'...now i'm held hostage in my head, with every word you said...'
I saw Inception for my b’day weekend before last and was instantly won over. I’m also dying to see it again because it was so intricately plotted and overwhelming and I was trying to figure out a lot of the story along the way so I missed a bit in the process, but one thing I really really want to know.
I was screaming in my head for the bloody coin to just fall and could’ve smashed something when the movie just ended right there. But it was wavering, right? I mean, the other times, the coin just spun and spun smoothly like it would never fall and so that wobble must’ve meant it was for real, y/y?
But the problem for me was that his kids looked exactly the same as they did in his dreams. I don’t know if he gave a timeline anywhere, but I got the feeling that he’d been on the run for a while- although I guess to a little kid, a few months to a year could seem like ages, so maybe they wouldn’t have aged much while he was away? For some reason, I thought he’d been gone years so I thought they would be older but they were still the same apparent age from his dreams which made me question the reality of the ending.
And what really threw me was my grandmother saying afterwards that it was all a dream. That he woke up on the plane and he didn’t know any of the others, none of them spoke to each other or anything. And I’m like…what, no, of course they were part of it! We saw scenes of him training Ariadne, for instance, we saw other people putting them under, how would that have made sense if it was all a dream?
I mean, I just figured that they couldn’t all chat because it would give the game away if the people that were projections in the mark’s dream started all chatting like they knew each other and weren’t complete strangers that just happened to crop up in his dream, right? He’d get suspicious, then, wouldn’t he? I don’t know if I’m reading too much into simple eye-contact, but I thought there were some meaningful gazes exchanged between Cobb and the team, and expressions of relief when he woke up. *ponders*
I’d just hate the notion that none of it was real. >_< Or that he ended up staying in the dream world. It’d be such a down ending if he got trapped there for eternity, I wanted him to have that happy ending, damn it. And I wanted to know for sure that he got it instead of that ambiguous ending that makes me question everything I think I knew. Argh!
Also, what was with the Asian dude? I didn’t get what that whole thing was about with him washing up on the beach and then being taken to Asian Dude’s place and that whole ‘Are you here to kill me?’ thing. Was it because he got injured and then couldn’t ride the kick or whatever? So Cobb found him and reminded him it was a dream and they both gotta get back so Asian Dude could fulfil his promise? IDEK.
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Maybe I’m predictable, but can you guess who I was shipping? Hmm, the handsome older man, the mentor who took the young naïve idealistic protégée under his wing…
Yes, I totally went for Ariadne/Cobb! I’m just so sad that the majority of ficcage so far is tipped towards A/A. >_<
I can see where they’re coming from, sure, but I thought that Ariadne and Cobb really had a bond and an incredible vibe happening in the movie, so it’s disappointing that more people aren’t writing for them. >_<
I know, I know, A/A got the canon kiss, but I didn’t get the feeling that it was something intended to be a big romantic moment for them, it seemed like something he would do with any attractive chick in that situation.
Not that I’m dismissing them as a valid ship, heck, if Cobb wasn’t in the picture, I’d go for it, but…I have a thing for broody, damaged men haunted by their past mistakes, I guess, lol. A/A has this light-hearted fun vibe, but A/C is just… *sighs* With A/C, we have all the huge important emotional moments between them. He’s the one that introduces her to this fantastic incredible new world of possibilities [and terrifies her with his projection of Mal freaking stabbing her to death], she’s the one that knows the extent of his mental trauma, he had all these moments protecting her and she had all these moments confronting him with the scary truth he couldn’t face and offering support to face his personal demons… <3
It definitely seemed like she was developing some sort of feelings for him. I mean, the way she was so determined to find out about his life and entering his dreams to figure out his damage? Okay, sure, the ‘protect the team’ reason is perfectly valid, but she kept pushing and pushing, and I think that comes from wanting to heal him, to save him from himself because she cares too much to let him self-destruct. His friends knew something was wrong but they weren’t doing anything about it and she was determined to get to the heart of the problem and find a way to save him.
I was actually surprised he wasn’t more pissed off with her, I mean, I’d feel so violated if someone went running around in my memories and disregarded my feelings and wishes. That moment when she ran and took the elevator down…I thought that was out of line. But he accepted it and laid things on the line for her, just completely exposed his emotional wounds to her. The rest of the team didn’t know what she found out, and I think it’s like he wanted to tell someone, because he could’ve gotten so angry with what she did, invading his privacy like that, and instead he trusted her with his innermost secrets.
I just wish there was more fic dealing with what happened after Inception- where everything that happened was real, and she and Cobb meet up again and what happens next. *sighs wistfully*
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Randomly, Charlotte Martin’s On Your Shore seems like a great song for an Inception fanvid. I'm not quite sure how it'd translate, but I keep thinking of Inception, even if it's not necessarily all applicable to the characters. The story and the emotion behind it is so gorgeous and wistful and sad. Plus, considering how people keep getting washed up on the beach, the title seems at least a little appropriate, lol, there's imagery for ya. :P
‘I dig my heels into the dirt, ‘coz this one’s gonna hurt
Won’t let the waves wash me away, is what I always pray
In my heart I know you couldn’t see
In the dark, oh, find your way through me
Now I’m alone, my hands are numb, how do I carry on?
At the turn of the tide, I feel this part of me die
Am I washed on your shore and barely alive?
Now I’m held hostage in my head with every word you said
Got all those lessons in my past, I spit them out so fast
I see myself, with you, I act so small
See myself, with you, I always crawl
So someone leave a raft for me, the water’s getting deep
At the turn of the tide, I feel this part of me die
Am I washed on your shore…?
Here I am (in my insecurity)
Here I am (in my damaged dignity)
Here I am (you're pulling me in too deep)
Here I am (I'm in the mercy seat)
Here I am (running without my feet)
Here I am (oh what's come over me?)
Here I am
When I was melting in your hand, you didn't understand
You slip through me like grains of sand, you still don't understand
Overboard I'm thrown out to see what you are and what I mean to me
But I will always have my dream where you can swim to me
At the turn of the tide I feel this part of me die
I've been on your shore before and it was no waste of time
Over my head and in my mind
Am I washed on your shore and barely alive...?
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ETA. Holy crap. I thought the whole way through the movie that Arthur looked familiar...he's Tommy from 3rd Rock from the Sun!
OMG. That cute little kid sure grew up to be mega-hot. Wow!
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The Driving Lessons.
I was feeling good when on my third lesson, I got out on the highway, hee. I thought it would freak me out but I ended up loving the speed. ^_^ The driving lady was laughing at me, ‘I didn’t even have to tell you to accelerate, you’re already doing 95 km/h!’ That was a good lesson!
After being so nervous and spazzing at everything the first lesson or two, it wa nice to feel more comfortable and to actually have fun! And what a contrast- when I got back to the quiet residential areas, it was such a drag, having to reduce my speed back down to 50 or 60. *sighs*
But my last lesson. *headdeskwallfloor* Oh, god. We drove into town during lunch hour and I performed abysmally. Seriously, it was really bad. I do all right when I’m not under pressure but when I’m surrounded by cars and having to deal with traffic lights and pedestrians and all these confusing lines and lanes…I fail. >_<
Seriously, I got so frazzled that I made stupid mistakes like confusing the brake and the accelerator- which is not good when I’m trying to brake in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian. There was this moment where I could hear something grinding and whirring ‘coz my foot was on the accelerator and the instructor was hitting the brake, lol. Ugh. Sooo embarrassing.
It was just so hard trying to cope with traffic lights and working out which lane to go in and when I was supposed to move forward and all that. It looks so easy when I’m a passenger, but it does my head in when I’m at the wheel. Like, when I’m trying to make a right turn, for some stupid reason, it’s not the oncoming traffic I’m worried about even though they have the green light, it’s the cars on my right that are parked there at the red light that I’m worried about! The driving lady’s like, ‘You have to commit, inch forward, a little more, a little more, come on’ and my stupid instincts are screaming at me, ‘Cars, cars, they’re gonna come and hit me if I expose myself!’ UGH. Rationally, I know I have nothing to worry about- they’re going to let me turn before they come forward so they don’t hit me, but still. IDEK. *thwacks self*
At least next week we’re practicing parking. Heh. That should be a nice, peaceful lesson!
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With my b’day the other week, I was a little miffed that we didn’t get any photos taken. I get dressed up so rarely that when I’m looking nice, I like to have photos with people. *iz a total camera whore* It’s only in the last few years that I’ve learned to tolerate my appearance. I hated how I looked practically since the day I entered high school, but over the weekend, I ended up looking through some photo albums and when I was younger, I was so adorable, if I do say so myself!
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Too bad I had to grow up, lol. I envy people who are cute from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. It's not fair! I mean, like, look at Emma Watson, that girl's never had an ugly day in her life. I had an ugly decade. >_<
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Survivor: Tocantins- episode eight.
The episode starts with yet another gigantic furry menacing spider crawling around…but to spare my delicate sensibilities and woodchoc_magnum’s, I shall refrain from capping it.
