probably a goner but we’ll see. There’s a spark of hope there. Please, for all that is holy, do not kill Tormund, he is our shining star.
Even his eyes are light.
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Tormund, you are delightful. 
Which means of course he’s gonna die, oh Seven Hells. No one anyone actually likes lives on this show.
Alrighty, Thronesians, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!
Last episode ended with Ser Jamie “Fuck You, Cersei” Lannister riding up into dat North on his horsey to fight for Team Alive, when, upon descending, his eyes settle upon...
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You see that look on Jaime’s face? That is the look of someone who has just realized he is oh so much deeper shit than he initially anticipated. 
As the episode opens, Jaime is facing a trial at the Great Hall, not unlike the one Tyrion had back in season four following the Joff’s death (presumably this one won’t end with any squishing of heads...or will it?!). Daenerys is not amused. Jaime is, after all, the dude who stabbed her father in the back and slit his throat. That’s how he got his nickname, the Kingslayer. Mad King or not, Aerys was still her father and his death led to her family losing the Iron Throne after his most trusted advisor killed him and watched him bleed to death.
It’s kinda something a person holds a grudge against, you know?
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(And if they all die soon, that grudge will still be there, I’ve seen it happen and so has Sarah Michelle Gellar)
Dany is all “Your sisbitch promised us an army, there ain’t no army, broseph” and Jaime’s like “There ain’t dat, Your Grace” and it’s the first time we’ve heard Jaime refer to anyone other than his sisterlover as that title. Grudging, maybe (there’s that word again) but if he wants to fight for Team Still Breathing, he’s gotta eat some crow. And we ain’t talking about the the fellows of the Night’s Watch.
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That’s my favorite gym shirt. Whenever I get tired on the treadmill, I just look down at my shirt, and laugh. And also wish I’d worn a better sports bra. 
Jaime confesses she lied about sending the Lannister army North and that “we” are alone fighting the dead.. And Dany’s all “we”? And Jaime professes that he promises to fight for the living and he intends on keeping that promise. Tyrion tries to stand up for him, that he knows his brother, but Dany’s in NO mood after Tyrion’s repeated screw-ups--while Tyrion is quite the clever man, sometimes clever people can become cocky and that has seemed to have occurred with Dany’s Hand...a few times--and cuts in icily “Like you knew your sister?” Tyrion tries to reason that Jaime wouldn’t come here and put his ass on the line if he wasn’t serious. But Daenerys remains...unconvinced.
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Dany has gone as icy as her hair. She is not okay with this. And right now, she has icicles for eyes. 
If she survives the Battle of Winterfell, she may not need her dragons. All she’ll need to take out Cersei is stare her down like that. Hell, I’m scared and I’ve already bent the knee. Don’t set me on fire, Dany. 
Sansa agrees with Dany for the first time since she arrived in Winterfell, throwing aside their little “I don’t like my brother’s new girlfriend even though she brought TWO ARMIES AND DRAGONS TO SAVE OUR FROZEN REAR ENDS” battle of wills. 
Sansa lists all the crappy shit Jaime’s done to her family and Jaime insists they were at war and he’d do it again. That is when BranBot babbles “The things I do for love”, echoing Jaime’s remarks from the pilot before he pushed Young Bran out the window but in a much less human, more Twilight Zone-y way.
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Jaime:
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Daenerys wonders why he has abandoned his House and family now and Jaime argues that this is above loyalty; this is about survival. That is when Brienne, the badass mofo, jumps to her feet and argues Jaime’s case. Ser Jaime is a man of honor who defended Brienne against men who tried to force themselves on her. He is the reason Sansa and Arya are alive, as he passed his oath to Catelyn to keep her daughters safe onto Brienne. Sansa nods and agrees he should stay, as she trusts Brienne with her life.
Dany asks how Jon feels about it, and he concedes that they need every man they can get. Dany, obviously reluctant, agrees with an icy “Very well”, and signals to Grey Worm to arm him. Which he does, but while giving Jaime this look:
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Don’t cross Grey Worm. He’s lived through getting his junk sliced off. He will eff you up, he ain’t afraid of shit.
When the trial concedes, Dany rises and looks up at her new BF, but Jon quickly gets the hell out of there. While she stands there, confused, the rest of us watching are like--
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We feel bad for Dany, and we also feel Jon/Aegon’s WTFery. He just found out he’s half-Targaryen, after all, and the woman he’s been Queening is his aunt. Jon loves her, and it’s not like he can ghost her. They’re fighting an epic battle in a day or two.
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Brienne and Jaime catch eyes as they depart and we’re left to wonder if it’s simply two warriors’ mutual respect or Something More.
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Tyrion, ever the faithful Hand, is beseeching Dany as she storms down the hall. He believed Cersei was sending an army; he’s either a traitor or a fool. Tyrion admits he was a fool, and not for the first time. Cersei is still sittin’ pretty (and batshit bananas) in King’s Landing and if he can’t help Dany take back the Iron Throne, she’ll find another Hand who can.
Yeah, Dany be pisssssssed. It probably doesn’t help that her boyfriend’s avoiding her and she has no idea why.
Oh, to be a woman in power.
Down in the Forge, Gendry’s makin’ weapons out of Dragonglass all sweaty and stuff and Arya seems to appreciate the view.
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Well. ARE YA feelin’ the call of the wild, there, milady? ARE YA?
Once she’s done checking him out, Arya asks Gendry if he’s made her weapon yet. He says he will once he’s finished making a few thousand more of the Dragonglass knives. Arya then asks if Gendry’s ever faced a wight before, and what they’re like. She is patently not satisfied with his reply of “Really bad”. 
Gendry: “I know you’re not afraid of rapers or murderers or...but this is different. This is Death. You wanna know what they’re like? Death.”
Arya blinks, then picks up three of the Dragonglass weapons and nonchalantly hurls them into the wall behind Gendry. “I know Death. He has many faces.”
She asks about her weapon again, he promises to get right on it, and she leaves while Gendry stands there looking a combination of impressed, scared, and mildly turned on. 
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In the Godswood, Bran is sitting beneath his massive tree when Jaime decides to work up the balls (You know, the ones that Varys doesn’t have, right, Tyrion?) to confront him and apologize for, IDKKKKKKKKKKK, pushing him out a window, crippling him, and leaving him for dead years earlier.
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*da-dum. da-dum. dum dum dum dum dum dum*
Jaime doesn’t beat around the bush and instantly says sorry for what he did. BranBot is not angry. The fact is, if Jaime hadn’t have pushed him out of that window, he’d still be Brandon--
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--Stark. 
Jaime, perplexed, is all, “You’re not?”, I guess thinking that Bran has been possessed but nah he is just “something else, now”. Bran Stark got an upgrade and he is now BranBot 2.0. 
Jaime asks why he didn’t tell anyone it was him. He replies that Jaime couldn’t help them win against the dead if he was killed horribly before the battle began which is a--
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Then Jaime inquires about after and BranBot is all “How do you know there will be an after?” and Jaime’s like:
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I’m gonna start collecting caps of Jaime just reacting to bad news. His faces are delightful.
In the courtyard, Tyrion and Jaime reunite, though it’s certainly not reminiscent of dem Stark feels; Lannisters don’t express emotion that way. Perhaps through goblets of wine and a sarcastic comment. 
Like Tyrion’s when three Northern men gathered above them literally spit at Jaime’s presence:
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They walk talking about Daenerys for a bit--yes, she is different than her father; yes, Tyrion does believe in her--and bemoans that he overestimated Cersei’s claim that her new child “changed her”, which, of course, it has not. But no, she was not lying about that in particular. Jaime claims that she lied to everyone, him most of all, but Tyrion ain’t falling for it. “You always knew exactly who she was and you loved her anyway.”
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Upstairs, they continue talking. Tyrion says idly that they’re going to die at Winterfell. It’s not the death Jaime would’ve chosen, nor Tyrion. Tyrion always wanted to die at eighty, with a belly full of wine and--Jaime repeats--a woman’s mouth around his cock. 
Ah, brothers. 
While Tyrion continues that at least he’ll get to deny Cersei the pleasure of killing him herself, Jaime walks to the edge of the balustrade and watches Brienne train Podrick. I don’t think I’m imagining the doofy little smile on his face.
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Downstairs, Brienne is instructing Podrick on the follow-through with a fond smile on her face. The lady who didn’t need a squire has now grown pretty attached to him. Like a kitten you were forced to take care of.
