embersownmatt said: omg, I would not have guessed ice age. But I can dig that, it’s a nice little movie. And yeeees we must all roadtrip someday.
Well, I mean, I don't really have a Favourite Movie Of All Time Until End Of Time, but if you ask me what movie will I watch any time it's on offer then Ice Age is one of the top qualifiers because I can enjoy it no matter what state of mind I'm in. Hell, it's one of the movies I've owned the longest, and I think our bond was forged when I watched it like every day for a week when I was newly moved out of home and feeling pretty fragile.
And there's more context than you ever asked for, ahah.
dead-release said:kinda makes you wonder what the hell is up with england? apparently there was a stat today that warner, clarke and haddin had scored more than the entire english cricket team in the series? ALSO I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WATCHED THE CRICKET?
I heard that! Really, I've only seen Carberry on their side rack any serious runs up, the rest has been piddling. Guess it's one of those cyclical things? We did suck pretty hard the last few.
As for following the cricket, I follow it enough to know a few names and generally whether we're winning or losing, but someone else usually has to be the one to turn the TV on :P My Poppy's verrry into it so I picked up the ins and outs of the game early on, I just don't watch much TV in general.
Firstly: thanks, :’) ‘Pullman rhythm’ might just be the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.
Secondly, because you’ve read the books and might understand my rambling [eyebrow waggle], here are my vague story-building thoughts to fill in that question ("I wasn’t sure what exactly Wash’s role in the Church was and what he was afraid of"):
I ended up leaving out a lot of terms that might have helped clarify things from a book-reader’s perspective in order not to bog the prose down with random names and things (and also because sorting out the hierarchy of the Magisterium is an effort and a half, sigh) but essentially I envision Wash as an agent of the church. I know it’s a little restrictive to continue exploring the church as an antagonist when the books already did that quite unsubtly, but considering the antagonist of Project Freelancer is Director Church…I couldn’t resist.
In any case, it’s made pretty clear in the series that the church of Lyra’s world has a military force and that the Magisterium is the oppressive organizational structure specifically designed to control the flow of information and maintain the church’s influence in everything from science to politics. In keeping with Wash’s earnest beginnings, I picture him as raised appropriately religious and having served in first general military, then the Magisterium’s guard, and then eventually—along with some others, like York—taken into confidence as effectively a special agent. The higher echelons of the church in Lyra’s world are corrupt and dictatorial and that means there’s a place for people who they can send to monitor subversive organizations, apprehend dangerous heretics for the inquisition, or silence a dissenting voice. If they want a demonstrative show they can send in the guard, but if they want something done quiet…
Going directly by the books that’d probably attach Wash to the Consistorial Court of Discipline? But there are a few branches dedicated to, um, control and I’m trying to steer clear of canon characters so I’m not committed to that. In any case, his new position certainly introduces him to the unsavoury side of the church, and eventually there is a tipping point of sorts (likely involving some sort of Director fellow, ahem) that makes Wash go wow no this is fucked up. Around this same time, an independently disillusioned York pinches some incriminating files and disappears for eight months.
So throughout this story, Wash is still doing what he does in Recovery One: keeping his head low, hiding what he knows, and waiting for the opportunity to strike at them from within and shut them down. When York’s location is spilled by someone, he is sent by the Magisterium censors to bring the man in, with the intention that they’ll, y’know, treat him unkindly until he tells them what he did with the information and what heretical folks he might have been allying with.
The end of the story—which did waffle a bit, sorry, I’m a waffler—therefore isn’t Wash escaping so much as sizing up his choices. He can, for one, go back to the Magisterium with his loyal soldier face on, hide the documents, and keep waiting for that opportunity to rise. That’s partly what York did—and York lived in squalor and fear and was eventually assassinated.
His other choice is to decide that this is the opportunity, and make his stand.
…in which case he still gets to live in fear a bit because did I mention the torture. Hence the hesitation!
(And not to dismiss York’s efforts. Forming a revolution against the church is really, really hard, and some things have changed in the last eight months that give Wash a better shot at it. I picture this as all running semi-parallel to the books, and the Magisterium is in a bit of a kerfuffle dealing with the actual HDM plot, which both makes it more dangerous and more possible to hit them where it hurts and destabilize the system further.)
tl;dr he’s part of the church’s secret police and he’s afraid of two things: of fighting back but then losing and having to face crueler consequences than simple death, and of losing his mind if he keeps sitting around with his mouth shut, knowing what they’ve done and what his orders really mean.
...though a quick hello to the unexpected bundle of followers I seem to have gathered! I'm an obsessive tagger and the details are here if you're so inclined. T'is otherwise lovely to have you.
crysiana said: Out of curiosity, I have a mild fear of mirrors in the dark on a good day: is there an ep I should skip?
Uhh, not really...maybe Faceless Old Lady? That one does kind of deliberately tap into all sorts of creepy ghostly paranoia and mirrors are referenced; it also does not, to my recollection, contain any super vital plot arc points. I mean, it's Night Vale, so it's still quirky and humorous and that may be enough to counterbalance the eerie atmosphere for you. Yes, I got spooked, but I spook pretty easily and don't need much encouragement to fear the hallway to my loo.
embersownmatt said: You play Don’t Starve, too? :D Why didn’t I know this?
Probably because I'm terrible at it. Though I made it to like a fortnight on my last run and now I'm afraid to log back into it because I'm sure I'll die any second.
queen-of-france said: man BLAME! was one weird ride. I still can’t decide if I liked it or not, but it sure left an impression.
:D!
I haven't re-read it in a long time because, er, that requires actual commitment but I do remember that it was some time around chapter 30 that I decided I did in fact like this manga. So yeah. I can understand your uncertainty.