Taj educates us on the appropriate attitudes for a reality tv show contestant. ‘I felt bad that she had to go but one of us had to go and I’m glad it was not me.’ Someone needs to copy that memo to all contestants everywhere. Crying at someone’s elimination doesn’t make you sensitive, it means you’re a self-indulgent sissy.
I OBJECT TO THE COACH CHI SOUNDTRACK, HDU, PRODUCERS?!
Carl Orff’s O Fortuna from ‘Carmina Burana’! That gorgeous majestic melody has no place being used to accentuate Coach’s lameness. >:[
Now, I don’t often listen to classical music, but I actually d/l that track after Brandon from SYTYCD danced to it, displaying breath-taking power and agility and skill, and creating this sense of triumph and vitality and inspiration, it just…it is so magnificent, and the producers have the nerve to waste it on Coach?! Why do they feed his ego like this, WHY?
[I personally think it would’ve been more appropriate as a soundtrack to Stephen’s struggles with lighting a fire, showcasing his frustration and agony and despair….then the spark at last, and his look of effervescent joy and wonder at his accomplishment as it takes and kindles into a merrily crackling fire!]
And gosh, check out the self-delusion. ‘Up til now, it’s been about the team, so I’ve been trying to get along…’ Um, what? This from The Despoiler of Beans! Whose resume includes The Harassment of Candace. The Oppression of Sierra. The Imposer of Major Proportions of Douchery. Unbelievable. In what world has Coach NOT been pandering to his ego and vanity the whole way through this season so far?
Now that Coach has had his epiphany of how the world ought to revolve around him and not the best interests of Timbira, he returns to camp and…offers massages all around. Um? This might be the…er…how do I phrase this so that it doesn’t sound like I’m softening? Okay, this is least-lame thing Coach has ever done. There you go.
*wistfully yearns for a massage*
Hey, did Sierra get a massage? It seems like Coach generously soothed the myriad aches and pains of the rest of the tribe but left her out. I guess it shows that Coach never really got over his Sierra!hate, she was just the cancer of the tribe, then she sucked up to him and he could tolerate her, then she became too sycophantic and he took her for granted and thought she was beneath him, and then once she makes fun of him, she’s reinstated at CotT level.
Clearly, Coach hates suck-ups. You either stand with him or against him and he’ll grudgingly show some modicum of respect if you’re lucky. But try weasel your way into his good graces and his disdain will know no bounds!
Erinn makes me flail at her cuteness and teh snark. I like the way she accepts Coach’s newfound predilection for giving massages and then mocks him in interviews. Yes, it would be cool to see her prick his ego to his face, but what good does that do her? It’d be satisfying to us, but it’d be akin to shooting herself in the foot, so she may as well sit back, enjoy the shoulder rub and keep making fun of him behind the scenes!
At least she doesn’t humble herself the way Debbie does. O. M. G. You disgust me Debbie.
‘Life is good,’ murmurs Coach. ‘Got my shellfish hand-fed to me by one of my harem. Sigh. Next I’ll have Sierra push me on the swing while Tyson performs a strip-tease for my entertainment. Erinn can fix beans or something, she doesn’t deserve to be included in the festivities in my honor.’
Oh, Brendan. Why are you blessed with such a hot bod and yet such fluff for brains?
And now we see the foundation of the gigantic rift between Brendan and Coach, of which the former seems blissfully oblivious, and which the latter has been nursing like a serpent in his breast. Brendan dared to suggest Coach didn’t start this Samurai thing, that another culture entirely started it in a different century altogether- like that precludes the possibility of Coach being responsible. Pah! The audacity of him! As if time and space poses any barrier to one as centered and enlightened through meditation as Coach!
Doesn’t he know that Coach fell through a temporal anomaly into ancient Japan and founded the Samurai order while befriending royalty and writing The Art of War under a pseudonym? Also, he totally slayed a dragon and was awarded an honorary title for his service to the kingdom. *nodnod* Fair maidens fell at his feet and villagers paid homage to the great Dragon Slayer.
And ever since he returned to the present, he’s been keeping a low profile, but he’s gotten a little sad about how nobody knows to fawn over him and pay him the appropriate respect due to a conquering hero, so he made up all this crap about Brendan being a dragon so he could drag out the old title and wear it proudly in this day and age.
[It kinda worked, too. Because I first saw Coach in Heroes vs Villains and they introduced him as The Dragon Slayer and everyone praised him and acted like he had a fearsome reputation so I thought he was really cool. I didn’t realize he’d named himself that and it was all just a sop to his vanity and he hadn’t earned that nickname through some daring and heroic deed. He BAMBOOZLED me]
Joe has Taj feel him up. She’s ostensibly checking his wounded leg, but we know how Joe is with the ladies. If he’s not fit enough to go out there and flirt with Sydney, he’ll make do with Taj stroking his leg. I don’t know how she could resist. All red and swollen and leaking pus. Sure-fire way to charm a woman all right! Failproof!
What was the point with these little circle thingys anyway? They don’t look like anything used in a challenge, so I’m perplexed. Was that the point, to just make the tribes speculate over their relevance and then be like, ‘HA, it didn’t mean anything! Psych!’
Actually, you know what it makes me think of? These giant balls that people climb inside and hang on for dear life and try to steer round some course. Was that a Survivor challenge? Or Amazing Race or something? I think it was a different show ‘coz it was a big plastic ball filled with water and people were rolling them down grassy green hills, which doesn’t fit the Survivor theme in any way. But I’m sure it’s been adapted in some way for Survivor over the many seasons so far.
Anyway, so it turns out that little rhyme had nothing whatsoever to do with a challenge. I don’t get where the spinning and winning comes in with the tribal merge at all.
Wtf is with Coach this ep? First with the shoulder rubs and now with his perceptiveness. I was pleasantly surprised, actually, much as I hate to admit it. Coach being impressed by JT was a given, what with his obsession with ‘warrior’ types, but to appreciate Stephen for his intelligence, well…I hadn’t credited him with the good sense to notice. So…kudos to him for that. He’s the one person so far to notice that Stephen has power in the game.
I think labeling him an alpha male is a compliment, much as I do not believe it is appropriate. Alpha male carries different connotations different strengths and weaknesses than those Stephen possesses, but the thing is, we have to consider the source. Coach considers himself an alpha male and the leader of the tribe. There is nobody above the alpha! And he recognizes that Stephen wields quite a bit of power, albeit in a way he’s not wholly familiar with- that power derived from, oh, brainpower and strategic thinking and charming people and making friends. So even if he doesn’t fit into the alpha male category, that’s where Coach is gonna put him because it makes them equals and god knows nobody sits higher than Coach.
He can’t admit Stephen’s playing the game better than he is, so he’ll deign to make him on par with himself, rather than admit to his obvious superiority. And considering his obsession with warrior types, I think that him realizing the bespectacled geeky one has power is more than we could’ve reasonably expected from him anyway, so…good job there.
THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY TIME THAT I SHALL HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE TO SAY ABOUT COACH. MOMENT DECIDEDLY OVER.
Oh, god. No sooner do I make this pronouncement than he goes and cracks a joke I am appalled to find myself actually amused by- and at Stephen’s expense no less! *frets* But to be fair, I think anyone would find ‘Dingus’ a little suss, even without Coach snarking, ‘That sounds like a good meaning but sounds a little too crazy.’
OH OH OH. UST VIBES.
Someone- Brendan?- goes, ‘I can’t hear Jeff saying, “Come on in, Dingus,”’ and then Debbie immediately speaks up in favor of that tribe name, enthusiastically declaring, ‘I’m in!’ HMM. O.o Jeff/Debbie anvils! Should we expect to see her leaping on his back any day now? :P
Debbie is not impressed with the suggestion of ‘Forza’. How can she flirt with Jeff over this? Dingus offered a wider range of innuendo!
It’s funny that Sierra clearly KNOWS it’s a ‘touchy subject’ and she still blathers on and asks them to explain the last two votes. Although…who were the last two votes? Sydney, then Spencer before her?
Maybe I can understand Sierra here. It was a dumbass move but look at the elimination pattern, youthful blondes whose names start with ‘S’! I guess she was a little too freaked out about the prospect of elimination to come up with a smarter way to delicately suss out why they were voted out. Much as I hate to say it, I do the same myself- I know what’s going to come out of my mouth is just going to antagonize people and won’t further my cause at all, but I’m too emotional to choke down those words.
[Like how I got upset that my family keeps going to see movies without me. I mean, for my birthday, my cousins and aunt and grandmother and one of the boyfriends will come along, yay, free tickets since my mom paid for everyone, but otherwise? Nobody ever invites me to movies. I mean, I have no friends, who the hell else am I going to go with?
I was talking about this movie for months, and then the twins went and saw it without me. ‘It was a spontaneous thing,’ Netty explains. ‘We didn’t even think about asking you.’ Except then two seconds later she’s justifying herself, ‘We thought you’d go with Katherine.’ Um, no. First of all, why the hell would she think that, I’ve seen Katherine like, once or twice in the past year. And secondly, how could they NOT think about me one moment but then be making excuses not to ask me the next? Either they thought about me or they didn’t.