Jaime shambles to her side and she confirms that she is commanding the left flank. They talk normally, weirdly normally, for a minute until Brienne’s all--
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Brienne has had enough of this niceness nonsense. Jaime has never been in Brienne’s presence for this long without insulting her, not one damn time. Jaime asks her if he wants him to insult her, like maybe Brienne has a masochist kink we’re not aware of (why not? The dragons have a cuckold-mommy porn one), and she’s like:
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And we at home watching are--
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--cus she actually kinda does a little bit if she held this torch for Jaime this long knowing he kept lobbing insults at her like spitballs. And Brienne’s so shocked at this blatant display of Nice Jaime she goes like--
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Just like us wominz, amirite? We only like guys when they’re assholes. He lost a hand for you! So unappreciative. Drop your sword fighting bizzness and get back in that kitchen! Make him a sammich with it.
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(Just in case that wasn’t obvious; if I had a nickel for every person who misread my disdain, I’d at least be able to pay for my own Pac Man machine with them)
Elsewhere in Winterfell, Dany is gazing into the hearth, I guess because Ye Olde Westerosi Netflyxxe hasn’t been invented yet, when Jorah enters behind her and asks his Khaleesi to forgive him. He’s made lots of mistakes, that she has already pardoned him for, but he confesses that when he learned she made Tyrion her Hand instead of him, it broke his heart. She didn’t know she’d ever see him again, but Jorah insists she made the right choice. Though Jorah never thought much of Tyrion--the Seven Faced God knows he never shut up between Meereen and Volantis--but he has a clever, strategic mind, something Dany needs to win back the Iron Throne. She insists, with that scary AF icy stare, that he’s made mistakes, but, well, haven’t they all? And if Jorah would stick up for the dude who stole his position, Dany figures he’s got a point. 
And Jorah also has another request.
That second request is obviously “Get Sansa on your good side because we kinda have to stay here for a bit and the Northerners won’t trust you if she doesn’t”. So Dany goes to extend an olive branch to Sansa, and at first, it seems to be working. They bond over their shared history of family weirdness and being badass ladies who literally rule. “Who are doing a damn good job at it, as far as I can tell.”
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But Dany has noticed that they’ve been at odds with each other, because of Jon? Sansa replies that men to dumbass things for women and they’re easily manipulated, but Dany’s here, having only knowing “Get the Iron Throne, damnit!” all her life, after meeting Jon, with two armies and dragons. Who manipulated whom? Sansa smiles and agrees, she should have thanked her when she arrived.
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Logic, Sansa. It’s not just for the Vulkans, you know.
They gossip like girlfriends for a minute, even clasping hands over the table, until Sansa asks what’s gonna happen afterwards. If they defeat the dead, destroy Cersei? Dany will take the Iron Throne, but Sansa wants to know about the North. It was taken from them, they took it back, and they swore that they’d never bow to anyone ever again. 
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Well. I guess Dany and Sansa aren’t gonna go shopping or getting mani/pedis together any time soon.
Their little “chat” is fortuitously interrupted by Lord Wolkan, who escorts Dany and Sansa to a newly arrived Theon. Bending the knee, Theon informs Dany that Yara has sailed to the Iron Islands to take them back in her name, but he came to Winterfell to fight for the living. Is...is everyone cool with that?
Sansa surely is.
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If you remember, and if you don’t, you’d be forgiven because this show has more layers than an onion, Theon saved Sansa from Ramsay, altering her fate being stuck as Lady Bolton. But let’s be real: Theon doesn’t have much of a chance in Westerosi Woulette. 
In town, Davos is assuring a pants-shittingly terrified Northener, while ladling soup, that he’s a soldier now and if he, Davos, a man who had spent his life avoiding war, could survive some epic battles so could he. Oh, Davos may be a goner, too. He’s been bragging about his dumb luck too much and the Seven Faced God doesn’t like that.
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A little girl named Teela wants to fight, too, like her brave brothers. But Gilly convinces her that she’d be relieved to have her down in the crypt protecting her and her son.
The horn sounds and the hunting party arrives back at Winterfell! Huzzah! Jon aims to greet Dolorous Edd but Tormund intercepts him with a bear hug and a “My little crow!” 
Oh, Tormund.
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The Merry Men inform Jon that the Umbers are fighting for the Night King now. And so is anyone west of Winterfell, most like. The dead will be here before sun up. 
They’ll prepare. They’ll train until their knuckles bleed.
But first...
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Tormund appreciates him a powerful lady.
On the outskirts, Jon narrates as our armies test out the many weapons created especially for this battle at the Forge. Including this awesome catapult:
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Gonna save the motherfuckin’ day, yeah. 
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In the war room, all our players are assembled. Jon and Sansa posit that the dead follow the Night King because he made them, so if he falls, they’ll be easier targets. Jon figures ol’ Nighty won’t be showing himself and he’ll stay hidden but BranBot negates that. He’ll come for BranBot, as he has come for many Three Eyed Ravens before him, because Nighty wants to erase the world and BranBot is its memory. 
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Oh, BranBot. You make it too easy.
BranBot offers himself up as bait to lure in the Night King, and Theon in turn offers to protect him. Because he took the castle from him once and he’s gonna make up for that.
Tyrion also suggests joining Davos in fighting fire against ice, but Dany negates that. Though Tyrion has fought in battle before, Dany needs Tyrion for his mind if they all survive this. He needs to live and thus will be in the crypt with Sansa, Gilly, and Co. 
It’s kinda Dany’s way of saying “I know you fucked up in the past but I have faith in you as my Hand again...largely because Jorah gave me a stern talking-to.”
Then, they talk about the dragons. Should they be in the field or protecting BranBot? Would dragonfire work against the dead? They turn to BranBot, who seems to have all the answers, but not even Westeros’ answer to a SIM card knows. No one has tried in the past.
There’s a melancholy pause, like everyone at that damn table knows their fates are sealed. But Tormund, as always, prefers to look on the bright side:
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Starting the #TormeoandBrienniet hashtag now.
Everybody begins to disperse. Dany looks at Jon expectantly but Jon only nods with a quick “Your Grace” and Dany’s left there like--
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Dany may be in the race for the Iron Throne, First of her Name, Breaker of Chains, Queen of the Andals, whatever the hell, but she is still a young woman in her twenties with her second boyfriend after the premature loss of her Dothraki hubby (RIP Khal Drogo), and her second only love (sorry, Daario Naharis). Behind all those Targaryen walls, she’s still just a girl, confused why her boyfriend is being a dick. We’ve all been there.
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After everyone else disperses, Tyrion turns to BranBot and comments that he’s had a “strange journey”. BranBot’s like “yeah, man”. Tyrion wants to hear all about it, and it’s a good thing they’re holed up in a vacancy in the middle of winter so he has plenty of time.
Outside, Grey Worm approaches Missandei. After Dany takes the Iron Throne, there won’t be much need for them. While he’s loyal to his Queen and will fight to the death for her, once her enemies are defeated, he wants to take Missandei and go...away. From the North, from K.L., from Westeros entirely, not that I blame him one iota. Missandei would like to go to the island of Naath, where she was born and raised before being kidnapped and made a slave. And Grey Worm promises to take her there, where he will protect her and her people.
Upstairs, Jon is commiserating with Sam that, no, he has not told Dany that, technically, they are related yet. But the important thing is we see a glimpse of Ghost for the first time since the end of season 6!
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I hope Jon has many treats for Ghost. Are there any Ye Olde Westerosi Mylkbones?
Mr. Edd joins them on their watch. Jon suggests that Sam join Gilly and Little Sam in the crypt, but Sam wants to fight. After all, he was the first to kill a White Walker. He’s killed Thenns!
Mr. Edd: “Thenn.”
And Sam has stolen books from the Citadel. He is a rebel, damnit! Well, Mr. Edd muses out loud, if Samwell Tarly is a Slayer of White Walkers and a Lover of Ladies, now they know how fucked they are.
Inside, Jaime and Tyrion are staring at the hearth (that hearth is so entertaining!), Tyrion musing that he’d like to see his father’s face when he discovered that his two sons were about to die fighting to defend Winterfell. Tyrion remembers the first time they were here. Jaime was a golden lion and Tyrion was a whoremongerer. Correction: Jaime was sleeping with his sister, and Tyrion had one friend in the world who was sleeping with his sister. But Jaime’s golden lion days are dunzo, and Tyrion’s whoremongering ones are not an option anymore. 
Brienne and Podrick join them and, soon, so do Davos and Tormund. Tormund suggestively says to Brienne that this may be their last night alive and she stutters that she’s glad he’s here fighting with them and survived Eastwatch.