And then on the weekend, I was at the library and got back to find a message from Ma saying she’d gone to the movies. And it’s like…okay, if I’m at my parents’, that’s one thing, but when I’m STAYING AT HER PLACE EVERY WEEKEND, and then my aunt and the girls swoop in and pick her up and take off and nobody has the courtesy to ask me if I’d like to come along…I’m two minutes away by car, FFS, but nobody gives a damn. And then they wonder why I’m so wrapped up in my online life. They’re happy to exclude me from things, well, fine, I’m just going to stay on the internet and forget about them all.
This is the kind of thing that sparks my petulant behavior. I’m not proud of it and I wish I could be a better person, but when that message that I’m not wanted or missed keeps being driven home, it makes me just…get so sick of them all. That’s when I ramp up the bratty self-indulgent behavior out of sheer spite even though it does nothing but harm myself. It makes no sense at all, but there you go.
/pity party]
It’s also interesting seeing the way Stephen reacts. He’s supposed to be in an alliance with her, and yet he deflects her question- which makes sense, given their setting, why would he out himself by eagerly cluing her in- and then in the interview, he talks about withholding info and being wary of future competitors. So he’s not even thinking about her in ally terms! Makes it easy to see why that alliance crumbles, eh? He and Sierra never got time together, so it’s easier to distance himself from her, especially when she makes such foolhardy moves like that.
Oh, Stephen. I love you, but coating the flattery a little thick? I mean, congratulating people on being good competitors is one thing, I like that but… ‘When you win, we appreciate how well you’ve done’? That’s just a flat-out lie! Nobody thinks, ‘Oh, they deserved to win more than we did, they performed brilliantly, we were outclassed and the reward is rightfully theirs!’ *headdesk*
This has to be my least favorite ep so far. What with Coach being inexplicably….less douche-y and Stephen unfortunately…I can’t say it! I CAN’T. Just. Not up to his usual standard of awesome, let’s leave it at that!
It’s funny how scathing JT was of Timbira’s shelter. Didn’t they have a raised platform episodes before it occurred to Jalapao?
And again, Stephen is speaking as if wholly detached and like the Exile Island Alliance had never been given life. ‘Even if we make allies,’ he says- what about Brendan and Sierra, the pre-made allies? True, they haven’t and won’t make any overtures til it’s too late, but the tribes only JUST merged, shouldn’t he be biding his time and thinking that soon, they’d be scheming together again? I mean, Stephen’s acting like he really is some sort of wizard- he’s scried the future, he’s seen what is to come, and it’s that the alliance falls apart and Jalapao has no allies there coming into the merge. They’re already a lost cause, he’s dismissed them and moved on. It’s kinda scary how practical and farsighted he is.
Coach falls in love with JT straightaway. His open honest face and taste in footwear appeals to Coach right off the bat. Although Coach might need glasses ‘coz I don’t see no cowboy boots on the show and JT is wily and cunning, which to be fair to Coach [OMG, what is WRONG with me?!] nobody else has realized either.
JT sows the seeds of Brendan’s ousting here by immediately and ruthlessly seizing on Coach’s desire for dominance and implying that he’s inadequate. So skillfully done! I mean, JT doesn’t up and say ‘You’re a pussy and Brendan’s walking all over you, look at him, leading this tribe!’ but manages to insinuate that’s kind of Brendan’s attitude and isn’t Coach going to do something about it? THEN HE TELLS HIM BRENDAN HAS THE IDOL.
I mean. What what? Does JT know about Stephen’s alliance with Brendan at this point? ‘coz it seems like he’s deliberately stirring up bad feelings here towards Brendan…trying to eliminate his competition, keep Stephen close to his side instead of straying to the Timbira eyecandy? HMM.
It certainly paints JT in a different light if Stephen’s confided in him- which seems to be confirmed later on when Stephen tells him he’s choosing between two alliances- and JT uses this info to topple one of the key players in Stephen’s alliance. Coincidentally, it’s the hunky dude that Stephen plastered himself against on Exile! Possessive, much? Did Stephen drop comments about Brendan’s firm, strong body and set JT on edge?
This outweighs Stephen’s lie of omission. He campaigned for Taj to keep JT in the dark…and now JT’s gone and torpedoed an ally of his. A war of attrition is no good for anyone, boys, just pledge your fidelity and commitment to one another already!
God. Has NOBODY ever SEEN this show before? I really really hate it when people get on their high horse and chastise others for lies and deceit and manipulation. UGH. Sure, some may be talented enough to make it to the end and win without any devious underhanded behavior at all, but that’s not the name of the game! It’s not ‘Moral Righteous Saintly Players Win a Million’, FFS. You do what you gotta do, and the truth is, deceit and cunning are highly recommended traits on this game! So getting all haughty and self-righteous about being lied to just makes you look like a douche, Coach, and I am so glad because it’s about time you returned to form. I was beginning to think a crocodile had eaten you and put on your skin and was walking around pretending to be you.
Lol. Coach’s crush on JT rages on unabated. ‘He and I had this rapport, without talking.’ *gigglesnort* I guess that’s the only way one would be able to have any kind of positive feeling for Coach- because the moment he opens his mouth, he can’t hide the douchebag within. If only he were the strong, silent type, he’d get on with people so much better, but as soon as he starts talking, everyone knows what a joke he is.
The same thing is happening here as did in Samoa. You have the smaller seemingly vulnerable tribe of four at the merge, and even though you’d think the larger tribe would take them out one by one, their numbers advantage actually works against them. The larger tribe generally has more conflict within it so that it’s divided into two distinct groups, and the smaller tribes, Foa Foa in Samoa and Jalapao here, can exploit that dissension and get one faction of the larger tribe to take out the other. It’s just so elegant and beautiful!
I’m still not seeing the threat that Brendan apparently poses. I mean, honestly, most of Timbira believes he’s this sly, cunning, deceitful scoundrel and I’m like…he’s never had an original thought in his head! What’s he done to make them give him that kind of credit? ‘Sneaky bastard’? Hardly!
I feel kinda bad for Brendan. Sure he’s a slacker and not so sharp, but there he is, thinking he’s got this alliance worked out and they’d have his back; meanwhile, Stephen’s trash-talking him to Tyson. Which, good for Stephen if it gets him ahead, I’m all for it! Remember, I don’t put great stock in making it to the end by being completely honest and noble and blah, but…poor Brendan. I feel so embarrassed for him!
Then I hear Stephen, ‘So there’s a lot of power dynamics at play that are very easy to exploit,’ and god, how hot is he right now? Screw Brendan, I’m a fan of evil!mastermind!Stephen, WOOHOO! *adores*
I was going to make this analogy of Stephen being this spider at the center of an intricate web of deceit and manipulation and everyone else getting helplessly stuck in its strands, but I realize that for the arachnophobes among us, that might be disturbing imagery, so- rescinded!
What is with everyone on the show bonding over fishing? Maybe this is the secret to the trend of thriving Survivor male alliances- women never fish, so they don’t develop as strong ties to each other. Obviously women need to fish more and they too shall be blessed with formidable alliances!
Though if fishing leads to cuddling with Coach...ugh. Maybe not.
I miss the days when we used to have cute JT/Stephen fishing scenes. Was it so long ago that we had the adorkableness of JT watching indulgently at Stephen attempted to fish and finally succeeded in catching one? *sighs* Nowadays JT uses his fishing wiles on other men, it’s very sad.
‘After the two tribes merged, I was thinking we were probably safe, Stephen and myself, because of the secret alliance that we have between us and Brendan and Sierra, but they haven’t made any signs or signals, so it kinda, it makes me think they are gonna stick behind their tribe.’
The most hilarious part of Taj’s observation is that it’s played as a voice-over in a scene where she and Brendan are sitting side-by-side with her peering anxiously at him while he broods thoughtfully and contemplates the ground. I mean…DUDE. Your alliance is hanging out there just waiting for a sign from you that you’re still cool, and- nothing? You can’t stir yourself at all for like, two words to assuage her fears?
That said…now don’t jump down my throat, woodchoc_magnum, but at this point, Taj and Stephen are still unsure of where they stand with Brendan and Sierra, it’s been, what a day or so since they merged? Not too long, anyway, I don’t think- and he’s already backstabbed Brendan? Although I suppose there wasn’t any other option- if he’d valiantly defended Brendan to Tyson, that’d just make him think Brendan had gotten to Stephen and lump him in with the enemy, so…yeah, no, he made the best possible move under the circumstances. It just makes me feel for Brendan again, acting in good faith and getting kicked to the curb.
Tyson is such a JT/Stephen shipper. JT’s simple statement that ‘Stephen’s the only guy I can vouch for’, which is sweet but hardly an epic affirmation of their love, gets translated into ‘he trusts Stephen with all his life’. Hee!
[Well, if we want to go further, that phrasing is odd- people say ‘trust so-and-so with your life’, not ‘all your life’. Was he about to say ‘all his heart’ and then belatedly changed it to ‘life’? HMM]
I like this week, when I can still like Tyson without feeling guilty. That moment when he clues in Debbie about the new alliance and then instantly switches tracks in a heartbeat when Brendan approaches and sidetracks him with talk of Joe…ahh! So smooth!
Though this makes me lol. ‘I do feel proud being a better schemer than Brendan.’ If that’s your standard of measure, it’s not much to be proud of. It’s like saying ‘I feel proud being dumber than Stephen.’ Which, of course, everyone on this show is.
OMG, THE OWLS OF DOOM LURK BENEATH THE GROUND NOW, THERE IS NO ESCAPE!
How freaky is that? I mean, you can look out in the air and ahead on the ground, but now they’re concealing themselves in holes! Tyson had no clue it was sitting there right by his feet! It could have pecked his toes off before he knew it was there!
God, I can’t believe how stupid the majority of them are. Even Stephen! Imagine not taking your shoes off!
I mean, what is this world when TYSON and COACH are the rocket scientists! *shakes head* Nobody makes that mistake on Heroes vs Villains, everyone was clinging by their toes.
I’ve rewatched the footage of Stephen coming off the beam, and- I’m not convinced either way. I mean, he’s going down hand-over-hand, it looked like he was deliberately dismounting the first time I saw it. But pon rewatching, his feet are looking like they’re skidding down the pole out of control, so I’m not sure now, but…yeah, it’s hard to tell. Especially when he just jumps down. IDK.
It’s just funny that he drops out, whether accidentally or deliberately, before the guy with a raging infection/spider orgy afflicting his leg. And you can definitely see Joe fighting to stay on. *shrugs*
‘Sierra, you’re doing awesome.’ Aww, Erinn! <3 It’s always nice to see ladies getting on well and being nice to each other!
But damn, how painful did her slide down the pole [gosh, okay, minds out of the gutter!] seem, it’s like there was a lot of scraping and bruises being suffered there. *winces*
Coach displays his overwhelming affection for Tyson with hearty applause. I think it’s awkward that nobody else is joining in but love is deaf, I guess.
And then Tyson proves how unrequited that love is by kissing Debbie! Scoundrel! Breaker of hearts! Look how unabashed he is in dropping that kiss on her lips. All she wanted was to get her hands on your immunity necklace, Tyson, not your bod. [for a change] Jeez, the flirting between these two is getting ridiculous. If she’s not humping him and losing her top one week, he’s smooching her the next.
It weirded me out to hear Tyson going, ‘In my alliance now, Stephen and JT have replaced Brendan and Sierra.’ Because- was he EVER aligned with them? I never got any hint of that. O.o Is he just trying to appear devious without cause?
And oh, Stephen. ‘I know I can get to the final four with Taj, Sierra and Brendan.’
I wish that had been the case. I was so hoping that with the merge, Coach would be voted out. I mean, we have the Exile Alliance, plus JT. And they could’ve roped in Erinn, that’d give them the necessary numbers. *sadface* Why was I deprived of this? >_< Why did JT and Stephen have to align with COACH, of all people?!
Although Stephen asking JT to promise him ‘you’ll turn on them’ gives me hope. I feel it’s a little presumptuous of Stephen, actually, because what if JT really liked those guys and then he’s asking him to use and then discard them so casually?
If you squint, it looks like they're holding hands! :P
Brendan. *headdesk* ‘If my old Timbira tribe senses something going on with Stephen and Taj and myself’- um, WTF? They couldn’t sense anything because there is absolutely NOTHING going on with you three! You haven’t made any overtures at all, you twit!
This setup amuses me where Stephen and Taj are like the unpopular kids waiting at the corner of the dancefloor and hoping for the popular kids to ask them for a dance. I mean, they couldn’t make it more obvious how concerned and anxious they are for some attention from those two, who are just so completely ignorant of what’s going on!
And then Stephen just flat-out asks Taj to vote with him and the others against Brendan. Wow. Way to work that subtly into the convo, dude! I mean, it works but…he’s being such a Gryffindor in this ep and it keeps working! He bluntly lays out his options to JT, basically saying he doesn’t need him but could be convinced to join him if JT makes it worth his while [I love him but I would find that pretty insulting if I thought we were friends and he makes ultimatums like that] and then tells Taj to ditch her first and most solid ally just like that. He’s got some guardian angel looking out for him. And people still think he’s straightforward and honest, lol! What a disservice they do him, Stephen is completely the master of plot twists and blindsides!
It’s funny that Coach is saying that the others were voting for JT and he’s protecting him- because it was Tyson, his closest ally, who brought up voting for JT in the first place!
Aww, Stephen is so cute when he’s flailing over the idea of JT being voted out.
Eyesex! Heart *I won't let you do down without a fight* moment!
Ouch. How in the hell did JT get that scar?
I’m so confused. How many people are there in how many alliances?
Brendan-Sierra…er…who else is with them? Erinn? Joe?
JT-Stephen-Taj-Coach-Tyson-Debbie.
So who’s voting for Brendan and Sierra? Because if there’s four in the first alliance, then splitting the vote between six isn’t going to do anything.
Although IIRC, Tyson said he was going to rope in Erinn. So when she supported voting JT earlier, that wasn’t for real? So the whole Coach thing going ‘omg, the others are evil, they’re going to vote for you!’ was completely staged because neither of the people saying they were voting him actually intended to follow through?
Okay, Stephen says four or five people vote Brendan and two vote Sierra. But then if he plays the idol, then there’s only two votes Sierra and if Brendan/Sierra/Joe are together, then their three are going to trump two easily. So yeah, not a foolproof plan.
Except Tyson’s saying four Brendan and three Sierra. Ignoring the fact that there are three people left over. Say Brendan plays his idol, it’s a tie at three. And what happens then? Does the purple rock get played or what?
Anyway, in the end, all this scrambling is for naught as Joe gets shipped off as the de fact eliminatee. I always feel bad for people who are taken out by injury, because you never know how far they might have gone and they’re gonna have to live with that disappointment for the rest of their lives, there’s no closure to an exit like that. At least with a blindside or group turning on one of its own, you know there wasn’t anything you could do- but getting hurt and having to drop out…yeah, that sucks.
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Meme:
The TV meme:
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving: V
This great post by darkeyedwolf makes me feel better about loving V.
I never thought I would get into it the way I have. I mean, the plotlines are ridiculous, but there are pretty people with intriguing story arcs and great chemistry between nearly the entire cast!
Also, this: The whole "human vs. alien" struggle is basically defined by Anna and Erica -- queen V against the unofficial leader of the resistance. The defining relationship of the show is between two women. How often do you see that on TV?
Awesomeness. I can write off my weakness to this show as a sign of my progressive thinking and support of a program that doesn’t need the universe to revolve around male heroes and villains. Here, the women are primarily the ones kicking ass and fueling storylines, isn’t that great?
Plus, this: Tyler is such an annoying little worm that not a single person likes him. Travel to any forum, community, or messageboard and you can bask in the Tyler hate. He's actually a unifying force across fandom, because no matter what else people are arguing about, everyone can agree that he sucks. So thank you, Tyler. Thank you for being so goddamn irritating that you bring people together. LMAO!
The Writing Meme.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
Bwahaha. That second question sounds funny. Um. I have no characters, I wish I did!
But in terms of how many I’ve written for…like, main characters that have inspired me to write for them…I think my first fic ever was X-files with Mulder and Scully. [Totally a Mary-Sue fic, I’m so ashaaaamed]
Then SG-1 with Carter and O’Neill, Voyager with Janeway and Chakotay, Threshold with Molly and Cavennaugh, SGA with Elizabeth and Shep, TLW with Marguerite and Roxton, Mentalist with Lisbon and Jane, HP with Hermione and Snape…yeah, I write for ships, so there’s an even balance of males and females.
Snurched from weird_fin
30 Days of Harry Potter meme
Day 1: Your favourite book.
Prisoner of Azkaban, I think.
The good old days when JKR still had editors that stood up to her, there weren’t as many ridiculous errors and inconsistencies and flat-out contradictions as the later books, and her characters still seemed complex and interesting. I read this quote the other day that really applies, something about how ‘JKR has this habit of writing characters so that they seem to have lots of motivations for what they say and do, and we readers pick the most interesting ones, but it turns out that what JKR had in mind the whole time was not as interesting as our speculation.’ ITA.
This was a particularly good book because there was lots of interesting stuff going on- there was quite a bit of Snape in the book, which is always a bonus for me, it delved into the first generation a little (back when they seemed cool), the Sirius mystery was actually interesting, that Scabbers reveal was genuinely startling- I don't think anyone saw that coming. (Probably because it makes no sense whatsoever, in retrospect- he's got the balls to cut off his finger and frame a friend for murder, then he hides as a rat for eleven years, wtf?)
And a major plus, we had Hermione being awesome. I love her when she's standing up for what she believes in, even if it makes her unpopular. This version of her is vastly preferable to the house-elf!Hermione (and Ron) who slavishly follows Harry's orders and act like his inferiors rather than his friends and equals. I mean, not to flog a dead horse, but that ghastly 'she knew when she'd been dismissed' line from DH, wow, way to show the power dynamic between Harry and his entourage. Ugh.