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He then tells Jaime, the King Killer, about why he’s called Giantsbane. He killed a Giant when he was a lad, then got into bed with his wife, who thought he was her baby and suckled him to her breast for two months. 
Jaime:
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They could not have died without knowing that Tormund fed from literal giant tiddies for two months.
Outside, Arya confronts the Hound, who offers her a drink (and is, at first, wigged out at how quiet she is). Why is he here? He’s never fought for anyone but himself, yet he joined the Brotherhood, and he went beyond the Wall to catch a wight with Jon. 
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Beric Dondarrion soon joins them, addresses Arya as “my lady”, and begins babbling about the Lord of the Light. The Hound rolls his eyes and tells him the Lord of the Light would wonder why he brought him back all those times just for him to chuck Beric over this wall. The Hound passes him a drink and Arya begins to leave, throwing over her shoulder that she ain’t spending her last hours with “two miserable old shits”.
Ah, Arya. Never change. 
You know, if you survive tonight.
Instead, Arya goes off to practice shooting arrows when Gendry shows up with her freshly made weapon. First, they start talking about Melisandre, what she wanted with him, and he confesses to being Robert B’s bastard and she needed his blood for a spell. There were leeches and shit. 
Arya wonders if that was the first time he’d been with a woman, and when he protests (like no, having leeches all over your dick isn’t exactly a good time, or maybe it is for some people, I don’t know your life) she probes him further: has he been with loads of women in K.L. or what?
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Gendry’s like “Uh yeah” and she asks how many. He buffs his knuckles on his chest, hi-fives someone off-camera, and replies “I didn’t keep count” and she calls bullshit. “One? Two? Twenty?”
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And then this happens:
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Arya can never be accused of not voicing exactly what--or in this case, who--she wants.
Get it, grrl!
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Gendry looks both flabbergasted and delighted.
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Arya demands Gendry take his bloody pants off because she’s in charge here, damnit. 
I read an interview Maisie Williams gave just after this episode aired of her reaction after she read that script. At first, she thought David and D.B. were joking, as they were wont to do, but when she realized they were srs, she about shat herself and wondered if she needed to go to the gym. Sophie Turner, her bestie, has been teasing her relentlessly. She just posted a video of herself saying Joe Dempsie “got that pussayyyyyyyy”. Must feel weird for him. He’s known her since she was a little-un and now he has to do that thing on camera with her. 
Around the hearth, our unlikely group of allies are still sitting around chatting. Tyrion comments on all the battles the people gathered here have survived. Ser Davos--the Battle of Blackwater and the Battle of the Bastards. Ser Jaime--fabled hero of the Siege of Pyke, fabled loser of the Battle of Whispering Wood (these are awesome battle names). Lady Brienne, who is not a Ser because women cannot be knights, defeated the Hound. Tormund scoffs to blast tradition! If he were king, he’d knight her ten times.
I’m sure he would.
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But Jaime insists a king is not necessary; any knight can make another knight. So after some stubborn disbelief from Brienne--who claims she doesn’t even wanna be a knight, thanks, it’s cool, though we all know she totally does--the lady rises with an incredulous look on her face and kneels before Jaime while everyone else in the room watches.
Tapping his sword against her shoulders, Jaime recites:
In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave,
In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just,
In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent.
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Then, she rises, a knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
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The title of this episode both refers to Brienne and Jaime, methinks. 
Brienne could very well die in a few hours (sob) but at least she fulfilled her life’s wish--she became a knight.
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Outside, Jorah and Lyanna Mormont are arguing. She fully intends to fight and he’s balking at the idea. She’s the future of their House, and she’d be safer in the crypt.
But Lyanna, that monument of badassery, is dressed up as a knight and has no inclination to hide in the crypt. She fought before; she can do it again. But she wishes her cousin good fortune in the battle to come.
Bad. Ass.
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Sam appears with his family sword, Heartsbane. He wants to give it to Jorah to use in battle because lort knows he can’t wield it himself. Jorah’s father taught him how to be an honorable man, taught him what’s right, and Jorah will wield the sword in his name. 
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Before Sam departs, he leaves Jorah with thus:
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Inside Winterfell, our drunk allies have run out of wine (Lannisters without wine is like a car without an engine), so Tyrion suggests a sing-along. Unfortunately, neither Davos, Brienne, nor Tormund know any songs. (Lol could you imagine what Tormund would sing? It’d be something about giantess bewbies) But Podrick does.
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I’m told that Florence + the Machine sing this song in the credits. But, yanno I’m Deaf Chick.
As the song plays, everyone is off doing their own thing. Sam, Gilly, and Little Sam are in bed. Sansa and Theon are outside playing a game and exchanging cow eyes.
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This is why I think Theon has a wee chance. He could end up Sansa’s...well, Jon is the Warden of the North. Would he be...Lord Greyjoy? Lord Winterfell? Man...of Winterfell?
Arya is in bed with Gendry.
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Grey Worm and Missandei kiss passionately before he goes off to join the rest of the Unsullied to prepare for battle.
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Really. There is so much love in Winterfell tonight. Whether it be friendly, let’s get drunk together love, experimental love, burgeoning love, or desperate love. 
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Who is not particularly feelin’ the love right now? Dany. So she goes to the crypt to confront Jon, who has been, to her, randomly ignoring her all day.
Jon is looking up at the sarcophagus of Lyanna Stark when Dany enters. When he sees her, he offers a pained smile, and she approaches with evident relief, but it obvs doesn’t last. Now is the time to tell her. She asks who he’s looking at, and when he tells her, she murmurs that she was told her brother was decent and kind, but he raped Lyanna, which we know is false. Jon corrects her; they loved each other and married in secret. When Rhaegar was killed, Lyanna had a son. Who was given to Lyanna’s brother on her deathbed, with a promise that he’d protect her son.
Dany’s face as she realizes Jon is talking about himself:
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 He tells her his real name, Aegon Targaryen. She’s like “That’s impossible! Who told you this?” He says BranBot and Sam, the first who, er, :”saw” it with BranVision and the second who read about the marriage at the Citadel. At first, Dany tries to push the notion that the story could be made up, known as it is only by Jon’s brother and his bestie. But Jon knows deep in his gut that it’s true. 
Dany: If it is true, it’d make you the last male heir of House Targaryen. You’d have a claim on the Iron Throne.
Jon:
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Jon is kinda freaked that Dany doesn’t seem to give a second’s thought to their being related and all. And she should know that he doesn’t want the Iron Throne. Like, at all. But I read an interview with Emilia Clarke that defended her character’s reaction. And it makes sense. Dany grew up in an incestuous environment. Hell, she was supposed to marry her own damn brother. But the Iron Throne...she’s been working for that her entire life, it’s all she knows, to get back what rightfully belongs to her House. And here is Jon coming out of left field and he has a claim on it and he doesn’t even want it!
Alas, they don’t have time to discuss their relationship. The White Walkers are a-comin’! A horn sounds and Dany and Jon race to the roof of Winterfell to join Tyrion. Battle is about to begin.
Indeed.
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This episode was great! It really delved into the psyche of our favorites, explored where everyone’s at, allowed them to just be for a while before all hell breaks loose. It makes the inevitable deaths we fear on Sunday all the richer, and more painful. 
Aye. Sunday’s episode is gonna be epic. And terrible, in the best way.
2 notes · View notes
wilderun · 6 years
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What happened to Pack West Wolfdog Rescue and the animals that died and the scams? I'd hate for it to be true from the little I saw online, because I had a ton of faith in them. They seemed so legitimate to me, but I really am not that knowledgeable on how rescues run.
What you saw was 100% correct. I’m going to copy/paste Sara Movahedi (rescue coordinator at In Harmony With Nature)’s post that she made here, because it’s too long to go into on my own. Sara may be somewhat of a polarizing figure in the wolfdog community, but she is honest and fair. Everything she has brought into the light about Pack West is fact, unfortunately. And more is coming out beyond even this. 
“A few months ago, I was asked by a friend to join the board of Packwest Rescue to assist them with some minor admin hiccups they were having. I had been aware of some of the issues surrounding PW for some time, but was hopeful that they would sort things out and carry on doing what they do. Upon teaming up with them, I made some discoveries that left me rather stunned, shocked, disgusted, and disheartened. I will list a few of them in this post, as the public (specifically wdc people) have a right to know what transpired, and the members of Packwest won’t be able to live in the light, until they can come out of the darkness.