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Vidspam.
I was screaming in my head for the bloody coin to just fall and could’ve smashed something when the movie just ended right there. But it was wavering, right? I mean, the other times, the coin just spun and spun smoothly like it would never fall and so that wobble must’ve meant it was for real, y/y?
But the problem for me was that his kids looked exactly the same as they did in his dreams. I don’t know if he gave a timeline anywhere, but I got the feeling that he’d been on the run for a while- although I guess to a little kid, a few months to a year could seem like ages, so maybe they wouldn’t have aged much while he was away? For some reason, I thought he’d been gone years so I thought they would be older but they were still the same apparent age from his dreams which made me question the reality of the ending.
And what really threw me was my grandmother saying afterwards that it was all a dream. That he woke up on the plane and he didn’t know any of the others, none of them spoke to each other or anything. And I’m like…what, no, of course they were part of it! We saw scenes of him training Ariadne, for instance, we saw other people putting them under, how would that have made sense if it was all a dream?
I mean, I just figured that they couldn’t all chat because it would give the game away if the people that were projections in the mark’s dream started all chatting like they knew each other and weren’t complete strangers that just happened to crop up in his dream, right? He’d get suspicious, then, wouldn’t he? I don’t know if I’m reading too much into simple eye-contact, but I thought there were some meaningful gazes exchanged between Cobb and the team, and expressions of relief when he woke up. *ponders*
I’d just hate the notion that none of it was real. >_< Or that he ended up staying in the dream world. It’d be such a down ending if he got trapped there for eternity, I wanted him to have that happy ending, damn it. And I wanted to know for sure that he got it instead of that ambiguous ending that makes me question everything I think I knew. Argh!
Also, what was with the Asian dude? I didn’t get what that whole thing was about with him washing up on the beach and then being taken to Asian Dude’s place and that whole ‘Are you here to kill me?’ thing. Was it because he got injured and then couldn’t ride the kick or whatever? So Cobb found him and reminded him it was a dream and they both gotta get back so Asian Dude could fulfil his promise? IDEK.
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Maybe I’m predictable, but can you guess who I was shipping? Hmm, the handsome older man, the mentor who took the young naïve idealistic protégée under his wing…
Yes, I totally went for Ariadne/Cobb! I’m just so sad that the majority of ficcage so far is tipped towards A/A. >_<
I can see where they’re coming from, sure, but I thought that Ariadne and Cobb really had a bond and an incredible vibe happening in the movie, so it’s disappointing that more people aren’t writing for them. >_<
I know, I know, A/A got the canon kiss, but I didn’t get the feeling that it was something intended to be a big romantic moment for them, it seemed like something he would do with any attractive chick in that situation.
Not that I’m dismissing them as a valid ship, heck, if Cobb wasn’t in the picture, I’d go for it, but…I have a thing for broody, damaged men haunted by their past mistakes, I guess, lol. A/A has this light-hearted fun vibe, but A/C is just… *sighs* With A/C, we have all the huge important emotional moments between them. He’s the one that introduces her to this fantastic incredible new world of possibilities [and terrifies her with his projection of Mal freaking stabbing her to death], she’s the one that knows the extent of his mental trauma, he had all these moments protecting her and she had all these moments confronting him with the scary truth he couldn’t face and offering support to face his personal demons… <3
It definitely seemed like she was developing some sort of feelings for him. I mean, the way she was so determined to find out about his life and entering his dreams to figure out his damage? Okay, sure, the ‘protect the team’ reason is perfectly valid, but she kept pushing and pushing, and I think that comes from wanting to heal him, to save him from himself because she cares too much to let him self-destruct. His friends knew something was wrong but they weren’t doing anything about it and she was determined to get to the heart of the problem and find a way to save him.
I was actually surprised he wasn’t more pissed off with her, I mean, I’d feel so violated if someone went running around in my memories and disregarded my feelings and wishes. That moment when she ran and took the elevator down…I thought that was out of line. But he accepted it and laid things on the line for her, just completely exposed his emotional wounds to her. The rest of the team didn’t know what she found out, and I think it’s like he wanted to tell someone, because he could’ve gotten so angry with what she did, invading his privacy like that, and instead he trusted her with his innermost secrets.
I just wish there was more fic dealing with what happened after Inception- where everything that happened was real, and she and Cobb meet up again and what happens next. *sighs wistfully*
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Randomly, Charlotte Martin’s On Your Shore seems like a great song for an Inception fanvid. I'm not quite sure how it'd translate, but I keep thinking of Inception, even if it's not necessarily all applicable to the characters. The story and the emotion behind it is so gorgeous and wistful and sad. Plus, considering how people keep getting washed up on the beach, the title seems at least a little appropriate, lol, there's imagery for ya. :P
‘I dig my heels into the dirt, ‘coz this one’s gonna hurt
Won’t let the waves wash me away, is what I always pray
In my heart I know you couldn’t see
In the dark, oh, find your way through me
Now I’m alone, my hands are numb, how do I carry on?
At the turn of the tide, I feel this part of me die
Am I washed on your shore and barely alive?
Now I’m held hostage in my head with every word you said
Got all those lessons in my past, I spit them out so fast
I see myself, with you, I act so small
See myself, with you, I always crawl
So someone leave a raft for me, the water’s getting deep
At the turn of the tide, I feel this part of me die
Am I washed on your shore…?
Here I am (in my insecurity)
Here I am (in my damaged dignity)
Here I am (you're pulling me in too deep)
Here I am (I'm in the mercy seat)
Here I am (running without my feet)
Here I am (oh what's come over me?)
Here I am
When I was melting in your hand, you didn't understand
You slip through me like grains of sand, you still don't understand
Overboard I'm thrown out to see what you are and what I mean to me
But I will always have my dream where you can swim to me
At the turn of the tide I feel this part of me die
I've been on your shore before and it was no waste of time
Over my head and in my mind
Am I washed on your shore and barely alive...?
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ETA. Holy crap. I thought the whole way through the movie that Arthur looked familiar...he's Tommy from 3rd Rock from the Sun!
OMG. That cute little kid sure grew up to be mega-hot. Wow!
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The Driving Lessons.
I was feeling good when on my third lesson, I got out on the highway, hee. I thought it would freak me out but I ended up loving the speed. ^_^ The driving lady was laughing at me, ‘I didn’t even have to tell you to accelerate, you’re already doing 95 km/h!’ That was a good lesson!
After being so nervous and spazzing at everything the first lesson or two, it wa nice to feel more comfortable and to actually have fun! And what a contrast- when I got back to the quiet residential areas, it was such a drag, having to reduce my speed back down to 50 or 60. *sighs*
But my last lesson. *headdeskwallfloor* Oh, god. We drove into town during lunch hour and I performed abysmally. Seriously, it was really bad. I do all right when I’m not under pressure but when I’m surrounded by cars and having to deal with traffic lights and pedestrians and all these confusing lines and lanes…I fail. >_<
Seriously, I got so frazzled that I made stupid mistakes like confusing the brake and the accelerator- which is not good when I’m trying to brake in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian. There was this moment where I could hear something grinding and whirring ‘coz my foot was on the accelerator and the instructor was hitting the brake, lol. Ugh. Sooo embarrassing.
It was just so hard trying to cope with traffic lights and working out which lane to go in and when I was supposed to move forward and all that. It looks so easy when I’m a passenger, but it does my head in when I’m at the wheel. Like, when I’m trying to make a right turn, for some stupid reason, it’s not the oncoming traffic I’m worried about even though they have the green light, it’s the cars on my right that are parked there at the red light that I’m worried about! The driving lady’s like, ‘You have to commit, inch forward, a little more, a little more, come on’ and my stupid instincts are screaming at me, ‘Cars, cars, they’re gonna come and hit me if I expose myself!’ UGH. Rationally, I know I have nothing to worry about- they’re going to let me turn before they come forward so they don’t hit me, but still. IDEK. *thwacks self*
At least next week we’re practicing parking. Heh. That should be a nice, peaceful lesson!
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With my b’day the other week, I was a little miffed that we didn’t get any photos taken. I get dressed up so rarely that when I’m looking nice, I like to have photos with people. *iz a total camera whore* It’s only in the last few years that I’ve learned to tolerate my appearance. I hated how I looked practically since the day I entered high school, but over the weekend, I ended up looking through some photo albums and when I was younger, I was so adorable, if I do say so myself!
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Too bad I had to grow up, lol. I envy people who are cute from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. It's not fair! I mean, like, look at Emma Watson, that girl's never had an ugly day in her life. I had an ugly decade. >_<
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Survivor: Tocantins- episode eight.
The episode starts with yet another gigantic furry menacing spider crawling around…but to spare my delicate sensibilities and woodchoc_magnum’s, I shall refrain from capping it.
Taj educates us on the appropriate attitudes for a reality tv show contestant. ‘I felt bad that she had to go but one of us had to go and I’m glad it was not me.’ Someone needs to copy that memo to all contestants everywhere. Crying at someone’s elimination doesn’t make you sensitive, it means you’re a self-indulgent sissy.