The other reason I’m posting this is to highlight what can/will happen when well-intentioned people take on more than they can handle, and more than they are qualified for, by starting something like a rescue, without first building the basic foundation to support it down the line. It seems every time I turn around lately, someone says they’re starting a rescue or opening a sanctuary… And it never fails, every time I see or hear it, I shudder and think about Packwest… how things went so horribly wrong, so incredibly fast. 
Please let this rescue’s experience be a lesson for you, and think before you decide to open a 501. There are laws in place, and there are penalties and punishments should those laws be broken… to say nothing of the personal loss you can expect should you be on the losing end of the deal. Your homes, your vehicles, your bank accounts, your ANIMALS….any asset you have is on the line should you violate the laws set forth by not only the state you live in, but by the federal government.
-Packwest agreed to take in 2 animals from a couple needing to rehome them in Nevada. Packwest charged the couple a $400 surrender fee, on top of $300+ for gas to drive to pick the animals up. The animals, Sylar (male) and Luna (female) were then transported back to Oregon.
*No self respecting rescue should EVER charge a rehoming/surrender fee. If my sanctuary did that, especially at $400 a pop, we would be rich with all the animals we have taken in. That isn’t how it works, that isn’t how rescue works, and its highly unethical.
-Upon returning to Oregon, the two board members stopped at a predetermined location in Oregon. The board president had a deposit down on a puppy from a local breeder, as she wanted an “ambassador” animal for her fledgling rescue. *This is especially difficult to understand…purchasing an animal *from a breeder* as the first act of a rescue organization.
-Upon arriving, there was allegedly a discrepancy on the remaining balance. The board member still owed $500 for the puppy, but didn’t have the funds. Since she had the $400 surrender fee and the $300 gas money the couple had given her, she used that money to cover the difference and purchased Ivar from that breeder, hours after “rescuing” Luna and Sylar.
-Sylar was sent to the home of another board member, simply as a temp foster. That board member, lived in a small rental home at the time and lacked the space and containment, and should never have taken on a foster. Her situation was further complicated when she adopted her personal wolfdog’s (Kochma’s) mother, Sorsha (later named Sadira) when the breeder decided to get rid of her animals. To make things even harder, the board member and her family welcomed a brand new baby into her home and life at the same time these animals were arriving and starting to settle in.
-Sorsha, an INTACT, VERY high content, VERY unsocial animal was first penned with her son, Kochma, also INTACT. After just a few weeks, the board member rearranged them and placed Sorsha in with her foster, Sylar. *It’s important to note that these changes in housing were all taking place at the very height of breeding season, weeks after these animals all arrived, very likely playing a big role in things happening the way they did. Shortly after being penned with Sylar, and while the board member was at the hospital with the new baby, Sorsha attacked and killed the foster, Sylar, in an attack that can only be described as brutal and vicious. The public explanation given by Packwest was that perhaps wild animals got into the enclosure and killed him.
-Approximately one week later, again at the board member’s home, her personal wolfdog, Kochma, an animal she had raised since he was a pup, suddenly killed his bonded pen mate, Alora, a lower content female, who was also intact. This is especially troubling since he had never displayed any sign of aggression, and was submissive to Alora until that day. It’s important to note, in this case, that the enclosure where Kochma and Alora were housed was in close proximity to Sorsha, where he most certainly would have seen her kill Sylar just days earlier. Again, the explanation (though not public since these weren’t rescue animals) was this was likely another wild animal. Alora had retreated into her dog house to likely tend to her wounds and/or hide from the animal she once felt so comfortable with, who now wanted to kill her… it was there that she was found the next day.
-While this isn’t directly rescue related, it’s important to know that Sorsha later went after the young daughter of that board member, ripping her arms open and trying to pull her into the enclosure. I would normally not mention this, as kids are off limits, but I’m doing so with her mother’s blessing, and to make a bigger point. It wasn’t until months later that they learned Sorsha had a history of attacking children, a history not made known to her by the breeder when she agreed to take the animal.
No responsible rescue would place more on the plate of board members, fosters, adopters, or anyone, who possibly can’t handle it. But when you’re overextended and trying to do things without a plan in place, accidents happen and people and/or the animals get hurt. Packwest should never have placed fosters with that board member, and failed them and those animals. The board member should have made it clear she could not take on additional animals as well. And as a point of fact, it’s incredibly irresponsible to not only house personal animals with new rescues, but also to do so when all personal animals are intact.
-Packwest, as of May 2017, was administratively dissolved as a result of failure to file necessary documents by January of that year. Since that time, they collectively continued to raise funds for the rescue. This is highly unethical, immoral, and illegal. The board members were not aware of the suspension status, and unaware yearly tax forms were not completed. This responsibility lies with each member, and claiming ignorance is no excuse.
-Fundraising efforts included despite them no longer being a rescue, among other things, photo shoots with one of the several “ambassador” animals listed on Packwest’s web page. Those included Tsura (owned by Tracy Hawkins) Kochma (owned by Sage Bohemia Grove) and Ivar, owned by Packwest/Sarah Bartell. This is a problem for MANY reasons, least of all being the fact that they were not a charity in good standing during some of the time these shoots were being done. Another BIG issue I pointed out to them, one I have pointed out to many people over the past year or two, is USDA guidelines governing exhibition, and what you are and aren’t allowed to do with your animals
.-I spent several days sifting through all the information and trying to process it all, and decided to ask the board members what they even wanted from this “rescue.” I was shocked to learn that NONE of them actually wanted to rescue. It seemed the bigger motivation was photography, and online education… and for at least one of them, it appeared perhaps (at least from the outside) to be money.The decision to dissolve this rescue was made at my suggestion, and all agreed. One sobering thing these ladies learned, and I’m sure each will share their personal feelings on the subject, is when you claim an ambassador animal is property of a rescue, or belongs to the rescue, or was purchased for or by the rescue…. when that rescue dissolves, that animal, regardless of who payed what for it and when, will be sold as part of the asset liquidation. When Packwest board members heard that, shit got real, REAL FAST.
-We were able to work it out where nobody lost their animals, however the board president did have to pay the rescue back for Ivar, and for the right to keep him. She also reimbursed the rescue for the $2800 raised by the public for the rescue’s truck… a vehicle deemed her private personal driver since they only did 4 rescues since their inception, 2 years earlier. To put that in perspective for you, I have done 4 rescues in the last 30 days. The money from Ivar and the truck were then donated (as part of the asset liquidation) to a legitimate 501, current and in good standing, and one the board chose privately, without any involvement or input from me.
-As far as Luna… she was being fostered by the rescue’s president, at her home, until she escaped one day while the board member was gone. She was found and posted on a local pet group, and members of the PW board were quickly contacted. At this point, I had not joined up with them yet, so I was only outside looking in. I immediately began trying to contact the board member/foster to no avail.Finally, Luna was returned to her, but by then, I had had enough. I arranged for a fellow rescue friend (who had been looking to adopt a female) to take Luna in, and made plans to have her IMMEDIATELY transferred to that persons care. Luna is currently in that home, safe and loved, and to this day, her new mom has yet to receive the first piece of paper about her. No vet records, no shot records, no nothing. Packwest’s explanation? They don’t know where any of it is.
-Over the course of 2+ years, Packwest raised and spent money without any accountability as to where that money went. NO proof of purchases exists for several big items, like the truck for example. Only certain board members were granted access to the bank account, and no receipts were kept of transactions that were done. THAT IS ILLEGAL, AND A PROBLEM WHEN YOU ARE A 501c3.I asked the board (specifically the president) on numerous occasions to remove any and all Packwest references, and make it CLEAR to people that they are no longer a charity. I also stayed on her to follow up with the states of Washington and Oregon (they were registered in BOTH) to make sure dissolution documents were completed and filed as needed. She assured me she had it taken care of. I also asked her to make a public post to let people know the rescue was no longer active, and that never came either.Recently, I was informed that she was still raising money, still selling items through the website (now slightly edited to include they are no longer taking in rescues, but conveniently leaving out the part about dissolution) and still presenting herself as a charity org. After a heated exchange (mostly on my part really) she agreed to make the necessary calls to dissolve the org officially. She edited the website further, however it still does not clearly spell out that the charity is no longer active and funds raised through the online store will no longer be going towards a 501c3 wolfdog rescue, but actually to one individual person.
I have not posted this to smear these women or further place blame on them. They have been hearing me tell them how badly they screwed up for several months… most of them get it. They know how close they came to possibly losing their animals, and possibly even facing charges.
-Forms they should have filled out to start this org, they payed someone $2,000 to do it for them.
-Forms they needed to stay active and remain in good standing, never got filled out.
-Receipts were not kept.
-Money was mishandled and misappropriated
.-Records were not kept
.-People were bitten and told to lie.
-Paperwork and vet records for rescues was not kept.
-Personal animals were intact.
-A fox was sent to an illegal state, and when a sanctuary stepped up to take it, PW attempted to charge them money as well.
-Having funding and housing and caging set up BEFORE taking in a single animal in, was NOT DONE.Logic, common sense, honesty, transparency, planning, preparation…and sadly ethics…. all went out the window.I am posting this to highlight how hard it is to do this the RIGHT way. Rescue by itself is hard… but to open and run a 501c3, and keep it running, requires organization, planning, and a dedicated and qualified BOD…NOT a group of your best friends.
 Until I joined them, they had never even held a single board meeting, and didn’t even have set jobs/assignments within the board. Board members were not informed of what their president was doing, and when they were able to communicate with her, she reassured them she had everything under control. They didn’t know they were spiraling out of control quickly.
Please take a look at where good intentions can get you. Please think before you decide you want to do this, and if you decide that you do, first work with a reputable rescue in your area and learn the inner workings of 501’s. Learn the paperwork, the boring admin stuff. My dad used to always tell me that before you build a house, you have to set the foundation. If you try to skip the foundation and move on to the fun stuff, decorating, for example, all your stuff will fall down when the walls collapse, because the foundation below them wasn’t there, or was not strong enough. That analogy is true in all things, rescue included.
It is my sincere hope that this post has accomplished 3 things: 
Highlighted just a few of the hard realities behind trying to start and run a rescue responsibly;
Highlighted the absolute and unequivocal importance of preparation, ethics, honesty and transparency, ESPECIALLY when affiliated with a 501c3 dealing with animals;
Highlighted how good intentions are about as useful as good toilet paper without the proper foundation in place.
Please do not send money to Packwest Wolfdogs under the guise that it’s a 501c3. It is NOT. Please do not contact them for animals needing rescue, and please do not refer anyone to them for help…. or education. They cannot provide either. 
Thanks for reading.“
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kadyshackkk-blog · 6 years
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Final Reckoning Episode One Review plus a little info from seasons past.
Hello World! Mtv’s Hit The Challenge Returned Tuesday July 10, 2018 at 9pm! This season is “the end of the challenge as we know it”. Which as of right now I’m calling total b.s. since well mtv the last few season has been “recreating” older seasons ie; The Challenge Invasion of the champions, a very sad and terrible attempt to recreate the iconic The Ruins. Then we went into Dirty 30, the longest season in existence and a horrible rip off of Free Agents which in my opinion was the last great season of the show. In the dirty 30 we had something called the purge aka lets fuck Darrell over and allow a bunch of idiots to run the show. Yes I am still bitter because Darrell was robbed out of a title that season and instead our winners were a racist and an anti feminist douche lord, I mean Camila and Jordan. Then we slide into Vendettas after that tragic second season of Champs V stars, which we won’t even talk about since it was a bunch of d list celebrities who i didnt even know and well the terrell owens aka the biggest bitch in the nfl. Moving along, on Vendettas we received a much needed invasion of new people from big brother and mtv uk! Be warned I have never watched mtv Uk shows or any big brother so I had zero idea who these people were but I was excited to see them! We also got from season 5 of are you the one Kam, Eddie, and Alicia. I loved that season of ayto and the people they chose to come onto vendettas made total sense. But what didn’t make any sense at all was the poor get rid of eddie they did. Now I will only say this once and the source that told me this is very credible since he was on their season of ayto he also doesn’t like either person involved however he dislikes eddie more. Simple fact is Alicia Lied, plan and simple. There was never a restraining order or anything of that nature. You can look it up online its public information in every state. Moving on from that, the additions from the uk were all very attractive, and before you gasp and say even Kyle?! Yes even Kyle , I feel like he looks better in person then he does on tv. The fights that season we’re beyond annoying . This was my face anytime Kailah or nicole spoke or were on my tv screen  
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I give them both a chance every season they are on but they always make me regret giving said chance. The luggage throwing incident pissed me the fuck off. & Before you all go WeLL cArA dID iT To JOrdAn guess what she put a waterproof bag of his clothes in water omg get over it. Jemmeye Kailah & Britni Ganged up on kayleigh because of a rumor about her and bananas that Devin started to get Johnny thrown into elimination. It was not okay, it is never okay to touch someone elses belongings ever. I do not care, her stuff was broken and none of the actual apologized for it. 
Now for what you came for my review of the Challenge Final Reckoning Episode 1
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First off I was hoping this season was a team season sadly it was just a rip off of the Rivals series which was only decent for rivals 1 and 2. Rivals 3 was ridiculous and a waste of time and energy. In the beginning we see everyone show up and Tj is all like guess what your partner is buried and you have to find them! oh and the last two teams will be sent home ending their time in south africa. Me as a view knowing damn well tj is full of shit 
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We see Zach dig up his partner Amanda first. Listen I was very excited to hear that Amanda was coming back this season! I really was until all the twitter beef with cara, and unless you’ve been living under a rock you know exactly what I am talking about. (hint him and amanda won the challenge wooooooooh)
Here is everyones partnerships.
Zach & Amanda; Their beef seems a little forced since it’s about Amanda “making up” lies about jenna that even jenna confirmed was true. This team will go far if Zach learns how to work well with women.
Angela & Faith; I honestly don’t understand their beef, really over tor’i really. irrelevant ass team. Angela doesn’t have that same energy she did with Alicia when it comes to Shane and Kam. They won’t go far unless someone (cough cough angela sleeps with someone in power, pulling a veronica in the ruins when she hooked up with my favorite toothbrush twin evan.)
Dj Bald I mean Brad & hair plugs pathological liar I mean kyle; THIS TEAM MAKES ZERO SENSE YALL DEADASS MADE SOME SHIT UP. UHM HELLOOO DARRELL TAYLOR DID NOT WHOOP THAT ASS ON THE RUINS FOR ZERO REASON. Like mtv please stop calling kyle , he literally makes me want to stab him daily.
Cara & Marie; Listen these two have serious dislike for each other over a fucking tweet cara liked & it makes sense they are together. I honestly think this team will do well if Marie Actually fucking tries which i think she will. Tbh marie did campaign to be caras Partner.. However I feel like we as viewers deserved a coral cara team. Those two are both very strong women who need to work out their issues and become civil because I personally love them both.
Ct & Veronica; An og team, ct called v weak but she won more daily challenges then the majority of the girls on dirty 30 . A team to actually fear if they try and win 
Derrick & Tori; Yasssss my boo derrick is back!!!!!! Don’t tell tyler but i adore derrick and think hes amazing. I really like tori as well but her taste in men is just as questionable as mine. Back story tori cheated on derrick with jordan. therefor they don’t like each other.
Bananas & ??? : THIS LITERALLY COULD BE ANYBODY. I’m hoping its sarah so he can break his curse and retire because honestly no one can touch his record unless Landon came out of retirement or if production doesn’t keep fucking over darrell
Joss & Sylvia the sheep; Joss is Hot , and he voted sheep into the elimination and she got mad. damn well knowing she would’ve done the same thing. they do great.
Kam & Melissa; I love this team, this “rivalry” started over a misunderstanding I’m hoping they do well...
Natalie & Paulie; I don’t care enough to waste my time
Nelson & Shane; I’m actually started to like nelson, my dislike for him comes from my loyalty to tyler.. I love shane he is the sassy gay bff that I need in my life. This team will do well if nelson and shane both keep themselves in check
Mama Day & Jozea; I’ve never watched big brother but this team is by far my favorite big brother pairing, I follow both on twitter and they make me laugh daily. underdogs i stan
Britni & Chuck; The hotmess express team. Clearly still feelings there, chuck sucks for what he did to her, they will need to find a way to get past their issues
Jenna & Jemmeye; One of the best moves in challenge history caused this feud. they will do well, jemmeyes brain and jennas brawn.
Kailah & Kayleigh; Failah likes to bully others kayleigh was her victim last season. they’ll probably be out pretty early..
Now to the results of the challenge
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Amanda and Zach won.