I OBJECT TO THE COACH CHI SOUNDTRACK, HDU, PRODUCERS?!
Carl Orff’s O Fortuna from ‘Carmina Burana’! That gorgeous majestic melody has no place being used to accentuate Coach’s lameness. >:[
Now, I don’t often listen to classical music, but I actually d/l that track after Brandon from SYTYCD danced to it, displaying breath-taking power and agility and skill, and creating this sense of triumph and vitality and inspiration, it just…it is so magnificent, and the producers have the nerve to waste it on Coach?! Why do they feed his ego like this, WHY?
[I personally think it would’ve been more appropriate as a soundtrack to Stephen’s struggles with lighting a fire, showcasing his frustration and agony and despair….then the spark at last, and his look of effervescent joy and wonder at his accomplishment as it takes and kindles into a merrily crackling fire!]
And gosh, check out the self-delusion. ‘Up til now, it’s been about the team, so I’ve been trying to get along…’ Um, what? This from The Despoiler of Beans! Whose resume includes The Harassment of Candace. The Oppression of Sierra. The Imposer of Major Proportions of Douchery. Unbelievable. In what world has Coach NOT been pandering to his ego and vanity the whole way through this season so far?
Now that Coach has had his epiphany of how the world ought to revolve around him and not the best interests of Timbira, he returns to camp and…offers massages all around. Um? This might be the…er…how do I phrase this so that it doesn’t sound like I’m softening? Okay, this is least-lame thing Coach has ever done. There you go.
*wistfully yearns for a massage*
Hey, did Sierra get a massage? It seems like Coach generously soothed the myriad aches and pains of the rest of the tribe but left her out. I guess it shows that Coach never really got over his Sierra!hate, she was just the cancer of the tribe, then she sucked up to him and he could tolerate her, then she became too sycophantic and he took her for granted and thought she was beneath him, and then once she makes fun of him, she’s reinstated at CotT level.
Clearly, Coach hates suck-ups. You either stand with him or against him and he’ll grudgingly show some modicum of respect if you’re lucky. But try weasel your way into his good graces and his disdain will know no bounds!
Erinn makes me flail at her cuteness and teh snark. I like the way she accepts Coach’s newfound predilection for giving massages and then mocks him in interviews. Yes, it would be cool to see her prick his ego to his face, but what good does that do her? It’d be satisfying to us, but it’d be akin to shooting herself in the foot, so she may as well sit back, enjoy the shoulder rub and keep making fun of him behind the scenes!
At least she doesn’t humble herself the way Debbie does. O. M. G. You disgust me Debbie.
‘Life is good,’ murmurs Coach. ‘Got my shellfish hand-fed to me by one of my harem. Sigh. Next I’ll have Sierra push me on the swing while Tyson performs a strip-tease for my entertainment. Erinn can fix beans or something, she doesn’t deserve to be included in the festivities in my honor.’
Oh, Brendan. Why are you blessed with such a hot bod and yet such fluff for brains?
And now we see the foundation of the gigantic rift between Brendan and Coach, of which the former seems blissfully oblivious, and which the latter has been nursing like a serpent in his breast. Brendan dared to suggest Coach didn’t start this Samurai thing, that another culture entirely started it in a different century altogether- like that precludes the possibility of Coach being responsible. Pah! The audacity of him! As if time and space poses any barrier to one as centered and enlightened through meditation as Coach!
Doesn’t he know that Coach fell through a temporal anomaly into ancient Japan and founded the Samurai order while befriending royalty and writing The Art of War under a pseudonym? Also, he totally slayed a dragon and was awarded an honorary title for his service to the kingdom. *nodnod* Fair maidens fell at his feet and villagers paid homage to the great Dragon Slayer.
And ever since he returned to the present, he’s been keeping a low profile, but he’s gotten a little sad about how nobody knows to fawn over him and pay him the appropriate respect due to a conquering hero, so he made up all this crap about Brendan being a dragon so he could drag out the old title and wear it proudly in this day and age.
[It kinda worked, too. Because I first saw Coach in Heroes vs Villains and they introduced him as The Dragon Slayer and everyone praised him and acted like he had a fearsome reputation so I thought he was really cool. I didn’t realize he’d named himself that and it was all just a sop to his vanity and he hadn’t earned that nickname through some daring and heroic deed. He BAMBOOZLED me]
Joe has Taj feel him up. She’s ostensibly checking his wounded leg, but we know how Joe is with the ladies. If he’s not fit enough to go out there and flirt with Sydney, he’ll make do with Taj stroking his leg. I don’t know how she could resist. All red and swollen and leaking pus. Sure-fire way to charm a woman all right! Failproof!
What was the point with these little circle thingys anyway? They don’t look like anything used in a challenge, so I’m perplexed. Was that the point, to just make the tribes speculate over their relevance and then be like, ‘HA, it didn’t mean anything! Psych!’
Actually, you know what it makes me think of? These giant balls that people climb inside and hang on for dear life and try to steer round some course. Was that a Survivor challenge? Or Amazing Race or something? I think it was a different show ‘coz it was a big plastic ball filled with water and people were rolling them down grassy green hills, which doesn’t fit the Survivor theme in any way. But I’m sure it’s been adapted in some way for Survivor over the many seasons so far.
Anyway, so it turns out that little rhyme had nothing whatsoever to do with a challenge. I don’t get where the spinning and winning comes in with the tribal merge at all.
Wtf is with Coach this ep? First with the shoulder rubs and now with his perceptiveness. I was pleasantly surprised, actually, much as I hate to admit it. Coach being impressed by JT was a given, what with his obsession with ‘warrior’ types, but to appreciate Stephen for his intelligence, well…I hadn’t credited him with the good sense to notice. So…kudos to him for that. He’s the one person so far to notice that Stephen has power in the game.
I think labeling him an alpha male is a compliment, much as I do not believe it is appropriate. Alpha male carries different connotations different strengths and weaknesses than those Stephen possesses, but the thing is, we have to consider the source. Coach considers himself an alpha male and the leader of the tribe. There is nobody above the alpha! And he recognizes that Stephen wields quite a bit of power, albeit in a way he’s not wholly familiar with- that power derived from, oh, brainpower and strategic thinking and charming people and making friends. So even if he doesn’t fit into the alpha male category, that’s where Coach is gonna put him because it makes them equals and god knows nobody sits higher than Coach.
He can’t admit Stephen’s playing the game better than he is, so he’ll deign to make him on par with himself, rather than admit to his obvious superiority. And considering his obsession with warrior types, I think that him realizing the bespectacled geeky one has power is more than we could’ve reasonably expected from him anyway, so…good job there.
THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY TIME THAT I SHALL HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE TO SAY ABOUT COACH. MOMENT DECIDEDLY OVER.
Oh, god. No sooner do I make this pronouncement than he goes and cracks a joke I am appalled to find myself actually amused by- and at Stephen’s expense no less! *frets* But to be fair, I think anyone would find ‘Dingus’ a little suss, even without Coach snarking, ‘That sounds like a good meaning but sounds a little too crazy.’
OH OH OH. UST VIBES.
Someone- Brendan?- goes, ‘I can’t hear Jeff saying, “Come on in, Dingus,”’ and then Debbie immediately speaks up in favor of that tribe name, enthusiastically declaring, ‘I’m in!’ HMM. O.o Jeff/Debbie anvils! Should we expect to see her leaping on his back any day now? :P
Debbie is not impressed with the suggestion of ‘Forza’. How can she flirt with Jeff over this? Dingus offered a wider range of innuendo!
It’s funny that Sierra clearly KNOWS it’s a ‘touchy subject’ and she still blathers on and asks them to explain the last two votes. Although…who were the last two votes? Sydney, then Spencer before her?
Maybe I can understand Sierra here. It was a dumbass move but look at the elimination pattern, youthful blondes whose names start with ‘S’! I guess she was a little too freaked out about the prospect of elimination to come up with a smarter way to delicately suss out why they were voted out. Much as I hate to say it, I do the same myself- I know what’s going to come out of my mouth is just going to antagonize people and won’t further my cause at all, but I’m too emotional to choke down those words.
[Like how I got upset that my family keeps going to see movies without me. I mean, for my birthday, my cousins and aunt and grandmother and one of the boyfriends will come along, yay, free tickets since my mom paid for everyone, but otherwise? Nobody ever invites me to movies. I mean, I have no friends, who the hell else am I going to go with?
I was talking about this movie for months, and then the twins went and saw it without me. ‘It was a spontaneous thing,’ Netty explains. ‘We didn’t even think about asking you.’ Except then two seconds later she’s justifying herself, ‘We thought you’d go with Katherine.’ Um, no. First of all, why the hell would she think that, I’ve seen Katherine like, once or twice in the past year. And secondly, how could they NOT think about me one moment but then be making excuses not to ask me the next? Either they thought about me or they didn’t.