I’m not to sure about the rest of the order except for the fact Day & Jozea came in last but before jem & Jenna and Chuck & britni.
it was chucks fault him and brit lost 
it was jennas fault her and jem lost
but was anyone really in shock
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So then we hear bananas yelling for help since his partner left due to family emergency everyone goes digs him up and if it was up to me he wouldve been sent “home” and not brit and chuck since they almost beat day and jozea.. after they get bananas hoe ass out tj announces that amanda and zach are able to send another team home! And out of all the teams these two dumb asses pick day and jozea. like uhm helllooooooo!!! ya’ll deadass had the chance to send send strong teams home... I can’t the stupidity of these two i can’t. SO  then the three teams leave and “go home”. Everyone goes to the house and already a fight breaks out between shane and angela, over a fucking shelf. Homegirl didn’t have the energy with shane like she did with Alicia , but we already knew she was a fraud. Then cut to outside where Joss and amanda are already flirting with each other. I will give credit is due, Amanda is a beautiful girl but has a very ugly soul and joss is very smart to hookup with her, camera time is everything and why not hook up with one of the most dramatic cast members ever. Cut to Syliva saying this could go great for her alliance or terribly for her alliance at least shes smart. The Que the amanda and joss makeout session. Then we cut to bananas cara and hair plugs talking about cara and kyle. Everything out of kyles mouth is a lie and garbage. Kyle states hes gonna sleep with other people and caras like cool whatever . The cut to faith and hairplugs making out, then faith gets into hottub and johnny being johnny brings it up in front of cara, and cara pulls a queen move by being like if he doesnt want me im not gonna wait around. boy bye best choice shes ever made. Then baby girl proceeded to go into a room and make herself look bad by trying to get at paulie. Like oh no baby what is you doing go to sleep and leave him alone..
Then we cut to the best part of the night in my opinion, first we see melissa walk in and try to be civil with kailah, failah wants zero part in it but melissa still tries because melissa wants to be nice then failah pushes melissa and melissa molly whopped her then they were pulled apart 
Everyone but kailah stans on twitter 
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Then the teams who were “sent home” arrive at the redemption house and tj explains some shit i wasn’t paying attention because i didnt care at that point 
Then they go to the photoshoot day and Tj shows up which is never good..
Tells melissa and kailah they are both out ..
Now we dont know kam and kayleighs fate, we find out next week..
Over all this episode was awesome , the cliffhanger was needed , we had a fight some hook ups and a twist.
this season will be interesting to say the least. 
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dailyaudiobible · 3 years
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05/02/2021 DAB Transcript
Judges 15:1-16:31, John 2:1-25, Psalms 103:1-22, Proverbs 14:17-19
Today is the 2nd day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it's great to be here with you today as we continue to move in and settle into this 5th month of the year. So, this May 2nd, 2nd day of May, but it's the first day of the week and it's the first day of the first full week in the month of May. So, let's dive in. And we’ll read from the New International Version this week. We began the story of the judge Samson yesterday in the book of Judges and so we’ll continue with his story today. Judges, chapters 15 and 16.
Prayer:
Father once again, we thank you for bringing us safely into this new month that we’re getting moved into. And as we begin this brand-new, shiny, sparkly week right at the beginning of this brand-new, shiny, sparkly new month, we feel the reset of it even as we move fully into the changing of the seasons. We feel the shift of it, the new beginning, the new life of it. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Breathe into our souls the breath of life. Open our eyes that we might see your kingdom. Open our ears that we might hear. Lead us on the narrow path. Illuminate that path. Light our way. Your word is a lamp to our feet. It shows us where we’re stepping. It’s a light to our path. So, come illuminate the way forward we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi, my name’s Megan and I'm calling from the southern Illinois. Today is April 27th and on April the 8th I lost my dad very unexpectedly. He died in his sleep, which I know is a way that we all hope that we could go. He was a believer. He had faith in God. I have no doubt where he is, but I am really struggling with the sudden nature of his passing. He was an only child. I was an only child. We were extremely close. I'm so thankful for the 41 years that I had with him. A lot of kids don't have that type of relationship with their dad. I call myself a kid because that's what I feel like. I feel like a 5-year-old girl who's just lost her dad. It’s left my mother alone, obviously. And with me not having any other siblings besides the grief and the sadness there's a huge amount of responsibility that comes along with it and we're all feeling the heaviness of this loss. My dad was someone who could do anything. The community loved him. Our little town, we've all felt a big loss with his sudden passing. If you could just keep our family in your prayers. I have two young children at home who, this has been a devastating loss for them. My son goes and sits at my dad's grave site every evening and talks to him. If you could just keep our family in prayer, I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Good morning DABber family this is the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of our God and our King. I am calling today for all the other burning bushes out there, those who feel like their lives are constantly on fire. And you may or may not understand what's going on, but I just want to remind you that you are not being devoured, that God is holding onto you and you are…that you’re living for a purpose. There is purpose in your pain. As I say this, I think about our sister Margot and Liberia. Margot, I heard your call today and my heart…my heart just breaks for you. I admire your obedience to the Lord, that you're out there away from your home, away from your comfort and you’re suffering because of what you know the Lord called you to do. Being a native of Liberia I cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice. My heart longs to be there. And, so, you are living where I would want to live. You're doing what I know my heart desires to do. And, so, I want you to know that I am praying for you and I'm calling all the prayer warriors to pray for Margot and her husband. The spiritual warfare that exists in Liberia, I cannot even begin to verbalize what happens there but I'm so, so grateful for your sacrifice and I pray that the Lord will protect you, that He will provide for you, that He will consistently guide you, and…and continually show you the next steps and give you favor in Jesus’ name. I love you all. May the Lord bless and keep you in Jesus’ name.
Hello DAB family I hope you’ve all had a blessed weekend. It's the 27th of April at 1:29 PM. We just thank God for all your lives. We thank God for this amazing ministry. And I have just finished listening to the DAB and I just wanted to say congratulations to China and Ben and also the Hardin family for this amazing, blessed news. We just thank God for the safe delivery of her baby and just to let you know that I'm praying and thinking of you and the family. God bless you all and may you have a blessed day. This is Sarah from London.
Yahoo congratulations! China, Ben you're a mom and a dad now, your first born. And Jill Ann Brian congratulations. This is This Girl is Mine. Congratulations from Toowoomba Kinta in Australia. Woo Hoo.
Hi DAB family this is Ashley from California and I am reaching out in prayer because I need prayer for my dad. My dad is just one of the most loving men you will meet. He would give somebody the shirt off his back. And I'm just feeling a little stirred right now because he had a mild stroke and he's admitted in the hospital right now, but I am feeling scared and just asking God to help my dad and to take care of him and to give him strength. I know in the book of Isaiah when it talks about God giving comfort, He doesn't send comfort like a pillow or pity or anything like that. He sends comfort in the form of strength. So, if you could lift my dad, my family, and I up and ask God to come and comfort us with His strength and fill us with that I would greatly appreciate it. And DAB family I'm lifting you all up. So, please I appreciate you and congratulations China. Reagan is beautiful and congratulations Brian and Jill on becoming grandparents. And I just appreciate everything that you guys do. Thank you and have a great rest of your day. Bye.
Hey family it's Jesse from Washington. I know I've been calling in a lot lately. And I don't want to call and ask for this prayer right now, but God has been on me all afternoon to do it. I know some of you know kind of my story since October. I reported my wife for being abusive to my kids and hurting my daughter and she's had a history of this. I had Child Protective Services release a 530-page document over the last 20 years…I have a 17-year-old stepdaughter and 21…21-year-old stepdaughter that this…similar things have been happening too as well for 20 years. So, counselors, caretakers, family members have all reported her. Nothing happens. I reported her and filed a protection order but she, as retaliation, filed a protection order against me saying that she feared for her life and the kids life from me while simultaneously saying __ that Jesse's never done anything to hurt her or her children. But the judge granted her or order. So, she's had the power to keep me from my kids. I have limited visitation. And then when I go to see my kid’s she, when I get there, I'll get to the door and then she'll tell me I can't see them. The kids are screaming and crying. It's a weekly thing. I don't know what to say. I don't want to be negative. She's an awful, awful, abusive person. She's on multiple medications for bipolar, for anxiety, for depression. She…I don't…I don't want to complain. I don't even want to make this call. I don't know what to do. I can't afford an attorney. If I have to start a new career…she fired me from my own business. She sold our house. I had to sell all my belongings to represent myself and I'm living with family now at 38 starting my life over. So, I just need help. I need representation and I need your prayers. Love you.