And then on the weekend, I was at the library and got back to find a message from Ma saying she’d gone to the movies. And it’s like…okay, if I’m at my parents’, that’s one thing, but when I’m STAYING AT HER PLACE EVERY WEEKEND, and then my aunt and the girls swoop in and pick her up and take off and nobody has the courtesy to ask me if I’d like to come along…I’m two minutes away by car, FFS, but nobody gives a damn. And then they wonder why I’m so wrapped up in my online life. They’re happy to exclude me from things, well, fine, I’m just going to stay on the internet and forget about them all.
This is the kind of thing that sparks my petulant behavior. I’m not proud of it and I wish I could be a better person, but when that message that I’m not wanted or missed keeps being driven home, it makes me just…get so sick of them all. That’s when I ramp up the bratty self-indulgent behavior out of sheer spite even though it does nothing but harm myself. It makes no sense at all, but there you go.
/pity party]
It’s also interesting seeing the way Stephen reacts. He’s supposed to be in an alliance with her, and yet he deflects her question- which makes sense, given their setting, why would he out himself by eagerly cluing her in- and then in the interview, he talks about withholding info and being wary of future competitors. So he’s not even thinking about her in ally terms! Makes it easy to see why that alliance crumbles, eh? He and Sierra never got time together, so it’s easier to distance himself from her, especially when she makes such foolhardy moves like that.
Oh, Stephen. I love you, but coating the flattery a little thick? I mean, congratulating people on being good competitors is one thing, I like that but… ‘When you win, we appreciate how well you’ve done’? That’s just a flat-out lie! Nobody thinks, ‘Oh, they deserved to win more than we did, they performed brilliantly, we were outclassed and the reward is rightfully theirs!’ *headdesk*
This has to be my least favorite ep so far. What with Coach being inexplicably….less douche-y and Stephen unfortunately…I can’t say it! I CAN’T. Just. Not up to his usual standard of awesome, let’s leave it at that!
It’s funny how scathing JT was of Timbira’s shelter. Didn’t they have a raised platform episodes before it occurred to Jalapao?
And again, Stephen is speaking as if wholly detached and like the Exile Island Alliance had never been given life. ‘Even if we make allies,’ he says- what about Brendan and Sierra, the pre-made allies? True, they haven’t and won’t make any overtures til it’s too late, but the tribes only JUST merged, shouldn’t he be biding his time and thinking that soon, they’d be scheming together again? I mean, Stephen’s acting like he really is some sort of wizard- he’s scried the future, he’s seen what is to come, and it’s that the alliance falls apart and Jalapao has no allies there coming into the merge. They’re already a lost cause, he’s dismissed them and moved on. It’s kinda scary how practical and farsighted he is.
Coach falls in love with JT straightaway. His open honest face and taste in footwear appeals to Coach right off the bat. Although Coach might need glasses ‘coz I don’t see no cowboy boots on the show and JT is wily and cunning, which to be fair to Coach [OMG, what is WRONG with me?!] nobody else has realized either.
JT sows the seeds of Brendan’s ousting here by immediately and ruthlessly seizing on Coach’s desire for dominance and implying that he’s inadequate. So skillfully done! I mean, JT doesn’t up and say ‘You’re a pussy and Brendan’s walking all over you, look at him, leading this tribe!’ but manages to insinuate that’s kind of Brendan’s attitude and isn’t Coach going to do something about it? THEN HE TELLS HIM BRENDAN HAS THE IDOL.
I mean. What what? Does JT know about Stephen’s alliance with Brendan at this point? ‘coz it seems like he’s deliberately stirring up bad feelings here towards Brendan…trying to eliminate his competition, keep Stephen close to his side instead of straying to the Timbira eyecandy? HMM.
It certainly paints JT in a different light if Stephen’s confided in him- which seems to be confirmed later on when Stephen tells him he’s choosing between two alliances- and JT uses this info to topple one of the key players in Stephen’s alliance. Coincidentally, it’s the hunky dude that Stephen plastered himself against on Exile! Possessive, much? Did Stephen drop comments about Brendan’s firm, strong body and set JT on edge?
This outweighs Stephen’s lie of omission. He campaigned for Taj to keep JT in the dark…and now JT’s gone and torpedoed an ally of his. A war of attrition is no good for anyone, boys, just pledge your fidelity and commitment to one another already!
God. Has NOBODY ever SEEN this show before? I really really hate it when people get on their high horse and chastise others for lies and deceit and manipulation. UGH. Sure, some may be talented enough to make it to the end and win without any devious underhanded behavior at all, but that’s not the name of the game! It’s not ‘Moral Righteous Saintly Players Win a Million’, FFS. You do what you gotta do, and the truth is, deceit and cunning are highly recommended traits on this game! So getting all haughty and self-righteous about being lied to just makes you look like a douche, Coach, and I am so glad because it’s about time you returned to form. I was beginning to think a crocodile had eaten you and put on your skin and was walking around pretending to be you.
Lol. Coach’s crush on JT rages on unabated. ‘He and I had this rapport, without talking.’ *gigglesnort* I guess that’s the only way one would be able to have any kind of positive feeling for Coach- because the moment he opens his mouth, he can’t hide the douchebag within. If only he were the strong, silent type, he’d get on with people so much better, but as soon as he starts talking, everyone knows what a joke he is.
The same thing is happening here as did in Samoa. You have the smaller seemingly vulnerable tribe of four at the merge, and even though you’d think the larger tribe would take them out one by one, their numbers advantage actually works against them. The larger tribe generally has more conflict within it so that it’s divided into two distinct groups, and the smaller tribes, Foa Foa in Samoa and Jalapao here, can exploit that dissension and get one faction of the larger tribe to take out the other. It’s just so elegant and beautiful!
I’m still not seeing the threat that Brendan apparently poses. I mean, honestly, most of Timbira believes he’s this sly, cunning, deceitful scoundrel and I’m like…he’s never had an original thought in his head! What’s he done to make them give him that kind of credit? ‘Sneaky bastard’? Hardly!
I feel kinda bad for Brendan. Sure he’s a slacker and not so sharp, but there he is, thinking he’s got this alliance worked out and they’d have his back; meanwhile, Stephen’s trash-talking him to Tyson. Which, good for Stephen if it gets him ahead, I’m all for it! Remember, I don’t put great stock in making it to the end by being completely honest and noble and blah, but…poor Brendan. I feel so embarrassed for him!
Then I hear Stephen, ‘So there’s a lot of power dynamics at play that are very easy to exploit,’ and god, how hot is he right now? Screw Brendan, I’m a fan of evil!mastermind!Stephen, WOOHOO! *adores*
I was going to make this analogy of Stephen being this spider at the center of an intricate web of deceit and manipulation and everyone else getting helplessly stuck in its strands, but I realize that for the arachnophobes among us, that might be disturbing imagery, so- rescinded!
What is with everyone on the show bonding over fishing? Maybe this is the secret to the trend of thriving Survivor male alliances- women never fish, so they don’t develop as strong ties to each other. Obviously women need to fish more and they too shall be blessed with formidable alliances!
Though if fishing leads to cuddling with Coach...ugh. Maybe not.
I miss the days when we used to have cute JT/Stephen fishing scenes. Was it so long ago that we had the adorkableness of JT watching indulgently at Stephen attempted to fish and finally succeeded in catching one? *sighs* Nowadays JT uses his fishing wiles on other men, it’s very sad.
‘After the two tribes merged, I was thinking we were probably safe, Stephen and myself, because of the secret alliance that we have between us and Brendan and Sierra, but they haven’t made any signs or signals, so it kinda, it makes me think they are gonna stick behind their tribe.’
The most hilarious part of Taj’s observation is that it’s played as a voice-over in a scene where she and Brendan are sitting side-by-side with her peering anxiously at him while he broods thoughtfully and contemplates the ground. I mean…DUDE. Your alliance is hanging out there just waiting for a sign from you that you’re still cool, and- nothing? You can’t stir yourself at all for like, two words to assuage her fears?
That said…now don’t jump down my throat, woodchoc_magnum, but at this point, Taj and Stephen are still unsure of where they stand with Brendan and Sierra, it’s been, what a day or so since they merged? Not too long, anyway, I don’t think- and he’s already backstabbed Brendan? Although I suppose there wasn’t any other option- if he’d valiantly defended Brendan to Tyson, that’d just make him think Brendan had gotten to Stephen and lump him in with the enemy, so…yeah, no, he made the best possible move under the circumstances. It just makes me feel for Brendan again, acting in good faith and getting kicked to the curb.
Tyson is such a JT/Stephen shipper. JT’s simple statement that ‘Stephen’s the only guy I can vouch for’, which is sweet but hardly an epic affirmation of their love, gets translated into ‘he trusts Stephen with all his life’. Hee!
[Well, if we want to go further, that phrasing is odd- people say ‘trust so-and-so with your life’, not ‘all your life’. Was he about to say ‘all his heart’ and then belatedly changed it to ‘life’? HMM]
I like this week, when I can still like Tyson without feeling guilty. That moment when he clues in Debbie about the new alliance and then instantly switches tracks in a heartbeat when Brendan approaches and sidetracks him with talk of Joe…ahh! So smooth!
Though this makes me lol. ‘I do feel proud being a better schemer than Brendan.’ If that’s your standard of measure, it’s not much to be proud of. It’s like saying ‘I feel proud being dumber than Stephen.’ Which, of course, everyone on this show is.
OMG, THE OWLS OF DOOM LURK BENEATH THE GROUND NOW, THERE IS NO ESCAPE!
How freaky is that? I mean, you can look out in the air and ahead on the ground, but now they’re concealing themselves in holes! Tyson had no clue it was sitting there right by his feet! It could have pecked his toes off before he knew it was there!
God, I can’t believe how stupid the majority of them are. Even Stephen! Imagine not taking your shoes off!
I mean, what is this world when TYSON and COACH are the rocket scientists! *shakes head* Nobody makes that mistake on Heroes vs Villains, everyone was clinging by their toes.
I’ve rewatched the footage of Stephen coming off the beam, and- I’m not convinced either way. I mean, he’s going down hand-over-hand, it looked like he was deliberately dismounting the first time I saw it. But pon rewatching, his feet are looking like they’re skidding down the pole out of control, so I’m not sure now, but…yeah, it’s hard to tell. Especially when he just jumps down. IDK.
It’s just funny that he drops out, whether accidentally or deliberately, before the guy with a raging infection/spider orgy afflicting his leg. And you can definitely see Joe fighting to stay on. *shrugs*
‘Sierra, you’re doing awesome.’ Aww, Erinn! <3 It’s always nice to see ladies getting on well and being nice to each other!
But damn, how painful did her slide down the pole [gosh, okay, minds out of the gutter!] seem, it’s like there was a lot of scraping and bruises being suffered there. *winces*
Coach displays his overwhelming affection for Tyson with hearty applause. I think it’s awkward that nobody else is joining in but love is deaf, I guess.
And then Tyson proves how unrequited that love is by kissing Debbie! Scoundrel! Breaker of hearts! Look how unabashed he is in dropping that kiss on her lips. All she wanted was to get her hands on your immunity necklace, Tyson, not your bod. [for a change] Jeez, the flirting between these two is getting ridiculous. If she’s not humping him and losing her top one week, he’s smooching her the next.
It weirded me out to hear Tyson going, ‘In my alliance now, Stephen and JT have replaced Brendan and Sierra.’ Because- was he EVER aligned with them? I never got any hint of that. O.o Is he just trying to appear devious without cause?
And oh, Stephen. ‘I know I can get to the final four with Taj, Sierra and Brendan.’
I wish that had been the case. I was so hoping that with the merge, Coach would be voted out. I mean, we have the Exile Alliance, plus JT. And they could’ve roped in Erinn, that’d give them the necessary numbers. *sadface* Why was I deprived of this? >_< Why did JT and Stephen have to align with COACH, of all people?!
Although Stephen asking JT to promise him ‘you’ll turn on them’ gives me hope. I feel it’s a little presumptuous of Stephen, actually, because what if JT really liked those guys and then he’s asking him to use and then discard them so casually?
If you squint, it looks like they're holding hands! :P
Brendan. *headdesk* ‘If my old Timbira tribe senses something going on with Stephen and Taj and myself’- um, WTF? They couldn’t sense anything because there is absolutely NOTHING going on with you three! You haven’t made any overtures at all, you twit!
This setup amuses me where Stephen and Taj are like the unpopular kids waiting at the corner of the dancefloor and hoping for the popular kids to ask them for a dance. I mean, they couldn’t make it more obvious how concerned and anxious they are for some attention from those two, who are just so completely ignorant of what’s going on!
And then Stephen just flat-out asks Taj to vote with him and the others against Brendan. Wow. Way to work that subtly into the convo, dude! I mean, it works but…he’s being such a Gryffindor in this ep and it keeps working! He bluntly lays out his options to JT, basically saying he doesn’t need him but could be convinced to join him if JT makes it worth his while [I love him but I would find that pretty insulting if I thought we were friends and he makes ultimatums like that] and then tells Taj to ditch her first and most solid ally just like that. He’s got some guardian angel looking out for him. And people still think he’s straightforward and honest, lol! What a disservice they do him, Stephen is completely the master of plot twists and blindsides!
It’s funny that Coach is saying that the others were voting for JT and he’s protecting him- because it was Tyson, his closest ally, who brought up voting for JT in the first place!
Aww, Stephen is so cute when he’s flailing over the idea of JT being voted out.
Eyesex! Heart *I won't let you do down without a fight* moment!
Ouch. How in the hell did JT get that scar?
I’m so confused. How many people are there in how many alliances?
Brendan-Sierra…er…who else is with them? Erinn? Joe?
JT-Stephen-Taj-Coach-Tyson-Debbie.
So who’s voting for Brendan and Sierra? Because if there’s four in the first alliance, then splitting the vote between six isn’t going to do anything.
Although IIRC, Tyson said he was going to rope in Erinn. So when she supported voting JT earlier, that wasn’t for real? So the whole Coach thing going ‘omg, the others are evil, they’re going to vote for you!’ was completely staged because neither of the people saying they were voting him actually intended to follow through?
Okay, Stephen says four or five people vote Brendan and two vote Sierra. But then if he plays the idol, then there’s only two votes Sierra and if Brendan/Sierra/Joe are together, then their three are going to trump two easily. So yeah, not a foolproof plan.
Except Tyson’s saying four Brendan and three Sierra. Ignoring the fact that there are three people left over. Say Brendan plays his idol, it’s a tie at three. And what happens then? Does the purple rock get played or what?
Anyway, in the end, all this scrambling is for naught as Joe gets shipped off as the de fact eliminatee. I always feel bad for people who are taken out by injury, because you never know how far they might have gone and they’re gonna have to live with that disappointment for the rest of their lives, there’s no closure to an exit like that. At least with a blindside or group turning on one of its own, you know there wasn’t anything you could do- but getting hurt and having to drop out…yeah, that sucks.
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Meme:
The TV meme:
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving: V
This great post by darkeyedwolf makes me feel better about loving V.
I never thought I would get into it the way I have. I mean, the plotlines are ridiculous, but there are pretty people with intriguing story arcs and great chemistry between nearly the entire cast!
Also, this: The whole "human vs. alien" struggle is basically defined by Anna and Erica -- queen V against the unofficial leader of the resistance. The defining relationship of the show is between two women. How often do you see that on TV?
Awesomeness. I can write off my weakness to this show as a sign of my progressive thinking and support of a program that doesn’t need the universe to revolve around male heroes and villains. Here, the women are primarily the ones kicking ass and fueling storylines, isn’t that great?
Plus, this: Tyler is such an annoying little worm that not a single person likes him. Travel to any forum, community, or messageboard and you can bask in the Tyler hate. He's actually a unifying force across fandom, because no matter what else people are arguing about, everyone can agree that he sucks. So thank you, Tyler. Thank you for being so goddamn irritating that you bring people together. LMAO!
The Writing Meme.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
Bwahaha. That second question sounds funny. Um. I have no characters, I wish I did!
But in terms of how many I’ve written for…like, main characters that have inspired me to write for them…I think my first fic ever was X-files with Mulder and Scully. [Totally a Mary-Sue fic, I’m so ashaaaamed]
Then SG-1 with Carter and O’Neill, Voyager with Janeway and Chakotay, Threshold with Molly and Cavennaugh, SGA with Elizabeth and Shep, TLW with Marguerite and Roxton, Mentalist with Lisbon and Jane, HP with Hermione and Snape…yeah, I write for ships, so there’s an even balance of males and females.
Snurched from weird_fin
30 Days of Harry Potter meme
Day 1: Your favourite book.
Prisoner of Azkaban, I think.
The good old days when JKR still had editors that stood up to her, there weren’t as many ridiculous errors and inconsistencies and flat-out contradictions as the later books, and her characters still seemed complex and interesting. I read this quote the other day that really applies, something about how ‘JKR has this habit of writing characters so that they seem to have lots of motivations for what they say and do, and we readers pick the most interesting ones, but it turns out that what JKR had in mind the whole time was not as interesting as our speculation.’ ITA.
This was a particularly good book because there was lots of interesting stuff going on- there was quite a bit of Snape in the book, which is always a bonus for me, it delved into the first generation a little (back when they seemed cool), the Sirius mystery was actually interesting, that Scabbers reveal was genuinely startling- I don't think anyone saw that coming. (Probably because it makes no sense whatsoever, in retrospect- he's got the balls to cut off his finger and frame a friend for murder, then he hides as a rat for eleven years, wtf?)
And a major plus, we had Hermione being awesome. I love her when she's standing up for what she believes in, even if it makes her unpopular. This version of her is vastly preferable to the house-elf!Hermione (and Ron) who slavishly follows Harry's orders and act like his inferiors rather than his friends and equals. I mean, not to flog a dead horse, but that ghastly 'she knew when she'd been dismissed' line from DH, wow, way to show the power dynamic between Harry and his entourage. Ugh.
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