Good morning DAB family this is T from Texas and I've just been listening for many, many years but lately I've been listening to the people that are suffering from depression and from fear and I just want to lift all of them up to you Lord Jesus today to say Lord I just pray a hedge of angels around their mind. Lord give them the ability to know that they are children of the kingdom and that You love them. I myself suffer Lord and I know how hard it is and how it hurts. So, Lord God I pray that for all these people I believe his name was Trent, there was another young man that was in the deep, Lord I just pray Your blessings and Your peace over them today. Thank you, DAB family.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family I'm Jesse I'm 13 and I'm calling from Santa Barbara CA. It's wonderful here. The weather is really nice. We just found out that my cousin who is 23, I believe. I don't really know his age. He has had to grand mal seizures in a row, and we just need your prayer right now. I mean…I mean he's going through so much right now. I mean he…he and his girlfriend just broke up and he's all by himself unemployed and on top of that he's all of a sudden having seizures. So, everybody would just pray that we lift him up so that he would be healed and that he would just relax. And there's not much more to say. I thank you for all your prayer and encouragement. And please, in the name of the Lord help him get better. Amen.
Hello, my name is Karan and I have been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for a few years now. This is the first time that I've called in. I'm asking for prayer for my son Sebastian. He is 22 years old. He's currently living on the streets. He has been on the streets on and off since he was a teenager. He is a brain malformation that makes him be much more like a 13-year-old then his actual age. He's regularly taken advantage of financially and in other ways by people. And on top of that he has type one diabetes. I found him today and saw him and it breaks my heart every time I do because he is in such rough shape and he's not taking care of himself. He suffers from mental health problems and uses drugs as well. He was raised in the church but has walked away from that. He has struggled his entire life and has had one issue after another placed on him. I always try to put him in God's hands, but sometimes it's really hard and I just would like prayer for him. Thank you.
Congratulations on the birth of Reagan the Brave and God bless you all.
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prorevenge · 7 years
Text
Killing a toxic co-workers hopes, dreams, and future.
Names changed for anonymity, happened a few years back. This is a long one so TL;DR at the bottom.
Background: I got a job working for a small hardware company. 4 people in the office, a few in the warehouse, and a delivery driver. Nothing fancy, but it got me off the night shift and onto a desk. The owner was a pretty nice guy, let's call him Ray. Ray took over the family business in the early 2000s. Like most small business owners he was pretty frugal. The job came with absolutely zero perks. 10 vacation days that doubled as sick days, no insurance, everyone was hourly and Ray hated paying OT. He had one large customer that accounted for about half his business and everything after that was profit. He had gotten to the point where the business was doing well enough to support his comfortable life (10-3 schedule, 4 weeks vacation, season baseball tickets) and had zero interest in growing it beyond that point. But my problem was not with Ray, it was with the absolute b*tch in the purchasing department.
The players: Four people in the office meant that every part of this business fell to one of us. Ray was the owner, he negotiated large scale orders both with customers and suppliers. Sarah was our admin/receptionist, sweet as pie. I was in charge of order processing and logistics, and I did quite a bit of work revamping the company website. Ingrid (aka B*tch Supreme) handled small scale purchasing and most of the other customers.
Ingrid was a living nightmare sent to punish all mankind for our hubris. She had the personality of a one dimensional Stephen King character that would be whipping an unruly mob into a frenzy. She was trash, plain and simple. She was also the most spiteful, hate-filled, vindictive gorgon to ever walk gods green earth. She was a born-again Christian so because she went to church every Sunday she thought she could do no wrong. Ingrid, for whatever reason, disliked me from my first day. I don't know if she saw me as a threat or was just having a moodswing ( I'm no psychologist but I'm 98% sure she was bipolar) but she was not happy about my joining the company. She kept it civil at first. Ingrid loved to gossip at anybody who would listen and since I was always at my desk I made for a captive audience. Everything she said was vile and mean-spirited, and most of it was blatant projection. She would complain about which actresses she didn't like like because they were too fat (Ingrid was easily north of the 300 lb mark) or had an annoying voice (Ingrid had a slight lisp). She would thump her bible to the tune of how the gays were trying to destroy the sanctity of marriage (she was twice divorced) and complain about how Obamacare was costing her too much money (she had no insurance for herself or her kids, and had a handful of pre existing conditions, she just hated Obama). She would tell stories about how she was with her son at the grocery store and he yelled at a polish woman to speak American or get out of the country LIKE SHE WAS PROUD OF IT. All in just the worst person I've ever had to work with.
In spite of all that I felt I could just ignore Ingrid's bullshit and do my job, but then she started focusing her dislike of me into petty hatred.
The spiral downward: Ingrid would take anything and everything personally. If I didn't say good morning to her she would complain to Ray that I was being rude. Ray knew she had a screw loose so he dismissed it. She didn't like that. She started trying to frame me for not entering orders that she claimed to have given me a week ago. I quickly put that shit to bed by date-stamping every order that came across my desk and checking with her, Ray, and Sarah for new orders every hour on the hour. Every time something went wrong her knee jerk reaction was to blame me and throw me under the bus.
The breaking point: One of our larger customers bought from us because their purchaser was a friend of Ingrid's. She made the connection between the businesses and Ray gave her a decent commission from it. I had met through a friend of a friend the purchaser from another large manufacturing company that uses products very similar to ours. Ray told me if I could get them to submit a sample order he would give me the same kind of commission, but that it was all on me because drumming up new business was extra work that he didn't want to do. Now like I said, this job had no perks so any shot at extra cash was a godsend. I rode my desk hard, my phone, my email, chasing this lead like a hungry dog. Finally I got the purchaser to agree to submit the order. I was over the moon. Enter Ingrid. This whole time she was pouring doubt and skepticism over the entire venture, really she just didn't want anybody else to achieve what she had. Sarah was on vacation so Ingrid had taken over front desk duties for the week. I don't hear back from the purchaser, ever. Eventually I get ahold of him a month later and ask when he was going to send the sample order. He told me that he had called a few weeks back and that the lady he spoke to said that our company didn't have the capacity to supply what they wanted. I ask him what day he called, turns out it was during the week Ingrid was answering phones. Ok, act like human garbage, whatever, I don't care. Try to make me look bad at work, screw you, I'll rise above it. Sabotage my chance for a substantial raise? Now you've awoken the dragon. I was trying to save up for a down payment on a house, and Ingrid thinks she can put my future on hold? Nope. Not happening. I vowed that vengeance would be mine.
The revenge: Ingrid had been taking online and night courses at a local community college because she wanted to become a THERAPIST (I wish I was making that up) and was currently working towards her associates degree. Ingrid was about as smart as she was skinny, kind-hearted, and pleasant. She often did her class work in the office after Ray had left for the day. One day she asks me if I can take an online quiz for her. Now I'm still furious at her for tanking my commission so I'm not about to do her any favors. But then she says something that I'm sure I've never heard her say before: Please. This was followed by "it's an earth science quiz and I can't lie." Freeze frame, record scratch. I need to process that sentence. "I can't lie" was clearly beluga shit because she lied to my purchaser. It also was a huge paradox because here she was asking me to take a test for her. But she didn't mean any of that, she meant "I can't lie and deny my faith on an Earth Science quiz because I believe that the earth was created in literally seven days and is only about 6000 years old and humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs." She needed someone who knew and understood what the Cretaceous period was to pass a test keep her from failing. And just like that I had my plan on a silver platter. Sure I could tank the test and she would have to repeat the class and that would be inconvenient, or I could be a real son of a b*tch. I opted for the latter. I told her that I would take that test, and any other for 20 bucks. Earth Science 101, Spanish 101, Intro to Psychology (a therapist that couldn't even pass a intro level psyche class, god help us all). Quizzes, tests, I ended up making $200 by the end of the semester. Then she comes to me with the request I've been waiting for. "Hey Dick, I need to write a research paper, do you know how to do that?" $50 later and I have the assignment in front of me. It's laughable, 5 pages, double spaced, doesn't even need to be AMA. An eight grader could pound it out in an hour or two, but lazy stupid b*tches will be lazy stupid b*tches. Now around this time I had gotten an offer from a much larger company downtown and was going to put in my two weeks once Ray got back from one of his many vacations. I had an opportunity to ruin her life and an exit strategy. I set to work. I l literally googled "research paper for [class name]" and grab the first one that popped up. I change nothing but the name and the date. I put in my two weeks, and the week before I leave I give Ingrid "her" paper. She doesn't even proofread it. She just turns it in and goes along her merry way. What happened next I heard second hand from Sarah after I left. The professor immediately knew it was plagiarized and got the dean involved. Ingrid was so stupid that she even tried to use the truth as an excuse. "I didn't plagiarize that paper, the guy I had been paying to do all my course work did it!" She was expelled from the institution for academic dishonesty and plagiarism, barred from any of the satellite schools or affiliate programs, and refused a refund on her tuition. Her dream of becoming a therapist shattered into dust as all of the nearby community colleges were part of the affiliate program. She was financially ruined left with no savings and a semester of student loan debt. On my last day I made sure to poke my head into her office to say "thank you, Ingrid, for everything I learned from you while working here. I hope you learned something from me as well."
TL;DR psycho snatch-basket co-worker tries to get me fired and ruins a business venture, I get her to pay me to have her expelled and crush her dreams.
(source) (story by Dickshitley)
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Ep. 7: “The LIES” - Amy A
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Pedro A
omg so i have 10 coinssssss....and kalle has 9...she just needs to get one more coin...and we can open the jewerly box...and see whats inside....at this point i accept anything....a steal vote ..an idol..whatever...chillleeee this is a mess im going insane...and i hope we win this next challenge
Cody A.
https://youtu.be/gQAhK73mjRc
Cody A.
https://youtu.be/GGtNE0x87pQ
Pedro A
we really need to win this challenge im scared af
James Hayden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcvdxZYYvZU
James Hayden
We finished our immunity challenge about twenty minutes ago and now we wait. We got a score of 48, which I think is a solid score. Ryan was great at final guessing, Najwah and Amy were great at helping put the questions in the best order, and as a tribe we worked well together. I hope that 48 is enough for us to avoid tribal and for me to make the merge. If we have to go to tribal, I think it could be me. Let's hope 48 is enough to make me dateable. 
Ryan
Once again, I am very proud of my tribe. Honestly, if we were to lose I wouldn't mind it, I might actually rather that, maybe that will be my plan for the next challenge. We need the numbers back on Maolas side
Pedro A
omg i hope the other tribes did worste than us...cause chillleeeee im in danger Olivia A.I’m super bummed about losing but also not too worried. As long as Maddison and Grae stick w our original 3 we should be fine. It’s just a matter of whether to vote out Aimee or Sarah. I’ve grown to like them both a lot so this sucks but it is what it is I guess.
Kalle N
I didn't compete in the challenge bc I'm currently moving across the country by myself and I honestly have no idea what happened today. I know Zack was gunning hard to vote me out but we won so oh well. hopefully we merge soon.
Ryan
Soooo i am very happy with the outcome of this challenge. We don’t have to go back to tribal, but Maola do. Hopefully the pre-swap Maola can band together cause I still have faith for my relationship with Maddison and Grae, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Olivia leave (even though she’s sweet)
Ryan
sooooo... fml
Ryan
I should really stop making confessions before I know what’s happening
Ryan
AHHHHHHHHH
Zack M
oh look. another challenge that's a survivor super fan's wet dream. and again, i didn't really contribute because i hate survivor wiki. BUT WE CAME IN 2ND! so we are safe. i honestly knew that james was the biggest threat and i'm not surprised his team won. i'm glad. clap clap for you james! now that means sarah and aimee are in trouble because i don't see the original maola tribe turning on each other. truly hoping sarah has talked her way in and it's aimee unless something crazy happens. i just want my original 5 alliance to be reunited! pedro opened up a little more and said he was down to work together going into the merge. he wants revenge for john being voted out and not being part of the vote? i think. regardless, i did not watch all 4 seasons of revenge on abc for no reason. i'm here to help him get that revenge because then that also give hanuha the numbers again and BAM. back to my 5, then to my 4, and then to my 3. could this actually work? please god let it for my ego. excited to see what comes out of tribal tomorrow. 
James Hayden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3SDeVmuzJ8
Zack M
scratch that last confession. new scores and the palena tribe is going to tribal again. i think? maybe it will change again but this is the last time i'm confessing. 2 original maola and 2 original hanuha. hopefully james has the idol because i see najwah flipping so quickly. but it will be interesting to see where she stands going into the merge. i will get justice for you james if she takes you out! again, excited to see what happens at tribal tomorrow. 
James Hayden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjRxkFkAuQI
James Hayden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBg5F786DK0
Sarah
Wow! The Guess Who challenge tonight was so close and at first, we were going to tribal. After advantages and disadvantages were factored in, we were BARELY safe! 😅 During the idol hunt today, I knew that I obviously couldn’t find another idol but I knew that this challenge was going to come so close and that I needed to buy advantages to ensure that I was safe another round. I honestly don’t know where everyone’s head is at on my tribe because they are so quiet so I needed to buy those advantages because I really don’t want to have to play my idol before Merge.... Buying those advantages could be my subtle move in the game. I am so hoping for Merge time soon! I miss my alliance and I miss talking to my best friend for hours about everything. 
Ryan
I was planning on voting out Amy, but something Najwah said irked me. She seems very sure that she doesn't want to vote James, which doesn't fill me with confidence if we go to tribal again next challenge. idk what I'm gonna do
Ryan
I genuinely don't know if im cut out for this game. I'd feel alright with cutting most people, but Najwah and Amy seem so genuinely sweet, it'll break my heart to betray either of them
Amy A
This tribal is going to be INSANE. It’s 5 odd hours to tribal council and I DON’T know who I am supposed to vote for. Ryan told me he and James are voting Naj and she told me she and James are voting Ryan and then Ryan told Naj he’s voting me! I know it’s a lot to take in! The only one I’ve Not been told to vote for is James and I don’t even wanna vote him cos he was an absolute rockstar at yesterday’s tribal. I know I’m the reason we’re here so I’m kinda bummed out about it and I trusted Ryan so much I shared my steal-a-vote with him but someone has to go and fingers crossed it isn’t me. 
Amy A
Convincing the whole tribe I didn’t get the DA has been hilarious so far. Once Jay confirmed she wouldn’t reveal the name, I was set. The LIES 😂😂😂😂😂. Even insinuated Ryan cos he was scrambling so much today. Didn’t know I had it in me but I guess survivor brings out the best in you. Anyway, all the best to myself for tonight. Hope I’m still here 24 hours from now  
Pedro A
im so tired...i havent been sleeping well..i just hope the next challenge is due tomorrow....rn i feel like im fourth in the tribe, which is good
Maddison
Got some good advice on my game and looking forward to implementing strategies to minimize my threat level until the end of the game.
Ben Kessler
I am hoping merge is at 12. After tonight 13 people will be left, and who knows who will have the numbers advantage. I'm currently working on Pedro who wants revenge on his old tribe and I cannot wait to break up those 3 old maolos that are on new maolo. Hopefully if we lose Pedro will be an easy vote out. And then I can slither my way in.
Najwah Last night's challenge was a real bummer. I mean, we were SO CLOSE. It's getting harder to vote people out now and even harder to trust anyone so hopefully the plan tonight works itself out. Whichever plan that is. There are a few plans floating around. Either way, whatever the outcome, I'd just like to sleep in peace tonight. I'm tired. 
Ben Kessler
Pedro said that me and him were talking too much game and to "talk about ourselves". I didn't want to tell him I did not want to discuss the vacation that he is on. So now I need to vote him out next. People like talking about themselves I guess.
Pedro A
okay so i have talked with ben, zack and cody LOL.....and they all seem cool...one thing i noticed in bens profile ..is that he only has 2 contacts...that i have....weird...maybe im thinking too much
James Hayden
https://youtu.be/oGcQdHpBzhY
Aimee
https://giphy.com/gifs/gIlUSzpqN9xVhekR2r/html5 Whew!!! Just when I thought we lost this last challenge, Jay really went “GOTCHA” and gave us all whiplash. Looks like advantages and disadvantages really can make the difference in these challenges! This tribe swap really did provide a new opportunity for me in this game. Everyone here is so kind, fun-loving, and have similar vibes with me, I love it! We really all get along on a personal level and are bonding on things that aren’t game related, which is a breath of fresh air. Despite being in the minority on this tribe and coming into it with a tribe number disadvantage against three others who I suspect are aligned, it was still honestly such a blessing swapping out with less neurotic people that aren’t constantly draining me for their attention. I feel like a giant weight is off my shoulders and I can focus more on having fun. Even Sarah has been great now that we swapped and is more active, and is now chatting with me daily. I’m so relieved we haven’t had to go to tribal yet as I truly would work with each one of these people if we could all make it to merge!🌈💞 https://sinnohqueen.tumblr.com/post/166307617197 I love that the Hail Mary Reem guess really saved the day. She is iconic! A word we all love to say on this tribe 😊
Grae G
Thank god we didn’t have tribal! I’m really liking all the girls I’m playing w but my allegiance lies w my OG girls for now
Ryan
I think I’ve finally made up my mind
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